Professional Documents
Culture Documents
J^ CO]MF»^RISON
OF
EGYPTIAISr SYMBOLS
WITH THOSE OF THE HEBREWS.
By FREDERIC PORTAL.
SHi^mmm^
'The eymbola of the Egyptians are like unto those of the Hebrews."
(Clement of Alexandria, Stromales, V.)
NKW YORK :
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS
COMPARED TO THOSE OF THE HEBREWS
CHAPTER I.
PRINCIPLE OF SYMBOLOGY.
as demon-
entirely composed of symbolic characters,
strated by the examples of China and Mexico, and the
symbols we have just cited in Egyptian writing.^
If the principle, we have thus assumed, is true, the
speech of the first people must have left profound
traces
of its ambiguities in the most ancient known lan-
guages; doubtless, in the lapse of time, figurative ex-
pressions passed from tropes
to abstractions. The
descendants of the patriarchs, in pronouncing the word
bee, and attaching the idea of a king to it, no longer
I
B-evue des Deux Mondes, II.
part, XXVI., pp. 771, 772,
SYMBOLOGY. 7
'
'J'luK
paflfiage seenw to ulludc to Goulianofs system, attacked by
Chunipiillioii.
•
Villi-
Kf(yj)lian (TTammar, p. 2.'{.
'
Precis (lu Sijsle/nc Hicroglyphique, \). 338, and 4G2- 3. 2d edi-
tion.
1*
10 PRINCIPLE OP
4. Ancient translations ;
5. The context itself;
6. The phonetic group accompanying the sign;
7. The variants in difierent texts;
8. The figurative signs employed as initials to certain
groups, of which the balance
is
phonetic.
In developing this last principle, that of initial signs,
Mr. Lepsius says :
'
Annalex de VInstitut de correspondance Archeologique ; Rome, 1837,
J).
2G and 51, tome ix.
12 PRINCIPLE OF
anger.
*
Champollion-Figeac, Egypte ancienne, p. 28, 34, 417.
SYMBOLOGY. " 13
in Hebrew characters
angle, which group, transcribed
according to Champollion's alphabet, gives the word
pn a law, a decree, PpTi a legislator, a sovereign, or king
moderator, as translated by Salvolini.^
This word is at the same time symbolic, that is,
founded on homonymy, since it signifies in Hebrew a
sceptre and
a sovereign, and that the sceptre is the sign of
the idea king moderator. The intimate relations existing
between the Ethiopian and Hebrew languages cannot
be denied. Wansleben has brought together five hun-
dred roots that are the same in Ethiopian and Hebrew,
independent of other analogous languages this work
is ;
'
Facade, Champs-Elysees, first inscription
under the banner on the
eft ;Salvolini, Explanation of the obelisk.
*
Campagne de Rhamaes, p. 16.
RYMBOLOGY. 15
symbology. We
shall apply this principle to the sym-
bolic colors in the third chapter of this essay. Finally,
the third and most important result would be, the appli-
cation of the principle of symbology to the most sym-
bolic of all books, the Bible.
It appears evident to us, that if the Hebrew explains
the symbols of Egypt, and explains those emblems that
»
Stromal, lib. V. p. 566, ed. Sylburg.— In this passage, Clement
of Alexandria seems to allude to the double meaning of words, since
the dictionaries translate inix^vxpis by cenigmaticus sermo, and aivty/t*
by ambages verborum.
*
Precis, p. 338 and 462-3, 2d edition.
SYMBOLOGY. 17
*
silt arm, strength; and abo a ladder, and nbbo, ramparts thrown
the besiegers, from the root
dp by nbo, to elevate, to set up, as iu Freuch
echetl^ and etcalader are formed I'ruiu llie Latin root soda.
'
Symbolic Colors,]). 199.
SYMBOLOGY. 19
'
St.Paul says " For the f^ootl tliat 1 would do, I do uot but the
:
;
evil which I would not. that I do." (Kputtlc to tho Romaics, vii. 19.)
20 PRINCIPLE OF SYMBOLOGY.
BEE.
'
To facilitater&searcli, the symbols are arraii<,nMj in alphabetical
order. The dictionaries cited are, for the Hebrew, tliose of Gescnius,
18.'J3 ;Kosfniiiiillcr, Vocab. appended to Simon's Bible, fLile, 1822 ;
Moser, Gniirin, ami the Thesaurus of Robertson ; for the Coptic, Pey-
ron'« I>'.\ioon.
—
Not<^ The alphabetical order, it will be understood, applies to the
French.
