Brenk (2011) Hierosolyma. the Greek Name of Jerusalem

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"Hierosolyma". The Greek Name of Jerusalem Author(s): Frederick E. Brenk Source: Glotta, Bd. 87 (2011), pp. 1-22Published by: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41416798Accessed: 28-11-2015 14:10 UTC

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Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem

In memoriam Günter Neumann

By Frederick E. Brenk, Milwaukee

What's in a name?1 Evidently a great deal. It has long been known that a curious linguistic situation exists in the New Testament. The New Testament is redolent on a linguistic level of the double nomenclature characteristic of mixed cultures. With one exception, 'IepooóA,t)|xa is always found for Jerusalem in Matthew and Mark, while Luke employs the "Hebrew" form, ÍepoDaa^fp 27 times, to only 4 uses of the Hellenistic form. Paul, the Roman citizen, employs the Hebrew form in Romans and First Corinthians , but uses both forms in Galatians. In Acts the Hebrew form appears 36 times and the Greek 23. 3 The

significance of the double nomenclature for Jerusalem is much

disputed. But generally, if not everywhere in the New Testament , where the two forms are used, the Hebrew either

1 The author is very grateful to Professor Neumann, who in the early 1990' s carefully went through the manuscript. I am very grateful to Profes- sors Paola Dardano for looking over the Asia Minor section, and Riccardo Contini for corrections and suggestions to the Semitic material. The text here remains substantially the same as that corrected by Professor Neumann, though several notes have been added. A longer article, but not containing this part, was published as "Tragic Hierosolyma. The Flavian Period: Solyma in Ashes", in F. E. Brenk, Clothed in Purple Light. Studies in Vergil and in Latin Literature , Including Aspects of Philosophy, Religion , Magic , Judaism , and the New Testament Background (Stuttgart 1999) 226-239.

On the two names in the New Testament , see, for example, J. Jeremias, "IEPOYIAAHM/IEPOZOAYMA" ZNW 65 (1974) 273-276; J. K. Elliott, "Jerusalem in Acts and in the Gospels", in J. K. Elliott, Essays and Studies in New Testament Textual Criticism (Cordoba 1992) 113-120 (= NTS 23 [1977] 462^69); I. De la Potterie, "Les deux noms de Jérusalem dans l'évangile de Luc", RSR 69 (1981) 57-80, "Les deux noms de Jérusalem dans les Actes des Apôtres", Biblica 63 (1982) 153-187; and D. D. Sylva, "Ierousalem and Hierosoluma in Luke- Acts", ZNW IA (1983) 207-221. 3 The figures vary due to the mss. readings, the edition used, and personal choice. E.g., De la Potterie ( Biblica 63 [1982] 153) treats Matthew and Mark as always using the Hellenistic form, with the exception of Matthew 23.37.

Glotta 87, 1-22, ISSN 0017-1298 © Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen 201 1



2 Frederick E. Brenk

evokes special Jewish connotations or corresponds well with the context. The theory of appropriateness generally seems to work, much as a modern speaker might use both "Paris" and "Paree"

(inevitably when Paris is "gay"). The notorious exception to the Greek form in Matthew is at 23.37, where Jesus exclaims:

О Jerusalem, Jerusalem, city that murders the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not let me.

Here, alone Matthew employs Теро')саА,гщ.4 Paul, for example, in Acts 25.15, addressing the governor Festus, appropriately uses the "Greek" form.

Some scholars hold that the origin of the Hellenistic name, Hierosolyma, was an attempt to assimilate Jerusalem into the broader context of the temple cities of the Seleucid kingdom, many of which received the designation "hierapolis" both in Syria and Asia Minor.5 Some modern authors speak of the change occurring precisely in the second century, at the height of Seleucid success, not long before Jerusalem itself supposedly was to become a Greek polis.6 But there are problems with such suppositions. The normal Greek nomenclature should have produced something like Hierolophos (Holy Hill), Hiera Коте

4 RSV. The evangelist may also have wanted to avoid referring to Jerusa- lem. the mother, with a neuter plural.

See for example, M. Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism. Studies in their Encounter in Palestine During the Early Hellenistic Period (Philadelphia 1974) (= Judentum und Hellenismus [Tübingen2 1973]) I, 24; II, 18-19, п. 160. Hekataios (Diodoros, 40.3 = FGrH 264 F 6 and Ps. Aristeas (84) describe Judaea as a temple state; but Aristeas does not use the term ethnos. Eupolemos ( FGrH 723 F 2, 11), who knew both Semitic and Hellenistic forms for Jerusalem, derives the Hellenistic form from lepòv ZoAa)|icûvoç. For the earliest period, see also E. Gabba, Greek Knowledge of Jews up to Hecataeus ofAbdera (Berkeley 1980) 1-18.

See, e.g., M. Avi Yonah and M. Stern, "Jerusalem. Second Temple Period", Encyclopaedia Judaica XI (2nd ed. 2007) 147-151; С. Colpe, "Hierosolyma", in K. Ziegler and W. Sontheimer, eds., Der kleine Pauly II (Stuttgart 1967) 1141-1144 (1141). Hierosolyma is found in the mss. of Cicero, Plutarch, Tacitus, and Suetonius, but Ierosolyma in some mss. of the Vulgate ( Maccabees I and II, and the New Testament ).



Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem 3

(Holy Village), Hiera Nesos (Holy Isle), or Hieron Stoma (Holy Mouth), something like the English "Holyhead".7 In the early Empire this process went a step further. The humble Hiera Kome, for example, metamorphosed into the more exalted

Hierokaisareia, was able to bask in Julio-Claudian splendor. This characteristic of double identity is evident in numisma-

tics as well. For example, on one coin type a Persian goddess is

represented as Artemis beside a deer, accompanied by the characteristic hier (IEP), while on the reverse she appears in Persian dress. Further Hellenization manifested itself in the dedication of the site to Apollon of Klaros, Artemis' brother in the Greek pantheon. The goddess' real name has vanished. At

best, she is the "Persian Artemis" ( Artemis Persike ).8 In other cases the process of assimilation, during which foreign cities received Greek names, resulted in double names such as

7 On Hiera Kome (Hierokaisareia), see Brill's New Pauly , VI (2005) 301- 302 (H. Kaletsch); Hierapolis of Phrygia, 302-303 (H. Sonnabend); Hierapolis Bambyke, II (2003) 482-483 (T. Leisten); Hierapytna, VI, 303 (H. Sonnabend). R. J. A. Talbert, R. S. Bagnali, et al. eds., Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (Princeton 2000), in their index list 10 towns or cities called Hiera , of which 6 are qualified with a noun, one of which is undoubtedly a local name (Germe); 15 begin with Hiera- of which 5 are called Hierapolis. There is also a Hiereia , Hierichous, and a H ieri on; 12 are called Hieron , of which 7 have a noun or adjective qualifier, such as Stoma (mouth), Oros (mountain) (always a Greek not a native name); then we find a Hiero s (?), Hiero s Limen Herakleous , and Hierosolyma. Instead we find only a few names beginning in 1er-: lerabriga , leron (?) Akron , and lerusalem. The geographical distribution is quite wide, but a significant number of these cities - e.g., Hiera (Lykia), Hierapolis (Phrygia), Hierapolis Bambyke (Syria), Hierapolis Kastabala (Kilikia) - were under Seleucid domination. See also, C. Möller and G. Schmidt, Siedlungen Palästinas nach Flavius Josephus (Wiesbaden 1976) 103-104; and J. D. Grainger, The Cities of Seleukid Syria (Oxford 1990) 42-45, who believes many names developed spontaneously. G. Neumann, Phrygisch und Griechisch (Vienna 1988) 19, notes that, after Alexander's conquest, many new settlements arose in Phrygia with names derived from the formation -Kcbjiri preceded by the name of a hero or a god.

