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"And of such mystic fancies, in the range
Of these deep-cavern'd sepulchres are found
The wildest images, unheard of, strange,
Striking, uncouth, odd, picturesque, profound,
That ever puzzled antiquarian's brain;
Prisoners of different nations, bound and slain,
Genii with heads of birds, hawks, ibis, drakes,
Of lions, foxes, cats, fish, frogs, and snakes,
Bulls, rams, and monkeys, hippopotami,
With knife in paw, suspended from the sky;
Gods germinating men, and men turn'd gods,
Seated in honour with gilt crooks, and rods;
Vast scarabaei, globes by hands upheld
From chaos springing, 'mid an endless field
Of forms grotesque-the sphynx, the crocodile,
And other reptiles from the slime of Nile.'

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EGYPT,' in Hall's Life of Salt, vol. ii. p. 416. Under 1 Kings vi. we gave a representation of the great temple at Edfou, with the view of suggesting some idea as to the possible general disposition of parts in Solomon's temple. Now this temple has precisely such a chamber of imagery' as the idolatrous Jews had at this time formed in that same temple at Jerusalem. The only means of access now afforded also suggests an analogy to the present text by which we were much struck when reading it in Madden's Travels in Turkey, Egypt, etc. The Arabs have a miserable village upon the roof of this temple; its sanctuary is blocked up with a dunghill; part of the splendid portico is converted into a stable, and the whole interior is so filled up with rubbish, that it is deemed impossible to enter. But an old man, to whose family the traveller had afforded medical relief, apprized him of a secret passage, which had never before been made known to any Frank, and through which he undertook to conduct him. Considerably below the surface of the adjoining buildings he pointed out to me a chink in an old wall, which he told me I should creep through on my hands and feet; the aperture was not two feet and a half high, and scarcely three feet and a half broad; my companion had the courage to enter first, thrusting in a lamp before him. I followed, and after me the son of the old man crept also; the passage was so narrow, that my mouth and nose were sometimes buried in the dust, and I was nearly suffocated. After proceeding about ten yards in utter darkness, the heat became excessive, breathing was laborious, the perspiration poured down my face, and I would have given the world to have got out; but my companion, whose person I could not distinguish, though his voice was audible, called out to me to crawl a few feet farther, and that I should find plenty of space. I joined him at length, and had the inexpressible satisfaction of standing

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once more on my feet. We found ourselves in a splendid apartment of great magnitude, adorned with sacred paintings and hieroglyphics.' The ceiling, which was also painted, was supported by several rows of pillars. How similar to this was the entrance of the prophet, through ' a hole in the wall,' to a similar chamber of imagery in the Lord's own temple! Our present engraving affords a view of one of the richest and best preserved of those Egyptian chambers of imagery' which the Hebrew idolators imitated.

14. Women weeping for Tammuz.-As the former description referred to forms of idolatry borrowed from the Egyptians, so this applies to another form derived from the Phoenicians; but which was however in many respects similar to the Egyptian worship of Osiris and Isis. We do not find any reason to doubt the correctness of the usual identification of this Tammuz with the being who is better known to most readers by the classical name of Adonis. The story seems to be a mixture of history and allegory, as most of the ancient mythological fables are -arising from the fact that most, perhaps all, of the beings to which they refer were once living persons, deified after death, and whose memories were made the types and symbols of some ordinary or extraordinary phenomena of nature. There are different versions of the story of Adonis: but as the one best known, that of Ovid, bears evident marks of alteration from the original Phoenician fable, to adapt it to classical notions, we shall, in the brief explanation which seems necessary, follow the version which is preferred by Selden, Marsham, and Le Clerc, as derived from Phurnutus and other mythologists. It will be seen that this story essentially identifies him with the Osiris of Egypt, and his wife Astarte with the Egyptian Isis.

Adonis was the son of Ammon, by Myrrha the daughter of Cinyras, a Phoenician king, whose residence was at Byblos. Myrrha, having given offence to her father, was banished, and withdrew, with her husband and infant son, into Arabia. After some stay there they went into Egypt, where, after his father's death, the young Adonis applied himself to the improvement of the Egyptians, teaching them agriculture and enacting many laws concerning the property of lands. There Astarte became his wife, and the greatest attachment subsisted between them. Adonis, having gone into Syria, was wounded by a wild boar in the forests of Mount Lebanon, where he had been hunting. Astarte thought his wound mortal, and manifested such an intensity of grief that the people believed him to be actually dead, and Egypt and Phoenicia made great lamentation for him. However, he recovered, and their mourning was then exchanged for the most rapturous joy.

