AHIQAR (Aramaic Ahia-iagar: “the brother is precious” or “dear”). — Assyrian sage, chancellor to Sennacherib (705–681 BC) and later to Asarhaddon (681–669 BC). He is mentioned by the Vulgate, Achior (v.) only in Tob 11:20 (linked with Nabath), as a kinsman of Tobias; six other times (Tob 1:21, 22; 2:10; 11:17, 18; 14:10, 15) he appears in the Greek Septuagint (as Achiacharos, cod. Sin. Achicharos) and in ancient Latin versions (as Achichar).
To him is attributed a narrative book (A. is betrayed by his protégé, but his innocence triumphs), which includes two collections of maxims (3:1–95 and 33:96–142). Combining the various titles prefixed in the manuscripts, Nau calls the work The Story and Wisdom of Ahikar the Assyrian.
Without sons, the old A. adopts Nadab, his sister’s son, to whom he communicates 95 rules of life (or 1–3); but Nadab, by forging letters, has him condemned to death by Asarhaddon for conspiracy (6–11). The executioner, Nabusumiskun, a friend of the condemned man, kills a captive slave while A. hides; hearing Nadab’s jubilation, A. prays to the just and good God (12–15). When the king of Egypt asks Asarhaddon for a sage who can solve riddles and build a palace in the air, A. reappears and is sent to Egypt, where he satisfies the pharaoh’s demands (16–30). On his return he is honored, and Asarhaddon delivers the ungrateful nephew into his hands; A. flogs him while instructing him with a second series of maxims, and then Nadab is executed (31–34).
The work was probably composed in Assyrian not later than the 6th century BC. The Aramaic text, which seems to be a translation from a lost original, was already circulating in the Jewish world by about 450 BC; various fragments of it have been found (1906–1908) at Elephantine (v.), dating from 450–410 BC. The original writing was later transformed; it was reworked and expanded over the centuries by many translators and copyists, who added the journey to Egypt and multiplied the maxims.
A. was known as a “sage” to Greek writers (Strabo, XVI, 11, 39, ed. A. Meineke, III, Leipzig 1877, p. 1063); Theophrastus composed (c. 300 BC) a work about him (’Ayx-zkopos; Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philos., V, 2, 50); many of his maxims are found in Menander (342–290 BC); from this derives the legend of Aesop (and of Luqman, cf. Qur’an, XXXI). Maximus Planudes (1260–1310), who depends on earlier works, identifies A. with Aesop.
More than 20 sayings in Ecclesiasticus reproduce those of the Book of A.; Nau, p. 60, admits direct dependence, though they may have reached Sirach by oral tradition. One may admit a dependence of Tobit (written c. 250 BC) on the Book of A., whose redaction is earlier. The historical setting and local customs appear identical in both works, and various sayings are common to them (though the Book of A. shows no knowledge of Tobit).
The historicity of Tobit is not thereby impaired. Although later framed in fantastic legends (such as the journey to Egypt, which has no trace in Tobit), A. is a historical figure (M. Hagen, s.V. Achiacharus, in Lexikon Biblicum; F. Nau, L. Pirot, R. Galdos, J. O’Carroll, against E. Cosquin, Le livre de Tobie et l’Histoire du sage Ahikar, in Revue Biblique, 8 [1899], pp. 50–82, 521–31, and against F. Stummer, B. Meissner, others). Of the writing attributed to him, the Greek version of Tobit has used the oldest and most authentic part (court office, condemnation, punishment of Nadab).
From the use of divine names, F. Stummer deduces (against Nau) that the work was originally composed with a political intent and later purged by the Jews.