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THE GRAMMAR OF

THE LOTUS
NEW

HISTORY OF CLASSIC

ORNAMENT

AS A

DEVELOPMENT OF SUN WORSHIP

PFif/i

Observations on the " Bronze Culture

from Egypt ; based

ojt

"

of Prehistoric Europe, as derived

the Study of Patterns

Wm. R:^'G00DYEAR M.A.


Curator of the Department of Fine Arts

(yale

1867)

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences;

in the

THE ARCH/EOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA LECTURER ON THE HISTORY OF ART IN THE COOPER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK,
BROOKLYN INSTITUTE, ETC., ETC. FORMERLY CURATOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PAINTING IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
OP ART, NEW YORK; AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF ART," "ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY," ETC., ETC.

MEMP.F.R OF

\%
WITH

NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY


Liviited
$t. glunetan's

^mt

Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.G.

1891
[.-///

rights reserved']

9-

U2-^
(p

'x'b

5310
3

LONDON

PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINRTON,


ST.

JOHN'S HOUSE,

LD.,

CLERKENWELL ROAD, EC.

To
"

bring

thee

the flozuer

the glorious

Denderah.

J.

lily

H.,

Esq.

which was

of the great

in

the

Water!'

Beginning,

Text

from

PREFACE.
I

HAVE

been

only

able

achieve

to

the

of

publication

Work by

this

unspeakable kindness and generosity on the part of several people


must be mentioned first, the gentleman whose initials follow my

To Miss Amelia
made

observation

in

the Ionic Capital

Edwards

B.

own

who have
will

first

owe her more than

of science

who

which carry the argument of


of his

title-page.

derived from an actual natural appearance in the flower of

is

man

first

these

European recognition of my
1873 (through Cypriote vases), and published in 1888, that

the Egyptian water-lily.

The

owe the

among

an

this

how

my Work,

is

my

the

man

will not say.

science

who

offered,

There are some students

proofs.

me

understand what this gentleman has done for


;

of

some students who have not

written books, and

ever saw the original cartoons of the Plates

motion, to read and revise

through the volume

much

after

who

written books,

they have glanced

although he does not stand committed in any way to

my

There must be something in the genial and kindly nature


man of science which makes him a victim of "the Preface." I have

views by this action.


of this

observed that an enormous number of


to

are

Reginald Stuart

Professor

and

all

art

and of

Finally,

every

warm

all

the

If

my

shall

my

Preface

there

historian

only study which suggests a knowledge of

history.

owe

to

my

American friends the gratitude which goes out

heart and every helping hand.

who

not escape

an Orientalist, and of a

of

and a lady who shall be nameless.


I am under most peculiar obligations
Princeton),

works contain acknowledgments

have had from him the assistance of an

hieroglyphic scholar,

study of coins

trained by the

He

Poole.

none which owe him more.

Egyptologist

scientific

prepared the designs for

readers will

Among
to Mr.

my

these are

John

my own

W. McKecknie

to

brother

(B.A. of

Plates.

pardon a suggestion made

in

their interest,

will

say

that the matter of every chapter presupposes a preliminary acquaintance with the

Plates placed at

its

conclusion.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PART L EVOLUTIONS OF THE LOTUS MOTIVE.
PAGE

The Lotus and Egyptian Gods


Plates

i.,

...

ii.

Lotus Forms mistaken


Plate

...

19

PAGE

Greek Ionic and Anthemion Forms


Plate

21, 23

for

39
25

Nelumbiums

IIS 119

xiii.

Greek Anthemions, Rope Patterns, and " Herz-

iii

blatts"

Lotus Forms mistaken for Papyrus


Plates

4361

iv., v.

6768

Plate vi

69

Egyptian Lotus Ionic Forms

Plate

7177

vii.

The Problem

of Concentric Rings

8185

viii.

87

Egyptian Meanders and Spiral Scrolls


Plate X
Rosette

131
133

Sepal Volutes, with and without the Central

135137

Spike
Plate XV.

The Lotus

...

91

...

9395
97

xi

Spiral

Melian Vases
Plates xvi.,

...

...

...

...

139

on Cypriote, Rhodian, and


...

...

...

xvii., xviii., xix.

The Rosette (continued from

Plate

...

141

...

145

147

...

149

151

xi.)

153

The Eggand- Dart Moulding


Plate xxi.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

iS7
155
159

107

109

III

The

so-called Ivy

Leaf

161

Plate xxii

"3

xii.

142

...

...

Plate XX

99105

The Egyptian Lotus Palmette


Plate

...

Lotus Ionic Capitals and Details, showing the

89

Plate ix

Plate

...

...

79

Egyptian Introrse Scrolls

The

...

...

63. 6s

Lotus Capitals of Egyptian Architecture

Plate

123

Plate xiv.

163
165

PART IL-ASSOCIATIONS OF THE LOTUS MOTIVE.


PAGE

Solar Symbolism in Ionic


Plate

xxiii.

The Lotus and

Forms

...

the Sacred Tree

Plates xxiv., XXV.

The

Bull and the Lotus


Plate xxvi.

The Cow and

Plate xxviii.

The Lion and

the Lotus

The Sphinx and

183, 185

187

195196
197

199

the Lotus

Plates xxxi., xxxii., xxxiii., xxxiv.

Deer, Gazelle, Oryx, Ibex, Wild Goat, and

Lotus

The

Lion, Bull,

and Lotus

The

Chimffira

259

and the Lotus

255257

Plate xl

259

The Phenician Palmette

261

201
Plate

207

209, 211

213
221

255-257

Plate xl

263

xli

203
205

243
253
245

229

Plates XXXV., xxxvi., xxxvii., xxxviii., xxxix.

191

193

...

Plates xxix., xxx.

The

175-181

...

the Lotus

171

173

...

the Lotus

Plate xxvii.

The Ram and

169

219

227

The Fish and


Plate

267

xlii.

The Bird and


Plates

the Lotus

266
265

the Lotus

...

xliii., xliv., xlv., xlvi.

269281
283

289

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

via

PART

DIFFUSION OF THE LOTUS MOTIVE.

III. PREHISTORIC

FACE

Geometric Lotuses of Cyprus


Plates

xlvii., xlviii., xlix.,

. .

29330'

303309

1. ...

Lotus Motives of the " Mycenae Culture"


Plates

li., lii.,

liii.,

Plates IvL,

Style
...

311

317

39 3^7

liv., Iv

The Greek Geometric


European Ornament

...

and

Prehistoric

337

339345

Ivii., Iviii., lix

PART
Plate Ixv

the Lotus

The Horse and


Plate

The Lotus

359
the Lotus

361363

Ixi

365

Patterns of Ancient America


Ixii., Ixiii.

367374
377. 379

...

Modern Kabyle and Ancient Cypriote


Plate Ixiv

Pottery

381-383
38s

IV.- MISCELLANIES.
TAGE

The Ankh and

347356

Plate Ix

Plates

39

...

The Swastika

389. 391

393

The Phenician " Sacred Triangle


Plates

Ixvi., Ixvii.

...

"

395. 396
399. 401

OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS,

LIST

I.

Detail from

the

of Osiris, as

Myth

represented

at Philae
2.

3.

Egyptian Blue Lotus.


Egyptian Blue Lotus.
three sepal spikes

4.

From Nature
From Nature.
Nature.

6.
7;

8.

9.

Dried Ovary Stigma of the Lotus,


From Nature

lO.

...

..I

("

Unknown

12.

by the original publication


Conventional Outline Lotus
Lotus with Conventional Outline

From Xature

13. Papyrus.

17.

18.
19.

Top

43

Supposed Papyrus.
God Horus on the Lotus Column

Wooden

Toilet Tray.

48

Lotus supporting a Leaf

Lotus supporting a Leaf


Detail from the Temple-portico, Denderah.

...

32.

From

33.

held

21.

Lotus-sceptre,

22.

From Author's sketch


From Turin Papyrus No.
form

specified

as

by

Isis-Hathor,

10.

23

From Turin Papyrus No.


fied

as

lotus

by

10,

Fig.

22.

From

24

From Turin Papyrus No.

10.

same Papyrus.

From

for the

Tomb
...

Author

...

Tomb

...

for
"

Author's sketch
34.

From

35.

...

...

56

" the
North," resting on a

the North," Denderah.


...

...

Author's Sketch in

Growing

...

Tomb

From

...

...

altar,

57

of Ra-hotep at

plant, coloured green, out...

...

...

...

and another erect beside

plume

58

60

laid
...

it

Lepsius, Denkmiilcr (Ab. H. 12), supWilkinson


to represent making a boat
posed by
...
...
...
...
...
of papyrus...

52

37. Picture

53

38. Demonstration for the hieroglyph called Papyrus

60

in

as being a Lotus,

39. So-called

verted

55

57

Asp with Crown

on the

S3

55

No. 125, Abd-el-

Bahri, with a conventional papyrus

Colonnette Amulet

54

No. 125, Abd-el-

52

Author's

Author's sketch

...

Capital,

sketch of a picture in the Turin Papyrus No. 10.


36. Photograph from an Altar of Offerings at Dehr-el-

(so-called papyrus), specified as a lotus by Fig.


22,

Lotus

7.

51

Bell Capital, speci-

sketch

Author's
...

Sebak holding th? true Cyperus Papyrus, before an


altar crowned by the Lotus.
From Author's

From

Author's sketch

...

...

Author's Sketch in

line black, detail red

Denderah.

leaf.

From
...

of the Kings, Thebes, sup-

From Photograph

Maydoum.

So-called papyrus

by the

lotus

...

Tombs

lotus as sign for

Isis-

SI

(Karnak)

Lotus Capital,

51.

Kourneh

Hathor bearing Lotus Stems with attached Buds.


Sketch from Photograph ...
20. Campaniform Lotus Capital.

54

Author's Sketch in

Kourneh

5
5

54

So-called papyrus, specified as a lotus

Lotuses from

From

48

...

...

...

From Author's

of the Kings.

From Turin Papyrus No.

31.

44

...

papyrus,

...

porting leaves and with leaves attached to the

43

at the

So-called

From Turin Papyrus No.

stem.

39

...

Beni Hasan

14. 15.
16.

30.

53

Maydoum.

coloured green, with red top and yellow petal


sheath.
From Author's sketch

supposed to be a Nelumbium

.S/>(r<'w</w

I2A.

29.

30

11.

Plant,

showing

"),

sketch.

...

...

Tomb,

Ra-hotep's

Tombs

Author's

...

coloured green, with red top.


sketch
...
...
...

29

Rose Lotus
Flower, Seed-pod, Bud, and Leaf

Nelumbium Speciosum

...

by Fig. 24

29

29

Hieroglyphic,
sketch.

from the Monu-

Lotus,

Three-spiked

ments

27.

28.

after seeding.

in

From

Papyrus.

...

specified as lotus by Fig. 24

28

...

Typical Three-spiked Lotus, from the Monuments,


with a palmate attachment on the central spike.

9A. Typical

26. Hieroglyphic

28
to seed

...

From Author's
28

Ovary Stigma, Blue Lotus ...


Ovary Bulb of the Lotus, gone

same

22,

Fig.

sketch

27

Ovary Stigma, White Lotus

of the Sacred

by

Showing

sepals curled over...

Head

10.

26

27

From

From Turin Papyrus No.

Bark, so-called papyrus form, specified as a lotus

Showing

...

Egyptian Blue Lotus.

5.

25.

19

by association with the

Papyrus supporting

leaf

a Lotus Bud

...

66

66

in-

66

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS.


PAOB

PACK
39*. Lotuses of the I Vth Dynasty
39B. Conventional Outlines of the XVIIIth Dynasty

66

78. Saracenic Algerian Detail

66

79-

Evolution of (he Guilloche

41. Greek Ionic Capital

7'

80.

128

43. Cypriote Ionic Capital

71

81.

Greek Anthemion, Macedonia


Assyrian Lotus Detail

82,

Assyrian Lotus Detail

128

71

83-

Greek Pottery Detail


Sindh Pottery Detail

128

43.

Cypriote Tombstone (Golgoi)

44. Cypriote Ionic Capital

Bud

45. Egyptian Ionic Lotus supporting an Inverted

73

84.

74

8S- Sindh Tile Detail

47. Cypriote Pottery Lotus

74

86.

48. Cypriote Pottery Lotus

74

87. Renaissance Carving

76

88.

46. Cypriote Vase,

NY. Museum

49. Cypriote Pottery Lotus withpendant Sepals

50. Capitals in Relief

on

Pillar at

Karnak

53-

54.

89.

82

Lotuses and Spiral Scroll Scarab in Leyden


...
Rudimentary Lotuses with Spiral Scrolls. Scarab in

Leyden
Ankhs with

Solar Hieroglyphics.

Orchomenus Lotus

Rosettes in symbolizing fashion

58. Egyptian Lotus Palmette


59. Egjptian Lotus Palmette
60.

British

61

Museum

From

and papyrus

65.

96.

Lotus Border with Bunches of Grapes

95

97- Cypriote Lotus


"
98. Erechtheium

04

99. Doric Capital (original surface design

Textile Ornament,

157

by Mr. John Pennethorne


"
"
lotus and papyrus
considered to be
T}-pe of the
the origin o( the Anthemion by Mr. John Penne-

119

161

124

Late Anthemion, Macedonia


Rhodian Vase

124

...

Eg)pto-Phenician Ivory Detail from Nineveh


Bronze Repousse
...

colour

107. Capital in wood, or

169

wood and metal

Handle

...

...

wood, or wood and metal


Ionic Lotus supporting Sun and Moon.

169
...

..j

10.

Assyrian Cylinder

From an
170

...

Ionic Lotus associated with symbols of the

and Moon.

Moon.

Sun
170

Cypriote Capital

Ionic Lotus associated with the symbols of Sun

Cypriote Tombstone
Head of Hathor.

H3- Lotus supporting the

114. Ionic Lotus supporting the Sun.

and
170

Cypriote

170
Detail from the

126

...
Sippara Tablet
Ionic
Lotuses
'5supporting the winged solar disk.
From Hittite Relief

126

n6. The Sun, the Worshipper, and

126
126

126

Assyrian Seal

169

169

Tombstone

the

'25

Greek Etruscan DetaiL

in

124

125

From

163

109. Capital in

Anthemion from an Athenian Tombstone


Anthemion from an Athenian Tombstone...

Detail on Bronze.

163

108. Egyptian Mirror

68.

Greek Pottery Anthemion


76. Greek Architectural Detail
77. Greek Pottery Details

Bologna.
Author's

106. Relief Capitals at Karn-ik

119

Tomb

Museum of
From

115

124

75.

157

sketch

123

73.

102. Assyrian Capital

105. Lotus Details, from Nature

Anthemion of the Parthenon

74.

157

III

lotus

157

Bronze Detail, Oiympia


lOI. Assyrian Base

at

"

Regulini-Galassi

...

100.

Museum of Bologna. So104. Stone Relief Detail.


"
called
From Author's
ivy leaf" with spiral.

on Stone

Anthemion considered to be "

72. Egypto-Phenician

...

in colour)

Lotus with so-called ivy leaves.

67.

Egg and Dart" Moulding

sketch

thorne

1 .

137

Ionic Capital with Rosette

Greek Terra-cotta Anthemion

70.

Khorsabad

95-

66.

69.

131
Relief,

94

fresco,

Naukratis
the

St.

137

...

Greek Necking Ornament on a Column found

Type of

129

130

.151

fresco,

Relief

64.

From

Greek Anthemion, Sicily ...


Grcco-Scythian Gold Helmet from Kertch.

103. Detail from a Stone Relief.

62. Assyrian Palmette.

63.

128

Lotus Buds and Anthemions, Asia Minor.

94. Cypriote Lotus

Museum

Assyrian Palmette with Lotus Bud.


British

128

83

109

From

128

83

109

Assyrian Palmette with Lotus Bulb.

128

92. Syrian Ionic Capital

supporting

...

128

Petersburg...

Spirals with Rosettes (Schlie-

"
"
mann).
Mycenae Culture
57. Gold Ceremonial Vase with stems

127

Greek Pottery Detail

91. Assyrian Ionic.

55. Evolution of the Spiral Scroll


56.

90.

83

Scarab

127

...

Perrot

78

5- Formation of the Spiral Scroll from Lotus with one


Volute

...

171

171

the Lotus Flower.

171

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS.


117.

The Moon-god,

Flower with Buds.

Assyrian Seal

118. Ionic Capital of the Erechtheium

common

Cone, a

119. Stone

and the Lotus

the Worshipper,

...

terminal

ornament of

Cypriote Tombstones
120. Cypriote Tomb Stele, showing an abbreviated
"
"
121.
...

Cone

Sacred Tree

Assyrian

122. Horus, with Lotuses

Ornament

123. Lotus Bulb Tile

Bulb Tile Ornament

124. Lotus

125. Lotus Bulb with

Buds and Flowers.

Detail from

a statue of the Nile-god in the British Museum...

From

Bulbs with Anthemion.

126. Lotus

Author's

sketch
127.

Hathor with Cow-ears and Lotuses


Bologna Museum.
"
Demonstration for the so-called " ivy leaf as a

iz8. Detail of a Tomb-relief in the

leaf.
From Author's sketch
The Sphinx and the Lotus." Demonstration for
the so-called "ivy leaf" as a Lotus leaf.
From
a Tomb-relief in Bologna.
From Author's

Lotus

"
129.

sketch
130.

Greek Vase

in the

Louvre

..

From

on Bronze.

131. Detail

the

Regulini-Galassi

Tomb
132.

The Sphinx and

the Lotus.

Persepolis

133. Deity with Ceremonial Branch and Ibex, facing a


Sacred Tree of Lotus Buds
134.

The

From a panel

Gazelle and the Lotus.

Temple-portico at Denderah.

in the

Photographed

for

the Author
135.

The Ibex and

the

From an Egyptian
From Author's sketch

Lotus.

fresco fragment in Turin.

136.

"Le

Dieu Cornu."

Detail from a

Gallo-Roman

Tombstone
137.

The Ibex and

138.

The Tam

139.

Tam

the Lotus.

Detail of a Phenician

bronze /a/^ra from Nineveh


with Antelope Head.
Detail of a Stone
Tablet in the British Museum. From Author's

sketch
in

Head.)

Bruce's

139A. Deity bearing the


140.

The

Tomb

From Author's

at

Thebes.

sketch

...

Tam

Gazelle, the Goose,

and the Lotus

in the Temple-portico at Denderah.


from a photograph made for the Author
141. Lion devouring Deer.
Detail, Greek Vase
142. Chimaera with Gazelle horn.
Engraved

panel

Owens
143.

gem.

College, Manchester

Gryphons (with "Phenician Palmette").


Curium /a/^ra

Detail,

XI

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS.

xu

^^o.

Meander

Greek " Geo-

Detail with Solar Geese.

metric" Vase

in

From

the Louvre.

sketch
>7

Meander

From
172.

the

Cabinet des

Swastika with Solar Geese.

Vase

in the

British

Museum.

Swastika Diagrams

>77

Swastika Diagrams

353

Vase

in the

Author's sketch

...

Relief at Medinet Habou.

178. Coptic Lotus Crosses.

for the Author


Specially photographed
Cross of Lotuses. Turin Scarab. From Author's

sketch

...

180. Birds with a


repousse.)

Horse's Mane.

(Hallstatt bronze

...

181.

Horses and Birds with a Horse's Mane.

182.

hxomt repoussL)
The Bird and the Lotus.
National
sketch

Museum

at

186.

Author's

Diagrams

176,

179.

Detail of a

From

Polytechnic, Athens.
>75' Swastika

From

Meander with Swastika.

353

"
Greek " Geometric

sketch
174.

185.

From

metric" Vase in the British Museum.

73

353

Greek " Geo-

Detail with Solar Geese.

Author's sketch

184.

M^dailles.

Author's sketch

Meander

353

Greek " Geo-

Detail with Solar Geese.

metric" Vase in

183.

Author's

(Hallstatt

From a Zuni Vase in the


Washington. From Author's

PART

I.

EVOLUTIONS OF THE LOTUS MOTIVE.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

GODS.

AND MORTUARY

SOLAR, CREATIVE,

SIGNIFICANCE.
(PLATES

Current

I.,

II.,

PAGES

21, 23.)

Egyptian lotus conceive it as a sort


of national flower, comparable to the shamrock of Ireland or the thistle of
Scotland.
It is constantly mentioned in connection with the papyrus plant, which
latter

popular

divides with

references

it

the

to

the honours,

in

popular estimation,

of being

a national

This popular view of the kinship of lotus and


Egyptian decorative symbol.
papyrus is propagated and supported by a rendering of hieroglyphic symbols, which
"
"
as a papyrus and the hieroglyph for
the North
considers the hieroglyph for
"

the

South

"

as a lotus.'

Hence, since a geographical division

is

supposed to

be indicated by either plant, in certain hieroglyphic renderings, a tacit presumption


of the use of both or either as national decorative emblems.
of decoration, the papyrus

is

In histories of

Since the publication of the magnificent

American decorators, the decorative

1.

p. 8.

"

Grammar

which has become a veritable bible of

and the professional

and

invariably mentioned beside the lotus, and the distinctive

forms of either plant are pointed out, with occasional hesitation

in 1856,

art,

architect,

have

artist,
all

Ornament

reference, at

least

by Owen Jones,
to English and

the cultivated amateur in aesthetic matters,

accepted his papyrus illustrations as authentic

Maspero, Histoire Ancienne des Feuples deP Orient,


" Le
papyrus se plaisait dans les eaux paresseux du

Delta, le lotus au contraire fut choisie pour symbole

of

for special cases.^


"

de

la

Thebaide," a statement which comes very near to implying


a geographical symbolism for the lotus.

2.

The

hesitation habitually shows itself in a mention of

both plants for an individual case, leaving the reader to

make his own choice, as in the text of Prisse D'Avennes,


where the expression " bouquet de lotus ou de papyrus " is
very

common.

For instance,

text, p. 387.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

Wherever the

references for Egyptian Art.


it

penetrated,

has carried with

it

"

the

GODS.

South Kensington has


Grammar of Ornament," and its views regardinfluence of

ing the papyrus as a factor in Egyptian decoration, which

Egyptologists in general,

shall be able to

not occur in Egyptian ornament at

The

lotus

was a

moreover, those of

show, however, that the papyrus does

all.

of immemorial antiquity, and has been worshipped in

fetich

countries reaching from Japan to the Straits of Gibraltar.

many

various water-lilies which

and

are,

am

regarded

are

a national symbol, but

as

papyrus ranks with

it

of the

by the word are confined to Egypt,


which would show that the Egyptians

indicated

not acquainted with any facts


it

None

it

is

quite

as

that

clear

as a factor in Egyptian ornament, so long

it

long as the

will

be natural

to suppose that a certain patriotic sentimentalism (rather than a


deep rooted religious

prompted the choice of the dominant Egyptian decorative patterns,


which the lotus, according to present views, would come in for only half share.
feeling)

When we move
and statements,
"

renaissance

mentioned.*
there

is

"

it

back from popular or casual references to more exact accounts

appears that the lotus

or of " resurrection." ^

As

in

Its

a symbol of fecundity

it

is

"
symbol of

life,"

of " immortality," of

mortuary significance and funereal uses are


In this class of references
is well known.*

a curious absence of parallel notices of the papyrus, which sinks out of sight,

without apparent cause.

It is

not by any means an

mentioned as a symbol of the sun,^ but

it

is

uncommon

thing to find the lotus

common

to find this reference

quite as

wanting.

In Hindu mythology we find an exuberance of lotus symbolism, which may be


reduced to solar relations by some attention to scattered facts, but these relations are
not to be gathered from any systematic statements of authorities.
attribute of the distinctive

verses quoted by Moor's


lotus, father, friend,

3.

p.

Prisse d'Avennes,

62.

Vi^^v.vt, Pantheon ^gyptien,

Ebers, Egypt Descriptive,

OsBURN mentions

&fc.,

were presented to the guests at Egyptian funerals

5.

Westropp,

Ancient Pagan

p. 66.

the fact that bouquets of the lolus

mental History of Egypt,


Ar.cient

vol.

I.,

p.

Monu-

6y

Symbol Worship,

and Modern

flower

is

an

Sir William Jones in


"
Lord of the
197)
:

and king."

PiERRET, Dictionnaire (T Archeologte j&gyptienne,

under " Lotus."


4.

text.

"

Hindu Sun-god Surya, as noted by


"
Hindu Pantheon (Ed. Wilson, p.

The

p.

77.

Inman,

Christian Symbolism ;

many

references.

King, Gnostics and

their remains, p. 174,

the lotus of Isis and the Lily of the Virgin.

of fecundity the lotus

is

well

known

modern Theosophisls.
In Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol.

on

As an emblem

to the

Brahmans,

Buddhists, and
6.

ii.,

p. 149,

where the

Colonna-Ceccaldi,
authority of Proclus is quoted.
Monuments antiques de Chypre, p. 141, mentions this solar
So does Ebers, Egypt Descriptive, I. p. 66.
significance.
.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


Of Brahma
image of
One,
"

is

"

said

Modern Brahmans consider


and individually
and absolutely," and it

their great deities jointly

who

the sun

is

it

alone exists really


is

GODS.

emblem

the most glorious and active

added that

is

God

of

a personification of the sun, or conversely, the sun

the sun an

is

emblem

of Brahma, the

i.e.

to the

"

(Moor,

or

Supreme

Brahmans,
"

Vishnu

p. 9).

a personification of him

"

add the quotation that " Brahma having, by a


generally received system, founded on the doctrines of the Vaishnavas, sprung on a
lotus from the navel of Vishnu, to bid all worlds exist, has hence, and
perhaps in
(Moor,

all

p.

To which we

13).

other points, relation

Vishnu

to

"

(Moor,

will

the lotus, but

Such a

p. 8).

collation of facts relating to

sun, and the lotus, must, however, be


authority.
art,

The

Brahma from

birth of

a more immediate attribute of

is

it

drawn from

Brahma, Vishnu, the


pages of the given

different

Hindu

the lotus, frequently represented in

has been also commemorated by the poems of Sir William Jones.


"

Above
Till

the warring waves

from

its

it

danced

elate.

bursting shell with lovely state,

A form cerulean

fluttered o'er the deep,

Brightest of Beings, greatest of the Great

not as mortals steep

Who,

Their eyes in dewy sleep


But, heavenly pensive, on the lotus
;

That blossomed

Hail, primal blossom

lay.

and shed a golden

at his touch,

ray.

hail, empyreal gem


Kemel, or Pedma, or whate'er high name delight thee
Say, what four-formed God-head came,

With

graceful stole

and beaming diadem,

Forth from thy verdant stem

We
lotus, in

stated

"
!

may, however, read page after page, containing manifold references to the
works on Hindu art and mythology, without finding its solar relations

either

explicitly

or by implication.

modern Japanese

festival

which

associates the lotus with the sun will be mentioned later.

In

of
reality, the solar significance

by ancient

classical authority, is the

the lotus, which

is

also explicitly mentioned

elementary and most important one

not as

overpowering or belittling the other relations to the tomb, the Resurrection, and the
"
"
life
or creative power, but as explaining them and giving them full
idea of

no reference or monograph extant which unites and unifies


the meanings of the lotus, and which considers the solar significance foremost, as
from Egyptian
explaining all the others, it will be well to establish this significance

value.

Hence, as there

is

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

For

texts.

Denderah says

instance, a text at

beginning, rises like a

hawk from

the midst of

"

The Sun, which was from

its

GODS.

When

lotus bud.

the

the doors of

its

leaves open in sapphire-coloured brilliancy, it has divided the night from the day."'
Of the Sun-god, Horus, it is said " He opens his eyes and illuminates the world.
:

from his eyes and the men from his mouth, and all things are through
him, when he rises, brilliant from the lotus."* At Denderah a king makes offering
"
I offer thee the flower which
of the lotus to the Sun-god, Horus, with the words

The Gods

rise

was

in the beginning, the glorious lily of the great


"
"
the words

Book

of the

on Plate

(p.

19).

i,

2.3,

Nos.

I.,

Dead

"

Sun

of the

field

of the

closes with

Water. "^
"
:

am

confessional chapter

a pure lotus, issue of the

For these hieroglyphic texts we


No. 2 shows the
4,5, 6, 8, 11.

find parallel illustrations

familiar instance of the

youthful or infant Horus (the dawning sun and the sun by day

"*)

rising from the

''
No. 5 shows the hawk (a form of Horus and of all solar Gods ^'^ supported
by the flower.^' No. 8 shows a hawk-headed Ra (the Sun), worshipped by the offering of the flower.'^ No. 6 shows Amon (Sun-god of Thebes'*) worshipped in the

flower.

No. 4 shows Osiris (the sun

same way.

Toum
vol.

(the setting sun, but also

Brugsch, Religion und Mythologie der

7.

Ibid

9. Ibid

Egyptian

vol.

i.,

p. 104.

vol.

i.,

p.

is

child

Rouci,

exposes dans
11.

solar disk (Plate

The dawning sun

Notice
Its

rising

des

another."
12.

says that

not

is

is

"

He

is

Emmanuel

Monuments ^gyptiens

du Musee du Louvre,

liawk, the hawk-headed man, and the

and

6) which

conceived as a

from the flower.

Sommaire

Galeries

is

In speaking of four forms of Horus

Maspero

xliii.

in

him (Brugsch, J/yM^^/f^^), whereas the hawk

hence the child

the

human-headed hawk

Horus under

all

Ilistoire

four forms,

Ancienne des Peuples de F Orient,;^. 47.

For the hawk, as

common

PantMon

to all

Agyptien,

Egyptian solar gods,

and Mariette, who


"

text
gods with hawk-heads personify the sun
for PI. viii., Album du Musee de Boulaq.
According to
says,

Birch,

" Hawks were sacred

eyes."

Egyptian Antiquities in the British

to the sun from their brilliant

Museum,

God

in

other

all

a bird of Apollo (the

sun),

and of

p. 36.

According to Eusebius, Ormuzd, Persian

of Light, was represented with the head of a hawk,

Lajard, Culte de Mithra, pp. 278 and 416.

Homer

compares Apollo

In the Odysseyhe

The hawk

14.

of light and

and

p. 142.

the human,

more himself under one of them than under

see PiERRtT,
" All

The hawk was

"Zoroaster."

and most universal form of Horus

winged

not thus limited.

DE

13.

sun

as the sun, see Encycl pcedi.i Briiannica, ninth edition, under

121.

all-prevalent

art is the

distinctive for

at Heliopolis as the

Mithra, Lajard, Culte de Mithra, pp. 531, 532. P"or Mithra

The

10.

alien Aegypter,

one of his

in

Horus,

shows Nefer-Toum, or the good

11

worshipped

p. 103.

i.,

8.

No.

associations with the flower.

habitual

at night '^, father of

its

to a

hawk, Iliad,

xv.,

236-23S.

the messenger of Apollo, xv., 525, 526.


was sacred to Ra (the Sun), " as the symbol
is

spirit,

because of the quickness of

its

ascent to higher regions of the air," quoted from

Porphyry

in

Rawlinson's History of Egypt,

For the hawk as a form of

Osiris, see

i.

p. 344.

Emmanuel de

Roug6, Notice Sommaire des Monuments Agyptiens


dans les Galeries du Musee du Louvre, p. 137.
15.

For

ee^ p, 31.
16.

earth

Amon

as the sun, see

Amon

is

during the night

Osiris as the nightly

World, the

God

in

"double"

of Osiris.

as passing around under the

its

return

sun became the

of the

exposes

Maspero, Histoire And-

a well-known

The sun was conceived

rectioa

motion

Mummy, and

to

sunrise,

God

of the

the

hence

Lower

GodofResur.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


see also plate v.

5, 6,

[p.

65]

xliii. 3,

plate

page 24)

less

common

in publication

1,3

(i.

solar disk with the lotus are instanced

winged

Assyrian seals

(xxiv.

i, 2, 3,

monuments

disk on such

is

common on

to be of

the

monuments

Direct associations of the

[p. 21]).

by several published Phenician and

7 [p. 183]; xxxii. 6, 11, 12

known

lotus,

283].

[p.

Direct associations of the solar disk and lotus are


(see

For the Sun-hawk on the

with his customary lotus head-dress.

phases''),

GODS.

Egyptian

223]).

[p.

origin.'"

The winged solar


The lotus in above-

'
from which they are
quoted instances has not been specified in the publications
taken, and it has been overlooked for Assyrian cylinders in all other publications

known

to

me.

and lunar gods

tablets to solar

10

6,

401])

[p.

in related

Syrian and Assyrian seals and cylinders with sun disk and

(xxiii,

173]

[p.

xxiv. 5, 12, 13, 14

Greek remains with sun and moon

in Cypriote

on votive

in Phenician art,

11 [p. 173]; Ixvi. 4, 6, 12 [p. 399]; Ixvii. 2, 4,

(xxiii.

lunar crescent or lunar crescent singly

and

common

Representations of the lotus are

10

(xxiii.

183])

[p.

These

173]).

[p.

instances are illustrations, in foreign adoption, of an Egyptian solar symbolism which

though not equally visible evidence in the citations which follow.


commonly quoted as representing Seb (Solar god and father of

finds equally palpable,

The goose

is

but represents also Osiris himself and Horus.^"

Osiris),

the goose and the lotus

10

(ii.

[p.

illustrations are offerings of geese

23];

hawk and

Toum,

17.

the lotus, v.

and lotuses

sun, was the local deity of Heliopolis, and there represented

sun

points of hourly, daily, and monthly


Brugsch, Myihologie, i. p. 279. The lotus borne
on the head is confined to Toum as a type, but it can be
the

at

course.

cited

for

the

Museum, Case

Sun-lion
74,

(enamel amulet

Fouiiles d'Aiydos,

Menant, Recherches sur la


Perrot et Chipiez, Assyrie, p. 87.
18.

19.

the

in

Third Egyptian Room), and also

Sun-hawk; Marie,tie,

The

cylinders and

i.

$g

(P-

Glyptique

before

cuneiform

inscriptions

text appeared in 1847, lacking the parts left unfinished


by the author's death. His projected section on plants

was unwritten.

The word

lotus

occurs

only once

in

7,

see O.

Isis,

[p.

285].

significant matter

of his work).

instance of the current quotations for Seb and


i.

p. 375.

and Horus, and

Osiris

also

Keller, Thiere des Classischen Alterthums

of the same work,

reference to

At

p.

454, Note

a silver statuette of

and iheGooitiromthz ArchceologischeZeitung,


There is an Egyptian text tablet mentioning the

'H.a.x'^ocia.tts

"

Good

of the

goose of Osiris

New

"

in the

York Historical

Abbott Egyptian collection

Society, according to verbal

communication of Mr. Charles Edwin Wilbour.


See Notes above,

21.

deciphered.

The

xliv. 2,

axA without

referring to pi. xviii.

An

xxvi., 71.

were

de Mithra,

Ciilte

the associations

Culiurhistorischer Beziehung, p. 286.

6,

from

283]

[p.

these

The hawk

to Ra.

Hence

For the goose as bird of

in

seals specified are originally

Among

the goose, in Rawlinson's History of Eyypt,

for the

Orieniale.

54^

2-

of

c.

xliii. 3,

associations of

283]).

Horus and

to

Lajard's

British

Lajard's Culte deMi/Ara, the most extensive publication


of such monuments. The publication of this work took
place

and

all

[p.

solar gods.^'

all

5, 6, 7 [p. 65],

otherwise especially the declining and setting

11

xliii. 2, 4, 5, 8,

represents Horus, Ra, and belongs also to


of the

Hence the

for the

A.
iv.

i.

12, 13, 14.

Sun-hawk and the

96, 3

21;

A.

iii.

60

Additional illustrations

lotus are, Description de I'Egypte,

Marieite, Dend&ah,

i.

38

yi.M&XKZi'E, Fouilles d'Abydos^'i. 2,9i^, ^'^-

a,

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

The Bull-god Apis

GODS.

an incarnation of Osiris -; and an offspring of the Sun-god


The bull is otherwise known as a Solar god.*^* Hence the

is

Ptah of Memphis.^
its solar
illustrations which relate to the bull and the lotus continue to emphasize
Bull Apis and the lotus, from a votive
Ixv. 5 [p. 393]
i

significance

23]

[p.

(ii.

Serapeum in the Louvre, xxvi. i [p. 193]). The asp, which is sometimes quoted as an emblem of royalty, belongs to the king as identified with the
Hence the
the seething and hissing heat of the sun.-^
It
Solar
tablet of the

represents

god.

lotus associations represented

by

plates

ii.

[p.

23]

v. 2,

The

[p. 65].

lion is

invocation to the
a well-known solar animal and solar hieroglyphic. An Egyptian
sun is quoted by Brugsch "Thou art the Sun, a powerful lion."^^ The lion was
and Sethroe.'^ He represents the splendour and raging
worshipped at Heliopolis
violence of the sun, according to Birch,^^ and the sun is entitled by Egyptian texts,
:

"the master of double strength," by a hieroglyphic picture of two


the associations of the lion and the lotus (ii. 4 [p. 23]; xxix. i,
Phenician

seal,

lions with the lotus, xxxii.

winged

winged lions with

and winged solar

lotus,

shown by M. Le Page Renouf, the

disk,

[p.

223]
12

xxxii.

2,

To-morrow,"

i.e.

"

Osiris

is

209]

[p

As

223]).

[p.

lions seated back to back (as at xxix. 5


"

lately

209])

[p.

"

and

Yesterday

the sun which set yesterday and has risen again as

The Sphinx is a form of Horus,^^ i.e. a human-headed Sun-lion.


Pharaoh was deified under this form, and the head of the Sphinx is that
Ra.""

For the Apis Bull, as incarnation of

22.

PiERRET, Fanthhn Agyplien,

Boulaq,

text

Maspero,

for

Hisloirt

pi.

iv.

i.

Ptah

Andenne

Ptah as a local form of

p.

Osiris,

see

Mariette, Album du Musee

23. Piah, father of Apis,

identified

with the

de

sun,

des Peuples de FOrient, p. 3r.


Osiris,

Brugsch,

Mythologie

For Apis, a solar god, not exclusively son of Ptah,


see Pierret, Panthion Agyptien, p. i.
24

dont

Uraeus s^vissent et brulent

comme

la

lumi^re

d^ease l^ntoccphale peisonifie I'ardeur et la force,"


" Die
verzehrende
Pierret, Panthion, p. 30.
Schlange
la

Gluth der Sommerhifzc," Brugsch, Mythologie, iL


2d.

Brugsch, Mythologie, L

a8. Egyptian Antiquities in tht British

39.

de

fcs

La ^Igyptiens disaient que le soleil ^claire le monde

deux yeux, et

ils

voyaient dans sa lumilre la force

dans

I'univers.

L'astre

ce

la

double

force,' et

mot

du

lion."

30. For reference to an amulet of lion with lotus

on the

'force' est

&rit au duel avec I'hi^roglyphe

Pierret, Panihhn, p. 24.

7 (identified with

Nefer-Toum by

For an additional example of the

a.

64

Dec,

An original papyrus picture exhibited


Museum with this explanation on the label.

in the

p.

British

I.,

Society of Biblical Arc/iceology,

31. Proceedings,

1888,

the label).

lion crowfted with the

lotus at Edfou, see Description de PAgypte, A.

32.

p. 38.

the

of"

dieu est appel^, 'le maitre de

26.

Horus as Sphinx, Brugsch, Reiseberichte aus Egyp" Hence Horus is


represented as the Sphinx, whose

face turned eastward

Museum,

I'ordre

(The

Cette force resultant de ses deux yeux est dite double.

ten.

p. 183.

27. Reference as above.

"

qui entretient la vie, at maintient

head, see Note

p. 84.

25. I-es

^'';

Assyrian cylinders,

support the sun rising out of the Solar Mount, and represent
"

Hence

lions.-"

form of a lion

is

is

the radiant sun, and whose body in

emblematic of

his divine strength

great Sphinx of Gizeh as representing Horus,

Pcntheon, p. 42.

"

The

Pierret,

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

GODS.

Hence the associations of the Sphinx


reigning Pharaoh as identified with Horus/^)
and the lotus (ii. 5 [p. 23]; xxxi. i, 2, 3, 4, 5 [p. 221]), and Assyrian examples with
the lotus and winged solar disk (xxxii. 11, 12

The Gryphon

[p. 223]).

(ii.

[p. 23])

Hence the Gryphon on the lotus (xxxi. 7 [p. 221]; and


to in the address to Horus
4 [p. 223]). The serpent is referred

a form of Horus.=^'

is

Phenician

seal, xxxii.

at Denderah, quoted at p.

as living spirit

Compare

ii.

The

6.

which continues, "Thou

5,

bark of the Sun-rise, &c.


thy glorious form in the
ram was identified with the sun at Thebes, Latopolis (Esneh),
in

and on the island of

Elephantine.^'''

God Khnoum (a form of Amon and


The matter in hand is to point
referred

most

risest like the sacred serpent,

frequently by

Hence the
^^

Osiris)

on

plate

ii.

ram-headed

of the

association

with lotus buds.

[p. 23],

out that the symbolism of the lotus which

modern

writers

to

its

is

and generative, or

phallic

but not

and mortuary bearings is based upon a well-proven


to
There is no easier way to show this than
solar significance.
generally recognized
idea of the resurrection, and of a future
fact that the
to

its

funereal

admitted
Egyptian
appeal to the
forces of nature,
with a worship of the creative and reproductive
life, was connected

It is the
in character and origin.
which were conceived and worshipped as solar
its return to the
the sun at night through a lower world, during
supposed passage of
the God of the Lower
dawn of a following day, which makes Osiris (the sun at night)
.

As the God of
hence himself represented as a mummy.
he represents the creative
the Resurrection, his special and emphatic character,
i
i.
4, and Fig.
the lotus as attribute of Osiris (Plate
Hence
the
of
Sun-god.
energy
force
the resurrection, and of creative
at once a symbol of the sun, of
19), is

World, and of the dead

p.-

,.

The

ereat Sphinx has the

se^n..
.^::::::.s,.accordin..o..rau.j.s.
.ay antedate the First Dynasty
F- *^ SP^-'' <^--^^:;^ "".^JrZ^Z^Zo.
of tk. East).
monarch, see B.kch,

";^P'^/';;XI!
''' ^''"''

^^/^-; ^^^f

Charles

to pi. u., 8, of this work.


text at Ph>lae, relating
combination of solar lion
or hawk-headed lion, as

35.
..

Brugsch.

Schlange =

Brugsch,

ii.

also Pierret, Fanih.on, p. 42.

Heligicn

und Mythclogte

die verzehrende

The

serpent

is

Gluth

der

^.,

p.

The human-headed

of the

The

h.ero.yph.c
serpent

is

expert,

Mr.

also a for of

of
of the Typhonic and baleful aspect

6is).

tor the

Gryphon
and solar hawk, see

i.,

Edwin Wilbour).

SeT^rsl^fication

lit
with his translation of the Egyptian
isi.witnnis

T
n
Text vt^r
M.d.C.,p.

p. 160.

^ ^-j -^^e^::: ^^i^

and of Horus by Brugsch,

head of Shafra, according

Sommerhit.e,

form of Ra
quoted as a

^6.
3

Bkvgsch, Myikologie,

^^^^^^

JJ- ^

^^^^^^^^

Mar.etx
^^^,^^.,^^

i.,

^4-

^^

^^^^_

^^^

^_ ^^^_

^^^^^^

^^^_^^ ^^^^^^^^.^^^

^^ ^^.^j^^ ^^^
38.

^^ ^

^^^

Emmanuel pe

^^^^^^

^^ ^

^^^^

160.
Mythologie, u, p.

Notice des

Monuments a Boulag,

&c.

pp. 105,

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

lO

GODS.

and power. These significations are all conceded to


and this threefold significance is to be considered in

it

all

by quoted authorities,
cases and in all con-

the solar significance which explains the others, and for the same
reasons which have led the authorities to emphasize the solar character of the
nections, but

it is

Egyptian gods as explaining their other attributes.


Since the doctrine of a future

life,

we cannot

present to the Egyptian mind,

belief in a spirit

and the

world were ever

too strongly insist on the funereal symbo-

h'sm of the lotus, after the origin of this meaning has been once established.
for instance, its association with the Genii of

guardians of the viscera of the

and of Osiris."
the

The

3, is

ii.

Plates

of the lotus and

Egyptian

12

ii.

the

[p. 23],

and

and

classical antiquity in the

the Genii of the

iv.

common one on
14

sepulchral tablets

illustrate
[p. 63],

1,4

(v.

the constant association

Bouquets of the lotus were given to the guests


significance on sepulchral tablets was familiar to

mummy.

funerals,*"

Lower World) the


Dead and children of Horus
of the

(i.e.

taken from a picture of the Last Judgment, but

isolated representation is also a

[p. 65]).

at

detail

mummy,

Amenti

Hence,

its

Greco-Roman time."

Its

use in Christian art must also

be significant of immortality or resurrection, as on the Coptic shrine at Philae,


figured in Miss Edwards'

As

little

can

"A Thousand

we overlook

Miles up the Nile,"

the phallic

significance

p.

221.

of the

directly related to the idea of the Resurrection, according to

which

lotus,

is

Egyptian conceptions

of creative and reproductive power, as apparent in the character of Osiris, and in


texts

which

refer the

sun which conceives


Plate

i.

ID

instances

[p.

21]

lotus

to

him.*^

generally or constantly

itself*'),

shows

this

Publications of the ithyphallic

god with the lotus

leaf;

Khem

show him with

(the

the lotus.

at iv. 13, 16 [p. 63], are other

and his symbolic plant constantly appears surmounting the door of a

shrine, as in these illustrations.**

In India the phallic significance of the lotus

Linga-Yoni worship,** and, by way of the Buddhists, it has


been made known to the Theosophists of our own day, who are well acquainted
is

prominent

39. Genii of

Museum

in the

Amenti,

designations

Notia Sommairt,

ttx.^ p.

as children

of Horus

British

De Roug^i

as children of Osiris

soleil renaissant

ithyphallique."

de lui-meme que personifie

Pierret, Panthhn,

Khem

\o\.v&. Description de I'^gypte, A.,

"Omamenti

Funebri."

42. According to verbal advice of the hieroglyphic


expert,

Mr. Charles Edwin Wilbour, which


iexti,

Khem

" I/C

44. References for Ithyphallic

139.

40. See Note 4.

41. WM<i//, 1843,

43.

is

based on Egyptian

the lotus represents the reproductive element in Osiris.

iii.,

15,4.

Denon,

Rosellini,

127, 10.

II., xlL

i.,

or

p. 26.

Amon

with the

89, 8 (Esneh) and A,

Champollion,

IV., cccxlviii.

Prisse d'Avennes, il/b<#/j,

xxi., &c.,

&c.
45.

For

this

worship see

Moor s nindu

Pantheon

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


with this meaning of the

But

flower.'"^

the Brahmanic gods (through

all*

are

gods

related

to

the

sun

GODS.

in India the lotus

II

also an attribute of

is

them, subsequently, of Buddha), and

(p.

of which

5),

the

lotus

also

is

in

these

all

India

special emblem.''^

According to the obvious connection in the different characters of Osiris, as sun,


mummy, and creator, we may understand the other Solar gods of the Egyptian
Pantheon, and consequently the threefold meaning of the lotus as found connected with

To

their various forms.

quote the words of Professor Maspero

"

The

assimilation

and occasional complete identity of the Supreme God with the sun being once admitted,
the assimilation and complete identity of the secondary divine beings with Ra (the
sun) were a matter of course.

Amon,

Horus, Ptah, were regarded sometimes

Osiris,

as the living soul of Ra, sometimes as

Ra

various local triads with that of Osiris,

Isis,

Inman, Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism,

and Birdwood's Industrial Arts of India (Tan trie worship),


&c.
46. Verbal advice from a distinguished

"Le Lotus "

The

47.

Buddha,

For
see

is

this

is

the

"

For mention of Surya,

The "

see BiRDwooD, p. 67.

holiest verse of the

to the sun (Birdwood, p. 5).


and Puranic Mythology everything seems

or radiate

in

from

lotus,
"

Vedas

is

" IntheVedic

an invocation

merge

and the

directly or

The
"

When

like

is

no joy

" In the

which

has

" Padma

known

to

Vishnu

(or Narayana),

Kamala

are the

is

Hindu

William Jones in Moor,


"

name

" the lotus


words.
p.

76

Pedmi and
Sir

its

pedestal

represents

wood,
in a flower that

if

more auspicious deemed,

With many-petaled wings the blossom


the

god Krishna,

in love with a

lotus-

Mount Meru,

the

rises

of the
the

from

circular
for

lotus-

world

tabular

as

torus

centre

their

Hindu Olympus."

born, a lotus

(Bird-

bloomed where he

first

he stepped seven steps northward, and

prayer
"

jewel in the lotus," or,

C 2

to

p. 94.)

The Buddhist

relatives

likened

elephant, and

divisions

which

is

petals of the

Hindus, and

a lotus marked each footfall (Moor,

flew."

damsel whose

speciosum']

touched the ground

(Moor,

"His

of a shallow,

an

The seven

seven

the

the world

stalk

its

ancient

When Buddha was

the goddess from her lotus blue,

Or Kamala,

for

a tortoise.

the

{Nelumbium

balmy sweets exhaled,


O'er dulcet waves of cream Pad-mala sailed,
Shipped

So name

Of

or

Thus the verse of

said,

not

is

of wisdom (Moor,

flowers

centre

lotus-flower floating in the

represent

the

is

it

(Siva)

the

"

maternal dwelling

Hindu cosmogony

flower

Hence

to her breast."

p. lOl).

of Lakshmi, Consort of

19.

inward

in the

blossom with

vessel,

p.

it

to his view,

dark lotus-leaf complexioned Hari

(Birdwood, p. 5r.)
For the lotus as a Hindu emblem of female beauty see

Moor,

turned

Of Mahadeva

feet

and made speech im-

this

127).

p.

simplifies

used in coining poetical adjectives, such as

is

plant

the following

in-

sun (Surya)."

the

p. 297)

it

lotus to his forehead prest.

And

present, there

Art Handbooks).

distinctive Sun-god,

visit to her,

She raised her mirror

Moor's Hindu Pantheon, of Inman's

Museum

in so far as

(Moor,

of the

assimilation

He, with salute of deference due,

of the sect.

Symbol Worship, and of Birdwood's Industrial Arts of

directly to

said

it is

possible,

known through statues of


common to all Hindu gods.
and other lotus associations of the Hindu gods

India (South Kensington

The

disturbed the peace of his

of a French Theosophist journal.

title

^^

and Horus,

lotus pedestal, best

plates of

the

member

himself."

is

p. 154).

often quoted,

Holy jewel

"Oh, God!

in the lotus,

be

it

des Peuples de F Orient, p. 31.


48. Histoire Ancienne

the
so."

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

13

GODS.

the comprehension
Egyptian Pantheon, also simplifies
at Thebes, repeat
of the symbolism of the lotus. Thus Amon, Maut, and Khons,
the above triad under these local names, this being an example chosen among

names

the confusion of

The

many.**

in the

for the

illustration

altar

and the lotus

1 1

(ii.

is

[p. 23])

therefore

chosen to indicate the universal presence of the lotus on the altars of all Egyptian
The following combinations are also
the monuments.
gods, as shown by
The beetle (gods Ptah and Kheper) and the lotus*"; the ibex (god
significant.

Set *) and the lotus (xxxv.


(xxxv.

245])

[p.

of

association

1 1

[p.

the oryx (god

horse with

the

245])

the antelope (god Set *^ and the lotus

and the lotus (xxxv.

Set ")

the lotus

(see

Prisse

245]).

[p.

The

d'Avennes' Vases en Or)

undoubtedly foreign, but it is also a solar association." The ibis (god Thoth)
with the lotus, can be quoted for unpublished monuments. The hippopotamus
is

is illustrated by a rare and


large
(goddess Thoueris and Hathor ") with the lotus,
enamel figure of the animal in the Louvre, of the Eleventh Dynasty, from a tomb

at

The

Drah-Abou-Neggah.

is

piece

covered with lotuses.

There

a similar

is

Museum

piece of inferior preservation, as regards the symbol, in the British

(other

examples at Florence and in the Gizeh Museum). The god Bes (a form of Set or
Typhon) stands on the lotus in amulets of the Leyden Museum,^" and is connected
with the solar winged disk by a Mesopotamian cylinder and by a Phenician seal."

For the
with the

lotus

crowning offerings to the solar disk, see

Ankh,

"

symbol of

life,"

see Lxv.

As

abundantly illustrated in
49. Brucsch, Uythologit, vol.

i.

50. Seal from Cyprus.

in

King,

later

catalogued

in

British

54.

Cesnola's Cyprus,

p.

ibex amulet
Typhon,"
No.
Museum,
1698A, Case 77,

" Det
goldene Horns

dan

P-

erscheint als ein Sperber aut

kopfe eincr weisscn Antelope (Symbol des Set) in der

Stadt

Hierakonoiwlis."

Brucsch, Mythologie,

vol.

ii.,

**4
S3. Description of a Leyden bronze

I-O^'

393] with lxv.

Syria

3, 4.

and animals,

for the liorse as sacred to the

furnished by
;

Ankli

to

be

on the plates especially

A reference
is

birds

of the

Robertson Smith,

quoting

II.

Kings,

xxiii.,

Sun-god

Religion of

in
in

the

11, for the horse

which the king of Judah had consecrated to

this deity.

55. For Hathor as Hippopotamus, see the exhibited


papyrus of Ani in the British Museum, with Hippopotamus

Goddess thus designated and associated with lotuses,


56. Leemans, as above quoted, I., xv., 1190A, 1191;
described at p. 13. " Typhon debout sur une colonne
orn^e d'un chapiteau k fleur de lotus."

Horus, "II

foule

un Oryx, animal Typhonien." Leemans, in


Mtmumtmt iyj>liens du Mush d'Antiquites des Pays-Bas a
SCI pieds

[p.

Semites, p. 275

Third Egyptian Room.


51.

pages, and apparent

369, mistakes the plant on the gem for papyrus.


" devoted to
ibex as
see
5 1 . For the

lxv. 2,

lotus with various

the association of the

to

The equivalent meanings

i.

and the lotus are shown by the contrast of

For the lotus combined

iv. 7.

57.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

Chipiez, Phinicie,
the

fig.

296.

sun are implied by

(British

Museum

his

The

xxxii.,

i.

associations of Bes with

identity with

designations).

Perrot et
Set

and Baal

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


it

question here,

GODS.

13

matter of commonplace information that such animal forms,

is

either complete or associated with the

human

body, belong to a pictorial and hiero-

of the Egyptian
glyphic method of indicating the names, qualities, or existence
congods, and do not, in so far, reflect discredit on the purity or philosophic

Most Egyptologists ascribe to the


divine power and unity, however

sistency of the religion which they represent.

a sublime recognition of

Egyptian

religion

disguised

by severance of

attributes under various

polytheistic

It

forms.^'

is

to
highly developed natural religions have moved from the fetich
the animal totem, and from the totem to the sun and other astral bodies, at first

probable that

with,

all

distinct totem association.

and then without, a

It is

easy to admit that the

the sun, and necessary to


Egyptians worshipped animals before they worshipped
admit that the worship of animals survived in the populace down to the latest

but in so
days of Egyptian history,
well to

remember

system, and that

and

beast,

that
it

its

far as

Egyptian symbolism

religious philosophy

found expressions in the

was a highly

is

refined

concerned

and

it

is

intellectual

pictorial allegories supplied

by

reptile,

Thus we understand

bird, without detriment to this philosophic quality.

cow 59 and the fish of the goddess Isis or Hathor''' (i. 7 [p. 21], Isis-Hathor
lotuses and
with cow's ears and lotuses; i. 12 [p. 21], Isis-Hathor as cow, with

the

Horus

as calf ;^'^ and

shows

Isis

i.

[p. 21],

crowned with the

and mother of Horus

Isis as fish

fish

(xlii.

A bronze

lotus).

in Liverpool

The famous spouse of Osiris


the moon and the fertile earth.'

[p. 267]).

conceived to represent

is

of the sun,* mother of

As daughter

with the

lotus
spouse of Osiris, the
mentioned as her attribute in her

Horus and

would belong to her, but it is generally


Through
character of Goddess of fecundity.

her

it

descended

has

later

to

In

of significance, as the Lily of the Virgin."*


by a strange transposition
to sun and moon
Phenician (and Cypriote Greek) symbolism the lotus belongs equally

times,

10 [p. 401.])Ixvi. 4, 6, 12 [p. 399]; Ixvii. 2, 4, 6,


10. II [p. 173]; plates

(plate xxiii.
58.

Emmanuel de Rouci,

Scmmaire,

Notice

<&-..,

p.

Brugsch, Mythologie,
Sommaire,

"59. For
Brugsch,

the

cow

Mythologie,

and of

of fecundity

as type
vol.

and Pierret,

i.,

Isis,

see

Pantheon,

62.

,
.,
^^^ if^-w^
]?,.^ Arcneo
Arrhl'nsee
60. For fish Oxyrynchus as Hathor,
and Birch, Eg. Antiq. in the
logique, 1847, 2, p. 718.

British

Museum,

p. 32.

For Silurus

f5sh

and Hathor, same

61. For identity or assimilation of

T<,;o

Isis

or,ri Hathor
and
Hathor,

seSt..

p. 84,

and De Roug6, Notia

p. 133.

Horus

12.
6
o, 1^.

For

as

Brugsch, Mythologie,

calf,

Isis as the

For
^u

vol.

i.,

p.

Isis as

Moon,

the

fertile

see

^^

,,

Brugsch, Mythologie, pp.


earth, and Osiris as the Nile,

Brugsch.
64. Hathor,

Sommaire,

i.,

160.
63.

^'^^'

vol.

6";
05-

daughter

of the Sun,

De Rouci,

p. 133.

"^
King and
^'"^
Westropp,

>

as 1
quoted at Note 5.

Notue

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

,4

GODS.

On

Assyrian and Syrian seals and cylinders the lotus also occurs with the
In modern accounts of
lunar crescent alone (plate xxiv. 5, 6, 11, 12, 14 [p. 183]).

Egyptian mythology the references to the moon have been scanty, aside from the
and to Khons, but Osiris is quoted for " the
significance conceded to Isis, to Thoth,
"

by both Birch and Brugsch, and in the recent second volume of


Brugsch's Mythologie the moon is constantly mentioned as province of many
Egyptian solar deities. Hence the constant union of sun and moon on Phenician

world of the

moon

symbols would not be


reason

why

at variance

There

with Egyptian feeling.

therefore

is

no

the lotus should not belong to Isis in her character of Moon-goddess,

for being once accepted as a divine symbol,

it

is

by no means necessary

to establish

a solar origin or assimilation for every form or deity connected with it.
The frog (ii. 8) is interpreted as a symbol of the watery element and primitive

which was considered as the basis of created matter by Egyptian cosmogony.""


was probably sacred to Noum, the deity of waters, and to Hapimou, the Nile,

slime,
*'

It

or to a female

belongs to a

Keka)

triad

worshipped

hieroglyphs relating to the detail

The

called

frog-headed deity

frog, as indicating the

to the question

ii.

8,

"^

This goddess (Hyk, Hek, or


at Elephantine and Khnoumis.
The

Hyk."

specify a goddess."^

element in which the water-lily grows, brings us

Hindu

the lotus became sacred to the sun.

why

explanations,

which belong to a reflective and philosophizing period, cannot be considered conclusive for one of the most primitive and firmly rooted traditions of the Brahmanic and
Egyptian Mythologies, and yet these explanations must be given their proper weight.
They relate to the plant as type and growth of the watery element, made productive by
heat or the element of

which

lotus,

in its turn rises

moving on

the Waters,"

Brahma, as

floating

emblfime

d^esse Hak."

de

la

who

is it

to

vol.

i.,

appears in

p.

21;

mati^re primitive et

Brugsch, Mythologie,

"

"La
de

la

Der Froschkopf das

67. Birch, Egyptian Antiquities in the British


I

Museum,

have preserved the orthography of Birch,

= Chnoum

or

Khnoum.

68. RosELLiNi, Text,

Hindu

springs from a

representations of this birth of

Noum

69.

With

the

Culto, p. 151.

There

leaf.

Hindus the

lotus

is

the

is

a coloured

emblem of the

water.

The

lotus

water,

hence

the

There are passages

is

the

product

dual s}'mbol
in Plutarch

tians held similar theories

of

of

fire

spirit

pro-

fire

and

(heat)

and

ductive power of nature, through the agency of

lism (see p, 16).

Monumenti del

Brahma

from the navel of Vishnu, or Narayana, the " Spirit

Uranfangliche."

p. 58.

be forgotten that

on the waters and supported by alotus

ftfi.\xauM%, Monumens, &c.,


grenouille,

Nor

fire."'

and matter.

which show that the Egyp-

and employed the same symbo-

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


ivory model of this subject in the India
figured in Moor's

"

Museum

far as

Hindu Pantheon."

Brahmanism

Brahman system and

is

15

South Kensington, and it


The myth of Horus rising from the

as found in the Egyptian hieroglyphic texts,

and as

GODS.
is

also

lotus,

the exact counterpart of this idea,

is

much

is

concerned,

at

the older.

well

It is

known

that the

were not developed by the Hindus till they had conquered the Ganges country and Southern India, and there is no trace of this tradition
or even of Brahma as a deity in the Vedas.
In view of the possibility that this
tradition

and the

faith

entire

Hindu symbolism

of the lotus were borrowed (with other

admitted influences) from the earlier conquered peoples of Hindustan,


not be, as primitive as the Egyptian myth.
of

Egypt and of India dates from a

it

may, or

It is possible that the lotus

may

symbolism

race which divided into separate branches

also

possible that Indian peoples experienced the influence, direct or indirect, of Egypt.

The campaign

of a conquering king would have no great significance in such connec-

but the elephant hunts ofThothmes

tion,

III. in

Such a

Birch to believe that he reached India.'"


other international relations which are

unknown

Asia (about 1600


fact

might be

by sea which

is

have led Dr.

at least significant of

to us, or insufficiently considered.

The known connections between India and Egypt


the commercial intercourse

b.c.)

are moreover not confined to

dated at least to 600

b.c.

The Assyrian

king Touklat-habal-assar made campaigns to the Indus in the eighth century b.c.
(Maspero). The relations of Darius and Xerxes with India are well-known. Inscrip-

showing Phenician characters are found in India of the third century B.C. At
"
time the most intimate commercial intercourse was established with Syria and

tions
this

Egypt" (Birdwood).

Our knowledge

of

Hindu

art begins in the third century B.C.,

and none of the present popular forms of Hindu religion are presumed to be earlier
than the ninth century a.d. (Moor, Ed. Wilson, p. 390). Later proofs for the

dominance of lotus symbolism in Persia and in Assyria as early as the ninth century
B.C. will therefore prove an unbroken land area for lotus symbolism comprehending
both Egypt and the frontiers of India as early as the eighth century b.c. The
Puranas display a wide knowledge of Egyptian geography, and a wide familiarity

with Egypt, according to the essay of Lieut. Wilford in "Asiatic Researches"


This essay, written early in our century, is
on "Egypt and the Nile."^^

undoubtedly superseded
-JO.

1881.

in

many ways by

In Proceedings, Society 0/ Biblical Archaology,

'iio\.,

later study,

71.

Supplementary

but these essential facts


vol.

ii

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

,6

arc undoubtedly proven by

There

it.

to an Egyptian colony in India;"

the

more curious by reason of

Hindu pilgrims

of

made by Wilford

the points

Among

servative doubts in the matter.


to Lucian's accounts

a curious reference by Sir William Jones

is

all

GODS.

Hierapolis in

to

of Hindus
geographer Ptolemy's mention of the presence
therefore possible that the

Hindu

his

own

are references

and

Syria,

in Alexandria.

It is

symbol

related to the lotus

is

the

to

tradition quoted, viz. that the lotus is a

of the productive union of solar heat and water,

con-

solar-

the watery element is the beginEgyptian cosmogony


as it is termed by Brugschwhich was
ning of all things" Das Urwasser,"
in the first instance by Noun, among whose forms was Noum or Khnoum

myth of Egypt.

For

in

personified

whose symbol, the frog, has been above quoted. It is probable also that
the lotus was connected with the symbolism of the inundation, because springing
up and flowering in the pools which were made by it, as already mentioned by
(p.

12),

Herodotus."

The above suggestions

of

Hindu

casual references of Plutarch, that


lotus solar

symbolism may be

tradition are so curiously substantiated

we can

scarcely doubt that at least

Two

definitely postulated.

by

one solution of

passages of this author

mention the Egyptian paintings of Horus rising from the lotus flower, as denoting
the creation of the sun from the watery element. That this doctrine was held by the
Egyptians appears from the accounts of Brugsch based on their original texts.^*

The

often quoted theory of the philosopher Thales, that water

things,

was undoubtedly Egyptian, and

Movers to have been a


"

Nor can we suppose

it

this so-called

The passages

Phenician.^*

It is true

rising sun in this manner, but the reason


it is

quotation

moisture to which

we owe

we may add one from

the

the

73.

i.

first

is

said

by

of Plutarch are as follows

up

indeed they do characterize the

may hereby

signify to us

kindling of this luminary."

'"

To

this

same theory of solar


that the sun and moon

referring to the

"

: They

believe also

75. Geschichte der Phbnhier.

^. 174.

Hcsoooius, Eutaft, 92.


Rtiigum und UythologU der

Greek philosopher

that they

is

same work,

creation without mention of the lotus


71. Asitilie Ratarrha,

basis of all

the opinion that the sun, like a new-born infant, springs

every day afresh out of a lotus plant.

that

was the

76.

Plutarch,

De

hide

et Osiride, translated

by Samuel
81.

The

"Vom Nuo dem

authorship by Plutarch has been called in question.

The

chCp

work

reli-

"H.

fti

altai Atgypier,\. ^. \ix).

Vater gezeugt ging am Tage der WeltBg dis Sonnenkind auf dem Leibe der Nunnet

ttnd der

Himmebozean wurdc zu

Knft das Tagliche

einer Gottin deren

Licbt der Welt scbenkte."

Squire.

is

See references to original

at

Note

almost the only classical account of Egyptian

gion which

is

cited with respect

by Egyptologists.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


do not go

in

but

chariots,

GODS.

about the world perpetually

sail

hinting thereby at their feeding upon and springing

first

second passage of Plutarch which mentions the lotus


Serapio replied that sure the

Homer,

it

<

jjjg rising sun, then causing

day

was

certain

in

boats,

out of moisture." "


is

workmen thereby designed

nourished by moisture and exhalation, whether


of that verse in

17

to

as

"

To

this

that the sun

was

follows

show

The

that he thought at that time

to break,

Quits the cool pleasure of the oozy lake.'

how

or whether he had seen


sitting

on a

^^

lotus."

Egyptian texts

"

the Egyptians, to represent sunrise, paint a

According

On

Brugsch, whose accounts are

to

the day of creation the sun-child, created by

from the form of Nounnet

issued

Noun

little

boy
based on

[the watery

female counterpart of Noun],


and the sea of the sky became a goddess, whose maternal strength endowed the

element],

world with
It is

its

[the

^'

daily light."

known

that in

many

back to childish matter-of-fact

senses Egyptian theories of natural

perception

that, for instance, the

phenomena go

sun was supposed

to travel each night in reverse course under the earth, in order to return to the

of a following day.

It

may be that

dawn

the philosophy of the priests as to the birth of the

sun from moisture, was preceded by a matter-of-fact observation of a primitive race


on the East African shore, and that the sun visibly rising from the sea was

To

conceived actually to have such origin.


water-lily

would have been

in this case a pictorial

and

allegorical,

rather than a

have ventured this suggestion because it


to believe that any metaphysical theory could have called forth such a

philosophical or metaphysical, process.


is difficult

represent the sun as rising from a

and manifestly popular pictorial symbolism as is attested by all


classes of Egyptian monuments and relics, of whatever kind or period, for this
universal, ancient,

who have been in contact with Egyptian


antiquities, or
Egyptological publication, who can approximately realize the
enormous amount of normal lotus ornament which has survived to our own day,
especial plant.

77.

Plutarch,

W. Goodwin,
78.

III.

is

only students

Z** Iside et Osiride,

Plutarch's Morals. IV.

Plutarch's

Goodwin,

It

p 80.

Oracles in verse."

Morals,
"

translated

Why the

The matter

p.

translated

by

Wm.

frogs

94.

by

brazen palm-tree at Delphi, under which were represented

William

Pythian Priestess

ceases

W.
her

of the paragraph concerns a

and aquatic animals hence the dialogue as above.

See reference at Note 81 to the


79.

The

original

German

at

original.

Note

74.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

i8

and which

once more an infinitesimal and absolutely insignificant fraction of

is

which once

that

existed.

As a secondary explanation, which his


solar significance of the lotus,

for the

GODS.

must be quoted a reason

possible value,

suggested by Colon na-Ceccaldi," that the

It is of great interest
opening corresponds with the dawn.
to learn that the modern Japanese have a similar tradition and a festival based

moment

of

There

it."

upon

its

is,

however, no present authority for dating the well-known lotus

symbolism and lotus ornament of China and Japan before the Buddhist influence
and missions. These are later than the Christian era in these countries. The entire
symbolism of the Buddhists is itself derivative, being borrowed from the
The entire Buddhist
earlier Hindu traditions, which we know as Brahmanic.
lotus

ornamental system

is

than the third century

from Plin\''s Natural History,


81.

A fact

American

as

known

to us.

lib. xiii., c. xvii.

artist,

some time

resident in Japan.

first

naturalized

Ndumbium

and who owns

States,

Jersey, and

at

Speciosum in the United

water-lily gardens at

Los Angiles, California.

great value as bearing

on the

They

tradition mentioned,

and

were furnished in response to questions put by me.


*^

Ndumbium

Speciosum [the

Rose

dawn."
"

past mid-day in fresh flowers, but those

which are nearly ready to drop their petals (old flowers)


remain open an hour or two longer."
"
Nymphia Lotus [the White Lotus], is night blooming,
just after

opening

and closing the next morning

sunset,

about ten o'clock."

"

Nymphaa

sunrise,

"

and closes an hour or two before sunset."

do not think

opening at

dawn

that the
is

promptness of these flowers

more noticeable than

in

many

in

other

Victor

appear in my next chapter that the Nelumbium


" Rose
Lotus," is not found in typical Egyptian
Speciosum
As this is the only water-lily quoted by Mr.
ornament.
It will

Sturtevant for especially prompt opening at dawn,

much importance

Loret

to the suggestion

Ceccaldi, as regards Egyptian

art.

It

we cannot

of Colonna-

would appear quite

because

probable that the original explana-

furnishes

the same for

is

all

Philologie

list

ii.,

19,

i.

DiOD. Sic, Bibl.


128 and
xxii., 28.

is

copied

Colonna-Ceccaldi

in

De hide et

iii.,

xvii., i,

15, p.

xiii.,

1151

32;

xviii.,

De

ii.,

30;

xv., 21.

Monuments de Chypre,

furnishes references to Plut.,

King

i.,

ii.,

DioscoR., Mat. Medic,

10, i.

Athen., Deipn.,

Assyriennes,

Plin., Hist, nat.,

112.

iv.,

i.,

a la

SrRAB., Geogr.,

hist.,

et

relatifs

herewith Herod., Hist,


11, and Caus.

Hist, plant., iv. 8,

Theophr.,

92.

Travaux

a FArchioloqie Agyptiennes

et

The

190.

of ancient classical

list

references to the lotus in Recueil de

Pyth. orac,

c.

p.
xii.,

141,
ed.

Osiride, c. xL, ed. Didot.

p. 174, quotes from Jamblichus


matter
on
lotus symbolism, viz. that the lotus
metaphysical

in

Gnostics,

was an emblem of perfection, because


fruit it

gave the figure of a circle

except as showing the

species."

attach

It is

Osiris,

case of this plant.

Didot

Ccerulea [the Blue Lotus], opens soon after

earlier

water-lilies.
If this is so, the opening at dawn of Nelumhium Speciosum could not be the original explanation in the

plant.,

It closes just

at night.

tion regarding their solar significance

"p.

opens at

Lotus]

was a flower of

as likely that the white lotus

Bordentown,
are of

and not

it,

^^

blooming

indirectlyleamed from Mr. Theodore Wores, an

following advices are from Mr. E. D. Sturtevant,

The

New

B.C.

la Monuments dc Chypre,-[). 141; quoting the fact

80.

who

borrowed from the West, or influenced by

efl'ort

in leaf, flowers,

matter

of

and

no importance,

of a speculative age to explain

a primitive tradition.

A reference
82.

see

Proclus has been quoted by Note 6.


For the Greek character of early Buddhist decoration,
to

Birdwood, Industrial A /is 0/ India (South Kensington

Museum

Art Handbooks), p. 163; referring also to Dr.

Leitner's Collection of Greco-Buddhist sculptures from the

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN


From

the

point

GODS.

of view that

Egyptian symbols are largely


picture-writing
based either upon
correspondences of verbal sounds, or actual resemblances of
some sort or other, I have
thought that the brilliant yellow ovary
stigma of the
Egyptian water-lilies, with the rayed appearance common to the
whitt and blue
varieties, may have been considered as a
picture and therefore as a
of

As

I shall

the sun.
type
the
rosette
to
be
an Egyptian lotus-motive
prove
(with concurrence of

Mr. Percy E.
Newberry),

this suggestion is

worth considering.
"
illustration of plate ii.
9, is taken from the
Book of the Dead "the
lotus as one of the
mystic habitations and migratory forms of the
of

The

spirits

the Blest.

There

is

no other plant which shares

assigned, for instance, to the papyrus.

When

this

mystic destiny it

is

not

found in the illustrated


Papyri the

design belongs to the confessional chapter Ixxxi., " To make the transformation
of the lotus," whose terms I translate
roughly from the French version of Pierret.^^
"
I am a
pure lotus, issue of the beings of light. I guard the nostril of
Ra, who
the
nostril
of Hathor.
I do the errands of Horus.
guards
I am a
pure lotus
issue of the field of the sun."
Punjab.

That Persian and Assyrian influences carried with

lotuses

them the Egyptian lotus forms has been


already noted.
The Anhaological Surtey of Southern
India, by James
Burgess, gives many illustrations of unnoticed
purely

lotuses, PI.

I.

p. 50.

The Stupa of Bharhut

I.

OSIRIS, AS

de

transformation en lotus.
la

fleur

d'un

lotus.

sortant d'entre les lumineux.

garde

Normal Egyptian

DETAIL FROM THB MYTH OF

faire la

sortant

See also Alexander


Cunningham,
(third century B.C. ),

xxi.

normal Egyptian

&c., &c.

xl.,

83. PiERRET, Livre des Marts, Chapitre

De

Egyptian types; for instance, a normal Egyptian lotus


border above the "
Worship of a Sacred Tree by Spotted
Deer," vol.

surrounding a rosette, PI.

la

Horus.

narine de Hathor.

Je

suis

RErRESENTED AT PHILAE.

un

"

LXXXI., Titre
Tableau Une tgte

Je suis un

lotus

pur,

Je garde la narine de Ra, qui

Je

fais les

lotus pur, issu

From Champollion,

messages que poursuit

du champ du

I., xciii., 2.

soleil."

30

PLATE

I.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN GODS.

1.

2.

3.

Solar disk supported by the flower.

Head-dress, with solar disk supported by the flower.


(the

mummy

6.

Dendt^rah,

From

II., 85,

9.

Detail from the Descnption de I'Agypte,

the series in ROSELLINI, M.R.,

XV.

in the Lower World) before an altar and offerings, crowned by the flower.
PRISSE d'Avennes, Histoire de VArt ^gyptien, Offrandes a Osiris.
from
case,

Sun

The Sun-hawk, supported by

the flower.

Detail from Prisse

King Amenophis III. offering lotuses


d'Avennes, Pilastres Quadrilaterales.*

7. Isis

S.

Mariette,

Youthful Horus (the Dawning Sun) seated on the flower.


A. I.. 78, 14.

4. Osiris

5.

Detail from

(Hathor), crowned with lotuses.

King Thothmes

III. ofiering lotuses

the

to

Detail from PRISSE

and geese

to

Ra

Detail of a

d'Avennes, Monuments, XXXI.

Amon.

god

64.

d'Avennes,

(the Sun).

Detail

from

Thebes.

Prisse

Filters Isiaques (xviii. Dyn.).

Detail from

Amada, ROSELLINI,

III.,

ix. 4.

9.

Fish (emblems of Isis), with flowers and leaves of the lotus.


Detail of a tray, from Prisse d'Avennes, Ustensiles de

la The God Khem, before a shrine supporting a


Wilkinson mistakes

this detail for a tree.

Isis

crowned with the

(Compare next chapter

leaf of the lotus.

From Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of

form.)

(Compare

fish,

xlii. 7.)

Toilette.

the

Ancient Egyptians,

for the cleft leaf

405, 3rd Edition.


In parallel designs at Thebes, the exterior plants do not
I.,

p.

appear to be lotus buds.


11.

Nefcr-Toum or Toum

(the Setting

Sun) crowned with the

lotus.

From Rawlinson's History

of Ancient

Egypt.
12. Isis or

Hathor

(as

cow)

in

From PerROT ET Chipiez,

References to Prisse
specified.

the lotus bower.

Detail of a patera found at Ca:;re

in the Vatican.

Phenicie, p. 790.

d'Avennes

PArt ^gyptien, unless the Monuments are


References to Rosellini, Champollion, and Lepsius indicate their folio plate publications.
indicate his Histoire de

PI. I., p. 21.

32

PLATE

II.

THE LOTUS AND EGYPTIAN

1.

Bull witfl lotus amulet pendant from the collar.

2.

The Asp and

the lotus.

Detail from

The "Genii

4.

The

II.,

ROSELLINI, M.C. XX.,

8.

cix.

"

of Amenti

Sun-lions

"

lotus bower.

To-morrow and Yesterday," otherwise Ra and Osiris


From a Leyden papyrus published by Leemans.
Detail from Prisse

5.

Sphinxes and the

6.

The Serpent and

7.

The Ram (God Khnoum) and

8.

The Frog (Goddess Hek, Hyk,


or

The
"

10.

Champollion,

Theban tomb.

(Guardians of the viscera of the mummy and Genii of the dead), on the lotus.
Detail from a representation of the Last Judgment Description de C^gypte, A. II., 35 a.

3.

9.

Detail from a

GODS.

lotus.

the lotus in the solar bark.

Gryphon form of Horus).

supporting solar disks in the

d'Avennes, Vases du rtgne de Tlwthmes


Detail from

the lotus (buds).

Mariette, Denderah,

Detail from Esneh.

III.

II., 48.

Description de F&gypte, A.

I.,

86.

God Khnoum) on the lotus, (with Osiris, and Lion-hawk


Detail from Philac, Rosellini, M.d.C, xxii.

or Heka, and

lotus as mystic form or habitation of tlie departed spirit.

Book of the Dead."

Lenormant,

Histoire Ancienne de

From
r Orient,

the related chapter (ixxxi.) of the


III., p. 269.

The Goose (Seb, Osiris, Horus and Isis) and the lotus. Stone tablet in the Abbot Collection, New
York Historical Society. From the original. Compare Seb, crowned with the goose (xliii. 7).

11.

Altar with the lotus.

12.

The

Mummy

Detail from Medinet-Habou.

and the

rOritnt, III., p. 271.

lotus,

Description de r^gypte, A.

from the "Book of the

Dead."

II., 16, 5.

Lenormant,

Histoire Ancienne de

t<

_y

"!'

^^1

v..

lC_k

''ll

-^

-^5?^

M\

^.

(I

~"N

-^:4
iZ

^0

^/.//,/.

23.

1.

24

APPENDIX.
The

following

list

notes

some of the unpublished monuments which


mentioned

Ibis

in the foregoing chapter

head
(God Thoth), bearing a trefoil lotus on the
the
on
Ibis
the Naples Museum, No. 8562.
Tomb No. 6.
Thoth), on the
the lotus steli:
on
Cynoccphalus

lotus

C>'nocephalus (God

God Anubis on
Heron

relief,

stele

Heron on

the lotus

nov

fresco,

Salle

des

relief,

on the column

Thebes,

Ventes,

Room

Tombs

of the Kings.

Museum

Gizeh

(1891.)

V., Murray's plan.

bases.

designations) on the lotus relief, Hathor Temple, Denderah, lower passage.


Tomb No. 16.
fresco, Thebes, Tombs of the Kings.

(identified with

bouquet

bronze,

Museum

Vulture (Goddess Maut) on the lotus bouquet


wearing crown for the South, on the lotus

Ichneumon

lotus

Hathor Temple, Dcnderah.

the lotus bouquet, Denderah portico

(Osiris, British

relate to deities or associations

large fresco from the temple of Isis at Pompeii, in

Denderah

portico,

column

bases.

Head of

God Toum by Naville), large bronze of the animal seated


adoration; Gizeh Museum, Salle Reiigieuse, Case A, No.

with paws raised


large similar bronzes in the Polytechnic, Athens
in

Cat (Goddess Bast) on the lotus

stel^

Crocodile (God Sebek) on the lotus

the vulture

large bronze. Polytechnic, Athens.

erect on the Ictus,

Three very

191.

Nos. 271, 273, 274.

large bronze in the Polytechnic, Athens, Case 4, No. 203.

large bronze, Gizeh

Human-headed Scorpion (Goddess Selk the .scorpion


in the Polytechnic, Athens one in Bologna.
;

is

Museum.
also related to Isis) on the lotus

several bronzes

Hawk

(Horus and Ra) on the lotus; two large bronzes


colonnette, very large porcelain

LEEMAN.S, Monumens,

in

the Gizeh

Polytechnic, Athens.

Hawk

Museum.

head on the lotus

similar amulet has been published

Lotus supporting the " Sacred Eye ;" both in the solar disk supported by the solar bark
passage of the Hathor Temple, Denderah.
Solar disk with

of

Isis,

human

Pompeii,

face,

by

etc.

and surrounded by a circle of lotus buds and flowers


Naples Museum, No. 9189. See Fig. 185, p. 369.

in the

LOTOS COLONKTTES SUPPORTING SOIJ^R DISKS.


Detfil rrom the Bet Temple, Denderah, representing a pattern ornament
of universal currency on Egyptian tombs and temples. From a
photograph taken for the Author.

fresco

relief,

lower

from the Temple

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR


NELUMBIUMS.
(PLATE

The

III.,

PAGE

41.)

various water-lilies which are indicated by the word lotus are divided into

two groups

the

Nehunbimns,

to

NympJiceas, to which the word lotus properly belongs, and the

which the word lotus

biitm Speciosum, for instance,

is

is

by general usage. The Nehim"


the
rose lotus," and is generally

also applied

habitually called

supposed to have been the especially sacred lotus of the ancient Egyptians. The
group of the Nymp/iceas is now represented in Egypt by white and blue varieties,

which are
nearly to

practically identical in all respects but that of colour.


its

centre (Fig.

2),

like the leaf of the

common

The

leaf is cleft

The bud has

pond-lily.

an envelope of only four calyx leaves or sepals (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), which have a
These
firm, coarse quality, and are distinctly dark green in colour throughout.
sepals

the

entirely

colour,

encase the bud (Fig.

coarseness,

and large

2)

size

till

it

As

begins to open.

of the sepals

mark them

contrast to the delicate white or blue petals of the flower.

As

it

expands,

distinctly

in

seen from any

one of four special points of view, the opening flower exhibits therefore three
dark-green spikes (Fig. 3), symmetrically divided, between which the numerous and
delicate petals, white or blue, are very effectively relieved.

thus
stages of expansion the sepals occasionally curl downward,
seen
leaving the flower quite distinct and separate, and presenting the appearance
in Fig. 4.
Figures 2 and 3, on the other hand, especially the latter, show the

At various

appearance of the spikes

when

erect.

The

white or sapphire blue, makes this contrast

distinction of colour, dark green against


still

more obvious

in nature

than

it is

in

the illustrations.

The ovary has

a rayed saucer-shaped stigma of brilliant yellow (Figs. 5, 6),


from which numerous brilliant yellow, petal-like stamens diverge. When the flower

2.

From

EGYPTIAN BLUE LOTUS.

the Description <k

V ligypu,

From

Nature.

Histoire

NaturdU.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.


seeds,

the ovary grows

into

a bulb (Fig.

7),

whereas the stem during the


period of flower
occasionally reaching an entire length of

which sinks down


is

erect

and

fully five feet.^

rises

27
in

the water,

above the water,

The rayed ovary stigma

continues to be apparent at the apex of the bulb after the flower has
gone to seed.
8
a
dried specimen of the
Fig.
represents
ovary stigma taken from the bulb. The
leaves, about a foot in diameter, each on a separate stem, float on the surface of
the water.

The

3.

illustration of

Webster's Dictionary

From

EGYPTIAN BLUE LOTUS.


Showing three sepal

rising above water;

"

Nature.

Nymphcsa

Showing

Edition of 1880," London, 1883.

"

Imperial

Edition."

The

lotus

artist

shows leaves

From

EGYPTIAN BLUE LOTUS.

4.

spikes.

New

been removed from the

for the

Nature.

sepals curled over.

This illustration has

who made

sketch

the

has been misled by a picture of the Nelumbium.


It is this

white or blue variety of the Egyptian Nymphaea which

the ornamental patterns of the


realistically

monuments.

The

"

Rose Lotus

may

figured in

possibly be

represented in ancient Egyptian paintings, just as the palm and

must be extremely

other plants appear, but

such

found

publications of Egyptian antiquities, or

in

is

"

the great folio

I. Description de I'Agypte, Histoire NaturelU,


botanical forms.

cases

I. p.

303

where

E 2

explicit,

rare,

as

many

none can be
in

the

typical

extended, and reliable accounts are given of the

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.

;8

As far as the typical ornaments,


ornaments exhibited by Egyptian museums.
"
"
Lotus is not to be found.^
Rose
the
are
or
concerned,
patterns,
typical

The proof lies in the leaf and in the sepals. Whenever the leaf is represented
Whenever the flower is represented it shows three spikes, excepting
it is cleft.
when the entire flower is shown by an outer conventional outline. As long as the
flower

detailed, the three spikes appear (Figs.

is

ornaments which tend

to disappear in the

as papyrus.

specified

Hence the

9 and 9 a).

They

are the last detail

to the conventional outline, generally

illustrations of Plate

these traits the


speak for themselves as regards

cleft

iii.

[p.

leaf

41]

and they

will

and the three-spiked

wW>,i
6.

OVARY STIGMA.
Blue Lotus.

5.

OVARY STIGMA, WHITE LOTUS.


Showing

7.

OVARY BULB OF THE LOTUS, GONE TO SEED.

also a few stamens.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are from the Description dt t&gyptt, Histoire NaiurtUe.

form.

Nos.

5,

12

6, 8, 9,

show numerous

Nos.

petals.

2,

3, 7, 11,

13

show a

with two residuary petals, one on each side of the central spike.
This central spike is the central sepal conceiving the flower as viewed from one
simplified form

of the four sides of symmetrical

appearance

in

which two of the

sepal

spikes

Nos. 1, 4, 10 show, the spikes as residue


form the boundary sides of outline.
of the detail. All these forms are typical, constant, and represented by thousands
of examples in published monuments, and by countless examples in

all

Egyptian

museums.
3.

This fact antagonizes the current

Egyptology,
"

words

summed up by

Lc

presumption

of

Perrot, Agypte, p. 578, in the

veritable lotus l&gyptien c'est le lotus rose."

Perrofs illustration

from nature

is

borrowed from, and

credited to, the Histoin Naturtlk as above mentioned, but


it

the

" rose lotus " which he


has chosen as type.

In a

recent publication (see reference No. 81, for plates


hieroglyphic

i., ii.)

on

renderings for different varieties of the lotus,

Victor Loret follows the current a'fesumption, which

have

"
shared in an earlier publication on the
Egyptian Origin of
the Ionic Capital and

Anhaology,

vol.

iii.

No.

Anthcmion," American Jourtial of


4.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS


The second group

of water-lilies, above
specified,

is

29

the group of the

Nelum-

biums, and in this group we have to deal with


only one variety, the Nelumbium
"
or
famous Rose Lotus," so-called
Speciosum,
In botanical
(Fig. 10).
terminology

Mil

8.

DRIED OVARY STIGMA OF THE LOTUS AFTER SEEDING.

From

this plant is not

a lotus, which word

phcea Lotus (white

9.

Nature.

lotus),

of which

is

confined, botanically speaking, to the

Nymphcea

colour variant.
is

TYPICAL THREE-SPIKED LOTUS, FROM THE MONUMENTS.


With a palmate attachment on the central spike.

Ccerulea (the Egyptian blue lotus)

In popular use, however, the word

its

art

and symbolism have given the flower

An

aesthetic circles.

the

FROM THE MONUMENTS.

lotus

"

Oriental celebrity as an

emblem and an ornament, and because modern

TVriCAL THREE-SPIKED LOTUS

"

is

"
Rose
generally supposed to designate especially the

Lotus," undoubtedly because of

9A.

Nym-

leaf,

rises

vogue

in

immediately obvious distinction

is

which, unlike that of the

on an

the water.

Oriental

its

Nymphcsa

water-lilies,

stem to a height of several feet above


minor number of leaves in a given plant

erect

be found floating, the stems not having reached their full altitude, but the
normal length of the stem from the root is specified as being four or five feet.

may

la XtMmiuim Sftciotum

(" toss lotus"),

From

showing flower, sed-pod, bud, and leaf.

the Ducriptien <U t'Agvfle, Uistoire Nalurelle,

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.


Now,

in all the great folio


publications of

31

Egyptian antiquities, of which the most

important are those of Champollion, Rosellini, Lepsius, Prisse d'Avennes, and the
Description de VEgypte, there are many representations of lotuses and lotus buds

growing in water and rising above it (unlike the two details of Plate iii., 2 and
3, where the plants are represented in water to indicate the water), but there are none
in which the leaves are
Such
represented as growing on stems out of water.
representation corresponds to the facts regarding NymphcBa Lotus and Nymphcea
Ccerulea,

leaves

whose flower and bud stems

do not

An
(Fig. 10)

rise

out of water at

equally important point

and

rise

out of water (see Note

i),

and whose

all.

is

that the leaf of the "

Rose Lotus

"
is

uncleft, with stem joining the leaf at the centre of the

bell-shaped

bell.

Now

in

thousands of Egyptian representations of the lotus leaf there cannot be found a leaf
which is not cleft. Hence, the illustrations of Plate iii., 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 12, have been

The

chosen to indicate this point.


Fig.

2,

from nature), and the

nature (see especially

iii.

This point is decisive


typical ornament.

third point

is

cleft is indicated in

has frequently a

leaf

summary manner (compare

much more

pointed form than in

12 [p. 41]), but the relation to nature is obvious.


"
"
the absence of the
Rose Lotus
from Egyptian

2, 5,

for

equally conclusive.

The bud

of the

"

Rose Lotus

of overlapping sepals, like scales, of varying sizes (Fig.

"

Consequently the

10).

flower in expansion does not exhibit the three-spiked appearance of the

Lotus and Nymphcea Ccerulea.

The

has a series

Nymphcea

away or disappear from view


more irregular in form and more fully

calyx leaves drop

by the expansion of the blossom, which is


expanded than the more strictly bounded outline of the white and blue Egyptian
"
The petals of the " Rose Lotus are as broad individually as the calyx leaves,
lotus.
and the appearance

in

expansion

is

that of

a full-blown

tulip,

whereas the

expanded flower of the white and blue lotus does not generally pass the
by the Figs. 2 and 3.

As we have

is

stages of

Rose Lotus

is

summary

reached,

it

indication, until the

\s<:\t2X\h.2XNelumbium

not represented in Egyptian pattern ornament.

For botanical
"

all

summary indication of a bounding outline

Speciosum

marked

seen that the Egyptian ornamental form continues to exhibit the

three sepal spikes, distinct from petals, in

purely

limit

fully

distinction the seed-pods are also important.

"
is

shaped

like the

spout of a watering-pot (Fig

The seed-pod
10).

of the

Its seeds are of

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.

3a

the size of filberts and are contained in cup-shaped cavities which are on the upper

like

poppy

seeds of the white and blue lotus are small grains

The

exterior surface (Fig. lo).

which have the circular

seeds, contained in the interior of their seed-pods,

and rayed ovary stigma as described (Figs. 5, 6, 8). The pod develops into a
"
Rose
bulb (Fig. 7) which sinks into the water, while the spout-shaped ovary of the
"
Lotus remains standing on its erect stem until an advanced stage of decay. The
Rawlinson's

illustration of

erroneous one.

"

History of Egypt

Each stem bearing a pod

is

"

"

for the

"

Rose Lotus

a curiously

is

represented as bearing a series of leaves,

"
"
Rose Lotus or in the Nymphaeas,
such leaves are found in the

like rushes.

No

and each

pod, bud, or flower grows on a separate stem from the root of the plant.

The

leaf,

projection of the seeds from the

pod

also distorted in a remarkable

is

cut referred to (Fig. 11, to be compared with Fig.

10).

Since the days of Herodotus and his account of the


in

Egypt,' or at least since the study of Herodotus

has figured in popular accounts and in

scientific

the

way in

"

"

Rose Lotus

in

modern

works as the

which he saw

times,

this plant

typically

Egyptian

Egyptian flower. Herodotus made no reference to the subject


of Egyptian ornament, and yet he is indirectly responsible for one of the most
curious scientific and popular mistakes of modern times.
The human mind has

and

especially sacred

joined two things together which had no actual connection.

It

has combined

its

knowledge of Egyptian ornament with its knowledge drawn from Herodotus that the
"
"
Rose Lotus grew in Egypt, and with its knowledge of modern Oriental symbolism,

on the plan of the gentleman who acquired his knowledge of " Chinese Metaphysics "
"
"
"
by reading in the Encyclopsedia under the words China" and
Metaphysics and
combining his information.

now found

not

It

well

is

known

that the Nelmnbiujti Speciosum

Egypt or in Africa, and that it


and other writers well aware of

in

there are botanical

to have been the


typical Sacred Plant of Egypt.*
3.

Herodotus, Euterpe,

easilj, they
is full,

of

water

" But to
obtain food more

have the following inventions

and has made the

lilies,

92.

is fit

and of the

for food,
size of

and

in the river, the fruit of

the river

in a separate

plains like a sea,

great

numbers

very like a wasp's nest

call

and dry

lotus,

in the

spring

sun

up

in the

then having

is

an apple.

tolerably sweet,

There

and

are also other

is

round

lilies,

like

to be eaten,

pod

that springs
;

in this

Garden and

botanical
'

journal.

Sacred Lotus

flowers

which

up from the
there are

which

'

it

the

10th,
true

of the whole East,

Linnaeus

contained

root,

in

form

berries

fit

and they are

(Gary's Translation.)

Forest, AY>n\

" But

is

many

of the size of an olive stone,

eaten both fresh and dried."


4.

assert

still

might appear a matter of

when

pounded the middle of the lotus, which resembles a poppy,


they make bread of it and bake it The root also of this
lotus

grow

who

this fact

which the Egyptians

these they gather

roses, that

indigenous to India, but

is

It

is

called

1889, an American

Egyptian
is

lotus,

the

the plant with rosy

Nymphaa Nelumbo,

but

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.

33

no great importance which form of lotus is the one copied by Egyptian ornament,
and that even a universal scientific and popular mistake in such a matter is scarcely
worth rectifying. To such possible suggestion it may be answered, first, that the
"

Rose Lotus

"
is not,

botanically speaking, a lotus and that

desirable to observe

it is

a certain amount of botanical accuracy in a work devoted to the subject


that important problems of early

views on this question

Egyptian

civilization,

Hindu

the influence of Egyptian

third, that

yet be determined

may

history

on other countries and

later

times

may

art,

second,

clear

by

and therefore of

be most clearly studied

ornament, and that the peculiarities of this ornament, as above


described, can only be comprehended by recourse to the natural forms which served
in the history of

For

as models.

belong to the

Orchomenos and Tiryns, which


and which have been made known by

instance, the ceiling motives of

"

"

Mycenae

period and culture,

Dr. Schliemann (Fig. 56, and Plate

li.

[p.

can be specified by the central

319]),

and the publications of these patterns have designated them as " fan-shaped
"^
flowers
and " large flowers " because this detail has been overlooked. Attention

spike,

to the

form of the

mistaken

for

papyrus,

The

archaeology.

which

is

pendant

after

lotus,

The

expansion

solitary authority

His

ornament.''

and

writers

word

the

in

plants

on the
which

and

"

who

"
sepals of the

of the flower,

states that the

lotus

"

and

"

Rose Lotus

this peculiarity

has a curious

Wilkinson

^the

the

is

occur in Egyptian

the subject has been disregarded by

have myself shared

"

all

later

prevalent error which uses

as indiscriminately indicating an Egyptian use

ornament, in two separate publications which

of

three

all

have previously made

subject.

modem

caWcd.

botanists

Ndumbium

have placed

Speciosum.

Schliemann's 7/o'w,

in

another

genus

This no longer grows

in preface

by F. Adler; other-

wise justly emphasizing the Egyptian influences apparent


in the

and

Egyptian

Rose Lotus," though they


do not curl over as they

"Rose Lotus "does not

wild in the Nile, and perhaps was not a native of Egypt."


5.

4),

for

recognized through the

form and of the Anthemion.

brief reference to

authorities,

maybe

but the ovary stigma of the

frequently do in the white and blue lotus (Fig,


relation to the history of the Ionic

correction

highly important

relations of the rosette to the lotus

ovary stigma of the white and blue


does not exhibit the rosette form.
are frequently

forms which have been

leaf enables us to recognize the lotus

"Mycenae

culture."

6.

Schliemann's Tiryns,

p. 298.

Ancient Egyptians,

Wilkinson,
" It is never introduced
Edition.
7,

as a sacred

country."

emblem, or indeed

as

iii.

into

p.

the

133;

3rd

sculptures

a production

of the

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.

31
It

may be

and named

then asked,

"

Linnaeus considered the

If

Nympha'a Nelumbo,'* and

'

it

century to change this classification,

is it

'

'

Rose Lotus a Nymphaea

has been reserved for the nineteenth

if it

likely that the

Egyptians were more pedantic

modern botany was in his


"
we have no grounds for asserting that the " Rose Lotus

in their choice of sacred water-lilies than the father of

science

To this I answer

"
?

was not a sacred

the

Museum, showing

Since the

Pompeii.'

A Roman

water-lily in Egypt.
leaf

peculiar

"

Rose Lotus

"

mosaic (No. 9990) in the Naples


and seed-pod, is from the Isis temple of
is not indigenous to Africa, and since both

and Egyptologists " have explained its former presence there as due
to foreign introduction or to the well-known proclivity of the Egyptians to
introduce and cultivate foreign plants,^^ we have only to assume that the types of
botanists

'"

Egyptian ornament were fixed before the foreign plant was known, and that they
had been fixed so long before, that the presence of a new sacred water-lily did not
affect the

ornamental methods of this extremely conservative nation.

