Citation with stable link: Maia Kotrosits, 'Scythians, barbarians, Greeks, and others: Epiphanios of Salamis on Scythianism as heresy (fourth century CE),' Ethnic Relations and Migration in the Ancient World, last modified September 6, 2024, https://philipharland.com/Blog/?p=9088.
Ancient author: Epiphanios of Salamis on Cyprus, The Medicine Chest / Panarion preface 2, 3 and 1-4 (link to Greek).
Comments (by Maia Kotrosits): The Panarion, or “medicine chest,” was written by Epiphanius of Cyprus, Bishop of Salamis. It is a famous example of Christian heresiological literature, late ancient literature that sought to define normative Christian ideas or practices by naming, characterizing, and separating out “heretical” practices and ideas, and doing so by associating them with deviant characters or questionable groups. Epiphanius’ text seeks to diagnose heresies as if they are illnesses, offering his own remedies. And he begins his history of heresy at creation as told in the Hebrew scriptures.
The medical framing of this text, especially alongside its description of “Scythianism,” ties it to earlier Greek ethnographic accounts, especially Hippocrates’ Airs, Waters, Places. Indeed Scythians had long been constructed as a “deviant” population, which explains (to some extent) why Epiphanius chooses to evoke them here.
‗‗‗‗‗‗
[End of introduction regarding protecting against poisonous sects and schisms]
(Proem. II 3.4) . . . So I composed this work for you as protection against sects (haireseis) and as a protection of you yourself so that the appearance of dangerous serpents and beasts is made clear, as well as their poisons and deadly bites. In short, they are the equivalent of antidotes – even if perhaps one or two arguments for counteracting their poison – and, subsequent to the Lord, save a person who wants to be cured, if that person has fallen, deliberately or accidentally, into these snake-like lessons of the sects.
[1. Barbarism, an era without law]
(1.1) For at the beginning Adam was brought to life on the sixth day, after being formed from earth and infused. (He was not begun on the fifth day and completed on the sixth day, as some think; those who say this hold a mistaken idea.) He was simple and free of evil and had no other name, because he had no additional name relating to a belief, intention, or distinctive way of life. He was simply called “Adam,” which means “man.” A wife like himself was formed for him out of himself, out of the same body with the same infusion of breath. Adam had male and female children, and after 930 years of life he died. The child of Adam was Seth, the son of Seth was Enosh, and his descendants were Cainan, Mahalaleel and Jared.
The tradition coming down to us, which is accepted, says that the plotting of evil actions first appeared in the world at this point. It had also appeared at the beginning through Adam’s disobedience, and then through Cain killing his brother. But at this point, in the lifetime of Jared and beyond, came the making of potions (pharmakeia), Magian skill (mageia), violence, adultery and injustice. Yet there was no divergent opinion, no alternative belief. There was one language and one descent group (genos) which had been planted on earth at that time.
This Jared had a son named Enoch, who “pleased God and was not, because god took him away” [Genesis 5:24], and he “did not see death” [Hebrews 11:5]. Enoch was the father of Methuselah, Methuselah of Lamech, and Lamech of Noah. God’s righteous judgment brought a flood of water on the inhabited world and obliterated all humanity, and everything else. But by God’s decree he preserved Noah in the ark, since he had pleased God and found favour. Noah himself, his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s own wife, and his three sons’ wives were preserved. So eight human beings were preserved from the water of the flood in the ark of those days. Some of every kind of animal and living creature, cattle and everything else on earth, were preserved (pairs in some cases, groups of seven in other cases) in order to renew the existence of every kind of thing in the world. So a tenth generation had passed making 2,262 years. The flood came to an end, and Noah and his household survived for the world to come into being. Yet there was still no variation in beliefs, no people (ethnē) which differed from others, no name of a sect, and no idolatry. Since everyone followed his own intention, however, the name “barbarism” was given to the era then, during the ten generations. (For no law came into being. For each person was a law to himself and followed to his own intention. This is where the apostle’s [Paul’s] usage not only of “barbarism” but of the other terms as well came from, because he says, “in Christ Jesus there is neither barbarian, Scythian, Greek, nor Judean” [Colossians 3:11]).