22 APPLICATION TO
ASS.
VPSto
The Egyptians represented the man who had never been
out of his country by the onacephalus (head of an ass), (Hora-
poUo I. 23).
The Hebrew language furnishes the explanation of
oir, the a
this symbol, since "i-'S
young ass, signifies city,
di
place (Gesenius).
The other name of the ass, ^"rcn hemur, or hemr "t^!i,
is formed of the word njsn heme, to surround with a wall
'
This insect, says Moser, was called "iian on account of its admira-
'
In like manner ">•'?!. the ass and ct.'^,"8ig:-iSe8, also, to be inflamed, the
heal of anger, and au enemy (Gesenius).
24 APPLICATION TO
MOUTB
II Q ^^
•
Leemans, I^yde's Egyptian Monuments, p. 15 and 16 ;
and Letter
to Salvolini, p. 5.
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 26
^^ mouth, door.
BUNCH OF REEDS.
l£.
Champollion Grammar ([>. 128), that the
says, in his
names of women, Egypt tan ijuiens, are termin-
excfqd those of
ated or accompanied by a bunch q/' Jlowers.
The bouquet is formed of the flowers of the papyrus ;
n^x ABE, thejHipyrm, tlie rrcd, forms the word n^nx aebe :
the woman loved, -~x aeb, love.
The bunch of papyrus is also the generic determin-
ative of all the names of plants, herbs, -dud flowers (Egyp-
tian Grammar, p. 88).
=x ab, green things, grass, is the root of" ~::i< abe, the
papyriis.
GOAT.
rtT
The goat was the symbol of sharp hearing (Ilorapol.,
n. 68).
ir oz, a
goat, and "(TX az\, an ear: according to Gese-
STOIiK.
The Kiivptians rt'jin-sfiitcd lilial |ii«'tv by a stork;
because, says HoiapoMo, alicr luivinL' Imi n led by its
26 APPLICATION To
BRAIDED BASKET.
Titans.
Tims, all the synonyms of the word fan or basket
produce the same homonymies. Tlie word nas npe,
basket and sieve, is likewise found in the Egyptian ^jg^
basket, which forms ^^g; lord and j^\fix '^'''^•
ROOK.
According to Horapollo, covjiigal union was repre-
sented by two rooks (Hornp., II. 40), and the word 2-c?
ORB, signifies a crow, a look, and to be confugallij united
(Gesenius).
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 27
"^s ORB, is also the name of the setting sun and the
shadow of darkness in Egyptian cosmogony, night was
;
HORNS.
MANGER.
R^
" The hieroglyphic name of the city of Thebes, has a
quarter circle for a determinative symbol, of which the
curved part is presented in a contrary direction to the
writing. The explanation of this symbol had long been
souglit, when at last the flotilla, on board of which was
Champollion's scientific exjx'dition, sailing toward Nu-
bia, perceived on shore a row of high mangers, formed of
twisted straw and river-mud, a side view of which j)re-
pented the half" circle of tlu; Tlieban symbol. These
mangers were intended for Iarg<! luuds of cattle. It was
then recollected, that in fully <i«!veloped texts, there
was often seen a bull placed before the symbol of the
28 APPfJ('AT10N TO
CROCODILE.
^l
The meaning here given to it by the Egyptian Hiero-
grammat and Hebrew homonymies, is confirmed by tlie
monuments. One of the chapters in the Funereal Ritual
relates to the combat between the deceased and the
crocodile —
that is, against his bad passions; he kills it
with the Hoopoe headed sceptre, the known emblem
of virtuous affections.
In the Levitical, as in the Egyptian religion, the
crocodile, :2T3n hemt, is an unclean animal.
Hora[)ollo adds that the crocodile was the symbol of
fecundity (I. 69), and the word tan hem })resent8 the
ideas of relationship, marriage; according to (lesenius,
the Greek word yn/nos, marriage, is derived from nn; we
have just remarked that, on the monuments, the lizard
was the symbol of fecundity.
According to Clement of Alexandria (Stromat. V. 7),
the crocodile represented time ; the Egy[)tian Saturn
wore, as a head-piece, a crocodile's head, and the word
p^n MEMQ, signifies to make a circle, to turn around; this word
relates to the course of the sun, since iron heme signi-
fies sun, and in Hebrew, the proper name of time signi-
fies to turn, )S5< APN, and forms 'jSix aupjv, a wheel (Gese-
nius).
