OF THE U N I VLR5 ITY Of ILLINOIS 2.30 Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. A charge is made on all overdue books. University of Illinois Library or n mi 10 FEB m 'C m 27 ;';r R -5 !S56 12 !9 ,3S2 853 5? ARR 8 isaa . MOHAMMEDANISM AND OTHEB RELIGIONS OF MEDITEBRANEAN COUNTRIES, •1 " The World's Religions " Series. 1. Primitive Religions : An Introduction to the Study of Religions, with an account of the Religioas Beliefs of Uncivilised Peoples. 2. The Great Indian Religions : An Account of Brahmanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. 3. Mohammedanisnn, and other Religions of Mediterranean Countries. 4. History of Judaism and Christianity, in the light of Modern Research and Criticism. London : Waed, Lock, Bowden- and Co. "Ube MorlO's IReligions" Sedes. MOHAMMEDANISM AND OTHER RELIGIONS OF MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES. BEING A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF psl^amtt, ll^E l^ormt, Pobtnx |stam, together fait^ irjescriptions of i^t (BgiTptiint, gcssgrimt, ^^nkiiiit, mxii nlsa tht (®mk, fvomn:iT, G. T. BETTANY, M.A., B.Sc, ilufTior of " The World's Inhabitants,*' " Life of Charles Darwin," etc. WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS. WARD, LOCK, BOWDEN AND CO., LONDON: WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E.G. NEW YORK: BOND STREET. MELBOURNE: ST. JAMES'S STREET. SYDNEY: YORK STREET. 1»92 (All rights reserved.) PREFACE. 4 r I 1HE countries surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean « share with India the distinction of being the greatest t originative centres of rehgion. Egypt, with its strange " polytheism, animal worship, ancestor and king worship ; ; Mesopotamia, with its worship of powers of the air and sea, its local deities, its sun and star worship and astrology ; the early Greek and Roman religions, with their noble ' ideals of personal gods under a supreme ruler : all these ■ furnish inexhaustible material for the student of religions. " But they are surpassed by the interest growing out of the gradual approach to monotheism, and its assertion s in Judaism and Mohammedanism, the one an early, the other a later product of Semitic races, botji destined to influence a very large part of mankind. ] In this volume will be found material of strange sug- r^estiveness, whether studied by itself, or, better, in con- nexion and comparison with the history of primitive ^ Chinese and Indian religions, on the one hand, or that of Judaism and Christianity, on the other. In the history " of Mahomet we see a most remarkable combination of introspection, revolt against prevalent superstition, rapt ^prophetic trances, statesmanship, and worldliness, vari- ^ously predominant at different periods of his life. The ^ simplicity of the theology and worship taught and enjoined \ V 96236 1 vi PREFACE, in the Koran have been most effective towards its propaga- tion, which has been still more powerfully aided by the injunction to appeal to the sword, and to have no toleration for heretics. After more than a thousand years of con- version at the point of the sword, the same fanatic spirit survives in many parts, kept in subjection in India by the strong arm of British power ; but Islam also mani- fests a capacity for advancing by peaceful conquests both in India and Africa, -which, while it may be welcomed in so far as it means the superseding of a lower by a higher religion, of polytheism by monotheism, yet has its dark side for believers in Christianity. For it brings with it a fanatic belief in so imperfect a book as the Koran, a stereotj^ping of formal worship, and a resolute obstruction to the distinctive teachings of Christianity. This book may be specially commended to those who wish to realise w^hat it is that missionaries in districts dominated by Mohammedan influence have to contend with. It is the fanatical belief in the inspired and final revelation of the Koran, combined with the strength of the good points in its teaching, that make it the most serious obstacle and rival influence to Christianity. CONTENTS. CHAPTEB 1. The Egyptian Beligion IGTON 11. The Babylonian, Assyrian, and Piicenician Re III. Life of Mahomet. Part I. . IV. Life of Mahomet. Part II. . Y. The Koran and its Teachings YI. Modern Islam. Part I. Yll. Modern Islam. Part II. YIII. The Ancient Greek Religion: The Gods IX. Greek Sacrifices, Priests, Temples and Festivals, Morals • X. Socrates, Plato, and other Greek Philosophers XL The Roman Religion XIL The Religion of the Teutons .... XIII. The Religion of the Slavonians XIY. Celtic Religion PA.GR 1 vii CHAPTER 1. Modern discoveries— Local deities— Tendency to monotheism— Hymn to Amen-ra— The Eg-yptian a nature-religion— Ra, the sun-god— Shu and Tefnut — The worship at On— Osiris— Apis - Serapis—Isis—Horus—Hathor — Thoth— Ptah— Anuhis and Neith—Amun-ra -Animal worship— Anim- ism— Deification of kings— Temples— The priests — Orders of priests — Festivals and processions —Invocation of the Nile— Animal sacrifices —Oracles— Astrology— Life after death - A funeral song— Osiris, the judge of the dead— "The Book of the Dead"— Other Egyptian Books— Pro- ceedings at the sacred lake— Objects buried with the dead— Egyptian morals— High esteem of truth and charity— Singular custom at banquets. OT less astonisliing than tlie religions of India, and probably more ancient in its advanced development, iS the religion of the early Egyptians^ as it has been slowly recovered and pieced together in the Modem present centur}^. Many monuments and records discoveries, have unfortunately perished, many are still buried and unexplored, but those which have been rescued and ex- plained furnish us with undoubted facts sufficient to give rise to ideas of a highly developed form of religion, in many respects worthy to rank beside that revealed in the Vedas. And geological facts show that the human ^ See Sir Gardner Wilkinson, "Manners and Customs of the Early Egyp- tians," Bircli's edition (W.); Eeuouf, " Hibberfc Lectures on tbe Religion of Ancient Egypt" (U.); Tiele's "Egy]itian Religion" (T.) ; " Memoirs of Egypt ]^:xploration Fund"; Murray's "Handbook for Egypt"; "Records of the Past"(Ii.P). ^ B THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION, race Las inliabited the