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Norea
Norea is a figure in Gnostic cosmology. She plays a prominent role in two surviving texts from the Nag Hammadi library. In ''Hypostasis of the Archons'', she is the daughter of Adam and Eve and sister of Seth. She sets fire to Noah's Ark and receives a divine revelation from the Luminary Eleleth. In '' Thought of Norea'', she "extends into prehistory" as "she assumes the features here of the fallen Sophia." In Mandean literature, she is instead identified as the wife of either Noah or Shem. Birger A. Pearson identifies her as "a feminine counterpart to Seth, just as Eve is the 'female counterpart' to Adam," and Roel van den Broek refers to her as "on the one hand ..a saviour figure and on the other the prototype of the saved gnostic." Names and associations According to Epiphanius of Salamis, the Borborites identified Norea with Pyrrha, the wife of Deucalion (a Greek figure similar to Noah). He suggested that the name ''Norea'' was a mistranslation of ''Pyrrha'' based on a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thought Of Norea
The ''Thought of Norea'' is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the second of three treatises in Codex IX of the Nag Hammadi library texts, taking up pages 27–29 of the codex's 74 pages. The text consists of only 52 lines, making it one of the shortest treatises in the entire library. The work is untitled; editor Birger A. Pearson created the title from the phrase "the thought of Norea" (Sahidic Coptic: ⲦⲚⲞⲎⲤⲒⲤ Ⲛ̅ⲚⲞⲢⲈⲀ) that appears in the final sentence of the text. The text expands Norea's plea for deliverance from the archons in ''Hypostasis of the Archons''. It is divided into four parts: an invocation, Norea's cry and deliverance, her activity in the Pleroma, and salvation. History and Composition The text was discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945 as one of the 51 total treatises transcribed into the 13 codices that make up the Nag Hammadi library. The codices had been buried around 400 AD. The authorship of the original text is estimated to the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypostasis Of The Archons
''Hypostasis of the Archons'', also translated ''The Reality of the Rulers'', is a Gnostic religious text. Originally written in Greek in the second or third century CE, the only known copy is a Coptic translation found in Codex II of the Nag Hammadi library. The text is a hybrid of two sources involving Norea, the sister of the biblical Seth. The first half retells the first six chapters of the Book of Genesis, while the second presents a revelation dialog between Norea and the angel Eleleth. The text closely parallels another Gnostic text, '' On the Origin of the World'', which appears alongside it in the second Nag Hammadi codex. ''Hypostasis'' combines elements from Jewish traditions, Greco-Roman and Egyptian myths, and the dialogues of Plato, especially '' Timaeus''. In retelling the stories of Adam and Eve and the Flood, it inverts their traditional meaning. God's role in the original narrative is divided between four deities, including Yaldabaoth, a mocking caricature of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleleth
In Sethian Gnosticism, a luminary is an angel-like being (or heavenly dwelling place in the ''Apocryphon of John''). Four luminaries are typically listed in Sethian Gnostic texts, such as the '' Secret Book of John'', the '' Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit'', and '' Zostrianos''. The luminaries are considered to be emanations of the supreme divine triad consisting of the Father (Invisible Spirit), the Mother (Barbelo), and the Child ( Autogenes). Listed from highest to lowest hierarchical order, they are: #Harmozel (or Armozel) #Oroiael #Daveithe (or Daveithai) #Eleleth Eleleth Eleleth is a luminary in Gnostic cosmology and one of the four Sethian luminaries. Eleleth appears in ''Hypostasis of the Archons'', ''Apocryphon of John'', and '' The Three Forms of the First Thought'' found in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 and is probably mentioned in the Gospel of Judas as ''El''. In ''The Hypostasis of the Archons'', Eleleth comes down from the pleroma to save Norea af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nag Hammadi Library
The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the Chenoboskion Manuscripts and the Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman. The writings in these codices comprise 52 mostly Gnostic treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the '' Corpus Hermeticum'' and a partial translation/alteration of Plato's ''Republic''. In his introduction to ''The Nag Hammadi Library in English'', James Robinson suggests that these codices may have belonged to a nearby Pachomian monastery and were buried after Saint Athanasius condemned the use of non-canonical books in his Festal Letter of 367 A.D. The Pachomian hypothesis has been further expanded by Lundhaug & Jenott (2015, 2018) and further strengthened by Linjamaa (2024). In his 2024 book, Linjamaa argues that the Nag Hammadi l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sethianism