The time

of Herodotus was later than the close of Egyptian history as the

history of an independent nation.

and

earlier date,
in

Egypt.

The

it is

uncertain

how long

before his time the Indian plant was

active commercial intercourse between

dated from the middle of the seventh century

The

typical three-spiked form


"
"
of the
Rose Lotus
in the

Herodotus.

The growth

rapidity with which this plant

may make

Egypt and India

can be dated to the

United States

its

way

a year or two he tried the experiment of growing

it

is

to

an

grown

generally

only two hundred years before

B.C.,

introduced by Mr. E. D. Sturtevant at Bordentown,

was made with one

monuments belong

Nine-tenths of the

in

IVth Dynasty.

an indication of the

is

a foreign country.

New

in the

It

Jersey, about 1876.

open

air.

was

After

The experiment

which within eight years had spread over a water surface


"
of three-quarters of an acre
in g solid mass of foliage and bloom."
The boys of the
plant,

neighbourhood discovered the edible properties of the


nutting excursions to the

Egyptians,

who drew a

8.

See reference

at

Note

9.

Wilkinson,

it

p.

407,

for

Roman

Ndumbium Spedosum

"Nile" of the Vatican,


10.

11.

As implied

made

their

food supply from these seeds,^' like the Hindus, and like the
Edition.

3rd

Edition,

quotes

the

Egyptian sculptures, the

&c

Amimt

seed and

of supplies, unconsciously imitating the ancient

4.

longer

Note

"

The Nelumbium, common

iL

p.

407,

3rd

13.

in

India, grows

no

Egypt, and the care taken in planting it formerly


show that it was not indigenous in Egypt."

As instanced by

Hatasou, depicted at

4.

Egyptians,

in

seems to
12.

in quotation,

Wilkinson's

new source

filbert-like

Herodotus,

the botanical importations of

Thebes.

as quoted,

Note

3.

Queen

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.


American Indians who
the

"

Rose Lotus

cultivated in

"

China

eat the seeds of

was introduced
for that

use.

Nehimbium Luteum}*

into

probable that

It is

Egypt as a food

Its rapid

35

plant,

much

spread in the

and

still

it is

less favourable

climate of North America would enable us to understand that an abundant


growth
in the time of Herodotus
might have resulted from an introduction made not

many

centuries before, and after the time

On

with India began.

ornament

when recorded commercial

the other hand, there are


surviving forms of the lotus

Egypt which date from the time of

in

intercourse

earliest

known monuments, and

not less than three thousand years before the recorded commercial intercourse with
India.
It is

my

and known
Lotus

was

it

"

mission to state
facts

there

may have been

is

facts,

not to explain them, but according to the records

not the slightest difficulty in supposing that the "Rose

as sacred a water-lily in Egypt, after

it

was known

there, as

without in the slightest degree affecting the ruling types of Egyptian


Mrs. Professor Huggins, wife and scientific assistant of the famous

in India,

ornament.

astronomer, has drawn

my

attention to a pilgrim bottle from

Egypt

(not in original,

but shown by a drawing made by a conscientious and observing student

As compared with

years ago) on which the rose lotus appears to be indicated.

mass of publications and of monuments in


discovery of a large number of such cases would amount
the present

many

museums, the future

the

to considerably less than a

drop in the proverbial bucket as affecting our estimation of ornamental types but
additional cases of this class would be of great interest as rarities and thoroughly
;

There are points about the ware and shape of

novel phenomena.

which argue a foreign importation. The original


is known by drawing from a private catalogue.

A curious point

is

is

this pilgrim bottle

not accessible to inspection, and

the hitherto unnoted fact that although

both

Nelumbium

Speciosum and Nymphcsa Lotus are quoted as sacred plants in India,'^ the lotus
based on the
patterns of India are largely drawn from the Egyptian patterns

Nymphcea, and this in


quoted Hindu sacred
patterns, as

i.^.

Dr.

known

to

Food and Fibre Plants of

J. S.

"

face of the fact that the


flower.
us,

the

The

explanation

Rose Lotus
is

simple;

begins with the Buddhist time.

American Indians, by

Newderry, New York, D. Appleton,

1887.

15.

Birdvvood,

F 2

is

by

the

far

the history of

Buddhist

Industrial

sington Art Handbooks).


p. 85.

"

art,

most

Hindu

and con-

Arts of India (South Ken-

List

of sacred

Hindu

plants

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.

-.6

and otherwise, date from a time when Greek intemporary Hindu art, ornamental
^^
and Indus country, and had spread thence to
fluences were dominant in the Punjab
If we
Southern India,'^ and these influences were preceded by Persian and Assyrian.
of the Amaravati Tope of Southern
examine, for example, the running lotus patterns
will show the
India displayed in the main staircase of the British Museum, they
in the Egyptoof the Egyptian and Greco- Egyptian lotus, also present
central

spike

lotus patterns, which must have had influence on


Assyrian and Egypto-Persian

three feet in diameter)


Only the large rosettes of the Amaravati Tope (about
^^
"
"
"
The marked indications
Rose Lotus spread out in plan."
appear to show the
out by Fergusson and by
of Assyrian influence in Hindustan have been pointed
India.

wood

of teak

Hindu

date

intercourse between Chaldea and India

An

Birdwood.

is

proved by the discovery

Mugheir (Sayce, Hibbert Lectures,

in the ruins of

became saturated with Mahommedan lotus

art

At a

p. 137).

later

These were

patterns.

by the Mahommedan Arabs,


North Africa, and Persia. The
during the seventh century a.d. Syria, Egypt,
and ByzanArab art was therefore ornamentally based on the Sassanian Persian,
the

in
originally borrowed

all

countries conquered

their lotus

and these ornamental systems again drew

tine,

patterns from Greco-

Hence the later Hindu ornament shows


Egyptian and Egypto-Persian sources.
iii.
4, which
an immense amount of scroll-pattern, connecting phases of the type
of the three -spiked form of the blue and white lotus, and
is, as shown, a reminiscence
The

16.

earliest

dated examples of Hindu (Buddhist)

influence,

as
gold and silver work are of absolutely Greek character,
(bown by Birdwood (p. 162). ITie same author gives full

fifth

value to the evidence* of Dr. Leitner's Collection of Greco-

The

Buddhist sculptures, brought to Europe from the Punjab


about 1870. The Greek characteristics are unmistakable
in all

are

The Greek influences

Buddhist architectural carving.

dated from the Greek states in Bactria and on the

Hindu
paign.

frontier

The

which followed Alexander's Indian cam-

treaties with

Greek sovereigns

for the protec-

in

century

which Greek character

B.C.

Assyrian

were also Egyptian


17-

was

The Amaravati

(Buddhist)

DO known Hindu temple, Mr. Fergusson says, older than


the Mxth or fifth century of the Christian era, and all the
is

earlier stone builoings in India are

p. 99).

early

Hence,

Hmdu

conceded

Buddhist" (Birdwood,

appeal to Buddhist art

art in general.

in this art are

campaigns, there

is

is

decisive for the

Although the Greek influences

supposed to date from Alexander's

no doubt

that

the earlier

Persian

had

influence,

and

Tope in Southern India


The pattern system is

showing mixed influences from the West, Greek

foreign,

included.

The

patterns

Egyptian three-spiked form


at

(early

first

These

shaped

rosettes

cavities of the

is

motives,

dominant.

and

the

The Sanchi

century a.d.) shows

still

more

lotus patterns

and

lotus

Casts in the India

spirals.

18.

Bhopal

lotus

are

uA hy ViWG,

"There

is

built in the fourth century a.d.

distinct classic influences in

14.

also

patterns

Tope

p.

This view

Buddhist stone carving.

in

in origin.

tion of the Buddhists are mentioned by Birdwood (p. 103)

Gtuslus ami their Remains,

perceptible, in the

must have reached India.

based on the lotus patterns


earlier

is

show a

its

Museum, South Kensington.


central disk

on which the cup-

Nelumbium seed-pod are

indicated,

but the outer concentric circles appear to be composed of


"
rows of the three-spiked lotus, in the style of the
Egg and

Dart

"

Moulding

(PI. xxi.).

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.


"
the origin of the " fleur-de-lys
(so-called).'^

ornament from North Africa (Fig. 78)

The

patterns.)
lily

has had so

(Compare the Saracenic

in its relation to earlier

history of India thus explains


little

on

influence

its

37

why

its

trefoil

lotus

Byzantine and classic

apparently favourite water-

The

ornamental patterns.

pedestals of statues

and statuettes of the Hindu gods and of Buddha are almost universally lotus
In
pedestals of the type familiar to Orientalists and lovers of Oriental art.
these pedestals only the projecting ends of rayed petals appear, and a decision based

on

floral

resemblances, as between

We

reached.

may understand

a rosette which

is

of the Amaravati

indicate the seed-holes of the

Tope

could not easily be

these pedestals as showing the outer circumference of


"

supposed to show the flower, spread out

which probably

central disks,

Nelumbium and Nymphcsa,

settles the

The

in plan."

rosettes

Nelu^nbium on a few of the

question of the lotus pedestals.


"

"
Rose Lotus is found in ancient and
Although naturalistic rendering of the
modern Oriental art, it must be remembered that this has nothing to do with the
dominance of a pattern, which is a matter of technical tradition and technical tradi;

ornament have been determined by the history of civilization.


as the civilization of India has experienced waves of foreign influence from

tions in the matter of

In so far

the Assyrian campaigns of the eighth century on the Western frontier, which carried

from the Persian conquests and contact, which


from the Greek conquests and contact, which did the same and from

with them Egyptian lotus forms


did the same
the

'^^

Arab conquests and

of foreign origin.

contact,

And by

history of ornament

is

reverse statement of the

a very

nation has experienced.

which did the same,

fair

ornamental art

in so far is its

same

fact

it

follows that the

index of the amount of foreign influence which a

To sum up

the results of these

Hindu

notes on

art, it

no visible influence on the art of


appears that the famous Indian water-lily exercised
have invaded its own home by many paths, at
Egypt, and that Egyptian patterns
are admitted to have
many times, and borne by waves of historic influence which
determined the' character of Hindu art since the third century
century in which this art

There

19. This form

and Modern

is

is

trefoil lotuses.

known

which

mistaken by Inman, Ancient Pagan


Symbolism, ior

His plate

the /nVr^/ as ex-

xiii. is full

is

the

first

to us.

but one more question to answer on the head of the

Christian

plained by his work.

is

B.C.,

of unrecognized

Rose Lotus."

and recognized lotus patterns of Asconceded to be Egyptian. See Perrot

20. All the normal


syria are universally

"

et Chipiez, Assyrie.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.

38
"

campaign of Bonaparte and the Description de


lEgypte (which was published as the result of this campaign) down to the most
"
"
recent years
the colour of the
Rose Lotus has been noticed by travellers on the

Why is

that since the days of the

it,

Egyptian monuments, and quoted as especially representing this plant?"-' The


answer is first, that although Egyptian design is remarkably faithful to natural fact
(as long as it presents any detailed form) as regards outlines, and linear design, it is

by no means equally attentive to the naturalism of colour. The realistic blue lotus
is undoubtedly most
frequent on the monuments which have preserved their colour.

The

white lotus

realistic

much

is

but

rarer,

common.

fairly

But

if it

should be

which appears occasionally must be also realistic, we can


that green lotuses (detailed with sepals and petals) are very common

that a red lotus

ai^ed

appeal to the fact

on the papyri of the Turin Collection, and that many lotuses have red and white petals
(same reference). Both latter cases are purely decorative and contrary to nature. The
lotus

represented in Egypt in

is

point of view.

quoted

the colours of the rainbow

is

Admitting that the blue lotus and


colour on many occasions, we have to

a more decisive answer.

the white lotus are faithfully represented in

explain that a red colour

may

be equally faithful to a

"
Rose Lotus."
representing the much-quoted

small

size,

but answering

all

known
it

described by

is

as from Zanzibar.

would be hard

It is

my

It is

to prove that

If the Egyptians ever

"^^

authority

uncertain

it

-niRroii..

for Pis.

if

this

"

it

is

indigenous to

is

Africa.'^'^

lotus for naturalistic reasons, the

The

flowers are of a deep rosy pink

outside of the sepals [calyx leaves, four in

of a lively green."

..

i.

and

later

Victor LoRET

in

New

pages that the recognition


matter quoted by

number and

The only

alternative

Jersey, U.S.A.

2.^.

Viliers

rii

D. Sturtevant

Abyssinia.

-ii/-

of the three-spiked form

Sttoart,

Funeral

Queen, p. 40, mentions a

ii.

32. Catalogue 0/ Bare Water- Lilies ; E.

Bordentown,

as the

and presumably it is best


flower has been seen in Egypt, but

appear

4.

21. For instance by

Note 81,

known

would be Nymphcea Rubra, a red Nymphaea which is indigenous


to India, and which may have found its way to Egypt.
It will

Repeated from
puteu..,

a species of Nyjuphcea of

Africa,"

gave a rose colour to the

The

is

and without

"

as

never grew there, for

three-spiked in side view]

ioTo

There

type,

a colour variety of the Nymphcsa Zanzibaretisis,

explanation must be sought here probably.


colour.

Nymphcea

conditions of the Egyptian ornamental form,

Nymphcea Zanzibarensis Rosea.


whose habitat

and from a decorative

even represented with cross-bars of colour in some cases, to be

It is

There

later.

all

"pmk

Tent

of an Egyptian

lotus" as growing in

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.


as a typical lotus and conventional outcome of realistic rendering

the

importance throughout

show
whose

treated.

subject

that the red lotus of the Egyptian


realistic

It

therefore

is

monuments

is

39

is

most

not the

one of

vital

essential to

"Rose Lotus,"

rendering could not explain the details of the ultimate conventional

"
types in question, including the Saracenic trefoil and Medieval
Fleur-de-Lys."
I

have observed a few cases of

Egypt, one in Lepsius' tomb,

five sepal spikes in

near the Great Pyramid (IVth Dyn.), where the flower

tomb.

There are also individual cases of

the growing plants

but

the three-spiked form

if

all.

The

11.

in

Beni Hasan,

ornament which did not show

Nelumbinm

PLANT.

the
Supposed to be a Ntlumbium Speciosum by

From RawUnson's

"

original publication.

History of Ancient Egypt,"

I. p. 58.

and

Speciosttm, which are of

size.

UNKNOWN

among

flowers in question were not red,

the sepals did not correspond to those of the

varying length and

held by the owner of the

five sepal spikes at

have never seen a flower

detailed at

is

(See

p. 32.)

40

PLATE

III.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR NELUMBIUMS.*


1.

Egyptian

t>'pe,

showing the sepals of the Nymphcea Lotus or Nymphcea

D'Avennes, Monuments,
2.

Detail from Prisse

Ccerulea.

xviii.

Detail from

Egyptian type, showing the sepals and leaf of the Nymphcea Lotus or NympluBa C/zruUa.
f

D'Avennes, Chasse aux Marais.

representation of water in Prissk


3.

Egyptian type, showing the sepals and leaf of the Nymplusa Lotus or Nymphcea

Ccerulea.

Detail from

represenUtion of water in PRISSE D'AVEHtiES, /oute de Mariniers.


4.

M.C.
5.

Ixviii.

Egyptian type, showing the


of

6.

Detail from ROSELLINI,

Egyptian type, showing the sepals of Nymplusa Lotus or NympJicea Ccerulea.

toilette tray in

sepals, leaves,

wood

and buds of Nymphcea Lotus or Nymphcea

from Prisse D'Avennes, Boites

detail

Eg>'ptian type, showing the sepals,

leaf,

et Ustensiles

de

Handle

Ccerulea.
Toilette.

and bud of Nymphcea Lotus or Nymphcea

Ccerulea.

Detail

from Prisse D'Avennes, Monuments, xv.


7.

Egyptian type, showing the sepals of Nymphcea Lotus or

by a decorative reduplication

Nymphaa

Ccerulea.

Detail

(Egyptian lotus-Ionic form).

The

from

flower

is

supported

Lepsius, Denkmixler,

ix. 3.

8.

Egyptian type, showing the

sepals, leaf,

and bud of the Nympluea Lotus or Nymphcea

Ccerulea.

Detail

from Prisse D'Avennes, Vases du rtgne de Thothmes IIL


9.

Egyptian type,

in

decorative elongation, showing the sepals of Nymp/icea Lotus or Nymphcea Ccerulea.

DcUil from Mariette,

la Egyptian

Nymphcea Lotus or Nymphcea

wood, from Champollion,

Egyptian type, showing the


Ccerulea.

13.

32.

Ccerulea.

and palmette attachment, showing the

From Prisse d'Avennes.


Detail of a spoon handle

Egyptian type, showing the sepals ol Nymphcea Lotus or Nymphcea Ccerulea.


in

12.

I.

type, with decorative elongation of the central sepal,

sepals of
11.

Fouiltes d'Abydos,

II. clxix.

flower, partly

opened

flower, bud,

and

Nymphcea Lotus or Nympluea

Detail from PRISSE d'Avennes, Plantes et Fleurs.

Egyptian type, flower with reduplicated form below, showing the


Ccerulea.

leaf oi

Detail from a

tomb painting

.sepals

at Eileithyia of an edifice in

ol Nymphcea Lotus or Nymphcea

wood

from CuAMPOLLION,

II.

cxliv.

By the above heading it is not implied that the individual examples illustrated have been specially
and individually mistaken for Nclumbiums, but rather that the mistake of assuming the Nelumbium to be a
typical Egyptian form can be demonstrated by the traits which these individual examples show.

Cv
(>i

r
a
y

//

Q,%

-^^

<^3^
-/y

if \ r:#
/2

"V(
F/. ///.,./. 41.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


(PLATES

IV., v.,

PAGES

63, 65.)

The

presumption that a papyrus form exists in Egyptian ornament is as widespread as the knowledge of Egyptology, and as firmly rooted. This presumption
has invaded the

of hieroglyphic renderings and has appropriated an

field

which belongs to the lotus

emblem

such manner that a lotus amulet can be cited as

in

Perhaps one-half of the lotus forms in Egyptian


art are represented by the conventional outline of Fig. 12, and although the error of
evidence of a papyrus symbolism.^

naming

it

a papyrus

is

by no means universal, as regards every individual case of

conventional outline,

the

the

balance of favourable excep-

outweighed by a habit which the supposed frequency


of a papyrus form has induced, of naming obvious and
tions

is

normal lotus patterns as papyrus, a mistake which Wilkinson


and Maspero, for instance, have committed.^ The doubts

which

baseless

special cases,

has

supposition

evoked

naturally

conventional outline lotus,

12.

in

have crystallized into a habit of speaking of

such and such a bouquet or motive as " lotus or papyrus,"^

and the authors of the most valuable summary on Egyptian


art

have been driven by this dubious attitude of the

specialists
LOTUS WITH CONVENTIONAL
"outline'at thTtop."

"""
I2A.

to the alternative of deciding the


20, p.

51) to be neither.*

campaniform

Notwithstanding the

See Brvgsch, Afyt/w/ogie II. pp. a6i-2. " Horus auf


seinem Papyrusstengel " (Horus on his Papyrus) for type
1.

of v.
2.

5.

Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians,

II., p. 14,

3rd Edition,

mistakes normal three-spiked lotus with detailed


petals

for

foot of
petals,

for papyrus,

or

with buds.
lotus

bouquet

of

Anhaology,

Amelia B. Edwards, mistakes

a vase, a three-spiked lotus with detailed

referring to his

" lotus

Maspero,

papyrus.

translated by Miss

p.

310,

Fig.

279; and

in

Fig. 93, p. 87, uses the words

"

papyrus

for

three-spiked

(see

Pantheon, p.

46.

given attitude would

Perrot quotes
the

Plate

I.

12 [p. 21],

Hathor cow and Horus

papyrus, converting
" scfene de
into a
la vie rustique,"/%^;2/i?, p. 790.

has mistaken representations of

bower

Horus

Isis

and Horus

(as in Description de I'Agypte,


in

Ausgabe.
"

the papyrus reeds

King has mistaken

A.

i.

calf

Brugsch

in the lotus-

63, 4) for Isis

and

Mythologie, p. 330, Zweiie

lotus for papyrus in Cesnola's

Ulrich Koehler has been misadvised


p. 369.
"
"
as to the
papyrus on the Mycenje swords, J/;V//i7^(f
Cyprus"

aiis

Athen, vol.

3.

vii. p.

241.

Prisse D'Avennes, Text

ments ; Text for Plantes

cut facing) as papyrus,

fact that the

as

forms

Pierret speaks of the detailed

Kadesh

capital (Fig.

4.

et Flairs,

Perrot et Chipiez,

Agyptc,

for

Bordures

&c., &c.
p.

580.

et

Soubasse-

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

44

concede about half-share to the

papyrus in the

bulk of Egyptian

ornament,

no evidence of a corresponding prominence of the plant in symbolism.


Dr. Henry Brugsch has assumed symbolic meaning with justice for forms
to be papyrus which are really lotus (Note 2), and has also connected

there

is

supposed

Horus as hawk with


colonette.

The

the papyrus (Note

when he

i),

really stands

on a lotus

Papyrus symbolism has not yet been demonstrated from the monuments.
latter interpretation of Dr. Brugsch is determined by the rendering
supposed to be papyrus, and all citations by Egyptofavour of the papyrus which depend on this reading must be held

of a hieroglyphic sign
logists in

subject to revision (pp. 53-61).

have no intention of denying that the papyrus

were many such. Pliny, for instance, cites the


papyrus head as having no value unless to crown statues of the gods (Natural
"
But there are many " sacred plants which
History, xiii. 32).

was a "sacred

plant," for there

have not originated ornamental patterns, and the papyrus

one of them.

The Persea

tree

was sacred

Sycamore to Nut, and the Tamarisk


Ancient Egyptians, HI,, p. 349, 3rd

to

is

Hathor, the

Osiris (Wilkinson,

to

Ed.), but there are

no

ornamental patterns derived from these plants in Egyptian


"
art.
[The Persea leaf" of an enamel necklace in the British

Museum, Fourth Egyptian Room, Case


leaf

by association

(Fig. 18, p. 50,

and

p.

I,

is

proven a lotus

106).]

Egyptian ornament was undoubtedly


ruled by symbolism, but according to decorative sense and

The

history of

decorative adaptabilities.

What was more

form of the scarab, and where can we point


from the scarab?
PAPYRUS. From Nature.
From Pehrot, ^fypte.

13.

is

to

dependent,
rapid

It

few tomb ceilings, &c.

among

decorative

The

surface

For,

and

to a pattern evolved

evolution of a decorative pattern


its

in

the

appears at best, in natural form, on a

other things, on the adaptability of


repetition

sacred than

rendering.

original natural form

before

the days of

South

Kensington instruction, the evolution of


conventional pattern was a natural and gradual one, and not the result of a
decorative

art

theoretic canon.

theories

glance at Fig. 13 of the papyrus will show that

it

is

not an

easy subject for repetition in pattern ornament.

In the case of the lotus we can point to myriad forms where the flower was

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS,


carefully detailed,

forms,

and to innumerable transitions

descended from a time

all

was the only

(for there

45

more highly conventional


time) when the naturalistic

to the

was a

first

Stone Age began with realistic


we cannot doubt that the Egyptians did the same, and the history of their

pattern
art,^

If the cave-dwellers of the

one.

sculpture and of their painting, as far as

we can

trace

it

back,

is

proof that they did.

Let the advocate of papyrus ornament consider the startling

fact that

no one

has pointed to a single realistically detailed picture of the papyrus in Egyptian

By

we must understand one which

a realistically detailed picture

art.

represents the

filaments of the head of the plant, separated one from the other and standing
regularly or falling

sideway, as the case

may

be (Fig.

To

13),

ask for such

making no unreasonable demand of Egyptian art. The long spears


of the Egyptian wheat are most carefully represented, individually and separately,
a picture

is

numerous Egyptian

in

pictures,

and

and

their separation is not as obvious,

their

with the filaments of a head of the papyrus.


do not say that such pictures of the papyrus do not or did not exist but I

size is not as great as is the case


I

say that no one has claimed them to exist

no

one has published such a picture

and consequently no one has ever attempted to connect the supposed papyrus
form of the monuments (Fig. 12) with such a picture.
There are only two even supposed cases of a picture specially devoted to the
papyrus in the entire range of Egyptological publication.* These supposed cases

show

the plant in the supposed ultimate conventional stage of rendering (the outlined

In other words, the papyrus form must have begun at the conventional
that the lotus is rendered by the
stage where the lotus ended, for no one has denied
conventional outline. This is a curious dilemma, considering that the lines of the
lotus form).

of the lotus flower.


How does
papyrus head are much more complicated than those
it happen that the lotus has many conventional forms and the papyrus only one ?
seeing that one-half the ornament in Egypt must be papyrus, if that one form be

In other words,

admitted.

5.

and

The

mammoth,

horse,

Museum and Museum of

first efforts

6.

frequently quoted prehistoric drawings

ivory, of the

British

One

we can

St.

and wild

trace the evolution of the lotus patterns in

on bone

goat, in the

Germain, represent the

of design, and are very successful pictures.


is

mentioned by Pierret

in

his

Didionnaire

said picture being


d'Archeologie igyptienne, under Papyrus,
in RosELLiNi's

Monumenti

Civili, xxxvi. 3.

It is

referred

to

by Rosellini (Text,

p.

146) as the only picture which

represents the harvesting or culture of papyrus, but


is

quoted.

have described

follows, p. 47.

The

this picture in

cases where the papyrus

no

text

matter which
is

supposed

to occur as

a landscape accessory will be subsequently

considered.

The

other picture, supposed to represent the

manufacture of a papyrus boat,

is

mentioned

at p. 66.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

46

surviving traditional

the purely conventional

to

purely realistic

which represent

forms,

all

the

in

and,

from the

of treatment,

stages

case of the supposed

papyrus patterns which constitute about one-half of Egyptian ornament, as known


to us, we cannot point to one case of quoted realistic rendering.

now move

Let us

Cypenis Papyrus, which

actual

In

to the point that Egyptologists are not familiar with the

the

is

unknown,

practically
"

Description de

exhaustive botany of the

if

not extinct, in Egypt.

I'^fegypte,"

the

author, Delile,

"
Rose Lotus," but he was
drawing from China for the
It is now grown in
unable to offer any illustration of the famous papyrus.
the fountain basins of New York City, but it has been extremely difficult of

was obliged

access

students of Egyptology.

to

Abyssinia

to use a

the

in

isolated

It

mentioned

is

by Pierret as found in
Menzaleh in the Delta ^ and as

Lake

region of

as being grown in a
occurring in one or two spots in Syria; and by Perrot
few private gardens of Cairo.^ The stream in which it grows near Syracuse is

supposed to be the only well-known access


but

state of nature,

it

travellers to

for

the papyrus

in

has been proven that even this access does not

exist,

and that the Cyperus of the Anapus is not the Cypenis Papyrus? According
Illustrations of it are
to the usual view it is absolutely extinct in Egypt.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica and Webster Dictionary
rare in works on Egypt.
VnxKEt, Didionnaire, &c. But this
Mr. Percy E. Newberry (verbal advice).
T.

8.

9.
it is

is

doubted by

igypte, in the matter on the campaniform capital.

"

It

now

only grows in the Anapus near Syracuse, and

said to have been found in a stream

Syria."

Ed.

Wilkinson,

Wilkinson

Herodotus.

But

Ancient Egyptians,
the

to
this

is

Hehn, Wanderings of
Air /edited by

Hbhm

same

effect

on the coast of
II., p.

in

a mistake according to Victor

Plants and Animals from their first

James Steven Stallvbrass, 1888,

p. 233.

says that the Florentine Botanist, Parlatore,

distinguished between two species of the plant

Egyptian papyrus ....

which he

taller,

not into a cup

living in

the

first

old

Nubia and Abyssinia,

[x/V.,

Cyperus Syriams."

Arabs

because

was

it

Wilkinson's,

by

Isaiah's

not

and everything sown by the brooks."


relative

rarity

particularly

central

cultivated

portion of the

he gives

the

name

of

till

before

after 1624.

900
*'

a.d.,

and

was

not

All the specimens in

European hot-houses seem to have been procured from

in

the

Delta).

says,

Sebennytic
It

is

are

italics
is

shown
.

In dwelling on the

of the papyrus, Wilkinson

"It was

Nome

evident

(south

that

other

Cyperi, and particularly the Cyperus Dives, were sometimes


confounded with the papyrus or Byblus hieratiats of Strabo,

sandals,

therefore,

The

there."

that " the necessity of this

mention of the paper reeds by the brooks

see pp. 59-61], which was a native of

This plant was introduced at Palermo

cultivated

who adds

and when we read of

shortly

planted at Syractise

quoted by Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, II. p. 406,


" the
3rd Ed.,
papyrus was not found about Alexandria.
Pliny,

spreading at the top into a plume, and

and to which,

by the

still

"

Cyperus Papyrus, and the Sicilian papyrus,

calls

growing much

Syria,

406, 3rd

Rawlinson's

According to Hehn, the papyrus disappeared from


Egypt because it was an exotic there, introduced from tbe
Upper Nile, where it still grows rankly. According to
Sicily."

this

its

being used for mats,

sails,

baskets,

and other common purposes, we may conclude that


was an inferior kind mentioned by Strabo, and some-

times a

common Cyperus which grew wild,

was thus employed

in its stead."

as many still do,


Wilkinson also believes

was not indigenous to Egypt, and that


was introduced from Nubia.
that the papyrus

it

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

47

borrowed from Bruce's "Travels" (i8th century).


Thus we
understand that the incorrect specification of papyrus forms in Egyptian ornament

illustrations

is

are

to ignorance of the plant, partly to a literary celebrity presupposing

owing partly

an unproven frequency
surface

Egyptian

known

in

design

The tomb

as pictures go.

far

in art.
is

preservation

of trades, husbandry,

show

paintings which

to represent the life of the defunct in the

and natural

objects.

confined

spirit

to

religious

realistic

world

art,

views are

as

now

hence the pictures

These paintings are best known

in

bulk at points remote from the Delta, where the cultivation of the papyrus was
especially affected (Note

9).

The papyrus

requires a

marshy ground and water

throughout the year. It cannot spring up, like the lotus, in a pool dependent
on the inundation for the roots of the latter plant are known to live in dry
;

ground for a year or two (Note i, p. 27). If a large number of tomb-pictures


were known from the Delta, realistic views of the papyrus might possibly be
found

the

that

of

but no tomb-paintings are

palm

is

known from

Therefore, considering

a dominant feature of Egyptian landscape, and

are extremely rare in tomb-paintings,

it

the Delta.

it

is

that

pictures

not difficult to understand the

present deficiency of pictures of the papyrus as growing in a state of nature.

This deficiency is also explained by the fact that the larger proportion of
paintings in which the papyrus might presumably occur as a background or
accessory, relate to the procuring of food for

water-fowl, &c.).
exotic
is

(Note

9)

The
to

the

spirit

of the defunct (hunting

supposition that the Egyptians allowed a carefully cultivated

be trampled

down

in

such hunting occupations

in

real

life

highly improbable.

The presumption

that the

bulrushes and water-reeds

is

Cyperus Papyrus grew wild throughout Egypt like


by no means probable in view of the extinction of

grew plentifully where it was carefully cultivated and tended, like


wheat or rye and other cereals, and was doubtless always rare in Egypt in a
the plant.

It

wild condition (Note

9).

In the time of Strabo the cultivation of Cyperus Papyrus

was a government monopoly.


Rosellini has pointed to the lack of paintings showing the cultivation, reaping, or

manufacture of papyrus (Note 6). His solitary supposed illustration of such culture
is that of two men carrying bundles of the conventional outline (M.C. xxxvi. 3), but
there

is

no reason why paintings showing the papyrus should not yet be found.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

48
It

asked, what then are the plants invariably called papyrus, which

may be

are represented as growing in marshes at Beni

Hasan

(Figs. 14,

tomb

seen growing in the

and are represented with

are painted green,

interior lines (although

not with separated filaments).


are

they

normal
14, 15.

SOPKBW) rAPVRUS, BINI HASAN.


From RoselUiu.

The answer

naturally reserve
in

it

As

it

which

is

beside

growing

certainly presumptive

decisive for the entire question,

is

more obvious

until the

lotuses,

At Beni Hasan

evidence that they represent a distinct plant.

a curious one.

is

moreover,

found,

which are

of Tih, at Sakkara,

At Beni Hasan they

&c.?

15);

errors

shall

and inconsistencies of Egyptology

the matter of the papyrus have been pointed out in the Plate illustrations.

Meantime, the cuts adjacent of the plants in question indicate either gross
indifference to nature or a supernatural point of view on the part of the
The birds and quadrupeds calmly standing on them are impossibilities
designer.
for either realistic
It is

We

papyrus or

another question

can only say that

all

lotus.

why

the papyrus does not occur in typical ornament.

Egyptian ornament

is religious

symbolism, and that the

were a religious symbol at all, which remains to be proved (and this


is a distinct question from the one of its sacred character), was not a symbol of
a sufficiently definite, ancient, and powerful nature to create an ornamental type.

papyrus,

As a

if it

matter of argument from the standpoint of decorative adaptability,

we

can

appeal to the fact that the scarab, the hawk, the lion, and other symbols did not

an ornamental type. The symbolic asp is, perhaps, the


only living form, aside from lotus motives, which became a
create

currently repeated pattern.


called papyrus,

in

As

for the

shape of Fig.

16 (conceiving the

removed and the column as thickened),


called

a lotus,

is

constantly

amulet form, frequently

detailed

it

is

hawk

as

just as frequently

as a lotus,

associa-

its

when supporting various gods and divine animals are all


explained by the known symbolism of the lotus, and it would
tions

.1

be impossible to base an argument for the papyrus on

16,

rr^y

The

'6

GOD HORUS ON THE


lotus column.

symbol as papyrus when supporting a hawk, as in


has been noticed (p. 44), but the details, v. 6, 7 [p.
65], have been

reference of Brugsch to this

Fig.

it.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


show

to

selected

association v.

The

5.

Considering

for

an

for

^^

lotus

"

"

for a

the branch

^^

for

explain

fully

"*

of a tree,"

"

for

pig-tail,"

the

and

'^

palm fronds,"
"

for a

by the author of a book on sun-worship.^^

tree,

forms have been entered as

its

triad."

"mussel,"^' for

^"

Grotesque

Lotus motives have been

^^

"bent

'"

pictures in Webster's

realistic

Dictionary^ and in a popular history of Egypt.^^


mistaken

steles

"

has been confounded with the lotus of the " lotus eaters,"

it

misconceptions of

^^

daisy,"

for

fan-shaped flower,"

with the jujube

i.e.

"

for a

tulip,"

"

all,

lotus

has been recently mistaken for "garlic,"'^ for a "branch,"'"^

It

'^

Worse than

"

related amulet is called

"

Assyrian

the

by Maspero.^"
has
been a much-neglected plant, notwithdeserts, the lotus

its

fame.

its

standing

Sun-hawks on

the

that

49

a " knop and

for

stick,"

flower"

"

^^
"
"
"
for an
pattern,^^ for a
honeysuckle,"
egg-and-dart
moulding,^"* for an
ivy
^"
*^
"
"
^'^
for the "silphium plant,"
for a
for
leaf/'^'' for a
fleur-de-lys/'
pine-cone,"

by Miss Edwards, p. 241 and


lotus-flower column in green (elds-

10. ArchcBology, translated

"
Fig. 207.

The

little

path symbolized the divine


11.

Menant,

Sargon.
12.

13.

See xxxvi. 4

[p.

referring

247] and

in

p.

Lenormant's

184

JJistoire,

"

fleur

de marguerite,"

by Perrot, mistakes xx.

marguerite," Perrot et Chipiez,

&c., v. p. 341.
Orieniale,

eaters" and the "Jujube Tree."


21

Cox's 6' Worship,

22.

The

illustration for

on stems out of

water.

Compare

Compare

153] for a "double

24.

Compare matter

xlviii.

[p.

p.

Zopf geflochten."

the Cypriote "boss";

Furtwangler and

"
"
Mycense
LoESCHKE, Mykenische Vasen, have mistaken
Text, p. 46, as one
types, liv. 13, 15 [p. 325!, for palms.

li.

18.

F.

Compare

and L. Myk.
26.

" boss "

Cypriote

liii.

liii.

"

(xlvii.,

[p.

323].

Furtwangler and Loeschke,

p. 6
[p.

323];

Mycense motive from

specified as a

"gebogene

Stiele."

Vasen, p. 59.

BiRDWooD, Industrial Arts of India,

27.

Honeysuckle"

is

p.

424.

current designation for the

Greek Anthemion.

instance.

to

25.

11.

33j), with Mycenae derivative,

Specified as a mussel by

growing

p. 27.

the

for

Mykenische Vasen, Text,

17. F.

\\.-g. 120.
" lotus " in
Webster's Dictionary,

39 and Fig.

23.

v. p. 558.

p. 309.

See also

9.

specifies the white lotus, but represents the leaves as

on

ScHUCHARDT,&/2//VwV Ausgrabungen im Lichte der

Schliemann's Mycena,

p.

Britannica (ninth edition), on the " Lotus-

heutigen Wissenschaft, referring to the Sphinx head, xxxiv.


" Das Haar scheint zum Theil in einen
2 [p. 227].
langen

16.

in

Newberry,

J. S.

Dieulafoy,

p, 340.

[p.

Dr.

Encyclopcedia
i

felt by Homer's
Food and Fibre Plants

a lethal influence similar to that

of the North American Indians, Note to

an error adopted

it

lotophagoi."

of

seal

p. 175.

Ernest Babelon, Manuel d'Archeologie

as quoted

ascribe to

Seep. 175.

the rosette, as

15.

the

to

Cylindres, &c., referring to Cylinder xliv.

Layard's Discoveries,

by Babllon
14.

Cylindres, &c.,

Menant,

[p. 285].

gift

of eternal youth."

appearance, has a delicious flavour, and the Arabian poets

Adler's

Preface in

Schliemann's Tiryns,

referring

9 [p. 319].

Gazette Archeologique,\%%%.

rameau d'arbre,"

"

En

train

de brouter un

referring to xxxix. 7 [p. 253].

and Alodirn Christian


19. See Inman's Ancient Pagan

28.

Compare matter

for pi. xxi. [p. 159].

29.

Compare matter

for pi. xxii. [p. 165].

30. Current designation of the

31.
Fig.

MuLLER,
7,

mistakes four

Symbolism, matter for his PI. xiii.


" The fruit of
20.
Ziziphus lotus, a small tree that grows

silphium."

a date or plum in

moulding.

in Barbary.

This

is

something

like

32.

LiiON

trefoil lotus.

Numismatique de Tancienne Afrique, p. 11,


trefoil lotuses for

DE Vesly,

"

quatre pousses de

in matter for the

"egg-and-dart"

See p. 155.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

so
"

<)S4
"
and " Phenician Bouquet," '^ for oak leaves and acorns,
a "Fleuron"** &c When we find an archaeologist of the distinction of

the Syrian flower

for

"

border of
Longpdrier referring to the most familiar lotus
Egyptian ornament (xxi. 12 [p. 159]) as 'a pattern found
at Kuyunjik,"*' we cannot wonder that the lotus has

been mistaken for

Nehimbium and

The argument

of Plates

iv.

for papyrus.

and

63]

[p.

v.

[p.

65]

is

mainly apparent from the descriptions of


the pieces as given with the plates.
For

no

instance, the papyrus has


cleft leaves

of iv. 3 and

iv.

leaf,

and the

7 specify the lotus.

The symbolizing methods which show


a lotus leaf supported by the flower, as in
Figs.

17,

17.

WOODKH TOILET TRAY,

svrFORTiNG A LiAF.

LOTUS

summary
a

(RoscUini.)

LOTDS SUPPORTING

A LEAF.

(Prisse.)

enable us to understand a

18,

form shown by Plate

typical

l8.

xi.

[p.

107],

Therefore

repetition in iv. 5.

iv.

which has a
5 designates

lotus.="'*

Although in nature each bud is supported by a separate stalk, there is a


symbolizing method which attaches the bud to the stalk of the flower (iv. 9).
Unpublished relief panels in the temple-portico at Denderah, show many cases
of Hathor carrying normal lotus flowers with long stems to which buds are
from a photograph taken for the author. This peculiarity is
It is seen in
seen on Cypriote vases at xlvii. 13 [p. 303], and at xlix. 10 [p. 307].

attached.

Fig. 19

is

Egyptian originals at
natural
xi.

Therefore

and

12

of the bud

position

[p. 107].)

iv.

is

iv.

12

iv.

14

[p.

"tabs" on stems of the normal lotuses

iv.

iv. 10,

The

the so-called papyrus forftis

6,

33.

LuDWicvou

4,

iv.

Sybel, Weltguchichte der Kunst, ^. 63,

moUve ix. 5 [p. 91],


Perrot rr Chipiez. vol.

referring to

34.
[p.

29J under this

35.

Dk LiTYNES, Num.

fP a3]'

v.,

have published Fig. 88

title.

latter

example the

found in instances

14 are proven to be lotuses.

as a conventional remnant of buds.


iv.

the

(In

as frequently

reversed,

and

63].

and
"

tabs

iv. 8,

iv.

"

and

15,

We

like

see

which are thus explained

therefore designate as lotuses


iv.

11.

The right-hand stem

36. LoNGPiRiER, in Musee Napoleon III. ; matter for


Rhodian vases. The motive undoubtedly occurs at Kuyunjik, but only because

it is

the

commonest of

all

Egyptian

lotus- borders.
et

In. Cyp., referring to xxxii 5

36 A. For the peculiar leaf of Fig. 18, with

round base, see foot of

p. 106.

cleft

above

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


of

iv.

The two

supports a lotus.

by the same

other plants of the

5-1

same design are

specified

also obvious

by com-

trait of the tabs.

The argument from


parison of

13 and

iv.

association

16

iv.

is

by comparison of

v.

with

and by comparison of v. 8 with v. 10.


The
downward broken stems of the buds are the same in both
V.

65]

[p.

In

cases.

3 the

v.

North," and

V.

2 with

crown

which

lotus,

is

Sun-hawk on

crown

the

twined about a form which

is

"

be papyrus as sign for


of

asp wears

left

"

for

v.

the

supposed to

is

"

twined about a normal

is

proven an equivalent variant.

lotus,

"

North," but the parallel asp

the

the North

thus

the

for

(an association

The

repeated at

9 [p. 283]), leads by transition through v. 6, where


petals and sepals are indicated at the base (in symbolizing
fashion), to v. 5, the form supposed by Brugsch to be Horus

xliii.

3,

on the papyrus (Note i).


This last demonstrat'on solves
campaniform

WYX
\5

held

be

to

as

frequently specified
stoutly

It

capital (Fig. 20).

question of

the

has been

and

lotus,

papyrus,

the

also

by

notably

Mariette."
20.

The goddess Neith (v. 9) holds the staff


common to many gods, which is alternately
a

as

specified

according to the
19. Detail

from the temple-portico,

Isis-Hathor bearing
lotus stems with attached buds,
Denderali.

gxpcrt

*,

^^^

and

papyrus-sceptre

mood

From hKPSivs, >cnh/idler.

"

lotus-sceptre,"

or chance attitude of the individual

au iudccision which

thc constant error

ompoograp.

"

"

CAMPANIFORM LOTUS
CAPIIAL (Karnak).

would

is

as misleading in

result as

be.

confusiou which has so far

made a

hopeless riddle

of the subject of the lotus and papyrus (so-called) in Egyptology results from
inattention to one simple fact, viz. that in solid material the lotus was often

represented

by a bell-shaped form and frequently without

37.

Compare Perrot et Chipiez,

38.

Remembering

^gyp(e, p. 582.

that Egyptian art did not

projected relief detail on

stone capitals until the

admit of
Ptolemaic

time,

it

will

detail.^''

be obvious that a

lotiis

The

solid

flower could only be

represented in solid stone by a bell-shaped form, and that


the

same point of view

will

hold for porcelain.

52

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

bell-shaped form

was then copied

lotus motive in pictorial art.

hieroglyphic which

has

and became an independent


bell-shaped form was the origin of the

in surface rendering

This solid

"

mistaken for

been

In

papyrus."

other

the

words,

"

"

form does not represent a lotus, but it represents a lotus


papyrus
amulet (the word amulet being used without restriction as to size).
so-called

we may begin

In making this fact obvious

mentioned by the text, viz. the


This sceptre may still be seen in solid

with the object


sceptre.

last

material in stone statues of Sekhet, and


projected
in front of the body in
In such cases
high relief.

the sceptre

may

rarely detailed as a lotus, but a case

is

be quoted from the Turin


is

sceptre

pictorial art,

and

and has been

detailed

When

as a lotus.'"

petals.

it

Museum where

the sceptre

is

by Rossi

transferred to

also rarely detailed with


sepals

is

We

specified

the

may

quote,

the

however,

large

on the outer rear wall of the Hathor temple


Denderah, where the sceptre of Isis is

reliefs

at

fully

detailed as a lotus in at least

As

two cases

(Fig. 21)/"

regards the colonette amulet and the bell

capital in architecture, both are

conclusively proven lotuses by

the Turin Papyrus

which

10,

shows

flower

shaped

numbered
the

detailed

bell-

with

perpendicular lines (supposed


22.
31. Lotiu-sceptre held

Deoderah.

From

by Isis-Hathor,

Author's sketch.

to

represent, at

Beni Hasan,

the filaments of a papyrus) and

From Turin

Papjrrus No. lo.

So-called papyrus form specified as lotus

by the

leaf.

From

Author's sketch.

connected with a lotus leaf (Fig. 22) and lotus bud.

The same Papyrus shows


and the colonette

39.
tanti

"Cinque Statue

ancora

mano

la

sinistra

amulet

the

(framed

bell

as

leontocefale di diorite, rapprcsen-

dea Sekhet, che,

appoggiata

al

ritta

in

piedi, tiene colla

scno, lo scettro a fior di loto."

capital

with

represented)

similar

detail

(Fig.

23)

with exactly similar detail

Yv.Ksc^sco'R.ossjflMonumentiEgizidelM'useod'Antuhii^
di Torino, p. 9.
40. Personal sketch,

and

also specially photographed.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


The head

(Fig. 24).

the

same way (Fig


In

of the Sacred Bark

represented on the

is

53

same papyrus

in
i

25).

the case of

the colonette

amulet

27) the decoration of lotus

(Figs. 24,

and petals at the base of


the column deserves
especial

sepals

attention, because

has been

it

confounded by Wilkinson, by
Owen Jones, and by various
other

and observers,

writers

with the

including botanists,
leaves

enveloping

sheathing

the base of a papyrus stalk.

The

hieroglyphic form called


is

papyrus
the form
pears,
23.

From Turin Papyrus No.

for

dimension

Bell capital specified as a lotus

amongf

It

in

example,

glyphics in the
hotcp, at

Author's sketch.

copy of

direct

of Fig. 24.

lo.

by Fig. 22, same Papyrus. From

the

tomb

ap-

large

hiero-

of Ra-

4.

From Turin Papyrus No.

Amulet

Maydoum

(Ilird or

lo.

Colonette

(so-called papyrus) specified as a lotus

by Fig. 22, same Papyrus.

From

Author's

sketch.

IVth Dynasty) as an accurately


represented lotus colonette or lotus column of the same shape (Fig. 26), with the
distinction that it shows, instead of perpendicular lines on the flower, a sheath
of lotus sepals and lotus petals at the base of the flower
(as in

As

Fig. 23).

this sheath of sepals

and petals has been confounded

with an imitation of the sheath at the base of the papyrus head,


it

is

necessary to insist on the fact that lotus detail in Egyptian

art frequently deviates


25.

From Turin Papyrus


10.
Head of the

No.

Sacred Bark, so-called


papyrus form specified

From

same Papyrus.

from nature on

method, which presents the sepals and petals


intermediate
(Fjgs.

Thcbatt

Author's sketch.

28,

point between

lu

29).

Fig.

Tomb (Tomb
^

No.

the

27
6,

of the

top

wc havc

Tombs

shows the derivation from a colonette

by a conventional
as rising only to some

this point

thc

of the

we now

hieroglyph
Kine^s),
'

its

base

from

which also

original (compare Fig. 24).

Insisting on the fact that Figs. 22, 23, 24, and 25 are

Papyrus,

flower and

all

from one Turin

recur to the point that the original so-called papyrus form

was

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

54

a bell-shaped lotus
lies

in

solid material,

by the upper double curve,


Therefore

which

first

We

it

viz.

top which

of a solid

the outline representation

in

The proof
figures show

an amulet column or colonctte.

22, 23,

24, 25.

these

all

Fig. 23 with Fig. 22.

Compare

appears that the outline lotus (Fig. 22) belongs to a class of pictures

represented a solid form.

have next to consider the colour by which

amulet

is

generally

pictures of unmistakably solid forms

either in

represented,

this lotus

(for instance, architecture. Figs. 28, 29),

which are hence derived.

or in surface designs

This colour

is

green generally,

with red or yellow top line and red or yellow petal sheath.

27.

Hieroglyphic,

of the Kings.
36. Hieroglyphic in
Ra-hotep's

Majrdoom.
So^alted

pipjrrus,

lotos bjr Fig. 24.

specified

as

Coloured green,

with black outline and red

The

tomb,

From Author's sketch.

detail.

thor's

sketch .

Tombs of
From AuSo-called

papyrus, specified

as

by Fig. 24. Coloured


green, top and lower detail
lotus

yellow, with red lines.

28.

From Turin Papyrus No.

capital,

From

Author's sketch.

Lotiu

51.

coloured green, with

red

Compare

top.

Fig. 23.

pictures of Turin

Papyrus No. lo are without colour, but there are many


Turin Papyri with pictures of lotuses which are
green throughout and fully
detailed with sepals and petals.
It is not
surprising, therefore, that in the Turin

we

also find the lotus bell


capital detailed with green body, dark green
perpendicular lines, red top line, and yellow petal sheath. These are the colours
Of Fig. 28, from the Turin Papyrus numbered
51, and of Fig. 29, from the Turin

Papyri

Papyrus numbered

7.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


Such green

and

55

lotuses, with red or yellow (or also red

top and red or pink petal

yellow)

base of the outlined flower,

are

also

sheath

common

Theban tomb bouquets which have done

so

Fig.

in

much

confuse the study of Egyptian botany from the

ments.

at the

the
to

monu-

30 represents a photograph of such coloured

Tombs of the Kings (Ramesid Tomb


XXth Dyn.). The flowers are specified as lotus

flowers from the

No.

6,

by the leaves placed over them (compare Figs. 17, 18),


and by a variant form of the leaf (like Plate iii., type 2,
29.

From Turin Papyrus No.

Lotus

7.

coloured green, with red top


and yellow petal sheath. From Author's sketch.

Compare

attached to the stem."'

p. 41)

capital,

That we are dealing here with pictures derived from

Fig. 23.

forms actually existing as ceremonial


amulet staves is apparent from the following
solid

In Theban tombs and in the

observations.

we constantly

of Dehr-el-Bahri

reliefs

figures

bearing

artificial

lotus

attached.

lotus

leaves

or

find

which

staff,

to

lotus

buds

are

and 32 are from sketches


a Theban tomb at Abd-el-

Figs. 31

made by me

in

Kourneh (Tomb

125).

In the more carefully

detailed reliefs of ceremonial processions at

Dehr-el-Bahri,

ceremonial

is

it

staff,

apparent, as here, that a

and not a natural

This point

represented.

is

plant, is

accentuated by

the fact that naturally detailed lotus flowers

bending stems are frequently


one hand, and conventional forms

with

pliant

held

in

on a straight

41. This form

to

me by Mr.

is

staff in the other (Fig.

31).''-

natural to young leaves, as

made known

departure from nature.


42.

At

Percy E. Newberry.

referred to such pointed

The development

leaves as

Compare

xi.

p. 31

first

have erroneously

an Egyptian conventional
2 [p. 107].

of the "tabs" (Plate

from Tombs of the Kings, Thebes, supporting


leaves (compare Figs. 17, 18) and with leaves attached to
the stem. The flowers are green with yellow top, crossed

30. Lotuses

lines.
The upper leaves are coloured in the same
way, lower leaves blue. From photograph for the Author.

with red
iv.

[p.

63])

is

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

56

The

hieroglyph
"

significance

now denominated "papyrus"

26 and 27) has the

(Figs.

" to
despatch, deliver over, to give,"

to be green, fresh," also

colour

its

and

green in Figs. 26

is

red

and

Whether

the

with red (or

27,

detail.

yellow)

" and

original form

was the blue-green

porcelain amulet

now known

in

colour

is

Museums,^* and

the

thence derived, or whether the


solid

form

was

in other materials

painted green for decorative or


for hieratic reasons, is of course

not for

me

to say,^^ but

has

it

already been noted that normal


lotuses are very frequently paint-

ed green throughout, in Papyri


exhibited at Turin, and it has

shown

been

that

details

like

Figs. 28 and 29 are habitually

painted green, and that they are

demonstrated

31.

From

Tbc

with pinlc sqials.

Tomb

No. 125, Abd-el-Koumeh. The staff is green


bouquet has green sepals, white spaces, and yellow tops.

Author's sketch in

thus explained as being from leaves as well as from buds,

and can be demonstrated

in

Theban tombs from

paintings

And

p. 328.

derer

tion of these ceremonial forms, as for instance in Fig. 32.

im

The
as

ceremonial lotus staff with attached artificial leaves,

in

Fig.

31,

has

been

mistaken

by Wilkinson

for

" Convolvulus."
43.

"

Brugsch,

Papyrus No. 10

to be lotuses.

As regards
we now recur

the hieroglyphic,

the evidence

to

that the sign for "the


called

although
"

Man

legte

dem

Nebenbedeutung von griin

which show a hurried and careless or off-hand representa-

Turin

the

by

Anwendung auf das

North,"

"

papyrus,"

worte /die darin enthaltene

sein, griinen,

unter ; mit beson-

fiische Griin

der Pfianzenwelt

Friihjahr."

44.

Sometimes

Polytechnic at

of very large

dimensions, as

Athens colonette supporting the

in

the

head of a

hawk.
Myihologit,

Zweite

Ausgabe,

Syllaborisches Schriftzeichen, welches ut lautet

Grundbedeuiungcn cines Verbalstammes


"griin, frisch sein"

und "entsenden,

p.

314.

und die

in sich schliesst

iiberliefem, spenden."

45.

"

The

in

Brugsch,

Myihologit,

Zweite

Ausgabe,

p.

325,

colours white, yellow, green, blue, red, and black,

cases of the dominant

animals, of sun

colour of deities and sacred

and moon, were not chosen haphazard, but

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


can be proven a lotus variant by the evidence of

On

V. 3.

v.

[p.

57

65] as

compared with
Denderah there is also

the rear exterior wall of the

Hathor temple at
found the asp with crown
"

for

the North

twined

"

(Fig. 33),

about

normal

and facing an asp


"
with crown for "the South
lotus,

on the opposite end of the


same wall, twined about a
trefoil

"

for

The

lotus/"

the North

"

r'

sign

was held

be a lotus by Cham-

to

pollion.^''

We
move

now

are

able to

to the curious con-

clusion that as early as the


32.

Ilird

buds

compare Fig.

or

IVth

Dynasty
'
'
amulct form had bcCn

.
.
K in Tomb
^ u No.
XT
. .
rrom Authors
sketch
125, Abd-elKourneh. The bouquet is green with yellow tops,
^J^g
crossed with red bars. The tabs are derived from lotus

TT

transplanted to the world

19.

of nature and represented as an actual living growth.

In

tomb of Ra-hotep at Maydoum, where the hieroglyph,


Fig. 26, is found, we may also see, on the opposite wall, a

the

picture of a fisherman seated under a group of plants, of which

Fig, 34 represents a detail.


the outline

is

black,
'

colours of
(compare
^

The body

and the sheath of


Fier.
^ 26).'

Thus

of the flower

is

petals at the base

is

green,
is

red

Hasan

of
solved the problem
^

the supposed papyrus marshes at Beni

^
Asp with crown

33.

From

(Figs. 14, 15)

for

,
" the

North," resting on a lotus as sign


for "the North."
Denderah.
Author's sketch.

according to the symbolic significance which the Egyptians

Naos, facing the entrance of the Florence Egyptian Collec-

were

tion, the

accustomed to

attribute

to

each colour,

the

gods Nilus both hold stems with the supposed

idea of joy was connected with white and green."

papyrus forms, showing that one and, consequently, both

46. To this evidence we may add two cases of the


"
current representation of " water-plants on either side of

are lotus variants.

the

Sam.

Generally, whether as held by figures of the

" wat;rNilus, or as independent bouquets, these


"
plants are supposed to be papyrus and lotus respectively,

god

as signs for

" the North

"

and " the South."

On

the granite

The same

may be

fact

plants on a throne of Isis-Hathor

at

observed for the

Denderah (west exterior

wall).

47. Pantheon

bouquet de
est

ici

^gypiien.

lotus,

Matter for

PI.

formant I'embleme d'Egypte

d'une couleur

et

b.

vii.

"

Le

infe'rieure,

d'une espfece qui different assez


I

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

58

and

For the

Sakkara.

at

lotus amulets as

his

growing

actually

represent the spirit world,

it

at

world,

spirit

the

least,

As

plants.

Egyptian

his

represented

always

tomb-paintings

impossible for us to say whether he would have

is

committed, or did commit, this absurdity in

art

realistic

impossible

to

say

remains to be proven that the Eygptian


ever had a realistic art.
because

it

would apparently

It

from the

result

going matter that the papyrus


Egyptian Art, but this I think
think

that

clear

is

it

unknown

is

pictures

derived from the lotus,

capital, the sceptre,

lotus but

sent the

form

the campaniform

that

and the hieroglyph,


it

of

been pointed out

in publication, that the conventional outline


is

to

not the case.

is

realistic

growing papyrus have not yet

fore-

all

repre-

does not follow that the

papyrus does not occur because it has not yet


been specified correctly. I have said that papyrus

symbolism has not yet been demonstrated from


the

but

monuments,

think

that

can

it

be

demonstrated.

have quoted at Note

9,

46, a reference
"

p.

from the English translation of Hehn's Wander"


to the studies of
ings of Plants and Animals

The

the Florentine Botanist Parlatore.


34.

From Author's

Maydoom.

sketch in

Growing

Tomb of Ra-hotcp

at

plant, coloured green, out-

line black, detail red.

The

Parlatore.
"first

and

the

Sicilian

plume and
esuentielletncnt

de

not

loit

de

la plante, soit

into

exprime

la fleur

as

quoted by Note 9

of

species

the

plant

Nubia and Abyssinia, which he

cup,

much

et

dans

taller,

was a

which

la infime id^e

mais difTdrcnce d'espfece

de

two

papyrus growing

celui qui

pUnche pr6:^ente

scarcely succeeded in explaining the point

between

living in

still

somewhat inadequate, and Hehn himself has

edition of Stallybrass says

distinguished

papyrus

is

translation

la

de forme,

seulement, ne porteaucune

espfece

of

old

Egyptian

Cyperus Papyrus,
the

Syria,"

de modification dans

eu une foule d'occasions de


identity."

Parlatore

at

spreading

native

that

the

calls

made by

le sens

me

top

&c.

into

In this

de ces groupes.

J'ai

convaincre de leur parfaite

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


translation

the

impossible

word

"

for

any

from

translation

"

word

cup

especially

my

attention

being an

as

meaning and as being an undoubted


Kelch," which sometimes means "cup" and

supposable

German

the

attracted

59

"

sometimes means a calyx. I therefore had recourse to the original German,


which used the word " Kelch," as I had expected, and which is not especially
successful in explaining Parlatore's meaning, but which had the great merit
of

the

furnishing

the

English

reference

edition,

which

his

to
is

This

publication.

professedly

an

omitted

is

matters

in

abridgment

by
of

detail.

Parlatore's publication
"

des Sciences

for

was made

in the

As an

1854 (Vol. XII.).

"

Mdmoires

"

of the Paris "

Italian botanist

it

Acaddmie

was naturally

his

duty to study the Sicilian papyrus, hence his publication. Parlatore's point is
It is the head of the
entirely obscured by the English translation of Hehn.

now growing on

papyrus
"

"

or

cup
is

"

Kelch

"

either erect or a

never

umbelliferous

Sicilian

papyrus

this point

clear

is

the

would carry
or

and

which

a plume (neither the word

one direction (generally the

Parlatore

shows

umbelliferous

he publishes a picture of

Kew and

is

meaning), and he shows that this plume

in

spreading.

spreading

Nile,

this

plume drooping

corresponds to the plant at


this picture

Upper

the

that

the

latter),

head

and not a plume.


Sicilian papyrus.

to Fig. 13 (borrowed

from

of

and
the

To make

This picture

Perrot).

Beside

he places the one, made by Bruce in the eighteenth century, of

Cyperus Papyrus, which also appears in the Encyclopaedia Britannica and


in Webster's Dictionary, together with a drawing expressly forwarded to him
by a friend on the Upper Nile. The latter is a schematic view of the erect
the

plume of the Cypenis Papyrus ; the former shows the bending plume, with
pendant to one side (and not umbelliferous) as

filaments

it

all

generally appears

in nature.

We

shall

now

observe that, according to Parlatore, there was only one correct

original picture of the true papyrus in existence,

by Bruce

in

the eighteenth century.

down

Since 1854,

to 1854, viz., the

one made

Parlatore's investigations have

been apparently unknown to persons treating on the papyrus

in

Egyptian Art,

Cyperus Syriacus of Sicily, and who have all


proceeded on the assumption that the head of the Cyperus Papyrus is umbelliGranted that the head of the Cyperus Papyrus is not
ferous, whereas it is not.

who have been

misled by the

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.

60

umbelliferous, the entire


falls to

Cypenis Papyrus

to

now

shall

the ground.
is

probably not

unknown

probably not unknown to Egyptian symbolism on the


only difficulty has been that the conventional outline has

and

The

monuments.

outline as a naturalistic

for the conventional

return to the point that the papyrus

art,

Egyptian

argument

so

abundantly supplied
demand for a papyrus

sentimental

the
in

art

Egyptian

that the true plant has been overlooked.


is

Fig. 35
in

the Turin

surmounted by a lotus.
holds a plant which corresponds to

before
II

ijr /

He

^^

hj_\

an

Parlatore's

from a sketch of a picture


Papyrus, No. lo Sebak

altar

schematic

illustration

for

the

Cyperus Papyrus.
Pliny says, after enumerating various
uses of the papyrus, that
35. SF.BAK HOLDING THE TRUE CYPERUS PAPYRUS
before an alur crowned by the lotus. From Author's sketch of a
picture in the Turin Papyrus, No. 10.

its

head had no

fn rrcwvn \\\l^ cfatllPC r\^


VaiUC f.vrf-r\'t
CXCCpi lO CrOWU inC SiaiUCS OI
iraliif^

me
tViA

gods (p. 44). Now on most of the altars


of offerings of the Old Empire, which are represented by reliefs in the Gizeh

Museum,
of

to

the

there

as

laid

it

representation

schematic

my

papyrus.
is

corresponds
the

Cyperus

would

sideways

In the

objects.

to

of

plume

Papyrus,

a representation

which

plant

when

is

appear

on

New Empire

such
this

has become more

(Fig.

According

36).

view, here

is

the

true

A similar representation

also found erect (Fig. 36),

and
36.

will

DaSS for a schematic reOre-

sentation of a plume,

handed

Photograph from an Altar of OiTcrings at Dehr-el-Bahri, with a conventional


papyrus plume laid on the altar and another erect beside it.

down by

tradition

and conventionalized.

plumes occur frequently with the lotus as associated with statues of


in

other ways, and they appear sometimes with and

Such

Khem and

sometimes without

detail.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


For the

case see

latter

are not.

where these forms appear to be buds, but really


view the papyrus should be classed with the Persea

iv.

13,

to this

According

Tree as occurring frequently

But

there

is

from the Greek text

the decree of

of

R. S. Poole, that

Professor
the

in

Egyptian symbolic art.


a point to be made on this difficult

still

Greeks

the

to a

of the goddesses

sceptre

6i

Canopus, as
of the

papyrus.

made known
Period

makes

possible

This

it

as a growing plant)

for

papyrus.

That

the

sceptre

appears

me by

to

Alexandrine

Egyptians themselves had occasionally mistaken their amulet form


represented

It

topic.

compared

(also

was

the

that

when

really

proven by Fig. 21, and by the relation of the hieroglyphic form to the
lotus (Figs. 22, 24, 26, 27).
The mistake will be more comprehensible if we

lotus

is

remember
Egypt.
is

Cyperus Papyrus was not the only Cyperus that grew in


The Sicilian papyrus was brought from Syria by the Arabs, but there
that

the

every likelihood that

it

once grew in Egypt.

Inferior

kinds of papyrus are

mentioned by ancient authors (p. 46, Note 9), and we have no grounds for
assuming that they were not also sacred plants. The umbelliferous shape of the
head of the Cyperus Syriacus
sceptre,

or confused with

may have been compared

as

it,

it

to

has been by the moderns.

the
It

shape of the
is

clear

Decree of Canopus that the comparison was made by the Greeks.


mistakes in such matters were so numerous that the point is not serious.

Their

the

The
that

of

authorities at

the

distinction

Upper

pointed

Nile,

way

assists,

the

is

who

of those

according to

been overlooked.

it

and

illustration of Perrot,

not

warrant the creation of a new

may

quite sufficient to cast one

view,

Not wishing

correctly represented

their

consider

my

growing

and Syrian species with


specimen is from Syria. The

have classed the Sicilian

out by Parlatore

botanical species, but

the

Kew

from

the conventional

the

specification

more stumbling block

outline

a papyrus.

It

in

also

of papyrus forms which have

to debate a question of Botany, I

have borrowed

but the true papyrus of the Nile appears to be more

by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and by Webster's Dictionary.

63

PLATE

IV.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.


I.

Detail of a painted vase, from PRISSE


a, 3.

Typical

detail,

Dtscription <U I't^gypte, A.

autres Vases.

85.

Hathor

(the

cow) and the

lotus.

Panlht'oH P.gyptitn, p. 42.

7 [p. 107].

and

From

Figs. 17, 18.)

LEI'SIUS, Denkmaler, VIII.,

Typical so-called papyrus, showing tabs derived from lotus buds.


M.C.,

7.

tt

Typical lotus forms (so-called paj)yrus), supportinK leaves of the lotus partly concealed by the flower.

(Compare XI.
6.

I.

showing lotus stems with tabs derived from buds.

From PlERRET,
5.

D'AvENNES, Amp/tores, Jarrts,

arid the lotus.

Typical associated decorative details, showing the so-called papyrus form, but having lotus leaves.

DcUil from Esneh.


4.

Cows (Hathor)

Typical formiii howlng lotus stems with tabs derived from lotus buds.

3,

244.

Decorative detail from ROSELLINI,

LXXXIII.

Typical so-called papyrus, with lotus

leaf.

Detail

from Tell-cl-Amarna, XVIIIth Dyn.

Prisse

D'AVENNES, Offrandts au SoUil.


8.

showing so-called papyrus form, with tabs derived from lotus buds.
Cyprus, Kino's Appendix for Gems, XXXI. 11.

Phcnician

seal,

9 Lotus, with buds attached

to stem

of flower;

explaining the tabs previously illustrated.


Plates xlv. 13 [p. 287]
10.

Typical Egyptian

LXXII., A.
11.

detail,

a conventional symbolism, contrary to

Detail from a Cypriote vase in

New

nature,

York.

and

Compare

303], and xlix. 10 [p. 307].

From

showing lotus with tabs as above explained.

Navii.le, Todtenbuch,

10.

Typical Egyptian detail, showing a so-called papyrus form, which

From an Egyptian
12.

xlvii. 13 [p.

From Cesnola,

Typical Egyptian

vase

detail,

buds are reversed

in

the

New York Museum, Maspcro

showing so-called papyrus form, with

common

is

spcciflcd as lotus

by the

tabs.

Collection.
lotus

buds attached to the stem.

decorative arrangement, as in Piute xi. 7 [p. 107].

The

From Prisse

D'AvENNES, Amphorts, &c.


13.

God Khem,

with lotus crowning a shrine.

To

be compared with No.

16.

Detail from CllAMPOLLlON,

IV., cccxlviii.
14.

Mummy,

with lotus, having buds on the stem (to illustrate origin of the tabs).

Detail of a stone

sarcophagus from P. Q. ViSCONTi, Collection of Egyptum Antiquities, Property ofG. Athanasi,


1 5.

Lotus with

16.

God Khem,

tabs.

Detail from a Cypriote vase in

New

York.

with lotus (so-called papyrus form), crowning a shrine.

Compare No.

13.

Detail from

ROSELLINI, M.d.C. XLI.

XV.

This heading specifies the argument of the plate rather than

all its

individual examples.

PI. IV., p. d-s.

64

PLATE

V.

LOTUS FORMS MISTAKEN FOR PAPYRUS.*

1.

The

Genii of Amenti, on the lotus.

2.

The

asp and the lotus, in two forms.

No.

3.

3.

on the form now held

4.

The

2.

"

to be

Detail from Prisse

"

Prisse d'Avennes, Piliers


the

left

as hieroglyph for

papyrus

d'Avennes,

"

Time

the North."

Compare

Isiaqiies.

wears the crown for


"

2.

the North," and rests

of Trajan.

Compare

From Mariette, Album du Mus^e

de Boulaq,

Di'coration de la niche de rEmis'i.

Compare No.

Genii of Amenti, on the lotus.

the left wears the crown for " the North."

The asp on

the lotus, in two forms.

CXXXV.

Detail from ROSELLINI, M.C.,

4.

The asp on

DeUil from Thebes, XVIIIth Dyn.

The asp and


No.

Compare No.

i.

XIII.
5.

Sun-hawk on die

so-called papyrus stel6.

6.

Sun-hawk on the

lotus.

Compare Nos.

Compare Nos. 6 and


5

and

and

7.

From ROSELLINI,

M.DC

XXI.,

Detail from Prisse D'AwEiiSES, Mont/menis,

7.

11.

XXX

J.

(Pelti edifice de Tahraka.)


7.

Sun-hawk on the

illustrations, xliii. 3,

8 and

10.

Compare Nos.

lotus.

[p. 283].

list

Mariette.

et

Dendi'rah,

II.,

44-

Ptolemaic or Roman.

From

Soubassements.

Goddess Neith, with so-called "papyrus-sceptre."

Edfou.

From

the Description de I'^gypte, A. III.

cxxxvii. 4.

This heading

Additional

of unpublished monuments, p. 24.

Alternating decorative details, showing lotus buds in each design.

Prisse d'Avennes, Bases


9.

See also

Detail from

6.

specifies the

argument of the plate rather than

its

individual pieces.

^Mt

I
y
/)

66

APPENDIX.

37.

Picture in Lepsius, DenkmdUr (Ab.

Finally we have

to mention

II. 12),

supposed by Wilkinson to represent making a boat of papyrus.

problem of the picture from Lepsius, Denkmaler (Fig.

the

supposed to represent the making of a papyrus boat.


form which

the plant

On

this

the

point

outline

to

outside

It leads us to

hiero-

38. Demonstration
a
glypli called papyrus as being
lotus, by association with the leaf.
From Birch, Autiquities in the
Plate 32.
British Museum.
for the

my

association,

by an

at

no longer

in

Sakkara, have been mostly sanded up or

symbolic

of the culture of 11^


^ picture
papyrus in the
^

tomb

is

a lotus
39. So-called papyrus supporting
bud inverted (compare Fig. 45, p. 73).

It

accessible.

It is sufficient for

ordinary

now sanded
it

up.

the con-

The tombs opened by Lepsius near


undoubtedly complicates the

may
The

me

to

not have been occasionally

decision of this question

have proven that

have been hitherto called papyrus are lotuses

and

detail.

size .of the

artist trained to believe that

ask whether the lotus

jurisdiction.

Sakkara to have

From Prisse d'Avennes.

lapse

water-plants in general.

represent

forms which

(Yy

is

which was without

figures

undoubtedly inexact, and the small

by Mariette

This picture

problem.
used

this

by these

represents papyrus.

the Pyramids and


ruined.

is

Baedeker's

use.

"

tomb of Ptah-hotep,

offered a large

sum of money

all

39A. Lotuses of the IVlh Dynasty (to


From
compare with Fig. 39B).

39B. Conventional
Dynasty (to

is

the

in derivation, in

Egypt

"

mentions

at Sakkara.
to the

This

Scheik at

opened, but without success.

PRibSE d'Avennes.

is

have never seen an Egyptian fresco with

carried

picture

copy would excuse


ventional

is

which

37),

outlines

of the

XVIIIth

compare with Fig. 39A).

From Prissk d'Avennes.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS CAPITALS.


(PLATE

The

types illustrated by Plate

vi.

VI.,

PAGE

69.)

are those familiar to

all

students.

Type

vi.

3
intended to indicate and include the campaniform capital of heavier
proportions
have seen that this capital, which is still in debate as regards the
(Fig. 20).
motive, must be positively assigned to the lotus. The decorative petals and sepals

is

We

of Fig. 20 and of

columns

(lix.

vi.

3 deserve attention because similar ornament at the bases of

1,6, 12, 15

[p.

345]) has been ascribed to imitation of the sheathing

and also because

leaves at the base of the papyrus stalk,'

an indication of lotus sepals from a


be seen by reference to

lix.

it

has been mistaken for

point of view.^

realistic

The

fact

is,

as

may

1,6, 12, 15, that this ornament does not relate in Fig. 20

a naturalistic conception of an individual flower, for in this case the


The representation of
representation would be as in the lower member of vi. 6.

(or vi. 3) to

sepals

and

petals, or of petals alone, or of sepals alone,

of successive overlapping triangles which

Thus we understand

to naturalism.
vi. 6.

The form

member

is

of this

member

a lotus form like

into a running ornament

used by the decorator without reference

is

the surface ornament of the middle

will

vi. 3,

grew

be explained by the next Plate.

member

of

The upper

and having a similar ornament of overlapping

sepal triangles.

The
(a

capital vi. 5 has been correctly specified

by Reber,' but

its relation to vi.

bundle of lotus buds) as a conventional derivative has been generally overlooked.

The

types of Plate

surviving examples,

down

members

indicate fairly

vi.

to

the

Persian

all

those in general use, as

Conquest about 525

known by

B.C.,

assuming

6 may also be taken to represent distinct capitals.


One capital clearly distinct from those illustrated, in earlier use, is that with the
heads of the goddess Hathor, as indicated by i. 7 [p. 21]. This capital is mainly

that the three

of

vi.

By Owen Jones, Grammar of Ornament,


Egyptian ornament, and by many others.
1.

2.

DiEULAFOY.

See Notes

Pis.

for

3.

History

of Ancient

Thacher Clarke

8, 9, p. 72.

Harper

Art,

&

translated

Bros.,

N.Y.

by

Joseph

EGYPTIAN LOTUS CAPITALS.

68
distinctive for the

time,

and

is

only found in exceptional cases at an

appears therefore that the colonnade architecture of ancient Egypt

earlier date.

It

was one of

lotus

national cult

Greco-Roman

columns and lotus

has been explained.

capitals,

From

whose symbolical

relation

translations of Professor

the

to
^

Maspero

it

architectural capital when reference to


appears that the word for lotus indicates an

architecture is in question.
4.

In Ilistoire Andtnne des Peuples de FOrient

PLATE

VI.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS CAPITALS.

1.

Typical lotus capital in wood, from a tomb- painting.

Prisse d'Avennes, Constructions en

Boi's.

Similar capitals under the IVth Dyn.


2.

Typical lotus bud capital in wood, from a tomb-painting.

Pkisse d'Avennes, Constructions en

3.

Typical campaniform lotus capital.

Kamak.

Thothmes
4.

Detail in stone

relief,

From Prisse D'Avennes,

Bois.

Piliers,

III.

Typical lotus capital, representing buds bound together.

Beni Hasan, Xllth Dyn.

From Chipiez,

Histoire des Ordres Grecs.

5.

Typical lotus capital (type under the XVIIIth and

XlXth Dyns.)

derived from the foregoing type.

DcUil from Prisse D'Avennes, Temple de Menephtehum.


6.

Typical combination capital, of the description shown by tomb-paintings


metal, have no surviving examples.

7.

Typical lotus bud capital

same

From PRISSE d'Avennes,

reference as No.

5.

which, being of

Colonettes en Bois.

wood and

^um
r'i

Vk2l

mum.
Ill}

w,i

/v. F/.,

69.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.


(PLATE

An

Ionic capital

downward bend towards


Greek preference

delicate

PAGE

79.)

generally presumed to have the form of Fig. 41, with volutes

is

joined at the top by connecting


slight

VII.,

is

lines,

which

in

the best Greek examples have a

their centre, but this depression is attributed to

for the

curving line as more graceful than one which

According to present views of the Ionic capital,


which join the spirals are in principle straight lines,

straight.

the lines

and

the

and

original

typical

form

is

have

to

supposed

adhered to them, as nearly as the sentiment of beauty would

Although the upper member of vii. 5


harmony with the type of the Greek Ionic, and

allow.
GREEK IONIC CAPITAL.

art

is

Egyptian

of the fourteenth century b.c.,^ there has been no disposition on the


part of

authorities
Ionic,

who have

which

The

offers

first

42.

published similar capitals

no dated examples of

archaeologist,

CYPRIOTE IONIC CAPITAL.

Puchstein, Das

Programm

undvierzigstes

Archaologischen

to connect

time than the sixth century

43.

CYPRIOTE TOMBSTONE

lonische

His references

zum

Gesellschaft zu

Capitell ;

Sieben-

Winckelmannsfeste
Berlin.

Berlin,

der

Reimer,

44.

(Golgoi).

who adhere

to

the

1887.
It dates

^.

from Menephthah, son of Ramses

similar

B.C.

made

capital

in

II,

Perrot et Chipiez, igypte,

CYPRIOTE IONIC CAPITAL.

matter,

made

to the generally accepted

in

essays

view that the Ionic

capital has an Assyrian origin (Fig. 317).


4.

Revue AnhMlogique,\o\.

lished posthumously in

2.

them with the Greek

Georges Colonna-Ceccaldi, in 1875,* and he again

recurred to this point in 1877.^


Otto

earlier

published announcement of the Ionic capital as a lotus was

by the French

1.

so far in

is

5.

Revue ArchMogique,

lished posthumously in

xxix. p.

24,1875.

Monuments Antiques
vol. xxxiii. p. 176,

Repub-

de Chypre.

1877.
RepubMonuments Antiques de Chypre.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC

^i

F02UIS.

devoted to other subjects, were brief but positive.

Although they

Cypriote tombstone (Fig. 43) and to Cypriote Ionic capitals (Figs. 42,
universal assumption of archaeology that

was undoubtedly present

origin,

his

in

to

related

the

44),

any lotus motive points to an Egyptian


As he makes no reference to
mind.

Egyptian examples, it is uncertain whether he conceived the evolution of the


Ionic form itself to have taken place in Egypt.
Colonna-Ceccaldi, whose first
reference

was

to

the tombstone,

Fig. 43,

specified

the volutes as

representing

curling petals, the central triangle as representing the ovary, and the upper introrse
scrolls as representing stamens.

Egyptian Ionic forms was made by Hans Auer

specific reference to

Sir Gardner Wilkinson published a detail resembling

Marcel Dieulafoy made the

In 1885

as original of the Greek

vii. 7,

author specified the Ionic form as lotus

Neither
Ionic, in 1857.'
"
called it a
water-plant,"

in 1880."

but Wilkinson

systematic effort to connect the

first

volutes of Egyptian lotus capitals with the volutes of the Greek Ionic, by

way

of

appeal to details of Assyrian ivories, and to the intermediate Cypriote connecting

tombstones and

by Colonna-Ceccaldi."
The normal form taken as point of departure by Dieulafoy is the Karnak example,
vii. 6, whose volutes he conceived to be
petals curling downward under pressure,
links,

capitals, already specified

while the central intermediate

The

as lotuses

member was supposed by him

highly important examples,

debating the interpretation of

vii.

8,

9,

to represent the ovary."

are borrowed from his book.

M. Dieulafoy

in detail,

it

is

Without

sufficient to say that

he

was undoubtedly correct in his results, and fortunate in his citation of examples.
However the lotus volute originated, it is clearly one aspect of the Egyptian lotus
form.

We can

form, as in

iv.

trace

it

[p. 63],

from the slight decorative bend of the supposed papyrus


or in the more definite bend of iii. 4 [p. 41], to examples

on the one hand, or examples like vii. i, 4, 6, 9, 10 on the other.


5 [p, 91] shows a case of an inverted bud between the two volutes,

like vii. 2, 3, 7

Plate

ix.

which finds many other


6. Zeilsehri/t fiir

imporUnt essays

hildende

Kunst,

1880,

devoted to

the

Egyptian

No.

10

in

Proto-Doric

The Egyptians

in tht time of the

for the Crystal Palace


8.

Pharaohs (published

Company), p. 157.
L'Art Antique de la Ftrse, III""' Partie, pp. 34-55.

"En

9.

(see xi. 2,

[p.

107],

eux-memes

et

laisserent

apercevoir,

Tovaire placd au centre de leur corolle.


et

la

tige

calice."

and

posant au-dessus de la flcur un abaque rcctan-

gulaire, les pctales s'ecrasferent, se retournorent

sur

Triglyphs.
7.

monuments

illustrations in the

se

distinguaient

les

en

Entre

li^gferement

s'ouvrant,
le corolle

enveloppes foliacdes

du

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.


and

Fig- 45),

not

is

it

whether the analogous intermediate member

certain

vii.

I,

is

6,

4,

always thus explained, or whether we have

sometimes a reminiscence of the form

member,

am

that this central

obliged, at

member

ence to M. Dieulafoy.
EGYPTIAN IONIC LOTUS SUPPORTING AN iNVERTKD BUD.

45.

which a

cleft

flower.

to

assumc

was introduced

it

presentation,

show

all

would be comparable

lies

[p.

in

41]

represents an ovary, with

^\

this

all

defer-

4
in

at

manufactured conventional form,

as

way an
of

type

interior portion of the

this

artificial

supposed

a case to a modern botanical

such

model showing partly the exterior sides and partly an


of the flower, and a botanical model which would be
ovary of the white and blue lotus

events, to reject the suggestion

in a figurative
vii.

iii.

Such an explanation would oblige us

artiticially

the moment,

for

Taking,

to

l' C.

2Xi

in

their

base.

interior

central

because

the

Egyptian

art

incorrect,

Now

the

section

constantly shows symbolizing associations of different entire portions of the lotus


plant, for instance,

a flower supporting a leaf (Figs.

17, 18),

but

it

never indulges

and figurative botanical sections. It shows the ovary, for example, by


i.e.
by an actual picture of the ovary as seen from above (Figs. 5, 6, 8).

in artificial

rosette,

We

must consider the conventional

ready-made artificial inventions.


already found a clear explanation
(Figs.

2,

central

and Plate

member

inverted

but

3,

it is

We

bud

For the

and as especially

iii.),

it

is

trefoil

forms of Plate

in the three-spiked

of the conventional

(Fig. 45),

lotus forms as decorative evolutions, not

lotus

vii.,

as

we have

form emphasizing the sepals

by iii. i, 4. As the
sometimes displaced by an

illustrated

trefoil

is

not possible to decide in

all

cases which

is

intended,

always one of the two.


have, then, two phases of Egyptian lotus Ionic forms and volutes, one

showing a straight or convex connecting line, as in vii. 5, 2, 3 the other showing


more highly developed volutes rising from a cleft centre, as in vii. i, 4, 10. An
;

intermediate form, with developed volutes and a convex connecting line


Ionic of Bassae),

vii. 7, is

an architectural model.
papyrus form,

vii.

2,

3,

(like

the

an isolated and rare example, but undoubtedly based on


It is probable that the forms which relate to the so-called
are decorative exaggerations of the conventional

outline

by the lotus Ionic forms which rise from a cleft centre.


The most interesting and important detail of Plate vii. is No. 8, because it

(Fig. 12), influenced originally

as belonging to the calyx leaves or


clearly distinguishes the volutes

sepals.

(A

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.

74
similar example

the Cypriote tombstone, xxiii, 7

is

support the view that the

simplified forms, vii.

cleft,

These

173]).

[p.

exhibit in their

4, 6, 9, 10,

i,

illustrations

volutes a conventional termination of the outer sepals or calyx leaves, a conclusion

already reached through the three-spiked form in

We

may now

petals of the lotus never curl over,

objection

to

representing

petals

shows a

[p. 41].

that these lotus Ionic


8).

As

the

and as the Egyptians clearly had no sentimental


erect under pressure (vi. i [p. 69]), we shall
Fig. 4

plant.

(p. 27),

from

This flower corresponds

which has been mentioned.

peculiarity

iii.

downward under pressure (Note

on the natural habits of the

prefer an explanation based

nature,

M. Dieulafoy,

consider the suggestion of

volutes represent petals as curling

its trefoil
stage,

to Fig. 3, with exception that the sepals have curled over, a frequent though not
"
Rose Lotus,"
a constant appearance in the white and blue lotus, not found in the

whose

That

sepals, however, are frequently pendant.

attention of ancient decorators

is

this detail did not escape the

apparent from Cypriote vases, which frequently

In nature the sepals are also found pendant in


copy it (Figs. 46, 47, 48).
advanced stages of the flower,
A very fairly realistic representation of this

from a notable Cypriote vase, to be found on


More of the details from Cypriote vases, showing the curling sepals,

peculiarity is offered
xiv.

will

be found on

[p.

287].

by Fig.

xlvii. [p. 303],

Ionic form appear on xv.

49,

and two of peculiarly interesting

relation to the

Greek

"

Mycenae" pottery there is a distinct


motive based on the pendant sepals, which has eluded the
7,

13

[p.

specifications

and
find

In

139].

of

Professors

On

Loeschke.

liv.

[p.

Furtwangler

we

325]

an obvious case in No.

15.

shall

Nos. 3

and 4 also
Xlt

More

retain the three-spiked form."'


M
C A Mremote examples are easily specified

through these,

viz.,

i,

and

2,

24.

CYPRIOTE POTTERY LOTUS.

Nos.

10 and 19 are obvious cases of the lotus

and valuable proofs that in pottery


motives also, the volutes were carried

volute,
CYPRIOTE VASK.
N. Y. Museum.

48.

Cypriote pottery lotus.

45.

10.
this

above the naturalistic point of departure from the

In Mykeniicnc Vaan.

The most

obvious relation of

motive to Cypriote and Rhodian examples

found at xxxuc 5

[p. 253],

and

Figs. 160-163

will

pp. 31 3'

be
3i4-

The same
metric

"

line of the

"
treatment of the sepals occurs on a Greek geo-

vase in the Louvre, which has been mentioned by

Furtwangler, but without knowledge that the form

is

a lotus.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.

75

In architectural examples this was a necessary consequence of the solid


form and hard material.

flower.

we

Returning therefore to the detail vii. 8,


decorators have derived the Ionic volutes of
realistic representations of the

resemblance

One

seemed

Fig. 4) as

(to

decorative deviation

same

is

shall

lotus sepals,

its

peculiarity, or

them warranted by decorative

to

the side sepals curl over.

This

In the Cypriote details

the central sepal

detail, vii. 8,
is

conditions.

In nature, the sepals generally, though not

apparent.

mentioned, and in the Egyptian

Egyptian
either from more

from such a transfer of natural

over together, in about equal degree.

invariably, curl

conclude that

is

erect,

and only

an obvious accommodation of actual

facts to

the decorative habit which forbade an illusive foreshortening of the central sepal,

which
that

in nature

when

would be seen curling forward, as

Hence, we

may

argue

the Egyptian decorator represented the exterior curling sepals as

rising to the top of the flower, he

which he was working,

in

view of the obvious

wood

lotuses with Ionic volutes (Figs. 47, 48

and

will be

it

curl over

from the base of the flower.

in

difficulty or impossibility of other

As

or stone.

PI. xlvii.),

for the Cypriote pottery

where there was no

observed that they are generally faithful to the

this kind,

bounding outlines

still

was governed by the conditions of the material

representation of the curling sepal in

exhibit

in Fig. 4.

The Cypriote

at the sides,

which appear

above

the

difficulty of

fact that the sepals

flowers, however, continue to


like the erect sepals of the

usual three-spiked form.

According
Ceccaldi

(p.

to

the views

offered,

made by ColonnaThe supposed


detail.

suggestions

72) are also subject to revision in matters of

"ovary "(Fig. 43) is in reality the survival of the traditional central sepal. His
view of the volutes as curling petals must also be abandoned. The upper introrse
scrolls of Fig.

43 are not stamens, but represent a palmette or

"

honeysuckle,"

be subsequently explained.

Notwithstanding these corrections of detail, to


Georges Colonna-Ceccaldi belongs the honour of the first announcement (1875) of
the one main important fact, that the Ionic capital is a lotus, and to M. Dieulafoy
to

belongs the honour of the

own

first

systematic demonstration of this fact (1885).

observation, based on Cypriote vases in


It

between

is

not,

the

demonstration

New

York, was made in 1873.

however, assumed that this chapter demonstrates a

Egyptian
is

lotus

reserved,

Ionic

form and the

and we only claim


L 2

My

Greek Ionic

connection

capital.

This

to have indicated the existence of an

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.

76

Egyptian lotus Ionic form, and to have related

We leave

lotus.

its

volutes to the sepals of the

the problem here at the stage presented by

the only existing case of a stone Ionic form in


solid pillar backing,

which the

Egypt

does not reproduce.

detail

of proof as to actual architectural use are drawn from


capitals.

The

reasons

why

(vii.

6) is in relief, against

is

it

tomb-paintings of wooden

obvious that the

also

the massiveness and solidity of fact and

the lotus (Plate


architecture,

show a

light

Ionic form

and

we have

appearance in stone construction

is

paintings of

and other buildings in wood,


of construction to which the graceful lotus

asdicules,

elegant system

confined.

shrines,

It is the destruction

of the

monuments

wood which

in

capital.

was

derivation of the Ionic form from the curling sepals of the lotus

independently worked out by Mr. Percy E. Newberry in 1885 (then and


the staff of the

anticipated by

now on

Egypt Exploration Fund), and was announced

by letter to Professor Reginald Stuart Poole


Mr. Newberry's matter was ready for the press

my own

that

in
''

when

year.
it

was

publication of 1888,'^ in consequence of

which his intended announcement was abandoned.

As Mr.

an expert botanist as well as an Egyptologist, it


very gratifying to be able to quote him, not only as concurrent

Newberry
is

an

seen that their stone capitals also represent

has so far obscured the Egyptian origin of the Ionic

The

Egyptians did not


Their sentiment for

In contrast with the heavy solemnity of Egyptian stone

vi.).

the

was

but

Otherwise the materials

consider the lotus volutes appropriate to capitals in stone.

observing that

such wooden capitals are not themselves available for

demonstration are obvious, and

abundant explanation

vii. 9,

is

authority, but also as independent discoverer of the true origin


"
of the Ionic form.
I use the words
Ionic form," as distinct

from

the

Ionic

capital,

like

observations,

my

with

purpose,

for

Mr.

Newberry's

own, included surface patterns.

They

CYrRIOTB POTTKRY LOTOS

included the spiral scroll as a variant of the Ionic form, and

WITH PENDANT SEPALS.


From > rase ibown by PI. xIt. 3

consequently included the Mycenae spirals as Egyptian lotus

49.

[p. i873.

The
11. It
12.

Ionic volute

was piepared

announced by me in 1888.
not confined to the form of an architectural

derivatives, as
is

and American Architect, 1889, six papers on "

for publication in the Builder.

Ameruan Journal

of Archaology,

Vol.

iii.,

No.

4,

"
Egyptian Origin of the Ionic Capiul and Anthemion

in

Ancient Art."

capital.

The Lotus

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.


Although the demonstration is easily offered through
depends upon and involves an infinitely larger fact,

architectural examples,
viz.

geometric spiral design in surface ornament was originally a


be proven to satiety that there

is

yy

an apparently

that

floral

it

motive.

not one spiral in Greek ornament which

It

can

not a

is

This proof reacts on our conceptions of the ornamental art from


which the lotus motive sprang, and of which it constituted the most essential part.
lotus derivative.

It is

impossible to admit the spiral as a lotus in Greek art and deny the spiral to

from which the Greek ornament developed. I have


devoted almost an entire volume to the proofs for the Greek spiral.
For the

be a lotus in the Egyptian

art,

our

ornamental art

Egyptian

monuments

of

its

matter

development and

is

more

origin,

and

limited,
it

is

because

we have no

a curious fortune which

enables us to specify this origin by an argument built on the art of a copying


nation.
It

'

thus happens that a preliminary treatment of Egyptian art obliges us to

announce the extreme conclusions which can only be proven by a history of Greek
ornament, viz. that the meander and concentric rings are both lotus motives as well
as the spiral scroll.
is

in evidence,

but

should prefer not to speak of the chevron until the illustration

it

may

be mentioned here to show that the entire history of

European prehistoric ornament, and therefore of European civilization, may


a new direction from an observation based on the sepal of a water-lily.
Although a
patterns
"

forces us to consider the


logical treatment of the subject

first, it is

Geometric

"

not

till

Pottery, that

we

receive

Egyptian

reach the Plates for the Swastika and for Greek

we can

conclusively announce the meander to have been

a lotus spiral (possibly in textile copy, to begin with).


originally the copy of

demonstration for concentric rings

ornament, but an

initial

is

also derived mainly from

announcement must be made

European

The

prehistoric

in the following chapter.

\^\

FROM NATURE

CYPRIOTE LOTUS.

RHODIAN LOTUS.

MELIAN LOTUS.

PLATE

VII.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS IONIC FORMS.


The

dated example of Egyptian

earliest

1600 B.c (No.

The

6).

(Sippara Tablet xv. 9

the XVIIIth Dynasty, about

dated Assyrian Ionic belongs either to the IXth or Xlth century

earliest

[p.

architecture belongs to

Ionic

139]; xxiii.

The

[p. 173]).

earliest

B.C.

dated Greek Ionic belongs to the

sixth century B.C.


1.

Typical lotus Ionic capital in wood.

2.

Typical lotus Ionic form

3.

Typical lotus Ionic form

4.

Typical lotus Ionic capital,

From a tomb-painting
wood.

handle of a standard,

in

handle of a mirror,

wood.

in

in

wood, as represented

in

Prisse d'Avennes, Constructions en Boh.

ROSELLINI, M.C. Ixxx.


ROSELLINI, M.C. Ixxxi.

tomb-paintings.

Detail from PRISSE

D'AVENNES,

Constructions en Bois.

$.

Typical combination capital,


paintings.

6.

wood

bud, flower, and two lotus Ionic forms, as represented in tomb-

Prisse d'Avennes, Colonmttes en Bois.


Karnak, and mate to Fig.

50.

Prisse d'Avennes,

Lotus Ionic form, wooden mirror handle representing an architectural column.

RoSELLiNi, M.C.

Typical lotus Ionic


Piliers,

7.

in

capitals, in stone relief

Thothmes

on

pillar at

III.

Ixxxi.
8.

Typical

with Ionic volutes.

lotus,

Porcelain amulet in the Louvre.

"DlEVLKBOW,

UArt Antique de la

Perse, Part III.


9.

Typical

la Typical

lotus,

with Ionic volutes.

lotus Ionic capital in

Porcelain amulet in the Louvre.

wood, as represented

Reference as above.

in tomb-paintings.

turns en Bois.

ja

CAPITALS IN RELIEP ON PILLAR AT KARNAK.

PRISSE D'AVENNES, Construe'

K^'Z-fX^r^^^m^

r^

PL

VII., p. 79-

THE PROBLEM OF CONCENTRIC


(PLATE

There

does not appear to be

VIII.,

PAGE

87.)

any published matter relating

Egyptian scarabs decorated with concentric rings

who

catalogued the

Farman

RINGS.

Collection of scarabs,

(viii,

to

type of

the

The gentleman
New York Museum,

21, 25).

lent to the

an accomplished Egyptologist and hieroglyphic scholar, and his translations


and interpretations do not offer any suggestions for this type.^ They are classed
by Leemans under the heading of Ornemens Fantastiques? As the scarab is
is

the most distinctively sacred and

significant amulet of

it

Egyptian worship,

is

impossible to suppose that the extremely numerous type of scarabs with concentric
rings

should be destitute of significance.

made

for the similar

The suggestion has been

repeatedly

ornaments of Greek "geometric" and Cypriote vases, that


they are derived from concentric rings connected by tangents, which in their turn
represent conventional spirals.^ This suggestion, which has not yet been made for
is

Egyptian scarabs,
of Plate

No. 24

is

The

viii.

most obviously demonstrated

No. 23

illustrates

for

them by the lower numbers

a traditional survival of disconnected tangents.

a conventional method of representing a spiral


spirals

scroll.

on Egyptian scarabs have not been absolutely

They

neglected.

mentioned by Mariette as representing the wanderings of the soul.^ This


interpretation may have been an afterthought of Egyptian antiquity, but Mariette

are

The Cypriote

does not quote texts for his interesting suggestion.


1.

Mr.

Charles

translator of Victor

Edwin Wilbour, otherwise known as


Hugo's Les Misirablts and of Renan's

Monuments AgypUens du Musee

Bas a
3.

d'Antiquites des Pays-

in

Greek

art are derived

from

by BoHLAU

in the /a/4rfef/4 </m

Archceologiscken Instituts, ii2>Z,-p. iT/[.

A similar explana-

spirals

is

suggested

Dumont et Chaplain,

explanation

in

Cesnola's

Cira-

PL

Cyprus,

v.

p.

334.
'

That concentric rings

Greek

The same

4.

Leyde.

been offered by

miques de la Grece Propre, in fascicule III. relating to


22.

Life ofJesus.
2.

tion has

Ionic capital,

Musk

of peregrinations of the soul,' Album du


" Emblbme des
de Boulaq, text for PI. xvi.
p^ri-

Emblems

grinations

de

lame

dans

I'autre

monde,"

Monuments

d^Ahydos,^. $^i.

THE PROBLEM OF CONCENTRIC RINGS.

82
viii.

another explanation supplementary

offers

14,

Assuming

monument

that concentric rings

may

Museum

No.

the Naples

As

(p. 86,

how does

illustrating

14).

another instance

This demonstration would include the

scarabs are concerned, the answer

far as

forms (Nos.

represent an Ionic lotus

the Egyptian spiral scroll relate to the lotus

and upper numbers of our


i

16

the

Plate.

of Plate

From

natural

related to vii.

obviously decorative expedient, illustrated by

spiral.

we

79]

[p.

in

y-^^

The

viii. 17, is

lotuses in spiral scrolls,

T,,,-.

y (yC/C/

pass to

viii.

