Moses with Horns on his Head Cover Image

რქადასხმული მოსე
Moses with Horns on his Head

Author(s): Zurab Kiknadze
Subject(s): Customs / Folklore
Published by: ლიტერატურის ინსტიტუტის გამომცემლობა
Keywords: Moses; horn; ray; glory.

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with Michelangelo’s outstanding statue Moses (Moses with horns on His Head) and the passage from Latin translation of the Bible (Vulgate) which was used as a basis by the sculptor while creating the image of Biblical prophet. Latin version offers the following variant of the passage: Cumque descenderet Moses de monte Sinai tenebat duas tabulas testimonii et ignorabat quod contnuta esset facies sua ex consortio sermonis Dei (Ex. 34:29,35). The same passage in Septuaginta, being actively used while making translations even today, is the following: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, as he was coming down the mountain, Mose did not know that the skin of his face was radiant… (JB) Why has such a translation emerged? The answer to this question is defined by the fact that the stem qrn has two meanings “horn” and “radiance”. Hieronymus had chosen the former. In addition, the reason for such a choice could be the conceptual and phonetic identity between Hebrew ceren (horn) and latin cornu (horn). The proof could be found in Vulgate. Hieronymus gives the following version: Sacuum consui super cutem meam, et operui cinere carnem meam. It is obvious that the translator was tempted by the phonetic identity of the Hebrew word ceren with Latin caro. The semantic relation between “horn” and “radiance” is proved in Hebrew texts. In Hebrew, old as well as new, the word keren literally means “radiance” in appropriate context. In parallel phrases the pairs “radiance/candle” and “horn” are each others correlates. Hebrew language is no exception. Sumarian language can prove the same: Sumerian syllabi si, as its archaic pictogram evidences, contains a number of meanings, having relation not only to “radiance” but “horn” as well. In Sumerian texts we will encounter the same phraseological parallelism as in Hebrew texts. Monuments of Mesopotamian visual art can serve as a proof as well, where Gods are portrayed with horns on their heads. It is widely acknowledged that they used to cover the horns of a sacrificed bull with precious metals (gold, silver). “Odyssey” describes this process in every detail indicating that while accomplishing the rituals its implementers consciously or subconsciously preserve the radiant character of the horns. The ritual returns the horn its imaginative-mythical nature. We can conclude that with the help of unusual translations Hieronymus preserves unusual archaic mythological models.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 11
  • Page Range: 135-142
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Georgian