Book iii. Hymn 55, stanza 18 (vol. ii. pp. 76 _sq._).

782 J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. J. Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) pp. 78 _sqq._ Compare S. de Ricci, “Le calendrier Gaulois de Coligny,” _Revue Celtique_, xix. (1898) pp. 213-223; _id._, “Le calendrier Celtique de Coligny,” _Revue Celtique_, xxi. (1900) pp. 10-27; _id._, “Un passage remarquable du calendrier de Coligny,” _Revue Celtique_, xxiv. (1903) pp. 313-316; J. Loth, “L’année Celtique,” _Revue Celtique_, xxv. (1904) pp. 113-162; Sir John Rhys, “The Coligny Calendar”, _Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 207 _sqq._ As the calendar stands, the number of days in the ordinary year is 355, not 354, seven of the months having thirty days and five of them twenty-nine days. But the month Equos has attached to it the sign ANM, which is attached to all the months of twenty-nine days but to none of the months of thirty days except Equos, all of which, except Equos, are marked with the sign MAT. Hence, following a suggestion of M. S. de Ricci (_Revue Celtique_, xxi. 25), I suppose that the month Equos had regularly twenty-nine days instead of thirty, and that the attribution of thirty days to it is an error of the scribe or mason who engraved the calendar.

In the Coligny calendar the summer solstice seems to be marked by the word _trinouxtion_ affixed to the seventeenth day of the first month (Samonios, nearly equivalent to our June). As interpreted by Sir John Rhys (_op. cit._ p. 217), the word means “a period of three nights of equal length.” If he is right, it follows that the Celts who constructed the calendar had observed the summer solstice.

M266 Equivalence of the new intercalary month to the old intercalary Twelve Days multiplied by two and a half. The intercalary month may have been a period of license, during which the reins of government were held by a temporary king.

783 J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. J. Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. 79. Compare Sir J. Rhys, “The Coligny Calendar,” _Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 292 _sq._

M267 The modern Carnival is perhaps the equivalent of the ancient Saturnalia.

784 We know from Livy (xxii. i. 19 _sq._) that the Saturnalia was celebrated in December as early as the year 217 B.C.; and in his learned discussion of the proper date of the festival the antiquary Macrobius gives no hint that it ever fell at any other time than in December (_Saturnal._ i. 10). It would be a mistake to infer from Livy’s account of the Saturnalia in the year 217 B.C. that he supposed the festival to have been first instituted in that year; for elsewhere (ii. 21. 1) he tells us that it was established at the time when the temple of Saturn was dedicated, namely in the year 497 B.C. Macrobius (_Saturn._ i. 8. 1) refers the institution of the Saturnalia to King Tullus Hostilius. More probably the festival was of immemorial antiquity.

M268 The Saturnalia may have originally fallen at the end of February, which would be an appropriate time for a festival of sowing.

785 Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 12. 7; Solinus, i. 35, p. 13 ed. Th. Mommsen (Berlin, 1864); Joannes Lydus, _De Mensibus_, iii. 15. On the other hand, we know that the ceremony of renewing the laurels, which originally took place on the first of March, was long afterwards transferred to the first of January. See Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 135 _sqq._, and Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 12. 6, compared with _Geoponica_, xi. 2. 6, where the note of the commentator Niclas may be consulted. This transference is strictly analogous to the change which I conjecture to have been made in the date of celebrating the Saturnalia.

786 Palladius, _De re rustica_, books iii. and iv. _passim._

_ 787 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 137-139.

_ 788 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 136-144, ii. 97 _sqq._

789 Compare C. Lumholtz, _Unknown Mexico_ (London, 1903), ii. 268: “To the Huichol so closely are corn, deer, and hikuli associated that by consuming the broth of the deer-meat and the hikuli they think the same effect is produced—namely, making the corn grow. Therefore when clearing the fields they eat hikuli before starting the day’s work.”

M269 The Lenten fast in spring may be an old heathen period of abstinence intended to promote the growth of the seed. Autumnal rites of mourning and fasting for the sake of the seed.

_ 790 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 104 _sqq._ The Indians of Santiago Tepehuacan abstain from flesh, eggs, and grease while they are engaged in sowing cotton and chilis, because they believe that were they to partake of these viands at that time, the blossoms would fall and the crop would suffer. See “Lettre du curé de Santiago Tepehuacan à son évêque sur les mœurs et coutumes des Indiens,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), Deuxième Série, ii. (1834) p. 181.

791 In Franche-Comté not only husbands and wives were expected to be continent from the first Sunday of Lent to the first Sunday after Easter, but even sweethearts separated during that time, bidding each other a formal farewell on the first of these days and meeting again with similar formality on the last. See C. Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 35. I am informed that the observance of chastity during Lent is enjoined generally by the Catholic church. As to its injunction by the Coptic church see F. Wüstenfeld, _Macrizi’s Geschichte der Copten_ (Göttingen, 1845), p. 84; _Il_ Fetha Nagast, _o Legislazione dei Re, codice ecclesiastico e civile di Abissinia, tradotto e annotato da_ Ignazio Guidi (Rome, 1899), p. 164.

792 Socrates, _Historia Ecclesiastica_, v. 22; Sozomenus, _Historia Ecclesiastica_, vii. 19 (Migne, _Patrologia Graeca_, lxvii. coll. 632-636, 1477); W. Smith and S. Cheetham, _Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_, _s.v._ “Lent,” vol. ii. pp. 972 _sq._; Mgr. L. Duchesne, _Origines du Culte Chrétien_ (Paris, 1903), pp. 241-243.

793 Firmicus Maternus, _De errore profanarum religionum_, 27.

794 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 69: καὶ γὰρ Ἀθήνῃσι νηστεύουσιν αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν θεσμοφορίοις χαμαὶ καθήμεναι, καὶ Βοιωτοὶ τὰ τῆς Ἀχαιᾶς μέγαρα κινοῦσιν, ἐπαχθῆ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐκείνην ὀνομάζοντες, ὡς διὰ τὴν τῆς Κόρης κάθοδον ἐν ἄχει τῆς Δήμητρος οὕσης. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ μὴν οὗτος περὶ πλειάδα σπόριμος, ὂν Ἀθὺρ Αἰγύπτιοι, Πυανεψιῶνα δ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι, Βοιωτοὶ δὲ Δαμάτριον καλοῦσι. As to the festival and the rule of chastity observed at it, see further _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 116, ii. 17 _sq._

M270 The Buddhist Lent.

795 H. Fielding, _The Soul of a People_ (London, 1898), pp. 172 _sq._ The orthodox explanation of the custom is that during these three months the Buddha retired to a monastery. But “the custom was far older even than that—so old that we do not know how it arose. Its origin is lost in the mists of far-away time.” Compare C. J. F. S. Forbes, _British Burma_ (London, 1878), pp. 170 _sq._; Shway Yoe, _The Burman, his Life and Notions_ (London, 1882), i. 257, 262 _sqq._

M271 Inversion of social ranks at ancient Greek festivals held in Crete, Troezen, and Thessaly.

796 Athenaeus, xiv. 44 _sq._, pp. 639 B-640 A.

M272 The Greek festival of the Cronia compared to the Roman Saturnalia. The Olympian Cronia held at the spring equinox.

797 Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 7. 37 and i. 10. 22; Demosthenes, _Or._ xxiv. 26, p. 708. As to the temple of Cronus and Rhea, see Pausanias, i. 18. 7; Im. Bekker’s _Anecdota Graeca_ (Berlin, 1814-1821), i. p. 273, lines 20 _sq._ That the Attic month Hecatombaeon was formerly called Cronius is mentioned by Plutarch (_Theseus_, 12). Other Greek states, including Samos, Amorgos, Perinthus, and Patmos, had a month called Cronion, that is, the month of Cronus, which seems to have coincided with June or July. See G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_2 (Leipsic, 1898-1901), Nos. 644 and 645; E. Bischoff, “De fastis Graecorum antiquioribus,” _Leipziger Studien für classischen Philologie_, vii. (1884) p. 400. At Magnesia on the Maeander the month of Cronion was the time of sowing (Dittenberger, _op. cit._ No. 553, lines 15 _sq._), which cannot have fallen in the height of summer. Compare _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 8.