17,

that each lotus

is

deprived

is

connected with the

To

obtain a pattern of

we have only then

to design a

lotus with one spiral, or Ionic volute, instead of two,

join

'CJ^

to a fellow, as in Fig. 51.

it

and

Supposing the lotus

be accepted as a conventional symbol, there are

scroll to
FORMATION OF THE SPIRAL SCROLL
rviu LOTUS WITH ONE VOLUTE,

as

simpler statement of the

derived as in Fig. 51.

is

pattern

connecting together lotus

of one Ionic spiral and represented with only one, which


following lotus.

the

is

9
decorative method which
viii.)

Hence

suggested by the remaining


obvious lotuses or from obvious Ionic

forms with Ionic volutes would reverse one

51.

the above

appears from this remarkable

lotus, it

from which concentric rings were obviously evolved.

spiral scroll,

question,

displacing,

the demonstration, which follows in later pages, for the identity of the

Greek Ionic form with the Egyptian Ionic

is in

or

to,

obvious rcasotts

why

the pattern on scarabs should have

been simplified to the point of purely linear suggestion.


The extremely small size, hard material, and rapid manufacture of large
numbers of these amulets would explain any device to simplify and conventionalize
the symbol.

It

is,

therefore,

to be observed that concentric

confined, in remains of Egyptian art, to these amulets.

by small ivory

offered

which frequently exhibit


patterns

on

instances in

From

this

Occasional exceptions are

which are not numerous

objects,

pattern.

The

difficulty

rings are mainly

in

the

museums, but

of working lotus

spiral

would again be obvious. There are also Egyptian


the British Museum of concentric rings on wooden rakes and combs.
this

material

the study of scarabs

it

thus appears that concentric


rings were a hieratic,

Egypt. From the quoted Cypriote Ionic capital


it
appears that concentric rings were an equivalent of the Ionic spiral, and from
subsequent demonstration it follows that they were an equivalent of the lotus.
sacred,

From

and

traditional

the scarabs

it

symbol

in

appears that concentric rings are derived from concentric rings

THE PROBLEM OF CONCENTRIC RINGS.


joined by tangents, which are derived from spirals.

and

significant, hieratic, sacred,

is

traditional ornament, is proven

were a

spirals
their use

by

on an

all

existing scarabs represent traditional forms

conceded, and

we

are consequently justified in using the latest

method as

survival of a realistic

may have

That these

That

important class of amulets.


of high antiquity

The

disappeared.

original form of a pattern

whose

dated scarab of the

Plate

earliest

early examples
is

No.

20,

of

of the Xlth Dynasty, is earlier than the majority of


"
Historical Scarabs."
As indicated by the
dated scarabs in Mr. Petrie's work,
the

Vth Dynasty; No.

17,

description which heads the Plate, the

very large.

The

rarity of the style of

number
No.

17

of lotus Ionic forms on scarabs

would be explained by the

is

difficulty

of cutting the delicate details of the flower on a hard material in so small a compass.

The Museum

52.

of Leyden contains a related example in which the rudiments of

LOTUSES AND SPIRAL SCROLL.

53-

RUDIMENTARY LOTUSES WITH SPIRAL

Scarab in Leyden.

three-spiked

SCROLLS.

54-

ANKHS WITH SOLAR HIEROGLYPHICS.


Scarab (Kl proth).

Scarab in Leyden.

lotuses appear (Fig. 53)-

From

the

Leyden Museum

is

also

the

the habitual Egyptian association of the lotus and the


example Fig. 52, showing
are very
which appears in other ways on Plate viii. Related instances
spiral,

numerous.

The

association of the

is

a distinct design.

is

a very important

of the

The

Ankh

with solar hieroglyphics (Ra) (Fig. 54)

existence of a porcelain amulet type for concentric rings


"
"
Miscellaneous Porcelain Objects
the
It

among
Fourth Egyptian Room, British Museum
fact.

appears

(No. 7688).

on scarabaei have not yet


According to Maspero, "the subjects engraved
been classified, nor even completely catalogued."^ We may conclude, therefore,
to Ionic forms, to spiral scrolls,
place for. these suggestions relating
may add the following
and to concentric rings, as found on these monuments.

that there is

still

We

5.

Egyptian Archaology

; English translation

by Miss Amelia B. Edwards,

p. 243.

THE PROBLEM OF CONCENTRIC

8^

RINGS.

same author and work:-" The object of decoration was not


quotation from the
to a piece of furniture, a coffin, a house, a
merely to delight the eye. Applied
a certain magical property, of which the power or
temple, decoration possessed
each being or action represented, by each word inscribed
nature was determined

by

or spoken at the

moment

well as an ornament."

"

of consecration.

The

italics

are

Every

object

therefore an amulet as

was

own.

my

of decoration, or rather the


power and importance
with an entirely different purpose, was by no
magical use of what we call ornament,
The modern Zuni Indians of New
means confined to the ancient

This

belief in the magical

Egyptians.

Mexico, whose culture

a remarkable survival from prehistoric times, do not use

is

a single form or line in their pottery decoration which has not magic significance.
"
"
Even a break in a line of colour may affect the life of the vase.' It is obvious
that such symbolic use in pattern ornament, of any natural form, promotes a
conventional treatment. The letters of the alphabet, as derived from hieroglyphics,
lost their original pictorial character

The same

served the use as well.

As

because any symbolic abbreviation of the form

ornament.

fact explains the history of the lotus in

concentric rings on scarabs have not been specially noticed by Egyptologists,

Egyptian ivories should also have been


ivories of the
neglected, and consequently natural that concentric rings on the
ancient Mediterranean art should not have been connected with them.
Nothing
it

is

rings on

natural that concentric

could be more palpable than this connection,

if it

be looked

a mass of notices from a number of museums on this


collection of such ivories is in the British

into.

point."

The

have collected
largest united

Museum, from Camirus, Rhodes, found

and exhibited with quasi-Egyptian enamel objects. Combs were thus decorated,
both in Egypt and in Mediterranean localities, where the finds otherwise show
Egyptian influence.'"
Small pottery coffee cup holders decorated with concentric rings are
6.

Maspero, Egyptian Anfueology,

7.

My authority

is

Hemcnway
8.

in charge of the

Expeditions to the Zuni Indians.

For instance, concentric

boomerangs, Case a,

Museum.

now

3,

rings

of Egyptian influence.

on Egyptian ivory

Fourth Egyptian Room, British

"),

with other indications

Concentric rings on

historic tombs,

ivory
British

Concentric rings on ivories from Spata, Poly-

technic, Athens (" Mycenx culture

sold

ciated with objects showing Egyptian influence, from pre-

p. 97.

Dr. J. Walter Feukes, secretary of the

Natural History Society of Boston

still

ivories, asso-

Museum

cylinder,

Museum,

9. First

from

tian

Cambridge,

Concentric rings on

Anglo-Saxon

Vase Room.

The

objects

are

sticks of square section

Concentric rings on wooden combs

Room,

Room,

&c., &c.

oblong plaques, and


10.

of Bologna.

British

Museum, Case E, and

Collection at Florence.

mainly small
uncertain use.

Fourth Egyp-

in the

Egyptian

THE PROBLEM OF CONCENTRIC


Assouan, and this ornament

at

RINGS.

85

one of three motives by which the

is

decorated incised pottery of prehistoric Europe

earliest

everywhere distinguished.^^ The


concentric rings on prehistoric pottery are derived from those which the bronzes
is

and gold and silver vessels associated with the pottery finds also exhibit.'^
These metal objects can be traced, by study of their patterns, from Scandinavia,
England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Tyrol (Hallstadt), to
"
"
culture
in which two latter arts both
Mycenae
early Italian art, and to the
The meander and the chevron
concentric rings and spirals are dominant motives.
Ireland,

same

travelled the

road, also carried

by the arts of metal. In the metal vessels


(gold, silver, and bronze) of Mycenae and of prehistoric Italy we can relate the
disconnected concentric rings to others joined by tangents,^' and these latter to the
on metals of the same

spiral scrolls

art.

The

spirals of these vessels can again be

connected with Egyptian originals, as copied in the tomb-paintings

(x.

[p. 97]).

The argument derived from these facts may be illustrated by a modern parallel.
we are advised to-day of spiral scrolls as being found in the ornament of Salt

If

Lake

we can

City,

predicate the fact with absolute certainty that these spiral scrolls

show a Renaissance

that the artist of Salt

we

assert as

and belong to Renaissance

influence

Lake City could not independently invent a

a matter of

he never does.

fact that

borrow his patterns than it is


part of a civilization which borrowed

him

We

art.

to

for
its

him

This

is

do not

assert

spiral scroll,

because

it

is

but

easier for

to invent them, also because he is

spiral scrolls

from the Renaissance, and

did not invent them.

nothing to show that early races were more original than we are in
such matters. As far as their civilization was derivative their ornament was also

There

is

The

derivative.

first

great step in history

was

that

which passed from the use

of stone implements to implements and vessels of metal. The history of patterns


demonstrates the history of metals. Both arts were derived from Egypt.
11. Plates

Ivi.-lix.

otives are the

(pp.

339-345).

The

chevron and the meander,

two

other

illustrated

by

Note

Compare the metal vessels on


II.

The most

the Plates specified by

interesting gold

and

silver

are in the Schliemann collection at Athens.

examples

The

finest

bronze examples are in Vienna, from prehistoric tombs of


Hallstadt (Tyrol).

Fine

example

plaque in the Louvre

from Dodona, prehistoric bronze


a similar example in the Polytechnic,

Concentric rings joined by tangents,

Athens.

the same Plates.


12.

13.

on

ivory,

from Menidi ("Mycenae culture"), Polytechnic, Athens,


&c., &c.

Compare Plate
on pottery

Ivi. 7

centric rings

Cypriote

art. in

which there

class of vases so decorated


(IviL I,

10 [p. 341]).

[p. 339] for pottery.

Con-

are most largely represented by

is

a distinct and very numerous

but none of these show tangents

86

PLATE

VIII.

THE PROBLEM OF CONCENTRIC


All

RINGS.

No. 14, represent Egyptian scarabs.


All scarabs selected are types
Musee
des
de Leyde), excepting Nos. 17
numerous
Leemans,
examples
(compare
Antiquit^s
having
and 23, which are rare. The references to Klaproth indicate the publication of DOROW AND

figures of this Plate, except

Collection dAntiquith ^gyptiennes, Paris, 1829.


The earliest dated examples are from
Petrie's Historical Scarabs, Vth Dynasty (No. 20), and Xlth Dynasty (No. 17). Concentric rings
on scarabs are dated to the Xllth Dynasty (Petrie, Historical Scarabs, No. 182).

Klaproth,

r.

Klaproth, XXV.

Scarab, showing one lotus with Ionic volutes, and two small lotuses,

135.

3.

Klaproth, II. 73. Scarab, showing three lotuses in conventional outline.


Farman Collection, New York Museum. Scarab, with lotus having Ionic volutes.

4.

Tanis, II.

5.

Klaproth,

II. 82.

Scarab, showing six lotus Ionic forms.

6.

Klaproth,

II. 74.

Scarab, showing one

7.

Klaproth,

I.

8.

Klaproth,

II. 75.

2.

viii.

Scarab, showing four lotus Ionic forms.

29.

lotu.<!

Ionic form.

Scarab, showing one lotus Ionic form.

46.

Scarab, showing a central lotus, two introrsc

and two lotuses

scrolls,

in

conven-

tional outline.
9.

Klaproth, VI.

313.

Scarab, showing one lotus Ionic form and two spiral scrolls.

ID.

Klaproth,

I.

11.

Klaproth,
Compare

II. 77.

52.

vii.

Scarab, showing four lotus Ionic forms.

Scarab, showing two lotus Ionic forms. The little tabs are a mark of the lotus.
They may be originally inverted buds, or simply streamers, in which

ix. i, 2, 3, 5.

shape they also frequently appear, as

in vii. 5.

12.

Klaproth,

II. 64.

Scarab, showing four connected lotus Ionic forms.

13.

Klaproth,

II. 75.

Scarab, showing two lotus Ionic scrolls, and two lotuses in conventional outline.

form of concentric

14. Cypriote Ionic capital, with volutes in

In the basement of the Naples Museum


with concentric rings in place of volutes.
I. 3.

is

New York Museum. Cesnola, Atlas,


Roman tomb relief, showing Ionic capitals

rings,

a small

Scarab, showing four connected lotus Ionic forms, and two conventional lotuses.

15.

Klaproth,

16.

Klaproth, XXV.

17.

Petrie, Historical Scarabs (Xlth Dyn.).

18.

Renan, Mission

II. 65.

Scarab, showing two lotus Ionic forms, best viewed from the side.
Scarab, showing lotuses in lotus spirals.

de P/Unicie, p. i6i.

Scarab, showing connected spirals, of arrangement like the fore-

de Phinicie, p. 163.

Scarab, showing disconnected spiral

going.
19.

Renan, Mission

20.

Petrie, Historical Scarabs (Vth Dyn.).

21.

Klaproth,

II. 107.

22.

Klaproth,

II. 86.

Klaproth,

25.

Farman

II. 85.

Collection,

Scarab, showing connected spiral scrolls.

Scarab, showing concentric rings.

Scarab, showing concentric rings, connected by tangents.

23. Barringer Collection,


24.

scrolls.

New York Museum.

Scarab, showing conccntricrings with disconnected tangents.

Scarab, showing concentric rings connected

Nev York Museum.

by tangents.

Scarab, showing concentric rings.

Compare No.

19.

P^e)
JO

11

7^

13
JfJ

I'

17

2i

EGYPTIAN INTRORSE SCROLLS,


(PLATE

Assuming a

PAGE

Ionic capital are one and the same,

91.)

Egyptian Ionic lotus and the Greek

to be proveij, that the

still

point,

IX.,

must be observed

it

named by German students

involves a pattern in Greek art which has been


"

"

Herzblatt," the

heart-leaf,"

been confused with the


It is also

shown

ivy.^

the heart-shaped

pattern in Greek art

The

[p. 133J.

unknown form

in

ix. 3, is

with scrolls turned inward.


order to

show

lotus supporting

which

order to

show

indicated

shown

scroll

in

As

scroll."

illustrated

lotus.

by

at ix. 4.

Egyptian

an evolution from the

is

[p. 147].

lotus.
ix.

by

A similar

i,

I
it

motive,

an inverted repetition of the supporting lotus


The entire pattern is placed upside down at ix. 6

decorative border,

an inverted bud, and

its relation,

pattern from a

xix.

clearly

tomb

is

shows

ix. 5,

The

entire pattern

aside from the bud, to

shown

in alternate sections the Ionic

in alternating sections

purely a decorative variant.

is

is

forms have

its

is

the

the correspondence of the heart-shaped pattern with the Ionic

The

capital, ix. 4.

shown by

identity of problems

from the decorative inversion of a voluted or Ionic

gold and enamel, at

in

is

of

of the Greek Ionic capital

ornament of precisely similar character, which


have specified this ornament as the " introrse
results

Some

leaf.

taking a step forward to prove that there

is

it

The

at xiv. 4, 5, 10

the curious and otherwise

Hence,

i.e.

that the question at stake

ix. 4.

is

an introrse pattern,
inverted at ix. 8 in

Finally, the similar ceiling

at ix. 7, as being a type explained

by the following

Plate.

Ludwig Von Sybel has mistaken

the elementary form of

"
Blume," or Syrian flower," a plant which
I.

The resemblance

of the " Herzblatt" in Greek art (for

instance xiv. s [p. 1333)10 the pattern in Greek art


called

"ivy"

pattern called

pattern called

(xxii.

"

9 [p. 165]),

ivy."

very obvious.

But the

by students
"ivy,"
"

"

5 for the

Syrische

not mentioned in works on botany.^


;

both have been erroneously attributed to the

must not be confused with the

xxii. 9.

The

patterns have not been confused

2.

made

for the

for the

pattern

but the attribution has been rarely

Herzblatt," and has been

"

Herzblatt

"

is

commonly

is

ix.

P. 50,

invariably

made

Note 33.

90

PLATE

IX.

EGYPTIAN INTRORSE SCROLLS.

The

earliest

dated pattern of the introrse

motive resembling
1.

Handle of a

See descriptive matter below

ix. 7.

toilet tray, illustrating

was formerly at Ueni Hasan (Xllth Dynasty)

scroll

the introrse scroll as a lotus.

The member next above shows

Ionic lotus.

The

for that

lower

a ceiling

number.

member shows

the decorative inversion of the

the typical

same form, a

corre-

spondence marked additionally by the repetition of the tabs or streamers, which are one of the formal
signs of the Ionic lotus.
Plate.

2.

From Champollion,

Bois.

Greek Ionic

From Prisse D'Avennes,


stele, illustrating

Semper, Der

Sit/, II. p.

Bijoux.

the introrse scroll inverted

421.

The demonstration

XV. [pp. 113, 121, 133, 139]), includes this type


5.

From Pkisse

Egyptian Ionic lotus when inverted.

illustrating the

Detail from a gold and enamel bracelet (shown at xxxi. 8 [p. 221]), and illustrating the introrse scroll

as a lotus.

4.

figures of this

Compare other

II. clxvii.

Pendant architectural ornament,

D'AVENNES, Colonettefen
3.

These tabs are possibly derived from buds.

from the sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis.

for the

and proves

it

Greek Ionic form (Plates


a lotus.

'

Ceiling ornament (original in colour), showing the origin of the introrse lotus

mediate member

is

a decorative variant of the

Ionic lotuses

xii., xiii., xiv.,

The

scroll.

above and below

it.

inter-

From Prisse

D'Avennes, Plafonds.
6.

Repetition of No.

3,

inverted, to

show the

origin of the Ionic capital from the sanctuary of Artemis.

Limnatis.
7. Ceiling

pattern (original in colour), showing a combination of introrse scrolls from PRISSE

Plafonds; compare No.

5.

similar pattern from Beni

Dynasty) was published by the Description


but
at

is

now

Siout;

for this

MELIAN DOUBLE

MELiAN LOTUS

LOTUS.

DERIVATIVE.

destroyed, and the oldest pattern of

tomb of

form

positivc.

in

Repetition of No.

Limnatis.

$,

inverted, to

Greek

show the

is

F^gypte, A.

this class

Dynasty.

Hasan (Xllth

now

reacts

iv.,

64,

extant

is

The demonstration

art as a lotus (for instance as at xix.

Thc demonstration

whose history
8.

Meri-ka-ra, Xlllth

de

D'Avennes,

[p.

147])

is

on the original
Egyptian
forms,>
o
o/l

more obscure, and whose

origin of the Ionic capital

earliest evolution

is

unknown.

from the sanctuary of Artemis

i^S^

^^w
8
Fl. IX., p. 91.

EGYPTIAN MEANDERS AND SPIRAL


SCROLLS.
(PLATE

The "Meander,"
and

in

"Key"

PAGE

97.)

is

pattern

habitually mentioned as "Greek,"

the latest contributions to the history of Greek ornament by the most

distinguished
plates

"Fret," or

X.,

of

needless.

German

archaeologists, this erroneous presumption

still

exists.

The

and Prisse d'Avennes render any argument on this topic


can only say that the tomb patterns in which this Egyptian orna-

Rosellini

We

ment occurs have been overlooked by most

scholars,

and

especially that the habit of

looking in Egyptian art for the original types of Greek ornament has not been
cultivated.

It is

not always that

we

find

what we are not looking

Prisse d'Avennes has suggested that the Egyptian spiral

meander.

As

ornament

the tendency of traditional

is

to

for.

is

derived from the

simplify rather than

elaborate, I suggested (in 1888^) that the exact converse of this proposition

true

one.

The same

subsequently made by the

suggestion has been

archaeologist Bohlau,^ as regards the derivation of the

Greek

spiral,

but with oversight of the original

accept the proposition of Bohlau

and apply

showing the Swastika meander,' will


and rectangles of the more elaborate

home

was the

German

Greek meander from the

We will

of these patterns.

Egyptian forms. Platetherefore be an adaptation in straight


it

to the

spiral pattern, x.

7,

x. 9,

lines

and the various other

forms of the meander will have developed from spirals of varying arrangement.
The fact that such patterns are found as decorative variants in the same tomb,
the meander in the natural
suggests an additional cause for the development of
wish to substitute a decorative variant for a motive which has become monotonous

by

repetition.

It is also

the natural form of a continuous spiral scroll for textiles.

"Egyptian origin of the Ionic Capital and Anthemion." American Journal of Archaeology, vol. iii., No. 4.
I.

Jahrbuch des Archaologtschen InstituU, 1888,

p. 349.

3-

The

designation

indicate that form of

Compare

Plate

Ix. [p.

" Swastika meander "

meander
359].

in

which the

is

intended to

lines intersect.

EGYPTIAN MEANDERS AND SPIRAL SCROLLS.

94

The

"

any ground for assigning a


symbolical significance to the Egyptian meander, which would correspond to that
which must be conceded to the Egyptian spiral, in view of its use on scarabs ?
question

To

(viii. [p. 87].)

then be asked,

may

this

positively, in origin,

it

may

Is

there

be answered that the Swastika

359])

(Ix. [p.

is

most

a section of the Egyptian meander, and that the solar and

known

generative significance of this symbol are well

354).

(p.

The meander

a rare pattern on scarabs, because of their generally oval outline, to which a


device of straight lines and rectangles is unsuited but one scarab of the British
is

Museum

(No. 17,538, Fourth Egyptian

Room)

is

proof of the hieratic significance

An

of this pattern, and the scarab in question has an oblong rectangular outline.*
additional corroboration for the derivation of the
is

meander from the

by the corresponding association with lotus rosettes

offered

as found in the

tomb decorations

in

spiral pattern

both these patterns,

(x. 7, 9).

In the lotus spirals of Plate

x..

No. 6

is

an

illustration of the

normal form,

This may be most


of patterns like No. 6, placed
readily conceived by supposing them to be composed
As the pattern of No. 6 is cut to show only one spiral,
vertically, and side by side.

and

it

I, 2,

4 must be viewed as combinations based upon

3,

showing that a running pattern


of a series of flowers having one spiral

be well to recur to the explanation of

will

of lotuses in spiral scrolls consists really

Thus

volute instead of two.

VG/C/C/

is

EVOHmON

vii.

79] Fig. 4,

[p.

The most

floral

orlgiual

144]

[p,

to the Cypriote, xvi. 3,

the

unity in

we

now be

Egyptian

therefore

an

corroboration of

lotus

and

this

noticed that

spiral

is

patterns

Rhodian, and Melian vases.

4,

i,

spirals

are

related

5.

are able to identify the introrse scroll or

parallel spirals like X. 6,


4. It is

pp. 73-77)

the

in

These again are clearly related


must be referred to Fig. 4 from nature: It is

lotuses, xvi.

motive through the Greek Ionic form


It will

and

shows a Melian doubled lotus whose

Rhodian

to those of the

fortunate that

Ionic volute

curious

furnished by a comparison of lotuses on Cypriote,


2

pattern

SPIRAL SCROLL.

Plate xvi.

No, 6 the

In

55).

of the Egyptian

origin

explains this pattern.

OF THE

82,

repeated (Fig.

curling sepal (Plate

"""SJ^
55.

The

doubled.

p.

the pattern of No. 6 consists of lotuses with one

indefinitely

spiral,

-^'\>-*ft5>-*yX

it.

we may also

arranged as in

ix.,

91]

i,

2,

3.

7,943, in the

Herzblatt" as a lotus

and other

obtain the

x.

"
corroborated by an " Eye amulet with meander. No.

[p.

"

"

details there

Herzblatt

"

shown.

(as at ix. 7)

This explains the

"

from
"

Mycenas

same room, and by a Turin scarab (No.

65 ).

EGYPTIAN MEANDERS AND SPIRAL SCROLLS.


lii.

pattern,

[p.

We

321].

are able to carry back the " Herzblatt" to an


Egyptian

tomb-pattern of the Xllth Dynasty at Beni Hasan.

The

(Reference for No.

patterns x. 4 and 5 are variants from the

of the Ionic lotus in x. 5 for the lotus proper in x.


also explains

how

No. 8

same tomb, and the substitution


4, is

in the

eliminate, the floral element in favour of the linear.

may be

Museum,

British

same

direction,

Rudimentary survivals of the

traced considerably farther than the stage of

for instance (First

Vase Room),

terra-cotta /////(?/, with relief spiral scrolls

small intermediate triangles.

An

New York Museum.*

conveying the pattern

x. 8.

In the

some enormous Rhodian


in the

shape of

exactly similar pattern occurs in colour on an

It is, therefore,

detail of an
period, the floral

there are

showing lotus rudiments

Egyptian box for the preservation of funerary


the

90)

showing how
naturally simplify and diminish, and ultimately

an indication

is

traditional designs in metal will

element

7, p.

an interesting variation. It
the original element of the lotus pattern may be dropped, leaving

only linear ornament.

floral

95

Egyptian

jars, in

the

Maspero

important to observe

spiral pattern will

that a scarab or metal decoration

that,

collection of

at

a given

vary with the material

(known by tomb-painting

without the floral detail, at the time


copy) will preferably present the spiral scroll,

when

the large

tomb

pattern in colour preferably retains

desirable test, open to the expert, to count

up the tomb

it.

It

is,

therefore, a very

spirals in the publication

which has given them largest illustration (Prisse d'Avennes), and to observe. that
"
"
Herzblatt patterns
the floral element of the lotus predominates in them, that the
and that the linear spirals and
include small lotuses
(ix.

generally

meanders almost invariably exhibit the

[p.

91]),

rosette.

This ornament

will, therefore,

be

treated in the following chapter.


5.

On

this

matter (next page) for


important point see descriptive

x. 7

with account of the distortion perpetrated by

the artist of Prisse d'Avennes.

56.

ORCHOMENUS LOTUS SPIRALS WITH ROSETTES (sCHLIEMANN).

"Mycense"

Culture.

96

PLATE

X.

EGYPTIAN MEANDERS AND SPIRAL SCROLLS.


The

dated instance of lotus and spiral appears to be at present of the Xlth Dynasty (viii. 17
The isolated spiral scroll can be dated to the Vth Dynasty (viii. 20). Published
87]).

earliest
[P-

can be dated from the XVIIIth Dynasty, but the pattern ix. 7
pattern from Beni Hasan in the Description de I'Jigj'pte,
[p. 91] can be dated to the Xllth Dynasty
A. iv. 64. This tomb detail has been destroyed, but the pattern can still be dated to the Xlllth
Dynasty in the tomb of Meri-ka-ra at Siout. The earliest dated meander is in the same tomb.

examples of types of

this Plate

ii

2,

3, 4, 5, 6.

Prisse d'Avennes, Plafonds,


Lotus spirals (in colour)
ceiling patterns from tombs.
Prisse
d'Avennes
for
skulls
of sacrificed animals, are
mistaken
i.e.
the
heads,
by
Bucrdnes,
;

The animal

the cow-heads of Hathor (supporting rosettes).


7.

Typical spiral (in colour), with rosettes, Prisse d'Avennes, Plafonds. To illustrate the derivation
of the Egyptian meander. This important pattern, from Tomb No. 33, Abd-el-Kournch, at Thebes,
shows in the original perfectly separate and distinct lotus rudiments in the shape of triangles in solid
colour.

These

tiiangles

have been enlarged and united by the artist of Prisse d'Avennes in such a
and are so copied in my Plate illustration.

that they appear to be a filling in around the rosette,

way
Compare

the cut below from a sketch personally made in the tomb. The three-spiked rudiments
of Fig. S3 are a parallel to this phenomenon of the rudimentary triangles, which is well explained by

No.

8.

8.

Typical lotus spiral; decoration of a metal vase from a design at Kourneh.

9.

Typical Egyptian meander,

fret,

or key pattern, with rosettes

Prisse d'Avennes, Plafonds.

The Egyptian meander

is

Champollion,

II. cxci.

to illustrate derivation from type of x. 7.

by no means confined

to the type with

intersecting lines.

BCYrriAN TOMB friRAL,

To Compare
Sketch from the original tomb
pattern misrepresented by the artist of Prisse
d'Avennes, as copied at x. 7.

LOTUS RuniMENTS IN SPIRALS.


with

X.

.MELIAN SPIRAL SCROLL.

^^

l^ioll

oHHi
UplMjO
9
Fl.X.,p.<)1-

THE ROSETTE.
(PLATE

Thr most

XI.,

PAGE

107.)

curious prejudice of modern archaeology

the one which considers the

is

rosette to be a distinctively Assyrian or Babylonian ornament.*


it

prejudice continues,
for

it

will render

As long

as this

a true science of ancient history impossible,

exactly reverses the true relations of Assyria to

Egypt

in matters of orna-

mental influence, and therefore in those questions of civilization which an ornamental

Of

influence implies.

the fundamental dependence of Assyrian civilization on the

Chaldean there can, of course, be no question


eighteenth century

We do

A.D.
is

B.C.

but the history of antiquity after the

resembles the history of Europe after the fifteenth century

not deny that the history of Spain, France, Germany, and England

a continuous national history,

when we observe

that these countries were swept

by

a wave of Italian Renaissance influence after 1500, which absolutely obliterated the
Gothic style and ornament and

We

do not deny that the


modern constitution and institutions of England were founded in the Middle Ages,
when we assert that its seventeenth-century architecture and ornament came from
Italy,

when we

or

all

mediaeval externals.

assert that this Renaissance influence profoundly modified English

music, dress, diplomacy, business, manners, customs, and habits of thought.


were the countries
and
(including the Spanish Netherlands)

literature,

France

Spain

into England.
Syria was the
through which this Italian influence penetrated
influence penetrated Mesocountry through which a corresponding Egyptian

potamia.
It

does not weaken our estimate of the influence of Italian

civilization

I.

VoN

upon modern Europe,

SvBEL,

speaks of the

K-nm

rosette

as

des

to

observe that the

Ornaments,

Aegyptischm

occurring only under the

New

Von Sybel is quoted


" Grabmal von
a paper on the
Lamptrae,"

referred

A.

S.

Cyprus,

by Winter

silver

Mittheilungen

aus Athen, and the

rosette

is

invariably

Anjou ruled

to Assyria.

Professor

quotes the rosette as Assyrian in Cesnola's


rosette on the
394. Professor Sayce refers the

p.

cow-head of

origin.

archaeologists

of

Murray

Empire, and as derived from Assyria.


in

by German

House

Renaissance

Mycena

(xxvii. 7 [p-

i97]) to Babylonian

THE ROSETTE.

loo

Naples and Sicily in the thirteenth century, and that the House of Aragon ruled
that
and ultimately Naples, afterward
Spain was mistress of all
Southern Italy after 1500, and that France had conquered Milan at the same
time.
It does not weaken our estimate of the influence of Italian Renaissance
Sicily,

civilization

in

upon modern

Italy after

1530,

to

Europe

know

that

outside of Venice, which

there

was not one

was not ruled or

principality

controlled

by

a foreign dynasty, and that even the elections of the Popes were influenced
by the rivalry of France and Spain. In like manner it does not affect the
question of

Mesopotamia to observe that Assyrian


the campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar reached into

Egyptian influence

upon

armies penetrated to Meroe,'^ that

Egyptian rulers had begun to intermarry with Hittites,


Semites, or Assyrians from the XVII Ith Dynasty downward.
In the eighth and seventh centuries b.c, when Assyrian military power conEgypt, and

that

trolled the fate of

Western Asia, and influenced

when Babylonian power

B.C.,

and overthrew Egyptian


with France and Spain

did

the same,

that of
until

in the sixth

Egypt;
the

Persian

century

supplanted

independence we

have repeated the experience of Italy


in the sixteenth century.
French and Spanish armies

overran the country, and foreign dynasties controlled

its

destinies,

but

because Italy was the magnet of barbarism, and the focus of art and
the centre of luxury, and the

The

now

home

of

modern

Rome

same time; the relation of Rome to the


of Byzantium and Persia to the Arabs in the seventh
at the

in the fifth century

century

of the Arabs to the Turks in the eleventh century

time.

letters,

civilization.

Germans

India to

was

of

century b.c, and of Italy to

it

Egypt to Assyria was that of China to the Tartars who


country it was the relation of Greece to Macedonia in the fourth

relation

rule that

it,

many

foreign

races

since the eighth century b.c.

and the

down

relation of

to the present

All history repeats the story of an expanding civilization,

weakened by

expansion and by luxury, and tempting barbarism by its weakness and by its luxury
until that barbarism, in its turn civilized, experiences the like destiny.
Assyria
was flaying defenceless captives taken in war, not far from the time when an
;

Egyptian king had abolished the penalty of death as a punishment for crime.
But Assyria played its role in two directions, and it had overrun Chaldea
a.

Procudings, Society of Biblical Archxology, May, 1880.

Tarharqa and Assurbanipal

The

Assyrians marched as far as

Meroe

in the

times of

THE ROSETTE.
before

invaded

it

Egypt.

Assyrian

letters,

Chaldean, and we cannot estimate the

civilization of

that Renaissance

is

art,

religion,

a military caste which reigned at Nineveh.


the character of Assyrian ornament,

loi

and

civilization

were

Mesopotamia by the cruelty of

What we

have to consider, then, in

a glaze or crust of ornamental fashion, like

ornament which conquered Germany

in

the time

of Luther.

Holbein was a Protestant, but his Virgin stands in a niche whose fashion came
from Italy. The style of a Jesuit church is that of St. Paul's Cathedral, and
controlled

To one who

it.

suffered throughout

appreciates the absolute erasure which Gothic ornament

Europe

in the sixteenth
century,

of the Classic Renaissance style from

no great

rosette offers

The

earliest

What,

time until 1750, the problem of the

that

difficulties.

history of civilization

the rosette.

and the absolute dominance

may

but

explain,

then, are the facts about

it

it ?

cannot prove the history of

They

are simply these

excavated Assyrian palace dates from the ninth century

B.C.,

that the

and that not

even isolated cases of rosette ornament can be named in Assyria for an earlier
It does not appear that a single instance can be dated at present,
date at present.
either in Assyria

On

matter).

Chaldea before the twelfth century

or

reached India by

The

15).

106, descriptive

(p.

XVIIIth Dynasty had brought Assyria


1700 B.C., and Thothmes III. had probably

the other hand, kings of the

inside the Egyptian frontier soon after

(p.

B.C.

way

of

Mesopotamia

rosette appears in

at this time, according to the

Egypt two thousand

view of Dr. Birch

eight hundred years before

it

This is the difference in time


appears in Mesopotamia, according to present record.
between the head-band of Nefert and the robe of Merodach-idin-akhi.' If we appeal
to the periods of

hundred years
rosette is in

reveal

an

abundant

later

reference, the time of the earliest Assyrian palace is eight

than the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty, under which the Egyptian

earlier date for the rosette in

tions, or observations,

may do

now needed should be made


It

And

demonstrably habitual use.

the

if it

be suggested that excavations

may

Mesopotamia, we can only answer that excava-

same

for

in Rosellini

Egypt.

and

has been supposed that the rosette

Apparently the excavations just

in Prisse d'Avennes.

is

an ornament foreign to Egypt because


"

the Kefa.'"* Exactly the same argument


appears on vases at Kourneh brought by
derived from the
would prove that the Renaissance Majolica patterns of Italy were
it

3.

DiEULAFOY,

illustrated in

nArt Antique

de la Perse,

Perrot et Chipiez,

Assyrie.

I. pi. ix.

For

Also

illustration

and date of Neferfs head-band see Note


4.

For instance, by LoNGPiRiER,

in

7.

Musk

Napoleon III.

THE ROSETTE.

102

" ware of Henri Deux."

According to this view a possible present from Louis XIV.


to an Italian pope would prove that the Renaissance style spread to Italy from
France, and the tomb of Henry VIII. would prove that the Renaissance style came
from England. The argument would prove that Torrigiano had never worked in
London, and that Benvenuto Cellini had never been in France. Moreover, those

who have commented on

the rosette as appearing on vases of the

made

suggested that the Kefa

"

Kefa

"

have never

tomb paintings of the XVIIIth and

or inspired the

XlXth

Dynasties, and it is not clear that their details have ever attracted the
"
attention of such students.
Phcnicia became a province of
If, as Renan says,

Egypt"*

in matters of religion,

it

is

clear that the

same

fact will explain


"

Phenician

ornament, and the style of the vases from Cyprus or Syria brought by the Kefa."
This brings us to the question " If the fact is patent, as would appear from

Plate

xi.,

a familiar feature of Egyptian ornament, and as early a


dated remains of other ornaments, how is it that this patent

that the rosette

feature as the earliest


fact

has been overlooked

known

is

"
?

The answer apparently

is,

that the rosette is mainly

from Nineveh, and very abundantly


known in this way, and that architectural surface carvings in Egypt, which have
been also abundantly published, are almost absolutely destitute of rosette ornament.
to publication in Assyrian relief slabs

It is the

tomb paintings which abundantly

exhibit the rosettes.

This source of

"
information has been neglected by the friends of the " Assyrian
rosette.
compared with both Assyrian and Persian carved relief ornament,

As

Egyptian

almost an absolute blank for repeated patterns in stone carving. The


force was exhausted on the hieroglyphics.
Consequently, the painted patterns of

ornament

is

the tombs are a necessary authority, not only for the rosette, but for

many

other

motives of Egyptian ornament.

The

form belongs, however, to the series of mortuary amulets, among


which it is very frequent, and it can be dated as an amulet to the Xllth Dynasty
by Mr. Petrie's recent excavations. This date is written by his own hand on a
card of
several

rosette

amulets at Manchester (Owens College), which includes this form in


examples.

The

rosette

is

included

in

the plate for typical

mortuary

amulets in Mariette's Albian du Musie de Boulaq.


It will

5.

be

difficult for

Mission de Phinicie.

le rapport religieux

" De

une province

any one who examines the

plus en plus dans la suite

plates of Prisse

de cette ouvrage nous verrons

d'Avennes to

la Ph^nicie devenir sous

d'f^gypte," p. 70.

THE ROSETTE.

103

consider the rosette as distinctively Assyrian, in view of the


priority of dates so
Hence we may turn to the nature of
heavily in favour of Egypt, as above noted.

ornament as

rosette

rosette is a lotus-motive

the descriptive

in

in the

is,

which attend

lotus associations
detail

from the question of

distinct

first

leaf,

original

The

and a

show

alternations

as specified in

related

rosette supporting a lotus leaf

a bud supporting a rosette

a flower supporting a rosette, and

the invariable

xi.,

in

That the

home.

made probable by

instance,

These are exhibited by Plate

it.

matter.

a lotus supporting a lotus

its

patterns
7,

(xi.

xi.

3,

(xi.

xi. 4)
i)

bud and a bud supporting a bud, in one pattern with a


rosette supporting a bud (xi. 5) a leaf, flower, bud, and rosette in one
design (xi.
a flower, bud, and rosette in one pattern (xi. 10)
a leaf supporting a bud
7)
flower supporting a

and

11);

(xi.

rosettes supporting a

These associations lead


obvious answer

bud

(xi. 6, 8, 9).

to the question,

"

What

is

the rosette

"

The most

found in the ovary stigma of the white and blue lotus as figured
in the Histoire Naturelle of the Description de
TEgypte, from which Figs. 5, 6
(p.

is

28) are borrowed, or as

nature (Fig.
rosette

is

8).

But there

derived.

seen from above (xx.


2,

(xx.

4,

II,

(xx.

8,
13).

10,

shown by

It
i,

21);

5,

the design of a dried ovary stigma taken from

are three other lotus combinations

appears as the flower with petals spread out, and as


18

[p. 153]);

as a group of buds in radiating arrangement

and as a group of

In XX. 13

it

is

lotus

flowers in

this

The

combination.

(with normal lotuses),^ on the head-band of Nefert,'' are

no assistance

is

offered

All forms and arrangements

by them as

may have been

to the

start

from the ovary stigma,

petals (the flower

"

in plan ")

rounded blunt radiations

(the

earliest dated

so highly conventional

6.

and

leaves."

in Egypt, p. 211.

obvious

more obvious explanation

for the reason that the rosettes

with pointed

appear to be carefully distinguished from those with

ovary stigma)

They have been mistaken by W. J. Loftie for


"a ribbon or snood ornamented with

A Ride

An

practically simultaneous.

(xx., p.

153), that the rosettes of

appear to give a wider spacing to the divisions of the rosette (xx., p.


that the rosettes of combined flowers (xx. 11, 13) are not numerous.

and leaves

rosettes

theory of original derivation.

explanation would start from the flower "in plan."

would

radiating arrangement

the central rosette of the side of the sarcophagus

and of the cover which exhibits

that

from which the

roses
roses

7. Statue

buds

153),

and also

The

brilliant

of the IVth Dynasty, in the Gizeh Museum,

from the tomb of Ra-hotep at


Archaology, translated

Maydoum.

by Miss Edwards,

See Maspero's
Fig. 190.

THE ROSETTE.

I04

yellow rays of the ovary stigma in both blue and white lotus

may have

assisted or

inspired the primary symbolic association of the lotus with the sun.

My own

observation for the rosette was

first

suggested by the ovary stigma

as illustrated in the Histoire Naturelle of the Description de VEgypte, and as


far as publication

The

goes

am

probably the

observation for the ovary stigma was

(Staff of the

Egypt Exploration Fund)

American Journal of Archaology, 1888.


Origin of the Ionic Capital and Anthemion."
8.

9.

pared

"Egyptian

American Architect on the " Lotus

57.

this designation.*

made by Mr. Percy E. Newberry

Art,"

fell

into his hands.

this anticipation led

Mr. Newberry had the matter preand


was about to publish, when my
publication

papers in the

first

have made

in 1885."

Personal advice.
for

to

first

in Ancient

his standing as

gives

It is

much

him to abandon publication, because

an expert botanist, as well as

the designation

scarcely secure for

a weight which

it.

COLD CERlMONIAl VASE WITH STEMS SUPPORTING ROSETTES IN SYMBOLIZING FASHION.


Compare

xx. 7 [p. 153]

and explanatory matter, p. 152,


trom Piisse d'Avennes.

to be regretted that

Theban tomb.painting

in

Egyptology,

my name

could

DRIED OVARY STIGMA OF THE


LOTUS BULB AFTER
SEEDING.

From

Nature.

Repeated from

p. 29.

io6

PLATE

XI.

THE ROSETTE.
The

dated Egyptian rosettes occur, with other lotuses, on the head-dress of Nefert, statue of the
The earliest dated Babylonian rosettes are on the dress of King MerodachI Vth Dynasty (4000 B.C.)

earliest

idin-akhi,
1.

Xllth century

Lotus buds supporting

B.C.

rosettes,

and Ionic

Detail repeated with variants on

all

lotus

supporting an inverted bud (a variant of No. 3).


From Prisse d'Avennes, Bases et

the columns at Esneh.

Soubassements.
2.

Lotus valiants, one form trefoil, with inverted bud and leaves bent over
Prisse d'Avennes, Couronnements.

rosette in the

field.

From

Lotus flowers supporting rosettes, and Ionic form supporting an inverted bud. Detail repeated with
From Prisse d'Avennes, Bases el Soubassements.
variants on all the columns at Esneh.

3.

supporting lotus leaves (a variant of the cleft form, compare Nos. 7, 11, and matter at
From Prisse d'Avennes, Frises Fleuronnks.
the foot of this page), and trefoil lotuses.

4.

Rosettes

5.

Lotus supporting bud inverted

rosettes

supporting buds

erect

bud

supporting

bud

inverted.

Reference as above.
Rosettes supporting lotus buds.

6.

Reference as above.

Portion of a toilet tray in wood (coloured), showing a lotus leaf partly concealed by a (lower, buds
inverted on the stalk (decorative filling in more successful by this arrangement), and rosettes on
stalks.
From PRISSE D'AVENNES, Art Industriel, Uiensiles de Toilette.

7.

8.

Lotus bud, with inverted buds supported by

9.

Flowers

bud on

rosettes.

rosette.

Reference as above.

10.

Flower, bud, and rosette.

Reference as above.

11.

Lotus

in trefoil outline

All above are in colour.

tombs or

leaf supporting

lotus in conventional outline.

Frises Fleuronnies.

Reference as above.

All but No. 7 are details borrowed from patterns which are mainly confined to

shrines.
It also appears at Fig. 18
patterns is seen at 4 and il.
is rounded, and the cleft is figured above.
the
leaf
of
Compare xi. 7,
portion
partly cut off by the flower, while the cleft still appears, which should properly be

peculiar shape of the leaf in


(p. 50).

bud

From Prisse D'Avennes,

many Egyptian

The lower

where the

leaf is

The form is explained by amulets (British Museum) of enamel and other hard
leaf.
made
the representation of an actual cleft at the base of a leaf so connected
which
materials,
the base of the

with a lotus impossible. Hence the cleft is indicated in surface design over the actual joint. It is
therefore clear that designs in surface colour were borrowed from amulets, a very important point
as bearing on the symbolism of the colour patterns.

The

amulet has been dated by Mr. Pctrie to the Xllth Dynasty (Collection of Owens College,
Manchester). There is an amulet form of the Persea fruit somewhat like it.

leaf

THE EGYPTIAN LOTUS PALMETTE.


(PLATE

XII.,

PAGE

113.)

In the tomb-ceiling patterns of Prisse d'Avennes there is a frequently recurring


The motive also occurs with a conventional
motive, illustrated by Fig. 58.
outline for the palmette portion, as in Fig. 59, which also includes an inverted

bud.

The

at p.

86 (No,

found pendant from the volutes, have been mentioned


as being either buds inverted or pendant streamers, and appear
on the important Ionic lotus, vii. 8 [p. 79],

tabs, generally
11),

As

and elsewhere.

there

no doubt that

is

Figs. 58, 59 represent lotuses, the origin

of

the

sideration,
58.

EGVPT.AN LOTUS PALMETTE.

binations

like

xii.

and

^^^^^ ^^^
and

crown

palmette

is

con-

explained by the rosette.

^^^^Jj^

are

deserves

rare,

^^ pj^^^

^jj_

^^^_

from

but

Dynasties,

and Mr. Petrie has dated the amulet forms of

to the

As we have
iv.

3 dates the combination

Xllth Dynasty

(Collection of

Owens

the

17,

18),

there

is

are

offered

XlXth

XVIIIth and
this design

16-19)

(xii.

College, Manchester.)

already found an analogous combination for the leaf

and Figs.

[p. 63],

^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^

and the individual examples

Ptolemaic,

xii.

^^

no

difficulty in

(xi.

[p.

107]

solving the problem of

combination of the ovary stigma


It does not follow
(or lotus rosette, as otherwise explained) with the flower.
that the combination denotes a supposed concealment of a portion of the rosette
the Egyptian lotus palmette.

It represents the

we may

rather

decorative

considerations.

shows that a

The

assume the abbreviation of one

The

sacred

half the rosette to be suggested

standard,

half-section of the lotus rosette

was a

or flabelltim

(xx.

20

[p.

by

153]),

familiar object to the Egyptian.

details regarding i)\& provenance of the patterns illustrated

by Plate

xii.

are

THE EGYPTIAN LOTUS PALMETTE.

no

connected with their descriptive matter, and indicate the


instances not illustrated, that the pattern

was

Cypriote Greeks, Assyrians, and Persians.

fact,

supported by many-

familiar to the Phenicians, Etruscans,

was from

It

this

form

(as

shown by

5 or ii) that the Assyrian palmette (Figs. 60, 61, 62) was derived.^ The
counterpart of xii. 5 is found on Phenician bronze pateras from Nineveh, and the

xii.

The Assyrian palmette

tabs are an easy identification of the purely Egyptian form.

dropped the tabs (as they are also frequently dropped by the Egyptians and
Phenicians), but otherwise developed from the Egyptian forms by stages which are
still

by various

traceable,

traditional survivals, in Ninevite remains,

and which are

Egypto- Phenician ivory plaques of the British Museum.


has escaped the notice of Dr. E. B. Tylor, in an interesting contribution to

especially visible in the


It

the subject of the Sacred Tree,'^ that

6a ASsymAN palmbttk with lotus


From

fresco, British

xii.

is

14

The palmette

a palpable lotus.

bulb. 3

dl.

ASSYRIAN PALMETTE WITH LOTUS BUD.

From

Museum.

fresco, British

Museum,

combination makes the recognition of the rosette as a lotus a matter of special


importance, but it also assists this recognition, since an arbitrary and fanciful
addition of this palmette form to the Ionic lotus

is

addition calls for an explanation, and can find no other solution.


forgotten that this form constitutes a funeral amulet.

amulets, in blue enamel ware


plate,

(xii.

i),

not to be

Three of these palmette

are the central feature of a photographic

clusively devoted to amulets found in tombs.

I.

It is

arranged by Mariette from objects in the Boulak Museum, which

The

represented.

conclusion

is

Among

these the rosette

is
is

exalso

obvious that both were Egyptian tomb symbols.

The dqjendence of

the Assyrian palmette on an


announced by Di eulafoy, L'Art Antique
III'~* Partie.
Dieulafoy's illustration and

Egyptian original

The

not to be assumed.

is

de la Peru,
matter are confined to the type of the flabellum (xx. 20)
[P- 'S3] overlooking the real original, viz. xii. 3, 11, &c.

2.

"

nhceohgy, June, 1890.


Proceedings, Society of Biblical
figures of the Assyrian and other monu-

The winged

ments."

The

Reference

is

to his Fig. 17.

been mistaken for a pomegranate.


Mr. P. E. Newberry coincides with my designation (p. 181).
3.

lotus bulb has

THE EGYPTIAN LOTUS PALMETTE.


"

Two

"

pottery motives are imitations in outline of

Mycenae

very important

Ill

Egyptian lotus palmettes as copied from bronze or other metal. Neither motive
has been previously specified as a lotus. One has been mistaken by Professors
Furtwangler and Loeschke for a palm motive. As a palm motive always implies
Assyrian influence, the correction
Plate

civilization.

Nos. 7 and

question.

From

8, 13, 14.

believe

on Plate

1 1

among

325] shows,

[p.

From

to assist the eye.

liv.

important for the history of the "Mycenae"

is

other patterns,

of the

two

type No. 7 in bronze are derived the pottery motives

my

in

are repetitions of the original motives in metal,

liv.

type No. 11 in bronze are derived

that

some

of

explanation

9,

5, 6,

12, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23.''

the

Egyptian lotus palmette is new, as it depends


on a preceding recognition of the rosette.^

When

first

did not myself

published (1888)

recognize the identity with the Greek anthemion,

by a

"^^

point

^^^^7

pottery

lotuses

cluslon

that

Detaii on Bronze.
the Regiilini-Galassi

From

on

misled

having been

Greek

of

study

the

to

this

con-

Grccks had

thc

62.

ASSYRIAN PALMETTE.
on stone relief. From Layard.

Textile ornament,

^'"'''

independently

developed

the

After inspecting the large relief


"honeysuckle" from their own lotus forms.
in the Vatican and in Florence, the later conclusions reached
patterns on bronze

from the study of publications are confirmed, that the exact original of the Greek
anthemion was on imported metals. The bronzes in question" are undoubtedly
the tabs are an unmistakable indication of Egyptian ornament.
Phenician
;

The forms have


4.

Since penning the above I have found the exact

last-named type
original form of the

from Spata (" Mycenaa Culture")


5,

The

among

the gold objects

Athens.

in

Egyptian palmette appears to have

See

p.

324.

been entirely

and neglected, and it


does require some research

overlooked
certainly

to connect the published Egyptian

forms with the published Greek and


,

..

Repetition of xii. 12.


Detail on Bronze, from the
shield of Amathus.

monuments

exact counterparts on Greek

Phenician counterparts.
'^

attempt

to

explain
.

palmette which

^
I

The

the

only

Eg)'ptian
r

have found was

made by Coloxna-Ceccaldi, who supposed

xii.

12

to

121).

p.

(xiii.,

represent a lotus surmounted by a segment picture of the


sun " un embleme qui parait reprdsenter le soleil (figure

en demi-paquerette,

comme

ouissant en sortant

du

celui

de

la

nef isiaque)

calice d'un lotus."

s'e'pan-

Monuments de

Chypre, p. 148.
6.

Etruscan

Museum

Regulini-Galassi tomb.
Archseologico,

Duce.

Florence

of the Vatican

Etruscan
:

bronzes

bronzes from the

Museum
from

of the

the

Museo

Tomba

del

have sketches of close counterparts of these

from

unpublished details of the First Temple


Court of Karnak, and from amulets in Bologna and Turin.

designs

113

PLATE

XII.

THE EGYPTIAN LOTUS PALMETTE.


The

earliest

dated Egyptian palmettos (amulets at

Owens

belong to the Xllth Dynasty (about 3000 IJ.C).


dated to the I Vth Dynasty (Fig. 39C), about 4000
I, 2.
3.

Details, from Plate xi.,

Ionic lotus with tabs,

XlXth

i,

College, Manchester, Mr. Petric's excavations)

Lotus palmettes in conventional outline can be


B.C.

3 |p. 107].

supporting rosette.

Detail from PrissE

d'Avennes,

Su];es

(XVIIIth and

Dyns.).

supporting demi-rosette. Egypto-Phenician.


From the Museo Etrusco-Vaticano, I.
finds at Caere (Regulini-Galassi tomb).

4. Ionic lotus with tabs or streamers,

5.

Pattern of minimized Ionic lotuses, with tabs, supporting demi-rosettes.

6.

Ionic lotuses, supporting demi-rosettes.

Detail in bronze from


xvli.

Reference as above.

Detail of Egyptian gold jewellery

from Prisse d'AVENNES,

Bijoux, &c.

Detail in colour

7.

Ionic lotus with tabs, supporting demi-rosette.

8.

Ionic lotus with tabs, supporting demi-rosette.


Galassi tomb.

9.

Reference as with No.

Ionic lotus, supporting demi-rosette.

from Prisse d'Avennes.

Egypto-Phenician

detail, in

bronze, from the Regulini

4.

Detail in bronze, from the

Museo Etnisco - Vaticano,

I.

ii.

3.

supporting demi-rosette. Detail in stone carving from Cyprus decorating handles of the
enormous stone bowl in the Louvre. Illustration in LONGPfiRlER, Miisee Napoleon HI., xxxiii. 2.

10. Ionic lotus,

11.

Pattern of minimized Ionic

lotus (larger than

No.

with tabs, supporting demi-rosette.

5),

Same

reference as No. 4.
12.

13.

14

Conventional lotus (not Ionic), supporting demi-rosette.


Amathus. Colonna-Cecc.\ldi, Monuments de Chypre,

in

bronze,

from

the

shield

of

Portion of a tray handle, as supposed, in gold,


Ionic lotus, supporting an elongated demi-rosette.
at
Tell-Defenneh. In the Boston Museum. From Tanis, II. xli. 10.
originally enamelled, found
Persian multiple lotus detail, supporting demi-rosette.
(This form has only been published for the
Persian period, but it occurs on Assyrian ivories from Nineveh, in the British Museum, of the IXth

century B.C.)
excavations.
15.

Detail
ix.

Ionic lotus,
Vaticano,

16. Ionic lotus,

From Perrot ET Chipiez,

supporting demi-rosette.
I. Ixiv.

V.p. 528.

Tile ornaments of stairway at Susa.

Egypto-Phenician detail

in bronze,

Dieulafoy

from the Museo Etrusco-

10.

supporting demi-rosette.

Link of a necklace, blue glazed ware,

in the British

Museum.

XlXth Dyn.
17.
18.

Similar amulet in the Boston

Museum.

Ionic lotuses, supporting demi-rosettes.


Funerary amulets, in blue glazed ware, from
Album du Mus^e de Boulaq, xvii. Plate for funerary amulets.

19. Similar amulet, with tabs (one

broken

off), in

the Boston

Museum.

Marriette,

Z2S

^^

^^

^
4Kc.

Y'p ^Y>

$
10

<^^^
15

m"m
16

17

18

19
PI. XII., p. 113.

GREEK IONIC AND ANTHEMION FORMS.


(PLATE

PAGE

XIII.,

121.)

It will scarcely escape the notice of experts in Greek ornament that certain phases
of the Egyptian lotus palmette
of the Greek anthemion form.

From

with certain phases

113]) are exactly identical

(xii. [p.

the detail of the Greek vase of Sidon

(xiii.

i),

we pass to details
8 and 10, for instance without noting one distinction. The temptaof Plate xii.
tion would be almost irresistible to a sceptic, who denies the Greek anthemion to

or from the anthemion of a Greek vase

be a

lotus, to hold that the

(xiii. 4,

see also Fig. 66),

Egyptian forms quoted are derived from Greek.

He

might everv gather breath for a moment, when


noting that xii. 8 is from Italy and xii. 10 from
Cyprus, and vow that this was the case. Let us
observe the results of such
It

would oblige the

Ninevite

and so
been

ivories

far the

to

63.

GREEK NECKING ORNAMENT OF A COLUMN


FOUND AT NAUKRATIS.

to

sceptic

(xiii.

2,

5)

3,

prove
are

that

also

the

Greek,

tendency of Greek archaeology has

derive

rather than

a possible position.

Greek

ornament from

Ninevite ornament from

would oblige the sceptic


like xiii. 4, which cannot

to

back of the

B.C.

fifth

century

original of a form,

xii.

7,

Nineveh

Greece.

It

prove that a motive

in that

form be carried

in Greece,

which occurs

was the
in

Egypt

more than twenty-five hundred years before that


time (Xllth Dynasty begins about 3000 b.c). So far, only one case of the
"tabs" (ix. [p. 91]) has been published for the whole range of Greek art,
and
Sidon

it

occurs
(xiii.

i).

in

the

.Did

it

third

or

fourth

century

b.c.

on the Greek vase from

produce the palmette tabs of the


Q

XVIIIth Dynasty?

GREEK IONIC AND ANTHEMION FORMS.

ii6

On

we may

the whole,

with

all

say that the case

proven for the Greek anthemion,

is

the consequences which flow therefrom.

The motive xiii. 4 was published by M. Dieulafoy in 1885, with the simple
was made by
subscription, Oniamcut lotiforme} A simultaneous announcement

W. M.

Mr.

based on the Naukratic

Flinders Petrie,

ornament herewith

relief

ornament

(or

Petrie's observation did not include the Ionic form, his point of

on

this side as

Note

M.

view was defective

side of the palmette portion (see

foundation for the study of the anthemion was

by Dr. Joseph Thacher Clarke,


is

weak on the

is

Dieulafoy's

A really solid

i).

"

"

honeysuckle
Egyptian lotus was the original of the so-called
anthemion) on the column necking of the Erechtheium.'^ As Mr.

(Fig. 63), that the

first

offered

anthemion

in calling attention to the fact that the

Although Dr. Clarke moved from the

simply a phase of the Ionic form.^

palm origin, his demonstration of the identity of the


anthemion with the Ionic form must henceforth be taken as the basis for the
old theories of Assyrian

lotiform point of view in

Plate

xiii.,

whose

Hence

anthemion.

my

of an Ionic form.

of Plate
Its Ionic

xiii.

is

Its

self-apparent.

forms are

all

variants of an anthemion.

""* Partie.
Antique de la Perse, III

matter on the Greek anthemion

M. Dieu-

somewhat vague,

is

but his convictions as to the Ionic volutes carried him to a


just conclusion.

As

far as the

palmette part of

xiii.

concerned, he offers no suggestions as to derivation, and

art.

He

offers

no reference whatever

Egyptian palmette as found in amulets


applies the

words " Egyptian palmette "

Not having reached the

which M. Dieulafoy

calls

not offer the exact

explanation

and

to

temples that

the

frescoes, but

to the flabellum or

solution

of the

rosette,

Anthemion, he naturally could


of

the

Egyptian,

known

ing was

We

and

consequently of the Greek, palmette form.


3.

impossible

we

Annual Report of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1885,

with report of .Mr. Petrie's lecture announcing his discovcry.

" In
architecture, although we have as yet only gleaned the

can

still

refer to

left

is

standard, consisting of one half the lotus flower as seen in


plan.

It is

variants

by the Arabs, from one building we have obtained


Hitherto not a single early Greek buildinvaluable results.

scraps

is

apparently ignorant of the existence of an exact original in

Egyptian

all

where one motive begins and the other ends, and whether we begin with the

EArt

lafoy's

(xiii. 9).

anthemions are

largest volutes or the largest palmette as the starting point,

1.

arrangement of

pieces are grouped about the Capital of Neandreia

The argument
to say

treating the

Egypt

nothing

before Ptolemaic times.

have now before us fragments of one of the

to

enough
of

in

its

is

show the

decoration.

many

respects.

earliest

Greek

known, that of Apollo of the Milesians

style of the architecture and the nature

The
The

building was Ionic, but peculiar in

volute,

which

destruction by the Arabs, had

only saw before

no droop

in its lines

they pass over the echinus, but was like the form

its

where
in the

Aqueduct of Hadrian, to take a late example. The column


had a sculptured necking above the flutings, which is very
unusual,
tern in

and

this

necking

is

a form which seems

ornamented
like

7i>ith

the lotus pat-

a prototype of the Greek

honeysuckle" pp. 25 and 26.


3.

from

Joseph Thacher Clarke,


the

site

Archaology, Vol.

of
ii.,

Neandreia."

No.

i.

"A

Proto-Ionic Capital

American

Figured

at

xiii. 9.

Journal

0/

GREEK IONIC AND ANTHEMION FORMS.


for originals.

Egypt

types are illustrations for Asia

these

Among

The Assyrian

Athens, for Etruria, and for Nineveh.


plaques, which are specified
style,

and

No. 5

is

Egyptian character

earliest dated

The

[p. 147]).

"

types

(2, 3, 5)

Minor, for

are from ivory

authorities as of Egypto-Phenician

all

work and

unmistakable (compare xxiv, 10

is

a direct counterpart of the Egyptian

The
(xix.

their

by

117

xii.

[p.

[p. 183].)

13.]

Greek anthemions are of the eighth or seventh century


Mycenae" pottery copies from metal [p. in] are earlier, but

The

are not Greek and not connected with the Greek development.

The

Assyrian palmettes are of the ninth century.

earliest dated

earliest

known

Egyptian detailed

palmettes are two thousand years older (Xllth Dynasty, Owens College, Manchester,
see p. 109), but an outline lotus palmette can be dated to the IVth Dynasty

This form has been mistaken by Perrot for lotus leaves.*


The supposed origin of the Greek anthem ion is from the palm-tree by way of
the "Assyrian palmette." The palm-tree was a symbol in Assyria,^ but there are

(Fig. 39c).^

no indications of

having developed into the decorative pattern of the anthemion

its

or of the "Assyrian palmette

4.

An

outlined lotus palmette

painting of the

is

found

also held

by a figure

The

in a

(reference

outline Egyptian palmette

Perrot et Chipiez, Assyrie,


been mistaken by Colonna-Ceccaldi for the

in Ninevite ivories.

535.

It

"

"
fruit

distinct).

has

of the lotus.

The word

Nelumbium seed-pod.

probably means the


Monuments de Chypre, Une Fatere
fruit

de Curium.

Perrot et Chipiez,

6.

Clarke

No.

I.

"A

in

Semper, Der Stil ; Rawlinson

in

BiRDWOOD, Industrial Arts of India,


sington

Birdwood

Hom

word

general,

Series)

and

German

site

" Date
pression
7.

A. H. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures,

of Life,'" and that the palm

is

de-

is

really represents

"possible," "later."

is

coming dan-

gerously near the truth, according to the natural theory that

Llnormant, Divination,
dans une partie de

la

in

p. 86,

Chald^e

mon Commentaire

coins,

thaginian

significant use

is

"

"

need

explanation.

Horn," or Indian soma-tree, has nothing

to

The

do with the

date palm, but the Sacred Tree of Lotus Buds (xxiv. 15)

is

It

also

appears

Cypriote vases.
at Delphi.

It

in the Syrian

in
It

rudely

p.

e'tait

aussi

176,

appears on Car-

Phenicie, p.

365.

caves described by

652 (with
is

naturalistic

According

Semites, p.

Perrot et Chipiez,

RfiNAN, Mission de Phenicie,

Horn

to

sur Bdrose, p. 330."

the quoted cases the naturalistic form

Date

According

I'arbre sacrd par excellence

conventional types have developed from the natural forms


"

an

Assyria.

which they represent.

The words

to the theory of

" Le palmier

Robertson Smith, Religion of the


" The
palm was a symbol of Astarte."
most

The

Lajard's Quite de

to

Its

Tree

does not appear from the above quotation

ornamental palm symbolism

voyez

'

the

undoubtedly a symbol on Chaldean and Assyrian

would give much support

generally.

the ex-

240, referring to

p.

identified with

that the texts

conventionally a flowering lotus, as the Bharhut sculptures

This

is

ii.,

" Its form


(the Greek honeysuckle)
says,

enable us to determine" (p. 128).

cedar-tree

of Neandreia."

430 (South Ken-

it

"

texts, says that the

is

hence

Hom."

it

archaeologists

rived originally from the date Horn, but

and consequently the sacred palm

Mithra ; but

vol.

Ancient Monarchies ;
p.

used by him to mean the Sacred Tree in

is

cylinders, as abundantly illustrated by

Agypte, p. 5x5.

American Journal of Archceology,

Proto-Ionic capital from the

part of the palm-tree,

supposed by Birdwood to represent a soma-tree, hence the

paim

5.

The upper

(Figs. 60, 61, 62).

Old Empire, Lepsius, Denkmdler

memory

wanting,

is

"

illustration).

In

perfectly obvious.

form on

several

was a symbol of Apollo in Delos, and

GREEK IONIC AND A NTHEMION FORMS.

,,S

resemblance
as represented in the scenery of Assyrian reliefs, has occasionally a close
to the decorative palmette form but the trunk of a tree is rather a serious thing
;

to dispose of in a decorative pattern, and there ought to be

some

traces of its

So far
if it produced a pattern without a trunk.
gradual decorative elimination
from there being any such transitional forms, there is not even any evidence for
the

By

in Assyria.
patterns of natural palm-trees

word pattern we understand a

an isolated naturalistic representation. In symbolic


repeated motive as distinct from
use (and every appearance may be considered symbolic where it is not a palpable
landscape accessory) the palm-tree
artistic

is

Whether

isolated.

always

rude or in

in

are our main reference for the palm as a


rendering on the cylinders which

There
tree are always positive and distinct.
symbol, the indications of the natural
to
is not one instance of a pattern in Assyrian art which cannot be directly referred
conceded to be Egyptian, are not
Egypt, and no pattern for which examples,
to appeal to the deficiency of
abundantly found in Assyria (xxv.). It is useless
excavations and to future possible discoveries.
tinuation of the Babylonian and Assyrian,

known and

published.

and

The Persian
its

art is a direct con-

remains are very abundantly

All Oriental art has a traditional and conservative character

which perpetuates and re-copies its original motives, and the Persian, Babylonian,
and Assyrian ornament may, therefore, be fairly judged by the evidences which
date from the ninth century B.C.
before the

Greco-Roman

period,

we

If

Egypt were swept

clear of every relic dating

could reconstruct the entire history of the lotus

motive from the traditional survivals of

all

its

primitive forms, and

there

is

no

which could explain the utter disappearance, from the known Persian,
MoreAssyrian, and Babylonian examples, of such Oriental traditional survivals.
reason

over, in cylinders,

monuments of a high

antiquity can be brought in evidence, and

so far from antagonizing the matter-of-fact evidence cited on the subject of the
palm-tree,

The
and

it is

mainly the cylinders which supply

traditional

it.

and constant combinations of the palmette with the

lotus

bud

lotus flower (Figs. 6i, 71, 74, 76, 77, 82, 83, 86, 88) are not only significant

as furnishing an argument drawn


supposition

that

from association.

They

also

imply,

on the

they represent a palm motive, that realistic and normal palms

should be at least as frequent as normal and

realistic

of the greatest rarity, and, roughly speaking, almost

lotuses,

whereas they are

unknown on

ancient monuments, aside from Assyrian scenery backgrounds.

the

surviving

GREEK IONIC AND ANTHEMION FORMS.

irg

Mr. Percy E. Newberry's independent conclusions regarding the "honeysuckle"

and the

lotus,

reached in 1885, although unpublished, must not be passed over.

His point of view included the Ionic form, and must be considered superior to
Mr. Petrie's on this account,^ for although the "honeysuckle" occasionally
appears in Greek art without the
appears in the archaic forms

(xix,

which must be the

147])

[p.

logical point of departure for a consistent theory,


MELIAN ANTHEMION.
Repetition of xix.,

3.

number of

so appear in any large

never so

it

supporting volutes,

neither does

The

typical examples.

it

volutes

are an essential portion of the necking ornaments of the Erechtheium

but they do not appear on the necking ornament of Naukratis

(Fig. 118

[p.

(Fig. 63),

which was Mr.

171]),

Petrie's point of departure.

This Naukratic ornament

and-Dart moulding

to

really belongs

(xxi. [p. 159])

the type which produced the

and was so entered on

my

plate for this

American yotirual of Archceology, in 1888.


Mention must also be made of the announcements regarding

Egg-

moulding,

published in the

of Mr. John

who

the anthemion,

an anthemion pattern
resembling Fig. 64, and found on the

Pennethorne,"
"

derives

pediment cornice of the


"
lotus and papyrus
Parthenon," from a
ornament," published by him, which is
of the

Cyma

the counterpart of Fig. 65.'"

thorne
64.

of the anthemion

Type

sidered to be

which has so

con-

"
" lotus and
papyrus by

to

failed

far

cut

the

Mr. Penne-

Gordian

knot

65.

bound together the pa-

pyrus and the lotus, but his perception of

Mr. John Pennethome.

the unity of the ornaments in question

is

the earliest which

Typeofthe"iotusand
"

papyrus ornament considered to be the origin


of the anthemion by Mr.

John Pennethome.

have met.

His

weakened by not knowing that the volutes at the base of the anthemion
are the same volutes which form the Ionic capital (Plate xiii.).^^
matter

8.

is

In the Annual Report of the

Fund

for 1890,

Mr. Petrie

still

Palestine

of a derivation of the Ionic capital from the horns of a

ram, and supposes


volute from Asia."
9.

that

" the Greeks borrowed the Ionic

"a kind

by

Owen

Jones,

Grammar

of

of lotus," but what kind of lotus,

Jones does not say.

Pennethorne remarks

that

"The

only exceptions

above statement [regarding the Egyptian

Greek ornament]

are the spiral lines of

such as the volutes of the Ionic capital


trace appears to

be found

a later period of art," p.

Geometry and Optics of Ancient Architecture, 1878.

Ornament, as

to the

no

10. Originally published

Owen

II.

Exploring

adheres to the old notion

architect

of wide

horizontal curves of

in

173.

information,

Greek

Greek
.

Egypt

origin

of

architecture,

and of these

they belong

to

This was written by an


the

discoverer

architecture; in 1878.

of

the

120

PLATE
GREEK

XIII.

AND ANTHEMION FORMS.

IONIC

1.

Greek an them ion.

2.

Phenician ivory detail of an Egyptian palmette, from Nineveh, in the British Museum.
in

Detail from the handle of a Greek bronze vase, from Sidon.

A merican Journal of A rclueology,


same

3.

Similar detail,

4.

Greek anthemion, head of a funeral

Jahrbuch*

1888.

From CLARKE

886.

reference.

stele, in

a vase painting.

From Chipiez,

Histoire des Ordres

Grecs, p. 273.
5.

Phenician ivory detail of an Egyptian palmette, same reference as Nos. 4 and

6. Ionic capital,

found at Athens.

From Trowbridgk,

7.

Greek incised

detail in bronze.

From

8.

Etruscan Ionic

9.

The

detail,

from

MARTHA,

the

5.

American Journal of ArcfuBology,

in

1888.

Museo Etrusco- Vaticano.


In Florence, from Chiusi.

L' Art trusque.

From Clarke,

Ionic capital of Neandreia (Chigri), Asia Minor.

in

American fournal of Archce-

ology, 1886.
10.

Greek anthemion, stone

From Heuzey, Mission

relief.

1.

Greek anthemion, with introrse

scrolls,

2.

Greek anthemion, stone

Same

13. Ionic capital,

relief.

stone

relief.

14.

Greek anthemion, with

15.

Ionic capital, found at Athens.

Reference as above,

reference, xxviii.

From Trowbridge,

found at Athens.

de Macedoine, xxvi.

in

3.

American Journal of Archceology, 18S8.

From Schliemann,

introrse scrolls, terra-cotta antefix.

From

\iiG

xlii.

Jahrbuch, 1888,

iii.

Fig. 17.

Nos. 13 and 6 have also been published by the Imperial Archaeological

Jahrbuch

for 1888,

and No.

6, in

the Antike

Denkmdler

Institute.

No.

13,

in

the

for 1889.

* All references to the


Jahrbuch indicate the journal, published
Archaeological Institute of Germany.

Tiryns, p. 295.

under

that

name, of the Imperial

^
N

iR)riill

lll

M|ll|illMiT7Tv'

""tll'"l"'lllllr'^
(j

mf/'d
v.^--

^
9

L.
ji

/^

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE


PATTERNS, AND
(PLATE

According
anthemion,

the

to
it

^/""nV^

illustrations

"

HERZBLATTS."

PAGE

XIV.,

133.)

by Plate

offered

xiii.

121]

[p.

for

the Greek

appears that the Greek types directly borrowed from Egyptian art
are in hard material, stone, bronze, or terra-cotta (xiii.; i, 4)It is also

easy to understand

that

the

most

originals

easily

accessible to Greeks of the mother-country were in hard material,

From

jewelry or bronze.

ultimately confined
of entry, this did

and
GREEK TERRA-COTTA

in large

to

not

eighth century B.C.

there were

and although they were


Naukratis, as a trading port and port

numbers of Greeks

large

66.

the

in Egypt,^

with

interfere

numbers, as

their individual presence

soldiers, or otherwise, elsewhere.

Still

be that portable objects carried to the mother-country,


and at an earlier time than the eighth century, rather than surface colour patterns,
ANTHEMIO.N.

were the

it

point

form

original

is

may

of departure

found

the Greek anthemion.

for

in the colour patterns

(xii.

[p.

Egypt the same


and in the motives

In

113]),

In Greece the painted decoration of pottery, which art

of bronze and jewelry.

and large amount, led to a development


of variants from the original of complex and dissimilar character and often of
The Greek anthemion in stone or terra-cotta generally
remote resemblance.

was

first

retains
I.

practised

the

there in

perfection

severe outline of Fig.

Maspero, Histoire Ancienne.

Two

67 from the

hundred thousand

Greeks were transferred from the Pelusiac settlements to

They were employed


mercenaries, and in this capacity

Naukratis.

of

especially in the capacity

far displaced the native

(with the Carians) so

Egyptian forces that these,

on one

left

The

ultimate

restriction

Naukratis, as a trading port of entry,

on

their

individual

Abydos, and Samians

of

Greeks

the

placed no

presence as sight-seers,

traders, in other sections.

occasion, migrated in mass to Ethiopia as the only protest

them.

Parthenon or of the motives


to

restriction

students,

or

Maspero mentions Milesians at

in the Great Oasis.

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,

124

Fig. 66, and Plate


the

fifth

later

xiii.

century B.C.

[p.

&c.

121] (which is a vase-picture of a tombstone), through

After that date

it

tends toward the complexity of such

examples as Figs. 68, 69 (tombstone ornaments), and 70.


The students of ornament and of architecture are well

aware that here and elsewhere there has been a regulated

ANTHEMIO.V OF

evolution

HK PARTHENON.

ANTHEMION, FROM AN
ATHENIAN TOMBSTONE.

68.

69.

ANTHEMION, FROM AN ATHENIAN


TOMBSTONE.

from the simple to the complex and the elaborately ornate


is

dependent,

on

sequence

facility,

easily

historically

speaking,

Hence the

of time.

of

acquired,

dating

objects according to style in

and

Italian art,

and

Greek

in the Byzantine,

Romanesque,

Gothic,

sance styles.

This

on the other hand

which

and Renais-

facility

fails

us

in Chinese,

Hindu,
Arab, and other Oriental art, and in
the Egyptian.

Where

the civiliza-

tion has been stationary its

ornament

remains unchanged. Hence the freedom with which we can dispense


with
70.

Roman
date,

u*T ANTHEMION, MACEDONIA.

From Houey.

the question, of dates,

Certain

rcstrictious

for

the

under
Greco-

Every motive, whatever the individual


On the other hand
represents an unknown antiquity of the original form.
period, in matters of

Egyptian

art.

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,


the

movement

tombstones,

so

is

for

rapid

example,

in

Italian

art

in

the

early

sixteenth

&c.

century that

can be dated for that period within ten years on the

and according to the simple, ornate, or highly elaborate


The movement is as rapid in Greek ornament between 430 and 330 B.C.
basis of style,

The

pottery ornament of Greek art naturally developed in

and rapidity (although

it

or the

it

hammer and

character.

greater freedom

bears a distinct relation to contemporary style in hard

71.

material), because

125

RHODIAN VASE.

From Salzmann.

used the brush instead of the chisel or the moulder's

stick,

Plate xiv. indicates

some

point of a

workman

in repousse.

of the familiar Greek ornaments in pottery and surface design

which are reducible

to the lotus.

The

variants are most easily

form in which the palmette and


by assuming a normal
Such a form in Egyptian art would
balanced.
volutes are equally
J
~l
traced

72.

EGYPTO

PHENICIAN

. .

rRlUnicSTor

be, for example.

For

remains

Assyrian

of

Fig. 72, as

borrowed from Plate xu.

Egypto-Phenician

art

such

form

[p.

would

113].

be

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,

126

from Plate

Fig. 73, as borrowed

form would be

which

xiv. 6,

illustrated

directly

For Greek pottery art such a


borrowed from the above types; or it
121]."

We
73. EGYPTO-PHBSICIAN IVORY
OKTAIL WOM NINEVEH.
British Maseum.

by the Melian pattern,

xix.

move then

will

shown by

volute as

Bronze Kepouss^.

After this

xiv. 14.

is

the next abbreviation.

supporting volutes,

we may name

the

the palmette without


highly important example of
shown at xxii. 8, 10 [p. 165] important, because these details

alternating forms of xiv. 11.


is

GREEK ETRUSCAN DETAIL.

74.

extreme development in size of the spiral

case of a palmette without

supporting scrolls

directly to the

reached the entire disappearance of the palmette

As extreme

83.

147]-

[P-

is

[p.

would be the alternating palmettes of Fig. 74 or Fig.


The assumed normal form is also well

/r^\\?^f^
l^^^J[jM^^
"~"

point

is

xiii.

&c.

an

represent

of

pattern

minimum

the

sixth

of the

the palmette

frequent vase-

extremely

is

The

century.

scrolls

as

supporting

illustrated

by Figs. 75,
76, 77, or by the case where there is
only one pair of volutes for two palmettes,

(^nVM^ft^

^^t^^@xM^

CRKBK POTTERY ANTHRMION.

75.

as in xiv.

8.

This

fine pattern,

Greek vase found

yairmariUgiriuiEi

in

Italy,

from a

has

been

chosen as a general type of some of the


variations which have developed in Greek

and modern ornament from the Egyptian


lotus motive.
76.

DETAIL

Arab

lit

COLOUR.

trefoils,

It

and

The

relations of certain

CREEK ARCHITECTURAL

77.

GREEK POTTERY DETAILS.

details of this pattern to Byzantine scrolls.

and Medieval

"

''

fleiirs-de-lys

will not escape attention


(Fig. 78).

need not be said that Byzantine ornament develops from the Neo-Persian

Roman

Greek, and that Arab ornament developed after the Arab conquest

of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, and in these Byzantine countries.

The "Herzblatt"
related),

we
No.

see
3,

is

but one method


that

the

"

obtained in various ways


is

illustrated

Herzblatt

"
is

here.

obtained

(Plate

ix.

By comparison

[p.

91]

and

text

of xiv. 3 and

5,

by enlarging the lower volutes of

minimizing the palmette, and carrying the prolongation of the volutes

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,


over

the

to

palmette

Nos.

point.

and

10

"

show

&c.

127
"

Herzblatts

with

introrse scrolls.

The
buds

guilloche (rope pattern)

and

lotus

association

seen

by reference

pattern of xiv.

These

palmettes.

The

is significant.

the

to

shown

is

upper

not very

are

guilloche

Nos. 2 and

at

with inverted lotus

common

an abbreviated

is

7,

but the

instances,

spiral scroll, as

may

be

running

or to the diagram Fig. 79,


It does not appear to be
originally Egyptian,

but

is

1 1

common

an abbreviation

in

Syria,

Mesopotamia, and Cyprus, and is especially


favoured by early Rhodian vases (xxxviii.
from the central

evolution

Its

251]).

[p.

pattern of Fig. 79

may be most

in Cypriote vases,

but

them

on

New

in

York).

examples (several in
occurs on pottery found in

It

hieratic

Xllth

to the

the form of spiral

cylinders

not very frequent

it is

extant

Egypt and dated


is

easily studied

affected

(hence proven

Dy nasty

by Assyrian

be originally a

to

symbol, compare xxxvi. 7

concentric

It

.^

rings of scarabs

[p.

(viii.

247])

[p.

material.

87]),

It

78.

and

saracenic Algerian detail.

From

which explain the


the small dimension and hard

for the reasons

viz.,

has been specified as a symbol by Colonna-

Ceccaldi, both in Cypriote vases

and

in cylinders.

Various text cuts of this chapter (Figs. 80,


will

y\ Xv

v^ V^^ V^^
79.

\--^

EVOLUTION OF THE GUILLOCHE.

88, 89, 90)

speak for themselves as variants of the anthemion

motive and types of ornament

/"~\y^-^

Ravoisi.s.

modern
recent

In our

times.

patterns

of

influenced by the

"

common

to ancient

and

own modern ornament

the

decorators

Grammar

have
of

been

Ornament

especially
"

of

Owen

Jones, and by the South Kensington and Decorative Art movement, which sprang
Before this
from his connection with the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 185 1.
"

Decorative Art

2.

"

movement our conventional

Flinders Petrie, Catalogue of

covered in

Egypt and

the Antiquities dis-

" Xllth
Palestine, 1890,

Dynasty,

patterns were

piece of black pottery (Italian

found

at

Kahun.

?)

drawn from the


with guilloche pattern";

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,

128

"

Greek Revival

that,

from the

centuries,

"

Revival and

Italian

and hence

"

'

'

80.

Romanesque

classic.

GREEK ANTHEMIONS, MACEDONIA.

naturalism

patterns.

of

its

rejected

Although the preceding Gothic

own,

it

These again go back

From Heuzey.

by the Renaissance, had developed

retained

many

traces

to the Byzantine

82. ASSYRIAN.

81. ASSYRIAN.

and before

M K. iiCagSI r-lwr-gTr-Tiv--). ir-3.i^iM.r7''S:?'''"^''"^

whose ornament was absolutely

an ornamental

centuries),

Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth

both cases were

in

time,

and early nineteenth

eighteenth

(late

&c.

83.

of

the

and Greco-Roman.

GREEK POTTERY.

84.

SINDH FOTTSRY.

Throughout the Middle Ages, Hindu, Moresque, and Arab patterns had
into

Europe,

Byzantine

or

especially

through

Neo-Persian,

textiles;

under

the

but

these

conditions

older

patterns

again

filtered

recur

already described (Figs.

to
78,

84.85).

85.

From

SIKDH TILBS.

86.

GREEK POTTERY.

87.

RENAISSANCE CARVING.

the fourth century B.C.

onwards, and especially in the Roman-Greek

period, there are distinct traces of

an ornamental naturalism, which supplemented.

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,


modified, and mistranslated the fundamental

of Greek

patterns

&c.

art.

129

How

far

the original elements of Greek and later classic decoration are contained in the
illustrations offered, or to be offered,

to decide, but

leave the expert

The known

the later mistranslations are eminently curious.

some of

instance of the trans-

formation of the lotus bud in necklaces into an amphora will serve as an example.

These mistranslations have not been confined

Roman and

Alexandrine Antiquity,
but have found their way into modern interpretation of ancient patterns to an

alarming extent.
India" (South

to

Figs. 81-85 are borrowed from Bird wood's

Kensington
"

Museum

"

Industrial Arts of

Art Handbooks), where they are used as


"

and although the Egyptian


lotus element is recognized in the flower of Fig. 81, the lotus bud is interpreted
"
"
as the
The lotus bud of Birdwood's illustrations
fruit of the Horn
(p. 424).
"
is otherwise
by the designation of Knop." It is true that these buds

illustrations

of the

Knop and Flower

pattern,

disguised

88.

LOTUS BUDS AND ANTHEMIONS, ASIA MINOR.

From

Perrot.

"

"

has been recognized as such,


honeysuckle
and these illustrations have also been introduced to mark the prevalence of the

arc not obvious

lotuses until the

with the flower or palmette patterns; the bud having been largely
omitted from my Plates, as being an obvious motive. The pattern 86 is supposed
lotus

bud,

by Birdwood
it

is

to be

borrowed from the Assyrian "Tree of Life

an obvious case of a doubled

"

(Fig. 121),

The palmettes and

lotus.

lotus

although

buds of

88 have been noted by the eminent authority of Perrot as "oak leaves


and acorns.'" The traditional "honeysuckle" still grows rankly on the pages
Fig,

of our books on decoration, and the

green bay-tree on the pages of

common

to the ancients

"

palm

German

Perrot et Chipiez,

who were
v., p.

191,

a
(without a trunk) flourishes like

archaeology.

and the moderns.

decorators of later ancient times,


3.

"

Such mistakes have been

They were made


almost as

" Feuilles

et

far

frequently by the

removed as we are from

Glands de Chgne."

GREEK POTTERY ANTHEMIONS, ROPE PATTERNS,

130

the hoary antiquity of the lotus motive, from the

which suffered no encroachment on


pictorial hieroglyph

thought unknown

was

4.

Robertson Smith's
local,

sacred ground

restricted to religious uses,

Jteligion

life

and simple symbolism

from the time when the


"

and

from the time when art was religion

national and individual existence,

and the

its

stern

&c.

decorative art

and when

"

was a

religion

was

and death, combined.*

of tht Semites gives a valuable account of the connection between ancient religions

communal, and national

interests.

89.

GREEK ANTHEMION,

SICILY.

From

Hittort

^IF

90-

GRECO.SCYTHIAN GOLD HELMET FROM


KERTCH.

St.

Petersburg.

133

PLATE

XIV.

greek: pottery anthemions, rope patterns,


"
herzblatts."

1.

Pottery anthemion.

2.

Rope

"
"
5.

Detail from the terra-cotta sarcophagus of Clazomenae, in

"

Herzblatt

Rhodian vase

with palmettes.

in

From

Herzblatts," in bronze rePoussJ.

SalzmanN'S

Nccropole de Caviire, xxxiii.

the Antike Denknidler, 1889,

From Adolph BcetticHER,

From Stockbauer and Otto, Ornament

Guilloche, with lotus buds.

8.

Pottery anthemion.

From a Greek

vase in the

Monumenti

9.

Pottery anthemion.

From a Greek

vase in the

Monumenti Inediti,

1.

Herzblatt

"

motive, painted tcrra-cotta at Olympia.

Lotuses and palmettes, spiral


Vaticano, L, xxxix.

scroll

From a

13.

Border of palmettes and inverted

14. Spiral scrolls

xxxix.

Inediti,

6.

XL,
X.,

xv.

viii. 5.

From Semper, Der

Stil,

Greek-Etruscan bronze repouss^.

vase in the Monumenti Inediti,

Greek pottery

Vaticano,

xxxi.

I., iii.

From

the Miisco Etrusco

From

the

3.

12.

lotus.

above.

II.,

44.

antiker Thongefdsse, x.

7.

Pottery motive, from Tunis,

i.

Olympia, Fig. 29.

Pottery anthemion.

"

xxv.

TneJiti, X.,

6.

10.

Monumenti

Antike Denkmdlcr, i^ig.

Pottery anthemion.

4.

a Greek vase in the

pattern (guilloche) with palmettes.

Vienna.
3.

From

and

lotuses.

XL, x

2.

Greek-Etruscan hronze repouss/.

2.

and palmettes

From

a Rhodian vase in

Salzmann's Nicropolede Camire.

Museo Etrusco

PL XIV., p.

133

LOTUS IONIC CAPITALS AND DETAILS,


SHOWING THE SEPAL VOLUTES WITH AND WITHOUT THE
CENTRAL SPIKE.
(PLATE

XV.,

PAGE

139.)

The

Egyptian palmette is the obvious original of the anthemion hence a treatment


of the Greek Ionic capital, which proves the identity of the two Greek motives
;

most convincing.
But there are not less than three original sources of
aside from the possibility or probability that volutes
the Greek Ionic capital
the

is

joined

by a

straight line at the top were directly copied

by the Greeks

in

Egypt

from capitals like vii. 7 [p. 79], or the upper member of vii. 5.
The honour of demonstrating the identity of certain Ionic capitals with the
anthemion, within the limits of Greek art, belongs to Mr. Joseph Thacher Clarke,^

and

his essay

on the Capital of Neandreia


"

"

a death-blow to the

(xiii.

[p.

121]),

(which he supposed to

palm-tree

which he discovered, gave


be the original anthemion

form, in agreement with the generally accepted view) by linking the anthemion

undoubtedly an Egyptian lotus.


But we are by no means confined to the palmette form of the Ionic capital in

with the history of the Ionic

our demonstration of

The convincing
lotus

to

its

which

is

lotus origin.

point of

certain Cypriote

capital,

M. Dieulafoy's demonstration

Ionic capitals and

tombstones

is

(xv.

the relation of the


15,

17).

He

also

Egypto-Phenician detail of an ivory plaque from


Nineveh, in the British Museum as a lotus explaining the triangles of xv. 15
the

published

and

17.

There

tombstone

detail xv.

is

"

A
3.

another capital in the Louvre with triangle, like

like 17 (Plate xli.

New York Museum


I.

i;

[p.

Proto-Ionic Capital from the


introrse

and another

There are two similar tombstones

263].)

in the

(Fig. 43.)^

American Journal of Archaology, Vol.

The upper

15,

site

II.,

No.

r.

of Neandreia."

scrolls of these

tombstones are

"
" Phenician
palmette (Plate
explained by the

xli. [p.

263]),

and also through variants of the "honeysuckle" aspect of


the lotus-palraette.

LOTUS IONIC CAPITALS AND DETAILS.

136

<2fc.

Colonna-Ceccaldi had already mentioned these triangles as related to the lotus

the central sepal spike (compare the Cypriote lotuses xv.


'

This triangle

although his interpretation did not exactly hit the point.

(p. 72),

M. Dieulafoy

had suggested an ovary.


leaf" (sepal), but

In

Colonna-Ceccaldi

13).

specifies the triangle correctly as


scrolls as petals,

he

original publication

by considering the outer

logical account of the form.

7,

my own

is

a " calyx

failed to give a

made

the reverse

mistake, interpreting the scrolls correctly, but considering the central triangle to

be an enlarged

mistake and M.

My own

petal.

Nymphaeas with the

Rose Lotus," which has not

sepal spikes or three in profile view (Plate

The prominence
[p-

of the

[p.

41]

central spike in the

makes them valuable

303])

iii.

by

and by confounding the Egyptian

inattention to the Egyptian three-spiked form


"

Dieulafoy's were caused

this peculiarity of the four

and

related text).

Cypriote lotuses

references for the Cypriote capitals

(Plate

xlvii.

and tombstones

two of them have been given a central place on Plate xv.^ The curling
volutes of these flowers have already been explained (Fig. 4, of the flower from
therefore

nature, with curling sepals)

therefore

we

will

survivals, aside from Cypriote Ionic capitals


in Ionic capitals

The

immediately notice the rudimentary

and tombstones, of the

and Ionic forms.

central sepal

central spike

"

spike appears for instance in the Assyrian Ionic (xv.

9),

which has been considered the original of the Greek,* and which is thus proved
It survives in Greek Etruscan art of the third
to be itself Egyptian.
century B.C.
as dated by style of the relief from which

(xv., 12),

mirror handle at Olympia

(xv.

[p.

is

taken.

which cannot be dated

14)

appears on the Egypto-Phenician detail xv.


vases (xv. 8; variants, xvii.

it

i,

and

145], xviii. [p. 146]).

is

As

far

much

It

appears on a

from 500

B.C.

It

repeated on Melian

regards vases, the motive

XV. 8 can be traced back,

by way of xv. 6, 16, to the Cypriote pottery lotus.


The interesting capital xv. 10 is mentioned in descriptive details concerning
the Plate (p. 138) and has an obvious connection with the floral forms placed
above and below

We
3.

[p.

have then,

finally,

to notice the Ionic capitals

Their pendant exterior lines are explained by

303]

4.

it.

By

of Art

as rudimentary survivals of
all

the

exceptional views

and Hans Auer

(p.

of Colonna-Ceccaldi,

72),

we

may add

Danish Archaeologist, Julius Lange, who has, according to


Puchstein's

pendant lotuses.

authors of compendious works on the History

To

Dieulafoy,

xlvii. i.

the

which have neither spike

reference

(p.

71), derived

the Ionic

capital

from the "Papyrus" (apparently about 1877). This would


be a case of just perception under mistaken verbal
designation.

LOTUS IONIC CAPITALS AND DETAILS,


nor palmette rudiment of the lotus, and whose volutes
capital instead of

decisive reference.

Ionic

is

10

79]

[p.

capitals, the original

how

apparent

^^7

from the neck of the

rise

the capitals

Egyptian

vii.

1,4, 6, 9,

like xv. 3, 4, 5, respectively Etruscan, Greek,

shows a Syrian capital, of uncertain


the Greek Ionic is clearly illustrated.

11

of transition to

The

For these

top.

It is easily

were reduced to forms


Plate xv.

Syrian.

mode

meeting at the

&c.

dates of these capitals are not important.

They

in

date,

and

which one

exhibit survivals, in any

case, of earlier traditions.

Plate XV.

ivory detail from Nineveh,

2,

inner detail of

x.

Khorsabad (from a

related to vii. 8

is

and

a reminder of the

is

91

Fig.

5.

79]

[p.

The Syrian

histories

relief)

Maschnaka

Ionic capital of
"

borrowed from Kenan's

(Fig.

Mission de Phdnicie."

92)

of

Ionic

which has figured so largely in


as proof of the Assyrian origin of the Greek capital.

of art

to the

is

It is also
92.

91.

ASSYRIAN lONMC.

figured

BELIEF, KHORSABAD.

"

lotus

"

by Reber,

who

The

explanation of the Ionic form.^

to his account

would have made

SYRIA.

has come very near to the correct

it

addition of the one

word

quite accurate.

We

must not overlook the bearing of these observations on the Persian


For these Ionic volutes in Persian art we have earlier
Ionic (xxvi. 10 [p. 193]).
reference

has

in

certain

"

"

Mycenae

correctly specified

the

lower

pottery details

member

3,

(liv.

Museum which

British

Dieulafoy

325]).

as a lotus,

of this capital

references to Assyrian ivory details in the

[p.

and with

represent

its

The pendant leaves suggest pendant sepals, and the entire


and
suggestive of Hindu lotus treatment and of its Assyrian

original derivation.

lower

ember

is

Persian origin.
Reber, History of Ancient Art ; translated by Joseph
Thacher Clarke (Harper). " There is reason to suppose
5.

was not the primitive and normal


form of the Assyrian [Ionic] capital, but was rather an
abbreviation of the leaved calyx, so frequently met with in

that the double helix

Phenicia, Palestine and Cyprus,

and

that the rolled ends

origin

of the Ionic capital,

impossible for
"
" leaved
calyx
6.

"

This lower
"

palmier

Perrot

him
is

to

et

furniture

(p. 70).

At

p. 231

Reber alludes

to the Assyrian

The enormous

Chipiez.

Perrot's illustration, but


in the

would have been

has been mistaken by Perrot for

are covered with

and the various

forms occurring upon carved Assyrian

it

he had observed that the

in matter relating to his illustration in Vol. V.,

columns

spiral

which
if

lotus.

member

of the leaves originally suggested the volutes of the capital


"

do

normal lotus

still

bases

details,

more obvious on

Louvre (Dieulafoy excavations).

of

these

apparent

in

the original

138

PLATE

XV.

LOTUS IONIC CAPITALS AND DETAILS, SHOWING THE SEPAL


VOLUTES, WITH AND WITHOUT THE CENTRAL SPIKE.

1.

From DiEULAFOY,
Detail of an Egypto-Phcnician ivory plaque from Nineveh, in the British Museum.
L'Art Antique de la Perse, Part III. (Entire plaque in La YARD'S Plates, First Series, 90 ; and in

Perrot et Chipiez,

Assyrie, p. 435

2.

Egypto-Phenician ivory detail from Nineveh,

3.

Etruscan Ionic capital.

4. Ionic capital.
5.

From

Tomb

the

Monumenti

Proto-Ionic capital, Jerusalem.

6. Detail

of No. 16.

at Cervetri.

From Martha, L'Art

From Perrot et

From a Rhodian vase


From a vase

Cypriote pottery lotus.

8.

Detail of a Melian vase (compare xix.

9.

Assyrian

Detail

capital.

Museum.

Dieulafoy,

as above.

^.trusque.

Inediti, VI., lix.

7.

Ionic

in the British

in the British

in the
i.

from

CllIPIFZ, Ph^nicie.

Museum.

New York Museum.

fp. 147]).

From CONZE,

the "Sippara

Tablet."

Melische TJiongefdsse.

Clarke,

in

American Journal of

ArcluEology, 1886.
10.

Cypriote Ionic capital. From ColoNNA-CecCALDI, Motmments de Chypre. Published posthumously


"
"
Dali
as a Dessin In^dit and without comment, except the word
(Idalium in Cyprus), followed by
an interrogation mark. The present whereabouts of this capital does not appear, but measurements
are attached to the design.

11.

Syrian Ionic capital (uncertain date) at Deir-el-Kalaah, near Beyrout.

From

the Revue Arcli^ologique,

1846-47.
12.

Greek Etruscan Ionic

Monumenti
13.

15.

di Perugia,

Cypriote pottery

14. Detail

capital.

lotus.

LXVI.,

From

From Conestabile,

xcii.

a vase in the

New York Museum.

of a bronze mirror handle found at Olympia, Olympia, IV., xxii.

From DiEULAFOY, Z'^r/ Antique de la Perse, Part III. (also


by Longprier, Mush Napoleon III., xxxiii., and in Perrot et Chipiez, Cypre, p. 116.

Cypriote Ionic capital, in the Louvre,


published

16. Shield

with lotus Ionic forms.

Nhropole de Camire,
17.

Detail of a relief not earlier than 3rd century B.C.

Detail of a Rhodian vase in the British

Cypriote tombstone in the Louvre.

Mus/e NapoUon

III.

Museum.

From Salzmann's

liii.

Compare

Fig. 43

and

Plate xli. 3 [p. 263].

From LONGPfiRlER,

w^

&

^^:^^)
11

10

vA^r
'Hi:

''

14-'

12

15

nyrri/jnjrinyri !;;nTTrn
rnii -H
jrfTml[^ii n ill iiiYiVrirh
ij
I

ifiVTYTVyYiYfTYT^-

yMBi#^
^

i%IM.S
m
17

16
PI.

XV.,

p. 139.

