Chapter XII: Mother-Kin and Mother Goddesses (10)

_ 324 Ibid._ 18, 42. The hieroglyphic texts sometimes speak of fourteen
pieces, and sometimes of sixteen, or even eighteen. But fourteen
seems to have been the true number, because the inscriptions of
Denderah, which refer to the rites of Osiris, describe the mystic
image of the god as composed of fourteen pieces. See E. A. Wallis
Budge, _The Gods of the Egyptians_, ii. 126 _sq._; _id._, _Osiris
and the Egyptian Resurrection_, i. 386 _sq._

325 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 8.

326 A. S. Gatschet, _The Klamath Indians of South-Western Oregon_
(Washington, 1890), p. lxxxix.

327 S. R. Riggs, _Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnography_ (Washington,
1893), p. 16.

328 R. F. Kaindl, _Die Huzulen_ (Vienna, 1894), p. 97.

329 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 43.

_ 330 Ibid._ 43.

_ 331 Ibid._ 20, 29.

332 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 43; _id._, _Quaest. Conviv._ viii. 1. 3.
Compare Herodotus, iii. 28; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ xi. 10; Mela, i. 9.
58.

333 Herodotus, ii. 47; Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 8. As to pigs in
relation to Osiris, see _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii.
24 _sqq._

334 P. J. de Horrack, “Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys,” _Records of
the Past_, ii. (London, N.D.) pp. 121 _sq._; H. Brugsch, _Religion
und Mythologie der alten Aegypter_, pp. 629 _sq._; E. A. Wallis
Budge, _Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_, i. 389. “Apart from
the fact that Osiris is actually called _Āsār Aāḥ_, _i.e._ ‘Osiris
the Moon,’ there are so many passages which prove beyond all doubt
that at one period at least Osiris was the Moon-god, that it is
difficult to understand why Diodorus stated that Osiris was the sun
and Isis the moon” (E. A. Wallis Budge, _op. cit._ i. 21).

335 E. A. Wallis Budge, _Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_, i. 59.

M108 The identification of Osiris with the moon appears to be based on a
comparatively late theory that all things grow and decay with the
waxing and waning of the moon.

336 According to C. P. Tiele (_Geschichte der Religion im Altertum_, i.
79) the conception of Osiris as the moon was late and never became
popular. This entirely accords with the view adopted in the text.

337 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 221.

338 Macrobius, _Comment. in somnium Scipionis_, i. 11. 7.

339 Aulus Gellius, xx. 8. For the opinions of the ancients on this
subject see further W. H. Roscher, _Über Selene und Verwandtes_
(Leipsic, 1890), pp. 61 _sqq._

340 John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth
Century_, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii.
449.

341 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 306 _sq._

M109 Practical rules founded on this lunar theory. Supposed influence of
the phases of the moon on the operations of husbandry.

342 Palladius, _De re rustica_, i. 34. 8. Compare _id._ i. 6. 12; Pliny,
_Nat. Hist._ xviii. 321, “_omnia quae caeduntur, carpuntur,
tondentur innocentius decrescente luna quam crescente fiunt_”;
_Geoponica_, i. 6. 8, τινὲς δοκιμάζουσι μηδὲν φθινούσης τῆς σελήνης
ἀλλὰ αὐξανομένης φυτεύειν.

343 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,
1882-1883), iii. 144, quoting Werenfels, _Dissertation upon
Superstition_ (London, 1748), p. 6.

344 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_3 (Berlin, 1869), § 65, pp.
57 _sq._ Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_4 (Berlin,
1875-1878), ii. 595; Montanus, _Die deutsche Volksfeste,
Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 128; M.
Prätorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_ (Berlin, 1871), p. 18; O. Schell,
“Einige Bemerkungen über den Mond im heutigen Glauben des bergischen
Volkes,” _Am Ur-quell_, v. (1894) p. 173. The rule that the grafting
of trees should be done at the waxing of the moon is laid down by
Pliny (_Nat. Hist._ xvii. 108). At Deutsch-Zepling in Transylvania,
by an inversion of the usual custom, seed is generally sown at the
waning of the moon (A. Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche
unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_, Hermannstadt, 1880, p. 7). Some
French peasants also prefer to sow in the wane (F. Chapiseau,
_Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_, Paris, 1902, i. 291). In the
Abruzzi also sowing and grafting are commonly done when the moon is
on the wane; timber that is to be durable must be cut in January
during the moon’s decrease (G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi
Abruzzesi_, Palermo, 1890, p. 43).

345 P. Sébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_
(Paris, 1882), ii. 355; L. F. Sauvé, _Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_
(Paris, 1889), p. 5; J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great
Britain_, iii. 150; Holzmayer, “Osiliana,” _Verhandlungen der
gelehrten Estnichen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) p. 47.

346 The rule is mentioned by Varro, _Rerum Rusticarum_, i. 37 (where we
should probably read “_ne decrescente tendens calvos fiam_,” and
refer _istaec_ to the former member of the preceding sentence); A.
Wuttke, _l.c._; Montanus, _op. cit._ p. 128; P. Sébillot, _l.c._; E.
Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_
(Stuttgart, 1852), p. 511, § 421; W. J. A. von Tettau und J. D. H.
Temme, _Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens_
(Berlin, 1837), p. 283; A. Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_
(Berlin, 1843), p. 386, § 92; L. Schandein, in _Bavaria, Landes- und
Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), iv. 2, p.
402; F. S. Krauss, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven_
(Münster, i. W. 1890), p. 15; E. Krause, “Abergläubische Kuren und
sonstiger Aberglaube in Berlin,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xv.
(1883) p. 91; R. Wuttke, _Sächsische Volkskunde_2 (Dresden, 1901),
p. 369; C. S. Burne and G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_
(London, 1883), p. 259. The reason assigned in the text was probably
the original one in all cases, though it is not always the one
alleged now.

347 F. S. Krauss, _op. cit._ p. 16; Montanus, _l.c._; Varro, _Rerum
Rusticarum_, i. 37 (see above, note 2). However, the opposite rule
is observed in the Upper Vosges, where it is thought that if the
sheep are shorn at the new moon the quantity of wool will be much
less than if they were shorn in the waning of the moon (L. F. Sauvé,
_Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_, p. 5). In the Bocage of Normandy,
also, wool is clipped during the waning of the moon; otherwise moths
would get into it (J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_,
Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887, ii. 12).

