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A New System; or, an Analysis of Ancient Mythology. Volume II

By Jacob Bryant

TAPH, TUPH, TAPHOS.

There was another name current among the Amonians, by which they called their λοφοι, or high places. This was Taph; which at times was rendered Tuph, Toph, and Taphos. Lower Egypt being a flat, and annually overflowed, the natives were forced to raise the soil, on which they built their principal edifices, in order to secure them from the inundation: and many of their sacred towers were erected upon conical mounds of earth. But there were often hills of the same form constructed for religious purposes, upon which there was no building. These were very common in Egypt. Hence we read of Taphanis, or Taph-Hanes, Taph-Osiris, Taph-Osiris parva, and contra Taphias, in Antoninus; all of this country. In other parts were Taphiousa, Tape, Taphura, Tapori, Taphus, Taphosus, Taphitis. All these names relate to high altars, upon which they used oftentimes to offer human sacrifices. Typhon was one of these; being a compound of Tuph-On, which signifies the hill or altar of the Sun. Tophet, where the Israelites made their children pass through fire to ^[385]Moloch, was a mount of this form. And there seem to have been more than one of this denomination; as we learn from the prophet Jeremiah, ^[386]They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire. And in another place: They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal. These cruel operations were generally performed upon mounts of this sort; which, from their conical figure, were named Tuph and Tupha. It seems to have been a term current in many countries. The high Persian ^[387]bonnet had the same name from its shape: and Bede mentions a particular kind of standard in his time; which was made of plumes in a globular shape, and called in like manner, ^[388]Tupha, vexilli genus, ex consertis plumarum globis. There was probably a tradition, that the calf, worshipped by the Israelites in the wilderness near Horeb, was raised upon a sacred mound, like those described above: for Philo Judæus says, that it was exhibited after the model of an Egyptian Tuphos: ^[389]Αιγυπτιακου μιμημα Τυφου. This I do not take to have been a Grecian word; but the name of a sacred orbicular mount, analogous to the Touphas of Persis.

The Amonians, when they settled in Greece, raised many of these Tupha, or Tapha, in different parts. These, beside their original name, were still farther denominated from some title of the Deity, to whose honour they were erected. But as it was usual, in antient times, to bury persons of distinction under heaps of earth formed in this fashion; these Tapha came to signify tombs: and almost all the sacred mounds, raised for religious purposes, were looked upon as monuments of deceased heroes. Hence ^[390]Taph-Osiris was rendered ταφος, or the burying place of the God Osiris: and as there were many such places in Egypt and Arabia, sacred to Osiris and Dionusus; they were all by the Greeks esteemed places of sepulture. Through this mistake many different nations had the honour attributed to them of these Deities being interred in their country. The tumulus of the Latines was mistaken in the same manner. It was originally a sacred hillock; and was often raised before temples, as an altar; such as I have before described. It is represented in this light by Virgil:

In process of time the word tumulus was in great measure looked upon as a tomb; and tumulo signified to bury. The Greeks speak of numberless sepulchral monuments, which they have thus misinterpreted. They pretended to shew the tomb of ^[392]Dionusus at Delphi; also of Deucalion, Pyrrha, Orion, in other places. They imagined that Jupiter was buried in Crete: which Callimachus supposes to have been a forgery of the natives.

