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diff --git a/41704.txt b/41704.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ef81950..0000000 --- a/41704.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3558 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Religion of Ancient Palestine, by Stanley A. Cook - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Religion of Ancient Palestine - In the Second Millenium B.C. - -Author: Stanley A. Cook - -Release Date: December 25, 2012 [EBook #41704] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT PALESTINE *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Cover] - - - - - THE - RELIGION OF ANCIENT - PALESTINE - - IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C. - - _In the Light of Archaeology and the Inscriptions_ - - - By - - STANLEY A. COOK, M.A. - - - EX-FELLOW, AND LECTURER IN HEBREW AND SYRIAC, GONVILLE AND CAIUS - COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; AUTHOR OF 'A GLOSSARY OF THE ARAMAIC - INSCRIPTIONS,' 'THE LAWS OF MOSES AND THE CODE OF - HAMMURABI,' 'CRITICAL NOTES ON OLD - TESTAMENT HISTORY,' ETC. - - - - - LONDON - ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD - 1908 - - - - -{v} - -PREFACE - -The following pages deal with the religion of Ancient Palestine, more -particularly in the latter half of the Second Millennium, B.C. They -touch upon the problem of the rise and development of Israelite -religion; a problem, however, which does not lie within the scope of -the present sketch (pp. 4, 114 _sq._). The Amarna tablets, Egyptian -records, and the results of recent excavation form the foundation, and -the available material has been interpreted in the light of comparative -religion. The aim has been to furnish a fairly self-contained -description of the general religious conditions from external or -non-biblical sources, and this method has been adopted partly on -account of the conflicting opinions which prevail among those who have -investigated the theology of the Old Testament in its relation to -modern research. Every effort has been made to present the evidence -accurately and fairly; although lack of space has prevented discussion -of the more interesting features of the old Palestinian religion and of -the various secondary problems which arose from time to time. {vi} -Some difficulty has been caused by the absence of any more or less -comprehensive treatment of the subject; although, from the list of -authorities at the end it will be seen that the most important sources -have only quite recently become generally accessible. These, and the -few additional bibliographical references given in the footnotes are -far from indicating the great indebtedness of the present writer to the -works of Oriental scholars and of those who have dealt with comparative -religion. Special acknowledgements are due to Mr. F. Ll. Griffith, -M.A., Reader in Egyptology, University of Oxford; to the Rev. C. H. W. -Johns, M.A., Lecturer in Assyriology, Queen's College, Cambridge, and -King's College, London; and to Mr. R. A. S. Macalister, M.A., F.S.A., -Director of the Palestine Exploration Fund's excavations at Gezer. -These gentlemen enhanced their kindness by reading an early proof, and -by contributing valuable suggestions and criticisms. But the -responsibility for all errors of statement and opinion rests with the -present writer. - -STANLEY A. COOK. - -_July_ 1908. - - - - -{vii} - -CONTENTS - - -CHAP. - -I. INTRODUCTORY: - -The Subject--Method--Survey of Period and Sources--The Land and People, -. . . 1-12 - - -II. SACRED SITES: - -The Sanctuary of Gezer--Other Sacred Places--Their Persistence--The -Modern Places of Cult, . . . 13-23 - - -III. SACRED OBJECTS: - -Trees--Stones--Images and Symbols, . . . 24-32 - - -IV. SACRED RITES AND PRACTICES: - -General Inferences--Disposal of the Dead--Jar-burial--Human -Sacrifice--Foundation Sacrifice--Importance of Sacrifice--Broken -Offerings--'Holy' and 'Unclean'--Sacred Animals, . . . 33-49 - - -V. THE WORLD OF SPIRITS: - -Awe--Charms--Oracles--Representatives of Supernatural Powers--The -Dead--Animism--The Divinity of Kings--Recognised Gods, . . . 50-65 - - -{viii} - -VI. THE GODS: - -Their Vicissitudes--Their Representative Character--In Political -Treaties and Covenants--The Influence of Egypt--Treatment of Alien -Gods, . . . 66-82 - - -VII. THE PANTHEON: - -Asiatic Deities in Egypt--Sutekh--Baal--Resheph-- -Kadesh--Anath--Astarte--Ashirta Sun-deity--(Shamash)--Moon-god (Sin) ---Addu (Hadad)--Dagon--Nebo--Ninib ---Shalem--Gad--'Righteousness'--Nergal --Melek--Yahweh (Jehovah), . . . -83-97 - - -VIII. CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT: - -Miscellaneous Ideas--The Underlying Identity of Thought--Influence of -Babylonia--Conclusion, . . . 98-115 - - -PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND WORKS OF REFERENCE, . . . 116 - -CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, . . . 118 - -INDEX, . . . 119 - - - - -{1} - -THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT PALESTINE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -INTRODUCTORY - -+The Subject.+--By the Religion of Ancient Palestine is meant that of -the Semitic land upon which was planted the ethical monotheism of -Judaism. The subject is neither the growth of Old Testament theology, -nor the religious environment of the Israelite teachers: it anticipates -by several centuries the first of the great prophets whose writings -have survived, and it takes its stand in the second millennium B.C., -and more especially in its latter half. It deals with the internal and -external religious features which were capable of being shaped into the -forms with which every one is familiar, and our Palestine is that of -the Patriarchs, of Moses, Joshua, and the Judges, an old land which -modern research has placed in a new light. - -Successive discoveries of contemporary {2} historical and archaeological -material have made it impossible to ignore either the geographical -position of Palestine, which exposes it to the influence of the -surrounding seats of culture, or its political history, which has -constantly been controlled by external circumstances. Although -Palestine reappears as only a small fraction of the area dominated by -the ancient empires of Egypt and Western Asia, the uniqueness of its -experiences can be more vividly realised. If it is found to share many -forms of religious belief and custom with its neighbours, one is better -able to sever the features which were by no means the exclusive -possession of Israel from those which were due to specific influences -shaping them to definite ends, and the importance of the little land in -the history of humanity can thereby be more truly and permanently -estimated. - - -+Method.+--Although Palestine was the land of Judaism and of -Christianity, and has subsequently been controlled by Mohammedanism, it -has preserved common related elements of belief, which have formed, as -it were, part of the unconscious inheritance of successive generations. -They have not been ousted by those positive religions which traced -their origin to deliberate and epoch-making {3} innovators, and they -survive to-day as precious relics for the study of the past. Indeed, -the _comparative method_, which investigates points of resemblance and -difference among widely-severed peoples, can avail itself in our case -of Oriental conservatism, and may range over a single but remarkably -extensive field. From the archaeology and inscriptions of Ancient -Babylonia to Punic Carthage, from the Old Testament to the writings of -Rabbinical Judaism, from classical, Syrian, and Arabian authors to the -observations of medieval and modern travellers, one may accumulate a -store of evidence which is mutually illustrative or supplementary. But -it would be incorrect to assume that every modern belief or rite in -Palestine, for example, necessarily represents the old religion: there -have been reversion and retrogression; some old practices have -disappeared, others have been modified or have received a new -interpretation. This warning is necessary, because one must be able to -trace the paths traversed by the several rites and beliefs which have -been arrested, before the religion of any age can be placed in its -proper historical perspective. Unfortunately the sources do not permit -us to do this for our period. The Old Testament, it is true, covers -this period, and its writers frequently {4} condemn the worship which -they regard as contrary to that of their national God. But the Old -Testament brings with it many serious problems, and, for several -reasons, it is preferable to approach the subject from external and -contemporary evidence. Although its incompleteness has naturally -restricted our treatment, the aim has been to describe, in as -self-contained a form as possible, the general religious conditions to -which this evidence points, and to indicate rather more incidentally -its bearing upon the numerous questions which are outside the scope of -the following pages. - - -+Survey of Period and Sources.+--Many different elements must have -coalesced in the history of Palestinian culture from the days of the -early palaeolithic and neolithic inhabitants. It is with no -rudimentary people that we are concerned, but with one acquainted with -bronze and exposed to the surrounding civilisations. The First -Babylonian Dynasty, not to ascend further, brings with it evidence for -relations between Babylonia and the Mediterranean coast-lands, and -intercourse between Egypt and Palestine dates from before the invasion -of the Hyksos.[1] With the expulsion of {5} these invaders (about 1580 -B.C.), the monarchs of Egypt enter upon their great campaigns in -Western Asia, and Palestine comes before us in the clear light of -history. The Egyptian records of the Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties -furnish valuable information on the history of our period. Babylonia -and Assyria lie in the background, and the rival parties are the -kingdom of the Nile and the non-Semitic peoples of North Syria and Asia -Minor ('Hittites') whose influence can probably be traced as far south -as Jerusalem. Under Thutmose III. (fifteenth century) Egypt became the -queen of the known world and the meeting-place of its trade and -culture. But the northern peoples only awaited their opportunity, and -fresh campaigns were necessary before Amenhotep III. (about 1400 B.C.) -again secured the supremacy of Egypt. His successor, the idealist -Amenhotep IV. (or Ikhnaton), is renowned for his temporary religious -reform, and, at a time when Egypt's king was almost universally -recognised, he established in Egypt what was practically a universal -god. Meanwhile, amid internal confusion in Egypt, Hittites pressed -downwards from Asia Minor, seriously weakening the earlier Hittite -kingdom of Mitanni (North Syria and Mesopotamia). The cuneiform -tablets discovered in 1887 {6} at El-Amarna in Middle Egypt contain a -portion of the diplomatic correspondence between Western Asia (from -Babylonia to Cyprus) and the two Amenhoteps, and a few tablets in the -same script and of about the same age have since been unearthed at -Lachish and Taanach. It is at this age that we meet with the restless -Khabiri, a name which suggests a connection with that of the 'Hebrews.' -The progress of this later Hittite invasion cannot be clearly traced; -at all events, Sety I. (Sethos, about 1320 B.C.) was obliged to -recommence the work of his predecessors, but recovered little more than -Palestine. Ramses II., after much fighting, was able to conclude a -treaty with the Hittites (about 1290), the Egyptian version of which is -now being supplemented by the Hittite records of the proceedings. -Nevertheless, his successor, Merneptah, claims conquests extending from -Gezer to the Hittites, and among those who 'salaamed' (_lit._ said -'peace') he includes the people (or tribe) Israel. - - -[1] For approximate dates, see the Chronological Table. - - -The active intercourse with the Aegean Isles during this age can be -traced from Asia Minor to Egypt (notably at El-Amarna), and movements -in the Levant had accompanied the pressure southwards from Asia Minor -in the time of the Amenhoteps. A similar combination was defeated by -{7} Ramses III. (about 1200); among its constituents the Philistines -may doubtless be recognised. But Egypt, now in the Twentieth Dynasty, -was fast losing its old strength, and the internal history of Palestine -is far from clear. Apart from the sudden extension of the Assyrian -empire to the Mediterranean under Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1100 B.C.), -no one great power, so far as is known, could claim supremacy over the -west; and our period comes to an end at a time when Palestine, -according to the Israelite historians, was laying the foundation of its -independent monarchy. - -Palestine has always been open to the roaming tribes from Arabia and -the Syrian desert, tribes characteristically opposed to the inveterate -practices of settled agricultural life. Arabia, however, possessed -seats of culture, though their bearing upon our period cannot yet be -safely estimated. But a temple with an old-established and -contemporary cult, half Egyptian and half Semitic, has been recovered -by Professor Petrie at Serabit el-Khadem in the Sinaitic Peninsula, and -the archaeological evidence frequently illustrates the results of the -excavations in Palestine. Excavations have been undertaken at Tell -el-Hesy (Lachish), at various sites in the lowlands of Judah (including -Tell es-S[=a]fy, perhaps Gath), at {8} Gezer, Taanach, and Tell -el-Mutesellim (Megiddo), and, within the last few months, at Jericho. -Much of the evidence can be roughly dated, and fortunately the age -already illuminated by the Amarna tablets can be recognised. Its -culture associates it with North Syria and Asia Minor, and reveals -signs of intercourse with the Aegean Isles; but, as a whole, it is the -result of a gradual development, which extends without abrupt gaps to -the time of the Hebrew monarchy and beyond. Chronological -dividing-lines cannot yet be drawn, and consequently the archaeological -evidence which illustrates the 'Amarna' age is not characteristic of -that age alone. - - -+The Land and People.+--For practical purposes a distinction between -Palestine and Syria is unnecessary, apart from the political results of -their contiguity to Egypt and Asia Minor respectively. Egypt at the -height of its power was a vast empire of unprecedented wealth and -splendour, and the imported works of art or the descriptions of the -spoils of war speak eloquently of the stage which material culture had -reached throughout Western Asia. Even the small townships of Palestine -and Syria--the average city was a small fortified site surrounded by -dwellings, {9} sometimes with an outer wall--could furnish rich booty -of suits of armour, elegant furniture, and articles of gold and silver. -The pottery shows some little taste, music was enjoyed, and a great -tunnel hewn out of the rock at Gezer is proof of enterprise and skill. -The agricultural wealth of the land was famous. Thutmose III. found -grain 'more plentiful than the sand of the shore'; and an earlier and -more peaceful visitor to N. Syria, Sinuhe (about 2000 B.C.), speaks of -the wine more plentiful than water, copious honey, abundance of oil, -all kinds of fruits, cereals, and numberless cattle. Sinuhe was -welcomed by a sheikh who gave him his eldest daughter and allowed him -to choose a landed possession. Life was simpler and less civilised -than in Egypt, but not without excitement. He led the tribesmen to -war, raiding pastures and wells, capturing the cattle, ravaging the -hostile districts. Indeed, 'lions and Asiatics' were the familiar -terror of Egyptian travellers, and the turbulence of the petty -chieftains, whose intrigues and rivalries swell the Amarna letters, -made any combined action among themselves exceptional and transitory. -We gather from these letters that foreign envoys were provided with -passports or credentials addressed to the 'Kings of Canaan,' to ensure -their speedy and safe passage {10} as they traversed the areas of the -different local authorities. Such royal commissioners are already met -with in the time of Sinuhe. - -Egyptian monuments depict the people with a strongly marked Semitic -physiognomy, and that physical resemblance to the modern native which -the discovery of skeletons has since endorsed. We can mark their dark -olive complexion; the men with pointed beards and with thick bushy -hair, which is sometimes anointed, and the women with tresses waving -loosely over their shoulders. The slender maidens were admired and -sought after by the Egyptians, and later (in the Nineteenth Dynasty) we -find the men in request as gardeners and artisans, and some even hold -high positions in the administration of Egypt. The script and language -of Babylonia were still in use in the fifteenth century, although the -supremacy of that land belonged to the past; they were used in -correspondence between Western Asia and Egypt, also among the Hittites, -and even between the chieftains of Palestine. Apart from the tablets -found at Lachish and Taanach, several were unearthed at Jericho, -uninscribed and ready for use. But the native language in Palestine -and Syria was one which stands in the closest relation to the classical -Hebrew of the {11} Old Testament, and it differed only dialectically -from the Moabite inscription of Mesha (about 850 B.C.), the somewhat -later Hamathite record of Ben-hadad's defeat, and the Phoenician -inscriptions. - -The general stock of ideas, too, was wholly in accord with Semitic, or -rather, Oriental thought, and the people naturally shared the -paradoxical characteristics of the old Oriental world:--a simplicity -and narrowness of thought, intensity, fanaticism, and even ferocity.[2] -To these must be added a keen imagination, necessarily quickened by the -wonderful variety of Palestinian scenery, which ranges from rugged and -forbidding deserts to enchanting valleys and forests. The life of the -people depended upon the soil and the agricultural wealth, and these -depended upon a climate of marked contrasts, which is found in some -parts (_e.g._ the lower Jordan valley) to be productive of physical and -moral enervation. In a word, the land is one whose religion cannot be -understood without an attentive regard to those factors which were -unalterable, and to those specific external influences which were -focussed upon it in the entire course of the Second {12} Millennium -B.C. We touch the land at a particular period in the course of its -very lengthy history; it is not the beginnings of its religion, but the -stage it had reached, which concerns us. - - - -[2] See Th. Noeldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_ (London, 1892), -chap. i., 'Some Characteristics of the Semitic Race.' - - - - -{13} - -CHAPTER II - -SACRED SITES - -+The Sanctuary of Gezer.