  A.
C.
J.
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1. Accad is first mentioned as one of the beginnings of the kingdom of Nimrod in Genesis x, 10. 2. Mr. Theo. G. Pinches, in his notes on this chapter, says: “The Sumerians are generally regarded as of the same race as of the Accadians. Sumerian is a dialect of Akkadian. Sumer and Akkad both contained Semitic and non-Semitic inhabitants.” 3. Decouvertes en Chaldee par E. de Sarzec, Plate No. 29. 4. The catalogue of the astronomical works in the library of Sargon I instructs the reader to write down the number of the book that he needs, and the librarian will thereupon give him the tablet required.—Sayce, Bab. Lit., p. 9. 5. Diodorus, Sec. 23. 6. The word Nineveh is made up of signs which mean city, coach and Nana respectively, all of which means the resting place of the chief god, Nana. (E.A. Budge.) The great commerce of Nineveh—the fact that her merchants were greatly “multiplied”—is illustrated by the large collection of contract tablets in the British Museum. 7. The problem of the relative value of gold and silver had been solved to a certain extent in this ancient kingdom, a silver shekel being one-tenth the value of a gold shekel, and the silver half shekel one twentieth of the value of the gold shekel. The drachma, or silver half shekel, is supposed to be the most ancient type of the English shilling, as one-twentieth of the English gold sovereign. 8. For the empire of Nebuchadnezzar, the records of the Egebi family are invaluable—dated deeds extending, year by year, from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the close of that of Darius Hystaspes.—Sayce, An. Emp., p. 105. 9. Sayce—An. Emp., p. 195. 10. Astarte or Ashtaroth. 11. Jer. li, 47; Isa. xxi, 2-9. 12. Ezekiel xxvii, 10; xxxviii, 5. 13. The Persians called wine Zeher-e-kushon, or “delightful poison.” 14. Scarcely a century has elapsed since the burnished shields and helmets of ancient Persian royalty were laid aside for the lighter military accoutrements of modern Europe. 15. Ezra vi, 1. 16. 226 A.D. 17. Darmesteter, Sa. Bks. of the E., Vol. IV, Int., p. 3. 18. These appear to have been written upon the face of the Behistun rock about 515 B.C. 19. Max MÜller—Chips, Vol. I, p. 91. 20. The Dihkans were the landed nobility of Persia. They kept up a certain independence, even under the sway of the Mohammedan Khalifs. 21. About 570 A.D. See QuartremÉre. 22. 1000 A.D. 23. 870 A.D. 24. In Persian mythology the earth is surrounded by a mountain range of pure emerald. 25. “The Ausindom mountain is that which, being of ruby, of the substance of the sky, is in the midst of the sea Vouru-Kasha.”—Zend-Avesta—Tir Yast, VI, 32, n. 26. Cuneiform means “having the form of a wedge,” and is especially applied to the wedge-shaped or arrow-headed characters of ancient inscriptions. 27. Collection de Clercq, Pl. 5. No. 46. 28. 4-34. 29. Deluge Tablets in British Museum, Records of the Past, 1-133. 30. Marked K 3657 in British Museum. Trans. by Geo. Smith. 31. Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. 19. Trans. by Prof. Sayce, Records of Past, 11-119. 32. Brit. Mus. Ins., Plates 37-42. Trans. by Rawlinson. 33. Annals, Col. 3, line 24. Also 2 Chron. xxxii, 5. 34. These deeds are attested by the seal impressions, or in lieu thereof by the nail marks of the parties to whom they belonged. Many of them have been translated.—W. St. Chad Boscawen. 35. Concerning the statue of Bel, see Daniel, chap. iii; Herodotus, bk. I; Strabo, XIV; Pliny, VI, chap. xxvi; Q. Curtius, lib. V; Arrianus, lib. VII. 36. The mythology of Nebuchadnezzar’s inscriptions will be briefly treated in the following chapter. 37. This devastation was accomplished during Sennacherib’s campaign of 694 to 692 B.C. 38. The city of Babylon was founded in very early times. It became the capital under Khammuragas (about 1700 B.C., who built a temple to Merodach there), and held this position for twelve hundred years. It was conquered by Tukulti-Ninip, 1271 B. C.; by Tiglath-Pileser II, 731 B.C.; by Merodach Baladan, 722 B.C.; by Sargon, 721 B.C. It was sacked and destroyed by Sennacherib, 692 B.C.: restored by Esarhaddon, 675 B.C.; captured by Assur-bani-pal, 648 B.C.; rebuilt in great splendor by Nebuchadnezzar during his long reign, and taken at last by the Medes and Persians about 539 B.C.—Ernest A. Budge, Trans. Vic. Ins., V. 18, p. 147. 39. Nebuchadnezzar reigned from about 605 to 562 B.C. 40. 2 Kings xxiv, 7. In the tablets the river Euphrates is called “the river of Sippara.” 41. Dan. iv, 30. 42. Translated by Fox Talbot, F.R. S., Records of the Past, I, 69-73. 43. Translated by Fox Talbot, F.R. S., Records of the Past, 1-133. 