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To perpetuate the memory of this event, an annual festival was instituted, during which the people first mourned bitterly for him as dead, and then abandoned themselves to joy for his restoration to life. The story adds that Adonis was in the end killed in battle, and his wife procured his deification. She continued to govern Egypt peacefully for many years; and after her death divine honours were paid to her also. Such, in brief, is the story of Adonis, which, thus told, is clearly but a different version of that of Osiris and Isis; and as these were in Egypt the representatives of the sun and moon, so were Adonis and Astarte in Phoenicia. We are also told that while the feast of Osiris was celebrated in Egypt, another like it was observed in Phoenicia for Adonis-first mourning and then rejoicing. Indeed, it is stated that the Egyptians, during their celebration of the festival, used to set upon the Nile an osier basket containing a letter, which by the course of the waves was conveyed to the coast of Phoenicia near Byblos, where it no sooner arrived than the people gave over their mourning for Adonis, and began to rejoice for his return to life. In fact, the circumstance, which was, both by the Egyptians and Phoenicians, celebrated with mourning succeeded by rejoicing, was, as acknowledged by themselves, the same thing differently typified -being the annual diminution and recovery of the power and glory of the sun; expressed in Egypt by the death and dismemberment of Osiris and the recovery of his scattered remains, and in Phoenicia, by the wound and revival of Adonis. It is no use to expound this story further, or to seek analogies, or to settle the discrepancies of different versions. Our only intention is to explain the object of the mourning which the prophet mentions, and concerning which all the versions agree. Lucian says he was a witness of the celebration of the festival in Phoenicia. There was a great mourning throughout the country-the people shaved their heads, smote themselves, and lamented bitterly, offering sacrifices to Adonis; but suddenly all was changed when the time came to celebrate his revival. We purposely omit to mention the atrocious obscenities which attended this celebration, and which, in the Divine view, rendered it a greater abomination' than even the deeds of the elders in their chambers of imagery.'

The name of Adonis was given to a river of Lebanon which was supposed to have been stained with his blood

CHAPTER IX.

when wounded by the wild boar; and which was alleged annually to commemorate the event by renewing its discoloration. In fact, Maundrell describes the stream as of a surprising redness, when seen by him, owing, no doubt, as he explains, to a sort of red earth washed into its bed by the violence of the rains. We cannot forbear from citing, in conclusion, the lines in which Milton alludes to these circumstances:

-Thammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate,
In amorous ditties all a summer's day;
While smooth Adonis, from his native rock,
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded: The love-tale
Infected Sion's daughters with like heat,
Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch
Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,
His eye survey'd the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah.'-Paradise Lost, B. i., 446.

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16. They worshipped the sun.'-To this other leading form of idolatry to which the Hebrews were addicted, we have already given some attention under Job xxxi.

17. They put the branch to the nose.'-This is not very intelligible. The Septuagint reads, And, lo, they are as 'sneerers' or 'mockers;' and this interpretation is justified by several Hebrew manuscripts, which, instead of the present z'morah, a branch,' have i zamrah, which, in the Chaldee, signifies any noise indicative of scorn or contempt. So also equivalently in Aquila and Symmachus. Accordingly Newcome renders, They send forth a scornful noise through their nostrils;' and some of our elder translators took the same view. Those who prefer the present translation, think that the text alludes to a custom among the ancient Persians, who are said when they prayed to have held in their hands a small bundle of twigs, which was called in their language BORSAM, and which they held before their faces opposite the holy fire. It is also to be observed that the ancient heathen in the worship of their deities held forth branches of those trees which were dedicated to them; and it is with reference to this custom that Jerome and others explain the text.

4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of

1 A vision, whereby is shewed the preservation of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foresome, 5 and the destruction of the rest. 8 God cannot be intreated for them.

He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, 'which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn "by his side and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;

1 Heb. which is turned.

heads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

6 Slay 'utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

2 Heb. a weapon of his breaking in pieces. 5 Exod. 12. 7. Revel. 7. 3.

8

And it came to pass, while they were

3 Heb, upon his loins.

6 Heb. mine cars.

4 Heb. mark a mark.

7 Heb. to destruction.

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an inch thick, the hollow of which serves to contain the reed pens and penknife. It is furnished at one end with a lid attached by a hinge. To the flat side of this shaft, towards the end furnished with the lid, is soldered the inkvessel, which has at the top a lid with a hinge and clasp, fitting very closely. The ink-vessel is usually twice as heavy as the shaft. The latter is passed through the girdle, and is prevented from slipping through by the projecting

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PERSIAN INSTRUMENTS OF WRITING.

