PHALLISM IN ANCIENT RELIGIONS.
Dr. Faber, when treating of the ancient mysteries in opposition to
Bishop Warburton’s views of their original purity, says: “Long before
the time of Apuleius, whom he (Warburton) would describe as quitting
the impure orgies of the Syrian Goddess for the blameless initiations
of Isis, did the Phallic processions, if we may credit Herodotus and
Diodorus, form a most conspicuous and essential part, not only of the
mysteries in general, but of these identical Isiac or Osiric mysteries
in particular. Nor is there any reason to doubt their accuracy on this
point. The same detestable rites prevailed in Palestine among the
votaries of Siton, or Adonis, or Baal-Peor, long before the exodus of
Israel from Egypt. The same also, anterior at least to the days of
Herodotus, in Babylonia, Cyprus, and Lydia. The same likewise from
the most remote antiquity in the mountains of Armenia, among the
worshippers of the great mother Anais; and the same, from the very
first institution of their theological system, as we may fairly argue
from the uniform general establishment of this peculiar superstition,
among the Celtic Druids both of Britain and of Ireland. Nor do we find
such orgies less prevalent in Hindostan. Every part of the theology of
that country ... is inseparably blended with them, and replete with
allusions to their fictitious origin.”[4] It will not be necessary
for me to give details of the rites by which the Phallic superstition
is distinguished, as they may be found in the works of Dulaure,[5]
Richard Payne Knight,[6] and many other writers. I shall refer to them,
therefore, only so far as may be required for the due understanding
of the subject to be considered, the influence of the Phallic idea
in the religions of antiquity. The first step in the inquiry is to
ascertain the origin of the superstition in question. Faber ingeniously
referred to a primitive universal belief in a Great Father, the curious
connection seen to exist between nearly all non-Christian mythologies,
and he saw in Phallic worship a degradation of this belief. Such an
explanation as this, however, is not satisfactory, since not only does
it require the assumption of a primitive divine revelation, but proof
is still wanting that all peoples have, or ever had, any such notion
of a great parent of mankind as that supposed to have been revealed.
And yet there is a valuable germ of truth in this hypothesis. The
Phallic superstition is founded essentially in the family idea. Captain
Richard Burton recognised this truth when he asserted that “amongst
all barbarians whose primal want is progeny, we observe a greater or
less development of the Phallic worship.”[7] This view, however, is
imperfect. There must have been something more than a mere desire for
progeny to lead primitive man to view the generative process with the
peculiar feelings embodied in this superstition. We are, in fact, here
taken to the root of all religions—awe at the mysterious and unknown.
That which the uncultured mind cannot understand is viewed with dread
or veneration, as it may be, and the object presenting the mysterious
phenomenon may itself be worshipped as a fetish or the residence of
a presiding spirit. But there is nothing more mysterious than the
phenomena of generation, and nothing more important than the final
result of the generative act. Reflection on this result would naturally
cause that which led to it to be invested with a certain degree of
superstitious significance. The feeling generated would have a double
object, as it had a double origin—wonder at the phenomenon itself
and a perception of the value of its consequences. The former, which
is the most simple, would lead to a veneration for the organs whose
operation conduced to the phenomena, hence the superstitious practices
connected with the phallus and the yoni among primitive peoples. In
this, moreover, we have the explanation of numerous curious facts
observed among Eastern nations. Such is the respect shown by women
for the generative organ of dervishes and fakirs. Such also is the
Semitic custom referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures as the putting of
the hand under the thigh, which is explained by the Talmudists to be
the touching of that part of the body which is sealed and made holy by
circumcision; a custom which was, up to a recent date, still in use
among the Arabs as the most solemn guarantee of truthfulness.[8]
The second phase of the Phallic superstition is that which arises from
a perception of the value of the consequences of the act of generation.
The distinction between this and the preceding phase is that, while
the one has relation to the organs engaged, the other refers more
particularly to the chief agent. Thus the father of the family is
venerated as the generator, and his authority is founded altogether on
the act and consequences of generation. We thus see the fundamental
importance, as well as the Phallic origin, of the family idea. From
this has sprung the social organisation of all primitive peoples. An
instance in point may be derived from Mr. Hunter’s account of the
Santals of Bengal. He says that the classification of this interesting
people among themselves depends “not upon social rank or occupation,
but upon the family basis.” This is shown by the character of the six
great ceremonies in a Santal’s life, which are, “admission into the
family; admission into the tribe; admission into the race; union of his
own tribe with another by marriage; formal dismission from the living
race by incremation; lastly, a reunion with the departed fathers.”[9]
We may judge from this of the character of certain customs which are
widespread among primitive peoples, and the Phallic origin of which
has long since been lost sight of. The value set on the results of the
generative act would naturally make the arrival at the age of puberty
an event of peculiar significance. Hence we find various ceremonies
performed among primitive, and even among civilised peoples, at this
period of life. Often when the youth arrives at manhood other rites
are performed to mark the significance of the event. Marriage, too,
derives an importance which it would not otherwise possess. Thus, among
many peoples, it is attended with certain ceremonies denoting its
object, or at least marking it as an event of peculiar significance in
the life of the individual or even in the history of the tribe. The
marriage ceremonial is especially fitted for the use of Phallic rites
or symbolism, the former among semi-civilised peoples often being
simply the act of consummation itself, which appears to be looked on
as part of the ceremony. The symbolism we have ourselves retained to
the present day in the wedding-ring, which had undoubtedly a Phallic
origin, if, as appears probable, it originated in the Samothracian
mysteries.[10] Nor does the influence of the Phallic idea end with
life. The veneration entertained for the father of the family, as the
“generator,” led in time to peculiar care being taken of the bodies of
the dead, and finally to the worship of ancestors, which, under one
form or another, distinguished all the civilised nations of antiquity,
as it does even now most of the peoples of the heathen world.
There is one Phallic rite which, from its wide range, is of peculiar
importance. I refer to circumcision. The origin of this custom has not
yet, so far as I am aware, been satisfactorily explained. The idea
that, under certain climatic conditions, circumcision is necessary for
cleanliness and comfort,[11] does not appear to be well founded, as the
custom is not universal, even within the tropics. Nor is the reason
given by Captain Richard Burton, in his “Notes connected with the
Dahoman,” for both circumcision and excision, perfectly satisfactory.
The real origin of these customs has been forgotten by all peoples
practising them, and therefore they have ceased to have their primitive
significance. That circumcision at least had a superstitious origin
may be inferred from the traditional history of the Jews. The old
Hebrew writers, persistent in their idea that they were a peculiar
people, chosen by God for a special purpose, asserted that this rite
was instituted by Jehovah as a sign of the covenant between Him and
Abraham. Although we cannot doubt that this rite was practised by the
Egyptians and Phœnicians[12] long before the birth of Abraham, yet two
points connected with the Hebrew tradition are noticeable. These are,
the religious significance of the act of circumcision—it is the sign
of a covenant between God and man—and its performance by the head of
the family. These two things are indeed intimately connected; since, in
the patriarchal age, the father was always the priest of the family,
the officer of the sacrifices. We have it on the authority of the Veda
that this was the case also among the primitive Aryan people.[13]
Abraham, therefore, as the father and priest of the family, performed
the religious ceremony of circumcision on the males of his household.
