**Norea** (also spelled Noraia or Noria in various texts) is the apocryphal female character who fits this description. She appears in Gnostic Christian writings from the Nag Hammadi library, a collection of 2nd–4th century CE texts discovered in Egypt in 1945.

### Key Details from Gnostic Sources - **Identity and Parentage**: In *The Hypostasis of the Archons* (also known as *The Reality of the Rulers*, a Sethian Gnostic tractate), Norea is explicitly described as the **daughter of Adam and Eve** and the younger sister of Seth. She represents the "pure race" of enlightened humanity, embodying wisdom (*sophia*) and resistance against the archons (demonic rulers of the material world). As the only named daughter of Adam and Eve in these texts, she symbolizes uncorrupted spiritual lineage, contrasting with the flawed physical world created by the Demiurge (a false god in Gnostic cosmology). - **Role in the Noah's Ark Story**: Norea attempts to board Noah's ark during the impending flood, which the archons (led by the Demiurge) plan to destroy the world. Noah, portrayed as an agent of the Demiurge, refuses her entry. Enraged or empowered by her divine spirit, Norea **breathes or spits fire** upon the ark, setting it ablaze and "blowing it up" (destroying it). This act is not about malice but defiance: the flood represents the archons' attempt to eradicate the spiritual seed, and Norea's destruction of the ark thwarts their plan, preserving the pure lineage (e.g., through Seth's descendants). An angel named Eleleth (a luminary of the divine realm) then appears to rescue her, revealing secrets of creation and empowering her against the archons. - In Epiphanius of Salamis' *Panarion* (Against Heresies, 4th century CE), a summary of a lost text called *Noria* (possibly a variant or related work), Norea (identified as Noah's wife) **burns the ark three times** using her fiery breath, each time revealing "sparks" of divine light through sexual emissions—a more esoteric, symbolic element tied to Gnostic views of gnosis (knowledge) as liberation from matter. ### Context and Significance - **Gnostic Themes**: Norea is a savior figure and prototype of the redeemed Gnostic, often seen as a feminine counterpart to Seth (the spiritual son of Adam). Her fire-spitting act symbolizes the destruction of the Demiurge's flawed creation (the ark as a vessel for corrupt humanity) and the triumph of spiritual over material existence. This inverts biblical narratives, portraying Noah negatively as complicit in the archons' scheme. - **Other Traditions**: Norea may draw from Jewish legends of Naamah (a daughter of Adam and Eve in some midrashim, e.g., Genesis Rabbah, linked to seduction by angels) or Eve's unnamed daughters. In some interpretations, she's equated with Pyrrha (from Greek flood myths) or a daughter of Lilith, but the core story is Gnostic. She's not in canonical Bibles but appears in Nag Hammadi codices like Codex II (Hypostasis) and Codex VII (On the Origin of the World, where she's called "Oraia"). - **Modern Views**: Scholars like Birger Pearson view Norea as a "feminine Seth," emphasizing Gnostic gender duality. She's a symbol of resistance in feminist readings of apocrypha, challenging patriarchal flood narratives. For primary sources, see *The Nag Hammadi Library* (ed. James M. Robinson) or Epiphanius' *Panarion* (Book 26).

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