For Artemis Persike, see M. Brosius, "Artemis Persike and Artemis Anaitis", in M. Brosius and A. Kuhrt, eds., Studies in Persian History. Essays in Memory of David M. Lewis (Achaemenid History 11) (Leiden 1998) 221- 238.




Hierapolis Bambyke.9 Where double names are absent, the town often is known simply as Hierapolis or Hiero- followed by the suitable geographical feature. At first sight, the formation

Hierapytna for a town in Crete suggests the Hierosolyma type designation, though the name was not very stable ( Hiera-pytna , -pydna, -pygna, -petra). However, the alternate names, except for the last, are variations on a pre-Greek word for "rock". Moreover, the usual name for the town may simply have been

Hierapolis. 10 Sometimes a change of name such as that from

Pambuk or Tambuk into Hierapolis ( Hierapolis Kyrrestike or

Bambyke ) or Hierokaisareia could correspond to a refounda- tion.11

Other cases of somewhat bizarre nomenclature might mistak-

enly lead to the supposition of a Hierosolyma type formation.

Hierakonopolis in Egypt is one example. The site had a

prominent temple of Horos, represented theriomorphically, in whole or in part, as a falcon. Presumably the designation "Falconville" was reinforced by the similarity between Hierakon (of falcons) and Hie ron (holy). Another example of somewhat nonsensical nomenclature at first sight is Hierasykaminos for the

city in Lower Nubia between the first and second cataracts of

9 Also called Manbog and Mabog (today Membij). See J. L. Lightfoot, Ludan. On the Syrian Goddess (Oxford 2003) 38-44, esp. 39, who notes how indigenous names often outlived the Greek ones.

For Hierapolis of Phrygia, see F. D'Andria, "Hierapolis of Phrygia: Its Evolution in Hellenistic and Roman Times", in D. Parrish, ed., Urbanism in Western Asia Minor. New Studies on Aphrodisias, Ephesos, Hierapolis, Pergamon, Perge and Xanthos (Portsmouth, Rhode Island 2001) 96-1 15. 11 See L. Robert, Noms indigènes dans Г Asie-Mineure gréco-romaine I (Paris 1963) (non-place names). Names beginning with lep- do not appear, except for Iépaç, 'Iépaicoç, related to iepaicápioi (= *1еракотр0ф01) "falcon-raisers" (192, n. 7), and a few words with iepo- ("holy"). In L. Zgusta, Die Personennamen griechischer Städte der nördlichen Schwarz- meerküste (Prague 1955), only the name 'Iepoorâv begins with 'lep- (Olbia, no. 1032). In Zgusta's Kleinasiatische Personennamen (Prague 1964), no names begin in ìep-. In Lykia a man named *Iyera, is called ìépwv in Greek; see T. R. Bryce, "Hellenism in Lycia", in J. -P. Descoeudres, ed., Greek Colonists and Native Populations (Canberra and Oxford 1990) 531-541 (538, table 2, N 320.3) (N = G. Neumann, N enfunde lykischer Inschriften seit 1901 [Ergzbd. Tituli Asiae Minoris 7] [1979]) no. 320.3 44-45).




the Nile, named after the mulberry ( sykaminos ) associated with Isis in the Graeco-Roman period. Next to the temple of Isis and

Serapis stood a smaller sanctuary with the sacred tree.12 Whatever the original name, the Greeks, following their typical custom, translated the original name into their own language or created a Greek nomenclature corresponding to the original. Possible exceptions to the rule, and close to the formations Ierousalem and Hierosolyma are Hierasos and Hieratis. The latter, a river of the ancient Dakia, mentioned by Ptolemaios the

Geographer, flows from the Danube into modern Sereth (3.8.2). Hieratis (modern Busir), a coastal town in Persia discovered by Alexander's admiral Nearchos appears in Arrian ( Indika 39.1). But since the nearby canal is called Heratemis, Hieratis might have replaced, by analogy with other Hiera- towns, the stranger 1 a sounding Heratis.

Study of the Greek names for ancient places in Asia Minor also confirms the impression that Hierosolyma is an anomaly. Other names studied recently in some depth include Aspendos , Perge , Selge , Sillyon , Side , Argasa , Kolossal , Miletos , and Sardeis .14 Apparently Greeks created names analogous to

12 See W. Helck, "Hierasykaminos", Lexikon der Ägyptologie ii (Wiesba- den 1977) 1186-1187. 13 Words beginning in Greek her- (e.g., ёртссо, ëpor|) can reflect a Sanskrit sar or var: ; cf. P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (Paris 1968) 374-375. Thus, modem and ancient equivalents of the words Hierasos (modern Sereth, near the Danube), Heratemis (Phratemis, Phristi- nus) fluctuate between her -, hier-, ser -, and var- (phar -). See N. Vulic, "Hierasus", RE VIII (1913) 1407; F. H. Weissbach, "Hieratis" (1407), and "Heratemis" (530); and L. Bürchner, "Hieramai, Hierama, Hieraman" (1403).

A. Heubeck, "Zu einigen kleinasiatischen Ortsnamen", Gioita 113 (1985) 115-136. The practice of the author has been followed in omitting accents, breathings, or both, in cases where they are unknown. For Aspendos , see 115-118. The references to numbers for Asia Minor place names (Ortsnamen) in this article are to L. Zgusta, Kleinasiastische Ortsnamen (Heidelberg 1984) (= Zgusta); here (no. 107-1); Perge, 118 (no. 1042-1); Selge, 118-19 (no. 1187); Sillyon 119 (no. 1216-1); Side, 119-22 (no. 1112- 2); Argasa, 122-3 (no. 89-1); Kolossai, 123-7 (no. 557). The explanation of the signs can be found in Zgusta, 679. They are: * reconstructed form; // // supposed form of an uncertain paradigm; f non-existent form; < derived form; > changed into; ( ) conjecture, emendation, or full form of an abbreviation; [ ] addition (if inscription [athetized if ms.]).




familiar Greek objects or places, whether they really existed or were only part of the literary tradition. Thus, the town known from coins as 'Ecrcfeôivuç, 'Ecrcfeôivu, Ecrcfeôru (sometimes abbreviated) and possibly with a more ancient name, *'Eoxfeôt)Ç, became the seemingly remote Aspendos}5 What was the rationale? Possibly the Greek formation was influenced

by the familiar ojtévSco ("pour a libation") or ccpevôóvri ("sling"). C. Brixhe, who had changed his previous position, thought there was no convincing explanation for Aspendos, but came to believe that in these cases we should start with the Greek word, for example, for "sling", not the epichoric. The

sling or slinger explains the word rather than the epichoric. Similarly with Selges, he would start with the Greek word for

strigile (axeXyyíç or variants) a word which may have origi- nated in Anatolia.16 In his view the Hellenisation of an indigenous name often proceeds from the identification of a name with a radical homophone or quasi-homophone, with, in the second case, phonetic modification. This habit of popular etymology in his view creates a very murky situation for Anatolian onomas- tics, in which the Anatolian cultural heritage has been obscured. The dominant language, which was Greek, swallowed up the others. Even if the indigenous name might have been evident in the spoken language, it might have disappeared in the written.17

