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Chronological list of Mechanical Inventions and Technical
Contrivances
BEFORE I take my leave of the public, I
wish to put on record my speculations as to the origin of two
subjects of remote antiquity, viz. : the Sun-ray origin of the
Pyramids, and the origin of the Arrow-head or Cuneiform
Character.
First, with respect to
the Sun-ray origin of the Egyptian Pyramids.
In pursuing a very
favourite subject of inquiry, namely the origin of forms, no
portion of it appears to me to be invested with so deep an
interest as that of the Worship of the Sun, one of the most
primitive and sacred foundations of adorative religion, --
affecting as it has done, architectural structures and numerous
habits and customs which have come clown to us from remote
antiquity, and which owe their origin to its influence.
On many occasions,
while beholding the sublime effects of the Sun's Rays streaming
down on the earth through openings in the clouds near the
horizon, I have been forcibly impressed with the analogy they
appear to suggest as to the form of the Pyramid, while the single
vertical ray suggests that of the Obelisk.
In following up this
subject, I was fortunate enough to find what appears to me a
strong confirmation of my views, namely, that the Pyramid, as
such, was a sacred form. I met with many examples of this in the
Egyptian Collection at the Louvre at Paris; especially in small
pyramids, which were probably the objects of household worship.
In one case I found a small pyramid, on the upper part of which
appeared the disc of the Sun, with pyramidal rays descending from
it on to figures in the Egyptian attitude of adoration. This
consists in the hands held up before the eyes -- an attitude
expressive of the brightness of the object adored. It is
associated with the brightness of the Sun, and it still survives
in the Salaam, which expresses profound reverence and respect
among Eastern nations. It also survives in the disc of the Sun,
which has for ages been placed like a halo behind the heads of
sacred and exalted personages, as may be seen in Eastern and
early paintings, as well as in church windows at the present day.
This is also intimately
connected with lighted lamps and candles, which latter may often
be met with in Continental churches, as well as in English
Ritualist Churches at the present day. In Romish Continental
churches they are stuck on to pyramidal stands, and placed before
pictures and images of sacred personages. All such lighted lamps
or candles are survivals of that most ancient form of worship, --
that of THE SUN!
The accompanying
illustrations will serve in some degree to confirm the
correctness of my views as to this very. interesting subject. 
Fig. 1 is
from a "rubbing" of one of the many small or
"Household" pyramids in the Louvre Collection at Paris;
while Fig.
2 is an attempt to illustrate in a graphic manner the derivation
of the form of the Pyramid and Obelisk from the Sun's Rays.
In connection with the worship of the Sun
and other heavenly bodies, as practised in ancient times by
Eastern nations, it may be mentioned that their want of knowledge
of the vast distances that separate them from the earth led them
to the belief that these bodies were so near as to exert a direct
influence upon man and his affairs. Hence the origin of
Astrology, with all its accompanying mystifications; this was
practised under the impression that the Sun, Moon, and planets
were near to the earth. The summits of mountains and "High
Places" thus became "sacred," and were for this
reason resorted to for the performance of the most important
religious ceremonies.
As the "High
Places" could not be transported to the Temples, the
cone-bearing trees, which were naturally associated with these
elevated places, in a manner partook of their sacred character,
and the fruit of the trees became in a like manner sacred. Hence
the Fir Cone became a portable emblem of their sacredness; and,
accordingly in the Assyrian Worship, so clearly represented to us
in the Assyrian Sculptures in our Museums, we find the Fir Cone
being presented by the priests towards the head of their kings as
a high function of Beatification. So sacred was the Fir Cone, as
the fruit of the sacred tree, that the priest who presents it has
a reticule-shaped bag in which, no doubt, the sacred emblem was
reverently deposited when not in use for the performance of these
high religious ceremonies.
The same emblem
"survived" in the Greek worship. I annex a tracing from
a wood engraving in Fellows's Researches in Asia Minor, 1852 (p.
175), showing the Fir Cone as the finial to the staff of office
of the Wine-god Bacchus.
To this day it is employed to stir the
juice of the grape previous to fermentation, and so
sanctifying it by contact with the fruit of the Sacred
Tree. This is still practised by the Greeks in Asia Minor
and in Greece, though introduced in times of remote
antiquity. The Fir Cone communicates to most of the Greek
wines that peculiar turpentine or resinous flavour which
is found in them. Although the sanctification motive has
departed, the resinous flavour is all that survives of a
once most sacred ceremony, as having so close a relation
to the worship of the Sun and the heavenly bodies. In like manner, it appears to me highly
probable that "The Christmas Tree," with its
lighted tapers, which is introduced at that sacred season
for the entertainment of our young people, is "a
survival" of the worship of the sacred tree and of
the Sun. The toys which are hung on the twigs of the tree
may also be "survivals" of the offerings which
were usually made to the Sun and the heavenly bodies. If
I am correct in my conjecture on this subject, it throws
a very interesting light on what is considered as a mere
agent for the amusement of children.
Go to next chapter,
The Cuneiform Character
Fig. 1 is
from a "rubbing" of one of the many small or
"Household" pyramids in the Louvre Collection at Paris;
while Fig.
2 is an attempt to illustrate in a graphic manner the derivation
of the form of the Pyramid and Obelisk from the Sun's Rays. 