35. Iseum of Beneventum; cf. Notizie debgli scavi di ant., 1904, pp. 107 ff. Iseum of the Campus Martius: see Lanciani, Bollet. communale di Roma, 1883, pp. 33 ff.; Marucchi, ibid., 1890, pp. 307 f.—The signa Memphitica (made of Memphian marble), are mentioned in an inscription (Dessau, Inscr. sel., 4367-8).—The term used in connection with Caracalla: "Sacra Isidis Romam deportavit," which Spartianus (Carac., 9; cf. Aur. Vict., Cæs., 21, 4) no longer understood, also seems to refer to a transfer of sacred Egyptian monuments. At Delos a statue of a singer taken from some grave of the Saïs period had been placed in the temple. Everything Egyptian was looked upon as sacred. (Ruhl, op. cit., p. 53).
36. Gregorovius, Gesch. des Kaisers Hadrian, pp. 222 ff.; cf. Drexler, loc. cit., p. 410.
37. The term is Wiedemann's.
38. Naville, op. cit., pp. 89 ff.
39. On the ἱερογαμματεύς Cheremon, see Otto, Priester und Tempel II, p. 216; Schwartz in Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., III, col. 2025 ff.
40. Doctrines of Plutarch: cf. Decharme, Traditions religieuses chez les Grecs, pp. 486 ff. and supra, ch. I, n. 20.
41. I did not mention Hermetism, made prominent by the researches of Reitzenstein, because I believe its influence in the Occident to have been purely literary. To my knowledge there is no trace in the Latin world of an Hermetic sect with a clergy and following. The Heliognostae or Deinvictiaci who, in Gaul, attempted to assimilate the native Mercury with the Egyptian Thoth, (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 49, n. 2; cf. 359), were Christian gnostics. I believe that Reitzenstein misunderstood the facts when he stated (Wundererzählungen, 1906, p. 128): "Die hermetische Literatur ist im zweiten und dritten Jahrhundert für alle religiös-interessierten der allgemeine Ausdruck der Frömmigkeit geworden." I believe that Hermetism, which is used as a label for doctrines of very different origin, was influenced by "the universal spirit of devotion," and was not its creator. It was the result of a long continued effort to reconcile the Egyptian traditions first with Chaldean astrology, then with Greek philosophy, and it became transformed simultaneously with the philosophy. But this subject would demand extended development. It is admitted by Otto, the second volume of whose book has been published since the writing of these lines, that not even during the Hellenistic period was there enough theological activity of the Egyptian clergy to influence the religion of the times. (Priester und Tempel, II, pp. 218-220).
42. Plut, De Isid., 9.
43. Apul., Metam., XI, 5.
44. CIL X, 3800 = Dessau, Inscr. sel., 4362.
45. See the opening pages of this chapter.
46. Plut,. De Iside et Osir., 52; cf. Hermes Trismegistus, Ὅροι Ἀσκληπίου, c. 16; and Reitzenstein, Poimandres, p. 197.
47. Cf. Naville, op. cit., pp. 170 ff.
48. Juv., VI, 489: "Isiacae sacraria lenae"; cf. Friedländer, Sittengeschichte, I6, p. 502.
49. In a recent book Farnell has brilliantly outlined the history of the ritual of purification and that of the conception of purity throughout antiquity (Evolution of Religion, London, 1905, pp. 88-192), but unfortunately he has not taken Egypt into account where the primitive forms have been maintained with perhaps the fewest alterations.
50. Juv., VI, 522 ff.
51. Friedländer, Sittengeschichte, I6, p. 510.—On this transformation of the Isis cult, cf. Réville, op. cit., p. 56.
52. Plut., De Iside, c. 2; cf. Apul., Met., XI, 6, end.
53. Ælius Arist., In Sarap., 25 (II, p. 359, Keil ed.); see Diodorus, I, 93, and Apuleius, XI, 6, end.—On future rewards and punishments in Hermetism, see Ps.-Apul., Asclepius, c. 28; Lydus, De mensib., IV, 32 and 149, Wünsch ed.
54. Porph., Epist. ad Aneb., 29. The answer of the Ps.-Iamblichus (de Myst., VI, 5-7) is characteristic. He maintained that these threats were addressed to demons; however, he was well aware that the Egyptians did not distinguish clearly between incantations and prayers (VI, 7, 5).
55. Cf. G. Hock, Griechische Weihegebräuche, 1905, pp. 65 ff. Ps.-Apul., Asclep., 23: "Homo fictor est deorum qui in templis sunt et non solum inluminatur, verum etiam inluminat"; c. 37: "Proavi invenerunt artem qua efficerent deos." Cf. George Foucart, loc. cit. [n. 61]: "La statuaire égyptienne a, avant tout autre, le caractère de créer des êtres vivants."
56. Maspero, Sur la toute-puissance de la parole (Recueil de travaux, XXIV), 1902, pp. 163-175; cf. my Récherches sur le manichéisme, p. 24, n. 2.—The parallelism between the divine and the sacerdotal influence is established in Ps.-Apul., Asclepius, 23.
57. Iamblichus, Myst., VI, 6; cf. G. Foucart, La méthode comparative et l'histoire des religions, 1909, p. 131, 141, 149 ff. and infra, n. 66. The Egyptians prided themselves on having been the first "to know the sacred names and to use the sacred speech" (Luc., De Dea Syr., 1).
58. This has been proven by Otto, Priester und Tempel, I, pp. 114 ff. Cf. supra, chap. II, n. 35. Certain busts have recently inspired Mr. Dennison to give his attention to the tonsure of the votaries of Isis (American Journ. of Archeology, V, 1905, p. 341). The Pompeian frescoes representing priests and ceremonies of the Isis cult are particularly important for our knowledge of the liturgy (Guimet, C. R. Acad. des Inscr., 1896, pls. VII-IX. Cf. von Bissing, Transact. congr. relig. Oxford, 1908, I, pp. 225 ff.).
