De Babyloniaca van Berossos van Babylon. Inleiding, editie en commentaar

PhD ceremony: Mr. G.E.E. De Breucker, 14.30 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: De Babyloniaca van Berossos van Babylon. Inleiding, editie en commentaar

Promotor(s): prof. W.J. van Bekkum, prof. A Kuhrt, prof. O.M. van Nijf

Faculty: Arts

Writing between cultures. An actual topic in modern-day society. But writing between cultures is actually of all times. This is shown in the dissertation of Geert De Breucker.

In the beginning of the 3rd c. BC the Babylonian priest Berossos composed an overview of the history of his land. He wrote this work, entitled Babyloniaca, in Greek, because he aimed to address the new Greek-speaking rulers of Babylonia, who succeeded Alexander the Great.

In the first part of his Ph.D., De Breucker presents the life of Berossos and outlines his political and cultural context. He then sketches how the Babyloniaca, which has only been preserved in fragments, has come down to us through a complex and long process of text transmission.

After the edition and the translation De Breucker presents a detailed text commentary. He attempts to trace back the cuneiform texts and other Babylonian sources Berossos used in writing his work. This analysis clearly demonstrates that the Babyloniaca is deeply rooted in Babylonian historiography. The work is, so to say, Babylonian in contents and Greek in form. In this way, Berossos bridged two cultures: Babylonian and Greek.