M12 David as heir of the old sacred kings of Jerusalem.

48 He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem (2

Samuel v. 5; 1 Kings ii. 11; 1 Chronicles xxix. 27).

49 Professor A. H. Sayce has argued that David’s original name was

Elhanan (2 Samuel xxi. 19 compared with xxiii. 24), and that the

name David, which he took at a later time, should be written Dod or

Dodo, “the Beloved One,” which according to Prof. Sayce was a name

for Tammuz (Adonis) in Southern Canaan, and was in particular

bestowed by the Jebusites of Jerusalem on their supreme deity. See

A. H. Sayce, _Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_

(London and Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 52-57. If he is right, his

conclusions would accord perfectly with those which I had reached

independently, and it would become probable that David only assumed

the name of David (Dod, Dodo) after the conquest of Jerusalem, and

for the purpose of identifying himself with the god of the city, who

had borne the same title from time immemorial. But on the whole it

seems more likely, as Professor Kennett points out to me, that in

the original story Elhanah, a totally different person from David,

was the slayer of Goliath, and that the part of the giant-killer was

thrust on David at a later time when the brightness of his fame had

eclipsed that of many lesser heroes.

50 2 Samuel xii. 26-31; 1 Chronicles xx. 1-3. Critics seem generally to

agree that in these passages the word מלכם must be pointed _Milcom_,

not _malcham_ “their king,” as the Massoretic text, followed by the

English version, has it. The reading _Milcom_, which involves no

change of the original Hebrew text, is supported by the reading of

the Septuagint Μολχὸμ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν, where the three last words

are probably a gloss on Μολχὸμ. See S. R. Driver, _Notes on the

Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel_, Second

Edition (Oxford, 1913), p. 294; Dean Kirkpatrick, in his note on 2

Samuel xii. 30 (_Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges_);

_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3085; R. Kittel, _Biblia Hebraica_, i.

433; Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon of the

Old Testament_ (Oxford, 1906), pp. 575 _sq._ David’s son and

successor adopted the worship of Milcom and made a high place for

him outside Jerusalem. See 1 Kings xi. 5; 2 Kings xxiii. 13.

51 2 Samuel v. 6-10; 1 Chronicles xi. 4-9.

M13 Traces of the divinity of Hebrew kings.

52 See for example 1 Samuel xxiv. 8; 2 Samuel xiv. 9, 12, 15, 17, 18,

19, 22, xv. 15, 21, xvi. 4, 9, xviii. 28, 31, 32; 1 Kings i. 2, 13,

18, 20, 21, 24, 27; 1 Chronicles xxi. 3, 23.

53 Jeremiah xxii. 18, xxxiv. 5. In the former passage, according to the

Massoretic text, the full formula of mourning was, “Alas my brother!

alas sister! alas lord! alas his glory!” Who was the lamented

sister? Professor T. K. Cheyne supposes that she was Astarte, and by

a very slight change (דדה for הדה) he would read “Dodah” for “his

glory,” thus restoring the balance between the clauses; for “Dodah”

would then answer to “Adon” (lord) as “sister” answers to “brother.”

I have to thank Professor Cheyne for kindly communicating this

conjecture to me by letter. He writes that Dodah “is a title of

Ishtar, just as Dôd is a title of Tamûz,” and for evidence he refers

me to the Dodah of the Moabite Stone, where, however, the reading

Dodah is not free from doubt. See G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of

North-Semitic Inscriptions_, No. 1, pp. 1, 3, 11; _Encyclopaedia

Biblica_, ii. 3045; S. R. Driver, _Notes on the Hebrew Text and the

Topography of the Books of Samuel_, Second Edition (Oxford, 1913),

pp. lxxxv., lxxxvi., xc.; F. Baethgen, _Beiträge zur semitischen

Religionsgeschichte_ (Berlin, 1888), p. 234; H. Winckler,

_Geschichte Israels_ (Leipsic, 1895-1900), ii. 258. As to Hebrew

names formed from the root _dôd_ in the sense of “beloved,” see

Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old

Testament_, pp. 187 _sq._; G. B. Gray, _Studies in Hebrew Proper

Names_ (London, 1896), pp. 60 _sqq._

54 This was perceived by Renan (_Histoire du peuple d’Israel_, iii.

273), and Prof. T. K. Cheyne writes to me: “The formulae of public

mourning were derived from the ceremonies of the Adonia; this

Lenormant saw long ago.”

55 1 Chronicles xxix. 23; 2 Chronicles ix. 8.

56 1 Samuel xvi. 13, 14, compare _id._, x. 1 and 20. The oil was poured

on the king’s head (1 Samuel x. 1; 2 Kings ix. 3, 6). For the

conveyance of the divine spirit by means of oil, see also Isaiah lx.

1. The kings of Egypt appear to have consecrated their vassal Syrian

kings by pouring oil on their heads. See the Tell-el-Amarna letters,

No. 37 (H. Winckler, _Die Thontafeln von Tell-el-Amarna_, p. 99).

Some West African priests are consecrated by a similar ceremony. See

below, p. 68. The natives of Buru, an East Indian island, imagine

that they can keep off demons by smearing their bodies with coco-nut

oil, but the oil must be prepared by young unmarried girls. See G.

A. Wilken, “Bijdrage tot de kennis der Alfoeren van het eiland

Boeroe,” _Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten

en Wetenschappen_, xxxviii. (Batavia, 1875) p. 30; _id._,

_Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), i. 61. In some tribes of

North-West America hunters habitually anointed their hair with

decoctions of certain plants and deer’s brains before they set out

to hunt. The practice was probably a charm to secure success in the

hunt. See C. Hill-Tout, _The Home of the Salish and Déné_ (London,

1907), p. 72.

57 1 Samuel xxiv. 6. Messiah in Hebrew is _Mashiah_ (משיה). The English

form Messiah is derived from the Aramaic through the Greek. See T.

K. Cheyne, in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Messiah,” vol. iii.

3057 _sqq._ Why hair oil should be considered a vehicle of

inspiration is by no means clear. It would have been intelligible if

the olive had been with the Hebrews, as it was with the Athenians, a

sacred tree under the immediate protection of a deity; for then a

portion of the divine essence might be thought to reside in the oil.

W. Robertson Smith supposed that the unction was originally

performed with the fat of a sacrificial victim, for which vegetable

oil was a later substitute (_Religion of the Semites_,2 pp. 383

_sq._). On the whole subject see J. Wellhausen, “Zwei Rechtsriten

bei den Hebräern,” _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, vii. (1904)

pp. 33-39; H. Weinel, “משה und seine Derivate,” _Zeitschrift für die

alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xviii. (1898) pp. 1-82.

M14 The Hebrew kings seem to have been held responsible for drought and

famine.

58 2 Samuel xxi. 1-14, with Dean Kirkpatrick’s notes on 1 and 10.

_ 59 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 284 _sq._

60 1 Samuel xii. 17 _sq._ Similarly, Moses stretched forth his rod

toward heaven and the Lord sent thunder and rain (Exodus ix. 23).

The word for thunder in both these passages is “voices” (קלות). The

Hebrews heard in the clap of thunder the voice of Jehovah, just as

the Greeks heard in it the voice of Zeus and the Romans the voice of

Jupiter.

M15 Excessive rain set down to the wrath of the deity.

61 Ezekiel xiii. 11, 13, xxxviii. 22; Jeremiah iii. 2 _sq._ The Hebrews

looked to Jehovah for rain (Leviticus xxvi. 3-5; Jeremiah v. 24)

just as the Greeks looked to Zeus and the Romans to Jupiter.

62 Ezra x. 9-14. The special sin which they laid to heart on this

occasion was their marriage with Gentile women. It is implied,

though not expressly said, that they traced the inclemency of the

weather to these unfortunate alliances. Similarly, “during the rainy

season, when the sun is hidden behind great masses of dark clouds,

the Indians set up a wailing for their sins, believing that the sun

is angry and may never shine on them again.” See Francis C.

Nicholas, “The Aborigines of Santa Maria, Colombia,” _American

Anthropologist_, N.S., iii. (New York, 1901) p. 641. The Indians in

question are the Aurohuacas of Colombia, in South America.

63 Psalm cxxxvii. The willows beside the rivers of Babylon are

mentioned in the laments for Tammuz. See above, pp. 9, 10.

64 The line of the Dead Sea, lying in its deep trough, is visible from

the Mount of Olives; indeed, so clear is the atmosphere that the

blue water seems quite near the eye, though in fact it is more than

fifteen miles off and nearly four thousand feet below the spectator.

See K. Baedeker, _Palestine and Syria_4 (Leipsic, 1906), p. 77. When

the sun shines on it, the lake is of a brilliant blue (G. A. Smith,

_Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, London, 1894, pp. 501

_sq._); but its brilliancy is naturally dimmed under clouded skies.

M16 Hebrew kings apparently supposed to heal disease and stop epidemics.

65 2 Kings v. 5-7.

66 2 Samuel xxiv.; 1 Chronicles xxi. In this passage, contrary to his

usual practice, the Chronicler has enlivened the dull tenor of his

history with some picturesque touches which we miss in the

corresponding passage of Kings. It is to him that we owe the vision

of the Angel of the Plague first stretching out his sword over

Jerusalem and then returning it to the scabbard. From him Defoe

seems to have taken a hint in his account of the prodigies, real or

imaginary, which heralded the outbreak of the Great Plague in

London. “One time before the plague was begun, otherwise than as I

have said in St. Giles’s, I think it was in March, seeing a crowd of

people in the street, I joined with them to satisfy my curiosity,

and found them all staring up into the air to see what a woman told

them appeared plain to her, which was an angel clothed in white with

a fiery sword in his hand, waving it or brandishing it over his

head.... One saw one thing and one another. I looked as earnestly as

the rest, but, perhaps, not with so much willingness to be imposed

upon; and I said, indeed, that I could see nothing but a white

cloud, bright on one side, by the shining of the sun upon the other

part.” See Daniel Defoe, _History of the Plague in London_

(Edinburgh, 1810, pp. 33 _sq._). It is the more likely that Defoe

had here the Chronicler in mind, because a few pages earlier he

introduces the prophet Jonah and a man out of Josephus with very

good effect.

M17 The rarity of references to the divinity of Hebrew kings in the

historical books may be explained by the circumstances in which

these works were composed or edited.

67 2 Kings xvii. 5 _sq._, xviii. 9 _sq._

68 2 Kings xix. 32-36.

69 We owe to Ezekiel (xxiii. 5 _sq._, 12) the picture of the handsome

Assyrian cavalrymen in their blue uniforms and gorgeous trappings.

The prophet writes as if in his exile by the waters of Babylon he

had seen the blue regiments filing past, in all the pomp of war, on

their way to the front.

M18 The historical books were composed or edited under the influence of

the prophetic reformation.

70 Samaria fell in 722 B.C., during or just before the reign of

Hezekiah: the Book of Deuteronomy, the cornerstone of king Josiah’s

reformation, was produced in 621 B.C.; and Jerusalem fell in 586

B.C. The date of Hezekiah’s accession is a much-disputed point in

the chronology of Judah. See the Introduction to Kings and Isaiah

i.-xxxix. by J. Skinner and O. C. Whitehouse respectively, in _The

Century Bible_.

71 Or the Deuteronomic redactor, as the critics call him. See W.

Robertson Smith, _The Old Testament in the Jewish Church_2 (London

and Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 395 _sq._, 425; _Encyclopaedia Biblica_,

ii. 2078 _sqq._, 2633 _sqq._, iv. 4273 _sqq._; K. Budde, _Geschichte

der althebräischen Litteratur_ (Leipsic, 1906), pp. 99, 121 _sqq._,

127 _sqq._, 132; Principal J. Skinner, in his introduction to Kings

(in _The Century Bible_), pp. 10 _sqq._

M19 The Baal and his female Baalath the sources of all fertility.

72 Menander of Ephesus, quoted by Josephus, _Contra Apionem_, i. 18

(_Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C. Müller, iv. 446); G. A.

Cooke, _Text-book of North-Semitic Inscriptions_, No. 4, p. 26.

According to Justin, however, the priest of Hercules, that is, of

Melcarth, at Tyre, was distinct from the king and second to him in

dignity. See Justin, xviii. 4, 5.

73 Hosea ii. 5 _sqq._; W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_2

(London, 1894), pp. 95-107.

74 W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 pp. 107 _sq._

M20 Personation of the Baal by the king.

_ 75 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 120 _sqq._, 376

_sqq._

M21 Cinyras, king of Byblus. Aphaca and the vale of the Adonis.

Monuments of Adonis.

76 Strabo, xvi. 1. 18, p. 755.

77 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 9.

78 Eusebius, _Vita Constantini_, iii. 55; Sozomenus, _Historia

Ecclesiastica_, ii. 5; Socrates, _Historia Ecclesiastica_, i. 18;

Zosimus, i. 58.

79 On the valley of the Nahr Ibrahim, its scenery and monuments, see

Edward Robinson, _Biblical Researches in Palestine_3 (London, 1867),

iii. 603-609; W. M. Thomson, _The Land and the Book, Lebanon,

Damascus, and beyond Jordan_ (London, 1886), pp. 239-246; E. Renan,

_Mission de Phénicie_, pp. 282 _sqq._; G. Maspero, _Histoire

Ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, ii. (Paris, 1897) pp.