59. CIL, XII, 3061: "Ornatrix fani."
60. Cf. Kan, De Iove Dolicheno, 1901, p. 33.
61. Cf. Moret, Le rituel du culte divin journalier en Egypte, Paris, 1902. Just as the ritual of consecration brought the statue to life (supra, n. 55), the repeated sacrifices sustained life, and made it longa durare per tempora (Ps.-Apul., Asclep., 38). The epithet of ἀείζωος, given to several divinities (CIG, 4598; Griech. Urkunden of Berlin, I, No. 124), expresses it exactly. All this is in conformity with the old ideas prevailing in the valley of the Nile (see George Foucart, Revue des idées, Nov. 15, 1908).—When compared with the Egyptian ceremonial, the brief data scattered through the Greek and Latin authors become wonderfully clear and coherent.
62. Apul., XI, 22: "Rituque sollemni apertionis celebrato ministerio." Cf. XI, 20: "Matutinas apertiones templi."
63. Jusephus, Ant. Jud., XVIII, 3, 5, § 174.
64. Servius ad Verg., Aen., IV, 512: "In templo Isidis aqua sparsa de Nilo esse dicebatur"; cf. II, 116. When, by pouring water taken from the river, reality took the place of this fiction, the act was much more effective; see Juv. VII, 527.
65. This passage, together with a chapter from Apuleius (XI, 20), is the principal text we have in connection with the ritual of those Isis matins. (De Abstin., IV, 9):
Ὥς που ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐν τῇ ἀνοίξει τοῦ ἁγίου Σαράπιδος ἡ θεραπεία διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος γίνεται, λείβοντος τοῦ ὑμνωδοῦ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ πῦρ φαίνοντος, ὁπηνίκα ἑστὼς ἐπὶ τοῦ οὐδοῦ τῇ πατρίῳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων φωνῇ ἐγείρει τὸν θεόν.
Arnobius (VII, 32) alludes to the same belief of the votaries of Isis: "Quid sibi volunt excitationes illae quas canitis matutini conlatis ad tibiam vocibus? Obdormiscunt enim superi remeare ut ad vigilias debeant? Quid dormitiones illae quibus ut bene valeant auspicabili salutatione mandatis?"
66. On the power of "barbarian names" see my Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 313, n. 4; Dieterich, Mithrasliturgie, pp. III ff. Cf. Charles Michel, Note sur un passage de Jamblique (Mélanges, Louis Havet), 1909, p. 279.—On the persistence of the same idea among the Christians, cf. Harnack, Ausbreitung des Christ., I, pp. 124 ff.; Heitmüller, Im Namen Jesu, Göttingen, 1903 (rich material).
67. Apul., Met., XI, 9.
68. CIL, II, 3386 = Dessau, Inscr. sel., 442; cf. 4423.
69. Apul., XI, 24; cf. Lafaye, pp. 118 ff. Porphyry (De Abstin., IV, 6) dwells at length on this contemplative character of the Egyptian devotion: The priests ἀπέδοσαν ὅλον τὸν βίον τῇ τῶν θεῶν θεωρίᾳ καὶ θεάσει.
70. In the Pharaonic ritual the closing ceremony seems to have taken place during the morning, but in the Occident the sacred images were exposed for contemplation, and the ancient Egyptian service must, therefore, have been divided into two ceremonies.
71. Herodotus, II, 37.
72. Cf. Maspero, Rev. critique, 1905, II, p. 361 ff.
73. Apul., Metam., XI, 7 ff.—This festival seems to have persisted at Catana in the worship of Saint Agatha; cf. Analecta Bollandiana, XXV, 1906, p. 509.
74. Similar masquerades are found in a number of pagan cults (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 315), and from very early times they were seen in Egypt; see von Bissing, loc. cit., n. 58, p. 228.
75. The pausarii are mentioned in the inscriptions; cf. Dessau, Inscr. sel., 4353, 4445.
76. Schäfer, Die Mysterien des Osiris in Abydos unter Sesostris III, Leipsic, 1904; cf. Capart, Rev. hist, relig., LI, 1905, p. 229, and Wiedemann, Mélanges Nicole, pp. 574 ff. Junker, "Die Stundenwachen in den Osirismysterien" (Denkschrift Akad. Wien, LIV) 1910.
77. In the Abydos mysteries, the god Thoth set out in a boat to seek the body of Osiris. Elsewhere it was Isis who sailed out in quest of it. We do not know whether this scene was played at Rome; but it certainly was played at Gallipoli where make-believe fishermen handled the nets in a make-believe Nile; cf. P. Foucart, Rech. sur les myst. d'Eleusis (Mém. Acad. Inscr., XXXV), p. 37.
78. Cheremon in Porphyry, Epist. ad Aneb., 31:
Καὶ τὰ κρυπτὰ τῆς Ἴσιδος ἐπαινεῖ καὶ τὸ ἐν Ἀβύδῳ ἀπόρρητον δείξει.
Cf. Iamblichus, De myster., VI, 5-7.—On the "mysteries" of Isis in Egypt, cf. Foucart, loc. cit., p. 19 f.; De Jong, De Apuleio Isiacorum mysteriorum teste, Leyden, 1900, pp. 79 f., and Das antike Mysterienwesen, Leyden, 1909.
79. Cf. supra.—De Jong, op. cit., pp. 40 ff.; Gruppe, Griech. Mythol., p. 1574.
80. La Cité antique, I, ch. II, end.
81. Cf. Erman, op. cit., pp. 96-97.
82. Sufficient proof is contained in the bas-reliefs cited above (n. 20), where apotheosized death assumes the shape of Serapis. Compare Kaibel, Inscr. gr., XIV, 2098: Εὐψύχι μετὰ τοῦ Ὀσείριδος. This material conception of immortality could be easily reconciled with the old Italian ideas, which had persisted in a dormant state in the minds of the people, see Friedländer, Sittengeschichte, III6, p. 758.
83. Reitzenstein, Archiv für Religionswiss., VII, 1904, 406 ff. These are perhaps the most striking pages written on the meaning of the ceremony; it is an ἀπαθανατισμός. Cf. also Reitzenstein, Hellenistische Wundererzählungen, p. 116.