Circumcision, in its inception, is a purely Phallic rite,[14] having
for its aim the marking of that which from its associations is
viewed with peculiar veneration, and it connects the two phases of
this superstition, which have for their objects respectively the
_instrument_ of generation and the _agent_. We are thus brought back to
the consideration of the simplest form of Phallic worship, that which
has for its object the generative organs, viewed as the mysterious
instruments in the realisation of that keen desire for children
which distinguishes all primitive peoples. This feeling is so nearly
universal that it is a matter of surprise to find the act by which it
is expressed stigmatised as sinful. Yet such is the case, although the
incidents in which the fact is embodied are so veiled in figure that
their true meaning has long been forgotten. Clemens Alexandrinus tells
us that “the bacchanals hold their orgies in honour of the frenzied
Bacchus, celebrating their sacred frenzy by the eating of raw flesh,
and go through the distribution of the parts of butchered victims,
crowned with snakes, shrieking out the name of that Eva by whom
error came into the world.” He adds that “the symbol of the Bacchic
orgies is a consecrated serpent,” and that, “according to the strict
interpretation of the Hebrew term, the name Hevia, aspirated, signifies
a _female serpent_.”[15] We have here a reference to the supposed
fall of man from pristine “innocence,” Eve and the serpent being very
significantly introduced in close conjunction, and indeed becoming
in some sense identified with each other. In fact, the Arabic word
for serpent, _hayyat_, may be said also to mean “life,” and in this
sense the legendary, first human mother is called Eve or _Chevvah_, in
Arabic _hawwa_. In its relations, as an asserted fact, the question
of the fall has an important bearing on the subject before us. Quite
irrespective of the impossibility of accepting the Mosaic Cosmogony
as a divinely-inspired account of the origin of the world and man—a
cosmogony which, with those of all other Semitic peoples, has a purely
“Phallic” basis[16]—the whole transaction said to have taken place
in the Garden of Eden is fraught with difficulties on the received
interpretation. The very idea on which it is founded—the placing by
God in the way of Eve of a temptation which he knew she could not
resist—is sufficient to throw discredit on the ordinary reading of
the narrative. The effect, indeed, that was to follow the eating of
the forbidden fruit appears to an ordinary mind to furnish the most
praiseworthy motive for not obeying the commandment to abstain. That
the “eating of the forbidden fruit” was simply a figurative mode of
expressing the performance of the act necessary to the perpetuation of
the human race—an act which in its origin was thought to be the source
of all evil—is evident from the consequences which followed and from
the curse entailed.[17] As to the curse inflicted on Eve, it has always
been a stumbling block in the way of commentators. For what connection
is there between the eating of a fruit and sorrow in bringing forth
children? The meaning is evident, however, when we know that conception
and child-bearing were the direct consequences of the act forbidden.
How far this meaning was intended by the compiler of the Mosaic books
we shall see further on.
The central feature of the Mosaic legend of the “fall” is the reference
to the tree of knowledge or wisdom. It is now generally supposed that
the forbidden fruit was a kind of _citrus_,[18] but certain facts
connected with _aborolatry_ clearly show this opinion to be erroneous.
Among peoples in the most opposite regions of the world various
species of the fig-tree are considered sacred. In almost every part of
Africa the _banyan_ is viewed with a special veneration. Livingstone
noticed this among the tribes on the Zambesi and the Shire,[19] and
he says that the banyan is looked upon with veneration all the way
from the Barotse to Loanda, and thought to be a preservative from
evil.[20] Du Chaillu states that in almost every Ishogo and Ashango
village he visited in Western Equatorial Africa there was a large
_ficus_ “standing about the middle of the main street, and near the
mbuiti or idol-house of the village.” The tree is sacred, and if
it dies the village is at once abandoned.[21] Captain Tuckey found
the same thing on the Congo, where he says the _ficus religiosa_ is
considered sacred.[22] Again, according to Caillié, at Mouriosso, in
Western Central Africa, the market was held under a tree, which, from
his description, must have been the banyan, and he noticed the same
thing in other towns.[23] It is evident from Dr. Barth’s “Travels in
Central Africa,” that superstitious regard for certain trees is found
throughout the whole of the region he traversed, and among some tribes
the fig-tree occupies this position. Thus, he says, “the sacred grove
of the village of Isge was formed by magnificent trees, mostly of
the _ficus_ tribe.”[24] Nor is this superstition unknown among other
dark races of the Southern Hemisphere. A species of the fig-tree is
planted by the New Zealanders close to the temples of their gods. The
superstition is traceable, according to Mr. Earle, even among the
aborigines of Northern Australia, certain peculiar notions connected
with the banyan tree being common to the inhabitants of the Coburg
Peninsula and of the Indian Islands.[25] Mr. Marsden met with this
superstition among the Sumatrans, and we learn from Mr. Wallace that
in one of the towns of Eastern Java the market is held under the
branches of a tree allied to the sacred fig-tree.[26] If we turn to
India, we find that while the banyan is venerated by the Brahmans,
it is the bo-tree which is held sacred by many of the followers of
Gautama Buddha. This may be because, under the name of the _Pilpel_,
it was the peculiar tree of the first recorded Buddha, of whom Gautama
was supposed by his disciples to be an incarnation. Both of these
trees belong to the genus _ficus_, and it is curious that, although
probably in consequence of Semitic influence, the _ficus sycamorus_
was the sacred tree in ancient Egypt, of which it was the symbol, its
place appears ultimately to have been taken by the banyan (_ficus
indica_),[27] so highly venerated in other parts of Africa. Now,
what is the explanation of the peculiar character ascribed to these
trees by peoples who must, on any hypothesis, have been separated for
thousands of years? The bo-tree of the Buddhists itself derived a more
sacred character from its encircling the palm—the Palmyra Palm being
the _kalpa-tree_, or “tree of life,” of the Hindu paradise.[28] The
Buddhists term this connection “the bo-tree united in marriage with the
palm.” The Phallic significance of the palm is well known, and in its
connection with the bo-tree we have the perfect idea of generative
activity, the combining of the male and female organs, a combination
intended by the Hebrew legend when it speaks of the tree of life, and
also of “the knowledge of good and evil.”[29] “The palm-tree,” says
Dr. Inman, “is figured on ancient coins alone, or associated with some
feminine emblem. It typified the male creator, who was represented as
an upright stone, a pillar, a round tower, a tree stump, an oak-tree,
a pine-tree, a maypole, a spire, an obelisk, a minaret, and the
like.”[30] As we have just seen, the Palmyra Palm is the _kalpa-tree_,
or the “tree of life” of the Hindu paradise, and this was not the only
kind of tree with which the idea of life was thus associated.
In the mythologies of more northern peoples the place of the palm is
supplied by the more stately, if less upright, oak. The patriarch Jacob
hid the idols of his household under the oak near Shechem,[31] and his
descendants afterwards made burnt offerings under every thick oak.[32]
Among the Greeks and Romans this tree was sacred to Zeus, or Jupiter,
the Father of Gods and men. With the Russians, the Prussians, and the
Germans, the oak was equally sacred. The sacred oak was the form under
which the Druids worshipped the Supreme Being _Hæsus_, or Mighty.
According to Davies,[33] it was symbolised by the letter D, which
forms the consonantal sound of the word denoting God in many languages,
as it does of the name of the mythical father _Ad_, of the Adamic stock
of mankind. In Teutonic mythology the great oak forms the roof-tree of
the Volsung’s hall, spreading its branches far and wide in the upper
air, being the counterpart, says Mr. Cox, of the mighty Yggdrasil.[34]
This is the gigantic ash-tree, whose branches embrace the whole world,
and which is thought to be only another form of the colossal Irminsul.