348 Father Lejeune, “Dans la forêt,” _Missions Catholiques_, xxvii.
(1895) p. 272.

349 S. Johnson, _Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_ (Baltimore,
1810), p. 183.

350 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland_, p. 306.

351 Thomas Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, New Edition
(London, 1812), p. 107 (under February).

352 Fairweather, in W. F. Owen’s _Narrative of Voyages to explore the
Shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar_ (London, 1833), ii. 396
_sq._

353 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,3 § 65, p. 58; J. Lecœur,
_loc. cit._; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus
Schwaben_, p. 511, § 422; Th. Siebs, “Das Saterland,” _Zeitschrift
für Volkskunde_, iii. (1893) p. 278; Holzmayer, _op. cit._ p. 47.

354 H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London,
1875-1876), ii. 719 _sq._

355 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 402.

M110 The phases of the moon in relation to the felling of timber.

356 Cato, _De agri cultura_, 37. 4; Varro, _Rerum Rusticarum_, i. 37;
Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 190; Palladius, _De re rustica_, ii. 22,
xii. 15; Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._ iii. 10. 3; Macrobius,
_Saturn._ vii. 16; A. Wuttke, _l.c._; _Bavaria, Landes- und
Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iv. 2, p. 402; W. Kolbe,
_Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_2 (Marburg, 1888), p. 58; L.
F. Sauvé, _Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_, p. 5; F. Chapiseau,
_Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_, i. 291 _sq._; M. Martin,
“Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,” in J. Pinkerton’s
_Voyages and Travels_, iii. 630; J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and
Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_, p. 306; G.
Amalfi, _Tradizioni ed Usi nella peninsola Sorrentina_ (Palermo,
1890), p. 87; K. von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern
Zentral-Brasiliens_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 559. Compare F. de Castelnau,
_Expédition dans les parties centrales de l’Amérique du Sud_ (Paris,
1851-1852), iii. 438. Pliny, while he says that the period from the
twentieth to the thirtieth day of the lunar month was the season
generally recommended, adds that the best time of all, according to
universal opinion, was the interlunar day, between the old and the
new moon, when the planet is invisible through being in conjunction
with the sun.

357 J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 11 _sq._

358 Mrs. Leslie Milne, _Shans at Home_ (London, 1910), p. 100.

359 Letter of Mr. A. S. F. Marshall, dated Hacienda “La Maronna,” Cd.
Porfirio Diaz, Coah., Mexico, 2nd October 1908. The writer gives
instances confirmatory of this belief. I have to thank Professor A.
C. Seward of Cambridge for kindly showing me this letter.

360 Letter of Mr. Francis S. Schloss to me, dated 58 New Cavendish
Street, W., 12th May 1912. Mr. Schloss adds that “as a matter of
practical observation, timber, etc., should only be felled when the
moon is waning. This has been stated to me not only by natives, but
also by English mining engineers of high repute, who have done work
in Colombia.”

361 O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1891), p.
125.

362 Montanus, _Die deutsche Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher
Volksglaube_, p. 128.

M111 The moon regarded as the source of moisture.

363 Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._ iii. 10. 3; Macrobius, _Saturn._ vii.
16. See further, W. H. Roscher, _Über Selene und Verwandtes_
(Leipsic, 1890), pp. 49 _sqq._

364 Plutarch and Macrobius, _ll.cc._; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 223, xx.
1; Aristotle, _Problemata_, xxiv. 14, p. 937 B, 3 _sq._ ed. I.
Bekker (Berlin).

365 Macrobius and Plutarch, _ll.cc._

366 L. F. Sauvé, _Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_, p. 5.

367 Above, p. 136.

368 M. Martin, “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,” in J.
Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 630.

M112 The moon, being viewed as the cause of vegetable growth, is
naturally worshipped by agricultural peoples.

369 E. J. Payne, _History of the New World called America_, i. (Oxford,
1892) p. 495. In his remarks on the origin of moon-worship this
learned and philosophical historian has indicated (_op. cit._ i. 493
_sqq._) the true causes which lead primitive man to trace the growth
of plants to the influence of the moon. Compare Sir E. B. Tylor,
_Primitive Culture_2 (London, 1873), i. 130. Payne suggests that the
custom of naming the months after the principal natural products
that ripen in them may have contributed to the same result. The
custom is certainly very common among savages, as I hope to show
elsewhere, but whether it has contributed to foster the fallacy in
question seems doubtful.

The Indians of Brazil are said to pay more attention to the moon
than to the sun, regarding it as a source both of good and ill. See
J. B. von Spix und C. F. von Martius, _Reise in Brasilien_ (Munich,
1823-1831), i. 379. The natives of Mori, a district of Central
Celebes, believe that the rice-spirit Omonga lives in the moon and
eats up the rice in the granary if he is not treated with due
respect. See A. C. Kruijt, “Eenige ethnografische aanteekeningen
omtrent de Toboengkoe en de Tomori,” _Mededeelingen van wege het
Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xliv. (1900) p. 231.

370 E. A. Budge, _Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, on
recently-discovered inscriptions of this King_, pp. 5 _sq._; A. H.
Sayce, _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_, p. 155; M. Jastrow,
_Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, pp. 68 _sq._, 75 _sq._; L. W.
King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_ (London, 1899), pp. 17
_sq._ The Ahts of Vancouver Island, a tribe of fishers and hunters,
view the moon as the husband of the sun and as a more powerful deity
than her (G. M. Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, London,
1868, p. 206).

M113 Thus Osiris, the old corn-god, was afterwards identified with the
moon.
M114 The doctrine of lunar sympathy.
M115 Theory that all things wax or wane with the moon. The ceremonies
observed at new moon are often magical rather than religious, being
intended to renew sympathetically the life of man.

371 This principle is clearly recognized and well illustrated by J.
Grimm (_Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 594-596).

372 D. F. A. Hervey, “The Mentra Traditions,” _Journal of the Straits
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 10 (Singapore, 1883), p.
190; W. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, _Pagan Races of the Malay
Peninsula_ (London, 1906), ii. 337.

373 Rev. J. Grant (parish minister of Kirkmichael), in Sir John
Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1791-1799),
xii. 457.

374 A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Nord-deutsche Sagen, Märchen und
Gebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 457, § 419.