84. Apul., Metam., 23.—De Jong, the latest commentator on this passage, seems inclined to take it as a mere ecstatic vision, but the vision was certainly caused by a dramatic scene in the course of which hell and heaven were shown in the dark.—The Egyptians represented them even on the stage; see Suetonius, Calig., 8: "Parabatur et in mortem spectaculum quo argumenta inferorum per Aegyptios et Aethiopas explicarentur."
85. Apul., Met., XI, 6 end.
86. Ibid., c. 24: "Inexplicabili voluptate < aspectu > divini simulacri perfruebar."
87. Plut., De Isid., 78, p. 383 A:
Ὡς ἂν ἐξηρτημέναις (ταῖς ψυχαῖς) ἀπ' αύτοῦ (τοῦ Ὀσίριδος) καὶ θεωμέναις ἀπλήστως καὶ ποθούσαις τὸ μὴ φατὸν μηδὲ ῥητὸν ἀνθρώποις κάλλος.
89. We find similar wishes on the Egyptian monuments, frequently at least since the Middle Empire. "Donnez-moi de l'eau courante à boire.... Mettez-moi la face au vent du nord sur le bord de l'eau et que sa fraîcheur calme mon cœur" (Maspero, Etudes égyptiennes, I, 1881, p. 189). "Oh, si j'avais de l'eau courante à boire et si mon visage était tourné vers le vent du nord" (Naville,op. cit., p. 174). On a funerary stele in the Brussels museum (Capart, Guide, 1905, p. 71) is inscribed, "Que les dieux accordent de boire l'eau des sources, de respirer les doux vents du nord."—The very material origin of this wish appears in the funeral texts, where the soul is shown crossing the desert, threatened with hunger and thirst, and obtaining refreshment by the aid of the gods (Maspero, Etudes de mythol. et d'archéol. égypt., 1883, I, pp. 366 ff.).—On a tablet at Petilia (see supra, n. 22), the soul of the deceased is required to drink the fresh water (ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ) flowing from the lake of Memory in order to reign with the heroes. There is nothing to prevent our admitting with Foucart ("Myst. d'Eleusis," Mém. Acad. des Inscr., XXXV, 2, p. 67), that the Egyptian ideas may have permeated the Orphic worship of southern Italy after the fourth or third century, since they are found expressed a hundred years earlier at Carpentras (infra, n. 90).
90. Δοίη σοι ὁ Ὄσιρις τὸ ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ, at Rome: Kaibel, Inscr. gr. XIV. 1488, 1705, 1782, 1842; cf. 658 and CIL, VI, 3, 20616.—Σοὶ δὲ Ὀσείριδος ἁγνὸν ὕδωρ Εἶσις χαρίσαιτο, Rev. archéol., 1887, p. 199, cf. 201.—Ψυχῇ διψώσῃ ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ μετάδος, CIG, 6267 = Kaibel, 1890. It is particularly interesting to note that almost the same wish appears on the Aramaic stele of Carpentras (C. I. Sem., II, 141), which dates back to the fourth or fifth century B. C.: "Blessed be thou, take water from in front of Osiris."—A passage in the book of Enoch manifestly inspired by Egyptian conceptions, mentions the "spring of water," the "spring of life," in the realm of the dead (Enoch, xxii. 2, 9. Cf. Martin, Le livre d'Hénoch, 1906, p. 58, n. 1, and Bousset, Relig. des Judentums, 1903, p 271). From Judaism the expression has passed into Christianity. Cf. Rev. vii. 17; xxi. 6.
91. The Egyptian origin of the Christian expression has frequently been pointed out and cannot be doubted; see Lafaye, op. cit., p. 96, n. 1; Rohde, Psyche, II, p. 391; Kraus, Realencycl. der christl. Alt., s. v. "Refrigerium"; and especially Dieterich, Nekyia, pp. 95 ff. Cf. Perdrizet, Rev. des études anc., 1905, p. 32; Audollent, Mélanges Louis Havet, 1909, p. 575.—The refrigerii sedes, which the Catholic Church petitions for the deceased in the anniversary masses, appears in the oldest Latin liturgies, and the Greeks, who do not believe in purgatory, have always expressed themselves along the same lines. For instance, Nubian inscriptions which are in perfect agreement with the euchology of Constantinople hope the soul will rest ἐν τόπῳ χλοερῷ, ἐν τόπῳ ἀναψύξεως (G. Lefebvre, Inscr. gr. chrét. d'Eg., No. 636, 664 ff., and introd., p. xxx; cf. Dumont, Mélanges, Homolle ed., pp. 585 ff.). The detail is not without significance because it furnishes a valuable indication as to the Egyptian origin of prayer for the dead; this is unknown to Graeco-Roman paganism which prayed to the deified dead but never for the dead as such. The Church took this custom from the Synagogue, but the Jews themselves seem to have taken it from the Egyptians during the Hellenistic period, undoubtedly in the course of the second century (S. Reinach, Cultes, mythes, I, p. 325), just as they were indebted to the Egyptians for the idea of the "spring of life" (supra, n. 90). The formula in the Christian inscriptions cited,
ἀνάπαυσον τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν κόλποις Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ,
appears to indicate a transposition of the doctrine of identification with Osiris. In this way we can explain the persistence in the Christian formulary of expressions, like requies aeterna, corresponding to the most primitive pagan conceptions of the life of the dead, who were not to be disturbed in their graves.—A name for the grave, which appears frequently in Latin epitaphs, viz., domus aeterna (or aeternalis) is undoubtedly also of Egyptian importation. In Egypt, "la tombe est la maison du mort, sa maison d'étérnite, comme disent les textes" (Capart, Guide du musée de Bruxelles, 1905, p. 32). The Greeks were struck by this expression which appears in innumerable instances. Diodorus of Sicily (I, 51, § 2) was aware that the Egyptians
τοὺς τῶν τετελευτηκότων τάφους ἀϊδίους οἴκους προσαγορεύουσιν, ὡς ἐν Ἅιδου διατελούντων τὸν ἄπειρον αἰῶνα (cf. I, 93, § 1, εἰς τὴν αἰώνιον οἴκησιν).—
It is probable that this appellation of the tomb passed from Egypt into Palestine and Syria. It appears already in Ecclesiastes, xii. 7 (beth ’olam = "house of eternity"), and it is found in Syrian epigraphy (for instance in inscriptions of the third century (Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1906, p. 123), also in the epigraphy of Palmyra. (Chabot, Journal asiatique, 1900, p. 266, No. 47)).—Possibly the hope for consolation, Εὐψύχει, οὐδεὶς ἀθάνατος, frequently found engraved upon tombs even in Latin countries was also derived from the Egyptian religion, but this is more doubtful. Εὐψύχει is found in the epitaphs of initiates in the Alexandrian mysteries. Kaibel, Inscr. gr., XIV, 1488, 1782 (Εὐψυχεῖ κυρία καὶ δοίη σοι ὁ Ὄσιρις τὸ ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ), 2098 (cf. supra, n. 90). Possibly the twofold meaning of εὔψυχος which stands both for animosus and frigidus (see Dieterich, Nekyia, loc. cit.) has been played upon. But on the other hand, the idea contained in the formula "Be cheerful, nobody is immortal," also inspired the "Song of the Harpist," a canonical hymn that was sung in Egypt on the day of the funeral. It invited the listener to "make his heart glad" before the sadness of inevitable death (Maspero, Etudes égyptiennes, I, 1881, pp. 171 ff.; cf. Naville, op. cit., p. 171).
