Sinem GÜZEL-YILDIRIM

540551

Emesa’lı Güneş Tanrısı’nın Kutsal Taşı: Küçük Asya Sikkelerinde Emesa Baetylosları

Baetylos veya baitylos, kutsal sayılan veya ilahi kökenli olarak tapınılan kabaca şekillendirilmiş taşlara verilen genel isimdir. Bazı bilim insanları baetylosları kutsal yerlere dikilerek onurlandırılan taşlar olarak önerirken bazıları da dikilitaş, piramit, sütunları da baetylos olarak önerir. Sami kökenli beth-el tanrının evi kelimesinden türediği söylenen baetylos kavramı Antik Yunan ve Latin kaynaklarında gök yüzünden düşen, doğaüstü özellikler taşıyan, kendi iradesi olan, konuşabilen ve savaşta zafer getiren taşlar olarak geçmektedir. Antikçağ halkları tarafından kutsal görülen baetyloslara Delphi’deki omphalos, Pessinus’taki Kybele, Paphos’taki Aphrodite taşları ve Ephesos’taki Artemis Tapınağı’nda yer alan baetylos örnek gösterilebilir. Emesa’da yoğun tapınım gören güneş tanrısı El-Gabal’a ait olan baetylosun rahiplerinden biri, gelecekte Roma İmparatoru Elagabalus olarak bilinecek olan Varius Avitus Bassianus’tur. Bassianus MS 218’te imparator olduktan sonra baetylosu yanına alarak Antiokheia üzerinden Küçük Asya’ya gelmiş, Kilikia, Kappadokia, Galatia, Bithynia ve Thrakia eyaletlerinden geçerek Roma’ya ulaşmıştır. Görkemli bir törenle taşı Roma’ya getiren imparator, taşın muhafazası için Palatinus Tepesi’nde “Heliogabalium” adlı bir tapınak yaptırmıştır. Elagabalus, MS 218’den 222 yılına kadar süren kısa iktidarında Emesa güneş tanrısını Roma Pantheonuna dahil etmeye hatta onu Iupiter ile eş tutmaya çalışmış ancak hem halk hem de Senatus tarafından tepkiyle karşılanmıştır. MS 222 yılında tahttan indirilip öldürülmüş ve baetylos da Emesa’ya geri gönderilmiştir. Küçük Asya kentlerinden Anazarbos, Hierapolis-Kastabala, Iuliopolis, Prusias ad Hypium, Ephesos ve Hierapolis sikkeleri üzerinde Emesa Taşı’nın Roma’ya taşınması sahnesi görülmektedir. Kolybrassos kentinde ise Elagabalus dönemine ait bir sikkede süslü bir tapınak içerisinde baetylos görülmektedir. Çalışmada Kolybrassos sikkesinde görülen baetylosun o dönemki Emesa Taşı’nın Roma’ya götürülmesi ile bağlantılı olup olmadığı tartışılacaktır.
Anahtar Kelimeler:

Elagabalus, Emesa, Baetylos, Roma, Kült

Sacred Stone of the Emesa Sun God: Emesa Baetyloi on Asia Minor Coins

Baetylos or baitylos is the general name given to roughly shaped stones that are considered sacred or worshipped as being of divine origin. The concept of baetylos, which is said to derive from the Semitic word beth-el - the house of the god, is mentioned in Ancient Greek and Latin sources as well. The omphalos at Delphi, Cybele Stone at Pessinus, Aphrodite Stone at Paphos and the baetylos in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus are examples of baetyloi that were considered sacred. In the city of Emesa there was a baetylos belonging to the sun god El-Gabal. One of the priests of this god was Bassianus, later known as the emperor Elagabalus. After Bassianus became the emperor in 218 AD, he took this baetylos with him to Rome. During his short reign from 218 to 222, Elagabalus tried to include the sun god of Emesa in the Roman Pantheon and even equated him with Jupiter/Zeus, but he was met with a reaction of both the public and the Senate. In 222 he was dethroned and murdered, and with his death the baetylos was returned to Emesa. The coins of the Asia Minor cities such as Anazarbos, Hierapolis-Castabala, Iuliopolis, Prusias ad Hypium, Ephesus and Hierapolis show the scene of the transportation of the Emesa Stone to Rome. Also in Colybrassos, a coin minted during the reign of Elagabalus shows a baetylos in an ornate temple. This paper will discuss whether this baetylos was connected with the transportation of the Emesa Stone to Rome.
Keywords:

Elagabalus, Baetylos, Rome, Emesa, Cult,

PDF

___

  • Antik Kaynaklar
  • Aristoph. Aristophanes, Peace The Complete Greek Drama 2, Ed. W. J. Oates ve E. O’Neill (Jr.), New York, 1938.
  • Cass.Dio. Cassius Dio, RhomaikaRoman History X: Books 71-80, Çev. Earnest Cary, Herbert B. Foster, Cambridge, 1927.
  • Eutr. Eutropius, Breviarium Historiae Romanae Abridgement of Roman History, Çev. ve Rev. John Selby Watson, Londra, 1853.
  • Hdn. Herodian. History of the Empire II.5-8, Çev. C. R. Whittaker, Cambridge, 1970.
  • Herodian I.1-5, Kaynak: https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/ (Çevrimiçi: 1.8.2023).
  • Hes. Hesiodos, Theogony The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, Çev. Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Theogony, Cambridge/Londra, 1914.
  • SHA. Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Historia Augusta II.17 Antoninus Heliogabalus, 26. Aurelianus, Çev. David Magie, Rev. David Rohrbacher, Cambridge, 2022.
  • Hom. Homeros, Ilias Homeros, The Iliad, Çev. A.T. Murray, Ph.D, Cambridge/Londra, 1924.
  • Paus. Pausanias, Periegesis HelladosDescription of Greece, I. 1-2 (Attica and Corinth), 1918; IV: 8.22-10 (Arcadia, Boeotia, Phocis and Ozolian Locri) 1935; III: 6-8.21 (Elis 2, Achaia, Arcadia) 1933, Çev. W. H. S. Jones, Cambridge.
  • Plin. Nat. Plinius, Naturalis HistoriaeNatural History, X.36-37, Çev. D. E. Eichholz, Cambridge, 1962.
  • Modern Kaynaklar
  • Athanassiadi 1999 Athanassiadi, P., Damascius: The Philosophical History, text with translations and notes, Atina, 1999.
  • Auffart 1996 Auffart, C., “Baitylia”, Der Neue Pauly, Stuttgart, 1996, 405-406.
  • Butcher 2016 Butcher, K., “Baetylmania: Coinage And Communal Memory in The Roman East” Berytus Archaeological Studies, 56, 2016, 235-255.
  • Baumgarten 1981 Baumgarten, A. I., The Phoenician History of Philo of Byblos: A Commentary, Leiden, 1981.
  • Burrell 2004 Burrell, B., Neokoroi: Greek Cities and Roman Emperors, Leiden/Boston, 2004.
  • Bochart 1646 Bochart, S., Geographia Sacra Seu Phaleg et Canaan, Cadomus, 1646.
  • Carstens 2008 Carstens, A. M., “Huwasi Rocks, Baityloi, and Open Air Sanctuaries in Karia, Kilikia, And Cyprus” Olba XVI, 2008, 73-93.
  • Cook 1940 Cook, A. B., Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion III.I, Cambridge, 1940.
  • Cumont 1911 Cumont, F., The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, Chicago, 1911.
  • Davidson 2007 Davidson, J., “Time and Greek Religion”, Ed. Ogden, D., A Companion To Greek Religion, Oxford, 2017, 204-218.
  • Düring 1951 Düring, I., Chion of Heraclea. A novel in letters, Göteborg, 1951.
  • Eliade 1958 Eliade, M., Patterns in Comparative Religion, Londra/New York, 1958.
  • Erol 2017 Erol, A., “Lyrbe ve Sikkeleri”, Toplumsal Tarih Dergisi, 277, 2017, 37-39.
  • Evans 1901 Evans, A. J., “Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult and Its Mediterranean Relations”, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 21, 1901, 99-204.
  • Falconnet 1722 Falconnet, C., “Dissertation sur les Bætyles”, Memoires de L’académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres VI. Paris, 1722, 513-532.
  • Farnell 1909 Farnell, L. R., Cults of the Greek States, 5, Oxford, 1909.
