Fynes, Isis & Pattini (1993)

8/9/2019 Fynes, Isis & Pattini (1993)

1/16

Isis and Pattin: The Transmission of a Religious Idea from Roman Egypt to IndiaAuthor(s): R. C. C. FynesSource: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Nov., 1993), pp. 377-391

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2/16

Isis

and

PattinT:

The Transmission

of

a

Religious

Idea

from

Roman

Egypt

to

India

R.

C.

C.

FYNES

Attempts

to

show that

similarities between the

religious

cults of

different

places

are

due

to a transmission of ideas often have litt le basis in fact: the similarities may be more

apparent

than

real,

and

may

be

more

convincingly

explained by

other

factors.

Nevertheless,

there

is

strong,

albeit

not

conclusive,

evidence

for the

following

suggestion

of

an

example

of cultural

transmission

from

the

Graeco-Roman world

to

India.

As

long

ago

as

1784,

SirWilliam

Jones

suggested

that the

cult of Isis had

travelled

from

ancient

Egypt

to

India.

He identified the

Egyptian

Osiris

and Isis

with the Indian

"Iswara"

and

"IsT",

arguing

that

they

represented

the

powers

of

nature

considered

as

male and

female.1

One of the

explanations Jones

gave

for

the

apparent

resemblances

between

the

Indian and

western

gods

was

the

hypothesis

that

during

the

period

now

known

as

the

Old

Kingdom

Egyptian

priests

had

settled

in

India,

bringing

their

native cults with

them.

Few,

if

any,

scholars

today

would

accept

this

hypothesis,

yet

I

intend

to

argue

that Indian

religion

was

affected

by

influences

from

Egypt,

not

in

the

time of

the

Old

Kingdom

as

Jones

thought,

but under

Egypt's

period

of

Roman

rule,

when

there

was

direct

trading

contact

between

Egypt

and India. These

influences

can

be

traced

in

the

resemblances

between

a

hellenistic

and

an

Indian

goddess

cult: it is

my

hypothesis

that certain

elements

of the

hellenistic

cult of Isis

were

taken

to

India,

where

they

formed the

core

of

the

myth

and cult

of the

Indian and Sri

Lankan

goddess

PattinT.

I shall begin by briefly discussing some of the western influences which scholars have

seen

in

certain

Indian

representations

of

mother

goddesses

dating

from the time

when there

was

trading

contact

between

India and the

Mediterranean

world,

and

then

turn

to

my

point,

a

discussion

of the

relationship

between

the

goddess

Isis

and the

south

Indian and

Sinhalese

goddess

PattinT.

Representations

of female

figures

in

terracotta

and

stone

have

been found

at

sites

which

were

under

the

influence

of

the

Western

Ksatrapas

and

Satavahanas

at

a

time

when there

was

direct

trading

contact

with

Roman

Egypt;

it has been

suggested

that

these

figures

represent

goddesses.

Terracotta

figurines

of

a

seated

female

figure,

naked

or

wearing

a

diaphanous

garment,

have

been

found

in

levels

assigned by

the

excavators

to

the

period

of

the

Satavahanas and

the

Western

Ksatrapas

in

excavations

at

Nasik,

Nevasa, Ter,

1

Sir

William

Jones

(1788),

p.

253.

In

actual fact the

feminine of IsVara

(Lord

or

Master)

is

Is'varl.

JRAS,

Series

3,

3,

3

(1993),PP-

377-391

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/16

378

R.

C.

C.

Fynes

Tripuri

and

Nagarjunakonda.2

These

figures

seem

to

show

western

influences both

in

their

style

and

in

their

method of

manufacture,

since

they

are

cast

in

a

double

mould,

a

technique

which

was

in

use

in

contemporary

Alexandria,

and

was

probably

introduced

into India

as a

result

of

trade with Roman

Egypt.3

Figurines

from

Nagarjunakonda

can

be

dated

to

the latter

part

of

the

first

century

a.d.,

since

they

were

found

in

association

with

moulds for

counterfeiting

coins of

the Satavahana

ruler

Gautamlputra

Satakarni,

who is

now

known

to

have been

ruling

at

that

time.4

Among

the

goddesses

represented

by

these

figurines

is

Harltl,

a

protectress

of

children,

and

Sankalia

suggested

that

contemporary

Roman

influences also

inspired figures

of

Harltl

from

Mathura

and

Gandhara.5

These

figures,

often

carved

in

sandstone

or

schist,

usually

depict

Harltl

with

five

small

children.

However,

it

does

not

seem

safe

to

argue

for

a

specific

Roman influence on these figures, since the motif of amother with five children does not

appear

in

classical

art.

This,

of

course,

is

not to

deny

the

general

classical influence

the

figures

from Gandhara share

with all

examples

of

Gandharan

art.

Sankalia

also

thought

that

stone

mother and

child

sculptures

from

north

Gujarat

were

inspired by

western

art.6

These

statues

are

of

a

standing

female

cradling

an

infant,7

and

a

possible

western

prototype

exists in the

iconography

of Isis

nursing

the infant Horus.

However,

the

style

of the

statues

is

completely

Indian,

and

I

can

detect

no

specific

western

influences

in

them.

According

to

Shah,

the

Gupta

art

of

northern

Gujarat

was

influenced

by

that

of

western

India and

Mathura,8

so

the

statues

could

conceivably

have

been

influenced

by

western

iconography

at

second

or

third

hand,

but there

is

no

evidence

for

this.

Sankalia

himself

seems

to

accept

this

view;

although

he

argues

for

western

influence

in

the

conception

of

these

figures

from north

Gujarat,

he

says

that

they

have

been

Indianised

to

such

an

extent

that

"it would be difficult

to

see even

a

trace

of

foreign

influence".

It

seems

safe

to

accept

the

argument

that the

terracotta

figurines

from the

areas

ruled

by

the Satavahanas

and

Western

Ksatrapas

were

influenced

by

western

technique

and

iconography,

but the

arguments

that

western

influences led

to

the

conception

of the

Gandharan figures of Harltl and the Gupta mother and child figurines from Gujarat must

be

treated

with

scepticism.

Furthermore,

can we

be

sure

that

all these

female

figures

are

of

goddesses?

It is

possible

that

they

do

no more

than

to

provide

another

attestation of the

almost

universal

pleasure

that males take

in

looking

at

representations

of the

female

figure,

particularly

when it is

naked

or

only

partially

clothed.

Even if

one

accepts

that

a

transmission

of

artistic

technique

and

iconography

took

place,

this

provides

no

evidence

for

a

concomitant

transmission

of

religious

ideas.

However,

evidence

from

Egypt,

India

and

Sri

Lanka

does

support

the

hypothesis

of

a

specific

example

of

the transmission

of

a

western

mother

goddess

cult

to

India.

As

I

said

above,

it is

my

belief that in the

first three centuries

a.d.

traders

operating

out

of the

Nile

emporium

of

Coptos

and

the

Red Sea

ports

of

Myos

Hormos and

Berenice

brought

to

2

H.