V. SYRIA.
Bibliography: The Syrian religions have been studied with especial attention to their relation with Judaism: Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, 2 vols., Leipsic, 1876. The same author has published veritable monographs on certain divinities (Astarte, Baal, Sonne, etc.) in the Realencyclopädie für prot. Theol., of Herzog-Hauck, 3d ed.—Bäthgen, Beiträge zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, Berlin, 1888.—W. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites, 2d. ed., London, 1894.—Lagrange, Etudes sur les religions sémitiques, 2d ed., Paris, 1905. The results of the excavations in Palestine, which are important in regard to the funeral customs and the oldest idolatry, have been summarized by Father Hugues Vincent, Canaan d'après l'exploration récente, 1907.—On the propagation of the Syrian religions in the Occident, see Réville, op. cit., pp. 70 et passim; Wissowa, Religion der Römer, pp. 299 ff.; Gruppe, Griech. Mythol., pp. 1582 f.—Important observations will be found in Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d'archéologie orientale, 8 vols., 1888, and in Dussaud, Notes de mythologie syrienne, Paris, 1903. We have published a series of articles on particular divinities in the Realencyclopädie of Pauly-Wissowa (Baal, Balsamem, Dea Syria, Dolichenus, Gad, etc.). Other monographs are cited below.
1. Lucian, Lucius, 53 ff.; Apul., Metam., VIII, 24 ff. The description by these authors has recently been confirmed by the discovery of an inscription at Kefr-Hauar in Syria: a slave of the Syrian goddess "sent by her mistress (κυρία)," boasts of having brought back "seventy sacks" from each of her trips (Fossey, Bull. corr. hell., XXI, 1897, p. 60; on the meaning of πήρα, "sack," see Deissmann, Licht von Osten, 1908, p. 73).
2. Cf. Riess in Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. Astrologie, col. 1816.
3. Cato, De agric., V, 4.
4. On dedication of Romans to Atargatis, see Bull. corr. hell., VI, 1882, p. 497, No. 15; p. 498, No. 17.
5. Since the year 187 we find the Syrian musicians (sambucistriae) mentioned also at Rome. Their number grew steadily (Livy, XXXIX, 6; see Friedländer, Sittengesch., III6, p. 346.)
6. Florus, II, 7 (III, 9); cf. Diodorus Sic., fr. 34, 2, 5.
7. Plut., Vit. Marii, 17.
8. Juvenal, VI, 351; Martial, IV, 53, 10; IX, 2, 11, IX, 22, 9.
9. CIL, VI, 399; cf. Wissowa, op. cit., p. 201.—Suetonius, Nero, 56.
10. A temple of the Syrian gods at Rome, located at the foot of the Janiculum, has been excavated very recently. Cf. Gauckler, Bolletino communale di Roma, 1907, pp. 5 ff. (Cf. Hülsen, Mitt. Inst. Rom, XXII, 1907, pp. 225 ff.); Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1907, pp. 135 ff.; 1908, pp. 510 ff.; 1909, pp. 424 ff., pp. 617 ff.; Nicole and Darier, Le sanctuaire des dieux orientaux au Janicule, Rome, 1909 (Extr. des "Mél. Ecole franç. de Rome," XXIX). In it have been found dedications to Hadad of the Lebanon, to the Hadad ἀκρορείτης, and to Maleciabrudus (in regard to the latter see Clermont-Ganneau, Rec. d'archéol. or., VIII, 1907, p. 52). Cf. my article "Syria Dea" in Daremberg-Saglio-Pottier, Diction. des antiquités gr. et rom., 1911.
11. I have said a few words on this colonization in my Mon. rel. aux myst. de Mithra, I, p. 262. Courajod has considered it in regard to artistic influences, Leçons du Louvre, I, 1899, pp. 115, 327 ff. For the Merovingian period see Bréhier, Les colonies d'orientaux en Occident au commencement du moyen âge (Byzant. Zeitschr., XII), 1903, pp. 1 ff.
12. Kaibel, Inscr. gr., XIV, 2540.
13. Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1899, p. 353 = Waltzing, Corporations professionelles, II, No. 1961 = CIL, III S., 141658.—Inscription of Thaïm of Canatha: Kaibel, Inscr. gr., XIV, 2532.
14. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Fr., VIII, 1.—On the diffusion of the Syrians in Gaul, see Bréhier, loc. cit., p. 16 ff.
15. Cf. Bréhier, Les origines du crucifix dans l'art religieux, Paris, 1904.
16. Adonis: Wissowa, p. 300, n. 1.—Balmarcodès: Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., s. v.; Jalabert, Mél. fac. orient. Beyrouth, I, p. 182.—Marnas: The existence at Ostia of a "Marneum" can be deduced from the dedication CIG, 5892 (cf. Drexler in Roscher, Lexikon, s. v., col. 2382).—On Maleciabrudus, cf. supra, n. 10.—The Maiuma festival was probably introduced with the cult of the god of Gaza, Lydus, De Mensib., IV, 80 (p. 133, Wünsch ed.) = Suidas s. v. Μαιουμᾶς and Drexler, loc. cit., col. 2287. Cf. Clermont-Ganneau, Rec. d'archéol. orient., IV, p. 339.
17. Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. "Damascenus, Dusares."
18. Malalas, XI, p. 280, 12 (Bonn).—The temple has recently been excavated by a German mission; cf. Puchstein, Führer in Baalbek, Berlin, 1905.—On the Hadad at Rome, cf. supra, n. 10.
19. CIL, X, 1634: "Cultores Iovis Heliopolitani Berytenses qui Puteolis consistunt"; cf. Wissowa, loc. cit., p. 504, n. 3; Ch. Dubois, Pouzzoles antique, Paris, 1906, p. 156.
20. A list of the known military societies has been made by Cichorius in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl., s. v. "Ala" and "Cohors."
21. CIL, VII, 759 = Buecheler, Carmina epigr., 24. Two inscriptions dedicated to the Syrian Hercules (Melkarth) and to Astarte have been discovered at Corbridge, near Newcastle (Inscr. gr., XIV, 2553). It is possible that Tyrian archers were cantoned there.
22. Baltis: Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclop., s. v.
23. Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., s. v. "Aziz"; cf. Wissowa, op. cit., p. 303, n. 7.
24. On the etymology of Malakbel, see Dussaud, Notes, 24 ff. On the religion in the Occident see Edu. Meyer in Roscher, Lexikon, s. v.
25. Kan, De Iovis Dolicheni cultu, Groningen, 1901; cf. Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl., s. v. "Dolichenus."
26. Réville, Relig. sous les Sévères, pp. 237 ff.; Wissowa, op. cit., p. 305; cf. Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. "Elagabal."—In a recent article (Die politische Bedeutung der Religion von Emesa [Archiv für Religionsw., XI], 1908, pp. 223 ff.) M. von Domaszewski justly lays stress on the religious value of the solar monotheism that arose in the temples of Syria, but he attributes too important a part in its formation to the clergy of Emesa (see infra, n. 88). The preponderant influence seems to have been exercised by Palmyra (see infra, n. 59).
28. Cf. Curtiss, Primitive Semitic Religion To-day, Chicago, 1902; Jaussen, Coutumes des Arabes du pays de Moab, Paris, 1908, pp. 297 ff.
29. Cf. Robertson Smith, passim; Lagrange, pp. 158-216; Vincent, op. cit., pp. 102-123; 144 f.—The power of this Semitic litholatry equaled its persistence. Philo of Byblus defined the bethels as λίθοι ἔμψυχοι (2, § 20, FHG, III, p. 563): Hippolytus also tells us (V, 1, p. 145, Cruice), that in the Syrian mysteries (Ἀσσυρίων τελεταί) it was taught that the stones were animated (οἱ λίθοι εἰσὶν ἔμψυχοι· ἔχουσι γὰρ τὸ αὐξητικόν), and the same doctrine perpetuated itself in Manicheism. (Titus of Bostra, II, 60, p. 60, 25, de Lagarde ed.:
Οὐκ αἰσχύνεται δὲ καὶ τοὺς λίθους ἐψυχῶσθαι λέγων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἔμψυχα εἰσηγούμενος).
During the last years of paganism the neo-Platonists developed a superstitious worship of the bethels; see Conybeare, Transactions of the Congress of Hist. of Rel., Oxford, 1908, p. 177.
30. Luc., De dea Syria, c. 41. Cf. the inscription of Narnaka with the note of Clermont-Ganneau, Etudes d'arch. orient., II, p. 163.—For bull worship in Syria cf. Ronzevalle, Mélanges fac. orient. Beyrouth, I, 1906, pp. 225, 238; Vincent, op. cit., p. 169.
31. Philo Alex., De provid., II, c. 107 (II, 646 M.); cf. Lucian, De dea Syria, 54.
32. For instance on Mount Eryx in Sicily (Ael., Nat. Anim., IV, 2).—Cf. Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., s. v. "Dea Syria," col. 2242.
33. Tibullus, I, 7, 17.
34. Lucian, De dea Syria, 14; 54. Cf. Diodorus, II, 4, 2; Ovid, Met., IV, 46; V, 331.
35. Pauly-Wissowa, loc. cit., col. 2241; W. Robertson Smith, p. 175.
36. The ancient authors frequently alluded to this superstition of the Syrians (the texts have been collected by Selden, De dis Syris, II, C. 3, pp. 268 ff., ed. of 1672). W. Robertson Smith (loc. cit., p. 449), is right in connecting it with certain ideas of savages. Like many primitive beliefs, this one has continued to the present day. It has been pointed out to me that at Sam-Keuï, a little west of Doliché, there is a pond fed by a spring and well stocked with fish, which one is forbidden to take. Near the mosque of Edessa is a large pond where catching fish is prohibited. They are considered sacred, and the people believe that any one who would eat them would die instantly. (Sachau, Reise in Syrien, 1883, pp. 196 ff. Cf. Lord Warkworth, Diary in Asiatic Turkey, London, 1898, p. 242). The same is the case at the mosque of Tripoli and elsewhere (Lammens, Au pays des Nosaïris [Revue de l'Orient chrétien], 1908, p. 2). Even in Asia Minor this superstition is found. At Tavshanli, north of Aezani on the upper Rhyndacus, there is to-day a square cistern filled with sacred fish which no one is allowed to take (on the authority of Munro). Travelers in Turkey have frequently observed that the people do not eat fish, even when there is a scarcity of food (Sachau, loc. cit., p. 196) and the general belief that their flesh is unhealthful and can cause sickness is not entirely unfounded. Here is what Ramsay has to say on the subject (Impressions of Turkey, London, 1897, p. 288): "Fish are rarely found and when found are usually bad: the natives have a prejudice against fish, and my own experience has been unfavorable.... In the clear sparkling mountain stream that flows through the Taurus by Bozanti-Khan, a small kind of fish is caught; I had a most violent attack of sickness in 1891 after eating some of them, and so had all who partook." Captain Wilson, who spent a number of years in Asia Minor, asserts (Handbook of Asia-Minor, p. 19), that "the natives do not eat fish to any extent." The "totemic" prohibition in this instance really seems to have a hygienic origin. People abstained from all kinds of fish because some species were dangerous, that is to say, inhabited by evil spirits, and the tumors sent by the Syrian goddess were merely the edemas caused by the poisoning.
