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The Persian Sibyl – also known as the Babylonian, Chaldaean, Hebrew or Egyptian Sibyl – was the prophetic priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle.
The word "Sibyl" comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning " prophetess". There were many Sibyls in the ancient world, but the Persian Sibyl allegedly foretold the exploits of Alexander of Macedon. Nicanor, who wrote a life of Alexander, mentions her. [1]
The Persian Sibyl has had at least three names: Sambethe, Helrea [2] and Sabbe. [3]
Sambethe was said to be of the family of Noah. [4] The Persian Sibyl by Guercino hangs in the Capitoline Museum in Rome.
Pausanias, pausing at Delphi to enumerate four sibyls, mentions a "Hebrew sibyl":
there grew up among the Hebrews above Palestine, a woman who gave oracles named Sabbe, whose father was Berosus and her mother Erymanthe. Some say she was a Babylonian, while others call her an Egyptian Sibyl. [5] [6] [7]
The medieval Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda, credits the Hebrew Sibyl as the author of the Sibylline oracles, a collection of texts of c. the 2nd to 4th century which were collected in the 6th century.
See also
References
- ^ "ANCIENT SACRED WORKS OF THE HEBREWS – SIBYLLINE ORACLES-appendix with early Christian commentary". Skeptically.org. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
- ^ Manas, John H. (2004-09-01). Divination Ancient and Modern: An Historical Archaeological and ... – John H. Manas – Google Boeken. ISBN 9781417949915. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
- ^ Collins, John Joseph (2001). Seers, Sibyls, and Sages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism – John Joseph Collins – Google Books. ISBN 9780391041103. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
- ^ Mastrocinque, Attilio (2005). From Jewish Magic to Gnosticism – Attilio Mastrocinque – Google Books. ISBN 9783161485558. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
- ^ Pausanias, x.12
- ^ Parke, Herbert William (1988-01-01). Sibyls and sibylline prophecy in classical antiquity, Herbert William Parke. ISBN 9780415003438. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
- ^ Collins, John Joseph (2001). Seers, sibyls, and sages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism, John Joseph Collins. ISBN 9780391041103. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
External links
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Media related to
Sibyl of Persia at Wikimedia Commons
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