- “4Q186. 4QZodiacal Physiognomy. A Full Edition,” in The Mermaid and the Partridge: Essays from the Copenhagen Conference on Revising Texts from Cave Four (ed. G.J. Brooke and J. Høgenhaven; Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 96; Leiden: Brill, 2011), 221-58 more

4Q186. 4QZODIACAL PHYSIOGNOMY. A FULL EDITION Mladen Popović Qumran Institute, University of Groningen Bibliography M. Albani, ‘Horoscopes in the Qumran Scrolls’, The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (ed. P. W. Flint and J. C. VanderKam; 2 vol.; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1999) 2:279–330; P. S. Alexander, ‘Physiognomy, Initiation, and Rank in the Qumran Community’, Geschichte—Tradition—Reflexion: Festschrift für Martin Hengel zum 70. Geburtstag, Band I Judentum (ed. H. Cancik, H. Lichtenberger and P. Schäfer; Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1996) 385–94; J. M. Allegro, ‘An Astrological Cryptic Document from Qumran’, JSS 9 (1964) 291–4; R. Bergmeier, Glaube als Gabe nach Johannes: Religions- und theologiegeschichtliche Studien zum prädestinatianischen Dualismus im vierten Evangelium (BWANT 112; Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1980) 78–81; J. Carmignac, ‘Les Horoscopes de Qumrân’, RevQ 5/18 (1965) 199–217; M. Delcor, ‘Recherches sur un horoscope en langue hébraïque provenant de Qumrân’, Religion d’Israël et Proche Orient Ancien: Des Phéniciens aux Esséniens (M. Delcor; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976) 298–319 (originally published in RevQ 5/20 [1966] 521–42); A. Dupont-Sommer, ‘Deux documents horoscopiques esséniens découverts à Qoumrân, près de la Mer Morte’, CRAI (1965) 239–53; R. Gordis, ‘A Document in Code from Qumran—Some Observations’, JSS 11 (1966) 37–9; J. Licht, ‘Legs as Signs of Election’, Tarbiz 35 (1965–1966) 18–26 (Hebrew); H. Lichtenberger, Studien zum Menschenbild in Texten aus der Qumrangemeinde (SUNT 15; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1980) 142–8; G.-W. Nebe, ‘‫ אבר‬in 4Q186’, RevQ 8/30 (1973) 265–6; M. Philonenko, ‘Deux horoscopes Qoumrâniens: Identification des personnages’, RHPR 65 (1985) 61–6; M. Popović, ‘A Note on the Reading of ‫ שמונה‬and ‫ עמוד השני‬in 4Q186 2 i 7’, RevQ 21/84 (2004) 635–41; idem, Reading the Human Body: Physiognomics and Astrology in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hellenistic-Early Roman Period Judaism (STDJ 67: Leiden: Brill, 2007); F. Schmidt, ‘Astrologie juive ancienne: Essai d’interprétation de 4QCryptique (4Q186)’, RevQ 18/69 (1997) 125–41 (‘Ancient Jewish Astrology: An Attempt to Interpret 4QCryptic (4Q186)’, Biblical Perspectives: Early Use and Interpretation of the Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. M. E. Stone and E. G. Chazon; STDJ 28; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1998) 189–205); J. Strugnell, ‘Notes en marge du volume V des “Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan”’, RevQ 7/26 (1970) 274–6. Introduction The genre designation ‘horoscope’ was quickly applied to 4Q186 as the text was preliminary published, and the text came to be officially known as 4QHoroscope. This name, however, creates the wrong impression that the text represents a horoscope or a collection of horoscopes, 222 mladen popović which it does not.1 Notwithstanding the presence of certain astrological notions, 4Q186 as such cannot be characterized as a horoscope text. It does not contain the actual horoscopes of particular individuals. The text lacks many elements that would qualify it as belonging to the genre of horoscopes as known from Babylonian, Greek or later Jewish examples. Most significantly, 4Q186 does not have any explicit reference to the zodiacal position of the sun, moon or any of the other five planets known in antiquity.2 Alexander suggests renaming it ‘4QAstrological Physiognomy’. Schmidt aptly refers to 4Q186 as ‘un texte de physiognomonie zodiacale’. Schmidt’s more limited characterization fits the content better. I have suggested renaming 4Q186 4QZodiacal Physiognomy. 4Q186 is a list of physiognomic and astrological content. The text contains different physical descriptions of individual types of people. The astrological information concerning the horoscope under which a type of person was born is listed subsequently to the physiognomic description of the person’s body. The text of 4Q186 is structured according to these physiognomic descriptions. The idea behind this order is that the human body may signify certain astrological data concerning the individual. From a person’s physiognomy an observer may gather astrological knowledge. According to 4Q186 the human body reveals the zodiacal sign that ascended at the moment of birth.3 Although the division between the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ is astrologically the result of the ascendant zodiacal sign’s position vis-à-vis the eastern horizon, I suggest that this was understood in terms of the zodiacal spirit being divided between light and darkness. Various interpretations have been suggested for the meaning of enigmatic terms and elements in 4Q186 against an astrological background.4 It will be clear that the significant elusiveness inherent in the terminology and the fragmentary nature of the manuscript preclude any final interpretation. Astrology was not a fixed and unified system 1 It is regrettable that the recent name given to the Aramaic physiognomic text 4Q561 creates a similar mistaken impression; see É. Puech, Qumrân Grotte 4.XXVII: Textes araméens, deuxième partie (4Q550–4Q575a, 4Q580–4Q587) (DJD 37; Oxford: Clarendon, 2009) 303–5. 2 Popović, Reading the Human Body, 18–9. 3 Popović, Reading the Human Body, 34–8, 112–8. 4 For the physiognomic background see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 68–112. 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 223 of concepts and terminology during the Hellenistic and Early Roman period. There was much terminological inconsistency and conceptual confusion, reflecting the still unsettled state of astrology. One has to bear in mind the possibility of multiple developments and trajectories, not all of which are recognizable anymore. Against this background, and taking into account the late first-century bce date for the manuscript, 4Q186 can perhaps be seen as a text representative of the incipient stages of horoscopic astrology in Second Temple period Judaism, attempting to render concepts foreign to Jewish culture into Hebrew. The text may represent a translation effort of astrological terminology and concepts into Hebrew. Physical Description and Material Reconstruction The leather is a rather dark brown. Of the fragments, only 4Q186 4 has something like a whitish layer of ‘dust-like’ substance on its surface. Allegro did not comment on this in his short description of the leather of 4Q186,5 perhaps because this is not very unusual. Other manuscripts have a ‘dust-like’ white substance also. It is possibly a clue that 4Q186 4 does not belong together with 4Q186 1 or 2 on the same sheet or on the same part of the sheet, because no such whitish layer is found on the leather of those fragments. On inspecting the museum plate, it is evident that the fragments are now more damaged than in the photograph in DJD 5 (Plate XXXI).6 Gaps have appeared in places where before there were none, and gaps that were there already have become larger. 4Q186 consists of ten fragments. Inspection of the original fragments confirmed my arguments against Allegro’s material reconstruction of the second fragment.7 The two parts of 4Q186 2 cut in half by Allegro have been put together again, clearly after the photograph for DJD 5 was taken.8 Due to the fact that the two halves have been 5 Allegro, ‘An Astrological Cryptic Document’, 291. He described the leather as ‘a soft reddish-brown skin’. 6 September 22, 2005 at the Dead Sea Scrolls Laboratory of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem. I wish to thank the curators Tamar Rabbi-Salhov and Lena Liebman for their kind assistance during my visit. 7 See Popović, ‘A Note’. 8 It seems unlikely that Allegro is responsible for this because it contradicts his reconstruction. The current curators at the IAA have informed me that the scrolls 224 mladen popović rejoined, 4Q186 4 1 is no longer in line with 4Q186 2 i 7.9 4Q186 4 1 has shifted down slightly, and thus does not continue in 4Q186 2 i 7 nor provide evidence for the numerical sequence reconstructed by Allegro (‘eight and o[ne’). But the placement by the IAA is also highly improbable because it does not take into account the spacing between the lines in either this fragment or 4Q186 2 i 7–9.10 4Q186 4 cannot, therefore, be placed directly below 4Q186 2 i as it has been by Allegro and, more recently, by the IAA. Finally, the current placement on IAA #109 seems to show a clear join between 4Q186 4 and 4Q186 5. However, the whitish layer may argue against such a join because 4Q186 5 does not have this. It is difficult to assess whether the two fragments really fit. After inspection with the microscope it seems that someone at the IAA has put them together in such a way that part of fragment 5 lies under fragment 4, especially in the upper part, whereas in the lower part the edges of both fragments curl up and stand back to back to each other. The current material reconstruction has resulted in an extant text of 4Q186 consisting of two main fragments, 4Q186 1 and 2, and four smaller, separate fragments. Bearing in mind the inverted writing and the reversed order for reading the lines, there is no clear indication as to the order in which the columns have to be read, from right to left or vice versa. 4Q186 1 contains the remains of four columns. Of these four columns three have a bottom margin measuring 1.5 cm, but the top margin of all four columns is lacking. This makes it difficult to establish the direction in which a bottom line continued in the next column: whether the sentence resumed at the top of the column to its left or to its right. 4Q186 2 preserves the top margin of one column (measuring 2.0 cm), laboratory recently placed the fragments thus on IAA #109, but the reason why is not clear. 9 Below ‫ יושבות‬in 4Q186 2 i 6 the leather of the manuscript extends slightly further, revealing the blank between the lines. There is clearly not enough space to place 4Q186 4 and 4Q186 5 between this piece of leather and the leather of 4Q186 2 i 7–9, nor join the latter to 4Q186 2 i 7–9. It is obvious that precisely because of this the IAA curators must have placed 4Q186 4 below the leather extension and not next to it to the right as Allegro did in DJD 5. 10 The placement of 4Q186 4 below 4Q186 2 i 6 in the way it is now on IAA #109 ֯ results in too much space between line 6 and line 1 of 4Q186 4 (]‫.)ה[ﬠמוד השני ש‬ Moreover, 4Q186 4 1 has been joined to 4Q186 2 i 8. This leaves 4Q186 2 i 7 isolated. The discontinuation of the lines is also clear in the case of 4Q186 4 2 (‫ )מולדו‬and 4Q186 2 i 9, where the traces of the upper parts of two letters stand significantly lower than 4Q186 4 2. 