+--Of the excavations in Palestine none have -been so prolific or so fully described as those undertaken by Mr. -Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund at Gezer. This -ancient site lies about eighteen miles W.N.W. of Jerusalem, and, -between its two knolls, on a commanding position, one of the most -striking which Palestine can offer, were found the remains of a -sanctuary whose history must have extended over several centuries. -Gezer itself has thrown the strongest light upon the religion of the -land, and a brief description of its now famous 'high-place' will form -a convenient introduction to the cult and ritual of the period. - -Looking eastwards we face eight rough monoliths, which stretch in a -slightly concave line, about 75 feet in length, from north to south. -They are erected upon a platform of stones about {14} 8 feet wide; they -vary from 5-1/2 ft. to 10 ft. in height, and have uniformly a fairer -surface on the western (front) than on the eastern side. Number 1, on -the extreme right, is the largest (10 ft. 2 in. high, and 4 ft. 7 in. -by 2 ft. 6 in.). Next (No. 2), stands the smallest (5 ft. 5 in. high, -1 ft. 2 in. by 1 ft. 9 in.), whose pointed top with polished spots on -the surface speaks of the reverent anointing, stroking and kissing -which holy stones still enjoy at the present day. No. 7, the last but -one on our extreme left, is of a limestone found around Jerusalem and -in other districts, but not in the neighbourhood of Gezer. Under what -circumstances this stone was brought hither can only be conjectured -(see p. 80). The pillar (7 ft. 3 in. high, 2 ft. 10 in. by 1 ft. 3 -in.) bears upon its front surface a peculiar curved groove; No. 1, too, -has a groove across the top, and four in all have hollows or cup-marks -upon their surfaces. Nos. 4 and 8 are more carefully shaped than the -rest, and the latter stands in a circular socket, and is flanked on -either side by the stumps of two broken pillars. Yet another stone lay -fallen to the south of No. 1, and there is some reason to suppose that -this and the unique No. 2 belonged to the earliest stage in the history -of the sanctuary. In front of Nos. 5 {15} and 6 is a square stone -block (6 ft. 1 in. by 5 ft. by 2 ft. 6 in.), with a cavity (2 ft. 10 -in. by 1 ft. 11 in. by 1 ft. 4 in.); a curved groove runs along the -front (the western side) of the rim. It is disputed whether this stone -held some idol, stele, or pillar; or whether it was a trough for ritual -ablutions similar to those which Professor Petrie recognised at Serabit -el-Khadem, or whether, again, it was a sacrificial block upon which the -victim was slain. - -In the area behind (east of) these monoliths are entrances leading to -two large underground caverns which appear to have been used originally -for habitation; their maximum diameters are about 40 ft. and 28 ft., -and they extend nearly the whole length of the alignment. The caverns -were connected by a passage, so short that any sound in one could be -distinctly heard in the other, so small and crooked, that it is easy to -imagine to what use these mysterious chambers could be put. In the -larger cave a jar containing the skeleton of an infant rested upon a -stone, and close by were the remains of an adult. Further behind the -pillars was found a bell-shaped pit containing numerous animal and -human bones. In a circular structure in front of pillars Nos. 7 and 8, -the bronze model of a cobra lay amid {16} potsherds and other debris. -A little distance to the south in a bank of earth were embedded several -broken human skulls, cow-teeth, etc.; the heads had evidently been -severed before burial, and there was no trace of the bodies. Below the -whole area, before and more particularly behind the pillars, several -infants were found buried head-downwards in large jars; they were -mostly new-born, and two, as also two older children, bore marks of -fire. Finally, throughout the debris that had accumulated upon the -floor of the sanctuary were innumerable objects typical of -nature-worship, representations in low relief of the nude -mother-goddess of Western Asia, and male emblems roughly made of -limestone, pottery, bone, and other material. - - -+Other Sacred Places.+--Scarcely fifty yards to the south of these -pillars was a rock-surface about ninety feet by eighty, covered with -over eighty of the singular cup-marks or hollows which we have already -observed. One little group surrounded by small standing-stones was -connected by a drain which led to a subterranean cave. Here, too, was -another almost concealed chamber, and the discovery of a number of -bones of the swine (an animal seldom found elsewhere in Gezer) gave -{17} weight to the suggestion that mysterious rites were practised. - -Although the monoliths of Gezer do not appear to have lost their sacred -character until perhaps the sixth century B.C., they were not the only -place of cult in the city. Above, on the eastern hill, were the -remains of an elaborate building measuring about 100 ft. by 80 ft.. -Its purpose was shown by the numerous religious emblems found within -its precincts. In two circular structures were the broken fragments of -the bones of sheep and goats--devoid of any signs of cooking or -burning. Jars containing infants had been placed at the corners of -some of the chambers; and below an angle of a courtyard close by, a pit -underneath the corner-stone disclosed bones and potsherds, the latter -bearing upon them the skull of a young girl. - -At the north-east edge of the plateau of Tell es-S[=a]fy the -excavations brought to light a building with monoliths; in the debris -at their feet were the bones of camels, sheep and cows. At the east -end of the hill of Megiddo, Dr. Schumacher found pillars with cup-marks -enclosed in a small building about 30 ft. by 15 ft.; a block of stone -apparently served as the sacrificial altar. Besides several amulets -and small idols, at one of the {18} corners were jars containing the -skeletons of new-born infants. The structure belonged to a great -series of buildings about 230 ft. long and 147 ft. broad. At the same -site also was discovered a bare rock with hollows; it was approached by -a step, and an entrance led to a subterranean abode containing human -and other bones. At Taanach, Dr. Sellin found a similar place of -sacrifice with cavities and channel; the rock-altar had a step on the -eastern side, and close by were a number of flint-knives, jars with -infants (ranging up to two years of age), and the remains of an adult. - -Continued excavation will no doubt throw fuller light upon the old -sacred places, their varying types, and their development; even the -recent discovery of a small pottery model of the facade of a shrine is -suggestive. It represents an open fore-court and a door-way on either -side of which is a figure seated with its hands upon its knees. The -figure wears what seems to be a high-peaked cap; it is presumably -human, but the nose is curiously rounded, and one recalls the quaint -guardians of the temple-front found in other parts of Western Asia. - - -+Their Persistence.+--Whether the choice of a {19} sacred place was -influenced by chance, by some peculiar natural characteristic, or by -the impressiveness of the locality, nothing is more striking than its -persistence. Religious practice is always conservative, and once a -place has acquired a reputation for sanctity, it will retain its fame -throughout political and even religious vicissitudes. The history of -Gezer, for example, goes back to the neolithic age, but the religious -development, to judge from the archaeological evidence, is unbroken, and -although there came a time when the city passed out of history, -Palestine still has its sacred stones and rock-altars, buildings and -tombs, caves and grottoes, whose religious history must extend over -untold ages. At both Gezer and Tell es-S[=a]fy a sacred tomb actually -stands upon the surface of the ground quite close to the site of the -old holy places. - -At Serabit the caves with their porticoes had evolved by the addition -of chambers, etc., into a complicated series sacred to the -representative goddess of the district and to the god of the Egyptian -miners. It is estimated that the cult continued for at least a -thousand years. In the neighbourhood of Petra several apparent -'high-places' have been found. They are perched conspicuously to catch -the rays of the morning {20} sun or in view of a holy shrine; and the -finest of them is approached by two great pillars, 21 to 22 feet high. -Although as a whole they may be ascribed to 300 B.C.-100 A.D., their -altars, basins, courts, etc., probably permit us to understand the more -imperfect remains of sanctuaries elsewhere.[1] But independently of -these, from Sinai to North Syria an imposing amount of evidence -survives in varying forms for the history of the sacred sites of -antiquity. In the rock-altars of the modern land with cup-marks and -occasionally with steps, with the shrine of some holy saint and an -equally holy tree, sometimes also with a mysterious cave, we may see -living examples of the more undeveloped sanctuaries. For a result of -continued evolution, on the other hand, perhaps nothing could be more -impressive than the Sakhra of the Holy Temple at Jerusalem, where, amid -the associations of three thousand years of history, the bare rock, -with hollows, cavities, channels, and subterranean cave, preserves the -primitive features without any essential change.[2] - - - -[1] G. Dalman, _Petra und seine Felsheiligtuemer_ (Leipzig, 1908). - -[2] R. Kittel, Studien zur Hebraeischen Archaeologie und -Religionsgeschichte (Leipzig, 1908), chap. i. Chap. ii. illustrates -primitive rock-altars of Palestine and their development. - - -+The Modern Places of Cult.+--Notwithstanding {21} the religious and -political vicissitudes of Palestine, the old centres of cult have never -lost the veneration of the people, and their position in modern popular -belief and ritual affords many a suggestive hint for their history in -the past. Although Mohammedanism allows few sacred localities, the -actual current practice, in Palestine as in Asia Minor, attaches -conceptions of great sanctity to a vast number of places. The shrines -and sacred buildings dotted here and there upon elevated sites form a -characteristic feature of the modern land, and there is abundant -testimony that they are the recipients of respect and awe far more real -than that enjoyed by the more official or orthodox religion. Although -they are often placed under the protection of Islam by being known as -the tombs of saints, prophets, and holy sheikhs, this is merely a -disguise; and although it is insisted that the holy occupants are only -mediators, they are the centre of antique rites and ideas which -orthodox Mohammedanism rejects. Their power is often rated above that -of Allah himself. Oaths by Allah are freely taken and as freely -broken, those at the local shrines rarely (if ever) fail; the coarse -and painful freedom of language, even in connection with Allah, becomes -restrained when the natives visit their holy place. - -{22} - -The religious life of the peasants is bound up with the shrines and -saints. There they appeal for offspring, healing, and good harvests; -there they dedicate the first-fruits, firstlings, and their children, -and in their neighbourhood they prefer to be buried. No stranger may -intrude heedlessly within the sacred precincts, and one may see the -worshipper enter barefooted praying for permission as he carefully -steps over the threshold. The saint by supernatural means is able to -protect everything deposited in the vicinity of the tomb, which can -thus serve as a store or treasure-house. He is supreme over a local -area; he is ready even to fight for his followers against the foe; for -all practical purposes he is virtually the god of the district. Some -of the shrines are sacred to a woman who passes for the sister or the -daughter of a saint at the same or a neighbouring locality. Even the -dog has been known to have a shrine in his honour, and the animal -enters into Palestinian folk-lore in a manner which this unclean beast -of Mohammedanism hardly seems to deserve. As a rule the people will -avoid calling the occupant of the shrine by name, and some -circumlocutionary epithet is preferred: the famous sheikh, father of -the lion, rain-giver, dwarf, full-moon, or (in case of {23} females) -the lady of child-birth, the fortunate, and the like. - -The shrines are the centres of story and legend which relate their -origin, legitimise their persistence, or illustrate their power. In -the course of ages the name of the saint who once chose to reveal -himself there has varied, and the legends of earlier figures have been -transferred and adjusted to names more acceptable to orthodoxy. Some -of the figures have grown in importance and have thus extended their -sphere of influence, and as difference of sect is found to be no -hindrance to a common recognition of the power of the saint, the more -famous shrines have been accepted by worshippers outside the original -circle. In course of time, too, isolated figures have gained -supremacy, and have superseded earlier distinct authorities, with the -result that the same name will be found under a number of locally -diverging types. Most conspicuous of all are St. George and the -ever-youthful prophet Elijah, who have inherited numerous sacred places -and their cults, in the same manner as St. George has become the -successor of Apollo in the Greek isles. Similarly the Virgin Mary, in -her turn, has frequently taken the place formerly held by the female -deities of antiquity. - - - - -{24} - -CHAPTER III - -SACRED OBJECTS - -The modern holy places, under the care of some minister, dervish, or -priestly family, are the scenes of periodic visits, liturgical -unctions, processions, the festal display of lights, etc., and although -in the course of their lengthy history there have been certain -modifications, it is to them that one must look for the persisting -religion which underlay the older official cults. The rocks with -cup-marks and channels, the gloomy caves and grottoes, the mountain -summits, the springs or fountains which still receive the offerings of -worshippers, the holy trees, the sacred sacrificial stones--these form -the fundamental substructure of the land's religion, and whatever be -the true origin of their sanctity, they continue to be visited when -superhuman aid is required. - - -+Trees.+--It is not the shrines alone which are sacred on the ground -that some saint had once {25} revealed his presence there; there are -trees (the terebinth, and more especially the oak) which are inviolable -because spirits have made them their abode, or which owe their -supernatural qualities to some holy being who is currently supposed to -have reclined beneath them. Such trees are virtually centres of -worship. Incense is burned to them, and they receive sacrifices and -offerings; they are loaded with food, gifts, and (on special occasions) -with lamps. They give oracles, and the sick sleep beneath their shade, -confident that a supernatural messenger will prescribe for their -ailments. They are decked with rags, which thus acquire wonderful -properties; and the worshipper who leaves a shred as a pledge of -attachment or, it may be, to transfer a malady, will take away a rag -which may serve as a charm. Sacred trees were well known to early -writers, and according to the Talmud there were some beneath which -priests sat but did not eat of their fruit, remains of heathen -sacrifice might be found there, and the Jew who sat or passed in its -shade became ceremonially impure. It is unnecessary, however, to -multiply examples of a feature to which the Old Testament also attests; -popular belief has universally associated religious and superstitious -ideas with those beneficent objects which appear {26} to be as much -imbued with motion, animation, and feeling as man himself. - -The sacred tree tends to become conventionalised and is replaced by the -trunk or post. As the home of a powerful influence there is an -inclination to symbolise it, and to identify it with the supernatural -being, with the deity itself. The development of the image (not -necessarily female) from an aniconic wooden post can be illustrated by -the pillars representative of Osiris, by the head of Hathor of Byblos -(p. 75 _sq._) upon a pillar in Egypt (Nineteenth Dynasty), and by the -votive tablets at Serabit bearing the head of Hathor mounted upon a -pole, which stands upon a base, or is flanked by a tree on either side. -Some tree-like post is evidently intended by the _ash[=e]rah_ of the -Old Testament, a common object at the 'high-places' during the -monarchy. In this case, the relation between the tree and deity is -absolute, and we shall meet with a goddess of this name (see below, p. -87). - - -+Stones.+--The inanimate stone is partly commemorative, partly -representative. In Palestine we see it marked with the curious hollows -which, when found upon the bare rock, served, amid a variety of -purposes, for libations and for the blood {27} of the sacrifices. The -erect pillar appears to be secondary, but dates, at least in Serabit, -from before our period. The hollows upon such stones are equally -adapted for offerings, although, when they are lateral, it is probable -that they were smeared or anointed like the door-posts of a modern -shrine. These holes are also transferred to slabs or are replaced by -vessels, while the stone itself is not merely 'the place of sacrificial -slaughter' (the literal meaning of 'altar' in the Old Testament), but -embodies the power whose influence is invoked. It is practically a -fetish, the tangible abode of the recipient of veneration. At Serabit -Professor Petrie discovered before a stele a flat altar-stone which -bore cavities (Twelfth Dynasty), and even in Abyssinia at Aksum have -been observed great monoliths, at whose base stood stone blocks with -vessels and channels. Similar combinations have been found at -Carthage. Throughout, neither the stone nor the significance attached -to it remains the same. The sacred stone may lose its value and be -superseded, and it by no means follows that the number of pillars -implies an equal number of in-dwelling beings. While the stone -develops along one line as an object of cult and becomes an altar, it -takes other forms when, by an easy confusion of sentiment, {28} it -comes to represent a deity (of either sex). It is then shaped or -ornamented to depict the conceptions attached to the holy occupant, and -when this deity is anthropomorphic, the pillar becomes a rude image, -and finally the god in human form. It is now clothed and decked with -ornaments. Thus, one finds the groove along the top or the bifurcation -suggestive of early steps towards the representation of the horns of an -animal; or, as among the pillars at Gezer, one perceives two (Nos. 4 -and 8) which assume some resemblance to a _simulacrum Priapi_. - -The growing wealth of cult, the influence of novel ideas, and the -transformation of the attributes of a deity make the history of the -evolution of the objects of cult extremely intricate. At the same -place and time they may be found in varying stages of development, and -if the interpretation of the several features as they appealed to -worshippers is often obscure to us, the speculations of the -contemporary writers cannot always be accepted without careful inquiry. - - -+Images and Symbols.+--Thutmose III. relates that he carried off from -Megiddo and the Lebanon a silver statue in beaten work; also some -object [words are lost] with a head of gold, {29} the staff having -human faces, and a royal image of ebony wrought with gold, the head of -which was adorned with lapis lazuli. Although no sacred statues of -Ancient Palestine have as yet come to light--if they escaped the zeal -of later iconoclasts--it would seem that they were of no mean -workmanship, and it may be inferred that they did not differ radically -from the gods and goddesses whose outward appearance can be observed on -the monuments of Western Asia. This inference is supported by the -repeated discovery, in course of excavation, of representations of a -goddess who was evidently the embodiment of life and fertility. A few -figurines and numerous small 'Astarte-plaques,' with moulds for their -manufacture, prove the prevalence of a mother-goddess and patroness of -nature, essentially identical with that familiar in the old Oriental -religions. The plaques, which are about 6 to 7 inches in length, offer -a large variety of types from the coarsest exaggeration of sexuality to -highly conventionalised forms. The goddess is generally nude, but a -bronze figurine from Taanach gives her a conical head-dress and a thin -robe reaching down to her ankles. The characteristic type at this -city, however, depicts a striated crown, rings on neck and feet, and is -{30} generally suggestive of Babylonian influence. Otherwise, when -depicted with bracelets, necklace and lotus-flowers, she resembles the -Egyptian Hathor; indeed she is often marked with the Egyptian uraeus. -A specimen from Tell es-S[=a]fy curiously combines an Egyptianised form -of the goddess with typical Babylonian five- and six-rayed stars. Yet -a fourth variety with huge and disfiguring earrings finds its parallels -in North Syria and Cyprus. The occurrence and combination of elements -of different origin are instructive for the culture and religion of -Palestine. This fourth type has sometimes a bird-like head, which -recalls a curious example from Lachish with large ears and hooked nose -or beak. A small bronze image of the goddess, which was found at -Gezer, among broken lamps and pottery within the area of the pillars, -gives her horns which coil downwards like those of a ram. It is -through such development and modification that the horns of the great -goddess could come to be regarded as the representation of a crescent -moon when philosophical speculation busied itself with the heavenly -bodies. The traces of animal attributes take another form in various -rude and almost shapeless objects of bronze which have been -interpreted, thanks to a more realistic {31} specimen from the Judaean -Tell Zakariya, as models of an amphibious creature with human head and -the tail of a fish. Here it is natural to see the famous Derceto or -Atargatis, well known later as a deity of the Astarte type, and, as an -illustration of the evolution of symbols, it may be added that a -splendid Carthaginian sarcophagus of a priestess represents a woman of -strange beauty with the lower part of the body so draped as to give it -a close resemblance to a fish's tail.