Papers by Tomasz Polański
ARCHAEOLOGY OF WESTERN ANATOLIA 2 Proceedings of the Second International Symposium. Archaeology and history of the Cayster (Küçük Menderes) Valley in south-eastern inland part of Izmir, 2023
In his textbook for students of rhetoric Aphthonius (fourth/fifth century A.D.) chose the Serapeu... more In his textbook for students of rhetoric Aphthonius (fourth/fifth century A.D.) chose the Serapeum to demonstrate the concept of pictorial vividness in description (Aphth. Progymn.12). One of many commentaries to his manual was signed by John of Sardis (C.Vat.gr.1408). The author seems to have been a commentator of a significantly later date (tenth century). John of Sardis focused mainly on linguistic, lexical and phraseological analysis. His comments on the figural arts and architecture are scanty and modest. The commentary is selective and sometimes confusing. The reader’s confusion aggravated in the concluding part of Aphthonius’ ecphrasis. The text sounds ambiguous to the modern reader. John of Sardis added to this uncertainty. All the more so as we do not know the original archaeological context. John of Sardis whose commentary focused on language and style did not prove to be very helpful in the
archaeological reconstruction of the Alexandrian Serapeum and Acropolis. However, his classicizing Greek is perfect
Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia 11, pp. 111-135, 2020
Prace Komisji Filologii Klasycznej PAU , 2016
Collectanea Christiana Orientalia, 2016
En este artículo se analizan algunas estructuras gramaticales de una selección de textos coptos, ... more En este artículo se analizan algunas estructuras gramaticales de una selección de textos coptos, siriacos y griegos y se los evalúa como traducciones y versiones. Se centra principalmente en la correspondencia Abgar/Jesús de Eusebio de Cesárea en griego, un pasage relevante de la Doctrina Addai siriaca, y un par de textos coptos con el Papyrus Anastasy 9 de Leiden y el Papyrus Régnier 3151 de Viena, y referencia a ellos de las inscripciones griegas de Éfeso, Pontos (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Édesa, y Filipos (siglos IV-VI).
Publikacja wydana przy udziale środkow finansowych Instytutu Archeologii Uniwersytetu Jagiellonsk... more Publikacja wydana przy udziale środkow finansowych Instytutu Archeologii Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego.
Tomasz Polański, Literalism and Paraphrase as a Means of Preservation of Religious Textual Author... more Tomasz Polański, Literalism and Paraphrase as a Means of Preservation of Religious Textual Authority in the Coptic, Greek, and Latin Asclepius' Apocalypse. Published in Texts of Power and the Power of Text: Readings in Textual Authority across History and Cultures, ed. Cezary Galewicz, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Homini, 2006, p.87-98
Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 13, 2016 (University of Córdoba), pp.159-210, 2016
Resumen: En este artículo se analizan algunas estructuras gramaticales de una
selección de textos... more Resumen: En este artículo se analizan algunas estructuras gramaticales de una
selección de textos coptos, siriacos y griegos y se los evalúa como
traducciones y versiones. Se centra principalmente en la correspondencia
Abgar/Jesús de Eusebio de Cesárea en griego, un pasage relevante de la
Doctrina Addai siriaca, y un par de textos coptos con el Papyrus Anastasy 9 de
Leiden y el Papyrus Régnier 3151 de Viena, y referencia a ellos de las
inscripciones griegas de Éfeso, Pontos (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Édesa, y Filipos
(siglos IV-VI).
Abstract: The paper discusses certain grammatical structures of a number of the
selected Coptic, Syriac and Greek texts and assesses them as translations and
versions. It focuses mainly on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Greek Abgar/Jesus
correspondence, a relevant passage from the Syriac Doctrina Addai, and a
couple of Coptic texts with the Leyden Papyrus Anastasy 9 and Papyrus Régnier
3151 from Vienna, and refer them to the Greek inscriptions from Ephesus,
Pontus (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Edessa, and Philippi (4-6th centuries).
Palabras clave: Carta de Abgar. Griego. Siriaco. Copto. Tradición literaria. Papiros.
Inscripciones. Técnica de traducción.
160 Tomasz Polański
Keywords: Abgar Letter. Greek. Syriac. Coptic. Literary tradition. Papyri.
Inscriptions. Translation technique.
