CHAPTER III.

ANCIENT CITIES— OSIRIAN MYTH— KARMA.
(g^V'FTER viewing tlie remains of the most extraordinary and wonder- t^K ful cities mentioned in the preceding chapter, we must certainly
^— ^ realize the absurdity of giving credit to the stories that claim for certain men the honor of being the inventors and promoters of the early sciences, for instance : — It has been claimed by many that Archi- medes, who was born in Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, in the year B.C. 237. conceived the application of the lever and screw. Why, there is not one of these buildings that I have mentioned, in which the lever, screw, and wedge were not practically applied by our ancient brethren, long centuries before the dawn of authenticated history, to move the immense blocks of granite and sandstone used in the construction of the stupendous tombs, temples and monuments which adorned the whole length and breadth of the land of Egypt.
Go back to the Pyramids of Egypt, standing to-day in the plains of Gizeh, and we can realize that every one of them must have been known at that time, and were most assuredly used by our ancient craftsmen, who wrought in the quarries of the Mokattum hills, Libyan mountains, and elsewhere, and practically applied them in their work, not only of quarry- ing, but in the building of those wonderful fabrics. We have ocular demonstrations that the science of mathematics was thoroughly compre- hended by the practical operative Masons long centuries before Abraham saw the stars glitter in the plains of Shinar. If we go to-day into the quarries of Syene we shall be enabled to see, not only their methods of quarrying, but the holes that were drilled for the wedges, and actually see the wedges, as they were placed by the craftsmen before Christ.
It has also been claimed by many that Galileo, an Italian mathe- matician and philosopher, who was born at Pisa, a.d. 1504, invented the telescope with a lead pipe and two lenses. Why, the ancient inhabitants 4
5b EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
of Central America understood the method oi focusing lenses in tubes, for one of their most ancient carvings represents a man looking through a telescope, thus demonstrating their knowledge in the use of them. Jensen is credited with having invented the compound microscope in the year A. D. 1590. We can prove that it was only a re-discovery of what had existed long before Christ was born. Cicero, who was born at Arpimifu, E. c. 106, declares that he saw the whole of Ho7ne7-''s Iliad written on a skin, which might be rolled up and placed inside a walnut shell ! Mr. Layard in his explorations discovered a rough magnifying lens in the palace oj Nimrod that was made of rock crystal, and he also says, in writing of his discoveries in Nineveh, the " engravings on some of the stones were so small that they could only be read by the aid of very powerful glasses." Does this not show that the microscope must have been known at that period, otherwise how could the poem have been written or the stones carved ? Aristophanes states that " Burning Spheres " were sold in the stores at Athens in his day, B. c. 400.
In the latter part of the wonderful nineteenth century we had arrived at a knowledge of nianufacturing colored glass, and to-day in this twentieth century we have improved considerably in this art of making beautiful glass, for the purpose of decorating the windows of our cathe- drals, churches and palatial residences, as well as for the various utensils for household purposes, as well as in imitation of precious stones. This art is claimed as a modern invention ! In unearthing the celebrated city of Pompeii, destroyed on the twenty-fourth day of August, in the year A. D. 79, the workmen discovered a glass factory in which there was an immense quantity of glass, including magnificent specimens of gem imi- tations, capable of deceiving a dealer himself, if he were not very careful in his examinations. In the eleventh century the Arabians knew the secret of maniifacturing malleable glass, and so perfect was their know- ledge that the}' could anneal and draw it out into threads for weaving. During the reign of Tiberius malleable glass was known and glass cups were manufactured and used that could be crushed, but not broken.
The glass blowers of Thebes and Memphis are known to have been as proficient in the art of making all kinds of glass as is the most expert workman of to-day. The manufacturing of the beautiful opalescent glass that they produced could never have been carried on without a knowledge
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 51
of the metallic oxides by whicli they colored, not only their glass, but their pottery as well, and this knowledge most assuredly involves an acquaintance with the science of chemistry, which science no doubt received its name from the ancient name of the " Land of Egypt," Chemi.
Rosseleni gives us an illustration of a piece of colored glass that is known to be four thousand years old. The priests of the temples, in both Memphis and Thebes, were experts in the art of manufacturing all kinds of glass. They thoroughly understood the art of vitrifying all the differ- ent colors, and the imitation of precioiis stones they brought to the high- est state of perfection. The imitation gems they manufactured for the temples of Ptah at Memphis were so natural that, after the lapse of forty centuries, those lost in the shrouding desert sands, when found, would take an expert to distinguish, the true from the false.
In the British Museum there is an exquisite piece of stained glass, with a very fine engraved emblazonment upon it, of King Thothmes III., one of Egypt's celebrated monarchs who lived and reigned thirty-four centuries ago. This piece of work itself would prove to us that the ancient Egyptians made use of the diamond in cutting and engraving. The Hebrew people were very expert in the art of engraving, which they no doubt learned from the Egyptians, in the field of Zoan (see Exodus 28: 11).
Electricity, the force and power that is revolutionizing the world to-day, and contributes so immeasurably to our comfort, in driving our cars and carriages, lighting our houses, even carrying our very thoughts to the four-corners of the earth, was most certainly known to these ancient people and was possibly used for the very same purposes that we do to-day. (See Job 38 : 35). It would be simply impossible for any man to describe something he had never seen or heard of, therefore, Job must have known of the working of the telegraph, otherwise he never could have described it.