_ 798 Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum_, iii. No. 77; Ch. Michel, _Recueil d’Inscriptions Grecques_ (Brussels, 1900), No. 692, pp. 595 _sq._; I. de Prott et L. Ziehen, _Leges Graecorum Sacrae_, i. (Leipsic, 1896), No. 3, pp. 7 _sq._; E. S. Roberts and E. A. Gardner, _Introduction to Greek Epigraphy_, Part II. (Cambridge, 1905), No. 142, pp. 387 _sq._ From the same inscription we learn that cakes with twelve knobs were offered to other deities, including Apollo and Artemis, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hercules.

799 Scholiast on Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 370 (p. 170 ed. E. Vollbehr, Kiel, 1844): Καὶ ἐν τοῖς πατρίοις ἐστιν ἑορτὴ Πιθοιγία, καθ᾽ ἣν οὒτε οἰκέτην οὔτε μισθωτὸν εἴργειν τῆς ἀπολαύσεως τοῦ οἴνου θεμιτὸν ἦν, ἀλλὰ θύσαντας πᾶσι μεταδιδόναι τοῦ δώρου τοῦ Διονύσου. As to the festival of the opening of the wine-jars see August Mommsen, _Heortologie_ (Leipsic, 1864), pp. 349 _sqq._; _id._, _Feste der Stadt Athen im Altertum_ (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 384 _sqq._ “When the slaves,” says Plutarch, “feast at the Cronia or go about celebrating the festival of Dionysus in the country, the shouts they raise and the tumult they make in their rude merriment are intolerable” (_Non posse suaviter vivi secundum Epicurum_, 26). That the original festival of Cronus fell at Athens in Anthesterion is the view of Aug. Mommsen (_Heortologie_, pp. 22, 79; _Feste der Stadt Athen_, p. 402).

800 Pausanias, vi. 20. 1. Compare Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Rom._ i. 34. The magistrates called “kings” (βασίλαι) by Pausanias are doubtless identical with “the kings” (τοὶ βασιλᾶες) mentioned in a law of Elis, which was found inscribed on a bronze plate at Olympia. See H. Roehl, _Inscriptiones Graecae Antiquissimae_ (Berlin, 1882), No. 112, p. 39; C. Cauer, _Delectus Inscriptionum Graecarum propter dialectum memorabilium_2 (Leipsic, 1883), No. 253, p. 175; H. Collitz, _Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt-Inschriften_, No. 1152 (vol. i. Göttingen, 1884, p. 321); Ch. Michel, _Recueil d’Inscriptions Grecques_, No. 195, p. 179.

M273 The magistrates called Kings who celebrated the Cronia at Olympia may have personated King Cronus himself. Perhaps the man who annually personated King Cronus was put to death. A man annually sacrificed to Cronus at the Cronia in Rhodes.

801 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 44 _sqq._, ii. 177, 361.

802 Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 111, 169; Plato, _Politicus_, p. 269 A; Diodorus Siculus, iii. 61, v. 66; Julian, _Epistola ad Themistium_, p. 258 C (pp. 334 _sq._, ed. F. C. Hertlein, Leipsic, 1875-1876); “Anonymi Chronologica,” printed in L. Dindorf’s edition of J. Malalas (Bonn, 1831), p. 17. See further M. Mayer’s article “Kronos,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. (Leipsic, 1890-1897) col. 1458.

803 See M. Mayer, _op. cit._ ii. 1501 _sqq._

804 Pausanias, vi. 20. 4 _sq._

805 Plato, _Republic_, ix. p. 565 D E; pseudo-Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 81; Pausanias, viii. 2 and 38; Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 27; Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, xviii. 17. The suggestion that Lycaean Zeus may have been merely a successor of Cronus is due to my friend Professor W. Ridgeway.

806 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 54.

_ 807 The Dying God_, pp. 161 _sqq._

M274 The Babylonian festival of the Sacaea.

_ 808 The Dying God_, pp. 113 _sqq._

809 Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 C; Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ iv. 69 _sq._ (vol. i. p. 76 ed. L. Dindorf, Leipsic, 1857). From Athenaeus we learn that the festival was described or mentioned by Berosus in his first book and by Ctesias in his second.

810 Strabo, xi. 8. 5, p. 512.

M275 The Sacaea by some identified with Zakmuk or Zagmuk, the Babylonian festival of the New Year, which was held about the spring equinox in March. Annual renewal of the king of Babylon’s power at the Zakmuk festival.

811 Strabo, xi. 14. 16, pp. 532 _sq._; Ed. Meyer’s article “Anaitis,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i. (Leipsic, 1884-1890) pp. 330 _sqq._

812 By A. H. Sayce, _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_ (London and Edinburgh, 1887), p. 68; Bruno Meissner, “Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Purimfestes,” _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, l. (1896) pp. 296-301; H. Winckler, _Altorientalische Forschungen_, Zweite Reihe, ii. Heft 3 (Leipsic, 1900), p. 345; C. Brockelmann, “Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) pp. 391 _sq._

813 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_ (Strasburg, 1890), pp. 84 _sqq._; H. Zimmern, “Zur Frage nach dem Ursprunge des Purimfestes,” _Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xi. (1891) pp. 159 _sqq._; A. Jeremias, _s.v._ “Marduk,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexicon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 2347 _sq._; M. Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A., 1898), pp. 186, 677 _sqq._; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. 136 _sq._, 137, 140, 149; C. Brocklemann, “Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) pp. 391 _sqq._; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), pp. 370 _sq._, 374, 384 _n._4, 402, 514 _sqq._; _id._, “Zum Babylonischen Neujahrsfest,” _Berichte über die Verhandlungen der königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse_, lviii. (1906) pp. 126-156; M. J. Lagrange, _Études sur les Religions Sémitiques_2 (Paris, 1905); pp. 285 _sqq._ King Gudea is thought to have flourished about 2340 B.C. See Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_,2 i. 2. (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1909) pp. 488 _sq._ As to the ceremony of grasping the hands of Marduk’s image, see also C. F. Lehmann (-Haupt), _Šamaššumukin, König von Babylonien_ (Leipsic, 1892), pp. 50 _sqq._; Sir G. Maspero, _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, iii. _Les Empires_ (Paris, 1899). pp. 381 _sq._

M276 Reasons for identifying the Sacaea with Zakmuk.

814 On this subject the Master of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge (the Rev. C. H. W. Johns), has kindly furnished me with the following note: “ZAG is the name of the ideogram meaning ‘head or beginning.’ MU is the sign for ‘year.’ When put together ZAG-MU means ‘beginning of year.’ But ZAG-MU-KU means ZAG MU-d, _i.e._ ZAG with MU suffixed. Therefore it is the name of the ideogram, and there is as yet no _proof_ that it was ever read Zakmuk. Hence any similarity of sound with either Sacaea or Zoganes is precarious. I cannot prove that the signs were _never_ read Zakmuku, but that is not a Semitic word nor a Sumerian word.”

815 The statement occurs in an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar. See P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, p. 85; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 402. The title of the president of the divine synod, “king of the gods of heaven and earth,” is believed by Professor Zimmern to have originally referred to the god Nabu, though at a later time it was applied to Marduk.

M277 A difficulty in identifying the Sacaea with Zakmuk is that the two festivals seem to have been celebrated at different times of the year, Zakmuk falling in March and the Sacaea in July. Suggested ways of meeting the difficulty.