175-179; Sir Charles Wilson, _Picturesque Palestine_ (London, N.D.),

iii. 16, 17, 27. Among the trees which line the valley are oak,

sycamore, bay, plane, orange, and mulberry (W. M. Thomson, _op.

cit._ p. 245). Travellers are unanimous in testifying to the

extraordinary beauty of the vale of the Adonis. Thus Robinson

writes: “There is no spot in all my wanderings on which memory

lingers with greater delight than on the sequestered retreat and

exceeding loveliness of Afka.” Renan says that the landscape is one

of the most beautiful in the world. My friend the late Sir Francis

Galton wrote to me (20th September 1906): “I have no good map of

Palestine, but strongly suspect that my wanderings there, quite

sixty years ago, took me to the place you mention, above the gorge

of the river Adonis. Be that as it may, I have constantly asserted

that the view I then had of a deep ravine and blue sea seen through

the cliffs that bounded it, was the most beautiful I had ever set

eyes on.”

_ 80 Etymologicum Magnum_, _s.v._ Ἄφακα, p. 175.

81 Melito, “Oration to Antoninus Caesar,” in W. Cureton’s _Spicilegium

Syriacum_ (London, 1855), p. 44.

82 E. Renan, _Mission de Phénicie_, pp. 292-294. The writer seems to

have no doubt that the beast attacking Adonis is a bear, not a boar.

Views of the monument are given by A. Jeremias, _Das Alte Testament

im Lichte des Alten Orients_2 (Leipsic, 1906), p. 90, and by

Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, plates i. and ii., with his

discussion, pp. 78 _sqq._

83 Macrobius, _Saturn_, i. 21. 5.

84 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 8.

M22 Phoenician colonies in Cyprus.

85 F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, ii. 2, p. 224; G. Maspero, _Histoire

Ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, ii. 199; G. A. Smith,

_Historical Geography of the Holy Land_ (London, 1894), p. 135.

86 On the natural wealth of Cyprus see Strabo, xiv. 6. 5; W. H. Engel,

_Kypros_, i. 40-71; F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, ii. 2, pp. 224

_sq._; G. Maspero, _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient

Classique_, ii. 200 _sq._; E. Oberhummer, _Die Insel Cypern_, i.

(Munich, 1903) pp. 175 _sqq._, 243 _sqq._ As to the firs and cedars

of Cyprus see Theophrastus, _Historia Plantarum_, v. 7. 1, v. 9. 1.

The Cyprians boasted that they could build and rig a ship complete,

from her keel to her topsails, with the native products of their

island (Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 8. 14).

87 G. A. Cooke, _Text-Book of North-Semitic Inscriptions_, Nos. 12-25,

pp. 55-76, 347-349; P. Gardner, _New Chapters in Greek History_

(London, 1892), pp. 179, 185. It has been held that the name of

Citium is etymologically identical with Hittite. If that was so, it

would seem that the town was built and inhabited by a non-Semitic

people before the arrival of the Phoenicians. See _Encyclopaedia

Biblica_, _s.v._ “Kittim.” Other traces of this older race, akin to

the primitive stock of Asia Minor, have been detected in Cyprus;

amongst them the most obvious is the Cyprian syllabary, the

characters of which are neither Phoenician nor Greek in origin. See

P. Gardner, _op. cit._ pp. 154, 173-175, 178 _sq._

88 G. A. Cooke, _Text-Book of North-Semitic Inscriptions_, No. 11, p.

52.

89 Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._ Ἀμαθοῦς; Pausanias, ix. 41. 2 _sq._

According to Pausanias, there was a remarkable necklace of green

stones and gold in the sanctuary of Adonis and Aphrodite at Amathus.

The Greeks commonly identified it with the necklace of Harmonia or

Eriphyle. A terra-cotta statuette of Astarte, found at Amathus (?),

represents her wearing a necklace which she touches with one hand.

See L. P. di Cesnola, _Cyprus_ (London, 1877), p. 275. The scanty

ruins of Amathus occupy an isolated hill beside the sea. Among them

is an enormous stone jar, half buried in the earth, of which the

four handles are adorned with figures of bulls. It is probably of

Phoenician manufacture. See L. Ross, _Reisen nach Kos,

Halikarnassos, Rhodes und der Insel Cypern_ (Halle, 1852), pp. 168

_sqq._

90 Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._ Ἀμαθοῦς. For the relation of Adonis to

Osiris at Byblus see below, vol. ii. pp. 9 _sq._, 22 _sq._, 127.

91 Hesychius, _s.v._ Μάλικα.

92 L. P. di Cesnola, _Cyprus_, pp. 254-283; G. Perrot et Ch. Chipiez,

_Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquité_, iii. (Paris, 1885) pp.

216-222.

M23 Kingdom of Paphos. Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos.

93 D. G. Hogarth, _Devia Cypria_ (London, 1889), pp. 1-3;

_Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 vi. 747; Élisée Reclus, _Nouvelle

Géographie Universelle_ (Paris, 1879-1894), ix. 668.

94 T. L. Donaldson, _Architectura Numismatica_ (London, 1859), pp.

107-109, with fig. 31; _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) pp.

210-213; G. F. Hill, _Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyprus_

(London, 1904), pp. cxxvii-cxxxiv, with plates xiv. 2, 3, 6-8, xv.

1-4, 7, xvi. 2, 4, 6-9, xvii. 4-6, 8, 9, xxvi. 3, 6-16; George

Macdonald, _Catalogue of Greek Coins in the Hunterian Collection_

(Glasgow, 1899-1905), ii. 566, with pl. lxi. 19. As to the existing

remains of the temple, which were excavated by an English expedition

in 1887-1888, see “Excavations in Cyprus, 1887-1888,” _Journal of

Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) pp. 193 _sqq._ Previous accounts of

the temple are inaccurate and untrustworthy.

95 C. Schuchhardt, _Schliemann’s Ausgrabungen_2 (Leipsic, 1891), pp.

231-233; G. Perrot et Ch. Chipiez, _Histoire de l’Art dans

l’Antiquité_, vi. (Paris, 1894) pp. 336 _sq._, 652-654; _Journal of

Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) pp. 213 _sq._; P. Gardner, _New

Chapters in Greek History_, p. 181.

96 J. Selden, _De dis Syris_ (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 274 _sqq._; S.

Bochart, _Hierozoicon_, Editio Tertia (Leyden, 1692), ii. 4 _sqq._

Compare the statue of a priest with a dove in his hand, which was

found in Cyprus (Perrot et Chipiez, _Histoire de l’Art dans

l’Antiquité_, iii. Paris, 1885, p. 510), with fig. 349.

97 A. J. Evans, “Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult,” _Journal of Hellenic

Studies_, xxi. (1901) pp. 99 _sqq._

M24 The Aphrodite of Paphos a Phoenician or aboriginal deity. Her

conical image.

98 Tacitus, _Annals_, iii. 62.

99 Herodotus, i. 105; compare Pausanias, i. 14. 7. Herodotus only

speaks of the sanctuary of Aphrodite in Cyprus, but he must refer to

the great one at Paphos. At Ascalon a goddess was worshipped in

mermaid-shape under the name of Derceto, and fish and doves were

sacred to her (Diodorus Siculus, ii. 4; compare Lucian, _De dea

Syria_, 14). The name Derceto, like the much more correct Atargatis,

is a Greek corruption of _’Attâr_, the Aramaic form of _Astarte_,

but the two goddesses Atargatis and Astarte, in spite of the

affinity of their names, appear to have been historically distinct.

See Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_,2 i. 2 (Stuttgart and

Berlin, 1909), pp. 605, 650 _sq._; F. Baethgen, _Beiträge zur

Semitischen Religionsgeschichte_ (Berlin, 1888), pp. 68 _sqq._; F.

Cumont, _s.vv._ “Atargatis” and “Dea Syria,” in Pauly-Wissowa’s

_Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_; René

Dussaud, _Notes de Mythologie Syrienne_ (Paris, 1903), pp. 82

_sqq._; R. A. Stewart Macalister, _The Philistines, their History

and Civilization_ (London, 1913), pp. 94 _sqq._

100 It is described by ancient writers and figured on coins. See

Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 3; Maximus Tyrius, _Dissert._ viii. 8; Servius

on Virgil, _Aen._ i. 720; T. L. Donaldson, _Architectura

Numismatica_, p. 107, with fig. 31; _Journal of Hellenic Studies_,

ix. (1888) pp. 210-212. According to Maximus Tyrius, the material of

the pyramid was unknown. Probably it was a stone. The English

archaeologists found several fragments of white cones on the site of

the temple at Paphos: one which still remains in its original

position in the central chamber was of limestone and of somewhat

larger size (_Journal of Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) p. 180).

101 See above, p. 14.

102 On coins of Perga the sacred cone is represented as richly decorated

and standing in a temple between sphinxes. See B. V. Head, _Historia

Numorum_ (Oxford, 1887), p. 585; P. Gardner, _Types of Greek Coins_

(Cambridge, 1883), pl. xv. No. 3; G. F. Hill, _Catalogue of the

Greek Coins of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia_ (London, 1897), pl.

xxiv. 12, 15, 16. However, Mr. G. F. Hill writes to me: “Is the

stone at Perga really a cone? I have always thought it was a cube or

something of that kind. On the coins the upper, sloping portion is

apparently an elaborate veil or head-dress. The head attached to the

stone is seen in the middle of this, surmounted by a tall

_kalathos_.” The sanctuary stood on a height, and a festival was

held there annually (Strabo, xiv. 4. 2, p. 667). The native title of

the goddess was _Anassa_, that is, “Queen.” See B. V. Head, _l.c._;

Wernicke, _s.v._ “Artemis,” in Pauly-Wissowa, _Real-Encyclopädie der

classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, ii. 1, col. 1397. Aphrodite at

Paphos bore the same title. See below, p. 42, note 6. The worship of

Pergaean Artemis at Halicarnassus was cared for by a priestess, who

held office for life and had to make intercession for the city at

every new moon. See G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum

Graecarum_2 (Leipsic, 1898-1901), vol. ii. p. 373, No. 601.

103 Herodian, v. 3. 5. This cone was of black stone, with some small

knobs on it, like the stone of Cybele at Pessinus. It is figured on

coins of Emesa. See B. V. Head, _Historia Numorum_ (Oxford, 1887),

p. 659; P. Gardner, _Types of Greek Coins_, pl. xv. No. 1. The

sacred stone of Cybele, which the Romans brought from Pessinus to

Rome during the Second Punic War, was small, black, and rugged, but

we are not told that it was of conical shape. See Arnobius,

_Adversus Nationes_, vii. 49; Livy, xxix. 11. 7. According to one

reading, Servius (on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 188) speaks of the stone of

Cybele as a needle (_acus_), which would point to a conical shape.

But the reading appears to be without manuscript authority, and

other emendations have been suggested.

104 G. Perrot et Ch. Chipiez, _Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquité_, iii.

273, 298 _sq._, 304 _sq._ The sanctuary of Aphrodite, or rather

Astarte, at Golgi is said to have been even more ancient than her

sanctuary at Paphos (Pausanias, viii. 5. 2).

105 W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in Sinai_ (London, 1906), pp. 135

_sq._, 189. Votive cones made of clay have been found in large

numbers in Babylonia, particularly at Lagash and Nippur. See M.

Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A.,

1898), pp. 672-674.

106 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 3.

107 We learn this from an inscription found at Paphos. See _Journal of

Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) pp. 188, 231.

108 Pausanias, x. 24. 6, with my note.

109 D. G. Hogarth, _A Wandering Scholar in the Levant_ (London, 1896),

pp. 179 _sq._ Women used to creep through a holed stone to obtain

children at a place on the Dee in Aberdeenshire. See _Balder the

Beautiful_, ii. 187.

110 G. Perrot et Ch. Chipiez, _Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquité_, iii.

628.

M25 Sacred prostitution in the worship of the Paphian Aphrodite and of

other Asiatic goddesses.

111 Herodotus, i. 199; Athenaeus, xii. 11, p. 516 A; Justin, xviii. 5.

4; Lactantius, _Divin. Inst._ i. 17; W. H. Engel, _Kypros_, ii. 142

_sqq._ Asiatic customs of this sort have been rightly explained by

W. Mannhardt (_Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_, pp. 283 _sqq._).

112 Herodotus, i. 199; Strabo, xvi. 1. 20, p. 745. As to the identity of

Mylitta with Astarte see H. Zimmern in E. Schrader’s _Die

Keilinschriften und das alte Testament_,3 pp. 423, note 7, 428, note

4. According to him, the name Mylitta comes from _Mu’allidtu_, “she

who helps women in travail.” In this character Ishtar would answer

to the Greek Artemis and the Latin Diana. As to sacred prostitution

in the worship of Ishtar see M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia

and Assyria_, pp. 475 _sq._, 484 _sq._; P. Dhorme, _La Religion

Assyro-Babylonienne_ (Paris, 1910), pp. 86, 300 _sq._

113 Eusebius, _Vita Constantini_, iii. 58; Socrates, _Historia

Ecclesiastica_, i. 18. 7-9; Sozomenus, Historia Ecclesiastica, v.

10. 7. Socrates says that at Heliopolis local custom obliged the

women to be held in common, so that paternity was unknown, “for

there was no distinction of parents and children, and the people

prostituted their daughters to the strangers who visited them” (τοῖς

παριοῦσι ξένοις). The prostitution of matrons as well as of maids is

mentioned by Eusebius. As he was born and spent his life in Syria,

and was a contemporary of the practices he describes, the bishop of

Caesarea had the best opportunity of informing himself as to them,

and we ought not, as Prof. M. P. Nilsson does (_Griechische Feste_,

Leipsic, 1906, p. 366 n.2), to allow his positive testimony on this

point to be outweighed by the silence of the later historian

Sozomenus, who wrote long after the custom had been abolished.

