Chapter VIII: The Saturnalia and Kindred Festivals (11)

689 Diego Duran, _Historia de las Indias de Nueva España_ (Mexico,
1867-1880), ii. 179-184. This remarkable festival appears not to be
noticed by the other early Spanish writers such as Sahagun, Acosta,
and Torquemada, who have given us detailed descriptions of the
Mexican festivals. It might perhaps have been conjectured that Duran
was here describing the similar festival of the Mother of the Gods
(see above, pp. 288 _sqq._), which fell about the same time of the
year. But the conjecture is excluded by the simple fact that Duran
describes both festivals, the one immediately after the other,
assigning as their dates the fifteenth and sixteenth of September
respectively (_op. cit._ ii. 180, 185 _sq._). Almost nothing is
known about Duran except that he was a Spanish monk, apparently a
native of Mexico, who had weak health and died in 1588. His work
remained in manuscript till it was edited at Mexico in 1867-1880 by
José F. Ramirez. The original manuscript is preserved in the
Natìonal Library at Madrid. The accounts contained in his history
bear internal marks of authenticity and are in general supported by
the independent testimony of the other early Spanish authorities.

M227 Identification of the human victim with the Goddess of Maize whom
she personated.

_ 690 Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 236 _sqq._

M228 The resurrection of the Maize Goddess set forth by the wearing of
the skin of her human representative.
M229 Xipe, the Flayed God, and the Mexican festival of the Flaying of
Men.
M230 The human shambles. The holy beggars clad in the skins of the flayed
human victims.
M231 Various Mexican gods personated by the men clad in the skins of the
human victims.

691 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la Nouvelle
Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon (Paris, 1880), pp.
37 _sq._, 58-60, 87-94, 584 _sq._; E. Seler, _Altmexikanische
Studien_, ii. (Berlin, 1899) pp. 76-100, 171-188 (the latter passage
gives the Aztec text of Sahagun’s account with a German
translation); Diego Duran, _Historia de las Indias de Nueva España_
(Mexico, 1867-1880), ii. 147-155; J. de Torquemada, _Monarquia
Indiana_, lib. x. cap. 11, vol. ii. pp. 252 _sq._ (Madrid, 1723).
Compare F. S. Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, translated by C.
Cullen, Second Edition (London, 1807), i. 297 _sq._; Brasseur de
Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de
l’Amérique-Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 503 _sq._; H. H.
Bancroft, _The Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London,
1875-1876), ii. 306 _sqq._ According to Torquemada, the prisoners
were flayed alive, but this statement is not, so far as I know,
supported by the other early Spanish authorities. It is Duran who
gives the 20th of March as the date of the festival at which the
captives were killed and skinned; but this is inconsistent with the
evidence of Sahagun, according to whom the second Aztec month, in
which the festival fell, ended with the 13th of March. See B. de
Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_, p.
51.

M232 Men roasted alive as images of the Fire-god.

692 J. de Torquemada, _Monarquia Indiana_, lib. x. cap. 30, vol. ii. pp.
285 _sq._ (Mexico, 1723); B. de Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des
Choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R.
Simeon (Paris, 1880), pp. 164 _sq._ The latter writer does not
describe the mode in which the victims were sacrificed at this
quadriennial festival; but he describes as in the text the annual
sacrifice of victims in honour of the fire-god in the tenth month of
the Mexican year (_op. cit._ pp. 67 _sq._, 129 _sqq._). Compare F.
S. Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, translated by C. Cullen, Second
Edition (London, 1807), i. 306 _sq._; H. H. Bancroft, _The Native
Races of the Pacific States_, ii. 329 _sq._

M233 Women flayed in honour of the Fire-god and their skins worn by men
who personated gods.

693 J. de Torquemada, _Monarquia Indiana_, lib. x. cap. 30, vol. ii. p.
286 (Madrid, 1723). Compare F. S. Clavigero, _History of Mexico_,
translated by C. Cullen, Second Edition (London, 1807), i. 283
_sq._; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nations civilisées du
Mexique et de l’Amérique-Centrale_, iii. 539 _sq._

M234 The personation of a god by a man wearing the skin of a human victim
is probably intended to represent and ensure the resurrection of the
deity. The idea of resurrection from the dead is suggested by the
observation of snakes and other creatures that cast their skins.

694 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la Nouvelle
Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon, pp. 37, 93; E.
Seler, _Altmexikanische Studien_, ii. (Berlin. 1889) pp. 96, 185
(quoting the Aztec text of Sahagun).

695 R. Schomburgk, _Reisen in Britisch-Guiana_ (Leipsic, 1847-1848), ii.
319. I have already noticed this and the following stories of the
origin of death in _The Belief in Immortality_, i. 69 _sqq._

696 R. Schomburgk, _op. cit._ ii. 320.

M235 Savage notion that men would have been immortal, if only they could
have cast their skins like serpents and crabs.

697 A. Landes, “Contes et Légendes Annamites,” _Cochinchine française,
Excursions et Reconnaissances_, No. 25 (Saigon, 1886), pp. 108 _sq._

698 H. Sundermann, “Die Insel Nias und die Mission daselbst,”
_Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xi. (1884) p. 451; _id._, _Die
Insel Nias und die Mission daselbst_ (Barmen, 1905), p. 68; E.
Modigliani, _Un Viaggio a Nias_ (Milan, 1890), p. 295; A. Fehr, _Der
Niasser im Leben und Sterben_ (Barmen, 1901), p. 8.

699 P. Kleintitschen, _Die Küstenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel_ (Hiltrup
bei Münster, preface dated Christmas, 1906), p. 334.

700 R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesians_ (Oxford, 1891), pp. 260, 265; W.
Gray, “Some Notes on the Tannese,” _Internationales Archiv für
Ethnographie_, vii. (1894) p. 232. The same story of the origin of
death has been recorded in the Shortlands Islands and among the Kai
of German New Guinea. See C. Ribbe, _Zwei Jahre unter den Kannibalen
der Salomo-Inseln_ (Dresden-Blasowitz, 1903), p. 148; Ch. Keysser,
“Aus dem Leben der Kaileute,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_,
iii. (Berlin, 1911) pp. 161 _sq._ It is also told with some
variations by the natives of the Admiralty Islands. See Josef Meier,
“Mythen und Sagen der Admiralitätsinsulaner,” _Anthropos_, iii.
(1908) p. 193.

701 Miss A. Werner, “Two Galla Legends,” _Man_, xiii. (1913) pp. 90
_sq._

M236 Hence the Mexicans apparently thought that they could renew their
own skins by putting on those of other people.
M237 General conclusion: the custom of putting human beings to death in
the character of gods has prevailed in many parts of the world.

_ 702 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 40 _sqq._, ii. 376
_sqq._

M238 Annual periods of license. The Roman Saturnalia.

