Volume I Part 11 (1/2)
sp??a???, ?? e?d??, ?ea? a???? a??sta. There were many caves styled Corycian: one in Cilicia, mentioned by Stepha.n.u.s Byzantinus from Parthenius, who speaks of a city of the same name: ?a?' ? t? ????????
a?t??? ??f??, a??a?ast?? ?eaa. _Near which city was the Corycian cavern, sacred to the nymphs, which afforded a sight the most astonis.h.i.+ng_. There was a place of this sort at [670]Samacon, in Elis; and, like the above, consecrated to the nymphs. There were likewise medicinal waters, from which people troubled with cutaneous and scrofulous disorders found great benefit. I have mentioned the temple at Hierapolis in [671]Phrygia; and the chasm within its precincts, out of which there issued a pestilential vapour. There was a city of the same name in [672]Syria, where stood a temple of the highest antiquity; and in this temple was a fissure, through which, according to the tradition of the natives, the waters at the deluge retired. Innumerable instances might be produced to this purpose from Pausanias, Strabo, Pliny, and other writers.
It has been observed, that the Greek term ??????, hollow, was often subst.i.tuted for Coelus, heaven: and, I think, it will appear to have been thus used from the subsequent history, wherein the wors.h.i.+p of the Atlantians is described. The mythologists gave out, that Atlas supported heaven: one reason for this notion was, that upon mount Atlas stood a temple to Coelus. It is mentioned by Maximus Tyrius in one of his dissertations, and is here, as in many other instances, changed to ??????, hollow. The temple was undoubtedly a cavern: but the name is to be understood in its original acceptation, as Coel, the house of G.o.d; to which the natives paid their adoration. This mode of wors.h.i.+p among the Atlantian betrays a great antiquity; as the temple seems to have been merely a vast hollow in the side of the mountain; and to have had in it neither image, nor pillar, nor stone, nor any material object of adoration: [673]?st? de ?t?a? ???? ??????, ep?e???? ??????.--???t? ????? ?a? ?e???, ?a? ?e??, ?a?
?????, ?a? a?a?a. _This Atlas (of which I have been speaking) is a mountain with a cavity, and of a tolerable height, which the natives esteem both as a temple and a Deity: and it is the great object by which they swear; and to which they pay their devotions_. The cave in the mountain was certainly named Co-el, the house of G.o.d; equivalent to Clus of the Romans.
To this the people made their offerings: and this was the heaven which Atlas was supposed to support. It seems to have been no uncommon term among the Africans. There was a city in Libya named Coel, which the Romans rendered Coelu. They would have expressed it Coelus, or Clus; but the name was copied in the time of the Punic wars, before the s final was admitted into their writings. Vaillant has given several specimens of coins struck in this city to the honour of some of the Roman [674]emperors, but especially of Verus, Commodus, and Antoninus Pius.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Pl. II. _Temple of Mithras near Naki Rustan in Persia. Also temples in the rock near the Plain of the Magi._ From Le Bruyn.]
Among the Persians most of the temples were caverns in rocks, either formed by nature, or artificially produced. They had likewise Puratheia, or open temples, for the celebration of the rites of fire. I shall hereafter shew, that the religion, of which I have been treating, was derived from the sons of Chus: and in the antient province of Chusistan, called afterwards Persis, there are to be seen at this day many curious monuments of antiquity, which have a reference to that wors.h.i.+p. The learned Hyde supposes them to have been either [675]palaces, or tombs. The chief building, which he has taken for a palace, is manifestly a Puratheion; one of those open edifices called by the Greeks ?pa???a. It is very like the temple at Lucorein in upper Egypt, and seems to be still entire. At a glance we may perceive, that it was never intended for an habitation. At a distance are some sacred grottos, hewn out of the rock; the same which he imagines to have been tombs. Many of the antients, as well as of the moderns, have been of the same opinion. In the front of these grottos are representations of various characters: and among others is figured, more than once, a princely personage, who is approaching the altar where the sacred fire is [676]burning. Above all is the Sun, and the figure of a Deity in a cloud, with sometimes a sacred bandage, at other times a serpent entwined round his middle, similar to the Cnuphis of Egypt. Hyde supposes the figure above to be the soul of the king, who stands before the altar: but it is certainly an emblem of the Deity, of which we have a second example in Le [677]Bruyn, copied from another part of these edifices. Hyde takes notice, that there were several repet.i.tions of this history, and particularly of persons, solem et ignem in pariete delineatos intuentes: yet he forms his judgment from one specimen only. These curious samples of antient architecture are described by [678]Kaempfer, [679]Mandesloe, [680]Chardin, and [681]Le Bruyn. They are likewise taken notice of by [682]Thevenot, and Herbert. In respect to the grottos I am persuaded, that they were temples, and not tombs. Nothing was more common among the Persians than to have their temples formed out of rocks. Mithras e [683]Petra was in a manner a proverb. Porphyry a.s.sures us, that the Deity had always a rock or cavern for his temple: that people, in all places, where the name of Mithras was known, paid their wors.h.i.+p at a [684]cavern.
