The splendid Iao: the identification of Helios with Iao, the God of the Jews

I am in agreement with a thesis put forward by Jodi Magness in a recent lecture on ancient synagogues in Palestine, to wit: the representation of the god Helios in synagogue mosaics is to be understood as a mythological trope for the sun. At the same time, however, there is plenty of evidence for an identification of the Sun - as in the sun deity, Helios - with Iao (= יהוה), the God of the Jews.

An excellent working hypothesis: when someone attended synagogue in Palestine during the Byzantine Period and contemplated the depiction of Helios surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, the sun itself came to mind, but also, the God who was worshipped in that place, “the highest God,” as the Lord is sometimes referred to in synagogue inscriptions.

The evidence in favor of this hypothesis is scattered here and there. Still, it is not hard to connect the dots. A few examples – key graphs are bolded:

In honor of King Ptolemy and Queen Cleopatra, Ptolemy son of Epicydus, commandant of the guards, and the Jews in Athribis dedicate this house of prayer to the Highest God.

Dedicatory inscription of a synagogue in Egypt. CIJ (Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaicarum) 1443 = JIGRE (Jewish Inscriptions of Graeco-Roman Egypt) 27. From Athribis; second or first century bce. Go here for the skinny on this site and the need to give it archaeological attention ASAP. Translation by Meyer Reinhold in Jewish Life and Thought among Greeks and Romans: Primary Readings (Louis H. Feldman and Meyer Reinhold, ed. and introd.; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996) 48.  

To the Highest God, all powerful, blessed be He. In the reign of King Polemon, friend of Germanicus and friend of his country, in the year 338 [of the Bosporan Era, i.e., 41 ce], month Dius, Pothus son of Straton has consecrated in the prayer house, in accordance with his vow, his slave named Chrysa, in such a way that she will be unencumbered and unmolested by every inheritance, [being freed] by Jupiter, Earth, Sun.

An inscription testifying to the “consecration” = emancipation of a female slave, in a synagogue. CIJ (Corpus Inscriptionium Iudaicarum) 690 = IJudO (Inscriptiones Judaicae Orientis) 1.BS20. From Gorgippias, in the Cimmerian Bosporus, mid first cent. ce. Translation by Meyer Reinhold in Jewish Life and Thought among Greeks and Romans: Primary Readings (Louis H. Feldman and Meyer Reinhold, ed. and introd,; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996) 69. 

For when Apollo of Claros [an oracle, one of the most important in antiquity, right up there with that of Delphi and Didyma] was asked who among the gods was to be regarded as the god called Iao, he replied: [20] Those who have learned the mysteries should hide the unsearchable secrets, but, if the understanding is small and the mind weak, then ponder this: that Iao is the supreme god of all gods; in winter, Hades; at spring's beginning Zeus; the Sun in summer; and in autumn, the splendid Iao.

Macrobius [fifth cent. ce], The Saturnalia, Book 1.18.19-20 (Percival Vaughan Davies, tr.; New York: Columbia University Press, 1969) 131.

As everyone trained in classics knows, Zeus = Jupiter, and Hades = Earth. CIJ 690 [mid first cent. ce] and the Oracle of Apollo at Clarus as reported by Macrobius [fifth cent. ce] are in splendid agreement. As far as I know, the agreement has not been noted before this post.

Further texts of interest:

One Zeus, one Hades, one Helios, one Dionysius, one god in all

Orphic Fragment 239. As Mark Smith notes (God in Translation, 243, see bibliography below), the fragment is known to us thanks to Pseudo-Justin, Cohortatio Graecos, 15 (Carl R. Holladay, ed.; Fragments from Hellenistic Jewish Authors. Volume IV: Orphica [SBLTT 40, Pseudepigrapha series 14; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996] 107) = Orphicorum Fragmenta 239 (Ophicorum Fragmenta [Otto Kern, ed.; Berlin: Weidmann, 1922; repr. 1963] 251-252). The first part is also quoted by Macrobius, The Saturnalia, Book 1.18.17.