THE LOTUS SPIRAL ON CYPRIOTE, RHODIAN,


AND MELIAN VASES.
(PLATES

The

type of Greek vases

modern

regards

XVI., XVII., XVIII., XIX.,

known

as

but there

finds,

significance for the history of

"

PAGES

Melian

"
is

Greek

pottery.

figure, the

145, 146,

147.)

extremely limited in number as

no doubt of

is

The

decoration speak for themselves and as distinct

which show the Greek

144,

its

and individuality of the


"
from those " Geometric
vases
force

art struggling out of barbarism as


regards design

Melian vases

are,

and

singular importance

of the

with some Rhodian pieces, the earliest which show

that art fully launched on its independent career in figure design.

The published

pieces herewith are supposed to date from the seventh century b.c.^

Professor Conze,

of the

Museum, was

Berlin

the

first

to

point out

importance of the Melian vases, and his publication of them in colour

sumptuous work of Greek archaeology as regards the


of the individual

pieces

for

me

(xlvii. [p.

study of the

the most

and colouring

Ionic volute

as

chanced to pass from the study of Cypriote


It was impossible
303]) to the publication of Professor Conze.

derived from the curling lotus sepal

examples

my own

In

presented.

scale, execution,

is

the

not to recognize the enormous spiral volutes of xvi. 2 (doubled lotus form)

as a development of the Cypriote lotus

(3),

and

me

this led

to look for the

Rhodian

connecting links which are also represented on the Plate.

The Rhodian

and 4 show a Grecianizing and decorative treatment


of the Cypriote lotus (compare xlvii. [p. 303]).
No. 5 (supporting demi-rosette)
from a vase of Thera (Rhodian style) shows a related palmette form, with central
spike.
I.

By

lotuses

The Melian
references in

de la Grece propre,

p.

lotus

Uumont
220

numbered

2,

et Chaplain, Ceramiques

in article

by Conze, BulUtino,

showing the

spiral volute

1861, p. 9; and by
p.

403.

De Witte,

in

still

Rev. Arch.,

1862,

more
t.

vi.,

& MELIAN

THE LOTUS SPIRAL ON CYPRIOTE, RIIODIAN,

142

VASES.

elaborate rendering, carries us to Plate xvii. where the palmette displaces the petals,

or to Plate

On
spiral

where the lower

xviii.

spirals are inverted.

we have a Melian vase and examples of


The
motives summarizing results already reached.
Plate xix.

vases for the history of the lotus


pieces

all

Greek

art

additional scroll and

value of the

in the fact that they unite

lies

as,

in xix.

for example,

and that

in

These vases also exhibit normal lotus patterns and

details,

on individual

the variants which are in question as the basis of scroll and spiral in
these individual vases

impossible not to recognize the unity of design and of origin for

On

Melian

a given vase, for instance

xix.

it is

i,

all

it

is

the forms.

rosettes.

impossible not to refer the various

including the concentric rings, to the larger types on the neck and

the body of the vase (shown in detail, xvi. 2 and xviii.).

It

is

on

again impossible

not to refer the spirals of these larger details to the Rhodian and Cypriote volute.

The

latter

must be assigned

Rhodian, and Melian vases


offered for

offer a parallel

Egyptian Ionic forms

scrolls (x. [p. 97]),

One

to the curling sepal (Fig.

"

and

Hence the Cypriote,

and corroboration to the explanation

(vii. [p. 79]),

Herzblatts
"

4).

concentric rings

(viii. [p. 87]),

spiral

"
(ix.

"

[p. 91]).

demonstrated by

compared with
xix. 3.
The spiral scroll, as shown by xix. 5, appears on the vase below the
handle with only rudimentary rings to mark the displaced palmette and on the
origin of the

foot of the vase

Herzblatt

without this rudiment.

the Greek lotus-anthemion


to

palmette

is

is

balanced, and

other, either the Ionic

normal

In xix. 3

in the sense

that according to

form or the " honeysuckle

EGYPTIAN LOTOS SPIRALS.

From

"

we

xix. 4, as

see the normal form of

that the

proportion of volute

the development of one or the


is result.

Prisse d'Avennes.

143

THE LOTUS SPIRAL ON CYPRIOTE, RHODIAN,

AND.

MELIAN VASES.

PLATE
1.

Rhodian

showing

lotus,

Nt'cropole de Camire.
2.

Melian double
vase in

3.

from the type No.

derived

Detail of a vase in

Salzmann's

one flower inverted, showing spirals derived from type No. i.


Compare neck of the vase, Plate xix. i. [p. 147].

Detail of a

spirals

Compare

lotus, with

XVI.
3.

the vase of Plate xxxviii. [p. 251].

CoNZE, Meliscfu Thongefdsse.

Cypriote lotus, showing original type of Nos. i, 2, 4, and


In the New York Museum.
Plate xlvii. 11. [p. 303].
derived from type No.

4.

Rhodian

5.

Lotus supporting demi-rosette,

lotus,

3.

From

From

5.

the neck of the vase figured on

the vase in the Louvre, figured Plate xxxviii.


[p. 251].

related to type Nos.

and

From

3.

a vase of Thera.

Moniimenti

Inediti,YUl.,v.

PLATE XVII
The Melian

vases illustrated are in the Polytechnic at Athens.

Detail from

CONZE, Melische Thongefdsse.

above.

variant of xvi.

Double

lotus palmette,

one inverted, and inverted Ionic lotus

2.

PLATE

XVIII.

CONZE, Melische Thongefdsse. Double lotus palmette related to Plate xvii, but showing lower
reversed scrolls like the " Herzblatt." Ionic lotus forms beneath the horses.

Detail from

PLATE
Vase and
1.

details

2.

from CONZE, Melische Thongefdsse.

Vase showing double


Plate

XIX.

lotuses,

like xvi.

2,

From

on the neck.

this vase

is

taken the large detail,

xviii.

Detail showing spiral lotus scrolls.

Compare the

On

rings indicate the eliminated palmette.

spiral scrolls

the foot

is

under the handle of No.

a spiral

scroll,

from which

i,

where only

all

trace of the

palmette has disappeared.


3.

Normal form of the Greek anthemion, showing Ionic

spirals

and the palmette

"
"
Herzblatt motive, for comparison with No.
4. Illustration of the

horses of No.
5.

i.

The

original repeats the

Illustration for the spiral scroll as obtained

details in

2,

in

balanced proportion.

and with the

a longer pattern.

by reversing one

spiral of the

type No.

3.

detail

between the

PL XVI., p.

144.

wr
\

/-A
PI.

XVIJL, p.

146.

PL XIX., p.

147-

THE ROSETTE.
(PLATE XX., PAGE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE


The

Rosette

is

(xix.

Naukratic vases (xxx.


rare

on

AND PLATE

99

a constant feature on Cypriote vases

on Melian vases
"

153.)

2,

Mycenae "vases

147]

[p.

10
(Iv.

above the horse)

211]);

[p.

(xx.

XI.

19,

(PAGE

and

107).

xxxvii. 12

on Rhodian vases

and on "Corinthian" vases

18 [p 327]), but familiar to " Mycenae

[p. 24.9]);

(xx. 3, 8)

perhaps unknown

Its association

with the Ionic capital at the centre of the volutes (Fig. 41

and on Persian Ionic variants


derivation, to which instances

(xxvi.

10

[p.

we may add

Greek" Geometric

193]) is

(xxvii'.

"

7 [P- 197])' ^rid

to the oldest

on

It is

(so-called).
"

ornament

style

(Ivi. [p.

an indication of

its

339]).

[p. 71]),

lotiform

the text-cuts 93, 94, 95, as examples of

significant juxtaposition.

The Rosette
Rhodian, and

is

not to be confounded with certain diagrams of Cypriote,

Melian vases,

like Ivii.

12

[p.

341],

which are independent solar

diagrams related to the Egyptian hieroglyph Ra.


Aside from the above references to vases, the following numbers of Plate xx.
belong to Greek art: No. 13, Syrian Greek; No. 22, Cypriote Greek; No. 16,
Alexandrine Greek; No.

Greco-Roman

and No.

Having found
(p.

99),

and having

17,
6,

Naukratic Greek; No.

5,

Greek Etruscan

Nos,

4, 21,

Greco-Buddhist.

the theory of the Assyrian origin of the

Rosette unfounded

specified the four distinct lotus combinations or representations

which explain it (p. 103), we have only to mention the confusion and chaos
which the supposed Mesopotamian origin of the Rosette has created in Greek
archaeology and history.
Since our knowledge of early Greece and the origins of

its

culture

is

so largely

dependent on the character of ornament and mainly dependent on the history of

THE ROSETTE.

150
pottery,

it

will

be impossible to found a science of Mediterranean history while this

prejudice continues.

an important feature of Assyrian ornament there is no reason


for disputing a reactive influence on Greek art from Assyria, which reactive
But to magnify the
influence may also be conceded to the Assyrian palmette.

As

the Rosette

is

importance of this reactive influence

from the

to displace the centre of history,

is

beginning of the XVIIIth Dynasty onwards.


Who has ever dreamed of suggesting that the Renaissance civilization of Italy

was

by the armies of Germans, French, and Spaniards, who overran the


the days of its glory ? As little cause have we to assume that the

controlled

country in

Hittites, Phenicians, Assyrians, Carians, Libyans, Greeks,

their character of foreign foes or of

of Egypt.

It

Before

was

Egyptian mercenaries, influenced the

on the contrary, who thus obtained

they,

the Greek

hieroglyphics,

and Sardinians,

scarabs

factory of Egyptian

was discovered

at Naukratis,^

for

their

own

either in

civilization

civilization.

export, with

unreadable

the presence of Egyptian scarabs in

Greeks tombs, was always attributed to the Phenicians. In


In a similar
then a historic prejudice was dispelled by this discovery.

Italian tombs, or in

so far

the Phenicians themselves have suffered from a historic prejudice.

way

Wherever

the palmette and the rosette have been found in Mediterranean art, they have been
attributed to Assyrian influence

but

if

the Assyrian palmette and rosette were

borrowed from Egypt, they were borrowed by way of the Phenicians and the
Hittites, whose palaces are recorded by Assyrian inscriptions to have been copied

by Assyrian
falls

kings.'*

to the

ground

The whole theory


if

of Phenician art, as at present accepted,

the rosette and the palmette be Egyptian.

Phenician art

a supposed bastard combinatian of Assyrian and Egyptian. This theory is no


It was Egypto-Phenician art which controlled the ornament of
longer tenable.
is

Hence a

by way of Asia Minor


or Syria, or of the Phenicians themselves, can have had no great importance.
It
would simply mean, to recur to the example of the Renaissance, that English
the Assyrian.

reactive influence of Assyrian art

Renaissance art came from Italy by way of Spain rather than by way of France.
The illustration of the Buddhist " Trisula " (xx. 6) shows a combination of

two
1.

trefoil

lotuses

with two buds and a

Flinders Petrie, Naukratis,

tions for export trade.

I.

They were

iinita-

rosette.

2.

Lotus

spirals are frequently

Verbal advice of Professor A. L. Frothingham, Junr.,

of Princeton.

THE ROSETTE.
introduced between the stems of the
the

T5f

This publication appears to be


modern recognition of the "Trisula" as a lotus/ although

first

trefoils.^

the lotiform symbolism of the Buddhists

The

Trisula.^

rosette

first

Casts

century a.d.

Two

Museum, South Kensington.

fine cuts of

the Trisula in the Archaological Survey of Southern India,


I. p.

by James Burgess,

See also James Fergusson,

47.

Cave Temples of India, pp. 73,

Cunningham,

"The

4.

Tlie

74,

and Sir Alexander

Stupa of Bharhut, Plate

Trisula

not

yet

vii.

and

p. 36.

explained."

satisfactorily

Burgess, Arc'ueological Survey of Southern India,


47.

"Shield ornament not yet

I.

p.

James
explained,"

Fergusson, Cave Temples of India, p. 74.


5. BiRDWOOD, Industrial Arts of India (South Kensing" In the Madras
ton Series).
Presidency it would appear
to be always Krishna,

who

is

represented under the form

His most famous form

of Vishnu.

of the World,' under which he

is

'

is

Jagan-natha,

worshipped

Lord

in association

with his brother Balarama, and his sister Subhadra, at Puri,

This image has no legs and only

near Cuttack, in Orissa.


for amis,

and

its

head

is

very
stumps
will be remembered, was accidentally

and the

story at Puri is that

bones and put them

in

the

to

Krishna

idol of

in

and unrecognized

defaced

Hindu

pedestals of

deities

(p. 37).

Sanchi Tope at Bhopal, early

3.

in the India

be

to

proven

of the lotus

relation

has been mentioned

been

has

India

all

common-

a matter of

The most highly venerated

place knowledge.
CYPRIOTE LOTUS.

94.

is

some

large.

Krishna,

killed at

it

Dwaraka,

pious person collected his

a box, in which they remained

on,

when Viswakarma

at

once went

Jagan-natha without hands or


tion given

one

is

by the Brahmans of

this

Such
hideous

even a Christian

all

this

and

may

sit

B.C.

down and

250.

'

but these were


.

says that at the

he has seen a Puri

hand

"General Cunningham considers that the

Law

Brahman.

eat with a

W. Hunter

receive his food from a Christian's

the

Buddhist

distinctions of caste are forgotten,

Sacrament of the Holy Food

Dharma,

true

that the

Before

In his work on Orissa, Dr. W.


'

The

idol.

trisula of a

which was erected at Puri

monstrous shrine

the explana-

is

who has proved

General Cunningham's,

image has been concocted of the


tope,

a huff, leaving

off in

feet.

more probably

all in their origin

it

.priest

"
(p.

76).

trisula represents

represents

Buddha ;

sun and phallic symbols.

Every native of India would at once recognize the

Insula as a symbol of the generative power.

." (p. 105).

6. There
are many recognitions of the
Cunningham's Bharhut; for instance "In

the flowered

medallions

many-leaved

the central portion

lotus," p. 116.

In reality the "

mentioned consist of flowers

is

always a

many

leaves

.closely

"

Rosette

in

of the rosettes

ranged side by

side.

King Indradyumna was directed by Vishnu to make


an image of Jagan-natha, and put Krishna's bones into its
Viswakarma, the architect of the gods, undertook
belly.

This point in Hindu rosettes has been correctly noticed by

undisturbed

Egyptian lotuses of Indian patterns have not been noticed

until

to

do

until

this,

on condition

that

he should be

left

But the king, after fifteen


patience, went to see how he was getting

completion of the work.

days, losing

all

95.

IONIC CAPITAL

Burgess, Archaological Survey,


outer

border

half-blown

by these authors,

WITH ROSETTE.

Macedonia.

lotus

for instance,

From Heuzey.

I.

p.

37

"Half

blossoms."

Bharhut, Plates

disk,

The normal

xxi., xl.

152

PLATE XX.
THE ROSETTE.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE
"
expanded flower

Rosette, showing the

2.

Rosette of lotus buds, Greek pottery.

3.

Rhodiaa

vase,

(PAGE

107).

in plan." as

Naukratis,

II. xxvi.

showing normal rosettes of the highly conventional form supposed to be based on the

ovary stigma (Figs.

5.

XI.

of a bronze
spread out and seen from above. Detail
"
a
double
and
Perrot
for
Mistaken
door from Susa (Dieulafoy excavations).
daisy"
by Dieulafoy
From Perkot et Chipiez, v., p. 557.
(p. 49, Note 14).

1.

4.

AND PLATE

99

Rcsette of lotus buds.


Rosette, showing the

Monumenti

Inediti,

5, 6, 8).

From

a cake stamp.

expanded flower

"

Naukratis,\. ks\k
in

From an Etruscan bronze

plan."

From the foot-print of Buddha in Schliemann's


Rosette, supporting buds and trefoil lotuses.
Troy, p. 103. This is the famous Buddhist emblem called the Trisula, and has not previously been
recognized as a lotus motive. Original design in A rehceo logical Survey of Southern India, I., p. 98.
Portion of a " bouquet," or symmetrically arranged group.
From an
The bouquet is balanced by another, partly
Egyptian tomb-painting. ROSELLINI, C. Ixxiii.
shown at No. 9, and repeating the type and illustration explained for Plate iv. 6 [p. 63]. The
demonstration for the stem of iv. 4 specifies our design as a lotus. See p. 50.

7.

Rosettes, on stems, with tabs.

8.

Rosette of lotus buds, from a Rhodian vase.

9.

See matter

10.

No.

for

xxxvii.

Rosette,

Jahrbuch, 1889,

iv.,

p. 93.

7.

Terra-cotta whorl or disk,


I.

11.

(Praencste).

"

"

6.

Cista

VIII. xxvi.

with

of lotus

rosette

buds

concentric

on

rings

reverse.

Naukratis,

2.

lotuses alternating with buds.

composed of four

Detail from Prisse

D'Avennes, Vases en or

etnailU.
1

2.

Goddess Sekhet (lioness-headed) and rosette an amulet also


Bronze from BiRCH, Antiquities in tlu British Museum.

called the

"

Aegis of Pakht

"

or Bast.

13.

14.

Syrian .sarcophagus (Greek period) showing two central rosettes (cover and side) composed of lotuses
and buds, and other rosettes of conventional form. LONGPfiRlER, Mus^e NapoUon III., x.xx.

Bronze

Isis

on wheel-shaped rosette of conventional form.

BiRCH, Antiquities in the British Museum.


by a similar amulet in Petrie, Kahuu,

of his rosette are shown to be made of lotuses


of XVIIth or XVllIth Dynasty.
Gurob, Hawara, x. -JJ

The spokes

15.
16.

Conventional rosette (Persian coloured


Conventional
the

17.
18.

rosette in stone relief.

Perrot et

tile).

From

New York Museum.

Sepulchral stone image carved in recess.

Rosette form of the flower

"

in

"

plan

Ciiipiez, V., Fig. 344.

the Greek sarcophagus of a child

Lotus

(compare

flowers, buds,
i

and

5).

and

rosette.

from Alexandria.

Naukratis,

In

I.

Blue enamel patera from Cyprus,

in

the

New

York Museum.
19.

20.

Cypriote lotus (from the vase of Plate

Type

of the

"

Flabellum

xlvii.

1 1

"

(Sacred Standard).

[p. 303]),

showing lotus association

Demi-rosette of the type 1,5,

21. Rosette of lotus buds, turned in alternate opposite directions.


I.

22.

xxix.

Ivory whorl from Cyprus, in the

New York Museum.

18.

for the rosette.

Rosellini.

Cake stamp, Roman

period.

Naukratis,

10^ m
^i

PI.

XX.,

p. 153.

THE EGG-AND-DART MOULDING.


(PLATE

XXI.,

PAGE

159.)

The Egg-and-Dart moulding was


in

announced as a lotus border by Owen Jones


The
1856 in his "Grammar of Ornament."

announcement was repeated by M. Ldon de Vesley

The

in 1870.^

but no
to
96.

interpretations were incorrect in detail,

has so far taken the trouble

archaeologist

them or

correct

to

LOTUS BORDER WITH BUNCHES OF GRAPES,

From

RoseUioi.

According to
(Fig. 96)

egg

was the

give a single word to this

important subject.

Owen

Jones, a lotus border with intervening bunches of grapes

and the grape bunches were the basis of the


to be assumed always).
Bunches of grapes

origin of the motive,

(the inversion of the pattern is

are a rare appearance in

Egyptian lotus borders.

They

certainly have

nothing

do with the Egg-and-Dart moulding.


M. Ldon de Vesley has based his explanation of the Egg-and-Dart moulding
"
"
on a supposed border of " pine-cones and lotuses. There are no " pine-cones
to

in

Egyptian ornament, but a similar mistake has been made regarding the lotus

bud

in

Assyrian art (Plate xxv.

[p.

185]).

Neither bud, cone, nor grapes have anything to do with the moulding of
the egg, which is derived from the commonest and not the rarest lotus border
of Egyptian
(xxi.

12),

art.

and

This commonest border

"
examples of the egg,"

For

the

although
it

tips

we

touching;
I.

will

the

a lotus

bud appears

has nothing to do with

clear explanation

together, with

intermediate

is

its

assume the two

bud dispensed

Sodeie Centrah des Architedes

border
here,

pure and simple

and also ou early

shape, form, or existence.

lotuses of xxi. 12 brought close


with.

Annales, 187 1.

Reduce the lotuses

to

THE EGG-AND-DART MOULDING.

,56

Egg-and-Dart moulding

will then

original use in

flat

rthe
97-

When

cYPwoTK LOTUS,

deeper cutting of xxi. 3


2, xxi.

when

The bud

4).

"

appear

is

for

border;

this

detail

instance

in

in the Histoire

a rounded proas

seen

by the

on

the

the

oval

as

of

the

upper detail

The bud

in

a natural appearance which

is

98),

to

corresponds

mentioned

its

the ultimate moulding

indication

in

Erectheium moulding (Fig.

i),

flowers,

we have

inverted

appears

frequently

reminiscence of the original

(xxi.

as result between the

the flower

This was

in flat."

lotus border in colour.

the Greeks incised the flower

appeared

jection

(xxi.

Egypt

The

and invert them.

simplified three-spiked form (Fig. 97)

or in xxi.

i,

2.

Naturelle of the Description de

rEgypte.
Jll

/
98.

In this case the bud resembles the four-sided and sharp-

|i)||

edged bud of the blue lotus (Fig.

T^^ 1%

A^t,

ERECHTHEinMEGo-ANDDART " MOULDING.

,.

of the bud
It

bordcr, xxi.

paiutcd

is

In the

,^

11-

T^

similar to that of the Erechtheium.

appears from the foregoing matter that the three-spiked form of the Egyptian

lotus again vindicates

itself

as

the

key to

simply the remnant of the central spike.


to

from nature).

the rudimentary reminiscence

7,

.1,

.,

2,

remark that the " ^^%

"
is

many problems

the

For non-professionals

in element only a half oval (not

it

"

dart

may

an entire

"

being

be as well
egg),

and

so frequently appears (Fig. 98).

The tendency
of the original
entire egg.

or

to

an entire

later

as seen at xxi. 6,

oval,

it

moulding, although

is

not especially typical

also appears in the shape of an

In this case the Cypriote vase No. 8 will explain the doubled pattern

as the one to be assumed.'^


"
was by these two Cypriote vases that my solution of the " Egg-and-Dart
The corroborations were then sought and found in
moulding was suggested.
Naukratic carvings (i, 2, 3, 4), and the anticipations of Owen Jones and Ldon de
It

Vesley were subsequently discovered.

The

lotiform derivation of the

"

"

Egg-and-Dart

worked out by Mr. Percy E. Newberry

moulding was independently

in 1885.

(Compare pp. 76, 104, 119.)


Although the conventional examples 5 and 6 belong to Persian art, they are

a. Tlie

doubled bud

This explanation

is

is

represented on this vase by one outline

indicated by the upper border of

No.

lo.

explained as junction of two buds, one inverted.

THE EGG-AND-DART MOULDING.


Roman, Renaissance, and modern

typical of the Greek,

indicated darts of No.

5,

Greek

From

the slightly-

moulding in which their


of the true origin of this ornament and the

art already passed to a

omission had obscured every trace


''

use.

157

^g%" moulding, pure and simple,

also thus derived (see Ixvi. 14

is

An

399]).

[p.

BfSJiirtfllifBIlifBlB

^llBK^
99.

DORIC CAPITAL (original

surface

BRONZE DETAIL.

100.

From

designs in colour).

equally obscured

OLYMPIA.

lOI.

ASSYRIAN

From

Furtwangler.

BASF..

Place.

inverted lotus border was used in colour surface ornament by

the Greeks, and forms the painted pattern of the Doric capital (Fig. 99).
Fig.

100,

Greek ornament

shows one early stage of the normal


without intervening buds. For the moulding

in bronze,

pattern,
in

position on

[p.

255].

a Greek monument, see

The Assyrian base ' and

capital

xxxiii.

herewith have

an interesting relation to our immediate

subject,

and

have also the interest of being the only base and


capital

use which

of actual architectural Assyrian

have been

so far published.*

The base

offers

an

obvious lotus border, related to the Egg-and-Dart


102.

ASSYRIAN CAPITAL.

From

moulding type of lotus border in surface design.


The capital is an equally obvious derivative from

Place.

a motive like that of the base.


Perrot et Chipiez,

4.

From Place,
From Place,

5.

Actual columnar members are great

3.

finds.

The

in
in

Perrot et Chipiez,

Assyrie, Fig. 82.


Assyrie, Fig. 74-

rarities in

Assyrian

excavated architecture was one of walls and

not of columns, excepting in so far as they were

wood and have

entirely disappeared.

Assyrian columnar architecture

is

made

Our knowledge

derived from

reliefs,

which do not always represent Assyrian buildings ;


least, familiarity with the forms repre-

but which argue, at

sented (Fig. 91, and xv. 9 [p. 139]).

There are a few other

columnar members known, but only those above have been

The

lotus border of the base

is

repeated above

of

published.

of

an Assyrian Sphinx, figured by Perrot et Q.n\viZ, Assyrie,


and originally published by George Smith.

pictorial

158

PLATE

XXI.

THE EGG-AND-DART MOULDING.

1.

Stone carving; lotus


Naukratis,

2.

3.

4.

I.

incised, leaving projected

The same fragment

reversed, to

show

Similar fragment {Naukratis, I. xiv


of the " egg" in higher relief.

The same fragment

reversed, to

6.

Typical Egg-and-Dart moulding

Compare Nos.

9,

11,

I3-

),

the lotus

origin of the

conventional form.

incised

and showing projecting fragments

Egg-and-Dart moulding.

conventional form.

in

in

more deeply

DiEULAFOY, Monuments Antiques de

la Perse,

Reference as above.

Typical Egg-and-Dart motive in colour design, showing an inverted lotus and angles on the ovals, derived
from buds. Painted terra-cotta. Monumenti Inediti, XI. x.
Cypriote vase in the New York Museum, showing doubled lotuses, whose bounding outlines form
continuous ovals. The lozenges on the ovals represent doubled buds. Compare the neck border of

No.
9.

a bud.

the origin of the Egg-and-Dart moulding.

show the

Typical Egg-and-Dart moulding


Part III.

8.

is

xiv.

5.

7.

"egg," on which

10.

Greek pottery fragment {Naukratis^

I. vii.),

showing the lotus border origin of the moulding (before

inversion).
10.

Cypriote vase in the

New York Museum,

with lotus border, showing the pattern of the Egg-and-Dart


central spikes represent the "dart" (petals to be eliminated);

moulding before it is inverted. The


the buds are on the oval which represent the
11.

Greek pottery fragment

(A'izM^rfl/w,

I. vii.),

"

egg."

Lotus bud border below.

showing the lotus border original of the moulding (before

inversion).
12.

Greek Rhodian pottery motive. (Salzmann, N^cropole de Camire, xxxii.) Lotus border original of
the moulding, with lotuses more widely spaced. In the exact original border the bounding lines of
the flowers connect, the petals are eliminated, the central spike becomes the " dart," and the border
is

13.

reversed.

Greek pottery fragment [Naukratis,


and Rhodian vases.

I. vii.),

indicating the constant use of this lotus border in Naukratic

Interesting Phenician examples are seen at Ixvi. 5, 11, 13, 14 [p. 399], showing that the motive
appear as a series of chevrons, and also illustrating the egg moulding pure and simple.

Compare

also Figs. 165, 166 [p. 334] for the related

Egyptian border of lotus chevrons.

may

f*^r

10

THE SO-CALLED
(PLATE

My

suspicion

was

first

that

XXII.,

"IVY LEAF."

PAGE

165.)

the "ivy leaf" (so-called) of Greek ornament

Rhodian vase

suggested by a

(detail xxii.

is

a lotus leaf

pictured in Salzmann's

5)

"

This suspicion has


Necropole de Camire^ and now in the British Museum.
been confirmed.
Plate xxii. 6 (from Rosellini) repeats the cleft leaf of heartshaped pattern already shown
in other

iii.

(Plate
[p.

this

The

2,

8,

12

from

pliant stems of

an ivy
2,

li.

[p.

319]

leaf.

10,

and with the

equally conclusive association

and lotus of the Cypriote coin, xxxii. 5 [p. 223]. Fig. 103 shows
from the Museum of Bologna, which also unites this leaf with the lotus.

that of the leaf

is

a detail

The ornament

first

appears, as far as

patterns are concerned, on


"

Fig.

as at

leaf,

associations of this leaf with the lotus, as at xxii.

An

6,

5,

[p. 26]).

at Bologna, forbid the suggestion of

lotus palmette, as at xxii. 8, 10, are conclusive.

3,

The long

DETAIL FROM A STONE RELIEF. MUSEUM OF BOLOCNA. LOTUS Willi


SO-CALLED " IVY LEAVES."
From Author's sketch.

on an Italian tombstone

2,

and

41],

nature
103.

Egyptian illustrations

Sixth

Tomb "), but

there

"
is

known monuments

Mycenae" vases (xxii. i, 3, and


"
not one indication in
Mycenae

Iii.

"

outside
[p.

art of

ornamental pattern, and this one must have been borrowed either
or

Cyprus,

in

which

latter

countries

it

Egyptian
321], from the

an independent

in

Egypt, Syria,

can also be definitely traced, but not

on dated monuments.

The

pattern

can

be dated on

"

"

Mycenae

vases from Egypt to the

XlXth

THE SO-CALLED

62

XXth

IVY LEAF."

"

running pattern on the distinctive


"
"
Mycenae pottery and
Cypriote vases, but it occurs in Cyprus both in Cypriote
"
"
Geometric style.
It is the only
othenvise.It does not occur in the Greek
or

It

Dynasty.'

pattern which

common

is

as

rare

is

"

"

to

pottery and

Mycenae

spirals are not connected with the

to

Greek

Greek

art (the

must have passed into


not common on Greek pottery

patterns),' but

Mycenae

Greek use by way of Rhodes, or Cyprus, as it is


before the fifth century B.C., and therefore could not have been borrowed from
"

"

The

which case

vases, in

Mycenae

would appear on the

it

designation of an "ivy leaf"

The diagrams

without foundation.

known

frequently combined with this pattern

do not appear

The combination,

to publication.*

Roman art into a pattern of grapes and


Roman stone vase of the British Museum.^

the

in

as at xxii.

Curious variants of the leaf on Mycenae vases are shown at

(xxii. 7)

"Mycenae" use
7 was translated

Hi. i, 2,

321].

[p.

not noticed by students that examples of the "ivy" pattern in

It is so far

Museum

and

vine leaves, and so appears on a

in

the

pottery.

traditional, but absolutely arbitrary

is

are the ordinary solar diagrams, but these

as so far

Greek

earlier

of Bologna (Figs. 103, 104, and

319]) are connected with

[p.

the typical ornament of Bologna tombstones, and

art of Mycenae.

It is

here, within

knowledge, that

my

li.

it

is

it is

largely represented on stone reliefs.

the

only

Many

tombstones which show the pattern are as late as the fourth or third century B.C.,
but there is a positive connection between these and the prehistoric Celtic
1.

Flinders

Petrie,

Catalogue

of

Antiquities discovered in Egypt, 1890.

XlXth

or

XXth

*'

Dynasty.

Greek

the

Collection

From a tomb

of

of the

pottery, of buff with

red ivy pattern, of the same work and form as the Greek
vases with cuttle-fish, found in Egyp',"

own

observation of this piece, as

p.

8.

From my

may be argued from

The continuous

3.

common

not

is

Greek

pottery.

"

Geometric

the

4.

Archipelago (lii-lv. [pp. 321-327]). [Since writing the fore-

of

going

"
used the word " Greek as implying

contrast with Egyptian,

and

that in

Mgem

character in

any other sense the use

of the word was an oversight.]


2.

illustrations of the

"large

stonc vase found at the entrance to the temple, Golgoi,"


p. 145,

and of the terracotta

coflfin, p.

190.

is

is

quite

unknown

to early

the guilloche only are

not

found

in

the

early

style.

the pattern was mistaken for ivy or

plant by the Greeks, whose vases sometimes

represent the solar diagram as berries with stems (Greek


vases in the Etruscan
xxii. 7,

Museum

also indicate this

The stems

of the Vatican).

misapprehension.

For the

solar diagram, see p. 149, p. 200 (Note 4); Plates xxxiv. 2

227!

[p.
[p.

[p-

See Cesnola, Cyprus, for

and

"

It is probab'.e that

some other

have Mr. Peine's verbal assurance that he

art,

The meander and

employed, but the guilloche

comparison of the cuttle-fish vases, which belong only to


"
"
"
the " Mycenae
Mycenae
pottery, it is one of pure
style, by which I understand the Carian style of the

note, I

Greek

in

"
of the " Mycence type

spiral scroll

xxxviii.

289]
34']Jx-

5-

xlviii.

Room

8 [p.

8 10
left

[p.

[p.

305] L
251]

xlv.

359] Ixi.

of the

3, 6

[p.
[p.

xlvi.

10

IviL

12

4, 10, 11 [p. 365].

Mausoleum Room.

phagus under the middle window.

309]

287]

On a

sarco-

THE SO-CALLED "IVY


monuments

LEAF:'

i6'

This appearance of the "ivy leaf" at Bologna unites


with other obvious indications of a connection between its prehistoric art and
"

Mycenae culture," which was probably also Celtic.^


have generally avoided mention of the corroborations furnished by the

that of the
I

of Bologna.

104.

STONE RELIEF DETAIL. MUSEUM OF BOLOGNA.


SO-CALLED " IVY LF,AF," WITH SPIRAL.

From

second division of this book,

Author's sketch.

but will specify here the remarkable

reliefs

"

Lion and the Lotus


Bologna figured from my sketches under the
"
"
Sphinx and the Lotus (Figs. 128 [p. 206] and 129 [p. 214]).
6.

on

Zannoni has emphasized this connection by entering


one of his Plates a number of objects from the

Bologna.

Scavi nella Certosa di

Museum

Schliemann excavations

at

Mycenx

Plates

prominence of the

do
"

." ivy

of Bologna reveals.

" Rose
Lotus" Flowers of the White Lotus
Leaves of the Blue Lotus. Leaves of the
Buds of the " Rose Lotus."

105. Seed-pods of the


(European Variety).

" Rose Lotus."

His

not,

however,

pattern which

"

from

and the

indicate

visit

to

the
the

64

PLATE

XXII.

THE SO-CALLED "IVY

1.

"

vase.

Mycenae"

Showing the

lotus leaf

and

LEAF."

FuRTWANGLER and LOESCHKE

Compare No. 6.

steni,

MykeniscJie Vasen.xx'i. 152.


2.

Cypriote pottery

lotus,

with

lotus

The shape

leaves.

here approximates to that of a bud, but

there are no buds on Cypriote vases with the indication of a cleft base.
leaves are

and at
"
3.

Mycenas

xi.

common

in

Egyptian

art.

Compare

the elongated form at

iii.

5 [p.

Such elongated

lotus

41], at Fig. 30 [p. 55],

2 [p. 107] (leaves with bent stems).

" vase.

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,

MykeniscJu Vasen,

xvii.

121.

Showing the

lotus

leaf with spirals.


4.

Typical Greek vase border of lotus leaves.

Stockbauer and Otto,

Ornament Antiker Thonge-

fOsse, xlvi.
5.

Lotus leaves (horizontal neck border).

Rhodian vase

in

drawing repeats the appearance of the leaves as seen

Museum.

the British

in perspective

Salzmann,

xlvi.

on the rounding body of the

The
vase,

where they are horizontally arranged.


6.

Egyptian design from a tomb-painting showing the lotus


Plate

iii.

2, 3, 5, 6, 8,

leaf.

Rosellini M.C.

xl. 6.

Compare

12 [p. 41].

7.

Typical Greek vase border of lotus leaves and diagrams of the sun.

8.

Details from a Greek vase

{Monumenti

Inediti,

I. li.),

STOCKBAUER and Otto,

showing association of the so-called

"

as above.

ivy leaf"

with a lotus palmette.


9.

Typical Greek vase border.

10. Detail

STOCKBAUER and Otto,

from a Greek vase {Monumenti

flower and a lotus palmette.

Inediti,

I. li.),

as above.

showing two so-called "ivy

leaves," with a lotus

PART

11.

ASSOCIATIONS OF THE LOTUS


MOTIVE.

SOLAR SYMBOLISM
(PLATE

Having proven
arises,

inevitably

the

and

lotus

as

it

far

was equally so

The symbolism

PAGE

173.)

form

Ionic

the

undoubtedly affirmative,
Ionic form of Egypt (Figs. 106-109)

and

XXIII.,

be identical, the question

to

were they co-extensive as symbols?

is

lotus,

IN IONIC FORMS.

of the

it

of an

observation
lasted

\\WlWiT

Egyptian.

as long in

Egypt

reflected.

107. Capital in wood, or wood


and metal. Prisse d'Avennes.

106. Relief Capitals


at Karnak.

[(uJ/u

to our observation a palpable

is

lotus undoubtedly

as the religion whose worship

oooo

The

Egypt was concerned.

as

the

to

The answer

loS. Egyptian mirror


handle.

109. Capital in

All our present notions of Greek art are adverse to considering

anything but decorative and

wood and

or

its

wood,

metal.

ornament

and the view that

as

significant of

all

the original motives of Greek ornament are sun symbols does not necessarily

involve the view that

various

strange

artistic feeling,

they were regarded as sun symbols by the Greeks.


of Egyptian

travesties

beliefs

and

divinities

which found

The
their

Greek mistranslations are best indicated by the much-quoted transformation of the youthful Horus of Egypt into Harpocrates, a Greek god of

way

into

silence.'
I.

De

The

Siren and the Harpy, the Sphinx and the Gryphon, are

Roug6, JVbiue Sommaire,

en Egyptian Harpo chrate, portgit

d^c.
le

"

Horus

doigt k

la

enfant,

bouche;

c'etait

pour

le

un symbole de I'enfance qu'on a


signe

du

silence," p. 142.

all

pris

derived

mal k propos

SOLAR SYMBOLISM IN IONIC FORMS.

I70

from Egyptian sources and are all found in strange disguises, both of myth and
That the Greeks borrowed every fundamental
form, in their first European home.
motive of their decorative art from Egyptian sources is quite clear. That their
religion, or their symbolism, as far as they had any, corresponded to the Egyptian

any exact sense is doubtful. But when we speak of the Greeks we speak of
them as we know them. The millenium before 500 b.c. is still an obscure period.
A thousand years was as long a period in Greece as it was in Medieval Europe.
in

There was as much reason

There was a Classic Revival

of time.
till

It

be in the twentieth century that

the Egyptians.
Chaldaea, but

the

in the

the eighteenth century that Europe paid

may

do not speak

all

and the oversights


century, but it was not

for the obliteration of traditions

in

it

its

fifteenth

debt to the

memory

of the Greeks.

will realize the debt of the

Greeks to

forgetfulness of Asia Minor, of Syria, or of

these countries were so saturated by Egyptian influence from

XVIIIth Dynasty

on, that the phrase will pass.

The proof

lies in

the history

of the lotus.
It

is

impossible to doubt that the lotus was a sun and

moon symbol, a

generative symbol, and a mortuary symbol to the Phenician, the Hittite, and the

Assyrian, and as impossible to doubt that the Ionic form was a co-extensive and
equivalent symbol to the same nationalities.

la Repetition of xxiii.
Ionic lotus

3.

supporting

sun and moon.

Colonna-Ceccaldi was the

III. Repetition of xxiii. 2.


Ionic lotus afisociated with

112. Repetition of xv. 17.


Ionic lotus associated with

113. Repetition "of xxiii. 7.

and

symbols of sun and


moon. Cypriote tombstone.

headofHathor. Cypriote

From

the

symbols

moon.

an Assyrian cylinder.

of sun

to the Ionic Capital as a lotus

Lotus

the

Cypriote capitaL

appeal to the cylinder whose detail

is

presented in Plate

and a sun-symbol.

He

xxiii. 3, in

2.

Monuments dt Chypre.

3.

Brvgsch, Mythologie,

Hathor.

Und., L, pp.

6,

is

was

also mentioned
4.

i.

p. 84.

Identity of Isis and

for Isis as the

moon.

by him

the

his reference

also specified the solar disk


;

in Cypriote art,

supporting

tombstone.

and crescent as appearing on the Cypriote Ionic form (xv. 17 [p. 139]
xli. 3 [p. 263]).
The head of Hathor, Moon Goddess ^ and equivalent of
on the lotus

first to

xxiii.

Astarte,*

(xxiii. 7).

Colonna-Ceccaldi, Monuments de Chypre,

p. 97.

SOLAR SYMBOLISM IN IONIC FORMS.


To

these instances
Ionic

we

will

Capital

171

add the sun disk of the Sippara Tablet on the


(i),

the

Hittite

winged disk

Boghaz Keui on Ionic Capitals (4), the


head of Hathor on the Ionic Capital of

of

114. Repetition ofxxiii.


I.
Ionic lotus supportDetail
ing the sun.

from the Sippara

Carthage

(6),

moon

"

of

and the Ionic

Umbrian

" ^

art

lotus

and the

(8) all

of Plate

115. Repetition from xxiii. 4.


Ionic lotuses supporting the
From
winged solar disk.

tablet.

Hittite relief of Boghaz-Keui.

xxiii.

These indications are

all

initial,

and the evidence

will

swell in

following

no scholar can deny that the lotus


variants which have been so far specified must
till

pages,

have

Repetition of
The sun, the
the
worshipper, and
lotus flower.

in

been recognized or traditional equiva-

of the

symbolism of this flower


the Tigris-Euphrates valley, in Asia Minor,

lents
116.
xxiv. 7.

all

and

original

in Syria.

Assyrian

seal.

Rhodes and Cyprus

are included

with buds.

in the demonstration.

The
Cypriotes

117. Repetitionofxxiv.il.
the worshipper,and the lotus flower,

The Moon-god,

Assyrian

seal.

symbolism (normal form) on Plate xxiii. for the


the Hittites {.^), (9), and the Carthaginians (u) are self-apparent.

indications of lotus
(5

and

10),

That the Cypriote

steles (Fig.

43

[p.

71],

Fig.

112,

&c.) were

tombstones, must

be considered as an illustration of mortuary symbolism.


5.

The word "Umbrian"

Etruscan and

is

applied by Helbig to the Prehistoric Celtic Art of North

other Italian influences.

118.

IONIC CAPITAL OF

Z 2

THE ERECHTHEIUM.

Italy,

as developed

from

172

PLATE

XXIII.

SOLAR SYMBOLISM IN IONIC FORMS.

1.

Ionic capital, supporting the sun disk.


Assyrte, Fig. 71

2.

Menant,

263].

LongpErier, Must'e NapoUon

Culte de Mithra,

4. Ionic

6.

Gems,

vii.

xv. 17

[p.

a cylinder shown at Plate xxxvi. 7

From

139J;

[p. 247].

the Hittite relief at Boghaz Keui, Asia Minor.

xxii. 2.

Lotuses below the Sun-bark and winged solar disk.

Appendix

Compare

Hi. 6.

columns, supporting winged solar disk.

Lajard, Culte de Venus,

ClIIPIEZ,

III., xxxiii.

From

Ionic capital, supporting sun and lunar crescent.

Lajard,

5.

Cylindres,

Perrot ET

Src.

Cypriote Ionic capital, with sun and lunar crescent between the volutes.
xli. 3
[p.

3.

also in

Detail from the "Sippara Tablet."

Cypriote

Cesnola, Cyprus;

seal,

King's

1 1.

Ionic capital, supporting head

of the goddess

Hathor.

Perrot ET Chipiez,

P/u'nicie,

Fig.

16

(Carthage).
7.

Ionic lotus supporting head of the goddess Hathor.

Cypriote stone tablet in the


8.

Ionic capital

Bologna,
9.

and lunar

New York Museum.

Details from an Italian hronzQ

Figure holding lotuses under sun and lunar crescent.

10. Lotus,

I.

Atlas,
cista.

distinct in the original.)

xviii. 26.

ZxNNOHl, Scavi

ftella

Certosa di

New York

From a

Hittite

(?)

cylinder.

LajaRD, Culte de

6.

with sun and lunar crescent.

Atlas,

Cesnola,

is

cl.

Mithra, xxxvii.

11.

crescent.

(The Hathor head-dress

(inverted here, to

Central sepal spike or triangle, of a Cypriote Ionic tombstone in

show the

lotus without inversion,

compare

Fig. 43 [p. 71]).

CESNOLA,

Lotuses, with sun and two lunar crescents.

CUIPIEZ, Phinkie,

p. 311.

Phenician relief slab from Ebba, Algeria.

Perrot ET

yii^
T^ii^M^^^^-

V- y:

'f:i

-^

-w*

'

--^

11

PL XXIII, p.

173.

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.


(PLATES XXIV., XXV., PAGES

The
the

undoubtedly the most exacting one to which


has ever been subjected. That the cuneiform scholar should

study of cuneiform inscriptions

human

intellect

183, 185.)

is

have overlooked the evidence of minor monuments for the normal lotus as an
ordinary symbol of Assyrian worship

The work

is

not surprising.

found was published before the conquest


of cuneiform was made/ and hence has rather passed from notice.
Its author was
in

which

this evidence is

unaware himself of his contribution


"

to the study of the lotus.


Lajard's great
"
"
lotus
He did not
Mithra," contains the word
only once.^

work,

Le Culte de

live to

undertake the division assigned to plants, but his Plates were published

complete and his references to them in the completed portion of his text do not
indicate that this unwritten section would have filled the gap for lotus symbolism

on

seals

and cylinders.

Menant's designation of the normal lotus on the seal of Sargon (xxxvi. 4 [p. 247])
"
shows that the greatest
as
garlic," though entered with a mark of interrogation,
has not surpassed the perceptions of his
expert of our day in seals and cylinders
great predecessor on this

"a

flower,"'

Menant

point.

and the lotus

xliv.

[p.

specifies

the normal

"a branch."*

285] as

lotus xxiv. 8 as

Perrot has quoted

XXV. 14 as evidence for Layard's thoroughly erroneous view,^ that the lotus

found in the earlier Assyrian

Mithra appeared

1.

The text of Lajard's

2.

In unimportant matter referring to Plate

Culte de

The

art.

in 1847.

xviii. 7,

of

exhibit an

his work, p. 546.

'ul'P

Cylindres, &c.,

ii.

p. 68.

" Une
fleur a la main"

Cylindres, Sac,

"
ii.

p. 117.

sorle de corbeille" designates xliv.


5.

The minor

in the

British

abundance of normal

^.nd his "fleur-de-lys

Assyrie, p. 318.

bas-reliefs anciens

designates xxiv. 8.
4.

6.

relics

Un rameau
[p.

s'eleve

d'une

].

from the palace of Assur-nazir-pal

Museum, which

is

the

earliest excavated,

ment

copietfs

que

tient

d'Assour-nazir-pal."

Assyrian

are evidence.

(Referring

nature,

to xxv.

fleurs

14)

"Dans

fleurs

les

probable-

dont I'aspect est assez

On

en jugera par ce bouquet


(!).
en main un g^nie ailld dans le palais

different [from a lotus]

[xxv. 14]

"

which could
His "

lotus motives,

on ne recontre que des

sur

not

designates the relief from

not have been familiar to Layard as such.


"

3.

Museum

British

is

The quoted

case shows normal lotuses.

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED

176

which XXV. 14

taken as a priest offering

is

The

"

TREE.
Clearly, then, the Assyrian

a branch."

and cylinders borrowed from Lajard's Plates will


Additional Assyrian seals and cylinders,
tell their own story on Plate xxiv.
showing the normal lotus and the winged sun disk, are entered on Plate xxxii.,
a virgin

lotus

is

Nos.

6, II, 12 [p.

at

XXX vi. 6
It is

[p.

field.

seals

223]; an Assyrian Sacred Tree of normal three-spiked lotuses

247].

not simply the minor

monuments which have escaped

Can

attention.

any scholar look at the array of ceremonial branches on Plate xxv., as confined
simply to the normal lotus (i, 3, 5, 6, 8, 14), and deny that the lotus was an
important emblem of Assyrian worship } As far as these normal forms are detailed,
they exhibit the

Egyptian and Egypto-Phenician

type,

and no one has ever

questioned that the Assyrian normal lotus patterns are borrowed from the Egyptian.

Let us add to these ceremonial branches (held by gods more often than by
worshippers) the lotus-pal mette

(4)

and the lotus-rosette

(12),

and turn

the

to

question of the Sacred Tree.

worship are found on


The only Sacred Tree of rosettes which has

Examples of normal lotuses connected with


Cypriote vases

(xlv.

ever been published

i,

is

on a Cypriote vase

[p. 287]).

views of the same vase).

acts of

(xxxvii. 5 [p.

The much published

249]

ivory

xlvi.

plaque

289] two

2 [p.

from

Nineveh

Museum) has never found its obvious


worship, which immediately appears when confronted with the

(xxiv. 10) (several repetitions in the British

reference to solar
seal directly

above

According
the acts of

to

it,

on the

Plate.

demonstrations for the rosette

(p.

99)

and the

worship or symbolical associations of xxiv.

same explanation.

The

class of

4,

Sacred Trees with buds (xxiv.

pal mette

(p.

109),

9 come under the


15, 16, 17) finds

its

explanation in the habitual Assyrian treatment of the lotus bud in normal patterns
(xxv. 9,

II,

13).

The congruity

palmettes speaks for

10.

of a representation of lotus

buds with lotus

itself (13).

A decisive reference for the Sacred


A similar representation of the

amulets and enamels, and

is

Cone

is

lotus

bud

furnished by 14, as compared with


is

quite

frequent in

occasionally found in Egyptian

Egyptian

surface design in

should not be overlooked that Layard's patterns are very largely drawn
from the ornament of robes (in relief pictures).
are dealing, therefore, not simply

colour.

It

We

with an art of sculpture, but with the traditional weaving patterns of Assyrian

art.

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.

1/7

dependence of Assyrian art on Egypt was already noted by


the trained eye of Owen Jones/ and we may value on this head the opinion
of an expert in design, as not less important than that of an expert in

The

general

No

archaeology, or in cuneiform.

of

instinct

the Assyrian

and

of national

qualities

Greek

and he was not

less

found

beneath

Museum
and
119.

STONE CONE, a

common

terminal

It

is

are

my vlcws

Egyptian
8.

art

with

seal,

from

that

It

for

Assyrian Plates

solar

also

is

Nineveh,

dated by this position of

is

shows the Egyptian

winged

asp,

Menant,

disk.

an ivory

in

The

relief

the British

distinction

sun-hawk
Cylindres,

of Horus on the

Museum

(Layard's

from

the

of the Assyrians proper,

higher

of

civilization

the

in

earlier

Chaldeans, whom they subjugated, is well recognized.


"
Malgrd r^clat et les rafifinements de leur civilisation
extdrieur

ils

d^meurferent toujours des barbares

Histoire Andenne, p. 283.

Under

had the habit of covering

walls with the

captives (Maspero).

relief

"

Maspero,

Assour-nazir-habal they

It

as a trophy

of the British

It

"

(Maspero).

barbarism, as

finds in

'-'

the

Sacred Tree

we must remember

all later history.

Assyrians

more highly developed

have

showing

^'''"s-

that relations

been

Cylitidres"

asserted

\\.

for

between
the

IVth

Oppert

pp. 197-200).

of the

an

^^elk
abbreviated
cone, like

"

inscriptions

Chipiez, Assyrie,

makes reference

Chaldean king Gudea

588.

p.

to

the

Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, also

inscriptions

at

Tell-loh

that the dioriteof his statues

[King

came from the

Sinai Peninsula.

Brugsch {Die Lasting der alt-Aegyptischen

Miinzfrage) has

proven that the

system preceded

the

Babylonian

Egyptian Sexagesimal
and was " die uralte

Grundlage der gesammten spateren Numismatik";


chrift fiir Aegyptische Sprache,

The

1889.

III.

enemy

Cypriote tomb

"

(IVth Dynasty period), proof that stone for statuary was


then brought from Egypt [Sinai Peninsula].
Perrot et

Museum shows

rendering the

subject to the foreign influences of

Egypt
^
,20.

Chaldea and Egypt

tian

was not such a people

which developed the pattern ornaments of


Aside from this

traits

has been observed

civilizations,

flayed skins of

Assur-bani-pal at a banquet, wi'h salted head of an

hung up

was a

Gudea] showing

native barbarism

British

Egypto-Phenician

was.

it

Plates for Ivories).


9.

the

Dynasty (Menant,

There

p. 234.

in

art

that the ^
palm

considered as having a debased

found by Place,

and

Khorsabad,*^

of the hlstorlc relation of

style.

The

(Horus), and

lotus

is

at

earlier chapter (pp. 99-101)."

fact is patent

of Ornament, text

ceremonial deposit.

ii.

an

no means denied
by
'

Grammar

bull

winged

saturated

to Assyria in

where the Assyrian

as

'

^^vc statcd

The

he was not

but

feeling,

That a Chaldean mythology and elementary


this Q
and I
underlay
glaze is not disputed,
r
J

style.

civilization

in Assyria.

7.

works of Assyrian

ornament of Cypriote tombstones,

decorative

distinctive

in disguising

minor

the

His ornament has also undoubted

art.

pictorial

an Egypto-Phenician source of inspiration,


dependent on it. The oldest dated Phenician seal was

successful as the

^^\

in

one can undervalue the marvellous naturalistic

Bandxxvii., Erstes Heft, May,

province of Assyria was territory of the Egyp-

XVIIIth Dynasty and Thothmes


thought by Dr. Birch to have reached India

Monarchy under
is

Zeits-

(note 70, p. 15).

the

The most important

Egyptian and Mesopotamian

relations

civilization

ing from the contact with Phenicia

and

between

were those

Syria,

Assyrian conquests in Syria and in Egypt.

The

campaigns reached to the Soudan (note

100).

2, p.

result-

and from the

A a

Assyrian

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED

178

by Menant

that

plants were sacred to the

many

Chaldeans

hypothesis to suppose that representations of the


to one plant."

category

and according

"

problem of the

and from the

association

and the absence of the cedar

tree

with the cone, must also be admitted.


Cypriote tombstones (Fig.

(compare Fig.
is

Assyria

"

Sacred Tree

120)

would appear

Brahman testimony

largely of foreign derivation

pure

were confined

be admitted to the

also

of the two forms as

identity

Sacred Cone as a

specify the

represent also the

to

and

ornament

"

bud

lotus

lotus

best compared with India, where there are innumerable

according to

is

it

from symbolic ornament, or associations


The cone which frequently surmounts

In the matter of lotus

119).

and that

suggestions have been made.'^

many

represented in Assyrian art seems, however, to


lotus bud,

^^

appearances the cedar cone might also solve the

to

Sacred Cone" for which so

The argument from

"

must

the cedar

texts

to

According

TREE,

symbolism

sacred plants,"

^^

where the patterns are all lotus motives


and where the dominance of the lotus over other

symbols, both in art and literature,

is

simply overwhelming.

According to the evidence of the monuments the lotus must have been as
Two things have interfered
prevalent a symbol in Assyria as it was in India.

by Assyriology. The first is the inattention of


Egyptologists to the natural forms of the flower and to the normal representations

with the recognition of this

of

It

it.

cannot

-be

fact

expected that Assyriology should be wiser in this matter than

Until the three-spiked treatment of the

students of the Egyptian lotus motive.

Egyptian normal form


10. Cylindres, &c.,

ii.

pp. 65, 66.

les fragments liturgiques qui

iii.

(PI.
"

Si

[p.

and

41])

nous consultons

nous sont transmis par I'Assyrie

when

appears
pollen

form

relation to the three-spiked

its

freed from

dusted over

its

sheath,

ready to have

This

sacred flowers.

the

its

artificial

indispensable to the production of a crop of

sur les anciens coutumes de la Chald^e, nous voyons que

fertilization,

toutes les plantes ^taient I'objet d'une adoration particulibre

edible dates,

etfiguraient Jldi/r^rents titres dans les cdr^moniesr^ligieuses,

sometimes about to perform, sometimes actually perform-

telles Tail, la
A<>ij

du

chez

les

mandragore

ainsi

c'est

que nous avons

la

Perses et le lotus dans rinde et sur les bords

ii.,

d^figuration symbolique

p.

de

65.

"II

est certain

I'arbre sacrd

que

la

ne procfede pas

d'un type unique, et que chaque type peut r^pondre dans

m^me

culte a des id^es bien diff^rentes."

For references to the palm and the cedar as Sacred


Trees see p. 117, Note 7.
A recent suggestion for the
is

that of Dr. E. B.

a fir-cone

letter

in

is

Tylor

"The

object resembling

the inflorescence of the male date palm, as

it

is

seen

carries a fresh supply of flowers in his basket ;"

Academy, June

8,

this thesis

1889,

396.

p.

appeared

the Society of Biblical Arc/neoiogy,

Dr. Tylor's

in the Proceedings

jnne 3rd, 1890

of

"The

WingedFiguresofthe Assyrian and other Monuments." The


cone is supi osed by Birdwood, Jndusirial Arts of India,
p.

12.

cone

and he

the operation which the winged deity

development of

Nil."
11. Cylindres, &c.,

le

ing,

is

430, to be a bunch of dates bursting from

According
Cr/if/(7/

13.
trial

to recent publications in

.ff^ir^/-//

A partial

the

cone

list fills

is

the

its

spathe.

Babylonian and

a citron.

three pages of

Arts of India, pp. 85, 86, 87, 88.

Birdwood's Indus-

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.


of the natural flower (Fig. 3) have been recognized,

it

179

impossible to expect the

is

prompt recognition of the normal lotus motives on cylinders and seals by experts.
In other words it is the assumption of a Nelmnbium Speciosujn as
being found
Egyptian ornament which has made a science of the lotus impossible (p. 39).
The recognition of the lotus in Assyrian art and by Assyriology has also been

in

retarded by the problematic rendering of cuneiform texts and the absence of a

word

from the Assyrian and Accadian dictionary, as at present known


The testimony of one of the great fathers of Assyriological science

for the lotus

to students.

and author of several cuneiform "Word-lists," that the absence of


the Assyrian dictionary does not imply

among

unrecognised presence

the texts

its

is

absence from the

this

texts,

and that

be taken for granted,

to

word from

is

its

therefore

of peculiar interest.^*
It is

hardly fair to refer to provisional theories of the Sacred Tree as found

on the monuments, which are supplanted by new demonstrations for the palmette
and bud forms, or to quote the name of any particular author in a matter where all
have made mistakes, unless they have said nothing. Sir George C. M. Birdwood's
treatment of the subject of the Assyrian Sacred Tree in the " Industrial Arts of
India

"

Museum
the Soma

(South Kensington

the prevalent allusions to

as being intertwined with the date

The weakness

may, however, be quoted as a type of


of India, as the original of xxiv. 16, and

Series)
tree

palm

in

Sacred Trees like Fig.

121.'^

the theory regarding the Soma tree (the much-quoted


"
"
"Horn"), is not only the weakness of the
palm-tree theory which is, that no
"
"
transitional forms between the
palmette and palm can be shown in Assyrian art

of

but the additional weakness that the Soma tree has


all

in

Assyrian

Soma

that

tree

Rev.

J.

any word

N. Strassmaier,

way within my

"
:

S.

am

J.,

author of various

me

with the following

sorry to say that I

do not know

Accadian which might mean lotus,


think, no one could prove such a meaning if a

word were found


in the

known

to

have

observation.

in Assyrian or

Moreover,

word

not native in Assyria, and not

Assyrian Dictionaries, has favoured

communication

is

It

are not favoured in this

14.

it

naturalistic renderings at

would also be desirable that some student who quotes the


should offer a drawing of it, to make his point more obvious but we

there.'

grown

art,

no

many

in a

list.

lists,

15.

usual in such matter, normal

Both Birdwood and

6 [p. 225] without being aware that the central

xxxiii.

portion
i6.

it."

A a

As

Tylor have quoted and published the Greek pattern of

believe that there must be a

but certainly no one can identify

Pages 430, 431.

lotus forms pass without recognition.

is

a duplicated variant of the normal lotus,

Birdwood,

pp. 430, 431.

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.

i8o

We have only to,


buds

turn to the Assyrian


renderings of already recognized lotus
and to observe the pliant long stem of the lotus, to understand

(xxv. 9),

As

xxiv. 16.

to the supposed artificial date-palm


examples (Fig. 121), they

The

share the fate of the palmette in ornament.

form

palmette

mentioned

(p.

to be a realistic

So

ornament with

in

the

constant association of the

and lotus bud has been

flower

lotus

must

According to the prevalence of these associations there ought


palm-tree motive corresponding in prevalence to the realistic lotus.

18).

from being prevalent, not one case of an ornamental pattern of realistic


palms can be quoted at present for ancient Assyrian, Babylonian, or Persian art.^'
far

The

lotus palmette (Fig. 121), which


"
the Assyrian Sacred Trees," undoubtedly

representations of the lotus

artificial

appear

among

bud and

require an explanation.

This

mention of the ''Asherah

"

or

furnished by Biblical

is

"

Grove," and the connec-

tion of this ''Asherah" with the Assyrian Sacred Tree

on Assyrian

Sacred Tree

the

originals in metal,

Ceremonial metal branches of

Some
"

forms oi \hQ 'Asherah," therefore, were

to

multiple combinations

"

"

grove

of the

reliefs (xxv).

constructed symbolic

artificially

The word

Trees of Life," which were used in shrines.


apply

by the

the lotus are also clearly indicated

ASSYRIAN "sacred TREE.

actual

indicate

reliefs

of

pliant yet highly conventional

by the

treatment of the detail.


121.

The forms

students.

already commonplace to

is

would

easily

which are also

lotus,

and which also imply very frequently


at least for the plant form (Fig. 122).

familiar in Egyptian art,


actual metal originals,"*

does not at

It

all

lie

within our province to assert that the

palm or cedar were not additional models for the


'Asherah" '' and there is moreover evidence for a brazen palm

realistic

12a.

HORos,wiTH LOTUSES,

17.

By

jj^

^j^g

the word "pattern"

Apollo shdnc at Delphi

we understand a repeated

motive as distinct from an isolated naturalistic represenSee p. ii8.

tation,

18.

the stele

suppporting hawk and a

could only be imagined


de rigypte, A.
19.

iii.

trunks

tree

fertility

Eeligion

positive case of such combination


"
"
in

metal

grove

is

furnished by

of lotuses, which

ori^sinal, in

the Description

60 (Karnak).

Savce, Hibbcrl Ltctures

(p. 40.;),

mentions "bare

(p.

17,

Note

which

and Baal
of the

78).

symbolized
the

Semites

sun

god."

(p.

Robertson Smith,

176), does

not

credit

the

named Asherah
" Asherah " as " a tree or tree

existence of a Syrian goddess

supposed, but mentions the

Asherah the goddess of

as above

and as a phase of " tree worship." He suggests that


the draping and anointing of a sacred stump were practised,
post,"

and

in

connection mentions the palm as a symbol of Astarte.

THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.


An

Assyrian

ornamental

so

motive,

far

unmentioned,

i8i
is

the

so-called

"

"

pomegranate (associated with the palmette, Fig. 60 [p. no]). The illustrations
from Assyrian ornament (Figs. 123, 124) are exaggerations of a form frequently
found on Egyptian monuments, which
represents
(Fig.

the seed-bulb of the lotus

In this view

7).

currence of Mr.

have the con-

Percy E. Newberry.

The

statue of Hapi, the Nile God, in

the

British

Museum,

such

includes

123.

lotus hulb tile ornament.

From

Perrot et Chipiez.

124.

LOTUS BULB TILE ORNAMENT.

From

Perrot et Chipiez.

representations (Fig. 125).

very curious

anthemion

The

in

so-called

corroboration

on

this

point

is

offered

by an unpublished

where the argument from association is obvious.


pomegranate on vases from Cyrene is included in this demonstration.
Bologna

(Fig. 126),

AND FLOWER.

125. THE LOTOS BULB WITH BUDS


Detail from a statue of the Nile God in the British

Museum.

126. LOTUS BULBS WITH ANTHEMION.


Tombstone in Bologna. From Author's sketch.

IS2

PLATE XXIV.
THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.

1.

Lotus supporting the winged solar

CulU de Mithra,

Lotuses below the winged solar disk.

3.

Lotus below the winged solar disk.

4.

Assyrian winged

5.

Lotuses, with lunar crescent and

6.

Lotuses and the Moon-god.

7.

Lotus, worshipper, and winged solar disk.

8.

The

9.

The palmette and

1.

Assyrian

Assyrian

seal.

the winged solar disk.

p.

222.

Lajard,

Lajard,
Lajard,

de Mithra, xxx.

Ciilte

Culte de Mithra, xvii. 26.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,


Assyrian

Place, xv.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

seal.

6.

x. 19

xlvi. 16.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra, xxxi.

seal.

Menant,

Assyrian

relief.

Assyrian

relief detail.

3.

Cylitidres, &c., II., p. 68.

Layard,

Plates, First Series, xxxix.

star,

equivalent of the sun.*

Assyrian

seal.

LAJARD,

Culte

I.

Lotus and buds with lunar crescent

13.

Lotuses.

14.

Lotus and two buds, with lunar crescent.

Phenician seal.

Menant,

Phenician seal.

hAjARD, Culte de Mithra,

Cylindres, &c.,

II., viii. 3.

kIv. ^.

Detail of an Assyrian or Phenician seal.

Lajard, Culte de

xvii. 5.

15.

Sacred Tree of lotus buds.

16.

Sacred Tree of lotus buds, under the winged solar disk.

17.

Sacred Tree of lotus buds, and Sun-god.

[p.

[p. 285].

Perrot et
Ivory plaque from Nineveh, in the British Museum.
Also in La YARD, Plates and Dieulafoy, L'Art Antique de la Perse.

12.

Mithra,

the lotus.

Lotus and the Moon-god, an eight-rayed


de Mithra, xliv.

at xliv.

Detail of enamel in colour.

Phenician

star.

worshipper, the ibex, and the lotus.

The worshipper and

seal.

seal.

Assyrian

deities, facing the Rosette.

Chipiez, Assyrie,
1

shown

xxxviii. 4.

2.

10.

Detail from a cylinder

disk.

Assyrian cylinder.

Menant,

Cylindres,

viii. 3.

From Layard's

Assyrian cylinder.

Menant,

Plates.

Cylindres, II., p. 64.

For additional examples of the normal lotus and the winged sun disk, see Plate xxxii. 6, 11, 12
223], and Figs. 200, 202. For an Assyrian Sacred Tree of normal three-spiked lotuses, see xxxvi. 6

[p. 247].

* The
eight-rayed star
the goddess Istar

Hibbert Lectures,

quoted as a symbol of the sun by King, Gnostics, p. 126. It is quoted for


by Menant, Cylindres, &c., p. 245. It is quoted as a sign for "deity" by Savce,

p.

400.

is

84

PLATE XXV.
THE LOTUS AND THE SACRED TREE.

1.

Ceremonial branch (copy of an original


Assyrian

2.

Multiple

lotus palmctte

Perrot et Chipiez,
3.

First Series, xxxvii.

Layard,

relief detail

and bud,

rosette

for

a tree by Perrot.

by a winged

rosettes, held

of

Persian relief detail

border.

The bud mistaken

v., p. S43-

Ceremonial branch of lotuses and

of lotuses and rosettes, held by a winged deity.

in metal)

deity.

the

stairway,

Susa.

'

relief detail.

Assyrian

Layard,

First Series, xxxviii.


4.

Ceremonial branch of lotus palmettes, held by a winged deity (with deer).

Assyrian

relief detail.

L.\YARD, First Series, xxxv.


5.

Ceremonial branch of

lotuses.

Assyrian

detail.

Menant,

6.

Ceremonial branch of

lotuses.

Assyrian

detail.

BOTTA,

7.

Assyrian

relief detail.

Cylindres, II., p. 61.

II.,

105.

Inverted lotus colonette amulet and buds, over winged

Layard, First

deity.

Series, L
8.

9.

Ceremonial branch of lotuses.

Lotus border

Detail of xxiv.

buds with hatched

lines in

8.

BOTTA,

Assyrian

Layard, First

The Sacred Cone.

11.

Lotus border; buds with hatched

12.

Ceremonial branch of lotus rosettes, held by adorer.

13.

Lotus palmettes and lotus buds, large and

Layard, First
14.

lines, in

43.

Detail from

Layard, Second

Series,

Ivi.

Series, xxxvi.

10.

Detail from

style.

I.

Assyrian

style.

Layard,

First Series, ix.

LAYARD, Second

Series,

small; rosette border.

5.

Assyrian ornamental

detail,

Series, ix.

Ceremonial branch of lotuses on rosettes

Perrot et Chipiez,

Assyrie, p. 318.

buds with hatched

lines, in

Assyrian

style.

Compare No.

10.

:5

'dS>

^^t^
rr M
to

/^-J^v^A

M
PI.

XXV.,

p. 185.

B b

THE BULL AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATE XXVI., PAGE

In

1855, Kenrick wrote

193.)

the preface of his

in

"

Phenicia

"

as

follows

" No

Phenician sepulchre has yet supplied a relic of antiquity to illustrate the manners
and history of the nation. Phenician archaeology is almost an entire blank."

Notwithstanding the number of Phenician monuments which have been brought


to light since these words were penned, it is still true that scholars have little

knowledge of Phenician art


Sardinia, in Italy, in North

in

its

original Syrian

Africa, or in

home.

It

is

Mesopotamia, that

in

Cyprus,

in

its

acknowledged
and
of
remains have been most largely found,
Syrian Phenician art we can still
learn more in Egyptian tomb-paintings, of vases and the like, than from
existing remains found in the mother country.

The

causes which have brought about the destruction of Phenician

monuments

by Renan {Mission de Phenicie), but it is by no


that lack of excavation is not the most important explanation.
may be, scholars are united, and justly so, in recognizing the

in Syria have been considered

means

certain

However

this

monuments which have been found


for

those

lacking

in

the

exterior to Syria as characteristic

mother country.

Phenician art as thus

and

typical

known

is

conceded to be largely Egyptian in inspiration and exterior forms, and largely


No original quality has so far been
Egyptian in mythological foundation.
asserted for

it.

supposed not to be Egyptian, it is supposed


This supposition is based mainly on theories of the history of

In so far as Phenician art


to be Assyrian.

is

ornament, which can be proven erroneous.

Aside from the frequency of the palmette and

rosette,

it is

difficult to see

even

an apparent indication of Assyrian quality in Phenician art, and the recognition


of these forms as original to Egypt would carry with it the art with which the
B b 2

THE BULL AND THE LOTUS.

88

not to the extent of asserting the art to be absolutely


should
Egyptian, but to the extent of asserting it to be Egypto-Phenician.

forms are associated

We

concede then to Assyrian


distinction,

but

art,

we should

as

known

to us,

an undoubted national quality and

reverse the view which has considered Phenician art

as intermediate dependency of

Egypt and Assyria combined, and assign

to

it

an active motive quality as acting on Assyria rather than as re-acted upon by


that country.'

This view concedes that every nation of antiquity had a distinct and peculiar
national religion, and that every locality had a distinct and essentially original
local

more

Semitic,

concedes

It

cult.

the

directly influenced

Phenician religion was, as

and Chaldaea than

and active motive

to

Egypt

but

civilizing force of Phenicia

it

being
asserts

was more

by Egypt than by Mesopotamia from the time of the XVII Ith

and that a movement of

original

closely allied to Assyria

that the ornamental art

Dynasty

that

culture,

focussing in Egypt, passed through

Syria to the Euphrates-Tigris country, after that time.

So

from being disposed to minimize the Semitic element or the Mesopotamian element in history, I am positive that the history of the lotus will tend
The history of an
to raise our estimate of that influence as regards the Greeks,
far

Egyptian motive will be found in later pages to demonstrate in many points a


Syrian and Semitic influence on Greek history, independent of the Egyptian, and
in matters of religion hostile to
"
"

it

just as

Dutch Protestants

carried to

America

Renaissance style an indication of Italian influence which


largely came to them from the Spanish Netherlands and from Spain a country
with which they had been in deadly antagonism.
Colonial

with the

As

far as these

remarks depend on demonstrations

especially through the

still

(and

history of the lotus as associated with the deer, gazelle,

have value here, but they point to one


immediately related to a demonstration already given.

and

to be offered

ibex) they cannot

fact

which can be

In so far as the indications of a lotus cult in Assyria have been neglected


(and it cannot be denied that even the normal lotus in Assyria has been
absolutely neglected, aside from

Phenicia and
I.

In

Syria

is

DuMONT ET Chaplain,

prof re, there

is

a very

fair

also

pattern ornaments), in

so

far the

lotus cult

of

magnified and emphasized by calling attention to

Ciramiques de la Grice

admission as to the unknown

quantity which lies in debate between Phenician influence

on Assyria and

the counter hypothesis, pp. 133

and 136.

THE BULL AND THE LOTUS.


In so far as Syria does not furnish the evidence for

this neglect.

only because the monuments have perished.

cult, it is

189

lotus appears in Assyrian art, in so far

we

its

own

lotus

In so far as the Egyptian

are obliged to concede that

it

must

have appeared in Syrian art, because it travelled through Syria. Therefore, as


we began our history of the lotus motive exterior to Egypt, by showing that its
presence in Assyria has been ignored in palpable instances, let us follow this by
noting the same point for Phenicia.

The Sphinx and Gryphon


the

Gryphon and the

are dealing with a fact

(pp. 8,

9).

Wherever we

find

Sphinx and lotus in Mesopotamian art, we


of Phenician history and the fact, namely, of Phenician

lotus, or the

influence on Mesopotamia.

Observe that there are massed on Plate

of the Sphinx or

thirteen cases

Horus

are forms of

Gryphon

these instances are absolutely normal forms

lotus

association,

xxxii. [p. 223]

and that seven of

and observe that not one of these

normal lotus forms has been pointed out by the publications from which they
are taken,

JThe cult of th3 sun and

and Tanith,

is

attested

at Carthage,

by inscribed votive

On

constantly appears.

moon

Plates

Ixvi.

[p.

under the names of Baal

tablets,

on which the normal lotus

and

399],

Hamman

Ixvii.

[p.

"401]

there

are

seventeen instances of the lotus from seventeen different votive tablets dedicated
to the

sun and moon.

lotuses, Ixvi. 4, 6, 12
14,

must

Seven of these cases are immediately recognizable normal


Ixvii. 2, 4, 6, 10.

also be conceded

the

The Egg-and-Dart

Ixvi. 5, 11, 13,

motives,

anthemions 5 and 10 likewise.

We

have also on

the two Plates cases of the rosette, bud, and simple outline lotus, which need

not detain us now.

Phenician scholars are best able to say what notice has been taken of the
significance of the

normal lotus on such Phenician votive

tablets.

have

failed to

discover any mention of this significance, or even of the appearance of the flower,
in the publications

from which these details are taken.

Egyptian forms they all represent a condition of


they come from Carthage.
;

These lotuses are

civilization in

Syria, although

In the series of collocations exhibited by the Plates xxvi.-xlvi.

and beginning with the

"

Bull and the Lotus,"

we

by gems or

coins.

This material

is

[pp.

193-289],

are obliged in general to

counterparts in Syrian art for which existing material

is

all

assume

often at best only supplied

however frequently supplemented by

facts

THE DULL AND THE LOTUS.

I90

derived from literary sources and historic tradition.

not necessary to quote


this material beyond the limits of the problem suggested by a given Plate.
In the case of the "Bull and the Lotus"
illustrate for

It

is

our object

(xxvi.),

is

simply to

Assyrian art the significance of certain combinations which have so

been published as purely ornamental. In Assyrian mythology, as derived from


Chaldaean, the bull is a well-known solar animal,- and hence an animal of the
far

Chaldaean Zodiac'

He

Syrian Baal.*

is

form of the sun-god Merodach^ and of his equivalent the


the animal also of the Phenician moon-goddess Astarte and

The winged

of her equivalent Europa.^

of

whom

to

assume that the winged

As

little

or nothing

the bull

otherwise known, and

we

are not authorized at present

bulls of Plate xxvi. are anything else.

a solar

is

known

is

bulls of Assyrian palace portals are Genii,

emblem

in general,

we

are not obliged to

move beyond

facts of

Assyriology regarding the special meaning of individual


examples, excepting to observe that the bull unicorn and palmette (No. ii), bull
the present

unicorn and rosette (No.

9),

bull unicorn

and Sacred Tree of cones (No.

8),

must

henceforth be recognized as instances of symbolic lotus association.

Although the significance of the

bull in

Egyptian religion is widely recognized,^


like Nos. i and 3 indicate any
it is not presumed that Egyptian associations
direct transmission of the bull and lotus combination from Egypt to Assyria.
The
Chaldaean mythology would forbid this assumption.

Egypt and Chaldaea

bull in

is

The worship

of the solar

fact of coincidence, as far as


present

historical

information enables us to judge, or of original derivation from one source.


the forms of the lotus, including the palmette

Savce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 107.

2.

by the Accadians
3.

"

The sun was termed

Gudibir," the Bull of Light.

Robert Brown, Jua,

Biblical Archaology,

1890.

when the

year began with Taurus, and the sun was conceived as a


bull

entering

upon the

great

ploughed his way among the


4.

Light"

by

(p.

texts

Merodach

48).

(p.

100).

furrow of heaven,

as he

stars."

Savce, Hibbert Lectures.

originally a Sun-god, proven

primitive

Bull-god

Savce, Hibbert Lectures.

Religion of the Semites.

7.

/bid.

The

head

Merodach an equivalent of

Bial (pp. 92 and no), and of Zeus (p. 109).

in the

Astarte

(p. 292).

of Europa counterpart of Astarte

bull

(p. 292).
8.

Sayce, Hibbert Lectures.

household
9.

lents
bull,

bulls, genii of the

(p. 286).

Brugsch, Mythologie,

t/rzt/aw^r)

Winged

all

things

6-<-.
is

In Egyptian cosmogony
the watery element

{Das

which was personified by Noun, whose equiva-

were Ptah, Amon, and

Khnoum

(p. 108).

Noun=the

which also represents the male creative force

belongs to river-gods.

of

In Greek mythology the bull


For references as to the solar

elemental water (p. 116).

(p. 286).
5.

Robertson Smith,

thi beginning of

Merodach, "the Bull of

Merodach, the

which appear

rosette,

referred to as figured with a bull's

Proceedings of the Society of


" The solar
interpretation of

the sign [Taurus] goes back to the far-off time

6.

and

But

bull in Egypt, see p. 8, Notes 22, 23, 24.

THE BULL AND THE LOTUS.


representations
inattention to

Note

179,

(p.

were derived from Egypt.


Aside from
obvious Assyrian associations of the normal lotus with the sun, it
of

the Assyrian

bull,

be that inadequate knowledge of cuneiform

may

191

14)

have obscured the

fact that

or imperfect translations

texts,

symbolism was as strongly

lotus

rooted in Mesopotamia as in India, and possibly in times antedating Egyptian

We

influence.

have seen that Egyptian lotus ornament reached India not

than the third century

b.c.

(pp.

35, 36;

Note

151,

Note

in Assyria in the ninth


century b.c. (p. 175,

It

through Assyria that the Egyptian ornament reached India

is

The

and the winged

association of the bull

undoubtedly Phenician in direct

Cyprus and

(p.

36,

Note

16).

on Cypriote coins (No.


The bull was sacred to Venus

solar disk

origin.^"

and the Phenician

was widely diffused


must have been mainly
It

6).

5).

later

4)

in

symbolism appears to be rather


Semitic than Egyptian in origin, for the association of the bull which is quoted
for the "Assyrian Venus,"
belongs to the male gods of Egypt.
The Mongol solar bull (No. 2) is of late date, and it is not within our
in

Syria,'^

to say

knowledge

in countries of

whether

bull

symbolism was native or whether

this

it

was borrowed

Mongol conquest.

Persian texts are very explicit and numerous for the symbolism of the bulV^
and we cannot doubt that the Ionic form on Persian bull capitals has significance.

The lower member of


Assyrian

of

ivories

the capital

the

ninth

xxvi.

10,

Certain

century.'^

architecture are so strongly indicated

by

that

it,

known

has a lotus form already

forms

Hindu

of

we cannot but suggest

art

to

and

a Persian

and Assyrian influence as explaining the resemblance. That this influence should
have preceded that conceded to the Greeks is natural. It has been so far overlooked
that the patterns

normal
10.

lotus, as

on the enormous bases of these Persian columns are from the

may

Keller, Thiere des

be observed in the Louvre or in the published

Classiscken Alterthums in Kiiltur-

12.

Lajard,

Ctilte

historischer Beziehung,
p. 70, attributes the presence of the

of generation and of

zebu {Bos Indiats) in ancient


Cyprus to introduction for

bull

religious

reasons.

The zebu

is

generally

known

as

the

sacred bull of the Brahmans, but a


variety of zebu was also

known
11.

for

in

Egypt, according to Keller, p. 67.

See reference (Note 6) to Astarte.

the

bull

as

sacred to

the

See

ii.

5, p. 23.

Lucian's matter

Assyrian Venus

and as

nourished by the priests at


Hierapolis in Syria {De
Syria)

is

quoted by Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

De&

was

Ahriman,

the

life

The

in Persian

created

first

his soul

de Mithra.

illustrations.^*

being

bull

was an emblem

myth
(p.

became the germ of

(p.

49).

The

Slain

by

later creation

all

(p. 50).
13.

the lotus,
14.

Museum.

In the British

this form,

and has

UArt

Dieulafoy has recognized


on

illustrated these ivories in his matter

Antique de

la Perse, III'*"* Partie.

Perrot et Chipiez, V.
>

p. 503.

56).

ig:

PLATE XXVI.
THE BULL AND THE LOTUS.

bull

and

1.

Apis

2.

Solar bull.

3.

Bull in the lotus bower.

lotus.

Detail,

Detail,

Mongol

MariETTE, Serapeum

de Memphis,

WARING, Ceramic Art

coin.

Denderah.

From

in

iii.

21.

Remote Ages, xxxi.

6.

a photograph taken for the Author, of a panel on the

wall of the temple-portico.


4.

Bull, Ank/i,

5.

Bull, or

6. Bull,

7.

8.

Bull

solar disk.

cow, and lotus.

Cesnola, Cyprus

or cow, and lotus.


unicorn and

Cypriote coin.
;

De Luynes,

N^tim. et In. Cyp.

King's Appendix /or Gems,

Scarab from Nineveh.

Botta,

Sacred Tree of lotus buds.

Assyrian

relief
p. 49.

Bull unicorn

and Sacred Tree of

unicorn and rosette.

Persian capital.

11. Bull

Assyrian enamel

Bull unicorns

Perrot et Chipiez,

lotus buds.

v. p.

unicorn and palmette.

and

lotus

Assyrian
detail.

Ionic

viii. d.

II., 154.

Inman, Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism,

9. Bull

10.

and winged

relief.

Layard,

known

Layard,

as

the

"Aberdeen Stone."

First Series, xlvl.

First Series, Ixxxvii.

volutes, supported

by

lotus

(pendant

sepals).

493.

Assyrian

For additional examples of the

relief detail.

bull (zebu)

"LkWAKYi, First Series, x\m.

and the

lotus, see

ii.

[p. 23]

Hi.

10 [p. 321] (Mycenae)

I^v. 5 [p. 393].

The

bull unicorn

is

generally conceded to be a representation of the natural bull with profile view of

the horns, one concealing the other

a point mentioned in Lajard's Culte de Mitlira,

(
I

]rt:^
f,

/>

f'//

.?J

l-

^'s
.11

L^

^^M

-T

-N

:^

~^

h^

V Z(IV
/^i.

e^
5f

irriuTTfTrmTi

PI.

XXVI., p.
c c

193.

THE COW AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATE XXVII., PAGE

That

197.)

the Phenicians should, apparently, have derived their symbolism of the bull

from Mesopotamian sources, and their symbolism of the cow from Egypt,

is

easily

Although the bull symbolism of Egypt was not confined to the Sun-god
Ptah of Memphis (p. 8, Note 23), and his incarnation of the Apis, it was especially

explained.

and the Phenicians were more influenced by a cult which was


the entire country.
For their deities borrowed from Egypt were

distinctive for him,

common

to

Horus

and hawk) and Isis or Hathor (the cow and


the fish).
To these Osiris may be added, whose myth was connected with the Syrian
Byblus, and whose worship was assimilated to that of Adonis and of Tammuz.^

especially

The
cult of

(the

winged

solar disk

associations of Plate xxvii. include three illustrations for the Phenician

Hathor or

Isis

No.

i,

marked as Phenician by

location of the find (Sardinia) and No. 9, marked as


"
As between the
the Kefa ").
Egyptian testimony (a tribute from

marked as Phenician by the


Phenician by
bull

inscription; No. 4,

its

and cow we have

little

deciding the head to be that of a cow in

difficulty in

this

last

since

case,

the

Phenician

Isis

universally connected with the latter animal.

monuments
lotus,

in

doubt,

have been

xxvii. (xxvi., 5,

The
famous

6;

HATKOR WITH COW-EARS AND


From Priise d'Avcnnes.

LOTUSES.

conceded.'^

We

the

exhibiting

distributed

between

Four other

normal

Plates

interest of Plate xxvii. centres


silver

so

trefoil

and

xxvi.

xxvii., 3, 6).

especially in

the

and gold monument of Dr. Schliemann's

The

excavations (No. 7).


127.

all

was

cult

attribution

of this

piece

to

Hathor, and identification of Juno (Hera) with this deity,

have been made

by good

authority,

and

are

generally

have only to point out that the rosette, considered by Prof.

Sayce of Babylonian origin, belongs as a lotus form to the cow-goddess.


I.

Among many

Kenrick, Phenicia,

references
p.

313.

for

this

identification

see

2.

in

C C 2

Schliemann's Mycena,

Mr. Gladstone's Preface.

p. 213.

A point also

noticed

THE COW AND THE LOTUS.

196

The argument from


cow-heads with

which shows two other Egyptian Hathor


In No. 8 we observe a rosette form
be apparent.

association,

rosettes, will

composed of four flowers and four buds.

The supposed papyrus form

of

interpretation in earlier pages (Plates

Fig. 127
3.

"

For

Nebengtstalt,"

Mytfwiogie,

For Hathor as a

21].

[p.

equivalent form, of

i.e.

and Note

lent form, see

v.

iv.,

to

Isis,

see

pp. 95, 97.

by unanimous

Brugsch,

For Astarte as an equiva-

61, p. 13.

its

proper

[pp. 63, 65]).

shows an additional instance of the cow-goddess and the

127, see L

Fig.

No. 2 has been restored

Brugsch,

All above

titles

authority.

For

lotus."

designate
Isis

as

Moon-goddesses

Moon-goddess see

Mythologie, I., pp. 6, 12,

Colonna-Ceccaldi, Monuments de Chypre,

PLATE

XXVII.

THE COW AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Hathor cow and the

2.

Hathor cow

3.

Cow and two

in sacred bark,

[p. 253].
4.

Hathor cow,

lotuses,

calf,

P hoeniziscJie

Studien.

ROSELLINI, HI.,

Detail, Ipsamboul.

v. I.

one springing from the mouth.


" Situla
detail of the

Compare xxxiv. 3 [p. 227] ;


d'Este," Gazette Archcologique, 1888,

lotus.
Egypto- Phenician enamel seal, Sardinia.
For Horus as calf, see BRUGSCH, Mytliologie, I. p. 160.

Hathor cow-head, supporting

The cow (Hathor) and

7.

Cow-head (Hathor)

9.

lotuses.

Levy,

and the

6.

8.

and

seal.

Bronze repouss^

Phenicie, Fig. 182.


5.

Phenician

lotus.

rosette.

the lotus.

Detail from Plate x. 4

Egyptian scarab.

in silver (gold horns),

with rosette.

rosette.

Detail

of

Tributaires de Ke/a.

PerrOT et Chipiez,

Prisse d'Avennes, Plafonds.

Schliemann, Mycena,

Top

4, 6, 7

xx. 2067.

Klaproth,

Cow-head (Hathor) on lotus and two rosettes of lotuses.


tomb-painting. Prisse d'Avennes, Vases en Or.

Cow-head (Hathor) and


D Avennes, Vases des

[p. 97].

xxxix.
xii.

p. 216.

of a vase in gold, from an Egyptian

a vase from an

Egyptian tomb-painting.

Prisse

PL XXVII.,p.

197.

THE RAM AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATE XXVIII., PAGE

203.)

In his publication of Cypriote coins, De Luynes speaks of the ram as follows


There is nothing surprising about the type of the ram for Amathus, where the
:

"

worship of Venus was dominant. Sacrifice was made to her there of a ram covered
with its fleece, and this practice had been transferred to Corinth."
'

^
"Cyprus and the Origin of Aphrodite Worship,"

In Enmann's publication
the Greek Venus

and of

fertility.

is

held to have been originally a Moon-goddess, a goddess of death

This essay

iis

quoted with approval by Professor Diimmler as

bearing on the independence of the Greeks from supposed Phenician influence, and

was written by Enmann with this motive. Since the Cyprian Aphrodite is the
most universally quoted instance of a Greek deity borrowed from foreign nations,
prove the Cyprian Aphrodite a Greek goddess is to meet the supporters of
But the points
foreign gods in Greek mythology on their chosen battle-ground.

to

Enmann's essay

Greek goddess
corresponded exactly to the significance of the Assyrian and Chaldean Venus whose
worship in Cyprus was practised by the Phenicians. Therefore, lest the bearing of

of

my

lead to the curious result that the independent

be considered as arguing a wholesale importation by the

later illustrations

Greeks of foreign gods,


deities

is

quoted for

it is

all

best noted here that an assimilation of corresponding

points where the Greeks

came

in

contact with foreign

For the argument of this work an assimilation comes to the same thing
a derivation, and will explain the phenomena as well.
In the case of the Rhodian vase (Ram, &c.) which takes the central place in

nations.

as

we have reached

Plate xxviii.,

1.

De

Num.

Mensib.

2.

et In.

Cyp., pp. 5, 6.

Quoting

"

the

first

Joann. Lyd.,

4, 45."

Enmann, Memoires de rAcadkmie Royale des

de St. Petenbourg, 1886.

"

Sciences

Kypros und der Ursprung des

instance of a problem which will recur


Aphrodite cultus."

"Wir durfen

sie

Tod und
und ihren Namen

als

einen

Zeugung regelnden Mondgeist definiren


als Mondanziindenden deuten."

auf die Bezeichnung

THE RAM AND THE LOTUS.

20D

under many forms in following pages,


anthem ion lotus derivatives of Greek art.

would be possible

It

as to the symbolism of the remote

viz.

to ignore this question or avoid

were

it,

it

not for the

associations of the lotus with the solar or divine animals, but the flower itself occurs

with, and specifies,

animals, within the limits of Greek art and under

circumstances

many solar
which make the

supposition of mechanical copy impossible.

therefore, the

anthemion occurs

of a

possibility

in

a like association

On

symbolism.

corresponding

this

moon

Carthaginian votive tablets to the sun and

difficult to

is

it

point

dispute the

evidence

the

of value,

is

When,

because

of

their

anthemions belong to a late period of Greek influence as regards date and style,
and because these tablets exhibit the normal flowers as well as most of the hitherto
unrecognized variants of the plant

The ram

is

the equivalent of

Amon

crescent,

and the

solar

diagram

who was a Moon-goddess,

5).

appears on Cypriote

on others with the sun, the moon

with lotuses (Nos.

the solar diagram and lotuses (Nos. 4,

He

and of Khnoum.

coins directly associated with Aphrodite;^


^

pp. 399, 401).

(Ixvi., Ixvii.,

He was

6, 8)

and on others

sacrificed in

Cyprus

still,

to a

with

goddess

according to the view of one archaeologist (Enmann),

which asserts the independent Greek character of Aphrodite who was certainly
a Moon-goddess, according to an assimilation with the Phenician Astarte,*
which was undoubtedly made in Cyprus.
of the later Chaldean Zodiac, and his place

The ram

moreover the

is

the Zodiac

in

is

owing

first

sign

to his solar

character.*

When

therefore

we

find a

Rhodian vase

(xxviii. 7)

which associates the ram

with an inverted form of the lotus anthemion (type of

11

xiii.

[p.

121]),

it

is

impossible not to assume or suggest that they were, or had once been, associated

symbols either of the Zodiac or of a Sun-god or Moon-goddess, who had been


either derived from, or assimilated with, a foreign deity.

Whether such an anthemion was recognized

may have
3.

De

4.

et In. Cyp.,

Venus leaning on the ram;

The

Plate v.

3.

Coin of

reverse, a bull.

designation of a circle of dots surrounding a

central dot (or without this dot in small objects), as a solar

diagram,
ticated

is

in

is

another question.

been a sun-symbol as matter of tradition, without reference to

Luynes, Num.

Salamis.

as a lotus

susceptible of demonstration
later

pages.

The diagram

and will be authenis

a form of the

Egyptian
5.

sign,

The

to the

for the

sun

its origin.

a circle surrounding a dot.

relations of the Phenician Ashtoreth or Astarte

moon, which are quoted by

quoted by
6.

Ea,

It

Enmann

Robert Brown,

Archceolugy, 1890.

all authorities,

are also

in his essay.

Jva., Proceedings, Society of BibliccU

THE RAM AND THE LOTUS.

sor

within the range of possible suppositions that the association was traditional without significance, as
dating from an earlier time of significance which
It is also

had been

lost sight of.

According to the negative evidence of published monuments the association


of the ram (as an animal form distinct from the ram-headed
gods) and the lotus

was a

one

rare

in

Egypt/

No

published case has met

positive that a direct copy from an Egyptian

work of

my

observation.

It is

cannot be assumed,

art

even in the case of the Greek vase found in Egypt (No. i). The ram and the
lotus could never have been combined in
Egyptian art as we find them in this

This makes the theory of an absolutely misconceived or mechanically


made direct imitation impossible.
Both elements of No. i can be explained

example.

from Egyptian or from Mesopotamian symbolism


spiral,

in

was

Egypt

But when the ram and the

originally Egyptian.
it

was

one element at

certainly never

done by placing a Ictus

lotus were

spiral

the lotus

least,

combined

under the nose

of the animal.

Hence

there can be only two theories for No.

or No.

7.

One would be

that

combined two things; one of which it had borrowed without


The other theory would be that Greek art
conceiving significance for either.
consciously combined two symbols, both of which it had borrowed, in a perfectly
Greek

art accidentally

comprehensible but absolutely novel manner.

The

proposition

identical (Plate x.

and the lotus

The

7,

scroll of

Hittite

last is

my own

view.

and the Egyptian meander are


re-suggested by the Swastika meander of No. 7,

that the lotus spiral scroll


[p.

97])

No.

is

i.

ram with

gazelle

gazelle-god has had attention.

on

This

relief

Till

then

(No.

we

2)

will

will leave

gain significance
it

when

the

in its proper association

this Plate.

The ram was no


later

matter will

Chaldean than an Egyptian sun-symbol (note 6), and


show that the lotus was often connected in Greek art with animals
less a

It is
which were Typhonic in Egypt and peculiarly sacred in Mesopotamia.
therefore by no means to be assumed that the Rhodian vase designates a distinctively

most probable that the ram appears on it as a solar


sign of the Greek Zodiac, and with lotus association abundantly explained by later
matter for the deer, gazelle, oryx, ibex, wild goat, bird, and lotus,
Egyptian influence.

7.

An

It

is

unpublished instance in Turin.

Rams

facing the lotus; limestone

stelfe,

No. i88.

D d

PLATE

XXVIII.

THE RAM AND THE LOTUS.


1.

Ram

and

spiral scrolls,

two rudimentary lotuses

in the scrolls.

Detail of a Greek vase.

Naukratis,

II. ix. S.

2.

Colossal stone

ram

(Hittite), with

Perrot et Chipiez,
3.

I.,

in

At Kumbct,

relief.

Phrygia.

(Ramsay

Esneh.

lotus buds.

Repeated from Plate

ii.

[p. 23].

Cypriote coin, ram.

De Luynes, Num.

5.

Reverse of No.

Cross supporting solar diagram, four lotuses in corners.

6.

Ram,

7.

Rhodian

sun, and lunar crescent.

xiii. II [p. 121])

8.

Museum.

vase, British

Reverse of No.

7.

Description de

86, 10.

4.

4.

explorations.)

v., p. 170.

God Khnoum (ram-headed) and


r^gypte, A., Vol.

gazelle

et In.

Cypriote coin.

Ram

Cyp., xii.

SCHMIDT,

above inverted

Cyp. In., x.

anthemion with

lotus

Swastika meander, and other diagrams.

Cross supporting sun diagram.

Four

i.

introrse

Salzmann, Necropok de

lotuses in corners.

scrolls

(type

Cainire,

li.

of

l^Lnl^biLnLniriLrilriL^rt^lribnUilrilr^Lnl^UrjL-nL-ilr^t^lrit^i:/

PL XXVJII.,p.

D d

203.

THE LION AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATES XXIX., XXX., PAGES

The

lion
^

goddess

Even

a well-known form of Horus^ and of Sekhet

is

and spouse of Ptah

the

209,211.)

temple-roof

and a

Greco-Roman

the

of

sculptured in lion form, are inscribed as symbols of the

The

sign of the Hon.*

hind-quarters, back to

153],

Lion-

under various other names.'

solar equivalent

water-spouts

(xx. 12 [p.

time,

summer sun

which

were

in the Zodiacal

Egyptian representation of two lions sitting on the


back, and supporting the sun disk, has been lately explained
familiar

by M. Le Page Renouf. They are the Sun-lions "to-morrow" and "yesterday"


the day that is to be, and the day that was, otherwise Ra and Osiris (p. 8, Note 5).
The solar significance of the lion and the lotus associations on Plates xxix.
and XXX.

rare

little

crown upon

An

thus apparent.

is

amulet

Museum shows

in the British

his head.

Although the

additional example

lion

There

is

was a

indirect

direct influence

influence

century

is

frequently

mistaken

to

in

transferred

1.

For various references

2.

An

by

style,

both

The

this association

quites Grecques

et Iioiai?ics

Brugsch, Mythologie,

in Lycia.

Museum

Welcker,

Saglio, Dictionaire des Anti-

in Plates

"
p.

349.

xxix.,

xxx.,

are at the

from the assumed Assyrian or AssyroEpoche

der

Denkmaler an

ausseren Tempelgewiinden unmittelbar unter


in

Gestalt

den

dem Dache

liegender

Lowen-

korper aus Stein (Tentyra, Thebes, Edfu, Philae) werden


in

den

darauf eingemeisselten Inschriften geradezu

als

Sinnbilder der Sommerlichen Sonne im Zodiakalbilde des

(Rachtiit, 1873).
II.,

and

in

monuments which

Griechisch-romischen

to the solar lion see p. 8.

was a symbol of Apollo

quoted by Daremberg et

4.

find

angebrachten Regengossen

lion

Egyptian

Egypt from the


Greece and Italy, which

in

Thus we

Assyrian."

designations).
3.

indirect

and Asia Minor,

presence of the Greeks

"

equivalent form of Bast or Pakht (British

and

Egypt.

corroborative evidence for the rosette as a lotus, in

same time

direct

by way of Syria, Cyprus,

produced a

for

23].