703 Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 536-540, _Aen._ viii. 319-327, with the
comments of Servius; Tibullus, i. 3. 35-48; Ovid, _Fasti_, i. 233
_sqq._; Lucian, _Saturnalia_, 7; Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 7. 21-26;
Justin, xliii. 1. 3-5; Aurelius Victor, _Origo gentis Romanae_, 3;
Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Rom._ i. 34. On Saturn and the
Saturnalia see especially L. Preller, _Römische Mythologie_,3 ii. 10
_sqq._ Compare J. Marquardt, _Römische Staatsverwaltung_, iii.2
(Leipsic, 1885) pp. 586 _sqq._; W. Warde Fowler, _The Roman
Festivals of the Period of the Republic_ (London, 1899), pp.
268-273; G. Wissowa, _Religion und Kultus der Römer_2 (Munich,
1912), pp. 204 _sqq._; _id._, in W. H. Roscher’s _Ausführliches
Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, iv. 427 _sqq._ A good
account of the Saturnalia, based on the texts of the classical
writers, is given by Dezobry (_Rome au siècle d’Auguste_,3 iii. 143
_sqq._). The name Saturn seems to be etymologically akin to _satus_
and _satio_, “a sowing” or “planting.” Compare Varro, _De lingua
Latina_, v. 64, “_Ab satu est dictus Saturnus_”; Festus, _s.v._
“Opima spolia,” p. 186 ed. C. O. Müller: “_ipse [Saturnus] agrorum
cultor habetur, nominatus a satu, tenensque falcem effingitur, quae
est insigne agricolae_.” Compare Tertullian, _Ad Nationes_, ii. 12;
Arnobius, _Adversus Nationes_, iv. 9; Augustine, _De civitate Dei_,
vii. 2, 3, 13, 15, 18, 19. The god’s name appears in the form
Saeturnus inscribed on an ancient bowl (H. Dessau, _Inscriptiones
Latinae Selectae_, vol. ii. pars i. p. 2, No. 2966).

704 Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Ant. Rom._ i. 38; Macrobius, _Saturn._
i. 7. 31; Lactantius, _Divin. Inst._ i. 21; Arnobius, _Adversus
Nationes_, ii. 68.

705 For the general dissipation of the Saturnalia see Seneca, _Epist._
18; for the seven days of the popular festival see Martial, xiv. 72.
2; Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 10. 2; Lucian, _Saturnalia_, 21.

M239 The license granted to slaves at the Saturnalia. The mock King of
the Saturnalia.

706 Horace, _Sat._ ii. 7. 4 _sq._; Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 7. 26;
Justin, xliii. 1. 4; Plutarch, _Sulla_, 18; Lucian, _Saturnalia_, 5,
7; Porphyry, _De antro nympharum_, 23.

707 Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 12. 7, i. 24. 23; Solinus, i. 35; Joannes
Lydus, _De mensibus_, iii. 15; Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 B; Dio
Cassius, lx. 19.

708 Seneca, _Epist._ 47. 14. Compare Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 23.

709 Tacitus, _Annals_, xiii. 15; Arrian, _Epicteti Dissert._ i. 25. 8;
Lucian, _Saturnalia_, 4.

M240 Personation of Saturn at the Saturnalia by a soldier who afterwards
suffered death. The sarcophagus of St. Dasius, the martyr on whom
the lot fell to play the part of Saturn.

710 “Les Actes de S. Dasius,” _Analecta Bollandiana_, xvi. (1897) pp.
5-16. I have to thank Prof. Cumont for courteously sending me a copy
of this important paper. The bearing of the new evidence on the
Saturnalia has been further discussed by Messrs. Parmentier and
Cumont (“Le roi des Saturnales,” _Revue de Philologie_, xxi. (1897)
pp. 143-153).

711 The phrase of the Paris MS. is ambiguous (τοῖς ἀνωνύμοις καὶ
μυσαροῖς εἰδώλοις προσεκόμιζεν ἑαυτὸν σπονδήν, ἀναιρούμενος ὑπὸ
μαχαίρας); but the other two versions say plainly that the mock king
perished by his own hand (μέλλοντα ἑαυτὸν ἐπισφάξαι τῷ βωμῷ τοῦ
Κρόνου, Berlin MS.; ἑαυτὸν ἐπισφάξαι αὐτοχείρως τῷ Κρόνῳ, Milan
MS.).

712 Franz Cumont, “Le tombeau de S. Dasius de Durostorum,” _Analecta
Bollandiana_, xxvii. (Brussels, 1908) pp. 369-372. The inscription
on the sarcophagus runs thus: Ἐνταῦθα κατακεῖται ὁ ἅγιος μάρτυς
Δάσιος ἐνεχθεὶς ἀπὸ Δωροστόλου. The inscription on the altar runs
thus: “_Vetere diruta nobiliorem FF. Karmelitani excalciati aram
extruxerunt subter qua sanctorum martyrum Peregrini Flaviani Dasii
corpora et infantium ab Herode necatorum ossa minus decenter
antiquitus recondita honorificentius et populo spectanda reponi
curaverunt die virgini et matri Theresiae sacro anno MDCCCIV._”

M241 The mock King of the Saturnalia may have been the degenerate
successor of a series of temporary kings who personated Saturn at
the Saturnalia and were put to death in the character of the god.

713 The opinion that at Rome a man used to be sacrificed at the
Saturnalia cannot be regarded as in itself improbable, when we
remember that down apparently to the establishment of Christianity a
human victim was slaughtered every year at Rome in honour of Latian
Jupiter. See Tertullian, _Apologeticus_, 9, _Contra Gnosticos
Scorpiace_, 7; Minucius Felix, _Octavius_, 22 and 30; Lactantius,
_Divin. Instit._ i. 21; Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 56. We may
conjecture that at first the sacrifice took place on the top of the
Alban Mountain, and was offered to Saturn, to whom, as we have seen,
high places were sacred.

M242 The modern Carnival perhaps the equivalent of the ancient
Saturnalia.

_ 714 The Dying God_, pp. 220 _sqq._

M243 The King of the Bean on Twelfth Night. Crosses made by the King of
the Bean to protect the house against demons and witchcraft.

715 Joannes Boemus, _Mores, Leges, et Ritus Omnium Gentium_ (Lyons,
1541), p. 122; _The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written
in Latin verse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe,
1570_, edited by R. C. Hope (London, 1880), pp. 45 _sq._; E.
Pasquier, _Recherches de la France_ (Paris, 1633), pp. 375 _sq._; R.
Herrick, “Twelfth Night, or King and Queene,” _The Works of Robert
Herrick_ (Edinburgh, 1823), ii. 171 _sq._; J. Brand, _Popular
Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1883), i. 21 _sqq._; T. F.
Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp. 24-28;
R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. 61
_sqq._; Desgranges, “Usages du Canton de Bonneval,” _Mémoires de la
Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, i. (Paris, 1817) pp.
233-236; L. Beaulieu, _Archéologie de la Lorraine_ (Paris,
1840-1843), i. 255 _sq._; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_
(Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 23 _sqq._; _id._, _Das festliche Jahr_
(Leipsic, 1863), pp. 20-23; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes
religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 29-50; J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und
Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes_ (Trèves,
1856-1858), i. 6; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du
Centre de la France_ (Paris, 1875), i. 19-29; J. Lecœur, _Esquisses
du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 125; L.
Bonnemère, “Le Jour des Rois en Normandie,” _Revue des Traditions
populaires_, ii. (1887) pp. 55 _sq._; P. Sébillot, “La Fête des
Rois,” _Revue des Traditions populaires_, iii. (1888) pp. 7-12; A.
Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes et Contes des Ardennes_
(Charleville, 1890), pp. 74 _sq._; J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Mœurs
d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 49
_sqq._; L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889),
pp. 16 _sq._; Ch. Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris,
1900), pp. 16 _sq._; F. Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du
Perche_ (Paris, 1902), i. 312-315; Anatole France, “Le roy boit,”
_Annales Politiques et Littéraires_, 5 Janvier, 1902, pp. 4 _sq._;
_La Bresse Louhannaise_, Janvier, 1906, pp. 42-46. The custom of
making white crosses on the ceiling is reported for Germany and
Switzerland, but apparently not for France. It is mentioned in the
earliest of the works cited above, namely that of Joannes Boemus,
whose description applies especially to Franconia (Franken).

