DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15#0279
266 SATURN AND THE
That the Egyptians dedicated the seventh day
of the week to the outermost or highest planet,
Saturn, is certain ; and it is presumable that this
day was a day of rest in Egypt. It is not known,
however, whether this was ordained in honour of
Jews. The pomegranates and lilies of Solomon's temple must have
been nearly identical with the usual Assyrian ornament, in which
—and particularly at Khorsabad—the pomegranate frequently takes
the place of the tulip and the cone.' After quoting the description
given by Josephus of the interior of one of Solomon's houses, which
even more closely corresponds with and illustrates the chambers in
the palace of Nineveh, Layard makes the following remark : ' To
complete the analogy between the two edifices, it would appear that
Solomon was seven years building the temple, and Sennacherib
about the same time building his great palace at Kouyunjik. ' The
introduction into the Ark of figures so remarkable as the cherubim
can hardly be otherwise explained than by assuming that these
figures corresponded with some objects which the Jews during their
stay in Egypt had learned to associate with religious ceremonies.
That the Egyptians used such figures, placing them at the entrance
of their temples, is certain. Neither can it be doubted that the
setting of dishes, spoons, bowls, shewbread, &c, on the table within
the Ark, was derived from Egyptian ceremonials, though direct
evidence on these points is not (so far as I know) available. We
know, however, that meats of all kinds were set before Baal (see
Apocrypha, Bel and the Dragon). The remarkable breast-plate
worn by the Jewish high priest was derived directly from the
Egyptians. In the often-repeated picture of judgment the deceased
Egyptian is seen conducted by the god Horus, while ' Anubis
places on one of the balances a vase supposed to contain his good
actions, and in the other is the emblem of truth, a representation of
Thmèi, the goddess of Truth, which was also worn on the judicial
breast-plate.' Wilkinson, in his Manners and Customs of the
Ancient Egyptians, shows that the Hebrew Thummim is a plural
form of the word Thmèi. The symbolism of the breast-plate is
referred to in the Apocrypha, Book of Wisdom, lxviii. 24.
That the Egyptians dedicated the seventh day
of the week to the outermost or highest planet,
Saturn, is certain ; and it is presumable that this
day was a day of rest in Egypt. It is not known,
however, whether this was ordained in honour of
Jews. The pomegranates and lilies of Solomon's temple must have
been nearly identical with the usual Assyrian ornament, in which
—and particularly at Khorsabad—the pomegranate frequently takes
the place of the tulip and the cone.' After quoting the description
given by Josephus of the interior of one of Solomon's houses, which
even more closely corresponds with and illustrates the chambers in
the palace of Nineveh, Layard makes the following remark : ' To
complete the analogy between the two edifices, it would appear that
Solomon was seven years building the temple, and Sennacherib
about the same time building his great palace at Kouyunjik. ' The
introduction into the Ark of figures so remarkable as the cherubim
can hardly be otherwise explained than by assuming that these
figures corresponded with some objects which the Jews during their
stay in Egypt had learned to associate with religious ceremonies.
That the Egyptians used such figures, placing them at the entrance
of their temples, is certain. Neither can it be doubted that the
setting of dishes, spoons, bowls, shewbread, &c, on the table within
the Ark, was derived from Egyptian ceremonials, though direct
evidence on these points is not (so far as I know) available. We
know, however, that meats of all kinds were set before Baal (see
Apocrypha, Bel and the Dragon). The remarkable breast-plate
worn by the Jewish high priest was derived directly from the
Egyptians. In the often-repeated picture of judgment the deceased
Egyptian is seen conducted by the god Horus, while ' Anubis
places on one of the balances a vase supposed to contain his good
actions, and in the other is the emblem of truth, a representation of
Thmèi, the goddess of Truth, which was also worn on the judicial
breast-plate.' Wilkinson, in his Manners and Customs of the
Ancient Egyptians, shows that the Hebrew Thummim is a plural
form of the word Thmèi. The symbolism of the breast-plate is
referred to in the Apocrypha, Book of Wisdom, lxviii. 24.