| OCR Text |
Show 1~8 TilE AR'£ OF TilE SilEMITES. tion of o. God, distinct from tho world, which he forms o.coording to hi~ will, ns _a v~se ie moulded by tho lmnds of tho potter, and those Indo-Europoo.n theogouios, at.tnbutmg a divino soul to Nature, conceiving lifo ns a struggle, and tho wo1·ld as a perpetual oho.ngc, titus oo.nying, as it wo1·o, tho ideas of revolution o.nd progress among tho dynasties of Gods! "Tho intolerance of tho Shomitos is tho ntttural result of their monotheism. Indo-Europotm nations, before thoir conversion to Shemitio ideas, novor considered their religions o.s an absolute truth; they tool~ them rather for 11 family hoh'-loom, o.nd 1·emainod equally foreign to intolornnco and to prosolytism.IOO It is, therefore, oxclusivoly among Indo-Europeans that we meet with freedom of thought, with a spirit of criticism and of individuo.l rosenl·cb. 1-'ho Shomitog, on tho contmry, aspiring to reo.lize a worship independent of any provincit\1 variations, wore led in consistency to declare all other l'Oiigions than their own to bo mischievous. In this scnso, intolomnco is a Shomitio fact, and o. portion of tho inheritance, good o.nd bo.d, which this rn.co has bequeathed to mankind. "'rbo o.bsonce of philosophicn.l and scientific culture among the Shomitos may be derived from thnt want of bron.dth ant! diversity, and therefore of an o.nalytical tum of mind, which ohnmot.el'izcs thorn. i'ho facu!Lics bcgott.ing mythology aro, in fact, tho same which beget philosophy. Stricken by tho unity of tho laws govoming tho world, tho Shcmitcs snw in the uovolopmout of things nothing but tho unalterable fulfilment of the will of a superior being; thoynovor conceived multiplicity in nature. Dut tho conception ofmultiplicityin tho universe becomes polytheism with nations which are still in their inftlnoy, and soionoo with nations that havo arrived at maturity. This is tho reason why Shcmitic wisdom never n.dvanced boyond tbo proverb and tho parnblo,-points of depn.rture for Greek philosophy. The books of Job n.nd Ecclosiastos, which represent tile highest cnlmino.tion of Shomitic philosophy, turn tho problem over o.nd over o.gnin in all directions, without advancing one s~ep nearer to tho solution; to thorn tho dialectic n.nd close roo.soning of Socrates is altogether wanting: oven when Ecoleslastos seems to approach o. solution, it ·is only in order to o.rrivo at formul1\S anto.gonistio to science, such as "Vn.nity of vanities"-" nothing is now under tho sun,"-" he that incroascth lmowlcdgo incroasoth sorrow," -formulas t11o result of which is, to mfoy life, and to &ervc God: und indeed these aro tho two poles of Shomitio oxislonoo. "Tho Shomites nro nearly entirely devoid of inquisitiveness. Their idea of tho power of God is such, that nothing cn.n astonish them. 'l'o tho most surprising account!', to sights most likely to strike him, tho Arab opposes but one reflection, "God is powerful!" whilst, when in doubt, ho avoids to como to n. conclusion, and after having expounded tho reasons for and agninst, oscapes from decision by tho formula • God knows it I' 11 'rbo poetry of tho Shcmitic nations is distingui~hcd by tho same wn.nt of variety. '£he eminently subjective ehn.ractor of Arabic and IIebrow poetry results from o.nothcr ossontinl fco.tut·~ of Shcmitio spirit, tho oomploto absence of eroo.tive imagino.tion, and accordingly of fiction. lllJonco, nmongtheso peoples, wo may explain tho absolute ahsonco of plastic 1nts. Evon t~e ndo~nments o:mn.n~scripts by which 1'nrks ant! Porsin.ns have displayed such a lively sentiment for color, IH 11nt1pathetio to tho Arabs, o.nd altogether unknown in countries where tho Arnb spirit hn.s remained untainted, ns for inst.n.nco in Morocco. Music of all tho arts moRt subj.eotlvo, is tho only ono known to Shemitos. Po.inting and sculptu:.e ha.vo alwnys boon bam shed from them by religious prohibition; their realism cannot bo roconcilod with orontivo invention, which is tho essoutial oon<lition of tbc two arts. A Mussulmo.n to whom th? traveller llruco showed tho painting of 1\ fi~h, n.skod him, after n moment of su1·priso: 11 If this fish, on tho dn.y of judgment, rises against thee and n.ccuses thoo by saying, Thou hast 1~ T~is docs _not exclude their rigo1· agah1st apostasy or infidelity at different periods of tbot_r hlstory, Bl~c.e it implied nn attack upon their national oxistenee. With tho Orooks, for ms.tanoe, rehg1on was.intimatoly connected with nationality, and t.hoir nationality being oxolus1ve, (for ovo1·y for01gnor waa o. barbarian.) proselytism bcoo.me impossible. TilE ART OF TilE SilEMITES. 