[1] - - - -[1] Mabel Moore, _Carthage of the Phoenicians in the Light of Modern -Excavation_ (London, 1905), p. 146 _sq._ and frontispiece. - - -The manifold representations of the Palestinian 'good goddess' extend -over a lengthy period, and vary in taste and nuance from the crudest of -specimens to veritable artistic products of the Seleucid age. They -indicate that the fundamental religious conceptions agreed with those -of Western Asia as a whole, and it may be assumed that the conclusions -which can be drawn from the figurines and plaques of this deity would -apply, _mutatis mutandis_, to others. - -Among other objects which hardly belong to public cult, but were -probably for household or private use, may be noticed the small idols; -_e.g._ one from Megiddo in the clumsy 'snow-man' {32} technique, -another from Jericho with the head of a bull. Numerous small phalli -have also been unearthed. Some are roughly carved in human shape, -others approximate the form of a fish. They do not necessarily belong -to the cult of any male deity, but the true significance of these and -other small emblems is often uncertain. As with the many small models -of the heads of bull, cow, or serpent, or the two small conical stones -from the temple at Serabit, each with a groove along the base, it is -often difficult to distinguish the fetishes and symbols, which involve -ideas of some relationship with a supernatural being, from the charms, -amulets, and talismans, wherein other religious ideas are involved. -The possibility that some of the objects are really toys cannot be -excluded. - - - - -{33} - -CHAPTER IV - -SACRED RITES AND PRACTICES - -+General Inferences.+--That the old places of cult had their duly -ordained officials may be taken for granted; even the smallest of them, -like those of to-day, must have had appointed attendants. The Amarna -letters mention the wealthy temple of Byblos with the handmaidens of -the goddess of the city, and in Merneptah's reign we hear of a man of -Gaza who is described as a servant of Baal. We may be sure, also, that -the rites and festivals were similar to those usually prevalent among -agricultural peoples. The nature-worship of the age can be realised -from a survey of the old cults of Western Asia, and from the -denunciations of the Old Testament, which prove the persistence of -older licentious rites. Popular religion often continues to tolerate -practices which social life condemns, and the fertility of crops, -cattle, and of man himself, was co-ordinated {34} by an uncontrollable -use of analogy in which the example was set by the 'sacred' men and -women of the sanctuaries (_k[=a]desh_; Deut. xxiii. 17, R.V. marg.). -Sympathetic magic--the imitation of the cause to produce a desired -effect--underlay a variety of rites among a people whose life depended -upon the gifts of the soil, whose religion was a way of life. Here, -however, we are restricted chiefly to some miscellaneous evidence which -the excavations suggest. - - -+The Disposal of the Dead.+--Incineration or cremation had been -originally practised by a people physically distinct from that among -whom inhumation prevailed. The latter innovation has been ascribed to -the invading Semites. Subsequently, in Carthage, cremation is found to -re-enter, presumably through foreign influence; but the two practices -co-exist, even in the same family, and it is probable that there, at -all events, cremation was only followed in special circumstances. A -large burial-cave at Gezer with a thick layer of burnt ash proves the -lengthy duration of the earlier custom. The same cave was afterwards -utilised by those who inhumed their dead, and thenceforth there is -little evolution in the history of early Palestinian burial. No -particular {35} orientation predominates; the dead are placed upon a -layer of stones, or within cists, or in pits in the floor of the -caverns. Both the contracted or squatting and the outstretched -attitude occur. From the story of Sinuhe (p. 9), it would seem that -burial in a sheep-skin was also customary. The needs of the dead are -supplied by vessels of food, which occasionally show traces of burning; -drink was more important, and the large jars sometimes contain small -cups for the convenience of the thirsty soul. In the case of a jug -with two mammillary projections one is reminded of a type usually -associated at Carthage with the burial of infants. A variety of -miscellaneous objects provided for other needs: weapons, jewels, -ostrich eggs, seals, scarabs, amulets, small figures in human or animal -form, etc. Especially characteristic of the later tombs are the -abundant deposits of lamps. - -The abode of the dead being one of the centres of the religion of the -living, the tomb always possesses sanctity. The internal arrangements, -with platforms or hewn benches, will often suggest some burial-ritual. -The cup-marks, which frequently appear near or even in the tomb itself, -like those still to be seen upon Palestinian dolmens, could serve for -sacrifices or libations, {36} or to collect the refreshing rain for the -soul of the deceased. Or, again, later usage will suggest that they -were planted with flowers which, like the 'Gardens of Adonis,' -symbolised the mysteries of death and revival. Often, the dead are -buried beneath the streets (if the narrow windings deserve that name), -or within the houses, under circumstances which preclude the -foundation-sacrifices to be noticed presently. This feature is -scarcely accidental; it is well known elsewhere, and was probably -intended to keep the spirit of the dead near its former abode, over -which it could continue to exercise a benevolent influence. - - -+Jar Burial.+--It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between an -ordinary burial and some sacrificial ceremony. The burial of new-born -or very young infants in jars, in or near some sacred locality (p. 16 -_sq._), points very strongly to the sacrifice of the first-born to -which the Old Testament bears witness (Micah vi. 7). But where the -circumstances make this view less probable, the special treatment of -those who died in early infancy needs consideration. In inhumation and -the return of the dead to the ground we are in the midst of ideas -associated {37} with 'mother-earth,' the begetter of all things. The -burial in a contracted or squatting position might naturally represent -the usual crouched posture of the individual as he sat in life-time -among his fellows; it might also point to a belief in the re-birth of -the soul of the dead. The jar-burials, where the infant is inserted -head downwards, are more suggestive of the latter, and evidence from -Africa and Asia shows that provision is sometimes made for the re-birth -of still-born or very young babes on the conviction that at some future -occasion they will enter again into a mother's womb. The numerous -emblems of nature-worship and the mother-goddess, especially at Gezer, -raise the presumption that the deities of the place were powers of -fertility and generation; and, just as the shrines of saints to-day are -visited by would-be mothers who hope for offspring, it is not -improbable that in olden times those who had been prematurely cut off -from the living were interred in sacred sites venerated by the women. -This view, which has been proposed by Dr. J. G. Frazer, will not apply -of course to those jar-burials where human-sacrifice is clearly -recognisable.[1] - - -[1] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, pp. 77 _sq._, 82 _sq._. - - -{38} - -+Human Sacrifice.+--A gruesome discovery was made in a cistern at Gezer -where, together with a number of adult skeletons, lay the upper half of -a young girl about sixteen years of age. Near the mouth were the -decapitated heads of two girls. In another case at Gezer (described as -a 'foundation deposit') the upper half of the skeleton of a youth had -been placed with two adults. Perhaps we should here include the cases -where only a few bones of the deceased were preserved, _e.g._ in one -tomb the skull and certain other bones were missing. Vessels, also, -were found containing only one or two human bones: the patella of an -adult, the calvaria of a skull; but in the majority of instances they -belonged to infants. Partial burial of this character has been -explained on the theory of cannibalism; this practice, often based on -the idea of absorbing the attributes of the deceased, has left -scattered traces among the Semites. But the dismemberment of the dead -(known at Susa, Egypt, and common to many savage races) admits of other -explanations, whether, for example, we observe the use of bones as -amulets (p. 51 _sq._), or recall the story of the severed Osiris. In -the latter, however, it may be suspected that a sacrifice for magical -purposes underlies an aetiological {39} legend.[2] The bank of skulls -south of the monoliths of Gezer (p. 16) may perhaps recall the mound -(or pillar?) of heads which certain Assyrian kings erected in front of -the cities they conquered (_e.g._ Ashur-nasir-pal I.). Such a deed, -like their holocaust of children after a victory, was no unmeaning -ferocity; religion entered profoundly into ancient life, and every war -was a 'holy war.' The horrid rites in honour of the gods who fought -for their followers are to be traced in Egypt, Assyria, and the Old -Testament, and even as late as 307 B.C. the Carthaginians after their -defeat of Agathocles slew the choicest prisoners 'before the altar in -front of the holy tent.' - - -[2] J. G. Frazer, Adonis, etc., pp. 273 _sq._, 321, and especially 331 -_sqq._ Here one may perhaps refer to the tradition that the prophet -Isaiah was sawn in half, hidden as he was in a tree (comp. also Ep. -Hebrews, xi. 37). - - -The widespread custom of _Foundation Sacrifice_ survives in Palestine -when popular opinion requires that blood shall be shed at the -inauguration of every important building, at the breaking-up of -unoccupied land, or at the opening of a new well. Thus, a sheep was -sacrificed at the building of a jetty for the landing of the German -Emperor at Haifa in 1898. The rite is a propitiation to the _numen_ of -the place. - -{40} Mohammed in his day tried to prohibit such sacrifices to the -_jinn_, but the inveterate sentiment is summed up in the words of a -modern native: 'every house must have its death, either man, woman, -child, or animal.' The animal-victim is recognised as a substitute, -and vulgar superstition still associates with the foundation of -buildings some vague danger to human life--if not its loss. Traditions -of human sacrifice are recorded by mediaeval and older writers, and -excavation has disclosed authentic examples. At Gezer the skeleton of -an adult female had been placed under the corner of a house, and the -bones of infants were often found in or under the walls of houses down -to the later Israelite period. At Megiddo, a young girl of about -fifteen was laid across a foundation-stone, and a victim at the foot of -a tower in Taanach was a child scarcely in its teens. A jar with the -remains of a new-born infant rested upon a platform in the Gezer -crematorium, and the evidence allowed the inference that it was a -dedicatory sacrifice when the cave was taken over and used for -inhumation. Infants buried in jars were found, together with bowls and -lamps, under the foundations in Gezer as late as the latter part of the -Israelite monarchy, although a modification had already been {41} -introduced in the simple deposits of lamps and bowls, usually at the -corners of houses or chambers or under the jambs of doors. If the -bowls represent the sacrificial offerings, the significance of the -lamps is uncertain. The victim in the rite had not been burned, but -probably buried alive, and it may be conjectured that the -identification of life and light (familiar from the Old Testament) -underlies the symbolical lamp. The modern Palestinian custom of -hanging lights in shrines, etc., in cases of sickness possibly involves -the same association of ideas. On the other hand, the lamps found in -tombs naturally recall the widespread custom of lighting the soul on -its dark journey, or of kindling a lamp in the home to enable it to -retrace its steps on the anniversary. These purely burial lamps are -very well known (_e.g._ in Carthage), and they survive in Palestine to -the Christian age, when they are inscribed with such distinctive -mottoes as 'Christ is my light,' or 'the light of Christ shines for -all.' - - -+The Importance of Sacrifice+ makes itself felt at every sacred site -from the enormous quantities of burnt ash before the caves of Serabit -to the similar accumulations upon the summit of Mount Hermon. The -worshipper believes that the rite {42} brings him into contact with the -powers who are to be nourished, invoked, or recompensed. Its -prevalence vividly indicates man's dependence upon them throughout the -seasons of the year and on the great occasions of life: birth, -circumcision (already practised in our period), marriage and death. -Underlying the sacrifice is the profound significance of blood. It is -the seat of existence; it has potent virtues whether for protection, -expiation, or purification; and the utmost care is taken to dispose of -it according to established usage. The fat, too, has no less its -living qualities, and since the oldest unguents were animal -fats--modern usage is often content with butter--it is probable that -anointing originally had a deeper meaning than would at first appear. -Wanton bloodshed called for vengeance, and when a Babylonian king -demanded that Ikhnaton should slay the Canaanites who had killed his -merchants, and thus 'bring back their blood' and prevent retaliation, -the inveterate blood-revenge of primitive social life finds an early -illustration. But as a sacrifice, the slaughter of human victims, -though perhaps not regular, was at least not exceptional, and the -frightful bloodshed which the Old Testament attests emphasises the -difficulties which confronted those teachers {43} of Israel who would -disassociate their national God from an inveterate practice (Ezek. xvi. -20 _sq._, xx. 31). - -For a striking illustration of the diffusion and persistence of human -sacrifice we may refer to Carthage where the distress caused by -Agathocles in 310 B.C. was attributed to the wrath of the god to whom -the rich had been offering purchased children instead of their own. -But there is a general tendency in religion to soften crude rites, save -when a particularly efficacious offering is felt necessary in the midst -of some grave crisis, and of the changes in that background of cult -which has survived throughout the history of Palestine, the -substitution of the animal for the human victim is the most -significant. Yet, as we have seen, the idea of human sacrifice has not -entirely disappeared (p. 40). The animal is still recognised as a -'ransom,' and in the present rite of that name loss of human life is -averted by the sacrifice of some animal, and it is explained that the -sacrifice will combat and overcome the cause of the impending danger. -It would be only logical, therefore, to proceed on the assumption that -the greater the danger the more powerful and efficacious must be the -sacrifice. Current beliefs thus {44} afford suggestive hints for -earlier usage, and when we learn that to-day a natural death finds -consolation in the thought that it may have been the ransom for -another, we meet with an idea that could be put into practice: it is no -great step to the ceremonies (observed in Africa) which give effect to -the conviction that a man's life may be prolonged or his old age -recuperated by the actual sacrifice of another human being. It is -essentially the same idea when Egyptian kings, like Amenhotep II. and -Ramses II. slew the prisoners of war that they themselves or their name -'might live for ever.' (On the _name_, see below, p. 60.) - -Sacrificial rites were never irrational, however difficult it may be to -perceive their object, and from a survey of comparative custom one can -sometimes picture the scenes by which they were accompanied. It is -only by such means that one can conjecturally explain the discovery -near the temple-area at Gezer of animal bones, sliced, hacked, and -broken into fragments, with no signs of having been cooked. One is -tempted to refer to a rite practised by the Arabs of the Sinaitic -desert towards the close of the fourth century A.D. The old ascete, -Nilus, describes a solemn procession of chanting worshippers {45} who -move around an altar of rude stones upon which is bound a camel. The -beast is stabbed, and the leader drinks of the gushing blood. At once -the assembly hack the victim to pieces, devouring it raw until the -whole is consumed--the entire ceremony begins with the rise of the -morning star (in whose honour it was performed) and ends with the -rising sun. Was some rite of this kind practised in Palestine? It -must be a matter for conjecture; the least that can be said is that the -scene is not too barbaric for our land and period. - - -+Broken Offerings,+ _e.g._ figurines, models, and other articles, when -found deposited in tombs, have been explained in the light of -comparative custom as destroyed or 'killed' to the end that their -'soul' may accompany that of the deceased. But other ideas are -evidently involved when the area of the sanctuary at Serabit proved to -be covered with a mass of pottery, plaques, bracelets, wands, sistra, -etc., so fragmentary that no single specimen could be pieced together. -At Gezer, also, although the plaques of the goddess were fairly tough, -all had been broken, and apparently with intention. We may compare the -modern custom of breaking pottery in fulfilment of a {46} vow, an -interesting illustration of which was furnished by the late Professor -Curtiss from Bludan on the road from Zebedany to Damascus. At a spot, -familiarly known as the 'mother of pieces,' is a rock-platform with -cave, shrine, sacred grove and hereditary ministers. Hither come the -women to break a jar when they have gained their one wish, and it is -singular to observe that the traditions which are attached to the -custom include the belief that a girl, the patroness of the shrine, -lies buried there. The likeness to the suggested rites at Gezer will -be noticed (p. 37). But the stories do not elucidate the peculiar -treatment of the offerings, and the usage finds its most probable -explanation in the persuasion that things once dedicated or put to a -sacred use are 'holy,' and cannot be used for ordinary purposes. We -touch upon a fundamental institution embodying a series of apparently -paradoxical ideas--the universal 'tabu.' - - -+'Holy' and 'Unclean.'