According to Champollion, the lizard was consecrated
to Bouto, divinity of j)ritnal darkness (Notice of the
Museum (Jharles X., [». 42); according to Horapollo,
the crocodile's tail was the symbol of darkness (I. 70),
and the word mn heum signifies the black color, the
color of diirkness.
The name of Egypt, according to i'luLarch (l)e. Is.
'
In the Coptic we find again Jj CZ-^ cninnlilns, -l^tCTX '"''<•"
en HEiM,Aea^, and
and Osir.), signified blackness and heat;
ts".!! HEUM, blackness, are a same root forming the name of
the hemt
crocodile •^n'n ;
the name of
Egypt preserved in
the Bible is in fact on hem, and this word is inscribed
on the obelisk at Paris by the crocodile's tail and the
nycticorax, phonetically forming
the word on hem.^
The signification of the name of Egypt is also found
in the Coptic K^ju,^ black (Champ. Gram., p. 320).
Whydid the Egyptians give their country a repro-
bated name, composed of the Crocodile, symbol of dark-
ness, and the Nycticorax, symbol of death (Horapol. I.,
70, 11. The answer is clear ; Egypt had three
,
25).
names ; one, symbolized by the lily, designated Upper
Egypt ; the other, represented by the papyrus, Lower
Egypt. These two names answer to the Hebrew words
Dnns PTHRUS, Uyfcr Egypt, and m::^ mtsur. Lower
Egypt; the first indicated the region of expounders and
religion; the second, the land of agriculture
and civiliza-
tion, as explained under the article lilij (consult the Art.
Vulture).
The third name, on hem, or ham, designated the
profane, dead men crouching in the darkness of
or
ignorance (Vide Art. Ass).
Horus, the god of light, is sometimes represented
under the form of a crocodile, with a hawk's head sur-
mounted with horns, and the solar disk (Champ. Gram.,
p. 120).
This confirms the assertion of Horapollo, that
the crocodile's eyes represented light, and his tail dark-
ness (I. 68, 70).
The Bible says : The ancient and honorable, he is the
head ;
and the projjhet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
FINGER.
"
AJinger designates the stomach of man''' (Horap. II. 6).
" This," " is what we find in the Latin
says Lenormant,
»
Salvolini, Trans, of Obelisk, p. 16 Akerblad, Letter to M. De
Sacy, p. 37. Gesenius, verbo nn.
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 81
WATER.
/V^VVV\
AVvAW
In Egyptian cosmogony, as in the first book of Moses,
the world was crented from the body of waters. This
doctrine, says Champollion, was professed iu Egypt in
the most distant times (Pantheon Egyptien, Cnouphis-
Nilus), Water was the mother of the ivorld, the matrix of
all created
beings, and the word "-r-Q mschbr signifies
matrix and waves, ci"im"^.
Man was considered as an image of the world, the
initiate was to be born ag.iin to a new life, and the
bap-
tism thenceforward syml)oliz<'.d the primeval waiters; it
was ou this account that the initiate was called t^^^o
M.SCHE, Moses, a word signifying in Egyptian, according
to Josephus (Antiq., IL 9, § 6), saved from the water or by
th(; water, designated in Hebrew by nnris mschhee,
unction and nr-2 mschk, to save.
In extending tliesc; phih^logical researches, it would be
easy to perceive that the word "af^, matrix and wave, is
composfid of th;it of the initiate niria and the name even
of (;reation i<"r uka, he created, the first word of Gcniesis ;
HAWK.
FACE.
BEAN.
Herodotus relates that among the Egyptians the bean
was considered an impure vegetable the priests could ;
not even bear the sight of it (Huterj). lib. II., cap. 37).
The aversion of the Pythagorean disciples for this sym-
bol of unclean things is also known.
The Hebrew <'.\i»laitis this horror of the bean; the
name of the vegetable is the same as that of the nomadic
p«;ople, who were an abomination in the sight of the
Egyptians.^ In Genesis, Joseph says to his brethren :
FIG-TREE.
ANT.
mans, Ad not.
p. 204).
The Jewish [teople were initiated in the mysteries of
true religion, and all Israelites had to be circumcised.
The fable of the Myrmidons, or ants changed into
men, .•signifies that the jtrofane
who acquire knowlaJgc
ol the mysteries, that tlie circumcised, or untSy become
true n)en.
The particular relation between the ant and circum-
cision is, tliat the ant, according to tin* ancicnits, cut Hie
top of the ear to gtit the grain (jut to use tlie Ii«;breW
;
oxftression, it circumcised it
(l)0(;liart, Iliervzo'icon, H
p.
oS7 et 8e({. ; Job, c. xxiv. v. 21).
