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Building Construction Illustrated
Building Construction
Illustrated
Sixth Edition

Francis D. K. Ching
 Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Illustration: Francis D. K. Ching

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Copyright © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Ching, Francis D. K., 1943- author.

Title: Building construction illustrated / Francis D. K. Ching.
Description: Sixth edition. | Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019031008 (print) | LCCN 2019031009 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119583080 (paperback : acid-free paper) | ISBN 9781119583165 (adobe
pdf) | ISBN 9781119583189 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Building. | House construction.
Classification: LCC TH146 .C52 2020 (print) | LCC TH146 (ebook) | DDC
690—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019031008
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019031009

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 C ON T E N TS

Preface

1 • THE BUILDING SITE

2 • THE BUILDING
3 • FOUNDATION SYSTEMS
4 • FLOOR SYSTEMS
5 • WALL SYSTEMS
6 • ROOF SYSTEMS
7 • MOISTURE & THERMAL PROTECTION
8 • DOORS & WINDOWS
9 • SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION
10 • FINISH WORK
11 • MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
12 • NOTES ON MATERIALS
A • APPENDIX

Bibliography
Index
 P RE FA C E

The first edition of this illustrated guide to building construction appeared in 1975, introducing students and
builders of architecture to the fundamental principles that govern how buildings are erected. It marked the
emergence of a visual approach to understanding the relationship between design and construction.

In 1991, the second edition provided a more expansive survey of building construction by adding coverage
of structural steel, reinforced concrete, and curtain wall systems. The third edition in 2001 remained a
comprehensive introduction to the principles underlying building construction while refining the graphic format
and organization of the first two editions, incorporating an expanded discussion of structural principles,
elements, and systems and referencing the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines and
the MasterFormat™ system established by the Constructions Specifications Institute (CSI) for organizing
construction information.

The fourth edition in 2008 introduced the LEED® Green Building Rating System™ in Chapter One and referenced
specific LEED criteria wherever appropriate; updated section numbers to correspond to the 2004 edition of
the CSI MasterFormat™ system; and complied with the requirements of the 2006 edition of the International
Building Code® (IBC). Continuing to reference the latest LEED criteria and the 2016 CSI MasterFormat system,
the fifth edition of 2014 also updated information in lighting technologies and ways in which to reduce energy
usage in buildings. While many of these additions were incremental and often subtle, together they comprised a
continuing commitment to building wisely and sustainably.

A common thread that wove itself through the first five editions and continues in this sixth edition is the
attitude that buildings and sites should be planned and developed in an environmentally sensitive manner,
responding to context and climate to reduce their reliance on active environmental control systems and the
energy they consume. This edition therefore continues to reference the latest LEED criteria and the 2016
version of the CSI MasterFormat system; expands the discussion of sustainable design and construction;
updates references to the 2018 edition of the International Building Code; illustrates important safety glazing
requirements; and introduces a new category of mass timber products.

It would be nearly impossible to cover all building materials and construction techniques, but the information
presented herein should be applicable to most residential and commercial construction situations encountered
today. Construction techniques continue to adjust to the development of new building materials, products,
and standards. What does not change are the fundamental principles that underlie building elements and the
ways in which systems are assembled in construction. This illustrated guide focuses on these principles, which
can serve as guideposts when evaluating and applying new information encountered in the planning, design, and
construction of a building.

Each building element, component, or system is described in terms of its end use. The specific form, quality,
capability, and availability of an element or component will vary with manufacturer and locale. It is therefore
important to always follow the manufacturer’s recommendation in the use of a material or product and to pay
careful attention to the building code requirements in effect for the use and location of a planned building. It is
the user’s responsibility to ascertain the appropriateness of the information contained in this handbook and to
judge its fitness for any particular purpose. Seek the expert advice of a professional when needed.
M E T RI C EQUI VALENCIES

The International System of Units is an internationally

accepted system of coherent physical units, using the meter,
kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, and candela as the base
units of length, mass, time, electric current, temperature,
and luminous intensity. To acquaint the reader with the
International System of Units, metric equivalents are provided
throughout this book according to the following conventions:

• All whole numbers in parentheses indicate millimeters unless

otherwise noted.
• Dimensions 3 inches and greater are rounded to the nearest
multiple of 5 millimeters.
• Nominal dimensions are directly converted; for example, a
nominal 2×4 is converted to 51 × 100 even though its
actual 11/2" × 31/2" dimensions would be converted to
38 × 90.
• Note that 3487 mm = 3.847 m.
• In all other cases, the metric unit of measurement is
specified.
• See A.08–A.09 for metric conversion factors.
1
THE BUILDING SITE
1.02 Building in Context
1.03 Sustainability
1.04 Green Building
1.05 Green Building Standards
1.09 Resilient Design
1.10 The 2030 Challenge
1.11 Site Analysis
1.12 Soils
1.13 Soil Mechanics
1.14 Topography
1.16 Plant Materials
1.17 Trees
1.18 Solar Radiation
1.20 Passive Solar Design
1.22 Solar Shading
1.23 Daylighting
1.24 Precipitation
1.25 Site Drainage
1.26 Wind
1.27 Sound & Views
1.28 Regulatory Factors
1.29 Zoning Ordinances
1.30 Site Access & Circulation
1.31 Pedestrian Circulation
1.32 Vehicular Circulation
1.33 Vehicular Parking
1.34 Slope Protection
1.35 Retaining Walls
1.38 Paving
1.40 The Site Plan
1.42 Site Description
1. 02 B U ILDI NG IN CONT EX T

Buildings do not exist in isolation. They are conceived to house,

support, and inspire a range of human activities in response to
sociocultural, economic, and political needs, and are erected in
natural and built environments that constrain as well as offer
opportunities for development. We should therefore carefully
consider the contextual forces that a site presents in planning
the design and construction of buildings.

The microclimate, topography, and natural habitat of a site all

influence design decisions at a very early stage in the design
process. To enhance human comfort as well as conserve energy
and material resources, responsive and sustainable design
respects the indigenous qualities of a place, adapts the form
and layout of a building to the landscape, and takes into
account the path of the sun, the rush of the wind, and the flow
of water on a site.

In addition to environmental forces, there exist the regulatory

forces of zoning ordinances. These regulations take into
account existing land-use patterns and prescribe the
acceptable uses and activities for a site as well as limit the
size and shape of the building mass and where it may be located
on the site.

Just as environmental and regulatory factors influence

where and how development occurs, the construction, use,
and maintenance of buildings inevitably place a demand on
transportation systems, utilities, and other services. A
fundamental question we face is how much development a site
can sustain without exceeding the capacity of these service
systems, consuming too much energy, or causing environmental
damage.

Consideration of these contextual forces on site and

building design cannot proceed without a brief discussion of
sustainability.
 S U S TA I N A BI L I TY 1.0 3
In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on
Environment and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem
Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, issued a report, Principles
Our Common Future. Among its findings, the report defined • Reduce resource consumption
sustainable development as “a form of development that meets • Reuse resources
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of • Recycle resources for reuse
future generations to meet their own needs.” • Protect nature
• Eliminate toxics
Increasing awareness of the environmental challenges • Apply life-cycle costing
presented by climate change and resource depletion has • Focus on quality
pushed sustainability into becoming a significant issue shaping
how the building design industry operates. Sustainability
is necessarily broad in scope, affecting how we manage
resources as well as build communities, and the issue calls
for a holistic approach that considers the social, economic,
and environmental impacts of development and requires
the full participation of planners, architects, developers,
building owners, contractors, and manufacturers, as well as
governmental and non-governmental agencies.

In seeking to minimize the negative environmental impact

of development, sustainability emphasizes efficiency and
moderation in the use of materials, energy, and spatial
resources. Building in a sustainable manner requires paying Framework for Sustainable Development
attention to the predictable and comprehensive outcomes of In 1994, Task Group 16 of the International Council for
decisions, actions, and events throughout the life cycle of a Research and Innovation in Building and Construction
building, from conception to the siting, design, construction, proposed a three-dimensional framework for sustainable Resources
use, and maintenance of new buildings as well as the development. • Land
renovation process for existing buildings and the • Materials
reshaping of communities and cities. • Water
• Energy
• Ecosystems

Phase
• Planning
• Development
• Design
• Construction
• Use & Operation
• Maintenance
• Modification
• Deconstruction
1. 04 GREEN B U ILDING

The terms “green building” and “sustainable design” are often
used interchangeably to describe any building designed in an
environmentally sensitive manner. However, sustainability
calls for a whole-systems approach to development that
encompasses the notion of green building but also addresses
broader social, ethical, and economic issues, as well as the
community context of buildings. As an essential component
of sustainability, green building seeks to provide healthy
environments in a resource-efficient manner using ecologically
based principles.
LEED®
Green building is increasingly governed by standards, such
as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED®) Green Building Rating System™, which provides
a set of measurable criteria that promote environmentally
sustainable construction. The rating system was developed
by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a consensus
among its members—federal/state/local agencies, suppliers,
architects, engineers, contractors, and building owners—and
is continually being evaluated and refined in response to
new information and feedback. While developed initially for
the U.S., the LEED rating system is now used in more than
135 countries, partly because it allows for local and regional
equivalencies to the referenced standards.
The LEED rating system for new construction addresses nine
major areas of development.
1. Integrative Process
rewards the analysis of energy and water
systems early in the design process.
2. Location & Transportation
promotes compact development within existing
patterns of development to protect sensitive
sites and avoid the material and ecological costs
of creating new infrastructure and hardscape;
encourages realistic alternatives to private
automobile use, such as the development of walking
and biking paths, access to public transit, and
proximity to community services and amenities; and
advocates for the use of green vehicles.