44. Jerusalem captured 587 B.C. See also Jer. xxxix, 1, 2; 2 Kings xxv. 45. 572 B.C. 46. Jer. 1, 38. 47. 547 B.C. 48. 549 B.C. 49. W. St. Chad Boscawen, Trans. Vic. Ins., Vol. XVIII, No. 70, p. 117. 50. Western Asia Inscriptions, Vol. I, pl. 68, col. lines 19. 51. Jeremiah li, 39-57; also Daniel v, 1. 52. The newly acquired evidence of the tablets seems to indicate that Gobyras, who commanded the armies of Cyrus, was Darius the Median, who acted as the viceroy of Cyrus on the throne of Babylon. Gobyras, the Ugbaru of the inscriptions, being formerly prefect of Gutium, or Kurdistan, was ruler of a district which embraced Ecbatana, the Median capital, and the province of the Medes, and was also, as his name indicates, a Proto-Mede, or Kassite, by birth. Xenophon states that the capture of Babylon was effected by Gobyras, and that his division was the first to reach the palace. Cyrus himself did not enter Babylon until later in the year, namely, on the third day of Marchesvan, four months after, when he “proclaimed peace, to all Babylon, and Gobyras his governor, and governors, he appointed.” 53. W. St. Chad Boscawen, Trans. Vic. Ins., Vol. XVIII, page 131. 54. Herodotus, I, 107, 122. 55. Darius Hystaspes reigned from 549 to 486 B.C. 56. Column I, line 3. AchÆmenes was the last king independent of Persia, and therefore the kings after Cyrus declared that they were his descendants. It is supposed that he was superseded by Phraortes, the Median king (657-635) as it was he who first subdued the Persians. Phraortes was the great grandfather of Cyrus, who was born 599 B.C. 57. Col. I, line 7. 58. The name of this province appears to be derived from Susun, signifying a “lily.” 59. Col. III, line 41. 60. This list of nations and provinces found at Persepolis is of great importance. It was executed after the first expedition of Darius to the Greek nations 496, B. C, or still later, and many Hellenic nations are enumerated as being subdued to the Persian power. 61. If Dr. Oppert’s version is correct this text gives us the first mention of the name of Ahriman to be found in the inscriptions, although the warring of the evil elements against the good is introduced in a Chaldean legend of the creation, which will be noticed in the following chapter. 62. Commentaire sur le livre d’Esther, p. 4. 63. The Chaldean mythology represented by the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth appears to have been an organized system demanding the erection of a temple to Merodach, as early as the seventeenth century B.C., while the earliest songs of the Vedas are ascribed to the period between 1500 to 1000 B.C. and the greater portion of Hindu mythology appears only in much later works. 64. Sayce, Rec. of P., Vol. I, pp. 123-130. 65. Assur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, who reigned from 668 to 625 B.C. 66. Hindu Literature, Chaps. ii and iii. 67. Joshua xix, 38. 68. There is an Assyrian bas-relief now in the British Museum which represents Tiamat with horns and claws, tail and wings. 69. Eridu—the Rata of Ptolemy, was near the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris, on the Arabian side of the river. It was one of the oldest cities of Chaldea. 70. Cun. Ins. West Asia, Vol. IV, plate 15. Records of the Past. 71. This is one of the numerous bilingual texts, written in the original Accadian, with an interlinear Assyrian translation, which have been brought from the library of Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh. 72. Rimmon-Nirari III. Records of Past, Vol. IV, p. 88. 73. Ins. of Shalmanesar II. Records of P., Vol. IV, p. 66. 74. It is thought that the worship of Hea or Ea may have been a corruption of the worship of the God of Abraham, as Ea is another form of El, and the early followers of Ea were evidently monotheists. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, the eminent archÆologist, who is a native of Assyria, claims that the early Assyrians worshipped the true God, but under peculiar names and attributes, and that instead of practicing the revolting sacrifices which were made by other gentile nations “they imitated the sacrifices of the Jewish rites.” He bases his proof largely upon his discovery of the bronze gate of Shalmanesar II, with its sculptured presentation of the sacrifice of rams and bullocks, and he says that “the same king, Shalmanesar, took tribute from Jehu, king of Israel, as an act of homage.” Trans. Vic. Ins., Vol. XIII, pp. 190 and 214, also Vol. XXV, pp. 121. 75. This tablet is almost three inches long and two inches wide. It weighs about three drams (Troy). The inscription was translated by Dr. Oppert. 