Many people call this the age of steel, and look upon it as a dis- covery belonging exclusively to the nineteenth century. My dear Brothers, did you ever examine the implements cf war belonging to ancient India, or the celebrated swords of Damascus ? I assure you, my dear Friends and Brothers, steel has been used in every dynasty of Pharoanic history. In fact, her temples, tombs, sculptures, obelisks and
52 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
hieroglyphic inscriptions were carved and written with pens of steel by our ancient craftsmen, when the songs of Solomon were not, ere Moses was lifted from the flowing waters of the river Nile.
Colonel Howard Vyse, during his investigations of the P3^ramids, in the plains of Gizeh, found a piece of iron or steel in one of the joints of the stones that formed the Great Pyramid^ which must certainly have been placed there during its construction by one of the workmen. In the tomb of Rameses fourth, the implements of war that are painted upon the walls are colored blue, to represent steel weapons. It would have been impossible for the craftsmen to have quarried the stones with which to build their extraordinary monuments, without a knowledge of steel, and how to make it. Mr. Layard, during his explorations in Nineveh, discovered sixty camel-loads of pickaxes. In the time of Saiil there were no persons capable of forging among the Israelites (ist Samuel 13 : 15), but during the reign of David they had an abund- ance of cunning mechanics who were capable.
Any person who visits the tombs and temples of Egypt will certainly realize that their builders had a thorough knowledge, not only of the lever and wedge, but the pick, stone-saw, chisel and the various tools needed in quarrying and building such extraordinary edifices. One glance at those gigantic Pyramids will thoroughly demonstrate this fact to even the most skeptical.
The art of weaving fine linen and rich cloth is so very old that we are unable to trace it to the source from which it emanated, but there is one thing certain, the ancient Egj'ptiaiis used linen of remarkable gossamer-like tissue. Wilkinson tells us in his " Manners and Cus- toms " (Vol. III., 19), of a specimen of linen which " excites admiration at the present day, being to the touch comparable to silk, and not inferior in texture to the finest cambric. This has five hundred and forty threads to the inch in the warp, and one hundred and ten in the woof; being considerably finer than the richest cambric ever seen in this or any other country."
Ignatius Donnelly in " Atlantis " (page 365), tells us of the ancient Eg3'ptians, that " they had clocks and dials for measuring time. They possessed gold and silver money, and were the first agriculturists of the Old World, raising cereals, cattle, horses and sheep. They also
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 53
manufactured linen of so fine a quality that in the days of King Amasis (600 years B. c), a single thread of a garment was composed of three hundred and sixty-five minor threads ; worked in gold and silver, copper, bronze, and iron, and tempered iron to the hardness of steel. They were the first chemists. The word 'chemistry' comes from cJiemi^ and chenii means Egypt. They manufactured glass and all kinds of pottery ; made boats out of earthenware ; and precisely as we do now, made railroad car-wheels of paper; and also manufactured vessels of paper. Their dentists filled teeth with gold, and their farmers hatched poultry with artificial heat. They were the first musicians, possessing guitars, single and double pipes, cymbals, drums, lyres, harps, flutes, the sambric and ashur. They had even castanets, such as are now used in Spain.
" In medicine and surgery they had reached such a degree of per- fection that several years B. C. the operation for cataract upon the ej^e was performed among them, one of the most delicate and difficult feats of surgery, only attempted by us in the most recent times.
'' ' The Papyrus of Berlin ' was discovered, rolled up in a case, under the feet of Anubis, in the town of Sekhem, in the days of Tet (or Thoth), after whose death it was transmitted to King Sent, and was then restored to the feet of the statue. King Sent belonged to the second dynasty, which flourished B. c. 4751, and the papyrus was old in his day. This papyrus is a medical treatise, containing no incantations or charms, but dealing in reasonable remedies, draughts, ungeuts and injections. The later medical papyri contain a great deal of magic and incantations.
" Egypt was the magnificent, the golden bridge, ten thousand years long, glorious with temples and pyramids, illuminated and illustrated \)y the most complete and continuous records of human histor}^, along which the civilization of ' Atlantis,' in a great procession of kings and priests, philosophers and astronomers, artists and artisans streamed for- ward to Greece, to Rome, to Europe, to America. As far back in the ages as the eye can penetrate, even where the perspective dwindles almost to a point, we can still see the swarming multitudes, possessed of the arts of the highest civilization, passing forward from out other and greater empire of which even this wonder-worliia^^ile-land is but a faint and imperfect copy."
54 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
Semmenud is the site of the Sebenyte Nome that gave its name to the thirtieth dynasty. It was founded by its iirst King, Nec- tanebo I, who successfully defended his country against the attacks of the Persians and Greek mercenaries, under Pharnabazus and Iphi- crates. After Nectanebo defeated these invaders of his country he spent the rest of his life in tranquillity and peace. It was during the reign of this King that Plato visited Egypt, for the purpose of investigating the religions and philosophies of this country, and he, like Pythagoras, was initiated into the ancient rites and ceremonies, from which our own glorious Scottish Rite has descended, of whose esoteric teachings I shall speak later.
The ancient Egyptian name of Sebennytus was Teb-en-nuter, which the cuneiform inscription translates Zabnuter. In this city Manetho, the celebrated Egyptian historian, is said to have been born. He was a High Priest of the temple of Isis in Sebennytus^ the modern Semmenud. Manetho, in ancient Egyptian, was written Mai-CH-thot^ which signified " beloved of Thoth." He lived in the reign of Ptolemy Lagi and he was noted for his scholarly attainments, a man of the highest reputation, who thoroughly understood the Greek language, in consequence of which he was requested by Ptol- emy II, Philadelphus, to translate the historical records that had been preserved in the sacred repositories of the temples of Egypt. He was an Egyptian priest, and authorized by Ptolemy himself to give to the world a history of his own countr}', Egypf, with which he was so thoroughly acquainted. He had access to the archives of all the temples throughout the " Land of Egypt," and I claim that these facts alone should impress the student with the truth of each and every one of his statements, ever remembering that he was a man of the highest reputation and ability. This history was held in high estimation, but was subsequently lost, and all that remains to us of this most valuable and scholarly work to-day, is the, chron- ological list of the Kings of the various dynasties, transmitted to us through the Jewish and Christian chronographers.
