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Re: orion-list Pliny Qumran analysis (A. Baumgarten question)
Dr. Sigrid,
I did not start my reading of Pliny, many years ago, with any
assumption that Agrippa was his source. Early on, I had read
the--wrong--assertion that Pliny had been in Judaea and wrote his account
firsthand. Eventually, I learned otherwise. Eventually, I looked at his
list of authors for book 5. These authors wrote in Greek and Latin, as far
as I know. Eventually, I saw evidence pointing to Agrippa as the source. By
now, it is clear that most of the authors on that list can be excluded as
possibilites; for example, Aristotle, because he lived too early. So I did
not start with the a priori which you, for whatever reason, assign to me.
I surely agree that a Greek or Latin writer can convey information
from other languages, just as we can in English. (And I have made this
point, myself, on orion, with Posidonius and Strabo; a suggested
possibility attacked by Russell G. and defended by Robert Kraft.)
If you would care to provide a reference to the text which you
infer shows Pliny's readers did instant translation, I will look for it.
So far, your conjecture with Syriac information that "socia
palmarum" means "society of the pious" has not appeared persuasive to me.
(And do you mean instead of referring to palm trees or in addition to
referring to palm trees?) If you have additional evidence or arguments, I
will read those.
best wishes,
Stephen Goranson
For private reply, e-mail to stephen goranson <goranson@duke.edu>
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