Astarymus
Encyclopedia
Astarymus was a king of Tyre and the third of four brothers who held the kingship. The only information available about him comes from Josephus’s
citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus
, in Against Apion i.18. The entire passage about the four brothers is as follows, as given in Whiston’s translation:
The dates given for Astarymus (Aserymus) are according to the work of F. M. Cross
and other scholars who take 825 BC as the date of Dido’s flight from her brother Pygmalion
, after which she founded the city of Carthage
in 814 BC. See the chronological justification for these dates in the Pygmalion of Tyre
article.
In the Nora Stone article just cited, F. M. Cross
makes the following observation:
Cross therefore presumed that “the son of Deleastartus” in this passage involved a corruption in which the name of the second of the four brothers was assimilated. William Barnes explains about Cross’s analysis:
Cross (and Barnes after him) therefore give the following sequence for the four sons of the nurse of Abdastartus:
The first of these four brothers, as given by Cross and Barnes, is not assigned any name in the usual interpretations of the texts, and Astartus is the second in the series. Cross restored Astartus as the first to reign and reconstructed the name of the second brother from what was previously presumed to be the patronymic of Astartus.
Regarding the 20 years assigned to Astartus, Barnes writes, “Cross’s suggested regnal total of 20 years for Astartos (the first usurper), while of necessity hypothetical, remains entirely possible given the strong textual support underlying Josephus’ own total of 155 years and eight months for the interval from the accession of Hiram to the founding of Carthage.”
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus
Menander of Ephesus
Menander of Ephesus was the historian whose lost work on the history of Tyre was used by Josephus, who quotes Menander's list of kings of Tyre in his apologia for the Jews, Against Apion...
, in Against Apion i.18. The entire passage about the four brothers is as follows, as given in Whiston’s translation:
Now four sons of (Abdastartus’s) nurse plotted against him and slew him, the eldest of whom reigned twelve years; after them came Astartus the son of Deleastartus: he lived fifty-four years, and reigned twelve years; after him came his brother Aserymus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned nine years: he was slain by his brother Pheles, who took the kingdom and reigned but eight months, though he lived fifty years: he was slain by Ithobalus, the priest of Astarte.
The dates given for Astarymus (Aserymus) are according to the work of F. M. Cross
Frank Moore Cross
Frank Moore Cross, Jr. is Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, his 1973 magnum opus Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, and his work in Northwest Semitic epigraphy...
and other scholars who take 825 BC as the date of Dido’s flight from her brother Pygmalion
Pygmalion of Tyre
Pygmalion was king of Tyre from 831 to 785 BC and a son of King Mattan I .During Pygmalion's reign, Tyre seems to have shifted the heart of its trading empire from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, as can be judged from the building of new colonies including Kition on Cyprus, Sardinia , and,...
, after which she founded the city of Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
in 814 BC. See the chronological justification for these dates in the Pygmalion of Tyre
Pygmalion of Tyre
Pygmalion was king of Tyre from 831 to 785 BC and a son of King Mattan I .During Pygmalion's reign, Tyre seems to have shifted the heart of its trading empire from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, as can be judged from the building of new colonies including Kition on Cyprus, Sardinia , and,...
article.
In the Nora Stone article just cited, F. M. Cross
Frank Moore Cross
Frank Moore Cross, Jr. is Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, his 1973 magnum opus Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, and his work in Northwest Semitic epigraphy...
makes the following observation:
Note that we presume a haplography in Josephan text between ‘Ashtart, the eldest brother of the four usurpers, and Dalay-‘ashtart his successor. In the present corrupt text Dalay-‘ashtart [Deleastartus] has been made the name of ‘Ashtart’s father: Astartos ho Delaiastarton. We do not expect the second brother’s patronymic [i.e., the ho Delaiastarton]. None are given for other usurpers or founders of new dynasties in the entire king-list.
Cross therefore presumed that “the son of Deleastartus” in this passage involved a corruption in which the name of the second of the four brothers was assimilated. William Barnes explains about Cross’s analysis:
His major contribution was the brilliant suggestion that the patronymic ho Delaiastartou of Codex Laurentianus . . . actually represents a corrupted form of the name of the second brother of the four usurpers . . . Indeed, it seems far more reasonable in my opinion to suggest such textual corruption (with the retention, albeit reinterpreted, of all the original names), than to have to explain why the name and chronological data of the eldest (and presumably most notorious) usurper are not lost, while the second usurper’s name, chronological data, and patronymic are extant.
Cross (and Barnes after him) therefore give the following sequence for the four sons of the nurse of Abdastartus:
- AstartusAstartusAstartus was a king of Tyre and the first of four brothers who held the kingship. The information about him has been inferred from Frank M. Cross’s reconstruction of Josephus’s citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18...
(‘Ashtart) 920-901 BC - DeleastartusDeleastartusDeleastartus was a king of Tyre and the second of four brothers who held the kingship. The information about him has been inferred from Frank M. Cross’s reconstruction of Josephus’s citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18...
(Dalay-‘Ashtart) 900-889 BC - Astarymus (‘Ashtar-rom, Aserymus) 888-880 BC
- PhellesPhellesPhelles was a king of Tyre and the last of four brothers who held the kingship. The only information available about Phelles comes from Josephus’s citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18...
879 BC
The first of these four brothers, as given by Cross and Barnes, is not assigned any name in the usual interpretations of the texts, and Astartus is the second in the series. Cross restored Astartus as the first to reign and reconstructed the name of the second brother from what was previously presumed to be the patronymic of Astartus.
Regarding the 20 years assigned to Astartus, Barnes writes, “Cross’s suggested regnal total of 20 years for Astartos (the first usurper), while of necessity hypothetical, remains entirely possible given the strong textual support underlying Josephus’ own total of 155 years and eight months for the interval from the accession of Hiram to the founding of Carthage.”