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WORKS BY JEANIE M0RI80N. 
 SNATCHES OF SONG. 
 
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 (author of Orion) in Contemporary Review. 
 
 PONTIUS PILATE. A Drama. 
 
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THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 

 PUBL 
 
 THE 
 
 
 PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 BY 
 
 JEANIE MORISON 
 
 WITH PREFACE BY PROFESSOR A; H. SAYCE 
 OF OXFORD 
 
 5Lonl(on 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK 
 1887 
 
 T 
 
 Ail rights reserved 
 
■Zv 
 
 h 
 
 os- 
 
 A< H'^it^ 
 
TO 
 THE GUILD-MASTER 
 
 ROBERT BROWNING, 
 
 ' OUR EURIPIDES, THE HUMAN, 
 WITH HIS DROPPINGS OF WARM TEARS, 
 AND HIS TOUCHES OF THINGS COMMON 
 TILL THEY RISE TO TOUCH THE SPHERES.' 
 
 AND WITH HIM AS IS MOST MEET, TO HER MEMORY WHOSE NAME, 
 
 ' NAMED SOFTLY AS THE HOUSEHOLD NAME OF ONE WHOM GOD HATH TAKEN 
 
 EVER LIVES ENLAURELLED WITH HIS OWN. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 There are books which need a preface, and there are 
 books to which a preface is like a costly binding or 
 sumptuous type. I think that the volume to which I 
 am prefixing these few words of introduction belongs to 
 the latter class. Its purpose may be read in every page ; 
 the message it would deliver is no riddle that requires 
 an OEdipus to solve. The thread that runs, through it 
 is clear and distinct, and binds its several parts into a 
 single whole. The divine education of the human race 
 and of the individual within the race, the unity of God's 
 dealings with man, is the central idea whose development 
 forms the very essence of the poem. Faith that reveals 
 itself in obedience and finally attains the perfect liberty 
 of oneness with God is the instrument whereby that de- 
 velopment is worked out. 
 
 But man has a history, and it is therefore on the 
 stage of history that his education has been carried on. 
 If we would know how he has been fitted and prepared 
 for the work to which we of the nineteenth century 
 
vill PREFACE 
 
 believe he has been called, we must restore the past, not 
 as in the unsubstantial images of a phantasmagoria, but 
 in all its once-living reality. The task demands a poet, 
 but a poet who is a historian at the same time. 
 
 Our age is marked off from those that have gone be- 
 fore it not only by the triumphs of material science but 
 even, more by the recovery of the earlier history of the 
 civilised world. Less than a century ago that history 
 had been supposed to be hopelessly lost ; a few doubtful 
 names, a few legends in which fact and fiction seemed strug- 
 gling for the mastery, were all that was left of the ancient 
 civilisations of Egypt and Babylonia. To-day all is 
 changed. The buried cities of the past have yielded 
 up their tireasures, their forgotten records have revealed 
 their secrets to a mightier power than that of the magician, 
 and not only the wars of princes and the sacred rites of 
 priests, but even the daily life of the people, can be 
 traced in clearest outline. From one point of view we 
 may be said to know more of Egyptian life in the days 
 of Ramses, the Pharaoh of the Oppression, than we do 
 of English life in the epoch of the Norman kings. 
 
 The marvellous revelations of Egyptian and Assyrian 
 research have been made full use of in the following 
 pages. The authoress has spared no pains to acquaint 
 herself with the latest results of discovery, and to inspire 
 them with that living spirit which comes of warm sym- 
 pathy and poetic insight. The scenes amid which 
 
PREFACE IX 
 
 Abraham and Moses were reared are not the stage-like 
 creations of a fervid imagination ; they are scenes lighted 
 up with local colouring, reflecting what we now know to 
 have been the actual life and thought of the Babylonian 
 or Egyptian of old time. It is Ramses himself who speaks 
 to us, not the historian or rhetorician of a later age ; the 
 Egypt over which he rules is the Egypt of reality and not 
 of convention. 
 
 Those who like myself are engaged in the thankless 
 work of dissecting the languages of the ancient monu- 
 ments and deciphering their tale, cannot be too grateful 
 to one who puts life into the dry bones, and clothes 
 them once more with flesh and beauty. The labours 
 of the philologist and antiquarian may be useful and 
 necessary ; but they need an interpreter before they can 
 reach the mind and heart of the people of to-day or 
 teach the lesson which the story of the past is intended 
 to convey. 
 
 A. H. SAYCE. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 It only remains for me, in giving this triune poem to the 
 public, to express my deep indebtedness and gratitude to 
 Professor Sayce of Oxford, to whose most kind and 
 careful revision of its Babylonian and Egyptian Archaeo- 
 logical details I owe it that I can now offer it to the 
 public with a confidence which hardly anything else 
 could have given me, that, whatever its other merits or 
 demerits, it is at least true (so far as our present know- 
 ledge goes) to the life and surroundings of those dark 
 and distant days. 
 
 To my always kind friend Professor John Stuart 
 Blackie of Edinburgh, to whose constant and unvarying 
 kindness my literary work is so deeply indebted on every 
 side, and to those other friends who in various ways have 
 interested themselves in, and helped to forward my 
 work, I should like also to return very grateful thanks. 
 
 Edinburgh, December 1886. 
 
' ' The life of Abraham is a vital part of that unique, coherent, 
 and divine development which St. Paul calls ' the purpose of the 
 ages ' (Eph. iii. II), whereby the book of Genesis is intelligibly- 
 correlated with the Apocalypse through all the intermediate range 
 of that sacred literature." — Tomkin's Tivies of Abraham. 
 
BOOK I 
 
 FAITH 
 
 [CHILDHOOD] 
 
 't T r TV;:"- T -•■•.-:■.*: 
 
 Gen. XV. 6. 
 
Ur of the Chaldees^ 
 Temple of Sin or Hurki, the Moon-god. 2 
 
 Invocation of the Amil-urgal,^ the priest appointed to watch for the 
 rising of the Euphrates. 
 
 " On the marshes the great reeds * are yellow, 
 
 The tall reeds they thirst on the marshes, 
 
 Over the river droop the plumes of the date palms. 
 
 To drink of the river the high palms bow down, 
 
 They cry to the river, 
 
 To the great Chaldaean river, 
 
 " Where hid'st thou thy waters, Euphrates life-giver ? 
 
 Where hid'st thou thy waters, Euphrates bread-giver ? 
 
 Hath Mummu ^ opened her mouth wide and swallowed 
 
 thee? 
 And hast thou returned to the womb of Tiamatu ? 
 Have the great gates closed upon thee that in darkness 
 
 are shrouded. 
 The gates of the Great Deep ® from whence there is no 
 
 return ? 
 Hea,'' Lord of the Abyss, hath he drunk thy blood. 
 Hath the husband of Davke made himself drunk with thee? 
 
4 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 That thou comest not to rejoice the city of the Moon- 
 god, 
 The city of the god of the month Sivan of happy name. 
 
 " To the temple of Uru behold I came quickly, 
 
 To the shrine of the Great Lady and of the god Hurki ; 
 
 By the great stair-case that pierceth to the heavens. 
 
 By the thousand-stepped stair, have I climbed to their 
 
 shrine ; 
 At the hour of the setting of Samas ^ the Sun-god, 
 At the hour when the great Son of Sin goes to rest ; 
 I look abroad and I see thee not, O life-giving river ! 
 I look forth yet behold thee not, Euphrates bread-giver ! 
 Nought see I on the marshes but the great reeds all yellow. 
 Nought but the great reeds that thirst on the marshes. 
 
 "At the beginning of the month, at the rising of the 
 night, . 
 
 At the dawning of the second night of Nisan,^ 
 
 Lo ! the horns of great Sin they break through in the 
 heavens. 
 
 In the high heavens of Anu ^^ his horns pierce the gloom ! 
 
 From the Great Deep^^ as a bubble he ariseth at its 
 boiling. 
 
 From the black womb of Tiamatu comes the Light of the 
 Night ! 
 
 The curtains of his chamber draws the Maker of Bright- 
 ness, 
 
 From his curtains of cloud looks the great god of Ur ! 
 
 He looks upon the marshes where the great reeds are 
 yellow, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES s 
 
 On the land that drank the river where the great reeds 
 
 thirst, 
 He saith, ' Where is the river, the mighty flowing river, 
 Wherein I saw mirrored the crown of the Moon-god, 
 The golden crown of Hurki, the Light of the Night ? 
 Where are the deep pools that laughed in the marshes. 
 The dark pools that mirrored me back my bright face ? ' 
 
 " Call then O Lord of Crowns, ^^ Maker of Brightness ! 
 
 Call then O Hurki, thou great god of Ur ! 
 
 To the god of the river that dwells in Niphates, 
 
 To Mer^^ the strong god, — bid him loosen the chain. 
 
 Unbar the great gates that in darkness are shrouded, 
 
 From the womb of the hills bid the glad river flow ; 
 
 As the sound of Ur's chariots when they haste to the 
 
 battle. 
 As the trampling of horsemen that rush on the foe, 
 Bid the noise of his leaping come afar from Niphates, 
 O'er the rocks of the desert like the bound of the roe ! 
 Then shall the children of Ur bring thee presents. 
 The sons of the city bow down with their gifts. 
 Then again shall the deep pools hold Sin in their bosom, 
 From the pools of the marshes once more laugh his face ! " 
 
 So chants the white-stoled Amil-urgal where 
 The holiest shrine of Hurki's house looks down 
 O'er the wide Chaldaean plains, on second night 
 Of Nisan, as he metes with careful hand. 
 And keen and watchful eye, the water's height 
 In the great sacred tank, whose swelling marks 
 Euphrates' first faint rise, afar, amid 
 
6 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The wild Niphates rocks j and as again 
 And yet again he metes, lo ! they have risen 
 An hair's breadth, and he knows, afar, the chain 
 That bound the mighty river is unloosed, 
 And instant in great Hurki's highest shrine 
 He lights the beacon-fire to gladden Ur. 
 
 Forthwith from out bazaar and street there stream 
 In joyous throng, the youths and maids of Ur, 
 Bringing their gifts to lay before the shrine 
 Of Hurki, the great Moon-god, where he sits 
 Above Euphrates' flood. 
 
 With dance they come, 
 Garland and song, tinkle of silver bells 
 From shapely feet, soft brown arms wreathing free 
 In graceful threaded maze, and bright dark eyes 
 Now glancing gamesome frolic, now, in love 
 Soft languishing ; while bright-winged fire-flies 
 Flit amid the boughs of drooping palms, 
 And loud the ceaseless song of croaking frogs 
 From the green river-marshes fill each pause 
 Of Castanet and timbrel, and on all 
 Looks down at full, Hurki's bright prototype. 
 From the blue depths of Eastern star-sprent sky. 
 
 Singing they come — 
 
 " Hail to thee Lord of Crowns, Maker of Brightness ! 
 Hail to thee Hurki, the great god of Ur ! 
 From his tent he looked down in the heavens of Anu, 
 From the curtains of night where Bel " made him king ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES. 7 
 
 At his glance swelled the heart of the great flowing river, 
 
 At the kiss of the Moon-god Euphrates awoke ; 
 
 Down from the mountains he skips like a he-goat, 
 
 As a wild gazelle bounds o'er the rocks of Niphates ! 
 
 The caverns of Ararat quake at his leaping, 
 
 The young lions shake in their lairs in the marshes j 
 
 As a war-horse that snorteth at noise of the battle, 
 
 As the chariots of Ur when they rush on the foe, 
 
 Is the swelling of the river, 
 
 The rush of the niighty river. 
 
 As he wakes at the kiss of Hurki and hasteth to his feet, 
 
 To kiss the dear feet of the great god of Ur ! 
 
 At the flow of the river, 
 
 At the rush of the mighty river. 
 
 The great reeds clap their hands, and the marshes laugh 
 
 for glee, 
 The black marshes yellow, and the yellow reeds bud, 
 At the touch of the river. 
 
 At the kiss of the mighty river, as it rolls on its way. 
 Join in the dance ye maidens of Chaldee ! 
 Throw the spear in his honour ye young men of Ur ! 
 Go buy ye his image ye matrons of Chaldee, 
 Bear home his blest signet ye old men of Ur, 
 That each suckUng may bow at the name of the Moon- 
 god, 
 And each babe kiss the sign of the great god of Ur ! " 
 
 So the bright night wears on, jocund with song. 
 Round Hurki's shrine, as one, from out the crowd 
 Of joyous revellers, steals lone. — ^Adown 
 The river's bank, basking in moonlight, on. 
 
8 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Thoughtful he strays, to where the place of graves 
 
 Lies round the sleeping town, — Death's "^ mighty sea 
 
 Compassing Life's small isle. A princely boy, 
 
 Fair with all promise of the noble man ; 
 
 The straight clean limbs beneath the white cloth shown 
 
 That falls in easy folds of strength and grace, 
 
 The open brow, gleaming 'neath broidered shade 
 
 Of silken turban, and the candid eye. 
 
 High glancing, earnest, — mark the chosen soul 
 
 Formed for all deeds of loftiest emprise, 
 
 — Abram, rich Terah's son, known to all Ur, 
 
 Who made the mighty gods for Hurki's shrine,^^ 
 
 And vends small Hurkis, dear to the devout, 
 
 At centre booth of the great Market street. 
 
 Among ^' the mounds piled high with sleeping dust. 
 With swift and silent step he threads his way. 
 Till at a palm trap-door, sunk in the mould 
 And marked with Terah's name, he makes a pause. 
 And pressing hidden spring the slab flies up. 
 Showing below a narrow stair of brick, 
 Where cautious he descends, until he stands. 
 Deep underground, before a palm-tree door ; 
 With key drawn from his robe, he opes, and lets 
 Dim starlight glimmer from the upper world 
 Invade the house of death. A vault "^ of brick 
 Of curious art, each brick o'er-stepping each. 
 Till at the top one singly fills up all 
 The narrowed aperture. On the brick floor 
 With reed-mat carpeted, on his left side 
 A dead man lies, the right arm falling o'er 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The powerful chest, its bony fingers laid 
 
 On copper bowl placed on the left hand's palm, 
 
 For pillow 'neath the head a sun-dried brick ; 
 
 Around the sleeper lie the gauds he loved, — 
 
 The silver bangles worn since childhood's days, 
 
 The drinking-horn of bronze, still filled brim-full 
 
 With the sweet palm-tree wine, sweet-meats of dates 
 
 On earthen platter placed within the reach 
 
 Of that still hand of bone, around whose wrist 
 
 Yet hangs, by silken cord, the cylinder 
 
 Of meteor-stone, bearing his birth-god's sign. 
 
 Ghastly the scene, by the dim glimmer shown 
 
 Of distant moonlight, through the open trap 
 
 That heads the narrow stair, — biit soon the eye 
 
 Grown used to its dim twilight, half discerns. 
 
 Half feels, a living presence stir within. 
 
 That darksome house of death. Faint shudders pass 
 
 Over young Abram's frame, but resolute 
 
 He turns, to where in dimmest corner, — slow, 
 
 — A ■'^ shrouded figure rises from the ground. 
 
 " Is it the dead or living ? " low he asks, ' 
 
 With lips that tremble. " Nay, the living, son," 
 
 A voice replies, hollow and spectral as 
 
 The shape, — ^half seen, — that stirs the darkness, — " Nor 
 
 Vision, nor sign, great Hurki hath vouchsafed. 
 
 Though seven times seven I have performed the rite 
 
 Of solemn evocation." ^^ " Yet once more. 
 
 My father, once again ! — Haran beloved. 
 
 Thou who so joyed in the glad light of morn, — 
 
 Ere I can quit the hope to call thy ghost 
 
10 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Out from its darksome prison-house, to whose 
 
 Realms of unfathomed blackness, e'en this tomb's 
 
 Sad twilight were as paradise ! — To-night, 
 
 Oh seer ! to whom great Hurki sendest dreams, 
 
 I laid each coin of all my earnings on his shrine, — 
 
 Mayhap to-night, in gladness of his heart. 
 
 His ear will open to our cry, and bid 
 
 Ea unbar the gates, that close the way. 
 
 Where in the eternal sanctuary flow 
 
 The waters pure of life, whereof who drinks. 
 
 Escapes Irkalla's ^^ grasp, and reascends 
 
 From the dread portals of the under-world 
 
 Back to the warm bright day. — ^Yet once again, — 
 
 And if this once — added to seven times seven, — 
 
 Still nought avail, then shall I surely know 
 
 That he who sits above Euphrates' flood 
 
 With his Great Lady, is as deaf this day 
 
 As was the basalt block from Araby 
 
 Whence he was fashioned by my father's tools.'' 
 
 " My son, blaspheme not mighty Hurki thus, 
 
 Lest in his wrath he call thy brother's ghost 
 
 Forth from the under-world, a vampire foul. 
 
 To haunt thy tortured days." "Better e'en that. 
 
 Than shut beneath the hatches of the world. 
 
 Where thought is not, nor light. Once more, oh seer !" 
 
 — And through the quivering gloom the seer's voice rose 
 
 In rite of mystic evocation, — now 
 
 Hollow and low, sepulchral as the tomb 
 
 From whence it came, — now, swelling to a shriek 
 
 Of agonised entreaty, as he writhed. 
 
 In wild convulsions on the matted floor. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES ii 
 
 " Ope like a bird thy wings O Hurki ! 
 
 Spread like a bird thy wings ! 
 
 To the house of darkness descend 
 
 To the dwelling of the god Irkalla, 
 
 To the house entering which there is no exit, 
 
 To the road the course of which never returns, 
 
 To the house in which the dwellers long for light, 
 
 To the place where dust is their nourishment, and their 
 
 food mud. 
 Ghosts, like birds, flutter their wings there. 
 Upon the gate and the gate-bars the dust lies undisturbed ; 
 Command thou the keeper of the gates, O Hurki ! 
 Speak thus to the keeper of the gates, 
 ' Keeper of the waters open thy gates ! 
 If thou openest not the gate 
 I will strike the hinges, I will burst open the door, 
 I will raise up the dead, devourers of the living, 
 Over the living the dead shall triumph. 
 If the doors of the eternal sanctuary thou dost not 
 
 unbar. 
 At the spring of the waters of life to slack his thirst 
 That the demon of Haran may drink and revive. 
 And like Ishtar ^^ escape from the dwelling of Ner, 
 From the dark house of Ninigal flee away !' 
 Give us a sign, O Maker of Brightness ! 
 Give a sign to thy servants that thou hearest their prayer ; 
 Like a bird of the night let his spirit pass over us. 
 Like a bird from the thick darkness let his demon o'er- 
 
 shadow us. 
 That we may know that the dust-covered bolts are with- 
 drawn, 
 
12 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 That the bars of the prison-house of Ninigal are broken, 
 and his soul fled away." 
 
 Long time upon the mat of reeds he lay 
 Prostrate before the god, while by the dead. 
 Trembling, young Abram stood, — but sound nor sign 
 Broke the dread silence of the house of death. 
 Until the last faint starlight glimmer passed 
 To gray uncertain dawn, and day's white light 
 Fell broad and ghastly on the rotting corpse. 
 
 Then the seer rose. " Nought it avails, my son, 
 Great Hurki will not hear." "Then can he not — 
 From this day forth I count no more of him 
 Than of the porphyry block my father brought 
 From Araby to fashion him ; — Haran 
 Farewell." And kneeling by the dead, the boy 
 Pressed once his lips upon the fleshless brow, 
 And springing up the steps fled fast and far. 
 
II 
 
 A Room in Terah's House 
 
 Milcah, his wife, seated spinning. Enter Abram, who 
 seats himself dejectedly in a corner of the room. 
 
 " Great Hurki's blessing light upon thee boy ! 
 Wherefore so sad ? Not thus should they return 
 Who bear their grateful gifts to Hurki's shrine 
 With dance and jocund song, that happy night, 
 Second of Nisan, when great Sin looks down 
 From Anu's heaven, and at one glance of his 
 The strong Euphrates bursting from Vul's bands 
 Leaps like a victor o'er the vanquished lands. 
 Hast thou o'erdanced thyself? Thou comest late, 
 Nahor and Sarai are three hours abed. 
 Here, take this pillow, lay thee on the mat. 
 Thy father's at the booth ; — rest thee, my son." 
 " Nay, mother, nay, great Hurki scarce had passed 
 His zenith ere I left the jocund throng 
 That danced about his shrine, — weary I am. 
 But not with dance or song." " What ails my son ?" 
 " When Haran died, my mother, and we laid 
 Out of our sight the son thou lovedst so well, 
 Couldst thou endure the thought of him, — the young. 
 
14 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The strong, the brave, the beautiful, — shut down 
 
 Beneath the hatches of the under-world, 
 
 Where thought is not, nor light?" "Nay, ask not boy, 
 
 For these are thoughts we dare not think and live ! 
 
 They who have passed to dread Irkalla's realm 
 
 We think of but as babe that never saw 
 
 The light, -^'twere madness else." "/could not so, 
 
 My mother ; — since my Haran died, each night 
 
 In dreams upon my bed I seemed to hear 
 
 The voice I loved so well entreating me, 
 
 In tones of anguish, to unbar the doors 
 
 That shut his demon in, and set him free. 
 
 Long time the vision haunted me, my days 
 
 All darkened as with shadowing wings of death, 
 
 And all the night I seemed to hear his shade 
 
 Beating like prisoned bird against the bars 
 
 Of that sad under-world, till I could bear 
 
 No longer, and the thought of Izdubar,i 
 
 Who won his Eabani back from dark 
 
 Aralli, through great Ea's grace,^ possessed 
 
 Me night and day. At last, I sought the seer 
 
 Who dwells amid the tombs, my earnings all 
 
 Since I had helped my father at the booth. 
 
 Laid at his feet, so be't he could evoke 
 
 My Haran's demon from the under-world ; 
 
 Now seven times seven the nights that he hath watched 
 
 With rites of evocation by the dead 
 
 In Terah's tomb, and this the last." — " And what 
 
 Befell?" "Nought, mother, nought! — the mouldering dead 
 
 Still moulders on in peace, — no sound, no sign. 
 
 No shadow from the rising demon's wing 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES ij 
 
 Hovered the dark vault through, though seven times seven 
 
 The nights he hath besieged great Ea's ear 
 
 With rites of evocation — seven times seven 
 
 The nights prostrate I lay in Hurki's shrine 
 
 AVhere he and his Great Lady sit above 
 
 The waters. Mother, — they nor list, nor hear. 
 
 These gods we serve, more than the basalt blocks 
 
 That strewed the desert ere my father's tools 
 
 Shaped them as gods. — I worship them no more." 
 
 " My son, my son, blaspheme not thus the gods ! 
 
 Thy words -may bring worse woe on Haran's ghost." 
 
 " Nay, mother, neither woe nor weal they bring, — 
 
 The gods we worship are but stocks and stones ! 
 
 — Nay, wring not thus thy hands my mother, nor 
 
 Tremble at senseless blocks, — our gods are nought, 
 
 Yet nought is changed, — our father loves thee still. 
 
 Am I not still thy son ? — Our Haran sleeps 
 
 As quietly as of yore, my mad hope gone. 
 
 — I go to let my father from the booth." 
 
 Scarce was he seated cross-legged on the mat 
 
 Within the open booth, when to its front 
 
 An old man came,^ to whom, with greeting meet 
 
 For hoary head, low-bending Abram rose. 
 
 " Be this the booth of Terah who makes gods ?" 
 
 Quoth the old man with quavering voice, his limbs 
 
 Propped tottering on his staff. " 'Tis so," the boy 
 
 Replied, " What wouldst thou, sire ?" "I come, my son, 
 
 Straight from the shrine of the great god of Ur, 
 
 Hurki, of blessed name, unto whose feet 
 
 I brought the first fruits of the wheat. Think ye 
 
1 6 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 This year each ear yielded three hundred fold, 
 
 For that the great god bade the river swell 
 
 So high it covered every rood of land, 
 
 And made the sterile womb of Anatu 
 
 Teem as at touch of Anu ! 'Tis but just 
 
 The first few sheaves were his, — and then, mayhap 
 
 Next year, he'll bid the river swell again. 
 
 My son Gungunu, (after me he's named). 
 
 He dwells in Larsa, worships Samas now,* 
 
 — For me, I am of Ur, and stick to Sin, 
 
 The Moon-god ; — do the priests not tell,^ how he 
 
 Swallows all Sansi's brood as soon as born ? 
 
 And see we not Samas in Ann's heaven 
 
 Ride lone each day, while Hurki leads each night 
 
 His myriad offspring forth with dance and song ? 
 
 — Gungunu's in the wrong, — best stick to god 
 
 His father knew, and his father, and his. 
 
 Ere since the name Gungunu was in Ur, 
 
 And that's since Nimrod's days.^ — Look ye, we've brought 
 
 Hurki the first wheat sheaves each year he gave 
 
 A happy harvest since the Hunter's time, 
 
 — And when the ears were scant or dates were few, 
 
 Hurki it was we beat, and who but he ? 
 
 Till he repented him and brought good days ; 
 
 — See here his sign upon my cylinder,' 
 
 Given at my day of birth full five-score years 
 
 Agone. — But son, long is the way to go. 
 
 And steep the stair-case of a thousand steps, 
 
 For my old limbs to seek the happy shrine 
 
 Where he and his Great Lady sit above 
 
 The waters, so I come to Terah's booth 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES i; 
 
 That I may take his image home, and there, 
 Pray for good harvest and a plenteous flood. 
 Fulness of dates and honey, — beat him too 
 Mayhap, if plenty come not." 
 
 " Five-score years, 
 My father, didst thou say, markfed his sign 
 Upon thy cylinder?" "Ay, ay, my son. 
 Five-score and five years gone in his own month, 
 Sivan of happy name. ' Happy the babe,' 
 — So said the sage who cast my horoscope, — 
 ' Thus bom within the blessfed month of Sin, 
 Thrice happy he, as this, when first his horns. 
 At rising of the night, break through to shine 
 In heaven.' Therefore, no doubt, each year he floods 
 My land. — Hast thou the image of the god, 
 My son, or must I wait Terah's return?" 
 " Here is his image, father, — five-score years 
 Thou saidst." " Ay, five-score and five." " Thou seest 
 This god ? Laban and Narain Sin, my father's slaves, 
 Made him last night in five hours barely told, 
 And thou wouldst bow thy hoary head, reverent 
 With five-score years, to five hours' work of slaves !" 
 " Is he not then the image of the god ?" 
 "Ay, like as small pea is to large, to him 
 That sits with his Great Lady in the shrine." 
 " Why then I'll have him, five hours' work or no. 
 Give me him in this basket. — What's his price ?" 
 " Five shekels, father, one for each hour's work." 
 " I'll give it thee, although the price be large. 
 Bad luck it brings to chaffer for the gods." 
 
 c 
 
1 8 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Scarce had the old man gone, on feeble arm 
 Bearing in wicker-basket his small Sin, 
 When to the booth's front, pannier poised on head. 
 One Edhirat, a grave-eyed woman, came ; 
 " Thou hast within the blessed gods, my son ?" 
 "I have within gods carved of wood and stone." 
 " I come with gifts, my son, a humble gift 
 Of the ripe date and first ears of the wheat. 
 Such as befits a woman poor and lone. 
 Yet grateful to the gods. — Wilt thou bear it 
 Within ?" " Nay, mother, thou thyself shalt bear. 
 Then shalt thou see how hungrily they eat it." 
 " 'Tis too much honour, son, that I should look 
 Upon the great gods' meal ; say not the priests 
 They love not that our human eyes should see 
 When they refresh them with the corn and wine?" 
 " Fear not, good mother, many a day mine eyes 
 Have looked upon their feast, yet nought befell." 
 "Dare I then enter?" "Ay, in very sooth." 
 Speaking, he oped a door behind the booth 
 Into the inner chamber, where the gods 
 Sat each upon his pedestal in state. 
 
 Curious yet shrinking, Edhirat advanced. 
 Prostrate with mouth in dust to lay her gift 
 Before the feet of the great god of Ur ; 
 Long thus she waited while the silence dured 
 Voiceless as of the grave, — no movement stirs 
 The stony face above the folded hands 
 That stretch not for her gift, the sealed lips ope 
 No whit to taste its sweetness, and the eye 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES ii 
 
 Glares blankly stony still ; until at last, 
 
 As minutes wax to hours, the stillness grows 
 
 A terror in her soul, and darting forth 
 
 Into the open booth, she clasped the skirt 
 
 Of the young Abram's robe, crying aloud, 
 
 " Hurki is angry, son, he scorns to taste 
 
 The offering ! " " Try the Great Lady then," 
 
 The boy replied, " Mayhap she'll prove more kind." 
 
 " Nay, Sin were but more angry did I steal 
 
 The offering at his feet. — He will not eat 
 
 Mayhap till I be gone ?" " 'Tis very like !" 
 
 " I fear, son, thou hast drawn his wrath on me, 
 
 How may I supplicate his favour still?" 
 
 And turning to the god with upraised hands 
 
 And streaming eyes, anew before his feet 
 
 She cast her down, praying in sob-broke speech. 
 
 " O Lord who hast no equal in thy might ! 
 
 O Hurki who art clad in robe of strength ! 
 
 Of the hands that are lifted to thee take hold. 
 
 Of the hands that hang down yet are raisfed to thee ; 
 
 Upon thy hand-maid pour not out thy wrath, 
 
 Curse not, O Hurki, Edhirat thy slave ! 
 
 Turn not away thy face from her poor gift. 
 
 Deign, Sin, to taste the ripe date and the wheat, 
 
 Presumptuous though she laid them at thy feet. 
 
 Presumptuous though she came within the shining of thy 
 
 face; 
 When thy slave is hidden from thine eyes let Hurki 
 
 repent. 
 Let his heart melt at her tears when he seeth her no more." 
 
20 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — Then rising from her knees she sought the door, 
 
 " At even will I come again, my son, 
 
 To wit if Sin hath deigned to taste my gift." 
 
 Abram alone. 
 
 " That will he not I wis ! Hath his cold stone 
 
 The powers of warm quick life. — Can those eyes see 
 
 Thy prostrate form, — those ears, my father's slave 
 
 Carved from the senseless block, receive thy prayer ? 
 
 Beats there a heart within that stony breast 
 
 Throbs answer to thy pleadings ? Better far 
 
 Bow down and plead unto the meanest thing 
 
 That crawls upon the earth, so blest at least 
 
 With the great mystery life, — with eyes that see, 
 
 Though but the blade of grass that next impedes 
 
 Its way, and shows, a mountain in its path ; 
 
 With ears that hear, though but grasshopper's chirp ; 
 
 With heart that feels, if only instant's dread 
 
 Ere finger crushes it. Can life be gift 
 
 Of no life ? That these hands have made, can it. 
 
 At last turn of an endless whirligig, 
 
 Have made the hands that made it ? 
 
 Impossible ! Yet these my father's gods. 
 
 The gods that first he makes then worships ! 
 
 — Now will I put his faith in them to test !" 
 
 And taking in his hand a hammer, left 
 
 By last night's workmen, he, with mighty strokes, - 
 
 To crumbling fragments dashed each hapless god, 
 
 All, save great Hurki, ready for the shrine, 
 
 Into whose stony hand he thrust the mell. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 A.nd left him towering lone above the wreck 
 Of all his compeers ; — then himself awaits, 
 In outer booth, Terah's return, — who comes, 
 With cheerful greetings on his lips, ere long. 
 
 " The blessings of the gods on thee, my son, 
 
 How hast thou fared while I was gone ? Is aught 
 
 Added unto the till ? " " Five shekels, sire, 
 
 The old man Gungunu bought him was made 
 
 By Laban yesternight." "That's well." "But, sire, 
 
 Great mischief hath befallen." " How so, my son ? " 
 
 " Thus it befell, sire, — widow Edhirat 
 
 Did bring an offering to the godS of dates 
 
 And first ears of the wheat, — the little gods began 
 
 Forthwith to eat, when the great Sin did seize 
 
 On Laban's hammer, struck with mighty strokes, 
 
 TiU all the rest lay crumbled at his feet. 
 
 Then ate himself the fresh dates and the wheat, 
 
 — Lo, there he sits, the hammer in his hand ! " 
 
 " Dost thou thus mock thine agfed father, boy ? 
 
 Thou knowest well they neither move nor eat." 
 
 " Yet dost thou worship them and wouldst I should ! " 
 
 " Ungrateful boy, who eatest the gods' food. 
 
 And yet deniest them worship ! — Hence, base dog, 
 
 Who dar'st thus mock thy father's hoary head, 
 
 Disgracest her that bare thee ! Hurki's curse 
 
 Light on thee ! fill thy night with horrid dreams ! 
 
 With pest let Itak and Dibbara follow thee ! ^ 
 
 — Henoe to the desert ! — Never more call home 
 
 The roof on which thine impious hands have brought 
 
 The wrath of Hurki and the mighty gods'! " 
 
Ill 
 
 Bahr-i-Medjif ^ 
 
 A Jresh-water lake between ChaMaa and the AraUan Desert, sur 
 rounded by high sandstone cliffs. Abram in a cave. 
 
 " Alone, alone ! nought save the murmuring noise 
 
 Of wavelets breaking on the shelving cliffs 
 
 That skirt this inland sea. Shut out from home, 
 
 A wanderer and an outcast, — woe is me ! 
 
 Outcast with father's curse upon my brow 
 
 That weights its youth as with a load of years : 
 
 — No more to feel the old man's feebling step 
 
 Supported on my arm ; no more to see 
 
 The mother bustling at her household cares, 
 
 Or hear her cheery ' Hurki bless the boy,' 
 
 In large reward of some small service done ; 
 
 No more to romp with little Lot, or list 
 
 The pretty mimicry of speech that flows 
 
 Like some small brooklet's prattle from his tongue ; 
 
 No more beneath the palm-groves in the cool sweet eve. 
 
 To stroll by broad Euphrates' placid tide, 
 
 With Sarai hand in hand, — dearer than all, — 
 
 Or watch with her the dying sunlight change 
 
 The river's waveless bosom to a sea 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 23 
 
 Of glass and fire, that glows 'neath the wide heavens, 
 
 One mingled mixt magnificence of flame, 
 
 The while our hearts melted and mixt, as gold 
 
 And purple blent in that strange mingled glory ; 
 
 Or, when night's dews had quenched the sunset's fires, 
 
 And paled the glory of the sea and sky 
 
 To the cool calmness of its aftertime. 
 
 Slowly to wander homeward hand in hand, 
 
 — Its fading blush behind us in the west, — 
 
 And see the lonely pelican stand out 
 
 Dark on the land's far verge 'gainst the clear sky, 
 
 And hear the heron's and kingfisher's wings 
 
 Rustle toward their nest among the reeds. 
 
 While round our path the fire-flies darted through 
 
 The dark palm boughs, and far above our heads. 
 
 The first faint timid stars shone out in heaven. 
 
 — Instead, — nought but these shelving rocks wave-worn, — 
 
 The solitary cry of some wild cat 
 
 Or jackal, or the screech owl's bodeful voice 
 
 That makes the night one horror ! — And for what ? — 
 
 Because I would not bend the knee to stocks 
 
 And stones, my father calls his gods, — nor e'en 
 
 Keep peace, and let the senseless puppets be ! 
 
 " — Was I so right ? Doth not a father's word 
 
 Claim as its due, obedience of a son ? 
 
 Wherefore could I not bow these stubborn knees 
 
 In filial reverence to the senseless blocks 
 
 That neither cou^d have wrought me weal or woe ? 
 
 — And yet I dared not ; — though my heart half broke, 
 
 I could no other ; — deep within my soul, 
 
24 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Somewhat there was that braced my trembling knees 
 
 With word of stern command, and said, ' Bend not 
 
 To these.' — ^Whence came that inner Voice? — Not from 
 
 My grief-torn heart, — that wooed with tears and prayers 
 
 To the old easy path of complaisance 
 
 That had healed all its pain ; — nor Reason's word, — 
 
 She said, ' Why sacrifice life's solid good 
 
 For thought-wrought fantasies ? ' — Yet aye that Voice, 
 
 ' Kneel not, nor bend,' — and at its still command 
 
 My tottering knees refused the mandate sent 
 
 By wavering Will, and stood as adamant. — 
 
 Whose was that Voice, stronger than Heart or Mind, 
 
 Than Will itself, men call omnipotent ? 
 
 Was it a warning from the very gods 
 
 Wroth to be mocked by images of stone ? 
 
 — Then who are they and whither do they dwell ? 
 
 Have they no speech nor language in the world. 
 
 That men may know their voice and worship them ? 
 
 — This cave hath grown too narrow for my thought. 
 
 Its stillness and its loneness stifle me ; 
 
 — I will arise, — beyond these hemming rocks 
 
 There hes a world, though but the desert lone." 
 
 He scales the sandstone cliffs and stands in the Arabian Desert. 
 
 " Darkness without, within ! these barren sands 
 Stretch level and unbroke from sky to sky. 
 Strewn ^ with black blocks, like monsters of the pit 
 Writhing in mad convulsions through the gloom, — 
 Nought else, save where some lonely date-tree spreads 
 Gaunt arms athwart the darkness, like a weird 
 
THE PURPOSE^ OF THE AGES 25 
 
 And grizzly ghost. — Within, all darkness too, 
 A moonless, sunless sky, circling a desert ; — 
 No god ! no hope ! — The old familiar gods 
 My childhood knew, to dusty atoms broke 
 Of utter clay, and in their stead, mere night ■ 
 And nothingness ; while in me, as without, 
 Glower black and hideous monsters of the waste, 
 And weird and ghastly arms athwart the gloom, 
 Affright me in the darkness. 
 
 "—Yet behold P 
 E'en as I gaze, the darkness seems to grow 
 Less dark, — the ghostly arms begin to lose 
 Their mystery, and stand revealed as but 
 The lonely date-tree's boughs, — the basalt blocks, 
 That showed grim monsters of the under-world 
 Writhing in agony, to moveless stone 
 Return ; and now, in the far east, a streak, 
 — One only first, and then, streak upon streak 
 Of roseate glory, — till the eastern heavens 
 Glow gold and purple 'neath the coming feet 
 Of the great God of Day ! — Faint twitters first, 
 — One knows not whence,, — of wakening life, stir sand 
 And date-tree bough, waxing anon to one 
 Great jubilee of song, while all around. 
 The wild things of the wilderness rejoice, 
 And e'en this waste of arid desert glows, 
 To golden glory, 'neath the Sun-god's kiss ! 
 
 " Is this not he, — the God I seek, — this Sun, 
 The glory of whose face makes darkness day. 
 
26 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Whose warm breath calls to life the myriad things 
 
 That flit their little span in his bright rays, 
 
 And quickens in dark womb of Mother Earth 
 
 The small dead seeds that they shoot forth and bud ? 
 
 Is it not he who stirs the torpid sap 
 
 Beneath the bark of wintry reeds, and bids 
 
 Spring's tender green re-clothe the naked land ? 
 
 O Samas, great life-giver, art not thou 
 
 The God I seek ? Lo I will worship thee ! " 
 
 — And prostrate on the desert he adored 
 
 The rising sun that had made all things new. 
 
 The day rode on in brightness, and his heart 
 Beat to the pulses of its new-born life, 
 Rejoicing in its joy ; — but when the even 
 Crept o'er the desert, and the setting orb 
 With one reluctant, farewell, back-cast glance 
 Of dying glory, sank beneath the verge 
 Of the round level sands, and darkness fell, — 
 As one amazed he stood. — " Not this is God," 
 He said, " For he is gone and still I live. 
 And all the wheels of the great world go round 
 Though he is not. — I like not gods that set" 
 
 Anon, the moon rose in her majesty, 
 
 Walking in brightness 'mid the host of heaven. 
 
 That shone so nigh it almost seemed a hand 
 
 Outstretched might pluck them. — On his face, once more 
 
 He fell upon the desert ; — like the surge 
 
 Of some strong tide held back by stormy winds 
 
 Awhile, then loosed,^— once more upon his soul 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 27 
 
 Surged back his childhood's faith. " This, this is he ! 
 
 And all these shining hosts his ministers ! 
 
 Not the dead basalt blocks my father carved, 
 
 — They were but images and signs of him 
 
 AVho reigns in truth in heaven ! Hurki forgive ! 
 
 That thou so long wert lost behind the signs, 
 
 That casting them aside I blasphemed thee ! 
 
 So may I glad return to native Ur, 
 
 And with my loved ones, hand in hand, yet seek 
 
 Where thy great temple stands, and in its shrine, 
 
 — Casting no glance upon my father's work, — 
 
 Still lift my soul to him who shines in heaven. 
 
 And from his throne of light ordain'st the fate 
 
 Of us poor sons oT earth ! 
 
 " — And yet, and yet — 
 May it indeed be thus ? Lo, Hurki wanes ! 
 Yet stands not still man's destiny, what time 
 His eye rules not its woven cords ! — One must , 
 There be who sets Samas and Hurki both 
 Their times to rule, — One to whose law they yield 
 Obedience proud, — Him must I seek and find. 
 — Lo ! let me think. — Have I riot heard men tell, 
 — Xisuthrus,* our great father, whom the gods 
 So loved, they bore him with themselves to dwell ; 
 — Ere yet the flood of waters drowned the world, 
 By Kronos ^ warned, wrote on the sacred tiles 
 All things from the beginning that befell ? 
 — Mayhap these bear some record of the gods 
 Long since forgot, — them will I seek. — Oh gods 
 My soul, knowing not, yearns for, speed my way ! " 
 
IV 
 
 The Great Library at Agane^ 
 
 Ismi-dagoii, an old priest and astrologer, seated on the floor, poring 
 over some inscribed tiles. Enter Abram. 
 
 "Who comes with bold intruding step within 
 
 This portal of the gods ? " " Pardon, great sire, 
 
 A wandering youth who seeks through the wide world 
 
 To know their secrets, — one from distant Ur, 
 
 Hearing the fame of these most holy men, 
 
 Who in Agan6 here, and Babel, con 
 
 The great god's riddles to enlight the world, 
 
 Fain that one ray from that most blessfed sun 
 
 Should shine into his soul, he comes to thee. 
 
 In outer darkness, groping for the light." 
 
 " The quest is long, my son, and passing hard. 
 
 And to the common mind boots little good, 
 
 — Nought save long days of tedious search, and nights 
 
 Wherein the sleepless eyes outwatch the stars. 
 
 And still mayhap their riddles all unread ; 
 
 — For the great gods hide deep their secrets. — Boy, 
 
 Content thee with sweet light of common day 
 
 The gods vouchsafe to all ; therein rejoice. 
 
 And let the young glad heart within thee leap 
 
 In warmth and brightness of man's common lot ; 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 29 
 
 About thy path be children, wife, and friends. 
 Bring duly to the gods of thy first fruits, 
 And joy before them in the dance and song ; 
 — 'Tis all they ask, and 'tis enough for thee. 
 Seek not the glory further that lies hid 
 Far from the warmth and comfort of the day.'' 
 
 " Great sire, I cannot, for to me there came, 
 Within my father's workshop, where we made 
 With our own hands the gods the people serve, 
 A Voice which said, ' These be not gods, bow not 
 To them, nor serve, seek me.' And from that hour 
 No more could I rejoice in common day. 
 But seek the Hidden Glory, — Source of all— 
 And will seek till I firid." " Poor boy ! and what 
 If thou shouldst never find ? " " Then will I die 
 In seeking.'' " So resolved ? Think yet again, — 
 Through horrors of great darkness must thou tread 
 Seeking that Hidden Glory, and at last. 
 Win for thy pains but sudden meteor flash 
 Scarce seen ere swallowed back into the night." 
 " For one glance of that Glory, holy sire, 
 I stand to live or die. — How can I else ? 
 — Nor do I quit for it the joy of life. 
 For that is mine no more ; in dim eclipse, 
 As when some shade sinister hides the sun, 
 I walk among life's shadows sickly pale, 
 In dismal twilight, till that Glory break 
 Upon me froni its Source. Then, not till then, 
 Will beam for me again, the light of day 
 In warmth and brightness." 
 
30 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 " So be it then 
 My child ! I grieve me that thy young bright eyes 
 So soon should lose their lustre, and grow dim 
 Groping in darkness, — but for me 'tis well ; 
 Thy fresh and hopeful youth mayhap may lend 
 Some borrowed brightness to my days, worn old. 
 And dim, and hopeless. I will teach thee, boy. 
 The ancient mysteries, behind which hide 
 In glory unapproachable, the gods ; 
 Mayhap their hidden light may shine for thee. 
 As ne'er it has for me — though sought how long ! " 
 
 The same. Abram alone. 
 
 " God ! what is God ? In Ur they worship Sin, 
 
 The Lord of Crowns, Maker of Brightness ; here 
 
 'Tis Anunit ; ^ in Babel,^ Merodach, 
 
 The old man of the gods, the Lord of Birth ; 
 
 In Erech,* Anu, king of spirits ; Bel,* 
 
 Lord of the world and father of the gods. 
 
 In Nipur ; while Samas,^ Judge of heaven, rules 
 
 In Larsa and Sippara ; — which is God ? 
 
 If all be gods there is no God at all. 
 
 But only rival potentates in heaven. 
 
 As here on earth, who war each upon each, 
 
 None proved the strongest. — Now 'tis Nipur wins. 
 
 Led on by Bel, — now Anu's Erech, — now 
 
 Great Babylon with Merodach for Prince ; — 
 
 Who then is God among the gods ? Not one, 
 
 For that god who is God indeed must needs 
 
 Excel all other, stronger than them all. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 31 
 
 Almighty God, else not a god at all. 
 
 — Let's see what more is here upon the bricks ; — 
 
 Lo,' here it tells of Sin and Samas' birth ; — 
 
 What god drew back the gates of the abyss, 
 
 And caused the deep to boil, from whence arose 
 
 Hurki * like giant bubble up to heaven ? 
 
 He who drew back the mighty gates and called 
 
 The Lord of Brightness from the nether deep, 
 
 He must be Hurki's God,-^is it not so 
 
 Since him Hurki obeyed ? — He too, — so say 
 
 The bricks, — set Samas up on high — his God 
 
 Then too, — and from the womb of Mummu drew ° 
 
 This mighty world from empty nothingness. 
 
 God of the gods ! I know not what thy name — 
 
 — Here Ismi-dagon comes, the good old man. 
 
 With his bowed form, and scanty hoary locks. 
 
 And eyes, long hopeless search have made so dim. — 
 
 " Good morrow, reverent sire, the Almighty God's 
 Best blessings light on thee." " Good morrow, son. 
 The great gods bless thee ! Hast found aught to-day 
 Of import on the bricks ? " " My sire, I read 
 The tale of Hurki and of Samas' birth ; — 
 — But tell me, father, who was god before 
 Hurki and Samas were ? " " Great Anu,!" son." 
 " And who begat great Anu ? " " Sar, my son, 
 And Kisar." " And who begat them, my sire ? " 
 " From Tiamat and the Ancient Night they came 
 With Lakhmu and Lakhamu ; ^^ — hear the tiles, — 
 ' Their generation was the boundless deep. 
 The Chaos of the Sea was she who bore 
 
32 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES. 
 
 The whole of them. Then was the flowering reed 
 
 Not gathered, — the marsh plant was not grown, 
 
 The gods not any one of them was born, 
 
 By name they were not called, nor fixed was fate.' " 
 
 " Then who is he who made this boundless deep, 
 
 This Mummu Tiamatu whence the gods 
 
 Sprang into being ? " " That we know not, son. 
 
 None begat Tiamat, that ancient night 
 
 And nothingness that reigned ere Nature was." 
 
 " Then must I worship Tiamat, my sire, 
 
 He who begat, himself the unbegotten. 
 
 Greater than Anu since he brought him forth." 
 
 " Nay, son, we worship not that chaos void 
 
 And ancient nothingness, but rather him. 
 
 First principle of order in the world. 
 
 Who fought with Tiamat, ^^ and overcame. 
 
 Great Anu and most blessfed Merodach." 
 
 "Tell me, my sire, — beareth the wild briar figs? 
 
 Grow dates on prickly pear ? Doth not each bear 
 
 After its kind ? How then was Order born 
 
 Of chaos of the deep, and all that is 
 
 Of nothingness ? " "I know not, son, yet see 
 
 We not their strife ? — Mummu and Merodach, 
 
 Evil and Good, Chaos and Order, — mark 
 
 The wavering fight, around on every side 
 
 Rage still, nor see the end ? " — 
 
 " Tell me, great sire. 
 What is that sign upon thy cylinder, ^^ 
 Two figures by a fruit-tree and by one 
 A scaly serpent ? " " Son, an evil sign. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 33 
 
 Sign of all woe to men. — Hast thou not heard 
 
 How Adam,^* the black race, through Tiamat's wiles, 
 
 Took of the fruit forbidden of the gods. 
 
 And how the great gods cursed them in their wrath ; 
 
 — Bade knowledge work them ill, quarrels to breed, 
 
 Oppressions flourish, pain torment the frame. 
 
 And sorrow sap the mind, their labour bring 
 
 Not forth its fruit, till they are dead whose hands 
 
 Should garner it, — and still to disobey 
 
 And stiU be punished?- — Such our evil case." 
 
 " Is there no remedy ? " "I know not, son ; — 
 
 The tablets tell how the great Merodach, 
 
 Armed with his sickle-shapfed sword, ^^ went forth 
 
 And fought the dragon Tiamat and won ; — 
 
 Yet the gods' curse abides on Adam's race. 
 
 They sin and sorrow, sicken still and die.'' 
 
 " Are there none then who have obeyed and live ? " 
 
 " Ay, son, the great Xisuthrus ^^ in whose days 
 
 The flood befell. He walked uprightly 
 
 And feared the gods, wherefore they bore him hence, 
 
 Beside the rivers' mouths with them to dwell, 
 
 When the great flood was stayed. — How run the tiles 
 
 Of that great tale he told to Izdubar ? i'' 
 
 " ' — Thus spake Xisuthrus — 
 
 " ' Lo, I will reveal 
 My story and the judgment of the gods ; 
 The city Surippak,!^ — the town thou know'st 
 Which on Euphrates stands, — ancient the town. 
 The gods within it dwell. — To make a flood 
 
 D 
 
34 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 There the great gods resolved, e'en he, Anu 
 
 Their father, and their king the warrior Bel, 
 
 Ninip their throne-bearer,^^ and Hades' Lord '^ 
 
 Hea, — his wife Nin-si-kha with them sat ; ^^ 
 
 Unto his minister then Hea told 
 
 The great gods' will, he heard, and thus proclaimed, 
 
 " Ubaratutu's son,^^ Surippakite, 
 
 Make thee a mighty ship, therein enclose 
 
 The seed of life." Then Samas spake and said, 
 
 " Lo ! in the night Samas will make a flood ; 
 
 Enter into thy ship and shut thy door." 
 
 " ' Rag-mu-seri-ina-namari ^^ then 
 
 As black cloud from the heaven's horizon rose, — 
 
 In midst thereof thundered the mighty Mer,^* — 
 
 Nebo ^^ and Saru ^'^ went in front, — o'er plain 
 
 And mountain-top the great throne-bearers strode, — 
 
 Nergal ^^ the strong destroyer overturned, — 
 
 Ninip in front cast down, — Earth-spirits bore ^^ 
 
 Destruction, they with terror shook the earth. 
 
 The flood of Rimmon reached to the stars,^^ 
 
 The darkened earth to watery waste was turned. 
 
 From off her face were swept all living things ; 
 
 The raging deluge o'er the people rose 
 
 To heaven, — brother saw not his brother, — men 
 
 Knew not each other. 
 
 " ' In high heaven the gods 
 The whirlwind feared and refuge sought, — unto 
 The heavens of Anu went they up, — like dogs 
 The gods lay prostrate fixed in droves. — Then like 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 35 
 
 A child the goddess Ishtar spake, " Behold ! 
 As mother I begat my people, now- 
 Like to the young of fish they fill the sea ! 
 Because of the Earth-spirits with me weep ' 
 The gods, on seats of lamentation set, 
 Their lips are covered for the coming ill." 
 
 ' ' ' — Six days and nights passed ; wind, whirlwind, and storm 
 
 O'erwhelmed ; — upon the seventh, at its approach 
 
 The rain was stayed, the raging whirlwind that 
 
 As earthquake smote the earth, was quieted ; 
 
 The sea began to dry, the wind and storm 
 
 Were ended. — Then made the sea a tossing, 
 
 — I looked, and lo ! all mankind turned to clay ! — 
 
 Like reeds the corpses floated. — Then oped I 
 
 The window and the light broke o'er my face, — 
 
 It passed, — grieved I sat down and wept, and o'er 
 
 The fortress of my nostrils flowed my tears ! — 
 
 I watched towards the boundaries of the sea. 
 
 Towards all the compass-points there was no land. 
 
 " ' Then on the land of Nizir stayed the ship,^" 
 
 The mount of Nizir stopped the ship, — pass o'er 
 
 It could not ; — the first day, the second day. 
 
 The mount of Nizir stopped the ship, third day. 
 
 Fourth day, the mount of Nizir stopped the ship, 
 
 Fifth day, sixth day, the mount of Nizir stopped 
 
 The ship, — the seventh day, at its coming, I 
 
 Sent forth a dove.^^ — The dove went, — it returned, — 
 
 A resting-place it did not find ; — I sent 
 
 A swallow forth, it went — and it returned, — 
 
36 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 A resting-place it did not find ; — I sent 
 A raven forth, — the raven went, — it saw 
 The carrion on the waters, — it did eat, — 
 It swam, it turned away, it came not back. 
 
 " 'Then to the four winds forth I sent all life, 
 I sacrificed a sacrifice, I built 
 An altar on the mountain's ziggurrat.^^ 
 Seven vessels placed I by, in them I spread 
 Reeds, pines, and juniper ; — good savour smelt 
 The gods, — the sacrifices o'er gathered 
 The gods like flies, — also at her approach. 
 Uplifted from afar, the goddess great, 
 Ann's ^^ bright arch, he for his glory made. 
 
 " ' Then Bel arose, into mid-ship he came. 
 My hand he took and caused me to ascend, 
 My wife he raised and joined unto my side, 
 A covenant he made. " Mortal before 
 Was Adrakhasis, now, he and his wife 
 At place remote beside the rivers' mouths 
 To live as gods are carried to dwell.' " ' 
 — 'Tis thus 'tis written on the tiles, my son." 
 
 " My father, Adrakhasis whom they loved. 
 Did he not know the secrets of the gods ? 
 Left he no record ere they bare him hence. 
 That on the new-washed earth, a race unborn. 
 Might walk as he, uprightly in their sight ? " 
 " Ay, son, ere the flood came he hid, hard by. 
 At Sepharvaim, the city of the Sun,^* 
 
• THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 37 
 
 The sacred tiles, and as he vanished, ^^ 
 His voice, men say, came borne upon the air 
 Bidding to, search for them, and teach mankind. 
 — 'Tis this same lore we con to-day, and seek 
 Therein to read the riddles of the gods." 
 
 " Why speak they thus in riddles, oh my sire ? 
 
 To Adrakhasis they spake face to face, 
 
 Bade him to build a ship, taught him the way ' 
 
 How he should walk with blessing in their sight. 
 
 — My father, I have conned these tiles when night 
 
 Wrapt all the world in sleep, and when the day 
 
 Called me with joyous voice in vain, — and lo ! 
 
 The darkness grows but deeper. — Thou thyself, 
 
 My father, — saidst thou not 'twas but to grope 
 
 In darkness for a light scarce seen ere fled ? 
 
 May it not be, hard by, at Sepharvaim, 
 
 Some tile still lies, the key of all the rest ? 
 
 It will I seek, my sire, and if I find, 
 
 How glad will I bear back the blessfed news 
 
 To thee ! " 
 
 • — Sadly he shook his hoary head. 
 Old Ismi-dagon : " Go, my son," he said, 
 " The great gods speed thy quest, my quest is o'er ; 
 — If thou return, seek me in Babylon, 
 There in the shrine of blessfed Merodach,^^ 
 — He who hath died yet ever liveth, — would 
 I end my days, — there shalt thou find me ;— yet 
 Somewhat there is that whispers, ne'er for me 
 Those blessfed tidings. — Fare thee well, my son." 
 
A High -PLACE outside the Walls of Sippara 
 
 Abram standing beside the Sun-god's column which crowtis it. A 
 procession of priests issuing from the Temple of Samas in the 
 town below, singing. 
 
 " The head of the child for his own head^ 
 
 The brow of the child for his own brow. 
 
 The breast of the child for his own breast ; 
 
 The head of the child for his own head. 
 
 The brow of the child for his own brow. 
 
 The breast of the child for his own breast ; 
 
 — So may the Sun-god pardon the sin of Marturda, 
 
 Let his offering's sweet savour fill the nostrils of Samas ! 
 
 — Not with the blood of the ram or the bull, — 
 
 The sin of Marturda is purged with his heart's blood, 
 
 The fruit of his body for the sin of his soul. 
 
 " Smell it, O Samas, great god of Sippara ! 
 
 Let the smoke of its incense arise up to thee ; 
 
 As Bel ^ gave in Nisan, Yedud the Belovfed, 
 
 The son of his heart's love that troubles might cease, 
 
 And the first month on earth, and the first sign in heaven. 
 
 Are the month and the sign of the ' Offering of Bel.' 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 39 
 
 The head of the child for his own head. 
 The brow of the child for his own brow. 
 The breast of the child for his own breast ; 
 The head of the child for his own head. 
 The brow of the child for his own brow. 
 The breast of the child for his own breast.^' 
 
 So sang the white-robed priests, as slowly wound 
 
 Their long procession from the temple-porch, 
 
 The Sun-god's ^ lofty ziggurrat, of old, 
 
 Ligbagas, King of Ur, had built. In midst, 
 
 Aloft, they bare a flower-decked throne, whereon, 
 
 Beneath a canopy of broidered gold, 
 
 There sat a lovely boy. Six summers scarce 
 
 Had shed their bloom, since first his brown eyes oped 
 
 With their clear wondering light, in old Earth's face, 
 
 And laughed back at her in the golden glow 
 
 Of dawn. As though it loved them, the warm air 
 
 Toyed with his chestnut tresses, all unshorn 
 
 And lily-crowned, and wafted from the flowers 
 
 Soft perfume, while the wondering eyes, fearle'ss 
 
 And innocent, gazed all around, well-pleased 
 
 With his great holiday. — Behind the child, 
 
 — Alone and silent, with a low-bowed head 
 
 Bared to the noon-day sun, — Marturda came ; 
 
 — ^On the bent face, fierce anguish struggled, while 
 
 The pallid lips, quivered, but gave no sound. 
 
 Through the long street they passed, and at each door 
 A votive offering of fresh flowers and palms 
 Made one long flowery carpet for their feet, 
 
40 THE- fURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 While, in their rear, a throng in festal garb 
 
 Followed, with garlands for the sacrifice ; 
 
 — Still singing, on they came,— through the town's gates. 
 
 And up Euphrates' bank, until they reached 
 
 The knoll whose brow * the Sun-god's column crowned. 
 
 And by its side the tree of Anunit, -^ 
 
 — Half-hid behind whose shade, younjl Abram caught 
 
 A glimpse of fluttering raiment, suddei^ stirred. 
 
 As sudden lost to view. 
 
 yOn, on, they came. 
 Their bodeful chant still ringing through the hush 
 Of noontide's heat that wrapped each bird and bee, 
 And all the joyous hum of insect life. 
 " The head of the ■child for his own head, 
 The brow of the child for his own brow, 
 The breast of the child for his own breast." 
 Nor paused till they had reached, where rose, massive 
 And grim, the Sun-god's ancient stone, — 'neath it 
 A low rude altar, built of unhewn stone. 
 With faggofs piled ready for sacrifice. 
 
 In order filed the white procession round 
 
 The hoary pillar in a triple ring. 
 
 And in the midst, upon the tender sward 
 
 Just budding with the river's overflow, 
 
 They set the flower-decked throne, and chanting still, 
 
 The chief-priest lifted from his flowery nest 
 
 The wondering boy, and laid him on the wood. 
 
 Binding with cords unto the altar's horns 
 
 The childish rounded limbs. — When, hark ! a cry 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Rang through the stillness of the noontide glare, 
 Drowning the priestly chant ! — from 'neath the tree 
 Of Anunit, swift glimmer of white robes, 
 And through the triple ring of guarding priests, 
 Straight to the altar, broke a mother's love ! 
 
 — 'Twas but a moment, and they bore her back. 
 
 Ere her hand touched her boy, and louder swelled 
 
 The bodeful chant, to drown her woman's shriek ; 
 
 " The head of the child for his own head, 
 
 The brow of the child for his own brow, > 
 
 The breast of the child for his own breast." 
 
 As, heaping first the little form with flowers, 
 
 Deep in the baby bosom sank the knife ; — 
 
 And clang of cymbal and of trumpet rent 
 
 The astonished heavens, and incense filled the air. 
 
 While round the altar curled the flames' fierce tongues, 
 
 Licking up all, — piled faggots, shrivelling flowers. 
 
 And sweet untainted life, in fell embrace, — 
 
 And from high heaven the noontide Sun looked down. 
 
 And drank the sinless blood his votaries spilt. 
 
 As stricken deer, with arrow in its side, 
 
 Young Abram turned and fled ; — deep pity wrung 
 
 His heart, the while, horror and anger strove. 
 
 Within his soul, and dried the blinding tears. 
 
 — Many the toilsome days that he had searched 
 
 In all Sippara for the hidden tile. 
 
 That might, perchance, illume with light divine 
 
 Old Ismi-dagon's mystic lore, wherein, 
 
 In clouds and darkness, from all human eyes, 
 
42 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The gods enshrouded them, — sought all in vain ; 
 — And now, this unknown horror in their name ! 
 
 Sadly he wandered by the river's brink. 
 
 Unconscious as the noon faded to eve, 
 
 Till the soft twilight fell, and wrapping close 
 
 His mantle round, he laid him down, beneath 
 
 A grove of palms, through whose broad fronds, the moon 
 
 Shed silvery light as in a sanctuary. 
 
 While with day's pain outworn, deeply he slept ; 
 
 — And in his sleep a dream, vivid as sight. — 
 
 In a great town he seemed to stand, high-walled 
 With earthen ramparts, wherein rose a tower 
 In stages seven, over its door, a star. 
 Great Ann's symbol.^ He had seen before. 
 The city with its ancient walls and streets, 
 Erech, the Hunter's Capital,^ where once, 
 With Terah he had halted on his way 
 To the great desert, for new basalt blocks ; 
 — He knew the temple too,— Bit-Anu,'' place 
 Of Anu, where, with Nana,^ Anu reigned. — 
 Then in his dream he saw, — without the walls. 
 In grove of palms, such as he slept beneath, 
 With gleamings of bright water through its shade, — 
 A low-roofed dwelling, from whose open door 
 Arose an ancient man to greet him. Bowed 
 His head with rolling centuries, grand with 
 Their weight of years and wisdom, — sunk his eyes. 
 Yet deep and searching shone. — " Co7ne to me, son, 
 And I will tell thee of Xisuthrus' god." 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 43 
 
 — The words seemed whispered through his dream, and 
 
 then 
 The boy awoke, to find the dim night past. 
 And all around the twitter of new life, 
 And dewy glitter of the wakening morn. — 
 " I will arise and go to him," he said, 
 " He hath the secret of the mighty gods." 
 
 Onward he journeyed through the sultry day. 
 
 Through the cool eve, and when night shone with stars ; 
 
 — ^At next day's dawning light, great Babel lay 
 
 Before him. — Temples, towers, and palaces. 
 
 All hazy bright in morn's translucent- air. 
 
 As city of a dream ! — Babylon past. 
 
 Next high Birs-Nimrud ® reared its ruined tower 
 
 Of seven stages to the planets seven. 
 
 In diverse hues, — he marvelled that it stood 
 
 A ruin on the plain, — yet lingered not, 
 
 Nor paused,— save for brief snatch of needful rest, — 
 
 Until before him rose his journey's goal, 
 
 — Erech's great earthen ramparts, and within, 
 
 Bit-Anu's shrine, over its gate, a star. 
 
 The mighty door stood open, and the chant 
 Of many voices sounded from within. 
 And entering he saw the white-robed throng 
 Of Ishtar's priests and priestesses, who praised 
 With song and mystic rites the Queen of Love ; 
 — And thus their chant fell on his listening ear. 
 
 " When Ishtar 1° the lady to Hades descended. 
 
44 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 From the hart fled the hind, from the bridegroom the bride, 
 From his commanding ceased the freeman, 
 From her obeying ceased the slave. 
 
 " Then tore his robe the great gods' minister, Papsukul, 
 
 His face he lacerates before them, 
 
 And with rapid words he spake ; 
 
 Weeping before his father went Samas the Sun-god, 
 
 To Hea the King's presence he went in tears. 
 
 ' Since Ishtar the mother to Hades descended. 
 
 From the hart flees the hind, from the bridegroom the bride. 
 
 In his commanding fails the freeman, 
 
 In her obeying fails the slave.' 
 
 " In wisdom of his heart then pondered Hea, 
 
 And Addusu-namir the sphynx, he made ; 
 
 ' Go, Addusu-namir, towards Hades set thy face, 
 
 Before thee may its seven gates be oped : 
 
 When Nini-gal the queen to meet thee comes. 
 
 Then thou shalt awe her with the name of the great gods ; 
 
 When calmed shall be her mind and spent her wrath, 
 
 Prepare thy frauds, from empty vessel bring 
 
 The fishes of the sea. — Then at these things 
 
 Shall Nini-gal the queen astonied be. 
 
 To Ishtar she her garments will restore.' 
 
 " When Nini-gal the Queen of Hades heard, 
 She beat her breast and her two hands she wrung. 
 She turned her round and comfort would not take. 
 To her attendant Simtar gave command, 
 ' Go, Simtar, and the Hall of Judgment deck. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 45 
 
 The stone slab with the pa-stone shalt thou press, 
 Bring forth the ghost and seat on golden throne, 
 O'er Ishtar pour the waters pure of life 
 And to me bring.' 
 
 " Then forth went Simtar, he 
 Pressed with the pa-stone, forth the spirit brought 
 And seated it upon the golden throne, 
 O'er Ishtar, he, of life the waters poured, and let her go. 
 — At the first gate she passed, he gave to her her body's 
 
 cloak ; 
 At second gate she passed, he gave to her 
 The bracelets of her hands and of her feet ; 
 At the third gate she passed, he gave to her 
 The binding girdle of her waist ; 
 At the fourth gate she passed, he gave to her 
 The fine jewels of her breast ; 
 At the fifth gate she passed, he gave to her 
 The necklace of her neck ; 
 At the sixth gate she passed, he gave to her 
 The earrings of her ears ; 
 At the seventh gate she passed, he gave to her 
 The great crown of her head. 
 
 " When Ishtar the lady from Hades ascended, 
 The hart sought the hind, the bridegroom the bride. 
 No more from his commanding ceased the freeman. 
 No more from her obeying ceased the slave." 
 
 The voices ceased, and from the temple porch. 
 As the foul orgies of the feast began, 
 
46 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Sadly young Abram turned. " Where shall I find 
 'Mid these polluted revellers," he thought, 
 " Him who shall tell me of Xisuthrus' God ? " 
 Out from the city's gate he passed again, 
 And sought once more the broad Euphrates' bank. 
 Slow wandering down its stream, — till in a bend 
 That hid it from his view till face to face, — • 
 Sudden, there rose his palm-grove, and within. 
 Nestled the low-roofed dwelUng of his dream ! 
 
 With trembling knees he entered, and before 
 Him stood, in the low door, the ancient man. 
 Low bowed the boy in reverence, till his lips 
 Kissfed the dust ; kindly the ancient man 
 Raised him and spake, in a deep voice that seemed 
 To sound from long-gone ages. — " Welcome, son ; 
 In nightly vision I had news of thee, — 
 Thou seek'st the living God, — Him whom we name 
 Not, — hidden now and lost behind creatures 
 His hands have made. — Yet is a remnant left,-'^ 
 — E'en here in Erech, where the bestial rites 
 Triumph the most, of Nana and her loves, — 
 Who^^ know the Hidden Name and worship Him." 
 
 " Yea, father. Him I seek, — for that I left 
 
 My father's house at Ur." " I know it, boy, 
 
 'Twas shown me in a vision of the night. 
 
 — Enter, my son, fresh dates and palm-tree wine 
 
 Are on my frugal board, — first must thou eat. 
 
 And then, — nature refreshed by His good gifts, — 
 
 Beneath my palms, beside the flowing stream. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 47 
 
 Sit thee and rest, and learn what old Shem knows ^^ 
 
 Of Him, — the One, — the Unsearchable, — whose hand 
 
 Made earth and heaven, the moon, the sun, the stars, — 
 
 All that men worship in the place of Him. 
 
 For I am he men call old father Shem, 
 
 The last alive of them who saw the flood, 
 
 And knelt with Noah on the new-washed earth. 
 
 When rose the smoke of his thank-offering. 
 
 And heard with him the voice of God that said, 
 
 — MTiile all the sky was spanned with His bright arch, — 
 
 ' Lo, in the cloud I set my bow for sign 
 
 That never more my flood shall drown the world. 
 
 But while the earth remains, in season due 
 
 Return, summer and winter, cold and heat. 
 
 Seedtime and harvest, never more to cease.'" 
 
 They entered the low door, and eagerly, 
 The boy ate the fresh dates and drank the sweet 
 Palm-wine, — for long his fast, and travail sore, 
 — E'en more of mind than body, — had outworn 
 The vigour of his youth ; — and now the rest 
 His troubled soul so longed for, come at last ! 
 And the old sage looked on, with ghstening eyes. 
 At this young neophyte who sought for God. 
 
 Beneath the palms upon the river's bank 
 
 They sat the livelong day, while the old man 
 
 Told his young scholar of his father's God. 
 
 " I know not, son," he said, with eyes tear-dimmed, 
 
 — When the long tale of man's forgetfulness 
 
 Of Him who gave them all, was told, — " how long 
 
48 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 He will have patience still, nor how His name, 
 
 — His, the Unsearchable, — ^can live amidst 
 
 Men who with bestial rites bow down to serve 
 
 The Queen of Heaven. — /know not, but God knows, 
 
 And sure His promise stands, — ' The woman's seed 
 
 Shall bruise the serpent's head ' ; — and, boy, it seems 
 
 To my fast dimming eyes, like olive-branch 
 
 Of hope our dove brought back from the wild waste 
 
 Of waters, that one fresh young soul hath come. 
 
 Ere Shem's old eyes have closed, seeking for God." 
 
VI 
 
 The Outer Court of the Temple^ of Merodach 
 
 AT Babylon 
 
 Before dawn. Abram alone, 
 
 Lo, once again I seek the sage's shrine, 
 
 As once before I sought, how full of hope, 
 
 And left how sick at heart with hope deferred ! 
 
 Now to return with the o'erbrimming joy 
 
 Within my soul, of hope's unhoped fruition ! 
 
 — ^A friend who speaks with me the God who made ! — 
 
 How will my Ismi-dagon's lore-tired eyes 
 
 Glisten to hear it ! How his search-worn soul 
 
 Will lay it down within the circling arms 
 
 Of Him, the Unsearchable, he sought so far. 
 
 And all the while so near ! — The dawn breaks slow, — 
 
 — In my glad haste to bear the joyous news 
 
 I could not wait the morn, — but yon bright streak. 
 
 Far in the East, foretells the coming day ; 
 
 — So on thy morning slumbers, sire beloved. 
 
 Rest some bright glory streak, the harbinger 
 
 Of the great day that breaketh for thy soul ! 
 
 — See, yonder comes his neophyte, who sweeps 
 
 E 
 
so THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The temple courts, arid feeds the midnight lamp, 
 When the old sage transcribes from heaven's great 
 
 book 
 Its records on the tiles, wherein men read 
 Their own small destinies, within the world's 
 Great fate. 
 
 — " The great gods bless thee, boy ! So soon 
 Astir ! Is it a feast, and must the temple courts 
 Be decked ere break of day ? Or hath the sage 
 Outwatched the stars, and not till the last shred 
 Of night's great scroll is rolled for coming day 
 Hath let his lamp burn dim ? — What ails thee, boy, 
 That the quick tears start to thine eyes. The sage 
 Is well?" 
 
 " Alas, alas, young master, so 
 He longed to see thy face, and thou art come, — 
 — But all too late for him ! Dying he lies. 
 Since yesternight he knows us not, we watch 
 But the last flicker of Ufe's feeble flame 
 Ere it goes out in darkness." " Oh my sire ! 
 And in my heart, and on my lips, the words 
 Should change thy dark to day ! — Lead me to him." 
 
 Through the dim empty courts sadly he led. 
 Up the broad temple-stairs, and on, until, 
 By narrow winding steps, they reached the tower. 
 Whence many a year, old Ismi-dagon's eyes. 
 With wistful gaze, had conned the midnight sky. 
 There now, — his window open to the East, 
 With its first dawn-streak, — by his side the lamp, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 5 
 
 So long had shone to light his nightly toils, 
 Its oil all spent, burnt dim and low, — dying 
 He lay, alike unheeding of its flame 
 Flickering to death, and of the breaking day. 
 
 With passion of wild weeping Abram clasped 
 The thin cold hand, and on the death-dewed brow 
 His tears fell like the rain, while in the ear, 
 — So sealed by coming death, — he poured the news 
 Of Him, — the Unsearchable, — found now at last. 
 The dim lamp flickered down, down to its end, — 
 The breath grew short and shorter, — but behold ! 
 — Were the sealed ears unclosed, or has he found, 
 By death's dark road, Him^whom he sought so long ? 
 — As the last spark went out, and the last breath 
 Sighed into silence, o'er the still cold face 
 Passed flickering smile, — and Day broke in the East. 
 
 Sadly and slow young Abram turned away, 
 
 Within his heart the new-found joy quenched down. 
 
 All its bright glory fled ; scarcely he felt 
 
 As if his death-chilled soul, cared for itself 
 
 To taste the joy that came too late for his ; 
 
 And yet, — that parting smile that lingered still 
 
 In solemn glory on the wrinkled brow ; — 
 
 — Awe-struck he stood, — yea, the Long-sought was found. 
 
 He could not doubt it, — though by other path 
 
 Than he had marked for him. — Softly he bent 
 
 And kissed the smile-crowned brow, — low murmuring, 
 
 " Well done, this my first mission, oh my sire ! 
 
52 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 For God, not I, hath done it ; — now the next j — 
 
 Back in the home at Ur, amid my kin 
 
 To spread the blessfed news. — So, fare thee well ! 
 
 — Nor will I e'en abide to see thee laid 
 
 By Marduk's ■'• Place of Rest, — for he is nought, — 
 
 — ^Yet is it fitting spot, and symbol meet. 
 
 By him men call the Risen, to await 
 
 Touch of the Ever-living ; — rest, my sire." 
 
 Homeward he bent his footsteps, and his heart 
 Burned in him as he went, and all too long 
 Stretched the weary miles, till he should tell 
 In Ur the joyful news. — To Terah first, 
 Milcah, Nahor, and Sarai, best beloved, — 
 — And e'en to little Lot, that they, his heart 
 Held dearest, first might share its joy, — and then, 
 Abroad to all, — like God's glad sunshine, — spread 
 The blessfed news, till not a soul in Ur 
 But should rejoice in the Long-sought, now found ! 
 
 At last, before him rose, across the plain. 
 The well-known Tower, Hurki's great ziggurrat ; 
 — He saw the river broadening to the sea, 
 Whose every nook, in all its shelving banks, 
 Teemed with its memories of childhood's joys. 
 Youth's love and hopes, and thoughts and imagings 
 And that last sorrow too, that sent him thence 
 A homeless wanderer ; — and now the joy. 
 Thus to return and bless the dear old home ! 
 — Ah, never in his mind the thought awoke, 
 That on his God, his Ur might turn its back. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 53 
 
 Preferring stocks and stones men-fashionbd, 
 
 — And all the Host of Seaven, — to Him who made ! 
 
 Even had fallen, when he stood once more 
 Before the well-known door, and heard, within. 
 The busy whirring of his mother's wheel 
 At work among her maidens ; each heart-throb 
 Seemed as 'twould choke him, as he raised the latch, 
 And stood again within his childhood's home. 
 — One cry of joy, and Milcah fell, weeping 
 Upon his neck, while little Lot clung fast 
 To his robe's skirt, with shouts of childish glee, 
 And Sarai stood beside, — her fair flushed face 
 Radiant with smiles and tears, — and maidens all, 
 — Their spindles quite forgot, — with clamour glad 
 Greeted the wanderer home. — Terah alone. 
 Held back with frowning brow, as at his feet 
 In lowly homage Abram knelt, and prayed 
 The blessing still withheld. — 
 
 " Bless me, I pray, 
 Me, even, oh my father, for I bring 
 Glad news to Ur ! Lo, the Long-sought is found ! 
 And happy Ur no more shall bow the knee. 
 To gods we make, but to the God who made. 
 For I have found Him, father, — seen old Shem 
 Who heard Him speak with Noah at the Flood, 
 And tell how He had set His bow in heaven. 
 His covenant with men. Wherefore no more, 
 Oh father ! may we serve these gods of stone 
 That hear not when we call, — nor yet bow down 
 
54 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 To Hurki and Heaven's Host, — but worship Him 
 Who made. — For I have heard Him, father, /, 
 Unworthy as I am. He speaks with me ! — 
 And I will teach thee, and my mother dear, 
 Sarai, and little Lot, ay, and all Ur, 
 That they may worship too the living God." 
 " Nay, impious that thou art ! or art thou mad ? 
 — Soon shall we see, — ^the morrow comes to Ur 
 Kudur-Lagamar,^ King of Elam, — he 
 Who rules from Susa all the conquered land ; — 
 He shall be judge betwixt us ; — at the gate 
 To-morrow shalt thou stand before the king ! " 
 
 Upon the morrow, — ^when at Ur's great gate, 
 Kudur-Lagamar, King of Elam, sat, — 
 — By him Eriaku, who ruled, viceroy 
 Of Larsa, — and around, a swarthy throng 
 Of Susian ^ officers behind their seat ; — 
 Before * them, as they sat in judgment, came 
 Terah with Abram, falling on his face. 
 And from the king, judgment upon his son 
 Besought, who dared deny his father's gods, 
 And break their images. 
 
 Then with a frown 
 The Susian monarch spake : " Bring hither him. 
 That impious, who defies his father's gods ! " 
 Prostrate upon the dust before the king. 
 Young Abram made reply, " Hear me, my lord, 
 Oh king, and from thy servant hide not, great 
 My lord, thy favour which gives Ufe ! The gods 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 55 
 
 My father serves are basalt blocks his hands 
 Have carved, and images of clay his slaves 
 Have fashioned ; eyes have they yet see not, feet 
 Yet run they not, mouths have they yet eat not, 
 Noses yet smell they not, hands yet touch not ; 
 How can I, oh great king, bow down to these?" 
 
 " Then be thou like to me and worship Ba'al, 
 
 The mighty King of Fire, First Principle 
 
 Of all that lives." " But there is that, oh king, 
 
 That quenches fire, and so must be more strong ; 
 
 — May I not pray to Water that o'ercomes 
 
 The power of Ba'al ?" " Pray, then, to mighty Vul, 
 
 God of the earth-refreshing rain." " Hear me. 
 
 Oh king ! what holds the rain, must be than rain 
 
 More great ; — may I not worship Clouds that hold 
 
 The rain?" "Pray, then, to Clouds." " Hear once again, 
 
 Oh king ! for there is that more strong than clouds ; 
 
 — May I not pray to Wind that drives the clouds?" 
 
 " Pray, then, to wind." " Be not wroth, oh my king ! 
 
 That not to wind, or cloud, or rain, or fire. 
 
 May I bow down to pray, — but unto Him 
 
 Who made them, who made me, ay, and made thee. 
 
 Oh king ! — who spake to Noah, and who speaks 
 
 To me, — Him only may I serve, oh king !" 
 
 " Then let him taste the power of mighty Ba'al, 
 — Him whom he holds the least, — and see if He, 
 He serves can save him from the King of Fire ! " 
 And,5 at a signal from the king, they seized. 
 And binding, led him where a furnace flame 
 
S6 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Darted its fiery arrows to high heaven. 
 Bound hand and foot they cast him in, but lo ! 
 The fiery arrows sank, arid in their stead 
 Bloomed garden fair of roses, and the boy 
 Walked with a smile, unshackled in their midst ! 
 Then all the people shouted, " Live the God 
 That Abram serves ! " — And troubled in his soul, 
 The king, bade his slaves loose, and let him go. 
 
