Appendix II. A Prayer-meeting of the Star-worshippers.

Sook-es-Shookh, on the river Euphrates, in the Mesopotamian villayet, though an interesting spot, is not an imposing or attractive place. Like most of the townlets in this part of Asia Minor, it is just a straggling, overgrown village, a few one-storied plastered houses, with flat roofs and narrow doorways, dotted here and there, a number of wattled and mud-daubed huts huddled irregularly about, a mesjid, of course, a khan or caravanserai, and one or two open spaces with the inevitable refuse and rubbish heaps, where a bazar or market is held on Fridays. It looks, however, picturesque and peaceful enough, as we ride into it, in the deepening twilight of a late September evening. The stars are beginning already to twinkle overhead, but there is still sufficient light left to note the strange, white-robed figures moving stealthily about in the semi-gloom down by the riverside. Clad in long snowy garments, reaching nearly to the ground, they pass to and fro near the edge of the water, some wading into mid-stream, while the sound of a strange salutation exchanged in a strange tongue, Sood Havilakh, strikes oddly upon the ear long accustomed to the ordinary salutation, Selam Alekum, of the Arab-speaking Moslemin. Paderha Sutekh, “their fathers were burned,” cries our Persian Charvadar and guide in disgust, as he catches a glimpse of the white-robed figures, thus delicately hinting that they are not followers of Islam; and a Jew from Hamadan who accompanies our party, on his way to the tomb of Ezekiel, deliberately spits upon the ground and exclaims, in pure Hebrew, Obde kokhabim umazaloth, “servants of the stars and planets.” And the Hebrew is not wrong. The forms gathering by the riverside in the twilight are those of “Star-worshippers,” the last remnants of the famous magi of ancient Chaldea, and their followers, the Babylonian adorers of the host of heaven. To the number of about four thousand in all, they still survive in their Mesopotamian native land, principally [pg 557] along the banks of the Euphrates river, where they form small village communities. They invariably keep their settlements somewhere near a stream, for their religious rites and ceremonies are preceded by frequent bathings and ablutions, and a rill of flowing water passing near or through their tabernacle or meeting-place is indispensable. Hence this edifice is always raised quite close to the river. They call themselves Mandaya, Mandaïtes, possessors of the “word,” the “living word,” keep strictly to their own customs and observances and language, and never intermarry with Moslems, who call them Sabba, Sabeans. Their dialect is a remnant of the later Babylonian, and resembles closely the idiom of the Palestinian Talmud, and their liturgy is a compound of fragments of the ancient Chaldean cosmogony with gnostic mysticism influenced by later superstitions. They are a quiet and inoffensive people noted, oddly enough, for the quality of their dairy produce in the villages, and for their skill as metal workers and goldsmiths in the towns where they reside. Their principal settlement is, or was, at Mardin, in the Bagdad district; but there has always been a small community of them at Sook-es-Shookh, on the banks of their favorite stream, the Euphrates.

It happens to be the festival of the Star-worshippers celebrated on the last day of the year and known as the Kanshio Zahlo, or day of renunciation. This is the eve of the new year, the great watch-night of the sect, when the annual prayer-meeting is held and a solemn sacrifice made to Avather Ramo, the Judge of the under world, and Ptahiel, his colleague; and the white-robed figures we observe down by the riverside are those of members of the sect making the needful preparations for the prayer-meeting and its attendant ceremonies. First, they have to erect their Mishkna, their tabernacle or outdoor temple; for the sect has, strange to say, no permanent house of worship or meeting-place, but raise one previous to their festival and only just in time for the celebration. And this is now what they are busy doing within a few yards of the water, as we ride into the place. The elders, in charge of a shkando, or deacon, who directs them, are gathering bundles of long reeds and wattles, which they weave quickly and deftly into a sort of basket work. An oblong space is marked out about sixteen feet long and twelve broad by stouter reeds, which are driven firmly into the ground close together, and then tied with strong cord. To these the squares of woven reeds and wattles are [pg 558] securely attached, forming the outer containing walls of the tabernacle. The side walls run from north to south, and are not more than seven feet high. Two windows, or rather openings for windows, are left east and west, and space for a door is made on the southern side, so that the priest when entering the edifice has the North Star, the great object of their adoration, immediately facing him. An altar of beaten earth is raised in the centre of the reed-encircled enclosure, and the interstices of the walls well daubed with clay and soft earth, which speedily hardens. On one side of the altar is placed a little furnace of dark earthenware, and on the other a little handmill, such as is generally used in the East for grinding meal, together with a small quantity of charcoal. Close to the southern wall, a circular basin is now excavated in the ground, about eight feet across, and from the river a short canal or channel is dug leading to it. Into this the water flows from the stream, and soon fills the little reservoir to the brim. Two tiny cabins or huts, made also of reeds and wickerwork, each just large enough to hold a single person, are then roughly put together, one by the side of the basin of water, the other at the further extremity of the southern wall, beyond the entrance. The second of these cabins or huts is sacred to the Ganzivro or high priest of the Star-worshippers, and no layman is ever allowed to even so much as touch the walls with his hands after it is built and placed in position. The doorway and window openings of the edifice are now hung with white curtains; and long before midnight, the hour at which the prayer meeting commences, the little Mishkna, or tabernacle open to the sky, is finished and ready for the solemnity.