There are a number of LEED rating systems available to meet

the needs of different building and project types:
• LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction—
New construction and major renovations
• LEED v4 for Interior Design and Construction—
Interior spaces
• LEED v4 for Building Operations and Maintenance—
Existing buildings undergoing improvements
• LEED v4 for Neighborhood Development—
New land development and redevelopment projects
Each rating system may have several variations that tailor
the requirements to specific end uses, such as core and shell
development, schools, retail sales, data centers, warehouses
and distribution centers, hospitality businesses, and
healthcare facilities.
3. Sustainable Sites
encourages selecting sites appropriate for
development, using low-impact development
methods that minimize construction pollution,
protecting environmentally sensitive areas and
restoring damaged habitats, respecting the
natural water hydrology of a site to manage
rainwater runoff, and reducing the effects of
heat islands and light pollution.

4. Water Efficiency
promotes lowering the demand for potable water
and reducing the generation of wastewater by
using water-conserving fixtures, harvesting
rainwater, recycling graywater for conveying sewage,
incorporating native landscapes that reduce the
need for irrigation, and treating wastewater with
on-site systems.
7. Indoor Environmental Quality
promotes the enhanced comfort, productivity, and
well-being of building occupants by improving indoor
air quality, maximizing daylighting of interior spaces,
enabling user control of lighting and thermal comfort
systems to suit task needs and preferences, and
minimizing the exposure of building occupants to
potentially hazardous particulates and chemical
pollutants, such as the volatile organic compounds
(VOC) contained in adhesives and coatings and the
urea-formaldehyde resins in composite wood products.
G REEN BUILDIN G S TAN D ARDS 1.0 5
5. Energy & Atmosphere
treats energy in a holistic manner by promoting
designs that reduce overall energy needs and increase
the efficiency with which energy is acquired and used;
increasing renewable, nonpolluting energy sources
to reduce the environmental and economic impacts
associated with fossil fuel energy use; and minimizing
the emissions that contribute to ozone depletion and
global warming.
6. Material & Resources
seeks to minimize waste by reducing the weight, volume, or
toxicity of materials and products throughout their life cycle,
from supply chain and use to recycling and disposal; reusing
existing materials and building stock to reduce the production
and transportation of new materials; recycling materials to
divert waste from landfills; and developing waste-to-energy
solutions as viable alternatives to fossil fuel energy.
8. Innovation
rewards exceeding the requirements set by the LEED
Green Building Rating System and/or demonstrating
innovative building features and sustainable
design strategies in Green Building categories not
specifically addressed by the LEED Green Building
Rating System.
9. Regional Priority
provides incentives for practices that
address geographically specific and local
environmental priorities.
1. 06 GREEN B U ILDING STANDARDS

BREEAM
Another green rating system is the Building Research
Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), established in
the United Kingdom by the Building Research Establishment
(BRE) for measuring and rating the sustainability and
environmental performance of masterplanned communities,
Innovation Energy
buildings, and major renovations. Launched in 1990, it is
one of the oldest and most widely adopted green rating
Waste Health and Well-Being systems. Extensively used in Europe, BREEAM has also been
implemented in construction around the world.

Water Land Use BREEAM assesses life-cycle performance from concept

through construction and use, and requires evidence that the
quality and performance standards are met in the following
Transport Material areas: management, health and well-being, energy, transport,
water, material, waste, land use, pollution, and innovation.
Pollution Management

Categories of Compliance for the BREEAM Rating System

Green Globes
Green Globes is an online, interactive assessment and rating
system for green building design, operation, and management.
Green Globes originated from the BREEAM system but is
now administered in the United States by the Green Building
Initiative (GBI) and in Canada by its wholly owned, nonprofit
subsidiary, GB Initiative Canada. The Green Globes system
focuses on life-cycle assessment in seven areas:

• Project Management: Integrated design process,

performance goals, environmental management
• Site: Ecological impacts, stormwater management,
landscaping, exterior light pollution
• Energy: Measurement and verification, lighting, HVAC
systems and controls, renewable energy
• Water: Consumption, water-intensive applications,
treatment, alternate sources, irrigation
• Materials and resources: Building assembly, re-use, waste,
resource conservation
• Emissions: Ozone-depleting potential, global warming
potential
• Indoor environment: Ventilation, lighting design and
systems, thermal comfort, acoustic comfort
 G REEN BUILDIN G S TA N DA RDS 1. 07
Passivhaus
Passivhaus (Passive House) is a standard developed in
Europe to produce ultra-low-energy buildings by combining
excellent thermal performance and airtightness with a heat-
recovery ventilation system that supplies fresh air for indoor
environmental quality. The goal is to provide a high level of
occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating
and cooling. While its name implies application primarily in the
residential sector, the principles of the Passivhaus standard
can also be applied to commercial, industrial, and public
buildings.

The standard contains both a predictive design goal—a

maximum energy demand of 120 kWh per square meter (11.1
kWh per square foot)—and an actual performance goal of
an infiltration rate no greater than 0.60 air changes per
hour @ 50 pascals. The latter requires that construction be
meticulously detailed to limit infiltration, which is a major
cause of increased energy usage.

• Optimize heat from the sun.

• Super-insulate the
building and minimize
thermal bridging.

• Provide constant fresh • Use passive heat

air and retain heat by sources, such as
• Use triple-glazed
using heat recovery the sun, human
windows with
ventilation systems. occupants,
insulated frames.
and household
appliances.
• Minimize heat loss
due to infiltration.

Passivhaus Strategies • Maximum energy use for all purposes of

120 kWh per square meter (11.1 kWh
per square foot)
1. 08 GREEN B U ILDING STANDARDS

• Energy: Generate and Living Building Challenge

conserve energy. The Living Building Challenge is a standard created in 2006
and maintained by the International Living Future Institute
for development at all scales, from buildings to infrastructure,
landscapes, and neighborhoods. The Living Building Challenge
• Health and Happiness: Use differentiates itself from other standards by advocating for
biophilic design elements, net zero energy use, net zero water use, and fully onsite waste
such as operable windows, processing over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy.
daylighting strategies, and The standard also contains bold requirements in other green
green spaces. building areas, such as site selection and preservation, material
selection, and health. Of note is the inclusion of beauty and equity
as major areas of green building design.

• Materials: Reduce
carbon footprint, • Beauty: Celebrate designs
source local materials, that inspire and uplift.
conserve and reuse.

• Equity: Create humane places

with access to nature.

• Place: Limit growth, support urban

agriculture, preserve habitat. • Water: Protect and conserve
water as a resource; harvest
the water used.
Performance areas of the Living Building Challenge

The International Building Code

The International Building Code (IBC) is a comprehensive model
code developed, published, and maintained by the International
Code Council (ICC), which has been adopted as a base code by
most jurisdictions in the U.S. The IBC and its associated I-codes
contain a broad number of green provisions, including requirements
Indoor Environmental Quality: for energy conservation in the International Energy Conservation
International Mechanical Code Code, requirements for ventilation in the International Mechanical
Code, and requirements for water conservation in the International
Plumbing Code.

In 2010, the ICC released the International Green Construction

Energy: Water: Code (IGCC) in collaboration with the American Institute of
International Energy International Plumbing Code Architects (AIA), the United States Green Building Council
Conservation Code (USGBC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-
Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Illuminating Engineering
Society (IES), and ASTM International. The IGCC is compatible
with ICC’s full series of building codes and is intended to aid in the
Site: International Building Code construction of sustainable commercial and residential buildings.

Living or working in a building that is built to code, is
comfortable, and is energy efficient may not matter if it
becomes uninhabitable due to an earthquake, flood, wildfire,
or some other disaster. This possibility has given rise to the
field of resilient design, which the Resilient Design Institute
defines as “the intentional design of buildings, landscapes,
communities, and regions in response to natural and manmade
disasters and disturbances—as well as long-term changes
resulting from climate change—including sea level rise,
increased frequency of heat waves, and regional drought.”
The goals are to design, construct, and renovate buildings to
handle natural disasters as well as maintain livable conditions
in the event of an extended loss of power or heat.
The principles and strategies of resilient design apply not only
to buildings but also communities and regions, and recognize
that the nature of possible disasters and disturbances may
vary with locale. For example, high winds and flooding may
be prevalent in one locale, while blizzards as well as large
temperature swings might present a greater potential problem
in another. In still another region, seismic activity might be the
primary concern.
While the principles and strategies of sustainable design and
resilient design may sometimes seem at odds, there is still
much overlap.
Sustainable Design
RESI L I E N T D E S I GN 1.0 9
• Provide for basic human needs, such as potable water,
safe air, occupant health, and food, distributed equitably.
• Rely on diverse and redundant systems for such needs as
electricity, water, and transportation.
• Emphasize the use of passive systems for heating and
cooling.
• Use simple and flexible systems rather than complex
operations that require ongoing maintenance.
• Be locally specific when designing responses to possible
Resilient Design
disturbances.
• Design and build for durability and robustness to
withstand possible disasters as well as long-term wear
and tear.
• Design buildings that can adapt to new and overlapping
uses over time
• Build in energy and water independence.
• Use locally sourced, renewable, or reclaimed
materials and products.
• Employ locally available skill-sets.
• Reduce demand for energy needs and increase efficient
use of energy.
• Increase renewable, nonpolluting energy sources.
• Reduce demand for potable water and the generation of
wastewater.
• Provide realistic alternatives to private automobile use.
• Restore habitat and brownfields, and protect
environmentally sensitive areas.
• Respect the natural hydrology of a site.
• Promote compact development within existing patterns
of development.
• Improve indoor air quality, maximize daylighting of
interior spaces, and enable user control of lighting and
thermal comfort systems.
1. 10 T HE 2 0 30 CH ALLENGE

Architecture 2030 is an environmental advocacy group

Industrial: 33% Residential: 20%
Buildings: 38%
Transportation: 29% Commercial: 18%
U.S. Energy Consumption by Sector in 2017
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
3. While some of this infrared
radiation passes through the
atmosphere, some is absorbed
and re-emitted in all directions
by greenhouse gas molecules and
water vapor in the atmosphere.
whose mission is “to provide information and innovative
solutions in the fields of architecture and planning, in an
effort to address global climate change.” Its founder, New
Mexico architect Edward Mazria, points to data from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration that indicates buildings
are responsible for approximately 40% of the total U.S.
energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
annually. Globally, Mazria believes the urban built environment
is responsible for 75% of annual global GHG emissions.
Eliminating these emissions is key to addressing climate
change.
What is relevant to any discussion of sustainable design is
that most of the building sector’s energy consumption is not
attributable to the production of materials or the process
of construction, but rather to operational processes—the
heating, cooling, and lighting of buildings. This means that to
reduce the energy consumption and GHG emissions generated
by the use and maintenance of buildings over their life span,
it is necessary to properly design, shape, and site buildings
and incorporate natural heating, cooling, ventilation, and
daylighting strategies.