375 Tacitus, _Germania_, 11.

376 Caesar, _De bello Gallico_, i. 50.

377 Herodotus, vi. 106; Lucian, _De astrologia_, 25; Pausanias, i. 28.
4.

378 Thucydides, vii. 50.

379 Le capitaine Binger, _Du Niger au Golfe de Guinée_ (Paris, 1892),
ii. 116.

380 Mungo Park, _Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa_5 (London,
1807), pp. 406 _sq._

381 W. Smythe and F. Lowe, _Narrative of a Journey from Lima to Para_
(London, 1836), p. 230.

382 Father G. Boscana, “Chinig-chinich,” in _Life in California, by an
American_ [A. Robinson] (New York, 1846), pp. 298 _sq._

383 Merolla, “Voyage to Congo,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_,
xvi. 273.

384 H. Schinz, _Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika_ (Oldenburg and Leipsic, N.D.),
p. 319.

385 A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), p. 274.

386 H. Cole, “Notes on the Wagogo of German East Africa,” _Journal of
the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 330.

387 John H. Weeks, _Among Congo Cannibals_ (London, 1913), p. 142.

388 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and
Leipsic, 1841), ii. 279. Compare Boecler-Kreutzwald, _Der Ehsten
abergläubische Gebräuche, Weisen und Gewohnheiten_ (St. Petersburg,
1854), pp. 142 _sq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 595,
note 1. The power of regeneration ascribed to the moon in these
customs is sometimes attributed to the sun. Thus it is said that the
Chiriguanos Indians of South-Eastern Bolivia often address the sun
as follows: “Thou art born and disappearest every day, only to
revive always young. Cause that it may be so with me.” See A.
Thouar, _Explorations dans l’Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1891), p. 50.

389 W. Woodville Rockhill, “Notes on some of the Laws, Customs, and
Superstitions of Korea,” _The American Anthropologist_, iv.
(Washington, 1891), p. 185.

M116 Attempts to eat or drink the moonlight.

390 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India_
(Westminster, 1896), i. 14 _sq._

M117 The supposed influence of moonlight on children: presentation of
infants to the new moon.

391 George Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), p.
37.

392 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 58.

393 Henri A. Junod, _The Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchatel,
1912-1913), i. 51.

M118 Infants presented to the moon by the Guarayos Indians of Bolivia and
the Apinagos Indians of Brazil.

394 A. d’Orbigny, _Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale_, iii. 1re Partie
(Paris and Strasburg, 1844), p. 24.

395 F. de Castelnau, _Expédition dans les parties centrales de
l’Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1850-1851), ii. 31-34.

M119 The presentation of infants to the moon is probably intended to make them grow. M120 Baganda ceremonies at new moon.

396 J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda.” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
pp. 63, 76; _id._, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911) pp. 235 _sq._ In the
former passage the part of the king’s person which is treated with
this ceremony is said to be the placenta, not the navel-string.

M121 Baleful influence supposed to be exercised by the moon on children.

397 M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), p. 49.

398 Plutarch, _Quaestiones Conviviales_, iv. 10. 3. 7.

399 J. B. von Spix und C. F. Ph. von Martius, _Reise in Brasilien_
(Munich, 1823-1831), i. 381, iii. 1186.

400 J. Jamieson, _Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, New Edition
edited by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson (Paisley, 1879-1882), iii.
300 (_s.v._ “Mone”).

M122 Use of the moon to increase money or decrease sickness.

401 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),
ii. 260; P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_,
ii. (Leipsic, 1906) p. 131; W. Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern
Counties of England_ (London, 1879), p. 114; C. S. Burne and G. F.
Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_ (London, 1883), p. 257; W. Gregor,
_Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 151.

402 C. R. Conder, _Heth and Moab_ (London, 1883), p. 286.

403 P. Sébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_
(Paris, 1882), ii. 355.

404 A. Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), p. 387, § 93.

_ 405 Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie_ (Chemnitz, 1759), p. 447.

406 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 302. Compare J.
Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 596.

407 R. F. Kaindl, “Zauberglaube bei den Huzulen,” _Globus_, lxxvi.
(1899) p. 256.

M123 Osiris personated by the king of Egypt.

408 See above, vol. i. pp. 16 _sq._, 48 _sqq._, 110, 114, 170 _sq._, 172
_sqq._, 176 _sqq._, 179 _sqq._, 285 _sqq._, 288 _sqq._

409 See above, pp. 97 _sq._, 101 _sq._

M124 The Sed festival celebrated in Egypt at intervals of thirty years.

410 A. Moret, _Du caractère religieux de la royauté Pharaonique_ (Paris,
1902), pp. 235-238. The festival is discussed at length by M. Moret
(_op. cit._ pp. 235-273). See further R. Lepsius, _Die Chronologie
der Aegypter_, i. 161-165; Miss M. A. Murray, _The Osireion at
Abydos_, pp. 32-34; W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in Sinai_
(London, 1906), pp. 176-185. In interpreting the festival I follow
Professor Flinders Petrie. That the festival occurred, theoretically
at least, at intervals of thirty years, appears to be
unquestionable; for in the Greek text of the Rosetta Stone Ptolemy
V. is called “lord of periods of thirty years,” and though the
corresponding part of the hieroglyphic text is lost, the demotic
version of the words is “master of the years of the Sed festival.”
See R. Lepsius, _op. cit._ pp. 161 _sq._; W. Dittenberger, _Orientis
Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae_, No. 90, line 2 (vol. i. p. 142); A.
Moret, _op. cit._ 260. However, the kings appear to have sometimes
celebrated the festival at much shorter intervals, so that the dates
of its recurrence cannot safely be used for chronological purposes.
See Ed. Meyer, _Nachträge zur ägyptischen Chronologie_ (Berlin,
1908), pp. 43 _sq._ (_Abhandlungen der königl. Akademie der
Wissenschaften vom Jahre 1907_); _id._, _Geschichte des Altertums_,2
i. 2. pp. xix. 130.

411 This was Letronne’s theory (R. Lepsius, _op. cit._ p. 163).

412 See above, pp. 24 _sqq._, 34 _sqq._

413 This was in substance the theory of Biot (R. Lepsius, _l.c._), and
it is the view of Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie (_Researches in
Sinai_, pp. 176 _sqq._).

414 W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in Sinai_, p. 180.

M125 Intention of the Sed festival to renew the king’s life.

415 A. Moret, _Du caractère religieux de la royauté Pharaonique_, pp.
255 _sq._

M126 The king identified with the dead Osiris at the Sed festival.

416 W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in Sinai_, p. 181.

417 A. Moret, _op. cit._ p. 240; Miss M. A. Murray, _The Osireion at
Abydos_, pp. 33 _sq._, with the slip inserted at p. 33; W. Flinders
Petrie, _op. cit._ p. 184.