 Home Abram went rejoicing, for he thought, 
 " Now with glad hearts my people will believe 
 In Him who saved me from the fiery death ! " 
 — And Him fair Sarai loved, and little Lot, 
 Their young fresh souls melted with gratitude ; 
 —More slowly, too, Terah and Milcah came 
 To worship Abram's God, though but at first 
 An added deity, while still they bowed 
 To Hurki and Heaven's Host. — Silent the rest. 
 Daring no more to scoff. 
 
 — And years went by. 
 And Abram taught in Ur's great market-place. 
 And people came, — and heard, — and went their way 
 Back to their gods, — and Hurki reigned in Ur ! 
 
VII 
 
 A TENT 1 UNDER THE OAKS OF MaMRE, NEAR HeBRON 
 
 Abraham, an old man, stretched on a bed. Beside him Isaac, 
 Enter Ishmael. 
 
 " Come hither, brother, lo, the old man's mind 
 
 Is busy with the past ! — But now I heard 
 
 Murmurs of mother's name, Haran, and Lot, 
 
 — Now Hurki's Tower on broad Euphrates' bank, 
 
 — Now selling images in Terah's booth 
 
 At Ur ; — as though before the age-dimmed eyes, 
 
 That scarce may read our faces, were unrolled 
 
 The Past's long scroll. — Hark ! now he speaks again.'' 
 
 " His voice came to me when we dwelt in Ur, 
 
 ' Get thee from country, kin, and father's house. 
 
 Unto a land that I will tell thee of; ' 
 
 And we arose and came, — the dear old man, 
 
 Sarai, and Lot, and I. — The men of Ur 
 
 They would not hear, or turn them from their gods. 
 
 But hated us and would have had us build 
 
 A sanctuary ^ to Hurki on our ground, — 
 
 And power was with them. — Then His guiding voice 
 
 Came to me in the night, and we obeyed. 
 
58 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — 'Twas hard to leave the old familiar home, — 
 Hardest for him, — for he must leave behind 
 Haran's ^ and Milcah's grave, my mother's too, 
 T scarce remember, but he ne'er forgot, 
 His wife of youth — and all his life-long hope, 
 In Ur's great City of the Dead to sleep, 
 Gathered unto his fathers, — yet he came ; 
 — Though not to him God's promise as to me. — 
 Therefore it was, mayhap. He bade us halt 
 Upon our journey, ere we crossed the flood. 
 That honoured in the gate we still might dwell. 
 Till the old man had closed his eyes in peace. 
 
 " — A second home,'' — another life than Ur's ! 
 Purer and freer than her busy mart 
 Whose ships sail every sea, and men of speech 
 Unknown and diverse hue throng in her streets ! 
 — Here, where the mountain-plain spreads circleless. 
 Its patches of bright flowers and pastures green 
 A dwelling-place of flocks, and maidens go 
 And water them at even, and all is peace. 
 Freedom and rest ; — and flocks and herds increased 
 And men and maids, — and Nahor ^ came 
 And Milcah, — and although the Kharran ® men 
 Still call the blue star Mercury, — the sun's 
 Envoy, Sul-khab-uddu, — their prince, and build 
 Temples to Hurki and the starry Host,- — 
 Yet 'twas a place of rest ; — and years went by, 
 — And '^ Kharran grew a name dearer than Ur, — 
 Till ^ Terah died ; — and as he might not sleep 
 In Haran's grave, Nahor and I, in tomb 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 59 
 
 Rock-hewn, laid him at Oorfa. — Then the Voice, — 
 God's guiding voice, — came in the night once more, 
 — ' Get thee from country, kin, and father's house. 
 Unto a land that I will show thee.' — Where 
 /know not, but God knows. — Yea, lead, my God, 
 I follow. — Strike the tents 1 — gather the flocks ! 
 — At morn we cross the flood, and turn our face 
 Toward ^ unknown Martu and the Sunset Sea. 
 
 " — Yonder's ^^ Aleppo ! — From the city's gate 
 Look how the sons of Heth come thronging forth 
 Ere break of day, for promised milk of herds 
 Before the morrow's march, and call on all 
 Their gods to shield and bless the stranger sheikh 
 That feeds their poor ! 
 
 " — Ay, and look, yonder sits 
 Fairest ^^ Damascus like a flower-crowned queen ; 
 — The orange-groves scent the sweet-laden air ! 
 — ^Yon's Haran of the Pillars, that I reared 
 Beside my well, and named for him 
 Whose grave is lone at Ur. — Dost see yon cleft 
 Sheer in the black rock's creeper-festooned face. 
 In wild ravine of Anti-Lebanon ? 
 — 'Twas there I made my sanctuary for prayer ; 
 And when the sun was down, — far from the voice 
 Of shepherds, or of maidens at the well. 
 Or tinkling bell of slow home-wending sheep, — 
 Thither I came, alone to speak with God, 
 Nor home returned till stars shone bright in heaven, — 
 About me, as a robe, the peacefulness. 
 Of that high Presence-Chamber of the King. 
 
6o THE PURPOSE OP THE AGES 
 
 " — Long time Damascus held us, for I brought 
 To these, mine unknown kinsmen, needed strength 
 'Gainst Canaanitish foes ; — and many sought 
 My counsel, and I grew ruler and judge 
 Among them ; till I thought, — mayhap 'tis here 
 The land, and this the promised kingdom ; — but 
 Once more His voice bade forward ! 
 
 "— Sarai, Look! 
 There on the hills of Bashan,^^ where the downs 
 Slope to the desert, see the Rephaims' tents 
 As black spots in the sunset ! — From yon grove 
 Of oak upon the hill, see how the smoke 
 Curls in the evening air, from the foul rites 
 Wherewith they serve the two-horned Ashtaroth ! 
 — Nay, fear not, Sarai, He who guides will guard. 
 What are those robber-hordes to Him who rules 
 In earth and heaven ? Here in these forest glades 
 Made musical by wood-pigeon's sweet plaint, 
 Cuckoo and hoopoe's call, His angels keep 
 Their sleepless watch around our sleeping camp ; 
 — Fear not, dear Sarai, God will keep His own. 
 
 " — Ah, there's the oak of Moreh ! "^ — There, at last 
 — ^Where spake the heathen oracles of old, — 
 'Twixt the twin hills Ebal and Geraizim, 
 I pitched my tent ; and as the even fell, 
 Beneath the twilight of its spreading boughs. 
 In vision I beheld the Holy One, 
 And heard the well-known Voice, from distant Ur 
 That led, — ' To thy seed will I give this land.' 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 6i 
 
 And, — stars' bright eyes my only witnesses, — 
 That joyful solemn night, — in earnest sure 
 And seal of promised ownership, — I reared 
 My land's first altar to the Living God ! 
 
 " — Ha! who^* comes yonder with the milk-white 
 
 ass,^* 
 With trappings basiUsk-crowned, led by his slaves ? — 
 A sar ^^ from Pharaoh's court at Auaris ! ^^ 
 — What is't he says ? ' Apopi,^^ son of Set, 
 Star of both Worlds, hath heard the fame of her. 
 The Amu •'^ sheikh's fair sister, sends to bid 
 Before the Hyksos throne ? ' — Sarai, forgive ! 
 — I thought it little when we passed the gates ^^ 
 Of the great wall that guards the Egyptian land 
 From the wild desert's sons, that I should give 
 The Pharaoh's captain, whose stele took our names. 
 Thy name as sister, — thou my father's child : — 
 — But how my coward heart sank, to see thee set 
 That day upon the Pharaoh's milk-white ass. 
 Yet dare utter no word ! — Then came the flocks 
 And herds, camels and asses, menservants 
 And maids ! — How my soul loathed each gift that proved 
 Apopi held thee fair ! — Ah, what was that 
 They said ? A pjague in Pharaoh's house ? Dread hope ! 
 — My God delivers and the Hyksos dies ! 
 — He died not, ^^ yet my God delivered. — Bless 
 His name for aye ! — 
 
 " —A garden of the Lord ! ^^ 
 See ! the blue waters of the Salt Sea gleam. 
 
62 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 And Moab's hills in hues of opal shine 
 
 At set of sun, and nestling 'neath their vines 
 
 And olives, glance the Cities of the Plain, 
 
 — From that height, east of Bethel, where we stood 
 
 Beside mine altar, — and I said, *■ Prithee 
 
 No strife betwixt us,' — for the herdsmen strove, — 
 
 ' Is not the land before thee ? ' — and he chose 
 
 The vale of Jordan with its clustering towns, 
 
 And pastures green, and gleam of waters ; — but 
 
 Its men were wicked in the sight of God 
 
 Exceedingly. 
 
 " — Look ! Look ! The Susian camp ^^ 
 Yonder at Dan, asleep beneath the stars, 
 Save where the sounds of revelry and song 
 Break on the midnight air, — and Lot with them ! 
 — Careless they feast and sleep, — but what a cry 
 Was that they woke with ! — How the battle raged, 
 Through the rich plain and up the mountain pass. 
 Past fair Damascus ! — Ah, our side were few, 
 But God was on it ! — Here, the carnage stay ! 
 — Yon cave of Hobah in the black rocks' face, 
 Long since my place of prayer, — make now our shrine 
 Of thanksgiving ! — Kudur-Lagamar is't 
 That flees by yonder path across the hill ? 
 — ^Ay, once before I saw great Elam's king, 
 — Then, face to face, — now, but the fluttering skirt 
 Of his escaping robe ! 
 
 "—Who is't that comes ^* 
 Down the steep path, from yonder town perched high 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 63 
 
 Upon the hill-top, bearing bread and wine ? 
 
 — And hark ! he blesses in the name of God 
 
 Most High ! — His name I deemed by me alone 
 
 Was known, — no altar in the land builded 
 
 To Him, till mine at Moreh, — and in this 
 
 Hill-fort of Jebusites, His High Priest reigns, 
 
 A king of righteousness and peace ! — ^ost glad, 
 
 Oh King of Salem, priest of God Most High, 
 
 — Thou who hast known the Name all else forgot, — 
 
 On thy great altar lay I tithes of all ! 
 
 " — No spoil, not a shoe latchet ! ^^ Shall the King 
 Of Sodom say, "Twas I made Abram rich?' 
 — He who defies the God that gave it all ! 
 
 " — ^ Look up and count the stars^^ for so thy seed 
 Shall be.' — Forth from the tent He led, and 'neath 
 The million-clustered sky He spake with me 
 The childless, — and my heart believed ; — yet I 
 Must deem that / must help Omnipotence, 
 — So took Sarai's Egyptian handmaid ! — Ah ! 
 My heart was broke, that day I needs must send 
 My tameless Ishmael, with his dauntless eyes 
 And dark thick-clustering locks, and her that bore. 
 Forth to the desert, — cast upon His care, 
 — His, who would teach, my help He needed not, — 
 Whom I no more might shelter ! — And He cared, — 
 'Neath Hagar's thirsting eyes bade water spring ; — 
 — In the lone desert God was with the boy ! — 
 
 " Yet not to him the promise, — him the child 
 
64 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Of my presumptuous thought, — but unto him, 
 — God's own free gift, — whom Sarai bore — Isaac, 
 Our Son of Laughter, — promised that day ^'^ 
 He made his covenant with Abraham, 
 Henceforth, father of many, and with her, 
 Sarah, my Princess. 
 
 " — Ah ! yonder's the grove ^^ 
 Of Mamre, where I sat in the tent door. 
 Beneath the shade of its great terebinth. 
 At burning noon, and lo, three Shining Ones 
 Stood by me 'neath the tree !— No Amorites, 
 No Sons of Heth, nor men of Sodom they, 
 But strangers seemed, from some far beauteous shore ; 
 — My heart rose up to greet them, as I bowed 
 E'en to the ground before them, and besought 
 That they would rest and eat beneath the tree. 
 — Ah ! two what tales they were they brought that day. 
 When Sarah laughed to hear, ere long a Son 
 Of Laughter should be laid within her arms ; 
 — And in my guest I recognised my God ! 
 And on yon hill, that overlooks the plain, 
 I dared to stay Him, and to strive with Him 
 Who made, to save its doomfed towns, and He 
 Listed my pleading ! — But He found not ten ! 
 — Ere next day brake ^^ I hasted to the hill 
 And looked towards Sodom, and her smoke, as smoke 
 Of furnace rose towards high heaven ! — 
 
 "—Alas! 
 See yonder's Gerar,^" where Abimelech, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The heathen Caphtorin, put my gray hairs, 
 — That yet had failed to learn God's lesson taught 
 How oft ! — to public shame, reproved by him. 
 The worshipper of Set ! ^^ 
 
 " — Not yet my task 
 Was learnt, — but whom God teaches He leaves not 
 Till perfected.—" 
 
 He ceased, and sad they stood. 
 Deeming the last words said, — to watch the grand 
 Still face, one breathless breathing-space while life's 
 Last sands ran out, and deepening twilight fell, 
 — When thrilling through the gloom, solemn and clear, 
 His voice once more,^ 
 
 " —Within the tent they slept,^^ 
 — The mother and the boy, — the rosy cheek 
 Sun-browned, and clustering-locks pillowed upon 
 The strong young arm, — and Sarah's placid brow 
 All shadowless, and cheek that had resumed 
 Almost its youthful roundness since he came. 
 
 " The Voice came to me in the silent night. 
 When the blue deep of heaven was rich with stars 
 Hanging like lamps above me. — All around 
 Was silence, save the ceaseless croak of frogs 
 From reedy pool,- or chirp of grasshopper 
 Among the leaves. — To them it came not, oh 
 My God, for that I thank thee !— Could it be 
 
 F 
 
66 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 God's voice? — How could His voice command that 
 
 which 
 Would make His word eternal void, — His word 
 Wherein we hoped, — hoping 'gainst hope, — until 
 Our Child of Laughter leaped in's mother's arms ! 
 
 " — And this to be the end ! — It cannot be ! 
 
 God could not mock us with a hope frustrate 
 
 So soon, a promise kept only to break, 
 
 And with it break our hearts, — our hearts that hoped 
 
 In Him alone ; — and yet, — could I mistake 
 
 His voice ! — That Voice so oft I've heard since first 
 
 It called 'mid palms of Chaldee, bidding forth 
 
 From home and kindred to a land unknown ? — 
 
 — ' Take now thy son, thine only son, him whom 
 
 Thou lov'st, and offer him a sacrifice 
 
 With fire upon mine altar, ^ — and upon 
 
 My vision rose, a lonely hill-top once 
 
 I saw before, when through Moriah's land, 
 
 From slaughter of the kings at Dan, I passed 
 
 By Salem, city of Melchisedek, 
 
 High-Priest of God Most High.— A lonely hilps 
 
 Twin-born with Salem, cut by deep ravines 
 
 Off from the mountains round. Clear, now as then. 
 
 The Priest-King's city, and its sister-hill 
 
 Lonely and silent. Though so near the stir 
 
 Of busy life, no foot seems e'er to tread 
 
 Its wild of tangled bushes, that o'erhang 
 
 White precipice and gorge, and dark-mouthed cave 
 
 Where crouch the wild things of the wilderness. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 67 
 
 Around — all smiling plenty, but itself 
 Fit scene for smoke of lonely sacrifice. 
 — But oh, my God ! what offering is that 
 Whose blue smoke curls above Moriah's hill ? 
 — The voice said, ' Take thy son, thine only son,' 
 — And lo, the smoke of unseen sacrifice. 
 Curling to heaven ! — 
 
 " It was God's voice, how dread 
 So-e'er its message ! — Clear, and aye more clear. 
 It grows upon my thought, — His voice that led 
 Me hither. — Can I deny my Guide ? 
 
 "—See! 
 The boy moves in his rosy sleep, — the stars 
 Grow pale before the coming dawn, — I must 
 Away ! — Each moment of delay but makes 
 Obedience harder. — Blindly I obey, — 
 Lead, Lord, thy servant follows ! 
 
 " — ^Yon's the place ! 
 — O God ! the rising sun gilds with his light 
 The lonely hill, till every tangled bush 
 Becomes a net, to catch his beams 
 And hold them in a glad imprisonment ! 
 The little stream that trickles from the rock 
 With every drop laughs back in myriad glee ! 
 E'en the dark caves half-ope their dismal jaws 
 As with a smile, and yield their garniture 
 Of leaf and fern unto his jocund kiss. 
 Nor hint at beasts of night that crouch within ! 
 
68 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 With sapphire arch the blue Heaven spans the Earth 
 That lies, laughing in its embrace ; the birds 
 Twitter, and chirp, and carol in each tree ; 
 The grasshopper, plays revels in the grass 
 With the slow beetle ; e'en the croaking frog, 
 That leaps beside the pool, pauses and pants 
 With rapture, as his glossy coat basks back 
 The cheering ray, and his bead eyes reflect 
 Its glory ! — 
 
 " — Yet, — this is the place ; — here where 
 The joy of day wakens all earth to light 
 And gladsome life, — the place for deed of death. 
 
 " — O God ! Had Thy dread thunderbolts broke loose 
 
 Round lone Moriah's peak, — had clouds, as shroud 
 
 Enwrapt it in their gloom, — had darkness, as 
 
 From outstretched wing of some huge bird of night 
 
 O'ershadowed it, — had all its caves gaped black 
 
 Like open graves, save where white snarling teeth, 
 
 And flaming blood-red eyes of savage beast 
 
 Gleamed from their darkness, — that-fieae. fit back-ground 
 
 For deed horrid as this !^ — But on this morn, 
 
 — This young and jocund day, like to his own 
 
 Young life ! — 
 
 "—Yet, 'tis Thy will. Almighty.— Thine, 
 Whose voice hath led me all my changeful days. 
 Till now an old man, stooping on my staff 
 Over my grave. — My God, I cannot see ! — 
 — A path it seems, horrid with blood and murder, 
 That Nature cries against, and brands worse than 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The first dark deed that stained with brother's blood 
 The shuddering earth. — Yet will I follow. — Who 
 Am / to judge Thy right and wrong, O Thou 
 Unsearchable ? — Darkness is light with Thee ! 
 — Here must I leave the young men and the ass, 
 I and the lad, go forth alone into 
 The darkness. — 
 
 " ' Let me bear the wood,' he said, 
 ' My father, long the path and steep, and hot 
 The morning sun, and ne'er methinks I saw 
 Thy face so weary, or thy step so slow.' 
 — ' Ay, bear the wood, my son,' I answered him, 
 — 'The path is narrow, I will lead the way.' 
 
 " — My God, the bitterness of death is past ! — 
 
 Surely beside me in this narrow path, 
 
 Between these chalky cliffs, there walketh One, 
 
 — E'en He who stayed with me beneath the oak 
 
 At Mamre, when the two went on their way. — 
 
 — I see Him not, but His felt presence fills 
 
 My soul with peace, — peace like the peace of heaven ! 
 
 The deed is yet to do, — but now no more 
 
 The quivering flesh shrinks shuddering from its task, 
 
 The hand falters no more, — ay, will not quake 
 
 E'en when the knife is raised. — It is Thy task, 
 
 O Thou Unsearchable, and with it comes 
 
 A peace unsearchable as Thou. — Long since, 
 
 By Sarah's voice, Thou askfedst Ishmael, 
 
 And I, — into the blackness of the wilderness. 
 
 Cast him upon Thy care, — and Thou hast cared 
 
70 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 For him. — Into Death's blacker darkness now, 
 Isaac Thou call'st.— In peace I give him Thee ; 
 — Living or dying is he not the Lord's ? 
 
 " ' My father.' 'What say'st thou, my son ?' ' Behold ! 
 Here is the fire and wood, but where the lamb 
 For our burnt-offering?' — 'My son, God will 
 Provide a lamb for His own sacrifice.' 
 
 " Here is the place ! — Here on the highest peak 
 
 Of lone Moriah, on the naked rock. 
 
 Gather the altar-stones, that straight to heaven. 
 
 Unmixed with breath of earth, may rise the smoke 
 
 Of this burnt sacrifice ! — ' Isaac, my son, 
 
 — For thee I prayed. — God heard and gave. — In thee 
 
 Is bound my all. — God gave that ail. — Shall I 
 
 Refuse to give Him back His own ? — He sees 
 
 Thy spotless youth, too pure for earth, — wills it 
 
 To bloom in heaven, — too sweet a flower, 
 
 To yield its incense to the vulgar touch 
 
 Of common death, or grip of foul disease,- — 
 
 His own hand plucks thee. — Consecrate to Him — 
 
 Thou art the lamb, my son.' 
 
 " — Hark ! what is that 
 That rings so clear through the hot breathless noon, 
 And stays the uplifted knife ? — His voice once more ! 
 — ' Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand 
 Upon the lad, for now I know thou fear' st 
 The Lord thy God, since thou hast not withheld 
 Thy son, thine only son, from me.' 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 71 
 
 "—At last! 
 -His lesson — life-long taught — was learnt at last ! 
 
 " — And now the end. — From the tent's open door, 
 Here 'neath my oak of Mamre, I can see, 
 On yon hill-side, the white roofs and the trees 
 Of Kirjath-Arba,^* where I rose up from 
 Before my Dead, — and from the Sons of Heth 
 I bought my first possession in my land, 
 In Ephron's field and cave, that I might lay 
 My Dead from out my sight ; — for in no tomb, 
 Borrowed of Sons of Heth, might she be laid. 
 In this her children's land ; — and in the dust , 
 Of her I loved the best, first seisin took 
 Of mine inheritance. — 
 
 " And now, I too 
 Would enter on my rest, — and where the trees 
 Round Ephron's cave, rise there above the town, 
 With her I take possession. — 
 
 " He hath taught 
 My help He needeth not. — 'Tis His to care. 
 — So will I lay me down in peace and sleep." 
 
BOOK II 
 
 FEALTY 
 
 [YOUTH] 
 }DW Wa-ba HE'D '"135? 
 
 Numb. xii. 7, 
 
I 
 
 Brick-fields outside Pi-Ramses or Zoan-Tanis-^ 
 
 Chorus of Hebrew^ children, piling bricks. 
 
 Strophe, {girls) — " They starve us, they starve us ! " 
 Antistrophe, {pays) — " They beat us, they beat us ! " 
 (Both)— 
 
 " But there's some One above, there's some One 
 above. 
 Who will punish them well, who will punish them 
 well ! " 
 
 {One girVs voice) — 
 
 " The chief of the village, the chief of the village. 
 May the dogs tear him," 
 
 {Alt)— 
 
 " Tear him, tear him." 
 
 Grand- Procession^ of Ramses II., bringing Syrian Captives of 
 
 War to "the House of his father Amon." 
 Musicians, dancing men and women, and a band of Pallares, * the 
 
 royal priestesses of Thebes, — singing. 
 
 " Ramses,^ the youthful king, the bold of hand. 
 His equal where is he ? Strong are his arms, 
 His heart is firm, — like Monthu,* god of war. 
 
76 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 His courage in the fight : to lands unknown 
 His warriors he leads, his weapons takes : 
 More than a hundred thousand is his might ; 
 He is a wall, — their shield in battle's day ! 
 Behind him Amon's^ legions came, legions 
 Of Ra,8 and Ptah,^ and Sutekh,^" on their roads. 
 
 " The chief men of his warriors he called, 
 Unto the lake in land of Amorites ; 
 There stood the Khita's^^ miserable king 
 In midst of all his men, heroes most brave 
 Of Khita, — three upon each chariot stood. 
 Yet none so bold as venture on the fight ! 
 
 "At last, from Kadesh on the south they stole. 
 On legion of Pra-Hor-fn-khuh,^^ unwarned. 
 And lo ! before them Pharaoh's host gave way ! 
 At north of Kadesh, where he lay, they come 
 To tell the king. Like Monthu he arose. 
 His weapons grasped, and put his armour on, 
 — Like unto Baal was he ! — The noble pair, 
 'Victory in Thebes,' ^^ in Pharaoh's chariot sprang. 
 Into the midst of Khita's host they rushed, 
 — Alone, and of the others with him none ! 
 
 " Then Pharaoh looked, — before him and behind, 
 Two thousand and four hundred chariots hemmed 
 Him round, — on each, of Khita's heroes, three ! 
 
 " ' Not one among my princes. 
 Not one among my captains. 
 Not one among my chief men. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 77 
 
 Not one among my knights, 
 
 My warriors and my chariots, all were fled. 
 
 Not one was there to aid me in the fight ! ' 
 
 Then Pharaoh spake, ' O Amon, where art thou ? 
 
 The father has he then forgot his son ? 
 
 Ne'er were the precepts of thy mouth transgressed ; 
 
 Shall Egypt's ruler bow himself before 
 
 The foreign folk ? Whate'er these herdmen mean, 
 
 Amon should stand more high than they, the vile 
 
 Who nothing know of God. 
 
 " — Is it for nought 
 That I have built thee temples for all time. 
 And filled them with my prisoners of war ? 
 And obelisks from Elephantine Isle^* 
 Have brought, and raised thee masts and wondrous 
 
 works 
 In stone, and thousand oxen sacrificed 
 With good sweet-smelling woods ? 
 
 " — 'Twas I who brought 
 For thee the everlasting stone ; who caused 
 For thee the ships to go across the sea ; 
 Let him be put to shame who scorns thy name. 
 But good be unto him who worships thee ! 
 Lo !. I have served thee with a willing heart. 
 Therefore I call on thee. 
 
 " O Amon ! see ! 
 I am in midst of unknown folk, — alone. 
 No other is with me. My warriors all 
 And charioteers are fled ; — I called, but none 
 
78 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Made answer to my voice. But unto me 
 Better is Amon than a million men, 
 Hundreds of thousand horses, yea, than tens 
 Of thousands, were they brothers all arid sons. 
 Together in one place. Nought are the works 
 Of men ; Amon is more than all. — Behold, 
 From the earth's utmost end I call on thee ! 
 
 " My voice an echo found in Hermonthis,-'^ 
 
 And Amon heard and answered to my cry ; 
 
 His hand he reached to me, and from behind 
 
 He spake, ' O Ramses Miamun,^^ to thee 
 
 I haste. I am with thee. Lo ! I am he. 
 
 Thy father, Amon-Ra, the Sun-god. Yea, am I, 
 
 Worth more than hundred thousands met in one. 
 
 I am the Lord of Victory, the Friend 
 
 Of Valour ; — ^right spirit have I found in thee. 
 
 Whereat my heart is glad.' 
 
 " — It came to pass 
 Changed was I then, — made like unto the god 
 Monthu. — The dart with my right hand I hurled,- 
 With my left hand I fought, — of chariots 
 Two thousand and five hundred I hg.d found. 
 In midst of them I was, — in pieces they 
 Were dashed before my horses, from them none 
 Raised up a hand to fight ! As crocodiles 
 Into the water sink, I made them fall. 
 They fell each one, none raised himself again ! 
 
 " Then stood there still the miserable king 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES \ 
 
 Of Khita mid his warriors, to behold 
 
 The great fight of the king. — On them I rtished, 
 
 I killed them where they stood. — Like Monthu I. 
 
 — Each to his fellow cried, ' This is no man ! 
 
 Ah, woe is me, 'tis Sutekh in our midst ! 
 
 In all his limbs is Baal ! ' Their hands fell down. 
 
 They aimed not bow nor spear, they saw his course 
 
 Afar ! — Behind them like a griffin came 
 
 The king ! — He spake, — I struck them down, my voice 
 
 I lifted to my warriors. — ' Look now, 
 
 Behold my victory ! I am alone. 
 
 But Amon is my help, — Amon with me ! ' " 
 
 So chanted Pharaoh's singer, ■^'^ — ^he who bare 
 
 The books of Hermes, — leading the white choir 
 
 Of royal Pallares, Amon's priestesses, — 
 
 As through the avenue of sphinxes wound 
 
 The great procession, cheered by dance and song 
 
 Of men and maidens, and the rhythmic clang 
 
 Of Castanet and timbrel, beat of drum. 
 
 And note of pipe and flute ; — towards Amon's shrine, 
 
 In the new temple-city, Ramses reared 
 
 On ruins of old Zoan ; — on the great day,^* 
 
 The twenty-first of Tybi, — when the king 
 
 In state was come, his peace-ofiferings to lay. 
 
 Before his .father Amon-Ra, and gods 
 
 Hor-m-khuh, Tum,^^ and Ptah, and Sutekh strong 
 
 Of Nut the Son.^" 
 
 — After the priestess choir, 
 — Royallest of Egypt's daughters ; — bearing high 
 
8o THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The hour-glass, Time's true measure, and the palm. 
 
 Symbol of Fate, writ in the eternal stars, — 
 
 The Horoscopus came ; — with ink and reed. 
 
 And long papyrus scroll, — feathers on head, 
 
 The Hierogrammat next, expounder he 
 
 Of hieroglyphics, earth's geography. 
 
 And course of sun and moon, Egypt and Nile ; 
 
 — Next, the Stolistes, — he who chose the calves 
 
 For sacrifice, — bearing the cubit just. 
 
 And cup, filled for libation ; — last of all 
 
 The Prophet, water-jar on breast, — behind, 
 
 His bread-bearers, — most learned he of all, 
 
 In mystic lore of the ten sacred books, 
 
 That teach of the great gods and Egypt's laws. 
 
 Then filed the ranks of chariot and foot,^'^ 
 
 — Whence front and rear, proudly the banners waved. 
 
 And in their midst, — surrounded by his sons, 
 
 His scribes and body-guard, — on splendid car. 
 
 The state flabella borne above hig head 
 
 By running fan-bearers, — the Pharaoh came,^ — 
 
 And close behind, his Syrian captives, bound 
 
 To fill the house of Amon, his great sire. 
 
 At the high Temple-gateway,^^ — where, from top 
 Of flag-staffs huge, upon the lazy air. 
 His mighty streamers floated, red and blue, — 
 — Before which and behind, in stately pairs, 
 Rose giant obelisks, sunbeams in stone, — 
 — Pharaoh alighted, and beneath the shade 
 Of royal flabella and fans' waving plumes, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Approached the inner gateway, o'er which rose 
 
 The Sun-god's hawk-head sign ; — whence issuing came 
 
 The priests' procession forth to meet the king, 
 
 And incense burn before him, while aloud, 
 
 From a papyrus scroll, a priest recounts 
 
 His triumphs and the favours of the gods. 
 
 Through the great hall, on figures Osiride 
 Of placid strength supported, — next he passed. 
 On through the inner vestibule, adorned 
 With pictured deeds of heroes and old kings, 
 Till last, he reached the Temple's inmost shrine, 
 And, 'neath a figure of the Sun-god, saw. 
 Crouched on his purple bed, the Sacred Calf,^^ 
 Mnevis, the incarnate Deity, before 
 Whose feet, — as giver of his victories, — 
 He laid, with incense and with sacrificp. 
 His spoils of battle, and the prisoners brought 
 To swell the Sun-god's train ; while at the sound 
 Of trumpet, came the regiments in turn. 
 And with the beat of drum, each soldier laid 
 Upon his altar, olive-twig of thanks. 
 
 The sacrifices over, and his seal 
 Set to the Khita's embassy of peace, 
 'Mid blare of trumpet and glad beat of drum, 
 Ramses arose to meet his waiting car, 
 When, — ^kneeling at his feet, — a soothsayer,'^* 
 Besought his private ear, to hear a dream, 
 Of ill portentous to great Pharaoh's land. 
 
 G 
 
82 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 " O Pharaoh, live for ever," thus he said, 
 
 — When now within the sanctuary he stood. 
 
 Alone before the king, — " As at Abydus ^^ 
 
 On yesternight, I slept among the tombs. 
 
 Near by the Temple of Osiris, reared. 
 
 To thy great-father, Seti Mineptah, 
 
 By thee, oh king, — ^with whom, since time of Ra,^^ 
 
 None other can compare, who honoured so 
 
 His father, save Horus alone,^^^ — as thou 
 
 Hast done, so did Osiris' son ! — In dream 
 
 I saw, and to a Hebrew woman lo, 
 
 A babe was born, e'en as Osiris, fair, 
 
 And ere he knew his right hand from his left. 
 
 Upon thy double-crown he set his feet ; 
 
 — Wherefore, have care, O Ramses Miamun ! 
 
 For, if that babe shall live, then by his hand. 
 
 The miserable Hebrews shall arise. 
 
 To thy great kingdom's woe ; — for never fail 
 
 The dreams Osiris at Abydus sends 
 
 Beside the tomb of Seti Mineptah." 
 
 With gathering frown upon his brow, the king, 
 
 " Ha ! Sayest thou so ? The caitiff Hebrew slaves ! 
 
 — They miserable, on whose back I laid 
 
 A double burden, lest they grow too strong 
 
 Within the land ! — Are they not yet subdued. 
 
 But think to rear deliverer ? — Now, by 
 
 The life of Pharaoh ! — by Sutekh strong. 
 
 And house of Amon-Ra, but they shall see 
 
 Who is the stronger ! — Let the word go forth 
 
 That every male, of Hebrew mother born. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Be Strangled in the birth ! — And if, mayhap, 
 Any by cunning craft escape the doom, — 
 — Finding, — each subject of the Double-Crown, 
 — By life of Pharaoh ! — in the Nile shall throw 
 Such viper's spawn, as food for crocodiles !" 
 
 He said, and mounted on his car, wherein, 
 
 " Victory in Thebes," — the matchless Arab pair, 
 
 Sons of the desert, who had borne him safe 
 
 Through Kadesh' bloody fight, — impatient tossed 
 
 Their lion-crested heads, — nor heard amid 
 
 The prance of horses, and the roll of drums, 
 
 The children's dismal chorus from the fields 
 
 Of brick, as his triumphant car swept past : 
 
 " They starve us, they starve us, 
 
 They beat us, they beat us. 
 
 But there's some One above, therms some One above, 
 
 Who will punish them well, who will punish them well." 
 
II 
 
 The dawn brake cool upon the sultry night 
 Over the " Conqueror's City," ^ in whose halls 
 Of spacious marble, decked with costliest art, 
 In chambers of the women, Merrhis fair,^ 
 Great Ramses' princess child, dwelt by the Nile. 
 — Upon the lilies of the reedy lake, 
 Pshensor's papyrus flowers, on trellised vine, 
 Almond and fig-tree grove, on swarming fish 
 That filled the still canals, on water-birds 
 Winging their morning flight across the lakes 
 Their wet plumes glittering, on tall ship-masts 
 Of Egypt and Phcenicia in its port. 
 Fell the glad glory of the dewy dawn. 
 
 In the great chamber's balcony ' that crowned 
 The gateway, Ramses sat, to taste the cool 
 Nile breeze, ere yet the sun's hot breath sullied 
 Its morning freshness, and the thirsty land 
 Yet glittered with night's tear-drops, till the hour 
 That called the * pontiff-king to priestly rites 
 In his new temple-city's splendid shrines ^ 
 Of Amon, Hor-m-khuh, and Ptah, and that 
 God of the stranger, Sutekh ; — at his side, 
 Merrhis, his much-beloved. — 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 85 
 
 Sudden there ® came, 
 Breaking their converse, patter of small feet 
 Through the long balcony, and, angel-fair, 
 A three-year boy trotted to Merrhis' knee. 
 And with his tiny hand plucking her robe. 
 Held up his baby face for morning kiss : 
 " Now, by the life of Pharaoh," Ramses said, 
 " A young Osiris ! ^ Merrhis, whence the boy ?" 
 " From the gods, oh my father," Merrhis said. 
 Stooping her beauteous head to meet the kiss 
 Of the soft, rosy, upturned mouth, " Thou know'st, 
 O king, from me great Isis ^ hath withheld 
 The mother's blessing, but old Hapi saw,^ 
 And, pitying, gave this babe, as thou hast said, 
 Fair as Osiris. May the great gods grant 
 A thousand jubilees^" to thee, O king ! 
 — Yet when the fateful hour that comes to all 
 Hath struck for thee, and, like to Turn at night. 
 Thou join'st the great who live for evermore 
 Hid in Osiris,^^ none more meet, meseems. 
 Than this fair babe, — great Hapi's gift, — to wear 
 The Double-Crown." 1^ "In sooth, the boy is fair, 
 — Were he indeed thy son,^^ — thou know'st thyself 
 Much-loved 'mong Ramses' daughters, — it were well 
 My will. Come hither, child, and let us see 
 How thou canst wear a crown." And lifting up 
 The crown that lay ready for priestly rites. 
 Upon the boy's soft curls the Pharaoh laid. 
 
 Was it its weight upon the baby-brow, 
 Or some unreasoned instinct in the brain, 
 
86 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 That moved the boy, that with his tiny hands 
 
 He snatched the glittering bauble from his head 
 
 And stamped upon it in his baby wrath ? 
 
 A laugh broke from great Ramses, well he knew, 
 
 The little feet powerless to hurt his crown, 
 
 But simultaneous burst, fierce angry shout 
 
 From one among the princely retinue 
 
 That filled the ante-room, and bright a sword 
 
 Gleamed from its scabbard o'er the boy's fair head;- 
 
 But lightning-swift, Merrhis had caught the child, 
 
 And ere it fell nestled him in her breast. 
 
 " 'Tis he ! 'tis he ! O Pharaoh," cried the scribe, 
 
 " The babe whose birth portends thy kingdom's woe. 
 
 Said not the vision by Osiris' shrine. 
 
 Ere yet he knew his right hand from his left. 
 
 Upon thy double-crown he set his feet ? 
 
 This day the vision is fulfilled, O king ! " 
 
 — A moment, Ramses glanced upon the boy 
 
 Nestled in Merrhis' bosom, " Nay," he said, 
 
 " This is no wretched spawn of Hebrew slave, 
 
 But a good gift, and costly, of the gods. 
 
 To our belovfed daughter Merrhis given ; 
 
 — 'Twas but the frolic of a wayward babe. 
 
 Back to its sheath thy sword ! — The hour demands 
 
 Our presence in the temple. Lift the crown 
 
 And place it on my brow." — And clothed in state. 
 
 With robe of leopard skin i* and double-crown. 
 
 The Pharaoh rose to seek the great gods' shrine. 
 
 Next morn the king went on his regal way, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 87 
 
 Leaving fair Merrhis and her fairer child, 
 
 — Hapi's good gift, — at play among the flowers, 
 
 And sparkling founts, and green and bosky groves 
 
 Of palm and oleander that enriched 
 
 Pi-Ramses' palace ^^ courts, gladdening with sound 
 
 Of baby prattle, mixed with silvery laugh 
 
 Of woman's voice, its columned corridors ; 
 
 Or through the stillness of the women's ^^ rooms, 
 
 Thrilling like song of sweet imprisoned bird. 
 
 When the hot glare of the fierce noontide sun 
 
 Bade seek their cool dim twilight, musical 
 
 With drip of silvery spray from marble fonts. 
 
 And sweet with perfumed breath of lotus-flowers. 
 
 Near by fair Merrhis' palace, on the Nile, 
 
 A humble cottage nestled 'neath its palms, 
 
 Where dwelt a pair, — Hebrews ^^ of Levi's race, — 
 
 Amram and Jochebed ; and oft at morn, 
 
 When Horus, slayer of Osiris' fofe. 
 
 Rose bright and beauteous from his father's grave, 
 
 Fair Merrhis sent her maidens with the boy 
 
 To Amram's lowly cot, where Jochebed 
 
 With mother's love had nursed the Nile-cast babe, 
 
 — Nor bade return till Turn should sink to rest 
 
 Shrouded in glories of the glowing west. 
 
 — A Hebrew bond-slave's hut, and yet the boy, 
 Nourished in Pharaoh's palace, — with a child's 
 Frank joy in simple life and homely love, — 
 Rejoiced in Jochebed and Amram's cot 
 
88 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Beside the still broad Nile, where 'neath the palms, 
 
 He plaited the papyrus reeds to make 
 
 A mimic ark, and sailed it on the stream, 
 
 And when it stranded 'mid the bulrushes. 
 
 He loved to hear, — though for the thousandth time, — 
 
 The tale that Jochebed ne'er tired to tell, 
 
 How in such ark of bulrushes he lay, 
 
 A helpless babe, weeping upon the Nile, 
 
 When Pharaoh's daughter found, and Miriam ran 
 
 To fetch a Hebrew nurse ; — then they would seek, 
 
 Adown the river's course, the very spot, 
 
 Where the long bulrushes grow thick around 
 
 A little isle, — and the boy marvelled why. 
 
 Oft as she told the tale, Jochebed's eyes 
 
 Shone bright through unshed tears, radiant with joy. 
 
 'Twas the tale told most oft, — yet o'er the meals 
 
 Of lentils and of garlic,''* and the fruit 
 
 Of the date-palms that grew around their cot. 
 
 At noontide's hour of rest, the eager boy, 
 
 With his young playmates of the bondsman's house, 
 
 Aaron and Miriam, heard with wondering ears, 
 
 Yet other tales that Jochebed could tell, 
 
 Of the old heroes of the Hebrew race. 
 
 And Israel's God, till his heart burned within 
 
 Him as she told, of Abram's sacrifice 
 
 Accepted yet restored, — Rebecca fair 
 
 Riding upon her camel from afar 
 
 To Isaac's tent, — of Jacob's wrestling 'neath 
 
 The midnight moon, that named him Prince with God 
 
 Or of the captive youth of Hebrew race. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 89 
 
 Who ruled great Egypt's destinies, and saved 
 Her teeming myriads in the years of drought. 
 
 — And the bright years sped on ; and fair the boy 
 
 Grew like a stately palm in Merrhis' home, 
 
 Wearing the Horus locks ^^ that marked him son 
 
 Of Pharaoh's royal house ; — the daily task 
 
 Conning at feet of Hor-m-khuh's old priest ; — 
 
 Waiting at morning sacrifice the while 
 
 Fair Merrhis bare the sistrum ^^ of the god ; — 
 
 Loving his princess-mother, loving too, 
 
 His simple Hebrew nurse, with her quaint tales. 
 
 Of Israel's greatness in the days of old. 
 
 And hinted prophecy that Israel's God 
 
 Would yet rear them deliverer, — half-checked 
 
 Ere uttered, in the ears of Merrhis' son. 
 
 So passed in glad monotony the days 
 Of Moses' joyous childhood by the Nile, 
 Within the Pharaoh's stately palace-courts, 
 No break in the sweet sameness ; — till a day 
 When Ramses called his ^^ numerous progeny, 
 His sixty sons and daughters fifty-nine, 
 — (Whose pictured images upon the wall, 
 Still smile down on the pilgrim seeking now 
 Great Seti's tomb) ; — to dedicate with him 
 At far Abydus, to his father's name, 
 The shrine, — ^just finished, — of the Risen One;^^ 
 And with his princess-mother Moses went 
 To swell the Pharaoh's train, and add his voice, 
 With its young freshness, to the funeral hymn^^ 
 
90 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Great Ramses made in honour of his sire, 
 And join the prayer of offerings of the Dead. 
 
 Bright o'er the Sacred Lake^* the torches gleamed, 
 
 As in the star-lit stillness the priests bare 
 
 The holy Seshem bark, in memory of 
 
 The burial of the Risen One, that night. 
 
 The third of Phamenoth, when Pharaoh came. 
 
 At the great desert-shrine, to celebrate 
 
 The Risen Osiris, and the Osiris king. 
 
 With mystic rites beneath the crescent moon. 
 
 Of the young spring-time, amid silence deep. 
 
 On the lone desert-lake, the sacred bark 
 
 Was launched to sail into the Sunrise. Then, 
 
 When day's first ray gilded the floating shrine. 
 
 Great Ramses' voice of prayer rose through the dawn 
 
 " To Seti,^^ the Osiris king, ' Awake, 
 
 Thy face raise up to Heaven ! Behold the Sun, 
 
 My father Mineptah, like unto God ! 
 
 Lo ! here am I who make thy name to live. 
 
 Thou restest like Osiris in the deep, 
 
 While like to Ra over mankind I rule ; 
 
 Into the realms of Heaven thou art gone. 
 
 Thou companiest with the Sun-god Ra, 
 
 Thou art united with the stars and moon, 
 
 Thou restest in the deep, like those who dwell 
 
 With the eternal Unnofer.^® Thy hands 
 
 Move the god Tum, in heaven and on earth. 
 
 Like to the wandering and the fixfed stars. 
 
 Thou restest in the front part of Ra's bark ; 
 
THE Purpose of the ages 91 
 
 When in the tabernacle of the heavens 
 
 The Sun arises, then thine eyes behold 
 
 His splendour ; when Turn goes to rest on earth, 
 
 Then thou art in his train. The secret house 
 
 Thou enterest before his lord. Thy foot 
 
 Doth wander in the deep, — in company 
 
 Of great gods of the under-world art thou. 
 
 '" By my prayers is it, oh thou glorious one, 
 
 The breath of thy awaking, and I praise 
 
 Thy many names from day to day. 'Tis I 
 
 Who love my father, — while on earth I stay, 
 
 Lo ! I will offer sacrifice to thee. 
 
 My hand shall bring libations to thy name. 
 
 To thine abodes. Come, speak to Ra of life. 
 
 Unto his son, and unto Unnofer, 
 
 That with a heart of love, he many make 
 
 To Ramses the great king, his jubilees ^"^ 
 
 Of thirty years. — Well shall it be for thee. 
 
 Thou shalt be treated as thou wert alive. 
 
 Of thy name's honour I will be the guard. 
 
 For thee my heart beats, should'st thou still remain 
 
 Within the deep, earth's best shall be thy part. 
 
 While I shall live, I, Ramses Miamun.' " 
 
 The Pharaoh ceased, and from the temple-choir 
 Low rose the solemn ritual^' of the Dead, 
 And Ramses' sons and daughters, and the voice 
 Of Merrhis' Nile-given boy, mingled to swell 
 The mystic chant of mourning and of hope. 
 
92 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 " Oh ! one gleaming in the moon,^* 
 I come forth from thy multitudes, 
 I have opened the gate, 
 The Osiris comes forth from the day, 
 
 Tum, O Tum ! coming forth from the great place 
 Within the celestial abyss. 
 
 Lighted by the Lion-gods ! 
 
 Oh ! workman of the Sun, by day and by night 
 
 The Osiris lives after he dies, like the Sun daily ; 
 
 — For as the Sun died and was born yesterday. 
 
 So is the Osiris born ; — 
 
 Every god rejoices as they rejoice with life, 
 
 1 am Thoth '" who comes out of the temple of Annu. 
 
 " O Soul ! greatest of things created,'^ 
 
 Let the Osiris go ! 
 
 He passes from the gate. 
 
 He sees his father Osiris, 
 
 He makes a way in the darkness to his father Osiris, 
 
 He is his belovfed, he has come to see his father Osiris ; 
 
 He has pierced the heart of Set,*^ 
 
 He has opened all the paths on heaven and on earth. 
 
 He is the son beloved of his father. 
 
 He has come from the mummy a prepared spirit, 
 
 gods and goddesses give way ! 
 
 " Stop ! Go back ! Back, Crocodile,'^ from coming to me ! 
 Do not thou say the name of the great god ! 
 Annihilate the crocodiles who live off his brain ! 
 
 1 have sat in the birthplace of Osiris, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 93 
 
 Born with him, I renew myself with him, 
 I repose exceeding well. 
 
 " Back, Crocodile of the West ! 
 
 Living off those never at rest ! 
 
 What thou hatest is in my belly, 
 
 I have eaten the limbs of Osiris, 
 
 I am Set. 
 
 Back, Crocodile of the West ! 
 
 There is an asp in my belly, 
 
 I am not given to thee. Do not burn me, 
 
 Back, Eastern Crocodile ! 
 
 " I am the Soul in his two halves,'* 
 
 Let him explain it ! 
 
 Osiris goes into Tattu,^^ he finds the Soul of the Sun 
 
 there, 
 One and the other are united ; 
 The Soul in his two halves, 
 Is the Soul of the Sun and the Soul of Osiris. 
 
 Sun in his egg, gleaming in his orb. 
 Shining from his horizon, floating in his clouds, 
 
 Save thou the Osiris from that god whose forms are 
 mystic ! 
 
 " Hail, O Sun ! Creator, self-created ! '^ 
 Perfect is thy light in the horizon, 
 Illuminating the world with thy rays ; 
 
 1 have come to thee ! I am with thee ! 
 Beholding thy disk daily. 
 
 I combine with the noble spirits, the wise of the Hades, 
 
94 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 I come forth with them to see thy perfection ! 
 
 Thou shinest at Dawn, 
 
 Thou foUowest thy mother Nu,^'^ 
 
 Directing thy face to the West, 
 
 My hands adore thy setting, 
 
 Thou settest from the Land of Life. 
 
 Hail, thou who hast cut in pieces the Scorner ! 
 
 And strangled the Apophis,^^ 
 
 Give thou the sweet breath of the north wind 
 
 To the Osiris ! 
 
 " I went in as a Hawk, I came out as a Phoenix, ^^ 
 
 I have made me a path, 
 
 I adore the Sun in the happy West ! 
 
 Plaited are the locks of Osiris, 
 
 I follow the dogs of Har,*" 
 
 A path has been made for me, 
 
 Glory, glory to Osiris ! " 
 
 — As Horus, o'er the Desert's Shrine, arose. 
 Their mystic chant of mourning and of hope. 
 
Ill 
 
 Brightly the sun gleamed on the polished stone, 
 From the red mountain quarries of Suan, 
 That cased the " Pyramid of Lights," ^ Khtifu, 
 — Long ages since, where Ghizeh's desert skirts 
 The Nile, — ^had reared for monument and tomb, — 
 And on the seventy Pyramids that rose 
 Around it on the plain, where Egypt's kings 
 Of the old giant race, each in his life 
 Had raised his house of giant sleep. 
 
 Near-by, 
 Beneath the shade of the great lion, Hu,^ 
 That human-headed, calm, inscrutable. 
 Crouched on the desert in majestic rest, 
 A waiting chariot ^ stood, caparisoned 
 Royally in gold, with asps and lotus-flowers, 
 — The patient oxen drowsing 'neath the shade, ^- 
 While up the steep and narrow path that clomb 
 'Twixt his great limbs, two pilgrims sought the shrine 
 Of Hor-fii-khuh, whose pillared porch lay hid 
 High on the Sphinx's mighty breast of stone ; 
 — Merrhis and Moses come to pay their vows 
 To Horus' giant symbol, on their way 
 
96 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 From far Pi-Rarases to the priestly On,* 
 Within whose walls of learning,^ Merrhis' son 
 Must train for princely destiny, in peace 
 And war, to judge and to command. 
 
 < Across 
 
 The sandy plain and the broad Nile, their eyes, 
 — From pillared temple-porch, where high they stood,— 
 Whence oxen, charioteer, and waiting car 
 Showed dwarfed like flies, — caught their first glimps 
 
 o'er palm 
 And oleander grove of Mennofer,® 
 And Usurtasen's ' obelisk that rose 
 At gate of holy On. Silect they stood 
 And gazed on the fair scene, where Nile, grefen-swathed 
 In verdant robe himself had wove, slow glides 
 By tower and temple, obelisk and shrine, 
 A-glitter 'neath the mid-day blue and glow ; — 
 When from the temple-porch a white-robed priest 
 Stood by their side, — the Pharaoh's ^ favourite son 
 Khamus, High-priest of Ptah. 
 
 Serene his eye, 
 Severe his priestly robe ® of virgin white. 
 As after greetings kind to Merrhis fair 
 His sister, on the boy's young head he laid 
 His hand in benediction : " Welcome, son,'' 
 He said, " unto the sacred Mysteries ^^ 
 Of Egypt's wisest, and the Incarnate Deity, 
 Ptah and the Apis-Bull, ^^ whose earthly form 
 Enshrines Osiris' soul. Be learned 'mong 
 The learnbd, wise among the wise, 'mid brave 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 97 
 
 The bravest, without spot thy name,^^ simple 
 And pure thy life, laborious thy days ; 
 Till step by step, from type to typified ^* 
 Thou risest through the symbol to the sense, 
 And through the fleshly form of Apis-Bull 
 Canst see the hid Osiris, and with eyes 
 Initiate and far-reaching, scan man's life, 
 And Mysteries of Deity. 
 
 "— 'Tis well, 
 Merrhis, my sister, thou hast led him first 
 To Hor-m-khuh's great shrine, — him whom his youth 
 In far Pi-Ramses learned to reverence 
 And serve ; — for out of old things still must grow 
 The new, and from the seed of childhood's faith, 
 — A seed which needs must die, buried in earth, — 
 Yet springs the fair immortal flower of faith 
 That dies not. 
 
 " Go, my son, to Hor-ni-khuh, 
 The guardian of thy youth, pay grateful gift's ; — 
 Then shalt thou come to Mennofer, there smell 
 The Apis-Bull's sweet breath, ■'*■ — intoxicate 
 With soul of Deity thenceforth foretell 
 The fate of men and nations ; — for the god 
 Best loves ingenuous youth, and upon boys 
 Who seek him ever showers his choicest gifts. 
 — To-day is his high festival, — thou com'st 
 At an auspicious hour, my son." 
 
 He ceased, 
 And Moses and his mother sought the shrine 
 Of Hor-in-khuh hid in the Sphinx' great heart, 
 
 H 
 
98 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 While Khamus mused alone, pacing the porch. 
 " — A young bright life with noble destinies 
 Writ on the candid brow and eye intense, 
 The index of a soul that dwells afar 
 On untrod heights, within the mystic veil 
 That shrouds the far Unseen. — A boy, Nature 
 Herself hath chose and consecrate to know 
 The hidden Mysteries and rule 'mong men. 
 — Nor he a dreamer only, lost in thoughts 
 Mystic and lone, like Khamus ; — high emprise 
 Sits on his brow ; — now shall his budding life 
 Fulfil the broken promise of mine own. — 
 Lo ! I will lead him by the hand through fields 
 Of ancient Wisdom, — Egypt's laws God-taught ; 
 The course of sun, and moon, and stars that rule 
 The destinies of kingdoms ; earth's best lore : 
 — Yet reverent the while, his soul shall dwell 
 On the high mountain-tops of Deity, 
 Through fleshly symbols know the hid Osiris." 
 
 The rites of Horus ended, down the steep 
 
 Betwixt the Sphinx's mighty paws of stone. 
 
 The three wended their way across the plain, 
 
 — First, desert sand, then verdant carpet spread 
 
 By mighty Hapi round his bliss-fraught feet ; — 
 
 There, on the Nile's broad breast, the High-priest's ^^ bai 
 
 Of wove papyrus, — its square lazy sail 
 
 Drooping its purple broideries that showed 
 
 The Apis-Bull wearing the Asp divine ^^ 
 
 And Sun-globe wrought in gold, and on its bow 
 
 The Osiris Eye, — lay, turned toward Mennofer. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 99 
 
 — Fair lotus-flowers adorned the rudder, as 
 
 NeatH shrine of Ptah upon the mast's tall top 
 
 They sought the lofty cabin, while without, 
 
 The rowers sat, and to their rhythmic chant. 
 
 Gaily the boat glided across the stream. 
 
 To where, — on its left bank, — proud rose the towers, 
 
 Temples, and shrines of Mena's capital. 
 
 Through the thronged streets whose gathering thousands 
 
 wait 
 The god's procession, Khamus led the way 
 To where, within his figure-pillared court ■'^'^ 
 Abode the Bull, — his black hide glistening 'neath 
 Heaped garlands of white lotus-flowers, for fSte 
 Bedecked. — Reverent before him the priest kissed 
 The dust ; — theh, to the boy, " I go, my son. 
 To don the High-priest's robe of leopard-skin, — 
 Abide thou in the vestibule, and when 
 Thou seest me lead the Apis forth by chains 
 Of flowers, with sound of harp and timbrel through 
 The court, then fall thou prostrate at his feet 
 With offerings, inhale his blessfed breath. 
 And rise, seer of the Osiris evermore." 
 
 Longing and trembling, Moses stood beside 
 His princess-mother ; — rapt his soul in dreams 
 Of high communion with a world unseen, — 
 Till, when to sound of tabret and of harp. 
 Bowing beneath his garlands, Apis came 
 By Khamus led, — prostrate beneath his feet 
 He felt his warm breath touch him as he passed, 
 
100 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 And in a strange delirium of joy, 
 Arose as one intoxicate with God. 
 
 The great fete ended, — to the High-priest's house 
 
 Within the temple-precincts, Khamus led 
 
 Merrhis and her young neophyte. — " At morn," 
 
 He said, "upon the Sacred Lake the god^^ 
 
 Will judge the Dead. — 'Tis well at life's bright dawn 
 
 To mark its eve, see how the shadows fall 
 
 Illumined, when Turn sets upon a life 
 
 Lived in the fear of God and love of men. 
 
 With bright rays from the Risen One who dwells 
 
 Beyond the shadows, — how they darken down 
 
 To blackest midnight o'er the parted soul 
 
 Whose days on earth condemn him. — Therefore 
 
 stay, 
 My sister, that thy son may hear the Dead 
 Arraigned for judgment, — ^know the mystic words 
 Wherewith Thoth guides them through the dark 
 
 Unknown." 13 
 
 At break of day towards the Sacred Lake,^" 
 Northward of Mennofer, the High-priest led 
 His sister and the boy ; — whither should come, 
 — His seventy days of mourning ended, — borne 
 By friends and kindred, — a royal scribe to abide 
 His judgment for the tomb. 
 
 — Slow winding down 
 The dusty road they watched them come. Slave 
 
 first 
 With laden tables piled with fruit and flowers, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Cakes, ointment, wine, three young geese and a calf 
 
 For sacrifice. — More slaves the closets bare, 
 
 — Filled now with images of the great gods, — 
 
 Wherein the mummy of the Dead had shared 
 
 With his dead ancestors the funeral rites 
 
 Of solemn liturgy. — Then offerings ; — 
 
 An empty chariot, — the charioteer. 
 
 With pair of horses yoked in other car. 
 
 Following on foot behind ; — borne upon poles 
 
 A sledge ; — images of his ancestors ; — 
 
 Arms, — sceptres, — collars, — signets of the king 
 
 He served. — Next, they who bare the Sacred Boat, 
 
 — The Osiris' mystic Eye, — the same that sealed 
 
 The wound on mummy's side, — on prow and helm ;- 
 
 Then figures of blue pottery that showed 
 
 The dead man as Osiris, and the Bird, 
 
 Emblem of Soul. — More cases of fresh flowers. 
 
 And bottles for libation. — ^Women next, 
 
 — Beating their naked breasts and throwing dust 
 
 On shapely fillet-crownbd heads, — mingled 
 
 With lamentation, praises of the Dead. 
 
 Upon a sledge, by men and oxen drawn. 
 In consecrated boat, the hearse came next ; 
 Close by the boat a priest walked, and within 
 The mourners and the women, — in their midst, 
 By the flower-decked sarcophagus, — ^where, 'twixt 
 Twin emblems of Stability and Rest, 
 An open panel showed the mummy's head, — 
 — Her babe on knee, the new-made widow wept ; 
 And last, behind, men who had loved the Dead, 
 
102 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Beating their breasts, or with slow solemn step, 
 Leaning on their tall staffs, brought up the long 
 Procession. 
 
 On they came, silent and slow. 
 To where in awful semi-circle stood, 
 On the Lake's bank, the Judges of the Dead. 
 — The forty-two assessors, who should purge 
 The soul of deadly sin, and grant the rites 
 Of holy sepulchre, — while moored hard-by 
 The Baris — the Dead's consecrated boat, — 
 With Charon, its dark boatman, waiting lay, 
 To bear the Acquitted o'er the Sacred Lake. 
 — Then 'mid the silence of the awe-bound crowd, ^■^ 
 Thus in the dead man's name the High-priest pled. 
 
 " Let me know ye, oh ye the Lords of Truth, 
 For I have brought ye Truth ! Rub ye away 
 My faults ! 
 
 " — Privily have I done no ill 
 Against mankind ; — I have afflicted none ; — 
 In Truth's Tribunal, lo, no lies I told ; — 
 Of labouring man more than his daily task 
 I have not asked, — nor idle have I been, — 
 Nor weak was I, — nor what was hateful did 
 Unto the gods. — Not falsely have I sworn 
 Unto his master to the bondsman's hurt ; — 
 I have not sacrificed, — nor made to weep, — 
 Nor murdered, — nor given order privily 
 To smite ; — nor men have I defrauded, — nor 
 The country's measures changed ; — nor have I harmed 
 The great gods' images ; — nor have I ta'en 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 103 
 
 Scraps of the Dead's last bandages, — nor spat 
 
 Against the priest that serves my country's god. — 
 
 Nor am I an adulterer ; — nor did 
 
 I throw the weight out of the scale, — nor cheat 
 
 In fair weight of the balance, — nor withhold 
 
 Milk from the suckling's mouth ; — nor hunted I 
 
 The wild beasts in their haunts, — nor netted I 
 
 The sacred birds, — nor caught the fish, their types ; — 
 
 I have not stopped the running stream, — nor from 
 
 Its rightful current turned the water-course, — 
 
 Nor at its proper hour put out a light, — 
 
 Nor robbed the gods their haunches, — nor off-driven 
 
 The cattle of the gods, — nor stopped a god 
 
 From his manifestation. 
 
 " I am pure ! 
 Lo, I am pure ! Pure is the Phoenix great 
 In Suten Khen. ^^ Hail ye ! ye gods within 
 The Hall of Truth, whose bellies hold no lies. 
 Who off the Dead in Annu live, their hearts 
 Devour 'fore Horus in his Disk. Let ye 
 No ill befall me in the land of Truths, 
 For names of the great gods I know.^^ Save ye 
 From Aa,^* — the god who on men's vitals feeds, — 
 In day of the Great Judgment ; — I am pure ! 
 Lo, I am pure ! — Stand forth who can deny ! " 
 
 Deep silence followed, while the Assessors stood 
 In expectation, and the surging crowd 
 Swayed to and fro, awaiting some dread voice 
 Of accusation 'gainst the mummied Dead, 
 While minute rolled on minute, till, — the hour 
 
104 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Of probate passed, — his glad acquittal rang 
 From thousand throats. — 
 
 " Let the Osiris go,^' 
 For without fault is he. He lives off Truth, 
 Off Truth he feeds. — Of the great gods and men 
 To do the will is ever his delight. — ■ 
 Lo, he hath given to the hungry, bread, 
 Drink to the thirsty, to the naked, clothes ; — 
 Therefore, before the mummies' lord, accuse 
 Him not. His mouth is pure ! His hands are pure ! 
 Unto the Lord of Truth, the Osiris hath 
 Done Truth. Lo, he is pure ! In water pure 
 His fore-part is, — in water twice distilled 
 His hinder-part, — his middle in the well 
 Of Truth, — no fault there is in him ! " 
 
 Amid 
 Their glad acclaim, within the Sacred Barge 
 They laid the Dead, — the gold plate in his mouth, ^^ 
 Passport of entrance to the blessed shore, — 
 And slow, the attendant boat the Baris towed 
 To Anch-ta's " Land of Life," across the lake.^^ 
 
 " 'Tis but the symbol, son," the High-priest said, 
 " Wherein the seer must read the hidden sense. 
 — From man's poor judgment that denies or grants 
 A grave, the Osiris passes now, before 
 Quite other tribunal ; — Anubis there, ^^ 
 In far Amenti^^ weighs in other scales 
 The actions of his life, and the true Judge 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 105 
 
 Osiris, or condemns — back in the world 
 As unclean beast to roam, — or Horus leads 
 Into the presence of the Risen One, 
 — With Isis and with Nepthys,^" wherfe he sits 
 Within his palace, on his throne amid 
 The waters, whence riseth the lotus-flower 
 Whose white cup bears Amenti's genii. ^"^ — 
 
 " — Go thou to On, my son, there shall they teach 
 
 The symbol and the sense, — the outer life 
 
 On earth, of justice and good deeds, death ends, — 
 
 The inner too, that here begun, lives on, 
 
 Hid in Osiris, aye, for evermore." 
 
IV 
 
 In the great palace-halls the feast is done, 
 Its glittering lights quenched in the coming day, 
 And sleep's soft silence stills its merriment, 
 While golden dawn behind the palm-trees lights 
 The eastern sky, — as from the palace-gate 
 The night's young hero turns towards the Nile. 
 
 Glad is his heart this morn for he has laid 
 At Merrhis' feet his hard won victory-crown, 
 And in far Ethiopian land has raised -"^ ' 
 To her name who had reared with mother's love, 
 His grateful monument. — For years have passed. 
 And Merrhis' Nile-given boy in priestly halls 
 Of On has ta'en his place, wise 'mid the wise, 
 In Mysteries of the gods, and arts of war 
 And governance. Gracious his mien and grand. 
 The princeliest son of Pharaoh's house, returned 
 But yester-eve from distant conquest, glad 
 He seeks the old dear palace by the Nile, 
 And leads his Ethiope captives to the shrine 
 Of Hor-fii-khuh, the god his childhood loved ; 
 — Yet not complete his joy, till he can share 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 107 
 
 With Jochebed and Aniram in their cot ; — 
 
 And there, through dewy fields his boyhood knew, 
 
 From night's proud triumph, turn his eager feet. 
 
 The cot is there, safe nestled as of yore 
 
 Amid its palms, by the broad river's flow, 
 
 The pearly tints of morn upon its breast. 
 
 And all the earth seems jubilant with song, 
 
 The reflex of his singing heart within. 
 
 — But why the door unopened to the dawn 
 
 That comes not e'er the bondsman's work begins ? 
 
 A sudden fear griping his heart, he lifts 
 
 The latch, and in the hut's dim twilight, sees 
 
 Amram upon his knees, and on a mat, 
 
 — Her gray hair o'er a wooden head-rest spread,^ — 
 
 Lies his belovfed Jochebed, her face 
 
 Pallid and pinched in the cold grasp of Death, 
 
 While yet the half-glazed eyes strain eagerly 
 
 Watching for coming footstep. 
 
 — As the light 
 From the half-opened door meets their dim gaze, 
 With sudden cry the dying woman turns 
 Her wrinkled face, with outstretched shrivelled 
 
 hands 
 In eager joy, " 'Tis he ! 'Tis he ! " she cries, 
 " My son ! my son ! " — and Moses kneels to meet 
 The feeble arms that clasp about his neck. 
 And on his breast to raise the death-dewed head. 
 — " Now praise be to the name of Israel's God, 
 Who hath not yet forgot his covenant 
 With Abraham our father, but hath sent 
 
io8 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 In His due time, Deliverer ! — For thou 
 Art he, my son ! " — 
 
 — In silence of the hut, 
 — Broke but by stifled sobs where Amram sat 
 With Miriam and Aaron, — in low tones 
 Made solemn by the failing fluttering breath, 
 Thus to her son the Hebrew mother spake : — 
 
 " Well do I mind the night, — ah how forget 
 Its hours of anguish and its joy of morn ! 
 — All night I listed for his coming step 
 That came not for my prayers, — at last, at dawn, 
 When birdling's twitter, and faint stir of leaves 
 Told coming day, — as one, drunken with wine. 
 Who staggers home at morn, — I heard his foot, 
 — My Amram's, — at our door, and sprang to greet. 
 — Pale as the dead, as one in trance he stood, 
 Yet in his eyes there burned anew the light 
 Full well I knew of yore, ere weary years 
 Of Pharaoh's bondage quenched its living flame. 
 
 " ' Yellow the slanting rays of evening fell ' 
 Through the tall bulrushes that fringe the Nile, 
 My Jochebed,' he said, ' as hidden there 
 I knelt amid the reeds, — " O God, how long 1 " 
 I cried, — " God of our Father Abraham, 
 Wilt thou forget the covenant thou swar'st 
 To Isaac and to Jacob ? — Lo, we groan 
 By reason of our taskmasters. Is thine 
 Arm shortened that it cannot save ? — O God ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES i 
 
 Can I forget the horrid jaws that oped 
 Among the reeds, and the fierce hungry eyes 
 That gloated o'er their prey — a helpless babe 
 Engulfed to living death ? — How long, O God, 
 How long ? " 
 
 " ' The bitter sweat of anguish bathed 
 My brow, as 'mid the flowering bulrushes, 
 My soul wrestled with God, while the long rays 
 Grew level, and the sun sank o'er the plain. 
 And the brief twilight deepened into night. 
 — The distant lights gleamed from Pi-Ramses' town 
 Across the plain, and from mine own low cot. 
 Hid in the palm-grove by the river's side, 
 Where Jochebed with anxious heart, I knew. 
 Prayed, — ^listening for my step the live-long night ; 
 — Yet still I knelt on, lone beneath the stars, — 
 My heart all black within me, for mine eyes 
 Saw aye before them, 'mid the flowering reeds, 
 The crocodile's black jaws gape for our babe. ,, 
 — Sudden a calm, as from the o'ershadowing wing 
 Of brooding Dove of Peace, sank o'er my soul, — 
 And through the whispering reeds there came a Voice, 
 As of their whisperings born, — " Fear not, Amram, 
 No jaws of scaly monster of the Nile 
 Shall close upon the babe that comes to thee, 
 — Jochebed bears Israel's Deliverer." ' " 
 
 She ended, and deep silence stilled each soul. 
 As gasping low, — " Now have I lived enough 
 Since I have given God's mission to my son," 
 — Heavy her head sank dead on Moses' breast. 
 
no THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 'Mid the wild hills of Akita,* beneath 
 The burning rays of Nubia's tropic sun, 
 Where Ramses' captives washed the golden ore, 
 In couples chained, 'neath the cruel hir-pit's lash, 
 — A trembling Hebrew slave, who, day by day, 
 With secret acid had dissolved the link 
 That bound him to his fellow, — at the hour 
 Of the short noontide respite from a toil 
 That ended but in death, — while deep the sleep 
 Of worn-out nature wrapt his comrade, — snapt 
 The last frail filament, and stood, — alone 
 And free — 'twixt burning sand and sky. 
 
 — All slept, 
 — Hir-pit and captives, — as he gazed around, 
 A moment 'wildered 'neath the unwonted sense 
 Of liberty and hope ; — as arrow then. 
 By archer deft, sudden let loose from bow, — 
 Silent and swift he fled.— Hill after hill 
 He put betwixt him and his taskmasters, 
 Until at last in lone Nubian waste, 
 — A desert waterless, — faint and athirst, 
 Amid its heaps of slag,^ he sank to rest ; 
 — ^While far the shouts of his pursuers came. 
 Borne on the silence of the desert air. 
 To him crouched trembling in his hiding-place. 
 
 The seventy days of mourning for the Dead, 
 And brief embalming of the humble o'er, '^ 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 With heart that burned within him, Moses stood 
 Beside the Hebrew tomb, wherein they left 
 His Hebrew mother, gathered to her folk,'^ 
 With Israel's God ; — no ritual of the Dead 
 Chanted by priest and mourner round her tomb. 
 But simply in His hand whose covenant 
 Lasteth for aye. 
 
 What surging of new thoughts 
 Rose in him as he knew Israel's race 
 His people, and their God his God ! — The lore 
 Of On with all its Mysteries and rites 
 Of Mnevis and Osiris, Amon-Ra, 
 And Hor-m-khuh, couched in his moveless calm, 
 — All swallowed in that Light, — in glory, white. 
 Ineffable, — their dim rays merged in One. 
 — The Nameless One, "worshipped in silence,"- 
 
 hid 
 Deep in the heart of that old Egypt's faith 
 That deified His attributes, — glimpses 
 Of whose majestic Robe had seemed to flit 
 At moments in his sight, — but to be lost 
 Ere grasped, behind the signs that hid it, — now 
 Rose, glorious, shadeless, — Israel's One God, 
 — The Living One, — all else but signs of Him. 
 
 — And Israel's race his people — he must save ! — 
 How at the thought old tales came back, of wrong 
 And sore oppression hinted at by times. 
 Yet half supprest within the bondsman's cot; 
 And words of lofty scorn for Hebrew slaves, 
 
112 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Scarce marked when heard in Pharaoh's haughty 
 
 halls, 
 — Remembered now, with burning shame and wrath ! 
 
 Scarce knew he where he trod, as dazed, he turned 
 From that poor Hebrew tomb, to seek the home. 
 Where, with a mother's pride, fair Merrhis watched 
 His coming. — Ah, how now could he be called 
 The son of Pharaoh's daughter, — he, the hope 
 Of Israel's down-trod race ? — And yet, how grieve 
 The mother's heart that beat so warm for him 
 In that proud queenly breast ? 
 
 — Sore questioning 
 He wandered on, — far from Pi-Ramses' shrines. 
 Far from the green-verged Nile, verdant with fields 
 And palms ; — nor raised his eyes, until a cry 
 Of anguish smote his ear y — and round he saw 
 The Desert's sand, — and for sole! living thing 
 A taskmaster of Pharaoh, who, with blows 
 Drave on before, a bleeding Hebrew slave, 
 — He who from Akita's dread mines had sought 
 Freedom or death. 
 
 Oft 'neath the rod 
 Fainting and helpless on the sand he fell. 
 Till the cruel lash brought back the ebbing sense, 
 To struggle on again, — again to fall. 
 — Hot flamed the Hebrew blood in Moses' veins. 
 As on the tyrant hir-pit swift he turned ^ 
 In righteous wrath, — and with one well-dealt blow. 
 From the skilled arm, beside his victim laid 
 Lifeless upon the desert ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 113 
 
 — Round he gazed, — 
 No eye, save the poor slave's he saved, was there 
 To see the deed, as in the shifting sand 
 He hid the dead Egyptian. 
 
 — 'Twas first deed 
 He deemed of his great mission, — as beneath 
 A palm that rose alone amid the waste. 
 Wrapt in his mantle, on that fateful night, 
 He laid him down to sleep beneath the stars ; — 
 But not as ours are God's times, — not the first 
 Blast of His trumpet means the battle won ; 
 — Ere next eve's stars' bright eyes looked down, — dis- 
 dained 
 By his own folk, — fleeing from Pharaoh's wrath, — 
 He roamed, an outcast in the wilderness ! 
 
V 
 
 The evening meal is spread within the tent 
 Beneath the palms, as an old Midian priest ^ 
 Sits in its door, watching the sunset die 
 O'er distant Sinai, — Reguel, "friend of God." 
 — Around, the black tents of his wandering tribe 
 Rise 'neath the grateful shade, and tinklings soft 
 Come on the evening air from far-off flocks 
 Driving to pasture from the distant wells. 
 — A nomad tribe of Abram's scattered race. 
 Shifting their tents as eact green grazing-ground 
 Grows bare and yellow as the months go by. 
 — No certain dwelling-place, — their home where'er 
 The grass grows green, and wells are 'neath the palms. 
 Upon the Red Sea's shore. 
 
 Thoughtful he sits 
 And sad, while the red light dies out along 
 The hill-tops. — He has striven, all his life long. 
 In the wilS breasts of Abram's Bedouin sons 
 To keep alight some spark of Abram's Faith, 
 Nigh lost in heathen darkness. — Has he failed ? 
 — So wild and rude the shepherds of his tribe 
 And scornful of his counsel. — He is old, — 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 In some oasis when his grave grows green, 
 What hand shall lift the torch his hand lets fall ? 
 — Shall not the outer darkness swallow it ? 
 — So, while the sun set, cried his heart to God. 
 
 — A burst of laughter and soft song, — and through 
 The dusky palms, — their pitchers poised on brow. 
 And graceful rounded arms, all smooth and brown, 
 Upraised to steady them, — o'er small brown feet 
 Their bangles tinkling 'neath their cloths' white folds,— 
 His troop of daughters come back from the well ; 
 — Their soft dark eyes lustrous o'er eager tale 
 Of princely son of Egypt who had driven, 
 — Such his sole might, — the rude wild shepherds back, 
 And watered all their flocks. 
 
 " — ^Where is the man ? 
 Wherefore left ye the stranger who hath dealt 
 Thus kindly by us ? — Bid him to eat bread ; " 
 With Arab courtesy the old sheikh said. — 
 And glad the maidens hastened to obey. 
 
 — Did Reguel know God's answer to the prayer. 
 From his sad heart that rose beneath the palms, 
 When, 'mid his wandering tribe of Abram's race, 
 This homeless son of Abram found a home ? 
 
 Sunset upon the Desert ; ^ every peak 
 
Ii6 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 A glory of strange colours, as beneath 
 
 Great Horeb's shade, a shepherd leads his flocks 
 
 To pasture in the green oasis hid 
 
 'Mid Sinai's awful solitudes. Around, 
 
 Wide spreads the boundless wilderness, — above. 
 
 In rugged chaos, tower the mighty peaks 
 
 Of naked granite, shadowing the lone 
 
 And narrow vale, — the winter-torrent's bed, — 
 
 Where, on the pale-green herbage, Reguel's flocks. 
 
 On scented shrubs, feed 'mid the acacia groves. 
 
 A lonely shepherd in an alien's land. 
 
 This son of Pharaoh's daughter, — famed in On, 
 
 Wisest among the wise, — renowned in war. 
 
 Far Ethiopia's conqueror, — foretold, 
 
 Israel's deliverer, — a fugitive 
 
 From Pharaoh's wrath, — by his own folk disdained, 
 
 A simple shepherd leaning on his crook ! 
 
 — Nought gained in all those silent years, save lore 
 
 Of Sinai's solitudes. 
 
 — Dreams of a life 
 Long past, seem now the hopes that stirred him, as 
 He stood beside his mother's tomb, and burned 
 To bear the burden of God's mission laid 
 By her dead hand upon him. — He has lived 
 Many a life since then, and many a hope 
 Has made his heart its tomb. — No longer now, 
 Moses of the impetuous hand, who slew 
 The tyrant task-master, nor he, of quick, 
 Unasked-for, generous speech, who strove to right 
 His brethren's quarrel. — Patience, — Hope, no more 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 117 
 
 Hath been his comrade now these many years, 
 Where his sad heart has named his first-born son, 
 "Gershom," — "a stranger in a stranger's land."— 
 
 Yet in these mountain solitudes, where voice 
 Ne'er brake the solemn stillness, — or when morn 
 Tinged the great peaks with blue and golden light, 
 Or when the eve shadowed them to its hushed 
 And rosy rest, — a mighty Presence aye 
 Seemfed to fill their silence with the sense 
 Of an o'ershadowing omnipresent Life ; 
 — Till in the boundless sea of Him who Is, 
 The passing bubble of man's life seemed lost. 
 
 'Twas then the call came ; — when himself no more 
 Willed aught, saving His will, who is, and was. 
 And is to be, — and from the acacia grove ^ 
 That burned and yet consumed not, on the slope 
 Of Horeb lone, the all-pervading Voice 
 That spake through all their solitudes, took words, 
 " Get thee to Pharaoh ?"—" Who am I to go ?"— 
 "Surely I wt'll he with thee." — The dread awe 
 Of that great Presence bowed his heart ; — yet how 
 To name the Nameless One * who made for him 
 All earth and sky one Temple full of God, 
 And filled hoar Sinai's vales with. His great voice, 
 Articulate at last ? — How make the sons 
 Of Israel to hear the echoes of that Voice 
 From out the fire, that burned consuming not ? 
 — " Thus shalt thou say, I am sent me to you." 
 
ii8 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Brightly the moon gleams on the great lagoons,* 
 
 And thickets of papyrus, — where cranes build 
 
 Their nest, and herons and king-fishers bend 
 
 Their long thin necks above the briny marsh, 
 
 Watching their prey, — round Pithom's new-built town; 
 
 — As, at the dead of night, a company 
 
 Of old bent men stand on the lonely shore, 
 
 'Mid the great silent lakes. — Breathless they stand, 
 
 As one amidst them speaks in eager tones, 
 
 Yet hushed, as fearful.—" 'Tis the Living One, 
 
 — God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, 
 
 And Jacob, who hath sent us, — see His sign." 
 
 And one who stands hard by, in shepherd's garb. 
 
 Casts on the ground his crook, — and lo, it writhes 
 
 A living serpent ! — 
 
 " 'Tis His sign— Kerch, 
 Ankh's symbol ! — 'Tis the Living One," they cry, 
 " He comes to save ; " — and 'neath the moon, great tears 
 Gleam from dim eye and furrowed cheek ; — " 'Tis He ; " 
 They said, and bowed their heads and worshipped. 
 
 Midnight again, upon the sandy dunes 
 
 Round Pithom's town ;-.— but now no more the moon 
 
 Sees her bright face reflected in the wave. 
 
 Where the fair lakes of winter gleamed j — nought now 
 
 Save one vast solitude, — a sea of sand. 
 