Be merciful to me, O Zeus-Iao-Zen-Helios

From a spell, PGM (Papyri Graecae Magicae) CV.1-10 = PGMT (The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation including the Demotic Spells) 310. Translation by Roy Kotansky, following the edition of W. Brashear, “Vier Berliner Zaubertexte,” ZPE 17 (1975) 25-27. As Kotanksy notes, on the basis of the Zeus/Helios identification, Brashear classifies the spell as an Anrufung an Sarapis, an “invocation to Serapis.” Serapis was the god created by Ptolemy I Soter (ruler of Egypt 323 - 283 bce) to be the official high god of both Egypt and Greece. A unifying civil religion as it were.

I call upon you, Master of the gods, high-thundering Zeus, sovereign Zeus, ADŌNAI, lord IAŌ, OYĒE.

From a spell, PGM V.470ff = PGMT 110. Translation by David E. Aune.

What about Iao as the name of the God of the Jews? There is nothing odd about it. ΙΑΩ already appears as the Greek equivalent of יהוה in 4QpapLXXLev^b of Lev 2-5 [first cent. bce]. We even find ΙΑΩ with the dative article ΤΩΙ preceding in Lev 3:11,14 and 4:3 in that manuscript. To be sure, the tetragrammaton might be substituted by ΘΕΟΣ [God] in this early period is corroborated by PFouad266a Genesis [first cent. bce] and PFouad266c Deuteronomy [late first cent. bce]. Of perhaps greater interest: the Tetragrammaton was not always replaced by a stand-in like ΘΕΟΣ [God]¹ in this early period and thereafter. This is corroborated by 4QpapLXXLev^b and the other witnesses cited in this post.

The explanation for this situation, in my view, is the following: the pronunciation of the full name, יהוה, was forbidden except to the high priest on Yom Kippur (m. Sanh. 10:1). On the other hand, the pronunciation of abbreviated versions of the name, יה Yáh and יהו Yáho = ΙΑΩ Iáo, did not fall under this prohibition.

The distinction would have been made by some, but not necessarily all, in antiquity. The distinction holds to this day, though the scope of its application is now limited to the permitted pronunciation of יה Yah in texts like Ex 15:2 and Isa 12:2; and of יהו -yáhu / yeho- (etc.), in personal names.

The earliest clear attestation of the interdiction according to which the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is a capital offense is Lev 24:16 as interpreted by the Septuagint [late third cent. bce]:

ὀνομάζων δὲ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου θανάτῳ θανατούσθω

And the one naming the name of the Lord- by death let him be put to death.

The underlying Hebrew means no such thing.

וְנֹקֵב שֵׁם־יְהוָה מוֹת יוּמָת

And the one who ‘inflects’ the name of יהוה will assuredly be put to death.

As the gloss in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan makes clear, נקב ‘the one who inflects’ the name of יהוה (unfavorably, as in casting a spell or pronouncing a curse; cf. Job 3:8; Prov 11:26; however, the verb in a positive sense is also attested [Is 62:2]) =  דמפרש ומחרף‘the one who pronounces and maligns’ the name of יהוה. The sages also insisted (m. Sanh. 7:5; Sifra Emor, par. 14:2; b. Sanh. 55b-56a), and Rashi clarified, that the mere pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton incurs no penalty.

At the same time, to be on the safe side, the sages disallowed the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton in almost all situations (see, for example, m. Sanh. 10:1). Their predecessors of an earlier period no doubt agreed: LXX Lev 24:16 docet.

It is no less clear that the almost limitless prohibition handed down by the sages was not universally respected. The pronunciation of יהוה in Greco-Roman antiquity would have been ‘Yahweh,’ to which Greek transcriptions such as Ιαουε/ Ιαουαι (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5, 6, 34, 5), Ιαβε/ Ιαβαι (Epiphanius of Salamis, Adv. Haer. 1, 3, 40, 5, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Quaest. in Ex. XV; Haer. fab. comp. 5, 3) are a witness.

