Sook-es-Shookh, on the river Euphrates, in the Mesopotamian villayet, though an interesting spot, is not an imposing or attractive place. Like most of the townlets in this part of Asia Minor, it is just a straggling, overgrown village, a few one-storied plastered houses, with flat roofs and narrow doorways, dotted here and there, a number of wattled and mud-daubed huts huddled irregularly about, a _mesjid_, of course, a khan or caravanserai, and one or two open s.p.a.ces with the inevitable refuse and rubbish heaps, where a bazar or market is held on Fridays. It looks, however, picturesque and peaceful enough, as we ride into it, in the deepening twilight of a late September evening. The stars are beginning already to twinkle overhead, but there is still sufficient light left to note the strange, white-robed figures moving stealthily about in the semi-gloom down by the riverside. Clad in long snowy garments, reaching nearly to the ground, they pa.s.s to and fro near the edge of the water, some wading into mid-stream, while the sound of a strange salutation exchanged in a strange tongue, _Sood Havilakh_, strikes oddly upon the ear long accustomed to the ordinary salutation, _Selam Alek.u.m_, of the Arab-speaking Moslemin. _Paderha Sutekh_, "their fathers were burned,"
cries our Persian _Charvadar_ and guide in disgust, as he catches a glimpse of the white-robed figures, thus delicately hinting that they are not followers of Islam; and a Jew from Hamadan who accompanies our party, on his way to the tomb of Ezekiel, deliberately spits upon the ground and exclaims, in pure Hebrew, _Obde kokhabim umazaloth_, "servants of the stars and planets." And the Hebrew is not wrong. The forms gathering by the riverside in the twilight are those of "Star-worshippers," the last remnants of the famous magi of ancient Chaldea, and their followers, the Babylonian adorers of the host of heaven. To the number of about four thousand in all, they still survive in their Mesopotamian native land, princ.i.p.ally along the banks of the Euphrates river, where they form small village communities. They invariably keep their settlements somewhere near a stream, for their religious rites and ceremonies are preceded by frequent bathings and ablutions, and a rill of flowing water pa.s.sing near or through their tabernacle or meeting-place is indispensable. Hence this edifice is always raised quite close to the river. They call themselves _Mandaya_, Mandates, possessors of the "word," the "living word," keep strictly to their own customs and observances and language, and never intermarry with Moslems, who call them _Sabba_, Sabeans. Their dialect is a remnant of the later Babylonian, and resembles closely the idiom of the Palestinian Talmud, and their liturgy is a compound of fragments of the ancient Chaldean cosmogony with gnostic mysticism influenced by later superst.i.tions. They are a quiet and inoffensive people noted, oddly enough, for the quality of their dairy produce in the villages, and for their skill as metal workers and goldsmiths in the towns where they reside. Their princ.i.p.al settlement is, or was, at Mardin, in the Bagdad district; but there has always been a small community of them at Sook-es-Shookh, on the banks of their favorite stream, the Euphrates.
It happens to be the festival of the Star-worshippers celebrated on the last day of the year and known as the _Kanshio Zahlo_, or day of renunciation. This is the eve of the new year, the great watch-night of the sect, when the annual prayer-meeting is held and a solemn sacrifice made to Avather Ramo, the Judge of the under world, and Ptahiel, his colleague; and the white-robed figures we observe down by the riverside are those of members of the sect making the needful preparations for the prayer-meeting and its attendant ceremonies. First, they have to erect their _Mishkna_, their tabernacle or outdoor temple; for the sect has, strange to say, no permanent house of worship or meeting-place, but raise one previous to their festival and only just in time for the celebration.
And this is now what they are busy doing within a few yards of the water, as we ride into the place. The elders, in charge of a _shkando_, or deacon, who directs them, are gathering bundles of long reeds and wattles, which they weave quickly and deftly into a sort of basket work. An oblong s.p.a.ce is marked out about sixteen feet long and twelve broad by stouter reeds, which are driven firmly into the ground close together, and then tied with strong cord. To these the squares of woven reeds and wattles are securely attached, forming the outer containing walls of the tabernacle.
