The Imago Mundi of the genesis Apocryphon

Abstract

The division of the world among Noah's sons and grandsons in the texts are examined in this chapter - the Genesis Apocryphon , Jubilees , and Josephus - reflect both their reliance on Genesis 10 and a shared cartographical basis for their construction of the world. Of these texts, the Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen) is the oldest surviving Second Temple period text mapping the inhabited world. It comprises the focus of the paper, alongside comparison to its closely related parallels in Jubilees and Josephus. In the Genesis Apocryphon , Noah's dream vision of the cedar precedes and anticipates the division of the world among Noah's sons. In Noah's vision, Shem is the first scion "that comes forth from it and rises to its height", and clings "to the stump of the cedar". Another significant feature of the vision is that both Ham and Japheth take action against Shem or his descendants, by invading his portion. Keywords: Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen); Ham; Japheth; Josephus; Jubilees ; Noah; Shem