36 APPLICATION TO
FROG.
terpretation is demonstrated
by the image of the Demi-
urgic Hercules, engraved on the base of a representation
of that animal.^
This symbol is one of those that serve to identify in
the most unequivocal manner Egyptian Cosmogony and
Initiation, since, on one hand, on the monuments de-
ci[)hered by Champollion, the frog represents chaos, or
primal matter, wet and without form, and, on the other,
according to Horapollo, the frog is the symbol of un-
formed man.
That the world was born from the midst of the wa-
ters is taught by the
Egyptiand octrines (see Article
Water), as well as the first book of Moses thus the pro- ;
form, over which the spirit has not yet moved, and
which is born again from the waters of baptism (con-
sult Symbolic Colors, p.
169).
The Hebrew name of the frog, sinsis tsprdo, is com-
posed of "ie:2 tspr, to turn, to convert one's self, in a
physical as in a moral sense ; this verb is applied to a
timid and degraded man, who morally turns and returns
on all sides (Gesenius). The second root of the name of
the frog is S"! do, which signifies science, knowledge
wisdom.
^
Champollion, Notice du Musde Charles X., p. 40.
*
Champ, ibid.
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 37
since "isa tspr also signifies to tear with nails (claws), and
5"» DO, wisdom; thus the
frog is also the symbol of the
shameless profane, who endeavors to destroy wisdom by
false reasoning in this sense the Apocalypse speaks of
;
AXE.
SWALLOW.
.'^^^ ..^^^^
In Egypt, the swallow was the symbol of the entire
'
The name of the Xazarites "I'^tS
signi&es consecrated and separated
"'''3
separavit se, ahstinuit, sc consecravH (Gesenius).
KaYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 39
EIGHT.
^ III
.
©^
" was
"The god Thoth," says Salvolini, regarded in
ancient Egypt as the protector of the city of Hermopolis
Magna on this account, he everywhere receives in th<!
;
KNOTTED CORDS.
I
HorapoUo says in a passage, altered by the copyists,
that Jrnotted cords, ^rayk, represented in the hieroglyphics
/ore, the chase, death, the air and a son. (Horap., lib. II.,
:i6. Vide Leemans, Adnot.) I do not attempt to repro-
HARE.
LION.
*
The last letter is here chanjjed from m to a because in Hebrew
these two letters are thus often changed ((iesen., p. 383) be that as it
;
may, there can be no doubt as to the root, saice it comes from the verb
to prophecy, smd a33
333, to pierce, to open, which forms the words n'2i
to contemplate.
^
lit, I'i^fit,
and nan or nn33 an opening, a door, of 323 to pierce,
to
open (Gesenius verbo 323).
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 41
LILY OR LOTUS.
A/\ .
MOON.
*
The papyrus was the earliest food of the Egyptians (HerodotuA
II. 92 J.
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 43
HAND.
SHE-MULE.
The she-mule, says Horapollo, represents a barren
woman (II. 42).
The word "ns pud, a mule, signifies also to separate, to
disjoin, a verb applicable to the separation of the sexes.
EGYPTIAN GOOSE.
'
Acconliiit,' to (i(w-iiiiis, llie letters o ii"<l ii''»'
iiit^rchiui^a'able ia
lle])rew. JJu even gives examples 'u\ the rout nsD-
44 APPLICATION TO
EAR.
4
According to Horapollo, the ear of a bull represented
hear 17^g (I. 47).
This sign is the determinative of the verbs to hear, to
litten (Champ. Gram., 387, 388).
The word azn signifies an ear, to hear, to listen, and
"i^x
'
Vide Klaproth, Observation on the Monument of Abydos, following
an Examin.ati(jn of Champnllion's labors Leemans, on Horapollo, pag*.'
;
QUAIL BONE.
A qvail bone, says Horapollo, expresses stability and
safety (II. 10).
The word otsm, signifies at once bojie and solidity,
^'sv,
'
I again call the attention of the rouder. who is liut sliglitly ac-
quainted with the Jlebrew hui^'-uage, to tlie fact, tliat J entirely neglect
the vowel-points. 'I'his principle, whieh iijiply 1o the Hebrew i)ecause
1
cu[)ied by th(^ point, ii5 and U- lliis letter being doiibltxl, it will be
umlerstofKl that in the other series the words in which it appears dif-
ferently pointf-d cannot be found side; by side thus thc^ name of the
;
SHE-BEAR.
CONSECRATED BREAD.