76. These inscriptions contain an account of a lunar eclipse mentioned by Ptolemy, which took place March 19th, 721 B.C. Sargon II probably ascended the throne about the year 722 B.C. 77. The fact that the “men of Cuth” worshipped Nergal is confirmed by 2 Kings xvii, 30. 78. An allusion to the destruction of the image of Merodach is found in Jeremiah: “Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces. Her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.” (Jeremiah 1, 2.) 79. 4th Col., lines 1-6. 80. Col. 10. 81. This portion of Nebuchadnezzar’s inscription is confirmed by the following statement in the book of Daniel: “And the Lord gave the King of Judah into his (Nebuchadnezzar’s) hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god.“ (Daniel i, 2.) 82. Col. 3. lines 43-45. 83. Nebo is alluded to as one of the heathen gods in Isaiah xlvi, 1, and kindred passages. 84. Compare Judges xvi, 23; also 1 Samuel v. 85. Tablets of Tel-El-Armana, “Dispatches from Palestine in the century before the Exodus,” Rec. of P. Vol. I, p. 64. 86. Babylonian Literature, p. 64. 87. Compare Lev. xx, 2; Deut. xii, 31, and kindred passages. 88. The Moabite stone was about three feet and nine inches long, two feet and four inches in breadth and fourteen inches thick. The inscription contained many incidents concerning the wars of King Mesha with Israel; see also 2 Kings, 3d chap. The literature connected with this stone is very great, no less than forty-nine Orientalists having written in various languages upon this fascinating theme, and although many of these productions are merely papers or brochures, there are at least eight different volumes upon this subject. The characters are Phoenician, and form a link between those of the Baal-Lebanon inscription of the tenth century B.C. and those of the Siloam text. 89. Chemosh, who is called “the abomination of the Moabites,” is alluded to in Numb. xxi, 29; also Jer. xlviii, 7, and various other passages. 90. Tablet K 4902 of the British Museum Collection, translated by Ernest A. Budge. 91. “They have builded also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal,” etc. (Jeremiah xix. 5. See also many kindred passages.) 92. This inscription was translated by Dr. Oppert, and Esmunazar is supposed to have lived in the fourth century B.C. 93. 2 Kings xvii. 16, and kindred passages. 94. Western Asia Inscriptions, Vol. IV. p. 32. 95. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the fact that “there sat women weeping for Tammuz,” as even a “greater abomination” than burning incense to idols. (See Ezekiel viii, 13-14.) 96. The worship of Ashtaroth, which represented the grossest licentiousness and demanded human sacrifices, is strongly condemned in Judges ii, 12-13, and many other passages. 97. Annals of Assur-bani-pal, Cylinder B, Column 5. 98. Pliny, Nat. Hist., Vol. II, p. 619. 99. Pausanius, III, 25. 100. Literally “blue stone;” it was a brilliant dark blue. 101. The eagle, the lion, the horse, the king and the workman are supposed to represent the numerous bridegrooms of this treacherous goddess. 102. Inscriptions Western Asia, Vol. IV, p. 48, published by the British Museum, and translated by H. Fox Talbot, F.R. S. 103. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, VII, 234. 104. The great celebrity of this fable is well illustrated by the fact that Ovid in his Metamorphoses (III, 206), has preserved the individual names of all the dogs, thirty-five in number. 105. “Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from 106. Anthon’s Class. Dict. 107. A principal seat of Ishtar’s worship. 108. The end of this line, and all the remaining lines of Column I, are lost, but some mutilated fragments indicate that Namtar is commanded to afflict Ishtar with dire diseases of the eyes, the feet, the heart, the head, etc. 109. A sign of violent grief in the East, forbidden in Deut. xiv, 1; also Lev. xix, 28. 110. Nabonidus says in his inscription (Col. II, 17) Oh, sun, protect this temple, together with the moon, thy father. 111. A genius often mentioned, who here acts the part of a judge, pronouncing the absolution of Ishtar. 112. Tablet K, 162, British Museum, translated by H. Fox Talbot, F.R. S. Records of the Past, Vol. I, 1st Series. 113. The statement of Herodotus concerning the attack upon the sacred bull is probably correct, even though the Egyptian monuments claim that Cambyses, and also the Roman emperors, bowed down to the Egyptian gods. We may conclude that Cambyses, in doing reverence to the gods of Egypt, was following in the footsteps of his cool and politic father (Cyrus), and was guided in these acts by the precedent which his father had set in reference to the gods of Babylonia. 