Chapter 14

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 worship. 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 Ὑπαιθρα. 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 repetitions 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]Kæmpfer, [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]Petrâ was in a manner a proverb. Porphyry assures 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 worship at a [684]cavern. Justin Martyr speaks to the same [685]purpose: and Lutatius Placidus mentions that this mode of worship began among the Persians, [686]Persæ in spelæis coli solem primi invenisse dicuntur. 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 assured 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 worship 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 lustrations. 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 circumstance 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 passed by, there were heard shouts, as of a multitude of people: also hymns and exultations, and other uncommon noises. These sounds undoubtedly proceeded from the priests at their midnight worship: 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 Χωρα των Μαγων, the region of the Magi.

The principal 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 worship 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, Ἑστια, of the Greeks, and Vesta of the Romans. That the term originally related to fire we have the authority of Petavius. [693]Hebraïcâ linguâ אש ignem significat, Aramæâ אשתא quâ voce ignem a Noëmo vocatum Berosus prodidit: atque inde fortassis Græci Ἑστιας originem deduxerunt. Herbert, therefore, with great propriety, supposes the building to have been the temple of [694]Anaia, or Anaïs; 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 worshipped, and called the fire of Hestia, or Vesta. [695]Τουτο εστι το πυρ, ὁπερ Ἑστιαν εκαλουντο, και εσεβοντο εν τοις ὑστεροις χρονοις Ρωμαιοι. 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 Kæmpfer, Ista: but it was more commonly expressed Esta, and Asta. The Deity was also styled Astachan, which as a masculine signified Sol Dominus, sive Vulcanus 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 God of fire. The island Delos was famous for the worship of the sun: and we learn from Callimachus, that there were traditions of subterraneous fires bursting forth in many parts of it.

[698]Φυκος ἁπαν κατεφλεξας, επει περικαιεο πυρι.

Upon this account it was called [699]Pirpile; and by the same poet Histia, and Hestia, similar to the name above. [700]Ιστιη, ω νησων ευεστιη. The antient Scythæ were worshippers of fire: and Herodotus describes them as devoted to Histia[701]. Ἱλασκοντας Ἱστιην μεν μαλιστα. 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 worshipped. 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-worship among the Persians, says, that it was attended with acclamations, in which they invited the Deity to take his repast[702]. Πυρ, δεσποτα, εσθιε. What he renders εσθιε, was undoubtedly Ἑστιε, Hestie, the name of the God of fire. The address was, Ω Πυρ, δεσποτα, Ἑστιε: 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 Cerastæ. 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 Cerastæ 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 Cerastæ.

There was a city of the same name in Eubœa, 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 Ελλοπιας vocant. We may therefore be assured, 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 God 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 Κυρος, Curos. He was worshipped all over Syria; and one large province was hence named Curesta, and Curestica, from Κυρ Ἑστος, Sol Hestius.

In Cappadocia were many Puratheia; and the people followed the same manner of worship, 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 Goddess 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 God 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 lxxx 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 assistance 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 superstitious 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 circumstances 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 assembled for that bloody purpose. Two small children only escaped by the intervention of their father, who was wounded in endeavouring to screen them.

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 worshipped 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 Achaimenidæ of Persis, who succeeded to the throne of Cyrus. They are modern, if compared with the first introduction of the worship; yet of high antiquity in respect to us. They are noble relics of Persic architecture, and afford us matter of great curiosity.

* * * * *

OF THE

OMPHI,

AND OF

THE WORSHIP UPON HIGH PLACES.

The term Omphi is of great antiquity, and denotes an oracular influence, by which people obtained an insight into the secrets of futurity. I have taken notice with what reverence men in the first ages repaired to rocks and caverns, as to places of particular sanctity. Here they thought that the Deity would most likely disclose himself either by a voice, or a dream, or some other præternatural token. Many, for the same purpose, worshipped upon hills, and on the tops of high mountains; imagining that they hereby obtained a nearer communication with heaven. Hence we read, as far back as the days of Moses, concerning the high places in [715]Canaan. And, under the kings of Israel and Judah, that the people _made their offerings in high places_. We are particularly told of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, that _he walked in the way of the [716] kings of Israel; yea, and made his sons to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen--and he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree_. And many times when a reformation was introduced under some of the wiser and better princes, it is still lamented by the sacred writer, that [717] _the high places were not taken away: the people still offered, and burnt incense on the high places_. It is observable, when the king of Moab wanted to obtain an answer from God, that he took Balaam the prophet, and brought him to the [718]high places of Baal. And, finding that he could not obtain his purpose there, he carried him into the field of Zophim unto the top of Pisgah; and from thence he again removed him to the top of Peor. In all these places _he erected seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every[719] altar_. It is said of Orpheus, that he went with some of his disciples to meet Theiodamas, the son of Priam, and to partake in a sacrifice which he every year offered upon the summit of a high[720] mountain. We are told by Strabo, that the Persians always performed their worship upon hills[721]. Περσαι τοινυν αγαλματα και βωμους ουχ ἱδρυονται· Θυουσι δε εν ὑψηλῳ τοπῳ, τον ουρανον ηγουμενοι Δια.

