Volume Ii Part 5 (1/2)

[273]O???? t??pat?? ap? ?te??? a????e ?a???.

These towers, near the sea, were made use of to form a judgment of the weather, and to observe the heavens: and those which belonged to cities were generally in the Acropolis, or higher part of the place. This, by the Amonians, was named Bosrah; and the citadel of Carthage, as well as of other cities, is known to have been so denominated. But the Greeks, by an unavoidable fatality, rendered it uniformly [274]??sa, bursa, a skin: and when some of them succeeded to Zancle [275]in Sicily, finding that Orion had some reference to Ouran, or Oura.n.u.s, and from the name of the temple (t??pat??) judging that he must have had three fathers, they immediately went to work, in order to reconcile these different ideas. They accordingly changed Ouran to ???e??; and, thinking the misconstrued hide, ??sa, no improper utensil for their purpose, they made these three fathers co-operate in a most wonderful manner for the production of this imaginary person; inventing the most slovenly legend that ever was devised.

[276]??e?? (?e??) t?? sfa?e?t?? ??? ??s? e?????sa?, ?a? e? a?t?? O????

e?e?et?. Tres Dei in bovis mactati pelle minxerunt, et inde natus est Orion.

t.i.t AND t.i.tH.

When towers were situated upon eminences fas.h.i.+oned very round, they were by the Amonians called t.i.th; which answers to ?? in Hebrew, and to [277]t?t??, and t?t???, in Greek. They were so denominated from their resemblance to a woman's breast; and were particularly sacred to Orus and Osiris, the Deities of light, who by the Grecians were represented under the t.i.tle of Apollo. Hence the summit of Parna.s.sus was [278]named t.i.th.o.r.ea, from t.i.th-Or: and hard by was a city, mentioned by Pausanias, of the same name; which was alike sacred to Orus and Apollo. The same author takes notice of a hill, near Epidaurus, called [279]??t?e??? ???? ?p???????. There was a summit of the like nature at Samos, which, is by Callimachus styled _the breast of Parthenia_: [280]??a????? ?dat? ast?? ?a??e????. Mounds of this nature are often, by Pausanias and Strabo, termed, from their resemblance, [281]ast?e?de??. t.i.thonus, whose longevity is so much celebrated, was nothing more than one of these structures, a Pharos, sacred to the sun, as the name plainly shews. t.i.th-On is ast?? ?????, _the mount of the [282]Sun_. As he supplied the place of that luminary, he is said to have been beloved by Aurora, and through her favour to have lived many ages.

This, indeed, is the reverse of that which is fabled of the [283]Cyclopes, whose history equally relates to edifices. They are said to have raised the jealousy of Apollo, and to have been slain by his arrows: yet it will be found at bottom of the same purport. The Cyclopian turrets upon the Sicilian sh.o.r.e fronted due east: and their lights must necessarily have been extinguished by the rays of the rising Sun. This, I imagine, is the meaning of Apollo's slaying the Cyclopes with his arrows. Tethys, the antient G.o.ddess of the sea, was nothing else but an old tower upon a mount; of the same shape, and erected for the same purposes, as those above. On this account it was called t.i.th-Is, ast?? p????. Thetis seems to have been a transposition of the same name, and was probably a Pharos, or Fire-tower, near the sea.

These mounts, ??f?? ast?e?de??, were not only in Greece; but in Egypt, Syria, and most parts of the world. They were generally formed by art; being composed of earth, raised very high; which was sloped gradually, and with great exactness: and the top of all was crowned with a fair tower. The situation of these buildings made them be looked upon as places of great safety: and the reverence in which they were held added to the security. On these accounts they were the repositories of much wealth and treasure: in times of peril they were crowded with things of value. In a.s.syria was a temple named Azara; which the Parthian plundered, and is said to have carried off ten thousand talents: [284]?a? ??e pa?a?t?? ????? ?a?a?. The same author mentions two towers of this sort in Judea, not far from Jericho, belonging to Aristobulus and Alexander, and styled [285]Ga??f??a??a t?? ???a????: which were taken by Pompeius Magnus in his war with the Jews. There were often two of these mounds of equal height in the same inclosure; such as are described by Josephus at Machaerus, near some warm fountains. He mentions here a cavern and a rock; [286]sp??a???--t? pet?? p??????s? s?ep?e???? ta?t?? a???e? ?sa?e? ast??

