DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8944#0042
140
ARTHUR J. EVANS
pillar, bears a Nabataean inscription proclaiming the rock-shrine to be the
Mesgeda (or Mosque) of ' Aouda the great God of Rostra' who seems
elsewhere, like Baal Hammon and Tanit, to be represented in a dual or
triple form.
It thus appears that throughout the Semitic world a single spiritual
being could infuse itself at one and the same time into several material
abodes. Groups of two or three pillars could be the visible embodiment of
a single divinity—a conception which readily lent itself to such mystic dogmas
as that of a triune God or Goddess, applied in the above instances to Baal and
Tanit. It may be observed that the primitive conceptions underlying the
adoration of the Cross have much in common with this Semitic pillar worship,
and the Armenians to this day set up groups of three crosses, into which the
Spirit of the Trinity in Unity is called upon to enter hy a solemn rite of
consecration.1
I venture to believe that a group of divine pillars, closely analogous to
those of the Carthaginian stelae and North Arabian shrines, may be recognised
in the design on a Mycenaean painted vase from Haliki near Athens2 (Fig.
23). The central object here seems to be a somewhat conventionalised
rendering of a volute column, above which is a kind of triple halo, which may
be compared with the radiate emanations of the Cypriote pillars.3 On either
side of this central column are two pairs of smaller pillars in decreasing order,
above each of which is a disc with a central dot identical with the Egyptian
solar symbol. We recall the orb and crescent placed in a similar position
above the Carthaginian pillar idols.
An analogous Mycenaean example of a group of sacred pillars is supplied
by a recently discovered lentoid intaglio from Mycenae, in which a male
figure is seen in the act of adoration before five columns of architectural char-
acter with vertical and spiral fiutings. (Fig. 24.)
It is perhaps worth considering whether the well-known dove shrines of
Mycenae may not supply a parallel of another kind to the religious concep-
tion of more than one aniconic pillar representing the same divinity. These
shrines present three openings, in each of which is a similar column, the divine
character of which is attested by the appearance at its base of the Mycenaean
' horns of consecration.'4 It is to be noted that above the shrines is only a
1 I am informed of this usage by my friend
Mr. F. C. Conybeare. The special consecra-
tion in the case of the Armenian crosses is
partly due to the necessity of previously exor-
cising the evil spirits inherent in the material
substance of the crosses.
'-' Furtwangler and LSschke, Mylcenische
Vasen, p. 39, Fig. 23. Few, I imagine, will
agree with Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richters view
(Kypros die Bihel mid Homer, p. 112), that
we have here fantastic representations of
wooden poles 'with human heads,' the middle
one wearing a crown.
3 See below, p. 149.
4 I observe that Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter
{Kypros die Bibel mid Homer, p. 183), though
he has not understood the object of the foot
of the columns, has rightly recognised in them
Mycenaean Massebae, and compared their
triple form with the Semitic groups. He saw
in them ' Drei Chammanim . . . die Abges-
sandten der Androgynen Gottheit Moloch -
Astarte.' It is hardly necessary to observe
that this precise attribution, and indeed the
whole supposition, that they are purely and
simply Semitic pillar idols, goes far beyond
the evidence at our disposal.
ARTHUR J. EVANS
pillar, bears a Nabataean inscription proclaiming the rock-shrine to be the
Mesgeda (or Mosque) of ' Aouda the great God of Rostra' who seems
elsewhere, like Baal Hammon and Tanit, to be represented in a dual or
triple form.
It thus appears that throughout the Semitic world a single spiritual
being could infuse itself at one and the same time into several material
abodes. Groups of two or three pillars could be the visible embodiment of
a single divinity—a conception which readily lent itself to such mystic dogmas
as that of a triune God or Goddess, applied in the above instances to Baal and
Tanit. It may be observed that the primitive conceptions underlying the
adoration of the Cross have much in common with this Semitic pillar worship,
and the Armenians to this day set up groups of three crosses, into which the
Spirit of the Trinity in Unity is called upon to enter hy a solemn rite of
consecration.1
I venture to believe that a group of divine pillars, closely analogous to
those of the Carthaginian stelae and North Arabian shrines, may be recognised
in the design on a Mycenaean painted vase from Haliki near Athens2 (Fig.
23). The central object here seems to be a somewhat conventionalised
rendering of a volute column, above which is a kind of triple halo, which may
be compared with the radiate emanations of the Cypriote pillars.3 On either
side of this central column are two pairs of smaller pillars in decreasing order,
above each of which is a disc with a central dot identical with the Egyptian
solar symbol. We recall the orb and crescent placed in a similar position
above the Carthaginian pillar idols.
An analogous Mycenaean example of a group of sacred pillars is supplied
by a recently discovered lentoid intaglio from Mycenae, in which a male
figure is seen in the act of adoration before five columns of architectural char-
acter with vertical and spiral fiutings. (Fig. 24.)
It is perhaps worth considering whether the well-known dove shrines of
Mycenae may not supply a parallel of another kind to the religious concep-
tion of more than one aniconic pillar representing the same divinity. These
shrines present three openings, in each of which is a similar column, the divine
character of which is attested by the appearance at its base of the Mycenaean
' horns of consecration.'4 It is to be noted that above the shrines is only a
1 I am informed of this usage by my friend
Mr. F. C. Conybeare. The special consecra-
tion in the case of the Armenian crosses is
partly due to the necessity of previously exor-
cising the evil spirits inherent in the material
substance of the crosses.
'-' Furtwangler and LSschke, Mylcenische
Vasen, p. 39, Fig. 23. Few, I imagine, will
agree with Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richters view
(Kypros die Bihel mid Homer, p. 112), that
we have here fantastic representations of
wooden poles 'with human heads,' the middle
one wearing a crown.
3 See below, p. 149.
4 I observe that Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter
{Kypros die Bibel mid Homer, p. 183), though
he has not understood the object of the foot
of the columns, has rightly recognised in them
Mycenaean Massebae, and compared their
triple form with the Semitic groups. He saw
in them ' Drei Chammanim . . . die Abges-
sandten der Androgynen Gottheit Moloch -
Astarte.' It is hardly necessary to observe
that this precise attribution, and indeed the
whole supposition, that they are purely and
simply Semitic pillar idols, goes far beyond
the evidence at our disposal.