®
Many geographical proper names, says Champollion
(Egypt. Gram., p. 151), have the consecrated hread for
determinatives the Egyptians, adds that learned man,
;
PAPYRUS.
'
From whence also the name of nnrslinp;, and the verb to nurse,
iiy OUL. Milk 18 a child's first nnnri-liiiicnt, as the papyrus was the
earliest food of the Egyptians (lk'r(nlutus 11. 02).
48 APPLICATION TO
2nx AEB, love, and nsx abe, the jxiyyrus, evidently belong
to the same root.^ Again, fcbr qlm, the antique origin of
things, signifies a young man at puberty ri:cbj- olme, o.
;
EYELIDS.
is not confirmed
by any form of diadem.
Salvolini thinks these signs are crests (Alphabet,
No. 194).
I think I recognize
eyelids; in fact, these three signs
are covered with a sort of eyelid or brow showing itself
above the eyes, the design of which is given by Cham-
pollion (Egypt. Gram., consult Nos. 208 and 242, of
Alphabet).
This sign, according to Champollion, marks the idea
o^festival (Gram., p. 174).
The Hebrew name of eyelid is the same as that of the
celebration of di
festival.
m^uj scHMRE, in the feminine plural n-nair schmruth,
eyelids ; and in the plural masculine
ni"i:2a schmrim, ohser-
'
The common root of these two words is as, father, Creator, will,
verdure, grass, a fruit. All these significations were connected together
in the cosmogony : the Creator, God, formed the world in his love or
his will ;
the grass, verdure, the leaves, represented the birth of the
world, because nature seems to be born again when the leaves appear
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 49
?
In each step of the hieroglyphics," says Salvolini,
'•
'
we meet with the idea of a king, or, to speak
more correctly, of a moderator, expressed by the TK
spoken of Manetho it is always written as follows
by ;
:
4
clothed
^
with all
3\K.
the
'T''^
emblems of
image of an individual
the He-
The transcription of the above group gives
brew word -n hku, which a law, a .statute, a ciu-
signili»!S
heqq, a a and a sceptre (Gese-
(om; P7>ri legislator, chi'f,
nius), or a king
moderator and a pedum.
3
60 APPLICATION TO
OSTRICH FEATHER.
i7ttegritas
and a^d-eia.
Poetically, the Hebrew name of the ostrich is fisa^
RNNE ;
this word
also signifies a song ofjoy, qfjiraise, and,
'
There can be no doubt as to the sign representing an ostrich
feather, since, in a painting of Thebes, we see two men occupied in pull-
ing feathers from an ostrich ( tVilkinson's
Manners and Customs of the
Ancient Egyptians, II. G).
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 5^
FISH.
HOG.
~j,^i|l^^^
RAT.
REED.
iA
Tiiis sign represents a reed, or, as Salvolini has it, a
^
The eye signifies to do, p. 15 and the mouth is the symbol of
;
"
speech. See Origin of the Eg-yptiaii Language," by Dr. Lowe, p. 21
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 53
DEW.
.fn.fh
The Egyptians represented teaching or instruction,
nnt 8eia. by the dew falling from heaven (liurap. I. 37).
'
•^'xa campxjLs, uger ; t-ytu potcnlissimun,oninipotcm. See hliy Rod
mia.
54 APPLICATION TO
•
The signification of the ansated cross is recognized by all Egypto-
logists ; as to that of the Hoopoe Sceptre, Champollion gives it a
different meaning from that of Horapollo, that of purity, i'nstead of
piety (Egyptian Gram., p. 290, 412, 449, or pure, 90). We have seen
that water was the of purity.
symbol
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 55
light.2
The name received by the baptized or anointed was
that given in tlie Bible to the chief of the Hebrews,
Moses, n-:j-2 ; this name exists on the Egyptian monu-
ments, it is wrirt«Mi by the sign of the dew or baptism,
jMiiial
to -, and the bent stalk equal to a; the group
[I
jjj
in Hebrew -- or ni-o is translated in Champol-
lion's Grammar by begotten (p. 133) ; give we it the
signification of regenerated or begotten again,
with refer-
ence to the long series of proper names, among which
are the names of the gods followed by this group.
Thus Thoutmos, Amenmos, Ilarmos, Phlahmos designated
the regenerated by Thoih, Amon, ILmis or Phtah.
According to the Bible, the name of Moses was Egyp-
'
Vide Ilorap. I. 33. See, for meaiiiiif,'
of lh(! word wo
by translate
376 and 300 and which
for lliat of the grtiiip
baptize, Kgypt. Gram., p. ;
Egyptians.'
