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Do not fill this in! ==Graeco-Roman syncretism== Yahweh is frequently invoked in [[Graeco-Roman magic]]al texts dating from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE, most notably in the [[Greek Magical Papyri]],{{sfn|Betz|1996|p={{page needed|date=August 2020}}}} under the names [[Tetragrammaton|Iao]], [[Adonai]], [[Sabaoth]], and [[Elohim|Eloai]].{{sfn|Smith|Cohen|1996b|pp=242–256}} In these texts, he is often mentioned alongside traditional [[List of Greek mythological figures|Graeco-Roman deities]] and [[List of Egyptian deities|Egyptian deities]].{{sfn|Smith|Cohen|1996b|pp=242–256}} The [[archangels]] [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]], [[Gabriel]], [[Raphael (archangel)|Raphael]], and [[Uriel|Ouriel]] and Jewish [[cultural hero]]es such as [[Abraham]], [[Jacob]], and [[Moses]] are also invoked frequently.{{sfn|Arnold|1996|p={{page needed|date=August 2020}}}} The frequent occurrence of Yahweh's name was likely due to Greek and Roman folk magicians seeking to make their spells more powerful through the invocation of a prestigious foreign deity.{{sfn|Smith|Cohen|1996b|pp=242–256}} A coin issued by [[Pompey]] to celebrate his successful [[Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC)|conquest of Judaea]] showed a kneeling, bearded figure grasping a branch (a common Roman symbol of submission) subtitled ''BACCHIVS IVDAEVS'', which may be translated as either "The Jewish [[Bacchus]]" or "Bacchus the Judaean". The figure has been interpreted as depicting Yahweh as a local variety of Bacchus, that is, [[Dionysus]].{{sfn|Scott|2015|pp=169–172}} However, as coins minted with such iconography ordinarily depicted subjected persons, and not the gods of a subjected people, some have assumed the coin simply depicts the surrender of a Judean who was called "Bacchius", sometimes identified as the Hasmonean king [[Aristobulus II]], who was overthrown by Pompey's campaign.{{sfn|Scott|2015|pp=11, 16, 80, 126}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levine |first=Lee I. |title=Judaism and Hellenism in Antiquity: Conflict or Confluence? |date=1998 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-97682-2 |pages=38–60 |jstor=j.ctvcwnpvs |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lane |first=Eugene N. |date=November 1979 |title=Sabazius and the Jews in Valerius Maximus: a Re-examination |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/abs/sabazius-and-the-jews-in-valerius-maximus-a-reexamination/9A146A478B7D4B7F239ED7AE321C2F34 |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |language=en |volume=69 |pages=35–38 |doi=10.2307/299057 |jstor=299057 |s2cid=163401482 |issn=1753-528X}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Harlan |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YztmAAAAMAAJ |title=Roman Republican Moneyers and Their Coins, 63 B.C.–49 B.C. |publisher=Seaby |year=1995 |isbn=0-7134-7672-9 |pages=115–118 |language=en-us}}</ref> In any event, [[Tacitus]], [[John the Lydian]], [[Cornelius Labeo]], and [[Marcus Terentius Varro]] similarly identify Yahweh with Bacchus–Dionysus.{{sfn|McDonough|1999|page=88}} Jews themselves frequently used symbols that were also associated with Dionysus such as [[kylix]]es, [[amphora]]e, leaves of [[ivy]], and clusters of [[grapes]], a similarity [[Plutarch]] used to argue that Jews worshipped a [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostasized]] form of Bacchus–Dionysus.{{sfn|Smith|Cohen|1996a|page=233}} In his ''[[Moralia|Quaestiones Convivales]]'', Plutarch further notes that the Jews hail their god with cries of "[[wikt:euoi|Euoi]]" and "[[Sabazios|Sabi]]", phrases associated with the worship of Dionysus.{{sfn|Plutarch|n.d.|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg112.perseus-eng1:4.6 "Question VI"]}}{{sfn|McDonough|1999|page=89}}{{sfn|Smith|Cohen|1996a|pages=232–233}} According to [[Sean M. McDonough]], Greek speakers may have confused [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] words such as [[Sabbath]], [[Alleluia]], or even possibly some variant of the name Yahweh itself, for more familiar terms associated with Dionysus.{{sfn|McDonough|1999|pages=89–90}} Other Roman writers, such as [[Juvenal]], [[Petronius]], and [[Florus]], identified Yahweh with the god [[Caelus]].<ref>[[Juvenal]], ''Satires'' 14.97; Peter Schäfer, ''Judeophobia: Attitudes toward the Jews in the Ancient World'' (Harvard University Press, 1997), pp. 41, 79–80.</ref><ref>[[Petronius]], frg. 37.2; Schäfer, ''Judeophobia'', pp. 77–78.</ref><ref>[[Florus]], ''Epitome'' 1.40 (3.5.30): "The Jews tried to defend [[Jerusalem]]; but he ''[Pompeius Magnus]'' entered this city also and saw that grand Holy of Holies of an impious people exposed, Caelum under a golden vine" ''(Hierosolymam defendere temptavere Iudaei; verum haec quoque et intravit et vidit illud grande inpiae gentis arcanum patens, sub aurea vite Caelum).'' Finbarr Barry Flood, ''The Great Mosque of Damascus: Studies on the Makings of an Umayyad Visual Culture'' (Brill, 2001), pp. 81 and 83 (note 118). The ''[[Oxford Latin Dictionary]]'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, 1985 reprinting), p. 252, entry on ''caelum'', cites Juvenal, Petronius, and Florus as examples of ''Caelus'' or ''Caelum'' "with reference to [[Jehovah]]; also, to some symbolization of Jehovah."</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page