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 225 and also contains the meagre remnants of a second column at the lower left part of the fragment. Furthermore, 4Q186 2 preserves the edge of a sheet. Not only is part of the margin on the right preserved, the stitches by means of which another sheet was attached are unmistakably visible also. Unfortunately, this does not enable the order in which the columns were organised to be reconstructed. I have, therefore, retained Allegro’s ordering of the columns so as not to cause unnecessary confusion with previous scholarship on 4Q186. An estimation of the entire amount of text cannot be determined on material grounds alone, but depends on one’s understanding of the text. A crucial element is the number of typological entries one assumes the original text to have had. As no complete account has been preserved, it is impossible to establish a set number of lines for an entire account. But it seems reasonable to assume that an average entry had no less than seven or eight lines. Three examples are indicative, if not for the complete text, at least for the remaining fragments. Assuming 4Q186 1 ii 9 to be the end of the account, it at least began in 4Q186 1 ii 4, but probably before that. 4Q186 2 i 1 is most probably not the beginning of an account that continues at least until 4Q186 2 i 7. Finally, the account in 4Q186 1 iii at least includes line 5 and probably continued in another column following the end of line 9. We do not know how many typological entries appeared in one column. If one assumes three entries to a column, such a column would consist of 21–24 lines. An average leather height can be suggested on the basis of the vertical space covered by a certain number of lines in combination with the measurements of the top and bottom margins of the manuscript. The height of five lines in 4Q186 1 ii and 4Q186 2 i measures ca. 3.5 cm (including the space between the lines at ca. 0.5 cm). To this one should add a top margin of 2.0 cm and a bottom margin of 1.5 cm. The column height would then be between 15–17 cm and the leather height ca. 18.5–20.5 cm.11 An estimation of the entire amount of text depends on the number of typological entries it had. Assuming that the typological entries in 4Q186 are intrinsically related to the average number of nine subdivisions of each zodiacal sign, the result is an elaborate catalogue that may have listed almost 11 According to Tov’s classification a scroll with a medium-sized writing block. Cf. E. Tov, Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert (STDJ 54; Leiden: Brill, 2004) 86–8. 226 mladen popović a hundred physiognomic and astrological typologies. For example, if one assumes three entries to a column 32 columns would be needed for 96 physiognomic accounts. Bearing in mind a column width of ca. 8–9 cm together with a margin of ca. 0.5–1 cm, 4Q186 could have been a scroll of ca. 2.7–3.2 meters. But a column may have had an average of between two and three entries, which would result in a shorter scroll. We simply do not know. Contents 4Q186 represents a sort of list or compendium of physiognomic and astrological content. The text lists different entries that, as far as can be observed from the extant fragments, consist of three set elements at least. First, the entries contain the physiognomic descriptions of ‘ideal types’ of individuals. These descriptions of the human body are structured according to the a capite ad calcem principle, i.e. they run from head to toe. Second, they register a division of numbers with regard to the person’s ‫‘( רוח‬spirit’) in the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’.12 It is possible that this division is made on a nine-point scale, but this is neither certain nor necessary. Third, the different entries provide certain zodiacal information with regard to the moment of birth of the aforementioned person: his horoscope (‫.)מולד‬ In addition, the text lists predictions concerning the described type’s future state or gives an indication of people’s characters. But, due to the fragmentary state of the manuscript, this can only be verified for one type of description (4Q186 1 ii 9: ‫‘ :ﬠני יהיה‬he will be poor’, or ‫ﬠנו‬ ‫‘ :יהיה‬he will be humble’). Although one should allow for the possibility that the words ‫הﬠמוד‬ ‫‘( השני‬the second column’) in the phrase ‫‘( והואה מן הﬠמוד השני‬and he is from the second column’)13 are a set element, it is questionable 12 4Q186 1 iii 8–9 actually mentions first the ‘house of darkness’ and secondly the ‘house of light’. It is unclear whether this reversal is significant, and, if so, in what way. 13 4Q186 4 1 only has ‫ ,ה[עמוד השני‬but it is likely that the same phrase is implied ֯ ֯ as in 4Q186 1 ii 6. See also 4Q186 6 2: ‫.הﬠמוד ה[שני‬ 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 227 whether the phrase represents a fixed part of the text. Only in 4Q186 1 ii 6 is its position clearly set between the physiognomic description and the part concerning the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’. This is certainly not the case in 4Q186 1 iii and 4Q186 2 i where the words ‫‘( ורוח לו‬and there is a spirit for him’), introducing the part concerning the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’, follow immediately upon the physiognomic sections. Also, 4Q186 4 1 shows that when a reference to ‫ ﬠמוד‬occurs it is not necessarily followed by ‫ .רוח לו‬Here the phrase ‫ ה[ﬠמוד השני‬is certainly not followed by ‫רוח‬ ֯ ‫ לו‬as in 4Q186 1 ii 6–7, but by a word beginning with šin (see also 4Q186 6 2). This means that the phrase ‫ ,העמוד השני‬whatever its exact sense may be, is perhaps optional in the entries listed in 4Q186. Finally, it is possible that the different accounts in 4Q186 listed certain stones in relation to a person’s physiognomic traits and zodiacal sign. Both Babylonian and Graeco-Roman astrology were familiar with various connections between the zodiacal signs and stones. Perhaps the stones mentioned in 4Q186 were deemed to have some sort of magical powers. It is clear that a stone (‫ )אבן צונם‬is listed in 4Q186 1 ii 2, but its exact sense is uncertain due to the fragmentary context. Palaeography and Orthography The copying of the manuscript has been executed in a fine hand. The writing gives the impression that trouble was taken with it, not strange considering the reversed direction of writing. The way that 4Q186 is written is unique among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The lines as well as the words have to be read in reverse order from left to right. Another scribal peculiarity is that the scribe wrote the medial instead of the final form of the letters kap, mem and nun at the end of a word. The reason for this is not entirely clear. One might suppose that although the text is basically read from left to right, the scribe actually wrote in the usual way from right to left. But this seems unlikely since, first of all, the flush left is straight which suggests that the scribe started writing there. Secondly, there are no ligatures in the manuscript where this may have been expected had the direction of writing been right to left.14 Finally, had the direction of writing been 14 Except for ‫ יפי‬in 4Q186 3 3. 228 mladen popović right to left, the scribe could still have written final forms at the beginning of words read from left to right, which is not the case. Only two words have to be read in the regular order from right to left. In 4Q186 1 ii 2 the scribe wrote the words ‫‘( אבן צונם‬a granite stone’) from right to left.15 In this case the copyist did use the final forms of the characters. In addition to the inverted writing, the manuscript exhibits another distinct scribal feature, namely the use of mixed scripts.16 Characters from other scripts were used alongside the usual square script: palaeo-Hebrew, Greek and cryptic letters. The palaeo-Hebrew letters are gimel, he, waw, ḥ et, yod, lamed, mem, nun, samek, ṣade, reš, šin and taw.17 Two Greek letters were used, alpha and beta.18 Only one Cryptic A letter seems to appear in the remaining fragments, namely yod,19 but it is also possible that it represents a simplified palaeo-Hebrew yod. Finally, there is one letter that cannot be identified. In 4Q186 1 iii 4 a letter occurs, the third one from left, which many scholars have read as a Greek beta, but this is extremely unlikely. Its exact identification remains unknown.20 Although difficult to detect a ‘cryptographic’ system, it is interesting to note that when non-square characters are used the entire word is written in non-square characters.21 The square script of 4Q186 can be characterized, according to the typology of Frank Moore Cross, as a Herodian ‘Round’ semiformal hand, showing both earlier and more developed forms.22 ʾAlep has a right arm thickened at the top, which develops into a serif,23 and the 15 ‫ יפי‬in 4Q186 3 3 was perhaps also written from right to left, because of the ligature. 16 There is only one other manuscript from Qumran that perhaps has mixed scripts in the running text, namely 4QcryptC Unidentified Religious Text (4Q363a). The text uses the palaeo-Hebrew script (note also the dots that function as word dividers) and characters unknown to us that have been called Cryptic C script. Only a photograph has been published of 4Q363a, see M. Bernstein et al., Qumran Cave 4.XXVIII: Miscellanea, Part 2 (DJD 28; Oxford: Clarendon, 2001), Plate XLIII. 17 4Q186 1 i 8: ‫ רחבים‬and ‫ 1 ;סגלגלים‬i 9: ‫ 1 ;רו֯ ש]ו‬ii 4: ‫ 1 ;נ֯ צרׁ]ו[ת‬ii 7: ‫ 1 ;האור‬ii 8: ֯ ֯ ‫ 1 ;החושך‬iii 4: ‫ 1 ;וא·ה‬iii 8: ‫ 2 ;בבית‬i 2: ‫.ממﬠ]ט‬ ̇ ֯ 18 4Q186 1 i 8: ‫ 1 ;רחבים‬ii 7: ‫( בבית‬twice); 1 ii 7: ‫ 1 ;האור‬iii 4: ‫ 1 ;וא·ה‬iii 8: ‫.בבית‬ 19 4Q186 1 ii 7: ‫.בבית‬ 20 See notes on readings. 21 Exceptions are 4Q186 1 iii 7: ‫ 1 ;בבית‬iii 8: ‫ 2 ;החושך‬i 2: ‫.מולדו :2 4 ;ממע]ט‬ ֯ ̇ ֯ 22 F. M. Cross, Jr., ‘The Development of the Jewish Script’, The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Essays in Honor of William Foxwell Albright (ed. G. E. Wright; Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1961) 133–202, at 173–81. 23 4Q186 1 iii 6: ‫.לאבר‬ 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 229 left leg is bent to the right. Bet still has its tick at the right, upper shoulder in some cases,24 but is losing it in others.25 Gimel has a right down stroke that is gently curved and bent to the right at the top, without serif, and to the left at the bottom. The left leg is connected low on the right down stroke. Dalet has an ‘s’-shaped right leg characteristic of the semiformal style.26 He has a crossbar or roof that is thick and heavily shaded. Also, at the top of the right down stroke above the roof a small projection to the right appears. Waw and yod are not always easily distinguished. Sometimes yod is longer than waw. Zayin has both forms that appear in the early Herodian style: a simple stroke thickened or slightly bent to the right at the top,27 and a doubly curved down stroke.28 Ḥ et has a right leg curved inward, and a crossbar set rather low in some cases. Ṭ et is broad and squat, tending more to the developed Herodian formal script. Kap has a down stroke that curves outward to the right, and the base is sometimes rather broad.29 Lamed has a large, sometimes rounded hook. Mem conforms to the late Hasmonaean style according to which the left oblique is penned last. Nun appears with a down stroke bent to the right and thickened at the top, but without serif.30 Samek is fully closed. ʿAyin has a right down stroke that is sometime thickened.31 Pe has a sharp head. Sade appears with a left arm that characteristically curves inward to the right at the top,32 and the right arm is bent up and thickened at the tip.33 Qop has two forms of the down stroke: straight,34 and ‘s’-shaped, resembling that of dalet.35 Reš has some variation in the width of the head. Šin has a left down stroke that continues below the right arm, and the middle arm is gently curved. Taw was not drawn in a continuous stroke, and is not yet squat and broad. 