The people of Cappadocia and Pontus observed the like method of worship: and, of all sacrifices, wherever exhibited upon high places, none, perhaps, ever equalled in magnificence that which was offered by Mithridates upon his war with the Romans. He followed the Persic modes of worship, as well as the mixed rites of the Chaldeans and Syrians. Hence he chose one of the highest mountains in his dominions: upon the top of which he reared an immense pile, equal in size to the summit on which it stood: and there he sacrificed to the God of armies--[722]Εθυε τῳ Στρατιῳ Διι πατριον θυσιαν, επι ορους ὑψηλου κορυφην μειζονα αλλην επιτιθεις. The pile was raised by his vassal princes: and the offerings, besides those customary, were wine, honey, oil, and every species of aromatics. The fire is said to have been perceived at the distance of near a thousand stadia. The Roman poet makes his hero choose a like situation for a temple which he erected to Venus; and for the grove which he dedicated to the manes of his father.

[723]Tum vicina astris Ericino in vertice sedes Fundatur Veneri Idaliæ: tumuloque Sacerdos, Et lucus, late sacer, additur Anchiseo.

In Japan most of their temples at this day are constructed upon eminences; and often upon the ascent of high mountains. They are all, [724]says Kæmpfer, most sweetly seated: A curious view of the adjacent country, a spring and rivulet of clear water, and the neighbourhood of a grove with pleasant walks, being the necessary qualifications of those spots of ground where these holy structures are to be built: for they say that the Gods are extremely delighted with such high and pleasant places.

This practice in early times was almost universal; and every [725]mountain was esteemed holy. The people, who prosecuted this method of worship, enjoyed a soothing infatuation, which flattered the gloom of superstition. The eminences to which they retired were lonely, and silent; and seemed to be happily circumstanced for contemplation and prayer. They, who frequented them, were raised above the lower world; and fancied that they were brought into the vicinity of the powers of the air, and of the Deity who resided in the higher regions. But the chief excellence for which they were frequented, was the Omphi, expressed ομφη by the Greeks, and interpreted [726]Θεια κληδων, vox divina, being esteemed a particular revelation from heaven. In short, they were looked upon as the peculiar places where God delivered his oracles. Hermæus in Plutarch expresses this term ομφις, omphis; and says, that it was the name of an Egyptian Deity: and he interprets it, I know not for what reason, [727]ευεργετης. The word truly rendered was Omphi or Amphi, the oracle of Ham; who, according to the Egyptian theology, was the same as the Sun, or Osiris. He was likewise revered as the chief Deity by the Chaldeans; and by most nations in the east. He was styled both Ham, and Cham: and his oracles both Omphi and Ompi. In consequence of this, the mountains where they were supposed to be delivered, came to be denominated Har-al-Ompi; which al-ompi by the Greeks was changed to Ολυμπος, Olympus; and the mountain was called ορος Ολυμπου. There were many of this name. The Scholiast upon Apollonius reckons up [728]six: but there were certainly more, besides a variety of places styled upon the same account [729]Olympian. They were all looked upon to be prophetic; and supposed to be the residence of the chief Deity, under whatever denomination he was specified, which was generally the God of light. For these oracles no place was of more repute than the hill at Delphi, called Omphi-El, or the oracle of the Sun. But the Greeks, who changed Al-omphi to Olympus, perverted these terms in a manner still more strange: for finding them somewhat similar in sound to a word in their own language, their caprice immediately led them to think of ομφαλος, a navel, which they substituted for the original word. This they did uniformly in all parts of the world; and always invented some story to countenance their mistake. Hence, whenever we meet with an idle account of a navel, we may be pretty sure that there is some allusion to an oracle. In respect to Delphi, they presumed that it was the umbilicus, or centre of the whole earth. The poets gave into this notion without any difficulty; Sophocles calls it [730]μεσομφαλα Γης μαντεια: and Euripides avers that it was the precise centre of the earth:

[731]Οντως μεσον ομφαλον γας Φοιβου κατεχει δομος.

Livy, the historian, does not scruple to accede to this notion, and to call it [732]umbilicum orbis terrarum. Strabo speaks of it in this light, but with some hesitation. [733]Της Ἑλλαδος εν μεσῳ ΠΩΣ εστι της συμπασης--ΕΝΟΜΙΣΘΗ δη και οικουμενης· και εκαλεσαν της γης ΟΜΦΑΛΟΝ. Varro very sensibly refutes this idle notion in some [734]strictures upon a passage in the poet Manilius to the purpose above.

O, sancte Apollo, Qui umbilicum certum terrarum obtines.

Upon which he makes this remark: Umbilicum dictum aiunt ab umbilico nostro, quod is medius locus sit terrarum, ut umbilicus in nobis: quod utrumque est falsum. Neque hic locus terrarum est medius; neque noster umbilicus est hominis medius. Epimenides long before had said the same:

[735]Ουτε γαρ ην γαιης μεσος ομφαλος, ουδε θαλασσης.