Mr. Cox observes on this: “The tree and pillar are thus alike seen in
the columns, whether of Herakles or of Roland; while the cosmogonic
character of the myth is manifest in the legend of the primeval Askr,
the offspring of the ash-tree, of which Virgil, from the characteristic
which probably led to its selection, speaks as stretching its roots as
far down into earth as its branches soar towards heaven.”[35] The name
of the Teutonic Askr is also that of the Iranian _Meschia_,[36] and the
ash, therefore, must be identified with the tree from which springs
the primeval man of the Zarathustrian cosmogony.[37] So Sigmund of the
Volsung Tale is drawn from the trunk of a poplar tree,[38] which thus
occupies the same position as the ash and the oak as a “tree of life.”
The poplar was, indeed, a sacred tree among many nations of antiquity.
This may, doubtless, be explained by reference to its “habit,” which
much resembles that of the sacred Indian fig-tree, with which the
trembling movement, as well as the shape, of its leaves have caused it
to be thus compared.
That the ideas symbolised by the various sacred trees of antiquity
originated, however, with the fig-tree is extremely probable. No
other tree has been so widely venerated as this. The sycamore (_ficus
sycamorus_) was sacred to Netpe, the mother of Osiris, whose statue
was generally made of its wood. In relation to that subject, Sir
Gardner Wilkinson says:[39] “The Athenians had a holy fig-tree, which
grew on the ‘sacred road,’ where, during the celebration of the
Eleusinian mysteries, the procession which went from Athens to Eleusis
halted. This was on the sixth day of the ceremony, called Jacchus, in
honour of the son of Jupiter and Ceres, who accompanied his mother
in search of Proserpine; but the fig-tree of Athens does not appear
to have been borrowed from the sycamore of Egypt, unless it were in
consequence of its connection with the mother of Osiris and Isis, whom
they supposed to correspond to Ceres and Bacchus.”[40] According to
Plutarch, a basket of figs formed one of the chief things carried in
the processions in honour of Bacchus, and the sacred phallus, like the
statue of Priapus, appears to have been generally made of the wood of
the fig-tree.[41] These facts well show the nature of the ideas which
had come to be connected with that tree. To what has been already
said may, however, be added the testimony of a French writer, who,
after speaking of the _lotus_ as one of the many symbols anciently
used to represent the productive forces of nature, continues: “Il faut
y joindre, pour le règne végétal, le figuier indien, ou l’arbre des
Banians, le figuier sacré ou religieux (ficus indica, bengalensis,
ficus religiosa, &c.), _vata_, _aswatha_, _pipala_, et bien d’autres,
idéalisés de bonne heure, dans le mythologie des Hindous, sous la
figure de l’arbre de vie, arbre immense, colonne de feu, énorme et
orgueilleux phallus, l’abord unique, mais depuis devisé et dispersé,
et qui n’est peut-être pas sans rapport, soit avec l’arbre de la
connaissance du bien et du mal, soit avec d’autres symboles non moins
fameux.”[42]
That the _ficus_ was the symbolical tree “in the midst of the garden”
of the Hebrew legend of the fall is extremely probable. That notion
would seem, indeed, to be required by reference to the fig leaves[43]
as the covering used by Adam and Eve when, after eating the forbidden
fruit, they found themselves to be naked. The fig-tree, moreover, meets
the difficulty in distinguishing between the tree of life and the
tree of knowledge. These, according to the opinion above expressed,
as to the meaning of the “fall,” would represent the male and female
principles, as do the bo-tree and palm, “united in marriage,” of the
Buddhists, the palm deriving more sacredness from being encircled
by the ficus. Probably, however, the double symbol was of later
introduction. The banyan of itself would be sufficient to represent
the dual idea, when to the primitive one of “knowledge” was added that
of “life.” The stately trunk would answer to the “tree of life,” while
its fruit was the symbol of that which was more especially affected by
the act of disobedience. This was the eating of the fruit, which, as
conveying the forbidden wisdom, is evidently the essential feature of
the legend, and the _fig_ had anciently just that symbolical meaning
which would be required for the purpose.[44] Throughout the East, from
the earliest historical period, the fruit of the fig-tree was the
emblem of virginity. Dr. Inman says: “The fruit of the tree resembles
in shape the virgin uterus; with its stem attached, it symbolises the
_sistrum_ of Isis. Its form led to the idea that it would promote
fertility. To this day, in Oriental countries, the hidden meaning of
the fig is almost as well known as its commercial value.”[45]
That we have in the Mosaic account of the “fall” a Phallic legend,
is evident also from the introduction of the serpent on the scene,
and the position it takes as the inciting cause of the sinful act.
We are here reminded of the passage already quoted from Clemens
Alexandrinus, who tells us that the serpent was the special symbol of
the worship of Bacchus. Now this animal holds a very curious place in
the religions of the civilised peoples of antiquity. Although, in
consequence of the influence of later thought, it came to be treated
as the personification of evil, and as such appears in the Hebrew
legend of the fall, yet originally the serpent was the special symbol
of wisdom and healing. In the latter capacity it appears even in
connection with the Exodus from Egypt. It is, however, in its character
as a symbol of wisdom that it more especially claims our attention,
although these ideas are intimately connected—the power of healing
being merely a phase of wisdom. From the earliest times of which we
have any historical notice the serpent has been connected with the
gods of wisdom. This animal was the especial symbol of _Thoth_ or
_Taaut_, a primeval deity of Syro-Egyptian mythology,[46] and of all
those gods, such as _Hermes_ and _Seth_, who can be connected with
him. This is true also of the 3rd member of the Chaldean triad, _Héa_
or _Hoa_. According to Sir Henry Rawlinson, the most important titles
of this deity refer “to his functions as the source of all knowledge
and science.” Not only is he “the intelligent fish,” but his name
may be read as signifying both “life” and a “serpent,” and he may
be considered as “figured by the great serpent which occupies so
conspicuous a place among the symbols of the gods on the black stones
recording Babylonian benefactions.”[47] The serpent was also the symbol
of the Egyptian _Kneph_, who resembled the _Sophia_ of the Gnostics,
the divine wisdom. This animal, moreover, was the _Agatho-dæmon_ of
the religions of antiquity—the giver of happiness and good fortune.[48]
It was in these capacities, rather than as having a Phallic
significance, that the serpent was associated with the sun-gods, the
Chaldean _Bel_, the Grecian _Apollo_, and the Semitic _Seth_.
But whence originated the idea of the wisdom of the serpent which led
to its connection with the legend of the “fall?” This may, perhaps, be
explained by other facts, which show also the nature of the wisdom here
intended. Thus, in the annals of the Mexicans, the first woman, whose
name was translated by the old Spanish writers, “_the woman of our
flesh_,” is always represented as accompanied by a great male serpent.
This serpent is the sun-god _Tonacatle-coatl_, the principal deity of
the Mexican Pantheon, while the goddess-mother of primitive man is
called _Cihua-Cohuatl_, which signifies “_woman of the serpent_.”[49]
According to this legend, which agrees with that of other American
tribes, a serpent must have been the father of the human race. This
notion can be explained only on the supposition that the serpent was
thought to have had at one time a human form. In the Hebrew legend
the tempter speaks, and “the old serpent having two feet,” of Persian
mythology, is none other than the evil spirit Ahriman himself.[50] The
fact is that the serpent was only a symbol, or at most an embodiment of
the spirit which it represented, as we see from the belief of several
African and American tribes, which probably preserves the primitive
form of this superstition. Serpents are looked upon by these peoples
as embodiments of their departed ancestors,[51] and an analogous
notion is entertained by various Hindoo tribes. No doubt the noiseless
movement and the activity of the serpent, combined with its peculiar
gaze and marvellous power of fascination, led to its being viewed as a
spirit embodiment, and hence also as the possessor of wisdom.[52] In
the spirit character ascribed to the serpent, we have the explanation
of the association of its worship with human sacrifice noted by Mr.