  • French 2016 French, D. H., Roman Roads & Milestones of Asia Minor, Milestones, 3, British Institute at Ankara, 2016.
  • Frey 1989 Frey, M., Untersuchungen zur Religion und zur Religionspolitik des Kaisers Elagabal, Historia Einzelschriften LXII, Stuttgart, 1989.
  • Gaifman 2008 Gaifman, M., “The Aniconic Image of the Roman Near East”, Ed. T. Kaizer, The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, Leiden/Boston, 2008, 37-72.
  • Gordon 2001 Gordon, R. L., “Sol”, Ed. H. Cancik ve H. Schneider, Der Neue Pauly, 11 (Sam-Tal), Stuttgart, 2001, 692-695.
  • Halfmann 1986 Halfmann, H., Itinera Principum, Geschichte und Typologie der Kaiserreisen im Römischen Reich, Heidelberger Althistorische Beiträge und Epigraphische Studien 2, Stuttgart, 1986.
  • Halsberghe 1972 Halsberghe, G., The Cult of Sol Invictus, Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l’empire Romain 2, Leiden, 1972.
  • Hijmans 1996 Hijmans, S. E., “The Sun Which Did Not Rise in The East; The Cult of Sol Invictus in The Light of Non-Literary Evidence”, Babesch 71, 1996, 115-150.
  • Hoffmann 1963 Hoffmann, H., “Helios”, Journal of The American Research Center in Egypt 2, 1963, 117-124.
  • Homo 1904 Homo, L. P., Essai sur le règne de l'empereur Aurélien (270-275), Paris, 1904.
  • Icks 2006 Icks, M., “Priesthood and imperial power: The religious reforms of Heliogabalus, 220-222 AD”, Ed. De Blois, L., Funke, P., Hahn, J., The Impact of Imperial Rome on Religions, Ritual and Religious Life in The Roman Empire, 2006, 169-178.
  • Icks 2009 Icks, M., “Empire of The Sun? Civic Responses to the Rise And Fall of Sol Elagabal in The Roman Empire”, Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire, Proceedings of The Eighth Workshop of The International Network Impact of Empire, Heidelberg, 2009, 111-120.
  • Icks 2010 Icks, M., “From Priest to Emperor to Priest-Emperor: The Failed Legitimation of Elagabalus”, Ed. A. J. Turner, J.H.K.O, Chong-Gossard, F.J. Vervaet, Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit in The Graeco-Roman World, Leiden-Boston 2010, 331-341.
  • Johnston 1984 Johnston, A., “Hierapolis Revisited” The Numismatic Chronicle 144, 1984, 52-80.
  • Lagrange 1905 Lagrange, Le P. M-J., Études sur les Religions Sémitiques, Revue et Augmentee, Lecoffre, Paris, 1905. Larson 2007 Larson, J., “A Land Full of Gods: Nature Deities in Greek Religion”, Ed. Ogden, D., A Companion To Greek Religion, Oxford, 2007, 56-70.
  • Lenormant 1877 Lenormant, F., “Baetylia”, Ed. Daremberg, C. V., Saglio, E., Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines I., Paris, 877, 642-47.
  • Marinatos 2009 Marinatos, N., “Meta-Mythology of Baetyl Cult”: The Mediterranean Hypothesis of Sir Arthur Evans and Fritz Graf”, Ed. Dill, U., Walde, C., Antike Mythen: Meiden, Transformationen und Konstruktionen, Berlin, 2009, 75-80.
  • Matern 2002 Matern, P., Helios und Sol, Kulte und Ikonographie des griechischen und römischen Sonnengottes, İstanbul, 2002.
  • Moore 1903 Moore, G. F.,“Baetylia”, American Journal of Archaeology 7.2, 1903,198-208.
  • Newton 1987 Newton, H. A., “The Worship of Meteorites” American Journal of Science 4, III.13, 1987, 1-14.
