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BATTLE OF
WATERLOO
NAPOLEON’S
FINAL DEFEAT

TO HELL
AND BACK
THE AFTERLIFE
IN ANCIENT GREECE

BUILDING THE
PANTHEON
ROME’S ORIGINAL
SUPERDOME

THE SILK ROAD


WHEN EAST MET WEST

PLUS: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 201

Discovering Gilgamesh
The World’s First Action Hero
The History of Spain:
Land on a Crossroad
E D TIME OF Taught by Professor Joyce E. Salisbury
IT UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–GREEN BAY

FE
LIM
70%

R
LECTURE TITLES

1. From Stones to Bronze: Prehistoric Spain

off 2. Celtic, Phoenician, and Greek Colonists

7
R

H
3. Rome Conquers the Iberian Peninsula
DE C
R BY M A R 4. Christianity Comes to Hispania
5. Barbarian Tribes Divide the Peninsula
6. The Visigoths Unite Spain
7. Islam: The New Religion
8. Conflict within Islam
9. The Moors and the Glory of al-Andalus
10. The Christian Reconquista
11. Medieval Spanish Culture
12. The Sephardim: Iberian Judaism
13. Gypsy Influences on Spain
14. The Growth of Catholic Religious Passion
15. Columbus and the New World
16. Conquistadors and Missionaries
17. The Spanish Main: Trade Convoys and Piracy
18. The Golden Age of the Spanish Habsburgs
19. Religious Wars on Muslims and Protestants
20. The 18th-Century Bourbon Kings of Spain
21. Spain Loses Its Empire
22. 20th-Century Spanish Modernism
23. The Spanish Civil War and Franco’s Reign
Discover the Powerful Influences 24. Modern Spain: Still on a Crossroad

Spain Had on World History


Spain has played a unique and pivotal role in Western civilization. In The History of Spain: Land on a Crossroad
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FROM THE EDITOR

The ng of
diplomats and rulers in late 1814, had one goal: to put Europe back
together after Napoleon tore it apart. The four major players—Austria,
Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—bickered for months over
how to achieve it. But then something happened in 1815 that smashed
through the bureaucracy: Napoleon’s return.

When word of Napoleon’s escape from Elba reached Vienna, the


delegates wasted no time. Before he reached Paris, Napoleon was declared
an outlaw. Just 15 days later, the four major powers each pledged 150,000
men to fight “until Bonaparte shall have been rendered absolutely unable
to create disturbance, and to renew his attempts for possessing himself
of the Supreme Power in France.” Their speed paid off: A few months
later, they would defeat Napoleon at Waterloo.

Napoleon once said, “Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self
interest.” In this instance he was correct. Fear of his relentlessness and
genius coupled with a desire to preserve the safety of their lands and
people, creating a combination that gave Europe strong motivation
to unite for quick action—something that Napoleon had fatally
underestimated.

Amy Briggs, Executive Editor

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 1


BATTLE OF EXECUTIVE EDITOR AMY E. BRIGGS
WATERLOO
NAPOLEON’S Deputy Editor VICTOR LLORET BLACKBURN
FINAL DEFEAT
Editorial Coordinator and Text Editor JULIUS PURCELL
TO HELL Editorial Consultants JOSEP MARIA CASALS (Managing Editor, Historia magazine),
AND BACK
THE AFTERLIFE
IN ANCIENT GREECE IÑAKI DE LA FUENTE (Art Director, Historia magazine)
BUILDING THE Design Editor FRANCISCO ORDUÑA
PANTHEON
ROME’S ORIGINAL
SUPERDOME Photography Editor MERITXELL CASANOVAS
THE SILK ROAD
WHEN EAST MET WEST
Contributors
PLUS:

Discovering Gilgamesh IRENE BERMAN-VAPORIS, MARC BRIAN DUCKETT,


The World’s First Action Hero SARAH PRESANT-COLLINS, THEODORE A. SICKLEY, JANE SUNDERLAND

VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER JOHN MACKETHAN


CHRISTIE’S IMAGES / BRIDGEMAN / ACI
Publishing Directors
senior vice president, national geographic partners YULIA P. BOYLE
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VOL. 3 NO. 6

AN OLD ROAD
Camels and riders travel the Nubra
Valley, India, a southern spur of
the Silk Road, which connected
China and the Roman world.