 Thick-strewn with white-flowered isles of reed and thorn. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES U9 
 
 — Again a gathering, — old men and young, 
 Maidens, and mothers with their babes, — but not 
 With bent heads now, reverent beneath the stars. 
 Loud murmurings break on the still midnight air. 
 And angry faces gleam beneath the moon : 
 — " No straw, and yet the tale of bricks the same ! 
 We will to Pharaoh ! — Was it not enough. 
 From Horus rising till Tum sinks to rest 
 To labour at the bricks ? — Now must the moon 
 Look down upon the children scattered o'er ♦ 
 The stubble-fields, seeking for straw ? — Night, yet 
 The cruel Day's live-long labour, all undone ! " 
 
 Morn on Pi-Ramses city, — and without 
 The palace gates, a crowd of downcast men 
 With ashes on their heads, as slow they turn 
 Back from Mineptah's halls their hopeless steps. ° — 
 No word is spoken, — Pharaoh's answer lies 
 Too heavy on each heart ; — the bondsman's soul, 
 — Long bowed beneath its burden, knows it now 
 Too grievous for the quivering flesh to bear, — 
 Crushed to the earth in silence as of death. 
 
 So went they sorrowing, until a flash 
 Of "brief bright anger, like a lightning stroke, 
 Ran through their drooping ranks, as they behold 
 The spokesman and the wonder-worker, whose 
 The words by Pithom's lakes, — a message deemed 
 From Him, the Living One, their Others' God, 
 
120 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Who came to save; — had wrought this further woe : 
 — " Wherefore have ye dealt thus with us," they cry, 
 " To make us stink in Pharaoh's nostrils ? — Curst 
 Be your fool's fancy of a sacrifice 
 Unto Jehovah in the wilderness, 
 Who came to save ! " 
 
 The rising moon, that night, 
 That looked down on the children seeking straw, 
 Saw too, — ^where a great fig tree's dark green leaves 
 Glistened beneath its light, — a man, prostrate 
 In agonised entreaty on the sod. 
 Wrestling with God. Scarcely his prayer found words 
 Saving the cry, — half inarticulate, — 
 Breaking from breaking heart : " Why, O Lord, why ? " 
 
 — Again the attempt to do God's mission, met 
 
 Again by yet more dire disaster. Was 
 
 It then indeed God's mission, — or the words 
 
 That thrilled through Amram's soul among the reeds. 
 
 Foretelling Israel's saviour, — and the Voice 
 
 That seemed to speak aloud from out the fire. 
 
 Amid hoar Sinai's solitudes, — but dreams 
 
 Of minds silence and servitude had crazed ? 
 
 — The old, old question, old as human woe, 
 
 And seeking human arms, that through the dark. 
 
 Reach out, if they may find the Unknown God, 
 
 Whose ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts 
 
 As thoughts of ours, yet who shall lead the bhnd 
 
 By ways they know not, — who i' the dark must teach 
 
 Trust and Obedience, ere the dayspring rise 
 
 Of Light and Liberty, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 What failure now, 
 If the event be sure in His good time ? 
 — Hid in the eternal purposes of Him 
 Who Is, — with whom a thousand years are as 
 One day. 
 
 — The answer came : " Now shalt thou see 
 What I will do. Pharaoh with a strong hand 
 Shall drive them front his land. I am Jehovah." 
 
VI 
 
 Noon in Mineptah's palace. — At its gate,^ 
 State-chariots, — whose running footmen bare 
 Gay sun-shades overhead,- — and palanquins 
 Slave-borne, bring courtly guests to Pharaoh's feast. 
 — About its doors throng servants of all hues, 
 From Ethiope's shining ebon, bearing stool 
 For lighting from the chariot, to the fair 
 Dardanian maid, who holds her mistress' fan 
 And writing-tablets. — Within the inner court. 
 The palace-slaves hold golden basins, filled 
 With scented water for each comer's feet. 
 And with their cool soft hands anoint each guest 
 From vases rare, with welcome of sweet ointment, , 
 In every hand placing a lotus-flower. 
 And with its garlands, decking brow and breast. 
 
 Through rich rooms perfumed with frankincense rare 
 To dulcet strains of lute and harp, — while slaves 
 Hand costly sweetmeats upon golden trays, — 
 Wander the royal guests, with soft exchange 
 Of talk and smiling courtesies, till called 
 To sit at meat with great Mineptah, where,^ 
 — Royally apparelled, in an apron decked 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 123 
 
 With lions' heads and asps, and upper robe 
 
 Of finest linen bound about his loins 
 
 With jewelled girdle, 'neath the square beard tied 
 
 Upon his chin, — a wig plaited and curled. 
 
 Flower-crowned and bound with asps upon his brow ; — 
 
 — He sits as host in the vast palace hall, 
 
 Before him a great vase of lotus-flowers. 
 
 On his left hand, with Horus-locks unshorn, 
 The Prince, his son, the Pharaoh yet to be ; 
 Loi, the High-priest of Anion, he who builds ^ 
 Mineptah's sepulchre ; — Mas, " the King's son 
 Of Kush," who rules the south ; — and round about, 
 In brilliant galaxy, the temple scribes 
 Renowned in letters, — Ga-ga-bu, Anna, 
 Hor, Mer-em-aput, and he who wrote 
 For Pharaoh's royal princes, the great tale 
 Of "The two Brothers."— 
 
 On the King's right hand, 
 The Queen,* with bevy of fair ladies, — gay 
 In gown and sash and shoulder-strap 
 Of gorgeous colours, 'neath the fine soft white 
 Of linen robe knotted beneath the breast. 
 — The dark hair triply plaited, falling o'er 
 The shapely neck, half-hides the ear-rings, carved 
 Of gold and precious stones, in shape of asp. 
 Or wound about the head with golden fillet. 
 Whence falls a lotus-bud, o'er soft dark brows ; — 
 — Their lustrous eyes, shining out star-like 'neath 
 The painted hds. 
 
124 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 'Mid laughter soft, circles 
 The flower-crowned wine-cup. — ^With costliest meats, — 
 Geese, game, and fish, and roasted ibex, grapes. 
 Fresh dates, and figs of sycamore, — the board 
 Is crowned. Around,^- — as feast's fit close, — has passed 
 Osiris' wooden mummy, that reminds 
 Midst Life of Death ; — and dancing men and maids. 
 With grace of rhythmic motion, to the chant 
 Of far-off voices, and soft strain of harp 
 And lute, stir the intoxate sense. — 
 
 Sudden 
 O'er all a darkness as of death ! Dread fear 
 And tremblings as of doomsday, as each guest 
 Gropes for his fellow in the grave-like gloom ! 
 — Silence, awe-struck at first — then hubbub wild 
 Of hurried low-toned speech and women's sobs ; — 
 Until at length from out the noise confused 
 One solemn voice emerges as spokesman 
 For all. 
 
 " O Pharaoh, live for ever ! Let 
 Bin-ra hearken unto his servants. — Lo, 
 The Hebrews' God is terrible !— This dark 
 At noon, is it not but the dreadful shade 
 Of His destroying wing ? — We feast, — ^yet lies 
 Not every heart as lead within its breast ? — 
 Lo, the land perisheth, — thy servants die ! 
 — Strong is His arm, — provoke no more His wrath, 
 But let the people go, do sacrifice 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 125 
 
 Unto Him in the wilderness as He 
 Hath said. — 
 
 " Hath He not sent us signs, O King ? 
 — First the great serpent, born of Moses' crook, 
 That swallowed all thy wise Khartumim's asps.® 
 — Then at the early dawn when Pharaoh paid 
 His offerings to great Hapi, did the Nile's 
 Pure fructifying wave not blush blood-red 
 Beneath Mineptah's eyes and all life die, — 
 Till Egypt's blessing grew her putrid curse ? 
 — Were not thy servants plagued with frogs and gnats 
 And dog-flies till life grew a burden ? — Then 
 The cattle died, smitten with murrain ; — men 
 Went crazed with blains that burned into the flesh ; — 
 And man and beast and tree, barley and flax. 
 Perished beneath the hail mingled with fire 
 That ran along the ground ; — and what the hail 
 Spared, — the yet tender wheat, — the locusts ate. 
 — Lo, the whole land is waste ! — And now this gloom 
 At noon, — darkness that may be felt ! — ^What more 
 But death ? — Wherefore, O Pharaoh, give thou ear, 
 And let the people go, — for stronger He, 
 The Hebrews' God, Jehovah, — than thy gods, 
 OKing!" 
 
 — Then in the darkness Pharaoh feared 
 And called Jehovah's messengers, yet when 
 The light returned, hardened his heart, — " Go, see 
 My face no more ! " — And sad the Seer replied, 
 " Well say'st thou, ' Ye shall see my face no more.' " 
 
126 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Night o'er the land. — Soft darkness spreads its wing 
 Over Mineptah's palace, and each home, lofty 
 And lowly where Egyptians dwell in great 
 Pi-Ramses, sleeping 'neath the stars ; — but light. 
 Cautiously hid, burns secretly within 
 Each Hebrew hut, and on each door-sill gleams 
 A red streak 'neath the moon. — No slumber wraps 
 This night, the labour-weary slave, to short 
 Forgetfulness ; — in every mud-built hut. 
 By flickering lamp, the family group, — strong men 
 And old, women and babes, — stands round the board 
 Eating with trembling lips a hasty meal. 
 Staff in their hands, and sandals on their feet, 
 Ready for sudden march. — No word is said, 
 But every ear, strains as for looked-for sound. 
 Thrilling the midnight's silence. 
 
 — Hark ! it comes ! 
 A stir, — a rustle, — lights in Egypt's homes ; — 
 Then a wild wail of anguish throbbed up to 
 The silent stars ! — In each Egyptian house, 
 Palace as cot, — the eldest born lies dead ! 
 
 — Then hurrying steps around the Hebrews' huts, — 
 Pale faces wild with anguish and dismay, — 
 And quivering lips that cry, — " Thus Pharaoh saith, 
 — ' Go get ye gone.' Lo, we be all dead men !" 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 12; 
 
 A mighty camp beside Sirbonis gulf '^ 
 
 At Pi-hakhiroth, — Baal-zephon in front, 
 
 Sacred to Amon the bird-catching god, 
 
 Who haunts the wide lagoons, where grows the tall 
 
 Papyrus on the Sea of Weeds. — 
 
 By day, 
 Above their heads, the cloudy pillar shields 
 From noon-tide heat, and changed to fire, illumes 
 The desert darkness of their camp by night, 
 —Visible Presence in their midst, of Him 
 Who guides. — 
 
 But who come yonder ? — What that noise 
 Like rushing wind across the sandy plain ? 
 — The hosts of Egypt and Mineptah ! — Then 
 A mighty wail beside the weedy sea, 
 " Were there no graves in Egypt, that ye brought 
 Us here into the wilderness to die ? " 
 Then stood the Seer forth, — grand among his people, 
 — " Fear not," he said. " Stand still. Jehovah shall 
 Fight for you, ye shall hold your peace." 
 
 And lo. 
 The pillared fire, — that bright through midnight shone 
 On Israel's tents, — drew veil of darkness deep 
 As death, 'twixt them and the Egyptians, while 
 The sea, rushing before a mighty wind. 
 Left, at first morning's watch, 'neath their glad eyes, 
 A dry road through the deep ! — Then when in dawn's 
 
128 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Faint gleam, the Egyptians saw and followed, God 
 Looked down, and in the marshy bogs took off 
 Their chariot wheels, — their frighted steeds plunging 
 Amid the mire, — till Israel passed over. 
 And ireful Sea, — all night by Dry-land robbed 
 Of her domain, — in one o'erwhelming tide 
 Swept back ; — and, 'neath no changeless pyramid. 
 Built for the ages of their giant rest, — 
 But in the briny depths, glittering with dawn, 
 'Neath everchanging waves, — the haughty hosts 
 Of Pharaoh found an unmarked sepulchre ! 
 
 Then the glad triumph poured from thousand throats. 
 
 As Moses and the ransomed people sang. 
 
 And Miriam's and the women's voices rang, 
 
 — With timbrel and with dance, — answering their strain 
 
 " I will sing to Jehovah, He 
 
 Hath triumphed gloriously ; 
 
 The horse too and his rider. He 
 
 Hath thrown into the sea. 
 
 Jehovah is my strength and song. 
 
 And my salvation," , 
 
 He is my God, for Him I'll make 
 
 An habitation. 
 
 My fathers' God, Him I'll exalt, 
 
 A Man of war is He, 
 
 The Lord Jehovah is His name, 
 
 He cast into the sea 
 
 All Pharaoh's hosts and chariots. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 129 
 
 His captains choice each one 
 
 Sank drowned in the Red Sea ; the deeps 
 
 Cover them, as a stone 
 
 To the depths went they down. O Lord, 
 
 Thy right hand's glorious 
 
 In power, in pieces it doth dash 
 
 Thy foes victorious. 
 
 In greatness of Thine excellency 
 
 Thou overthrowest them 
 
 Who 'gainst Thee rise. Thou sendest forth 
 
 Thy wrath, as stubble's stem 
 
 They are consumed. — The floods were piled 
 
 Before Thy nostrils' blast, 
 
 The waters stood on heaps, the deeps 
 
 Congealed as it past 
 
 In the sea's heart. — The enemy said, 
 
 ' I will pursue, I will 
 
 O'ertake, I will divide the spoil. 
 
 On them my lust shall still 
 
 Be satisfied, my sword I'll draw. 
 
 My hand shall them devour.' 
 
 — Then didst Thou blow with Thy great wind. 
 
 The sea covered them o'er, 
 
 They in great waters sank as lead. 
 
 — O Lord, who is like Thee ? 
 
 Glorious in holiness, among ' 
 
 The gods who is like Thee, 
 
 Fearful in praise, who wonders dost ? 
 
 — Thine hand Thou outstretchbdst, 
 
 The earth did swallow them. — Thy folk 
 
 Redeemed, in mercy ledst 
 
 K 
 
I30 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Thou to Thy dwelling-place, 
 
 In Thy strength Thou didst guide ; 
 
 — The peoples heard, they shook, pangs took 
 
 Philistia's folk, — beside. 
 
 The Dukes of Edom are amazed, 
 
 — Of Moab, the men of might 
 
 Trembling lays hold, — all Canaan's folk 
 
 Away are melted quite. 
 
 Terror and dread on them doth fall, 
 
 As a stone are they still, 
 
 By greatness of Thine arm, till all 
 
 Thy people pass, until 
 
 Over the people pass, O Lord, 
 
 Whom Thou hast purchased ; 
 
 In mount of Thine inheritance 
 
 They shall be stablished ; 
 
 To place Thou mad'st for Thee to dwell, 
 
 Thou bringst, to Sanctuary, 
 
 By Thine own hands established. 
 
 — The Lord shall reign for ever and for aye.'' 
 
 And women's answering voices rang again- 
 
 " Sing ye unto the Lord, for He 
 Hath triumphed gloriously ; 
 The horse too and his rider, He^ 
 Hath thrown into the sea." 
 
VII 
 
 Moses on Pisgah 
 
 " ' Get thee to Mbo,' ^ so Jehovah said, 
 
 'And see the Land, but there thou shalt not come.' 
 
 — For I have sinned, and righteous is the Lord, — 
 
 For ever bless His name. — So from this plain ^ 
 
 On Pisgah's rugged top, mine eyes must look . 
 
 Before me and behind, on all the way 
 
 The Lord hath led, and leads, though thither I 
 
 May not go up. 
 
 " — There, in yon Shittim groves * 
 Beneath the hill, dwarfed by the distance, lie 
 The tents of Israel that I shall see 
 No more, — my children, I have laboured for 
 And led these forty years, — and now may lead 
 No longer ; — but He stays who aye hath led, — 
 What matter that I go ? — Nay, better so. 
 Mayhap ; — so they may learn the more to lean 
 On Him. — ' The eternal God their dwelling-place,* 
 And underneath the everlasting arms.' — 
 No fear for Israel, whom God hath led 
 He leads unto the end. — ' Happy art thou, 
 
132 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 O Israel ; who is like unto thee, 
 A people saved by God.' — So, on this hill, 
 Balaam the S5n:ian seer, whom Ealak brought ^ 
 To curse us for reward, — whose curses God 
 Changed into unmeant blessings on his tongue, — 
 — Seeing the white tents gleam, unwilling spake. 
 
 " Now will I look before me and behind, 
 — For I am come, alone, on this wild rock 
 To die.— Never in Abram's cave my bones 
 May rest, like Joseph's we have borne with us ^ 
 These forty years ; — no pious hand embalm 
 These agfed limbs, and lay, with words of hope 
 Writ on their swathings of pure linen, ^ — while 
 The Soul still haunts its old companion,* — down, 
 Reverent within the tomb. — The eagle from 
 Her eyrie will descry, with her bright eyes, 
 A Something still and silent, and rejoice. 
 And circling down will swoop upon the prey 
 To feed her young. — For I have sinned, and Thou 
 Art righteous. Lord. 
 
 " — Let me retrace the way 
 The Lord hath led, since that great night of joy 
 We walked betwixt the walls of waters, saved 
 By His right hand. 
 
 " — A mighty host we went, 
 — Pitching our tents upon the Desert sands, 
 Their camp-fires' glow reddening the waste beneath 
 The stars, and that strange pillared Brightness o'er 
 
THE PURPOSE OF. THE AGES 133 
 
 Our heads that made night shine as day ; — or by 
 
 The well, with its few palms, o'er which, at noon, 
 
 — While flocks and herds cropped the pale herbage grown 
 
 On the scant sandy soil, and women nursed 
 
 Their babes, and old and weary rested glad 
 
 Beneath its shade, — the Cloudy Pillar stayed, 
 
 Brooding majestic o'er the various host. 
 
 — " By Marah's bitter Lakes,^ whose sweetened wave 
 
 Gave new proof of His care whose Presence guides ; 
 
 — By EUm's green oasis with its palms ^^ 
 
 And living springs ; — and through Sin's sandy waste,^^ 
 
 — Where, at the people's cry, 'neath balmy breath 
 
 Of summer nights, the thorny tamarisk shed ^^ 
 
 Its honey globules with the dew of dawn ; 
 
 And ' 'twixt the evenings ' as the twilight fell,'" 
 
 The wearied quails, winging their northward flight 
 
 From Afric, dropped by thousands round the camp; — 
 
 — Onward to Rephidim,^* whose smitten rock 
 
 Gushed water for the murmuring host that lay 
 
 Parching with thirst, outside the lovely vale, 
 
 — Whose miles of palms trail their long branches o'er ^^ 
 
 Its purling stream, 'twixt mighty Serbal's walls 
 
 Of many-hufed rock, — guarded by fierce 
 
 Amalekites,^^ — the desert's sons, — eager 
 
 To swoop on the unarmed camp that lay 
 
 Too near their date-palms and their water-springs. 
 
 "Then the first battle in Jehovah's might, 
 When Joshua led, and on the lone hill-top 
 Aaron and Hur upheld the faltering hands ^'^ 
 
134 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 That turned the tide of battle from afar, 
 
 Still outstretched up to God. — Then Reguel came,^* 
 
 God's friend and mine, — hearing, 'mid pastures far, 
 
 Of God's deliverance, — brought me the boys 
 
 And Zipporah to our wild Desert camp ; — 
 
 With Arab courtesies and counsels wise, 
 
 Lightening my load and making glad my heart. 
 
 " So, on to Sinai, where at first God's voice, 
 
 'Mid silence of the everlasting hills. 
 
 Spake with me all alone from out the fire ; 
 
 Now, — as that Voice foretold, — a mighty host 
 
 We came to worship in .that mountain. — No 
 
 Wandering shepherd now who heard His voice 
 
 Amid the stillness trace his own lone path, 
 
 — But Leader, willed by that same Voice to guide 
 
 Jehovah's host. — Nor Israel's host alone, 
 
 — ^Who trembling crouched beneath the dreadful Mount 
 
 Upon whose top the Lord came down in fire. 
 
 And 'mid its thunders spake His awful Will 
 
 Which whoso living breaks must surely die ; — 
 
 — But to all time, God's Law-giver, who stands 
 
 On that lone Sinai peak, 'twixt Earth and Heaven ; — 
 
 Seer, who through the clouds and darkness dared 
 
 To pierce to God, and to man's vision dim 
 
 Reveal the mighty Presence that for him 
 
 Fills Earth and Heaven; — to list 'the still small 
 
 Voice,' 
 And to the crowd — ^who hear but as it thundered — 
 Interpret that great over-ruling Will 
 In Laws to guide man's Ufa. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 135 
 
 " — This my true mission, 
 — My mission to all times. — But Israel would 
 Not hear ! — E'en while the darkness and the cloud 
 Hid me upon the Mount, — that darkness which 
 Was but the shadow of His wing, — did they 
 Not make the golden Mnevis-calf and dance 
 Naked before it, while the people sang 
 ' These be thy gods, O Israel' ?— Did. they 
 Not fear e'en the poor brightness of my brow, 
 —Call for a veil betwixt that reflex faint 
 Caught from the Light of Light behind the cloud ? 
 — They would not hear, — shrank from the searching 
 
 Light 
 Of that great Will, which whoso breaks must die ; 
 — Hence all the rest. 
 
 " ' — He cannot look on sin,' — 
 — 'Tis this they say, these hundred thousand graves ^^ 
 Dug in the sand of Paran's wilderness, — 
 'Tis this it says, that rock-hewn sepulchre 
 In Kadesh where we laid Miriam to rest,^" — 
 'Tis this, that tomb, where lone Mount Hor looks down^^ 
 On white hills of the wilderness o'er vale 
 Of 'Arabah, speaks to the silent rocks. 
 Amid whose Nature-castled towers, we stript 
 The holy garments from the Lord's High-priest, 
 And gave them to his son. — From the great heap 
 Of stones o'er him that gathered sticks ; ^^ — from out 
 The fire, — flashing from Tent of Meeting that 
 Devoured Nadab and Abihu f^ — and from 
 That circling flame around the awful Mount j^* — 
 
136 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Still sound the same dread words, — ' Lo, they have sinned. 
 And righteous is the Lord.' 
 
 " Not much it seemed ^^ 
 To smite the cliff in Kadesh, as the rock 
 In Horeb whence the waters flowed, — but God 
 Bade speak, therefore to smite was sin. — I feared 
 To trust His word, trusted His rod, not Him. — 
 /, who had stood on Sinai's awful peak, 
 And 'mid its thunders heard the ' still small Voice,' — 
 Beheld the Glory wrapt within the cloud ! 
 — Meet is it I should die without the Land, 
 — I, whom Jehovah spake with as His friend, — 
 Who yet dared disobey. 
 
 " —Yet loved I not 
 His Voice, and trusted all these forty years ? 
 — To fail at last ! — O perfect Law of God, 
 Whose least is as its greatest, — my Soul's Life, — 
 — Who is enough for thee ? 
 
 " — As now I look 
 Before me and behind, from this last peak. 
 Whence I can trace my path, from that rough ark 
 Of bulrushes upon the Nile, to this 
 Lone death outside the Land. — Life's lesson this. — 
 Taught by the waters of that whelming wave 
 That sepulchred Mineptah's haughty hosts ; — 
 Taught in the awful Mount 'mid cloud and fire ; — 
 Taught in the desert wanderings, where our way 
 Is tracked but by our graves ; — and best taught here, 
 Where I, myself, without the Land must die. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 137 
 
 " — The goodly Land, with its fair river, stretched 
 
 A garden of the Lord, beneath my feet, — 
 
 — Its vine-clad slopes, and grassy vales, and glades 
 
 On wooded hillsides, and its Jordan's plains 
 
 One wilderness of flowers ; — the Promised Land, 
 
 Flowing with milk and honey. — How I longed 
 
 For its cool verdure, and its gushing streams. 
 
 And gray-green olive shade, and tendrilled vines, 
 
 Circling the Desert all these arid years ! 
 
 — Jehovah's Land, — His gift, — worthy of Him, 
 
 — Yonder it lies before me, — all I dreamed 
 
 Of peacefulness and rest ; — but see ! — between, 
 
 The blue clear waters of the Sea of Salt, 
 
 — Old record of God's judgments, — gleam, as with 
 
 Sin's lurid light, — dividing from its shores ! 
 
 — 'Tis as I were the Soul, in mummied form 
 
 So oft I've seen the mourners bring with flowers 
 
 Heaped on its boat, down to the Sacred Lake 
 
 Of Mennofer or On, where solemn wait 
 
 The Judges of the Dead, — and at the charge 
 
 Of the High-priest, there rose from out the crowd 
 
 A voice, — ' He is not worthy, he hath sinned.^ 
 
 — And sadly, with no rites of sepulchre. 
 
 This side the Lake, they laid the unblest corse ! 
 
 " 'Twas meant for me, — that Land with its sweet rest, — 
 God meant it,^yet, now it shall not be mine ; 
 — So may we thwart His purposes, e'en His ! 
 —And yet, meseems, almost I'm glad, — glad that 
 It comes too late, — the Land and all its rest, 
 — For / am I, — unworthy of the Land, 
 
138 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 And Israel, — the old stiff-necked Israel, 
 
 Unworthy too. — Better it is, meseems. 
 
 That the sweet dream be mine, unmarred, undimmed 
 
 With all too flawed fruition ; — that for aye. 
 
 Its vineyards and its olive-gardens lie 
 
 Within my soul, all bathed in soft sunshine. 
 
 Unstained by blood or tears ; — for not e'en there, 
 
 The harvest were as seed-time, fruit as bloom. 
 
 — And He has let mine eyes behold its rest, — 
 
 The Land is there, — is all He promised ; — 
 
 — No word of His hath failed, — all failure mine. 
 
 " But what of parted Soul, — whose Body lies. 
 As mine, unblest with burial, this side 
 The Lake, — when He, Osiris figures, tests • 
 The wavering balance at the Day of Doom ? 
 — There, other than Anubis holds the scales. 
 And for far other judgment ; — not good deeds 
 'Gainst bad in each man's life, — but Life, entire 
 And whole, — against Thy perfect Law, O God ! 
 — Then who may stand in tkaf arraignment ? 
 
 "— Naj 
 Thy covenant endures, — though I have sinned ; — 
 My God, forever and forever. — Sin 
 Changes not that, — mine when He punishes 
 As when He saves ! 
 
 "— The blessfed Dead 
 Live in Osiris, — so the legend runs 
 I learned long since at queenly Merrhis' feet, — 
 Can I then fall from His life whose the name 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 139 
 
 ' The Living One ' ? — We pass, but He endures, 
 Ay, and His covenant stands, — His covenant 
 With me. — ' Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place 
 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ere 
 Thou'dst formed the world, from everlasting Thou 
 To everlasting God.' 
 
 " — I would not Thou 
 Wert less than righteous. — Gracious too. — My Life 
 Sees its accomplishment, and from afar 
 Joys with the joy of harvest. — ' 'Stablish Thou 
 My work upon me, — yea, my hand's work, Lord, 
 Thou dost establish it.' 
 
 " — And for my sin, — 
 — What shall I say ? — With Thee is healing. Lord. — 
 Didst Thou not in the desert bid me raise 
 The Brazen Serpent, that who looked might live ? — 
 Doth not the blood within the veil sprinkle 
 The mercy-seat ? — Lo, I have laid my hand ^^ 
 Upon the Scape-goat's head, and he hath gone 
 Forth to the wilderness, bearing away 
 Thy people's sins into forgetfulness ; — 
 — ^Wilt Thou not then remember it no more ? 
 
 " For I am come to die. — This night's first star 
 Shall shed its light, down on the unclosed eyes. 
 That yet gleam back no answer. — Jackals creep 
 Cautious among the rocks, to see what lies 
 So still beneath the moon. — The eagle's eye 
 Descry it from her eyrie and rejoice, 
 
I4P THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 As circling down she seeks her meat from God. — 
 And vultures crowd to pick the white bones bare ! 
 — Then where shall hovering Spirit find again 
 Its old companion, when it comes to seek ? 
 The sacred Heart itself, perhaps become ^ 
 A part of vulture or of eagle ? 
 
 "—Nay, 
 What do I say ? — Will He not still be here, 
 Whose, — not the Soul alone, but all the five,^^ 
 — Soul, Mind, Life, Body, Shade, — that make up me ? 
 Will He not care for all ? — Though I have sinned 
 And so must die, — for righteous is the Lord. — 
 — Yea, I am well assured, no vulture's claw 
 Or eagle's talon, shall pluck out the heart 
 That's stayed on Him. 
 
 " No friendly human hand 
 May close these weary lids, or straight the limbs, 
 Or swathe in wrappings of pure linen, — then 
 His own the task. — With hollow of His own 
 Right hand He'll hide the blank death-glazfed eye, — 
 His fingers which have fashioned shall lay 
 To their long rest, in ordered symmetry 
 The limbs He made ; — His veil of cloud enwrap 
 In folds of softest white. These rocks shall be 
 A ' Pyramid of Lights ' above my dust, 
 — God's building and not man's, — most blessfed so. 
 
 " — For He is here. I feel His Presence nigh, 
 Close by me though unseen, — as when, long since, 
 That over-shadowing Presence grew a Voice 
 Out of the fire on Horeb, — and again 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 141 
 
 When His great cloud enwrapped me, and I knew 
 
 The Hidden Glory on the awful Mount. 
 
 — Lo ! Lord I take the shoes from off my feet, 
 
 This hill-top too is holy, — Thou art here. 
 
 — Thou who hast been our dwelling-place before 
 
 The mountains were brought forth,' — Thyself shalt hide 
 
 This mortal form, — ^where human foot ne'er treads. 
 
 Within the bosom of Thy mighty hills ; — 
 
 And 'underneath the Everlasting Arms.' — 
 
 — The Burial God's, and God's the Monument. 
 
 " — Again Thy cloud enwraps me, — to abide 
 This time. — No more to need a veil to hide 
 Thy Light reflected on my face, from eyes 
 Too weak to bear a reflex e'en so faint 
 Of Thy great Light of Light within the veil ; — 
 — Ne'er to descend this time, — but to abide, — 
 Rapt to the Hidden Glory evermore ! " 
 
BOOK III 
 FREEDOM 
 
 [MANHOOD] 
 
 tav o5v 6 vtbs vficii eXtvOepuxTr], ovtcos 
 eXevdepoi i<T€(Td£. — -JbAn viii. 36. 
 
IIoiI lo-Ttv re)(^6els /Baa-iXevs rav 
 'IovSai(i)v. — Maii. ii. 2. 
 
 Temple- Mount 
 JERUSALEM 
 
 " Barkai ad Chebron !"^ — Through the lightening dusk. 
 
 Ere night's last stars had faded in the blue, 
 
 On the still air, rings out the watcher's cry, 
 
 As from the Temple's pinnacle he caught 
 
 The dawn's first streak reddening o'er Hebron's hills. 
 
 — Answering his call, the silver trumpets blow ^ 
 
 Their three-fold blast, — waking the sleeping town 
 
 To morning sacrifice ; — and the great gates 
 
 Swing slowly on their hinges, where awaits 
 
 The mighty throng of mingled worshippers. 
 
 Bound on the altar, lies the sprinkled lamb ^ 
 Ready for offering, and, — to the sound 
 Of the great organ, — comes the lot-chose priest, 
 Bearing the golden censer, all alone 
 
 L 
 
146 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Within the Holy Place, lit by the sheen 
 Of the seven-branchfed candlestick, — (the while 
 The prostrate crowd in reverent silence waits), — 
 — To spread, — where red the golden altar glows 
 With ever-burning fire, — close to the veil 
 That hides the Holiest, — his incense-gift, 
 Before Jehovah, of the people's prayers. 
 
 Terrace on terrace, on Moriah's hill,* 
 — Girt by its massive walls, — a miracle 
 Of whitest marble and sight-dazzling gold, — 
 Herod's great temple stands, crowning the height 
 Whence sheer the eye looks down the precipice 
 Below. — Across the Tyropcean's steep 
 And deep defile, — up Zion's priestly hill, — 
 Down through the markets of the Lower Town, — 
 And where the Upper City's terraced slopes 
 Rise thick with palaces, — that silver call 
 Awakens the new day to prayer and praise. 
 
 Within his stately palace Herod hears. 
 And joys that at long last the morn is come 
 All night he longed for,— on his silken couch 
 Tossing in deadly pain and jealous fear, — 
 And starts up on his elbow with a shout ; 
 " — Ha ! Say they so ? a King forsooth is born ! 
 Who shall be King save he whom Herod wills ? 
 — Already they bring homage to this King ! 
 The Sun is set — hail, rising Sun ! — They think 
 Me near my end !^ — Fools ! the old lion's fangs 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES m 
 
 Not yet are drawn. Ye should have held your peace 
 
 A little longer ! — Ay, ask the walls * 
 
 Of yonder dungeon where Antipater 
 
 But waits the nod of Caesar, ere the head 
 
 Impatient for a crown, rolls in the dust ; 
 
 — Ask yonder fish-ponds underneath the palms " 
 
 At Jericho, what in the dusk of eve 
 
 Befell, beneath their sullen waters, him. 
 
 The young High-priest, the crowd were fain too much 
 
 To honour ; — ask the stones of Sebaste's Tower ' 
 
 That heard the groans of Mariamne's sons ; — 
 
 Ere ye tell Herod of a King new-born ! 
 
 " — ^Come hither, minion ! Lo, the trumpet's blast 
 Has sounded for the Morning Sacrifice, 
 And the great organ booms the chosen priest 
 To incense-offering in the Holy Place ; — 
 Ere long the Temple-Sanhedrin will meet ^ 
 Beside the Booths upon the Temple-Mount ; 
 — Go, tell the long-fringed Rabbis that the King 
 Desires in haste their presence ; — let them see 
 That nought delays their coming ! 
 
 " — Is he gone ? 
 That's well. — Now let me think, — ^for I must work 
 With guile, else all Jerusalem were stirred 
 At this new King, — called their Messiah too ! 
 — First must I know whence these pious Jewish dogs 
 Look for their King, — -then, when, the gray-beard Mage 
 That I had speech of yester-eve declares 
 His Star appeared. — A fig, then, for the chance 
 That this new Jewish potentate shall wear 
 
148 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The crown they writhe to see adorn ^ 
 My Idumaean brows ! 
 
 " — They hate me, ay, 
 But come they must no less, these broad fringed 
 
 Rabbis ! 
 All, — from the ancient Hillel I have left 
 Head of their Sanhedrin these thirty years, ^° 
 — A harmless fanatic, too deep imbrued 
 In such-like questions of their law,^-' May it 
 Be lawful, lest one lust to eat, to lift 
 An egg laid on the Sabbath,' — much to heed ^^ 
 A few score Rabbis more or less, whose zeal 
 Outruns discretion, put to the torture ! — Down 
 To him, — that Alexandrine,^^ — last I made 
 High-priest ; — all, all obedient to the call 
 Of the scorned Idumasan ! — Ay, must lend 
 Unwilling aid to strangle in the birth 
 This Jewish Kingdom of the Christ, their King ! 
 
 " — ^HiM whom the Prophets spake of ! — -Can it be 
 
 That I can slay Him pre-ordained of God ? 
 
 Will He not give the slip, somehow, to Death, 
 
 This King that is to be, — if God so wills ? 
 
 — Ha ! let us try ! Men say God wills it not " 
 
 That Rome's great golden Eagle should adorn 
 
 The Temple's Gate, — yet there it stands ! — Not much, 
 
 Meseems, Jehovah's will hath sway save when 
 
 It chimes with Herod's ! — Ne'ertheless, 'tis cause 
 
 The more for secrecy, and speed, and all 
 
 Precaution, lest our rebel Zealots find ^^ 
 
 Fuel for their flame in these same Magi's Star ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES i, 
 
 " — Yonder they come ! — Old Hillel at their head, 
 — Matthias too, and Judas, and the rest, — 
 The blue-fringed hypocrites ! " — Their tephillin,^^ 
 — That three and twenty times contains the great 
 Unspoken Name, — ^with mystic fastenings bound 
 On brow, or seven times wound about the arm 
 Next to the heart 1 — Ay, once they dared to call 
 Herod before their Sanhedrin with thought. 
 To crush his star at its arising, — but 
 He came in purple ! — They have not forgot 
 That last three hundred's fate, who dared entreat ^^ 
 For Mariamne's sons ! — Waiting their King, 
 They come to lick the dust at Herod's feet !" 
 
 (Enier Hillel and the Jewish Rabbis, members of the Sanhedrin.') 
 
 " — The blessing of the Lord be on you, sirs. 
 Most reverent Rabbis." 
 
 " — And on thee, O King." 
 
 " — Come hither Hillel, — thou of all the tribe 
 
 Of sages best, most learnfed in the Law, 
 
 And the great Prophet's words, — whom Herod 
 
 loves 
 To honour. — Lo 1 the day draws nigh when I 
 Too must be gathered to my fathers ; — fain 
 Would I, this troublous world in leaving, leave 
 Behind, one worthy of the kingdom, — One 
 The Prophets spake of, — if what time I die 
 This honour might be mine, to lay the crown 
 Down at His conquering feet. — Men say His time 
 
ISO THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Draws nigh. — Whence then, O Hillel, may we look 
 To see His Star arise ?" 
 
 Whereon, the old 
 Bent man, — whose mild yet piercing eyes had seen 
 The changes of a hundred years, so bent 
 In contemplation o'er the Thora, scarce 
 He marked their flight, or gauged their meaning ; 
 
 mild 
 And wise,, yet helpless somehow in the strife 
 Of this vexed world. 
 
 " — Long life to thee, O King 
 Most mighty ! — who, upon our Holy Hill, 
 With pious hands hath reared Israel's Temple, 
 And now, whose pious thought, would lay her Crown, 
 — (If thou may'st find) — at her Messiah's feet, 
 Who comes, conquering and to conquer. — Hear, 
 O King, the Prophet's words, ' Thou Bethlehem 
 Ephratah, not the least art thou among 
 Princes of Judah, for from thee shall come 
 He who shall rule my people Israel.'" 
 
 " 'Tis well, most reverent Rabbi, Herod waits 
 Impatient for the King that is to be." 
 
 (Exit Hillel and Rabbis. ) 
 
 " — Gone are they? the high-turbaned, long-robed fools ! 
 Now from the Eastern sages must I learn 
 What time the mighty portent shone, they say 
 Foretells this King ; — Rabbi and Mage alike. 
 All unawares ye play great Herod's game ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 151 
 
 — " Come hither, minion, call me yonder three 
 Outlandish travellers whom yesternight 
 We housed within the palace." 
 
 (Enter the Magi. ) 
 
 " Welcome, sirs ! 
 I would have further speech with you anent 
 These wondrous tidings. — Scarcely could I rest 
 For joy at the great news, and at the Watch' 
 First cry from Temple pinnacle that tells 
 A new day born, I sent with haste to call 
 Our most renownfed Rabbis, that more sure 
 I might direct your way to this new King.'' 
 
 " O King, most gracious as most mighty, we 
 Do humbly thank thee !" 
 
 " Nay, 'tis for myself, — 
 I too would lay my tribute at His feet 
 Of whom the Prophets spake. — When, say ye, first 
 His Star shone out in Heaven?" 
 
 " Nigh two years gone," ^^ 
 — The agfed Melchior said, — the old gray man 
 Leaning upon his staff, his paling eyes 
 That seemed to see visions beyond the veil. 
 Raised' to the tyrant's face. — "Nigh two years gone, 
 O King, since first that great conjunction met, 
 — Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces joined, — 
 Portent of marvels in thy kingdom, — yet. 
 
IS2 THE PURPOSE OP THE AGES 
 
 Doubting we lingered, — until Mars in fire, 
 
 — Some six months since, was added to the twain, — 
 
 And out in the astonished heavens there burst 
 
 This splendour of a Star ! — Then might we doubt 
 
 No longer that a King certes was born. 
 
 The King mayhap ; — and these dim eyes may yet. 
 
 In their old age excel their prime, — behold 
 
 The Ages' Hope, — Ahriman's Conqueror,-'^ — 
 
 Look once upon His face and close in peace ! 
 
 — Whence, say the sages, O most gracious King, 
 
 This King must come ?" 
 
 " Haste ye to Bethlehem, 
 For thither point the Prophets and the Wise ; 
 — And finding, — bring me word that I may lay 
 My crown beneath His feet. — God speed your errand 
 
 Down in the markets of the Lower Town, 
 The throbbing pulse of the great city's life 
 Beats on unheeding of the hideous pangs, 
 That gnaw the rotting tjnrant on his bed, 
 — No warm wave of Callirhoe's springs can cleanse 
 Or soothe. — Out in the open booths, fast plies ^^ 
 The tailor's active needle, trimming gay 
 The splendid mantle with its fringe of prayer ; 
 Shoemakers stitch their sandals ; hucksters scold 
 And bargain o'er the price of pastries baked 
 Of Ephraim flour, or fruits from Galilee ; 
 
 20 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 153 
 
 Beside the Women's Tower the labourers stand, 
 Waiting for hire, and at the Market-gate 
 The donkey-drivers wrangle for a load. 
 
 What rumour stirs so deep the motley crowd, 
 
 Troubling the city ? — Cautious whispered first, ^^ 
 
 (For walls have ears), where mighty jars without ^^ 
 
 Proclaim the wine-shop, and o'er cider-cup, 
 
 Egyptian zithos, or Median beer 
 
 And locusts fried in honey, men beguile 
 
 The noon-tide hour of heat j — and spreading thence 
 
 In widening circles thrills the startled town. 
 
 " — Three strangers from the East, late yester-eve 
 
 Had speech with Herod, asking who is born 
 
 King of the Jews ! " — Men's hearts die in them, for 
 
 Whose life is safe if Herod dreads a King ? ^* 
 
 — ^Yet now eyes kindle and young pulses beat, 
 
 As a fresh rumour runs — " Lo, Herod dies ! ^^ 
 
 — Rome's Eagle's down from the great Temple Gate,- 
 
 The Zealots Judas and Matthias hail 
 
 A King new-born !" — And patriot mothers clasp 
 
 Their sons in trembling arms and bid them fight. 
 
 Beneath the palms of Jericho, Herod ^* 
 Has come to die. — The grizzly tiger gnaws 
 In vain Death's hideous chain that holds him. 
 
1S4 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 " ■ — None 
 Will weep for Herod, do they say ? The Jews 
 Will make my death a feast-day, when to mourn 
 Shall be a crime throughout the ages ? — Ha ! 
 I shall have mourning such as ne'er King yet ! — 
 No eye shall stint its tribute to my bier ! 
 — Salome, thou hast ever been my friend, — 
 Hear my last charge. — Within the Hippodrome 
 Summon all Israel's noblest — as for last 
 Commands of Herod. — Round about its walls 
 Station my archers, — and as last breath parts 
 From Herod's lips, let showers of darts release 
 A royal retinue to follow him 
 Into the Land of Shades ! — 'Twere all unmeet 
 A King should go uncompanied ! — Shall not 
 Herod have royal mourning round his tomb ? 
 — Swear it, Salome !" — 
 
 " — By the gods, I swear.'' 
 
 " — That's well! — See, I have made thee rich,^' f 
 
 aye 
 Thou prov'dst true sister unto Herod. — Ah 
 Those hideous pangs ! The worm that dies not gnaws. 
 The fire that is not quenched consumes before 
 The time ! 
 
 " — A letter come from Caesar ? Haste 
 Give it to me." {Reads!) — " ' Antipater shall die, 
 Or else be banishfed as Herod wills ! 
 — Acme is slain !' ^* — royal Caesar, this 
 Assuages all my pains ! 
 
 " — Ay, did they think 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 15; 
 
 To mock me these same Eastern sages ? — Came 
 Not back to tell me if they found their King, 
 Whom Herod too would worship ! — Good ! I sent 
 Quite other messengers to bring the news ! 
 — Go call me the centurion, returned '^^ 
 Last night from Bethlehem." 
 
 (Enter Centurion.) 
 
 " Hast thou obeyed 
 My mandate to the full ?" 
 
 " Unto the full, 
 O King !" 
 
 " No infant breathes in Bethlehem 
 Of two years old or under?" 
 
 "None, OKing!" 
 
 " Now doth my heart sit lightly in my breast ! 
 — In vain may my wise sages seek their King, 
 Or come to bring Herod to worship too ! 
 — Were many slain?" 
 
 " Some two score babes, great King, 
 — ^Likewise some half-score women who so clasped 
 Their infants to their hearts that slaying one 
 Slew both, — an old man too, and boy, who strove 
 To fight, — grown men the soldiers overpowered 
 And bound, — ere they began their task." 
 
 " And none 
 Escaped, — hidden away, — of them ye went 
 To slay?" 
 
 " Not one, O King ! — Sudden, by night. 
 
IS6 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Our onslaught, — three to every house, — no time 
 For hiding or for flight !" 
 
 {Aside.) " I breathe again ! 
 Who shall be King save he whom Herod wills ? 
 (Aloud.) — Thou hast done well, — my treasurer shall find 
 Meet recompense for this good service, — go ! — ■ 
 — So far so good ! — Antipater to die. 
 And Bethlehem purged of this same King to be ! 
 — Now, for the reverent Rabbis whom I judged 
 Yesterday in the Theatre, — Judas, 
 And great Matthias, and the forty more, 
 — Patriots as they call them, — who dared tear 
 My Roman Eagle from the Temple gate. 
 — They thought my end was come ! — Ay, and my spies, 
 Down in the wine-shops of the Lower Town 
 And in the Temple Porch, heard whisperings 
 Of some new King, by old-world dotard hailed 
 And ancient matron in the Temple Court ; — 
 — Most like this Babe of Bethlehem ! — Doubtless 
 The fools believed His kingdom come. 
 
 "—Bid build 
 The p)n:es in yonder court, Salome, — I 
 Would see the Rabbis roast 'neath mine own eyes. 
 
 " — What torture ! Oh, the fire that is not quenched 
 Burning within ! — Food ! Food ! — Achiabus ^ 
 io tctc'n me youder apple and a knife." 
 
 I (Ac/iiabus brings them. Heroa\ *"^^ '" ^^"^ himself, — AchiaJnis 
 rushes forward a'^ ^olds his hand.) 
 
 I" What, cousin ! may a King inot choose his death ?" 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 157 
 
 (Uproar in the palace, where the King is believed to be dead, — 
 enter Keeper of the Prison.') 
 
 " Antipater rejoices, O great King ! 
 Thinking thee dead, — and money offered me 
 To let him go." 
 
 — With a great roar as when 
 A lion wounded sore makes hideous 
 The forest, Herod rose upon his bed ; — 
 " — Set the guards on him,^^ let his head forthwith 
 Roll in the dust!" 
 
 — The mighty energy. 
 Nature's last effort, sank to mutterings, — 
 " Ah, Mariamne,^^ is it thou come back 
 Unto mine arms ? — Ha ! but there's blood there ! — These 
 Are the grave-worms not thy soft curls that twine , 
 
 About my neck. — She's dead they say ! — Ah, I 
 Remember, — Joseph 'tis thou loVst, — forgat 
 Herod away ! — Salome told me. — Hence 
 With her to the axe ! — 
 
 " —What say'st thou ? They 
 Have hid the King ? — Ye could not kill the King 
 That is to be ! 
 
 " — Ah, blood — more blood ! — And for 
 Her twining hair the worm that will not die !" 
 
II 
 
 KaA,£0"eis TO ovofjLa avTou 'Ir/crovv, avros yap crwrcL tov Aaov 
 avTov aTTO tS>v afiapTiwv avrlav.—Matt. i. 21. 
 
 "Virgin's Fig-tree" near On,i 
 In Sight of the Pyramids of Ghizeh. 
 Joseph and Mary the Mother of Jesus. 
 
 MARY 
 
 " 'Twas a strange dream that ! — 'Neath the vines it came 
 
 Beside the well, just as the sun set. — I 
 
 Had come, my water-pitcher on my head, 
 
 Down from the village, some half-hour more late 
 
 Than Nazareth women's wont, and on the way 
 
 I met the other maidens bearing home 
 
 Their pitchers full, who laughed, 'What, late again? 
 
 The waterings are done, and shepherds gone 
 
 Back to the hill, not one left by the well ; 
 
 — But what cares Mary, she who only dreams 
 
 Of gray-beard Joseph ? ' 
 
 " — So, laughing they went, — 
 And all the vale was lone, as, 'neath the vines 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 159 
 
 I sat to rest awhile, my pitcher filled, 
 
 Ere I re-climbed the hill, — and drink the peace 
 
 Of the still evening, while the sunset died 
 
 In gold and purple o'er the western hills. 
 
 — For I was weary, — the small household cares 
 
 Had irked my spirit rather than my flesh. 
 
 And I was fain to bathe it in the calm 
 
 Of the great hills and the wide sunset sky ; 
 
 —Resting I slept, and sleeping dreamt this dream. 
 
 " I seemed to see a land unearthly fair, 
 
 —Here, shade of great umbrageous trees whose 
 
 names 
 I knew not, from whose mighty boughs long roots 
 Shot down, and pillar-like fixed in the ground 
 In colonnades of hundred arches crowned 
 With glorious leafage, — Nature's forest shrine 
 Most meet for voice of prayer ; — there, feathery palms 
 Grouped 'gainst the glowing sky, where the set sun 
 Still trailed his garment's hem of broidered gold. — 
 Carpet of softest verdure, many hued 
 With delicatest flowers, and cool green moss 
 In shady nooks where long ferns drooped above 
 Tha half-hid springs : — deep-wooded hills that dipped 
 Their trees' long branches in the mirrored calm 
 Of a great lake's quiet breast ; and little rills 
 That leapt and sparkled down the living rock ; — 
 Dark tangled groves festooned and garlanded 
 With great-leaved creepers, from whose woven dusk 
 Their white stars gleamed 'mid passion-flowers' deep 
 Purple glories ; — all the balmy air 
 
l6o THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Fragrant with dewy eve, and resonant 
 With bird's last song. 
 
 " — And then I seemed to see, 
 — Half-hid within a tangled thicket's shade, — • 
 Two glorious formSj — a maiden and a man, — 
 But grander far and nobler in their grace," ' 
 Than man or maid of Galilee, mine eyes 
 E'er saw.— Their stately limbs glowed with the hue 
 The sun gives when he kisses, and beneath 
 Its warm pure russet the rich crimson showed 
 On lip and cheek ; — the man's grand tawny beard 
 Flowed to his middle, and the maiden's hair 
 Floated around her like a gold-tinged cloud 
 That draped her better than the wove fig-leaves, 
 Their only garment. — Yet, amid my dream, 
 Meseemed I marvelled, that, thus glory-crowned. 
 They crouched amid the thicket as afraid ; 
 And then I seemed to note, twined round a tree that rose 
 Close by them in the brake, an Evil Thing, — 
 Beneath whose noxious breath flowers drooped and died ; 
 — And ere the sense just flitted through my brain. 
 Sudden, deep silence seemed to fall o'er all 
 Around. — The birds forgat their song, — the breeze 
 Died 'mid the leaves, — the rill's bright brattle ceased ; 
 — Then all the silence grew as changed to one 
 Great voice, — ' I will put enmity betwixt 
 Thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
 And hers, and it shall bruise thy head, and thou 
 His heel.' 
 
 — " Then all the garden faded, and 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES i6i 
 
 Instead, I saw a dim and dreary plain 
 
 Stretching from sky to sky, and on a heap 
 
 Of ashes crouched a form, that, as I gazed 
 
 And gazed, I knew a man, though human scarce, 
 
 So worn and woe-begone. — The yellow skin, 
 
 — All blains and blotches, — scarcely could contain 
 
 The fleshless shivering bones that everywhere 
 
 Showed through, and here and there had pierced it, while 
 
 The eyes — deep-sunken in their sockets — gleamed 
 
 Like half-quenched torches through the dismal damps 
 
 Of some dark cavern, and the bloodless lips. 
 
 Drawn tight across the teeth, showed them like fangs. 
 
 His head, — covered with boils, with ashes strewn, — 
 
 Was sunk upo.n his breast, — a potsherd held 
 
 In the long skinny hand to scrape himself 
 
 Withal. ^Afar off sat four figures, wife 
 
 And friends. — I seemed to understand it all, 
 
 — All comfort, all remonstrance vain, — at last 
 
 Is left the stricken soul alone with God 
 
 And its great misery. 
 
 " — Then as I gazed, 
 O'erwhelmed with pity, — from the labouring breast, 
 — In hollow tones scarce heard, that yet rang strange 
 With triumph, — came the words, ' I know that my 
 Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand 
 At last above the dust, and though my skin 
 Be thus destroyed, out of my flesh shall I 
 See God, — whom for myself I'll see, and mine 
 Own eyes behold, and not another.' 
 
 " —Then, 
 
 M 
 
1 62 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 As wondering I wept, — again the scene 
 
 Was changed. I seemed to hear the Rabbi's words 
 
 Who read that Sabbath in our synagogue, 
 
 — Words that I understood not, yet that hushed 
 
 My heart and held me silent all the way 
 
 We walked together homeward o'er the hills, 
 
 Till, smiling, thou upbraidedst, calling me 
 
 As oft, ' Thy little Dreamer,' — now I dreamed 
 
 Indeed ! , 
 
 " — ^Within the Temple Courts I seemed ^ 
 To stand, among the mighty crowd who brought. 
 To our great Feast, their lambs for sacrifice, 
 —And all adown their vestibules, the priests, 
 — In double white-robed row, holding their bowls 
 Of gold and silver for the new-shed blood, — 
 Lined the long way ; — but at the three-fold blast 
 From silver trumpets, when I looked to see 
 The crimson life passed on, from hand to hand, 
 Down their long line, and poured at last, in one 
 Great jet upon the altar's base, — instead, — 
 There seemed to pass,— while all around there rang 
 The triumph of the glad Hallel, — yet not 
 As wont, meseemed, from Levites' chant, nor from 
 The thousand throats of offering multitudes 
 Answering their strain, — rather, the far-off sound 
 Of children's voices floating in the air, 
 ' Hallelujah, Blessld is He that cometh 
 In the name of the Z(?«?; '^silent and slow. 
 Towards the altar, in white seamless robe, 
 A lonely thorn-crowned man. 
 
 " The face I saw 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 163 
 
 Not, but the gait's majestic patience thrilled 
 
 My soul. Trembhng I wept, while faint and far 
 
 I seemed to hear, as borne upon the air, 
 
 Our Rabbi's words, but not his voice I knew, — 
 
 — The Seer's voice down the ages, — ' Surely He 
 
 Hath borne our griefs, our sorrows carrild,, 
 
 — All we like sheep have gone astray, the Lord 
 
 Hath laid on Him all our iniquity, 
 
 — He shall see of the travail of His soul 
 
 And shall be satisfied.^ 
 
 "—AH faded.— Then 
 That sweetest rest stole o'er me as when one 
 Still sleeping, dreams, yet knows the dawn has come 
 And the dark night is past, yet will not ope 
 Eyes yet awhile, so sweet the blissful sense 
 Of slumberous peace; — and through the conscious 
 
 rest. 
 There came, like song of first awakened bird, 
 The Seer's voice of the vision, — at the first. 
 Tender and low, but swelling ere the close 
 To raptured triumph, — ' Unto us a Child 
 Is born, and unto us a Son is given. 
 His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 
 The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 
 The Prince of Peace ^ 
 
 " — Then I awoke, and lo, 
 In the dusk shadow of the vines and eve's 
 Soft twilight stood the Shining One ; — 
 — Thou know'st the rest — He spake and my heart 
 burned 
 
i64 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Within me at his words till I could say 
 
 Nought save, ' Behold the handmaid of the Lord, 
 
 Be it to me according to thy word.' 
 
 " — But then the trial came ; — 'twas this they meant, 
 Those words he said about a piercing sword, 
 — What could they mean else ? 
 
 " — Ay, I thought my heart * 
 Would break, for thine seemed broken; — though so 
 
 kind 
 And pitying of my youth, yet wouldst not trust 
 Or list my tale, but put it gently by 
 With dry sad eyes, and pale firm lips, that shed 
 No tear, nor uttered one reproachful word ; — 
 Yet seemed as twenty years had aged thee, since 
 That Sabbath morn we walked homeward across 
 The flowery hills, after the synagogue. 
 
 " — My heart felt breaking ; — ah, how could I bear 
 The grand gray head bowed down with shame for 
 
 me? 
 — Yet how could it be otherwise ? Thou deem'dst 
 Her whom thou call'dst thy milk-white dove defiled, — 
 Ah, and thou wouldst not hear ! — How couldst thou ? — 
 
 Thou 
 Saw'st not the Shining One beneath the vines, 
 Nor heard'st the Truth of that great Voice, that bowed 
 My soul beside the well. — And yet, — methinks, — 
 
 Had it been thou, — I had 
 
 " —Ah, but God saw ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 He would not let our hearts break. Bless His name ! 
 — He knew the bitter pain that eve I said 
 ' Farewell ' upon the hill, — and sickly turned 
 Away in the still dusk, deeming that ne'er 
 Mine eyes should look upon thy face again. 
 — He knew, as lead my heart weighed in my breast, 
 Journeying with the joyous company ^ 
 Who went up to the Feast, — across the hills 
 All glad with spring-time, and the plains aglow 
 With many-hufed flowers, — cheering the way 
 With chant and thankful psalm. Among them yet 
 Alone, — how lone my heart felt 'mid the mirth 
 And song, — filled with a grief they knew not, — ay, 
 And trembling hope, none save itself could know : 
 — For not the Feast my errand, — though I went, 
 And 'mid the crowd of offerers I stood 
 Within the Temple Courts, — half-deeming there 
 My dream might find fulfilment, — but all was 
 As erst. i 
 
 " — Silent, -I slipped from out the throng, 
 And all alone, — past the King's Gardens,^ — past 
 The Pools that water the Great City,'^ — on. 
 Where like a nest upon its hill-top lies 
 Juttah's small priestly town, * — and at the voice 
 Of old Elizabeth, my drooping hope 
 Rose up in solemn triumph and I sang, 
 ' My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
 My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.' 
 
 " — Despite its heart-break never more my soul 
 Lost that hushed rapture, all the days I stayed 
 
i66 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 With her in the Hill-country, till her babe, — 
 
 — The promise of my own, — was born. — The quiet, 
 
 Sweet days, tending the dumb old priest, — and all 
 
 The while the sense of awed expectant hope. 
 
 Solemn yet glad ; — till the fruition came. 
 
 And the gray priestly father found a voice 
 
 To name his new-born son ! 
 
 " — Nor failed that sense 
 Of solemn exaltation all the way 
 'Twixt Juttah and our Nazareth, as home 
 I took my solitary path, o'er hill 
 And plain basking in breathless summer. — E'en 
 When Nazareth was reached, scarcely I felt 
 The dread of altered faces, — e'en of thine 
 Grown cold and strange, — so, that glad solemn awe 
 Held my heart hushed. — I knew not — but God knew, — 
 — He would not let our hearts break. — Bless His name ! 
 To thee too He had sent a Shining One, 
 In dream by night to tell thee all the truth ! 
 — And we are wed ! — ^What care I for the world. 
 Its jeers or scorn ? — On thy true heart I rest. 
 It knows me true ! 
 
 " — Wast that the sword meant, that 
 Should pierce my heart ? — That sorrow and dread shame ? 
 — More sharp no two-edged sword. — Ay, that it was, — 
 What other could it be ? — Gladness all else 
 And triumph ! — Oh, my Babe, what else could be, 
 Save joy and singing round Thy blessfed feet, 
 Thou Promise of the Ages ? — Thou who com'st 
 Conquering and to conquer ? 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 167 
 
 " — Others may 
 Bend trembling o'er their babes with fearful hearts, 
 Lest Death's cold hand should pluck them, — never I, 
 — Mine bears a charmfed life. — No Herod's sword, 
 No fire or water, pestilence or plague. 
 Can harm one soft bright hair of Thy sweet head, 
 My Babe who comes to save ! — At whose glad birth. 
 E'en Heaven could not contain its joyful hosts 
 Who needs must break through, and from midnight 
 
 sky 
 Teach Earth its hallelujahs ! — Whom the stars 
 Must send their bright-eyed Herald to proclaim ; 
 — Whom Simeon and saintly Anna hailed 
 The Hope of their long waiting years, — the Hope 
 Of all the Ages ! — Nought save gladness ere 
 Can come with Thee, my Babe, my Saviour ! 
 
 "—Yet, 
 — I know it cannot be, — and yet my heart 
 Stands sudden still, as froze by deadly fear, — 
 — What could it mean ? — That lonely man, thorn-crowned 
 And patient, — and the Seer's words they read 
 That Sabbath in our synagogue ? 
 
 " — 'Tis strange, — 
 And foolish doubtless, — yet that dream comes back 
 Whene'er I speak the name the Shining One 
 Beneath the vines, bade call Him, — 'Jesus, — He 
 Shall save His people from their sins.^ — The goat 
 For Azazel does that,* — upon whose head 
 The High-priest, clad in pure white linen, lays 
 The people's sins on the Atonement Day ; — 
 — Whom then they pass, from hand to hand, — across 
 
i68 THE PURPOSE OF THE ACES 
 
 The Bridge, — outside the City, — on and on, — 
 Till from some peak in the lone wilderness 
 They push him, — and he falls, — and the flags wave 
 The news back to the Temple ! 
 
 " — How my heart 
 Stands still for terror ! — Yet, it cannot be." 
 
Ill 
 
 2u a 6 ep)(OiJ,evos ; fj erepov 7rpocrSoK5/Aev. 
 
 MaU. xi. 4. 
 
 Castle of Macherusi 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST 
 
 " A Voice that cried in the far wilderness,^ 
 ^Repent, the Kingdom is at hand !^ — No more, 
 Not He, — no, nor EUas, — but a Voice 
 Crying from out the wilderness, ' Prepare 
 His way, — and in the desert make ye straight 
 A highway for our God.' 
 
 " — The rugged cliffs 
 Of Kedron rang again unto my cry 
 That startled the wild eagle from her nest. 
 To hover screaming in mid-air above 
 The naked rocks, that hem the torrent's bed 
 Where stood the solitary man whose voice 
 Frighted the Desert, — and whose echoes borne 
 On many-wingfed winds, startled afar 
 The sleeping Capital.— 
 
 " — A lonely man, — 
 With long black tangled Nazarite locks unshorn,' 
 
170 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 And hermit's garb of the rough camel's hair, 
 Leaving the brown limbs bare, that sun and wind 
 And rain had known from their strange boyhood. 
 
 Still I can see it, how the agfed eyes 
 
 Brimmed full with tears, — the eyes I loved so well,- 
 
 That day my father laid his trembling hand 
 
 In priestly blessing on my head, and I 
 
 Kissed once my mother's wrinkled cheek and went, 
 
 " I thought my heart would break as I looked back 
 From the last turn upon the mountain-road 
 Whence I could see the little hamlet's roofs * 
 Nestling upon its hill-side, and the two 
 Bent figures standing still before our door, 
 Watching me go, — their Child of Promise, — yet 
 I could not stay ! — More strong than father's hand 
 Upon my head, or saintly mother's tear 
 Still wet upon my cheek, and all home's pious 
 And simple charities tugging my heart, — 
 That inner Voice that urged,- — I knew not whither. 
 — Too strait the nest for their wild fledgling born 
 For lofty flight and lonely destinies. 
 
 " The wild fox knew me, and the coney grew 
 Familiar with the springy tread that passed 
 So oft its hole's mouth that it ceased to fear ; — 
 The ravens hovered round me as I ate 
 The scanty meal of captured locusts, or 
 The wild bee's store from crevice of the rock. 
 Or stooped to drink of the fresh sparkling rill ; — 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES i 
 
 And the night-owl scarce blinked her bright-round eyes 
 That watched me pass, in the still twilight's dusk, 
 Seeking my bed in some cliff's hollow breast ; — 
 — My dwelling the free wilderness, — my life 
 Lone musings 'mid its solitudes. 
 
 " — Yet not 
 Alone in Nature's fastnesses my task 
 Was conned. — The keen-eyed money-changer caught 
 A glimpse of camel's hair, beside his stall. 
 As in the Temple Courts in the Bazaar ^ 
 Of Annas' sons, I watched the tricky craft 
 That won unlawful gains on foreign coin 
 From simple country folk ;— and he who sold 
 The women's pair of doves for sacrifice 
 At golden denar, — 'neath the fiery eyes 
 Of the rough Desert's Son shifted uneasy. 
 — Upon the Terrace where the doctors taught ^ 
 On Feast-days, — half outside the scholar group, — 
 I stood, a silent listener, while they told 
 How by numeric value to supply ^ 
 A quite new meaning to the Written Word ; — 
 — The Roman soldiers in Antonia's Tower,^ 
 Were 'ware of a rough figure hovering round. 
 What time they threw and wrangled o'er the dice. 
 Boasting of yester-eve's exploits that won 
 By violence, in the very market-place. 
 The old Jew's scrip. 
 
 " — In the gay theatre,' 
 An uncouth presence, 'mid the courtly guests 
 (Who turned to gaze and titter), watched the mimes 
 
172 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Play Aphrodite's and Adonis' loves, 
 Exploits of Ganymede or Leda. — ^Where^" 
 The amphitheatre's vast circle rose 
 Upon the plain, when slaves wrestled with beasts, 
 And naked gladiators fought and fell. 
 Without a groan, in seas of their own blood, 
 While ladies clapped their jewelled hands to bid 
 The victor strike the death-blow, — there too stood 
 The Desert's sad-eyed Son. 
 
 " — Within the porch 
 Of Herod's palace, when the jest went round 
 How Philip's haughty wife preferred a King ^' 
 With whom to queen it in Jerusalem, 
 And Antipas' proud Arab bride had fled 
 To this stern fortress by the Cursfed Sea, — 
 — Not mine the first groans that these gloomy walls 
 Have smothered into silence, — I was there. 
 
 "At the street corner when the prayer-hour toUed,^^ 
 
 I heard the broad-fringed Pharisee's long prayer. 
 
 Then followed where he tithed at widow's booth 
 
 The anise and the cummin,^^ yet forbore 
 
 One finger's help to lift her mighty load, 
 
 Or put one crust within the hungry mouths 
 
 That cried to her for bread. — The flippant scoff" ^* 
 
 Of the rich Sadducee, reclined at meat 
 
 In his gay gilded halls, — ^lingering without, — 
 
 I heard ; — and with each sight I saw, 
 
 — Each chance-caught word, — my God-given mission 
 
 pressed 
 More lead-like on my heart. — '■Prepare His way,' 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — 'Twas so my mother taught the angel said 
 
 Of the babe yet unborn. — But how ? — ' Prepare 
 
 A people ready for the Lord.' — This people, 
 
 In all uncleanness, cruelty, and greed. 
 
 Craft and hypocrisy, thus double-dyed ? 
 
 — How make of such, a people for the Lord ? 
 
 "—Back to the Desert. At their feast of herbs'^^ 
 The white-robed Essenes marked me hovering near. 
 Yet would not speak lest it should file their robes ! 
 — How shall such cleanse the world ? 
 
 " — Alone, then, I 
 Must bear the burden of my mission. — All 
 Alone in the great wilderness ! — Till.each 
 O'erhanging cliff of rugged limestone, — each 
 Worn torrent's bed, — and every stunted tree 
 And thorny shrub, — ^jackal's hoarse cry, or raven's, — 
 The rumble of the thunder 'mid the hills, — 
 — ^AIl seemed to utter but one word ' Repent,' 
 Till I was fain with my poor human voice 
 To echo what the Wilderness would speak 
 To ears fast closed, 'Repent/ The Kingdom is 
 At hand/' — Only the Desert's Voice that cried 
 To men who would not hear ! 
 
 " — His Desert's Voice ! 
 Then His ! — Only a Voice ! — I knew myself 
 No more, — to sound and pass away, — content 
 So ' in the wilderness there were made straight 
 A pathway for our God ' — I knew Him not ! — 
 — Ah ! do I know Him now ? — 
 
174 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 "—The Desert's Voice, 
 My voice made audible, — cried not in vain ; 
 — From near and far, the people flocked to hear. 
 And in the Jordan's cleansing wave anew 
 To vow a cleansfed life. — And One came too, 
 One I had known from childhood, — Mary's Son, — 
 O'er whose pure head from infancy, meseemed. 
 White angels spread their wings, — our cousin's Child, 
 And his, the good old man, the carpenter 
 Of Nazareth. 
 
 " — Ah, I remember how 
 Long since, ere yet the Desert claimed me as 
 Her own, my mother's eyes seemed ever fixed 
 Upon the Boy and could not turn away, 
 When our sweet cousin brought Him to the Feast ; 
 — 'Tis as a dream long past. — 
 
 " — And He came too, 
 — No word my mother spake, — I knew Him not, 
 And yet, — somewhat withheld my hand. — Defiled, 
 How dare I wash the Undefiled? — Yet spell 
 So potent was that gentle majesty 
 I did it at His word ! — Then came the sign, — 
 The Dove that rested, and the Voice from out 
 The opened Heavens ! — How plain all seemed ! How 
 
 blind 
 Mine eyes holden so long ! — My mother's words, 
 — Cautious and veiled, — shone clear as day at last. 
 ' A Babe whose name shall be called Jesus^ — His 
 The very name ! — Her eyes that followed Him, 
 As worshipping, — His white-wing-guarded head ! — 
 As in a lightning's flash I saw it all ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 175 
 
 Himself, indeed ; — the latchet of whose shoes 
 I might not loose ! — And ere the bright, brief gleam 
 Had faded, sight found speech, — ' Behold, the Lamb 
 Of God who takes away the sin of the world.' 
 
 " Ah ! solemn joy and triumph filled my soul ! 
 Here was my Life's fulfilment, — He was come 
 Whose right it is to reign, — my task was done. — 
 How gladly would I follow His blest steps 
 Conquering and to conquer, — I, who made 
 Straight in the wilderness a pathway for 
 Our God !— 
 
 "And yet, — and yet,— can it be all 
 A dream, fantasy, and delusion, wrought 
 By over-burdened fancy ? — For He lives. 
 And yet I languish in this prison-house, 
 — The captive of a bloody tyrant's lust, 
 Victim most like of a vile woman's hate. — 
 
 " Men say He works great marvels, — raised the Dead, — 
 
 If it be He, — the Conqueror, — ^why sends 
 
 He not to ope these gloomy doors ? — Cannot ? 
 
 Ah ! then it is not He ! — Surely no less 
 
 Could it be that He wills not ! — Comes He not 
 
 To reign in righteousness ? 
 
 "—Glad had I died 
 So that Kingdom might come ;-^but, thus forgot ! — 
 
 " — But hark ! The bolts are drawn,— the rusty key 
 Grates in the lock. — The messengers I sent ! 
 
176 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — Now shall I know in very surety, — nay, 
 Mayhap they bring deliverance ! " 
 
 (Enter two Disciples.) 
 
 " — ^Well come. 
 Tried friends and true ! and have ye seen Him ? — Doth 
 He come to save ? — Tell me His very words." 
 
 " Dear Master, in good sooth, the Rabbi spake 
 No words like these. — A moment first He paused 
 When we had given thy message, and there shone. 
 As shadow of a tear within His eye. 
 Then bade us bide that day by Him and rest 
 Ere we retook our journey. — Much wondering 
 We stayed. 
 
 " — A day of marvels truly ! — 'Twas 
 Where Jordan's valley meets the Harp-like Sea ^^ 
 We met the Master, with the gladsome throng, 
 That ever round His steps rejoice and say 
 The Lord hath visited His people. — Blue 
 As Heaven's blue eye, the lovely lake lay 'mid 
 Its circling hills. The fishing-boats' white sails, — 
 The palms and oleanders on its bank, — 
 Tiberia's stately towers and Gadara's 
 Steep slopes, — and the great shadows of the hills. 
 Tree-crowned with cedar and with olive, — all 
 Mirrored in its deep breast ; — while, nestling 'mid 
 Their vines and myrtle groves, — Capernaum, 
 Chorazin, and Bethsaida — where the beach 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 17; 
 
 Lies like a silver strand, — and all the rest, 
 Gleamed white from out the many-hufed green. 
 
 " — A joyous throng they moved, and left behind ^'' 
 
 Rejoicing in their footsteps ; from each town 
 
 And hamlet on the wayside as He came, 
 
 Halt — totteringly upheld on friendly arm ; 
 
 Palsied — on couch ; blind — led by little child ; 
 
 Demoniac — in the grasp of strong men held ; 
 
 Lepers — with dust upon their heads, who stood 
 
 Crying afar, ' unclean,' — crowded around. 
 
 — One word and they were whole, — and turned to 
 
 swell 
 The throng that round the Master's steps sing aye 
 ' Hosanna ! ' 
 
 " — So the morn wore on, and when 
 The day waxed hot and still at noontide. He 
 Sat Him within a fisher's boat and taught. 
 Beneath the shade of the white sail that flapped 
 Lazily overhead ; — while on the shore. 
 The mighty multitude, stood 'neath the palms, 
 To hearken words that fell soft on the heart 
 With peace like peace of Heaven. — Then, when the 
 
 cool 
 Of eve began to fall, — while yet the throng 
 Clustered about Him,^ — suddenly He turned 
 To us and spake, — and in His eye once more 
 We seemed to catch the shadow of a tear. — 
 — ' Go tell John what ye see. Blind see, lame walk, \ 
 The lepers cleansed, devils cast out, the dead 
 
 N 
 
178 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Raised up, and to the poor glad tidings preached, 
 — And blessfed he offended not in me.' " 
 
 He bowed his head, — the Desert's mighty Son. — 
 — Patience, great prisoned Eagle, for the time 
 Of thy release is near, — even at the door ! 
 
IV 
 
 iSov yap, rj fiacriXeia rov deov Ivtos vf^tav kcrriv. 
 
 Luke xvii. 21. 
 
 A Booth on a Roof-top in Jerusalem,^ 
 The last Evening of the Feast of Tabernacles 
 
 NICODEMUS 
 
 " A Pharisee — son of a Pharisee,^ — 
 
 Of Abraham's seed, — ^the eighth day circumcised, — 
 
 Taught as a suckling in my mother's arms 
 
 With tiny hand to touch the Mesusah ^ 
 
 Upon our door-post with the Holy Name, 
 
 — Then reverent kiss the little finger-tips, — 
 
 To lisp the Shema with first faltering speech, — 
 
 And three times daily, at her knee to plead. 
 
 That guardian word of promise all mine own 
 
 Held in the Hebrew letters of my name. 
 
 — Each day, from five years old, by father taught 
 
 The Thorah, — his most sacred task. — Well I 
 
 Rejnember, how if chance or work delayed 
 
 A while the morning meal, when the hour struck. 
 
l8o THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Ever he rose from the scarce tasted food, 
 Nor broke his fast till all that lesson given. 
 
 " Within the synagogue and in the grove, 
 
 Sitting in semi-circle on the ground, 
 
 — A boy among my mates, — ' Mine eyes beheld 
 
 My teacher,' — heard, in long-drawn monotone, 
 
 — His scholars following, — the Chazzin chant, 
 
 ^He, 'mid the babble, with a practised ear 
 
 Marking each ill-accented word, — the Books 
 
 Of Moses and the Prophets, — Misnah too. 
 
 And Hagiographa, — until as seared 
 
 By steel red-hot, on Memory's tablet burned 
 
 Each letter of the Law. 
 
 " — Three-score and ten 
 The times I've seen these booths of goodly trees, 
 — Palm-boughs and willows of the brook, — on roof 
 And square and market-place, make all the town 
 One bower, since that Feast long ago when first 
 My mother brought her two-year boy to see 
 ' The Joy of Pouring out of Water,' * — when 
 The Men of Deed and Chassidim dance in 
 The Temple, — flaming torch in hand, — and sing 
 Before the people ; and the Levites stand 
 Upon the fifteen steps, and to the sound 
 Of harp and lute, cymbal and trumpet, chant 
 Fifteen Songs of Degrees ; — while the great light 
 Of the four golden candlesticks, that shines 
 From out the Women's Court, illuminates 
 The night. 
 
 " — Ay, three-score years I have not missed 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES i 
 
 A Feast since my first Passover,' — not once 
 Unclean by reason of the Dead.— And now 
 Teharoth of the fourth degree ; ^ — no tithe 
 Of anise or of cummin ere forgot ; 
 Never the guest of unlearned country-folk ; 
 No chaber's robe e'en touched of less degree ; 
 From youth up making ' hedge about the Law ' ^ 
 Lest its least jot or tittle should be broke ; — 
 Grown old with honour on the hoary head ; 
 Third of the Sanhedrin.^ — And yet He said, — 
 That night, — a year since at last Passover, — 
 — When the one lamp from the Alijah,^ where 
 He lodged upon the roof, burned deep into 
 The night, — and, wrapping darkness round me as 
 A cloak, I climbed the outside stair, and spoke 
 With Him ; — as to a heathen proselyte ^^ 
 Yet unbaptized, — ' Except a man be born 
 Anew he cannot see God's Kingdom ! ' — /, 
 Within God's Kingdom born, and bred within ! 
 
 " — As a ' young child just born,' in sooth is he. 
 
 The stranger who seeks shelter 'neath the wings 
 
 Of the Shechinah, — his past, his no more. 
 
 His old life,— country, — home, — friends, — habits, — all 
 
 Buried in baptism, he, citizen 
 
 JQ'ew-born of a new Kingdom, Israel's God 
 
 Its King. — But // — what could the Rabbi mean ? 
 
 " — A night of gusty Spring-time, — as we talked 
 In that still upper room, sudden He paused 
 
1 82 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 And seemed to listen, as the night-wind sighed 
 Around the sleeping town. — ' Ye hear it,' — so 
 He said, reading the wonder in my thoughts, — 
 ' Yet canst not tell whence comes it, whither goes. 
 — Answering the thronging questions in mine eyes, 
 'Twas as He said. — ' It is, in very deed, 
 And yet ye see it not, this Kingdom, — none 
 May mark its bounds by mountain, stream, or sea,- 
 No badge of nation wear its citizens j — 
 — As where it lists the wind blows, so is he 
 Born of the Spirit.' — Other Kingdom, then, 
 Than this of Israel. 
 
 " — Yet how can these 
 Things be ? — Did not the Holy choose Abraham 
 Our father ; — made He not His covenant 
 With him and with his seed for ever ? — Gave 
 He not to us, the Living Oracles, 
 By Moses and the Prophets ? — Wear we not 
 His Holy Law bound on our foreheads, yea. 
 Next to our heart ? — Shall He not set His King, 
 According to His word, upon our Hill 
 Of Zion ? — What new Kingdom this of God 
 No man may see, wherein the Rabbi said. 
 We, — Abraham's true seed, grown old within 
 God's Kingdom, — must become as babes new-born ? 
 
 " — To-day, within the Temple, when the Priest, 
 T— On this the last, the great day of the Feast, — 
 Had brought his golden pitcher back, filled from 
 Siloam's pool, and poured its water down 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES li 
 
 The silver funnel to the altar's base, 
 
 And seven times round the priests, circling had sung ;— 
 
 As the great Hallel's grand notes died away 
 
 In that last chant, ' Work now Salvation, Lord, 
 
 O Lord send now prosperity^ — and all 
 
 The people shook their palm and willow boughs 
 
 Towards the Holy Place, — He stood and cried 
 
 ' If any thirst come unto Me and drink.' 
 
 — This ' Pouring out of Water ' at the Feast, 
 
 With all the joy and song, doth it not mean 
 
 God's Spirit poured upon the nations ? — ' Come 
 
 To Me and drink ! ' — Himself the Fountain then. 
 
 — ' Of Water horn and of the Spirit^ — so 
 
 He said that night He spake with me. — 
 
 '"—When Christ 
 Shall come, will He do more signs than this man 
 Hath done?' — So ran the murmured talk among 
 The people in the Temple Courts as I 
 Passed through. — Yea, some there were that said — ' Do 
 
 then. 
 The Rulers know this is the very Christ ?' — 
 Ay, and the messengers the chief-priests sent 
 To take Him brought Him not. — ' Never man spake 
 Like this man,' — sole excuse ! 
 
 " — He saith He is 
 The Sent of God — His words. His works, not His, 
 But His that sent Him. — ^Yet we know God spake 
 By Moses ; can He speak by this man too ? 
 — Doth He not break the Law wherein we trust ? 
 
i84 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — Taketh no heed though with unwashen hands 
 His followers eat, — nay, as I heard, sits down 
 To meat with publicans and sinners ! — E'en 
 Here in Jerusalem, as all men know, 
 Did He not by the angel-troubled pool. 
 Heal, — ay, and bid the healed to bear his couch 
 Home on the Sabbath ! And to question asked, 
 — ^ My Father worketh and I work,' — He said, 
 'Nought of Himself the Son doth, what He sees 
 The Father do, so doth the Son.' 
 