37. On the Ἰχθύς symbolism I will merely refer to Usener, Sintflutsagen, 1899, pp. 223 ff. Cf. S. Reinach, Cultes, mythes, III, 1908, pp. 43 ff. An exhaustive book on this subject has recently appeared: Dölger, ΙΧΘYΣ, das Fischsymbol in frühchristlicher Zeit, I, Rome, 1910.
On sacred repasts where fish was eaten see Mnaseas, fragment 32 (Fragm. histor. graec., III, 115); cf. Dittenberger, Sylloge, 584: Ἐὰν δέ τις τῶν ἰχθύων ἀποθάνῃ, καρπούσθω αὐθημερὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ, and Diog. Laert., VIII, 34. There were also sacred repasts in the Occident in the various Syrian cults: Cenatorium et triclinium in the temples of Jupiter Dolichenus (CIL, III, 4789; VI, 30931; XI, 696, cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, II, p. 501); promulsidaria et mantelium offered to the Venus Caelestis (CIL, X, 1590); construction of a temple to Malachbel with a culina (CIL, III, 7954). Mention is made of a δειπνοκρίτης, δείπνοις κρείνας πολλὰ μετ' εὐφροσύνης, in the temple of the Janiculum (Gauckler, C.R. Acad. Inscr., 1907, p. 142; Bolletino communale, 1907, pp. 15 ff.). Cf. Lagrange, Religions sémitiques, II, p. 609, and Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., s. v. "Gad."
38. W. Robertson Smith, pp. 292 ff.
39. An inscription discovered at Kefr-Hauar (Fossey, Bull. corr. hell., 1897, p. 60) is very characteristic in this respect. A "slave" of the Syrian goddess in that inscription offers his homage to his "mistress" (κυρία).
40. Notably at Aphaca where they were not suppressed until the time of Constantine (Eusebius, Vit. Const., III, 55; cf. Sozom., II, 5).
41. Much has been written about the sacred prostitutions in paganism, and it is well known that Voltaire ridiculed the scholars who were credulous enough to believe in the tales of Herodotus. But this practice has been proven by irrefutable testimony. Strabo, for instance, whose great-uncle was arch-priest of Comana, mentions it in connection with that city, (XII, 3, 36, p. 559 C), and he manifests no surprise. The history of religion teaches many stranger facts; this one, however, is disconcerting. The attempt has been made to see in it a relic of the primitive promiscuity or polyandry, or a persistence of "sexual hospitality," ("No custom is more widely spread than the providing for a guest a female companion, who is usually a wife or daughter of the host," says Wake, Serpent Worship, 1888, p. 158); or the substitution of union with a man for union with the god (Gruppe, Griech. Mythol., p. 915). But these hypotheses do not explain the peculiarities of the religious custom as it is described by more reliable authors. They insist upon the fact that the girls were dedicated to the temple service while virgins, and that after having had strangers for lovers, they married in their own country. Thus Strabo (XI, 14, § 16, p. 532 C.) narrates in connection with the temple of Anaitïs in Acilisena, that θυγατέρας οἱ ἐπιφανέστατοι τοῦ ἔθνους ἀνιεροῦσι παρθένους, αἴς νόμος ἐστὶ καταπορνευθείσαις πολὺν χρόνον παρὰ τῇ θεῷ μετὰ ταῦτα δίδοσθαι πρὸς γάμον, οὐκ ἀπαξιοῦντος τῇ τοιαύτῃ συνοικεῖν οὐδενός. Herodotus (I, 93), who relates about the same thing of the Lydian women, adds that they acquired a dowry in that manner; an inscription at Tralles (Bull. corr. hell., VII, 1885, p. 276) actually mentions a descendant of a sacred prostitute (ἐκ προγόνων παλλακίδων) who had temporarily filled the same office (παλλακεύσασα κατὰ χρησμὸν Διί). Even at Thebes in Egypt there existed a similar custom with striking local peculiarities in the time of Strabo (XVII, 1, § 46), and traces of it seem to have been found in Greece among the Locrians (Vurtheim, De Aiacis origine, Leyden, 1907). Every Algerian traveler knows how the girls of the Ouled-Naïl earn their dowry in the ksours and the cities, before they go back to their tribes to marry, and Doutté (Notes sur l'Islam maghrébien, les Marabouts, Extr. Rev. hist. des relig., XL-XLI, Paris, 1900), has connected these usages with the old Semitic prostitution, but his thesis has been attacked and the historical circumstances of the arrival of the Ouled-Naïl in Algeria in the eleventh century render it very doubtful (Note by Basset).—It seems certain (I do not know whether this explanation has ever been offered) that this strange practice is a modified utilitarian form of an ancient exogamy. Besides it had certain favorable results, since it protected the girl against the brutality of her kindred until she was of marriageable age, and this fact must have insured its persistence; but the idea that inspired it at first was different. "La première union sexuelle impliquant une effusion de sang, a été interdite, lorsque ce sang était celui d'une fille du clan versé par le fait d'un homme du clan" (Salomon Reinach, Mythes, cultes, I, 1905, p. 79. Cf. Lang, The Secret of the Totem, London, 1905.) Thence rose the obligation on virgins to yield to a stranger first. Only then were they permitted to marry a man of their own race. Furthermore, various means were resorted to in order to save the husband from the defilement which might result from that act (see for inst., Reinach, Mythes, cultes, I, p. 118).—The opinion expressed in this note was attacked, almost immediately after its publication, by Frazer (Adonis, Attis, Osiris, 1907, pp. 50 ff.) who preferred to see in the sacred prostitutions a relic of primitive communism. But at least one of the arguments which he uses against our views is incorrect. Not the women, but the men, received presents in Acilisena (Strabo, loc. cit.) and the communistic theory does not seem to account for the details of the custom prevailing in the temple of Thebes. There the horror of blood clearly appears. On the discovery of a skull (having served at a rite of consecration) in the temple of the Janiculum, see the article cited above, "Dea Syria," in Dict. des antiquités.