The epichoric name of Perge appears on coins as Wanassas, i.e, faváacaç, the name of a goddess (genitive singular of Domiza?) which gave way to Ilpenaç.18 Other indications suggest an earlier epichoric name *npéya, with the shift Преукх- > Преиа-. The normal Greek form, Шруа/-т|, was a secondary development, possibly modelled on Pergamon, but

15 Heubeck, 1 15. Zgusta (no. 107-1) also gives *Еох/ге0г|и. Use of the ethnikon seems to have disappeared after the 3rd cent. B.C. (Heubeck, 115). See also W. Martini. "Asnendos". Brill's New Paulv II Í2003Í 170.

C. Brixhe, "Etymologie populaire et onomastique en pays bilingue", RPh 65 (1991) 67-81 (68-72). 17 Brixhe, "Étymologie populaire", 79-80.

See R. Turcan, "Artemis Pergaia", in LIMC II. 1 (1984) 765-766 (765). The suggestion "Domiza" is that of Professor Neumann.




already existing by the fifth century B.C. Similar transforma- tions of barbarous names into elegant Greek are Selge and

Sillyon. Up to 300 B.C., alternates for the "normal form" of the ethnikon (LeXyevq) were XTÀ,éyuuç or 'EaxXéyivuç (with a number of variants).19 Possibly the adjective àaeÀyfiç (à-oeX,yf|ç) ("licentious, wanton, brutal") played a role.20 A similar case is

I]iAA,v[ov (also EiXXuécov and I.x>XXiov). Coins and a large inscription transmit the ethnikon ZeXúwuvç - suggesting an

indigenous *EéÀ.(À)t>coov. ZíXXoq ("ridicule, scorn") or o!X,A,')ßoq, -a ("appendage" [?]) may have influenced the formation.21 However, a Greek word beginning ceXy- would be more

convincing than those proposed. Side and Argasa represent a different procedure. In Eíôt|

("pomegranate") the Greek formation transmits the meaning and

approximates the sounds of the native word for "pomegranate" ["-land"].22 Argasa ("Apyaaa), in Karia, probably represents Karian ( H)argassa -. 'Apyaîoç was, as well, the name of a mountain in Kappadokia, perhaps related to the Hittite harki-, meaning "white". The corresponding word apyoç ("bright, gleaming, white") seems to be the base of the name of several towns in Greek areas.23 Thus, 'Apyaîoç might indicate a "Mount

Blanc", especially if high and covered with snow. Kolossai and Miletos seem to be more familiarly Greek but also may mask

indigenous names, while Sardeis seems to have nothing to do

19 Heubeck, 118-119, suggests an original *Хлеусс, becoming XxXéya, and then ̂Еатлеусх. This form, on the analogy of I Ipeya > Ilépycx - became IéX.Ycc/-T|.

For Selge see also J. Nollé and F. Schindler, Die Inschriften von Selge ( IGSK 37) (Bonn 1991) 13-16 and 39-41. Ancient authors explained the name as "not chaste" (àoEÂyfiç) or as "chaste". There was a strong local tradition, with Pisidian names remaining into the Roman period. See also H. Brandt, "Selge", Der Neue Pauly II (2007) 366.

Heubeck. 119. 22 In Kallimachos, Hymn 5.28, the "Old-Aegean" form Zißöa appears for Side. A town by that name existed in Karia (Zgusta, no. 1207), itself possibly related to the Pisidian town Zißi6ouv8//a// (no. 1208-2). The latter would be a slight corruption of Luvian *Sibdawanda-, where the suffix -want(a)- signifies "rich in" (Heubeck, 121). 23 Heubeck, 123, who wrote " hargi Zgusta, no. 89-1. Corresponding is "Apyevvov (no. 89-5) used for an island and for some mountain foothills.




with Greek at all.24 Miletos (MíXrjtoç - also MiAóctío, MiA/iycco, MiA.<xcioi) (Zgusta, no. 809) - appears in the Trojan catalogue (2.868) as a city in Karia, but in the ship catalogue (2.647) as a town in Crete.25 In the case of Kolossai, numerous Asia Minor names beginning in Kol- (Zgusta, no. 550-560) or even Kolo-

(no. 554-560), along with the typical pre-Greek suffix, suggest a

thinly masked indigenous name. 6

Often pure chance must have intervened, but some major tendencies in Greek nomenclature are probably important for

understanding a formation like Hierosolyma. Among those tendencies are the retention of parts of the native name, reworking to fit familiar Greek patterns, selection of a name similar in sound to the indigenous name and with identical

signification (e.g. Side from *Sibdawanda, "pomegranate"), and a certain reluctance to substitute a totally Greek name for an indigenous one, a practice which would have created great 97 confusion. Thus, one finds Argassa , not Argos ; Perge , not

Pergamon. Miletos most likely preserved the epichoric with a minimum of change and was influenced by Mycenaean or

24 According to Heubeck, 126-127, KoXocaai (no. 557), with the

typically pre-Hellenic suffix -ss(o)-, appears to be a totally Greek formation related to koXoggóç. In the fifth century the word would have meant only "statue" or "figurine". Koôoaai presumably suggested "the place of the (cult)statues", i.e, of something like the Asiatic mother goddess - with the formation similar to 'Aöfivai, MDKfjvai, etc. He allows the possibility of a pre-Greek -ss- formation slightly changed by the Greeks (123-125); but see Zgusta, 30.

See Heubeck, 127-131, who believes "a pre-Mycenaean +miljãtos probably produced a Mycenaean +mir-ra2-to Í MiVVatos /, which became +MíàAt|toç in Ionic" (131). The name is similar to ones in Hittite texts. However, he thinks Miletos could also have been a foundation of Minoan Crete, using a Cretan place name later retained by the Mycenaeans (132). On Miletos see also the long discussion in Zgusta (383-384, no. 809); and on Sardeis, Heubeck (133-136) (no. 1167-1), which seems to have nothing to do with Greek.

On Aspendos: Heubeck, 115-118 (Zgusta no. 107-1); Perge, 118 (no. 1042-1); Selge, 118-119 (no. 1187); Sillyon 119 (no. 1216-1); Side, 119-122 (no. 1112-2); Argasa, 122-23 (no. 89-1); Kolossai, 123-127 (no. 557); Miletos 127-132 (no. 809): Sardeis, 133-136 (no. 1167-1).

See J. Nollé, Side im Altertum. (IGSK 43) (Bonn 1993) 154-155. Side was supposed to have been the daughter of Tauros and the wife of Kimolos (eponymous hero of a Cyclades island of the same name).




98 Homeric nomenclature. In a world without postal codes, traces of the epichoric undoubtedly kept too many towns from ending in the same pigeon hole. Then, there was the problem of

bilingualism. Making the Greek name totally unrecognizable to the natives would hardly be advantageous. Vive la différence !

