Etymology

Romance compounded from χείρ "hand" (here under the form *χερρ-/χερ) and the verb subject νίζω "I wash, wash my limbs". This is an archaic technical term from which the vessels used for ritual handwashing are named.

Attestations

The word χέρνιψ (plural χέρνιβες in lyric and tragic poetry) is a technical term for water used in rituals or before a meal at a festive feast (in epic). It was often drawn from special springs or streams deemed fit for use in rituals. Its main function was to put the participants in the ritual in a state of readiness to enter the realm of hiera, the participants becoming hagnos. The participants of the rituals with the use of chernips could not be tainted with taint (miasma), the removal of which required the prior application of special purification rituals. The χέρνιψ was used not only for the washing of hands by active participants in the rituals but also for the spraying of sacrificial animals. It was a gesture that ultimately destined the animal for sacrifice or confirmed its belonging to the realm of hiera. The references to the spraying of the altars may be a rhetorical figure, since the animal was sprayed at the altar. In a general sense the word χέρνιψ means "ritual water".

1. Ritual water used before a ritualised meal or before a sacrificial ritual.

1 a: ritual water for washing hands before a meal

In the Odyssey the noun χέρνιψ appears in the formative verses in the accusatiive l.singular (χέρνιβα) and invariably refers to water poured on the hands for washing. All the attestations (Od. 1.136 = 4.52 = 7.172 = 10.368 = 17.91) appear in the first of the four parts of the typical 'feast feast' scene, i.e. the description of the preparations: the washing of the hands, the squatting of the table (the other parts of the scene are: (2) the serving of bread, meat and wine to the table; (3) the meal; (4) the conclusion). The first part is the most stable in terms of its use of traditional verses; we find in it an extended description of the washing of hands before the feast: χέρνιβα δ᾽ ἀμφίπολος προχόῳ ἐπέχευε φέρουσα / καλῇ χρυσείῃ, ὑπὲρ ἀργυρέοιο λέβητος, / νίψασθαι-"water for the hands the servant poured from a pitcher carrying, / beautiful, golden over a silver bowl / to wash themselves". The use of a double etymological figure (χέρνιβα - νίπτομαι, ἐπέχευε - προχόῳ) and the repetition (the lines appear even when the festive feast is preceded by the participant's bath) are interesting. Cf. τὸ χέρνιβον 'vessel for χέρνιψ' used for washing hands before the libation in Il. 24.304, where χέρνιψ is replaced by the phrase ὕδωρ (...) ἀκήρατον. The use of χέρνιψ during the feast (deipnon) is attested by the elegiac distich preserved in the Theognidean Corpus, in which the end of the feast is marked by a vevan: χέρνιβα δ᾽ αἶψα θύραζε φέροι, στεφανώματα δ᾽ εἴσω / εὐειδὴς ῥαδιναῖς χερσὶ Λάκαινα κόρη "let him quickly out of doors chernips and put on wreaths / a beautiful Laconian girl with delicate hands (Theogn. 1001-2)".

1 b: ritual water used in animal sacrifice,

In the Iliad, in typical scenes the blood sacrifice ritual begins with the use of chernips (1x) and the taking of barley croups, oulochytai (2x); the first action is defined by the verb χερνίπτομαι. It is usually assumed that this refers to the washing of hands by the members of the group participating in the ritual, although in the scene describing joining the feasting people after burning the meria to the god, the poet does not explicitly mention the washing of hands (Od. 3. 5-13; 31-50); similarly, in Euripides' Elektra, Orestes does not wash his hands in the chernips, making the excuse that he had already cleansed himself in the stream (E. El. xx-xx). In the most elaborate scene of blood sacrifice in the Odyssey, the noun χέρνιψ, 'ritual water', occurs twice in combination with barley cakes: χέρνιβά τ᾽ οὐλοχύτας τε κατήρχετο, 'from the ritual water he began and from the barley croups (Od. 3.445)'. Earlier in the description of bringing the objects necessary for the sacrifice, the χέρνιψ is carried ἐν ἀνθεμόεντι λέβητι, "in a bowl adorned with flowers", while in the other hand the oulai are held in a basket (Od. 3.440-3). Apollonios of Rhodes models his description of the sacrifice on the Odyssey: χέρνιβά τ᾽ οὐλοχύτας τε παρέσχεθον, "ritual water and barley crumbs were brought" (A.Rh. 1.409).