[2. Scythianism, and the dispersian after the tower of Babel]
(2.2) After the flood, since Noah’s ark had come to rest on the mountain range of Ararat between the Armenians and Kardyaians on the mountain called Lubar, the first human settlement was established there after the flood. The prophet Noah planted a vineyard and became the original settler at that place. His children (there is no indication that he had more) had children and grandchildren down to a fifth generation, 659 years in all, omitting Shem.
Now I will list the descendants of the one son in succession. So Shem was the father of Arphachshad, Arphachshad was the father of Kenah, and Kenah was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber, who was pious and god-fearing. Eber was the father of Peleg. Now there was nothing on earth, no sect, no different intention clashing with another one, but only “men” were spoken of, “of one speech and one language” [Genesis 11:1]. There were only impiety and piety, the natural law and the natural will of each individual, and people were not misled by teachings or writings. There was no Judaism (Ioudaismos), no Hellenism (Hellenismos), no other sect of any kind. However, in a sense there was the faith inherent precisely in God’s holy universal assembly (or: catholic church), a faith which was in existence from the beginning and was revealed again later. Anyone who is willing to be impartial sees, from the very object of it, that the holy universal assembly is the beginning of everything.
Adam, the man who was formed first, was not formed with a circumcised body, but an uncircumcised one. He was no idolater, and he knew the father as God, and the son and holy spirit, for he was a prophet. Without circumcision, he was not a Judean and, since he did not worship carved images (xoana) or anything else, he was not an idolater. Adam was a prophet and knew that the father had said, “Let us make man,” to the son. So what was he if he was neither circumcised nor an idolater, except that he exhibited the character of Christianism (Christianismos)? And we must assume this is the case with Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah and Eber, down to Abraham. Piety and impiety, faith and lack of faith, were active then. This was a faith which demonstrated the image of Christianism and a lack of faith which demonstrated the character of impiety and lawlessness against the natural law, until the time I have just mentioned.
[Scythians]
In the fifth generation after the flood, when humanity was multiplying from Noah’s three sons, through the succession of grandchildren and their children a total of seventy-two founders and leaders had arisen in the world. Going on and advancing from mount Lubar and the borders of Armenia, that is, from the land of Ararat, they arrived at the plain of Shinar where, we suppose, they chose to settle. Shinar is now in Persia but in ancient times it belonged to the Assyrians. Joining together there they took received advice from one another in order to build a tower and a city. Because they had migrated to Asia from the region towards Europe they were all called “Scythians” at the time. They established the foundations of the tower and they built Babylon.
[Meropians, Libyans, Egyptians, Ethiopians]
God was not pleased with their foolish work, so he confused their languages and divided them from one to seventy-two in order to correspond with the number of the men who were then alive. As a result, they have been called “Meropians (Meropes)” because of the “divided” speech. A blast of wind blew down the tower. Anyways, they were divided over the whole earth to the left and to the right, some returning to the place from which they had come [i.e. Scythia] and some going to the east ahead of them, but others reached Libya. So if anyone wanted to determine accurate information about them he could find, in the case of each homeland, how each received his alloted territory. So Mistrem was allotted Egypt, Cush was allotted Ethiopia, Put was alotted Axumis, Ragman and Sabteka, and Dedan (also called Judad) was alotted the region bordering on Garama. But in order to avoid going on too long in writing this preface here, I will return to the subject and again take up the order in succession.
[3. Hellenism]
(3.3) Then, during the time between Eber, on the one hand, and Peleg and the building of the tower and the first city (upon which was founded in its actual building) after the flood, on the other hand, came the beginning of taking advice and rule by a single person. For Nimrod the son of Kush the Ethiopian, the father of Asshur, ruled as a king. His kingdom arose in Orech, Arphal and Chalana, and he also founded Tiras, Tubal and Laban in Assyria. The descendants of the Greeks say that this is the Zoroaster who went on further to the east and became the original settler of Baktria. Lawless practices spread across the earth from there, because Nimrod was the inventor (epheuretēs) of evil teaching, astrology (astrologia), and Magian skill (mageia), as some say concerning this Zoroaster. However, this was actually the time of Nimrod the giant. These two, Nimrod and Zoroaster, are far apart in time.