4Q186 1 i 9: ‫ 1 ;מﬠורבים‬ii 9: ‫ 1 ;ברגל‬iii 6: ‫ 2 ;לאבר‬i 6: ‫.יושבות‬ 4Q186 1 iii 7: ‫.בכתפ]י :2 3 ;ﬠבות‬ ֯ 26 4Q186 1 ii 5: ‫ 1 ;ודקות‬ii 8: ‫.המולד‬ 27 4Q186 2 i 1: ‫.זות :2 6 ;וזקנו‬ 28 4Q186 1 ii 8: ‫.וזה‬ 29 Perhaps implying a final form? Cf. 4Q186 1 ii 8: ‫ 1 ;החושכ‬iv 7: ‫ 2 ;תוכ‬i 3: ‫.ארוכ‬ The base is broad when the letter is in final position. This shows that the scribe did have the tendency to give some letters different forms when they are in word-final or line-final position. 30 4Q186 1 ii 2: ‫ 2 ;צונם‬i 2: ‫.ﬠנוה‬ 31 4Q186 1 i 9: ‫ 1 ;מעורבים‬iii 8: ‫ 2 ;עבות‬i 3: ‫.ﬠל‬ 32 4Q186 2 i 4: ‫.קצר‬ 33 4Q186 1 iii 8: ‫.ואצבﬠות‬ 34 4Q186 2 i 5: ‫.חלקות‬ 35 4Q186 1 ii 6: ‫ 2 ;דקות‬i 2: ‫.קולו‬ 24 25 230 mladen popović On palaeographic grounds a date for the manuscript between ca. 30 bce–20 ce, according to the Cross-dating, seems probable.36 Regarding orthography, 4Q186 consistently writes plene using waw for long and short /o/ and /u/, e.g.: ,‫לוא ,שחורות ,וראושו ,החושך‬ ‫ 73.ושלוש ,ארוכות ,מﬠורבים‬ʾAlep is dropped in ‫( רו֯ ש]ו‬but not in ֯ ‫ 83)וראושו‬and ‫ 93.זות‬Regarding morphology, 4Q186 shows the long form of the singular personal pronoun ‫( הואה‬once ‫ 04)הוא‬and ‫,היאה‬ and the lengthened pronominal suffix of the third persons plural in ‫ .סרכמה‬These features concur with Emanuel Tov’s criteria for a Qumran Scribal Practice.41 Inventory and Plate Numbers Mus. Inv. 109 PAM 40.615, 41.314, 41.804, 41.892, 42.616, 43.344, 43.438 Frg. 1 i ]‫4 ה‬ ̇ ]‫5 ה‬ ] vacat 6 ]‫7 ואיש אשר יהיה ק‬ ̇ ] ‫8 רחבים >ו<סגלגלים‬ ‫9 מעורבים ולוא שאר רו֯ ש]ו‬ ֯ ֯ bottom margin Notes on Readings42 L. 7 ]‫ .ק‬The long down stroke curves to the left (‘s’-shaped). This feȧ ture makes it probable that qop should be read here. Matthias Delcor mentions in passing that Józef T. Milik and Jean Starcky suggested to him a date in the second half of the first century bce for the manuscript. See Delcor, ‘Recherches sur un horoscope’, 319 n. 36. 37 Cf. E. Qimron, The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (HSS 29; Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1986) 17–8. 38 Cf. also n. 46 below. 39 Qimron, Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 20, 22. 40 Popović, Reading the Human Body, 259. 41 But the table in Tov, Scribal Practices, 341 wrongly lists that the verbal form qṭlth occurs in 4Q186. 42 For a full discussion of notes and comments on readings in 4Q186, see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 240–62. 36 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 231 L. 8 ‫ .>ו<סגלגלים‬Allegro reads ‫‘ ,ו֯ ֯גלגלים‬rounded’,43 but palaeo-Hebrew ֯ samek is clearly visible. Strugnell proposes reading ‫ ,>ו<סגלגלים‬assuming a leap by the copyist from waw to samek in palaeo-Hebrew.44 L. 9 ‫ .רו֯ ש]ו‬A tear beneath this line that runs upward right through ֯ ֯ the strokes of ink after ‫ שאר‬hampers any reading of the final letters of this line. The manuscript also seems to have suffered a crinkle at this point. To the left of the tear the tip of a head is clearly visible, either from palaeo-Hebrew reš or square script waw or yod. Beneath this head a trace of ink that must be the end of a stroke is still observable. In PAM 41.804 the two elements are clearly not connected, which would seem to rule out the possibility of waw or yod, but PAM 42.616 is less clear and it even seems as if the head has part of the leg attached to it. Two elements are clearly discernable to the right side of the tear. First, one sees a small trace of ink, and, second, below the trace a down stroke with a stroke to the left on top is patently visible. Again, neither element is clearly connected in PAM 41.804, but this is not so clear in PAM 42.616. Adopting Strugnell’s reconstruction, the first letter is palaeo-Hebrew reš. It consists of three elements. The first part is the head at the left side of the tear that must have been connected with the second element, which is the trace of ink to the right side of the tear. This was the connection between the upper stroke of the head and the down stroke of the leg.45 The third element is the small trace of ink to the left side of the tear and below the head. The manuscript has crinkled causing the displacement of the leg of palaeo-Hebrew reš diagonally underneath the head. This also resulted in the fourth element, the second letter waw, moving slightly lower. The last stroke of ink could be the left edge of palaeo-Hebrew šin. Reading ‫ ,רו֯ ש]ו‬differs from the full spelling ‫ וראושו‬in 4Q186 1 iii 5, ֯ ֯ but does not speak against this reconstruction.46 Allegro, DJD 5:88–89 (the italics are Allegro’s). Strugnell, ‘Notes en marge du volume V’, 274. 45 Cf. 4Q186 1 ii 7: ‫ ,האור‬where the head is elongated and pointed (completely different from the palaeo-Hebrew reš in 1 i 8: ‫.ר̊ חבים‬ 46 Cf. also 4Q186 2 ii 5: ‫ ,הוא‬whereas otherwise ‫ הואה‬is written. Admittedly, there are only a few cases where one and the same manuscript has alternative spellings of ‫ .ראש‬See 4Q403 1 ii 24 (‫ 1 ;)לראשי ,רוש‬ii 34 (‫4 ;)ראוש‬Q418 9+ 5 (‫ 54–34 ;)ברושכה‬i 1 (‫ 621 ;)ראש‬ii 7 (‫ .)ראוש‬In biblical manuscripts only in the Isaiaha scroll from Cave 1; see for the form without ʾalep (‫ )רוש‬Isa 40:21; 41:26; 48:16. 44 43 232 mladen popović Translation 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. . . .[ . . .[ blank [ And someone (whose) . . . will be[ broad <and> rounded [ mixed, but the rest of [his] head is not [ Comments L. 7 ]‫ .ואיש אשר יהיה ק‬This line begins a new entry for a physi̇ ognomic description. As the physiognomic descriptions in 4Q186 seem to be structured a capite ad calcem, the account in 4Q186 1 i 7 might have begun with the head or crown of the head (‫ואיש אשר‬ ‫ ,)יהיה ק]דקדו‬with a qualification of the described person as being bald ̇ (‫ ,)ק]רח‬or with a description of the tone of his voice (‫ .)ק]ולו‬But it ̇ ̇ is also possible that the description began with a general bodily characterization about the individual’s height (‫ ,)ק]ומתו‬or a more direct ̇ qualification, such as that the person is small (‫ ,)ק]טן‬short (‫ ,)ק]צר‬or ̇ ̇ has a dark complexion (‫.)ק]דר‬ ̇ It is possible to understand ]‫ ואיש אשר יהיה ק‬as a protasis in the sense ̇ of ‘and if someone (whose) . . . will be, then . . .’, expressing the conditional clause similar to that used in Babylonian omen lists. Support for such an understanding of the beginning of an entry in 4Q186 comes from material in the Qumran penal codes, where the construction ‫ )ו(איש אשר‬or ‫ )ו(האיש אשר‬is used to introduce the protasis.47 In 4Q186 it is likely that this phrase introduced a string of physiognomic descriptions such as one finds in 4Q186 1 ii, iii, and 2 i, not just of one body part.48 L. 8–9 ‫ סגלגלים ,רחבים‬and ‫ .מעורבים‬These expressions are used in later physiognomic texts to describe various parts of the human body, making it probable that 4Q186 1 i 7 indeed concerns an opening description of the human body that continued in lines 8–9.49 Given See 1QS 6:12.24; 7:4.13.15.17.18.22; 4Q270 i 12. Cf. also CD 9:9; 1QM 7:5–6. Interesting comparative material comes from a later medieval Jewish text, The Book of the Reading of the Hands by an Indian Sage. See G. Scholem, ‘Physiognomy and Chiromancy’, Sefer ʾAssaf: Qoveṣ maʾamre meḥ qar (ed. M. D. Cassuto, J. Klausner and J. Gutmann; Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook, 1953) 459–95, at 488–92. 49 b. Ned. 66b; b. Šabb. 30b–31a; The Physiognomy of R. Ishmael; The Book of the Reading of the Hands by an Indian Sage; T.-S. K 21.88 1/‫ .22 ב‬See the discussion in Popović, Reading the Human Body, 36–7. 48 47 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 233 the other occurrences of ‫‘( רחב‬broad’) and ‫‘( סגלגל‬round’), it is likely that 4Q186 1 i 8 describes an individual’s face, or perhaps even more specifically his eyes, as broad and round.50 In addition, part of the head is described with the word ‫.מעורבים‬ There are two possible interpretations. ‫ מעורבים‬is a puʿal participle derived from the root ‫‘ ,ﬠרב‬to be sweet, pleasing’, or it is a puʿal participle from ‫‘ ,ﬠרב‬to mix, confuse’. The second interpretation is to be preferred. In 4Q561 the passive participle ‫ מﬠרבין‬occurs too, and it is also followed by the negative adverb ‫ .ולא‬In this Aramaic text the sense ‘mixed, confused’ is clearly intended. The word is followed by the qualification that it is ‘not too much’ (‫ ,)ולא שגיא‬hardly said of something if the sense were ‘pleasing’.51 In The Book of the Reading of the Hands by an Indian Sage the use of ‫ ﬠרב‬in the sense of ‘to be sweet, pleasing’ is also attested. A person’s voice can be sweet and pleasant (‫4 25.)ואותו שקול ﬠרב ומתוק‬Q186 1 i 9 probably continues the description of a certain feature or part of the head as being of mixed character, but at the same time stresses the limited extent of this; the rest of the person’s head should not show this characteristic. Frg. 1 ii ‫[ג טמא‬ ] ‫[אבן צונם‬ ] ‫[ איש ﬠו֯ ]ר‬ ] ‫)ו(אר[ו֯ כות ו֗ /י ֺה][·· נ֯ צר]ו[ת‬ ̇ ̇ ֯ ] ‫ושוקיו ארוכות ודקות ואצבעות רגליו‬ ‫דקות וארוכות והואה מן הﬠמוד השני‬ ‫רוח לו בבית האור שש ושלוש בבית‬ ֯ ‫החושך וזה הואה המולד אשרהואה ילוד ﬠליו‬ ̇ ‫ברגל השור ﬠנו יהיה וזה בהמתו שור‬ bottom margin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 50 Cf. also Delcor, ‘Recherches sur un horoscope’, 299. Unfortunately, no body part is mentioned in the extant text in 4Q561 7 3 where ‫ סגלגל‬also occurs, but it is possible that it refers to the eye. See also Puech, DJD 37:320. 51 See 4Q561 1 i 1. 52 Scholem, ‘Physiognomy’, 491.9. But the first interpretation is confirmed also by this same text, and, even more, in exactly the same form as in 4Q186 1 i 9 (in another manuscript of this text Scholem notes the reading ‫ .)מעורבים‬It is said that the lines on the palm of the hand are mixed, that they are intertwined with each other (‫וכל אשר‬ ‫ ;)יהיה כפו מﬠורבבים אלו ﬠם אלו‬Scholem, ‘Physiognomy’, 489.12. 234 mladen popović Notes on Readings L. 1 ‫ .טמא‬In PAM 42.616 it is clear that the scribe drew part of the down stroke that is attached to the horn of mem and descends to the left. L. 2 ‫ .אבן צונם‬The only two words in 4Q186 that have to be read in the regular order from right to left. L. 3 ‫ .ﬠו֯ ]ר‬Allegro reads ]‫ 35,ﬠי‬but the second letter might also be waw. There seems to be a small crinkle in the leather below the second character, or it may be that a small part of the surface has fallen off. This makes it difficult to determine whether the down stroke continued further down. L. 4 ‫ .)ו(אר[ו֯ כות‬The final letter is palaeo-Hebrew taw, and the third ֯ letter is square script waw, with part of the head still visible in PAM 42.616. Of the second letter, a down stroke and a base are extant. The first letter is only present in a small trace of ink (PAM 41.804; 42.616) and is in itself not indicative. ··[]‫ .ו̇ /י̇ ה‬The manuscript is damaged and the surface layer of the ̇ leather is partly missing. Only a few dots are visible in this damaged section. When the top layer of the leather is present again one can discern a small horizontal stroke that seems to have a curve upwards at the left, like the upper stroke (the sting) of bet, dalet, kap, mem or reš, but it is very vague (PAM 41.314, 41.804, 42.616). There are two problems with Allegro’s reconstruction ‫ 45.