  • Nilsson 1906 Nilsson, M. P., Griechische Feste von Religiöser Bedeutung, Mit Ausschluss der Attischen, Leipzig, 1906.
  • Nilsson 1960 Nilsson, M. P., Opuscula Selecta Linguis Anglica, Francogallica, Germanica Conscripta, Lund, 1960.
  • Onurkan 1969: Onurkan, S., “Perge Artemis Kabartmaları ve Artemis Pergaia”, Belleten 131.33, 1969, 303-323.
  • Overback 1864 Overback J., “Über das Cultusobjekt bei den Griechen in Seinen Ältesten Gestaltungen”, Berichte über die Verhandlungen der königlich-säch- sischen Akademie der Wissenschaten zu Leipzig, philologisch-historische Klasse, 16, 1864, 121-172.
  • Parker 1999 Parker, R., “Helios”, Ed. Hornblower, S., Spawforth, A., The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford, 1999, 676-677.
  • Prado 2003 Prado, L., “Iter Principis: Elagabal’s Route from Emesa to Rome?” Tsukuba Area Studies, 21, 2003, 59-100.
  • Reville 1886 Reville, J., La religion a Rome sous les Severes, Paris, 1886.
  • Rose ve Scheid 1999 Rose, H. J. ve Scheid, J., “Sol”, Ed. S. Hornblower, A. Spawforth, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford, 1999, 1420-1421.
  • Schmitz 1867 Schmitz, L., “Baetylus”, Ed. Smith, W., Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology I, Boston, 1867.
  • Scullion 2007 Scullion, S., “Festivals”, Ed. Ogdeni, D., A Companion to Greek Religion, Oxford, 2007, 190-203.
  • Sidebottom 1998 Sidebottom, H., “Herodian’s Historical Methods and Understanding of History”, Ed. Wolfgang Haase, De Gruyter, Teilband Sprache und Literatur. Einzelne Autoren Seit der Hadrianischen Zeit und Allgemeines zur Literatur des 2. und 3. Jahrhunderts, 34.4, Berlin/Boston, 1998, 2775-2836.
  • Smith 1889 Smith, W. R., Lectures on the Religion of the Semites, New York, 1889.
  • SNG Levante 1986 Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Switzerland I, Levante-Cilicia, E. Levante, Zurich, 1986.
  • Southern 2015 Southern, P., The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, New York, 2015.
  • Şahin 1984 Şahin S., “Zwei Meilensteine aus der Gegend von Claudiopolis-Krateia”, Epigraphica Anatolica 3, 1984, 101-105.
  • Watson 1999 Watson, A., Aurelian and the Third Century, Londra/New York, 1999.
  • Woytek 2019 Woytek, B. E., “Elagabalus and the “Aedes Dei Invicti Solis Elagabali” in Rome: The Numismatic Evidence”, The Numismatic Chronicle 179, 2019, 205-224.
  • Yaman 2013 Yaman, Ş., Eski Yakındoğu’da Anikonik Tapınıma İşaret Eden Bir Kült Nesnesi Olarak Baitylos, Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul, 2013.
  • Zintzen 1967 Zintzen, C., Damascii Vitae Isidori Reliquiae, Hildesheim/Olms, 1967.
  • Elektronik Kaynaklar
  • İncil-Bible: https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.28.NIV (Ekim 2023) RIC, Roman Imperial Coinage: (http://numismatics.org/ocre/) (Ekim 2023) RPC, Roman Provincial Coinage: (https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk) (Ekim 2023)
MASROP E-Dergi-Cover
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 2007
  • Yayıncı: Uğur ALANYURT
Arşiv
Sayıdaki Diğer Makaleler

Mitolojik Bir Sahne Olarak Thebai

Bengü CENNET COŞKUN

Emesa’lı Güneş Tanrısı’nın Kutsal Taşı: Küçük Asya Sikkelerinde Emesa Baetylosları

Sinem GÜZEL-YILDIRIM