Meministine? Memory and Oblivion in the Ancient World – the Ancient World in the Memory and Oblivion, ed. K. Balbuza, M. Musielak, K. Królczyk, UAM Poznań 2019, pp.151-176, 2019
Abstract
One day I managed to visit the Holy City of the Phrygians which travellers and archaeolo... more Abstract
One day I managed to visit the Holy City of the Phrygians which travellers and archaeologists call
Midasshehri. What was the real name of that mysterious city of temples, altars and tombs? ‘The
tomb of Midas’ was more of a sanctuary of the Mother Goddess, perhaps of Kybele, whose idol
once stood in the lower niche. Who destroyed Gordion if it was not razed by the Kimmerians? Two
Phrygian rulers, who seemed real enough have again slipped through our fingers like phantoms.
At the latest conference on Lydia in Izmir (17–18 May 2017) Eberhard Zangger told the story of
the search for the monumental bronze inscription of Beyköy. The inscription of Beyköy presented
a vast panorama of Anatolia about 20 years after the destruction of Hattushas. It vanished shortly
after its discovery. The Classical historians did not bother to tell the story of a fabulously rich
kingdom of Kommagene. In the codices which preserved Gregory of Nazianz’ poetic lore the
reader can find a collection of epitaphs deploring the destruction of graves. Were the epigrams
actually composed by Gregory of Nazianz? If so, did he visit Nemrud Dağ or other Kommagenian
hierothesia himself? If not, who was the gifted author or authors of these verses? It cannot be
excluded that it was Nemrud Daǧ, furthermore, that some other epigrams might have referred to
other hierothesia like Kara Kuş or Sesönk. The Belevi mausoleum is still so impressive that it must
have been commissioned by an immensely wealthy person. No inscription is extant to take us into
the mausoleum’s history, which remains a riddle. Was it a mausoleum raised for Antiochus I Soter,
or for his successor and coregent Antiochus II?
Key words: Midasshehri, the Phrygians, Gordion, inscription of Beyköy, Kommagene, the Palatine
Anthology, Gregory of Nazianz, the Belevi mausoleum
Folia Orientalia 56, 2019, pp.417-445, 2019
I am going to collect dispersed items of information which clearly refer or seem to be suggestive... more I am going to collect dispersed items of information which clearly refer or seem to be suggestive of the Aeolic, Pergamene or Attalid school of art historians which developed in the first half of the 2 nd century BC and discuss their idiosyncratic methods and original contribution to the Greek intellectual life of the Hellenistic period. Even the fragmentary history of the Attalid art collections which can be reconstructed from the archaeological data and the scarce information in the literary sources shows that the collections grew as a result of various factors: 1. wartime robbery. 2. purchases of artworks. 3. a well-thought out programme of reproducing original Greek artworks. The Attalids must have had professional art historians at their side as consultants. We can identify two of them by name: Antigonus of Karystos and Polemon of Ilion. A number of passages testify to a lively academic debate between them. In the course of their professional polemics they discussed the problems of authorship and authenticity of artworks, they adduced biographical details in their efforts to establish the personal identities of the artists and paid tribute to their heroes with colourful anecdotes. They attributed artworks to alternative authors. They also constructed complicated genealogical trees of schools of painting and sculpture, along the principle of master/pupil relations. Their epigraphic studies must have been inspired and influenced by the editors of the Aeolic Archaic poets.
WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier , 1998
WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier , 1998
WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier , 1998
WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier , 1998
Tomasz Polański, bibliography (to 2019)
Folia Orientalia 55 (2018): 255-267
In general the iconographic details recorded in the hagiographic literature are pretty meagre. Au... more In general the iconographic details recorded in the hagiographic literature are pretty meagre. Authors focus on the miraculous properties of icons. The Coptic lives of the saints may be selected as representative for the Early Christian and Byzantine hagiography. The Martyrdom and Miracles of Saint Mercurius the General and other lives contain stories about the Saint's icons. We have some information about church decoration in the East, but, it does not look as impressive as John of Gaza's extensive ecphraseis of St. Sergius' and St. Stephen's complex decorative programmes. However, we actually find a number of interesting minor descriptions in the church histories, in the theological polemic on icons, and in the hagiographies. A Syriac manuscript from the British Museum preserves a chronicle of the monastery of Qartamin, Mor Gabriel. I focus on a chapter which describes the church's construction and its interior decoration. The essential part of the art terminology, which we know from the Coptic texts, consists of the Greek borrowings. The Syriac texts show an entirely different pattern. The Syriac description compiled by an anonymous monk from Qartamin resembles the hymn on the Edessa Cathedral. The Syriac art description in general evolved along entirely different lines from the Greek ecphrasis. Greek borrowings in the discussed Syriac texts are rare, and if they do appear, they are limited to only certain words.