418 A. Moret, _op. cit._ p. 242.

419 Miss M. A. Murray, _op. cit._, slip inserted at p. 33.

420 W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in Sinai_, p. 183.

421 W. M. Flinders Petrie, _l.c._ As to the king’s name (Khent instead
of Zer) see above, p. 20, note 1.

422 J. Capart, “Bulletin critique des religions de l’Égypte,” _Revue de
l’Histoire des Religions_, liii. (1906) pp. 332-334. I have to thank
Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie for calling my attention to this
passage.

M127 Professor Flinders Petrie’s explanation of the Sed festival.

423 W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Researches in Sinai_, p. 185. As to the
Coptic mock-king see C. B. Klunzinger, _Bilder aus Oberägypten, der
Wüste und dem Rothen Meere_ (Stuttgart, 1877), pp. 180 _sq._; _The
Dying God_, pp. 151 _sq._ For examples of human sacrifices offered
to prolong the lives of kings see below, vol. ii. pp. 219 _sqq._

M128 Alexandre Moret’s theory that at the Sed festivals the king was
supposed to die and to be born again.

424 A. Moret, _Mystères Égyptiens_ (Paris, 1913), pp. 187-190. For a
detailed account of the Egyptian evidence, monumental and
inscriptional, on which M. Moret bases his view of the king’s
rebirth by deputy from the hide of a sacrificed animal, see pp. 16
_sqq._, 72 _sqq._ of the same work. Compare his article, “Du
sacrifice en Égypte,” _Revue de l’Histoire des Religions_, lvii.
(1908) pp. 93 _sqq._ In support of the view that the king of Egypt
was deemed to be born again at the Sed festival it has been pointed
out that on these solemn occasions, as we learn from the monuments,
there was carried before the king on a pole an object shaped like a
placenta, a part of the human body which many savage or barbarous
peoples regard as the twin brother or sister of the new-born child.
See C. G. Seligmann and Margaret A. Murray, “Note upon an early
Egyptian standard,” _Man_, xi. (1911) pp. 165-171. The object which
these writers take to represent a human placenta is interpreted by
M. Alexandre Moret as the likeness of a human embryo. As to the
belief that the afterbirth is a twin brother or sister of the
infant, see above, vol. i. p. 93, and below, pp. 169 _sq._; _The
Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 82 _sqq._

Professor J. H. Breasted thinks that the Sed festival is probably
“the oldest religious feast of which any trace has been preserved in
Egypt”; he admits that on these occasions “the king assumed the
costume and insignia of Osiris, and undoubtedly impersonated him,”
and further that “one of the ceremonies of this feast symbolized the
resurrection of Osiris”; but he considers that the significance of
the festival is as yet obscure. See J. H. Breasted, _Development of
Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_ (London, 1912), p. 39.

M129 Osiris personated by the king of Egypt.
M130 How did the conception of Osiris as a god of vegetation and of the
dead originate?
M131 While Adonis and Attis were subordinate figures in their respective
pantheons, Osiris was the greatest and most popular god of Egypt.
M132 The personal devotion of the Egyptians to Osiris suggests that he
may have been a real man; for all the permanent religious or
semi-religious systems of the world have been founded by individual
great men.
M133 The historical reality of Osiris as an old king of Egypt can be
supported by modern African analogies.

425 It is maintained by the discoverer of the tomb of Osiris at Abydos,
Monsieur E. Amélineau, in his work _Le Tombeau d’Osiris_ (Paris,
1899) and by Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge in his elaborate treatise
_Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection_, in which the author pays
much attention to analogies drawn from the religion and customs of
modern African tribes.

426 G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des Peuples de l’Orient Classique_,
i. 43 _sqq._; J. H. Breasted, _History of the Ancient Egyptians_,
pp. 29 _sq._; Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_,2 i. 2. pp. 41
_sqq._ The affinity of the Egyptian language to the Semitic family
of speech seems now to be admitted even by historians who maintain
the African origin of the Egyptians.

M134 The spirits of dead kings worshipped by the Shilluks of the White
Nile. Sacrifices to the dead kings.

_ 427 The Dying God_, pp. 17 _sqq._ The information there given was
kindly supplied by Dr. C. G. Seligmann, who has since published it
with fuller details. See C. G. Seligmann, _The Cult of Nyakang and
the Divine Kings of the Shilluk_ (Khartoum, 1911), pp. 216-232
(reprint from _Fourth Report of the Wellcome Tropical Research
Laboratories, Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum_); W. Hofmayr,
“Religion der Schilluk,” _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 120-131;
Diedrich Westermann, _The Shilluk People, their Language and
Folk-lore_ (Berlin, preface dated 1912), pp. xxxix. _sqq._ In what
follows I have drawn on all these authorities.

M135 Worship of Nyakang, the first of the Shilluk kings.

428 C. G. Seligmann, _The Cult of Nyakang_, p. 221.

429 D. Westermann, _The Shilluk People_, p. xlii.

430 D. Westermann, _l.c._

M136 The spirit of Nyakang supposed to manifest itself in certain
animals.

431 W. Hofmayr, “Religion der Schilluk,” _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 123
_sq._; C. G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ p. 230; D. Westermann, _op. cit._
p. xliii.

432 C. G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ pp. 229 _sq._

433 W. Hofmayr, _op. cit._ p. 125.

M137 The deified Nyakang seems to have been a real man. Relation of
Nyakang to the creator Juok.

434 W. Hofmayr, _op. cit._ p. 123. This writer spells the name of the
deified king as Nykang. I have adopted Dr. Seligmann’s spelling.

435 Diederich Westermann, _The Shilluk People, their Language and
Folklore_ (Berlin, preface dated 1912), pp. xlii, xliii. Mr.
Westermann gives the names of the demi-god and the god as Nyikang
and Jwok respectively. For the sake of uniformity I have altered
them to Nyakang and Juok, the forms adopted by Dr. C. G. Seligmann.

436 C. G. Seligmann, _The Cult of Nyakang and the Divine Kings of the
Shilluk_ (Khartoum, 1911), p. 220.

437 C. G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ p. 231.

M138 The belief in the former humanity of Nyakang is confirmed by the
analogy of his worship to that of the dead Shilluk kings.

438 W. Hofmayr, _op. cit._ p. 125. “It must be remembered that the due
growth of the crops, _i.e._ of the most important part of the
vegetable world, depends on the well-being of the divine king” (C.
G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ p. 229).