 " —Did not 
 The Holy on the seventh day rest, as saith 
 The Scriptures ? — Did the Law He gave, amid 
 Mount Sinai's thunders, not command ' Six days 
 Thou shalt do all thy work, and on the seventh 
 Thou and thy house shall rest ? ' — Did Moses not 
 Stone him without the camp who gathered sticks ? 
 — And this man saith God is His Father, ' As 
 He sees the Father do, so doth the Son,' 
 — Yet breaks His very Law on Sinai given ! 
 
 " — Yet was I told by one from Galilee, 
 Teaching the people there, he heard Him say 
 ' Till Heaven and Earth shall pass, no jot shall pass 
 From out the Law till all shall be fulfilled, — ■ 
 — Not to destroy the Law and Prophets am 
 I come — but to fulfil.' 
 
 " What can it mean ? 
 — I would I knew — and those strange words He said 
 ' As Moses lifted up the serpent in 
 The wilderness, so must the Son of Man 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 185 
 
 Be lifted up.' — Who is this Son of Man ? 
 
 — Meseemed what time He said it 'twas Himself 
 
 He meant. — 
 
 " I would I had said more, — or less, 
 To-day unto the Sanhedrin, — they seek 
 To kill Him, — though they say not so, I see 
 It in their eyes, — ay, and He sees it too, 
 Told them so plainly; — '■Doth our Law judge ere 
 It hear,' was all I said, — yet 'twas enough 
 To make them doubt me, — ^look askance henceforth 
 Should I dare speak a word to shield Him, — won 
 The taunt ' Art thou of Galilee ? ' 
 
 "Would I 
 Had held my peace ! — And yet I could not, though 
 It did no good ! — 
 
 " I watched Him, as they went. 
 After the Feast, each man to his own home. 
 — Scathless He passed down through the Sushan gate. 
 O'er the arched roadway, where the priests lead forth, 
 On the Great Day, the goat for Azazel, 
 — Until I lost Him in the deepening dusk 
 'Neath the gray olives' shade. 
 
 " Now, one by one,^^ 
 The Booths' green leafage is laid low, on roof 
 And street, — the Bower fades to a Town. — The Feast 
 Is all but ended with its joy and song, — 
 
1 86 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 To-morrow is the Octave. — See they come 
 To move mine too ; — I must within. 
 
 " — They must not take 
 Him. — What if it be He who is to come ? " 
 
V 
 
 avTrj Se kniv r) Kpicris, Stl to ^5s tX'iqX.vOev ets tov Kocrfwv, 
 Kal ■qyoTrrjcrav oi avdpuyjroi (ji,aXX.ov to 0"Kotos rj to (j>(as ^v 
 yap irovtjpa a^TWV to 'ipya. — -J^oAn iii. 19. 
 
 House of Simon the' Leper 
 Bethany 
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT 
 
 " Three hundred pence ! — What means this waste ? ^ 
 
 Spikenard, 
 The costUest, and poured upon His feet ! — 
 Not e'en the rare rose alabaster box, 
 That might have sold for somewhat, saved ! — Lost too ! 
 — Reckless she brake it as she poured the nard, 
 Filled all the chamber with a perfume worth 
 Its weight of gold ! 
 
 " — What could the woman mean ? 
 — Ever before the women's offerings, 
 Who bring Him of their substance, came to me 
 To put into the common bag, — or sell, 
 Were the gifts jewels or raiment, as so oft. — 
 
1 88 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — Nay, better sold and given it to the poor 
 Than this sheer waste ! — Evaporate in air, 
 Three hundred pence ! 
 
 " — And He, — He found no fault ! 
 — Looked at her kindly with soft kindling eyes 
 And said, ' She did it for my burial.' 
 His burial ! That is the end, then ! — Oft 
 Of late He speaks so, — nay, e'en talks of death 
 Of shame, — crucified like a common thief ! 
 And soon, — here and now in Jerusalem ! — 
 Where is His Kingdom then ? 
 
 " — Was it for this 
 He chose us on the mountain ? Gave us power 
 To heal and cast out devils in His name ? 
 Ah ! then He seemed the Coming King indeed, 
 When joyful crowds thronged round Him and He fed 
 Thousands upon the grassy hill-sides with 
 A word ; — and round His every step, awoke 
 Triumph and glory as the people sang 
 ' Hosanna to the Son of David.' 
 
 "—This 
 The end ! — A King and crucified ! — He said 
 The very word but two days since upon 
 The way we journeyed hither -^ — He knows too, — 
 No word of His e'er fails. — To come to this ! 
 
 " — My heart misgave me first that day He slank 
 
 Out of the joyous crowd His power had fed, 
 
 Who hailed Him King. — That day His chance was lost ! — 
 
 — The Zealots would have rallied to a man 
 
 Round Him in Galilee's hill-fastnesses, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES il 
 
 The Patriots here but waited for a word. 
 
 — Judas the Maccabee ne'er had one half ^ 
 
 His chance ; — but He lost, slighted all ! — From that 
 
 Day forth many went back and walked with Him 
 
 No more. He saw it too, — turned Him to us and said 
 
 In those soft thrilling tones that make men fools 
 
 Where'er He goes, ' Will ye too go away ? ' 
 
 And that hot-headed prater, Simon, He 
 
 Calls Peter, out with word for all, as is 
 
 His wont, — ' To whom, Lord, can we go but Thee, 
 
 Thou hast the words of everlasting life.' 
 
 — I said nought, but the fire burned fierce within. 
 
 " — Words? — what are words? — Will any 'words' s( 
 
 crown 
 Upon a brow too coward to lift the one 
 Laid at His feet ? — He saw my thought too, though 
 He said it not, — nay, looked upon the ground 
 Lest any read His thought too in His eyes. — 
 — Full well I knew whom He meant when He said, 
 ' One of you is a devil,' — A devil! — 
 Ay, I have not forgot ! 
 
 " — Still He spake aye 
 About His Kingdom, yet would not be King ! 
 — Would not — for what is there He could not, — He 
 Who calls the dead out of their graves ? — He wills 
 To die else who cduld slay ? — No thought of us, 
 Who, counting on His Kingdom that should come, 
 Followed His toilsome wanderings day by day, 
 — Left all to follow Him these three lost years, — 
 For what ? — 
 
190 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 " — Three hundred pence ! — Not one denar 
 I handled in the bag, — and He approved ! 
 — Stay, — let me think, — meseems I see a way 
 To make the loss up ; — He saith He must die. 
 Nay, wills it, — what if I should help His will ? 
 Hasten the coming of His Kingdom, not 
 Of this World, He so prates about, — and I 
 So loathe ! — Not as I loathe Himself though, — He 
 Who called me devil, — I have not forgot, — 
 Who ever seems to put me in the wrong. 
 Looking me through with calm condemning eyes 
 That scorn my hopes, make vain my very life, 
 — Nay, will not spare me e'en the paltry gains 
 I count at least my own, but placid sees 
 Three hundred penn'worth scent the empty air 
 That should have filled my bag !^I hate Him — yes, 
 I hate Him, — yet 'tis love, not hate, to help 
 Him to His will ! 
 
 " ^So will I love Him then — 
 Yea, I will seal my love too with a kiss ! " 
 
 The Sabbath Feast is ended, and the guests ^ 
 
 In Simon's house have parted to their rest. 
 
 While the rich spikenard's perfume lingers yet 
 
 In empty guest-chamber, and stealing out 
 
 Through trellised court embalms the Spring-tide night. 
 
 Over the silent house the watchful stars 
 
 Shine, bright-eyed ministrants, and like white wings 
 
 The moonlight folds around it, where, within. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 191 
 
 'Mid throbbing hearts o'erbrimmed with grateful love, 
 The Master lies ; — hers, of the willing hands 
 That ne'er could serve enough ; — his, to whose heart 
 That dear-loved voice had pierced Death's dreamless 
 
 silence ; — 
 Hers, too, whose treasured spikenard seemed a gift 
 How all too poor an incense for His feet ! — 
 All, — hushed in deep repose, as through the still 
 Verandah, — creeper-wreathed and fragrant yet 
 With that rare offering, — The Traitor steals, 
 A black blot in the night's soft lustrous peace. 
 
 Dark in the distance rise Moab's outlined hills 
 Beyond the Dead Sea, whose bitumined wave 
 Shines as bright angel-pathway 'neath the moon ; 
 And the sweet scent of cedar, and of flowers 
 That breathe their souls out on the dewy air. 
 Make rich the night ; — as down the flinty path, 
 Under the olives' chequered shade, he steals 
 Beneath the moon, — like skulking jackal or 
 Hyena with the lurid flame of hell 
 In their red eyes ; — onward across the Mount, 
 And o'er the Kedron, till the tunnelled way * 
 Into the City closes him in gloom 
 Who loves the Darkness rather than the Light. 
 
 " — Yes, — they are there still ! — Lo, the lamps yet burn 
 Within the High-priest's palace on the slope ^ 
 Of Zion's Hill !— Right then my guess that they 
 Would meet, soon as the Sabbath's rest was o'er, . 
 
192 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 In secret council how to take. — I feared 
 
 I was too late, — but they are late as I ! 
 
 — Ay, they will give me gold ! — Three hundred pence 
 
 Mayhap, — all that fool's offering lost my bag ; — 
 
 — 'Tis but the first step costs us after all ! " 
 
 The smoke of morning sacrifice has risen, 
 
 Mingled with incense, o'er the Temple Courts, 
 
 On the clear Spring-tide dawn, «where yester-eve, 
 
 By hundred thousands Paschal lambs have bled,^ 
 
 And the Chagigah, Israel's peace-offering,^ 
 
 Still lies bleeding on the great altar, this 
 
 First day of Unleavened Bread; — when, through the 
 
 throng 
 Of worshippers who wait their turn to bring 
 Their " Sacrifice of Joyfulness," — there bursts 
 A haggard man, — despair in the white lips 
 And wUd and blood-shot eyes, — to where, apart, 
 Heedless of sacrifice or worshipper, stand wrapt 
 In deep discourse, a reverent group, chief-priest. 
 And scribe, and Sanhedrist. 
 
 — Without, the shout ^ 
 Of a great multitude, — hoarse voices raised 
 In execration, — tramp of many feet, — 
 Come borne upon the wind. — E'en offering priests 
 Pause for a moment, and the waiting crowd 
 Stand still to hear, as with shrill shriek, — " Condemned" — 
 The Traitor grovels at the elder's feet. 
 In a hoarse whisper hissing, — " I have sinned 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 In that I have betrayed innocent blood ! " — 
 
 Coldly, the haughty Sanhedrists turn from 
 
 The stricken wretch, with brief cruel answer, — " What 
 
 Is that to us, see thou to that ! " — And shrill 
 
 A cry, made sharp by agony, rings through 
 
 The Temple Courts, — as on the marble floor 
 
 The " thirty pieces " dashed by desperate hand 
 
 Roll towards the veiled Sanctuary, — and through 
 
 The astonied worshippers, the white, drawn face, 
 
 And wild despairing eyes a moment flash 
 
 And vanish ! — 
 
 — Down the deep defile,^ — each step 
 A stumble in the sudden dark that frights 
 The noon, — towards Hinnom's haunted vale, reckless 
 He plunges as by' Furies driven, — alone 
 In that strange gloom. — Can't be that outer Dark 
 Whereof He spake ? 
 
 — Once, as by lurid flash. 
 Three Crosses gleam 'gainst blackest Heaven, upon 
 The Place of Skulls, for one dread moment, — then 
 Night swallows them once more ! — 
 
 — The solid earth 
 Seems rocking 'neath his feet, as faster aye 
 And faster on he stumbles, — Devil-driven ! — 
 — Through the dark hollow, — up the cold clay slope 
 Where ragged rocks jut through the dismal soil, — 
 To where one stunted, lightning-blasted tree 
 With gaunt bare limbs o'erhangs the precipice ! — 
 
 o 
 
194 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 — A hasty noose, tied by uncertain hands ; — 
 A rotten branch that snaps beneath the weight j- 
 A plunge into the darkness ; — and through rent 
 And riven frame lost in the black abyss,^ — 
 The shivering ghost goes out into the night. ■ 
 
VI 
 
 dejxbiVTai at afiapTiai a^T)js at TToXXai. 
 OTt ij-yajTijtre ttoXv. — Luke vii. 47. 
 
 Mount of Olives near Bethany 
 MARY MAGDALENE 
 
 " The first to me ! — To me, vilest of all, 
 Sinner of seven-fold dye ! — And yet, 'tis just 
 Himself ! — Just the meet outcome of the first 
 Dear words ever He spake to me — ' To whom 
 Much is forgiven the same loves much. Her sins 
 Which are so many,' — ay, He ne'er blinked that, 
 — How heal unless He bared the festering sore ? — 
 As true as tender, — ' are forgiven because 
 She loveth much.' 
 
 " — Thou saw'st my heart, dear Lord, 
 And the Love in it, spite of all the shame ! — 
 — The shame — and what shame ! — As I crept that eve 
 Through the verandah and the open doors 
 Of Simon's guest-chamber, that looked out o'er 
 
196 THE PURPOSE OF THE ACES 
 
 The blue bright waters of Gennesaret ^ 
 Sparkling beneath the sunset ; — stood behind 
 The cushion where He lay reclined at meat ; 
 — While the cool evening breeze from off the Lake 
 Refreshed His weary brow, and stirred the locks 
 Of auburn hair, damp with day's travail ; — saw 
 The unwashed feet, — whose every step to some 
 Sad heart brought gladness, — hang, all dusty from 
 The toilsome road, wearily o'er the couch ; — 
 Then first I knew what was the shame ! 
 
 " —Not what 
 He said, b.ut what He was, showed me.— How meet 
 Those clear pure eyes searching my heart, — that cage 
 Where all foul lusts and devils rioted 
 At will ? — Lower and lower sank my head 
 Over those blessfed feet. — Simon had spurned 
 I knew, but when the Master took no heed, 
 Somehow — he knew not why — he dared not ; — they 
 Who served gathered their skirts about them as 
 They passed ; — and I, — started like guilty thing, 
 As the first tear, unbidden, rolling down 
 Fell on His feet ! — I had brought ointment, — thought. 
 Breaking its alabaster box, to pour 
 Its fragrance over them all undefiled 
 By touch of mine ; — ne'er meant tears from such eyes 
 As mine soil foot of His ! — He moved not, spake 
 No word of scorn ! — 'Twas then the flood-gates oped, 
 Like crimson tide of welling heart's-blood from 
 A riven heart, resistless they poured on, 
 Washing the dust away, till I was fain 
 For very shame to wipe them with my hair ! — 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 197 
 
 — And, grown bold unreproved, these sinful lips 
 E'en dared to kiss His feet ! 
 
 " — How cool my heart 
 Felt ! — All its burning load passed from it in 
 Those blessfed drops, — the first mine eyes had known 
 How many a sin and sorrow blighted year ! — 
 That bathed His feet. — Even before He spake, 
 I felt deep in my inmost soul that I 
 Was healed. 
 
 " — It was the Love that did it. — Ah, 
 Dear Lord, those eyes of Thine that searched my heart. 
 Did they not see, what Love had ruined nought 
 Save Love could save ? 
 
 " — For it was Love. — Through all 
 The shame of these bad years, I know that first * 
 
 That ruined, still was Love indeed. — True Love 
 And holy so. — All Love's self-sacrifice, 
 Throwing its all, — nay, more than mine, alas! God's too, — 
 Down at the loved one's feet. — All Love's deep bliss ; — 
 All outraged Love's despair. — Ay, it was Love, — 
 Love strong to save or ruin. — Mine ruined. — 
 
 " — Nay, who am /to blame? — Lips such as mine 
 Be mute in blame of others, — e'en of him ! 
 
 " — In my soul's desecrated shrine I sat, . 
 Dry-eyed and mute, beside my broken god, 
 — The fount of tears scorched up by that one belch 
 Of hell-fire that had laid it low.— 'T was then 
 
198 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 The seven Devils entered, — made within 
 ■ The desolated temple, their vile home, 
 Till it became a very vampire's den. 
 — Hatred was there ; — and bestial Lust ; — and Greed:'; — 
 And bitter Scorn of all, born of the wrong 
 Of one ; — cruel-eyed Revenge, that gloated o'er 
 Each fresh hfe ruined, of the race that had 
 Wrought mine ; — and scoffing Blasphemy, scornful 
 That sneered ' There is no God, since these things be ; ' — 
 And Pride, that only gloried and rejoiced. 
 When that foul Devil's-brew I mixed o'erbrimmed, 
 Outsinning all 1 — And yet, dear Lord, through all 
 The sorrow, shame, and sin. Thine eyes could pierce, 
 Where, — trampled 'neath the feet of dancing satyrs, 
 Within the ruined shrine. Love's corpse lay yet 
 Unburied ! — Thou couldst lay Thy lips upon 
 Her lips, so blue and wan, — Thine heart upon 
 Her pulseless heart, — could'st feel the scarce breathed 
 
 breath, — 
 Heart's last faint fluttering beat, — and know, — ' JVbt dead 
 Though left for dead,' and bid ' Arise ! ' 
 
 "—Was it 
 For this Thou earnest first to me out of 
 Thy grave ? — Because, — though I had seen Thee die, — 
 Yield up the ghost upon the shameful tree, — 
 Listed Thy last faint words, and that great cry 
 That ended all, — yea watched, without the dim ^ 
 Tomb's court, Joseph and Nicodemus wash 
 Thy wounds, — in spices and fine linen swathe, — 
 And lay Thee in the garden's rock-hewn tomb ; 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 199 
 
 — Ne'er in my heart's most inner depths could I 
 Believe Thee dead ; — Thou who hadst given to me 
 Life from the dead ? 
 
 " — Ah, not more dead, that head 
 That drooped so helpless over Joseph's arm, 
 — Those bleeding hands and feet that powerless fell 
 When the cruel nails were drawn, — that broken heart 
 Whence flowed water and blood, — than that same Love 
 Of mine, — Thy Love had quickened. — Could Thy Love, — 
 Thine the Life-giving, — be more dead to Love 
 Of mine ? — Not dead though buried, — somewhere it 
 Must live, — such Love could never die ! — 
 
 " — My heart 
 Knew it, — howe'er my eyes were blind with tears, — 
 — So blind they did not know Thee, that dim morn 
 In the still dewy garden, ere the cry 
 ' Barkai ad Chebron ' from the Temple's Tower 
 Awoke the silver trumpets to proclaim 
 A day new-born ! 
 
 " — I had brought myrrh and spices ; 
 — Full well I knew He had enough of both ; — 
 Had I not seen rich Nicodemus we 
 Scarce knew a friend, lay his great gift within 
 The tomb's dim court, wherein they dressed the Dead '' 
 Right royally for His burial ? — Yet I, 
 And Mary, and Salome, and the rest, 
 Must bring ours too ; — Love's last poor tribute ; — else 
 Our hearts had broke ! 
 
 " — How mine sank dead within 
 
 |3 
 
200 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Me when I saw the great stone rolled away, — 
 
 And left the others by the empty grave 
 
 To run for John and Peter ! — 'Twas too late 
 
 That last poor gift of Love then ! — Nevermore 
 
 Could I do aught for Him ! — Mayhap too He 
 
 Had known, — do not the Rabbis say, three days * 
 
 The ghost flits round its empty tenement ? 
 
 — Too late even for that, — the one sad hope * 
 
 Of that dread Sabbath's hours ! — My heart, — that still 
 
 Till then held somewhat it could do for Him, — 
 
 Seemed wholly empty now, — as empty as 
 
 His grave ! — They came and went ; — / lingered on 
 
 To weep. 
 
 " — Ay, eyes were blind with tears, — so blind 
 That e'en the vision of the Shining Ones, 
 — Who sat, one at the head, the other at 
 The feet, where the dear Lord had lain, making 
 Strange light in the grave's gloom, — or wondrous words 
 They said, ' He is arisen,' — could not pierce 
 To the tired brain, through the grief-blinded sense ; — 
 — But heart saw better, — knew it all in that 
 Brief word from the dear voice, so well-known yet 
 So strange, 'Mary,' — was at His feet once more 
 With its old joyous cry ' My Master ! ' 
 
 "—Now 
 It came, it scarce seemed strange, — my heart felt as 
 'T had known it all the while, though eyes were 
 
 blind!— 
 — Did He not say, ' Because / live, ye too 
 Shall live ? ' — Could / then live and He not live ? 
 Impossible ! 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 201 
 
 " — How thoughts come thronging now 
 Of all He said that should have made us know, 
 — Spared us that Sabbath with its swoon of gloom, 
 While He lay in the tomb j — so clear all now. 
 Seen in the light of that glad first day's dawn ! 
 — But then I could not think — could only weep, — 
 Though deep down in my heart somewhat there was 
 E'en then that whispered, that it could not be ! 
 
 " — And now I knew it ! — He Himself was here. 
 
 In that dim dawn, beside me as of old, 
 
 I — in my place once more, low at His feet ! 
 
 — I would have held them, — ne'er to let them go, 
 
 In my glad haste, — covered with tears 
 
 And kisses as of yore, that first blest eve, 
 
 — But now too, as of yore. He read my heart, 
 
 Put my thought gently by. — He who ne'er failed 
 
 A hope He gave, — meet was it His first words 
 
 Should chase my fond delusion ! — ' Touch me not,' 
 
 He said, — ah. Blessed One, He said not that 
 
 Of yore ! — ' Not yet am I ascended to 
 
 My leather, but go tell my brethren, T 
 
 Ascend unto my Father and your Father, 
 
 Unto my God and yours.' 
 
 " — Only a glimpse 
 Then, — to assure, — not to abide ! — He knew 
 How our hearts clung about Him. — It was meet 
 He told us in that first glad hour, — else had 
 They broke again, — that He must go. — Knowing 
 We saw Him a brief moment's space but might 
 Not keep, a hushed and solemn gladness stilled 
 
202 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 And awed our hearts to silence, while He dwelt 
 With us these forty days, — to peace now He 
 Is gone. 
 
 " — For He is gone. — Here from this spot, 
 Upon the Mount He loved so well, we saw 
 Him rise with blessings on His lips. — ' Lo, I 
 Am with you always^ His last words, ' even 
 Unto the world's end,' — as the white cloud 
 Hid Him ; — still we stood gazing up ; — it passed,— 
 — But He was gone, — vanished in the Blue. 
 
 " Yonder is Bethany, nestling amid 
 
 Its olives on the slope,- — there the sweet home 
 
 Where she dwells, whom He let anoint Him for 
 
 His burying, — worthier her pure hands. — 
 
 — 'Twas meet, they who so loved saw Him ascend, 
 
 Yet 'twas to me He came first from His grave, — 
 
 — They loved, — but not as I, — Himself said so,— 
 
 ' He loveth m/>st to whom is most forgiven.' " 
 
VII 
 
 €yai ev avroT'S, Kalav ev e/jMi, 'iva Scrt TCTeXeito/jLevoi ets eV tVa 
 yiViotTKt) o Kocr/ios orto-v /ie a7recrTetA,as, /caJ ijyaTrrjcras aiJTO-bs 
 Kadoii e/ie ■qyaTrrjcrai. — -/oAii xvii. 23. 
 
 EPHESUS 
 
 Morning in Ephesus.^ — The sun's bright spears 
 
 Glittering across the blue Icarian wave, 
 
 Glance back from polished marble and pure gold 
 
 Of the great cedar many-columned shrine, 
 
 — Each pillar a king's gift, — Asia had built 
 
 Round the rude image of the Huntress dropped '^ 
 
 Of old by Zeus from heaven, — whom all the world 
 
 Worships. — Within, 'mid costliest gifts 
 
 Of many lands, statues and pictures, move 
 
 Her Megabyzi with voluptuous rite 
 
 And mystic dance round the Adytum, where 
 
 Grim stands the black vine figure's shapeless trunk. 
 
 Adorned with breasts of beasts, in either hand 
 
 A staff. 
 
 — Cunning smiths vend, in the wide courts 
 Without, small shrines modelled in silver,^ where 
 To view the sacred games the country folk * 
 
204 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Throng thickest ; and keen magic-mongers vaunt 
 Their famed " Ephesian Letters " — warranted,^ 
 Who binds on head or heel to give 
 In each emprise the victory. 
 
 — Threading 
 The motley crowd from many lands that throngs 
 The festive town garland and flag bedecked, 
 — Past Dian's Temple glittering in the sun, — 
 Past the great Theatre upon the hill,^ — 
 Past the arena where the runners stand 
 Stript for the race ; — upon his litter-bed 
 Reverent the young men bear an agfed man,'^ 
 To where the little church, — called by the name ^ 
 He loves, — looks down upon the sea. 
 
 — Beyond 
 His girdle flows the silk-soft snow-white beard, 
 The eyes' soft blue, all paled and dim with years. 
 Dreamy and far away, — yet lighting up 
 By times with splendour of the inner fire 
 That burns but brighter as life's lamp grows dim ;- 
 — He who had lain upon the Master's breast. 
 
 — Day after day, so they have borne him, — laid 
 His withered hand upon each bowfed head 
 That owns his Lord, with aye the self-same words 
 So tremulous and low, — " My little children. 
 Love one another.^'- — Now, for the last time, 
 Awe-struck they gather round, to hear once more 
 The old dear words, and feel the wavering touch, 
 Of the loved faltering fingers on their brow. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 205 
 
 The words are spoken, and the feeble hand 
 Motions to lay him where the church's porch 
 Looks out upon the sea. — Sparkling it lies, 
 Like his own lake of far Gennesaret, 
 Or the bright waves that sweep the sea-girt isle, 
 So long his prison-home. — Dreamily o'er 
 Its rippling bosom stray the agfed eyes, 
 While thronging memories rise from its depths 
 Before the fading sight that sees so far 
 Away, though scarce the faces round about 
 His bed. 
 
 " She comes," he said at last, " The Bride 
 Adornfed for her Husband. — All glorious 
 Within. — The Free-born not the slave. — In rgbes 
 With needle wrought. — Her garments smell of myrrh 
 Out of the ivory palaces, aloes 
 And cassia. — Ah, dear my Lord, it is 
 The smell of the fine linen wrapt about 
 Thy breast. Thou left'st in Joseph's tomb ! — Can she 
 Have made her bride-robe of Thy grave-clothes ? — 'Twere 
 Most meet ; — what rarest robe of Tyrian blue. 
 Or broidery of Babylon so dear 
 To her for vdiom Thou difedst? — Thy blood-bought 
 
 Bride !— 
 Bought? — ay, but Free! — Bought but to make her 
 
 Free! 
 — No Law now, save the mighty Love that makes 
 Her Thine. 
 
 " — All glorious within, — no spot 
 Or wrinkle now, — she who hath lain cast out 
 
2o6 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 In her own blood ; — but Thou past by, — casted'st 
 Thy robe about her ! 
 
 " — Who is this who comes 
 Up from the wilderness with garments dyed 
 From Bozrah, — ^vestures dipped in blood, — travailing 
 In greatness of His strength, — mighty to save ? 
 — It is the Bridegroom come to claim His own ! 
 No need of Law now, — Love — nothing but Love ! 
 
 " — How can she sin, she who is One with Thee, 
 The Father's Son, — the Eternal Word hid in 
 The Father's heart or ere the world was, — 
 One with the Father ? — Made ' Perfect in One ; ' 
 — The words He said. — Ay, 'twas for this, dear Lord, 
 Thou left'st the Father's bosom. — 'Twas for this 
 The Father gave the Son, — to show the Love 
 And win the willing Bride, so making One. 
 
 " Thou had'st to die to win her, — shed Thy blood, 
 
 Yonder, — while Earth stood silent, — on the tree ! 
 
 — But 'twas the Love behind the blood that did 
 
 It, — Love's Self-sacrifice, — the Father's as 
 
 The Son's ; — He gave, — Thou cam'st, — so was the Love 
 
 Made manifest. — Ay, but the Love was there 
 
 Through all the ages, though but in Thy face 
 
 We see the Father's heart, O Thou Lamb slain 
 
 From the foundation of the world ! — Thou saidst, 
 
 ' Your father Abraham rejoiced to see 
 
 My day, he saw it and was glad.' — Afar 
 
 He saw it, for his faith had eyes to pierce 
 
 The cloud and darkness round the Throne, — saw there 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 2C 
 
 The Slain Lamb lie within the Father's heart, 
 Yet unrevealed, — so laid his hand in God's 
 Hand in the dark, — lifted the knife to slay ; — 
 — Behind him in the thicket all the while 
 God's own Lamb for the sacrifice ! — He saw 
 It and was glad ;■ — unloosed the cord that bound 
 Isaac upon the altar ! — And his faith 
 Saved him, ay, and his seed, — of Spirit not 
 Of Flesh, — Thy Blood-redeemed, — Jerusalem 
 The Free ! 
 
 " ' — I come not to destroy the Law 
 And Prophets^ — ^so Thou saidst, — ' not to destroy 
 But to fulfil ; — the letter killeth, 'tis 
 The Spirit giveth life;' — then healfedst on 
 The Sabbath. — Moses 'mid the darkness on 
 The Mount, where others heard but thunders, heard 
 The voice of God speaking His Will to men, 
 And gave the Law, — God's very Law, — but 'twas 
 Fpr Thee, O Light that lightest every man, 
 — ^With flash of Thine own lightning, to illume 
 The Law's deep heart, — show graven there the one 
 Word 'Love.' — The Law Love, — its fulfilment Love, — 
 All Love, — nought any more save Love. 
 
 " — Bondsmaid 
 No more, — Love loves not bondsmaid's service, her 
 Service is Free ! — Thy blood-bought Bride — Thy Love 
 Her Ransom and Thy Love her Law, — ' Perfect 
 In One.' 
 
 " — Ay, the Seer heard the Seraphs round 
 The Throne, — covering their faces with their wings, — 
 
208 THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 Cry as they fly, ' Holy, Holy, Holy, 
 
 Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full 
 
 Of Thy glory ! ' — Yet was it only o'er 
 
 The Shepherds' Tower on Bethlehem's dewy slopes ^ 
 
 They sang that ' Glory in the Highest,' — that 
 
 Great night when Love incarnated itself, 
 
 For Love to suffer and for Love to die. 
 
 — Love's Sacrifice of Self, — so most divine ! 
 
 " — It had to be, — else where, O Thou Most High, 
 
 Thy Glory in the Highest ? — Our poor Love, 
 
 So human and so blind, that yet can throw 
 
 Its very Self, a willing offering, 
 
 Down at the loved one's feet, else more Divine 
 
 Than Thine, — that giving all, yet gave withal 
 
 A costless gift. — But now, man's uttermost. 
 
 Dwindles and pales in shadow of Thy Cross. 
 
 — Loved, — man may die for Love, — nay, e'en unloved 
 
 May still die for the Lovely. — Unloving, — 
 
 Ay, and how all Unlovely she for whom 
 
 Thou di^dst, — so doth Thy Love excel, — so most 
 
 Divine. 
 
 " O Love of God our hands have touched, — 
 Our eyes have looked upon ; — upon whose breast 
 This sinful head hath lain, — shall lie again, — 
 — For where He is the Bridegroom wills His Bride 
 Should be. — O Marriage Supper of the Lamb ! — 
 O harpers harping on the crystal sea ! — 
 O Bride, white-robed, who washed them, made them white, 
 In that dear blood ! — All glorious within ! — 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 2og 
 
 O new Earth and new Heaven wherein "dwells right ! — 
 
 O River that makes glad the City of 
 
 Our God ! — O Tree of Life whose leaves make whole 
 
 The nations ! — O Jerusalem the Free 
 
 Within whose pearly gates nought that defiles 
 
 May come ! — O Holy Mountain where nought hurts 
 
 And nought destroys ! — 
 
 " — Dear Lord, Thy Kingdom come ! 
 Thou, Love upon its Throne, — Thou, Love its Law, — 
 Thou, Love its Temple, — and Thou, Love its Light, — 
 — ^All Love. — The Spirit and the Bride say Come ! — 
 Come quickly, dear Lord Jesus, quickly come !" 
 
 He ceased, — and on the still sun-quivering air, 
 Grim shrieks came borne from out the myrtle grove 
 Where Dian's altar stands and women writhe ^^ 
 In anguish 'neath the scourge, that their red blood 
 May paint her altar's base ; — and from the hill's 
 Great theatre, more faint and far, there sounds 
 The wail of Cybele for Attes,-'^ mixed 
 With drunken shouts of Dionysus' crew. 
 — Slowly the dimming eyes, that dreamily 
 Had gazed out to the blue infinitude 
 Where sea meets sky, turn earthward once again 
 And rest on Dian's grove beneath the hill. 
 
 "How long, O Lord! how long?" he said, — "Thou 
 com'st 
 
 p 
 
2IO THE PURPOSE OF THE AGES 
 
 For me. — Long since Thou cam'st for her that bare, 
 — Thy last dear charge to me upon Thy Cross, — 
 — To my own home I took her from that hour 
 Until Thou cam'st to take her to Thine own, 
 Leaving mine lone. — I laid her on yon hill -"^ 
 Beside the Sea. — But not yet all are ready, — 
 Yet shall they come, — are they not too the Bride 
 For whom Thou difedst? 
 
 " — How shall they know the Love ? 
 — ^Oft ye have asked me why ever I say 
 The self-same words, — ' My little children, as 
 He loved you, so love ye one another.' — ^^ 
 It is the Lord's command and 'tis enough." 
 
NOTES 
 BOOK I 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Urofthe Chaldees" 
 
 Ur, or Hur, the most important of the early capitals of Chaldea, 
 was situated on the Euphrates, probably near its mouth. It appears 
 to have been the chief commercial emporium of those days, as 
 its ships are mentioned in connection with those of Ethiopia. 
 The name is found to be attached to the extensive ruins (now about 
 six miles from the river on its right bank, nearly opposite its junc- 
 tion with the Shat-el-Hic) known by the name of Mugheir or " The 
 bitumened. " Here, on a dead flat broken only by a few sandhills, 
 are traces of a considerable town — a Series of low mounds in an 
 oval shape, the largest diameter of which runs from north to south, 
 and measures a little more than half a mile. Its chief building is a 
 temple, a very conspicuous object, rising at its greatest height to 
 seventy feet above the plain. It is built in a very rude fashion of 
 large bricks cemented with bitumen, whence the name by which 
 the Arabs designate the ruins. See Rawlinson's Ancient Mon- 
 archies — Chaldea. 
 
 Note II 
 
 "The Temple of Sin, or Hurki, the Moon-god" 
 
 The word Sin is of uncertain etymology, but it is the name 
 given to the moon in many Semitic languages. Hurki, the Chal- 
 
212 NOTES 
 
 dean or Hamitic name, comes from Ur, an angel or watcher. Sin, 
 or Hurki, the moon-god, is called "the bright," "the shining," 
 "the lord of the month," and presided over building and architec- 
 ture. Bricks were under his protection, and the sign of them was 
 also the sign of the month under his particular care. " The god of 
 the month Sivan of happy name. " (The month Sivan corresponds 
 nearly with May. ) Sin may thus be a contraction for Sivan. His 
 symbol was the crescent, or new moon, and he is called the eldest 
 son of Bel-Nimrod. Few deities were worshipped with such con- 
 stancy by the Chaldean kings. His chief temple was at Ur, which 
 probably took its name from him, and was under his special protec- 
 tion. This temple was begun by Urukh, the great builder among 
 the Chaldean kings (reigned about 2286 B.C.), and finished by Ilgi 
 his son. Like all his great buildings intended for temples, it was 
 placed carefully facing the cardinal points. It consisted of two 
 stories of solid brick -work, with a grand staircase and a little 
 chamber on the top, probably the shrine of the god. Blue 
 enamelled tiles and copper nails have been found high up in the 
 ruins of this third story. Any ornaments there may have been in 
 the temples seem to have been confined to the inside of the shrine 
 on the top. The wife of Sin, or Hurki, called the " Great Lady," 
 is associated with him, and a particular portion of the great temple 
 was dedicated to her especially. Her "ark" or "tabernacle," 
 was separate from her husband's, and probably also deposited in 
 this sanctuary. It bore the title of "The Lesser Light," while 
 his was ' ' The Light. " See Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies — 
 Chaldea. 
 
 Note III 
 
 ' ' Invocation of the Amil-urgal " 
 
 Amil-urgal was the official designation of the priest appointed 
 to watch for the first signs of the annual rise of the Euphrates by 
 measuring the height of the water in the sacred tank. The Euph- 
 rates and Tigris rise from opposite sides of the same mountain-chain 
 — the range of Niphates, a prolongation of Taurus. Both rivers 
 have a flood season in spring owing to the melting of the snows on 
 the mountains where they rise. That of the Euphrates lasts from 
 the middle of March to the middle of July and is not entirely over 
 till September. If care be taken the inundation can be distributed 
 on either side of the stream, but if not, it flows mainly westward, 
 making a swamp of all that side of the river. It is said that very 
 little of the Euphrates' water reaches the sea ; its banks are low, 
 and it overflows the adjacent country and forms the Chaldean 
 
NOTES 213 
 
 Marshes, in which the ' ' Great River " seems sometimes wholly, or 
 almost wholly, to have lost itself. See Rawlinson's Ancient Mon- 
 archies — Chaldea. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " Great Reeds" 
 
 Peculiar to Chaldea are enormous reeds which cover the marshes 
 in summer and rise to the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. The 
 Arabs make houses of them, bending them into arches and stretch- 
 ing across from arch to arch mats of their leaves. They also make 
 of them their terradus or light boats, made waterproof with bitumen. 
 These reeds are represented in the sculptures of Sennacarib. See 
 Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies — Chaldea. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " Miimmu Tiamatu" 
 
 In the Creation Tablet (recently discovered at Nineveh), the 
 first existence is called Mummu Tiamatu, a name meaning "the 
 chaos of the deep." The compound Mummu Ti^^matu, in fact, 
 combines the two names Moyrais and Tauthe of Damascius. It 
 is evident that, according to the notion of the Babylonians, the 
 sea was the origin of all things, and this also agrees with the 
 statement of Genesis i. 2, where the chaotic waters are called 
 tehdm, "the deep," the same word as the Tiamat of the Creation 
 text and the Tauthe of Damascius. The Assyrian word Mummu 
 is probably connected with the Hebrew mShAm&h, confusion, its 
 Accadian equivalent being umun. The correspondence between 
 the inscription and Genesis is complete since both state that a 
 watery chaos preceded the creation and formed in fact the origin 
 and ground -work of the universe. See Chaldean Account of 
 Genesis by George Smith. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " The gates of the Great Deep " 
 
 The Babylonians considered that the world was drawn together 
 out of the waters and rested on a vast abyss of chaotic ocean which 
 filled the space below the world. This dark infernal lake was 
 shut in by gigantic gates and strong fastenings, which prevented the 
 floods from overwhelming the world. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
214 NOTES 
 
 Note VII 
 
 "ffea. Lord of the Abyss" — " the husband of Davke 
 
 Hea was God of the Sea and of Hades, in fact of all the lower 
 regions. He is called Lord of the Sea or Abyss ; he is also lord 
 of generation and of all human beings. The wife of Hea was 
 Dav-kina, the Davke of Damascius who is the goddess of the 
 lower regions, the Consort of the Deep. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " Samas, the Sun-god" — "the ^eat Son of Sin " 
 
 Sin, the Moon-god, had a son Samas or Shemesh, the Sun-god : 
 judge of heaven and earth, director of all, lord of the cities of 
 Larsa and Sippara, but he is generally subordinate to Sin. In the 
 Babylonian system the moon takes precedence of the sun as 
 befitted a nation of astronomers, and the Samas of Larsa was 
 probably considered a different deity from Samas of Sippara. See 
 Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " The second night of Nisan " 
 
 " In the month Nisan, (the first month, mostly March) on the 
 second day, one kaspar (two hours) in the night, 
 The Amil-urgal draws near and the waters of the river he 
 
 observes ; 
 To the presence of Bel he enters, and in the presence of Bel 
 He marks it, and this prayer he prays." 
 
 Note X 
 
 " The high heavens of Ante " 
 
 At the head of the Babylonian mythology stands a deity who 
 was sometimes identified with the heavens, sometimes considered 
 as the ruler and god of heaven. This deity is named Anu, his sign 
 is the simple star, the symbol of divinity, and at other times the 
 Maltese Cross. He represents the universe as the upper and lower 
 regions, and when these were divided, the upper region or heaven 
 was called Anu, while the lower region or earth was called Anatu, 
 Anatu being the female principle or wife of Anu. Anu is termed 
 the "old god," and the "god of the whole of heaven and earth." 
 His titles generally indicate height, antiquity, purity, divinity, and he 
 
NOTES 215 
 
 may be taken as the general type of divinity. Anu was originally 
 worshipped at the city of Erech, which was called the city of Anu 
 and Anatu, and the great temple there was called the "house of 
 Anu," or the "house of heaven." See Chaldean Genesis — George 
 Smith. 
 
 Note XI 
 "From the Great Deep as a bubble he ariseth at its boiling" 
 
 When the deity created the moon he is represented as drawing 
 aside the gates of the abyss, and creating a boiling in the dark 
 ocean below, then from this turmoil arose the moon like a giant 
 bubble, and mounted to heaven. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XII 
 "Lord of Crffwns, Maker of Brightness ' ' 
 Two of the titles of Sin or Hurki. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 " To Mir, the strong god" 
 
 Mer, the Accadian name for the God of the Atmosphere — 
 a strong positive character. He is called " The prince of the 
 power of the air," " He who makes the tempest to rage." He was 
 regarded as the destroyer of crops, the scatterer of harvests — 
 famines and pestilence were ascribed to him. In his hand he held 
 a flaming sword, probably representing lightning, which, as a 
 double or triple bolt, became his emblem. On the other hand he 
 gives rain, and was regarded as "The giver of abundance," "The 
 lord of fecundity," " The lord of canals." Associated with him 
 was the goddess Thala or Tala, usually called "queen." He is 
 the equivalent of Vul and Rimmon. See Rawlinson's Ancient 
 Monarchies — Chaldea. 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 " Where Bel made him king" 
 
 Bel, or Enu, means Lord. Bel was his Semitic name, Enu- 
 Mul or Elum his Accadian name. He was the third great god 
 of the Babylonian mythology, and united with Anu and Hea. He 
 was lord of the surface of the earth and the aifairs of men. The 
 chief seat of his worship was Nipur. His wife was Belat or Beltis, 
 
2i6 NOTES 
 
 who was quite a separate deity. Hev common title was "The 
 great goddess" or "The lady'' — "The mother of the great 
 gods." Bel was held to be the most active of the gods in the 
 general affairs of mankind, and was so generally worshipped in early 
 times that he came to be regarded as the national divinity. 
 
 The middle heaven in which are the stars was regarded as the 
 province of Bel. He had a numerous family, and his eldest son 
 was Sin or Hurki. Chaldean Genesis and Rawlinson's Ancient 
 Monarchies — Chaldea. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 "DeaiKs mighty sea 
 Compassing Life's small isle " 
 
 Ur and Erech were the great sacred burial-cities, where the 
 dead were gathered in innumerable multitudes around the walls for 
 many ages, as at Abydos in Egypt, and as at the present day they 
 are brought on camels from great distances to the Mohammedan 
 cities of Nedjef and Kerbela. Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Chaldea abounds with ancient tombs. The quantity of human 
 remains in certain sites is enormous. CofEns are piled on coffins 
 to the depth of sixty feet. Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies — 
 Chaldea. 
 
 In the plan of the ruins of Mugheir or Ur the " place of graves " 
 encircles the entire town. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " Who made the mighty gods for HiirkPs shrine '' 
 
 According to tradition, Terah, Abram's father, was a maker and 
 dealer in idols, — the first maker of clay images of the gods, their 
 images having previously been made of wood, — and a man of wealth 
 and station in Ur. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 ' ' Among the mounds piled high with sleeping dust " 
 
 The dead were commonly buried not under the natural surface 
 of the ground, but in great artificial mounds, each containing a 
 vast number of coffins. These mounds were drained and kept 
 perfectly dry, hence the skeletons were perfect. Rawlinson's 
 Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note XVIII 
 "A vault of brick" seq. 
 The Chaldean tombs (particularly those of Mugheir or Ur) are 
 
NOTES 217 
 
 brick vaults, seven feet long, three feet seven inches broad, and 
 five feet high, built of sun-dried bricks embedded in mud. They 
 have a remarkable construction of the arch formed by each succes- 
 sive layer of brick overlapping the last till the two sides are 
 brought so close that the aperture is closed at the top by a single 
 brick. The floor is of brick covered with a matting of reeds on 
 which the body is laid on its left side, the right arm falling towards 
 the left, and the fingers resting on the edge of a copper bowl, 
 usually placed on the palm of the left hand. The head was 
 pillowed on a single sun-dried brick. Food was often placed in 
 the tombs, and jars and drinking-vessels always. Various articles 
 of ornament or use were interred with each body, and the seals or 
 signets of the dead, — generally formed of serpentine, meteoric 
 stone, jasper, or chalcedony, and worn in the earliest tombs round 
 the wrist. These tombs are commonly seven or eight feet below 
 ground. See Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note XIX 
 
 "A shrouded fi^ire rises from, the ground'''' 
 
 The Chaldeans went to sleep near the tombs in order to have 
 prophetic dreams. This custom is alluded to in Isaiah Ixv. 3-4. 
 "A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, 
 that sacrificeth in gardens and bumeth incense upon altars of brick 
 which remain among the graves atid lodge in the monuments." 
 See La Divination — Lenormant. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 " The rite 
 Of solemn evocation " 
 
 The Chaldeans admitted an immaterial element in man, which 
 united itself to the body under the auspices of the god specially 
 attached to him, his spiritual type, living in him, and continuing in 
 reality a part of his soul. It was this immaterial element which they 
 believed survived death and became a demon or "utukku." Its 
 destiny after death might be of two kinds. Some privileged souls 
 attain by the favour of the gods a veritable apotheosis — they 
 are admitted into the company of the gods, into " the region of the 
 heaven of silver, of shining altars, where the foods of the state of 
 blessedness are the nourishment, happy feasts, illumination whJre 
 one attains the cessation of cares and miseries." But this apotheosis 
 is reserved for only a small number of heroes and kings. For 
 common men the fate beyond is of a nature much more sombre, 
 
2i8 NOTES 
 
 — separated from the body their demon descends under the earth 
 into "the country without return," "the place where feeling 
 exists no more, where there is no blessing, where one sees not." 
 In this "country without return," as in the Hebrew Sheol, the soul 
 persists but deprived of feeling, incapable of actirity, plunged in 
 darkness in a sort of torpor or sleep. Nevertheless at the bottom 
 of this country, in the "eternal sanctuary," there is a spring of 
 " the water of life " which the infernal powers guard with a jealous 
 care. A command from the celestial gods, and particularly from 
 Ea, can open the access to it, and whoever has drunk the water of 
 that fountain returns living to the light. The demons of the dead 
 shut up in that "country without return" can not only be drawn 
 from it by the power of Ea to heaven like Eabani, but they can 
 be brought back to earth as vampires to torment the living. These 
 phantom vampires caused profound terror to the Chaldeans. It 
 was not only the anger of a god that could make the demons of the 
 dead remount to the earth, but certain rites and incantations of 
 men could also evoke the dead. The evocation of the dead was 
 also one of the rites of a malevolent sorcerer, by which he had the 
 power to resuscitate vampires as phantoms against those to whom 
 he wished harm. La Divination — Lenormant. 
 
 Note XXI 
 
 " Escapes Irkallds grasp " 
 
 Irkalla was one of the gods of the lower regions. Chaldean 
 Genesis. 
 
 Note XXII 
 
 "And like Isktar escape from the dwelling of Ner, 
 From the dark house of Ninigal flee away " 
 
 This god Ner was one of the mythical kings of Babylon, who 
 reigned after the flood, and is mentioned as having a terrible name 
 and being with Etana a dweller in Hades. Ninigal was also one of 
 the infernal deities. Ishtar was the planet Venus, the goddess of 
 Love. Ishtar was her Assyrian name. Nana her Babylonian. She 
 is the Astarte of the Phoenicians, and the Ashtoreth of the Hebrews. 
 She was the most important of the daughters of Anu. Her wor- 
 ship was at first subordinate to that of Anu, and as she was god- 
 dess of love, while Anu was god of heaven, it is probable that the 
 first intention in the mythology was only to represent Love as 
 Heaven-born ; but in time a more sensual view prevailed, and the 
 worship of Ishtar became one of the darkest features in Babylonian 
 
NOTES 219 
 
 mythology. As the worship of this goddess increased in favour, it 
 gradually superseded that of Anu, until in time his temple, "the 
 house of heaven," came to be regarded as the temple of Venus. 
 
 Her symbol wras probably the naked female figure often found 
 on the cylinders. The allusion in this passage is to "The 
 Descent of Ishtar to Hades," one of the most beautiful of the 
 Babylonian legends of the Cuneiform Inscriptions found in the 
 ruins of the Library of Assurbanipal at Nineveh. The greater 
 part of the song of evocation given in the text is taken almost 
 literally from the old Cuneiform legend. See Chaldean Genesis 
 and Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 II 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Izdubar, 
 Who won his Eabani back from dark 
 Aralli " 
 
 The Izdubar Legends, the great epic of early Chaldea, were first 
 discovered by Mr. George Smith in 1872. The hero of this epic 
 is provisionally called Izdubar, though this is certainly not the 
 right reading of his name. He appears to have been originally the 
 Accadian Fire-god and then a personified form of the Sun -god. 
 Mr. Smith believed that Izdubar was the Biblical Nimrod. Izdubar's 
 friend and adviser Heabani having been slain, by the intervention of 
 Hea and his son Merodach, in answer to the prayers of Izdubar, 
 the demon of Heabani was brought back from the under-world. 
 
 "The earth opened, and the spirit (or ghost) of Heabani like 
 dust from the earth (arose)." 
 
 "The epic is supposed to have been compiled from older materials 
 about 2000 B.C. In it occurs the Chaldean account of the Flood, 
 The Descent of Ishtar to Hades," etc. etc. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " Through great Eds grace " 
 
 The last tablet of the epic of Izdubar throws precious lights on 
 the Chaldean-Babylonian jdeas of the other life. Izdubar addresses 
 lamentations to the gods on the loss of his friend Eabani, and begs 
 
220 NOTES 
 
 of them to obtain that instead of remaining in Hades in the sombre 
 dwelling of the dead he be transported to heaven in the midst of 
 the divine beatitudes, but only one god has the povfer to do it, — it 
 is Ea. La Divination — Lenormant. 
 
 Note III 
 
 "When to its open front 
 An old man came,'' seq. 
 
 Terah, Abram's father, being obliged to go from home, he left 
 Abram in charge of his booth. An old man asked the price of one 
 of the idols; "Old man," said Abram, "hovf old art thou?" 
 "Threescore years." "Threescore years, and thou wouldst 
 worship a thing that my father's slaves made in a few hours, 
 strange that a man of sixty should bow his gray head to a creature 
 such as that ! " A grave-looking woman came to bring an offering 
 to the gods ; " Give it them thyself," said Abram ; " thou wilt see 
 how greedily they will eat it." She did so. Abram then took a 
 hammer and broke all the gods but the largest, in whose hands he 
 put the hammer. When Terah returned he asked what profane 
 wretch had abused the gods. " Wliy," said Abram, " during thine 
 absence a woman brought yonder food to the gods, and the younger 
 ones began to eat and the old god took the hammer and smashed 
 them." "Dost thou mock thine aged father?" said Terah; "do 
 I not know that they can neither eat nor move ?" " And yet," said 
 Abram, "thou worshippest them and would have me worship 
 them too." Traditions of Abram given in Childhood of the World. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 "He dwells in Larsa, worships Samas now " 
 
 About thirty miles north-west of Ur on the other side of the 
 Euphrates, from which it is about eight or nine miles distant, are 
 the ruins of a town called in the inscriptions Larrak or Larsa, 
 which is identified with the Biblical Ellasar mentioned in Genesis 
 xiv. I, whose king, Arioch, was one of the kings that fought with 
 the kings of Sodom, and against whom Abram went out to recover 
 Lot. The ruins are now called Leukereh or Sinkura. Larsa was 
 one of the chief seats of the worship of Shemesh, the Sun -god. 
 His temple there was called Bet Parra from Phra the sun ; it was 
 built by Urukh the founder of the temple of Hurki at Ur. See. 
 Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
NOTES 
 
 Note V 
 
 "Do the priests not tell how he (Sin) 
 Swallows all Sansi's brood " 
 
 Among the Babylonians the moon took precedence of the sun ; 
 they said the moon had devoured all the Sun's children, and that 
 is why there are no stars when the sun is out. 
 
 Note VI 
 "And thafs since Wimrod's days " 
 
 "And Cush begat Nimrod ; he began to be a mighty one in 
 the earth. He was a. mighty hui;iter before the Lord ; wherefore 
 it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord, and 
 the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, 
 and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." Genesis x. 8, 9, 10. 
 
 Mr. George Smith believed that Izdubai- (the hero of the great 
 Chaldean epic) was the Biblical Nimrod, and was almost inclined 
 to think that this was the way in which the name ought to be 
 phonetically rendered. We cannot overlook the fact that the 
 character of Izdubar as hunter, leader, and king, corresponds with 
 that of Nimrod. He ruled first in Babylonia over the region which 
 from other sources we know to have been the centre of Nimrod's 
 kingdom. The principal scene, too, of his exploits and triumphs 
 was the city of Erech, which, according to Genesis, was the second 
 capital of Nimrod. It is also noteworthy that Izdubar seems to 
 have been specially connected with the town of Marad, the original 
 Accadian name of which was Amarda, and that the Accadian an 
 Amarda, or, " god of Amarda " closely corresponds with the Bib- 
 lical name of Nimrod. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " See here his sign upon my cylinder " 
 
 Every Chaldean had a signet and staff bearing the signs of the 
 planet or stars that were seen at his birth. Childhood of the World. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " With pest let Itak and Dibbara follow thee " 
 
 One of the Cuneiform Legends is "The Exploits of Dibbara." 
 The god whose exploits are principally recorded was the leader of 
 the plague-demons, and bears the name of Dibbara. He has the 
 title of "the darkening one" which recalls "the Pestilence that 
 
222 NOTES 
 
 walketh in darkness.'" Ps. xci. 6. He has a companion deity 
 named Itak who marches before him, and seven gods who follow 
 him in his destructive course. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Bahr-i-Medjif" 
 
 On the Arabian side of the Euphrates twenty-five or thirty 
 miles from the river, and fifty from' Babylon,' is a fresh-water lake 
 of considerable dimensions, the Bahr-i-Medjif. A natural basin 
 forty miles long, and from ten to twenty broad, enclosed on three 
 sides by sandstone cliffs varying from twenty to two hundred feet 
 in height, and shut in on the fourth side (the N.E.) by a rocky 
 ridge which intervenes between the valley of the Euphrates, and 
 this inland sea. The cliffs are water-worn. The water of the lake 
 is fresh and sweet as long as it communicates with the Euphrates, 
 but where the communication is cut off it becomes very unpalatable ; 
 this is attributed to rock of the gypsiferous series. See Rawlinson's 
 Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " Strewn with black blocks, like monsters of the pit " 
 
 Thirty miles west of the Euphrates is the Arabian Desert, con- 
 sisting of tertiary sand and gravels. Farther west it is stony and 
 strewn with blocks of black granite, from which it is called Hejerra. 
 No permanent streams water this region, only occasional ' ' wadys " 
 or torrent-courses only full after heavy rains. The scattered inhabit- 
 ants depend mainly on their wells, deep and numerous, but scanty 
 and brackish. No settled population could ever have lived there, 
 as it only produces a few dates, and in some places a poor and 
 unsucculent herbage. Sandstorms are frequent, and at times the 
 Simoom sweeps over the entire tract, destroying both men and 
 animals. See Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " — Yet behold I 
 E'en as I gaze," seq. . 
 
 On one occasion Abram left a cave in which he had dwelt and 
 
NOTES 223 
 
 stood on the face of the desert, and when he saw the sun shining 
 in all its gloiy he was filled with wonder, and he thought, " Surely 
 the sun is God the Creator," and he knelt down and worshipped 
 the sun. But when evening came the sun went down in the west, 
 and Abram said, "No, the Author of Creation cannot set." Now 
 the moon arose in the east, and the stars looked out of the sky. 
 Then said Abram, "This moon must indeed be God, and all the 
 stars his host," and kneeling down he adored the moon. But 
 the moon set also, and from the east appeared once more the sun's 
 bright face. Then said Abram, "Verily, these heavenly bodies 
 are no gods, for they obey law ; I will worship Him whose laws 
 they obey." Childhood of the World. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " — Xisuthrus, our great father ," seq. 
 
 Xisuthrus or Adrakhasis is the name given in the story of the 
 Deluge which forms part of the Cuneiform Legends of Izdubar, to 
 the Biblical Noah. According to the Cuneiform Inscription 
 Xisuthrus and his wife were translated after the flood and taken to 
 dwell with the gods without tasting death. 
 
 " Formerly Adrakhasis (was) mortal but . . . 
 Again also Adrakhasis and his wife to live as gods are taken away, 
 And Adrakhasis also dwells in a remote place at the mouth of the 
 rivers." 
 
 There appears to have been some connection or confusion between 
 Enoch and Noah in ancient tradition. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " By Kronos ■warned, wrote on the sacred tiles " 
 
 ' ' After the death of Ardates his son Xisuthrus reigned eighteen 
 sari. In his time happened the great deluge ; the history of 
 which is thus described. The deity Kronos appeared to him in a 
 vision, and warned him that upon the fifteenth day of the month 
 Dsesius there would be a. flood, by which mankind would be de- 
 stroyed. He therefore enjoined him to write a history of the be- 
 ginning, progress, and conclusion of all things, down to the present 
 term, and to bury it in Sippara, the city of the Sun." Quoted 
 by Alexander Polyhistor from Berosus. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
224 NOTES 
 
 IV 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Library at Agan^ " 
 
 The most famous of the Babylonians' libraries was that of 
 Agane, a city near Sippara, founded by Sargon I. It was for this 
 library that the great work on astronomy and astrology, in seventy- 
 two books, called The Observatiotis of Bel, was compiled, which 
 Berosus translated into Greek. The very site of Agane is now 
 unknown. Sargon was himself a Semite, perhaps the first of the 
 Semitic conquerors who patronised literature. The language of 
 Accad had already ceased to be the tongue of the people, and 
 become a. learned language, and the books of this library were 
 either translated from Accadian originals or based on Accadian 
 texts. ' Education must have been already widely spread, for the 
 catalogue of the astronomical works enjoins the reader to write 
 down the number of the tablet or book he needs, and the librarian 
 will give it him. See Babylonian Literature — Sayce. 
 
 It appears that at an early period in Babylonian history a great 
 literary development took place, and numerous works were pro- 
 duced which embodied the prevailing myths, religion, and science 
 of the day. Written many of them in a noble style of poetry, and 
 appealing to the strongest feelings of the people on one side, or 
 registering the highest efforts of their science on the other, these 
 texts became the standards of Babylonian literature, and later 
 generations were content to copy them instead of composing new 
 works for themselves. Clay, the material on which they were 
 written, was everywhere abundant, copies were multiplied, and the 
 veneration in which the texts were held, fixed and stereotyped 
 their style. Even the language in which they were written re- 
 mained the language of literature up to the period of the Persian 
 conquest. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 The Accadians were the earliest civilisers of Western Asia. We 
 have to trace to them the arts, sciences, religions, traditions, and 
 philosophy, not only of the Assyrians, but of the Phoenicians, 
 Aramsans, and even Hebrews, and also the germs of Greek art 
 and mythology. It is difiicult to say how much of our present 
 culture is not owed to the stunted, oblique-eyed people of ancient 
 Babylonia. The Semite has ever been a trader and intermediary, 
 and his earliest work was the precious trade in spiritual and mental 
 ware. Babylonia was the home of Semitic culture and Semitic 
 inspiration. Almost all Assyrian literature was translated from 
 the dead language of primitive Chaldea. . . . These poems of 
 
NOTES 225 
 
 Turanian Babylonia exerted their influence long after the language 
 in which they were written became extinct. They were handed 
 on to the Greeks on one side, and the Phoenicians and Hebrews 
 on another. Their age can only be guessed at. . . . Probably 
 the Izdubar Epic was composed about 2000 B.C., and the inde- 
 pendent lays of which it is composed in the centuries immediately 
 before. The bloom of Accadian poetry was just 4000 years ago, 
 when the Nature-myths, which had once a definite meaning, had 
 grown faint and misunderstood, and become the subjects of ballads 
 and hymns. A part of the Chaldean literature in Assurbanipal's 
 library is still older. Lenormant has restored from its scattered 
 relics the prayer-books of two successive stages of religion and 
 widely different epochs of society. Behind the Epic age is a time 
 which corresponds to the Vedic age of India, when hymns were 
 composed in honour of the gods. Hymns all in Accadian by this 
 belong to a time when the Semite was already in the land. With 
 all their civilisation the Accadians were " Themanistic " in re- 
 ligion, seeing a spirit in every object and force of nature, and their 
 priests were sorcerers who worked by magical charms. A great 
 religious reform took place, and a compromise between the re- 
 ligious ideas of the Accadian and the Semite, the sorcerer was 
 succeeded by the priest, and the worship of things by the worship 
 of abstractions. It was amid this passionate upheaval that the 
 h3rams of Accad were mostly composed. Some of them are earlier, 
 and reflect the old Nature-myths, but most are of an age that had 
 partly forgotten the nature and origin of its myths, and found its 
 gods in the sun-god, the moon -god, and the sky. Babylonian 
 Literature — Sayce. 
 
 Note II 
 
 "Here 
 'Tis Anunit" 
 
 Sepharvaim, that is the two cities of Sippara, were separated by 
 the stream of the Euphrates, or rather, says M. Neenant, by a 
 canal called Nahar-Agane. One of these was called Sipar-sa- 
 Samas, "Sippara of the sun-god"; the other, Sipar-sa- Anunit. 
 This latter was the ancient capital of Sargina, the first Agane. 
 Tomkin's Studies of the Times of Abratn. 
 
 Anunit or Ai-gula was the female power of the sun, and com- 
 monly associated with him in temples and invocations. She pre- 
 sides over life and fecundity, and was worshipped with her husband 
 at Larsa and Sippara. She is probably the Anaramelech whom 
 the men of Sepharvaim worshipped along with Adrammelech. 
 2 Kings xvii. 31. Her emblem was the eight-rayed disk or star. 
 RawHnson's Ancient Monarchies — Chaldea. 
 
226 NOTES 
 
 Note III 
 " /« Babel, Merodach " 
 
 Merodach or Marduk was the great god of Babylon. He was 
 identified with the planet Jupiter. His Accadian name, which was 
 but slightly altered, was Amar-atuki, and it is now found that his 
 worship at Babylon must have been of extreme antiquity, as it was 
 restored by the ancient monarch Agu-kak-rimi, whose date Mr. G. 
 Smith places as "most probably more than 2000 years B.C.," and 
 he is mentioned as the son of Hea in the tablet of the " Seven 
 Wicked Spirits." He was called " the god of hosts," i.e. of stars. 
 "Marduk," writes M. Lenormant, "is one of the types of those 
 gods who die and rise again to life periodically, characteristic of the 
 religions of the shores of the Euphrates and Tigris, of Syria and 
 Phoenicia. The famous pyramid of the royal city of Babylon passed 
 for his tomb, where they showed to devotees his sepulchral cham- 
 ber, afterwards plundered by Xerxes, which they called ' the place 
 of rest of Marduk.' " Tomkin's Studies of the Times of Abram. 
 
 In the most ancient monuments Merodach is called " the old 
 man of the gods," "the judge." He had "the gates," which in 
 early times were the seats of justice, under his protection. We 
 have no positive knowledge of his emblem. It is said that his 
 statue at Babylon was a "figure standing and walking," and such 
 a figure appears more often than any other on Babylonian cylinders. 
 Zir-banit, his wife, is associated with him ; she is probably the 
 goddess whose worship the Babylonian settlers carried into Samaria, 
 and who is called Succoth-benoth in the Bible. Rawlinson's 
 Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Merodach, god of Babylon, appears in all the earlier inscriptions 
 as the agent of his father Hea. He goes about the world collecting 
 information, and receives commissions from his father to set right 
 all that appears wrong. He is called the redeemer of mankind, 
 the restorer of life, and the raiser of the dead. He is an active 
 agent in creation, but is always subordinate to his father Hea. In 
 later times, after Babylon had been made the capital, Merodach, 
 who was god of that city, was raised to the head of the Pantheon. 
 Chaldean Genesis — George Smith. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " In Erech, Ami ' 
 See I. note x. 
 
NOTES 227 
 
 Note V 
 "Bel, Lord of the world and father of the gods, in Nipur" 
 See I. note XV. 
 
 NpTE VI 
 " While Samas, fudge of heaven, rules in Larsa and Sippara " 
 See II. note III., and IV. note II. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " Lo, here it tells of Sin and Santas' birth " 
 
 In the Chaldean legend of the Creation the account goes on to 
 describe the creation of the moon for the purpose of beautifying the 
 night and regulating the calendar. The phases of the moon are 
 recorded ; its commencing as a thin crescent at evening in the first 
 day of the month, and its gradually increasing and travelling farther 
 into the night. It will be noticed that it is regarded as appointed, 
 in the language of the Bible, "to divide the day from the night," 
 and to be "for a sign and a season." The expression "judge 
 judgment " may be compared with the expression of Genesis i. 18, 
 that the sun and moon were set to "rule over the- day and over 
 the night. " 
 
 " The moon-god he caused to beautify the thick night. 
 
 He appointed him also to hinder (or balance) the night that the 
 
 day may be known, 
 (Saying) every month, without break, observe thy circle, 
 At the beginning of the month also, when the night is at its height, 
 (With) the horns thou announcest that the heaven may be known." 
 
 An account of the creation of the sun probably followed upon that 
 of the creation of the moon. The creation of the moon, however, is 
 placed first, in accordance with the general views of the Babylonians, 
 who, as was natural in a people of astronomers, honoured the moon 
 above the sun, even making the sun-god the son of the moon-god. 
 Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note VIII 
 " Hurki like giant bubble up to heaven " 
 See I. note xi. 
 
228 NOTES 
 
 Note IX 
 " And from the womb of Mummu drew " 
 See I. note v. 
 
 Note X 
 " Great Anu, son " 
 
 The passage given in the eighth line of the inscription, to the 
 effect that the god who created the stars fixed places or habitations 
 for Bel and Hea with himself in the heavens : — " The mansion of 
 Bel and Hea he established along with himself," — points to the 
 fact that Anu, god of the heavens, was considered to be the creator 
 of the heavenly hosts, for it is he who shares with Bel and Hea the 
 divisions of the face of the sky, which was divided into three zones. 
 Summer was the season of Bel, autumn of Anu, and winter of 
 Hea, the season of spring not being recognised by the Babylonians. 
 The new moon also was called Anu for the first five days, Hea for 
 the next five, and Bel for the third. Chaldean Genesii. 
 
 The middle heaven in which are the stars, was regarded as the 
 province of Bel and known by his name. Above this central 
 heaven came the upper sphere of Ariu, and below it the terrestrial 
 sphere of Hea. Sayce's Babylonian Literature. 
 
 Damascius (born about 480 A.D.), citing Endemus the Peripatetic 
 eight centuries before, says, "of the barbarians the Babylonians 
 seem to pass over in silence the One principle of the universe." 
 The inferior " gods " were creatures, but the sole first Creator is 
 taken for granted and rarely appears. Tomkins. See also I. 
 note X. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 ' ' Sar and Kisar " — ' ' Lakhmu and Lakhamu '' 
 
 Next (after the description of Mummu Tiamatu, for which see 
 I. note v.), we have in the inscription the creation of the gods 
 Lakhmu and Lakhamu ; these are male and female personifications 
 of motion and production, and correspond to the Dache and 
 Dachus of Damascius, and the moving rAakh, the wind, or spirit 
 of Genesis. The next stage in the creation was the production of 
 Sar and Kisar, representing the upper expanse and the lower 
 expanse. So far as can be made out from the mutilated text, the 
 next step in the creation of the universe was (as in Damascius) the 
 generation of the other great gods, Anu, Elum, and Hea. Chaldean 
 Genesis. 
 
NOTES 229 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " Who fought with Tiamat, and overcame," seq. 
 
 Allusion is made (in one of the Babylonian Hymns) to a fabu- 
 lous serpent with seven heads, 'which beats the sea into waves. 
 This serpent was originally identical with the Dragon of the Deep 
 combated by Merodacji, that is to say, with the principle of chaos 
 and darkness, called Mummu Tiamatu, " the chaos of the deep," 
 in the account of the creation. It is also described as "the serpent 
 of night," "the serpent of darkness," "the wicked serpent," and 
 "the mightily strong serpent," epithets which show that it was on 
 the one hand the embodiment of moral evil, and on the other 
 was primitively nothing more than the darkness destroyed by the 
 sun, the bright power of day. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 ' ' What is that sign upon thy cylinder ? " seq. 
 
 It is difficult not to compare the serpent of Genesis with this 
 serpent of Babylonian mythology. No Chaldean legend of the 
 Fall has as yet been found, but the Babylonian colouring of the 
 history of Genesis, the fact that the rivers of Paradise are Baby- 
 lonian rivers, and that the tree of life was familiar to Babylonian 
 art and tradition, make it probable that we shall yet discover the 
 Chaldean version of the Fall of Man as soon as the libraries of Baby- 
 lonia have been explored. Jndeed, this is made almost certain by 
 the existence of an early Babylonian seal, now in the British 
 Museum, on which a tree is represented with a human figure seated 
 on either side of it, with the hands stretched out towards the finiit, 
 and a serpent standing erect behind one of them. We know that 
 the devices on these early seals were taken from the popular legends 
 and myths. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 "How Adam, the black face " 
 
 One of the most curious statements made in these hymns is that 
 the race of men created by the deity was black-headed. The dis- 
 covery that the Biblical Adam is identical with the Assyrian 
 " Adamu " or "man," and that the Assyrian Adamu goes back to 
 the first-created man of Accadian tradition who belonged to the 
 black, that is, to the Accadian race, is due to Sir Henry Rawlin- 
 son. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
230 NOTES 
 
 Note XV 
 
 ' ' Armed with his sickle-shapid sword " 
 
 The flaming sword which, according to Genesis, guarded the 
 approach to the Tree of Life is paralleled by the flaming sword of 
 Merodach which is explained to be the lightning. It was with 
 this sword, which is represented on the monuments as having the 
 form of a sickle like the sword of the Greek hero Perseus, that 
 Merodach overthrew the dragon and the powers of darkness. 
 Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 . Note XVI 
 
 " The great Xisuthrus in whose days 
 The flood befell" 
 
 Xisuthrus or Adrakhasis (or, as given in the first edition of 
 George Smith's Chaldean Genesis, Hasisadra) is the name given in 
 the story of the Deluge which forms part of the Cuneiform Legends 
 of Izdubar, to the Biblical Noah. According to the Cuneiform 
 inscription Xisuthrus and his wife were translated after the flood, 
 and taken to dwell with the gods without tasting death. There 
 appears to have been some connection or confusion between Enoch 
 and Noah in ancient tradition. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 " Of that great tale he told to hdubar" seq. 
 
 The eleventh tablet of the Izdubar Legends records the story of 
 the flood as supposed to be told to Izdubar (probably the Biblical 
 Nimrod) by Xisuthrus himself, whom he had sought at " the remote 
 place at the mouth of the rivers," to which he and his wife had 
 been taken away " to live as the gods." In the quotation which 
 follows I have paraphrased almost literally some of the more 
 striking parts of the story of the Flood as told by Xisuthrus. See 
 Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XVIII 
 " The city Surippak " 
 Surippak was the city of the ark. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XIX 
 "Ninip their throne-bearer " 
 Ninip, "Warrior of the gods,'' "Destroyer of the wicked," 
 
NOTES 231 
 
 " Lord of the city of Nipur," "The god of war and hunting." He 
 was son of Bel and Beltis, the latter of whom was both his mother 
 and his wife. He was also the Fish-god and is so figured on the 
 sculptures. His emblem in Assyria was the man-bull, the im- 
 personation of strength and power. He guards the palaces of the 
 Assyrian kings, who named Nineveh after him. He was worshipped 
 along with his father Bel at Nipur. See Chaldean Genesis and 
 Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 " And Hades' Lord" 
 
 Hea. 
 
 Note XXI 
 
 '^Nin-si-kha" 
 
 Apparently another name for Dav-kina the wife of Hea, the 
 goddess of the Lower Regions, the Consort of the Deep. 
 
 Note XXH 
 
 " Ubaratutu's son, Surifpakite" 
 
 "Man of Surippak," "Son of Ubaratutu," are names given to 
 Xisuthrus in the Legends. 
 
 Note XXHI 
 
 " Jiag-mu-seri-ina-namari then 
 
 Or "the waters of the dawn at daylight." A female Being 
 who is mentioned as meeting with Izdubar. In the account of the 
 Deluge she is spoken of as bringing the black clouds from the 
 horizon of heaven. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XXIV 
 ' ' Thundered the mighty Mer " 
 The god of the atmosphere. See I. note xili. 
 
 Note XXV 
 "Nebo" 
 The god of knowledge and literature. His name signifies " the 
 
232 NOTES 
 
 prophet," from nibbah, to prophesy. He was worshipped at 
 Borsippa and was a favourite deity in later times, as was also his 
 consort Tasmit "the hearer." The famous temple known as Birs- 
 Nimnid was dedicated to him. He was called . " He who hears 
 from afar," " He who teaches." He is also called the son of Hea, 
 and symbolised like him by the simple wedge. Most of the later 
 Babylonian kings were called after him and considered him as 
 presiding over their houses. He was the god of the planet Mercury. 
 Chaldean Genesis and Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note XXVI 
 
 " Saru " 
 
 The Wind-god. 
 
 Note XXVH 
 
 •'JVerg-aP' 
 
 "Illuminator of the great city" (Hades), giant king of War, 
 lord of the city of Cutha, the planet Mars, god of war and hunting. 
 "The men of Cutha," when transported to Samaria by the As- 
 syrians, naturally " made Nergal their god," 2 Kings xvii. 30. His 
 symbol was probably the man-lion. Chaldean Genesis and Raw- 
 linson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note XXVIII 
 
 " Earth-spirits bore 
 Destruction " 
 
 Many talismanic inscriptions on Babylonian objects attest a 
 complete demonology among the Chaldeans. At the top of the 
 scale are two classes of beings approaching nearly to the Divine, 
 these are genii or demi-gods. Spirits of the earth were called 
 Announaki. All Accadian conjurations against evil-spirits tei-min- 
 ate in the mysterious invocation which gave to them their efficacy. 
 " Spirit of the heaven remember thee of them 
 Spirit of the earth remember thee of them." 
 This only is necessary and it is never absent, but sometimes similar 
 invocations to other spirits are joined to it. La Divination — 
 Lenormant. 
 
 Note XXIX 
 
 " The' flood of Jiimmon reached to the stars " 
 
 Rimmon the air-god, the patron of irrigation, the equivalent of 
 Vul. 
 
NOTES 233 
 
 Note XXX 
 " Then on the land of Ni%ir stayed the ship" 
 
 In the third column of the Exploits of Dibbara (one of the Chal- 
 dean legends), mention is made of Gutium, under which name the 
 Accadians designated the whole tract of country which extended 
 from the Tigris to the eastern borders of Media, including the 
 district afterwards known as Assyria. The land of Nizir, in which 
 rose the mountain of Elwend, on the top of which the Accadians 
 supposed the ark to have rested, also formed part of this vast tract. 
 Sir Henry Rawlinson long ago pointed out that Gutium must be 
 the Gozim of the 14th chapter of Genesis, ruled by Tidal. There 
 is a difference in the Chaldean and Biblical account of the Flood, 
 as to the mountain on which the ark rested. Nizir, the place 
 mentioned in the Cuneiform Text, being east of Assyria, and its 
 mountain, also called " the mountain of the world " where the gods 
 were supposed to dwell, being the present peak of Elwend, while 
 the mountains of Ararat mentioned in the Bible were nortli of 
 Assyria, near Lake Van. The word Ararat, however, is connected 
 with the word Urdhu, meaning "highland," and might be a general 
 term for any part of the hilly country to the north-east of Assyria. 
 Chaldean GeTiesis. 
 
 One striking difference between the descriptions of the Deluge 
 given ill the Old Testament and in the Epic of Izdubar, is due to 
 the fact, that the Hebrews were an inland people, .whereas the 
 Accadians were a maritime, or rather fluviatile, one. Hence it is, 
 that, while the ark is called in the Babylonian version "a ship," it 
 is called tU&h, that is "a coffer," in Genesis. In Genesis, too, 
 nothing is said about launching the ark, testing its seaworthiness, 
 or entrusting It to a pilot. However, the narrative in Genesis 
 preserves a recollection of the bitumen for which the Babylonian 
 plain was famous, and, like the cuneiform narrative, states that the 
 ark was pitched. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 " The vessel being thus stranded in Armenia, some part of it yet 
 remains in the Gordysen (or Kurdish) mountains in Armenia, and 
 the people scrape off the bitumen with which it had been outwardly 
 coated, and make use of it by way of an antidote and amulet. " 
 
 From Alexander Polyhistor's account of Berosus' History of 
 Babylonia. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XXXI 
 
 Sent forth a dove" seq. 
 After the flood had been upon the earth, and was in time abated, 
 
234 NOTES 
 
 Xisuthrus sent out birds from the vessel ; which not finding any 
 food nor any place whereon they might" rest their feet returned to 
 him again. After an interval of some days he sent them forth a 
 second time, and they now returned with their feet tinged with mud. 
 He made a trial a third time with these birds, but they returned to 
 him no more, from whence he judged that the surface of the earth 
 had appeared above the waters. He therefore made an opening 
 in the vessel, and upon looking out found that it was stranded 
 upon the face of some mountain, upon which he immediately quitted 
 it with his wife, his daughter, and the pilot. Xisuthrus then paid 
 his adoration to the earth, and having constructed an altar, offered 
 sacrifices to the gods, and with those who had come 'out of the 
 vessel with him disappeared. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 The Chaldean Noah sent forth first a dove, and after that a 
 swallow, but, as in the Biblical narrative, they could find no rest- 
 ing-place for their feet, and returned to the ship. Next a raven 
 was despatched from the ark, and it found food in the floating 
 corpses; "it wandered away and did not return." Sayce's 
 Babylonian Literature. 
 
 Note XXXII 
 
 " The mountain's ziggurrat " 
 
 The word used in the cuneiform text, suggesting the towers 
 attached to Babylonian temples, which were commonly used as 
 observatories. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XXXIII 
 
 "Amis bright arch, he for his glory made" 
 
 The gods "gathered like flies over the sacrifice" (Xisuthrus'), 
 descending to the earth by the golden bridge of the rainbow. 
 Sayce's Babylonian Literature. 
 
 Note XXXIV 
 
 "At Sepharvatm the city of the Sun " 
 
 See IV. note ii. 
 
 Note XXXV 
 
 " And as he vanished" seq. 
 
 They who remained within (the ark) quitted the vessel with 
 many lamentations, and called continually on the name of Xisu- 
 
NOTES 23s 
 
 thrus. Him they saw no more, but they could distinguish his voice 
 in the air, and could hear him admonish them to pay due regard 
 to the gods. He likewise informed them that it was on account of 
 his piety that he was translated to live with the gods, and that his 
 wife and daughter and the pilot had obtained the same honour. 
 To this he added that they should return to Babylonia, and, as it 
 was ordained, search for the writings at Sippara, which they were 
 to make known to all mankind, 
 
 Alexander Polyhistor, from Berosus. See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XXXVI 
 " There in the shrine ofblessid Merodach " 
 See IV. note iii. 
 
 Note I 
 
 " The head of the child for his own head" seq. 
 