[p.

the lion wearing the lotus as

and a sign of the Zodiac in Chaldea


and the lotus in Greek art unite with

through the Greeks

onwards,

ii.

solar animal

The continuous and abundant


eighth

found at Plate

a similar one in the Polytechnic at Athens.

and Assyria, the associations of the lion


those for the lotus and the Sphinx in pointing
influence

is

Die

in

der

Lowen

aufgefasst."

THE LION AND THE LOTUS.

206

Phenician category to that of Greco- Egyptian (xxix.

4,

7; xxx.

As

specified.

The Greek

10).

German

archaic vases which have been so abundantly published by


in recent years, take

2,

archaeologists

a new place in the history of art when their lotus forms are

long as the lotuses of xxx.

i,

are

4, 8,

plants,

the significance of the

also obscured

of the art

is

For the
the

"palms" or unrecognized
is

and the Egyptian element

unrecognized.
association of the lion with

normal lotus

Etruria and

in

Greece two monuments are


evidence

lions

(xxix. 3;

xxx.

offered

The

5).

in
in

lotus

has not been noticed by the Antiquarian

who

published the vase.

The
ments
I2S.

DETAIL OF A TOMB-RELIEF IN THK BOLOGNA MUSEUM.

Demonstration for the so-called " ivy leaf" as a lotus leaf.


Author's sketch. (Compare I'lale xxii., pp. 161-165.)

either as regards style

there are
[P-

two

that they

which are both


which finds no

in the narrower sense or the

combine two elements


in

Egyptian,
parallel in

manner of

style

Egyptian

association.

art,

If

Egypt, they are placed back to back (ii. 4,


not confronting one another.
can specify lions with lotus on the
lions with the lotus in

We

23]),

head in Egyptian
as in

From

is

monu-

peculiar interest of such

but no lions with lotuses placed under the body.


Thus,
the case of the ram (xxviii. 7 [p. 203]), the hypothesis of a mechanical
art,

copy, indifferent to the symbolic sense of the corresponding original, cannot be

assumed.

We have,
Greeks

accidentally

borrowed,
the

art

then, the alternative of

two

theories.

separate

One

forms,

theory would be that the

both

of

which

they

had

symbolizing combination of these forms in


which they were borrowed.
The other theory would be that the

without

from

combined

two

reference

to

Greeks combined two symbols whose sense was known to them as related to the
sun, or to Apollo, and that in this combination they followed the meaning, without
following the exterior style, of the nation from which the symbols were borrowed.

The

latter is

The

my own

lion

evidence for

view.

was a symbol of Apollo in Lycia (Note 3), and there is abundant


the lion as a solar emblem in Cyprus the tomb-stel6, xxx. 7 (lions
;

THE LION AND THE LOTUS.


on the winged

disk),

being one of

similar tombstones.

many

interesting to observe the anthemion association in cases


find that the disposition to accept the Cypriote art as

the best authorities

294, Note

(p.

207

Therefore

xxx.

liice

it

We

3.

dominantly Greek

is

shall

that of

is

3).

The

style of the patera from Crete, from which the detail xxix. 8 is taken,
"
be called " Assyrian
according to present standards that is to say, it is

would

approximately like the Phenician pateras which have been found at Nineveh, and

which are conceded

to be Phenician.

It

fragments of
that the
Phenician, &c.

Phenician decorative art

admitted to be
in

Mediterranean

British

art,

are

Museum, and

more obvious,

to

relation

the

almost absolutely lacking.

is

standards of

Egyptian

In the Assyrian stone

every expert.

ivories admitted to be Phenician, bronzes


"

is

quality

style," as

Assyrian

These objects are mainly

derived.

their

mainly from such Ninevite remains of

is

open to

in the

the

Cases of the

observation

where a national quality

reliefs,

Assyrian style of Greece

so-called

found

is

of

much

or

Italy

suggestion sometimes found in publication, that

the horizontal bands of animals on Greek vases are related to the horizontal bands

of Assyrian

publication than
"

The

shows more attention

relief,
it

3. 5-

As

Herzblatt

"

be compared with xxxix. 3

of xxix. 9 should

related to a similar

Mycenae pattern which

321] and derived from a lotus

[p*

in

does to their former appearance on an Assyrian palace.

Both are possibly


lii-

of these reliefs

the appearance

to

minor monument, xxx.

is

253].

[p.

connected with

leaf.

from a publication
made before the time of Egyptian science and also before the time of Egyptian
counterfeits.
Presumably from Egypt, it is not positive that this scarab may
for

the

not represent a Phenician,

in various

ways.

Rosellini

appeal to

for

scarab

Greek, Lycian, or Carian

to a series of eccentricities in

form

is

it

9,

which the lotus

is

mongrel

lion

significant

and

when

For the Gryphon with tail ending in a lotus we can


a picture of the Xllth Dynasty (tombs of Beni Hasan),

lotus have been


5.

Rosellini, M.C.

lotus can be specified in

the

belongs

attached to a symbolic animal

not only in the published picture but also according to his

The

It

art.

Hindu

Hindu

art,

own

designation in

text.^

a fact which will become

instances of the deer and lotus and of the

"

bird

"

and

made known.
xxiii. 4.

Gryphon

standing, with

ending in a lotus flower, and so specified by Rosellini's

tail

text.

6.

Plate

Sir Alexander Cunningham, The StApa of Bharhut,


viii.,

lions

and

lotus rosettes (third century b.c).

2oS

PLATE XXIX.
THE LION AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Lion and

2.

Lions and lotuses,

Lion and

4.

Lions

lotus.

lotus.

5.

trefoil

P.

"

Le Page Renouf,

Egyptian lotus capital with

7.

Lions rampant, facing

Museum.

lotus which

rests

on a

rosette,

Lions facing lotus bud.


"

in Proceedings, Society

lion heads.

Cesnola, Atlas,

Classica, Taf. III.,

9.

i.

Etrusco-Vaticatto,\.\xK\\.

Etruscan bronze repoussi detail,

rosette.

To-morrow and Yesterday," otherwise Ra and

6.

8.

13,

v. 2.

Museo

Etruscan gem, Vulci.

I.

Museo- Etrusco- Vaticano, L xv.

The Lions
from

Lepsius, Denhndler, X.,

rampant, facing a

Caere.

Description de r^gypte, A.,

Detail, Philae.

Osiris,

Colouettes en Bois.

Cypriote

relief

fragment

in

the

New York

xxvii. 84.

Repotiss^ hronzQ detail oi & patera found in Crete.

Antichitd

Lion and ' Herzblatt."

Detail

of Biblical Archjcology, Dec, 1888.

Prisse d'Avennes,

lotu^ palmettes above.

supporting the solar disk.

dill'

Antro di Zeus Ideo

Greek pottery

detail.

in Creta!'

B5HLAU, Jahrbuch,

1887.

Museo

Italiano di Antichitii

'AW
PI.

XXIX., p. 209.

E e

210

PLATE XXX.
THE LION AND THE

1.

(Compare matter

Lions rampant, facing lotus palmette with birds.


Plates

xliii.

xlvi.

[pp.

LOTUS.

for

Detail of an early Attic vase.

269-289]).

and the Lotus,

the Bird

BOHLAU,

in

Jahrhuch, 1887,

Taf. II L

2.

Lion and

rosettes.

Pottery fragment.

Cypriote tombstone

-3.

Lion and lotus anthemions.

4.

Lions rampant and lotus anthemion


Potter)-, p.

Naukratis,

Greek vase

in the

Lion.

7.

Lions on the winged solar

8.

Lion and archaic lotus palmette.

9.

Lion with triangular lotuses pendant from

Egyptian scarab.

[p.

normal
10.

Lion and

Among

267], especially
lotus at the

rosettes,

Klaprotii,

New York Museum.


in

end of the

New York Museum.

tail

(which

is

Theban

gems of

the British

vase.

Bohlau,

and projecting from paw.


also

ROSELLINI, M.C.

Cesnola,

the British

Atlas, xvi.

Museum.

BlRCii,

Benndorf, VasengemiUde,
"

Klaproth

"

see

Cesnola, Atlas,
in

Jahrbuch, 18S7,

Compare the

xxiii. for

vi.

p. 86.

cxxii.

Taf

fish,

hawk-headed

4.

Plate

xlii.

lion with

so specified by Rosellini in his text).

Swastika and sun diagram above.

the Cretan

not noticed by

in the

Compare

tail

is

For references to

Detail, early

2.

lotus

673.

xiii.

Tombstone

disk.

No.

The

Louvre.

6.

the

84.

Lion and

2,

in

Vase from Athens,

Swastikas.

5.

lotus.

II. v. 7.

Museum

is

Greek pottery fragment.

Naukratis,

a lion and trefoil lotus, Case R, No. 150.

II. viii. i.

-y>

"^5iM^rf^i^r^
PI.

E e 2

XXX., p.

2 11.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATES XXXI., XXXII., XXXIII., XXXIV., PAGES

The

Egyptian Sphinx

is

a solar lion with

image of the Sun-god under which the

Hence

the

Sphinx presents the

human head

portrait

human

221, 223, 225, 227.)

head, a form of Horus, and an

Pharoah was especially represented.^


of the reigning Pharoah and takes the female
deified

The Sphinx with head

in the case of a reigning queen.^

an equally obvious and well-recognized solar combination, as


head of a hawk, generally known as the Gryphon.^

The Gryphon can be dated

to the

form of Horus,^ (compare

texts as a

Xllth Dynasty.
8

ii.

[p. 23],

of the

ram

is

the

Sphinx with

It is specified

by Egyptian

Gryphon with

is

Osiris).

The winged

Sphinxes have been thought to show Mesopotamian influence, but they can be dated
many centuries earlier than any known monuments from Mesopotamia, i.e., to the

XVIIIth and XlXth Dynasties, and

to a period

than the earliest excavated Assyrian palace, which

beginning nine centuries


is

of the 9th century

earlier

B.C.

It is conceded that the Theban


Greek Sphinx is a riddle still.
myth has no general bearing on the problem as to what the Sphinx in Greek art
meant to the Greeks, and recent writers on the subject have succeeded in showing

The

riddle of the

mainly that not much

The

is

known about

it.'

general attitude of Greek archaeology

is

that

all

the

"

Oriental Monsters

"

of Greek vases and Greek art are decorative adaptations for decorative uses, and with

about the same relation to Greek history as the unicorn of the British coat of arms
1.

References at pp.

2.

Wilkinson's statement

8, 9,

Notes 32, 33.


that the female Sphinx does

not occur in Egyptian art {Ancient Egyptians,

3rd Edit.),
of

is

qualified

by

his

"the Queen Mut-netem

boul, in the British

own

II., p.

illustration (HI., p.

as a female Sphinx."

94,

310)

Compare

Plate xxxi. 2 [p. 221].


3.

stone Gryphon of the

" sacred to Mentu."

Gryphon of the Xllth Dynasty


Note 5).
4.

Plate

Rosellini
ii.

at

in text (p. 151) for

A painted

Beni Hasan

M.D.C.

(p.

207,

xxii.) detail,

8 [p. 23]).

in Mit.aus Athen, iv.,


" Der Stier von
Tiryns."
injalirbuchy 1889,
5.

XlXth Dynasty from Ipsam-

Museum,

Milchhceffer,

p. 45.

Marx,

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

214

has to the present religion of Great Britain.

recent publication of a sepulchral

Athens takes the ground that the given Sphinx has no sepulchral
and
significance, or, in other words, that the Greeks, who were notoriously reverent
Sphinx

at

circumspect in matters of the tomb, chose their tomb decoration without the amount
of sentiment which inspires the

To deny

monuments of a modern

cemetery.

significance to the Sphinxes of Cypriote tombstones will be impossible

by this chapter have been considered and other tombstones


There are two points in the problem of the Greek
are involved in these conclusions.
Sphinx. Fir^t, given a meaning related to the Egyptian original, why is the Greek
after the associations noted

Sphinx female, when the Egyptian

many

Second,

reigning queens)?

original is generally

how

is

the

meaning

male

were not

(since there

related to the original ?

have been any subtle purpose in the Greek habit of


designating the typical Sphinx as a woman. It is simply the same mistake which
transformed the Ba into a Siren or a Harpy.^ The Sphinx came originally to the

There does not appear

to

Greeks by way of Phenician ivories and metal decoration, and we can still detect a
sufficient amount of female resemblance in these Phenician originals to explain the
error; for instance, in xxxii. 8,

13,

which are

Phenician ivories from Nineveh of a type also


familiar
[p.

xli.

to

263], in

the

Greeks

or

in

bronze from Cyprus

12 [p. 263], in stone carving

In such examples
dress with

it

is

type

xli.

or in the type

from Syria.

the Egyptian head-

pendant flaps (xxxi. 1,3; xli. 1,12)


or the Egyptian wig with pendant locks, as in

.129.

"The

SriiiNX

for the so-called

avd the Lotus."

Demonstration

"ivy leaf" as a lotus leaf. To comFrom a tomb relief in Bologtia.

pare with Plate xxxiv.


From Author's sketch.

on the head

show

its

xxxii. 8, 13),

which have been mistaken

long hair of a woman.

only in the later

Greek Sphinxes that we find the hair knotted


The early Greek Sphinxes have the pendant locks which

(xxxiii. 5, 7).

the starting point of an easy transformation (xxxiii.

The

It is

for the

2, 6, 8, 9).

male Sphinx made his way as far as Hallstadt (xxxiii. 10)


and North Italy (xxxiv. 3). The Cypriote Greek Sphinxes are not all distinctly
female (xxxiii. 11). The Greek tendency to beautify (zum venchdnern) is one
6.

Db

formation

distinctly

Rouci, Notice Sommaire,


is

conceded.

p.

loi, "I'ame, toujours representee par

un

dpervier a tSte humaine."

This trans-

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.


unquestionable cause of the transformation

215

as in the type of the later Gorgon,

or in the transformation of the goose of Leda and of Jupiter to a swan/

For the meaning of the Sphinx in Greek art we remark


ornament of tombstones and sarcophagi (xxxiii. i, 3, 4, 11,
mortuary because

it

solar

is

[p.

When

9].

it

that

a typical

and that

12),

appears on vases

is

it

it

(xxxiii. 6, 8,

is

very generally in that duplicate rampant arrangement which points


to a Phenician bronze original like xli. 7 [p. 263].
In both originals and copies of the

xxxiv.

it

9),

rampant

is

type, the intervening lotus, or derivative, point to a solar significance.^

In the Phenician originals the Sphinx

as in

is solar,

value of the lotus in assisting this determination

That the worship of Horus was

reach the Greek copies.

5)

(xliii.

6,

is

directly affected

by the

attested

commonplace information.

indeed,

when we

by Cypriote bronzes (xliv. 2 [p. 285]) and Phenician seals


and by the numerous instances of the winged solar disk in Syria
on Phenician seals (Ixvii. 3 [p. 401]), &c. The fact is,
[p. 283]) and

Phenicians
(xliv.

of great importance

is

The

Egyptian home.

its

In Egypt the winged solar disk

Horus as apart from other Sun-gods.

It is

not at

all

clear,

is

distinctly

however, that Horus

symbols derived from Egypt had the same limitation, and the positive contrary
may be fairly asserted from the associations of the winged sun disk in
Mesopotamian,

Hittite,

and Phenician

art (xxiii. 4, 5

[p.

173]

xxiv.

i, 2,

much devoted

Phenician worship, as natural to mariners, was

3,

[p.

183]).

to the visible

appearance of the heavenly bodies, as well as to the derivative personifications, if


we may judge by the frequent indication of the sun and moon in union which
peculiar to their art

is

by

their

(Ixvi.,

Ixvii.

Semitic affiliations with the distinctly

Babylonian

cults,

grosser and

more

and from the general

fact

celestial

that

might be explained
and stellar aspects of

fact

Phenician worship was of a

naturalistic character than that of Egypt.

We have therefore every reason


from Egypt, was borrowed

Sphinx

This

[pp. 399-401]).

in particular.

to suppose that the Solar Sphinx, as

as a Solar Sphinx in general rather than a

The Egyptian

Horus (which included the young Horus on the lotus, as well


would have made this solar generalization an easy one. However
O.

Keller,

Thiere

des

culturhistorischer Beziehung, p.

classischen

288

Horus

habit of deifying the Pharoah under the form-

of

7.

borrowed

Alterthums

quoting Stephani.

in

8.

Where not rampant and

vases, the

same

significance

with the deer, goose Sic.

.to

is

as the Sphinx),
the

isolated,

Sphinx was

as

on

Rhodian

determined by associations

be presently accounted

for.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

2i6
first

borrowed, this general solar symbolism was

long as

its

ultimate foreign symbolism, as

remained a symbol.

it

The Gryphon, which

is identical

with the Sphinx in Egypt and which

equivalent symbol in foreign Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Greek use,

explanation of the Greek Sphinx, for


of the

Gryphon with

astray by their

own mistake

assists the

explicit information as to the relations

would therefore appear that the Greeks were led

It

Apollo.*

we have

in the matter of the female sex of their typical

and having no female deity

an

is

to represent the sun,

could not, in

Sphinx to their own satisfaction.


For the Sphinx in Greek art we have then simply

Sphinx

historical

later

times, explain the

which

is its

original

to

back on the Sun-lion,

fall

the addition of the human head being a

and

essential character

subordinate point, which

made

by the fact that the Sphinx may also appear


with the head of a solar ram or the head of a solar hawk. We find in the lion the

same sepulchral

is

same union with the

use, the

moon

the solar disk or sun and


there are

many

clear

crescent.

and the same association with

lotus,

Compare

Cypriote instances), with xxxiii. 1,3,

xxx.

4,

3,

11, 12.

[p.

211] (for which

As

general

result,

winged Sun-lion with the lotus (xxxii. 9 or xxxii, 12) is


the equivalent of the Sphinx of the Greek Cypriote coin, xxxii. 5.
The sepulchral use of both Lion and Sphinx in Greek art is a phase of the
same idea which places the lotus anthemion on a tombstone (Figs. 43 [p. 71] 68,
it is

then,

69

[p.

clear that the

124];

xiii.

[p.

121]),

and which places the lotus anthemion on the Lion and

Sphinx tombstones (xxx. 3 [p.211] xxxiii. 3, 4, 11, 12).


This idea has been sufficiently developed in matter
;

(pp. 9, 10),

and

it

for the

With

applies to every ancient solar emblem.

Egyptian lotus

the worship of the

sun was united a worship of creative force and generative power. With the cult of
the dead and the theory of the spirit world was united the belief in the recreativelife-giving,

9.

As

and

the Egyptian

life-sustaining

Gryphon

a combination of the

is

Sun-hawk and Sun-lion (two forms


identified with
is

Horus by Egyptian

power of nature.

of

Horus), and

texts (p. 9,

Note

34),

to the times of

ing to

God

Ovid

called

still

Apollonius of

it

are

Ovid and of Apollonius of Tyana.

as quoted by

familiar

Accord-

"
Lajard, Culfe de Mithra, the

Apollo by the Greeks

is

represented by a

fact is

Tyana

(as

Lion."

quoted by Lajard,

Gryphons belong

According

to Apollo (the sun)

by

all

the

in

In the

sacred to the sun, and their


" Media."
to
to

Gryphons
been transferred
"

summed up

Hawk and

combination of the

is

interesting to observe that the relations of the classical

Gryphon both to the sun and to Apollo were

This

life

p.

of

383),

home

has

Welcker,
traditions,"

quoted by Lajard (p. 390). Gryphons are also quoted


for the sun by King, Appendix for Gems, in Cesnola's
Cyprus, p. 357.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

217

Egyptian belief which assimilates and identifies the blessed dead with Osiris.
However distinct the Greeks may have been, and were, from the
Egyptians, they
were

them

like

in

To

their reverence for the tomb.

and pottery fragments

'"

are derived from

tombs

say that our Greek vases

in the

immense majority of

not to imply that other decorations and other art less

is

known

been used for the living; but the entire art of the Greeks in

to us

matter.

It

is

known

Greco-Roman

the

was known

art

anthemion

his

assert

art of

the

that

to be a lotus is quite

another

normal lotus was a recognized tomb-symbol in


Note 41), but this does not prove that the anthemion

that the
(p. 10,

to the later

Greeks as a

lotus,

was

them a

That

was so known.

it

knew

say that the Greek

foundation and

its

modern Europe" began with exclusively religious pictures, as


later art of Greece was independent of its earlier religious basis.

To

may have

and we may as well deny that the landscape

original bearing is religious,

cases

it

to

and

it

appears to

me

consider proven.

symbol

religious

improbable that

That they were conscious of the originally lotiform character of the symbol at
some time and in some places, viz., the time and places of early transition,
appears, to say the least, highly probable.

The

of

significance

the

by the

indicated

consideration

is

references are

much more

(xxxiv. 4)

has an

I,

5).

To

Ankh

with the

9),

the

7, 8, 9,

same

(xxxii

7,

and

Sphinx, but

the

quotations

for the tabs, iv.

[p.

and

of the distinctive

his association with the lotus in

associations

under

Plates

Greek

art

of Egyptian and
63]

xxxii. 4, 10

his associations with the sun disk (xxxi.

effect are

Ixv.

four

The Gryphon was a symbol

compare matter

and

the

[p.

393],

and again with the

lotus

6),

(Ixv,

393])-''

[P-

Earlier
spiral scroll

matter for the

spiral,

the spiral

symbolism

is

masses of pottery fragments are frequently


found directly exterior to the tomb. Such pottery was
probably used in the periodical banquets commemorating

11.

were

of the dead,

and then broken.

Landscape pictures exclusively devoted


first

and

for the

identity of the

Among

the

the one of attaching the lotus to the head of

10. Large

memory

scroll,

with the meander, finds corroboration in Plate xxxiv.

eccentricities of solar

the

for

all-apparent relation to similar

Phenician art (xxxi.


xxxiv.

matter

accessible.

Greek Sun-god Apollo (Note

of

illustrations

Gryphon

to landscape

painted (since the time of Antiquity) in the lyth

century,

and developed from the landscape backgrounds of

religious paintings.

Gems,Qz%vio\k% Cyprus, p. 35^,


" All their
gems served the double
says of the Phenicians,
12.

Y^v^o, Appendix for

purpose of signets and talismans,

all

embodying

ideas."

F f

religious

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

2l8

the solar animal.

who

only ones

In pure Egyptian art the gods Nefer-toum and Nilus are the

habitually wear the lotus as a head-dress

(i.

but cases

ii, [p. 21]),

can be quoted in Egyptian art for

symbol on the head of the


Sun-lion and the Sun-hawk. The

this

Sphinx xxxi. 4 is also an instance,


and the Sphinx xxxi. 2 wears a
crown surmounted by the

We

can quote the

lotus.

Gryphon

xxxiv.

Phenician

(from

Cyprus)

as having the normal three-spiked


lotus on the head.

The

of the Sphinx xxxiv.

with
the

trefoil

head,

is

illustration

6,

lotus

on

from

the

^Jh,

--,
,.
Kegulmi-Galassi tomb
also
and
Phenician.
.

130.

GREEK VASK IN THE LOOVRK.

Greek vase) has a

The

The Gryphon,

131.

xxxiv.

DETAIL ON

bronzr. From
the
Reeulinic^i^^^i to>'^

(from

exaggerated central spike, attached to the head.

lotus, with

instance of the lotus palmette

xxxiv.

Etruscan or Phenician, and the

is

instance of the lotus palmette xxxiv. 9 is Greek.


The " ivy leaf" of Fig. 129 [p. 214] is one morp case of the lotus head-ornament.

The head-ornament
an Ionic

We

lotus,

shall not hesitate therefore to designate the spirals attached to the

of xxxiv.
scroll

Sphinx from Troy (xxxiv.


and has been mistaken by Schuchardt for a pig-tail.'^
of the early Greek pottery

7,

8 as lotuses

and the meander

is

2) is

heads

In xxxiv. 8 the co-extensive value of the spiral

also.

apparent, and

we may

turn to the twisted stems, ending

in spirals, of xxxiii. 8 as another interesting evidence of the mutability of the lotus.

In such a case

we know what

it

because

is

it

can be nothing

else.

There

is

no

doubt that the peculiar limitation of ancient symbolic floral ornament to one plant
As long as
explains its curious mutability and unrecognizable degraded forms.
only one plant was represented

any sense

it

made no

difference

to natural appearance.
13.

See

p. 49,

Note

15.

whether

it

corresponded in

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.


The
capital

corroborations

(5,

7),

of

Plate xxxiii.

the anthemion

(3,

4,

for

the palmette

for the

11),

2 19

(No.

Sacred Cone

6)

(9),

the Ionic

and

for

the

compare ix. 5 [p. 91]), are self-apparent.


The instances of the normal lotus (2, 6, 12) can be indefinitely multiplied, and
the lotuses of prehistoric Hallstadt (10) have yet to receive their recognition from
introrse scroll (12,

archaeologists.

We

cannot leave these Plates without remarking

that

the Assyrian and

Phenician examples of the normal lotus on seals and cylinders as related to

sun-worship
the

men

(xxxii.

(xxxii. 4,

of learning

i),

for the

6,

9,

11, 12,

who have

and xxxiv.

published them.

"Assyrian" palmette

(2, 8,

have been absolutely ignored by


Corroborations for the Sacred Cone

5)

13, 14)

and

rosette

(3),

will

not be

overlooked.

An

obvious case of rosette association

(xxxi. 3).

is

Analogous instances are frequent

offered

by the large Syrian Sphinx

in the paintings of necklace collars

mummy-cases.

IJ2.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

Persepolis.

f 2

From Lajaru.

Compare

xii.

14 (p. 113).

on

220

PLATE XXXI.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Sphinxes and
Vases,

2.

Detail of an Egyptian vase,

lotuses.

R^gne de Thothmcs

XVIIIth Dynasty.
3.

III.

Female winged Sphinx, crowned with


Prisse d'Avennes,

Granite Sphinx,
Ivi.

Oum

introrse lotus scrolls, buds,

and

(Compare Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, 3rd

in three bands,

Demonstration from association,

necklace with rosette.

Ed., III., p. 310.)

Detail from an entire view in

Aouamid, Syria.

Showing necklace

lotus

This Sphinx represents the Queen Mut-netem of the

Types de Sphinx.

el

Prisse d'Avennes.

from a tomb-painting.

buds and lotus flowers,

for the rosette as lotus.

Many

Renan, Mission de

Phe'nicie,

and lotus buds

inverted.

rosettes,

parallel instances

on the

collarettes

of mummy-cases.
4-

Female winged Sphinx, wearing a crown with conventional outline


projecting rosette pendant,

5.

Sphinx over doorway, and

compare No.

lotuses.

2.

lotus

and two buds

necklace with

Prisse d'Avennes, Types de Sphinx.

Detail of a gold vase

from a tomb-painting.

Prisse D'avennes,

Vases en or emaiiU.
6.

Hawk-headed Sphinx (Gryphon), supporting sun


Gems,

7.

Hawk-headed Sphinx (Gryphon) on the

8.

Hawk-headed Sphinxes (Gryphons),


Prisse d'Avennes, Bijoux.

9.

disk.

Cesnola, Cyprus; King's Appendix for

V. 17.

of a vase from an

Ramses

III.

ROSELLINI,

III.,

facing lotus details.

Compare

Hawk-headed Sphinx (Gryphon) and


Detail

lotus.

the enlarged detail

lotuses.

Gold and enamel

bracelet, in the Louvre.

ix. 3 [p. 91].

Style of the

Egyptian tomb-painting.

xxxix. (Edfou).

Phenician and Syrian adaptations.

Prisse D'Avennes,

Vases du

Tombeau

Fl.

XXXI,. p. 221.

222

PLATE XXXII.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Sphinx, goat, and lotus bud.

2.

Sphinx, winged sun disk, lotus palmette.


Uv.

c.

Layard,

Hawk-headed

4.

Hawk-headed Sphinx (Gryphon) and

5.

Cypriote coin

deity,

Sphinx and

lotus,

lotus.

Phenician

and- lotus.

Hawk-headed Sphinx (Gryphon) and Ankh.


for Gems,

vili.

L.\JARD, Culte de Mithra,

seal.

flower mistaken

by

De Luynes

Ivii. 2.

for "fleur-de-lys," leaf

De Luynes

lotus,

lion

and

and

Assyrian cylinder.
Cypriote

Culte de Mithra, xlii.

Lajard,

7.

Cesnola, Cyprus; King's Appendix

seal,

c
lotus palmette.

First Series, Ixxxix.


lotus.

Perrot et Chipiez,

Phenician seal.

Hawk-headed Sphinx (Gryphon)

1 1.

Winged sun

12.

Sun-god, winged

13.

Sphinx, facing lotus-Ionic

disk, Sphinxes,
lions,

Egypto-Phenician ivory from Nineveh, British Museum.

Layard,

2.

10.

and

and

facing a lotus.
lotus.

lotus.

Nineveh, British Museum.


14.

Culte de Mithra,

et In. Cyp., xii. 4.

7.

Winged

Lajard,

Reverse, Sphinx on the lotus, flower and bud.

lierre."

Winged Sun-god, Sphinxes,

9.

seal.

rosettes.

6.

Sphinx,

33.

Phenician or Assyrian

lotus leaf, astragalus ;

mistaken for "feuille de

8.

iv.

22.

3.

Num.

First Series,

stele,

Assyrie, p. 689.

Egyptian or Phenician scarab.

Assyrian or Phenician

Assyrian cylinder.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

Sphinx, winged deity, and lotus palmette.

Assyrian

in

Remote Ages,

relief detail.

ix.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

seal.

which supports a lotus palmette.

Waring, Ceramic Art

Klaproth,

liv.

496.

Ivii. 3.

A. 13.

Egypto-Phenician ivory from


xlv. 2.

Layard, First

Series, xliv. 8.

yix-

7\

^3

yQ.

WA

Y/^^^

.1
7

^<///(i\y

JO

ii
J;?

4ai

^
\^

-^^z^^-^^Zl^
13
/>/.

XXXII., p.

223.

224

PLATE

XXXIII.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Sphinxes over sun disk and moon crescent.

Cypriote tombstone in the

New York Museum.

Cesnola,

Atlas, xvii.

Greek pottery

lotus.

2.

Sphinxes facing

3.

Sphinxes and lotus anthemions.

Cesnola, Cyprus,
4.

(Egg-and-Dart
5.

moulding, xxi.

Sphinx on the Ionic

6. Detail

From

Cypriote tombstone,
[p. 159]).

New York Museum.

Perrot et Chipiez,

Tombstone, Greek pottery

capital.

Greek pottery

detail.

Monumenti

Sphinx on the Ionic

8.

Sphinxes facing lotus

9.

Sphinxes rampant, facing lotus bud.

Male Sphinx and

SaCKEN, Das

capital.

spirals.

lotus.

Inediti,

detail.

IV.

Tombstone, Greek pottery

7.

11.

cover of the sarcophagus of Amathus,

New York Museum.

Inverted lotus border

Cypre, Fig. 151.

Monumenti Inediti.

of Sphinxes rampant, facing lotus motive of a double flower, anthemions, palmettes, and introrse

scrolls.

10.

t}ie

Inediti.

p. 267.

Sphinxes and lotus anthemions.


"

Monumenti

detail,

Greek pottery

detail,

Greek pottery

Bronze repoussi

detail

Ivii.

Monumenti

detail.

Daphnae ware.
detail.

from

Tunis,

Inediti,

II.,

Ylll. kUv.

xxvi. 9a.

Archceologische Zeitung, 1881, Taf. III.


Hallstadt,

prehistoric

Celtic

tombs.

VON

Grabfeld von Hallstadt, xxi.

Sphinxes rampant and lotus anthcmion.

Cypriote tombstone.

New York Museum. Cesnola,

Atlas,

civ.

12.

Sphinxes

on

lotuses, facing introrse lotus scrolls

Cypriote tombstone,

New York Museum.

(compare

ix. 5 [p.

Cesnola, Atlas,

c.

91]) which rise from an Ionic lotus.

^^=iy

^^

Y
vCh

?J

v//
PL XXXIII. p.
G g

225.

226

PLATE XXXIV.

THE SPHINX AND THE LOTUS.

1.

to the head.
Sphinxes with lotus palmettes attached

Phenician detail, Etruria.

Perrot

et

Chipiez,

PlUniiie, Fig. 625.

Archaic Greek pottery

2.

Sphinx with

lotus attached to the head.

3.

Sphinx with

lotus springing from the mouth.

Archiologiqtu, 1888,

Gryphon head, with spiked

5.

Gryphon, with

Gems,

I.,

detail

SCHLIEMANN,

from the

"

Troy, p. 55.

Situla d'Este."

Gazette

xii.

4.

for

Repouss^ hronze

detail.

Greek pottery

lotus attached.

lotus attached to the head.

Monumenti

detail.

Cypriote cylinder.

Inediti, IV.

Cesnola, Cyprus

Ivii.

King's Appendix

9.

6.

Sphinx head and

7.

Sphinx head with

lotus.

hrome

Repoussi

lotus spiral

detail.

attached.

Caere.

Museo Etrusco-Vaticmio,

Greek pottery fragment from Egypt.

I.,

xvii.

Journal of Hellenic

Studies, 1887, Ixxix.

8.

Sphinx with

lotus spiral attached to the head, facing a Swastika of

inverted lotus anthemion, &c.

9.

Detail of a Meliar vase.

Detail of Sphinxes rampant, facing lotuses


"

**

Fran9ois

vase, Chiusi.

Monumenti

and

pattern,

and

spiral scrolls

'^OYiV.fM , Jahrbiich, 1887, xii.

lotus palmettes.

Inediti, iv.

meander

Lotus palmette attached to the bead,

gf

y
r^..

^;

wM

4
(//

3 SI,

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX, IBEX, WILD GOAT,


AND LOTUS.
(PLATES XXXV., XXXVL. XXXVII., XXXVIII., XXXIX., PAGES

245, 247, 249, 251, 253.)

According
to

to

one authority, there

The

Barbary.*

antlered

deer

is

but one species of deer in Africa, indigenous


pictured at

is

probably represents an imported animal, as

The

symbolism.

monuments

it

Beni Hasan,^ but the picture

appears to be

unknown

to

Egyptian

Mesopotamia, and appears on the Assyrixin


and sacred rites. The "Oriental" indications

deer is indigenous to

in connection with deities

so generally assumed for the lion and Sphinx do not carry us beyond the range
of Egypto-Syrian influences, but the problem of the deer and the lotus

must be

solved in Assyria and Chaldea,

From

the study of the bird and the lotus on Cypriote vases, which subject

have reserved

till

the last of this particular series as offering the most crushing

demonstration for the solar symbolism of the lotus in early Mediterranean

was

and the

led to the study of the deer

xxxix.

5),

for

lotus

on Cypriote vases

which a very large number of examples can be

art,

(xxxvii. 5, 7, 12

cited in the

New

York Museum.

The way had been pointed here by Colonna-Ceccaldi in


Sacred Grove of the Curium Apollo with its sacred swans and
the fable of Aelian relating to the latter,^ and he
that

the

deer was an

emblem

of Apollo, and

recognized by the Greek worship of Cyprus.


*

to the Cypriote

Engel
I.

Guide

to the Galleries

Souih Kensington,

p. 47.

SON to have been seen


I.akes of
I

p. 95.

who

is

first

said by

Wilkin-

neighbourhood of the Natron

Ancient Egyptians, 3rd Edition,

sacred deer, and of


to

make

clear to

At the same time


god

the reference in

at Delphi

chanced

2.

Rosellini.

3,

Colonna-Ceccaldi, Monuments de Chypre,

and Revue Archtologique,

Be

Nat. Anim.,

4.

me

an emblem of Apollo distinctly

sent a golden deer to the

of Mammalia, British Museum,

The animal

in the

modern Egypt.

king

was the

his citation of the

lib.

XL,

Engel, Cypern.

xxxiii.,

cvii.

1877

See

p.

163;

quoting Aelian,

p. 240, this

chapter.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

230
to

come

and on turning

to me,

the deer of the sculptor Canachus were

The Apollo and

in view.

to

a Dictionary of Antiquities

well-recognized symbol of the Greek Sun-god.


Later reference to the great work of Keller

by a mass of

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

IBEX,

found that the deer was a

has supplemented this information


the authorities for Artemis (the

among which

classical authorities,

known

"
moon) are of course included. Within Keller's knowledge the deer was a favourite
^
On an island at the mouth of the Euphrates, in
of the gods in Western Asia."

the time of the later Achemenidae, were kept droves of deer and wild goats sacred

The

to Artemis."

prophetic doe of Sertorius in Spain

Artemis held at Patrae

in

At the

cited.^

is

Achaea, the chariots were drawn by deer.^"

festival of

The deer

Athene and Aphrodite as " Moon"


The erotic significance of the deer is mentioned '' together with
goddesses."
his fabled love of music and consequent relations to Apollo.''
The deer was

was

sacred

sacred

to

'^

It

"

"

and was sacred

Apollo,

Isis

Phocis," to Athene

at

to

Laodikeia in

and

Syria,'^

to Apollo at

"
the geld of the
Inscriptions of Delphi mention objects bought with

Delphi.
deer,"

to

and gold and silver deer were offered as presents to temples.'"


would therefore appear that the deer and the lotus on Cypriote vases as

already quoted, and on Rhodian vases (xxxvii.

can be

instances

cited

with

incorporated

the

the

in

British

Museum

monuments

recognized

which a large number of


and the Louvre,''' must be

for

4),

of

position which has not yet been conceded to them.-"

Greek

mythological

would be

It

in the highest

degree unjust to lay the blame of this oversight on the shoulders of Perrot,

has given

the

most outspoken expression

Cypriote vases are without significance.

5.

Daremberg

Crccquti

el

et

X. 13, 2.

Romaines (Hachette, 1873), under "Apollo,"

The deer

is

stag,

Pausanias,

also quoted for Apollo

viii.

48, 2

by Lajard,

O.

Keller,

Thiere

des

classiichen

Alterthums

in

CuUurhistorischtr Beziehung (London, David Nutt).


7.

P-

Perrot

20.

7S- 8,

p.

75- 9.

96. 13,

p.

93. 14,

P-

89- 'Oi

Citium

c'est

un cerf qui occupe

figure feminine

de

la

17. p.

19.

MuiU

96, 18,

p.

96- '5.

" Sur un autre vase de

avec

la

la

place que tient

signification

ici

palmette centrale plac^e sous

aurait bien tort

quelleconque.:

il

cette
le

bee

complete

de vouloir assigner une

Sur aucun des vases qui

marque de I'industrie Cypriote vous ne trouverez


portent
un tableau dont le sujet soit tire de la Mythologie
la

P-

90- ".

P-

P-

96- 16,

p. 96.

9--

p. 97.

Salzmann, Necropok de Camire; and Longp^Rier,


Napoleon 111.

on

pictures

cruche, et avec les deux cignes affront^s,

"

12, p.

the

et Chipiez, Cypre.

un ddcor auquel on

Culte de Milhra, p. 631.


6.

that

who

In these utterances he has simply voiced

Saglio, Diciionnaire des Antiquites

quoting for the doe and

the view

to

art,

Grecque

(p.

designated by Perrot,
rosettes).

At

709).

"

p.

cheval

706 of Cypre the animal


ailtf," is

a deer (marked with

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

IBEX,

an opinion of the specialists, whose views


bring within the ken of the general public.

231

has been his great mission to

it

we

turn to another class of authorities, their references are equally explicit


for the solar symbolism of the gazelle and the
As being unknown to
antelope.
If

Europe we cannot expect


in

European

(xxxvii.

large

than

otherwise

art

xxxix.

to find

as

numbers of the

latter

animals

figuring

borrowed forms, but as such they appear

8).

According to Professor Sayce, the stag must be regarded as the equivalent of


these animals in Babylonian mythology.-'
This view is supported by the

monuments

(xxxvi.

ibex-headed gods)

10,

and

in xxxvi.

Note 33

see also

Our most obvious quotation

5 a deer carried

head downward by the

for stag

with lotus not recognized by Menant.

for the

stag on

Assyrian monuments

is

the

Museum, a winged deity bearing a spotted stag and a


The branch from this figure is shown at xxv. 4 [p. 185].

colossal relief of the British

branch of lotus palmettes.

According to Chaldean mythology Ea was god of the primeval watery element,


atmospheric and otherwise,^ and father of Merodach,^^ a Sun-god.'^* Ea was
called the

Prince,"

"

"
the Antelope the
"Antelope of the Deep," "the Antelope the Creator,"
"
the lu.sty Antelope."^.
The. name of Ea is sometimes expressed by an

ideograph which signifies


in

literally

which his image was carried

Antelope of the Deep."-^

an Antelope," ^^ and the "ship" or ark of Ea,

at

festivals,

was

entitled

"

the ship of the divine

Professor Sayce further states that

Ea was

equivalent

Sun-god Mul-lil of Nipur,^ who was equivalent of the Semitic


(Phenician) Baal,^ the younger Bel of Assyria, as against Merodach the Sun-god
of Babylon, the elder Bel.^
Egyptologists will remember that the sacred bark of
deity to the

Ptah-Sokar-Osiris bears the head of the oryx on


It

also

is

its

prow.^'

matter of record as bearing on the significance of the Semitic

at Mecca,** and the authority


Antelope-god, that troops of sacred gazelles were kept
for this statement, Robertson Smith, mentions that the stag was sacred to Astarte

(Phenician Venus) at Laodicea in Syria.^^


21.

Professor Sayce has favoured me with the

written

We
31.

have already found mention of a

Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians,

" in
advice that
Babylonia the stag would be the equivalent

Edition.

of the antelope."

Dehr-el-Medineh (Thebes).

22. S.wcE,
24,

27,

proven
p.

Hibbert

by

280. 28,

texts,

Lectures
p.

(p.

100.-25,

104). 23,
p.

280. 26,

p. 145.-29, p. 147. 30, p. 147.

p.
p.

104.

280.

32,

There are instances

at

^^. Religion of the Semites,^, ^^-j.

de Clkrcq,

III.,

p.

Dehr-el-Bahri

302,

and

3rd
at

In Collection

IL, Plate v. 96, stag, trefoil lo.us (unrecognized),

six-rayed star,

"symbol of

Istar."

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

232

IBEX,

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

similar fact for one of her later equivalents (the Oriental Artemis) at the

the Euphrates (Note

There

is still

to the evidence of

8).

another

celestial

animal to be included

in this sketch.

Rhodian and Cypriote vases the ibex was a

appear on the vase xxxvii.


Rhodian vase xxxviii. shows the ibex alone, a more

the

deer.

shows

Both

friezes of

mouth of

animals

The

both animals on one vase.

deer on Cypriote vases (xxxvii. 6,

10),

ibex

celestial equivalent of

Although the

4.

common

representation

bronzes (xxxix.

most decisive evidence on

4),

and the

this

head

furnished by the cylinder xxxvi.

As

parallel to the

Museum

the British

large

also an equivalent of the

is

and on Hallstatt

According

Assyrian

is

5.

relief in

of the winged deity

with branch of lotus palmettes and stag,

we may mention

also another

relief

from Nineveh, where the worshipper


^ and a ceremonial
carries an ibex
branch of lotuses (xxiv. 8

[p. 183]),

and

faces a sacred tree of lotus buds.^^


133.

34.

..,. ,.,
,-..,^ .
BRANCH AND
DEITY WITH CEREMONIAL ...
IBEX, FACING A
SACRED TKEB OF LOTUS BUDS. J rom Lavard.

The

designation

"
of " ibex

is

authorized

At

in

,,

this

68 he

p.
by Menant, Cylindm, II., 65.
applies the word "chevreau" to the same animal. Although
the horns of the goat and wild goat are with most species

instance

shorter and less curved than those of the ibex, there

is

sp)ecies of wild goat in Western Asia whose horns are

found in the

exactly similar to those of a species of ibex

same

locality

both instanced by examples

ward curve

Rhodian

sjxicies

at the tip of a

vases,

and on the

Museum

There does not

of Natural History, South Kensington.

appear to be any existing

in the

of ibex with abrupt down-

long horn, as found on the

cylinder, xxxvi. 7.

These may

" extinct Lebanon


species," quoted by Keller,
represent an
or

may

be simply inaccurate copies either of the heavier

and more regular curve of the " Nubian

ibex," or of the

slighter curve of the long-horned oryx.

it

According
O to Keller the ibex was
i
i1
/-J -il- il
!
confused with the wild
constantly
l>

tomb-paintings at Beni Hasan several varieties of antelope

and

gazelle are carefully distinguished

The

regards the horns.

" Nubian ibex


very small

and are
II.,

"

peculiarly

from the ibex as

heavy horns of the

are also distinctly represented

monuments

on some

(the seal, xxxv. 11, for example),

shown by a Ninevite relief (Botta,


of the Rhodian " ibex," as regards

also distinctly

164).

The horn

existing species, has

no obvious counterpart, excepting that

of the chamois, in the matter of curve, but the chamois

horn

is

very short, and that of the Rhodian vase ibex

is

very long, nor does the habitat of the chamois answer the
conditions.

The body

that of a deer, but

it

of an ibex resembles quite closely

retains the beard of the goat.

ing to Zoology, the

genus Capra

ibexes and goats.

The

is

Accord-

divided into two classes,

goats are divided into capra hircus

oryx head which forms the prow of the sacred bark of

(domestic), and capra cegagrus (the wild goat).


35. Lavard, Second Series, 47, shows a similar subject

Ptah-Sokar

with Sacred Tree, but the ibex

Osiris, then

there

is

If

precedent

be always the

for the exag-

gerated curve in Egyptian art (at Dehr-elBahri).

In the

deity

and the

lotus branch

is

is

carried by the winged

differently detailed (Fig. 133).

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

IBEX, WILD GOAT,

AND

LOTUS.

2 00

goat by the Greeks/*' a fact which will not surprise a modern antiquarian who
undertakes to study Natural History in the cause of the lotus.
From this fact

he concludes an equivalent significance for both animals.


"

ibex

"

nor the Greek

Neither the Latin

are Indo-German,^^ with which

'I^uXoq

the

fact

coincides

that the presence of the animal cannot be proven as indigenous to ancient Italy

seems to have been rare with the Swiss Lake-dwellers, but


appears on the Greek islands.
or Greece, and

An
is

it

important

from the foregoing, and


that the Greeks confused the skin of the goat with the

fact for the history of the

also explicitly stated, viz.,

mentioned by Keller

Aegis

The appearance

skin of the wild goat.^"

it

in connection

results

of the wild goat on

Cretan coins

is

with the Aegis ^ as worn by the Cretan Zeus,

but here his advices mainly end, with the consoling information that beside the
"
wild goat and the tame goat, the chamois, the ibex, and the
Paseng," there was
still

probably

It is the

another Lebanon species which

is

now

extinct.

view of Professor A. S. Murray that the entire goat-skin was once

From Keller's matter relating to the ibex or wild goat of


worn by Athene.
Cretan coins and the Aegis of the Cretan Zeus from the evidence of Cretan gems
with the ibex or wild goat from the ibex on Rhodian and Cypriote vases (xxxvii.,
;

from the Goat-gods and Sun-gods Mul-lil and Uz (Samas) as identified


with the Phenician Baal (p. 234) and from the relations of the Astarte of Syria
xxxviii.)

and the Oriental Artemis of Chaldea to the wild goat,


That it came directly
to an explanation of the Aegis.
is

reported

antiquity.

it

is difficult

to the

not to

move

Greeks from Libya

by Herodotus, but Phenician cults were established here in early


The Chaldean Sun-god and Goat-god Uz was represented as dressed in

goat-skins.'*"

"

According to Professor Sayce the Chaldean God Ea was at times regarded


It was then that he was entitled the
rather as a gazelle than as an antelope.
'

'

Princely Gazelle,'

Merodach

gazelle,

and

original

p.

p. 40.

is

Gazelle,'

the

Gazelle

who

gives the earth,' and

termed the mighty one of the Gazelle God.'


'

"^^
,

however, was more correctly appropriated to Mul-lil of Nipur [Sun-god


" 42
of the Phenician Baal] who was specially called the Gazelle God.

Keller, ThUie, &c.,

40. 39,

'

lusty

his son [a Sun-god]

The

36.

the

p.

38.-37, pp.

35,

38.-38,

4.

Robert Brown,

Jun., Proceedings, Society of Biblical

Archceology, 1890.
41. Sayce, Ilibbert Lectures, pp. 283, 284.

42,
H h

p. 284.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

234

"

The

IBEX,

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

frequently takes the place of the goat, which

gazelle

was

also sacred

and exalted into the Zodiacal sign of Capricornus. Since Tebet, the tenth month,
corresponds to the sign of Capricornus and was dedicated to Pap-sukal, it is
"

possible that Pap-sukal,

the messenger of the gods,"

was himself

the Goat-god.

At any rate there was a deity called Uz, the Accadian word for a goat.
The archaic Babylonian form of the character Uz is glossed by Utuki " the

great

"

spirit

infer

We may
and explained to be synonymous with the Sun-god.
It
that Uz "the goat" was a title of the Sun-god of Sippara [Samas].""
.

also appears

and hence

that the

"

divine goat

"

was associated with the Sun-god

Mul-lil,'*^

once more appears that the goat [and wild goat or ibex] were

it

equivalents of the gazelle.

This identity of symbolism is furthermore attested by the following facts. In


the Egyptian Zodiac a species of oryx (a straight-horned gazelle) represented
Capricorn (the tenth month).'^ In the Hindu Zodiac, which was introduced into

Hindustan by the Greeks,** the sign


antelope, in India,

is

a gazelle's head
and the
the "vehicle" of the Moon-god Chandra*" and a symbol of
""^

for Capricorn is

Siva.

in

According to Robert Brown, Jun., the elevation of various animals to a place


the Zodiac results from their divine relations to the gods who were considered

who

patron deities of the various months and

represented the

sun

in various

aspects or stages of his journey through the Heavens.***

To
and the

these abundant references which

would explain the associations of the deer


or antelope and lotus, and the ibex or goat and lotus,

lotus, the gazelle

43. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 284.

44, p. 286.

45. Birch, Egyptian Antiquities in the British


p. 54,

" In the Zodiac

46. Entyclopadia

it

49. Vishnu's

Museum,

Ninth

Edition,

under

"The Greeks introduced the solar Zodiac into


Hindusun." The older Hindu Zodiac was lunar and had
"Zodiac."

twenty-seven divisions.

(Article by Miss A.

^L

47.

Encydopadia

48.

Birdwood, Industrial Arts of India, and Moor,

The

latter

quotes

William Jones' translation of the Hitopadesa

away the

antelopes,

who

sacred to Chandra,
antelopes are

its

207) from Sir


:

" In
driving

are appointed keepers of the pool

thou

guardians."

hast

acted

improperly.

We

p. 30),

is

moon

are

mentioned by

connected with Egypt by the

and has been

identified with Set or

a striking resemblance to the Egyptian figures of Bes (Set),


this also has

by Egyptian

(p.

to the

Vishnu

Typhon, whose sacred animals were the ibex, gazelle, and


The consort of Siva has
antelope, as subsequently shown.
and

Gierke.)

Britannica, as above.

Hindu Pantheon.

p.

relations

60.

Puranas (Moor,

represented Capricornus."

Britannica,

Birdwood,

Baal, with

been noticed by Pierret.

texts to Arabia,

whom

Bes

is

related

and the Semitic conception of


identified, would probably

Bes (or Set) are

explain the original traits of Siva, either by Arab, Chaldean,


or Assyrian influence.

According

to

an Egyptian

text the

god Bes came from Arabia (De Roug6, Notice Somviaire).


^p. Proceedings, Society of Biblical Arclueology, \Zf)Q.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX, IBEX, WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.


in Greek, Assyrian,

offered

and Phenician

Egyptian texts and the

silence of

by the

we may add

art,

the standing of the ibex,*^ gazelle,

oryx,^'^

235

the curious negative evidence

difficulty of securing authorities for

and antelope

^^

in

Egyptian mythology.

has been a matter of considerable difficulty to secure the evidence furnished

It

Notes that these animals were Typhonic, symbols of Set, and ultimately
reprobated representations in Egyptian art, subject to the destruction which has
in the

made

the statuettes of the

God

that the

small bronze ibex of the Third Egyptian Room,


Museum, Case 77 (No. 1698A and 115850) bears

"
designation

Birch,

Egyptian

animal devoted

Ibex,

Antiquities

mentions the ibex " as seldom,

in

the

to

Typhon."

British

Museum,

un

52.

The

and

some

illustrated

descriptive

words "gazelle," "antelope,"


personally used them.
[the

oryx] whose

as

"oryx,"
" This
animal
According to Birch,

tians,

overlooks the tvidcnce of the Dcnderah

short-homed

or)'x

But

received divine honours."


reliefs,

this

its

head

is

of Ptah Socharis and embalmed."

mentioned by HoRAroLLO

as

Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians,

In

gazelle

Leyden Museum.
inlaid with gold, of
Illustration in

One

as

3rd Ed.

of these

a bronze statuette,

Horus trampling under

in

(TAntiquith des Pays-Bas a Leide

"
:

II foule

as

represented

holding

to explain his victory over

showing thai

it

was a sacred

Museum, No.
Kahas" Dr. Birch

It

was called

Brugsch

says,

"According

As

to this

to his essence a

representative of all foreign countries

most

Egypt under

the

Pharaohs,

the god
I.

p. 212.

a small temple at Denderah near the Hatho-

is

capitals

and other

and

indications,

this

probably related to the appearance of the gazelle

the unpublished reliefs of the Hathor

54.

bronze of the Leyden

Leemans

the

is

to

be the only

partly broken away.

temple-portico

detoutes

is

les statues

supposed by

statuette of Set extant.

"Cette

The head

petite statue est jusqu'

de cette divinite" [1845].

423, of Leemans' quoted work.

sous ses pieds

Museum

seule qu'on sache etre echappe'e k

present la

Musk

II

gazelle,

Birch

a note by

collection of the British

in the

is

is

(Figs. 134, 140. 148).

foot a gazelle.

Leemans' Monuniens Agyptiens du

hand, supposed

mummied

shown by the

fact is

monuments of

justly

temple, where the cult of Bes (Typhon, Set) was affected

is

furni>hed by
is

but a

There

evidence for the Typhonic character of the


is

is

In Wilkinson's Ancient Egyp-

sometimes

is

of the foreigners."

was

See the quotation from Brugsch for the White


The most
Antelope as Typhonic at p. 12, Note 52.

and antelope

became the

53.

interesting

Horus

ancient Egyptian creation. Set at the same time gradually

an emblem of impurity.
III., p. 302,

in the

worship,

It is

considered a representation of Set by Champollion, and

action of

under the XVIIIth and XlXth Dynasties.

found

It

The

overlooks the fact that the worship of Set was in vogue

appears in the lotus bower on an equal

represented Capricorn, and

it

on the boat

that

These undoubtedly are emblems

6778A, Antelope Dorcas.

footing with the goose, cow, and bull (Figs. 134, 140, 148).
" Two
[I
representations show it being sacrificed. ...

the Zodiac

emblem than

This would be consonant with

foot.

III. p. 303, there

Horus

animal,

where the

have observed a number besides those mentioned.]


the only animal sacrificed to the gods on sculptures.

"

gazelle

Set

Ed,

3rd

follows

species have various names, was an

to have

under

of his triumph over Set.

animal devoted to Typhon, and does not appear in the

monuments

(Ibid.

action of this statuette appears to be

gazelles in both hands.

have

it

une

"

main gauche

reliefs, of late epoch, of the god standing


on a crocodile, surmounted by a head of Bes, and holding

matter of this Plate an explanation as to the

and

The

sa

ordinary Horus

have placed over the

repre-

With these representations may be classed the

described.

Oryx leucoryx. The horns of


and nearly straight, and resemble

on Plate xxxv.

comes dans

tient les

the Typhonic nature of Bes.

antelopes, includ-

statuette

foule sous ses pieds

il

rather that of holding the animal as an

ing the White Antelope or


this species are short

il

XV. p. 13).

of trampling

oryxes are specified by Worcester's Dictionary

as a genus including various gazelles

dont

gazelle
I.

murderer of

Bes (Set, Typhon, Baal) "sur una colonne, orn^e

d'un chapiteau k fleur de lotus

"
honours," and as
having been supposed an accursed
He makes reference to Aelian xiv. 16.
animal."

Museums.^'

Another

animal Typhonien."

oryx,

sents

ever, found with divine

if

rarity in the

Set (or Typhon), brother and

British

the

known

well

It is

Typhonic God himself of highest

h.

la destruction

I.,

Plate

ii.,

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

236

was

Osiris,

destroyed,

ultimately

his

name

IBEX,

from

a deity banished

erased

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.


statues

Egypt, that his

were

from the monuments, and his symbols hated and

As

despised.

representing

and destructive

the baleful

heat of the sun he became

of

representative

evil.

Set was identified with the

and

Sutekh

Hittite

the Phenician

Baal,

own malevolent

sacrifices

to him,
134.

From

the
THE GAZF.I I.e AND THE LOTUS. A loiiii bower
a panel in the temple-portico at Denderab, photographed for the Author.
,

whose

aspects are

the

in

apparent

with

human

which were made

and

in other gross

characteristics

of his wor-

ship.

In spite of the generally antagonistic attitude of Egypt to Set, his cult had
great vogue under certain sovereigns of the

whom Mesopotamian

XVIIIth and XlXth Dynasties, under

influences were prevalent in various ways.

Aside from the deer,


for
is

no

which

evidence

forthcoming,

as

an

animal probably not into

Egypt, it
appears that all animals
digenous

treated

in

this

were Typhonic.
the illustrations
ibex,

gazelle,

chapter

Hence
for

the

antelope,

Egypt which
have been collected on

and

lotus, in

\miiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiii
From an Egyptian

Plate

XXXV.,

have

the

mininilii

135. THE IBEX AND THE LOTUS.


The hieroglyphs read,
fresco fragment in Turin.

the Gods."

From Author's

[nr
" The divine soul of

sketch.

an Egyptian lotus symbol as connected with a worship


which was related to foreign influences, in so far as Set was considered counterinterest of representing

part of Baal, and ultimately banished from the country.

Unpublished

reliefs in

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX, IBEX, WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.


the

Denderah prove, however, that here

temple-portico at

was an important divine animal

in the

The Turin

pp. 236, 250, 277).

at

237

the gazelle

least

Ptolemaic period (Figs. 134, 140,

monument

135) is also a

fresco (Fig.

148,

of great

importance for the ibex.

The Mesopotamian

influences in Greek history, as distinct from those of Egypt,

can therefore be traced wherever the symbolic animals of this chapter are
question,

and

is

it

clear that the lotus

means of designating

the

is

symbol

in

their

importance and tracing the origins of their vogue.


Illustrations

the gazelle and

for

ibex and lotus, from Egyptian art

lotus,

are rarities in collections and in publications.

is

equally foreign and carries with

too late a date to

come

We

is

from Nineveh, No.

have only the capital

it

unknown

a blue enamel

the vase

decorates

it

7. is

plate,

No.

in publication.

Cypriote, and No. 10

of

is

dated to the

The

the recent finds of Mr. Petrie.

is

from the

is

of

rarity

from the Delta,

unknown

derivation.

fine illustration of the ibex

XVIIIth or XlXth Dynasty,

illustrations of the gazelle

Denderah have never previously been published or mentioned

my

1 1

No. 5

(4).

remaining, also doubtless under Syrian influence,

(3)

as reminder of the Typhonic cult of Egypt.


lotus,

xxxv., are directly

9,

in question as a typical example, aside

of a representation otherwise

No. 8

and

i, 2,

Syrian art by the heraldic balance of the double animals

specified as of foreign

No. 6

Nos.

and the

among

is

and the lotus from

in publication, within

knowledge.

Having vindicated, both by the exceptions in Egypt which prove the rule and
by the monuments exterior to Egypt, the significance of the ibex, oryx, gazelle,
and deer, in association with the lotus, it remains to point to a curious connecting
link between Egyptian, Greek,

and Syrian monuments of

the deities of Phenicia

god Reshep.^^
^ of

inscriptions with the

is

the

He

identified

is

Amyclae, and he

Greek Apollo

this description.

is

Among

by various Cypriote

represented in Egyptian

paintings with a head-dress decorated with a projecting head of an animal variously


specified as
55.

an oryx,

ibex, or gazelle.*^

Read by Wilkinson, Ancient

Variously spelled

at

present,

Egyptians, as

Rassaf,

Reshef,

Rampu.

by Birch

Reshep,

Enmann
Geschichte

Reschuf, &c. (Egyptian, Reschpu).


56.

Two

Cypriote

inscriptions

identifying

Reshep are so designated in the British


labels.

The

identification (translation

Apollo with

Museum by

by Euting)

is

the

noticed

identified

Cesnola's Atlas,

in

in the

der
in

Essay noted at p. 199


Phonizier,

Cyprus

identification holds for

"
57.

Coiffe'

de

la

with

p.

150,

Plate

for

text
;

&c.

viii.

by

by Pietschmann's
Apollo

is

also

Baal Melkarth, and a similar

Hercules (Note 65).

mitre blanche, orne^ d'une tete d'oryx.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX, IBEX, WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

238

and it is in any case a


That the cylinder xxxvi. 5 represents this god is possible,
emblems.
in the history of the deer and ibex as solar
highly important document
and this
ibex-headed or deer-headed god is not otherwise known,
An
actually

hitherto passed unnoticed in this particular.

monument has

Both the

question.

both

but

so

are

makes

disk of this cylinder

The winged

that

clear

it

Sun-god

in

is

and winged sun disk indicate an Egyptian influence,


common on Assyrian cylinders as to leave the problem
in debate between Assyrian and Phenician

Ankh

origin,

Hittite

is

origin

also

possible; for the

antelope or gazelle was also a Hittite em-

blem, not only as seen on the ram

at

but also as held by a Hittite deity

203]),

[p.

(xxviii.

Boghaz-keui.^

On

the Phenician cylinders of thoroughly

Egyptian

which are so

style,

far

authority

Reshep on cylinders, he is associated


with Set and Horus,^ a farther indication of

for

solar

his

character.

New York

Gan^:l:an^oXor"F;om the photograph

a
of a cast in the

Museum

of St. Germain,

not to

recognize the Dieu Corim of the Gauls,"^

d;

ou

gazelle,

" Vor der

de

Stirn als

belier."

Pierket, Pantheon,

Abzeichen

statt

tier,

einer Gazelle."
p.

150

in

bildet,

den

Pietschmann, Gachichle der Phoni-

Oncken's Allgemeine

following references for

Reshep

Geschichte.

60.

46.

der Uraeusschlange die

den Stimkopf der Aegyptischesn Gottheiten

Kopf

p.

Cypriote

The

in hieroglyphic inscriptions

is

The

is

the evidence for the deer as

After reviewing

the

one specified by
Birch as having had the head of a deer

With antlers broken away.""

statuettes in
i^uuHrom

Among

solar

who

figure

is

emblem

appears on Gallo-Roman

in

Cesnola's Atlas, Plate

here that the matter of Birch,

The horns

occurs.

difficult

is

it

who

away.
61,

Salomon Reinach,

des Antiquites Nationales

Catalogue Sommaire du Musce

au Chateau

"Tres importante

tie

Saint-Gerv.aincn-

Laye,

d'Autun, reprdsentant un dieu barbu, cornu

58. It

is

Inscriptions.

noticed by Inman, Ancient Pagan

and Modern

123,

p.

statuette

des environs
(les

comes

sont brisdes) portant un torques au cou, les jambes croissdes

Christian Symbolism, that the Hittite goddess at Boghaz

sur un coussin, tenant sur ses genoux deux serpents a

Keui stands on a

de belier

59. Published

Men ANT,

lioness

by

and holds an antelope.

Pietschmann

Cylindres, &c.

as

above,

and

by

it

wrote the descriptions,

Mariettf, Karnak ;

Egyptian

and

of the original are entirely broken

have been furnished by a friend: Dummichen, Resultate ;


^nk'e.ve^

xxiv.,

et

oreilles

du

crine

c'est

un

torques plac^ entre eux.

dieu, on aper^oit

done une

deux

tfite

Au-dessus des

petites tctes collies

divinity tric^phale."

au

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX, IBEX, WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.


monuments with

human head and with Apollo and

antlered

as a reminiscence of prehistoric

deer-worship and old

239

Mercury''^ (Fig* ^3^)

Phenician influences in

France by way of Marseilles and otherwise. The votive deer transfixed by swords,
of Sardinian-Phenician ar^, are also in point (Perrot et Chipiez, Sardaigne p. 82).
We can at all events trace the solar deer and ibex, with the lotus as solar

monuments

indication, as far as the prehistoric

of Hallstatt.

^"^

xxxix 4

Plate

The deer
and the deer occurs with lotus on the same patera^
also occurs with lotus spirals on metals of the Swiss Lake-dwellers.''^
Doe,
shows the

antelope,

ibex,

and

marked as

deer, are

solar

bronzes of the Southern Tyrol (xxxix.

8),

by the lotus spiral on


and we can trace them

prehistoric Celtic
to the early

home

Northern Italy (xxxix. 6, 7; Ivii. 16, [p. 341]), and to the Greek
"
Geometric style
Ivii. 2 [p. 341] ibex or wild goat).
(Ivi. 2, 6 [p. 339]
The solar deer is also specified by the Swastika at Troy (Ix. i [p. 359]).

of Celtic art in
"

Other whorls without

For the

solar deer

same

this indication are thus carried to the

and the lotus

in the circle of the

"

Mycenae Culture

evidence in the gold objects found by Dr. Schliemann (xxxvii.


the

Although

indications

for

Reshep

affected in Cyprus,

and although he was

2,

[p.

"

8).

we have

249]).

Ibex-God

are

although his worship was

57),

identified with

1 1

and

as a Gazelle-

supported by Egyptian paintings (quoted at Note

score (xxxvii.

Apollo in Cyprus,

have no

intention of pushing his individual claims to have been the mediator and connecting
link between the solar deer of Greece

and of Mesopotamia, beyond the present


evidence.
The deer is apparently confined on later Cypriote coins to the type of
Hercules, who is also a well-known Phenician Sun-god by derivation.^ Great as
"Bas

62. Ibid. p. 27.


le

relief,

24,414

il

reprdsente

dieu gaulois comu, Cernunnas, les jambes croissees \

Torientale, pressant

graines

de

entre

(?) assis

la

main un

un Mercure

Grec, qui forment avec

lui

sac, d'ou

et

un Apollon de

comme une

representations of this god are mentioned

63.

Celtic,

at pp. 28, 30, 33,

(near

Salzburg).

and are dated


are

earlier.

and

fourth

Between

1847

ninety-three

of pre-

Europe have been made at


The tombs are considered

the

to

finds

tombs

century

and

were

B.C.,

1864

but
nine

opened, which

furnished six thousand and eighty-four


objects; of which
three thousand six

hundred and ninety-six were decorative

and gold; one hundred

and eighty-two, vases of bronze , twelve hundred and fortyfour, vases

of pottery.

No

Sommaire,

]).

157.

coins have been

fine illustrated publication

made by Von Sacken, Das


far

the most

found ; an

Salomon Reinach, Catalogue

indication of early dates.

by

metals in Northern

hundred

style

Other

triade."

The most numerous and important

Hallstatt

many

des

same Catalogue.

34, of the

historic

sortent

objects in bronze, amber, glass,

valuable reference, as

larger selection of objects,

is

has been

Grabfeld von Hallstatt,

showing a

the exhibition in the

director of the excavations (Ramsauer).

antiquity
bi,.

is

may be

made by
The date of

minimum downward and much

assigned to

many

the
the

higher

tombs.

Y'kkdvak&'dY^^\ax.v., Lake Dwellings of Switzerland,

Plate cxxviii. 6.

65.

much

Museum

of St. Germain of the original colour sketches

fourth century

but

On

iron from Marin.

De Luvnes, Num.

et

In.

Cyp.,

Plate

iv.

Greek

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

240

^vas the

He

and the

deer, as Keller has

shown

us,

LOTUS.
gods of

local

belongs to many, even in Greece.

and according to
foregoing pages. There

also belongs to several in Mesopotamia, according to texts

the equivalents which have been established for


is

AND

numerous as the

of sacred animals, they were not as

number

antiquity

IBEX, WILD GOAT,

him

in

no animal so frequently found with the Sacred Tree on cylinders

The

in other various phases of Assyrian art, as the ibex or wild goat.

(xxxvi. 6)

antlered deer

and the antelope or

frequently occurs,

and

gazelle

by many monuments, whose


small dimensions and indifferent art lead the

may be

indicated

amateur

bewildered

horns

in

animals

of

to

suspect an ibex.
137.

THE IBEX AND THB LOTUS.

Jfl

British

this

From

Museum.

Layard.

^^^j^^^

worship they were

all

in

its

From

assimilated.

significance of the lotus-symbol for

power

the worship
of sun and moon
eady days
^
'
With
^jj ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^jj ^j^^j^. gyj^bols.
'

Detail of a Phenician bronze patera from Nineveh.

many were

it

The

derived.

history lies in the simplicity of

its

solvent

implication of the essential facts underlying every ancient cult

the sequence of history which

it

The

demonstrates.

lotus

Rhodes and of Cyprus with those of Greece and of Syria.


For Rhodes the worship of the sun as dominant cult

is

links

in

cults of

the

well attested.

For

have no wish to push the evidence for any single deity beyond the
apparent facts. The lotus was not less the flower of Isis and of Astarte than it was
I

Cyprus

the flower of Horus, of Baal Melkarth, and of Baal Merodach.


sacred animal of both Apollo and Aphrodite
for

Athene and

(p. 230),

Isis (p. 230), as well as for

The

deer was a

and we have found

Artemis.

The

it

quoted

following facts must,

Deer sacred to Apollo were kept at Curium and they


from Syria (Aelian). A Phenician deity (viz. Reshep) is

however, be given due weight.

were fabled to have

swum

represented with a head-dress of horns on Egyptian monuments, and this deity

has been identified with Apollo

in

The

Cyprus.

deer, or ibex,

and lotus are one

of the two favoured subjects of Cypriote vases, and the deer, ibex, and normal lotus
are represented

on Oriental monuments which no scholar

symbolic (xxiv. 8
Cypriote coins:

Hercules

^th

is

[p.

183]

Head of Hercules

identified with Baal

the Chaldean Izdubar.

xxxv.

xxxvi. 4, 6

reverse, antlered deer.

Melkarth at Corinth, and

Isaac Taylor, Ori^n of the

and the

seal

will

dare to say are not

mentioned by Note

33).

p. 304. The Greek word Apollo may represent the


Semitic " Ablu," a title of Tammuz, the Syrian Sun-god.

Aryans,

Ibid. p. 104.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,


Conceding the associations of the

some monuments

indicate the importance of

p.

moon

or both,

remains to

it

illustrated

(xxxvi. 4) have not been specified by experts,


"
"
has been mentioned (Note i r,
lapse in calling this lotus
garlic

to

Sargon according

The Cypriote

49).

and

by the Plates and not yet


The lotus and ibex on the seal of Sennacherib

noticed, or too rapidly passed by.

but Menant's

241

deer, ibex or wild goat, oryx, gazelle,

lotus to be symbolic for sun or

antelope, with the

(or of

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

IBEX,

Menant)

cylinder xxxvi.

with antlered deer turned sideways,

2,

demonstrates the symbolism of the lotus-Ionic form for the original time and
place of this

solar significance of the

by Colonna-Ceccaldi (Note

specified

beside

The

monument.

(in detail xxiii.

it

[p.

Assyrian instances xxxvi. 1,8,


been

hitherto

claimed

for

173]).
9, 10,

by the ibex heads


These again carry us to the well-known
and give them a significance which has not

4,

p.

We

them.

Ionic capital xxxvi. 7

170),

return

is

reinforced

by way of a cylinder

then

showing the ibex with the Sacred Tree of normal three-spiked

(6)

lotuses (hitherto

overlooked by Assyriologists) to the cylinder showing the ibex on the normal


lotus

(4),

as beginning and completing the argument of the Plate.

The number

of instances where lunar crescents are associated with gazelles

and where no other emblems appear, is considerable. There


may be connection here with the fate which has so distinctively assigned the deer
to Diana, and with the fact that the Hindu Moon-god Chandra (Note 48) rides in

(xxxv. 10; xxxvi.

3),

The

a car drawn by antelopes.


attribute

of Siva,

out (Note

49).

Siva

The evidence
(xxxvii.

xxxvii.

Tree of

7,

5,

12),
it

whose

is

this

is

antelope

affiliations

is

also a recognized and very frequent

with Set and Baal have also been pointed

also represented with the lunar crescent.

for the rosette as a lotus, furnished

will

not be overlooked.

the only one

vase

pottery of this style.

shows

The

known
rare

details

to

As

for

by the

the

publication.

those

the deer

who have examined

or

ibex

Sacred Tree of

in

New York

this collection

can

Cyprus
rosettes

The right-hand Sacred

example of a lotus palmette


are lotus buds and lotus scrolls.

undoubtedly Greek, as are the other Cypriote examples.


vases showing

solar deer of

in

The vase

The number
only be

Cypriote
is

of Cypriote

estimated

of Cypriote vases carefully, and

it

by
will

one was cited


argue the deficiency of similar monuments elsewhere to say that not
by the publication in the Journal of Hellenic Studies from which the vase xxxvii. 5
is

This

taken, a publication which consequently failed to solve the problems raised.


I

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

242

AND

IBEX, WILD GOAT,

lack of the comparative Cypriote examples has also

doomed

LOTUS.
numerous

the very

Rhodian vases of European Museums, which show the deer or the ibex with the
lotus, to an inefficient obscurity.

Renewed demonstrations
spiral

scroll

see

320),

p.

and meander
and

Celtic

by Plate xxxix.
"

the

for

(2),

for the spiral

present existence
prehistoric

are offered

The

(8),

Herzblatt

for the rosette

"

(lotus

(3),

(i),

leaf derivative,

lotus has a faculty of proving its

explanation of the spiral

sphinx (xxxiv.

3,

omni-

by apparently absurd examples. Comparative study of the


"
"
which other curious examples of
or
Umbrian
art, from

mouth

Plate xxxix. are taken, will prove the animal with lotus pendant from the

be the

for the

227]),

[p.

Compare

(8).

and

the

cow

(xxvii.

the

197]),

[p.

to

horse

the

with other

9, [p. 365]),

illustrations of this Plate.

V(lxi.

The

tion

has

of

study

the

and lotus associa-

gazelle

me

led

to

fix

positively the origin of the

the

called

sceptre

Tarn,

carrying an animal's head

which

is

so far unspecified

(Fig. I39a).*'

Museum

the British
138.

THE TAM WITH ANTELOPE


HEAD.

Detail of the stone tablet No.


8b6 in the Mall of Egyptian
Statues,

From

Museum.

British

Author's sketch.

886,

in

of

stone
the

Hall of Egyptian statues


(time of Ptolemy Lathyrus),

The Tam

De Rouci,

Notice Sommairt,

amulets in the Louvre

" Deux

en faience bleue, font voir en


qui surmonte les sceptres divins

donnent une grande


ears

"

TAM

IN bruce's TOMB AT THEBES.


Author's sketch.

From

held before an altar in " Bruce's

head of a gazelle (Fig. 139). A wooden Tam


shows the bend of the antelope's horn as seen
66.

139.

the head of an antelope

is

(Fig. 138).

No.

tablet,

The Tam

pifeces

&c,

says

of

extremement

detail la

tfite

two
rares,

de I'animal

ses longucs oreilies lui


"
analogie avec le Idvrier." The
long
;

are in reality ears


conventionally attached to short

horns.

in the

Tomb " at Thebes


British Museum (No.

is

an amulet

in the

sponding to the two in the Louvre.


three,

and

find

thus conceived.
original animal.

6173)

The ordinary Tam

in profile view.
There

the

is

them corroborative

Wilkinson

British
I

Museum

corre-

have examined

for the gazelle

suggests the

Ancient Egyptians, IIL,

p.

all

head as

" Harrier

"

as

352, 3rd Ed.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX, IBEX, WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.


consists of a gazelle head

To

together.

gazelles

in profile

showing

we

support this proposition

whose ears

either equal or

view one ear and one horn joined


need the evidence that there are

exceed the length of the horn, to show that

such representation was originally plausible.

mummied

gazelle

No. 6783a."

It

of
is

the

This evidence

Museum, Third

British

243

therefore clear that the

Tam

is

is

furnished by the

Egyptian Room, case 52,


a survival of gazelle solar

symbolism whose traditional form survived the antagonism to Set either because
the Eg)'ptians had themselves forgotten what the conventional Tam represented,
or because the sceptre had become a general attribute of solar gods, and
identified with Set as
67.

The number

of the

by Birch (Note 53).

The

to Birch, as quoted, this

The

horns

differ

was the animal

mummy differs
piece
gazelle

is
is

itself.

from that given

the same.

the

in

"

According

the Antelope Dorcas,

Encyclopaedia

Britannica

I39A.

rings.

The horns

DUTY BEARING THE

TAM.

Denderah.
the rear exterior wall of the Hathor temple,
I

(8th

Edition)

under

Mammalia," where the horns are described as having

numerous

from the account of the Antelope Dorcas

From

was not

of the

mummy

are smooth.

244

PLATE XXXV.
THE DEER, GAZELLE. ORYX,
The

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

IBEX,

words "gazelle" and "antelope" are often used interchangeably, for instance, by the Encyclopaedia
Britannica (8th Edition), under "Mammalia." According to Worcester's Dictionary, both antelopes
"

and gazelles come under the genus oryx, but the word "oryx is often used without closer specification by Egyptologists, and it is mentioned by Wilkinson as "one of the antelopes" {Ancient
"
Egyptians, III., p. 302, 3rd Edition), viz., the one having long annulated horns tapering to a short
or inclination backwards," Ancient Egyptians, III., p. 94,
point and nearly straight, with slight curve
I have used the word "gazelle" for the short-horned
avoid
Edition.
To
confusion,
oryx, which
3rd

use

is

justified
"

"
have used the word " oryx for the long-horned oryx. I have used
the gazelle with spiral horns, which are represented in profile view by a

by custom.
"

the word

antelope
recurved bend.

for

All the illustrations of this Plate are supposed to exhibit Syrian influence.
1.

Gazelles, with
lotuses.

2.

as

lotuses

Detail from

collar pendants (compare Fig. 134), facing a "bouquet" of conventional


ViLLIERS STUART, Funeral Tent of an Egyptian Queen. (Dchr-el-Bahri.)

"
Antelopes rampant and lotus Sacred Tree." From an Egyptian box (for Canopic jars) in Bologna
DUMMLER, in Mittheilungen aus A then, 1885. The animals are mistaken by Diimmler for goats. I

have a carefully, and personally, made sketch of the original, which shows the recurved bend of the
antelope horn as it appears when represented in profile. Compare frontispiece in BiRCH, Catalogue
of Egypt, an Antiquities at Alnwick

Castle.

Prisse d'Avennes,

3.

Multiple lotus capital with gazelle heads.

4.

Gazelle heads and inverted lotus supporting lotus

ROSELLINI, M.C.
5.

Colonettes en bois.

Cover of a vase, from a Theban tomb-painting.

trefoil.

Iviii. 3.

Figure bearing an antelope with lotuses. Detail from Dandour, time of Augustus.
I. Ivi.
Compare Assyrian xxiv. 8 [p. 183].

6.

Gazelle and lotuses, from the vase whose cover appears at No. 4.

7.

Bird, fish, gazelle,

8.

Gazelle head, three-spiked lotus.

9.

and hand.

Gazelles rampant, lotus

ROSELLINI, M.C.
10.

Running

"
11.

gazelle,

Cypriote cylinder.

" Sacred

Clay

CesnoLA, Cyprus, Gems,

La yard.

seal impression.

Tree," sun diagrams.

Detail

Second

iii.

Champollion,

24.

Series, Ixix. 18.

of a vase

from

Ixi. 3.

moon

crescent

Nubian ibex," three-spiked

Egyptian or Syrian Scarab.

lotuses.

Seal.

Tanis, II.

xli.

73,

Klaproth,

xxxii. 1705.

tomb-painting.

r \ i'L'S

':}

Vf '^

m
tk^^jm/J^/l
.11

PI.

XXXV., p

24,^.

246

PLATE XXXVI.
THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

LAYARD,

1.

Ibex,* lotus palmctte.

2.

Deer placed sideways, facing inward, Ionic

Assyrian

IBEX,

detail.

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

First Series,

lotus.

xliii.

A. D. Cesnola, Salatninia,

Cypriote cylinder.

xiv. 33.

moon

3.

Antelope, two

4.

Ibex on a double

lotus.

Saigon by Menant
Cylindres,
5.

ii.

Assyrian or Phenician cone seal

crescents.

Seal of Sennacherib, as specified

PERROT

Lajard,

Culte de Mithra,

by Layard and

Layard

et Chipiez, Assyrie, Fig. 69, also in

2.

assigned to

Perrot;
(text),

1.

and Menant,

79.

God, with head of an ibex or or3:xt (Reshep, ?), and god with head of a deer (?) bearing a deer on a pole,
one of them holding a gazelle two worshippers bearing an antelope next, a recumbent ibex king
or deity holding the Ankh, winged sun disk
worshipper holding an antelope. Uninterpreted
;

cylinder published by Lajard, Culte de Mithra, xxxvi, 13, and


who notes " Egyptian influence."
6.

Rampant

gazelles, ibexes or wild

spiked lotuses.
7.

Assyrian cylinder.

Ionic column supporting sun

winged

deities

goats

moon

Lajard,

crescent,

lotus.

9.

Ibexes or wild goats, rosette.

Assyrian fresco fragment.

Layard,

lotus palmette, rosette above.

have observed at Note

to those of an ibex of the

same

4,

hares below (sacred to Osiris)


;

lion below.

6.

Ibex or wild goat on the Ionic

Deer on the

ibex over guilloche (compare p. 127)

8.

10.

lii.

and Sacred Tree of normal three-

and moon, with two ibex or oryx heads

lii.

Plate

Culte de Mithra, xxvi. 8.

eight-rayed star (the sun, p. 182)

Lajard, Culu de Mithra,

star,

by King, Antique Gems,

First Series, xxx.

Assyrian

BoTTA,

detail.

34, p. 232, that there is a wild

ii.

97.

Layard,

First Series, xliv.

goat in Western Asia whose horns correspond

region.

+ The oryx horn has not as much bend in nature as here represented, but on the sacred bark of PtahSokar-Osiris at Dehr-el-Bahri the supposed oryx horn has as definite a bend.

l)-^
/-

<^-

v>>

o
4\

h.nl^^^'^

Lb:.

//

(\
<?1

III

JO
PI.

XXXVI., p.

247.

24S

PLATE XXXVII.
THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

1.

The ibex and

Cesnola, Cyprus,
2.

Deer on the

Tomb."
3.

5.

Schliemann,

p.

164

same vase

Curium patera.

Gold ornament, from the

"

Third

by Colonna-Ceccaldi. For the swan.s,


Curium patera. Colonna-Cecc.\LDI, Monuments
1877 also in Cesnola's Cyprus.

Revue

Detail,

Arcli^ologique,

Deer, inverted lotus, ibexes over lotus border.

Jahrbuch, 1886, p. 138 (compare

Ibex and

lotus,

showing two Sacred Trees of

rosettes, lotus palmettes,

Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, m Journal of Hellenic

Cypriote vase.

Another view

at

No.

10.

Perrot

et

Studies,

v. p.

and bird

105.

Chipiez, Cypre.

Deer rampant, mistaken by Murray for goats;* Sacred Tree of an Ionic lotus supporting two buds
and an inverted Ionic scroll supporting triangle, which is surmounted by a trefoil lotus ; lotus rosettes
;

Cypriote vase.

Deer on Trojan whorl,

9.

Antelope, Swastika.

12.

in

at xlvi. 2 [p. 28g],

8.

1.

Detail,

"
Cypriote vase. Sacred Tree of rosettes, deer, bird with lotus on the head (compare the Bird and the
Lotus "), deer facing a lotus, and a Sacred Tree of lotus palmettes and buds. Compare the top of

on one deer.

10.

papyrus by Cesnola.

Plants mistaken for trees

lotuses.

and

with lotus on head.

7.

for

Mycence.

Plates xliii.-xlvi. [pp. 282-289].

Typical Rhodian vase.


next Plate).

the

6.

mistaken

Plant mistaken by Schliemann for date palm.

lotus.

dt Chypre,
4.

plants

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

p. 337.

Deer, does, swans, and

compare

The

the lotus.

IBEX,

Ibex and

lotus.

Deer on the

Schliemann,

p. 55-

Troy, p. 121.

Many

Detail of an early Attic vase, British

Cypriote vase in

repetitions (compare Ix.

Museum.

[p. 359]).

"BoiihW, Jahrbuc/t, 1886,

p. 50.

New York Museum.

Gold ornament from the

lotus.

Winged deer and

Cesnola, Cyprus,

lotus; rosettes on the deer.

"

Third Tomb."

Schliemann,

Detail from a Cypriote vase in

Mycencs, Fig. 123.

New York

several similar

examples.

For the ibex or

am

deer,

and

lotus,

on Cypriote vases, see also xxxix.

5 [p.

not clear as to whereabouts of this vase, anu cannot find


Comparison with No. 12 will specify the animals.
I

it

253]

xlix. 5 [p. 307].

in the

New York Museum.

Pl.XXXVJI.,p.

K k

249.

250

PLATE XXXVIII.
THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX.

Typical Rhodian vase


Detail

of the

Compare
Napoleon

in

many examples

latter

-xxxvii. 4.

at

Plate

xvi.

Salzmann,

IBEX,

London and
[p.

144.

|.

N^cropole de

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

Ibexes and lotuses, geese and the lotus.


In many examples ibexes and deer alternate.
Paris.

Similar vases

Cainire.

in

LONGPfiRIER,

III.

/Vfex,

& om

'U^

',

\7h\

From

140. ISIS-IIATHOR, THF. CAZILI.E, THB COOSB, AND TUB LnTIIS.


a pane! in the temple portico t Denderali. Sketch from a photograph made for the Author.

Mnst'e

ri.

K k

XXX VIIL, p.

251.

252

PLATE XXXIX.

THE DEER, GAZELLE, ORYX,

1.

Doe and

2.

Ibex, or wild goat, facing spiral scroll


vase.

3.

Another

from the same vase, xxxiv. 8


leaf,

[p.

BoHhhV, Jahrbuch,

227].

compare Mycenae

Repoussi bronze

7.

detail, Hallstatt.

The

Plate

leaf,

Hi.

3,

Detail, Melian

1887, p. 121.

[p. 321]).

plant behind the animal

VON Sacken,

Ibex, or wild goat, deer, and lotuses, lotus with pendant sepals.

6. Ibex,

Boeotian

is

explained by

Grabfeld von Hallstatt, xxi.

Detail, Cypriote vase.

CesnoLA, Cyprus,

404.

or wild goat, lotus springing from the mouth; lotus behind the animal,

of the

"

5///a d'Este."

Gazette Arch^ologique,

Deer, lotus springing from the mouth.


train de brouttr
originals of

8.

ibex, or wild goat, facing Swastika meander.

Ibex, or wild goat, lotus springing from the mouth.

p.

7.

'BoHl.A.V , Jahrbuch, 1887, Taf. 4.

BOWU^XS, Jahrbuch, 1887.

Nos. 6 and

5.

detail

Doc, "Herzblatt" (remote form of the


vase.

4.

Detail, BcEotian vase.

rosette.

WILD GOAT, AND LOTUS.

IBEX,

one

xW.

Plant mistaken by the publication for the branch of a tree

d'arbre."

Lotus behind the animal.

Same

"en

reference as No. 6 and

scale.

Deer and antelopes,


lotus buds.

un rameau

iS,Z9>,

/f^/oajj/ bronze detail

lotus spirals springing from

their

mouths

Detail of bronze vase, found in Southern Tyrol.

with buds in the mouth,

Ixi.

[p.

365].

Monumenti

Inediti,

X.

barbaric rosettes, border of inverted

Other details of same vase, horses


vi.

z:^.

he/

P
\-3

EiB'^^i
.

'h

V:

;.^
r

254

APPENDIX.
ADDITIONAL CITATIOxNS.

Antlered deer on a "Myccna:" vase from the "Sixth Tomb.' striking resemblance to the bronze detail
in
ill.
xxxix. 8. from the Southern Tyrol, and apparently copied from a similar bronze
;

SCHUCIIARDT,
ROSELLINI.

Schlit'tnann's

Sacrifice of gazelle to

Ausgrabungen, Fig. 279.

Hor-Ammon by Amenophis

British

Museum, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 20761.

British

Museum, Third Egyptian Room,

III.

Bronze gazelle or antelope on a

" Miscellaneous
Objects." No. 18073.

lotus.

Egyptian blue glazed ware

ibexes facing a lotus.

Petrie, Catalogue 0/ Antiquities discovered 1890,


an ibex suckling young, and large lotus.
British

Museum, Nimroud

Gallery, Case

British

Museum, Nimroud

Gallery.

British

First

Museum,

"
p. 9.

(N.D. 216).

Ivory carving, ibexes facing a rosette.

Bronze bowl, with rings of stags (E.N.

Vase Room, Case

20, 21,

A.

Rather

Blue glazed ware, half bowl with gazelle."

Rhodian

37.

i.

N.G.

12).

vase, ibexes or wild goats, facing the

anthemion.
British

Museum.

Gems

British

Museum.

Gems from

Robert Brown,
Ionic form.

Ibex or wild goat and moon crescent.

from Crete.

Ibex or wild goat with Ionic lotus and concentric

Crete.

Jun. Proceedings, Society of Biblical Archceology, 1890.


"
Capricorn, from a Euphrates boundary stone."

Ibex and the Ankh, with Bes, Plate Ixv. 10

The

Case R.

[p.

rings.

Illustration,

goat and inverted

393] of this work.

ibex or antelope is the only animal habitually associated with the palm-tree on cylinders.
xxxv. xxxix xxi. A. 23
Culte de Venus, iv. 1 2
Ciilte de Mithra, li. 2, and others.
;

MURR.W's Handbook for Egypt

{i888),

p.

425.

L.\JARD,

"In another

large

quarry

[near

Raaineh]

two

singular representations of the giant-god Antaeus, accompanied by Nephthys, holding in his left hand
a spear and an oryx. In one of these he has rays round his head like the Sun, and before him is
a priest making offerings to him."
An adjacent site is Gow-el-Kebeer, or Antaiopolis " Near

Antaeopolis the fabulous

and here Antaeus

Wm. Osburn,

is

battle

between Horus

said to have been killed

and Typhon was reputed

by Hercules

in the

to have taken

place,

time of Osiris."

Jun.'s Antiquities of F.gj'pt contains a quotation from the Confessional of


"
"
the Dead
I have not disturbed the
gazelles of tlic gods in their pasturage."

"

The Hook

of

VlLLIERS Stuart {Funeral Tent of an Egyptian Queen, p. 42) is aware that the Tarn has the head of a
"
an emblem of purity." The Tam is generally
gazelle, as he quotes the head of gazelle on a staff as
quoted as meaning "strength," and, as far as we can judge, the gazelle itself was generally Typhonic.
Sir

Alexander Cunningham, The

Bhilsa Topes, Plate xxxi.

James Burgess, Archaological Sun-ey of Southern

India,

I.

10.

p. 50.

Hindu Coin

the deer and the lotus.

(Illustration.) Normal lotus border


is a real

above " Worship of a Sacred Tree by Spotted Deer, from Bharhut." The Sacred Tree here
tree and the Hindu art is the only one which shows the
worship of real trees.

THE

LION,

AND LOTUS.

BULL,

THE CHIMERA AND LOTUS.


(PLATE

According

to

XL.,

PAGE

259.)

the eye-witness of Lajard/ then French Minister to Persia, the

ceremony of turning a trained hunting lion loose, to run down and kill a bull in
presence of the king, was observed in Persia at the time of the Vernal Equinox,
as recently as the year 1808.

This interesting survival of an ancient astronomical symbolism supports Lajard's


view that the bull and lion combat is a representation of the entry of the solar

Another explanation has been

lion into the sign of the bull.'^


solar,

and

it

this subject has been

the representation

is

for the

known

(xl.

i,

2, 3, 4) in

(xiii.,xiv. [pp.

from Cypriote

less

(i, 3),

12, 133]).

Phenician

(2),

also

and

Also the view of Colonna-Cecc.\'DI, Monuments

p. 62.

fairly

Houmbaba

currency.''

to its

the views

the tabs on

for

the Greek

chosen

lion are

developed Greek art

(4),

and equally important

his

(ihe prototype of Geryon)

month, typified the victory of

ness, represented
killing

" Izdubar's con-

quest of the winged bull was placed under Taurus


slaying of the tyrant

de

d'Ani.ithonte," p. 148.

Encyclopedia Britannica,''Zcii\s.c:'

113]), for

illustrations for the bull

in the fifth

2.

Kondache

it

the lion devouring a deer (Fig. 141, detail of

is

Cultede Mithra,

3.

it is

call attention

and

and from

1.

Chypre,

given

xx. [pp. 107, 153]),

(xi.,

Our

(xii. [p.

generally noticed, more obscurely explained,

subject of early Mediterranean art

"

who have

ways which again corroborate

Egyptian and Phenician palmettes

lotus stems (iv. [p. 63]), for the rosette

anthemion

to those

conceded to be solar we have only to

association with the lotus

advanced

but

does not appear that Lajard's curious contribution to matter-of-fact

knowledge on

As

offered,

sign

bull,

in

which

Leo on Ninevite

Lenormant.

plastic
is

art

by the

light

over dark-

group of a lion

the form ordinarily given to the

cylinders."

Reference

is

made

to

256

THE

LION, BULL,

AND

LOTUS.

THE CHIMERA AND LOTUS.


a vase shown at

of

publications

have

subject*

Important

365]).

[p.

Ixi,

this

failed

to

give any explanation of

which argues, in view


of the learning and disit,

tinction of the

scholars

a deficiency

in question,

of material for reference.

The combat
and deer

of

lion

is

mentioned,

however, by

Keller^ as

representing the struggle


of

and darkness.

light

This explanation, which


has also been offered
the

for

and

bull

combat

3)

is

erroneous

in

(Note

probably

lion

view of Lajard's decisive


reference for the Vernal
the

in

Equinox

latter

case.

There

is at

least

one

monument which shows


the

4.

lion

devouring

Menant,

177; Perrot,
French School

Cyliudrfs

&c.,

p.

141-

LION DEVOURING DEER.

Detail,

Greek

vase.

ties

76,

Classichen

notes the

on Syrian and Cilician coins


" Nacht im
kampf gegen die

subject
as

p.

of the

on the subject.

Keller, Thiere

AlterihtimSy

11.,

Athens, has also

at

failed to cast light


5.

Bulletin

in

Macht des

Lichts."

THE LION, BULL, AND LOTUS.


bull,

We

THE CHIMERA AND LOTUS.

257

devouring a deer, on the same piece and in obvious association/


are obliged therefore to look for an analogous explanation.
It is mentioned

and the

lion

by Professor Sayce that the antelope and gazelle were Babylonian equivalents
for the goat in the sign of the tenth month (p. 234).
The same authority has

named

the deer and

antelope as equivalents

(p.

Note

231,

and

21),

we.

have

ourselves found the deer an equivalent for the ibex and the wild goat.

The

resulting presumption

is

that the lion attacking the deer represents the

sun as entering the sign of the deer

(viz.

Capricornus), and

a sign of the Winter

is

Solstice.

would therefore appear that a similar representation should be found for the
From this point of view the Chimaera
goat, and this is offered by the Chimaera.
is the equivalent of the lion
devouring a deer, and symbolizes the sun as entering
It

the sign of the goat,

who

is

of the Chimaera are represented therefore by

As

for the rosette.

the Chimaera

xl. 5,

lotiform associations

both being also significant

the
already admitted to have solar reference,^

is

and probably supplants that of Milchhoffer.^ There is at


"
one monument which gives the " goat of the Chimaera the horns of the oryx

explanation
least

The

the equivalent of the deer.

is

plausible

(Fig. 142).

in

The oryx (gazelle), according


Egypt.' The gazelle's head also

Zodiac which
instance

derived

is

of oryx

horns

to

Birch, represents

sign

of Capricornus

in the
represents the sign of Capricornus

from the Greeks.


in

the

representation

It

would therefore seem

of the

Chimaera

is

Hindu

that

an

an important

corroboration of the view advanced.


gems in which the goat and
one animal partly concealing

6.

Monumenti Inediti, Greek

7.

Baumeister, Antike DtnkmiiUr.

8.

In Anfange der Griechischen Kunst, advancing the

view that the Chimaera

is

vase.

a representation

9. P. 235,

Note

lion

were crowded together,

the other.

52.

derived from

142.

CHIMERA WITH GAZELLE HORN.

Engraved gem.

Owens

College, Manchester.

358

PLATE

THE

XL.

LION, BULL.

AND LOTUS.

THE CHIMERA AND LOTUS.

..

Ccbat

of bull and Hon. lotus pal.ettes.


ix.

Monuments de Chypre

Combat of bull and

lions,

3.

combat

Cesnola, Cyprus,

4.

Combat

p.

lotuses, with

Monumenti

of bull and Hon.

Inediti

Chimera on

6.

Chimxra.

CO.ONNA-CeCC.L.X.

of A.athus.

stems having the tabs (compare Plate

and Perrgt et Cl.lPlEZ,


Cypriote

ii..

iv. [p.

63)].

Detail

p. 769.

relief

in

New York Museum.

59.

rosette, lotus below.

rosettes,

shield

Rosettes and pendant lotuses.

of bull and lion, lotus anthemion.

5.

the

Cesnola, Cyprus, xx.

normal

of metal plaque. C^re.

From

and pendant

Detail,

Vase. Daphne.

lotuses.

Cypriote

Greek

vase.

Arch.ologische Zatun,,

Tanis, II. x.Kvi.

relief.

883. Plate

iii.

8.

New York Museum.

CESNOLA, Cyprus,

p.

59-

'

//

^^

"

J,<^=^> )ir^

^V

\k._^^^l_il/

ff

/v.

XL., p. 259.

THE ''PHENICIAN PALMETTE."


(PLATE XLL, PAGE

Among

the

archaeologists as the
early

"

Phenician palmette."

Greek or Etruscan

Phenician art

(12,

ornamental

Mediterranean

early

14),

art otherwise

Sardinian

263.)