Features Departments

4 NEWS
16 Ancient Egypt’s Animal Mummies Ancient rock art in the Texas
People were not the only beings mummified in ancient Egypt. Whether canyonlands is one of the
beloved companions or sacrifices to the gods, dogs, cats, bulls, gazelles, and oldest chronicles of the Americas. Using
crocodiles were also carefully wrapped and preserved for eternity.
high-tech imaging, archaeologists are now
preserving these vulnerable works.
32 How Greeks Envisioned the Underworld
Odysseus might be able to go to hell and back, but for most mortals it was 8 PROFILES
a one-way trip. Guarded by a three-headed dog, the realm of Hades and its
In 1628 William Harvey
perils and punishments have bedeviled the Western imagination for millennia.
proved how blood circulates
by using scientific experiments
46 Rome’s Perplexing Pantheon to overturn centuries of medical
Erected in Rome’s first year of empire, then rebuilt by Hadrian, the Pantheon’s misunderstanding.
ies; historians continue to ponder its
soaring dome was unrivaled for centuries;
purpose and its construction. 12 D
DAILY LIFE

Maade of fish guts, garum was


64 The Silk Road Unfolds Ro
ome’s favorite condiment.
The Chinese exchange of silk for horses forg
ged Prizzed for its “perfume” and craved
the trade routes linking Asia with Europe. across the empire, garum paired with
Along it moved goods, ideas, and beliefs. egggs, chicken, wine, and much else.

78 Napoleon’s Last Stand 90 D


DISCOVERIES

Despite his daring resurgence in 1815, not


n In 1872 self-taught scholar
even Napoleon’s fierce determination aand Geeorge Smith discovered the
military genius could save him at Wateerlooo. Epicc of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest works of
literrature, by cracking the code of cuneiform.
FLOOD TABLET OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH, SEVENTH CENTURY B.C. BRRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
NEWS

SIGNS OF THE TIMES PICTOGRAPHS ON THE


MAIN ROCK ART PANEL OF SUNBURST SHELTER
INCLUDE PECOS RIVER STYLE PAINTINGS
DATING FROM 2700 B.C. TO A.D. 600.

ARCHAIC ROCK ART

SavingAmerica’sOldestChronicles
Paintings from 2700 b.c. to the a.d. 1500s adorn the canyonlands of Texas. A new project is
preserving them in high-tech images, so if they ever disappear, their thrilling story can still be told.

T
hey saw the Europe- Rio Grande. Filling the walls there have been huge strides that remain are under threat
ans arriving and drew with pictures of people and in deciphering the vivid nar- from further flooding.
them: men on horse- animals, these ancient in- ratives within the murals. But But there is hope. Based
back and figures in habitants of southwestern this unique chronicle of thou- in Comstock, at the heart
Spanish dress. Long before Texas inscribed the stories of sands of years of human histo- of the lower Pecos region,
then—as early as 4,700 years early America. ry, which holds the key to the the Shumla Archaeological
ago—the hunter-gatherers worldview of ancient Ameri- Research & Education Center
of the Southwest had been Dammed and Saved can societies, is increasingly has hit on a way of preserving
painting scenes from their Since the 1930s, when doc- under threat. Many sites were the murals for posterity.
lives on the canyons where umentation of these mys- lost when the Rio Grande was Fo u n d e d i n 1 9 9 8 by
the Pecos River meets the terious sites was first made, dammed in 1969, and those archaeologist Carolyn Boyd,

4 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
SHUMLA RESEARCHERS OBSERVE
AND TAKE FIELD NOTES AT CRAB
SHELTER, WITH THE DEVILS RIVER
FLOWING BELOW.

A POLYCHROMATIC PAINTING at Crab Shelter,


carbon-dated to 1200 b.c., is faded and blurry
(above). Scholars used Decorrelation Stretch
software to enhance it, revealing a much sharper
image (below) of an elaborate anthropomorphic
figure. To study these artworks, Shumla researchers
often work in close quarters (bottom).

