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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
This work does not treat of the origin of man’s religious faculty, or of the origin of the sentiment of religion; nor does it enter the domain of theological discussion. It simply attempts to show the beginning of religious rites, by which man evidenced a belief, however obtained, in the possibility of covenant relations between God and man; and the gradual development of those rites, with the progress of the race toward a higher degree of civilization and enlightenment. Necessarily the volume i
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1. A BLOOD WELCOME AT THE DOOR.
1. A BLOOD WELCOME AT THE DOOR.
The primitive altar of the family would seem to have been the threshold, or door-sill, or entrance-way, of the home dwelling-place. This is indicated by surviving customs, in the East and elsewhere among primitive peoples, and by the earliest historic records of the human race. It is obvious that houses preceded temples, and that the house-father was the earliest priest. Sacrifices for the family were, therefore, within or at the entrance of the family domicile. In Syria and in Egypt, at the pre
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2. REVERENCE FOR THE THRESHOLD ALTAR.
2. REVERENCE FOR THE THRESHOLD ALTAR.
The threshold, as the family altar on which the sacrificial blood of a covenant welcome is poured out, is counted sacred, and is not to be stepped upon, or passed over lightly; but it is to be crossed over reverently, as in recognition of Him to whom all life belongs. “On passing the threshold,” in Arabia, “it is proper to say, ‘Bismillah,’ that is, ‘In the name of God.’ Not to do so would be looked upon as a bad augury, alike for him who enters and for those within.” [19] In Syria the belief pr
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3. THRESHOLD COVENANTING IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.
3. THRESHOLD COVENANTING IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.
Marriage customs in various parts of the world, in ancient and modern times, illustrate this idea of the sacredness of the threshold as the family altar. In portions of Syria, when a bride is brought to her husband’s home, a lamb or a kid is sacrificed on the threshold, and she must step across the outpoured blood. [66] This marks her adoption into that family. Among the wide-spreading ʾAnazeh Bed´ween, the most prominent and extensive tribe of desert Arabs, whose range is from the Sinaitic Peni
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4. STEPPING OR BEING LIFTED ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
4. STEPPING OR BEING LIFTED ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
Even more widespread and prominent than the custom of offering blood, or of making a libation, or of overcoming a special barrier, at the threshold, or of anointing or stamping the posts or lintel of the doorway as a sign of the covenant, at the time of a marriage, and as a part of the ceremony, is the habit of causing the bride to cross the threshold with care, without stepping upon it. This custom is of well-nigh world-wide observance, and it has attracted the attention of anthropologists and
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5. LAYING FOUNDATIONS IN BLOOD.
5. LAYING FOUNDATIONS IN BLOOD.
In the building of a house, as a new home, the prominence given to the laying of the threshold, or to its dedicating by blood, is another indication, or outcome, of its altar-like sacredness. In Upper Syria a sacrifice is often made at the beginning of the building of a new house, and again at the first crossing of its threshold. “When a new house is built,” among the Metâwileh, “the owner will not reside in it until, with certain formalities, a black hen has been carried several times round the
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6. APPEALS AT THE ALTAR.
6. APPEALS AT THE ALTAR.
Because the threshold is recognized as an altar, nearness to the altar is nearness to God, or to the gods worshiped at that altar. Hence appeals are made and justice is sought at the gate, or at the threshold, as in the presence of deity. To present one’s self at the tent doorway, or to lay hold of the supports, or cords, at the entrance of an Arab’s “house of hair,” is recognized as an ever-effective appeal for hospitality in the East. Even an enemy can thus secure the protection of the home sa
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7. COVENANT TOKENS ON THE DOORWAY.
7. COVENANT TOKENS ON THE DOORWAY.
Because the threshold of the doorway is the primitive altar of the household, the doorway itself is, as it were, a framework above the altar; and the side-posts and lintel of the doorway fittingly bear tokens or inscriptions in testimony to the sacredness of the passage into the home sanctuary. It would seem that originally the blood poured out in sacrifice on the threshold was made use of for marking the door-posts and lintel with proofs of the covenant entered into between the in-comer and the
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8. SYMBOL OF THE RED HAND.