SACK OF WHEAT.
f f
This sign represents an empty wheat sack, as proved
by a monument engraved in Rosellini's work. Cham-
poUion thought it was a kind of purse (Egypt. Gram.,
p. 5-5).
The Hebrew word nxinn thbuae, signifies the revenue
of the land, the product of the fields, and also the fruit of
intelligence (Gesenius).
The word "psn thbun, belonging to the same root,
designates intelligence, prudence.
A chief, or leading personage in a hierarchy, was
represented in Egypt by the figure of a man standing,
with a pure sceptre in one hand and the sack of wheat
in the other (Champ. Egypt. Gram., p. 55).
The sceptre was the symbol of power,^ and the sack
of wheat the emblem of intelligence, of prudence, and the
right of proprietor in lands.
Mercury, the god of material and intellectual riches,
held a purse in his hand like the Egyptian chiefs.
1
Acts vii. 22. Philon, de vita Mosis, lib. I. p. 606. See Lowe
The origin of the Egyj^tiau language, p. 26-27 and Lacour's Essay
;
on Hieroglyphics.
*
The fure sceptre, or staff without ornament oniu, represented the
instrument with which the guilty were stricken, and the scourge of God.
The pure sceptre was, consequently, the sign of the right to punish and
of the power of chiefs.
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. f>^
BEETLE.
p. 184).
In thr l''L'vptiiiii gr;imni;ir the liccth' dcsigiiiitcd
the/e/rr.s/?/a/wo/-A/(Clianip. (ir;ini., p. ^577) ;
mnm
iind (mi
the globe,
my-cases the beetle with spn'a<i wings, rolling
3*
68 APPLICATION TO
SIGNET.
The
signet is the determinative of the ^«erbs to close,
to shut, to seal
(Champ. Gram., p. 372).
In Hebrew =rr; hethm, a signet, a seal ring, and the
same word signifies to close, to shut, to seal, and likewise
to to finish
accomplish, (Gesenius).
The Egyptian word given by ChampoUion is
SPHINX.
'
The name of Anion, in Hebrew -jnix, signifies /a?7/i, </w//t; aud
CBX or m35 .signifies to hide, tu obscure, to veil (Geseiiiiis) ;
tliua the
name of Anion indicated truth hidden from tlie people.
*
See (JUiimpoliion-Figeac, Ancient Kgypt, p. 46.
^
Revelator occulli. See Targ. Syr. Kimchi (Geaaniufl).
ClO APPLICATION TO
MOLE.
The Egyptians, says HorapoUo (II. 63), represent-
ed a blind man by a mole, because that animal does not
see.
The blind man, spoken of by Horapollo, is the male-
rial and worldly man who does not see heavenly things ;
BULL.
'
There are two homonyms ia this phrase, na signifies man and
death ; and "jsn mole and world.
*
Salvolini, Translation of the Obelisk, p. 8. Leemans on Horar
polio, p. 263.
»
The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet k has the name of the bull ;
and according to Gesenius, it was at first an image of the head of that
animal.
EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS. 61
VULTURE.
>
Jabloiiski, PaiiUi. Apia.
— Rolle, Worship of Bacchus, I., 140-145.
Horap. II., 43.
•
Notice du Musee Charles. X.. ]). II.
Chaiiipollioii,
*
Thevulture was .specially con.secrat<<l to Nritli 'riicrmoutiw. the
mother ot the gods and worldly beiugs (Cliainp. Notice Mw.sce Charles
X., p. 5 aud 41).
62 APPLICi»TION TO EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS.
plate xvi.).
Finally, this bird was attributed to Minerva and to
Juno, because, among the Egyptians, Minerva presided
in the superior hemisphere and Juno in the inferior
heart and breast, and at the same time love, jjiety, mercy,
because it is, in fact, on the viscera of the breast that
love and piety act (See Gesenius). The heart and breast,
seats of the divine afiections, are the two celestial hemi-
spheres over which the vulture reigns.
'
Consult Bochart, Hieroz. lib. XL, Cap. xxv. and xxvi.; and Didymi
Taurineiifiis, Litteraturae copticae rudinientum, p. 9-10.
CHAPTER III.
WHITE.
ain.
THE SYMBOLS OF COLORS. 65
RED.
YELLOW.
Among the Egyptians, as among the Hebrews, fire
was the symbol of divine life, of human life, and of the
life that animates all created beings.
The inward essence of divinity w.is considered by the
Egyptians as male and ft-malc' The hrat ofihejire repre-
sented the universal male [)rinciplf. The ligJu ofthcjirc
was the female principle.
