The Progress of Ethnology Part 13

[49] Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. Sept. 1846.

[50] London Evangelical Magazine, August, 1846.

[51] Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie, 1846. Extrait d'une description de l'archipel des iles Solo, p. 311.

[52] Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie, for 1846, p. 365.

[53] Physical description of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land.

[54] Address of Lord Colchester to Count Strzelecki on presenting him with the medal.

[55] Discoveries in Australia, vol. 1. p. 252.

[56] p. 394.

[57] vol. 2. p. 10.

[58] London Athenaeum, July 25, 1846. Ibid. Aug. 8, 1846.

[59] Report of Dr. Leichardt's Expedition, Simmonds' Colonial Magazine, vol. 2, 1845.

[60] London Athenaeum. Nov. 3, 1846.

[61] Simmond's Colonial Magazine, Nov. 1846.

[62] Herodotus, in speaking of the subjugation of Lycia, by Cyrus and Harpagus, says; "When Harpagus led his army towards Xanthus, the Lycians boldly advanced to meet him, and, though inferior in numbers, behaved with the greatest bravery. Being defeated and pursued into their city, they collected their wives, children and valuable effects, into the citadel, and there consumed the whole in one immense fire.... Of those who now inhabit Lycia, calling themselves Xanthians, _the whole are foreigners_, eighty families excepted."--_Clio_, 176. See also _Clio_, 171-173.

Herodotus further states that the Lycians originated from the Cretans, a branch of the h.e.l.lenic race; and Strabo, in a fragment preserved from Ephorus, states that the Lycians were a people of Greek origin, who had settled in the country previously occupied by the barbarous tribes of Mylians and Solymi.

Homer briefly alludes to the Lycians, who, at the siege of Troy, a.s.sisted the Trojans under certain rulers whose names are mentioned.--_Iliad_, b. v. and xii.

[63] Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. Vol. IX.

[64] Ibid. Vol. XV. p. 104.

[65] Wellsted's Travels in Arabia, Vol. I. p. 92.

[66] Particulars read to the meeting of Royal Geographical Society of London, November 9, 1846.--London Ath.

[67] Les Steppes de la mer Caspienne, le Caucase, la Crimee et la Russie meridionale; voyage Pittoresque, Historique et Scientifique; par X.

Hommaire de h.e.l.l. 3 vols. royal 8vo. and folio atlas of Plates. Paris, 1845.

[68] I feel warranted in going back and tracing the progress of these discoveries, as so little is known of it by English readers. The translation of Grotefend's essay in Heeren's Researches, was the only accessible original treatise on the subject, until the recent publications of Major Rawlinson and Prof. Westergaard. In Germany, much has been written and some in France. These papers are chiefly in antiquarian or philological Transactions and are scarcely known here. A full account of the discovery in question, of its progress and present state, seems therefore necessary.

[69] Grotefend's Essay on the cuneiform inscriptions, in Heeren's Asiatic Nations. Vol. II. p. 334.

[70] The Zendavesta is one of the most ancient as well as remarkable books that has come down to us from the East. It was first made known in Europe in the year 1762, by Anquetil du Perron, who brought it from Surat in India, whither he went expressly to search for the ancient books of the East. He spent many years (seventeen it is said) in making a translation, which he accompanied with valuable notes, ill.u.s.trative of the doctrines of Zoroaster, and in elucidation of the Zend language, in which this book was written. A great sensation was produced in Europe among the learned at the appearance of the work. Examined as a monument of the ancient religion and literature of the Persians, it was differently appreciated by them. Sir William Jones[A] and others, not only questioned its authenticity, but denounced the translator in very harsh terms. But later writers, among these some of the most distinguished philologists of Europe, are willing to let it rank among the earliest books of the East, and as ent.i.tled to an antiquity at least six centuries anterior to the Christian era.

The Zendavesta (from _zend_ living, and _avesta_ word, i. e. "the living word") consists of a series of liturgic services for various occasions, and bears the same reference to the books of Zoroaster that our breviaries and common-prayer books do to the Bible. It embraces five books. 1. The _Izechne_, "elevation of the soul, praise, devotion;" 2.

the _Vispered_, "the chiefs of the beings there named;" 3. the _Vendidad_, which is considered as the foundation of the law; 4. the _Yeshts Sades_, or "a collection of compositions and of fragments;" 5.

the book _Siroz_, "thirty days," containing praises addressed to the Genius of each day; and which is a sort of liturgical calendar.[B]

The doctrines inculcated in the Zendavesta are "the existence of a great first principle. Time without beginning and without end. This incomprehensible being is the author of the two great active powers of the universe--Ormuzd the principle of all good, and Ahriman the principle of all evil. Ormuzd is the first creative agent produced by the Self-Existent. He is perfectly pure, intelligent, just, powerful, active, benevolent,--in a word, the precise image of the Element; the centre and author of the perfections of all nature." Ahriman is the opposite of this. He is occupied in perverting and corrupting every thing good; he is the source of misery and evil. "Ordained to create and govern the universe, Ormuzd received the Word, which in his mouth became an instrument of infinite power and fruitfulness."[C]

"The first created man was composed of the four elements,--fire, air, water, and earth. "Ormuzd to this perishable frame added an immortal spirit, and the being was complete." The soul of man consists of separate parts, each having peculiar offices. "1. The principle of sensation. 2. The principle of intelligence. 3. The principle of practical judgment. 4. The principle of conscience. 5. The principle of animal life." After death, "the principle of animal life mingles with the winds," the body being regarded as a mere instrument in the power of the will. The first three are accountable for the deeds of the body, and are examined at the day of judgment. "This law or religion is still professed by the descendants of the Persians, who, conquered by the Mohammedans, have not submitted to the Koran; they partly inhabit Kirman and partly the western coast of India, to the north and south of Surat."[D] The traces which are apparent in the Zendavesta of Hindoo superst.i.tions, indicate that its author borrowed from the sacred books of India, while its sublime doctrines evidently point to the Pentateuch.