I make no doubt, but that there was some high place in Crete, which the later Greeks, and especially those who were not of the country, mistook for a tomb. But it certainly must have been otherwise esteemed by those who raised it: for it is not credible, however blind idolatry may have been, that people should enshrine persons as immortal, where they had the plainest evidences of their mortality. An inscription Viro Immortali was in a style of flattery too refined for the simplicity of those ages. If divine honours were conferred, they were the effects of time, and paid at some distance; not upon the spot, at the vestibule of the charnel-house. Besides, it is evident, that most of the deified personages never existed: but were mere titles of the Deity, the Sun; as has been, in great measure, proved by Macrobius. Nor was there ever any thing of such detriment to antient history, as the supposing that the Gods of the Gentile world had been natives of the countries, where they were worshipped. They have by these means been admitted into the annals of times: and it has been the chief study of the learned to register the legendary stories concerning them; to conciliate absurdities, and to arrange the whole in a chronological series. A fruitless labour, and inexplicable: for there are in all these fables such inconsistences, and contradictions, as no art, nor industry, can remedy. Hence, all who have expended their learning to this purpose, are in opposition to one another, and often at variance with themselves. Some of them by these means have rendered their works, which might have been of infinite use to the world, little better than the reveries of Monsieur Voltaire. The greatest part of the Grecian theology arose from misconceptions and blunders: and the stories concerning their Gods and Heroes were founded on terms misinterpreted and abused. Thus from the word ταφος, taphos, which they adopted in a limited sense, they formed a notion of their gods having been buried in every place, where there was a tumulus to their honour. This misled bishop Cumberland, Usher, Pearson, Petavius, Scaliger, with numberless other learned men; and among the foremost the great Newton. This extraordinary genius has greatly impaired the excellent system, upon which he proceeded, by admitting these fancied beings into chronology. We are so imbued in our childhood with notions of Mars, Hercules, and the rest of the celestial outlaws, that we scarce ever can lay them aside. We absolutely argue upon Pagan principles: and though we cannot believe the fables, which have been transmitted to us; yet we forget ourselves continually; and make inferences from them, as if they were real. In short, till we recollect ourselves, we are semi-pagans. It gives one pain to see men of learning, and principle, debating which was the Jupiter who lay with Semele; and whether it was the same that outwitted Amphitryon. This is not, says a critic, the Hermes, who cut off Argus's head; but one of later date, who turned Battus into a stone. I fancy, says another, that this was done, when Iö was turned into a cow. It is said of Jupiter, that he made the night, in which he enjoyed Alcmena, as long as ^[394]three; or, as some say, as long as nine. The Abbe ^[395]Banier with some phlegm excepts to this coalition of nights; and is unwilling to allow it. But he is afterwards more complying; and seems to give it his sanction, with this proviso, that chronological verity be not thereby impeached. I am of opinion, says he, that there was no foundation for the fable of Jupiter's having made the night, on which he lay with Alcmena, longer than others: at least this event put nothing in nature out of order; since the day, which followed, was proportionably shorter, as Plautus ^[396]remarks.

Were it not invidious, I could subjoin names to every article, which I have alleged; and produce numberless instances to the same purpose.