Eusebius had good reason to know the heathenish customs which were

kept up in his diocese; for he was sharply taken to task by

Constantine for allowing sacrifices to be offered on altars under

the sacred oak or terebinth at Mamre; and in obedience to the

imperial commands he caused the altars to be destroyed and an

oratory to be built instead under the tree. So in Ireland the

ancient heathen sanctuaries under the sacred oaks were converted by

Christian missionaries into churches and monasteries. See Socrates,

_Historia Ecclesiastica_, i. 18; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of

Kings_, ii. 242 _sq._

114 Athanasius, _Oratio contra Gentes_, 26 (Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_,

xxv. 52), γυναῖκες γοῦν ἐν εἰδωλείοις τῆς Φοινικῆς πάλαι

προεκαθέζοντο, ἀπαρχόμεναι τοῖς ἐκεῖ θέοις ἑαυτῶν τὴν τοῦ σώματος

αὐτῶν μισθαρνίαν, νομίζουσαι τῇ πορνειᾳ τὴν θέον ἑαυτῶν ἰλάσκεσθαι

καὶ εἰς εὐμενείαν ἄγειν αὐτὴν διὰ τούτων. The account of the

Phoenician custom which is given by H. Ploss (_Das Weib_,2 i. 302)

and repeated after him by Fr. Schwally (_Semitische

Kriegsaltertümer_, Leipsic, 1901, pp. 76 _sq._) may rest only on a

misapprehension of this passage of Athanasius. But if it is correct,

we may conjecture that the slaves who deflowered the virgins were

the sacred slaves of the temples, the _ḳedeshim_, and that they

discharged this office as the living representatives of the god. As

to these _ḳedeshim_, or “sacred men,” see above, pp. 17 _sq._, and

below, pp. 72 _sqq._

_ 115 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs_, translated and edited by

R. H. Charles (London, 1908), chapter xii. p. 81.

116 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 6. The writer is careful to indicate that

none but strangers were allowed to enjoy the women (ἡ δὲ ἀγορὴ

μούνοισι ξείνοισι παρακέεται).

_ 117 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 30 _sq._

118 Herodotus, i. 93 _sq._; Athenaeus, xii. 11, pp. 515 _sq._

119 W. M. Ramsay, “Unedited Inscriptions of Asia Minor,” _Bulletin de

Correspondance Hellénique_, vii. (1883) p. 276; _id._, _Cities and

Bishoprics of Phrygia_, i. (Oxford, 1895) pp. 94 _sq._, 115.

120 Strabo, xi. 14. 16, p. 532.

121 Strabo, xii. 3. 32, 34 and 36, pp. 557-559; compare xii. 2. 3, p.

535. Other sanctuaries in Pontus, Cappadocia, and Phrygia swarmed

with sacred slaves, and we may conjecture, though we are not told,

that many of these slaves were prostitutes. See Strabo, xi. 8. 4,

xii. 2. 3 and 6, xii. 3. 31 and 37, xii. 8. 14.

M26 The Asiatic Mother Goddess a personification of all the reproductive

energies of nature. Her worship perhaps reflects a period of sexual

communism.

122 On this great Asiatic goddess and her lovers see especially Sir W.

M. Ramsay, _Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia_, i. 87 _sqq._

123 Compare W. Mannhardt, _Antike Wald- und Feldkulte_, pp. 284 _sq._;

W. Robertson Smith, _The Prophets of Israel_, New Edition (London,

1902), pp. 171-174. Similarly in Camul, formerly a province of the

Chinese Empire, the men used to place their wives at the disposal of

any foreigners who came to lodge with them, and deemed it an honour

if the guests made use of their opportunities. The emperor, hearing

of the custom, forbade the people to observe it. For three years

they obeyed, then, finding that their lands were no longer fruitful

and that many mishaps befell them, they prayed the emperor to allow

them to retain the custom, “for it was by reason of this usage that

their gods bestowed upon them all the good things that they

possessed, and without it they saw not how they could continue to

exist.” See _The Book of Ser Marco Polo_, translated and edited by

Colonel Henry Yule, Second Edition (London, 1875), i. 212 _sq._ Here

apparently the fertility of the soil was deemed to depend on the

intercourse of the women with strangers, not with their husbands.

Similarly, among the Oulad Abdi, an Arab tribe of Morocco, “the

women often seek a divorce and engage in prostitution in the

intervals between their marriages; during that time they continue to

dwell in their families, and their relations regard their conduct as

very natural. The administrative authority having bestirred itself

and attempted to regulate this prostitution, the whole population

opposed the attempt, alleging that such a measure would impair the

abundance of the crops.” See Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans

l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 560 _sq._

124 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 14, p. 13, ed. Potter;

Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, v. 19; compare Firmicus Maternus, _De

errore profanarum religionum_, 10.

125 In Hebrew a temple harlot was regularly called “a sacred woman”

(_kĕdēsha_). See _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Harlot”; S. R.

Driver, on Genesis xxxviii. 21. As to such “sacred women” see below,

pp. 70 _sqq._

M27 The daughters of Cinyras.

126 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 13, p. 12, ed. Potter;

Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, v. 19; Firmicus Maternus, _De errore

profanarum religionum_, 10.

127 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 3.

M28 The Paphian dynasty of the Cinyrads.

128 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 3. I follow the text of R.

Wagner’s edition in reading Μεγασσάρου τοῦ Ὑριέων βασιλέως. As to

Hyria in Isauria see Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._ Ὑρία. The city of

Celenderis, on the south coast of Cilicia, possessed a small harbour

protected by a fortified peninsula. Many ancient tombs survived till

recent times, but have now mostly disappeared. It was the port from

which the Turkish couriers from Constantinople used to embark for

Cyprus. As to the situation and remains see F. Beaufort, _Karmania_

(London, 1817), p. 201; W. M. Leake, _Journal of a Tour in Asia

Minor_ (London, 1824), pp. 114-118; R. Heberdey und A. Wilhelm,

“Reisen in Kilikien,” _Denkschriften der kais. Akademie der

Wissenschaften, Philosoph.-historische Classe_, xliv. (1896) No. vi.

p. 94. The statement that the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos was

founded by the Arcadian Agapenor, who planted a colony in Cyprus

after the Trojan war (Pausanias, viii. 5. 2), may safely be

disregarded.

129 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 3; _Annals_, iii. 62.

130 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 3; Hesychius, _s.v._ Ταμιράδαι.

131 Pindar, _Pyth._ ii. 13-17.

132 Tyrtaeus, xii. 6 (_Poetae Lyrici Graeci_, ed. Th. Bergk,3 Leipsic,

1866-1867, ii. 404); Pindar, _Pyth._ viii. 18; Plato, _Laws_, ii. 6,

p. 660 E; Clement of Alexandria, _Paedag._ iii. 6, p. 274, ed.

Potter; Dio Chrysostom, _Orat._ viii. (vol. i. p. 149, ed. L.

Dindorf); Julian, _Epist._ lix. p. 574, ed. F. C. Hertlein;

Diogenianus, viii. 53; Suidas, _s.v._ Καταγηράσαις.

133 Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ ii. 15 (27); Hesychius, _s.v._ Κινυράδαι;

Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ iii. 45, p. 40, ed. Potter;

Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, vi. 6. That the kings of Paphos were

also priests of the goddess is proved, apart from the testimony of

ancient writers, by inscriptions found on the spot. See H. Collitz,

_Sammlung der griechischen Dialektinschriften_, i. (Göttingen, 1884)

p. 22, Nos. 38, 39, 40. The title of the goddess in these

inscriptions is Queen or Mistress (Ϝανασ(σ)ἀς). It is perhaps a

translation of the Semitic Baalath.

134 Plutarch, _De Alexandri Magni fortuna aut virtute_, ii. 8. The name

of the gardener-king was Alynomus. That the Cinyrads existed as a

family down to Macedonian times is further proved by a Greek

inscription found at Old Paphos, which records that a certain

Democrates, son of Ptolemy, head of the Cinyrads, and his wife

Eunice, dedicated a statue of their daughter to the Paphian

Aphrodite. See L. Ross, “Inschriften von Cypern,” _Rheinisches

Museum_, N.F. vii. (1850) pp. 520 _sq._ It seems to have been a

common practice of parents to dedicate statues of their sons or

daughters to the goddess at Paphos. The inscribed pedestals of many

such statues were found by the English archaeologists. See _Journal

of Hellenic Studies_, ix. (1888) pp. 228, 235, 236, 237, 241, 244,

246, 255.

135 Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 4; Pausanias, viii. 24. 6.

136 Plutarch, _Cato the Younger_, 35.

M29 Incest of Cinyras with his daughter Myrrha, and birth of Adonis.

Legends of royal incest—a suggested explanation.

137 Ovid, _Metam._ x. 298 _sqq._; Hyginus, _Fab._ 58, 64; Fulgentius,

_Mytholog._ iii. 8; Lactantius Placidius, _Narrat. Fabul._ x. 9;

Servius on Virgil, _Ecl._ x. 18, and _Aen._ v. 72; Plutarch,

_Parallela_, 22; Schol. on Theocritus, i. 107. It is Ovid who

describes (_Metam._ x. 431 _sqq._) the festival of Ceres, at which

the incest was committed. His source was probably the

_Metamorphoses_ of the Greek writer Theodorus, which Plutarch

(_l.c._) refers to as his authority for the story. The festival in

question was perhaps the Thesmophoria, at which women were bound to

remain chaste (Schol. on Theocritus, iv. 25; Schol. on Nicander,

_Ther._ 70 _sq._; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxiv. 59; Dioscorides, _De

Materia Medica_, i. 134 (135); compare Aelian, _De natura

animalium_, ix. 26). Compare E. Fehrle, _Die kultische Keuschheit im

Altertum_ (Giessen, 1910), pp. 103 _sqq._, 121 _sq._, 151 _sqq._ The

corn and bread of Cyprus were famous in antiquity. See Aeschylus,

_Suppliants_, 549 (555); Hipponax, cited by Strabo, viii. 3. 8, p.

340; Eubulus, cited by Athenaeus, iii. 78, p. 112 F; E. Oberhummer,

_Die Insel. Cypern_, i. (Munich, 1903) pp. 274 _sqq._ According to

another account, Adonis was the fruit of the incestuous intercourse

of Theias, a Syrian king, with his daughter Myrrha. See Apollodorus,

_Bibliotheca_, iii. 14. 4 (who cites Panyasis as his authority); J.

Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 829; Antoninus Liberalis,

_Transform._ 34 (who lays the scene of the story on Mount Lebanon).

With the corn-wreaths mentioned in the text we may compare the

wreaths which the Roman Arval Brethren wore at their sacred

functions, and with which they seem to have crowned the images of

the goddesses. See G. Henzen, _Acta Fratrum Arvalium_ (Berlin,

1874), pp. 24-27, 33 _sq._ Compare Pausanias, vii. 20. 1. _sq._

138 A list of these cases is given by Hyginus, _Fab._ 253. It includes

the incest of Clymenus, king of Arcadia, with his daughter Harpalyce

(compare Hyginus, _Fab._ 206); that of Oenomaus, king of Pisa, with

his daughter Hippodamia (compare J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_,

156; Lucian, _Charidemus_, 19); that of Erechtheus, king of Athens,

with his daughter Procris; and that of Epopeus, king of Lesbos, with

his daughter Nyctimene (compare Hyginus, _Fab._ 204).

139 The custom of brother and sister marriage seems to have been

especially common in royal families. See my note on Pausanias, i. 7.

1 (vol. ii. pp. 84 _sq._); as to the case of Egypt see below, vol.

ii. pp. 213 _sqq._ The true explanation of the custom was first, so

far as I know, indicated by J. F. McLennan (_The Patriarchal

Theory_, London, 1885, p. 95).

M30 The Flamen Dialis and his Flaminica at Rome.

140 Aulus Gellius, x. 15. 22; J. Marquardt, _Römische Staatsverwaltung_,

iii.2 (Leipsic, 1885) p. 328.

141 Priestesses are said to have preceded priests in some Egyptian

cities. See W. M. Flinders Petrie, _The Religion of Ancient Egypt_

(London, 1906), p. 74.

_ 142 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 179, 190 _sqq._

_ 143 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 268 _sqq._

_ 144 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 12 note 1.

M31 Priestesses among the Khasis of Assam.

145 Major P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_ (London, 1907), pp. 109-112, 120

_sq._

M32 Sacred marriage of a priest and priestess as representatives of the

Sun-god and the Earth-goddess. Marriage of the Sun-god and

Earth-goddess acted by a priest and his wife.

_ 146 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 191 _sqq._

_ 147 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 148.

148 The late Rev. P. Dehon, S.J., “Religion and Customs of the Uraons,”

_Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. i. No. 9 (Calcutta,

1906), pp. 144-146.

149 For more evidence see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_,

ii. 97 _sqq._

M33 Cinyras beloved by Aphrodite. Pygmalion and Aphrodite. The

Phoenician kings of Cyprus or their sons appear to have been

hereditary lovers of the goddess. Sacred marriage of the kings of

Paphos. Sons and daughters, fathers and mothers of a god.