Fergusson—this sacrifice being really connected with the worship of
ancestors.
It is evident, moreover, that we find here the origin of the idea of
evil sometimes associated with the Serpent-God. The Kafir and the
Hindu, although he treats with respect any serpent which may visit his
dwelling, yet entertains a suspicion of his visitant. It may perhaps
be the embodiment of an _evil_ spirit, or for some reason or other
it may desire to injure _him_. Mr. Fergusson states that “the chief
characteristic of the serpents throughout the East in all ages seems
to have been their power over the wind and rain,” which they gave or
withheld according to their good or ill-will towards man.[53] This
notion is curiously confirmed by the title given by the Egyptians to
the Semitic God _Seti_ or _Seth_—_Typhon_, which was the name of the
Phœnician Evil principle, and also of a destructive wind, thus having
a curious analogy with the “Typhoon” of the Chinese Seas.[54] When
the notion of a duality in nature was developed, there would be no
difficulty in applying it to the symbols or embodiments by which the
idea of wisdom was represented in the animal world. Thus, there came to
be not only good, but also bad serpents, both of which are referred to
in the narrative of the Hebrew Exodus, but still more clearly in the
struggle between the good and the bad serpents of Persian mythology,
which symbolised Ormuzd or Mithra and the Evil spirit Ahriman.[55] So
far as I can make out the serpent symbol has not a _direct_ Phallic
reference, nor is its attribute of wisdom the most essential. The idea
most intimately associated with this animal was that of _life_, not
present merely but continued and probably everlasting.[56] Thus the
snake _Bai_ was figured as Guardian of the doorways of those chambers
of Egyptian Tombs which represented the mansions of heaven.[57] A
sacred serpent would seem to have been kept in all the Egyptian
temples, and we are told that “many of the subjects, in the tombs of
the kings at Thebes, in particular, show the importance it was thought
to enjoy in a future state.”[58] Crowns, formed of the asp, or sacred
_Thermuthis_, were given to sovereigns and divinities, particularly
to Isis,[59] and these, no doubt, were intended to symbolise eternal
life. Isis was a goddess of life and healing,[60] and the serpent
evidently belonged to her in that character, seeing that it was the
symbol also of other deities with the like attributes. Thus, on papyri
it encircles the figure of Harpocrates,[61] who was identified with
Æsculapius; while not only was a great serpent kept alive in the temple
of Serapis, but on later monuments this god is represented by a great
serpent with or without a human head.[62] Mr. Fergusson, in accordance
with his peculiar theory as to the origin of serpent-worship, thinks
that this superstition characterised the old Turanian (or let us
rather say Akkadian) empire of Chaldea, while tree-worship was more a
characteristic of the later Assyrian Empire.[63] This opinion is no
doubt correct, and it means really that the older race had that form of
faith with which the serpent was always indirectly connected—adoration
of the _male_ principle of generation, the principal phase of which was
probably ancestor-worship; while the latter race adored the _female_
principle, symbolised by the sacred tree, the Assyrian “grove.” The
“_tree_ of life,” however, undoubtedly had reference to the _male_
element, and we may well imagine that originally the _fruit_ alone was
treated as symbolical of the opposite element.
There is still one important point connected with this legend which
requires consideration as throwing light on another very widespread
superstition. Baron Bunsen says that the nature of the _Kerubim_
who were set to keep the way to the tree of life has not yet been
satisfactorily explained. He seems to think they have a volcanic
reference, although the usual supposition is that they were angels
bearing “flaming swords.” The latter opinion, however, could only have
arisen from the association, in other places, of kerubim with seraphim,
who are also popularly supposed to be angelic spirits, but whom Bunsen
thinks have reference to flame. All these explanations, however, appear
to me to be erroneous. According to one opinion, kerub is compounded
of two words, _ke_ a particle of resemblance, and _rab_, signifying
great, powerful. If this derivation be correct we may safely infer that
the _kerub_ was simply a representation of the strong deity himself,
of whom the flaming sword was also an emblem. This notion is confirmed
by the statement of the Jewish Targams that “the glory of God dwelt
between the two cherubim at the gate of Eden, just as it rested upon
the two cherubim in the Tabernacle.”[64] It is curious that in the
analogous Greek myth of the Garden of Hesperides, the golden apples
were guarded by a serpent. We have a closer resemblance to the Hebrew
Kerubim in Persian mythology. Delitzsch says “the kerubs appear here
as guards of Paradise, just as in the Persian legend 99,999—_i.e._,
innumerable attendants of the Holy One keep watch against the attempts
of Ahriman over the tree Hôm, which contains in itself the power of
the resurrection. Much closer, however, lies the comparison of the
winged lion-and-eagle-formed griffin,[65] which watch the gold-caves of
the Arimaspian metallic mountains, and of the sometimes more or less
hawk-formed, sometimes only winged and otherwise man-formed-guardians,
upon the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments. The resemblance of the
symbols is surprisingly great; and the comparison of the King of
Tyre,[66] to a protecting kerub with outspread wings, who, stationed
on the holy mountain, walked up and down in the midst of the stones of
fire, justifies us in assuming such a connection.”[67]
The real nature and origin of the Hebrew kerub is apparent on reference
to the language used by Ezekiel in describing his vision of winged
creatures. Dr. Faber shows clearly that these were the same as the
kerubim in the Holy of Holies of the Hebrew temple, and he argues,
moreover, with great justice, that the latter must have agreed with
those who were said to have been stationed before the tree of life in
Eden. In fact, the King of Tyre is styled by Ezekiel “the anointed
covering kerub of Eden, the garden of God.”[68] Now, a curious
difference is made by Ezekiel in the two descriptions he gives of the
creatures which appeared in his vision. In the one case he describes
them as having each four faces—that of a man, that of a lion, that
of an ox, and that of an eagle.[69] Subsequently, however, they are
described as having each the faces of a _kerub_, of a man, of an eagle,
and of a lion.[70] Judging from this discrepancy, the head of a kerub
being substituted for that of an ox, it has been suggested that the
kerub and the ox are synonymous. Dr. Faber very justly observes on this
difficulty, that Ezekiel “would scarcely have called the head of the ox
by way of eminence the _head of a kerub_, unless the form of the ox so
greatly predominated in the compound form of the kerub as to warrant
the entire kerub being familiarly styled _an ox_.”[71] This conclusion
is the more probable when we consider that in the first vision the
creatures are represented with feet like those of a calf.[72] In
fact, we have in this vision, as in the _kerubim_ of Genesis, animal
representations of deity, such as the Persians and other Eastern
peoples delighted in, the most prominent being that of the ox—or,
rather _bull_, as it would be more properly rendered.
But what was the sacred bull of the religions of antiquity, or rather
what its mythological value? Dr. Faber says expressly on this subject:
“There is perhaps no part of the Gentile world in which the bull and
the cow were not highly reverenced and considered in the light of
holy and mysterious symbols.”[73] He cites the traditional founder of
the Chinese empire, Fohi, as having a son with a bull’s head, this
personage being also venerated by the Japanese under the title of the
“ox-headed prince of heaven.” According to Mr. Doolittle, a paper image
of a domestic buffalo, as large as life, with smaller images in clay of
this animal, are carried in procession at the Great Chinese Festival in
honour of spring, while a live buffalo accompanies the procession for
some distance.[74] It is curious to find that at the other side of the
Europo-Asiatic continent the bull was considered sacred by the Celtic
Druids, it being reverenced by the ancient Britons as the symbol of
their Great God Hu. Thus also the Kimbri “adored their principal God
under the form of a brazen bull;” as the ancient Colchians worshipped
brazen-footed bulls which were said to emit fire from their nostrils,
which has reference to the sacrifices with which they were propitiated.