+--The terms Holy or Sacred (comp. the Latin -_sacer_) are not to be understood in the ethical or moral sense. A -holy thing is one which has been set aside, dedicated, or restricted; -it is charged with supernatural influence which is contagious; -everything {47} that comes in contact with it also becomes holy. In -some cases it is provided that this inconvenient sanctity may be -purged; in others, the thing has to be destroyed. When the Talmud says -that a Canonical Book of the Old Testament 'defiles' the hand, it means -that the very sanctity of the book demands that the hand should be -ceremonially purified or cleansed before touching anything else. 'Holy -and unclean things,' to quote Robertson Smith, 'have this in common, -that in both cases certain restrictions lie on men's use of and contact -with them, and that the breach of these restrictions involves -supernatural dangers. The difference between the two appears, not in -their relation to man's ordinary life, but in their relation to the -gods. Holy things are not free to man, because they pertain to the -gods; uncleanness is shunned, according to the view taken in the higher -Semitic religions, because it is hateful to the god, and therefore not -to be tolerated.' - - -+Sacred Animals,+ in the light of the above, are those associated with -cults which might be regarded as illegitimate. An example is afforded -by the pig which enters into the rites and myths of Adonis, Attis, -Ninib, and Osiris. In a cavern south of the monoliths of Gezer a -number of {48} pig-bones lay underneath a shaft which led to the -cup-marked surface above (p. 16); the circumstances recall the -Thesmophoria, the caves and vaults in the Greek area connected with -Demeter and Proserpine, and the use of the pig in mystic rites of -chthonic and agricultural deities. In Palestine and Syria the animal -was used in certain exceptional sacrifices which were recognised as -idolatrous (Isaiah lxv. 4; lxvi. 17), and it was an open question -whether it was really polluted or holy. If, as the excavations -suggest, the sacrifice of the swine dates from the earliest inhabitants -of Gezer, with whom it was also a domestic animal, it is interesting to -observe the persistence of its character as a proper sacrificial animal -from pre-Semitic times by the side of the apparently contradictory -belief that it was also unclean. - -The camel bones at Tell es-S[=a]fy, also, are of interest since -Robertson Smith has shown that the animal (which became 'unclean' to -the Israelites), though used by the Arabs for food and sacrifice, was -associated with ideas of sanctity, and its flesh was forbidden to -converts to Christianity. The model of a bronze cobra found in a -temple-enclosure (p. 15) might be conjecturally explained, but it will -suffice to remember that {49} serpents were and still are connected -with spirits both benevolent and malevolent. The recurrence of models -of the animal-world, the numerous representations upon seals of deer, -gazelles, etc. (animals connected with Astarte), or the predilection -for the lion upon objects discovered at Megiddo need not have any -specific meaning for the religious ideas. On the other hand, the -animal-like attributes which appear upon some plaques of the -mother-goddess are scarcely meaningless. There is no ground for the -assumption that Palestine was without the animal-deities and the -deities with special sacred animals, which have left their traces in -the surrounding lands, and it would be misleading to suppose that the -myths and legends which have grown up around these features account for -their origin. The conviction that man was made in the likeness of the -gods (who are therefore anthropomorphic) implies certain conceptions of -their nature, the development of which belongs to the history of -religion, and in turning next to the spirit-world of Ancient Palestine -it is necessary that we should be prepared to appreciate a mental -outlook profoundly different from our own. - - - - -{50} - -CHAPTER V - -THE WORLD OF SPIRITS - -+Awe.+--A fundamental sense of awe was felt in the presence of anything -unusual or contrary to experience, and man's instinctive philosophy -shaped his ideas from the suggestions of daily life, accounting for all -cases of causation by assimilating them to the intentional acts of -voluntary agents like himself. There was no doubt of the existence and -influence of surrounding unseen powers; they must be cajoled, appeased, -bribed and rewarded. Some were inevitably malevolent; with others man -could enter into relations which were mutually beneficial. Even at the -present day there is no clear distinction between what we should call -the natural and the supernatural; a demon or a saint can appear in -human or animal form; and the marvel or miracle is that which happens -to lie outside the intellectual horizon of the individual. The modern -phenomena can be traced back through {51} early sources and appear now -in grosser and now in more elevated forms; even the presence of any -advanced material culture, or of more spiritual conceptions of the -Godhead does not annihilate that lower supernaturalism which flourishes -uncontrolled among more rudimentary races. It would be unreasonable to -suppose that the religion of our period was more free from imprecision -than that of more progressive peoples: the whole routine of life -brought the individual into constant contact with unseen agencies, and -the world of spirits involved a medley of beliefs, more embarrassing to -the modern inquirer who seeks to systematise them, than to the Oriental -mind which has always been able and willing to accept the incredible -and the contradictory. - -Man's relations with the spirits whom he shuns or seeks are illustrated -in magical practices; _e.g._ incantation, symbolic magic (p. 34). -+Charms,+ on the other hand, possess a magical virtue which is -effective without interference on the part of the possessor. Many -little objects of this character have been unearthed: pendants of red -coral (still a prophylactic against the evil eye), beads (still -supposed to possess curative properties), small articles cut out of -bone {52} (especially the heads of human femora, sawn off and -perforated). Here may be included the occasional jewels (_e.g._ a -silver pendant crescent)--amulets and ornaments were closely -associated, and the latter continue to convey ideas which could be -regarded as idolatrous (compare Gen. xxxv. 4). The representations of -Egyptian gods and the 'Horus-eyes' should also be mentioned here. -'Eyes' are still on sale in the East, they are expected to be on the -watch for evil influences. But the anxiety to avert evil and to -procure favour need not involve an intelligent interest in the means -employed, and some of the objects (when not originally possessed by -Egyptian settlers) may have as much bearing upon the question of -Egyptian influence upon the religion of Palestine as the use of foreign -(Phoenician?) formulae in Egyptian magical texts. - - -+Oracles+ are obtained at those places where supernatural beings have -manifested themselves, or from their symbols or their human -representatives. In the stone enclosures at Serabit Professor Petrie -would recognise the sacred places visited by those who worked the mines -and hoped for useful dreams. The value attached to visions of the -night needs no telling, and when the {53} Egyptian king Merneptah saw -in his sleep the god Ptah offering him the sword of victory, or when -the god Ashur directed the Lydian Gyges to 'lay hold of the feet' of -Ashurbanipal (_i.e._ place himself under his protection), we perceive -among relatively advanced societies important factors in the growth of -all religions. Divine advice and help could be granted by the statues -of the gods: a cuneiform tablet from Taanach refers to an omen given by -the finger of the goddess Ashirat, and the writer asks for the sign and -its interpretation. As in the 'nodding' of the gods in Egyptian -records the _modus operandi_ must not be too closely examined. Some of -the old caverns of Palestine were certainly used for magical or -religious purposes, and when we find them connected by small and curved -passages, it is not improbable that they were the scenes of oracles, -theophanies, and the like (p. 15 _sq._). As Mr. Macalister has -observed, apropos of such caverns in the lowlands of Judah and at -Gezer, mysterious responses and wonders could be easily contrived, and -would be as convincing to the ignorant as the Miracle of the Holy Fire -is to the modern Russian pilgrim in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at -Jerusalem. The association of caves and other hidden resorts with the -{54} worship of deities and oracles is well-known in other fields -(_e.g._ Greece). Susa also had a god of oracles who dwelt in secret -retreats, and other deities whose remote haunts were burned by -Ashurbanipal when he carried them off. - - -+The representatives of the supernatural powers+ include prophets, -priests, and even kings; they are also the possessors of supernatural -qualities, the one involved the other. Between the modern Palestinian -_majn[=u]n_ ('possessed by the jinn') and fakir, and the prophet of -old--contemptuously called 'madman'--the difference is one of degree. -The frenzied utterer is capable of incalculable good or harm, and often -enjoys a respect out of all keeping with his merits. His very sanctity -places him in a class by himself, and he is allowed a licence which -would not be tolerated in others. An early example of inspiration -appears in the story of Wenamon of Egypt who visited Zakarbaal of -Byblos, probably in the reign of Ramses XII. (about 1100 B.C.). -Although the envoy had with him the statue of the great Egyptian god -Amon, for nineteen days he received scant courtesy and was unable to -obtain the desired interview. At length, as the king was sacrificing -to his gods, one of his noble youths {55} was seized with ecstasy which -lasted the whole night, and in this state he demanded that 'the -messenger of Amon' be summoned (for the sequel see below, p. 74 _sq._). -Prophecy, as Dr. Frazer has shown, by means of numerous examples, is 'a -phenomenon of almost world-wide occurrence,' and it is important to -remember that the relations between man and the spirit-world are not to -be estimated in the light of modern preconceptions. There were -orthodox and unorthodox relations, legitimate and illegitimate -communion, true and false representatives of the supernatural powers; -distinctions were maintained although the evidence is often -insufficient for us to appreciate older standpoints. Broadly speaking, -it may be affirmed that the test lay in the communal aspect of religion -(whether of clan, tribe, or people) which was opposed to practices -which were private or independent of the official cult. - - -+The dead,+ in their turn, depart into the mysterious unseen which -looms so largely in the thoughts of the living, and burial and mourning -rites are shaped by many different principles depending upon theories -of the nature of spirits, affection for the dead, the safety of his -soul, fear of malignant influences, etc. But the {56} interpretation -of the religious rites which attended every crisis in life becomes -unusually difficult when the community suffer a loss, and perhaps no -other study stands so much in need of careful 'comparative' treatment. -Unfortunately Palestine has furnished no funerary texts, and little -direct evidence; the dead 'go to their fate,' the king of Mitanni fasts -on the day he hears of the death of Amenhotep III., and Zakarbaal of -Byblos offers to show Wenamon the tomb where the members of a former -embassy sleep (_lit._ lie, or pass the night). A people accustomed to -the annual death and revival of nature might easily formulate theories -of the survival of the dead, and care is accordingly taken to provide -for the needs of the deceased (p. 35). But the same thoughts are not -necessarily symbolised by the same rites. Thus, cremation, the earlier -custom, may have been intended to sever the soul from the body, to -destroy the haunting spirit, or to prevent contamination and contagion. -However, the subsequent use of the Gezer crematorium by those who -practised inhumation involved a continuity of thought, albeit with some -adaptation and adjustment, since identical conceptions of death and the -dead scarcely encircled the two distinct customs. This is instructive -for the growth of {57} complex ideas, and the subsequent prohibition in -Palestine of certain mourning rites may find a probable explanation in -their association with cults which were regarded as illegitimate. - -The attitude of the living towards the dead raises the problem of -ancestor-worship and the relation between deified ancestors and gods. -In the absence of contemporary evidence from Ancient Palestine, we may -notice the inscription of King Panammu of North Syria (eighth century), -where he acknowledges his indebtedness to his gods, especially Hadad, -to whose honour he erects a colossal statue of the deity. The text -invokes the god's blessing upon the successor to the throne, provided -that the latter when he sacrifices makes mention of Panammu's soul with -Hadad or prays that Panammu's soul may eat and drink with the god. -Should these duties be neglected, Hadad is besought not to accept the -sacrifices, to refuse his requests; and sleeplessness and other -troubles are called down upon the unfilial descendant. It appears from -this, therefore, that while the dead relies upon the attentions of the -living, and it was necessary that his name should be kept fresh; the -dead could only exert an indirect influence, and the soul or vital -principle, apart from the body, could be {58} regarded as potent only -through its companionship with the deity. This may be supplemented -from Egypt in the account of the relations between Ramses II. and his -dead father, Sety I. The latter is reminded of the benefits which his -son had conferred upon him, his statue, and his _ka_ or vital force. -These he may still continue to enjoy, and, since he now has the -companionship of the gods, Ramses beseeches him to influence them to -grant him a long reign. The deceased king acknowledges the bread and -water which had been regularly offered to him; and relates that he has -become a god more beautiful than before; he now mingles with the great -gods, and he declares that he has successfully interceded on his son's -behalf. - -The dead relied upon his descendants and upon the benevolence of future -generations, and Egyptian kings (at least) hoped to partake of the food -offered to the recognised deities. Religious and other works were -undertaken that the 'name' might 'live.' Promises and threats were -freely made to ensure due attention, and were usually respected by the -living; but the frequent acts of desecration would indicate that fear -of the dead was not necessarily a predominating or lasting feeling, at -all events outside a man's {59} own family. The above-mentioned -Panammu and Ramses are somewhat exceptional cases since individuals, -distinguished by rank, sanctity, or even more ordinary qualifications, -readily acquire distinguished positions in after-life. Moreover, -Ramses, at all events, was already a god, in his life-time, in -accordance with Egyptian belief, and all those who had had the -advantage of being representatives of the supernatural powers scarcely -lost this relative superiority. The protection afforded by famous -tombs and the virtues of the dust taken from such sacred spots are -recognised to the present day. The venerated shrines regularly found -their justification in the traditions which encircled the illustrious -occupant: to violate them was not merely an insult, it struck a blow at -one of the centres of cult and prosperity. Unfortunately for the -problem, by the side of the tendency to elevate an illustrious ancestor -must be placed the very human and inveterate weakness of tracing for -oneself a noble ancestry. Like the claim of the modern Palestinian -peasant to be descended from the alleged occupant of the local shrine -which he venerates, every apparent case of ancestor-worship stands in -need of a critical examination. As in most problems of religion, -ambiguity of terminology (viz. 'worship') {60} is responsible for much -confusion. It must be admitted that there would be a natural -inclination for every individual to regard his dead ancestor in the -spirit-world as more powerful and influential than himself. If this -were so even when there were recognised gods, it is obvious that -allowance must be made for the crucial stages, before the deities -gained that recognition, and after they had lost it. - -Space prevents any adequate reference to the part which +animism+ has -held in the history of Palestinian religion; without a recognition of -this fundamental factor in all religions much of our evidence would be -unintelligible.[1] When we take the ideas which are associated with -the _name_, we find that it has magical powers, its use enlists or -confers protection or possession; it is the nature or essence of the -thing which bears it--indeed, almost identical with it (comp. Is. xxx. -27). Hence the meaning of names is always instructive. The -supposition that the child who bears an animal-name will acquire -something of the quality of the animal in question (whatever be the -original {61} motive) preserves more than metaphor, and indicates a -stage when man saw little difference between animals and himself. Even -at the present day it is still believed that the soul of an ancestor -can reappear in an animal (comp. p. 50). In like manner, the personal -names of our period which denote kinship with a deity point to a belief -in a physical relationship as natural as the conviction of the modern -native when he refers to Allah in terms which imply that man is in -every detail the literal image of the Almighty. A difference between -human and superhuman is scarcely recognised at the present day. The -women of the land continue to visit the holy sites to obtain offspring, -and it is freely acknowledged that welis and spirits of the dead can be -physical fathers. This absence of any clear dividing-line between -natural and supernatural is inveterate. The Egyptian Pharaoh of old -was both a god and the son of a god, and a record is preserved of the -visit of the god Amon to queen Ahmose in the form of her husband. The -halo of divinity was perhaps not so distinct as in earlier times, but -in their king the people still saw the earthly likeness of the deity. - - -[1] It must suffice to refer to works dealing with primitive religion, -see E. Clodd, _Animism, the Seed of Religion_ (London, 1905), A. C. -Haddon, _Magic and Fetishism_ (1906), in this series. - - -+The Divinity of kings+ was a fundamental belief {62} which reveals -itself in a variety of forms through Western Asia and Egypt. The -inscriptions of Gudea, the code of Khammurabi, the Assyrian records and -the praises of the Pharaohs reflect conceptions which are materialised -now in the insignia of the kings, and now in their costume and toilet. -In a Babylonian myth the royal ornaments lay before the supreme god -awaiting the monarch; in Egypt the king is the god's _ka_, his -first-born; chosen, created and crowned by the divine father. The -kings stood in the closest relationship to the gods; they were not only -the heads of the state, they were also (in early Assyria) priest-kings, -and in Egypt theoretically all offerings for the living and the dead -were made by the Pharaoh. All this was neither mere empty formality -nor an isolated eccentricity. It is quite in accordance with the -powers commonly ascribed to divine representatives, that the control of -the rain and storm is held to depend upon the influence of Ramses II. -with the weather-god. It is equally intelligible (from anthropological -evidence) when the same king caused the gods to take up their abode in -the images which had been prepared for them! - -Khammurabi could declare that he carried in his bosom the people of -Sumer and Akkad, and {63} the Pharaoh could call himself the husband of -Egypt, while Egypt was 'the only daughter of Re (the sun-god) whose son -sits upon the throne.' Not only was he the incarnation and the son of -the deity (or of all the recognised deities), but he was the cause of -the land's fruitfulness, prosperity, and protection. The Pharaoh, 'the -god of all people' (as he is once called), received the adoration of -his subjects, and one could sometimes believe that he was more -essentially a deity than the gods themselves, were it not that the -subordinate gods always maintained their hold upon the people locally. -With all allowance for the difference between conventional and -practical religion, the fundamental relations between land, people, -ruler and the deity persisted in many related though varying forms, -which are extremely interesting in any consideration of the social -changes at the rise of a monarchy and after its downfall. - -This digression is necessary, because, although the practical working -of such beliefs as these may perplex us, the fact remains that they -were shared in Palestine. The petty rulers in the Amarna letters -thoroughly recognise the divine nature of the king who was a god and -had the god for his father (see p. 78 _sq._). Later, when Palestine -had its {64} own king, the 'Lord's anointed' was almost as the deity -himself (Ex. xxii. 28, cp. 2 Sam. xiv. 17); king and cult were one -(Hos. iii. 4), and the king's death could be regarded as the extinction -of the nation's lamp (2 Sam. xxi. 17). Not to mention other details, -the Messianic ideals of the divinely-begotten son and of the ruler -whose origin was of aforetime preserve the inveterate belief in the -divine ancestry of rulers, an honour which in other lands continued to -be conferred upon rather than claimed by them. - - -+Recognised gods.