It measures 4½ inches in height by 3¼ in width. The design is supposed to represent the fate of the soul according to Assyrian or Phenician belief. The tablet is divided into four compartments horizontally, the lowest being the largest and highest the most narrow. In the top compartment various astronomical symbols occur, many of which, as M. Canneau points out, occur on other Assyrian monuments. On the extreme right are the seven stars, next to these the crescent, next the winged solar disk, then an eight-rayed star in a circle. The remaining symbols are less easily explained, but the last is called by M. Canneau a “cidaris” or Persian tiara, while another appears to approach most nearly to the Trisul, or symbol of “fire,” the emblem of the Indian Siva.

Below these symbols stand seven deities facing to the right, with long robes, and the heads of various animals. The first to the left resembles a lion, the second a wolf or hound, the fourth a ram, the sixth a bird, the seventh a serpent, while the third and fifth are less easily recognized. In the third compartment a body lies on a bier, with a deity at the head, and another at the feet. These deities have the right hand held up, and the left down (a common feature of Indian symbolism also observable in the attitude of the Mâlawiyeh dervishes), and the figure to the left appears to hold a branch or three ears of corn. Both are robed in the peculiar fish-headed costume, with a scaly body and fish tail, which is supposed to be symbolical of the mythical Oannes, who according to Berosus, issued from the Persian gulf and taught laws and arts to the early dwellers on the Euphrates. Behind the left-hand fish-god is a tripod stand, on which is an indefinite object; to the right of the other fish-god are two lion-headed human figures with eagles’ claws, apparently contending with one another, the right arms being raised, the left holding hand by hand. To the right of these is another figure of Assyrian type, with a domed headdress and beard.

In the lowest compartment the infernal river fringed with rushes, and full of fish, is represented. A fearful lion-headed goddess with eagles’ claws kneels on one knee on a horse (the emblem of death) which is carried in a kneeling attitude on a boat with bird-headed prow. The goddess crushes a serpent in either hand, and two lion cubs are represented sucking her breasts. To the left is a demon bearing a close resemblance to the one which supports the tablet itself, and which appears to urge on the boat from the bank; to the right are various objects, mostly of an indefinite character, among which M. Ganneau recognizes a vase, and a bottle, a horse’s leg with hoof, etc.; possibly offerings to appease the infernal deities. The lion-headed goddess might well be taken for the terrible infernal deity Kali or Durga, the worship of whose consort, Yama, was the original source of that of the later Serapis, whose dog was the ancestor of Cerberus. There is also a general resemblance between this design and the well-known Egyptian picture representing the wicked soul conveyed to hell in the form of a pig.

The Oannes figures take the place of the two goddesses who in Egyptian designs stand at either end of the mummy and who form the prototype of the two angels for whom the pious Moslem provides seats at the head and foot of his tombstone. Perhaps the miserable horse who stumbles under the weight of the gigantic lion goddess may represent the unhappy soul itself, while the three ears of corn remind us of the grains of corn which have been found in skulls dug up in Syria by Capt. Burton. Corn is intimately connected with Dagon, the Syrian fish-god.

As a tentative suggestion I may, perhaps, be allowed to propose that the seven deities in the second compartment are the planets, and that the symbols above belong to them as follows, commencing on the right:

The serpent is often the emblem of Saturn, who, as the eldest of the seven (“the great serpent father of the gods”), naturally comes first and therefore on the right, and has seven stars for his symbol.

The moon, according to Lenormant, was always an older divinity than the sun.

The boar is often an emblem of the sun in its strength.

The disc (litu) was the weapon employed by Marduk, the warrior god, as mentioned by Lenormant.

The two pillars of Hermes are the proper emblem of the ancient Set or Thoth, the planet Mercury.

The trisul belongs properly to the Asherah, god or goddess of fertility—the planet Venus.

The Cidaris occurs in the Bavian sculptures in connection with a similar emblem. In the Chaldean system, Jupiter and Venus occur together as the youngest of the planets.

It should also be noted that the position of the arms and the long robe covering the feet resemble the attitudes and dress of the Mâlawîyeh dervishes in their sacred dance, symbolic of the seven planets revolving (according to the Ptolemaic system) round the earth.

