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The Idea of Στοιχεῖον in Grammar and Cosmology: from Antique Roots to Medieval Systems

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The Idea of Στοιχεῖον in Grammar and Cosmology: From Antique Roots to Medieval Systems Angel Eduardo Juan Acevedo A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Combined Historical Studies The Warburg Institute University of London 2018 1 I declare that the work presented in this dissertation is my own. Signed: Date: 2 Abstract This thesis defines and follows the development of the concept expressed by theGreek στοιχεῖον and the Latin elementum. From approximately the sixth century bc to the twelfth century ad, these words had three simultaneous meanings: letter, number and element, corresponding respectively to the disciplines of grammar, arithmetic and cosmology. The first part of the thesis, in two chapters, draws primarily onGreek philosophical, grammatical and arithmetical sources to delineate this polysemy, with particular attention to Pythagorean number cosmology and the foundational and lasting role of Plato’s Timaeus. Once the triple concept is established, the second part, in four chapters, tracks it through late Antiquity in Hellenistic religious texts and in Abrahamic scriptural sources and exegetical literature, identifying semantic analogues in Hebrew and Arabic. The third part of the thesis studies particular casesof alphanumeric cosmology in doctrinal systems of major Jewish, Christian and Islamic authors of the High Middle Ages, namely in the Sefer Yetsirah, in Aquinas and Ibn ʿArabī. In the conclusion I gather the comparative evidence to situate the concept of the alphanumeric element in its relations to the broader metaphysical, theological and cosmological heritage of the International Mediterranean Middle Ages. 3 Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 9 Notes to the Reader 10 Transliterations .................................. 10 Hebrew Transliteration ........................... 10 Arabic Transliteration ............................ 11 Bibliographical Style ................................ 11 Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 The Concept ................................. 15 Thesis Structure ............................... 16 Survey of Scholarship ............................ 17 Methodology Matters ............................ 19 I Defining the Concept 22 1 Notes on Early Alphabetic Cosmology 23 Starting from Aristotle’s ‘Lexicon’ ........................ 23 First Glimmerings .............................. 28 Etymology .............................. 28 The Concept ............................. 30 Atoms and Letters ......................... 30 Platonic Corpus ............................... 31 The Constellations .............................. 32 Latin Correspondences ........................... 33 Greek Grammarians ................................ 33 4 a c e v e d o · alphanumeric c o s m o l o g y The Opening Anacoluthon ......................... 35 Simplicity and Pedagogy .......................... 36 The Semitic Origin .............................. 36 Nature-given or Created ...................... 38 More Etymologies .............................. 38 Number and Order ......................... 38 Walls and Ramparts ........................ 40 And what about ‘γράμματα’? ................... 40 Attributes of the στοιχεῖον ......................... 41 The Four Cosmic Elements ......................... 42 Why Twenty-Four? More Cosmic Correspondences ....... 43 The Moon and the Stars ...................... 44 The Planets ............................. 45 Astrological Correspondences ................... 46 Microcosmic Correspondences .................. 47 Graphical Layout .............................. 48 Sanchuniathon and the Snakes ....................... 49 Latin Grammarians ................................ 50 Conclusion ..................................... 52 2 On the Tracks of Arithmetical Cosmology 54 Number and Letter ................................. 54 Isopsephism, Onomatomancy and Gematria ............... 58 Choeroboscus on the Names of Numbers ............. 61 Reckoning and Science of Numbers ....................... 62 Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism ......................... 65 Lore & Science and Further Developments ............ 67 Imitation or Participation ..................... 69 On Creation and Order ....................... 70 The Pythagorean Logos ....................... 70 The Fundamental Decad ...................... 71 Philolaos ................................... 72 Fragments of Philolaus ....................... 73 ‘Pythagorean’ Milestones .......................... 79 Nicomachus and his Introduction ................. 83 Nicomachus’ Introduction Tables ...................... 84 Conclusion ..................................... 