In 2006, Architecture 2030 issued the 2030 Challenge,

2. The absorbed
energy is then
emitted from the
earth’s surface as
long-wave infrared
radiation.
1. Some of the incoming solar radiation is reflected by the
earth and the atmosphere but most of the radiation is
absorbed and warms the earth’s surface and atmosphere.
Climate Change & Global Warming
Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide, are emissions that rise into the atmosphere. CO2 accounts
for the largest share of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel
combustion is the main source of CO2 emissions.
which calls for all new buildings, developments, and major
renovations to be carbon-neutral by 2030 (using no fossil-fuel
4. The downward part of GHG-emitting energy to build and operate). To accomplish this
this infrared radiation is goal, the 2030 Challenge advocates for all new buildings to
the “greenhouse effect,” use less than half the fossil fuel energy they would typically
raising the temperature consume, and for an equal amount of existing building area to
of the lower atmosphere be renovated annually to meet the same energy consumption
and the earth’s surface. standard.
There are two approaches to reducing a building’s consumption
of GHG-emitting fossil fuels. The passive approach is to work
with the climate in designing, siting, and orienting a building
and employ passive cooling and heating techniques to reduce
its overall energy requirements. The active approach is to
increase the ability of a building to capture or generate its own
energy from renewable sources (solar, wind, geothermal, low-
impact hydro, biomass, and bio-gas) that are available locally
and in abundance. While striking an appropriate, cost-effective
balance between energy conservation and generating renewable
energy is the goal, minimizing energy use is a necessary first
step, irrespective of the fact that the energy may come from
renewable resources.

Site analysis is the process of studying the
contextual forces that influence how we might
situate a building, lay out and orient its spaces,
shape and articulate its enclosure, and establish
its relationship to the landscape. Any site survey
begins with the gathering of physical site data.
S I T E A N ALY S I S 1.1 1
• Draw the area and shape of the site as defined by its legal
boundaries.
• Indicate required setbacks, existing easements, and rights-of-way.
• Estimate the area and volume required for the building program,
site amenities, and future expansion, if desired.
• Analyze the ground slopes and subsoil conditions to locate the
areas suitable for construction and outdoor activities.
• Identify steep and moderate slopes that may be unsuitable for
development.
• Locate soil areas suitable for use as a drainage field, if applicable.
• Map existing drainage patterns. (LEED SS Credit 4: Rainwater
Management)
• Determine the elevation of the water table.
• Identify areas subject to excessive runoff of surface water,
flooding, or erosion.
• Locate existing trees and native plant materials that should be
preserved.
• Chart existing water features, such as wetlands, streams,
watersheds, flood plains, or shorelines that should be protected.
(LEED SS Credit 2: Site Development—Protect or Restore
Habitat)
• Map climatic conditions: the path of the sun, the direction of
prevailing winds, and the expected amount of rainfall.
• Consider the impact of landforms and adjacent structures on
solar access, prevailing winds, and the potential for glare.
• Evaluate solar radiation as a potential energy source.
• Determine possible points of access from public roadways and
public transit stops. (LEED LT Credit 5: Access to Quality Transit)
• Study possible circulation paths for pedestrians and vehicles from
these access points to building entrances.
• Ascertain the availability of utilities: water mains, sanitary and
storm sewers, gas lines, electrical power lines, telephone and cable
lines, and fire hydrants.
• Determine access to other municipal services, such as police and
fire protection.
• Identify the scope of desirable views as well as objectionable views.
• Cite potential sources of congestion and noise.
• Evaluate the compatibility of adjacent and proposed land uses.
• Map cultural and historical resources that should be preserved.
• Consider how the existing scale and character of the neighborhood
or area might affect the building design.
• Map the proximity to public, commercial, medical, and recreational
facilities. (LEED LT Credit 1: LEED for Neighborhood Development
Location and LT Credit 4: Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses)
1. 12 SO ILS

There are two broad classes of soils—coarse-grained soils and fine-grained soils.
Coarse-grained soils include gravel and sand, which consist of relatively large particles
visible to the naked eye; fine-grained soils, such as silt and clay, consist of much
smaller particles. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Unified Soil
Classification System further divides gravels, sands, silts, and clays into soil types
based on physical composition and characteristics. See table that follows.

• Gravel • Sand • Clay The soil underlying a building site may actually consist of superimposed layers, each
of which contains a mix of soil types, developed by weathering or deposition. To depict
this succession of layers or strata called horizons, geotechnical engineers draw a soil
profile, a diagram of a vertical section of soil from the ground surface to the underlying
material, using information collected from a test pit or boring.

The integrity of a building structure depends ultimately on the stability and strength
under loading of the soil or rock underlying the foundation. The stratification,
composition, and density of the soil bed, variations in particle size, and the presence or
absence of groundwater are all critical factors in determining the suitability of a soil as
a foundation material. When designing anything other than a single-family dwelling, it is
advisable to have a geotechnical engineer undertake a subsurface investigation.

A subsurface investigation (CSI MasterFormat™ 02 32 00) involves the analysis and

testing of soil disclosed by excavation of a test pit up to 10' (3 m) deep or by deeper
test borings in order to understand the structure of the soil, its shear resistance and
compressive strength, its water content and permeability, and the expected extent and
rate of consolidation under loading. From this information, the geotechnical engineer
is able to gauge the anticipated total and differential settlement under loading by a
proposed foundation system.

Soil Classification* Symbol Description Presumptive Bearing Capacity† Susceptibility Permeability

psf‡ kPa to Frost Action & Drainage

Gravels Clean gravels GW Well-graded gravel 10,000 479 None Excellent

6.4–76.2 mm GP Poorly graded gravel 10,000 479 None Excellent
Gravels w/ fines GM Silty gravel 5000 239 Slight Poor
GC Clayey gravel 4000 192 Slight Poor
Sands Clean sands SW Well-graded sand 7500 359 None Excellent
0.05–6.4 mm SP Poorly graded sand 6000 287 None Excellent
Sands w/ fines SM Silty sand 4000 192 Slight Fair
SC Clayey sand 4000 192 Medium Poor
Silts LL>50§ ML Inorganic silt 2000 96 Very high Poor
0.002–0.05 mm CL Inorganic clay 2000 96 Medium Impervious
& Clays LL<50§ OL Organic silt-clay Very poor High Impervious
<0.002 mm MH Elastic inorganic silt 2000 96 Very high Poor
CH Plastic inorganic clay 2000 96 Medium Impervious
OH Organic clay and silt Very poor Medium Impervious
Highly organic soils Pt Peat Unsuitable Slight Poor

* Based on the ASTM Unified Soil Classification System

† Consult a geotechnical engineer and the building code for allowable bearing capacities.

‡ 1 psf = 0.0479 kPa

§ LL = liquid limit: the water content, expressed as a percentage of dry weight, at which a soil passes from a plastic to a liquid state.
 S O I L M E C H AN I C S 1.1 3
The allowable bearing capacity of a soil is the maximum unit
pressure a foundation is permitted to impose vertically or
laterally on the soil mass. In the absence of geotechnical
investigation and testing, building codes may permit the
use of conservative load-bearing values for various soil
classifications. While high-bearing-capacity soils present
few problems, low-bearing-capacity soils may dictate the
use of a certain type of foundation and load distribution
pattern, and ultimately, the form and layout of a building.

Density is a critical factor in determining the bearing

capacity of granular soils. The Standard Penetration Test
measures the density of granular soils and the consistency
of some clays at the bottom of a borehole, recording
the number of blows required by a hammer to advance
a standard soil sampler. In some cases, compaction, by
means of rolling, tamping, or soaking to achieve optimum
moisture content, can increase the density of a soil bed.

Coarse-grained soils have a relatively low percentage of void

spaces and are more stable as a foundation material than
silt or clay. Clay soils, in particular, tend to be unstable
because they shrink and swell considerably with changes
in moisture content. Unstable soils may render a site
unbuildable unless an elaborately engineered and expensive
foundation system is put in place.