716 This I learn from my friend M. Léon Chouville of Rouen and
Cambridge. The custom is also kept up in Bresse (_La Bresse
Louhannaise_, Janvier, 1906, pp. 44-46).

M244 Serious significance of the King of the Bean and Twelfth Night.
Divination on Twelfth Night.

717 L. Beaulieu, _Archéologie de la Lorraine_ (Paris, 1840-1843), i. 256
note 1; E. Cortet, _Essai stir les Fêtes religieuses_ (Paris, 1867),
p. 43.

718 L. F. Sauvé, _op. cit._ pp. 17 _sq._

719 Anatole France, “Le roy boit,” _Annales Politiques et Littéraires_,
5 Janvier, 1902, p. 5. In some parts of France divination was
practised for this purpose on Christmas Day. Twelve grains of wheat,
each representing a month of the year, were placed, one after the
other, on a hot fire-shovel; if the grain bounced up from the
shovel, wheat would be dear in the corresponding month, but it would
be cheap if the grain remained still. See J. B. Thiers, _Traité des
Superstitions_ (Paris, 1679), p. 268. See further P. Sébillot, _Le
Folk-lore de France_, iii. (Paris, 1906) pp. 510 _sq._

M245 Bonfires on the Eve of Twelfth Night. Fire applied to the
fruit-trees on the Eve of Twelfth Night in Normandy and the
Ardennes.

720 Ch. Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 12.

721 J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau,
1883-1887), ii. 126-129. Compare Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie
Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), pp. 295 _sq._;
W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 536 _sqq._

722 A. Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes et Contes des Ardennes_
(Charleville, 1890), pp. 75 _sq._

M246 Fires kindled on Twelfth Night or the Eve of Twelfth Night in
England for the sake of the crops.

723 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_, New Edition
(London, 1883), i. 33. In many parishes of Gloucestershire it used
to be customary on Twelfth Day to light twelve small fires and one
large one (J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 28).

_ 724 The Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. lxi., February, 1791, p. 116. The
article is signed J. W. and dated “Hereford, Jan. 24.” The passage
is quoted, correctly in substance, but with many verbal changes, by
J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_, i. 30 _sq._, and
by (Mrs.) E. M. Leather, _The Folk-lore of Herefordshire_ (Hereford
and London, 1912), p. 93.

M247 One of the fires on Twelfth Day said to be intended “to burn the old
witch.” Parallel custom observed in Macedonia on the Eve of Twelfth
Night.

725 (Mrs.) Ella Mary Leather, _The Folk-lore of Herefordshire_ (Hereford
and London, 1912), pp. 93 _sq._

726 (Mrs.) E. M. Leather, _op. cit._ pp. 94 _sq._

727 See above, pp. 164 _sqq._

728 G. F. Abbott. _Macedonian Folk-lore_ (Cambridge, 1903), pp. 73-75.

729 This opinion is mentioned by (Mrs.) E. M. Leather, _The Folk-lore of
Herefordshire_, p. 95.

M248 Other accounts of the fires on Twelfth Night in England and Ireland.

730 Thomas Pennant, “A Tour in Scotland, 1769,” in John Pinkerton’s
_Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 49.

731 Thomas Hyde, _Historia religionis veterum Persarum_ (Oxford, 1700),
p. 257.

732 Sir Henry Piers, _Description of the County of Westmeath_, quoted by
J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1883), i.
25.

733 H. J. Byrne, “All Hallows Eve and other Festivals in Connaught,”
_Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) p. 439.

M249 Belief of the Germanic peoples that the weather for the twelve
months of the year is determined by the weather of the Twelve Days.

734 C. S. Burne and G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_ (London,
1883), p. 408.

_ 735 The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin verse
by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe, 1570_, edited
by R. C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 46; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen,
Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), p. 473, § 237;
A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau,
1861-1862), i. 468, § 696; A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche
Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 411; A. Kuhn,
_Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic, 1859), ii.
115, § 354; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin,
1869), p. 61, § 74; Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste,
Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 18; M.
Toeppen, _Aberglauben aus Masuren_2 (Danzig, 1867), p. 61; L.
Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_
(Oldenburg, 1867), ii. 29, § 294; August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten
und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_ (Vienna, 1878), p. 175; K. Bartsch,
_Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_ (Vienna, 1880), p.
250, § 1292; Christian Schneller, _Märchen und Sagen aus
Wälschtirol_ (Innsbruck, 1867), p. 231; J. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde
der Siebenbürger Sachsen_ (Vienna, 1885), p. 282; Willibald Müller,
_Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_ (Vienna and
Olmutz, 1893), p. 317; Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im
deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 12; P. Drechsler, _Sitte,
Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 16
_sq._

736 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_
(Stuttgart, 1852), p. 473, § 237; A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus
Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), i. 468, § 696.

737 A. Birlinger, _op. cit._ i. 470.

738 F. J. Vonbun, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Chur, 1862), p.
131; A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, i. 469; Chr.
Schneller, _Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol_ (Innsbruck, 1867), p.
231.

M250 Belief of the Celtic peoples that the weather for the twelve months
of the year is determined by the weather of the Twelve Days.

739 Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau,
1883-1887), ii. 20 _sq._

740 J. Loth, “Les douze jours supplémentaires (_gourdeziou_) des Bretons
et les douze jours des Germains et des Indous,” _Revue Celtique_,
xxiv. (1903) pp. 310 _sq._

741 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 243.

742 Thomas Pennant, “A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides in
1772,” in John Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_ (London,
1808-1814), iii. 384.

M251 The Twelve Nights among the ancient Aryans of India.

_ 743 The Hymns of the Rigveda_, translated by R. T. H. Griffith
(Benares, 1889-1892), book iv. hymn 33, vol. ii. pp. 150 _sqq._; H.
Zimmer, _Altindisches Leben_ (Berlin, 1879), pp. 365-367; A.
Hillebrandt, _Ritual-Litteratur, Vedische Opfer und Zauber_
(Strasburg, 1897), pp. 5 _sq._ However, the Ribhus are very obscure
figures in Vedic mythology. Compare H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des
Veda_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 235 _sq._; A. A. Macdonnell, _Vedic
Mythology_ (Strasburg, 1897), pp. 131 _sqq._

M252 The Twelve Nights are probably an ancient intercalary period
introduced to equate twelve lunar months to the solar year.

