Horapollo (from Horus Apollo ; Ancient Greek : Ὡραπόλλων ) (5th century?) is the supposed author of a treatise, titled Hieroglyphica , on Egyptian hieroglyphs , extant in a Greek translation by one Philippus, also dating to c. 5th century.
39-562: Horapollo is mentioned by the Suda (ω 159) as one of the last leaders of the Egyptian priesthood at a school in Menouthis , near Alexandria , during the reign of Zeno (AD 474–491). The Suda, gives the names of two men named Horapollo, and one or the other may have been the author of Hieroglyphicae Both the younger and elder Horapollo, the grandfather, may be characterized as students of both
78-552: A former pupil of his uncle Urbano, as Pope Leo X in 1513. Because of his connection to the new pope, Valeriano was soon invited to tutor his nephews including the young Ippolito de' Medici , raising him to the inner circles of the papal court . Leo X's pontificate (1513-1521) was a time of great popularity and patronage for humanists. Valeriano, with his vast knowledge of hieroglyphics was very popular in scholarly circles, gaining many powerful positions through both his knowledge and connections. One such position that Valeriano held
117-483: A lexicon by " Eudemus ," perhaps derived from the work On Rhetorical Language by Eudemus of Argos. The lexicon copiously draws from scholia to the classics ( Homer , Aristophanes , Thucydides , Sophocles , etc.), and for later writers, Polybius , Josephus , the Chronicon Paschale , George Syncellus , George Hamartolus , and so on. The Suda quotes or paraphrases these sources at length. Since many of
156-644: A party including the Medici princes and others high in the papal court. Following news of the Sack, an uprising in Florence sought to overthrow the Medici rulers of that city, which caused a loss of almost all of Valeriano's possessions in both cities. When Pope Clement VII fell ill and was expected to die in January 1529, he named his nephew (and Valeriano's pupil) Ippolito de' Medici as cardinal . Rewarded for his loyalty, Valeriano
195-518: A position held by Valeriano's maternal uncle, gaining him a small income. From 1509 to 1513, Valeriano struggled to gain a foothold in Rome after failing to impress both Pope Julius and Emperor Maximilian . Despite this failure, his efforts to gain patronage of the Emperor allowed his work to attain interest from Trans-Alpine humanists. Valeriano's fortunes changed following the election of Giovanni de Medici,
234-408: A specific person. The work deals with biblical as well as pagan subjects, from which it is inferred that the writer was a Christian . In any case, it lacks definite guidelines besides some minor interest in religious matters. The standard printed edition was compiled by Danish classical scholar Ada Adler in the first half of the twentieth century. A modern collaborative English translation,
273-523: A well-connected Franciscan friar and authority on the Greek language. Bolzanio taught the young Valeriano Greek, and made it possible for him to study under some of Venice's finest teachers at the time including Giorgio Valla and Marcantinio Sabellico . It was Sabellico that changed Valeriano's name in honor of the Pierian Muses . Around 1500 he moved to Padua to study under Leonico Tomeo . Here, through
312-475: A widow and four children in poverty with a young Valeriano as head of the household. He began his schooling in Belluno at the public school of Giosippo Faustino, a man who Valeriano would later describe as a gifted and talented teacher. Valeriano remembered his schooling fondly, but constantly felt the burden of supporting his family. Around 1493, Valeriano was brought to Venice by his uncle Fra Urbano Bolzanio ,
351-469: A work ( Ancient Greek : Τεμενικά , "Names for Temples") on places consecrated to the gods. Photius (cod. 279), who calls him a dramatist as well as a grammarian, ascribes to him a history of the foundation and antiquities of Alexandria . Timotheus of Gaza , whose treatises on animals impacted Byzantine and Arabic scientific literature, was one of his pupils. It is to the elder Horapollo the Hieroglyphica
390-491: Is "Suida", which is also attested in Eustathius ' commentary on Homer 's epic poems; several conjectures has been made, both defending it and trying to correct it in "Suda". Other suggestions include Jan Sajdak's theory that σοῦδα / σουίδα may derive from sanskrit suvidyā (which he translated into Latin: perfecta cumulataque scientia , "collected and systemized knowledge"); Giuseppe Scarpat's link to an unidentified Judas,
