dawn, a sheep, penned over night near the river, is led into the
tabernacle by one of the four _shkandos_ for sacrifice to Avather and
his companion deity, Ptahiel. It is a wether, for the Star-worshippers
never kill ewes, or eat their flesh when killed. The animal is laid
upon some reeds, its head west and its tail east, the _Ganzivro_
behind it facing the Star. He first pours water over his hands, then
over his feet, the water being brought to him by a deacon. One of the
_tarmidos_ takes up a position at his elbow and places his hand on
the _Ganzivro’s_ shoulder, saying _Ana shaddakh_, ‘I bear witness.’
The high priest bends toward the North Star, draws a sharp knife from
his left side, and, reciting the formula, ‘In the name of Alaha,
Ptahiel created thee, Hibel Sivo permitted thee, and it is I who slay
thee,’ cuts the sheep’s throat from ear to ear, and allows the blood
to escape on to the matted reeds upon which the animal is stretched
out. The four deacons go outside, wash their hands and feet, then flay
the sheep, and cut it into as many portions as there are communicants
outside. The pieces are now distributed among the worshippers, the
priests leave the tabernacle in the same order as they came, and with
a parting benediction from the _Ganzivro_, _Assootad d’hai havilakh_,
‘The benison of the living one attend thee,’ the prayer-meeting
terminates, and the Star-worshippers quietly return to their homes
before the crimson sun has time to peep above the horizon.”
What a mosaic of ceremonies and what a mixed cult in this river-bank
prayer-meeting! The Sabeans of Amara tell me that every minute
particular is correctly described, and yet themselves do not furnish
the clew to the maze. Here one sees Judaism, Islam and Christianity, as
it were engrafted on one old Chaldean trunk. Gnosticism, star-worship,
baptisms, love-feast, sacrifice, ornithomancy and what not in one
confusion. The pigeon sacrifice closely corresponds outwardly to
that of the Mosaic law concerning the cleansing of a leper and his
belongings and is perhaps borrowed from that source.[108] But how
Anti-Jewish is the partaking of blood and the star-worship.[109] The
cross of blood seems a Christian element, as does also the communion of
bread, but from a New Testament standpoint this is in discord with all
that precedes.
Nevertheless a complete system of dogma lies behind this curious cult
and one can never understand the latter without the former. Sabeanism
is _a book religion_; and it has such a mass of sacred literature
that few have ever had the patience to examine even a part of it.
The _Sidra Rabba_, or Great Book, holds the first place. The copy I
examined contains over five hundred large quarto pages of text divided
into two parts, a “right” and a “left hand” testament; they begin at
different ends of the book and they are bound together so that when
one reads the “_right_,” the “_left_” testament is upside-down. The
other name for the Great Book is _Ginza_, Treasure. It is from this
treasure-house that we chiefly gather the elements of their cosmogony
and mythology.[110]
First of all things was Pera Rabba the great Abyss. With him “Shining
ether” and the Spirit of Glory (_Mana Rabba_) form a primal triad,
similar to the Gnostic and ancient Accadian triads. Kessler goes so far
as to say that it is the same. From Mana Raba who is the king of light,
emanates _Yardana Rabba_, the great Jordan. (This is an element of
Gnosticism) Mana Rabba called into being the first of the æons, Primal
Life, or _Hayye kadema_. This is really the chief deity of the Sabeans,
and all their prayers begin by invoking him. From him again proceed
secondary emanations, _Yushamim_ (_i.e._, Jah of heaven) and _Manda
Hayye_, messenger of life. This latter is the mediator of their system,
and from him all those that accept his mediation are called _Mandäee_.
Yushamim was punished for attempting to raise himself above Primal
Light, and now rules the world of inferior light. Manda still “rests
in the bosom of Primal light” (_cf._ John i. 18), and had a series
of incarnations beginning with Abel (Hibil) and ending with John the
Baptist! Besides all these there is yet a third life called ’_Ateeka_,
who created the bodies of Adam and Eve, but could not give them spirit
or make them stand upright. If the Babylonian trinity or triad has its
counterpart in the Mandäen _Pera_, _Ayar_ and _Mana Rabba_, then _Manda
Hayye_ is clearly nothing but the old Babylonian Marduk (Merodach),
firstborn, mediator and redeemer. _Hibil_, the first incarnation of
Manda, also has a contest with darkness in the underworld even as
Marduk with the dragon Tiamat.