 The sacrifice of the first-born to the sun-god was one of the most 
 notorious rites of Semitic worship. It was not practised by all 
 Semites, but was common among those most connected with 
 Babylonia. The first poem of the Babylonian Epic Cycle, into 
 which twelve independent older lays have been interwoven, is one 
 on "The Sacrifice of Bel," or "The Sacrifice of Righteousness." 
 The Epic is arranged on an astronomical basis, each of its twelve 
 lays answering to a sign of the zodiac and a corresponding month. 
 The first book must thus have ansvf ered to the first sign of the zodiac 
 and the first month of the year, which were called " the sign and 
 the month of the sacrifice of Bel." This recalls the Phoenician 
 myth that El (the Phoenician Bel) offered up his first-born Yedfld 
 " the beloved " in time of trouble, burning him on a High-place. 
 The poems of this Epic were borrowed, like so much else, by the 
 Semitic Babylonian from the Accadians. It was in Accadian, not 
 in Semitic, that the first month and the first sign of the zodiac 
 were called "The Sacrifice of Bel," so we must look to Accad for 
 the origin of human sacrifice in Western Asia, — for the worship of 
 the sun and all its dreadful rites. Mention is made of human 
 sacrifice in two cuneiform texts. One is in an Accadian poem 
 with an Assyrian translation, which therefore goes back to pre- 
 
236 NOTES 
 
 Semitic times. The other is in the great astronomical work in 
 Sargon of Agan^'s library, based on Accadian originals. 
 " The offspring who the head raises among mankind, 
 The offspring his life for, he gave it, 
 The head of the offspring, head of the man for, he gave it, 
 The front of the offspring, for the front of the man, he gave it. 
 The breast of the offspring, breast of the man for, he gave it. " 
 This shows vicarious sacrifice of the first-born among the Accadians. 
 The next passage shows the mode of sacrifice to have been burning 
 on a High-place. 
 
 ' ' In the month Sivan, from the first day to the 30th day, an 
 eclipse failed, the crops of the land not prosperous, 
 When the air-god is fine, prosperity. 
 On the High-places the son is burnt." 
 See Saycis paper on Human Sacrifice among the Babylonians in 
 Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, vol. iv. 
 
 The men of Sepharvaim, we are told, when transplanted to 
 Samaria, were those who " burnt their children in the fire to 
 Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim." Adram- 
 melech being probably "fire king," an epithet of the sun, and 
 Anammelech being the name of Anunit, made (perhaps in con- 
 tempt) to chime with the other. Tomkin's Times of Abram. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " As Bel gave in Nisan, Yedtid the Belovid" 
 
 The months were all named in Accadian after the signs of the 
 zodiac. The first being in Assyrian, Nisan, our March. .This was 
 the month in which Bel was said to have offered his only son in 
 sacrifice. Sayce's Babylonian Literature. Nisan means " altar of 
 sacrifice." See V. note i. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " The sun-god's lofty ziggurrat, of old, 
 Ligbagas, King of Ur, had built " 
 
 The temple of Samas, at Sippara, was originally built by 
 Ligbagas, king of Ur. Tomkin's Times of Abram. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " The knoll whose brow the Sun-god's column crowned. 
 And by its side the tree of Anunit " 
 
 On a knoll outside the city of Sippara stood the ancient rude 
 
NOTES 237 
 
 pillar of the Sun-god, and near it the tree sacred to Anunit, — the 
 gods of the twin cities which constituted Sepharvaim. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " A star, 
 ' Great Ann's symbol " 
 
 The sign of Anu was a simple star, the symbol of divinity. 
 Chaldean Genesis, 
 
 Note VI 
 " Erech, the Hunter's Capital" 
 
 " And Cush begat Nimrod : he began to be a mighty one in the 
 earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord : wherefore it is 
 said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And 
 the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, 
 and Calneh, in the Land of Shinar." Genesis x. 8, 9, 10. Forty- 
 five miles north-west of Ur, on the opposite side of the Euphrates (the 
 left side), are more extensive ruins than those of either Ur or Larsa, 
 called by the natives Warka, — the Erech or Orech of the Hebrews. 
 The ruins are about four miles from the river, and consist of an 
 irregular circle nearly six miles round, defined by earthen ramparts, 
 in some places forty feet high. Outside the rampart the city may 
 be traced by means of ruined edifices, mounds, and pottery, fully 
 three miles into the desert. The greatest height of the ruins is 
 a himdred feet. The construction is very rude and primitive, and 
 the date of some of the buildings is evidently as early as the oldest 
 in Mugheir (Ur) or Senkerch (Larsa). See Rawlinson's Ancient 
 Monarchies. 
 
 At the opening of the Epic (the Izdubar Legends), the great 
 city of the south of Babylonia, and the capital of this part of the 
 country was Uruk, called in Genesis, Erech. Erech was devoted 
 to the worship of Anu, the god of heaven, and his wife, the god- 
 dess Anatu, as well as of Ishtar the Phoenician Ashtoreth or Astarte. 
 In the " Exploits of Dibbara " it is called " Erech, the seat of Anu 
 and Ishtar." Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 "•^ Bit- Anu, place 
 Of Anu " 
 
 The temple of Anu in Erech was always called Bit-Anu, the 
 "place of Anu." Ishtar is called in the inscriptions, daughter of 
 Anu and Anunit, and said to have been worshipped in the temple 
 
238 NOTES 
 
 of Anu at Erech. Therefore she seems to have been the Lady of 
 Bit-Anu. Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " Where, with Nana, Anu reigned" 
 
 Nana the Accadian name for Ishtar. As the worship of this 
 goddess increased it gradually superseded that of Anu, until in time 
 his temple, the "place of heaven," came to be regarded as the 
 temple of Venus. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note IX 
 " Birs-Nimrud reared its ruined tower" 
 
 In the plains of Babylonia broke out the great war of which 
 Greek writers tell us between Titan, Bel, Prometheus, and Oxygus, 
 against Kronos or Hea. The tower of Babel, however, had been 
 the special work of Sar-tuli-elli, "the King of the Holy Mound," 
 and its creation is placed in the month Tisri, at the autuninal 
 equinox. But the heart of the builder was "wicked against the 
 father of all the gods, " and the tower had been raised to storm 
 the skies. So what was built with so much labour by day, the 
 winds blew down at night, the builders were " confounded " and 
 "scattered abroad," and their counsel and speech were "made 
 strange." For ages the ruined tower remained a monument of 
 divine vengeance, till Nebuchadnezzar in the height of his glory de- 
 termined to finish it under the name of the " Temple of the Seven 
 Lights of the Earth," it became the wonder of Borsippa, the suburb 
 of Babylon. Its remains are knovifn as the " Birs-i-Nimrud. " 
 Sayce's Babylonian Literature. 
 
 The Tower of Babel is generally considered to be represented 
 by the great pile of Birs-Nimrud, which stood at Borsippa, the 
 suburb of Babylon, and was dedicated to Nebo, and called " the 
 Temple of the Seven Lights," or planets. Sir Henry Rawlinson 
 discovered by excavation, that the tower consisted of seven stages of 
 brickwork on an earthen platform, each stage being of a different 
 colour. This is explained by the fact that it was devoted to the 
 seven planets. The height of the earthen platform was not ascer- 
 tained, but the first stage, which was an exact square, was 272 
 feet each way, and 26 feet high, the bricks being blackened by 
 bitumen ; this stage is supposed to have been dedicated to the planet 
 Saturn. The second stage was a square of 230 feet, 26 feet high, 
 faced with orange-coloured bricks, supposed to have been dedicated 
 
NOTES 239 
 
 to Jupiter. The third stage 188 feet square and 26 feet high, 
 faced with red bricks, was probably dedicated to Mars. The 
 fourth stage, 146 feet square and 15 feet high, was probably dedi- 
 cated to the Sun, and is thought by Sir H. Rawlinson to have been 
 originally plated with gold. The fifth stage is supposed to have 
 been 104, the sixth 62, and the seventh 20 feet square, but the 
 top was too ruinous to decide these measurements. These stages 
 were probably dedicated to Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. 
 Each stage of the building was not set in the centre of the stage 
 on which it rested, but was placed 30 feet from the front, and 12 
 feet from the back. The ruin at present rises 154 feet above the 
 level of the plain, and is the most imposing pile in the whole 
 country. According to Nebuchadnezzar it had been built to the 
 height of 42 cubits by " a former king " who, however, had not 
 completed its summit, and it had long been in a ruinous condition 
 when Nebuchadnezzar undertook to restore and finish it. 
 
 One of the most obscure incidents in the book of Genesis is 
 undoubtedly the building of the Tower of Babel. The Babylonian 
 origin of the story is, however, self-evident. According to Genesis, 
 mankind after the flood travelled from the East, that is from 
 Kharsak-kurra, "the mountain of the East," now Elwend, where 
 the Accadians believed the ark to have rested, to the plain of 
 Shinar or Sumir. Both Alexander Polyhistor and Abydenus state 
 that the building of the Tower of Babel was known to Babylonian 
 history, — Babel, in fact, being the native form of the name which 
 the Greeks changed into Babylon. A fragment of the native stoiy 
 of its construction was discovered by Mr. Smith, and though 
 shockingly mutilated, is suiBcient to show what the Babylonians 
 themselves believed on the matter. It is evident from the wording 
 of the fragment that it was preceded by at least one tablet, describ- 
 ing the sin of the people in building the tower. The fragment 
 preserved belongs to a tablet containing from four to six columns 
 of writing, of which portions of four remain. In the first part we 
 have the anger of Bel, the father of the gods, at the sin of those 
 who were building the walls of Babylon and the mound of the 
 Tower or Palace. The mound is termed " the illustrious," and the 
 god Anu, who destroyed the builders, is accordingly called Sar-tuli- 
 elli, "the king of the illustrious mound." Since the Accadian 
 name of the month Tisri, — our October, was "the month of the 
 illustrious mound," it would appear, that the construction of it was. 
 believed to have taken place at the time of the autumnal equinox. 
 The builders were punished by the deity, and the walls that had 
 been set up in the day were destroyed at night. It is plain from 
 the first lines that the whole attempt was directed against the 
 gods ; in fact, that, like the giants and Titans in Greek mythology, 
 
240 NOTES 
 
 whose assault on Zeus is probably but an echo of the old Babylonian 
 tale conveyed to Greece through the hands of the Phoenicians, the 
 builders of the Tower of Babylon intended to scale the sky. They 
 were, however, confounded on the mound, as well as their speech. 
 It is interesting to find the very same word signifying "to confound," 
 used in the Babylonian as in the Hebrew account, namely Bdlal, 
 or rather B&l&h. We may also notice that the Hebrew writer once 
 (Gen. xi. 7) adopts the polytheistic language of the Accadian 
 scribe ; the Lord being made to say, ' ' Let us go down and there 
 confound their language." The last column shows that the winds 
 finally destroyed the impious work of the Babylonians. For a 
 time Babylon was given over to the god of lawlessness, but at last 
 the gods repented of the evil they had done, and order was once 
 more restored. Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " When Ishtar the lady to Hades descended" 
 
 The song of the votaries of Ishtar as given here,.is an almost 
 literal rendering of a part of the cuneiform account of the " Descent 
 of Ishtar to Hades " which forms a part of the Izdubar Legends. 
 See Chaldean Genesis. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " Yet is a remnant left, 
 — E'en here in Erech " 
 
 It is deeply interesting to read that at one at least of the Chal- 
 dean schools, Monotheism was taught down to a late date. 
 " That at OrchK or Erech was . . . well known, and maintained 
 its reputation down to the times of the Romans. In the period of 
 the Seleucidse the doctrine of the Unity of God was distinctly 
 taught there, as we know from tablets with cuneiform inscriptions, 
 dated in the reign of several Greek kings, found at Warka, and 
 now in the British Museum. The only name of a deity found 
 in them, — and this is many times repeated, is " God One." Tom- 
 kin's Times of Abram. Quotation from Lenormant's Ancient 
 History. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " Who know the Hidden Name and worship Him " 
 
 Damascius, citing Endemus the peripatetic, says, that, " Of the 
 barbarians the Babylonians seem to pass over in silence the One 
 principle of the universe." This appears to be the true account of 
 
NOTES 241 
 
 the matter. The inferior "gods" were creatures, but the sole first 
 Creator is taken for granted, and rarely appears. Let us hear M. 
 Lenormant : "When we penetrate beneath the surface of gross 
 polytheism it (namely, the religion of Assyria and Babylonia) had 
 acquired from popular superstition, and revert to the original and 
 higher conceptions, we shall find the whole based on the idea of 
 the Unity of the Deity, the last relic of the primitive revelation, dis- 
 figured by, and lost in, the monstrous ideas of pantheism, confound- 
 ing the creature with the Creator, and transforming the Deity into 
 a god-world whose manifestations are to be found in all the pheno- 
 mena of nature. " Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 " What old Shem knows 
 Of Him, — the Unsearchable" 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the Hebrew Chronology gives us all 
 the ten generations from Shem to Abram as living together with 
 the one exception of the short-lived Peleg. The lives of the patri- 
 archs overlapped in manifold parallels, so that family life was a 
 many-stranded cord compared with the slender line of these latter 
 days, and tradition in every sense must have been correspondingly 
 ampIe,_strong, and accurate. Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 VI 
 
 Note I 
 
 ( 1 ) " Temple of Merodach at Babylon " 
 
 (2) "By Marduh's Place of Rest" 
 
 See IV. note iii. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " Kudur-Lagamar, King of Elam, — he 
 Who rules from Susa all the conquered land" 
 
 Beyond the Tigris in its lower course, to the east, lies the country 
 which was Elam, the name Elamu being but a translation of the old 
 Accadian name of Susiana, Numma, a word connected with the 
 Vogul, numan, "high." This region was "chiefly composed of 
 the broad and rich flats intervening between the mountains and the 
 
 R 
 
242 NOTES 
 
 Tigris, along the courses of the Kerkhah, Kuran, and Jerhi rivers," 
 but including a part of the highland country, of which a very inter- 
 esting account is given by Mr. Loftus. It was from these eastern 
 ranges that the Accadians had descended, talcing with them their 
 traditions and a memory loyal to the high places where the heavens 
 rested on the pillars of the earth. It was on the mountains of 
 Nizir, some 350 miles, as it seems, to the north-west of Susa, that 
 the ark rested, according to the Chaldean tradition. It was 
 somewhere in the sequestered strongholds of these mountains of 
 Elam, that Izdubar in his valour sought out and slew the dreaded 
 tyrant Khumbaba (whose name proclaims him an Elamite or Susian 
 proper) in his forest of pines and cedars. This old-world story in 
 itself stamps the dread with which the early men of Erech looked 
 towards those mountains of the rising sun. The capital from the 
 earliest times was Susa, on an open gravel plain, about thirty miles 
 from the mountains. * ' It is difficult to conceive," says Mr. Loftus, 
 "a more imposing site than Susa. Its great citadel and buildings 
 raising their heads above groves of date, konar, and lemon trees, 
 surrounded by rich pastures and golden seas of corn, and backed 
 by the distant snow-clad mountains. Neither Babylon nor Per- 
 sepolis could compare with Susa in position, watered by her noble ' 
 rivers, producing crops without irrigation, clothed with grass in 
 spring, and within a moderate journey of a delightful summer 
 climate." The explorations of Mr. Loftus in the huge mounds, 
 laid open the remains of magnificent buildings of the Persian 
 period, including the stately palace described in the book of 
 Esther. . " There is every probability," he says, " that some of the 
 brick inscriptions extend as far back as the period of the patriarch 
 Abraham." In truth, this region was the seat of a civilisation of 
 the most ancient date. A very ancient tradition seems to have 
 borne witness to the oppression of Babylonia by the Elamites under 
 Khumbaba, after whose death, at the hands of the hero Izdubar, 
 that mighty conqueror (identified conjecturally by Mr. George 
 Smith with Nimrod) became overlord of all the principalities, as 
 far as the Armenian mountains. Izdubar appears to have been of 
 the dark race of Cush, like the Nimrod of Genesis. His thick 
 and clustered hair in snaky twists was quite a traditional mark of 
 this hero in the seal-cylinders and sculptures. 
 
 The overshadowing influence of Elam on Babylonia is curiously 
 marked, in the old astrological tablets of Sargina the First, so 
 ably explained by Professor Sayce, who thus traces the origin of 
 those massive stage-pyramids of the Chaldsean plains: — "The 
 Accadai, or ' Highlanders,' who had founded their creed in the 
 mountains of Elam, believed that the gods only came down to the 
 highest parts of the earth ; and therefore raised artificial eminences, 
 
NOTES 243 
 
 like the Tower of Babel, for their worship in the plains of Baby- 
 lonia." 
 
 In the annals of Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, son of Esar- 
 haddon (B.C. 668-626), he records that when he conquered Elam 
 and took the city of Susa, B.C. 645, he brought back an image of 
 Nana which Kudur-Nakhkhunte had taken away on his over- 
 running Babylonia 1635 years before, that is, in the year B.C. 2280. 
 This gives us an invaluable date, some three centuries before the 
 time of the king of Elam mentioned in Genesis xiv. , thus (as Mr. 
 G. Smith remarks) confirming the statement of Genesis, that there 
 was an early conquest of Babylonia by the Elamites. 
 
 Let us not forget, that the only hint of this dominant early power 
 in the world, till very lately, was the title, " King of Elam," given 
 to Kedorla'omer, in the Biblical sketch of his campaigns. 
 
 Thus the conquest of Babylonia by a king of Elam agrees with 
 Scripture, but not the date, nor the latter half of the name, nor the 
 extended warfare in Palestine. We must seek farther than Kudur- 
 Nakhkhunte. 
 
 Now, however, from a totally different quarter, we are enabled 
 to reconstruct, almost (perhaps quite) the whole, independently of 
 the Bible ; for in Southern Chaldsea have been found some original 
 inscriptions of a later Elamite king, whose name is given as Kudur- 
 Mabuk, son of Simti-sil-khak. One of these was found at Mugheir 
 (Ur of the Chaldees), and in it Kudur-Mabuk assumes the title 
 adda Martu, " Lord of Phoenicia." 
 
 Kudur-Mabuk had a son whose name was Eriaku. It is found 
 in niany inscriptions, and signifies in Akkadian "servant of the 
 Moon-god." He was associated with his father, and as his especial 
 capital received the city of Larsa (now Senkereh), on the east of 
 the Euphrates, between Erech and Ur, which has been identified 
 
 with the Ellasar ("1D?X) of Genesis. 
 
 Now the name Eriaku is quite identical with the TflK Ariok 
 of Genesis xiv. ; and if the identification of Larsa be correct, of 
 course as to name and title the monarchs are the same. 
 
 Kudur-Mabuk, although lord paramount, "did not reign per- 
 sonally in Babylonia ; " which agrees with Kudur-Lagamar's title, 
 "King of Elam." Eriaku became a great rebuilder of cities, 
 temples, and fortifications, including Ur, Erech, Larsa, Nipur, 
 Eridu, ZirguUa, Karrak ; and conquered the cities of Kisure and 
 Dur-an in Upper Babylonia, assuming the usual title of King of 
 Sumir and Akkad. The most memorable conquests of Kudur- 
 Mabuk and Eriaku were, however, those which delivered into 
 their hands Syria and Palestine, and conferred on the lord of 
 Elam the proud addition of "lord of Martu." Tomkin's Times of 
 Abraham. 
 
244 NOTES 
 
 Mr. Sayce thinks the Biblical Kudur-Lagamar was the elder son 
 of Kudur-Mabuk, and brother of Eriaku, King of Larsa. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " And a swarthy throng 
 Of Sudan officers " 
 
 Very various races lived side by side in Elam in those days, 
 Semitic, Cushite, and Turanian. M. Lenormant calls the Tura- 
 nians "the Susians properly so called." Lagamar was one of the 
 gods of these Susians, hence it appears that Kudur-Lagamar and 
 Eriaku were of the Turanian race. See Tomkin's Times of 
 Abraham. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " Before them, as they sat in judgment, came 
 Terah with Abram " 
 
 According to an old tradition Terah sent Abram to Nimrod to 
 be judged for his crime in breaking the images of the gods. Nim- 
 rod s^d, " Thou wilt not adore the gods of thy fathers, then pray 
 to fire." Abram replied, " Why may I not pray to water which 
 vnll quench fire?" Nimrod answered, "Be it so, pray to water." 
 Abram, " But why not to clouds which hold the water ? " Nimrod, 
 " Well, then, pray to the clouds." Abram, "Why not to the wind 
 which drives the clouds?" Nimrod, "Then pray to the wind." 
 Abram, ' ' Be not angry, O king, that I cannot pray to the fire, or 
 the water, or the clouds, or the wind, but the Creator who made 
 them, Him only will I worship." See Childhood of the World. 
 
 In old Babylonian tradition everything is apt to be ascribed to 
 the great hero of ancient Babylon, Nimrod ; but as his reign in 
 Babylonia was clearly ended long before the days of Abram, I 
 have transferred the tradition to the king who appears to have been 
 reigning in Abram's time. 
 
 Note V 
 
 "And, at a signal from the king, they seized," seq. 
 
 At Oorfa in Syria, Nimrod is said to have thrown Abram into 
 a fiery furij^ice, which immediately was changed into a garden of 
 
NOTES 245 
 
 VII 
 
 Note I 
 "A lent under the oaks of Mamre " 
 
 Gen, xiii. 1 8. Gen. xviii. Gen. xxv. 9, 10. 
 
 About two miles north of Hebron is a very interesting ruin, 
 now called Rameh or Ramel, said to be the ancient Mamre, and 
 where Abraham's celebrated terebinth once stood, under which, 
 after the final overthrow of the Jews at Beltier, a.d. 135, thousands 
 of captives were sold as slaves. The tree has long since perished, 
 but a few courses of the great Basilica erected here by Constantine 
 still remain, and Abraham's Well by its side, built like those of 
 Beersheba, still contains water. On the hill above, Abram could 
 easily have seen the ascending smoke of the Cities of the Plain. 
 Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land. 
 
 About a mile and a half west of Hebron is a famous oak, one 
 of the largest in Palestine, twenty-two feet in circumference, and 
 the representative to modem pilgrims of Abraham's Oak of Mamre. 
 It is not, however, its descendant, for Abraham's tree was a tere- 
 binth, while this is a holm-oak. Tristram's Topography of the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 Note II 
 
 "A sanctuary to Hurki on our ground" seq. 
 
 Power appears to have been asserted (in Ur) to compel a 
 private citizen, by order of the judge, to build a heathen sanctuary 
 on his own property. Thus there is nothing unlikely in the general 
 sense of Jewish tradition that Abram was persecuted by the ruler 
 of Chaldasa, and that he and his father were expatriated on account 
 of their faith, which is the story told by Achior to Holofernes in 
 the book of Judith, v. 5, 8. "The said Achior, the captain of all 
 the sons of Ammon. Let my lord now hear a word from the 
 mouth of thy servant, and I will declare unto thee the truth con- 
 cerning this people which dwelleth near thee, and inhabiteth the 
 hill-countries, and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy 
 servant. This people are descended of the Chaldseans. And they 
 sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not 
 follow the gods of their fathers, which were in the land of Chaldzea. 
 For they left the way of their ancestors and worshipped the God of 
 Heaven, the God whom they knew. So they cast them out from 
 the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and 
 sojoumetl there many days." Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
246 NOTES 
 
 Note III 
 
 " Haran's and Milcah's grave," seq. 
 
 At Ur they left Nakhor, and the sepulchre of the departed 
 elder brother Haran who had " died before the face of Terah his 
 father," and " whose monument," says Josephus, " is shown to this 
 day." Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note IV 
 " — A second home, — another life than Ur's,'" seq. 
 
 When the God of glory appeared to Abram and called him to 
 his new destiny, the first migration of Terah and his house was 
 about 600 miles in length, to Kharran. Kharran is well known 
 in secular history as a very ancient and important place, "the key 
 of the highway from the east to the west," as Mr. Sayce calls it, 
 explaining the name as an Akkadian word meaning " Road." 
 
 "At every step from Oorfa on the way to Haran," writes Mr. 
 Malan, " which now lies as it did of old at about six hours' march 
 from Ur (Oorfa), the hills on the right hand and on the left of the 
 plain recede farther and farther, until you find yourself fairly 
 launched on the desert ocean ; a boundless plain strewed at times 
 with patches of the brightest flowers, at other times with rich 
 and green pastures covered with flocks of sheep and of goats 
 feeding together, here and there a few camels, and the son or 
 daughter of their owner tending them. One can quite understand 
 that the sons of this open country, the Bedaweens, love it, and 
 cannot leave it ; no other soil would suit them. The air is so 
 fresh, the horizon is so far, and man feels so free, that it seems 
 made for those whose life is to roam at pleasure, and who own 
 allegiance to none but to themselves." 
 
 The village of Haran itself consists of a few conical houses, in 
 shape like bee-hives, built of stones laid in courses, one over the 
 other, without either mud or mortar. These houses let in the 
 light at the top, and are clustered together at the foot of the 
 ruined castle built on the mound, that makes Haran a landmark 
 plainly visible from the whole plain around. The plain of Kharran 
 was a very early and a very late outpost of Chaldsean power. 
 Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " And Nahor cam^ 
 And Milcah " 
 
 It is dear that Nakhor and his family followed him so far, for 
 
NOTES 247 
 
 Kharran was afterwards called "The city of Nakhor," Genesis 
 xxiv. 10. "And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, unto the 
 city of Nahor." Nahor called on Abram's God, as we learn 
 incidentally from the lips of Laban, Genesis xxxi. 53. " The 
 God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father 
 judge betwixt us." Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " The Kharran men 
 Still call the blue star Mercury, — the stents 
 Envoy, Sul-khab-uddu,- — their prince, and build 
 Temples to Hurki and the starry Host" 
 
 The indications of Chaldsean worship at Kharran reach back as 
 far as the days of which we are writing, as Mr. Sayce has shown 
 from cuneiform inscriptions. Sul-khab-uddu (the messenger of the 
 rising sun, the blue star Mercury) is called " the prince of the men 
 of Kharran." In the British Museum is a seal representing a priest 
 in adoration before an altar with a star above it. In the distance 
 is a diminutive figure. Behind the priest is inscribed in cuneiform, 
 "The god of Kharran." Probably the star is the planet Mercury 
 which, as we have seen, was lord of the men of Kharran, repre- 
 senting the god Nusku or Nebo. " Here was situated," writes 
 Mr. Boscawen, " a famous temple to the Moon-god Sin, apparently 
 of very ancient date." Kharran was, in fact, from first to last, 
 bound up with the worship of the sidereal pantheon. So tenacious 
 was this idolatry at Kharran, that in the early Christian centuries it 
 remained the metropolis of heathenism, while the neighbouring 
 Edessa was the centre of the true faith. Tomkin's Times of 
 Abraham. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 "And Kharran grew a name dearer than Ur " 
 
 It is to be noticed that in Abraham's injunction to his servant 
 to seek a wife for his son, he calls Kharran "my country." 
 Genesis xxiv. 4. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 "Till Terahdied" 
 
 A discrepancy of dates with regard to the relative ages of Terah 
 and Abram has led many commentators to suppose that Abram 
 had left Kharran before the death of Terah. That there is such a 
 
248 NOTES 
 
 discrepancy cannot be doubted, but as it is expressly stated in 
 Stephen's speech, Acts vii. 4, that it was "when his father was 
 dead," that Abram removed into the land of Canaan, I have 
 preferred rather to follow the express statement in Acts, and to 
 suppose the discrepancy arises either from some mistake in the 
 figures or in our understanding of them. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " Toward unknown Martu and the Sunset Sea " 
 
 Martu means " the path of the setting sun," and was the name 
 given by the Turanians to Phoenicia, as the Mediterranean was 
 also called "The great sea of the setting sun." See Tomkin's 
 Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " — Yondei's Aleppo I — From the city's gate" seq. 
 
 Mr. Malan quotes from Ibu Batutahthe statement that "Haleb, 
 (Aleppo) takes its name from Abram's new milk (Haleb in Ar., 
 
 Heb. D?n), — the milk of his flocks which he gave to the poor." 
 
 T T 
 
 This is an Arabian notion of etymology, but it connects Abram with 
 Aleppo, a very ancient city which lay on his probable route from 
 Carchemish to Damascus ; it also retains another quaint tradition of 
 the patriarch, who is said, by the inhabitants, to have stopped there 
 on his way to Palestine, to milk a famous white cow which he had. 
 Here George Smith found an inscription in the ancient hieroglyphic 
 commonly named from Hamath, and which is supposed to be the 
 writing of the ancient Hittite nation, whose famous capital Carche- 
 mish, he must have passed shortly before. See Tomkin's Times of 
 Abraham. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 '^Fairest Damascus like a flower-crowned queen,'' seq. 
 
 Nicolaus of Damascus, who was secretary to Herod the Great, 
 says, "Abram ruled at Damascus, a foreigner, who had come with 
 an army, out of the land beyond Babylon, called the land of the 
 Chaldseans," and adds, that he migrated to Cananasa, and that ' ' the 
 name of Abram is well known even to this day in Damascus, and a 
 village is pointed out, which is still called ' the House of Abram.' " 
 It is still true that the inhabitants show a place called the " Sanctuary 
 of Abram," three miles north of Damascus, at the opening of a 
 
NOTES 249 
 
 wild ravine which runs far up into the heart of Anti-Lebanon. It 
 is a rude mosque, built on the side of a naked cliff, its inner chamber 
 opening into a deep cleft. There are also traditions associating 
 Abrara with a village called Harran-el-Awamid, that is, Harran of 
 the Pillars, sixteen miles eastward of Damascus, in the marshy land 
 visited by Mr. M'Gregor, where there are three handsome columns 
 of basalt, and a very ancient well, called Abram's Well. Besides 
 the words of Nicolaus and local traditions as old as his time, we 
 have the interesting fact that Abraham's trusty servant was Eliezer 
 of Damascus. The people of Damascus were, it appears, an 
 Aramaean race and kindred wHh Abram, and the arrival of so 
 great and able a " prince " might have induced them, exposed as 
 their rich city was to attack fi'om Canaanite and other warlike 
 tribes, to invoke his power for their protection, as An'ei and the 
 other Amorite chieftains afterwards did. The fact that the places 
 still shown are villages in the neighbourhood, agrees with the tent- 
 life, which would keep him from dwelling within the walls of the 
 city. See Tomkin's Thnes of Abraham. 
 
 Note XII. 
 
 " There on the hills of Bashan, where the downs 
 Slope to the desert, see the Rephaims' tents," seq. 
 
 Leaving the immediate neighbourhood of the beautiful and 
 well-watered city, he would slowly traverse the broad rich land 
 lying for leagues around Damascus, crossing the Pharpar stream in 
 its slow meandering course, and in due time ascending the stony 
 uplands to the high levels of Bashan. These rugged highlands and 
 far-extended downs sloping eastward to the desert were even then 
 held by fierce and strong marauders, the Rephaims, whose chief 
 seat of rule, and sanctuary of idolatrous worship, was at Ashtaroth 
 Kamaim or Ishtar of the two horns, that is, of the Crescent-moon. 
 A romantic and beautiful region, shaggy in its western glens with 
 the abundant growth of oak and ilex, and with park-like glades of 
 rich herbage and lovely flowers, "where wood-pigeons rose in clouds 
 from the oaks, and jays and woodpeckers screamed in every glade ;" 
 a land where the open pastures are unrivalled in their depth of 
 herbage, and the vines, so long untended, still bear their clusters 
 among the ruins. Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XIII 
 " Ah, there's the oak of Moreh," seq. 
 Genesis xii. 6. "And Abram passed through the land unto the 
 
250 NOTES 
 
 place of Sichefn, unto the plain of Moreh." Rather the oak of 
 Moreh,. supposed by Knobel to mean "The Teacher's oak," or 
 "The Law-giver's oak," a tree at which oracular responses were 
 given by some old sage or prophet. The religious character of the 
 place is apparent from Gen. xxxv. 4, and Josh. xxiv. 26, a well- 
 known landmark, meeting-place, and place of sacrifice. Dods' 
 Handbook of Genesis. 
 
 Here at the foot of Ebal and Gerizim, in the holy heart of the 
 land, he received from God his earliest intimation that this was the 
 destined home of his future seed — the land in search of which he 
 had travelled so far. Under the branches of that sacred tree, 
 which, after looking down on the cruel and impure rites of many 
 more generations, was still to stand a venerable landmark in the 
 eyes of his conquering descendants, Abram reared his first rude 
 altar to Jehovah on the soil of Canaan. Dyke's Abraham. 
 
 Note XIV 
 " Ha 1 who comes yonder with the milk-white ass," seq. 
 
 See Gen. xii. 11-20. 
 
 There is a general agreement of Egyptologists in placing 
 Abram's sojourn in Egypt during the dominion of the Hyksos. 
 The name Hyks6s, by which the Shepherd Kings were known to 
 the Egyptian priestly historian Manetho, is generally believed to 
 be compounded of Shasu, the usual word for Arab, hordes, and hyk 
 king, and may have been a mere nickname used after their ex- 
 pulsion. But the Egyptians call them in their records Menti, 
 (Syrians), — Sati, the roving Asiatics^armed with bows, or by a word 
 of hatred and contempt. Manetho says they were of ignoble race, 
 "some say Arabians," and also uses the term Phoenicians for the 
 earlier monarchs. Africanus calls them Phoenicians. It is clear 
 enough from what quarter they came. The few sculptures yet 
 discovered show a type, most strongly marked, common to all the 
 royal heads. Four sphinxes of unique type were uncovered at 
 San, one of which is in the Museum at Bulak. These are sculp- 
 tured with extreme vigour, but quite different in style from the 
 Egyptian treatment. Instead of the fully developed human head 
 royally adorned, the faces are compassed by a vast shaggy mane, 
 rayed round the visage with a hairy fringe, from out of which 
 look the stem features, royally distinguished by the Egyptian 
 basilisk-crest above the fillet or diadem bound across the hard 
 brow, and by the square- cut beard below. And what a front is 
 this ! As full of gnarled strength as the great sphinx of Gireh is 
 instinct with superhuman serenity. The brows are knit with 
 
NOTES 251 
 
 anxious care, the full but small eyes seem to know no Tcindly light ; 
 the nose, of fine profile curve, yet broad and square in form, has 
 its strongly'- chiselled nostrils depressed in accordance with the 
 saddened lines of the lower cheek. The lips are thick and pro- 
 minent, but not with the unmeaning fulness of the Negro, — quite 
 the opposite. The curve is fine, the "Cupid's bow" perfect, 
 which defines so boldly the upper outline ; the channelled and 
 curved upper-lip has even an expression of proud sensitiveness, 
 and there is more of sorrow than of fierceness in the down-drawn 
 angles of the mouth. " I stand quite astonished," says Dr. Eber, 
 "before these outlandish features, which in their rough earnestness 
 form the sharpest contrast to the smiling heads of the Egyptian 
 Colossi." Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 According to the Manethonian account, which the Jewish his- 
 torian Josephus has preserved to us, the Egyptian Netherlands 
 were at a certain time overspread by a wild and rough people, 
 which came from the countries of the east, overcame the native 
 kings who dwelt there, and took possession of the whole country 
 without finding any great opposition on the part of the Egyptians. 
 The whole people bore the name of Hyks6s, that is, " Shepherd 
 Kings." For hyk means in the holy language a king, Sos, in the 
 dialect of the people, a shepherd or shepherds. Some think they 
 were Arabs. The inscriptions designate this foreign people by the 
 name of Men or Menti, and we can establish that such was the 
 common name of Syria in the mouths of the Egyptians who were 
 then living. 
 
 These foreign princes had, besides the town of Zoan, chosen 
 as the capital of their power the typhonic place, Hauar-Auaris, 
 on the east side of the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, and had pro- 
 vided it with strong fortifications. The foreigners had, besides 
 the customs and manners, adopted the official language and the 
 holy vpriting of the Egyptians. The whole arrangement of their 
 court was formed on the Egyptian model. These same foreign 
 kings were patrons of art. Egyptian artists made, according to 
 the old pattern, and according to the prescribed usage of their 
 forefathers, the monuments in honour of the foreign tyrants ; yet, 
 in the statues of them, they were obliged to give way with regard 
 to the expression of the foreign countenances, the peculiar arrange- 
 ment of the beard, and the head-dress, and other deviations of 
 foreign costume. 
 
 These foreign kings honoured, as the supreme god of their 
 newly acquired country, the son of the heavenly goddess Nut, the 
 god Set or Sutekh, with the additional name Nub, "gold" or 
 " the golden," — according to the Egyptian mode of viewing things, 
 the origin of all that is bad and perverse in the seen and unseen 
 
252 NOTES 
 
 world, the Opponent of what is good, and the enemy of- light. 
 In the towns of Zoan and Auaris, the foreigners had constructed 
 to the honour of this god splendid temples and other monuments, 
 especially sphinxes constructed of stone from Syene. The names 
 of the Hyks6s kings with which they ornamented their own 
 memorial stones, or those of earlier Egyptian kings of the times 
 before them, have arrived to us half - obliterated or carefully 
 chiselled out, so- that the decipherment of the faint traces which 
 remain has to struggle with great difficulties, and science has to 
 thank a happy accident for the decipherment of the names of two 
 Hyks6s kings, first, the king whose first cartouche contains the 
 name Ra-aa-ab-tani, and whose second cartouche encloses the 
 family name Apopi or Apopa. Brugsch's Egypt under the Pharaohs, 
 
 Note XV 
 
 " The milk-white ass " 
 
 Asses of fine breed were used for riding and burden, and in 
 litters of state, but the horse seems as yet unknown. Tomkin's 
 Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 "A sar" 
 
 The word used in Genesis xii. for the officers of Pharaoh's court 
 is the correct Egyptian title (Sar), which is, in fact, common to the 
 Turanian and Semitic Babylonian, Egyptian, and Hebrew lan- 
 guages. But in Babylonia it was the title of the sovereign himself, 
 and not even of his viceroys, whereas in Egypt the same word was 
 applied to subordinate functionaries, such as those who spoke of 
 Sarai to the Pharaoh. Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 " Frovi Pharaoh's court" 
 
 The royal title of ' ' Pharaoh " is thus explained by M. Pierret : 
 "Just as the Turks say ' the Porte ' (gate) for the court of the Sul- 
 tan, the Egyptians, instead of speaking of the king, said _ ' the 
 Palace,' the great dwelling, per-aa, whence the Hebrew njnS. 
 Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
NOTES 253 
 
 Note XVIII 
 
 " Apopi, son of Set, 
 Star of both Worlds" 
 
 The curious Hyksos legend on the Tell Mokdam colossus gives 
 us the composite title : 
 
 " The good god, star of the two worlds (or lands), Set, 
 Sha(l)ati, beloved of (Set), lord of Avaris." 
 
 Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XIX 
 
 " The Amu sheikh" 
 
 Amu is the usual Egyptian word for the Shemitic races of Asia 
 (from DJf, peopli). Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 " When we passed the gates 
 Of the great wall," seq. 
 
 In giving entrance through the guarded portals of the great wall 
 built by Amenemha I., the methodical Egyptian officers wrote down 
 their names and the number of their clan, and reported their arrival 
 at headquarters. This was the strict custom of that business-like 
 people, literally the inventors of red tape. Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XXI 
 
 " He died not, yet my God delivered" 
 
 The subject of marriage in Egypt has been treated by Prof. 
 Ebers. The vpife held a very honourable place in the oldest times, 
 as the monuments clearly show. This agrees well with the Pharaoh's 
 view of the matter, which, indeed, was quite characteristic of the 
 old Turanian people of Chaldsea, and also guided Abimelech, King 
 of Gerar. The respect for marriage-ties evinced by the King. of 
 Egypt belongs to the usual rule of morals of the Egyptians. Times 
 of Abraham. 
 
 Note XXII 
 
 '^ A garden of the Lord," seq. 
 
 See Gen. xiii. 1-13. 
 
 In the deep valley of the Jordan had been formed one of those 
 confederacies of cities, so characteristic of the Canaanite races. 
 The region is called "the Vale of Siddim." The word rendered 
 
2S4 NOTES 
 
 vale is applied to open valleys enclosed by hills. " Siddim " has 
 been an enigma to the commentators. Taking the vford as it 
 stands without the late addition of vowel points, it seems likely 
 enough that it might have been the " Shedim " the local Canaanite 
 gods "Set of this city" and "Set of that," to whom the sons of 
 Abraham were afterwards enticed to offer sacrifice. The " Valley 
 of the Shedim " would be no unlikely designation of so thick a 
 hive of allied Canaanites. Anyhow in this tropical depth they 
 had established a hot -bed of heathenish vice. The cities were 
 Sodoin, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim and Bela (afterwards 
 Zoar), their respective kings, Bera, Birsha, Shinab, and Shemeber, 
 and a king of Bela whose name is not given. Times of Abraham. 
 
 Note XXIII 
 
 "Look! Look I The Susian camp 
 Yonder at Dan " 
 
 See Gen. xiv., and VI. note i. 
 
 It now seems clear that these kings (the kings of the Cities of the 
 Plain) were especially formidable to the Eastern conquerors, and 
 their subjugation very important. In fact they commanded the 
 great route of Arabian commerce, and enriched themselves with 
 the wealth which the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Babylonians, 
 and the Elamites valued so highly. Doubtless many a rich caravan 
 of " Midianite merchant-men," with spicery and balm and myrrh, 
 many a long train of Amu, with their bales of rich clothing and 
 cosmetics and metals, would pass within reach of those Canaanite 
 lords, who must not be allowed to levy their black-mail for their own 
 independent profit. It is easy to see that the mastery of Egypt by 
 the allied races to whom the Canaanite clans belonged (the Hyksos), 
 would be almost sure to bring about a struggle to rid themselves of 
 the Eastern dominion. So only " twelve years they served Kedor- 
 la'omer and in the thirteenth year they rebelled," with Lot among 
 them. The chapter (Genesis xiv.) containing this second expedi- 
 tion of Kedorla'omer is generally viewed by critics as a con- 
 temporary, or at least veiy ancient, record of Canaanite origin. 
 
 All attempts to fix the sites of the " Cities of the Plain" have 
 hitherto been futile. The northern situation of the cities seems 
 involved in the very phrase of the ancient record, " the cities of the 
 Kikkar," "the circle of Jordan," and the line of Kedorla'omer's 
 march, so perfectly traced in the firm strokes of the primeval record, 
 equally ascertains the northern position of the final scene of his long 
 warfare. The defeat of the demoraUsed Canaanites must have been 
 complete. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were killed. All 
 who could escape fled to the mountains. 
 
NOTES 255 
 
 The crowning triumph of this adventurous and skilful cam- 
 paign must have satiated and burdened the Eastern army with 
 plunder ; and " all the victual " which they took from Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, including the beer and wines which the Egyptians im- 
 ported from this very region, and the security of having thoroughly 
 beaten their enemy down the whole line, must have sent them on 
 their homeward way in high exultation and carousal. The route 
 of their return would be up the valley of the Jordan to the Sea 
 of Kinnereth, some sixty miles, then round the west side of that 
 beautiful lake and through "the goodly heritage of Naphtali," 
 from Kinnereth northward to Dan, "a place where there is no 
 want of anything that is in the earth" (Judges xviii. lo). No 
 wonder that Kedorla'omer, as he drew on his long train, cumbered 
 with all its captives and their goods, in their triumphal homeward 
 march, should halt by its abundant waters, before crossing the 
 mountain track, that would lead him to the next delightful and 
 luxurious halting-place, Damascus. Here, then, among these old 
 enemies was Lot, on his way back to his native country, or perhaps 
 to grace the triumph at Susa, an enslaved prisoner of war. 
 
 But meanwhile in the south those that escaped from the lost 
 field of battle fled over the mountains to Hebron, and told 
 "Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the oak-grove of Mamre 
 the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and brother of Aner, and these 
 were confederate with Abram." This at once shows the import- 
 ance and dignity of " Abram the Hebrew," the foreigner ; for these 
 stricken Canaanites fly straight to his tent. Not an hour was lost. 
 All had friends to rescue or at least to avenge. Down the passes 
 they go, and speeding along the green depths of the ghSr on the 
 track of the enemy, and after four days' and nights' swift march 
 they see the camp, and with all precaution arid secrecy wait for 
 night. 
 
 The very picture is drawn for us in the history of David : 
 "Behold they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and 
 drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had 
 taken" (i Samuel xxx. i6). Eastern armies are notorious for a 
 loose night-watch. Kedorla'omer had no reason to suspect the 
 least danger. Josephus tells us his men were asleep or too drunken 
 to fight. Such a surprise it must have been as that of Gideon. 
 And now their turn was come to flee to the mountains in wild 
 dismay and rout. The trusty Eliezer would know the ways across 
 the mountains to Damascus right well. All the next day and 
 night the pursuit rages, until the remaining fugitives had reached 
 Khobah, north of Damascus, — the place is still shown, "in the 
 comer of the vast plain, just where the bare hills intersected by a 
 deep ravine descend on the mass of verdure which reaches up to 
 
256 NOTES 
 
 the very foot of the rocks.'' It was here, I suppose, that the chief 
 of the routed forces turned to bay, unable to escape further on their 
 homeward route to the north. The tradition is that at this point, 
 which is now a holy place, Abram returned thanks to God for 
 his victory. It is a rude mosque built on the side of a naked 
 cliff, its inner chamber opening into a deep cleft, three miles 
 north of Damascus. The name Khobah means "a hiding-place," 
 and if indeed any of the chiefs took refuge there, as the Canaanite 
 kings "fled and hid themselves in the cave of Makkedah " from 
 Joshua, this would account for the pursuit ending at this spot. 
 Times of Abraham. 
 
 See also VII. note xi." 
 
 Note XXIV 
 
 ' ' — Who isH that comes 
 Down the steep path" seq. 
 
 See Gen. xiv. 18-20. 
 
 Mount Zion was the highest and the largest of the hills on which 
 the city (Jerusalem) stood. The crest of Zion is more than 300 
 feet above the Kedron at En-Rogel. It was the first spot in 
 Jerusalem occupied by buildings. Probably the Salem of Mel- 
 chizedek, it was certainly the Jebus of the Jebusites, and then the 
 City of David (2 Samuel v. 7). Tristram's Topography of the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 Melchizedek brings bread and wine from Salem "to supply the 
 exhausted warriors with food and drink, but more especially as a 
 mark of gratitude to Abram, who had conquered for them peace, 
 freedom, and prosperity " (Delitzsh). There is something very sig- 
 nificant in the appearance in the midst of the degenerate tribes of 
 Canaan, of this king of righteousness and pripst of the true God of 
 heaven and earth, though we can see in him nothing more than 
 one, perhaps the last, of the witnesses and confessors of the early 
 revelation of God, coming out into the light of history from the 
 dark night of heathenism. Kiel and Delitzsh, Commentary on the 
 Pentateuch. 
 
 Note XXV 
 
 " — No spoil, not a shoe-latchet " 
 
 See Gen. xiv. 21-24. 
 
 Note XXVI 
 
 " — Look up and count the stars,'' seq. 
 
 See Gen. xv. S, Gen. xvi., and Gen. xxi. g-21. 
 
NOTES 257 
 
 Note XXVII 
 
 " Promised that day 
 He made His covenant " 
 
 See Gen. xvii. 
 
 Note XXVIII 
 
 " — Ak, yonder' s the grove 
 Of Mamre" 
 
 See Gen. xviii., and VII. note i. 
 
 Note XXIX 
 " — Ere next day brake I hasted to the hill" 
 See Gen. xix. 27, and VII. note i. 
 
 Note XXX 
 " See yonder's Gerar, where Abimelech," seq. 
 
 See Gen. xx. 
 
 I hold that the Philistines came from the neighbouring coast of 
 Africa, perhaps from Lower Egypt, though Josephus seems to 
 place Caphtor, their ancient home, higher up the valley of the Nile. 
 There is much plausibility in the theory which identifies the 
 Shepherd kings, who conquered Lower Egypt about the time of 
 Abraham, with the Philistines. They may have been a great 
 roving race of Bedawin until the time of that conquest. Thomson's 
 Land and Book. 
 
 Chabas, a very safe and equally able and learned Egyptian 
 scholar, concludes from the similarity of the manners at the court of 
 Abimelech and at that of Pharaoh, that the two kings were of the 
 same race. Tomkin's Times of Abraham. 
 
 What was known in the time of Abraham as the kingdom of 
 Gerar, comprised the fine pastoral land lying south-west of Beersheba 
 and west of Kadesh. Light is thrown on the subsequent history of 
 this region by a casual expression in i Chron. iv. 39, where we 
 read that the Simeonites " went to the entrance of Gerar and found 
 fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and 
 peaceable ; for they of Ham {i.e. the Mizraimite Philistines, or 
 Cherethites from Caphtor) had dwelt there of old. " The Philistines 
 we/e then a pastoral people, as we see from the life of Abimelech. 
 Here probably Isaac was born ; here was his favourite resid- 
 ence. The name still remains ; and the Wady Jerfir, a little 
 south of Muweileh or Hagar's Well, with a magnificent prospect 
 
258 NOTES 
 
 and vast rolling plains covered with herbage, and many ruins on 
 the hills above it, indicate the camping-ground of the Father of 
 the Faithful. Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land. 
 
 Note XXXI 
 
 ' ' Reproved by hitn, 
 The worshipper of Set" 
 
 Set was the god of the Hyks6s, the especial deity of the Kheta. 
 The worship of Set dated from the very earliest times in Egypt. 
 As early as the fifth dynasty a temple was dedicated to him at 
 Memphis. M. de Ronge considered that Horus and Set typified 
 respectively the monarchies of Upper and Lower Egypt. In the 
 epitaphs of the mothers of the kings Khufu (Cheops) and his 
 successor Khafira (Cephrenes) these royal ladies dignified themselves 
 as "beholding Horus and Set," which M. de Ronge explains as 
 referring to the Pharaoh in his double monarchy. These evidences 
 clearly establish the joint worship of Osiris (or his son Horus) 
 and Set, in these very early times of the fourth dynasty, by the 
 builders of the great pyramids. It seems that the sun above the 
 horizon was regarded as Horus, but in his nocturnal course as Set, 
 thus identified with the power of darkness, the brother and de- 
 stroyer of Osiris, and himself destroyed by Horus the avenger ; the 
 rising sun of the morning slaying the destroyer of his father. 
 
 If Set was the especial type of the kingdom of Lower Egypt, and 
 god of the hostile Asiatics, he would naturally become identified, 
 by the expelled Egyptian refugees and patriots of Upper Egypt 
 with everything evil and oppressive, and moral evil would be 
 associated with what we call physical evil. This would lead to 
 the hatred and contempt with which, after the Hyks6s had been 
 driven out, their symbol, the ungainly Set-figure, was chiselled 
 from all the monuments. The origin and meaning of this figure 
 have been very variously explained. In the latter times it was 
 represented as an ass, but nothing could be farther from the first 
 meaning of the solar symbol, which I believe to have been really 
 an eagle-headed lion. The horns or ears of the Set-monster may 
 be conventional representations of rays of light. The Set-animal 
 is sometimes figured with wings, more often without ; sometimes 
 the animal is seated, sometimes crouched like a sphinx, sometimes 
 only the head is joined (in the Egyptian style) to the human body, 
 — but always the head has the two rays or crest feathers, or ears, or 
 horns. The a,uthor of Psalm cvi. says that the Children of Israel 
 " sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto the Sets " (Shedim), 
 and identifies these with the " Idols of Canaan," identical with the 
 Baalim. Tomkin's Times of Abraham, 
 
NOTES 259 
 
 Note XXXII 
 " — Within the tent they slept" seq. 
 See Genesis xxii. i-ig. 
 
 Note XXXIII 
 
 " — A lonely hill 
 Twin-bom with Salem " 
 
 On the third day (for the distance from Beersheba to Jerusalem 
 is about 2oi hours) Abraham saw in the distance, the place men- 
 tioned by God, the land of Moriah, i.e. the mountainous country 
 round about Jerusalem, lit. "the shown of Jehovah," equivalent to 
 the manifestation of Jehovah. Keil and Delitzsh, Commentary on 
 the Pentateuch. 
 
 The rocky region lying in between the deep valley of the channel 
 of the Kidron and that broad ravine that joins it from the west, the 
 Valley of Hinnom, — is the platform of ancient Jerusalem — the whole 
 of it. Within these limits there was nothing else, and beyond them 
 the city never extended. This platform of Jerusalem is divided 
 into two nearly equal parts, by a valley, which commences to the 
 north-west of the Damascus gate, shallow and broad at first, but 
 deepening rapidly in its course, down along the west side of the 
 temple area, until it unites with the Kidron at the pool of Siloam. 
 The city, therefore, was built upon two parallel ridges, with a valley 
 between them, and these grand landmarks are perfectly distinct 
 to this day. The eastern ridge is Moriah, on which stood the 
 Temple ; the western is Mount Zion, and the valley between them 
 is that of the Cheesemongers (Tyropceon). Thomson's Land and 
 Book. 
 
 It was on Mount Moriah that Abraham offered up his son 
 Isaac, and the typical ransom was found which so clearly set forth 
 the Christian doctrine of substitution. But the immediate cause 
 of its selection as the site of the future Temple, was the fact, of the 
 Destroying Angel in the pestilence, here staying his hand over the 
 threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, in response to the prayer 
 and sacrifice of David (i Chron. xxi. 14-27). It is evident that 
 up to this time Jerusalem had not extended east of the Tyropoeon. 
 Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land. 
 
 Note XXXIV 
 
 " The white roofs and the trees 
 Of Kirfath-Arba," seq. 
 
 See Genesis xxiii. 2, seq. 
 
26o NOTES 
 
 Hebron was built by the Anakim, who called it Kiriath-Arba, after 
 the name of Arba, the father of Anak. The passage (Josh. xiv. 15) 
 is very curious, " and the name of Khebron before (was) city 
 (Kiriath) of Arba, the great man among the Anakim;" the force 
 of the title "the great (Adam) man," apparently being "the 
 founder of the race of the Anakim." The Anakim are considered 
 to be a tribe of the Hyks6s, and probably came from the regions of 
 Chaldea. Dr. Haigh considers the name Khebron (alliance) as 
 probably referring to the league between the three Amorite chief- 
 tains, Aner Eshcol, and Mamre, and Abram. Tomkin's Times of 
 Abraham. 
 
 Hebron, originally Kirjath Arba, now El Khulil, i.e. "the 
 friend " (of God), from Abraham, stands 3029 feet above the sea, 
 twenty Roman miles from Jerusalem ; it is one of the oldest exist- 
 ing cities in the world, a rival of Damascus in antiquity, and still a 
 thriving place. On its hill-sides, and in the valleys below, Abra- 
 ham walked and communed with God. Beneath the huge walls 
 which seal the access to the Cave of Machpelah, under the sacred 
 mosque, the dust of the patriarchs moulders, or perhaps their em- 
 balmed bodies still remain. In the field and cave of Machpelah, 
 bought from Ephron the Hittite, were buried Sarah and Abraham, 
 Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. The great Mosque or 
 Haram over the Cave of Machpelah is the one spot of all-absorbing 
 interest. We were unable to do more than look within the sacred 
 enclosure. To the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Dean Stanley, 
 was accorded the unique privilege of entering and examining the 
 Moslem sanctuary which covers the patriarchs' tombs. Shrines 
 are shown for all the patriarchs ; but the cavern below is com- 
 pletely closed from inspection, except by a small hole in the pave- 
 ment, dovra which no light is admitted. The outer wall of the area 
 is about 200 feet long by 115 wide, and upwards of 50 feet high, 
 without a single window or opening of any kind, except the door- 
 ways to the north. It embraces, not a level space, but the side of 
 a very steep hill, just such as would include a sepulchral cave. 
 The stones are sumptuous in style and dressing, and there is a 
 simple and austere grandeur about the massive plainness of the 
 ancient wall. It is patriarchal in its magnificent simplicity. 
 There is every reason to believe that this wall is the work of the 
 royal Solomon, or perhaps of his greater father. Tristram's Topo- 
 graphy of the Holy Land. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Pi-Ramses or Zodn-Tanis " 
 
 Zoan-Tanis, the capital of the frontier district. ... A sandy 
 plain, as vast as it is dreary, called at this day San, in remembrance 
 of the ancient name of Zoan, and covered with gigantic ruins of 
 columns, pillars,- sphinxes, stelae, and stones of buildings, — all 
 these fragments being cut in the hardest material from the granite 
 of Syene, — shows you the position of that city of Tanis, to which 
 the Egyptian texts and the classic authors are agreed in giving the 
 epithet of " a great and splendid city of Egypt." According to the 
 geographical inscriptions, the Egyptians gave to this plain, of which 
 Tanis was the centre, the name of Sokhot Zoan, ' ' the plain of Zoan, ' ' 
 the origin of which name is traced back as far as the age of Ramses 
 II. The author of the 78th Psalm makes use in two verses (12th 
 and 43d) of precisely the same phrase, in reminding the Hebrews of 
 his time of the miracles which God wrought before their ancestors, 
 "the children of Israel in Egypt, in the plain of Zoan." 
 
 The second appellation, Pi -Ramses, "the city of Ramses," 
 dates from the time of the second king of that name, the founder 
 of all those edifices whose gigantic ruins still astonish the traveller 
 of our day. This is the new city, built close to the ancient Zor, 
 and so often mentioned in the papyri of the British Museum, at 
 which Ramses II. erected sanctuaries and temples in honour of a 
 circle of divinities, called " the gods of Ramses. " The king caused 
 himself also to be honoured with a religious worship, and the texts 
 of a later age make mention of the "god-king Ramses, surnamed 
 the very valiant." 
 
262 NOTES 
 
 The Egyptian records, especially the papyri, abound in dates 
 relating to the building of the new city and sanctuaries of Ramses, 
 and to the labours in stone and in bricks with which the workmen 
 were over-burthened, to make them complete their task quickly. 
 These Egyptian documents fvirnish details so precise and specific 
 on this sort of work, that it is impossible not to recognise in them 
 the most evident connection with the " hard bondage " and " rigorous 
 service " of the Hebrews, on the occasion of building certain edifices 
 at Pithom and Ramses (Exodus i. 11-14). Any one must be blind 
 who refuses to see the light which is beginning to shine into the 
 darkness of thirty centuries, and which enables us to transfer to 
 their true places the events which the good Fathers of the Church 
 — excellent Christians, indeed, but ill acquainted with antiquity — 
 would have confounded till the end of time, had not the monuments 
 of the Khedive, and the treasures of the British Museum, come in 
 good time to our help. . . . 
 
 It was this city into which, in the fifth year of his reign, 
 Ramses II. made his triumphal entry, after having won his vic- 
 tories over the people of the Khetians, and in which, sixteen years 
 later, the same Pharaoh concluded the treaty of peace and alliance 
 with the chief of that people. — It was this city whose great plains 
 served as the field for the cavalry and troops of the kings to practise 
 their warlike manoeuvres. — It was this city whose harbour was filled 
 with Egyptian and Phoenician vessels, which carried on the com- 
 merce between Egypt and Syria. — It is this city which the Egyptian 
 texts designate expressly as the end of the proper Egyptian territory 
 and the beginning of that of the foreigner. — It is this city of which 
 an Egyptian poet has left us the beautiful description contained 
 in a papyrus of the British Museum. — It is the same city where 
 the Ramessids loved to reside, in order to receive foreign embassies 
 and to give orders to the functionaries of their court. — This is the 
 very city where the children of Israel experienced the rigours of a 
 long and oppressive slavery, where Moses wrought his miracles in 
 the presence of the Pharaoh of his age ; and it was from this same 
 city that the Hebrews set out to quit the fertile land of Egypt. 
 Brugsch's Egypt under the Pharaohs, ii. 352-356. 
 
 Note II 
 
 Children's Song 
 
 For original of this song, see Si2i.xAey's Jewish Church, p. 84. 
 
NOTES 263 
 
 Note III 
 " Grand Procession of Ramses II." 
 
 In consequence of the wars of King Ramses in western Asia, 
 besides the booty, a great number of prisoners were transplanted to 
 the valley of the Nile. On the front wall of the temple of Luqsor, 
 behind the obelisks and the splendid sitting figures of the king, 
 there is a scene relating to this, with the superscription, " Catalogue 
 of the princes of the people of Khita, whom the Pharaoh has brought 
 back as living prisoners, to fill the house of his father Amon, and 
 of the people of the Dardani, of Pidasa, and others." As leaders 
 of the band of the prisoners there appear the king's sons, who had 
 taken part in the campaign against Khita. Brugsch's Egypt 
 under the Pharaohs, ii. 66. 
 
 The new Pharaoh, "who knew not Joseph," who adorned the 
 city of Ramses, the capital of the Tanitic nome, and the city of 
 Pithom, the capital of what was afterwards the Sethroitic nome, 
 with temple-cities, is no other, can be no other, than Ramessu II., 
 of whose buildings at Zoan the monuments and the papyrus-rolls 
 speak in complete agreement. . . . Ramessu is the Pharaoh of the 
 oppression, and the father of that unnamed princess who found 
 the child Moses exposed in the bulrushes on the bank of the river. 
 Brugsch's Egypt under the Pharaohs, ii. 99. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 "^ band of Pallares, the royal priestesses of Thebes'''' 
 
 Women were not excluded firom certain offices in the temple ; 
 they were priestesses of the gods, of the kings and queens, and 
 they had many employments connected with religion. They even 
 attended in some religious processions. They were of various 
 grades — the highest of them were the queens, princesses, and the 
 wives and daughters of the high priests, who held the sistra ; others 
 praised the deity with various instruments ; and from being often 
 called "minstrels" of the god, their office seems to have been par- 
 ticularly connected with the sacred music of the temple. The 
 institution may have been a sort of college or convent ; but as 
 married women and even young children might belong to it, they 
 were evidently not immured within the precincts of any place 
 resembling a modem nunnery ; and if they were obliged to take 
 certain vows, and attend to the duties attached to their honourable 
 office, nothing prevented their performing all others of a public and 
 social kind. It was not forbidden to strangers naturalised in Egypt 
 
264 NOTES 
 
 to belong to it ; and one instance occurs on a papyrus of a " foreign " 
 woman having the same holy office in the service of Amun. Wil- 
 kinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. 316, seq. 
 
 Note V 
 
 "Ramses, the youthful king, the bold of hand," seq. 
 
 This song is a condensation of the Heroic Poem of Pentaur, the 
 Theban poet, for the original of vifhich see Brugsch's Egypt under 
 the Pharaohs, ii. 53. The occasion of its composition was as fol- 
 lows : "A great war had broken out between Egypt and the land 
 of Khita. The king of the latter had assembled his allies to check 
 the Egyptians. Kadesh was the rallying place of the confederates. 
 It was a slaughter of the peoples in the fullest sense of the word. 
 . . . Ramses came out of the fight at Kadesh a doubtful conqueror, 
 and had to thank his own personal bravery for his life and preserva- 
 tion, since ' he was all alone and no other was with him.' This 
 heroic feat gave the occasion to poets, sculptors, and painters to 
 make the most of such fortunate materials, in order to immortalise 
 in words and pictures the great deeds of the ' conqueror '- king. 
 The temple-scribe, Pentaur, a jovial companion, had the honour, in 
 the seventh year of Ramses II. , to win the prize as the composer of 
 an heroic song, a copy of which we not only possess in a roll of 
 papyrus, but its words cover the whole surface of walls in the 
 temples of Abydus, Luqsor, Kamak, the Ramesseum of Ibsambool." 
 Brugsch, ii. 645. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Like Monthu, god of war " 
 
 Monthu, the warrior-god of light, — the ancient tutelar Lord of 
 Thebes. Had a temple in Hermonthis. Brugsch, i. 396. 
 
 Note VII 
 " Amon's legions " 
 
 Amon-ra, the king of the gods, — Jupiter, according to the Theban 
 doctrine. Brugsch, i. 25. 
 
 The fundamental doctrine of the religion of the Egyptians was 
 the Unity of the Deity, but this unity was not represented, and He 
 was known by a sentence, or an idea, being, as Jamblichus says, 
 "worshipped in silence." But the attributes of this Being were 
 represented under positive forms ; and hence arose a multiplicity of 
 
NOTES 2^5 
 
 gods, that engendered idolatry, and caused a total misconception of 
 the real nature of the Deity, in the minds of all who were not ad- 
 mitted to a knowledge of the truth through the Mysteries, The 
 division of God into his attributes was in this manner. As soon as 
 he was thought to have any reference to his works, or to man, he 
 ceased to be quiescent ; he became an agent ; and he was no longer 
 the One, but distinguishable and divisible, according to his supposed 
 character, his actions, and his influence on the world. JHe was 
 then the Creator, the Divine Goodness (or the abstract idea of Good), 
 Wisdom, Power, and the like ; and as we speak of Him as the Al- 
 mighty, the Merciful, the Everlasting, so the Egyptians gave to 
 each of his various attributes a particular name. But they did 
 more, they separated them ; and to the uninitiated they became dis- 
 tinct gods. As one of these, the Deity was Amun ; — probably the 
 Divine Mind in operation, the bringer to light of the secrets of the 
 hidden will ; — and he had a complete human form, because man was 
 the intellectual animal, and the principal design of the Divine Will 
 in the creation. Amun had his principal temple at Thebes. 
 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 327-331. 
 
 Each battalion (of the Egyptian army), and indeed each com- 
 pany, had its particular standard, which represented a sacred sub- 
 ject, — a king's name, a sacred boat, an animal, or some emblematic 
 device. The objects chosen for their standards were such as were 
 regarded by the troops with a superstitious feeling of respect ; and 
 being raised, says Diodorus, on a spear (or staff), which an officer 
 bore aloft, they served to point out to the men their respective 
 regiments, encouraged them to the charge, and offered a conspicuous 
 rallying point in the confusion of battle. Wilkinson's Ancient 
 Egyptians, i. 342. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 "Ra" 
 
 Ra, — the Sun, the god of Light, son of Patah, according to the 
 Memphian doctrine. The representative of Light and Fire in the 
 series of the four elements of the world. In another deeply mystic 
 sense he is the divine form of Existence in the most comprehensive 
 sense of the word; he is "that which is to-day, the present." 
 Brugsch, i. 29. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 "Ptah" 
 
 Patah, "the father of the gods" (the Architect of the World), 
 Vulcan. " He is the father of beginnings, who created the egg of 
 
266 NOTES 
 
 the sun and of the moon." " The father of all the gods, the first 
 existing." He is God the Creator, who existed before the creation 
 of the universe, his own exclusive work. Worshipped at Memphis. 
 Brugsch, i. 29. 
 
 Note X 
 "Sutekh" 
 
 These foreign kings (the HyksSs) honoured, as the supreme god 
 of their newly-acquired country, the son of the heavenly goddess 
 Nut, the god Set or Sutekh, with the additional name. Nub, " gold," 
 or ' ' the golden ; " — according to the Egyptian mode of viewing things, 
 the origin of all that is bad and perverse in the seen and unseen 
 world, the opponent of what is good, and the enemy of light. In 
 the towns of Zoan and Auris the foreigners had constructed to the 
 honour of this god splendid temples and other monuments, especially 
 sphinxes, constructed of stone from Syene. Brugsch, i. 237. 
 
 The god Sutech, — the Egyptian expression of the Semitic Baal, 
 especially of Baal Zapuna, the Baal-zephon of Holy Scripture. 
 Brugsch, i. 242. 
 
 See VII. note xxxi.. Book I. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " The Khita^s miserable king" 
 
 Already, during the wars undertaken by Thutmes III. against 
 the Syrian peoples and towns of that region, the Kheta or Khita 
 had shown themselves on the theatre of those yearly repeated and 
 long-enduring struggles, under the leadership of their own kings, a 
 dominant race. The contemporary Egyptian inscriptions designate 
 them as " the great people," or " the great country," less with 
 respect to the space they occupied, than from their just reputation 
 for the possession of those brave and chivalrous qualities which the 
 inhabitants of Khita, a race as noble as . the Egyptians, were ac- 
 knowledged even by their enemies to possess. We believe we are 
 falling into no error if we persevere in our opinion, which recognises 
 in these people the same Khethites (Hittites), about whom the 
 Holy Scripture has so much to tell us, from the days of the 
 patriarch Abraham till the time of the captivity. In the representa- 
 tions of the wars of Ramses II. against Khitasar, the prince of the 
 Khita, the great foreign king appears surrounded by his generals 
 and servants. His warriors were divided into foot -soldiers and 
 fighters on chariots, and consisted partly of native Khethites, partly 
 of foreign mercenaries. The nucleus of the army was formed of 
 
NOTES 267 
 
 the native-bom Khita, under the designation of Tuhir, or "the 
 chosen ones." In the battle of Kadesh 8000 of these stood in the 
 foremost rank, while 9000 others followed their king. Brugsch, 
 ii. 2-4. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " On legion of Pra-Hor-m-khuh " 
 
 The Sphinx is called " Hu," a word which designates the man- 
 headed lion, while the real name of the god represented by the 
 Sphinx was Hormakhu, that is to say, " Horus on the horizon." 
 — The Sun-god of Heliopolis. Brugsch, i. 8 1 . 
 
 Note XIII 
 " Victory in Thebes" 
 
 Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt, principal seat of the 
 worship of Amon. The main divisions of Egypt were "the 
 Upper and Lower Regions " ; and this distinction, which had been 
 maintained from the earliest times, was also indicated by a 
 difference in the dialects of the language. Thebes and Memphis 
 enjoyed equal rank as capitals of Egypt ; and every monarch at 
 his coronation assumed the title of " lord of the two regions " or 
 "the two worlds." "^'USs^smsovl 5 Ancient Egyptians, ii. 229. 
 
 The noble pair of horses which earned Pharaoh, and whose 
 name was "Victory in Thebes," they were from the court of king 
 Ramessu Miamun. Brugsch, ii. 55- 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 " Obelisks from Elephantine Isle " 
 
 The ivory -island -city of Elephantine lay opposite to Syene, 
 (the modern trading town of Assouan), on the right bank of the 
 river. Brugsch, i. 12. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 " My voice an echo found in Hermonthis '' 
 
 Anun in southern Egypt, which was situated in the neighbour- 
 hood of the capital of the Empire, Thebes ; — better known by its 
 Greek appellation, Hermonthis. Brugsch, i. 128. 
 
268 NOTES 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " Ramses Miamun " 
 
 Ramses II. bore the names Ra-useima Sotep-en-ra Ramessu 
 II. Miamun I. (Ramses Miamun). Brugsch, ii. 33. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 - "So chanted PharaoKs singer," seq. 
 
 Clemens gives an account of an Egyptian procession. " In the 
 solemn pomps of Egypt the singer generally, goes first, bearing one 
 of the symbols of music. They say it is his duty to carry two of 
 the books of Hermes ; one of which contains hymns of the gods, 
 the other, precepts relating to the life of the king. The singer is 
 followed by the Horoscopus, bearing in his hand the measure of 
 time (hour glass), and the palm (branch), the symbols of astrology 
 (astronomy), whose duty it is to be versed in (or recite) the four 
 books of Hermes, which treat of that science. Of these, one 
 describes the position of the fixed stars, another the conjunctions 
 (eclipses) and illuminations of the sun and moon, and the others 
 their risings. Next comes the Hierogrammat (or sacred scribe), 
 having feathers on his head, and in his hand a book (papyrus), 
 with a ruler (palette), in which is ink, and a reed for writing. It 
 is his duty to understand what are called hieroglyphics, the 
 description of the world geography, the course of the sun, moon, 
 and planets, the condition of the land of Egypt and the Nile, the 
 nature of the instruments or sacred ornaments, and the places 
 appointed for them, as well as weights and measures, and the 
 things used in holy rites. Then follows the Stolistes or 'dresser,' 
 bearing the cubit of justice and the cup of libation. He knows all 
 subjectsjrelating to education, and the choice of calves for victims, 
 which are comprehended in ten books. These treat of the honours 
 paid to the gods, and of the Egyptian religion, including sacrifice, 
 first-fruits, hymns, prayers, processions, holy days, and the like. 
 Last of all comes the Prophet, who carries in his bosom a water -jar, 
 followed by persons bearing loaves of bread. He presides over 
 all sacred things, and is obliged to know the contents of the ten 
 books called sacerdotal, relating to the gods, the laws, and all the 
 discipline of the priests." Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 274. 
 
NOTES 269 
 
 Note XVIII 
 
 " On the great day. 
 The twe7ity-first of Tybi, " seq. 
 
 The then lord of Khita, Khita-sir, was the first to make to 
 his Egyptian friend the proposal, written on a tablet of silver, for 
 an offensive and defensive alliance. The inscription begins thus, 
 
 " Offensive and Defensive Alliance between Khita and Kemi." 
 
 "In the year 21, in the month Tybi, on the 21st day of the 
 month, in the reign of King Ramessu Miamun, the dispenser of 
 life eternally and for ever, the worshipper of the divinities, Amon- 
 ra (of Thebes), Hormakhu (of Heliopolis), Ptah (of Memphis), 
 Mut, the Lady of the Asher-lake (near Karnak), and Khonsu, the 
 peace-loving, there took place a. public sitting on the throne of 
 Horus among the living, resembling his father Hormakhu in 
 eternity, in eternity, evermore. 
 
 " On that day the king was in the city of Ramses, presenting 
 his peace-offerings to his father Amon-ra, and to the gods Hor- 
 makhu -Turn, the lord of Heliopolis, and to Amon of Ramessu 
 Miamun, to Ptah of Ramessu Miamun, and to Sutekh, the strong, 
 the son of the goddess of heaven. Nut, that they might grant to 
 him many thirty-years jubilee feasts, and innumerable happy years, 
 and the subjection of all peoples under his feet for ever. 
 
 "Then came forward the ambassador of the king, and the 
 Adon (of his house, by name . . . and presented the ambassadors) 
 of the great king of Khita, Khitasir, who were sent to Pharaoh to 
 propose friendship with the King Ramessu Miamun, the dispenser 
 of life eternally and for ever, just as his father the Sun-god dis- 
 penses it each day." Brugsch, ii. 68-69. 
 
 Note XIX 
 " Tu7n" 
 The Sun invisible in darkness. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 "Nut" 
 
 Heaven, from whom all being proceeds. Book of the Dead ; 
 Introduction. 
 
270 NOTES 
 
 Note XXI 
 " Then filed the ranks of chariot and foot" seq. 
 
 The triumph of the king was a grand solemnity. . . . Arrived 
 at the capital, they went immediately to the temple, where they 
 returned thanks to the gods, and performed the customary sacrifices 
 on this important occasion. The whole army attended, and the 
 order of march continued the same as on entering the city. A 
 corps of Egyptians, consisting of chariots and infantry, led the 
 van in close column, followed by the allies of the different nations, 
 who had shared the dangers of the field and the honour of victory. 
 In the centre marched the body-guards, the king's sons, the militaiy 
 scribes, the royal arm -bearers, and the staff-corps, in the midst 
 of whom was the monarch himself, mounted in a splendid car, 
 attended by his fan -bearers on foot, bearing over him the state 
 flabella. Next followed other regiments of infantry with their 
 respective banners ; and the rear was closed by a body of chariots. 
 The prisoners, tied together with ropes, were conducted by some 
 of the king's sons, or by the chief officers of the staff, at the side 
 of the royal car. 
 
 The king himself frequently held the cord which bound them, 
 as he drove slowly in the procession, and two or more chiefs were 
 sometimes suspended beneath the axle of his chariot, contrary to 
 the usual humane principles of the Egyptians. . . . Having reached 
 the precincts of the temple, the guards and royal attendants 
 selected to be the representatives of the whole aiimy entered the 
 courts, the rest of the troops, too numerous for admission, being 
 drawn up before the entrance ; and the king, alighting from his 
 car, prepared to lead his captives to the shrine of the god. Mili- 
 tary bands played the favourite airs of the countiy ; and the nume- 
 rous standards of the different regiments, the banners floating in 
 the wind, the bright lustre of arms, the immense concourse of 
 people, and the grandeur of the lofty towers of the temple, decked 
 with their bright-coloured flags streaming above the cornice, pre- 
 sented an imposing scene. But the most striking feature of this 
 pompous ceremony was the brilliant cortege of the monarch, who 
 was either borne in his chair of state by the principal officers of 
 state under a rich canopy, or walked on foot, overshadowed with 
 rich flabella and fans of waving plumes, ^s he approached the 
 inner gateway, a long procession of priests advanced to meet him, 
 dressed in their robes of office; censers full of incense were burnt 
 before him ; and a sacred scribe read from a papyrus roll glorious 
 deeds of the victorious monarch, and the tokens he had received of 
 the divine favour. They then accompanied him into the presence. 
 
NOTES 271 
 
 of the presiding deity of the place ; and having performed sacrifice, 
 and offered suitable thanksgivings, he dedicated the spoil of the 
 conquered enemy, and expressed his gratitude for the privilege of 
 laying before the feet of the god, the giver of victory, those prisoners 
 he had brought to the vestibule of the divine abode. In the mean- 
 time, the troops without the sacred precincts were summoned by 
 sound of trumpet to attend the sacrifice prepared by the priests, 
 in the name of the whole army, for the benefits they had received 
 from the gods, the success of their arms, and their own preservation 
 in the hour of danger. Each regiment marched up by turn to the 
 altar, temporarily raised for the occasion, to the sound of the drum, 
 the soldiers carrying in their hand a twig of olive, with the arms 
 of their respective corps ; but the heavy-armed soldier laid aside 
 his shield on this occasion, as if to show the security he enjoyed in 
 the presence of the deity. An ox was then killed ; and wine, 
 incense, and the customary offerings of cakes, fruit, vegetables, 
 joints of meat, and birds were presented to the god. Every 
 soldier deposited the twig of olive he carried at the altar ; and as 
 the trumpet summoned them, so also it gave the signal for each 
 regiment to withdraw, and cede its place to another. The cere- 
 mony over, the king went in state to his palace, accompanied by 
 the troops. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 278, seq. 
 
 Note XXII 
 ^^ At the high Temple-gateway," seq. 
 
 "Zoan or Tanis (Pi-Ramses) is the only town," says Stanley, 
 " directly mentioned in connection with this early age. Its situation 
 in the delta would correspond with the neighbourhood of Goshen ; 
 and as it was undoubtedly at one period of Egyptian history the seat 
 of a royal dynasty, so it may have been at the time of the Exodus. 
 There is, however, another city, not the residence of the court, but 
 which is constantly brought before us in connection with the whole 
 history of Israel, which still in part remains, and which, with the 
 illustrations that it receives from the other Egyptian monuments, 
 may well serve as a framework to our whole conception of Egypt as 
 it appeared to the Israelites — On, Heliopolis, the City of the Sun." 
 
 In the absence of particular data with regard to the temple at 
 Pi- Ramses, it is from Stanley's description of the ancient On that 
 I have drawn my picture. It is as follows : " It stands on the edge 
 of the cultivated ground. The vast enclosure of its brick walls 
 still remains, now almost powdered into dust ; but, according to 
 the tradition of the Septuagint, the very walls built by the Israelite 
 bondmen. Within this enclosure, in the space now occupied by 
 
272 NOTES 
 
 tangled gardens, rose the great Temple of the Sun, which gave its 
 name and object to the city. How important in Egypt was that 
 worship, may be best understood by remembering that from it were 
 derived the chief names by which kings and priests were called, — 
 'Pha-raoh,' 'The Child of the Sun;' 'Potiphe-rah,' 'The 
 Servant of the Sun.' And what its aspect was in Heliopolis may 
 be known partly from the detailed description which Strabo has 
 left of its buildings, and yet more by the fact, that the one ancient 
 Egyptian temple which to this day retains its sculptures and internal 
 arrangements almost unaltered, that of Ipsambool, is the Temple of 
 Ra, or the Sun. In Heliopolis, as elsewhere, was the avenue of 
 sphinxes leading to the huge gateway, whence flew, from gigantic 
 flagstaffs, the red and blue streamers. Before and behind the gateway 
 stood, two by two, the colossal petrifactions of the sunbeam, the 
 obelisks (said to be uben-ra, or uben-la, — sunbeam ; or fetob-fhra, 
 — finger of the Sun). Round the cloisters of the vast courts into 
 which these gateways opened were spacious mansions, forming the 
 canonical residences of the priests and professors of On. In the 
 centre of all stood the Temple itself. Over the portal we can hardly 
 doubt was the figure of the Sun-god, in the strange grotesque form 
 of the hawk-headed monster. Enter : and the dark Temple opens 
 and contracts into its outermost, its inner, and its innermost hall ; the 
 Osiride figures in their placid majesty support the first, the wdld and 
 savage exploits of kings and heroes fill the second, and in the 
 Sanctuary itself, underneath the carved figure of the Sun-god, sate 
 in his gilded cage the sacred Hawk, or lay crouched on his purple 
 bed the sacred black Calf, Mnevis or Uriner ; each the living 
 representation of the deity of the Temple. Thrice a day before the 
 deified beast the incense was offered, and once a month the solemn 
 sacrifice." Stanley's _/«j«»J/4 Church, p. 7S-76- 
 
 Note XXIII 
 
 " The Sacred Calf, 
 Mnevis, the incarnate Deity " 
 
 According to Plutarch, "Apis was' a fair and beautiful image of 
 the Soul of Osiris," and the same author tells us that " Mnevis, the 
 sacred Ox of Heliopolis, was also dedicated to Osiris, and honoured 
 by the Egyptians with a reverence next to that paid to Apis, whose 
 sire some pretend him to be." This agrees with the statement of 
 Diodorus, who says, " Apis and Mnevis were both sacred to Osiris, 
 and worshipped as gods throughout the whole of Egypt." Am- 
 mianus and others say that "Apis was sacred to the Moon, 
 Mnevis to the Sun," and most authors describe the latter of a black 
 colour. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 288. 
 
