Beacon Lights of History, Volume 01 | Page 7

the gods.
"The worst form of this animal worship," says Rawlinson, "was the
belief that a deity absolutely became incarnate in an individual animal,
and so remained until the animal's death. Such were the Apis bulls, of
which a succession was maintained at Memphis in the temple of Phtha,
or, according to others, of Osiris. These beasts, maintained at the cost
of the priestly communities in the great temples of their respective
cities, were perpetually adored and prayed to by thousands during their
lives, and at their deaths were entombed with the utmost care in huge
sarcophagi, while all Egypt went into mourning on their decease."
Such was the religion of Egypt as known to the Jews,--a complicated
polytheism, embracing the worship of animals as well as the powers of
Nature; the belief in the transmigration of souls, and a sacerdotalism
which carried ritualistic ceremonies to the greatest extent known to
antiquity, combined with the exaltation of the priesthood to such a
degree as to make priests the real rulers of the land, reminding us of the
spiritual despotism of the Middle Ages. The priests of Egypt ruled by
appealing to the fears of men, thus favoring a degrading superstition.
How far they taught that the various objects of worship were symbols
merely of a supreme power, which they themselves perhaps accepted in
their esoteric schools, we do not know. But the priests believed in a
future state of rewards and punishments, and thus recognized the soul
to be of more importance than the material body, and made its welfare
paramount over all other interests. This recognition doubtless

contributed to elevate the morals of the people, and to make them
religious, despite their false and degraded views of God, and their
disgusting superstitions.
The Jews could not have lived in Egypt four hundred years without
being influenced by the popular belief. Hence in the wilderness, and in
the days of kingly rule, the tendency to animal worship in the shape of
the golden calves, their love of ritualistic observances, and their easy
submission to the rule of priests. In one very important thing, however,
the Jews escaped a degrading superstition,--that of the transmigration
of souls; and it was perhaps the abhorrence by Moses of this belief that
made him so remarkably silent as to a future state. It is seemingly
ignored in the Old Testament, and hence many have been led to
suppose that the Jews did not believe in it. Certainly the most cultivated
and aristocratic sect--the Sadducees--repudiated it altogether; while the
Pharisees held to it. They, however, were products of a later age, and
had learned many things--good and bad--from surrounding nations or
in their captivities, which Moses did not attempt to teach the simple
souls that escaped from Egypt.
* * * * *
Of the other religions with which the Jews came in contact, and which
more or less were in conflict with their own monotheistic belief, very
little is definitely known, since their sacred books, if they had any, have
not come down to us. Our knowledge is mostly confined to monuments,
on which the names of their deities are inscribed, the animals which
they worshipped, symbolic of the powers of Nature, and the kings and
priests who officiated in religious ceremonies. From these we learn or
infer that among the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians religion
was polytheistic, but without so complicated or highly organized a
system as prevailed in Egypt. Only about twenty deities are alluded to
in the monumental records of either nation, and they are supposed to
have represented the sun, the moon, the stars, and various other powers,
to which were delegated by the unseen and occult supreme deity the
oversight of this world. They presided over cities and the elements of
Nature, like the rain, the thunder, the winds, the air, the water. Some

abode in heaven, some on the earth, and some in the waters under the
earth. Of all these graven images existed, carved by men's
hands,--some in the form of animals, like the winged bulls of Nineveh.
In the very earliest times, before history was written, it is supposed that
the religion of all these nations was monotheistic, and that polytheism
was a development as men became wicked and sensual. The knowledge
of the one God was gradually lost, although an indefinite belief
remained that there was a supreme power over all the other gods, at
least a deity of higher rank than the gods of the people, who reigned
over them as Lord of lords.
This deity in Assyria was Asshur. He is recognized by most authorities
as Asshur, a son of Shem and grandson of Noah, who was probably the
hero and leader of one of the early migrations, and, as founder of the
Assyrian Empire, gave