8. SYMBOL OF THE RED HAND.
It would seem that, in primitive practice, the hand of the covenanter dipped in the sacrificial blood on the threshold, and stamped on the door-posts and lintel, was the sign-manual of the covenant between the contracting party or parties, and God, or the gods, invoked in the sacrifice. Illustrations of this custom, as still surviving in the East, have been given, from Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Morocco. [210] Naturally, therefore, the sign-manual by itself came to stand for, or to symbolize
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9. DEITIES OF THE DOORWAY.
9. DEITIES OF THE DOORWAY.
Originally the covenant sacrifice at the threshold was with the one God of life. But as monotheism degenerated into polytheism, the idea came to prevail of different deities in different portions of the door, or of different deities in different districts of country or in different offices of life. Each gate of an Assyrian city was dedicated to a special god, and named after it,–as the gate of Bel, the gate of Beltis, the gate of Anu, the gate of Ishtar. At the entrance-way of every gate giganti
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1. FROM HOUSE TO TEMPLE.
1. FROM HOUSE TO TEMPLE.
A temple is only a more prominent house. As a house was the dwelling of the earlier priest of his household, who was in covenant for himself and his family with the guardian deity of that household; so, afterwards, a temple was a dwelling for the deity guarding an aggregation of families, and for the priests who stood between him and the community. This is no new or strange truth; it is obvious. “In the Vedas, Yama, as the first man, is the first priest too; he brought worship here below as well
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2. SACREDNESS OF THE DOOR.
2. SACREDNESS OF THE DOOR.
In all stages of the transition from house to temple, the sacredness of the threshold, of the door, of the entrance-way, of the gate, was recognized in architecture and in ceremonial. Often the door, or the gate, stood for the temple, and frequently the threshold was an altar, or an altar was at the threshold. There are, indeed, reasons for supposing that the very earliest form of a primitive temple, or sanctuary, or place of worship, was a rude doorway, as covering or as localizing the threshol
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3. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN ASIA.
3. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN ASIA.
In all the modern excavations in the region of Babylonia and Assyria, including Tello, Nippur, Sippara, Borsippa, Khorsabad, and Nineveh, it has been found that the threshold, or foundation-stone, of the temple doorway is marked with inscriptions that show its peculiar sanctity; while underneath it, or near it, are frequently buried images and symbols and other treasures in evidence of its altar-like sacredness. On this point evidence has been furnished by Botta, [304] Bonomi, [305] Layard, [306
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4. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN AFRICA.
4. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN AFRICA.
The oldest temple discovered in Egypt is little more than a doorway with an altar at its threshold, and with a stele on either side of the altar. This temple is near the base of the stepped pyramid of Meydoom, dating back probably to the beginning of the fourth dynasty. [366] Later, in Egypt, as in early Babylonia, the doorway, above the threshold, had peculiar sacredness, in the temples and in the approaches to the under-world. The pylon, or propylon, of an Egyptian temple, was a monumental gat
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5. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN EUROPE.
5. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN EUROPE.
Traces of the primitive sacredness of the doorway and the threshold, in places of worship, are to be found in Europe, ancient and modern, as in Asia and Africa. The term “threshold” occurs in such prominence in connection with temples, in the earliest Greek literature, as to show that its primitive meaning included the idea of altar, or of sanctuary foundation. Thus the House of Zeus on Olympus is repeatedly spoken of as the “House of the Bronze Threshold.” [386] In these references, “the nature
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6. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN AMERICA.
6. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN AMERICA.
In the West, as in the East, traces of the primitive sacredness of the threshold and the doorway are to be found. The stepped pyramid, or uplifted threshold, with the sanctuary at its summit, was the earliest form of temple or place of worship in Mexico, and in Central and South America. In the later and more elaborate temples there was no altar within the building, although an image of the god was there. The altar, or stone of sacrifice, was without, before the door of the sanctuary. [419] When
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7. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN ISLANDS OF THE SEA.
