54. On the worship of Bel in Syria cf. _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1907,
pp. 447 ff.--Cf. _infra_, n. 59.
55. On the Heliopolitan triad and the addition of Mercury to the original
couple see Perdrizet, _Rev. études anc._, III, 1901, p. 258; Dussaud,
_Notes_, p. 24; Jalabert, _Mélanges fac. orient. de Bayrouth_, I, 1906, pp.
175 ff.--Triad of Hierapolis: Lucian, _De dea Syria_, c. 33. According to
Dussaud, the three divinities came from Babylon together, _Notes_, p.
115.--The existence of a Phoenician triad (Baal, Astarte, Eshmoun or {251}
Melkarth), and of a Palmyrian triad has been conjectured but without
sufficient reason (_ibid._, 170, 172 ff.); the existence of Carthaginian
triads is more probable (cf. Polybius, VII, 9, 11, and von Baudissin,
_Iolaos_ [_Philothesia für Paul Kleinert_], 1907, pp. 5 ff.)--See in
general Usener, _Dreiheit_ (Extr. _Rhein. Museum_, LVIII), 1903, p. 32. The
triads continued in the theology of the "Chaldaic Oracles" (Kroll, _De
orac. Chald._, 13 ff.) and a threefold division of the world and the soul
was taught in the "Assyrian mysteries" (_Archiv für Religionswiss._, IX,
1906, p. 331, n. 1).
56. Boll, _Sphaera_, p. 372.--The introduction of astrology into Egypt
seems to date back no further than the time of the Ptolemies.
57. The Seleucides, like the Roman emperors later, believed in Chaldean
astrology (Appian., _Syr._, 28; Diodorus, II, 31, 2; cf. Riess in
Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Astrologie," col. 1814), and the kings of
Commagene, as well as of a great number of Syrian cities, had the signs of
the zodiac as emblems on their coins. It is even certain that this
pseudo-science penetrated into those regions long before the Hellenistic
period. Traces of it are found in the Old Testament (Schiaparelli;
translation by Lüdke, _Die Astron. im Alten Testament_, 1904, p. 46). It
modified the entire Semitic paganism. The only cult which we know in any
detail, that of the Sabians, assigned the highest importance to it; but in
the myths and doctrines of the others its influence is no less apparent
(Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencycl._, s. v. "Dea Syria," IV, col. 2241, and s. v.
"Gad"; cf. Baudissin, _Realencycl. für prot. Theol._, s. v., "Sonne," pp.
510-520). To what extent, for instance, the clergy of Emesa had been
subjected to its ascendency is shown by the novel of Heliodorus, written by
a priest of that city (Rohde, _Griech. Roman_^2, p. 464 [436]), and by the
horoscope that put Julia Domna upon the throne (_Vita Severi_, 3, 8; cf. A.
von Domaszewski, _Archiv für Religionsw._, XI, 1908, p. 223). The
irresistible influence extended even to the Arabian paganism (Nöldeke in
Hastings, _Encyclop. of Religion_, s. v. "Arabs," I, p. 661; compare,
_Orac. Sibyll._, XIII, 64 ff., on Bostra). The sidereal character which has
been attributed to the Syrian gods, was borrowed, but none the less real.
From very early times the Semites worshiped the sun, {252} the moon, and
the stars (see Deut. iv. 19; Job xxxi. 25), especially the planet Venus,
but this cult was of secondary importance only (see W. Robertson Smith,
_op. cit._, p. 135, n. 1), although it grew in proportion as the Babylonian
influence became stronger. The polemics of the Fathers of the Syrian Church
show how considerable its prestige was in the Christian era (cf. Ephrem,
_Opera Syriaca_, Rome, 1740, II, pp. 447 ff.; the "Assyrian" Tatian, c. 9
ff., etc.).
58. Humann and Puchstein, _Reise in Klein-Asien und Nord-Syrien_, 1890, pl.
XL; _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 188, fig. 8; Bouché-Leclercq, _Astrol. gr._,
p. 439.
59. Cf. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 306-7.--On the temple of Bel at Palmyra,
cf. Sobernheim, _Palmyrenische Inschriften_ (_Mitt. der vorderasiat.