The shearing strength of a soil is a measure of its ability to

resist displacement when an external force is applied, due
largely to the combined effects of cohesion and internal
friction. On sloping sites, as well as during the excavation
of a flat site, unconfined soil has the potential to displace • Compact clay
laterally. Cohesive soils, such as clay, retain their strength • Dry sand
when unconfined; granular soils, such as gravel, sand, • Clay, silt, and sand mix
or some silts, require a confining force for their shear • Saturated clay
resistance and have a relatively shallow angle of repose. Angle of Repose for Bare Soil Embankments

The water table is the level beneath which the soil

is saturated with groundwater. Some building sites
are subject to seasonal fluctuations in the level of
groundwater. Any groundwater present must be drained
away from a foundation system to avoid reducing the
bearing capacity of the soil and to minimize the possibility
of water leaking into a basement. Coarse-grained soils are
more permeable and drain better than fine-grained soils,
and are less susceptible to frost action.
1. 14 T OPO GRAP H Y
• Slope (%) = [elevation gain (v)/ horizontal distance (h)] x 100
The ground slope between any two contour lines is a function
of the total change in elevation and the horizontal distance
between the two contours.
Topography refers to the configuration of surface features
of a plot of land, which influences where and how to build and
develop a site. To study the response of a building design to the
topography of a site, we can use a series of site sections or a
site plan with contour lines.
Contour lines are imaginary lines joining points of equal
elevation above a datum or bench mark. The trajectory of each
contour line indicates the shape of the land formation at that
elevation. Note that contour lines are always continuous and
never cross one another; they coincide in a plan view only when
they cut across a vertical surface.
Contour interval refers to the difference in elevation
represented by any two adjacent contour lines on a topographic
map or site plan. The interval used is determined by the
scale of a drawing, the size of the site, and the nature of the
topography. The larger the area and the steeper the slopes,
the greater the interval between contours. For large or steeply
sloping sites, 20' or 40' (5 or 10 m) contour intervals may be
used. For small sites having relatively gradual slopes, 1', 2', or
5' (0.5 or 1.0 m) contours may be necessary.
We can discern the topographical nature of a site by reading
the horizontal spacing and shape of contour lines.
• Contours spaced far apart indicate a relatively flat
or gently sloping surface.
• Equally spaced contours denote a constant slope.
• Closely spaced contours disclose a relatively steep
rise in elevation.
• Contour lines represent a ridge when pointing toward
lower elevations; they represent a valley when pointing
toward higher elevations.
• Ground slopes over 25% are subject to erosion and
are difficult to build on.
• Ground slopes over 10% are challenging to use for
outdoor activities and are more expensive to build on.
• Ground slopes from 5% to 10% are suitable for
informal outdoor activities and can be built on without
too much difficulty.
• Ground slopes up to 5% are usable for most outdoor
activities and are relatively easy to build on.
 TO POG RA PH Y 1.1 5
For aesthetic and economic as well as ecological reasons, the general
intent in developing a site should be to minimize the disturbance of
existing landforms and features while taking advantage of natural
ground slopes and the microclimate of the site.
• Site development and construction should minimize disrupting the
natural drainage patterns of the site and adjacent properties.
• When modifying landforms, include provisions for the drainage
of surface water and groundwater.
• Attempt to equalize the amount of cut and fill required LEED SS Credit 4: Rainwater Management
for construction of a foundation and site development.
• Avoid building on steep slopes subject to erosion or slides.
• Wetlands and other wildlife habitats may require protection LEED SS Credit 2: Site Development—
and limit the buildable area of a site. Protect or Restore Habitat
• Pay particular attention to building restrictions on sites
located in or near a flood plain.

• Elevating a structure on poles or piers minimizes

disturbance of the natural terrain and existing vegetation.
• Terracing or stepping a structure along a slope requires
excavation and the use of retaining walls or bench terracing.
• Cutting a structure into a slope or locating it partially
underground moderates temperature extremes and minimizes
exposure to wind, and heat loss in cold climates.

• The temperature in the atmosphere decreases The microclimate of a site is influenced by the ground
with altitude—approximately 1°F (0.56°C) elevation, the nature and orientation of landforms, and the
for every 400' (122 m) in elevation. presence of bodies of water.
• Warm air rises.
• Heavier cool air settles • Solar radiation warms southern slopes, creating a
into low-lying areas. temperate zone.
• Daytime breezes, which replace updrafts of warm air over
land, can have a cooling effect of up to 10°F (5.6°C).
• Grass and other ground covers tend to lower
ground temperatures by absorbing solar radiation and
encouraging cooling by evaporation.
• Hard surfaces tend to elevate ground temperatures.
• Light-colored surfaces reflect solar radiation; dark
surfaces absorb and retain the radiation.

Large bodies of water:

• Act as heat reservoirs and moderate variations in local LEED SS Credit 5: Heat Island Reduction
temperature;
• Are generally cooler than land during the day and warmer at night,
generating offshore breezes;
• Are generally warmer than land in winter and cooler in summer.
• In hot-dry climates, even small bodies of water are desirable, both
psychologically and physically, for their evaporative cooling effect.
CSI MasterFormat 31 10 00: Site Clearing
CSI MasterFormat 31 20 00: Earth Moving
CSI MasterFormat 32 70 00: Wetlands
1. 16 P LANT M AT ERIALS
LEED SS Credit 4: Rainwater Management
LEED SS Credit 5: Heat Island Reduction
LEED WE Credit 1: Outdoor Water Use Reduction
CSI MasterFormat 32 90 00: Planting
Plant materials provide aesthetic as well as functional benefits in
conserving energy, framing or screening views, moderating noise,
retarding erosion, and visually connecting a building to its site.
Factors to consider in the selection and use of plant materials in
landscaping include the:
• Tree structure and shape
• Seasonal density, texture, and color of foliage
• Speed or rate of growth
• Mature height and spread of foliage
• Requirements for soil, water, sunlight, and temperature range
• Depth and extent of the root structure
• Trees and other plant life adapt their forms to the climate.
• Existing healthy trees and native plant materials should be
preserved whenever possible. During construction and when
regrading a site, existing trees should be protected for an area
equal to the diameter of their crowns. The root systems of
trees planted too close to a building may disturb the foundation
system. Root structures can also interfere with underground
utility lines.
• To support plant life, a soil must be able to absorb moisture,
supply the appropriate nutrients, be capable of aeration, and be
free of concentrated salts.
Grass and other ground covers:
• Can reduce air temperature by absorbing solar radiation and
encouraging cooling by evaporation;
• Aid in stabilizing soil embankments and preventing erosion;
• Increase the permeability of soil to air and water.
• Vines can reduce the heat transmission through a sunlit wall
by providing shade and cooling the immediate environment by
evaporation.
 TRE E S 1.1 7
Trees affect the immediate environment of a building in the following ways: Providing Shade
The amount of solar radiation obstructed or filtered
by a tree depends on its:
• Orientation to the sun
• Proximity to a building or outdoor space
• Shape, spread, and height
• Density of foliage and branch structure

• Trees shade a building or outdoor space most effectively from

the southeast during the morning and the southwest during the
late afternoon when the sun has a low altitude and casts long
shadows.
• South-facing overhangs provide more efficient shading during
the midday period when the sun is high and casts short shadows.
• Deciduous trees provide shade and glare protection during the
summer and allow solar radiation to penetrate through their
branch structures during the winter.
• Evergreens provide shade throughout the year and help reduce
snow glare during the winter.

Serving as Windbreak
• Evergreens can form effective windbreaks and reduce
heat loss from a building during the winter.
• The foliage of plant materials reduces wind-blown dust.

Defining Space
• Trees can shape outdoor spaces for activity and movement.

Directing or Screening Views

• Trees can frame desirable views.
• Trees can screen undesirable views and provide privacy for
outdoor spaces.

Attenuating Sound
• A combination of deciduous and evergreen trees is most effective
in intercepting and attenuating airborne sound, especially when
combined with earth mounds.

Improving Air Quality

• Trees trap particulate matter on their leaves, which is then
washed to the ground during rainfall.
• Leaves can also assimilate gaseous and other pollutants.
• Photosynthetic process can metabolize fumes and other odors.

Stabilizing Soil
• The root structures of trees aid in stabilizing soil, increasing the
permeability of the soil to water and air, and preventing erosion.
1. 18 SO LAR RADIAT ION

The location, form, and orientation of a building and its

spaces should take advantage of the thermal, hygienic, and
psychological benefits of sunlight. Solar radiation, however,
may not always be beneficial, depending on the latitude and
climate of the site. In planning the design of a building, the
objective should be to maintain a balance between underheated
periods when solar radiation is beneficial and overheated
periods when radiation should be avoided.

The path of the sun through the sky varies with the seasons
and the latitude of a building site. The range of solar angles for
a specific site should be obtained from a weather almanac or
service bureau before calculating the potential solar heat gain
• Altitude is the angular and shading requirements for a building design.
elevation of the sun above
the horizon.

• Horizon

• Summer solstice (June 21)

• Spring equinox (March 21)

• Autumnal equinox (September 22)

• Winter solstice (December 22)

• Azimuth is the angle of horizontal Solar Path Diagram

deviation, measured clockwise, of a
bearing from a standard south direction.

Representative Solar Angles

North Latitude Representative City Altitude at Noon Azimuth at Sunrise & Sunset*
Dec. 22 Mar. 21/Sept. 22 Dec. 22 June 21

48° Seattle 18° 42° 54° 124°

44° Toronto 22° 46° 56° 122°
40° Denver 26° 50° 58° 120°
36° Tulsa 30° 54° 60° 118°
32° Phoenix 34° 58° 62° 116°

*Azimuth is east of south for sunrise, and west of south for sunset.
 S O L AR R AD I AT I ON 1.1 9
The following are recommended forms and orientations
for isolated buildings in different climatic regions. The
information presented should be considered along with
other contextual and programmatic requirements.

Cool Regions
Minimizing the surface area of a building reduces
exposure to low temperatures.
• Maximize absorption of solar radiation.
• Reduce radiant, conductive, and evaporative heat loss.
• Provide wind protection.

Temperate Regions
Elongating the form of a building along the east-west
axis maximizes south-facing walls.
• Minimize east and west exposures, which are
generally warmer in summer and cooler in winter than
southern exposures.
• Balance solar heat gain with shade protection on a
seasonal basis.
• Encourage air movement in hot weather; protect
against wind in cold weather.

Hot-Arid Regions
Building forms should enclose courtyard spaces.
• Reduce solar and conductive heat gain.
• Promote cooling by evaporation using water features
and plantings.
• Provide solar shading for windows and outdoor spaces.

Hot-Humid Regions
Building form elongated along the east-west axis
minimizes east and west exposures.
• Reduce solar heat gain.
• Utilize wind to promote cooling by evaporation.
• Provide solar shading for windows and outdoor spaces.