Pount, Cahiers d’études. Corne de l’Afrique – Arabie du Sud, 2012, Numéro 6, Études éthiopienne et yéménites, eds. F. Mermier, D. Morin, A. Rouaud, Les Éthiopisants Associés, ISBN: 978-2-9524-9647-6, s. 211. (review by Tomasz Polański) Folia Orientalia 54-17 23Polański-Reviews.pdf
Folia Orientalia LIV, 2017
Prace Komisji Filologii Klasycznej PAU, 2016
Strabo approaches the subject of foreign art with a ready-made set of ideas. His commentary bears... more Strabo approaches the subject of foreign art with a ready-made set of ideas. His commentary bears the legible stamp of the standard patterns symptomatic of Greek writers. Lucian of Samosate writes that the Orientals prefer their heavy opulence and their empty luxury, and do not know the real and true beauty of the Greeks. This last observation is familiar to readers of Oriental art description, where barbarous monumentality and richness is one of the most frequent labels attached to Oriental works of art and architecture. In fact the Egyptian art sought and achieved monumentality of a quality and dimensions unknown to the Greeks. In Callistratus' and Philostratus' ecphraseis we are confronted with the insoluble conflict in rhetorical art descriptions. As a rhetorical description, ecphrasis was a genre which had been developed for classical subjects and Classical aesthetics. For all its mimetic art, the ecphrasis proved ineffective and sterile in the face of the Oriental art. It is precisely in respect of Oriental art that the deficiencies of the Greek aesthetics and history of art are strikingly clear (Philostratus the Elder, Callistratus, Lucian of Samosate, Pliny the Elder). The alien beauty of the Orient proved inconceivable and impenetrable to the Western intellectuals, whether of Greek or of Latin origin.
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Papers by Tomasz Polański
archaeological reconstruction of the Alexandrian Serapeum and Acropolis. However, his classicizing Greek is perfect
selección de textos coptos, siriacos y griegos y se los evalúa como
traducciones y versiones. Se centra principalmente en la correspondencia
Abgar/Jesús de Eusebio de Cesárea en griego, un pasage relevante de la
Doctrina Addai siriaca, y un par de textos coptos con el Papyrus Anastasy 9 de
Leiden y el Papyrus Régnier 3151 de Viena, y referencia a ellos de las
inscripciones griegas de Éfeso, Pontos (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Édesa, y Filipos
(siglos IV-VI).
Abstract: The paper discusses certain grammatical structures of a number of the
selected Coptic, Syriac and Greek texts and assesses them as translations and
versions. It focuses mainly on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Greek Abgar/Jesus
correspondence, a relevant passage from the Syriac Doctrina Addai, and a
couple of Coptic texts with the Leyden Papyrus Anastasy 9 and Papyrus Régnier
3151 from Vienna, and refer them to the Greek inscriptions from Ephesus,
Pontus (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Edessa, and Philippi (4-6th centuries).
Palabras clave: Carta de Abgar. Griego. Siriaco. Copto. Tradición literaria. Papiros.
Inscripciones. Técnica de traducción.
160 Tomasz Polański
Keywords: Abgar Letter. Greek. Syriac. Coptic. Literary tradition. Papyri.
Inscriptions. Translation technique.
One day I managed to visit the Holy City of the Phrygians which travellers and archaeologists call
Midasshehri. What was the real name of that mysterious city of temples, altars and tombs? ‘The
tomb of Midas’ was more of a sanctuary of the Mother Goddess, perhaps of Kybele, whose idol
once stood in the lower niche. Who destroyed Gordion if it was not razed by the Kimmerians? Two
Phrygian rulers, who seemed real enough have again slipped through our fingers like phantoms.