Gesellsch._, X), 1905, pp. 319 ff.; Lidzbarski, _Ephemeris_, I, pp. 255
ff., II, p. 280.--Priests of Bel: Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil d'arch.
orient._, VII, p. 12, 24, 364. Cf. _supra_, n. 54. The power of Palmyra
under Zenobia, who ruled from the Tigris to the Nile, must have had as a
corollary the establishment of an official worship that was necessarily
syncretic. Hence its special importance for the history of paganism.
Although the Babylonian astrology was a powerful factor in this worship,
Judaism seems to have had just as great an influence in its formation.
There was at Palmyra a large Jewish colony, which the writers of the Talmud
considered only tolerably orthodox (Chaps, _Gli Ebrei di Palmira_ [_Rivista
Israelitica_, I], Florence, 1904, pp. 171 ff., 238 f. Cf. "Palmyra" in the
_Jewish Encycl._; Jewish insc. of Palmyra; Euting, _Sitzb. Berl. Acad._,
1885, p. 669; Landauer, _ibid._, 1884, pp. 933 ff.). This colony seems to
have made compromises with the idolaters. On the other hand we see Zenobia
herself rebuilding a synagogue in Egypt (_Revue archéologique_, XXX, 1875,
p. III; _Zeitschrift für Numismatik_, V, p. 229; Dittenberger, _Orientis
inscript._, 729). This influence of Judaism seems to explain the
development at Palmyra of the cult of [Greek: Zeus hupsitos kai epêkoos],
"he whose name is blessed in eternity." The name of Hypsistos has been
applied everywhere to Jehovah and to the pagan Zeus (_supra_, p. 62, 128)
at the same time. The text of Zosimus (I, 61), according to which Aurelian
brought from Palmyra to Rome the statues of [Greek: Hêliou te kai Bêlou]
(this has been wrongly changed to read [Greek: tou kai Bêlou]), proves that
the {253} astrological religion of the great desert city recognized a
supreme god residing in the highest heavens, and a solar god, his visible
image and agent, according to the Semitic theology of the last period of
paganism (_supra_, p. 134).
60. I have spoken of this solar eschatology in the memorial cited _infra_,
n. 88.
61. This opinion is that of Posidonius (see Wendland, _Philos Schrift über
die Vorsehung_, Berlin, 1892, p. 68, n. 1; 70, n. 2). It is shared by the
ancient astrologers.
62. This old pagan and gnostic idea has continued to the present day in
Syria among the Nosaïris; cf. Dussaud, _Histoire et religion des Nosaïris_,
1900, p. 125.
63. The belief that pious souls are guided to heaven by a psychopompus, is
found not only in the mysteries of Mithra (_Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 310),
but also in the Syrian cults where that rôle was often assigned to the
solar god, see Isid. Lévy, _Cultes syriens dans le Talmud_ (_Revue des
études juives_, XLIII), 1901, p. 5, and Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 27; cf. the Le
Bas-Waddington inscription, 2442:
"[Greek: Basileu despota] (= the sun), [Greek: hilathi kai didou pasin
hêmin hugiên katharan, prêxis agathas kai biou telos esthlon]."--
The same idea is found in inscriptions in the Occident; as for instance in
the peculiar epitaph of a sailor who died at Marseilles (Kaibel, _Inscr.
gr._, XIV, 2462 = _Epigr._, 650):
"[Greek: En de [te] tethneioisin homêguri [es] ge pelousin]
[Greek: doiai; tôn heterê men epichthoniê pephorêtai,]
[Greek: hê d' heterê teiressi sun aitherioisi choreuei,]
[Greek: ês stratiês eis eimi, lachôn theon hêgemonêa]."
It is the same term that Julian used (_Césars_, p. 336 C) in speaking of
Mithra, the guide of souls: [Greek: hêgemona theon]. Cf. also _infra_, n.
66 and ch. VIII, n. 24.
64. The Babylonian origin of the doctrine that the souls returned to heaven
by crossing the seven planetary spheres, has been maintained by Anz (_Zur
Frage nach dem Ursprung des Gnostizismus_, 1897; cf. _Mon. myst. Mithra_,
I. pp. 38 ff., p. 309; Bousset, _Die Himmelsreise der Seele_ [_Archiv für
Religionsw._, IV], 1901, pp. 160 ff.) and "Gnosis" in Pauly-Wissowa,
_Realencyclopädie_, col. 1520. It has since been denied by Reitzenstein
(_Poimandres_, p. 79; cf. Kroll, _Berl. philol. Wochensch._, {254} 1906, p.