744 F. Max Müller, _Lectures on the Science of Language_, Sixth Edition
(London, 1871), i. 6 _sqq._; O. Schrader, _Reallexikon der
indogermanischen Altertumskunde_ (Strasburg, 1901), p. 547; _id._,
_Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte_3 (Jena, 1906-1907), ii. 228.

745 This explanation of the sacredness of the twelve days among the
Indo-European peoples of the East and West is due to A. Weber. See
O. Schrader, _Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde_
(Strasburg, 1901), pp. 391-394; _id._, _Sprachvergleichung und
Urgeschichte_3 (Jena, 1906-1907), ii. 2. pp. 228-234. It is accepted
by J. Loth (in _Revue Celtique_, xxiv. 1903, pp. 311 _sq._),
Professor H. Hirt (_Die Indogermanen_, Strasburg, 1905-1907, ii.
537, 544), Professor J. H. Moulton (_Two Lectures on the Science of
Language_, Cambridge, 1903, pp. 47 _sq._), and J. A. MacCulloch (in
Dr. J. Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. 81
_sq._), but is rejected on what seem to me insufficient grounds by
Professor O. Schrader (_ll.cc._).

_ 746 Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 307 _sqq._

M253 The superstitions attaching to the Twelve Nights are not of
Christian origin.

_ 747 Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie_ (Chemnitz, 1759), pp. 860, 861;
_Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich,
1860-1867), i. 365; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2
(Berlin, 1869), p. 61; P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube
in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 15; A. John, _Sitte, Brauch
und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 11. The
phrase “the Twelve Nights” in the sense of “the Twelve Days and
Nights” is doubtless derived from the ancient Aryan custom of
counting by nights instead of by days and of regarding the period of
the earth’s revolution on its axis as beginning with the night
rather than with the day. See Caesar, _De bello Gallico_, vi. 18;
Tacitus, _Germania_, 11; O. Schrader, _Reallexikon der
indogermanischen Altertumskunde_ (Strasburg, 1901), pp. 844 _sqq._;
J. Loth, “L’Année celtique,” _Revue Celtique_, xxv. (1904) pp. 115
_sqq._ The Athenians reckoned a day from sunset to sunset, and the
Romans reckoned it from midnight to midnight (Censorinus, _De die
natali_, xxiii. 3).

748 A. Tille, _Die Geschichte der deutschen Weihnacht_ (Leipsic, preface
dated 1893), pp. 3 _sq._, 281 _sqq._; O. Schrader, _Reallexikon der
indogermanischen Altertumskunde_ (Strasburg, 1901), p. 392.

749 P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic,
1903-1906), i. 15.

750 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 61, §
74. As to the varying dates of the Twelve Nights see further E.
Mogk, “Mythologie,” in H. Paul’s _Grundriss der germanischen
Philologie_, iii.2 (Strasburg, 1900), p. 260.

751 See above, p. 324.

752 Thus A. Wuttke observes that by far the greater part of the
superstitions attaching to the Twelve Nights are of purely heathen
origin (_Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 p. 61); and K. Weinhold
similarly remarks that the superstitions in question cannot have
originated in Christian dogmas, and that they point to the
sacredness of the winter solstice among the heathen tribes of
Germany (_Weinacht-Spiele und Lieder aus Süddeutschland und
Schlesien_, Vienna, 1875, p. 4).

753 See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 254 _sqq._; and for
Easter in particular see my letter “Attis and Christ,” _The
Athenaeum_, No. 4184, January 4th, 1908, pp. 19 _sq._; Franz Cumont,
_Les Religions orientales dans le Paganisme romain_2 (Paris, 1909),
pp. 106 _sq._, 333 _sq._

M254 An intercalary period a natural subject of superstition to primitive peoples. M255 The Three Kings of Twelfth Night.

754 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1883), i.
21 _sq._; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes religieuses_ (Paris,
1867), pp. 32, 38, 39-42; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_
(Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 21 _sq._, 30 _sq._; _id._, _Fest-Kalender
aus Böhmen_ (Prague, N.D.), p. 18; _id._, _Das festliche Jahr_
(Leipsic, 1863), pp. 23-26; _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des
Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), ii. 262 _sq._; L. F. Sauvé,
_Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 15-18; Ch.
Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), pp. 13-15; _La
Bresse Louhannaise_, Janvier, 1906, p. 42; P. Drechsler, _Sitte,
Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 51; A.
John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_
(Prague, 1905), pp. 32-34; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Bräuche
des Schweizervolkes_ (Zürich, 1913), pp. 104, 121.

755 Matthew ii. 1-12.

756 Ch. Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), pp. 13-16.

757 L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), pp.
15-17. Compare the old Roman cure for the falling sickness (above,
p. 68).

758 O. Freiherr von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_
(Prague, N.D.), pp. 17 _sq._

759 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels, 1861-1862), i.
22. The mere names of the three kings worn on the person were
believed to be a cure for epilepsy. See J. B. Thiers, _Traité des
Superstitions_ (Paris, 1679), pp. 350 _sq._

760 R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. 62,
referring to Warton’s _History of English Poetry_.

M256 The Lord of Misrule in England. Reign of the Lord of Misrule during
the Twelve Days. Lord of Misrule in the Temple.

761 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1883), i.
497 _sqq._; E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i.
403 _sqq._

762 John Stow, _A Survey of London, written in the year 1598_, edited by
William J. Thoms (London, 1876), p. 37.

763 Sir Thomas Urquhart, _The Discovery of a most Exquisite Jewel, more
precious than Diamonds inchased in Gold_ (Edinburgh, 1774), p. 146.

764 J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 499.

765 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1883), i.
497 _sqq._ As to the Lords of Misrule in colleges and the Inns of
Court see further E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_, i. 407
_sqq._

766 Sir Richard Steele, in _The Spectator_, Friday, 14th December 1711.

M257 Lord of Misrule at the English Court.

767 E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_, i. 405-407.

M258 The Festival of Fools in France.

768 L. J. B. Bérenger-Feraud, _Superstitions et Survivances_, iv.
(Paris, 1896) pp. 4 _sq._, quoting Jacob, _Mœurs et Coutumes du
Moyen-Age_. Compare E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes religieuses_
(Paris, 1867), pp. 50 _sqq._ In some places the festival was held on
the octave of Epiphany. See E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_
(Oxford, 1903), i. 323.

769 E. Cortet, _op. cit._ p. 51; Papon, _Histoire Générale de la
Provence_, iii. p. 212, quoted by L. J. B. Bérenger-Feraud, _op.
cit._ iv. 9 _sq._; E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford,
1903), i. 293 _sq._, quoting a circular letter which was addressed
by the Faculty of Theology at Paris to the bishops and chapters of
France on March 12th, 1445. Many details as to the mode of
celebrating the Festival of Fools in different parts of France are
on record. See A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des
Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 293-295; E.
Cortet, _op. cit._ pp. 52 _sqq._; L. J. B. Bérenger-Feraud, _op.
cit._ iv. 5 _sqq._; G. Bilfinger, _Untersuchungen über die
Zeitrechnung der alten Germanen_, ii. _Das germanische Julfest_
(Stuttgart, 1901), pp. 72 _sq._; and especially E. K. Chambers, _The
Mediaeval Stage_, i. 274 _sqq._

M259 Buffooneries in the churches at the Festival of Fools.