וה]נ[ה‬First, the gap seems ֯ too large for one letter (even if it were palaeo-Hebrew nun), and, second, final he is difficult to read, since the curve seems to go upward. ‫ .נ֯ צרׁ]ו[ת‬The final word is entirely written in palaeo-Hebrew characters. The fourth letter, filling the gap, is palaeo-Hebrew waw. In PAM 41.804 one can observe a small stroke to the left of the gap and to the right of the palaeo-Hebrew taw. This perhaps represents the horizontal stroke of palaeo-Hebrew waw. L. 7 ‫ .בבית‬The third letter can be either waw or yod, and the fourth ֯ letter is read either as reš or taw. It is not possible to give a clear identification of the last letter on palaeographic grounds. Given the other occurrences of ‫ בית‬in 4Q186, the reading ‫ בבית‬instead of ‫ בבור‬is to be preferred. 53 54 Allegro, DJD 5:88–89. Allegro, DJD 5:88–89. 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 235 L. 8 ‫ .החושך‬Part of the upper horizontal stroke and left down stroke ̇ of palaeo-Hebrew ḥ et is still visible (PAM 41.804, 42.616). L. 9 ‫ .ﬠנו‬The reading ‫‘( ﬠני‬he will be poor’) is also possible. Translation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. ]. . . unclean ] a granite stone ] a bli[nd (?)] man (and) lo]ng, . . . [. . .] . . . sec[re]t parts (?) and his thighs are long and slender, and his toes are slender and long. And he is from the second column. There is a spirit for him in the house of light (of ) six (parts), and three (parts) in the house of 8. darkness. And this is the horoscope under which he was born: 9. in the foot of Taurus. He will be humble, and this is his zodiacal sign: Taurus. Comments L. 2 ‫ 55.אבן צונם‬Contrary to the otherwise inverted written character of the text the words ‫ ,אבן צונם‬a kind of granite, are written in the normal order from right to left. In various ancient magical texts inverted writing or the use of different scripts was used to enhance its magical power or effect. In 4Q186, however, the entire text is written in an inverted manner and words that are written with mixed scripts also appear in normal, square characters. These considerations make it unlikely that these two scribal features were intended for magical effect. Yet, it may suggest that the regular order of writing represented some form of magical power. Perhaps the granite stone represents a magical stone, and maybe it was thought that the normal direction of writing enhanced its magical power in this otherwise inverted written text. Josephus ascribed to the Essenes an interest in the medicinal function of stones and plants. Both Babylonian and Graeco-Roman astrology were familiar with various connections between the zodiacal signs and particular stones, as well as other elements. It is thus possible that the original text of 4Q186 associated certain stones with different physiognomic types and zodiacal signs. Similar to its Babylonian and [ [ [ 55 Cf. Popović, Reading the Human Body, 51–4, 213–5, 235–7. 236 mladen popović Graeco-Roman counterparts, 4Q186 is an example of a tendency to bring together various branches of knowledge in one type of text, such as compendia or catalogues. L. 3 ‫ .איש עו֯ ]ר‬If one reads ]‫ ﬠו‬instead of ]‫ ﬠי‬a reconstruction such as ‫ איש עו]ר‬is possible. Another possibility could be that line 3 introduced a certain type of character. One might reconstruct ‫איש ﬠו]ל‬ (‘an unjust man’),56 or ‫‘( איש ﬠו֯ ]רמה‬a shrewd man’).57 If the text is arranged according to physiognomic criteria, it seems more likely that a bodily feature is being described rather than a character trait. If, in addition, ‫ אבן צונם‬in line 2 represents the end of a previous account, it follows that line 3 would be the beginning of another account in 4Q186 1 ii. Perhaps line 3 mentioned first the head and then commented on the eyes by stating the person was blind. Two lines further on the thighs are described as long and slender.58 L. 4 ‫ .נ֯ צרׁ]ו[ת‬The exact sense here of ‫ נצרות‬is hard to determine. It is a qal feminine passive participle plural from the root ‫‘ ,נצר‬to watch, keep, guard’.59 Following the sequence of the description of the human body, it could refer to the genital area of the body, which is kept secret.60 In Babylonian as well as in medieval Jewish physiognomic tradition the penis is the object of physiognomic inquiry.61 And in Greek zodiologia 4Q417 2 i 7: ‫.ואיש ﬠול‬ 4Q525 23 5: ‫.באנשי ﬠרמת‬ ̇ 58 In 4Q186 1 iii 5 the head is mentioned and two lines down the thighs are described as thick and hairy. 59 Cf. Carmignac, ‘Les Horoscopes’, 202, who refers to Isa 48:6: ‫‘( ,נְ צרו̇ ת‬hidden ֻ things’). 60 Carmignac, ‘Les Horoscopes’, 202–3. Carmignac quotes part of a zodiologion that speaks of moles on the secret parts of a person born in the zodiacal sign Aries: ‘he has moles on the eyes, on the breast and on the secret parts’ (ἐλαίας ἔχει ἐπὶ τῆς ὄψεως, ἐπὶ τoῦ στήθους καὶ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, see CCAG 12.174.14–15). Cf. also Delcor, ‘Recherches sur un horoscope’, 299–300. 61 In the Babylonian physiognomic omen series Šumma alamdimmû the tenth tablet is devoted to descriptions of the penis and testicles (X:64–125), see B. Böck, Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie (AfO.B 27; Vienna: Institut für Orientalistik der Universität Wien, 2000) 122–27. There is an astrological-physiognomic text in the Cairo Genizah (T.-S. NS 252:2) that gives descriptions of the male genitals, see I. Gruenwald, ‘Further Jewish Physiognomic and Chiromantic Fragments’, Tarbiz 40 (1970–1971) 301–19, at 317–9. For a comparison between some Babylonian omens and this Cairo Genizah text, see Böck, Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie, 67. The Babylonian series Šumma alamdimmû also pays attention to the vagina in the subseries devoted to the woman, see Böck, Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie, 165. It seems that Graeco-Roman physiognomic tradition did not regard the sex organs as objects of physiognomic inquiry, but see the occurrence in the Anonymous Latin author, De physiognomonia liber §85: qui virilia habent magna laneaque, stolidi 56 57 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 237 as well as the Mandaean Book of the Zodiac the secret or private parts are also referred to.62 Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos 3.13.15, mentions injuries and diseases of the secret parts (κρυπτῶν τόπων) caused by the planet Mars. Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 5.3.38, says that if Saturn is positioned in Scorpio he causes tireless pains in the concealed and private parts (absconsorum et latentium locorum assiduos dolores). However, if a part of the body were referred to one would expect a suffix attached to ‫ .נצרות‬As far as one can tell, in 4Q186 the individual’s body parts are always followed by a personal suffix.63 L. 6 ‫ 46.והואה מן הﬠמוד השני‬The exact sense of the phrase ‫והואה‬ ‫‘( מן הﬠמוד השני‬And he is from the second column’) is difficult to ascertain. The subject of ‫ הואה‬is the described person in the preceding physiognomic account, referred to by the suffixes attached to the different parts of the body.65 No new subject has been introduced. It is, therefore, probable that it is the described individual who is ‘from the second column’. Furthermore, it is evident that a new element is introduced following the physiognomic description. The conjunctivewaw in ‫ והואה‬makes this clear.66 In the Hebrew Bible the word ‫ ﬠמוד‬can have an architectural sense, it can function as a reference to the divine presence, or it can have a metaphorical sense. Occurrences of ‫ עמוד‬in the Dead Sea Scrolls fall primarily within the category of architectural usage,67 while the rest are mainly analogous to the second sense describing the divine presence.68 The sense of ‫‘( הﬠמוד השני‬the second column’) cannot be reconciled with any of the various meanings of ‫ עמוד‬in the Hebrew Bible, the sunt (‘those who have large and hairy testicles are stupid’), and also the Greek zodiologia in n. 62. 62 CCAG 4.159.12; 160.1–2, 18–19, 31–32; 162.1; 163.3–4; 166.15; 167.1, 23–24; 168.23; 169.10; 10.102.8–9; 103.26–27; 105.11–12; 108.15–16; 109.28–29; 114.25; 117.3; 118.19; 119.29; 183.21–184.1; 12.176.6–7; 178.8–9; 181.28; 184.25–26. E. S. Drower, The Book of the Zodiac (OTF 36; London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1949) 9, 13, 30, 33, 35. 63 See 1 ii 5: ‫ ושוקיו‬and ‫ 1 ,ואצבﬠות רגליו‬iii 5: ‫ 1 ,וראושו‬iii 6: ‫ 1 ,ושניו‬iii 6–7: ‫ 1 ,ואצבעות ידיו‬iii 7: ‫ 1 ,ושוקיו‬iii 8: ‫ 2 ,ואצבעות רגליו‬i 1: ‫ וﬠ[יניו‬and ‫ 2 ,וזקניו‬i 2: ‫ובת‬ ‫ קולו‬and ‫ 2 ,ושניו‬i 4: ‫ 2 ,ואצבעות ידיו‬i 5: ‫ ושוקיו‬and ‫.וכפות רגליו‬ 64 For a detailed discussion see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 38–48, 248–9. 65 4Q186 1 ii 5: ‫ ושוקיו‬and ‫.ואצבעות רגליו‬ 66 In 4Q186 1 iii 8 and 4Q186 2 i 6 another element subsequent to the physiognomic parts is introduced in the same manner by the use of conjunctive-waw in ‫.ורוח לו‬ 67 See 1QM 5:10; 3Q15 4:1; 6:1; 11:3; 4Q403 1 i 41; 11Q13 3:10; 11Q19 10:11; 30:9; 31:9; 34:2–3.15; 35:10; 42:11. See also the Aramaic New Jerusalem texts 1Q32 1 1–2; 4Q554 1 iii 22; 5Q15 1 ii 4; 2 4–5; 11Q18 9 2; 11 6. 68 See 4Q365 6a i 9; 4Q470 3 5; 4Q504 6 10; 4Q505 128 2 (?); 4Q506 126 2. 238 mladen popović Dead Sea Scrolls, or rabbinic literature for that matter. It seems to be unique and particular to 4Q186. The word ‫ עמוד‬is best translated by ‘pillar’ or ‘column’, but scholars have given various interpretations for the specific sense of the phrase ‫ העמוד השני‬in 4Q186. There are basically three astrological explanations and one non-astrological understanding. The most widely held interpretation is to connect ‫ העמוד השני‬with the zodiacal sign Taurus and to take the term ‫ עמוד‬as a reference to the zodiacal sign or more specifically a position within the zodiac; in the case of Taurus the second position. Secondly, Schmidt suggests that ‫ עמוד‬refers to a zodiacal quadrant, which contains three zodiacal signs. Consequently, ‘the second column’ denotes the second quadrant containing the zodiacal signs of Aries, Taurus and Gemini. Thirdly, Wise suggests in passing that ‫ עמוד‬is a reference to one of the phases of the moon,69 but this seems unlikely. Fourthly, Alexander argues ‫ עמוד‬refers to a ‘column’ or a ‘list’ in a heavenly scroll. But there is no other evidence in 4Q186 that the concept of heavenly books plays a role in the text. Also, the term ‫ עמוד‬is not attested this early in such a sense and other terms were available. It is evident that all the proposals for the specific sense of ‫ העמוד השני‬in 4Q186 can be no more than hypothetical. The simplest, but unsatisfactory, solution seems to be to take it as a reference to the second position in the zodiacal circle. Only in 4Q186 1 ii does it occur in context, and then in relation to the zodiacal sign Taurus, which is the second sign of the zodiacal circle according to the most common view.70 This is unsatisfactory, however, because it is superfluous (the explicit reference to Taurus, ‫ ,שור‬in 1 ii 9 makes clear that the second signs of the zodiac is meant) and does not add any significant information to a text that is otherwise succinct and meaningful. L. 7 ‫ 17.