Towards midnight the Star-worshippers, men and women, come slowly down to the Mishkna by the riverside. Each, as he or she arrives, enters the tiny wattled hut by the southern wall, disrobes and bathes in the little circular reservoir, the tarmido, or priest, standing by and pronouncing over each the formula, “Eshmo d'haï, Eshmo d'manda haï madhkar elakh” (“The name of the living one, the name of the living word, be remembered upon thee”). On emerging from the water, each one robes himself or herself in the rasta, that is, the ceremonial white garments peculiar to the Star-worshippers, consisting of a sadro, a long white shirt reaching to the ground; a nassifo, or stole, round the neck falling to the knees; a hiniamo, or girdle of woollen material; a gabooa, square head-piece reaching to the eyebrows; a shalooal, or white overmantle [pg 559] and a kanzolo, or turban, wound round the gabooa head-piece, of which one end is left hanging down over the shoulder. Peculiar sanctity attaches to the rasta, for the garments composing it are those in which every Star-worshipper is buried, and in which he believes he will appear for judgment before Avather in the nether world Materotho. Each one, as soon as he is thus attired, crosses to the open space in front of the door of the tabernacle, and seats himself upon the ground there, saluting those present with the customary Sood Havilakh, “Blessing be with thee,” and receiving in return the usual reply, Assootah d'haï havilakh, “Blessing of the living one be with thee.” The numbers increase as the hour of the ceremonial comes nearer, and by midnight there are some twenty rows of these white-robed figures, men and women, ranked in orderly array facing the Mishkna, and waiting in silent expectation the coming of the priests. A couple of tarmidos, lamp in hand, guard the entry to the tabernacle, and keep their eyes fixed upon the pointers of the Great Bear in the sky above. As soon as these attain the position indicating midnight, the priests give a signal by waving the lamps they hold, and in a few moments the clergy of the sect march down in procession. In front are four of the shkandos, young deacons, attired in the rasta, with the addition of a silk cap, or tagha, under the turban, to indicate their rank. Following these come four tarmidos, ordained priests who have undergone the baptism of the dead. Each wears a gold ring on the little finger of the right hand, and carries a tau-shaped cross of olive wood to show his standing. Behind the tarmidos comes the spiritual head of the sect, the Ganzivro, a priest elected by his colleagues, who has made complete renunciation of the world and is regarded as one dead and in the realms of the blessed. He is escorted by four other deacons. One holds aloft the large wooden tau-cross, known as derashvod zivo, that symbolizes his religious office; a second bears the sacred scriptures of the Star-worshippers, the Sidra Rabba, “the great Order,” two-thirds of which form the liturgy of the living and one-third the ritual of the dead. The third of the deacons carries two live pigeons in a cage, and the last a measure of barley and of sesame seeds. The procession marches through the ranks of the seated worshippers, who bend and kiss the garments of the Ganzivro as he passes near them. The tarmidos, guarding the entrance to the tabernacle, draw back the hanging over the doorway and the priests [pg 560] file in, the deacons and tarmidos to the right and left, leaving the Ganzivro standing alone in the centre, in front of the earthen altar facing the North Star, Polaris. The sacred book, Sidra Rabba, is laid upon the altar folded back where the liturgy of the living is divided from the ritual of the dead. The high priest takes one of the live pigeons handed to him by a shkando, extends his hand towards the Polar Star upon which he fixes his eyes, and lets the bird fly, calling aloud, Bshmo d'haï rabba mshabbah zivo kadmaya Elaha Edmen Nafshi Eprah, “In the name of the living one, blessed be the primitive light, the ancient light, the Divinity self-created.” The words, clearly enunciated within, are distinctly heard by the worshippers without, and with one accord the white-robed figures rise from their places and prostrate themselves upon the ground towards the North Star, on which they have silently been gazing.