150 Lucian, _Rhetorum praeceptor_, 11; Hyginus, _Fab._ 270.

151 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 33, p. 29, ed. Potter.

152 W. H. Engel, _Kypros_, ii. 585, 612; A. Maury, _Histoire des

Religions de la Grèce Antique_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 197, note 3.

153 Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, vi. 22; Clement of Alexandria,

_Protrept._ iv. 57, p. 51, ed. Potter; Ovid, _Metam._ x. 243-297.

The authority for the story is the Greek history of Cyprus by

Philostephanus, cited both by Arnobius and Clement. In Ovid’s

poetical version of the legend Pygmalion is a sculptor, and the

image with which he falls in love is that of a lovely woman, which

at his prayer Venus endows with life. That King Pygmalion was a

Phoenician is mentioned by Porphyry (_De abstinentia_, iv. 15) on

the authority of Asclepiades, a Cyprian.

154 See above, p. 42.

155 Probus, on Virgil, _Ecl._ x. 18. I owe this reference to my friend

Mr. A. B. Cook.

156 In his treatise on the political institutions of Cyprus, Aristotle

reported that the sons and brothers of the kings were called “lords”

(ἄνακτες), and their sisters and wives “ladies” (ἄνασσαι). See

Harpocration and Suidas, _s.v._ Ἄνακτες. Compare Isocrates, ix. 72;

Clearchus of Soli, quoted by Athenaeus, vi. 68, p. 256 A. Now in the

bilingual inscription of Idalium, which furnished the clue to the

Cypriote syllabary, the Greek version gives the title Ϝάναξ as the

equivalent of the Phoenician _Adon_ (אדן). See _Corpus Inscriptionum

Semiticarum_, i. No. 89; G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of North-Semitic

Inscriptions_, p. 74, note 1.

157 Josephus, _Contra Apionem_, i. 18, ed. B. Niese; Appian, _Punica_,

i; Virgil, _Aen._ i. 346 _sq._; Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 574; Justin,

xviii. 4; Eustathius on Dionysius Periegetes, 195 (_Geographi Graeci

Minores_, ed. C. Müller Paris, 1882, ii. 250 _sq._).

158 Pumi-yathon, son of Milk-yathon, is known from Phoenician

inscriptions found at Idalium. See G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of

North-Semitic Inscriptions_, Nos. 12 and 13, pp. 55 _sq._, 57 _sq._

Coins inscribed with the name of King Pumi-yathon are also in

existence. See G. F. Hill, _Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyprus_

(London, 1904), pp. xl. _sq._, 21 _sq._, pl. iv. 20-24. He was

deposed by Ptolemy (Diodorus Siculus, xix. 79. 4). Most probably he

is the Pymaton of Citium who purchased the kingdom from a dissolute

monarch named Pasicyprus some time before the conquests of Alexander

(Athenaeus, iv. 63, p. 167). In this passage of Athenaeus the name

Pymaton, which is found in the MSS. and agrees closely with the

Phoenician Pumi-yathon, ought not to be changed into Pygmalion, as

the latest editor (G. Kaibel) has done.

159 G. A. Cooke, _op. cit._ p. 55, note 1. Mr. Cooke remarks that the

form of the name (פגמלין instead of פמייתן) must be due to Greek

influence.

160 See above, p. 41.

161 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 13, p. 12; Arnobius,

_Adversus Nationes_, v. 9; Firmicus Maternus, _De errore profanarum

religionum_, 10.

162 That the king was not necessarily succeeded by his eldest son is

proved by the case of Solomon, who on his accession executed his

elder brother Adoni-jah (1 Kings ii. 22-24). Similarly, when

Abimelech became king of Shechem, he put his seventy brothers in

ruthless oriental fashion to death. See Judges viii. 29-31, ix. 5

_sq._, 18. So on his accession Jehoram, King of Judah, put all his

brothers to the sword (2 Chronicles xxi. 4). King Rehoboam had

eighty-eight children (2 Chronicles xi. 21) and King Abi-jah had

thirty-eight (2 Chronicles xiii. 21). These examples illustrate the

possible size of the family of a polygamous king.

_ 163 The Dying God_, pp. 160 _sqq._

164 The names which imply that a man was the father of a god have proved

particularly puzzling to some eminent Semitic scholars. See W.

Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 45, note 2; Th.

Nöldeke, _s.v._ “Names,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3287 _sqq._;

W. W. Graf Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, pp. 39 _sq._, 43 _sqq._

Such names are Abi-baal (“father of Baal”), Abi-el (“father of El”),

Abi-jah (“father of Jehovah”), and Abi-melech (“father of a king” or

“father of Moloch”). On the hypothesis put forward in the text the

father of a god and the son of a god stood precisely on the same

footing, and the same person would often be both one and the other.

Where the common practice prevailed of naming a father after his son

(_Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 331 _sqq._), a divine king

in later life might often be called “father of such-and-such a god.”

_ 165 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 418 _sq._

166 A. Erman, _Aegypten und aegyptisches Leben im Altertum_ (Tübingen,

N.D.), p. 113.

167 L. Borchardt, “Der ägyptische Titel ‘Vater des Gottes’ als

Bezeichnung für ‘Vater oder Schwiegervater des Königs,’ ” _Berichte

über die Verhandlungen der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der

Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philolog.-histor. Klasse_, lvii. (1905)

pp. 254-270.

M34 Cinyras, like King David, a harper. The use of music as a means of

prophetic inspiration among the Hebrews.

168 F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. 243; Stoll, _s.v._ “Kinyras,” in

W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 1191;

1 Samuel xvi. 23.

169 1 Chronicles xxv. 1-3; compare 2 Samuel vi. 5.

170 W. Robertson Smith, _The Prophets of Israel_2 (London, 1902), pp.

391 _sq._; E. Renan, _Histoire du peuple d’Israel_ (Paris, 1893),

ii. 280.

171 1 Samuel x. 5.

172 2 Kings iii. 4-24. And for the explanation of the supposed miracle,

see W. Robertson Smith, _The Old Testament in the Jewish Church_2

(London and Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 146 _sq._ I have to thank

Professor Kennett for the suggestion that the Moabites took the

ruddy light on the water for an omen of blood rather than for actual

gore.

M35 The influence of music on religion.

173 1 Samuel xvi. 14-23.

174 J. H. Newman, _Sermons preached before the University of Oxford_,

No. xv. pp. 346 _sq._ (third edition).

175 It would be interesting to pursue a similar line of inquiry in

regard to the other arts. What was the influence of Phidias on Greek

religion? How much does Catholicism owe to Fra Angelico?

M36 The function of string music in Greek and Semitic ritual.

176 Pindar, _Pyth._ ii. 15 _sq._

177 On the lyre and the flute in Greek religion and Greek thought, see

L. R. Farnell, _The Cults of the Greek States_ (Oxford, 1896-1909),

iv. 243 _sqq._

178 Pindar, _Pyth._ i. 13 _sqq._

179 This seems to be the view also of Dr. Farnell, who rightly connects

the musical with the prophetic side of Apollo’s character (_op.

cit._ iv. 245).

M37 Traditions as to the death of Cinyras.

180 Hyginus, _Fab._ 242. So in the version of the story which made

Adonis the son of Theias, the father is said to have killed himself

when he learned what he had done (Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._

34).

181 Scholiast and Eustathius on Homer, _Iliad_, xi. 20. Compare F. C.

Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. 243 _sq._; W. H. Engel, _Kypros_, ii.

109-116; Stoll, _s.v._ “Kinyras,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der

griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 1191.

182 Anacreon, cited by Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ vii. 154. Nonnus also refers

to the long life of Cinyras (_Dionys._ xxxii. 212 _sq._).

_ 183 Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 xiv. 858.

M38 Sacred prostitution of Western Asia.

M39 Theory of its secular origin.

184 L. R. Farnell, “Sociological hypotheses concerning the position of

women in ancient religion,” _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, vii.

(1904) p. 88; M. P. Nilsson, _Griechische Feste_ (Leipsic, 1906),

pp. 366 _sq._; Fr. Cumont, _Les religions orientales dans le

paganisme Romain_2 (Paris, 1909), pp. 361 _sq._ A different and, in

my judgment, a truer view of these customs was formerly taken by

Prof. Nilsson. See his _Studia de Dionysiis Atticis_ (Lund, 1900),

pp. 119-121. For a large collection of facts bearing on this subject

and a judicious discussion of them, see W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom

Giftmädchen,” _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_ (Stuttgart and Berlin,

1905), pp. 195-219. My attention was drawn to this last work by

Prof. G. L. Hamilton of the University of Michigan after my

manuscript had been sent to the printer. With Hertz’s treatment of

the subject I am in general agreement, and I have derived from his

learned treatise several references to authorities which I had

overlooked.

M40 The theory does not account for the religious character of the

custom,

185 Above, p. 37.

186 Above, p. 38. Prof. Nilsson is mistaken in affirming (_op. cit._ p.

367) that the Lydian practice was purely secular: the inscription

which I have cited proves the contrary. Both he and Dr. Farnell

fully recognize the religious aspect of most of these customs in

antiquity, and Prof. Nilsson attempts, as it seems to me,

unsuccessfully, to indicate how a practice supposed to be purely

secular in origin should have come to contract a religious

character.

M41 Nor for the prostitution of married women.

187 Above, p. 37.

188 Above, pp. 36 _sq._, 38.

189 Hosea iv. 13 _sq._

M42 Nor for the repeated prostitution of the same women.

190 Above, pp. 37 _sqq._

M43 Nor for the “sacred men” beside the “sacred women”.

191 See above, pp. 17 _sq._

M44 And is irreconcilable with the payment of the women.

192 L. di Varthema, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Society, 1863), pp. 141, 202-204

(Malabar); J. A. de Mandlesloe, in J. Harris’s _Voyages and

Travels_, i. (London, 1744), p. 767 (Malabar); Richard, “History of

Tonquin,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix. 760 _sq._

(Aracan); A. de Morga, _The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam,

Cambodia, Japan, and China_ (Hakluyt Society, 1868), pp. 304 _sq._

(the Philippines); J. Mallat, _Les Philippines_ (Paris, 1846), i. 61

(the Philippines); L. Moncelon, in _Bulletins de la Société

d’Anthropologie de Paris_, 3me Série, ix. (1886) p. 368 (New

Caledonia); H. Crawford Angas, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner

Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_, 1898,

p. 481 (Azimba, Central Africa); Sir H. H. Johnston, _British

Central Africa_ (London, 1897), p. 410 (the Wa-Yao of Central

Africa). See further, W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom Giftmädchen,”

_Gesammelte Abhandlungen_, pp. 198-204.

193 Herodotus, i. 93; Justin, xviii. 5. 4. Part of the wages thus earned

was probably paid into the local temple. See above, pp. 37, 38.

However, according to Strabo (xi. 14. 16, p. 532) the Armenian girls

of rich families often gave their lovers more than they received

from them.

194 This fatal objection to the theory under discussion has been clearly

stated by W. Hertz, _op. cit._ p. 217. I am glad to find myself in

agreement with so judicious and learned an inquirer.

M45 The practice of destroying virginity has sometimes had a religious

character.

195 L. di Varthema, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Society, 1863), p. 141; J. A. de

Mandlesloe, in J. Harris’s _Voyages and Travels_, i. (London, 1744)

p. 767; A. Hamilton, “New Account of the East Indies,” in J.

Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, viii. 374; Ch. Lassen, _Indische

Alterthumskunde_, iv. (Leipsic, 1861), p. 408; A. de Herrera, _The

General History of the Vast Continent and Islands of America_,

translated by Captain J. Stevens (London, 1725-1726), iii. 310, 340;

Fr. Coreal, _Voyages aux Indes Occidentales_ (Amsterdam, 1722), i.

10 _sq._, 139 _sq._; C. F. Ph. v. Martius, _Beiträge zur

Ethnographie und Sprachenkunde Amerika’s_, i. (Leipsic, 1867) pp.

113 _sq._ The first three of these authorities refer to Malabar; the

fourth refers to Cambodia; the last three refer to the Indians of

Central and South America. See further W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom

Giftmädchen,” _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_, pp. 204-207. For a

criticism of the Malabar evidence see K. Schmidt, _Jus primae

noctis_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1881), pp. 312-320.

196 Lactantius, _Divin. Institut._ i. 20; Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_,

iv. 7; Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, vi. 9, vii. 24; D. Barbosa,

_Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar_ (Hakluyt

Society, 1866), p. 96; Sonnerat, _Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à

la Chine_ (Paris, 1782), i. 68; F. Liebrecht, _Zur Volkskunde_

(Heilbronn, 1879), pp. 396 _sq._, 511; W. Hertz, “Die Sage vom

Giftmädchen,” _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_, pp. 270-272. According to

Arnobius, it was matrons, not maidens, who resorted to the image.

This suggests that the custom was a charm to procure offspring.

197 R. Schomburgk, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für

Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_, 1879, pp. 235 _sq._;

Miklucho-Maclay, _ibid._ 1880, p. 89; W. E. Roth, _Studies among the

North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines_ (Brisbane and London,

1897), pp. 174 _sq._, 180; B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native

Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1899), pp. 92-95; _id._,

_Northern Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1904), pp. 133-136.

In Australia the observance of the custom is regularly followed by

the exercise of what seem to be old communal rights of the men over

the women.

M46 Sacred women in the Tamil temples of Southern India. Such women are

sometimes married to the god and possessed by him.