114. Hindu Literature, p. 59. 115. .sp 1 “Let down our golden everlasting chain, Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and men; I fix the chain to great Olympus height, And the vast world hangs trembling in my sight.”—Il.viii, 19-26. 116. Isa. xiv, 13. 117. Ninth tablet of the Epic of Gisdhubar. 118. Hindu Literature, pp. 126-148. 119. Anderson—Norse Mythology, pp. 104-434. 120. Hindu Literature, p. 126. 121. Alborz, being changed into Elburz, became the name of a mountain range on the southern shore of the Caspian sea, and Mount Demavend, its highest peak, is looked upon as the home of the Simurgh, and it is also the scene of many mythical adventures. 122. xxi. 123. Trans. by Paul Guieysse. Rec. of P., Vol. III, p. 48. The belief in the celestial origin of the Nile survived in Egypt as lately as the time of Joinville. (Histoire de Saint Louis, Chap. II.) 124. Hel, the world of the dead, irrespective of character. 125. The first record of the worship of Ardvi Sura is in a cuneiform inscription by Artaxerxes Mnemon (404-361), in which her name is corrupted into Anahata. Artaxerxes Mnemon appears to have been an eager promoter of her worship, as he is said to have first erected the statues of Venus-Anahita in Babylon, Suza, and Ecbatana, and to have taught her worship to the Persians, the Bactrians, and the people of Damas and Sardes (Clemens Alexandrians, Protrept. 5, on the authority of Berosus; about 260 B.C.). 126. Hindu Literature, p. 39. 127. Vendidad, xxi. 128. Sayce, Lec. Rel. Babylonians, pp. 293-299. 129. Hymn to Osiris on the stele of Amon-em-ha. Translated by D. Mallet. Rec. of P., IV, 21. 130. Hindu Literature, p. 267. 131. Anderson—Norse Mythology, pp. 75-190. 132. Bahram Yast, vii. 133. Bahram Yast, xiii. 134. Minokhirad—62 and 87. Trans. by West. 135. Rig-veda Sanhita—Wilson’s Trans., Vol. V, p. 102 136. Yast, x. 137. See the Bundehesh. 138. This word is frequently spelled Daeva. 139. Yast, viii. 140. Chinvat, the popular orthography of this word, is adopted as it represents the pronunciation. 141. History of Vartan by Elisaeus (Newman’s trans.), p. 9. 142. Gibbon, Chap. 23. 143. Yast, x. 144. Hindu Literature, p. 27. 145. Chips, Vol. I, p. 82. 146. Prof. Darmesteter and M. de Harlez claim that the Zend was the language of Aryan Media. 148. Haug’s Rel. of Parsis, p. 123. 149. Diodorus (xvii, 72) and Curtius (v. 7) declare that Alexander burned the citadel and royal palace at Persepolis in a drunken frenzy at the instigation of the Athenian courtezan Thais, and in revenge for the destruction of the Greek temple by Xerxes. Arrian (Exped. Alex., iii, 18) also speaks of his burning the royal palace of the Persians. 150. Sacred Books of the East, Vol. IV, Int., p. 39. 151. This is a literal rendering of the passage, the meaning of all the words being certain, except the four which are written in italics. 152. In the Elamite and Babylonian versions Avesta is simply rendered “law” or “laws.” 153. Shapur II ascended the throne about A.D. 309. 154. Sa. Books of East, Vol. IV. Int., p. 2. 155. About 1754. 156. Chips, Vol. I, p. 119. 157. 1829-1843. 158. 1850. 159. 1851. 160. 1852-1854. 161. About 1826. 162. Codex numbered 5. 163. Dastur Jamaspji Minocheherji Jamasp Asana, Ph. D. of TÜbingen, Hon. D.C. L. Oxon. Dr. L.H. Mills applied to the Dastur for the loan of his manuscript to enable him to complete a critical edition of the Zend and Pahlavi texts of the Gathas, and Dastur Jamaspji not only loaned it to Dr. Mills, but most generously presented it to the University of Oxford. 164. See page xx. 165. 382 folios. 166. Clement, who is supposed to have written in the first century of the Christian era, claims that the original name was Nebrod, but that “the magician being destroyed by lightning, his name was changed to Zoroaster by the Greeks on account of the living ??sa? stream of the star (?st????) being poured upon him.”—Clementine Homilies, IX, Chap. 5. 167. Masudi, the noted Arabian historian and traveler who wrote about A.D. 950, remarks that “according to the Magi, Zoroaster lived two hundred and eighty years before Alexander the Great,” or about 610 B. C, in the time of the Median king Cyaxares. 168. Dr. Haug, while maintaining the personality of Zarathustra Spitama, claims that after his death, and possibly during his life, the name of Zarathustra was adopted by a successive priesthood. (Essays, p. 297). 169. Vendidad, Farg. xix, 4. 170. Rig-veda, ii, 30, 40. 