In some descriptions of animal sacrifice, the close relationship between χέρνιψ and οὐλαί is evidenced by their juxtaposition in the procession and preparations for the sacrificial rite at the altar. It is sometimes difficult to decide clearly whether ritual water is meant or, through metonymic usage, the vessel containing it. In the Birds the animal sacrifice begins with the exhortation τὸ κανοῦν αἴρεσθε καὶ τὴν χέρνιβα, 'take the basket and the water/vessel of water' (Aristoph. Av. 850). The preparation of chernips/chernibes and krup was essential for the sacrificial rite and signified readiness to begin the sacrificial ritual. In Iphigenia in the Taurian country, a shepherd bringing news of the arrival of potential victims urges the priestess: χέρνιβας δὲ καὶ κατάργματα οὐκ ἂν φθάνοις ἂν εὐτρεπῆ ποιουμένη, "quickly prepare the ritual water and the chernips (= barley crumbs)" (E. I.T. 244-5 [244]), cf. ἔκπεμπε παῖδα δωμάτων πατρὸς μέτα- ὡς χέρνιβες πάρεισιν ηὐτρεπισμέναι προχύται τε, "send from home a child with his father, for the chernibes have been prepared and prochytai" (E. I.A. 1111). In Iphigenia in Aulida, the title character says: στέφεα περίβολα δίδοτε φέρετε-πλόκαμος ὅδε καταστέφειν- χερνίβων τε παγάς, 'give me the surrounding wreaths and bring - here is the hair to crown - the streams of ritual water! (E. I.A. 1479)'. Apparently, chernips and krups began the ritual: πικροὺς δὲ προχύτας χέρνιβάς τ᾽ ἐνάρξεται Κάλχας ὁ μάντις, 'with bitter prochytai (here, barley krups) and ritual water / will the soothsayer Kalchas begin! (E. I.A. 955)", nevertheless the function of the rituals performed with them differs: chernips is rather connected with sacrifice (with inclusion into the sphere of the sacred), oulai with primal sacrifices and prayer, cf. E. IA 1470.

On the other hand, chernips and tools used to slaughter an animal may metonymically signify a sacrificial ritual: King Thoas having arrived at the altar of Artemis is surprised: οὔκουν ἐν ἔργωι χέρνιβες ξίφος τε σόν, "there is no ritual water and your sword in the work (E. I.T. 1190)", chernibes together with sphageia, could metonymically mean "sacrifice": E. I.T. 334-5 [334]: ἐς χέρνιβάς τε καὶ σφαγεῖ᾽ ἔπεμπέ σοι, "he sent him to you for chernibes water vessels and blood vessels"

The χέρνιψ appears to have been used in three or four rites during the sacrificial rite (depending on whether we consider the sprinkling of the altar to be a rite independent of the sprinkling of the sacrificial animal):

1) the washing of the hands by the participants in the rite.

In this sense, except possibly Od. 3.445, the verb χερνίπτομαι, "to wash the hands in χέρνιψ," is used; see Lys. 6.52, Aristoph. Pax 961, and especially D.H. 7.72. 2, where χερνιψάμενοί τε γὰρ αὐτοὶ refers to the participants in the rite, and τὰ ἱερὰ καθαρῷ περιαγνίσαντες ὕδατι to the sacrificial animals (καθαρὸν ὕδωρ is synonymous with χέρνιψ).

2) going around the altar in a clockwise motion:

Av. 958: Αὖθις σὺ περιχώρει λαβὼν τὴν χέρνιβα, Take water and move around. Let there be silence!