198 J. A. Dubois, _Mœurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de

l’Inde_ (Paris, 1825), ii. 353 _sqq._; J. Shortt, “The Bayadère or

dancing-girls of Southern India,” _Memoirs of the Anthropological

Society of London_, iii. (1867-69) pp. 182-194; Edward Balfour,

_Cyclopaedia of India_3 (London, 1885), i. 922 _sqq._; W. Francis,

in _Census of India, 1901_, vol. xv., _Madras_, Part I. (Madras,

1902) pp. 151 _sq._; E. Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern

India_ (Madras, 1906), pp. 36 _sq._, 40 _sq._ The office of these

sacred women has in recent years been abolished, on the ground of

immorality, by the native Government of Mysore. See _Homeward Mail_,

6th June 1909 (extract kindly sent me by General Begbie).

199 Edgar Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras,

1909), iii. 37-39. Compare _id._, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern

India_ (Madras, 1906), pp. 29 _sq._ In Southern India the maternal

uncle often takes a prominent part in the marriage ceremony to the

exclusion of the girl’s father. See, for example, E. Thurston,

_Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, ii. 497, iv. 147. The custom

is derived from the old system of mother-kin, under which a man’s

heirs are not his own children but his sister’s children. As to this

system see below, Chapter XII., “Mother-kin and Mother Goddesses.”

200 E. Balfour, _op. cit._ ii. 1012.

201 Francis Buchanan, “A Journey from Madras through the countries of

Mysore, Canara, and Malabar,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and

Travels_, viii. (London, 1811), p. 749.

M47 In Travancore the dancing-girls are regularly married to the god.

202 N. Subramhanya Aiyar, in _Census of India, 1901_, vol. xxvi.,

_Travancore_, Part i. (Trivandrum, 1903), pp. 276 _sq._ I have to

thank my friend Mr. W. Crooke for referring me to this and other

passages on the sacred dancing-girls of India.

M48 Among the Ewe peoples of West Africa the sacred prostitutes are

regarded as the wives of the god.

203 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West

Africa_ (London, 1890), pp. 140 _sq._

204 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 142.

M49 The human wives of the python-god.

205 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ pp. 148 _sq._ Compare Des Marchais, _Voyage

en Guinée et à Cayenne_ (Amsterdam, 1731), ii. 144-151; P. Bouche,

_La Côte des Esclaves_ (Paris, 1885), p. 128. The Abbé Bouche calls

these women _danwés_.

206 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 60; Des Marchais, _op. cit._ ii. 149

_sq._

M50 Supposed connexion between the fertility of the soil and the

marriage of women to the serpent.

207 Des Marchais, _Voyage en Guinée et à Cayenne_ (Amsterdam, 1731), ii.

146 _sq._

208 W. Bosman, “Description of the Coast of Guinea,” in J. Pinkerton’s

_Voyages and Travels_, xvi. (London, 1814), p. 494.

209 W. Bosman, _l.c._ The name of Whydah is spelt by Bosman as Fida, and

by Des Marchais as Juda.

M51 Human wives of a snake-god among the Akikuyu.

210 MS. notes, kindly sent to me by the author, Mr. A. C. Hollis, 21st

May, 1908.

M52 Sacred men as well as women in West Africa: they are thought to be

possessed by the deity.

211 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, pp.

142-144; Le R. P. Baudin, “Féticheurs ou ministres religieux des

Nègres de la Guinée,” _Les Missions Catholiques_, No. 787 (4 juillet

1884), p. 322.

212 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ pp. 150 _sq._

_ 213 La Côte des Esclaves_, pp. 127 _sq._

214 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 147.

M53 Similarly among the Tshi peoples of the Gold Coast there are sacred

men and women, who are supposed to be inspired by the deity.

215 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West

Africa_ (London, 1887), pp. 120-138.

216 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ p. 121.

217 A. B. Ellis, _op. cit._ pp. 120 _sq._, 129-138. The slaves, male and

female, dedicated to a god from childhood are often mentioned by the

German missionary Mr. J. Spieth in his elaborate work on the Ewe

people (_Die Eẇe-Stämme: Material zur Kunde des Eẇe-Volkes in

Deutsch-Togo_, Berlin, 1906, pp. 228, 229, 309, 450, 474, 792, 797,

etc.). But his information does not illustrate the principal points

to which I have called attention in the text.

M54 In like manner the sacred prostitutes of Western Asia may have been

viewed as possessed by the deity and married to the god.

_ 218 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 129-135.

219 Herodotus, i. 181 _sq._ It is not clear whether the same or a

different woman slept every night in the temple.

220 H. Winckler, _Die Gesetze Hammurabi_2 (Leipsic, 1903), p. 31, § 182;

C. H. W. Johns, _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and

Letters_ (Edinburgh, 1904), pp. 54, 55, 59, 60, 61 (§§ 137, 144,

145, 146, 178, 182, 187, 192, 193, of the Code of Hammurabi). As to

these female votaries see especially C. H. W. Johns, “Notes on the

Code of Hammurabi,” _American Journal of Semitic Languages and

Literatures_, xix. (January 1903) pp. 98-107. Compare S. A. Cook,

_The Laws of Moses and the Code of Hammurabi_ (London, 1903), pp.

147-150.

221 C. H. W. Johns, “Notes on the Code of Hammurabi,” _l.c._, where we

read (p. 104) of a female votary of Shamash who had a daughter.

_ 222 Code of Hammurabi_, § 181; C. H. W. Johns, “Notes on the Code of

Hammurabi,” _op. cit._ pp. 100 sq.; S. A. Cook, _op. cit._ p. 148.

Dr. Johns translates the name by “temple maid” (_Babylonian and

Assyrian Laws_, _Contracts, and Letters_, p. 61). He is scrupulously

polite to these ladies, but I gather from him that a far less

charitable view of their religious vocation is taken by Father

Scheil, the first editor and translator of the code.

223 Any man proved to have pointed the finger of scorn at a votary was

liable to be branded on the forehead (_Code of Hammurabi_, § 127).

224 See above, pp. 66, 69.

225 Herodotus, i. 182.

226 A. Wiedemann, _Herodots Zweites Buch_ (Leipsic, 1890), pp. 268 _sq._

See further _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 130

_sqq._

227 Strabo, xvii. 1. 46, p. 816. The title “concubines of Zeus (Ammon)”

is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (i. 47).

228 Diodorus Siculus, i. 47.

M55 Similarly the sacred men (_ḳedeshim_) of Western Asia may have been

regarded as possessed by the deity and as acting and speaking in his

name.

229 The ἱερόδουλοι, as the Greeks called them.

230 I have to thank the Rev. Professor R. H. Kennett for this important

suggestion as to the true nature of the _ḳedeshim_. The passages of

the Bible in which mention is made of these men are Deuteronomy

xxiii. 17 (in Hebrew 18); 1 Kings xiv. 24, xv. 12, xxii. 46 (in

Hebrew 47); 2 Kings xxiii. 7; Job xxxvi. 14 (where _ḳedeshim_ is

translated “the unclean” in the English version). The usual

rendering of _ḳedeshim_ in the English Bible is not justified by any

of these passages; but it may perhaps derive support from a

reference which Eusebius makes to the profligate rites observed at

Aphaca (_Vita Constantini_, iii. 55; Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_,

xx. 1120); Γύνιδες γοῦν τινες ἄνδρες οὐκ ἄνδρες, τὸ σέμνον τῆς

φύσεως ἀπαρνησάμενοι, θηλείᾳ νόσῳ τὴν δαίμονα ἱλεοῦντο. But probably

Eusebius is here speaking of the men who castrated themselves in

honour of the goddess, and thereafter wore female attire. See

Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 51; and below, pp. 269 _sq._

231 Strabo, xi. 4. 7, p. 503.

232 Drexler, in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm.

Mythologie_, _s.v._ “Men,” ii. 2687 _sqq._

233 It is true that Strabo (_l.c._) speaks of the Albanian deity as a

goddess, but this may be only an accommodation to the usage of the

Greek language, in which the moon is feminine.

234 Florus, _Epitoma_, ii. 7; Diodorus Siculus, Frag. xxxiv. 2 (vol. v.

pp. 87 _sq._, ed. L. Dindorf, in the Teubner series).

M56 Resemblance of the Hebrew prophets to the sacred men of Western

Africa.

235 Above, pp. 52 _sq._

236 1 Kings xix. 16; Isaiah lx. 1.

237 1 Kings xx. 41. So in Africa “priests and priestesses are readily

distinguishable from the rest of the community. They wear their hair

long and unkempt, while other people, except the women in the towns

on the seaboard, have it cut close to the head.... Frequently both

appear with white circles painted round their eyes, or with various

white devices, marks, or lines painted on the face, neck, shoulders,

or arms” (A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold

Coast_, p. 123). “Besides the ordinary tribal tattoo-marks borne by

all natives, the priesthood in Dahomi bear a variety of such marks,

some very elaborate, and an expert can tell by the marks on a priest

to what god he is vowed, and what rank he holds in the order. These

hierarchical marks consist of lines, scrolls, diamonds, and other

patterns, with sometimes a figure, such as that of the crocodile or

chameleon. The shoulders are frequently seen covered with an

infinite number of small marks like dots, set close together. All

these marks are considered sacred, and the laity are forbidden to

touch them” (A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave

Coast_, p. 146). The reason why the prophet’s shoulders are

especially marked is perhaps given by the statement of a Zulu that

“the sensitive part with a doctor [medicine-man] is his shoulders.

Everything he feels is in the situation of his shoulders. That is

the place where black men feel the Amatongo” (ancestral spirits).

See H. Callaway, _The Religious System of the Amazulu_, part ii. p.

159. These African analogies suggest that the “wounds between the

arms” (literally, “between the hands”) which the prophet Zechariah

mentions (xiii. 6) as the badge of a Hebrew prophet were marks

tattooed on his shoulders in token of his holy office. The

suggestion is confirmed by the prophet’s own statement (_l.c._) that

he had received the wounds in the house of his lovers (בית מאהבי);

for the same word lovers is repeatedly applied by the prophet Hosea

to the Baalim (Hosea, ii. 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, verses 7, 9, 12, 14, 15

in Hebrew).

238 1 Samuel ix. 1-20.

239 H. Callaway, _The Religious System of the Amazulu_, part iii. pp.

300 _sqq._

240 See above, pp. 52 _sq._

241 1 Samuel ix. 9. In the Wiimbaio tribe of South-Eastern Australia a

medicine-man used to be called “_mekigar_, from _meki_, ‘eye’ or ‘to

see,’ otherwise ‘one who sees,’ that is, sees the causes of maladies

in people, and who could extract them from the sufferer, usually in

the form of quartz crystals” (A. W. Howitt, _The Native Tribes of

South-East Australia_, London, 1904, p. 380).

242 That the prophet’s office in Canaan was developed out of the

widespread respect for insanity is duly recognized by Ed. Meyer,

_Geschichte des Altertums_,2 i. 2. p. 383.

M57 Inspired prophets at Byblus.

243 W. Max Müller, in _Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft_,

1900, No. 1, p. 17; A. Erman, “Eine Reise nach Phönizien im 11

Jahrhundert v. Chr.” _Zeitschrift für Āgyptische Sprache und

Altertumskunde_, xxxviii. (1900) pp. 6 _sq._; G. Maspero, _Les

contes populaires de l’Égypte Ancienne_,3 p. 192; A. Wiedemann,

_Altägyptische Sagen und Märchen_ (Leipsic, 1906), pp. 99 _sq._; H.

Gressmann, _Altorientalische Texte und Bilder zum Alten Testamente_

(Tübingen, 1909), p. 226. Scholars differ as to whether Wen-Ammon’s

narrative is to be regarded as history or romance; but even if it

were proved to be a fiction, we might safely assume that the

incident of the prophetic frenzy at Byblus was based upon familiar

facts. Prof. Wiedemann thinks that the god who inspired the page was

the Egyptian Ammon, not the Phoenician Adonis, but this view seems

to me less probable.

244 1 Samuel ix. 6-8, 10; 1 Kings xiii. 1, 4-8, 11, etc.

245 1 Samuel ii. 22. Totally different from their Asiatic namesakes were

the “sacred men” and “sacred women” who were charged with the

superintendence of the mysteries at Andania in Messenia. They were

chosen by lot and held office for a year. The sacred women might be

either married or single; the married women had to swear that they

had been true to their husbands. See G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge

Inscriptionum Graecarum_2 (Leipsic, 1898-1901), vol. ii. pp. 461

_sqq._, No. 653; Ch. Michel, _Recueil d’Inscriptions Grecques_

(Brussels, 1900), pp. 596 _sqq._, No. 694; _Leges Graecorum Sacrae_,

ed. J. de Prott, L. Ziehen, Pars Altera, Fasciculus i. (Leipsic,

1906), No. 58, pp. 166 _sqq._

M58 “Holy men” in modern Syria.

246 Hosea ix. 7.

247 Jeremiah xxix. 26.

248 S. I. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_ (Chicago, New

York, Toronto, 1902), pp. 150 _sq._

249 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ p. 152. As to these “holy men,” see

further C. R. Conder, _Tent-work in Palestine_ (London, 1878), ii.

