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史学研究 Issue 301
published_at 2018-10-12
セト呪詛板の本文テキスト構造分析
A Body Text Structure Analysis of the Sethianorum Tabellae
Abstract
The so called Sethianorum Tabellae (=ST) are a group of curse tablets which were made in a suburb of Rome around 400 AD. The ST consist of three elements; (1) drawings, (2) inserted sentences with formulaic phrases, and (3) body texts. The body texts are sentences which summon the deities and command them to punish the target of the curse. These are the main component of the curse. This paper deals with a text which was written on the face and another on the back of ST16, and four different texts on the face of ST21, as typical of the ST.
The purpose of this paper is not merely to translate these texts, but to make clear the structure of the body texts for an accurate translation of them. As methodology, each constituent of texts will be compared on a grid. These constituents are like movable modules and they seem to have been transferred to some extent. A transfer could happen when the scribe added a sentence which he had forgotten to write or he left it as it was. Because curse texts were formulaic and repeated certain sentences, such mistakes were prone to happen. Reading the body texts without correction of this transfer would lead to different sentences from the ones which were originally intended. For a restoration of the originally intended text and the religious thought in the background of ST, it is necessary to understand the structure of the body texts. This type of text analysis is unique as far as I know.
From this structural analysis, including some corrections of the reading, the structure of the body texts has been clarified: There were three layers in ST. The curser commanded firstly the “deities in the place”, then “the deities drawn on the curse tablet”, and finally both of them by the name of “soul of darkness, son of darkness”. This is reminiscent of the arrangement of the inserted sentences with formulaic phrases, which was arranged in the form of triangle. A symbol of “triad” or “triangle” is visible. If we combine the symbol of “circle” of eternal cycle which I discussed before, the “triangle” and the “circle” may suggest the religious thought in the background of ST, which is not understood at present. This is a problem to be discussed later.
The purpose of this paper is not merely to translate these texts, but to make clear the structure of the body texts for an accurate translation of them. As methodology, each constituent of texts will be compared on a grid. These constituents are like movable modules and they seem to have been transferred to some extent. A transfer could happen when the scribe added a sentence which he had forgotten to write or he left it as it was. Because curse texts were formulaic and repeated certain sentences, such mistakes were prone to happen. Reading the body texts without correction of this transfer would lead to different sentences from the ones which were originally intended. For a restoration of the originally intended text and the religious thought in the background of ST, it is necessary to understand the structure of the body texts. This type of text analysis is unique as far as I know.
From this structural analysis, including some corrections of the reading, the structure of the body texts has been clarified: There were three layers in ST. The curser commanded firstly the “deities in the place”, then “the deities drawn on the curse tablet”, and finally both of them by the name of “soul of darkness, son of darkness”. This is reminiscent of the arrangement of the inserted sentences with formulaic phrases, which was arranged in the form of triangle. A symbol of “triad” or “triangle” is visible. If we combine the symbol of “circle” of eternal cycle which I discussed before, the “triangle” and the “circle” may suggest the religious thought in the background of ST, which is not understood at present. This is a problem to be discussed later.
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