1. Kalından, or Case for Pen and Ink; 2, 3. Parts of the same, separate, i.e. 3. drawn out of 2.; 4. Spoon for watering the ink; 5. Pen, formed of a Reed; 6. Thin piece of Horn, on which the Pen is mended; 7. Whetstone; 8. Ink-holder, with a compass.

ink-vessel. The whole is usually of polished metal, brass, copper, or silver. The case for pens and ink is worn in the same manner by the Persians, but it is very different in its form and appearance. It is a long case, eight or nine inches long, by about one and a half broad, and rather less in depth, rounded at each end. It is made of paper, stiff as board, and the whole exterior is japanned and covered with richly coloured drawings. This case contains another, which fits it exactly, and may be considered as a long drawer; it is of course uncovered at top, and slips into the outer case at one end, so that it can be easily drawn out, wholly or partially, to give access to the contents. These are shewn in our engraving, and furnish an interesting

MODERN EGYPTIAN WRITING-CASE AND INSTRUMENTS.

exhibition of the utensils required by an Oriental writer. First there is the ink-stand, which is so put into the case that it is the first thing that offers when the drawer is pulled out. It is of brass or silver, the upper surface being sometimes ornamented with mother-of-pearl and other materials; and is sometimes furnished with a small mag

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netic needle (as in our specimen), under a glass, to enable the proprietor to find the direction of Mecca when he prays. Then there is a little spoon, from which water is dropped into the inkstand, for the purpose of diluting the ink when become too thick or dry. The case also usually contains four or five pens of reed, whence the whole is called a pencase,' rather than an inkstand.' As these pens are too thick-pointed to be nibbed on the nail, after our fashion with quill pens, a thin piece of horn is provided, on which the pen is laid for the purpose. These are the more essential articles, but often a small whetstone is added, and also a pair of scissors for clipping paper. The former we have given, but not the latter. Of these two sorts of inkhorns,' so to call them, the first is best adapted to be worn in the girdle, but the Persian is certainly more light and elegant, and at least equally convenient with reference to its proper use; but neither of them is at all suited for such thin inks as we employ. It may be difficult to say which of them the inkhorns' of the Hebrews most resembled; but from its being worn in the girdle it was doubtless something of the same kind.

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4. Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men.'-See the note on Lev. xix. 28. There is no difficulty in perceiving that the object of this was to distinguish those who had the mark in the forehead, as the Lord's servants and the objects of his peculiar care. Compare Rev. vii. 3, and other texts indicated in the margin. The ancient customs in this matter, and which still subsist in different parts of the world, exceedingly well illustrate all the passages of Scripture which refer to the subject. Bond servants, or

slaves, were not only marked upon the forehead as a punishment for offences or for attempts to escape from servitude, but to distinguish them as the property of their masters, to deter them from running away, or to facilitate their recovery if they should do so. The mark usually consisted of the name or some peculiar character belonging to the master. It was also a custom, but perhaps not a general one, to mark soldiers in the same manner, only they bore their marks on the hand, not on the forehead, just as our sailors like to have marks impressed upon their arms. Hence also the votaries of some of the gods were marked with signs, intended to denote that they were the devoted servants and worshippers of the god whose symbols they bore. Sometimes they contained the name of the god, but as often his particular symbol, as the thunderbolt of Jove, the trident of Neptune, the ivy of Bacchus, and so on; or else they marked themselves with a mystical number, whereby the name of the god was understood to be described. Thus the sun, which was signified by the number DCVIII., is said to have been represented by the two numeral characters, XH. It is well to explain this here; but it will be observed that in Rev. xiii. 16, 17, all these different methods are

more distinctly enumerated:-'He causeth all . . . to receive a mark in their right hands or in their foreheads; and no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. As tokens of devotement to the service and worship of particular idols, such marks are much mentioned by ancient writers as common in different nations. Lucian, for instance, says that the worshippers of the Syrian goddess distinguished themselves by particular marks either upon their hands or necks, and Philo and others allude to it as a very general custom. That the Christians soon adopted a modification of this custom by impressing the figure of the cross or the monogram of Jesus Christ upon their arms, we learn from Procopius and others: and that the custom in a modified form is still kept up by the Oriental Christians, Roman Catholics, and pilgrims to the Holy Land, we have already intimated. The marks were in ancient times formed either by the impress of a hot iron, or by the punctures of needles, afterwards rubbed over by a colouring powder or composition, as described in the note to Isa. xlix. 14; the process being the same as continues to be in use. The marks were indelible. See also the notes on Lev. xix. 28, and Isa. xliv. 5.

CHAPTER X.

1 The vision of the coals of fire, to be scattered over the city. 8 The vision of the cherubims.

THEN I looked, and, behold, in the 'firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.

5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.

6 And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.

7 And one cherub 'stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was

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clothed with linen who took it, and went out.

8 And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings.

9 And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a 'beryl stone.

10 And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.

11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they

went.

12 And their whole 'body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

13 As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.

14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.

16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from

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the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.

17 When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.

19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house;

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9 Or, of life.

CHAPTER XI.

1 The presumption of the princes. 4 Their sin and judgment. 13 Ezekiel complaining, God sheweth him his purpose in saving a remnant, 21 and punishing the wicked. 22 The glory of God leaveth the city. 24 Ezekiel is returned to the captivity. MOREOVER the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city :

3 Which say, 'It is not near; let us build houses this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.

4 T Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

9 And I will bring you out of the midst

1 Or, It is not for us to build houses near.

thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among

you.

10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel :

12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: 3 for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.

13¶ And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

14 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.

16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where

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