171. The bird Karsipta dwells in the heavens. Were he living on the earth he would be the king of birds. He brought the law into the Var of Yima, and recites the Avesta in the language of birds (Bund. xix and xxiv). As a bird, because of the swiftness of his flight, was often considered an incarnation of lightning, and as the thunder was supposed to be the voice of a god speaking from above, so the song of a bird was often thought to be the utterance of a god. 172. Chips, Vol. I, p. 167. 173. Clas. Dict., p. 1015. 174. Clement says: “The Persians, first taking coals from the lightning which fell from heaven, preserved them by ordinary fuel, and honoring the heavenly fire as a god, were honored by the fire itself, with the first kingdom, as its first worshippers. After them the Babylonians, stealing coals from the fire that was there, and conveying it safely to their own home and worshipping it, they themselves also reigned in order. And the Egyptians, acting in like manner, and calling the fire in their own dialect PhthaË, which is translated Hephaistus or Osiris, he who first reigned amongst them is called by its name.”—Clementine Homilies, IX, Chap. vi. 175. Chips, Vol. I, pp. 162-177. 176. Sa. Bks. of the East, Vol. IV, Int., pp. 56, 83. 177. Sa. Bks. of the East, Vol. XXXI, pp. 6-194. 178. Having an especial Yast. 179. The first month is called Fravisha, and indicates the particular time of this celebration. Fravisha also means the departed souls of ancestors, and these angels or protectors are numberless. Every being of the good creation, whether living, dead or still unborn, has its own Fravisha or guardian angel, who has existed from the beginning. 180. Haug was the first to call attention to this striking coincidence with Hindu mythology; in the Aitareya, and Satapatha Brahmanas, in the Atharva-veda, and in the Ramayana, the gods are numbered at thirty-three. 181. Yasna, xvi. 182. See Yasna, xix. 183. This expression probably points to an immigration of Zarathustranism. 184. Yasna, xlii. 185. Yasna, lvii. 186. From the fifth to the twelfth. 187. When a dog dies his spirit passes to Ardvi Sura, the goddess of the living waters that pour into the celestial sea. The penalty for frightening a pregnant dog was from ten to two hundred stripes. 188. As the symbol and instrument of sovereignty. He reigned supreme by the strength of the ring and of the poniard. 189. Spenta Armaiti is a general name for heavenly counsellors, and they represent also the genii of the earth and waters. Under Ahura were six Amesha Spentas, which were at first mere personifications of virtues and moral powers, but as their lord and father ruled over the whole world, in later times they took each a part of the world under especial care. The dominion of the trees and waters was vested in Haurvatad and Ameretad, or Health and Immortality; here we find the influence of the old Indo-Iranian formulÆ, in which waters and trees were invoked as the springs of health and life. Perfect Sovereignty had molten brass for his emblem, as the god in the storm established his empire by means of that “molten brass,” the fire of lightning, and he thus became the king of metals in general. Asha Vahista, the holy order of the world, as maintained chiefly by the sacrificial fire, became the genius of fire. Armaiti seems to have become a goddess of the earth as early as the Indo-Iranian period, and Vohu-mano, or Good Thought, had the living creation left to his superintendence. These Amesha Spentas projected, as it were, out of themselves as many demons who were hardly more than inverted images of the gods they were to oppose; for instance. Health and Immortality were opposed by Sickness and Decay, but these very demons were changed into the rulers of hunger and thirst when they came in contact with the genii of the waters and the trees. Vohu-mano, or Good Thought, was reflected in Evil Thought, and after these came the symmetrical armies of numberless gods and fiends.—Darmesteter in Sa. Bks. E. 190. According to the hymns of the Rig-veda, “Yama the king, the gatherer of the people, has descried a path for many which leads from the depths to the heights; he first found out a resting place from which nobody can turn out the occupants; on the way the forefathers have gone, the sons will follow them.”—Rig-veda, X, 14, 1, 2. 191. The Druj went back to hell in the shape of a fly. The fly that came to smell of a dead body was thought to be a corpse-spirit that came to take possession of the dead in the name of Ahriman. 192. Rig-veda, X, 18, 1. 193. Hindu Literature, p. 35. 194. Strabo XV, 14; Herod. I, 138. 195. The Mosaic law mentions only seventeen crimes as being worthy of capital punishment. 196. Blackstone’s Commentaries, IV, 4. 15, 18. 