7. TEMPLE THRESHOLDS IN ISLANDS OF THE SEA.
There is a certain resemblance in the plan of some of the temples of the South Sea Islands to those of Central America. A stepped pyramid in a large court was the central shrine; “in front of which the images were kept, and the altars fixed.” [426] In both cases the altars were outside of the shrine,–at its threshold, as it were. A method of sacrificing was by bleeding a pig to death before the altar, “washing the carcass with the blood, and then placing it in a crouching position on the altar.”
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8. ONLY ONE FOUNDATION.
8. ONLY ONE FOUNDATION.
An idea tangent to, rather than identical with, the thought of the altar sacredness of the temple threshold, as found among primitive peoples, is that the first temple foundation is the foundation for all subsequent temple building at that place. And it has already been shown that the threshold, or hearthstone, or corner-stone, is considered the foundation. [438] In ancient Babylonia a temple, however grand and extensive, was supposed to be built on the foundation of an earlier temple; the one t
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1. FROM TEMPLE TO DOMAIN.
1. FROM TEMPLE TO DOMAIN.
Man’s first dwelling-place was the cave, or the tent, or the hut, in which he made a home with his family. The threshold and hearth of that dwelling-place was the boundary of his earthly possessions. It was the sacred border or limit of the portion of the earth’s surface over which he claimed control, and where he and his were under the special protection of the deity with whom he was in covenant. Therefore the threshold hearth was hallowed as a place of covenant worship. As families were formed
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2. LOCAL LANDMARKS.
2. LOCAL LANDMARKS.
A private landmark was a sacred boundary, and was a threshold altar for its possessor. To remove or to disregard such a local threshold, was an offense not only against its owner, but against the deity in whose name it had been set up. Among the earliest remains from unearthed Babylonia are local landmarks, or threshold boundary stones, inscribed, severally, with a dedication and an appeal to the deity honored by him who erected the stone. These local landmarks were ordinarily in the form of a p
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3. NATIONAL BORDERS.
3. NATIONAL BORDERS.
Stone pillars marking the exact boundaries of states or nations, whether settled by a joint commission or by a conqueror’s fiat, are not a modern invention, although they are in use to-day. They are of old time, and of primitive ages. And these boundaries of a country are by their very nature its thresholds. In Babylonia, the name of Nebuchadrezzar meant literally, “Nebo protect the boundary!” The threshold of the empire was sacred; and the deity, with whom the Babylonian king was in covenant, w
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4. BORDER SACRIFICES.
4. BORDER SACRIFICES.
An altar would have no meaning unless sacrifices were offered at it. If, therefore, the boundary threshold of an empire were an altar for that empire, sacrifices would surely be offered there; and the records of history, and the customs of old times and later, show this to have been the case. Sacrifices were offered at the new boundary of an empire, by ancient Assyrian and Egyptian kings, when they set up a pillar, or stele, at the freshly acquired threshold in that direction. Thus, for example,
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1. A NATURAL QUESTION.
1. A NATURAL QUESTION.
A question that forces itself on the mind, in connection with the study of a world-wide primitive rite like this of the Threshold Covenant, is, What was its origin? How came it to pass, that primitive peoples, in all parts of the world, were brought to attach such exceptionally sacred significance to the threshold of a hut, or tent, or cave, or house; of a palace or temple; of a domain, local or national; and to count its crossing by blood a form of holy covenanting between the parties engaged i
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2. AN ANSWER BY INDUCTION.
2. AN ANSWER BY INDUCTION.
This threshold rite clearly goes back to the beginning of family life. The facts already presented are proof of this. The rite includes the proffer of blood at the foundation of the family as a family. It is a part of the marriage ceremonial among primitive peoples. It is also the means by which one is adopted from without into a family circle or group. It marks every stage of the progress of family life, from one pair to a community and to an empire, in its civil and religious relations. It is
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3. NO COVENANT WITHOUT BLOOD.