Peleg was the father of Reu, and Reu was the father of Serug, which means “provocation.” The knowledge coming down to us, which is accepted, says that idolatry and Hellenism (Hellenismos) began among men with Serug. It was not with carved images (xoana) yet, or with reliefs in stone, wood or silver-plated materials, or ones made of gold or any other material, that the human reason invented evil for itself and, with its freedom, reason and intellect, invented lawlessness instead of goodness. Instead, it was with paintings and portraits. Nahor was born as a son to Serug and became the father of Terah. The making of images with clay and pottery began at this point, with the art of this Terah. And with him the world arrived at its twentieth generation, comprising 3,332 years.
Among earlier peopleno one died before his father; fathers died before their children and left their sons to succeed them. (Never mind Abel, since he did not die a natural death.) But since Terah had set up a rival to God by making one with his own pottery, he was rightly repaid with something like what he had done and was provoked to jealousy himself, through his own son. Hence the sacred writings comment with astonishment that “Haran died before the eyes of his father, Terah, in the land of his birth” [Genesis 11:28].
[Sauromatians, Thracians, and Phrygians]
Until this time, a sort of succession of Scythianism continued, but there was no such thing as a sect yet. There was no device other than simply a “fornication, a focus on idols” [Wisdom of Solomon 14:12]. Following this, they made gods of evil-spirited tyrants or howlers of enchantments (goētai) who had deceived the world, and they honoured their tombs. Much later, they made Kronos, Zeus, Rhea, Hera and the rest of them into gods, and then they made a god by worshiping Akinakes. Also, the Scythian Sauromatians made gods by worshiping Odrysos and the ancestor of the Thracians, from whom the descent group (genos) of the Phrygians derives. This is why Thracians are named for the person called Thera, who was born during the building of the tower.
[Egyptians, Babylonians, and Phrygians]
When being misled had its beginning, history had arrived at the point I have indicated. [from the epitome: Hellenism began with the Egyptians, Babylonians and Phrygians], and then mixed up people’s ways. After that, writers and historians borrowed from the misguided indigenous myths of the Egyptians [from the epitome: and communicated it to the rest of the peoples], and this was how the making of potions (pharmakeia) and Magian skill (mageia) were invented. These things were brought to the Greeks from the time of Kekrops [first king of Athens according to legend]. And at this time Ninus and Semiramis, Abraham’s contemporaries, were living in Assyria, and it was the sixteenth Egyptian dynasty. But the only kings then were the kings of Sikyon, the kingdom founded by Europs [cf. Eusebios, Chronicle 42a.28].
[4. Judaism]
(4.1) God chose Abraham who (again in keeping with the character of the holy universal assembly) was faithful when he was not yet circumcised and was most perfect in piety. He was a prophet in knowledge and, in life, conformed to the gospel. For he had lived at home to honor his father. Like Peter, Andrew, James, and John, he said farewell to his family when he was called by God’s bidding, in obedience to the one who was calling him. To avoid prolonging the account again, I am going to summarize. On reaching the age of ninety-nine, this patriarch was given the commandment of circumcision by God, and the character of Judaism (Ioudaismos) originated from this, after Hellenism.
[Abramians]
It was the twenty-first generation, 3,431 years after the foundation of the world. For from the flood until the tower and Serug there was Scythianism, and there was Hellenism from Serug until Abraham, and until this point. But there was no name of a sect derived from Abraham, other than simply the name of his god-fearing self. So those who were derived from Abraham were called “Abramians.”
For Abraham had eight sons, but Isaac was the sole heir. This was both because, as his father wished, he was living a god-fearing life (theosebeia), and because he had been given to his father by God’s promise. Before him Abraham had Ishmael by the maidservant Hagar, and Keturah bore him six children. These were dispersed over the land called Arabia Felix: Zimram, Jokshan, Ishbak, Shuah, Medan and Midian.