429-629: Is a guide to much Renaissance iconography. Among his books, De litteratorum infelicitate (or On the Ill Fortune of Learned Men ) and Hieroglyphica sive de sacris Aegyptiorum litteris commentarii or Hieroglyphics, or Commentaries on the Sacred Letters of the Egyptians are those with the greatest legacy. De litteratorum infelicitate is a treatise on the misfortunes of learned men, containing anecdotes of their poverty, lives, and deaths. Though some of
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#1732856094399468-491: Is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world , formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas (Σουίδας). It is an encyclopedic lexicon , written in Greek , with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often derived from medieval Christian compilers. The exact spelling of the title is disputed. The transmitted title ( paradosis )
507-401: Is cattle, but cattle with a golden fleece] The Suda is somewhere between a grammatical dictionary and an encyclopedia in the modern sense. It explains the source, derivation, and meaning of words according to the philology of its period, using such earlier authorities as Harpocration and Helladios . It is a rich source of ancient and Byzantine history and life, although not every article
546-493: Is of equal quality, and it is an "uncritical" compilation. Much of the work is probably interpolated, and passages that refer to Michael Psellos (c. 1017–1078) are deemed interpolations which were added in later copies. This lexicon contains numerous biographical notices on political, ecclesiastical, and literary figures of the Byzantine Empire to the tenth century, those biographical entries being condensations from
585-771: The Near East . It is known that he became particularly interested by his uncle's discussions of Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was here that Valeriano also became friends with and employed by Aldo Manuzio . In 1506 he moved to Olivé near Verona staying there until 1509 when the War of the League of Cambrai made Valeriano a refugee, forcing him to relocate to Rome. Soon after arriving in Rome, Valeriano made friends with Egidio di Viterbo , who would support his work on hieroglyphics and introduce him to powerful intellectual circles. In October 1509 Pope Julius II named Valeriano parish priest of Limana ,
624-573: The Suda On Line, was completed on 21 July 2014. The Suda has a near-contemporaneous Islamic parallel, the Kitab al-Fehrest of Ibn al-Nadim . Compare also the Latin Speculum Maius , authored in the 13th century by Vincent of Beauvais . Pierio Valeriano Bolzani Pierio Valeriano (1477–1558), born Giovanni Pietro dalle Fosse , was an Italian Renaissance humanist , specializing in
663-592: The Egyptian god-worship tradition and Greek philosophy, but the lost Egyptian learning they tried to cobble together and reconstruct were a mix of the genuine and spurious. The elder Horapollo is mentioned in the Suda as a grammarian from Phanebytis , under Theodosius II (AD 408–450). The younger Horapollo was an Egyptian of the same name, who lived in the reign of Zeno , 474–491). This elder Horapollo wrote commentaries on Sophocles , Alcaeus of Mytilene and Homer , and
702-669: The Greek tradition, essentially derived from Aristotle , Aelian , Pliny , Artemidorus , and the Physiologus , etc. and is probably an addition by the Greek translator. Editions by C. Leemans (1835) and A. T. Cory (1840) with English translation and notes; see also G. Rathgeber in Ersch and Gruber's Allgemeine Encyclopädie ; H. Schafer, Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache (1905), p. 72. Suda The Suda or Souda ( / ˈ s uː d ə / ; Medieval Greek : Σοῦδα , romanized : Soûda ; Latin : Suidae Lexicon )
741-602: The Medici popes Valeriano attained a number of positions and titles, including, protonotary apostolic , secret chamberlain, and given a canonry in his home of Belluno. Throughout this period from 1523 to 1527, Valeriano made the most of this relative prosperity and security of income to continue his research of hieroglyphics dividing his time between Florence and Rome. Despite these movements, he continued to teach, his students during this period including Giorgio Vasari , Alessandro Farnese , and Ippolito de' Medici . The Sack of Rome in 1527 again forced him to move, travelling with