_ 816 See The Dying God_, p. 116 note 1. In Egypt the Macedonian calendar seems to have fallen into great confusion. See W. Dittenberger, _Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae_ (Leipsic, 1903-1905), ii. pp. 649 _sq._ I would remind the reader that while the _dates_ of the Syro-Macedonian months varied in different places, their _order_ was the same everywhere.

817 See above, p. 355, note 5. On the other hand Prof. H. Zimmern prefers to suppose that the Sacaea was quite distinct from Zakmuk, and that it fell in July at the time of the heliacal rising of Sirius, which seems to have been associated with the goddess Ishtar. See H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), pp. 426 _sq._

_ 818 Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Year,” vol. iv. (London, 1903) coll. 5365 _sqq._

_ 819 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 59 _sqq._

_ 820 The Golden Bough_, Second Edition, iii. 237 _sqq._

821 J. Marquardt, _Römische Staatsverwaltung_2 (Leipsic, 1885), pp. 200 _sq._

M278 An argument for identifying Sacaea and Zakmuk is the apparent connexion of both with the Jewish festival of Purim.

822 H. Zimmern, “Zur Frage nach dem Ursprunge des Purimfestes,” _Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xi. (1891) pp. 157-169; W. Nowack, _Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_ (Freiburg i. B. and Leipsic, 1894), ii. 198 _sqq._; Br. Meissner, “Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Purimfestes,” _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, l. (1896) pp. 296-301; Fr. Cumont, “Le roi des Saturnales,” _Revue de Philologie_, xxi. (1897) p. 150; P. Haupt, _Purim_ (Leipsic, 1906). The various theories which have been propounded as to the origin of Purim are stated and discussed by Prof. L. B. Paton in his _Commentary on the Book of Esther_ (Edinburgh, 1908), pp. 77-94. See also _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Purim,” vol. iii. (London, 1902) coll. 3976 _sqq._

823 S. R. Driver, _Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament_8 (Edinburgh, 1909), p. 484. Professor T. Witton Davies would date the book about 130 B.C. See _Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther_, edited by Rev. T. Witton Davies (Edinburgh and London, N.D.), pp. 299-301 (_The Century Bible_).

824 2 Maccabees xv. 36. As to the date of this book, see S. R. Driver, _op. cit._ p. 481.

M279 The Jewish festival of Purim seems to be derived from the Babylonian festival of Zakmuk.

825 We know from Josephus (_Antiquit._ iii. 10. 5) that in the month Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year, the sun was in Aries. Now the sun is in Aries from March 20th or 21st to April 19th or 20th; hence Nisan answers approximately to April, and Adar to March.

826 Esther iii. 7.

827 Esther iii. 7, ix. 26.

828 This is the view of H. Zimmern (_Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xi. (1891) pp. 157 _sqq._), and it is favoured by W. Nowack (_Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_, ii. 198 _sq._). Compare H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 518.

829 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 240 _sq._

830 The explanation is that of P. Jensen, quoted by Th. Nöldeke in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Esther,” vol. ii. (London, 1901) col. 1404 note 1. In Greek, for a similar reason, the word for “pebble” and “vote” is identical (ψῆφος). As to this etymology see also C. H. W. Johns, _s.v._ “Purim,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. (London, 1902) coll. 3979 _sq._

M280 Connexion of Purim with the Sacaea. The joyous nature of Purim.

831 Esther x. 22.

832 J. Buxtorf, _Synagoga Judaica_ (Bâle, 1661), pp. 554 _sq._, 559 _sq._

833 J. Buxtorf, _op. cit._ p. 559; Schickard, quoted by Lagarde, “Purim,” _Abhandlungen der kön. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen_, xxxiv. (1887) pp. 54 _sq._ Compare J. Chr. G. Bodenschatz, _Kirchliche Verfassung der heutigen Juden_ (Erlangen, 1748), ii. 256. For the rule forbidding men and women to exchange garments, see Deuteronomy xxii. 5.

834 J. J. Schudt, _Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten_ (Frankfort and Leipsic, 1714), ii. Theil, pp. 309, 314, 316, iv. Theiles die ii. Continuation, p. 347; I. Abrahams, _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_ (London, 1896), pp. 261 _sqq._ I have to thank my learned friend Dr. S. Schechter for bringing both these works to my notice.

M281 The origin of Purim according to the book of Esther. The rival pairs Mordecai and Esther on the one side, Haman and Vashti on the other. M282 Analysis of the names Mordecai and Esther, Haman and Vashti. Jensen’s theory that Haman and Vashti were Elamite deities in opposition to the Babylonian deities Mordecai (Marduk) and Esther (Ishtar).

835 P. Jensen, “Elamitische Eigennamen,” _Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, vi. (1892) pp. 47-70; compare _ib._ pp. 209-212. All Jensen’s etymologies are accepted by W. Nowack (_Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_, Freiburg i. Baden and Leipsic, 1894, ii. 199 _sq._); H. Gunkel (_Schöpfung und Chaos_, Göttingen, 1895, pp. 310 _sq._); D. G. Wildeboer (in his commentary on Esther, pp. 173 _sqq._, forming part of K. Marti’s _Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum alten Testament_, Freiburg i. B. 1898); Th. Nöldeke (_s.v._ “Esther,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, vol. ii. coll. 1404 _sq._); and H. Zimmern (in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_,3 Berlin, 1902, pp. 485, 516 _sq._). On the other hand, Br. Meissner (_Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, I. (1896) p. 301) and M. Jastrow (_The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 686, note 2) suspend their judgment as to the identification of Haman and Vashti with Elamite deities, though they apparently regard the identification of Mordecai and Esther with Marduk and Ishtar as quite certain. The doubt which these scholars felt as to the derivation of one at least of these names (Vashti) is now known to be well founded. See below, p. 367, note 3.

It deserves to be noted that on the twenty-seventh day of the month Tammuz the heathen of Harran used to sacrifice nine male lambs to Haman, “the supreme God, the father of the gods,” and they ate and drank on that day. Chwolsohn suggests a comparison of the festival with the Athenian Cronia. See D. Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus_ (St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 27 _sq._, 211 _sqq._

836 Th. Nöldeke, _s.v._ “Esther,” in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, vol. ii. (London, 1901) coll. 1405. But in a letter, written to me (20th May 1901) since the publication of the last edition of this book, Professor Nöldeke expresses a doubt whether he has not followed Jensen’s mythological identifications in the book of Esther too far.

M283 But the proposed etymology of Vashti is untenable.

837 “The change of _m_ to _w_ or _v_ (the Hebrew ו = _waw_) is frequent and certain” (the Rev. C. H. W. Johns in a letter to me, May 19th, 1913). The change is vouched for also by my friend Professor A. A. Bevan, who cites as an instance the name of the Babylonian king Amel-Marduk, which in Hebrew is changed into Evil-Merodach (2 Kings xxv. 27; Jeremiah lii. 31). See E. Schrader, _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 396.

838 The name of the Elamite goddess is read as Parti by the Rev. Father Scheil. See E. Cosquin, _Le Prologue-cadre des Mille et Une Nuits, les Légendes Perses, et le Livre d’Esther_ (Paris, 1909), p. 68 (extract from the _Revue Biblique Internationale_, Janvier et Avril, 1909, published by the Dominicans of Jerusalem). The Master of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge (the Rev. C. H. W. Johns), has kindly examined the facsimile of the inscriptions for me. He informs me that Father Scheil’s reading is correct and that the reading Mashti is quite wrong. He further tells me that Jensen was misled by an incorrect edition of the inscriptions to which alone he had access. The signs for _par_ (or _bar_) and _mash_ in the inscriptions resemble each other and therefore might easily be confused by a copyist. All Jensen’s etymologies, except that of Mordecai, are adversely criticized by M. Emile Cosquin in the work to which I have referred (pp. 67 _sqq._). He prefers with Oppert to derive all the names except Mordecai (the identity of which with Marduk he does not dispute) from the old Persian. However, these derivations from the Persian are rejected by Professor Th. Nöldeke, whose opinion on such a point is entitled to carry great weight. See _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, ii. (London, 1901) col. 1402, _s.v._ “Esther.”