d?? a?e???s??, a?????? ????? d?est?te?: _and above it two round hills like b.r.e.a.s.t.s, at no great distance from each other_. To such as these Solomon alludes, when he makes his beloved say, [287]_I am a wall, and my b.r.e.a.s.t.s like towers_. Though the word ????, Chumah, or Comah, be generally rendered a wall; yet I should think that in this place it signified the ground which the wall surrounded: an inclosure sacred to Cham, the Sun, who was particularly wors.h.i.+pped in such places. The Mizram called these hills Typhon, and the cities where they were erected, Typhonian. But as they stood within inclosures sacred to Chom, they were also styled Choma. This, I imagine, was the meaning of the term in this place, and in some others; where the text alludes to a different nation, and to a foreign mode of wors.h.i.+p. In these temples the Sun was princ.i.p.ally adored, and the rites of fire celebrated: and this seems to have been the reason why the judgment denounced against them is uniformly, that they shall be destroyed by fire.

If we suppose Comah to mean a mere wall, I do not see why fire should be so particularly destined against a part, which is the least combustible. The Deity says, [288]_I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus. [289]I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza. [290]I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus. [291]I will kindle a [292]fire in the wall of Rabbah_. As the crime which brought down this curse was idolatry, and the term used in all these instances is Chomah; I should think that it related to a temple of Chom, and his high places, called by the Greeks ??f?? ast?e?de??: and to these the spouse of Solomon certainly alludes, when she Says, e?? te????, ?a? ??

ast?? ?? ?? p?????. This will appear from another pa.s.sage in Solomon, where he makes his beloved say, [293]_We have a little sister, and she hath no b.r.e.a.s.t.s. If she be a Comah, we will build upon her a palace of silver._ A palace cannot be supposed to be built upon a wall; though it may be inclosed with one. The place for building was a Comah, or eminence. It is said of Jotham, king of Judah, that [294]_on the wall of Ophel he built much_. Ophel is literally Pytho Sol, the Ophite Deity of Egypt and Canaan.

What is here termed a wall, was a Comah, or high place, which had been of old erected to the sun by the Jebusites. This Jotham fortified, and turned it to advantage; whereas before it was not used, or used for a bad purpose.

The ground set apart for such use was generally oval; and towards one extremity of the long diameter, as it were in the focus, were these mounds and towers erected. As they were generally royal edifices, and at the same time held sacred; they were termed Tarchon, like Tarchonium in Hetruria: which by a corruption was in later times rendered Trachon, ??a???. There were two hills of this denomination near Damascus; from whence undoubtedly the Regio Trachonitis received its name: [295]?pe??e??ta? de a?t??

(?aas???) d?? ?e??e??? ??a???e?. These were hills with towers, and must have been very fair to see to. Solomon takes notice of a hill of this sort upon [296]_Lebanon, looking toward Damascus_; which he speaks of as a beautiful structure. The term Trachon seems to have been still farther sophisticated by the Greeks, and expressed ??a???, Dracon: from whence in, great measure arose the notion of treasures being guarded by [297]Dragons.

We read of the gardens of the Hesperides being under the protection of a sleepless serpent: and the golden fleece at Colchis was entrusted to such another guardian; of which there is a fine description in Apollonius.

[298]??????? e?s??es?e ??tae?? ???ta?, ??s?? te s???e? ??e??, t??? ??a? ep' a????

?eptae??? f????? ??a???, te?a? a???? ?des?a?, ?f?? ?p?pte?e? ded???e???? ??de ?? ?a?, ?? ??efa? ?d??? ?p??? a?a?dea da?ata? ?sse.

Nonnus often introduces a dragon as a protector of virginity; watching while the damsel slumbered, but sleepless itself: [299]?p?a?e?? a???p???

?p?pte?t??a ???e???: and in another place he mentions [300]F?????? e?e??

ape?e???? ?f??. Such an one guarded the nymph Chalcomeda, [301]?a??e?????

a?a??? ??????. The G.o.ddess Proserpine had two [302]dragons to protect her, by the appointment of her mother Demeter.

Such are the poetical representations: but the history at bottom relates to sacred towers, dedicated to the symbolical wors.h.i.+p of the serpent; where there was a perpetual watch, and a light ever burning. The t.i.tans, ??ta?e?, were properly t.i.tanians; a people so denominated from their wors.h.i.+p, and from the places where it was celebrated. They are, like Orion and the Cyclopians, represented as gigantic persons: and they were of the same race, the children of Anak. The t.i.tanian temples were stately edifices, erected in Chaldea, as well as in lower Egypt, upon mounds of earth, ??f??

ast?e?de??, and sacred to Hanes; ??ta??? and ??ta?e? are compounds of t.i.t-Hanes; and signify literally ast?? ?????, the conical hill of Orus.