It may be said, that I run counter to the opinions of all antiquity: that all the fathers who treated of this subject, and many other learned men, supposed the Gods of the heathen to have been deified mortals, who were worshipped in the countries, where they died. It was the opinion of Clemens, Eusebius, Cyril, Tertullian, Athenagoras, Epiphanius, Lactantius, Arnobius, Julius Firmicus, and many others. What is more to the purpose, it was the opinion of the heathen themselves; the very people, by whom these gods were honoured: yet still it is a mistake. In respect to the fathers, the whole of their argument turns upon this point, the concessions of the Gentiles. The more early writers of the church were not making a strict chronological inquiry: but were labouring to convert the heathen. They therefore argue with them upon their own principles; and confute them from their own testimony. The Romans had their Dii Immortales; the Greeks their Θεοι Αθανατοι: yet acknowledged that they had been men; that they died, and were buried. Cicero owns; ^[397]ab Euhemero et mortes, et sepulturæ demonstrantur deorum. It matters not whether the notion were true; the fathers very fairly make use of it. They avail themselves of these concessions; and prove from them the absurdity of the Gentile worship, and the inconsistency of their opinions. Even Maximus Tyrius, the Platonic, could not but smile, at being shewn in the same place the temple, and tomb of the deity^[398]; ἱερον Θεου, και ταφον Θεου. These supposed places of sepulture were so numerous, that Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, they were not to be counted. ^[399]Αλλα γαρ επιοντι μοι τους προσκυνουμενους ὑμιν ταφους, εμοι μεν ουδ' ὁ πας αν αρκεσῃ χρονος. But, after all, these Ταφοι were not tombs, but λοφοι μαστοειδεις, conical mounds of earth; on which in the first ages offerings were made by fire. Hence τυφω, tupho, signified to make a smoke, such as arose from incense upon these Tupha, or eminences. Besides, if these were deified men, who were buried under these hills; how can we explain the difficulty of the same person being buried in different places, and at different times? To this it is answered, that it was another Bacchus, and another Jupiter. Yet this still adds to the difficulty: for it is hard to conceive, that whoever in any country had the name of Jupiter, should be made a God. Add to this, that Homer and Hesiod, and the authors of the Orphic poetry, knew of no such duplicates. There is no hint of this sort among the antient writers of their nation. It was a refinement in after ages; introduced to obviate the difficulties, which arose from the absurdities in the pagan system. Arnobius justly ridicules the idle expedients, made use of to render a base theology plausible. Gods, of the same name and character, were multiplied to make their fables consistent; that there might be always one ready at hand upon any chronological emergency. Hence no difficulty could arise about a Deity, but there might be one produced, adapted to all climes, and to every age. ^[400]Aiunt Theologi vestri, et vetustatis absconditæ conditores, tres in rerum naturâ Joves esse—quinque Soles, et Mercurios quinque. Aiunt iidem Theologi quatuor esse Vulcanos, et tres Dianas; Æsculapios totidem, et Dionysos quinque; ter binos Hercules, et quatuor Veneres; tria genera Castorum, totidemque Musarum. But Arnobius is too modest. Other writers insist upon a greater variety. In respect to Jupiters, Varro according to Tertullian makes them in number three hundred. ^[401]Varro trecentos Joves, sive Jupiteres, dicendum, —— introducit. The same writer mentions forty heroes of the name of Hercules; all which variety arose from the causes above assigned: and the like multiplicity may be found both of kings and heroes; of kings, who did not reign; of heroes, who never existed. The same may be observed in the accounts transmitted of their most early prophets, and poets: scarce any of them stand single: there are duplicates of every denomination. On this account it is highly requisite for those, who suppose these personages to have been men, and make inferences from the circumstances of their history, to declare explicitly which they mean; and to give good reasons for their determination. It is said of Jupiter, that he was the son of Saturn; and that he carried away Europa, before the arrival of Cadmus. He had afterwards an amour with Semele, the supposed daughter of Cadmus: and they mention his having a like intimacy with Alcmena an age or two later. After this he got acquainted with Leda, the wife of Tyndarus: and he had children at the siege of Troy. If we may believe the poets, and all our intelligence comes originally from the poets, Jupiter was personally interested in that war. But this interval contains little less than two hundred years. These therefore could not be the actions of one man: on which account I want to know, why Sir Isaac Newton ^[402]in his chronological interpretations chooses to be determined by the story of Jupiter and Europa, rather than by that of Jupiter and Leda. The learned ^[403]Pezron has pitched upon a Jupiter above one thousand years earlier, who was in like manner the son of Saturn. But Saturn, according to some of the best mythologists, was but four generations inclusive before the æra of Troy. Latinus, the son of Faunus, was alive some years after that city had been taken; when Æneas was supposed to have arrived in Italy. The poet tells us, ^[404]Fauno Picus pater: isque parentem Te, Saturne, refert; Tu sanguinis ultimus auctor. The series amounts only to four, Latinus, Faunus, Picus, Saturn. What authority has Pezron for the anticipation of which he is guilty in determining the reign of Jupiter? and how can he reconcile these contradictory histories? He ought to have given some good reason for setting aside the more common and accepted accounts; and placing these events so ^[405]early. Shall we suppose with the critics and commentators that this was a prior Jupiter? If it were a different person, the circumstances of his life should be different: but the person, of whom he treats, is in all respects similar to the Jupiter of Greece and Rome. He has a father Saturn; and his mother was Rhea. He was nursed in Crete; and had wars with the Titans. He dethrones his father, who flies to Italy; where he introduces an age of gold. The mythology concerning him we find to be in all respects uniform. It is therefore to little purpose to substitute another person of the same name by way of reconciling matters, unless we can suppose that every person so denominated had the same relations and connexions, and the same occurrences in life reiterated: which is impossible. It is therefore, I think, plain, that the Grecian Deities were not the persons ^[406]supposed: and that their imputed names were titles. It is true, a very antient and respectable writer, ^[407]Euhemerus, of whom I have before made mention, thought otherwise. It is said, that he could point out precisely, where each god departed: and could particularly shew the burying-place of Jupiter. Lactantius, who copied from him, says, that it was at Cnossus in ^[408]Crete. Jupiter, ætate pessum actâ, in Cretâ vitam commutavit.—Sepulchrum ejus est in Cretâ, et in oppido Cnosso: et dicitur Vesta hanc urbem creavisse: inque sepulchro ejus est inscriptio antiquis literis Græcis, Ζαν Κρονου. If Jupiter had been buried in Crete, as these writers would persuade us, the accounts would be uniform about the place where he was deposited. Lactantius, we find, and some others, say, that it was in the city Cnossus. There are writers who mention it to have been in a cavern upon ^[409]Mount Ida: others upon Mount ^[410]Jasius. Had the Cretans been authors of the notion, they would certainly have been more consistent in their accounts: but we find no more certainty about the place of his burial, than of his birth; concerning which Callimachus could not determine.