Noiselessly the worshippers resume their seated position on the ground outside. Within the Mishkna, or tabernacle, the Ganzivro steps on one side, and his place is immediately taken by the senior priest, a tarmido, who opens the Sidra Rabba before him on the altar and begins to read the Shomhotto, “confession” of the sect, in a modulated chant, his voice rising and falling as he reads, and ever and anon terminating in a loud and swelling Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo Manda d'haï, “Blessed be thy name, O source of life,” which the congregants without take up and repeat with bowed heads, their hands covering their eyes. While the reading is in progress two other priests turn, and prepare the Peto elayat, or high mystery, as they term their Communion. One kindles a charcoal fire in the earthenware stove by the side of the altar, and the other grinds small some of the barley brought by the deacon. He then expresses some oil from the sesame seed, and, mixing the barley meal and oil, prepares a mass of dough which he kneads and separates into small cakes, the size of a two-shilling piece. These are quickly thrust into or on the oven and baked, the chanting of the liturgy of the Shomhotto still proceeding with its steady sing-song and response, Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo, from outside. The fourth of the tarmidos now takes the pigeon left in the cage from the shkando, or deacon, standing near him, and cuts its throat quickly with a very sharp knife, taking care that no blood is lost. The little cakes are then brought to him by his colleague, and, still holding the dying pigeon, he strains its neck over them in such a [pg 561] way that four drops fall on each one so as to form the sacred tau, or cross. Amid the continued reading of the liturgy, the cakes are carried round to the worshippers outside by the two principal priests who prepared them, who themselves pop them direct into the mouths of the members, with the words Rshimot bereshm d'haï, “Marked be thou with the mark of the living one.” The four deacons inside the Mishkna walk round to the rear of the altar and dig a little hole, in which the body of the dead pigeon is then buried. The chanting of the confession is now closed by the officiating tarmido, and the high priest, the Ganzivro, resuming his former place in front of the Sacred Book, begins the recitation of the Massakhto, or “renunciation” of the dead, ever directing his prayers towards the North Star, on which the gaze of the worshippers outside continues fixed throughout the whole of the ceremonial observances and prayers. This star is the Olma d'nhoora, literally “the world of light,” the primitive sun of the Star-worshippers theogony, the paradise of the elect, and the abode of the pious hereafter. For three hours the reading of the “renunciation ” by the high priest continues, interrupted only, ever and anon, by the Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo, “Blessed be thy name,” of the participants seated outside, until, towards dawn, a loud and ringing Ano asborlakh ano asborli ya Avather, “I mind me of thee, mind thou of me O Avather,” comes from the mouth of the priest, and signalizes the termination of the prayers.

Before the North Star fades in the pale ashen grey of approaching dawn, a sheep, penned over night near the river, is led into the tabernacle by one of the four shkandos for sacrifice to Avather and his companion deity, Ptahiel. It is a wether, for the Star-worshippers never kill ewes, or eat their flesh when killed. The animal is laid upon some reeds, its head west and its tail east, the Ganzivro behind it facing the Star. He first pours water over his hands, then over his feet, the water being brought to him by a deacon. One of the tarmidos takes up a position at his elbow and places his hand on the Ganzivro's shoulder, saying, Ana shaddakh, “I bear witness.” The high priest bends towards the North Star, draws a sharp knife from his left side, and reciting the formula, “In the name of Alaha, Ptahiel created thee, Hibel Sivo permitted thee, and it is I who slay thee,” cuts the sheep's throat from ear to ear, and allows the blood to escape on to the matted reeds upon which the animal is stretched out. The four deacons go outside, [pg 562] wash their hands and feet, then flay the sheep, and cut it into as many portions as there are communicants outside. The pieces are now distributed among the worshippers, the priests leave the tabernacle in the same order as they came, and with a parting benediction from the Ganzivro, Assootad d'haï havilakh, “The benison of the living one attend thee,” the prayer-meeting terminates, and the Star-worshippers quietly return to their homes before the crimson sun has time to peep above the horizon.163

Appendix III. Comparative Lists of Words.

I.

OLD WORLD.

YAU or YU=the source or origin, the Chinese character for which figures a square or circle divided into four by crossed horizontal and perpendicular lines, the latter projecting above the square or circle.164

YAOU and YU=mythical emperors who instituted the celestial kingdom, see p. 298.

YAOU SING=“Revolving Star” in Ursa Major. China.

UI or HWEI=verb to turn around. Chinese.

YUL, YEUL, YEOL=wheel (Icelandic hjol, O. Swedish hiugl, Swedish hjul).

HVEL=disk, orb. Iceland.

WUOTAN=ODIN=supreme divinity. Scandinavia.

JOVLA=sacred hearth fire of Northern Finns, under guardianship of mother of family.

JOVIS=Roman supreme divinity, associated with wheel.

YAHWE=Hebrew name for God, translated as “heaven,” was pronounced Yahu. According to the Masoretes must be read Yeho (Yăhu). The early Gnostics wrote Iao, that is Yaho (Sayce). The four consonants yhvh, pronounced Yahveh, constituted the sacred Tetragrammaton, or four lettered name of the Most High.

Archbishop Tenison says (Idolat. p. 404): “This name was no mystery among the Greeks, as is evident from the mention of the god Ieuo in Sanchoniathon; Jaho in St. Hiersm, and the Sibylline Oracles; Jaoth or Jaho in Irenaeus; of the Hebrew God called Jaoia by the Gnostics; of Jaou in Clemens Alexandrinus, of Jao the first principle of the Gnostic Heaven in Epiphanius; the God of Moses in Diodorus Siculus; the god Bacchus in the oracle of Apollo Clarius; lastly, as was said, of the Samaritan Jabe, in Theodoret.”