Dr. Faber says as to the Great Phœnician God, called by the Greek
translator of Sanchoniatho Agruerus, from the circumstance of his being
an agricultural God, that he “was worshipped by the Syrians and their
neighbours the Canaanites, under the titles of _Baal_ and _Moloch_;
and, as his shrine was drawn by oxen, so he himself was represented
by the figure of a man having the head of a bull, and sometimes
probably by the simple figure of a bull alone”. The Persian _Mithra_
is also represented as a bull-god, and it is highly suggestive that
in one of the carved grottos near the Campus Marjorum he is figured
under the symbol of the phallus surmounted by the head of a bull. Even
among the Hebrews themselves the golden calf was, under the authority
of Aaron, used as an object of worship, a form of idolatry which was
re-established by Jeroboam, if it had ever been abandoned. Dr. Faber,
indeed, thinks that the calves worshipped at Samaria were copies of
the kerubim in the Temple at Jerusalem. If we turn to peoples kindred
to the Hebrews, we find that the Phœnician Adonis was sometimes
represented as a horned deity, as were also Dionysos and Bacchus, who
were, in fact, merely the names under which Adonis was worshipped
in Thrace and Greece. Plutarch says that “the women of Elis were
accustomed to invite Bacchus to his temple on the seashore, under the
name of ‘the heifer-footed divinity,’ the illustrious bull, the bull
worthy of the highest veneration.” Hence in the ceremonies, during the
celebration of the mysteries of Bacchus and Dionysos, the bull always
took a prominent place, as it did also during the festivals of the
allied deity of Egypt—the bull Apis being worshipped as an incarnation
of Osiris. In India the bull is still held sacred by the Brahmans,
and in Hindu mythology it is connected with both Siva and Menu.[75]
A superstitious veneration for this animal is in fact entertained
by all pastoral or agricultural peoples who possess it. To seek the
explanation of this curious phenomenon in the traditional remembrance
of the kerubic representations of deity which guarded the tree of life
would be in the highest degree irrational. These representations were
merely copies of symbolical figures, which, like the story of the fall,
were borrowed from an Eastern source. The real explanation is found in
the fact that the bull was an emblem of the productive force in nature.
The Zend word _gaya_, which means “bull,” signifies also the “soul” or
“life,” as the same Arabic word denotes both “life” and a “serpent.” A
parallel case is that of the Zend word _orouéré_, which means a “tree”
as well as “life” or “soul.”[76] According to the cosmogany of the
Zend-Avesta, Ormuzd, after he had created the heavens and the earth,
formed the first being, called by Zoroaster “the primeval bull.” This
bull was poisoned by Ahriman, but its seed was carried by the soul
of the dying animal, represented as an _ized_, to the moon, “where
it is continually purified and fecundated by the warmth and light of
the sun, to become the germ of all creatures.” At the same time the
material prototypes of all living things, except perhaps man himself,
issued from the body of the bull.[77] This is but a developed form
of the ideas which anciently were almost universally associated with
this animal, among those peoples who were addicted to sun-worship.
There is no doubt, however, that the superstitious veneration for the
bull existed, as it still exists, quite independent of the worship of
the heavenly bodies.[78] The bull, like the goat, must have been a
sacred animal in Egypt before it was declared to be an embodiment of
the sun-god Osiris. In some sense, indeed, the bull and the serpent,
although both of them became associated with the solar deities, were
antagonistic. The serpent was symbolical of the _personal_ male
element, or rather had especial reference to the man,[79] while the
bull had relation to _nature_ as a whole, and was symbolical of the
_general_ idea of fecundity. This antagonism was brought to an issue in
the struggle between Osiris and Seti (Seth), which ended in the triumph
of the god of nature, although it was renewed even during the Exodus,
when the golden calf of Osiris or Horus was set up in the Hebrew camp.
The reference made to the serpent, to the tree of wisdom, and to the
bull, in the legend of the “fall,” sufficiently proves its Phallic
character, which was, indeed, recognised in the early Christian
church.[80] Judging from the facts above referred to, however, we can
hardly doubt that the legend was derived from a foreign source. That it
could not be original to the Hebrews may, I think, be proved by several
considerations. The position occupied in the legend by the serpent is
quite inconsistent with the use of this animal symbol by Moses.[81]
Like Satan himself even, as the Rev. Dunbar Heath has shown,[82]
the serpent had not, indeed, a wholly evil character among the early
Hebrews. In the second place, the condemnation of the act of generation
was directly contrary to the central idea of patriarchal history. The
promise to Abraham was that he should have seed “numerous as the stars
of heaven for multitude,” and to support this notion the descent of
Abraham is traced up to the first created man, who is commanded to
increase and multiply.
The legend of the fall is not unknown to Hindu mythology, but here the
subject of the temptation is the divine Brahma, who, however, is not
only mankind collectively, but a man individually.[83] In human shape
he is Sivayambhuva, and to try this progenitor of mankind, Siva, as
the Supreme Being, “drops from heaven a blossom of the sacred _vata_,
or Indian fig—a tree which has been always venerated by the natives
on account of its gigantic size and grateful shadows, and invested
alike by Brahman and by Buddhist with mysterious significations, as
the tree of knowledge or intelligence (_bodhidruma_).[84] Captivated
by the beauty of the blossom, the first man (Brahma) is determined
to possess it. He imagines that it will entitle him to occupy the
place of the Immortal, and hold converse with the Infinite; and on
gathering up the blossom,[85] he at once becomes intoxicated by this
fancy, and believes himself immortal and divine. But ere the flush
of exultation has subsided, God Himself appears to him in terrible
majesty; and the astonished culprit, stricken by the curse of heaven,
is banished far from Brahmapattana, and consigned to an abyss of misery
and degradation. From this, however, adds the story, an escape is
rendered possible on the expiration of some weary term of suffering and
of penance. And the parallelism which it presents to sacred history
is well-nigh completed when the legend tells us further that woman,
his own wife, whose being was derived from his, had instigated the
ambitious hopes which led to their expulsion, and entailed so many ills
on their posterity.”[86] That parallelism cannot well be the result
of mere coincidence, and the reference to the fig-tree in the Hindu
legend not only renders it highly probable that this was the tree of
knowledge[87] of Hebrew legend, but confirms, by the symbolical ideas
connected with it, the explanation of the nature of the “fall” given in
the preceding pages. The real meaning of the legend was well understood
by the Gnostics and Manicheans, and those Christian Fathers who were
brought into contact with Eastern ideas through them.[88]
The Persians, who were indebted to the Chaldeans for many of their
religious ideas, possessed the story of the fall in a form agreeing
more closely with that which may have been the original of the Hebrew
legend. According to the _Boundehesch_, one of the sacred books of the
Parsees, a tree gave birth to the primeval man _Meschia_. The body
of this androgynous being afterwards became divided, one part being
male and the other female—_Meschia_ and _Meschiana_,[89] as the man
and woman were called—were at first pure and holy, but seduced by
Ahriman, who had metamorphosed himself into a serpent, they rendered
to the Prince of Darkness the worship which was due only to Ormuzd,
the God of Light. Meschia and Meschiana thus lost their primitive
purity, which neither they nor their descendants could recover without
the assistance of Mithra, the god who presided at the mysteries or at
the initiations—that is to say, at the way of rehabilitation which
is opened before those who seek earnestly the salvation of their
souls.[90] At the instigation of Ahriman, the man and woman had, for
the first time, committed, in thought, word, and deed, the carnal sin,
and thus tainted with original sin all their descendants.[91] Lajard,