He was at times supposed to have been a native of Troas, of Crete, of Thebes, of Arcadia, of Elis: but the whole arose from the word ταφος being, through length of time, misunderstood: for there would have been no legend about the birth of Jupiter, had there been no mistake about his funeral. It was a common notion of the Magnesians, that Jupiter was buried in their country upon Mount Sipylus. Pausanias says, that he ascended the mountain, and beheld the tomb, which was well worthy of ^[412]admiration. The tomb of ^[413]Isis in like manner was supposed to be at Memphis, and at Philæ in Upper Egypt: also at Nusa in Arabia. Osiris was said to have been buried in the same places: likewise at Taphosiris, which is thought by Procopius to have had its name, ^[414]because it was the place of sepulture of Osiris. The same is said of another city, which was near the mouth of the Nile, and called Taphosiris parva. But they each of them had their name from the worship, and not from the interment of the Deity. This is plain from the account given of the ταφος Οσιριδος, or high altar of Osiris, by Diodorus; from whom we learn that Busiris and Osiris were the same. ^[415]The Grecians, says this author, have a notion, that Busiris in Egypt used to sacrifice strangers: not that there was ever such a king as Busiris; but the ταφος, or altar, of Osiris had this name in the language of the natives. In short, Busiris was only a variation for Osiris: both were compounded of the Egyptian term ^[416]Sehor, and related to the God of day. Hence the altars of the same Deity were called indifferently the altars of Osiris, or Busiris, according as custom prevailed.

I have in a former chapter taken notice of the Tarchons and Dracontia in Syria, and other parts: which consisted of sacred ground inclosed with a wall, and an altar or two at the upper part. Such an inclosure is described by Pausanias, which must have been of great antiquity: hence the history of it was very imperfectly known in his time. He is speaking of Nemea in Argolis; ^[417]near which, says he, stands the temple of Nemean Jupiter, a structure truly wonderful, though the roof is now fallen in. Round the temple is a grove of cypress; in which there is a tradition that Opheltes was left by his nurse upon the grass, and in her absence killed by a serpent.—In the same place is the tomb of Opheltes, surrounded with a wall of stone; and within the inclosure altars. There is also a mound of earth said to be the tomb of Lycurgus, the father of Opheltes. Lycurgus is the same as Lycus, Lycaon, Lycoreus, the Sun: and Opheltes, his supposed offspring, is of the same purport. To say the truth, ^[418]Opheltes, or, as it should be expressed, Ophel-tin is the place; and Ophel the Deity, Sol Pytho, whose symbol was a serpent. Ophel-tin was a Taphos with a τεμενος, or sacred inclosure: it was a sacred mound to the Ophite Deity; like that which was inclosed and fortified by ^[419]Manasseh king of Judah; and which had been previously made use of to the same purpose by ^[420]Jotham. A history similar to that of Opheltes is given of Archemorus; who was said to have been left in a garden by his nurse Hypsipyle, and in her absence slain by a serpent. Each of them had festivals instituted, together with sacred games, in memorial of their misfortune. They are on this account by many supposed to have been the same person. But in reality they were not persons, but places. They are, however, so far alike, as they are terms which relate to the same worship and Deity. Opheltin is the place, and altar of the Ophite God above-mentioned: and Archemorus was undoubtedly the antient name of the neighbouring town, or city. It is a compound of Ar-Chemorus; and signifies the city of Cham-Orus, the same who is styled Ophel. In many of these places there was an antient tradition of some person having been injured by a serpent in the beginning of life; which they have represented as the state of childhood. The mythology upon this occasion is different: for sometimes the personages spoken of are killed by the serpent: at other times they kill it: and there are instances where both histories are told of the same person. But whatever may have been the consequence, the history is generally made to refer to a state of childhood. Hercules has accordingly a conflict with two serpents in his cradle: and Apollo, who was the same as Python, was made to engage a serpent of this name at Parnassus, when he was a child;