NOTES 27J 
 
 Note XXIV 
 
 "A soothsayer 
 Besought his priiiate ear" 
 
 " While the affairs of the Hebrews were in this condition, there 
 was this occasion offered itself to the Egyptians, which made them 
 more solicitous for the extinction of our nation. One of those 
 sacred scribes, who are veiy sagacious in foretelling future events 
 truly, told the king that about this time there would be a child bom 
 to the Israelites, who, if he were reared, would bring the Egyptian 
 dominion low, and would raise the Israelites ; that he would excel 
 all men in virtue, and obtain a glory that would be remembered 
 through all ages. Which thing was so feared by the king, that, 
 according to this man's opinion, he commanded that they should 
 cast every male child which was bom to the Israelites, into the 
 river, and destroy it ; that besides this, the Egyptian midwives 
 should watch the labours of the Hebrew women, and observe what 
 is bom, for those were the women who were enjoined to do the 
 ofEce of midwives to them ; and by reason of their relation to the 
 king, would not transgress his commands. He enjoined also, that, 
 if any parents should disobey him, and venture to save their male 
 children alive, they and their families should be destroyed." (Dr. 
 Bernard informs us that instead of this single priest or prophet of 
 the Egyptians, without a name in Josephus, the Targum of Jonathan 
 names the two famous antagonists of Moses, Jannes and Jambres. ) 
 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, ii. u. ix. See also Exodus i. 
 15-22. 
 
 Note XXV 
 
 "/4j at Abydus 
 On yesternight, I slept among the tombs," seq. 
 
 The chief seat of the Osiris-worship in Upper Egypt was at 
 Abydus. Here in Abydus was supposed to be the head of the god, 
 whose limbs had been divided into many parts, and the place was 
 very much venerated, even to Greek times, by the pious pilgrims 
 who were accustomed to visit the mysterious place of the tomb of 
 Osiris. Brugsch, vol. i. 397. 
 
 King Seti had died. The temple of Abydus stood half finished. 
 The first royal care of Ramses was to complete the work, and, in 
 a long inscription on the left wall of the entrance, to record the 
 intention with which his heart was charged, for the imitation of his 
 contemporaries and of posterity. Part of the inscription speaks of 
 Ramses as follows— "The King's friends speak in answer to the 
 divine benefactor : ' Thou art the Sun-god, thy body is his body, 
 
274 NOTES 
 
 no king is like to thee, thou alone art like the Son of Osiris, what 
 thou hast done is like his story. . . . None has done the deeds of 
 Horns for his father, up to the present day, except thou, O King.'" 
 Brugsch, vol. ii. 37-38. 
 
 Note XXVI 
 
 ' ' Since time of Ra " 
 
 There can be no controversy about the meaning of Ra. Ra is 
 not only the name of the Sun-god, it is the usual word for sun. In 
 other mythologies the Sun-god is borne on a chariot or on horse- 
 back, in Egypt his course across the sky is made in a boat. The 
 Sky (Nu) is accordingly conceived as an expanse of water, of which 
 the Nile is the earthly representative. Ra is said to proceed from 
 "Nu, the father of the gods." Hibbert Lectures (Renouf), 1879, 
 p. 109. 
 
 The principal seat of the worship of Ra was at On or Heliopolis, 
 where he had a famous temple. See Brugsch, i. 128. 
 
 Note XXVII 
 
 " Save Horus alone,— as thou 
 Hast done, so did Osiris' son " 
 
 The parents of Osiris are Seb and Nut. Seb is the Earth and 
 Nut is Heaven. From the union of Seb and Nut sprung the mild 
 Osiris, — the Sun, and Isis, — the Dawn, wedded before they were 
 bom, and the fruit of their marriage was Horus, — the Sun in his full 
 strength. Hibbert Lectures (Renouf), p. Iiz. 
 
 The Egyptians recognised in the god Osiris the symbol of exist- 
 ence completed, for the god is " that which was yesterday, the 
 past." . , . Hor or Horus, the son of Osiris and of his divine 
 wife Isis, the god of Light. According to the doctrine of the 
 Egyptian sages, the form of the beautiful Hor symbolises the 
 return of a completed existence, "the new life, that which will be 
 to-morrow, the future ; " in a word, the being bom again in the 
 etemal cycle of earthly phenomena. Such is Hor, the primeval 
 form and the type of every royal successor of the Pharaohs, just as 
 Ra represented the reigning Pharaoh, and Osiris the deceased king. 
 A long drawn-out myth about Hor, whom Isis by her mysterious 
 magical arts awakens to life from the dead Osiris in the form of a 
 child, tells of the combat of the youth and his companions with 
 Set, the brother and murderer of his father, of the final victory of 
 the god of Light over Set, the prince of Darkness, and of eternal 
 conflict and annihilation, and of the exaltation of the young Hor 
 on the undivided throne of his father Osiris. Brugsch, i. 3 1 . 
 
NOTES 275 
 
 II 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Over the ' Conqueror's City,' " seq. 
 
 It will be useful to the reader to hear in what manner an 
 Egyptian letter-writer described the importance of this town (Zoan- 
 Tanis or Pi-Ramessu). 
 
 " So I arrived in the city of Ramses Miamun, and I have 
 found it excellent, for nothing can compare with it on the Theban 
 land and soil. (Here is the seat) of the Court. It is pleasant to 
 live in. Its fields ai-e full of good things, and life passes in con- 
 stant plenty and abundance. Its canals are rich in fish, its lakes 
 swarm with birds, its meadows are green with vegetables, there is 
 no end of the lentils ; melons with a taste like honey grow in the 
 irrigated fields. Its bams are full of wheat and durra, and reach 
 as high as heaven. Onions and sesame are in the enclosures, and 
 the apple-tree blooms. The vine, the almond-tree, and the fig-tree 
 grow in the gardens. Sweet is their wine for the inhabitants of 
 Kemi. They mix it with honey. The red fish is in the lotus-canal, 
 the Borian-fish in the ponds, many kinds of Bori fish, besides 
 carp and pike, in the canal of Pu-harotha ; fat fish and Khipti- 
 pennu fish are in the pools of the inundation, the Hauaz-fish in 
 the full mouth of the Nile, near the ' City of the Conqueror.' The 
 city-canal Pshenhor produces salt, the lake region of Pahir natron. 
 Their sea-ships enter the harbour, plenty and abundance is perpetual 
 in it. He rejoices who has settled there. My information is no 
 jest. The common people, as well as the higher classes, say, 
 ' Come hither ! let us celebrate to him his heavenly and his earthly 
 feasts.' The inhabitants of the reedy lake (Thufi) arrived with 
 lilies, those of Pshensor with papyrus flowers. . . . The youths of 
 the ' Conqueror's City ' were perpetually clad in festive attire. 
 Fine oil was on their heads of fresh curled hair. . . . Delicious 
 was the wine for the inhabitants of the ' Conqueror's City. ' . . . 
 There was beer from Kati (Galilee) in the harbour, vrine in the 
 gardens, fine oil at the lake Sagabi, garlands in the apple-orchards. 
 The sweet song of women resounded to the tunes of Memphis. 
 So they sat there with joyfiil. heart, or walked about without ceas- 
 ing. King Ramessu-Miamun, he was the god they celebrated." 
 Brugsch, ii. 96, seg. 
 
276 NOTES 
 
 Note II 
 
 ' ' Merrhis fair. 
 Great Ramses' princess child" 
 
 Of the daughters of Ramses II. the monuments name his favourite 
 daughter Bint-antha and Meri-amon, and Neb-taui. A much 
 younger sister of the name of Meri deserves to be mentioned, since 
 her name reminds us of the Princess Merris (also called Thermu- 
 this), according to the Jewish tradition (Josephus, Antiquities of the 
 Jews, ii. 9, 7), who found the child Moses on the bank of the 
 stream, when she went to bathe. Brugsch, ii. 112. 
 
 Note III 
 
 "In the great chamber's balcony that crowned 
 The gateway" 
 
 The palace of a king was generally of more durable material 
 than a private house, and like the temple to which it was often 
 attached, was of stone. It was then placed at the outer end of the 
 avenue that led to the sacred building ; aijd the principal apart- 
 ments stood, in two stories, immediately over the gateway, through 
 which all the grand processions passed towards the temple. The 
 rest of the building extended a considerable distance on the right 
 and left before this gateway, forming an outer approach from two 
 lodges at the very entrance, occupied by the guards and porters. 
 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 22. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " The hour 
 That called the pontiff-king to priestly rites" 
 
 When the sovereign was a military man, it was his duty as well 
 as his privilege on ascending the throne to be instructed in the 
 mysteries of the religion, and the various offices of a pontiff. He 
 learnt all that related to the gods, the service of the temple, the 
 laws of the country, and the duties of a king. His conduct and 
 mode of life were regulated by prescribed rules, and care was 
 taken to protect the community from the caprices of an absolute 
 monarch ; laws being laid down in the sacred books, for the order 
 and nature of his occupations. He was forbidden to commit ex- 
 cesses ; and the kind and quality of his food were settled with 
 precision ; and he was constantly reminded of his duties both in 
 public and in private. At break of day public business commenced ; 
 
NOTES 277 
 
 all the epistolary correspondence was examined, and despatched ; 
 the ablutions for prayer were then performed, and the monarch, 
 having put on his robes of ceremony, and attended by proper 
 officers with the insignia of royalty, repaired to the temple to 
 superintend the customary sacrifices to the gods of the sanctuary. 
 The victims being brought to the altar, it was usual for the high- 
 priest to place himself close to the king, while the whole congrega- 
 tion present on the occasion stood round at a short distance from 
 them, and to offer up prayers for the monarch, beseeching the 
 gods to bestow on him "health, victory, power, and all other 
 blessings," and to "establish the kingdom unto him and his children 
 f(5r ever." His qualities were then separately enumerated ; and 
 the high-priest particularly noticed his piety towards the gods, and 
 his conduct towards men. " The object of this oration," says Dio- 
 dorus, " was to exhort the sovereign to live in fear of the deity, and 
 to cherish that upright line of conduct and demeanour, which was 
 deemed pleasing to the gods." Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, 
 i. 312-313. 
 
 Note V • 
 
 " Of Amoh, Hor-rh-kkuh, and Ptah, and that 
 God of the stranger, Sutekh. 
 
 Ramessu transferred his court to Zoan, and founded a new 
 Temple-City, the holy places of which were dedicated to the great 
 gods of the country, Amon, Ptah, and Hormakhu, with whom as 
 a fourth he associated the foreign Baal-Sutekh. Brugsch, ii. 94. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 ^'Sudden there came 
 Breaking their converse, patter of small feet," seq. 
 
 Thermuthis (Merrhis) was the king's daughter. She was 
 diverting herself by the banks of the river, and seeing a cradle 
 borne along by the current, she sent some that could swim, and 
 bid them bring the cradle to her. When those that were sent on 
 this errand came to her vdth the cradle, and she saw the little 
 child, she was greatly in love with it, on account of its largeness 
 and beauty. . . . Hereupon it was that Thermuthis imposed this 
 name Mouses upon him, from what had happened when he was 
 put into the river ; for the Egyptians call water by the name of 
 Mo, and such as are saved out of it by the name of Uses^ . . . 
 
 1 Its Hebrew form is Mosheh^ hoia Mashah, "to draw out," — "because I 
 have drawn him out of the water." — Stanley. 
 
278 NOTES 
 
 Now Moses' understanding became superior to his age, nay, far 
 beyond that standard ; God did also give him that tallness, when 
 he was but three years old, as was wonderful ; and for his beauty, 
 there was nobody so unpolite as, when they saw Moses, they were 
 not greatly surprised at the beauty of his countenance : nay, it 
 happened frequently, that those that met him as he was carried 
 along the rpad, were obliged to turn again upon seeing the child, 
 that they left what they were about, and stood still a great while 
 to look on him. Thermuthis, therefore, perceiving him to be so 
 remarkable a child, adopted him for her son, having no child of her 
 own. And when one time she had carried Moses to her father, she 
 showed him to him, and said she thought to make him her fathe»'s 
 successor, if it should please God she should have no legitimate 
 child of her own ; and said to him, " I have brought up a child 
 who is of a divine form, and of a generous mind ; and as I have 
 received him from the bounty of the river, in a wonderful manner, 
 I thought proper to adopt him for my son, and the heir of thy 
 kingdom." And when she had said this she put the infant into 
 her father's hands ; so he took him, and hugged him close to his 
 breast ; and on his daughter's account, in a pleasant way, put his 
 diadem upon his head : but Moses threw it_down to the ground, 
 and, in a puerile mood, he wreathed it round and trod upon it 
 with his feet ; which seemed to bring along with it an evil presage 
 concerning the kingdom of Egypt. But the sacred scribe saw this, 
 (he was the same person who foretold that his nativity would 
 bring the dominion of that kingdom low), he made a violent 
 attempt to kill him ; and crying out in a frightful manner, he said, 
 "This, O king, this child is he of whom God foretold, that if we 
 kill him we shall be in no danger : he himself affords an attestation 
 to the prediction of the same thing, by his trampling upon thy 
 government, and treading upon thy diadem. Take him, therefore, 
 out of the way, and deliver the Egyptians from the fear they are 
 in about him ; and deprive the Hebrews of the hope they have of 
 being encouraged by him." But Thermuthis prevented him, and 
 snatched the child away. And the king was not hasty to slay 
 him, God himself, whose providence protected Moses, inclining 
 the king to spare him. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jerws, ii. 9. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 ' ' A young Osiris " 
 
 Osiris and Seth (or Typho) were brothers ; the former repre- 
 sented "good," the latter "evil." In early times they were both 
 adored as gods throughout Upper and Lower Egypt, and were 
 
NOTES 279 
 
 considered part of the same divine system. For Evil had not yet 
 been confounded with sin or wickedness ; and this last was figured 
 as Apop (Apophis) "the giant," who, in the form of the "great 
 serpent," the enemy of gods and of mankind, was pierced by the 
 spear of Horus, Atmoo, and other deities. The peculiar character 
 of Osiris, his coming upon earth for the benefit of mankind, 
 with the titles of "Manifester of good and truth," his being put 
 to death by the malice of the evil one ; his burial and resurrec- 
 tion, and his becoming the Judge of the Dead, are the most inter- 
 esting features of the Egyptian religion. This was the great 
 Mystery ; and this myth and his worship were of the earliest times, 
 and universal in Egypt. Osiris was to every Egyptian the great 
 deity of a future state ; and though gods enjoyed particular honours 
 in their respective cities, the importance of Osiris was admitted 
 throughout the country. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 
 330-331- 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " From me great /sis hath •withheld 
 The mothei's blessing'" 
 
 Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, married before they were born 
 (see I. note xxviii.). Isis (sometimes identified with Athor, the 
 Egyptian Venus) holding the child Horus, her offspring, was a 
 direct representation of the maternal office. Wilkinson, i. 333. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " But old Hapi saw. 
 And, pitying, gave this babe " 
 
 Hapi, the Nile-god. " If then, now, thou thyself wouldest 
 speak to thy father, the Nile-god Hapi, the father of the gods." 
 Brugsch, ii. 83. 
 
 Note X 
 
 "A thousand jubilees to thee, king" 
 
 The festival of the thirtieth year of a king's reign. Brugsch, 
 i- 437- 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " The great who live for evermore 
 Hid in Osiris " 
 
 The great care of the Egyptians was directed to their condition 
 
28o NOTES . 
 
 after death ; that last state to which their present life was only the 
 pilgrimage. They looked forward to being received into the com- 
 pany of that Being who represented the Divine Goodness, if pro- 
 nounced worthy at the great judgment day ; and the privilege of 
 being called by his name was the fulfilment of all their wishes. 
 Every one was then the same ; all were " equally noble ; " there 
 was no distinction of rank beyond the tomb. Every one, therefore, 
 whose virtuous life entitled him to admission into the regions of 
 the blessed, was supposed to be again united to the Deity, of whom 
 he was an emanation ; and with the emblem of Thmei, purporting 
 that he was judged or justified, he received the holy name of Osiris. 
 Wilkinson, ii. 356-357. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " To wear 
 The Double-Crown " 
 
 The head-dress of the king on state occasions was the crown 
 of the Upper or of the Lower country, or the pshent, the union of 
 the two. Every king, after the sovereignty of the Thebaid and 
 Lower Egypt had become once more vested in the same person, 
 put on this double-crown at his coronation ; and we find in the 
 grand representation given of this ceremony at Medeenet Haboo 
 that the principal feature of the proclamation, on his ascension to 
 the throne, was the announcement to the four sides of the world 
 that " Remeses had put on the crown of the Upper and Lower 
 Country." Wilkinson, ii. 323-324. 
 
 It was the perpetual custom of the Egyptians that, after the old 
 traditional manner,—- every king, on the day of his sblemn corona- 
 tion,' — which was distinct from the day of his receiving the king- 
 dom in his father's lifetime, or on the death of his predecessor, — 
 received as his chief insignia two crowns, of which the white upper 
 one symbolised his sovereignty over the South, the red lower one, 
 on the contrary, his dominion over the North, of the Egyptian 
 kingdom. Brugsch, i. 14. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 " — Were he indeed thy son " 
 
 So far as the monuments, which have been carefully examined, 
 seem to show, according to the ancient manner and usage, the 
 mother's pedigree had a high value in inheriting, because it gave 
 an unconditional feudal claim to the son as the true heir of " the 
 father of his mother. " The husband of a princess-heiress from her 
 Pharaonic blood had not the least rights under the title of husband, 
 
NOTES 281 
 
 and it was the son issue of this marriage, who, on account of his 
 maternal descent, was regarded as Pharaoh by right and by birth. 
 Brugsch, 1. 61. 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 " With robe of leopard skin " 
 
 The chief or high-priests held the first and most honourable 
 station ; but the one who offered sacrifice and libation in the temple 
 had the highest post. He appears to have been called " the 
 prophet," and his title in the hieroglyphic legends is " Sem." He 
 superintended the sacrifice of the victims, the processions of the 
 sacred boats or arks, the presentation of the offerings at the altar, 
 and at funerals, and the anointing of the king ; and the same office 
 was held by the sovereign, when he presented incense and libations 
 to the gods. He was marked by a peculiar dress, a leopard-skin 
 fitting over his linen robes ; and the same was worn by the king on 
 similar occasions, Wilkinson, i. 319. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 " Pi-Ramse^ palace courts " seq. 
 
 The houses of the rich were constructed to be cool throughout 
 the summer ; currents of refreshing air being made to circulate 
 freely through them by the judicious arrangement of the passages 
 and courts. Corridors, supported on columns, gave access to the 
 different apartments through a succession of shady trees and areas, 
 with one side open to the air, as in our cloisters ; and even small 
 detached houses had an open court in the centre, planted as a 
 garden with palms and other trees. The villas of the Egyptians 
 were of great extent, and contained spacious gardens, watered by 
 canalsj communicating with the Nile. They had large tanks of 
 water in different parts of the garden, which served for ornament, 
 as well as for irrigation when the Nile was low. Particular care 
 was always bestowed upon the garden, and their great fondness for 
 flowers is shown by the number they always cultivated, as well as 
 by the women of the family or the attendants presenting bouquets 
 to the master of the house and his friends when they walked there. 
 Wilkinson, i. $-2^. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " Or through the stillness of the women's rooms " 
 
 Women were in no sense secluded in Egypt, but appeared in 
 public as well as the men. " Such was the respect," says Wilkinson, 
 
282 NOTES 
 
 (i. 4) "shown to women, that precedence was given to them over 
 men. They knew that unless women were treated with respect, and 
 made to exercise an influence over society, the standard of public 
 opinion would soon be lowered, and the manners and morals of 
 men would suffer ; and in acknowledging this, they pointed out to 
 women the very responsible duties they had to perform to the 
 community." In the palaces special apartments seem to have been 
 devoted to them, as Ramses II., speaking of his boyhood, says his 
 father " left me in the house of the women and of the royal con- 
 cubines, after the manner of the maidens of the palace. It was 
 the house of the women that took care of and nourished me." 
 Brugsch, ii. 37. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 "Where dwelt a fair, — Hebrews of Leuts rcue, — 
 Amram and Jochebed" 
 
 See Exodus ii. The names of Moses' father and tnother are 
 given by Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews, ii. 9. 
 
 Note XVIII 
 
 " Of lentils and of garlic" 
 
 Herodotus describes the food of the workmen who built the 
 Pyramids to have been the " raphanus, onions, and garlic " ; the 
 first of which, now called figl, is hke a turnip-radish in flavour ; 
 but he has omitted one more vegetable, lentils, which were always, 
 as at the present day, the chief article of their diet ; and which 
 Strabo very properly adds to the number. Wilkinson, i. 167. 
 
 Note XIX 
 
 " Wearing the Horus locks that marked him son 
 Of Pharaoh's royal house " 
 
 Princes were distinguished by a badge hanging from the side of 
 the head, which enclosed, or represented, the lock of hair emblematic 
 of a "son," in imitation of the youthful god "Horus, the son of 
 Isis and Osiris," who was held forth as the model for all princes, 
 and the type of royal virtue. Wilkinson, i. 312. 
 
 Note XX 
 " Fair Merrhis bare the sistrum of the god" 
 The sistrum was the sacred instrument par excellence, and 
 
NOTES 383 
 
 belonged peculiarly to the service of the temple. Some pretend it 
 was used to frighten away T3rphon, and the rattling noise of its 
 movable bars was sometimes increased by the addition of several 
 loose rings. It had generally three, rarely four, bars, and the 
 whole instrument was from eight to sixteen or eighteen inches in 
 length, entirely of brass or bronze. It was sometimes inlaid with 
 silver or gilt, or otherwise ornamented ; and being held upright, 
 was shaken, the rings moving to and fro upon the bars. These 
 last were frequently made to imitate the sacred Asp or were 
 simply bent at each end to secure them. Plutarch mentions a cat 
 vfith a human face on the top of the instrument, and at the upper 
 part of the handle, beneath the bars, the face of Isis on one side, 
 and of Nepthys on the other. It was so great a privilege to hold 
 the sacred sistrum in the temple, that it was given to queens, and 
 to those noble ladies who had the distinguished title of " women 
 of Amun," and were devoted to the service of the deity. Wilkinson, 
 i. 131-133- 
 
 Note XXI 
 " When Ramses called his numerous progeny,^' seq. 
 
 King Seti had died. The temple of Abydus stood half finished. 
 The first royal care of Ramses was to complete the work, and, in a 
 long inscription on the left wall of the entrance, to record the 
 intention with which his heart was charged, for the imitation of his 
 contemporaries and of posterity. Brugsch, ii. 33. 
 
 It is scarcely worth while to relate what Ramses II. did for the 
 buildings of his father at Abydus. In the course of his long reign 
 the king completed the temple. When the great building was 
 completely finished, Ramses must have been already advanced in 
 years, since not less than sixty sons and fifty-nine daughters of 
 Ramses II. greeted in their pictures the entrance of the pilgrims at 
 the principal gate. Brugsch, ii. 43. 
 
 Note XXII 
 " The Risen One" 
 Osiris. 
 
 Note XXIII 
 
 " The funeral hymn 
 Great Ramses made in honour of his sire" 
 
 For the original of the funeral hymn from which this is taken. 
 
284 NOTES 
 
 see the inscription on the left wall of the entrance of the temple at 
 Abydus, as given in Brugsch, ii. 34, seq. 
 
 Note XXIV 
 " Bright o'er the Sacred Lake the torches gleamed^ seq. 
 
 See I. note xxv. 
 
 Distinguished Egyptians of Pataros liked, after their decease, to 
 be placed in the neighbourhood of the King of the West and of the 
 Dead, so as to await their happy second birth in a pure beam of 
 light. . . . On the 3d of Phamenoth the holy Seshem bark of the 
 god was brought through the fields of Oo-pak, so was called the 
 holy soil around the town, and was placed on the lake amid mysteri- 
 ous ceremonies. The festival of the water procession of the god 
 was celebrated in the stillness of night. Brugsch, i. 397-398. 
 
 At Medeenet Haboo is a remarkable instance of the ceremony of 
 carrying the sacred boat of Pthah-Sokari-Osiris, which may represent 
 the funeral of Osiris. . . . The ark of Sokari is borne by sixteen 
 priests, accompanied by two pontiffs, one clad in the usual leopard- 
 skin, and Remeses himself officiates on the occasion. The king 
 also performs the singular ceremony, of holding a rope at its centre, 
 the two ends being supported by four priests, eight of his sons, and 
 four other chiefs ; before whom two priests turn round to offer in- 
 cense, while a sacred scribe reads the contents of a papyrus he holds 
 in his hands. These are preceded by one of the hieraphori, bearing 
 the hawk on a staff decked with banners (the standard of the king, 
 or of Horus), and by the emblem of Nofre-Atmoo, borne by eighteen 
 priests, the figures standing between the columns, over which it is 
 laid, being of kings, and the columns themselves being surmounted 
 by the heads of hawks. . . . 
 
 A festival in honour of Osiris was held " on the new moon of 
 the month Phamenoth, " which fell in the beginning of spring, called 
 "the entrance of Osiris into the moon." Wilkinson, i. 284, 285, 
 287. 
 
 Note XXV 
 
 " To Seti, the Osiris king . . , my father Mineptah" 
 
 The full name of Ramses II. 's father was Ma-mem-ra Mineptah 
 I. Seti I. Brugsch, ii. 10. 
 
 If to honour the memory of his father be the chief duty and the 
 first work of a dutiful son, — and we shall see that this was the per- 
 suasion of Ramses II. ,■ — we shall honour the king's memory in the 
 worthiest manner by using the very words of the great Sesostris 
 about his first acts on entering upon his sole reign. Brugsch, ii. 33. 
 
NOTES 285 
 
 Note XXVI 
 " The eternal Unnofer" 
 "The good Being." Osiris. 
 
 Note XXVII 
 
 " His jubilees 
 Of thirty years " 
 
 The spirit of the deceased king appears from the world below, 
 to give the most satisfactory answer, in the way which was expected, 
 to the vows of Ramses his son ; — above all, what Ramses most 
 coveted, a very long term of life, to be measured as long as possible 
 by the thirty years' feasts of jubilee. Brugsch, ii. 42. 
 
 Note XXVIII 
 
 " Law rose the solenm ritual of the Dead" 
 
 For the original from which this chant is selected, see The Book 
 of the Dead, — the solemn funeral ritual of the ancient Egyptians, as 
 translated by Samuel Birch, and given by Baron Bunsen in his great 
 work on Egypt. 
 
 Note XXIX 
 
 " OhI one gleaming in the moon " 
 
 See " Chapter of coming forth as the Sun and living after 
 Death. " Booi of the Dead. 
 
 Note XXX 
 " / am Thoth who comes out of the temple of Annu " 
 
 Thoth, the Mercury or Hermes of the Egyptians ; the Intellect ; 
 the Moon, as the regulator of Time and the messenger of Heaven, 
 was figured as the Ibis-headed Thoth, the god of letters, and the 
 deity who registered man's actions and the events of his life. 
 Wilkinson, i. 328. 
 
 In the judgment scenes found on the tombs, if the Dead, on being 
 "weighed," is found "wanting," he is rejected; and Osiris, the 
 Judge of the Dead, inclining his sceptre in token of condemnation, 
 pronounces judgment upon him, and condemns his soul to return 
 to earth under the form of a pig, or some other unclean animal. 
 Placed in a boat, it is removed, under the charge of two monkeys, 
 from the precincts of Amenti, and the commencement of a new 
 
286 NOTES 
 
 term of life is "indicated by these monkeys, the emblems of Thoth, 
 as Time. But if, when the sum of his deeds has been recorded, 
 his virtues so far predominate as to entitle him to admission to the 
 mansions of the blessed, Horus, taking in his hands the tablet of 
 Thoth, introduces him to the presence .of Osiris. Wilkinson, ii. 
 381. 
 
 Annu — Heliopolis. 
 
 Note XXXI 
 
 " soul I greatest of things created, 
 Let the Osiris go " 
 
 See " The Chapter of passing through the West as the Sun does, 
 and of passing the doorway." Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note XXXII 
 ' ' He has pierced the heart of Set " 
 See I. note x. 
 
 Note XXXIII 
 
 "Stop! Go back t Back, Crocodile, from coming to me" 
 
 See "The Chapter of stopping the Crocodiles coming to take 
 the mind of a Spirit from him in Hades." Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note XXXIV 
 
 " / am- the Soul in his two halves " 
 
 The Chapter of conducting the Spirit (Dead), of coming in and 
 going from the Hades and being among the servants of the Osiris, 
 fed with the food of Osiris, the good being, the justified, coming 
 forth from the day, making all the Transformations he has wished 
 to transform himself into, ploughing with a Plough, being (seated) 
 in the Hall a living soul, as the blessM of the great gods of the 
 West, after he has been laid to rest. The glory of doing it on 
 earth is for mortals to declare. Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note XXXV 
 ' ' Osiris goes into Tattu " 
 Mendes. 
 
NOTES 287 
 
 Note XXXVI 
 
 "Hail, Sun! Creator, self-created" 
 
 See " The Chapters of rubbing away the stain from the heart (?) 
 of the Osiris." Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note XXXVII 
 
 " Thou followest thy mother Nu" 
 
 As the " Spirit of God " that moved on the face of the waters, 
 the deity was Nef, N(i or Num. Wilkinson, i. 327. 
 
 Note XXXVIII 
 ' ' And strangled the Apophis " 
 See II. note vii. 
 
 Note XXXIX 
 
 " / Tvent in as a Hawk, I came out as a Phcenix " 
 
 See " Chapter of the going in after the coming out." £ooi of 
 the Dead. 
 
 Note XL 
 " I follow the dogs of Har " 
 Horus. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Note I 
 
 " ' The Pyramid of Lights,' Khufu, 
 — Long ages since, had reared for monument . . . and tomb" 
 
 According to the sure testimony of the tables of Abydus and 
 Saqqarah, the successor of the good king Senofern was Khufii, 
 (date about 3700 B.C.) It is he whom the writers of Greek 
 antiquity call sometimes Cheops. No one who has had the 
 
288 NOTES 
 
 happiness to set foot on the black soil of Egypt, ever turns back 
 on his homeward way before his eyes have looked upon that 
 wonder of antiquity, the threefold mass of the pyramids on the 
 steep edge of the desert, which you reach after an hour's ride over 
 the long causeway from the village of Gizeh, which stands close 
 upon the left bank of the Nile. From the far distance you see the 
 giant forms of the pyramids, as if they were regularly crystallised 
 mountains, which the ever-creating Nature has called forth from 
 the mother soil of rock. And yet they are but tombs, built by the 
 hands of men, raised by king Khufu and two other Pharaohs of 
 the same family and dynasty. Perfectly adjusted to the cardinal 
 points of the horizon, they differ in breadth and height. 
 
 Height Breadth at Base 
 
 1. Pyramid of Khufu 45074 feet 746 feet (Eng.) 
 
 2. Pyramid of Khafra 447 "S ,, 69075 ,, ,, 
 
 3. Pyramid of Menkara 203 ,, 352*878 ,, ,, 
 
 According to their ancient usages and customs, the Egyptians, 
 while they still sojourned, in health and spirits, in the light of the 
 Sun-god Ra, were ever mindful to turn their looks to the region 
 where the departing Ra took leave of life, where the door of the 
 grave opened, where the body well-concealed at length found rest, 
 to rise again in a new existence after an appointed, time of long, 
 long years ; while the soul, though bound to the body, was at 
 liberty to leave the grave and return to it during the daytime in 
 any form it chose. In such a belief, it was the custom betimes to 
 dig the grave in the form of a deep shaft in the rock, and above 
 " this eternal dwelling " to raise a superstructure of sacrificial 
 chambers, and to adorn them richly with coloured writing and 
 painted sculptures, as was becoming to a house of pleasure and 
 joy. As soon as he mounted the throne, the sovereign gave orders 
 to a nobleman, the master of all the buildings of his land, to plan 
 the work and cut the stone. The kernel of the future edifice was 
 raised on the lime-stone soil of the desert, in the form of a small 
 pyramid built in steps, of which the well-constructed and finished 
 interior formed the king's eternal dwelling, with his stone sarco- 
 phagus lying on the rocky floor. A second covering was added, 
 stone by stone, on the outside of the kernel ; a third to this second ; 
 and to this even a fourth ; and the mass of the giant building grew 
 greater the longer the king enjoyed existence. And then, at last, 
 when it became almost impossible to extend the area of the pyramid 
 further, a casing of hard stone, polished like glass, and fitted accu- 
 rately into the angles of the steps, covered the vast mass of the 
 king's sepulchre, presenting a gigantic triangle on each of its four 
 faces. More than seventy such pyramids once rose on the margin 
 
NOTES 289 
 
 of the desert, each telling of a king, of whom it was at once the 
 tomb and the monument. The sepulchral monument of King 
 Khufu bore the name of honour, "Khut," i.e. "The Lights." 
 The splendid covering of the pyramid of "Lights" was costly 
 stone brought down the river from a great distance, to its banks in 
 the Memphian territory. On the southern border of Egypt, in 
 close neighbourhood to the place called Suan (Syene, now Assuan), 
 is still situated, now as then, the "red mountain" (Tu-tesher), 
 composed of a granite sprinkled with black and red, as hard as 
 iron, and brilliantly beautiful when polished, Brugsch, i. 69, seq. 
 
 Note II 
 
 ^'Beneath the shade of the great lion, Hti," seq. 
 
 There is from west to east, almost in the same line with IChafra's 
 pyramid, a colossal figure of a lion lying down, with the head of a 
 man, better known under the name of the Sphinx, which the Greek 
 travellers gave to this monster. It is the Aboo-h61, "the father 
 of terror " of the Arabs. It is now half buried in the sands of the 
 desert. In quiet repose the lion stretches out his paws, between 
 which a narrow path leads to the temple at the breast of the mon- 
 ster ; and a memorial stone, richly ornamented with pictures and 
 writing, announces that this was a gift of honour from the fourth 
 Thutmes to the Sphinx (about 1533 B.C.) The body of the lion 
 was of the living rock, but fashioned by the artist's hand to imitate 
 more truly the appearance which a sport of Nature had formed. 
 The Sphinx is called in the text " Hu," a word which designates 
 the man-headed lion, while the real name of the god represented 
 by the Sphinx was Hormakhu, that is to say, ' ' Horus on the 
 horizon." Brugsch, i. 79-81. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " A waiting chariot stood " 
 
 The travelling carriage drawn by two oxen was very like the 
 common chariot, but the sides appear to have been closed. It had 
 also one pair of wheels with six spokes, and the same kind of pole 
 and harness. An umbrella was sometimes fixed over it when used 
 for women of rank. Wilkinson, i. 384. 
 
 Note IV 
 " From far Pi-Ramses to the priestly On " 
 At ten hours' distance from Cairo the well-known obelisk of 
 U 
 
290 NOTES 
 
 Heliopolis (or On) rises in the midst of green corn-fields, in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the village of Matarieh, consisting of 
 a few huts of poor Arabs and some houses of well-to-do Egyptians, 
 who scarcely know on what a famous soil their feet tread. The 
 temple and town, in truth, lay i -88 mitres underneath the present 
 soil, and nearly 3 '50 mtees under the present level of high-water. 
 Besides the stone-pointed columns, worked with wonderful art in 
 the hardest and most beautifiil rose granite, the long earthen 
 mounds, under which lies the surrounding wall, show the extent of 
 the former buildings of the temple, and are the only visible remains 
 of the celebrated city of On or Heliopolis, which all antiquity so 
 loudly praised by the voice of its wise men, its teachers and priests. 
 The Egyptians gave the old town the name of Annu (properly 
 meaning the "pointed columns" or "obelisks"), generally with 
 the addition "the north land" to distinguish it from the other 
 Annu in Southern Egypt. Here in Annu (the On of the Bible) 
 there existed from very early times a celebrated temple of the Sun- 
 god, Atum or Turn, a particular local form of Ra, and his wife the 
 goddess Hathor-Jusas, to which the Pharaohs were wont to make 
 pilgrimages, according to ancient custom, to fulfil the directions for 
 the royal consecration in the "Great House" of the god. The 
 temple of On was already existing in the times of Usurtasen I. 
 (izth Dynasty), since the inscriptions of the reigns of his royal 
 ancestors and predecessors frequently mention it, Brugsch, i. 
 127, seq. » 
 
 According to Herodotus, Egyptian sacrifices commenced with a 
 libation of wine, and some was sprinkled on the ground where the 
 victim lay ; yet at Heliopolis, if Plutarch may be credited, it was 
 forbidden to take it into the temple, and the priests of the god 
 worshipped in that city were required to abstain from its use. 
 Wilkinson, i. 51. 
 
 « 
 Note V 
 
 " Within whose walls of learning, Merrhis' son 
 Must train for princely destiny in peace 
 And war " 
 
 The well-known words of Stephen's speech, which described 
 Moses as "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and 
 "mighty in words and deeds" (Acts vii. 22), are in fact a brief 
 summary of the Jewish and Egyptian traditions which fill up the 
 silence of the Hebrew annals. He was educated at Hehopolis 
 (compare Strabo, xvii. l), and grew up there as a priest, under his 
 Egyptian name of Osarsiph (derived by Manetho from Osiris), or 
 Tisithen. " He learned arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, medicine. 
 
NOTES 291 
 
 and music. He invented boats and engines for building, — ^instru- 
 ments of war and of hydraulics, — hieroglyphics, — division of lands." 
 He taught Orpheus, and was hence called by the Greeks Musseus, 
 and by the Egyptians Hermes. Stanley's Jewish Church, vol. 
 i. 90-91. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Caught their first glimpse, o^er palm 
 And oleander grove of Mennofer " 
 
 According to tradition, Mena was the first to lay down rules for 
 the worship of the gods and the service of the temples. It was 
 he who founded the brilliant capital of the ancient empire, the 
 town of Memphis, after having changed the course of the river 
 to increase the ground which was to contain his new residence. 
 On this site, which had been won from the river, Mena constructed 
 the new town, with its houses, its fortifications, and its temples. 
 The Egyptians, like the ancients in general, commenced the 
 foundation of their towns by the construction of a temple, which 
 formed the centre of the town which was to be built. The town 
 in general bore the title of Men-nofer (the good place). The 
 Greeks made of this, Memphis. The holy appellation of the 
 oldest kingly residence was the most common of all, viz. Ha-ka- 
 patah, "House of the worship of Patah," derived from the chief 
 god of the district, the holy architect Patah. The god Patah 
 was worshipped in the temple Za-patah or Pi-patah, "temple of 
 Patah." The dead of the Memphitic district rested in "the Land 
 of Life,'' Anch-ta, of the towns in the stony desert in sight of the 
 town of Memphis. Osiris, the Judge of the Dead under-ground, had 
 his special temple, — ^his Sarapeum, as the Greeks called it, — bearing 
 the name Han-ub, "house of gold." The temple of the divine 
 Creator of the world, the central point of the destroyed city, lay 
 on the south side of the salt-encrusted plain which stretches between 
 the "Swine's Hill" Kum-el-khan-yeir, on the east, and the little 
 Arab village of El-Kassarieh on the west. It stretches out in a 
 direction from north to south, and the grand statue of Ramses XL, 
 now buried in a giant's grave and already reached by the water of 
 the inundation, shows beyond doubt the place where the splendid 
 gate of the temple with its double towers raised its dark masses in 
 the blue expanse of heaven. Along the far-stretching margin of 
 the desert, from Abu-Roash to Meidun (the ancient city of Mi-tum), 
 lay in silent tranquillity the necropolis of Memphis with its wealth 
 of tombs, overlooked by the stupendous buildings of the pyramids. 
 All that remains of this celebrated city at the present time consists 
 of heaps of fragments of columns and altars, and carvings which 
 
292 NOTES 
 
 once belonged to the temples of Memphis, — a far-stretching mass 
 of mounds, out of which shine in the clear sunlight the remains of 
 the half-destroyed chambers and halls of ancient houses. Brugsch, 
 i. 40, seq. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " And Usurtasen's obelisk that rose 
 At gate of holy On " 
 
 The great obelisk of King Usurtasen I. stood in the principal 
 entrance of the temple of the Sun (at On). Its four sides contained 
 hieroglyphical inscriptions of the following meaning, repeated four 
 times in the same words : — • 
 
 The Hor of the Sun, 
 
 The life for those who are born. 
 
 The king of the upper and lower land. 
 
 Cheper-ka-ra. 
 
 the lord of the double-crown, 
 
 the life of those who are bom, 
 
 the son of the Sun-god Ra, 
 
 Usurtasen, 
 
 the friend of the spirits of On, 
 
 ever living, 
 
 the golden Hor, 
 
 the life for those who are bom, 
 
 the good god, 
 
 Cheper-ka-ra 
 
 Has executed this work 
 
 in the beginning of the thirty years' circle 
 
 he the dispenser of life for evermore. 
 
 Brugsch, i. 131. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 A white-robed priest 
 Stood by their side, — the PharaoKs favourite son 
 Khamus, High-priest of Ptah " 
 
 Among the sons of Ramses II. Khamus held a, fond place in 
 his father's heart. He was high-priest of Ptah in Memphis, and 
 in that character did his best to restore the decayed worship of 
 the holy Apis-bulls, which were regarded as the living type of 
 Ptah-Sokari, and to invest it with the greatest splendour. His 
 buildings in Memphis, and in the so-called Sarapeum, the burial 
 place of the holy bulls, are celebrated by inscriptions as splendid 
 works of the age, and their author is overwhelmed vdth praises. 
 
NOTES ^ 293 
 
 According to all that the monuments tell us about Khamus, in 
 words more or less clear, the king's son seems to have been a 
 learned and pious prince, who devoted himself especially to the 
 holy service of the deity, and who remained in the temple of Ptah 
 at Memphis, keeping himself more estranged from state affairs 
 than was altogether pleasing to his royal father. Brugsch, ii. iii. 
 
 Note IX 
 ^'Severe his priestly robe of virgin white" 
 
 The dress of the priests was simple, but the robes of ceremony 
 were grand and imposing. The material of their robes was linen, 
 but they sometimes wore cotton garments ; and it was lawful to have 
 an upper one of wool as a cloak, though they were not permitted 
 to enter a temple vrith this last, nor to wear woollen garments next 
 the skin. 
 
 The dresses of the priests consisted of an under garment, like 
 the usual apron worn by the Egyptians, and a loose upper robe 
 with full sleeves, secured by a girdle round the loins ; or of the 
 apron, and a shirt with short, tight sleeves, over which was thrown 
 a loose robe, leaving the right arm exposed. Wilkinson, i. 333. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " Unto the sacred Mysteries 
 Of Egypfs wisest" 
 
 It was the great privilege of the priests to be initiated into the 
 Mysteries ; though they were not all admitted indiscriminately to 
 that honour ; and the Egyptians neither entrusted them to every 
 one, nor degraded the secrets of divine matters by disclosing them 
 to the profane ; reserving them for the heir-apparent of the throne, 
 and for such priests as excelled in virtue and wisdom. The Mysteries 
 were also distinguished into the greater and the less, — the latter 
 preparatory to a fuller revelation of their secrets. This, and the 
 superior knowledge they possessed, gave the priests a great ascend- 
 ency over the rest of the people. Wilkinson, i. 321. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " The Incarnate Deity, 
 Ptah and the Apis- Bull, whose earthly form 
 Enshrines Osiris' soul" 
 
 Ptah or Patah, — " The father of the gods ;" the architect of the 
 
294 NOTES 
 
 world ; the god of Memphis ; "the chief of the society of gods, who 
 created all Being. All things came into existence after he existed. 
 He is the lord of truth and the king of the gods." " He is the 
 father of beginnings, who created the egg of the sun and of the 
 moon." These examples are sufficient to prove the supreme place 
 of the divine Architect at the head of the god-kings. He is God 
 the Creator, who existed before the creation of the universe, — his 
 own exclusive work. Brugsph, i. 28, 29. 
 
 Among the ceremonies connected with Osiris, the fete of Apis 
 holds a conspicuous place. For Osiris was also worshipped under 
 the form of Apis, the sacred Bull of Memphis, or as a human 
 figure with a bull's head, accompanied by the name "Apis-Osiris." 
 According to Plutarch, "Apis was a fair and beautiful image of 
 the Soul of Osiris." Herodotus in describing him, says, "Apis, 
 also called Epaphus, is a young bull, whose mother can have no 
 other offspring, and who is reputed by the Egyptian to conceive 
 from lightning sent from heaven, and thus to produce the god 
 Apis. He is known by certain marks ; his hair is black ; on his 
 forehead is a white triangular spot, on his back an eagle, and a 
 beetle under his tongue, and the hair of his tail is double. By 
 which signs they fix upon a new one to succeed the other when 
 he dies." Memphis was the place where Apis was kept, and 
 where his worship was particularly observed. He was not merely 
 looked upon as an emblem, but, as Pliny and Cicero say, was 
 deemed "a god by the Egyptians;" and Strabo calls "Apis the 
 same as Osiris." When the Apis died, certain priests, chosen for 
 this duty, went in quest of another, who was known from the signs 
 mentioned in the 'sacred books. As soon as he was found, they 
 took him to the city of the Nile, preparatory to his removal to 
 Memphis, where he was kept forty days, during which period 
 women alone were permitted to see him. These forty days being 
 completed, he was placed in a boat, with a golden cabin prepared 
 to receive him, and he was conducted in state upon the Nile to 
 Memphis. When .the Apis died a natural death, his obsequies 
 were celebrated on the most magnificent scale. As soon as he 
 was buried, permission was given to the priests to enter the temple 
 of Sarapis, though previously forbidden during the whole festival. 
 The burial-place of the Apis-bulls has been lately discovered by 
 M. Mariette, near Memphis. It consists of an arched gallery hewn 
 in the rock, about 20 feet in height and breadth, and 2000 feet 
 in length (besides a lateral gallery). On each side is a series 
 of chambers or recesses, which might be called sepulchral stalls ; 
 every one containing a large sarcophagus of granite, 15 feet by 8, 
 in which the body of a sacred bull was deposited ; and when 
 visited by Mr. Harris (in March 1852) 30 sarcophagi had been 
 
NOTES 295 
 
 already found. They mostly lived 17 to 20 years (25 being the 
 prescribed limit of their life, after which the/ led the bull Apis to 
 the fountain of the priests, and drowned him with much ceremony). 
 From whatever cause the death of the Apis took place, the people 
 performed a public lamentation, as if Osiris himself had died ; 
 and this mourning lasted until the other Apis, his successor, had been 
 found. They then commenced the rejoicings, which were cele- 
 brated with an enthusiasm equal to the grief exhibited during the 
 previous mourning. Wilkinson, i. 289, seq. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " Simple 
 And pure thy life, laborious thy days " 
 
 If the priests were anxious to establish a character for learning 
 and piety, they were not less so in their endeavours to excel in the 
 propriety of outward demeanour, and so set forth a proper example 
 of humility and self-denial ; and if not in their houses, at least in 
 their mode of living, they were remarkable for simplicity and absti- 
 nence. They committed no excesses either in eating or drinking ; 
 their food was plain, and in a stated quantity, and wine was used 
 with the strictest regard to moderation. In their ablutions, as in 
 their diet, they were equally severe, and they maintained the 
 strictest observance of numerous religious customs. They bathed 
 twice a day, and twice duriilg the night, and shaving the head and 
 the whole body every third day, they spared no pains to promote 
 the cleanliness of their persons, without indulging in the bath as a 
 luxury. A grand ceremony of purification took place, previous and 
 preparatory to their fasts, many of which lasted from seven to forty- 
 two days, and sometimes even a longer period, during which time 
 they abstained entirely from animal food, from herbs and vegetables, 
 and from all extraordinary indulgences. They did not affect to be 
 superior to the world by disregarding all social ties. Thus while 
 performing the affectionate duties of fathers and hustands, they still 
 kept up their influence over society. Wilkinson, i. 322, seq. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 " From type to typified 
 Thou risest through the symbol to the sense " 
 
 "No one has called in question the fundamental meaning of the 
 principal passages by the help of which we are able to establish 
 what ancient Egjrpt has taught concerning God, the world, and man. 
 I said God, not the gods. The first characteristic of the religion is 
 
296 NOTES 
 
 the Unity (of God) most energetically expressed : God, One, Sole 
 and Only ; no others with Him.^ — He is the Only Being, living in 
 truth. — Thou art One, and millions of beings proceed from Thee. — 
 He has made everything, and He alone has not been made. But 
 how reconcile the Unity of God with Egyptian Polytheism ? The 
 Egyptian religion comprehends a quantity of local worships. The 
 Egypt which Menes brought together entire under his sceptre was 
 divided into nomes, each having a capital town ; each of these 
 regions had its god designed by a special name, but it is always 
 the same doctrine which reappears under different names. One 
 idea predominates, that of a single and primeval God ; everywhere 
 and always it is One substance, self-existent, and an unapproachable 
 God. The belief in the Unity of the Supreme God, and in His 
 attributes as Creator and Law-giver of man, whom He has endowed 
 with an immortal soul — these are the primitive notions, enchased, 
 like indestructible diamonds', in the midst of the mythological 
 superfetations accumulated in the centuries which have passed over 
 that ancient civilisation." M. Emmanuel Ronge, quoted by Renouf 
 in Hibbert Lectures, 1879. 
 
 These gods, though commonly reputed individuals, clearly evi- 
 dence themselves as mere attributes of deity, by the way in which 
 they appear to slide one into another. "Each of these, whose 
 figures or emblems were adopted," says Sir Gardner Wilkinson, 
 "was only an emanation or deified attribute of the same Great 
 Being, to whom they ascribe various characters according to the 
 several offices he was supposed to perform." Grebant calls them 
 " names which One Being received in its different rUes. " Egyptian 
 Belief and Modern Thought, p. 87, seq. 
 
 The fundamental doctrine was the Unity of the Deity j but this 
 unity was not represented, and He was known by a sentence, or 
 an idea, being, as Jamblichus says, "worshipped in silence." But 
 the attributes of this Being were represented under positive forms ; 
 and hence arose a multiplicity of gods, that engendered idolatry, 
 and caused a total misconception of the real nature of the Deity, in 
 the minds of all who were not admitted to a knowledge of the 
 truth through the Mysteries. The Egyptians gave to each of God's 
 various attributes a particular name. But they did more, they 
 separated them ; and to the uninitiated they became distinct gods. 
 Wilkinson, i. 327. 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 "Smell 
 The Apis-Bull's sweet breath," seq. 
 
 The festival in honour of Apis lasted seven days ; on which 
 
NOTES 297 
 
 occasion a large concourse of people assembled at Memphis. The 
 priests then led the sacred Bull in solemn procession, all the people 
 coming forward from their houses to welcome him as he passed ; 
 and Pliny and Solinus affirm, that children who smelt his breath 
 were thought to be thereby gifted with the power of predicting 
 future events. Wilkinson, i. 291. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 " The High-priest'' s bark 
 Of wove papyrus," seq. 
 
 Pliny mentions boats "woven of the papyrus," the rind being 
 made into sails, curtains, matting, ropes, and even into cloth ; and 
 the " Memphite bark bound together with the papyrus " that Lucan 
 describes, is figured in the Memphite sculptures, as well as on the 
 monuments of Upper Egypt. The sails of the ancient boats appear 
 to have been always square, with one yard above and none below, 
 in those of the oldest construction. The cabins of the Egyptian 
 pleasure-boats were lofty and spacious ; but even in the smallest 
 they did not extend over the whole breadth of the boat, and merely 
 occupied the centre ; the rowers sitting on either side on a bench or 
 stool. The Lotus was one of their favourite devices, and it was 
 very common on the blade of the rudder, where it was frequently 
 repeated at both ends, together with the Eye of Osiris. But the 
 place considered peculiarly suited to the latter emblem was the bow 
 of the boat. Streamers were occasionally attached to the pole of 
 the rudder, and a standard was erected near the head of the vessel, 
 the latter generally a sacred animal, a sphinx or some emblem con- 
 nected with religion or royalty, and sometimes the top of the mast 
 bore a shrine, or feathers, the symbol of the deity to whose pro- 
 tection they committed themselves during their voyage. Many of 
 the sails were painted with rich colours, or embroidered with 
 fanciful devices representing the emblem of the Soul of the king, 
 ilowers, and various patterns ; some were adorned with cheques, 
 and others were merely striped, like those of the present day. 
 This kind of cloth, of embroidered linen, appears to have been 
 made in Egypt expressly for sails, and was bought by the Tyrians 
 for that purpose ; but its use was confined to the pleasure-boats of 
 the grandees, or of the king himself, ordinary sails being white. 
 Wilkinson, ii. 120-130. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " The Apis-Bull wearing t^e Asp divine 
 And sun-globe wrought in gold" 
 
 The figure of Apis-Osiris generally wears the globe of the 
 
298 NOTES 
 
 sun, and the Asp, the sjmibol of divine majesty. Wilkinson, i. 
 290. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 " To where, within his figure-pillared court 
 Abode the Bull" 
 
 Memphis was the place where Apis was kept. Fsammaticus 
 there erected a grand court (ornamented with figures in lieu of 
 columns, twelve cubits in height, forming an inner peristyle), in 
 which he was kept when exhibited in public. Attached to it were 
 the two stables mentioned by Pliny ; and Strabo says, " Before the 
 enclosure where Apis is kept, is a vestibule, in which also the 
 mother of the sacred Bull is fed ; and into this vestibule Apis is 
 introduced, in order to be shown to strangers." Wilkinson, i. 290. 
 
 Note XVIII 
 
 ' ' Upon the Sacred Lake the god 
 Will judge the Dead " 
 
 The existence of the Holy Lake to the north of the great statue 
 of Ramses II. at Memphis, is indicated by the inscription on a 
 massive block, which, in the middle of the plain, lying on its back, 
 turns upwards its engraved holy writing. Brugsch, i. 44. 
 
 Note XIX 
 
 " Know the mystic words 
 Wherewith Thoth guides them through the dark Unknown" 
 
 Thoth is the divine Scribe. It is Thoth himself who speaks 
 and reveals the will of gods and the mysterious nature of divine 
 things to man. Portions of the Funeral Ritual are expressly said 
 to have been written by the very finger of Thoth himself. In 
 other places the god himself addresses the other gods, and in many 
 places the invocation is made by Thoth on behalf of the deceased, 
 rather than by the deceased himself. Introduction to Book of the 
 Dead. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 "At break of day towards the Sacred Lake" seq. 
 
 The body of the dead was so bound up as to resemble the 
 mysterious ruler of Amenti or Hades (Osiris) ; it bore some of the 
 emblems peculiar to him ; and the beard, of a form which belonged 
 
NOTES 299 
 
 exclusively to the gods, was given to the deceased in token of his 
 having assumed the character of that deity. It was not unusual to 
 keep the mummies in the house after they had been returned by the 
 embalmers to the relations of the deceased, in order to gratify the 
 feelings which made them desirous of having those they had loved 
 in life as near them as possible after death. Many months often 
 elapsed between the ceremony of embalming and the actual burial ; 
 and it was during this period that the liturgies were performed 
 before the mummy, which were afterwards continued at the tomb. 
 Though the privilege of keeping a mummy in the house was 
 sanctioned by law and custom, care was always taken to assign 
 some plausible reason for it, since they deemed it a great privilege 
 to be admitted to the repositories of the dead, as their final 
 resting-place. To be debarred from the rites of burial reflected a 
 severe disgrace upon the whole family ; and the most influential 
 individual could not be admitted to the very tomb he had built for 
 himself, until acquitted before that tribunal which sat to judge his 
 conduct during life. 
 
 When the mummies remained in the house or in the chamber 
 of the sepulchre, they were kept in movable wooden closets with 
 folding doors, out of which they were taken by the minor func- 
 tionaries to a small altar, before which the priest ofiiciated. On 
 these occasions, as in the prayers for the dead, they made the usual 
 offerings of incense and libation, with cakes, flowers, and fruits ; 
 and even anointed the mummy, oil or ointment being poured over 
 its head. 
 
 In the funeral processions of the Egyptian grandees the order 
 was frequently as follows : — First came several servants carrying 
 tables laden with fruit, cakes, flowers, vases of ointment, wine 
 and other liquids, with three young geese and a calf for sacri- 
 fice, chairs and wooden tablets, napkins, and other things. Then 
 others bringing the small closets in which the mummy of the 
 deceased and of his ancestors had been kept, while receiving the 
 funeral liturgies previous to burial, and which sometimes contained 
 the images of the gods. They also carried daggers, bows, sandals, 
 and fans ; each man having a kerchief or napkin on his shoulder. 
 Next came a table of offerings, fauteuils, couches, boxes, and a 
 chariot ; and then the charioteer with a pair of horses yoked in 
 another car, which he drove as he followed on foot, in token of 
 respect to his late master. After these were men carrying gold 
 vases on a table with other offerings, bcjxes and a large case upon 
 a sledge borne on poles by four men, superintended by two 
 functionaries of the priestly order ; then others bearing small 
 images of his ancestors, arms, fans, the sceptres, signets, collars, 
 necklaces, and other things appertaining to the king, in whose 
 
300 NOTES 
 
 service he had held an important office. To these succeed'ed the 
 bearers of a sacred boat, and that mysterious Eye of Osiris, as god 
 of Stability, so common on funeral monuments, — the same which 
 was placed over the incision in the side of the body when embalmed, 
 as well as on the prow and rudder of the funeral boat, — was the 
 emblem of Egypt ; and was frequently used as a sort of amulet, 
 and deposited in the tombs. Others carried the well-known small 
 images of blue pottery representing the deceased under the form of 
 Osiris, and the bird emblematic of the soul. Following these were 
 seven or more men, bearing upon staves, or wooden yokes, cases 
 filled with flowers, and bottles for libation ; and then seven or 
 eight women, having their heads bound with fillets, beating their 
 breasts, throwing dust upon their heads, and uttering doleful 
 lamentations for the deceased, intermixed with praises of his virtues. 
 Next came the hearse, placed in the consecrated boat upon a sledge, 
 drawn by four oxen and by seven men, under the direction of a 
 superintendent, who regulated the march of the procession. A 
 high functionary of the priestly order walked close to the boat, in 
 which the chief mourners, the nearest female relatives of the de- 
 ceased, stood or sat at either end of the sarcophagus ; and some- 
 times his widow holding a child in her arms. The sarcophagus 
 was decked with flowers ; and on the sides were painted alternately 
 the emblems of Stability and Security (?) two by two (as on the 
 sacred arks or shrines), upon separate panels, one of which was 
 sometimes taken out, to expose to view the head of the mummy 
 within. Behind the hearse followed the male relatives and friends of 
 the deceased ; some beating their breasts, others, if not giving the 
 same tokens of grief, at least showing their sorrow by their silence 
 and solemn step, as they walked leaning on their long sticks. 
 These closed the procession. 
 
 Arrived at the Sacred Lake, the coffin was placed in the bans, 
 or consecrated boat of the Dead, towed by a larger one furnished 
 with sails and oars, and having frequently a spacious cabin ; which, 
 in company with other sailing-boats carrying the mourners and all 
 those things above mentioned appertaining to the funeral, crossed 
 to the other side. Arrived there, the procession went in the same 
 order to the tomb, at which the priest offered a sacrifice, with 
 incense and libation ; the women still continuing their lamentations, 
 united with prayers and praises of the deceased. It remains to 
 describe the preparatory rites, and the remarkable ceremony that 
 took place on arriving at»the lake, before permission could be 
 obtained to transport the body to the opposite shore. 
 
 The body having been conveyed to the embalmers, the afflicted 
 family during seventy (or seventy-two) days, continued their lament- 
 ations at home, singing the funeral dirge, and fulfilling all the 
 
NOTES 301 
 
 duties required both by custom and their own feelings on the 
 mournful occasion. During this period they abstained from all 
 amusements, the indulgence in every kind of luxury, as "the bath, 
 wine, delicacies of the table, or rich clothing;" "they suffered 
 their beard and hair to grow ;" and endeavoured to prove by this 
 marked neglect of their personal comfort and appearance, how 
 entirely their thoughts were absorbed by the melancholy event that 
 had befallen them. The body, when embalmed, was restored to the 
 family, and having been deposited in its case, which was generally 
 enclosed in two or three others, all richly painted, " it was placed 
 in a room of the house, upright against the wall," until the tomb 
 was ready, and all the necessary preparations had been made for the 
 funeral. The coffin; or mummy case, was then "carried forth," 
 and deposited in the hearse drawn upon a sledge, to the Sacred 
 Lake of the nome ; notice having been previously given to the 
 judges, and a public announcement made of the appointed day. 
 Forty-two judges having been summoned, and placed in a semi- 
 circle near the banks of the lake, a boat was brought up, provided 
 expressly for the occasion, under the direction of a boatman called, 
 in the Egyptian language, Charon; "and it is from hence," says 
 Diodorus, " that the fable of Hades is said to be derived, which 
 Orpheus introduced into Greece." 
 
 When the boat was ready for the reception of the coffin, it was 
 lawful for any person who thought proper to bring forward an ac- 
 cusation against the deceased. If it could be proved that he had 
 led an evil life, the judges declared accordingly, and the body was 
 deprived of the accustomed sepulture ; but if the accuser failed to 
 establish what he had advanced, he was subject to the heaviest 
 penalties. When there was no accuser, or when the accusation was 
 disproved, the relations ceased from their lamentations, and pro- 
 nounced encomiums on the deceased. This announcement was 
 received by the assembled multitude with acclamations, and they 
 joined the glory of the deceased, who was about to remain for ever 
 with the virtuous in the regions of Hades. The body was then 
 taken by those who had family catacombs already prepared, and 
 placed in the repository allotted to it. The grief and shame felt 
 by the family when the rites of burial had been refused were 
 excessive. 
 
 Every large city, as Thebes, Memphis, and some others, had 
 its lake, at which the same ceremonies were practised ; and it is 
 probable, from what Diodorus says of the " lake of the nome," that 
 the capital of each province had one in its immediate vicinity, to 
 which the funeral procession of all who died within the jurisdiction 
 of the nomarch was obliged to repair. Even when the priests 
 granted a dispensation for the removal of a body to another town. 
 
302 NOTES 
 
 as was sometimes done in favour of those who desire^ to be buried 
 at Abydus and other places, the previous ceremony of passing through 
 this ordeal was doubtless required at the lake of their own province. 
 Those persons who, from their extreme poverty, had no place 
 prepared for receiving their body, when denied the privilege of 
 passing the Sacred Lake, appear to have been interred on the shores 
 they were forbidden to leave. Wilkinson, ii. 3S7-377- 
 
 Note XXI 
 
 " — Then, 'mid the silence of the awe-bound crowd. 
 Thus in the dead man's name the High-priest pled" 
 
 The form of the ritual read by the priest in pronouncing the 
 acquittal of the dead is preserved in the tombs, usually at the en- 
 trance passage ; in which the deceased is made to enumerate all the 
 sins forbidden by the Egyptian law, and to assert his innocence of 
 each. They are supposed by Champollion to amount to forty-two, 
 being equal in number to the assessors who were destined to examine 
 the deceased, at his final judgment, respecting the peculiar crime 
 which it was his province to punish. Wilkinson, ii. 376. 
 
 "The Book of going to the Hall of the Two Truths," in the 
 Book of the Dead, contains the address to Osiris and the forty- two 
 Demons of the Dead, each of whom presides over, and avenges 
 some particular sin or fault. The general principles of the Egyptian 
 decalogue are expounded in the opening chapter, then the whole of 
 the forty-two sins are negatively affirmed npt to have been done 
 before each Demon. For this purpose each of them leaves the far 
 and distant region in which he is located, and hastens as a bird of 
 prey to be fed with the blood of the wicked. The deceased averts 
 the evil by saying that he has not committed any of the forty-two 
 sins. Introduction to the Book of the Dead. 
 
 For the original of the priest's appeal see Book of the Dead, 
 chap. cxxv. " The Book of going to the Hall of the Two Truths, 
 and of separating a person from his sins when he has been made to 
 see the faces of the gods." 
 
 Note XXII 
 
 " lit Suten Klien " 
 Bubastis. 
 
 Note XXIII 
 
 " For names of the great gods I know " 
 
 To know the names of the great gods was supposed to preserve 
 from all evil. 
 
NOTES 303 
 
 Note XXIV 
 
 " From Aa, — the god who on men's vitals feeds " 
 
 Here the deceased prays to escape from the god or demon Aa 
 (beast) ; but in the scene of the Great Judgment the demon Amt, 
 or Devourer of the Dead, has the head of a crocodile, the fore-part 
 of a lioness, and the hind-quarters of a hippopotamus. Introduc- 
 tion to Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note XXV 
 " Let the Osiris go,'' seq. 
 See also Book of the Dead, chap. cxxv. 
 
 Note XXVI 
 
 " The gold plate in his mouth. 
 Passport of entrance to the blessid shore " 
 
 The piece of money given to Charon for ferrying the dead across 
 the Styx, appears to have been borrowed from the gold or silver 
 plate put into the mouth of the Dead by the Egyptians. For though 
 they did not intend it as a reward to the boatman, but rather as a 
 passport to show the virtuous character of the deceased, it was of 
 equsd importance in obtaining for him admittance into the regions 
 of the blessed. Wilkinson, ii. 377. 
 
 Note XXVII 
 
 " To Anch-ta's ' Land of life ' across the lake " 
 
 See III. note vi. 
 
 Note XXVIII 
 
 " AnMs there. 
 In far Amenti weighs in other scales 
 The actions of his life" 
 
 The judgment scenes found in the tombs and on the papyri 
 sometimes represent the deceased conducted by Horus alone, or ac- 
 companied by his wife, to the region of Amenti. Cerberus is pre- 
 sent as the guardian of the gates, near which the scales of Justice 
 are erected; and Anubis, "the director of the weight," having 
 placed a vase representing the good actions, or the heart, of the 
 deceased in one scale, and the figure or emblem of Truth in the other, 
 
304 NOTES 
 
 proceeds to ascertain his claims for admission. If on being 
 " weighed " he is " found wanting," he is rejected ; and Osiris, the 
 Judge of the Dead, inclining his sceptre in token of condemnation, 
 pronounces judgment upon him, and condemns his soul to return to 
 earth under the form of a pig, or some other unclean animal. 
 Placed in a boat, it is removed, under the charge of two monkeys, 
 from the precincts of Amenti, all communication with which is 
 figuratively cut off by a man who hews away the earth with an axe 
 after its passage ; and the commencement of a new term of life is 
 indicated by those monkeys, the emblems of Thoth, as Time. But 
 if, when the sum of his deeds have been recorded, his virtues so far 
 predominate as to entitle him to admission to the mansions of the 
 blessed, Horus, taking in his hand the tablet of Thoth, introduces 
 him to the presence of Osiris ; who, in his palace, attended by Isis 
 and Nepthys, sits on his throne in the midst of the waters, from 
 which rises the lotus, bearing upon its expanded flower the four 
 genii of Amenti. Wilkinson, ii. 380-381. 
 
 Anubis, Anepou, the dog-headed god, and son of the cow, is 
 one of the most remarkable of the Nile deities. He is pre- 
 eminently the Pluto of Egypt. He receives the Dead ; he conducts 
 them to Osiris the Judge ; he is the friend of the departed. He is 
 called "preparer of the way of the other world." To Anubis, the 
 dying were commended, and the Dead were entrusted. He. figures 
 on the coffin, in the mastaba, and on all tablets and monuments 
 describing the journey of the soul beyond the grave. He claims 
 both Isis and Nepthys for his mother. Egyptian Belief and 
 Modern Thought, 120-lzi. 
 
 There are traces of a legend according to which Osiris mistook 
 Nepthys for his wife Isis. Nepthys, who loved him, encouraged 
 the illusion, and from their embraces Anubis was born. Renouf 
 in Hibbert Lectures, 1879, 112. 
 
 Note XXIX 
 
 " Amenti " 
 
 '" The Amenti was the other life or Under-world of the Egyptians. 
 It was the "Land of the West;" the "Dark;" the "Secret 
 place;" the "Land of no return;" the "House with no exit." 
 — Hades. 
 
 Note XXX 
 " — With Isis and with Nepthys " 
 Nepthys was the sister of Isis, and the daughter of Rhea by 
 
NOTES 305 
 
 Chronos. She became the wife of Typhon, the foe of Osiris. She 
 is no party to the unnatural crime of her husband, Typhon. Her 
 sympathy for her aiflicted sister is sincere. In fact, she never seems 
 to be away from her. She weeps with her at the bier of Osiris. 
 Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, 149. 
 
 Note XXXI 
 " Amentias genii " 
 
 Before Osiris four genii of Amenti stand upon a lotus flower. 
 Wilkinson, ii. 382. 
 
 Sepulchral vases or canopi, of stone, porcelain, or alabaster, con- 
 tained the intestines of the deceased. They are dedicated to the 
 four presiding spirits or genii devoted to the office of taking care of 
 those parts removed from the body of the mummy. Their caps or 
 lids give the four heads of the gods in question, while the body 
 of the vase is the genius itself. Thus, Amset, to whom are con- 
 fided the stomach and larger intestines, is represented on the 
 covering of the vase with the head of a man ; Hapi, for the smaller 
 intestines, with the head of a cynocephalous ape ; Snouf or Sioumoutf, 
 for the heart and lungs, with the head of a Jackal ; and Kebhouisnuf, 
 for the liver and gall bladder, with a hawk's head. These genii 
 watch over these objects, or the ghostly representatives of the same, 
 in the other life. Egyptian Belief and Modem Thought, 19. 
 
 IV 
 
 Note I 
 
 " And in far Ethiopian land has raised 
 To her name who had reared with mother's love. 
 His grateful monument " 
 
 Moses was sent on an expedition against the Ethiopians. He got 
 rid of the serpents of the country to be traversed, by letting loose 
 baskets full of ibises upon them. The city of Hermopolis was 
 believed to have been founded to commemorate his victory. He 
 advanced to the capital of Ethiopia, and gave it the name of 
 Meroe, from his adopted mother Merrhis, whom he buried there. 
 Tharbis, the daughter of the king of Ethiopia, fell in love with him, 
 
 X 
 
3o6 NOTES 
 
 and he returned in triumph to Egypt with her as his wife. 
 Stanley^s Jewish Church, i. 91. 
 
 For a longer account of this campaign see Josephus, Antiquities 
 of the Jews, ii. c. 10. Compare also Numbers xii. I, where the 
 Ethiopian woman Moses had married may be the princess Tharbis. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " — Her gray hair ifer a wooden head-rest spread" 
 
 The bed they slept upon (the Egyptian priests) was sometimes 
 a skin stretched upon the ground, or a sort of wicker bedstead of 
 palm-branches covered with a mat or skin ; and their head was 
 supported by a wooden concave pillow. The same mode of resting 
 the head was common to all the Egyptians. Wilkinson, i. 335. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " Yellow the slanting rays of evening fell," seq. 
 
 A man, whose name was Amram, one of the nobler sort of the 
 Hebrews, was afraid for his whole nation, lest it should fail, by 
 the want of young men to be brought up hereafter, and was very 
 uneasy about it, his wife being then with child, and he knew not 
 what to do. Hereupon he betook himself in prayer to God. 
 Accordingly God had mercy on him. He stood by him in his sleep, 
 and exhorted him not to despair of his future favours. ' ' Know, " 
 he said, " therefore that I shall provide for you, all in common 
 what is for your good, and particularly for thyself what shall make 
 thee famous ; for that child, out of dread of whose nativity the 
 Egyptians have doomed the Israelite children to destruction, shall 
 be this child of thine, and shall be concealed from those who 
 watch to destroy him : and when he is brought up in a surprising 
 way, he shall deliver the Hebrew nation from the distress they are 
 under from the Egyptians. His memory shall be famous while 
 the world lasts; and this not only among the Hebrews but 
 foreigners also. When the vision had informed him of these things, 
 Amram awaked and told it to Jochebed, who was his wifd! 
 Josephus, II. X. 
 
 Note "IV 
 
 " 'Mid the wild hills of Akita," seq. 
 
 In order to increase his revenues and fill the treasury of the 
 state, Ramses, following the example of his father Seti, turned his 
 particular attention to the gold districts which had been discovered. 
 
NOTES 307 
 
 and especially to the Nubian gold-mines of what is now the Wady 
 Alaki (Al-aki), anciently called Aki-ta. But water was wanting in 
 the dreary sterile valleys of this mountainous country, and men 
 and beasts died on the roads to the gold districts. It was not till 
 the third year of the reign of King Ramses II. that the works 
 were opened. In these gold-mines prisoners of war and male- 
 factors were forced to carry on their laborious works under the 
 burning rays of a tropical sun. Even to the time of the Greeks 
 the remembrance was preserved of their cruel treatment and of the 
 dreadful condition of those condemned to the gold-washings. 
 They were placed under the supervision of a hir-pit or " overseer of 
 the foreign peoples." Brugsch, ii. 79 and 30. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " Amid its heaps of slag, he sank to rest " 
 
 There are abundant vestiges of large colonies of Egyptian 
 miners, whose slag heaps and smelting furnaces are yet to be seen. 
 Desert of the Exodus, p. 26. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " And brief embalming of the humble o'er " 
 
 The third kind of embalming is only adopted for the poor. In 
 this they merely cleanse the body by an injection of Syrmoia, and 
 salt it during seventy days. Wilkinson, ii. 384. 
 
 Note VII 
 " Gathered to her folk " 
 pBVPK ^DX ' " And was gathered to his people," Gen. xxv. 
 
 8, a phrase which Gesenius interprets as entering into Hades, where 
 the Hebrews, their ancestors, are being gathered together, and 
 distinguishes from both death and burial. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " As on the tyrant hir-pit swift he turned," seq. 
 See Exodus ii. 11, 12. 
 
3o8 NOTES 
 
 V 
 
 Note I 
 " W» old Midian Priest" — " Reguel, 'friend of God' " 
 
 The Midianites wh* were descended from Abraham through 
 Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2-4) had their principal settlements on the 
 eastern side of the Elanitic Gulf, from which they spread north- 
 wards into the fields of Moab, and carried on a caravan trade 
 through Canaan to Egypt. On the eastern side of the Elanitic 
 Gulf, and five days' journey from Aela, there stood the town of 
 Madian, the ruins of which are mentioned by Edrisi and Abulfeda, 
 who also speak of a well there, from which Moses watered the 
 flocks of his father-in-law, Shoeib. But we are precluded from 
 fixing upon this as the home of Jethro by Ex. iii. I, where Moses 
 is said to have come to Horeb, when he drove Jethro's sheep be- 
 hind the desert. The Midianites on the eastern side of the Elanitic 
 Gulf could not possibly have led their flocks as far as Horeb for 
 pasturage. We must assume therefore, that one branch of the 
 Midianites, to whom Jethro was priest, had crossed the Elanitic 
 Gulf, and settled in the southern half of the Peninsula of Sinai. 
 The name p S!|S^ (Reguel, friend of God) indicates that this priest 
 served the old Semitic god El (PN). 
 
 Note II 
 
 " Sunset upon the Desert ; every peak 
 A glory of strange colours, as beneath 
 Great HoreVs shade, a shepherd leads his flocks^' seq. 
 
 The name Horeb having no meaning to the Arab ear, has 
 long since perished ; but it reappears in Jebel 'Aribeh, a mountain 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of Jebel Miisa, and so called from 
 a plant, 'Aribeh, with which it abounds. 
 
 The grandest mountain features are found amid the crystalline 
 rocks which occupy the central portion of the Peninsula. These 
 consist chiefly of granite, or porphyry, gneiss, and mica-schist. 
 The scenery in the granite is far more imposing than in the other 
 formations ; in these last, however, the bright and beautiful 
 colouring of the doleritic or dioritic dykes with which the gneissic 
 and schistose rocks are streaked gives a peculiarly pleasing and 
 romantic effect to the landscape. The granite mountains lie in 
 such a rugged tumbled chaos as scarcely to admit of classification. 
 
NOTES 309 
 
 The long winding valleys by which the mountain groups are 
 intersected are called wadies. They are not at all like the valleys 
 to which we are accustomed in Europe, but present rather the 
 appearance of dry, sandy river - beds. They are in fact the 
 courses along which the torrents from the mountains find their 
 way down to the sea ; but as rain seldom falls, the valleys are 
 never filled except on the occasion of some fierce storm burst- 
 ing over the mountains which they drain. Although the general 
 aspect of the country is one of sheer desolation and barrenness, it 
 must not be supposed that there is no fertility to be found there. 
 There are no rivers, yet many a pleasant little rivulet fringed with 
 verdure may be met with here and there, especially in the romantic 
 glens of the granite district. At that part of Wady Feiran where 
 the valley contracts in breadth and concentrates the moisture, we 
 find the most considerable oasis in the Peninsula. 
 
 Besides these, the more fertile spots produce thorns, acacia, 
 tamarisk, sidr, and other trees, while most of the valleys contain 
 some vegetation ; in the highlands, myrrh, thyme, and other 
 fragrant herbs, and in the plains, retem or broom (the juniper tree 
 of Scripture), and countless plants on which the camels feed. Even 
 the barest and most stony hill-side is seldom destitute of vegeta- 
 tion. The herbage of the valleys is of a pale sickly green. No 
 visible effect, however, is produced by all this vegetation upon the 
 general desert aspect of the • country ; to Moses and the children 
 of Israel three thousand years ago Sinai must have looked pre- 
 cisely as it does at the present day. . . . 
 
 The next morning we saw the sunrise from the summit of Sinai, 
 a sight which few of us will, I think, ever forget. The effects were, 
 if possible, more beautiful than those of sunset, and a few clouds 
 which still lingered aroimd the peaks heightened and concentrated 
 the lovely colouring of blue and gold and rosy light. The wild 
 desolation of those majestic crags, solitary ravines, and winding 
 valleys, added to the solemn and sacred associations of the scene, 
 cannot fail to impress the beholder with wonder and awe. Yet 
 the desolation of Horeb does not oppress the soul, for in the clear 
 sky, the pure air, and the unbroken stillness of the ancient rocks 
 and labyrinthine valleys, there lurks the "still small voice" that 
 tells us of a present God. 
 
 The whole southern portion of the mountain is called by the 
 monks Horeb. From such considerations as the meaning of the 
 word, Horeb, — "ground which has been drained and left dry"; 
 and such expressions as " thou stoodest before the Lord thy God 
 in Horeb," "the rock in Horeb," it would rather seejn that the 
 whole desert of Sinai was so called, and that the name was sub- 
 sequently attached to the mountain. 
 
3IO NOTES 
 
 The title of the "Mount of 'God," given to Sinai in the Bible, 
 seems to indicate some mountain well known to Moses as being 
 especially favoured by God, most probably the same mountain 
 which was sanctified in the eyes of the Hebrew lawgiver by his 
 previous conference with the Almighty during his first sojourn in 
 the wilderness. Exodus iii. 12 seems to leave no doubt that the 
 mountain of the Burning Bush and the mountain of the Law are 
 one and the same ; " When thou hast brought forth the people out 
 of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." That such 
 was the tradition in the time of Josephus is clear from his statement 
 that Mount Sinai was regarded with awe "from the rumour that 
 God dwelt there." (Antiq. ii. 12.) The Desert of the Exodus 
 (Palmer). 
 
 Now Moses, when he had obtained the favour of Jethro, for 
 that was one of the names of Reguel, stayed there and fed his 
 flock ; but sometime afterwards, taking his station at the mountain 
 called Sinai, he drove his flocks thither to feed them. Now this 
 is the highest of all the mountains thereabouts, and the best for 
 pasturage, the herbage being there good ; and it had not been 
 before fed upon, because of the opinion men had that God dwelt 
 there, the shepherds not daring to ascend up to it. Josephus, 
 Antiq. ii.-xii. 
 
 There are traces of a sanctity even anterior to the passage of 
 the Israelites ; the " Mount of God " was honoured by the Amale- 
 kite Arabs, and known at the Egyptian Court. On a lofty hill, to 
 the north of the Sinai range, are the remains of ancient Egyptian 
 monuments, prior, as it would seem, to the Exodus. Stanley's 
 Sinai and Palestine, p. 48. 
 