770 E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp.
53-56; L. J. B. Bérenger-Feraud, _Superstitions et Survivances_, iv.
28-41; E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i.
330-334. While the Festival of Fools appears to have been most
popular in France, it is known to have been celebrated also in
Germany, Bohemia, and England. See E. K. Chambers, _op. cit._ i. 318
_sqq._ In his youth the Bohemian reformer John Huss took part in
these mummeries. The revellers wore masks. “A clerk, grotesquely
vested, was dubbed ‘bishop,’ set on an ass with his face to the
tail, and led to mass in the church. He was regaled on a platter of
broth and a bowl of beer, and Huss recalls the unseemly revel which
took place. Torches were borne instead of candles, and the clergy
turned their garments inside out and danced” (E. K. Chambers, _op.
cit._ i. 320 _sq._).

M260 Festival of the Innocents and the Boy Bishop in France.

771 E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes religieuses_, p. 58; E. K. Chambers,
_The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i. 317 _sq._, 336 _sqq._
Compare L. J. B. Bérenger-Feraud, _Superstitions et Survivances_,
iv. 25-28. From the evidence collected by the latter writer it
appears that in some places the election of the Boy Bishop took
place on other days than Childermas. At Alençon the election took
place on the sixth of December; at Vienne, in Dauphiné, on the
fifteenth, and at Soissons on St. Thomas’s Day (the twenty-first of
December).

772 This I learn from my wife, who as a girl was educated in the
convent.

M261 The Boy Bishop in England.

773 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1883), i.
421-431; E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i.
352 _sqq._; (Mrs.) Ella Mary Leather, _The Folk-lore of
Herefordshire_ (Hereford and London, 1912), pp. 138 _sq._; _County
Folk-lore_, II. _North Riding of Yorkshire, York and the Ainsty_,
edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), pp. 352 _sq._

774 J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 426.

M262 The customs and superstitions associated with the Twelve Days or
Nights are probably relics of an old heathen festival of
intercalation at midwinter.
M263 Superstitions associated with intercalary periods among the Aztecs
of Mexico and the Mayas of Yucatan.

775 As to the Aztec year see above, p. 287 note 1.

776 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la Nouvelle
Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon (Paris, 1880), pp.
77, 283; E. Seler, “The Mexican Chronology,” in _Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin No. 28_ (Washington, 1904), p. 16 (where some
extracts from the Aztec text of Sahagun are quoted and translated);
J. de Acosta, _Natural and Moral History of the Indies_ (Hakluyt
Society, London, 1880), ii. 392.

777 Diego de Landa, _Relation des Choses de Yucatan_ (Paris, 1864), pp.
204 _sq._, 276 _sq._

M264 The five supplementary days of the year in ancient Egypt.

778 Geminus, _Elementa Astronomiae_, viii. 18, p. 106, ed. C. Manitius
(Leipsic, 1898).

779 G. Foucart, in Dr. J. Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and
Ethics_, iii. (1910) p. 93. Professor Ed. Meyer adduces astronomical
and other grounds for thinking that the ancient Egyptian calendar,
as we know it, began on the 19th of July, 4241 B.C., which
accordingly he calls “the oldest sure date in the history of the
world.” See Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_2, i. 2. (Stuttgart
and Berlin, 1909), pp. 101 _sq._, § 197; and against this view C. F.
Lehmann-Haupt, in the _English Historical Review_, April 1913, p.
348.

780 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 12. Compare Diodorus Siculus, i. 13. 4
_sq._ As to Keb and Nut, the parents of Osiris, Isis, and the rest,
see A. Erman, _Die ägyptische Religion_ (Berlin, 1905), p. 29. The
Egyptian deities Keb, Nut, and Thoth are called by Plutarch by the
Greek names of Cronus, Rhea, and Hermes. On account of these Greek
names the myth was long thought to be of comparatively recent date;
“but the Leyden Papyrus (i. 346) has shown that the legend existed
in its essential features in the time of the Thebans, and the Texts
of the Pyramids have carried it back to the very beginnings of
Egyptian mythology” (G. Foucart, _l.c._). As five days are the
seventy-second, not the seventieth, part of three hundred and sixty
days, it was proposed by Wyttenbach to read τὸ ἑβδομηκοστὸν δεύτερον
instead of τὸ ἑβδομηκοστὸν in Plutarch’s text. See D. Wyttenbachius,
_Animadversiones in Plutarchi Moralia_ (Leipsic, 1820-1834), iii.
143 _sq._

M265 Early attempts of the Aryan peoples to correct the lunar year by
intercalating a month at intervals of several years instead of
intercalating twelve days in every year.

781 H. Zimmer, _Altindisches Leben_ (Berlin, 1879), pp. 365-370. Compare
_The Hymns of the Rigveda_, translated by R. T. H. Griffith
(Benares, 1889-1892), Book i. Hymn 164, stanza 48 (vol. i. p. 293),
Book iii. Hymn 55, stanza 18 (vol. ii. pp. 76 _sq._).

782 J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. J. Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) pp. 78 _sqq._ Compare S. de
Ricci, “Le calendrier Gaulois de Coligny,” _Revue Celtique_, xix.
(1898) pp. 213-223; _id._, “Le calendrier Celtique de Coligny,”
_Revue Celtique_, xxi. (1900) pp. 10-27; _id._, “Un passage
remarquable du calendrier de Coligny,” _Revue Celtique_, xxiv.
(1903) pp. 313-316; J. Loth, “L’année Celtique,” _Revue Celtique_,
xxv. (1904) pp. 113-162; Sir John Rhys, “The Coligny Calendar”,
_Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 207 _sqq._ As
the calendar stands, the number of days in the ordinary year is 355,
not 354, seven of the months having thirty days and five of them
twenty-nine days. But the month Equos has attached to it the sign
ANM, which is attached to all the months of twenty-nine days but to
none of the months of thirty days except Equos, all of which, except
Equos, are marked with the sign MAT. Hence, following a suggestion
of M. S. de Ricci (_Revue Celtique_, xxi. 25), I suppose that the
month Equos had regularly twenty-nine days instead of thirty, and
that the attribution of thirty days to it is an error of the scribe
or mason who engraved the calendar.

In the Coligny calendar the summer solstice seems to be marked by
the word _trinouxtion_ affixed to the seventeenth day of the first
month (Samonios, nearly equivalent to our June). As interpreted by
Sir John Rhys (_op. cit._ p. 217), the word means “a period of three
nights of equal length.” If he is right, it follows that the Celts
who constructed the calendar had observed the summer solstice.

M266 Equivalence of the new intercalary month to the old intercalary
Twelve Days multiplied by two and a half. The intercalary month may
have been a period of license, during which the reins of government
were held by a temporary king.

