English
With the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness ** we tread on surer ground; it is the first record we have of actual worship -being performed to the Serpent, and it is also remarkable, as the cause of this adoration is said to have been its healing powers. T'rom the readiness with: which this explanation was adopted by the Jews, it would seem as if that characteristic had been ascribed to the Serpent before that time. We now, however, learn it for the first time, though we afterwards become so familiar with it in Greek mythology, where the Serpent himself represents Aisculapius, and is the indispensable concomitant of Hygieia. _ * From this time we lose sight of the worship of the Serpent from the narrative of the Bible, till it somewhat unexpectedly reappears in the time of Hezekiah. We then learn that the brazen. image that Moses had set up,. had for more than five centuries * Genesis, xxi. 33. § Exodus, iii. 5. + Eusebius, Vita Constagtini, IIT. 53. || Josephus,. Antiq. Ju. I. 12, 1. { The oak now pointed out at Hebron as Abrabam’s q Exodus, vii. 8. tree is in quite another locality. ** Numbers, xxi, 9. Ss ee INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. been preserved in the Temple, and that “unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it.’* It was only then, after six centuries of toleration, that if was resolved to put an end to this idolatry, together with the kindred worship of the Groves. In the intermediate period there is hardly any expression that countenances the belief that the worship of Serpents generally prevailed among the Jews, unless it be one in the Wisdom of Solomon, where it is said, “They worshipped serpents void of reason,’+ in strange contrast with the New Testament expression, “ Be ye wise as . serpents.’ ? Neither in the Bible, however, nor in the Talmud,§ is there anything that would justify the assertion that Serpent Worship, even in the most modified form, prevailed among the Jews after its abolition by,Hezckiah. It cropped up again, as we shall presently see, in the Christian sect of Ophites, but probably in this instance the superstition was derived from Persia. _ The case is different with the worship of Trees or Groves. The first form of this appears to have arisen from the veneration paid to natural groves, and the worship offered - - therein to Baal |} and other foreign gods, but the Grove or Asherah ‘is also frequently an image, no doubt like that emblem so often represented on the Assyrian sculp- tures.§ This is an artificial tree, such as might have been placed alongside of the Brazen Serpent within the Temple at Jerusalem.** It hardly admits of doubt but that this worship of the Asherah or of Groves was a true and essential form of Tree Worship, but it seems to have been local, and entirely “opposed to the spirit of the Jewish religion. As a rule it is reprobated by their _ chroniclers and prophets, and eventually. disappears. Had it ever been really adopted by the Jewish legislators, we might perhaps be able to ascertain more correctly its origin and affiliations. Possibly we may do so when the Assyrian antiquities are more completely investigated than they now are. For. the present we must rest content wvith the knowledge that both Trees and Serpents were Worshipped in Judea, and hope “that some new light may. some day be thrown on the ‘subject. Even, however, if in abeyance, we can hardly suppose that Serpent Worship - was : extinguished in Judea, inasmuch as immediately after the Christian era we found it bursting forth again with wonderful exuberance in the sects of the Nicolaitans, the Gnos- tics, and more especially that called the Ophites (O¢ira:). Of the latter, Tertullian tells - us, “they even prefer the Serpent to Christ, because the former brought the know- “ ledge of good and evil into the world. They point also to his is majesty and power, “ inasmuch as when Moses raised the Brazen Serpent in the | Wilderness, whoever “ looked on it was healed; and they even quote the Gospels to prove, that Christ - “ was an imitation of the serpent, because it is said, ‘As Moses lifted up the | “ serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up ’’? (John, iii. 14).++ * 2 Kings, xviii. 4. || 2 Kings, xvii. 16. ft Wisdom, xi._15. . ¥ Lord Aberdeen’s black stone, History of Architec- t Matthew, x. 16. ture, W.C. 75; see also British Musetm Sculptures, § I make the assertion on the authority of Mr. and Layard’s and Botta’s plates, passim. Deutsch, of the Brigish Museum, who. has kindly ***] Kings, xvi. 33 ; 2 Kings, xxi. 8, xxni. 4& 6 ; looked through the Talmud for me with PErerence to Isaiah, xvii. 8, xxvii. 9, && the eae +} Tertullian, de Prescript. Hereticorum, ¢. xlvii. JUDEA. a) Epiphanius describes these ceremonies in ‘the following terms: “They keep a. ine No.1. -* Serpent in a: chest, and at the time of ‘the mysteries entice him. out “ by placing bread before him. The door being opened he issues forth, and having ascended the table folds himself above the bread.