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Caliph Al-Ma}Mun and the Treasure of the Pyramids*

Caliph Al-Ma}Mun and the Treasure of the Pyramids*

CALIPH AL-MA}MUN AND THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS*

Al-Ma}mun Winter 216 A.H./832 A.D. a distinguished military expedition on its way, departing from to Egypt1. Caliph al-Ma}mun was personally leading it. But we should first briefly recall the preceding events. Al-Ma}mun had had to wait till the end of his reign before being able to launch an attack against the Byzantine , for reasons of intern instability in his own state2, and even now ill-omened tidings had reached him about an uprising in the heart of Lower Egypt3. His brother the later caliph al-Mu{taÒim, then military governor appointed to keep under control4, did not succeed in stabilizing the situation, on the contrary: his unfortunate fiscal policy provoked the Coptic population and called forth a dangerous alliance between the malcontents among the Arabs and the recently converted muslims from the Coptic christians on the one side, and the Copts on the other5. So the caliph decided to take advantage of the winter-recess in his military operations in order to go and restore order in Egypt.

Dionysius of Tell MaÌre At the same time, another personality undertook a similar journey: Dionysius of Tell MaÌre, Syrian-Jacobite patriarch since 818 A.D. and,

* The following lines are the slightly revised text of a lecture held the 11th Nov. 1993 at the Dutch Institute, “Nederlands Instituut voor Archaeologie en Arabische Studiën”, in . They are dedicated to this oasis of study and intellectual encounter and to all my friends in the Irresistible City. 1 According to Michael the Syrian, he arrived in Egypt in February (seba†), J.-. CHABOT, Chronique de Michel le Syrien. Patriarche jacobite d'Antioche (1166- 1199), Paris 1905, 3: 76 (+ n. 8) / 522; Ya{qubi, Ta}riÌ 2: 466. 2 G. OSTROGORSKY, Geschichte des byzantinischen Staates (Handbuch der Altertums- wiss. 12, 1.2) München 19633, 174. In the beginning of Ma}mun's reign, his empire was torn by civil wars, M.A. SHABAN, Islamic History. A New Interpretation, Cambridge 1976 (1986), 2: 41 ff. 3 Ya{qubi, o.c. 2: 466. 4 SHABAN, o.c. 53, referring to ™abari, Ta}riÌ (events of the years 213-214 A.H.). 5 SHABAN, o.c. 59-60. 222 J.M.F. VAN REETH hardly surprising for an oriental prelate, a very smart diplomat too. His pontificate had begun in a rather tense and turbulent atmosphere, due to a theological dispute that had arisen under his predecessor — a matter on which we shall not insist: suffice it to remark that it had led to the appointment of an anti-patriarch, , who had his supporters in the region of Cyrrhus in the north of Syria6. When Dionysius succeeded to the See, his rival didn't give up yet, but went to plead his cause in Callinicus with the well-known Emir {Abd Allah b. ™ahir. But the mighty governor of took the part of Dionysius, as the one who had been formally recognized by the supreme authority: the caliph7. Still in 829, the case came before the caliph himself, but the reputation of the patriarch had become so strong, that the caliph confirmed his loyal subject to his rank8, presumably for his active role in pacifying the country, as during the expedition of {Abd Allah b. ™ahir in the years 825- 827 to the already then rebellious Egypt9. This confidence he shall never betray. So, when Dionysius decided to join the caliph in the year 832, this must have been to give information about the conditions and resent- ments of the christians in Egypt10. Dionysius became aware of the presence of the caliph in Kaysum after his summer campaign against the Romans. The patriarch was familiar with the place as he stayed there some time as a young monk in the monastery of Mar Ya{qub11. But in the meantime, the caliph had heard about the alarming situation in Egypt and hurriedly went to Damascus; Dionysius resolved to follow him there12. It seems the caliph was pleased with this démarche of his loyal counsellor. Indeed, he summoned the patriarch to attend him during his journey in order to intercede with the turbulent Copts, as to incite them “to stop their rebellion and to submit themselves”13. Dionysius could

6 J.-B. CHABOT, Chronique de Denys de Tell-MaÌré 4 (Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes 112), Paris 1895, XI. 7 CHABOT, o.c. XV-XVI; E. MARIN, Abd Allah b. ™ahir: EI2 1:54. 8 CHABOT, o.c. XXI f.; A. BAUMSTARK, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, Bonn 1922, 275. 9 CHABOT, o.c. XVII. 10 He would give a similar advice again later on, according to his own account, as preserved by Michael the Syrian, ed. CHABOT 3: 79/525. 11 J.-B. ABBELOOS, Th.J. LAMY, Greg. Barhebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, Lou- vain 1872, 1: 347/348; CHABOT, Chron. de Denys, X. 12 ™abari, Ta}riÌ (events of the year 216 A.H.); Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 76/522; Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 373/374. 13 Michael the Syr. and Barhebr., ibid.; CHABOT, Chron. de Denys, XXIII. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 223 even count on his colleague, patriarch Joseph of the Copts, with whom the Syrian orthodox lived in communion for ages, as he himself states; the Syrian monasteries and manuscripts in Egypt bear witness to this, even when Dionysius deplores the decline of the Syriac in the of his time14. All this trouble would turn out to be in vain and dispirited the patriarch delivered his report to the caliph, still pleading extenuating circumstances by referring to the injustice the had had to suffer15. The caliph, who gave grant to the patri- arch to leave and return to Damascus, had no other choice left than to use force, while reducing the burden of taxation which caused the popular disaffection in the past16.

