(CE:2259b-2260a)

THREE STELAE OF SETH. The Three Stelae (Codex VII,

tractate 5, of the NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY) belongs to a group
of tractates associated with Sethianism. Seth is the third son of
Adam and Eve (Gn. 4: 25-26), appointed as another seed in place of
Abel.
The Three Stelae of Seth is a series of hymnic prayers and
blessings, each of which is addressed to a person of the Gnostic
divine triad (Father-Mother-Son) in conjunction with a communal
liturgical practice. A short prologue (118.10-24) introduces
Dositheos, the revealer of the three stelae. Whether or not this
Dositheos is the disciple of John the Baptist, a Samaritan sect
founder, and the godfather in the formation of Gnostic schools, is
unclear (Pseudo-Clement, Recognitiones 1.54-63 and 2.8; Homiliae
2.15-25; Origen, In Evangelium Joannis Commentariorum 13.27).
The short tractate is subdivided into three sections consciously
structured to parallel each other (e.g., benedictions close each
section). The subdivisions also correspond to the Sethian threefold
nature of God and the stages of visionary ascent and descent. The
tractate concludes with a description of the practice: "from the third
they bless the second; after these the first. The way of ascent is the
way of descent" (127.18-22). The background of this descent-ascent
may reflect aspects of the baptismal rite, spiritualized (Turner,
1986). The transmission of these three didactic hymns to the
community serves to provide a vision of the heavenly world to the
Gnostic community and to support the individual believer in
elevating himself to the pleroma through prayer. The tractate ends
with a scribal note, a colophon, in all likelihood intended to apply to
the whole codex (127.29-33).
The importance of Seth to gnosticism as well as Seth's
relationship to religious and philosophical currents of the day make
the Three Stelae of Seth most appealing. In particular, the tractate
has no traces of Christian content; in its place is Neoplatonic
metaphysics. The structure of the divine world and
contemplative/mystical ascent has parallels with the Platonists of the
third century. Two other tractates, Zostrianos and Allogenes, noted
by Porphyry in his Life of Plotinus, are very similar in terminology
and vocabulary to the Three Stelae of Seth. All exhibit a tendency
toward ontological monism. This literary cluster acts as a unit and
helps in deducing the evolution of the Sethian treatises and in
placing the Three Stelae chronologically. One theory is that the
Three Stelae of Seth was redacted twice (Claude, 1983).
The Gnostic theme of bisexuality, an expression of perfection, is
also present in this tractate. Barbelo, the female aspect of the Father,
is called "the first male virginal aeon" (121.21-22).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Böhlig, A. "Zum Pluralismus in den Schriften von Nag Hammadi:
Die Behandlung des Adamas in den Drei Stelen des Seth und im
Ägypterevangelium." In Essays on the Nag Hammadi Texts: In
Honor of Pahor Labib, ed. M. Krause. Nag Hammadi Studies 6.
Leiden, 1975.
Claude, P. Les Trois stèles de Seth: Hymne gnostique à la Triade
(NHS 7, 5). Bibliothèque Copte de Nag Hammadi 8. Quebec,
1983.
Krause, M., and V. Girgis. "Die drei Stelen des Seth." In
Christentum am Roten Meer, Vol. 2, ed. F. Altheim and R.
Stiehl. Berlin, 1973.
Robinson, J. M. "The Three Steles of Seth and the Gnostics of
Plotinus." In Proceedings of the International Colloquium on
Gnosticism, ed. G. Widengren. Filologisk-filosofiska serien 17.
Stockholm, 1977.
Stroumsa, G. Another Seed: Studies in Sethian Gnosticism. Nag
Hammadi Studies 24. Leiden, 1984.
Tardieu, M. "Les Trois stèles de Seth: Un écrit gnostique retrouvé a
Nag Hammadi." Revue des sciences philosophiques et
theologiques 57 (1973): 545-75.
Turner, J. "Sethian Gnosticism: A Literary History." In Nag
Hammadi, Gnosticism and Early Christianity, ed. C. Hedrick
and R. Hodgson, Jr. Peabody, Mass., 1986.
Wisse, F. "The Three Steles of Seth." In The Nag Hammadi Library,
ed. J. M. Robinson. San Francisco, 1977.

HENRY A. GREEN