231 _sq._: “The most peculiar class of men in the country is that of

the Derwîshes, or sacred personages, who wander from village to

village, performing tricks, living on alms, and enjoying certain

social and domestic privileges, which very often lead to scandalous

scenes. Some of these men are mad, some are fanatics, but the

majority are, I imagine, rogues. They are reverenced not only by the

peasantry, but also sometimes by the governing class. I have seen

the Kady of Nazareth ostentatiously preparing food for a miserable

and filthy beggar, who sat in the justice-hall, and was consulted as

if he had been inspired. A Derwîsh of peculiar eminence is often

dressed in good clothes, with a spotless turban, and is preceded by

a banner-bearer, and followed by a band, with drum, cymbal, and

tambourine.... It is natural to reflect whether the social position

of the Prophets among the Jews may not have resembled that of the

Derwîshes.”

M59 The licence accorded to such “holy men” may be explained by the

desire of women for offspring.

250 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ pp. 116 _sq._

251 S. I. Curtiss, _op. cit._ pp. 118, 119. In India also some

Mohammedan saints are noted as givers of children. Thus at

Fatepur-Sikri, near Agra, is the grave of Salim Chishti, and

childless women tie rags to the delicate tracery of the tomb, “thus

bringing them into direct communion with the spirit of the holy man”

(W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_, London, 1907, p. 203).

M60 Belief that men and women may be the offspring of a god.

252 1 Samuel i.

253 Genesis vi. 1-3. In this passage “the sons of God (or rather of the

gods)” probably means, in accordance with a common Hebrew idiom, no

more than “the gods,” just as the phrase “sons of the prophets”

means the prophets themselves. For more examples of this idiom, see

Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, p. 121.

254 For example, all Hebrew names ending in _-el_ or _-iah_ are

compounds of El or Yahwe, two names of the divinity. See G. B. Gray,

_Studies in Hebrew Proper Names_ (London, 1896), pp. 149 _sqq._

255 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, p. 1028.

But compare _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3285, iv. 4452.

256 A trace of a similar belief perhaps survives in the narratives of

Genesis xxxi. and Judges xiii., where barren women are represented

as conceiving children after the visit of God, or of an angel of

God, in the likeness of a man.

257 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), pp. 446, 448-450.

M61 The saints in modern Syria are the equivalents of the ancient Baal

or Adonis.

M62 Belief in the physical fatherhood of God not confined to Syria. Sons

of the serpent-god.

258 For more instances see H. Usener, _Das Weihnachtsfest_2 (Bonn,

1911), i. 71 _sqq._

259 G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_,2 vol. ii. pp.

662, 663, No. 803, lines 117 _sqq._, 129 _sqq._

260 Pausanias, ii. 10. 3 (with my note), iii. 23. 7; Livy, xi. Epitome;

Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxix. 72; Valerius Maximus, i. 8. 2; Ovid,

_Metam._ xv. 626-744; Aurelius Victor, _De viris illustr._ 22;

Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 94.

261 Aristophanes, _Plutus_, 733; Pausanias, ii. 11. 8; Herodas,

_Mimiambi_, iv. 90 _sq._; G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum

Graecarum_,2 vol. ii. p. 655, No. 802, lines 116 _sqq._; Ch. Michel,

_Recueil d’Inscriptions Grecques_, p. 826, No. 1069.

262 Pausanias, ii. 10. 3, iv. 14. 7 _sq._

263 Pausanias, ii. 10. 4.

264 Pausanias, ii. 11. 5-8.

265 Suetonius, _Divus Augustus_, 94; Dio Cassius, xlv. 1. 2. Tame

serpents were kept in a sacred grove of Apollo in Epirus. A virgin

priestess fed them, and omens of plenty and health or the opposites

were drawn from the way in which the reptiles took their food from

her. See Aelian, _Nat. Hist._ xi. 2.

266 Pausanias, iv. 14. 7; Livy, xxvi. 19; Aulus Gellius, vi. 1;

Plutarch, _Alexander_, 2. All these cases have been already cited in

this connexion by L. Deubner, _De incubatione_ (Leipsic, 1900), p.

33 note.

267 Aelian, _De natura animalium_, vi. 17.

M63 Women fertilized by stone serpents in India.

268 H. V. Nanjundayya, _The Ethnographical Survey of Mysore_, vi.

_Komati Caste_ (Bangalore, 1906), p. 29.

M64 Belief that the dead come to life in the form of serpents.

269 T. Arbousset et F. Daumas, _Voyage d’Exploration au Nord-Est de la

Colonie du Cap de Bonne-Espérance_ (Paris, 1842), p. 277; H.

Callaway, _Religious System of the Amazulu_, part ii. pp. 140-144,

196-200, 208-212; J. Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal_ (London, 1857),

p. 162; E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 246; “Words

about Spirits,” (_South African_) _Folk-lore Journal_, ii. (1880)

pp. 101-103; A. Kranz, _Natur- und Kulturleben der Zulus_

(Wiesbaden, 1880), p. 112; F. Speckmann, _Die Hermannsburger Mission

in Afrika_ (Hermannsburg, 1876), pp. 165-167; Dudley Kidd, _The

Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), pp. 85-87; Henri A. Junod, _The

Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchatel, 1912-1913), ii. 358 _sq._

270 W. A. Elmslie, _Among the Wild Ngoni_ (London, 1899), pp. 71 _sq._

271 O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1891), pp.

141 _sq._

272 S. L. Hinde and H. Hinde, _The Last of the Masai_ (London, 1901),

pp. 101 _sq._; A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), pp. 307

_sq._; Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1904),

ii. 832.

273 M. W. H. Beech, _The Suk_ (Oxford, 1911), p. 20.

274 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), p. 90.

275 H. R. Tate, “The Native Law of the Southern Gikuyu of British East

Africa,” _Journal of the African Society_, No. xxxv. April 1910, p.

243.

276 E. de Pruyssenaere, _Reisen und Forschungen im Gebiete des Weissen

und Blauen Nil_ (Gotha, 1877), p. 27 (_Petermann’s Mittheilungen,

Ergänzungsheft_, No. 50). Compare G. Schweinfurth, _The Heart of

Africa_3 (London, 1878), i. 55. Among the Bahima of Ankole dead

chiefs turn into serpents, but dead kings into lions. See J. Roscoe,

“The Bahima, a Cow Tribe of Enkole in the Uganda Protectorate,”

_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxvii. (1907), pp. 101

_sq._; Major J. A. Meldon, “Notes on the Bahima of Ankole,” _Journal

of the African Society_, No. xxii. (January 1907), p. 151. Major

Leonard holds that the pythons worshipped in Southern Nigeria are

regarded as reincarnations of the dead; but this seems very

doubtful. See A. G. Leonard, _The Lower Niger and its Tribes_

(London, 1906), pp. 327 _sqq._ Pythons are worshipped by the

Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast, but apparently not from a

belief that the souls of the dead are lodged in them. See A. B.

Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa_,

pp. 54 _sqq._

277 G. A. Shaw, “The Betsileo,” _The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar

Magazine, Reprint of the First Four Numbers_ (Antananarivo, 1885),

p. 411; H. W. Little, _Madagascar, its History and People_ (London,

1884), pp. 86 _sq._; A. van Gennep, _Tabou et Totémisme à

Madagascar_ (Paris, 1904), pp. 272 _sqq._

278 “Religious Rites and Customs of the Iban or Dyaks of Sarawak,” by

Leo Nyuak, translated from the Dyak by the Very Rev. Edm. Dunn,

_Anthropos_, i. (1906) p. 182. As to the Sea Dyak reverence for

snakes and their belief that spirits (_antus_) are incarnate in the

reptiles, see further J. Perham, “Sea Dyak Religion,” _Journal of

the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 10 (December,

1882), pp. 222-224; H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of Sarawak and

British North Borneo_ (London, 1896), i. 187 _sq._ But from this

latter account it does not appear that the spirits (_antus_) which

possess the snakes are supposed to be those of human ancestors.

279 George Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910),

pp. 238 _sq._

M65 Serpents which are viewed as ancestors come to life are treated with

respect and often fed with milk.

280 Rev. E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 246. Compare A.

Kranz, _Natur- und Kulturleben der Zulus_ (Wiesbaden, 1880), p. 112.

281 A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), p. 307.

282 A. C. Hollis, _The Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), p. 90.

283 Mervyn W. H. Beech, _The Suk, their Language and Folklore_ (Oxford,

1911), p. 20.

284 H. R. Tate (District Commissioner, East Africa Protectorate), “The

Native Law of the Southern Gikuyu of British East Africa,” _Journal

of the African Society_, No. xxxv., April 1910, p. 243. See further

C. W. Hobley, “Further Researches into Kikuyu and Kamba Religious

Beliefs and Customs,” _Journal of the Royal Anthropological

Institute_, xli. (1911) p. 408. According to Mr. Hobley it is only

one particular sort of snake, called _nyamuyathi_, which is thought

to be the abode of a spirit and is treated with ceremonious respect

by the Akikuyu. Compare P. Cayzac, “La Religion des Kikuyu,”

_Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 312; and for more evidence of milk offered

to serpents as embodiments of the dead see E. de Pruyssenaere and H.

W. Little, cited above, p. 83, notes 1 and 2.

285 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 320 _sq._ My

friend Mr. Roscoe tells me that serpents are revered and fed with

milk by the Banyoro to the north of Uganda; but he cannot say

whether the creatures are supposed to be incarnations of the dead.

Some of the Gallas also regard serpents as sacred and offer milk to

them, but it is not said that they believe the reptiles to embody

the souls of the departed. See Rev. J. L. Krapf, _Travels,

Researches and Missionary Labours in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1860),

pp. 77 _sq._ The negroes of Whydah in Guinea likewise feed with milk

the serpents which they worship. See Thomas Astley’s _New General

Collection of Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1746) p. 29.

M66 The Greeks and Romans seem to have shared the belief that the souls

of the dead can be reincarnated in serpents.

286 L. Preller, _Römische Mythologie_3 (Berlin, 1881-1883), ii. 196

_sq._; G. Wissowa, _Religion und Kultus der Römer_2 (Munich, 1912),

pp. 176 _sq._ The worship of the _genius_ was very popular in the

Roman Empire. See J. Toutain, _Les Cultes Païens dans l’Empire

Romain_, Première Partie, i. (Paris, 1907) pp. 439 _sqq._

287 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxix. 72. Compare Seneca, _De Ira_, iv. 31. 6.

288 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, iii. 5. 4; Hyginus, _Fab._ 6; Ovid,

_Metam._ iv. 563-603.

289 Plutarch, _Cleomenes_, 39.

290 Porphyry, _De vita Plotini_, p. 103, Didot edition (appended to the

lives of Diogenes Laertius).

291 Plutarch, _Cleomenes_, 39; Scholiast on Aristophanes, _Plutus_, 733.

292 Herodotus, viii. 41; Plutarch, _Themistocles_, 10; Aristophanes,

_Lysistra_, 758 _sq._, with the Scholium; Philostratus, _Imag._ ii.

17. 6. See further my note on Pausanias, i, 18, 2 (vol. ii. pp. 168

_sqq._).

293 Sophocles, _Electra_, 893 _sqq._; Euripides, _Orestes_, 112 _sqq._

_ 294 Mittheilungen des Deutsch. Archäo log. Institutes in Athen_, iv.

(1879) pl. viii. Compare _ib._ pp. 135 _sq._, 162 _sq._

295 Above, pp. 84 _sq._

296 E. de Pruyssenaere, _l.c._ (above, p. 83, note 1).

297 See C. O. Müller, _Denkmäler der alten Kunst_2 (Göttingen, 1854),

pl. lxi. with the corresponding text in vol. i. (where the eccentric

system of paging adopted renders references to it practically

useless). In these groups the female figure is commonly, and perhaps

correctly, interpreted as the Goddess of Health (Hygieia). It is to

be remembered that Hygieia was deemed a daughter of the serpent-god

Aesculapius (Pausanias i. 23. 4), and was constantly associated with

him in ritual and art. See, for example, Pausanias, i. 40. 6, ii. 4.

5, ii. 11. 6, ii. 23. 4, ii. 27. 6, iii. 22. 13, v. 20. 3, v. 26. 2,

vii. 23. 7, viii. 28. 1, viii. 31. 1, viii. 32. 4, viii. 47. 1. The

snake-entwined goddess whose image was found in a prehistoric shrine

at Gournia in Crete may have been a predecessor of the

serpent-feeding Hygieia. See R. M. Burrows, _The Discoveries in

Crete_ (London, 1907), pp. 137 _sq._ The snakes, which were the

regular symbol of the Furies, may have been originally nothing but

the emblems or rather embodiments of the dead; and the Furies

themselves may, like Aesculapius, have been developed out of the

reptiles, sloughing off their serpent skins through the

anthropomorphic tendency of Greek thought.

M67 The serpents fed at the Thesmophoria may have been deemed

incarnations of the dead. Reluctance to disturb the Earth Goddess or

the spirits of the earth by the operations of digging and ploughing.

Hence agricultural operations are sometimes forbidden.

298 Scholia on Lucian, _Dial. Meretr._ ii. (_Scholia in Lucianum_, ed.

H. Rabe, Leipsic, 1906, pp. 275 _sq._). As to the Thesmophoria, see

my article, “Thesmophoria,” _Encyclopaedia Britannica_,9 xxiii. 295

_sqq._; _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 17 _sqq._

299 A. S. Gatschet, _The Klamath Indians of South-Western Oregon_

(Washington, 1890), p. xcii.

300 Washington Matthews, “Myths of Gestation and Parturition,” _American

Anthropologist_, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) p. 738.

_ 301 Central Provinces, Ethnographic Survey_, iii. _Draft Articles on

Forest Tribes_ (Allahabad, 1907), p. 23.