Pax 956-7: ῎Αγε δή, τὸ κανοῦν λαβὼν σὺ καὶ τὴν χέρνιβα/ περίιθι τὸν βωμὸν ταχέως ἐπιδέξια Go on, take the basket, take the water, and go quickly around the altar to the right

E. I.A. 1569: ὁ παῖς δ᾽ ὁ Πηλέως ἐν κύκλωι βωμοῦ θεᾶς λαβὼν κανοῦν ἔθρεξε χέρνιβάς θ᾽ ὁμοῦ, "the son of Peleus round the altar of the goddess holding the basket ran with chernibes"

3) sprinkling the sacrificial animal with ritual water using a clearing:

E. Heracl. 929: μέλλων δὲ δαλὸν χειρὶ δεξιᾶι φέρειν, ἐς χέρνιβ᾽ ὡς βάψειεν, cf. Aristoph. Pax 959: τὸ δαλίον τόδ' ἐμβάψω λαβών, "I will take this stick and dip it in water"

E. I.A. 1513: ἐπὶ κάραι στέφη βαλουμέναν χερνίβων τε παγάς, "a wreath and trickles of ritual water will be imposed on her head," cf. v. 1518.

Cf. E. IT 622: οὔκ, ἀλλὰ χαίτην ἀμφὶ σὴν χερνίψομαι with the unique reference of χερνίπτομαι to sacrificial animals.

The sprinkled animal was expected to sigh, which was taken as a good sign.

Ar. Pax 960: Σείου σὺ ταχέως, "Shake, quickly!" [17 characters in Naiden]

Under Euripides the sprinkling of the human sacrifice was an irrevocable gesture of dedication to the deity, in :

E. I.T. 57: θνήισκουσι δ᾽ οὓς ἂν χέρνιβες βάλωσ᾽ ἐμαί, die those in whom I would throw my ritual water

E. I.T. 644-5: κατολοφύρομαι σὲ τὸν χερνίβων ῥανίσι μελόμενον αἱμακταῖς, I mourn for you who have been entrusted with drops of ritual water mixed with blood.

cfr. E. I.T. 861: φεῦ φεῦ χερνίβων ἐκεί<νων- οἴμοι>.

4) sprinkling of the altar (?)

οἳ μιᾶς ἐκ χέρνιβος βωμοὺς περιρραίνοντες, "sprinkling around the altars with one chernips": Aristoph. Lys.1129-1130 (cf. Hipp. De morbo). Possibly, the sprinkling of the altar is a derivative of the sprinkling around the animal, since the animals were most likely tied at the altar itself. Lysistrata speaks of complicity in sacrificial rites in general, using metonymy to emphasise the community of Hellenes making sacrifices using chernips.

2. (Metonymically) the ritual performed during the sacrifice using chernips

Aristoph. Av. 898: Εἶτ' αὖθις αὖ τἄρα σοι / δεῖ με δεύτερον μέλος / χέρνιβι θεοσεβὲς ὅσιον ἐπιβοᾶν, So again, I am to raise another pious, sacred song at the time of purification and call upon the blessed, the term χέρνιβι being used metonymically here (ritual water > ritual gesture), referring to the activity for which it was used. The song of the choir constitutes a new prayer. According to Bartholomew Bednarek's interpretation, while the birds are singing, Peisetairos, drawing from a vessel held by one of the slaves, sprinkles the animal and the altar with his head.

3. (Metonymically) ritual water > a vessel with ritual water

In some cases χέρνιψ denotes the water in the vessels near the altar during the sacrificial ritual, and consequently metonymically it can mean a vessel for storing χέρνιψ. Being near it implies participation in the rite:

1) E.El. 791-796: λούτρ᾽ ὡς τάχιστα τοῖς ξένοις τις αἰρέτω, / ὡς ἀμφὶ βωμὸν στῶσι χερνίβων πέλας, Let the guests quickly have someone bring water for washing, / to stand near the chernibes around the altar". That this undoubtedly refers to ritual washing before the rite is evidenced by Orestes' response: Ἀρτίως ἡγνίσμεθα / λουτροῖσι καθαροῖς ποταμίων ῥείθρων ἄπο. The ritual washing before the rite, loutra, while chernips served to mark the participants, confirming their membership of the sacrificial circle.