רוח לו‬Most scholars read ‫‘( רוּח‬spirit’) and assume that ‫רוח‬ ַ ‫‘( לו‬his spirit’) refers to the human spirit, i.e. the spirit of the described person. Contrary to the general understanding, Gordis proposes to read ̇‫‘( ֶרוַ ח לו‬it has a space . . .’). Bergmeier and Albani accept this read69 M. O. Wise, ‘A Horoscope Written in Code (4Q186)’, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (M. O. Wise, M. G. Abegg, Jr. and E. M. Cook; New York: HarperCollins, 2005) 275–8, at 277. 70 For details about the not yet satisfactorily resolved matter of the selenodromion in 4Q318, beginning with Taurus as the first sign in the month of Nisan, see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 39–40 n. 88; J. Ben-Dov, Head of All Years: Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in their Ancient Context (STDJ 78; Leiden: Brill, 2008) 256–57. 71 For a detailed discussion see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 172–208. 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 239 ing and understand the zodiacal sign as the object of reference. However, when Albani takes ‫ ֶרוַ ח‬as a reference to the space occupied by the different parts of the zodiacal sign in the areas above and below the earth he ignores the identity of the subject of ‫ :לו‬it is unlikely that this is the zodiacal sign. In the physiognomic descriptions, the suffixes refer to the types of people whose bodies are described. A new subject has not been introduced in the text. The subject, therefore, of ‫רוח לו‬ is the individual type of human being with which the entries of the list are concerned, not the zodiacal sign.72 The most plausible reading remains ‫.רוּח‬ ַ The general understanding is that 4Q186 visualizes the human spirit as divided between light and darkness. This division of the human spirit between light and darkness is taken as a dualistic feature of the text and 4Q186 is therefore related to the Two Spirits Treatise in the Rule of the Community (1QS 3:13–4:26). The assumption is that the partition of the human spirit in the Two Spirits Treatise is expressed arithmetically on a nine-point scale in 4Q186. But it is questionable whether ‫ רוּח‬denotes the human spirit. First ַ of all, it is important to realize the context in which ‫ רוח‬appears in 4Q186. The text explicitly connects the numbers in the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ with the word ‫‘ :רוח‬There is a spirit for him in the house of light (of) six (parts), and three (parts) in the house of darkness’ (1 ii 7–8).73 Any explanation for the meaning of ‫ רוח‬in 4Q186 should also be able to account for the realization of the numbers divided between the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ in relation to the concept behind that terminology. Second, the use of the nominal construct ‫‘( רוח לו‬there is a spirit for him’) instead of ‫‘( רוחו‬his spirit’) suggests the possibility that another, external spirit is meant. The regular way of referring to people’s innate spirits in Second Temple period texts is ‫ 47.רוחו‬It is thus possible that the distinct construction ‫ רוח לו‬was chosen precisely for the purpose of drawing attention to the fact that the human spirit is not meant as the object 72 A change of subject occurs in 4Q186 1 ii 8 (‫ ,)וזה הואה‬but its object of reference is immediately explicated by the word ‫‘( מולד‬horoscope’). This is not the case with ‫ .רוח לו‬There is, therefore, no reason to assume a change of subject. 73 Cf. also 1 iii 8–9. 74 Cf. CD 3:3; 20:24; 1QS 2:14; 4:26; 6:17; 7:18.23; 9:15.18; 4Q279 5 5; 4Q416 7 3 (=4Q418 77 4); 4Q417 1 i 18 (=4Q418 43–45 i 14); 2 i 1.3; 4Q426 11 3; 11Q29 1. Cf. A. E. Sekki, The Meaning of Ruaḥ at Qumran (SBLDS 110; Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1989) 118–21, 123, who does not comment on the construction ‫.רוח לו‬ 240 mladen popović of reference, but another, external spirit in this case. In the physiognomic descriptions the suffix is immediately attached to the nouns, as already noted above,75 and that is also the case with the reference to the person’s zodiacal sign in 4Q186 1 ii 9 (‫‘ ,בהמתו‬his animal’). The construction ‫ רוח לו‬seems thus to stand out in the text. Instead of the human spirit, ‫ רוח‬refers to the zodiacal spirit. Since 4Q186 relates the numbers to a ‘spirit’, ‫ רוח‬should also be considered within the astrological framework of the text. If the allocation of numbers between the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ is astrologically the result of the ascendant zodiacal sign that is divided between the areas above and below the horizon (see below), then the ‘spirit’ should probably also be related to the zodiac. In other words, the spirits mentioned in the text are zodiacal spirits: one for each of the twelve zodiacal signs. Although there are no other attestations for this specific type of spirit in texts from this period (unlike from late antiquity, see e.g. the Testament of Solomon), various Second Temple texts imagine angels and spirits performing a variety of cosmological functions and understand stars as animated beings (see e.g. Dan 12:3; 1 En. 21:1–5; 39:4–5; 43:1–4; 60:14–22; 72:1; 74:2; 75:3; 79:6; 80:1; 82:10; Jub. 2:2; 1QHa 9:9–13; 2 En. 4–6; 11; 19). Against this background 4Q186 understands spirits to accompany the zodiacal signs so that these were believed to be animated beings, possessing a spirit. L. 7–8 ‫ .בבית האור שש ושלוש בבית החושך‬The mention of nuṁ ֯ bers in relation to ‘house of light’ and ‘house of darkness’ terminology occurs twice, while a third occurrence can be assumed.76 Many scholars relate this to the light/darkness dualism of sectarian texts, especially the Two Spirits Treatise of the Rule of the Community. But the use of ‫ בית‬in combination with ‫ אור‬and ‫ חושך‬occurs in no other text from Qumran and cannot, therefore, just be taken as another example of Qumran dualism. Scholars have proposed various interpretations for the term ‫ בית‬and the conceptual framework behind the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’. Delcor and Lichtenberger take ‫ בית‬as an astrological termiSee n. 63 above. Also in 4Q186 1 iii 8–9. In both cases the words ‫ )ו(רוח לו‬begin the sentence. Whatever the exact sense of ‫ ,)ו(רוח לו‬from its basic connection with the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’, one can assume that a third occurrence of these words originally stood in 4Q186 2 i 7, following the words ‫ ורוח ל]ו‬in line 6. But the exact division of numbers in the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ is lost there. 76 75 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 241 nus technicus for a planetary house, equivalent to Greek οἶκος, Latin domus and Syriac bēt̠.77 But one of the problems with these interpretations is that a planet, even if 4Q186 would make mention of planets at all, cannot be in both of its houses at the same time, being divided between them.78 The double use of ‫ בית‬must therefore indicate something else than a planetary house. Gordis and Bergmeier suggest that the phrases ‘house of light’ and ‘house of darkness’ represent day and night as times of light and darkness. Bergmeier further suggests that the moon’s position in a specific part of the zodiacal sign explains the division of numbers between the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’.79 However, it is not clear how day and night are conceptually related to the position of the moon ‘in the foot of Taurus’ (4Q186 1 ii 9) in a proportion of six to three. Schmidt argues that the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ represent diurnal and nocturnal zodiacal signs.80 The division in 4Q186 between diurnal and nocturnal signs is based on the date of conception and an arithmetic that involves counting the duration of pregnancy in relation to the zodiacal signs. Schmidt uses the subdivision of the zodiac into thirty-six decans (three for each zodiacal sign), assumes half of them are diurnal (in the ‘house of light’), half nocturnal (in the ‘house of darkness’), and presupposes a nine-month duration of pregnancy. The number of eighteen invariable decans is common to every mean period of pregnancy of nine months. This means that nine variable decans remain to be designated as diurnal or nocturnal, which explains the division between light and darkness in 4Q186. Schmidt’s explanation for the number nine is based on the combined assumptions that the horoscope is determined by the moment of conception and that twenty-seven decans equal a mean period of pregnancy. If, however, these assumptions do not hold water, the reference to a typology of diurnal and nocturnal zodiacal signs as a third assumption loses its explanatory function with regard to the words ‘house of light’ and ‘house of darkness’. Finally, Albani suggests that the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ are related to cosmological rooms above and below the horizon.81 4Q186 envisages the partition of the zodiacal sign (see further below on ‫ברגל‬ 77 78 79 80 81 For the notion of planetary houses see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 126–7. See Popović, Reading the Human Body, 132–5. See Popović, Reading the Human Body, 137–41. See Popović, Reading the Human Body, 142–55. See Popović, Reading the Human Body, 155, 157–9. 242 mladen popović ‫ השור‬in line 9). The horizon functions as the dividing line between the different parts of the sign. The ‘house of light’ contains the parts of the zodiacal sign that have risen above the horizon, while the ‘house of darkness’ refers to those parts that are still below the horizon. This background explains the division of numbers between the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’. Greek astrological texts provide evidence for the association of the area above the horizon with light and the area below the horizon with darkness. Babylonian sources show that the word bītu (‘house’) had a spatial sense as a reference to an area in the sky or a part of the ecliptic, so that a similar semantic field can be assumed for ‫ בית‬in 4Q186. L. 8 ‫ 28.מולד‬The noun ‫‘( מולד‬horoscope’) does not occur in the Hebrew Bible.83 In rabbinic Hebrew ‫ מו̇ לד‬refers to ‘descendant’, while ֵ ‫ מו̇ לד‬refers to the ‘birth-time’, especially of the new moon.84 In the ָ Dead Sea Scrolls ‫ מולד‬is used in a general and, in some of the wisdom texts, more specific, astrological, sense, especially in the case of the phrase ‫ 58.בית מולדים‬In 4Q186, ‫ מולד‬is a technical term that refers to the astrological sign under which people were born. In 4Q186 1 ii 9 the statement concerning the ‫ מולד‬under which the person was born is followed by a specific reference to a part of the zodiacal sign Taurus (‫‘ ,ברגל השור‬in the foot of Taurus’). Such a context makes general understandings of the noun ‫ ,מולד‬such as the time of birth,86 the occasion of birth itself,87 or to the one born,88 improbable here. The astrological context in 4Q186 warrants understanding ‫ מולד‬more specifically as a technical astrological term for the nativity of an individual, For more details Popović, Reading the Human Body, 48–51. Biblical Hebrew has the abstract noun ‫ מולדת‬in the sense of ‘relatives’ or ‘offspring’, and the hiʿpil participle ‫( מוליד‬Isa 66:9), ‫( מולדים‬Jer 16:3) ‘to beget, deliver’, but these occurrences do not shed light on the use of ‫ מולד‬in 4Q186. 84 Cf. M. Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (1903; repr. New York: Judaica, 1996) 742; S. Gandz, ‘The Problem of the Molad’, Studies in Hebrew Astronomy and Mathematics (S. Gandz; New York: Ktav, 1970) 120–49. 