Coptica 15, 2016

Alexander among Medieval Copts

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designed to bring forth water in the desert, were to accompany Alexander’s army wherever it went. 27 This story of Aristotle, Alexander, and the talismans is not unknown; what is related here in al-Jawharah al-nafīsah can be found in greater detail in the universal history of the 13 th -century Coptic historian al- Makīn, 28 and in the background we should probably see a set of pseudo- Aristotelian Arabic works dealing with the making of talismans. 29 Yūḥannā’s use of the story, however, is new and striking. He subjects it to a kind of typological analysis, implying that it provides a Satanic antitype to the story of Moses: thus Alexander’s water-producing talisman is a demonic imitation of Moses’ staff, which brought forth water from the rock; and Alexander’s iron chest or tābūt is a demonic imitation of the true tābūt , the Ark of the Covenant. 30 Note here how negative the evaluation of Alexander—and Aristotle!—has become: they are pagans who have been deceived by Satan, and who demonstrate humanity’s desperate need for redemption. Towards a typology? These three Alexander-anecdotes may point us towards a preliminary typology of the use of Alexander-material in Copto-Arabic literature of edification. (1) Alexander can function as a witness to ascetic wisdom, as in the story of the Hermit Prince, and also in the encounter with the Brahmans or Barakhmānisiyyīn . Here, we note, Alexander’s presence is important to the story: it is he who actively seeks out these sages, and his own immersion in the affairs of this world provides an immediate and sharp contrast to their ascetic way of life. (2) An Alexander anecdote may serve as the narrative frame within which the word is then given to others—to Aristotle and his Kitāb al-siyāsah , but also to Sylverius and his 27 Ibid., 42-43. 28 That is, the 13 th -century history of al-Makīn ibn al-ʿAmīd (“the Elder”), al-Majmūʿ al- mubārak . The Arabic text is yet unpublished; see the English translation of the Ethiopic version of al-Makīn’s chapter on Alexander in E.A.W. Budge, The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great , Vol. 2 (London: C.J. Clay, 1896), 355-85, with the passage on the talismans at pp. 358-62. Here, Aristotle has Alexander make four talismans (one for producing water), four amulets, and a chest (such as the one described in al-Jawharah al- nafīsāh ). 29 Al-Makīn himself mentions books of Hermes translated into Greek by Aristotle; Budge, Life and Exploits , 383-85. For background on the pseudo-Aristotelian Arabic Hermetic texts, see C.S.F. Burnett, “Arabic, Greek, and Latin Works on Astrological Magic Attributed to Aristotle,” in Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages: The Theology and Other Texts , ed. Jill Kraye et al., Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 11 (London: The Warburg Institute, 1986), 84-96; Kevin van Bladel, The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 101-4, 114, 179 (where the author coins the term “Talismanic Pseudo-Aristotelian Hermetica” for a set of these texts). There is a chapter on talismans in the pseudo-Aristotelian Kitāb al-siyāsah fī tadbīr al-ri’āsah , mentioned above; see al-Uṣūl al-yūnāniyyah , 156-65. 30 See chapter 20; Kitāb al-jawharah al-nafīsāh (ed. Manṣūr), 45.