A fabulous hoard? So far as to the political context, about which the preserved fragments of Dionysius' historical work are our primary source. Yet, only the Arab add how the caliph was also acting as a tourist17. This is never without political significancy; ever since such a trip in Egypt has always been a public manifestation of one's laying claim to sovereignty: one has only to think about Caesar, Marc Antony, C. Cornelius Gallus who for this reason fell into disgrace with , as would do Germanicus with Tiberius. It was even forbidden to a Roman senator to enter territory without the emperor's previous permission. The event of a caliph entering the -chamber of Cheops must have had a great symbolic value and so it was amply described in Arabic literature. Thence it became known to Egyptologists18

14 CHABOT, Chron. de Denys, XVIII. 15 Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 77-79/523-524; CHABOT, Chron. de Denys, XXIV. 16 Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 80/525; Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 373/374; SHABAN, o.c. 60. 17 I already published about a late echo of these events in Dutch literature (in the poem “Cheops” by Leopold): J.H. Leopold: Doctus poeta! Zijn klassieke en Arabische bronnen, Handelingen van de Kon. Zuidnederlandse Maatschappij voor Taal- en Let- terkunde en Geschiedenis 44, 1990, 187-211. Leopold, himself a meritorious classical philologist, was a close friend of the Dutch Arabist Gerlof van Vloten. 18 Comp., e.g., R. STADELMANN, Die ägyptischen Pyramiden. Vom Ziegelbau zum Weltwunder, Darmstadt 1985, 113, as well as a volume from the well-known “Descrip- tion de l'Egypte”, published after 's famous expedition: M.E. JOMARD, Anti- quités. Mémoires, t. II, 1818, 180-195 (N° 63 §II) = 2nd ed. tome IX, 1829, 454-485; it is remarkable how learned men could still believe that the pyramids were representing a philosophical system, having astronomical and scientific implications, as is shown by Jomard on pages 493, 497 ff. 224 J.M.F. VAN REETH and even has found a place in many a traveller's guide. Only, Dionysius does not report it: we shall see why. One could ask which motives have inspired this royal enterprise. 1. It seems unlikely that the expedition of al-Ma}mun was intended to cause deliberate damage to of the pagan period, as in order to destroy them. In later times the covering of the pyramids was dis- mantled and used in new erected buildings in the city of Cairo nearby19. But even the attempt of al-Malik al-{Aziz {U†man in 503 H./1196- 97 A.D. to raze the pyramid of Mykerinos, as related by {Abd al-La†if20, was rather prompted by the continuing reports about an enormous treasure, presumed to be hidden in or under the pyramids. 2. These comments about a treasure have nearly always and, as we hope to demonstrate, wrongly, been taken rather literally. It may be, of course, that popular tales, not aware of the original significance of the story, developed in later times a legend about a tremendous amount of money and riches. In fact, already Dionysius of Tell MaÌre cites the cupidity of the Arabs while referring to ancient Egyptian treasures, this time hidden on top of the Heliopolitan obelisks21. 3. Still, one has to remember that nearly all our Arab witnesses speak at great length about the knowledge, enclosed within the pyramids. Each time, this knowledge happens to be linked up, in one way or the other, with the “treasures” referred to above. So it seems that these statements about a hidden are contradicting the literal interpretation of the notion “treasure”.

The Coptic informants One has tried to trace back to ancient sources what the Arab testi- monies have to say about this “knowledge”22. The text of Maqrizi, who compiles nearly all the older sources, refers, sometimes explicitly, to Coptic informants. Among others, there are descriptions of guardians, or