Nilo valley for a number of cen- turies far surpassing ail ordinary chronology , and abun- dantly sufficing to account for the growth of the art, architecture, religion, and other evidences of civilisa- tion, which culminated at least two or three thousand years e.g. The religion which grew with this civilisation was in one sense still more polytheistic than the early Vedic, and it was more thoroughly local and tribal. Each locality, each town and village worshipped local Local deities. But there are extant texts which deities, indicate that at some early date the priests recognised that there was but one God, and that all the various forms of deity that were worshipped were but the manifestations of different aspects of the same Being, which they identified with the universe. We have abun- dant evidence that the earlier periods of the Egyptian religion were purer, and that its best features w^ere older than the absurdities and inconsistencies which formed so large a part of later worship. This is but like the Tendency to contrast between ancient Vedism and much of monotiieism. jnodern Hinduism. But it cannot be proved that anything like a pure monotheism existed primitively, which only developed later into polytheism. It is evident that the belief in one God and in many gods was held by the same men without the thought of inconsistency. Thus we find many expressions in wdiicli the almighty Power is referred to as one and supreme. If thou art a wise man, bring up thy son in the love of God.'' "God loveth the obedient, and hateth the disobedient.'' "Praised be God for all His gifts." "The God of the world is in the light above the firmament ; His emblems are upon earth ; it is to them that worship is rendered daily." And on the walls of the oasis-temple of El- Khargeh is an inscription from which the following recognition of the identity of this supreme God with all the gods is derived : " The gods salute his royal majesty (Amun-ra, the sun-god) as their Lord, who revealeth himself in all that is, and hath names in everything, from mountain to stream. That which per- sisteth in all things is Amon. This lordly god was from EGYPTIAN DEITIES, 3 the very beginning. Ho is Pfcah, the greaiosfc of tlio gods. . . . Each god lias assumed thy aspect. . . To thee all things that are give praise when thou re- turnest to the nether world at even. Thou raisest up Osiris by the radiance of thy beams. To thee those give praise who lie in their tombs. . . . The gods are in thine hand, and men are at thy feet. What god is like to thee? Thou hast made the double world, as Ptah. Thou hast placed thy throne in the life of the double EGYPTIAN DEITIES {a few out of viamj diverse representations). THE GOD OF THK WATERS. world, as Amon. . . . Thy form emanated at first whilst thou shinest as Amon, Ea, and Ptah. . . . Thou art Mentu Ra. Thou art Sekar ; thy transforma- tions are into the Nile. Thou art Youth and Age. Thou givest life to the earth by thy stream. Thou art heaven, thou art earth, thou art fire, thou art water, thou art air, and whatever is in the midst of them.'' (R.) The following extract from a hymn to Amen-ra still further exemplifies the idea of unity or supremacy among 4 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. tho gods : The One in Lis works, single among the Hymn to gocls ; the beautiful bull in the cycle of gods, Amen-ra. chief of all the gods, Lord of truth, Father of the gods, Maker of men. Creator of beasts, Lord of exist- ences. Creator of fruitful trees, Maker of herbs, Feeder . of cattle — good Being, begotten of Ptah, beautiful youth beloved : to whom the gods give honour ; Maker of things below and above, Enlightener of the Earth, sailing in heaven in tranquillity, . . . and the hymn con- tinues through a long series of most elevated phrases. In one part Ea is addressed as ''Athom, maker of men, supporting their works, giving them life, distinguishing the colour of one from another, listening to the poor in distress, gentle of heart when one cries to him, deliverer of the timid man from the violent, judging the poor, ^ the poor and the oppressed'' (R.P., vol. ii.) ; and one almost imagines he is reading one of the Hebrew Psalms of blessing. Many such splendid compositions have been found ; and we must realise that the people who had such conceptions stood at a high level, poetic and spiritual, and. that there must have been many besides the com- posers who reverenced their inspiration, and carefully preserved and valued its products. It is evident that this religion is, like the Vedic, at bottom a nature religion. Their mythology concentrated The itself mainly upon the daily recurring pheno- ^ nature^ ^ mena, especially of sunrise and sunset, and had religion, a large number of different stories about these events, often mutually inconsistent. Perhaps the oldest form under which the sun was worshipped was Ra, that being the common word for sun. The sky was imagined as a watery expanse, across which the sun-god travelled in a boat. Like the Aryan gods, he had to fight with the Ra, the sun demon of darkness, Apap, a serpent, who is god. pierced by the weapons of the god. He has many names, among which may be mentioned Harmachis as rising sun, and Tum, as the setting sun. He is gener- ally represented as a hawk-headed man, with the solar disc on his head. The sun's disc was termed his emblem, bub he was said to journey in it across the sky. The SlIU AND TEFNUT. 5 following quotation from tlie Book of the Dead will give an idea of the worship addressed to him: ^* Hail, thou who art come as Turn, and who hast been tlie creator of the gods ! Hail, thou who art come as soul of the holy souls in Amenti ! Hail, supreme among the gods, who by thy beauties dost illumine the kingdom of the dead ! Hail, thou who comest in radiance and travel- lest in thy disc ! Hail, greatest of all the gods, hearing rule in the highest, reigning in the nethermost heaven ! . . . Hail, renowned and glorified god! Thy enemies THE LIOW-nEADED GODDESS. THE CROCODILE-HEADED GOD. fall upon their scaffold ! Hail ! thou hast slain the guilty, thou hast destroyed Apap.'