ἀβανήθ <Semitic; Roman period>
👉 ἀβανήθ (v.l. ἀβαΐθ) – ‘girdle, sash (of Jewish priests)’ (Jos., AJ 3.156).
⚠ Jos., AJ 3.154-156: (...) ὃν (scil. χιτῶνα = χεθομένην) ἐπιζώννυνται κατὰ στῆθος ὀλίγον τῆς μασχάλης ὑπεράνω τὴν ζώνην περιάγοντες πλατεῖαν μὲν ὡς εἰς τέσσαρας δακτύλους, διακένως δ' ὑφασμένην ὥστε λεβηρίδα δοκεῖν ὄφεως· ἄνθη δ' εἰς αὐτὴν ἐνύφανται φοίνικι καὶ πορφύρᾳ μετὰ ὑακίνθου καὶ βύσσου πεποικιλμένα, στήμων δ' ἐστὶ μόνη βύσσος. καὶ λαβοῦσα τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἑλίξεως κατὰ στέρνον καὶ περιελθοῦσα πάλιν δεῖται, καὶ κέχυται μὲν πολλὴ μέχρι καὶ τῶν σφυρῶν ἕως οὗ μηδὲν ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐνεργεῖ, πρὸς γὰρ εὐπρέπειαν οὕτως ἔχει τοῖς ὁρῶσι καλῶς, ὅταν δὲ σπουδάζειν περὶ τὰς θυσίας δέῃ καὶ διακονεῖν, ὅπως μὴ κινουμένης ἐμποδίζηται πρὸς τὸ ἔργον, ἀναβαλόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν λαιὸν ὦμον φέρει. Μωυσῆς μὲν οὖν ἀβανὴθ αὐτὴν ἐκάλεσεν, ἡμεῖς δὲ παρὰ Βαβυλωνίων μεμαθηκότες ἑμίαν αὐτὴν καλοῦμεν· οὕτως γὰρ προσαγορεύεται παρ' αὐτοῖς. – “They (scil. Jewish priests) gird it (scil. tunic) on at the breast, drawing around a little above the arm-pit the belt, which has a breadth of about four fingers, woven coarse-meshed so as to seem like the skin of a serpent. Flowers are woven into it embroidered with scarlet and purple together with hyacinth and fine linen, but the warp alone is fine linen. Taking the beginning of the winding at the breast and going around again, it is tied and streams at length up to even the ankles so long as the priest is performing nothing, for thus it presents its beautiful appearance to those who see it. But when it is necessary to attend seriously to the sacrifices and to conduct the service, in order that he may not be hindered in this work by its movement, he throws it over his left shoulder and carries it. Now Moyses called it abaneth, but we call it hemian, having learned it from the Babylonians. For so it is called among them. ” (trans. L.H. Feldman).
🅔 A transliteration of Biblical Hebrew ʾaḇənēṭ ‘girdle, sash (of priest or official)’. Cf. βύνητος.
📖 Data: DCH: I, 114; HALOT: 8f. Ref.: Castelli 2021: 75; Feldman 2000: 273, n. 401.