Le Pimandre, who, according to Champollion, has
preserved to us, at least in part, the doctrines of Egypt,^
reveals this mystery to us.
*
Symbolic Colors, \>.
10"). Consult, Ciiaiii|). K^fypt. I'aiilh., Amon
had female Amon.
« llio
"Tlic hcriiii'lic i)o()k-^. says ('liaiiiiKillioii, iiotwiiliHlandiriLr opin-
ions hazanli'd hy fcrtain iriodVni critics, contain a mass of jjurcly KKyi>-
tian traditions always lonnd to uf^rce witli t!ir niuminiunts." Egyptian
—
['anflu'on. Art. 'Ilint/i tnsmC;r/sle.
66 APPLICATION TO
'
Description of Ancient Egypt, vol. lY., plate xxiii., cornice of the
freat Temple of Denderali.
THE SYMBOLS OF COLORS. 67
BLUE.
The name of this color does not appear to exist in
Hebrew, at least, not that I know of ;^ but its significa-
tion is
preserved to us in that of sapphire.
The name of sapphire, the same in Hebrew as in
French, i'^ed spir or sphir is formed by the root "iso spr
or SPHR, signifying to write, to sjjeak, celebrate, priise, a
scribe, writing, the book.
These various significations indicate the Divine voice,
the written or spoken word, the wisdom of God, con-
tained in the sepher of the Hebrews, or the Bible.
Sapphire is the color of the Egyptian god, Amou, whose
name, preserved in the Bible exactly as in the hiero-
glyphic legends, i^^x amun, or T^x amx, signifies, in
Hebrew, truth, wisdom, as his color, sapphire, I'so, indi-
cates the Divine word, sj)oken or written.
The chief of the Egyptian Hierogrammats wore on his
breast a sapphire, on which was engraved a representa-
tion of the goddess of truth and justice, Thme, whose
name nn thm, or n-cr. thme, signifies, in Hebrew, jtis-
tice and truth (See Art. Ostrich
Feather).
The High Priest of the Hebrews wore on his breast a
stone, having the same name truth and justice, Qinn
;
THMIM.
HYACINTH.
The Hebrew name of this color is nbsn thklth,'
formed of the root nbon thkle, signifying absolution, jier-
fection, hope and constancy, absolutio, perfectio, spes,
perfection, consumma-
fiducia (Gesenius) r"'b:r thklith,
;
tion.
In the work on symbolic colors, it will be found that
the hyacinth was the symbol oi perjection, hope and con-
stancij
in spiritual combats.
This color does not upjjcur to have been employed on
the Egyptian monuments.
'
"nttJ Hignirit'S black, and, prubalily, a dark blue. The w-ord nbsn
k'signatcH hyacinth, or bluish purple.
*
nbsn liijacinthus (Robertson, The.'^aurus), purpura ccrulca, seri-
GREEN.
The Hebrew name of grceii is P'y^ irq, viridis, which
also si unities verdure, srreen s^ass.
This word comes trom the roots in'T' ire, to Jound, to
regulate; and of p"i rq, sjmce ; npn rqe, time, expansion of
space ; S'^pi i\\Q firmament.
Thus, the name of green designates the beginning of
time, the creation of the world, the birth of everything
that exists. This is the meaning given to green in the
work on symbolic colors, and which is also constantly
given to it on the Egyptian monuments.
The god Phtha, founder of the world, the creator and
upholder, has always green flesh.
Phtha, says ChampoUion, is the active creativg spirit,
the diviiie intelligence, who undertook, in the beginning, the
83'^mbol designated
the sacred doctrine. Thoth, the god-
creator of men, founder of the social state, the god of
science, of the sacred doctrine, and the hierogrammals, has
his flesh painted green on two monuments copied in
BROWN-RED, or RUSSET.
BLACK.
There are two shades of black existing in symbology,
one the opposite of red, the other of white (Symbolic
Colors, p. 167).
The first designates ignorance arising from evil and
all selfish or hateful passions. The second indicates
ignorance of mind, not confirmed by wickedness of heart,
and seeking to leave that state of intellectual death.
Black from red (red-black) is called in Hebrew dti
HEUM, as shown in the Article on Rnsset. This njime
forms the word n^^n heume, an enclosing wall, because
THE SYMBOLS OF COLORS. 71
and acconiplish.
interpretations
— oneWe must choose between the two
and the other sublime the
trivial ;
first
presenting a pun, to speak plainly, the second
affording a key to Bible symbols (see the word Stone
hereafter).