^ (T.) ^ Shu, the son of Ea, without a mother, represents the air, and also the principle of heat and light, shu and and as such is called the abode of the sun. But Tefnut. he is also said to be uncreated, the principle of creation, the life-giver, the young old, and by him righteousness and truth reign. Later he w^as made a sun-god, in miion with Ra, nnd is then represented as a male cat; but his ordinary figure is human. Tefnut, representing dew, 6 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION, foam, and ocean, is the wife of Shu, by whom the birth of all things is brought about. She is represented as a lioness. These three gods formed the cen- tral objects of Avorship at On (known The worship to the Greeks as Heliopolis, at On. the city of the sun). Its priests were notable for their learn- ing ; and it was an especial dis- tinction for Joseph to be married to a priest's daughter. This wor- ship continued influential, and was widely spread throughout Egypt to a late period. It was closely as- sociated with the belief in resurrec- tion and immortality. Osiriswas the chief god worshipped at Thinis and Abydos ; his parents were said to be Seb (earth) ^^^^^* and Nut (heaven). The myth of Osiris given by Plutarch, describing him as an Egyptian king, is but a late explanation ; but it seems that Osiris represents the good principle, and the Creator, always at war with evil, and especially with Seb, the destroyer, his brother, who is darkness. The myth, as given in the Book of the Dead " in vari- ous places, appears to show forth the sun's daily course, as well as the daily round of human life, both com- bating darkness and evil, continually succumbing and reviving. The as- pect in which Osiris was most thought of was that in which he is hidden ; and thus the dead were placed under his guardianship, and nearly all the inscrip- tions on tombs are addressed to him. As typifjdng the good principle, Osiris also represents Egypt and \he Nile. HALL OF THE TEMPLE AT PIIIL^E. 7 As liis worship spread widely, many local legends were adapted to liim, and we find in one chapter of the " Book of the Dead," a hundred names ascribed to liim. It would appear," says Tiele, "that so soon as his worsliip had established itself in any one place, Osiris took the lorm of the deity whose ancient seat it was, and the sacred animal of that particular . town or district was consecrated to him." Thus, at On and at Ab^^dos, he i THE EGYPTIAN RELIC I ON. was represented as tlie migratory bird Bennn, at Mem- phis as a species of ape and as a iofty pillar, surmounted by his complete headdress and emblems, indicating his abode in the highest heaven. Perhaps the most remarkable of the emblems of Osiris was the living bull, Apis, worshipped as an incarnation Apis "^^^ S^^^ ^'^^ temple of Ptah at Memphis. His movements and varying appetites wero IS/S. 9 carefully observed, and indeed regarded as giving oracu- lar indications. His life was not to extend beyond twenty- five years ; at this age he was put to death, and his successor sought for and recognised by certain markings. Thus the succession of these bulls ^^^P^^- fixed periods of chronology. When dead he was termed Serapis or Osarapis (Apis who has become Osiris) and lord of the under world. The Mendesian goat, termed the Eam, was an emblem of as well as of Osiris, worshipped at Mendes. Isis, the wife of Osiris, had temples in early Egypt, and had something in common with the Greek Demeter and Persephone. In later Egypt, especially ^^.^ under the Ptolemies, she became elevated to a most prominent position. Originally she represented chiefly festivity, and was mistress of heaven and daughter of Ea. She appears with a cow's head instead of a human one, or with a vulture-headdress, and also in the form of a female hippopotamus. All these symbols show how AMMOX, THE ALL-CREATING. PTAH, THE ALL-ACCOMPLTSniNG. 10 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. completely the early Egyptians recognised natural phe- nomena and animals as living manifestations of the gods. Horas is the son of Osiris and Isis, and his avenger ; thus he was identified with the rising sun. His name was associated with a whole group of gods representing the visible sun, and very like Ra in some forms. There are many myths about him which we cannot detail. He is always represented with the head of a hawk. Hathor, described both as the mother and wife of Horus, was very like Isis, and was worshipped throughout Egypt, as the female counterpart of Osiris. She was Hathor. q^^eej;^ q£ -^j^e heavens, both by day and by night, the giver of great gifts to Egypt. Thoth was the Egyptian moon-god, wearing the moon upon his head as crescent or full disc, but often repre- sented with the head of an ibis. Erom the moon being the measure of time, he becomes patron of all measurement, and hence of all science and letters, and of priestly culture. His influence steadily increased as the kingdom advanced in culture. Phtha, or Ptah, was the chief god of Memphis, repre- senting creative power, but not the sun distinctively. He was worshipped in a human form, and some- ^^^^* times as a pigmy. The gods were said to have come out of his mouth, and men from his eye. He was the god of justice and of beneficence to man. The frog-headed deity, Ka, is also a form of Ptah. Among other gods whom we can only briefly mention were Anubis, son of Osiris, the god presiding over mum- Anubis and mification, with four attendant subordinate Neith. divinities; and Neith, or Nit, a goddess wor- shipped specially at Sa'is, described as ^' the mother who bore the sun, the first-born, but not begotten.'