85 For ‫ מולד‬see 4Q415 11 11; 4Q416 2 iii 9 // 4Q418 9+ 8; 4Q416 2 iii 20 // 4Q418 10a, b 3; 4Q417 2 i 11 // 4Q416 2 i 6; 4Q418 202 1. For ‫ בית מולדים‬see 4Q299 1 4; 3a ii–b 13; 5 5; 4Q415 2 ii 9. Cf. e.g. M. Morgenstern, ‘The Meaning of ‫ בית מולדים‬in the Qumran Wisdom Texts’, JJS 51 (2000) 141–4; E. J. C. Tigchelaar, To Increase Learning for the Understanding Ones: Reading and Reconstructing the Fragmentary Early Jewish Sapiential Text 4QInstruction (STDJ 44; Leiden: Brill, 2001) 238. 86 Allegro, DJD 5:89. 87 Carmignac, ‘Les horoscopes’, 203. 88 Dupont-Sommer, ‘Deux documents horoscopiques’, 242. 83 82 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 243 analogous to γένεσις and genitura in Graeco-Roman astrology.89 The nativity is the constellation of planets in relation to the zodiac at the moment of birth, but in 4Q186 this is restricted to the zodiacal sign, or rather part of it, under which people were born. The term ‘horoscope’ is used in modern parlance for the configuration of planets in relation to the zodiacal signs, but in antiquity ὡροσκόπος was used only for the zodiacal sign rising in the east at the moment of birth, the ascendant.90 But because 4Q186 is primarily interested in the ascendant (see below on ‫ ברגל השור‬in line 9), the translation ‘horoscope’ is appropriate for ‫19.מולד‬ L. 9 ‫ .ברגל השור‬Allegro’s translation ‘on the Festival of Taurus’ has met with little approval.92 Several scholars understand these words as a reference to a part of the constellation Taurus in which the sun or the moon was positioned at the moment of birth. But it is impossible for the sun, the moon, or any of the other five planets to reach this section of the constellation Taurus so far below the ecliptic. The phrase ‫רגל‬ ‫ השור‬cannot, therefore, refer to the constellation, but rather refers to a specific part of the zodiacal sign.93 Schmidt suggests it refers to the first decan of the constellation Taurus. But the decans are a subdivision of the zodiacal signs into three parts of 10º and as such have nothing to do with the actual constellations. Also, there is no evidence that the first decan of Taurus is referred to as ‘the foot of Taurus’. Finally, 89 On γένεσις in an astrological sense, see the references in J. N. Bremmer, ‘Foolish Egyptians: Apion and Anoubion in the Pseudo-Clementines’, The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic Essays in Honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen (ed. A. Hilhorst and G. H. van Kooten; AJEC 59; Leiden: Brill, 2005) 311–29, at 313 n. 10. 90 For the meaning of the term ὡροσκόπος, see e.g. A. Bouché-Leclercq, L’astrologie grecque (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1899) 257–75; H. G. Gundel and A. Kehl, ‘Horoskop’, RAC 16 (1994), 597–662, at 599–600; W. Hübner, ‘Zur Verwendung und Umschreibung des Terminus ὡροσκόπος in der astrologischen Lehrdichtung der Antike’, Mene 1 (2001) 219–38, at 221. 91 Cf. also the occurrence of ‫“ ,מולדה‬his horoscope,” in 4Q534 1 i 10; 1 ii+2 1–2, 6; 4Q535 2 1. For the astrological sense here, see already J. Starcky, ‘Un texte messianique araméen de la grotte 4 de Qumrân’, Mémorial du cinquantenaire 1914–1964, École des Langues Orientales Anciennes de l’Institut Catholique de Paris (TICP 10; Paris: Bloud & Gay, 1964) 51–66, at 61–2. 92 Allegro, DJD 5:89. 93 Cf. Popović, Reading the Human Body, 122, 136–7, 156. There is a difference between zodiacal constellations in the zodiacal belt, which comprise actual stars, and zodiacal signs on the ecliptic, which are derived from the constellations but are nonetheless symbolic entities of 30° longitude. The constellations are of varying size and some extend well beyond the zodiacal belt, which is given a width of ±12°, i.e. 6° latitude on either side of the ecliptic. 244 mladen popović even if ‫ רגל השור‬were a reference to the forefeet of the zodiacal constellation Taurus rising above the eastern horizon, it is impossible to understand it as the first part of the constellation to appear, because the constellation Taurus rises backwards and not head first (the rear hooves are impossible too, because the constellation is imagined as a halved animal, cut from the middle).94 Bergmeier rightly emphasizes that the words ‫ ברגל השור‬presuppose a division of the zodiacal sign Taurus. He refers to an astrological list by Rhetorius-Teucer95 in which the sign of Taurus is divided into nine parts. In this text the enumeration of the nine parts of the zodiacal sign Taurus indicates the successive rising of the ecliptical parts of that sign, imagined as the limbs of the sign. Bergmeier argues that 4Q186 concerns the position of the moon in the foot of Taurus and that with recourse to the RhetoriusTeucer text this means that this part together with two more parts of the sign are in the house of darkness and the six other parts are in the house of light. Bergmeier’s lunar interpretation is problematic, but his inference that ‫ ברגל השור‬indicates a division of the zodiacal sign Taurus is the key to understand the astrological framework of 4Q186. Instead of the moon, Albani proposes that ‫ ברגל השור‬refers to the ascendant, i.e. that ecliptical part of the zodiacal sign Taurus rising above the eastern horizon at the time of birth. It takes approximately two hours before the entire 30° section of the sign has entirely risen above the horizon. This means that during the time of ascension an ever-greater part appears above the horizon, leaving an ever-smaller part below the horizon. Assuming that the ‘foot of Taurus’ in 4Q186 1 ii 9 is equivalent to the ‘feet’ of Taurus in the Rhetorius-Teucer text, which are listed as the seventh part of the body (22°–24°), Albani suggests that this part is in the ascendancy from below the horizon. It being the seventh part means that six parts or limbs of the sign Taurus have risen above the horizon (in the ‘house of light’) while three parts are still below the horizon (in the ‘house of darkness’). Thus the division of numbers in 4Q186 1 ii is coherently explained in relation to the astrological data provided in that entry. However, from an astrological perspective it does not make sense to count the ascendant part (‫רגל‬ ‫ )השור‬as belonging to the ‘house of darkness’ as it is by definition the Cf. Popović, Reading the Human Body, 153. See Catalogus codicum astrologorum Graecorum 7 (Brussels: Henri Lamertin, 1908) 192–213. 95 94 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 245 point rising above the eastern horizon.96 An exact match between the data in 4Q186 and the Rhetorius-Teucer text is not necessary in this case. Ancient astrological texts demonstrate that there was not one fixed set of divisions for the signs according to their imagined bodies. Neugebauer has shown that the divisions in these lists are the result of mixing the concept of dodecatemoria with another astrological notion, that of melothesia,97 and of misunderstanding both notions.98 Thus these texts rounded off the dodecatemorial division and altered the meaning of the described body parts; instead of referring to the human body they now referred to parts of the signs. The lists were understood to enumerate the consecutively rising limbs of the signs, which were purely imaginative.99 4Q186 may belong to a similar astrological tradition in which the concepts of dodecatemoria and melothesia were merged together. In 4Q186 ‘the foot of Taurus’ was the sixth section of nine that ascended above the horizon, into the ‘house of light’, while three parts still remained below the horizon. The words ‘foot of Taurus’ seemingly refer to one of the limbs of the zodiacal sign. Whereas the dodecatemorial part behind it originally controlled both or one of the feet of the human body, it is now understood as that body part of the zodiacal sign that influences the appearance of the entire human body, since 4Q186 lists physiognomic descriptions of the entire human body. ‫ 001.בהמתו שור‬Most scholars render ‫ בהמה‬simply with ‘beast, animal’, but it possibly reflects an attempt to translate a foreign word to convey the astrological concept referred to by the Greek ζῴδιον or the Latin animal. The word ‫ בהמה‬is not known from other Hebrew texts to be a terminus technicus for zodiacal sign. In later texts a zodiacal sign is referred to with the word ‫ .מזל‬But at times more terms were used to refer to this concept. Thus far, only one occurrence of the word ‫ ,מלוש‬widely used in Syriac and Mandaean sources, is known For more details and references see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 164–70. Dodecatemoria is the division of the signs into twelve parts of 2;30° each. Melothesia is the idea that astrological entities (planets, zodiacal signs, or their parts) control a specific part of the human body. 98 O. Neugebauer, ‘Melothesia and Dodecatemoria’, AnBib 12 (Studia Biblica et Orientalia 3, OrAnt; Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1959) 270–75. 99 This also explains why Taurus is imagined as a whole animal, rising head first, whereas in ancient astrology it is normally presented as a halved animal, rising backwards. 100 For references see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 105. 97 96 246 mladen popović from a Hebrew text from the Cairo Geniza in the sense of ‘sign of the zodiac’.101 And recently, it has been argued that the term is also used in this sense in Qumran Hebrew.102 Since different terms were used over time, it is perfectly possible that ‫ בהמה‬has the meaning ‘zodiacal sign’ in 4Q186. Frg. 1 iii [ [ ]°°[ ]‫4 וא°ה‬ ] ‫וראושו‬ ] ‫מיראות‬ 5 6 7 8 9 ‫[ ושניו רומות לאבר ואצבﬠות‬ ‫ידיו >ﬠ<בות ושוקיו ﬠבות ומלאות שﬠר לאחת‬ ֗ ‫ואצבﬠות רגליו ﬠבות וקצרות ורוח לו בבית‬ ֗ ‫]החושך ש[מונה ואחת מבית האור ו°°ש‬ ֗ bottom margin Notes on Readings L. 4 ‫ .וא°ה‬The third character is problematic. Allegro reads ‫ וא°ה‬and does not give a translation. The third letter is legible, but Allegro places a question mark over this character in his table of the scripts used in 4Q186. Carmignac, however, reads the third character as a damaged Greek letter beta, ‫ ,ואבה‬and translates ‘et il consentira (?)’. But Allegro’s unwillingness to read the third character as a Greek beta is understandable. First, this character evidently differs from the other occurrences of Greek B in 4Q186.103 It is more rounded and, more importantly, it lacks an upper ‘belly’,104 resembling Greek minuscule beta. However, and secondly, the minuscule writing system does not predate, in its definitive form, the eighth century.105 It seems unlikely that within the same script variant characters were also used to express the same letter. The third letter remains, therefore, unidentified. T.-S. K 21.95.L. M. Kister, ‘Three Unknown Hebrew Words in Newly-Published Texts from Qumran’, Lešonénu 63 (2000–2001) 35–40, at 35–6 (Hebrew). 103 Cf. 4Q186 1 i 8: ‫ ;רחבים‬ii 7: ‫( בבית‬twice); iii 8: ‫.בבית‬ 104 It is clear from PAM 42.616 that the leather is sufficiently intact to determine that this character is not damaged in the sense that it might originally have had an upper ‘belly’. This observation was confirmed by use of the microscope at the Dead Sea Scrolls laboratory of the IAA, September 22, 2005. 105 Cf. E. M. Thompson, An Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1912; repr., New York: Burt Franklin, 1964) 103, 218; B. A. van Groningen, Short Manual of Greek Palaeography (Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff, 1940) 33. 