486). But although it may have been given its precise shape and been
transformed by the Greeks and even by the Egyptians, I persist in believing
that it is of Chaldean and religious origin. I heartily agree with the
conclusions recently formulated by Bousset, (_Göttingische gelehrte
Anzeigen_, 1905, pp. 707 ff.). We can go farther: Whatever roots it may
have had in the speculations of ancient Greece (Aristoph., _Pax_, 832,
Plato, _Tim._, 42B, cf. Haussoullier, _Rev. de philol._, 1909, pp. 1 ff.),
whatever traces of it may be found in other nations (Dieterich,
_Mithrasliturgie_, pp. 182 ff.; _Nekyia_, p. 24, note; Rohde, _Psyche_, II,
p. 131, n. 3), the idea itself of the soul rising to the divine stars after
death certainly developed under the influence of the sidereal worship of
the Semites to a point where it dominated all other eschatological
theories. The belief in the eternity of souls is the corollary to the
belief in the eternity of the celestial gods (p. 129). We cannot give the
history of this conception here, and we shall limit ourselves to brief
observations. The first account of this system ever given at Rome is found
in "Scipio's Dream" (c. 3); it probably dates back to Posidonius of Apamea
(cf. Wendland, _Die hellenistisch-römische Kultur_, p. 85, 166, n. 3, 168,
n. 1), and is completely impregnated with mysticism and astrolatry. The
same idea is found a little later in the astrologer Manilius (I, 758; IV,
404, etc.). The shape which it assumed in Josephus (_Bell. Judaic._, V, 1,
5, § 47) is also much more religious than philosophical and is strikingly
similar to a dogma of Islam (happiness in store for those dying in battle;
a Syrian [_ibid._, § 54] risks his life that his soul may go to heaven).
This recalls the inscription of Antiochus of Commagene (Michel, _Recueil_,
No. 735, l. 40):
[Greek: Sôma pros ouranious Dios Ôromasdou thronous theophilê psuchên
propempsan eis ton apeiron aiôna koimêsetai].
It must be said that this sidereal immortality was not originally common to
all men; it was reserved "omnibus qui patriam conservaverint adiuverint,
auxerint" (_Somn. Scip._ c. 3, c. 8; cf. _Manil._, I, 758; Lucan, _Phars._,
IX, 1 ff.; Wendland, _op. cit._, p. 85 n. 2), and this also is in
conformity with the oldest Oriental traditions. The rites first used to
assure immortality to kings and to make them the equals of the gods were
extended little by little as a kind of privilege, to the important {255}
persons of the state, and only very much later were they applied to all who
died.
Regarding the diffusion of this belief from the beginning of the first
century of our era, see Diels, _Elementum_, 1899, p. 73, cf. 78;
Badstübner, _Beiträge zur Erklärung Senecas_, Hamburg, pp. 2 ff.--It is
expressed in many inscriptions (Friedländer, _Sitteng._, III, pp. 749 ff.;
Rohde, _Psyche_, p. 673, cf. 610; epitaph of Vezir-Keupru, _Studia
Pontica_, No. 85; _CIL_. III (Salone), 6384; _supra_, n. 63, etc.) It
gained access into Judaism and paganism simultaneously (cf. Bousset, _Die
Religion des Judentums im neutest. Zeitalter_, 1903, p. 271, and, for Philo
of Alexandria, Zeller, _Philos. der Griechen_, V, p. 397 and p.
297).--During the third century it was expounded by Cornelius Labeo, the
source of Arnobius and Servius (Nieggetiet, _De Cornelio Labeone_ [Diss.
Munster], 1908, pp. 77-86). It was generally accepted towards the end of
the empire; see _infra_, n. 25.--I hope soon to have the opportunity of
setting forth the development of this sidereal eschatology with greater
precision in my lectures on "Astrology and Religion in Antiquity" which
will appear in 1912 (chap. VI).