Still, two words such as iepov and ZóA^jioi under some conditions might combine. The iepov part would be an attempt to render the native, or supposedly native, meaning by a similar

sounding Greek word, while ЕсЛицог would be a reformation

along familiar Greek lines of a similar sounding epichoric.29 The evidence of complex factors involved in the change of

the Hebrew epichoric into Hierosolyma is even more compelling if one takes a larger onomastic sample and combines it with a

study of Homeric names. Zgusta considered the nomenclature of almost 1500 epichorics in Asia Minor. One is dumbfounded by how infrequently the native name was approximated to a

28 The name Millawanda or Millawata (= Milatos) appears in Hittite documents. The basic study can be found in G. F. Del Monte and J. Tischler, Die Orts- und Gewässernamen der hethitischen Texten ( RGTC 6) (Wies- baden 1978) 268. See also V. B. Gorman, Miletos, the Ornament of Ionia. A History of the City to 400 B.C.E. (Ann Arbor 2001) esp. 27-31; A. M. Greaves, Miletos. A History (London 2002), esp. 65-71; F. Starke, "Miletos", Brill's New Pauly VIII (2006) 884-895 (885-886); В. and W.-D., Niemeier, "The Minoans of Miletus", in P. P. Betancourt, V. Karageorghis, R. Laffi- neur, and W.-D. Niemeier, eds., Meletemata. Studies in Aegean Archaeology (Aegaeum 20) (Liege and Austin 1999) 543-553, esp. 543-544; and W.-D. Niemeier, "Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites and Ionians in Western Asia Minor: New Excavations in Bronze Age Miletos-Millawanda", in A. Villing, ed., The Greeks in the East (London 2005) 1-36, esp. 1-3. According to Ephoros of Kyme, Miletos was founded by Sarpedon, the brother of Minos, who came from Milatos in Crete ( FHG 70, fr. 127).

F. Millar, "The Problem of Hellenistic Syria", in A. Kuhrt and S. Sherwin- White, eds., Hellenism in the East. The Interaction of Greek and non-Greek Civilizations from Syria to Central Asia after Alexander (London 1987) 110-133 (124), notes that place names such as "Sykaminon polis", "Krokodeilôn polis" and "Boukolôn polis" (Strabon, 16.2.27) near Akko (Ptolemais) reflect Ptolemaic influence, while Epiphaneia (Hama), another ancient city, presumably gained its name from Antiochos Epiphanes IV (114-16). He suggests that the formation of the last name possibly was suggested by the similarity of phaneia or haneia and hama. For Sykaminon , see L. Ullmann and E. Galili, "A Greek Inscription Mentioning 2YKAMI- NÍ2N Discovered off the Carmel Coast", SCI 13 (1994) 116-122.



1 0 Frederick E. Brenk

familiar Greek word. The conquerors apparently made a concerted effort to retain the distinguishing characteristics of the

epichoric name. Zgusta's list confirms the impression that in this respect Hierosolyma is an anomaly. Somewhat related are SoX,- formations: ZóXoi (no. 1243), ILokollall (no. 1244-1), Solenica (no. 1244-2), and SoXcoveîç (no. 1244-3), EoXóeiç (with no. 1244). A root, solos (possibly, "iron object"), may indicate iron ore in the region.31 Still the frequent XoX- names, unlike that for Jerusalem, were not changed into the familiar, but exotic ZoXdjioi. In the case of Karian Íepajaá (no. 365) (variants ìepajiai and ìepajaàv), an epichoric Iep- may have

eventually surrendered to the more Greek sounding ìep- (but not

lepo-).32 Also, the more unusual ending -man was retained as a variant. No reconstruction of the underlying epichoric name is

satisfactory, but an initial Yer- or Iyar- has been presumed.33 Here, caution is needed, then, in immediately reading !гроа0Ал)|ш, rather than Ì£poaóA,o)|j,(x into the Zenon papyri and other texts. Greeks, at least initially, felt no compulsion to

30 Among such names are KocÀ,avõo//ç// (no. 409), KccÀ/ovôa (variants,

KÀ,ocdvô//cc//, Kócàdvôoç [no. 414-2]) rather than some familiar Greek KaXX- formation; lodjiccKÍç (no. 1150-1) and Iod|iavioc (no. 1150-3) rather than Zcctaxjiíç. In other cases an analogous Greek name or word offered no temptation: Aïyapcc (no. 26), Mávaua (no. 763) (neuter plural), Паре00//а// (no. 1006), Пеууаа/Лх// (or Перуаа//а//) (no. 1039). Парг00//а// could easily have been changed into a riap0ev- formation. Thoroughly Greek names invariably indicate a Greek foundation, which nostalgically borrowed a name from the mother country (for example, 'A0fjvcci, probably with no relation to an indigenous name.

Zgusta, 582, under no. 1243. G. Neumann and J. Tischler, Glossar des Lykischen (Wiesbaden 2007) give no words beginning either in sol- or in ier-.

Stephanos of Byzantion transmits the name as Hieramai (Bürchner, RE VIII (1913), 1403).

Zgusta (no. 365) rejects an underlying Iyaruwa(ň)da - suggested by E. Laroche, "Etudes de toponomie anatolienne asianique", Revue Hittite et Asiaque 59 (1961) 57-98 (62) - taking ìepajia (ethnic, Íepajaeúç [location unknown]) as purely Greek, based on iepóç, like ítoc|ióç to ixriç ("bold") (from eîjii). W. Blümel, "Einheimische Personennamen in griechischen In- schriften aus Karien", Epigraphica Anatolica 20 (1992) 7-33, gives no names beginning in lep-: Del Monte and Tischler, Die Orts- und Gewässer- namen der hethitischen Texten (. RGTC 6) and Supplement (6/2) (Wisebaden 1992) list no names beginning with Hier -, Her -, or Hir-. Nor is there anything resembling -olyma.



Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem ' '

initiate a name with lepo-. Possibly until the end of the classical world, judging by fluctuation in Latin texts between Hiero-

solyma and lerosolyma, there was some option in the

pronunciation.34 A peculiarity of the Hierosolyma formation is its combination

of two words, one evidently Greek and the other an apparent reworking of a foreign word which also belongs to epic vocabu-

lary. In particular the £0А,г>ца part is mysterious. The use of Homeric place and personal names for cities in Asia Minor, especially from the catalogues in the Iliad, may offer a clue. One

difficulty, though, is in the real continuity of a particular place in

Zgusta's list with that in Homer. Another problem is whether Homer or the epic tradition created personal names for Trojans, or even Greeks, by borrowing and hellenizing the toponomy of Asia Minor?