102 101 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 247 L. 6 ‫ .מיראות‬Allegro’s reading ‫ מיראות‬is to be preferred over Licht’s ‫ מוראות‬as yod is clearly distinguishable from waw in this case.106 L. 7 ‫ .>ﬠ<בות‬ʿAyin is not written; one has to correct the scribe and read ‫.>ע<בות‬ ‫ .שﬠר‬Allegro reconstructs ‫ ,]ש[ﬠר‬but part of the left down stroke ֗ of šin is distinguishable. L. 9 ‫ .ו°°ש‬Allegro’s reading ‫‘( ואי֗ ש‬And a man . . .’) is problematic. If ̊ the second letter is ʾalep, the left down stroke is strangely tilted to the right. Also, if the third letter is yod, the down stroke seems to stand at too sharp a diagonal. It is different from ‫ ואיש‬in 4Q186 1 i 7. From the photographs it is impossible to determine the reading of the letters between waw and šin with certainty. Translation and . . . [ ] and his head [ ]. . .[ ] terrifying [ ] and his teeth are protruding. And the fingers of his hands are <th>ick, and his thighs are thick and each one is hairy. 8. His toes are thick and short. And there is a spirit for him in the house of 9. [darkness (of) ei]ght (parts), and one (part) from the house of light. And . . . Comments Allegro suggests that the small fragment 4Q186 3 possibly belongs above the left part of 4Q186 1 iii. In DJD 5 Plate XXXI, the fragment is presented separately, but on PAM 43.438 it appears joined with 4Q186 1 iii as the left part of lines 2–4. This join, however, seems unlikely. First, the left margin of lines 2–3 is out of line with that of lines 4–8, because it stands ca. 1.0 cm to the right of the left margin of lines 4–8. Second, it is improbable that the designation ‘beautiful’ (‫ )יפי‬in 4Q186 3 3 is part of a description in which other qualifications such as ‘terrifying’ and ‘protruding teeth’ (4Q186 1 iii 6) appear. Of course, it is possible that 4Q186 1 iii 4 is the end of a previous account, thereby 4. 5. 6. 7. 106 Cf. ‫ ושניו‬in the same line. 248 mladen popović resolving the problem of opposing qualifications, but because it is impossible to determine this, the fragment is best treated separately. L. 6 ‫ .מיראות‬Carmignac derives ‫ מיראות‬from ‫‘( מרא‬to be fat’) as a possible qualification of the cheeks. Gordis, however, understands ‫ מיראות‬to be piʿel participle of ‫‘( ירא‬causing fear, frightening, awesome’), possibly used to describe the subject’s eyes. ‫ .ושניו רומות לאבר‬Allegro comments that ‫ רומות לאבר‬is a phrase ‘presumably indicating a meaning opposite to ‫ על סרכמה‬of the teeth of the more favored individual of f.2, i 3; so perhaps here = “lying askew” or the like’. Carmignac suggests to understand ‫ רומות‬in an active sense and a confusion in hearing occurred between ʾalep and ʿayin (‫‘ ,לﬠבר‬à côté, de travers’): ‘ses dents (sont) poussées de travers’. Other scholars do not emend ‫ לאבר‬and try to make sense of ‘the wing’. DupontSommer and Delcor read ‫ דומות‬instead of ‫ רומות‬and propose that the teeth resemble a wing. Delcor takes the phrase to mean that the teeth of the person are raised like the tip of a wing. Nebe rightly remarks that reš and dalet are clearly distinguishable in 4Q186. Also, if ‫ מבר‬had been meant figuratively one would expect ‫ .כאבר‬The passive participle ‫ רומות‬of the verb ‫ רום‬should be understood as describing ‘a more or less permanent state as the result of a verbal action’.107 According to Nebe, the same is true for the active participle ‫ ויושבות‬in 4Q186 2 i 3. Secondly, ‫ אבר‬is ‫‘ ,אבר‬Aussenseite’. It is derived from the noun ‫בר‬ ַ ֲ (barr) with ʾalep-prostheticum, according to Nebe. He finds support for this interpretation in Aramaic ‫ אבר)א(י‬and ‫ .אבריתא‬Nebe, therefore, suggests the translation ‘und seine Zähne stehen nach aussen’. L. 8–9 ‫ .בבית ]החושך ש[מונה ואחת מבית האור‬There seems to ֗ be a semiotic relationship between, on the one hand, the division of numbers in the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ and, on the other hand, the shape and appearance of the body as portrayed in the physiognomic descriptions. The text seems to imply that the more parts there are in the ‘house of light’, the better someone looked. Those born at the moment when there are more parts of light have a more attractive appearance (4Q186 1 ii), than those born when there are more parts of darkness. These latter people look less attractive (4Q186 1 iii).108 This suggests that the human body is related to the 107 M.H. Segal, A Grammar of Mishnaic Hebrew (Oxford: Clarendon, 1927; repr. 1978) 159–60. 108 Due to the impossibility of Allegro’s reconstruction of 4Q186 2 i, there are no references to the division of numbers for the type of person described in that column. See Popović, ‘A Note’, 638. 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 249 division of numbers; it signifies that division. The Genesis Apocryphon from Cave 1 provides information on the positive appreciation of certain physical characteristics of Sarai.109 She is said to have a beautiful face and lovely eyes (1QapGen ar 20:2–3); the latter possibly contrasts with 4Q186 1 iii 6, if ‫‘( מיראות‬terrifying’) refers to the eyes. Sarai’s hands also have an attractive appearance; she has long (‫ )אריכן‬and slender (‫ )וקטינן‬fingers (1QapGen ar 20:5). This suggests that the long (‫ )ארוכות‬and slender (‫ )דקות‬thighs and toes of the type described in 4Q186 1 ii 5–6 may have been regarded as positive, attractive features, while, in contrast, the thick fingers of the type in 4Q186 1 iii 6–7 may have been seen as unattractive. Thus, the praising description of Sarai in the Genesis Apocryphon provides some evidence for a connection between the descriptions of the human body and the apportionment of numbers between the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’. L. 9 ‫ .מבית‬Notice that ‫ מבית‬instead of ‫ בבית‬is written here. Whether it is significant that ‫ מן‬instead of ‫ ב‬is used is not clear.110 Contrary to the other reference to the ‘house of light’ or the ‘house of darkness’, the word is written in square script, except for a palaeo-Hebrew taw.111 ‫ .ו··ש‬The fact that the last word in this line begins with wawconjunctive is significant because it indicates that a new element is introduced subsequent to the numbers allotted to the ‘house of darkness’ and the ‘house of light’.112 Frg. 1 iv ‫[שמה אלה‬ ‫[יהיה תוך‬ ‫[ל‬ Translation 6. [ 7. [ 8. [ ]there. These ](he/it) is inside ]... ] ] ] 6 7 8 See Popović, Reading the Human Body, 286–7. See also 4Q186 3 1. 111 Cf. J. Allegro, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reappraisal (2d ed.; Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1964) 57: ‘Having deciphered one column including a particularly puzzling phrase, it was encouraging to find another piece in a further purchase which contained the same phrase written, rather carelessly for the coder, in “clear” Hebrew, confirming the decipherment’. 112 Cf. 4Q186 1 ii 8: ‫.וזה‬ 110 109 250 mladen popović Comments L. 6 ‫ .שמה‬Most scholars do not give a translation, but a few interpret it as ‘there’. L. 7 ‫ .תון‬Perhaps something inside a specific body part was indicated.113 Frg. 2 i upper margin [‫על‬ ] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ] 9 ‫סרכמ]ה וﬠ[י̊ ניו בין שחורות וב]ין [מנ̊ מריות וזקנו‬ ֗ ̊ ̊ ֗ ‫ממﬠ]ט [והיאה תרגל ובת קולו ﬠנוה ושניו‬ ̊ ‫דקות ויושבות על סרכמה והואה לוא ארוך‬ ‫ולוא קצר והואה][ממולדו̊ ][אצבעות ידיו דקות‬ ̊ ̊ ‫וארו]כ[ות ושוקיו חלקות וכפות רגליו‬ ̊ ̊ [‫]ואצבעות רג[ל]יו[ יושבות על סרכמה ורוח ל]ו‬ [ ]‫[ס/ע/שה וא‬ ֗ ̊ ̊ ̊ ] [‫[ד הו֗ ]אה‬ ] [ ]°°[ Notes on Readings [‫ .על‬The beginning of line 1 is a continuation of a previous column that must have ended with ‫411.על‬ L. 1 ‫ .סרכמ]ה וע[י̊ ניו‬A small dot of ink is visible following kap and ̊ ֗ preceding the gap.115 This might be part of the down stroke of mem.116 ‫ .מנ̊ מריות‬Allegro reads ‫ ,ה ֗גמיות‬but Strugnell notes that gimel is not ֗ ̊ ֗ ̊ very probable, he is impossible, and suggests reading ‫ .מנמריות‬Nun instead of gimel is more probable. This is because the vertical stroke of the letter directly following the lacuna is too close for it to be gimel. There seems to be no space for the left down stroke of gimel.117 Furthermore, there are other examples of nun in this manuscript where the upper part of the vertical stroke curves to the right.118 For he one 113 Cf. for the use of ‫ תוך‬in relation to body parts, for example, b. Neg. 6:8: ‫הפה‬ ‫ ;תוך הﬠין תוך האוזן תוך החוטם תוך‬T.-S. K 21.88 2/‫( ובתוך פדחתו :8 א‬Gruenwald, ‘Jewish Physiognomic’, 310). 114 Cf. 4Q186 2 i 3.6: ‫.על סרכמה‬ 115 Cf. PAM 41.804; 42.616. 116 Cf. 4Q186 2 i 6: ‫ .סרכמה‬See Strugnell, ‘Notes en marge du volume V’, 275. 117 Cf. 4Q186 1 ii 5: ‫ 1 ;רגליו‬ii 9: ‫ 1 ;ברגל‬iii 8: ‫ 2 ;רגליו‬i 2: ‫ 2 ;תרגל‬i 5: ‫.רגליו‬ 118 See 4Q186 2 i 1: ‫ בין‬and ‫.וזקנו‬ 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 251 would expect a horizontal stroke to extend to the right, but such is evidently not the case. It could be the upper right corner of mem. ֯ L. 2 ‫ .ממע]ט‬A trace of ink preceding the lacuna may be the upper part of the left down stroke of ʿayin, making the reconstruction ‫ממע]ט‬ ֯ possible. L. 4 ̊‫ .ממולדו‬Following lamed the manuscript is too mutilated to ̊ discern with certainty whether the traces of ink belong to one or two letters. It is possible to discern the down stroke of dalet, but the trace of ink Strugnell understands as the tip of waw might also be part of dalet.119 Nevertheless, Strugnell’s reading is plausible, either with damaged or reconstructed yod. L. 6 [‫ .רג[ל]יו‬A small stroke of lamed is visible and there is enough space to reconstruct the beginning of this line as [‫.]ואצבעות רג[ל]יו‬ L. 7 ]‫ 021.[ס/ע/שה וא‬Allegro’s reconstruction ‫‘( שמונ֗ ה‬eight’) is to be ֗ ̊ ̊ ̊ rejected. The join of 4Q186 4 and 5 with fragment 2 is materially incorrect. Furthermore, the stroke of ink near the left edge of the leather of fragment 2 could be part of samek, ʿayin or šin, but nun is excluded. Because, first, a vertical stroke should have been visible on the extant leather of 4Q186 2 i 7, and, second, if Allegro’s join of 4Q186 5 to the left of 4Q186 2 i 7–9 is accepted, a stroke of the base of nun should appear following waw in 4Q186 5 1.121 Strugnell’s reconstruction based on Allegro’s join of fragments is therefore also rejected. Translation [. . .] 1. [are] well ordered. [And] his [ey]es are between black and speckled (?). And his beard 2. is sp[arse ]and it is wavy (?). And the sound of his voice is kind. And his teeth 3. are fine and well ordered. And he is neither tall 4. nor short, and that[]because of his horoscope.[]His fingers are slender 5. and lo[n]g, and his thighs are smooth. And the soles of his feet 6. [and the toes of his ]f[eet] are well ordered. And there is a spirit for [him] 119 120 121 See PAM 41.804 and 42.616. For more details see Popović, Reading the Human Body, 257–8. Cf. 4Q186 1 iii 9: ‫.ש[מונה‬ ̊ 252 7. [ 8. [ 9. [ mladen popović ] . . . and . . . [ ] . . . h[e] ]...[ Comments ] ] ֗ ̊ L. 1 ‫ .מנ̊ מריות‬The reading and understanding of the word following the second lacuna are difficult, and most translations add a question mark or leave a blank space. Allegro reads ‫ ,ה ֗גמיות‬compares it with Aramaic ֗ ̊ ‫‘( גומרא‬glowing coals’) but adds that ‘the “gentilic” form is strange unless it presupposes an adjective *‫“ גומרי‬glowing”’, which is ‘possibly here an error for ‫ 221.’