referring to this legend, adds in a note: “Le triple caractère que
presente ici le péché originel est très nettement indiqué dans le
passage cité du Boundehesch. Il y est accompagné de détails que font de
ce passage un des morceaux les plus curieux de ce traité. Quelques-uns
de ces détails ... rattache à ce même mot (serpent) ou à sa racine la
dénomination des parties sexuelles de la homme et de la femme.” The
Persian account of the fall and its consequences agrees so closely
with the Hebrew story when stripped of its figurative language that we
cannot doubt that they refer to the same legend,[92] and the use of
figurative language in the latter may well lead us to believe that it
was of later date than the former.[93] In Ahriman, who was known to
Persian teaching as “the old serpent having two feet,” we evidently
have the origin of the speaking serpent of Genesis, while in “the
seed of the woman who shall bruise the serpent’s head,” the follower
of Zarathustra would have seen a reference to Mithra, just as the
Christian finds there a prophecy of Christ. Even the antagonism between
the Cherubim and the Serpent can be found in Persian teaching, for it
was to the malignant action of the Serpent Az that the death, not only
of the first man, but of the “primeval bull,” was due.[94] The latter
was formed by Ormuzd after the creation of the heavens and the earth,
and that from which proceeded the material prototypes of all the beings
“who live in the water, on the earth, and in the air.”[95]
It is very probable, however, that when the legend was appropriated
by the compiler of the Hebrew Scriptures it had a moral significance
as well as a merely figurative sense. The legend is divisible into
two parts—the first of which is a mere statement of the imparting of
wisdom by the serpent and by the eating of the fruit of a certain tree,
these ideas being synonymous, or at least consistent, as appears by the
attributes of the Chaldean _Héa_.[96] The nature of this wisdom may be
found in the rites of the Hindu _Sacti Puja_.[97] The second part of
the legend, which is probably of much later date, is the condemnation
of the act referred to, as being in itself evil and as leading to
misery, and even to death itself. The origin of this later notion must
be sought in the esoteric doctrine taught in the mysteries of Mithra,
the fundamental idea of which was the descent of the soul to earth
and its re-ascent to the celestial abodes after it had overcome the
temptations and debasing influences of the material life.[98] Lajard
shows that these mysteries were really taken from the secret worship of
the Chaldean _Mylitta_, but the reference to “the seed of the woman who
shall bruise the serpent’s head,” is too Mithraic for us to seek for an
earlier origin for the special form of the Hebrew myth. The object of
the myth evidently was to explain the origin of _death_,[99] from which
man was to be delivered by a coming Saviour, and the whole idea is
strictly Mithraic, the Persian deity himself being a Saviour God.[100]
The importance attached to _virginity_ by the early Christians sprang
from the same source. The Avesta is full of reference to “purity” of
life, and there is reason to believe that in the secret initiations
the followers of Mithra were taught to regard marriage itself as
impure.[101]
The religious ideas which found expression in the legend of the fall
were undoubtedly of late development,[102] although derived from still
earlier phases of religious thought. The simple worship in symbol of
the organs of generation, and of the ancestral head of the family,
prompted by the desire for offspring and the veneration for him who
produced it, was extended to the generative force in nature. The bull
which, as we have seen, symbolised this force, was not restricted
to earth, but was in course of time transferred to the heavens, and
as one of the constellations was thought to have a peculiar relation
to certain of the planetary bodies. This astral phase of the Phallic
superstition was not unknown to the Mosaic religion. A still earlier
form of this superstition was, however, known to the Hebrews, probably
forming a link between the worship of the symbol of personal generative
power and that of the heavenly phallus; as the worship of the bull
connected the veneration for the human generator with that for the
universal father. One of the primeval gods of antiquity was _Hermes_,
the Syro-Egyptian _Thoth_, and the Roman _Mercury_. Kircher identifies
him also with the god _Terminus_. This is doubtless true, as Hermes
was a god of boundaries, and appears, as Dulaure has well shown, to
have presided over the national frontiers. The meaning of the word
“Thoth”—_erecting_—associates it with this fact. The peculiar primitive
form of Mercury or Hermes was “a large stone, frequently square, and
without either hands or feet. Sometimes the triangular shape was
preferred, sometimes an upright pillar, and sometimes a heap of rude
stones!”[103] The pillars were called by the Greeks _Hermæ_, and the
heaps were known as _Hermèan_ heaps—the latter being accumulated “by
the custom of each passenger throwing a stone to the daily-increasing
mass in honour of the god.” Sometimes the pillar was represented with
the attributes of Priapus.[104]
The identification of Hermes or Mercury with Priapus is confirmed by
the offices which the latter deity fulfilled. One of the most important
was that of protector of gardens and orchards, and probably this was
the original office performed by Hermes in his character of “a God of
the country.”[105] Figures set up as charms to protect the produce of
the ground would, in course of time, be used not only for this purpose,
but also to mark the boundaries of the land protected, and these two
offices being divided, two deities would finally be formed out of one.
The Greek Hermes was connected also with the Egyptian _Khem_, and no
less, if we may judge from the symbols used in his worship, with the
Hebrew _Eloah_. Thus, in the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, we are
told that when Jacob entered into a covenant with his father-in-law,
Laban, a pillar was set up and a heap of stones made, and Laban said
to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold this pillar, which I have cast
betwixt me and thee; this heap be witness, and this pillar be witness,
that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shall not
pass over this heap and this pillar unto me for harm.”[106] We have
here the _Hermæ_ and _Hermèan_ heap, used by the Greeks as landmarks
and placed by them on the public roads. In the _linga_ of India we have
another instance of the use of the pillar symbol. The form of this
symbol is sufficiently expressive of the idea which it embodies, an
idea which is more explicitly shown when the Linga and the Yoni are, as
is usually the case among the worshippers of the Hindu Siva, combined
to form the _Lingam_. The stone figure is not, however, itself a god,
but only representative of a spirit,[107] who is thought to be able to
satisfy the yearning for children, so characteristic of many primitive
peoples, this probably having been its original object and the source
of its use as an amulet for the protection of children against the
influence of the evil eye. In course of time, however, when other
property came to be coveted equally with offspring, the power to give
this property would naturally be referred to the primitive Phallic
spirit, and hence he became, not merely the protector, as above seen,
of the produce of the fields, and the guardian of boundaries, but also
the God of wealth and traffic, and even the patron of thieves, as was
the case with the Mercury of the Romans. The Hebrew patriarchs desired
great flocks as well as numerous descendants, and hence the symbolic
pillar was peculiarly fitted for their religious rites. It is related
even of Abraham, the traditional founder of the Hebrew people, that
he “planted a grove[108] (_eshel_) in Beersheba, and called there on
the name of Jehovah, the everlasting _Elohim_.”[109] From the Phallic
character of the “grove” (_ashera_),[110] said to have been in the
House of Jehovah, we must suppose that the _eshel_ of Abraham also had
a Phallic reference.[111] Most probably the so-called “grove” of the
earlier patriarch, though perhaps of wood, and the stone “_bethel_”
of Jacob had the same form, and were simply the _betylus_,[112] the
primitive symbol of deity among all the Semitic and many Hamitic
peoples.
The participation of the Hebrew patriarchs in the rites connected
with the “pillar-worship” of the ancient world, renders it extremely
probable that they were not strangers to the later planetary worship.
