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Article COLLECTANEA. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Collectanea.
The name SARAPIS ( which , though anterior to the Christian era , is comparatively modern ) consists of seven letters , answering to the number of the vocalic chaunt . Eusebius , in his Prceparat . Evang . ( lib . ii . ) quotes from some unknown author the following : —
"ETTTQ fie ( fxovgivTa Qebv jiiyav a'iBiTOV alvei—Tpdp . p . aTa ra > v iravrav aKcifxarov Ilu-repa . ' E' lfxi 8 ' eyco rravrtov ^ eXv _ r < i ( f > 0 tTos g Ta Xvpaog' Hpjxaa-a / iTji / dings ovpavioio p . e \ g . That is" Seven vocal letters—Land me , God , imperishable , great . Father of all—unwearied . I am th' immortal lyre , which hymns all nature's harmony—I tun'd the melodies of rolling spheres . "
These lines have been applied by some to the sacred Tetragrammaton ( illiT ) . as increased by its three vowel points to seven . As authorities for what has been thus far said , I may refer to Plutarch ( tfe Iside et Osiride ) , Diog . Laert . Macrobius ( Saturnalia ) , Bochart , Bryant , Gale , & c , & c . Secondly . As to the tau , its figure—as in the ancient Hebrew ( now the Samaritan)—is usually cruciform . This form was naturalland
y , perhaps conveniently , adopted to symbolize the import of its name—a marlc , or limit . By the ancients , especially th 3 Egyptians , it was employed to designate—1 . An ordinary mark , or epochal limit . 2 . A sign of infamy and death by the cross . 3 . A sacred and recondite mystery . First . By a terminal cross the Egytians are said to have marked the
extent of the Nile ' s inundation . With a cross the Egyptians branded their camels and horses on the neck or thigh . The money of the Phoenicians and others , among whom may be named the Maccabees , often bore this sign ; and the limbless IlermiE of the -Romans were sometimes placed at cross-roads . Secondly . The cross being , of old , the form of an instrument of death , was considered the emblem of reproach and infamy . Thus
the early Christians were upbraided as the followers of the ' crucified One . " But this tau , of infamy , was—Thirdly . The symbol of Egypt ' s holiest mystery . T , though resembling an instrument of death , was opposed to theta (© , or 8 ) , and regarded as the symbol of freedom , of hope , and of life . In Ezekiel , c . ix ., ver . 4 , we read , " and set a mark upon their foreheads . " The margin , more literally , " mark a mark . " From the Hebrew (/ " ) . HUD
7 i > . Jl JfiniTO * 70 render " KOX bos crgpeiov eVt Ta jueraTra / and give ( or place ) a sign upon the foreheads . But Aquila and Theodotion translate not the word than , but give it as the name of the symbol of life . ( Sij / neiWeis TOU 0 aO « rl -ni fierama ) , i . e ., Thou shalt make the mark ( or sign ) of thau upon the foreheads ( Origenis Hexap ., & c ) . To the same effect , Jerome— "Et signa thau super frontes . " Tertullian determines this to be the sign of the cross .
" Scribe signum tau in frontibus—nempe signum crucis . " In the ArchcBological Journal ( No . IL , pp . 169-176 ) is an interesting notice of a stained-glass window in the cathedral at Bourges , in the thirteenth compartment of which , the paschal sacrifice is repre-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Collectanea.
The name SARAPIS ( which , though anterior to the Christian era , is comparatively modern ) consists of seven letters , answering to the number of the vocalic chaunt . Eusebius , in his Prceparat . Evang . ( lib . ii . ) quotes from some unknown author the following : —
"ETTTQ fie ( fxovgivTa Qebv jiiyav a'iBiTOV alvei—Tpdp . p . aTa ra > v iravrav aKcifxarov Ilu-repa . ' E' lfxi 8 ' eyco rravrtov ^ eXv _ r < i ( f > 0 tTos g Ta Xvpaog' Hpjxaa-a / iTji / dings ovpavioio p . e \ g . That is" Seven vocal letters—Land me , God , imperishable , great . Father of all—unwearied . I am th' immortal lyre , which hymns all nature's harmony—I tun'd the melodies of rolling spheres . "
These lines have been applied by some to the sacred Tetragrammaton ( illiT ) . as increased by its three vowel points to seven . As authorities for what has been thus far said , I may refer to Plutarch ( tfe Iside et Osiride ) , Diog . Laert . Macrobius ( Saturnalia ) , Bochart , Bryant , Gale , & c , & c . Secondly . As to the tau , its figure—as in the ancient Hebrew ( now the Samaritan)—is usually cruciform . This form was naturalland
y , perhaps conveniently , adopted to symbolize the import of its name—a marlc , or limit . By the ancients , especially th 3 Egyptians , it was employed to designate—1 . An ordinary mark , or epochal limit . 2 . A sign of infamy and death by the cross . 3 . A sacred and recondite mystery . First . By a terminal cross the Egytians are said to have marked the
extent of the Nile ' s inundation . With a cross the Egyptians branded their camels and horses on the neck or thigh . The money of the Phoenicians and others , among whom may be named the Maccabees , often bore this sign ; and the limbless IlermiE of the -Romans were sometimes placed at cross-roads . Secondly . The cross being , of old , the form of an instrument of death , was considered the emblem of reproach and infamy . Thus
the early Christians were upbraided as the followers of the ' crucified One . " But this tau , of infamy , was—Thirdly . The symbol of Egypt ' s holiest mystery . T , though resembling an instrument of death , was opposed to theta (© , or 8 ) , and regarded as the symbol of freedom , of hope , and of life . In Ezekiel , c . ix ., ver . 4 , we read , " and set a mark upon their foreheads . " The margin , more literally , " mark a mark . " From the Hebrew (/ " ) . HUD
7 i > . Jl JfiniTO * 70 render " KOX bos crgpeiov eVt Ta jueraTra / and give ( or place ) a sign upon the foreheads . But Aquila and Theodotion translate not the word than , but give it as the name of the symbol of life . ( Sij / neiWeis TOU 0 aO « rl -ni fierama ) , i . e ., Thou shalt make the mark ( or sign ) of thau upon the foreheads ( Origenis Hexap ., & c ) . To the same effect , Jerome— "Et signa thau super frontes . " Tertullian determines this to be the sign of the cross .
" Scribe signum tau in frontibus—nempe signum crucis . " In the ArchcBological Journal ( No . IL , pp . 169-176 ) is an interesting notice of a stained-glass window in the cathedral at Bourges , in the thirteenth compartment of which , the paschal sacrifice is repre-