783 J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. J. Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics_, iii. 79. Compare Sir J. Rhys, “The Coligny Calendar,”
_Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 292 _sq._

M267 The modern Carnival is perhaps the equivalent of the ancient
Saturnalia.

784 We know from Livy (xxii. i. 19 _sq._) that the Saturnalia was
celebrated in December as early as the year 217 B.C.; and in his
learned discussion of the proper date of the festival the antiquary
Macrobius gives no hint that it ever fell at any other time than in
December (_Saturnal._ i. 10). It would be a mistake to infer from
Livy’s account of the Saturnalia in the year 217 B.C. that he
supposed the festival to have been first instituted in that year;
for elsewhere (ii. 21. 1) he tells us that it was established at the
time when the temple of Saturn was dedicated, namely in the year 497
B.C. Macrobius (_Saturn._ i. 8. 1) refers the institution of the
Saturnalia to King Tullus Hostilius. More probably the festival was
of immemorial antiquity.

M268 The Saturnalia may have originally fallen at the end of February,
which would be an appropriate time for a festival of sowing.

785 Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 12. 7; Solinus, i. 35, p. 13 ed. Th. Mommsen
(Berlin, 1864); Joannes Lydus, _De Mensibus_, iii. 15. On the other
hand, we know that the ceremony of renewing the laurels, which
originally took place on the first of March, was long afterwards
transferred to the first of January. See Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 135
_sqq._, and Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 12. 6, compared with
_Geoponica_, xi. 2. 6, where the note of the commentator Niclas may
be consulted. This transference is strictly analogous to the change
which I conjecture to have been made in the date of celebrating the
Saturnalia.

786 Palladius, _De re rustica_, books iii. and iv. _passim._

_ 787 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 137-139.

_ 788 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 136-144, ii. 97
_sqq._

789 Compare C. Lumholtz, _Unknown Mexico_ (London, 1903), ii. 268: “To
the Huichol so closely are corn, deer, and hikuli associated that by
consuming the broth of the deer-meat and the hikuli they think the
same effect is produced—namely, making the corn grow. Therefore when
clearing the fields they eat hikuli before starting the day’s work.”

M269 The Lenten fast in spring may be an old heathen period of abstinence
intended to promote the growth of the seed. Autumnal rites of
mourning and fasting for the sake of the seed.

_ 790 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 104 _sqq._ The
Indians of Santiago Tepehuacan abstain from flesh, eggs, and grease
while they are engaged in sowing cotton and chilis, because they
believe that were they to partake of these viands at that time, the
blossoms would fall and the crop would suffer. See “Lettre du curé
de Santiago Tepehuacan à son évêque sur les mœurs et coutumes des
Indiens,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), Deuxième
Série, ii. (1834) p. 181.

791 In Franche-Comté not only husbands and wives were expected to be
continent from the first Sunday of Lent to the first Sunday after
Easter, but even sweethearts separated during that time, bidding
each other a formal farewell on the first of these days and meeting
again with similar formality on the last. See C. Beauquier, _Les
Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 35. I am informed that the
observance of chastity during Lent is enjoined generally by the
Catholic church. As to its injunction by the Coptic church see F.
Wüstenfeld, _Macrizi’s Geschichte der Copten_ (Göttingen, 1845), p.
84; _Il_ Fetha Nagast, _o Legislazione dei Re, codice ecclesiastico
e civile di Abissinia, tradotto e annotato da_ Ignazio Guidi (Rome,
1899), p. 164.

792 Socrates, _Historia Ecclesiastica_, v. 22; Sozomenus, _Historia
Ecclesiastica_, vii. 19 (Migne, _Patrologia Graeca_, lxvii. coll.
632-636, 1477); W. Smith and S. Cheetham, _Dictionary of Christian
Antiquities_, _s.v._ “Lent,” vol. ii. pp. 972 _sq._; Mgr. L.
Duchesne, _Origines du Culte Chrétien_ (Paris, 1903), pp. 241-243.

793 Firmicus Maternus, _De errore profanarum religionum_, 27.

794 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 69: καὶ γὰρ Ἀθήνῃσι νηστεύουσιν αἱ
γυναῖκες ἐν θεσμοφορίοις χαμαὶ καθήμεναι, καὶ Βοιωτοὶ τὰ τῆς Ἀχαιᾶς
μέγαρα κινοῦσιν, ἐπαχθῆ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐκείνην ὀνομάζοντες, ὡς διὰ τὴν
τῆς Κόρης κάθοδον ἐν ἄχει τῆς Δήμητρος οὕσης. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ μὴν οὗτος
περὶ πλειάδα σπόριμος, ὂν Ἀθὺρ Αἰγύπτιοι, Πυανεψιῶνα δ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι,
Βοιωτοὶ δὲ Δαμάτριον καλοῦσι. As to the festival and the rule of
chastity observed at it, see further _Spirits of the Corn and of the
Wild_, i. 116, ii. 17 _sq._

M270 The Buddhist Lent.

795 H. Fielding, _The Soul of a People_ (London, 1898), pp. 172 _sq._
The orthodox explanation of the custom is that during these three
months the Buddha retired to a monastery. But “the custom was far
older even than that—so old that we do not know how it arose. Its
origin is lost in the mists of far-away time.” Compare C. J. F. S.
Forbes, _British Burma_ (London, 1878), pp. 170 _sq._; Shway Yoe,
_The Burman, his Life and Notions_ (London, 1882), i. 257, 262
_sqq._

M271 Inversion of social ranks at ancient Greek festivals held in Crete,
Troezen, and Thessaly.

796 Athenaeus, xiv. 44 _sq._, pp. 639 B-640 A.

M272 The Greek festival of the Cronia compared to the Roman Saturnalia.
The Olympian Cronia held at the spring equinox.

797 Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 7. 37 and i. 10. 22; Demosthenes, _Or._
xxiv. 26, p. 708. As to the temple of Cronus and Rhea, see
Pausanias, i. 18. 7; Im. Bekker’s _Anecdota Graeca_ (Berlin,
1814-1821), i. p. 273, lines 20 _sq._ That the Attic month
Hecatombaeon was formerly called Cronius is mentioned by Plutarch
(_Theseus_, 12). Other Greek states, including Samos, Amorgos,
Perinthus, and Patmos, had a month called Cronion, that is, the
month of Cronus, which seems to have coincided with June or July.
See G. Dittenberger, _Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum_2 (Leipsic,
1898-1901), Nos. 644 and 645; E. Bischoff, “De fastis Graecorum
antiquioribus,” _Leipziger Studien für classischen Philologie_, vii.
(1884) p. 400. At Magnesia on the Maeander the month of Cronion was
the time of sowing (Dittenberger, _op. cit._ No. 553, lines 15
_sq._), which cannot have fallen in the height of summer. Compare
_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 8.

_ 798 Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum_, iii. No. 77; Ch. Michel, _Recueil
d’Inscriptions Grecques_ (Brussels, 1900), No. 692, pp. 595 _sq._;
I. de Prott et L. Ziehen, _Leges Graecorum Sacrae_, i. (Leipsic,
1896), No. 3, pp. 7 _sq._; E. S. Roberts and E. A. Gardner,
_Introduction to Greek Epigraphy_, Part II. (Cambridge, 1905), No.
142, pp. 387 _sq._ From the same inscription we learn that cakes
with twelve knobs were offered to other deities, including Apollo
and Artemis, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hercules.