YEUD EKHAD=name of supreme god of Phœnicians the Red people (Sayce).

[pg 564]

NEW WORLD.

YOUALLI-EHECATL, literally, night or circling-air or wind=supreme god of the Chichimecs (see p. 33), a Mexican ruling tribe whose name signifies the red lineage or people.

YAHUAL-TECUHTLI or YOUAL-TECUHTLI=the Lord of the circle or of the Night, i. e. North-star god, supreme divinity. Mexico, see p. 279.

YALAHUA=Tzendal deity, p. 181.

YANAULUHA=Zuñi deity, p. 223.

II.

OLD WORLD.

SHAME=heaven. Babylonian-Assyrian.

SAMA=heaven. Græco-Persian.

SAMA or SHAMA=north. Arabic (Al Kaukabal Shamaliyy=star of the North; Al Kulbal Shamaliyy=the northern axle or spindle).

AMAN=verb to sustain. Akkadian.

AMAXA=name for Ursa Major=a chariot. Greek.

SAMAS or SHAMASH=Babylonian-Assyrian god, “the universal judge,” whose image was wheel with four rays (see pp. 331 and 350), cf. Ramman.

BAAL-SHAMAYUN=supreme god. Phœnicia.

AMASIS=Egyptian god.

KAMOSH=god of Moabites, p. 350.

HAM or KHAM=name for northern Egypt.

AMANTINI=an Illyrian tribe. Greece.

BR-AHMA=supreme god. India (cf. Yama).165

BR-AHMANAS=priestly caste. India.

[pg 565]

ARYAMAN=star-god associated with Mitra-Yaruna, Ursa Major and number seven. In Zendavesta is associated with Ashvino-ritual. India.

AMA or AME=heaven. Japan.

KAMI=deity, top, above.

O-KAMI=the honorable government.

YAMA=mountain. Japan.

YAMATO=main island of Japan.

AMA-NO-MA-HITOTSU=“Eye of Heaven,” name for Pole-star. Japan.

AME-NO-MI-NAKA-NUSHI-NO-KAMI=Deity-Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven, first Japanese “hidden” god.166

AME-NO-TOKO-TACHI-NO-KAMI=Deity-standing-eternally-in-heaven, hidden god; cf. Kuni-no-toko-tachi-no-kami=Deity-standing-eternally-on-earth. Japan.

AMEN-RA=hidden god. Egypt.

AHA-MENA or MENES=historical founder of kingdom=“the Constant One.” Egypt; cf. menu=monuments; smen=to establish. Egyptian.

MINYŒ, MINYANS or MINŒANS=race who traced descent from Minos=the measurer (Men=measurer); great agricultural and building race in India, Arabia and Egypt. Measured time by circumpolar constellations; became confederates of Sabæans; conquered Phrygia, built Mycenæ (Hewitt).

AMUN=national god of Ammonites. Amun means the builder or architect and is, like the name of Egyptian god, formed of amān, to sustain. He was the god of the meridian and of the central house-pole, sustaining roof who, in Egypt, became Amen-ra (Sayce and Gesenius, quoted by Hewitt, op. cit.). The supreme god of the Ammonites was Nāgash, the constellation of Ursa Major (Hewitt).

NEW WORLD.

AMAN or XAMAN (pron. Haman)=north. Maya, Yucatan.

AH-MEN=master builder, handicraftsman; cf. Menah or Menyah=artificer, artisan, builder, handicraftsman; cf. verb men=to build, found, establish, erect, also menta'al=to govern. Maya, p. 234.

AMAN-TECA=name used in ancient Mexico to designate master-handicraftsmen, synonym of Tolteca.

AMAUTAS=name given in Peru to the “wise men” who introduced civilization.

III.

OLD WORLD.

AN=heaven, god. Babylonian Assyrian (p. 331).

[pg 566]

ANA=heaven. Sumerian, Akkadian,167 cf. Akanna=Ursa Major, Akkadian, see p. 235.

AN and ANNU=names of celestial and terrestrial sacred central cities. Egypt, cf. an=pillar or that which turns around. According to Flinders Petrie, the an was an octagonal fluted column with a square tenon or top.

MANU=sacred mountain situated in N. W. Egypt.

KW-AN-IRAS=sacred central cosmical division situated under pole-star, around which the six kingdoms of Iran were situated. Persia.

CANAAN=holy land, whose capital was Jerusalem.

AN-SHAN=name of ancient Persian empire.

AN-SHAR=supreme god. Assyria, cf. Nannar, pp. 336 and 337.

AN-SAR=transcription of Osiris. Egypt, cf. Anubis also Anu and Anath, Janus and Jana.

Z-AN=old Doric form of Zeus, hence Janus.