3. NO COVENANT WITHOUT BLOOD.
Flowing blood is widely deemed essential to the covenant by which two are made one in the marriage relation. This is peculiarly the case among those primitive peoples where young maidens are guarded with jealous care, and are given in marriage at a very early age. In the thought of such peoples there is no binding covenant without blood, in the family relation. [524] And a bloody hand stamp on the cloth of testimony is the primitive certificate of the marriage covenant. Facts in illustration of
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4. CONFIRMATION OF THIS VIEW.
4. CONFIRMATION OF THIS VIEW.
If the view here given of the origin of this rite of the Threshold Covenant be correct, there will be found traces of the truth in the different religions of mankind. And this is the case, as shown in religious literatures, in history, and in primitive customs and beliefs. The most ancient expression of the religious thought and feeling of the Aryan races is found in the Vedas and their accompanying literature. The Brahmanas, in this literature, deal with the sacrificial element in public and fa
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1. NEW MEANING IN AN OLD RITE.
1. NEW MEANING IN AN OLD RITE.
How the significance of the Hebrew passover rite stands out in the light of this primitive custom! It is not that this rite had its origin in the days of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, but that Jehovah then and there emphasized the meaning and sacredness of a rite already familiar to Orientals. In dealing with his chosen people, God did not invent a new rite or ceremonial at every stage of his progressive revelation to them; but he took a rite with which they were already familiar, and gave to it
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2. A WELCOME WITH BLOOD.
2. A WELCOME WITH BLOOD.
A lamb was the chosen sacrifice in the welcome to Jehovah. Each household, or family, was to take one lamb for this offering. No directions were given as to the place or manner of its sacrifice; for that seems to have been understood by all, because of the very term “pass-over,” or threshold cross-over. This is implied, indeed, in the directions for the use of the blood when it was poured out: “Kill the passover,” in the usual place; “and ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood
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3. BASON, OR THRESHOLD.
3. BASON, OR THRESHOLD.
It is strange that the Hebrew word for “threshold” ( saph ) in this narrative is translated “bason” in our English Bible. It is because of this that the identity of the passover sacrifice with the primitive Threshold Covenant is so generally lost sight of. This word saph occurs many times in the Old Testament text, and in nine cases out of ten it is translated “threshold,” or “door,” or “door-post,” or the like. [549] It would seem that it should be so translated in this instance. In some cases
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4. PASS-OVER OR PASS-BY.
4. PASS-OVER OR PASS-BY.
The common understanding of the term “passover,” in connection with the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, is that it was, on the Lord’s part, a passing by those homes where the doorways were blood-stained, without entering them. Yet this meaning is not justified by the term itself, nor by the significance of the primitive rite. Jehovah did not merely spare his people when he visited judgment on the Egyptians. He covenanted anew with them by passing over, or crossing over, the blood-stained threshold int
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5. MARRIAGE OF JEHOVAH WITH ISRAEL.
5. MARRIAGE OF JEHOVAH WITH ISRAEL.
It seems clear that the Egyptian passover rite was a rite of threshold covenanting, as ordered of God and as understood by the Israelites. Its sacrifice was on the threshold of the homes of the Hebrews on the threshold of a new year, [573] and on the threshold of a new nationality. Then Israel began anew in all things. Moreover, it was recognized as the rite of marriage between Jehovah and Israel; as the very Threshold Covenant had its origin in the rite of primitive marriage. That first passove
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1. OLD COVENANT AND NEW.
1. OLD COVENANT AND NEW.
In the New Testament the rites and symbols of the Old Testament find recognition and explanation. This is peculiarly true of the passover service. It was a central fact in the gospel story. The sacrifice, or offering, of Jesus Christ as the Saviour, was made at that season; [580] and it was evident that he himself felt that it was essential that this be so. He held back from Jerusalem until the approach of the passover feast, when he knew that his death was at hand. [581] And his last passover m
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2. PROFFERED WELCOME BY THE FATHER.