D.

Sankalia

(i960),

p.

121.

3

A.

Ghosh

(1989),

i,

p.

341.

4

Indian

Archaeology

(1956-7), p.

38,

pi.

LXI. See

J.

Cribb

(1992)

for

the

dating

of

GautamTputra

Satakarni.

5

H.

D.

Sankalia

(i960),

p.

121.

6

Ibid.,

p.

122.

7

For

illustrations

see

U. P.

Shah

(i960), plates

23, 28, 29,

30, 37,

39,

40.

8

Ibid.,

pp.

45f.



4/16

Isis

and

PattinT

379

India

certain

aspects

of

the hellenised

cult

of

Isis,

which then

formed

the

core

of

the

myths

and cult of the

Indian

and

Sri

Lankan

goddess,

PattinT.

Our

most

important

source

for

the

Indian

Ocean trade

in

antiquity

is the

Periplus

Maris

Erythraei,

written in

Greek

in

the

first

century

a.d.

by

an

anonymous

sea-trader who

seems

to

have

operated

out

of Roman

Egypt

and

to

have had first-hand

knowledge

of

most

of

the

area

he describes. The

author

of

the

Periplus

reports

that

ships

which

intended

to

sail

to

India

would sail from the Red

Sea

ports

of

Berenice

and

Myos

Hormos in

July

in

order

to

catch the

south-west

monsoon

wind,

which would

impel

them

over

the

open

sea

of the

Indian Ocean

to

the

west

coast

of

India.9

The

return

voyage

would take

place during

the

season

of

the

north-east

monsoon

wind,

which blows from

November

to

April; according

to

Pliny,

embarkation for the

return

voyage

took

place

sometime in the

period

between

the

start

of December and the middle of January.10

On their

return

to

Myos

Hormos

and

Berenice,

the

ships

were

unloaded,

and

their

cargos

were

transferred

to

pack

animals

and carried

across

the

Eastern Desert

of

Egypt

to

Coptos

on

the Nile.

At

Coptos

the

goods

were

loaded

on

to

barges

and ferried

down the

Nile

to

Alexandria,

whence

the

goods

not

used

by

the

Alexandrians

were

dispersed

throughout

the Roman

empire.

Strabo

says

that all the

Indian

merchandise,

as

well

as

the

Ethiopian,

which

entered the

Arabian

Gulf

was

brought

down

to

Coptos,

which

was

the

Nile

emporium

for

the

Indian

Ocean

trade.11

The

roads

leading

from

Berenice

and

Mysos

Hormos

to

Coptos

are

described

by

Strabo

and

Pliny,12

and

archaeology

has

confirmed

their

descriptions.13

Inscriptions

and

ostraca

found

in

Coptos

and

along

the

routes

from

Coptos

to

the

Red

Sea

ports

provide

valuable

information about

those involved

in

trade

in

the

Red

Sea

and

Indian Ocean

in

the Roman

period.14

The

background

of the

traders varied:

there is evidence

for

Greek, Roman,

Jewish

and

Palmyrene

traders of

differing

social

origins.

Nevertheless,

hellenism

provided

a

common

cultural

background

for

them,

and the

evidence

suggests

that,

by

and

large,

they

were

literate and

fairly

well-educated.

What do

we

know

of

the

religious

background

of

these

western

traders

?

In

Roman

Egypt

there

was a

considerable

syncretism

between

Greek, Egyptian and,

to

a

lesser extent,

Roman

religious practice,

and

in

this

period

the

hellenised cult

of

Isis is

the cult

most

widely

attested

in

Greek-language

contexts.

The cult

of

Isis

had

been

closely

connected

with

Coptos

since

the

period

of

the

New

Kingdom,

and

in

the Ptolemaic

period

it

was

known

as

the

Iseion

of

Upper

Egypt.15

There

were

two

sanctuaries

connected with the

Isis

cult

at

Coptos.

One,

dating

from

the

Ptolemaic

period,

was

dedicated

to

Isis

and

her

son

Horus,

who

was

here

identified with

Min,

the

ithyphallic

god

of the

Eastern

desert;

the

9

Periplus,

14.

10

Pliny, Naturalis Historia, VI, 106. There is a discussion of the winds and the appropriate sailing times in

L.

Casson

(1980).

n

Strabo,

Geographia,

XVII, I, 45.

12

Ibid.,

Pliny,

Naturalis

Historia,

VI,

102-3.

13

See

the

works

of

Couyat,

Meredith,

Murray

and

Bernand listed

in the

bibliography.

For

fuller

information,

see

M.

G.

Raschke

(1978), pp.

637-50,

and his

extensive

notes

and

bibliography.

The

most

recent

discussion

is

that

of

S. E.

Sidebotham

(1986a),

pp.

48-77

and

(1986b).

Sidebotham's

study

is

largely

based

on

information

given

in

Raschke,

with the

valuable

addition

of

the

results

of

more

recent

archaeological

explorations.

14

See

the

discussion

in

S. E.

Sidebotham

(1986a),

pp.

78-112.

See

also the first

chapter

of

my

unpublished

D.Phil,

thesis,

Cultural

Transmission

between Roman

Egypt

and

Western

India,

Oxford,

1991.

15

F.

Dunand

(1973),

i,

p-

H3



5/16

380

R. C.

C.

Fynes

other,

dating

from the

time of the

Julio-Claudians,

was

dedicated

to

Min

and Isis

and

bears

cartouches of

the

emperor

Claudius.

According

to

Plutarch,

it

was

at

Coptos

that

Isis

heard

of

Osiris's death

and,

having

cut

a

lock from

her

hair,

went

into

mourning

for

him.16

Aelian,

in

his book

about animals,

tells

us

that

women

mourning

a

male

relative,

would

sleep

in the

temple,

oblivious

to

the

stings

of

the

poisonous

scorpions

which

infested

it.17

Isis is

likely

to

have

been

the

patron

deity

of those

trading

seamen

based

at

Coptos

and

the

ports

of

Myos

Hormos

and

Berenice who

made the

voyage

to

India. Concomitant

with the

hellenisation and

spread

of

the Isis

cult

was

the

expansion

of her

role

as

goddess

of the

sea.

Already

goddess

of the

Nile,

she

was

believed

to

have discovered the

sail

during

her

search for Osiris.

In

her hellenistic

cult,

she

was

widely

worshipped

as

mistress

of the

sea

and

patroness

of

navigation.

Merchants

and

sailors

would offer dedications

to

Isis in

return

for

a

safe

voyage

and

pray

to

her

for

good

weather.

In

an

inscription

from

Kyme

she

is made

to

state

"I

am

the mistress

of

seafaring;

I

make the

navigable

sea

innavigable

when

I

wish",

and

the

popularity

which

her

aspect

as

mistress

of the

seas

enjoyed

in

Roman

Egypt

is

attested

by

the number of

coins minted

at

Alexandria in

the

first and

second

centuries

a.d.

which

bear

Isis

Pelagia

as a reverse

type.18

Inscriptions

from

Coptos

confirm

the close

relationship

between

Isis

and the

merchant

community

there.

