DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8944#0035
MYCENAEAN TREE AND PILLAR CULT.
133
divinity. ' Bethel,' or parallel Semitic forms of the same word, have, as we
have seen,1 been brought into connexion with haetylos, the stone swallowed by
Kronos, in other words the sacred stone of the Cretan Zeus. Whether the
derivation is philologically correct or not it is certain that the same religious
idea is common to both.
Such ' baetylic' stones among the Semitic peoples might be either
stationary or portable like the twelve stones earned off by the representatives
of the Twelve Tribes from the bed of Jordan which Joshua afterwards set
up at Gilgal.2 Here we have simply the setting up of rude natural stones,
like the stone at Bethel, which had been declared holy by certain phenomena
attaching to it.
But the later Semitic pillars are very frequently of hewn stone in the
shape of a cone, truncated obelisk or column, and must therefore be regarded
as the artificial equivalent of the rude stone idols that had preceded them.
In some cases they may doubtless have been hewn from some sacred rock
and thus stand to the more primitive class exactly in the relation in which
the sacred pole or stock stands to the tree from which it was cut. But
these later pillars seem in most cases to owe their sanctity to the spot on
which they were set up, or to some special rite of consecration as well as to
their shape or some holy sign carved on them.
The biblical records again and again attest the cult of the Ashera,,3 either
as a living tree or its substitute the dead post or pole, before which the
Canaanite altars were set.4 The altar, regularly coupled with the Ashera
in the primitive Canaanite worship, was doubtless often more than a mere
table of offerings6 and was itself in fact a ' bethel.' In the case of the
Ambrosial Stones which stood as the twin representatives of the Tyrian
Melkart we find artificially shaped pillars of the more developed cult placed
beneath the sacred olive tree of the God.0
The sacred trees of the Semites are often endued with a singular
animistic vitality which takes us back to a very early religious stage. The
tree itself has the power to emit oracular sounds and voices. It was the
sound as of marching given forth by the tops of the mulberry trees that was
to serve as the divine signal to David for his onslaught on the Philistines.7
Beneath the palm that bore her name Deborah the prophetess gave forth
her soothsayings and drew the inspiration of her judgments.8 The Arabian
hero, Moslim Ben 'Ocba, heard the voice of the gharcad tree appointing
1 See above, p. 112.
- Joshua, iv. 5 -9, 20-23.
3 Wrongly translated 'grove' in the
Authorised Version.
4 The opinion that this was a Canaanite
OJoddess called Ashera is, as Robertson Smith
[Religion of the Semite*, pp. 188, 189) has
pointed out, not tenable. ' Every altar had
its Ashera, even such altars as in the popular,
pre-prophctic forms of Hebrew religion were
dedicated to Jehovah.' (Cf. Dent. xvi. 21.)
" See Robertson Smith, o]>. cit. pp. 204, 20.").
6 The olive tree, with the two pillars be-
neath it, is represented on colonial coins of
lyre of the third century A n. They bear the
legend AMBPOC16 n6TP6 (Eckhel,
DoctrinaNunwrum, Hi. 389; B&belon, Perse*
Ach&m. p. exciv., VI. XXXVII. 9, 11, 1G).
Cf. l'ietschmann, O'ench. der J'hOnizier, p. 29.5.
7 II. Samuel v. 24.
8 Judges iv. 4 aeqq.
133
divinity. ' Bethel,' or parallel Semitic forms of the same word, have, as we
have seen,1 been brought into connexion with haetylos, the stone swallowed by
Kronos, in other words the sacred stone of the Cretan Zeus. Whether the
derivation is philologically correct or not it is certain that the same religious
idea is common to both.
Such ' baetylic' stones among the Semitic peoples might be either
stationary or portable like the twelve stones earned off by the representatives
of the Twelve Tribes from the bed of Jordan which Joshua afterwards set
up at Gilgal.2 Here we have simply the setting up of rude natural stones,
like the stone at Bethel, which had been declared holy by certain phenomena
attaching to it.
But the later Semitic pillars are very frequently of hewn stone in the
shape of a cone, truncated obelisk or column, and must therefore be regarded
as the artificial equivalent of the rude stone idols that had preceded them.
In some cases they may doubtless have been hewn from some sacred rock
and thus stand to the more primitive class exactly in the relation in which
the sacred pole or stock stands to the tree from which it was cut. But
these later pillars seem in most cases to owe their sanctity to the spot on
which they were set up, or to some special rite of consecration as well as to
their shape or some holy sign carved on them.
The biblical records again and again attest the cult of the Ashera,,3 either
as a living tree or its substitute the dead post or pole, before which the
Canaanite altars were set.4 The altar, regularly coupled with the Ashera
in the primitive Canaanite worship, was doubtless often more than a mere
table of offerings6 and was itself in fact a ' bethel.' In the case of the
Ambrosial Stones which stood as the twin representatives of the Tyrian
Melkart we find artificially shaped pillars of the more developed cult placed
beneath the sacred olive tree of the God.0
The sacred trees of the Semites are often endued with a singular
animistic vitality which takes us back to a very early religious stage. The
tree itself has the power to emit oracular sounds and voices. It was the
sound as of marching given forth by the tops of the mulberry trees that was
to serve as the divine signal to David for his onslaught on the Philistines.7
Beneath the palm that bore her name Deborah the prophetess gave forth
her soothsayings and drew the inspiration of her judgments.8 The Arabian
hero, Moslim Ben 'Ocba, heard the voice of the gharcad tree appointing
1 See above, p. 112.
- Joshua, iv. 5 -9, 20-23.
3 Wrongly translated 'grove' in the
Authorised Version.
4 The opinion that this was a Canaanite
OJoddess called Ashera is, as Robertson Smith
[Religion of the Semite*, pp. 188, 189) has
pointed out, not tenable. ' Every altar had
its Ashera, even such altars as in the popular,
pre-prophctic forms of Hebrew religion were
dedicated to Jehovah.' (Cf. Dent. xvi. 21.)
" See Robertson Smith, o]>. cit. pp. 204, 20.").
6 The olive tree, with the two pillars be-
neath it, is represented on colonial coins of
lyre of the third century A n. They bear the
legend AMBPOC16 n6TP6 (Eckhel,
DoctrinaNunwrum, Hi. 389; B&belon, Perse*
Ach&m. p. exciv., VI. XXXVII. 9, 11, 1G).
Cf. l'ietschmann, O'ench. der J'hOnizier, p. 29.5.
7 II. Samuel v. 24.
8 Judges iv. 4 aeqq.