Mariette Bey states, in his " Monuments of Upper Egypt," that " the system of contemporaneous dynasties is as yet supported by no really trustworthy proof; on the contrary, it seems certain that
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 55
Manetho was well aware that, at various epochs, Egypt was goverued simultaneously by several dynasties, and he availed himself of the means at his disposal to strike out of his work all such dynasties as did not belong to the general series of royal houses who suc- ceeded each other on the throne, so that the latter were alone offi- cially enrolled in due order on the register of Kings."
The reason Mariette makes this statement is because there are many authorities who claim that Manetho cites various dynasties as successive that were contemporaneous. If this were truth and the fact could be proven, we should have to deduct from the total amount the duration of these various dynasties, said to have been falsely placed upon the roll belonging to regular consecutive dynasties of Egyptian history. The dates taken from Manetho are not in accord- ance with extracts culled from Julius Africanus and Eusebius, yet the two versions of the Chronicle of Eusebius do not agree with each other. Therefore the authority of Manetho, as a chronologist, remains unshaken, but on condition that we only take the dates which he gives us as approximate. It is certain that those dates are not absolutely exact, yet it is difficult to believe that they have been so radically altered as not in any degree to come near the truth.
The nearer we approach the source of those alterations the more we shall feel compelled to admit that if the original lists could but have reached us intact, from the hand of Manetho himself, we would find them extending over a .'.till wider range of time. There is no question but that Manetho's figures have suffered serious alterations. But if we consider the figures as coming down to us through Christian writers, who had an evident purpose in curtailing them, we shall find, as a matter of fact, that this is far from ascribing too wide a range to them, and are bound, as fair critics, to accept them as having been systematically reduced in their total amount. There is no nation which ever existed in the world's history whose manners, customs, arts, sciences and philosophies are more easily traced than those of the ancient Egyptians, because she has not only written her own history, and carved it tipon her tombs and temples, but she has given us keys by which we are enabled to decipher the hieroglyphic inscrip- tions and phonetic characters in the various stele, such as the Rosetta
56 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
Stone, the famous trilingual stone that was discovered by Dr. Lep- sius, the stele found b}^ Mariette Bey in the temple of Seti, and the many papyrus rolls that have been discovered at various times and places, despite the tooth of time and war's bloody hand, passing unscathed through the ravages of long drifting ages. These evidences of her civilization and intellectual advancement, with the treasures found in her buried cities, as well as those found under the drifting sands of the desert, in the Nomes of a prehistoric age, confirm what Manetho has written of his country.
I need not mention every or any special place from which we have obtained fragmentar}' records, but simply state that every tomb, temple, monument, mummy-case and contents have given us historical and genealogical records which not only confirm, but supplement what was written by our ancient Brother Manetho, whose name had been indorsed by the tongue of good rcporf^ who had been proven worthy and well qualified, " a man of the highest reputation," an Archamagus of the ancient Egyptian mysteries, whose name, like that of our revered Brother, the late General Albert Pike, Hierophaut of the nine- teenth century, will never die, but, like his works, writings and integrity, -will stand the most crucial test and come forth from the trial and investigation, an honor to the ancient mysteries and its lineal descendant, our beloved Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry.
Senimenund or Scmvieiind^ is a tj-pical Egyptian town of about eleven thousand inhabitants. It is noted for its celebrated pottery, which is manufactured there and sent to all the larger cities, where it finds a ready sale throughout the whole of Egypt. It has the usual bazaars and mud hovels and all the peculiar concomitants that go to make up the peculiarities of typical Egyptian towns. Nectanebo XI was the last of the Sebennyte sovereigns, and was also the last of those native Egyptian Kings who ruled Egypt from
B. C. 5004 to B. C. 340.
To the north of Semmenud, and south of Mansura lies the ancient city of Iseuni, in the Sebennyte Nome. It is now called Behbii-cl-Hagar^ while the ancient Egj^ptians knew it as Hcbt or Pa- Hebt. It was called the " town of the Panegyrics," from the Egyp-
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 57
tian name of Pa-Hebt. It is also called the " city of the stoue," which derives its Arab name, Behbit-el-Hagar, on account of the very large number of stones to be seen there, once going to form a part of the beautiful decorations of this magnificent city, now scattered around in promiscuous confusion. The ruins of this celebrated citj' are very much inferior to the cit}' in " the field of Zoan," as well as that of Eubastis, but notwithstanding this fact, it will well repay the trav- eller, or student of ancient Egyptian histor}^, for the time spent in visiting these celebrated ruins, and in viewing the fragmentary remains of those beautiful carvings, executed in the peculiar colored granite, used to adorn and beautify this once famous cit}- of the Ptolemies.