M284 The mock king of the Sacaea seems to have personated a god. The view of Movers.

839 F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. (Bonn, 1841) pp. 490 _sq._; 2 Samuel xvi. 21 _sq._, compare xii. 8. It was a well-attested custom of the Assyrian kings, when they had conquered a city, to take into their harem the daughters of the vanquished princes and rulers. See C. F. Lehmann (-Haupt), _Šamaššumutkîn König von Babylonien_ (Leipsic, 1892), p. 31. The Persian and Scythian kings seem also to have married the wives of their predecessors. See Herodotus, iii. 68 and 88, iv. 78; K. Neumann, _Die Hellenen im Skythenlande_, i. (Berlin, 1855) p. 301. Such a custom points to an old system of mother-kin under which the royal dignity was transmitted through women. See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 268 _sqq._

M285 The mock king of the Sacaea may have mated with a woman who played the part of a goddess, whether Anaitis, Astarte, or Semiramis. Identity of the mythical Semiramis with Astarte. The lovers of Semiramis and Ishtar (Astarte).

840 Ed. Meyer, _s.v._ “Anaitis,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i. (Leipsic, 1884-1890) coll. 352 _sq._ At the temple of Anaitis in Acilisena, a city of Armenia, the daughters of the noblest families regularly prostituted themselves for a long time before marriage (Strabo, xi. 14. 16, p. 532). Agathias identified Anaitis with Aphrodite (_Hist._ ii. 24), and when the Greeks spoke of the Oriental Aphrodite, they meant Astarte or one of her equivalents. Jensen proposes to identify Anaitis with an Elamite goddess Nahuntí, whom he takes to have been equivalent to Ishtar or Astarte, especially in her quality of the Evening Star. See his article, “Elamitische Eigennamen,” _Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, vi. (1892) pp. 64-67, 70.

841 Diodorus Siculus, ii. 20; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ vii. 1.

842 W. Robertson Smith, “Ctesias and the Semiramis Legend,” _English Historical Review_, ii. (1887) pp. 303-317. Amongst other evidence, Smith refers to Diodorus Siculus, from whose account (ii. 4) of the birth of Semiramis he infers that she “is the daughter of Derceto, the fish goddess of Ascalon, and is herself the Astarte whose sacred doves were honoured at Ascalon and throughout Syria.” It seems probable that the legendary Semiramis is to be identified with Shammuramat, the “palace wife” of Samsi-Adad, king of Assyria, and mother of King Adad-Nirari; she lived towards the end of the ninth century B.C., and is known to us from Assyrian inscriptions. See C. F. Lehmann-Haupt, _Die historische Semiramis und ihre Zeit_ (Tübingen, 1910), pp. 1 _sqq._; _id._, _s.v._ “Semiramis,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexicon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, iv. coll. 678 _sqq._

843 Strabo, xii. 3. 37, p. 559, compare xi. 8. 4, p. 512. Zela is the modern Zileh, a town of about 20,000 inhabitants clustered at the foot of the so-called mound of Semiramis, which is an inconsiderable protuberance of natural rock crowned by the walls of an old citadel. The place is singularly destitute of ancient remains, but every year in the first fortnight of December a fair is held in the town, to which merchants come not only from the whole of Asia Minor, but also from the Caucasus, Armenia, and Persia. This fair may very well be a direct descendant of a great festival held in honour of Anaitis or Astarte. See G. Perrot et Ch. Chipiez, _Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquité_, iv. (Paris, 1887) p. 649; F. Cumont et E. Cumont, _Voyage d’Exploration archéologique dans le Pont et la Petite Arménie_ (Brussels, 1906), pp. 188 _sqq._

844 Berosus, cited by Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ v. 65, p. 57 ed. Potter (where for Ταναΐδος we should read Ἀναΐτιδος, as is done by C. Müller, _Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum_, ii. 509).

845 Strabo, xi. 8. 4, p. 512, xii. 3. 37, p. 559. The nature of the ἱερόδουλοι at Zela is indicated by Strabo in a passage (xii. 3. 36) where he describes a similar state of things at Comana, a city not far from Zela. His words are πλῆθος γυναικῶν τῶν ἐργαζομένων ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ὦν αἰ πλείους εἰσὶν ἰεραί.

846 Herodotus, i. 184; Strabo, xvi. i. 2, p. 737; Diodorus Siculus, ii. 14.

847 Ctesias, cited by John of Antioch, in C. Müller’s _Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum_, iv. 539.

848 Diodorus Siculus, ii. 13. Note that the first husband of Semiramis is said to have hanged himself (Diodorus Siculus, ii. 6).

M286 The sacred harlots of Ishtar.

849 A. Jeremias, _Izdubar-Nimrod_, (Leipsic, 1891), pp. 23 _sqq._; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A., 1898), p. 482; L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_ (London, 1899), pp. 159 _sqq._; P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-Babylonische Mythen und Epen_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. 169, 171; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. 338 _sq._; _Das Gilgamesch-Epos, neu übersetzt von_ Arthur Ungnad _und gemeinverständlich erklärt von_ Hugo Gressmann (Göttingen, 1911), pp. 31 _sq._ The true name of the Babylonian hero, which used to be read as Izdubar, has been found to be Gilgamesh. See M. Jastrow, _op. cit._ pp. 468 _sq._; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 566 note 4; A. Ungnad, _Das Gilgamesch-Epos_, pp. 76 _sq._ Aelian mentions (_De natura animalium_, xii. 21) a Babylonian king, Gilgamus, whose name is doubtless identical with that of the hero.

850 A. Jeremias, _op. cit._ pp. 59 _sq._; M. Jastrow, _op. cit._ pp. 475 _sq._, 484 _sq._; Herodotus, i. 199. The name which Herodotus gives to the goddess is Mylitta, but this is only a corruption of one of her Semitic titles, whether Baalath (Hebrew בעלת) “mistress,” or perhaps rather _Mullittu_, from _Mu’allidtu_ (Hebrew מילדת), “she who helps to the birth.” See E. Meyer, _s.v._ “Astarte,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexicon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i. 648; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 423 note 7. The female “votaries of Marduk” are repeatedly mentioned in the code of Hammurabi. See C. H. W. Johns, _Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and Letters_ (Edinburgh, 1904), pp. 54, 55, 59, 60, 61; _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, p. 63.

M287 The myth of Ishtar (Astarte) and her lovers acted at the Sacaea in Zela.