The system of homonyms applied to the interpretation
of the Bible is not new, though no scholar has made it
the object of special study; this principle is so evidently
employed by the inspired writers, that Hebraists cannot
fail to recognize it in some
passages.
It is more than two hundred years
since the celebrated
Heinsius, in the extended preface to his Aristarchus sacer,
proved that the Gospel of St. John, written in Greek,
had been conceived in Syriac, because, in that Gos[)el,
the inspired writer alludes to the double meanings of
—
words double meanings that exist only in Syriac and
not in Greek.' The learned commentator makes the
same observation, after an examination of the word a^er/;,
used by St. Peter in his Second Epistle, chap, i., v. 5.^
I take these two citations of Heinsius from Goulianof's
work on Egyptian Archaeology (HI., 560). The Russian
academician follows them with these reflections: "It
was, then, by the discovery of homonymies in the obscure
and difficult passages that the celebrated critic became
convinced of this important condition of the exegesis, to
'
Si quisex me quaerat, quanam lingua scripserit evangelista noster ;
Tl
ay.ozia airo ov xaTt/.a/3ev, dicilur. (^iiod si chaldaifc aiit syriacc
etfi-ra.s, suavLssimam allusiouein, quam nee graica, nee hellenistica adniittit
STONE.
Stone and rock, on account of their hardness and use,
became the symbol of a firm and stable foundation.
In Hebrew the generic name of stones and rocks is px
ABX, a word which, according to Gesenius, signifies also,
la construct, to build, and which he also identifies with the
root t:k amx, an architect, truth, a,nd faith ; thence, ns^sx
AMXE, a column, and truth.
Fortified by the interpretation of one of the most
celebrated Hebraists of Germany, we may consider the
stone as the symbol o{ faith and truth.
Christ said to Simon, who iiad just acknowledged him
as the Son of the living God Thou art Peter, and on
:
'
The ori;fin of the E^'-yptiuii hirij^nn^-e proved by the iiiiiilysis of
that and the llehrew, by Dr. I.owe ;London, J8.'{7. Consult Didymi
riiurinensiH, Litteratiirie coptiea; rudiinentuin Tarma;, 1783.
;
'
C]3 ruck, KE^a (Jhald., wlience the (Jreek name of I'eter, Ki/fSs,
Cephas ;
the word ^p rock, also si-jniGes t/ie -sole of the feel, basis of
mull
80 APPLICATION TO
senius).
The stone specially consecrated to Seth or Typhon
was the hewn stone, and it had, in the language of the
monuments, the name of Seth, to the exclusion of all
others which are called anr (Champ. Gram., p. 100)
Truth was symbolized by the hard stone, and error by
the soft one, that may be hewn.
The particular determinative of the stone Seth was the
Selh is not in the Coptic we must depend on the group itself, which
;
and a Icivfe^ and forms the word ti:i tsur, to cut^ to hew,
and a stone.
Jehovah says in Exodus: If thou wilt muke me an altar,
vhou shall not hiild it of hewn stone ; if thou lift the hiije (or
chisel) upon it, thou hast yolhted it (Exod. xx. v. 22 in
the
Hebrew, 2q in the translations).
Joshua built an altar of stones, which the chisel had not
touched (Joshua, viii. 30, 31).
The Temple of Jerusalem was built of whole stones, and the
sound of axe, hammer, nor anxj tool of iron was not heard
during the building (1 Kings, vi. 7, which is the III. of
the Vulgate).
POTTER.
PALM-TREE.
The palm-tree was the symbol o{ truth, justice, and in-
tegrify, since itsname i-n thmr, the palm-tree, the falm,
is formed of that of on thm, integrity, justice, and truth,
HORSE.
The horse is the symbol of intelligence man should ;
LAMB.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John we are
taught that the Messiah was the Word, or the word of
God; the forerunner seeing Jesus coming towards him,
cried out Behold the Lamb of Qod, which taketh away the
:
'
Plii.sdhf, F'r.Tpar. evangel, lib.
Ill.cap.xii. Consult. Champ. PantlieoD
egyplien, Art. Pook.
84 APPLICATION TO
ano-er (Gesenius) ;
a meaning also found in the name of
the crocodile, formed from the root on hem (see Art.
Crocodile).
Job commends himself for not having worshiped
the sun and moon (xxxi. 26), that is, for not having be.Mi
and for not having had faith in li's
perverse and selfish,
own wisdom; there is no question of Sabianism in th:g
the two fundamental principles of mar
passage, but of
•?
m^
4l.
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