* This “ they call a perfect sacrifice. They not. only break and distribute “ this among the votaries, but whosoever wishes it may kiss the : ** serpent. This the wretched people—call the. Eucharist. ‘They Cista, From A Roman “ conclude the ‘ceremonies by singing a hymn through him to the Corn of ADRAMYTTIUM, “ Supreme Father.” + There are other paragraphs to the same effect, and the representations of serpents and Serpent Worship in the so-called Gnostic form are too numerous and too familiar to require. further notice here.t oe We have no means of knowing how long this worship of the Serpent continued to prevail in Syria—most probably down to the seventh century, when the Mahomedan invasion swept away a large mass of the parasitic superstitions which had fastened themselves ‘on Christianity; but the literature of* that age is so mixed up with fables and misrepresentations,: that it is very. difficult to write earn about anything it describes. Except the instance above alluded to, of the Terebinth at Mamre, I am not aware of. any authentic instance of direct Tree Worship in Syria after the Christian era, -but there may be, though, as they have not hitherto been looked for, they may still remain unkuown. | * Pivraque labetur circa do aria serpens. —Ovid, Amor.’ Eleg. lib. ii. { Epiphanius, lib. i. Heres: XXXVIL. p. 267, et seq. t Though not bearing airectly on the subject, the “Legend of the True Cross” is a curious example of a cognate superstition. Like most Medieval legends, it is so childish that it would be hardly worth while to allude to it, but it contains an earlier oriental element, which may be considered as throwing some light on the old form of worship. The legend relates that when Adam was on his death-bed, he sent Seth to try and regain admission to Paradise. This, of course, was impossible, but he was allowed by the angel who guarded it to look in at the gate. He saw, among other things, the tree which had borne the fatal fruit, its roots then extending to hell, but its upper branches reaching to heaven. The angel gave him three seeds, recommending him to place them in Adam’s mouth, when he died. He did so, and they produced three trees, a cedar, a cypress, and a pine. Yhese afterwards united into one, and their branches performed many miracles. Solomon cut down the tree, and tried in vain to use its trunk to support the roof of his palace. It disdained such a use, and was consequently thrown across the Brook Cedron to be trodden upon. It was rescued from this ignominy by the Queen of Sheba, and buried below the Pool of Bethesda, which owed its healing properties to its virtues, It came to the surface when wanted for the Cruss, and afterwards was buried in Calvary, where it was recognized by the Empress Helena in consequence of its miraculous healing powers. It was taken to Persia by Chosroes, and recovered by Heraclius, and afterwards, as is well known, throughout the middle ages a piece of the wood of the True Cress was prized by emperors and kings beyond all other earthly possessions. So great, indeed, was the demand that it was endowed with the property of self-multiplication, but even this did not sutfice to bring it into contempt, and as late as 1248 Philip Augustus erected the Sainte Chapelle to enshrine a morsel of the wood of the tree of Paradise. The Sainte Chapelle may thus be considered as the last, as it probably is among the most beautiful, temples ever erected to Tree Worship. All this is so silly that the only excuse for alluding to it is, that throughout the earlier past there runs a thread of oriental myth different from the clumsy inventions of ordinary medieval miracle mongers, and this, if properly investigated, might perhaps throw some light on the feelings with which sacred trees were regarded in ancient times, and tell us something of the causes which led to their being so universally worshipped. ‘ The following anthorities,for the legend are quoted by S. Baring Gould, in his “ Myths of the Middle Ages,” from which the above is abridged ; Vita Christi, Troyes, 1517; Legenda Aurea de Jacques de Voragine ; Geschiedenis van het Heylighe Cruys ; Speculum Historiale, by Gottfried von Viterbo, &c. (4799.) | 2B 10 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. - PHN ICIA. In addition to the Tyrian coins and other monuments which in themselves would suffice to prove the prevalence of Serpent Worship on the seaboard of Syria, we have a direct testimony in a quotation from ‘Sanchoniathon, an author who is supposed to have lived before the Trojan war.* This passage-is in itself so curious as throwing light on the feclings of the ancients on this subject, that it may be worth while to quote it nearly entire.