The side walls run from north to south, and are not more than seven feet high. Two windows, or rather openings for windows, are left east and west, and s.p.a.ce for a door is made on the southern side, so that the priest when entering the edifice has the North Star, the great object of their adoration, immediately facing him. An altar of beaten earth is raised in the centre of the reed-encircled enclosure, and the interstices of the walls well daubed with clay and soft earth, which speedily hardens. On one side of the altar is placed a little furnace of dark earthenware, and on the other a little handmill, such as is generally used in the East for grinding meal, together with a small quant.i.ty of charcoal. Close to the southern wall, a circular basin is now excavated in the ground, about eight feet across, and from the river a short ca.n.a.l or channel is dug leading to it. Into this the water flows from the stream, and soon fills the little reservoir to the brim. Two tiny cabins or huts, made also of reeds and wickerwork, each just large enough to hold a single person, are then roughly put together, one by the side of the basin of water, the other at the further extremity of the southern wall, beyond the entrance.
The second of these cabins or huts is sacred to the _Ganzivro_ or high priest of the Star-worshippers, and no layman is ever allowed to even so much as touch the walls with his hands after it is built and placed in position. The doorway and window openings of the edifice are now hung with white curtains; and long before midnight, the hour at which the prayer meeting commences, the little _Mishkna_, or tabernacle open to the sky, is finished and ready for the solemnity.
Towards midnight the Star-worshippers, men and women, come slowly down to the _Mishkna_ by the riverside. Each, as he or she arrives, enters the tiny wattled hut by the southern wall, disrobes and bathes in the little circular reservoir, the _tarmido_, or priest, standing by and p.r.o.nouncing over each the formula, "_Eshmo d"ha, Eshmo d"manda ha madhkar elakh_"
("The name of the living one, the name of the living word, be remembered upon thee"). On emerging from the water, each one robes himself or herself in the _rasta_, that is, the ceremonial white garments peculiar to the Star-worshippers, consisting of a _sadro_, a long white shirt reaching to the ground; a _na.s.sifo_, or stole, round the neck falling to the knees; a _hiniamo_, or girdle of woollen material; a _gabooa_, square head-piece reaching to the eyebrows; a _shalooal_, or white overmantle and a _kanzolo_, or turban, wound round the _gabooa_ head-piece, of which one end is left hanging down over the shoulder. Peculiar sanct.i.ty attaches to the _rasta_, for the garments composing it are those in which every Star-worshipper is buried, and in which he believes he will appear for judgment before Avather in the nether world _Materotho_. Each one, as soon as he is thus attired, crosses to the open s.p.a.ce in front of the door of the tabernacle, and seats himself upon the ground there, saluting those present with the customary _Sood Havilakh_, "Blessing be with thee," and receiving in return the usual reply, _a.s.sootah d"ha havilakh_, "Blessing of the living one be with thee." The numbers increase as the hour of the ceremonial comes nearer, and by midnight there are some twenty rows of these white-robed figures, men and women, ranked in orderly array facing the _Mishkna_, and waiting in silent expectation the coming of the priests. A couple of _tarmidos_, lamp in hand, guard the entry to the tabernacle, and keep their eyes fixed upon the pointers of the Great Bear in the sky above. As soon as these attain the position indicating midnight, the priests give a signal by waving the lamps they hold, and in a few moments the clergy of the sect march down in procession. In front are four of the _shkandos_, young deacons, attired in the _rasta_, with the addition of a silk cap, or _tagha_, under the turban, to indicate their rank. Following these come four _tarmidos_, ordained priests who have undergone the baptism of the dead. Each wears a gold ring on the little finger of the right hand, and carries a tau-shaped cross of olive wood to show his standing. Behind the _tarmidos_ comes the spiritual head of the sect, the _Ganzivro_, a priest elected by his colleagues, who has made complete renunciation of the world and is regarded as one dead and in the realms of the blessed. He is escorted by four other deacons. One holds aloft the large wooden tau-cross, known as _derashvod zivo_, that symbolizes his religious office; a second bears the sacred scriptures of the Star-worshippers, the _Sidra Rabba_, "the great Order," two-thirds of which form the liturgy of the living and one-third the ritual of the dead.