^ We must also briefly mention the god Amen orAmmon (hidden or unrevealed deity), whose worship assumed such great proportions during later Egyptian his- Amun-ra. ^^^^^ Amen, his wife, Mut (the mother), and his son, Khonsu, formed the chief triad of gods worshipped at Thebes, especially from the eighteenth to the twentieth ANIMAL WORSHIP. dynasties. At this period lie was identified with Rfi, the sun-god, and named Amun-Ra. Later, he was regarded as the god of oracles ; and his oracle, in the oasis in the Libyan desert, was consulted by many foreign rulers and nations. Amen Avas often figured as a man seated on a throne, holding a sceptre in his right hand and a small cross witli a handle in his left. His headdress frequently had two huge feathers. Animal Worship became more marked in Egyptian OSIUIS, ISIS, JUDGE OP THE DEAD. ALL-BOUNTEOUS NATURE. religion than in Indian ; and there were fables repre- senting that the spirits of the principal animals Animal were supposed to be embodied in the Ivings. worship. In later times every important place had its sacred animal ; and it was a great part of the local religion to tend it, and to embalm and bury it with honour when dead ; and their mummies have been found in many places. The dog-headed ape (cynocephalus) at Thebes, the jackal at Kynopolis, mice and sparrowhawks at Butos, the ibis at 12 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. Hennopolis, Mempliis, and Thebes, tlio cat, the ram, the vulture, the ichneumon, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, at other places were waited on with the utmost care. Herodotus relates that the crocodile at Krokodilopolis, on Lake Moeris, had golden earrings, and rings on its fore- feet, was fed with meat and meal, and embalmed after death. No doubt the Egyptian animal worship represents an extreme form of animism. The Egyptians regarded ani- Animism "^^^i especially those most conspicuous for nimism. g^j.g-Qg|^]^^ power, or beauty, as incarnations of spirits, whose favour might be gained or displeasure averted by worship. This may have been originally quite apart from conceptions of gods ; but as the latter became more developed, it was imagined that the gods them- selves were symbolised or were inhabited by the animals. Later, these ideas grew and varied in different ways, and new animals were worshipped, because their names re- sembled more or less closely those of the gods. As the Egyptians worshipped animals, they also, at an early date, worshipped their kings. At first they were Deification Only SO worshipped after death, priests being of kings, appointed for their service ; but later, they were worshipped while alive, and temples were built for them by the side of their pyramids. This worship grew very expensive, so that Una, a high official in the fifth dynasty, boasts that he had built four sanctuaries in connection with great levies for public works, in order that the spirits of the living king, Merenra, might be invoked more than all the gods ; and the succession of priests of the several kings was kept up till a late date. The divine right of kings was never more zealously believed in or more devoutly expressed than by the Egyptians. What we should term, now-a-days, the most abject ser- vility, was an unquestioned commonplace among them ; and it by no means appears to have been first imposed by the kings themselves. Indeed, if an animal was regarded as an incarnation of a god, how much more a king ? Thus we find a disgraced servant imploring his king in this fashion : " Let god be gracious to him whom DEIFICA TION OF KINGS. 13 he lias removed, whom ho hns Lanishod to another lanrl, let him be mild as Efi.'^ AVlien restored to favour, ho cannot sufficiently express his adoration of the king. The great god, the equal of the sun-god, mocks me ! thy majesty is as Horus, the power of thy arm extends over all lands." When admitted once more to his pre- sence, he says : ^' The god spoke amicably to me. I was like one brought out of the darkness into the light. My tongue was dumb, my limbs refused their office, my heart was no longer in my body, so that I knew not whether HOtttb, NElil-HA, SON OF OSIEIS. A SUBTERIIA.NE AN DEITY. I lived or if I was dead." (T.) When such opinions prevailed, even among the common people, it is not sur- prising that the kings accepted with complacency the adoration offered to them. The China of to-day was outdone by ancient Egypt, and the king alone was fully competent to approach the gods in the temples with the priests. In many an inscription the king claims the empire over all nations and the whole world. Even the gods are represented as worshipping the living king. The god says to Rameses II., " I am thy father; by me 14 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. arc begotten all tliy members as divine. . . . Thou RUINS OF TEMPLE OF AMUN-Ba, KARNAK, EGYPT. art lord like the majesty of Ea ; the gods and goddesses TEMPLES. 15 are praising iliy benefits, adoring and sacrificing Ijcforo thine image/' And the king was said to posse-s the seven souls and the fourteen lias, or spirits of Ra. Yet the divinity assigned to the kings did not prevent them from worshipping the gods in the humblest attitudes. Perhaps the kings so utterly flattered really had some notion of their own insignificance before the Divine power. It would be as impossible to describe within our limits the Egyptian as the Indian or the Greek temples. They were erected, to a large extent, on a uniform plan, though differing considerably in details. '^^^P^®^- Each was built by a king in honour of some god or triad of gods ; and the motive was not that the people might worship the gods, but that the king might pay honour to them, and secure their future favours. The temples are always massive stone structures, surrounded by lofty brick walls, with fine entrances, sometimes flanked by huge broad towers sculptured with representations of the king's doings, either in war or peace. Within was an avenue of sphinxes ; images wherein the body of a lion was conjoined with a human head, denoting the combined excellence of mind and body of the king ; this might be interrupted by one or more portals, flasnked by huge side towers. Then came a portico opening into one or more fore-courts, through which a roofed enclosure was reached, adjoining the sacred sanctuary, which was low and comparatively small, and contained a sort of ark or chest, half covered by a veil or curtain, and contained in a boat. Both these were decorated with symbols of life, light and fertility. The ark contained a small image of the god, never seen, and supposed to have never been seen. Everywhere in the temple the deeds of the great king were celebrated in pictures and sculptures of various kinds, and records of them were engraved upon the walls. To the right and left of, or all round the central sanctu- ary, might be smaller courts in which special kinds of oiferings were made. Huge statues of the kings, obe- lisks, and other special Egyptian features were abundant. As a specimen of the