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Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 4 of 15 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
ledge of the calendar and solar motion—of the art of cutting granite svith a copper chisel , and of giving elasticity to a copper sword-of making glass of the variegated hues of the rainbosv-of moving single blocks ol polished syenite , nine hundred tons in sveight , for any distance by land or svater-of building arches round and pointed , svith masonic precision unsurpassed at the present day , and antecedent by two thousand years to the CJoaca Magna of Rome-of scul pturing Doric column thou
a , one - sand years before the Dorians are knosvn in history—of fresco painting in imperishable colours—and of practical knosvledge in Masonry . And it is no less clear that every craftsman can behold , in Egyptian monuments , the progress of his art four thousand years ago , and svhether it be a svheelwri ght building a chariot—a shoemaker drawing his twine —a leather-cutter , using that self-same form of knife svhich is considered the best form nosv—a sveaver throsving the handshuttle—white
same - a - smith using that identical form of blosv-pipe , but lately recognized to be tbe most efficient—the seal-engraver cutting in hieroglyphics such names as Snoopo ' s four thousand three hundred years ago—or even the poulterer removing the pip from geese-all these , and numerous other astounding evidences of Egyptian priority in every art and science , usage and custom of civilized life , nosv require but a glance at the plates of Wilkinson and Rossellini .
These considerations enable us to form some conception of svhat in reality svas the wisdom ofthe Egyptians . As the discovery of the art of deciphering the hieroglyphics has led to the important results before detailed , it svill not , I trust , be uninteresting to the general reader ; and my Masonic friends svill not , I hope , consider that I am " travelling out of the record , " or indul ging in unnecessary prolixity , if I extend this portion of my observations b y giving some lanation of the in svhich this
exp manner is effected . It must , as a preliminary observation , be borne in mind , that hieroglyphics are both symbolic and phonetic , that is to say , they sometimes stand as emblems of material objects , or as exemplifying a particular action ; and at other times are used to designate a particular sound forming part of a letter or svord . As Mr . Gliddon has put the latter point very clearly in his svork before alluded to , I shall here again , as svell as in the subsequent observations , avail myself of the valuable information
nis pages contain . " It is a lasv of phonetic hieroglyphics , that the picture of a physicii ! object shall give the sign of the sound , svith svhich its name begins in the Egyptian tongue . Thus , a lion , svhose Egyptian name svas ' LABO , ' stood for the letter L in hieroglyphics , as it might stand in our language , to represent the initial letter of the designatory title of that animal , svhose name svith us is Lion . Nosv the same principle is distinctly discernable in the HebrewArabic
, , Samaritan , Phoenician , and other Semitic tongues . ' The ancient Hebresv letter Li or L svas the initial letter of their name for Lion , ' LABI , ' while , in shape , it is only an abbreviation oi tbe figure of a recumbent lion , a pure Egyptian hieroglyph . The B in Hebresv , is the initial letter of the svord ' Beth , ' meaning ' a house / svhich is its name ; and there is even a resemblance to be traced betsveen the form of the letter ' Beth , ' and the outline of an oriental house with a fat roof . ' I svill exemplify this fact by the name of the letter AD in the ancient Hebress ' , svhich , besides , being probably the first articulate sound uttered b y Adam , signifies ' A MAN , ' as also ' red earth' out of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
ledge of the calendar and solar motion—of the art of cutting granite svith a copper chisel , and of giving elasticity to a copper sword-of making glass of the variegated hues of the rainbosv-of moving single blocks ol polished syenite , nine hundred tons in sveight , for any distance by land or svater-of building arches round and pointed , svith masonic precision unsurpassed at the present day , and antecedent by two thousand years to the CJoaca Magna of Rome-of scul pturing Doric column thou
a , one - sand years before the Dorians are knosvn in history—of fresco painting in imperishable colours—and of practical knosvledge in Masonry . And it is no less clear that every craftsman can behold , in Egyptian monuments , the progress of his art four thousand years ago , and svhether it be a svheelwri ght building a chariot—a shoemaker drawing his twine —a leather-cutter , using that self-same form of knife svhich is considered the best form nosv—a sveaver throsving the handshuttle—white
same - a - smith using that identical form of blosv-pipe , but lately recognized to be tbe most efficient—the seal-engraver cutting in hieroglyphics such names as Snoopo ' s four thousand three hundred years ago—or even the poulterer removing the pip from geese-all these , and numerous other astounding evidences of Egyptian priority in every art and science , usage and custom of civilized life , nosv require but a glance at the plates of Wilkinson and Rossellini .
These considerations enable us to form some conception of svhat in reality svas the wisdom ofthe Egyptians . As the discovery of the art of deciphering the hieroglyphics has led to the important results before detailed , it svill not , I trust , be uninteresting to the general reader ; and my Masonic friends svill not , I hope , consider that I am " travelling out of the record , " or indul ging in unnecessary prolixity , if I extend this portion of my observations b y giving some lanation of the in svhich this
exp manner is effected . It must , as a preliminary observation , be borne in mind , that hieroglyphics are both symbolic and phonetic , that is to say , they sometimes stand as emblems of material objects , or as exemplifying a particular action ; and at other times are used to designate a particular sound forming part of a letter or svord . As Mr . Gliddon has put the latter point very clearly in his svork before alluded to , I shall here again , as svell as in the subsequent observations , avail myself of the valuable information
nis pages contain . " It is a lasv of phonetic hieroglyphics , that the picture of a physicii ! object shall give the sign of the sound , svith svhich its name begins in the Egyptian tongue . Thus , a lion , svhose Egyptian name svas ' LABO , ' stood for the letter L in hieroglyphics , as it might stand in our language , to represent the initial letter of the designatory title of that animal , svhose name svith us is Lion . Nosv the same principle is distinctly discernable in the HebrewArabic
, , Samaritan , Phoenician , and other Semitic tongues . ' The ancient Hebresv letter Li or L svas the initial letter of their name for Lion , ' LABI , ' while , in shape , it is only an abbreviation oi tbe figure of a recumbent lion , a pure Egyptian hieroglyph . The B in Hebresv , is the initial letter of the svord ' Beth , ' meaning ' a house / svhich is its name ; and there is even a resemblance to be traced betsveen the form of the letter ' Beth , ' and the outline of an oriental house with a fat roof . ' I svill exemplify this fact by the name of the letter AD in the ancient Hebress ' , svhich , besides , being probably the first articulate sound uttered b y Adam , signifies ' A MAN , ' as also ' red earth' out of