851 Along with Anaitis at Zela there were worshipped two deities named Omanos and Anadates; Strabo says that they were Persian divinities, and certainly their ritual as described by him was purely Persian. See Strabo, xi. 8. 4, p. 512, xv. 3. 15, p. 733; Franz Cumont, _Les Religions orientales dans le Paganisme romain_2 (Paris, 1909), pp. 214 _sq._ It has been proposed to identify their names, first, with those of the two Persian archangels (Amshaspands), Vohumano or Vohu Manah (“Good Thought”) and Ameretât (“Immortality”), and, second, with those of Haman and his father Hammedatha in the book of Esther (iii. 1). In order to support the identification of Anadates with Ameretât and Hammedatha it has been further proposed to alter Anadates into Amadates or Amardates in the text of Strabo, which would assimilate the name to Amurdâd, a late form of Ameretât. See P. Jensen, _Hittiter und Armenier_ (Strasburg, 1898), p. 181; Franz Cumont, _Textes et Monuments figurés relatifs aux Mystères de Mithra_, i. (Brussels, 1899) pp. 130, 131; H. Winckler, _Altorientalische Forschungen_, Dritte Reihe, i. (Leipsic, 1901) p. 4; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 516 note 3; P. Haupt, _Purim_ (Leipsic, 1906), p. 26; L. B. Paton, _Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther_ (Edinburgh, 1908), pp. 88, 92. As to the Persian archangels (Amshaspands) see C. P. Tiele, _Geschichte der Religion im Altertum_ (Gotha, 1896-1903), ii. 200 _sqq._; L. H. Gray, “The Double Nature of the Iranian Archangels,” _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, vii. (1904) pp. 345 _sqq._; J. H. Moulton, _Early Religious Poetry of Persia_ (Cambridge, 1911), pp. 58 _sqq._ But apart from the philological difficulty created by the forcible alteration of Strabo’s text in order to bring it into conformity with the theory, it is difficult to see how the highly abstract conceptions of the archangels “Good Thought” and “Immortality” could have passed into the highly concrete and by no means angelic figures of Haman and Hammedatha. This latter difficulty has been pointed out to me in a letter (8th June, 1901) by my friend the Rev. Professor J. H. Moulton, who further informs me that in Persian religion Vohu Manah is never linked with Ameretât, whereas Ameretât is constantly linked with another archangel Haurvatât (“Health”). Professor Theodor Nöldeke in a letter to me (20th May, 1901) also expresses himself sceptical as to the proposed identifications; he tells me that the name of a Persian god cannot end in _data_, just as the name of a Greek god cannot end in -δωρος or -δοτος. On the whole it seems better to leave Omanos and Anadates out of the present discussion.

M288 Such sacred dramas are magical rites intended to influence the course of nature. M289 Magical intention of sacred dramas and masked dances among savages. M290 Masked dances among the Indians of North-West America.

852 Franz Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the United States National Museum for 1895_ (Washington, 1897), p. 396.

853 Franz Boas, _op. cit._ pp. 420 _sq._ The description applies specially to the masked dances of the Kwakiutl tribe, but probably it holds good for the similar dances of the other Indian tribes on the same coast. Thus among the Bella Coola Indians “the masks used in the dances represent mythical personages, and the dances are pantomimic representations of myths. Among others, the thunder bird and his servant ... appear in the dances” (F. Boas, _op. cit._ p. 651).

M291 These masked dances represent mythical incidents and are supposed to have been revealed to the Indians by their guardian spirits.

_ 854 Tamanawas_ or _tamanous_ is a Chinook term signifying “guardian spirits.” See _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 405 _sqq._

855 James G. Swan, _The Indians of Cape Flattery_, p. 66, quoted by Franz Boas, _op. cit._ pp. 637 _sq._

M292 Gods or spirits personated by the actors in the masked dances. M293 The dances accompanied by songs.

856 J. Adrian Jacobsen, “Geheimbünde der Küstenbewohner Nordwest-America’s,” _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte_ (1891), pp. 384 _sq._ The passage has been already quoted by me in _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 500-502.

M294 Spirits personated by masked performers among the Esquimaux of Bering Strait. M295 The animal masks worn by the actors. M296 Identification of the masked actor with the mythical being whom he represents.

857 As to the belief of these Esquimaux that at the Festival of the Dead the spirits of the departed enter into and animate their human namesakes, see _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 371.

858 E. W. Nelson, “The Eskimo about Bering Strait,” _Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899) pp. 394 _sq._

M297 Dramatic ceremonies of the Cora Indians of Mexico in which the actors personate gods. Masked dances of the Brazilian Indians to ensure fertility and abundance.

859 K. Th. Preuss, _Die Nayarit Expedition_, I. _Die Religion der Cora Indianer_ (Leipsic, 1912), pp. xcii. _sqq._, xcv. _sqq._

860 Th. Koch-Grünberg, _Zwei Jahre unter den Indianern_ (Berlin, 1909-1910), i. 130-140, ii. 169-201. The passage translated in the text occurs in vol. ii. p. 196.

M298 Masked dances of the Monumbo in German New Guinea. Masked dances of the Kayans of Borneo.

861 F. Vormann, “Tänze und Tanzfestlichkeiten der Monumbo-Papua (Deutsch-Neuguinea),” _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 415 _sq._, 418 _sqq._, 426 _sq._

862 A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_ (Leyden, 1904-1907), i. 324. As to these masquerades of the Kayans see _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 95 _sq._, 186 _sq._

M299 Dramatic performances of the Sea Dyaks of Borneo, in which the actor personates a god.

863 Rev. J. Perham, “Mengap, the Song of the Dyak Sea Feast,” _Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 2 (Singapore, December, 1878), pp. 123 _sq._, 134; H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo_ (London, 1896), ii. 174 _sq._, 183. Compare E. H. Gomes, _Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo_ (London, 1911), pp. 213 _sq._: “This song of the head feast takes the form of a story setting forth how the mythical hero Klieng held a head feast on his return from the warpath, and invited the god of war, Singalang Burong, to attend it. It describes at great length all that happened on that occasion. The singing of this song takes up the whole night. It begins before 8 P.M., and lasts till next morning. Except for a short interval for rest in the middle of the night, the performers are marching and singing all the time.” On the third day of the festival the people go out on the open-air platform in front of the house and sacrifice a pig. “The people shout together (_manjong_) at short intervals until a hawk is seen flying in the heavens. That hawk is Singalang Burong, who has taken that form to manifest himself to them. He has accepted their offerings and has heard their cry” (E. H. Gomes, _op. cit._ p. 214).

M300 Religious or magical origin of the drama.

864 A. E. Haigh, _The Attic Theatre_ (Oxford, 1889), pp. 4 _sqq,_ The religious origin of Greek tragedy is maintained by Professor W. Ridgeway (_The Origin of Tragedy_, Cambridge, 1910), but he finds its immediate inspiration in the worship of the dead rather than in the worship of Dionysus.

865 H. Oldenberg, _Die Literatur des alten Indien_ (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1903), pp. 236 _sqq._ Professor Oldenberg holds that the evolution of the Indian drama was probably not influenced by that of Greece.

M301 The representation of mythical beings by living men and women may furnish a common ground where two rival schools of mythology can meet and be reconciled. M302 The legend of Semiramis and her lovers a duplicate of the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis, of Cybele and Attis, of Isis and Osiris.

_ 866 Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 239 _sq._

_ 867 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 97 _sqq._

M303 Sardanapalus and Ashurbanapal. The legendary death of Sardanapalus in the fire.

868 C. P. Tiele, _Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte_ (Gotha, 1886-1888), pp. 351 _sqq._; M. Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A., 1898), p. 43; Sir G. Maspero, _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_, iii. _Les Empires_ (Paris, 1899), pp. 378 _sqq._; C. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. 94 _sqq._

869 Athenaeus, xii. 38 _sq._, pp. 528 F-530 C; Diodorus Siculus, ii. 23 and 27; Justin, i. 3. Several different versions of the king’s epitaph have come down to us. I have followed the version of Choerilus, the original of which is said to have been carved in Chaldean letters on a tombstone that surmounted a great barrow at Nineveh. This barrow may, as I suggest in the text, have been one of the so-called mounds of Semiramis.

M304 The burning of Sandan, a mythical god or hero of Western Asia. K. O. Müller’s description of the burning of Sandan.