Justin Martyr speaks to the same [685]purpose: and Lutatius Placidus mentions that this mode of wors.h.i.+p began among the Persians, [686]Persae in spelaeis coli solem primi invenisse dic.u.n.tur. There is therefore no reason to think that these grottos were tombs; or that the Persians ever made use of such places for the sepulture of their kings. The tombs of [687]Cyrus, [688]Nitocris, and other oriental princes, were within the precincts of their cities: from whence, as well as from the devices upon the entablatures of these grottos, we may be a.s.sured that they were designed for temples. Le Bruyn indeed supposes them to have been places of burial; which is very natural for a person to imagine, who was not acquainted with the antient wors.h.i.+p of the people. Thevenot also says, that he [689]went into the caverns, and saw several stone coffins. But this merely conjectural: for the things, to which he alludes, were not in the shape of coffins, and had undoubtedly been placed there as cisterns for water, which the Persians used in their nocturnal l.u.s.trations. This we may, in great measure, learn from his own words: for he says, that these reservoirs were square, and had a near resemblance to the basons of a fountain. The hills, where these grottos have been formed, are probably the same, which were of old famous for the strange echoes, and noises heard upon them. The circ.u.mstance is mentioned by Clemens Alexandrinus[690], who quotes it from the writers, who treated of the Persic history. It seems that there were some sacred hills in Persis, where, as people pa.s.sed by, there were heard shouts, as of a mult.i.tude of people: also hymns and exultations, and other uncommon noises. These sounds undoubtedly proceeded from the priests at their midnight wors.h.i.+p: whose voices at that season were reverberated by the mountains, and were accompanied with a reverential awe in those who heard them. The country below was called ???a t?? ?a???, the region of the Magi.
The princ.i.p.al building also, which is thought to have been a palace, was a temple; but of a different sort. The travellers above say, that it is called Istachar: and Hyde repeats it, and tells us, that it signifies e rupe sumptum, seu rupe constans saxeum palatium: and that it is derived from the Arabic word sachr, rupes, in the eighth [691]conjugation. I am sorry, that I am obliged to controvert this learned man's opinion, and to encounter him upon his own ground, about a point of oriental etymology. I am entirely a stranger to the Persic, and Arabic languages; yet I cannot acquiesce in his opinion. I do not think that the words e rupe sumptum, vel rupe constans saxeum palatium, are at any rate materials, out of which a proper name could be constructed. The place to be sure, whether a palace, or a temple, is built of stone taken from the quarry, or rock: but what temple or palace is not? Can we believe that they would give as a proper name to one place, what was in a manner common to all; and choose for a characteristic what was so general and indeterminate? It is not to be supposed. Every symbol, and representation relates to the wors.h.i.+p of the country: and all history shews that such places were sacred, and set apart for the adoration of fire, and the Deity of that element, called Ista, and Esta.[692] Ista-char, or Esta-char is the place or temple of Ista or Esta; who was the Hestia, ?st?a, of the Greeks, and Vesta of the Romans. That the term originally related to fire we have the authority of Petavius.