Mr. Eugene Burnouf is now publis.h.i.+ng at Paris a new translation of the Zendavesta from a Sanscrit version under the t.i.tle of "Commentaire sur le Yacna," in which he has embodied a vast deal of oriental learning, ill.u.s.trative of the geography, history, religion and language of ancient Persia. The first volume was published in 1833.

[A] Sir William Jones's Works. Vol. X. p. 403.

[B] See note to the "Dabistan." Pub. for the Oriental Translations Fund. Vol. I. p. 225.

[C] Frazer's History of Persia. p. 150-157.

[D] Note to the "Dabistan." Vol. 1. p. 222. by its editor, A. Troyer.

[71] The modern t.i.tle of the sovereign of Persia, _Shah_, is at once recognised in the ancient name _Kshe_ or _Ksha_ of the monuments.

[72] Memoire sur deux Inscriptions cuneiforms, trouvees pres d'Hamadan.

Paris, 1836.

[73] Die Alt-Persischen Keil-Inschriften von Persepolis. Bonn, 1836. The other papers of Prof. La.s.sen may be found in the "Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes," a periodical work published at Bonn, exclusively devoted to Oriental subjects. It is the most learned work on Oriental Philology and Archaeology published in Europe.

[74] While Major Rawlinson was occupied in Persia, the subject was attracting much attention among the Orientalists of Europe. Burnouf and La.s.sen, as we have seen, then published the results of their investigations, which were afterwards found to be almost identical with those of Major R. Neither of these scholars was aware at the time of the others' labors. This is an interesting fact, and establishes the correctness of the conclusions at which they eventually arrived.

[75] The Zend language is known to us chiefly by the "Zendavesta." Of its antiquity there is doubt. Some philologists believe that it grew up with the decline of the old Persian, or was formed on its basis, with an infusion from the Sanscrit, Median, and Scythic languages. It was used in the time of Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 550, at which period Zoroaster lived, who employed the Zend in the composition of the "Zendavesta." Its antiquity has formed the subject of many memoirs; but late writers, among whom are Rask, Eugene Burnouf, Bopp, and La.s.sen, have decided from the most severe tests of criticism, that the Zend was an ancient language derived from the same source as the Sanscrit, and that it was spoken before the Christian era, particularly in the countries situated west of the Caspian Sea, in Georgia, Iran proper, and northern Media.

Note to the Dabistan, Vol. I. p. 222. The only specimen of this language yet known, with the exception of a few MSS. of little importance among the Pa.r.s.ees, is the Zendavesta. Major Rawlinson[A] adopts views at variance with those of the distinguished German philologists, in regard to the antiquity of the Zend language. Its "very elaborate vocalic organization," he thinks, "indicates a comparatively recent era for the formation of its alphabet;" and of the Zend-Avesta, he is of opinion that "the disfigurement of authentic history affords an argument of equal weight against the antiquity of its composition." He fully agrees, however, with all others as to the very remote composition of the books generally ascribed to Zoroaster. In fact this is beyond all question, for Plato mentions them (Pol. B. x.x.x.). Clemens of Alexandria says they were known in the 5th century B.C. and many other ancient writers could be cited in proof of the same.[B]

[A] See Rawlinson. Memoir on Cuneiform Inscriptions. Note to page 42.

[B] See a note to the "Dabistan," Vol. I. p. in which is given a list of all the ancient writers who mention Zoroaster and his works.

[76] On the Decyphering of the Median species of Arrow-headed Writing, by N.L. Westergaard, in the Memoires de la Societe Royale des Antiquaires du Nord. Copenhagen, 1844.

[77] Memoir on the Cuneiform Inscriptions, p. 20.

[78] Ibid. p. 28.

[79] On the Median variety of Arrow-headed Writing. Memoires de la Societe des Antiquaires du Nord, for 1844. p. 272.

[80] Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes. 1844-45. Prof.

Westergaard has also published his paper in English, in the Memoires de la Societe Royale des Antiquaires du Nord, Copenhagen, 1844, prefixing to it La.s.sen's alphabet of the first sort of Persepolitan writing. He was probably induced to do this by observing the limited extent to which the German language is cultivated by English scholars, insomuch that even Rawlinson complains that he was unable to read any more of La.s.sen's papers than his translations of the inscriptions, which are in Latin.

[81] Memoir on the Persian cuneiform inscriptions. p. 47.

[82] Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 1844 '45.

[83] For inscription see Rich's Babylon and Persepolis, plate 24, and page 254.