greater temples we may mention i6 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION, that that of El-Kaniak, Thebes, lias a front SGOfeet \vide; the first court is 275 feet long ; the great roofed hall is 170 feet long by 329 feet wide, and its roof is supported by 134 columns, of which the twelve tallest are seventy feet high, and about 40 feeb in diameter, and form an avenue through the middle, the smaller columns forming groups on either side. Thus a marvellous effect, as of a forest of columns, is produced. It does not appear that the people performed their worship at any time in the temples ; they, if they had any special place of worship, probably had private chapels. The Egyptian priests were not a definite hereditary order, and were not absolutely confined to their priestly office. The priest of a god was often a The priests, ^^^^jj^j-^^^y i^aval commander, exercised the office of scribe, and was invested with the supervision of public works or local government. A general in the army could marry the daughter of a priest, and his chil- dren could be scribes, priests, or public functionaries.^' (W.) All this emphasised the power of the king, who was fully initiated as a priest, and was the head of the national religion. In fact, upon great occasions, the king himself offered the sacrifices ; he appointed and superin- tended the great festivals and regulated the sacrifices. But the extent to which the priests were employed in all the great offices of the State, and their function of expounding to the king his moral duties, gave them an aggregate influence transcending that of any other class. In fact, viewing the king as priest also, it must be acknow- ledged that, as in China, India, Greece, and Rome, the priests of Egypt practically ruled the country. The priests were very numerous, and formed many colleges, classed according to the god they specially served, Orders of and their various functions. Thus, there were priests, the prophets, who were the chief priests, four being attached to each principal god ; the divine fathers, who might become prophets ; the purifiers or washers, the incense-bearers, the funeral attendants, the bards, and others. There were also priestesses, divine wives and divine handmaids, singers, etc. ; and in the early Empire ORD/CA'S OF J'RlliSTS, 17 there Avere prophetesses, and these offices were hehl by queens, princes C3, and members of the noblest families. The priests and their famiUes had great privileges, were free from taxes, and received as a body one-tliird of the land, besides being provided for out of the public stores. The prophets had the greatest amount of learning about all religious matters, they also managed the priestly revenues, and they had a conspicuous place in religious processions. They kept their mysteries as secret as some of the Greek priesthoods, and only admitted to them those who had satisfied them of their high character and learn- ing. They paid great attention to the education of their children in all the science of the time, and kept up a strict discipline and severity of outward demeanour. They were strict as to the quantity and quality of their food — fish and the flesh of swine, pulse, etc., being strictly forbidden. They bathed twice in the day and twice in the night ; and they shaved the entire body every third day. Fasts of great length, from seven to forty- two daj^s, were observed by them, preceded by a period of purifica- — c ANUBIS, THE ESCOllT OF THE DEi-D. THOTH, THE MOON-GOD. i8 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGIOA, tion. They were circumcised at initiation (though this was very general among the people). Their ordinary garments were of linen, but the high priests wore an entire leopard's skin on great occasions ; they wore sandals of papyrus and palm leaves, and they lay either on skins on the ground, or on wickerwork beds of palm branches, the head being raised on a semi-cylinder of wood. The great occasions of Egyptian religion were the festi- vals and processions ; among these were the processions Festivals shrines, the dedication of temples ; the con- and veyance of the royal offerings to the gods ; the processions, j^i^-^g's coronation, and his triumphs on return- ing from war. The procession of shrines included a vari- able number of arks and their boats, carried by priests, by means of long staves passed through metal rings at the sides. A shrine of the reigning king might also be included in the procession, as well as the statue of the principal deity, of the king and of his ancestors. The shrine or shrines were brought into the temple, placed on a table, and decked with fresh flowers. Many offer- ings were made, on several altars, and the king offered incense and made a libation. The anointing of the king at his coronation was performed by the high priest in a similar manner to the anointing of the Jewish high priest ; but such anointing was an ordinary expression of welcome in Egypt. Many other ceremonies showed the intimate connection of the kings with the national religion; the king represented the whole nation and was everything in himself. The annual invocation of the Nile was one of the most important festivals. If this were not duly celebrated. Invocation the people believed the Nile would not rise of the Nile, and inundate the land. People assembled in the towns from all the villages around to take part in this festival, which was marked by hymns, music, and dancing, as well as feasting. A wooden statue of. the Nile-god was carried through the villages. A remark- able hymn or invocation to the Nile has been preserved, in which it is credited with divine honours. ^' 0 inun- dation of the Nile," it is said, offerings arc made to tlico, ORACLES. 