2. PROFFERED WELCOME BY THE FATHER.
The primitive passover sacrifice was an offering of blood by the head of the household on the threshold of his home, as a token of his welcome to the guest who would cross over that blood and thereby become one with the family within. It was not an outsider or a stranger who proffered a threshold sacrifice, but it was the house-father who thus extended a welcome to one who was yet outside. The welcoming love was measured by the preciousness of the sacrifice. The richer the offering, the heartier
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3. BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE.
3. BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE.
All through the New Testament, Jesus, the outpouring of whose blood is “our passover” welcome from the Father, is spoken of as the Bridegroom, and his church as the Bride. His coming to earth is referred to as the coming of the Bridegroom–as was the coming of Jehovah to the Virgin of Israel in Egypt. He likened himself to a bridegroom. And his coming again to his church is foretold as the meeting of the Bridegroom and the Bride. John the Baptist, forerunner of Jesus, speaking of his mission as c
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4. SURVIVALS OF THE RITE.
4. SURVIVALS OF THE RITE.
Survivals of the primitive Threshold Covenant are found in various customs among Oriental Christians, and Christians the world over. Thus Easter is still looked at in some regions as the continuance of Passover, and the blood on the threshold is an accompaniment of the feast. Among the modern Greeks, each family, as a rule, buys a lamb, kills it, and eats it on Easter Sunday. “In some country districts the blood [of the lamb] is sometimes smeared on the threshold of the house.” [595] Easter, lik
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1. ELEMENTAL BEGINNINGS.
1. ELEMENTAL BEGINNINGS.
Apart from the mooted question of the origin and development of man as man,–whether it be held that he came into being as an incident in the evolutionary progress of the ages, or that his creation was by a special fiat of the Author of all things,–it is obvious that there was a beginning, when man first appeared as a higher order of being than the lower animals then in existence. The distinguishing attribute of man, as distinct from the lower animals at their best, is the capacity to conceive of
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2. MAIN OUTGROWTHS
2. MAIN OUTGROWTHS
It would seem clear that the primal idea of a covenant union between two persons, and between those persons and their God, was found in the initial and primitive rite of marriage, with its outpoured blood, or gift of life, on the threshold of being; and that this rite contained in itself the germs of covenanting and of sacrifice, and the idea of an altar and a sacrament, where, and by which, man and God were brought into loving communion and union. Thus the beginning of religious rites was found
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3. CHIEF PERVERSIONS.
3. CHIEF PERVERSIONS.
With the world as it is, and with man as he is, every possibility of good has a corresponding possibility of evil. Good perverted becomes evil. Truth which, rightly used, proves a savor of life, will, when misused, prove a savor of death. [601] And that which is a symbol of truth becomes a means of misleading when looked at as if it were in itself the truth. The primitive Threshold Covenant as an elemental religious rite was holy and pure, and had possibilities of outgrowth in the direction of h
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SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOOD IN THE MARRIAGE RITE.[645]
SIGNIFICANCE OF BLOOD IN THE MARRIAGE RITE.[645]
In Ægypto Superiori, quemadmodum in aliis regionibus, ubi mores prisci praeservati vigent, matrimonium eousque non consummatur, donec, examine instituto, sponsus sanguinem, ceu testimonium virginitatis sponsae elicuerit. Linteolum quoddam singulare, mucinii vel mappae speciem prae se ferens, a parentibus sponsae ad obryssam hanc praeparatur. Quum sponsus vigilia nuptiarum sponsam convenit, linteolum istud digito circumvolvit, atque periculum virginitatis instituit. Sanguis linteolum maculis crue
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EXHIBITING THE EVIDENCES.
EXHIBITING THE EVIDENCES.
In Syria, veluti in Ægypto, tela cruenta, vel indusium sanguine maculatum loco probae castitatis testimoniique matrimonii habetur. In Sinis “linteolum” ferculo a famulo offertur sponso, ubi is cubiculum nuptiale primum intrat, quod his thalamo insternit, parentibus sponsae, sanguine inquinatum ad praeservandum traditurus. [651] Apud Dahomeanos thalamus, nocte nuptiarum gossypina nova impressa (vulgo “calico”) consternitur, postero autem die, si cuncta e sententia successerint, godo (ligatura, qu
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SUBSTITUTE BLOOD FOR DECEPTION.