Near mount Cyllene in Arcadia was the sacred Taphos of ^[422]Æputus, who was supposed to have been stung by a serpent. Æputus was the same as Iapetus, the father of mankind. In the Dionusiaca the priests used to be crowned with serpents; and in their frantic exclamations to cry out ^[423]Eva, Eva; and sometimes Evan, Evan: all which related to some history of a serpent. Apollo, who is supposed by most to have been victor in his conflict with the Pytho, is by Porphyry said to have been slain by that serpent: Pythagoras affirmed, that he saw his tomb at Tripos in ^[424]Delphi; and wrote there an epitaph to his honour. The name of Tripos is said to have been given to the place, because the daughters of Triopus used to lament there the fate of Apollo. But Apollo and the Python were the same; and Tripus, or Triopus, the supposed father of these humane sisters, was a variation for Tor-Opus, the serpent-hill, or temple; where neither Apollo, nor the Python were slain, but where they were both worshipped, being one and the same Deity. ^[425]Πυθοι μεν ουν ὁ Δρακων ὁ Πυθιος θρησκευεται, και του Οφεως ἡ πανηγυρις καταγγελλεται Πυθια. At Python (the same as Delphi) the Pythian Dragon is worshipped; and the celebrity of the serpent is styled Pythian. The daughters of Triopus were the priestesses of the temple; whose business it was to chant hymns in memory of the serpent: and what is very remarkable, the festival was originally observed upon the seventh ^[426]day.