799 Scholiast on Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 370 (p. 170 ed. E. Vollbehr,
Kiel, 1844): Καὶ ἐν τοῖς πατρίοις ἐστιν ἑορτὴ Πιθοιγία, καθ᾽ ἣν οὒτε
οἰκέτην οὔτε μισθωτὸν εἴργειν τῆς ἀπολαύσεως τοῦ οἴνου θεμιτὸν ἦν,
ἀλλὰ θύσαντας πᾶσι μεταδιδόναι τοῦ δώρου τοῦ Διονύσου. As to the
festival of the opening of the wine-jars see August Mommsen,
_Heortologie_ (Leipsic, 1864), pp. 349 _sqq._; _id._, _Feste der
Stadt Athen im Altertum_ (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 384 _sqq._ “When the
slaves,” says Plutarch, “feast at the Cronia or go about celebrating
the festival of Dionysus in the country, the shouts they raise and
the tumult they make in their rude merriment are intolerable” (_Non
posse suaviter vivi secundum Epicurum_, 26). That the original
festival of Cronus fell at Athens in Anthesterion is the view of
Aug. Mommsen (_Heortologie_, pp. 22, 79; _Feste der Stadt Athen_, p.
402).

800 Pausanias, vi. 20. 1. Compare Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit.
Rom._ i. 34. The magistrates called “kings” (βασίλαι) by Pausanias
are doubtless identical with “the kings” (τοὶ βασιλᾶες) mentioned in
a law of Elis, which was found inscribed on a bronze plate at
Olympia. See H. Roehl, _Inscriptiones Graecae Antiquissimae_
(Berlin, 1882), No. 112, p. 39; C. Cauer, _Delectus Inscriptionum
Graecarum propter dialectum memorabilium_2 (Leipsic, 1883), No. 253,
p. 175; H. Collitz, _Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt-Inschriften_,
No. 1152 (vol. i. Göttingen, 1884, p. 321); Ch. Michel, _Recueil
d’Inscriptions Grecques_, No. 195, p. 179.

M273 The magistrates called Kings who celebrated the Cronia at Olympia
may have personated King Cronus himself. Perhaps the man who
annually personated King Cronus was put to death. A man annually
sacrificed to Cronus at the Cronia in Rhodes.

801 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 44 _sqq._, ii.
177, 361.

802 Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 111, 169; Plato, _Politicus_, p. 269 A;
Diodorus Siculus, iii. 61, v. 66; Julian, _Epistola ad Themistium_,
p. 258 C (pp. 334 _sq._, ed. F. C. Hertlein, Leipsic, 1875-1876);
“Anonymi Chronologica,” printed in L. Dindorf’s edition of J.
Malalas (Bonn, 1831), p. 17. See further M. Mayer’s article
“Kronos,” in W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm.
Mythologie_, ii. (Leipsic, 1890-1897) col. 1458.

803 See M. Mayer, _op. cit._ ii. 1501 _sqq._

804 Pausanias, vi. 20. 4 _sq._

805 Plato, _Republic_, ix. p. 565 D E; pseudo-Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C;
Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 81; Pausanias, viii. 2 and 38; Porphyry,
_De abstinentia_, ii. 27; Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, xviii. 17.
The suggestion that Lycaean Zeus may have been merely a successor of
Cronus is due to my friend Professor W. Ridgeway.

806 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 54.

_ 807 The Dying God_, pp. 161 _sqq._

M274 The Babylonian festival of the Sacaea.

_ 808 The Dying God_, pp. 113 _sqq._

809 Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 C; Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ iv. 69 _sq._
(vol. i. p. 76 ed. L. Dindorf, Leipsic, 1857). From Athenaeus we
learn that the festival was described or mentioned by Berosus in his
first book and by Ctesias in his second.

810 Strabo, xi. 8. 5, p. 512.

M275 The Sacaea by some identified with Zakmuk or Zagmuk, the Babylonian
festival of the New Year, which was held about the spring equinox in
March. Annual renewal of the king of Babylon’s power at the Zakmuk
festival.

811 Strabo, xi. 14. 16, pp. 532 _sq._; Ed. Meyer’s article “Anaitis,” in
W. H. Roscher’s _Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i.
(Leipsic, 1884-1890) pp. 330 _sqq._

812 By A. H. Sayce, _Religion of the Ancient Babylonians_ (London and
Edinburgh, 1887), p. 68; Bruno Meissner, “Zur Entstehungsgeschichte
des Purimfestes,” _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen
Gesellschaft_, l. (1896) pp. 296-301; H. Winckler, _Altorientalische
Forschungen_, Zweite Reihe, ii. Heft 3 (Leipsic, 1900), p. 345; C.
Brockelmann, “Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien,”
_Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) pp. 391 _sq._

813 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_ (Strasburg, 1890), pp. 84
_sqq._; H. Zimmern, “Zur Frage nach dem Ursprunge des Purimfestes,”
_Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xi. (1891) pp.
159 _sqq._; A. Jeremias, _s.v._ “Marduk,” in W. H. Roscher’s
_Lexicon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_, ii. 2347 _sq._; M.
Jastrow, _Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ (Boston, U.S.A., 1898),
pp. 186, 677 _sqq._; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian
Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. 136 _sq._, 137, 140, 149; C.
Brocklemann, “Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien,”
_Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) pp. 391 _sqq._; H.
Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), pp. 370 _sq._, 374, 384 _n._4, 402, 514
_sqq._; _id._, “Zum Babylonischen Neujahrsfest,” _Berichte über die
Verhandlungen der königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse_, lviii.
(1906) pp. 126-156; M. J. Lagrange, _Études sur les Religions
Sémitiques_2 (Paris, 1905); pp. 285 _sqq._ King Gudea is thought to
have flourished about 2340 B.C. See Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des
Altertums_,2 i. 2. (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1909) pp. 488 _sq._ As to
the ceremony of grasping the hands of Marduk’s image, see also C. F.
Lehmann (-Haupt), _Šamaššumukin, König von Babylonien_ (Leipsic,
1892), pp. 50 _sqq._; Sir G. Maspero, _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples
de l’Orient Classique_, iii. _Les Empires_ (Paris, 1899). pp. 381
_sq._

M276 Reasons for identifying the Sacaea with Zakmuk.

814 On this subject the Master of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge
(the Rev. C. H. W. Johns), has kindly furnished me with the
following note: “ZAG is the name of the ideogram meaning ‘head or
beginning.’ MU is the sign for ‘year.’ When put together ZAG-MU
means ‘beginning of year.’ But ZAG-MU-KU means ZAG MU-d, _i.e._ ZAG
with MU suffixed. Therefore it is the name of the ideogram, and
there is as yet no _proof_ that it was ever read Zakmuk. Hence any
similarity of sound with either Sacaea or Zoganes is precarious. I
cannot prove that the signs were _never_ read Zakmuku, but that is
not a Semitic word nor a Sumerian word.”