(2,

It

is

but

(xli.

i),

8,

11),

motives

is

one

is

specified

found on Greek vases

by

and

in

mainly confined to distinctive

Cypriote

(4,

7,

Assyrian

10),

(13),

or

and Fig. 43 [p. 72]). This text-cut carries us back to ColonnaCeccaldi's suggestion that the stamens of the lotus were there represented by the

Cypriote Greek

upper

and

scrolls

stamens really

The

(3

what the supposed

obligation then incurred of saying

to the

are.

ultimate conventional form of the

"

Phenician palmette

"
is

of parallel upright bars, resting on a crescent-shaped support.

explained by the lower introrse scrolls of No.

5,

The

crescent

is

or by the introrse scrolls of No. 9

which, in their turn, are included in the demonstration of Plate

The

simply a series

ix. [p. 91].

upright bars are rudimentary survivals of lotus stems (compare 3 and

4,

upper left-hand palmette, and 6). The abbreviated or outlined lotus palmette is the
form shown by No. 6. Cases of lotus association with the highly conventional form
are

shown by

head
[pp.

(i)

221

2, 8,

13.

to xxxiv.

[p.

The demonstration
227], of the

is

assisted

by

Sphinx and Gryphon

225], and of the ibexes or goats (10,

13) to

xxxv.

relations of the Sphinx(12,

14) to

xxxix.

[pp.

xxxi. xxxiii.
245

253].

There are many forms of the Sacred Tree on Assyrian cylinders which are
"
The evertrees," through Nos. 5 and 14 of Plate xli.
explained as lotus
present relation to the sun

and moon crescent of No.


1.

One such

marked by the winged disk of No. 5, by the sun disk


and by the solar animals recently specified.

is

3,

vase in

Genick and Furtwangler,

143.

GRYPHONS.

Detail,

Griechisclu Keramik.

Curium /o/<ro.

263

PLATE

XLI.

THE "PHENICIAN PALMETTE."

1.

2.

Sphinx,
"

"
3.

"

Phenician palmette

on the head.

Detail,

Museo Etrusco

Curium patera

Sacred Tree, lotuses and introrse lotus

Curium patera

Cypriote
detail,

stele,

Louvre.

Left upper palmette shows two

normal

Cypriote

Cypre, Fig. 53.

winged goddess holding two

detail,

worshippers.
6.

PlUnicie, p. 672.

Phenician palmette," lotus bars, leaves, and lotuses over lotus of Ionic form.

lotuses.

lotus palmettes in outline, otherwise only bars appear.

5.

Vaticano, II. cvi. i6.

Perrot ET Chipiez,

Phenician palmettes," terra-cotta whorl, Sardinia.

Perrot et Chipiez,
4.

"

seal.

scrolls.

ColonnA-CecCALDI, Monuments de

(Compare

ix.

[p. 91].)

Cesnola, Cyprus ; King's Appendix

for

Winged

Chypre.

solar disk,

two

Gems

sketch from original, showing three bars as normal lotus palmettes in outline.

New York Museum.


7.

Sphinxes and "Phenician palmette"

bars, conventional; six

normal lotus palmettes spring from

this

Sacred Tree.
8.

9.

"

Phenician palmettes," alternate lotuses.

Phenician metal detail in the Louvre,

and two
10. Ibexes,

"

trefoil lotuses.

Lajard,

Phenician palmettes."
"

Terra-cotta whorl, Sardinia.

among Assyrian
xlvii.

Qvix'wiva

Seal ring,

12.

Sphinx, "Phenician palmettes."

references as No.

2.

Ionic lotus supporting introrse lotus scroll,

also in LONGPfiRlER,

patera

Phenician palmette," Sardinia.

11.

pieces.

Same

Mus^e NapoUon

III.

detail.

PERROT ET Chipiez, Pynicie,

Syrian stele (Rouad), Louvre.

p.

644.

LongpErier,

Must'e

NapoUon

III.

xviii.

13.

Ibexes rampant

Sacred Tree of "Phenician palmettes" supporting

lotus.

Sun disk above. Lajard,

xvi. 76.

14.

Hawk -headed
above.

Sphinxes (Gryphons) rampant

Syrian steli (Rouad), Louvre.

Sacred Tree

Same

of

"

Phenician

reference as No. 12.

palmettes

;"

same

detail

/"C

P:.

XL! ,p.

263.

THE FISH AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATE

The

was known

fish

equivalent and

Roman

to the

emblem

XLII.,

PAGE

267.)

period as an

of Isis or Hathor

it

emblem

figures,

As an

Venus/

of

various species,^

in

among

Egyptian amulets and on Egyptian utensils and enamels (9, 10), and the Liverpool
bronze (7) is a patent indication on this head. The sacred fish-pond of Ascalon

was a quoted

feature of a Syrian sanctuary,^

and Phenician

tablets of

Carthage

(3)

verify this symbolism as a widespread feature of Phenician cults.

The Fish-god Dagon


Fish-god

(5, 8).''

of Ascalon

Ea

and the divine

7^

144. SEAL.

was both the divine antelope


and ibex are found on the Cypriote

of ancient Chaldea

fish.

cylinder, xxxv. 7

Both

fish

Traces of

245].

[p.

symbolism are found

fish

Naukratis.

with the lotus on Greek and "Mycenae" vases

and the

lotus can be dated to the Xllth"

That the scarab No. 2

(xlii.)

points to Isis worship

"

god, see

The Oxyrynchus,
sacred to

p.

sacred to Hathor (p. 32).

The

Silurus,

from Ascalon.

fish
its

from the

to the Assyrian

cat,

as Bast

and Chaldean Fish-

Gtschichte der Fhonizier, p. 145.

undoubtedly owes

divine associations.

its

place in the Chaldean

Compare Robert Brown,

on the causes which placed various animals

in the

Flinders Petrie, Catalogue of Antiquities Discovered


" Various
pottery of the Xllth Dynasty, includ1890, p. 5,

some curious

ing

Savce, Hibbert Lectures.

" the Culture


Ea,

God

of

one the divine antelope, and the other the divine


Ea as Sea-god and River-god (p. 139). Ea,

fish" (p. 280).

equivalent of Cannes, the

fish

6.

fish (p. 131).

dishes with incised patterns of fish

and

lotus plants."

Southern Babylonia, was an amalgamation of two earlier


deities,

The

6).

Zodiac, Proceedings of Society of Biblical Archceology, 1890.

Isis (p. 59).

de Chypre,
3. Quoted by Colonna-Ceccaldi, Monuments
98, in matter relating to Paphos, whose cult was derived

4.

Zodiac to
Jun.,

clear

PiETscHMANN,

The

5.

Museum.

is

Dagon of Ascalon

the

Ovid, Fasti, 463.

Birch, Egyptian Antiquities in the British

(i,

and XVIIIth Dynasties/

Fish were consecrated


Kenrick, Phenicia, p. 306.
to Venus and forbidden to her worshippers," quoting from
1.

2.

and Chaldean

referred to the Assyrian

Egyptian Isis worship can only have supplemented in Phenicia


a cult which goes back to the beginning of Babylonian history,
and which has left its mark on the modern Zodiac.^ The
Father-god

is

7.

of

In the Louvre a golden bowl with repousse decoration


and lotuses, " presented by Thothmes III. to a

fish

functionary

named Tothi

"

(XVIIIth Dynasty).

For relations of

THE FISH AND THE LOTUS.

266

an equivalent of Isis. The lotus bud and flower of No. 2 explain the lotus
the Aukh of No. 4 is an equivalent emblem.
triangle of No. 4, and

is

The Oxyrynchus was

not confined to

Isis,

but was also sacred to Thoth" (the

Moon).
British
According to designations of amulets in the
Museum. It may be significant that the only male god in
8.

Egypt

is
specified for the fish

better kno-n relations in

The

a distinct Moon-god, as

its

Egypt are with a Moon-goddess.

sign of the fish in the

Chaldean Zodiac

assigned to

is

PLATE

sun" by Robert Brown,

the "nocturnal

of the goat has a

fish tail

Rhodian vase with the

Jun., Proceedings,

The Chaldean

Society of Biblical Archaology, 1890.

(same reference).
detail xlii.

is

On

sign

the same

represented

the

Chimaera.

XLII.

THE FISH AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Fish and the Lotus.

2.

Fish

lotus

Rhodian vase

bud and flower

Klaproth

scarab.
3.

Detail,

in its

in the

Louvre.

Salzmann,

mouth, sun disk above

N^cropole de Camire, xlix.

cat (Bast

Isis).

Egyptian or Syrian

xxxiii., 1749.

Fish, from Phenician votive tablet to sun

and moon (Baal

Hamman

and Tanith), Carthage.

Davis,

Phenician Inscriptions in the British Museum, xvi. 47.


4. Fish,
5.

Ankh

in its

mouth

Assyrian Fish-god.
xxiv. 3

[p.

fish,

lotus in

its

mouth.

Scarab.

Perrot et Chipiez,

Assyrie, p. 65.

xxxv. 7

7,

Klaprotii,

xxxiii., 1749.

Compare Fish-gods,

lotus,

and winged sun,

183].

6. Fish, lotus, birds (see

This vase belongs to the

"

[p.

245]; xlv.
"

Mycenae

[p. 287J).

Vase of Calymna. Journal ofHellenic

Studies.

style of the Archipelago.

and the fish. Bronze, Liverpool. Inman, Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 68 and Frontispiece.
similar bronze in the Gizeh Museum and a similar representation in a tomb-painting at Thebes.

7. Isis

8.

Fish-god and lotus.

9.

Fish, lotus leaves

10. Fish

and

lotuses.

and

Assyrian Seal.

Revue Archeologique,iZ7/^,

flowers, detail.

Prisse D'Avennes, Ustensiles de

Blue enamel plate.

Maspero,

Arcliaology,

tr.

'x.iv.

$.

Toilette.

by Miss AMELIA B. Edwards.

\
10

V.

Pl.XLII.,p.

267.

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATES XLin., XUV.,

Murray

XI.V., XLVI.,

PAGES

283, 285, 287, 289.)

and Birch^ have both remarked the number of birds on Cypriote vases.
The former has suggested symbolism, without going into detail. That the Cypriote
bird constantly appears in association with the lotus, confronting

it

attached to head or body, has not been observed in publication


instance of the

been brought

Cypriote bird

to

notice

8,

(xlv.

applied to these birds, and there

supposition

As

the

is

ii,
is

disk

the winged solar

bearing

a suspicion that they

may

it

nor has the

upon

The term "aquatic"

13).

or bearing

is

its

back

generally

be swans, which

generally correct under curious limitations.

number

of illustrations

variety of originals involved,

very limited, considering the number and

is

should be glad to have the reader fortify himself by

glancing at the illustrated Cypriote vases, aside from Plate xlv. where the Cypriote
bird

is

especially represented.

Our
Ix.

15

piece de resistance
[p,

number
307],

[p.

359].

9,

12

[p.

[p.

249].

highly characteristic vase

is

Plate indicating, both in large details and in small pictures, the

of objects involved,
1.

xxxvii,

is

309],

and

xlviii.

is

Ivii.

12

[p.
[p.

305].

Plates xlvii.

14

[p.

303], xlix.

341], also offer important illustrations of

His peculiar style of design is not only largely geometric, but


shows a geometry which is based, occasionally at least, on lotuses. His body
His wings, when multiplied indefinitely,
generally bears the stamp of a lotus bud.
the Cypriote bird.

sometimes suggest the same motive (Ix. 15 [p.


Were it not that the ultimate outcome of
I.

A.

p. 406.

S.

Murray,

"The

Pottery Apptiidix to Cesnola's Cyprus,

animals generally found on Cypriote pottery

are swans, or at any rate aquatic birds.

The swan

may have had some symbolic signification which determined


its

use on the vases."

2.

"

359]).

this Cypriote bird with the lotus is a


Birch, Preface

to

A. Di Cesnola's Salaminia,

great peculiarity of Cypriote pottery

of birds in

its

earliest

development."

is

p. xvi.

the employment

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

270

swan with the anthemion

(xlv. 12), it

would be

difficult to specify his species,

moreover, subject to the curious proviso that the swan

is,

when he

that,

difficult to

is

not glorified, he

a glorified goose, and

a goose pure and simple, or was once.

It is

be more exact than the designer, or more accurate than the tradition

This

which controlled him.


prehistoric

is

is

which

monuments

[pp. 339, 341]),

is

of

"
Greek " Geometric

tradition, as the

Italy

and

Northern

of

as old as the art of Europe

itself,

Europe

and the

style

prove

(Ivi.

Ivii.,

always excepting the drawings

on bone or ivory of the Palaeolithic epoch. The goose is the faithful companion
of the deer and the goat or ibex, but a much more important, because a much

more frequent symbol.


The most obvious cases of the goose are on Rhodian vases
xlvi. 3, 7, 10), and their evidence becomes weighty when
[p. 251],
is

considered

the ibis

of the cock

and of the hawk

4),

(xlvi. 8, 12)

Rhodian vases out of


this lack of balance

when

are sufficient,
sight,

must be

3; xlvi.

(xlv.

collected

as regards the

6),

their great

The

as scattered between Berlin, London, and Paris.


i,

(xlvi.

(Fig. 145

xxxviii.

number

rare cases of

and the occasional cases

on one

illustrations.

to

weigh the

in the

argument

Plate,

But

Considering that the bird of prehistoric

restored.

Northern Europe was frequently reduced to a pot-hook (Ivi. 10, 11, 13; Ivii. 7
and occasionally represented with the mane of a horse (Figs. 180, 181,
[pp. 339, 341])
"
"
that the Greek
Geometric style is largely faithful to its title, and
[pp. 362, 363]),
that the Cypriote geometric style is wilfully obscure,

the bird hangs on the Rhodian vases, and their

very numerous,

all

follows that the question of

it

more

careful pictures,

which are

point to the goose (Fig. 145).

The domesticated cock and hen were unknown


and came originally from

in

Greece or

in

Europe

till

the

Although the cock is


a well-known symbol of Apollo,* possibly as the herald of dawn, and the association
of the cock with the lotus (xlvi. 8, 12) is undoubtedly symbolic, this one fact
or sixth century

fifth

B.C.,

India.^

Europe puts him out of the argument. The hawk, also an


emblem of Apollo,* is rare in Greek art. His association with the lotus (xliii. 3;
"
the
xlvi. 6) is undoubtedly symbolic, but offers no assistance to the problem of
of his late arrival in

"

bird
3.

in general.

Rev.

W, Houghton,

/frj-Aaj/ctgy,

p.

a88.

Dec,

The heron

O. Keller, Thiere, (yc.,

1889, p. 81.

on

and the vulture (Maut) are associated with

Proceedings, Society of Biblical

Hehn, Wanderungen

original authority

(Osiris)

der Thiere und Pflanten,

this niatter.

is

4.

Daremberg et

Grecques
5.

ei

Saglio, Dictionnaire
"
Jiomaines, under
Apollo."

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

Plutarch, Porphyry,

and

p.

lies

Antiquitis

532, &c., quotes

Aelian, to this effect.

Homer,

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.


the

solar lotus in

(xlvi. I, 4) is

bird of

Egyptian

art

(p.

24),

but need not detain us here.

scarcely wortli mentioning in the problem, were

Thoth had not

271

lost his lotus in a


foreign

it

home, and we

not to

The

show

ibis

that the

back once more,

fall

on the goose of the Rhodian vases.


When one takes up the book of Keller ^ expecting to extract materials for a
history of the swan, and finds that the bird of Zeus and Apollo and Aphrodite has
not even a single page of references, to
say nothing of a chapter and when one
restfully,

finds that the goose has page after


page of solid matter in Keller's book, then it
"
"
becomes necessary to prove that
the bird is a goose or was one once.
It is

145.

THE GOOSE AND THE LOTUS.

Detail,

Rhodian

vase.

From Salzmann.

impossible to be wiser than Keller and the Rhodian vases.


the

swan of Leda

The

to

have been a goose,' therefore we are in good company.

history of the

sharp-sighted.

He became

pretentious.

one examine in a
nearest to the

6.

O.

Museum

swan and the

and the hawk the better of the two.

The

eagle

is

larger,

more showy, and

more

Romans, and his later fortune is already


The case of the goose and the swan is similar. Let

of Natural History, the varieties of goose which are


varieties of

swan which

are nearest to the goose,

and

be found surprising that the Greeks confused the two, and ultimately, by

Keller, Thiere

des

Culturhistorischtr Beziehung,

the swan.

solar birds,

the bird of the

prophesied in Assyrian times.

will not

repeated in the case of the goose and

qualities

more

intelligent,

it

is

the eagle

were well known to the early Ancients and they accordingly


him, whether in Egypt or in Persia.^ The hawk is swifter, more

His superior
preferred

hawk and

Both the former were

the swan.

Stephani has proven

The

7.

Keller,

has no special chapter for

8.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,

very brief references indicate an absolute

lack of traditional material.

p. 288.

Alterthums in

Classischen

Persians,

p.

531.

and Egyptians, were united

The Chaldeans,

in this perception,

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

272

beautifying tendencies, raised the

their

and

bird of Seb, of Horus, of Isis,

The

known

latest

was the

remember

first

the

assigned

Osiris.

was

instance of the superstitious reverence for the goose

His

341] of the "Geometric" style).

that he

to the dignity once

Crusade, which was headed by a goose and a

the First
[p.

swan

in

Ivii.

goat, (compare

have been

earliest distinction appears to

domesticated bird of prehistoric Europe,*" but this leads us to

The

that the wild goose is included in the veneration.

flying birds of

Cypriote vases thus become more comprehensible, as do the representations of the


flying

the

swans

We

in the later art of Greece.

"

Egyptian goose, or

Nile goose,"

is

do well

shall

remember

to

also that

a beautifully plumaged and elegant

variety."

According to current presumptions of Egyptology, the goose is the distinctive


bird of Seb, the father of Osiris but I was advised some years ago by Mr. Charles
;

Edwin Wilbour of a
"

Society, to

good goose of

the

who mentions

134

[p.

Osiris."

This advice

New York

Historical

substantiated by Keller,'^

is

several ancient references for the goose as the bird both of

and Osiris and also of


reliefs at

unpublished

the Abbott Collection of the

tablet, in

The most important Egyptian

Isis.

Denderah photographed

236], 140 [p. 250], 148

and the goose

[p.

this

for

277], 149 [p. 278]).

Horus

references are, however,

work

19

(Figs.

51],

[p.

A silver statuette of Harpocrates

The very large number of Cypriote statuettes of a


the New York Museum, must, I think, be interpreted

also quoted.'*

is

squatting boy with a bird, in


accordingly'*
Keller,

9.

p. 298,

quoting Wackernagel,

cjTta irrepotKTa,

10.

As apparent

common

to

fact

that the

Latin,

word

in

Europe

as a

p.

286

goose

is

preceded the

tame animal, but Keller adds

were not many tame geese

Keller,

for

Sclavonic, and Old

in the fact that the goose long

domestic fowl
that there

in the

Sanscrit, Greek,

German, and

specifies

Harpocrates.

The Cypriote

12.
13.

Keller,

this reference

this

its

importance.

of the statuettes hold a bird,

454, Note

6, with reference to Arch.

Ztit.,

Atlas,

suggestion

I.,

cxxx.,

cxxxi.,

have found

cxxxii.

in

the

Since

Egyptian

and holds a goose and places a

finger

on

his

"

which

is

No. 970 holds a cock.

goose."

thus

There are forty-one

Plates I personally arranged for the photographer.

as a

is

should be sorry to have the brevity of

of these statuettes on three Plates of the Atlas,

Collection at Naples a statue of the class in New York,


which is labelled as " Harpocrates" (No. 551). The boy
squatting

obscure

Homer,

all

specified for

One

of which

Most

No. 951

statuette holds

a rabbit (Osiris), and one holds a tortoise (Horus killing


the

Cesnola,

making

explained, and

of geese

xxvL 71.
14.

important class of Cypriote statues not designated by

Birch (who wrote the text for the Cesnola Atlas),

mummies

p. 286.

Keller, p.

An

in the time of

also reference to

found at Thebes.

is

which gesture

statuettes are similar in all particulars except the gesture.

21.

1 1

lip,

tortoise

Denderah).
are

is

subject

Three

illustrated

in

in

an inner wall chamber

at

statuettes of the type, but without birds,

Cesnola's

statuettes are all said to

Cyprus,

come from

of Apollo Hylates at Curium.

p.

347.

These

the site of the temple

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.


The goose belongs

to the small

number

who

was an emblem

presides over

of love, and in Italy

was a symbol of

eloquence,'*

goddess of winning speech.-"

Roman

to the

births.'*^

and

Mars,*^ to Dionysus

He was

Rome

and

it

sacred to Apollo at

and Hermes, and

the watchfulness of a good housewife.^^

"
Socrates and his disciples was
by the goose."

power was ascribed

him.^

to

the attendant

Venus

To

in Cyprus,'^

Hindus he

the

Daphne and

to Eros.^^

Eros on the goose

The geese

Museum.

in Delos,-'

of

Juno at
On Greek tombs he represented love and
by tomb inscriptions that he represented
He was a weather prophet.^ The oath of

expressly stated

is

is

is

Greeks he was an attendant of Peitho, the

to the

are to be mentioned, of course.

watchfulness,^*

sacrificed to

to Priapus.^^

the subject of a Tanagra figurine in the British

is

common word

In Etruscan art he

was sacred

He was

273

of objects for which a

found in Sanscrit, German, Greek, and Latin, '^


of the goddess

'

^^

In France and

Finally, /a/e de foie

Germany prophetic
gras was much enjoyed by the

Ancients.^

When we
difficult

not to

none of these good things are recorded of the swan,


believe that the swan of early Greek art was a goose.
find that

The transformation was undoubtedly accomplished mainly during


fourth centuries B.C., that is, during a time when representations of
solar animals,

outside of Cyprus and

pictures of actual divinities

the

it

fifth

the gods

is

and
by

Rhodes, had been entirely displaced by

As

and of myths.

the purely conventional style of

Cypriote art continued long after this time, and as early dates in Cypriote art are
not implied by an archaic style,^ the character of the Cypriote bird, as between the

two

and swan, must be

alternatives of goose

cases, not

left

in debate in

most individual

being open to settlement by reference to birds whose bodies are lotus

buds or deformed by geometric methods.


A point of great importance, not mentioned by Keller, is that the goose is the
"
"
vehicle of Brahma.^'
The relations of Brahma to the sun are at
sacred bird and
once evaded and conceded by the Brahmans,'^ and his birth from the lotus flower

15.

288
23,

Keller,

p.

p.

303.

289.

289.

19, p.

24,

27, p. 297.

Kumt,

p.

31.

is

17, p.

290

291.

21, p.

20, p.

28, p. 297.

in 1870,

288.

p.

289.

291.

249.

30. This fact, noted by

16,

25,

p.

288.

22, p.

26,

p.

18, p.

290.

297.

of

Brahma

arts.

is

Saraswati, the goddess of

Many

harmony and the

deities have, as well as their wives, vehicles

or 7'a/wi allotted to them

that of

Brahma and

of his

5flM

the swan or goose."

29, p.

is

Conze, Anfdnge der Griechischen

Moor, Hindu Pantheon. The goose is known to


Waring, Ceramic Art in Remote Ages, as "sacred to the

universally conceded.

Moor, Hindu Pantheon,

p. 9.

"The

Sakti or wife

32.

sun

in Egypt,

Greece, India, and Britain."

N n

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

274

has been mentioned

(p.

The Hindu word

5).

for the bird of

Brahma

is

hanassa^^

Hindu) hamsa : identical, according to the well-known trans"


formations of the same word in different
Aryan tongues, with the Greek yr\'^y

also recorded as (old

'*

the Latin anser^ the Letto-Slavonic gansi, and the German gans-w'\\.h. which the
"
English word gannet," although transferred to another bird, is related."

There

is

same confusion

the

to individual cases

Hindu

in the

on the part of Hindu

art

with the swan, the same doubt as


It

specialists.^*

is

amusing

one who

to

has struggled with the Cypriote bird to find the specification of "goose or swan"
But there is also on the
recurring in the descriptions of the bird of Brahma.

Hindu

part of

specialists the

same abiding conviction

that the goose

the original

is

form and the swan an afterthought or beautifying development.


More important still, the goose with the lotus is a typical Buddhist decorative

open to the observation of anyone ascending the main stairway of the


British Museum (Buddhist sculptures from the Amaravati Tope, Southern India

detail**

for instance, the first

has

Pantheon

SP.EAL.

Cave of

D.hon,cy.

"

"

observed

<.

detail of the

i,

(^^^^

Tcmplcs of India

Moor, Hindu Pantheon,

34.

Keller,

Moor,

same

at

Ravenna

Hindu

"

we

find

mention

for the

Avanta

(p. 75),

and on

"

common

in ancient

p. 296.

(p. 112).

" Swan or
goose," many instances

hesitation also in

37.
to

pillar at Bettiah in

Buddhist

Tirhut

art,

"In

Birdwood

this instance,

honeysuckle and palmette ornament

is

on

says of the

however, the

replaced by a line

This

goose and the

Birdwood, Industrial Arts of

36. In quoting instances of the honeysuckle pattern


"
"
of
pillars

and occurs as bird and

(Fig. 147),

of geese going round the top of the capital in single file"

p. 9.

Thiere, p. 302.

India.

Edict

"

bird with the lotus (also with wings) can be seen on the Byzantine Portal

San Giovanni Evangelista

35.

and the

geese and the lotus are associated with the Sun-god Surya.

33.

the

"

art.

The
of

swan

as connected with

could cite other instances, and the association must have been

Hindu

"

by the author of the

a frieze of twelve geese bearing lotus buds in their beaks

his Plate Ixxxiii.

ascending the

in

Brahma, in the rock-carved


Hindu temple of Elephanta,^^ and is mentioned by him in
his chapter
on the worship
In Mr. Fersrusson's
F
r of Brahma.
O

THE BIRD AND THB

146.

been

on the right

The same

stairway, No. 66).


lotus

relief

is

an instance of the equivalence of the

lotus.

"Except

in the

Elephanta cave

have seen Brahma or

and there

it

is

in

his Sakti,

do not remember

attended by the swan,

several compartments, seen very well

embossed on the calyx of the lotus, on which Brahma is


Three or four of the animals are there portrayed
sitting.
as

if

swimming

after

one another"

(p. 41).

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

275

anthemion on a Byzantine ear-ring in the British Museum. It made


bird and spiral, even to Dahomey^"
(Fig. 146), a fact probably related

geometric

of

style

and

385])

Swastika

to the

as the

modern

Cyprus

(Ixiv.

to the presence of the

in

mentioned

Dahomey

Schliemann.

by

way

Northern Africa of the

survival in

[p.

its

It

on

figures

valuable Oriental vase of so rare a

one

that

type

of

the

leading

Ceramic experts of the world cannot


specify its exact origin,^^ and it is
with the ordi-

positively connected

nary Oriental
figures

textile

motive which

two birds facing a

The motive

of

the

vase.

and

birds

the vase can be traced to Etruscan


FbRTAJ- Of

5T Giovanni

EvaN-(

ivories of early date

cylinders
his

DETAIL OP BIRDS AND WINGED LOTUS TREE.


Portal of San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna. From a photograph.

(xliv.

turn was

the peacock

displaced

more pretentious

became a

later

East and West (Byzantine sarcophagi, Ravenna,

&c.).

and

to Oriental

The swan

9).

147.

vainglorious bird, and

*"

and

by a
still

in
still

more

form of the motive both

The peacock was a

in

Christian

symbol of immortality, but the duplicate arrangement of the birds and the
intervening ornamental motives in Christian art point to a common origin.

The dove

is

by no means

to be ignored in this question, as a distinctly recog^'

and of the Assyrian


cults/^
The dove and the lotus can be specified in pictured Egyptian vases under
Syrian influence (xliii. i). The dove is connected with Venus by Cypriote coins

emblem

nized

of Venus, of the equivalent Phenician Astarte

Edward Bowditch,

38. T.

Arts common
Ashantees,

is

to the

Superstitions, Customs,

and

Ancient Egyptians, Abyssinians, and

source for the illustration Fig. 146.

40.

the

vase

Among

room

owned by Mrs.

for bronzes,

two birds bearing

a small ivory

lotuses

on

comb

their backs,

41.

into

Plutarch relates the fable that Isis was transformed


a dove at

Byblus;

Monujnente de C/typre,

Professor Huggins.

Etruscan objects of the British Museum,

This undoubtedly represents the original

type of the birds with the vase.

Ashantee

gold ornaments exhibit also normal lotuses (Brit. Mus.).


39.

holding a lotus.

in

N n

quoted

96

by Colonna-Ceccaldi,
story

which shows her

assimilation to Astarte in Syria.


42. In

with relief of

and facing a vase

p.

Jeremiah

desolate by the face

it

is

said,

" Their land was

and wrath of the Dove."

made

Vulgate.

THE BIRD AND THE

2 76

(xlv. 6)

LOTUS.

and appears on Carthaginian Phenician votive

Oxvi. 2, 3

sun and moon

tablets to the

[p. 399]).

The dove may


cylinder xliv.

possibly be the bird, with lotus on the head, of the Oriental

where the vase

(a sign of the Zodiac,

Aquarius)" also appears as an

and

interesting proof of the relation between the motive of the birds with the vase

The dove may

the bird with the lotus.


(xlviii.

12

[p. 305]),

also be intended

but the length of the neck

generally pretentious dimensions and

the

(xlvii,

14

[p. 249]),

with the

association of the fish and bird

The

association of the

symbolism

5,

(v.

6,

[p.

hawk with
65]

Leyden Museum shows the

xliii.

21)

is

the lotus
3,

bird

association of the

swan

is

on vases.

a well-marked feature in Egyptian

xliv. 2, 6).

of the

An

hawk with

Ra and

the sun

Horus

of

enamel amulet of the


Various reasons

hawk's head.^*

and the relations of the hawk

the bird of

bearing

goose or swan in the parallel

xlv. 9)

lotus supporting the

writers,

The hawk

Homer.^

to

modern

267]

[p.

given by the Ancients for associating the


are quoted by

The

(xlv. 7) points to the


(xlii.

[p.

self-important

generally forbid this supposition.

on Cilician coins

fish

(xlviii.

on certain Cypriote vases


303]) in most cases, and

(xliii.

to

xliv. 4, 5, 11)

Apollo were familiar

(pp. 6, 7,

Notes

12, 13, 14,

and the wings of the solar winged disk as form of Horus are hence derived

(xliii. 6).

It is

not certain that the bird-headed deity of Assyrian art (Fig. 121

has the head of an eagle as generally assumed.

The

eagle

the Persians, whose ancient texts specify both eagle and

was a

hawk

[p.

180])

solar bird," but

as birds of Mithra

gave the preference to the hawk, and these texts are later than the
"
of the Hittites,'*' which is the earliest
Assyrian time. The double-headed "eagle
sun),

(the

known

instance of the

the

The

hawk

43.

of various

The same double-headed

headed hawk.
York.

emblem

cylinder xliv.

i,

Robert Brown,

^wn., Proctedinf^s, Society of Biblical

"the rain-giving sun."

vier plac^e sur

I.,

un

dieu Phr^" [R^]-

calice ^panoui

de

" La t^te
de I'eperlotus,

similar very large

in the Polytechnic at Athens.

embleme du

porcelain amulet

easily be a double-

New

by Menant, shows
xliv. 4), which
(xliii. 6

art

45. Iliad, xv. 236-238; Odyssey, xv. 525-526.


46.

Lajard, Culte de Mithra.

Orniuzd (the sun)

Plate xxiv., 400.

may

specified as Hittite

an attitude exactly paralleled by Egyptian

in

44. Leemans,

States,

bird appears on a Cypriote vase in

which has been

Arcfueology, 1890, mentions the Chaldean sign Aquarius

as

modern

(p. 274),

The

eagle was symbol of

and of Mithra

(p.

450).

For

Mithra as the sun, see Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th Edit.,


" Zoroaster."
47. See

Perrot

et Chipiez, Vol.

iv.,

Fig. 343.

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.


gave the eagle a place
emblem.

in

its

hieroglyphics

The much-debated Cypriote vase

277

but preferred the hawk as a solar

We

3 shows an unmistakable hawk/^

xlv. 2,

have then, either a picture of a worshipper or of a god, with solar emblems of the
hawk and lotus.

The

illustrations of the lotus cult in Assyria,

Plates xxiv.

[p.

183],

hitherto overlooked.

xxxvi.

[p.

Plates,

247], xlii.

xxv.

[p.

185],

It

must

therefore appear that the Cypriote vases

and highly important connecting link in Mediterranean


Matter has been quoted from Perrot as illustration of the prevailing
neglected

opinion that the subjects of these vases have no significance

The

of the normal lotus

have already called attention to the normal lotus on Carthaginian votive

much

history.

many examples

Subsequent Plates have added many others (xxxii. [p. 223],


Aside from many Phenician illustrations in these
[p. 267]).

tablets (Ixvi., Ixvii. [pp. 399, 401]).

are

include

which have been collected on

prevalence of normal flowers on these vases

(p.

(xlvii.

Note

230,

[p.

20).

makes

303])

their

This by no means argues a direct or unmixed


Egyptian influence, since both Phenicia and Assyria were saturated with a lotus
symbolism whose exterior forms are Egyptian. The instance of Hindustan, whither

evidence direct and unmistakable.

the Egyptian forms also penetrated (pp. 35, 36, and p. 151,
distinct

national

forms

art

foreign

Note

6),

proves that a

religion

may borrow

for a native

symbol.

But the goose with the lotus, which is


by far the most prevalent and important
of the

association
is

associations

and the lotus

Denderah
iir.

COW.THEGOOSE.THEGAZELLE, ANI/

Detail ofareliefpanel in the temple-portico at Dnderah.

.1.:.

1.^1 us.

Photographed

l\

aloUg thc

in

but

small

in

reliefs
1

and the

of

the

goose

are

found at

very

beautiful

dimensions

arranged

Egypt
these

11

loWCr WallS Of

j.1-

the

..

goose occurs here constantly on the tops of bouquets held by Hathor


The

references for this vase are given in the description of ihe Plate.

tCmplC-

portico have not been published.

48.

lotus,

Egyptian in origin.
The most obvious, numerous, and

interesting

I4i. ibis-MAi IHJK,

bird

The

(Fig. 19, p. 51)

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

278

and also

in the

236,

[pp.

250]),

"

Lotus bower."

just as

It is

associated with the gazelle (Figs. 134, 140

the deer and

swan are associated with the

goose or

In other panels and in similar association with the


on Cypriote vases.
"
Lotus bower we have the goose, gazelle and cow (Fig. 148), showing that the

lotus

"

symbolism which has collected representations of nearly


on the column bases of the portico is also in question
this

last

relief,

the Egyptian deities

all

The evidence

here.

of

on which Isis-Hathor also appears (lower portion of the body


visible in the cut) would indicate that

was

the gazelle

animal of

also an

Isis

at Dcnderah.

For

goose and

the

Egypt, Plate
(2,

4,

8,

5,

xliii.

Seb

representation of
addition.

Many

^^

The

quoted.

which
(7) is

other

offerings

Ra and Horus

lotuses to

lotus

offers five

to

11),

the

in

examples

the typical

an important
can

cases

be

geese and

of

are sup-

(5, 8)

plementary evidence for the quotations


of

and

Keller

of

relations
Isis,

and

the generally

the goose

to

neglected

Ra,

Horus,

Osiris.

The most important Cypriote

illus-

undoubtedly the bird with


winged solar disk on its back (xlv. 13)
facing the lotus, to which we may add
tration

THE GOOSE (swan?) AND THE

149.

importance (xxxvii.

5, [p.

249]

the

bird

[p.

341]).

I.OIX'S.

DctAil (A a panel in the temple-portico at Denderab.


for the Author.

is

and

49.
in

and

the

The

large

British

lotuses.

on the
xlv.

[p. 287]).

When

instances

in

(Ivii.

12

Cases of the flower resting

bird's

The

Rosellini.

back and head are next in

large

number

New York

of unpublished
is

still

more

these are connected with the indications of the

sutue of the Nile-god Hapi, from Thebes,


Museum, combines the symbolic geese

Several

diagram

Photographed

Cypriote vases showing the bird with the lotus in

important consideration.

solar

blue

glazed dish from Gurob, XVIIIth or

XlXth Dynasty, shows

the combination (Petrie excavations, 1890).

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

279

Lawrence-Cesnola Collection ^ and with the scattered vases

and of various

the

publications,

ibex stand second,

the

among

goose

takes

first

rank,

other

in

Museums

while the deer and

which chain the history of Greece

links

to

the

older civilizations of Africa and Asia.

On
[P-

monuments

the oldest
Ivii.

339];

of Italy

12

(Ivi.

341];

[p.

[p.

Iviii.

"
of Greek art, the " Dipylon
vases

[p.

339], Ivii. 7, 8, 14

8,

10

on prehistoric bronzes and pottery


341]); on the bronzes of Hallstatt (Ivii. 4

[p.

Sweden

(Ivi. 9,

11

[p.

the story of ancient bronze and of ancient civilization in

still tells

i,

343]);

of ancient Gaul, and of prehistoric

[p. 341]),

(Ivi.

339]), the
its

goose

journey from

the South-eastern Mediterranean to Western and Northern Europe.

When

once the association with the lotus has cleared the path, the solar
The lines
significance of the bird without this association also becomes obvious.
of birds (geese) which are so

common

traced directly to Egyptian originals.

in early

Mediterranean art (Plate

In the British

Museum

there

Ivi.)

is

can be

a fresco*'

from Thebes showing a golden vase (holding metal lotuses) on which such a line
of geese is depicted. This vase can be connected with an actually existing gold
original, with a similar line of geese,

found in

Italy,*^

of Egypto-Phenician style

and found with objects of Egyptian style, including lotus ornaments of ivory.
This vase again can be connected with hosts of objects showing the line of birds in
Etruscan
(Ivi,

10)

(Ivi.

II.)

"

These birds were already reduced to the " pot-hook stage in Greece
and Italy, and in this shape can be traced as far as Scandinavia
art.

The overthrow

home

of the theory which placed the centre and original

of the

"

"

Aryan nations in Asia is recent but decisive.*^ The relations which connect the
goose and the lotus of Brahma with the goose and the lotus of Apollo (Note 21)
might easily be assumed
50.

The

to imply a

Collection has been dispersed (some pieces are in

Munich), but the publication of photographs by


Di

Cesnola,

number
in

entitled

Alexander

Cyprus Antiquities, shows a large

of specimens for the bird and the lotus, grouped

one or two

appear

Hindu

in

plates

of typical

Cypriote vases.

Others

A. di Cesnola 's Salaminia, and one or two from

this publication

appear on Plate

xlviii.

7,

13,

14 [p. 305].

Others have been published by Hamilton Lang, and by

Perrot, Cypre.
normal

lotus,

is

One

Cypriote vase, with the bird and

in the British

Museum.

origin for this association

1.

52.

therefore

it

Hall of Egyptian statues, No. 923.


In

the

CoUegio Romano, Kircher Museum, gold

vase from Palestrina,

No

23.

Canon Isaac Taylor's

Origin of the Aryans gives a


and
comprehensive account of the discoveries
compendious
in Philology and Anthropology which have proven the
53.

European

origin of the Aryans.

In a recent supplement

to the Catalogue of the Boston Public Library, the mere


list

of works on

pages.

this

new subject

fills

several closely-printed

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

28o

remember

well to

is

that according to the latest discoveries of Philology

and of

"

Anthropology the "Aryan Hindus came from Europe.


The antiquity of the motive in Europe makes it almost positive that the solar
goose travelled to India from Europe with the migrations of the Aryan Hindus. It
not impossible that the goose and lotus associations of India are equally ancient,

is

although the worship of Brahma

For the ostrich (xliv.

These Persian

avesta.**

12) as

much

is

later.

a sacred bird there are

citations

may

shows many loans from


The Persians proper were recent con-

Chaldaea.
verts

references in the Zend-

be fairly referred to Semitic traditions, from

The Persian

which they are certainly derived.

many

to

the

cult

religion

of

Zoroaster

in

the

fifth

century B.C.," and their religion must have been,


as
/-\-Ts,aa5/ /-

^fes^^5%>

-\

_yj!9

^^K

-J

^sz^K

"'^)/

their

art

largely influenced

certainly was,

Chaldaea.

Hence the

may

be connected with

fairly

Persian

sources,

ostrich

in

The

Assyrian monuments.

Assyrian art

known

casting light on

by

facts

from

Chaldean and

ostrich

feather

was

"

150.

LOTOS BUDS AND IONIC FORMS OF SWANS*


HKADS, SUPPORTING DEMI-ROSETTBS.

Repmusi design.

"
"
an Egyptian hieroglyph for Truth or Justice,"
but the bird itself does not appear in Egyptian
art.

Silver plaque from the Caucasus.

The symbolisms

(or

traditions)

attaching to

the Ionic form, the lotus, and the swan, are curiously illustrated by the Ionic

forms of swans' necks, supporting demi-rosettes and alternating with buds, of


Fig. 150.^^
54.

Lajard, Cullc de Mithra.

See especially matter

relating to the ciy of the ostrich as

much mentioned by

the authors of the sacred books of Persia.


55. Encyclopedia
" Zoroaster."
56.

Britannica,

9th

Edition

under

" divine storm


bird

Design borrowed from Perrot

p. 792.

Two Rhod

"

(p. 294, &c.).

et

Chipiez,

III.,

an plaques published by Longp^rier,

Musee Napoleon III., may also be quoted. The outer


border of one is decorated with swans' heads alternating
with solar diagrams.

In Sayce, Hibbert Lectures^ the references are con-

fined to the

57.

heads of deer

corresponding piece shows

in similar alternation.

the

RHODIAN VASE.

From Salzmann.

Repeated from Plate

xxxviii.

O O

282

PLATE

XLIII.

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Doves and

Vase

lotuses.

detail

from a tomb-painting.

Prisse d'Avennes,

XlXth

Vas(;s en or.

Dynasty.
2.

Goose

3.

Sun-hawk on the

4.

Geese and the

(Seb, Osiris,

Isis,

lotus.

lotus.

and Horus) on the


Detail from

lotus.

Detail from

Mariette, Dendirah,

Egyptian blue enamel

plate.

II.

Mariette, Dendirah,
85 A.

Boston Museum,

blue enamel plate with goose and lotus can be dated to the

II. 853.

Hay Collection, No.

XVIIIth XlXth

842.

Dynasties.

Another
(Petrie's

excavations, 1890.)

5.

Egyptian Sceptre, geese on the

From

lotus.

a picture of Ptolemy Euergetes making offering to Horus.

ROSEI-LINI, M.R. clxv.


6.

Sun-hawk and winged sun disk (Horus)

7.

God Seb

8.

Thothmes

9.

Sun-hawk on the

lotus.

Detail from

10.

The

lotus.

Detail of a

11.

Lotus capital with geese.

bird

Syrian relief sculpture, Amrit.

(Father of Osiris) and the goose.


III. offering geese

and the

Dynasty.

RawlinsoN, History of Ancient Egypt,

and lotuses to the Sun-god Ra.

Birch and BONOMi,


woven

Renan, Mission de Phinicie, ix.

fabric.

RosELLiNi, M.D.C.

I.

375.

ix. 4.

Antiquities in the British

PRISSE D'AvENNES, Tissus

p.

Museum, xx.

et Brod^ries.

Prisse d'Avennes, Le PJtaraon Khouenaten servi par

la reine,

XlXth

PLXLlII.,p.

002

283.

284

PLATE

XLIV.

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

1.

The cylinder is pronounced Hittite by Menant the


Sun-hawk (compare No. 4) and the lotus.
cuneiform inscription names the owner {Cylindres, II. p. 117). The lotus is mistaken by Menant
;

for

a branch

" rameau."

2.

Horus hawks and

3.

Birds with lotus

4.

Winged sun

disk,

facing three lotuses.

hawk,

Ivory carving, Caere, Museo Etrusco Vaticano,

5.

Hawk-headed Sun-god (Ra or Horus) and sun

6.

Sun-hawk and

7.

Birds (compare

xliii.

8.

Goose or swan,

trefoil lotus

9.

xxxiv. 5

for designation).

10.

Hawk

1 1.

2.

Scarab.

Hawk

cvii.

83, 22.

Cesnola, Cyprus,

vi. 4.

fish,

A. Dl Cesnola, Salaminiuy

For object

Klaproth,

compare

xlii.

Culte de Mithra,

1.

seal.

xii.

[p. 267].

For

lotus

on

xxiv. 1576.

[p. 249],

Hematite cylinder

and Gryplion

at

cylinder,

3.

shown on each

dove, trefoil lotus (one-half

front,

on the head, compare vase xxxvii.

Cesnola, Cyprus; King's Appendix

over winged sun disk

in

Spiral scrolls below in conventional method.

lotus

Lajard,

or eagle, gazelle,

Cylinder.

disk.

Cylinder.

on the back.

8.

For bird with


[p. 227].

A.V.

\.

Seal, Naukratis, xxvi. 60.

lotus.

Birds with lotuses on the heads.

Avignon.

New York Museum.

beetle, (scarab). Description de V^gypte,

the back, compare xlv.

Culte de Mithra, xviii. 7.

Detail, Cypriote bronze //^ra,

lotuses.

tails,

From Lajard,

for

Cesnola, Cyprus,

Ostriches, lotus bud, lotus palmette with buds, rosettes.

Gems,

side

by the cylinder impression).

III. 28.

v. 20.

Layard, First

Series, xlviL

9''M^*^^
e^

-^
u

f/r
)\

^-^

\^?Vv\
^^^^

In*-*'
-^ -j[^^.^dLAj/^

1^

e>

^j)
\V-L.

Qjg,

C.

n^'.t,.
M
'

^i

B OC/ ^a
OvV a^
' a^j
((T/D;

(f

1A ^^'

AA
^.-f^.

/y.

xz/F.,

^^^

/. 285.

't^

2S6

PLATE XLV.
THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

I.

Solar bird and lotus, Adorer, Sacred lotus Tree.

Chipiez, Cypre,
-. 3'

Cypriote vase.

New York Museum.

Pf.rROT

et

p. 709.

Cypriote vase and detail. Adorer holding lotus, with Sun-hawk lotus with pendant sepals lotus
MAX Ohnefalschsolar diagram rear of the figure, Swastikas.
with incipient sepal volutes
"
RlCHTKR in Jahrbucli, 1886, Plate viii. Subject mistaken by DUMMLER for a missverstandene
;

Vogel jagd aus dem alten Reich,"

copy of a picture of bird hunting of the Old

for a misinterpreted

i.e.

by ReinaCH, Revue ArcMologique, 1885, II. p. 360. Reinach correctly referred


the design to the Assyrian Sacred Tree.
Figured also by Perrot et Chipiez, iv. p. 564.
Empire.

4.

first

Solar bird and lotuses.

and
5.

Figured

lotus.

Cypriote vase.

CesN'OLA, Cyprus,
Bull

Cypriote coin.

p.

New York Museum,

405

and winged sun disk.


De Luvnes, Num,

[p. 223] for the leaf)

6.

Cypriote coin.

7.

Cilician coin.

Swan,

fish,

De Luvnes, Num.
8.

Solar bird and

13.

(Compare xxxii.

Venus by De Luynes.

De Luvnes, Num.

"
Ces m^dailles sont au
Reverse, winged figure holding a disk.
tombe du ciel, qu'elle avait ramasse en Phenicie et consacre a Tyre."
vii.
His attribution of the coin to Cyprus is reversed (verbal advice

I'^loile

et In. Cyp.

4.

its

neck.

xlviii.

on the

lotus

Compare

[p. 305]),

fish.

Solar birds and lotus with introrse scrolls and buds


p.

and cylinder
Cesnola, Cyprus,

bird's head, xlvi. 2,

New York Museum.

Cypriote detail and vase,


Pottery Appendix, xlvi

Chipiez, Cypre,
12.

dove, lotus leaf

sun diagram.

Cypriote vase (the vase at

1 1.

or

Cyp. III. 3.

Barclay V. Head).

Solar bird, lotus on

9. 10.

hawk

type d'Astarte portant


of Mr.

Reverse,
et In.

Reverse, head specified as

Dove, asterism.

et In. Cyp. v. 5

of an extremely nunierous type for the bird

New York Museum.

solar diagram.

xliv. 9.

Detail,

xlvi.

Cesnola, Cyprus ; Murray's

Perrot

Cypriote vase detail.

et

700.
at Plate xlviii. 2 [p. 305],

New York

Solar bird supporting winged solar disk facing lotus and buds.
Detail of the Cypriote vase,
Museum, shown at Plate xlviii. 10 [p. 305]. The latter design in Cesnola, Cyprus, p. 405.

New York

Swans and
Museum.

lotus anthemions.

Cesnola, Cyprus,

Detail of the Cypriote vase


in

Murray's Appendix,

shown

xlvii. 41.

The
Compare

lotus
1.

bud

is

apparently detailed on the bird's body

in

most instances Nos.

i,

4,

8,9, 11, 13.

[p. 309].

For additional Cypriote vases showing solar bird and


important vase, as representing a

common

type,

is

shown

lotus, see xlviii. 7, 13,

at Ix. 15 [p. 359].

14

[p. 305].

An

especially

1^
Fl.XLV.,p.

2S7.

288

PLATE

XLVI.

THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.

1.

Ibis

and

lotus

bouquet of buds

early Attic vase.


2.

large lotus palmette with introrse scrolls

BoHh.W, Ja/trduc/i,

Sacred Trees of lotus

Cypriote vase.

head

a deer rampant

For

1886, Taf.

Ohnefalsch-Richtek, Journal 0/ He/knic


3.

Geese and inverted

Remote
4. Ibis

and three-spiked

and palmettes

of this

solar bird with lotus

on the

bird, see

Plate

xxxvii.

Max

[p. 249].

Studies, V. p. 102.

Detail of a Rhodian vase,

on the stem.

lotus with tabs

Early Greek

British

Museum.

6.

Hawk on

7.

Goose and the

vase.

WARING, Ceramic Art

in

8.

Cock and

9.

Geese or swans.

lotus.

Geese and the


the Lotus."

11. Solar birds

style.

Detail,

Monumenti Inediti, IX.

vase.

lotus, Swastikas,

rosette.

and diagrams.

12.

Cocks on the

13.

Swan and anthemion.

Rhodian

44]),

[p. 63],

and related text

[p. 50],

3,

and

xlix. 8 [p. 307].

Detail,

Greek

xxxiii. 24.
Ksisr.

Tanis,

II.

Swastika and diagrams.

xxv.

i.

Detail of a vase

v. 2.

Vasengevidlde, xxxvi. 7.

Jahrbuch, 1886,

Salzmann, N^cropole

and

Remote Ages,

detail at xvi. 5 [p.

Benndorf,

Rhodian

Compare No.

Greek pottery fragment, Defenneh

(Compare same

from Thera, Rhodian

in

iv.

p. 54.

Waking, Ceramic Art

the lotus anthemion.


lotus

Plate

Compare

'Roni.W} Jahrbuch, 1887,

vase.

Solar birds, Swastikas, and inverted lotus triangle.


"
"

Geometric

10.

Detail,

Ages, xxvii. 9.

for the tabs.

5.

lotus.

two lotus palmettes.

3, 4.

rosettes, Ionic scrolls,

larger side view

p. 148.

Entire vase at Plate xxxviii.

[p.

251] for "the Deer and

de Camire, xliv.

vase.

/aZ/r^wc/;, 1886, p. 152.

lotus facing doubled lotus flower.

Early Attic vase.

Greek vase

in the Louvre.

Bohlav, JaArducA,

1887, p. 52.

Monumenti

Inediti, V. xv.

Fl.

XLyi.,p. 289.
p

PART

III.

PREHISTORIC DIFFUSION OF THE


LOTUS MOTIVE.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.


(PLATES XLVII., XLVIII., XLIX.,

The

first

who threw

antiquarian

have been indicated by him, and

At

his side stands

PAGES

303, 305, 307, 309.)

on the vexed problem of Cypriote


The causes which had confused their study-

decisive light

vases was Professor F. Diimmler.'

students.

L.,

Max

it

is

who

he

cleared

Ohnefalsch-Richter,

the path

who

for

later

all

has been unwearied in

his efforts to secure exact information as to Cypriote antiquities,

and

to

make

this

information public.
Professor Diimmler's efforts were entirely directed, however, to the separation

of the prehistoric vases of Cyprus


of

its later

culture,

and

ii [p.

341]

lix. 8,

13

[p.

345]) from

those

to the proof that the former are directly related to those of

Troy (Schliemann

prehistoric

(Ivii.

excavations).

The same

race

and stage of

civilization

were thus proven to have existed in both territories before the advent of Phenicians
and Greeks in Cyprus, and after that advent, for some continued time in the
interior.

This race
tenth

supposed by Diimmler to have been exterminated in Cyprus by the

is

century

B.C.

His position regarding the

obviously indicated by their uniformity of style


"

"

Mycenae

antiquity

and

viz.,

"

vases of

Cyprus is one
and character (aside from the

later

"

Dipylon exceptions found in Cyprus), down to a late period of


that whether Greek or Phenician, they are essentially of one class,

undistinguishable in individual examples.

The

curious conservatism and oriental

unprogressiveness of the Cypriote Greeks were supposed to have kept them in the
grooves of imitation of Phenician examples, from which the copies could not be
distinguished.^

It

remains to be proved even that such originals existed.

1.

Mittheilungen, Athen. Abtheil, 1886.

2.

Among

the instances of this unprogressive character

specified by various authors, are the use of war-chariots ia

the

fifth

century,

and the

fact that

Greek Cypriote kings

united military, judicial, and priestly functions (as in the


times of

Homer), down

to the period of the Ptolemies.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.

294

Dummlcr has tended

In later publications

to

the

question

existence

of a

Phenician production of Cypriote vases, or to minimize it to the extreme degree.


In this tendency he is undoubtedly in the right. Scholars of various tendencies

have asserted the

or without tendencies,

dominantly and essentially Greek,

on the

island.'

It

civilization

in spite of the

of

Cyprus

have

to

been

Phenician colonies and settlements

a curious fact that Phenician ships from the Syrian coast

is

bound west were accustomed

make

to

Rhodes were more

their first landing at

Rhodes, and that their

and intimate than with Cyprus.*


Movers has explained the amalgamation and assimilation of Cypriote
Phenicians with Cypriote Greeks in the cities which are usually ascribed to

relations with

friendly

Diimmler points to the fact that painted vases are a


A more important argument against the Phenician
speciality of the Greek race.
character of Cypriote vases is that none like them are found in Sardinia or at
Phenician

foundation.

Carthage, and that the rare cases of independent Syrian analogy include only one
of no great importance to the general question.*

class

limited

typical Cypriote vases

character

from finds in Sardinia

when we consider how many

The absence

of

a conclusive proof of their Greek

is

objects

found

in

Sardinia

are exact

with

important

counterparts of Cypriote-Phenician pieces.

Our

best

comprehension

of

the problem

how an

island

and settlements, from which the Phenicians drew

Phenician colonies

their

main

supply of copper for the manufacture of bronze, could exhibit an art dominantly
Greek, is obtained from a comparison of the ancient Phenicians with the
Jews.

Both have been merchant

degree in blood and race assertiveness.


to a marvellous

The

style of the nation in

same

and much

for

direction.

the

traditional lotus style bears


it

about 284

The
3.

vase

is

t!.c.

civilization,

to

to

Salaminia,

Salaminia, p.

undoubtedly Greek.

This

is

that in

settled, of the period to

p.

xvi.

some of the

an undoubted

chief cities they held

Geschichte der Phonizier.

4.

Movers,

5.

Compare Perrot

et

Chipiez,

/y/^zV/, for

pottery designs from Jerusalem and Syria.


"

"

independent Syrian analogy

geometric

use the words

to indicate distinction from

the Cypriote pottery found by Mr. Petrie in Syria (1890).

xvii.

" Dominant

the

more remark-

supremacy."

primitive

a Greek inscription which dates

figured at p. 253 oi Salaminiu.

Birch, Preface

His

divided the possession of the island with the Greek, and

A vase of the

Birch, Preface

which he has

art.

Vases with concentric

Roman

earlier dates otherwise.

with foreign nations

able, as there is every evidence that the Phenician population

is

quoted
period by Colonnarings
de
Ceccaldi, Monuments
Chypre, and they are otherwise
unknown later than the sixth century B.C. (for Rhodes),
are

affiliated

another

survival of the archaic Cypriote syllabary

indication in the

Both have

to the last

The Jew has never had an independent

extent.

synagogue exhibits the

Both have been tenacious

races.

This corresponds to the Cypriote pottery found

and represents a Cypriote colony or settlement.

in Egypt,

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.


which he belongs, but he

is

not the less a

Jew because he

295

is also

French, German,

English or Portuguese,
This parallel appears to indicate the position of the Phenician race in Cyprus.
It is especially important also to remember that all Phenician colonies included

numbers of

large

foreigners, for

Movers has explained.

reasons which

armies were entirely composed of mercenaries (especially Carians).

and

sailors,

employees

Phenician Tyre
to understand

is

were

likewise

and

foreign,

originally

said to have been mainly populated

how

colonies established

by

Their

carriers,

mainly Carian.

Carians.''

by a merchant ruling

Their

It

is

easy

caste could, under

such conditions, diffuse Egyptian patterns by the sale of their wares, influence

and superstitions by the magnificence of their sanctuaries, and by


personal contact with their subordinates, and mould a civilization by the mere dead
weight of their own wealth and luxury in contrast with provincial barbarism
religious rites

without being themselves the manufacturers or producers of the national art of


Cyprus.

To
is,

regard Phenician colonies as composed of solid masses of Phenician blood

according to Movers, a mistake, and

this,

with

recognition of their jealousy,

full

and frequent ill-treatment of their foreign allies and servants. A


Phenician colony was a mercantile colony, established from a mercantile point of

exclusiveness,

view
an

protected by numbers, however obtained, which were the

ancient state founded

in a foreign country.

first essential

of

These numbers were recruited

from a floating population of mercenaries, adventurers, and starvelings, and were


Under these
headed by a ruling caste of money-making priests and kings.
conditions

the Greek settlers

population, became

Greeks,

that

From

when made by

is

to

numerous

Cyprus, as more

the dominant race.

vases were Greek vases even


of Cypriote

of

say,

this

in

colonies

point of view, the

and

Cypriote

Phenicians, but they were the vases

of a race saturated with

Oriental

beliefs,

usages, and symbolism.

Whatever doubts may have

hitherto existed

as

character of Cypriote art in the matter of production


relations of Cypriote vases to those of

Rhodian

style in

to

the

must be

thoroughly

Greek

by the
the matter of the bird and
set at rest

from other Greek design, it is still less resemblant


in exterior forms to the Egypto-Phenician style with which it was in contact.
Its

deer.

Distinct as Cypriote art

6,

is

Movers,

Geschichte der Phonhier^

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.

296

matter

is

borrowed, but

its

curious in the history of

forms are independent, and they

are, perhaps, the

most

art.

According to the Pottery Catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the


most important vases for our present purpose (xlvii. ii, 1. 15, &c.), are from the
neighbourhood of Ormidia, a Greek colony.
other\vise lacking

deficiency largely made


"
Prehistoric,"
Mycenae,"
^a

"

aside from the

Information as to provenance

is

good by the proofs of Diimmler, that,


"
and " Dipylon
styles, the vases of

one category without reference to time, locality, or race. A still


farther exception must be made for the relatively rare cases of the later Greek

Cyprus belong

to

pottery due to importation, and easily distinguished.

Whatever

prior claim to the

Greek vases

style of

title

"

Dipylon

("

vases)

of

"

may

"
"
Geometric
Geometric," the so-called

assert

(Ivi,

339]) that style

[p.

shows

a very mild geometry compared with that of Cyprus. The horses, birds, and deer,
"
even of the oldest " Geometric style, are occasionally fairly well designed, and

The word "geometric,"

they are not wilfully misrepresented.


vases, relates to the

as applied to these

ornament of meanders, chevrons, concentric

rings, &c.

In the Cypriote vases the natural forms themselves are so constantly disguised

by geometric methods, that it is highly doubtful whether there are any geometric
forms which do not conceal a natural object, or portion of a natural object in some

We

remote relation to a natural original.


"

pages of

examples

Geometric

(xlvii.

1,

Of geometric
an additional

"

birds, of

have had some experience in recent

which the plates now

inclusive).

lotuses

we

also have example

series is offered

We have already

on Plate

xlvii. 2, 3, 4, 7.

had occasion to observe the inversion of the lotus


[p.

the deer of the upper frieze

Plate xlix. the

This inversion
related to the

the flower

vase

Rhodian,

xlvi.

249]),
[p.

in early

an inverted lotus with

289]

"

Greek

Geometric,"

[p. 289]).

On
is

Of such examples

xlix.

examples of Greek vases (Rhodian, xxxvii. 4

xlvi.

in question furnish additional

is

is

lotuses are

all

inverted

a Cypriote method,

common

(No. 7 excepted,
to

large

not Cypriote).

numbers of

narrowing of the vase form toward the neck.

The

an accommodation of the shape of the flower to the

vases,

and

inversion of
lines of

the

(i, 2).

The

inverted lotuses pass into inverted triangles insensibly, and

by gradations

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.

297

which are very numerous.


These gradations are happily represented by a
vase (i) which shows the geometric
triangle and an obvious lotus, separated
by an inverted bud (compare the buds xxi. 8, 10 [p.
The
is
159]).

triangle

further specified by associations with

the solar ibex or gazelle

(5)

(compare

245-253],

and by

associations with the solar

bird (8)

xxxv.-xxxix.

(xliii.-xlvi.

linear

[pp.

[pp.

triangle

lotuses

known

to

art

[p.

65];

10

[p.

223];

V.

xxxii.

10

xlii.

cases

"boss"

exhibit

XXX.

'9

[p.

211];

[p.

267];

[p. 401]).

some

In

un-

not

are

and Phenician

Eg)-ptian

Ixvii. I, 2,

Purely

283-289]).

the

triangles
8,

(xlix.

10)/

which serves as an additional deterThis

mination.

back

to

Plate

seen

to

appear

erect

triangle

on

(15,

where
a

the

on

two

inverted

The boss

16).

is

it

number of

also

of

cases

us

carries

xlvii.,

and

lotuses,

additional

boss

is

geometric treatment of the curling


sepals

I,

2,

3,

6,

4,

7,

1 1

151. CYPRIOTE VASE, LAWREN'CE-CESNOI.A COLLECTION.


"
Showing an inverted lotus triangle with bosses," supported by a panel
band with "bosses."

(compare Fig. 4 from nature

[p.

27]).

No. 3

is

an

showing one sepal which attaches itself to the side of the flower
at both extremities.
No. 8 shows an approximate geometric form. If the sepals
of No. 2 are filled in with black we obtain the outline of xlix. 10 for the boss.
exact

sketch,

The

transfer of the boss to the upright panel

constant appearance.

bands

(xlvii.

appear (12)

7.

The

Salaminia,

Sometimes the boss

is

also a

found both on flowers and panel

sometimes on the panel bands alone, in cases where flowers


sometimes on the panel band alone (xlviii. 5) where no flowers appear.
14)

only mentions of this boss are by A. Di Cesnola,


p.

is

bands of the vases

255,

who

speaks of

"a

peculiar tear-hke

thickening on the middle of a black line

"
;

and by

Max

Ohnefalsch-Richter, who mentions the boss


from "Mycenas" vases.

borrowed

It is,

as borrowed

however, the latter which

it,

Q q

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.

298

In

serve

They

like xlviii.

lower

5 the lotus buds are an assistance.

xlviii.

to

motive to a flower,

where the buds also appear.

i,

panel

the

refer

The

3 illustrates a class of

of xlviii.

vases where two buds remain on the panel band.

These carry us

to

15,

where the buds have a

conventional treatment related to that of No.

In No. 17
in

we

find a decisive case for the

11.

buds

both aspects from one vase (compare xxxvii. 10

Hence an explanation

249]).

[p.

of the curious

diagram No. 8, which consists of several of


these buds supported by an
inverted lotus
triangle.

The designation
assisted

of these unique lotuses

by the solar birds

has been

published

by

8,

Murray

No. 8

12).

in

Cesnola's

CYPmOTE

VASR, LAWRENCE-CF.SNOI.A COLLECTION


" bosses."
2>bowing an inverted lotus triangle with

152.

(6,

is

Perrot.

Fig.
"

"

buds

geometric

buds

No. 6 has
"Cyprus."
153 shows the panel band with bosses,
attached

the

to

bosses,

and

been

by

published

three

at the base of the band.

Another curious diagram attests the symbolism of


the boss.
No. 9 shows concentric rings (or a solar disk)
with four projecting buds, which support a panel band

The

with bosses.

The

151,

Ivii.

[p 341].

diagram supported by an inverted lotus triangle

solar

on a

entire vase is figured at

staff is
152).

shown

at

xlix.

11

are

Assyriologists

[p.

307] (compare Figs.

familiar

with

similar

design on cylinders.*

The
to

reaction of the boss to lotuses

show the curling

(xv. 7,

13

[p.

sepals

is

examples prove that a lotus


8.

Lajard, Cultede Milhra,

another point to be noticed

The pendant

139]).

x.

12

crescent takes the place of the sun.

xl.

Lajard,

which continue

may

Three geometric
geometric buds.
buds at the base of the band.

tendrils of these later

also

where the moon


xxx. 3

DETAIL OF A CYPRIOTE VASE,


NEW YORK.
Panel band with bosses and pendant
153.

xliv. 2

be represented by a pendant line

for

where the winged disk takes the place of the solar diagram.

Compare Phenician

seal, Ixvii,

[p. 401], of this

Work.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF
they are explained
xlvii.

as

rudimentary survival

of

CYPI^US.

299

small

the

flowers

pendant

at

This example also shows the boss as reacting on a flower with curling

I.

sepals.

The most

that which carried

curious case of transfer, parallel to

metric sepal boss to the panel bands of Cypriote vases,

bronzes

Celtic

of

Hallstatt

which

form of "the bird" with a horse's mane.


colour

designs from

Hallstatt

which both horses with


thus demonstrating

the

the

in

source

of

highly conventional

mane

183,181

(Figs.

band

the panel

the

among

original

Germain a bronze on

St.

with the

birds

of transfer

have found

Museum

mane and

range of possibility that

within the

the

found in the prehistoric

is

exhibit

occasionally

the geo-

are

represented,
It is

[pp. 362, 363]).

outcome of

an

is

itself

like

triangles

xlvii.

16.

Compare xlix. 3 and 1. 15.


The Cypriote boss made
its

"

"

into the

way

Mycenae

pottery and explains motives

have

which

interpreted

"bent
2,

It
OR ARCHIPELAGO STYLE, NEW YORK.
154. VASE FROM CYPRUS. "MYCKNjK"
Showing an outline ornament derived from the elongated Cypriote boss. Compare Fig.

also

shapes

5.

the

Fig. 155

154).

development

as

7.

on

mussels,"

&c.

occurs

(liii.

323]).

[p.

in

vases

curious
of

the

shows an elongated Cypriote

boss,

(liii.

[p.

323]

and Fig. 156

illustrates

of

the boss to the pattern

of

liii.

3,

liii.

and Fig.

elongated
occurs

first

Cyprus, and
there

me

323],

154.

The
boss

[p.

in

it

narrow

in

occurs

relation
linillb

to
J1

^^^

9.

FuRTWANGLER AND LoESCHKE,

Cypriote pottery motive of elongated bosses.


Myketitsche Vasen.

Q q

See

i,

156.

Archipelago

and Fig.

"

sticks,"^
4,

3.

been

hitherto

my

Vase

in

New

reference at p. 49> Notes 24, 25.

York.

Geometric lotuses of Cyprus.

iPO

certain

borders.

panel

also found in

15,

{^^Ivii.

"Mycenae"

pottery

16).
(liii.

The Cypriote
9,

10,

11,

12,

13

inverted
[p.

lotus

323]).

triangle

is

The examples

r
16. KVOLUTION OF THE O'PRIOTE " BOSS " IN VASES OF THE ARCHIPELAGO AND "M\CEN/e" STYLE
(o, b, (rora

"

"

10 are

9,

Cypriote vases

Mycenae

<,

i/,

from " Mycenae " vases (Plate

liii.)

e,

"
from Archipelago " Mycenie vase

pieces of a transition type, from

Cyprus

at Fig. 154.)

in the

New York

Museum
It

"

probable that the transfers

is

"

Mycenae

vases

were

originally

of

made

motives
in

from Cypriote pottery

Cyprus.

The

population

to

of

the
the

"

"

culture (supposed to be Carian) had settlements in Cyprus, as proven


Mycenae
"
"
masses of fragments "* of their peculiar pottery-ware. Settlements of the
by
Carians in Cyprus have been independently demonstrated by Movers long before

the

Carian

hypothesis

of

"

"

Mycenae

culture

had been originated.


Aside from several important vases of the
"
"
Mycenae type from Cyprus already published,
there

quite a

are

Collection.

157. TYPIC*!.

On

number

in

the

New York

the other hand, Cypriote vases

NICKING OBNAMFNT OK CYPRIOTE A.MPHORAS.

Origiii expUioetl

by the diagram, Fig. 159.

10.

FuRTWANGLER and LoESCHKE, Mykenische

158. CYPRIOTE VASE, NEW YORK.


Showing the typical neck border of Cypriote ampboras.

Vasen, p. 26, text.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.


have only been found in Egypt outside Cyprus
in Syria

by Mr.

The

Petrie).

(a

301

few have been recently found

transfers of Cypriote

motives to the " Mycenae

"

do not imply a Cypriote origin for this style, which is undoubtedly distinct.
We have still to consider in Cypriote geometric lotuses the phenomenon of

style

the lotus quadrangle (Plate

My

1.).

study of the quadrangle was made necessary by the existence of a neck

border pattern which

and which, among


these vases, is entirely confined to amphoras.
Fig. 157 shows a specimen detail.
On Plate 1. there is an
Fig. 158 shows a typical amphora with the neck border.
entirely confined to Cypriote vases

is

amphora type with the peculiar neck border (No. 15).


more details of the heck ornaments from similar vases

additional example of this

There are also


(Nos.

7,

13,

three

was perplexed

14).

within a lotus triangle, as

The

explanation

several

some

tin^e

by these cases of the boss

belongs logically to the exterior sides (Figs. 151,

shown by

as

is

it

for

the diagram Fig.

159.

On

Plate

1.

152).

we have

examples of a quadrangle composed of four lotus triangles, as specified

by the boss (Nos.

5,

i,

8,

9,

10,

11).

The

interior boss is explained here also

four triangles with exterior bosses are combined, there will

by considering that

if

result four triangles,

having both exterior and interior bosses.

159

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ORIGIN OF THE NECKING ORNAMENT.

Fig. 157

302

PLATE

XLVII.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.


THE CURLING SEPAL AND THE GEOMETRIC DERIVATIVE

1.

Detail from neck of the vase


[p- '39]-

2.

From a

The

1.

15.

The

small pendant lotuses explain the pendant filaments of xv.

volutes represent curling sepals.

large amphora.

BOSS.

Compare Fig. 4

[p.

7,

13

27] from nature.

Geometric lotus with variants of the curling sepal, Swastikas and crosses

(Swastika variants).
3.

From

the

side

is

same vase. Geometric lotus with variants of the curling


a knob or " boss," on the other sidfe the sepal is distinct.

4.

From another

large amphora.

Geometric lotus with variants of the curling

5.

Lotus with geometric bosses derived from the curling sepals

6.

Variants of the curling sepals with concentric rings.

7.

Variants of the curling sepals.

8.

An

From

the

same vase

as Nos. 2

On

sepals, carefully sketched.

one

"

sepals.

from another vase.

and

3.

early stage of the geometric bosses, derived from curling sepals.

Compare

right sepal of

No.

3.

9. 10. Lotuses from distinct vases, showing the geometric boss derived from curling sepals.

11.

Large amphora, with lotuses (curling

sepals)

and concentric

rings.

(From

this vase

is

the detail xvi. 3

Published in colour by Lenormant in Gazette ArcJu'ologique, 1883, p. 97 "Vases


[p. 144]).
d'Ormidhia." The details of these colour illustrations are grotesquely distorted (designs forwarded
from New York), and absolutely unreliable. Lenormant did not recognize the flowers, which he

mentions simply as "fleurons d'un style tout Asiatique."


12.

Border from another vase, showing the boss derived from curling sepals AS TR.\NSFERRED TO
B.\NDS OF THE P.\NEL. Lotuses with pendant sepals roughly represented.

13.

Sacred lotus tree of the vase xlv.


flowers and buds.

14.

THE

i
Conventional association of
[p. 287], showing the geometric boss.
In nature each bud grows on a separate stem from the root of the plant.

Border from another vase with bosses derived from curling sepals, on the flowers, AND AL.SO AS
TRANSFERRED TO THE BANDS OF THE PANELS buds in the comers of the outside panels geometric
;

bird.
15.

Inverted geometric lotus with bosses elongated to suit the narrowness of the panel. From another vase.
Such exaggerated bosses are found in the narrow upright panels of the vases like xlv. 4 [p. 287],
which does not, however, happen to exhibit them.

From

16.

Inverted geometric lotus with bosses.

17.

Panel band with elongated bosses derived from curling sepals.

All the above details are from vases in the

The

boss on

"

byliii. 2, 3,4, 5, 7,

"

Mycenae

15.

Elongation as explained at No.

15.

New York Museum.


It is

shown

8[p. 323].

"

Myccna:

1.

vases has not been previously recognized as a Cypriote pattern.

Max Ohnefalsch-Richter
"

the vase

pattern.

has erroneously supposed the Cypriote boss to be derived from the

Pl.XLVlI.,t.ioz.

504

PLATE

XLVIII.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.


THE GEOMETRIC BOSS AND GEOMETRIC BUD
The

show

details of this Plate are selected to

that Nos.

8, 9,

1.

Lotus with geometric bosses and four attached buds.

2.

Vase showing

3.

Vase showing an upright panel band with

lotus bosses

4.

Vase with solar

neck.

5.

Detail, with four buds, similar to that of

solar bird (swan)

and

bird bearing a lotus

lotus anthemions.

on

its

No.

and 12 are

lotus symbols.

Detail at xlv. 12 [p. 287].

and two buds.

Detail at xlv. 8 [p. 287].


3.

From A. Dl Cesnoi.a, Cyprus

"

of photographs of the
Lawrence-Ccsnola Collection," for some time in
some
of
the
vases
are in Munich.
dispersed

volume
or near London and now
Antiquilies, a

6.

Cypriote vase,

New York Museum, whose

detail

is

shown

at No.

12.

Perrot

et

CHIPIEZ, Cyprc,

p. 702.
7.

8.

Cypriote vase with solar birds, lotus Ionic form with projecting details like those of the right lotus of
No. 17 (buds). A. DI Cesnola, Salaminia, xix.
Solar birds (swans) confronting a symbol composed of objects like the projecting details of the right
lotus of No. 17; said objects resting on an inverted triangle; two solar diagrams. Cesnola, Cyprus,
xlv. 35.
Demonstration follows through Nos. Ii and 17.

9. Detail

of the vase

lotus
10.

Ivii.

3 [p. 341].

Concentric rings supporting a panel band with geometric bosses; four

buds projecting.

Vase with

solar bird supporting the

Cesnola, Cyprus,

p.

winged sun disk and confronting a

lotus.

1.

Lotus with geometric bosses and conventional buds projecting from them.

2.

Detail of No. 6.

13.

[p. 287].

405.

bosses.

Detail at xlv. 13

Solar birds confronting a lotus symbol consisting of a panel band with geometric
Cesnola, Cyprus, xHv. 34. Compare xlvii. 12, 14.

Cypriote vase with solar bird, inverted lotus, and unrecognized object.

A. Dl Cesnola, Salaminia,

xix. 30.
14.

Cypriote vase with solar bird confronting lotus

15. Cypriote vase,

17.

Maltese cross.

A. DI Cesnola, Salaminia,

p. 257.

showing the upright band with geometric bosses and two geometric lotus buds attached.

Compare No.
16.

17.

Border showing upright panel band with lotus bosses spread to


each with two lotus buds.

full

extent of the band.

Exterior bosses,

Ibex and lotuses, one lotus with bosses and buds, one with bosses
Detail of the vase xxxvii. 10 [p. 249].
and buds like those of Nos. 7, 8, IS-

All the above details are from vases in the

New York Museum, when

not otherwise specified.

Pl.XLVIJI.,p.2,os.

3o5

PLATE XLIX,
GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.
THE LOTUS TRIANGLE.

All

below-mentioned vases and details represent vases in the New York Museum, excepting No. 7,
The
detail of a vase in the Louvre from Rhodes, and No. 5, Cypriote vase in the Boston Museum.
very common in Cypriote pottery, and results from the wish
to have the ornamental lines converge towards the neck of the vase and narrow with it.
inversion of the lotus on these vases

is

1.

Vase showing a normal

lotus inverted, a lotus bud,

2.

Vase showing a normal

lotus inverted.

3.

Vase showing a

4.

lotus triangle inverted

and a lotus triangle

and concentric

inverted.

rings.

Vase showing two lotus triangles inverted, and a neck border explaining the position of corresponding
This neck border is typical for a very large class of Cypriote
patterns 13 and 14 on the next Plate.
vases.
It shows triangles with interior bosses, as explained
by text [p. 301] and diagrams
(Fig. 159).

5.

.Ibex or gazelle, having three lotus buds (on stems with tabs) hanging from his mouth, and a lotus
"
"
triangle inverted, on his back.
Compare Plates and text for the Deer, Gazelle, Ibex, and Lotus
[pp. 229-254]

lotus stems with

Cypriote vase in the Boston

[p. 253].

6.

For the

Vase with neck border of

spirals

buds hanging from the mouth, compare xxxix.

4,

6,

Museum.

and a border of inverted lotuses tending towards the conventional

triangle.

7.

The

**

xlvL
8.

bird

and the

5 [p.

lotus."

289] and

Inverted lotus triangle, supporting the panel band with bosses


and text for the "Bird and the Lotus" [pp. 269-289].

Cesnola Collection.
9.

10.

1.

Iviii.

"

Detail illustrating the chevrons on Greek " Geometric


vases.
Compare
in
the
a
vase
Louvre.
Gazette
From
3 [p. 343].
Archeologique, 1888, xxv.

solar geometric birds.

similar

vase was

in

Compare
the

See photograph publication, Cyprus Antiquities, A. Di Cesnol.\.

Inverted geometric lotus triangle with bosses.


Inverted geometric lotus triangle with bosses and two normal flowers.

Vase showing an inverted geometric

lotus triangle supporting the solar diagram.

Plates

Lawrence-

'

v?^ //^-.

'-"

ft

111

,#^^ ^^v .SVl^-:\-'

/y.

r 2

A'z/x,

/>.

307.

3oS

PLATE

L.

GEOMETRIC LOTUSES OF CYPRUS.


THE LOTUS QUADRANGLE.

All
I.

vases and details belong to the

New York Museum,

excepting No.

6.

Vase showing the lotus quadrangle as composed of four lotus triangles with bosses.
Four triangular sections result, each with interior bosses. Cesnola, Cyprus, p. loi.

3.

To

3-

Detail of a Greek

assist

Compare No.

2.

above explanations.
"

Geometric

"

Compare the similar motive in


The motive No. 3 belongs to the

vase.

the panels of No.

6,

and the

regular patterns of the Greek


"
"
the
lotus
The .same motive on
is
from
derived
Geometric style, and
quadrangle.
Cypriote
The vase from which this detail is
"Mycena;" vases is borrowed from the Cypriote liii. i [p. 323]
"
"
vase from Cyprus, in the New York Museum.
taken is a regular Dipylon
similar pattern in

4.

Ivi.

2 [p. 339].

Vase (Cesnola, Cyprus, p. 404) showing an abbreviated form of the lotus quadrangle, simplified from
the pattern of No. i, by way of 8, 10, 5, and 9. This motive is found on Melian vases. See Ix. 8
On the Mycena: vase liii. 6 [p. 323] is a variant derived from liii. i, which recurs to the
[p- 359]Cypriote lotus quadrangle proper.

5.

Variant of No.

i,

by way of 10 and

9.

of a Greek "Geometric" vase in Copenhagen. Archceologische Zeitung, i883, viii. Showing solar
birds, sun diagrams, the solar deer (a doe), and geometric quadrangle pattern derived from the

6. Detail

Cypriote.
7.

Variant of

13, 14.

Compare

15 for the position of such a motive, which

is

confined to the necks of

amphoras.
8.

Variant of No.

9. Detail

I.

of No. 12.

la Variant of No.

i,

Variant of No.

5.

11.

12.

Illustration for the bird

13. 14.

15.

showing the boss

and the

in its originally

more

restricted expansion.

Compare No.

2.

lotus quadrangle.

Variants of the neck border of

15.

Vase showing the habitual combination of normal

lotuses (as at the sides of the neck

below), with the highly conventional derivatives.

and

in the

border

.^^^

i&i

/v. Z., /. 309.

LOTUS MOTIVES OF THE "MYCENiE CULTURE."


(PLATES LL. UL, LIU,

The

UX^

W^ PAGES 319k jn. 3^ V^ Jt^)

indications of Egyptian influence in the art

work of Orcfaomenos, Mycenx,

and Tiryns have been abundantly recognized by studoits. To these indications


^-e may add the Bull fresco of the IVth Dynasty (IL 8). as related to the Bull
fresco of Tiryns

(li.

and

i)

the various lotus derivatives pointed out

following analysis of Mycenae pottery ornament ^>p. 320-326^.

The

by the

supposition

that the history of Greek naturalistic art b^;ins with the potteiy oi the Mjfcoiae
style*

probably reversed

is

distinct

by

from the Greek, and also had veiy

It is rather doubtful

The Mycenae

if

The Mycenx

this analysis.

there is

slight, if any, influ^ice

any

realistic art

is

upon

positively

it.

in the Mycenae culture.

an example of such

squid, which might be considered

included in the illustrations, and

art is

art, is

not

the only imp(Mlant motive not omsideied.

nothing to antagonize the su|^nesticm iA a Squid fetich as long as the


scorpion, frxig, crocodile, and fish were admitted to the andoit Pantheon. Whoever

There

is

has seen the preparation of this dainty <hi the strand <^ Syra,
knows its
importance as an article <A food in the Levant, will scarcely deny that familiar
contact with this marine animal

or that

its picture

that the original

may have

may have been

Hydra was a

it

to the dignity of

symbc^sm,
There is no doubt

the ideograph c^ a god.

devil-fish, for the relief

Museum

in the Vatican Etruscan

raised

of Hercules and the Hydra

accurately rq>resents the squid.

two interesting examples <A Mycenae vases with the squid have
been found in Egypt,' and this animal appears in the reliefs tA Dehr-^Bahri,

At

I.

least

m^au i ML,Jmkimdk, IL, .

CcKTros. Sih

Volk das dte


Fisdhe.

Wdka. dcbe sene

Sbaiid

"Em

liiiiiilliiM.

dk

a^

Om m

the Abbott

Sodtq^. piriafched

Obclio^, Kev Tod^ HisMnal

bgp ftafessar

A.

&

Mmuur..

MascbdiK fwlwrftfw. Poljrpe^, Ptwrra. sbIms JfmtmmttfJbwk lt^ il> IMs desiffatiMa of
Mceres aitf dea TlnB Make* Tke oaofe- aypac b
dnahrfaq ; aMlter ia Ac BAafc

e>

of tke

ana

wadt be ooKcdedt Int

tarBManfakanar-MjoaHe'stylewliclibanc

at a embolic dcimtioa are mc^ if dhej appear at aE.

TlMKHfeeB bane been faaad


paange ia

Pdm^ Xaia

ii,

Mwi

a E^m ^ffied

bf a

mamm,

1890

ftw^, ami

(seep. iCz,K(tte i,orttiEW<id^

LOTUS MOTIVES OF THE

.3
3'^

but

MYCEN^

CULTURE."

undoubtedly a distinctive motive of the Archipelago

is

it

"

in

the days of

Carian greatness.

An

originally

direct contact

of Carian

or

Mycenae

civilization with

Egypt

not to be argued absolutely from the directly Egyptian examples of the lotus

is

on the tomb

spiral

ceilings of

Orchomenos and Tiryns

(Fig.

56

or even from the curious relation of the Bull fresco of Tiryns

and

[p. 95],
i)

(li.

to a

li.

9),

tomb-

IVth Dynasty (li. 8).


The people who made the Mycenae
pottery appear, however, to have had settlements in Egypt as early as the Xllth
Dynasty, and Movers' matter for the Carians in Egypt would indicate the same
painting of

fact.

It

the

easy to imagine the importation of Egyptian artists by great princes

is

for the decoration of their

tombs, or the employment of artists of specially Egyptian

from among the Mycenae population of Egypt in such a case. The


Mycenae inlaid swords are not less likely to be of foreign Egyptian manufacture.'
The character of the Mycenae or Carian culture is better argued from its
education

throughout the Levant, and especially as found

pottery, as scattered

than from these more palpable cases of Egyptian

in

Egypt,
The pieces found in

art.

Egypt, which are in Leyden,* in the Louvre, in the British Museum, in Florence,
in the Abbott Collection of New York, above all those found by Mr. Petrie,*
are no

more

directly

in quality

Egyptian

than those found exterior to the country.

probably argues against a direct diffusion of the style from the foreign
population in Egypt, in which case the Mycenae motives of Egypt would

This

fact

have

the

shows,

all

more perceptibly Egyptian

As my

quality.

of

analysis

vases

the

those which are illustrated

remote from direct

have lotus patterns, but they are more


Egyptian resemblance than even those of Cyprus.
Many

of those not borrowed from Cypriote motives, like the boss, the quadrangle, the
inverted triangle

(liii.)

and the

"

ivy leaf" which

was probably obtained

are based on the imitation of motives in metal

had been

first

copied

in

Egypt we should

Egyptian character copied from designs


3.

The

sword

of

(XVIIIth Dynasty)

is

Aahmes

in

the

a similar work,

ScHUCHARDT, SchlitmantC s Ausgrabungen

Gizeh
as

im

by

Lichte der

keuligen Wissenuhaft (p. 357).


4.

irs

Leemans, Monumens igypticns du Music

Payi-Bas a

Ltide.

find

13, 17, &c.).

other

lotuses

If these

[p, 162],

metals

of the ordinary

in other materials.

Museum

observed

(liv.

there

of

/Tawara, Plate xxviiL, text,

liv.

17, dated to the

Mycenae
d'Anliquitis

valued because

5. Especially
(?(/

1,

leaf

3 [p. 165])

Hi. 9,

Kahun

The running

and vase shape of

dated to the XlXth or early

by finds of 1890.

Gurob,

a piece with motive

XlXth Dynasty.

motive (type of
is

p.

dated.

42

xxii.

XXth Dynasty

Petrie, Catahgtie, &c., 1890, p.

8.

LOTUS MOTIVES OF THE


Other

motives are

barbaric

examples foreign to Egypt,

The

lotuses

like Fig.

49

MYCEN^ CULTURES

"

(liv.

leaves (so-called "ivy leaves" in cases like xxii.

frequently remote derivatives

All

these

when taken

3,

5,

i,

mass that

the

are also

165])

[p.

7).

show what the vases show themselves


by

facts

in

2,

i,

(lii.

founded on pottery

from Cyprus.

76]

[p.

originally

i)

^,^

Mycenas pottery

locality of find,

the style of the Greek

style is

Archipelago in the days of Carian ascendancy,^ for which reason we shall


adopt
the word "Carian" without further
as
apology,
already suggested by students of
much greater learning. The presence of Carians in
Egypt and Syria (p. 295,
Note 6), of Carian settlers in Cyprus,
and of Carians in
300, Note
(p.

with

alliance

Phenicians, wherever

10),

Phenicians were

found/ as

their

carriers,

and mercenaries, would explain the


peculiar

sailors,

character of their

barbaric

art,

character

to

(allied

of

art

prehistoric

especially considering a certain

Hallstatt,''

the

Celtic

the

Frank

forms,

or the

to

&c.,

Roman

Merovingian adaptation of
"

of

that

"

Scythian

many

of

adaptations

cases of direct

as

Greek)

explaining

mistranslation of the foreign

Egyptian and Phenician motives.

As

to

the question whether the Carians

knew

ornaments to be lotus motives, my impression


would be decidedly to the contrary; and in this
their

160.

Showing

RHODIAN VASE.

lotuses with pendant sepals.

sense their art

which

they

must be sharply distinguished from the Cypriote Greek, from

made

several

geometric lotuses there

companionship
6.

of

the

is

the wildest

solar

deer

and

That the Carians of the Greek Archipelago are the

1875.

The view has found wide


Schuchardt accepts it,

Kohler

acceptance.

The

recent work of

with proviso that

"

culture was that of the early population of

the

"

Mycenae

the Archipelago in

general.

As

the

dominant race of the Archipelago


this comes to the same thing.

Carians were the

in prehistoric

times,

Movers,

8.

The most

significant

fact

in

bird,

the

shows

which

that

Schliemann's Greek excavations


finds to deposits of

AD.

Cypriote

date

is

Stephani,

in the case

the

the attribution of his

has

Petersburg archre-

St.

found following down to

its

and

The

of Penrose and Stillman.

down

the style of the prehistoric North lasted

century a.d.

sense of

Northern barbarians of the third century

This attribution by the great

ologist,

had

far

beyond

that date,

and

origin in the beginnings of the

fact

recent
is

that

to the third

that this style

" bronze
culture,"

which came from the South, under conditions which the

Geschichte der Fhonizier.

7.

eccentricities of the

a logical connection of development and a continued

"
people of the Mycenje culture" was suggested by
in

In

loans.

whole matter of

"

"

Mycenae

culture has

first

revealed to

us.

s s

3H

LOTUS MOTIVES OF THE

symbolism

was continuous, and

with highly geometric forms


It is

and

On

relation to sun-worship.

The Carian
the

for

proven

normal

on the vases

lotuses

same

309]) proves the

[p.

CULTURE:

thing.

another question whether these Carian motives had a symbolic meaning

traditional

opinion.

MVCEN^

the presence of

15

(1.

"

was probably

art

Celtic

of

art

and

Celtic,

because

Italy,

decline to express an

this point I

the

lotus

animals

solar

with

lotuses

pendant from the mouth are original with them.


The Carian art shows the quality of an adventurous, warlike, and
barbarian

and

civilized

tinople are

much
the

the closest

in

very

6a

first

of

trade

the

also

are

of

so

parallels.

who

Mediterranean

soldier.

mercenary

refined

highly

cavalry of Caesar or

Roman pay

people of the

semi-

of Constan-

comparison, although

The Batavian

later date.

Visigoths

the

the

The Varangians

peoples.

of

service

military

That the Carians were thus employed by Phenicians


and Egyptians we know well. They are quoted as

l6i. Detail or

fig.

the

in

employed

race,

be

can

symbolism

would

It

be

162.

CYPRIOTE LOTUS.

Pendant
York.

followed

advisable

to

sepals.

New

the

test

undeciphered Carian inscriptions of later times, as being probably in a Celtic


language.
"

Mycenae
There

the

wave

"

"

Although Maspero has mentioned the Carians as


art has not one indication of such a quality.

common

only one motive

is

line of lotus

stems and leaves

Cushites," the

Mycenae vases and Greek pottery,

to

xxii.

9;

(Hi.

i,

[p.

Even

165]).

this

one correspondence of motive does not argue any close relation between early
Greek culture and the Carian, for the wave line leaf motive does not occur on

Greek

vases

before

the

therefore that both Greeks

fifth

B.C.

century

apparently.

and Carians borrowed

it

The

from a

is

presumption

common

source, but

at dififerent times.^
It

has not yet been observed

pattern

of Carian art centres

104

[p.

163],

9. This

common

Greeks and Carians


numbers.

128

[p.

206],

129

[p.

214],

Note 10) were settled in large


appears on Mycenae vases found in

(p. 300,

Cyprus (New York Museum), and although


it

is

distinctly

known

it

is

unknown

to Cypriote art

one problem of the wave

Museum

the

in

source was possibly Cyprus, where both

The motive

to Cypriote pottery,

that

of Bologna (Figs.

and Plate
for instance,
to

li.

7).

It

is

line

103

on the large stone vase " found

thelemple of Golgoi," Cesnola, Cyprus,

is

common on

Phenicie.

Syrian sarcophagi

[p.

161],

only here that


at the entrance
p. 145,

a terra-cotta coffin, Cesnola, Cyprus, p. 190.


leaf

"ivy"

and on

The

lotus

Renan, Mission

dt

LOTUS MOTIVES OF THE


we

find

on stone

it

reliefs

(fourth or third century


"

Carian

"

and

in

"

some

The presence

B.C.).

this

315

clearly of late date

Italy of a Celtic

in

If

CULTURE."

which are

reliefs

must be conceded.

population

MYCEN^

and also of a

population was one and

the

same, the problem of the "ivy leaf" at Bologna is solved.


There is only one other decorative running motive in Carian pottery, the
This is a direct loan from the Egyptian spiral scroll
spiral scroll (lii. 6, 9).

am

aware that the Mycenae spiral scroll is supposed at


present to be a pattern derived from the handiwork of the jeweller, and from
There are certainly many works
the coiling-up of a strand of jeweller's wire.
(x.

97]).

[p.

well

of Mycenae jewellery where

up of gold

When

wire.

art is borrowed,

the pattern

the

the Egyptian spiral

be found

originals,

obviously produced by the coiling-

once proven that

is

which has not yet been

thrown back to the Egyptian

will

point

is

the entire

Mycenae

sufficiently appreciated, the question is

and

was derived from the

it

becomes necessary

to prove that

coiling of jeweller's wire.

This proof

because Egyptian jewellery shows throughout a dependence

difficult,

on other Egyptian ornament rather than an influence on

it.

"

Mycenae
Contrary to possible presumptions the continuous spiral scroll (the
in Greek pottery or in Greek art, which prefers
spiral ") is not a typical pattern
the related guilloche (neck of xxxviii.
source.

The Greek

guilloche

first

[p.

251])

and borrowed that from another

appears on Cypriote and Rhodian pottery.

On

Egyptian meander (x. [p. 97]) is not familiar in Mycenae


the dominant motive of early Greek Geometric pottery (Dipylon

the other hand, the


art,

and

style,

is

Ivi.

pottery

[p.

and

339]).

These points of divergence

Greek

Geometric

although they are found

in

pottery

the

same

are

not

localities

relate to the fact that

Mycenae

same

tombs,'"

found

in

throughout

the

the

Levant.

No

Greek Geometric pottery (Dipylon style) has yet been found in Egypt.
The relations between Carians and Greeks in early times would thus appear
to have been either those of hostility or of successive and non-contemporaneous
presence

in

the

same

localities.

That

Carians from Caria and

Ionic

Greeks

were both employed as Egyptian mercenaries in the seventh century B.C. has
had then long since disappeared
nothing to do with this point, as the Carians

from the Greek Archipelago. As confined to Caria in historic times the Carians
have nothing to do with the Mycenae period.
10.

Jahrbuch, 1886,

S S

p. 134.

LOTUS MOTIVES^F THE ''MYCENAE CULTURE."

3i6

The

hieroglyphs of the bull fresco

as found in Lepsius' Denkm'dler,

8)

(li.

have been submitted to competent authority, but there appears to have been an
incorrectness of transcription in the publication of Lepsius, which makes them

The

illegible.

god

"

is

of the bull

interpretation

this

by

probably supplanted

Figs.

and

60

show a

161

There

reference.

be any Greek art or any Greek quality

a Greek

of Tiryns as

fresco

does

not

Riverto

appear

the art of the Mycenae culture.

in

Rhodian

an

and

vase

instances of the pendant lotus sepals

as

detail,

enlarged

to

explain

the

Mycenae motives, liv. i, 2, 3, 4, 15, 24.


Fig. 162 is a parallel detail from a Cypriote vase
The Rhodian motive has been
in New York.
mistaken
"

Professor

by

163 shows an Algerian, Byzantine,

Fig.

Mycenae period

The
"

BYZANTINE OR SARACENIC MOTIVE.

From

Algeria.

deer

and
12

u,
also

is

as

as

old

or
the

Iv. 3, 6).

found

is

Gryphon

deer

(xxxvii.

(Hi.

motive

of

Saracenic survival

1^3.

'^

obvious palm-tree."

The

an

for

Furtwangler

the

lotus

in

"

are

The

[p. 249]).

familiar

lion

to

it

pursuing a
^^

found with the

art.'^

Mycenae

and

lotus,

is

Ravoissi^.

variant or misinterpretation of the lion devouring

a deer

We

Instances

256).

(p.

The

279).

(p.

Mycenae

but resembles in this point

"

IAkvlX, /ahrbuch, 1889,

bird

many

(Hi.

of

"
" Der Stier
von Tiryns

IL

Jahrbuch, 1886, p. 135.

Palmenbaums.

" Offenbar das Bild des

Ornament,

Interresant

dieses

aus

Kameirus im

Louvre.

der sonst geometrischen Decoration zu finden."


utterances of

bedeutsame vegetabilisches Motive

German

archaeologists like the last

in

Various
sentence

indicate a belief in a geometric pottery style antedating any

forms of ornament taken from

life.

There

that the geometric vases with birds, deer,

not as old as any.

The

detail

161

is

is

no evidence

and horses are

enlarged from the

shows

cited

Italian

Celtic

definite

in

of

little

very

illustration in the

more

Ich kenne nur noch ein Gefass mit

dcnaselben

4)

the

alturspriinglich, allgemcin Griechisch."

12.

and the lotus can be

18).

(Iv.

have seen that the bird without lotus association must also be considered

solar

1 1.

the bird

of

art

(Ivii.

the

goose,

[p.

341])

Jahrbuch, and the central spike may be


the

The

original.

recently discovered

gold vases of Vaphio, in the Polytechnic at Athens, certainly


give colour to the thought that

only way out of the difficulty

mistook the form for a

tree,

liv.

is

i.,

&c., are palms.

The

to suppose that the artist

and copied

it

as such.

This

would be thoroughly consonant with the general character


of Mycenae

and of

bird with horse's


13.

Celtic

mane

Gold ornaments

14. Ibid.

art

witness

the

case ot

(Figs. 180, 181, pp. 362, 363).


;

Schliemann's Mycence,

the

LOTUS MOTIVES OF THE


The

which are originally geese.

hook
is

(Ivi.

10,

13

339])

[p.

"

reduction

shows that

close

MYCEN^
of this

CULTURE:'

prehistoric

bird to

317

a pot-

resemblance to the original goose

not to be always expegted.

The Swastika

is

known

to

Mycenae

art,

but does not appear frequently.

Concentric rings with and without tangents, and chevrons


(Hi.

8),

are a

the style

current decoration.

unites

with those to

these ornaments

In

be

considered

in

the

next two chapters, and the matter there presented must


,
164.

Cats

"MYCENAE" GOLD AMULET.

(?)

(Goddess Bast) on the

be considered as including
patterns.
O these Mycenas
J
C

lotus.

165.

"MYCENiE" LEAF MOTIVE IN WOOD CARVING. Lake-Dwellers


From Robert Munro. To be compared with lii. I, 2.

of Scotland.

