دانلود کتاب The Delian Aretalogy of Sarapis

The first version of this book was published in German in 1964, and the present English edition embodies a number of revisions, thus superseding the earlier text. A free-standing column in a temple courtyard was-and is-the bearer of the inscription, and since this is contrary to Hellenistic procedure, the suggestion is made that 'an Egyptian-style practice' was followed. It is rightly stated that 'in Egypt the columns of many temples are covered with figurative accounts and hieroglyphs' (although the term 'figurative accounts' is not very clear). The important parallel is that inscriptions are found on these temple columns; so are reliefs. Reference is then made to the djed-pillar, but this is not so relevant. The djed-pillar is replete with symbols, but it is not inscribed; nor is this pillar normally regarded as 'a symbol of the victory won by Horus over Seth in the suit heard by the tribunal of the gods'.

The first part of the inscription consists of the account by the priest, the second Apollonius, of how he built the temple of Sarapis and won a lawsuit brought against him. In the second part the hymn of Maiistas to Sarapis is given, and E. shows how the god's role is somewhat diminished in the hymn as compared with the account which precedes it, although he follows Merkelbach in rationalising the divine nocturnal instructions described in the initial account. A valuable commentary follows, and there is a judicious presentation of the problems relating to the law-suit, preference being given to the theory that religious conservatism produced opposition to a foreign cult.