Berossus facts for kids
Berossus (sometimes spelled Berosus) was a very old Babylonian writer and priest. He lived around 300 BC. He was a priest of the god Bel Marduk and also an astronomer, meaning he studied the stars and planets.
Berossus wrote in Greek, even though he was Babylonian. His most famous work was called the Babyloniaca, which was a history of Babylonia. Sadly, most of his original writings are now lost. We only know about them because other ancient writers, like Eusebius, quoted parts of his work.
Some people think Berossus might be the same person as Bēl-reʾû-šunu, a high priest mentioned in an old document from 258 BC.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The name Berossus probably comes from an old Babylonian name connected to the god Bel. Bel means "Lord" and was a common name for the god Marduk. His original name might have meant "the god Bel is their shepherd" or "O Bel, watch over him!"
Berossus's Life and Work
Berossus used ancient Babylonian records and texts to write his History of Babylonia. He published this important work around 290–278 BC. He had help from King Antiochus I Soter, who ruled the Seleucid Empire at that time.
Berossus was also known for his knowledge of the stars and planets. Some old writers like Vitruvius even said he invented a special type of sundial. People thought he was so famous and smart that a statue of him was put up in Athens, Greece!
He was born sometime before or during the time of Alexander the Great's rule over Babylon (330–323 BC). Some stories say he later moved to the island of Kos and started a school there to teach about astronomy. We don't know exactly when he died.
The Babyloniaca (History of Babylonia)
Berossus's Babyloniaca was a huge history of Babylonia, written in three books. Even though the original books are lost, we know parts of them from other writers who copied sections.
Historians believe King Antiochus I might have asked Berossus to write this history. The king probably wanted to learn more about the lands he had recently taken over. Berossus was also known as an astrologer, someone who believed the stars could predict the future.
Sources and Stories
Berossus said he used "public records" to write his history. This means he had access to important old documents and religious texts from Babylonian temples. This allowed him to share stories and facts that other people couldn't.
What we know about ancient Mesopotamian myths today is somewhat similar to what Berossus wrote. However, he wrote in Greek, which was very different from how Babylonians usually wrote their stories.
Book 1: Creation and Early Knowledge
The first book of the Babyloniaca talked about the beginning of the world. It described the Babylonian creation story. In this story, the god Bel (Marduk) defeats a sea monster named Thalatth (Tiamat) to create order in the world.
Berossus also wrote that all human knowledge came from a sea monster named Oannes. Oannes was said to have taught humans everything they knew after the world was created.
Book 2: Ancient Kings and the Great Flood
Book 2 of Berossus's history covered the long line of Babylonian kings, from the very first one, Alulim, all the way to Nabonassar (who ruled around 747–734 BC).
Berossus wrote about a time when kings ruled for incredibly long periods, sometimes hundreds of thousands of years! He also told the story of a great flood. His flood story is very similar to the famous Epic of Gilgamesh and other ancient flood myths. In Berossus's version, the hero of the flood was Xisouthros, which is likely a Greek name for Ziusudra, the hero of an even older Sumerian flood story.
Interestingly, Berossus didn't mention some very famous Babylonian kings like Sargon of Akkad (around 2300 BC) or Hammurabi (around 1750 BC) very much. He did mention Queen Semiramis, an Assyrian queen, which was important because Greek writers had made up many myths about her.
Book 3: Later Kings and Moral Lessons
The third book of the Babyloniaca continued the history from Nabonassar up to the time of King Antiochus I. Berossus likely used official lists of kings to write this part.
A big part of this book focused on kings like Nebuchadnezzar II (604–562 BC) and Nabonidus (556–539 BC). Berossus started to add his own ideas here. He believed that kings succeeded or failed based on how good or bad their actions were. This was a bit different from other Greek historians who focused more on facts and less on moral lessons.
The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived much later (around 1st century AD), used Berossus's third book to list the years that several Babylonian kings ruled. These lists helped historians understand the timeline of ancient Babylon.
Here are some of the kings Berossus mentioned and how long they ruled:
- Nabopolassar = ruled 21 years.
- Nebuchadnezzar = ruled 43 years.
- Evil Merodach = ruled 2 years.
- Neglissar = ruled 4 years.
- Laborosoarchod = ruled 9 months.
- Nabonidus = ruled 17 years. During his rule, Cyrus the Great of Persia and Darius of Media took over Babylon.
How Berossus Was Remembered
In the centuries after he lived, people remembered Berossus as a great astronomer, a wise person, and a historian. For example, the writer Pliny the Elder said that the people of Athens put up a statue of Berossus because his predictions about the future were so accurate. Another writer, Pausanias, even said Berossus was the father of the Hebrew Sibyl, a famous prophetess.
One story, told by Vitruvius, claimed that Berossus started a school for astronomy on the island of Kos. While this story is probably not true, it might have been created to show a connection between the ancient Babylonian way of studying the stars and the Greek way.
In the late 1400s, a man named Annius of Viterbo claimed he had found lost books by Berossus. These books turned out to be a fake, but they were very popular at the time. They made people think differently about how populations and migrations happened after the Biblical Flood.