SUBSTITUTE BLOOD FOR DECEPTION.
Quum in Arabia sponsa quaedam virginitatis orba sponso a parentibus imponitur, mater sponsae turturillam clam iugulat, eiusque sanguine camisiam sponsae, antequam illa amicis visui exhibeatur, tingit atque commaculat. Ad mores hos in fabulis “Noctium Mille et Unius” haud tam infrequenter referimur. [660] Burton haec interpretans ait: “Vetus ac venerabilis consuetudo linteum nuptiale visendi in plurimis Orientis regionibus pietate quadam religiosa adhuc praeservata viget; in familiis enim Muhamme
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PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF THE RITE.
PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF THE RITE.
Navarchus Cook, in Chronico sui primi circum orbem itineris de Fœdere Liminari, ceu modo cultus publici in Otaheita, seu Tahiti, sequentia refert: “Die 14-mo (Maii), qui erat Solis, in castris cultum divinum celebrandum iussi; maximopere desiderabamus ut principes Indorum huic interessent, at hi, quum hora appropinquasset, domum discesserunt. Verumtamen Dñus Banks, traiecto flumine, Tuburai Tamaide suamque uxorem Tomio, secum reduxit, fore enim sperabat, ut cultus noster ab iis percontationes qu
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BIBLE TESTIMONY.
BIBLE TESTIMONY.
A distinct reference to the proofs of chastity, in the blood-stamped cloth, is found in the Bible record of the ancient law of Israel. “If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens of virginity: then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of
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WOMAN AS A DOOR.
WOMAN AS A DOOR.
In different languages and among various peoples there is, as already suggested, [668] an apparent connection between the terms, and the corresponding ideas, of “woman” and “door,” that would seem to be a confirmation of the fact that the earliest altar was at the threshold of the woman, and of the door. Thus, in the Song of Songs 8 : 8, 9:– Job, cursing the day of his birth, says (Job 3 : 1–10): Referring to this passage, the Babylonian Talmud (Treatise Bechoroth, 45 a) quotes Rabbi Eliezer as
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SYMBOLISM OF THE TWO SEXES.
SYMBOLISM OF THE TWO SEXES.
As showing the antiquity, as well as the universality, of the symbolism of the two sexes as the source of life, in connection with reverent worship, an illustration of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead is noteworthy. In a vignette on Chapter CXXV, in the Papyrus Ani, a worshiper, is represented before the throne of Osiris, in the Hall of Righteousness, with uplifted hands, in token of covenant worship, while his offering is a lotus flower, the symbol of fecundity, laid on the conventional ph
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SYMBOLISM OF TREE AND SERPENT.
SYMBOLISM OF TREE AND SERPENT.
A striking confirmation of the view taken in this work of the symbolism of the serpent, as the nexus between the two sexes, the female being represented by the fig-tree, and the male by the upright stone, or pole, [686] is found in an ancient religious custom in Mysore, India. Captain J.S.F. Mackenzie contributed an interesting paper on this subject to the “Indian Antiquary.” [687] “Round about Bangalore, more especially towards the Lal Bagh and Petta ,–as the native town is called,–three or mor
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COVENANT OF THRESHOLD-CROSSING.
COVENANT OF THRESHOLD-CROSSING.
An American gentleman traveling among the Scandinavian immigrants in Wisconsin and Minnesota, was surprised to see their house doors quite generally standing open, as if they had no need of locks and bolts. He argued from this that they were an exceptionally honest people, and that they had no fear of thieves and robbers. A Scandinavian clergyman, being asked about this, said that they had thieves in that region, but that thieves would not cross a threshold, or enter a door, with evil intent, be
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DOORKEEPER, AND CARRIER.
DOORKEEPER, AND CARRIER.