19 E. GRAEFE, Das Pyramidenkapitel in al-MaÈrizi's “Îi†a†” (Leipziger semitische Studien 5), Leipzig 1911, 39/81; GRAEFE -[PLESSNER], Haram: EI2, 3: 173. 20 GRAEFE, o.c. 15 f./62 f.; GRAEFE -[PLESSNER], ibid. 21 Cited by Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 81/526 and Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 377/378; CHABOT, Chron. de Denys, XXV. 22 GRAEFE -[PLESSNER], l.c.; G. MASPERO, Carra de Vaux, L'abrégé des Merveilles, Journal des Savants 1899, 70 agrees with C. de Vaux when he states that the Copts must have been the Arab's main informers; Maspéro even indicates parallels with ancient Egyptian sources. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 225 spirits of the pyramids, who struck dumb unwanted intruders. One has only to think about the actual name Abu l-Hawl the Egyptians still give to the sphinx. For instance the female spirit that would inhabit the smaller pyramid has been associated with the story about as narrated, only to be subsequently rejected, by Herodotus23. As to the Coptic, and especially hermetical, gnostic traditions, no doubt these are present — in fact rather incidentally — in the account of Agathodaemon and Hermes, who according to Mas{udi had built the pyramids. Nevertheless the Egyptian origin of Agathodaemon remains highly controversial, even if this typical hellenistic divinity got a special form in Alexandrian theology, integrated in a hermetic and astrological system, and is as such referred to by Manetho24. But even so he appears in a very similar context in the Phoenician theology, as elaborated in the work of of Byblus25. On closer examination it becomes apparent that Maqrizi's references to Coptic spokesmen are nearly always secondary, as these Coptic sages must have been asked to furnish an explanation for already existing tales. No doubt these “specialists” were all too eager to invent whatever appeared them nice and suitable … The same can be said as to the reference repeated over and over again, to the legend about Saddad b. {Ad. Here it was the Koran that gave rise to his story. The tribe of the {Ad forms a mysterious people from remoted times26, mentioned in the Koran. Sura 26:128-129 describes the monuments and castles they erected on high places. Mas{udi connects them with Hermes and Agathodaemon and imputes the history of Saddad b. {Ad to Yemenite sources27. I think we may infer this to be a subsequent harmonization of an older story only about Hermes to an Islamic, Koranic context.

23 Her. 2: 134 f.; GRAEFE -[PLESSNER], l.c. 24 GRAEFE, o.c. 18 f./65; M. PLESSNER, Hermes Trismegistus and Arab Science, Studia Islamica 2, 1954, 56. 25 A.I. BAUMGARTEN, The Phoenician History of Philo of . A Commentary (EPRO 89) Leyden 1981, 256 f. Most attestations of the Alexandrean variant only date from the Roman period; it is not impossible that he already originated in Greece, before being introduced in Egypt: M.P. NILSSON, Geschichte der griechischen Religion. 2. Die hellenistische und römische Zeit (Handbuch der Altertumswiss. 5, 2.2) München (1950) 19612 (1988), 215, 222. 26 Even the name has been explained in that manner; the legend would have been developed when the word {ad, meaning “the ancient time”, was no longer fully under- stood: J. WELLHAUSEN, Göttinger Gelehrte Anzeigen 1902, 596, F. BUHL, {Ad: Shorter Encyclopaedia of , Leyden 1953 (1974), 13. 27 GRAEFE, o.c. 18/65. 226 J.M.F. VAN REETH

Incidentally, it will hardly be necessary to stress that gnosis is not peculiar to (Coptic) Egypt alone. The Egyptian provenance of so many gnostic texts is no proof of the Egyptian origin of this way of thinking, as they were fortunately preserved there due to climatological circum- stances. Indeed, it is most astonishing how very similar are the romantic stories of Maqrizi about the finding of obscure texts in the pyramids and the fantastic rumours which circulated about the discovery in Nag{ Îammadi28. In this connection it may be worth noting that Maqrizi's long account about a hermetical has nothing to do with the pyra- mids, even though it begins with the expression wa amma l-}ahramu, but with a papyrus that would have emerged from a graveyard in the monastery of Abu Hirmis. This document would have dated from Emperor and was written “in old Coptic”. On the whole the evidence for Coptic sources in the Arab tales about the pyramids turns out to be rather meagre. Even if there were local traditions still living on, they cannot explain the — mainly religious — significance the Arab authors attribute to these monuments.

The cave It is striking how our sources constantly that the pyramids are so to say the last remnants of the antediluvian world. This implies the deep sense they attributed to these edifices, linked to the fact that for Islam NuÌ and Adam were prophets, while Sura 19:58 mentions the prophets min ∂urriyati Adama , “from the offspring of Adam”29. Verse 56 of the same Sura refers to Idris, the one whom Islamic exegesis usually identifies with the biblical Henoch. Apparently the pyramids must have been the place par excellence where to become acquainted with their original prophecy, especially if it turned out that inscriptions and were to be found there. And so curiosity was awakened. A very old witness, cited only indirectly by Maqrizi through the one generation younger Ibn {Abd al-Îakam, is Sa{id b. Ka†ir b. {Ufayr al-MiÒri, who lived from 146/763