+--It is very important to find that the -representatives or possessors of divine powers are the worshippers of -their deity in life and his inferiors in death. The recognised gods -have their definite circles of clients, and if their human -representatives are subsequently worshipped or even deified, this is a -not unnatural development, especially as the official deities are apt -to be at the mercy of political and religious changes. The older gods -can be degraded and sink to the rank of demons (from newer -stand-points), but the petty deities and the lower supernatural beings -are as little influenced by external vicissitudes as the lower ranks of -humanity with whom they always stand in closer relationship. {65} -Their persistence in popular belief is as typical as the descent of the -more august beings, although even the latter are understood to retain -an influence which those of more recent introduction have not yet -acquired or are unable to exert. While the general fundamental -conceptions remain virtually unchanged, they are shaped by the social -and political institutions, for religious and political life formed -part of the same social organism. - - - - -{66} - -CHAPTER VI - -THE GODS - -+Their vicissitudes.+--The deities were not originally personifications -of any one power of nature; like the secular heads of small local -groups they were the supreme patrons of their little circle. They were -usually nameless, but were known by an epithet, or were styled 'god' -(_el_) or 'lord, owner' (_baal_), with the corresponding feminine form. -Each might be distinguished by the name of its locality. The 'god' of -Sidon was otherwise the 'Baal' of Sidon, the 'goddess' of Byblos was -known as the 'Baalath' of the city; the Baal of Tyre was called -Melkart, _i.e._ simply 'king of the city'; the proper-name of the Baal -of Harran was Sin (the moon-god); the Baal of Heaven, according to -Philo of Byblos, was the Sun. When Baal and El were used as generic -terms, their application was perfectly intelligible locally; and when -they occur in forty or more place-names, and numerous old personal -names {67} in Palestine, it is unnecessary to suppose that they -represent two distinct and definite deities. From the old Palestinian -names we learn that the deity is high, great and good; he opens, -builds, heals, sows, gathers; he remembers, hastens, helps, protects, -blesses, etc.[1] Such conceptions would be generally true of all; the -power of each was not unlimited, but it extended to all that man -usually desired. - - -[1] Apart from names whose meaning is uncertain (_e.g._ Jacob-el, God -supplants?), the list could be easily enlarged; a number of names of -western (as opposed to the usual Babylonian) type can be gleaned from -the records of the First Babylonian Dynasty. - - -From the general resemblance subsisting between the distinct local gods -it was possible to regard them as so many forms of a single god; and -when groups combined and individual gods were fused, multiplicity of -types ensued. The status of a local tutelary was affected when -commercial intercourse widened the horizon of both the traveller and -the native; and in the growth of political power and the rise of a -kingship the conceptions entertained of the deity's attributes and -powers were elevated. Through the extension of authority the way lay -open to groups of gods who could not be fused, and equally to the -superiority of one national patron deity over the rest. {68} Political -or other changes led to the promotion of this or the other god, and -prominent or specialised deities in superseding others acquired fresh -attributes, though local divergencies were again necessarily retained. -This does not complete the vicissitudes of the gods or the intricacies -caused by assimilation or identification. A popular epithet or -appellative could appear by the side of the proper deity as a new -creation, or the deity was sub-divided on cosmical and astral theories. -The female deity (whose name may be without the usual distinguishing -mark of gender) could even change her sex; the specific name could also -become employed as a common term for any deity, and the plural 'gods' -could be applied to a single being as a collective representation of -the characteristics it embodied. - -Amid the intricate careers of the great names, the local deities -obstinately survived in popular religious life. They have found their -parallel in the welis or patrons, saints and holy sheikhs of the modern -shrines (see _pp._ 21 _sqq._). The modern analogy is instructive in -many points of detail, particularly when we observe the vicissitudes -which the occupants of the shrines have experienced. It is natural to -ask for the ancient counterparts of the Allah, the supreme god in the -{69} official religion, who, as we have said, is vague and remote in -the practical religious life of the peasant of to-day. A series of -well-defined historical events made him pre-eminent over all other gods -and goddesses and established Mohammedanism; internal and external -causes shaped the varying conceptions of his nature, and gave birth to -numerous sects. All the Oriental religions have this twofold aspect: -the historical circumstances which affected the vicissitudes of the -deities, and the more subtle factors which have influenced forms of -belief. But we have no direct information upon the rise of the general -conditions in Palestine during our period, and such problems as the -origin of the term El 'God' (common to all the Semitic peoples) belong -to the pre-historic ages. - - -+Their representative character.+--When the gods reign like feudal -princes over their principalities their sphere is limited and other -districts or kingdoms belong to other gods. Residence in an alien land -brought one under the influence of alien gods, whose reality was not -denied, though their power could be variously estimated. At Serabit, -for example, the Egyptians had combined the worship of their god Sopdu -with that of the {70} local 'lady of turquoise,' whom they identified -with their Hathor, and the caves and temples of both stood side by -side. The Egyptian inscriptions there refer to 'the gods and goddesses -of this land,' and an officer, probably of the Twelfth Dynasty, -encourages a cult which was largely utilitarian: 'Offer ye to the -mistress of heaven, appease ye Hathor; if ye do it, it will be -profitable to you; if ye increase to her, it shall be well among you.' -Some centuries later, we read that Ramses III., desirous of the -precious treasures, sent clothes and rich presents to his 'mother' -Hathor, 'lady of the turquoise.' - -The relationship between countries and their respective national gods -(cp. Judges xi. 24) is frequently illustrated. When Tushratta, king of -Mitanni, writes to Amenhotep III., he ascribes a victory to the -weather-god Teshub (if that was the native name), and trusts that his -lord Teshub will never permit him to be angry with his 'brother' the -king of Egypt. Similarly, he prays that the sun-god (Shamash) and the -goddess Ishtar may go before his daughter and make her in accord with -the king's heart.[2] On {71} the other hand, it is 'the gods,' or -Teshub and Amon (of Egypt),[3] who will make the present alliance a -lasting one, and his gods and those of his 'brother,' or Ishtar, 'lady -of ladies,' and Amon who will guard the damsel on the journey and give -her favour with the king. - - -[2] In the names in chapters vi. and vii., the more familiar Astarte is -employed for Ashtart (Old Testament, Ashtoreth). Where cuneiform -evidence is used the Babylonian form (_e.g._ Shamash, Ishtar) is -usually retained. - -[3] Amon, the predominant god of Egypt, owed his rise from an obscure -local deity of Thebes to the political growth of the city. He was then -assimilated to Re (the solar-orb) of Heliopolis. - - -Towards the close of the reign of Amenhotep III. Tushratta despatched -to Egypt, Ishtar of Nineveh 'lady of lands, lady of heaven,' in -pursuance to her oracle 'to the land that I love I will go.' She was -doubtless sent to exercise her powers in Egypt, and Tushratta expresses -the hope that the king may revere her tenfold more than on the occasion -of a previous visit. He also invokes a hundred thousand years and -great joy for his 'brother' and himself. There is a parallel to this -in the late popular story where Ramses II. sent one of the images of -Khonsu (moon-god and god of healing) to cure a Hittite princess, the -sister of his queen, of an evil spirit. The god accompanied by a -priest was received with all reverence, the demon was expelled and -allowed to depart in peace to the place he desired, and a great feast -was celebrated. Indeed, the {72} Hittite chief kept the useful god -with him for nearly four years, when, frightened by a vision of the god -flying upwards towards Egypt, he restored it to its rightful soil. The -very human limitations of the deities render it necessary that some -representation or emblem should be employed when their help is required. - - -+In political Treaties and Covenants+ the representative gods of the -respective countries are invoked as witnesses, and their curses are -expected to fall upon the defaulter. It was generally felt that curses -as well as blessings had a very real potency, and the thrilling -denunciations at the end of Khammurabi's Code of Laws and contemporary -examples from Egypt threaten desolation, hunger, thirst, flaming fire, -and the avenging pursuit of the gods. Political treaties are -instructive for the light they throw upon the ruling powers. In -Esarhaddon's treaty with Baal, king of Tyre (677-6 B.C.), the gods of -the latter are Baal-shamen (Baal of heaven), two other specified Baals, -Melkart of Tyre, Eshmun and the goddess Astarte. Later, in Hannibal's -covenant with Philip of Macedon, the Carthaginian gods are enumerated -in two triads, then follow the gods who took part in war, and finally, -sun, moon, earth, {73} rivers, harbours (?) and streams. But the most -illuminating example is the Egyptian version of the treaty (about -1290), between Ramses II. and the Kheta (Hittites), the two great rival -influences over the intervening lands. Here the representative heads -of Egypt and the Kheta are respectively the sun-god Re and Sutekh -(_i.e._ Set, the Egyptian equivalent of a weather- or storm-god whose -native name can only be conjectured). Formerly, we learn, '[the] god -prevented hostilities' between the two lands by treaty, and this new -pact is made for 're-establishing the relations which Re made and -Sutekh made for the land of Egypt with the land of Kheta' to prevent -future warfare. The thousand gods male and female both of the Kheta -and of Egypt are called to witness. Those of the former are -particularly interesting, they comprise the sun-god lord of heaven, the -sun-god of the city of Ernen (also called 'lord of every land'), Sutekh -lord of heaven, Sutekh of Kheta, Sutekh of the city of Ernen, and the -Sutekh of various specified cities, Antheret (probably Astarte) of the -land of Kheta, nine gods and goddesses of certain named cities. Next -come 'the queen of heaven; gods, lords of swearing; the mistress of the -soil, the mistress of swearing, Teshker, the mistress of the {74} -mountains, and the rivers of the land of Kheta,' and, finally, the gods -of a North Syrian ally of Kheta. On the Egyptian side are Amon, the -sun-god, Sutekh (here an Egyptian deity, see p. 83), the male and -female gods of the mountains and the rivers of Egypt, of the heavens, -the soil, the great sea, the wind and the storms. The treaty also bore -a representation of the king of the Kheta and his queen embraced -respectively by Sutekh the ruler of the heavens, and a goddess whose -name is lost. To the gods of Palestine there is no reference; -Palestine did not enjoy political independence. - - -+The Influence of Egypt.+--Our latest source is the Egyptian account of -the visit of Wenamon to Byblos to procure cedar-wood from Lebanon for -the sacred-barge of Amon-Re, King of Gods (about 1100). The human -messenger took with him the divine messenger in the shape of a statue -of 'Amon-of-the-Way,' reputed to confer life and health; a sacred image -upon which no common eye might gaze. When at length Zakarbaal granted -an interview (see p. 54), he was inclined to ignore the political -supremacy of Egypt, although he appears to allow that Amon had -civilised Egypt and thence all lands, and that {75} artisanship and -teaching had come from Egypt to his place of abode. Wenamon, for his -part, showed that former kings not only sold cedars to Egypt, but spent -their lives sacrificing to Amon. Even the evidence of 'the journal of -his fathers' did not remove the king's reluctance. But the envoy urged -the claim of Amon to be lord and possessor of the sea and of Lebanon, -and solemnly warned Zakarbaal: 'wish not for thyself a thing belonging -to Amon-Re, yea the lion loves his own.' Ultimately the king sent the -wood, and he commemorated his obedience to Amon-Re by an inscription -which was likely to be profoundly beneficial. For, as the envoy -observed, should Byblos be visited by Egyptians who were able to read -the stele with his name (the all-essential adjunct), he would 'receive -water in the West (the world of the dead where the sun-god descended -nightly) like the gods who are here' (presumably at Byblos). - -Although the narrative is written from an Egyptian standpoint, the -conviction which is ascribed to Zakarbaal finds a parallel in the -familiar story of the journey of Osiris, the founder of Egyptian -civilisation, from the Delta to Byblos. Even before the Hyksos period -Egyptian women named themselves after the Baalath of Byblos {76} whom -they identified with Hathor and evidently regarded as an appropriate -patroness.[4] The connection between Egypt and the port of Lebanon may -have been exceptionally close, but there were Egyptian settlements at -Gezer, Megiddo, and the north at an equally early age. Under the -conquerors of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the daughters of the small -tributaries were taken into the royal harem, and the sons were removed -as hostages and safely guarded in Egypt. Some of the latter settled -down, others were appointed in due course to the thrones of their -fathers, after having received the necessary anointing-oil from the -great king. One of the latter recalls in the Amarna letters how he had -served the king in Egypt and had stood at the royal gate, and from the -grave-stone of a Palestinian soldier at El-Amarna we may see how -settlement upon Egyptian soil had led to the acceptance of Egyptian -ideas of the other world. - - -[4] A. Erman, _Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache_, xlii. p. 109. - - -Meanwhile Palestine and Syria were under the direction of Egyptian -authorities, to whose presence the Amarna letters frequently allude, -and one of the writers quaintly likens the solicitude of a certain -official on his behalf to that of a {77} mother or a father. Where -there were Egyptians or where princes had been in Egypt, some trace of -the national religion may be expected, and it is probable that every -military garrison possessed some kind of sanctuary. Moreover, Thutmose -III. had dedicated three cities in the Lebanon district to Amon; later, -Egyptian gods 'dwelt' in the north at Tunip. A stele, a few miles -south of Tell 'Ashtarah (cp. the name Ishtar) in Bashan represents Sety -I. offering a libation to Amon, and the pure Egyptian workmanship -points to a strong foreign influence in the locality. Ramses II. set -up a statue of his majesty in Tunip, and a city in South Lebanon was -called after his name. Still descending, we read that cities were set -apart for Amon-Re in the reign of Ramses III., and this king built in -Canaan 'a mysterious house like the horizon of heavens which is in the -sky' (_i.e._ the abode of the sun-god), with a great statue of -'Amon-of-Ramses-ruler-of-Heliopolis,' to which the natives brought -tribute, 'for it was divine.' - -Elsewhere, Ramses III. asserts that he built strongholds in Asia in -honour of Amon, taxing them year by year to bring their offerings to -the _ka_ of the 'lord of gods.' Accordingly, down to the first half of -the twelfth century the cult of Amon followed the extension of Egyptian -{78} supremacy, and although the subsequent political history is -obscure, the story of Wenamon would indicate that some sixty or seventy -years later the prestige of the god's name was not entirely lost. -Wenamon's claim corresponds to the explicit recognition (in the Amarna -letters) that the land belonged to Egypt's gods; it was the natural -corollary of political extension. Like Zakarbaal and his ancestors, -all the tributary princes were expected to acknowledge the suzerainty -of Egypt's king and his deity. To refrain from sacrificing to the -conqueror's gods was one of the signs of open revolt, as we know from -Assyria and Babylonia. The king identified himself with the sun, like -the contemporary Hittite king Subbiluliuina and other monarchs, from -Khammurabi 'the Sun of Babylonia' who 'caused light to go forth over -the lands of Sumer and Akkad' to the Assyrian Shalmaneser II. Although -the result is confusing, the subordinate chiefs of Palestine and Syria -were accustomed to the thought. They address the king as their gods, -their Sun, the son of the Sun whom the Sun loves, the Sun in heaven, -the Sun of the lands, or the everlasting Sun. This deified Sun or -Shamash (to retain the Babylonian form) answers to the Egyptian Re or -Amon. So Abimilki (Abimelech) of Tyre writes, {79} 'My lord is the Sun -which goes up over the lands daily according to the decision of the Sun -(Shamash) his gracious father.' And again, 'I have said to the Sun, -the father of the king, my lord, "when shall I see the face of the -king, my lord?"' Another writer ascribes his victory to the king's -gods and Sun which went before his face. The chief of Megiddo, in a -letter interesting for its glosses in the native language, announces -his intentions should the king's gods assist him, and other writers -invoke the god or gods of the king and acknowledge the might of -Shamash. Nevertheless, the identification of the Egyptian and the -Asiatic sun-god would