780-414: The accession of Pope Adrian VI . The papacy of Adrian VI brought far less patronage of humanists than under Leo X and Julius II before him, causing a mass exodus of humanists from Rome in the winter and spring of 1523 including Valeriano. This did not last, and Valeriano returned to Rome and prosperity upon the accession of his former employer Giulio de' Medici, who in 1523 became Pope Clement VII. Under
819-529: The book may well originate with the latest remnants of the Egyptian priesthood of the 5th century. Though a very large proportion of the statements seem absurd and cannot be accounted for by anything known in the latest and most fanciful usage, there is ample evidence in both books, in individual cases, that the tradition of the values of the hieroglyphic signs was not yet extinct in the days of their author. This approach of symbolic speculation about hieroglyphs (many of which were originally simple syllabic signs)
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#1732856094399858-509: The connections of his uncle, Valeriano met and tutored the son of the future Doge of Venice, Andrea Gritti . From 1500 to 1506, Valeriano divided his time between Padua and Venice , making important contacts such as the Ambassador of France, Ianus Lascaris and becoming firmly entrenched in Venice's scholarly circles. This time allowed him to start tuition from his uncle on his travels through
897-457: The early study of Egyptian hieroglyphs . His most famous works were On the Ill Fortune of Learned Men (De litteratorum infelicitate) and Hieroglyphica, sive, De sacris Aegyptiorvm literis commentarii , a study on hieroglyphics and their use in allegory . Valeriano was born in Belluno , Italy, on 2 February 1477 to a poor family. His father, Lorenzo, was a craftsman who died around 1492, leaving
936-424: The entry under " Adam " which is appended with a brief chronology of the world. At any rate, the work must have appeared by the 12th century, since it is frequently quoted from and alluded to by Eustathius who lived from about 1115 AD to about 1195 or 1196. It has also been stated that the work was a collective work , thus not having had a single author, and that the name which it is known under does not refer to
975-462: The history of Greek, distinct diphthongs or vowels) according to a system (formerly common in many languages) called antistoichia ( ἀντιστοιχία ); namely the letters follow phonetically in order of sound according the pronunciation of the tenth century, which was similar to that of Modern Greek. The order is: α, β, γ, δ, αι, ε, ζ, ει, η, ι, θ, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, ο, ω, π, ρ, σ, τ, οι, υ, φ, χ, ψ In addition, double letters are treated as single for
1014-446: The late 1520s, was only published in 1556, and several books on Greek grammar. Aside from a trip to Rome in 1536–1537, Valeriano would live out the rest of his days between Padua and Belluno, dying in the latter in 1558. Valeriano's work as a teacher inspired many, including the famous writer and painter Giorgio Vasari . His largely under-appreciated Hieroglyphica acts as a precursor to books such as Cesare Ripa 's Iconologia , and
1053-455: The older Egyptian gods, but abandoned them after the incident, and either converted to (or away from) Christianity. The text of the Hieroglyphica consists of two books, containing a total of 189 explanations of Egyptian hieroglyphs . The books profess to be a translation from an Egyptian (i.e. Coptic ) original into Greek by a certain Philippus, of whom nothing is known. The inferior Greek of
1092-453: The originals are lost, the Suda serves as an invaluable repository of literary history, and this preservation of the "literary history" is more vital than the lexicographical compilation itself, by some estimation. The lexicon is arranged alphabetically with some slight deviations from common vowel order and place in the Greek alphabet (including at each case the homophonous digraphs , e.g. αι, ει, οι , that had been previously, earlier in
1131-443: The purposes of collation (as gemination had ceased to be distinctive). The system is not difficult to learn and remember, but some editors—for example, Immanuel Bekker – rearranged the Suda alphabetically. Little is known about the compiler of the Suda . He probably lived in the second half of the 10th century, because the death of emperor John I Tzimiskes and his succession by Basil II and Constantine VIII are mentioned in