3i8

PLATE
MYCEN^ LOTUS

LI.

AND CORROBORATIVE

DERIVATIVES,

MONUMENTS.

TOMBSTONES AND FRESCOES.


1.

The

2.

Terra-cotta whorl with spiral scrolls.

3.

Terra-cotta whorl with triangles.

Bull fresco of Tiryns.

4. Spiral scroll,

wood

ScilLlEMANN, Tiryns,

Early Italian tombstone.

6.

Tombstone, "Third Grave,"

7.

Early Italian tombstone.

8.

Egyptian painting, IVth Dynasty

9.

Lotuses

Troy, xxxi.

Troy,

Mycence,

xliii.

Compare

p. 150.

iW>(-^c?, Fig. 145.

Relief figure holding stems of lotus leaves.

Compare

from a tomb near the Pyramids.


II.,

Ixvii. [p. 399].

nella Cerlosa di Bologna, Ixix. 34.

Schliemann,

DenkmaUr, Ab.

in spiral scrolls.

Tiryns, v.

Schliemann,

Zannoxi, Scavi

5.

also in Lepsius,

SCHLIEMANN,

SCHLIEMANN,

carving.

xxiii.

ZanNONI,

Scavi, Ixix. 35.

Description de I'^gypte, A.

v.

18

Bl. 14 b.

Fig. 56 [p. 95] for the

Orchomenos

ceiling pattern.

Schliemann,

jimnuwiWiMTiiiui

is

no

^M^<^

(XV^

\\- (i(&h'

."l^

i^^-i^'

^^"S ^"i^
PL

LI., p. 319.

320

>

PLATE

LI I.

MYCEN^ POTTERY

MOTIVES.

>?

I, 2.

Pottery motives based on the lotus leaf (Plate xxli.

Mykenische Vasen, 189

c,

b (No.

i,

3 [p. 165]).

SCHLIEMANN, Mycence,

2).

Considering the presence of a "Mycenae" population in Cyprus


obviously borrowed from Cypriote,
in Syria, as

it is

it is

/
FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,
Compare

Fig. 165 [p. 317].

300, Note 10] and the

[p.

probable that the

p. 55.

"

"

ivy

number of patterns

pattern was also borrowed there or

attested for both these countries [p. 162].

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,

3.

Lotus leaf derivative, lalysus.

4.

Vase from the "Sixth Tomb," Mycenae.

Schuchardt,

Mykenische Vasen,

I. i.

Schlieinann^s Ausgrabungen

im Lichte der

htutigen Wissenschaft, Fig. 278.

5.

Vase from the

6.

Vase from the


[p. 96].

"

First

" First

Vase from the

"

8.

Vase from the

"

9.

Vase from the "Sixth Tomb," Mycenae.

10. Bulls

Lotus

Tomb," Mycenae.

Second Tomb,' Mycenae.

for

x.

leaf derivatives.

Chevrons.

SCHUCHARDT,

SCHUCHARDT,

Lotus leaves,

spiral scroll,

Fig. 263.

Fig. 209.

and motive related

to Iv.

i,

2, 3.

Fig. 277.

and the lotus

LOESCHKE

Compare

Fig. 166.

7.

Schuchardt,

SciIUCIIARDT, Fig. 261.

"
"
Herzblatt
combination.
Spiral scrolls in

Tomb," Mycenae.

Schuchardt,
First

Lotus leaf motive.

Tomb," Mycenae.

"

for patterns

on the

Ochsen auf der Weide

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,

right,

compare

"

(oxen

in

liv. 23,

the pasture).

Mykenische Vasen,

xli.

&c.

Mistaken by

Compare

FURTWANGLER and

Plate xxvi. [p. 193] and text

PL

LII.,p. 321.

322

PLATE

LIII.

MYCENAE POTTERY MOTIVES.

It

is

understood that the word " Mycense," as apph'ed to pottery, indicates a style, not a locality. Fragments
from Mycenae are generally mentioned specifically. All illustrations, not otherwise mentioned, are

from
1.

2.

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,

Cypriote derivative.

Lotus quadrangle and boss, Mycenae.


and LoEf-CHKE, xxxiii. 321.
Cypriote derivative, from Mycenae.

Mykenische Vasen.

Compare

Plate

Compare

xlviii. [p.

Plate

1.

[p. 309].

FURTWANGLER

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,

305].

xxxiii. 327.

3.

From

the Archipelago (British Museum).

and especially Fig.

156, p. 300.

Cypriote elongated boss from Mycenae.

5.

Cypriote motive from Tiryns.

6.

Derivative of No.

7.

Cypriote derivative.

8.

Bosses, Cypriote derivative

9. 10.

"Mycenae"

Compare

From Mycenae.
;

Fig. 156.

ScilLlEMANN, Tiryns,

Plate xlvii. [p. 303],

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE,

xxvii. 223.

p. 130.

From Mycenae.

therefore Cypriote.

FURTWANGLER and

Compare

Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1887, Ixxxiii.

4.

I,

Cypriote elongated boss.

FURTWANGLER and LoESCHKE,

FurtwAngler and LOESCHKE,

the central line of conventional lotuses

is

xxxiii. 320.

xxxiii. 315.

a distinct

"Mycenae" motive.

LOE-SCHKE, xxxiii. 322.

vases from Cyprus

(New York Museum). The ware indicates


Compare Plate xlix. [p. 307].

Cypriote manufacture.

Cypriote motive of inverted lotus triangles.


11.

Inverted lotus triangle under half-circle.

Compare Cypriote

xlix.

[p.

307].

FURTWANGLER and

LOE.SCHKE.

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE.

12.

Inverted lotus triangle.

Compare Cypriote

xlix. [p. 307].

13.

Inverted lotus triangle.

Cypriote motive.

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE.

"
14.

15.

Mycenae" pottery

detail

from Cyprus.

Part of a " Mycenae" vase from Cyprus

Inverted lotuses.

FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE, Text, p.

(New York Museum).

Lotus

steles.

Compare

liv.

58.

14.

^"^^/^J

P/. Z///.,/. 323.

3=4

PLATE

LIV.

MYCEN^" POTTERY MOTIVES.


Nos. 7 and

of this Plate are Egypto-Phenictan motives in bronze, to


motives. They are taken from Plate xii. Nos. 8 and I2 [p. 113].
1 1

show the

origin of certain pottery

Compare

Fig. 166, gold

ornament

from Spata.
All following illustrations, not otherwise specified, are from Mykenische Vasen.
1.

From FURTWANGLER and LOESCHKE, Mykenische


and pendant
287] and Figs.

spiked lotus
xlv. 3 [p.

sepals.

160, 161,

Bending stem, with threeCompare pendant sepals (not curling) at xxxix. 5 [p. 253]
"
"
162 [p. 313. 314]. This
Mycenae lotus is probably borrowed
Vasen, Text, p. 81.

an actual copy of nature. In any case it represents a parallel


one at 15 is the most obviously related
(2, 3, 4, 15, and 24), the
The plant has been mistaken for "palm-tree" by FurtwAngler

from the Cypriote, being too remote


fact.
Of the variants on this Plate
to a normal decorative lotus.

for

From a schematic or logical point of view the three-spiked form represents all
the sepals visible in profile and the addition of pendant sepals is unnatural, but we have abundant
illustration for such representation in Cypriote lotuses (xlvii. [p. 303]).

and LOESCHKE.

2.

5.

From

3. Analogous motive, with addition of lotus-Ionic


Nauplia, Mykenische Vasen, Text, p. 46.
below
and
on
the
in
fashion
of
the
Persian
Ionic (xxvi. 10 [p. 193]). 4. Similar motive,
sides,
spirals
the
lower
of
the upper form.
replacing
spirals by repetition

on

Pottery pattern based

palmette

hooked

the Egyptian palmette.


Compare No. 7, an Egypto-Phenician lotus
and Plate xii. [p. 113], where other variants will explain more exactly the doubleNos. 6, 8, 9, 13, 14 are variants (13 from lalysus 14 from Haliki, Attica, Mykenische

in metal,

loop.

Vasen, Text, p. 39).


10.

Outline lotus with spiral volutes differing from the Cypriote, which adhere more closely to nature in
the point that the sepals generally curl from the base or near it and never from the extreme top of
the flower (xv.
Ionic,
viii.

is

7,

5,

rare,

xlii.

[p.

139]; xlvii.

which has the same


II, 12, 15

but

it

is

[p. 267]).
II.

illustrated
is

is

a valuable reference for the Egyptian lotus-

not only in Capitals but also in surface design (vii. 8, 9 [p. 79]
In published examples of Mycenae or Archipelago pottery, the form

[p. 87]).

No. 12

The form

[p. 303]).

trait

by another example on

this Plate,

No.

19,

from Calymna

(entire vase,

a variant.

Amathus

(repeated from
the lotus palmette without volutes, the alternate
form of No. 7. [Since making up my Plates and writing the Text of this Work,
I
have found the exact original on metal within the limits of Mycenae Art.

Egypto-Phenician palmette
xii.

Fig.

12 [p. 113]).

166

in

bronze, from the shield of

It exhibits

one of a

represents

series

of gold

ornaments from Spata

in

the

Polytechnic, Athens.]
166.

SOLD OBNAMEXTOF

A icKiBsrROM

ATOMS

AT SPATA, in AibeiK.
From Author's tketch.

Pottcry variants of No.


ol

examples

.^

To judge from the number


motive was very common.

are 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23.

11

,r

Mykeittsclu Vasen

this

326

PLATE

LV.

MYCEN^ POTTERY

No. 10

MOTIVES.

the Egyptian outline lotus. Compare Plates iv. v. [pp. 63, 65]. The only exact repetition of this
Egyptian pattern which has been published is on a vase from Thera {Mykenische Vasen, xii. 78) and
in other cases (various publications) the closest correspondents to Egyptian design are from Thera.
is

Nos.

6.

7.

1 1.

13.

4 (compare Fig. 163), 8, 9, 12, 14, are motives related to No.


sepals, as borrowed from some remote e.xample like liv. i.

I, 2, 3,

Remote

variant of No.

3.

Compare vase from the

"

Sixth Tomb,"

Variant of the Egg-and-Dart moulding pattern (Plate xxi.


ment with parallel result.

lii.

[p. 159])

10.

No. 15 adds the pendant

9.

probably an independent develop-

Design borrowed from a running pattern of lotuses in spiral scrolls, and used separately.
of an isolated lotus with one spiral volute are independent of such an influence.

No

examples

Ionic spirals related to motives herewith in Text-cuts (repeated from Plate xv. [p. 139]).

Rhodian

The rudimentary

Melian Detail.

Detail.

central spike above the left-hand volutes has been

thrown aside

in the

right-hand example
appears, kicked out of place by it, so to speak. This
vase is the most valuable example published, of the manner in which detached spirals were evolved
from the double volute. Detached single spirals are not found in Egyptian art.

by the

16, 19, 20.

introduction of a third spiral, and

Variants of the lotus-Ionic volutes.

a pattern

common

to Cretan specimens

still

No. 16 shows also panels containing inverted lotus forms,

and

others.

^-^

17.

Inverted lotus corresponding to motive herewith

Rhodian DetaU.

'8.

Rosette and bird with triangles, showing an influence of Greek Geometric pottery.

Compare

xlix. 7 [p. 307]

Iviii,

3 [p. 343].

in

Text-cut (repeated from xhi.

Pl.LV.,p.2,2^.

THE GREEK GEOMETRIC STYLE AND


PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.
(PLATES

LVI.,

LVIL, LVIII., LIX., PAGES

339, 341, 343

345.)

It was the

happy tact of Professor Conze which singled out both the Melian
and the Geometric vases for publications which rank as the first efforts to give

monuments

these

Geometric
to

as

Style,

first

the

designates the oldest and distinctive

near which the

Dipylon

known

diffusion.

designation of

now extended

is

pottery of Greece, but in

later

monuments

They

The

vases,

Iviii.

3)

were

the earliest

represent

found,
art

of

concentric rings joined by tangents

from the Cypriote

quadrangle

New York Museum.


motive, which
style,

is

The

I.

taken
detail

as on the Dipylon vase of

also
The

assigned to

first

publication

(Ivi.

[p.

(1.

1.

At

(Ivi.

at

Ivi.

1.

Geometric

7)

is

vase

to

Greece

in

3),

6,

8)

[p.

307];

one of
of

these

quad-

Cyprus in the
shows the same

from a Copenhagen vase,


into an eight-rayed rosette by vases of

Curium

New

in

the

and a quadrangle
which is derived

6,

this

York.

without tangents
irregularly distributed concentric rings

the

regarding

Geometric
Geometric

style

vases,

Conze, was, however, that of Burgon,


Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, 2nd Series,

as pointed out by

variant

309]).

from

also developed

Certain vases with


are

triangles

motives,

panel

rangular

tends

to us.

composed of four

panel

it

from the Dipylon Gate at Athens,

Their distinctive geometric ornaments are the meander (Ivi. 2, 3,


Swastika (Ivi. 4; Ix. 13 [p. 359]; Ixi. 4 [p. 365]); chevrons (xlix. 7
Ivi.

use

my

of the style.

important vases of this character

first

wide

their

general, as

the

of Dipylon vases, as derived

title

obscure

to

applied

links with

many connecting
The

and importance.'

their proper recognition

by Professor Conze

Vol.

II.,

1847.

6).

Such

Contributions to this subject have been

made by Helbig,
312

(Ivii.

Annali, 1875, p. 221; 1878, pp. 311,

and by Hirschfeld, Annali, 1872.

u u

&

GREEK GEOMETRIC

330

vases

numerous

are

common

tangents are more

The
birds

of

decoration
i

(Ivi.

class

Ivii.

(Ivi.

Greek

these

never found

is

or wild goat, are also typical

Ixi.

[p. 365])

The

has

and

deer,

2,

(Ivi.

Ivii.

includes

also
in

The

Cypriote vases.

in

rows

(Ivi.

solar deer

the
7,

8,

and

and the solar horse

2),

solar
10),
ibfex,

(Ivi.

common

have never previously been


nor has it been observed that these

or wild

ibex,

works of Greek

specified as solar for

solar animals are

Geometric vases

to be considered.

still

solar bird,

Cyprus (Ivii. i, lo). Concentric rings with


3, 7), and are unknown to pure Cypriote vases.

in

but these are frequently arranged

2),

which arrangement

PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.

art

goat,

Rhodes, Cyprus, and the East, and to

to the art of

Northern Europe. They occur there in decorative associations which point decisively to Mediterranean influence.
The overthrow of the theory which placed the home of the Aryan race in
that of

prehistoric

the older theories of an

so recent, that

is

Asia,'^

Mediterranean influence, have


very

will follow close

It

logy.

any such

art,"

scarcely had time to sink out

independent

of

It

is

of

sight.

however, that a revision of the history of prehistoric art in Northern

clear,

Europe

"Aryan

is

on the heels of the

home

already settled that the

race) is in

late discoveries

of the

Aryan

race

in
(if

Aryan Ethnothere ever was

Europe, that Ethnology has nothing to do with the history

of languages, and that the ancestors of the races of modern Europe have been
settled in

some approximate

relation

to their present

European habitats as

far

back as the times of Neolithic man.

Scandinavian

and

other

archaeologists

Phenicians as the authors of the

view

has

also

when a spread

been

"

"

long

Bronze Culture

warmly antagonized.

of the

have

Bronze Culture

"

"

of

since

the

North,

the

to

pointed

but this

The time has now been reached


from the South-east

Mediterranean

must soon be accepted as a common-place of history. Canon


"
"
Isaac Taylor's recent work on the
furnishes abundant
Origin of the Aryans
"
"
Stone Age
of
philological and antiquarian evidence for the fact that the
countries as a centre

"
"
Northern Europe grew into a
Bronze Age
by way of metals imported from
the South of Europe,' and by arts of metallurgy also thence derived. All his

"

Isaac Tayix)R, The Origin of the Aryans

No more

delusion."

(p.

17).

curious chapter in the whole history of scientific

3.

"We

came

gather also that the knowledge of metals

from the South, and not from the East


theory that bronze

(p. 127).

The

weapons were introduced into Europe

& PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.

GREEK GEOMETRIC
indications

331

point to the Phenicians as fathers of the arts of metal in Southern

Europe.

With

the decisive

overthrow of the theory that

Europe from Asia with the arts of metal already


the supposition also

in

disappears that the art of metal

Asia by Northern roads -and the Brahman

man came

civilized

into

possession, or otherwise,

came

Europe from

into

Hindus must now be considered

as the vanguard of a European emigration into Asia, instead of the


rear-guard
of an Asiatic migration into Europe/

new

These

conclusions

Philologists as

far as

have

been

reached

history of races and

the

of language

they are supported by the history of ornament

us to

unite the

entire

by Anthropologists and

concerned, but

is

under conditions which

oblige

Europe with influences which

of prehistoric

civilization

by

spread originally from the valley of the Nile.

The Phenicians have been


two independent
"

Culture

Europe, does not

for

"
consider them as the fathers of the
Bronze

To

civilizations.

as the connecting link between

so far regarded

settle the

question as to the

home

Semitic loan-word

(p. 151).

of the " Bronze

Teutons obtained

by a conquering people coming from the East has been

^i<f>tK,z

overthrown by the evidence afforded by the Swiss Lake


Dwellings, which establish the fact that bronze implements
were gradually introduced among a Neolithic population

relations of the Celts to the Latins (p. 169).

by the

of barter

processes

peaceful

Isaac

126)."

(p,

Taylor, quoting Ferdinand Keller on the Swiss Lake


Dwellings,

metals

"We

penetrated

Mediterranean
ships

Phenician

word

133).

(p.

from

the

/icraXXof

Renan and Oppert

the

Phenician

(p.

(P-

Lithuanians

137)-

obtained

The

from the Teutons


them].

it

(gold),

135).

from

The

a Semitic loan.

The Greeks

Celts, Llyrians,

Slaves borrowed the word


(p.

by
the

from the people of Italy


for

137). [and were settled

and Teutons,

is

gold

East of

word common

'Silver' (Gothic, silubr), a

Lithuanians, Slaves,

regarded

loan-word

obtained gold from the Phenicians.

and

is

(metal)

j^pwroi

by Phenician

visited

a Semitic

as

knowledge of
North from the

the

that

to

lands, which were

142).

(p.

conclude

gradually

to

believed to be a loan-

word from the Semitic an indication that the Baltic people


first

by the trade route of the Dnieper from the


of the Euxine (p. 143).
icao-o-iTtpo? (tin),

obtained

region

it

borrowed from Semitic Assyrijin, which borrowed the word


from Accadian

(p.

13S).

Homeric word

for

sword,

u u

knowledge of iron from the Celts

Mina and

/xm,

(p. 195).

The mason's

177).

(p.

Teutons, have
the
.

art

(p.

(p. 145).

195).

by the

Albanians, Slaves,

and
'

Cheese,' a loan-word from Caseus, spread


168).

(p.

when

at the time

regions, probably in

contact with Slaves and Teutons"

The tendency

(p.

of recent studies

amount of Aryan blood

in

India,

Danubian

The

agriculture

began, have been dwelling in peaceful proximity in

4.

of masonry were

and Hellenic races must,

more northern

and the use of mortar are

Celts,

Close

Ferrum

Europe by the Phenicians

to

from Teutonic to Slavonic languages


Italic

borrowed the Latin Murus, 'showing


borrowed from Italy

all

arts
'

(p. 195).

146).

have been introduced into Europe

to

Phenicians

that

(p.

Semitic loan-words

Weights and measures brought

believed

be a loan-word from the Semitic

(iron), believed to
.

some

lands, in

166).
is

and

to
to

minimi2e the

show

that

borrowed language does not imply a proportionate or


"
blood.
Very little Aryan
parallel infusion of borrowed
blood in India.
the early

The Brahmans

Aryans." Taylor

(p. 201).

of Benares represent

&

GREEK GEOMETRIC

332

PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.

Culture" which, as far as they are concerned, might have originally centred
the

Tigris- Euphrates

show

that the

valley.

consider

history of prehistoric

it,

therefore, of

European patterns

importance to

great
also

is

in

the

history of

and that the history of patterns points to Egypt as the home of the
Bronze Culture."

metals,
"

There

no

is

trace

of pattern

ornament

in

Northern

Europe
from the South. Even

prehistoric

weapons and utensils


the pottery on which such ornament could, as a matter of
prior to the introduction of bronze

found

possibility, be

does not appear before the age of polished stone implements, which grew into that

contemporaneous with it.* The Palaeolithic cavedwellers drew the mammoth, the horse, and the wild goat, with great dexterity,
of bronze, and was

partly

but they had no pattern ornaments which are related to those of the " Bronze

The

European harpoons, and other implements of bone of the


Palaeolithic Age, have distinct resemblance to those of the modern Arctic
Esquimaux' and these Esquimaux implements are still mainly without pattern
ornament, although the modern Esquimaux have borrowed at some remote
Age."*

earliest

period the pattern of concentric rings.

The
of

prehistoric

England,

pottery decoration of

Switzerland,

France,

with the use of bronze, and

Scandinavia, Germany, and Hungary,

and Northern

makes

Italy,

its

appearance

ornaments are borrowed from the ornament of

its

metal (gold and silver included).

These ornaments are the meander, generally


the triangle or chevron, and concentric rings (Ivii.-lviii.).

of degraded character,

On

the early bronzes of the prehistoric North, and in

we

all

countries mentioned,

same ornaments, with addition occasionally of the spiral scroll,


the Swastika, and the bird, or a pot-hook derived from it (Ivi., Iviii,).
The more complicated spiral ornaments, so-called Irish or Celtic, which are no
find these

Scandinavian, are

less

spirals of the South, or


"
5.

No

all'

much

later

developments, also under influence of the

from starting-points furnished by them.

well-recorded case of pottery with Palaeolithic

implements." Boyd

Dawkins, quoted by Isaac Taylor,

... "Pottery extremely rare in the kitchen


p.
Denmark and Sweden" (p. 239).
of
middens
6. Salamon Reinach, Description Raisonnee du MusU
181.

dt
et

St.
le

Germain en Laye,
cercle a

Cavemes).

point

I.,

p. 172.

central font

The drawings

are on

" La
croix,
dt'faut

"

bone or

le triangle,

(^poque des
ivory.

Pottery

and metals were unknown.


period are quite distinct

The

races

Stone, which gradually passed into

For

this

"hiatus"

and culture of

from those of the

between

the

the

this

Age

of Polished

Age

of Bronze,

Palaeolithic

and

the

Neolithic Age, see Reinach, Description Raisonnee.


7.

most

Professor

Boyd Dawkins seems

have been

fore-

Europeans of the Glacial Epoch as


Reinach, Description Raisonnee.

in recognizing the

Esquimaux.

to

GREEK GEOMETRIC & PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT

333

The

is

the

"zigzag."

In

We

can

most

chevron in rows
the

(Iviii.,

Germany

Italy

and

is

12,

is

Europe

early

a series of united chevrons.^

Denmark

(Iviii.,

14),

Britain

in

10),

(Iviii.

by way of the Swiss Lake-dwellers,


prehistoric pottery and bronzes of North
7),

Geometric

the

to

13);

of

frequently mistaken for a

(Iviii.

the

to

Hallstatt,

6,

i,

(Iviii.

appears in

it

or in France

5),

(lix.

tombs of

the

or

which

lix.),

ornament

pottery

combination, the zigzag

original

trace this chevron, as


in

diffused

widely

style

of Greece

Iviii.

3;

(Ivi.

3),

to the prehistoric pottery of

In

the

chevron

an

is

connection

last

Cyprus (lix. 8, 13).


which shows a lotus

example,

lotus

Egyptian

or

petal

apparent zigzag with

of the

sepal,

the

expanded

as

the

lotus

case

"in

the

plan,"

One

be.

may

gathered from this piece

is

Egyptian vase lix. 9, which shows the inverted lotus on the


body of the vase, and the derivative petals inverted on the neck. The chevron
triangle, as it appears in Egypt, frequently has this petal and sepal derivation,

and

from

columns

the four ornamented

as

xlvi. 13

at

the corners of

In

Ixi.

general,

ornament of prehistoric Europe belongs


most easily explained by reference to the method

however, the chevron


is

of the Egg-and-Dart moulding, as illustrated on

8.

obvious that

The Egyptian

we have

indication for water

is

a zigzag, and

is

the apparent zigzag of united chevrons

is

Plate

here two variants of

an Egyptian zigzag ornament which is probably


hence derived. The distinction between this zigzag and
there

intended to

[pp. 289, 365]).

an Egyptian type, which

It is

the plate are

In Greek vases, the chevron frequently has the same origin (Plates

indicate.

to

the

easily

drawn.

In

There are cases

Nos.

13

11,

one arrangement,
show the dominant

Plates

illustrative

Ixvi.,

Museum

in the British

399].

[p.

which

in

chevron

pattern.

of the single zigzag

with obtuse angles on prehistoric bone implements of the


Palaeolithic

This

cave-dwellers.

obtuse

zigzag

in-

is

numerous,

dependent of the prehistoric chevron of Northern Europe,

and the angles are obtuse. In the zigzag of united chevrons


and the pattern does
(lotuses) the angles are more pointed

which has no very high antiquity, as compared with the

not consist of superimposed lines, but of really independent,

the

although united, triangles (which are often filled in with


The Egyptian zigzag (water) does not occur
cross lines).

easy, the

" Bronze

Culture

on mummy-cases, on metal, or on
Denderah on the ceiling portico,

influence,

and continues long

one case (water) the zigzag

which are

lines are indefinitely

pottery.
in

so extensive that they

designation of pattern ornament.

It

appears at

indications for water

may come under

the

have also observed the

Palaeolithic

In the

Age.

Museum

of

St.

Germain, where

number of examples makes comparison on such

On
rare,

chevron on pottery, or otherwise, belongs


"

immediately

preceding

after that

Age of Polished
and does not occur before the

the pottery of the

the

to the

classic

influence began.

Stone, ornament

is

indications of the

" Bronze
Culture," which began in that period

The

points

races of the

and very

of Polished

of the colossal statue of


superimposed zigzags on the belt

gradually displaced

Ramses

Stone did not develop in Europe from the races of the

historic

Mitrahenny (Memphis). Superimposed


European prehistoric ornament occur in pre-

II.

zigzags in

at

Cypriote

pottery,

but

the

indications

of

my

it.

Age

Age, but displaced them, and


" hiatus" between the two
periods (Note 6).

Palaeolithic

there

is

GREEK GEOMETRIC

334
the

lotuses

straight

placed

outlines.

by dropping the

&

side

by

The

chevron,

central

inverted,

167A are

mummy-cases, where

which

illustrations

ornament

this

is

these chevrons

of

"

has dropped the

from

the

which

in

Detail

chcvrou,

Museum
eum""c2^''o''No'Tr-"
From Author's sketch,

in

is

Egyptian

"

or

central

than

purc

represented

on

on

in -these

and many others

more rudimentary or hasty

still

In

Figures.

and simple, on

such

the case

mummy

of

the

cases,

the

continued association with lotus buds, lotus rosettes, and

shows the

identity of the motive.

no doubt that the Egyptian chevron


It

general.

1)

There are many


similar necklace ornaments where

appears in a

it

indication

CHEVRON ORNAMENT

There

frequently employed.

LOTUSES INVERTED.

lotus leaves,

Dart

necklaces

the sepal spike has entirely disappeared,

167.

(viz.

spike.

14),

one instance

in

and simple, was reached from No.


1
The same Plate shows a case of the

pure

sepal

have

parallel case.

167,

Figs.

and

side,

Egg-and-Dart moulding (No.


sepal spike

PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.

the

is

counterpart

lix.

7, 11

distinctive

of

the

has this derivation

EggThe

and-Dart moulding (xxi. [p. 159]).


chevron, pure and simple, was already
a typical and frequent ornament under

Xlth

the

which

Dynasty,

precedes

by many centuries any dated cases


of the ornament exterior to Egypt.'

6 6 6 6 6

can be dated as a ceiling pattern

It

the

to

Xlllth

Dynasty

of

(Tomb

CHEVRON ORNAMENT.

LOTUSES INVERTED ROSETTES


LOTUS BUD6.
From
Detail of a mummy-case (No. 5604) in the Gizeh Museum.
167A.

Meri-ka-ra at Siout).

The Egyptian vase


Florence,

from

(4),

from Germany (5),


add the Etruscan

14,

in

lotuses.

The

vases on Plate

(3),

Mummy-case of King An-Antef (Xlth Dynasty) in


Museum, No. 6652. Mummy-cases in the Hall
the Xlth Dynasty, Gizeh Museum.

9.

of

lix.

from prehistoric tombs of Italy (2), and


are types of derivate chevron ornament.
To these we may
to Rhodian enamelled vases of
find, Iviii. 5, as related

from Rhodes

Egyptian origin or technique.'"


the British

Author's sketch.

lix.

shows the chevron with buds and

Cyprus

lo.

In the Louvre; Salzmann excavations.

GREEK GEOMETRIC & PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.


The

triangles of the

Cypriote vase

lotus triangles of Plate xlix.

2 are connected with the inverted

Iviii.

This

also hold

will

good of the Mycense


The Mycenae vase Hi. 8 [p. 321] from

307].

[p.

335

triangles liii. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 [p. 323].


"
"
the
Second Tomb shows a case of the chevron analogous to the

Egg-and-Dart

moulding.

The gradual
means

North

tombs of

The

which assisted

13)

I,

(Iviii.

attributable

exclusively

of

influence

Northern

bronze,

side

Germany, and France, must have had

The chevron
nearest

was

of

style

with

the

originals

prehistoric Celtic

the

pottery

copies.

spreading gradually from

Danube

Switzerland,

countries,

share of influence.

full

lix.

Cypriote pottery

prehistoric

motive, which

the original

to

the

side
itself,

the

to

Italy

in

by no

is

bronze

the

found

by

pottery decoration

Northern

over Europe

although

are

diffusion

Hallstatt,

primitive

and

Greece

to

this

and

Italy

chevron ornament

of this

diffusion

now

is

accessible

in

the

is

13

8,

masses.

large

when making up my Plates, of the small amount of this


Cypriote pottery in the Museums of Europe. Professor Diimmler

not aware

prehistoric

has offered no matter

Kabyle
lotus

number

of a larger

default

triangles,

Cypriote

of

survivals

or illustrations for the decoration

like

Geometric

this

of Plate

chevron
of

those

Plate

Plate

style.

style

(Ixiv.

xlix

385])

[p.

307],

[p.

also

Ixiv.

can refer

illustrations,

of this pottery.'^

supplies

as

to

the

In

modern

intermixed

with

the

later

belonging

to

examples

of

the

later

Cypriote chevrons.

The

Kabyle

shows

pottery

many

including the Egg-and-Dart lotus borders proper.

Mr. Petrie's discovery

in

Egypt

survivals

other

known

is

lotus

motives,

(1890) of black pottery, with incised chevrons,

of Italian prehistoric style, is mentioned at p. 346.

Xllth Dynasty, and none

of

^^

in

Egypt

This pottery

later

is

dated to the

than the XII Ith Dynasty.

Admitting the probability that Italian foreigners were the makers, as Mr. Petrie
supposes, and the probability that the style had been already developed in Italy
from imported chevron patterns in metal and then carried back to Egypt by
these foreign

Europe was

As shown

it

to

quoted at

me by

p. 293,

still

is

in direct contact

11. In his paper,


12.

settlers,

important to

know

that a

race

with Egyptian patterns as early as 3000

Note

Museum

i.

General Loring

in

the Boston

of prehistoric
b.c.

of Fine Arts, on a vase which he purchased at

the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.

GREEK GEOMETRIC & PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.

336

Everything which

demonstrates

contact

direct

of the

prehistoric

races

assists the imagination in matters of indirect influence,

Europe with Egypt

of

which

It is also interesting to observe


were probably of far more importance actually.
that the link has been supplied whose absence has led one expert in prehistoric

to

North-European pottery
in

expressly deny an Egyptian influence as appearing

supposed fact that such pottery was not found in Egypt (p. 346).
The mixed influences carrying Mediterranean ornament into Northern Europe,
viz. the

it,

partly by

way

of gradual diffusion of a pottery style which was especially spread

by the Celts of North

France, and South Germany, and

Italy,

by way of bronze utensils and implements of Carian,


Phenician, Etruscan, and Greek manufacture, are again apparent

partly

motive of concentric rings.

in the

Concentric rings, with or without tangents, were a favoured

method of indicating

HHODIAN POTTERY
DIAGRAM.

in

demonstrated
bronzes of

existing

The

an

in

Egypt

was possibly

21-25

(viii.

Italian

the

This method can be

metals.

scarabs

for

Greek '^ and

early

original motive in bronze

which

spirals in

period

[p-

(Ivii.

8,

87]),

and

14,

16).

concentric rings and tangents,

were easily omitted, as already illustrated for scarabs.


As concentric rings without tangents (derived from concentric rings with
tangents) were already a hieratic symbol in Egypt (viii. [p. 87]), it is not necessary
latter

assume

to

positively that they were not directly transferred to metal.

Egypt are not confined


on wood,'* two materials which,
rings in

adapted to the working of a spiral

With

the

assistance

the

like

they are also found on ivories and

hard material of a scarab, were

many

probably themselves

indications of this derivation both for forms

Greek Geometric

we can

pottery),

pass without difficulty

from concentric rings with tangents to the concentric rings without tangents,

From

the prehistoric art of Europe.


13.

ment

Bronze plaque
of

concentric

bronze plaque

in

the

in

the Louvre, from

rings

joined

the

Dodona; oma-

by tangents.

Polytechnic at Athens

ill-

scroll.

of pottery examples, which were

copies of bronzes (there are

and motives of the

to scarabs

Concentric

Similar

concentric

rings joined by tangents (representing spirals) are

common

solar birds at
14. Egyptian

Ivi.

7,

with concentric

ivories with concentric rings are not un-

common.

They

implements

for carding

wooden Egyptian
the British Museum,

are found also on large

and spinning

in

They were a favourite decoration on combs

on ivories from Rhodes (British Museum), and from Spata


"
Mjcetue Culture," both found with objects of Egyptian

historic

styles.

Note

combs

in

all

over pre-

Europe, and can be traced to Egyptian wooden


in

10).

the British

Museum and

in

Florence (p. 84,

GREEK GEOMETRIC

&

PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.

we

rings and tangents,

pass to the solar birds and concentric rings


again to the birds with concentric rings, Ivii. 14 (both bronzes).

The same

transition is

goat with

move

to the deer

concentric

The motive
bronze

of

the

The

and

of

Hallstatt

prehistoric

over prehistoric

all

fourth

(Celtic,
(Ivii.

we

2)

(Ivii.

found on

is

ibex or

16).

(Ivii.

common

is

the

century

as also of the

4),

and horse.
had already reached the pot-hook stage at
10 (but such pieces are not found with the

bird
Ivi.

Tiryns,

bird

show many examples

or earlier)

solar deer

solar

(Ivi. 9),

The bronzes

Europe.
B.C.

and concentric rings

Sweden

in

From

and tangents

rings

or

8,

with assistance of pottery examples, for

illustrated,

the solar deer or ibex and wild goat.

wild

Ivii.

337

"

"

pottery of Tiryns).

Mycense

Bologna

at Villanova

7),

(Ivii.

Germany, and Sweden


Northern
clearly of

as

Europe,

(Ivi.

in

We

find

Iviii.

13;

(Ivi.

The

1).

England

in this

it

shape at

in

9),

concentric
11),

(Iviii.

France,
of

rings

no

are

less

SWEDISH BRONZE AXE,

l68.

WITH SPIRAL SCROLLS.


From Montelius.

Mediterranean origin in the cases when the bird

or deer are wanting.

Among

the

more

isolated

examples of Mediterranean influence

Europe, one of the most curious


peculiar to

Scotland.

"

"

Mycenae
Fig. 165

The path
France

(Iviii.

(Iviii. 8), it

is

or as

Compare

[p. 317].'^

of the meander

is

the

same meander as

found

in

the

appearance of the leaf in treatment

(Iviii.

lii.

[p.

in
13),

among

survive to

Geometric vases of Greece

is

treated in

From a Crannog

at Lochlee ; a small piece of oak,


"
inches square with
curious diagrams carved on both

15.
five

the Swastika, which

find

it

my

Northern

in

the Lake-dwellers of Switzerland

still

founded on a style in bronze.


The decisive demonstration for this unity
lies in

As we

the prehistoric art of Italy

which

of

321].

not less obvious.

rudimentary survival) or

7,

the

on a wood carving from the Lake Dwellings

style

as derived from the bronzes


origin,

is

Northern

in

in

the

tell

(Ivi.);

(Iviii.

12),

the tale of

and
its

themselves once

history of the

meander

next chapter.

for such transfers of


(p. 313). offer a ready explanation
"
"
ornamental motives, but indications that the
Mycense

we may

also

sides,"

that
(Carian) race was Celtic are so strong

p.

of a land diffusion
preferably consider this piece as a relic

Robert Monro, Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings,


The coincidence of " Mycenae " culture with the
135.

Carian,

and the companionship of Carians with Phenicians

"
of " Mycense patterns, explained by community of race.

X X

;3S

PLATE

LVI.

GREEK GEOMETRIC AND PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.


THE SOLAR GOOSE.
Greek Geometric pottery, a barrel-shaped stand for support of a metal vase or large amphora.
geese and horse, solar diagram. For the horse, compare Plates Ivii. S and Ixi. [p. 365].

1.

Greek

2.

Geometric

Plate
[p-

1.

359]

pottery, a

(many

similar)

Ivii.

On

Greek Geometric vase.

3.

"

barrel-shaped
2 (ibex)

and

meander pattern, Cypriote " quadrangle


diagram. For the deer, compare Trojan stags,

stand,

Solar geese and deer, solar

[p. 309].

Solar

(see
Ix.

16.

Ivii.

the neck, concentric

rings joined

by tangents and representing

spirals,

meander, chevrons, solar goose, solar diagram.


4.

Greek Geometric

vase, solar geese, large Swastika.

5.

Greek Geometric

vase, solar geese.

6.

Greek Geometric

7.

Greek Geometric

vase,

meander, solar geese, solar deer, concentric rings joined by tangents and

representing spirals.
vase, solar geese, solar diagrams, concentric rings joined

by tangents and representing

spirals.
8.

Greek Geometric pottery fragment,

9.

Detail in bronze repousse, Sweden.


Sweden in Heathen Times.

la Greek Geometric pottery fragment,

solar geese, meander.

Solar geese, concentric rings.

Iviii. 9.

Geometric pottery

12.

detail,

Monumenti

vase found at Corneto.

Schliemann,

Sweden.

Bronze repouss^
MONTELIUS, Tlu Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times.
Aqx.^\\.

p. 103.

MoNTELIUS, The

solar geese, resembling pot-hooks.

Pot-hooks derived from solar geese.

11.

Schliemann, Mycena,

Inediti,

Tiryns, p. 96.

Compare Nos.
X. xd.

Civilization of

lOj

13, Ivii. 7,

Solar geese, rudiments

of concentric rings, chevrons.

Geometric pottery fragment, from Villanova, Italy, prehistoric tombs. Waring, Ceramic Art in
Remote Ages, iv. 55. Pot-hooks derived from solar geese and concentric rings. Compare adjacent

13.

examples, Plate

The

Nos.

4, 7, 8, 14,

and

especially

Iviii. 9,

also from Villanova.

from Sweden and Italy represent a very large number of prehistoric examples
and a much larger number of examples in Museums.

illustrations

tion

Not.

Ivii.

in publica-

7, inclnsiTe, re from

Conzb, Anfange der Griechischen Kunst (Vienna, 1870). Scarce reprint from Sitziin^sberichte der Philos. Hist.
Akademit der Wissenschaften, Ixiv. p. 505, Februarheft, 1870. Additional vases of the Greek Geometric style from
The following indication of present location and
the same publication, are Ivii. 2, 6; Iviii. 3
Ixi. 1, 4 (p. 365].
Ix. 13 [p. 359]
derivation includes all above numbers.
The most important collections for " Geometric" (so-called " Dipylon ") vases are the British
Museum, Louvre, C<i^'n^/</ yt/<t/fu/&; (Paris), Museums of Sevres, Leyden, Copenhagen, and Athens. There are several examples
from Cyprus in New York besides the large " Dipylon vase of Curium." (Cesnola, Cyprus, xxix.)
CI. dtr Kail.

1L

I.

" under the lava." The


the Pirsus, in Wiinburg.
2. In British Museum, three similar at Sevres from Thera,
specification
found "under the lava" is tapposed to indicate an antiquity earlier than 1600 B.C. 3. In Leyden, from Smyrna; most of the Leyden
vmes are "from Smyrna," an mdication which argues Asia Minor as probable place of discovery, but does not argue more; one Leyden
Yaie if from Tripolis. 4. In British Museum (some of the finest Geometric vases in London are from Athens, from the original
"
"
Dipyloo finds, near the Dipylon Gate). 5. In Leyden, Irom Smyrna. 6. In the Cabinet des AtAiaillcs, from Thera, "under the
" under the lava." Ivii. 2. In the Louvre. Ivii.
Iviii. 3. In British
U.
7. At Sevres, from 'J hera,
7. In Leyden, from Smyrna.
Museum, from Camirus. U. 13. In British Museum. Ixi. 1,4. In Leyden, from Smyrna (?)

From

7mmw
A

MMHMiilllIMMMilltll|IAU(liii|iiili|uuillll(|lll(inilll(WI|li(ll((iini|li
Winii>i""iwwiwiiiiiiiiimiiiiimii(iiiiiiii|iiiiiiiiiiii<wiii/iiiiiii(i'ii4i|(((ii

PI.

X X

LVL,

p. ZZ9-

340

PLATE

LVII.

GREEK GEOMETRIC AND PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.


CONCENTRIC RINGS.
AlX

It
pieces are types representing large numbers of examples in each style indicated, except No. 6.
is not clear that pottery vases with decoration confined to concentric rings were very common in

the Greek Geometric style.


Concentric rings are occasionally represented in prehistoric Northern Europe by concentric squares,
this term may be allowed, and especially at Hallstatt.
1.

if

New York Museum. PekroT et Chipiez, Cypre, Fig. 497. Representing the wellknown and numerous type of Cypriote vases, with concentric rings another example at No. 10.
Compare concentric rings on Cypriote vases, xlvii. 11 [p. 303] xlix. 3 [p. 307] 1. 12 [p. 309] and
Cesnola, Cyprus, Plate ii.

Cypriote vase,

2.

Greek Geometric

detail from a barrel-shaped stand in the Louvre.


CONZE, Anfdnge, &c., viii.
Ibexes or wild goats (compare Plates xxxvi. xxxix. inclusive [pp. 247-253]) diagram containing
concentric rings joined by tangents (compare the Egyptian scarab viii. 22 [p. 87])
bird and
asterism (compare Plates xliii.-xlvi., inclusive [pp. 283-289]).
Cypriote vase, New York Museum concentric rings with four lotus buds, supporting a panel band with
bosses derived from lotus sepals. Detail at xlviii. 9 [p. 305], with demonstration for the boss, and
the panel band.

3.

4.

Birds and
detail, from the prehistoric Celtic tombs of Hallstatt (near Salzburg).
concentric rings. WARING, Ceramic Art, &c., xxviii. 18.
Compare VoN Sacken, Das Grabfeld von
Hallstadt.
Much more numerous and complete colour illustrations (original sketches of the
director of the excavations) in the Museum of St. Germain en Laye.

Bronze repoussf

Bronze repouss^

detail
horses and concentric rings.
Mtiseo Etrusco Vaticano, v. 5.
Compare
365] for the horse. The Hallstatt examples of the horse and concentric rings are
very numerous.
6. Greek Geometric vase with concentric rings.
CONZE, Anfdnge, I. 2. The type of Geometric vases
confined to this ornament is rare. Connection with the Cypriote type is positive.
5.

Plate

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ixi.

[p.

Prehistoric vase from Bologna.


Waring, Ceramic Art, &c., III. 48.
concentric rings. Compare Ivi. 10, il, 13, for the pot-hook.

Detail of a bronze repoussi, prehistoric, Italian vase.


nella Certosa di Bologna.

Geese and concentric

Rhodian vase of the type with concentric rings. Jahrbuch,


is less numerous than the Cypriote, connection
positive.
Cypriote vase,

11. Cypriote vase.

Geese of the pot-hook

l2,2,6,

p. 137.

rings.

Zannoni, Scavi

Compare No.

New York Museum, of the type with concentric rings, Cesnola,


New York Museum, of the "Prehistoric" type, with incised

variety,

15.

Cyprus, Plate

The type
ii.

patterns.
Compare lix.
race which produced these vases is supposed to have been exterminated as early as
the tenth century B.C., but Professor Diimmler's presumption of a sharp separation in type between
these va.ses and the Cypriote Greek is not demonstrated.
There are many illustrations of fusion and
transition in the New York Collection.
Sec p. 381.

The

8, 13.

12.

Cypriote Greek vase, New York Mu.seum. Bird and solar diagrams (not concentric rings).
with concentric rings is not found on Cypriote vases, or must be extremely rare.

13. Detail

of No. 14.

15.

Prehistoric bronze vase from

Montimenti

rings.

Inediti,

XL,

an Italian Toinba a pozzo.

The

bird

Birds and concentric

lix.

Rhodian vase of the type with concentric

rings. Jahrbuch, 1886, p. 184.


bronze vase found with prehistoric pottery. (From the same tomb, the horse with
in mouth Ixi. 9 [p.
Solar deer, and concentric rings
Zannoni, Scavi, xxxv.
365].)
common at Hallstatt, according to illustrations in the Museum of St. Germain en Laye.
ibexes at No. 2, and stags on Trojan whoris, Ix. 1 [p. 359]. Compare the prehistoric and
bronzes with deer, ibexes, and antelopes, Plate xxxix. [p.
253].

16. Prehistoric

lotus

bud

type also

Compare
Hallstatt

(a)

/y.

ZF//.,/. 341.

342

PLATE

LVIII,

GREEK GEOMETRIC AND PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.


THE CHEVRON.

All

numbers of examples.

pieces represent types having large

Bronze vase from a prehistoric

1.

Italy.

2.

Cyprus.

Vase

in

the

7<7/(Ja

New York Museum,

Chevrons on the rim.

/"^^^i?.

belonging to a numerous type, illustrating the chevron as

derived from an entire inverted lotus (see Plate xlix.


3.

Monumenti Inediti,Xl.\x.

[p. 307]).

Greek Geometric vase from Camirus, British Museum. Goose and chevrons. (For a more
obvious illustration of the chevron in the Greek Geometric style, see neck of the vase, Ivi. 3 ) The

Rhodes.

goose faces a rudely indicated section of meander, of the type seen at No.
and the Swastika Ivi. 4.

from Bologna, chevrons on the neck, rude indication


Waring, Ceramic Art in Remote Ages, ii. 36.

4.

Italy.

5.

Italy.

Prehistoric

vase

Enamelled vase from an Etruscan tomb, of the Egyptian

Museo Etrusco

decoration of chevrons.

Prehistoric vases from

6. Italy.

7.

France.

Bologna

Museum

Celtic vase,

Switzerland.

9.

Italy.

10.

style found at

chevrons.

Waring,

Lake-Dwellers' vase

compare meander No.

of

concentric rings.

Rhodes by Salzmann,

Vaticano, II. cv.


ii.

36.

Marne chevrons and section


Revue Archeologique, 1863, Plate iii.

of St. Germain, from Department of the

of meander (very numerous type)


8.

Compare the geese

12.

12.

meander and concentric

rings.

Waring,

iii.

47.

Pottery fragment, Villanova.


Compare Ivi. 13. Geese resembling the pot-hook variety;
concentric rings, circle and cross (compare xxiii. 3 [p. 173], human figures (?)).
Waring, iv. 54.

England.
pattern.

Celtic or

Saxon

Waring,
Celtic or

pottery, Nottinghamshire.

Chevrons, solar diagrams, and an

uncommon

xi. 147.

Saxon

pottery, Lincolnshire.

11.

England.

12.

Italy.

Prehistoric pottery,

13.

Italy.

Prehistoric bronze vase from a

14.

Denmark.

San Marino.

Prehistoric pottery.

Concentric rings.

Chevrons, meander variant.

Totnbaa Pozzo.

Chevrons.

WARING,

Waring,

Waring,

Chevrons, meanders.
vii.

xi.

iv.

141.
61.

Monumenti Ineditt,Xl.\x.

96.

Fl.LFn/.,p.^^i.

344

PLATE

LIX.

GREEK GEOMETRIC AND PREHISTORIC EUROPEAN ORNAMENT.


THE CHEVRON

All
1.

{continued).

numbers of examples

pieces represent types with large

for each style illustrated.

Lotus petals and sepals.

Egyptian column, lower section, from a tomb-painting.

Prisse d'Avennes,

Colonnettes en bois.
Prehistoric pottery.

2. Italy.
3.

Rhodes.

Greek pottery.

4.

Cyprus.

Serpentine vase.

5.

Germany.

6.

Egyptian column, lower

Chevrons, concentric rings, pot-hooks (birds).

Chevrons.

Jahrbuch, 1888, Fig. 32.

Chevrons.

Prehistoric pottery.
section,

Cesnola, Cyprus,

Chevrons.

Waring,

from a tomb-painting.

ii.

p. 24.

28.

Lotus

sepals.

Prisse d'Avennes, Colonnettes

en bois.

from a tomb-painting.

7.

Egyptian

vaise

8.

Cyprus.

Prehistoric incised pottery

9.

Prisse d'Avennes.

Chevrons.

compare

Ivii.

11.

Cesnola, Cyprus, p. 408.


inverted lotus sepals and petals on the

Chevrons.

Egyptian vase from a tomb-painting. Chevrons on the neck


body. Prisse d'Avennes, Vases des Tributaires Asiatiques.
;

Greek pottery.

10. Caria.

copied by Perrot

Chevrons.

WINTER,

Egyptian vase from a tomb-painting.

12.

Lower portion of an Egyptian column.

13.

Cyprus.

14.

Egyptian vase

15.

Lower

Prehistoric incised pottery.

section of

D'Avennes,

aus Athen,

"

Vasen aus Karien" design

et ClllPlEZ, v. p. 327.

11.

in

in Mittlieilungen

Florence.

Chevrons.

FRisSED'AvEfiHES, Vases du Tombeaude Ramses

Lotus sepals.

Prisse d'Avennes.

Chevrons representing an expanded

Lotuses, chevrons.

///.

RosELLlNl,

liv.

lotus.

CESNOLA, Cyprus,

vii.

61.

an Egyptian column from a tomb-painting.

Lotus petals and

sepals.

Prisse

Colonnettes en bois.

the Mycenas vase Hi. 8 [p. 321], the early Attic vase xlvi. 13 [p. 289], the Greek vase xxx. 4
the Greek vase
[p. 211], and an especially distinct example of the petal chevron at the base of

Compare

Ixi.

3 [p. 365].

Black pottery with incised chevrons has been found in Egypt by Mr. Petrie's excavations of 1890, and
also by Mr. Naville's excavations.
Mr. Petrie's specimens are dated to the Xllth Dynasty, and
Mr. Naville's are not later than the Xlllth Dynasty. Mr. Petrie believes this pottery to be the

manufacture of Italian foreigners settled


Text, p. 42.
p. 202
;

in

Egypt.

Petrie, Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, Plate xxvii.

346

APPENDIX.
ADDITIONAL CITATIONS.
Denmark.

Chevrons

on

and

swords,

Swastikas (meander) on bronze

Chevrons on bronze axes

Hungary.

bronze

(Museum

(St.

Concentric

axes.

rings

on

bronze,

gold,

and

ivory.

of St. Germain en Laye).

Germain).

Concentric
Bronze pilgrim bottle (Rodenbach). Concentric rings, deer, chevron, meander.
concentric
and
horses
cases
Hallstatt
metals
several
on
rings, birds and
(St Germain).
rings
gold,
and
VoN
concentric rings, deer, meanders, chevrons.
Sacken, Das Grabfeld
(Copies at St. Germain

Germany.

von Hallstatt.)

For the Swiss Lake-Dwellers' ornament compare Ferdinand KELLER.


innumerable repetitions of the above details.
Etruscan Museum of the Vatican Florence
Bologna.)

France and

Italy,

Celtic

and Saxon metal

details, British

No

birds observed

Rome, Kircher Museum,

Museum.

No

Metals from the Valley of the Koban and from the Caucasus.
chevrons. Swastikas.

England.

Germain

(St.

concentric rings observed.

(St.

many deer, horses,

spirals,

Germain.)

All illustrated publications for the prehistoric monuments of Northern Europe exhibit the same prnamental
fine series of very numerous comparative examples for prehistoric pottery and for all
patterns.
ancient nations of the North and South, in Waring, Ceramic Art in Remote Ages. WARING

observes

(p. i)

that there

is

"

no evidence of influence from Phenician

Greek and

Italian ("

Alban

"),

art

upon such remains of

have come down to us"(! !). Waring considers the influence


but does not concede the influence of Egypt, for the reason that

British, Keltic, or Teutonic art, as

similar pottery

is

not found there.

This

difficulty

has been removed by

Mr. Petrie's excavations of 1890, but Mr. Petrie is doubtless correct


in assuming this black pottery with chevron ornaments to be of foreign
Italian style.

It

is

not necessary to assume that the foreign chevron

style was copied by foreigners in Egypt, but it was based on Egyptian


chevron patterns. Waring'.S objection that pottery like the prehistoric

not
is now surmounted) does
in
similar
a
had
been
stage of
Egyptians
any
apply
civilization, and therefore producing an absolutely similar style of pottery,
they could not have influenced so powerfully the nations of the North by

Northern

is

in

not found
case.

in

Egypt (which

If the

a superior civilization. There is not the slightest reason for demanding


that the chevron ornament should be found on Egyptian pottery, because

came from Egypt. As a matter of fact, however,


modern Egyptian pottery (Fig. 169), and can be
on
it does occur, even
traced on Egyptian pottery back to the Xllth Dynasty without break
the chevron ornament

169.
t

mm

MOHF.RN KCVPTIAN WAIER JAR.


Abthor's tkeldi.

Many

examples.

of continuity.

Petrie, Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara.

THE SWASTIKA.
(PLATE

It

LX.,

PAGE

359.)

not long since that the Swastika was an


"Aryan emblem," but the Aryans
have disappeared/ and with them must disappear the "Aryan" Swastika, and
is

the theory of

Asiatic origin, which

its

is

still

All theories

generally accepted.^

founded on

Buddhist symbolism have a weak basis as regards the matter of


antiquity,^ as there is no known Buddhist art before the third century b.c.
Since the Greek element in Buddhist art has been recognized, theories based on

Buddhist
since

the

Aryan Hindus
since

tenable,

home

carried
it

are

for early

of the Swastika

have

to

proven

Hindu

come from

The

no more.

is

them

the Swastika with

India

to

Above

antiquity.

the

all,

the

West,

supposition that

the

however, perfectly

is,

belongs to early prehistoric art of Europe, whence they came

Notes

(PP- 330. 331.

The

Hindus

Aryan
Indian

supposed

no weight whatever

have

art

2, 3. 4).

"

"

Aryan Swastika
also disappears with the Aryans themselves.
The Malays and Burmese make
fire with crossed sticks,^ but our present knowledge of prehistoric Europe would
1.

In

the
"

European
because

theory of the crossed fire-sticks as the origin of the

sense

races

they

as

spoke

which
being

has

of originally

cognate

" Indo-

the

specified

[third

century

b.c.].

There

no

is

known

Hindu

common

blood

temple, Mr. Fergusson says, older than the sixth or

Canon

Isaac

century of the Christian era

languages.

(p. 99).

fifth

Apart from the

Taylor has pointed out that the same argument would

Buddhist monuments and inscriptions,

prove the negroes of the United States to be English, and

sacred books of the Hindus that

the Indians of Mexico to be Spaniards, and that

vague and broken outlines of the history of ancient India


has been brought to light
(p. 99). ... No Hindu temple

also

prove the Spaniards and

French

to

be

it

would

Romans,

Isaac Taylor, Origin of the Aryans.


2.

SCHUCHARDT,

in

Sckliemanii's Ausgrabungen

der heutigen IViisenscha/t, 1890.

im

Lichte

"Das Hakenkreuz ...

stammt aus Asien und scheint das symbol einer

uralten

began third century

Series).

" The

earliest

illustrations

of

the

1890.

Buddhistic

also

Asoka

and

architecture of India are the edict pillars {lats) of

Y V

is

the

only in

than the eighth century a.d.

B.C.] (p.

no).

Walter Hough, American

4.

'Rm-D-woo-D, Industrial Arts of India {S,o\iih.Ktnimgt.on

earlier

it

are able to trace the

Architecture thus appears to have arisen in Southern India


a thousand years later than in Northern India" [where it

Gottheit zu sein."
3.

Southern India

we

"Aboriginal

Anthropologist, October,

Fire-making"

(p.

practised by the Dyaks, Javanese, and

New

Guinea.

360).
in

method

Australia,

THE SWASTIKA.

348

suppose that the early Aryans of Europe made fire like the
Esquimaux, i.e., with the drill and bow.* It is a similar method which is used
us

lead

to

by the modern Brahmans in producing


traditional Hindu method of making

their sacred

does not use the crossed

fire

As

the

sticks,

the

the temple.

fire for

Hindu-Aryan theory of Swastika


Mr. Walter Hough, of the Smithsonian Institute and
origin is unfortunate.^
National Museum at Washington, can make fire with wooden sticks in every

association of the crossed-stick theory with the

known method, and by some methods within


implements in hand, and I have seen him
crossed sticks, but he

home

true

Swastika

of the

which does not

cross, but

Greek Geometric

the

who examines

the

home

of a symbol

the largest dimension, and where

be

Style, as will

the

question through

The Greek

Geometric

it

we should

consider where

it

appears in

appears in the most formal and prominent

vases

the

are

only

monuments on which

the

Swastika systematically appears in panels exclusively assigned to it (Ix. 13;


There are no other monuments on which the Swastika can
4 [P- 339])found
5.

in

a dimension taking up one-half the height of the entire object

"The Eskimo compound

of two varieties

drill is

one

worked with a thong and hand-rest by two persons, and

man

the o'.her worked by one

mouthpiece.

The

with the aid of a

apparatus consists of four

lower piece or hearth, which


sides with a canal opening

may be bored on a

may have

upon a

central groove

piece or hand-rest with

flat

as the

cord

bow and

parts

fire-cups

the

on the

step, or the holes

the spindle

a stone bearing

which may be stretched on an ivory bow, or


handles

the mouth-

and

the cord

fitted with

on the ancient Hindu

two

fire drill."

Moor, Hindu Pantheon, p. 214. On the pin and


mode of making fire " The fire used by Brahmans

socket
for

cooking and for religious purposes

friction

produced by the
of two pieces of hard wood, one about five inches

in diaipeter with a

is

small conical hole or socket in the

upper part, into which the other, shaped

like

a pin,

is

introduced and worked about, backward and forward^ by a

Ivi.

be
4).

(Ivi.

have seen the implements used by the modern


Brahmans, in possession of Mr. Hough ; see his account of

bow."

the ancient

Hindu method (Note

The

5).

were also used by the ancient Egyptians.

found the " hearth


the

to

Plate
7.

"

ix.,

Note

fire

in ten

and

refers

6.

who have

the friction of

and bow

Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara,

Mr. Hough's matter indicates

savants,

drill

Mr. Petrie has

sticks with the burnt holes,

use of the bow.

his

sticks, lack the practical

own

"The

persons.

seconds with the twirling

seconds with the bow-drill."

The

some

belief that

discussed the problem of making

wooden

of the art in their

Ibid, p. 364.
6.

style.

In seeking the

way.

Greek

to the

is

immediately obvious to every expert


study of that

Malay method with

the

practise

not a believer in the fire-stick origin of the Swastika

is

a theory, moreover, which might apply


apply to the Swastika form.

The

seconds of taking his

five or ten

fire

writer can

sticks,

by

experience

and

ease with which

make

in

five

fire

can

be made with wooden sticks by experts is quoted as


antagonizing the view of Sir John Lubbock that the culie
de feu

is

based on the

diflSculty

necessity for jealously preserving

it.

of making

it,

and the

THE SWASTIKA.
The ordinary
of an

inch

in

three inches

(Ixi.

[p.

As

size of a Swastika,

diameter.

in

are

They

diameter, but

in

is

very primitive times,

under a third

found in Greek Geometric pottery two or

they also appear in the informal

which characterizes the Swastika

365]),

349

scattering

way

in other styles.

Swastika came into prominence through Dr. Schliemann's excavaand its appearance on Trojan whorls
and through the attention
i),
(Ix.

tions,

the

he was wise enough to give this symbol, it is natural that it should have been
studied from a Trojan i.e., to say from the
supposed "primitive Aryan"

As

standpoint.'

concerned,

"

"

prehistoric

slightest difference with


"
"

The Swastika
basin

that

the

the argument

Northern

home

In seeking the
its

if

it

is

it

of

is

it

a profound

When

of the

As, for instance, by

8.

fur

well

is

Anthropologie,

June,

its

home

beginnings

is

of a symbol
it

is

Swastika

at

ScHLiEMANN, lUos,

city,"

never to the

10. J.

But

this

first

it

is

known

Michael

v.

to

p. 346.

It

"

area of

the

Swastika has attracted

with

the

"

Bronze

Culture

"

equally clear.

we should
found

in
is

consider not
the

largest

to say,

only the nature


for

amount,

this

the centre of diffusion.

357].)

Zmigrodky, Archiv

"Zur Geschichte der

1890.

remark of De Morgan

For the given number of known


Melian vases (Ix. 8), and to archaic Greek vases
[p.

bclongs to the "third

or second.

De Morgan,

would make not the

Troy is not as great as its vogue in Cypriote


Rhodian pottery (Ix. 2). (See the list of Plates

Suastika."
9.

does not

found on the prehistoric pottery of the North,

Greek pottery (Ix. 15), and in


on which the Swastika appears
it

it

understand the

be co-extensive with

shows the centre of vogue and of power, that

examples

is

symbol

did however so appear, for

connected

distinctly

but also where

appearance,

The vogue

It

Europe, where the

Prehistoric

derived from the South.


the Southern

of Cyprus).

Swastika appears to

the

considerable attention,

of

the

dates from the earliest diffusion of the Egyptian meander in

of

area

(by which

Cyprus

race

of the Mediterranean, and

In

bronze.

character of

symbol.

primitive

the

of

pottery

Cypriote pottery of the prehistoric

highly

"

does not appear in the "First City" of Troy,^ and

it

on the

appear

"
however, as the
primitive

far,

Mission Scientifique au

author believes China to be the original

bronze.

tion of Chinese culture from

home

of

Chaldea,

this

is

not

likely.

For these discoveries see recent publications of Rev. C. J.


Ball, in Proceedings, Society of Biblical Anhceology, and of
Professor

Caucase.

Since the recent discoveries regarding the deriva-

Terrien Delacoup^rie,

in

the

Oriental

and

Babylonian Record.
'

THE SWASTIKA.

350
12

(Ixi.

but

365]),

[p.

Geometric style

its

13;

(Ix.

Ivi.

is

prominence

greatest

339];

[p.

Ixi.

i,

on the pottery of the Greek


4 [p- 365]; and Figs. 173, 174

(PP- 353. 354).

In Carian or "Mycena?" art the Swastika

The

ally appears.

show

which

shores of

the Swastika date from

of Northern

mountains

There was

Black Sea.

the

Greek

early

influences

occasion-

it

natural conclusion would be that the bronzes of

from the

Marseilles,

relatively rare, but

is

the

North

spreading from

and from the Northern

Greece,

intercourse with

Doric Migration, for the amber of the " Mycenae Culture

North

the
"

before

the

was drawn from the

Baltic."

Aside

from

Greek

the

Geometric

our

style

reference

earliest

the

for

Swastika, and very possibly an earlier reference than the first, is its appearance
on the burial "Hut-urns" of Italy. On such it appears rather as a fragment
of the more complicated meander patterns, from which

view

on the " Hut-urns

the Swastika

The

"

of Italy, but that, as an independent and definitely shaped

belongs to the Greek Geometric

first

it

pattern,

precise

the earliest and consequently imperfect forms of the Swastika are

that

is

My

derived.

is

it

is

"

common on

very

high antiquity of

assert

that

Hut-urns," which are often undecorated.

Geometric

Greek

the

do not

style.

style

has

been

especially

dwelt upon by Professor Conze, although examples are also found as late as the
"

Corinthian

found
or

its

that

"

was

known Greek
but

is

it

to

way
it

of

style

Greek

There

pottery.^^

is

no proof that the Swastika

China and Japan before the time of the Hindu Buddhists,


a Brahman emblem before the Buddhist time.
The well-

would thus explain the Hindu symbol,


the Swastika travelled Eastward with the Hindus

influences on Buddhist art

more

likely

that

themselves.

Our

Caucasus and

is

It

intermediate

present

with

link

in the adjacent
territory of the

II

ScHVCHKV.m, Schliemann's

12.

The
not

thought

changed

the

occurred

later.

that

the

antiquity of the

As

Professor

Geometric

volcanic

of

configuration

at

the

Thera

is

can

proven by

"

b.c.

which

eruption,

island,

Conze has pointed

style

and

Ausgrabutigen,]i. 22^.

" found under the lava


designation

supposed to indicate a higher antiquity than 1600


is

India for

have

out, the

its

fixed

the

Koban.

Swastika

This

lies

in

the

last ancient centre

clearly traditional character.

It

is

at least as old as

tombs which have been opened in Greece,


the other hand it lasted as late as the sixth or seventh

the oldest Greek

On

century

which

B.C.,

has

according to the evidence of a tomb in Corfu,


a

vase

of

the distinctive ancient


Geometric style with another of the " Corinthian " fashion.

(British

supplied

Museum).

THE SWASTIKA.

metal has lately attracted attention through the publication of

of the arts

in

Virchow.^^

In

the

Germain there

St.

351

Koban bronzes

original

the

of

Museum

prehistoric

of

also abundant matter for study.

is

The presumption that the bronze manufactures of the Caucasus and of the
Koban represent an independent centre,^'' or a half-way station of a movement
from East to West must be abandoned. The Gryphon is found on them, the
solar deer are very largely represented,

chevron, and

spiral,

swastikas

are

and the

traditional bronze motives of the

The

abundant.

of

style

the

is

patterns

"Bronze Culture" of Europe under consideration.


The character of the Koban ornament implies rather an Eastward spread of

strictly limited to those of the

"

"

of Northern Europe than an influence penetrating through


"
"
the Caucasus from the South. This would have had a
Mesopotamian flavour
the

Bronze Culture

which

Both

is

and

lacking,

and primitive Greek influences (Colchis) are quoted for the


The Swastika in territories of the Caucasus has first received

De Morgan.

attention from

then that the Hindu Swastika must share the fate of the Hindus

It is clear

catastrophe which has befallen

themselves in the recent

14.

Rudolf Virchow, Das Grdberfeld von Koban.


Salamon Reinach, Musee de St. Germain en Laye,
" Le Caucase

Catalogue, p. 102.

mSme

M^tallurgie, en

tifs

de

de

terre entre I'Asie centrale

la

d^couvertes \

Koban

Assyrienne, figyptienne,

un des centres

est

temps que

n'offrent

port^

le

are here

are

specified,

an

indicate

relations

influences

very

Le courant

celtique et a

civilisateur qui a

original

the

has related the

(p.

"

Phenician

102).

The

"

origin.

in India.

now known

At

p. 183,

Merovingian ornaments to the

Hallslatt,

and both

ments of

civilization

to the

The

related to the

Aryans

but these

North-European
the Northern " Age of

represent

East after

had begun, and

European

Koban"

undoubtedly present,

possibly

migration toward

for the

I'art

and Scandinavian metal ornament, which

relations to Celtic

"

en revanche, on

bronze dans I'Europe du Nord, a done, suivant

toute vraiesemblance passtf par

Bronze

route

Les bronzes

aucune trace d'influence

on Phdnicienne

du bronze Scandinave.

prirai-

la seule

et I'Europe.

y trouve certains caractferes coiiimuns \


I'art

14),

direct Egyptian,

Eastern Pontus.'^

13.

sense the remarks of Reinach are just (Note

this

in

Koban

from the East.

facts

Reinach
style

of

bronzes and to move-

The

fact

is

that the

the

primitive Asiatic

bronze ornament of prehistoric Europe moved from the

South and East Mediterranean

and North.

When

it

movement

East, according to the

our

own time

is

the West, North-West,


it

turned to the

of civilization, which in

to Germany and
movement from the West. This fact

Russia

leaves

subject to a civilizing

to

reached the North

inferior

represented by the history of words for metal, quoted

from

Isaac Taylor,

p.

330, Note 3.

from the Catalogue of the

St.

These quotations
Germain Museum are

important, as showing that the relations of the Hallstatt


style

Ivii.

[p.

341] to Italy and Southern Europe have

not yet been sufficiently recognized, for

Reinach's Catalogue to be
science.

The

fully

we must presume
level with present

history of the deer and the lotus (Hallstatt,

xxxix. 4 [p. 253]), of the bird,


Ivii.

on a

common

and of the horse

at Hallstatt),

is

(in style of

thus seen to be

5 [p. 341],
which travelled
important as fixing the source of ornaments
The birds and deer of Hallstatt are well
with them.

8 [p. 253], and the


represented by the Tyrol piece xxxix.
Italian pieces IviL 8, 13, 16 [p. 341].
15. J.

De Morgan,

Mission Scientifique au Caucase.

THE SWASTIKA.

352

Aryans, and that a similar migration from the


to the Swastikas of Troy,

West must be

ascribed to

it.

As

they are far less numerous than those of Cyprus, of

Rhodes, or of Greek Geometric vases, and must be subordinated to them in a


general explanation.

The Swastika

plays no r61e in Africa.

Its presence in

classed with the problems of the solar bird and lotus spiral

Dahomey^" must be
in the same quarter

and of the Kabyle pottery (Ixiv. [p. 385]).^''


The Swastika in Yucatan (Ixiii. 14 [p. 379]) on pottery of the

(Fig.

146

274]),

[p.

othenvise in

ancient American

load which has been so

the

art,

must be considered the

inconsiderately laid on the

Zunis,'^

lightest

and

feather in

shoulders of American

archaeology by the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, in

its

treatise

it

remains

on the Zodiac.'"

must be

the centre from which the Swastika

Having posed

studied,

to point out its origin.

no proposition in archaeology which can be so easily demonstrated


as the assertion that the Swastika is originally a fragment of the Egypt'ian
The conmeander, provided Greek Geometric vases are called in evidence.
There

is

between the meander and the Swastika has been long since suggested
by Professor A. S. Murray.^ On the side of Hindu specialists it has been even
nection

suggested that the Swastika produced the meander.^'


A recent publication on the Swastika has not only reproposed this derivation
of the meander, but has even connected the Mycenae spirals with this supposed

has proposed to change the name of the spiral ornament

development,^- and
accordingly.
16.

tika

The

actual fact is as supposed

Schliehann's nios, which also mentions the Swas-

on a vase from Yucatan,

17.

The

Museum

beautiful

in the Berlin

Museum.

Ashantee jewellery of

the

comprises several very obvious lotus patterns, and

On

Zuni pottery

bridge, Mass.
in publication.

in the

believe that I

The

is

a survival from

ancient times, and probably Toltic.


19.

The Aztec Zodiac

is

without any

the exact counterpart of the

Hindu, the three animals which are not found in Mexico


being replaced by others which correspond to them in
character.
Moreover " the Aztec Calendar includes Nak-

known

medium

of the

intervention."

Appendix to Cesnola's Cyprus, p. 410.


Dr. Schliemann calls suastikas, but

20. In Pottery

"The

Peabody Museum at Camam the first to announce it

culture of the Zunis

shatra titles borrowed, not only through the

Tartar Zodiac, but likewise straight from the Indian scheme,


British

also shows the entire flower in gold.


18.

by Murray.

crosses which

which, in

fact,

appear to be only the simplest form or

element of the meander pattern."


21.

Birdwood, Industrial Arts of India, p. 107. "I


be the origin of the key-pattern

believe the swastika to

ornament of Greek and Chinese decorative


22.

der

art."

" Wir sehen


also, das dass sogenannte Spiral-ornament
Prahistorischen

ornament

basirt.

Epoche
.

ebenfalls

Desshalb

ist

die

auf der Suastika-

Benennung

Spiral-

THE SWASTIKA.
The equivalence

353

of the Swastika with the

meander pattern is suggested, in


the first instance, by its appearance in the
shape of the meander on Rhodian
(xxviii. 7 [p. 203]), Melian (Ix. 8), archaic Greek
12 [p. 365]), and
(Ix. 9; Ixi.
Greek Geometric vases (Ivi. [p. 339]). The
in
of the meander
appearance

may

be verified in the British

type,

and

it

Museum on

shape

one Geometric vase of the oldest

also occurs in the Louvre.

Instances of the simultaneous appearance of the Swastika in both forms on

same

the

piece

(Ix.

8)

and of transitions from one form

piece are easily illustrated

The most

12

Ixi.

9;

(Ix.

[p.

to the other

on the same

365]),

interesting evidence lies in the correspondence between the Swastika

panels of Greek

Geometric vases

(Ix.

13;

GEOMETRIC "

I7I.

Ivi.

and

corresponding
of
other
vases
in
which other sections of the meander
panels
pattern are given

17a MBANDER DETAIL WITH SOI.AR GEESE.


VASE in the Louvre.

172.

MEANDER DETAIL WITH SOLAR


VASE

the

same

GEESE.

in the British

distinction

GREEK

"

(Iviii.

MEANDER DETAIL WITH SOLAR


vase

GREEK

"

GEOMETRIC

"
I73.

Museum.

and Figs. 170,


Athens, one of whose

of a vase in the Polytechnic at

in the

GEESE.

GREEK

" GEOMETRIC "

Cabinet des Medailles.

SWASTIKA WITH SOLAR GEESE. GREEK "GEOMETRIC" VASE


in the British Museum.

343],

[p,

339])

[p.

171, 172, 173).


details is

The

evidence

shown by Fig.

174,

be considered decisive.

may

We

may add

Compare

ixi.

[p.

365] (a later

style)

with various patterns of

geese

(p.

unvollstandige, weil

Ware

es

nicht

sie

bloss

moglich,

style

Ivi.

270) comes into play.

ornament eine
beriicksichtigt.

which presents so many meander variants.


vase, but showing a meander pattern of the old

no

that there is

[p.

339].

When we
die

dieselbe

form
mit

Finally the evidence of the solar


find

them

facing on one occasion a


ersetzen?"

Suastika-ornament

zu

SuastiVca (p. 119).

See Note

Zur

Geschichte

8.

z z

tier

THE SWASTIKA.

354

Swastika (Fig. 173) and on another occasion some other sectional variant of the

meander
is

same symbolism

(Figs. 170, 171, 172), the conclusion is obvious that the

at stake in either case.

The

solar

Swastika

significance of the

Its generative significance

Jains.-^

It is

proven by a leaden statuette from Troy.'"

is

an equivalent of the lotus

of the solar diagram

rosette

(xx.

centric

rings

(xxxiv.

"boss"
289])

[p.

359])

[p.

227]

^SecLic'ATens!*\omAuUioA

It

[p.

the

solar

fish

249I)
^ ^M

[p.
Lr

of

the

the

253])

con-

of

scroll

spiral

"triangle"
7

267])

xxx. 4

(Ix.

i,

249])

[p.

with

(xlvi.

203]

[p.

deer

solar

[p.

of the

of the geometric

(xxviii.

the

303]);

[p.

8);

rosette

of

Ix.

antelope (xxxvii.

(xlii.
;
'

341];

of the

with

appears

with

the solar

with the solar Sphinx


8
(xxxiv.
V
r

with the solar lion (xxx. 4

227]);

[p.

305]);

[p.

[p.

2,

i,

(xlvii.

303])

[p.

and of the anthemion

ibex (xxxvii.
4
T^
^

MEANDER WITH SWASTIKA.

centre

xxxix.

12

(xlviii.

with the symbolic


174.

1 1

12

(Ivii.

153])

[p.

(xlvii.

[p.

211]).

[p.

proven by Hindu coins of the

is

[p.

the solar

211]);

sketch.

ram
4,

12

5,

solar bird

[p.

15;

(Ix.

Fig.

The appearance
noticed

The

emphatic

and

203]);

[p.

the

horse

solar

and constant association

i,

(Ixi.

with the

is

173).

meander pattern on two Egyptian scarabs has been


"
found on an " Eye amulet of the British Museum.'^

of the

It is

(p. 94).

most

Its

365]).

(xxviii.

also

Egyptian spiral scroll with the Egyptian meander has


been specified (p. 93), and the relations of the spiral scroll to the Egyptian
lotus spirals (x. [p. 97]), and to Egyptian concentric rings, have been observed
equivalence of the

(viii. [p. 87]).

Since the evidence for the original symbolism of the Ionic form has

been presented, we
in

recur with greater emphasis to

form of concentric rings (viii. 14).


Much learning has been devoted

ante-Christian

times.

that

the

The adoption

of

[p.

may

365],

23.

ScHLiEMANN,

nished by Mr.

Jlios,

p.

It

is

the

Swastika

346.

The matter

Edward Thomas,

from

apparent

ante-Christian

cross

by

to

is

the

the Oriental Numismatist.

24.

symbolism

of

the

9
a Swastika and meander
pottery examples

Christian

being fur-

the Cypriote Ionic capital

symbolism,

Quoted

25. British

to that effect

(Ix.

and

its

by Schliemann.

cross
;

Ixi.

in
1

variant.

symbolic
See

Museum, Third Egyptian Room, No.

Ix. 4.

17,943.

THE SWASTIKA.
juxtaposition

well-known

An

the

the

Swastika

Christian

form

angles

has

(Ix.

been

of Trojan whorls

of abbreviation

Troy

is

nearly as

for

Ix.

(compare

recognized,^^

from Schliemann excavations

On

the

meander

of this

form with

Ix.

ii;

arms

spiral

00.
^^

175.

forms at

SWASTIKA DIAGRAMS.

to a

Ix.

A Similar
\

/\\

the dots (Fig. 175).

and

at xlvi.
.

variant

yy

in

SWASTIKA DIAGRAMS.

New

joined in form of a diamond,

The above
and

cross,

for

variants

obvious

is

common

Compare

the two

/-

was obtained from the rectangular

from

the

York, where the stroke


^j^j^

^^^.^^

count

289].

[p.

...

obtained

is

Trojan

the Swastika with

Dipylon

/.

L
176.

may

he demonstration for this form of the

Swastika

with

form which joins the arms with the central

...

.-r-l

^
.77.

nearly as

is

Swastika (Fig. 176). Compare xxxiv. 7 [p. 227].


Another variant was obtained by drawing the Swastika
in two strokes and
inclining the arms of the cross (Fig. 177).

/\^
\y^

are

Cypriote and Rhodian vases this variant

cross, preserving

Vip-Ai^

the
actual

By

12).

form

this

the cross

is

common as the ordinary Swastika.


Another common Rhodian Swastika variant moves from

monuments

Christian

early

The equivalence

6).

as the Swastika proper.

at

on

cross

facts.

intermediate

in

spots

with

355

SWASTIKA DIAGRAMS.

vase

of

Curium,

be observed in both

^^^^ ^f ^^^ Swastika strokc, with arms nearly


also found on a Geometric vase at Athens.

mainly confined to pottery, excepting the simple


It is
reasons.
only on pottery that such variants
are

would naturally develop, because here the pattern was so frequently repeated,
and because an off-hand execution was employed.

The Rhodian

is

pottery

the distinctive

home

of

these

and other

solar

diagrams (xxviii. 7 [p 203]), and was as expert and as metaphysical in their


manufacture as the Cypriote pottery in the manufacture of geometric lotuses.
The only Swastika variants of the Cypriote pottery are the cross and the cross
with dots.
of

(Note
it

cross

is

not found in

the

early

Greek Geometric

style,

and

other meander variants the Swastika was destined, by the ease with which

all

26.

The

By
6).

Michael

By

v.

Zmigrodzki,

p.

174,

as

above

actual count from the Schliemann Atlas,

shows thirty-five Swastikas of the cross form with dots

in the angles, as against fifty-five

normal Swastikas.

The

proportion of cross forms must be fully as large on Cypriote


vases.

Z Z 2

THE SWASTIKA.

J56

was designed, and the


and to travel farthest.
it

The Greek

cross

no

is

of

peculiarity

appearance to survive the longest

its

however, in ante-Christian symbolism.

rarity,

dimensions

on

the

Cypriote

vase

lo

are

especially

interesting.

large

Ix.

Its

The

ordinary solar diagrams also


Relief at

17s. COPIU LOTUS CROSSED.


Medinet Habou. .Specially photographed

appear

for the

Author.

'"9- CROSS OF LOTUSES.


Turin Scarab, No. 1009.
From Author's sketch.

'

T"!,
1 ttC

nCre.

4-

prOjeCl,

ing lotus buds are specified


the

by

and

rare,
[p.

demonstration
is

not remember
cross

xlviii.

of

composed

The

307]).

for

Christian

four

17
lotus

Coptic cross

ever to have seen


in

appears

ante-Christian

[p.

without

it

times,

Maltese

cross

not

is

compare xlix. 11
a lotus cross (Fig. 178), and I do

triangles
is

The

305].

on

3,

(Ix.

the trefoil

14;

indication.

Cypriote

The Latin

cylinder,^^

and

is

otherwise known.

These forms were avoided by native Egyptian


as

locality

The presence

character.

The

in

dated

earliest

but

the cross

is

worn

an Egyptian picture.^ The amulets Ix. 5, 6, 7


of find and in material, but are probably of foreign

neck amulet by a captive

are Egyptian

art,

in

of these diagrams on amulets

Swastikas are of the

third

is,

however, significant.

millenium

b.c,

and occur

on the foreign Cypriote and Carian (?) pottery fragments of the time of the
Xllth Dynasty, discovered by Mr. Petrie in 1889.^
They appear on the
"
Hut-urns" of prehistoric Italy in shapes which are clearly sections of meanders.^"

The evidence

of Fig. 174

27.

Ceskola, Cyprus, King's

28.

Champollion,

Greek crosses
p. 141.

I.

Ixvii.

Gem

is

decisive as regards the question of origin.

Appendix,

From

vii. 14.

Beit-Ouali.

For

on cylinders see Menant, Cylindres,


gold Greek cross in Athens was found

A small

one of the Mycenae tombs.

29. Petrie,

ii.

in

Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, Plate

Nos. 162, 173.


30. In the Kircher

Museum

at

Rome.

xxvii.,

357

APPENDIX.
List of Plates showing the Swastika.
10

[p.

xxviii.

[p.

203], Rhodian,

211], Naukratic, early Greek, normal Swastikas and

and Sphinx. xxxiv. 8

[p. 253J,

xxxiv.

xxxvii. 9
227], Melian, meander and Sphinx.

xxxviii.
antelope.

Swastika and
xxxix. 2

[p.

lions.

meander and ram.

[p. 251],

Rhodian, variants, including

Melian, meander and ibex.

xlii. [p.

267],

[p.

xxx.

2,

4,

2 [p. 227], Trojan, cross

249], early Attic, normal

cross, ibexes,

Rhodian, cross and

fish.

and

lotuses.

xlv. 3 [p. 287],

No.
crosses.
Nos.
Cypriote, with lotuses.
289], Greek and Rhodian.

with birds and lotuses.


good examples of cross variants.
303], Cypriote, with

305], Cypriote, with geometric lotuses.


309], Cypriote, with quadrangle.
the most important of examples, as showing
4
339], Greek Geometric vase with birds
the distinct Swastika type of Geometric vases.
4
365], Greek Geometric, with

12
horse.
with Pegasus.
365], early Greek, with horse.
365], Corinthian

14
7
379], Yucatan stone
385], Cypriote geometric.
xlvi. [p.

4, bird, lotus,

xlvii. i, 2, 3 [p.

xlviii. 3, 6,

Ivi.

lotuses,

1.

5 [p.

[p.

all

[p.

Ixi.

Ixi.

Ixiii.

1 1

[p.

[p.

Ixi.

coin,

relief.

Ixiv. 4,

[p.

i,

[p.

[p.

5, 7,

10,

358

PLATE

LX.

THE SWASTIKA.

1.

Troy Pottery whorl.

2.

Rhodian pottery

3.

Cypriote vase,

SCHLIEMANN,

Swastikas and deer (many similar).

detail.

Deer and Swastika, diagrams.

New York Museum.

Monitmenti

Troy.

Inediti,'\x.,v. 2.

Maltese cross of four geometric lotuses (compare Plate xlix,

[P- 307]).

4.

Trojan idol of lead. Swastika.

5.

Egyptian (intrusive

6.

Egyptian (intrusive

?) seal

7.

Egyptian (intrusive

?)

8.

Detail,
(p.

Melian vase

309]

(Compare
9.

.')

ScilLlEMANN,

seal with cross.

Ilios, p. 337.

Klaproth,

with Swastika variant.

seal, related to

No.

6.

v.

228.

Klaproth,

v.

228.

Description de V^gypte, A.,

deer (held by Artemis)

,;

four solar diagrams

v.

88, 46.

a motive derived from pattern

diagram of four similar objects, and three Swastikas, one of


Plate x. 9 [p. 97].) Conze, Melische Thongefdsse.

them a

1.

section of meander.

Two

serpents and Swastikas, showing meander patterns approaching


the simplified Swastika, and variant Swastika crosses. Plate Ixi. 12 [p. 365] shows the Meander

Detail, archaic Boeotian vase.

Swastika, Swastika, and Swastika cross on one detail.

la Cypriote

vase,

[p. 305])

New York Museum.

11.

Bird-headed vase

12.

Bird-headed vase
see

13.

Cross with four motives derived from lotus buds

(PI.

xlviii.

17

two solar diagrams.


Swastika.

SCHLIEMANN,

Swastika variant No.

Cesnola, Cyprus,

6.

Troy,"^. 191.

SCHLIEMANN,

Ilios, p. 521.

(For bird-headed female

idols,

p. 164.)

Greek Geometric vase, London; similar ones at Sevres.


CONZE, Anfdnge, &c., v. 4.
in symmetrical
and
show
relation to
Swastikas in large dimension
Geometric vases
but
panels, which, in related examples, contain other sections of meander patterns
Geometric vases show Swastikas of intermediate dimension and also the usual small
;

Only
entire

other
ones,

without symmetrical relation to a panel.


14.

Cypriote vase,

15.

Cypriote vase.

New York Museum.

New York Museum.

Maltese cross (compare No.


Typical example of

3),

many

various examples

also Rhodian.

pieces for the bird and lotus with

Other examples show only the bird and Swastika, but never in the large dimension
style.
Many vases of* form 1. 4 [p. 309] show the small Swastika in centre
of a panel, corresponding to others of same form in which the solar diagram replaces the Swastika.
The deer and Swastika, horse and Swastika, are also found on Cypriote vases in New York.
Swastikas.

of the Geometric

THE HORSE AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATE

The

horse was

known

(who have been


that

it

solar

own

sun,*

and the
Celts,^

worship,
reliefs,'*

2.

are

symbolism was generally unknown

to

a horse to the sun was also

sacrifice of

he

is

also

the Greeks of the

fifth

made
''

for

quoted

Chaldean,'" Syrian,

According to a note

Robertson Smith,

12

and

Carthaginian

Atharva-Veda, are the red horses of the rising sun

in the A{:ademy, July 6,

1889;

Religion of the Semites, p.

beams of the

horse, Tarkshya,

275.

cast in the sea at the annual feast of the

Waring, Ceramic Art

6. 7.

The

quoting from Pausani.\S,

horse,

in

iii.

Remote Ages,

p.

59.

been an animal sacred

to

is

rising

Record,

and

Lajard, Culte de Mithra, p. 8.

9.

BiRDWOOD.

in the

Ramayana

See also paper in Babylonian

1887, No. 10, by Dr.

Mark Aurel
"

horse which

"

The

twelve adventures of the

Yudhisthira loosed are twelve legends con-

nected with the countries over which the sun


to shine in his annual course (p. 19).

('red') of

the

Rig- Veda,

and Rohitas

Stein, on

bearded

common

is

supposed

The Aruskas

('red")

and the god Apam napat,


an old Aryan personification of the fire and lightning."
the

10.
;

11.

Matter relating to sacrifice of the horse


(p. 66).

The winged

setting sun.

a very ancient mythological personifica-

tion of the sun (p. 52)."

lion

the sun."
8.

and

god beside a horse with an epithet meaning swift-horsed

20.

which was a national emblem with the Kelts

as with the Teutons, has always

the Haritas ('green'), or green horses, are typical of the


radiant

Zoroastrian deities on Indo-Scythian coins.


Ibid.,

With

at Taygetus.^

from the evidence furnished by the winged horse of Assyrian


with Sacred Tree of buds.

sun.

"

and

aside

Four horses were

5.

Scythians

idealized,

had been

the horse

recognized,^

the Scyths and Thracians were Germanic peoples.


"
Pegasus."
3. Baumeister, Antike Denkmdler, under
4.

"

"

the

See also Note 9 for Indo-Scythian coins.

the

among

Germans,^ Persians,^ and Hindus,^ the horse was a well-known sun

symbol, and

as a solar animal

was, however, a Rhodian custom to sacrifice annually four horses to the

'

the

365.)

B.C.

century
It

associations

bodily

PAGE

European Aryans),^ but he did not know


animal of the Greeks. Under the form of Pegasus,

identified with

had been a solar

whose
his

Herodotus

to

LXI.,

epithet of the sun

Savce, Hibbert Lectures,

"

Eagle,

279.

p.

horse,

totem gods of Accad."

Robertson Smith, quoting

Kings

xxiii.

11,

for

the horse which the kings of Judah had consecrated to the

Sun god.
12. Robertson Smith,

"
p.

276.

Winged

horse, Pegasus,

a sacred symbol to the Carthaginians."


13.

Lavard's

Plates.

of the

THE HORSE AND THE LOTUS.

302

Pegasus without wings is supposed to be a rarity in Greek


Geometric vases would lead to a contrary supposition, as at

To

the solar origins of a possibly later myth.

and with lotus

5),

(Ixi.

the British

The

spirals

least

indicating

the winged Pegasus with Swastika


"

Museum, which shows him with a

Tree

"

of a vase

The

Syrian style or importation.

this

association,'^

There

undoubtedly of

presence of the horse in Egypt

dated from the XVIIIth

in

of lotus leaves.^*

horse with the normal lotus can be quoted in several instances.^"

an Egyptian tomb-picture of a vase with

is

but Greek

we may add mention

13),

(Ixi.

art,'^

is

generally

but he must have been

Dynasty,

known under Hyksos (Mongolian) rule.'^ According to


a reference by Dr. Birch to the horse "Traces of worship
well

are supposed to be found."

In

Plate

is

Phenician

art,

vii.

79]

[p.

ix,

spiral scroll

(2,

appearance of

the

solar

on Greek vases would date from the


or from the Melian,
(6)
l8a BIRDS WITH A HORSE's
MANE.

From

the coluured designs of


Hallstalt
bronzes
in
the
Museum of St. Germain.
Photographed for the Author.

he

is

[p-

339]).

symbolism carried with

The
with

solar horse

the lotus (11),

confined as a frequent type to


to

art

Celtic Italian

(Ixi.

9;

Baumeister, Antike Denkmaler, mentions a case of

"
Pegasus without wings, merkwiirdiger \Veise."
15.
16.

Second Vase Room, Case 29-30, B. 148.


Monumenti Inediti, IX. xliv. Silver /fl/<f/-a, Egypto-

Phenician

style,

horse in the lotus

Similar go\A patera from Cyprus in the


bull

and horses

Edwards

in

"grove" or bower.
New York Museum;

the lotus "grove."

has been good enough to send

such examples,

all

solar

appears occasionally on Cypriote vases

more frequently with the Swastika, but


the Greek Geometric style (Ixi. 4 Ivi. i
;

Ivii.

5
is

[p.

341]),

very

and

common

to Hallstatt.
at

Hallstatt.

With

An

of a terra-cotta fragment from Egypt, representing a horse's

head resting on the

flower.

17. Prisse d'Avennes, Vases en or imailli.


18.

As noted by Canon Isaac Taylor, Origin of

Aryans,
19.

the

p. 159.

Birch,

in

Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians,

III., 3rd
a foot-note to Wilkinson's statement that

Miss Amelia B.

Edit., p. 299, in

me

" the horse did not


enjoy sacred honours."

a photograph

Minor

of Asia

it.

concentric rings, as in the last example, he

14.

style of

association with

the sepulchral

The

triangles.

horse without wings

The tomb-sculpture

Ixi. 7.

interesting for

is

the

shows the horse with

3)

on the haunch and inverted lotus

typical

(for

with rampant horses

91])

[p.

lotus

possibly Greek or Etruscan, under that

or

The vase from Thera

influence.

latest

8 the distinctly Egyptian

Ixi.

pendant tabs see

'^

THE HORSE AND THE LOTUS.


exactly corresponding treatment

This

with the Italian.


correspond
Hallstatt
art,
it

the

"bird" as

mane connects

treatment of the

projections
at Fig.

180.

mane

occasionally

the Hallstatt art directly

(Fig.

appearing

Such instances show

181)

will

on

the

along with a technique

in

metals,

also

that

meanders, and

head

of

to

the

The

handed over

bird

to

with horse's

same general fact as the bird in shape of a pot-hook. Both


concentric rings, chevrons,
the patterns which attend them

represents the

proofs

borrowed.

be found

the habits of a barbaric

copying, without comprehension, patterns which have been

mane
are

with

of the

363

spirals, are also

1'

III

From

11^^

borrowed.

"I
fv,*^

181. HORSES AND BIRDS WITH A HORSE's MANE.


the coloured designs of Hallstatt bronzes in the Museum of St. Germain.
Photographed for the Author.

364

PLATE

LXI.

THE HORSE AND THE LOTUS.


1.

Greek Geometric vase,

similar vase in the

origin).*
2.

Leyden, from Smyrna (?), detail at No. 4 Swastikas and solar diagram.
from Cyprus, with the double axe (an indication of Carian

in

New York Museum

CONZE, Anfdnge,

iv. a.

Horse, spiral scroll on the haunch, and lotus


triangles.
Compare xlvi. 3, 5 [p. 289], and Plate xlix. [p. 307]. The form of meander pattern here
found is a common abbreviation on the earliest Geometric vases, but the guilloche of this vase is not

Vase from Thera,

Detail of No. 3.

found in the

pure Geometric

British

style.

On

Museum.

of concentric rings, lotus triangles

the vase, indications

inverted but terminating in Ionic volutes and palmette


chevrons at the base. Compare lix. [p. 345]
for the base.
On reverse, lion attacking a deer (Fig. 141 [p. 256]). Monumenii Inediti, viii. 6.
;

5.

Pegasus and solar diagram like xxviii. 5 [p. 203], uncompleted or obscured.
J. De Morgan, Mission Scientifique au Caucase, i. p. 161.

Corinthian coin,
the Swastika.

6.

Rock carving over tomb, Yapyl Dak, Asia Minor

7.

Horses and

Compare

lotus,

Melian pottery

detail,

Reverse,

from Canina, Etruria Maritima, cxxvii.

repeated from Plate

xviii. [p.

146]; entire vase, xix.

[p. 147].

xvii. [p. 145.]

8.

Horses rampant, two lotus forms.

9.

Prehistoric bronze vase. Southern Tyrol.


Repouss^ detail. Inverted trefoil lotus, rudimentary rosette,
lotus bud in the horse's mouth.
From the same vase as detail xxxix. 8 [p. 253] of antelopes, and
deer with lotus spirals in the mouth, and lotus bud border. On the same Plate, Hallstatt and other
prehistoric details of

Bronze

Monumenti

detail.

Inediti, xii. 2.

normal lotuses springing from mouths of animals.

xxvii. 3 [p. 197].


All quoted are prehistoric " Umbrian " or Celtic.
antelope with lotus stems and buds hanging from the mouth on a

See also xxxiv.

Monumenti

Cypriote vase, xlix.

10.

Horses and solar diagrams.

11.

Cypriote vase,

12.

Early Boeotian vase detail


three Swastika variants

Archaic Greek vase, Copenhagen.

New York Museum.


;

Pegasus and lotus

* The double axe

is

spirals.

5 [p. 307].

Archaologisclie Zeitung, 1885, Taf. 8.

Artemis with geese.f Swastikas.

horse, solar diagram.

Greek vase, Athens.

an emblem of the Carian Zeus.

Ausgrabungen,

An

Horse, lotus, and solar diagram.

meander, normal, and

13.

3 [p. 227]

Inediti, x. 6.

This detail shows

cross.

Benndorf, Vasengemdlde,\.\\\.

It

occurs on Carian coins.

SchUCHARDt, Schliemann' s

p. 285.

t Such pictures have been mistaken


This is the natural view, and

goddess strangling geese, but the geese are simply held as symbols.
supported by O. Keller, Tliiere, &c. (p. 292).

for a
is

THE LOTUS

(PLATES

It

is

beyond

purpose and

my

ANCIENT AMERICA.

IN

LXII., LXIII.,

my

PAGES

strength

377, 379.)

to

history of ornament

the

carry

outside of Europe, and in admitting the Plates for ancient American ornament,
limited as they

proof rests
rings,

must

with

be,

those

have but one end

who

claim

that

and chevron, have developed

Asiatic contact.'

It

is

for

such to

in

the

to point out

that the

meander, spiral

scroll,

burden of
concentric

ancient America without

European or
prove that ancient America had no contact

with Europe or with Asia.


In making this proof they will be obliged to explain the following facts

an Egyptian winged disk at Ococingo, in Yucatan (Ixii. 2) that


the winged disk of Assyrian style is found in Yucatan (Ixii. 8)
that there is a
statue holding an Egyptian hieroglyph at Palenque (Ixii. 7)- that the " Semitic
that

there

is

Venus

"
is

Mexican

182. THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS.


From
a Zuni Vase in the National Museum at Washington.
Author's sketch. Compare Plates xliii.-xlvi. [pp. 283-289].

I.

Swastika

As long

is

found

in

(Ixiii.

as these patterns are supposed to be indepen-

dent of one another in various Mediterranean countries,

would be unnatural to suppose


independent

in

America; but,

that they were

on the

that the

"

Bird and

Plate xlvi. 5 [p. 289]

and Plate

xlix.

8 [p. 307J.

and on Zuni pottery (Figs. 182, 183);


ancient America (Ixiii. 14) with its variants

the Lotus" occur in ancient Mexico


the

(Ixii. i)

183. THE BIRD AND THE LOTUS TRIANGLE (?).


From a Zuni Vase, owned by a lady in Chicago. Compare

From

that

art

a familiar type of ancient

it

not also

instant that

their

i6),

unity becomes apparent for the Mediterranean world, their

independence
2.