A “porter” and a “porter” are two very different persons, as the terms are employed in both Europe and America. We speak of a porter as a menial who carries burdens, such as parcels or baggage, a mere carrier for hire. Again, we speak of a porter as the attendant at, or the custodian of, the entrance gate of a mansion or public building. In the one case the porter is a very humble personage, in the other case he is a person of responsibility and importance. How it came about that the same term i
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PASSING OVER INTO A COVENANT.
PASSING OVER INTO A COVENANT.
As these pages are going to press, Dr. Sailer calls my attention to the phrase לעבר בברית lʾvr vvrt laʿabhor bibereeth , to enter, or pass over, into a covenant. This phrase, as Dr. Driver [704] points out, is found only in one place, at Deuteronomy 29 : 12. “That thou shouldest enter [or pass] into the covenant of the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day.” It is evident that here is the idea of passing over a line or boundary, or threshold limit, int
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ENGLAND’S CORONATION STONE.
ENGLAND’S CORONATION STONE.
A notable survival of the primitive reverence for the one foundation, or the original threshold, as the earliest place of sacrifice and covenanting, [710] is shown in the famous “Coronation Stone” in Westminster Abbey. This stone is under the chair in which all the sovereigns of England from Edward I. to Victoria have been crowned. It was brought by Edward I. to England from Scone, the coronation seat of the kings of Scotland. The legend attached to it was that it was the stone pillar on which J
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FROM THE REV. DR. MARCUS JASTROW.
FROM THE REV. DR. MARCUS JASTROW.
As a Jewish clergyman, and as a conservative Bible scholar, the Rev. Dr. Jastrow is honored on both sides of the Atlantic for his special attainments in Talmudic and Rabbinical lore. His great work, “A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature,” is a monument of his learning and ability in these fields. He writes: “I have read your interesting work, ‘The Threshold Covenant,’ with great attention, and derived from it more information than I can poss
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. HERMAN V. HILPRECHT.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. HERMAN V. HILPRECHT.
Oldest among civilizations of which we have any sure record is that of Babylonia. Among the foremost scholars in that realm is Dr. Hilprecht, formerly of the University of Erlangen, and now Professor of Assyriology in the University of Pennsylvania. His prominence is recognized in Europe as fully as in America. His labors, in the field and in the study, in connection with the successful Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania, and his monumental work, still in course of publicati
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. FRITZ HOMMEL.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. FRITZ HOMMEL.
As an Arabist as well as an Assyriologist, and as a bright thinker and learned scholar, in various departments of knowledge, Dr. Fritz Hommel, Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of Munich, has a deservedly high standing. His great illustrated “History of Babylonia and Assyria” is a marvelous treasure-house of information concerning the history of the earlier civilizations of the East; and his later studies in connection with the researches of Dr. Edward Glaser in South Arabia have
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. A.H. SAYCE.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. A.H. SAYCE.
No Oriental scholar and archeologist is more widely known in Europe and America, and beyond, or is surer of a hearing on any subject of which he writes, from both those who agree and those who differ with him, than Professor Sayce of Oxford University. The numerous published works of Professor Sayce have made him extensively known among scholars, and popularly. Prominent among these are the Hibbert Lectures on “The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians,” “The Ancient Empires of the East,” “Fresh L
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. W. MAX MÜLLER.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. W. MAX MÜLLER.
As an Egyptologist, Professor Müller is recognized for his scholarship and learning on both sides of the Atlantic. A favorite pupil of Georg Ebers, he continued his studies at the University of Berlin under Adolf Erman, and soon made a mark for himself. His Asien und Europa nach Altägypt Denkmaller ,–“Asia and Europe from the Egyptian Monuments,”–at once gave him high standing in that field. Expressing his regret that he was not able to give more time to the examination of “The Threshold Covenan
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. C.P. TIELE.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. C.P. TIELE.
As an Orientalist, and as a student of religions, Professor Tiele, Professor of the History of Religions in the University of Leyden, has a position of eminence before the world. His publications of importance are numerous, prominent among which stand “The Religion of Zarathustra [Zoroaster];” “Comparative History of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Religions;” “The Place of the Religions of Savages in the History of Religion;” “History of Religions of Antiquity to the Time of Alexander the Great;”
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. E. WASHBURN HOPKINS.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. E. WASHBURN HOPKINS.