The large fish marks the fisher who catches it or the manufacturer who extracts the oil from it. The trident indicates the sailor, as the pick the digger. The trade of digger in the catacombs was quite elevated; the primitive monuments thus represent these men who are of the lower class among us, and who in the beginning of the Christian era, when they dug the graves of saints and martyrs, were interred side by side with the rich and even beside saints, and were represented holding a pickaxe in one hand and a lamp in the other; the lamp lighted them in their subterranean labors. The hatchet indicates a carpenter, and the capital a sculptor or an architect. As to the dove, it probably designates the duties of the mother of a family who nourishes the domestic birdlings as would appear to be indicated by a mortuary design in Bosis. It is possible, moreover, that it originated from a symbolic idea, but this idea would be borrowed from profane rather than religious sentiments, and I would more willingly see in it the memorial of the good qualities of the dead, man or woman, the fidelity of the wife, or of the dove, which returning to the ark after the deluge announced that the waters had retired and the land had again appeared; from this we can not conclude that the fish filled a rôle analogous to it, nor above all that it is the symbol of Christ; the dove is in the Old Testament, the fish neither in the old nor in the new.

It is easy to trace the process of symbol-making in the words used for the crenelated top of city walls, which are ya and c’hi, both meaning “teeth” and both being pictures of the object, and further, when the former is found also to be used for “tree buds” and “to bud.” Such instances of word creation show how considerable has been the prevalence of analogy and the association of ideas. The picture writing of the Chinese is to a large extent a continuation of the process of forming analogies to which the human mind had already become accustomed in the earlier stages of the history of language.

It is not surprising that the Hindoos and Egyptians should both have adopted as the symbol of the sun the lotus flower, which opens its petals to the dawn and infolds them on the approach of night, and which seems to be born of itself on the surface of the still waters.

Even in the midst of winter the Mandans wear nothing on the upper part of the body, under their buffalo robe. They paint their bodies of a reddish brown colour, on some occasions with white clay, and frequently draw red or black figures on their arms. The face is, for the most part, painted all over with vermillion or yellow, in which latter case the circumference of the eyes and the chin are red. There are, however, no set rules for painting, and it depends on the taste of the Indian dandy; yet, still, a general similarity is observed. The bands, in their dances and also after battles, and when they have performed some exploit, follow the established rule. In ordinary festivals and dances, and whenever they wish to look particularly fine, the young Mandans paint themselves in every variety of way, and each endeavors to find out some new mode. Should he find another dandy painted just like himself, he immediately retires and makes a change in the pattern, which may happen three or four times during the festival. If they have performed an exploit, the entire face is painted jet black.

The paint is applied either in large masses or in patterns. For example, a man, when he wants to dress well, perhaps entirely coats both his feet up to the ankles with a crust of red; his whole trunk he sometimes stains uniformly with blue-black, more rarely with red, or covers it with an intricate pattern of lines of either color; he puts a streak of red along the bridge of his nose; where his eyebrows were till he pulled them out he puts two red lines; at the top of the arch of his forehead he puts a big lump of red paint, and probably he scatters other spots and lines somewhere on his face. The women, especially among the Ackawoi, who use more body-paint than other ornament, are more fond of blue-black than of red; and one very favorite ornament with them is a broad band of this, which edges the mouth, and passes from the corners of that to the ears. Some women especially affect certain little figures, like Chinese characters, which look as if some meaning were attached to them, but which the Indians are either unable or unwilling to explain.

Met a Conibo on the beach. This man was evidently the dandy of his tribe. He was painted with a broad stripe of red under each eye; three narrow stripes of blue were carried from one ear, across the upper lip to the other—the two lower stripes plain, and the upper one bordered with figures. The whole of the lower jaw and chin were painted with a blue chain-work of figures, something resembling Chinese figures.

The uncivilized Indians of Peru paint their bodies, but not exactly in the tattoo manner; they confine themselves to single stripes. The Sensis women draw two stripes from the shoulder, over each breast, down to the pit of the stomach; the Pirras women paint a band in a form of a girdle round the waist, and they have three of a darker color round each thigh. These stripes, when once laid on, can never be removed by washing. They are made with the unripe fruit of one of the Rubiacaceæ. Some tribes paint the face only; others, on the contrary, do not touch that part; but bedaub with colors their arms, feet, and breasts.

The present Piaroas of Venezuela are in the habit of painting their bodies, but by a different process. They make stamps out of wood, which they apply to their skins after covering them with coloring matter.

The Piaroas either copied the models they found carved on the rocks by peoples who preceded them, or they are aware of their meaning and preserved the tradition of it. The former hypothesis is the only tenable one. Not being endowed with inventive faculties, it seems more natural that they should simply have copied the only models they found. The Indians of French Guiana paint themselves in order to drive away the devil when they start on a journey or for war, whence Crevaux concludes that the petroglyphs must have been carved for a religious purpose. But painting is to the Piaroas a question of ornamentation and of necessity. It is a sort of garment that protects them against insects, and which, applied with extra care, becomes a fancy costume to grace their feasts and meetings.