2) Also instructive is the dialogue between Agamemnon and Iphigenia in I.A. 675: {Αγ.} θῦσαί με θυσίαν πρῶτα δεῖ τιν᾽ ἐνθάδε. {Ιφ.} ἀλλὰ ξὺν ἱεροῖς χρὴ τό γ᾽ εὐσεβὲς σκοπεῖν. {Αγ.} εἴσηι σύ- χερνίβων γὰρ ἑστήξεις πέλας. {Ιφ.} στήσομεν ἄρ᾽ ἀμφὶ βωμόν, ὦ πάτερ, χορούς;

Evidently the expression χερνίβων πέλας ἵστημι means in Euripides "to take part in the rite of sacrifice".

The use of χέρνιψ during the rite of sacrifice made admission or exclusion to χέρνιψ a metonymic term for membership of a social group celebrating rites together:

1) ποία δὲ χέρνιψ φρατέρων προσδέξεται, which χέρνιψ members of the fratria will accept him? Aesch. Eum. 656. Translating the poetic language into the language of ritual practice, this verse can be paraphrased as follows: what fratria will allow him to participate in χέρνιψ = rituals? (Sommerstein, 1989, p. 206).

2) Aesch. Ag. 1037 (Clytemnestra on Kassandra): κοινωνὸν εἶναι χερνίβων to be an accomplice in χέρνιβες,

3) Dem. 20.158 (citing Drakon's laws): χέρνιβος εἴργεσθαι (τὸν ἀνδροφόνον) to exclude (the murderer) from the use of χέρνιψ, in a further place the legislator enumerated σπονδῶν, κρατήρων, ἱερῶν, ἀγορᾶς.

4) Soph. OT 240: μήτ᾽ ἐν θεῶν εὐχαῖσι μήτε θύμασιν κοινὸν ποιεῖσθαι, μήτε χέρνιβος νέμειν.

Cf. the use of the term χέρνιψ in the sense of "vessel of ritual water" in Lysias' Speech against Andokides (Lys. 6. 52): ἐχερνίψατο ἐκ τῆς ἱερᾶς χέρνιβος, 'he washed his hands by drawing water from the sacred chernips', where Andokides' entry into Eleusinion and use of the most likely washing his hands in the chernips breaks the penalty of exclusion from the rituals.

3. (Generally) ritual spring water used in rituals.

In the general sense of 'ritual water, water used ritually', especially in the context of animal sacrifice, χέρνιψ appears in Tukidides in the complaint of the Beots against the impious conduct of the Athenian crew at Delion: ὕδωρ τε ὃ ἦν ἄψαυστον σφίσι πλὴν πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ χέρνιβι χρῆσθαι, ἀνασπάσαντας ὑδρεύεσθαι, water, which was untouchable to them [the Beots] except for use as chernips at sacrifices, [the Athenians] drew and used for their purposes (Th. 4.97).

In lyric poetry and in the tragics, chernips (singular) were replaced by χέρνιβες (l.pl.) in the sense of water to be drawn from a designated source and brought to the altar. In mythic poetry (tragedy), the motif of the hero/heroine's journey to fetch ritual water is perhaps a transposition of the motif of 'the quest (the quest)' for a magical object in heroic myth. In Euripides' Phoenicians, the chorus sings about Cadmus that ἐπὶ χέρνιβας μολὼν, 'he went for the water of purification (E. Ph. 662)'. Cf. the passage from Euripides' Hypsipyle (fr. 572h, 29-30), where the soothsayer Amphiraos, seeking the water necessary for a ritual, says to the title character: "[ῥ]υτὸν λαβεί̣ν̣ [χ]ρή̣ι̣[ζοι]μ̣᾽ ἅ̣ν̣ ἐν κρωσσοῖς ὕδωρ / χ]έρνιβα θ̣εοῖσ̣ιν ὅ[σιον] ὡ̣ς χεαίμεθα; 'I wish to draw flowing water into vessels, / to pour to the gods chernips consecrated. "

