DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0392
APPENDIX.
353
that there was a great uncertainty about the history of Hermes
of Babel; that according to some accounts he was one of the
seven keepers in the temples,3 whose business it was to guard the
seven houses; and that he belonged to the temple of the planet
Mercury, and acquired his name from his office, for Mercury,
signifies in the Teradamian language, Hermes. He is also said
to have reigned in Egypt, and to have had several children,*
Taut, Aishm, Atrid, Koft. It is added, that he was renowned
for his wisdom ; and that lie was buried in a building called Abou
Hermes; and that his wife, or, according to other accounts, his
son and successor, was buried in another; and that these two
monuments were the Pyramids, and were called Haraman;
that the height and breadth of the Great Pyramid were four
hundred and eighty Hasheme cubits, and that the summit was a
square of forty cubits, upon which an image had originally been
placed.
He then cites from other authors, as follows :—
Mohammed Ben el Arabi, called also Mohiy Ed Din,—
that the Pyramids were built by a people who believed in the
metempsychosis, and that they were made use of in computing
time.
Abul Sorur, — that the Pyramids were built by Hermes, or
by kings, who were ambitious of the same distinction after their
death, which they had possessed when alive.
Ben Matuy, — the discoveries are attributed to the Caliph
Mamoon, and an account is given of the Pyramid of Meidoun.
Mohammed Ebn Abd Al Hokm, — that the Pyramids were
constructed by Sheddad Ben Ad before the deluge ; for that,
if they had been built after that event had taken place, some
positive and certain accounts of them would have remained.
Ibrahim Ben Ebn Wasyff Shah, — that the Pyramids were
built by Surid, an antediluvian king, that they aro defended by
three guardians, and communicate with the Nile by means of a
I tomb made of polished stone, which had been painted ; and also two statues, the
one ofa man holding a tablet of hieroglyphics, the other of a woman bearing a golden
mirror; that between them was a vase containing a golden box full of liquid blood,
closed up with bitumen ; and that mummies of a man and of a woman, with idols
and religious instruments, had been placed in the tomb.
3See Hammer; Purgstall, " Sur ('Influence Mahommedisme dans les TroU
Premiers Silcles de 1'llegra" in the " Fundgruben des Orients."—Dr. Spnnger.
4 The names of the children of Hermes are written in the margin of the MS._
Dr. Sprcngcr.
vol. H. a a
353
that there was a great uncertainty about the history of Hermes
of Babel; that according to some accounts he was one of the
seven keepers in the temples,3 whose business it was to guard the
seven houses; and that he belonged to the temple of the planet
Mercury, and acquired his name from his office, for Mercury,
signifies in the Teradamian language, Hermes. He is also said
to have reigned in Egypt, and to have had several children,*
Taut, Aishm, Atrid, Koft. It is added, that he was renowned
for his wisdom ; and that lie was buried in a building called Abou
Hermes; and that his wife, or, according to other accounts, his
son and successor, was buried in another; and that these two
monuments were the Pyramids, and were called Haraman;
that the height and breadth of the Great Pyramid were four
hundred and eighty Hasheme cubits, and that the summit was a
square of forty cubits, upon which an image had originally been
placed.
He then cites from other authors, as follows :—
Mohammed Ben el Arabi, called also Mohiy Ed Din,—
that the Pyramids were built by a people who believed in the
metempsychosis, and that they were made use of in computing
time.
Abul Sorur, — that the Pyramids were built by Hermes, or
by kings, who were ambitious of the same distinction after their
death, which they had possessed when alive.
Ben Matuy, — the discoveries are attributed to the Caliph
Mamoon, and an account is given of the Pyramid of Meidoun.
Mohammed Ebn Abd Al Hokm, — that the Pyramids were
constructed by Sheddad Ben Ad before the deluge ; for that,
if they had been built after that event had taken place, some
positive and certain accounts of them would have remained.
Ibrahim Ben Ebn Wasyff Shah, — that the Pyramids were
built by Surid, an antediluvian king, that they aro defended by
three guardians, and communicate with the Nile by means of a
I tomb made of polished stone, which had been painted ; and also two statues, the
one ofa man holding a tablet of hieroglyphics, the other of a woman bearing a golden
mirror; that between them was a vase containing a golden box full of liquid blood,
closed up with bitumen ; and that mummies of a man and of a woman, with idols
and religious instruments, had been placed in the tomb.
3See Hammer; Purgstall, " Sur ('Influence Mahommedisme dans les TroU
Premiers Silcles de 1'llegra" in the " Fundgruben des Orients."—Dr. Spnnger.
4 The names of the children of Hermes are written in the margin of the MS._
Dr. Sprcngcr.
vol. H. a a