LEED EA Credit 2: Optimize Energy Performance

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
question as to the function and purpose of that strange
Mesopotamian institution of temple-prostitutes. But, leaving this latter
alone for the moment, we find explicit testimony in Herodotus to the
fact with which we are immediately concerned. In describing the
great temple of Bel at Babylon,265.1 he asserts, on the authority of
his “Chaldean priests,” that the deity chose as his nightly partner
some native woman, who was supposed to pass the night on the
couch with him, and who was obliged to abstain from all other
intercourse with men; and he compares a similar practice of belief
found in the temple of Zeus in Egyptian Thebes, and in the oracular
shrine of Apollo at Patara in Lycia. Now Herodotus’ trustworthiness
in this matter has been doubted by Assyriologists;265.2 nevertheless,
a phrase used in the code of Hammurabi concerning a holy woman
dedicated to temple service, calling her “a wife of Marduk,” seems to
give some colour to the Herodotean statement.265.3 Only, this term
might have merely a spiritual-symbolic significance, like the
designation of a nun as “the bride of Christ”; for the original
Babylonian documents have supplied as yet, so far as I am aware,
no evidence of a woman fulfilling the rôle of Belit, the wife of Bel.
As regards the adjacent religions, the idea that a mortal might
enter into this mode of communion with the divinity was probably an
ancient heritage of the Phrygian religions, for it crops up in various
forms. The priest of Attis was himself called Attis, and, therefore,
probably had loving intercourse with the goddess, and the later
mysteries of Kybele extended this idea and offered to every votary
the glory of a mystic marriage;266.1 it was the unconscious stimulus
of an immemorial tradition that prompted the Phrygian heresiarch
Montanus to give himself out as the husband of the Virgin Mary.266.2
It also appears as a fundamental tenet of the Sabazian mystery and
of the Hellenistic-Egyptian Hermetic theosophy. The simple ritual-
fact, namely, that a woman serves as the bride of the god, could
probably be traced far afield through many widely distant peoples.
According to Sahagun,266.3 the human sacrifices of the Mexicans
had sometimes the purpose of sending away a woman victim into
divine wedlock. In pre-Christian Sweden we find a priestess
generally regarded as the wife of the god Freyr, and enjoying
considerable power from the connection.266.4 Similar examples can
be quoted from modern savage communities. Therefore if we find
the same institution in the Mediterranean, we shall not think it
necessary to suppose that it was an import from Babylon or from any
Semitic people. As regards the Minoan worship, it is legitimate at
least to regard the legend of Pasiphaë and her amour with the bull-
god as an unfortunate aetiologic myth distorting the true sense of a
ritual in which a mortal woman enjoyed this kind of divine
communion, and here again we should mark a religious affinity
between Crete and Phrygia. And it is likely that the idea was not
unfamiliar to the Hellenes, though the record of it is scanty and
uncertain. According to the early Christian fathers, the inspiration of
the Pythia of Delphi was due to a corporeal union with Apollo akin at
least to—if not identical with—sexual intercourse. Of more value is
Herodotus’ definite assertion that the priestess of Patara gained her
inspiration by her nuptial union with Apollo. In the rare cases where
the cult of a Hellenic god was administered by a priestess we may
suspect that a ἱερὸς γάμος was part of the temple-ritual; in the two
examples that I have been able to find, the cults of Poseidon at
Kalaureia and of Heracles at Thespiai, the priestess must be a
maiden, as on this theory would be natural.267.1 The maiden-
priestesses of the Leukippides, the divine brides of the Dioskouroi at
Sparta, were themselves called Leukippides; in all probability
because they were their mortal representatives in some ceremony of
holy marriage.267.2 But the most salient and explicitly recorded
example is the yearly marriage of the Queen-Archon at Athens with
Dionysos, the bull-god, in the feast of Anthesteria, the significance of
which I have discussed elsewhere.267.3 It seems that the Queen by
uniting her body with the god’s, unites to him the whole Athenian
state and secures its prosperity and fruitfulness; this historic fact may
also explain the myth of the union of Althaia, Queen of Kalydon, with
the same god. Finally, let us observe that nothing in any of these
Hellenic records suggests any element of what we should call
impurity in the ritual; we are not told that these holy marriages were
ever consummated by the priest as the human representative of the
god; or that the ceremony involved any real loss of virginity in the
maiden-priestess. The marriage could have been consummated
symbolically by use of a puppet or image of the deity. We may
believe that the rite descends from pre-Homeric antiquity; the ritual
which the Queen-Archon performed might naturally have been
established at the time of the adoption into Athens of the Dionysiac
cult, and there are reasons for dating this event earlier than 1000
B.C.268.1
We now come to a very difficult and important question concerning
the position of women in the old Mesopotamian temple-ritual. Our
first document of value is the code of Hammurabi, in which we find
certain social regulations concerning the status of a class of women
designated by a name which Winckler translates doubtfully as
“God’s-sisters,” regarding it, however, as equivalent to consecrated,
while Johns translates it merely as “votary.”268.2 At least, we have
proof of a class of holy women who have certain privileges and are
under certain restrictions. They were the daughters of good families
dedicated by their fathers to religion; they could inherit property,
which was exempt from the burden of army-tax; they could not
marry, and were prohibited from setting-up or even entering a wine-
shop under penalty of death. It is something to know even as much
as this about them, but we would very gladly learn more. Is it to their
order that the personage described as “the wife of Marduk”269.1
belongs, who has been considered above? Is it from among them
that the priestesses of Ishtar were chosen, who interpreted the
oracles of the goddess?269.2 It seems clear that a father could
dedicate his daughter to any divinity, that their position was
honourable, and that they are not to be identified with the temple-
prostitutes of Babylon or Erech, who excited the wonder and often
the reprobation of the later Greek world. This peculiar order of
temple-harlots is also recognised—according to some of the best
authorities269.3—in Hammurabi’s code, where they are mentioned in
the same context with the “consecrated” or the “God-sisters,” and yet
are clearly distinct from them; another clause seems to refer to male
prostitutes (§ 187). Certain rules are laid down concerning their
inheritance of property, and concerning the rearing of their children, if
they had any, who might be adopted into private families. Evidently
these “Qadishtu” were a permanent institution, and there is no hint of
any dishonour. There may be other references in Babylonian
literature to these temple-women; in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the
courtesan who won over Eabani evidently belongs to the retinue of
Ishtar of Erech.
From these two institutions we must distinguish that other, for
which Herodotus is our earliest authority:269.4 according to his
explicit statement, once in her lifetime every Babylonian woman,
high or low, had to stand in the temple-precincts of the goddess
Mylitta—probably a functional appellative of Ishtar, meaning “the
helper of childbirth”—and to prostitute herself to any stranger who
threw money into her lap and claimed her with the formula, “I invoke
the goddess Mylitta for you.” Herodotus hastens to assure us that
this single act of unchastity—which took place outside the temple—
did not afterwards lower the morality of the women, who, as he
declares, were otherwise exemplary in this respect. But he is
evidently shocked by the custom, and the early Christian and
modern writers have quoted it as the worst example of gross pagan
or Oriental licentiousness. Some devoted Assyriologists have tried to
throw doubt on the historian’s veracity:270.1 the wish is father to the
thought: and it is indeed difficult for the ordinary civilised man to
understand how an ancient civilisation of otherwise advanced
morality could have sanctioned such a practice. But Herodotus’
testimony ought not to be so impugned; nor is it sufficient evidence
for rejecting it that no reference to the custom which he describes
has been found hitherto in the cuneiform literature. Strabo merely
repeats what Herodotus has said; but independent evidence of some
value is gathered from the apocryphal Epistle of Jeremias:270.2 “The
women also with cords about them sit in the ways, burning bran for
incense; but if any of them, drawn by some that pass by, lie with
them, she reproacheth her fellow that she was not thought as worthy
as herself, nor her cord broken.” The context is altogether religious,
and this is no ordinary secular immorality; certain details in the
narrative remind us of Herodotus, and make it clear that the writer
has in mind the same social usage that the historian vouches for.
This usage may be described as the consecration to the goddess of
the first-fruits of the woman’s virginity before marriage; for, though
Herodotus does not explicitly say that it was a rite preliminary to
marriage, yet the records of similar practices elsewhere in Asia
Minor assure us on this point.
We have now to begin the comparative search in the adjacent
regions, keeping distinct the three types of consecration which I have
specified above, which are too often confused.271.1
The first type has its close analogies with the early Christian,
mediaeval, and modern conventual life of women. The code of
Hammurabi presents us with the earliest example of what may be
called the religious sisterhood; the Babylonian votaries were
dedicated to religion, and while the Christian nuns are often called
the brides of Christ, their earliest prototypes enjoyed the less
questionable title of “God’s-sisters.” We find no exact parallel to this
practice in ancient Greece; from the earliest period, no doubt, the
custom prevailed of consecrating individual women of certain
families as priestesses to serve certain cults, and sometimes chastity
was enforced upon them; but these did not form a conventual
society; and usually, apart from their occasional religious duties, they
could lead a secular life. In fact, the monastic system was of Eastern
origin and only reached Europe in later times, being opposed to the
civic character of the religion of the old Aryan states.
The second class of consecrated women served as temple-harlots
in certain cult-centres of Asia Minor. We cannot say that the custom
in all cases emanated from Babylon; for there is reason to think that
it was a tradition attaching to the cult of the goddess among the
polytheistic Semitic stocks. We have clear allusions in the Bible to
temple-prostitution practised by both sexes in the Canaanite
communities adjacent to the Israelites, who were themselves
sometimes contaminated by the practice.272.1 We hear of “hierodouli”
among the pagan Arabs,272.2 of women “of the congregation of the
people of Astarte” at Carthage,272.3 of numbers of dedicated slave
women in the cult of Aphrodite at Eryx,272.4 which was at least semi-
Semitic; and it is likely that some of these at least were devoted to
the impure religious practice. As regards non-Semitic worships, it is
only clearly attested of two, namely, of the worship of Mā at Comana