First of all, both identical and similar names appear in

Zgusta's list and the Homeric poems, but with surprisingly less

frequency than one might expect.35 For example, Aîvoç (no. 28; 4.520), a frequent name for towns in the Greek world, was a town in Karia, opposite Rhodes, but in the Iliad it was a locality in Thrace, ©fyißpa (no. 353-2; 10.430) was the name of a town, and of a plain near Ilion; 0U|_ißpia (no. 353-3) a place in Karia;

0i)|ißpiov (no. 353-4) a border region between east Phrygia and

Pisidia; and finally, 0t>|j,ßpoaoq (no. 353-6, a variant of no. 353-

34 Some editions of the Septuagint, e.g., Rahlfs', including his Göttingen texts - in contrast to the newer Göttingen editions - do not use accents or breathings for transliterated Hebrew names. E. Hatch and H. A. Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament. Septuagint III (Oxford 1906) 81, index the name with the smooth breathing, as 1ероа0/Л)ца. U. Wagner-Lux and H. Brakmann, "Jerusalem I.A.II", RAC 132/3 (1995) 633-718 (634-635), note that the practice of at times writing lerosolyma and Hierusalem instead of Hierosolyma and lerusalem continues in Vulgate mss., Christian writers, and in some modern citations and editions.

When two references are given in the text or notes, the first is to Zgusta, Kleinasiastische Ortsnamen, the second to the Iliad, unless otherwise stated.




5) is a Trojan in Iliad 10.320.36 The ©fyißpiq (no. 353-6) was a river associated with a shrine of Apollon 0u|ißpoüo<;, and the

0í>(j$pioç, a river flowing into the Skamandros (no. 353-5). KctÀDvôa (variants, KXauvS/Ax//, KócXdvôoç) (no. 414-2) was a

city in western Lykia on the border with Karia, while islands called KáÀ,DÔvou (2.677) are mentioned in connection with Kos. MeSeróv in the Greek catalogue (2.501) is a town in Boiotia, but Méôcov in 2.727 is the bastard son of Oi'leus. The name Miôáeiov (no. 807-1) (variants, MiSáiov, Mi5f|iov, etc.), was a town in Asia Minor - which is not a total surprise, coming from the land of King Midas. It was not recast into Meôeœv or

anything similar. Local names that are identical or similar to Homeric personal

names also are a clue to Greek nomenclature. "Aßa (neuter plural) a town in Karia (no. 2-1) resembles "Aßa<;, the name of a Trojan slain by Diomedes (5.148). Aîvoç (no. 28), the name of several towns in the Greek world, is also a town in Thrace (4.520), while Aïvioç is an unfortunate Paionian slain by Achilleus (20.210).38 In two late sources the variant ©óava

36 For Thymbrion, see L. Jonnes, The Inscriptions of the Sultan Dagi I: (Philomelion, Thymbrion/Hadrianopolis, Tyraion) ( IGSK 62) (Bonn 2002) 41, 117.

Some other names can be noted. nf|5<xaa (no. 1054-1, a neuter plural form; variant, П15сша) in the mountains near Halikarnassos resembles nfiôaooç (possibly the same place), a city in Agamemnon's domain (9.152, 294). The city of the same name in the Troad, is "lofty Pedasos" (21.87). A horse of Achilleus is also Pedasos - similar in sound to Bellerophon's Pegasos - besides being a Trojan (16.152, 467; 6.21). Пттуааа (neuter plural, no. 1053-1) possibly represents the same town as Пг|8аса. Пт|5ааа (no. 1054-1; variant, ГКбаоа) may relate to the cuneiform Pitassa. Пг>рра ("fiery red") (no. 1115) appears in several places in Asia Minor and the Greek world, while the more foreign sounding núpaaoç, surprisingly, is a town in Thessalia (2.695). Zgusta treats the Asia Minor name as purely Greek. The somewhat similar indigenous name núpivSoç (no. 1114-1) may be related to the cuneiform Puranda' and there is also H/òpvoç (no. 1 1 14-2). 38 The ethnikon Кацауйеис,, with the possible variant, AKceâvôeuç, belongs to the town Каца v8//a// (no. 415-1), while 'Акацоц in the Iliad is the son of the Trojan Antenor (2.823, and elsewhere 4 times). BoúSeia (no. 166) recalls BoúSeiov in Thessalia, a city of the Myrmidones, companions of Achilleus (16.572). So Nonnos (13.512), but Zgusta (127) doubts it existed; if so, that the name might belong to BeûSog (no. 149) or to Homer's Bou-



Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem 1 3

appears for Púa va (no. 1377-1), a city in Kilikia "because of

0ÓOCÇ, the king". The bilocating Thoas appears in the Greek

catalogue both as an Aitolian, the son of Andraimon (2.638), and as the founder or most famous personage of Lemnos

(14.230 and elsewhere), while in later sources he is the father of

Hypsipyle. The same person, apparently, appears further on, 39

receiving a silver mixing bowl from Phoenicians (23.745). The similarity between Medeon, a town in Boiotia, Medon,

the son of Oi'leus, and a city, Medaion, was already noted. In the

Iliad, Achilleus slays the Trojan Mvfjaoç and M'>8cov, a Paionian (21.209-10); but MûScov is also a Pamphlagonian, the

squire and charioteer of Palaimenes (5.580). Agamemnon slays nepYoccíôrjç (5.535), a name which relates well to П£ууосс//а// (variant Перуаа//а//) (no. 1039), a city in Lydia. There may also be a connection here with an 'ArcoAAcov n[£y]yccaeiTr|ç (or n[Ep]yaaeiTr|ç, as Zgusta would prefer).40

Only a few cases from the Odyssey are pertinent. "Iocgoç (later also written Íaoaóç) (no. 358), a Karian city on the sea, was also a town in Arkadia and elsewhere.41 Odyssey 18.246

deion. Дацсссц (no. 235) recalls Дссцаоод, a Trojan killed by Achilleus (12.183, where Homer puns on the name). Zgusta regards it as pure Greek. Relating to the warrior Káooç in the Greek catalogue (2.676) are: a town, Káaoci (no. 455-1) in the interior of Pamphylia, KaGocio//v// (no. 455-2), Kaof| (Káari) (no. 455-3), Kaaaicapßa (no. 455-4), KaoaX,//a// (Kaaaai//a//) (no. 445-5), Каоаца (no. 455-6), Kaaápa (Kaooap//a//) (no. 455-7), and Кас[а]рц//а// (no. 445-8), not to mention Каац//о<;// (no. 456). Thus, Kas- is not only a very popular epichoric opening but produces a number of vive la différence hellenizations.

On Tyana, see D. Berges and J. Nollé, Archäologisch-historische Untersuchungen zum südwestlichen Kappadokien II ( IGSK 55) (Bonn 2000) 19, pl. 3, 297-464. The name, Graecized as Tyana, was a neuter plural, та Tûava, with few exceptions, but in Latin became a feminine singular (315) 314-316. The name, also seen as ©óava (315), probably goes back to Hittite (in Persian, Dana). Stephanos used тсс Tbava as a model for similar formations (somewhat like та HiepoaoÄ/üjjxx): "AÔava, cÌ7tava, Koaíava, МаСака, "Ouava, npœava Xápiya, "Yoicava (315).

However, the names depend upon a difficult reconstruction of an inscription (Zgusta, 482).