The Greeks had innumerable monuments of the sort, which I have been describing. They were taken for the tombs of departed heroes, but were really consecrated places: and the names by which they were distinguished, shew plainly their true history. Such was the supposed tomb of ^[427]Orion at Tanagra, and of Phoroneus in ^[428]Argolis; the tomb of ^[429]Deucalion in Athens; and of his wife ^[430]Pyrrha in Locris: of ^[431]Endymion in Elis: of Tityus in ^[432]Panopea: of Asterion in the island ^[433]Lade: of the Egyptian ^[434]Belus in Achaia. To these may be added the tombs of Zeus in Mount Sipylus, Mount Iasius, and Ida: the tombs of Osiris in various parts: and those of Isis, which have been enumerated before. Near the Æaceum at Epidaurus was a hill, reputed to have been the tomb of the hero ^[435]Phocus. This Æaceum was an inclosure planted with olive trees of great antiquity; and at a small degree above the surface of the ground was an altar sacred to Æacus. To divulge the traditions relative to this altar would, it seems, be an high profanation. The author, therefore, keeps them a secret. Just before this sacred septum was the supposed tomb of Phocus, consisting of a mound of raised earth, fenced round with a border of stone work: and a large rough stone was placed upon the top of all. Such were the rude monuments of Greece, which were looked upon as so many receptacles of the dead: but were high altars, with their sacred τεμενη, which had been erected for divine worship in the most early times. The Helladians, and the Persians, were of the same ^[436]family: hence we find many similar rites subsisting among the two nations. The latter adhered to the purer Zabaïsm, which they maintained a long time. They erected the same sacred Tupha, as the Grecians: and we may be assured of the original purpose, for which these hills were raised, from the use to which they put them. They were dedicated to the great fountain of light, called by the Persians, Anaït: and were set apart as Puratheia, for the celebration of the rites of fire. This people, after they had defeated the Sacæ in Cappadocia, raised an immense Comah in memorial of their victory. ^[437]Strabo, who describes it very minutely, tells us, that they chose a spot in an open plain; where they reared a Petra, or high place, by heaping up a vast mound of earth. This they fashioned to a conical figure; and then surrounded it with a wall of stone. In this manner they founded a kind of temple in honour of Anaït, Omanus, and Anandrates, the Deities of their country. I have mentioned that the Egyptians had hills of this nature: and from them the custom was transmitted to Greece. Typhon, or more properly Tuphon, Τυφων, who was supposed to have been a giant, was a compound of Tuph-On, as I have before mentioned; and signified a sacred ^[438]mount of the sun. Those cities in Egypt, which had a high place of this sort, and rites in consequence of it, were styled Typhonian. Upon such as these they sacrificed red haired men, or men with hair of a light colour; in other words strangers. For both the sons of Chus, and the Mizraïm were particularly dark and woolly: so that there could be no surer mark than the hair to distinguish between a native and a foreigner. These sacrifices were offered in the city ^[439]Idithia, ^[440]Abaris, ^[441]Heliopolis, and Taphosiris; which in consequence of these offerings were denominated Typhonian cities. Many writers say, that these rites were performed to Typhon at the ^[442]tomb of Osiris. Hence he was in later times supposed to have been a person, one of immense size: and he was also esteemed a ^[443]God. But this arose from the common mistake by which places were substituted for the Deities there worshipped. Typhon was the Tupha, or altar, the supposed tomb of the God: and the offerings were made to the Sun, styled On; the same as Osiris, and Busiris. As there were Typhonian mounts in many parts, he was in consequence of it supposed to have been buried in different places: near mount Caucasus in Colchis; near the river Orontes in Syria; and under lake Serbonis. Typhon, or rather Typhonian worship, was not unknown in the region of ^[444]Troas, near which were the Scopuli Typhonis. Plutarch mentions that in the Phrygian Theology Typhon was esteemed the grandson of Isaac or Isæac: and says that he was so spoken of εν τοις Φρυγιοις ^[445]γραμμασιν. But all terms of relation are to be disregarded. The purport of the history was this. The altar was termed Tuphon Isiac, sive Βωμος Ισιακος, from the sacra Isiaca, which were performed upon it. The same Isaac or Isæac was sometimes rendered Æsacus, and supposed to have been a son of the river Granicus.

The antient Arcadians were said to have been the offspring of ^[447]Typhon, and by some the children of Atlas; by which was meant, that they were people of the Typhonian, and Atlantian religion. What they called his tombs were certainly mounds of earth, raised very high, like those which have been mentioned before: only with this difference, that some of these had lofty towers adorned with pinnacles, and battlements. They had also carved upon them various symbols; and particularly serpentine hieroglyphics, in memorial of the God to whom they were sacred. In their upper story was a perpetual fire, which was plainly seen in the night. I have mentioned, that the poets formed their notions about Otus and Ephialtes from towers: and the idea of Orion's stupendous bulk taken from the Pelorian edifice in Sicily. The gigantic stature of Typhon was borrowed from a like object: and his character was formed from the hieroglyphical representations in the temples styled Typhonian. This may be inferred from the allegorical description of Typhœus, given by Hesiod. Typhon and Typhœus, were the same personage: and the poet represents him of a mixed form, being partly a man, and partly a monstrous dragon, whose head consisted of an assemblage of smaller serpents.

As there was a perpetual fire kept up in the upper story, he describes it as shining through the apertures in the building.

But the noblest description of Typhon is given in some very fine poetry by Nonnus. He has taken his ideas from some antient tower situated near the sea upon the summit of an high mountain. It was probably the Typhonian temple of Zeus upon mount Casius, near the famed Serbonian lake. He mentions sad noises heard within, and describes the roaring of the surge below: and says that all the monsters of the sea stabled in the cavities at the foot of the mountain, which was washed by the ocean.

We may perceive, that this is a mixed description, wherein, under the character of a gigantic personage, a towering edifice is alluded to; which was situated upon the summit of a mountain, and in the vicinity of the sea.

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