The third of the deacons carries two live pigeons in a cage, and the last a measure of barley and of sesame seeds. The procession marches through the ranks of the seated worshippers, who bend and kiss the garments of the _Ganzivro_ as he pa.s.ses near them. The _tarmidos_, guarding the entrance to the tabernacle, draw back the hanging over the doorway and the priests file in, the deacons and _tarmidos_ to the right and left, leaving the _Ganzivro_ standing alone in the centre, in front of the earthen altar facing the North Star, Polaris. The sacred book, _Sidra Rabba_, is laid upon the altar folded back where the liturgy of the living is divided from the ritual of the dead. The high priest takes one of the live pigeons handed to him by a _shkando_, extends his hand towards the Polar Star upon which he fixes his eyes, and lets the bird fly, calling aloud, _Bshmo d"ha rabba mshabbah zivo kadmaya Elaha Edmen Nafshi Eprah_, "In the name of the living one, blessed be the primitive light, the ancient light, the Divinity self-created." The words, clearly enunciated within, are distinctly heard by the worshippers without, and with one accord the white-robed figures rise from their places and prostrate themselves upon the ground towards the North Star, on which they have silently been gazing.
Noiselessly the worshippers resume their seated position on the ground outside. Within the _Mishkna_, or tabernacle, the _Ganzivro_ steps on one side, and his place is immediately taken by the senior priest, a tarmido, who opens the _Sidra Rabba_ before him on the altar and begins to read the _Shomhotto_, "confession" of the sect, in a modulated chant, his voice rising and falling as he reads, and ever and anon terminating in a loud and swelling _Ms...o...b.. havi eshmakhyo Manda d"ha_, "Blessed be thy name, O source of life," which the congregants without take up and repeat with bowed heads, their hands covering their eyes. While the reading is in progress two other priests turn, and prepare the _Peto elayat_, or high mystery, as they term their Communion. One kindles a charcoal fire in the earthenware stove by the side of the altar, and the other grinds small some of the barley brought by the deacon. He then expresses some oil from the sesame seed, and, mixing the barley meal and oil, prepares a ma.s.s of dough which he kneads and separates into small cakes, the size of a two-shilling piece. These are quickly thrust into or on the oven and baked, the chanting of the liturgy of the _Shomhotto_ still proceeding with its steady sing-song and response, _Ms...o...b.. havi eshmakhyo_, from outside. The fourth of the tarmidos now takes the pigeon left in the cage from the _shkando_, or deacon, standing near him, and cuts its throat quickly with a very sharp knife, taking care that no blood is lost. The little cakes are then brought to him by his colleague, and, still holding the dying pigeon, he strains its neck over them in such a way that four drops fall on each one so as to form the sacred _tau_, or cross. Amid the continued reading of the liturgy, the cakes are carried round to the worshippers outside by the two princ.i.p.al priests who prepared them, who themselves pop them direct into the mouths of the members, with the words _Rshimot bereshm d"ha_, "Marked be thou with the mark of the living one."
The four deacons inside the _Mishkna_ walk round to the rear of the altar and dig a little hole, in which the body of the dead pigeon is then buried. The chanting of the confession is now closed by the officiating _tarmido_, and the high priest, the _Ganzivro_, resuming his former place in front of the Sacred Book, begins the recitation of the _Ma.s.sakhto_, or "renunciation" of the dead, ever directing his prayers towards the North Star, on which the gaze of the worshippers outside continues fixed throughout the whole of the ceremonial observances and prayers. This star is the _Olma d"nhoora_, literally "the world of light," the primitive sun of the Star-worshippers theogony, the paradise of the elect, and the abode of the pious hereafter. For three hours the reading of the "renunciation "
by the high priest continues, interrupted only, ever and anon, by the _Ms...o...b.. havi eshmakhyo_, "Blessed be thy name," of the partic.i.p.ants seated outside, until, towards dawn, a loud and ringing _Ano asborlakh ano asborli ya Avather_, "I mind me of thee, mind thou of me O Avather," comes from the mouth of the priest, and signalizes the termination of the prayers.
Before the North Star fades in the pale ashen grey of approaching dawn, a sheep, penned over night near the river, is led into the tabernacle by one of the four _shkandos_ for sacrifice to Avather and his companion deity, Ptahiel. It is a wether, for the Star-worshippers never kill ewes, or eat their flesh when killed. The animal is laid upon some reeds, its head west and its tail east, the _Ganzivro_ behind it facing the Star. He first pours water over his hands, then over his feet, the water being brought to him by a deacon. One of the _tarmidos_ takes up a position at his elbow and places his hand on the _Ganzivro"s_ shoulder, saying, _Ana shaddakh_, "I bear witness." The high priest bends towards the North Star, draws a sharp knife from his left side, and reciting the formula, "In the name of Alaha, Ptahiel created thee, Hibel Sivo permitted thee, and it is I who slay thee," cuts the sheep"s throat from ear to ear, and allows the blood to escape on to the matted reeds upon which the animal is stretched out.