SHANG=heaven, the Above. China.

KAN=mountain, also Yo. China.

ALKAID=star in Ursa Major, also used for moon; origin of Spanish title Alcalde.

ALKABIR=the Great. Early Arabic.

KA=surnamed the Great. Kushite father of life, the hidden god who guards and distributes, at the appointed seasons, the life-giving rains (Hewitt).168

KA=title of Egyptian king, usually rendered by “bull.”

KHAN=a prince. Tartary.

KHAKAN=an emperor or sovereign. Persia.

HAN=name for empire. Japan, cf. ken, imperial domain.

HANA=flower or blossom. Japanese, cf. ankh=flower, Egyptian and anthos=flower, Greek.

ANGLI or ANGRIWARII=widely diffused, great northern race, mentioned by Tacitus and Ptolemy.

[pg 567]

NEW WORLD.

CA-AN=heaven. Maya, Yucatan, see pp. 278 and 288.

CANAL=Above. Maya, Yucatan.

CAN=title of culture-hero: KUKUL-CAN=the divine can, homonym of can=serpent. Maya, Yucatan.

ZIUVA-CAAN=Colony founded in Yucatan, by Holon-chan-te=Peuh.

ANAHUAC: name of Mexican empire, usually loosely translated as a=water, nahuac=by the water.

To this list should be added the following affixes or prefixes, denoting, in each case, “place, land or region of.”

Egyptian: ta, for instance meh-ta or mah-ta=north; amen-ta=hidden region, N. W.

Chinese: kwan=earth, land.

Persian: Kwan-iras or Hvan-iras=the name for Iran=“land of Iran”?

Japanese: han=empire, ken=domain.

Maya: tan, for instance Aman-tan or Xaman-tan=North.

Nahuatl: an, tlan or can, “land of, also mountain.”

Zuñi: wan=place of, for instance Halona-wan.

IV.

OLD WORLD.

AK=Middle. Egypt, p. 385.

AKANNA=literally “the Lord of Heaven,” title Ursa Major. Akkadian, p. 394.

N-AKKASCH=title of Polaris “the serpent.” Phœnicia (p. 325).

NAGASCH, NAHUSHA, or the Great Nag=the great invisible god, hidden in his ark of clouds, who reveals himself to men as the ruler of time and the orderer of the regular sequence of the phenomena of nature, and who churns, in the mortar of the heavens, the life-giving rains in which his divine spirit is infused.... (Hewitt).

NAGA, NAGUR=the rain snake, at whose summer festival called Akkhadi or Akhtuj, the Gonds worship the cart axle or akkha in a ceremony which is a reminiscence of the days when the axle was the upright revolving pole pressing out the heavenly rain. The Naga snake was the offspring of the house pole; the soul of life in the rain cloud; the heavenly snake, the great time-measurer and year god of the Hindus (Hewitt).

P-AKU=zenith. Akkadian, cf. Papakhu, central sacred cosmical chamber.

AKKAD=the North, name of country (B.C. 3800). Babylonia-Assyria, p. 347.

K-AKKABU=the star, Polaris. Babylonia-Assyria, p. 326.

AKRIS or AKROS=summit, point, supreme, most high; cf. ok=eye. Greek.

[pg 568]

AKRIOS=god of summit, title of supreme god. Greece.

AKA-TOS, AKA=a ship. Greek.

ACHAIIS=the Achaian land.

ACHAIANS=in Homer, the name for Greeks generally.

AKRA=Hindu village dancing and marriage ground, where sacred tree is planted and sacrifices made to it in great Naga festival (Hewitt).

AKSA=name of mosque at Jerusalem.

AKSHAFARU=point, summit. Persian.

AKAL, AKARAN=god, eternal, timeless. Zoroastrian, name of god.

H-AK-HAMANISIJA=ancient royal title. Persia.

HAK=king or regent, royal title. Akkadian, Egyptian.

AKACA=Sanscrit name for fifth element æther: (Schroeder).

AGATHON=name given by Pythagoreans to all-embracing soul of the universe.

AK or AG=verb aj, to drive, urge, impel. Sanscrit.

AGNI=god of central fire. India.

AGASTYA=star father of Dravidians. India.

CHAKRA=wheel. Sanscrit.

CHAKRAYARTIN=title, supreme ruler. Sanscrit.

AKSHA=axis or axle. Sanscrit.

AKSHIVAN=“the driver of the axle,” supreme ruler. Sanscrit.

DAKSHA=the North people, also white, blessed, and the left. Sanscrit.

TAKKAS=one of the most powerful and wealthy tribes of the Punjab, whose progeners founded the great city of Taxila, the Hindu Takkasila or rock of the Takkas, taken by Alexander the Great. Their name Takkas or Takshas means “the makers or artificers,” which is connected with the Akkadian tuk=stone.... They call themselves the sons of the two Nagas or horned snake, Takht-nag and Basak-nag or “the sons of the race of artificers” ... as the sons of the all-mother Maga [the maker or kneader], they called themselves the sons of the mother-mountain.... (Hewitt).