White is worn by the Saviour after his resurrection; by the Virgin in representations of the Assumption; by women as the emblem of chastity; by rich men to indicate humility; and by the judge as the symbol of integrity. It is represented sometimes by silver or the diamond, and its sentiment is purity, virginity, innocence, faith, joy, and light.

Red, the color of the ruby, speaks of royalty, fire, divine love, the holy spirit, creative power, and heat. In an opposite sense it symbolized blood, war, and hatred. Red and black combined were the colors of Satan, purgatory, and evil spirits. Red and white roses are emblems of love and innocence or love and wisdom, as in the garland of St. Cecilia.

Blue, that of the sapphire, signified heaven, heavenly love and truth, constancy and fidelity. Christ and the Virgin Mary wear the blue mantle; St. John a blue tunic.

Green, the emerald, the color of spring, expressed hope and victory.

Yellow or gold was the emblem of the sun, the goodness of God, marriage and fruitfulness. St. Joseph and St. Peter wear yellow. Yellow has also a bad signification when it has a dirty, dingy hue, such as the usual dress of Judas, and then signifies jealousy, inconstancy, and deceit.

Violet or amethyst signified passion and suffering or love and truth. Penitents, as the Magdalene, wear it. The Madonna wears it after the crucifixion, and Christ after the resurrection.

Gray is the color of penance, mourning, humility, or accused innocence.

Black with white signified humility, mourning, and purity of life. Alone, it spoke of darkness, wickedness, and death, and belonged to Satan. In pictures of the Temptation Jesus sometimes wears black.

The hierarchy of colors could well, in the ideas of the Middle Ages, have been allied at the same time to symbolism. The most brilliant color is gold, and here it is given to the greatest saints. Silver, color of the moon, which is inferior to the sun, but its companion, however, should follow; then red, or the color of fire, attribute of those who struggle against passion, and which is inferior to the two metals, gold and silver, to the sun and moon, of which it is but an emanation; next green, which symbolizes hope, and which is appropriate to married people; lastly, the uncertain yellowish color, half white and half yellow, a modified color, which is given to saints who were formerly sinners, but who have succeeded in reforming themselves and are made somewhat bright in the sight of God by penitence.

Yellow, the color of gold and fire, symbolizes reason.

Green, the color of vegetable life, symbolizes utility and labor.

Red, the color of blood, symbolizes war and love.

Blue, the color of the sky, symbolizes spiritual life, duty, religion.

In ancient times, while yet all beings belonged to one family, Po-shai-ang-k’ia, the father of our sacred bands, lived with his children (disciples) in the City of the Mists, the middle place (center) of the medicine societies of the world. When he was about to go forth into the world he divided the universe into six regions, namely, the North (Direction of the swept or barren place); the West (Direction of the Home of the Waters); the South (Direction of the Place of the Beautiful Red); the East (Direction of the Home of Day); the Upper Regions (Direction of the Home of the High); and the Lower Regions (Direction of the Home of the Low).

In the center of the great sea of each of these regions stood a very ancient sacred place—a great mountain peak. In the North was the Mountain Yellow, in the West the Mountain Blue, in the South the Mountain Red, in the East the Mountain White, above the Mountain All-color, and below the Mountain Black.

We do not fail to see in this clear reference to the natural colors of the regions referred to—to the barren North and its auroral hues, the West with its blue Pacific, the rosy South, the white daylight of the east, the many hues of the clouded sky, and the black darkness of the “caves and holes of earth.” Indeed these colors are used in the pictographs and in all the mythic symbolism of the Zuñis to indicate the directions or regions respectively referred to as connected with them.

In Java the divisions of the horizon and the corresponding colors were named in the following order: first, white and the east; second, red and the south; third, yellow and the west; fourth, black and the north; and fifth, mixed colors and the focus or center.

They divided the year into four signs, being four figures; the one of a house, another of a rabbit, the third of a cane, the fourth of a flint, and by them they reckoned the year as it passed on. * * * They painted a sun in the middle from which issued four lines or branches in a cross to the circumference of the wheel, and they turned so that they divided it into four parts and the circumference and each of them moved with its branch of the same color, which were four—green, blue, red, and yellow.

In constructing the inclosure in which the Midē' priests practice the rites and ceremonies of initiation, a single post, from 4 to 5 feet in height and about 8 inches thick, is planted at a point opposite the main entrance, and about three-fourths the entire distance of the interior from it. This post is painted red, with a band of green about the top, of the width of a palm.

The red and green colors are used to designate the Midē' society, but for what reason is not positively known. The green appears to have some connection with the south, the sources of heat and abundance of crops; the thunder-bird also comes from that direction in the springtime, bringing rain, which causes the grass and fruits to grow, giving an abundance of food.

