Alexander Polyhistor
Greek compiler who preserved Berossus' Babylonian history
- Born
- c. 110–105 BCE, Miletus
- Died
- After 40 BCE, Laurentum (in a fire)
- Status
- Enslaved in the Mithridatic War; freed and made a Roman citizen by Sulla
- Works
- Chaldaean History; On the Jews; c. 40 books in all
- Survives in
- Quotations by Eusebius and others
A Greek scholar and former slave whose excerpts are the main surviving route to Berossus' account of Oannes and the Flood.
What is Alexander Polyhistor known for?
Lucius Cornelius Alexander, called Polyhistor ('very learned'), was a Greek scholar born in Miletus around 110 to 105 BCE. Captured during the wars against Mithridates, he was enslaved in Rome and worked as a tutor, then was freed and given Roman citizenship by Sulla. He wrote prolifically on the histories and geography of many lands. He is said to have died in a fire at Laurentum.
None of his books survive. His value lies in what he excerpted. His Chaldaean History summarized the Babyloniaca of Berossus, the Babylonian priest who wrote in Greek around 290 to 278 BCE. His On the Jews quoted Jewish and Greek writers otherwise unknown.
His excerpts were in turn copied by Josephus, Eusebius and George Syncellus. Through this chain we have Berossus' story of Oannes, the fish-bodied being who came out of the sea to teach humanity, his list of ten kings before the Flood, and his version of the Flood hero Xisuthrus. Each copy adds a step between the reader and the Babylonian original.
His excerpts of Berossus are the source for Oannes and the Babylonian kings before the Flood.
Mentioned on these pages
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Alexander Polyhistor'Reference
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Alexander Polyhistor'Reference
- McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia, 'Polyhistor, Alexander'Reference
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