PHOTOS: JEROD ROBERTS, SHUMLA ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER

Shumla has begun a three- technology to create a massive


year project to carry out a digital archive of America’s
comprehensive documenta- oldest visual texts. Even if
tion of rock art sites across the artwork disappears, this
Val Verde County. library of images will preserve
Named for the Library their glory, down to the very
of Alexandria in Egypt, an faintest brushstroke.
ancient repository of all
the learning in the world, Far-Flung
Shumla’s Alexandria Project The Alexandria Project is
will use the latest in imaging ambitious in scope. Shumla

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 5


NEWS
JEROD ROBERTS, SHUMLA ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER

CONNECTING THE DOTS


ARTIST, ARCHAEOLOGIST, and antlered humanlike figures. Boyd later
Shumla founder, Carolyn Boyd (right) studied a modern painting of antlered
first encountered the rock art of the figures and deer antlers decorated
lower Pecos in the late 1980s. She was with mysterious dots, the work of an
particularly struck by a mural known artist of the Huichol people of western
as the White Shaman, a white figure Mexico. The Huichol associate deer
surrounded by multicolored forms, with peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus
which she is observing in the image. that they believe can foster a bond
When a civilization disappears, the between the living and the dead. Boyd
meaning behind its art is lost, and knew that similar deer and dot motifs
scholars must piece the meanings also appear in the ancient Pecos works.
together. Some archaeologists theorize Once Boyd connected these with the
that the array of images are unrelated, elements at other sites, a complex
but Boyd was convinced they all narrative started to take shape: A
played a role in a unified story—if creation myth, in which deer, peyote,
only she could crack the code. She and antlered humanlike figures, all play
started spotting patterns at other sites a powerful mystical role in the process
in the lower Pecos region, including of life, death, and rebirth. panels were imaged using a
Gigapan system, which takes
hundreds of overlapping
photos from one viewpoint
to create a single, highly de-
founder Boyd—award- scattered across 8,000 square archaeologist Jerod Roberts, tailed image for future study.
winning co-author of The miles of rugged canyonlands. part of the team that studied
White Shaman Mural: An As part of a National 10 sites for the pilot. High Art
Enduring Creation Narrative Geographic Society–funded Scrambling onto hol- Inhabited for more than
in the Rock Art of the Lower pilot, Shumla staff began lowed ledges where much 10,000 years, the cavities in
Pecos—has already dedicat- the first phase of the Alex- of the art nestles, the team the canyons of the lower Pecos
ed years to in-depth exam- andria Project last year, to collected data on mural siz- were formed when soft lime-
inations of key Pecos sites. test research methods. “Let’s es, the number of identified stone, sandwiched between
Her database shows there are just say it was fun, but in- figures, techniques, and the harder layers, was gradually
many more sites to document, credibly tiring,” said Shumla condition of a site. The mural eroded by natural forces.

6 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
STUDENTS OF SHUMLA’S ROCK ART FIELD
SCHOOL GET FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE OF THE
PREHISTORIC ART AT THE WHITE SHAMAN SITE.

AMANDA CASTANEDA, SHUMLA ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER


ANTLERED HUMANLIKE FIGURE AT THE WHITE
SHAMAN SITE. THE DOTS AROUND ITS ANTLERS ARE
PART OF A MYTHOLOGY OF LIFE, DEATH, AND REBIRTH.

SHUMLA ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER


These “rock shelters” their long , curved walls closely tied to the plants and herringbones, and lattices—
were a boon for early soci- were covered with images. animals of the region. began to appear, along with
eties seeking refuge from These drawings may appear Research has identified realistically portrayed animals.
the elements. Some were cryptic to modern eyes, but several stages in the devel- As central to American
also used for burial, and they were full of meaning for opment of the Pecos murals. heritage as the Lascaux or
others for cooking. Around their creators. For many years, The earliest forms are char- Altamira caves are to Europe,
2700 b.c., some of these Boyd’s research has centered acterized by stick figures of the age of the sites belies
lofty shelters started to on decoding the complex humans and animals engaging their vulnerability. “When we
serve as art galleries when rituals they depict, a story in group activities. Later, the visit and document any given
figures evolved into distinctive site, we treat it as if it may
multicolored designs, known be lost tomorrow,” explains
This art may appear cryptic to as Pecos River Style, which Roberts. In the face of flood
modern eyes. But it was suffused featured striking humanlike or other events, he says, the

with meaning for its creators. figures. Around a.d. 1000,


abstract motifs—zigzags,
Alexandria Project “may be
our only shot.”