For the second degree two posts are erected within the inclosure, the first being like that for the first degree, the second being planted nearer the main entrance, though not far from the opposite end of the structure; this post is painted red and is covered with white spots made by applying white clay with the finger tip. These spots are symbolical of the migis shell, the sacred emblem of the Grand Medicine Society.

The third degree contains three posts, the two preceding ones being used, to which a third is added and planted in a line with them; this post is painted black.

In the fourth degree the additional post is really a cross, a crosspiece of wood being attached near the top; the lower part of the upright piece is squared, the side on the east being painted white; on the south, green; on the west, red; and on the north, black. The white is the source of light facing the direction of the rising sun, the green, apparently the source of warmth, rains, and abundance of crops, while the north is black, and pertains to the region from which come cold, disease, and desolation. The red is placed upon the western side, but there is a diversity of opinion regarding its significance. The most plausible theory appears to relate to the “road of the dead,” referred to in the ritual of the Ghost Society, as the path upon which the departed shadow partakes of the gigantic strawberry which he finds. The upper portion of the cross is white, upon which are placed irregularly red spots.

In connection with the colors of the degree posts, there is a systematic arrangement of facial ornamentation, each style to be characteristic of one of the four degrees, as well as the degree of the Ghost Society.

According to the White Earth (Minnesota) method, the arrangement is as follows:

First degree. One red stripe across the face from near the ears across the tip of the nose.

Second degree. One stripe as above and another across the eyes, temples, and root of the nose.

Third degree. The upper half of the face painted green and the lower half red.

Fourth degree. The forehead and the left side of the face from the outer canthus of the eye downward is painted green; four spots of vermilion are made with the tip of the finger upon the forehead and four upon the green surface of the left cheek.

According to Sikassige, a Mille Lacs Midē' priest, the ornamentation practiced during his youth was as follows:

First degree. A broad band of green across the forehead and a narrow stripe of vermilion across the face just below the eyes.

Second degree. A narrow stripe of vermilion across the temple, eyelids, and the root of the nose, a short distance above which is a similar stripe of green, then another of vermilion, and above this again one of green.

Third degree. Red and white spots are daubed all over the face, the spots averaging three-fourths of an inch each in diameter.

Fourth degree. Two forms are admissible; in the former the face is painted red, with a stripe of green extended diagonally across it from the upper part of the left temporal region to the lower part of the right cheek. In the latter the face is painted red with two short, horizontal parallel green bars across the forehead.

Either of these may be adopted as a sign of mourning by a man whose deceased son had been intended for the priesthood of the Grand Medicine Society.

Closely connected with religion, was the feeling they entertained for the Kura, or Red Paint, which was the sacred color; their idols, Pataka, sacred stages for the dead, and for offerings or sacrifices, Urupa graves, chief’s houses, and war canoes, were all thus painted.

The way of rendering anything tapu was by making it red. When a person died, his house was thus colored; when the tapu was laid on anything, the chief erected a post and painted it with the kura; wherever a corpse rested, some memorial was set up, oftentimes the nearest stone, rock, or tree served as a monument; but whatever object was selected, it was sure to be made red. If the corpse were conveyed by water, wherever they landed a similar token was left; and when it reached its destination, the canoe was dragged on shore, thus distinguished, and abandoned. When the hahunga took place, the scraped bones of the chief, thus ornamented, and wrapped in a red-stained mat, were deposited in a box or bowl, smeared with the sacred color, and placed in a tomb. Near his final resting place a lofty and elaborately carved monument was erected to his memory; this was called he tiki, which was also thus colored.

In former times the chief anointed his entire person with red ocher; when fully dressed on state occasions, both he and his wives had red paint and oil poured upon the crown of the head and forehead, which gave them a gory appearance, as though their skulls had been cleft asunder.

On the Cooper, Herbert, and Diamentina rivers of the North there are no paintings in caves, but in special corroborees the bodies of the leading dancers are beautifully painted with every imaginable color, representing man, woman, animals, birds, and reptiles, the outlines being nearly faultless, and in proportion, independent of the blending of the colors.

These paintings take about seven or eight hours’ hard tedious work for two men, one in front, the other at the back of the man who is to be painted, and when these men who are painted display themselves, surrounded by bright fires and rude torches, it has an enchanting effect to the others. After the ceremony is over, the paintings are allowed to be examined, and the artists congratulated or criticised.

At the other ceremonies, after returning from “Bookatoo” (red ocher expedition), they paint a few of their dancers with all the colors of the rainbow, the outlines showing all the principal species of snakes. They are well drawn and colored, and take many hours of labor to complete.

These paintings of snakes are done for the purpose of having a good harvest of snakes. The women are not allowed to attend at this ceremony, as it is one of their strict secret dances.