28 K. RUDOLPH, Die Gnosis. Wesen und Geschichte einer spätantiken Religion, Göt- tingen (1977) 19903, 40, 46 f. 29 According to the received interpretation, Adam is the Ìalifa of as intended by S 2: 28/30, M.J. KISTER, Adam: A Study of Some Legends in Tafsir and Îadi†-Literature, Oriental Studies 13, 1993, 115 f. As Adam is a prophet for the entire Islamic tradition, the notion Ìalifa is not only reserved for him, but also transferred to his poster- ity: KISTER, l.c. 117. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 227 to 226/84030. It is revealing that this author states that Egyptian learned men appeared to know nothing about the pyramids: it seems once more that the Arab knowledge goes back to other sources. Ibn {Ufayr makes Saddad, son of {Ad, to be a descendant of Sem and NuÌ, thus linking an old Arab and Koranic tradition to a (apocryphal) biblical one. Then he goes on: }al-}ahramu banaha Saddadun wa huwa l-la∂i bana l-magara wa Ìida l-}aÌyadi, fa l-magaru wa l-}aÌyadu hiya d-dafa}inu. dafa'in, plural of dafina, is something which is hidden, burried away, and thus a treasure. Also, dafin means something burried, a treasure, a dead body, and even a cistern (we shall encounter this notion again further on). Graefe suggested the “Schatzkammern” because of the verb bana 31. It seems impossible to recognize any Arab stem in the word Ìid, but magar is again good Arabic — here I have to differ from Graefe32 — and clearly means a “cave”. This notion is for our argument of the utmost importance. There is no doubt possible that our sources are combining here the two terms “cave” and “treasure”, which can only have been derived from a well-known oriental legend: the so-called “Cave of Treasures”, the Me{ara† Gazze, a Syriac of Adam, attributed to St. Ephrem, but that must have been written in the course of the 6th century. There are an Ethiopic and a later Arabic version, the Kitab al-Magall. In the latter, the word magara is indeed the current term to translate the notion “cave”33. This enables us to explain the obscure “Ìid/}aÌyad”. The Ìa} could easily have been confused with an original gim: in fact the Syriac gazza is the current word for “treasure”, thence the expression me{ara† gazze — “cave of treasures”. Again the Syriac is an Old-Persian loan-word, of which exist some variant forms. In gizaßra — “keeper of the treasury”, there appears a long i, as must have presented the Arab *giz, being the

30 GRAEFE, o.c. 28/73; F. SEZGIN, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums 1, Leyden 1967, 361. The Ibn {Abd al-Îakam in question is Abu l-Qasim {Abd ar-RaÌman b. {Abd Allah: F. ROSENTHAL, EI2, s.v. 31 GRAEFE, o.c. 74 n. 2. It may be noted that the French translation by U. BOURIANT, Maqrizi. Description topographique et historique de l'Egypte (MMAF 17) Paris 1900, 338, is here, as so often, rather misleading: “c'est aussi ce roi qui creusa des grottes où on enfouit des trésors (?)”; we agree with the question-mark at the end. Such sloppiness is the more unfortunate, as this translation should serve Egyptologists who can't read Arabic. 32 GRAEFE, o.c. 74 n. 1, cf. A. DE B. KAZIMIRSKI, Dictionnaire 2: 517. 33 See, e.g., C. BEZOLD, Die Schatzhöhle, Leipzig 1883-1888 (Amsterdam 1981), p. 33 of the Arab text. 228 J.M.F. VAN REETH result of compensative prolongation due to the suppression of an origi- nal n. So the root must have been *gnz (visible in, e.g., geniza); in older Aramaic the n is still extant, as in ginza34. This is interesting: our argu- ment appears to be confirmed by the actual name of , the modern name of the place where the pyramids stand, and that ought to be trans- lated accordingly as “treasury”, thus clearly recalling the legend of the “Cave of Treasures”! And Ibn {Ufayr continues: “And as they were believing in the return- ing (of things, of the , rag{a), they each time when someone died, had him burried along with his belongings”35. This idea is repeated by still another author, cited by Maqrizi, in the following verse: “or is there anyone stating his soul will return after its separation to his mortal frame”36. It is in this context that one has to understand the statement that in the pyramids mawta min baniAdama, mortal remains of the children of Adam, would have been burried37. Among others Maqrizi cites Abu Ò-∑alt al-Andalusi (1067-1134 A.D.) who transmits that Hermes Tris- megistus, identified with Henoch and Idris, having as ancestors: Jared, Mahalalel, Kenan, Enos, Seth and Adam, stored away treasures and learned scripts within the pyramids38. Another testimony, that of Abu Ma{sar, who is not cited by Maqrizi, but who dates back to the ninth century, informs us that these prophecies are also to be found with the Persian Hoshang, the grandson of Kayomarth, the Persian equivalent of Adam. His revelation was known to the Îarranian tradition, a detail which suggests once more a Mesopotamian origin39. Clearly the Arab authors are pointing to the “Cave of Treasures”, for according to this text the bodies of Adam and his offspring: Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalalel and Jared had been burried in a cave, situated on the slope of the Moun- tain of Paradise, in which Adam had concealed the bounty he secured from its border while he was driven away, consisting of , and frankincense, the same gifts the wise men from the East would