870 Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 8; Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ xxxiii. p. 408 (vol. ii. p. 16 ed. L. Dindorf, Leipsic, 1857). Coins of Tarsus exhibit the effigy on the pyre, which seems to be composed of a pyramid of great beams resting on a cubical base. See K. O. Müller, “Sandon und Sardanapal,” _Kunstarchäologische Werke_ (Berlin, 1873), iii. 8 _sqq._, whose valuable essay I follow. For fuller details see _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 91 _sqq._, 139 _sqq._

871 Agathias, _Hist._ ii. 24.

872 Joannes Lydus, _De magistratibus_, iii. 64; Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, ii. 6. 2 _sq._; Lucian, _Dial. deorum_, xiii. 2.

873 K. O. Müller, “Sandon und Sardanapal,” _Kunstarchäologische Werke_ (Berlin, 1873), iii. 16 _sq._ The writer adds that there is authority for every stroke in the picture. His principal source is the sixty-second speech of Dio Chrysostom (vol. ii. p. 202 ed. L. Dindorf), where the unmanly Sardanapalus, seated cross-legged on a gilded couch with purple hangings, is compared to “the Adonis for whom the women wail.”

M305 Death in the fire of men who personate gods or heroes.

874 Herodotus, i. 7.

875 Herodotus, i. 86 _sq._, with J. C. F. Bähr’s note. According to another and perhaps more probable tradition the king sought a voluntary death in the flames. See Bacchylides, iii. 24-62; _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 141 _sqq._

_ 876 The Dying God_, pp. 41 _sq._

877 Sophocles, _Trachiniae_, 1195 _sqq._:

πολλὴν μὲν ὕλην τῆς βαθυρρίζου δρυὸς κείραντα πολλὸν δ᾽ ἄρσεν ἐκτεμόνθ᾽ ὁμοῦ ἄγριον ἔλαιον, σῶμα τουμὸν ἐμβαλεῖν.

The passage was pointed out to me by my friend the late Dr. A. W. Verrall. The poet’s language suggests that of old a sacred fire was kindled by the friction of oak and wild olive wood, and that in accordance with a notion common among rude peoples, one of the pieces of wood (in this case the wild olive) was regarded as male and the other (the oak) as female. On this hypothesis, the fire was kindled by drilling a hole in a piece of oak with a stick of wild olive. As to the different sorts of wood used by the ancients in making fire by friction, see A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_2 (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 35 _sqq._; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 249 _sqq._ In South Africa a special fire is procured for sacrifices by the friction of two pieces of the _Uzwati_ tree, which are known respectively as husband and wife. See _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 65.

_ 878 Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 68.

879 F. C. Movers, _Die Phoenizier_, i. (Bonn, 1841) p. 496.

880 This suggestion was made by F. Liebrecht, _Zur Volkskunde_ (Heilbronn, 1879), p. 9. It occurred to me independently.

881 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 49.

M306 Traces of human sacrifice in the Jewish festival of Purim; effigies of Haman burnt.

882 Codex Theodosianus, Lib. XVI. Tit. viii. § 18: “_Judaeos quodam festivitatis suae solleni Aman ad poenae quondam recordationem incendere, et sanctae crucis adsimulatam speciem in contemptu Christianae fidei sacrilega mente exurere provinciarum rectores prohibeant: ne locis suis fidei nostrae signum immisceant, sed ritus suos infra contemptum Christianae legis retineant: amissuri sine dubio permissa hactenus, nisi ab inlicitis temperaverint._” The decree is dated at Constantinople, in the consulship of Bassus and Philip. For _locis_ we should probably read _jocis_ with Mommsen.

883 Fr. Cumont, “Une formule grecque de renonciation au judaïsme,” _Wiener Studien_, xxiv. (1902) p. 468. The “Christian fast” referred to in the formula is no doubt Lent. The mention of the Jewish Sabbath (the Christian Saturday) raises a difficulty, which has been pointed out by the editor, Franz Cumont, in a note (p. 470): “The festival of Purim was celebrated on the 14th of Adar, that is, in February or March, about the beginning of the Christian Lent; but that festival, the date of which is fixed in the Jewish calendar, does not always fall on a Saturday. Either the author made a mistake or the civil authority obliged the Jews to transfer their rejoicings to a Sabbath” (Saturday).

884 Israel Abrahams, _The Book of Delight and other Papers_ (Philadelphia, 1912), pp. 266 _sq._ Mr. Abrahams ingeniously suggests (_op. cit._ pp. 267 _sq._) that the ring waved over the fire was an emblem of the sun, and that the kindling of the Purim fires was originally a ceremony of imitative magic to ensure a supply of solar light and heat.

885 Albîrûnî, _The Chronology of Ancient Nations_, translated and edited by Dr. C. Edward Sachau (London, 1879), pp. 273 _sq._

886 Quoted by Lagarde, “Purim,” p. 13 (_Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen_, xxxiv. 1887).

887 M. Güdemann, _Geschichte des Erziehungswesens und der Cultur der abendländischen Juden_ (Vienna, 1880-1888), ii. 211 _sq._; I. Abrahams, _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_ (London, 1896), pp. 260 _sq._

888 J. J. Schudt, _Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten_ (Frankfort and Leipsic, 1714), ii. Theil, p. 309.

M307 Accusations of ritual murder brought against the Jews. The accusations probably false.

889 Socrates, _Historia Ecclesiastica_, vii. 16; Theophanes, _Chronographia_, ed. J. Classen (Bonn, 1839-1841), vol. i. p. 129. Theophanes places the event in the year 408 A.D. From a note in Migne’s edition of Socrates, I learn that in the Alexandrian calendar, which Theophanes used, the year 408 corresponded to the year which in our reckoning began on the first of September 415. Hence if the murder was perpetrated in spring at Purim it must have taken place in 416.

890 This is the view of H. Graetz (_Geschichte der Juden_,2 iv. Leipsic, 1866, pp. 393 _sq._) and Dr. M. R. James (_Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich_ (Cambridge, 1896), by A. Jessopp and M. R. James, pp. lxiii. _sq._).

891 For an examination of some of these reported murders, see M. R. James, _op. cit._ pp. lxii. _sqq._; H. L. Strack, _Das Blut im Glauben und Aberglauben der Menschheit_ (Munich, 1900), pp. 121 _sqq._ Both writers incline to dismiss the charges as groundless.

M308 Mitigation of human sacrifice by the substitution of a criminal for the victim.

892 Above, pp. 353 _sq._

M309 The “fast of Esther” before Purim. Jensen’s theory that the “fast of Esther” was originally a mourning for the annual death of a deity like Tammuz.

893 J. Buxtorf, _Synagoga Judaica_ (Bâle, 1661), cap. xxix. p. 554; J. Chr. G. Bodenschatz, _Kirchliche Verfassung der heutigen Juden_ (Erlangen, 1748), ii. 253 _sq._

894 Esther iv. 3 and 16, ix. 31.

895 So far as I know, Professor Jensen has not yet published his theory, but he has stated it in letters to correspondents. See W. Nowack, _Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_ (Freiburg i. Baden and Leipsic, 1894), ii. 200; H. Günkel, _Schöpfung und Chaos_ (Göttingen, 1895), pp. 311 _sqq._; D. G. Wildeboer, in his commentary on Esther, pp. 174 _sq._ (_Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten Testament_, herausgegeben von D. K. Marti, Lieferung 6, Freiburg i. B., 1898). In the Babylonian calendar the 13th of Adar was so far a fast day that on it no fish or fowl might be eaten. In one tablet the 13th of Adar is marked “not good,” while the 14th and 15th are marked “good.” See C. H. W. Johns, _s.v._ “Purim,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. (London, 1902) col. 3980.