[693]Hebraca lingua ?? ignem significat, Aramaea ???? qua voce ignem a Noemo vocatum Berosus prodidit: atque inde forta.s.sis Graeci ?st?a? originem deduxerunt. Herbert, therefore, with great propriety, supposes the building to have been the temple of [694]Anaia, or Anas; who was the same as Hanes, as well as Hestia. Procopius, speaking of the sacred fire of the Persians, says expressly, that it was the very same which in aftertimes the Romans wors.h.i.+pped, and called the fire of Hestia, or Vesta. [695]???t? est? t?
p??, ?pe? ?st?a? e?a????t?, ?a? ese??t? e? t??? ?ste???? ??????? ??a???.
This is farther proved from a well known verse in Ovid.
[696]Nec tu aliud Vestam, quam vivam intellige flammam.
Hyde renders the term after Kaempfer, Ista: but it was more commonly expressed Esta, and Asta. The Deity was also styled Astachan, which as a masculine signified Sol Dominus, sive Vulca.n.u.s Rex. This we may infer from a province in Parthia, remarkable for eruptions of fire, which was called [697]Asta-cana, rendered by the Romans Astacene, the region of the G.o.d of fire. The island Delos was famous for the wors.h.i.+p of the sun: and we learn from Callimachus, that there were traditions of subterraneous fires bursting forth in many parts of it.
[698]F???? ?pa? ?atef?e?a?, epe? pe???a?e? p???.
Upon this account it was called [699]Pirpile; and by the same poet Histia, and Hestia, similar to the name above. [700]?st??, ? ??s?? e?est??. The antient Scythae were wors.h.i.+ppers of fire: and Herodotus describes them as devoted to Histia[701]. ??as???ta? ?st??? e? a??sta. From hence, I think, we may know for certain the purport of the term Istachar, which was a name given to the grand Pureion in Chusistan from the Deity there wors.h.i.+pped. It stands near the bottom of the hills with the caverns in a widely-extended plain: which I make no doubt is the celebrated plain of the magi mentioned above by Clemens. We may from these data venture to correct a mistake in Maximus Tyrius, who in speaking of fire-wors.h.i.+p among the Persians, says, that it was attended with acclamations, in which they invited the Deity to take his repast[702]. ???, desp?ta, es??e. What he renders es??e, was undoubtedly ?st?e, Hestie, the name of the G.o.d of fire. The address was, O ???, desp?ta, ?st?e: O mighty Lord of fire, Hestius: which is changed to O Fire, come, and feed.
The island Cyprus was of old called [703]Cerastis, and Cerastia; and had a city of the same name. This city was more known by the name of Amathus: and mention is made of cruel rites practised in its [704]temple. As long as the former name prevailed, the inhabitants were styled Cerastae. They were more particularly the priests who were so denominated; and who were at last extirpated for their cruelty. The poets imagining that the term Cerastae related to a horn, fabled that they were turned into bulls.
[705] Atque illos gemino quondam quibus aspera cornu Frons erat, unde etiam nomen traxere Cerastae.
There was a city of the same name in Euba, expressed Carystus, where the stone [706]Asbestus was found. Of this they made a kind of cloth, which was supposed to be proof against fire, and to be cleansed by that element. The purport of the name is plain; and the natural history of the place affords us a reason why it was imposed. For this we are obliged to Solinus, who calls the city with the Grecian termination, Carystos; and says, that it was noted for its hot streams: [707]Carystos aquas calentes habet, quas ????p?a? vocant. We may therefore be a.s.sured, that it was called Car-ystus from the Deity of fire, to whom all hot fountains were sacred. Ellopia is a compound of El Ope, Sol Python, another name of the same Deity. Carystus, Cerastis, Cerasta, are all of the same purport: they betoken a place, or temple of Astus, or Asta, the G.o.d of fire. Cerasta in the feminine is expressly the same, only reversed, as Astachar in Chusistan. Some places had the same term in the composition of their names, which was joined with Kur; and they were named in honour of the Sun, styled ?????, Curos. He was wors.h.i.+pped all over Syria; and one large province was hence named Curesta, and Curestica, from ??? ?st??, Sol Hestius.