[Ishmaelites and Saracens]
And the “son of the female slave” – who, as I said, was named Ishmael – also took possession and founded the city called Paran in the desert. He had twelve children in total. These were the ancestors of the tribes of the Hagarenes, or Ishmaelites, though today they are called Saracens. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob, and then the descent group (genos) of the god-fearing ones were called both Abramians and Isaacians.
[Idumeans]
When Esau had gone off to Idumea, the territory lying to the southeast of Canaan, he became the original settler of mount Seir, and in his turn founded Edom, known as Rekem and Petra. He had sons who were also called the “princes of Edom,” and they ruled, each in turn, in Idumea. The fifth in succession from him, leaving Abraham out of this number but counting from Isaac, was Job. For Isaac was the father of Esau, Esau of Raguel, Raguel of Zara, and Zara of Job, who was called Jobab earlier, but was later named Job, shortly before the test happened to him. Circumcision was the custom.
[Israelites]
Following his father’s and mother’s advice, Jacob fled from his brother Esau, because of Esau’s anger, to Padan in Mesopotamia beyond Souba in Mesopotamia. From there he took four wives in all of his own kin, and they bore him twelve children, also called “the patriarchs.” During his return to Canaan, to his father, Isaac, and his mother, Rebecca, he had a vision from God near the sources of the Jordan (the stream is called the Jabbok), perhaps where he had seen hosts of angels. “And look,” we are told, “there appeared a man,” by which the writing meant an angel, “at even, and wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” As a blessing he gave Jacob a title of honor, “Israel.” When he left there Jacob named the place, “Sight of God.” Since the One who told him, “your name will no longer be called Jacob, but it will be called Israel.” And since the one had distinguished him by saying, “you have had power with God, and with men you will be mighty,” they have been called Israelites from that time on.
[Israelites in Egypt and the departure]
Israel also went down to Egypt after Joseph’s descent, he too, with his whole household of sons and grandsons, the wives we have spoken of and others, seventy people in total. The people of Israel lived in Egypt for five generations. For Jacob was the father of Levi, Judah and the other ten patriarchs; Levi was the father of Kohath and Judah was father of Pharez. Kohath was the father of Amram and Amram was the father of Moses. Pharez was the father of Esrom, Esrom was the father of Aram, Aram was the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab was the father of Nahshon. During the lifetime of Moses and Nahshon, in the fifth generation calculated from Levi, Israel departed miraculously from Egypt through the Erythraian sea [modern Red Sea in this case], and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. When God directed his servant Moses to count the men between twenty and fifty years old who could draw a sword and bear arms, he found as many as 6,200.
[Greeks, Bosporans, Egyptians]
Inachos was well known among the Greeks in that period. His daughter was Io, also called Atthis, for whom the present day Attica is named. Bosporos, for whom the city of Bosporos on the Euxine sea [Black Sea] is named, was her son as well. The Egyptians call her Isis, and also worship her as a goddess. The river Inachos also has the same name as his. It was then that the Greeks’ mysteries and rites began. They had unfortunately been invented previously among the Egyptians, Phrygians, Phoenicians and Babylonians, but they were brought to the Greeks from Egypt by Kadmos, and by Inachos himself. Inachos had previously been named Apis, and had built Memphis. They also started with Orpheus and certain others and were formed into sects (haireseis) later, during the lifetimes of Epicurus, Zeno the Stoic, Pythagoras and Plato. These were prominent from this time until the time of the Macedonians and Xerxes, king of Persia, after the first fall of Jerusalem and the captivity under Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, and the time of Alexander of Macedon’s contemporaries. For Plato became well known at that time, as well as his predecessors, Pythagoras and the later Epicurus. From this, as I said, the Greek writings got their impetus and reached their established form, and the pursuers of wisdom (philosophoi) celebrated sects afterwards. These agree among themselves in being misled and produce an interwoven body of knowledge characterized by idolatry, impiety and godlessness, but they clash with each other within the same misleading knowledge. . . [omitted subsequent enumeration of the various sects, beginning with the Stoic sect].
‗‗‗‗‗‗
Source of the translation: Translation by Harland using as a base F. Williams, ed., The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Book I (Sects 1-46), 2nd ed. (Leiden: Brill, 2009).