An

inscription

on a

stele

records

a

dedication

to

Isis

made

by

a

merchant

in

the

reign

of

Claudius.19 Another

inscription

records

a

dedication

to

Isis and

Hera

made

by Hermeros,

the

son

of

Athenion,

who describes himself

as a

Red Sea

merchant

from

Aden

('ASavciTrjs

*Epvdpaios

jXTropos).2Q

It bears

a

date

corresponding

to

25

July

to

23

August,

a.d.

70,

which

would

be

the

right

time of

the

year

to

catch the

southwest

monsoon

wind,

so

it

is

possible

that

Hermeros

made his

dedication

before

starting

on a

voyage

in the Indian

Ocean.

It has

been

suggested

that

this Hermeros

is

to

be identified

with

a

Hermeros

whose

name

appears

on an

ostracon

from the Nicanor

archive,

which

was

the business

archive of

a

transport

firm

operating

between

Coptos

and

Myos

Hormos.21

The

ostracon,

which

bears

a

date

corresponding

to

a.d.

57,

is

a

receipt

for

wine

delivered from

Berenice,

and

Wagner

suggests

that

Hermeros

was

a

merchant involved

in

the

export

of wine from

Coptos

to Southern Arabia. A further

inscription

from

Coptos

is

on a

limestone

column

dating

from

imperial

times.22

The

inscription

is

incomplete,

but

records

a

dedication

to

Hera made

in

return

for

a

safe

voyage;

Hera

was

often

associated

with

Isis in

dedications.

It

was

probably

customary

to

make

a

dedication both

before

starting

a

sea-voyage

and

upon

its

completion,

and

it

seems

safe

to

assume

that the

western

traders

would

have

made

a

dedication

to

Isis in

India before

starting

their

return

journey

to

Egypt.

There is

certainly

sufficient evidence

to

support

the view

that

the cult of

Isis

was

popular

with

the

western

traders who

operated

in the Indian

Ocean in the

first

three centuries

a.d.,

but

is

there

sufficient evidence

to

maintain

the

view

that elements

of the

Isis

cult

were

16

Plutarch,

De hide

et

Osiride,

3s6d.

17

Aelian,

De

animalia, X,

23.

18

See F. Dunand

(1973),

i,

p.

94; iii,

pp.

256-8.

For the

inscription,

I.

Cyme

41, 49-50,

see

H.

Engelmann

(1976),

pp.

97-108.

For

the

coins,

see

G. Forschner

(1988)

nos.

441, 474,

475

and

passim.

19

A.

Bernand

(1984),

no.

62.

20

Ibid.,

no.

65.

21

Petrie

Ostraka,

no.

287.

See

G.

Wagner

(1976).

22

A.

Bernand

(1984),

no.

94.



6/16

Isis

and

PattinT

381

absorbed

into

Indian

religious

practice

?

Although

conclusive

proof

is

lacking,

I

believe

that

the

parallels

between

the

Isis and PattinT cults

are

close

enough

to

suggest

that

they

are

due

to

cultural transference

and

did

not

develop independently.

I

shall

now

discuss

the

mythology

of

these

two

goddesses

and then

point

out

the elements which

they

have

in

common.

In

the

earliest

phase

of

Egyptian

religion

in

the third

millennium

B.C.

Isis

had

played

a

subordinate

role

to

that of

Osiris;

in

some

texts

she

merely

appears

as

one

amongst

a

group

of

women

mourning

his

death.

Over the centuries

she

and

her

cult

gradually

grew

in

importance

until,

in

the

Ptolemaic

period,

she

becomes

"Mother

of

all the

Gods",

"Mistress

of the Two

Egypts",

and

"She Who Gives

Life

to

Men

and

Gods".

Her

cult

spread throughout

the hellenistic world

until,

by

the first

century

a.d.,

she

was

worshipped

at

Rome,

despite

sporadic

imperial

opposition.

Her

worship

as a

sea-goddess

is

a

purely

hellenistic

development

and is not an element of the

original Egyptian

cult.

The

fullest

account

of the hellenised version

of

the Isis

myth

is

given

by

Plutarch in

his

De

hide

et

Osiride,

which

was

probably

written

shortly

before

a.d.

120.23

According

to

Plutarch,

Osiris

was

the

son

of the

Earth

god,

and

Isis

was

his

sister

and wife.

Osiris

became

king

of

the

Egyptians; freeing

them

from their

primitive

and brutish

life,

he

showed

them

how

to

cultivate

crops,

gave

them

laws,

and

taught

them

to

worship gods.

He

later

travelled

throughout

the

world,

civilising

the whole of mankind.

While he

was

away,

his

brother

Seth,

whom Plutarch

equates

with the

Greek

god

Typhon, plotted

against

him.

On

his

return,

Seth

shut him

in

a

chest,

which

was

then

weighted and

made

to

float

down

the

Nile

to

the

open

sea.

When Isis

heard

of

this,

she

put

on a

mourning

garment

and

went,

lamenting,

in

search

of

Osiris.

Meanwhile,

the

chest

containing

the

corpse

of

Osiris

was

washed

up

at

Byblos,

where

a

beautiful

sycamore

tree

grew

around

it.

The

king

of

Byblos

liked

the

tree

so

much that he had

it

made

into

a

pillar

for his

palace.

Isis

eventually

found

the

pillar

and

successfully begged

the

king

for it.

She

then

set

sail,

taking

the coffin

to

Buto,

where

her

son,

Horus,

was

being

brought

up.

One

night

Seth,

who

was

out

hunting

by

moonlight,

found

the coffin.

He

recognised

the

body

and

cut

it

into

pieces,

which

he

then

scattered.

Isis

then sailed

through

the marshes

in

a

papyrus

boat

in

search of the

pieces

of Osiris's

body.

She

managed

to find all the

pieces

except

the

penis,

which had been eaten

by

fish. Osiris visited Horus

from

the

underworld and

trained

him for

battle.

After

a

long

struggle,

Horus

defeated Seth.

Isis,

having

managed

to

have

sexual

intercourse

with

Osiris

after

his

death,

gave

birth

to

Harpocrates,

who

was

born

prematurely

and

was

weak

in

his

lower limbs.

Plutarch

has

probably

conflated and

attempted

to

reconcile

several

versions

of

the

myth.

The

two

searches

of

Isis,

the

one

ending

with the

discovery

of the coffin

at

Byblos

and the

other

leading

to

the

discovery

of

the scattered

members,

look like

two

distinct

versions of

the

same

myth,

each

culminating

in

a

resurrection.

Resurrection is the

major

theme of the

Isis/Osiris

mythology.