 Note III 
 
 ^' And from the acacia grove 
 That burned and yet consumed not " 
 
 The vegetation is still that which we should infer from the 
 Mosaic history. The wild acacia (Mimosa Nilotica) under the 
 name of "Siint" everywhere represents the "senneh" or "senna" 
 njD of the burning bush. A slightly different form of the tree, 
 equally common under the name of "sayal," is the ancient 
 " Shittah," or as more usually expressed in the plural form (from 
 the tangled thickets into which its stem expands) the " Shittim " of 
 which the tabernacle was made, — an incidental proof of the 
 antiquity of the institution, inasmuch as the acacia, though the 
 chief growth of the desert, is very rare in Palestine. Stanley's 
 Sinai and Palestine, p. 20. 
 
NOTES 311 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " Yet how 
 To name the Nameless One " 
 
 See I. note vil. He was, as Jamblichus says, " worshipped in 
 silence." 
 
 Note V 
 
 ^'Brightly the moon gleams on the great lagoons " seq. 
 
 I return to Pitom and Ramses. From the time when the Nile, 
 in the two months of January and February, has begun to cover 
 the lands of Lower Egypt with its waters, the vast plains of sand 
 disappear beneath the surface of immense lakes. The reeds and 
 rushes, which form large thickets shoot up wonderfully, and millions 
 of water-birds, ranged along the banks of the lagoons or collected 
 in flocks on the islets of the marsh, are busy fishing, disputing with 
 man the rich prey of the waters. Such is the general character of 
 this region. These are the plains, now half desert, half lagoons 
 and marshes, that correspond to the territory of the ancient district 
 of the Sethroite nome, " the point of the East " according to the 
 monuments, the capital of which was called Pi-tom, the city of 
 Pithom of the Bible. Marshes and lagoons, with a rich vegetation 
 consisting of rushes and reeds, of the lotus and, above all, the 
 papjTTUs plant, are met with towards the sea-shore : these are the 
 places called by an Egyptian word, Athu, or by the foreign word 
 Sot^, that is "the marshes of papyrus," of the Egyptian texts. 
 There were also pools and lakes, called by the Semitic name of 
 Birkata, which reached to the neighbourhood of Pitom. 
 
 The Egyptian texts give us evident and incontestible proofs 
 that the whole of this region, which formed the district of the 
 Sethroite nome, was denoted by the name of Suku or Snkot. The 
 foreign source of this designation is indicated by the monuments, 
 and is proved by its relations with the Hebrew words soh, sukkah, 
 in the plural Sukkoth, which bear the primary sense of "tent." 
 This name of "tents" takes its origin from the encampments of 
 the Bedouin Arabs, who, with the permission of the Pharaohs, had 
 taken up their abode in the vast plains of the country of Sukkoth, 
 and who, from the most remote periods of Egyptian history, had 
 there preserved the manners, the customs, and the religious beliefs 
 peculiar to their race, and had spread the use of Semitic words, 
 which were at length adopted officially by the Egyptian authorities 
 and scribes. 
 
 About the city of Pitom (the city of the Sun-god Tom) the 
 chief place of the region of Sukot, the monuments furnish us 
 with some very curious pieces of information. I will begin with 
 
312 NOTES 
 
 the divinity worsliipped at Pitom and in the district of Sukot. 
 Although the lists of the nomas, as well as the Egyptian texts, 
 expressly designate the Sun-god Tom — the same wHo had splendid 
 temples at On or Heliopolis — as the tutelar deity of Sukot, they 
 nevertheless add that the god Tom represents solely the Egyptian 
 type corresponding to the divinity of Pitom, virho is called by the 
 name of Ankh, and surnamed "the great god." The vpord ankh, 
 which is of Egyptian origin, signifies "life" or "He who lives," 
 "The Living One." This is the only case, in the Egyptian texts, 
 of the occurrence of such a name for a god as seems to exclude the 
 notion of idolatry. I dare not decide the question, whether the god 
 " He who lives " of the Egyptian text is identical with the Jehovah 
 of the Hebrews. At all events, everything tends to this belief, 
 when we remember that the name of Jehovah contains the same 
 meaning as the Egyptian word ankh, " He who lives. " According 
 to the monuments, this god, in whose honour a great feast was 
 celebrated on the thirteenth day of the second month of summer, 
 was served, not by priests, like the other divinities of the Egyptian 
 pantheon, but by two young girls, sisters, who bore the title of 
 honour of Ur-ti, that is, "the two queens." A serpent, to whom 
 the Egyptian texts give the epithet of "the m^;nificent, splendid," 
 was regarded as the living symbol of the god of Pitom. It bore 
 the name of Kerch, that is "the smooth." And this serpent, 
 again, transports us into the camp of the children of Israel in the 
 wilderness ; it recalls to us the brazen serpent of Moses, to which 
 the Hebrews offered the perfumes of incense until the time when 
 King Hezekiah decreed the abolition of this ancient serpent- 
 worship. Num. xxi. 9. ; 2 Kings xviii. 4. Brugsch, ii. 341, seq. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Back from Mineptah's halls their hopeless steps " 
 
 Mineptah II., Hotep-Hi-Ma (Menephthes), B.C. 1300. If 
 Ramses-Sesostris, the builder of the temple-city of the same name 
 in the territory of Zoan-Tanis, must be regarded beyond all doubt 
 as the Pharaoh under whom the Jewish legislator Moses first saw 
 the light, so the chronological relations, — having regard to the great 
 age of the two contemporaries, Ramses II. and Moses, — demand 
 that Mineptah should in all probability be acknowledged as the 
 Pharaoh of the Exodus. He also had his royal seat in the cjty of 
 Ramses. The Bible speaks of him only under the general name 
 of Pharaoh, that is, under a true Egyptian title, which was becom- 
 ing more and more frequent at the time now under our notice. 
 Pir'-ao — "great house, high gate" — is, according to the monu- 
 
NOTES 313 
 
 ments, the designation of the king of the land of Egypt for the 
 time being. Only the incidental statement of the Psalmist, that 
 Moses wrought his wonders in the field of Zoan (Ps. Ixxviii. 43), 
 carries us back again to those sovereigns, Ramses II. and Mineptah, 
 who were fond of holding their court in Zoan-Ramses. The hope 
 can scarcely be cherished that we shall ever find on the public 
 monuments — rather let us ,say in some hidden roll of papyrus — 
 the events, repeated in an Egyptian version, which relate to the 
 Exodus of the Jews and the destruction of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. 
 For the record of these events are inseparably connected with the 
 humiliating confession of a divine visitation to which a patriotic 
 writer at the court of Pharaoh would hardly have brought his 
 mind. 
 
 Presupposing then that Mineptah is to be regarded as the 
 Pharaoh of the Exodus, this ruler must have had to endure serious 
 disturbances of all kinds during the time of his reign : — in the west 
 the Libyans, in the east the Hebrews, and — let us at once add — 
 in the south a spirit of rebellion, which declared itself by the 
 insurrection of a rival king of the family of the great Ramses- 
 Sesostris. Brugsch, ii. 128, seq. 
 
 VI 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Noon in Mineptah' s palace. — At its gate. 
 State-chariots," seq. 
 
 In entertaining guests, music, songs, dancing, buffoonery, feats 
 of agility, and games of chance were introduced along with all the 
 luxuries of the ceUar and the table. When invited to dinner they 
 met about noon in chariots or palanquins borne by servants, or on 
 foot. Sometimes their attendants carried a sort of parasol to shield 
 them from the sun. Those of the king, borne behind, were of 
 feathers. When a visitor came in his car he was attended by 
 servants, one vrith a stool to help him to alight, and others with 
 his writing materials or whatever he might want during the day. 
 It was considered a want of good breeding to sit down to table 
 immediately on arriving. To those who arrived from a journey 
 water was brought for their feet before entering the festive chamber 
 (Gen. xliii. 24). It was considered a want of hospitality to omit 
 this (Luke vii. 44-46). The basins in the houses of the rich were 
 
314 NOTES 
 
 u 
 
 of gold. It was customary for a servant to attend on every guest 
 and anoint his head, and this was one of the principal tokens of 
 welcome. The ointment was sweet-scented, and contained some- 
 times in alabaster, sometimes in an elegant porcelain vase, and has 
 been known to retain its scent for several hundred years. Servants 
 took the sandals off the guests as they arrived, and put them by or 
 held them for them. After anointing, a lotus flower was presented 
 to each guest, who held it during the entertainment. Servants 
 then brought necklaces of flowers, chiefly of the lotus, and placed 
 a garland on the head, with a single lotus bud attached to it, to 
 hang over the forehead. These were renewed as they faded. To 
 put a necklace or a ring on a guest was a token of respect and 
 welcome. The apartments were perfumed with myrrh and frank- 
 incense. When Agesilaus, the Spartan prince, was entertained by 
 Tachos, he refused the " sweetmeats, confections, and perfumes," 
 and the Egyptians held him in great contempt as unaccustomed to 
 civilised life. The Greeks and other ancient peoples put on festive 
 garments, generally white, but the Egyptians do not seem to have 
 made any great change in their dress for feasts, though they 
 abstained from dresses of gloomy hue. The guests being seated, 
 wine was offered them by servants, to the ladies in a small vase, 
 which, when emptied into the drinking cup, was handed to an 
 under-servant who followed, but to the men often in a one-handled 
 goblet and not poured into any cup. One cup was reserved for 
 the master of the house. The wine-goblets were of brass, bronze, 
 glass, porcelain, and precious metals. They drank wine also 
 during the repast, and sometimes crowned the bowl with wreaths 
 of flowers, and a vase of lotus flowers was placed before the host. 
 While dinner was preparing, the party was entertained with music. 
 Music was looked upon as an important study, and studied by the 
 priests, who had music and dancing in their houses. 
 
 Men and women were frequently entertained separately at a 
 different part of the same room, at the upper end of which the 
 master and mistress sat close together on two chairs or on a large 
 fauteuil ; each guest as he arrived presented himself to receive 
 their welcome, and the musicians and dancers hired for the occasion 
 did obeisance before them, before they began their part. To the 
 leg of the fauteuil a favourite monkey, dog, gazelle, or other pet 
 was often tied, and a young child was allowed to sit on the ground 
 by its mother or on its father's knee. In some cases we find both 
 men and women sitting together, both strangers and members of 
 the family ; the Greeks restricted this to relations ; this shows how 
 far the Egyptians excelled the Greeks. Dinner was served at mid- 
 day. The dishes consisted of fish, meat, game, poultry, profusion 
 of vegetables and fruit, particularly figs and grapes, and a soup, 
 
NOTES 
 
 315 
 
 or pottage of lentils. Figs of the sycamore were highly esteemed, 
 and selected as the heavenly fruit given by the goddess Netpe to 
 those worthy of eternal happiness. Fresh dates during the season, 
 and dried at other times, were brought to table as well as a 
 conserve of the ■ fruit. The guests sat on the ground or on stools 
 and chairs, and having neither knives nor forks nor'chop-sticks, eat 
 with their fingers and invariably with the right hand. Wilkinson's 
 Ancient Egyptians. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " To sit at meat with great Mineptah, where, 
 — Hoy ally apparelled in an apron decked 
 With lions' heads and asps," seq. 
 
 The Egyptians wore a sort of apron or kilt, sometimes simply 
 bound round the loins and lapping over in front ; persons of rank 
 wore over this a loose upper robe with full sleeves, secured by a 
 girdle round the loins. The robes of the king varied with his 
 occupation. The apron was richly ornamented with lions' heads, 
 etc., probably of coloured leather, and the border was often a row 
 of asps, the emblem of royalty. Sometimes he wore a short wig 
 with a band ornamented with the asp. The upper portion of the 
 vfig was made of curled not plaited hair. (The Egyptians only let 
 their hair and beard grow when in mourning ; at all other times 
 they shaved, which agrees with the Bible account (Gen. xli. 14), 
 where Joseph, when sent for by Pharaoh, "shaved himself and 
 changed his raiment ;" to neglect shaving was a subject of reproach 
 and ridicule. ) They tied a false beard of plaited hair under the 
 chin, of a peculiar form, according to the person by whom it was 
 worn. Those of private persons were scarcely two inches long, 
 those of kings were of considerable length and square at the bottom. 
 The figures of gods had this beard turned up at the end. No man 
 dared wear the beard of a deity, but after death it was allowed to 
 put this divine emblem on the statues of kings and all persons 
 thought worthy to enter Elysium, in consequence of their having 
 assumed the character of Osiris, to whom the souls of the pure 
 returned. The sphinx has the kingly beard. At parties the head- 
 dress of every priest was bound with a chaplet of flowers, and 
 ointment was put upon the wig. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians. 
 
 Note III 
 " Loi, the High-priest of Amon," seq. 
 In casting a glance over the most eminent contemporaries of 
 
3i6 NOTES 
 
 this King (Mineptah II. ), we are reminded especially of his viceroy 
 in Egypt, the "King's son of Kush," named Mas, and the very 
 influential high-priest of Amon, Roi or Loi, Lui («.?. Levi), who 
 under Mineptah held the command of the legion of Amon, admin- 
 istered the treasury of Amon, and, according to the custom of the 
 time, was chief architect to Pharaoh. The more troublous the 
 times, the less thought was there of heroic expeditions, and the 
 greater was the attention paid to the pursuit of elegant knowledge 
 under a learned priesthood. History, divinity, practical philosophy, 
 poetry, and tales, — all that unbent the mind from the anxieties 
 of worldly business, was brought within the sphere of their activity. 
 The following temple-scribes are among the brilliant stars of this 
 galaxy of writers : Ga-ga-bu, Hor, Anna, Mer-em-aput, Bek-en- 
 ptah, Hor-a, Amon-masu, Su-an-ro, Ser-ptah. ... It was for 
 Seti II. (son of Mineptah), while he was still crown-prince, that 
 a temple-scribe composed that wonderful tale of The Two Brothers 
 (which contains a wonderful parallel to the history of Joseph), the 
 translation of which by the late master of Egyptology, E. de Rouge, 
 gave such an unexpected surprise to the learned world. Brugsch, 
 ii. 130, 131, 133. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " The Queen, with bevy affair ladies, — gay 
 In gown and sash and shoulder-strap " 
 
 The higher orders of Egyptian women wore a petticoat or gown, 
 with coloured sash at the waist, or straps over the shoulders, and 
 above this a large loose robe made of the finest linen, vrith full 
 sleeves and tied in front below the breast. The petticoat or gown 
 was of richly coloured stuffs like our chintzes. Ladies wore their 
 hair long, and plaited in a number of strings of hair reaching to the 
 bottom of the shoulder blades, and the same in front. The hair was 
 plaited in a triple plait and the ends left loose, or two or three 
 plaits fastened together with woollen string of the same colour. 
 Round the head they wore an ornamental fillet with a lotus-bud 
 falling over the forehead ; the strings of hair at the sides were 
 separated and secured with a comb or band ornamented to taste, 
 and sometimes a round stud or pin thrust into them in front ; the 
 short hair at the side of the face was interwoven with several of its 
 longer neighbours, and these, bound together at the end with string, 
 fell down before the earrings, which they partially concealed. Ear- 
 rings were usually large round single hoops of gold. Sometimes an 
 asp of gold set with precious stones was worn by members of the 
 royal family. Both men and women wore rich necklaces of gold 
 or beads, generally with a large drop or figure in the centre. 
 
NOTES 317 
 
 Staining the eyelids and brows with black moistened powder was 
 common in Egypt from the earliest times, also among the Jews and 
 Romans. It was thought to increase the beauty of the eye. The 
 lengthened form of Egyptian eyes in painting is due to this. In 
 Rome it was thought disgraceful for men to do it, but both sexes 
 seem to have done it in Egypt. Many of the ' ' Khol " bottles are 
 found in the tombs with the bodkin for applying it. Wilkinson's 
 Ancient Egyptians. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " Around, — as feasts fit close, — has passed 
 Osiris' wooden nnimmy," seq. 
 
 It was a custom of the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, after 
 their repasts, to introduce a wooden image of Osiris, from i^ to 3 
 feet high, in the form of a mummy, standing up in a case or lying 
 in a bier, and to show it to each of the guests, warning him of his 
 mortality and the transitory nature of human pleasure, that one day 
 he would be like that figure, and that men ought "to love one 
 another, and avoid those evils which tend to make them consider 
 life too long, when in reality it is too short." The priests thus, 
 without forbidding amusements and conviviality, in fact, while en- 
 couraging them, gave the salutary hint to put some restraint upon 
 their conduct. The idea of death among the ancients was less 
 revolting than now ; the Egyptians even introduced the mummy of 
 a deceased relative at their parties, and placed it at table as one of 
 the guests. After dinner music and singing were resumed, men and 
 women performed feats of agility, and jugglers performed both in 
 and out of doors. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Tlty wise KhartumhrC s asps " 
 
 The miraculous sign mentioned here is distinctly related to the 
 art of snake-charming, which was carried to such an extent by the 
 Psylli in ancient Egypt. "They also, the chartumim of Egypt, 
 did in like manner with their enchantments." These magicians, 
 whom the Apostle Paul ctHAs, Jannes an6./ambres, according to the 
 Jewish tradition (2 Tim. iii. 8), were not common jugglers, but. 
 D'Oan, "wise men," men educated in human and divine wisdom, 
 and D^S3l3in, belonging to the priestly caste (Gen. xl. 8); so that 
 the power of their gods was manifested in their secret arts, and in 
 the defeat of their enchantments by Moses. The gods of Egypt 
 
3l8 NOTES 
 
 were overcome by Jehovah. Keil and Delitzsch on The Pentateuch, 
 i. 477. 
 
 I cannot omit to quote the name of the high-priests who pre- 
 sided over the different services of religion in the sanctuaries of 
 Zor-Ramses. According to Egyptian texts these priests bore the 
 name of Khar-toh, that is, "the warrior." . . . The interest at- 
 tached to this title arises from the fact that Holy Scripture desig- 
 nates by the same name (Khartumim) the priests whom Pharaoh 
 summoned to imitate the miracles vnrought by Moses ... a new 
 proof that the scene of the interviews between Pharaoh and Moses 
 is laid in the city of Zoan-Ramses. Brugsch, ii. 354. 
 
 Note VII 
 " A mighty camp beside Sirbonis gulf" seq. 
 
 According to the indications of the monuments, in agreement 
 with what the classical accounts tell us, the Egyptian road led from 
 Migdol towards the Mediterranean Sea, as far as the Wall of Ger- 
 rhon (the Shur of the Bible), situate at the (western) extremity of 
 the lake Sirbonis. This latter, which was well known to the an- 
 cientsj had again long fallen out of remembrance, and even in the 
 last century a French traveller in Egypt naively observed that "to 
 speak of the lake Sirbon is speaking Greek to the Arabs." Divided 
 from the Mediterranean by a long tongue of land, which in ancient 
 times formed the only road from Egypt to Palestine, this lake, or 
 rather this lagoon, covered with a luxuriant vegetation of reeds and 
 papyrus, but in our days almost entirely dried up, concealed unex- 
 pected dangers, owing to the nature of its shores, and the presence 
 of those deadly abysses of which a classic author (Diodorus) has left 
 us the following description : — 
 
 " On the eastern side Egypt is protected in part by the Nile, in 
 part by the desert and marshy plains known under the name of 
 Gulfs (or PitSj t4 pdpaBpa). For between Coele-Syria and Egypt 
 there is a lake, of very narrow width, but of a wonderful depth, 
 and extending in length about 200 stadia (20 geographical miles), 
 which is called Sirbonis ; and it exposes the traveller approaching 
 it unawares to unforeseen dangers. For its basin being very narrow, 
 like a riband, and surrounded on all sides by great banks of sand, 
 when south winds blow for some time a quantity of sand is drifted 
 over it. This sand hides the sheet of water from the sight, and 
 confuses the appearance of the lake with the dry land, so that 
 they are indistinguishable. From which cause many have been 
 swallowed up with their whole armies through unacquaintance with 
 the nature of the spot, and through having mistaken the road. 
 For as the traveller advances gradually the sand gives way under 
 
NOTES 319 
 
 his feet, and, as if of malignant purpose, deceives those who have 
 ventured on it, till at length, suspecting vifhat is about to happen, 
 they try to help themselves when there is no longer any means of 
 escaping safe. For a man drawn in by the swamp can neither 
 swim, the movements of his body being hampered by the mud, nor 
 can he get out, there being no solid support to raise himself on. 
 The water and sand being so mixed that the nature of both is 
 changed, the place can neither be forded nor crossed in boats. 
 Thus those who are caught in these places are drawn to the bottom 
 of the abyss, having no resource to help themselves, as the banks 
 of sand sink with them. Such is the nature of these plains, with 
 which the name of gulfs (fidpaSpa) agrees perfectly." 
 
 (As to the different manner of the catastrophe, we may observe 
 that the description of Diodorus throws a new light on the de- 
 scription in Exodus. Pharaoh thought he had caught the Israelites 
 "entangled" between the sea, the desert, and the bog (Exod. xiv. 
 2) : but when they were led safely through by the guiding pillar of 
 fire, which was turned into darkness for their pursuers, it was the 
 Egyptians that became entangled on the treacherous surface, 
 through which "their chariots dragged heavily" (verse 25), before 
 the whelming wave borne in from the Mediterranean completed 
 their destruction. Editor.') 
 
 Thus the Hebrews, on approaching this tongue of land in a 
 north-easterly direction, found themselves in face of the gulfs, or, 
 in the language of the Egyptian texts, in face of the Khirot (this 
 is the ancient word which applies exactly to the gulfs of weedy 
 lakes), near the site of Gerrhon. We can now perfectly under- 
 stand the Biblical term Pihakhiroth (Exod. xiv. 2), a word which 
 literally signifies " the entrance to the gulfs," in agreement with the 
 geographical situation. This indication is finally fixed with pre- 
 cision by another place, named Baal-zephon, for "The Lord spake 
 unto Moses, saying. Speak to the children of Israel, that they 
 turn and encamp before Pihakhiroth, between Migdol and the 
 sea, opposite to (lit. in face of) Baal-zephon ; ye shall encamp 
 opposite to it, by the sea " (Exod. xiv. 2). 
 
 The name Baal-zephon, which is met with in one of the papyri 
 of the British Museum under its Egyptian orthography, Baali- 
 Zapouna, denotes a divinity whose attribute is not far to seek. 
 According to the extremely curious indications furnished by the 
 Egyptian texts on this point, the god Baal-zephon, the " Lord of 
 the North," represented under his Semitic name the Egyptian god 
 Amon, the great bird-catcher who frequents the lagoons, the lord 
 of the northern districts and especially of the marshes, to whom 
 the inscriptions expressly give the title of Lord of the Khirot, that 
 is "gulfs," of the lagoons of papyrus. 
 
320 NOTES 
 
 It was on this narrow tongue of land, bounded on the one 
 side by the Mediterranean Sea, on the other by the lagoons of 
 weeds, between the entrance to the Kiroth, or the gulfs, on the 
 west, and the sanctuary of Baal-zephon on the east, that the great 
 catastrophe took place. After the Hebrews, marching on foot, 
 had cleared the flats which extend between the Mediterranean Sea 
 and the lake Sirbonis, a great wave took by surprise the Egyptian 
 cavalry and the captains of the war-chariots who pursued the 
 Hebrews. Hampered in their movements by their frightened 
 horses and their disordered chariots, these captains and cavaliers 
 suffered what, in the course of history, has' occasionally befallen 
 not only simple travellers, but whole armies. 
 
 Far from diminishing the value of the sacred records on the 
 subject of the departure of the Hebrews out of Egypt, the Egyptian 
 monuments, on the faith of which we are compelled to change our 
 ideas respecting the passage of the Red Sea — traditions cherished 
 from our infancy — the Egyptian monuments, I say, contribute 
 rather to furnish the most striking proofs of the veracity of the 
 Biblical narratives. Brugsch, ii. 360-366. 
 
 For the identification of places before and after the passage of 
 the Israelites, see the previous and subsequent pages of Brugsch. 
 
 The evidence in favour of the lake of Sirbonis being the scene 
 of the catastrophe which overtook the hosts of Pharaoh appears to 
 me satisfactory, I have therefore adopted it in giving local colour- 
 ing to this part of my poem. 
 
 VII 
 
 Note I 
 " Get thee to Nebo," seq. 
 See Deut. xxxiv. 1-5, and Num. xx. 12. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " So from this plain 
 On Pisgah's ru^ed top " 
 
 To these same mountains of Abarim, to the top of Pisgah, to a 
 high-place dedicated to the heathen Nebo, as Balaam's standing- 
 
NOTES 321 
 
 place had been consecrated to Peor, "Moses went up from the 
 ' desert-plain ' of Moab . . . over against Jericho." 
 
 In the long line of those eastern mountains which so constantly 
 meet the view of the traveller in all the western parts of Palestine, 
 the eye vainly strives to discern any point emerging from this 
 horizontal platform, which may be fixed as the top of Nebo. But 
 the general account leaves no doubt that the place intended is some 
 elevation immediately over the last stage of the Jordan. (No name 
 like Pisgah is now known on the eastern side ; but Jerome ex- 
 pressly asserts that it was familiar to the travellers of his day, and 
 that Nebo was pointed out six miles from Heshbon. Burckhardt 
 in travelling through the country selected Jebel-'Attarus, apparently 
 from its conspicuous position, as the most likely spot. " There is," 
 he says, "a large heap of stones on the summit, overshaded by 
 a wild pistachio tree. " He also describes the mountain "as very 
 barren," and "with an uneven plain on the top.") 
 
 Northward, his eye turned to "all the land of Gilead," con- 
 tinuing the same eastern barrier as that on which he himself stood, 
 till it ended, far beyond his sight, in Dan. Westward, there were 
 on the northern horizon the distant hills of " all Naphtali." Coming 
 nearer, was "the land of Ephraim and Manasseh." Immediately 
 opposite was "all the land of Judah," beyond which, though un- 
 seen, lay "the utmost sea" and the desert of "the south," — 
 Jerusalem itself, in all probability, distinctly visible through the 
 opening of the descent to Jericho. 
 
 These were the four great masses of the future inheritance of his 
 people, on which the narrative fixes our attention. Immediately 
 below him was the "round" of the plain of Jericho, with its 
 oasis of palm-trees, and far away on his left, though hardly visible, 
 the last inhabited spot before the great desert — "Zoar." But 
 between him and that " good land " the deep valley of the Jordan 
 intervened. 
 
 " So Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of 
 Moab, according to the word of the Lord. " Stanley's Sinai and 
 Palestine, 300, 301. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " — There, in yon Shittim groves 
 Beneath the hill" 
 
 The course of the Jordan is confined between the two ranges of 
 hills, which, like those of the Nile-valley, extend with more or less 
 regularity along the shores of the Dead Sea, and even to the gulf 
 of Akaba. In most parts of the Jordan the plain thus enclosed is 
 not more than eight miles in breadth, but immediately above the 
 
 y 
 
322 NOTES 
 
 Dead Sea the mountains on each side retire, leaving a larger plain 
 than usual ; probably a distance of more than twelve miles across 
 from range to range. We must imagine the Israelite host en- 
 camped on its eastern side. It was in the long belt of acacia 
 groves (shittim), which, on the eastern as on the western side of the 
 Jordan, mark with a hne of verdure the upper terraces of the valley. 
 Their tents were pitched from " Abel-Shittim " on the north "to 
 Beth-Jeshimoth" on the south; from the "meadow" which 
 marked the limit of those "groves" to the "hamlet" or "house" 
 which stood on the " waste " on the shores of the Dead Sea. 
 They looked straight across the Jordan to the green spot of Jericho 
 on the western bank. High above them rose the mountains to 
 which their descendants gave the name of "Abarim." Stanley's 
 Sinai and Palestine^ 297, 298. 
 
 Note IV 
 " The eternal God their dwelling-place," seq. 
 See Deut. xxxiii. 27. 
 
 Note V 
 
 "So, on this hill, 
 Balaam the Syrian seer," seq. 
 
 From these lofty summits (of Abarim) were unfolded two 
 successive views of the valley below, of the camp, of the opposite 
 hills, — awakening thoughts most diverse to the two seers, but of 
 almost equal interest to future times. From the "high places" 
 then dedicated to Baal, from the "bare hill" on "the top of 
 the rocks," and lastly from the cultivated "field" (Num. xxiii. 
 14) Zophim, on the top of Pisgah, from "the top of Peor, that 
 looketh on the face of the waste " (Num. xxiii. 28) the Assyrian 
 prophet, with the king of Moab by his side, looked over the wide 
 prospect ; — He saw in that vast encampment amongst the acacia 
 groves, " how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, 
 O Israel." The view of Balaam from the top of Pisgah and of 
 Peor is the first of those which have made the name celebrated. 
 But it is the second view, which within so short a time succeeded 
 to it, whilst Israel was still encamped in the acacia groves, that has 
 become a proverb throughout the world. Stanley's Sinai and 
 Palestine, 299. 
 
NOTES 323 
 
 Note VI 
 
 ^' Like JosepK s we have borne with us 
 These forty years " 
 
 See Exodus xiii. 19. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " And lay, with words of hope 
 Writ on their swaihings of pure linen " 
 
 That the bandages employed in wrapping the dead are of linen 
 has been already ascertained by the most satisfactory tests. The 
 mummy cloths are generally of a very coarse quality, but some were 
 thin and transparent and of very delicate texture. Wilkinson, ii. 
 73. seq. 
 
 In the eighteenth dynasty, mourning cases, cartonages or wraps 
 of mummies, and the walls of tombs are covered with scraps and 
 abridgments of ritualistic literature. In times commencing with 
 the twenty-sixth dynasty, the ritual, especially the 72d chapter, is 
 constantly found on coverings and coffins of mummies. Introduc- 
 tion to the Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " The Soul still haunts its old companion " 
 
 In the ftiture state the soul still continues to visit the body, but 
 a distinct return is not definitely mentioned. Introduction to the 
 Book of the Dead. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 "By Marah's bitter Lakes " 
 
 The bitter waters, at the place called Marah, are recognised in 
 the Bitter Lakes of the Isthmus of Suez. Brugsch, ii. 367. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " — By Elim's green oasis with its palms " 
 
 Elim is the place which the Egyptian monuments designate by 
 the name of Aa-lim or Tent-lim, that is "the town offish," situate 
 near the Gulf of Suez in a northerly direction. When the Jews 
 arrived at Elim, the words of Holy Scripture — "But God caused 
 the people to make a circuit by the way of the wilderness, towards 
 
324 NOTES 
 
 the Sea of Weeds (Ex. xiii. i8) — were definitively accomplished. 
 Brugsch. ii. 367. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " And through SMs sandy waste " 
 
 The exact position of the Wilderness of Sin is a matter of much 
 debate among commentators. Keil supposes it to be "The desert 
 table-land, which is essentially distinguished from the limestone 
 formations of the Tih mountains, and the granite mass of Horeb, 
 by its soil of sand and sandstone which stretches as fai as Jebel 
 Humr to the north-west, and the Wady Khamile and Barak to the 
 south-west." Keil and Delitzsch on The Pentateuch, ii. 64. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " The thorny tamarisk shed 
 Its honey globules " 
 
 In the morning there came an "effusion of dew round about 
 the camp ; and when the effusion of dew ascended {i.e. when the 
 mist that produced the dew had cleared away), behold there (it 
 lay) upon the surface of the desert, fine, congealed, fine as the 
 hoar-frost upon the ground." When the Israelites noticed this, 
 which they had never seen before, they said to one another, Kin ]D 
 "What is this ?" for they knew not what it was. (D for flD belongs 
 to the popular phraseology, and has been retained in the Chaldee 
 and Ethiopic, so that it is undoubtedly to be regarded as early 
 Semitic. From the question, man-hti, the divine bread received 
 the name of man or manna. This "bread of Heaven" (Ps. 
 Ixxviii. 24, and cv. 40), Jehovah gave to His people for the first 
 time at a season of the year and also in a place in which natural 
 manna is still found. It is ordinarily met with in the peninsula of 
 Sinai in the months of June and July, and sometimes even in May. 
 It is most abundant in the neighbourhood of Sinai, in Wady Feiran 
 and es Sheikh, also in Wady Gharandel and Taiyibeh, and some of 
 the valleys to the south-east of Sinai. In warm nights it exudes 
 from the branches of the tarfah tree, a kind of tamarisk, and falls 
 down in the form of small globules upon the withered leaves and 
 branches that lie under the trees ; it is then gathered before sunrise, 
 but melts in the heat of the sun. In very rainy seasons it continues 
 in great abundance for six weeks long ; but in many seasons it 
 entirely fails. It has the appearance of gum, and has a sweet 
 honey-like taste. Keil and Delitzsch on The Pentatetich, ii. 67-69, 
 70. 
 
NOTES 325 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 "And "twixt the evejiings' as the twilight fell. 
 The wearied quails " seq. 
 
 The same evening, "between the two evenings," quails came 
 up and covered the camp. In spring the quails come iiorthwards 
 in immense masses from the interior of Africa, and return in. 
 autumn, when they sometimes arrive so exhausted that they can 
 be caught with the hand. Such a flight of quails was now brought 
 by God, who caused them to fall in the camp of the Israelites, so 
 that it was completely covered by them. Keil and Delitzsch on 
 The Pentateuch, ii. 67. 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 " — Onward to Rephidim, whose smitten rock," seq. 
 
 At the base of Serbal, in Wady Feiran, is a large and compara- 
 tively fertile tract, vrith a palm-grove which extends for miles along 
 the valley. It is, in fact, the most fertile part of the Peninsula, 
 and one which the Amalekites would be naturally anxious to de- 
 fend against an invading force ; in this respect, therefore, it answers 
 to the position of Rephidim. We should not expect a mere desert 
 tribe, such as Amalek was, to sally forth in well-organised troops 
 to meet the advancing hosts of Israel while the latter were yet in 
 the comparatively open wilderness. Their immediate impulse, on 
 the first intimation of the enemy's approach, would be to collect 
 around their wells and palm-groves, and concert measures for pro- 
 tecting these their most precious possessions. Such would be the 
 tactics of the modern Bedawin, and such, it appears from the 
 Bible account, was the nature of the opposition which Israel en- 
 countered at Rephidim. They had "pitched in Rephidim," but 
 the wells were defended, and they were obliged to halt on the out- 
 skirts of the fertile district, ' ' and there was no water for the 
 people to drink." It is a significant fact that in Wady Feiran, 
 immediately before the part of the valley where the fertility com- 
 mences, I discovered a rock which Arab tradition regards as the 
 site of the miracle. This rock, which has never before been 
 noticed by travellers, is called Hesq-el-Khat-tatin, and is surrounded 
 by small heaps of pebbles, placed upon every available stone in 
 the immediate neighbourhood ; these are accounted for as follows : — 
 When the Children of Israel sat down by the miraculous stream 
 and rested after their thirst was quenched, they amused themselves by 
 throwing pebbles upon the surrounding pieces of rock. This has 
 passed into a custom, which the Arabs of the present day keep up 
 in memory of the event. It is supposed especially to propitiate 
 
326 NOTES 
 
 Moses, and any one having a sick friend throws a pebble in his 
 name, with the assurance of speedy relief. Desert of the Exodus, 
 i. 158, 159. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 " — Whose miles of -palms trail their long branches o'er 
 Its purling stream, 'twixt mighty SerbaVs walls ' 
 Of many-huid rock " 
 
 The dates of this palm-grove are some of the finest in Egyptian 
 territory. Palms are always pretty and picturesque, but here 
 their beauty is enhanced by the branches being left for the most 
 part untrimmed, by the gorgeous diversity of colouring in the rocks 
 on either side of the valley, and by the pleasant little stream that 
 flows along its bed. Desert of the Exodus, i. 167. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " Guarded by fierce 
 Amalekites " 
 
 This tribe was descended from a grandson of Esau (Gen. 
 xxxvi.i2. "AndTimnawas concubinetoEliphar,Esau'sson; and she 
 bare to Eliphaz, Amalek "). The Amalekites had no doubt come to 
 the neighbourhood of Sinai for the same reason for which, even in 
 the present day, the Bedouin Arabs leave the lower districts at 
 the beginning of summer, and congregate in the mountain regions 
 of the Arabian peninsula, viz. because the grass is dried up in the 
 former, whereas in the latter the pasturage remains green much 
 longer on account of the climate being comparatively cooler. 
 Keil and Delitzsch, Pentateuch, ii. 77. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 "And on the lone hill-top 
 Aaron and Hur upheld the faltering hands," seq.J 
 
 On reaching Widy Feiran, the traveller should first of all make 
 a pilgrims^e to the hill which I have just mentioned, as the prob- 
 able station of Moses at the battle of Rephidim (Ex. xvii. 8, seq.) 
 The hill, which is called Jebel Tahiineh (the mountain of the wind- 
 mill), is not more than seven hundred feet high, and is situated 
 on the northern side of the valley, immediately behind the mound 
 on which the walls of the ancient convent stand. At the foot 
 meanders Wady Feiran, with its grove of palms and tamarisks, 
 while down from either side of Mount Serbal, which faces you, run 
 two steep widies, 'Aleyat and 'Ajeleh. A huge basin of red rock, 
 
NOTES 32 J 
 
 gneiss and porphyry, lies to the north, with the tall peak of Jebel 
 el Benat standing out against the sky, and far away to the south- 
 east, through an opening in the hills, is seen the long blue range 
 of the Jebel Miisa mountains. Desert of the Exodus, i. 163. 
 
 Note XVIII 
 
 " Then Reguel came," seq. 
 
 See Exodus xviii. 
 
 Note XIX 
 
 " These hundred thousand graves 
 Dug in the sand of Paran's wilderness " 
 I 
 See Numbers xiv. 23, seg. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 " ' Tis this it says, that rock-hewn sepulchre 
 In Kadesh where we laid Miriam to rest " 
 
 See Numbers xx. i. 
 
 Note XXI 
 
 " 'Tis this, that tomb, where lone Mount Hor looks down 
 On white hills of the wilderness o'er vale 
 Of'Arabah, speaks to the silent rocks" 
 
 See Numbers xx. 12, 23-29. 
 
 Leaving the camels and tents to go on to Petra, we turned to 
 climb the summit of Mount Hor. It is one of the very few spots 
 coimected with the wanderings of the Israelites which admits of no 
 reasonable doubt. (The proofs of the identity of Jebel Harfin, as 
 it is now called, with Mount Hor are : (i) The situation "by the 
 coast of the land of Edom," where it is emphatically " the Moun- 
 tain," Numbers xx. 23 ; (2) the statement of Josephus (Aut., 
 IV. iv. 7) that Aaron's death occurred on a high mountain enclos- 
 ing Petra ; (3) the modem name and traditional sanctity of the 
 mountain as connected with Aaron's tomb.) There Aaron died 
 in the presence of Moses and Eleazer ; there he was buried ; and 
 there Eleazer was invested with the priesthood in his stead. The 
 mountain is marked far and near by its double top, which rises like 
 a huge castellated building from a lower base ; and on one of these 
 is the Mahometan chapel, erected over the remains of some earlier 
 and more sumptuous building, over the supposed grave. From the 
 
328 NOTES 
 
 flat roof of the chapel we overlooked his last view, — that view which 
 was to him what Pisgah was to his brother. To us the northern 
 end was partly lost in haze, but we saw all the main points on 
 which his eye must have rested. He looked over the valley of the 
 'Arabah, countersected by its hundred watercourses, and beyond, 
 over the white mountains of the wilderness they had so long 
 traversed ; and at the northern edge of it there must have been 
 visible the heights through which the Israelites had vainly attempted 
 to force their way into the Promised Land. This was the western 
 view. Close around him on the east were the rugged mountains 
 of Edom, and far along the horizon the wide downs of Mount Seir, 
 through whifch the passage had been denied by the wild tribes of 
 Esau who hunted over their long slopes. A dreary moment, and a 
 dreary scene, — such at any rate it must have seemed to the aged 
 priest. Petra itself is entirely shut out by the intervening rocks. 
 Stanley's Sinai and Palestine. 
 
 Note XXII 
 
 " From the great heap 
 Of stones o'er him that gathered sticks " 
 
 See Numbers xv. 32, se^. 
 
 Note XXIII 
 
 " JFrom out 
 The fire, — flashing from Tent of Meeting that 
 Devoured Nadab and Abihu " 
 
 See Leviticus x. i, seq. 
 
 Note XXIV 
 
 ^' And from 
 That circling flame around the awful Mount " 
 
 See Exodus xx. 
 
 Note XXV 
 
 ' ' Mot much it seemed 
 To smite the cliff in Kadesh, as the rock 
 InHoreb" 
 
 See Numbers xx. and Exodus xvii. 6. 
 
 It is one of the few facts localised by anything like an authentic 
 tradition — in this case preserved by Josephus, the Talmudists, 
 
NOTES 329 
 
 Eusebius, and Jerome — that Kadesh was either identical or closely 
 connected with Petra. The mountain which overhangs the valley 
 of Petra has been known, as far back as the knowledge of travellers 
 extends, as the "Mountain of Aaron." The basin of Petra is 
 known to the Arabs by no other name than " the Valley of Moses." 
 The great ravine through which the torrent is admitted into the 
 valley is called "the Cleft of Moses," — in distinct reference to the 
 stroke of the rod of Moses. In accordance with these confirmations 
 are the incidental expressions of the narrative itself. The word' 
 always used for "the rock" of Kadesh, in describing the second 
 
 supply of water, is " sela," WBH or ''cliff," in contradistinction to 
 the usual word "tzHr," I^Sn or "rock," which is no less invariably 
 applied to "the rock" of Horeb, the scene of the first supply. It 
 may be difilcult to determine the relative meaning of the two 
 words. But it is almost certain that of the two " sela," like our 
 word "cliff," is the grander and more abrupt feature. The name 
 " Sela " is the same as that by which in later times the place now 
 called "Petra" was designated. If there be any ground for this 
 conclusion, Petra assumes a new interest. Its rock-hewn caves 
 may have served in part for the dwellings, in part for the graves of 
 the Israelites ; it is dignified as the closing scene of the life both of 
 Miriam and Aaron ; its impressive scenery well accords with the 
 language of the ancient hymns of Israel, in which Kadesh with the 
 surrounding rocks of Edom is almost elevated to the rank of a 
 second Sinai. An oasis of vegetation in the desert hills ; scenery 
 only second in grandeur to that where the Law was delivered. 
 Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, 94, seq. 
 
 Note XXVI 
 
 " Doth not the blood within the veil sprinkle 
 The mercy-seat ? — Lo, I have laid my hand 
 Ufon the Scape-goafs head" 
 
 See Leviticus xvi. 
 
 Note XXVII 
 
 " The sacred Heari itself, perhaps become 
 A part of vulture or of eagU " 
 
 Considerable parts of the Ritual (The Book of the Dead) refer to 
 the preservation of the body and especially of the heart. That the 
 body should not waste or decay was an object of great solicitude. 
 In some mysterious way the immortality of the body was deemed 
 
33° NOTES 
 
 as important as the passage of the soul. Introduction to Book oj 
 the Dead. 
 
 Chapters xxvi., xxvii., xxviii., xxix., and xxx. of the Book of the 
 Dead all refer to means by which the deceased should avoid having 
 his heart taken from him in Hades. " My heart vi^as my mother, 
 my heart was my mother, my hesirt was my being on earth placed 
 within me, returned to me by the chief gods. ... I flourish on 
 earth, I never die in the west. I flourish as a spirit there for ever." 
 (Said over a scarabseus of hard stone. Cause it to be washed with 
 gold and placed within the heart of a person. Make a phylactery 
 anointed with oil, say over it with magic, " My heart is my mother, 
 my heart is my transformation.") Book of the Dead, xxx. 
 
 Note XXVIII 
 
 " Whose, — not the soul alone, but all the five, 
 — Soul, Mind, Life, Body, Shade, — that make up me " 
 
 Five principles were regarded by the Egyptians as necessary to 
 the complete man, — Ba, the soul ; Akh or AThu, intelligence ; .Aa, 
 existence ; Khaba, shade ; Kha, body, or Sah, mummy. Intro- 
 duction to Book of the Dead. 
 
BOOK III 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Barkai ad Chebron " 
 
 It is a week day of tfee month Siwan, which answers to our June. 
 The starlight fades gradually in the cloudless heavens before the 
 breaking dawn. The . two divisions of the Temple-watch, all 
 provided with torches, have met before the chamber in which the 
 High-priest's meat-offering is prepared, and have mutually passed 
 the word that all is in order and readiness. Those of the priests 
 who have been able to pass this night in sleep, are risen, have 
 bathed, and donned their robes of office. In the Stone Hall, in 
 one half of which were held the sittings of the Sanhedrin, lots are 
 being cast for the division of the duties of the coming day. . . . 
 All this takes place by torchlight ; but meanwhile the chief time- 
 keeper is observing the dawn of the day, and some priests deputed 
 by him ascend the battlements of the Temple. When the sun has 
 so far risen that Hebron,' lying amongst the mountains south-east 
 of Jerusalem, can be distinguished, they cry, " Barkai ad Chebron " 
 (the light has reached Hebron), and instantly rings forth the cry, 
 " Hither to your duties, O priests ! Levites, hither to your pulpet ! 
 Israelites, hither to your places ! " Delitzsch, Jewish Artisan Life. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " The silver trumpets blow 
 Their three-fold blast, — waking the sleeping town 
 To morning sacrifice. " 
 
 It was the time of the Morning Sacrifice. As the massive 
 Temple-gates slowly swung on their hinges, a. three-fold blast from 
 
332 NOTES 
 
 the silver trumpets of the priests seemed to walien the city, as 
 with the voice of God, to the life of another day. , . . For already 
 the blush of dawn for which the priest on the highest pinnacle of 
 the Temple had watched, to give the signal for beginning the 
 services of the day, had shot its brightness far away to Hebron and 
 beyond. Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, i. 
 133- 
 
 Note III 
 
 " Bound on the altar, lies the sprinkled lamb," seq. 
 
 And now morn had broken, and nothing remained before the 
 admission of worshippers but to bring out the lamb, once again to 
 make sure of its fitness for sacrifice, to water it from a golden bowl, 
 and then to lay it in mystic fashion,— as tradition described the 
 binding of Isaac, — on the north side of the altar, with its face to 
 the west. All, priests and laity, were present, as the priest, stand- 
 ing on the east side of the altar, from a golden bowl sprinkled 
 with sacrificial blood two sides of the altar, below the red line 
 which marked the difference between ordinary sacrifices and those 
 that were to be wholly consumed. While the sacrifice was pre- 
 pared for the altar, the priests, whose lot it was, had made ready 
 all within the Holy Place, where the most solemn part of the day's 
 service was to take place, — that of offering the incense, which 
 symbolised Israel's accepted prayers. Again was the lot (the 
 third) cast to indicate him who was to be honoured with this 
 highest mediatorial act. Only once in a lifetime might any one 
 enjoy that privilege. Henceforth he was called " rich," and must 
 leave to his brethren the hope of the distinction which had been 
 granted him. . . . First, he had to choose two of his special friends 
 or relatives to assist in his sacred service. Their duties were com- 
 paratively simple. One reverently removed what had been left on 
 the altar from the previous evening's service ; then, worshipping, 
 retired backwards. The second assistant now advanced, and, 
 having spread to the utmost verge of the golden altar the live coals 
 taken from that of bumt-offering, worshipped and retired. Mean- 
 while the sound of the " organ " (the Magrephah), heard to the 
 most distant parts of the Temple, and, according to tradition, far 
 beyond its precincts, had summoned priests, Levites, and people 
 to prepare for whatever service or duty was before them. For 
 this was the innermost part of the worship of the day. But the 
 celebrant priest, bearing the golden censer, stood alone within the 
 Holy Place, lit by the sheen of the seven-branched candlestick. 
 Before him, — somewhat farther away, towards the heavy veil that 
 
NOTES 333 
 
 hung before the Holy of Holies, was the golden altar of incense, on 
 which the red coals glowed. To his right (the left of the altar, 
 — that is, on the north side) was the table of shew-bread ; to his left, 
 on the right or south side of the altar, was the golden candlestick. 
 And still he waited till a special signal indicated that the moment 
 had come to spread the incense on the altar, as near as possible to 
 the Holy of Holies. Priests and people had reverently withdrawn 
 from the neighbourhood of the altar, and were prostrate before the 
 Lord. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, i. 137. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " Terrace on terrace, on Moriah's hill," seq. 
 
 If the dust of ten centuries could have been wiped from the 
 eyelids of those sleepers, and one of them who thronged Jerusalem 
 in the high day of its gloiy, during the reign of King Solomon, 
 had returned to its streets, he would scarcely have recognised the 
 once familiar city. . . . The four " companion-like " hills on which 
 the city was built, the deep clefts by which it was surrounded, the 
 Mount of Olives rising in the east, were the same as a thousand 
 years ago. There, as of old, were the Pool of Siloam and the 
 royal gardens, — nay, the very wall that had surrounded the city. 
 And yet all was so altered as to be scarcely recognisable. The 
 ancient Jebusite fort, the city of David, Mount Zion, was now the 
 priests' quarter ; — Ophel, and the old royal palace and stables had 
 been thrown into the Temple area, — now completely levelled, — 
 where they formed the magnificent treble colonnade known as the 
 Royal Porch. Passing through it, and out by the western Gate of 
 the Temple, we stand on the immense bridge which spans the 
 "Valley of the Cheesemongers," or the Tyropseon, and connects 
 the eastern with the western hills of the city. On the right, as we 
 look northward, are (on the eastern hill), Ophel, the Priest-quarter, 
 the Temple — oh, how wondrously beautified and enlarged, and 
 rising terrace upon terrace, surrounded by massive walls ; — a palace, 
 a fortress, a sanctuary of shining marble and glittering gold. And 
 beyond it frowns the old fortress of Baris, rebuilt by Herod, and 
 named after his patron, Antonia. This is the Hill of Zion. Right 
 below us in the cleft of the Tyropceon, westwards, rises the " Upper 
 City." If the Lower City and suburb form the business-quarter, 
 — with its markets, bazaars, and streets of trades, and guilds, — the 
 " Upper City " is that of palaces. Here, at the other end of the 
 great bridge which connects the Temple with the " Upper City," 
 is the palace of the Maccabees ; beyond it, the Xystos, or vast 
 colonnaded enclosure, where popular assemblies are held ; then the 
 
334 NOTES 
 
 palace of Ananias the High-priest, and nearest to the Temple, the 
 "council chamber" and public archives. Behind it, westwards, 
 rise terrace upon terrace, the stately mansions of the "Upper City," 
 till, quite in the north-west corner of the old city, we reach the 
 palace which Herod had built for himself, — almost a city and a 
 fortress, flanked by three high towers, and enclosing spacious 
 gardens. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, i. 1 12. 
 
 Note V 
 
 '^ Ay, ask the walls 
 Of yonder dungeon where Antipater 
 But waits the nod of Casar, ere the head 
 Impatient for a crown, rolls in the dust " 
 
 Pheroras's wife is accused by his freedmen as guilty of poison- 
 ing him ; and Herod, upon examining of the matter by torture 
 found the poison ; but so that it had been prepared for himself by 
 his son Antipater ; and upon an inquiry by torture, he discovered 
 the dangerous designs of Antipater. 
 
 Hereupon Herod was so amazed at the prodigious wickedness 
 of Antipater that he was ready to have ordered him to be slain 
 immediately. Herod also sent for his son, and asked him about 
 this matter, and bade him contradict it if he could, and not sup- 
 press anything he had to say for himself; and when he had not 
 one word to say, he asked him, since he was every way caught in 
 his villany, that he would make no further delay but discover his 
 associates in these his wicked designs. So he laid all upon Anti- 
 philus ; but discovered nobody else. Hereupon Herod was in 
 such great grief, that he was ready to send his son to Rome to 
 Caesar, there to give an account of these his wicked contrivances. 
 But he soon became afraid lest he might there, by the assistance of 
 his friends, escape the danger he was in ; so he kept him bound as 
 before, and sent more ambassadors and letters (to Rome) to 
 accuse his son. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVII. iv. 
 and V. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " — Ask yonder fish-ponds underneath the palms 
 At Jericho," seq. 
 
 When this youth Aristobulus (brother of Mariamne, the last of 
 the Maccabees, whom Herod had made High-priest), who was 
 now in the seventeenth year of his age, went up to the altar, 
 according to the law, to oiTer the sacrifices, and this with the 
 
NOTES 33S 
 
 ornaments of his high -priesthood, and when he performed the 
 sacred offices, he seemed to be exceedingly comely, and taller than 
 men usually were at that age, and to exhibit in his countenance a 
 great deal of that high family he was sprung from, — a warm zeal 
 and affection towards him appeared among the people, and the 
 memory of the actions of his grandfather Aristobulus was fresh in 
 their minds ; and their affections got so far the mastery of them, 
 that they could not forbear to show their inclinations to him. . . . 
 Upon all this Herod resolved to complete what he had intended 
 against this young man. When, therefore, the festival was over, 
 and he was feasting at Jericho vrith Alexandra, who entertained him 
 there, he was then very pleasant with the young man, and drew 
 him into a lonely place, and at the same time played with him in 
 tt juvenile and ludicrous manner. Now the nature of that place 
 was hotter than ordinary ; so they went out in a body, and of a 
 sudden, and in a vein of madness ; and as they stood by the fish- 
 ponds, of which there were large ones about the house, they went 
 to cool themselves (by bathing), because it was in the midst of a 
 hot day. At first they were only spectators of Herod's servants 
 and acquaintance as they were swimming ; but after a while, the 
 young man, at the instigation of Herod, went into the water 
 among them, while such of Herod's acquaintance as he had ap- 
 pointed to do it, dipped him as he was swimming, and plunged 
 him under water in the dark of the evening, as if it had been done 
 in sport only ; nor did they desist till he was entirely suffocated. 
 And thus was Aristobulus murdered, being not eighteen years old, 
 and having kept the High-priesthood one year only. Josephus, 
 Antiquities of the Jews, XV. iii. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 "Ask the stones of Sebastis Tower 
 That heard the groans of Mariamne's sons " 
 
 As for Herod, if he had before any doubt about the slaughter of 
 his sons, there was now no longer any room left in his soul for it. 
 . . . Alexander and Aristobulus (Herod's sons by Mariamne) were 
 brought to Sebaste by their father's command, and there strangled ; 
 but their dead bodies were in the night-time carried to Alexandrium, 
 where their uncle, by the mother's side, and the greatest part of 
 their ancestors, had been deposited. Josephus, Antiquities of the 
 Jews, XVI. xi. 
 
336 NOTES 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " Ere long the Temple-Sanhedrin will meet 
 Beside the Booths upon the Temple- Mount" 
 
 Passing along the eastern colonnade (of the Temple), or Solomon's 
 Porch, we would, if the description of the Rabbis is trustworthy, 
 have reached the Susa Gate. . . . Here we have to locate the 
 first or lowest of the three Sanhedrins, which, according to the 
 Mishnah, held their meetings in the Temple ; the second, or inter- 
 mediate court of appeal, being in the Court of the Priests (probably 
 close to the Nicanor Gate) ; and the highest, that of the Great San- 
 hedrin, at one time in the "Hall of Hewn Square Stones" (Lishcath- 
 ha-Gazith), but at the time of our Lord, in some chamber attached 
 to the " shops " or booths upon the Temple-Mount, which belonged 
 to the High-priestly family of Ananias. Edersheim, i. 1 14-244. 
 
 We read in the Talmud that the members of the Temple- 
 Sanhedrin, on ordinary days, sat as a court of appeal from the close 
 of the Morning to the time of the Evening Sacrifice. Edersheim, i. 
 247. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " The crown they writhe to see adorn 
 My Jdumcean brows " 
 
 It is an intensely painful bistoiy, in the course of which Herod 
 made his way to the throne. We look back nearly two and a half 
 centuries to when, with the empire of Alexander, Palestine falls to 
 his successors. For nearly a century and a half it continued the 
 battlefield of the Egyptian and Syrian kings. At last it was a cor- 
 rupt High-priesthood that betrayed Israel's precious trust. . . . 
 Then followed the brief period of the terrible persecutions of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, when Judaism was all but exterminated in 
 Palestine. The glorious uprising of the Maccabees called forth all 
 the national elements left in Israel, and kindled afresh the smoul- 
 dering religious feeling. . . . But the fervour and purity of the 
 movement ceased almost with its success. ... It may have been 
 the pressure of circumstances, but it was anything but a pious, or 
 even a " happy " thought of Judas the Maccabee, to seek the alliance 
 of the Romans. From their entrance on the scene dates the decline 
 of Israel's national cause. Contention for the throne among the 
 Maccabees led to the interference of the foreigner. When, after 
 capturing Jerusalem and violating the sanctity of the Temple, al- 
 though not plundering its treasures, Pompey placed Hyrcanus II. 
 in possession of the High-priesthood, the last of the Maccabean 
 rulers was virtually shorn of power. The country was now tributary 
 
NOTES 337 
 
 to Rome, and subject to the Governor of Syria. Even the shadow 
 of political power passed from the feeble hands of Hyrcanus when, 
 shortly afterwards, Gabinius (one of the Roman governors) divided 
 the land into five districts, independent of each other. But already 
 a person had appeared on the stage of Jewish affairs who was to 
 give them their last decisive turn. About fifty years before this, the 
 district of Idumzea had been conquered by the Maccabean king 
 Hyrcanus I. , and its inhabitants forced to adopt Judaism. By this 
 Idumsea we are not, however, to understand the ancient or eastern 
 Edom, which was now in the hands of the Nabatasans, but parts of 
 southern Palestine which the Edomites had occupied since the 
 Babylonian Exile, and especially a small district on the northern and 
 eastern boundary of Judsea and below Samaria. After it became 
 Judaean its administration was entrusted to a governor. In the reign 
 of the last of the Maccabees this office devolved on one Antipater, 
 a man of equal cunning and determination. He successfully inter- 
 fered in the unhappy dispute for the crown which was at last 
 decided by the sword of Pompey. Antipater took the part of the 
 utterly weak Hyrcanus in that contest with his energetic brother 
 Aristobulus. He soon became the virtual ruler, and Hyrcanus II. 
 only a puppet in his hands. From the accession of Judas Macca- 
 baeus in i66 B.C. tojhe year 63 B.C., when Jerusalem was taken by 
 Pompey, only about a century had elapsed. Other twenty-four 
 years and the last of the Maccabees had given place to the son of 
 Antipater J — Herod, sumamed the Great. 
 
 The settlement of Pompey was not lasting. Aristobulus, the 
 brother and defeated rival of Hyrcanus, was still alive, and his sons 
 were even more energetic than he. The risings attempted by them, 
 the interference of the Parthians on behalf of those who were hostile 
 to Rome, and, lastly, the contentions for supremacy in Rome itself, 
 made this period one of confusion, turmoil, and constant warfare in 
 Palestine. When Pompey was finally defeated by Caesar, the pro- 
 spects of Antipater and Hyrcanus seemed dark. But they quickly 
 changed sides ; and timely help given to Caesar in Egypt brought 
 to Antipater the title of Procurator of Judaea, while Hyrcanus was 
 left in the High-priesthood, and at least nominal head of the people. 
 The two sons of Antipater were now made governors : the elder, 
 Phasaelus, of Jerusalem ; the younger, Herod, only twenty-five 
 years old, of Galilee. Here he displayed the energy and determina- 
 tion which were his characteristics, in crushing a guerilla warfare, of 
 which the deeper springs were probably nationalistic. The execu- 
 tion of its chief brought Herod a summons to appear before the 
 Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, for having arrogated to himself the 
 power of life and death. He came, but arrayed in purple, surrounded 
 by a bodyguard, and supported by the express direction of the 
 
338 NOTES 
 
 Roman governor to Hyrcanus, that he was to be acquitted. Even 
 so, he would have fallen a victim to the apprehensions of the San- 
 hedrin, — only too well grounded, — had he not been persuaded to 
 withdraw from the city. He returned at the head of an army, and 
 was with difficulty persuaded by his father to spare Jerusalem. 
 Meantime Caesar had named him Governor of Coelesyria. Eder- 
 sheim, i. 121, seq. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " All, — -from, the ancient HUM I have left 
 Head of their Sanhedrin these thirty years" seq. 
 
 Hillel is, in truth, a truly great and loveable man. He flourished 
 during the reign of Herod the Great, and died during the early 
 childhood of Jesus. When Herod, as we read in Matthew ii. 40, 
 demanded of the chief priests and scribes where Christ should be 
 born, Hillel may well have been president of that sitting of the 
 Sanhedrin which, in strict accordance with Scripture, gave the 
 king the reply, that he must be born at Bethlehem - Ephrata. 
 Much beyond this date his life could not have been prolonged. 
 This Hillel, grandfather of Gamaliel, at whose feet sat St. Paul 
 the Apostle, and an ancestor of a family in~ which the office of 
 president of the Sanhedrin was for centuries hereditary, belonged 
 to a family of Jewish exiles at Babylon. Though able to trace 
 their descent from David, his kindred were poor ; and both Hillel 
 and his brother Shebna had come to Jerusalem, one to seek his 
 fortune as a trader, and the other to slake his thirst for knowledge 
 at the fountain-head of national learning. In order to accomplish 
 this, he had to hire himself out as a journeyman, and his daily 
 earnings amounted to a tropailcon. This was the Greek name for 
 the Roman victoriatus, a small coin, of the value of half a denarius, 
 and stamped with the image of victory. One half of his gains had . 
 to support his family (for he was married) ; the other he paid to 
 the steward of the Beth-ha-Midrasch, that academy over which 
 Shemaiah and Abtalion presided. One day, however, when he 
 had been unable to meet with work, he was denied admittance by 
 the avaricious steward. Favoured by the darkness of the night, 
 he clambered up to the window placed in the top of the wall, 
 whence he could see and hear all that passed below ; but unable 
 long to endure the intense cold of the heavy snow, he sank down 
 in that state of insensibility from which he was on the following 
 Sabbath morning with difficulty restored to life. . . . Schooled by 
 the greatest celebrities in the learning of the Thora, he, in after- 
 times, became himself one of its highest authorities. When the 
 question was once debated, whether the Pascal-lamb could be slain 
 
NOTES 339 
 
 on the eve of the Passover should it happen to fall on a Sabbath, 
 Hillel came forward as the guardian of the correct interpretation, 
 and decided the question in the affirmative. From this time 
 forward he was regarded as one of the principal expounders of the 
 so-called oral or traditional law ; to which in a stormy and 
 degenerate age he secured uninterrupted development, by his 
 personal gentleness, high culture, and moderate Pharisaical tend- 
 encies. A reformer he never was. He left everything as he found 
 it. With the actual faith of his nation he scarcely meddled ; 
 much less djd he ever revive it from decay or quicken it with new 
 impulses. Hillel's work was in no sense reformatory, still less 
 creative ; it consisted principally in the development of the so- 
 called oral law, which aimed at protecting the Mosaic law from 
 violation, by fencing it in with innumerable preventive regulations. 
 One example will show how far men had already fallen away from 
 the spirit of the Mosaic law. Exodus xvi. 5 contains indirectly the 
 precept that food intended to be eaten on the Sabbath should be 
 prepared the preceding day. The doctors of the law propounded 
 the question, whether an egg which a hen had laid on the Sabbath 
 might be eaten on that day. Hillel argued as follows : Since such 
 egg was perfected on a Sabbath or Feast-day, and therefore came 
 unlawfully into being, it is on this account unlawful to eat it on the 
 Sabbath or the Feast-day following ; and though it might in itself 
 be lawfiil to eat the egg of such hen on the Sabbath or Feast-day, 
 had it been laid on a Sabbath or Feast-day which was not either 
 preceded or followed by a Sabbath or Festival, yet even this must 
 be considered forbidden, because one might otherwise fall into the 
 temptation to eat it on such Sabbath or Feast-day, when it would, 
 on the afore-mentioned giounds, be strictly prohibited to do so. 
 And since on the Sabbath that which is to be eaten must not be 
 carried from place to place, such egg must not only not be eaten, 
 but not be lifted up or put aside. A conscientious person, therefore, 
 would naturally avoid touching it, since he might be tempted even 
 to take it in his hand, or even looking at it, since in doing so he 
 might begin to lust after it. A whole treatise of the Talmud 
 which treats of festivals in general takes from this controversy, with 
 which it opens, its name of Beza "the egg." . . . Only by the 
 fact that his far-famed gentleness had its shady as well as its sunny 
 side, can we understand how Hillel could have lived honoured and 
 favoured under the arbitrary rule of Herod the Great, whose govern- 
 ment was as cruel towards his own subjects as it was cowardly 
 towards Rome ; yet, under this prince, Hillel held the highest 
 national post of honour in Jerusalem, and attained, like Moses, a 
 tradition informs us, the great s%& of 120 years. Delitzsch, Jesus 
 and Hillel. 
 
34° . NOTES 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " Much to heed 
 A few score Rabbis more or less, whose zeal 
 Outruns discretion, put to the torture " 
 
 Generally only one side of the character of Hillel has been 
 presented by writers, and even this in greatly exaggerated language. 
 His much-lauded gentleness, peacefulness, and charity were rather 
 negative than positive qualities. He was a philosophic Rabbi, 
 whose real interest lay in a far other direction tKan that of 
 sympathy with the people. A far deeper feeling, and intense, 
 though misguided earnestness pervaded the school of Shammai. 
 It was not philosophic nor eclectic, but intensely national. The 
 school of Hillel, which commanded the majority, were men of no 
 political colour, theological theorists, self-seeking jurists, vain 
 rather than ambitious. Edersheim, i. 239, 240. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " That Alexandrine, — last I made 
 High-friest " 
 
 The High-priest was still the representative of the rehgious life 
 of the people, and he acted on all occasions, when the question 
 under discussion was not one exclusively of subtle canon-law, as 
 the President of the Sanhedrin. It was therefore of the utmost 
 importance to make wise choice of the High -priest. With the 
 exception of the brief tenure of Aristobulus, the last of the Mac- 
 cabees, all the Herodian High-priests were non-Palestinians. A 
 keener blow than this could not have been dealt at Nationalism. 
 On his death-bed, Herod had appointed to the Pontificate, Joazar, 
 a son of Boethos, the wealthy Alexandrian priest, whose daughter, 
 Mariarane II., he had married. Edersheim, i. 240. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 " Men say God wills it tiot 
 J. hat Rome's great golden Eagle should adorn 
 Ihe Temple's Gate, — yet there it stands " 
 
 ■ The king (Herod) had erected over the great gate of the 
 Temple a large golden eagle, of great value, and had dedicated it 
 to the Temple. Now, the law forbids those that propose to live 
 according to 'it, to erect images, or representations of any living 
 thing. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVII. vi. 
 
NOTES 341 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 " L^st our rebel Zealots find 
 Fuel for their flame in these same Magi's Star " 
 
 The accession of Herod, misnamed the Great, marked a period 
 in Jewish histoiy, which closed with the war of despair against 
 Rome, and the flames of Jerusalem and the Temple. It gave rise 
 to the appearance of what Josephus, despite his misrepresentation 
 of them, rightly calls a fourth party — besides the Pharisees, Sad- 
 ducees, and Essenes — that of the Nationalists. A deeper and 
 more independent view of the history of the times would, perhaps, 
 lead us to regard the whole country as ranged either with or 
 against that party. As afterwards expressed in its purest and 
 simplest form, their watchword was, negatively, to call no human 
 being their absolute lord. It was, in fact, a revival of the Mac- 
 cabean movement, perhaps more fully in its national than in its 
 religious aspect, although the two could scarcely be separated in 
 Israel. It is characteristic of the times and religious tendencies, 
 that their followers were no more called Assideans or Chassidim, 
 "the pious," but Zealots (fT/Xwra/), or by the Hebrew equivalent 
 Kannaim (Cananseans, not Canaanites, as in A. V.). The real 
 home of this party was not Judssa nor Jerusalem, but Galilee. 
 Edersheim, i. 237. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 " The bluefringed hypocrites " 
 
 In the language of our Lord, the Pharisees made " broad their 
 phylacteries " and " enlarged the borders of their garments." The 
 latter observance, at least so far as concerned the wearing of 
 memorial fringes on the borders of the garments, — not tlje conspi- 
 cuous enlargement of these borders, — rested really on a divine 
 ordinance (Numbers xv. 37, Deuteronomy xxii. 12). In Scripture 
 these fringes are prescribed to be of blue, the symbolical colour, 
 but the Mishnah allows them also to be white. As already stated, 
 they were worn on the border of the outer garment, — no doubt, by 
 every pious Israelite. Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life in 
 the Days of Christ, 220. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " Tlieir tephillin, 
 — That three and twenty times contains the great 
 Unspoken Name," seq. 
 
 If the practice of wearing borders with fringes had Scriptural 
 
342 NOTES 
 
 authority, we are well convinced that no such plea could be urged 
 for the so-called "phylacteries." The observance arose from a. 
 literal interpretation of Exodus xiii. 9, to which even the later 
 injunction in Deuteronomy vi. 8 gives no countenance. The very 
 term used by the Rabbis for phylacteries — "tephillin," prayer 
 fillets — is of comparatively modern origin, in so far as it does not 
 occur in the Hebrew Old Testament. The "tephillin" were 
 worn on the left arm, towards the heart, and on the forehead. 
 They consisted — to describe them roughly — of capsules, containing, 
 on parchment (that for the forehead had four distinct parchments), 
 these four passages of Scripture: Exodus xiii. i-io, xiii. 11-16; 
 Deuteronomy vi. 4-9, and xi. 13-21. The capsules were fastened 
 on by black leather straps which were wound round the arm and 
 hand (seven times round the former, and three times round the 
 latter), or else fitted to the forehead in a prescribed and mystically 
 significant manner. The wearer of them could not be mistalcen. 
 But as for their value and importance in the eyes of the Rabbis, it 
 were impossible to exaggerate it. They were reverenced as highly 
 as. the Scriptures, and like them might be rescued from the flames 
 on a Sabbath, although not worn, as constituting "a burden" ! It 
 was said that Moses had received the law of their observance from 
 God on Mount Sinai ; that the " tephillin " were more sacred than 
 the golden plate on the forehead of the High-priest, since its in- 
 scription embodied only once the sacred name of Jehovah, while 
 the writing inside the " tephillin " contained it not less than twenty- 
 three times ; that the command of wearing them equalled all other 
 commands put together, with many other similar extravagances. 
 Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ, 
 221, 222. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 " That last three hundreit s fate, who dared entreat 
 For Mariamn^s sons " 
 
 The two princes (Alexander and Aristobulus) were condemned 
 to death, and when some old soldiers ventured to intercede for 
 them, 300 of the supposed adherents of the cause were cut down, 
 and the two princes strangled in prison. Edersheim, i. 127. 
 
 Note XVIII 
 
 " ' Nigh two years gone,' 
 — The agid Melchior said " 
 
 Unscrupulously cruel as Herod had always proved, even the 
 slightest suspicion of danger to his rule — the bare possibility of the 
 
mTES 343 
 
 advent of One who had such claims upon the allegiance of Israel, 
 and who, if acknowledged, would evoke the most intense move- 
 ment on their part — must have struck terror to his heart. He 
 took immediate measures, characterised by his usual cunning. 
 He called together all the High-priests — past and present — and all 
 the learned Rabbis, and, without committing himself as to whether 
 the Messiah was already born, or only expected, simply propounded 
 to them the question of His birthplace. This would show him 
 where Jewish expectancy looked for the appearance of his rival. 
 At the same time, he took care diligently to inquire the precise 
 time when the sidereal appearance had first attracted the attention 
 of the Magi. This would enable him to judge how far back he 
 would have to make his own inquiries, since the birth of the Pre- 
 tender might be made to synchronise with the em-liest appearance 
 of the sidereal phenomenon. So long as any one lived who was 
 bom in Bethlehem between the earliest appearance of this " star " 
 and the time of the arrival of the Magi, he was not safe. The 
 subsequent conduct of Herod shows that the Magi must have told 
 liim that their earliest observation of the sidereal phenomenon had 
 taken place two years before their arrival in Jerusalem. 
 
 The assembled authorities of Israel could only return one answer 
 to the question submitted by Herod. As shown by the rendering of 
 the Targum Jonathan, the prediction in Micah v. 2 was at the time 
 universally understood as pointing to Bethlehem as the birthplace 
 of the Messiah. That such was the general expectation appears 
 from the Talmud, where, in an imaginary conversation between an 
 Arab and a Jew, Bethlehem is authoritatively named as Messiah's 
 birthplace. . . . One of the smaller Midrashim, which embody 
 most ancient Jewish traditions, of which a collection has lately 
 been published — the so-called Messiah - Haggadah (Aggadoth 
 Meshiach) opens as follows: "^ star shall come out of Jacob. 
 There is a Boraita in the name of the Rabbis. The heptad in 
 which the Son of David cometh — in ^zjirst year, there will not 
 be sufficient nourishment ; in the second year the arrows of famine 
 are launched ; in the third, a great famine ; in the/ourth, neither 
 famine nor plenty ; in the fjih, great abundance, and the Star 
 shall shine forth from the East, and this is the Star of the Messiah. 
 And it shall shine from the East for fifteen days, and if it be pro- 
 longed, it will be for the good of Israel ; in the sixth, sayings 
 (voices) and announcements (hearings) ; in the seventh, wars, and 
 at the close of the seventh the Messiah is to be expected." A 
 similar statement occurs at the close of a collection of three Mid- 
 rashim — respectively entitled, "The Book of Elijah," "Chapters 
 about the Messiah," and "The Mysteries of R. Simon, the son of 
 Jochai " — where we read that a Star in the East was to appear two 
 
344 NOTES 
 
 years before the birth of the Messiah. The statement is almost 
 equally remarkable, whether it represents a tradition previous to 
 the birth of Jesus or originated after that event. But two years 
 before the birth of Christ, which, as we have calculated, took 
 place in December 749 A.u.c. or five before the Christian Era, 
 brings us to the year 747 A.u.c. or seven before Christ, in which 
 such a Star should appear in the East. 
 
 Did such a Star, then, really appear in the East seven years 
 before the Christian Era? Astronomically speaking, and without 
 any reference to controversy, there can be no doubt that the most 
 remarkable conjunction of planets — that of Jupiter and Saturn in 
 the constellation Pisces, which occurs only once in 800 years — did 
 take place no less than three times in the year 747 A.U.C. or two 
 years before the birth of Christ (in May, October, and December). 
 This conjunction is admitted by all astronomers. It was not only 
 extraordinary, but presented the most brilliant spectacle in the 
 night-sky, such as could not but attract the attention of all who 
 watched the sidereal heavens, but especially of those who busied 
 themselves with astrology. In the year following, that is, in 748 
 A.u.c, another planet. Mars, joined this conjunction. 
 
 The merit of first discovering these facts belongs to the great 
 Kepler, who, accordingly, placed the Nativity of Christ in the year 
 748 A.u.c. This date, however, is not only well-nigh impossible, 
 hut it has also been shown that such a conjunction would, for 
 various reasons, not answer the requirements of the Evangelical 
 narrative, so far as the guidance to Bethlehem is concerned. But 
 it does fully account for the attention of the Magi being aroused. 
 Here we leave the domain of the certain, and enter upon that of 
 the probable. Kepler, who was led to the discovery by observing 
 a similar conjunction in 1603-4, also noticed, that when the three 
 planets came into conjunction, a new, extraordinarily brilliant, and 
 peculiarly coloured evanescent star was visible between Jupiter and 
 Saturn, and he suggested that a similar star had appeared under the 
 same circumstances in the conjunction preceding the Nativity. Of 
 this, of course, there is not, and cannot be, absolute certainty. 
 But if so, this would be " the star •' of the Magi " in its rising." 
 
 There is yet another remarkable statement which, however, 
 must also be assigned to the domain of the probable. In the 
 astronomical tables of the Chinese — to whose general trustworthiness 
 so high an authority as Humboldt bears testimony — ^the appearance 
 of an evanescent star was noted. Pingre and others have designated 
 it as a comet, and calculated its appearance in February 750 A.u.c, 
 which is just the time when the Magi would, in all probability, 
 leave Jerusalem for Bethlehem, since this must have preceded the 
 death of Herod, which took place in March 750. Moreover it has 
 
NOTES 345 
 
 been astronomically ascertained that such a sidereal apparition 
 would be visible to those who left Jerusalem, and that it would 
 point — almost seem to go before — in the direction of, and stand 
 over, Bethlehem. Edersheim, i. 204, 213. 
 
 Let us pause to inquire who these Eastern wanderers were, and 
 what can be discovered respecting their mysterious mission. 
 
 The name " Magi," by which they are called in the Greek of St. 
 Matthew, is perfectly vagUe. It meant originally a sect of Median 
 and Persian scholars ; it was subsequently applied (as in Acts xiii. 
 6) to pretended astrologers or oriental soothsayers. There was a 
 double tradition as to their number. Augustine and Chrysostom 
 say that there were twelve, but the common belief, arising perhaps 
 from the triple gifts, is that they were three in number. The Vener- 
 able Bede even gives us their names, their country, and their per- 
 sonal appearance. Melchior was an old man, with white hair and 
 long beard ; Caspar, a ruddy and beardless youth ; Balthasar, 
 swarthy and in the prime of life. . . . We are informed by Tacitus, 
 by Suetonius, and by Josephus, that there prevailed throughout the 
 entire East at this time an intense conviction, derived from ancient 
 prophecies, that ere long a powerful monarch would arise in Judsa 
 and gain dominion over the world. There is nothing extraordinary 
 in the fact that these Eastern Magi should have bent their steps to 
 Jerusalem. Yaxric^s Life of Christ, II, 12. 
 
 Note XIX 
 " TAe Ages' Hope, — Ahriman's Conqueror" 
 
 If the Magi were disciples of Zoroaster, they would see in the 
 infant King the future conqueror of Ahriman, the destined Lord of 
 all the world. Farrar's Life of Christ, 13. 
 
 Ahriman was the Persian impersonation of Evil, whose reign 
 of ill the looked-for "King was to end. 
 
 Note XX 
 
 "No warm wave of Callirhoe's springs can cleanse 
 Or soothe " 
 
 A more terrible scene is not presented in history than that of the 
 closing days of Herod. The most loathsome disease, such as can 
 scarcely be described, had fastened on his body, and his sufferings 
 were at times agonising. By the advice of his physicians, he had 
 himself carried to the baths of Callirhoe (east of the Jordan), trying 
 all remedies with the determination of one who will do hard battle 
 for life. It was in vain. Edersheim, i. 217. 
 
346 NOTES 
 
 Note XXI 
 
 " Out in the open booths, fast plies 
 The tailor's active needle" seq. 
 
 This Lower Market was just such a long wide street as we are 
 accustomed to call "The Long Lane," or the " Broadway," in our 
 German cities. Shops, booths, and stands are closely ranged along 
 both sides of the street ; hucksters are cheapening pastry made with 
 the fine flour of Ephraim, which will subsequently be retailed at a 
 profit in the more out-of-the-way parts of the city ; whilst the cakes 
 of figs and raisins are being wistfully eyed by yonder poor little maid, 
 whose ears, in default of ear-rings, are transfixed with little pieces 
 of wood ; and fish of all kinds, from Tiberias, rivet the attention of 
 those juvenile students whom we mark a little farther on, and who 
 should be making the best of their way to the academy founded by 
 Simeon-ben-Schetach. 
 
 i Jewellery and ornaments of all kinds, even false teeth, mounted 
 in gold, are here to be had. Here is a man proclaiming the excel- 
 lence of his "dibs" (syrup of grapes), whilst there another loudly 
 recommends his Egyptian lentiles of the most superior quality. A 
 third has cheap caraway seeds, and turns a pepper-mill. Where- 
 ever an open space has been left before the houses, the different 
 artisans, whose work will admit of it, have transplanted their work- 
 shops into the street. Here we see a shoemaker fastening the upper 
 leather to the sole of a sandal ; there a tailor is trimming a splendid 
 prayer-mantle with an elegant fringe ; whilst an armourer is ham- 
 mering away at the handle of a sword of Syrian iron. Down below, 
 at the comers of the Market Gate, and above, at the openings of 
 the North Gate Street, and the street of the Women's Tower, 
 labourers are standing waiting to be hired. Yonder, too, at the 
 Market Gate, and therefore in the very midst of the town, the 
 despised guild of donkey-drivers have a stand, 'and one of them has 
 the good luck to be chosen to convey a bedstead and other furni- 
 ture, together with the indispensable flutes, to Bethany, in readiness 
 for a wedding about to be celebrated there. Delitzsch, Jewish 
 Artisan Life, 78, seq. 
 
 Note XXII 
 
 . " Cautious whispered first 
 
 (For walls have ears) " 
 
 An army of all-powerful spies pervaded Jerusalem — nay, the 
 king himself was said to stoop to that office. Edersheim, i. 128. 
 