AKHAL, AKHAL-ZIKH, AKHAL-KALAKI=names of towns. Asia Minor (O'Neil, p. 681).

ACASA or ACASE=axis or axle. Old Norse.

AKKA and UKKO=names given by Finns to mother-earth and father-heavens (O'Neil, p. 38).

NAKA=Middle. Japan (O'Neil, p. 536).169

HAK-KAKU=eight holy corners or points; also that which is revealed, disclosed, known, come to light. Japanese dictionary.

AKA=above, mountain, cf. SAKA=ascent. Japan.

AGATA=ancient name for domain or department (Chamberlain). Japan.

HAKKI=the eight diagrams, cf. Ya-he-koto-shiro-nu-shi-no-kami=Deity-eight-fold-thing-sign-master. Chamberlain op. cit. pp. 83 and 101.

[pg 569]

WAKE, WAKI, WAKU=lord, title. Japan.

KAGU=Mount Kagu in Heaven. Japan.

HAKU=white, shining. Japan.

HOKU, NE-NO-HO, KITA, KITA-NO-HO=North. Japan. Cf. Khita=race mentioned in Egyptian and Biblical history, and Kitai=name for China.

HOKU-SEI, HOKU-SHIN, HOKKIYOKU, North Star. Japan.

NEW WORLD.

Nahuatl.

ACACHTO=the first, at first.

YAQUE=that which has a point; a point, by extension a nose.

YACANA=to govern a town or to guide.

YACA-TECUHTLI (literally, the governing or guiding lord)=title of Polaris, cf. Pacha-Yachachic=Peruvian Creator, p. 159.

TON-ACA-TECUHTLI=title of Creator.

MAL-ACATL=wheel, spindle, verb malacachoa, to walk around in a circle.

ACATL=cane, staff.

CE-ACATL, OME-ACATL=titles of deities meaning One Acatl, Two Acatl.

13 ACATL=inscription on Stone of Great Plan and on image of Divine Twain (see p. 261).

ACALLI=boat, from atl=water, calli=house.

Maya.

AKAB=night.

B-AK-CAB=in a circle, around, cf. hab=year.

BACAB=title of four “rulers of the year,” tetrarch.

AK-BAL=a vessel or pot.

C-ACAB=town, village.

B-AK-LIC=around in a circle, in the surroundings.

B-AK-TE=together.

B-AK-ACH=all, the whole.

B-AK=rock, fortification, enclosure, also bone, phallus, foundation, heron.

N-AK=throne, belly.

N-AK-LIC=at the root, on top of all.

L-AK-AN=standard, banner.

L-AK-IN=east.

K-AK=fire.

P-AC-AT=sight.

Z-AK=white cf. Iztac=white. Nahuatl.

V.

OLD WORLD.

MAD-HYIAS=Middle. Sanscrit.

[pg 570]

MAGHAVAN=Vedic name of Indra.

MATH=the fire-drill, from math or manth=to twirl or churn. Sanscrit.170

MATHURA=name of central sacred locality. India (see Hewitt, p. 214).

MAGANA=Akkadian name for the Sinaitic Peninsula.

MAGHADAS=Finnic race ruling Northern India before the Kushites.

MERU=the Middle. Sanscrit, p. 317.

MAHTA or MEHTA=north. Egyptian, cf. mit=death.

MED-DOS, MEDOS or MESOS=Middle. Greek.

MED-IUS=Middle. Latin.

MED-ON=Middle. Old Irish, cf. Medi=Tullium, centre of state.

MID-JIS, Middle. Goth.

MIODHACH=a Central Power (Joyce). Celtic.

MITRA=the god said, in Rig-Veda, “to fix times of festivals.” Was associated with Varuna=night and rain god (Greek, Ouranos), with the constellation of Ursa Major and the number seven. The North was sacred to Mitra-Varuna who “maintain the invariable succession of the order of natural phenomena” (see Hewitt, pp. 144, 416 and 420).

MILKOM=god of Ammonites whose supreme god was Ursa Major.

MEDIA or MADGA=ancient kingdom whose inhabitants were allied to Persians and shook off yoke of Assyrian rule in 708 B.C.

MEDUM=site of most ancient pyramid known. Egypt.

MECCA=sacred capital. Arabia.

MY-CENAE=very ancient city in N. E. of Argolis, built upon craggy height, principal city of Greece and capital of kingdom in Agamemnon's time.

METHONE=most ancient Greek colony on Thermaic gulf.

MI-YAU-KEN: “name under which the Pole-star is worshipped in Japan in the form of a Buddha with a wheel, the emblem of the revolving world, resting on his folded hands.”171 cf. Chinese.