not, and probably did not, prevent them from -being regarded as two deities, and a private tablet at Taanach not only -recognises the god Amon and the weather-god Addu, but even appears to -add Shamash. It is natural to suppose from the identification of the -king, the sun, and the national sun-god Amon (or Shamash) that many -apparently ordinary rites had a deeper significance, whether it was the -anointing of a vassal or the fasting for a dead monarch (p. 56). The -custom of offering sacrifices on behalf of kings is well attested, and -it is possible that the position of divine kings throws light upon the -fact that {80} the king of Cyprus has to explain his failure to send a -representative to Egypt when Amenhotep was celebrating a sacrificial -feast. - - -+The Treatment of Alien Gods+ depends largely upon political relations -(cp. _pp._ 69 _sqq._). New settlers might add the established deities -of the soil to their own. A conqueror might recognise the deities of -the district to which he laid claim. The gods of a defeated land were -not invariably deposed, although the Assyrian kings would sometimes -destroy them or present them to their own deities. Mesha king of Moab -(about 850 B.C.) records that he brought before his god certain -captured objects of cult, and it is possible that the pillar at Gezer -which is not of local origin had a history of this kind (p. 14). The -Philistines were dismayed at the 'mighty gods' which the Hebrews, in -accordance with a familiar custom, took with them into battle, and, on -another occasion, their own gods, left behind in their flight, were -carried away by David (1 Sam. iv. 8, 2 Sam. v. 21). The mere capture -of the gods was sometimes enough to lead to overtures for peace. But -an Assyrian king would even repair the dilapidated captive deities, and -having inscribed upon them the 'might' of his god and {81} the 'writing -of his name' would restore them to a trusted vassal. In Palestine the -petty rulers enjoyed considerable freedom provided they paid their -tribute, and supported their suzerain. We do not learn that Egypt -sought to amalgamate subdued peoples and make of them 'one folk' -(_lit._ mouth), as was claimed by Tiglath-Pileser I. and other Assyrian -kings. Nor do we find that the Egyptian king sent skilled emissaries -to teach (as Sargon II. says) 'the fear of God and the king,' although, -if the reference be merely to the promulgation of the official cult, -this was probably the chief results also of Egypt's supremacy. - -On the other hand, a Syrian prince who had recaptured his Sun-god from -the Hittites besought Amenhotep III. (whom he addresses as 'Son of -Shamash') to put his name upon it as his fathers had done in the past. -The text is somewhat obscure, but the recognition of the Asiatic -Shamash is clear, and intelligible on the identification of Shamash and -Amon-Re. So, also, when the king of Byblos asserts that 'the gods, -Shamash, and the Baalath' of the city had brought about the king's -accession, we have to remember that the goddess had long before been -identified with the Egyptian Hathor. At a later date, a stele found -north of Tell 'Ashtarah depicts Ramses II. {82} paying homage to a -deity whose crown, horn, and Semitic title prove him (or her) to be a -native deity whom the king evidently respected.[5] Respect for alien -gods ceases when they are found to be powerless; but Egypt was -constantly troubled by her warlike Asiatics, and so far from their gods -being ignored or rejected, they entered Egypt and found an extremely -hospitable reception (see Chapter vii). Asiatic conquerors in Egypt -appear to have been less tolerant. The Hyksos ruled 'in ignorance of -Re,' and their god (Sutekh) was planted in the land; and, later, during -the brief period of anarchy when a Palestinian or Syrian chief held -Egypt until his overthrow by Setnakht, the upstarts 'made the gods like -men and no offerings were presented in the temples.' We may assume -then that the religion of our land remained practically unchanged -during Egyptian supremacy except in so far as this involved the -official recognition of the Egyptian national god and his -representative upon the throne. - - -[5] _Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palaestina-Vereins_, xiv. p. 142, xv. p. -205. The stele, known as the 'stone of Job,' has entered into the -worship of a Moslem place of prayer, and is appropriately connected -with a story of the patriarch, many traditions of whom are current in -this part of Hauran. - - - - -{83} - -CHAPTER VII - -THE PANTHEON - -Until the necessary evidence comes to light it is scarcely possible to -do more than collect a few notes upon some of the gods and goddesses of -our period. The most important sources are from Babylonia, Assyria, -and Egypt; but some additional information can be gleaned from -Palestinian names, allowance being made for the fact that a personal -name compounded with that of a deity is not enough to prove that the -bearer was its worshipper. - - -+Asiatic Deities in Egypt+ date from before the age of the Hyksos -invasion, as can be gathered from the history of the mixed cult at -Serabit and from the introduction of Baalath of Byblos (p. 75). -Apophis, a Hyksos king, has left an altar dedicated to his 'father -Sutekh,' who had set all lands under his feet, and after the expulsion -of the Hyksos, this foreign deity, {84} Egyptianised as Set (or -Sutekh), became firmly established. Both SUTEKH and BAAL were regarded -as essentially gods of battle, and the latter often occurs in -descriptions of the prowess of the Pharaohs of the Nineteenth and -Twentieth Dynasties. Thus, the king is like Baal in the lands, mighty -in strength, far-reaching in courage, strong-horned; he is like Sutekh -great in might. He is the equal of Baal, 'his real son for ever,' and -he is as Baal in his hour (_i.e._ of manifestation). When he appears -upon the battlefield like Baal, his flame consumes the foe, and Amon-Re -announces to Ramses III., 'I overthrow for thee every land, when they -see thy majesty in strength, like my son, Baal in his wrath.' Baal is -in his limbs; his roaring is like Baal in heaven, and his enemies fall -down in fear of him like Baal. Baal was virtually identical with -Sutekh who is represented as a foreign god and is sometimes horned -(_e.g._ at Serabit). A curious scarab shows a winged Sutekh with -horned cap and long streamer standing upon a lion. - -Another foreigner is RESHEPH, lord of heaven, lord of eternity, or -governor of the gods; he is the warrior, the god of fire and lightning -(subsequently identified with Apollo). Valiant Egyptian officers are -likened to him. He appears on {85} the Egyptian monuments with Semitic -profile, and conical hat (or otherwise a fillet) from which projects -the head of a gazelle; he holds a lance and shield in the left hand, -and in his right a club. According to a magical text his consort was -'_-t-m_, a deity who seems to be combined with Shamash in an old North -Palestinian place-name, and may recur in the familiar Obed (servant of) --Edom. In Egypt Resheph also formed a triad with Min (the old -harvest-deity and god of reproduction) and the goddess KADESH ('holy'). -The last, whose name suggests the sacred licentious rites of Asiatic -cults (p. 33 _sq._), is called lady of heaven, mistress of the gods, -the eye of Re, etc. She was assimilated to Hathor, and stands nude -upon a lion with lotus flowers in her right hand and a serpent in her -left; her head framed with heavy tresses of hair is sometimes -surmounted by the sun-disk between two horns. Among foreign -war-goddesses Egypt had ANATH, well known from Palestinian place-names. -Her priesthood at Thebes is mentioned under Thutmose III., and the -favourite daughter of Ramses II. was named 'daughter of Anath.' The -deity is represented sitting clothed upon a throne with lance and -shield in the right hand and battle-axe in the left; or holding instead -the papyrus sceptre and {86} the emblem of life she stands erect clad -in a panther-skin; her feathered crown sometimes has a pair of horns at -the base. She is called lady of heaven, or of the world, daughter of -the sun, mother, etc., and is often paired with Astarte. - -ASTARTE found a place in several Egyptian temples. We also hear of her -prophets, and a fragmentary myth apparently describes how, as daughter -of Ptah, she entered the pantheon of Memphis. Here, as we learn from -another text, Egyptian and foreign deities met together, and among the -latter is a Baalath Saphun (B. of the North?), whose male counterpart -appears in Baal-Zephon near the Red Sea (Ex. xiv. 2) and the equivalent -Baal-Sapun, one of the gods of king Baal (see p. 72). The Egyptians -depict Astarte with the head of a lioness, driving her quadriga over -the foe; and as goddess of war she is 'mistress of horses and lady of -chariots.' But that both Anath and Astarte were also dissolute -goddesses is recognised in a text which ascribes their creation to Set. -The prevalence of the cult of the goddess of love and war in Palestine -is well known from the references in the Old Testament to Ashtoreth (an -intentional perversion to suggest _b[=o]sheth_ 'shame'), from the -place-names, and from the plaques which {87} indicate numerous minor -local types (p. 29). In the Amarna tablets Astarte (or rather the -Babylonian Ishtar) coalesces with ASHIRTA who is sometimes written in -the plural (Ashrati). Like the place-names Anathoth (the Anaths) and -Ashtaroth (the Astartes), the different conceptions of the goddess in -all her local forms seem to be combined in one term. Ashirta appears -to have been essentially the goddess of the west. In a text of the -First Babylonian Dynasty she is paired with Ramman as 'bride of the -king of heaven, lady of exuberance (or vigour) and splendour'; later, -she is called the consort of the 'lord of the mountain,' an appellative -corresponding to the Baal of Lebanon. In old Arabia she was the wife -of the moon-god, and the masculine form Ashir, on cuneiform Cappadocian -tablets of our period, seems to be no other than the great god Ashur -himself. Her name cannot be severed from the _Ash[=e]rah_, but it is -not clear whether it was transferred to or derived from the object of -cult (see p. 26). The intricacy of the history of the divine-names -will be understood when the Assyrian equivalent of Beth (house of) -El -becomes the name of a deity, or when the plural of Ishtar is used of -goddesses in general, or when Resheph (above) in Hebrew denotes a -spark, {88} flame, or fire-bolt. But the career of the goddess of love -and war is even more complicated. The phonetic equivalent of Ishtar in -old Arabia was a god (so perhaps also in Moab, ninth century), and -Ishtar herself appears in Assyria with a beard and is likened to the -god Ashur, thus finding a later parallel in the bearded Aphrodite -(Astarte, Venus) of Cyprus. - -The sex of the sun-deity SHAMASH is equally confusing, for, although he -was lord of heaven (p. 73), and kings of Egypt and the Hittites -identified themselves with him, the deity was female in old Arabia, -among earlier Hittite groups, and probably once, also, in Palestine and -Syria.[1] Place-names compounded with Shemesh attest the prevalence of -the deity, and around the district of Gezer lie Beth-Shemesh and the -stories of Samson (sun) wherein solar elements have been recognised. -Among pastoral and agricultural peoples, however, the moon is more -important. To the prominence of new-moon festivals and the probable -connection between the lunar body and the name Jericho we must add the -moon-god SIN, in Sinai and the desert of Sin {89} in the south of -Palestine, and in the north at Harran, where his worship survived to -the Christian era. At Hamath, in N. Syria, about 800 B.C., Shamash and -the moon-god find a place by the side of the supreme 'Baal of heaven.' -Later, at Nerab near Aleppo the moon-god is associated with his wife -_N-k-l_ (Nin-gal 'the great lady'), Shamash, and Nusku (fire-god, -messenger of Bel). Specific Assyrian influence might be expected at -this date, but the consort's name appears in an Egyptian magical text, -not later than the Twentieth Dynasty, as the wife of 'the high god' -(here, the Sun?).[2] - - -[1] H. Winckler, _Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft_ -(Berlin, 1907), No. 35, p. 53; _id._, Amarna Tablets, No. 208, 1. 22 -(Knudtzon, No. 323). - -[2] A. H. Gardiner, _Zeit. f. Aeg. Spr._, xliii. p. 97. - - -Quite as prominent as the sun was the weather-god, god of storm, -lightning and thunder. Known as Teshub (p. 70), Hadad, Ramman (comp. -the Biblical Rimmon), Adad, Dad, Bir, etc., the form ADDU, which was -recognised as the god's 'Amorite' designation, is adopted here in -preference to the more familiar Aramaean HADAD. This is supported by -the spelling of the name of Rib-Addi, king of Byblos. The interchange -of Baal and Addu in certain names in the Amarna letters shows that Addu -could naturally be called Baal, and to the Egyptians he was apparently -_the_ Baal. The importance of {90} the weather-god in the religion of -agricultural and pastoral peoples may be illustrated from one of -Khammurabi's curses: 'May Adad, lord of abundance, regent of heaven and -earth, my helper, deprive him (_i.e._ the disobedient) of the rain from -heaven and the water-floods from the springs; may he bring his land to -destruction through want and hunger; may he break loose furiously over -his city and turn his land into the heap left by a storm.' The gifts -of Addu preserved men from dearth and starvation; a too plenteous -supply brought flood and ruin. Thus the god had a twofold aspect, and -his thunder in the heavens, his fiery darts, in fact the destructive -side of his character made him an appropriate war-god. This aspect of -the nature-deity was especially cultivated by warlike peoples. - -Babylonian and Hittite sculptures depict the god brandishing a hammer -with his right hand, while the left holds up a triad of -lightning-flashes or thunder-bolts. On an inscription from North Syria -(eighth century) Hadad has horns, and with this agrees the association -of the bull with the god. Like all predominant gods he includes a -variety of attributes, and we may conjecture that the small heads of -bulls unearthed by the excavations are connected with his worship (p. -32). {91} The inscription in question (see also p. 57) places Hadad at -the head of a small pantheon with El, Resheph, R-k-b--el (steed, -chariot, or charioteer of El) and Shamash. In the Amarna letters one -writer calls the king of Egypt his Addu, and Abimelech of Tyre, who -likens him to both Shamash and Addu, addresses him as 'he who gives his -thunder in the heavens like Addu.' - -Together with this combination it is to be noticed that while -Khammurabi 'the Sun of Babylonia' calls himself the mighty bull who -gores the enemy, old Egyptian scenes actually represent 'the strong -bull' breaking down fortresses with its horns or expelling the -inhabitants. The Pharaoh was symbolised by the bull, and even the -Egyptian sun-god is styled 'the bull of the gods.' The animal is -doubtless typical of generative force and of strength, while the union -of the attributes of Shamash and Addu are intelligible since to the sun -and weather man owed the necessaries of life. It is noteworthy that -the two deities are prominent in the Hittite treaty, where each is -called 'lord of heaven' (p. 73), and, as early as the nineteenth -century, the Assyrian compound-name Shamshi-Adad indicates that they -could be easily combined. The name is borne by two kings; one a -'priest-king' {92} of the god Ashur, the other a son of Ishme-Dagan -('D. hears'). - -Dagan (DAGON) has left his traces in place-names and in the ruler, -'Dagan is strong' (Amarna letters). The deity seems to have been of -Assyrian or Mesopotamian rather than of Babylonian origin. It is -possible that he was a corn-god. The Babylonian NEBO, the 'teacher,' -can only be recovered from place-names in Judah and Moab. NINIB -(native form is uncertain), both sun- and war-god, appears in the -Amarna letters in two place-names (one in the vicinity of Jerusalem), -and in the personal-name 'Servant of Ninib.' The swine was sacred to -Ninib, as also to Tammuz and the Phoenician Adonis; but neither of the -latter can be traced in our period. - -SHALEM, in Jeru-salem (Uru-salim in the Amarna letters), has been -identified (on the analogy of Jeru-el) with a god who is known later in -Phoenicia, Assyria, and North Arabia, and who is perhaps combined with -Resheph on an Egyptian stele of our period. He was perhaps identified -with Ninib. The antiquity of GAD, the deity of fortune, can be assumed -from place-names. In a disguised form the goddess, 'Fortune' was the -guardian-deity of the cities in the Greek age, and allusion is made in -the Talmud to the couch {93} reserved for the 'luck of the house.' A -deified 'Righteousness' (_sedek_) has been inferred from a name in the -Amarna age; it would find a parallel in 'Right' and 'Integrity' the -sons of the Assyrian god Sham ash, and both 'Integrity' and -'Righteousness' find a place in the Phoenician cosmogony which, in -spite of its late dress, preserves many old features which recur in -Hebrew myths. - -The Babylonian NERGAL, god of war, burning heat and pestilence, and -ruler of Hades, the deity with whom was identified Saturn (and also -Mars), should find a place in the pantheon. A seal from Taanach -describes its owner as 'servant of Nergal' (p. 110), and the king of -Cyprus reports to Egypt the desolation caused by the god's hand. Even -as late as the third century B.C. we hear of a Phoenician who was his -high-priest. As a solar fire-god he had in the west the name Sharrab -or Sharraph with which the familiar Seraph may be identified. The god -El of later Phoenician myth (the Greek Kronos; Saturn) was depicted -with six-wings like the Seraphim. He was the god to whom children were -sacrificed, whence the story that he had set the example by killing his -own. If infants had been slain to Sharrab in Palestine, this would be -in harmony with Nergal's character, and it may {94} be noticed that -Nusku, who is sometimes associated with Nergal, was symbolised by a -lamp (cp. above, p. 41). In the Old Testament the grim rites belong to -Molech (properly Melek), but there are independent reasons for the view -that the latter was the proper-name of the Phoenician El.[3] However -this may be, the name MELEK, although really an appellative ('king'), -passes over into a true proper-name; but it is not clear whether this -is the case in our period where we meet with the personal names -'servant of Melek' (or, the king), 'El is Melek,' etc. - - -[3] M.-J. Lagrange, _Etudes sur les Rel. Semitiques_, p. 107 _sq._ - - -It is uncertain whether there is external evidence for the name YAHWEH -(Jehovah), the national God of the Israelites. Unambiguous examples -outside Palestine appear in North Syria in the eighth century in the -form Yau (Yahu), which in one name interchanges with El. Cuneiform -evidence for the name in the First Babylonian Dynasty has been adduced, -and in the abbreviated Ya it possibly occurs in 'house of Ya,' a -Palestinian town taken by Thutmose III. Further, in Akhi-yami (or, -yawi), the author of a cuneiform tablet from Taanach, an identification -with Akhiyah (the Biblical Ahijah) is not improbable, although other -explanations are possible. While {95} other writers salute Ishtar (or -Astarte)-Washur, the governor of Taanach, with: May Addu, or may the -gods preserve thy life, Ahijah (?) invokes 'the lord of the gods.' In -the course of his letter he asks whether there is still lamentation for -the lost cities or have they been recovered, and continues: 'there is -over my head some one (who is) over the cities; see, now, whether he -will do good with thee; further, if he shows anger, they will be -confounded, and the victory will be mighty.' It is not clear whether -these words refer to the divine Pharaoh or to a deity, the supreme god -whom he invokes. If the latter view be correct, it is difficult to -decide whether the reference be to the Sun-god, patronised by the -ruling powers (whether Egyptian or Hittite), or the great Addu who -would be quite in keeping with the allusions to war and victory. Some, -however, would recognise a Providence, or, from their interpretation of -the writer's name, Yahweh himself. But a single tablet has little -evidential value and we can merely mention the possibilities. - -The preceding paragraphs touch only the fringe of an important -subject--the Palestinian pantheon in and after the Amarna age. -Egyptian supremacy involved the recognition of Amon-Re, but it is -difficult to determine to what extent this deity {96} differed from the -Palestinian Shamash. Excavations illustrate the result of intercourse, -especially in the southern part of the land, but the numerous -characteristic scarabs, and the representations of Osiris, Isis, Ptah, -Sebek, Anubis, and the ever-popular Bes (with moulds), need have no -significance for the gods of Palestine. They may not always be -specifically Egyptian; Bes, for example, appears to be of non-Egyptian -ancestry. Further, a number of the names in the Amarna letters are -neither Egyptian nor Semitic, but of northern origin, and the name of -the king of Jerusalem, 'servant of Khiba,' introduces a goddess of the -earlier 'Hittite' peoples whose influence upon Palestine is to be -inferred upon other grounds.