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Berossus
c.-290–-260 · Mesopotamia (Babylon)
Description
Berossus or Berosus was an early-3rd-century BCE Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, priest of Bel Marduk, and astronomer who wrote in the Koine Greek language.
Life & work in brief
Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.
| Work / contribution | Significance |
|---|---|
| Name | The name "Berossus" likely originates from a theophoric name whose first component was Bel, meaning "Lord," which was a common title for Marduk. |
| Life and work | Using ancient Babylonian records and texts that are now lost, Berossus published the Babyloniaca (hereafter, History of Babylonia) in three books some time around 290–278 BCE, by the patronage of the Macedonian/Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter (during the third year of his reign, according to Tatian, Oratio ad Graecos 36.). |
| Babyloniaca (History of Babylonia) | Versions of the remains of Berossos' lost Babyloniaca are given by two later Greek epitomes that were used by the Christian Eusebius of Caesarea for his Chronological Canons, the Greek manuscripts of which have been lost, but which can be largely recovered by the Latin translation and continuation of Jerome and a surviving Armenian translation. |
| Memory | In later centuries, Berossus was remembered as a great astronomer, prophet, sage, and historiographer. |