in Pontos,272.5 and of Aphrodite Ourania in Corinth.272.6 In these
cases we have the right to assume Semitic influences at work; for we
do not find traces of this practice in the ancient cult of Kybele; and
Ma of Cappadocia and Pontus, who had affinities with her, was partly
contaminated with Anahita, a Persian goddess, who had taken on
Babylonian fashions. Nor can we doubt that the practice gained
recognition at Corinth in post-Homeric times through its Oriental
trade; for it was attached to the cult of Aphrodite Ourania, whose
personality, partly at least, was identical with that of the Semitic
goddess. The practice survived in Lydia in the later period of the
Graeco-Roman culture. For a woman of Tralles, by name Aurelia
Aemilia, erected a column with an inscription that has been
published by Sir William Ramsay,273.1 in which she proclaims with
pride that she had prostituted herself in the temple service “at the
command of an oracle,” and that her female ancestors had done
likewise. Finally, we may find the cult-practice reflected in certain
legends; in the legend of Iconium, for instance, of the woman who
enticed all strangers to her embraces and afterwards slew them, but
was herself turned to stone by Perseus, and whose stone image
gave the name to the State.273.2
The other custom recorded by Herodotus of Babylon, the
consecration of the first-fruits of virginity to the goddess before
marriage, which I have considered as distinct from the foregoing,
may often have been combined or confused with it; for the temple-
harlotry, carried on for some considerable period, might be
occasionally a preliminary to marriage. The most exact parallels to
the Babylonian custom are found in the records of Byblos, Cyprus,
and the Syrian Heliopolis or Baalbec. Lucian attests the rule
prevailing at Byblos, that in the festival of Adonis women exposed
themselves for purchase on one single day, and that only strangers
were allowed to enjoy them; but that this service was only imposed
upon them if they refused to cut off their hair in lamentation for
Adonis.274.1 Similarly the Byzantine historian Sozomenos declared
that at Heliopolis (Baalbec), in the temple of Astarte, each maiden
was obliged to prostitute herself before marriage, until the custom
and the cult were abolished by Constantine.274.2 The statements
about Cyprus, though less explicit, point to the same institution:
Herodotus, having described at length the Babylonian practice,
declares that it prevailed in Cyprus also, and Justin274.3 that it was a
custom of the Cyprians “to send their virgins before marriage on
fixed days to the shore, to earn their dowry by prostitution, so as to
pay a first-offering to Venus for their virtue henceforth (pro reliqua
pudicitia libamenta Veneri soluturas).” The procession to the shore
may indicate the rule that intercourse was only allowed them with
strangers,274.4 and nothing points to prolonged prostitution. It is
probably the same rite that the Locrians of the West vowed to
perform in honour of Aphrodite in the event of deliverance from a
dangerous war.275.1 But in the worship of Anaitis at Akilisene in
Armenia, according to Strabo,275.2 the unmarried women served as
temple-harlots for an indefinite time until they married; and Aurelia
Aemilia of Tralles may have been only maintaining the same ancient
ritual in Lydia. In these two countries, then, it seems as if there had
been a fusion of two institutions that elsewhere were distinct one
from another, harlot-service for a prolonged period in a temple, and
the consecration of each maiden’s virginity as a preliminary to
marriage.
Such institutions mark the sharpest antagonism between the early
religious sentiment of the East and the West. Of no European State
is there any record, religious or other, that the sacrifice before
marriage of a woman’s virginity to a mortal was at any time regarded
as demanded by temple ritual. Such a rite was abhorrent to the
genuine Hellenic, as it was to the Hebraic, spirit; and only in later
times do we find one or two Hellenic cult-centres catching the taint of
the Oriental tradition: while such legends as that of Melanippos and
Komaitho and the story of Laokoon’s sin express the feeling of horror
which any sexual licence in a temple aroused in the Greek.275.3
It is imperative to try to understand the original purpose or
significance of the Semitic and Anatolian rites that we have been
dealing with. To regard them as the early Christian and some
modern writers have done, as mere examples of unbridled Oriental
lust masquerading in the guise of religion, is a false and unjust view.
According to Herodotus, the same society that ordained this sacrifice
of virginity upon the daughters of families maintained in other
respects a high standard of virtue, which appears also attested by
Babylonian religious and secular documents. Modern anthropology
has handled the problem with greater insight and seriousness; but
certain current explanations are not convincing. To take the rite
described by Herodotus first, which is always to be distinguished
from the permanent institution of “hierodulai” in the sense of temple-
harlots: Mannhardt, who was the first to apply modern science to the
problem, explained it as a development of vegetation-ritual.276.1
Aphrodite and Adonis, Ishtar and Tammuz, represent vegetation, and
their yearly union causes general fertility; the women are playing the
part of the goddess, and the stranger represents Adonis! The
Babylonian rite, then, is partly religious μιμησις, the human acting of
a divine drama, partly religious magic good for the crops. But in spite
of Mannhardt’s great and real services to science, his vegetation-
theory leads him often astray, and only one who was desperately
defending a thesis would explain that stranger, a necessary
personage in the ritual at Babylon, Byblos, Cyprus, and Baalbec, as
the native god. There is no kind of reason for connecting the
Babylonian rite with Tammuz, or for supposing that the women were
representing the goddess,277.1 or that their act directly influenced the
crops, except in the sense that all due performance of religious
ceremonies has been considered at certain stages of belief as
favouring the prosperity of the land. Sir William Ramsay, in his Cities
and Bishoprics of Phrygia,277.2 would explain the custom as
preserving the tradition of the communism of women before regular
marriage was instituted. Dr. Frazer, who has dealt more fully with the
question, accepts this explanation,277.3 as he also accepts
Mannhardt’s in full; and, while he associates—as I think, wrongly—
the Babylonian rite with general temple-prostitution, he adds a third
suggestion, prompted by his theory of kingship: the king himself
might have to mate with one or more of the temple-harlots “who
played Astarte to his Adonis”:277.4 such unions might serve to
maintain the supply of human deities, one of whom might succeed to
the throne, and another might be sacrificed in his father’s stead
when religion demanded the life of the royal man-god. I do not find
this theory coherent even with itself; and, like the others, it fails to
explain all the facts, and, on the other hand, it imagines data which
are not given us by the records.
That state of communism when sexual union was entirely
promiscuous is receding further and further into the anthropological
background: it is dangerous to predicate it of the most backward
Anatolian State in any period which can come into our ken. When
the Byzantine Sokrates gravely tells us that the men of Heliopolis
had their wives in common, he does not know what he is saying. And
if this sacrifice of virginity before marriage was a recognition of the
original rights of all the males of the community, why did not some
representative of the community take the virginity, the priest or some
head-man? This ill-considered sociologic hypothesis shipwrecks on
that mysterious stranger.278.1
Prof. Westermarck, in his Origin and Development of the Moral
Ideas,278.2 regards the Mylitta-rite as intended to ensure fertility in
women through direct appeal to the goddess of fertility, and he
explains the formula which the stranger uttered—ἐπικαλέω τοι τὴν
θεὸν Μύλιττα—as signifying generally “May the goddess Mylitta
prosper thee.” Obviously the phrase, “I invoke the goddess for thee,”
could as naturally mean, “I claim thee in the name of the goddess,”
the stranger basing his right to the woman on this appeal. But his
general theory appears not so unsound as those which have just
been noted.
The comparative method ought to help us here; and though we
have no exact parallel, as far as I am aware, recorded of any people
outside the Mediterranean area to the Babylonian custom, we find
usages reported elsewhere that agree with it in one essential.
Lubbock quotes instances from modern India of the rule imposed
upon women of presenting themselves before marriage in the temple
of Juggernaut for the purpose—as he implies—of offering up their
virginity, though no such custom is recorded in the Vedic period of
religion;278.3 cases also are chronicled of the rule prevailing among
uncultured or semi-cultured tribes that the medicine-man or the
priest should take the virginity of the bride before the marriage
ceremony.279.1 These are probably illustrations of the working of the
same idea as that which inspired the Babylonian custom. Marriage
involves the entering upon a new state; change of life is generally
dangerous, and must be safeguarded by what Van Gennep has
called “rites de passage”; more especially is the sexual union with a
virgin dangerous and liable to be regarded with awe by primitive
sentiment; before it is safe to marry her, the tabu that is upon her
must first be removed by a religious act securing the divinity’s
sanction for the removal; just as the ripe cornfield must not be
reaped before religious rites, such as the consecration of first-fruits,
have loosened the tabu upon it: we may believe that Hellenic
marriage ritual secured the same end as the Babylonian by what
seems to us the more innocent method of offering the προτέλεια. So
the Babylonian safeguards the coming marriage by offering the first-
fruits of his daughter to the goddess who presides over the powers
and processes of life and birth. Under her protection, after appeal to
her, the process loses its special danger; or if there is danger still, it
falls upon the head of the stranger.279.2 For I can find no other way of
accounting for his presence as a necessary agent, in the ritual of at
least four widely separate communities of Semitic race: this
comparative ubiquity prevents us explaining it as due to some
capricious accidental impulse of delicacy, as if the act would become
less indelicate if a stranger who would not continue in the place
participated in it.
In his essay on the question, Mr. Hartland explains the Babylonian
rite as belonging to the class of puberty-ceremonies; nor would this
account of it conflict with the view here put forth, if, as he maintains,
primitive puberty-ceremonies to which girls are subjected are usually
preliminary to the marriage which speedily follows.280.1 But puberty-
ceremonies are generally performed at initiation-mysteries, and none
of the rites that we are considering appear to have been associated
with mysteries except, perhaps, at Cyprus, where the late record
speaks of mysteries instituted by Kinyras that had a sexual
significance, and which may have been the occasion of the
consecration of virginity that Justin describes;280.2 but the institution
of mysteries has not yet been proved for any purely Semitic religion.
In any case, Mr. Hartland’s statement does not explain why the loss
of virginity should be considered desirable in a puberty-ceremony or
as a preliminary to marriage.
 The significance of the action, as I have interpreted it, is negative
rather than positive, the avoidance of a vague peril or the removal of