42. Porphyry, De Abstin., II, 56; Tertull., Apol., 9. Cf. Lagrange, op. cit., p. 445.
43. Even in the regions where the cities developed, the Baal and the Baalat always remained the divinities πολιοῦχοι, the protectors of the city which they were supposed to have founded.
44. Le Bas-Waddington, 2196.—Suidas, s. v. Φυλάρχης (II, 2, col. 1568, Bernhardy). Cf. Marquardt, Staatsverwaltung, I, p. 405, 409.
45. Hippolytus, Adv. Haeres., V, II, § 7: Ἀσσυρίων τελεταί; § 18: Ἀσσυρίων μυστήρια (pp. 145, 148, ed. by Cruice). Cf. Origen, Contra Celsum, I, 12. Pognon (Inscrip. sémitiques, 1907, No. 48) has recently published a Syrian epitaph that is unfortunately mutilated, but which seems to be that of an adept of the pagan mysteries; see Nöldeke, Zeitschrift für Assyr., XXI, 1907, p. 155.
46. On the Semitic notion of purity, W. Robertson Smith has written admirably and convincingly (pp. 446 ff. and passim). The question has been taken up from a different point of view by Lagrange, pp. 141 ff.—The development of the notion of purity in the ancient religions has been recently expounded by Farnell, The Evolution of Religion, 1905, pp. 88 ff., especially pp. 124 ff. Cf. also supra, p. 91 f. An example of the prohibitions and purifications is found in the Occident in an inscription, unfortunately mutilated, discovered at Rome and dedicated to Beellefarus (CIL, VI, 30934, 31168; cf. Lafaye, Rev. hist. relig., XVII, 1888, pp. 218 ff.; Dessau, Inscr. sel., 4343). If I have understood the text correctly it commands those who have eaten pork to purify themselves by means of honey.—On penances in the Syrian religions see ch. II, n. 31.
47. M. Clermont-Ganneau (Etudes d'archéologie orientale, II, 1896, p. 104) states that the epithet ἅγιος is extremely rare in pagan Hellenism, and almost always betrays a Semitic influence. In such cases it corresponds to קרש, which to the Semites is the epithet par excellence of the divinity. Thus Eshmon is קרש; cf. Lidzbarski, Ephemer. für semit. Epigraph., II, p. 155; Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d'archéol. orient., III, p. 330; V, p. 322.—In Greek Le Bas-Waddington, 2720, has: Οὶ κάτοχοι ἁγίου οὐρανίου Διός. Dittenberger, Orientis inscript., 620, Ζεὺς ἅγιος Βεελ βωσῶρος. Some time ago I copied at a dealer's, a dedication engraved upon a lamp: Θεῷ ἁγίῳ Ἀρελσέλῳ, in Latin: J. Dolichenus sanctus, CIL, VI, 413, X, 7949.—J. Heliopolitanus sanctissimus, CIL, VIII, 2627.—"Caelestis sancta," VIII, 8433, etc.—The African Saturn (= Baal) is often called sanctus.—Hera sancta beside Jupiter Dolichenus, VI, 413.—Malakbel is translated by Sol sanctissimus, in the bilingual inscription of the Capitol, VI, 710 = Dessau, 4337. Cf. deus sanctus aeternus, V, 1058, 3761, and Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1906, p. 69.—See in general Delehaye, Analecta Bollandiana, 1909, pp. 157 ff.
48. As curious examples of Greco-Syrian syncretism we may mention the bas-relief of Ed-Douwaïr in the Louvre, which has been analyzed in detail by Dussaud (Notes, pp. 89 ff.), and especially that of Homs in the Brussels museum (ibid., 104 ff.).
49. Macrobius, I, 23, § 11: "Ritu Assyrio magis quam Aegyptio colitur"; cf. Lucian, De dea Syria, 5.—"Hermetic" theories penetrated even to the Sabians of Osrhoene (Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 166 ff.), although their influence seems to have been merely superficial (Bousset, Göttingische gelehrt. Anzeigen, 1905, 704 ff.)—The existence of κάτοχοι at Baetocécé and elsewhere appears to be due to Egyptian influence (Jalabert, Mélanges de la fac. orient. de Beyrouth, II, 1907, pp. 308 ff.). The meaning of κάτοχος which has been interpreted in different ways, is established, I think, by the passages collected by Kroll, Cat. codd. astrol. graec., V, pars 2, p. 146; cf. Otto, Priester und Tempel, I, p. 119; Bouché-Leclercq, Hist. des Lagides, IV, p. 335. It refers to the poor, the sick and even the "illumined" living within the temple enclosures and undoubtedly supported by the clergy, as were the refugees of the Christian period who availed themselves of the right of sanctuary in the churches (cf. Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1907, p. 454).
51. Strabo, XVI, 1, 6. Cf. Pliny, H. N., VI, 6: "Durat adhuc ibi Iovis Beli templum." Cf. my Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 35 ff.; Chapot, Mém. soc. antiq. de France, 1902, pp. 239 ff.; Gruppe, Griech. Mythol., p. 1608, n. 1.
52. Lucian, De dea Syria, c. 10.
53. Harnack, Dogmengeschichte, I, pp. 233 ff. and passim.
54. On the worship of Bel in Syria cf. Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1907, pp. 447 ff.—Cf. infra, n. 59.
55. On the Heliopolitan triad and the addition of Mercury to the original couple see Perdrizet, Rev. études anc., III, 1901, p. 258; Dussaud, Notes, p. 24; Jalabert, Mélanges fac. orient. de Bayrouth, I, 1906, pp. 175 ff.—Triad of Hierapolis: Lucian, De dea Syria, c. 33. According to Dussaud, the three divinities came from Babylon together, Notes, p. 115.—The existence of a Phœnician triad (Baal, Astarte, Eshmoun or Melkarth), and of a Palmyrian triad has been conjectured but without sufficient reason (ibid., 170, 172 ff.); the existence of Carthaginian triads is more probable (cf. Polybius, VII, 9, 11, and von Baudissin, Iolaos [Philothesia für Paul Kleinert], 1907, pp. 5 ff.)—See in general Usener, Dreiheit (Extr. Rhein. Museum, LVIII), 1903, p. 32. The triads continued in the theology of the "Chaldaic Oracles" (Kroll, De orac. Chald., 13 ff.) and a threefold division of the world and the soul was taught in the "Assyrian mysteries" (Archiv für Religionswiss., IX, 1906, p. 331, n. 1).