The traveller will most assuredl}^ have unmistakable proofs of the deit}' that was worshipped here, in the numerous sculptures and carvings of an animal sacred to the goddess Isis, the cozv^ and also the exceedingly large number of figures with cow-heads. From this alone we judge that Isis was the principal deity worshipped there, as doubtless both the Greeks and Romans called this city Iseiim or Ision. The chief deities that were worshipped in this city were the Osirian Triad — Isis^ Osiriis and Horns. Osiris was a form of the sun god, Ra^ and the child of Seby the earth, and Niif^ the heavens, in Egj'ptian mytholog}', who was the presiding judge in Amenti. His wife Isis represented the dawn^ and their son was Horns, the sun, in his full power and glorj-. On a figure of the goddess found here was carved the following : " Isis, Mis- tress of Hebt."
There is another very interesting piece of work carved on a slab of grey granite, streaked with red, on which there is a representation of the king offering a gift of land to Osiris and Isis — " The great divine mistress of Hebit." The name of Ptolemy II., Philadelphus I., occurs in various parts of this tem.ple, who founded it , B. c. 284-2/16. His name appears in the dedications, while he presents the various offerings to the various gods. The temple alone must have cost an immense sum, as- it was built of a very fine peculiar grej^ and red granite, now lying scattered around, broken and mutilated. There are among them fragments of architraves, slabs, columns, and blocks of all shapes and kinds of stone, some square, others circular-shaped, and many with very fine carvings upon them, both in intaglio and in relief.
58 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY,
Some of these have very large hieroglyphic inscriptions carved upon them, while others are comparatively small, but excellently well executed.
There is one peculiar feature about the ruins of this temple, and that is, a different kind of granite has been used in its construction from that which composed the temples of Upper Egypt. It seems as if au especial effort had been made to exclude every kind of stone from this building that was used in the construction of the other temples outside the Delta. It is too bad that this building should have been so completely demolished, because we are unable to trace, with any degree of exactitude, the plan of the temple. Its destrviction is no doubt due to the natives undermining the building in order to procure the limestone, to burn and sell.
Murray describes one of the walls of this temple as follows : " On one of the walls about the centre of the temple is represented the sacred boat, or ark, of Isis, and in the shrine it bears the ' Lad}^ of Pa-Hebt,' seated between two figures of goddesses, like the Jewish cherubim, who seem to protect her with their wings. They occur in two compartments, one over the other, at the centre of the shrine. These figures were, doubtless, the holy and unseen contents of the sacred repository which no profane eye was permitted to behold, being generall}' covered with a veil. In the upper one Isis is seated on a lotus flower and the two figures standing, while in the other all three are seated and below are four kneeling figures, one with a man's the other three with jackal's heads, beating their breasts. At either end of the boat is the head of the goddess, and the legend above shows it to have belonged to her. The king stands before it, presenting an offering of incense to Isis.
" There appears to be a very great variety in the sculptures, which mostly represent offerings to Isis, and the contemplar dieties, as in other Ptolemaic buildings. In one place the hawk-headed Hor-Hat conducts the king into the presence of the goddess of the temple ; but the battle scenes and grand religious processions of old times are wanting here, as in other temples of a Ptolemaic and Roman epoch, and though the sculptures are rich, being highly finished, they are deficient in the elegance of a Pharaonic age — the fault of all Greco-Egyptian sculptures, and one which strikes every eye accustomed to monuments erected before the decadence of art in Egypt."
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 59
This temple, to-day, is in a demolished condition, with debris of all kinds piled and scattered promiscuously around, and all kinds of stone lying one upon another, in the wildest confusion. Notwithstanding this fact it is possible for one to go down beneath the masses of rubbish and stones, ten or a dozen feet, through various openings between the larger stones, where could be seen shattered parts of architraves, cornices, and large granite columns, crowned with the head of Isis, very fine specimens of the Ptolemaic age, but more especially of the granite carvings in relief, which must have taken an immense amount of time, labor and patience. One thing that was plainly to be seen, was parts of the ceiling, with the usual five pointed star upon a blue ground, just such stars as are to be found upon the ceilings of our own beloved Scottish Rite cathedrals to-day.
Herodotus says Btisiris was situated in the very middle of the Delta, which was the next cit}' in importance to Bubastis, for the splendors of its ceremonies during the festival of Isis (Book II, Chapter 59.) Diodorus informs us that there were two places called Biisiris in Egypt. Biisiris signifies " tJie burial place of Osiris.''''
Wilkinson says, in note 6, chapter 61, of Herodotus, "The city of his was lower down the river, and it is more probable that the fete of Isis was held there than at Busiris." It is now called Bebayt and its site is marked by the ruin of a granite temple, the only one, except that at Bubastis., entirely built of that beautiful and costly material. It was doubtless thought worthy to succeed the very large temple that was dedi- cated to Isis, of which Herodotus speaks, for it was built during the reign of the Ptolamies and it was formerly called Iseum., and by the ancient Egyptians Hebai, or Hebait., of which Isis is named in the sculptures " The Mistress of HebtJ' Hebai signifies a '^ panegyry'f or assembly, and this was the real meaning of the name of the place. Osiris is also sometimes spoken of in the legends as " Lord oj the laiid of Hebai r
Now this shows that it was not the city of Busiris that was second in importance in Egypt for the magnificence of its ceremonies, during the festival in honor of the goddess Isis, according to Herodotus, but Behbit-el-Hagar., or Pa-Hebt — " the city of the stone^'' or the town of the panegyries, the city I have just described to you.