The four deacons go outside, wash their hands and feet, then flay the sheep, and cut it into as many portions as there are communicants outside.
The pieces are now distributed among the worshippers, the priests leave the tabernacle in the same order as they came, and with a parting benediction from the _Ganzivro, a.s.sootad d"ha havilakh_, "The benison of the living one attend thee," the prayer-meeting terminates, and the Star-worshippers quietly return to their homes before the crimson sun has time to peep above the horizon.(163)
APPENDIX III. COMPARATIVE LISTS OF WORDS.
I.
OLD WORLD.
YAU or YU=the source or origin, the Chinese character for which figures a square or circle divided into four by crossed horizontal and perpendicular lines, the latter projecting above the square or circle.(164)
YAOU and YU=mythical emperors who inst.i.tuted the celestial kingdom, see p.
298.
YAOU SING="Revolving Star" in Ursa Major. China.
UI or HWEI=verb to turn around. Chinese.
YUL, YEUL, YEOL=wheel (Icelandic hjol, O. Swedish hiugl, Swedish hjul).
HVEL=disk, orb. Iceland.
WUOTAN=ODIN=supreme divinity. Scandinavia.
JOVLA=sacred hearth fire of Northern Finns, under guardianship of mother of family.
JOVIS=Roman supreme divinity, a.s.sociated with wheel.
YAHWE=Hebrew name for G.o.d, translated as "heaven," was p.r.o.nounced Yahu.
According to the Masoretes must be read Yeho (Yahu). The early Gnostics wrote Iao, that is Yaho (Sayce). The four consonants yhvh, p.r.o.nounced Yahveh, const.i.tuted the sacred Tetragrammaton, or four lettered name of the Most High.
Archbishop Tenison says (Idolat. p. 404): "This name was no mystery among the Greeks, as is evident from the mention of the G.o.d Ieuo in Sanchoniathon; Jaho in St. Hiersm, and the Sibylline Oracles; Jaoth or Jaho in Irenaeus; of the Hebrew G.o.d called Jaoia by the Gnostics; of Jaou in Clemens Alexandrinus, of Jao the first principle of the Gnostic Heaven in Epiphanius; the G.o.d of Moses in Diodorus Siculus; the G.o.d Bacchus in the oracle of Apollo Clarius; lastly, as was said, of the Samaritan Jabe, in Theodoret."
YEUD EKHAD=name of supreme G.o.d of Phnicians the Red people (Sayce).
NEW WORLD.
YOUALLI-EHECATL, literally, night or circling-air or wind=supreme G.o.d of the Chichimecs (see p. 33), a Mexican ruling tribe whose name signifies the red lineage or people.
YAHUAL-TECUHTLI or YOUAL-TECUHTLI=the Lord of the circle or of the Night, _i. e._ North-star G.o.d, supreme divinity. Mexico, see p. 279.
YALAHUA=Tzendal deity, p. 181.
YANAULUHA=Zuni deity, p. 223.
{IO, IOVANA, IELLA, IOCAHUNA=names for G.o.d.
{HUIOU=sun.
{HUIOO or HUIHO=mountain. Hati.
{YOLI, YULI=verb, to live, resuscitate, vivify.
{OLLIN="motion." Nahuatl.
YAUALLI=to walk in a circle many times. Nahuatl.
YOUALLI=night. Nahuatl.
HUE=egg. Maya.
II.
OLD WORLD.
SHAME=heaven. Babylonian-a.s.syrian.
SAMA=heaven. Graeco-Persian.
SAMA or SHAMA=north. Arabic (Al Kaukabal Shamaliyy=star of the North; Al Kulbal Shamaliyy=the northern axle or spindle).
AMAN=verb to sustain. Akkadian.
AMAXA=name for Ursa Major=a chariot. Greek.
SAMAS or SHAMASH=Babylonian-a.s.syrian G.o.d, "the universal judge," whose image was wheel with four rays (see pp. 331 and 350), _cf._ Ramman.
BAAL-SHAMAYUN=supreme G.o.d. Phnicia.
AMASIS=Egyptian G.o.d.
KAMOSH=G.o.d of Moabites, p. 350.