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(Redirected from Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas)
The 'Sator Square' contains a Latin palindrome featuring the words ''SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS'' written in a square so that they may be read top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, left-to-right, and right-to-left. It's an example of a word square.
The usual translation is as follows:
;Sator : 'Sower', 'planter'
;Arepo : Likely an invented proper name; its similarity with ''arrepo'', from ''ad repo'', 'I creep towards', is coincidental
;Tenet : 'he holds'
;Opera : 'work', 'care', 'effort'
;Rotas : 'wheels'
Two possible translations of the phrase are 'The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort' and 'The sower Arepo leads with his hand (work) the plough (wheels).' C. W. Ceram read the square boustrophedon (in alternating directions), with ''tenet'' repeated. This produces ''Sator opera tenet; tenet opera sator'', translated: 'The Great Sower holds in his hand all works; all works the Great Sower holds in his hand.' (Ceram 1958, p. 30)
The word ''arepo'' is enigmatic, appearing nowhere else in Latin literature. Most of those who have studied the Sator Square agree that it is a proper name, either an adaptation of a non-Latin word or a name invented specifically for this sentence. Jerome Carcopino thought that it came from a Celtic, specifically Gaulish, word for ''plough''. David Daube argued that it represented a Hebrew or Aramaic rendition of the Greek ''Αλφα'' ω, or "Alpha-Omega" (cf. Revelation 1:8) by early Christians. J. Gwyn Griffiths contended that it came, via Alexandria, from the attested Egyptian name Ḥr-Ḥp, which he took to mean "the face of Apis". (For more on these arguments see Griffiths, 1971 ''passim''.)
The oldest known representation of the Sator Square was found in the ruins of Herculaneum. Others were found in excavations at Corinium (modern Cirencester) and Dura-Europos (in modern Syria).
Other Sator Squares are on the wall of the Duomo of Siena, on the pavement outside the church of the Knights in Valetta, Malta and on the tombstone of composer Anton von Webern, who experimented with the Sator Square in a musical way.
An example of the Sator Square found in Manchester is considered by some authorities to be the earliest evidence of Christianity in Britain [1]
Other authorities believe the Sator Square was Mithraic in origin [2].
The Sator Square is a four-times palindrome, and some have attributed magical properties to it, considering it one of the broadest magical formulas in the occident; for example, the 19th-century Pennsylvania Dutch used it to protect cattle from witchcraft [3].
It is possible to write a horizontal and a vertical 'Pater Noster' with the letters of the sator square, forming a Greek cross. The two ''A''s and two ''O''s which remain are then taken as Alpha and Omega.
★ In Terry Pratchett’s ''Discworld'' series the (fictional) city of Ankh-Morpork has a town square named Sator Square.[4]
★ It is also featured in Valerio Evangelisti's sci-fi book ''Cherudek'', in which an entire town seems to be based on the Sator Square. The books suggests an interpretation of the square that will allow the characters to leave the town.
★ Anton Webern’s Concerto Op. 24 is apparently based on the square, and the square is displayed on a memorial[5] near the site where he was shot in Mittersill in 1945.
★ Magic square
★ Word square
★ "'Arepo' in the Magic 'Sator' Square'": J. Gwyn Griffiths, ''The Classical Review'', New Ser., Vol. 21, No. 1., March 1971, pp. 6–8.
★ Duncan Fishwick, ''An Early Christian Cryptogram?(HTML)''
★ Sator Square, inscribed, Article; the article uses: "Rotas square"
The words of the Sator Square may be read in any direction
The 'Sator Square' contains a Latin palindrome featuring the words ''SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS'' written in a square so that they may be read top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, left-to-right, and right-to-left. It's an example of a word square.
| Contents |
| Translation |
| Appearances |
| Anagrams |
| In popular culture |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
Translation
The usual translation is as follows:
;Sator : 'Sower', 'planter'
;Arepo : Likely an invented proper name; its similarity with ''arrepo'', from ''ad repo'', 'I creep towards', is coincidental
;Tenet : 'he holds'
;Opera : 'work', 'care', 'effort'
;Rotas : 'wheels'
Two possible translations of the phrase are 'The sower Arepo holds the wheels with effort' and 'The sower Arepo leads with his hand (work) the plough (wheels).' C. W. Ceram read the square boustrophedon (in alternating directions), with ''tenet'' repeated. This produces ''Sator opera tenet; tenet opera sator'', translated: 'The Great Sower holds in his hand all works; all works the Great Sower holds in his hand.' (Ceram 1958, p. 30)
The word ''arepo'' is enigmatic, appearing nowhere else in Latin literature. Most of those who have studied the Sator Square agree that it is a proper name, either an adaptation of a non-Latin word or a name invented specifically for this sentence. Jerome Carcopino thought that it came from a Celtic, specifically Gaulish, word for ''plough''. David Daube argued that it represented a Hebrew or Aramaic rendition of the Greek ''Αλφα'' ω, or "Alpha-Omega" (cf. Revelation 1:8) by early Christians. J. Gwyn Griffiths contended that it came, via Alexandria, from the attested Egyptian name Ḥr-Ḥp, which he took to mean "the face of Apis". (For more on these arguments see Griffiths, 1971 ''passim''.)
Appearances
The oldest known representation of the Sator Square was found in the ruins of Herculaneum. Others were found in excavations at Corinium (modern Cirencester) and Dura-Europos (in modern Syria).
Other Sator Squares are on the wall of the Duomo of Siena, on the pavement outside the church of the Knights in Valetta, Malta and on the tombstone of composer Anton von Webern, who experimented with the Sator Square in a musical way.
An example of the Sator Square found in Manchester is considered by some authorities to be the earliest evidence of Christianity in Britain [1]
Other authorities believe the Sator Square was Mithraic in origin [2].
The Sator Square is a four-times palindrome, and some have attributed magical properties to it, considering it one of the broadest magical formulas in the occident; for example, the 19th-century Pennsylvania Dutch used it to protect cattle from witchcraft [3].
Anagrams
Anagram formed by the letters of the sator square
It is possible to write a horizontal and a vertical 'Pater Noster' with the letters of the sator square, forming a Greek cross. The two ''A''s and two ''O''s which remain are then taken as Alpha and Omega.
In popular culture
★ In Terry Pratchett’s ''Discworld'' series the (fictional) city of Ankh-Morpork has a town square named Sator Square.[4]
★ It is also featured in Valerio Evangelisti's sci-fi book ''Cherudek'', in which an entire town seems to be based on the Sator Square. The books suggests an interpretation of the square that will allow the characters to leave the town.
★ Anton Webern’s Concerto Op. 24 is apparently based on the square, and the square is displayed on a memorial[5] near the site where he was shot in Mittersill in 1945.
See also
★ Magic square
★ Word square
References
★ "'Arepo' in the Magic 'Sator' Square'": J. Gwyn Griffiths, ''The Classical Review'', New Ser., Vol. 21, No. 1., March 1971, pp. 6–8.
External links
★ Duncan Fishwick, ''An Early Christian Cryptogram?(HTML)''
★ Sator Square, inscribed, Article; the article uses: "Rotas square"
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