439 C. G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ p. 227.

M139 Comparison of Nyakang with Osiris. M140 The spirits of dead kings worshipped by the Baganda of Central Africa.

440 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 283.

441 Rev. J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ pp. 113, 282.

442 Rev. J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ pp. 110, 282, 285.

443 Rev. J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ pp. 104, 252 _sq._; L. F. Cunningham,
_Uganda and its People_ (London, 1905), p. 226.

M141 Tombs of the dead kings of Uganda.

444 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, pp. 104-107, _id._, “Notes on the
Manners and Customs of the Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxxi. (1901) p. 129; _id._, “Further Notes on the
Manners and Customs of the Baganda,” _ibid._, xxxii. (1902) pp. 44
_sq._ Compare L. F. Cunningham, _Uganda and its People_ (London,
1905), pp. 224, 226.

M142 Ghosts of the dead kings of Uganda supposed to adhere to their lower
jawbones and their navel-strings, which are accordingly preserved in
temples dedicated to the worship of the kings.

445 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, pp. 109 _sq._

446 Above, p. 147.

447 Rev. J. Roscoe, “Kibuka, the War God of the Baganda,” _Man_, vii.
(1907) pp. 164 _sq._; _id._, _The Baganda_, pp. 235 _sq._

M143 The temples of the dead kings of Uganda.

448 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, pp. 110-112, 283 _sq._

449 Rev. J. Roscoe, “Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) pp. 129
_sq._; _id._, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _ibid._, xxxii. (1902) p. 45.

M144 Oracles given by the dead kings of Uganda by the mouth of an
inspired prophet.

450 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 283.

451 Rev. J. Roscoe, “Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) p. 130;
_id._, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,”
_ibid._, xxxii. (1902) p. 46; _id._, _The Baganda_, pp. 283-285.

M145 Visit paid by the living king to the temple of his dead father.
Human victims sacrificed in order that their ghosts might serve the
ghost of the dead king.

452 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, pp. 112, 284.

453 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 112. It may be worth while to
quote an early notice of the worship of the Kings of Uganda. See C.
T. Wilson and R. W. Felkin, _Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan_
(London, 1882), i. 208: “The former kings of the country appear also
to be regarded as demi-gods, and their graves are kept with
religious care, and houses are erected over them, which are under
the constant supervision of one of the principal chiefs of the
country, and where human sacrifices are also occasionally offered.”
The graves here spoken of are no doubt the temples in which the
jawbones and navel-strings of the dead kings are kept and
worshipped.

M146 The souls of dead kings worshipped in Kiziba.

454 Hermann Rehse, _Kiziba, Land und Leute_ (Stuttgart, 1910), pp. 4-7,
106 _sqq._, 121, 125 _sqq._, 130. Among the totems of the people are
the long-tailed monkey (_Cercopithecus_), a small species of
antelope, the locust, the hippopotamus, the buffalo, the otter,
dappled cows, and the hearts of all animals. The members of the clan
which is charged with the duty of burying the king’s body have for
their totem the remains of a goat that has been killed by a leopard.
See H. Rehse, _op. cit._ pp. 5 _sq._

M147 The worship of ancestral spirits among the Bantu tribes of Northern
Rhodesia.

455 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of Northern
Rhodesia_ (London, 1911), pp. 80 _sq._

456 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of Northern
Rhodesia_, pp. 82 _sq._

457 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _op. cit._ pp. 84 _sq._

M148 The worship of ancestral spirits is apparently the main practical
religion of all the Bantu tribes.
M149 The worship of ancestral spirits among the Bantu tribes of South
Africa.

458 Rev. James Macdonald, “Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and
Religions of South African Tribes,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xix. (1890) p. 286. Compare _id._, _Light in Africa_2
(London, 1890), p. 191.

459 G. McCall Theal, _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, vii. (1901) pp.
399 _sq._ With regard to the ghost who controls lightning see Mr.
Warner’s notes in Col. Maclean’s _Compendium of Kafir Laws and
Customs_ (Cape Town, 1866), pp. 82 _sq._: “The Kafirs have strange
notions respecting the lightning. They consider that it is governed
by the _umshologu_, or ghost, of the greatest and most renowned of
their departed chiefs; and who is emphatically styled the _inkosi_;
but they are not at all clear as to which of their ancestors is
intended by this designation. Hence they allow of no lamentation
being made for a person killed by lightning; as they say that it
would be a sign of disloyalty to lament for one whom the _inkosi_
had sent for, and whose services he consequently needed; and it
would cause him to punish them, by making the lightning again to
descend and do them another injury.”

460 G. McCall Theal, _op. cit._ vii. 400.

M150 Sacrifices to the dead among the Bantu tribes of South Africa.

461 Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), pp. 88-91.

M151 Worship of the dead among the Basutos.

462 Rev. E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), pp. 248-250.

M152 Worship of the dead among the Thonga.

463 Henri A. Junod, _The Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchâtel,
1912-1913), ii. 347.

464 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 385.

465 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 344.

466 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 385.

467 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 348 _sq._

468 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 341.

469 H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 346.

M153 Sacrifices to dead chiefs among the Basutos and Bechuanas.

470 A. Merensky, _Beiträge zur Kenntnis Süd-Afrikas_ (Berlin, 1875), p.
130.

M154 Worship of the dead among the Zulus.

471 Rev. H. Callaway, _The Religious System of the Amazulu_, i. (Natal,
Springvale, etc., 1868) pp. 1 _sq._

472 Rev. Joseph Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country_
(London, 1857), p. 159.

473 Rev. J. Shooter, _op. cit._ p. 161.

M155 Sacrifices and prayers to the dead among the Zulus.

474 Rev. Lewis Grout, _Zulu-land, or Life among the Zulu-Kafirs_
(Philadelphia, N.D.), pp. 137, 143-145.

M156 A native Zulu account of the worship of the dead.

475 “That is, they suggest to the Itongo [ancestral spirit, singular of
Amatongo], by whose ill-will or want of care they are afflicted,
that if they should all die in consequence, and thus his worshippers
come to an end, he would have none to worship him; and therefore for
his own sake, as well as for theirs, he had better preserve his
people, that there may be a village for him to enter, and meat of
the sacrifices for him to eat.”

476 Rev. Henry Callaway, _The Religious System of the Amazulu_, Part
ii., _Amatongo or Ancestor Worship as existing among the Amazulu, in
their own words, with a translation into English_ (Natal,
Springvale, etc., 1869), pp. 144-146.