56. Boll, Sphaera, p. 372.—The introduction of astrology into Egypt seems to date back no further than the time of the Ptolemies.
57. The Seleucides, like the Roman emperors later, believed in Chaldean astrology (Appian., Syr., 28; Diodorus, II, 31, 2; cf. Riess in Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., s. v. "Astrologie," col. 1814), and the kings of Commagene, as well as of a great number of Syrian cities, had the signs of the zodiac as emblems on their coins. It is even certain that this pseudo-science penetrated into those regions long before the Hellenistic period. Traces of it are found in the Old Testament (Schiaparelli; translation by Lüdke, Die Astron. im Alten Testament, 1904, p. 46). It modified the entire Semitic paganism. The only cult which we know in any detail, that of the Sabians, assigned the highest importance to it; but in the myths and doctrines of the others its influence is no less apparent (Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl., s. v. "Dea Syria," IV, col. 2241, and s. v. "Gad"; cf. Baudissin, Realencycl. für prot. Theol., s. v., "Sonne," pp. 510-520). To what extent, for instance, the clergy of Emesa had been subjected to its ascendency is shown by the novel of Heliodorus, written by a priest of that city (Rohde, Griech. Roman2, p. 464 [436]), and by the horoscope that put Julia Domna upon the throne (Vita Severi, 3, 8; cf. A. von Domaszewski, Archiv für Religionsw., XI, 1908, p. 223). The irresistible influence extended even to the Arabian paganism (Nöldeke in Hastings, Encyclop. of Religion, s. v. "Arabs," I, p. 661; compare, Orac. Sibyll., XIII, 64 ff., on Bostra). The sidereal character which has been attributed to the Syrian gods, was borrowed, but none the less real. From very early times the Semites worshiped the sun, the moon, and the stars (see Deut. iv. 19; Job xxxi. 25), especially the planet Venus, but this cult was of secondary importance only (see W. Robertson Smith, op. cit., p. 135, n. 1), although it grew in proportion as the Babylonian influence became stronger. The polemics of the Fathers of the Syrian Church show how considerable its prestige was in the Christian era (cf. Ephrem, Opera Syriaca, Rome, 1740, II, pp. 447 ff.; the "Assyrian" Tatian, c. 9 ff., etc.).
58. Humann and Puchstein, Reise in Klein-Asien und Nord-Syrien, 1890, pl. XL; Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 188, fig. 8; Bouché-Leclercq, Astrol. gr., p. 439.
59. Cf. Wissowa, op. cit., p. 306-7.—On the temple of Bel at Palmyra, cf. Sobernheim, Palmyrenische Inschriften (Mitt. der vorderasiat. Gesellsch., X), 1905, pp. 319 ff.; Lidzbarski, Ephemeris, I, pp. 255 ff., II, p. 280.—Priests of Bel: Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d'arch. orient., VII, p. 12, 24, 364. Cf. supra, n. 54. The power of Palmyra under Zenobia, who ruled from the Tigris to the Nile, must have had as a corollary the establishment of an official worship that was necessarily syncretic. Hence its special importance for the history of paganism. Although the Babylonian astrology was a powerful factor in this worship, Judaism seems to have had just as great an influence in its formation. There was at Palmyra a large Jewish colony, which the writers of the Talmud considered only tolerably orthodox (Chaps, Gli Ebrei di Palmira [Rivista Israelitica, I], Florence, 1904, pp. 171 ff., 238 f. Cf. "Palmyra" in the Jewish Encycl.; Jewish insc. of Palmyra; Euting, Sitzb. Berl. Acad., 1885, p. 669; Landauer, ibid., 1884, pp. 933 ff.). This colony seems to have made compromises with the idolaters. On the other hand we see Zenobia herself rebuilding a synagogue in Egypt (Revue archéologique, XXX, 1875, p. III; Zeitschrift für Numismatik, V, p. 229; Dittenberger, Orientis inscript., 729). This influence of Judaism seems to explain the development at Palmyra of the cult of Ζεὺς ὕψιτος καὶ ἐπήκοος, "he whose name is blessed in eternity." The name of Hypsistos has been applied everywhere to Jehovah and to the pagan Zeus (supra, p. 62, 128) at the same time. The text of Zosimus (I, 61), according to which Aurelian brought from Palmyra to Rome the statues of Ἡλίου τε καὶ Βήλου (this has been wrongly changed to read τοῦ καὶ Βήλου), proves that the astrological religion of the great desert city recognized a supreme god residing in the highest heavens, and a solar god, his visible image and agent, according to the Semitic theology of the last period of paganism (supra, p. 134).
60. I have spoken of this solar eschatology in the memorial cited infra, n. 88.
61. This opinion is that of Posidonius (see Wendland, Philos Schrift über die Vorsehung, Berlin, 1892, p. 68, n. 1; 70, n. 2). It is shared by the ancient astrologers.
62. This old pagan and gnostic idea has continued to the present day in Syria among the Nosaïris; cf. Dussaud, Histoire et religion des Nosaïris, 1900, p. 125.
63. The belief that pious souls are guided to heaven by a psychopompus, is found not only in the mysteries of Mithra (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 310), but also in the Syrian cults where that rôle was often assigned to the solar god, see Isid. Lévy, Cultes syriens dans le Talmud (Revue des études juives, XLIII), 1901, p. 5, and Dussaud, Notes, p. 27; cf. the Le Bas-Waddington inscription, 2442:
"Βασιλεῦ δέσποτα (= the sun), ἵλαθι καὶ δίδου πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ὑγίην καθαράν, πρήξις ἀγαθὰς καὶ βίου τέλος ἐσθλόν."—
The same idea is found in inscriptions in the Occident; as for instance in the peculiar epitaph of a sailor who died at Marseilles (Kaibel, Inscr. gr., XIV, 2462 = Epigr., 650):