The Sabean underworld has its score of rulers, among others these rank
first: _Zartay_, _Zartanay_, _Hag_, _Mag_, _Gaf_, _Gafan_, _Anatan_
and _Kin_, with hells and vestibules in plenteous confusion. Hibil
descends here, and from the fourth vestibule carries away the female
devil _Ruha_ the daughter of Kin. This Ruha, Kessler affirms, is really
an anti-Christian parody of the Holy Spirit, but from conversation
with the Sabeans I cannot believe this to be true. By her own son _Ur_
Ruha becomes the mother of all the planets and signs of the zodiac.
These are the source and controllers of all evil in the world and
must therefore be propitiated. But the sky and fixed stars are pure
and clear, the abode of Light. The central sun is the Polar Star,
with jewelled crown standing before the door of Abathūr, or “father
of the splendors.” These “splendors,” æons, or primary manifestations
of deity, are said to number three hundred and sixty, (a Semitic way
of expressing many), with names borrowed from the Parsee angelology
(Zoroastrianism). The Mandæans consider all the Old Testament saints
except Abel and Seth false prophets (Gnosticism).[111] True religion
was professed by the ancient Egyptians, who, they say, were their
ancestors. Another false prophet was _Yishu Mashiha_ (Jesus Christ),
who was in fact an incarnation of the planet Mercury. John the Baptist,
_Yahya_, appeared forty-two years before Christ and was really an
incarnation of Manda as was Hibil. He baptized at Jordan, and, by
mistake also administered the rite to Jesus.
About 200 A. D., they say, there came into the world 60,000 saints
from Pharaoh’s host and took the place of the Mandæans who had been
extirpated. Is not this a possible allusion to the spread of the
Gnostic heresy and the coalescence of certain Gnostics with the
then Sabean community? They say that their high priest then had his
residence at Damascus; that is, their centre of religion was between
Alexandria and Antioch, the two schools of Gnosticism.
Mohammed, according to their system, was the last false prophet, but
he was divinely kept from harming them, and they flourished to such an
extent that at the time of the Abbasides they had four hundred centres
of worship in Babylonia.
The Mandæan priesthood has three grades; _tarmida_ or _ta’amida_
(“disciple” or “baptism”), _shkanda_ (“deacons”), and the _Ganzivra_
(“high priest,” literally the keeper of the Ginza or Great Book). The
late Ganzivra was Sheikh Yahya, a man of parts and well-versed in
their literature, who long lived at Suk-es-Shiukh. Their present high
priest is called Sheikh Sahn and was at one time imprisoned at Busrah
on charge of fomenting a rebellion of the Arab tribes near Kurna at the
junction of the Tigris and Euphrates.
The Sabeans observe six great feasts beside their weekly sabbath
(Sunday). One of the feasts celebrates the victory of Abel in the world
of darkness, another the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, but the chief
feast, _Pantsha_, is one of Baptism. It is observed in summer, and all
Sabeans are obliged to be baptized by sprinkling three times a day for
five days. The regular Sunday baptisms by immersion in running water
are largely voluntary and meritorious: these latter correspond to the
Moslem laws of purifications and take place after touching a dead body,
the birth of a child, marriage, etc.
The moral code of the Sabeans is that of the Old Testament in nearly
every particular. Polygamy is allowed to the extent of five wives, and
is even recommended in the Sidra Rabba but is seldom indulged in. They
do not circumcise; this is important, proving that they are not of
Arab origin. They have no holy places or churches except those we have
described which are built for a single night on the riverside.
The story that they go on pilgrimage to Haran[112] and visit the
Pyramids as the tomb of Seth[113] is apparently a myth. They are
friendly to Christians of all sects and love to give the impression
that because they honor the Baptist they are more closely related to
us than are the Jews and Moslems. Of course they deny that they do not
accept Jesus as a true Prophet, as they do all those other articles of
their belief, which they deem wisest or safest to keep concealed.