At the latest conference on Lydia in Izmir (17–18 May 2017) Eberhard Zangger told the story of
the search for the monumental bronze inscription of Beyköy. The inscription of Beyköy presented
a vast panorama of Anatolia about 20 years after the destruction of Hattushas. It vanished shortly
after its discovery. The Classical historians did not bother to tell the story of a fabulously rich
kingdom of Kommagene. In the codices which preserved Gregory of Nazianz’ poetic lore the
reader can find a collection of epitaphs deploring the destruction of graves. Were the epigrams
actually composed by Gregory of Nazianz? If so, did he visit Nemrud Dağ or other Kommagenian
hierothesia himself? If not, who was the gifted author or authors of these verses? It cannot be
excluded that it was Nemrud Daǧ, furthermore, that some other epigrams might have referred to
other hierothesia like Kara Kuş or Sesönk. The Belevi mausoleum is still so impressive that it must
have been commissioned by an immensely wealthy person. No inscription is extant to take us into
the mausoleum’s history, which remains a riddle. Was it a mausoleum raised for Antiochus I Soter,
or for his successor and coregent Antiochus II?
Key words: Midasshehri, the Phrygians, Gordion, inscription of Beyköy, Kommagene, the Palatine
Anthology, Gregory of Nazianz, the Belevi mausoleum
archaeological reconstruction of the Alexandrian Serapeum and Acropolis. However, his classicizing Greek is perfect
selección de textos coptos, siriacos y griegos y se los evalúa como
traducciones y versiones. Se centra principalmente en la correspondencia
Abgar/Jesús de Eusebio de Cesárea en griego, un pasage relevante de la
Doctrina Addai siriaca, y un par de textos coptos con el Papyrus Anastasy 9 de
Leiden y el Papyrus Régnier 3151 de Viena, y referencia a ellos de las
inscripciones griegas de Éfeso, Pontos (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Édesa, y Filipos
(siglos IV-VI).
Abstract: The paper discusses certain grammatical structures of a number of the
selected Coptic, Syriac and Greek texts and assesses them as translations and
versions. It focuses mainly on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Greek Abgar/Jesus
correspondence, a relevant passage from the Syriac Doctrina Addai, and a
couple of Coptic texts with the Leyden Papyrus Anastasy 9 and Papyrus Régnier
3151 from Vienna, and refer them to the Greek inscriptions from Ephesus,
Pontus (Gurdju, Hadji Keui), Edessa, and Philippi (4-6th centuries).
Palabras clave: Carta de Abgar. Griego. Siriaco. Copto. Tradición literaria. Papiros.
Inscripciones. Técnica de traducción.
160 Tomasz Polański
Keywords: Abgar Letter. Greek. Syriac. Coptic. Literary tradition. Papyri.
Inscriptions. Translation technique.
One day I managed to visit the Holy City of the Phrygians which travellers and archaeologists call
Midasshehri. What was the real name of that mysterious city of temples, altars and tombs? ‘The
tomb of Midas’ was more of a sanctuary of the Mother Goddess, perhaps of Kybele, whose idol
once stood in the lower niche. Who destroyed Gordion if it was not razed by the Kimmerians? Two
Phrygian rulers, who seemed real enough have again slipped through our fingers like phantoms.
At the latest conference on Lydia in Izmir (17–18 May 2017) Eberhard Zangger told the story of
the search for the monumental bronze inscription of Beyköy. The inscription of Beyköy presented
a vast panorama of Anatolia about 20 years after the destruction of Hattushas. It vanished shortly
after its discovery. The Classical historians did not bother to tell the story of a fabulously rich
kingdom of Kommagene. In the codices which preserved Gregory of Nazianz’ poetic lore the
reader can find a collection of epitaphs deploring the destruction of graves. Were the epigrams
actually composed by Gregory of Nazianz? If so, did he visit Nemrud Dağ or other Kommagenian
hierothesia himself? If not, who was the gifted author or authors of these verses? It cannot be
excluded that it was Nemrud Daǧ, furthermore, that some other epigrams might have referred to
other hierothesia like Kara Kuş or Sesönk. The Belevi mausoleum is still so impressive that it must
have been commissioned by an immensely wealthy person. No inscription is extant to take us into
the mausoleum’s history, which remains a riddle. Was it a mausoleum raised for Antiochus I Soter,
or for his successor and coregent Antiochus II?
Key words: Midasshehri, the Phrygians, Gordion, inscription of Beyköy, Kommagene, the Palatine
Anthology, Gregory of Nazianz, the Belevi mausoleum