In Cappadocia were many Puratheia; and the people followed the same manner of wors.h.i.+p, as was practised in Persis. The rites which prevailed, may be inferred from the names of places, as well as from the history of the country. One city seems to have been denominated from its tutelary Deity, and called Castabala. This is a plain compound of Ca-Asta-Bala, the place or temple of Asta Bala; the same Deity, as by the Syrians was called Baaltis. Asta Bala was the G.o.ddess of fire: and the same customs prevailed here as at Feronia in Latium. The female attendants in the temple used to walk with their feet bare over burning [708]coals.
Such is the nature of the temple named Istachar; and of the caverns in the mountains of Chusistan. They were sacred to Mithras, and were made use of for his rites. Some make a distinction between Mithras, Mithres, and Mithra: but they were all the same Deity, the [709]Sun, esteemed the chief G.o.d of the Persians. In these gloomy recesses people who were to be initiated, were confined for a long season in the dark, and totally secluded from all company. During this appointed term they underwent, as some say, eighty kinds of trials, or tortures, by way of expiation.
[710]Mithra apud Persas Sol esse existimatur: nemo vero ejus sacris initiari potest, nisi per aliquot suppliciarum gradus transierit. Sunt tormentorum ij lx.x.x gradus, partim intensiores.--Ita demum, exhaustis omnibus tormentis, sacris imbuuntur. Many [711]died in the trial: and those who survived were often so crazed and shaken in their intellects, that they never returned to their former state of mind.
Some traces of this kind of penance may be still perceived in the east, where the followers of Mahomet have been found to adopt it. In the history given by Hanway of the Persian monarch, Mir Maghmud, we have an account of a process similar to that above, which this prince thought proper to undergo. He was of a sour and cruel disposition, and had been greatly dejected in his spirits; on which account he wanted to obtain some light and a.s.sistance from heaven. [712]_With this intent Maghmud undertook to perform the spiritual exercises which the Indian Mahommedans, who are more addicted to them than those of other countries, have introduced into Kandahar. This superst.i.tious practice is observed by shutting themselves up fourteen or fifteen days in a place where no light enters. The only nourishment they take is a little bread and water at sun-set. During this retreat they employ their time in repeating incessantly, with a strong guttural voice, the word_ Hou, _by which they denote one of the attributes of the Deity. These continual cries, and the agitations of the body with which they were attended, naturally unhinge the whole frame. When by fasting and darkness the brain is distempered, they fancy they see spectres and hear voices. Thus they take pains to confirm the distemper which puts them upon such trials_.
_Such was the painful exercise which Maghmud undertook in January this year; and for this purpose he chose a subterraneous vault. In the beginning of the next month, when he came forth, he was so pale, disfigured, and emaciated, that they hardly knew him. But this was not the worst effect of his devotion. Solitude, often dangerous to a melancholy turn of thought, had, under the circ.u.mstances of his inquietude, and the strangeness of his penance, impaired his reason. He became restless and suspicious, often starting_.--In one of these fits he determined to put to death the whole family of his predecessor, Sha Hussein; among whom were several brothers, three uncles, and seven nephews, besides that prince's children. All these, in number above an hundred, the tyrant cut to pieces with his own hand in the palace yard, where they were a.s.sembled for that b.l.o.o.d.y purpose. Two small children only escaped by the intervention of their father, who was wounded in endeavouring to screen them.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Pl. III. Petra, Mithra or Temple of Mithras from Thevenot. Part 2.]
The reverence paid to caves and grottos arose from a notion that they were a representation of the [713]world; and that the chief Deity whom the Persians wors.h.i.+pped proceeded from a cave. Such was the tradition which they had received, and which contained in it matter of importance. Porphyry attributes the original of the custom to Zoroaster, whoever Zoroaster may have been; and says, that he first consecrated a natural cavern in Persis to Mithras, the creator and father of all things. He was followed in this practice by others, who dedicated to the Deity places of this [714]nature; either such as were originally hollowed by nature, or made so by the art of man. Those, of which we have specimens exhibited by the writers above, were probably enriched and ornamented by the Achaimenidae of Persis, who succeeded to the throne of Cyrus. They are modern, if compared with the first introduction of the wors.h.i.+p; yet of high antiquity in respect to us.
They are n.o.ble relics of Persic architecture, and afford us matter of great curiosity.
OF THE
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