In Alkestis Euripides mentions the custom (ὡς νομίζεται) of ordering that χέρνιψ should be placed ἐπὶ φθιτῶν πύλαις, that is, at the entrance to the house of mourning: πυλῶν πάροιθε δ᾽ οὐχ ὁρῶ / πηγαῖον ὡς νομίζεται / χέρνιβ᾽ ἐπὶ φθιτῶν πύλαις, For I do not see opposite the gates / of the spring water that condescends / to purify at the thresholds of the dead (E. Alc. 98-100).

3. liquid offerings, libations of water to the gods or to the dead

Double χέρνιβες means liquid sacrifices. In Aeschylus, Electra performs the ritual on Agamemnon's tomb: κἀγὼ χέουσα τάσδε χέρνιβας νεκροῖς λέγω καλοῦσα πατέρ, "and I pouring these libations for the dead, I say calling upon my father (Aesch. Ch. 129-30)". By contrast, in the aforementioned passage from Euripides' Hypsipyle, the soothsayer Amphiraos, seeking the water necessary for the ritual, addresses the title character: ῥ]υτὸν λαβεί̣ν̣ [χ]ρή̣ι̣[ζοι]μ̣᾽ ἅ̣ν̣ ἐν κρωσσοῖς ὕδωρ / χ]έρνιβα θ̣εοῖσ̣ιν ὅ[σιον] ὡ̣ς χεαίμεθα; "I desire to draw flowing water into vessels, / to pour to the gods chernips consecrated. " The dativus θ̣εοῖσ̣ιν, however, suggests that it is perhaps not so much a matter of washing hands, but of libations to the gods. Indeed, the connection between and liquid sacrifices seems to be suggested by Plutarch when speaking of the source of the Muses at Delphi, although the key term is missing from the manuscript text (Plut. De Pyth. or. 402c): ἐχρῶντο πρός τε τὰς λοιβὰς <καὶ τὰς χέρνιβας> τῷ ὕδατι τούτῳ, "they use this water for liquid sacrifices and for χέρνιβες". The conjunction is based on a passage from Simonides quoted by Plutarch as illustrating this statement: "ἔνθα χερνίβεσσιν ἀρύεται [τε] Μουσᾶν καλλικόμων ὑπένερθεν ἁγνὸν ὕδωρ. " and, presumably in the same poem: ἁγνᾶν ἐπίσκοπον χερνίβων, where "the guardian of the pure ritual waters (χερνίβων)," is the muse Kleio.

Catalogue of occurrences

1) Verb. + χέρνιβα

"to draw from"

χερνίβεσσιν ἀρύεται Simonid. fr 72(a).1

"bring, carry"

φέρω + χέρνιβα, Od. 1.136 = 4.52 = 7.172 = 10.368 = 17.91; Th. 1001; E. I.A. 1479

"to give, to bring"

παρέχω + χέρνιβα: A.Rh. 1.409

"to use ritually"

χρῆσθαι + χέρνιβι (τῷ ὕδατι)

πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ χέρνιβι χρῆσθαι, Thuc. 4.97.3,

πρός τε τὰς λοιβὰς <καὶ τὰς χέρνιβας> τῷ ὕδατι τούτῳ, Plut. De Pyth. Or. 402c (?)

"to begin a ritual"

κατάρχομαι, Od. 3.445, E. I.A. 955 (?);

"to pour, to pour (by default: on the hands)"

ἐπιχεύω + χέρνιβα, "to pour out": From. 1.136 = 4.52 = 7.172 = 10.368 = 17.91

"to pour out (in sacrifice)"

χέουσα τάσδε χέρνιβας νεκροῖς, Aesch. Ch. 129-30

χ]έρνιβα θ̣εοῖσ̣ιν ὅ[σιον] ὡ̣ς χεαίμεθα, E. Hyps. frg.