[4] - - -[4] H. Winckler (_Mittheil._, No. 35), p. 48. - - -In Egypt, Babylonia and Assyria numerous deities of varying rank were -venerated by the people. Bes, himself, in spite of his subordinate -position in the pantheon was a favourite among all Egyptians outside -the more elevated classes. The popular beings, like the popular -religious ideas, are not to be found in royal inscriptions or -temple-hymns. The state and the priesthood often refused to recognise -them, but they are to be found not rarely among the {97} personal names -of ordinary individuals. This probably holds true also of Palestine, -and consequently we must not suppose that the influence of foreigners -upon the _popular_ cults of the land is to be ignored or that the more -honourable names which we have been noticing were the sole claimants to -the worship of the peasantry.[5] - - -[5] Comp. M. Jastrow, _Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens_, i. p. 164 -_sq._; H. P. Smith, 'Theophorous Proper Names in the Old Testament,' in -_O. T. and Semitic Studies in memory of William Rainey Harper_, i. -_pp._ 35-64 (Chicago, 1908). - - - - -{98} - -CHAPTER VIII - -CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT--CONCLUSION - -+Miscellaneous Ideas.+--Although the native literature of our period -consists almost entirely of the begging-letters and reports in the -Amarna Tablets, yet even from the language addressed to the human -representative of the Sun-God, we may gain some idea of the -intellectual environment, some hints, it may be, suggestive of the -religious thought of the age.[1] The Egyptian monarch is addressed not -only as king of lands, king of battle but as a god (pp. 63, 78). His -commands are as powerful as the Sun (Shamash) in Heaven; he is like the -Sun which rises over the lands every day, and, as for the rising of the -Sun in Heaven, so the writers await the words which come from his -mouth. They keep the king's command day and night and acknowledge that -the king will curse {99} the man who does not serve him. He who -hearkens not to the word of the king, his lord, his city and house go -to ruin, and his name will not be in the land for ever; but (says the -writer, the king of Tyre) the servant who hearkens to his lord, his -city and house flourish, and his name is unto eternity, 'for thou art -the Sun which rises over me and the wall of bronze which is lifted up -for me.' - - -[1] It need hardly be remarked that the paragraphs classifying the more -interesting ideas in the letters from Palestine and Syria have been -made as literal as possible. - - -The vassals do obeisance seven and seven times; they prostrate -themselves upon breast and back. (Both attitudes are illustrated in -the rather later tomb of Harmheb.) They call themselves the throne on -which the king sits, his footstool, the dust of his feet and of the -soles of his sandals. They are the ground upon which he treads, the -dirt over which he walks; his yoke is upon their neck and they bear it. -'Whether we mount up to heaven or descend to earth, our head is still -in your hand,' writes one, and he makes the following striking -acknowledgement: 'I look here and I look there and there is no light, -but I look to my lord the king and there is light; and though a brick -move away from under its coping, I will not move away from under the -feet of my lord.' These phrases, which were evidently popular, are -used by two {100} other writers. A vassal thus declares his fidelity: -'I have not sinned in aught against the king my lord, I have not -sinned; may the lord my king know his evil-doers.' Another seeks the -way to his lord, and from his lord deserts not. A confident vassal -prays the king not to take anything to heart; let not thy heart be -pained, he writes. One writer asks if he is a dog that he should not -obey the royal commands, and a second emphasises his remarks by a -repetition of the oath 'as the king, my lord, liveth.' - -The king of Byblos, who calls his city the king's faithful handmaid, -complains of a deed against his city which had not been done since -eternity; the dogs (_i.e._ his adversaries) act after their hearts and -cause the king's cities to go up in smoke. The fields are like a wife -without a husband through lack of sustenance. He himself is caught -like a bird in a cage. Again, he is old and stricken with disease; the -gods of Byblos are enraged, and the illness is very severe, but, he -continues, 'I have opened (confessed) my sins to the gods.' He -declares that since the day he received favour from the king his heart -had not changed, his face is (fixed) to serve him; if the king's heart -is for his city (or, elsewhere, if it is on his heart) let him send -help. - -{101} - -The vassals write that they stretch out their hand to the king's feet, -or pray that the king may extend his hand unto them. The citizens of -Tunip assert: 'thy city weeps and its tears flow; there is no seizing -of the hand (help) for us.' The ruler of Beirut trusts that the royal -troops may shatter the heads of the king's enemies, while his servant's -eyes gaze (_i.e._ with pleasure) upon the king's life. The elders of a -city entreat: 'May the king our lord hearken to the words of his true -servants, and give a present to his servants, while our enemies look on -and eat the dust; let not the king's breath depart from us.' The king -is the breath of his vassals' lives; they rejoice when it reaches them, -for without it they cannot live. The thought was a common one, and in -an Egyptian text the defeated Hittites are represented as saying to -Ramses II. 'in praising the Good God (_i.e._ the king) "Give to us the -breath that thou givest, lo, we are under thy sandals."' Equally -interesting are the words of the prince of Sidon on the receipt of -tidings from the king, 'my heart rejoiced, my head was uplifted and my -eyes shone.' - -Finally, the king of Jerusalem in his letters to his god, his Sun, -protests that one has slandered him (_lit._ eaten the pieces). While -other writers {102} disclaim guilt or sin (_khitu_), _i.e._ rebellion, -he asserts that he has been loyal (_saduk_) in his dealings. He -acknowledges that neither his father nor his mother appointed him in -his place, the king's strong arm has set him up in his father's house, -he has 'put his name upon Jerusalem for ever,' therefore he cannot -abandon its territory. Indeed, his recognition of Pharaoh's supremacy -is unique, and in one of his communications to the king his Sun, after -the usual obeisance ('at the feet of my lord, seven times and seven -times I fall'), he declares that his lord 'has put his name upon the -East and upon the West.' - - -+The Underlying Identity of Thought+ throughout the old Oriental world -shows itself alike in Egyptian texts and in Hittite tablets from -Boghaz-keui. The literature of Babylonia, Assyria, and often, too, of -Egypt so frequently has analogies and parallels in the Old Testament, -that we may assume that similar points of contact would be found, had -we some of the religious writings of the Palestine of our period. -Though we do not know how the Palestinian addressed his gods, the -evidence whether direct or indirect partially enables us to fill the -gap. Even the simplicity and poverty of Oriental pastoral life have -never {103} been accompanied by a corresponding inferiority of -expression or dearth of religious reflection. An unbiased examination -of the external religious literature shows the position which the -deities held in the thoughts of their groups of worshippers. Religion -was quite part of life, and the same fundamental conceptions underlay -the manifold social-religious systems whether tribal or monarchical. -To their head each group looked for all the gifts of nature and also -for protection and succour; him they were loyally prepared to sustain, -and they expected a corresponding loyalty on his part. - -A topical example of the identity of thought is furnished by a hymn of -the monotheist Ikhnaton in honour of Aton. The deities are largely -what circumstances make them; the extension of Egypt's empire extended -the supremacy of the national-god, the situation encouraged the -conception of a world-god. Now, this domesticated and somewhat weak -monarch, holding himself aloof from politics, endeavoured to found a -cult of the sun-disc which was characteristically devoid of the usual -association of the sun with the destructive aspect of the storm- or -weather-god. Like other individual faiths, it was stamped with a -profound spirit of humanity. Ikhnaton's deity {104} was the sole god, -beside whom there was no other; the beginning of life, the creator of -'the countries of Syria, Nubia, the land of Egypt'; the maker of all -mankind diverse in speech, and of all that is upon the earth and on -high. It was a despotic and ill-timed monotheism. It introduced a -cult which was too far from ordinary worship, one which threatened to -overthrow the old-established deities. What was probably more -important was the fact that the deity had not the forceful and -dominating attributes of the old sun-god. He was not a god of war, -and, from the current standpoint, would be of no avail in the political -storms which were beating upon the Egyptian empire in Asia. But this -remarkable attempt at a reform claims attention especially because the -cult was as little upon traditional and specifically Egyptian lines as -was the idea of the beneficent life-giving sun whose rays were not -confined to Egypt alone. As Professor Breasted has observed, the hymn -is especially interesting for its similarity in thought and sequence -with the late Psalm civ. There is no evidence, however, that any -effort was made to spread Ikhnaton's cult over the Egyptian dominions -in Western Asia, and the possibility of Asiatic influence upon the -shaping of the cult cannot be altogether excluded. We quote a {105} -few lines from Professor Breasted's translation to illustrate -Ikhnaton's conceptions of the sun-god, whose worship was one of the -most popular in Babylonia and Assyria, who, indeed, was regarded there -not merely as an illuminator but as a supreme and righteous judge, the -god of truth and justice. - - 'When thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven, - Thou fillest every land with thy beauty. - * * * * * - When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven, - The world is in darkness like the dead. - * * * * * - Bright is the earth when thou risest in the horizon, - When thou shinest as Aton by day. - The darkness is banished, when thou sendest forth thy rays. - * * * * * - How manifold are all thy works, - They are hidden from before us, - O thou sole god, whose powers no other possesseth, - Thou didst create the earth according to thy desire, - While thou wast alone. - * * * * * - The world is in thy hand, - Even as thou hast made them. - When thou hast risen, they live. - When thou settest, they die. - For thou art duration, beyond thy mere limbs, - By thee man liveth, - And their eyes look upon thy beauty, - Until thou settest.'[2] - - -[2] See further the appreciative account of the reform by J. H. -Breasted, _History of Egypt_, _pp._ 355-378. - - -{106} - -+The Influence of Babylonia.+--The fact that Palestine used the script -and language of Babylonia suggests that it shared other features of its -culture. Among the Amarna Tablets were Babylonian mythological texts -which had been carefully studied or used for reading-exercises in -Egypt. One, the myth of Eresh-ki-gal and Nergal, narrating the descent -of the latter into Hades, recalls the story of Persephone. Another, -the myth of Adapa, tells how the hero who refused the food and water of -life in heaven was denied the gift of immortality. It is inconceivable -that Palestinian speculation did not turn to the mysteries of life and -death, or that a people should acknowledge Nergal--or any other -deity--without some formal beliefs. May we assume, therefore, that -Palestinian thought was pre-eminently Babylonian? The question is as -important for our period as for the Old Testament, and, in the absence -of texts wherewith to institute a comparison, we conclude with a brief -account of the bearing of the available evidence upon the problem. - -The formulated beliefs, the theology, and the mythology which all races -possess to some degree or other have grown up from that primitive -philosophy of man which seeks to explain all that he saw about him. -The old question: {107} 'What mean ye by this service?' (Exod. xii. 26) -is typical of the inquiry which ritual (and indeed all other) acts -invariably demand; the danger lies in our assuming that the proffered -explanations necessarily describe their origin, and in confusing the -essential elements with those which are accidental and secondary. The -excavations at Gezer suggest an illustration. What rites were -practised in its caves or in the great tunnel which leads to the -subterranean spring cannot be asserted, but there is a living tradition -that the waters of the flood burst forth in the neighbourhood. Similar -flood-stories can be localised elsewhere. In Hierapolis water was -poured into a chasm below the sanctuary twice a year, and according to -the Pseudo-Lucian it was here that the waters of Deucalion's flood were -absorbed--hence the rite! But Melito reports that water was emptied -into a well in the city in order to subdue a subterranean -demon--evidently some earlier chthonic deity. Similar water-rites were -known in Palestine and Syria as a 'descent' or _Yer[=i]d_, and it may -be presumed that an echo of the term survives in _'Ain Yerdeh_ at the -foot of Gezer. We do not reach the root of the matter, but we can -notice the diverse explanations of the same rite (which probably -originated in a charm {108} to procure rain), the ubiquity of certain -traditions, their persistence, and the ease with which they adjust -themselves. Further, it is instructive to observe how the rite has -been shaped in the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles and has been dressed in -accordance with specific religious beliefs (cp. Zech. xiv. 16 _sq._). - -Some archaeological details may next be summarised. An altar at -Taanach, with protuberances suggestive of horns, bore in bold relief -winged animals with human faces, lions, a tree with a goat on either -side, and a small human figure clutching a serpent. Though it may -belong to the eighth or seventh century, similar scenes recur upon -seals and other objects of all dates. Animals (especially of the deer -or gazelle kind) are common, either alone or in conjunction with trees -or men. Man-headed bulls with wings, sphinxes, and scenes of combat -also appear. The ubiquitous myth of the dragon-slayer finds a parallel -in the Egyptian scene of a foreign god (Sutekh) piercing the serpent -with his spear, or in the later grandiose representations of the sturdy -boy at Petra who grips the dragon.[3] One {109} seal shows a -seven-branched tree grasped by two men with the sun and moon on one -side and two stags on the other. In a second, a human figure stands -before a kind of pillar which is surmounted by an eight-rayed star. A -third had been impressed upon a tablet from Gezer which bore nineteen -distinct objects, including sun, moon, star, serpent, fish, crab, -animals, etc. Some of the signs were at once recognised as zodiacal, -and less elaborate specimens from Gezer and Megiddo furnish parallels. -But inscribed Babylonian boundary-stones of our period bear analogous -symbols; they are the emblems of the deities whose powers are thus -invoked by the inscription should the land-mark be damaged or removed. -The more gods, the more powerful the charm. - - -[3] The former is given by F. L. Griffith, _Proceedings of the Society -of Biblical Archaeology_, xvi. p. 87, the latter by A. Jeremias, _Alte -Test._, etc., p. 456 _sqq._, fig. 151. - - -Such objects with all their Babylonian associations may in certain -cases have been imported or copied from foreign originals; the scenes -could have been absolutely meaningless or even subject to a new -interpretation. But it is as difficult to treat every apparently -foreign object as contrary to Palestinian ideas, as it is to determine -how sacrificial and other scenes would otherwise have been depicted. -Religion found its expression in art; art was the ally of idolatry, and -the later uncompromising attitude of Judaism towards {110} display of -artistic meaning implies that the current symbolism, etc., reflected -intelligible religious conceptions. But it does not follow that these -conceptions were everywhere identical. - -Again, when a scimitar from a tomb at Gezer resembles that which a -priest holds in a sacrificial scene upon a Gezer seal, we may suppose -that the seal represents a familiar Palestinian ceremony. But the same -type of weapon is found in Assyria and Egypt in the age of the -Nineteenth Dynasty, and it is therefore impossible to treat it or the -scene as _distinctively_ Palestinian. The ubiquity of the -dragon-conflict, too, warns us that the same underlying motive will -present itself in a great variety of external shapes, and it is -interesting to find that the idea of the slayer as a _child_ actually -points away from Babylonia. Features which find their only parallel in -the accumulation of Babylonian evidence are not inevitably of -Babylonian origin. Our land was exposed to diverse influences, an -illustration of which is afforded by certain seals with cuneiform -characters. The owner of one is styled a servant of Nergal (see p. -93); it bears Egyptian symbols (those of life and beauty), and a scene -of adoration, partly Egyptian and partly Babylonian in treatment. It -has been ascribed to the First Dynasty of Babylon. Later {111} come -the seals of the Sidonian Addumu 'beloved of the gods (?)' and his son; -on one is an Egyptianised representation of Set, Horus, and Resheph. -Yet another combines two conventional scenes, the priest leading a -worshipper before a deity (Babylonian), a king slaying a kneeling enemy -(Egyptian).[4] In the presence of such fusion the problem becomes more -complex. If, in the Greek age, it is found that Adonis and Osiris or -Astarte of Byblos and Isis resembled each other so closely that it was -sometimes difficult to determine which deity was being celebrated, the -relation between the Baalath of Byblos and Hathor, or between Shamash -and Amon-Re could have been equally embarrassing in our period. In -fact, as Palestine continues to be brought into line with other lands -the task of determining _specific_ external influences becomes more -intricate. - - -[4] See (_a_), Sellin, _Tell Ta'annek_, fig. 22, _pp._ 27 _sq._, 105 -(Vincent, _Canaan_, fig. 117, p. 170 _sq._); (_b_) Winckler, -_Altorient. Forschungen_, iii. p. 177 _sq._; and (_c_) E. J. Pilcher, -_Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, xxiii. p. 362. - - -Finally, whatever was the true effect of the early Babylonian -supremacy, both Palestine and Syria, when not controlled by Egypt, were -influenced by the northern power of Mitanni and by the Hittites who -preserve distinctive features {112} of their own. According to -Professor Sayce most of the seals we have been noticing are Syrian -modifications of the Babylonian type, and 'the more strictly -archaeological evidence of Babylonian influence upon Canaan is -extraordinarily scanty.'