815 The statement occurs in an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar. See P.
Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, p. 85; H. Zimmern, in E.
Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin,
1902), p. 402. The title of the president of the divine synod, “king
of the gods of heaven and earth,” is believed by Professor Zimmern
to have originally referred to the god Nabu, though at a later time
it was applied to Marduk.

M277 A difficulty in identifying the Sacaea with Zakmuk is that the two
festivals seem to have been celebrated at different times of the
year, Zakmuk falling in March and the Sacaea in July. Suggested ways
of meeting the difficulty.

_ 816 See The Dying God_, p. 116 note 1. In Egypt the Macedonian calendar
seems to have fallen into great confusion. See W. Dittenberger,
_Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae_ (Leipsic, 1903-1905), ii.
pp. 649 _sq._ I would remind the reader that while the _dates_ of
the Syro-Macedonian months varied in different places, their _order_
was the same everywhere.

817 See above, p. 355, note 5. On the other hand Prof. H. Zimmern
prefers to suppose that the Sacaea was quite distinct from Zakmuk,
and that it fell in July at the time of the heliacal rising of
Sirius, which seems to have been associated with the goddess Ishtar.
See H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), pp. 426 _sq._

_ 818 Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Year,” vol. iv. (London, 1903)
coll. 5365 _sqq._

_ 819 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 59 _sqq._

_ 820 The Golden Bough_, Second Edition, iii. 237 _sqq._

821 J. Marquardt, _Römische Staatsverwaltung_2 (Leipsic, 1885), pp. 200
_sq._

M278 An argument for identifying Sacaea and Zakmuk is the apparent
connexion of both with the Jewish festival of Purim.

822 H. Zimmern, “Zur Frage nach dem Ursprunge des Purimfestes,”
_Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xi. (1891) pp.
157-169; W. Nowack, _Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_ (Freiburg
i. B. and Leipsic, 1894), ii. 198 _sqq._; Br. Meissner, “Zur
Entstehungsgeschichte des Purimfestes,” _Zeitschrift der deutschen
morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, l. (1896) pp. 296-301; Fr. Cumont,
“Le roi des Saturnales,” _Revue de Philologie_, xxi. (1897) p. 150;
P. Haupt, _Purim_ (Leipsic, 1906). The various theories which have
been propounded as to the origin of Purim are stated and discussed
by Prof. L. B. Paton in his _Commentary on the Book of Esther_
(Edinburgh, 1908), pp. 77-94. See also _Encyclopaedia Biblica_,
_s.v._ “Purim,” vol. iii. (London, 1902) coll. 3976 _sqq._

823 S. R. Driver, _Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament_8
(Edinburgh, 1909), p. 484. Professor T. Witton Davies would date the
book about 130 B.C. See _Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther_, edited by Rev.
T. Witton Davies (Edinburgh and London, N.D.), pp. 299-301 (_The
Century Bible_).

824 2 Maccabees xv. 36. As to the date of this book, see S. R. Driver,
_op. cit._ p. 481.

M279 The Jewish festival of Purim seems to be derived from the Babylonian
festival of Zakmuk.

825 We know from Josephus (_Antiquit._ iii. 10. 5) that in the month
Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year, the sun was in Aries. Now
the sun is in Aries from March 20th or 21st to April 19th or 20th;
hence Nisan answers approximately to April, and Adar to March.

826 Esther iii. 7.

827 Esther iii. 7, ix. 26.

828 This is the view of H. Zimmern (_Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xi. (1891) pp. 157 _sqq._), and it
is favoured by W. Nowack (_Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_,
ii. 198 _sq._). Compare H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die
Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_3 (Berlin, 1902), p. 518.

829 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 240 _sq._

830 The explanation is that of P. Jensen, quoted by Th. Nöldeke in
_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ “Esther,” vol. ii. (London, 1901)
col. 1404 note 1. In Greek, for a similar reason, the word for
“pebble” and “vote” is identical (ψῆφος). As to this etymology see
also C. H. W. Johns, _s.v._ “Purim,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii.
(London, 1902) coll. 3979 _sq._

M280 Connexion of Purim with the Sacaea. The joyous nature of Purim.

831 Esther x. 22.

832 J. Buxtorf, _Synagoga Judaica_ (Bâle, 1661), pp. 554 _sq._, 559
_sq._

833 J. Buxtorf, _op. cit._ p. 559; Schickard, quoted by Lagarde,
“Purim,” _Abhandlungen der kön. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu
Göttingen_, xxxiv. (1887) pp. 54 _sq._ Compare J. Chr. G.
Bodenschatz, _Kirchliche Verfassung der heutigen Juden_ (Erlangen,
1748), ii. 256. For the rule forbidding men and women to exchange
garments, see Deuteronomy xxii. 5.

834 J. J. Schudt, _Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten_ (Frankfort and Leipsic,
1714), ii. Theil, pp. 309, 314, 316, iv. Theiles die ii.
Continuation, p. 347; I. Abrahams, _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_
(London, 1896), pp. 261 _sqq._ I have to thank my learned friend Dr.
S. Schechter for bringing both these works to my notice.

M281 The origin of Purim according to the book of Esther. The rival pairs
Mordecai and Esther on the one side, Haman and Vashti on the other.
M282 Analysis of the names Mordecai and Esther, Haman and Vashti.
Jensen’s theory that Haman and Vashti were Elamite deities in
opposition to the Babylonian deities Mordecai (Marduk) and Esther
(Ishtar).

835 P. Jensen, “Elamitische Eigennamen,” _Wiener Zeitschrift für die
Kunde des Morgenlandes_, vi. (1892) pp. 47-70; compare _ib._ pp.
209-212. All Jensen’s etymologies are accepted by W. Nowack
(_Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie_, Freiburg i. Baden and
Leipsic, 1894, ii. 199 _sq._); H. Gunkel (_Schöpfung und Chaos_,
Göttingen, 1895, pp. 310 _sq._); D. G. Wildeboer (in his commentary
on Esther, pp. 173 _sqq._, forming part of K. Marti’s _Kurzer
Hand-Commentar zum alten Testament_, Freiburg i. B. 1898); Th.
Nöldeke (_s.v._ “Esther,” _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, vol. ii. coll.
1404 _sq._); and H. Zimmern (in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften
und das Alte Testament_,3 Berlin, 1902, pp. 485, 516 _sq._). On the
other hand, Br. Meissner (_Zeitschrift der deutschen
morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, I. (1896) p. 301) and M. Jastrow
(_The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 686, note 2) suspend
their judgment as to the identification of Haman and Vashti with
Elamite deities, though they apparently regard the identification of
Mordecai and Esther with Marduk and Ishtar as quite certain. The
doubt which these scholars felt as to the derivation of one at least
of these names (Vashti) is now known to be well founded. See below,
p. 367, note 3.

It deserves to be noted that on the twenty-seventh day of the month
Tammuz the heathen of Harran used to sacrifice nine male lambs to
Haman, “the supreme God, the father of the gods,” and they ate and
drank on that day. Chwolsohn suggests a comparison of the festival
with the Athenian Cronia. See D. Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier und der
Ssabismus_ (St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 27 _sq._, 211 _sqq._