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Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 5 of 15 →
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On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
svhich man svas moulded by the divine ' Potter . ' ( See Isaiah lxiv . 8 . ) The transitions are herein made clear . 3 -2 ¦ . Q ~ 3 a - ^ - ~ G - < < rf i . 2 § & -= o -2 ~> ¦> £ \ & § 1 ? S ' 1 'I . is 2 . 2 = § g S . § g g-3 -Si . § ¦§ sj 3 a £ < as wa
" The letter A , in Hebrew , meaning man , is thus traced to its Egyptian parent . The same holds good with the entire Hebresv alphabet ; but is peculiarly evident in their letters G N P R and T ; all can be respectively traced to the initial letters of objects , svhose names in sound corresponded to the initial value of the letters , as the form of the letters still preserves a resemblance to the pictorial hieroglyphic of the objects svhence they are derived . Nor does it seem improbable that Moses , svho svas ' learned should have introduced into the
in all the svisdom of the Egyptians , ' Hebresv svritings some of those forms and ideas , he had necessarily contracted in regard to this , and other subjects , during his education at Heliopolis . It is likesvise a curious chronological coincidence , that the fifteenth century , B . c , svitnessed the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt , and their organization into an orderly community by Mosesthe introduction of the present Hebresv alphabet , in lieu of the previous phm-nrier whatever it svas—the importation of the primitive alphabet
from Phoenicia { at that time a province tributary to the PHARAOHS , and overrun by their armies ' ) , into Greece by CADMUS , and the foundation of the Boeotian Thebes , svith its oriental mysteries and oracles ; the emigration of DANAUS , who svas perhaps the brother of Rameses IV . ( Sethos-jEgyptus ) , and svho founded the kingdom of DANAI at Argos , svhere colossal ruins of the Egypto-Pelagic period again point to their Nilotic sources ; and , with less historical certainty , but with some proof itself to
bability , may sve also trace the foundation ATHENS an Egyptian colony , led by Cecrops from Sais , svithin half a century of the preceding events that so strongly mark the period of the fifteenth century , B . C , the Augustan age of Pharaonic renown . " In closing this quotation I svould remark , that the reader cannot fail to be struck svith the light throsvn upon the important occurrences referred to in the concluding paragraph , by their being placed in juxta position , and by showing how much Egyptian learning and Egyptian
agency influenced them all . Indeed , in each event sve can readily trace a Nilotic influence more or less direct . The annals of these events have hitherto been veiled in so much obscurity , as to be generally considered partially recondite , if not entirely mythical , and yet they materially affected the subsequent history of the world , and their beneficial effects are still subsisting . Cadmus , in our scholastic teaching , svas honoured as the inventor of letters ; but researches , like the present , enable us to refer the true honour to its genuine claimants . By such researches we
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
svhich man svas moulded by the divine ' Potter . ' ( See Isaiah lxiv . 8 . ) The transitions are herein made clear . 3 -2 ¦ . Q ~ 3 a - ^ - ~ G - < < rf i . 2 § & -= o -2 ~> ¦> £ \ & § 1 ? S ' 1 'I . is 2 . 2 = § g S . § g g-3 -Si . § ¦§ sj 3 a £ < as wa
" The letter A , in Hebrew , meaning man , is thus traced to its Egyptian parent . The same holds good with the entire Hebresv alphabet ; but is peculiarly evident in their letters G N P R and T ; all can be respectively traced to the initial letters of objects , svhose names in sound corresponded to the initial value of the letters , as the form of the letters still preserves a resemblance to the pictorial hieroglyphic of the objects svhence they are derived . Nor does it seem improbable that Moses , svho svas ' learned should have introduced into the
in all the svisdom of the Egyptians , ' Hebresv svritings some of those forms and ideas , he had necessarily contracted in regard to this , and other subjects , during his education at Heliopolis . It is likesvise a curious chronological coincidence , that the fifteenth century , B . c , svitnessed the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt , and their organization into an orderly community by Mosesthe introduction of the present Hebresv alphabet , in lieu of the previous phm-nrier whatever it svas—the importation of the primitive alphabet
from Phoenicia { at that time a province tributary to the PHARAOHS , and overrun by their armies ' ) , into Greece by CADMUS , and the foundation of the Boeotian Thebes , svith its oriental mysteries and oracles ; the emigration of DANAUS , who svas perhaps the brother of Rameses IV . ( Sethos-jEgyptus ) , and svho founded the kingdom of DANAI at Argos , svhere colossal ruins of the Egypto-Pelagic period again point to their Nilotic sources ; and , with less historical certainty , but with some proof itself to
bability , may sve also trace the foundation ATHENS an Egyptian colony , led by Cecrops from Sais , svithin half a century of the preceding events that so strongly mark the period of the fifteenth century , B . C , the Augustan age of Pharaonic renown . " In closing this quotation I svould remark , that the reader cannot fail to be struck svith the light throsvn upon the important occurrences referred to in the concluding paragraph , by their being placed in juxta position , and by showing how much Egyptian learning and Egyptian
agency influenced them all . Indeed , in each event sve can readily trace a Nilotic influence more or less direct . The annals of these events have hitherto been veiled in so much obscurity , as to be generally considered partially recondite , if not entirely mythical , and yet they materially affected the subsequent history of the world , and their beneficial effects are still subsisting . Cadmus , in our scholastic teaching , svas honoured as the inventor of letters ; but researches , like the present , enable us to refer the true honour to its genuine claimants . By such researches we