M157 The worship of the dead among the Herero of German South-West
Africa. Ancestral spirits (_Ovakuru_) worshipped by the Herero.

477 Missionar J. Irle, _Die Herero, ein Beitrag zur Landes- Volks- und
Missionskunde_ (Gütersloh, 1906), pp. 72 _sq._

478 J. Irle, _op. cit._ p. 73.

_ 479 Ovakuru_, the plural form of _Mukuru_.

480 J. Irle, _op. cit._ p. 74.

481 J. Irle, _op. cit._ p. 75. The writer tells us (_l.c._) that the
Herero name for the good celestial God, whom they acknowledge but do
not worship, is common, in different forms, to almost all the Bantu
tribes. Among the Ovambo it is Kalunga; among tribes of Loango, the
Congo, Angola and Benguela it is Zambi, Njambi, Ambi, Njame, Onjame,
Ngambe, Nsambi; in the Cameroons it is Nzambi, etc. Compare John H.
Weeks, _Among Congo Cannibals_ (London, 1913), pp. 246 _sq._: “We
have found a vague knowledge of a Supreme Being, and a belief in
Him, very general among those tribes on the Congo with which we have
come into contact.... On the Lower Congo He is called _Nzambi_, or
by His fuller title _Nzambi a mpungu_; no satisfactory root word has
yet been found for _Nzambi_, but for _mpungu_ there are sayings and
proverbs that clearly indicate its meaning as, most of all, supreme,
highest, and _Nzambi a mpungu_ as the Being most High, or Supreme.
On the Upper Congo among the Bobangi folk the word used for the
Supreme Being is _Nyambe_; among the Lulanga people, _Nzakomba_;
among the Boloki, _Njambe_; among the Bopoto people it is
_Libanza_.... It is interesting to note that the most common name
for the Supreme Being on the Congo is also known, in one form or
another, over an extensive area of Africa reaching from 6° north of
the Equator away to extreme South Africa; as, for example, among the
Ashanti it is _Onyame_, at Gaboon it is _Anyambie_, and two thousand
miles away among the Barotse folk it is _Niambe_. These are the
names that stand for a Being who is endowed with strength, wealth,
and wisdom by the natives; and He is also regarded and spoken of by
them as the principal Creator of the world, and the Maker of all
things.... But the Supreme Being is believed by the natives to have
withdrawn Himself to a great distance after performing His creative
works; that He has now little or no concern in mundane affairs; and
apparently no power over spirits and no control over the lives of
men, either to protect them from malignant spirits or to help them
by averting danger. They also consider the Supreme Being (_Nzambi_)
as being so good and kind that there is no need to appease Him by
rites, ceremonies or sacrifices. Hence they never pray to this
Supreme One, they never worship Him, or think of Him as being
interested in the doings of the world and its peoples.”

482 J. Irle, _op. cit._ p. 77. Mr. Irle’s account of the religion of the
Herero or Ovaherero is fully borne out by the testimony of earlier
missionaries among the tribe. See Rev. G. Viehe, “Some Customs of
the Ovaherero” _(South African) Folk-lore Journal_, i. (Cape Town,
1879) pp. 64 _sq._: “The religious customs and ceremonies of the
Ovaherero are all rooted in the presumption that the deceased
continue to live, and that they have a great influence on earth, and
exercise power over the life and death of man. This influence and
power is ascribed especially to those who have been great men, and
who become _Ovakuru_ after death. The numerous religious customs and
ceremonies are a worshipping of the ancestors.” Further, Mr. Viehe
reports that “the Ovaherero have a slight idea of another being
(Supreme being?) which differs greatly from the _Ovakuru_, is
superior to them, and is supposed never to have been a human being.
It is called _Karunga_.... _Karunga_ does only good; whilst the
influence of the _Ovakuru_ is more feared than wished for; and,
therefore, it is not thought necessary to bring sacrifices to
_Karunga_ to guard against his influence.” He is situated so high,
and is so superior to men “that he takes little special notice of
them; and so the Ovaherero, on their part, also trouble themselves
little about this superior being” (_op. cit._ p. 67 note 1). Similar
evidence is given by another missionary as to the belief of the
Herero in a superior god Karunga and their fear and worship of
ancestral spirits. See the Rev. H. Beiderbecke, “Some Religious
Ideas and Customs of the Ovaherero” _(South African) Folk-lore
Journal_, ii. (Cape Town, 1880) pp. 88 _sqq._

M158 The worship of the dead among the Ovambo.

483 Hermann Tönjes, _Ovamboland, Land, Leute, Mission_ (Berlin, 1911),
pp. 193-197.

M159 The worship of the dead among the Wahehe of German East Africa.

484 E. Nigmann, _Die Wahehe_ (Berlin, 1908), pp. 22 _sq._ The writer
does not describe the Wahehe as a Bantu tribe, but from the
characteristic prefixes which they employ to designate the tribe,
individual tribesmen, the country, and so forth (_op. cit._ p. 124)
we may infer that the people belong to the Bantu stock.

485 E. Nigmann, _Die Wahehe_, pp. 23 _sq._

486 E. Nigmann, _op. cit._ p. 35.

487 E. Nigmann, _op. cit._ p. 39.

488 E. Nigmann, _op. cit._ pp. 24 _sqq._, 35 _sqq._

M160 The worship of the dead among the Bahima of Ankole, in Central
Africa.

489 Rev. J. Roscoe, “The Bahima, a Cow Tribe of Enkole,” _Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute_, xxxvii. (1907) pp. 108 _sq._ The
supreme god Lugaba is no doubt the same with the supreme god Rugaba
worshipped by the Bahimas in Kiziba. See above, p. 173. With regard
to the religion of the Baganda the same authority tells us that “the
last, and possibly the most venerated, class of religious objects
were the ghosts of departed relatives. The power of ghosts for good
or evil was incalculable” (_The Baganda_, p. 273).

M161 The worship of dead chiefs or kings among the Bantu tribes of
Northern Rhodesia.

490 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of Northern
Rhodesia_, p. 83.

491 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _op. cit._ p. 11.

492 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _op. cit._ p. 292.

493 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _op. cit._ pp. 294 _sq._

494 J. H. West Sheane, “Wemba Warpaths,” _Journal of the African
Society_, No. xli. (October, 1911) pp. 25 _sq._

M162 Among these tribes the spirits of dead chiefs or kings are thought
sometimes to take bodily possession of men and women or to be
incarnate in animals.