MUKDEN=capital of Manchuria, p. 288, cf. Mughs or Maghadas, Finnic race ruling Northern India before Kushites, and

MANJHUS=“royal land” set apart in Ooraon villages.

MIOKEN=name of town and mountain. Japan.

[pg 571]

MIWA=sacred mountain shrine regarded with extraordinary reverence. Japan (Chamberlain).

MIAKO=ancient sacred capital of Japan, residence of

MIKO, or MIKADO=heavenly sovereign who, like the Chinese Wong or Wang=king, ruled the three powers, heaven, earth and man. The Chinese character, consisting of three horizontal lines crossed by a perpendicular line expresses also the Japanese Miko which includes males and females and is used combined with Naka=middle i. e., Middle sovereign (Chamberlain).

MIHE=threefold. Japanese.

MID-KENA=cosmical central power and mountain. Old Irish.

MID-GARD=cosmical centre. Scandinavia.

MIODH-CHUARTA (pron. micorta)=Meath, centre of Irish kingdom.

MERCIA=middle kingdom of Britain.

HAR-MOED=central mountain. Isaiah XIV.

MISHKNA=name of tabernacle of pole-star worshipping Mandaites (see Appendix II).

NEW WORLD.

MEXICO=name of capital and by extension of state.

MEK-TAN=Maya name for empire, literally: “land of Mek.”

MITNAL or METNAL=underworld. Maya.

MICTLAN=name of region surrounding pyramids of Teotihuacan.

MITLA=name of ruins in Oaxaca, Mexico.

MICTLAMPA=north. Nahuatl. cf. miquiztli=death.

MICTLAN-TECUHTLI=lord of the North, or underworld. Mexican pole-star god.

VI.

OLD WORLD.

I-KU or I KUU=the leader or prince, Polaris. Assyria.

DIL-GAN-I-KU=the messenger of light, Polaris. Akkadian.

KU=holy, divine (tul-ku, the holy altar). Akkadian.

KU=word of Finnic origin brought to India by Northern settlers—used by them to denote Father-god=Ukku. Uk=the great Ku=placer or begetter (Hewitt, p. 148).

KU-SHIKAS=ruling race of India, of Northern origin, known as Ashura-kushikas (Hewitt).

CHU=the brilliance or light, Egyptian.

CHU-ATEN=the central capital founded by Amenhotep.

AL-KUTB=the axle, Polaris. Arabia.

TUL-KU=the holy altar. Akkadian.

GU=the urn. Akkadian.

KUL-KUN=central cosmical mountain. China, cf. Sar-tuli-elli, king of the holy mound.

KURUMA=wheel, Japanese, also mawaru, from marawi=to turn, revolve.

[pg 572]

NEW WORLD.

Maya.

KU=god.

KUKUL=holy, divine (p. 69).

KUKULCAN=name of culture-hero.

KU-LEL=noble.

KU-NA=temple.

KUKUM=feather.

KUL=chalice.

CHUT=bowl, cf. Nahuatl cumitl=bowl or jar.

CHU-MUC=that which is in the middle or centre.

CHU-MUCCIL=Middle, centre.

CHU-MUC-AKAB=midnight.

CHU-NIL=adj. the principal.

VII.

OLD WORLD.

CITRA=bright, shining. Sanscrit.

TARA=star. Sanscrit, cf. Ra=god. Egypt.

SITARA=star. Hindu.

TJARA=star. Old Norse, cf. tar=tree.

TARA=name of central city. Old Irish.

UTTARA=North. Sanscrit.

ISH-TAR=goddess, a hymn to whom, in Akkadian and Assyrian, begins thus: “Thou who as the axis of the heavens dawnest. In the dwellings of the earth her name revolves” (Prof. Sayce, quoted by O'Neil, p. 715).

Compare with Egyptian ra=god and note that the Sanscrit uttara could have been expressed in Egyptian hieratic script by the form of eye=uta and the sign for ra i. e. an eye within a circle (see p. 390 and fig. 62). Also compare the Sanscrit and Hindu citra and sitara with Egyptian seb-seta “the hidden star,” pictured by the turtle, sit or cit, etc. (see p. 398).

NEW WORLD.

CITLALLIN=star. Nahuatl.

IX-TOLOLOTLI=eye, employed in picture writing for star. Nahuatl, see in centre of Nahui-Ollin, fig. 2, Nos. 1 and 3.

IXUA=the birth of a plant, the germination of seed, cf. cihuatl=woman. Nahuatl.

IXTLI=the face. Nahuatl.

ICH=the eye. Maya.

IK=life, breath, air, wind cf. ecatl=breath, etc., Nahuatl, and ek=star. Maya.

KIKCOLOM=blood. Maya.

XICO=navel. Nahuatl.

[pg 573]

VIII.

OLD WORLD.

TEH-TEH=designation of the first star of the Great Bear, given in star-list in Papyrus of Ani, and the same as Te-te, the Akkadian star-god of the two foundations (Hewitt, p. 267).

