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Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 9 of 14 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
history ; and before quitting the subject I will give one or two illustrations of the mode in which such knowledge is susceptible of practical illustration . These I have selected from Dr . Lamb ' s work before alluded to . Let us now take the word D iT ) 7 ^ ( E LOHIM ) and see how each letter comprising that word would be compounded from the hieroglyphics . " In the beginning ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth . "
The word is here written in full , with the "< , as it ought to be written . In rendering this word into the corresponding pictures from whence the letters of wliich it is composed were derived , it will be found , according to Dr . Lamb , that we shall have nothing less than " a translation into phonetic characters of the image by which our first parent communicated his knowledge ofthe Creator to his descendants . "
But to proceed with the illustration . It has been shown in the previous chapter ( ante p . 13 ) that ft In ancient Hebrew would be represented in hieroglyphics by the figure of " A MAN , " and the transition from the ori ginal picture to the written character is there shown . The derivation of the other letters can be similarly manifested .
Thus—~ ) Is derived from the figure of " A LION . " 1 From " a feather , " which in the earliest hieroglyphics represented a bird— " AN EAGLE . " H Signifying "breath , " which in like manner represented " nostrils " "life "— "living creature "—" a living animal "— " A BULL . " The derivation of the three last letters will be better shown by the following comparative
view—Hieroglyphic . Transition . Character . Ancient Name . Meaning . j Jlfei Sr ^ * ? " ^ Li- A LION - | \ \ \\ ^ AT- •*¦ i i ' EATHE ; i - DI ST ! / I nn ' THEBHEATII .
In the two last examples we shall not fail to perceive that the alphabetical character , though of early date , was not invented until after a considerable change had taken place in the hieroglyphic—not only as regards form , but in its meaning ; thus in the primitive picture , " a feather" would represent a feather only , but before the formation of letters it had obtained an ideal meaning , and represented a bird—the bird being the original hieroglyphic , which was afterwards denoted by
the feather . In like manner , respiration or the expulsion of breath through the nostrils , in its ideal meaning , represented " an Ox . " It is therefore evident that the hieroglyphics had advanced considerably beyond their primitive simple state , and had been used to express ideal meanings , before the time when the alphabetical characters were compounded from them . The termination of the word Elohim , VOL . v . u
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
history ; and before quitting the subject I will give one or two illustrations of the mode in which such knowledge is susceptible of practical illustration . These I have selected from Dr . Lamb ' s work before alluded to . Let us now take the word D iT ) 7 ^ ( E LOHIM ) and see how each letter comprising that word would be compounded from the hieroglyphics . " In the beginning ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth . "
The word is here written in full , with the "< , as it ought to be written . In rendering this word into the corresponding pictures from whence the letters of wliich it is composed were derived , it will be found , according to Dr . Lamb , that we shall have nothing less than " a translation into phonetic characters of the image by which our first parent communicated his knowledge ofthe Creator to his descendants . "
But to proceed with the illustration . It has been shown in the previous chapter ( ante p . 13 ) that ft In ancient Hebrew would be represented in hieroglyphics by the figure of " A MAN , " and the transition from the ori ginal picture to the written character is there shown . The derivation of the other letters can be similarly manifested .
Thus—~ ) Is derived from the figure of " A LION . " 1 From " a feather , " which in the earliest hieroglyphics represented a bird— " AN EAGLE . " H Signifying "breath , " which in like manner represented " nostrils " "life "— "living creature "—" a living animal "— " A BULL . " The derivation of the three last letters will be better shown by the following comparative
view—Hieroglyphic . Transition . Character . Ancient Name . Meaning . j Jlfei Sr ^ * ? " ^ Li- A LION - | \ \ \\ ^ AT- •*¦ i i ' EATHE ; i - DI ST ! / I nn ' THEBHEATII .
In the two last examples we shall not fail to perceive that the alphabetical character , though of early date , was not invented until after a considerable change had taken place in the hieroglyphic—not only as regards form , but in its meaning ; thus in the primitive picture , " a feather" would represent a feather only , but before the formation of letters it had obtained an ideal meaning , and represented a bird—the bird being the original hieroglyphic , which was afterwards denoted by
the feather . In like manner , respiration or the expulsion of breath through the nostrils , in its ideal meaning , represented " an Ox . " It is therefore evident that the hieroglyphics had advanced considerably beyond their primitive simple state , and had been used to express ideal meanings , before the time when the alphabetical characters were compounded from them . The termination of the word Elohim , VOL . v . u