1170-540: The stories are of dubious authenticity, the book provides an insight into the lives of Italian humanists in the first half of the sixteenth century. Valeriano's Hieroglyphica was written following a frenzy of popularity surrounding the rediscovery of the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo , but was not published until after the initial excitement had subsided. For its day, the Hieroglyphica was the most concise Renaissance dictionary of symbols, an area of increasing interest at
1209-454: The supposed author of the Lexicon; and Hans Gerstinger's explanation which points at Russian sudá "here", as the answer to the question "τί ποῦ κεῖται;" "what is it and where is it?". The most recent explanation as of 2024 has been advanced by Claudia Nuovo , who defended Σοῦδα on palaeographical, philological and historical grounds . pecus est Suidas, sed pecus aurei velleris [Suidas
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1248-468: The time. The book was influenced largely by the Hieroglyphics of Horapollo, Valeriano's lifetime of studying Egyptian antiquities throughout Italy, and by first-hand knowledge passed down by his uncle Fra Urbano. Each entry contains a dedication to various people who supported, or influenced Valeriano in his epic compendium of imagery. The Hieroglyphica was published in Basel in 1556, reprinted seven times over
1287-481: The translation, and the character of the additions in the second book point to its being of late date; some have even assigned it to the 15th century. The text was discovered in 1419 on the island of Andros , and was taken to Florence by Cristoforo Buondelmonti (it is today kept at the Biblioteca Laurenziana, Plut. 69,27). By the end of the 15th century, the text became immensely popular among humanists and
1326-525: The works of Hesychius of Miletus , as the author himself avers. Other sources were the encyclopedia of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (reigned 912–959) for the figures in ancient history, excerpts of John of Antioch (seventh century) for Roman history , the chronicle of Hamartolus ( Georgios Monachos , 9th century) for the Byzantine age , the biographies of Diogenes Laërtius , and the works of Athenaeus and Philostratus . Other principal sources include
1365-506: Was attributed by most 16th-century editors, although there were more occult opinions, identifying Horapollo with Horus himself, or with a pharaoh . According to the Suda, the younger Horapollo was force to flee because he was accused of plotting a revolt against the Christians , and his temple to Isis and Osiris was destroyed. He was subject to torture in interrogation about the whereabouts of Harpocras. He had harbored secret belief in
1404-479: Was named secretary to the cardinal, a position that offered him relative stability. His stay in Rome did not last, with records of him being based in Padua in 1531 and settling back to Belluno in 1532. In 1538 Valeriano was ordained as a priest and moved back to Belluno where he spent the last twenty years of his life on his scholarly projects. These included editing Hieroglyphica , which despite being largely finished in
1443-545: Was popular during Hellenism , whence the early Humanists, down to Athanasius Kircher , inherited the preconception of the hieroglyphs as a magical, symbolic, ideographic script. In 1556, the Italian humanist Pierio Valeriano Bolzani published a vast Hieroglyphica at Michael Isengrin 's printing press in Basel , which was originally planned as an exegesis of Horapollo's. It was dedicated to Cosimo I de' Medici . The second part of book II treats animal symbolism and allegory, in
1482-642: Was secretary to the Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII . During Leo's pontificate, given his new status within the Papal Court, Valeriano was given almost unlimited access to hieroglyphics and antiquities in both public and private collections. This led to notable encounters with some of the Italy's greatest painters of the time including Raphael , Michelangelo , and Titian . After Leo X's death in 1521, Valeriano lost his papal patronage with
1521-519: Was translated into Latin by Giorgio Valla (in ms. Vat. lat. 3898 ). The first printed edition of the text appeared in 1505 (published by Manuzio ), and was translated into Latin in 1517 by Filippo Fasanini , initiating a long sequence of editions and translations. From the 18th century, the book's authenticity was called into question, but modern Egyptology regards at least the first book as based on real knowledge of hieroglyphs, although confused, and with baroque symbolism and theological speculation, and
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