In

Egyptian religion

Isis

was

above

all

a

goddess

of

life: she restored

life

annually

to

Osiris,

who

in

his

aspect

of

god

of

the Nile

flooded the

land and

gave

fertility

and

growth

to

the

crops.

23

See

J.

G.

Griffiths

(1970), p.

7.



7/16

382

R.C.C.Fynes

The

goddess

PattinT

has

long

been

a

popular object

of

devotion

among

both

Sinhalese

and Tamils in

Sri

Lanka.

In

the south of

India

her

cult has

become

merged

with

the

worship

of

DraupadT,

BhagavatT,

and KalT.

Dikshitar,

writing

in

1939,

was

able

to

report

that festivals were still held in her honour at a

village

near

Negapatam, Tanjore

District,

in the

region

of

Arrur,

Madura

District,

and

amongst

the Toda

tribes

in

the

Nilgiris,

which

is

evidence that

suggests

that

her cult

was

formerly

more

widespread.24

The

PattinT

story

was

the basis of the

Tamil

epic,

the

Silappadikdram

(Lay

of

the

Anklet),

and its

sequel,

the

Manimekalai.

(I

shall discuss

their dates

below.)

The

milieu

of

these

epics

is

the merchant

classes,

among

whom

Jain

and Buddhist

influences

were

strong.

As

in

the Isis

myths,

the

central

event

in

the

PattinT

mythology

is

the

death

and

resurrection

of her

husband.

In

Indian

myth,

the

resurrection

of

the dead

is

rare;

this

is

not

surprising,

since

the

culture believes that the

dead

are

reborn elsewhere. PattinT's

name

is

probably

derived

from Sanskrit

PatnT,

"wife";

in

her devotion

to

her

husband

she

is

playing

the

role

of

the

perfect

wife

to

the

hilt.

Just

as

Osiris

is

killed and

resurrected

in

the

Isis

myths,

so

Palanga,

PattinT's

husband,

is

killed

and

resurrected

in

the

PattinT

mythology. Obeyesekere

in his

monumental

study

of

the

PattinT cult

gives

the

text

of

a

Sinhalese ritual

enactment

of the

story

of

the death and

resurrection

of

Palanga,25

which he

saw

enacted

twice in

1956

and

once

in

i960.

This

was

a

public

performance

in

which

verses

relating

to

the

story

of

PattinT and

Palanga

are

sung

while

a man

representing

the

dead

Palanga

lies

on

a

mat.

According

to

Obeyesekere,

the

central features

of

the ritual

are

the

killing

and death of PattinT's

husband,

Palanga,

her

search for

him,

her role

as

"mater

dolorosa",

and her resurrection of him.

The

story

is

very

similar

to

that of

the

Silappadikdram.

In this version PattinT

gave

Palanga

her

gem

studded

anklet

to

be

sold

in

the

town

of

Madura,

capital

of the

Pandyan

Kingdom,

whereupon

he

was

falsely

arrested

for

stealing

it

and

put

to

death

by

the

king.

Then

follows the

story

of PattinT's

grief-filled

search for her husband.

In

the ritual

enactment,

when PattinT

finally

finds his

corpse,

the

priest representing

her bends

over

the

man

representing

Palanga

and

sings

songs

of

lamentation.26

The

climax

of

the ritual

is

the

resurrection

of

Palanga brought

about

by

the

power

of

PattinT's

tejas. Tejas, literally

brilliance,

refers

to

superhuman

moral

power.

The

following

verse

is

sung:

O

the

great

fatigue

she

suffered

The

power

of

her

tejas

Bring

a

singing

priest,

Utter

the

"resurrection",

and

calm

the

fire 27

Obeyesekere

states

that

at

this

point

Palanga

gets

up

and

moves

off

the floor.

Compare

the

lamentation

of

PattinT

with

the

myth

of

Isis

as

related

by

Plutarch.

Here,

when

Isis

found the coffin

containing

the

body

of

Osiris,

"she

opened

the

chest

and,

pressing

her face

to

that of

Osiris,

embraced

him and

began

to

cry".28

The crucial elements

in

both

myths

are

the

cradling

of the

corpse

and

the lamentation

of the

goddess.

In the

24

V. R. Dikshitar

(1939), PP-

245-76.

25

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984),

PP-

245-82.

26

Ibid.,

pp.

265ff.

27

Ibid.,

p.

270,

verse

191.

28

Plutarch,

De hide

et

Osiride,

357d.



8/16

Isis and Pattim

383

verse

quoted

from the

Sinhalese

ritual

drama

Palahga

is

explicitly

stated

to

have been

resurrected

by

the

power

of

PattinT's

tejas,

which she had

gained by

suffering.

The idea that

power

can

be

gained

by suffering

is

central

to

Indian

thought.

Indians and

Ceylonese

hearing

the

myth

of Isis

may

have

thought

that her resurrection of Osiris was not due to

her

omnipotence

as a

supreme

goddess,

but

was

due

to

the

power

she

had accumulated

as

a

result of her

suffering.

Plutarch

emphasises

the fact that it

was

Isis's

sufferings

which

led

to

her

deification.29

In

both

myths

it

would

seem

that the

cradling

of

the

corpse

and the

lamentations

provide

the

trigger

which allows this

accumulated

power

to

be externalised

and directed

to

the resurrection

of

the

corpse.

This

power

can

also be harnessed

to

destructive

purpose;

by

it PattinT

destroys

the

Pandyan king

and

the

town

of

Madura,

and

also

strikes

down

an

obstructive

ferryman.30

According

to

Plutarch,

Isis,

upon

finding

Osiris's

corpse, gave

out

such

a

loud

cry

that the

younger

son

of the

king

of

Byblos

fell

down

dead.31

Comparable

to

the

Sinhalese

resurrection

drama is the

account

Plutarch

gives

of

the

Egyptian

Isis

festival

held

in

autumn,

a

time when the

priests

would

celebrate

the

lamentation

of

Isis

for the dead

Osiris,

who

was

known

to

have

disappeared

because the

nights

had

lengthened

and the Nile had sunk

within

its

banks.

According

to

Plutarch,32

the

priests,

amid

other

mournful

ceremonies,

would

drape

a

gilded

cow

with black

linen,

which

was

then

exposed

for four

days

as a

sign

of

Isis's

mourning.

On

the

night

of

the

fourth

day,

the

priest

would

go

down

to

the

sea,

taking

a

sacred

chest

which

contained

a

golden

box,

into which clear water was

poured.

At

this

point

the

spectators

would

cry

out

"Osiris

is

found "

Then the

priests

would mix

together

earth,

water

and

unguents,

from

which

they

would

form

a

crescent

shaped

figure,

which

they

would

then clothe and

worship.

Common

to

both the

Isis

and the

PattinT

cults is the

public

enactment

of

the

resurrection of the

husband

figure. Despite

the different

ways

of

expressing

it,

the central

event

remains

the

same.