19 o^ten are slain to thee, great festivals are kc[)t for tliee . . . unknown is his Name in heaven, he doth not manifest his forms, vain are all representations." (R.P. iv.) Many other festivals were held in celebration of the various qualities of the gods and of the recurring seasons. The festivals of Isis and Osiris were numerous and mag- nificent, and so many details are known that it is im- possible here to give even an outline of them ; but yet Sir Gardner Wilkinson remarks that the greater part of the fetes and religious rites of the Egyptians are totally unknown to us." How thoroughly, therefore, the religious element entered into Egyptian as into Indian and Chinese life! The Egyptians offered animal sacrifices to all their gods, as well as cakes and wine, incense, flowers, and herbs. Oxen were prominent among the victims, which Animal also included gazelles, ibexes, geese, and wild sacrifices, fowl, but not sheep. The right shoulder was generally the part first offered on the altar. The king was present at the daily sacrifices, when the people prayed for him, and the priests praised him and warned him against the faults of other kings, caused by ill advice having been given to them. The king himself inspectec] the entrails of the victim and performed some of the ceremonies of sacrifice. There is no distinct evidence that human sacrifices were ever made in Egypt within historic times ; and indeed, at the earliest time we can clearly read, they seem to have advanced beyond the idea that human victims are required by the gods. We have already seen how important a place oracles came to occupy in Grreece; but the G-reeks themselves confessed that they were of late institution among themselves, and had been derived from Egypt. The most famous oracles were those of Thebes, of Buto, of Heliopolis, and of Ammon, in Libya, the giving of oracles being a function of some gods only. In some temples questions were taken to the temple in writing, and sealed ; and answers were given in the same fashion, and supposed to have been inspired or given by the god. The oracle of Ammon ^vas highly celebrated 20 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. in foreign countries. In some cases oracles were spontane- ously sent, to warn, censure, or command prominent per- sons or States. Astrology was also largely Astrology, cultivated in connection with the temples ; and future events were predicted by the indications of the stars. These predictions gained high repute in the ancient world through their frequent accuracy. It is in the funeral rites and literature of the Egyptians that we come upon some of the most interesting features Life after of their religion. That they very early had a death, belief in a continuous life after the death of the body is indubitable. Every human soul being sup- posed to have a divine part which returned to the deity after death, the good were believed to attain reunion with the deity, and consequently received the name Osiris. The deceased person's body was bound up so as to bear a resemblance to Osiris ; and offerings were made to Osiris after the burial, in the deceased's name. Sacri- fices and liturgies were offered to Osiris by the priests in the presence of the mourners ; and these were repeated on a greater or less scale as long and as frequently as the family were willing to pay for them. Sometimes the special funeral songs composed for a festival or anniversary attained great beauty. Thus, A funeral when we read such a song as this of the harper, song. dating from the eighteenth dynasty, we are irresistibly reminded of passages in the Bible ; and this is older than a large proportion if not all of the Hebrew Psalms. The great one is truly at rest, the good charge is fulfilled. Men pass away since the time of Ea, and the youths come in their stead. Like as Ea reappears every morning, and Turn sets in the horizon, men are begetting and women are conceiving. Every nostril in- haleth once the breezes of dawn, but all born of women go down to their places. ... No works of buildings in Egypt could avail ; his resting-place is all his wealth. Let me return to know what remaineth of him. Not the least moment could be added to his life. Those who have magazines full of bread to spend, even they shall encounter the hour of a last end. . . . Mind thee OSIRIS 771 IC JU7)GIC OF 77 Hi DIIAI). 21 of the day wlioii thou too slialt start for the land to whicli one goeth to return not thence. Good for thee, then, will have been an honest life, therefore be just and hate transgressions. The coward and the bold, neither can fly the grave, the friendless and proud are alike." (R.P. vi.) The treatment of the deceased after death and the general practices of the Egyptians in regard to death showed that, as Diodorus says, they re- garded the tombs as ''eter- nal dwelling-places," and this idea goes very far back in the records. Only the evil are spoken of as actually dead. The great- est importance was at- tached to the permanence of the religious ceremonies forthe dead, just as among the Chinese, and the mo- tive of building the Great Pyramids was to perpetu- ate the dwelling-place of the dead kings for ever. The supposed fate of the dead, as related by Hero- dotus, quite Osiris the corr e spends judge of the with the sculp- tures, pictures, and in- scriptions. He describes the principal office of Osiris as being that of judging the dead in the under-world (Amenti) ; seated on his throne, he received an account of the actions of the dead as re- THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. corded by Tlioth, liis actions having first been weighed in tlie scales of Truth by Anubis, who, assisted by Horus, placed the heart, as typifying virtuous actions of the deceased, in the balance against the figure of the tv/ofold goddess of Truth and Justice. Sometimes the deceased are represented as wearing round their necks the emblem which appears in the scales, signifying their acceptance. Those who had done evil were supposed to pass in suc- cession into the bodies of different animals, the number and kinds of the animals depending upon their guilt ; it is however a disputed point whether this view was really held by the Egyptians. These views are borne out by the manuscript and inscribed writings found in Egyptian tombs and known "The Book of as The Book of the Dead,'*' or the ''Eitual the Dead." Qf Dead," containing prayers mostly sup- posed to be recited by the deceased in the underworld, but always recited in his name by those present at the funeral ceremonies. In many cases, however, there is great difficulty in ascertaining the precise meaning of expres- sions, owing to the carelessness of copyists, and to differ- ent readings. Much of it dates from the early dynasties, and implies a complete knowledge of