The successor, at Yale University, of Professor William D. Whitney, in the chair of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology, is Professor E. Washburn Hopkins, who before held the same chair in Bryn Mawr College. This fact in itself is an indication of his position as a scholar; and his latest work, “The Religions of India,” in the series of “Handbooks on the History of Religions,” bears testimony to his learning and ability in that realm. Of the matters treated in this volume he says: “I have read yo
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FROM THE REV. DR. WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS.
FROM THE REV. DR. WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS.
No American scholar is better fitted than the Rev. Dr. William Elliot Griffis to speak of Japanese manners and customs, and of the religions and modes of thought of the people of Japan. After an extended residence in that country in connection with the Imperial University of Tokio, he has studied and written of it and of its inhabitants. “The Mikado’s Empire,” “The Religions of Japan,” “Japan in History, Folk Lore, and Art,” are among the best known and most valuable of his works in that field.
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. JOHN P. MAHAFFY.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. JOHN P. MAHAFFY.
As an authority in the field of Greek antiquities, as well as a scholar of wide learning in various other fields, Professor Mahaffy, of Dublin University, stands in high repute. Among his many published works, in proof of this, are his “Twelve Lectures on Primitive Civilization,” “Prolegomena to Ancient History,” “Social Life in Greece from Homer to Menander,” “Greek Antiquities,” “Rambles and Studies in Greece,” “Greek Life and Thought from Alexander to the Roman Conquest,” “The Greek World und
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. WILLIAM A. LAMBERTON.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. WILLIAM A. LAMBERTON.
In Dr. Lamberton, Professor of Greek, and Dean of the Department of Philosophy, the University of Pennsylvania has a scholar as acute and discerning in his observations as he is full and accurate in knowledge in his special field of classic Greek. He has been familiar with the results of my researches during my progress of recent years, and he has this to say, after examining the proof-sheets of the completed work: “Your induction seems to me to be very wide, and to include in its sweep all phas
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. DANIEL G. BRINTON.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. DANIEL G. BRINTON.
In the realm of American antiquities, and of anthropology generally, Dr. Brinton, Professor of American Archæology and Linguistics in the University of Pennsylvania, stands foremost. He has been President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and his knowledge and his work have had marked recognition in the International Oriental Congresses, in the American Philosophical Society, in the Academy of Natural Sciences, and in other learned bodies. He writes: “I have gone over,
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FROM THE REV. DR. EDWARD T. BARTLETT.
FROM THE REV. DR. EDWARD T. BARTLETT.
Dean Bartlett, of the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Philadelphia, is prominent as a devout and careful Bible scholar, who has the confidence of the Christian community to a rare degree. He was the first president of the American Institute of Sacred Literature, and he is the vice-president of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. His work, on the “Scriptures Hebrew and Christian,” as an introduction to the study of the Bible, won for him commendation from eminen
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FROM PROFESSOR DR. T.K. CHEYNE.
FROM PROFESSOR DR. T.K. CHEYNE.
Just as the final pages of this volume are going to press, a valued communication concerning them is received from Professor Cheyne, of Oxford University. Professor Cheyne is Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford, and Canon of Rochester. He is well known on both sides of the Atlantic as a prominent English representative of the school of modern “higher criticism,” or “historical criticism.” He was a member of the Old Testament Revision Company, and he contributed many
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ADDITIONAL FROM PROFESSOR DR. FRITZ HOMMEL.
ADDITIONAL FROM PROFESSOR DR. FRITZ HOMMEL.
Before this Supplement is finally printed, there comes a second communication from Professor Hommel of Munich, as already promised by him. [722] In this new communication are suggestions and words of appreciation that will be welcomed by many readers, as coming from such a source. Professor Hommel says: “Only a few days ago I finished reading your highly interesting little book, ‘The Threshold Covenant,’ and I hasten to write to you, that I have read it with ever-increasing interest, and have le
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