Many of the old Phallic symbols were associated with the new
superstition, and Abraham, being a Chaldean, it is natural to suppose
that he was one of its adherents. Tradition, indeed, affirms that
Abraham was a great astronomer, and at one time at least a worshipper
of the heavenly bodies, and that he and the other patriarchs continued
to be affected by this superstition is shown by various incidents
related in the Pentateuch. Thus, in the description given of the
sacrificial covenant between Abraham and Jehovah, it is said that,
after Abraham had divided the sacrificial animals, a deep sleep fell
upon him as the sun was going down, and Jehovah spoke with him. “Then
when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and
a burning lamp, that passed between those pieces.” The happening of
this event at the moment of the sun’s setting reminds us of the Sabæan
custom of praying to the setting sun, still practised, according
to Palgrave, among the nomads of central Arabia. That some great
_religious_ movement, ascribed by tradition to Abraham, did take place
among the Semites at an early date is undoubted. What the object of
this covenant was it is difficult to decide. It should be remembered
that the Chaldeans worshipped a plurality of gods, supposed to have
been symbolised by the seven planets. Among these deities the sun-god
held a comparatively inferior position—the moon-god _Hurki_ coming
before him in the second triad.[113] It was at Ur, the special seat of
the worship of the moon-god,[114] that Abraham is said to have lived
before he quitted it for Haran. This fact, considered in the light of
the traditions relating to the great patriarch, may perhaps justify
us in inferring that the reformation he endeavoured to introduce was
the substitution of a simple sun-worship, for the planetary cultus
of the Chaldeans, in which the worship of the moon must to him have
appeared to occupy an important place. The new faith was, indeed,
a return to the old Phallic idea of a god of personal generation,
worshipped through the symbolical _betylus_, but associated also with
the adoration of the sun as the especial representative of the deity.
That Abraham had higher notions of the relation of man to the divine
being than his forerunners is very probable, but his sojourn in
Haran proves that there was nothing fundamentally different between
his religious faith and that of his Syrian neighbours. I am inclined,
indeed, to believe that to the traditional Abraham must be ascribed
the establishment of sun-worship throughout Phœnicia and Lower Egypt
in connection with the symbols of an earlier and more simple Phallic
deity. Tradition, in fact, declares that he taught the Egyptians
astronomy,[115] and we shall see that the religion of the Phœnicians,
as, indeed, that of the Hebrews themselves, was the worship of Saturn,
the erect, pillar-god who, under different names, appears to have been
at the head of the pantheons of most of the peoples of antiquity. The
reference in Hebrew history to the _seraphim_ of Jacob’s family recalls
the fact that Abraham’s father was _Terah_, a “maker of images.” The
_teraphim_ were doubtless the same as the _seraphim_, which were
serpent images,[116] and probably the household charms or idols of the
Semitic worshippers of the sun-god, to whom the serpent was sacred.
Little is known of the religious habits of the Hebrews during their
abode in Egypt. Probably they differed little from those of the
Egyptians themselves, and even in the religion of Moses, so-called,
which we may presume to have been a reformed faith, there are many
points of contact with the earlier cultus. The use of the ark of Osiris
and Isis shows the influence of Egyptian ideas, and the introduction
of the new name for God, _Jahve_, is evidence of contact with later
Phœnician thought. The ark was doubtless used to symbolise nature, as
distinguished from the serpent and pillar symbols, which had relation
more particularly to man. The latter, however, were by far the most
important, as they were most intimately connected with the worship of
the national deity, who was the divine father, as Abraham was the human
progenitor, of the Hebrew people. That this deity, notwithstanding his
change of name, retained his character of a sun-god, is shown by the
fact that he is repeatedly said to have appeared to Moses under the
figure of a flame. The pillar of fire which guided the Hebrews by night
in the wilderness, the appearance of the cloudy pillar at the door of
the Tabernacle, and probably of a flame over the mercy seat to betoken
the presence of Jehovah, and the perpetual fire on the altar, all point
to the same conclusion. The notion entertained by Ewald that the idea
connected with the Hebrew Jahve was that of a “Deliverer” or a “Healer”
(Saviour)[117] is quite consistent with the fact I have stated. The
primeval Phenic deity El or Cronus was not only the preserver of the
world, for the benefit of which he offered a mystical sacrifice,[118]
but “Saviour” was a common title of the sun-gods of antiquity.
There is one remarkable incident which is said to have happened during
the wanderings of the Hebrews in the Sinaitic wilderness which appears
to throw much light on the character of the Mosaic cultus and to
connect it with other religions. I refer to the use of the brazen
serpent as a symbol for the healing of the people. The worship of the
golden calf may, perhaps, be said to be an idolatrous act in imitation
of the rites of Egyptian Osiris worship, although probably suggested
by the use of the ark. The other case, however, is far different, and
it is worth while repeating the exact words in which the use of the
serpent symbol is described. When the people were bitten by the “fiery”
serpents,[119] Moses prayed for them, and we read that, therefore,
“Jehovah said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent (literally, a
_seraph_), and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that
every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to
pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived.”[120] It would seem from this account that the
Hebrew seraph was, as before suggested, in the form of a serpent;
but what was the especial significance of this healing figure? At an
earlier stage of our inquiry reference was made to the fact of the
serpent being indirectly, through its attribute of wisdom, a Phallic
symbol, but also directly an emblem of “life,” and to the peculiar
position it held in nearly all the religions of antiquity. In later
Egyptian mythology the contest between Osiris and the Evil Being, and
afterwards that between Horus and Typhon, occupy an important place.
Typhon, the adversary of Horus, was figured under the symbol of a
serpent, called Aphôphis or the Giant,[121] and it cannot be doubted
that, if not a form of, he was identified with the god Seth. Professor
Reuvens refers to an invocation of Typhon-Seth,[122] and Bunsen quotes
the statement of Epiphanius that “the Egyptians celebrate the festivals
of Typhon under the form of an ass, which they call Seth.”[123]
Whatever may be the explanation of the fact, it is undoubted that,
notwithstanding the hatred with which he was afterwards regarded, this
god Seth or Set was at one time highly venerated in Egypt. Bunsen
says that up to the thirteenth century B.C. Set “was a great god
universally adored throughout Egypt, who confers on the sovereigns
of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties the symbols of life and
power. The most glorious monarch of the latter dynasty, Sethos, derives
his name from this deity.” He adds: “But subsequently, in the course
of the twentieth dynasty, he is suddenly treated as an evil demon,
inasmuch as his effigies and name are obliterated on all the monuments
and inscriptions that could be reached.” Moreover, according to this
distinguished writer, Seth “appears gradually among the Semites as the
background of their religious consciousness;” and not merely was he
“the primitive god of Northern Egypt and Palestine,” but his genealogy
as “the Seth of Genesis, the father of Enoch (the man), must be
considered as originally running parallel with that derived from the
Elohim, Adam’s father.”[124] That Seth _had_ some special connection
with the Hebrews is proved, among other things, by the peculiar
position occupied in their religious system by the _ass_—the first-born
of which alone of all animals was allowed to be redeemed[125]—and
the _red heifer_, whose ashes were to be reserved as a “water of
separation” for purification from sin.[126] Both of these animals were
in Egypt sacred to Seth (Typhon), the ass being his symbol, and red
oxen being at one time sacrificed to him, although at a later date
objects of a red colour were disliked, owing to their association
with the dreaded Typhon.[127] That we have a reference to this deity
in the name of the Hebrew lawgiver is very probable. No satisfactory
derivation of this name, Moses, Môsheh (Heb.), has yet been given. Its
original form was probably _Am-a-ses_ or _Am-sesa_,[128] which might
become to the Hebrews Om-ses or Mo-ses, meaning only _the_ (god) Ses,
_i.e._, Set or Seth.[129] On this hypothesis we may have preserved, in
the first book of Moses (so-called), some of the traditional history
said to have been contained in the sacred books of the Egyptian Thoth,
and of the records engraved on the pillars of Seth. It is somewhat
remarkable that, according to a statement of Diodorus, when Antiochus
Epiphanes entered the temple at Jerusalem, he found in the Holy of
Holies a stone figure of Moses, represented as a man with a long beard,
mounted on an ass, and having a book in his hand.[130] The Egyptian
Mythus of Typhon actually said that Set fled from Egypt riding on a
grey ass.[131] It is strange, to say the least, that Moses should not
have been allowed to enter the promised land, and that he should be
so seldom referred to by later writers until long after the reign of
David,[132] and above all that the name given to his successor was
Joshua—_i.e._, _Saviour_. It is worthy of notice that “Nun,” the name
of the father of Joshua, is the Semitic word for _fish_, the Phallic
character of the fish in Chaldean mythology being undoubted. _Nin_, the
planet Saturn, was the fish-god of Berosus, and, as may possibly be
shown, he is really the same as the Assyrian national deity _Asshur_,
whose name and office have a curious resemblance to those of the Hebrew
leader, _Joshua_.