the early mythology. In it the happy dead are represented as leading a life like that on earth; the gods provide their food and admit them to their tables. Even agricultural employments are attributed to them. But they were believed also to be able to traverse the whole universe in every desired shape and form. Through their identification with Osiris and their utterance of words of power,'' they can pass unhurt in any direction. In some chapters of the Ritual the limbs of the deceased are each separately identified with a distinct god. In one chapter it is said that Whom men know not" (a mode of referring to a god without naming his revered name) is his name. The ''yesterday which sees endless years is his name. The deceased is the lord of eternity." (E.) His soul, his Ra or genius, and his shadow are all given back to him ; he overcomes in combat crocodiles, serpents, etc., and successfully sur- mounts all kinds of diflEiculties and dangers, to which RECITALS TO THE GODS TOR THE DEAD. 23 evidently those of evil life or not protected by the gods would succumb. The recitals made by the deceased to the gods indicate the virtues which were highly esteemed. Thus : ^' I am not a doer of fraud and iniquity against men. I am not a doer of that which is crooked in place of that wdiicli is right. ... I do not force a labouring j^g.^^ais to man to do more than his daily task. . . . the gods I do not calumniate a servant to his master ; I do not cause hunger; I do not cause weeping; I am not 24 rilE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. a murderer ; I do not give order to murder privily ; I am not guilty of fraud against any one ; I am not a falsifier of tlie measures in the temples/' Even inward faults or crimes are referred to in this way by implication, such as causing pain of mind to another, turning a deaf ear tc the words of truth and justice ; and sins against chastity are included in the list of sins disclaimed. These quota- tions are contained in the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead/' and are believed to represent the oldest known code of morals. It is entitled : Book of entering into the Hall of the twofold Maat : the person parts from his sins that he may see the divine faces." The twofold Maat is the twofold god of Truth and Justice, represented by a double figure. There are other ancient Egyptian books of great inter- est, which we cannot detail. Such are the book which other describes the course of the sun through the Egyptian night, the twelve divisions of his journey, and toooks. ^j^^ names of the gods of each locality ; the Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys, supposed to be recited by the two sisters of Osiris in order to bring about his resurrection, and actually recited by priests over the dead ; the Book of glorifying Osiris,'^ ^' the Book of the Breaths of Life,'' etc., etc. The influence of the Egyptian ideas about the future state was markedly shown in the preliminary proceedings Prcceeaings at the sacred lake which was constructed near at the or in every city or centre. The body of a ' deceased person was brought to the borders of the lake, and a number of judges were assembled to hear any accusation of evil life that might be brought against the deceased. On sufficient proof, ceremonial burial and transport across the sacred lake were denied ; while a false accusation subjected the accuser to heavy penalties. If no accuser appeared, or if accusations were disproved, the relations praised the dead person, enlarg- ing on his virtues, and begging the gods below to receive him as a companion of the pious ; and if the family already possessed special tombs, the funeral then pro- ceeded. But the denial of honourable burial was con- 26 THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION, share in this feeling was due to the triumph enjoyed by the enemies of the family. Tliere appears, however, to have been a way of escape ; crimes might be thus punish- able for limited periods; and thus when the priests had been sufficiently paid to make continuous prayers for them, and the sorrowing relatives showed sufficient religi- ous devotion, it was believed that the evil destiny could finally be removed from the deceased. Many persons of course had no money to go through this ceremony of the sacred lake at all, or to be embalmed, and such had to be buried on the shores of the lake, or in the houses of their relatives. Even kings had to go through the ordeal of possible accusation and judgment, and in several cases a public honourable funeral was refused to them. The descriptions of mummies and embalming, besides being very well known, would lead us too far from our Objects niain subject. We may note that the tombs buried with of rich persons had various objects of value the dead. pirj^(ng(j \^ them, such as vases, some with the heads of the genii of Amen-ti, and small images of the deceased, papyri with sacred or other writings upon them, tablets of stone or wood decorated with funeral subjects or narratives relating to the deceased, and many objects con- nected with the deceased's profession. Some of the little figures, in all kinds of materials, had their arms crossed like Osiris, with whom the dead became identified, and bearing hieroglyphics containing the deceased's name and rank and the formulae of presentation of his soul to Osiris. These figures, which only commence in the eighteenth dynasty, were called ^'respondents" in the Ritual of the Dead," being imagined to answer the deceased's call for aid to do various agricultural work for him in the other world. One of these has engraved on it a chapter of the ritual, entitled '' Avoiding," or ''How not to do Work in Hades," showing that in that degenerate period the Egyptians were greatly concerned to avoid the toils of the future. In some respects Egyptian morals present a favourable picture; in others, the kings appear as trying varied ex- periments in social legislation and regulation ; in others, EGYPTIAN MORALS. morals fared but badly. Truth and justice were sought to be attained, but sometimes by primitive Egyptian methods. False oaths were even punished with moraia. death ; and a man who slandered the dead was severely punished ; whilst a false accuser was condemned to