TET=highly abraded form of timmen=foundation.

TEM=foundation, Egyptian (O'Neil); foundation stone (Brown). Akkadian.

TET=eternity, symbolized by stone pillar. Egypt.

A-TEN=circle or disk. Egypt.

UA-TET=Egyptian name for emerald.

THEOS=Greek name for god i. e. Cosmos.

THEO=descriptive of running wheel, of anything circular which seems to run around into itself.

THEORS=sacred envoys, who came for sacred festivals to Olympia or Delphi from different points.

THEMIS=law, right, agreed upon by common consent or prescription. Greece.

THEMIS=personified law, order and justice, cf. Artemis, the goddess to whom the seven stars of the Great Bear were sacred (Hewitt).

TEMENOS=piece of land sacred to a god, sacred precincts, precincts of temple.

A-THENA=name of Grecian capital, state and goddess, signified “Seven.”

TENOS and TEOS=names of Greek states, p. 456.

DEOTHAN=village earth-god worshipped by Brahmin priests (Hewitt).

TEEN or TIEN=heaven, god, the character for god being an upright pole or support, a “ti.” Chinese, see p. 301, cf. Chinese character, tien, field, representing a square divided by cross lines into four parts.

NEW WORLD.

TEM, TETEM=stone altar, foundation. Maya. p. 229.

TETL=stone. Nahuatl.

TEO-CALLI=“house of god” = temple. Nahuatl.

TEOTL=name for god. Nahuatl.

TEOTIHUACAN=site of extensive ruins. Mexico.

TENOCH-TI-TLAN=name of capital of Mexico.

TEMISTITAN=another ancient name for Mexican capital.

IX.

OLD WORLD.

ASH=number six. Akkadian.

ASHURA=trading non-Aryan races, the Hittites, worshippers of six [pg 574] gods, six seasons, of Pleiades and of Ashura Mazda, the Zend god. Established system of grouping six provinces around central royal province where king resided.

ASHVINS=stars which drove round the pole the constellations of Ursa Major and Draco, another name for Ashura? Sons of horse (ashva), brought barley to India, drank mead (madhu); instituted the Ashva Mēdha, or horse-sacrifice of the Hindus, also used by North Germans Ugro-Finns, Scythians and Romans.

ASH, NAK-KASCH=Draco, Euphratean name for Polaris.

MASSEBA=stone pillar. Hebrew symbol, see p. 350.

ASHERAH=pole or tree, worshipped by Phœnicians and Hebrews equivalent of Indian rain-pole.

AL-FASS=axis, Arabian name for pole-star.

PHAR-ASH-AH, PARR-ASIS=Hebrew and Phœnician “guiding star,” Polaris.

ASSUR=kingdom and god of Assyria.

ASAR=transcription of Osiris. Egypt (O'Neil, p. 59).

ASIA=name given by Greeks to Asia.

ASKANIOS=ancient name of Phrygia.

ASTARTE=goddess of heaven, see p. 350.

ASS or ÆSIR=Scandinavian gods.

ASSGARD=central, divine dwelling. Scandinavia.

UM-ASHI=reed shoot that sprouted when the earth, young and like unto floating oil, drifted about medusa-like. Japan. (Records of Ancient Matters, section I.)

UMASHI-ASHI-KABI-HIKO-JI-NO-KAMI=“Pleasant-reed-shoot-elder-deity,” born from primæval reed-shoot.

ASHI-HARA-NO-NAKA-TSU-KUNI=Land in the Middle of the Reed plains, common periphrastic designation of Japan.

NEW WORLD.

AZTLAN=the original home of Aztec race, according to tradition.

AZTEC=name of dominant race. Mexico.

ASH-IWI=other name for Zuñi tribe (Cushing, see p. 203).

X.

OLD WORLD.

O, ON or NO=name of celestial and terrestrial capitals. Hebrew and Egyptian.

OLYMPOS=the breaker or organizer of time (Hewitt, p. 514).

KOLONH=a hill, mound, Greek; Lat. tumulus.

COLONOS=a demos of Attica lying on and around hill sacred to Poseidon.

COLONIA=a colony, the Lat. colonia.

KOLOSSOS=statue in general, i. e. column?

[pg 575]

OM-EL-KORA=mother of cities. Arabian, see p. 323.

OMPHALE=in Greek mythology, the fire socket, wife of Herakles, the fire drill (Hewitt).

HO=designation for directions in space. China, see pp. 285-288.

HO=acme, taken to mean the best, highest, most showy part of anything. Japanese (Chamberlain).172

HO=the land's acme, or a plain surrounded by mountains. Japan (Motowori).

HOM=date-palm-sacred tree. Babylonia-Assyria (Sir Geo. Birdwood).

NEW WORLD.

HO, or TI-HOO=ancient capital of Yucatan, see p. 277.

HOM=mound. Maya.

HOMTAMIL=belly, i. e. omphalos.