DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0181
and the Soul-Ladder
Such beliefs were not without their influence on the receptive
and superstitious Greek. P. Aelius Aristeides of Adrianoi in Mysia
(129—189 A.D.) was the son of Eudaimon priest of Zeus in that
city1, and apparently succeeded to the office-, if not to the title of
his father3. As a life-long invalid he was devoted to the cults of
Asklepios and Sarapis4; and, among the dreams vouchsafed him
during a protracted illness, he records with a shudder that of the
ladders which separate the world above from the world below5.
The celestial ladder (fig. yS)* is associated with a pillar7 in the
Biblical account of Jacob at Bethel :
'And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he
of the Egyptians London 1904 i. 167 f., 490, ii. 92, 241 f., G. Maspero in the Revue de
Phistoire des religions 1887 xv. 279 ff., A. Erman A Handbook of Egyptian Religion
trans. A. S. Griffith London 1907 pp. 96, 145 fig. 69/, 188, A. Jeremias 'Die Pan-
babylonisten, der alte Orient und die agyptische Religion'2 in 1m Kantpfe urn den alien
Orient Nr. i Leipzig 1907 p. 62.
1 Philostr. v. soph. 2. 9. r, Souid. s.v. ' Apiare'iSais, 'Adpiaveus.
2 Aristeid. or. 23. 282 (i. 455 Dindorf), 27. 357 (i. 545 Dindorf) : see W. Schmid in
Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ii. 886.
3 Philostr. loc. oil., Souid. loc. cit. 4 W. Schmid he. eit. ii. 887 ff.
5 Aristeid. or. 25. 320 (i. 500 f. Dindorf) tto\v oe ti rovriov <ppiKwdeo~repov et%e rk
XpbvLp varepov (pavdevra, ev ots at re oij k\i/xaKes r\<jo.v at rb virep yrjs re Kai virb yrjs
afpopifovaai, Kai to eKarepwdi Kpdros rod deov, Kai erepa tKirXrj^iv davfxaurrjV (pepovra, Kai
ovbe pr)Ta taoos eis diravras, ware da/xevq) /j.01 (pavrjvai avp.{3o\a rod ' Aa KKrjir lov . Ke(pd\acov
§ r]v irepi rrjs rod deov bvvdfiews on Kai xwpt? oxyp-arwv Kai %wpts o~wp.dru)v 6 2dpa7rts otos
r' eh) koixi^elv dvdpunrovs otttj /3ov\oiTO. roiavra r\v ra rrjs re\err>s' Kai aviaryv ov paoios
yvwpiaai Kai irpbs rovrois 6vo~ia ns edrjXovro, 6<pet.\o/J.evr) p.ei> Att /cat irpbpprjffLv p.evovaa,
airoBodeicra be ios rod Lapdrnbos ovaa, aTreSbdr; be Kai a>s r<2> Att, ^%co be Xeyav Kav rats
iepats rjfxepais, as r\ ttoXls i] tlov 'AXefavbpewv woiei ru> ffe<f, iroWa 5i] ttoW&kls avr'ov
eirujr]p.7]vavTa, Kai /car' avrrju eKaarrjv, Kai irpoaayayova^s en.
6 From Herrade de Landsberg Hoi-tits Deliciarnni edd. A. Straub—G. Keller Stras-
bourg 1879 — 1899 p. irf. pi. 12, 2 a twelfth-century illustration {infra p. 136).
7 Presumably the Massebhoth, the mark of an ordinary sanctuary.
Fig. 78.
Such beliefs were not without their influence on the receptive
and superstitious Greek. P. Aelius Aristeides of Adrianoi in Mysia
(129—189 A.D.) was the son of Eudaimon priest of Zeus in that
city1, and apparently succeeded to the office-, if not to the title of
his father3. As a life-long invalid he was devoted to the cults of
Asklepios and Sarapis4; and, among the dreams vouchsafed him
during a protracted illness, he records with a shudder that of the
ladders which separate the world above from the world below5.
The celestial ladder (fig. yS)* is associated with a pillar7 in the
Biblical account of Jacob at Bethel :
'And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he
of the Egyptians London 1904 i. 167 f., 490, ii. 92, 241 f., G. Maspero in the Revue de
Phistoire des religions 1887 xv. 279 ff., A. Erman A Handbook of Egyptian Religion
trans. A. S. Griffith London 1907 pp. 96, 145 fig. 69/, 188, A. Jeremias 'Die Pan-
babylonisten, der alte Orient und die agyptische Religion'2 in 1m Kantpfe urn den alien
Orient Nr. i Leipzig 1907 p. 62.
1 Philostr. v. soph. 2. 9. r, Souid. s.v. ' Apiare'iSais, 'Adpiaveus.
2 Aristeid. or. 23. 282 (i. 455 Dindorf), 27. 357 (i. 545 Dindorf) : see W. Schmid in
Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ii. 886.
3 Philostr. loc. oil., Souid. loc. cit. 4 W. Schmid he. eit. ii. 887 ff.
5 Aristeid. or. 25. 320 (i. 500 f. Dindorf) tto\v oe ti rovriov <ppiKwdeo~repov et%e rk
XpbvLp varepov (pavdevra, ev ots at re oij k\i/xaKes r\<jo.v at rb virep yrjs re Kai virb yrjs
afpopifovaai, Kai to eKarepwdi Kpdros rod deov, Kai erepa tKirXrj^iv davfxaurrjV (pepovra, Kai
ovbe pr)Ta taoos eis diravras, ware da/xevq) /j.01 (pavrjvai avp.{3o\a rod ' Aa KKrjir lov . Ke(pd\acov
§ r]v irepi rrjs rod deov bvvdfiews on Kai xwpt? oxyp-arwv Kai %wpts o~wp.dru)v 6 2dpa7rts otos
r' eh) koixi^elv dvdpunrovs otttj /3ov\oiTO. roiavra r\v ra rrjs re\err>s' Kai aviaryv ov paoios
yvwpiaai Kai irpbs rovrois 6vo~ia ns edrjXovro, 6<pet.\o/J.evr) p.ei> Att /cat irpbpprjffLv p.evovaa,
airoBodeicra be ios rod Lapdrnbos ovaa, aTreSbdr; be Kai a>s r<2> Att, ^%co be Xeyav Kav rats
iepats rjfxepais, as r\ ttoXls i] tlov 'AXefavbpewv woiei ru> ffe<f, iroWa 5i] ttoW&kls avr'ov
eirujr]p.7]vavTa, Kai /car' avrrju eKaarrjv, Kai irpoaayayova^s en.
6 From Herrade de Landsberg Hoi-tits Deliciarnni edd. A. Straub—G. Keller Stras-
bourg 1879 — 1899 p. irf. pi. 12, 2 a twelfth-century illustration {infra p. 136).
7 Presumably the Massebhoth, the mark of an ordinary sanctuary.
Fig. 78.