In short, already in the late Second Temple period, יהוה = ΙΑΩ Iáo = God = the Most High God, Jupiter (Zeus), Earth (Hades), and Sun (Helios). As Mark Smith puts it, “God in Translation.” Or, as Pliny the Elder put it, nomina alia aliis gentibus “different names for different peoples” (Natural History 2,5) [see the upcoming post for context]. In a public setting in a cosmopolitan world, for example, by means of synagogue iconography, it made sense to underscore a common identity even as a particular identity was re-affirmed. In an odd sort of way, that is also going on here (I wonder if Brandon Wason and Phil Harland know that they are sourced on this French blog).   

¹ אדני [Lord], ΚΥΡΙΟΣ [Lord], and שמא [the Name] are well-attested stand-ins of later epochs.

Select Bibliography

Steven Fine, Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World: Towards a New Jewish Archaeology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 195-205; Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 23-27 (AB 3B; New York: Doubleday, 2000) 2117-2118; Mark S. Smith, God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World (FAT 57; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008) 246, 278, 316; Hans-Pater Stähli, Solare Elemente im Jahweglauben des Alten Testaments (OBO 66; Fribourg: Universitätsverlag; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985) 1-12, Robert A. Kraft, “The ‘Textual Mechanics’ of Early Jewish LXX/OG Papyri and Fragments,” in The Bible as Book: The Transmission of the Greek Text (Scott McKendrick and Orlaith A. O’Sullivan, eds.; in collaboration with The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities and the British Library; New Castle / London: Oak Knoll Press, 2003) 51-72 [an online version of a part of this here]; Emanuel Tov, “Greek Biblical Texts from the Judean Desert,” The Bible as Book: The Transmission of the Greek Text (Scott McKendrick and Orlaith A. O’Sullivan, eds.; in collaboration with The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities and the British Library; New Castle / London: Oak Knoll Press, 2003) 97-122; Kristen de Troyer, “The Pronunciation of the Names of God. With Some Notes Regarding nomina sacra,” in Gott nennen: Gottes Namen und Gott als Name (Ingolf U. Dalferth and Philipp Stoellger, eds.; Religion in Philosophy and Theology 35; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008) [unavailable to me; draft version online, here]

Comments

[David E. S. Stein]

Interesting, John!

Now, do you happen to know where to find online images of those zodiac/helios mosaics?

And regarding where you wrote:
the scope of its application is now limited to ... יהו -yáhu, in personal names.
You might add that in personal names the theophoric element can come also at the beginning, as in the name Yeho-natan (“Jonathan”).

[JohnFH]

David,

I will add that in.

For jpegs of Helios in synagogue mosaics (Capernaum and another), go here:

http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/smr04/101910/Slide9.6.jpg

Another:

http://www.netours.com/jrs/2003/Hammath_files/Hammath-Helios2.jpg

[James McGrath]

Wow, thanks for posting on this!

Of related interest, in Mandaean literature Adonai is the demiurge and not the supreme deity (as is typical in "Gnosticism"), but is frequently identified with the sun.

[JohnFH]

Hi James,

Adonai as less than supreme in Mandaean literature and in some varieties of Gnosticism: does that depend on Christian influence?

Or is it a form of binitarianism with earlier or at least separate roots with respect to Christianity?

The latter possibility sounds more plausible to me, but I'm not well-versed enough in the literature to feel confident in forming a judgment.

[James McGrath]

I'd say that Mandaeism's basic structure is that of Jewish Gnosticism. Although there is clear evidence of interaction with Christianity at times, that interaction seems to be less central to the texts and to Mandaean identity than the interaction with Judaism. The same probably is true of the Sethian Gnosticism that Mandaeism closely resembles.

[JohnFH]

James,

That's very interesting. If you know of a good introduction to "Jewish Gnosticism," the contours of which are unclear to me, I would appreciate a reference. Or is it a theoretical construct, a posited bridge between Judaism of the kind one finds, lets say, in Philo, and distinct religions like Mandaeism?