302 J. J. M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, v. (Leyden,

1907) pp. 536 _sq._

303 W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_ (London, 1907), p. 232.

304 J. Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), p. 796.

305 J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western

Pacific_ (London, 1853), pp. 245 _sq._

M68 Graves as places of conception for women.

306 Persons initiated into the mysteries of Sabazius had a serpent drawn

through the bosom of their robes, and the reptile was identified

with the god (ὁ διὰ κόλπου θέος, Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._

ii. 16, p. 14, ed. Potter). This may be a trace of the belief that

women can be impregnated by serpents, though it does not appear that

the ceremony was performed only on women.

307 See above, p. 78. Among the South Slavs women go to graves to get

children. See below, p. 96.

308 S. I. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_, pp. 115 _sqq._

309 A. C. Kruijt, _Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel_ (The Hague,

1906), P. 398.

M69 Reincarnation of the dead in America and Africa.

_ 310 Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 130 (Canadian reprint, Quebec,

1858). A similar custom was practised for a similar reason by the

Musquakie Indians. See Miss Mary Alicia Owen, _Folk-lore of the

Musquakie Indians of North America_ (London, 1904), pp. 22 _sq._,

86. Some of the instances here given have been already cited by Mr.

J. E. King, who suggests, with much probability, that the special

modes of burial adopted for infants in various parts of the world

may often have been intended to ensure their rebirth. See J. E.

King, “Infant Burial,” _Classical Review_, xvii. (1903) pp. 83 _sq._

For a large collection of evidence as to the belief in the

reincarnation of the dead, see E. S. Hartland, _Primitive Paternity_

(London, 1909-1910), i. 156 _sqq._

311 Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_ (London, 1897), p. 478.

312 Rev. John H. Weeks, “Notes on some Customs of the Lower Congo

People,” _Folk-lore_, xix. (1908) p. 422.

313 Th. Masui, _Guide de la Section de l’État Indépendant du Congo à

l’Exposition de Bruxelles-Tervueren en 1897_ (Brussels, 1897), pp.

113 _sq._

314 J. B. Purvis, _Through Uganda to Mount Elgon_ (London, 1909), pp.

302 _sq._ As to the Bagishu or Bageshu and their practice of

throwing out the dead, see Rev. J. Roscoe, “Notes on the Bageshu,”

_Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xxxix. (1909) pp.

181 _sqq._

M70 Measures taken to prevent the rebirth of undesirable spirits. Belief

of the Baganda that a woman can be impregnated by the flower of the

banana.

315 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 46 _sq._ Women

adopted a like precaution at the grave of twins to prevent the

ghosts of the twins from entering into them and being born again

(_id._, pp. 124 _sq._). The Baganda always strangled children that

were born feet first and buried their bodies at cross-roads. The

heaps of sticks or grass thrown on these graves by passing women and

girls rose in time into mounds large enough to deflect the path and

to attract the notice of travellers. See J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ pp.

126 _sq._, 289.

316 Rev. J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ pp. 126 _sq._ In the Senegal and Niger

region of Western Africa it is said to be commonly believed by women

that they can conceive without any carnal knowledge of a man. See

Maurice Delafosse, _Haut-Sénégal-Niger, Le Pays, les Peuples, les

Langues, l’Histoire, les Civilisations_ (Paris, 1912), iii. 171.

317 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, pp. 47 _sq._; _Totemism and Exogamy_,

ii. 506 _sq._ As to the custom of depositing the afterbirths of

children at the foot of banana (plantain) trees, see J. Roscoe, _op.

cit._ pp. 52, 54 _sq._

M71 Reincarnation of the dead in India. Means taken to facilitate the

rebirth of dead children.

318 W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_ (London, 1907), p. 202. As to

the Hindoo custom of burying infants but burning older persons, see

_The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead_, i. 162

_sq._

_ 319 Census of India, 1911_, vol. xiv. _Punjab_, Part i., Report, by

Pandit Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. 299.

320 E. M. Gordon, _Indian Folk Tales_ (London, 1908), p. 49. Other

explanations of the custom are reported by the writer, but the

original motive was probably a desire to secure the reincarnation of

the dead child in the mother.

321 E. M. Gordon, _op. cit._ pp. 50 _sq._

322 E. Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras, 1906),

p. 155; _id._, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras, 1909),

iv. 52.

323 W. Crooke, _Natives of Northern India_, p. 202; _Census of India,

1901_, vol. xvii. _Punjab_, Part i., Report, by H. A. Rose (Simla,

1902), pp. 213 _sq._

M72 Bringing back the soul of the dead in a fish or insect. Stories of

the Virgin Birth. Reincarnation of the dead among the South Slavs.

_ 324 Census of India, 1901_, vol. xiii. _Central Provinces_, Part i.,

Report, by R. V. Russell (Nagpur, 1902), p. 93.

325 For stories of such virgin births see Comte H. de Charency, _Le

folklore dans les deux Mondes_ (Paris, 1894), pp. 121-256; E. S.

Hartland, _The Legend of Perseus_, vol. i. (London, 1894) pp. 71

_sqq._; and my note on Pausanias vii. 17. 11 (vol. iv. pp. 138-140).

To the instances there cited by me add: A. Thevet, _Cosmographie

Universelle_ (Paris, 1575), ii. 918 [wrongly numbered 952]; K. von

den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_ (Berlin,

1884), pp. 370, 373; H. A. Coudreau, _La France Equinoxiale_, ii.

(Paris, 1887) pp. 184 _sq._; _Relations des Jésuites_, 1637, pp. 123

_sq._ (Canadian reprint, Quebec, 1858); Franz Boas, _Indianische

Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas_ (Berlin, 1895), pp.

311 _sq._; A. G. Morice, _Au pays de l’Ours Noir_ (Paris and Lyons,

1897), p. 153; A. Raffray, “Voyage à la côte nord de la Nouvelle

Guinée,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), VIe Série,

xv. (1878) pp. 392 _sq._; J. L. van der Toorn, “Het animisme bij den

Minangkabauer der Padangsche Bovenlanden,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal-

Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, xxxix. (1890) p. 78;

E. Aymonier, “Les Tchames et leurs religions,” _Revue de l’Histoire

des Religions_, xxiv. (1901) pp. 215 _sq._; Major P. R. T. Gurdon,

_The Khasis_ (London, 1907), p. 195. In some stories the conception

is brought about not by eating food but by drinking water. But the

principle is the same.

326 F. S. Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der Süd-Slaven_ (Vienna, 1885), p.

531.

M73 Belief of the Kai that women may be impregnated without sexual

intercourse. Belief in the island of Mota that a woman can conceive

through the entrance into her of a spirit animal or fruit.

327 Ch. Keysser, “Aus dem Leben der Kaileute,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch

Neu-Guinea_, iii. (Berlin, 1911) p. 26.

M74 Similar belief in the island of Motlav.

328 W. H. R. Rivers, “Totemism in Polynesia and Melanesia,” _Journal of

the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xxxix. (1909) pp. 173-175.

Compare _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 89 _sqq._ As to this Melanesian

belief that animals can enter into women and be born from them as

human children with animal characteristics, Dr. Rivers observes (p.

174): “It was clear that this belief was not accompanied by any

ignorance of the physical _rôle_ of the human father, and that the

father played the same part in conception as in cases of birth

unaccompanied by an animal appearance. We found it impossible to get

definitely the belief as to the nature of the influence exerted by

the animal on the woman, but it must be remembered that any belief

of this kind can hardly have escaped the many years of European

influence and Christian teaching which the people of this group have

received. It is doubtful whether even a prolonged investigation of

this point could now elicit the original belief of the people about

the nature of the influence.” To me it seems that the belief

described by Dr. Rivers in the text is incompatible with the

recognition of human fatherhood as a necessary condition for the

birth of children, and that though the people may now recognize that

necessity, perhaps as a result of intercourse with Europeans, they

certainly cannot have recognized it at the time when the belief in

question originated.

M75 Australian beliefs as to the birth of children. Reincarnation of the

dead in Central Australia.

329 Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central

Australia_ (London, 1904), p. 330, compare _id._ _ibid._ pp. xi,

145, 147-151, 155 _sq._, 161 _sq._, 169 _sq._, 173 _sq._, 174-176,

606; _id._, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1899), pp.

52, 123-125, 126, 132 _sq._, 265, 335-338.

330 B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_,

pp. 162, 330 _sq._

331 B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_,

pp. 337 _sq._

M76 Reincarnation of the dead in Northern Australia.

332 W. Baldwin Spencer, _An Introduction to the Study of Certain Native

Tribes of the Northern Territory_ (Melbourne, 1912), p. 6: “The two

fundamental beliefs of reincarnation and of children not being of

necessity the result of sexual intercourse, are firmly held by the

tribes in their normal wild state. There is no doubt whatever of

this, and we now know that these two beliefs extend through all the

tribes northwards to Katherine Creek and eastwards to the Gulf of

Carpentaria.” In a letter (dated Melbourne, July 27th, 1913)

Professor Baldwin Spencer writes to me that the natives on the

Alligator River in the Northern Territory “have detailed

traditions—as also have all the tribes—of how great ancestors

wandered over the country leaving numbers of spirit children behind

them who have been reincarnated time after time. They know who

everyone is a reincarnation of, as the names are perpetuated.”

333 W. Baldwin Spencer, _An Introduction to the Study of Certain Native

Tribes of the Northern Territory_ (Melbourne, 1912), pp. 41-45.

M77 Theories as to the birth of children among the tribes of Queensland.

334 Walter E. Roth, _North Queensland Ethnography_, _Bulletin_ No. 5,

_Superstition, Magic, and Medicine_ (Brisbane, 1903), pp. 22, § 81.

335 Walter E. Roth, _op. cit._ p. 23, § 82.

336 Walter E. Roth, _op. cit._ p. 23, § 83. Mr. Roth adds, very justly:

“When it is remembered that as a rule in all these Northern tribes,

a little girl may be given to and will live with her spouse as wife

long before she reaches the stage of puberty—the relationship of

which to fecundity is not recognised—the idea of conception not

being necessarily due to sexual connection becomes partly

intelligible.”

337 The Bishop of North Queensland (Dr. Frodsham) in a letter to me,

dated Bishop’s Lodge, Townsville, Queensland, July 9th, 1909. The

Bishop’s authority for the statement is the Rev. C. W. Morrison,

M.A., acting head of the Yarrubah Mission. In the same letter Dr.

Frodsham, speaking from personal observation, refers to “the belief,

practically universal among the northern tribes, that copulation is

not the cause of conception.” See J. G. Frazer, “Beliefs and Customs

of the Australian Aborigines,” _Folk-lore_, xx. (1909) pp. 350-352;

_Man_, ix. (1909) pp. 145-147; _Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 577 _sq._

M78 Theories as to the birth of children in Northern and Western

Australia. Belief that conception in women is caused by the food

they eat.

338 Herbert Basedow, _Anthropological Notes on the Western Coastal

Tribes of the Northern Territory of South Australia_, pp. 4 _sq._

(separate reprint from the _Transactions of the Royal Society of

South Australia_, vol. xxxi. 1907).

M79 Conception supposed to be caused by a man who is not the father.

339 A. R. Brown, “Beliefs concerning Childbirth in some Australian

Tribes,” _Man_, xii. (1912) pp. 180 _sq._ Compare _id._, “Three

Tribes of Western Australia,” _Journal of the Royal Anthropological

Institute_, xliii. (1913) p. 168.

M80 Some rude races still ignorant as to the cause of procreation.

340 Those who desire to pursue this subject further may consult with

advantage Mr. E. S. Hartland’s learned treatise _Primitive

Paternity_ (London, 1909-1910), which contains an ample collection

of facts and a careful discussion of them. Elsewhere I have argued

that the primitive ignorance of paternity furnishes the key to the

origin of totemism. See _Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 155 _sqq._, iv.

40 _sqq._

M81 Legends of virgin mothers.

M82 Procreative virtue apparently ascribed to the sacred stocks and

stones at Semitic sanctuaries.

341 Jeremiah ii. 27. The ancient Greeks seem also to have had a notion

that men were sprung from trees or rocks. See Homer, _Od._ xix. 163;

F. G. Welcker, _Griechische Götterlehre_ (Göttingen, 1857-1862), i.

777 _sqq._; A. B. Cook, “Oak and Rock,” _Classical Review_, xv.

(1901) pp. 322 _sqq._

342 The _ashera_ and the _masseba_. See 1 Kings xiv. 23; 2 Kings xviii.

4, xxiii. 14; Micah v. 13 _sq._ (in Hebrew, 12 _sq._); Deuteronomy

xvi. 21 _sq._; W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 pp.

187 _sqq._, 203 _sqq._; G. F. Moore, in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_,

_svv._, “Asherah” and “Massebah.” In the early religion of Crete

also the two principal objects of worship seem to have been a sacred

tree and a sacred pillar. See A. J. Evans, “Mycenaean Tree and

Pillar Cult,” _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xxi. (1901) pp. 99

_sqq._

343 As to conical images of Semitic goddesses, see above, pp. 34 _sqq._

The sacred pole (_asherah_) appears also to have been by some people

regarded as the embodiment of a goddess (Astarte), not of a god. See

above, p. 18, note 2. Among the Khasis of Assam the sacred upright

stones, which resemble the Semitic _masseboth_, are regarded as

males, and the flat table-stones as female. See P. R. T. Gurdon,

_The Khasis_ (London, 1907), pp. 112 _sq._, 150 _sqq._ So in

Nikunau, one of the Gilbert Islands in the South Pacific, the

natives had sandstone slabs or pillars which represented gods and

goddesses. “If the stone slab represented a goddess it was not

placed erect, but laid down on the ground. Being a lady they thought

it would be cruel to make her stand so long.” See G. Turner, LL.D.,

_Samoa_ (London, 1884), p. 296.