65. According to the doctrine of the Egyptian mysteries the Elysian Fields
were in the under-world (Apul., _Metam._, XI, 6).--According to the
astrological theory, the Elysian Fields were in the sphere of the fixed
stars (Macrobius, _Comm. somn. Scip._, I, 11, § 8; cf. _infra_, chap. VIII,
n. 25). Others placed them in the moon (Servius, _Ad Aen._, VI, 887; cf.
Norden, _Vergils Buch_, VI, p. 23; Rohde, _Psyche_, pp. 609 ff.).
Iamblichus placed them between the moon and the sun (Lydus, _De mens._, IV,
149, p. 167, 23, Wünsch).
66. The relation between the two ideas is apparent in the alleged account
of the Pythagorean doctrine which Diogenes Laertius took from Alexander
Polyhistor, and which is in reality an apocryphal composition of the first
century of our era. It was said that Hermes guided the pure souls, after
their separation from the body, [Greek: eis ton Hupsiston] (Diog. Laert.,
VIII, § 31; cf. Zeller, _Philos. der Griechen_, V, p. 106, n. 2).--On the
meaning of Hypsistos, cf. _supra_, p. 128. It appears very plainly in the
passage of Isaiah, xiv, 13, as rendered by the Septuagint: {256}
[Greek: Eis ton ouranon anabêsomai, epanô tôn asterôn thêsô ton thronon mou
... esomai homoios tôi Hupsistôi.]
67. Originally he was the thunder-god, in Greek [Greek: Keraunos]. Under
this name he appeared for instance on the bas-relief preserved in the
museum of Brussels (Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 105). Later, by a familiar
process, the influence of a particular god becomes the attribute of a
greater divinity, and we speak of a [Greek: Zeus Keraunios] (cf. Usener,
_Keraunos_, Rhein. Museum, N. F., LX, 1901).--This Zeus Keraunios appears
in many inscriptions of Syria (_CIG_, 4501, 4520; Le Bas-Waddington, 2195,
2557 _a_, 2631, 2739; cf. Roscher, _Lexikon Myth._, s. v. "Keraunos").
He is the god to whom Seleucus sacrificed when founding Seleucia (Malalas,
p. 199), and a dedication to the same god has been found recently in the
temple of the Syrian divinities at Rome (_supra_, n. 10).--An equivalent of
the Zeus Keraunios is the Zeus [Greek: Kataibatês]--"he who descends in the
lightning"--worshiped at Cyrrhus (Wroth, _Greek Coins in the British
Museum_: "Galatia, Syria," p. 52 and LII; Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v.)
68. For instance the double ax was carried by Jupiter Dolichenus (cf.
_supra_, p. 147). On its significance, cf. Usener, _loc. cit._, p. 20.
69. Cf. Lidzbarski, _Balsamem, Ephem. semit. Epigr._, I, p. 251.--Ba'al
Samaïn is mentioned as early as the ninth century B. C. in the inscription
of Ben Hadad (Pognon, _Inscr. sémit._, 1907, pp. 165 ff.; cf. Dussaud,
_Rev. archéol._, 1908, I, p. 235). In Aramaic papyri preserved at Berlin,
the Jews of Elephantine call Jehovah "the god of heaven" in an address to a
Persian governor, and the same name was used in the alleged edicts of Cyrus
and his successors, which were inserted in the book of Esdras (i. 1; vi. 9,
etc.)--If there were the slightest doubt as to the identity of the god of
thunder with Baalsamin, it would be dispelled by the inscription of
Et-Tayibé, where this Semitic name is translated into Greek as [Greek: Zeus
megistos keraunios]; cf. Lidzbarski, _Handbuch_, p. 477, and Lagrange, _op.
cit._, p. 508.
70. On the worship of Baalsamin, confused with Ahura-Mazda and transformed
into _Caelus_, see _Mon. myst. Mithra_, p. 87.--The texts attesting the
existence of a real cult of {257} heaven among the Semites are very
numerous. Besides the ones I have gathered (_loc. cit._, n. 5); see
Conybeare, _Philo about the Contemplative Life_, p. 33, n. 16; Kayser, _Das
Buch der Erkenntniss der Wahrheit_, 1893, p. 337, and _infra_, n. 75. Zeus
[Greek: Ouranios]: Le Bas-Waddington, 2720 _a_ (Baal of Bétocécé); Renan,
_Mission de Phénicie_, p. 103.--Cf. _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, IX,
1906, p. 333.