the same punishment as the accused would have deserved if guilty. Wilful murder, even of a slave, was punishable with death ; and the witness who did not try to prevent the crime was similarly punished. Parricide was pun- ished with torture before death. Child-murder was visited, not with death, but with the strange punishment of spend- ing three days and nights with the dead body fastened to the neck of the culprit under a public guard. Adultery in a woman was punished by loss of the nose; forgery and falsification of weights and measures by loss of the hands. Many offences which are now visited with im- prisonment were visited with the bastinado. Usury was condemned, and interest was never allowed to increase beyond double the original sum. Only goods, not persons, could be seized for debt, the person being the property of the king or of the State. At an early period people were required to give in pledge for borrowed money the mummy of a father or near relative, a deposit certain to be redeemed if at all possible, for if it were not redeemed the debtor could not be buried with the usual ceremonies, or in any honourable place. Luxury and vice had their place in Egypt as in every other rich country ; but we do not find evidence that Egypt was worse than other nations, if so bad. Women occupied a considerable place in society and in politics, and were by no means kept as secluded as in modern Oriental life. One wife was the rule, but not the limit ; and the kings had as many wives as they pleased ; the marriage of brothers and sisters Avas however allowed. All children, by whatever mother, shared in the inheritance. Sons were required to pay great deference to their parents and to serve them much as in China. Their respect for old age and for elder strangers, reverence for ancestors and for the monarch, remind one of marked features in the Chinese, and suggest that if the Egyptians and the Chinese did not 2S THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION. derive their religion from a common source in a far-distant past, they were at least founded on such deeply implanted instincts or such naturally growing perceptions that strik- ingly similar results appeared in widely different nations. Whether Egypt was the original home or not of the divine right of kings, it was there very early and markedly believed in ; and the king's actions, unless flagrantly injurious, were celebrated as great benefits to the nation, and his funeral was marked by extreme magnificence and by prolonged fasting and mourning. The whole country, in fact, belonged to the gods, who regarded it with special affection, and conferred on it all its great institutions. It was not wonderful that the Israelites should have been powerfully influenced by what they saw in Egypt, or that they should cast longing eyes back to its gorgeous forms and objects of worship, and seek to introduce some of them among or in addition to the features more peculiarly their own. It is noteworthy how frequently the Egyptian inscrip- tions praise the strictest truthfulness and works of charity. High esteem Thus we read of one man : " Doing that which of truth and is right, and hating that which is wrong, I was chanty. ]t)j'ead to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a refuge to him that was in want ; that which I did to him, the great God hath done to me.'' Again, ''I was one who did that which was pleasing to his father and his mother; the joy of his brethren, the friend of his companions, noble-hearted to all those of his city. I gave bread to the hungry ; my doors were open to those who came from without, and I gave them where- with to refresh themselves. And God hath inclined his countenance to me for what I have done ; he hath given me old age upon earth, in long and pleasant duration, with many children at my feet.'' (R.) It must be remembered that these commendations, though put in the mouth of the deceased, were the work of his survivors ; even if they are not strictly accurate, they show what features of conduct were considered worthy of praise in view of the eternal world, and therefore they have a wide-reaching significance in our estimate of the character of the ancient Egyptians. THE EGYPTIAN RELIGIOA. It is singular to find, in a song of a king so early as the eleventh dynasty, ideas which are famiUar to us in sinijuiar niuch later book of Ecclesiastes. Herodotus custom describes a custom which may be connected at banquets, ^i^]^ the recitation of some song. He says: At the entertainments of the rich, just as the company is about to rise from the repast, a small coffin is carried round, containing a perfect representation of a dead body, . . . as it is shown to the guests in rotation, the bearer exclaims, ^ Cast your eyes on this figure : after death you yourself will resemble it ; drink then, and be happy.' " The song, after reciting that the body passes away, goes on, ^' After all, what is prosperity? Their fenced walls are dilapidated. Their houses are as that which has never existed. No man comes from thence who tells of their sayings, who tells of their affairs, who en- courages their hearts. Ye go to the place whence they return not. Strengthen thy heart to forget how thou hast enjoyed thyself, fulfil thy desire whilst thou livest. . . . The day will come to thee, when one hears not the voice, when the one who is at rest hears not their voices. Lamentations deliver not him who is in the tomb. Feast in tranquillity, seeing that there is no one who carries away his goods with him. Yea, behold, none who goes thither comes back again.'' (R. P. iv.) Altogether, in considering the moral nature of Egyptian religious teaching, we cannot but give it a high place. The standard set up was high, an ideal excellence was aimed at and praised ; and if the people failed ultimately to keep up to that level, it was scarcely for want of knowledge or opportunity. All the systems of religion we have yet surveyed seem to have gone through stages of development and degeneracy, as if human religions were in themselves endowed with bodily or mental life which they were compelled to imitate by decay and death, as well as by stages of growth, assimilation, and differentiation. CHAPTER II. Cftc Babylonian, ^s^sprian, anii ^PIjcDmcian