Zgusta (191) takes the Asia Minor name for Greek, like the East Cappadocian town (Ptolemaios v 6.21) Íaaaóç (variant, Íacóç - if it really existed). See also W. Bliimel, Die Inschriften von lasos (IGSK 28.1-2) (Bonn 1985) 143.




describes the city Argos as "Iasian" ("Iaaov "Apyoç), apparently from the name of its great hero, 'Ifjccov (mentioned in 12.72 as

piloting the Argo, and dear to Hera). Neoptolemos - so Achilleus is told - slew many Trojan allies, among them Euryplos, with his comrades, the Kf|teioi (11.521). In historical times, the

Kf)xeioi (under no. 495) lived in Teuthrania, part of the Kilikian

countryside. Another region was called Kfjxiç, and the river named Kf|xeioç flowed among a tribe called, naturally, Kexoi or Kir|Toi (accents unknown).42 The "lofty citadel" of the Odyssey (10.81), Aóqioç, is a river of Kilikia in Zgusta's list (no. 681-6) (not surprisingly, since the word means "mud", "slime"). The name probably is a purely Greek formation but may be an

epichoric-Greek mix. The examples cited here raise one of the most complicated

problems in linguistic pre-history, that of geographical names found both in Greece and in Asia Minor.43 How much are they the result of pure chance, how much from influence going one way or the other, or of a common source? The Homeric epics, undoubtedly drawing upon Greek names which were derived from Asia Minor epichorics, created suitable epic names for peoples and places, especially those in the Trojan sphere. Conversely, the Homeric names, either of real or imaginary places and persons, must have contributed later, particularly in the Hellenistic period, to the formation of Greek nomenclature for native toponomy. But the occurrence of this type of nomenclature is so infrequent, only a handful out of over 1400 names

42 Not related to the Greek sea-monster of the same name according to Zgusta (495); but perhaps to Kociéxocç (= Doric KaiáÔaç) kccicctccç, kccietóç (all nominative singulars: "hollow", "gulf', "fissures caused by an earth- quake", "with caverns" (Strabon, 5.3.6 [233]; 8.5.7 [367]); cf. Chantraine (n. 17) 528. See also F. E. Brenk, " Vnum pro multis caput : Myth, History, and Symbolic Imagery in Vergil's Palinurus incident", Latomus 43 (1984) 776- 801 (778); rpt. in F. E. Brenk, Clothed in Purple Light. Studies in Vergil and Latin Literature , Including Aspects of Philosophy, Religion , Magic , Judaism , and the New Testament Background (Stuttgart 1999) 34-59.

See, e.g., E. Laroche, "Toponymes et frontières linguistique en Asie Mineure", in E. Jacob and J. Schwartz, eds., La toponymie antique (Leiden 1977) 205-218, esp. 206-207.



Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem ' 5

in Zgusta's list, that it is the exception that makes the rule. The normal Greek practice was to respect the individuality of the

epichoric. Even if on rare occasions the Greeks used an Homeric

personal name to create a neologism, there is no evidence for a double name like Hiero-Solyma.

We do find an analogy in some Lykian names. In contrast to the practice of Christian Scriptures in reproducing Hebrew names, Lykian ones are regularly allotted to a Greek morphological class. An interesting case, from Karmylessos ( ТАМ 1.6, late IV) is Purihimeti, which is rendered Пг>р1цатц (gen. EtopiiaaTioç), while the same name in a bilingual from Tlos is

given as *rivpiß<XTT|q (gen. Пирфатос;). In this case the name, which has been Hellenized and changed to reproduce two Greek words, is allotted to a more sophisticated morphological class. The result is that the first element draws attention to the fact that

IlDpi- is also analyzable in Greek (cf., nupiÀ,á[X7rr|ç in nearby Rhodes).44 In general Greek names in Lykia fit into the category of the heroic or propitious, such as we find for Hierosolyma. However, in the case of *Пг>рфатг^ it was not necessary to

change the initial element into another form, as was the case for

Hierosolyma. The second element, however, has been changed quite radically, even if involving only the change of one letter.

The application of these linguistic phenomena to the Hiero-

solyma formation suggests a tentative hypothesis. In the early Hellenistic period Greeks probably transmitted the name for Jerusalem (Ye rûshalem, Y e rûshalayim ) in more than one form. Yerushalem could have been transliterated as Ierousalem, probably pronounced by some speakers as Yerusalim, or even

44 See S. Colvin, "Names in Hellenistic and Roman Lycia", in S. Colvin, ed., The Greco-Roman East. Politics, Culture, Society, YCS 31 (Cambridge 2004) 44-84 (66-67); and for more general principles, I. Rutherford, "Inter- ference or Translationese? Some Patterns in Lycian-Greek Bilingualism", in J. N. Adams, M. Janse, and S. Swain, eds., Bilingualism in Ancient Society. Language Contact and the Written Text (Oxford 2002) 197-219, esp. 209- 210 on nomenclature, where the two names, indigenous and Greek, seem to have the same meaning.




Yerushalim , seeing that Greek lacked a letter for sh.45 At the same time, another form existed, one more appropriate to the Greek language and grammar, lerosolyma or Hierosolyma (IspoGOÀDîoc), which, at least in the beginning, may have been

pronounced Yerosolyma 46 As such, the Greek name still

retained, if we can presume that the initial iota was pronounced as "y", all the consonants of the Hebrew word. The change of vowels is not so important, since in West Semitic languages the vowels tend to be rather fluid and often not written.

A number of towns in the neighborhood of Miletos, like

Didyma, have terminations in -yma41 Perhaps the name of Jerusalem entered the Greek world through Ionians, in particular, through Milesians, who chose a familiar termination, and at a very early date. When should they first have known about Jerusalem? The oldest Greek artifact so far discovered in Palestine is a fragment of protogeometric ceramic datable to around 925 B.C. It was found at Tell Abu Hawan, on the north end of Mount Carmel. Thus, by the tenth century, Greek ships might have reached the Palestinian coast. Samaria was already a

flourishing commercial center in the eighth century.48

45 See now K. Bieberstein, "Jerusalem", in Brill's New Pauly 6 (2005) 1169-1178; and S. Abramski and S. Gibson, "Jerusalem. Name", Encyclo- pedia Judaica XI (2nd ed., New York 2007) 144. The name first appears in the Execrations Texts , 19th- 18th centuries, spelled wš mm and probably pronounced rushalimum. In a letter at Tel el- Amarna (14th century), the name appears as Urussalim , and in Assyrian as Ursalimmu (, Sennacherib Inscription). According to Abramski and Gibson, in the Hebrew Bible it was written yrushlm and sometimes yrushlym (pronounced yerushalayim ("the city of Salem"), and that probably the original name was Irusalem , from yarah , "to found" and Shulmanu , the name of the West Semitic god. See my article, "Tragic Hierosolvma", for Jewish explanations of the name.

T. Ilan, "Names and Naming", in L. Šchiffman and J. C. VanderKam, eds., Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls II (Oxford 2000) 596-600 (598), notes that the orthography of Greek names for Jews remained surprisingly consistent. 7 For contact between Didyma and the Mycenaeans, see T. G. Schattner, "Didyma, ein minoisch-mykenischer Fundolatz?" AA (1992) 369-372.

There was apparently no Greek emporion in the strict sense - as was Naukratis in Egypt - in places like Al-Mina in North Syria. There is no convincing evidence for resident Greek civilians in the Levant before the second half of the 7th century, but mercenaries, i.e. the elite driven out of



Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem 1 7

Of the indigenous names in Zgusta's Asia Minor list, 50 end in -|ia, but only 4 in -г)ца: Aíôt>|xa and "10г>ц,а (also 'I5i)|if| or

ÌSfyua) (Karia), ПЗица (Lykia), and Люрица on the coast

opposite Rhodes.49 In the Latin list only Sama ends in -ma. The

-ица endings appear in areas settled by Karians. This again suggests that the name Ierosolyma, or Hierosolyma, came into the Greek world through Karian or Milesian traders and much earlier than historians have thought.