101 5 a c e v e d o · alphanumeric c o s m o l o g y II Alphanumeric Cosmology in the Abrahamic Scriptures 105 Introduction · Change and Continuity ...................... 106 3 Jewish Sources and Exegesis 108 Tanakh and Translations ............................. 108 Genesis—Creation by Speech ........................ 108 Psalm 33:6 .............................. 111 Exodus—Bezalel ............................... 111 Counting the Glory ............................. 113 The Potter of Light .............................. 114 Acrostics ................................... 115 Summary ................................... 118 Philo ........................................ 118 On the Making of the World ........................ 119 Archetype and Noetic Creation .................. 121 The Model is Λόγος ......................... 123 Numbers: the Tetrad and the Decad ................ 124 Chapter Summary: Philo in Perspective .................. 125 4 Christian Sources and Exegesis 127 Letters-Numerals of the Christic Word-Number ................. 127 Mysteria litterarum: Textual History .................... 128 Mysteria litterarum—the text .................... 130 22 or 24 Letters ........................... 132 Apocryphal Gospels ............................. 132 A Spiritual ABC in Monastic Literature .................. 133 5 Hermetica, Magic and Gnostic Sources 135 Who is Hermes? ............................... 136 Thoth and the Letters in Philebus ...................... 138 The Creation Elements in the Hermetica .................. 140 Magic Phonemes ............................... 142 Magical Papyri ................................ 143 The Twenty-Four Alphabetic Names of Gods ............... 145 Gnostic Writings .................................. 148 Evangelium Veritatis ............................. 149 Marsanes ................................... 151 Marcus the Valentinian ........................... 152 Conclusion ..................................... 157 6 a c e v e d o · alphanumeric c o s m o l o g y 6 Alphanumeric Cosmology in Islamic Scripture and Exegesis 159 Introduction .................................... 159 The Linguistic-Logical Aspect ....................... 161 Starting Point and Influences ........................... 162 The Arabic Alphabet Order ......................... 164 The Arabic Letters as Numerals .................. 166 The Development of the Science of Letters ................... 169 ʿAlī: The Common Source .......................... 169 Letters in the Ḥadīth Literature ...................... 171 The Two Branches .............................. 173 Some Key Texts ............................... 176 Back to Basics: Philosophy & Physics ...................... 179 The Metaphysics ............................... 179 Jābir and ‘The Element’ ........................... 183 The ‘Element’ of the Foundation ...................... 183 The Balance of the Letters .......................... 185 III World Construction: Systems of Cosmic Design 188 Introduction: System Building .......................... 189 7 Sefer Yetsirah: The Bright Jewel of Alphanumeric Cosmopoiesis 190 Selections from the Text .............................. 193 The Thirty-Two Wondrous Paths of Wisdom ............... 194 The Three Modes of Inscribing ....................... 196 The Absolute Numerations—Sefirot .................... 198 The Twenty-Two Elemental Letters .................... 200 The Title: ‘Creation’ or ‘Formation’? ....................... 203 Authorship and Conclusion ............................ 205 8 Alphabetic Consecration & Metaphysical Foundation 206 The Abecedarium in Church Dedication ..................... 206 The Roman Gromatici ............................ 208 Christening the Land: mensuratio/γεωδαισία ............... 210 Rabanus Maurus .......................... 211 The Celtic Connections .............................. 212 Eriugena ................................... 213 Ramon Llull ............................. 213 Psellos: Letters and Matter ............................ 216 7 a c e v e d o · alphanumeric c o s m o l o g y Aquinas and the Second ‘Signified’ Matter ................ 217 Dante and Hildegard ................................ 219 9 Islamic Systematisation and the Sublime Letters That We Were 222 Abū Ḥātim’s Letter Cosmogony ......................... 223 A Pure Brotherhood ................................ 225 How Pythagorean are the Ikhwān? ..................... 226 Magic Squares in the Epistles ........................ 227 Music: Prosody: Grammar ......................... 228 ‘Letters’ in the Rasā’il ............................ 229 Risāla al-Jāmiʿa ............................... 231 A ‘Sufi’ Interim ................................... 233 Al-Būnī and the Sun of Divine Sciences ...................... 235 The Letter-Elements in al-Būnī ....................... 236 The First Paragraph ............................
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