Another

parallel

between

the Isis and

PattinT

cults is the

dichotomy

both

goddesses

share

in

being

at

once

virgins

and

mothers.

Obeyesekere

describes

how

PattinT

is

viewed

as

both

virgin

and

mother

in

various cultural

contexts

and the various

oppositions

and

resolutions

to

which

this

dual

perception

has

given

rise.33

In

Sri Lanka the

priests

and

practitioners

of

the

PattinT cult have

resolved this

dichotomy by

the

belief

that

Palanga

could

not

have had

intercourse

with

PattinT because he

was

impotent.

Obeyesekere

describes

popular

Sinhalese

mythic

dramas which

express

the

impotence

and castration

of

Palahga.

Thus

PattinT's

motherhood

is

able

to

be

universalised:

as a

goddess

she

is

mother of

everyone.34

Isis's

aspect

as

universal

mother

is

well

known.

She

was

worshipped

as

"great

mother

of the

gods",

"mother

of

gods

and

men",

etc.

She

was

also

a

goddess

of

love,

being

identified with

Aphrodite

at

many

places

throughout

the

Mediterranean.

Such

were

her

powers

in

absorbing

cults of other

goddesses

that,

in

seeming

opposition

to her

aspects

as

a

mother and

a

love

goddess,

she

also

became

identified

with

Artemis,

the

virgin

huntress.

According

to

Witt,

the

assimilation of Artemis

to

Isis

had

taken

place

before

the

start

of

29

Ibid.

30

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984),

pp.

263f.

31

Plutarch,

De hide

et

Osiride,

357d.

32

Ibid.,

366d-e.

33

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984), pp.

451-82.

34

Ibid.,

pp.

46of.



9/16

384

R.

C.

C.

Fynes

the Christian era.35

In

a

hymn

written

in

Greek

some

time in the

second

century

a.d.,

Isis

is

said

to

be

identified

with

Artemis

in

the

Cyclades

;36

the evidence

from this

hymn

will

be discussed

more

fully

below.

The

moon

imagery

which Plutarch

describes

in his

account

of the

autumn

Isis

festival

and

which

also

pervades Apuleius's Metamorphoses,

a

text

which

culminates

in

an

initiation

into the

Isis

cult,

also

underlines

the

connection with

Artemis,

the

lunar

goddess. According

to

Plutarch,

the

statues

of

Isis

which bear

horns

are

representations

of

the

crescent

moon.37

Isis

demanded

chastity

from

her

followers.

The

chastity

which Isis

demanded

of

their

girl-friends

is

a common

complaint

of the

Latin

elegiac

love

poets.38

The

increasing

popularity

of

Isis

as

a

virgin

mother

can

be

seen

in

her

iconography,

in

which

the

representations

of

Isis

nursing

the

infant Horus

prefigure,

and

merge

into,

the

iconography

of

the

Virgin

Mary

holding

the infant

Jesus.

In themyth of Isis and Osiris

as

related by Plutarch, Isis,when reassembling the scattered

pieces

of

Osiris's

body,

was

unable

to

find

the

penis,

which has been

eaten

by

fish.

Here

we

find

a

castration

myth

which

parallels

the castration

myths

which surround

Palanga

in

the

PattinT

myths.

Although, according

to

Plutarch,

Isis

was

by

some

means

able

to

have

intercourse

with

the

dead and

penisless

Osiris,

the

child

to

whom

she

gave

birth,

Harpocrates,

was

born

prematurely

and

was

weak in his lower

limbs.39

Is it

possible

to

see

in

this

lameness

another

symbol

re-inforcing

the theme of

impotence

and

castration

?

Another theme

shared

by

the Isis and

the

PattinT cults is that

of

initiation

and/or

rebirth

in

an

underground

chamber.

At

the

temple

of

KalT

at

Kotunkolur,

which

was

originally

a

temple

of

PattinT,

there

is

an

underground

chamber.

According

to

Obeyesekere,40

this

"squat underground

chamber

and

the

underground

passage

originally

had

to

do with the

initiation

of

priests

and

devotees of the

cult.

A

neophyte

is

reborn

as a

'female'

priest

or

convert

of

the

goddess_The

squat

chamber

would then

be

a

symbolic tomb/womb,

and

the

underground

tunnel would

represent

the

process

of

rebirth

into

a new

Identity".

Obeyesekere

found

a

similar tunnel

at

the Tinivilvamamala

temple

of SrT

Rama in the

Palghat

district.41

There the

practice

of

the

devotees,

who still

occasionally

pass

through

the

tunnel,

is

called

"punarjani"

or

rebirth,

as

is

the

tunnel

itself. There

seems

to

be

no

parallel

recorded

elsewhere

in Indian

religion

for such

a

ritual

of rebirth.

Professor S.

K.

Nagaraju

has informed

me

that

similar

tunnels

leading

to

underground

chambers,

probably

dating

from

the

early

centuries

a.d.,

have been found

in

the

Western

Ghats,

but

there

is

no

evidence

as

to

whether

they

were

used for

the rites

of rebirth and

initiation.

Our

only

account

of

an

initiation

into

the Isis

cult

is that of

Apuleius

in his

Metamorphoses.

His

account

is

probably

based

on

his

own

experiences

as an

initiate.

He

relates

that

he

was

dressed

in

a new

linen

garment

and

led

by

the

priests

into

the

inner

sanctum

(sacrarii

penetralia)

of

the

temple.

Apuleius

says

that

he will

only

reveal

what

is

lawful

for

an

initiate

to

reveal

to

the

profane,

but relates

that

"I

approached

the marches

of

Death,

and,

having

set foot on the threshold of

Proserpina,

I returned,

having

been

carried

through

all

the elements.

In

the

middle

of

the

night

I

saw

the

sun

shining

with

35

See the

chapter,

"Great

Artemis-Isis",

in

R. E.

Witt

(1971),

pp.

141-51.

36

P.

Oxy.

1380, 84-5

=

Grenfell

and

Hunt

(1915),

xi,

pp.

i9off.

37

Plutarch,

De

hide

et

Osiride,

372a.

38

See,

for

instance,

Tibullus,

I,

3, 23-32;

Propertius,

II, 33,

I-4.

39

Plutarch,

De hide

et

Osiride,

358b.

40

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984),

PP-

535n\

41

Ibid.,

p.

538.



10/16

Isis

and

PattinT

385

brilliant

light.

I

entered

the

presence

of

the

gods

below and

the

gods

on

high

and

worshipped

them

close

by."42

Apuleius

does

not

tell

us

whether the

sacrarii

penetralia

in

which

his

initiation

took

place

were

situated

underground,

but

the

mythical

symbolism

of this

inner

sanctum

as

tomb/womb bears the same interpretation as that suggested by Obeyesekere for the

underground

chamber

at

Kotunkolur.

Plutarch

is

able

to

confirm

the

symbolic

identification

of

the

hidden

chamber

with

a

tomb

by

his

description

of

Isis

and

Osiris

temples

in

Egypt.