NOTES 347 
 
 Note XXIII 
 
 " Where mighty jars without 
 Proclaim the wine-shop " 
 
 In the Wool-comber Street we passed a house in front of which 
 great jars were standing. These contain wine to be fermented by 
 exposure to the sun. We enter, and, to improve our acquaintance 
 with the country even in eating, inquire whether we can have a 
 dish of locusts, fried either in mead or honey, or even merely salted. 
 But how thronged and how riotous is the place ! What shall«we 
 drink? Median beer? or yet better, Babylonian? or shall it be 
 Egyptian zithos, or native cider ? Delitzsch, Jewish Artisan Life, 
 p. 88. 
 
 Note XXIV 
 
 " Men's hearts die in them" seq. 
 
 In their simplicity of heart, the Magi addressed themselves in the 
 first place to the official head of the nation. The rumour of such 
 an inquiry, and by such persons, would rapidly spread throughout 
 the city. Nor is it difficult to understand that the whole city should, 
 although on different grounds, have shared the " trouble " of the 
 king. They knew only too well the character of Herod, and 
 what the consequences would be to them or to any who might be 
 suspected, however unjustly, of sympathy with any claimant to the 
 royal throne of David. Edersheim, i. 204, seq. 
 
 Note XXV 
 
 " Lo, Herod dies ! 
 — Rome's Eagle's down from the great Temple Gate," seq. 
 
 Herod knew that his hour was come. They had known it also 
 in Jerusalem, and, even before the last stage of his disease, two of 
 the most honoured and loved Rabbis — Judas and Matthias — had 
 headed the wild band who would sweep away all traces of Herod's 
 idolatrous rule. They began by pulling down the immense golden 
 eagle which hung over the great gate of the Temple. Edersheim, 
 i. 217. 
 
 Note XXVI 
 
 '■^Beneath the palms of Jericho, Herod 
 Has come to die," seq. 
 
 Herod had himself conveyed back to his palace under the palm- 
 
348 NOTES 
 
 trees of Jericho. Judas and Matthias, the two ringleaders of the 
 revolt, and forty of their followers, allowed themselves to be taken 
 by Herod's guard. A mock public trial in the theatre at Jericho 
 followed. Herod, carried out on a couch, was both accuser and 
 judge. The Zealots, who had made noble answer to the tyrant, 
 were burnt alive ; and the High-priest, who was suspected of 
 connivance, deposed. After that the end came rapidly. On his 
 return from CalUrhoe, feelinj^j'au.death approaching, the king had 
 summoned the noblest of KKsters foughout the land to Jericho and 
 shut them up in the Hu>*which wi with orders to his sister to have 
 them slain immediatM-the-way pideath, in the grim hope that the 
 joy of the people at/Being wistfully eld thus be changed into mourn- 
 ing. Five days b*it of ear-rings, jht ray of passing joy lighted his 
 couch. Terrible jSf all kinds, fr.T;au.->ed by a letter from Augustus 
 allovring Herod tonits whom wSbn Antipater — the false accuser and 
 real murderer of h*e ^^"'^Nf'^'S, Alexander and Aristobulus. The 
 death of the wretcfh. ^fo P^^lks hastened by his attempt to bribe 
 the jailor, as the nfcani6ntS>i&ilace, caused by an attempted suicide 
 of Herod, led hinwbe had. je his father was actually dead. And 
 now the terrible di (syrup /hastening to a close. The fresh access 
 of rage shortens J^ptian '?. which was already running out. Five 
 days more and tlNaJiWay 'of Judsea lay dead. Edersheim, i. 218. 
 
 Note XXVH 
 
 " See, I have made thee rich" seq. 
 
 Herod also made Salome, his sister, very rich, because she 
 had continued faithful to him in all his circumstances. Josephus, 
 Antiquities of the Jews, XVII. vi. 
 
 Note XXVIII 
 
 ■' — Acme is slain " 
 
 Acme was a Jew by birth, and a servant to Julia, Caesar's wife, 
 who was corrupted by Antipater with a large present of money to 
 assist in his pernicious designs against his father and aunt, . . . 
 there came letters from his ambassadors, who had been sent to 
 Rome unto Csesar, which when they were read their purport was 
 this : — That Acme was slain by Csesar, out of his indignation at 
 what hand she had in Antipater's wicked practices ; and that as to 
 Antipater himself, Csesar left it to Herod to act as became a father 
 and a king, and either to banish him or to take away his life which 
 he pleased. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVII. vii. 
 
NOTES 349 
 
 Note XXIX 
 
 " — Go call me the centurion, returiud 
 Last night from Bethlehem " 
 
 The events of the last few weeks formed a lurid background to 
 the murder of " the Innocents." As we have reckoned it, the visit 
 of the Magi took place in February 750 A.u.C. On the 12th of 
 March the Rabbis and their adherents suffered. On the following 
 night (or rather early morning) there was a lunar eclipse. The 
 execution of Antipater preceded the death of his father by five days, 
 and the latter occurred from seven to fourteen days before the 
 Passover, which in 750 took place on the 12th of April. . . . The 
 slaughter was entirely in accordance with the character and former 
 measures of Herod. Nor do we wonder that it remained unrecorded 
 by Josephus. The murder of a few infants — (considering the popu- 
 lation of Bethlehem, their number could only have been small — 
 probably twenty at most) — in an insignificant village rtiight appear 
 scarcely worth notice in a reign stained by so much bloodshed. 
 Besides, Josephus always carefully suppresses, so far as possible, all 
 that refers to the Christ, — probably not only in accordance with his 
 own religious views, but because mention of a Christ might have 
 been dangerous, certainly would have been inconvenient, in a work 
 written by an intense self-seeker mainly for readers in Rome. 
 Edersheim, i. 214-218. 
 
 Note XXX 
 
 '■'Food! Food! — Achiabus,'' seq. 
 
 As his (Herod's) pains were become very great, he was now 
 ready to faint for want of something to eat ; so he called for an 
 apple and a knife. When he had got the knife, he looked about, 
 and had a mind to stab himself with it ; and he had done it, had 
 not his first cousin, Achiabus, prevented him and cried out loudly. 
 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVII. vii. 
 
 Note XXXI 
 
 " — Set the guards on him,'' seq. 
 
 Antipater (thinking his father dead) discoursed with the jailor 
 about letting him go, and in that case promised him great things, 
 but the jailor did not only refuse to do what Antipater would have 
 him, but informed the king. Hereupon Herod, when he heard 
 what the jailor said, cried out, and beat his head, although he 
 was at death's door, and raised himself upon his elbow, and sent 
 
350 NOTES 
 
 for some of his guards, and commanded them to kill Antipater 
 without any further delay, and to do it presently, and to bury 
 him in an ignoble manner at Hyrcania. Josephus, Antiquities of 
 the Jews, XVII. vii. 
 
 Note XXXII 
 
 ^' Ah, Mariamne, is it thou come back 
 Unto mine arms " 
 
 When obeying the summons of Antony (to Rome), Herod had 
 committed the government to his uncle Joseph, who was also his 
 brother-in-law, having wedded Salome, the sister of Herod. His 
 mad jealousy had prompted him to direct that, in case of his con- 
 demnation, Mariamne was to be killed, that she might not be- 
 come the wife of another. Unfortunately, Joseph told this to 
 Mariamne, to show how much she was loved. But on the return 
 of Herod, the infamous Salome accused her old husband of im- 
 propriety with Mariamne. When it appeared that Joseph had 
 told the queen of his commission, Herod, regarding it as confirm- 
 ing his sister's charge, ordered him to be executed without a hear- 
 ing. . . . When about to appear before Augustus, Herod had 
 entrusted to one Soemus the charge of Mariamne, with the same 
 fatal directions as formerly to Joseph. Again Mariamne learned 
 the secret, again the old calumnies were raised — this time not 
 only by Salome, but also by Kypros, Herod's mother ; and again 
 Herod imE^ned he had found corroborative evidence. Soemus 
 was slain without a hearing, and the bfeautifiil Mariamne executed 
 after a mock trial. The most fearful paroxysm of remorse, passion, 
 and longing for his murdered wife now seized the tyrant, and 
 brought him to the brink of the grave. Edersheim, i. 125, 126. 
 
 In his closing days — tormented by nameless fears ; ever and 
 again a prey to vain remorse, when he would frantically call for 
 his passionately - loved, murdered wife Mariamne, and her sons ; 
 even making attempts on his own life — the delirium of tyranny, 
 the passion for blood, drove him to the verge of madness. Eder- 
 sheim, i. 217. 
 
 II 
 
 Note I 
 
 " The Virgin! s Fig-tree " 
 
 An old iig-tree in the neighbourhood of the ancient On and the 
 
NOTES 35 1 
 
 modern Cairo Is still shown, under which tradition affirms the Holy 
 Family rested during the Flight into Egypt. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " / seemed to hear the RabbVs words 
 Who read that Sabbath in ozir synagogue " 
 
 The main object of the synagogue was the teaching of the people. 
 The very idea of its institution, before and at the time of Ezra, ex- 
 plains and conveys this, and it is confirmed by the testimony of 
 Josephus. Its services were singularly elastic. The "teaching" 
 part of the service consisted mainly in reading a section from the 
 law, with which the reading of a portion from the Prophets, and a 
 sermon or address, were conjoined. Of course the liturgical ele- 
 ment could in-such services never have been quite wanting, and it 
 soon acquired considerable importance. It consisted of prayer and 
 the pronouncing of the Aaronic blessing (Num. vi. 24-26) by priests, 
 — that is, of course, not by Rabbis, who were merely teachers or 
 doctors, but by lineal descendants of the house of Aaron. There 
 was no service of " praise " in the synagogues. Public worship 
 commenced on ordinary occasions with the so-called "Shema," 
 which was preceded in the morning and evening by two " benedic- 
 tions," and succeeded in the morning by one, and in the evening by 
 two, "benedictions," the second being, strictly speaking, an evening 
 prayer. The "Shema" was a kind of "belief," or "creed," 
 composed of three passages of Scripture — Deut. vi. 4-9 ; xi. 13-21; 
 Num. XV. 37-41. It obtained its name from the initial word 
 " Shema," " Hear, O Israel," in Deut. vi. 4. From the Mishnah 
 we learn that this part of the service existed already before the time 
 of our Lord ; and we are told that all males were bound to repeat 
 this belief twice every day. The " Shema " and its accompanying 
 "benedictions" seem to have been said in the synagogue at the 
 lectern ; whereas for the next series of prayers the leader of the 
 devotions went forward and stood before "the ark." Hence the 
 expression, " to go up before the ark," for leading in prayer. The 
 prayers offered before the ark consisted of the so-called eighteen 
 eulogies, or benedictions, and formed the " tephillah," or supplica- 
 tion, in the strictest sense of the term — the earliest being the first 
 three and the last three. There can be no reasonable doubt that 
 these were said in the synagogues when our Lord was present. In 
 all likelihood it had been the practice originally to insert prayers of 
 private composition between the (present) first three and last three 
 eulogies ; and out of these the later eulogies were gradually formu- 
 lated. According to the Mishnah the person who read in the 
 
352 NOTES 
 
 synagogue the portion from the Prophets was also expected to say 
 the " Shema," and to offer the prayers which have just been quoted. 
 The prayers were conducted or repeated aloud by one individual, 
 specially deputed for the occasion, the congregation responding by 
 an "Amen." The liturgical service concluded with the priestly 
 benediction (Num. vi. 23, 24), spoken by the descendants of Aaron. 
 In giving the benediction the priests elevated their hands up to the 
 shoulders ; in the Temple, up to the forehead. Hence this rite is 
 designated by the expression, " the lifting up of the hands." 
 
 Of the services hitherto noticed, the most important were the re- 
 petition of the eulogies and the priestly benediction. What now 
 followed was regarded as quite as solemn, if, indeed, not more so. 
 It has already been pointed out that the main object of the synagogue 
 was the teaching of the people. This was specially accomplished 
 by the reading of the law. The Pentateuch was so divided that its 
 reading occupied three, or, according to some, three and a half years 
 (half a jubilee period). The section for the day was subdivided, so 
 that every Sabbath at least seven persons were called up to read, 
 each a portion, which was to consist of not less than three verses. 
 The first reader began, and the last closed, with a benediction. As 
 the Hebrew had given place to the Aramaic, a " meturgeman," or 
 interpreter, stood by the side of the reader, and translated verse by 
 verse into the vernacular. The reading of the law was followed by a 
 lesson from the Prophets. Considerable liberty seems to have been 
 left to individuals, and the expression used by St. Luke in reference 
 to our Lord in the synagogue at Capernaum (Luke iv. 17), "And 
 when He had opened the book. He found the place where it was 
 written," most accurately describes the state of matters. For from 
 Megillah iv. 4 we gather that, in reading from the Prophets, it was 
 lawful to pass over one or two verses, provided there were no pause 
 between the reading and the translation of the "meturgeman." 
 For here also the services of a " meturgeman " were employed, only 
 that he did not, as in reading the law, translate verse by verse, but 
 after every three verses. The reading of the Prophets was often 
 followed by a sermon or address, with which the service concluded. 
 Edersheim, Sketches ofjeraiish Social Life, 267-279. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " Within the Temple Courts I seemed 
 To stand," seq. 
 
 There are peculiarities about the Passover which mark it as the 
 most important, and, indeed, take it out of the rank of the other 
 festivals. It was the first of the three feasts on which all males in 
 
NOTES ■ 353 
 
 Israel were bound to appear before the Lord. The special pre- 
 parations for the Passover commenced on the evening of the 1 3th 
 of Nisany. with which, according to Jewish reckoning, the 14th 
 began, the day being always computed from evening to evening. 
 Then the head of the house was to search with a lighted candle 
 all places where leaven was usually kept. The search was to be 
 performed in perfect silence. Early in the forenoon of the 14th 
 Nisan, the feast of the Passover may be said to have begun. In 
 Galilee, no work was done all that day ; in Judoea it was continued 
 till mid-day ; the rule, however, being that no new work was to 
 be commenced, though that which was in hand might be carried 
 on. Even earlier than mid-day of the 14th it was no longer law- 
 ftil to eat leaven. " They laid two desecrated cakes of a thank- 
 offering on a bench in the porch (of the Temple). So long as they 
 lay there, all the people might eat (leavened) ; when one of them 
 was removed, they abstained from eating, but they did not burn 
 (the leaven) ; when both were removed, all the people burnt (the 
 leaven)." 
 
 The next care was to select a proper Paschal lamb, which; of 
 course, must be free from all blemish, and neither less than eight 
 days, nor more than exactly one year old. Each Paschal lamb was 
 to serve for a "company," which was to consist of not less than 
 ten, nor of more than twenty persons. Already the evening sacri- 
 fice had been offered. Ordinarily, it was slain at 2.30 P.M., and 
 offered at about 3.30. But on the eve of the Passover, it was 
 killed an hour earlier ; and if the 14th of Nisan fell on a Friday — 
 or rather from Thursday at eve to Friday at eve — two hours earlier, 
 so as to avoid any needless breach of the Sabbath. But before the 
 incense was burned or the lamps were trimmed, the Paschal Sacri- 
 fice had to be offered. It was done on this wise : — The first of the 
 three festive divisions with their Paschal lambs was admitted 
 within the Court of the Priests. Each division must consist of not 
 less than thirty persons (3x10, the symbolical number of the 
 Divine and of completeness. ) Immediately the massive gates were 
 closed behind them. The priests blew a threefold blast from their 
 silver trumpets when the Passover was slain. Altogether, the scene 
 was most impressive. All along the Court up to the altar of burnt- 
 offering priests stood in two rows, the one holding golden, the other 
 silver bowls. In these the blood of the Paschal lambs, which each 
 Israelite slew for himself (as representative of his company at the 
 Paschal Supper), was caught up by a priest, who handed it to his 
 colleague, receiving back an empty bowl, and so the bowls with 
 the blood were passed up to the priest at the altar, who jerked it 
 in one jet at the base of the altar. While this was going on, a. 
 most solemn "hymn " of praise was raised, the Levites leading the 
 2 A 
 
354 NOTES 
 
 song, and the offerers either repeating after them or merely 
 responding. Every first line of a psalm was repeated by the 
 people, while to each of the others they responded by a " Halle- 
 lujah," or "Praise ye the Lord." This service of song consisted 
 of the so-called "Hallel," which comprised Psalms cxiii. to cxviii. 
 If the " Hallel " had been finished before the service of one division 
 was completed, it was repeated a second and, if needful, even a 
 third time. Next, the sacrifices were hung up on hooks along the 
 Court, or laid on staves which rested on the shoulders of two men 
 (on Sabbaths they were not laid on staves), then flayed, the entrails 
 taken out and cleaned, and the inside fat separated, put in a dish, 
 salted, and 'placed on the fire of the altar of burnt-offering. This 
 completed the sacrifice. The first division of offerers being dis- 
 missed, the second entered, and finally the third. Then the whole 
 service concluded by burning the incense and trimming the lamps 
 for the night. Edersheim, The Temple, its Ministry and Services, 
 177, seq. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 ' ' — Ay, I thought my heart 
 Would break, for thine seemed broken " 
 
 There can be no question that both Joseph and Mary were of 
 the royal lineage of David. Most probably the two were nearly 
 related, while Mary could also claim kinship with the priesthood, 
 being, no doubt on her mother's side, a blood relative of Elizabeth, 
 the priest-wife of Zacharias. Even this seems to imply that Mary's 
 family must shortly before have held higher rank, for only with 
 such did custom sanction any alliance on the part of priests. But 
 at the time of their betrothal, alike Joseph and Mary were extremely 
 poor, as appears from the offering at the presentation of Jesus in 
 the Temple. 
 
 Whichever of the two modes of betrothal may have been 
 adopted, — in the presence of witnesses — either by solemn word 
 of mouth, in due prescribed formality, with the added pledge of a 
 piece of money, however small, or of money's worth for use ; or 
 else by writing (the so-called Shitre Ertisin), — there would be no 
 sumptuous feast to follow. The whole, perhaps, being concluded 
 by a benediction over the statutory cup of wine, which was tasted 
 in turn by the betrothed. From that moment Mary was the 
 betrothed wife of Joseph, their relationship as sacred as if they had 
 already been wedded. Any breach of it would be treated as 
 adultery ; nor could the bond be dissolved, except, as after marriage, 
 by regular divorce. Yet months might intervene between the 
 betrothal and marriage. EderSheim, i. 149, 150. 
 
NOTES 3SS 
 
 Note V 
 
 ' 'Journeying with the joyous company 
 Who ivent up to the Feast." 
 
 According to ancient wont, the festive company from Nazareth, 
 soon swelled by other festive bands, went up to Jerusalem, chanting 
 by the way those ^'Psalms of Ascent" (or Degrees, Psalms cxx.- 
 cxxxiv.), to the accompaniment of the flute. Although women 
 were not bound to make such personal appearance, Mary gladly 
 availed herself of what seems to have been the direction of Hillel 
 (followed also by other religious women, mentioned in Rabbinic 
 writings), to go up to the solemn services of the Sanctuary. 
 Edersheim, i. 236-243. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Past the King's Gardens " 
 
 On the banks of the brook of Kidron in the valley of 
 Jehoshaphat, near the ancient village-of Siloam, were the "King's 
 Gardens" mentioned by Nehemiah (iii. 15). They extend down to 
 the mouth of Hinnom. Murray's Handbook of Palestine, 137. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " The Pools that water the Great City" 
 
 On the road between Jerusalem and Hebron, having surmounted 
 a low ridge, we look down the rocky slope to a broad valley, in 
 the midst of which is a large building, and to the right farther 
 down are three immense tanks. These are the " Pools of Solomon," 
 now called el-Burak, "the tanks." They are partly excavated in 
 the rocky bed of the valley and partly built of large hewn stones. 
 They are so arranged that the bottom of the upper pool is higher 
 than the top of the next, and so with the second and third. The 
 source from which the pools receive their supplies is a subterranean 
 fountain some distance up the valley to the north-west. The object 
 was probably to secure a constant supply of water for the Holy City 
 — perhaps the Temple. Murray's Handbook of Palestine, 107. 
 
 Note VIII 
 ''JuttaKs small priestly town " 
 John as a child, in the house of the blameless priest his father. 
 
356 NOTES 
 
 lived at Juttah, in the far south of the tribe of Judah, and not far 
 from Hebron. Farrar's Life of Christ, 54. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " The goat 
 For Azazel does that ". 
 
 On the " Day of Atonement " in the eastern part of the Court of 
 the Priests, that is, close to the worshippers, and on the north side 
 of it, stood an urn, called Calpi, in which were two lots of the 
 same shape, size, and material — in the second Temple they were of 
 gold ; the one bearing the inscription " la Jehovah," for Jehovah, 
 the other "la Azazel," for Azazel, leaving the expression (rendered 
 "scape-goat" in the Authorised Version) for the present untrans- 
 lated. These two goats had been placed with their backs to the 
 people, and their faces towards the sanctuary (westwards). The 
 High-priest now faced the people, as, standing between his substitute 
 (at his right hand) and the head of the Course on ministry (on his 
 left hand), he shook the urn, thrust his two hands into it, arid at 
 the same time drew the two lots, laying one on the head of each 
 goat. , Popularly it was deemed of good augury if the right hand 
 lot had fallen "for Jehovah." The goats, however, must be alto- 
 gether alike in look, size, and value. The lot having designated 
 ■ each of the two goats, the High-priest tied a tongue-shaped piece of 
 scarlet cloth to the horn of the goat for Azazel — the so-called 
 "scape -goat," — and another round the throat of the goat for 
 Jehovah, which was to be slain. The goat that was to be sent 
 forth was now turned round towards the people, and stood facing 
 them, waiting, as it were, till their sins should be laid on him, and 
 he would carry them forth into "aland not inhabited." — (After the 
 offering of the bullock for the priesthood and the goat for the 
 people.) Laying both his hands onthe head of this goat, the High- 
 priest confessed and pleaded : " Ah, Jehovah ! they have committed 
 iniquity ; they have transgressed ; they have sinned — Thy people, 
 the house of Israel. Oh, then, Jehovah ! cover over (atone for), I 
 entreat Thee, upon their iniquities, their transgressions, and their 
 sins, which they have wickedly committed, transgressed, and sinned 
 before Thee, — Thy people, the house of Israel. As it is written in 
 the law of Moses, Thy servant, saying : For on that day shall it be 
 covered over for you, to make you clean from all your sins before 
 Jehovah, ye shall be cleansed." And while the prostrate multitude 
 worshipped at the name of Jehovah, the High-priest turned his face 
 towards them as he uttered the last words, "Ye shall be cleansed! " 
 as if to declare to them the absolution and remission of their sins. 1 
 
NOTES 357 
 
 Then a strange scene would be witnessed. The priests led the 
 sin-burdened goat out through "Solomon's Porch," and, as 
 tradition has it, through the eastern gate which opened upon the 
 Mount of Olives. Here an arched bridge spanned the intervening 
 valley, and over it they brought the goat to the Mount of Olives, 
 where one, specially appointed for the purpose, took him in charge. 
 Scripture tells us no more of the destiny of the goat that bore upon 
 him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, than that they " shall 
 send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness," and 
 that " he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." But tradition 
 supplements this information. The distance between Jerusalem 
 and the beginning of "the wilderness" is computed at ninety 
 stadia, making precisely ten intervals, each hajf a Sabbath-day's 
 journey from the other. At the end of each of these intervals there 
 was a station, occupied by one or more persons detailed for the 
 purpose, who offered refreshment to the man leading the goat, and 
 then accompanied him to the next station. At last they reached 
 the edge of the wilderness. Here they halted, viewing afar off, 
 while the man led forward the goat, tore off half the "scarlet- 
 tongue," and stuck it on a projecting cliff; then, leading the 
 animal backwards, he pushed it over the projecting ledge of rock. 
 There was a moment's pause, and the man, now defiled by contact 
 with the sin-bearer, retraced his steps to the last of the ten stations, 
 where he spent the rest of the day and the night. But the arrival 
 of the goat in the wilderness was immediately telegraphed, by the 
 waving of flags, from station to station, till, a few minutes after its 
 occurrence, it was known in the Temple, and whispered frbm ear 
 to ear, that " the goat had borne upon him all their iniquities into 
 a land not inhabited." Edersheim's Temple, its Ministry and 
 Services, 272-279. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Castle of Macherus " 
 
 Accordingly he (John the Baptist) was sent a prisoner, out of 
 Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, and was there put to 
 death. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, xviii. 5- 
 
 According to Josephus, the Baptist was committed to the strong 
 fortress of Macherus, straight south of the Dead Sea. As the 
 
358 NOTES 
 
 boundary fortress in the south-east (towards Arabia), its safety was 
 of the greatest importance, and everything was done to make a 
 place, exceedingly strong by nature, impregnable. Herod the Great 
 built a town along the shoulder of the hill and surrounded it by 
 walls fortified by towers. From this town a farther height had to 
 be climbed, on which the castle stood, surrounded by walls, and 
 flanked by towers 160 cubits high. Within the enclosure of the 
 castle Herod had built a magnificent palace. Josephus describes even 
 its natural position as unassailable. No traces of the royal palace are 
 now left, save foundations and enormous stones upturned. Quite at 
 the end of this long fortress in the west, and looking southwards, 
 is a square fort. We return, through what we regard as the ruins 
 of the magnificent castle -palace of Herod, to the highest and 
 strongest part of the defences, — the eastern keep or the citadel, 
 on the steep slope 150 yards up. The foundations of the walls 
 all around, to the height of a yard or two above the ground, are 
 still standing. As we clamber over them to examine the interior, 
 we notice how small this keep is — exactly 100. yards in diameter. 
 There are scarcely any remains of it left. A well of great depth, 
 and a deep cemented cistern with the vaulting of the roof still 
 complete, and — of most terrible interest to us — two dungeons, one 
 of them deep down, its sides scarcely broken in, with small holes 
 still visible in the masonry where staples of wood and iron had 
 once been fixed. As we look down into its hot darkness, we 
 shudder in realising that this terrible keep had for nigh ten months 
 been the prison of that son of the free "wilderness," the bold 
 herald of the coming Kingdom, the humble, earnest, self-denying 
 John the Baptist. Edersheim, i. 658, seq. 
 
 Note H 
 "A voice that cried in the far wilderness " 
 
 The place where John the Baptist preached was that wild range 
 of uncultivated and untenanted wilderness, which stretches south- 
 ward from Jericho and the fords of Jordan to the shores of the 
 Dead Sea. The cliffs that overhung the narrow defile which led 
 from Jerusalem to Jericho were the haunt of dangerous robbers ; 
 the wild beasts and the crocodiles were not yet extinct in the 
 reed-beds that marked the swellings of Jordan. Farrar's Life of 
 Christ, 52. 
 
 Note III 
 " Nazarite locks unshorn " 
 
 Luke i. 15. Numbers vi. 1-21. 
 
NOTES 359 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " Whence I could see the little hamleCs roofs," seq. 
 
 Zacharias' home was not in either of the great priest-centres — 
 the Ophel-quarter in Jerusalem or in Jericho, — but in some small 
 city of those uplands, south of Jerusalem, the historic hill-country 
 of Judaea. And yet he might have claimed distinction. To be a 
 priest, and married to the daughter of a priest, was supposed to 
 convey twofold honour. Zacharias and Elizabeth, his wife, were 
 truly " righteous." No doubt their piety assumed in some measure 
 the form of the time, being, if we must use the expression, Pharisaic, 
 though in the good, not the evil sense of it. We may not un- 
 reasonably infer that the Zaddik in the quiet home of the hill- 
 country was quite other than the self-asserting Rabbi whose dress 
 and gait, voice and manner, words and even prayers, were those of 
 the religious parvenu, pushing his claims to distinction before angels 
 and men. Such a household as that of Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 would have all that was beautiful in the religion of the time ; — 
 devotion towards God ; a home of affection and purity ; reverence 
 towards all that was sacred in things divine and human ; ungrudg- 
 ing, self-denying, loving charity to the poor ; the tenderest regard 
 for the feelings of others, so as not to raise a blush, nor to wound 
 their hearts ; above all, intense faith and hope in the higher and 
 better future of Israel. Edersheim, i. 136. 
 
 Note V 
 
 ' ' The keen-eyed money-changer . . . 
 As in the Temple Courts in the Bazaar 
 Of Anna^ sons," seq. 
 
 The Temple-tribute had to be paid in exact half-shekels of the 
 Sanctuary, or ordinary Galilean shekels. When it is remembered 
 that, besides strictly Palestinian silver and especially copper coin, 
 Persian, Tyrian, Syrian, Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman money 
 circulated in the country, it will be understood what work these 
 "money-changers" must have had. From the 15th to the 25th 
 Adar they had stalls in every country-town. On the latter date, 
 which must therefore be considered as marking the first arrivals of 
 festive pilgrims in the city, the stalls in the country were closed, 
 and the money-changers henceforth sat within the precincts of the 
 Temple. Foreign Jews arriving in Jerusalem would take the 
 opportunity of changing at these tables their foreign money, and 
 for this, of course, fresh charges would be made. For there was a 
 great deal to be bought within the Temple-area needful for the 
 feast (in the way of sacrifices and their adjuncts, or for purification). 
 
36o NOTES 
 
 and it would be better to get the right money from the authorised 
 changers than have disputes with the dealers. 
 
 We can picture to ourselves the scene around the table of 
 an Eastern money-changer, — the weighing of the coins, deduc- 
 tions for loss of weight, arguing, disputing, bargaining, — and 
 we can realise the terrible truthfulness of our Lord's charge 
 that they had made the Father's House into a mart and place 
 of traffic. Readers of the New Testament know that the noisy 
 and incongruous business of an Eastern money-lender was not 
 the only one carried on within the sacred Temple enclosure. It 
 was a great accommodation that a person bringing a sacrifice 
 might not only learn, but actually obtain, in the Temple from its 
 officials what was required for the meat- and drink-offering. 
 Offerers might, of course, bring their sacrificial animals with them, 
 and we know that on the Mount of Olives there were four shops 
 specially for the sale of pigeons and other things requisite for 
 sacrificial purposes. But then, when an animal was brought, it 
 had to be examined by persons regularly qualified and appointed, 
 as to its Levitical fitness. Disputes might here arise, due to the 
 ignorance of the purchaser or the greed of the examiner. But ail 
 trouble and difficulty would be avoided by a regular market within 
 the Temple enclosure, where sacrificial animals could be purchased, 
 having presuma.bly been duly inspected, and all fees paid before 
 being offered for sale. It needs no comment to show how utterly 
 the Temple would be profaned by such traffic, and to what scenes 
 it might lead. From Jewish writings we know that most improper 
 transactions were carried on, to the taking undue advantage of the 
 poor people who came to offer their sacrifices. Thus we read that 
 on one occasion the price of a couple of pigeons was run up to the 
 enormous figure of a gold denar (a Roman gold deuar, about 
 iSs. 3d.) when, through the intervention of Simeon, the grandson 
 of the great Hillel, it was brought down before night to a quarter 
 of a silver denar, or about 2d. each. 
 
 What became of the profits of the money-changers, and who 
 were the real owners of the Temple-market ? The profits from the 
 sale of meat- and drink-offerings went to the Temple-treasury. 
 But it can hardly be believed that such was the case in regard 
 to the Temple-market. On the other hand, there can be little 
 doubt that this market was what in Rabbinic writings is styled 
 " The Bazaars of the Sons of Annas," the sons of that High-priest 
 Annas who is so infamous in New Testament history. The 
 Temple-market and the Bazaar of the Sons of Annas are identical, 
 and from the unrighteousness of the traffic carried on in this Bazaar, 
 and the greed of its ovraers, the Temple-market was at this time 
 most unpopular. Edersheim, i. 367, seq. 
 
NOTES 361 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " — Upon the Terrace where the doctors taught 
 On Feast-days " 
 
 We read in the Talmud that the members of the Temple- 
 Sanhedrin, who on ordinary days sat as a Court of Appeal, from 
 the close of the Morning to the time of th^ Evening Sacrifice, were 
 wont on Sabbaths and Feast-days to come out upon " the Terrace" 
 of the Temple, and there to teach. In such popular instruction 
 the utmost latitude .of questioning would be given. It is in this 
 audience, — which sat on the ground,^surrounding and mingling with 
 the doctors, that the child Jesus was found. Edersheim, i. 247. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " How by numeric value to supply 
 A quite new meaning to the Written Word" 
 
 Jewish traditionalism is distinguished into the " Halachah " and 
 the " Haggadah." The "Halachah " (from " halach," to " walk ") 
 indicates the settled legal determinations which constituted the 
 "oral law," or "Thorah shebeal peh." The "Haggadah" (from 
 the verb "higgid," to "discuss," or "tell about") covers all that 
 possessed not the authority of strict legal determinations. Origin- 
 ally there were four canons for connecting the " Haggadah " with 
 Scripture. Contracting, after the favourite manner of the Jews, 
 the initial letters, these four canons were designated by the " Pardes " 
 (Paradise). They were (i) to ascertain the plain meaning of a 
 passage (the "Peshat"); (2) to take the single letters of a word 
 as an indication or hint ("Remes") of other words or even of 
 whole sentences; (3) the "Derush," or practical exposition of a 
 passage ; and (4) to find out the " Sod " (mystery) or mystical 
 meaning of a verse or word. These four canons were gradually 
 enlarged into thirty-two rules, which gave free vent to every kind 
 of fancifulness. Thus one of these rules — the ' ' Gematria " (geo- 
 metry, calculation)^ — allowed the interpreter to find out the numerical 
 value of the letters in a word, — the Hebrew letters, like the Roman, 
 being also numerals, — and to substitute for a word one or more 
 which had the same numerical value. Edersheim, Sketches of 
 Jewish Life, 289. 
 
 Note VIII 
 " The Roman soldiers in Antonio's Tower" 
 Another rrionument of the Syrian Wars, of the Maccabees, and 
 
362 NOTES 
 
 of Herod, was the fortress Antonia. It lay on the north-western 
 angle of the Temple, slightly jutting beyond it in the west. Within 
 encircling walls the fort rose to a height of 60 feet, and was flanked 
 by four towers, of which three had a height of 70, the fourth (S.E.), 
 which jutted into the Temple area, of 105 feet, so as to command 
 the sacred enclosure. A subterranean passage led into the Temple 
 itself, which was also connected with it by colonnades and stairs. 
 Herod had adorned as well as strengthened this fort, and made it 
 a palace, an armed camp, and almost a city. In Antonia lay the 
 Roman garrison. Edersheim, i. 1 13-117. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " — In the gay theatre 
 An uncouth presence 'mid the courtly guests " 
 
 One of the corrupt High-priests had gone so far in his attempts 
 to Grecianise the people as to build a Hippodrome and Gymnasium 
 for heathen games. We judge it stood where the western hill 
 sloped into the Tyropceon, to the south-west of the Temple. It 
 was probably this which Herod afterwards enlarged and beautified, 
 and turned into a theatre. No expense was spared on the great 
 games held there. The theatre itself was magnificently adorned 
 with gold, silver, precious stones, and trophies of arms and records 
 of the victories of Augustus. Edersheim, i. 118. 
 
 Already by the time of Socrates it was usual to give representa- 
 tions of the mystic history of the gods, to enliven the guests at a 
 banquet. Afterwards this art attained a high degree of perfection 
 in the theatre. The loves of Aphrodite with Mars and Adonis, 
 the adventures of Ganymede, Danae, Leda, and others, were the 
 subjects most in favour. Juvenal paints vividly the effects produced 
 upon impressible spectators of both sexes ; and it was no exaggera- 
 tion in Zosimus after him, to find one of the principal causes of the 
 decay of the Roman empire in these pantomimes. Dbllinger, The 
 Gentile and the Jew, ii. 194, seq. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " Wliere 
 The amphitheatres vast circle rose 
 Upon the plain" 
 
 On this account it was that Herod revolted from the laws of his 
 countiy, and corrupted their ancient constitution by the introduction 
 of foreign practices ; for in the first place he appointed solemn 
 
NOTES 363 
 
 games to be celebrated every fifth year in honour of Csesar, and 
 built a theatre at Jerusalem, as also a very great amphitheatre in 
 the plain. The wrestlers and the rest of those that strove for prizes 
 at such games were , invited out of every land. So the principal 
 persons that were the most eminent in these sorts of exercises were 
 gotten together, for there were very great rewards for victory pro- 
 posed, not only to those that performed their exercises naked, but 
 to those that played the musicians also. He also proposed no 
 small rewards to those who ran for the prizes in chariot races. 
 Inscriptions also of the great actions of Csesar, and trophies of 
 those natiohs which he had conquered in his wars, and all made 
 of the purest gold and silver, encompassed the theatre itself. He 
 had also made a great preparation of wild beasts, and of lions them- 
 selves in great abundance. These were prepared either to fight 
 one with another, or that men who were condemned to death were 
 to fight vrith them. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XV. viii. 
 
 The very same assembly that assisted at the games one morning 
 on the same or following day would glut themselves with the 
 carnage of a gladiatorial fight. There again they all are reseated, 
 to drink in and dwell on the sweet draughts of human blood flowing 
 in streams, and to feast their eyes on the gaping wounds and con- 
 vulsive throes of dying men. Banishing mercy, they call to the 
 champion to make an end of his fallen adversary, that none might 
 escape by a feigned death. Dbllinger, The Gentile and the Jew, 
 ii. 195. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " How Philifs haughty wife p-eferred a J^ing," seq. 
 
 Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, the ill-fated son of 
 the ill-fated Asmonaean princess, Mariamne (I.) : she (Herodias) 
 had been married to her half-uncle, Herod Philip, the Son of 
 Herod the Great and of Mariamne (II.), the daughter of the High- 
 priest (Boethos). At one time it seemed as if Herod Philip would 
 have been sole heir of his father's dominions. 1 But the old tyrant 
 had changed his testament, and Philip was left with great wealth, 
 but as a private person living in Jerasalem. This little suited the 
 woman's ambition. It was when his half-brother, Herod Antipas, 
 came on a visit to him at Jerusalem, that an intrigue began be- 
 tween the Tetrarch and his brother's wife. It was agreed that 
 after the return of Antipas from his impending journey to Rome, he 
 would repudiate his wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of Arabia, 
 and wed Herodias. But Aretas' daughter heard of the plot, and 
 having obtained her father's Consent to go to Macherus, she fled 
 thence to her father. Edersheim, i. 672, 673. 
 
364 NOTES 
 
 Note XII 
 
 "At the street-comer when the prayer-bell tolled,'" seq. 
 
 There could be no difficulty in recognising the genuine Pharisee. 
 Walking behind him, the chances were he would soon halt to say 
 his prescribed prayers. If the fixed time for them had come, he 
 would stop short in the middle of the road, perhaps say one section 
 of them, move on, again say another part, and so on, till, what- 
 ever else might be doubted, there could be no question of the con- 
 spicuousness of his devotion in market-place, or comers of streets. 
 There he would stand, as taught by the traditional law, would 
 draw his feet well together, compose his body and clothes, and 
 bend so low " that every vertebra in his back would stand out 
 separate," or, at least, till "the skin over his heart would fall into 
 folds." The workman would drop his tools, the burden -bearer 
 his load ; if a man had already one foot in the stirrup, he would 
 withdraw it. The hour had come, and nothing could be suffered 
 to interrupt or disturb him. The very salutation of a king, it was 
 said, must remain unreturned ; nay, the twisting of a serpent 
 round one's heel must remain unheeded. Edersheim, Sketches of 
 Jewish Life, 214. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 ' ' The anise and the cuinmin '' 
 
 The fifth Woe pronounced by Christ against Pharisaism referred 
 to one of the best-known and strangest Jewish ordinances, which 
 extended the Mosaic law of tithing, in most burdensome minute- 
 ness, even to the smallest products of the soil which were esculent 
 and could be preserved, such as anise. Of these, according to 
 some, not only the seeds, but, in certain cases, even the leaves 
 and stalks, had to be tithed. And this, together with grievous 
 omission of the weightier matters of the Law — judgment, mercy, 
 and faith. Edersheim, ii. 412. 
 
 Note XIV 
 
 " The flippant scoff 
 Of the rich Sadducee,'' seq. 
 
 There can be no question that the sect of the Sadducees 
 originated in a reaction against the Pharisees. If the latter added 
 to the law their own glosses, interpretations, and traditions, the 
 Sadducee took his stand upon the bare letter of the Law. He 
 would not be righteous overmuch. We can understand how the 
 
NOTES 365 
 
 adherents of Sadducean opinions belonged chiefly to the rich, 
 luxurious, and aristocratic party, including the wealthy families of 
 priests ; while, according to the testimony of Josephus, which is 
 corroborated by the New Testament, the mass of the people, and 
 especially the women, venerated and supported the Pharisaical party. 
 Sketches of Jewish Life, 242, 243. 
 
 The fundamental dogmatic differences between the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees concerned : — the rule of faith and practice ; the 
 "after death;" the existence of angels and spirits ; and free-will 
 and predestination. According to the New Testament, the Saddu- 
 cees denied the resurrection of the dead, while Josephus, going 
 further, imputes to them denial of reward or punishment after 
 death, and even the doctrine that the soul perishes with the body. 
 The latter statement may be dismissed as among those inferences 
 which theological controversialists are too fond of imputing to their 
 opponents. But it is otherwise in regard to their denial of the 
 resurrection of the dead. Not only Josephus, but the New Testa- 
 ment and Rabbinic writings attest this. Connected with this was 
 the equally Rationalistic opposition to belief in angels and spirits. 
 The Sadducees denied all absolute preordination, and made man's 
 choice of evil or good, with its consequences of misery or happiness, 
 to depend entirely on the exercise of free-will and self-determina- 
 tion. The High -priestly families belonged to the Sadducean 
 party. Edersheim, i. 314-322. 
 
 Note XV 
 
 "At their feast of herbs 
 The white-robed Essenes marked me hovering near,^' seq. 
 
 The New Testament speaks of no other than these two parties 
 (Pharisees and Sadducees), but Josephus and Philo also mention the 
 Essenes. As a sect the Essenes never attained a larger number 
 than 4000 ; and as they lived apart from the rest, neither 
 mingling in their society nor in their worship, and, as a general 
 rule, abstained from marriage, they soon became extinct. If in any 
 of the towns of Judaea one had met the strange apparition of a man 
 dressed wholly in white, whose sandals and garments, perhaps, bore 
 signs of age, — for they might not be put away till quite worn out, — 
 but who was scrupulously clean, this man was an Essene. The 
 passers would stop short and look after him with mingled reverence 
 and curiosity. For he was but rarely seen in town or village — the 
 community separating from the rest of the people, and inhabiting 
 desert places, specially the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and 
 the character of the " order " for asceticism and self-denial, as well 
 
366 NOTES 
 
 as for purity, was universally known. However strictly they ob- 
 served the Sabbath, it was in their own synagogues ; and although 
 they sent gifts to the altar, they attended not the Temple nor offered 
 sacrifices, partly because they regarded their arrangements as not 
 sufficiently Levitically clean, and partly because they came to con- 
 sider their own table an altar, and their common meals a sacrifice. 
 
 They formed an "order" bound by the strictest vows, taken 
 under teiTible oaths, and subject to the most rigorous discipline. 
 The members abstained from wine, meat, and oil, and most of them 
 also from marriage. They had community of goods, were bound 
 to poverty, chastity, and obedience to their superiors. Purity of 
 morals was enjoined, especially in regard to speaking the truth. 
 To take an oath was prohibited, as also the keeping of slaves. The 
 order consisted of four grades ; contact with one of a lower always 
 defiling him of the higher grade. The noviciate lasted two years, 
 though at the end of the first the candidate was taken into closer 
 fellowship. The rule was in the hands of "elders," who had the 
 power of admission and expulsion, — the latter being almost equiva- 
 lent to death by starvation, as the Essene had bound himself by a 
 terrible oath not to associate with others. 
 
 Their day began with sunrise, when they went to prayer. Before 
 that nothing secular might be spoken. After prayer they betook 
 themselves to agricultural labour, for they were not allowed to keep 
 herds and flocks, or else to works of charity, specially the healing 
 of the' sick. At eleven o'clock they bathed, changed their dress, 
 and then gathered for the common meal. A priest opened and 
 closed it with prayer. They sat according to age and dignity, the 
 eldest engaging in serious conversation, but in so quiet a tone as not 
 to be heard outside. The young men served. Each had bread 
 and salt handed him, also another dish ; the elders being allowed 
 the condiment of hyssop and the luxury of warm water. After the 
 meal they put off their clothes, and returned to work till the 
 evening, when there was another common meal, followed by mystical 
 hymns and dances, to symbolise the rapt ecstatic state of mind. 
 Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Life, 246, 247. 
 
 The name " Essenes " appears to be the Greek form of the 
 Hebrew term for "outsiders." Edersheim, i. 333. 
 
 Note XVI 
 
 " Where Jordan's valley meets the Harp-like Sea,'' seq. 
 
 The "cither-shaped lake "is a Rabbinic interpretation of the 
 term Gennesaret. Edersheim, i. 365. 
 
 A more beautiful country — hill, dale, and lake — could scarcely 
 
NOTES 367 
 
 be imagined than Galilee Proper. It was here that Asher had 
 " dipped his foot in oil." According to the Rabbis it was easier to 
 rear a forest of olive-trees in Galilee than one child in Juda2a. Com 
 grew in abundance ; the wine, though not so plentiful as the oil, 
 was rich and generous. Proverbially all fruit grew in perfection ; 
 and altogether the cost of living was about one-fifth that in Judsea. 
 And then, what a teeming, busy population ! Making every allow- 
 ance for exaggeration, we cannot wholly ignore the account of 
 Josephus about the 240 towns or villages of Galilee, each with not 
 less than 15,000 inhabitants. In the centres of industry all then 
 known trades were busily carried on ; the husbandman pursued his 
 happy toil on genial soil, while by the Lake of Gennesaret, with its 
 unrivalled beauty, its rich villages, and lonely retreats, the fisher- 
 man plied his healthy avocation. Edersheim, i. 225. 
 
 What the traveller sees, as he emerges from the Valley of Doves 
 and catches his first eager glimpse of Gennesareth, is a small inland 
 sea, like a harp in shape, thirteen miles long and six broad. 
 Josephus, in a passage of glowing admiration, after describing the 
 sweetness of its waters, and the delicate temperature of its air, its 
 palms, and vines, and oranges, and figs, and almonds, and pome- 
 granates, and warm springs, says that the seasons seemed to compete 
 for the honour of its possession, and Nature to have created it as a 
 kind of cumulative challenge, wherein she had gathered all the ele- 
 ments of her strength. Through this district passed the great 
 caravans on their way from Egypt to Damascus. In the time of 
 Christ it was, for population and activity, " the manufacturing dis- 
 trict " of Palestine ; and the waters of its lake were ploughed by 
 4000 vessels of every description, from the war-vessel of the 
 Romans to the rough fisher-boats of Bethsaida and the gilded pin- 
 naces from Herod's palace. The town of Tiberias, which Herod 
 Antipas had built to be the capital of Galilee, and named in honour 
 of the reigning emperor, had risen with marvellous rapidity ; and 
 even if Christ never entered its heathenish amphitheatre or grave- 
 polluted streets, He must often have seen in the distance its turreted 
 walls, its strong castle, and the Golden House of Antipas, flinging 
 far into the lake the reflection of its marble lions and sculptured 
 architraves. Farrar's Life of Christ, 84, 85. 
 
 Note XVII 
 
 " — A joyous throng they moved, and left behind 
 Rejoicing in their footsteps,'" seq. 
 
 That early spring-tide in Galilee was surely the truest realisation 
 of the picture in the Song of Solomon, when earth clad herself in 
 
368 NOTES 
 
 garments of beauty, and the air was melodious with songs of new 
 life. It seemed as if each day marked a widening circle of deepest 
 sympathy and largest power on the part of Jesus, as if each day 
 brought fresh surprise, new gkdness. In that Presence grief and 
 death cannot continue. Edersheim, i. 552. 
 
 IV 
 
 Note I 
 
 "A booth on a roof-top in Jei-usalem, 
 The last Evening of the Feast of Tabernacles.^' 
 
 The most joyous of all festive seasons in Israel was that of the 
 "Feast of Tabernacles." Its harvest-thanksgiving reminded, on 
 the one hand, of their dwelling in booths in the wilderness, while, 
 on the other hand, it pointed to the final harvest when Israel's 
 mission should be completed, and all nations gathered unto the 
 Lord. It was the third of the great annual festivals, at which 
 eyery male in Israel was to appear before the Lord in the place 
 which He should choose. It fell on the isth of the seventh 
 month, or Tishri (corresponding to September, or the beginning of 
 October). The Feast of Tabernacles, or rather (as it should be 
 called) of "booths," lasted for seven days — from the 15th to 
 the 2 1st Tishri — and was followed by an Octave on the 22d Tishri. 
 The first day of the feast, and also its Octave, were to be days of 
 " Holy Convocation," when no servile work of any kind might be 
 done. During the seven days of its continuance "all that are 
 Israelites bom shall dwell in booths ; that your generations may 
 know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I 
 brought them out of the land of Egypt." The "booths" on the 
 roof, in the courtyards, in streets and squares, as well as roads and 
 gardens, within a Sabbath-day's journey, must have given the city 
 and neighbourhood an unusually picturesque appearance. The 
 Mishnah gives most minute details as to the height and construction 
 of these " booths." Thus, it must be a real booth, and constructed 
 of boughs of living trees, and solely for the purposes of this festival. 
 Hence, it must be high enough, yet not too high — at least, ten 
 hand-breadths, but not more than thirty feet ; three of its walls 
 must be of boughs ; it must be fairly covered with boughs, yet not 
 so shaded as not to admit sunshine, nor yet so open as to have -not 
 sufficient shade, the object in each case being neither sunshine nor 
 
NOTES 369 
 
 shade, but that it should be a real booth of boughs of trees ; here, 
 during the week, they were to eat, sleep, pray, study, in short, 
 except in very heavy rain, entirely to live in them. Edersheim's 
 Temple, its Ministry and Services, 232, seq. 
 
 Note II 
 "A Pharisee — son of a Pharisee,'' seq. 
 
 The Pharisees were avowedly a " Chabura " — that is, a fraternity 
 or "guild" — the wife and all the children of a "Chaber," or 
 member, were, ipso facto, members of the "Chabura." Sketches 
 of Jewish Life, 227. 
 
 The "fraternity" was comparatively small, numbering only 
 about 6000. The object of the association was twofold : to 
 observe in the strictest manner, and according to traditional law, 
 all the ordinances concerning Levitical purity, and to be extremely 
 punctilious in all connected with religious dues (tithes and all other 
 dues). A person might undertake only the second, without the 
 first of these obligations. In that case, he was simply a Nceoeinan, 
 an "accredited one," with whom one might enter freely into 
 commerce, as he was supposed to have paid all dues. If he 
 undertook both vows he was a Chaber, or associate. Here there 
 were four degrees, marking an ascending scale of Levitical purity, 
 or separation from all that was profane. The Nseceman undertook 
 these four obligations : to tithe what he ate, what he sold, and 
 what he bought, and not to be a guest with an Am ha-arez, or 
 " country people " (the people which "knew not the Law," and 
 were regarded as "cursed"). The full Chaber undertook not to 
 sell to an "Am ha-arez" any fluid or dry substance (nutriment or 
 fruit), not to buy from him any such fluid, not to be a guest with 
 him in his own clothes (on account of their possible impurity). 
 Edersheim, i. 311, 312. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " Taught as a suckling in my mother's arms," seq. 
 
 From the first days of its existence, a religious atmosphere 
 surrounded the child of Jewish parents. Admitted into the number 
 of God's chosen people by the deeply significant rite of circumcision, 
 when its name was first spoken in the accents of prayer, it was 
 henceforth separated unto God. The first education was necessarily 
 the mother's. The Sabbath meal, the kindling of the Sabbath 
 
 2 B 
 
37° NOTES 
 
 lamp, and the setting apart a portion of the dough from the bread 
 for the household, — these are but instances, with which every 
 " Taph," as he clung to his mother's skirts, must have been familiar. 
 Even before he could follow her in such religious household duties, 
 his eyes must have been attracted by the Mesusah attached to the 
 doorpost (a small, longitudinally-folded parchment square, on which, 
 on twenty-two lines, were Deut. vi. 4-9, and xi. 13-21, enclosed in 
 a shining metal case and affixed to the doorpost of every " clean " 
 apartment), as the name of the Most High on the outside of the 
 little folded parchment was reverently touched by each who came 
 or went, and then the fingers kissed that had come in contact with 
 the Holy Name. For, from early times, the presence of the 
 Mesusah was connected with the Divine protection, this verse being 
 specially applied to it, " The Lord shall preserve thy going out and 
 thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore," Psalm 
 cxxi. 8. Directly the child learned to speak, his religious instruc- 
 tion was to begin — no doubt with such verses of Holy Scripture as 
 composed that part of the Jewish Liturgy which answers to our 
 Creed — the Shema (Deut. vi. 4-9; xi. 13-21; Num. xv. 37-41). 
 Very early the child must have been taught what might be called 
 his birthday-text — some verse of Scripture beginning, or ending 
 with, or at least containing, the same letters as its Hebrew name. 
 This guardian-promise the child would insert in his daily prayer. 
 But while the earliest religioiis teaching would, of necessity, come 
 from the lips of the mother, it was the father who was "bound to 
 teach his son." To impart to the child knowledge of the Thorah 
 confeiTed as great spiritual distinction as if a man had received the 
 Law itself on Mount Horeb. Every other engagement, even the 
 necessary meal, should give place to this paramount duty. The 
 regular instruction commenced with the fifth or sixth year (according 
 to strength), when every child was sent to school. It was deemed 
 unlawful to live in a place where there was no school. From the 
 teaching of the alphabet or of writing, onwards to the farthest 
 limits of instruction in the most advanced Academies of the Rabbis, 
 all is marked by extreme care, wisdom, accuracy, and a moral and 
 religious purpose as the ultimate object. For a long time it was 
 not uncommon to teach in the open air ; but this must have been 
 chiefly in connection with theological discussions, and the instruc- 
 tion of youths. But the children were gathered in the Synagogues, 
 or in School-houses, where at first they either stood, teacher and 
 pupils alike, or else sat on the ground in a semicircle, facing the 
 teacher. The grand object of the teacher was moral as well as 
 intellectual training. Commonly, the teacher was the Chazzin or 
 officer of the Synagogue. The highest honour and distinction 
 attached to the office of a teacher, if worthily discharged. Roughly 
 
NOTES 371 
 
 classifying the subjects of study, it was held that, up to ten years 
 of age, the Bible should exclusively be the text-book ; from ten to 
 fifteen the Mishnah, or traditional law ; after that age, the student 
 should enter on those theological discussions which occupied time 
 and attention in the higher Academies of the Rabbis. 
 
 The study of the Bible commenced with that of the Book of 
 Leviticus. Thence it passed to the other parts of the Pentateuch ; 
 then to the Prophets ; and finally to the Hagiographa. Edersheim, 
 i. 228, seq. , and Sketches cf Jewish Life, 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " The Joy of Pouring out of Water " 
 
 At the Feast of Tabernacles while the morning sacrifice was 
 being prepared, a priest, accompanied by a joyous procession with 
 music, went down to the Pool of Siloam, whence he drew water 
 into a golden pitcher, capable of holding three log (rather more 
 than two pints). At the same time that the procession started for 
 Siloam, another went to a place in the Kedron valley, close by, 
 called Motza, whence they brought willow branches, which, amidst 
 the blasts of the priests' trumpets, they stuck on either side of the 
 altar of burnt-offering, bending them over towards it, so as to form 
 a kind of leafy canopy. Then the ordinary sacrifice proceeded, 
 the priest who had gone to Siloam so timing it, that he returned 
 just as his brethren carried up the pieces of the sacrifice to lay 
 them on the altar. As he entered by the "Water-gate," which 
 obtained its name from this ceremony, he was received by a three- 
 fold blast from the priests' trumpets. The priest then went up the 
 rise of the altar, and turned to the left, where there were two 
 silver basins with narrow holes — the eastern a little wider for the 
 wine, and the western somewhat narrower for* the water. Into 
 these the wine of the drink-ofiering was poured, and at the same 
 time the water from Siloam. As soon as the wine and the water 
 were being poured out, the Temple music began, and the Hallel 
 was sung, to the accompaniment of flutes. When the choir came 
 to these words " O give thanks to the Lord," and again when they 
 sang "O work then now salvation, Jehovah;" and once more at 
 the close, " O give thanks unto the Lord," all the worshippers shook 
 their lulaves towards- the altar. The Talmud says, " Why is the 
 name of it called. The drawing out of water? Because of the 
 pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said, ' With 
 joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.'" Hence, 
 also, the feast and the peculiar joyousness of it are alike designated 
 
372 NOTES 
 
 as those of " the drawing out of water ; " for, according to the same 
 Rabbinical authorities, the Holy Spirit dwells in man only through 
 joy. A similar symbolism was expressed by another ceremony 
 which took place at the close, not of the daily but of the festive 
 sacrifices. On every one of the seven days the priests formed in 
 procession, and made the circuit of the altar, singing : " O then 
 now work salvation, Jehovah ! O Jehovah give prosperity. " But 
 on the seventh, "that great day of the feast," they made the 
 circuit of the altar seven times. 
 
 At the close of the first day of the feast the worshippers de- 
 scended to the court of the women, where great preparations had 
 been made. Four golden candlesticks were there, each vidth four 
 golden bowls, and against them rested four ladders ; and four 
 youths of priestly descent held each a pitcher of oil, capable of 
 holding 1 20 log, from which they filled each bowl. The old worn 
 breeches and girdles of the priests served for wicks to these lamps. 
 There was not a court in Jemsalem that was not lit up by the 
 light of "the house of water -pouring." The "Chassidim" 
 ("pious ones," "separated from all filthiness of heathenism," 
 — the Nationalists), and the "Men of Deed" danced before the 
 people with flaming torches in their hands, and sang before them 
 hymns and songs of praise ; and the Levites with harps and lutes, 
 and cymbals and trumpets, and instruments of music without 
 number, stood upon the fifteen steps which led down from the 
 Court of Israel to that of the Women, according to the number of 
 the fifteen Songs of Degrees in the Book of Psalms. It seems 
 clear that this illumination of the Temple was regarded as forming 
 part of, and having the same symbolical meaning as, "the pouring 
 out of water." The Temple, its Ministry and Services, 232, seq. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " Unclean by reason of the dead" \ 
 
 In general, Jewish writers distinguish six degrees, which they 
 respectively term, according to their intensity, the "fathers of 
 fathers," the "fathers," and the "first, second, third, and fourth 
 children of defilement." They enumerate in all twenty-nine 
 "fathers of defilement," arising from various causes, and of these 
 no less than eleven arise from some contact with a dead body. 
 The Temple, its Ministry and Services, 304. 
 
NOTES 373 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Teharoth of the fourth degree" 
 
 An ordinary Pharisee, a member of the first degree, was called a 
 "Chaber" or " Benhacheneseth," "Son of the union," while the 
 other three degrees were ranked together under the generic name 
 of "Teharoth" (purifications). These latter were probably the 
 " Chassidim " of the later period. Four degrees according to in- 
 creasing strictness in "making clean" are mentioned. A "Chaber" 
 might neither eat at the table of a non-" Chaber " (as he might thus 
 partake of what had not been tithed), nor admit him to his table 
 unless he had put on the garments of a " Chaber " (as his own old 
 ones might else have carried defilement), and just as the garment of 
 a non-" Chaber " defiled a " Chaber " of the first degree, that of the 
 latter equally defiled him of the second degree, and so on. Sketches 
 of Jewish Life. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " From youth up making ' hedge about the Law ' " 
 
 The fraternity of the Pharisees were bound by two vows — that 
 of tithing, and that in regard to purifications. As the most varied 
 questions would here arise in practice, which certainly were not 
 answered in the law of Moses, the "traditions," which were 
 supposed to explain and supplement the Divine law, became 
 necessary. In point of fact, the Rabbis speak of them in that 
 sense, and describe them as "a hedge" around Israel and its law. 
 Sketches of Jewish Life, 236. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " Third of the Sanhedrin " 
 
 " Art thou the teacher (6 ScSaaKoKos) of Israel," asked our Lord, 
 "and knowest not these things?" Art thou the third member of 
 the Sanhedrin, the chdkdm or wise man, and yet knowest not the 
 earliest, simplest lesson of the initiation into the kingdom of 
 heaven ? Farrar's Life of Christ, 94. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 "From the Alijah, where 
 He lodged upon the roof" 
 
 A wide, sometimes costly, stair led (in better- class Jewish 
 
374 NOTES 
 
 dwellings) from the outside straight up to the flat roof. The 
 stranger's room (the Alijah) was generally built on the roof, in 
 order that, undisturbed by the household, the guest might go out 
 and come in. Close by was "the upper chamber." Sketches of 
 Jewish Life, 94. 
 
 Note X 
 
 ^^ As to a heathen proselyte 
 Yet unbaptized" 
 
 A Gentile on becoming a proselyte was likened to a child 
 just bom. It meant that, having entered into a new relation to 
 God, they also entered into new relationship to man, just as if they 
 had at that moment been newly bom. AH the old relations had 
 ceased — a man's father, brother, mother, sister, were no longer his 
 nearest of kin ; he was a new and another man. It implied a new 
 state, when all a man's past was past, and his sins forgiven him as 
 belonging to the past. 
 
 For the " proselytes of righteousness " who became " children 
 of the covenant," "perfect Israelites," all writers are agreed that 
 three things were required. Circumcision (Milah), Baptism (Teb- 
 hilah), and a Sacrifice (Korban) ; in the case of women, baptism 
 and sacrifice. It was indeed a great thing when, in the words of 
 Maimonides, a stranger sought refuge under the wings of the 
 Shechinah, and the change of condition which he underwent was 
 regarded as complete. As he stepped out of the waters of baptism 
 he was considered as " born anew," — in the language of the Rabbis, 
 as if he were "a little child just bom." Edersheim, i. 384; ii. 
 742. 743- 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " Now, one by one. 
 The Booths' green leafage is laid low " 
 
 On the afternoon of the seventh day of the feast (of Tabernacles) 
 the people began to remove the "booths;" for at the Octave, on 
 the 22d of Tishri, they lived no longer in booths. The Temple, its 
 Ministry and Services, 248, 249. 
 
NOTES 37t 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Spikenard 
 The costliest " seq. 
 
 Mary had "an alabaster" of "spikenard genuine," which was 
 very precious. It held "a litra," which was a "Roman pound," 
 (300 dinars, nearly £01). These "alabasters," — ^for the flask itself 
 obtained that name from the stone used— had at the top the form 
 of a cylinder, and are likened by Pliny to a closed rose-bud. 
 Edersheim, ii. 358. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " — -Judas the Maccabee nier had one half 
 His chance " 
 
 See I., note ix. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " The Sabbath Feast is ended" 
 
 Jesus had arrived at Bethany six days before the Passover — that 
 is, on a Friday. ■ The day after was the Sabbath and ' ' they made 
 him a supper." It was the special festive meal of the Sabbath. 
 The words of St. John seem to indicate that the meal was a public 
 one, as if the people of Bethany had combined to do him this 
 honour. In point of fact, we know from St. Matthew and St. 
 Mark that it took place "in the house of Simon the Leper" — not, 
 of course, an actual leper — but one who had been such. Edersheim, 
 
 ii- 357. 358- 
 
 The return of the Sabbath sanctified the week of labour. It 
 was to be welcomed as a king, or with songs as a bridegroom ; 
 and each household observed it as a season of sacred rest and joy. 
 As the head of the house returned on the Sabbath-eve from the 
 synagogue to his home, he found it festively adorned, the Sabbath 
 lamp brightly burning, and the table spread with the richest each 
 household could afford. Sketches of Jewish Life, 97. 
 
376 NOTES 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " The tunnelled way 
 Into the City " 
 
 There was an underground Jerusalem also, which burrowed 
 everywhere under the city — under the Upper City, under the 
 Temple, beyond the city walls. Its extent may be gathered from 
 the circumstance that, after the capture of the city, besides the 
 living who had sought shelter there, no fewer than 2000 dead 
 bodies were found in those subterranean streets. Edersheim, i, 
 118, 119. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " Within the High-priesfs palace on the slope 
 OfZion'sHill" 
 
 In the Upper City we pass first the High-priest's, palace on the 
 slope of the hill, with a lower stoiy under the principal apartment, 
 and a porch in front. Edersheim, i. 118. 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " By hundred thousands Paschal lambs have bled " 
 
 At the Passover tens of thousands crowded up the Mount with 
 their Paschal Lambs, and hundreds of thousands sat down to the 
 Paschal Supper. Josephus estimates the population of Jerusalem 
 at some of the great feasts at nearly three millions. Edersheim, 
 i. 119, 78. 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " And the Chagigah, Israel's peace-offering," seq. 
 
 Three things were implied in the festive command to " appear 
 before the Lord "—" Presence," the "Chagigah," and "Joyous- 
 ness." As specially applied to the Passover, the first of these 
 terms meant that every one was to come up to Jerusalem and to 
 offer a burnt-offering, if possible on the first, or else on one of the 
 other six days of the feast. The Chagigah, which was strictly a 
 peace-offering, might be twofold. The first Ch^gah was offered 
 on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Paschal sacrifice, and formed 
 afterwards part of the Paschal supper. The second Chagigah 
 
NOTES 377 
 
 was offered on the isth of Nisan, or the first day of the feast of 
 unleavened bread. It is this second Chagigah which the Jews 
 were aiiaid they might be unable to eat, if they contracted defile- 
 ment in the judgipent-hall of Pilate (John xviii. 28). The Chagigah 
 of the isth of Nisan was obligatory, and had therefore to be brought 
 from "Cholin" (what did not otherwise belong to the Lord). 
 The third duty incumbent on those who appeared at the feast was 
 "Joyousness" — that is, all Israel were, during the course of this 
 festival, vdth joyous heart to offer peace-offerings which might be 
 chosen from sacred things, as God had blest each household. 
 
 It was early on the iSth day of Nisan when the Lord was de- 
 livered into the hands of the Gentiles. The Temple, its Ministry 
 and Services, 186-218. 
 
 Note VIII' 
 
 " Without, the shout 
 Of a great multitude " 
 
 The chief-priests and elders and the most fanatical of the people 
 were gathered in Fort Antonia. From where they stood outside 
 the Prsetorium they would, in all probability, have a full view of 
 the Temple buildings, just below the rocky fort ; they could see 
 the morning sacrifice offered, and the column of sacrificial smoke 
 and of incense rise from the great altar towards heaven ; they could 
 hear the Levites' song and the blasts of the priests' trumpets. 
 The Temple, its Ministry and Services, 220. 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " Down the deep defile, — each step 
 A stumble in the sudden dark that frights 
 The noon," seq. 
 
 Out he rushed from the Temple, out of Jerusalem "into soli- 
 tude." Down into the horrible solitude of the Valley of Hinnom, 
 the " Tophet " of old, with its ghastly memories, the Gehenna of 
 the future with its ghostly associations. Across the valley and up 
 the steep sides of the mountain. We are now on "the potter's 
 field " of Jeremiah — somewhat to the west above where the Kedron 
 and Hinnom valleys merge. It is cold, soft, clayey soil, where 
 the footsteps slip, or are held in clammy bonds. Here jagged 
 rocks rise perpendicularly ; perhaps there was some gnarled, bent, 
 stunted tree. (See Badeker-Socin's Palestina, 11 4- 116.) Eder- 
 sheim, ii. 573. 
 
378 NOTES 
 
 VI 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Through . , . the open doors 
 Of Simoris guest-chamber " seq. 
 
 Perhaps at Nain, perhaps at Magdala, Jesus received and 
 accepted an invitation from one of the Pharisees who bore the very 
 common name of Simon. All the ordinary attentions which would 
 have been paid to an honoured guest were coldly and cautiously 
 omitted. There was no water for the weary and dusty feet, no 
 kiss of welcome upon the cheek, no perfume for the hair. 
 
 In order that the mats or carpets which are hallowed by domestic 
 prayer may not be rendered unclean by any pollution of the streets, 
 each guest, as he enters a house in Syria or Palestine, takes off his 
 sandals, and leaves them at the ddor. He then proceeds to his 
 place at the table. Whether they had borrowed the recumbent 
 posture at meals from the Persians or not, it is certain, from the 
 expressions employed, that in the time of our Lord, the Jews, hke 
 the Greeks and Romans, reclined at banquets upon couches placed 
 round tables of much the same height as those now in use. As 
 the guests lay on the couches which surrounded these tables, their 
 feet would be turned towards any spectators who were standing 
 outside the circle of bidden guests. The universal prevalence 
 of the law of hospitality — the very first of Eastern virtues — 
 almost forces an Oriental to live with open doors, and any one 
 may at any time have access to his rooms. 
 
 An ancient tradition identifies this "woman who was a sinner" 
 with Mary of Magdala, "out of whom Jesus cast seven devils." 
 This exorcism is not elsewhere alluded to, and it would be perfectly 
 in accordance with the genius of Hebrew phraseology if the ex- 
 pression had been applied to her, in consequence of a passionate 
 nature and an abandoned life. ¥&na.t^s Life of Christ, 138-142. 
 
 Note II 
 
 " Yea watched, without the dim 
 Tomb's court " 
 
 Not only the rich, but even those moderately well-to-do, had 
 tombs of their own, which probably were acquired and prepared 
 long before they were needed. In these caves, or rock-hewn tombs, 
 
NOTES 379 
 
 the bodies were laid, having been anointed with many spices, with 
 myrtle, aloes, and at a later period, also with hyssop, rose-oil, and 
 rose-water. The body was dressed and, at a later period, wrapped, 
 if possible, in the worn cloths in which originally a Roll of the 
 Law had been held. The "Tombs" were either "rock-hewn," 
 or natural " caves," or else large walled vaults, with niches along 
 the sides. Each " niche " was four cubits (six feet) long, and had 
 a height of seven and a width of six hand-breadths. As these 
 burying " niches " were hollowed out in the walls, they were called 
 Ckuchin. At the entrance to the vault was " a court " six cubits 
 (nine feet) square, to hold the bier and its bearers. It was in the 
 "Court" of the tomb that the hasty embalmment — if such it may 
 be called — of our Lord took place. None of Christ's former dis- 
 ciples seem to have taken part in the burying. Only a few faithful 
 ones, notably among them Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, 
 the mother of Joses, ' stood over against the tomb, watching at 
 some distance where and how the Body of Jesus was laid. It 
 would scarcely have been in accordance with Jewish manners if 
 these women had mingled more closely with the two Sanhedrists 
 and their attendants. Edersheim, ii. 319, 615, 616. 
 
 Note III 
 
 " Wherein they dressed the Dead 
 Right royally for His burial" 
 
 If, as seems extremely probable, Nicodemus be identical with 
 the Nakdimon Ben Gorion of the Talmud, he was a man of enor- 
 mous wealth. He who died as a malefactor was buried as a king. 
 The fine linen (sindon) which Joseph had purchased was richly 
 spread with the hundred litras of myrrh and perfumed aloe-wOod 
 which Nicodemus had brought, and the lacerated body was thus 
 carried to its grave. Farrar's Life of Christ, 455. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 "Mayhap too He 
 Had known '' 
 
 The Dead was supposed to be present, listening to the words of 
 the speaker and watching the expression on the faces of the hearers 
 at the funeral oration. Edersheim, ii. 318. 
 
38o NOTES 
 
 Note V 
 
 " The one sad hope 
 Of that dread Sabbath's hours " 
 
 It was expressly allowed on Sabbaths and feast-days to walk 
 beyond the Sabbath limits, and to do all needful offices for the 
 Dead. Sketches of Jewish Life. 
 
 VII 
 
 Note I 
 
 " Morning in Ephesus,'' seq. 
 
 Ephesus, "The City of the Moon,'' capital of Ionia, one of the 
 twelve Ionian cities in Asia Minor in the Mythic times, and said to 
 have been founded by the Amazons. It lay on the river Cayster, 
 not far from the coast of the Icarian Sea between Smyrna and 
 Miletus. It was also one of the most considerable of the Greek 
 cities in Asia Minor. The classical celebrity of this city is chiefly 
 owing to its famous temple and the goddess in whose honour it was 
 built, namely "Diana of the Ephesians." This temple was burnt 
 down on the night in which Alexander was bom. At a subsequent 
 period Alexander made an offer to rebuild the temple provided he 
 was allowed to inscribe his name on the front, which the Ephesians 
 refused. Aided, however, by the whole of Asia Minor, they 
 succeeded in erecting a still more magnificent temple, which the 
 ancients placed among the seven wonders of the world. It took 
 220 years to complete. Pliny, who has given a description of it, 
 says it was 425 feet in length, 220 broad, and supported by 
 127 columns, each of which had been contributed by some prince 
 and were 60 feet high ; 36 of them were richly carved. The altar 
 was the work of Praxiteles. The temple was built of cedar, 
 cypress, white marble, and even gold, with which it glittered. 
 Costly and magnificent offerings of various kinds were made to the 
 goddess, and treasured in the temple ; such as paintings, statues, 
 etc., the value of which almost exceeded computation. At Ephesus 
 Diana was worshipped under the name of Artemis. Kitto's Cyclo- 
 padia of Biblical Literature, 640. 
 
NOTES 381 
 
 Note II 
 
 "Round the i~ude image of the Huntress dropped 
 Of old by Zeus from heaven " 
 
 Artemis, the Diana of the Romans. As the tutelary deity of 
 Ephesus she was undoubtedly a representative of the same power 
 presiding over conception and birth, which was adored in Palestine 
 under the name of Ashtaroth. Her earliest image, which was said 
 to have fallen from heaven, was pi'obably very rude, and to judge 
 from its representation on ancient coins, little ' more than a head 
 with a shapeless trunk, supported by a staff on each side. Most 
 authorities say it was of ebony. Pliny relates that Mucianus, who 
 had seen it, affirms that it was of the wood of the vine, and that it 
 was so old that it had survived seven restorations of the temple. 
 Her priests were called Megabyzi, and were eunuchs. The later 
 image had a turreted head like that of Cybele, the nimbus behind 
 it representing the moon ; the zodiacal signs of the bull, the twins, 
 and the crab on her bosom, below them two garlands, one of flowers 
 and the other of acorns ; the numerous breasts ; the lions, stags, 
 and cows in various parts ; the bees and flowers on the sides. 
 Kitto's Cyclopcedia of Biblical Literature, 230, 231. 
 
 Note HI 
 
 " Small shrines modelled in silver" 
 
 It is now generally agreed that the "silver shrines for Diana'' 
 mentioned in Acts xix. 24 were silver models of the temple, or of 
 its adytum or chapel, in which perhaps a little image of the goddess 
 was placed. The continual resort of foreigners to Ephesus from all 
 parts, on account of the singular veneration in which the image of 
 the goddess was held, must have rendered this manufacture very 
 profitable. Kitto's Cyclopcedia of Biblical Literature, 546. 
 
 Note IV 
 
 " To view the sacred games " 
 
 Sacred games were practised at Ephesus which called competi- 
 tors and spectators from every country. Kitto's Cycloptsdia of 
 Biblical Literature, 640. 
 
 Note V 
 
 " Their famed 'Ephesian Letters'' " 
 
 Very celebrated were the " Ephesian letters," which appear to 
 have been a sort of magical formula written on paper or parchment, 
 
382 NOTES 
 
 designed to be fixed as amulets on different parts of the body, such 
 as the hands and the head. Erasmus says that they were certain 
 signs or marks which rendered their possessor victorious in every- 
 thing. Kitto's Cydopcedia of Biblical Literature, 
 
 Note VI 
 
 " Past the great Theatre upon the hill" seq. 
 
 On an eminence are the supposed ruins of Ephesus. There are 
 some broken columns and capitals, of the Corinthian order, of white 
 marble, but nothing can now be fixed upon as the great temple of 
 Diana. There are also ruins of a theatre, consisting of some cir- 
 cular seats and numerous arches, supposed to be the one in which 
 Paul was preaching when interrupted by shouts of " Great is Diana 
 of the Ephesians. " The ruins of this theatre present a wreck of 
 immense grandeur. A splendid circus or stadium remains tolerably 
 entire. Kitto's Cyclopadia of Biblical Literature, 
 
 Note VII 
 
 " Reverent the young men bear an a^d man " 
 
 All the statements of the fathers relative to the last days of John 
 agree on that point, that his life was prolonged to the verge of 
 extreme old age. According to Jerome he died prostrated with 
 old age, sixty-eight years after the passion of the Lord — that 
 is to say, about the year loo. Irenaeus says that "he lived even 
 till the time of Trajan " — that is to say, even after the year 98. 
 According to Suidas, he is said to have even attained the age of 
 120. The accounts of John's sojourn in Asia are numerous and 
 positive. Irenasus says, "John, the disciple of the Lord, he who 
 reclined on His breast, published the Gospel whilst he dwelt at 
 Ephesus in Asia." Clement of Alexandria says, "After the tyrant 
 was dead, John returned from the isle of Patmos to Ephesus." 
 The letter of Polycrates proves that he was buried at Ephesus. In 
 that town two tombs were likewise shown, one of which must have 
 been that of the apostle. . Godet's Commentary on St. John's Gospel, 
 41-61. 
 
 Note VIII 
 
 " To where the little church, — called by the name 
 He loves, — looks down upon the sea " 
 
 On the hill is the sunk ground-plan of a small church, still much 
 venerated by the Greeks. Kitto's Cydopcedia, 642. 
 
■ NOTES 383 
 
 Note IX 
 
 " The Shepherds' Tower on Bethlehem's dewy slopes " 
 
 That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem was a settled 
 conviction. Equally so was the belief that He was to be revealed 
 from Migdal Eder, "the tower of the flock." This Migdal Eder 
 was not the watch-tower for the ordinaiy flocks which pastured on 
 the barren .sheep-ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the 
 town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah leads to 
 the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there were destined 
 for Temple-sacrifices. Edersheim, i. 1 86. 
 
 Note X 
 
 " Where Dian's altar stands and women writhe 
 In anguish 'neath the scourge " 
 
 The rites of Artemis were at first celebrated with human sacri- 
 fices. At Sparta scourgings to blood were substituted for them. 
 There is no other divinity to whom so many acts of revenge and 
 bloodthirstiness were ascribed. Even sacrifices of children, after- 
 wards replaced by scourgings, were offered to her. DoUinger's 
 Gentile and Jew, i. 85. 
 
 Gardens and shady trees are mentioned as peculiar seats of her 
 probably lascivious rites. Kitto's Cyclopcedia, Article " Ashtoreth." 
 
 Women in particular were scourged in her honour, and her 
 altars anointed with their blood. 
 
 Note XI 
 
 " The wail of Cybelefor AtteS, mixed 
 With drunken shouts of Dionysus' crew " 
 
 The favourite of the great Phrygian goddess Dindymene, or 
 Cybele, was Attes, the son of the god Men, or perhaps Men himself, 
 who in a fit of madness made himself a eunuch, and died of the act or 
 was put to death. Cybele wandered, frantic with grief for his loss, 
 about the country, seeking and calling her beloved one. A death- 
 wake was appointed in his honour, to take place every year. The 
 loud wailing for his death, accompanied with signs of acutest grief, 
 and with the plunging of his image into the sea, together with the 
 unbounded joy consequent upon his being found again, shaped itself 
 into a wide-spread festival, celebrated throughout the whole of 
 Western Asia, as well as in the islands and in Greece. DoUinger, 
 The Gentile and the Jew, i. 161. 
 
384 NOTES 
 
 The Dionysia were in part simple wine-feasts of unlicensed ex- 
 cess, DoUinger, i. 155. 
 
 Note XII 
 
 " / laid her on yon hill 
 Beside the Sea " 
 
 The tomb of St. John was in or under his church at Ephesus. 
 The tomb of Mary and the seven Traidla (boys, as the Synaxaria 
 calls the Seven Sleepers) are found in an adjoining hill. Kitto's 
 Cyclopisdia. 
 
 Note XIII 
 
 ' ' It is the Lord's command and 'tis enough " 
 
 Jerome relates that, having reached the most advanced age, and 
 being too weak still to repair to the assemblies of the church, he 
 made the young men carry him thither ; and having no longer 
 strength to speak much, he contented himself vrith saying : " My 
 little children, love one another." And when he was asked why he 
 always repeated that single word, his answer was : "Because that 
 is the Lord's command ; and if that is done, enough is done." 
 
 Printed iy R. & R. Clark, Edinhirgh.