a tabu rather than the attainment of the blessing of fertility, as Dr.
Westermarck would regard it. And this idea, the removal of a tabu,
seems expressed in the phrase of Herodotus281.1 by which he
describes the state of the woman after the ceremony—
ἀποσιωσαμένη τῇ θεῷ; and the parallel that I have suggested, the
consecration of the first-fruits of the harvest to remove the tabu from
the rest of the crop, is somewhat justified by the words of Justin
already quoted—“pro reliqua pudicitia libamenta Veneri soluturas.”
As regards the other institution, the maintenance of “hierodoulai” in
temples as “consecrated” women, “kadeschim,” unmarried, who for a
period of years indulged in sexual intercourse with visitors, the
original intention and significance of it is hard to decide. We may be
sure that it did not originate in mere profligacy, and the inscription of
Tralles shows that even in the later Roman period it had not lost its
religious prestige.281.2 Such a custom could naturally arise in a
society that allowed freedom of sexual intercourse among young
unmarried persons—and this is not uncommonly found at a primitive
level of culture—and that was devoted to the worship of a goddess
of sexual fertility. The rituals in the temples of Ishtar of Erech, Anaitis
of Armenia, Mā of Comana, must have been instituted for some
national and social purpose; therefore Mr. Hartland’s suggestion, that
the original object of the Armenian rite was to give the maidens a
chance of securing themselves a suitable husband by experience,
seems insufficient. Dr. Frazer’s theory, that connects the institution
with some of the mystic purposes of kingship,282.1 floats in the air; for
there is not a particle of evidence showing any relation between
these women and the monarch or the royal harem or the
monarchical succession or the death of a royal victim. A simpler
suggestion is that the “hierodoulai,” or temple-women, were the
human vehicles for diffusing through the community the peculiar
virtue or potency of the goddess, the much-coveted blessing of
human fertility. Thus to consecrate slaves or even daughters to this
service was a pious social act.
The significance of the facts that we have been examining is of the
highest for the history of religious morality, especially for the varied
history of the idea of purity. We call this temple-harlotry vile and
impure; the civilised Babylonian, who in private life valued purity and
morality, called the women “kadistu,” that is, “pure” or clean in the
ritualistic sense, or as Zimmern interprets the ideogram, “not
unclean.”282.2 In fact, the Mediterranean old-world religions, all save
the Hebraic, agreed in regarding the processes of the propagation of
life as divine, at least as something not alien or abhorrent to
godhead. But the early Christian propagandists, working here on
Hebraic lines, intensified the isolation of God from the simple
phenomena of birth, thereby engendering at times an anti-sexual
bias, and preparing a discord between any possible biological view
and the current religious dogma, and modern ethical thought has not
been wholly a gainer thereby.
The subject that has been discussed at some length is also
connected with the whole question of ritual-purity and purification.
The primitive conception of purity had at an early stage in its
evolution been adopted by higher religion; and the essential effect of
impurity was to debar a person from intercourse with God and with
his fellow-men. Hence arises a code of rules to regulate temple-
ritual. So far as I am aware, the Babylonian rules for safeguarding
the purity of the shrines were not conspicuously different from the
Greek or the Hebraic.283.1 The taint of bloodshed and other physical
impurities was kept aloof; and it is in the highest degree probable
that the function of the “hetairai” was only performed outside the
temple, for Herodotus specially tells us that this rule was observed in
the Mylitta-rite. The cathartic methods of East and West agree in
many points. The use of holy water for purifying purposes was
known to the early Greeks.283.2 It was still more in evidence in the
Babylonian ritual: the holy water of the Euphrates or Tigris was used
for a variety of purposes, for the washing of the king’s hands before
he touched the statues, for the washing of the idol’s mouths,283.3
perhaps also for baptism. For we hear of some such rite in a hymn to
Enlil translated by Dr. Langdon284.1—the line that he renders “Son
whom in the sacred bowl she baptized,” seems to refer to a human
child. Ablution was prominent also in the exorcism-ritual, and the
“House of Washing” or “House of Baptism” was the centre of a liturgy
that had for its object deliverance from demons.284.2 The whole State
was at times purified by water.284.3 And in all this ritual the water
must itself be of a peculiar purity—rain-water, for instance,284.4 or the
water of the Euphrates, whence came probably the Water of Life that
was kept in Marduk’s temple with which the Gods and the Annunaki
washed their faces, and which was used in the feast of the Doom-
fixing.284.5 According to the Babylonian view ordinary water was
naturally impure (we may well believe that it was so at Babylon,
where the river and canals were so pressed into the service of man),
and a person incurred impurity by stepping over a puddle or other
unpurified water.284.6 The Greek did not need to be so scrupulous,
for most water in his land was naturally pure, being spring or brook;
yet in his cathartic rules we find often that only a special water was
suitable for the religious purpose, running water especially, or sea-
water, or in a particular locality one sacred fountain only.284.7 But
though it was to him as to most peoples, the simple and natural
means of purification, he did not apply it to such various cathartic
purposes as the Babylonian. Nor as far as we can discover had he
developed in old days the interesting rite of baptism: we hear of it
first in the records of the fifth century, and in relation to alien cults
like that of the Thracian goddess Kotytto.285.1
Equally prominent in the cathartic ritual of Mesopotamia was the
element of fire: in the prayer that followed upon the purification-
ceremonies we find the formula, “May the torch of the gleaming Fire-
God cleanse me.”285.2 The Fire-God, Nusku, is implored “to burn
away the evil magicians,”285.3 and we may believe that he owes his
development and exalted position as a high spiritual god to the ritual
use of fire, just as in the Vedic religion did Agni. The conception of
fire as a mighty purifying element, which appears in the Old and New
Testaments and in Christian eschatology, has arisen, no doubt, from
the cathartic ritual of the ancient Semites. Doubtless also the
spiritual or magic potency of this element was known in ancient
Europe: it is clearly revealed in the primitive ceremonies of the old
German “Notfeuer,” with which the cattle, fields, and men were
purified in time of pestilence.285.4 And there are several indications of
its use in Greek cathartic ritual; a noteworthy example is the
purification of Lemnos by the bringing of holy fire from Delos;285.5 the
curious Attic ritual of running with the new-born babe round the
hearth, called the Amphidromia, may have had a similar
intention;286.1 even the holy water, the χέρνιψ, seems to have been
hallowed by the insertion of a torch;286.2 and in the later records fire
is often mentioned among the usual implements of cleansing.286.3
The Eleusinian myth concerning Demeter holding the infant
Demophon in the flame to make him immortal was suggested
probably by some purificatory rite in which fire was used. Finally, the
fire-ordeal, which was practised both in Babylonia and Greece,286.4
may have been associated at a certain period with the cathartic
properties of fire. Nevertheless, the Hellenic divinities specially
concerned with this element, Hestia and Hephaistos, had little
personal interest in this ritual, and did not rise to the same height in
the national theology as Nusku rose in the Babylonian.
We might find other coincidences in detail between Hellenic and
Assyrian ritual, such as the purificatory employment of salt, onions,
and the sacrificial skin of the animal-victim.286.5 One of the most
interesting phenomena presented by the cathartic law of old
Babylonia is a rule that possessed an obvious moral value; we find,
namely, on one of the cylinders of Gudea, that during the period
when Gudea was purifying the city the master must not strike the
slave, and no action at law must be brought against any one; for
seven days perfect equality reigned, no bad word was uttered, the
widow and the orphan went free from wrong.287.1 The conception
underlying this rule is intelligible: all quarrelling and oppression,
being often accompanied with bloodshed and death, disturbs the
general purity which is desired to prevail; and I have indicated
elsewhere a similar law regulating the conduct of the Eleusinian
mysteries and the Dionysiac festival at Athens, both ceremonies of
cathartic value,287.2 and I have pointed out a similar ordinance
observed recently by a North-American Indian tribe, and formerly by
the Peruvians; to these instances may be added the statement by
Livy,287.3 that in the Roman “lectisternia,” when a table with offerings
was laid before the gods, no quarrelling was allowed and prisoners
were released, and the historian gives to the institution of the
lectisternia a piacular significance.
We must also bear in mind certain striking differences between the
Hellenic and the Babylonian cathartic systems. In certain purification-
ceremonies of Hellas, those in which the homicide was purged from
his stain, the washing with the blood of the piacular victim was the
most potent means of grace.287.4 We may find analogies in Vedic,
Roman, and Hebraic ritual, but hitherto none have been presented
by the religious documents of Babylon, where, as has been already
pointed out, scarcely any mystic use appears to have been made of
the blood of the victim.288.1 Again, the Babylonian purification
included the confession of sins, a purgation unknown and apparently
unnatural to the Hellene;288.2 and generally the Babylonian, while
most of its methods, like the Hellenic, are modes of transference or
physical riddance of impurity, had a higher spiritual and religious
significance; for it includes lamentations for sin and prayers to the
divinity that are not mentioned in the record of any Greek “katharsis.”
A long ritual-document is preserved containing the details of the
purification of the king:288.3 certain forms agree with the Hellenic, but
one who was only versed in the latter would find much that was
strange and unintelligible both in the particulars and in general
atmosphere. We discern an interesting mixture of magic and religion.
The gods are partly entreated, partly bribed, partly constrained; and
at the end the evil is physically expelled from the palace. The purifier
puts on dark garments, just as the ministers of the underworld-
deities did occasionally in Greece. The king himself performs much
of the ceremony, and utters words of power: “May my sins be rent
away, may I be pure and live before Shamash.” The ordering of the
cathartic apparatus is guided partly by astrology. It is curious also to
find that every article used in the process is identified by name with
some divinity: the cypress is the god Adad, the fragrant spices the
god Ninib, the censer the god Ib, etc.; and the commentary that
accompanies the ritual-text explains that these substances compel
the deities thus associated with them to come and give aid.
In fact, the differences between East and West in this religious
sphere are so important that we should not be able to believe that
the cathartic system of Greece was borrowed from Babylonia, even if
the points of resemblance were much more numerous and striking