60 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
I stated previously that Osiris was one of the principal deities worshipped in this city, in fact he was worshipped throughout the whole of Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece and Rome. No doubt the worship of this God was also introduced among the tribes of the children of Israel by Jeroboam on his return to his own country Osiris is always represented \\ith a human head sitting on a throne, as a king or judge in the Halls of Amenti^ or in the form of a mummy ; but in either case he always carries the scourge and crook, wearing upon his head the crown of Upper Egypt, which is very often decorated with the plumes of Truth, while beside him stands the Thyrsus^ the vine and ivy twined staff of the Bacchantes, enwrapped with a leopard's skin. He was the judge of the Amenti or Lord of the Underworld, the King of Eternity. Of all the gods of Egypt he is the only one who has a regular, detailed, mythical history, like the gods of Grecian mythology. Herodotus says that Osiris was considered to be the Bacchus of the Greeks, and Diodorus states that Osiris " has been considered the same as Serapis, Bacchus, Pluto, or Amon. Others have thought him Jupiter, many Pan."
The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions identify Apis, the sacred bull, worshipped at Memphis during the second dynasty with Osiris, claiming that he was the god Osiris reincarnated in the shape of a bull. The mythical legend of this celebrated god is related by Plutarch as follows : " Rhea, having secretly united herself with Saturn, the Sun, becoming indignant, laid upon her a curse, that she should not bring forth in any year or month. Mercury, however, who was also a lover of Rhea, playing at dice with the Moon, took away the seventeenth part of each period of daylight, and from these made five new days which are the epagomenai or intercalary days (seventy here stands, as elsewhere, a round number instead of the precise one, for seventy-two; five being the seventy-second part of three hundred and sixty). On each of these five days Rhea bore a child. On the first day Osiris, the son of the Sun, was born, at whose birth a voice was heard proclaiming' that the Lord of all was coming to Light ; or, according to another ver- sion, Paamyles, drawing water in the temple of Jupiter, heard a voice, which enjoined upon him to proclaim that the great and beneficient King Osiris was born. This Paamyles received him to nurse, and hence the festival of the Paamylia, which was a phallephoria. On the
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 61
second day was born Aroen's, son of the Sun, whom they call Apollo, and the Elder Horus. On the third was born Typlion, not in the usual course, but bursting out with a sudden stroke from the side of Rhea. On the fourth day was born Isis, the daughter of Hermes. On the fifth Nepkthys, who was called Teleute (the end), and Aphrodite, and according to some, Nike. Typhon and Nephthys were the children of Sati:rn and married each other. In consequence of the birth of Typhon, the third day of the epagomenai was a dies iicfashis, and the Kings of Egypt neither transacted public business nor took the usual care of their persons till night. Isis and Osiris ^rmited themselves even before their birth and their son was called, according to some, x\roeris, or the Elder Horus. The more common account, however, made the son of Osiris and Isis to be the younger Horus.''
Osiris being king, instructed the Egyptians in the arts of civili- zation, taught them agriculture, enacted laws for them, and estab- lished the worship of the gods. He afterwards traversed the world for the same purpose, subduing the nations, not by arms, but by per- suasion, and especially by the charms of music and poetry, which gave the Greeks occasion to identify him with Dionusos. In his absence Isis administered the regency so wisely that Typhon was unable to create any disturbance ; but on his return he conspired against Osiris with seventy-two men and the Ethiopian queen, Aso, who having secretly obtained the measure of Osiris, caused a coffin, splendidly adorned, to be brought into the banqueting hall, promising to give it to the guest whom it should fit. Osiris put himself into it to make trial, and Typhon and his associates immediatel}^ pegged and soldered down the case and set it afloat on the river. It floated to the Tanitic mouth, which, on that account, the Eg3'ptians held accursed. These things were done on the seventeenth of the month Athyr, in which the Sun enters Scorpion, and in the twenty-eight year of the reigri, or as some said, of the age of Osiris. The Pans and Satyrs, who lived about Chemmis, hearing of these events and being agitated hy them into sudden terrors, obtained the name of Panics. Isis cut off her hair and put on mourning at the place where she first heard the news ; whence it obtained the name Coptos, signifying " to mourn for the dead." Meeting some boys, she heard from them where the coflin had floated,
62 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
and hence the Egyptians deemed the words of boys to carry with them a divine meaning. Osiris had, by mistake, united himself with Nephthys, and a son had been born to him, whom Nephthys hid immediately from his birth. Isis sought him out and found him by the guidance of a dog, who attended her thenceforth, and was called Anubis.
" Meanwhile the chest had been floated to Byblos^ and cast ashore ; the plant erica {a narrow leafed evergreen sliriib) , had grown up about it and enclosed it, and in this state it had been made use of as a pillar to support the palace of the king. Isis arrived, divinely conducted, in search of it, and recommending herself to the queen's maidens, had the charge of the young prince committed to her. She then obtained possession of the chest, and opening it, carried it to Buto, where Horus was being brought up. The event of her return was celebrated by sacri- fices on the seventeenth da}' of the month Tybi^ and the figure of a hip- popotamus bound, was impressed upon the sacrificial cakes, as an emblem of the defeat of Typhon. Here she deposited the body in secrecy, but Typhon, hunting by moonlight, found it and cut it into fourteen pieces. Isis in a baris made of papyrus, traversed the marshes and when she found one of the members, buried it there, whence the number of reputed places of interment of Osiris. In the end she found all the members but one, which had been devoured by the 'a.'?,\\&s phagrus and lepidotus.
