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onolatry (oh-NOL-uh-tree, oh-NAHL-uh-tree) - n., worship of the donkey/ass/burro; preoccupation with or devotion to something foolish.
This might look suspiciously specific, and frankly it is, but there's a story here. In the ancient Mediterranean world, Jews were sometimes accused (for ex by Tacitus) of being onolaters, and by extension early Christians were, too. This seems to have arisen in first century BCE Egypt, where someone or ones who didn't like these foreigners from Palestine decided to tar with worshipping Set, the brother and antagonist of Osiris, who was associated with donkeys. The charge, at least as far as Christians, was used through the 1st and 2nd centuries CE before dying off.
---L.
This might look suspiciously specific, and frankly it is, but there's a story here. In the ancient Mediterranean world, Jews were sometimes accused (for ex by Tacitus) of being onolaters, and by extension early Christians were, too. This seems to have arisen in first century BCE Egypt, where someone or ones who didn't like these foreigners from Palestine decided to tar with worshipping Set, the brother and antagonist of Osiris, who was associated with donkeys. The charge, at least as far as Christians, was used through the 1st and 2nd centuries CE before dying off.
---L.