All our investigations end as we began, by finding that the Sabeans
“worship that which they know not,” and profess a creed whose origin
is hidden from them and whose elements, gathered from the four corners
of the earth, are as diverse as they are incongruous. Who is able to
classify these elements or among so much heterogeneous _débris_ dig
down to the original foundations of the structure? If we could, would
we not, as in so many other cases, come back to Babylonia and the
monuments?
[Illustration: Page of script]
XXIX
EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN ARABIA
“And some fell among thorns.”—_Matthew_ xiii. 7.
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat
and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought
forth fruit then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the
house-holder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good
seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them,
An enemy hath done this.”—_Matthew_ xiii. 25-28.
It is recorded in the Acts of the apostles that Arabians, or Arabian
proselytes, were present at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. We must
therefore go back to Apostolic times to find the beginnings of
Christianity in Arabia. Whether these Arabians were from the northern
part of the peninsula bordering on Syria, from the dominions of the
Arabian king Hareth (Aretas), or came as Jewish proselytes from distant
Jewish colonies of Yemen, must ever remain uncertain. In any case they
doubtless carried back to their homes something of the Pentecostal
message or blessing. The New Testament references to Arabia are not
disconnected and unique, but stand in closest relation to the whole Old
Testament revelation of God’s dealings with Ishmael and his descendants.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians,[114] he writes, “Neither went I
up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went to
Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.” What did the great apostle
to the Gentiles do in Arabia? A consideration of this question will
give us a better standpoint to review the later rise of Christianity
not only in North Arabia, but in Nejran and Yemen. “A veil of thick
darkness,” says Lightfoot, “hangs over St. Paul’s visit to Arabia.”
The particular part of Arabia visited, the length of his stay, the
motive of his going, the route taken and what he did there,—all is
left untold. We can draw the map and tell the story of all but the
first great journey of the apostle. Certainly the first journey of the
new Saul of Tarsus cannot have been without some great purpose. The
probable length of his stay, which is by some put at only six months,
but which may have been two years,[115] would also indicate some
importance in the event.
Visions and revelations to this Elijah and Moses of the new
dispensation there may have been while he tarried in the desert, but
it is scarcely probable to suppose that at this critical juncture in
early church history so long a time should have been occupied with
these only. Therefore, we find the earliest commentators of the opinion
that Paul’s visit to Arabia was his first missionary journey, and
that he “conferred not with flesh and blood,” but went into Arabia
to preach the gospel.[116] “See how fervent was his soul,” says
Chrysostom, “he was eager to occupy lands yet untilled, he forthwith
attacked a barbarous and savage people, choosing a life of conflict and
much toil.” The idea that Paul went to preach immediately after his
conversion is natural; and that he should, as the Gentile apostle, seek
first that race which was also a son of Abraham and heir of many Old
Testament promises and whose representatives were present at Pentecost,
is not improbable.
But if Paul went to Arabia and preached the gospel, where and to
whom did he go? A certain reply to these questions is unattainable
since revelation is silent, but (1) The place was most probably the
Sinaitic peninsula, or the region east of Sinai (Rawlinson). (2) There
is more than one reason to hold with Jerome and later writers that he
went to a tribe where his mission was unsuccessful as regards visible
results. (3) The only people of the desert then, as now, were Arab
Bedouin, and of the probability that Paul also knew their life and
customs, Robertson Smith gives a curious illustration in an allusion to
Galations vi. 17, when speaking of tattoo marks in religion.[117]
Now was there an Arab tribe in the days of Paul, in the region
southwest of Damascus, to whom a missionary came with a new and strange
message which was not favorably received, and yet whom and whose
message those Arabs could not forget?
We find a curious legend taken up with other nomad débris into the
maelstrom of Mohammed’s mutterings that may help to answer the
question. It is about the Nebi Salih or “good prophet,” who came to
the people of Thamud,[118] and whose person and mission is as much a
mystery to Moslem commentators as Paul’s visit to Arabia is to us.
