Al-Idrisi's Legend of Hermes' Antediluvian Temple in Akhmim

​I had long known that Muhammad al-Idrisi, the famed twelfth-century geographer, had written a brief passage about the pyramids in his masterpiece, the Tabula Rogeriana (1154 CE). It was almost wholly descriptive and of relatively little interest. (It should not be confused with the book by the other al-Idrisi, Abu Jafar, who wrote a treatise on the pyramids, which has never been translated.) However, I discovered yesterday that the surrounding chapter on Egyptian geography was actually only one of two chapters on Egypt in the book, and the other contains a surprising treasure that provided a little bit more evidence for my longstanding thesis that the myth of antediluvian pyramids was originally told of the Temple of Akhmim as a local adaptation of Enoch’s Pillars of Wisdom.

​The oldest version of what became the legend that the Great Pyramid had been built before the Flood to preserve knowledge was recorded by Abu Ma‘shar around 850 CE in his Thousands, a book that does not survive. The passage survives in two later quotations. Here, Abu Ma‘shar describes Hermes’ actions before the flood:

It is also said that he was the first to predict the Flood and anticipate that a celestial cataclysm would befall the earth in the form of fire or water. He made his residence in Upper Egypt, and chose it to build pyramids and cities of clay. Fearing the destruction of knowledge and the disappearance of the arts in the Flood, he built the great temples; one is a veritable mountain called the Temple in Akhmim, in which he carved representations of the arts and instruments, including engraved explanations of science, in order to pass them on to those who would come after him, lest he see them disappear from the world. (Ibn Juljul, Tabaqat al-atibbaʾ 5-10 and Ibn Abī Uṣaybi‘a, Kitāb Ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbā’ 1.16.24–17.16, my trans.)

Al-Masʿūdī, writing a century later, expands on the story by giving more detail on the Temple in Akhmim, but he omits Hermes. 

Akhmim, known in Late Antiquity as Panopolis, was the Greco-Egyptian center of alchemy and Hermeticism, home to such alchemical greats as Zosimus of Panopolis. In early Christian times, the Book of Enoch circulated in Akhmim, and Hermes was evidently identified there with Enoch around that time.
 
I was surprised to find the al-Idrisi preserves the same story, likely derived from The Thousands, with some additional detail that makes the connection to Enoch’s pillar of clay and pillar of stone still clearer. Here is what he writes:

In Akhmim stands the structure known as al-Berba, said to have been built by the great Hermes before the Deluge. Through the practice of his art, this figure foresaw that the world was destined to perish in a catastrophe; yet, he could not determine whether this would occur by water or by fire. Consequently, he first commissioned the construction of buildings made of earth, devoid of any combustible materials, and adorned them with paintings and scientific emblems. His reasoning was that, should the world perish by fire, these structures would endure, and indeed, they would gain in solidity, thereby allowing posterity to read the knowledge he had inscribed. Subsequently, he ordered the construction of edifices made of extremely hard stone; within them, he had depicted all the sciences he deemed essential for mankind, declaring: “If the catastrophe comes by water, the earthen structures will dissolve; yet these stone edifices will endure, and the sciences shall not perish.” When the deluge arrived, events unfolded exactly as Hermes had foreseen. (Second Climate, Fourth Part, my trans.)

​It's not a huge addition of detail—just an explanation of why he chose clay and stone—but it’s remarkable to find the story told so fully. As best I can find, other versions preserved in Islamic accounts do not explain the meaning of the brick and stone constructions, a feature found mostly in Jewish and Christian lore related to Enoch.
 
Despite medieval interest in al-Idrisi’s book, which became the first Arabic text printed in Europe when it was translated into Latin, the story did not make much impact on Renaissance Europe. One of the reasons this story remained unknown in the West was the choice the 1619 Latin translator made in abridging the text. The standard version used down to 1836 omitted the tale of Hermes:

In the said city of Akhmim there is that building which is called Beraba; and there are several Berabas, among which is the Beraba of Afna, the Beraba of Dendera, and the Beraba of Akhmim: but this is both a stronger building, and more adorned with things worthy of memory; for in this dwelling are some pictures of stars, and some arts, various writings, and various sciences. This dwelling, which is called Beraba, is in the middle of the city of Akhmim, as we have said. (my trans.)

​The first generation of European writers to report Arabic legends about Egypt encountered the story of Surid building the pyramids, which had become the standard version after 1200 CE, and the original story of Hermes and Temple of Akhmim was largely forgotten.