The

in

America becomes problematic,

hieroglyph

is

Men,

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA.

;68

"Deer and

that the

(Ixiii.

3);

(Fig.

184);

lotus

is

and that the ordinary Egyptian

familiar

American ornament
12,

II,

Lotus" occur on Zuni pottery

the

and

21,

13,

i,

or three-spiked

of ancient

feature
(Ixiii.

trefoil

4,

details

6,

10,

7,

on

page

'

herewith).

be also necessary for those

It will

who

appeal to the American meanders,

and

scrolls,

ornaments

develop
in

independently
globe,

to

proof that such

spirals, as

spontaneously

and

of

the

all

quarters

184.

From

Hindu

the

explain

character

at

THE DEER (ELK) AND THE LOTUS.


Vase in the National Museum
Washington. From Author's sketch.
a Zuni

Compare Plates xxxv.-xxxviii.

[pp. 245-251].

of the Aztec Zodiac as specified by the


"

there was no Buddhist


Encyclopaedia Britannica," and to show that

art in ancient America.*

\1

The

ancient accounts of

numerous,* and very

specific.

The most

\
These

3.

borough,

Kings-

from

are

details

according to following refer-

ences, beginning at the top: (i)Vol.

XL, 66; (2) Vol.

37

(4) no reference

82; (6) Vol.

The

Mexican

ancient
a

represent
others.

very

large

Kingsborough's

is full

of them.

Buddhist priests in the

fijlh

century ;

C. F.

Neumann ;

from Colonel B. Kennon, on

Navigation of the North Pacific

A. L. Frothingham, Jun., Proof

against

Archaeology

in

Princeton

College, has recently published a


tion of the existence of

Africa

Libya westward.

sailed along

many
The Phenicians

by the coast of

a sudden, was driven

main ocean.

Africa.

pillars

One

days'

of Hercules,

of their ships, on

by a furious storm

among

the

far off into

The

many

description

other ordinary characteristics of

large continents, the fact that

it

contained

The experience above narrated

many

navigable

befell

a small

barque bound from Lancerota toTeneriffe in 1731.


picked up by an English cruiser within two days'
Caraccas, with the crew

sail

(Tyrians),

After they had lain under this tempest

omitted mentions,

streams.

lies

still

living.

Glass,

of the Canary Islands, quoted by A. P.

It

was

sail

of

in his History

Dunlop

in

New

Chinese junks

Ocean, (yc, London, 1875.

fessor

"Over

Ancient

very great continent in the vast ocean,

days, they at length arrived at this island."

containing the narrative of Hoei-Shin,

5.

The

Baldwin's

in

quoted

America, from DiODORUS

century

1888.

Archceology,

having found out the coasts beyond the

Charles G. Leland, Fusang,

letter

passage

following

is

of

seventh

the

re-

or t)u discovery of America by Chinese

the

Journal

of

from pictures of

MSS.,

American

Syrian author

from

subjects in

with comments by

65.

and

4.

A.D.,

in

of

summary

interesting

II.,

ligious

second volume

(5) Vol. II.,

i; (7) Vol.

II.,

details are

number of

31; (3) Vol. III.,

II.,

occurring

America are very

to

early voyages

men-

America as

York Saturday Revietv, August 9, 1890.


have reached Hawaii and the coast of North America with
living

sailors

under

similar

conditions

"
Britannica, 9th Edition,

Polynesia ").

{EncyclofcBdia

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA.


ancient

on

records

head

this

is

furnished

369

"

by the

Mexicaines,"

Antiquitds

published about 1832, as result of the three expeditions of Captain Dupaix.


similar

summary

offered

is

by the
"

of the

first

chapter

History of

Critical

recently published

by Mr. Justin Winsor, the


of Harvard University.
The attitude

America," edited
librarian

of
"-~

and

//]v_^X^

<C^^__^l(l

this

latter

sceptical,

is

publication

agnostic

entirely

which does not lessen the

interest

or value of the quotations.

The voyages

of

Phenicians

the

Africa under Necho, about 600

Greek Pytheas, of Marseilles


SUN-DISK SURROUNDED BY LOTUSES AND
LOTUS BUDS.
Detail of a Pompeian fresco from the temple of Isis.
No. 9189, Naples Museum. From Author's sketch.
To be compared with Mexican detail Ixiii. 4 [p. 379].
185.

third century,

mation.

were
the Sarragossa Sea.

The

It

also

known

with

acquainted

of Phenician

probability

to

and of the

Iceland in the

are matters of current infor-

B.C.,

is

B.C.,

around

that

the

the Phenicians

and with

Canaries

America

to

voyages

has

The

been favourably considered by various writers of conservative tendencies.


destruction

Phenician

of

the

in

records

Romans, and the Phenician jealousy of

foreign

at

temple

great

the

competition with their trading

explaining reticence about them, are well-known

connections, as

by

Carthage

Movers

facts.

has furnished the most interesting information regarding the seaworthy quality
of Phenician vessels, and the distinction between their galleys and their heavier
sailing vessels.'

One

of the greatest

Guaranas

of

un-American
writers.'

At

Brazil

to

characteristics

three

least

Europe have been found


attested

Paul Gaffarel

7.

Geschichte de Phonizier.

8.

Retzius; as

History of America

A. P.

August

of

the

inscriptions
intact in

in

9th, 1890.

New

An

York

to

those

The

by other
of

ancient

inscription in characters corresponding

10.

Rev.

J.

Gass

in Proceedings

Academy of Natural
Critical

the

Saturday Review,

Sciences,

of the Davenport

Vol. II.

"An

{loiva')

account of

discovery of inscribed tablets, with a description by

Dr. R.

; First Chapter.

in

Islands.**

pointed out

alphabets related

of the

skulls

American tombs under convincing circumstances,

in Congris des Americanisms, 1875.

quoted in Justin Winsor's

DuNLOP,

have been

Caribs

by unimpeachable testimony.*"

6.

9.

modern Anthropologists has related the


those of the Guanches of the Canary

J.

Farquaharson," 1877.

The

characters indicate a

much-degraded or very primitive Mediterranean alphabet.


A copy of another inscription lately discovered in Ohio has
3

15

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA.

>70

was found

to those of the Carian alphabet


in

an

in

1838,

intact

Grave Creek

at

seven years at

tumulus;

Western Virginia,
before Lepsius saw the

least

in

Carian incriptions at Ipsamboul, which were the

ones

ever

Carian

which are not found,

letters

by

published

chevron

and
me

been forwarded

As

Institution.

and

servative

independent

anthemion

circumspect

inscriptions, their action

the

in

may be

leaf

17),

(Ixiii.

Professor A. H. Sayce,

to

matter of American

considered to guarantee

in Transactions of the

1873, and Transactions of

Society 0/ Literature,

The

facts

Royal

the Society

regarding the discovery of the Grave Creek

Tablet have been published by Schoolcraft in his Indian


Tribes, Vol. I., and were also published by Schoolcraft in
the Proceedings of the

The

tablet

Memoires

has

des

New

been

York Ethnological

Antiquaires

dit

Nord, 1844,

majority of the characters to be Celtiberian


President and

Society, 1847.

published in Europe

by Rafn,

who found

by Jomard,

founder of the Geographical Society of

who announced them,

be

the

The

stone

is

in

another

offered

Punic in the paper

prepared by Schwab; and by Levy Bing, in Congrh des


Amiricanistes,
Semitic.

1875,

who

also

I called attention to

considered the

alphabet

the Carian equivalents of

the characters of the Grave Creek Tablet in the

New

York

ITerald, July 27th, 1890. There is no other alphabet which


has an equivalent for every character. The copies of the
tablet published in

European journals have

all

been

slightly

was found

had been buried

in

form

and yV of an inch

an intact tumulus 70

one

mound.

in the

advanced decay, and the

at the

in

feet high,

base of the

skulls

quently dispersed.

mond,

Virginia.

hundreds

( 1

ivory,

skeletons were in

The

There

various

in

1838,

Grave Creek, but were subse-

at first kept together at

about 1850, when

The

were broken.

by a systematic excavation

objects, discovered

were

no mention of the

is

tablet since

was supposed to be owned in RichThere were found with the tablet many
it

700) of small beads, supposed by the finders to

but noted by Schoolcraft as of sea-shell

perforations.

by Oppert, who

6),

mound, and one near its centre. Other objects found in


the tombs did not show decorative features.
Three bodies

the Revue

(Ixii.

Ionic

11),

(Ixii.

which there were two tombs

Schwab, who announced them as Punic


1867

spiral

described by Schoolcraft as of dark-coloured

It

bracelets,

translation of the inscription as being

American

oval form, 2f inches by 2^ inches,

by Moise

in

appears necessary for

it

sandstone, showing ancient natural cleavage, and having an

the alphabet of the Touaregs of the Sahara;

in 1843, ^o

186).'^

compared with the copy taken by Schoolcraft.

defective as

be

Arckiologique,

which mainly cor-

prove that they were not there, which

related to

France,

contains

prove that the Phenicians

meander

thickness.

of Biblical Archaology, 1887.


12.

of

10),

(Ixii.

the authenticity of the one which has been sent to me.


11.

to

difficult

origin

by the courtesy of the Smithsonian


Institution has been extremely con-

this

inscription

1836,

ancient America, but

in

"Mycenae"

9),

(Ixii.

15),

(Ixiii.

the

assert

may be

It

were

who

collation

in the Celtiberian alphabet,

in

Grotefend,

first

responds with the Carian alphabet (Fig.

CARIAN INSCRIPTION.
Creek, West Virginia.
Announced as
l)iKvere<l in 1838.
Carian (Celtic) 1890, by the Author.
1S6.

Fn>m Grave

those

the

This

alphabet.^'

before

years

thirty-four

H. Sayce published

Professor A.
of

and

recognized,

first

five

copper

and 150 small pieces of mica, each piece having

small

sandstone tablet, decorated with


"
"
concentric rings, was found in a
Mound-builder's tomb,
of the

same neighbourhood.

There are Indian

traditions

regarding a white race as having been settled in this part of

America, which were brought to the notice of the Royal


Geographical Society

in

1842.

Professor F.

W. Putnam,

of the Peabody Museum, at Cambridge, Mass., has recently

mentioned

statuettes

found

in

"Mound-builder" tombs of

the Ohio Valley as having Egyptian head-dress, but does

not specify the whereabouts of these figures.

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA,


be

also

may

The

difficult.

of

existence

West

the

is

them,

Coast

of

Phenician

Africa,

"

and

Carians

hundred

three

Mycenaeans

the

between

As

Zodiac.'*

its

Coast, or that

apparently

that

certain

brief review of the

is

it

perhaps

transmission to

American

Pacific

transmission was

made from

Hindustan, but influences from Asia are

other-

wise

It

certainly

American

ancient

from East and West.

influences, both

this

Aztec

the

Hindu Zodiac

the

Hindustan from the West,

to

among

American

the ancient

America was by way of the


MEXICAN TERRA-COTTA SPHINX.
New York Museum.

of

proof of the influence

not necessary to assume that

187.

settlements
[Carians]

correspondence

and the Hindu

came

on

not to be overlooked.'^

of foreign civilizations on
in

cities

"

An absolutely conclusive
lies

371

It

is

ornament of Polynesia as

demonstrated
civilization

therefore

(Note

4).

experienced

foreign

necessary to turn

related to that of the

is

to

Malays and

of the Indian Archipelago.

The
very

indications

slight,

we may

Museum

and

scroll

New York Museum

adfi the evidence of the

at

in

Polynesia are generally

Museum

and Ionic forms of ornament


from

Trocadero

History

is

Museum

in

The

very valuable.

To

Paris, the National

Ethnological Collections, and the

Rome."

Examination of the British

moved

of Natural

Museum

Washington, the British

at

Museo Kircheriano

spiral,

ornament

spiral

according to the evidence of the best Ethnological Collections.

Collection of the

these

for

Malay

that

centre,

in

Collection will
Pacific

show

that

the scroll,

and South Asiatic waters have

they are most prevalent,

specific,

and well-

Malay Peninsula and contiguous strongholds of Malay blood,


and that they become barbaric, weak, and fragmentary, in exact ratio to the
distance from this Malay influence.
The New York Collection, which is strongest
defined

in

the

for Pacific Islands remote from the Malay centre, offers valuable negative evidence.

13.

These

Movers,
cities

Geschichte

were

all

der

ruined

beginning of the Christian Era.

Phonizier,

and

deserted

ii

p.

before

14. Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th Edition, "Zodiac."

525.

the

15. I

have not seen the Collections of Leyden, nor those

of Berlin in recent years.

B 2

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA.

S72
It is

matter of

been settled

common

information that

the islands of the Pacific have

populations within the

their present

by

all

period and

historic

since

the Christian era^'* and that they have been settled by populations infused with

Malay blood, and

to

subject

Asiatic waters

we

is

SPIRAL, BORNEO.
scabbard, British
Museum. Ethnographic Gallery. Case
"
204, marked Dyak sword from Malay.

on

the

Malay

spiral

in

influence.

If

turn to the original centre of this influence and

the

of

DVAK LOTUS

188.

Carving

history of

the history of

we

contiguous points,
>

The

influences.

Malay

Dyalcs of

shall

find

that

the

ornament

Bomco, or of the inhabitants of

wooden

thc Island of Tlmor, or of Pcralc (Malav


Peninsula).
^
''
'

is

the lotus motive, but that

it

not only closely within

some

offers

of the

the ordinary problems of

most astounding indications of

dependence on the one original source of ornamental patterns (Fig.


The alphabet of the Malays is Phenician ^^ by way of Pali.

188).

The whole

Malay Peninsula and the Archipelago, South and South-East


has been coloured and created by Indian, Buddhist, or other Hindu

civilization of the

of India,
influences.

Therefore,

Dyak ornament,

we should

find

nothing surprising

in

the

evidences

of

or in that of the aboriginal populations of Perak or Timor, as

Egyptian character is even more


A Dyak sword in the British
striking than these Hindu relations would imply.
Museum shows the lotus spiral (x. 6) in a more distinctly Egyptian detail of

influenced by the Malays.

the lotus than

This

is

But the

relation to

even to ^be found

in

Phenician copies.

the ordinary ancient

one instance of a generally close correspondence in the Malay Dyak


ornamental details to those which have been in question through this Work
is

concentric rings, meanders, and chevrons included.

The most pronounced

ca.ses

of survival of purely ancient forms of ornament

are to be found in semi-barbaric peoples which have remained at a given stage

of

development,

The Kabyles
(Plate Ixiv.).

after

experiencing

a certain

amount

modern Algeria ofl'er most important evidence on


The evidence of Zuni pottery is not less striking (Ixii. 10
Beside these

and that of the primitive

The Malays

tribes of

may

influence.

civilizing

of

Figs. 182, 183, 184).

be placed the instance of

this
;

head

Ixiii.

24,

Dyak ornament

Perak and of Timor.

are the Phenicians of the East, and

they had no share in that active intercourse by sea


16. Entyclopadia

of

Britannka, 9th Edition, "Polynesia."

17.

it

cannot be supposed that

between India and

Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet.

Egypt

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA.


which

dated

373

from the seventh century b.c. The


Malay influences,
like the Malay blood, have penetrated as far West as
Madagascar, and are well
attested for the Maoris of New Zealand.
is

at

least

^'^

The

cases of

Buddhist
the

ornament

in

China are within the

limits of

and of Mongolian contact with the West, since the


days of
Egypt. The obvious lotus patterns of China are \trj interesting

in

numerous.

are mainly, but

They

for instance, a

in

spiral

influence,

Hyksos

and

meander and

not

all,

representation in Chinese art of the curling lotus

unknown

the "bird's-eye view," a thing

to

There

obviously derivative.

sepals as seen

ornament

lotus

is,

in its

supposed

original home.'

The study
Kircheriano
indications

of

points

is

of

Collections

Ethnological

for

especially strong, does not militate against

for

ornament

pattern

exterior

or

contact,

my

purely barbaric Africa

in

of

influences

which

in

Africa,

Museo

conclusions.
are

Northern

the

the

related

portion

to

of

The
the
the

continent,

ornament of the eighteenth century shows some very primitive and


obvious lotus patterns.^ The Esquimaux of Arctic America have only reached
Icelandic

the

stage of concentric

on

rings

and otherwise have

ivofies,^^

no traditional

This motive has probably reached them from Siberia. There are
indications that the ornament of the Ainos of Japan would, if better

ornament.
also

known, bring one near


which are in. question.
It

ornamental
of

art

as

early

the

fourth

B.C.

century

Nor

pattern ornament,"

naturalism which invaded ancient

the

that

of

has not

assumed

that

had

also

an

Dyak, for
from his own motion, supplement the patterns which have

wide-spread

example, does not,

as

characteristics

aboriginal

by no means assumed

is

influence

to the

character.

is

it

been in question, by others drawn from naturalistic instinct or his own peculiar

18.

Encydopadia Brita.nica, 9th Edition,

19.

am

"

22.

Malays."

indebted, for valuable examples of the lotus

motive in Dyak and Chinese ornament, to the studies of


Mrs.

Margaret Lindsay Huggins,

assistant

of the great astronomer.

wife

Her

and

scientific

interest

in

the

the

Aryans, p. 109

character,

21.

oflficer.

British

Museum;

Ethnological Collections.

quoting from

De Quatrefages. The

beards and profiles of the Ainos and Todas are of European

to

is

are supposed to be an intrusive population

of originally European habitat, Isaac Taylor, Origin of

connected with her study of Sun-worship.


20. South Kensington Museum
wood carvings.

lotus

The Ainos

this

the Japanese, or Dravidians, according

unlike

authority.

European

traits

have similar advice regarding the

of the Ainos from

an English military

THE LOTUS IN ANCIENT AMERICA.

374

The

symbolisms.
perfected

position

taken

simply that the

is

ornament had so high a degree of development

pattern

times as compared with any other, that


civilization,

historic

fact

second,

which

alphabet offers

by the
is

in

patterns

it

has insensibly affected

which went with

which

civilization

it.

It

in

very early

all, first

is

first

by

its

matter of

question, a matter of fact to which the history of the

surprising analogies,

and

which

the

history

largely explains.^^
23. See

Canon Isaac Taylor's History of the

HELMETED HEAP.

ANCIENT
MEXICAN RELIEF.
From DUPAIX, Antiq. Mex.

189.

Alphabet.

of

the

alphabet

Z7^

PLATE

THE LOTUS

LXII,

ANCIENT AMERICA.

IN

CORROBORATIVE MONUMENTS.

1.

Type

of the "Semitic" and

instances in Dupaix.
2.

Portion

"Venus."

Chaldaean

Very common

T>\5fA\\, Aniiq. Mex.,

2nd Exped

Ix.

in terra-cotta statuettes.

Several

of an Egyptian winged solar disk, in stucco, over a doorway near the village of Ococingo,
The original is upside down, from an Egyptian standpoint. The Egyptian character

Yucatan.

Wai.deck, Monumens Anciens, &c., Plate 54


by Waldeck and by Stephens.
Stephens, Yucatan, i., p. 259. Each traveller made his own independent drawing for publication.
When Stephens' design was made (here repeated) a portion of the disk had fallen away, since
the time of Waldeck's copy, which shows about half the disk.
has been noted

3.

4.

5.

sun-disk in shape of a human face


Native Races of the Pacific States, iv. 62.

Winged

stone carving,

Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua.

Terra-cotta Mexican Sphinx, about three inches high, relief style for front view only.
in the Lamborn Collection, New York Mu.seum.

Couchant animals, a common Cypriote type (xxx. 7

[p. 211]).

Bancroft,

One

Stone carving, Uxmal.

of several

STEPHENS,

am

not familiar with any publication showing the lions so attached in Egyptian
Yucatan, i., 183.
art, but I have observed the combination in no small number of unpublished Egyptian instances.
I

6.

Ancient American Pottery type (many examples)

fine black and white ware, from the Pueblos, Province


of Tusayan, valley of the Little Colorado, New Mexico. To illustrate the spiral scrolls of ancient
American art. National Museum, Washington, Ream Collection.
Reports of the Bureau of

Ethnology,
7.

Fig. 349.

Stone statue, holding the hieroglyph


Yucatan,

p.

Men;

Stone

9.

Ancient

"

"

Chiriqui

pottery.

la Zuni

Stephens, Central America and

vase,

Panama.

side broken away, of a type

To

illustrate the

National Museum, Washington.

vase, to

(compare

Palenque, Yucatan.

349.

relief carving, winged sun-disk, one


Dupaix, Antiq. Mex., 2nd Exped., iii.

8.

II.

iv..

illustrate the

Ixiii.

24).

"Mycenae"

National Museum.

common

in

Assyrian cylinders.

chevron decoration of ancient American

Reports, Bur. of Eth., 1884-5, Fig. 160.

leaf (Hi.

[p.

Reports, &c.,

321] in Zuni pottery.


ii..

Numerous examples

Fig. 406,

To illustrate the
pottery type (many examples), fine black and white ware.
meander in ancient American ornament. Pueblos, Province of Tusayan, New Mexico. Reports, &c.,

Ancient American

iv.,

Fig. 347.

ff^^^\s!rs^

~^

373

PLATE LXIIL
ANCIENT AMERICAN LOTUS MOTIVES AND FOREIGN SYMBOLS.
1.

Stone relief detail, lotus and curling sepals in meander treatment.


Mexico. DUPAI.X, Antiq. Mex., 2tid Exped., xix $.

2.

Mexican stone

3.

Pottery motive.

4.

Mexican stone
viii.

5.

6.

20.

relief.

trefoil

Ix.

Compare

[p. 359].

Waldeck, Moh.

Four lotuses grouped about a solar face (compare


Fig. 185 [p. 369] from a Pompeian fresco.
"

relief.

Herzblatts."

of Oajaca,

iv. 7.

Exped.,

Museum, Mexico.

Compare

Mexican stone
Inverted

DUPAix, 2nd

relief.

At Huahuapan, Province

DVPA\X, 2nd Exped.,

55.

DUPAIX, 2nd Exped.,

Ixii. 3).

iv. y.

Detail from stone relief of goddess holding a child.

lotus with spiral scrolls.

DuPAlX,

ird Exped., xxxi.


7.

Stone
the

8.

9.
10.

relief

New

Meander from an ancient Mexican stone


Mexican stone
Lotus

staff

and streamers

Mexican stone
},rd Exped.,

12.

13.
14.

DUPAlX, 2nd Exped.,

common

the ancient Mexican

in

vii.

Ancient

Cities

of

11.

iv.

MS.

held by deities, priests, and

Voyage, &c., Plate 14.

relief detail.

Three-spiked lotus; ordinary type

in

ancient American

art.

DuPAIX,

xxxvi.

Ancient Peruvian pottery


*)tne

Dupaix, Planches Supplanentaires,

vase.

and buds.

(.'),

type

Humboldt,

devotees.
11.

palmettes

relief,

Chakn ay.

Tula, Mexico.

fragment. Spiral and inverted trefoil lotus.


World, Fig. 105.

detail.

Three-spiked lotus; vase at Cuzco.

-';t/^</.

^ F. DE CasTELNAU,

partie, Antiq. des Incas, Plate 52.

Mexican stone

relief detail

trefoil lotus

with spirals.

DUPAlx,

"t^rd

Exped., xxvi.

From stone relief slab, Mayapan.


Swastika mistaken for a
Swastika, and solar diagram (?).
Schliemann mentions the
hieroglyphic by Le PlONGEON, Proc. Am. Oriental Sac, April, i?,2,i.
Swastika as on a vase from Yucatan in Berlin. It is found on Zuni pottery and elsewhere, in
ancient American art. The cross variant within a circle is very common on North American
shell disks, &c., as it is in Mycenae and ancient Celtic ornament.
(Irish and British gold ornaments
in the British Museum).

15. Ionic form, stone relief.


16.

"The

17.

Stone anthemion

18.

Stone

STEPHENS, Yucatan,

Bird and the Lotus"


;

Stone

19.

Ancient "Chiriqui

20.

Stone

relief

relief carving.

Labnah, Yucatan.

relief rosette of buds.

"

vase

meander.

'\.,'p.

Stephens,

Stephens, Yucatan,
lotus motive.

134.

DUPAlX,
ii.,

p.

\.,-^.

\st

Exped.,

57 (compare Ixvii. 2 [p. 401]).


134.

Reports, Bur. Eth., 1884-5,

Stephens, Yucatan,

i.,

i.

p. 134.

p. 134.

with lotus at each end.

Terra cotta stamp holding paints for tattooing, or similar bodily


This explanation of such Mexican stamps is given by labels in the
Trocad^ro Ethnographical Museum at Paris. Wakdeck, Man., Plate 34.

21. Spiral

scroll

Museum, Mexico.

decoration.

Mexican

22.

Stone

23.

Mexican stone

24.

Zuni pottery

25.

Mexican stone

relief ;

relief

rosette.

TiXiV AVX.,

2nd

Exped.,

yim..

DVPAIX, 2nd Exped., xvi.


an extremely numerous class of vases.

rosette of buds.

lotus, typical for

relief rosette (similar

Egyptian enamels).

Vase

in

DUPAlX, 2nd Exped.,

Boston Museum.
iv.

25
Pl.LXIII.,p. 379-

MODERN KABYLE AND ANCIENT CYPRIOTE


POTTERY.
(PLATE LXIV., PAGE

385.)

The

problem offered by the modern Kabyle pottery is herewith laid before the
Ethnologist and the Historian. One type offers an exact survival of the Cypriote

Geometric Style;

as

first

observed

in

Boston

and

subsequently

verified

in

The patterns are related to the prehistoric


Washington, London, and Paris.
Cypriote, which are represented on the same plate exhibiting a mixture of the
Cypriote chevron style like

lix.

13

[p.

with later Cypriote Greek geometric

345],

motives.

have been of opinion that the Cypriote Greek Geometric style developed
from the Cypriote prehistoric chevron style and then reacted on it on this head
I

differing with

Diimmler as

to the extinction of the prehistoric race.

His views

on the excavation of certain cemeteries which he supervised, and on


the lack of vases of both classes (i.e. prehistoric and ordinary Cypriote) from

are based

the .same tombs.

The

of their pottery in

argued from the absolute deficiency


certain excavated cemeteries, and from the absolute deficiency
extinction of the race

is

But it is dangerous
of the ordinary Cypriote pottery in the prehistoric cemeteries.
The
to argue that what is not found in one place may not be found elsewhere.

Museum
and

of

New York

in this collection I

has the largest collection of Cypriote vases in the world,


do not see where the line can be drawn between prehistoric

pottery and the conventional

Cypriote

style.

Each seems

to

have reacted on

the other.
I

do not

Greek, but

say that

do say

"prehistoric" pottery has been

found

in

tombs with

that the styles appear to have reacted on one another, in a

which can be only explained by such peaceable intermixture and

way

friendly relations

MODERN KABYLE AND ANCIENT CYPRIOTE POTTERY.

3S2

as

would

make a subsequent extermination

Professor Diimmler's point

and perhaps impossible.

unlikely,

the identity of the prehistoric

is

Cypriote race with

This point he has proven, and has proven through


His illustrations do not argue any acquaintance with the varieties.

the prehistoric race of Troy.

forms of vases.

of coloured ornament offered by the prehistoric pottery (and the Museums of


Europe appear to be deficient in such examples, so largely represented in New

The

This point was not essential to Professor Dummler's argument.

York).

survival of the prehistoric

race does

and we are also

one as

perfectly at

contribution to science,

his

invalidate

not

to the unreliability of certain statements

which

he holds open to suspicion.


In the plate for Kabyle pottery,

with two triangles attached

appear in Cypriote

(xlix.

to the

[p.

307]),

band)

also

"

Cypriote chevron

prehistoric

The Kabyle motive 8

style.

the

to

belongs

but the style of the vases

"

diamond

in

position

a Cypriote Greek motive (3, 4), which does not


The Kabyle motive 5 would not be
pottery.

prehistoric

panel

quadrangle

(i, 2) is

found in the Cypriote prehistoric chevron


supporting

the

Ixiv.,

6, 9,

style,

11,

Greek

Cypriote

(triangle

geometry

as a whole, belongs absolutely

by which

understand the style of

a race in Cyprus, which experienced reacting influences from the Cypriote Greek.

According to ethnological
of the Aryans"

is

it

facts

supplied by

probable that the original

Canon

Isaac Taylor's "Origin

Iberian

race

of Spain, which

was subsequently conquered by Celts and mixed with them, was

the

same

race

with the Guanches,- Berbers,' Kabyles,* Libyans, Egyptians,^ Gallas, and Somalis.

This race

supposed to have been a prehistoric race of Southern Italy

also

is

and of Syria. Its presence in Cyprus is probably indicated by the passage of


"
Herodotus relating to the " Ethiopians
as there settled, and according to this
view the earliest Trojan population must have been of the same type.

The correspondence

of the

modern

Cypriote would be thus explained, and

it

pottery with

Kabyle

is

the

prehistoric

desirable that Anthropologists should

make examination

of the skulls of the prehistoric race of Cyprus to examine this

possible relation.
"

Considering that the Gallas and Somalis

Ethiopians,"
exact,

would appear

it

that the designation of

and that we are brought a step nearer

quoted "Cushites,"
1,

p.

It is

2o6. 2,

desirable that this


p.

221. 3,

p.

219. 4,

p.

to

may be

Herodotus

is

some knowledge of

fairly called

sufficiently

the

much-

name should be supplanted by one

219 S,

p.

219. 6,

pp. 40, 87.

MODERN KABYLE AND ANCIENT CYPRIOTE


indicating the stock in a
its

more

specific

way and conceding

383

the Egyptians to be

most important representative.

The Kabyle

pottery type, represented on Plate Ixiv. by pieces from Boston,

must be of an extremely well-defined and numerous


be explained
the

POTTERY.

Museum

how

class.

It

could not otherwise

the distinct collections of Sevres, of the Trocaddro in Paris, of

of St. Germain, of the

British

and South Kensington Museums,

and of the Washington National Museum, each consisting of only a few pieces,
It is clear, however, from
should have almost exclusively the same character.
the Boston Collection that there are other types of Kabyle pottery which exhibit

normal lotus patterns.

There

is

one modern piece

in

Boston,

purchased by

General Loring at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, which would be directly


classed

with certain

been found

in

"

"

Mycenae

an ancient tomb.

Dart moulding type.

types belonging to ancient Cyprus,

if

it

had

This piece has a lotus border of the Egg-and-

384

PLATE

LXIV.

MODERN KABYLE AND ANCIENT CYPRIOTE POTTERY.

I, 2.

Modem

Kabyle vase and

geometric ornament.

3, 4.

detail,

Boston

Compare Cypriote

Museum
details,

Cypriote geometric ornament on necks of vases.


vases

is

explained by

1.

14

13,

[p.

309], as

The

3, 4, 7,

use

5, 6.

7.

Cypriote No.
I

detail,

Kabyle vase and

I.

Kabyle

vase,

10,

New York Museum.

which

is

Boston

Museum

Germain

British

CesnoLA,
(detail

a detail of the vase xlix, 4

Museum

of Fine

in

and

15

xlix. 4.

Such

forms for a large class of vases, and

Cypriote

art.

In this sense the Kabyle

Museum

Cyprus, xlvii. 40.

from reverse of No. 9)

to be

compared with

[p. 307].

Art.s.

There are similar Kabyle (Algerian) vases

Museum

tyjiical

1.

Boston Museum.

detail,

Boston

ancient Cypriote

although the motives are parallel on the Plate.

Cypriote pottery plaque,

8, 9.

10.

compared with the necks of

combination are placed horizontally

(I, 2) is distinct,

Kabyle vase and

and

position of this particular combination in Cypriote

geometric variants of the neck motives mentioned, are


in this particular

Moorish form

of Fine Arts.

Nos.

in

Trocadero

and Museum of Bologna.

the National

Museum,

Museum, Washington

Paris

Museum

of

Sevres

South
;

Kensington

Museum

of St.

PART

IV.

MISCELLANIES.

THE ANKH AND THE LOTUS.


(PLATE LXV., PAGE

AM

familiar with the usually accepted explanation of the

show

of Plate Ixv. seem to

of Isis

From

"

is

known

that the amulet

an inverted lotus with ring

190.

393.)

for

suspension

a less conventional form of the

Prisse d'Avennes.

From

191.

Rosellini.

192.

but the illustrations

'}

"Buckle of Isis"-

as the

12),

(6,

Ankh

and also that the

The Ankh

Ankh.

From Champollion.

193.

Monuments.

inverted

lotus

without the

amulet with a handle.

hilt

(7,

9)

Forms

of

the

and with pendant streamers

"

Ankh

like

is

is

Buckle

possibly an

From a mummy-case
British Museum.

can be

in the

specified
"

Buckle

those of the

has been observed by other writers that carefully executed


carvings of the Ankh show a spread at the base (16), This seems to be a
of Isis"

(7,

8,

9).

It

by way of forms like 7, 10, of an original 6, 8. The Hittite Ankh (15)


favours the view that the upper portion of the Egyptian form is a ring for
survival,

suspension,

and

portion of the

otherwise

Ankh,

it

is

handle (compare No.

found detailed

As given by Westropp, Ancient Symbol Worship;


Inman, Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism,
I.

and many

others.

in
2.

2).

As

regards

the

cross

normal lotus forms on a vase

The

"

Buckle of Isis"

ing to British

is

Museum amulet

an "emblem of
designations.

life,"

in

accord-

THE ANKH AND THE LOTUS.

390

Collection

the Egyptian
is

of the British

Museum.

This treatment of the cross

illustrated in 5.
It

is

at

counterpart

interesting to observe that the

least

of

lotus

the

as

the

regards

"

symbol

for life

association

solar

"

(14),

is

as

an exact
regards

and as regards equivalence of use (2, 5, 3, 4).


The ibexes with Bes (10) are reminders of the Typhonic cult considered

direct juxtaposition

an earlier chapter

(i),

in

235).

(p.

389 some text-cuts of Egyptian hieroglyphics based on


the lotus leaf (compare Plate iii. [p. 41]), which are not generally recognized.
The most important specification on the head of the leaf relates, however, to
I

have placed on

p.

the symbol sometimes found with the

The

origin of the Tat ("

designations)

is

God Khem

emblem of

Osiris

(i.

and

10

[p.

21]).
"

stability

British

probably shown by cuts herewith: Figs. 194, 195.

194. (UPERIMPOSED LOTUSES.


Detail of a typical motive from a
votive sttrR- in Florence (XlXth

Dynasty).

To compare

From

Author's sketcti.
with Fig. 195.

,A

195. BLUE KNAMEL TAT in the Louvre,


ol a class fairly numerous, which is detailed like
I'ig.

194.

From Author's

sketch.

Museum

NEFER-TOUM WITH ANKH.


From a Royal Tomb, Thebes.

196.

392

PLATE LXV.
THE ANKH AND THE LOTUS.
1.

portion of a lotus "bouquet," from an Egyptian

Upper
Solar

bull,

No.

Ankh pendant

Gryphon and Ankh.

4.

Gryphon and

Champollion,

vii.

Cesnola, Cyprus, Gems,

vii. 15.

lotus (for the tabs of stem, see Plate

I.

xci.

Philae,

Temple of

Isis.

Compare

Compare No.
iv.

[p.

4.

63] and Text [p. 50].

Cesnola, Cyprus,

17.

Bull; lotus amulet pendant from the collar.

152
6.

collar.

3.

5.

from the

5.

Gems,

in lotus

From PklsSE d'Avennes.

association.
2.

Ankh

tomb-painting, showing the

many

Beni Hasan tomb

detail.

Lepsius, Detikmaler,

iv.

11,

ROSELLINI.

similar in

Blue enamel amulet, called the "Buckle of Isis" (lotus inverted).

Barringcr Collection,

New

York-

Museum.
7.

form of the

Ankh ;

conventional outline of No,

d'Avennes, Chapiteau a
8.

10.

Ankh

without cross

Ceremonial

Ankh

and the gazelle

hilt

New York Museum, Maspero

and with pendant streamers.

in metal,
[p.

235,

corresponding to Nos.
11.

Ankh from

13.

from Prisse

detail

Detail in Revue ArcJufologique, 1846,

ii.

from a tomb-painting. Ibexes and God Bes (Set). Compare Text for Set
This object shows an expansion of the lower part of the Ankh,
53].

6, 7, 8.

Prisse d'Avennes, Offrandes de Sett

I. et

de

Ramses
6.

II.

CHAMPOLLION,

Biban-el-Molook, Thebes.
streamers.

Of the

ordinary type in blue

"Buckles of Isis;" one having the Ankh cross hilt, showing the identity of these amulets.
graphed by Mariette, Album du Mus^e de Boulaq, xvii.

Ankh

The

supporting the solar disk.

Hittite

Plate 41.

Note

The "Buckle of Isis ;" inverted lotus amulet with handle and
enamel. Perrot et Chipiez, .gypte, p. 162.

14.
5.

Collection.

a tomb-painting, having the cleft termination of the inverted lotus No.

lll.,ccxxxv.
12.

as usual, with Tats

Lotus inverted with amulet handle, cross hilt (compare No. 5), and streamers, with buds on stems
(compare No. 6). Painting from the side of a sarcophagus. The entire side is covered with large
repetitions, alternated with Tats.

9.

6, alternated,

Caulicoles.

Ankh ;

From

a Papyrus painting in

As photo-

Leemans' Pap. Leyden.

corroborating the view that the upper portion of the Ankh may be a suspensory ring
C. R. Condek, Archaological Review, 1889, p. no.

and handle, and non-symbolic appendix.


16.

Normal form of the Ankh, which


end of the

Animaux, Races
17.

has, in carefully sculptured examples, a slight expansion towards the


This peculiarity has been noticed by other publications.
Prisse D'Avennes,

staff.

"Belt buckle of

Felines.

Isis,"

camclian, Louvre.

without the

From tomb

cleft,

showing the identity of

this

amulet with the Ankh.

Red

of Apis IX., on a gold chain with ordinary lotus amulet attached.

Mariette, Serapeum de Memphis.

JO

,^^

ZAi

TP ^

i5

13

J"

it

?/

-ii

"-

J7
y/.

ZJ^F.,/. 393-?

THE PHEiNICIAN "SACRED TRIANGLE."


(PLATES LXVI., LXVII., PAGES

As

various

of

result

animals in Greek

demonstrations

in

399, 401.)

pages

foregoing

relating

solar

to

and the symbolism of lotus derivatives connected with


them, the question may be put as to how, and when, the original symbolism
became a mere tradition, as regards continuance of the forms, without reference
to continued

the

art,

It

symbolic interpretation.

therefore

is

interesting

Phenician votive tablets herewith that the anthemions

late

and

date,

that

obviously related in

At Carthage,

at

"

it

least,

Greeks

at

of

Egg-and-Dart
mouldings, rosette, and bud are
meaning to the normal lotus forms which also appear.
the

is

remote derivatives of the lotus retained

clear that

should presume that tradition

with the

10 are

5,

"

a symbolic meaning until near the time of the Christian

We

Ixvi.

observe in

to

an

may have

time.

earlier

era.

supplanted definite symbolism

must be observed, however,

It

that a

symbolism by no means argues a consciousness of the origin of the


"
The Buddhist " Trisula is an illustration (p. 151).

traditional

symbol.

Aside from the value of Plates


to

the

open

question

regarding

frequently found in independent use

cases supporting

"mount"

with solar disk

supporting the
Ixvii,

5,

enough
the

the

"

sun

From

9).

to Ixvii.

11,

sun

disk and
the

query,

"

bark

"

Sacred Triangle," which

and also as here

319]),

of

representation

From

crescent

whether

the

or "horizon."

erect
origin.

Compare

this

will

also

are

be noted

several

horizon

(Ixvi.

we pass

10

Ixvii.

"

or

pillar
4,

easily

staff

inverted

supporting

These inverted
xlix. 11, 5, 8, 10,

3 E 2

in

is

and transfixing
piece the argument moves to i, 2,

lotuses

[pp. 297, 298].

the

"

Representations of a staff or

5).

an inverted lotus with stem serving as

which have the same lotiform


in its

or

11, Ixvii.

moon

[p.

"

conventional lotus triangles of

sun and moon emblem.

with the

(li.

bark,"

(Ixvi.

Phenician

the

this sense, they are intended

in

Ixvii.

Ixvi.,

triangles

&c.

[p.

triangles

support the sun

307], Figs. 151, 152

THE PHENICIAN "SACRED TRIANGLE"

396

The

birds of Ixvi.
the

connect

2,

3,

triangle

Cypriote

monuments, although the birds

The
cone

usual

Phcnician

of

the

CADUCKCS ON AN ITALIAN
WKIC.Hr.

Monument!

Inediti.

Plate Ixvii. for


bination of the sun and

Compare

com-

moon

crescent

does

not

the

that

appear

as

have

joined)
2 [p.

staff

I9S. B(OTIAN

DOUBLED

VASK.

LOTUS.

The

of

interpretation

moon

and

sun

Compare

Fig.

197,

proves that this was an

Greek

(Figs.

198, 199)^
"

seems

"

.\>

and

"

thunderbolt

"

of

winged
conven-

archaeology.

Revue Archeologique, September, October, 1888,


According to Dr. E. B. Tyix)R

in

Academy (August

13,

made

p.

247.

Academy, December

1887, the triangle corresponds to the Assyrian din,

Dr. Tylor has

10,

meaning

various contributions to the

November

12,

December

10, 1887),

to the Babylonian Jtecord (Augu-^t, 1887)

on

this

See also Ernest Babelon, Manuel d^ Archeologie

Orientate, p.

283 (^Bibliothique de fEnseignement des Jieaux

199.

GREEK POTTERY DEIAIl.. DOUBLED LOTOS.


From the Archaologische Zeitung,

Fig.

"
Among the Miscellaneous Objects," Third Egyptian

Museum.

Fig. 202

3. Fig. 198, vase published

1888,

by Bohlau

in

birds

matter for the Bird and the Lotus.


the human-headed bird

Lajard, Culte de Mithra,


an

the same.

in the

Fig.

Jahrbuch,
199

the Archceologische Zeitung,

The human-headed

iii.

is

Lotuses not recognized.

from a vase

detail

Plate

33.

p.

is

an

is

1881,

must be referred

On

the

to

Assyrian cylinders

ostrich, see the cylinder in

xlix. 2

two human-headed birds

which supports the "triangle," winged


sun disk above.
These figures have been mistaken for
facing

human

Arti).

Gallery, British

Egyptian com-

three-forked

the

said to be the cone of Tanit in

is

289]).

[p.

to

undoubtedly a winged sun disk with attached lotuses.

The " triangle "

publication

vases

From Bohlaa.

tional

12

225]; xlvi.

[p.

in

recognized

simplified

on

thunderbolt

2.

true

supporting

been

yet

xxxiii.

144];

form

explain

subject.

represented at

of the various forms of doubled lotus in Greek art (erect and inverted

bination.^

and one

the

from an Italian weight, with various illustrations of Plates

porcelain amulet

life."

with

it

is

previously been offered.

crescent has

(xvi.

"

connects

consequently been

has

with these

307]

[p.

not to

probably geese.

Triangle

triangle

Caduceus

forms

1.

difficult

in question.

None

is

is

motive.

the

200

xlix.

"

Sacred

which

The

8.

It

the

"

It

Buddhist symbol, and has


with the Swastika and the lotus
clearly travelled to India

%-^J

From

Plate

of

birds

in that case are

sanctuaries/
Ixvii.

r\

197.

and

of

explanation

7 are obviously doves.

Ixvii.

altar

"
scorpions,

Cylindres.

I'homme

scorpion,"

by

Menant,

WINGED SUN DISK WITH


ATTACHED LOTUSES.

200. GEM.

From

the Jahrkuch,
Fig. 202.

Compare

1887,

p.

175.

201. SUPPOSED THU.NDERBOLT.


From
Compare Figs. 198, 199.

vase
I.

in

xliv.

tlie

Monunienti

hiediti,

202. SUPPOSED THUNDERBOLT.


Compare Fig. 200. From bchlie-

mann's Uios,

p.

6l8.

59S

PLATE

LXVI,

THE PHENICIAN "SACRED TRIANGLE."


1.

Inverted lotus spirals (an inverted variant of xv. 5 [p. 139]); stone relief fragment, Phenician votive
Perrot et Chipiez, Phinicie, p. 303.
tablet Malta.

2.

Phenician stone relief detail, votive tablet.


Gazette ArchMogigue, 1880, Plate 3.

Doves, and sun disk, supported by Sacred Triangle, Carthage,


Compare birds and the lotus triangle, xlvi. S [p. 289]

xlix. 8 [p. 307].


3.

Phenician stone relief detail, votive tablet to Baal (the sun)


according to the translation of Gesenius
"
Domino Baa/i So/art" Numidiai, time of Jugurtha. Doves, sun and moon crescent. Gesenius,

Alonumenti, Tab. 22.


4.

Sun and moon crescent on staff, lotus. Detail of a Phenician stone tablet to Baal Hamman and Tanith
(sun and moon\ British Museum, from Carthage. DAVIS, Phenician Inscriptions in the British

Museum,
5.

6.

xxii.

Lotus anthemion (Plate

xiii.

12 [p. 121])

and inverted

lotus border

[P- 59])-

Detail of a Phenician votive tablet to Baai

Museum.

Davis, xix.

Lotus and buds.

Relief fragment of a Phenician

(Egg-and-Dart Moulding, Plate xxi.


Hamman and Taiith, from Carthage, British

votive

Perrot

tablet.

et Chipiez, Jud^e, &c.,

p. 326.
7;

Pillar,

[p.

supporting sun and moon crescent, with streamers (for the streamers compare No. 4 and Ixvii.
Detail of a Phenician tablet to Baal Hamman and Tanith, British Museum.
401]).
Davis, xx.

8.

Rosette, detail of similar tablet

9.

Lotus bud, detail of similar tablet Davis, xxiv.

10.

Portion

of similar tablet

Davls.

Anthemion,

open hand, sun disk and

solar diagram,

moon

crescent.

Davis, xxvi.
1 1.

12.

3.

14.

Portion of similar tablet.

Sacred triangle, supporting sun disk.


chevron variant of the Egg-and-Dart moulding. Davis, Ixxvi.

Inverted lotus border, showing the

Portion of similar tablet.

Lotus and two open hands.

Portion of similar tablet

"
Inverted lotus border, " Egg-and-Dart moulding (xxi.

Portion of similar tablet.

Inverted lotus border.

Davis, Ixxv.
[p.

59]).

Davis,

liii.

moulding, derived from type of No. 13.


Davls,
Although the term moulding has been applied to motives 11, 13, 14, they are simply
surface incised patterns, but
they explain mouldings otherwise found in Phenician use.

"Egg"

Ixvii.

All the details quoted from Davis arc from


separate tablets all are in the British Museum all arc from
all
are
Carthage
Same
specified as bearing votive inscriptions to Baal Hamman and Tanith.
;

remark

for plate following.

'M^M

(^ 4.
(9X6)

WMM

W^yj

F/.LXV/.,p.399-

400

PLATE

LXVII.

THE PHENICIAN "SACRED TRIANGLE."

1.

conventional lotuses supporting the Phenician


2.

Hamman

Portion of a Carthaginian votive tablet to Baal

"

Portion of a Carthaginian votive tablet to Baal

Sacred Triangle

Hamman

from which two conventional outline lotuses branch


"

Triangle
"
3.

4.

Sacred Triangle

"

disk.

and winged

Two

pillars,

6. Trefoil lotus,

Phenician

British

and solar

and Tanith.

Museum, showing two


Davis, xxxvii.

disk.

Conventional voluted
"

These support the Phenician

out.

lotus,

Sacred

xvi.

Menant,

seal.

Q/ZiWr^j,

Detail from Davis,

ii.,

ii.

p. 222.

moon symbol

like

No.

xlvi. 5 [p.
9.

moon

289]

crescent

xlix. 8 [p. 307]

From Ramsay,

Cypriote

Chipiez, Phenicie,
;

p. 460.

"
Phenician " Sacred Triangle

Detail from Davis, xix., usual inscription.

in

Perrot

Sacred cone, supposed origin of the " Sacred Triangle."


disk above; hawk-headed Gods.

et

with usual inscription.

upper fragment of a moon crescent.

Compare

Perrot

tablet from Carthage.

with streamers, supporting sun disk and

Bird on the triangle.

sun and
8.

disk.

Fragment of a votive

11).

supporting sun disk.

7.

Gesenius, Monumenti,

"

Inverted lotus, to illustrate the frequent inversion of the lotus on Phenician votive tablets (compare

No.
5.

and sun

and Tanith,

seal.

with Ixvi.

et

Chipiez,

2, 3 [p.

iv. p.

399].

Hittite, with

722.

Cone with asps supporting

solar bark,

Cesnola, Cyprus, King's Appendix

for

winged
Gems,

vii. 10.

9.

Staff supporting sun and

stem.
10.

Compare No.

moon
II.

crescent (origin of Mercury's staff), with inverted lotus triangle wanting

Detail from Davis, Ixxxviii.

Three-spiked lotus; two conventional lotuses.

11. Inverted lotus

with stem, sun and

moon

Detail from Davis, xxi.

crescent.

Detail from DAVIS,

Hi.

\cyi

INDEX.
^Gis, explained, 232.
Altars crowned with the
II [p. 23

Arab
lotus, 12

and

Pis.

4 [p. 21], II.

I.

1.

Amaravati Tope: Egyptian

lotus patterns, 36.

patterns of the scroll and trefoil, in India and elsewhere,


borrowed, 36, 126, and Fig. 78 [p. 127].
Ariks, see Ram and p. 200

Artemis and

Amenti, see Genii of.


America, Ancient lotus patterns and corroborative monu-

Aryan

LXII., LXIII.).
Amon as the sun, 6 worshipped by offerings of the lotus, 6,
and PI. I. 6 [(3. 21] identified wiih Khnoum, 9; identified
with Osiris, 12; identified with the ram, 9, 200.
Animal worship of the Egyptians reconciled with monotheistic

Asherah

conceptions, 13.
Ankh : symbol of "life" and equivalent of the lotus, 12,
389-390 ; with solar hieroglyphics. Fig. 54 [p. 83] ; frequently found on Assyrian cylinders, 238 ; possibly derived
from the lotus, 389-391 (PI. LXV).
Antelope: as divine and solar animal, with the lotus, see in

AssYRi.-iN

ments, 367-379

(Pis.

'

regarding words 'gazelle,' oryx,' 244.


see in general 109-133 and Pis. XII.
[p 113], XIII. [p. 121], XIV. [p. 133], XVI., XVII.,
XVIII., XIX. [pp. 144-147]Anthemion identified with the Egyptian lotus palmette,
116; announced as a lotus by Uieulafoy, 116; announced as a lotus by Petrie, 116; identified with
Ionic forms by Clarke, 116; identified with Assyrian

lotus, 8, Pis. II. 2 [p. 23], V. 2, 3 [p.


65],
LP- 57j-

Greek examples, 117 supposed


palmette, 117
palm origin disproven, 117, 118; observed as a lotus
by Newberry, 116; announced as Egyptian by Penne-

THORNE, 119.
Anthemions on Greek
rowed from Egyptian
:

99-104,

remote variants of Greek

art in general, 123, 124;


relation of style to date, 1 24.
Anihemion symbolism as a lotus form illustrated by asso:

XXXII.
225],

2,

PI.

the solar deer,

8,

PI.

[p.

249

PI[p. 247],

XXXVII.

Baal: connected with the solar bull,


190; with Merodach,
190; with Ea and Mul-lil, 231; with the antelope, 131;
with the solar goat, 233; with the
gazelle, 233- with the
sun, 233 (see also Baal Hamman) ; with Vishnu and Siva,
234 ; with Bes, Set, and Typhon, 235 ; with the lotus.
189, 39S-40I (Pis.
as
(or Pakht)

Bast

[p. 287], PI.


with the ibis, PI.
.

XLVI.

scarab with

fish (Isis)

[p. 193]

Birds

lotus patterns derived from Egypt.

solar,

with lotus

XXX. [p.
XLVm.-L. [pp.
[p. 65],

211],

Pls.I [p. 21], III. [p.


41], V.

XXXVIL

30S-307I, LH.
LVI. LVIII. [pp. 339-343], LX.

LXVI.-LXVIL

see in general 269-289

symbols,

XLIIL-XLVL). See also

(Pis.

249];XLII. [p. 267


321J, LV. [p. 327'

[p.
[p.

LXIIL

[p. 359],

[p.

379

See also Figs. 134 [p. 236


140 [p<^2So], 145 [p. 271], 146 [p. 274], 147 [p. 275
148 [p. 277], 149 [p. 278], 150 [p. 280], 170-173 [p. 353^.
180 [p, 362], 181 [p 363], 182, 183 [p. 367]. Bird and lotus
in Egyptian art, 6, 7, 24, 269-283
in Assyrian art, see
cylinder XLIV. 9 [p. 285]; in Cypriote art, 269-283; in
Greek art, 269-283; in Hindu art, 273, 274; in Dahomey,
art,
274,275; in Etruscan art, 275; in Byzantine
274,
"
"
275; in Oriental art, 275; in
Mycens art, 316; on
Dipylon vases, 331, 337 in Prehistoric and Scandinavian
[pp. 399, 401].

13
i

Apis sym-

See

i9> 151-

Bull.
bolism, 8, 190 (Note s), 195.
Apollo: as lion, 206; as gryphon, 217; as deer, 229, 230;
as cock and hawk, 270; as swan, 271 ; as goose, 273.

2 [p.
267].

LXV. 10 [p. 393].


Bharhut Stupa; Hindu

279, 337 in Hallstatt art, 279, 337, and Figs. 180, 181
[pp. 362, 363] (birds with a horse's mane) on Zuni pottery,
367 in Yucatan, 367. See also under Eagle, Goose, Swan,

art,

Hawk, Cock, Dove,


i

XLII.

Book of the Dead


See also under

lotus, PI.

XXVI.

and

PI.

with the lotus, 24, and in Mycenae art.


Isis, 265, 266; on a

317]; an equivalent of

Beetle as Ptah, 1 2 with the lotus, 1 2.


Bes identified with Set and Typhon, 12, 235 with the winged
soUr disk, 12; on the lotus, 12, 235; connected with Siva,
234 with the gazelle, 235 with the Ankh and ibex, PL

Anubis with the lotus, 24.


Aphrodite, see Venus.
Apis bull and lotus. 8. and

[p.

caj

also Sekhet.

XLVI.
289]; by association
by association with ihe solar hawk, PI. XLVI. 6
I p. 289
by association with the solar horse, PI. LXI. 7
[p. 289]
by association with sun and moon on
[p. 365J;
Carthaginian tablets, PL LXVI. 5, 10 [p. 399][p.

164

with lotus symbols at Carthage,

LXVI., LXVIL).

Fig.

XLV.

240.

Baal Hamman, worshipped

with the solar swan, PI.

XXXIII. 3,4, II
227]; by association with

X.XXVI. 10

Greco-Egyptian or Phenician,

by association with the solar goat or ibex,


XXXVI. I [p. 247]; by association with the lion
by association
attacking a bull, PI. XL. 4 [p. 259]
[p.
PI.

187-igi.
Style, so called,

14 [p. 223], PI.

XXXIV.

no,

as Moon-goddess, 170; connected with the


palm,
180; with the bull, 190; with the ram, 200; with the stag,
231 with the goat, 233 with the dove, 275.
Athene as Moon-goddess, the deer her emblem,
230 with
the ^gis, 233.
Auer, Hans, on the Egyptian Ionic Capital, 72.

[p.

33

Astarte:

ciation with the winged solardi.sk, PI. XXIV. 9 [p. 183] ;


by association with the solar bull, PI. XXVI. 11
by association with the solar ram, PI. XXVIII.
[p. 193]
7 [p. 203] ; by association with the solar lion, PI. XXX.
solar Sph.nx,
I, 3, 4, 8 [p. 21 1] ; by association with the
PI.

Fig.

205, 206.

pottery, 123-133; originally borpatterns in hard material, 123;

and

Assyrian Ornament, borrowed from Phenician and


Egyptian,

earliest

with the goose, 364


;
(No. 12).
derived from Asia, 279, 280,
330, 331,

Tree of Life with lotus symbols 180

Asp and

ANTHEMION:

not

347*

general 12, 229-254, and Pis. XXXV.-XXXIX. [pp. 245253]; an equivalent of the goat and deer, 257; with lotus
spiral on Celtic bronzes, 239, and Swiss Lake Dwellers' iron,
239 (Note 64) ; on a Cypriote vase bearing the lotus
triangle, PI. XLIX. 5 [p. 307] ; for verbal distinctions

the Deer, 230

race,

Ibis, Vulture,

Heron, Peacock.

doctrine of Transmigration and the


lotus, 19 ; the gazelle as a divine animal, 260.
Boss
on Cypriote vases, derived from lotus sepals ; on
"
Mycenae "vases, derived from Cypriote ornament, 297-301.
Brahma and the lotus, 5, 14; with the goose and lotus, 273,
;

274.

Aqu.\rius, 276.

3 F 2

INDEX.

404

Brahman explanations of lotus symbolism, 14 16.


Bkonze Ace Egyptian origins of its pattern ornament,

329-

See also Metal.


Buckle or Isis an equivalent of the

389-

359.

Ankh and

lotus,

393-

Bt'DDHA and the

Buddhist

derived from

Egyptian,

35,

36;

Trisula explained, 1 50-1 51.


BuLM (seed-pod) of the lotus, Fig. 7 [p. 28] : in pattern
ornament, 181, Fig. 60 [p. 110], Figs. 123, 124, 125, 126
solar s)-mbol with the lotus, 8, 187-193 (PI. XXVI.),
"
"
see also Pis. II. [p. 23], LXV. [p. 393] ; on
Mycenae
fresco
of
Tiryns, 31 1, 312, 316,
pottery, PI. LII. fp. 321]; bull
bull unicorn explained, 192; bull an
PI. LI. [p. 319]

Bull: as

incarnation of Osiris and offspring of Ptah, see Apis; a form


of .Merodach, Baal, Astarte, and Europa, 190; placed in
the Zodiac, 190.

Byzantine

patterns, derived from


Persian, 126.

Roman, Greek and Neo-

Caduckus, origin explained, 396.


Calf: as Horus, 13 (Note 62); with cow in lotus bower,
13,43. Compare PI. XXVII. [p. 197].
Campa.siform Capital Perrot's view, 43 Mariette's view, 51
:

derived from the lotus, 51, 53-61


PI.

VI.

Figs. 20, 23, 24, 28, 29

[p. 69].

Canary Islands: Guanche

skulls related to Brazilian,

361;

Guanches related to Berbers, &c., 382.


Canopus, Decree of: compares the Sceptre of the goddesses
to papyrus, 61.

illustrated by association with the solar goose,


;

Cone, see Sacred Cone.


CoNZE, Professor publication on Melian vases, 141-147, on
"
"Geometric vases, 329.
Coptic use of the lotus, 10; Coptic lotus crocs, 350 (Fig.

connected with the Chimsera, 257

see in general

the Goat and the Lotus, 229-254.


Art : of Cyprus, 300 ; of Mycenae, 311-327; of Italy,
315 : probably Celtic, 314 ; inscription of Grave Creek, West
Virginia, 369, 370 (Fig. 186).
Cat (Goddess Bast) on the lotus, 24 ; on a scarab with fish
and lotus, PI. XLII. [p. 267] ;in Mycenae art, 316 (Fig. 164).
Cedar a sacred tree in Assyria, 178.
Celtic ornament: related to Carian, 314, 315; originally
identical with Scandinavian, 332 ; both derived from Southern Europe, 332-337. See also Hallstatt, and Umbrian Art.
Cernunnas (Gallic deity) connected with the solar deer, 238,

Car IAN

239 (Fig. 136).


Cha.mpollion: quoted
(Note 47).

for the so-called

papyrus as a lotus, 57

Chandra and

the antelope, 241.


ornament
see in general 329-346 (Pis. LVI.LIX.); from lotus petals, 67 ; connected with the meander and
concentric rings, 77 ; in Egyptian and prehistoric ornament,
as derived from triangle lotuses and connected with the

CHEVRON

178).

as form of Isis and Hathor, 13, 195-197


XXVII.). See also PI. IV. i [p. 63].
Crescent Moon and lotus, 7, Pis. XXIII. [p. 173], XXIV.
Crescent with
[p. 183], LXVI. [p. 339], LXVII. [p. 401].
an attribute of Siva, 241.
the gazelle, 241
Crocodile (god Sebak), on the lotus, 24; crocodile-headed
god Sebak holding papyrus and facing altar with the lotus,

Cow,

with the lotus

Epg-and-Dart motive, 333-334 (Figs. 165, 166); in Mycenae


PI. LII. [p. 321]; on ancient American pottery, PI.
LXII. [p. 377J; on Kabyle pottery, PL LXIV. [p. 385].
Chim^cra, explained, 255-257.
China, Rose Lotus a food plant, 35; lotus patterns, probably
derived from the Buddhists, 18; or Mongol contact with the
West, 373.
Clarke, Joseph Thacher: identification of the Anthemion
art,

with the Ionic Capital, 116, 135.

Cock, as Apollo and with the lotus, 270.


announcement of the Ionic
Colonna-Ceccaldi, Georges
:

Capita] as a lotus, 71, 72, 75 ; revision of his explanation,


75 '35 *6i ; announces the Guilloche as hieratic symbol,
127.
Combs, Egyptian and ancient European ; decorated with concentric rings, 84.

CONCENTRIC RINGS:

derived from lotus spirals, 81-87

(PI.

60 (Fig. 35).
Cross, ante-Christian, 354-359 (PL LX.); Coptic, of lotuses,

356 (Fig. 178).


Cylinders, Assyrian
crescent, 7

with lotus and winged sun disk or

moon

unrecognized by experts, 175, 176.

Cvnocephalus (Thotli), on the lotus, 24.


Cyperus Papyrus, 46-61. See also Papyrus.
Cypriote Vases showing the Ionic lotus, 74 (Figs. 46 48),
141-144 (PL XVI.); with symbolic deer and ibexes, 229:

XXXVIL, XXXIX.);

253 (Pis.

Capricorn: and the Goat-god, 234 represented by the oryx


and gazelle, 234; connected with designs of lion attacking a
deer, 257

87]

[p.

LVII. 2, 4, 5, 8,
deer, goat and horse, Pis. LVI. 9 [p. 339]
14, 16; LVIII. 9 [p. 343]: illustrated by association with
pot-hooks derived trom solar birds, PI. LVI. 13 [p. 339].
:

IP- >8']-

and

in Prehistoric

in

VIII.

1.

lotus,

lotus jxittems,

and Greek " Geometric " ornament,


Mound Builders' ornament, 370;
33'-343 (PI- LVII.) ;
on Esquimaux ivories, 373. Symbolism as a derivative trom
lotus spiral scrolls (when represented by concentric rings
with tangents) illustrated by use on Egypian scarabs, PI.
VIII.)

(PI.

with solar birds, 269-289

with geometric lotuses, 293-309


XLV., XLVI.)
(Pis. XLVn.-L.) with concentric rings, PI. LVII. [p. 341]
with Swastika and Cross, PL LX. [p. 359]; with the horse
and lotus, PL LXI. [p. 365]; compared with Kabyle
pottery, PL LXIV. [p. 385].
(Pis.

For Fish-god and lotus see


XLII. 8 [p. 267].
solar, and with lotus symbols, 229-254

Dagon, 265.

Pis.

XXIV.

(Pis.

XXXVI.

[p. 183],

Deer
XXXIX.);
:

PL XXXVl. [p. 247]; on


and Rhodian vases, PI. XXXVII. [p. 249]; at

Cypriote

in

Assyrian

art,

239; in Celtic art, PI. XXXIX. [p. 253]; in


254; in Mycenae art, 316 and PL XXXVII.
II, 12 [p. 249]; in the Greek "Geometric" style, 239,
330, 337, PL LVI. [p. 339], PI. LVII. [p. 341]; on Koban
Hallstatt,

Hindu

art,

bronzes, 351; with the Swastika,


Trojan whoris. Pis. XXXVll. [p.

PL LX. [p. 359]; on


on
249], LX. [p. 359]
;

Zuni pottery (the elk), Fig. 184 [p. 368]. Deer attacked
by lion, a sign of the Zodiac, 255-257 (Fig. 141); in

Mycenae

316.
hieroglyphic text for the sun and the lotus, 6 ;
unpublished reliefs of lotus stems with buds, explaining
tabs, Fig. 19 [p. 51], of the gazelle and lotus, Fig. 134
art,

Denuerah

226], Fig. 14c [p- 250] ; unpublished reliefs of the goose


lotus, Fig. 19 [p. 51], Fig. 140 [p. 250], Fig. 148
[p. 277], Fig. 149 [p. 278J.
Diagram, the solar, 149; list of illustrated instances, 162
[p.

and

(Note

4).

Diana and the deer, 241. See also Artemis.


Dieu Cornu, 238 (Fig. 136).
Dieulafoy, Marcel announcement of the Ionic Capital
:

lotus, 72,

135; revision of

his

theory, 73,

as a

136; supposed

derivation of the Assyrian palmette from t.ht jJabellum, 116


(Note i); observation on the lotiform character of the
Anthemion, 116 ; matter on the" Persian Ionic Capital, 137.
Dipylon vases, see " Geometric Style.

Dove and

lotus, 275, 276.

DiiMMLER, Professor F.
381,382.

publication

on Cypriote

vases, 294,

INDEX.
Dyak

lotus spirals, 372 (Fig. 188); theory of

Dyak ornament,

373. 374-

405

217; symbolism in general, 216, 217;


316 on Koban bronzes, 351.
GUILLOCHE evolution from the spiral

in

Mycenae

art,

Ea, as gazelle or antelope, 233 ; as fish, 266.


Eagle, as solar bird compared with the hawk, 271 doubleheaded, in Hittite art, 276; supposed eagle-headed deity
;

p.

scroll, 127 (Fig.


symbol by Colonna-Ceccaldi,
127; symbolism illustrated, PI. XXXVI. 7 Pp. 247!

PI.

XLIV.

79)

announced

as a hieratic

9 [p. 285].

of Assyria, 276.

Edwards, Miss Amelia

B., presents the Author a photograph


terra-cotta, of the horse and lotus, 362

from an Egyptian
(Note 16).
Egg moulding, 156.

lotiform origin,
moulding:
155-159
compared with the Egyptian and prehistoric
chevron, 333, 334
symbolism suggested by association,
;

I'l. LXVI. [p. 399].


Esquimaux implements
:

Epoch, 332
P 84).

EuROPA and the

or Hallstadt summary of information,


239 (Note
63); designs of the Sphinx, 214, solar deer and ibex, 239,
solar bird, 279, 362, 363, Figs. 180, 181
chevron ornament. 333> 335' 346 ; concentric rings, meanders, 346 ;
" concentric
squares," 340 ; solar horse, 346, 362.
:

EGG-AND-DART
PL XXI.)

Hallstatt

as goose, 7
explained as god of silence, 169 ;
with goose in Cypriote sculpture, 272.
Hathor for identity or assimilation with Isis, 13 (Note 61);
character and attributes, 13 ; with the lotus, 13 ; Hathor

Harpocrates,

related to those of the Palaeolithic

concentric

rings

on

373 (compare

ivories,

bull, 190.

cow and Horus calf mistaken for "rustic scene" by Ferrot,


43; Hathor with lotus sceptre, 52; as cow, loc-ig?
(PL XXVII.).
Hawk as solar bird with the lotus, and form of Horus, Ra,
Osiris, Apollo, Mithra, Ormuzd, 6, 7, 270.
See otherwise
Bird and lotus and Pis. I. (p. 21), V. [p.
65], XLIII.-XLVI.
:

Farman Collection

of scarabs, 81.
Fecundity indicated by the lotus, 4.
Fir-cone, not the Sacred Cone ; see under this heading.
Fish as form of Isis, with the lotus, 13 (PI. I. [p. 21]); as
form of Isis, Dagon, Ea, and Thoth, 265-267 (PI. XLII.);
Assyrian Fish-god with lotus, PI. XXIV. 3 [p. 183]; on
Mycenae vases, 299 (Fig. 154) and p. 266.
Fleur-de-Lys, see Trefoil.
Fret, Greek ; see Meander.
Frog (Hyk and Khnoum) on the lotus, 14.
Frothingham, Professor A. L., Jr. : publication regarding
mention of America in a Syrian author of the 7th century
:

368 (Note 5).


Funerals, Egyptian the

Pis.

II.

[p.

V.

23],

in

general 329-346 (Pis. LVI.-LVIII.) ; with solar deer and


goats, 239; with solar birds, 279; found in Cyprus, 293,
329; not found in Egypt, 315; distinct from Mycenx art,

quadrangle motive

borrowed

from

Cypriote

art,

as derived from
;
the Anthemion, 126, 127; on Melian vases, 142; related
to the Mycenae leaf, 207 ; symbolism as a lotus derivative
illustrated by association with the solar lion, PI'. XXIX.
9
PI. XXXIX. 3
p. 209], with the solar deer or doe,
:

LP- 253]-

lotus symbolism, 4 r9

'jy

Buddhist, Brahma, Brahman, Chandra, Kamala, Krishna,


Lakshmi, Padma, Puranas, Siva, Surya, Vishnu, Zodiac,
Amaravati, Bharhut, Trefoil, Rosette, and Linga-Yoni
worship.

Hippopotamus (Thoueris and Hathor) with the lotus, 12.


Hittite Art: Ionic solar symbolism at Boghaz Keui, 171
solar ram, 201

wild, as solar animal with lotus symbols

see in general

the Deer and the Lotus, 229-254 (Pis. XXXV.-XXXIX.) ;


an equivalent of the ibex, 233, of the gazelle, 234 ; in
Celtic art, PI. XXXIX. ; at Halstatt, PI. XXXIX. ; on
See
Greek "Geometric" potteiy, PI. LVII. 2 [p. 341].
also M.^'i and Chimsera.
Goose : as solar bird with lotus symbols,

and

original

form of

the swan in Greek art, 269-289 (Pis. XLIll.-XLVL) as


form of Seb, Osiris, Isis, and Horus, 7, 272 ; on reliefs at
Denderah with lotus, see Denderah ; in Hindu art, 2 73,
;

on Dipylon vases, 279, 330, 336, 337 ; in Celtic,


274
"
"
and
pot-hook
Scandinavian, and Prehistoric art as
list
i'or
entire
otherwise, Pis. LVI.-LVIII. [pp. 339-343]of Plates on which the goose appears examine list for Bird
;

lotus.

by Owen Jones : prejudice regarding the papyrus, 3; influence on modern decorators, 127;
revision of its view of the Egg-and-Dart moulding, 155157 ; its view of Assyrian art as debased Egyptian, 177.
Grove, see Asherah.
Gryphon as solar form and with the lotus see in general
and lotus, 213-227; a form of Horus, 9; with
the

Grammar of Ornament

Sphinx
lotus in Phenician and Mesopotamian art, 189; dated
with lotus to Xllth Dynasty, 207 ; connected with Apollo,

double-headed

HONEYSUCKLE
IIS-I33'

329-

and

(Osiris) with the lotus, 24, 270.


in Egypt, 89-94
pattern

HERZBLATT

Geometric Lotuses of Cyprus, 293-309 (Pis. XLVII.-L.).


Geometric Style of Greek vases (Dipylon vases): see

Goat,

Heron

'9i 35-37i 15! 151

[P- 65]-

315;

coins,

patterns derived from Egypt,


Sindh
Assyrian transmission, 191
potteiy details, 128 (5"igs. 84, 85); deer and lotus in India,
254 ; goose and swan, with lotus, in India, 273, 274, 279
Hmdu Swastika, 347, 348, 351, 352, 354. See also Buddha,

lotus given to guests, 4, 10.

Gazelle, see Deer and lotus.


Generative symbolism of the lotus, 9.
Genii of A.menti on the lotus, 10,

and with deer on Cypriote

239-

Hindu

A.D.,

[pp. 283-289].
as Sun-god

Hercules,

eagle, 276 ; Ankh, 389.


pattern, so-called ; derived from the lotus,

See otherwise Anthemion and Palmetie.

HoM, see Soma-tree.


Horse as solar animal and with the lotus, r2 with Anthemions, Pis. XVII., XVIIL, XIX. fpp. 145-147] on Greek
:

" Geometric

"

LVI. [p- 339] with concentric


LVII. [p. 341]; with the Swastika,

pottery, PI.

rings (Celtic art), PI.


lotus triangle, spiral scroll, anthemion, lotus bud, rosette,

trefoil lotus, PI. LXI. [p. 365] ; on Cypriote pottery


with lotus, PI. LXI.
See also Text, 36r-363.
Horus various forms of the god in Egyptian art, 6 ; connected with the lotus by Egyptian texts, 6 ; represented as
a child rising from the flower, 6 ; this subject paralleled in
myth of Brahma, 15, and explained by Plutarch, 16.
Horus as winged solar disk, 6; as goose, 7, 272 ; as

and

Sphinx, 8, 213 ; as Gryphon, 9, 213 ; as hawk on the lotus,


see Hawk; worshipped by Phenicians, 214.
Hyk (Hek or Htka) as frog on the lotus, 14.

Iamblichus quoted

for lotus symbolism, 18.


Ibex: an animal of Set, with the lotus, 12, 235. See in
general the Deer and lotus, 229-253 (Pis. XXXV.-XXXIX.),
for the Ibex and lotus in Assyrian art, on Cypriote and
Rhodian vases, &c. See also Reshep.

Iiiis

(I'hoth)

and

lotus, 12, 24, 271.

Ichneumon (Toum) on

the lotus, 24.

INDEX.

4o6
India, see Hindu.

INTRORSE SCROLLS:

89-91 (PI. IX.); Phenician, 261-263 (Pi. XLI.); symbolism as a lotus derivative
illustrated by association with the solar Sphinx, PI. XXXIII.
12 [p. 225], PI. XLI. I, 7 [p. 263'! ; by associaiion with
in Ej-ypt,

the solar gryphon, Fig. 143 [p. 261], PI. XLI. 14 [p. 263] ;
by association with the solar ibex, PI. XLI. 10 [p. 263] ; by
association with the solar deer, PI. XXXVII. 5, 7 [p. 249] ;
by association with the solar bird, PI. XLVI. i [p. 289].
IONIC CAPITAL: lotiform character in Egypt, 71-79
(PI. VII.) ; Ionic forms connected wiih spirals and concentric rings, 81-87 (P'- VIII.), with introrse scrolls, 89-91
Greek Ionic Capiuls and forms as identified
(PI. IX.).
with the lotus anthemion or palmette, 116-121 (PI. XIII.)
as related to the lotus by the central sepal spike, 135-139
(PI. XV.) ; as related to the spirals of Greek pottery through
;

the .\nthemion, PI.


vases, Pis.

XIV.

XVI -XIX.

and through Cypriote

[p. 133],

Assyrian Ionic, 136


137; MycenK Ionic forms, 137.
Ionic Capitals and Ionic forms illustrated as lotuses, by
association with the solar bull, PI. XXVI. 10 [p. 193] ; by
[pp. 144-147.]

137; Persian,

Syrian,

association with the solar Sphinx, PI. XXXIII. 5, 7 [p. 225] ;


by association with the solar deer and solar ibex, Pis.
XXXVI. 2, 7, 8 [p. 247]. Ionic lotus forms illustrated as

symbols by th.ir use on Egyptian scarabs,


and Fig. 179 [P- 35o]hieratic

and

PI.

VIII.

attributes, 13

as fish

148 [p. 277] authority for the goose as Isis, 272. See
otherwise Hathor.
Ivories, a material favoured for concentric rings, 84.
Ivv supposed origin of the Herzblatt, 89. See also Ivy-leaf.
IVY-LEAF, so-called; [roven a lotus pattern, 161-165
Fig.

(PL XXII.);

on Rhodian

161; in Mycenaj and

vases,

Celtic art, 161-163, 312, 314; by symbolic association with


the lion, 206 (Fig. 128), with the Sphinx, 214 (Fig. 129) and
XXXII. 5 [p. 223], with the solar bird, PI. XLV. [p. 287].

Japan: festival connecting the sun with the lotus, 18; lotus
ornament probably derived from the Buddhists, 18.
Jones, Owen see Grammar of Ornament.
;

Jones, Sir William allusions to Hindu lotus symbolism,


to an Egyptian colony in India, 16.
Juno: identified with the Cow-goddess, 195.
:

marized, 49.

Madagascar

4, 5

patterns related to prehistoric Cypriote,

385 (PI. LXIV.).


Kadesh, her lotus bouquet mistaken

for

335,

ornament, 371-373; in Polynesia, 371-373.


theory of the Campaniform Capital, 51; excavated tombs sanded up, 66; theory of spirals on scarabs, 81.
Maut as form of Isis, 12 as vulture, with lotus, 24.
MEANDER: a conventional form of the spiral scroll as derived from lotus scrolls, 77, 93-97 (PI X./; symbolic
use on scarabs and amulets, 94 ; associated with lotus
rosettes, 95; not found in Mycente art, 315; in the
"
Greek " Geometric style, and prehistoric ornament, 331343 (Pis. LVI.-LVIII.)
original form of the Swastika,

Mariette

in ancient .America, 367-379


LX.)
(Pis. LXlL, LXIIL); in China, 373. Symbolism illustrated
by use on Egyptian scarabs, p. 354 ; by association of

347-359

94.

represented by the ram, 9, 200


Khons : a form of Horus, 12 ; of the
;

Knop and flower pattern,


KoBAN bronzes, 346, 350,
Krishna and

the lotus,

381-

11.

sections of the pattern with the solar ram, PI. XXVIII. 7


[p. 203], solar Sphinx, PL XXXIV. 8 [p. 227], solar

XXXIX.

2 [p.
253], solar goose, Figs. 170-173
For Meander
deer, PL LX. [p. 359].
symbolism, see also Swastika.
Merodach: as bull, iiyo; as Sun-god, 231.

Osiris, 9

by the

Moon,

Melian vases, 141-147 (Pis. XVI.-XIX.).


Mercury's staff, see Caduceus.
Metal, arts of history traced by the history of patterns
Egypt, 85, 279, 324, 332 and in general 329-346.
Mithra, as Sun-god, 6 Lajard's Work on, 175.
Moha.mmedan patterns, see Arab patterns.
;

14.

a Trisula (lotus symbol) wor-

Mongol

bull s)mbolisin, 191.

Moo.\ and lotus, 7, 14. See also Crescent moon and


Isis, Thoth, Astarte, Siva, Vishnu.

Mortuary

significance

LiNCA-YoNi worship, 10.


Lion: as solar animal, and with
216.

of the lotus, 3-23.

lotus,

Anthemion on

tombstones, 124, 171, 216-217.


Murray, Professor A. S. view of the ^gis, 233 publication
on Cypriote vases, 269; on a Mycense vase, 311; identifies the S*'astika with the Meander, 352.
Mussels, not found on Mycenae vases, 49, 299.
Mycen^ Art, 311-327 (Pis. LII.-LV.) Mycenze swords
with so-called papyrus, 43, 312
vases showing the Ionic
:

and lotus with pendant sepals, 74 ; pottery


74
patterns from Egyptian palniettes, 117; ro.sette patterns,
149; lo'tus leaf pattern (so-called ivy), 161-165
(PI.
XXII.) ; Hathor cowhead and rosette, 195 ; Mycenae vases
of the Archipelago, with fish, 266
in Cyprus, 293, 299.
;

Narayana equivalent of Vishnu, and with the


Naturalism, in classic ornament, 128.
NtFER-Tou.M crowned with the lotus, 6, 20, 391
Nelu.mbium Luteum, 35.
:

lotus, 14.

(Fig. 196).

Nelumbium Speciosum (Rose Lotus),


Newberry, Percy E. independent

25-41, Fig 10 [p. 30].


discovery of the Ionic
form as derived from curling lotus sepals, 76 ; observation
for the rosette as representing the lotus ovary stigma,
104; observation for the Anthemion, or "honeysuckle,"
as a lotus, 119 ; observation for the lotiform origin of the
;

I.AJARD: account of his Culte de Mithra, 175.


LEAF of the lotus, botanic forms, 25-31 with ithyphallic
Khem, PI. I. [p. 21]; as supposed ivy pattern of Greek
an, see Ivy-leaf; in Mycenae patterns, 314, 320, 337.
Leemans his classification of concentric rings, 81.
Lily of the Virgin and lotus of Isis, 4, 13.

XX1X,.XXX.),

to

of Noun,

(rog, 14, 15.

shipped as his image, 151.

(Pis.

and

353],

[p.

351.
;

Bull fresco of Tiryns,


(Fig. 154), 300 ; in Egypt, 31 1, 312.
see Bull.
See also in general Carian Art.

129.
1 1

(?'

16

accounting for diCTasion

papyrus by Pierret, 43.

Kamala (the lotus), a title of Lakshmi,


Key pattbrn, see Meander.
Khem, ithyphallic with lotus, 10, 63.
Khxoum, an equivalent of Amon and

influence as

Malay

lotus,

Kabvle

Malay

ot patterns, 373.
Mahadeva. See Siva.

ibex, PI.

and with the lotus,


265-267 (PL XLIL); with the goose and lotus. Fig. 19
on the rosette, 152 with the gazelle, goose, and
[p. 51]
with cow, goose, gazelle, and lotus.
lotus, Fig. 140 [p. 250]

Isis: character

Lion attacking the Bull; a solar emblem, 255-259 (PI. XL.).


Lion attacking thk Deer; a solar emblem, 255-257 (Fig.
141) in Mycenae art, 316.
Lotus see in general the Table of Contents and Index
botanical forms,
erroneous designations
sum25-41

lotus symbols, 7, 8, 205-211


See also the following heads.

Egg-and-Dart moulding, 156.


personification of ihe watery element, 16, 17.
Nymph^eas, 25-41 ; Nymphaea Zanzibarcnsis, 38 ; Nymphaea
Rubra, 38.

Noun

Ohnefalsch-Richter, Max

publications on Cypriote anti-

INDEX.
quities,

293

misapprehension regarding the Cypriote boss,

297.

Orchomf.nos

lotus pattern, 33

95 (Fig. 56).
Egypt, 84.
with the lotus, 12, 229-254;

Ornament: magical character


Oryx an animal of Set and

in

verbal distinctions regarding words " gazelle," "


oryx," &c.,
See also Reshep.
244.
Osiris with the lotus, 6 ; as goose, 7, 272 various characters
and forms, 9 his reproductive character represented by the
lotus according to hieroglyphic texts, 10 ; as
mummy with
the lotus, 9, 19 (Fig. i) as heron, with the
lotus, 24.
Ostrich symbolism, 280 ; with lotus palmette in
:

407

Ptah

identified with the sun, 8

father of Apis, 8

as beetle

and with the lotus, 12.


Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and the oryx, 231, 235.
PucHSTEiN, Otto: Essay on the Ionic Capital, 71.
Pukanas
their knowledge of
connect Vishnu
Egypt, 15
:

with Egypt, 254.

panel patterns on Cypriote vases ; from lotus


301, 308 ; borrowed by Mycena: pottery, 322 ;

Quadrangle
triangles,

borrowed by Greek "Geometric" pottery, 308, 329, 338.

art,

Assyrian

Oxyrvnchus:

as Isis, 13, 265

Padma, or Pedma (the lotus)


Pakht, see Bast and Sekhet.

PALMETTE

as Thoth, 266.

title

of Lakshmi,

11

Reber
;

the Assyrian palmeite,


patterns,

ni, 324;

no

;
original of
original of the Greek

original of

Mycenje pottery
Anthemion, in,

lis; in Greek art, ix^, 133; a motive of the Assyrian


Sacred Tree, 180 (Fig. 121).
For symbolism of the
palmette in Greek art, see Anthemion symbolism.
Palm TREE: brazen, at Delphi, 17; rare in Egyptian tombpaintings, 47 ; erroneously supposed to be the original of
the palmette ornament, 117, n8, 129, 179; a sacred tree
in Assyria, 177; sacred to Astarte, 180; erroneously supfKwed to occur on a Rhodian vase, 316 ; erroneously supposed to occur on Mycenae vases, 324.
Papyrus, Fig. 13 [p. 44] not found in Egyptian ornament, 4,
43-66 realistic Egj'ptian pictures hitherto unrecognized, 60.
:

Parlatore researches on the Papyrus,


Peacock symbolism, 275.
Pedestals, lotus, of Hindu gods, 37.
Phnnethorne, John; observation on
:

58-61.

the

Anthemion

as

on foreign pottery found in Egypt (Xllth Dyn.), 335, 346.*


Phallic symbolism of the lotus, 9, 10.
Phenician ornament: influence on Assyria, 177, 187-191,
See also Sacred Triangle.
PHENICIAN PALMETTE, 261-263

on the floral origin of the Ionic Capital,


Reshep, as Ibex-god and Oryx-god, 237-240.
Resurrection, symbolized by the lotus, 4, 9, 19,
:

Rhodian

137.
22, 216, 217.

vases:

specimens of lotus forms derived from


Cypriote, 141-144; with the ram and anthemion, 202 with
the lotus, deer, and ibex, 230, 248, 250; with the goose and
lotus, 270, 271, 281, 288; typical solar diagrams explained,
355 with the Swastika, 355, 357.
Rose Lotus, see Nelumbium Speciosum.
Rosellini quoted for deficiency of pictures especially devoted
;

to the papyrus, 45.


as related to the lotus ovary stigma, 25, 27, 28,
29 (Figs. 5, 6, 8) ; in Egyptian ornament with lotus associa-

ROSETTE
tions,

99-107

(PI.

XL);

in ancient

ornament, 149-153

(PI.

XX.); Assyrian derivation disproven, loi, 149, 150; earliest


dated examples, 101-102 on Nefert's head-band, 101 on
vases of the Kefa, 101; various lotiform aspects, 103
on
Greek vases, 149 in Mycenae ornament, 149 distinguished
;

from the solar diagram, 149 a clue to Mediterranean history, 150; in Hindu ornament, 36, 151, 152.
Symbolism
as a lotus form illustrated by association with Assyrian
deities, PI. XXIV. 4 [p. 183]
by association with the solar
bull, PI. XXVI. 9 [p. 193]; by association with the cow,
PI. XXVII. 5, 7, 9
by association with the solar lion, PI.
XXIX. 4, 5 [p. 209], PI. XXX. 2, 10 [p. 2nJ by association with the solar Sphinx, PI. XXXI. 2, 3, 4 [p. 221], PI.
XXXII. 3 [p. 223]; by association with solar deer, ibex,
;

or goat, PI. XXXVI. 9, 10 [p. 247], PI. XXXVIL 7, 12


by association with the
[p. 249], PI. XXXIX. 1 [p. 253]
lion attacking a bull, PI. XL. 3 [p. 259]
by association
with the Chimera, PI. XL. 5, 6 [p. 259] ; by association
with solar birds, PI. XLVI. 2, 11, 12 [p. 289], PI. LV. 18
association with the solar horse, PI. LXI. 12
[p. 327]; by
and
[p. 365] ; by use on Carthaginian votive tablets to sun
moon, PI. LXVl. 8 [p. 399].
;

ROPE

pattern, see Guilloche.

Sacred Bark

ornamental head a lotus, 53 (Fig. 25)

(PI.

XLI).

See also

" Bronze
culture,"
supposed authors of the
in
Ancient
America,
374.
330-332
367
Pomegranate ornament, so-called a lotus bulb, so recognized
by Mr. Percy E. Newberry, no; Assyrian examples traced
to Egyptian originals, 181 (Figs. 123-126).
PoT-HOOKS, in prehistoric ornament derived from solar birds,
:

of rosettes, 176, 248, 288 ; of buds, 176 ; of normal


176, 246; associated with the Sphinx, 224; of
Phenician palmettes," 261-263 (PI. XLI.) ; on Cypriote
vases, 176, 286, 302.
;

lotuses,
"

Sacred Triangle, 395-401 (Pis. LXVL, LXVII.).


Hallstatt bronzes,
St. Germain en Laye, Prehistoric Museum
239 prehistoric ornament, 346 ; Koban bronzes, 346, 35
:

Kabyle pottery, 383.

279. 337> 338. 340.

329-359

or

Sacred Cone, Assyrian; a lotus-bud, 176-178, 184.


Sacred Eye: with the lotus, 24 wih meander, 94, 354.
various lotiform aspects, 175-185
Sacred Tree, Assyrian
(Pis. XXIV., XXV.); of palmettes, no, 117-118, 179180

Introrse Scrolls.

oryx, 231, 235.

207.

drawings on bone and

pottery patterns derived from metals, 332.


Proclus, authority for the lotus as a sun symbol, 4.
;

Persian Bull symbolism, 191 ; Persian symbolism influenced by Chaldaea, 280.


PtTRiE, W. M. Flinders : dated examples of lotus spirals on
scarabs (Vth and Xlth Dyns.), 86; dated examples of the
Egyptian rosette (Xllth Dyn.), 102 ; dated examples of the
Egyptian lotus palmette (Xllth Dyn.), 109; observation on
the "honeysuckle" pattern as a lotus, 116, 119; dated
examples of fish and the lotus on pottery (Xllth Dyn.), 265
Cypriote pottery found in Syria, 301 ; dated examples of
Mycenas vases in Egypt, 312 dated examples of the chevron

45, 332

Perrot, view of Cypriote vases controverted, 230.


Persea tree, sacred to Hathor, 44.
Persian ornament and architectural details, see Pis. XII.,
XX., XXI., XXVI. Persian ornament as significant for
Babylonian and Assyrian, 118. Influence of Persian ornament on Byzantine, 126; Persian Ionic Capital, 137;

Prehistoric ornament

and with the lotus a form of Amon and


200; symbolism in general, 199-203 (PI.
rams facing lotus on a Turin stelfe, 201 (Note 7)

E{.'yptian, 119.

Phenicians

20.

Hittite, 201.

no;

6,

9,

XXVIII.)
;

109; tomb symbolism proven,

flabelliim,

the lotus,

as solar animal

Khnoum,

Egyptian, 109-113 (PI. XII.); combination of


an Ionic lotus with a lotus rosette, 109 compared with the

ivor)',

Ra and
Ram,

284.

Sam
to

with so-called papyrus forms or

be

"

"

water-plants

shown

lotuses, 57.

Sayce, Professor A. H.

view of the Mycens

rosette,

as

INDEX.

4oS

implying Babylonian influence, controverted, 195 quoted


for the stag,
antelope, gazelle, and goat in Chaldean
mythology, 231-J34
Sceptre of Egyptian gods and goddesses so-called
papyrus
sceptre a lotus sceptre, 51,52 (Fig. 2 1 ) the Tarn sceptre specitied as bearmg a gazelle
head, 242.243(Figj. 138, 139, 130A).
ScHLiEMANN See Mycenas.
;

ScoRFiON (Selk) on the lotus, 24.


Seb : as the goos-e, 7, 22, 272, 282.
Sebak : as crocodile on the lotus, 24

205.

with lotus sceptre. 52


See also Bast (Fakht).
:

holding the true

with rosette, 152

Selk as scorpion, with the lotus, 24.


Serpent as solar animal and with the
Swastika, PI. LX. [p. 359].
SET(Bcs,Typhon): as ibex, antelope,

as the lion.

lotus,'

9,
v

22

with the

and with

Siva (Mah-ideva) and the lotus,


related to Bes, 234-'
;
connected with the antelope, 241 with the
moon, 241.
Solar symbolism of the lotus, 3-24
(Pis. I., II.) ; specified
:

by authonties and hieroglyphic

texts,

4,

6,

5,

16-18;

9,

three-fold character, 9, 10, 216.


Solar Disk and lotus : in
Egypt, 7. 20, 24; in Oriental art, 172 ;
at Pompeu.
369 (Fig. 185) ; in ancient America, 378 (No
4)- "ingedsolardiskand lotus, 7 in Oriental
art, 171 172
176, 182, and conceded to be Egyptian,
7; with the buIL
192 ; with the hon, 210 ; with the
;

Sphinx, 222; with the


with the Sacred Tree,
262 (No. 5); with the hawk,
282; on the Cypriote bird's
back, with lotus, 286 (No. 13) ; in ancient
America, 376.
bOMA-tree {Horn) : supposed relation to the
"honeysuckle"
pattern and Sacred Tree, .17 (Note 6); lotus bud mistaken
tor fruit of theism
by BiRDWooD, 129; supposed relation
of the Soma-tree to the Sacred Tree
disproven, 1 79
Sphi.nx as solar emblem and with the
lotus, 8, 9, 189, 213227 (Pis. XXXI.-XXXIV.), 262 ; in ancient American
art,
371 (tig- 187), 376. See also Lion, and
Gryphon.
Ibex or oryx

and

deer, 246 (No. 5)

SPIRALS and

in
Spiral Scrolls
the lotus spiral,

Egyptian and Greek art


71-70 (Pi.
81-87
(Pi. VIII.), 89-91 (PI.
IX.),'93-97 (Pl.X.);ai'derlva!
uves from the Palmette or
Anthemion, 115-121 (PI
XIII.), 123-133 (PI. XIV.); as derivatives from the Ionic
form, 135-139 (PI. XV.); lotiform
origin illustrated by
Cypriote. Rhodian, and Melian vases,
141-147 (PI. XVI XIX). Solar symbolism of spiral scrolls and
illusspirals

denved from

vin

IP.

203]

***'^'^""

^^^ sun-disk,
169-173 (PI
by association with the solar ram, PI. XXVIII, i
hy association with the solar Sphinx, PI. XXXIII

^vMT
^u
aXIII.);

'^'^^

"7]

(Note 47)

Gi>Ul?Bird.'"

"'""'"^

on

lotus stems, derived from


imitations of lotus buds
leaves artificially attached to amulet
staves, hence
proving the so-called
form to be a
:

Baal, 236
' '"''"'
^^"^7^-

pipyrus
lotus, 50 51 55
Tabs pendant from the volutes of the Ionic
lotus'
and palmette, possible
explanation, 90; an indication of
56, 57.

Egyptian provenance as found in Phenician art, 1 1 1


sceptre: proven to bear the head of a solar
gazelle.
*
' 242
^ '
243 (Figs. 138, 139, 139A).

Tam

Tamarisk, sacred

See also

worshipped with lotus symbols at Car-

thage, 189.

Tat:

origin explained,
^'^" ^ ^^^

390

(Figs. 194, 195).

'^ ^^'^ ^^' ^^^' '" ^^""*''


BulT
Theosophist lotus symbolism, 10.
Thoth, as ibis, cynocephalus, or oxyrynchus, and with the
^"'^''''''

"^"the

lotus, 24, 266, 271.

Thunderbolt, supposed, of Greek mythologic

art,

(Figs

200, 201, 202),


TiRVNs bull fresco, see Bull; lotus
pattern,' .J^.
^t, 3'.
^18
TouM, see Nefer-Toum.

to6
39=.' ^'

Tree of Life, with lotus symbols, 180.


TREFCDIL pattern and Fleurde-Lys derived from
;

the three-

spiked form of the Egyptian lotus patterns,


36. 39 ; lotuses
mistaken for " Fleur-de-Lys,"
49 trefoil in Byzantine, Arab,
and Medieval art,
126-127 (Fig. 78); in Greek Art, 132
-5
;

(No.

3).

TRIANGLE:

a geometric lotus form in


Egyptian art, 64
(No. 4), 334 (Figs. 165, i6sA); on Greek
pottery, 288 (No.
5, compare No. 3), 364 (No.
2) on Cypriote pottery, 296.
298 (I-.gs. 151, 152), 306; on MycenK
pottery, copies from
Cypriote motives, 322, in Phenician art, 400. See also
Sacred Triangle and Chevron ornament.
Trisula (Buddhist) explained,
151, 152.
Typhon: see Set, Bes, Baal, Sutekh.
;

Umbrian Art
Celtic,

171

the word "

Umbrian " defined

as

meaning

Italian

representation of solar animals holding their


symbolic lotus in the mouth, 196 (No. ? ) 226 ^No 7\ ,a,
^
^'' ' '
252 (Nos. 6, 7, 8), 314, 364 (No.
9)
;

vases,

316 (Note

12).

276.

goose,

;
ram, 200; fish, 265 swan, 271
273; dove, 275; "Phenician Venus" in ancient

America, 367-376.

Vishnu and

the lotus: 5, 14; connected with


Egypt by the
Puranas, 234; identified with the Moon, 234, with
Set, 234.

Waring: value of his work on Ceramic Art


historic

"

controverted, 346.

Wilkinson,

study of pre-

Sir

J.

Gardner:

in

Egypt
^^^

announcement of the Ionic

"
Capital as an Eg)'ptian
water-plant," 72
Winged Solar Disk, see Solar Disk.

Zeus, Cretan, and the ^gis, 233.


Zigzag ornament, ^:i^, 334.
Zodiac: Hindu, related to Greek and
Egyptian, 2u: of the
Aztecs Identified with the
Hindu, 368. See also Taurus, Bull!
Kam Lion, tish, Chimaera, Lion
attacking the Bull Lion

s7mbot367r'^"''
.

for

ornament; opinions regarding the chevron

attac-king the Deer, Deer, Gazelle, Goat,

"*' especially
347-359 (Pl. LX.) and the list
^^I^pT/.*^^/
of Plate lefcrences tor the Snast.ka
at p. 35,.
See also, as
CIl-MKT AMD KIVINOIOI.,
tmiT.O,

to Osiris, 44.

Moon)

(the

Nout, 44.

4,

Tabs

to

Vase as sign of Aquarius,


Venus symbols bull, ,91

SURVA (Hindu Sun-god] and the


lotus,
SUTEKH Hittite equivalent of Set and

Sycamore, sacred

Vaphio: gold

by association with the


XXXIX [p. 253) ; by association with solar
birds, ^,g. ,46 p. 274I, PI. XL VI. 8
[p. 289]
by association wh the solar
horse, PI. LXI. 7, '13 [p 365 ISpiral
scroll n
.\Iycen patterns, 3,5, 3,8, 320, 324 connected
with the Swast.ka
Von
by
in ancient
Zmigrodky, 352
American ornament, 368. 376,
in xMalay
378
ornament,
371-372; in Polynesian ornament, 371; in China iji
represented by concemric rings with
tangents and by concentnc rings with
tangents omitted, see Concentric Ringsrepresented by the meander, see Meander and Swastika
&QL1D, on Mycena; vases, 311,312.
Sun-disk and lotus, see S-larDisk.

Lfn^^^^'p^v^v^vMl^^tP
solar
,bx, PI.
2

;
.

Tanith

oryx, gazelle,

the lotus, 12, 235, 236.

and

|iap)Tus, 61.

Sekhet

demonstrating Symbolism of the Meander, 77 with solar


deer at Troy. 239; in
Mycenas art, 316; in the Greek
Geometric style, 337 ; in ancient
on
America,'o
367,
^78 ""
/>J/
Zuni pottery, 367.

JOHK-. ou. C..ICI!NW.LL,

Vase, Aquarius.

"'' of
ornament, 84

.(:.

foreign pottery

c. ri'

BIN^

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