34 J. MARGOLIOUTH-PAYNE SMITH, A Compendious Syriac Dict., Oxford 1903, 67; G.H. DALMAN, Aramäisch-neuhebräisches Handwörterb., Göttingen 1938 (Hildesheim 1987), 83. 35 The text in GRAEFE's edition, p. 29, reads at the end: ma lahu; I would prefer to read maluhu and translate accordingly. 36 GRAEFE, o.c. 48. 37 GRAEFE, o.c. 20/66. 38 GRAEFE, o.c. 33/77. 39 PLESSNER, Stud. Isl. 1954, 51. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 229 eventually offer to the new-born Jesus. There Adam remained, at the boundaries, the limit, the basement of Paradise: the s eπulay πardisa, in Arabic the }asas al-firdaws 40. This and nothing else is what al-Ma}mun was looking for! Not out of greed, not to lay hands on a fabulous hoard he started his excavations to the hidden chambers of the of Giza. That is only what popular rumours made out of an old and vener- able tradition. To al-Ma}mun, the treasure was above all the secret of its prophecy, the mystery of Creation itself.

The waÒiya and the Zuqnin- It appears that the doctrine which was developed accordingly was more appropriate to a Shiite interpretation of Islamic prophecy. This is well shown by a text of Mas{udi, whose belonging to Shiism remains controversial among specialists41. Mas{udi states that the Old Egyptian representation of prophecy as appearing in the pyramids does not follow the †ariq al-waÌi, the way of inspiration or revelation, that is to say: the fact that God is designating a simple being, who is in no way predisposed to become a prophet. On the contrary, the people who built the pyramids demonstrated by them that: “there were in them chaste , purified and rectified from the defilement of this world, with whom higher substances (mawaddun {alawiyatun) had united them- selves”. These substances have something material about them, as indicates the word madda. Mas{udi must have been thinking while down this representation he borrowed from the “Cave of Treasures” and from the prophetological tradition of the ∑abians which he cites, about the Shia doctrine regarding prophecy and imamate, described in terms of waÒiya: a principle that is planted in the soul and is transmitted, to start with Adam and the oldest prophets and imams of mankind, not only mystically but also physically, even biologically one could say, from one prophet and imam to the other, in a long and uninterrupted chain. The Cave of Treasures, with its secret gifts and the remnants of these remote prophets is as a holy depository of this material and at the same time transcendent principle.

40 BEZOLD, o.c. 7 f., and p. 32-33 of the Arabic and Syriac text. 41 GRAEFE, o.c. 18; for his possible belonging to Shiism, see: H. HALM, Die Schia, Darmstadt 1988, 48 + n. 26. For the idea of the waÒiy, see U. RUBIN, Prophets and Pro- genitors in the Early Shi{a Tradition, JSAI 1, 1979, 41 ff. 230 J.M.F. VAN REETH

Here we meet with an important difference between the original “Cave of Treasures” and the Arab traditions about the pyramids: in the “Cave”, the treasures display an exclusive tangible aspect — gold, and relics, whereas to the Arabs they have something more spiritual and conceptive. This is shown by the prophecies presumed to be codified and preserved in the pyramids, forming the legacy of Her- mes, Idris, Saddad b. {Ad and others. As this representation is lacking in the original “Cave of Treasures”, it must have come from somewhere else. And indeed, we have a text which is to be situated in the tradition of the “Cave”, dating two cen- turies after it, in the seventies of the 8th century. It describes at length the Nativity of Christ in the Cave, as part of a chronicle that passes under the name of Dionysius of Tell MaÌre, but is in fact pseudepi- graphical and is therefore referred to as the chronicle of the Zuqnin- monastery. In spite of its more recent date there are reasons to believe that it conserves old material, perhaps older than the original “Cave of Treasures” itself, but we need not enter into this — really complicated — question for our present purpose. In the chronicle of Zuqnin the (Ìekm eta) contained in the apocryphal book of Seth is integrated into the history of the “Cave of Treasures”. In this case it is Seth who received from his ancestor Adam a πuqdana, a “commandment”, a “precept” but also a “legacy” — in Arabic we should say a waÒiya — that Seth put on record and preserved for his posterity. It is this prophecy and the wisdom it discloses that is to be kept in the Cave. It reveals the secret, the key to the whole uni- verse42. Even when style and purpose of the chronicle of Zuqnin is in no way comparable to the genuine of the skilled who was Dionysius, so that his authorship of the chronicle is no longer accepted by the savant world (as it still was until the end of the past century)43, he can nevertheless have informed the caliph about its content: the “Cave of Treasures” together with all its variations is among Syrian monks

42 J.-B. CHABOT, CSCO 91/Syr.43, 58; CSCO 121/Syr.66, 46. 43 Chabot still made the mistake in his edition of 1895, following J.S. ASSEMANI, Bibliotheca Orientalis 2, 1728, 99-116. The chronicle must be older than Diony- sius, as was soon remarked independently by F. NAU, Journal asiatique 9e sér. 8, 1896, 346-358 and Th. NÖLDEKE, Wiener Zeitschr. für die Kunde des Morgenl. 10, 1896, 160-170, cf. R. DUVAL, Anciennes littératures chrét. 2: La littérature syriaque, Paris 19073, 194-196. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 231 such a famous and popular text, that anyone and certainly a patriarch would know it, so to speak, by heart. Already in the Commentary to Genesis by St. Ephrem, that is to be dated two centuries earlier than the “Cave of Treasures”, its typical components are present in their entirety. As a matter of fact, this must have provoked the attribution of the “Cave” to St. Ephrem.