They were by their situation strong, and probably made otherwise defensible.

In respect to the legends about dragons, I am persuaded that the antients sometimes did wilfully misrepresent things, in order to increase the wonder. Iphicrates related, that in Mauritania there were dragons of such extent, that gra.s.s grew upon their backs: [303]??a???ta? te ?e?e? e?a????, ?ste ?a? p?a? ep?pef??e?a?. What can be meant under this representation but a Dracontium, within whose precincts they encouraged verdure? It is said of Taxiles, a mighty prince in India, and a rival of Porus, that, upon the arrival of Alexander the Great, he shewed him every thing that was in his country curious, and which could win the attention of a foreigner. Among other things he carried him to see a [304]Dragon, which was sacred to Dionusus; and itself esteemed a G.o.d. It was of a stupendous size, being in extent equal to five acres; and resided in a low deep place, walled round to a great height. The Indians offered sacrifices to it: and it was daily fed by them from their flocks and herds, which it devoured at an amazing rate. In short my author says, that it was treated rather as a tyrant, than a benevolent Deity. Two Dragons of the like nature are mentioned by [305]Strabo; which are said to have resided in the mountains of Abisares, or Abiosares, in India: the one was eighty cubits in length, the other one hundred and forty. Similar to the above is the account given by Posidonius of a serpent, which he saw in the plains of _Macra_, a region in Syria; and which he styles [306]d?a???ta pept???ta ?e????. He says, that it was about an acre in length; and of a thickness so remarkable, as that two persons on horseback, when they rode on the opposite sides, could not see one another.

Each scale was as big as a, s.h.i.+eld; and a man might ride in at its mouth.

What can this description allude to, this d?a??? pept????, but the ruins of an antient Ophite temple; which is represented in this enigmatical manner to raise admiration? The plains of Macra were not far from Mount Lebanon and Hermon; where the Hivites resided; and where serpent-wors.h.i.+p particularly prevailed. The Indian Dragon above mentioned seems to have been of the same nature. It was probably a temple, and its environs; where a society of priests resided, who were maintained by the public; and who wors.h.i.+pped the Deity under the semblance of a serpent. t.i.tyus must be ranked among the monsters of this cla.s.s. He is by the Poets represented as a stupendous being, an earthborn giant:

[307]Terrae omniparentis alumnum, ---- per tota novem cui jugera corpus Porrigitur.

By which is meant, that he was a tower, erected upon a conical mount of earth, which stood in an inclosure of nine acres. He is said to have a vulture preying upon his heart, or liver; immortale jecur tondens. The whole of which history is borrowed from Homer, who mentions two vultures engaged in tormenting him.

[308]?a? ??t??? e?d?? Ga??? e????de?? ????, ?e?e??? e? daped?? ?d' ep' e??ea ?e?t? pe?e??a?

G?pe de ?? ??ate??e pa??e??? ?pa? e?e????, ?e?t??? es? d????te?, ?d' ??? apa??et? ?e?s?.

The same story is told of Prometheus, who is said to have been exposed upon Mount Caucasus, near Colchis; with this variation, that an eagle is placed over him, preying upon his heart. These strange histories are undoubtedly taken from the symbols and devices which were carved upon the front of the antient Amonian temples; and especially those of Egypt. The eagle and the vulture were the insignia of that country: whence it was called Ai-Gupt, and [309]Aetia, from Ait and Gupt, which signified an eagle and vulture.

Ait was properly a t.i.tle of the Deity, and signified heat: and the heart, the centre of vital heat, was among the Egyptians styled [310]Ait: hence we are told by [311]Orus Apollo, that a heart over burning coals was an emblem of Egypt. The Amonians dealt much in hieroglyphical representations. Nonnus mentions one of this sort, which seems to have been a curious emblem of the Sun. It was engraved upon a jasper, and worn for a bracelet. Two serpents entwined together, with their heads different ways, were depicted in a semicircular manner round the extreme part of the gem. At the top between their heads was an eagle; and beneath a sacred carriage, called Cemus.

[312]??et?? e? ???se???, ?te p?at?? ?e?a te???, ?????, e??d?a??? d?d??? ess??? ?a?????, ???fa??? pte????? p?s???? tet?a???? ???.