896 M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A., 1898), pp. 471 _sq._, 475 _sq._, 481-486, 510-512; L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_ (London, 1899), pp. 146 _sqq._; P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-Babylonische Mythen und Epen_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. 116-273; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. 324-368; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), pp. 566-582; _Das Gilgamesch-Epos, neu übersetzt von_ Arthur Ungnad _und gemeinverständlich erklärt von_ Hugo Gressmann (Göttingen, 1911). Professor Jastrow points out that though a relation cannot be traced between each of the tablets of the poem and the corresponding month of the year, such a relation appears undoubtedly to exist between some of the tablets and the months. Thus, for example, the sixth tablet describes the affection of Ishtar for Gilgamesh, and the visit which she paid to Anu, her father in heaven, to complain of the hero’s contemptuous rejection of her love. Now the sixth Babylonian month was called the “Mission of Ishtar,” and in it was held the festival of Tammuz, the hapless lover of the goddess. Again, the story of the great flood is told in the eleventh tablet, and the eleventh month was called the “month of rain.” See M. Jastrow, _op. cit._ pp. 484, 510.

897 Ezekiel viii. 14.

M310 The resurrection of the dead god perhaps represented by a living man who afterwards died in earnest in the character of the god. This would explain the apparent duplication of the principal characters in the book of Esther: Haman and Vashti would represent the gods dying, while Mordecai and Esther would represent the gods rising from the dead.

_ 898 Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 183 _sq._, 227.

899 Esther vii. 8.

900 See above, p. 368.

_ 901 Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, p. 183.

902 J. J. Schudt, _Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten_ (Frankfort and Leipsic, 1714), ii. Theil, p. 316.

M311 The Persian setting of the book of Esther. The Persian ceremony of the “Ride of the Beardless One” in spring.

903 Dio Chrysostom makes Diogenes say to Alexander the Great, οὐκ ἐννενόηκας τὴν τῶν Σακαίων ἑορτήν, ἢν Πέρσαι ἄγουσιν (_Or._ iv. vol. i. p. 76 ed. L. Dindorf). The festival was mentioned by Ctesias in the second book of his Persian history (Athenaeus, xiv. 44 p. 639 C); and down to the time of Strabo it was associated with the nominal worship of the Persian goddess Anaitis (Strabo, xi. 8. 4 and 5, p. 512).

904 Lagarde, “Purim,” pp. 51 _sqq._ (_Abhandlungen der königl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen_, xxxiv. 1887).

905 Th. Hyde, _Historia religionis veterum Persarum_ (Oxford, 1700), pp. 183, 249-251; Albîrûnî, _The Chronology of Ancient Nations_, translated and edited by Dr. C. Edward Sachau (London, 1879), p. 211.

M312 The “Beardless One” in the Persian ceremony is apparently the degenerate successor of a temporary king.

_ 906 The Dying God_, pp. 148 _sqq._

907 Esther vi. 8 _sq._, viii. 15.

M313 The “Ride of the Beardless One” seems to be a magical ceremony for the expulsion of winter.

_ 908 The Dying God_, pp. 254 _sqq._

M314 The opposition of Haman and Vashti to Mordecai and Esther seems to be a contrast between the annual death of nature in winter and its revival in spring.

909 The goddess Ishtar certainly seems to have embodied the principle of fertility in animals as well as in plants; for in the poem which describes her descent into the world of the dead it is said that

“_After the mistress Ishtar had descended to the land of No-Return,_ _ The bull did not mount the cow, nor did the ass leap upon the she-ass,_ _ The man did not approach the maid in the street,_ _ The man lay down to sleep upon his own couch,_ _ While the maid slept by herself._”

See C. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. 410 _sq._; P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-Babylonische Mythen und Epen_ (Berlin, 1900), p. 87.

910 The interpretation here given of the four principal personages in the book of Esther was suggested by me in the second edition of this book (1900). It agrees substantially with the one which has since been adopted by Professor H. Zimmern (in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_,3 Berlin, 1902, p. 519), and by Professor P. Haupt (_Purim_, Leipsic, 1906, pp. 21 _sq._).

911 In this connexion it deserves to be noted that among the ancient Persians marriages are said to have been usually celebrated at the vernal equinox (Strabo, xv. 3. 17, p. 733).

912 The five days’ duration of the mock king’s reign may possibly have been an intercalary period introduced, as in ancient Egypt and Mexico, for the purpose of equalizing a year of 360 days (twelve months of 30 days each) to a solar year reckoned at 365 days. See above, pp. 339 _sqq._

913 However, the legend that Semiramis burned herself on a pyre in Babylon for grief at the loss of a favourite horse (Hyginus, _Fab._ 243; compare Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 155) may perhaps point to an old custom of compelling the human representative of the goddess to perish in the flames. We have seen (above, p. 371) that one of the lovers of Ishtar had the form of a horse. Hence the legend recorded by Hyginus is a fresh link in the chain of evidence which binds Semiramis to Ishtar.

M315 Wide prevalence of festivals like the Saturnalia in antiquity. Such festivals seem to have been held by agricultural communities for the good of the crops, and at them the king or his substitute appears to have personated the god of fertility, and to have been put to death in that character in order to ensure that the god should rise from the dead with renewed youth and vigour. M316 The festivals point to a remarkable homogeneity of civilization over a great part of the Old World in antiquity.

_ 914 The Dying God_, pp. 148 _sqq._

_ 915 The Dying God_, pp. 46 _sqq._

M317 The periodical sacrifice of deified men for the sake of maintaining the course of nature perhaps helps to explain traditions which represent the world or parts of it as created out of the bodies of gods. The Brahmanical theory of the perpetual renewal of the creation in the daily sacrifice.

916 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon (Paris, 1880), pp. 478-480. Compare E. Seler, _Altmexikanische Studien_, ii. (Berlin, 1899) p. 117.

917 Berosus, quoted by Eusebius, _Chronicorum liber prior_, ed. A. Schoene (Berlin, 1875), coll. 14-18; _id._, in _Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C. Muller, ii. 497 _sq._; P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-Babylonische Mythen und Epen_ (Berlin, 1900), pp. 2 _sqq._; L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_ (London, 1899), pp. 54 _sqq._; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A., 1898), pp. 408 _sqq._; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), pp. 488 _sqq._; M. J. Lagrange, _Études sur les Religions Sémitiques_2 (Paris, 1905), pp. 366 _sqq._; R. W. Rogers, _Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament_ (Oxford, preface dated 1911), pp. 31 _sq._, 36. In the Hebrew account of the creation (Genesis i. 2) “the deep” (תהום _tĕhom_) is a reminiscence of the Babylonian mythical monster Tiamat.

_ 918 Hymns of the Rig Veda_, x. 90 (vol. iv. pp. 289-293 of R. T. H. Griffith’s translation, Benares, 1889-1892). Compare A. A. Macdonell, _Vedic Mythology_ (Strasburg, 1897), pp. 12 _sq._

_ 919 The Satapatha Brâhmana_, translated by Julius Eggeling, Part iv. (Oxford, 1897) pp. xiv.-xxiv. (_The Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xliii.). Compare Sylvain Lévi, _La doctrine du sacrifice dans les Brâhmanas_ (Paris, 1898), pp. 13 _sqq._

920 [The following Note formed part of the text in the Second Edition of _The Golden Bough_ (London, 1900), vol. iii. pp. 186-198. The hypothesis which it sets forth has not been confirmed by subsequent research, and is admittedly in a high degree speculative and uncertain. Hence I have removed it from the text but preserved it as an appendix on the chance that, under a pile of conjectures, it contains some grains of truth which may ultimately contribute to a solution of the problem. As my views on this subject appear to have been strangely misunderstood, I desire to point out explicitly that my theory assumes the historical reality of Jesus of Nazareth as a great religious and moral teacher, who founded Christianity and was crucified at Jerusalem under the governorship of Pontius Pilate. The testimony of the Gospels, confirmed by the hostile evidence of Tacitus (_Annals_, xv. 44) and the younger Pliny (_Epist._ x. 96), appears amply sufficient to establish these facts to the satisfaction of all unprejudiced enquirers. It is only the details of the life and death of Christ that remain, and will probably always remain, shrouded in the mists of uncertainty. The doubts which have been cast on the historical reality of Jesus are in my judgment unworthy of serious attention. Quite apart from the positive evidence of history and tradition, the origin of a great religious and moral reform is inexplicable without the personal existence of a great reformer. To dissolve the founder of Christianity into a myth, as some would do, is hardly less absurd than it would be to do the same for Mohammed, Luther, and Calvin. Such dissolving views are for the most part the dreams of students who know the great world chiefly through its pale reflection in books. These extravagances of scepticism have been well exposed by Professor C. F. Lehmann-Haupt in his _Israel, seine Entwicklung im Rahmen der Weltgeschichte_ (Tübingen, 1911), pp. 275-285. In reprinting the statement of my theory I have added a few notes, which are distinguished by being enclosed in square brackets.]