495 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of Northern
Nigeria_, p. 83.

496 C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _op. cit._ p. 84.

M163 Belief of the Barotse in a supreme god Niambe.

497 Eugène Béguin, _Les Ma-rotsé_ (Lausanne and Fontaines, 1903), pp.
118 _sq._

M164 The worship of dead kings among the Barotse.

498 Eugène Béguin, _Les Ba-rotsé_, pp. 120-123. Compare _Totemism and
Exogamy_, iv. 306 _sq._

M165 Thus the worship of dead kings has been an important element in the
religion of many African tribes.
M166 Perhaps some African gods, who are now distinguished from ghosts,
were once dead men.

499 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 271.

500 Rev. J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ pp. 290, 291. In the worship of Mukasa
“the principal ceremony was the annual festival, when the king sent
his presents to the god, to secure a blessing on the crops and on
the people for the year.” (J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ p. 298).

M167 The human remains of Kibuka, the war-god of the Baganda.

501 Rev. J. Roscoe, “Kibuka, the War God of the Baganda,” _Man_, vii.
(1907) pp. 161-166; _id._, _The Baganda_, pp. 301-308. Among the
personal relics of Kibuka kept in his temple were his genital
organs; these also were rescued when the Mohammedans burned down his
temple in the civil wars of 1887-1890. They are now with the rest of
the god’s, or rather the man’s, remains at Cambridge.

M168 Thus it is possible that Osiris and Isis may have been a real king
and queen of Egypt, perhaps identical with King Khent and his queen.

502 This consideration is rightly urged by H. Schäfer as a strong
argument in favour of the antiquity of the tradition which
associated the grave of Osiris with the grave of King Khent. See H.
Schäfer, _Die Mysterien des Osiris in Abydos_ (Leipsic, 1904), pp.
28 _sq._

503 One of the commonest and oldest titles of Osiris was Chent
(Khent)-Ament or Chenti (Khenti)-Amenti, as the name is also
written. It means “Chief of those who are in the West” and refers to
the Egyptian belief that the souls of the dead go westward. See R.
V. Lanzone, _Dizionario di Mitologia Egizia_, p. 727; H. Brugsch,
_Religion und Mythologie der alten Aegypter_, p. 617; A. Erman, _Die
ägyptische Religion_,2 pp. 23, 103 _sq._; J. H. Breasted,
_Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt_, pp. 38, 143
(who spells the name Khenti-Amentiu); E. A. Wallis Budge, _Osiris
and the Egyptian Resurrection_, i. 31 _sq._, 67. “Khenti-Amenti was
one of the oldest gods of Abydos, and was certainly connected with
the dead, being probably the ancient local god of the dead of Abydos
and its neighbourhood. Now, in the Pyramid Texts, which were written
under the VIth dynasty, there are several mentions of Khenti-Amenti,
and in a large number of instances the name is preceded by that of
Osiris. It is quite clear, therefore, that the chief attributes of
the one god must have resembled those of the other, and that Osiris
Khenti-Amenti was assumed to have absorbed the powers of
Khenti-Amenti. In the representations of the two gods which are
found at Abydos there is usually no difference, at least not under
the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties” (E. A. Wallis Budge, _op. cit._ i.
31). However, it would be unsafe to infer that the resemblance
between the name of the god and the name of the king is more than
accidental.

M169 Suggested parallel between Osiris and Charlemagne.

504 W. E. H. Lecky, _History of European Morals from Augustus to
Charlemagne_, Third Edition (London, 1877), ii. 271.

M170 The question of the historical reality of Osiris left open. M171 Essential similarity of Adonis, Attis, and Osiris. M172 The superiority of the goddesses associated with Adonis, Attis, and Osiris points to a system of mother-kin. M173 Mother-kin and father-kin. The Khasis of Assam have mother-kin, and among them goddesses predominate over gods and priestesses over priests.

505 I have adopted the terms “mother-kin” and “father-kin” as less
ambiguous than the terms “mother-right” and “father-right,” which I
formerly employed in the same sense.

_ 506 The Khasis_, by Major P. R. T. Gurdon, I.A., Deputy Commissioner
Eastern Bengal and Assam Commission, and Superintendent of
Ethnography in Assam (London, 1907).

507 “The Khasi saying is, ‘_long jaid na ka kynthei_’ (from the woman
sprang the clan). The Khasis, when reckoning descent, count from the
mother only; they speak of a family of brothers and sisters, who are
the great grandchildren of one great grandmother, as _shi kpoh_,
which, being literally translated, is one womb, _i.e._ the issue of
one womb. The man is nobody” (P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_, p. 82).
“All land acquired by inheritance must follow the Khasi law of
entail, by which property descends from the mother to the youngest
daughter, and again from the latter to her youngest daughter.
Ancestral landed property must therefore be always owned by women.
The male members of the family may cultivate such lands, but they
must carry all the produce to the house of their mother, who will
divide it amongst the members of the family” (_op. cit._ p. 88).
“The rule amongst the Khasis is that the youngest daughter ‘holds’
the religion, ‘_ka bat ka niam_.’ Her house is called, ‘_ka iing
seng_,’ and it is here that the members of the family assemble to
witness her performance of the family ceremonies. Hers is,
therefore, the largest share of the family property, because it is
she whose duty it is to perform the family ceremonies, and
propitiate the family ancestors” (_op. cit._ p. 83).

508 Sir C. J. Lyall, in his Introduction to _The Khasis_, by Major P. R.
T. Gurdon, pp. xxiii. _sq._ Sir C. J. Lyall himself lived for many
years among the Khasis and studied their customs. For the details of
the evidence on which his summary is based see especially pp. 63
_sqq._, 68 _sq._, 76, 82 _sqq._, 88, 106 _sqq._, 109 _sqq._, 112
_sq._, 121, 150, of Major Gurdon’s book. As to the Khasi
priestesses, see above, vol. i. p. 46.

M174 Again, the Pelew Islanders have mother-kin, and the deities of their
clans are all goddesses.

509 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_ (Berlin, 1885),
pp. 35 _sq._ The writer calls one of these kins indifferently a
_Familie_ or a _Stamm_.

510 J. S. Kubary, “Die Todtenbestattung auf den Pelau-Inseln,”
_Original-Mittheilungen aus der ethnologischen Abtheilung der
königlichen Museen zu Berlin_, i. (Berlin, 1885) p. 7.

511 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_, p. 40.