Theodosius of Edessa On closer examination our Arab sources reflect this our identification of al-Ma}mun's informant. In his description of the pyramids, preserved in Syriac sources, Dionysius starts by referring to the “theologian”, who would have written about them in his work44. This “theologian” is the usual name to indicate St. Gregory of Nazianze, who got this by-name from the title Perì qeologíav of his preaches 27-3145. We don't have to be surprised that Dionysius was so well-informed, for his brother Theodosius, bishop of Edessa, who accompanied him during his first trip to Egypt in the years 824/825, had translated some iambic poetry by Gregory of Nazianze, as well as his homily on Mar Elias. Some of these have come down to us46. This link to his brother Theodosius is important as it enables us to determine the chronological sequence of events. Theodosius must have been a very learned man, who also had a chronicle on his name. Bar Hebrew tells that he had read in a work by a contemporary of the two brothers, Antony the Orator, that Theodosius had a great command of

44 Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 82/526; Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 379/380; ABBE- LOOS-LAMY translate mimre with in carminibus, a usual significance, designating metri- cal homilies. However, this is not appropriate here; Chabot rightly translates the word in Michael the Syr. as “Discours”. Elsewhere, Barhebrew uses mesuÌta for the poetical work of the author (infra note 46). 45 P. BATIFFOL, Anciennes littératures chrét. 1: La littérature grecque, Paris 1901, 241. 46 Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 363/364; DUVAL, o.c. 310 + n. 2; 389; BAUMSTARK, o.c. 276. Syrian-Jacobite theologians from the 7th to the 9th centuries in general were much interested in the works of Greg. of Nazianze, as illustrated by A. DE HALLEUX, La version syriaque de Grégoire de Nazianze, in: J. MOSSAY (ed.), Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums 2. Symposium Nazianzenum, Paderborn 1983, 75 f. The poems by Greg. are not discussed in that study, nor in A. VAN ROEY-H. MOORS, Les discours de Saint Grégoire de Nazianze dans la littérature syriaque, OLP 4, 1973, 121-133; 5, 1974, 79-125, so the translation by Theodosius is not recorded. Also Dionysius' reference indicates that the scholarly activity was not limited to the poetical works; the colophon of MS. Add. 12153 mentions patriarch Dionysius, VAN ROEY-MOORS, l.c., 88 f. 232 J.M.F. VAN REETH many languages47. This detail is still another indication: Dionysius must have had his knowledge about the pyramids from his brother, to whose historical work in general he was also much indebted48; the information about St. Gregory in Dionysius must stem from Theodosius, as do the many about several languages and in the Arab descriptions of the pyramids. Then the conclusion imposes itself that the visiting of Dionysius to the pyramids dates back from his first journey to Egypt. That is why he nowhere says he accompanied the caliph when entering the pyramids: for the simple reason he didn't. On the contrary, he tells us that he went — probably with his brother —- and inspected the gap on the pyramid's side but found it closed, so that he came to the conclusion that the monument would have been entirely massive. Guided by his report, the caliph would eventually prove this to be mistaken, but only after the patriarch's departure to Damascus49. This is the reason why the Arab reports do tell about this episode, while Dionysius does not. On the other , Dionysius went to see the in Heliopolis and the , of which he explains the work- ing-procedure. As this stems from his first visit, where the caliph was not present, the Arab sources this time remain totally silent. As to Gregory of Nazianze, he actually mentioned the pyramids in his famous eulogy for his friend St. Basil. Gregory compares Basil's works of mercy, by which he took “the most easy way up to heaven”, to the transitory monuments of early mankind, not achieving anything “but some futile glory”. In this perspective, Gregory sums up the Seven Wonders of the world: it is striking that Dionysius of Tell MaÌre has also something to say about the Colossus of Rhodes50. The entire passage of St. Gregory is dedicated to the “grandeur and beauty of things, existing no more”. This is a theme the Arab authors are also very keen on, as Mutannabi and even more clearly AÌmad b. Yusuf at-Tifasi in the fol- lowing verse: “verily, all there is under the firmament is fading away”51. Dionysius immediately continues by saying that the pyramids can not have been the of Joseph as some would have, but “amazing

