ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR AND THE BABYLONIACA OF BEROSSOS.

All the works of the prolific encyclopaedic author Alexander Polyhistor have only been preserved in fragments: only his 'On Jews' and 'Chaldaica' are better known. In his 'On Jews', Polyhistor brought together various sources on Jewish history. The 'Chaldaica' addressed Babylonian as well as Assyria...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Vol. 55; no. 2; pp. 57 - 69
Autor principal: DE BREUCKER, GEERT
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Dec2012
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:All the works of the prolific encyclopaedic author Alexander Polyhistor have only been preserved in fragments: only his 'On Jews' and 'Chaldaica' are better known. In his 'On Jews', Polyhistor brought together various sources on Jewish history. The 'Chaldaica' addressed Babylonian as well as Assyrian history, and apparently consisted of an epitome Polyhistor had made of the Babyloniaca of Berossos combined with the classical account of the Assyrian kings. In the extant text of his epitome of Berossos' work, as it has been preserved by Jewish and Christian authors, there are clearly insertions - passages that do not derive from Berossos' Babyloniaca. Was Alexander Polyhistor responsible for them? In most cases it is difficult to give an answer, but some insertions can be ascribed to Polyhistor.