The Sethians (Greek language, Greek: Σηθιανοί) were one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century AD, along with Valentinianism and Basilideans, Basilideanism. According to John D. Turner, it originated in the 2nd century AD as a fusion of two distinct Hellenistic Judaism, Hellenistic Judaic philosophies and was influenced by Christianity and Middle Platonism. However, the exact origin of Sethianism is not properly understood. History Mentions The Sethians (Latin ''Sethoitae'') are first mentioned, alongside the Ophites, in the 2nd century, by Irenaeus (who was antagonistic towards Gnosticism) and in Pseudo-Tertullian (Ch. 30). According to Frederik Wisse, all subsequent accounts appear to be largely dependent on Irenaeus. Hippolytus repeats information from Irenaeus. According to Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 375), Sethians were in his time found only in Egypt and Palestine, but fifty years earlier, they had been found as far away as Kingdom of Arme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, [ɣnostiˈkos], 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Early Christianity, early Christian sects. These diverse groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the Proto-orthodox Christianity, proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Generally, in Gnosticism, the Monad (Gnosticism), Monad is the supreme God who emanates divine beings; one, Sophia (Gnosticism), Sophia, creates the flawed demiurge who makes the material world, trapping souls until they regain divine knowledge. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On The Origin Of The World (Nag Hammadi)
On the Origin of the World is a Gnostic work dealing with creation and the end time. It was found among the texts in the Nag Hammadi library, in Codex II and Codex XIII, immediately following the '' Reality of the Rulers''. There are many parallels between the two texts.''The Gnostic Bible'', ch 27, p431, New Seeds, 2003, The work is untitled; modern scholars call it “On the Origin of the World” based on its contents. It may have been written in Alexandria near the end of the third century, based on its combination of Jewish, Manichaean, Christian, Greek, and Egyptian ideas. The unknown author's audience appears to be outsiders who are unfamiliar with the Gnostic view of how the world came into being. The contents provide an alternate interpretation of Genesis, in which the dark ruler Yaldabaoth created heaven and earth, and a wise instructor opened the minds of Adam and Eve to the truth when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Summary The text starts with a critique ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borborites
According to the ''Panarion'' of Epiphanius of Salamis (ch. 26), and Theodoret's ''Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium'', the Borborites or Borborians (; in Egypt, Phibionites; in other countries, Koddians, Barbelites, Secundians, Socratites, Zacchaeans, Stratiotics) were a Christian Gnostic sect, said to be descended from the Nicolaitans. It is difficult to know for sure the practices of the group, as both Epiphanius and Theodoret were opponents of the group. According to Epiphanius, the sect were libertines who embraced the pleasures of the earthly world. Etymology The word ''Borborite'' comes from the Greek word , meaning "mud"; the name ''Borborites'' can therefore be translated as "filthy ones", and is unlikely to be the term the sect used for themselves. The name ''Koddian'' is claimed by Epiphanius to derive from an Aramaic term for a dish or bowl; J. J. Buckley writes that the likely root, ''kuda'', refers in both Syriac Aramaic and Mandaic Aramaic to a hemorrha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph And Aseneth
''Joseph and Asenath'' is a narrative that dates from between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It concerns the Hebrew patriarch Joseph and his marriage to Asenath, expanding the fleeting mentions of their relationship in the Book of Genesis. The text was translated widely, including into Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Early Modern German, Latin, Middle English, Old French, Romanian, Serbian and Syriac. Summary The first part of the story (chapters 1-21), an expansion of Genesis 41:45, describes the diffident relationship between Aseneth, the daughter of an Egyptian priest of Heliopolis, and the Hebrew patriarch Joseph; the vision of Aseneth in which she is fed honeycomb by a heavenly being; and her subsequent conversion to the god of Joseph, followed by romance, marriage, and the birth of Manasseh and Ephraim. The second part (chapters 22-29) involves a plot by the Pharaoh's son, who recruits Dan and Gad to kill Joseph, only to be thwarted by Benjamin and Levi. Origin The work was p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronicles Of Jerahmeel
The ''Chronicles of Jerahmeel'' is a Hebrew collection of Jewish history texts covering a period of time between the creation of the earth and the death of Judas Maccabeus in 160 BCE. The primary author Jerahmeel or Yeraḥme’el ben Solomon is believed to have lived in 12th century in Southern Italy. It is a composite text or an anthology that contains in part the historiographical ''Yosippon''. A later compiler Eleazar ben Asher ha-Levi assembled it around 1325. This voluminous work draws largely on Pseudo-Philo's earlier history of Biblical events and is of special interest because it includes Hebrew and Aramaic versions of certain deuterocanonical books in the Septuagint. The book was compiled in Germany in the 1300s. The ''Chronicles'' were published in English as The Chronicles of Jerahmeel Or, the Hebrew Bible Historiale' by the Royal Asiatic Society, translated by Moses Gaster, 1899. Gaster stated in his extensive preface his view (p. xx) that the ''Chronicles'' were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deluge Myth
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primeval cosmic ocean which appear in certain creation myths, as the flood waters are described as a measure for the cleansing of humanity, for example in preparation for rebirth. Most flood myths also contain a culture hero, who "represents the human craving for life". The oldest known narrative of a divinely inititated flood originates from the Sumerian culture in Mesopotamia, among others expressed in the Akkadian Athra-Hasis epic, which dates to the 18th century BCE. Comparable flood narratives appear in many other cultures, including the biblical Genesis flood narrative, ''manvantara-sandhya'' in Hinduism, Deucalion and Pyrrha in Greek mythology, also the Cheyenne, Blackfeet and Puebloan traditions. Mythologies The ''Epic of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
