«With spiritual writings and Homeric words»

A Hypsistarian soothsayer in fourth-century Phrygia

Abstract

The Phrygian inscription that is the subject of this study was dedicated to (and written by) a certain Zosimos (SEG 43, 945 = Steinepigramme III 16/41/09). In this metric epitaph full of Homeric reminiscences, Zosimos referred to himself as «from the people of Hypsistos», which, in my opinion, suggests that we should define him as a Hypsistarian and not a Jew. Moreover, Zosimos’ major occupation was bibliomancy, which he performed using «spiritual writings» and «Homeric epics» for those who sought him out to divine the future for them. In this study, I also examine the practice of bibliomancy, equally popular among Jews and Christians in late antiquity, as well as the possible meanings of the terms «writing tablet» (pinax) and «folded tablet» (pinax ptyktos) used by Zosimos for divination in the light of representations of writing materials on Phrygian funerary reliefs.