512 J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A. Bastian’s _Allerlei aus
Volks- und Menschenkunde_ (Berlin, 1888), i. 20-22. The writer says
that the family or clan gods of the Pelew Islanders are too many to
be enumerated, but he gives as a specimen a list of the family
deities of one particular district (Ngarupesang). Having done so he
observes that they are all goddesses, and he adds that “this is
explained by the importance of the woman for the clan. The deity of
the mother is inherited, that of the father is not” (_op. cit._ p.
22). As he says nothing to indicate that the family deities of this
particular district are exceptional, we may infer, as I have done,
that the deities of all the families or clans are goddesses. Yet a
few pages previously (pp. 16 _sq._) he tells us that a village which
contains twenty families will have at least forty deities, if not
more, “for some houses may have two _kalids_ [deities], and every
house has also a goddess.” This seems to imply that the families or
clans have gods as well as goddesses. The seeming discrepancy is
perhaps to be explained by another statement of the writer that “in
the family only the _kalids_ [deities] of the women count” (“_sich
geltend machen_,” J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der
Pelauer_, p. 38).

513 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_, pp. 33 _sq._,
63; _id._, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A. Bastian’s _Allerlei aus
Volks- und Menschenkunde_, i. 16.

514 J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A. Bastian’s _Allerlei aus
Volks- und Menschenkunde_, i. 15-17, 22, 25-27.

515 From the passages cited in the preceding note it appears that this
was Kubary’s opinion, though he has not stated it explicitly.

516 J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A. Bastian’s _Allerlei aus
Volks- und Menschenkunde_, i. 28 _sq._

M175 This preference for goddesses is to be explained by the importance
of women in the social system of the Pelew Islanders.

517 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_, p. 38. See also
above, p. 204, note 4.

518 J. Kubary, _l.c._

519 See the statement of Kubary quoted in the next paragraph.

520 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_, p. 39.

521 See the statement of Kubary quoted in the next paragraph.

M176 The high position of women in the Pelew Islands has also an
industrial basis; for they alone cultivate the taro, the staple food
of the people.

522 J. S. Kubary, _Ethnographische Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Karolinen
Archipels_ (Leyden, 1895), p. 159. On the importance of the taro or
sweet potato as the staple food of the people, see _ib._ pp. 156
_sq._

M177 Both men and women in the Pelew Islands attain to power by posing as
the inspired mouthpieces of the gods.

523 J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A. Bastian’s _Allerlei aus
Volks- und Menschenkunde_, i. 34.

524 J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A. Bastian’s _Allerlei aus
Volks- und Menschenkunde_, i. 30-35. The author wrote thus in the
year 1883, and his account of the Pelew religion was published in
1888. Compare his work _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_, p.
81. Great changes have probably taken place in the islands since
Kubary wrote.

M178 Parallel between the Pelew Islands of to-day and the religious and
social state of Western Asia and Egypt in antiquity.

525 For some other parallels between the state of society and religion
in these two regions, see Note IV. at the end of the volume.

M179 Mother-kin does not imply that the government is in the hands of
women.

526 Compare E. Stephan und F. Graebner, _Neu-Mecklenburg_ (Berlin,
1907), p. 107 note 1: “It is necessary always to repeat emphatically
that the terms father-right and mother-right indicate simply and
solely the group-membership of the individual and the systems of
relationship which that membership implies, but that they have
nothing at all to do with the higher or lower position of women.
Rather the opposite might be affirmed, namely, that woman is
generally more highly esteemed in places where father-right prevails
than in places where mother-right is the rule.”

M180 The inheritance of property, especially of landed property, through
the mother certainly tends to raise the social importance of women,
but this tendency is never carried so far as to subordinate men
politically to women.
M181 Thus while the Khasis and Pelew Islanders have mother-kin, they are
governed by men, not by women.

527 Major P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_, pp. 66-71. The rule of
succession is as follows. A _Siem_, or king, “is succeeded by the
eldest of his uterine brothers; failing such brothers, by the eldest
of his sisters’ sons; failing such nephews, by the eldest of the
sons of his sisters’ daughters; failing such grand-nephews, by the
eldest of the sons of his mother’s sisters; and, failing such first
cousins, by the eldest of his male cousins on the female side, other
than first cousins, those nearest in degree of relationship having
prior claim. If there were no heirs male, as above, he would be
succeeded by the eldest of his uterine sisters; in the absence of
such sisters, by the eldest of his sisters’ daughters; failing such
nieces, by the eldest of the daughters of his sisters’ daughters;
failing such grand-nieces, by the eldest of the daughters of his
mother’s sisters; and failing such first cousins, by the eldest of
his female cousins on the female side, other than first cousins,
those nearest in degree of relationship having prior claim. A female
_Siem_ would be succeeded by her eldest son, and so on” (_op. cit._
p. 71). The rule illustrates the logical precision with which the
system of mother-kin is carried out by these people even when the
intention is actually to exclude women from power.

528 J. Kubary, _Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer_, pp. 35, 39
_sq._, 73-83. See also above, pp. 204 _sq._

529 R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesians_ (Oxford, 1891), p. 34.

M182 The theory of a gynaecocracy and of the predominance of the female
imagination in religion is an idle dream.

530 See A. H. Post, _Afrikanische Jurisprudenz_ (Oldenburg and Leipsic,
1887), i. 140 _sq._ Captain W. Gill reports that the Su-Mu, a
Man-Tzŭ tribe in Southern China numbering some three and a half
millions, is always ruled by a queen (_The River of Golden Sand_,
London, 1880, i. 365). But Capt. Gill was not nearer to the tribe
than a six days’ journey; and even if his report is correct we may
suppose that the real power is exercised by men, just as it is in
the solitary Khasi tribe which is nominally governed by a woman.

M183 But mother-kin is a solid fact, which can hardly have failed to
modify the religion of the peoples who practise it.

531 The theory, or at all events the latter part of it, has been
carefully examined by Dr. L. R. Farnell; and if, as I apprehend, he
rejects it, I agree with him. See his article “Sociological
Hypotheses concerning the position of Women in Ancient Religion,”
_Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, vii. (1904) pp. 70-94; his
_Cults of the Greek States_ (Oxford, 1896-1909), iii. 109 _sqq._;
and _The Hibbert Journal_, April 1907, p. 690. But I differ from
him, it seems, in thinking that mother-kin is favourable to the
growth of mother goddesses.

M184 Mother-kin and mother-goddesses in Western Asia.