71. Coins of Antiochus VIII Grypus (125-96 B. C.); Babelon, _Rois de Syrie,
d'Arménie_, 1890, p. CLIV, pp. 178 ff.
72. All these qualities ascribed to the Baals by astrological paganism
([Greek: hupsistos, pantokratôr], etc.), are also the attributes which,
according to the doctrine of Alexandrian Judaism, characterized Jehovah
(see _supra_, n. 66). If he was originally a god of thunder, as has been
maintained, the evolution of the Jewish theology was parallel to that of
the pagan conceptions (see _supra_, n. 69).
73. On this subject cf. _Jupiter summus exsuperantissimus_ (_Archiv f.
Religionsw._, IX), 1906, pp. 326 ff.
74. Ps.-Iamblichus, _De mysteriis_, VI, 7 (cf. Porph., _Epist. Aneb._, c.
29), notes this difference between the two religions.
75. Apul., _Met._, VIII, 25. Cf. _CIL_, III, 1090; XII, 1227 (= Dessau,
2998, 4333); Macrobius, _Comm. somn. Scipionis_, I, 14, § 2: "Nihil aliud
esse deum nisi caelum ipsum et caelestia ipsa quae cernimus, ideo ut summi
omnipotentiam dei ostenderet posse vix intellegi."--[Greek: Hêlios
pantokratôs]: Macrob., I, 23, 21.
76. Diodorus, II, 30: [Greek: Chaldaioi tên tou kosmou phusin aidion phasin
einai k. t. l.]; cf. Cicero, _Nat. deor._, II, 20, § 52 ff.; Pliny, _H.
N._, II, 8, § 30. The notion of eternity was correlative with that of
[Greek: heimarmenê]; cf. Ps.-Apul., _Asclep._, 40; Apul., _De deo
Socratis_, c. 2: "(The planets) quae in deflexo cursu ... meatus aeternos
divinis vicibus efficiunt."--This subject will be more fully treated in my
lectures on "Astrology and Religion" (chaps. IV-V).
77. At Palmyra: De Vogüé, _Inscr. sem._, pp. 53 ff., etc.--On the first
title, see _infra_, n. 80.
78. Note especially _CIL_, VI, 406 = 30758, where Jupiter Dolichenus is
called _Aeternus conservator totius poli_. The {258} relation to heaven
here remained apparent. See _Somn. Scip._, III, 4; IV, 3.
79. Cf. _Rev. archéol._, 1888, I, pp. 184 ff.; Pauly-Wissowa, s. v.
"Aeternus," and _Festschrift für Otto Benndorf_, 1898, p. 291.--The idea of
the eternity of the gods also appeared very early in Egypt, but it does not
seem that the mysteries of Isis--in which the death of Osiris was
commemorated--made it prominent, and it certainly was spread in the
Occident only by the sidereal cults.
80. The question has been raised whether the epithet [Hebrew: MR' `LM']
means "lord of the world" or "lord of eternity" (cf. Lidzbarski,
_Ephemeris_, I, 258; II, 297; Lagrange, p. 508), but in our opinion the
controversy is to no purpose, since in the spirit of the Syrian priests the
two ideas are inseparable and one expression in itself embraces both, the
world being conceived as eternal (_supra_, n. 76). See for Egypt,
Horapoll., _Hieroglyph._, I (serpent as symbol of the [Greek: aiôn] and
[Greek: kosmos]). At Palmyra, too, the title "lord of all" is found,
[Hebrew: MR' KL] (Lidzbarski, _loc. cit._); cf. Julian, Or., IV, p. 203, 5
(Hertlein): [Greek: Ho basileus tôn holôn Hêlios], and infra, n. 81; n. 87.
