Dierk wrote (in part):
>
> N.b. 'infra' (adv.) means 'below'; and a passage that exclusively follows
> the course of the River Jordan and - here - of the Dead Sea, is always to be
> understood in the sense of 'suedlich von'. Otherwise one would expect a
> specification like 'infra... ...inter septentriones et occasium solis
> (spectans)', ie 'below... ... northwest of'.
> And I don't believe that a German scholar of old ever went out into the
> field without a military compass.
I was hoping for some impression of how Pliny might have oriented his map
thinking, as possible added light on his "infra hos" crux. Along with many
of you, I've stared at this larger passage from Pliny again and again, and
especially in light of recent postings to QUM and ORION (I can hardly keep
them straight!), am impressed by the following observations:
(1) In his general description, Pliny circles the two inland "Judaean"
bodies of water in almost identical ways -- "Genesera" (Lake Galilee) is a
major stop along the reluctant southward journey of the Jordan from its
origins at Panias (Caesarea Philippi) to its demise in the Asphalt Lake
(NH 5.71), and "ab oriente" (from the east) are Iulias and Hippo, "a
meridie" (to the south) is Tarichea, and "ab occidente" (from the west) is
Tiberias; the Dead Sea itself has "ab oriente" (from the east) nomad
Arabia [note: apparently an area, not a specific settlement], "a meridie"
[sic! to the south, but Machaerus is to the east on our maps!] Machaerus
and Callirhoe, and "ab occidente" (from the west) the "Esseni" [note: a
"gens," even a plural form, apparently not explicitly or implicitly a
town] -- "infra hos" [below them] is Engada, "inde" [from there] Masada.
If there is strict geographical logic to all this, Engada could be (in
Pliny's source and/or in his mind) north of "Esseni," with Masada yet
further along. Pliny does NOT exclusively follow the path of the Jordan
with reference to either of these bodies of water, but seems to go around
them clockwise (in a non-clock world). Thus I find no solution for the
exact nuance of "infra hos" from this context.
(2) Not only does Pliny use "infra" (below) in his descriptions, but also
"supra" (above). It would seem to me likely that these are related as
geographical/topographical pointers. So what does Pliny mean when he
locates
"Judaea" "supra" Idumea and Samaria (NH 5.70)? He has just finished
mentioning the "mountains" of Sebaste and Gamala in Samaria, so does he
mean that "Judaea" in which he also mentions "mountains," is at a
generally higher altitude? Perhaps; his general orientation of Idumea and
Samaria comes even earlier (5.68), where he locates them along the coast
of the Phoenecian Sea (Mediterranean), moving counter-clockwise from the
Nile Delta (i.e. Peleusium) past the Serbonian Lake to Idumean Gaza and
Samaritan Ascalon, etc. So it is entirely possible that "supra" in this
larger context indicates moving inland to the higher ground of Judaea
(noting also the mountain location of some inland Samaritan sites), and
thus actually means higher in elevation.
So what? Based on the very interesting and confusing ancient accounts
about the areas to the south and west of the Dead Sea, and Pliny's seeming
ambiguity about the relation of these "Esseni" to it all, my strong
suspicion is that Pliny thought that the area of the Esseni was somewhere
vaguely in the elevated country west of the Dead Sea (probably related
somehow to where he would have placed Sodom, based on the sources
available to him), and that "infra hos" means just that -- downhill from
them, moving back towards those amazing Dead Sea shores, is Engedi, and
also Masada.
Thus I would say that Pliny's account is basically irrelevant for
arguments about Qumran's possible Essene connections. Qumran may have
housed Essenes at some point, or not, but Pliny is of no help for the
arguments. (Whether his blurred sources could have been of help is quite
another question, but I'm even sceptical about that.)
Bob
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
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http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
For private reply, e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Robert Kraft)
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