Investigation of -ma endings in Jewish nomenclature does not

suggest any irresistible urge to create a form like Hierosolyma. Out of more than 8,000 proper names in the Septuagint, 43 end in -ца, but of these, 7 are variants of more common forms.

Invariably the Greek form represents a Hebrew -ma ending, never an -im ending. Outside of the very rare use of Hiero-

solyma, the form -г>ца does not appear in the LXX. Nor are XoX- formations common; only 4 appear. The nearest forms to our

!гроа0А,ица are ÌSoD|ia, Хобоца - which interestingly, like

1ероа0Хг)(ха in the New Testament, has neuter plural and feminine endings - seem to be the exceptions that make the rule.50 Names like ЕоХЛгр, XoXo|X(bv, ZoÀ,(0|_icb, are hauntingly

their homeland, were there in the 8th century. See W.-D. Niemeier, "Archaic Greeks in the Orient: Textual and Archaeological Evidence", BASOR 322 (2001) 11-32 (11); and G. Lehmann, "Al Mina and the East: A Report on Research in Progress", in A. Villing, ed., The Greeks in the East (London 2005) 61-92.

See Zgusta, Kleinasiastische Ortsnamen , "Rückläufiger Index", 680- 692; no. 264-2; no. 364-1; no. 1213. Like !£роаоАл)ца, the -ща formations are all neuter plural. Names in -ща appear 11 times. В. K. Weis, Das Orakelheiligtum des Apollon von Didyma (Ludwigsburg 1983) 12-13, adds Kí|h)}i(x. See also A. D. Nock, "Word-Coinage in Greek", in Z. Stewart, ed., Essays on Religion and the Ancient World II (Oxford 1972) 642-52 (643) (= "Word-Coinage in the Hermetic Writings", Coniectanea Neotestamentica 1 1 [1947] 163-78), for nouns ending in -ца and compound words like Ìepo0éaiov being very popular. 50 For the Jewish use of double names, see M. Williams, "The Use of Alternative Names by Diaspora Jews in Graeco-Roman Antiquity", JSJ 38 (2007) 307-327, who notes that they were much more infrequent outside Palestine than within. G. H .R. Horsley, "The Use of a Double Name", in G. H. R. Horsley and S. R. Llewelyn, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity. A Review of the Greek Inscriptions and Papyri I (1981) 89-96 (94), notes how James, speaking to Peter in Acts 15.14, addresses him with the




close to familiar Greek formations. Still, like similar ones, they perversely hang on to smooth breathings and accented final

syllables, often accepting variants with doubled consonants or doubled a. At least 14 words similar to Shalim do not become

ZóX,D[i(x or Е0Х.г)Ц01. In the relatively popular Zo- combinations (41 instances), in fact, the о seems to represent just about every Hebrew vowel transmitted in the Masoretic text.

The name of the ethnographer Hekataios of Miletos (ca.500 B.C.) springs to mind. If he spoke of Jerusalem, he might have used lerosolyma or Hierosolyma. Long before the first notice in extant Greek literature, Jerusalem should have been known to traders and other Greeks, along with some acquaintance with Judaism. Trade between Palestine and Greek cities began in remote antiquity, was considerable in the Greek bronze age, and not interrupted by the invasions at the end of the Second Millennium.51 A Solymoi identification would have played no role at all.52 As time went on, assisted by the disregard for breathings in contemporary writing, 1er- probably changed to Hier- on the analogy of so many Hier- cities.53 Finally, it is not

Hebrew name, "Symeon", whereas the author writes that "Petros" rose to speak.

See for example, M. Smith. "Hellenization", in M. E. Stone and D. Satran, eds., Emerging Judaism. Studies on the Fourth and Third Centuries B.C.E. (Minneapolis 1989) 103-28 (104). J. Elayi, however, believed historians had overstated the presence of Greeks in Phoenicia, especially at Al Mina; cf. "La présence grecque dans les cités phéniciennes sous l'empire perse achémenide", REG 105 (1992) 305-27, esp., 316-320 - citing her Pénétration grecque en Phénicie sous l'Empire perse (Nancy 1988). M. R. Popham, "Precolonisation: Early Greek Contact with the East", in G. R. Tsetskhladze and F. De Angelis, The Archaeology of Greek Colonisation (Oxford 1994) 11-34, held that Al Mina was an important trading center involving Euboians, at least as traders, by 800 B.C. if not earlier, in spite of recent arguments making this at least a half century later (26). A. M. Snodgrass, 'The Growth and Standing of the Early Western Colonies", 1-10, however, disagrees (6).

For the identification of the Jews with the Solymoi, see my 'Tragic Hierosolyma", and now, M. Gonzales, "The Oracle and Cult of Ares in Asia Minor", GRBS 45 (2005) 261-283. eso. 261. 265-271.

However, T. Ilan, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity I. Palestine 330 ВСЕ- 200 CE (Tübingen 2002), shows no names beginning in Hier-, The same holds for W. Ameling, ed., Inscriptiones Judaicae Orientis



Hierosolyma. The Greek Name of Jerusalem ' 9

impossible, as several scholars have suggested, that early Jews, taking advantage of some loopholes in Greek nomenclature, invented for themselves, or at least adopted a glorious pseudo- etymology.54 Some Jews also believed in a common origin for Hebrew and non-Hebrew words, but evidence seems lacking for

Hierosolyma .55 But there is something against this theory. Openings with ler-

in the Hebrew names of the LXX are quite common, suggesting that 1гроаоА,г)|ш might have been pronounced Yerosolyma rather than Hierosolyma. Besides Ì8pot>occA,ii|i, 56 proper names in the LXX begin with ìep- if we except derivatives of

ÍspoDoocA,íi|a. Of these 7 are declinable, but 4 of these are

apparently variants. To this one could add 234 other names, which begin with Ye- and were translitered as ìe-.56 The opening ìep- appears 24 times, with ìepoc- and ìepo- 5 times, and

ìepot>- twice.57 А 'lepo- opening would have strikingly called

II. Kleinasien (Tübingen 2004) (also no lepo- or Iep- names), and for D. Noy, A. Panayatov, and H. Bloedhorn, Inscriptiones Judaicae Orientis I. Eastern Europe (Tübingen 2004). In D. Noy, and H. Bloedhorn, Inscriptiones Judaicae Orientis. Ill Syria and Cyprus (Tübingen 2004) 270, we find Hierius Îépioç. W. Horbury and D. Noy, Jewish Inscriptions of Graeco- Roman Egypt (Cambridge 1992) 326, give ìepcc£.

