Michelangelo's rendering of the Persian Sibyl
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The Persian Sibyl - also known as the Babylonian, Chaldaean, Hebrew or Egyptian Sibyl - was the prophetic priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle.
The word Sibyl (oracle), "Sibyl" comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibulla'', meaning "prophetess". There were many Sibyls in the ancient world, but the Persian Sibyl allegedly foretold the exploits of
Alexander of Macedon. Nicanor, who wrote a life of Alexander, mentions her.
The Persian Sibyl has had at least three names: Sambethe, Helrea and Sabbe.
Sambethe was said to be of the family of
Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
. A
''Persian Sibyl'' by
Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...
hangs in the Capitoline Museum in Rome.
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
*Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...
, pausing at
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
to enumerate four sibyls, mentions a "Hebrew sibyl":
there grew up among the Hebrews above Palestine, a woman who gave oracles named Sabbe, whose father was Berosus and her mother Erymanthe. Some say she was a Babylonian, while others call her an Egyptian Sibyl.
The medieval Byzantine encyclopedia, the ''
Suda
The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
'', credits the Hebrew Sibyl as the author of the
Sibylline oracles, a collection of texts of c. the 2nd to 4th century which were collected in the 6th century.
See also
*
Sibylline oracles
*
Wives aboard the Ark
The wives aboard Noah's Ark were part of the family that survived the Deluge in the biblical Genesis flood narrative from the Bible. These wives are the wife of Noah, and the wives of each of his three sons. Although the Bible only notes the ex ...
References
Jewish Encyclopedia: Sibyl
External links
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Sibyls
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