European critics suggest his identity with Shelah of Genesis xi. 13!
but etymology and chronology both afford the most meagre basis. Palmer
offers a theory that Nebi Salih is none other than the “righteous
prophet” Moses;[119] but the difficulty is that this puts the legend
too far back in history. It is not probable that the people of Thamud
“hewed out mountains into houses,” such as are found to-day as early as
in the days of Moses. Nor does Old Testament indicate a time when Moses
went to Arabs with a Divine message. Moreover, the legend is evidently
a _local_ one that came to the knowledge of Mohammed, or it would
have been better known to him who borrowed so largely from the former
prophets; and if it is a _local_ legend, it is not a legend of Moses,
for he is mentioned more than seventy-seven times in the Koran, and
his story was well known in Arabia, at least as far as Yemen.
The pith of the legend underlies the bark; what says the Koran? Nebi
Salih came as a “brother,”[120] and said, “O, my people, worship God.
Ye have no God but Him.[121] There has come to you an evident sign
from your Lord.[122] ... And remember how He made you vice-regents
after ’Ad, and stablished you in the earth ... and remember the
benefits of God.[123] Said the chiefs of those who were big with
pride _from amongst his people_ (Pharisees or Jews from Damascus?) to
those who believed amongst them: Do ye know that Salih is sent from
his Lord? (_i. e._, his Lord is not your true God). They said, We do
believe in that with which He is sent, (gospel?) “Said those who were
big with pride, Verily, in what ye do believe we disbelieve.” The
passage is again significant: “And he turned away from them (back to
Damascus?) and said, O, my people, I did preach unto you the message
of my Lord,[124] and I gave you good advice, but ye love not sincere
advisers.” Does not this story have points of contact with what might
have been the experiences of a man like Paul among such a people?
The fact that there is a so-called tomb of Nebi Salih at El Watiyeh
(Palmer) does not weigh much for or against any theory as to the
identity of the prophet. Arabia has tombs of Job on the Upper
Euphrates, of Eve at Jiddah, of Cain at Aden, and of other “prophets”
where there is a demand for it. But it is interesting to learn from the
learned author of _The Desert of the Exodus_: “The origin and history
of Nebi Salih is quite unknown to the present Bedouin inhabitants, but
they nevertheless regard him with more national veneration than even
Moses himself.” If revered more than Moses, why not was he later than
Moses—greater than Moses—even _Saul of Tarsus_? Whether this theory be
only far-fetched or whether it has confirmation in the early spread of
Christianity in North Arabia the sequel may show.
Historical Christianity in Arabia had two centres, so that the study
of its early rise and progress takes us first to the tribes furthest
north, in the kingdoms of Hirah and Ghassan and then to fertile Yemen
and Nejran.
Despite the growth of the Roman Empire eastward in the days of Pompey,
the Arabs of Syria and Palmyra retained their independence and resisted
all encroachment. Under Odenathus the Palmyrene kingdom flourished,
and reached the zenith of its power under his wife and successor, the
celebrated Zenobia. She was defeated by Aurelian, and Palmyra and its
dependencies became a province of the Roman Empire. It is natural
therefore to expect that Christianity was introduced into this region
at an early period. Such was the case. Agbarus, so celebrated in the
annals of the early church, was a prince of the territory of Edessa
and Christianity had made some progress in the desert in the time
of Arnobius.[125] Bishops of Bostra, in Northwest Arabia (not to be
confounded with Busrah), are mentioned as having been present at the
Nicene council (325 A. D.) with five other Arabian bishops.[126] The
Arabian historians speak of the tribe of Ghassan as attached to the
Christian faith centuries before the Hegira. It was of this tribe that
the proverb became current: “They were lords in the days of ignorance
and stars of Islam.” They held sway over the desert east of Palestine
and of Southern Syria. The name of Mavia or Muaviah is mentioned by
ecclesiastical writers as an Arab queen who was converted to the faith
and in consequence formed an alliance with the emperor and accepted a
Christian Bishop, named Moses, ordained by the primate of Alexandria.
Her conversion took place about A. D. 372. Thus we find that the
progress of Christianity increased in proportion as the Arabs became
more intimately connected with the Romans.