129 givon me 11 body, but no living soul, what wilt thou reply?' Tho ano.thomas against any figured representation, repeated over and over again in the Mosaic books, and tho iconoclastic zoo.l of Mohammed, evidently provo tho tendency of those nations to take tho stn.tue for 11 real individual being. Artistic races, accustomed to detach the symbol from the idea, wore not obliged to net with such severity." Renan's remarks, as already mentioned, apply principally to the monotheistic branches of the Shemitic race, at their secondary stage of development: ho ignores the peculiarities of tho Phamician nation, yet mankind owes nearly as much to the polytheistic branch of the Shemites, in spite of their voluptuous and cruel worship, including human sacrifices and indescribable abominations, so denounced in lie brew and later Arabian literature,- as to their southern brethren of higher and purer morals. According to the authors of anLiq uity, as well as to all modern philologists, the pure phonetic alphabet is an invention of the Phoonician mind. 101 All the diflerent phonetic alphabets of the world, -perltaps with the exception of the cuneatic and IIi ndoo (Lat and JJevanagiri) writing,-havc originated from the I hoonieian letters; the Arian nations of course eliminating the ShcmiLic gutturals, and replacing them by thoi1· own peculjar moclifications of the sound. The hieroglyphics of Egypt remained confined to the Nile-valley; tho Devanagiri to the two Indian peninsulas and their dependencies; the cuneiform character to the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates, and to the highland flanking it to tho cast; whereas the Phoonician alphabet and those derived from it have been diffused over all the white race, not only Shcmitcs, but Jape Lidos aud Turanians; and this fact practically proves the diffusion of Shcmitic influence. Second in importance only to the phonetic alphabet, is the invention of coined money, which is again Phoonician; although the Isle of .1Egina and the empire of Lydia made rival claims to tho priority of the invention.102 But .LEgiua, the small island between Attica 1o1 Compare for authorities: TypM of Jlfankind, 11 Pnlooogmphio excursus on tho n.rt of writing, by Oco. R. Gliddon ;" and Rll!iAN, Op. cit., I. p. G7. 11 L'6oriluro alphn.Mtique ost dopnis uno haute o.ntiquit6 lo privilogo particulior des S6mites. C'ost aux S6mitcs quo le mondo doit !'alphabet do 22 lottros." 102 'rho earliest stnmlarcl of ooino.go and of weigl1ts o.ncl measures in Grooco was oortainly tho.t of lEgion, tho invention of which was attributed to PUJinDON', Jdng of Argos, and lord of JEgina. Still, criticism cannot bnt tn.ko Pheiclon for 11 semi-mythical person, nne! the authorities about his epoch n.ro irreconcilably at variance with one nnother. 1'ho Purianmnrblo chron icle places ]Jim about 895 D. o.: Pausanins o.nd Strabo botwoon 770-730 n. o., whilst Herodotus (VII. 27) connects him with events which took place about GOO D.o. 0T'l'~' JllED MiiLum, therefore (J:?orie?·, iii. 6) assumes two Phei Ions; o.nd WrnsSENUOllO suggests Pnusnnias may have pln.oed him originally in tho 26th Olympiad, which, by nn error of tho copyist, bocamo tho Gth in tho oxtn.nt MS. Whatever bo the epoch of Pheidon, so much is certo.in, that tbe A!:ginon.n stnnclard of weights o.nd measnros is not his invention. Docck, in his 11 Metrologische UnterRnchnngen," hn.s estn.bli~hed tho fnct tl1o.t it was borrowed from Bttbylon; Phoidon can thoroforo htwo only introduced it into Orcooo. 9 |