47 Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 361-364; CHABOT, Chron. de Denys, XIX; DUVAL, o.c. 389. 48 BAUMSTARK, o.c. 276 + n. 4. 49 Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 80-82/525-527; Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 373-382. 50 Greg. of Nazianze, Eulogy of Basil, Oration 43, 580A §63, p. 188-190 (F. BOU- LENGER), p. 262 (J. BERNARDI, S.C.); Michael the Syr., Chron. 3: 81/526; Barhebr., Chron. Eccl. 1: 377/378. 51 GRAEFE, o.c. 31-32/76; 47/88. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 233 shrines (nause) above the graves (qaßre) of ancient kings”. This is something which Maqrizi repeats time and again, as for example: “and people declare the pyramids to be graves (qubur) of magnificent kings”52. The Syriac word nausa was borrowed, as happened so often in that language, from the Greek naóv. Already Silvestre de Sacy remarked that “Nowaïri et Makrizi, en parlant des sépultures des anciens rois d'Egypte, se servent constamment du naous”53. The fact they are understanding this word in a very specialized sense suffices to demon- strate that they did not borrow it directly from the Greek, but considered it to be a technical term of the Syriac source they were reading. We encounter still other Syriac in Maqrizi. So when he says that the qubur li muluk are in fact Ìaw∂ min Ìagara, stone cisterns. Here we may recall how already Ibn {Ufayr was possibly alluding to this when using the word dafina for “treasure”, while dafin may also indicate a cistern. This time, the text continues as follows: “and these are called in Egypt and the garun”. The usual Arab form of this word is not garun but gurn and signifies a “hollow stone”, a “mortar” or “basin”. Dozy seems to hold garun to be a plural form, as he continues: “il paraît que garun s'emploie dans le sens de sarcophage, comme un singulier”, citing Maqrizi and Abu l-MaÌasin. Our text rather suggests a derivation from the Syriac, where gerun is the status absolutus (even if this form may not occur), of gurna, denoting a large vessel, a stone bath, an urn, whereas gurne demite are “funeral urns”54. The very similar Greek word grÉnj not only signifies a “cavity”, but also a “cave”, besides a “trough” or a hollow vessel55. So the notion of the cave, recalling the Cave of Treasures, is appearing once more. Perhaps there may be still

52 GRAEFE, o.c. 32; see also p. 27. 53 S. DE SACY, Relation de l'Egypte par Abd-Allatif, médecin arabe de Bagdad, Paris 1810, 508 [16]. 54 DOZY, Suppl. dict. arabe 1: 189; MARGOLIOUTH-PAYNE SMITH, o.c. 66; GRAEFE, o.c. 64 n. 2. 55 LIDDEL-SCOTT, s.v.; the etymology remains highly controversial: according to P. CHANTRAINE, Dict. étym., Paris 1968, 1: 239, grÉnj would have been derived from gráw, “gnaw, eat out”, whereas PAYNE-SMITH, Thesaurus Syr. 1: 692 established a link to the word goÕrna and the Latin urna (a word that became common in all European lan- guages), referring to DU CANGE, Glossarium ad Script. Med. et inf. graec., Lyons 1688, 1: 262, who held the Greek term to be a barbarianism. Indeed A. WALDE, Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg 19654, 2: 839 derives urna from a Phoenician stem. In that case, the Syriac word should be the original one, the Greek and Latin words being borrowed from an old Aramaic or Phoen.-Canaanitic root. But the opposite theory, which gives precedence to the Greek word, has still its defenders, as illustrated by Chantraine. 234 J.M.F. VAN REETH another symbolism involved here: the Child Jesus who according to the Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius was born in the Cave of Treasures, was “wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.” The Syriac version uses here the quite homonymous word }urya (Luke 2:7).

The Cosmic Mountain According to the Syrian representation of Paradise, as recorded in the “Cave of Treasures”, Paradise was situated on top of a lofty mountain. After his fall, Adam was obliged to go down the mountain and to live at its base. This descent becomes a symbol for the gradual decay of man- kind, falling ever lower in sinfulness. At the beginning, the Garden of Paradise was still somehow accessible. In his Commentary to Genesis St. Ephrem suggests that Abel could ascend by sanctifying himself, whereas all sins are taking place in the plain. The treasures which Adam had secured in the Cave, came from the outskirts of Paradise, while the Cave is to be situated on its flank, just as the entrance of the pyramid of Cheops is located at its side! But gradually people moved away from the mountain. As the Sethites still remained higher up, the Kaïnites sank to utter baseness, so that the Flood would eventually inundate them, while only “kissing the heels of Paradise”, thus indicating that its mountain towered high above the waters of the Flood and was the only place to be spared. Afterwards, the earth finally enclosed Adam's grave in which his skull was conserved, on the spot that was to be called Golgotha, where Jesus the New Adam would break his tombstone, reconciling by his death the Fall of the first man56. The Arab historians clearly have transferred this tradition to Egypt and associated it with the pyramids. Only so can we explain their conviction, the mystery of the waÒiya, along with the relics of Adam and his posterity was preserved in the pyramids, as indeed were his prophecy, his message of how Creation came about. Only so we under- stand why so many an author has it that the pyramids are the last remnants of the period before the Flood. Therefore these buildings get a very deep religious meaning. And it was this secret, this treasure, remnant from paradisiac conditions, which al-Ma}mun was so eager to learn to know.