197. Says Prof. Darmesteter: “It may be doubted whether the murder of a water-dog could actually have been punished with ten thousand stripes unless we suppose that human endurance was different in ancient Persia from what it is elsewhere; in the time of Chardin the number of stripes inflicted on the guilty never exceeded three hundred; in the old German law, two hundred; in the Mosaic law, forty.”—Sa. Bks. E., Vol. IV, p. 99, Int. 198. The penalties for uncleanness in men were far more severe upon woman; after giving birth to a child she was forbidden to taste of water, as her touch would defile the element, and at times her food was handed to her upon a long-handled spoon. Woman was made a creature of contract, and disposed of by a bill of sale; like land or cattle, she was classed under “the fifth contract,” being considered more valuable than cattle, but far cheaper than real estate. They were sometimes sold in the cradle and often when only two or three years of age.—See Dosabhoy Framjee’s work on The Parsis, p. 77. 199. Every one has a noose cast around his neck; when a man dies, if he is righteous, the noose falls from his neck; but if wicked, they drag him with that noose down to hell.—(Farg., V, 8.) 200. Fargard, xix, 27-32. 201. Visparad, II, V, XVI, XXII. 202. Isaiah xlv, 6. 203. Sir M. Monier-Williams, Trans. Vic. Ins., Vol. XXV, p. 10. 204. The word Qur’an, a reading, comes from the verb qara’a, “to read.” It is also called El Forqan, “the discrimination,” a word borrowed from the Hebrew. It is also designated by the words El Mus-haf, volume, or El Kitab, the book. 205. The chronology of this conquest is in many points uncertain, as the accounts differ. The most important event, however, in the long war was the battle of Nehawend, which took place probably about A.D. 641. 206. Chap. II, v. 100. 207. It was probably about A.D. 571. 208. Chap. liii, v. 19-20. 209. It took place on June 16, A.D. 622. 210. A.D. 624. 211. About A.D. 629. 212. A.D. 629. 213. June 8, A.D. 632. 214. A.D. 660. 215. Koran, Chaps. 56, 67, 76, Palmer’s Trans. The more sensuous portions of these descriptions are necessarily omitted. 216. Chap. vii, v. 88, 56, 67. 217. Chap. xiv, v. 95. 218. Chap. viii, v. 15. 219. Chap. xv. 220. Chap. iv, v. 1. 221. Chap. iv, v. 24. 222. Koran, iv, v. 15-20. 223. Koran, iv, v. 38. 224. Chap. iv, v. 59. 225. About A.D. 570. 226. Canopus was a star which stood at the right in the heavens when the observer was looking from Hirat, and consequently it lay in the direction of Arabia, which the prophet claimed as the home of wisdom, and therefore wisdom was represented by Canopus. 227. Translated by Almokaffa about A.D. 770. 228. See preface, Eastwick’s version, p. 10. 229. The planet Mars. 230. From Sir Wm. Jones’ revision of the Hitopadesa. 231. Sometimes called Pilpay. 232. That there were historic materials of great antiquity, we have the testimony of Herodotus and Ctesius, and also of the book of Esther—“On that night the king could not sleep and he commanded to bring the books of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king.”—Esther vi, 1. Also it is written. “And all the acts of his power and his might and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, are they not written in the books of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?”—Esther x, 2. 233. A.D. 636. 234. A.D. 837. 235. The name of Firdusi is said to have been given him by the Governor of Tus, because his garden, which was called Ferdus (Paradise), was looked after by the father and brother of the poet, and it was in this delightful spot that he began the versification of the great national epic, the Shah Namah. 236. The sacred well at Mecca, the waters of which are claimed to have wondrous healing power. 237. In addition to the Shah Namah, Firdusi composed a poem of nine thousand couplets on the loves of Yusuf and Zulaikha, that abounds in elegant and spirited diction, but it is inferior to the greater epic, partly in consequence of his adoption of the same metre which he used in the Shah Namah, and which was well adapted to that martial poem, but not at all appropriate for the expression of the gentle strains of a love song. 238. Kaiumers is represented as the grandson of Noah. 239. About A.D. 636. 240. See Hindu Literature, Chapters II and III. 241. Unless otherwise indicated, the poetical quotations in this legend will be from Atkinson’s Translation. 242. The Anka of the Arabians. 243. Iliad, B. 24. 244. The Narcissus, to which the beautiful eyes of Eastern women are often compared. 