[5] It is obvious that one must allow for the -direct influence exerted upon the religious conditions from a quarter -of which very little is known as yet. The fact that Babylonian was -used in Palestine and among the Hittite peoples clearly does not allow -sweeping inferences. Indeed, so far from the script or language having -been imposed from without, the people of Mitanni apparently borrowed -the cuneiform script and adapted it to their own language; while, in -the Amarna Tablets, the native tongue of Palestine and Syria has left a -distinct impress upon the Babylonian.[6] This individuality repeats -itself in Palestinian pottery, which has neither originality of concept -nor fertility of resource. But it has vigour and vitality, and has not -developed into the superior art with which it came into contact. In -general the archaeological evidence shows very {113} clearly that -Palestine was not absorbed by Babylonian culture, still less by that of -Egypt.[7] - - -[5] A. H. Sayce, _Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions_ (London, -1907), _pp._ 151 _sq._ - -[6] For Mitanni, see Sayce, _op. cit._, p. 167; and for the dialect of -the Amarna letters, Zimmern, _Keilinschr. u. d. Alte Test._, p. 651. - -[7] Cp. Vincent, _op. cit._, p. 341 (also p. 439 and note 1). - - -+Conclusion.+--Recent research gives us a glimpse of the Religion of -Ancient Palestine which becomes more distinct as it is found to be in -general harmony with Oriental religions. The picture, as we see it, is -neither Egyptian nor Babylonian, and if the latter colours it, this was -inevitable, partly through the still obscure relations under the First -Babylonian Dynasty, partly (though indirectly) through the influence of -the northern peoples, and again partly because both (as opposed to -Egypt) are Semitic. The picture, nevertheless, has distinctive traits -of its own. By the side of sacred places of cult and rites often cruel -and gross appear those indications of loftier elements which prove that -we have no mere inchoate nature-worship. This co-existence need cause -no surprise. The institutions which combine to make civilisation do -not necessarily move at the same rate or in parallel lines, either with -each other or with the progress of religious thought. A variety of -stages of development--such as can be observed in a single province of -modern India--could have been easily found amid {114} conflicting -political groups, or in the presence of foreign mercenaries or -settlers. One may also assume that then, as now, there were the usual -contrasts between the exposed sea-ports and the small inland townships, -between the aristocracy and the peasantry, between the settled -agriculturists and the roaming sons of the desert. - -The fundamental religious conceptions have from time to time been -elevated and ennobled by enlightened minds; but what European culture -was unable to change in the age of Greek and Roman supremacy, -influences of Oriental origin could not expel. Official cults, -iconoclastic reforms, new positive religions have left the background -substantially unaltered, and the old canvas still shows through the -coatings it has received. - -Our evidence has taken us down through the age of Egyptian supremacy, -which can be traced to the time of Ramses III., if not to the days of -Wenamon and Zakarbaal (1100 B.C.). With the decay of Egypt we reach -the close of a period which corresponds broadly to that wherein -Israelite history has placed the Patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, and the -Judges. The picture which the external sources furnish was not effaced -at a stroke. But the transformation from Egypt's suzerainty to an -independent Israelite monarchy, {115} from the polytheism of the Amarna -age to the recognition of a single God does not belong to these pages. -The rise of Yahweh as the national God, and the development of -conceptions regarding his nature must be sought in the native Israelite -records themselves, and in such external evidence as the future may -produce. Our task is finished when we point out that the external -(archaeological) evidence does not reveal that hiatus which would have -ensued had there been a dislocation of earlier conditions by invading -Israelite tribes; earlier forms are simply developed, the evolution is -a progressive one.[8] - - -[8] Cp. R. A. S. Macalister, 'Excavation of Gezer,' _Quarterly -Statements_, 1904, p. 123; 1907, p. 203; Sellin, _op. cit._, p. 102; -_id._, _Der Ertrag der Ausgrabungen in Orient fuer die Erkenntnis der -Entwicklung der Religion Israels_ (Leipzig, 1905), _pp._ 33, 36 _sq._, -39 _sq._, see, in general, Vincent, _op. cit._, _pp._ 19 _sq._, 147 -_sqq._, 199-204, 225, 345, 352 _sq._, 463 _sq._, and S. A. Cook, -_English Historical Review_, 1908, _pp._ 325 _sq._ - - - - -{116} - -PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND WORKS OF REFERENCE - -For the Excavations: R. A. S. Macalister, 'Reports on the Excavation of -Gezer,' in the _Quarterly Statements_ of the Palestine Exploration Fund -(October 1902-October 1905; July 1907-July 1908); _id._, _Bible -Side-lights from the Mound of Gezer_ (London, 1906, numerous -illustrations); Ernst Sellin, 'Tell Ta'annek,' in the _Denkschriften_ -of the Vienna Academy (1904-5); W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in -Sinai_ (London, 1906); Hugues Vincent, _Canaan d'apres l'Exploration -Recente_ (Paris, 1907; a valuable account, from the archaeological -standpoint, of the results of excavation contained in the above works -and elsewhere); G. Schumacher, _Tell el-Mutesellim_ (Leipzig, 1908), -vol. i., text and plates. - -Evidence from Babylonian or Assyrian Texts: H. Winckler, _The -Tell-el-Amarna Tablets_ (London, 1896); new edition by J. A. Knudtzon, -_Die El-Amarna-Tafeln_ (Leipzig, 1907-8; Parts i.-x.); H. Zimmern, _Die -Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_ (Berlin, 1903; pp. 345-643); A. -Jeremias, _Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients_ (Leipzig, -1906); M. Jastrow, _Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens_ (Giessen, -1905--). - -Egyptian Sources: W. M. Mueller, _Asien und Europa nach Alt-aegyptischen -Denkmaelern_ (Leipzig, 1893); {117} J. H. Breasted, _History of Egypt_ -(London, 1906); _id._, _Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents_ -(1906-7); _Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache_, etc. etc. - -Of general works, W. R. Smith, _Lectures on the Religion of the -Semites: the Fundamental Institutions_ (London, 1894), is naturally -indispensable. Important, also, are G. A. Barton, _A Sketch of Semitic -Origins, Social and Religious_ (New York, 1902); Marie-Joseph Lagrange, -_Etudes sur les Religions Semitiques_ (Paris, 1905); J. G. Frazer, -_Adonis, Attis, and Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental -Religion_ (London, 1907). For Modern Semitic Religion there is a large -mass of scattered evidence; the most illuminating works are those of C. -M. Doughty, _Arabia Deserta_ (Cambridge, 1888); S. I. Curtiss, -_Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_ (London, 1902); A. Jaussen, -_Coutumes des Arabes au Pays de Moab_ (Paris, 1908). For the history -of the period may be consulted the works of G. Maspero (_Histoire -Ancienne_; Paris, 1904, etc.), or the popular account, with typical -illustrations, by G. Cormack, _History of Palestine in Early Times_ -(forthcoming). - -For those unacquainted with modern comparative study in the field of -religion, one of the most serviceable introductory books is J. A. -Macculloch's _Comparative Theology_ (Churchman's Library, London, 1902). - - - - -{118} - -CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE - -The following dates are based upon the latest researches, but are to be -regarded as provisional. Some Biblical dates are added for comparison, -those marked with an asterisk follow the margin of the Authorised -Version. - - - FIRST BABYLONIAN DYNASTY (the - 'Khammurabi age') between . . . . . . . . . . . . 2060-1800 B.C. - - TWELFTH EGYPTIAN DYNASTY, began about . . . . . . . 2000. - Abram enters Canaan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1921*. - Descent of Jacob into Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . 1706*. - Hyksos invasion of Egypt, about . . . . . . . . . . 1680. - - EIGHTEENTH EGYPTIAN DYNASTY . . . . . . . . . . . . 1580-1350. - Thutmose III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1500. - Exodus of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1491*. - Invasion of Palestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1451*. - Amenhotep III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411. - Amenhotep IV. (Ikhnaton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375. - - NINETEENTH EGYPTIAN DYNASTY . . . . . . . . . . . . 1350-1200. - Sety I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1320. - Ramses II. (? Pharaoh of the oppression, - Exod. i. 11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1310. - Merneptah (? Pharaoh of the Exodus; - defeats Israel in Palestine) . . . . . . . . . . . 1244. - - TWENTIETH EGYPTIAN DYNASTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200-1090. - Ramses III. (first mention of Philistines) . . . . . 1200-1169. - Ramses XII. (? age of Eli) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118. - Tiglath-pileser I., about . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100. - Saul, King of Israel (? 1025) . . . . . . . . . . . 1095*. - David, King of Judah (? 1010) . . . . . . . . . . . 1056*. - Solomon, about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970. - - - - -{119} - -INDEX - - -ADDU, weather-god, 79, 89 _sq._, 95. - -Adonis, 36, 47, 92, 111. - -Aegean isles, 6, 8. - -Agriculture, 7, 9 _sq._, 11, 33 _sq._, 88, 90. - -Allah, 21, 61, 68. - -Altar, 18 _sqq._, 27, 39, 108. - -Amarna tablets, 6 8, 10, 33, 63, 76, 78, 92, 96, 98 _sqq._, 106, 112, -etc. - -Amenhotep II., 44. - -Amenhotep III., 5 _sq._, 56, 70 _sq._, 81, 118. - -Amenhotep IV. _See_ Ikhnaton. - -Amon, the god, 54 _sq._, 61, 71, 74 _sqq._, 77 _sq._, 81, 95, 111. -_See_ Re. - -Amulets, 17, 32, 35, 38, 51 _sq._ - -Anath, goddess, 85. - -Ancestor-worship, 57 _sqq._ - -Animals, 22, 30 _sq._, 39_sq._, 43 _sqq._, 47 _sqq._, 50, 61, 85, 108 -_sq._ - -Animism, 60. - -Anointing, 14, 27, 42, 64, 76, 79. - -Anubis, 96. - -Anthropomorphism, 28, 49. - -Apollo, 23, 84. - -Arabia, 7, 87 _sq._, 92. - -Archaeology, 2, 7 _sq._, etc. - -Arts, 8 _sq._, 112 _sq._ - -_Ash[=e]rah_, 26, 87. - -Ashirat, Ashirta, goddess, 53, 87. - -Tell 'Ashtarah, 77, 81. - -Ashur, the god, 53, 87 _sq._, 92. - -Assyria, 5, 7, 39, 62, 78, 87 _sqq._, 92, 102. - -Astarte, 29 _sq._, 45, 49, 70, 73, 86 _sq._ - -Atargatis, 31. - -Aton, 103 _sqq._ - - -BAAL (title 'lord'), 66 _sq._ _See_ Heaven. - -Baal (proper name), 33, 84, 89. - -Baalath (title 'lady'), 66, 86. _See_ Byblos. - -Baal-Zephon, 86. - -Babylonia, 4 _sq._, 10, 30, 62, 70, 87, 90 _sqq._, 94, 102, 106 _sqq._, -110 _sqq._, 118. - -Bes, 96. - -Blood-revenge, 42. - -Bludan (near Damascus), 46. - -Broken offerings, 45 _sq._ - -Bull, 32, 90 _sq._ - -Burial, 15, 17 _sq._, 36 _sq._, 40. _See_ Dead. - -Byblos, 66, 74 _sq._, 83, 100. _See_ Zakarbaal. - - -CAMEL, 17, 45, 48. - -Cannibalism, 38. - -Carthage, 3, 27, 31, 34 _sq._, 39, 41, 43, 72. - -Caves, 15 _sq._, 19 _sq._, 24, 34, 38, 41, 46, 53, 107. - -Charms, 32, 38, 51 _sq._, 107, 109. - -Cobra, model of, 15, 48. - -Cremation, 34, 40, 56. - -Cup-marks, 14, 16, 20, 26, 35 _sq._ - -Curse, 72, 90, 98. - - -DAGON, 92. - -Dead, disposal of, 22, 34 _sqq._; in religion, 55 _sqq._, 58 _sqq._, 75. - -Demons, 50 _sq._, 64, 71. - -Derceto, 31. - -Dog, 22, 100. - -Dreams, 25, 52 _sq._ - - -EGYPT, historical sketch, 4 _sqq._; influence of national cult, 74 -_sqq._, 95 _sqq._; received Asiatic gods, 83 _sqq._, etc. - -El (title 'god'), 66 _sq._, 69. - -El (proper name), 91, 93 _sq._ - -Emblems, 32, 72, 109. - - -FETISH, 27, 32. - -Fish, 31 _sq._, 109. - -Foundation sacrifice, 39 _sq._, 43. - - -GAD (the god), 92. - -Gaza, 33. - -Gezer, 6, 8 _sq._, 13 _sqq._, 17, 19, 28, 30, 34, 37 _sqq._, 44 _sqq._, -76, 80, 88, 107, 109 _sq._ - -Gods. _See_ chaps. vi. and vii.; gods and animals, 47 _sqq._; demons -and spirits, 50, 64; kinship with men, 61 _sqq._; their human -representatives, 54 _sq._, 57, 59, 62 _sqq._; their vicissitudes, 66 -_sqq._; subordinate gods, 68, 69 _sq._, 96 _sq._; national gods, 64 -_sq._, 67 _sqq._; lord or king of gods, 74, 77, 84, 95. _See_ Saints. - -Gudea, 62. - - -HADAD, 57, 89 _sq._ _See_ Addu. - -Hathor, 26, 30, 70, 76, 81, 85, 111. - -Heaven, king or lord of (title), 66, 72 _sqq._, 84, 87 _sqq._, 91; lady -or mistress of, 70 _sq._, 73, 85 _sq._ - -Hittites, 5 _sq._, 71, 73 _sq._, 78, 81, 88, 90 _sq._, 96, 101 _sq._, -111 _sq._ - -Holy, sacred, 34, 46 _sqq._, 85. - -Horus, 111. - -Horus-eyes, 52. - -Human sacrifices, 38 _sqq._, 42 _sq._ - -Hyksos invasion, 4 _sq._, 82 _sq._, 118. - - -IDOLS, 17, 26, 28 _sq._, 31 _sq._, 49, 53 _sq._, 71 _sq._, 77. - -Ikhhaton, 5, 42, 103 _sqq._, 118. - -Infant burial or sacrifice, 15 _sqq._, 36 _sqq._, 93 _sq._ - -Ishtar, 70 _sq._, 87 _sq._, 95. - -Isis, 96, 111. - -Israel, Israelite religion, 1 _sqq._, 6, 8, 10 _sq._, 17, 33 _sq._, 36, -39 _sqq._, 42 _sq._, 47 _sq._, 64, 80, 86, 88, 94, 102, 104, 106, 108 -_sq._, 114 _sq._ - - -JEHOVAH. _See_ Yahweh. - -Jericho, 8, 10, 32, 88. - -Jerusalem, 5, 14, 20, 53, 92, 96, 101 _sq._ - -_Jinn_ (demon, _q.v._), 40, 54. - - -_K[=a]d[=e]sh_ ('holy'), 34, 85. - -Khammurabi, 62, 72, 78, 90 _sq._, 118. - -Khiba, 96. - -Khonsu, 71. - -Kings, divinity of, 59, 61 _sqq._, 78 _sq._, 98; their breath or -spirit, 101. - -Kinship with supernatural beings, 60 _sq._, 62 _sq._, 83 _sq._ - - -LACHISH, 7, 30. - -Lamps, 25, 35, 40 _sq._, 94. - -Lebanon, 28, 77, 87. - -Legends, 23, 49. _See_ Myths. - -Lion, 49, 84. - -Loyalty (_s-d-k_), 102 _sq._ - - -MAGIC, 34, 38, 51, 53, 55. - -Megiddo, 8, 17, 28, 31, 40, 49, 76, 79, 109. - -Melek (king), 94. - -Merneptah, 6, 33, 53, 118. - -Mesha, king of Moab, 11, 80. - -Messianic ideals, 64. - -Mitanni, 5, 70, 111 _sq._ - -Mohammedanism, 21 _sq._, 40, 68 _sq._ _See_ Palestine. - -Molech, 94. - -Monotheistic tendencies, 5, 23, 67 _sqq._, 72 _sq._, 81, 95 _sq._, 103 -_sq._ - -Moon god, 88 _sq._ - -Murder, 42. - -Myths, 49, 62, 86, 106 _sqq._, 110 _sq._ - - -NAME, 44, 57 _sq._, 60, 81, 99, 102. - -Nebo, 92. - -Nergal, 93, 106, 110. - -Nin-gal, 89. - -Ninib, 47, 92. - -Nusku, 89, 94. - - -OATH, 21, 100. - -Oracles, 25, 52 _sq._ - -Oriental thought, 11, 102, 113. - -Ornaments, 52. - -Osiris, 26, 38, 47, 75, 96. - - -PALESTINE, history, 4 _sqq._; land and people, 8 _sqq._; modern -religion, 21 _sqq._, 25, 37, 39 _sqq._, 43 _sq._, 46, 50, 53, 59, 68 -_sq._; its gods, chaps. vi. _sq._; thought, 98 _sqq._; chronology, 118. - -Petra, 19 _sq._; 108. - -Philistines, 7, 80. _See_ Dagon. - -Phoenician gods, 72, 92 _sq._ - -Pillars, 13 _sqq._, 26 _sq._, 109. - -Politics and religion, 64 _sq._, 67 _sq._, 72, 78, 80. - -Prophets, 54 _sq._, 86. - -Ptah, 53, 96. - - -RAM, 30. - -Ramman, 87, 89. - -Ramses II., 6, 44, 58, 62, 71, 73, 77, 81, 85, 101, 118. - -Ramses III., 7, 70, 77, 114, 118. - -'Ransom,' the, 43 _sq._ - -Re, 63, 71, 73. _See_ Amon. - -Resheph, 84 _sq._, 87, 92, 111. - - -SACRIFICE, 15 _sqq._, 22, 25, 27, 36, 38 _sqq._, 41 _sqq._, 79. - -es-S[=a]fy, 7, 17, 19, 30. - -Saints (welis, etc., in modern Palestine); virtually local gods, 21 -_sqq._, 24 _sq._; their vicissitudes, 23; resemble those of the gods, -67 _sq._; appear in animal form, 22, 50; physical fathers, 59, 61. -_See_ Gods, Tombs. - -Samson, 88. - -Sanctuaries, 13 _sqq._, 77; their persistence, 19 _sqq._; in modern -religion, 21 _sqq._, 24, 37. - -Seals, 93, 108 _sqq._ - -Sebek, 96. - -Serabit el-khadem (Sinaitic peninsula), 7, 15, 19, 26 _sq._, 32, 41, -45, 52, 69, 84. - -Seraph, 93. - -Serpents, 15, 32, 48, 108. - -Set. _See_ Sutekh. - -Sety I., 6, 58, 77, 118. - -Shalem, 92. - -Shamash, sun (-deity), 70 _sq._, 78 _sqq._, 88 _sqq._, 93, 95 _sq._, -98, 111. _See_ Sun. - -Shamshi-Adad, 91. - -Sin, 55, 100, 102. - -Sin (the god), 66, 88 _sq._ - -Sinuhe, 9, 35. - -Soul, the, 37, 41, 45, 57. - -Spirits, 50 _sqq._ - -Stones, 13 _sqq._, 26 _sq._, 32. - -Sun-god. _See_ Amon, King, Re, Shamash. - -Susa (in Elam), 38, 54. - -Sutekh (Set), title and proper-name (cp. Baal, El), 73 _sq._, 82, 84, -108, 111. - -Swine, 16, 48, 92. - -Symbols. _See_ Emblems. - - -TAANACH, 8, 18, 29, 40, 53, 93 _sq._, 108. - -Teshub, 70 _sq._, 89. - -Thought, Oriental, 11, 102 _sqq._ - -Thutmose III., 5, 9, 28, 77, 85, 94, 118. - -Tiglath-pileser I., 7, 81, 118. - -Tombs, 19, 21 _sqq._, 35 _sqq._, 46, 59. - -Trees, 25 _sq._ - -Tushratta (King of Mitanni), 56, 70 _sq._ - - -UNCLEAN, 47 _sq._ - - -VOWS, 46. - - -WAR, 22, 39, 72, 80, 82, 84 _sqq._, 90, 93, 95, 104. - -Water-rites, 107 _sq._ - -Weli (patron). _See_ Saint. - -Wenamon. _See_ Zakarbaal. - - -YAHWEH, 94 _sq._ _See_ Israel. - - -ZAKARBAAL, 54, 56, 74 _sq._, 78, 114. - -Tell Zakariya, 31. - - - - -Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty - at the Edinburgh University Press - - - - - - -RELIGIONS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. - - -ANIMISM. - -By EDWARD CLODD, Author of _The Story of Creation_. - - -PANTHEISM. - -By JAMES ALLANSON PICTON, Author of _The Religion of the Universe_. - - -THE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA. - -By Professor GILES, LL.D., Professor of Chinese in the University of -Cambridge. - - -THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GREECE. - -By JANE HARRISON, Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge, Author of -_Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion_. - - -ISLAM. - -By SYED AMEER ALI, M.A., C.I.E., late of H.M.'s High Court of -Judicature in Bengal, Author of _The Spirit of Islam_ and _The Ethics -of Islam_. - - -MAGIC AND FETISHISM. - -By Dr. A. C. HADDON, F.R.S., Lecturer on Ethnology at Cambridge -University. - - -THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT. - -By Professor W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, F.R.S. - - -THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. - -By THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, late of the British Museum. - - -BUDDHISM. 2 vols. - -By Professor RHYS DAVIDS, LL.D., late Secretary of The Royal Asiatic -Society. - - -HINDUISM. - -By Dr. L. D. BARNETT, of the Department of Oriental Printed Books and -MSS., British Museum. - - -SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION. - -By WILLIAM A. CRAIGIE, Joint Editor of the _Oxford English Dictionary_. - - -CELTIC RELIGION. - -By Professor ANWYL, Professor of Welsh at University College, -Aberystwyth. - - -THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. - -By CHARLES SQUIRE, Author of _The Mythology of the British Islands_. - - -JUDAISM. - -By ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, Lecturer in Talmudic Literature in Cambridge -University, Author of _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_. - - -SHINTO. By W. G. ASTON, C.M.G. - - -THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT MEXICO AND PERU. - -By LEWIS SPENCE, M.A. - - -THE RELIGION OF THE HEBREWS. - -By Professor JASTROW. - - - - - - -Transcriber's notes: - -Plus signs (+) denote +bolded+ characters. - -Underscores (_) denote _italics_. - -Sequences such as "[=e]" indicates macronized characters, -in this case, e-macron. - -Page numbers are shown in curly braces, e.g. "{4}". - -Footnote numbers are shown in square brackets, e.g. "[4]". - - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Ancient Palestine, by -Stanley A. 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