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Re: orion translation central?
On Wed, 10 Dec 1997 18:23:54 -0800, yonsaf@beitberl.beitberl.ac.il writes:
>Jim West wrote:
>> OK- please contain your laughter at what I am about to suggest and recognize
[... Snip ...]
>Dear Jim,
>Do you assume that these Hellenized folk were acquainted with the language and
>details of the Gilgamesh Epic or Atra-Hasis (cf. Gen. 6-9) and the Sumerian
>Gilgamesh legends (cf. Qohelet, which once cites the Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic
>and once Gilgamesh and Agga, I believe).
>Do you also assume that expressions such as lwytn nx$ brx lwytn nh$ 'qltn (Is.
>27? can"t remember), which has its exact equivalent in Ugaritic ltn bthm brx
>ltn bthm 'qltn, somehow had Greek equivalents?
>I think the cultural and linguistic evidence, just to name two aspects, is
>against your theory.
>Jonathan D. Safren
>Beit Berl College
Well, Pythagoras (6th C. BCE) knew enough to steal a great deal of mathmatics
and geometry from Mesopotamia. It didn't spring fully grown from his forehead
without any other influence, or are you one of those Philhellenes who think
civilization started with Homer? Well, with Jethro, maybe?^(note below)
I will, however, concede the oneway translation evidence presented elswhere.
The above comment may not rescue the idea of creating Greek originals
but it may lend credence to why there is so little evidence of a living
corpus of Hebrew Literature from before and even well after the Exile.
However, that's off topic for this list, n'est-ce pas?
Tom Simms
^Perhaps Minnie Pearl? <VLG>