An unfortunate circumstance for the progress of Christianity in North
Arabia was its location between the rival powers of Rome and Persia. It
was a sort of buffer-state and suffered from both sides. The Persian
monarchs persecuted the Christian Arabs and one of their Arab allies, a
pagan, called Naaman, forbade all intercourse with Christians, on the
part of his subjects. This edict we are told[127] was occasioned by the
success of the example and preaching of Simeon Stylites, the pillar
saint, celebrated in Tennyson’s picture-poem. This desert-friar who was
himself an Arab by birth, was a preacher after the heart of the stern,
austere, half-starved Bedouin. His fame spread even into far-off Arabia
Felix.[128] The stern edict of Naaman was withdrawn, however, and he
himself was only prevented from embracing the faith by his fear of the
Persian king.
Among the first monks to preach to the nomad tribes was Euthymius who
seems to have been a medical missionary working miracles of healing
among the ignorant Bedouins. One of the converted Arabs, Aspebetus,
took the name of Peter, was “consecrated” by Juvenal, patriarch
of Jerusalem, and became the first bishop of the tribes in the
neighborhood of Southern Palestine.
The progress or even the existence of Christianity in the kingdom
of Hirah seems to have been always uncertain as it was dependent on
the favor of the Khosroes of Persia. Some of the Arabs at Hirah and
Kufa were Christian as early as 380 A. D. One of the early converts,
Noman abu Kamus, proved the sincerity of his faith by melting down a
golden statue of the Arabian Venus, worshipped by his tribe, and by
distributing the proceeds among the poor. Many of the tribe followed
his example and were baptized.[129] To understand the importance of
this spread of Christianity in North Arabia we must remember that this
was the age of caravans and not of navigation. Palmyra, the centre of
the trade from the Persian Gulf, owed its importance and power to the
trans-Arabian traffic with Persia and the East. Irak and Mesopotamia
were then a part of Arabia and were ruled by Arabian dynasties.
It was in Southwestern Arabia, however, that Christianity exerted even
greater power and made still larger conquests. We cannot but wish that
the story of its success, trials and extinction had been given us in
some purer form with more of the gospel and less of ecclesiasticism.
Had that early Christianity been gold instead of glitter it would not
have perished so easily in the furnace of persecution or disappeared so
utterly before the tornado-blast of Islam.
The picture of the Christian church of this period (323-692 A. D.) as
drawn by faithful historians is dark indeed. “More and more the church
became assimilated and conformed to the world, church discipline grew
lax, and moral decay made rapid progress. Passionate contentions,
quarrels and schisms among bishops and clergy filled also public
life with party-strife, animosity and bitterness. The immorality
of the court poisoned the capital and the provinces. Savagery and
licentiousness grew rampant.... Hypocrisy and bigotry took the place
of piety among those who strove after something higher, while the
masses consoled themselves with the reflection that every man could
not be a monk.... The shady side of this period is dark enough but a
bright side and noble personages of deep piety, moral earnestness,
resolute denial of self and the world are certainly not wanting.”[130]
Not only was religious life at a low level in all parts of christendom
but heresies were continually springing up to disturb the peace or to
introduce gigantic errors. Arabia was at one time called “the mother
of heresies.” The most flagrant example was that of the Collyridians,
in the fourth century, which consisted in a heathenish distortion of
mariolatry. Cakes were offered to the Holy Virgin, as in heathen times
to Ceres.
At what time Christianity was first introduced into Arabia Felix is
uncertain. This part of Arabia was in a measure shut off from the
world of the Romans until the expedition of Ælius Gallus. Before the
coming of Christianity the Yemenites were either idolaters or Sabeans.
The large numbers of Jews in Yemen was an additional obstacle to the
early spread of the faith as they were always bitterly hostile to
the missionaries. The legend that St. Bartholomew preached in Yemen
on his way to India need not be considered; nor the more probable
one of Frumentius and his success as first bishop to Himyar. In the
reign of Constantius, Theophilus, the deacon of Nicomedia, a zealous
Arian, was sent by the emperor to attend a magnificent embassy to the
court of Himyar and is said to have prevailed on the Arabian king to
embrace Christianity. He built three churches in different parts of
Yemen, at Zaphar, Aden and Sana, as well as at Hormuz in the Persian
Gulf. No less than four bishoprics were established and the tribes
of Rabia Ghassan, and Kodaa were won to the faith. Ibn Khalikan, the
Arabian historian, enumerates as Christian tribes, the Bahrah, Tanoukh
and Taglab. In Nejran, north of Sana, and Yathrib there were also
Christians.