M83 These conclusions confirmed by the excavation of a sanctuary at the

Canaanitish city of Gezer. The infants buried in the sanctuary may

have been expected to be born again.

344 See above, pp. 91 _sqq._

345 As to the excavations at Gezer, see R. A. Stewart Macalister,

_Reports on the Excavation of Gezer_ (London, N.D.), pp. 76-89

(reprinted from the _Quarterly Statement of the Palestine

Exploration Fund_); _id._, _Bible Side-lights from the Mound of

Gezer_ (London, 1906), pp. 57-67, 73-75. Professor Macalister now

inclines to regard the socketed stone as a laver rather than as the

base of the sacred pole. He supposes that the buried infants were

first-born children sacrificed in accordance with the ancient law of

the dedication of the first-born. The explanation which I have

adopted in the text agrees better with the uninjured state of the

bodies, and it is further confirmed by the result of the Austrian

excavations at Tell Ta’annek (Taanach) in Palestine, which seem to

prove that there children up to the age of two years were not buried

in the family graves but interred separately in jars. Some of these

sepulchral jars were deposited under or beside the houses, but many

were grouped round a rock-hewn altar in a different part of the

hill. There is nothing to indicate that any of the children were

sacrificed: the size of some of the skeletons precludes the idea

that they were slain at birth. Probably they all died natural

deaths, and the custom of burying them in or near the house or

beside an altar was intended to ensure their rebirth in the family.

See Dr. E. Sellin, “Tell Ta’annek,” _Denkschriften der Kaiser.

Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse_, l.

(Vienna, 1904), No. iv. pp. 32-37, 96 _sq._ Compare W. W. Graf

Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, p. 59 n.3. I have to thank Professor

R. A. Stewart Macalister for kindly directing my attention to the

excavations at Tell Ta’annek (Taanach). It deserves to be mentioned

that in an enclosure close to the standing stones at Gezer, there

was found a bronze model of a cobra (R. A. Stewart Macalister,

_Bible Side-lights_, p. 76). Perhaps the reptile was the deity of

the shrine, or an embodiment of an ancestral spirit.

M84 Semitic custom of sacrificing a member of the royal family. The

burning of Melcarth at Tyre. Festival of “the awakening of Hercules”

at Tyre.

_ 346 The Dying God_, pp. 166 _sqq._ See Note I., “Moloch the King,” at

the end of this volume.

347 Philo of Byblus, quoted by Eusebius, _Praepar. Evang._ i. 10. 29

_sq._; 2 Kings iii. 27.

348 See above, p. 15.

349 Philo of Byblus, in _Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C.

Müller, iii. pp. 569, 570, 571. See above, p. 13.

350 See above, p. 16.

351 Sophocles, _Trachiniae_, 1191 _sqq._; Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_,

ii. 7. 7; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 38; Hyginus, _Fab._ 36.

352 [S. Clementis Romani,] _Recognitiones_, x. 24, p. 233, ed. E. G.

Gersdorf (Migne’s _Patrologia Graeca_, i. 1434).

353 Josephus, _Antiquit. Jud._ viii. 5. 3, _Contra Apionem_, i. 18.

Whether the quadriennial festival of Hercules at Tyre (2 Maccabees

iv. 18-20) was a different celebration, or only “the awakening of

Melcarth,” celebrated with unusual pomp once in four years, we do

not know.

354 Eudoxus of Cnidus, quoted by Athenaeus, ix. 47, p. 392 D, E. That

the death and resurrection of Melcarth were celebrated in an annual

festival at Tyre has been recognised by scholars. See

Raoul-Rochette, “Sur l’Hercule Assyrien et Phénicien,” _Mémoires de

l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres_, xvii. Deuxième

Partie (Paris, 1848), pp. 25 _sqq._; H. Hubert et M. Mauss, “Essai

sur le sacrifice,” _L’Année Sociologique_, ii. (1899) pp. 122, 124;

M. J. Lagrange, _Études sur les Religions Sémitiques_,2 pp. 308-311.

Iolaus is identified by some modern scholars with Eshmun, a

Phoenician and Carthaginian deity about whom little is known. See F.

C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. (Bonn, 1841) pp. 536 _sqq._; F.

Baethgen, _Beiträge zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte_ (Berlin,

1888), pp. 44 _sqq._; C. P. Tiele, _Geschichte der Religion im

Altertum_ (Gotha, 1896-1903), i. 268; W. W. Graf Baudissin, _Adonis

und Esmun_, pp. 282 _sqq._

355 Zenobius, _Centur._ v. 56 (_Paroemiographi Graeci_, ed. E. L.

Leutsch et F. G. Schneidewin, Göttingen, 1839-1851, vol. i. p. 143).

356 Quails were perhaps burnt in honour of the Cilician Hercules or

Sandan at Tarsus. See below, p. 126, note 2.

357 Alfred Newton, _Dictionary of Birds_ (London, 1893-96), p. 755.

358 H. B. Tristram, _The Fauna and Flora of Palestine_ (London, 1884),

p. 124. For more evidence as to the migration of quails see Aug.

Dillmann’s commentary on Exodus xvi. 13, pp. 169 _sqq._ (Leipsic,

1880).

359 The Tyrian Hercules was said to be a son of Zeus and Asteria

(Eudoxus of Cnidus, quoted by Athenaeus, ix. 47, p. 392 D; Cicero,

_De natura deorum_, iii. 16. 42). As to the transformation of

Asteria into a quail see Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, i. 4. 1; J.

Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 401; Hyginus, _Fab._ 53; Servius on

Virgil, _Aen._ iii. 73. The name Asteria may be a Greek form of

Astarte. See W. W. Graf Baudissin, _Adonis und Esmun_, p. 307.

360 Quintus Curtius, iv. 2. 10; Arrian, _Anabasis_, ii. 24. 5.

M85 Worship of Melcarth at Gades, and trace of a custom of burning him

there in effigy.

361 Strabo, iii. 5. 5, pp. 169 _sq._; Mela, iii. 46; Scymnus Chius,

_Orbis Descriptio_, 159-161 (_Geographi Graeci Minores_, ed. C.

Müller, i. 200 _sq._).

362 Silius Italicus, iii. 14-32; Mela, iii. 46; Strabo, iii. 5. 3, 5, 7,

pp. 169, 170, 172; Diodorus Siculus, v. 20. 2; Philostratus, _Vita

Apollonii_, v. 4 _sq._; Appian, _Hispanica_, 65. Compare Arrian,

_Anabasis_, ii. 16. 4. That the bones of Hercules were buried at

Gades is mentioned by Mela (_l.c._). Compare Arnobius, _Adversus

Nationes_, i. 36. In Italy women were not allowed to participate in

sacrifices offered to Hercules (Aulus Gellius, xi. 6. 2; Macrobius,

_Saturn._ i. 12. 28; Sextus Aurelius Victor, _De origine gentis

Romanae_, vi. 6; Plutarch, _Quaestiones Romanae_, 60). Whether the

priests of Melcarth at Gades were celibate, or had only to observe

continence at certain seasons, does not appear. At Tyre the priest

of Melcarth might be married (Justin, xviii. 4. 5). The worship of

Melcarth under the name of Hercules continued to flourish in the

south of Spain down to the time of the Roman Empire. See J. Toutain,

_Les Cultes païens dans l’Empire Romain_, Première Partie, i.

(Paris, 1907) pp. 400 _sqq._

363 Livy, xxi. 21. 9, 22. 5-9; Cicero, _De Divinatione_, i. 24. 49;

Silius Italicus, iii. 1 _sqq._, 158 _sqq._

364 Pausanias, x. 4. 5.

365 B. V. Head, _Historia Numorum_ (Oxford, 1887), p. 674; G. A. Cooke,

_Text-Book of North-Semitic Inscriptions_, p. 351.

366 F. Imhoof-Blumer and P. Gardner, _Numismatic Commentary on

Pausanias_, pp. 10-12, with pl. A; Stoll, _s.v._ “Melikertes,” in W.

H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 2634.

M86 Evidence of a custom of burning a god or goddess at Carthage. The

fire-walk at Tyre. The fire-walk at Castabala. The Carthaginian king

Hamilcar sacrifices himself in the fire.

367 Justin, xviii. 6. 1-7; Virgil, _Aen._ iv. 473 _sqq._, v. i. _sqq._;

Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 545 _sqq._; Timaeus, in _Fragmenta Historicorum

Graecorum_, ed. C. Müller, i. 197. Compare W. Robertson Smith,

_Religion of the Semites_,2 pp. 373 _sqq._ The name of Dido has been

plausibly derived by Gesenius, Movers, E. Meyer, and A. H. Sayce

from the Semitic _dôd_, “beloved.” See F. C. Movers, _Die

Phoenizier_, i. 616; Meltzer, _s.v._ “Dido,” in W. H. Roscher’s

_Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i. 1017 _sq._; A. H.

Sayce, _Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_ (London

and Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 56 _sqq._ If they are right, the divine

character of Dido becomes more probable than ever, since “the

Beloved” (_Dodah_) seems to have been a title of a Semitic goddess,

perhaps Astarte. See above, p. 20, note 2. According to Varro it was

not Dido but her sister Anna who slew herself on a pyre for love of

Aeneas (Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ iv. 682).

368 Justin, xviii. 6. 8.

369 Silius Italicus, i. 81 _sqq._

370 See above, pp. 16, 110 _sqq._

371 Ezekiel xxviii. 14, compare 16.

_ 372 Balder the Beautiful_, ii. 1 _sqq._ But, as I have there pointed

out, there are grounds for thinking that the custom of walking over

fire is not a substitute for human sacrifice, but merely a stringent

form of purification. On fire as a purificatory agent see below, pp.

179 _sqq._, 188 _sq._

373 Strabo, xii. 2. 7, p. 537. In Greece itself accused persons used to

prove their innocence by walking through fire (Sophocles,

_Antigone_, 264 _sq._, with Jebb’s note). Possibly the fire-walk of

the priestesses at Castabala was designed to test their chastity.

For this purpose the priests and priestesses of the Tshi-speaking

people of the Gold Coast submit to an ordeal, standing one by one in

a narrow circle of fire. This “is supposed to show whether they have

remained pure, and refrained from sexual intercourse, during the

period of retirement, and so are worthy of inspiration by the gods.

If they are pure they will receive no injury and suffer no pain from

the fire” (A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold

Coast_, London, 1887, p. 138). These cases favour the purificatory

explanation of the fire-walk.

374 Euripides, _Iphigenia in Tauris_, 621-626. Compare Diodorus Siculus,

xx. 14. 6.

375 Herodotus, vii. 167. This was the Carthaginian version of the story.

According to another account, Hamilcar was killed by the Greek

cavalry (Diodorus Siculus, xi. 22. 1). His worship at Carthage is

mentioned by Athenagoras (_Supplicatio pro Christianis_, p. 64, ed.

J. C. T. Otto, Jena, 1857.) I have called Hamilcar a king in

accordance with the usage of Greek writers (Herodotus, vii. 165

_sq._; Aristotle, _Politics_, ii. 11; Polybius, vi. 51; Diodorus

Siculus, xiv. 54. 5). But the _suffetes_, or supreme magistrates, of

Carthage were two in number; whether they were elected for a year or

for life seems to be doubtful. Cornelius Nepos, who calls them

kings, says that they were elected annually (_Hannibal_, vii. 4),

and Livy (xxx. 7. 5) compares them to the consuls; but Cicero (_De

re publica_, ii. 23. 42 _sq._) seems to imply that they held office

for life. See G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of North-Semitic

Inscriptions_, pp. 115 _sq._

M87 The death of Hercules a Greek version of the burning of Melcarth.

376 Lucian, _Amores_, 1 and 54.

M88 The Tyrian Melcarth in Cyprus. The lion-slaying god.

377 See above, p. 32.

378 G. A. Cooke, _Text-book of North-Semitic Inscriptions_, Nos. 23 and

29, PP. 73, 83 _sq._, with the notes on pp. 81, 84.

379 G. Perrot et Ch. Chipiez, _Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquité_, iii.

566-578. The colossal statue found at Amathus may be related,

directly or indirectly, to the Egyptian god Bes, who is represented

as a sturdy misshapen dwarf, wearing round his body the skin of a

beast of the panther tribe, with its tail hanging down. See E. A.

Wallis Budge, _The Gods of the Egyptians_ (London, 1904), ii. 284

_sqq._; A. Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_ (London,

1897), pp. 159 _sqq._; A. Furtwängler, _s.v._ “Herakles,” in W. H.

Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i. 2143 _sq._

380 However, human victims were burned at Salamis in Cyprus. See below,

p. 145.

M89 The Baal of Tarsus, an Oriental god of corn and grapes.

381 See above, p. 41.

382 For traces of Phoenician influence in Cilicia see F. C. Movers, _Die

Phoenizier_, ii. 2, pp. 167-174, 207 _sqq._ Herodotus says (vii. 91)

that the Cilicians were named after Cilix, a son of the Phoenician

Agenor.