Already at Babylon the title "lord of the universe" was given to Shamash
and Hadad; see Jastrow, _Religion Babyloniens_, I, p. 254, n. 10. Nöldeke
has been good enough to write me as follows on this subject: "Daran kan
kein Zweifel sein, dass [Hebrew: `LM] zunächst (lange Zeit) Ewigkeit
heisst, und dass die Bedeutung 'Welt' secundär ist. Ich halte es daher für
so gut wie gewiss dass das palmyrenische [Hebrew: MR' `LM'], wenn es ein
alter Name ist, den 'ewigen' Herrn bedeutet, wie ohne Zweifel [Hebrew: 'L
`WLM], Gen., xxi. 33. Das biblische Hebräisch kennt die Bedeutung 'Welt'
noch nicht, abgesehen wohl von der späten Stelle, Eccl. iii. 11. Und, so
viel ich sehe, ist im Palmyrenischen sonst [Hebrew: `LM'] immer 'Ewigkeit,'
z.B. in der häufigen Redensart [Hebrew: LBRYK SHMCH L`LM']. Aber das
daneben vorkommende palmyr. [Hebrew: MR' KL] führt allerdings darauf, dass
die palmyrenische Inschrift auch in [Hebrew: MR' `LM'] den 'Herrn der Welt'
sah. Ja der syrische Uebersetzer sieht auch in jenem hebräischen [Hebrew:
'L `WLM] 'den Gott der Welt.' Das Syrische hat nämlich einen formalen
Unterschied festgestellt zwischen _'[=a]l[)a]m_, dem Status absolutus,
'Ewigkeit,' und _'[=a]lm[=a]_ [_[=a]l^em[=a]_] dem Status emphaticus
'Welt.'--Sollte übrigens die {259} Bedeutung Welt diesem Worte erst durch
Einfluss griechischer Speculation zu Teil geworden sein? In der
Zingirli-Inschrift bedeuted [Hebrew: BTSLM] noch bloss 'in seiner Zeit.'"
81. Cf. _CIL_, III, 1090 = Dessau, _Inscr._, 2998: "Divinarum humanarumque
rerum rectori." Compare _ibid._, 2999 and Cagnet, _Année épigr._, 1905, No.
235: "I. O. M., id est universitatis principi." Cf. the article of the
_Archiv_ cited, n. 73. The _Asclepius_ says (c. 39), using an astrological
term: "Caelestes dii catholicorum dominantur, terreni incolunt singula."
82. Cf. W. Robertson Smith, 75 ff., _passim_. In the Syrian religions as in
that of Mithra, the initiates regarded each other as members of the same
family, and the phrase "dear brethren" as used by our preachers, was
already in use among the votaries of Jupiter Dolichenus (_fratres
carissimos_, _CIL_, VI, 406 = 30758).
83. Renan mentioned this fact in his _Apotres_, p. 297 = _Journal
Asiatique_, 1859, p. 259. Cf. Jalabert, _Mél. faculté orient. Beyrout_, I,
1906, p. 146.
84. This is the term (_virtutes_) used by the pagans. See the inscription
_Numini et virtutibus dei aeterni_ as reconstructed in _Revue de
Philologie_, 1902, p. 9; _Archiv für Religionsw._, _loc. cit._, p. 335, n.
1 and _infra_, ch. VIII, n. 20.
85. _CIL_, VII, 759 = Bücheler, _Carm. epig._, 24.--Cf. Lucian, _De dea
Syria_, 32.
86. Macrobius, _Sat._, I, 23, § 17: "Nominis (Adad) interpretatio
significat unus unus."
87. Cicero, _Somnium Scip._, c. 4: "Sol dux et princeps et moderator
luminum reliquorum, mens mundi et temperatio." Pliny, _H. N._, II, 6, § 12:
"Sol ... siderum ipsorum caelique rector. Hunc esse mundi totius animam ac
planius mentem, hunc principale naturae regimen ac numen credere decet,"
etc. Julian of Laodicea, _Cat. codd. astr._, I, p. 136, l. 1:
[Greek: Hêlios basileus kai hêgemôn tou sumpantos kosmou kathestôs, pantôn
kathêgoumenos kai pantôn ôn genesiarchês.]
88. We are here recapitulating some conclusions of a study on _La théologie
solaire du paganisme romain_ published in _Mémoires des savants étrangers
présentés à l'Acad. des Inscr._, XII, 2d part, pp. 447 ff., Paris, 1910.
{260}
89. The hymns of Synesius (II, 10 ff., IV, 120 ff., etc.) contain peculiar
examples of the combination of the old astrological ideas with Christian
theology.