גומרות‬Strugnell suggests that ‫‘( מנמריות‬speckled’) from ‫‘( נמר‬to give a checkered/striped appearance’) should probably be read. But he has no better explanation for the ending ‫ .-יות‬The text attempts to specify the colour of the eyes as being between black and a somewhat lighter shade of black. In the mediaeval physiognomic text The Secret of Physiognomy, a person’s yellow eyes are specified as being between light yellow and reddish: ‫צהובה בין ירקות לאדמות‬ ‫( מי שעינו‬perhaps orange is described?).123 The construction ‫בין . . .ל‬ is equivalent to ‫ בין . . . ובין‬used in 4Q186, and also occurs in the Aramaic physiognomic text 4Q561. The translation ‘between’ is to be preferred either to ‘both’, or ‘neither/nor’, which is expressed by the use of ‫ לוא . . . ולוא‬in 4Q186 2 i 3–4. Perhaps ‫‘( מנמריות‬speckled’) is used in 4Q186 as a reference to the stripes that are visible in the iris and that are better observed in a somewhat light-coloured iris. If so, it is reasonable to assume that in 4Q186 2 i 1 it is used to differentiate between pitch black and a lighter colour of black. In ancient physiognomics the eye received a lot of attention, and many specifications as to colour were made.124 L. 2 ‫ .ממע]ט‬Maier and Wise presumably read the puʿal participle ֯ 125 ‫ .ממועט‬But the lacuna hardly provides enough space for three letters and a blank space preceding the next word ‫ .והיאה‬One should then assume a reading ‫ ממעט‬for the puʿal participle of ‫.מעט‬ Allegro, DJD 5:91. See Scholem, ‘Physiognomy’, 493.4. 124 See Polemo, Physiognomonikon 1.106.19–170.22F; Anonymous Latin, De physiognomonia liber §§ 20–43. 125 Johann Maier, Die Qumran-Essener: Die Texte vom Toten Meer (3 vol.; Munich: Ernst Reinhardt, 1995) 2:136; Wise, ‘Horoscope Written in Code’, 278. 123 122 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 253 ‫ .תרגל‬This word presents a difficulty because this form is unknown in Hebrew or Aramaic.126 Allegro makes sense of it by recourse to ‘Arab rajila “of a quality between lankness and crispness or curliness”’.127 According to the classical Arabic-Arabic dictionary Lisān al-ʿarab, the phrase šaʿr rajal (or rajil or rajl) is explained as ‘hair between lankness and curliness’.128 The translation ‘wavy’ seems therefore apt. L. 4 ̊‫ .ממולדו‬I understand the preposition ‫ מן‬to have causative mean̊ ing (‘because’).129 The person’s physiognomic appearance, in this case being neither tall nor short, is said to be so because of his horoscope. This means that the physiognomic description is interrupted by a reference to the person’s horoscope. But, more significantly, it signals awareness of the notion that the configuration of heavenly bodies at the moment of birth influences human appearance. Frg. 2 ii °[ ‫[הוא‬ ‫מ[עורב‬ ̊ ‫[שלוג/גולש‬ Notes on Readings ] 4 ] 5 ] 6 ] 7 L. 6 ‫ .מ[עורב‬Strugnell states that dalet instead of reš should be read, ̊ but this is incorrect. In PAM 41.804 and 42.616 a small diagonal stroke of ink is discernable that could be the right down stroke of ʿayin. Allegro’s reading is, therefore, plausible. L. 7 ‫ .שלוג/גולש‬This small fragment appears separately in PAM 42.616. The amount of space to the right of gimel suggests ‫גולש/שלונ‬ to be the final word of a column. In PAM 43.438 this fragment is joined as another line under 4Q186 2 ii 6. In addition to understanding the word as written in reverse order in accordance with the rest of the manuscript, Allegro suggests that it might not be ‘coded’, similar to ‫ אבן צונם‬in 4Q186 1 ii 2. It also occurs in 4Q561 4 2. Cf. Puech, DJD 37:315, 317. Allegro, DJD 5:91. 128 Lisān al-ʿArab (Beirut: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāt̠ al-ʿArabī, 1988), s.v. rjl. 129 Cf. B.K. Waltke and M.P. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990) 213. 127 126 254 mladen popović Translation 4. 5. 6. 7. [ [ [ [ Comments ]. . . ]he/it m]ixed ]fair/flowing L. 7 ‫ .שלוג/גולש‬From the context it is impossible to decide which bodily feature is described in this line, and also whether the word should be read ‘non-coded’ or reversed. If read as ‫ גולש‬it might refer to a quality of the hair, either in the sense of ‘flowing hair’ as poetically expressed in Song 4:1 and 6:5, or in the sense of ‘baldness’.130 On the other hand, one should allow for the possibility that the word is written in reverse manner in accordance with the rest of 4Q186 as ‫ ,שלוג‬and that it is related to the word ‫‘( שלג‬snow’). In this sense it may describe a physical characteristic, for example the skin, as being white or fair. In the medieaval physiognomic text The Book of the Reading of the Hands by an Indian Sage the sole of someone’s foot is described as having the appearance of either red wine or snow, i.e. being a burgundy red or white (‫ 131.)כתואר יין אדום או כתואר שלג‬The problem with this reading is that 4Q186 2 ii 7 has ‫ ,שלוג‬not ‫ .שלג‬The reading ‫ שלוג‬remains possible, but its sense is not clear. Frg. 3 [‫1 מבית] האור/החושך וזה )הואה( המולד אשר הואה ילוד עליו‬ ̊ ‫2 בכתפ]י‬ ֯ ]‫3 ][°][ יפי‬ Notes on Readings Upon inspection of the plate with the fragments, I found that 4Q186 3 is not on this plate. One of the curators told me it should be on another plate, but it has not been located yet. The readings, therefore, could not be checked.132 Cf. N. Gordon, ‘4Q186 (4QHoroscope)’, Additional Genres and Unclassified Texts (ed. D.W. Parry and E. Tov; DSSR 6; Leiden: Brill, 2005) 220–3, at 223. 131 Scholem, ‘Physiognomy’, 491.21–22. 132 Checked at the scroll laboratory of the IAA on September 22, 2005. 130 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 255 L. 1 ‫ .מבית‬A small trace of ink appears to the left of yod, which ̊ might be the bottom stroke of taw (PAM 43.344, 43.438). L. 2 ‫ .בכתפ]י‬Another letter is attached to the right leg of taw (PAM ֯ 43.344, 43.438), which might be pe. L. 3 ‫ .יפי‬Read ‫ יפי‬instead of ‫.ופי‬ Translation 1. from the house[ of light/darkness. And this is the horoscope under which he was born:] 2. in the shoulder[s of . . . 3. []. . .[] beautiful[ Comments L. 1 ‫ .מבית‬As in 4Q186 1 iii 9, this probably refers to the ‘house of ̊ light’ or the ‘house of darkness’, again using ‫ מן‬instead of ‫ .ב‬If the space to the left of both ‫ מבית‬and ‫ בכתפ]י‬represents the column margin, ̊ ֯ the entire first line could originally have had something like that in 4Q186 1 ii 8. It would probably be too long if 1 ii 8 were exactly copied, but this can easily be solved by leaving ‫ הואה‬in ‫ וזה הואה המולד‬out. L. 2 ‫ .בכתפ]י‬A plausible reconstruction is ‫‘( בכתפ])י(ו‬with his ֯ ̊ shoulder(s)’). It could be a reference to the shoulder(s) of a described individual. Another possibility is to understand it as analogous to ‫ברגל‬ ‫ השור‬in 4Q186 1 ii 9. In this case it refers to the shoulders of a zodiacal sign. If this were so, ‫ בכתפ]י‬refers to a position in a sign of the zodiac ֯ in which an individual is said to have been born. L. 3 ‫ .יפי‬It is possible to translate ‫ יפי‬as ‘beautiful’, but due to the fragmentary state it is impossible to determine what was referred to as such. Frg. 4 ]‫והואה מן ה[עמוד השני ש‬ ֯ ] ‫[ מולדו‬ ‫וזה ה[ואה בה>ב<)מ(ת]ו‬ ̊ 1 2 3 Notes on Readings Although this fragment is very small, it is interesting for two reasons. First, it shows that the phrase ‫ העמוד השני‬is not followed directly by ‫ רוח לו‬as in 4Q186 1 ii 6–7, but a word beginning with šin. One may read ]‫ .והואה מן ה[עמוד השני ש‬Unfortunately, it is not possible ֯ 256 mladen popović to determine which word might follow the reference to ‘the second column’. But it is evident that the reference to ‘the second column’ in 4Q186 does not occupy a set position in the text. Second, this fragments shows several elements known from 4Q186 1 ii to appear near each other but also some differently from 1 ii. In line 2 ‫ מולדו‬occurs, which can be understood equivalent to ‫ המולד‬in 1 ii 8 as a reference to a person’s horoscope. But it is also clear that, different from 1 ii 6–8, there are fewer lines between the reference to ‫ העמוד השני‬and that to ‫ מולדו‬in 4 1–2. On the other hand, the number of lines between ‫מולדו‬ and ‫ וזה ה[ואה בהמת]ו‬in 4 2–3 is equal to that between ‫ המולד‬and ‫וזה‬ ̊ ‫ בהמתו‬in 1 ii 8–9. Due to the amount of space available (assuming a regular column width of ca. 8–9 cm), it can almost certainly be ruled out that a reference to the ‘house of light’ and the ‘house of darkness’ stood between both words in 4 1–2. But the fragmentary state does not allow a clear reconstruction. L. 4 ‫ בהבת .בה>ב<)מ(ת]ו‬is possibly a scribal error for ‫331.בהמת]ו‬ ̊ ̊ ̊ Translation 1. and he is from the] second column . . .[ 2. ] his horoscope [ 3. and th]at is [his] zodiacal sign[ Comments L. 4 ‫ .בה>ב<)מ(ת]ו‬Bergmeier suggests a reconstruction, following ̊ Allegro’s arrangement, in which 4Q186 2 i is part of the section concerning the zodiacal sign Taurus. He therefore reads 4Q186 2 i 9 as [‫‘( ]בפרסות השור וזה ה[ואה בהמתו ]ש[ו̊ ]ר‬in the hoofs of Taurus. And this is his zodiacal sign: Taurus’). This reconstruction is entirely based on Allegro’s arrangement of the fragments. It is impossible to determine its plausibility for the isolated fragment 4Q186 4. In this case only the reading ‫ בהמת]ו‬remains. It is not possible to identify ̊ the zodiacal sign referred to, assuming that this is what ‫ בהמה‬refers to. Maier, however, does not suppose a scribal error and translates ‘e] s ist in der Jungf[rau (?)]’, probably reading [‫ 431.ה[ואה בהבתו]לה‬But 133 The reading of taw is based on the emendation, so we should be cautious about ̊ accepting ‫ בהמתו‬as a certain reading. 134 Maier, Texte vom Toten Meer, 2:136. 4q186. 4qzodiacal physiognomy. a full edition 257 Maier’s reading is without basis in the text and does not clarify its interpretation. Frg. 5 ]‫[מו‬ ]‫[ילו‬ ] ‫[ו‬ 1 2 3 Notes on Readings This fragment appears only in PAM 43.438 where it facilitates Allegro’s arrangement of fragments for 4Q186 2 i. It cannot be joined to another extant fragment of 4Q186. The fragment is too small to provide any meaningful information. Perhaps line 1 originally had ‫ ,הע[מו]ד‬and line 2 ‫.[ילו]ד‬ Frg. 6 ]°°[ ]‫והואה מן העמוד ה[שני זות‬ ֯ ]‫[° ֗ג/נ֗ ה][ל‬ ֗ 1 2 3 Notes on Readings Allegro joins this small fragment to 4Q186 4, but this join seems incorrect. The two small strokes of ink in 6 1 cannot belong to 4 3 (PAM 41.804, 42.616). The legs of he in ‫ )3 4( ה[ואה‬are too far apart to be the continuation of these strokes. Fragment 6 is, therefore, best regarded as a separate fragment. L. 2 ‫ .ה[שני‬The remaining stroke of ink to the left is possibly the ̊ upper part of a right down stroke of ʿayin or šin (PAM 41.804, 42.616), reading ‫ עני‬or ‫ ,שני‬in which case it is possible to reconstruct ‫והואה מן‬ ‫.העמוד ה[שני‬ ֯ L. 3 ‫ . ֗ג/נ֗ ה][ל‬Subsequent to a small trace of ink to the left, there is a ֗ stroke of ink that might be the down stroke of gimel or nun, although the latter seems more likely because the trace of ink seems to stand too close for it to be a gimel. This letter (probably nun) is most likely followed by he. It is not possible to determine if lamed is part of one word with ]‫ ,[·ג/נ֗ ה‬or if it begins a new word. ֗ ֗ 258 mladen popović Translation 1. ]. . .[ 2. and he is from the] second [column]. This[ 3. ]. . .[ Comments L. 2 ‫ .ה[שני‬This would be a third occurrence of the phrase ‫העמוד‬ ̊ ‫ .השני‬If this reconstruction is accepted, it also demonstrates, like 4 1, that the words ‫ העמור השני‬are not necessarily directly followed by ‫ רוח לו‬as in 1 ii 6–7.