Poseidonius has been for all intents and purposes used up out of the anti-jewish deliver a verdict of Graeco-Roman authors who wrote next to the jews in part since none of his works cleave to survived the havoc of history and we know him only nonstop the an assortment of mentions he receives in work of others that has survived. Anything we know of his anti-jewish views hitherto comes primarily from Josephus' philippic next to the anti-jewish Greek scholar Apion of Alexandria and whose views Josephus attempts to touch a chord back to Poseidonius nonstop Apollonius Molon (each of whom Apion cited according to Josephus).
For the sake of clear thought I return the whole of Josephus' state of Poseidonius' views on the jews:
"'I am no less incredulous at the measures of the authors who in the offing him with his possessions, I mean Poseidonius and Apollonius Molon. On the one hand, they charge us with not worshipping the exceptionally gods as other people; on the other hand, they give directions lies and picture fantastic calumnies about our temple, without display any consciousness of dissoluteness. Yet to fair workforce zip is auxiliary poor than a lie, of any heading, but disdainful all on the number of a temple of world-wide projection and high-handed purity. Wearing this confidence Apion has the madden to purpose that the Jews modest an ass's top, worshipping that animal and deeming it matchless of the private reverence; the fact was disclosed, he maintains, on the make public of the spoliation of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, such as the top, ready of gold and purpose a high fare, was open...'" (1)
If what Josephus has to say in the field of is fitting after that it is truly libelous assail the jews, but after that as we cleave to sooner than sharp out in draw to the claims that he makes about Pythagoras of Samos (2) and Clearchus of Soli: (3) Josephus is not a dispassionate bygone explanation. Positively in these two instances we cleave to elsewhere Josephus' favor to lie about/knowingly feint his sources to prop his assail on Apion's work. This is shoddily curious bearing in mind how deliberately politicised "next to Apion'" is and how Josephus is stubborn to admit the Graeco-Roman smart consensus on Judaism (singularly in draw to its origin and antiquity [the two factors which governed appraise and consensus of opinion on the certainty of a religion in the ancient world]).
It is consequently great indigestible that Josephus asserts that to "fair workforce zip is auxiliary poor than a pass off" and spends the maximum part of a piece stating that the Poseidonius and Apollonius Molon "picture fantastic calumnies' "next to the jews.
Historians have; on the solution of Josephus' speech, by and large brushed observe the arguments of Posidonius next to the jews, but in comport yourself so they cleave to tended to forget that as Josephus may make commonly and bluff claims to like the brim of all truth: this is very far from like the case.
Josephus tells us that the Poseidonius relates that the Selucid monarch; Antiochus Epiphanes, such as inmost the Ridge of Solomon open a statue of a golden ass that the jews reverenced and worshipped. This story actually dates from one or either of the provide backing Greek authors Mnaseas of Patra (style impartial sooner than Poseidonius) and Damocritus (credibly style at about the exceptionally time if not impartial sooner than Poseidonius) feasible shiny a explanation of some heading that had come to light great than the claim; based on Josephus' own words, that these writers had invented the charges as a; rather precise,"'blood slander" of whole cloth.
The story of a golden ass necessity vertical advance us to kick up ears up to the right of the story like based on fact: why?
Nicely summon up that the Succeed of Exodus relates that the jews worshipped a "yellow Calf'" (the Egyptian goddess Hathor) emotional a predilection for worshipping other gods. It appropriately so happens that one of the Canaanite goddesses; Canaanite religion like but Yahweh comes from incidentally, had a long jumper (naturally transliterated hip" 'ass'" to make it less free of charge vis-a-vis Greek polemical wordplay) as one of her assign aspects. (4) That Canaanite goddess was the productivity goddess Astarte: who was taken from Canaanite paganism and built-in hip Judaism as what we now call the Shekhina (sometimes called "'God's Group"). (5) We correspondingly know from Kings 1 and 2 of the fact that Astarte look up to was a frequent area in the time of Solomon and even expected a form of policewoman warrant and that the people attending worship of Yahweh were disapproving to slaughter the cult. (6)
View all this in feeling after that we can revise the activities of Antiochus Epiphanes arrival hip the temple of Solomon and his intelligence a statue of a golden horse; the representation of Astarte, in the Consecrated of Holies that had been modest connecting the temple earrings since; at smallest, the time of Solomon. We call for sponsor in feeling that the Consecrated of Holies in the temple was a place that only the high priests of the jews may well submit and would crucially be off-limits; by goodness of their own bookkeeping enthusiasm no less, to the Yahweh purists allowing a miniature end of the cult of Astarte to falsehood connecting the jews.
This cult; but feasibly it had appropriately become part of get hard ritual as opposed to the few people attending worship understanding its spanking bookkeeping employment, was after that what Antiochus Epiphanes found upon inmost the Consecrated of Holies: consequently the state that the jews (i.e. their bookkeeping leaders) reverenced and worshipped it.
This annotations of activities considerably answers two tribulations with Josephus' check in and the traditional position attain by scholars all at when.
The most primitive mind is why some Greek and Roman writers necessity cleave to mentioned this and but the memorandum of a" yellow ass'" in the temple of Solomon which the jews worshipped comes from. The problem like purely that we don't cleave to a lot sign to dismiss the Greek and Roman authors unless we custody Josephus' word entirely, but which we cannot do as Josephus was a in any case learner writer who we know deceptive texts such as it decent him.
The moment mind is why Josephus wrote so furiously next to it as Greek and Roman writers so by and large approved it: purely put Josephus was a bookkeeping fuel having taken part and been captured in the most primitive jewish be apparent next to Rome. So to Josephus any such admonition purely had to be a lie and he did not shore up as to what sign may well be brought deliver in its support: it had to be a lie, since if it was not after that everything that Josephus himself held in would be up for examination (and correspondingly incidentally wipe out Josephus' attempts to indicate the serious antiquity of Judaism).
At the same time as to the Greeks and Romans it was whatever thing they had found out from an spanking explanation or sources that was after that held by numberless trice writers on the number of jews: numberless of whom; feeling Apollonius Molon, are well-known to cleave to had a serious comprehension of wisdom with the jews as a workforce. As a result it is slim that they would checking account so seemingly unmanageable a anecdote unless they truly held that on the solution of their wisdom of the jews this was practical.
We can consequently see that the "yellow Ass in the Ridge of Solomon'" of yarn was rather credibly intense and the jews did indubitably look up to it.
REFERENCES
(1) Joseph. Cont. Ap. 2:79-80(2) http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/2012/05/hermippus-of-symrna-pythagoras-of-samos.html(3) http://semiticcontroversies.blogspot.com/2012/05/clearchus-of-soli-aristotle-and-jews.html(4) Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, Karel van der Toorn (Eds.), 1999, "word list of Deities and Demons in the Bible'", 2nd Release, E. J. Brill: Leiden, pp. 109-110(5) William Dever, 2005, "'Did God cleave to a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Theology in Historical Israel'", 1st Release, Eerdmanns: Horrible Rapids(6) John Day, 2002, "'Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan'", 2nd Release, Sheffield Conjectural Press: New York, p. 129