According

to

Plutarch,

they

contained

secret,

dark and

subterranean

robing

rooms

in

the

manner

of

coffin chambers

and

sepulchres.43

Archaeology

confirms

Plutarch's

description,

since

Egyptian

Isis

temples

of the Ptolemaic and Graeco-Roman

period

often contain subterranean

chambers.

The

crypts

at

the

temple

at

Denderah

were

completed

in

the late Ptolemaic

period,

and there

is

a

subterranean

chapel

dedicated

to

Osiris

dating

from the

Imperial

era

at

Karnak.44

Besides

being symbols

of death

and

rebirth,

hidden chambers also have

a

practical

aspect,

since

mysteries

have

to

be

kept

hidden from the uninitiated. The theme

of

secrecy

and revelation

suggests

another

correspondence

between the

Isis

and

PattinT

cults:

the

wearing

of

a

veil.

The

wearing

of

a

veil is

an

important

element of

the

iconography

of

PattinT,

but

is less

prominent

in

the

iconography

of Isis.

However,

Isis is sometimes

depicted

in

Graeco

Roman

representations

wearing

a

head-dress

with

a

veil

which

covers

her hair

and

falls

over

her shoulders.

Obeyesekere

reports

that in

contemporary

Sinhalese

ritual

the

priest

representing

PattinT wears a

long

veil, called a mottakkili, which does not cover the face,

but falls back

over

the

shoulders.45

According

to

Obeyesekere

such veils

have

never

been

worn

by

women

in

Sri

Lanka. The

wearing

of

a

veil

is

not

a

feature of the

iconography

of

any

other Indian

goddess.

Obeyesekere

also

illustrates

two stone

sculptures

in

the

secret

chamber

at

Kotunkolur

which

depict

PattinT

wearing

such

a

veil.46 Plutarch

quotes

a verse

inscribed

on a

statue

of Isis:

"

I

am

all

that

was,

and is and shall

be;

and

no

mortal

has

ever

lifted

my

mantle

(tt tt\os)

".47

Now

a

rrerrXos

is

not

a

head-veil,

but it

could

be

thought

of

as

a

veiling

garment.

Obeyesekere speculated

that the veil

was

introduced

into

the

PattinT

iconography

by

Syrian

traders

visiting

India

in

the third

century

a.d.

Is

it

not

more

probable

that PattinT's

veil

originated

in

the

iconography

of

Isis?

The cult of

a

mother

goddess

who

resurrects

a

dead

god

is

foreign

to

Indian

religion.

Obeyesekere thought

that "it

is

impossible

to

derive the

PattinT

cult from

any

specific

goddess

cult of

West

Asia and the

Mediterranean.

It is

equally

impossible

to

specify

which

community

from the Western Asian

area

brought

the

original

form of the

PattinT

cult",

but

went on

to

suggest

that it

was

introduced

by

Syriac-speaking

traders.48

I

have

already

demonstrated the

affinities the

PattinT

cult

shares with the Isis

cult,

and

that

the Isis

cult

was

favoured

by

the

western

merchants who

were

based

at

Coptos

on

the

Nile

and

at

the Red

Sea ports of Myos Hormos and Berenice. It is my view that, if we

accept

with

42

Apuleius,

Metamorphosen,

XI, 23.

43

Plutarch,

De

hide

et

Osiride,

359a.

44

See

E.

Bevan

(1927), p.

357-

45

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984), PP-

538ff.

46

Ibid.,

plate

25.

47

Plutarch,

De hide

et

Osiride,

354b.

48

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984), p.

534.

16

JRA

3



11/16

386

R.

C. C.

Fynes

Obeyesekere

the

non-Indian

origins

of the

original

elements

of the

PattinT

cult,

then the

most

likely

hypothesis

is that

they

were

introduced,

in

the first three centuries

a.d.,

by

western

traders who

sailed from

Egypt

whose

most

favoured

deity

was

Isis.

Can

anything

more

be

learnt about the actual

points

of

cultural

contact

between the Indians and the

Westerners

?

Obeyesekere

has

shown that

PattinT

was

originally

(and

has

largely

remained)

a

deity

of

Buddhists

and

Jains.49

The

lay

people

who

supported

the

monks

of the non-vedic

sramana

traditions

are

likely

to

have

had

the

most

direct

contact

with

foreign

traders,

since

Buddhism

and

Jainism

fostered

a

mercantile

ethic,

whereas

Brahminism

was

opposed

to

it.

From

the

time

of

Asoka,

Buddhism and

Jainism

had been

disseminated

into

the southern

regions

of India.

Jaina

monks and

laymen

emigrated

from the

north

into the Tamil

areas,

and Karnataka is still today a stronghold of theDigambara (sky-clad) sect of Jaina monks.

Moreover

Buddhism survived

in

Tamilnadu,

at

least

vestigially,

till the

eighteenth

century.

The

earliest

epigraphic

evidence

for

Buddhism

and

Jainism

in

South India

comes

from

a

group

of

inscriptions

written

in

the Brahmi

script,

but whose

language

is

early

Tamil

with

an

admixture of

Prakrit

vocabulary.50

According

to

Zvelebil

this

language

is

the

"hybridised

Tamil

jargon

of Buddhist bhikkhus

and/or

Jaina

munis". These

inscriptions

are

not

dated,

but the

earliest

are

usually

assigned

to

the

start

of the

second

century

B.C.

The earliest evidence for the PattinT

cult

comes

from

the

Tamil

epic,

the

Silappadikdram.

The

traditional

date

of

its

composition

is

the first

two

centuries

a.d.,

but modern

scholarly

opinion

assigns

it

to

a

date somewhere

between

the

fifth and

the

eighth

centuries

a.d.,

although

it

contains

material

of

a

much earlier date.

In the

Silappadikdram

the Cera

king,

Senguttavan,

is

said

to

have

endowed

grants

to

a

temple

of

PattinT in

the Cera

kingdom,51

and from

a

supposed synchronicity

between

Senguttavan

and

the

Sinhalese

ruler

Gajabahu,

whose

dates

are

given

in

the

Pali chronicle

the

Mahdvamsa,

it has been

argued

that

the

Silappadikdram

was

composed

shortly

after

a.d.

171,

and that

the

PattinT

cult

was

flourishing

in Tamilnadu

at

that

time.52

Obeyesekere

has shown

that

synchronism

to

be

untenable, and, as stated, the epic is several centuries later than that date. However,

as

Obeyesekere points

out,

although

Senguttavan's

donations

to

the

PattinT

shrine

may

not

be

historical

fact,

the

statement

of their

occurrence

in the

epic

acts

"as

a

charter

legitimising

the

antiquity

and

pedigree

of

a

central

PattinT cult

existing

at

the time

the

poem

was

written".53

It is

certainly

probable,

although

direct evidence

is

lacking,

that

the

PattinT

cult

was

flourishing

and

receiving

royal

patronage

in

the

early

centuries

a.d.

