לקסיקון היישובים של מְנַסֵאַס איש פָּטַרַה: על העיר האדומית אדורַים וגנבת ראש החמור מן המקדש בירושלים

The libel according to which the statue of an ass stood in the Jerusalem Temple is considered by modern scholars (following Josephus) to be one of the three most humiliating libels launched against the Jews in the ancient world (the other two being the Leper Libel and the 'Blood Libel'). This article does not dwell on the Egyptian origins of the libel and its early developments, but concentrates mainly on its first appearance in Greek literature, in the account of Mnaseas of Patara of the theft of the head of an ass from the Temple in Jerusalem.
Mnaseas, a native of Lycia, was a pupil of Eratosthenes and was active in Alexandria from the end of the third century to the beginning of the second century BCE. The story - a spicy yarn with twists and turns, and Apollo in a lead role - has survived in Josephus (Contra Apionem II. 112-114). He quotes it in his polemic against Apion who had adduced a slightly reworked and abbreviated version of the Mnasean tale. Since the story contains the first reference we have to the ass libel (and the first explicit one to any of the libels) by a Greek author, many scholars regard Mnaseas as the first antisemitic author in Greek literature. This article attempts to elucidate the attitudes of Mnaseas and of his Greek contemporaries toward the story by examining the following subjects and aspects:
a. Textual matters : an analysis of that part of the story in Josephus surviving only in Latin translation and a reconstruction of the Greek original; a reconstruction of the primary story elaborated by Mnaseas, itself requiring the establishment of the nationality, place and time indicating where Apion and Josephus abbreviated or modified the text for their own purposes;
b. Mnaseas the man and his works : an assessment of the information we have on Mnaseas the scholar and compiler; the connection between him and Eratosthenes, his guide and mentor; an elucidation, based on the testimonia and a comparison of similar compositions by contemporary Alexandrian scholars, especially Callimachus and Eratosthenes, of the genre, the title, the structure, the contents and the aims of the composition of Mnaseas whence the story of the ass's head was taken, as well as the context for the story in that composition;
c. The religious, cultural and literary background : the attitude of Mnaseas and his Greek contemporaries (especially in Asia Minor) towards the ass; statues of asses in Greek temples; the apotheosis of asses and the description of Apollo as an ass; the special geographical and cultural conditions in Lycia, Mnaseas' native land; Greek motifs incorporated into the story, and their perception in Greek literature; the many mythological associations which the story evokes; the cultural exclusivity of Alexandrian scholars at the end of the third century Β.C.Ε.; and further questions relevant to understanding the content and aims of the story. All these are considered in an attempt to establish the attitude of Mnaseas toward Jews.
The paper concludes with a reconstruction of the developments of the four versions of the ass libel in the writings of Greek and Roman authors.