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He was called Ajooibl^^ ^ the watchfiil dog, that gave notice of the rising lumina- ries : he was, therefore, by some considered as the circle of the horizon ; but this could only be at the moment of twilight. Anubis, considered as the year, had also the same offices assigned to him as Mercury had, such^ being secretary to the goda and record- ing all the events of a man's life, year by year, to appear for or against him at his death. In different parts of Egypt, the year had different commencements. This was done, no doubt, to mul- tiply festivals, and, consequently, emoluments to the priests. In some places, the year began on the en* trance of the sun into the sign Taurus; at which time the Bull, ApiSf was worshipped with great expense and ceremony. In other places, the year began at the winter solstice, and the Goat was worshipped ; from which circumstance the people were called Mendesians: and in other places, the yesu- began on Digitized by Google 58 THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY the sun entering Aries; and that luminary was then worshipped under the name of Jupiter Ammon, and from whence the worshippers were called Ammonians. In noticing the year under the names of Hermes, the son of Osiris and Maia, and Mercury, the son of Jupiter and Maia, we shouK'not omit that of Buddha, the son of Maya of the Hindus. This name is only a mere translation of Mercury, the son of Maia, Buddha and Mercury being the same^ therefore Buddha, the son of Maya of the Hindus, is nothing more or less than the year, which is even sufficiently shown, by other names assigned to him in the Hindu books. From this circumstance, it may be plainly perceived, that though the West had borrowed all its knowledge in astronomy from the Hindus, yet that the latter had, in their turn, borrowed from the West. This may be still further seen by the fiction of the Hindu Mars, usually called Kartikeya, being born of the Pleiades, and thence called Bahuleya, and, there- fore, the same as Mercury, or Hermes. The great- est of all the Hindu gods is giva^ or time, and his image is generally accompanied with that of a Bull, to indicate the commencement of the year from the I sign Taurus; and therefore, must have a reference to the ancient commencement of the year in the West, from the beginning of Taurus, or first of May; for there is no record or fact, from which we could draw a conclusion that the Hindu year ever began from Taurus. All these circumstances taken together, I think, sufficiently jprove that a communication ^d exist at some former period, between the East and the West, though that period cannot be now ascertained. Woden, of the north of Europe, from his being sup- posed to have given his name to the fourth day of ihe week, as well as his presiding over battles, makes Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 69 him the same as the Buddha and Mars (or Kartikeya) of the Hindus, both of which meant the year. Of all the gods of the ancients, none appear to have been personified into so many different shapes, or worshipped under so many different names^ as the year^ or time. It was made the foundation of the greatest part pf their fictions, varying the personifi- cations and worships, according to the purpose in* tended, the better to multiply the emoluments of the priests. In general, however, the personifications of time^ or of the year, had their insignia, or charac- teristic symbols attached, by which they were known : this symbol was generally the Serpent, which of it- self was known and understood to signify the year : sometimes wings were added, which had the same signification ; for it is a common saying, that time hath wings. Hence the personification of the year, under the figure and name of Mercury, with his ca- ^iaai§ and wings, — also under the figure of ^scula- jpius. ^vjth_a^^rpj3itjn his hariHj (which some, with- out just grounds, have taken to be a leech.) Among the Romans, the ^rst of January, as the first of the year, was sacred to him. He was invoked and wor- shipped by the sick, or others for them ; because, time and patience, are said to cure all diseases. Me- dusa, or rather Medusa's head, with serpents instead of hair, I have no doubt, also meant time; and the meaning of the fiction relating to her power of de- struction, seems to have been this, that he who has seen her, must necessarily perish ; that is to say, all who have been brought into existence must die. All the Hindu deities which have any relation to time, or the year, are in general accompanied with the sym- bolic serpent, as may be seen in sculptures and Digitized by Google 60 THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY drawings of Siva, Krishna, and others. The figure of Siva is hardly ever seen without the Serpent. But it has also another distinguishing mark, which, as it i^ierves to explain some of the customs of the Egyp- tians y ought not to be passed over. That is, the river G/iwg*cj is represented as springing from the head of Siva, the meaning of which is this : the celestial Ganges y or the eclipticy begins at the commencement of the year, which is tlie head of time, and, there- fore, represented as springing from the head of Siva. The ec^(c, in ancient Hindu books, is called the cefestisd^gnge^.; and this may serve to show, that in ancient times, the ecliptic wMj£allgdjumg^ Iri Egypt y it was calle^TEiT celestial Nile ; and the gods and planets were therefore feigned to move along it in boats. At Babylony it was called the Euphrates ; and so on of other places. It may be objected and said, that the serpent is an emblem of wisdom : true ; but what is wisdom itself derived from but from years? A child just born cannot be said to have wisdom, nor can it be obtained but by the progress of time : hence, making the serpent as the emblem of wisdom, is only taking it at a second hand, that is, metaphorically derived from time. This may be seen in the Hindu name for Mercury, the son of Maia, or the year, which they call Buddha, the son of Maya ; thereby calling the year by the name wise, or wisdom, and consequently inferring wisdom as coming from years, the symbol y of which is a serpent. We may also see, that Buddha, the son of Maya, or the year, being the founder of a religious sect in India, is a mere fiction, and that we are rather to take it in a figurative sense ; that is to say, that time has produced this religion, and that the Digitized by Google OF TU£ HINDUS. 61 person or persons, who may have first promulgated it, are now unknown. The epoch of Buddha is ge- nerally referred to the year 640 or 542 B. C. which probably may have been the period at which the re- ligion of the BhuddhisU was first introduced into dif- ferent parts of India and China. Time, in feet, may be considered as the author of every thing ; for every thing is produced and perfected in time. Time is considered by the Hindus under three distinct points of view : first, as creating or producing ; second, as preserving that which has been produced; and, third, as destroying ultimately that which has been pre- served. These distinctions form the Hindu triad, under the names of Brahma. Vig|u)u, an4^va. All the ofiisprmgs of these, the feigned Avatars of Vishnu, so called, as Buddha, Krishna, &c. are, therefore, in feet, only certain portions of time. Krishna has been considered by some as the sun : but this opir nion is not correctly founded ; for Vishnu being time, and as such always accompanied by serpents, the common symbol of time, no portion of him can be taken as the sun.* Krishna is considered by some, the same as the Apollo of the west: this,, however. * One of the mjthologioal names of the am u, I beliere, Otxrutta, the bird of Vifhno. Some have mistaken this for a real bird, as the eagle &o. ; bat if his de- scription had been particnlarlj attended to, this, I think, coold not happen. He is called bj a ?arietj of names, desoriptiTe of what he is : snch as, that he is brother of Antma, or the dawn, and bom after him ; that he is of a beantifol plomsge, and his body of a golden colour ; and that he b the carrier of Yisbnn ; and that he is the destroyer of serpents, &c. All these appear to have a reference to the tun ; for he rises after the dawn, is of a golden colonr, and his rays are the beantifal plnmage. He is the carrier of Vishnn, because the sun by his revolution carries time along with him.