Only a few names in Roman Palestine began with 'Iep-: ìepi%db (also spelled 'Epixcb, 'Iepi|io')6, and Íepuo^coç; see M. Avi-Yonah, Gazetteer of Roman Palestine , QEDEM 5 (Jerusalem 1976) 68-70. In the LXX , among Greek words beginning with ier- only those related to "holy", and ïepoc| (falcon) appear, always with the rough breathing. Of the 3 Hebraicisms which appear, two, íepeí|i (or iepija) and Íepo')ôí6, begin with a rough breathing. However, over 430 appearances of íepeúç and 100 of íepóç undoubtedly made their influence felt on Hierosolyma ; see Hatch and Redpath (I 678-683 and n. 33).

See H. B. Rosén, L'hébreu et ses rapports avec le monde classique (Paris 1979) 27, who cites as an example the Greek ettoç or acpeç interpreted as Hebrew 'epes. 56 Hatch and Redpath, III. Supplement , 77. 57 See Hatch and Redpath, III. Supplement , 80-82. They give a smooth breathing to Ierosolyma , which only appears in the apocryphal books (I Esdras , Tobiah , I-IV Maccabees ), sometimes not in all the mss. (the Alexandrinus seeming to favor ìepoaóÀ,D|ia while the Sinaiticus likes 'IepoDoaX/niJ,), and in some books alternates with Ì8poaóÀ,u|ioc (I Esdras , I Maccabees).




attention to the name of the Holy City.58 Hierosolyma , then, is not as recognizable a pattern as one might think.59

Unlike many of its sister hierapoleis , Jerusalem, though perhaps with a population of no more than 20,000 inhabitants in the Hellenistic period, was the relatively important capital of a considerable ethnic group. In this respect it differed from many other remote towns with not much more than a sanctuary for

indefatigable pilgrims and sightseers.60 Finally, the shift in name could not have occurred late, for example in the second century B.C. in connection with events at Jerusalem under Antiochos

Epiphanes. The Hellenistic name is testified in the historian Hekataios of Abdera (ca. 300 B.C.), and in the Zenon Papyri (260-ca. 246 B.C.), even if it appears only late in the Septuagint and in other Hellenistic authors.

It "may well be more than a fortuitous piece of nomenclature; it may be a deliberate Greek interpretation made by early Jewish-Hellenistic circles, which is connected with the Homeric tradition."61 If so, eager to endow themselves with an honorary

58 Jerusalem was referred to as the "holy city", with ayioç always being used in the LXX with Jerusalem or nòXiq to translate the Hebrew qadesh, e.g. Nehemiah 11.1, Isaiah 13.9, 52.1, 66.20; and Maccabees 2.9.14 for яоАлс.

59 None of the Hebrew names given in Acts is either a Hiero- or a Sol- formation. See M. Williams, "Palestinian Jewish Personal Names in Acts", in R. Bauckham, ed., The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting ( The Book of Acts in its First Century Settins IV) (Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1995) 79-113.

The estimate goes from anywhere between 10,000 to 200,000 stable inhabitants in Jerusalem in the 1st century. B. McGing, "Population and Proselytism: How Many Jews Were There in the Ancient World?", in J. R. Bartlett, ed., Jews in the Hellenistic and Roman Cities (London and New York 2002) 88-106, argues that all these estimates are very problematic. He suggests at the most 100,000 and probably much less (101). 61 M. Hengel, Jews, Greeks and Barbarians. Aspects of the Hellenization of Judaism in the Pre-Christian Period (London 1980) 119-120. See also 172, n. 47, citing the Zenon Papyri , PCZ 59004 (= CP J 2a/col.I, 3) and PCZ 59005 (= CP J 2b). For the papyri see V. A. Tcherikover and A. Fuks, Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum I (Cambridge, Mass. 1957) 121-122. Papyrus 2a contains a list of eleven towns visited by Zenon in Palestine and Jordan, among them Iepooo^^jia. Papyrus 2b also mentions l£poooX,D|ia, in connection with a baker and "wheat flour from Toubias". For papyri mentioning Hierosolyma , see also A. Calderini and S. Daris, Dizionario dei nomi geografici e topografici dell'Egitto greco-romano III. 1 (Milano 1978)




pedigree within the Greek world, certain Hellenistic Jews flew in the face of Homeric scholiasts and geographers. This

explanation would fit the Jewish intellectual history sketched out for this period by Momigliano, but it needs some clarification. Given with no supporting evidence, the Jewish

origin of the Solymoi connection remains only an educated

guess.63 As formulated by Momigliano, in the early Hellenistic

period Jews made clumsy attempts to integrate themselves within Greek culture, something which led to ridicule by their Greek counterparts. Only later were they able to achieve a

higher degree of sophistication in this venture.64 This view, however, has been challenged by Gruen, who sees the Jews as

looking upon themselves as more advanced in learning and wisdom than the Greeks.65 At least educated Greeks should not have identified the Jews with the Solymoi. They had a precise location for them, and a sanctuary existed there even in Roman

22. For the possibility of the city being mentioned by Alkaios, see Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism I. 13 with n. 55, II. 8 (citing Alkaios, fr. 50 [Diehl]), and E. Gabba, Greek Knowledge of Jews , 13 (n. 12). The fragment of Hekataios of Abdera ( FGrH 264 F 5.3]) appears in Diodoros 40, fr. 3.3, but the Greek form of the name could have been substituted by either Diodoros or Photios, for the Hebrew form; see M. Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism I (Jerusalem 1974) 20^44. 62 A. Momigliano, Alien Wisdom. The Limits of Hellenization (Cambridge 1975) 92-94, puts the origin of the mythical etymology - along the lines of Hekataios of Abdera (ca. 315 B.C.) - in the mid-2nd cent. B.C. See also E. J. Bickerman, "Origines Gentium", CP 47 (1952) 65-81, who attributed the Solymoi etymology to a Jewish author in the Hellenistic period (79, n. 32).

See Č. P. Jones, Kinship Diplomacy in The Ancient World (Cambridge, Mass. 1998) 73-74. The main Greek traditions seem to have associated the Jews with Indian philosophers (Klearchos) or Egypt (Hekataios). Jones does not mention the Solymoi. Colvin, "Names in Hellenistic and Roman Lycia", notes the prominence in Lykia of the names of Sarpedon, whose grandfather Bellerophon defeated the Solymoi, and of Glaukos, the companion of Sarpedon, and also a grandson of Bellerophon (44^5, 63, 68). There was a cult of Sarpedon at Xanthos.

On the LXX translation, see Janse, "Aspects of Bilingualism", in J. N. Adams, M. Janse, and S. Swain, eds., Bilingualism in Ancient Society. Language Contact and the Written Text (Oxford 2002) 332-392.

E. Gruen, "Cultural Fictions and Cultural Identity", ТАРА 123 (1993) 1-14, esp. 11; and Heritage and Hellenism. The Reinvention of the Jewish Tradition (Berkeley 1998) 268-270.




times.66 The incredible reluctance of Jews to transform Jewish names into Greek ones beginning with Hiero- suggests they would not have done something like this. The Hiero- formation

probably was eventually inevitable, by analogy with the names of other towns. Even if they did not invent the word, however, few Jews (except for some of the prophets?) would object to someone calling their city "holy".67

66 The modern location is Furuncuk. Besides the notices in the Barrington Atlas , these ancient sites can be found at the Pleiades website http://pleiades.stoa.org/name of the Ancient World Mapping Center at the University of North Carolina at Chanel Hill. U.S.A.

See note 58 above.



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