56 N. SÉD, Les Hymnes sur le Paradis de Saint Ephrem et les traditions juives, Le Muséon 81, 1968, 465 + n. 18. THE TREASURE OF THE PYRAMIDS 235

This conception of Paradise ultimately goes back to old Mesopo- tamian mythical lore, having cosmological significance. The building- program of the Babylonian -tower or ziggurat originally would have had some report as to the safeguarding of its upper sanctuary from the dangers of inundation and spoliation by attacking enemies57. Later on, a sacral sense was associated with this, for instance regarding the of the Flood, playing a central role in, e.g., the well-known epic of Gilgamesh. The temple could also be interpreted allegorically, as being an artificial model of the cosmic mountain, countlessly represented in Near Eastern figures of Paradise and the ideal world. The ziggurat becomes thus a scheme of the Universe, floating as it is on the initial water of the Ocean, while the are living high in the north on top of a mountain58. The ziggurat's name “Etemenanki” points to the fact that it represents the “ of the basement of the heaven and the earth”, linking the earth to the sky59. In ancient Egypt, a similar representation existed, namely the initial hill, benben, but a possible connection to the pyramids is not so evident. The primary function of the pyramids was to be a grave, whereas the funeral symbolism of the Babylonian ziggurat, if there is any, can only be secondary60. The Egyptian initial hill is more like a pile of sand, which is rising slowly, as it does after each inundation of the . It is but a bubble, swelling up and surging out of nothing61. Nevertheless the Egyptians did consider each temple and even each grave to be a repre- sentation of this initial, primary hill. There must have been some identi- fication of the hill of the universe with, or with part of, the too62.

57 Th.A. BUSINK, De Babylonische tempeltoren, Leyden 1949, 80; ID., Etemenanki, de toren van Babel, Ex Oriente Lux 10, 1945-1948, 534. 58 Th.Chr. VRIEZEN, Onderzoek naar de paradijsvoorstellingen bij de oude Semieti- sche volken (doct. diss.) Wageningen 1937, 74, 223-225 (+ n. 5); E. JACOB, Schaddai: Biblisch-historisches Handwörterbuch; BUSINK, Tempeltoren 85. 59 M.A. BEEK, Aan Babylons Stromen, Amsterdam 19553, 174; BUSINK, Tempeltoren 85; ID., Ex Or. L. 535; M. ELIADE, Histoire des croyances et des idées religieuses 1. De l'âge de la pierre aux mystères d'Eleusis, Paris 1976 (1987) 183. 60 BUSINK, Tempeltoren 82 ff. This is linked to the fact that the Babylonian gods have a more immanent aspect (BUSINK, 85), whereas the Egyptian are living in the underworld, so that worship is directed to the great beyond, to what is to be located under or behind the horizon. 61 E. HORNUNG, Der Eine und die Vielen. Ägyptische Gottesvorstellungen, Darmstadt 1971 (19833) 174; C. TRAUNECKER, Les dieux de l'Egypte (Que sais-je?), Paris 1992, 85; E. OTTO, Die Religion der alten Ägypter (Handb. der Orientalistik 1.8, 1.1) Leyden 1964, 16 f. 62 K. MARTIN, Urhügel: Lexikon der Ägyptologie 6, Wiesbaden 1986, 873 f., 875 n. 11; OTTO, l.c. 17. 236 J.M.F. VAN REETH

Nowadays the concept of the pyramids is rather explained by referring to the as being an ulterior development of these63. A possible influence of older tombs in the form of a hill is not generally accepted: the pyramids would have functioned as, so to speak, petrified models of the royal palace, perpetuating the 's immortal glory64. But at the same time they must have met with an actual cultic necessity, having some connection with a solar cult and indicating the way by which the deceased went up to the northerly sky in order to join the in its murky and occult wandering through the nocturnal heaven65. Some of the cultic aspects one encounters in the solar temple of at AbuÒir are already present in most ancient times, when the tombs had still the form of the mastaba66. It may be true that the obelisk in the sanctuary of Userkaf would be a later addition, so that any connection to the Benben-stone of Heliopolis can only be secondary; but nevertheless the concept of the whole construction illustrated right from the beginning how the Pharaoh made his entrance in heaven67.

It is remarkable how close mediaeval Arab writers about the pyra- mids, even if we may have many reservations as to the method they have followed, came to their actual old significance. Their mistakes appear to be our uncertainties. Even if the link they established with the Mesopotamian cosmological ideas as exposed in an artificial mountain, is not really compatible to the original function of the pyramids, even then we can only agree when they declare the pyramids belonged to sacral kings who with their sepulchral monuments gave expression to their aspiration, to unite the heaven with the earth and to reach accord- ingly the remote abode of Paradise.

2a, Heideland J.M.F. VAN REETH B-2640 Mortsel (Belgium)

63 STADELMANN, o.c. 34, 51, 69 f. 64 H.W. HELCK, Pyramiden: Kl. Pauly 4: 1252. 65 STADELMANN, o.c. 69, 71. 66 STADELMANN, o.c. 29-31. 67 STADELMANN, o.c. 164.

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