than they are. For it would be possible to draw up a striking list of
coincidences between Hellenic and Vedic cathartic rites, and yet no
one would be able on the strength of it to establish a hypothesis of
borrowing.
In any case, it may be said, the question of borrowing does not
arise within the narrow limits of our inquiry, which is limited to the
pre-Homeric period, since all Greek “katharsis” is post-Homeric. The
latter dictum is obviously not literally true, as a glance through the
Homeric poems will prove. Homer is aware of the necessity of
purification by water before making prayer or libation to the gods:
Achilles washes his hands and the cups before he pours forth wine
and prays to Zeus,289.1 Telemachos washes his hands in sea-water
before he prays to Athena289.2; and there is a significant account of
the purification of the whole Achaean host after the plague;289.3 as
the later Greeks would have done, the Achaeans throw away into the
sea their λύματα, the infected implements of purification, wool or
whatever they used, that absorbed the evil from them. But it has
been generally observed that Homer does not appear to have been
aware of any need for purification from the stain of bloodshed or
from the ghostly contagion of death. It is true that Odysseus purifies
his hall with fire and sulphur after slaying the suitors, but we are not
sure that the act had any further significance than the riddance of the
smell of blood from the house. Sulphur is there called κακῶν
ἄκος,290.1 “a remedy against evil things”; but we cannot attach any
moral or spiritual sense to κακὰ, nor is Homeric κάθαρσις related, as
far as we can see, to any animistic belief. There is one passage
where Homer’s silence is valuable and gives positive evidence;
Theoklumenos, who has slain a man of his own tribe and fled from
his home, in consequence approaches Telemachos when the latter
is sacrificing and implores and receives his protection: there is no
hint of any feeling that there is a stain upon him, or that he needs
purification, or that his presence pollutes the sacrifice.290.2 All this
would have been felt by the later Greek; and in the post-Homeric
period we have to reckon with a momentous growth of the idea of
impurity and of a complex system of purification, especially in regard
to homicide, leading to important developments in the sphere of law
and morality which I have tried to trace out on other occasions.290.3
But Homer may well be regarded as the spokesman of a gifted race,
the Achaeans, as we call them, on whom the burden of the doctrine
of purification lay lightly, and for whom the ghostly world had
comparatively little terror or interest. Besides the Achaeans,
however, and their kindred races there was the submerged
population of the older culture who enter into the composition of the
various Hellenes of history. Therefore the varied development in the
post-Homeric period of cathartic ideas may be only a renaissance, a
recrudescence of forces that were active enough in the second
millennium. Attica may have been the home where the old tradition
survived, and cathartic rites such as the Thargelia and the trial of the
axe for murder in the Bouphonia have the savour of great antiquity.
May not the Minoan religion of Crete have been permeated with the
ideas of the impurity of bloodshed and the craving for purification
from sin? For at the beginning of the historic period Crete seems to
have been the centre of what may be called the cathartic mission;
from this island came Apollo Delphinios, the divine purifier par
excellence, to this island the god came to be purified from the death
of Python; and in later times, Crete lent to Athens its purifying
prophet Epimenides.291.1 If we believe, then, that the post-Homeric
blood-purification was really a recrudescence of the tradition of an
older indigenous culture, we should use this as another argument for
the view that the Greece of the second millennium was untouched or
scarcely touched by Babylonian influence. For, as we have seen,
purification by blood or from blood appears to have been wholly alien
to Babylonian religious and legal practice.
The ritual of purification belongs as much to the history of magic
as religion. Now, the student of religion is not permitted to refuse to
touch the domain of magic; nor can we exclude its consideration
even from the highest topics of religious speculation. Some general
remarks have already been made291.2 concerning the part played by
magic both in the worship and in the social life of the peoples that we
are comparing. Any exact and detailed comparison would be fruitless
for our present purpose; for, while the knowledge of early Babylonian
magic is beginning to be considerable, we cannot say that we know
anything definite concerning the practices in this department of the
Hellenic and adjacent peoples in the early period with which we are
dealing. From the Homeric poems we can gather little more than that
magic of some kind existed; and that Homer and his gifted audience
probably despised it as they despised ghosts and demons. It is only
by inference that we can venture to ascribe to the earliest period of
the Greek race some of the magic rites that are recorded by the later
writers. It would require a lengthy investigation and treatise to range
through the whole of Greek ritual and to disentangle and expose the
magic element which was undoubtedly there, and which in some
measure is latent in the ritual of every higher religion yet examined.
By way of salient illustration we may quote the ceremonies of the
scapegoat and the φαρμακός,292.1 modes of the magic-transference
of sin and evil; the strewing of sacred food-stuff that is instinct with
divine potency over the fields in the Thesmophoria; the rain magic
performed by the priests of Zeus Lykaios;292.2 we hear at Kleonai of
an official class of “Magi” who controlled the wind and the weather by
spells, and occasionally in their excitement gashed their own hands,
like the priests of Baal;292.3 such blood-magic being explicable as a
violent mode of discharging personal energy upon the outer objects
which one wishes to subdue to one’s will. Another and more thrilling
example of blood-magic is the process of water-finding by pouring
human blood about the earth, a method revealed by an old legend of
Haliartos in Boeotia about the man who desired water, and in order
to find it consulted Delphi, and was recommended by the oracle to
slay the first person who met him on his return; his own young son
met him first, and the father stabbed him with his sword; the
wounded youth ran round about, and wherever the blood dripped
water sprang up from the earth.293.1 No one will now venture to say
that all these things are post-Homeric; the natural view is that they
were an inheritance of crude and primitive thought indigenous to the
land. Many of them belong to world-wide custom; on the other hand,
some of the striking and specialised rites, such as the blood-magic
and the ritual of the φαρμακός, are not found at Babylon.
But before prejudging the question, some salient and peculiar
developments of Babylonian magic ought to be considered. One
great achievement of Mesopotamian civilisation was the early
development of astrology, to which perhaps the whole world has
been indebted for good and for evil, and which was associated with
magic and put to magic uses. Astrological observation led to the
attachment of a magic value to numbers and to certain special
numbers, such as number seven. Whether the Judaic name and
institution of the Sabbath is of Babylonian origin or not, does not
concern our question. But it concerns us to know that the seventh
days, the 14th, the 21st, and 28th of certain months, if not of all,
were sacred at Babylon, and were days of penance and piacular
duties when ordinary occupation was suspended.293.2 We can
discern the origin of the sanctity of this number: the observation of
the seven planets, and the division of the lunar month into four
quarters of seven days. The early Greeks, doubtless, had their
astrological superstitions, as most races have had; the new moon is
naturally lucky, the waning moon unlucky; but no one can discover
any numerical or other principle in the Hesiodic system, which is our
earliest evidence of Hellenic lucky and unlucky days. His scheme is
presented in naïve confusion, and he concludes humorously, “one
man praises one day, one another, and few know anything about
it.”294.1 His page of verse reflects the anarchy of the Greek
calendars; and we should find it hard to credit that either Hesiod or
the legislators that drew up those had sat attentively at the feet of
Babylonian teachers. But a few coincidences may be noted. Hesiod
puts a special tabu on the fifth day of the month; in fact, it is the only
one in his list that is wholly unlucky, a day when it would seem to be
best to do nothing at all, at least outside the house, for on this day
the Erinyes are wandering about.294.2 Now, a Babylonian text
published by Dr. Langdon contains the dogma that on the fifth day of
Nisan “he who fears Marduk and Zarpanit shall not go out to
work.”294.3 This Babylonian rule is the earliest example of what may
be strictly called Sabbatarianism, abstinence from work through fear
of offending the high god. Such would probably not be the true
account of Hellenic feeling concerning the “forbidden days,” which
were called ἀποφράδες or μιαραί.294.4 The high god had issued to
the Hellene no moral commandment about “keeping the Sabbath-
day holy”; his reluctance to do certain work on certain days rested on
a more primitive sentiment concerning them. Thus it was unlucky
both for himself and the city that Alcibiades should return to the
Piraeus when the Plynteria were going on; for this latter was a
cathartic ceremony, and evil influences were abroad. Nor, as
Xenophon declares, would any one venture to engage in a serious
work on this day.295.1 Nor were these μιαραὶ ᾑμέραι, like the seventh
days of the Babylonian months, necessarily days of gloom when
offended deities had to be propitiated; on the contrary, the day of
Χόες was a day of merry drinking and yet μιαρά: in fact, we best
understand the latter phrase by translating it “tabooed,” rather than
“sad” or “gloomy.”295.2
Another coincidence that may arrest attention is that in Hesiod’s
scheme the seventh day of the month was sacred because Apollo
was born on it; and throughout the later period this god maintains his
connection with the seventh day, also apparently with the first, the
fourteenth, and the twentieth of the month.295.3 This almost coincides
with the Sabbatical division of the Babylonian months. But we cannot
suppose that in Hellas these were days of mortification as they were
in the East; else they would not have been associated with the bright
deity Apollo.
Such dubious coincidences, balanced by still more striking
diversities, are but frail supports for the hypothesis of race-contact.
In Babylonian thaumaturgy nothing is more significant than the
magic power of the Word, whether spoken or written: and the Word,
as we have noted, was raised to a cosmic divine power and
possessed inherent creative force.295.4 This is only a reflection upon
the heavens of the human use of the magical or mesmeric word or
set of words. This use of them is found, indeed, all round the globe.
What seems unique in the Mesopotamian culture is that religion,
religious literature, and poetry should have reached so high a pitch
and yet never have risen above or shaken off the magic which is its
constant accompaniment. Men and gods equally use magic against
the demons; the most fervid hymn of praise, the most pathetic litany,
is only part of an exorcism-ritual; and so inevitably does the shadow
of magic dog religion here that Dr. Langdon is justified in his
conjecture296.1 that in a great hymn to Enlil, which contains scarcely