DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15#0280
SABBATH OF THE JEWS. 267
the chief planet—that is, their supreme deity—or
because it was held unlucky to work on that day.
It by no means follows from the fact that Nisroch,
or his Egyptian representative, was the chief deity,
that he was therefore regarded as a beneficent
ruler. Rather what we know of Oriental super-
stitions would lead us to infer that the chief deity
in a system of several gods was one to be propi-
tiated. And, indeed, the little we know of Egyp-
tian mythology suggests that the beneficent gods
were those corresponding to the sun and moon—
later represented by Osiris and Isis (deities, how-
ever, which had other interpretations). Saturn,
though superior to the sun and moon, not only
in the sense in which modern astronomers use the
term superior, but also in the power attributed to
him, was probably a maleficent if not a malignant
deity. We may infer this from the qualities
attributed to him by astrologers—' If Saturn be
predominant in any man's nativity, and cause
melancholy in his temperature,' says Burton, in
his 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' 'then he shall be
very austere, sullen, churlish, black of colour,
profound in his cogitations, full of cares, miseries,
and discontents, sad and fearful, always silent and
solitary.' We may not unreasonably conclude,
therefore, that either rest was enjoined on Saturn's
the chief planet—that is, their supreme deity—or
because it was held unlucky to work on that day.
It by no means follows from the fact that Nisroch,
or his Egyptian representative, was the chief deity,
that he was therefore regarded as a beneficent
ruler. Rather what we know of Oriental super-
stitions would lead us to infer that the chief deity
in a system of several gods was one to be propi-
tiated. And, indeed, the little we know of Egyp-
tian mythology suggests that the beneficent gods
were those corresponding to the sun and moon—
later represented by Osiris and Isis (deities, how-
ever, which had other interpretations). Saturn,
though superior to the sun and moon, not only
in the sense in which modern astronomers use the
term superior, but also in the power attributed to
him, was probably a maleficent if not a malignant
deity. We may infer this from the qualities
attributed to him by astrologers—' If Saturn be
predominant in any man's nativity, and cause
melancholy in his temperature,' says Burton, in
his 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' 'then he shall be
very austere, sullen, churlish, black of colour,
profound in his cogitations, full of cares, miseries,
and discontents, sad and fearful, always silent and
solitary.' We may not unreasonably conclude,
therefore, that either rest was enjoined on Saturn's