" Isis, therefore, made an emblem of it, whence the honors still paid to it b}^ the Egyptians (probably though Plutarch does not expresslj'- say so, Isis was conceived to have reconiposed the body from the limbs thus recovered). Osiris returned from Hades and gave his aid to Horus, who was preparing to overthrow the power of Typhon. Typhon fell into the hands of Isis, but she released him, at which Horus was so enraged that he plucked his mother's diadem from her head and Mercury supplied its place by a helmet in the form of cow's head. Two other battles took place before Typhon was finally subdued. Harpocrates was born from the union of Isis and Osiris, after the death of Osiris, and was consequently imperfect with a weakness in his lo^wer limbs." Such is the myth as related by Plutarch and by Kenrick in " Ancient Egypt."
Baedeker's Lower Egypt tells us that Osiris was not actually killed by Typhon. He simply went to the underworld and there continued his
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 63
existence. It was lie who trained and armed his son Horns to do battle against Typhon, in which he eventual!}' became victorious by defeating Typhon, but not in totally destroying him. With the assistance of Osiris they banished him to the infernal regions. Osiris is also regarded as the moisture falling upon the earth, the most perfect representation of which is the inundation of the river Nile. While Tj^phon and his seventy-two companions (the intercalary days), which represented the days of drought that dominated the earth, during which time Isis becomes sorrowful, longing, hoping for the return of Osiris, she mourns his absence, until eventuall}' he returns, when Typhon is defeated and the fertile earth (Tsis) is again dominated bj' the flooding waters of the river Nile (Osiris) when an abundance is assured.
Osiris is regarded as the principal of Life. Isis, the Earth, is the scene of the operation of that principal, while Typon represents death, and Horns the resurrection. If we regard Osiris, as the monuments so frequently do, as a pure and perfect being, the principle of the good, and the beautiful, in which case he receives the surname of Un-Nefer, we recognize in Typhon the discords with which life is so replete, but which seem to be permitted onl}^ in order that the purity of the harmonies into which they are resolved, through the intervention of Horns, may be the more thoroughl}^ appreciated.
Osiris, according to the exoteric doctrine, is also the sovereign of the lower regions and judge of souls, which, if found pure, are permitted to unite with his. The dead, therefore, do not merely go to Osiris, but actually become Osiris.
" Osiris^^ according to Wilkinson, " was ranked or belonged to the third order of gods, and had the honor of being the god whose mysteries contained the most important secrets ; his rites comprised the chief part of the Egyptian wisdom ; he was the chief of Ametiti or Hades and was a Jieaveiily as well as an infernal deit3^ There was also an important reason for his being of the last or newest order of gods, related particu- larly to man, the last and most perfect work of the creation, and as the Deity was at first the Monad, then the Creator, ' creation being God passing into activity,' he did not become Osiris until man was placed upon the earth. He there manifested himself also, like Buddha for the benefit of man, who looked upon him for happiness in a future state."
64 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
In all the representation of the judgment of the dead Osiris is always represented " seated upon a throne, surrounded by certain gods and goddesses, paraphernalia, etc., holding within his hands the scourge and crook, and generally with his arms crossed upon his breast, while close beside him stands the thyrsus entwined with a spotted leapord's skin. He is generally attended by Isis and Nephthys, and in some pic- tures we see the four gods of the underworld. The centre of the paintings is generally occupied by a representation of a very large pair of scales and beam, standing beside which we recognize Thoth with a book or papyrus roll in his hand, noting the result of the process of weighing. In one scale the heart of the deceased is placed against the feather of Truth. One side of the scale is attended by the goddess of Truth, who places the feather against the heart of the deceased which has been placed there, within the opposite one by Horns. Then when the weighing has been finished Horus takes the tablet from Thoth, wherein has been recorded the decision which he announces to Osiris, the record of the good and moral qualities of the deceased against the feather of Truth and Justice. Then if the virtues of the deceased preponderate in his favor, Thoth introduces him into the presence of Osiris, but if the virtuous qualities of the ca-ndidate has been weighed and found wanting, Osiris rejects him and he is condemned and punished according to the judgment that has been rendered to the Lord of Amenti — Osiris.
The pictorial representations of this judgment scene differs in different places, some of them represent the forty-two assessors, corres- ponding to the earthh' judges, who determined whether the deceased should be allowed to cross the river and enter into the abode of eternal bliss, or dwell on the confines of Hades and die a second death. Every Egyptian thoroughly believed that after death he would have to pass into the halls of Amenti in ordei ^o be weighed in the balance and judged according to his y//o>-/' cfo^'5. ^o matter what his station in life might be, he would have to undergo the ordeal of being weighed, and abide by the judgment rendered. In the same way, directly after death, his earthly judges rendered judgment for or against him. If he was found guilty, or unworthy, he would be excluded from burial in his own tomb or sepulchre, and during his trial all who knew him were allowed to testify for or against him, and according to the evidence he was judged.
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This earthly judgment was typical of the one in the halls of Amenti. It was from this peculiar ancient custom that it was introduced into the ancient Mysteries, and during the peculiar rites and ceremonies the candidate died symbolically before he was raised to Light and Life. In the halls of Amenti, Osiris may be said rather to have presided over the dead than to have judged them. He gave admission to those who were found worthy to enter into the abode of happiness in the halls of peace. He was not the avenging deity ; he did not punish, nor could he show mercy or subvert the judgment pronounced. It was a simple question of whether the deceased was guilt}' or not. If wicked, they were destined to suffer punishment according to their deeds. A man's actions were balanced in the scales against Justice and Truth ; then, if they were found wanting, he would be excluded from all future happiness. Thus, though the Egyptians are said to have believed that the gods were capable of influencing destin}' {EsTibeis, Pr., £z'., iii--f), it is evident Osiris [like the Greek Zeus) was bound by it, and the wicked were punished, not because he rejected them, "but because they were wicked."