The central

events

of

the

Silappadikdram

and the Sinhalese

PattinT

myths

take

place

in

the

Pandyan

kingdom,

whose

capital

was

the

city

of

Madura.

This

was

the

city

where

PattinT's

husband

went to

sell

the

golden

anklet,

where

he

was

falsely

accused

and

executed,

and which

PattinT,

in

revenge,

caused

to

be

burned

to

the

ground.

The

Pandyan

kingdom played

an

important

role

in

the trade with

theWest

and,

although

Madura is

not

mentioned

by

the

author of the

Periplus,

both

Pliny

and

Ptolemy

knew that

it

was

the

49

Ibid.,

pp.

511-29;

G.

Obeyesekere

(1980).

50

The best

treatment

of these

inscriptions

is that of

K.

Zvelebil

(1964).

51

Silappadikaram,

XXX, 147-54.

52

See V.

R. R.

Dikshitar

(1939),

p.

14

and

pp.

370-3.

53

G.

Obeyesekere

(1984),

p.

603.



12/16

Isis

and

PattinT

387

capital

of the

Pandyan kingdom,

and

Pliny

correctly

cites its inland

situation.54

Roman

aurei

dating

from the

first

two

centuries

a.d.

have

been found

in

the

district

around

Madura,

and hoards

of

Roman coins

have

been

found

in

other

parts

of

the

Pandyan

kingdom.

About

one

hundred

miles

to

the

north of

Madura

lay

the

Coimbatore

gap,

along

which

many

Roman coins have been found. Their distribution

pattern

ledMortimer

Wheeler

to

suggest

that

traffic

from

Arikemedu,

the

Roman

trading

station

on

the

east

coast,

passed along

this

route

to

the

west coast

ports.55

A

verse

in

the

Silappadikaram

mentions

that the

gates

of Madura

were

guarded

by

Yavana

swordsmen,56

and it has been

suggested

that

these

Yavanas

were

western

mercenaries.57

However,

the

word

Yavana,

although originally

applied

to

Greeks,

came

to

be used

to

describe

the

Sakas

who

invaded

north-west

India,

and

was

then used

to

describe

any

kind of

foreigner.

Nevertheless,

it is

still

possible

that the

verse

reflects

a

situation

at

a

time when

the

Pandyan

kingdom

was

in

direct

trading

contact

with theWest.

Our

only

direct

evidence

to

show that

southern

Indians

and

western

traders discussed

religious

ideas

comes

from the

Periplus.

The

author tells

us

that there

was a

cult

of

the

goddess

at

Cape

Comorin,

which he calls

Komar

or

Komarei,

a

hellenisation

of

the Tamil

form

of

Sanskrit

KumarT,

which

means

"maiden";58

it

was

a

port

of

the

Pandyan

kingdom,

and

is

mentioned

in the

Silappadikaram.

The

author

of

the

Periplus

tells

us

that

"men

who

wish

to

spend

their

remaining

days

in

a

religious

life

remain there in

celibacy.

There

they

come

and

wash

themselves,

for

it is

said that the

goddess

once

stayed

there

and

washed

herself".

It

will be

remembered that Isis

demanded

celibacy

from

her

followers.

This Indian

goddess

is called

"97

0 oV

by

the author of the

Periplus.

The assimilation of

foreign

to

hellenic

deities

is

characteristic

of Greek

thought,

but it

is

my

view

that

if the

author of

the

Periplus

had been asked

to

give

a name

to

"17

0

oV\

he

would

have

replied

"Isis". The

author of the

Periplus

obviously

spent

some

time

discussing religious practice

with the

Indians

at

Cape

Comorin.

It

seems

highly

probable

that

such

discussions

between

western

traders and

Indians

took

place

elsewhere,

and

provided

the

basis

for

the

transmission

of

religious

ideas.

The

holy

men

who

devoted

themselves

to

the cult

of

KumarT

at

Cape

Comorin

performed

ablutions

in

honour of the

goddess.

Such

ablutions

were

also

an

important

element

in

the

worship

of

Isis:

Apuleius

describes how

Lucius

bathed himself

in

the

sea

and

plunged

his

head

seven

times

under

the

waves

before

addressing

his first

prayer

to

Isis.59

Receptacles

which held

water

for

purification

purposes

were

a

feature

of

Isis

temples

in

Egypt

and

the

Mediterranean.60

Miniature

tanks,

dating

from

the Roman

period,

were

found

by

Petrie in

his excavations of the

temple

of

Isis

at

Coptos.61

These tanks

were

made

of

stone,

and

Petrie

suggests

that

they

were

sunk

into the

floor

of the

temple

to

enable

worshippers

to

wash

their feet

in

private.

Similar miniature

tanks made

of

terracotta

have

been found

at

sites

throughout

northern

and

western

India.

The

majority

of

them

date

from the first three centuries a.d.,

although

some are earlier.62

They

are

frequently

found

54

Pliny,

Naturalis

Historia,

VI,

105;

Ptolemy,

Geographia,

VII, I,

89.

55

For

Roman

aurei

from

Madura

see

Paula

J.

Turner

(1989),

pp.

64-5

and the

distribution

map

on

p.

119.

See

also R.

E. M.

Wheeler

(1951), pp.

65-7.

56

Silappadikdram,

XIV,

62-70.

57

By

P.

Meile

(1940).

58

Periplus

58.

59

Apuleius,

Metamorphosen,

XI,

1.

60

See

chapter

"Ablution facilities

and

ritual",

in

R. A.

Wild

(1981), pp.

128-48.

61

W.

M. F.

Petrie

(1896)

41.

62

See article in A.

Ghosh

(1989),

i,

pp.

277f

16-2



13/16

388

R.

C.

C.

Fynes

near

Jain

or

Buddhist

stupas.

They

come

in

square,

rectangular,

round and

oval

shapes,

and

often have

a

flight

of

steps

leading

to

the

centre.

Many

have

lamps

and

birds modelled

on

their rims and

aquatic

animals,

such

as

water

snakes,

frogs

and

tortoises

on

their

floors.

Some have aminiature

figure

of a nude

goddess standing

in a shrine on one of their

sides,

while others

have

figures

of

drummers

or

musicians

on

their rims.

It

has been

suggested

that these features show

a

link

with

a

"

Hellenised-Parthian

form

of

the mother

goddess",

and

that

the model tanks

were

introduced into India

by

Sakas

and

Indo-Parthians.63

The

temptation

to

see

some

connection between the

Egyptian

and

the

Indian model tanks

should

probably

be

avoided,

since the

Egyptian

tanks

were,

as

Petrie

suggested, probably

functional

in

character,

whereas

the

Indian tanks

were

votive

in

character and

were

probably

the

dedicational substitutes

for

full-sized

tanks.