"take"

ἀείρομαι + χέρνιβα Aristoph. Av. 850

χερνίβων (καὶ κανῶν) ἁψόμενον, Dem. 22.78,

"go around (holding χέρνιβας)"

περιχώρει: Av. 958

περίιθι: Pax 956-7

ἐν κύκλωι ἔθρεξε: E. I.A. 1569

"dip the blade into the chernips"

τὸν δαλὸν ἐς χέρνιβα βάπτω: E. Heracl. 929, cf. Aristoph. Pax 959

throw the drops of chernips

βάλλω: E. I.T. 57

sprinkle around (altars):

ἐκ χέρνιβος βωμοὺς περιρραίνοντες, Aristoph. Lys.1129-1130

"to stand near chernibes" > "to take part in the rite of sacrifice"

χερνίβων πέλας ἵστημι: E.El. 791-796, I.A. 675

"to share chernips" > to take part in common sacrifices

χέρνιβος νέμειν: Soph. OT 240

κοινωνὸν εἶναι χερνίβων: Aesch. Ag. 1037

cfr. ποία δὲ χέρνιψ φρατέρων προσδέξεται

"to be excluded"

χέρνιβος εἴργεσθαι, Dem. 20.158

2) Adj. +

πηγαῖον χέρνιβα, "spring": E.Alc. 100

χ]έρνιβα (...) ὅ[σιον]

ἐκ τῆς ἱερᾶς χέρνιβος

Synonyms:

ἁγνὸν ὕδωρ, Simonid., fr. 72(a).1

λούτρα E.Electra 791-796, cf. λουτροῖσι καθαροῖς ποταμίων ῥείθρων ἄπο, E. El. 796

Interpretation

The purifying nature of χέρνιψ seems to be suggested by the passus from Euripides' Electra, in which Orestes, in response to Ajgistos' calls to bring chernips for the guests, says: Ἀρτίως ἡγνίσμεθα / λουτροῖσι καθαροῖς ποταμίων ῥείθρων ἄπο. / εἰ δὲ ξένους ἀστοῖσι συνθύειν χρεών, / Αἴγισθ᾽, ἕτοιμοι κοὐκ ἀπαρνούμεσθ᾽, ἄναξ, 'we have cleansed ourselves beforehand, / we have washed ourselves in the pure water of the river. / When, strangers, we should together with the locals / offer sacrifice - we were ready ladies!" However, what may be at issue here is the refusal to perform a gesture that normally emphasised the right to participate in the rite. In Orestes the possibility of touching the chernips is apparently linked to the state of purity of the hands: εὖ γοῦν θίγοις ἂν χερνίβων (E. Or. 1602), cf. ἁγνὸς γάρ εἰμι χεῖρας

(E. Or. 1604). It follows that the sprinkling of χέρνιβες did not in itself serve the purpose of cleansing from taint, of attaining a state of ritual purity, and that the participant in the rite had to proceed to it free from miasma. In Iphigenia in the land of Taurus, the title character explains the absence of human sacrifices by the necessity of their prior purification from taint: ἁγνοῖς καθαρμοῖς πρῶτά νιν νίψαι θέλω, which is interpreted as giving the sacrifices a state of ritual purity (ὁσιώτεροι γοῦν τῆι θεῶι). These purifications are performed in the sea by θάλασσα κλύζει πάντα τἀνθρώπων κακά, although this seems not to be the only method: ({Θο.} πηγαῖσιν ὑδάτων ἢ θαλασσίαι δρόσωι;). This state of affairs seems to be confirmed by Demosthenes (22.78, cf. 24. 186), saying: ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οἴομαι δεῖν τὸν εἰς ἱέρ᾽ εἰσιόντα καὶ χερνίβων καὶ κανῶν ἁψόμενον, καὶ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς ἐπιμελείας προστάτην ἐσόμενον οὐχὶ προειρημένον ἡμερῶν ἀριθμὸν ἁγνεύειν, ἀλλὰ τὸν βίον ἡγνευκέναι τοιούτων ἐπιτηδευμάτων οἷα τούτῳ βεβίωται.