M318 The mockery of Christ compared to the mockery of the King of the Saturnalia.

921 P. Wendland, “Jesus als Saturnalien-König,” _Hermes_, xxxiii. (1898) pp. 175-179.

M319 The mockery of Christ compared to the mockery of the King of the Sacaea.

922 The resemblance had struck me when I wrote this book originally [1889-1890], but as I could not definitely explain it I preferred to leave it unnoticed. [The first in recent years to call attention to the resemblance seems to have been Mr. W. R. Paton, who further conjectured that the crucifixion of Christ between two malefactors was not accidental, but had a ritual significance “as an expiatory sacrifice to a triple god.” See F. C. Conybeare, _The Apology and Acts of Apollonius and other Monuments of Early Christianity_ (London, 1894), pp. 257 _sqq._; W. R. Paton, “Die Kreuzigung Jesu,” _Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft_, ii. (1901) pp. 339-341. The grounds for the conjecture are somewhat slender. It is true that a Persian martyr, S. Hiztibouzit, is said to have been crucified between two malefactors on a hill top, opposite the sun (F. C. Conybeare, _op. cit._ p. 270), but the narrator of the martyrdom gives no hint of any sacred significance attaching to the triple crucifixion.]

923 Matthew xxvii. 26-31. Mark’s description (xv. 15-20) is nearly identical.

924 Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ iv. vol. i. p. 76 ed. L. Dindorf. As I have already mentioned, the Greek word which describes the execution (ἐκρέμασαν) leaves it uncertain whether the man was crucified or hanged.

M320 At Purim the Jews may have annually put to death a man in the character of Haman, and Christ may have perished in that character. But the Passover, at which Christ was crucified, fell a month after Purim. Perhaps the annual Haman, like the annual Saturn, was allowed a month’s license before being put to death.

925 See above, p. 392.

926 [The extreme improbability involved in the suggested transference of the date of the Crucifixion is rightly emphasized by my colleague and friend Professor C. F. Lehmann-Haupt in some observations and criticisms with which he has favoured me. He writes: “I regard it as out of the question that ‘Christian tradition shifted the date of the Crucifixion by a month.’ You yourself regard it as improbable; but in my opinion it is impossible. All that we hear of the Passion is only explicable by the Passover festival and by the circumstance that at that time every believing Jew had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Without the background of the festival all that we know of the Crucifixion and of what led up to it is totally unintelligible.”]

927 Esther iii. 7.

M321 The part taken by the soldiers in the mockery of Christ.

928 Tacitus, _Hist._ iii. 24 _sq._, compared with ii. 74.

929 Luke xxiii. 11.

M322 The theory that Christ died, not as a malefactor, but in the character of Haman helps to explain both Pilate’s reluctance to put him to death, and it also explains the remarkable superscription on the cross.

930 Matthew xxvii. 37; Mark xv. 26; Luke xxiii. 38; John xix. 19.

M323 The part of Mordecai in the annual drama in which Christ died as Haman may have been played by Barabbas. The mock King Carabas in Egypt.

931 Matthew xxvii. 15-26; Mark xv. 6-15; Luke xxiii. 16-25; John xviii. 38-40.

932 Philo Judaeus, _Adversus Flaccum_, vol. ii. pp. 520-523 ed. Th. Mangey (London, 1742). The first to call attention to this passage was Mr. P. Wendland (“Jesus als Saturnalien-König,” _Hermes_, xxxiii. (1898) pp. 175 _sq._). [Mar-na, “Our Lord,” was the title of a Philistine deity worshipped at Gaza and elsewhere. See C. P. Tiele, _Geschichte der Religion im Altertum_ (Gotha, 1896-1903), i. 258. Compare _Hebrew and English Lexicon_, edited by F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and Ch. A. Briggs (Oxford, 1906), p. 1101.]

M324 Hypothesis that every spring at Purim or Passover the Jews paraded two prisoners in the characters of Haman and Mordecai, of whom one was put to death and the other released.

933 Matthew xxi. 1-13; Mark xi. 1-17; Luke xix. 28-46; John xii. 12-15. [As to the license accorded to temporary kings, see _The Dying God_, pp. 56 _sq._, 148 _sqq_.]

M325 Barabbas (“Son of the Father”) may have been the regular title of the prisoner who was released in the character of Mordecai.

934 [_The Dying God_, pp. 166 _sqq._]

935 [In favour of the theory in the text, which supposes that in the tragic drama of the crucifixion Jesus and Barabbas played parts which were the complements, if not the duplicates, of each other, it might, as M. Salomon Reinach has pointed out, be alleged that in the Armenian and old Syriac versions of Matthew xxvii. 16 and 17, as well as in some Greek cursive manuscripts, the name of the prisoner whom Pilate proposed to release is given as Jesus Barabbas, a reading which was also known to Origen and was not absolutely rejected by him. See _Encyclopaedia Biblica_ (London, 1899-1903), _s.v._ “Barabbas,” vol. i. col. 477; _Evangelion da-Mepharreshe_, edited by F. C. Burkitt (Cambridge, 1904), i. 165, ii. 277 _sq._ In the latter passage Prof. Burkitt argues that Jesus Barabbas was probably the original reading in the Greek text, though the name Jesus is omitted in nearly all our existing manuscripts. Compare S. Reinach, “Le roi supplicié,” _Cultes, Mythes, et Religions_, i. (Paris, 1905) pp. 339 _sq._]

M326 The theory that Christ was put to death, not as a criminal, but as the annual representative of a god, whose counterparts were well known all over Western Asia, may help to explain his early deification and the rapid spread of his worship.

936 Pliny, _Epist._ x. 96. The province which Pliny governed was known officially as Bithynia and Pontus, and extended from the river Rhyndacos on the west to beyond Amisus on the east. See Professor [Sir] W. M. Ramsay, _The Church in the Roman Empire_ (London, 1893), p. 224. Professor Ramsay is of opinion “that the description of the great power acquired by the new religion in the province applies to Eastern Pontus at least.” The chief religious centre of this district appears to have been the great sanctuary of Anaitis or Semiramis at Zela, to which I have already had occasion to call the reader’s attention. Strabo tells us (xii. 3. 37) that all the people of Pontus took their most solemn oaths at this shrine. In the same district there was another very popular sanctuary of a similar type at Comana, where the worship of a native goddess called Ma was carried on by a host of sacred harlots and by a high priest, who wore a diadem and was second only to the king in rank. At the festivals of the goddess crowds of men and women flocked into Comana from all the region round about, from the country as well as from the cities. The luxury and debauchery of this holy town suggest to Strabo a comparison with the famous or rather infamous Corinth. See Strabo, xii. 3. 32 and 36, compared with xii. 2. 3. Such were some of the hot-beds in which the seeds of Christianity first struck root.