Evidence which

shows

that the

iconography

of Isis

was

known

in

western

India in

the

second

century

a.d.

comes

from

a

Sanskrit

astrological

text

called

the

Yavanajdtaka

of

Sphujidhvaja.64

This

is

a verse

version,

done in

a.d.

269/270

of

an

earlier

prose

translation,

done

in

a.d.

149/150

of

a

Greek

astrological

text

which

had

probably originated

in

Alexandria;

neither

the

Greek

original

nor

the

Sanskrit

prose

version has

survived.65

The

first

chapter

of

Sphujidhvaja's

treatise

describes

the

iconography

of the

signs

of the

zodiac,

and

Pingree

has

shown that the

iconography

of

Virgo,

who is

portrayed

holding

a

torch

while

standing

in

a

boat,

is based

on

that of Isis

Pelagia,

the

goddess

of

seafarers.66

The

Yavanajdtaka

is

a

product

of

the

school

of

astronomers

based

at

Ujjain,

and

is

not

a

product

of the Tamil areas inwhich we know that the PattinT cult flourished. However, it does

provide

evidence that the

iconography

of

Isis

was

known

in

India

in

the second

century

A.D.

So

far

I

have

only

discussed

the

possibility

that

the

cult

of

Isis

was

taken

to

India

by

traders

sailing

from

Egypt.

But Indians

could

also have learnt about the

Isis cult while

themselves

visiting Egypt.

Their

presence

in

Egypt

is

attested

by

Dio

Chrysostom's

32nd

discourse,

which

was

delivered

by

Dio in

the theatre

at

Alexandria,

possibly

in

the

reign

of

Trajan.

In

this

speech

Dio refers

to

Alexandria's trade

in

the Red Sea and Indian Ocean

and

says

that

he could

see

Bactrians,

Scythians,

Persians and Indians

among

the members

of his

audience.67

The novelist

Xenophon

of

Ephesus

illustrates

one

of the

ways

in

which

religious

ideas could

be

exchanged

in

Alexandria.

His

novel,

which

is

generally

accepted

to

be

a

work of the

early

second

century

a.d.,68

describes

the

trials and

tribulations

of

two

star-crossed

lovers,

Anthia and

Habrocames. At

one

point

in the

story

Anthia

was

captured

by

robbers

who

sold

her

to

some

merchants.69

They

looked after

her

well,

and

in

turn

sold

her

to

an

Indian

king

who

happened

to

be

visiting

Alexandria

on

a

trip

in which

sight

seeing

and

business

were

combined.

The

Indian

king,

to

whom

Xenophon

gives

the

Egyptian

name

Psammis,

wanted

to

make

love

to

Anthia,

but

she

resisted

his

advances,

claiming

that her father had dedicated her to Isis until the time of her

marriage,

which was

63

Ibid.,

p.

278.

See

also Sir

John

Marshall

(1951),

ii,

pp.

463-8.

64

Ed.

and

trans.

D.

Pingree

(1978).

65

See

D.

Pingree

(1963),

pp.

225ff.

66

Ibid.,

p.

226.

Yavanajataka,

I, 14-25.

67

Dio

Chrysostom,

Orationes, XXXII,

36,

40.

68

See

J.

Gwyn

Griffiths

(1978).

The work is

not

securely

dated,

but

a

terminus

ante

quern

of

a.d.

263

is

thought

to

be

provided

by

its mention of

the

Artemision,

which

was

destroyed

in that

year.

69

Xenophon

of

Ephesus,

De

amoribus,

III,

11.



14/16

Isis

and

PattinT

389

still

one

year away.

She told Psammis that

if

he violated

her,

Isis

would

curse

him

and that

her

vengeance

would be terrible.

Psammis,

who

was

god-fearing

like

all

barbarians,

refrained from

harming

her and

joined

her

in

the

worship

of Isis.

This

story

is,

of

course,

pure

fiction,

but

Xenophon's

novel does

provide

an

accurate

picture

of social life

in Roman

Egypt.

Xenophon displays

a

good

knowledge

of the

geography, ethnography

and

religious background

of

Egypt.70

He

also knows that

Coptos

in

Upper

Egypt

was a

trading

centre

frequented by large

numbers of merchants

who

journeyed

to

Axum

and

India,71

and it

has been

suggested

that he learnt this from

merchants

in

Alexandria.72

Contact between

western

slaves,

particularly

those

with

some

degree

of

education,

and

their

Indian

owners

must

have led

to

the

exchange

of ideas. The

export

of

western

slaves,

musicians for the

court

and pretty girls for the royal harem, to the realm of the Western

Ksatrapas

is

attested

by

the

Periplus.73

I

conclude

by mentioning

one

final

piece

of

evidence from

Egypt.

A

papyrus

from

Oxyrhynchus

contains

a

long hymn,

of which

almost

three

hundred

lines

remain,

in

praise

of

Isis.74

It

is

written

in

Greek,

and

probably

dates from the

reign

of Hadrian.

It

has been

suggested

that this

invocation

of

Isis,

which "breathes

the

atmosphere

of

cosmopolitan

hellenism",

may

be

a

translation

of

an

Egyptian

original.75

It

has been

widely

used

as

evidence for the

extent

of the

Isis

cult,

since it

consists

of

a

geographical

listing

of

places

where

she

was

worshipped

and of

goddesses

with

whom she

was

identified

or

assimilated.

Lines

224-7

place

Isis in

an

Indian

context.

They

may

be

translated:

"You

bring

forth the

flood tide of

rivers,

in

Egypt

of the

Nile...,

in

India of the

Ganges".

This,

of

course,

may

be

mere

hyperbole.

Line

103

is

more

definite.

It

states

that

in

India

Isis

was

called

Maia

(ev

TvBols

Matav).

In

Greek

mythology

Maia

was a

minor

deity,

one

of

the

daughters

of

Atlas,

and

in Roman

mythology

she

was

associated

with Vulcan. It

is

difficult

to see

any

relationship

between this

rather

shadowy

classical

deity

and

any

of

the

goddesses

of Indian

mythology.

Norden

suggested

that Maia

might

be

an

attempt

to

render

in

Greek

Maya,

the

name

of the

Buddha's

mother,76

but this

theory

has

met

with little

acceptance.77

A

more

plausible theory

would

be that

Maia is

a

hellenisation of mad, the Prakritised form

of

the

nominative

of

Sanskrit

Mdtr,

which

means

"mother". Mad

would have

been

pronounced

in

some areas

with

a

glide

"y".

Thus

the

hymn

could be evidence

for the

worship

of

Isis

as a

mother

goddess

in

India

as

well

as

in

Egypt

and

the

rest

of

the

Mediterranean

world.

So

perhaps

in

his

principal

contention Sir

William

Jones

was

right

after all.

In

detail,

of

course,

he

was

wrong.

That

could

hardly

be

otherwise:

in

his

day, early

Indian

and

Egyptian

chronology

Fynes, Isis & Pattini (1993)

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Transcript of Fynes, Isis & Pattini (1993)