I have given a very lengthy account of the mythical story of Osiris, for the reason that it formed not only the basis of the Ancient Eg3'ptian Mysteries, but also represented the scenes enacted in the great drama of life, if properl}^ understood ; and the teachings that emanated from the Ancient Egyptian Mysteries are to be ff^ id in every religion and every philosophy throughout the Avorld, in ever}- age and everj' epoch of its history. They have always been, and are now, covered with such a mass of rubbish that it is difficult to discover the glorious Truths that underlie their philosophy.
Now let us examine the Osirian myth, and take Osiris as the Judge or presiding deity of Amenti, and we shall find that the teachings of our Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite inform us that he was not a god of vengeance, but a god of Truth and Justice. He judged no man, but simply pronounced the sentence that had been adjudged by Thoth, the Divine Nature, or " The Lord of Karma," after they had been weighed in the balance and their sentence declared to Osiris, who then and there pronounced it. Each and every man's "higher self" recognized that perfect Justice had been meted out to him. He knew that the acts of his life, in thought, word or deed, were to be harvested in their effects. It 5
66 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
was simply impossible for Osiris in any way to interfere with the Law of Cause and Effect ; or, in other words, any man's " Karmay When a man's life actions are weighed in the balance, his dues are rendered to him with perfect justice. He has made his own record and he will reap the full effects of it, be it good or evil, and this fact alone shows that " Man is the master of his own destiny.'''' What he has sown that must he also reap, and there is no power in earth or in heaven that can alter his Karma. Sir Edwin Arnold beautifully illustrates this in " The Light of Asia."
" Karma — All that total of a soul Which is the things it did, thoughts it had, The ' self ' it wove with woof of viewless time Crossed on the ways of invisible acts."
A sin committed, or an evil thought permitted to go forth from your mind, for evil, is just the same as if the act itself had been per- formed. They are then beyond recall. You have sown the seed, and YOU, yourself^ must suffer the consequence, and not somebody else, as nothing _y^// or any one else can do can ever destroy the result of your act or thought. Repentance may possibly have a tendency to prevent one from repeating errors, but it never will, nor ever can destroy the effect of those already done. My dear Brothers, I do most earnestly and sin- cerely believe this, and most earnestly ask you, my dear readers and Friends, to take this matter under your careful consideration, and along these lines of thought I will quote you from " Re-incarnation," by E- D. Walker, page 302 :
" The relentless hand which metes out our fortunes with the stern justice most vividly portrayed by the Greek dramatists in their Nemesis, Fates and Furies, takes from our own savings the gifts bestowed on us. ' Alas, we sow what we reap ; the hand that smites us is our own.' In the domain of eternal justice the offense and the punishment are insep- erably connected as the same event, because there is no real distinction between the action and its outcome. He who injures another in fact only wrongs himself To adopt Schopenhauer's figure, he is a wild beast who fastens his fangs in his own flesh. But linked with the awful fact of our own individual responsibilit}^ for what we now are, gives the inspiring assurance, that we have under our control the remedy of evil
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 67
and the increase of good. We can, and we alone can, extricate ourselves from the existing limitations, by the all-curing powers of purity, love, and spirituality. In Eastern phraseology, the purpose of life is to work out our bad Karma (action) and to stow away good Karma. As surely as the harvest of to-day grows from the seed-time of yesterday, so shall every kernel of thought and feeling, speech and performance bring its crop of reward or rebuke. The inherent result of every quiver of the human WILL continually tolls the Day of Judgment and affords immeasurable opportunities for amelioration."
This is just exactly what the philosophical degrees of our own beloved Scottish Rite teach us, and Brother Albert Pike says in "Morals and Dogmas" (pages 216-17): "We shall be just as happy- hereafter, as we are pure and upright, and no more, just as happy as our character prepares us to be, and no more. Our moral, like our mental character, is not formed in a moment, it is the habit of our minds, the result of. many thoughts and feelings and efforts bound together by many natural and strong ties. The great law of retribution is, that all coming experience is to be aifected by every present feeling, every future moment of being must answer for every present moment. One moment sacrificed to vice, or lost to improvement, is forever sacrificed and lost ; an hour's delay to enter the right path, is to put us back so far in the everlasting pursuit of happiness, and every sin, even of the best men, is to be thus answered for, if uot according to the full measure of its ill desert, yet according to a rule of unbending rectitude and impartiality.
" The law of retribution presses upon every man, whether he thinks it or not. It pursues him through all the courses of life, with a step that never falters nor tires, and with an eye that never sleeps nor slumbers. If it were not so, God's government would not be impartial ; there would be no discrimination ; no moral dominion, no light shed on the mysteries of Providence.
" Whatsoever a man soweth, that, and not something else, shall he reap. That which we are doing, good or evil, grave or gay, that which we do to-day, and shall do to-morrov/, each thought, each feeling, each action, each event, every passing hour, every breathing moment, all are contributing to form the character, according to which we are to be
68 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY.
judged. Every particle of influence that goes to form that aggregate, — our character, — will in that future scrutiny, be sifted out from the mass, and particle by particle, with ages perhaps intervening, fall a distinct contribution to the sum of our joys or woes. Thus every idle w^ord and idle hour will give answer in the judgment.