245. Called the “Serpent King” because he at one time allowed an evil creature to kiss his shoulder, and from the spot two fearful serpents sprang that required human brains for their food. The king used to select the victims by lot, and when the blacksmith Kaveh found his name upon the fatal register he tore the document in pieces, and “On his javelin’s point He fixed his leathern apron for a banner, And lifting it high he went abroad To call the people to a task of vengeance.” The multitude of rebels joined a foreign foe, and the hated Zohak was destroyed, and then the leathern banner was splendidly adorned with gold and jewels, and it is said that this legend gave rise to the blacksmith’s apron as the royal ensign of Persia. 246. It appears to have been not unusual amongst the secluded women of the East to fall deeply in love with men of whom they knew very little. Josephus claims that the king’s daughter betrayed the city of Sava in Ethiopia into the hands of Moses, having fallen in love with his valor and bravery as she saw him from the walls of the city gallantly leading the Egyptian host. Dido was won merely by the fame of Æneas, and Kotzebue has pictured Elvira as enamored of the glory of Pizarro; but when at last she discovered the savage and merciless disposition of the conqueror, she taunted him with being a fraud. The lovely Desdemona affords another instance: Oth.—“Her father loved me; oft invited me; Still questioned me the story of my life. * * * * * * “I ran it through, even from my boyish days, Wherein I spoke of most disastrous chances. * * * * * * “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them.” (Othello, Act. 1, Sc. 3) 247. This picture is highly suggestive of the Demon King of Ceylon, who is so prominent in Hindu mythology, especially in the Ramayana. 248. Firdusi thought proper to bestow upon his hero a gigantic stature and marvelous physical powers, but other classic writers have done the same. It will be remembered that Hercules had but completed his eighth month before he strangled the serpents that Juno sent to devour him, and Homer says of Otus and Ephialtes: “The wondrous youths had scarce nine winters told, When high in air, tremendous to behold, Nine ells aloft they reared their towering heads, And full nine cubits broad their shoulders spread. Proud of their strength and more than mortal size, The gods they challenge and affect the skies.” Odyssey XI, 310. 249. The blacksmith’s apron. 250. Herodotus speaks of a people confederated with the army of Xerxes who employed the noose. 251. Kai-kaus, the second Persian king belonging to the dynasty of Kainanides. 252. In the Shah Namah, where so much fiction is founded upon so little historic fact, we find, as in Hindu literature, an active race of demons. These are generally defined as being in human shape, with horns, long ears, and sometimes with tails, like the monkeys in the Ramayana. Again, they assume the characteristics of the Rakshasas in Hindu mythology, and appear as enchanters, sorcerers, etc.—(Compare Hindu Literature, pp. 189-232.) 253. The gor is the onager, or wild ass of the East, and in its native wilds is a very dangerous foe to encounter. Its flesh is often used for food when the hunter is driven to extremity. 254. It was evidently the custom, even among the Greeks also, to harangue their horses, for Homer repeatedly puts these speeches into the mouths of his heroes. Hector addresses his horses in the Eighth Book: “Be fleet, be fearless, this important day. And all your master’s well-spent care repay. Now swift pursue, now thunder uncontroll’d, Give me to seize rich Nestor’s shield of gold.” And in the Nineteenth Book, Achilles reproaches his horses with the death of Patrocles, when “The generous Xanthus as the words he said Seemed sensible of woe and drooped his head; Trembling he stood before the golden wain, And bowed to dust the honors of his mane,” before he makes a spirited reply foretelling his master’s death. 255. This “tiger skin” is supposed to be a magic garment which had the power of resisting the impression of every weapon. It was proof against fire, and would not sink in water. According to some classic authorities, he received it from his father, Zal; others say it was made from the skin of an animal which Rustem killed on the mountain of Sham. It will be remembered that the heroes of ancient poets frequently wore the skins of animals. Hercules wore the skin of the NemÆan lion. The skins of panthers and leopards were worn by the Greek and Trojan chiefs, and Virgil says of Alcestes: “Rough in appearance, with darts, and a Libyan bearskin around him, Whom once a Trojan mother had borne to the river Cremisus.” (Æn., Book V, 36.) 256. Compare Shakespeare— “Here in her hairs The painter plays the spider—and hath woven A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men Faster than gnats in cobwebs: but her eyes.” —Merchant of Venice, iii, 2. 