But what was the character of the primitive Semitic deity? Bunsen
seems to think that Plutarch in one passage alludes to the identity
of Typhon (Seth) and Osiris.[133] This is a remarkable idea, and yet
curiously enough Sir Gardner Wilkinson says that Typhon-Seth may have
been derived from the pigmy Pthath-Sokari-Osiris,[134] who was clearly
only another form of Osiris himself. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead,
Horus, the son of Osiris, is declared to be at the same time Set, “by
the distinction made between them by Thoth.”[135] However that may
be, the Phallic origin of Seth can be shown from other data. Thus it
appears that the word _Set_ means, in Hebrew as in Egyptian, pillar,
and, in a general sense, the erect, elevated, high.[136] Moreover,
in a passage of the Book of the Dead, Set, according to Bunsen, is
called _Tet_, a fact which intimates that Thoth inherited many of the
attributes of Set.[137] They were, however, in some sense the same
deities, it being through Thoth that Set was identified with Horus.
We have here an explanation of the statement that Tet, the Phœnician
_Taaut_, was the snake-god, Esmun-Esculapius, the serpent being the
symbol of Tet, as we have seen it to have been that of Seth also. In
this we have a means of identifying the Semitic deity Seth with the
Saturn of related deities of other peoples. Ewald says that “the common
name for God, _Eloah_, among the Hebrews, as among all the Semites,
goes back into the earliest times.”[138] Bryant goes further, and
declares that El was originally the name of the supreme deity among all
the nations of the East.[139] This idea is confirmed, so far as Chaldea
is concerned, by later researches, which show that Il or El was at the
head of the Babylonian Pantheon. With this deity must be identified the
Il or Ilus of the Phœnicians, who was born the same as Cronus, who,
again, was none other than the primeval Saturn, whose worship appears
to have been at one period almost universal among European and Asiatic
peoples. Saturn and El were thus the same deity, the latter, like the
Semitic Seth, being, as is well known, symbolised by the serpent.[140]
A direct point of contact between Seth and Saturn is found in the
Hebrew idol _Kiyun_ mentioned by Amos, the planet Saturn being still
called _Kevan_ by Eastern peoples. This idol was represented in the
form of a pillar, the primeval symbol of deity, which was common
undoubtedly to all the gods here mentioned.[141] These symbolical
pillars were called _betyli_ or _betulia_. Sometimes also the column
was called _Abaddir_, which, strangely enough, Bryant identifies with
the serpent-god.[142] There can be no doubt that both the pillar and
the serpent were associated with many of the sun-gods of antiquity.
Notwithstanding what has been said it is undoubtedly true, however,
that all these deities, including the Semitic Seth, became at an
early date recognised as sun-gods, although in so doing they lost
nothing of their primitive character. What this was is sufficiently
shown by the significant names and titles they bore. Thus, as we have
seen, _Set_ (Seth) itself meant the _erect_, _elevated_, _high_, his
name on the Egyptian monuments being nearly always accompanied by a
stone.[143] The name, _Kiyun_ or _Kevan_, of this deity, said by
Amos to have been worshipped in the wilderness, signifies “god of the
pillar.” The idea expressed by the title is shown by the name _Baal
Tamar_, which means “Baal as a pillar,” or “Phallus,” consequently
“the fructifying god.” The title “erect,” when given to a deity, seems
always to imply a Phallic idea, and hence we have the explanation of
the _S. mou_ used frequently in the “Book of the Dead” in relation
to Thoth or to Set.[144] There is doubtless a reference of the same
kind in the Phœnician myth, that “Melekh taught men the special art
of creating solid walls and buildings;” although Bunsen finds in this
myth “the symbolical mode of expressing the value of the use of fire
in building houses.”[145] That these myths embody a Phallic notion
may be confirmed by reference to the Phœnician _Kabiri_. According
to Bunsen, “the Kabiri and the divinities identified with them are
explained by the Greeks and Romans as ‘the strong,’ ‘the great;’” while
in the book of Job, _Kabbîr_, the strong, is used as an epithet of God.
Again, _Sydyk_, the father of the Kabiri, is “the Just,” or, in a more
original sense, the Upright; and this deity, with his sons, correspond
to Ptah, the father of the Phœnician Pataikoi. Ptah, however, seems to
be derived from a root which signifies in Hebrew “to open,” and Sydyk
himself, therefore, may, says Bunsen, be described as “the Opener” of
the Cosmic Egg.[146] The Phallic meaning of this title is evident from
its application to Esmun-Esculapius, the son of Sydyk, who, as the
snake-god, was identical with Tet, the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes.
The peculiar titles given to these deities, and their association
with the sun, led to their original Phallic character being somewhat
overlooked, and instead of being the Father-Gods of human-kind, they
became _Powerful_ Gods, _Lords_ of Heaven. This was not the special
attribute taken by other sun-gods. As was before stated, Hermes and
his related deities were “gods of the country,” personifying the idea
of general natural fecundity. Among the chief gods of this description
were the Phœnician _Sabazius_, the Greek _Bacchus-Dionysos_, the Roman
_Priapus_, and the Egyptian _Khem_. All these deities agree also in
being sun-gods, and as such they were symbolised by animals which
were noted either for their fecundity or for their salaciousness. The
chief animals thus chosen were the _bull_ and the _goat_ (with which
the ram[147] was afterwards confounded), doubtless because they were
already sacred. The Sun appears to have been preceded by the Moon as an
object of worship, but the moon-god was probably only representative
of the primeval Saturn,[148] who finally became the sun-god _El_ or
_Il_ of the Syrian and Semites and the _Ra_ of the Babylonians. The
latter was the title also of the sun-god of Egypt, who was symbolised
by the obelisk, and who, although his name was added to that of other
Egyptian gods, is said to have been the tutelary deity of the stranger
kings of the eighteenth dynasty,[149] whom Pleyte, however, declares
to have been Set (Sutech).[150] We are reminded here of the opposition
of Seth and Osiris, which has already been explained as arising from
the fact that these deities originally represented two different ideas,
_human fecundity_ and the _fruitfulness of nature_. When, however, both
of these principles became associated with the solar body, they were
expressed by the same symbols, and the distinction between them was in
great measure lost sight of. A certain difference was, nevertheless,
still observable in the attributes of the deities, depending on the
peculiar properties and associations of their solar representatives.
Thus the powerful deity of Phœnicia was naturally associated with the
strong, scorching, summer sun, whose _heat_ was the most prominent
attribute. In countries such as Egypt, where the sun, acting on the
moist soil left by inundations, caused the earth to spring into renewed
life, the mild but energetic early sun was the chief deity.