" Let us take care, therefore, what we sow. An evil temptation comes upon us, the opportunity of unrighteous gain or of unhallowed indulgence, either in the sphere of business or pleasure, of society or solitude. We 3aeld, and plant a seed of bitterness and sorrow. To-morrow it will threaten discovery. Agitated and alarmed, we cover the sin and bur}? it deep in falsehood and hypocrisy. In the bosom where it lies concealed, in the fertile soil of kindred vices, that sin dies not, but thrives and grows, and other and still other germs of evil gather around the accursed root, until, from that single seed of corruption there springs up in the soul all that is horrible in habitual lying, knavery or vice. Loathingly, often, we take each downward step; but a frightful power urges us onward, and the hell of debt, disease, ignominy, or remorse, gathers its shadows around our steps, even on earth, and are yet but the beginning of sorrows. The evil deed may be done in a single moment ; but conscience never dies, memory never sleeps, guilt can never become innocence and remorse can never whisper peace.
" Beware, thou who art tempted to evil! Beware what thou layest up for the future ! Beware what thou layest up in the archives of eternity! Wrong not thy neighbor! lest the thought of him thou injurest and who suff"ers by thy act be to thee a pang which years will not deprive of its bitterness ! Break not into the house of innocence, to rifle it of its treasure, lest when many j^ears have passed over thee, the moan of its distress may not have died away from thine ear ! Build not the desolate throne of ambition in thy heart, nor be busj^ with devices and circumventings, and selfish schemings, lest desolation and loneliness be on thj' path, as it stretches into the long futurity ! Live not a useless, an impious, or an injurious life! for bound up with that life is the immutable principle of an endless retribution, and elements of God's creating, w^hich will never spend their force, but continue ever to unfold with the ages of eternity. Be not deceived ! God has formed thy nature, thus to answer to the future. His law can never be abrogated,
EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 69
nor his justice eluded; and for ever and ever it will be true, that \ Whatsoever a man soweth, that also he shall reap.''''''
Madam H. P. Blavatsky says in " The Key to Theosophy " (page 237), "If our present lives depend upon the development of certain principles which are a growth from the germs left by a previous exist- ence, the law holds good as regards the future. Once grasp the idea that universal causation is not merely present, but past, present and future, and every action on our present plane falls naturally and easily into its true place, and is seen in its true relation to ourselves and to others. Every mean and selfish action sends us backward and not forward, while every noble thought and every unselfish deed are stepping-stones to the higher and more glorious planes of being. If this life were all, then in many respects it would indeed be poor and mean, but regarded as a pre- paration for the next sphere of existence, it may he used as the golden gate through which we may pass, not selfishly and alone, but in company with our fellows, to the palace which lies beyond."
Buto, of whom I have previously spoken in this chapter, was identified by the Greeks in their Laiona. She was worshipped princi- pally in the town of Buto, which received its name from festivals held there in her honor, and an oracle was established there which was held in high esteem by the ancient Egyptians. " The most veracious of all the oracles of all the Egyptians " (Herodotus, Book II, chapter 152.) It was to this goddess that Isis entrusted her children while she went in search of lost Osiris. Buto acted the part of nurse and guardian to Horns and Bubastis, and watched over them very carefully during the whole time that Isis was absent, and when Typhon sought to persecute and destroy them she carried them away, hiding them in a floating island called Chemmis. In this way she prevented Typhon from obtain- ing possession of them. This island was situated in a lalyC not very far from the town of Buto, upon which Horus and Bubastis, with Buto, were worshipped together.
I have not gone into the profound depths of the esoteric meaning of the Osirian Triad in this chapter, but shall leave that subject to another. Neither do I wish to enter into a long and useless article in order to prove that Scottish Rite Masonry has been in existence from time immemorial, but I do most assuredly claim that our most Illustrious
70 EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY,
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite teaches the same grand truths, tlie same sublime philosophies, and solves the same scientific problems as elucidated in the esoteric teachings of the ancient mysteries, and I do most firmly and sincerely believe that these esoteric teachings originated in the valley of Hindustan, and that it was cradled on the banks of the river Nile, in the hoar}' ages of the past, from whence it found its way to all parts of the earth. ' .
Every degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, from the first to the thirty-second degree, teaches by its ceremonial as well as by its instruction, that the noblest purpose of life and the highest duty of a man are to strive incessantly and vigorously to win the mastery in every- thing, of that which in him is spiritual and divine, over that which is material and sensual ; so that in him also, as in the universe which God governs, harmony and beauty may be the result of a just equilibrium.
To achieve it, the Mason must first attain a solid conviction, founded upon reason, that he hath within him a spiritual nature, a soul that is not to die when the body is dissolved, but is to continue to exist and to advance toward perfection through all the ages of eternity, and to see more and more clearly, as it draws nearer unto God, the Light of the Divine Presence. This the Philosophy of the Ancient and Accepted Scot- tish Rite teaches him ; it encourages him to persevere by helping him to believe that his free will is entirely consistent with God's omnipotence and omniscience ; that He is not only infinite in power, and of infinite wisdom, but of infinite mercy, and has an infinitely tender pity and love for the frail and imperfect creatures that He has made.
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It flows through old hushed 6gypt and tts sands,
Lihc some grave, mighty thought, threading a dream;
Hnd times, and things, as in that vision seem,
Keeping along it, their eternal stands,
Caves, pillars, pyramids, the shepherd bands,
"Chat roamed through the young earth— the flag extreme
Of high Sesostris, and that southern beam,
Che laughing Queen that caught the world's great hands.
Chen comes a mightier silence, stem and strong,
Hs of a world left empty of its throng;
Hnd the void weighs on us; and then to wahe,
Hnd hear the fruitful stream lapsing along,
'Cwixt villages, and think how we shall tahc
Our own calm journey on, for human sahe.
— Leigh Hunt.
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EGYPT, THE CRADLE OF ANCIENT MASONRY. 73