257. In Virgil there is a similar scene, where Dido bids her sister erect a pile to burn the arms and the presents of Æneas. 258. There is a tradition that Gushtasp was Darius Hystaspes, and that his son Isfendiyar was Xerxes. 259. Compare the wooden horse that caused the fall of Troy, also the fall of Arzestan, which the Saracen general conquered by smuggling into the city a portion of his troops in chests, having obtained leave of the governor to deposit there some old lumber which impeded his march. 260. Pichula, used anciently for Persian arrows. During the rainy season it blooms profusely on the banks of the rivers, where it is interwoven with twining Asclepias.—Sir W. Jones in “Botanical Observations.” 261. About A.D. 1200. 262. Born A.D. 1141, and died A.D. 1203. 263. Kais was the proper name of the lover, but he received the cognomen of Majnun on account of his madness. 264. Except the desert scene, the poetical extracts in this chapter are from Atkinson’s translation. 265. Zemzem is the sacred well enclosed by the temple at Mecca, and even a stone dipped in its waters is thought to possess marvelous virtues. 266. Born at Balkha, A.D. 1297. 267. A.D. 1176. 268. Some authorities say that he died at the age of one hundred years, while others claim that he lived to be one hundred and sixteen. 269. Journal Asiatique, Jan., 1843. 270. From Davies’ version. 271. From Gladwin’s Translation. 272. A.D. 1388. 273. It is claimed that he used ninety thousand human heads in erecting pyramids to illustrate his horrible triumph. 274. Timur was also of Mongol origin, and a descendant of Genghis Khan. 275. Khizer was the prophet who, according to Oriental tradition, discovered and drank of the Fountain of Life, and it was he who bore the nectar to the waiting poet. 276. Most of the Asiatic poets are Sufis, and claim to prefer the meditations of mysticism to the pleasures of the world. Their fundamental tenets are that nothing exists, absolutely, except God, and that the human soul is an emanation from his essence, and will finally be restored to him. 277. Sidrah—Tree of Paradise. 278. Bichnel’s Trans. 279. Finished about A.D. 1575. 280. A.D. 1611. 281. A.D. 1430. 282. Haji Luft Ali. 283. A.D. 1556-1605. 284. A.D. 1585-1628. 285. Herodotus IX. 286. Ousley, Biog. Pers. Poets, p. 202. 287. A very popular style of decoration in Persia is the kainah-karree; while the plaster is yet soft, the surface is inlaid with minute mirrors of every conceivable shape. The amount of work and skill necessary to inlay a room in this style is almost incalculable, and although the materials are comparatively cheap, the immense amount of labor required make the work very expensive. The effect, however, is one of bewildering splendor as if the light were flashed from the polished facets of millions of gems.—Benjamin, Persia and Persians, p. 279. 288. Ven., XIX, 43. 289. Yasna, XII, 9, p. 174. 290. Dr. Haug, Essays, p. 2. 67 291. Prof. Roth, Tubingen. Chips, p. 85. 292. There are also many so-called historical works, which, although deficient in sound criticism, and to a greater or less extent unreliable, still furnish some curious and noteworthy data. They have translations of the Maha-bharata, the Ramayana and other standard works of Sanskrit literature, but the original fire of Persian genius appears to be hopelessly crushed. 293. The Tazieh is the outgrowth of a ceremony which, for centuries, the Persians have annually performed in the holy month Moharrem. At this time they celebrate the tragic death of Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet who perished with all his house at the hands of a rival for the honors of a caliphate. The month of mourning is largely occupied with the recitals and ceremonies pertaining to the event; halls being especially constructed for these rhapsodies, as after more than seven hundred years, the terrible scenes of the tragedy were dramatized and placed upon the Persian stage. In the royal Takieh, or theatre, the great drama is unfolded for ten successive days, during the month of mourning, while in all other portions of the empire it is reproduced with more or less power, at the same time. Transcriber’s Note Footnote 172, the first on p. 123, has no referent in text, and refers to a topic that is not obviously apparent in the text. Small lapses of punctuation in the Index have been regularized with no further comment. Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. For index entries, the middle reference is to the column. Corrections in footnotes are referred to solely by the number as it appears, re-sequenced, in this version.
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