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 7


PROFILES

William Harvey’s
Bloody Revolution
In the 17th century this English doctor proved how blood circulates through the human body,
tearing down the theories that had been popular in Europe for nearly 1,500 years.

U
ntil 1628 few Europeans dis- Galen, dark, venous blood formed in the

Going puted the teachings of Galen,


an accomplished Greek phy-
liver and then traveled through the veins
throughout the body to deliver nourish-
Beyond sician and scholar. Galen ment and build and maintain tissues.

Galen lived in the second century


a.d., and his teachings would come to
Some blood would come into contact
with air in the lungs and go to the heart.
dominate European medicine and schol- From there, this bright red blood went to
Circa 216 arship for centuries. the brain to form “pneuma,” a substance
Galen, Greek scholar Galen’s massive contributions to med- responsible for sensation and feeling.
and physician, dies. His icine cannot be denied. He was the first According to Galen’s theory, the blood
studies of human anatomy to identify the physiological difference did not return to the liver or the heart.
will dominate European between veins and arteries. He also dis- Instead, it would be consumed by the
medicineforcenturies.
proved a 400-year-old theory that body, which meant that it needed to be
arteries conveyed not blood but air constantly replenished. Sometimes the
1578 throughout the body (the name artery liver might produce too much blood, and
William Harvey is born comes from this original idea: The Greek the body became imbalanced, leading to
in Folkestone, England. arteria means “that which conveys air”). illness. Galen’s cure was bloodletting, as
He will study medicine at By the 16th and 17th centuries scientific drawing off the excess fluid would
the leading colleges and
methods had evolved, making it easier restore equilibrium.
universitiesofEurope.
for new scientists to challenge the old Other scientists had discovered the
ones. Galen’s theories were sitting ducks, true nature of circulation centuries
1618 waiting for a physician like Englishman before Harvey. One of the main manu-
Harvey becomes physician William Harvey to take them down. als of Chinese medicine, written 2,600
to King James I of England years ago, stated that “all of the blood
and will also serve his Galen’s Anatomy in the body is pumped by the heart,
successor,CharlesI.
Galen taught that there are three main completes a circle and never stops mov-
interconnected systems in the body: the ing.” In the 13th century the Arab doctor
1628 brain and nerves; Ibn an-Nafis described so-called “small
Harvey’s groundbreaking the heart and circulation” in which blood circulated
book is published and arteries; and the only from the heart to the lungs and
contains new science about liver and veins. back without reaching other parts of
how the blood circulates. According to the body.

1657
William Harvey dies of
Published in 1628, Harvey’s small
a stroke. At the time of volume—about 70 pages long—
his death, his description
of blood circulation has became a gigantic milestone.
become widely accepted.

COVER OF ON THE MOTION OF THE HEART AND BLOOD IN ANIMALS, PUBLISHED IN 1628
8 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 AGE FOTOSTOCK
SCIENCE
TAKES ON
SUPERSTITION
HARVEY’S FAME paved the way for
becoming the royal physician from
1618. He treated James I during
the king’s serious illness in 1625
and would serve his son and heir,
Charles I. It was at court that Har-
vey became involved in the witch
hunts of the 17th century. The king
appointed him as an expert wit-
ness in several trials, and Harvey’s
scientific approach saved the lives
of at least four women accused of
being witches. On one occasion, a
toad was alleged to be a demon in
disguise: To test the theory, Harvey
dissected the toad with a scalpel
and proved that it was just an or-
dinary (dead) amphibian.

WILLIAM HARVEY CONDUCTS AN EXPERIMENT


BEFORE KING CHARLES I OF ENGLAND TO
DEMONSTRATE HIS THEORY OF BLOOD
CIRCULATION.

RUE DES ARCHIVES/ALBUM

In16th-centuryEuropeGalen’steach- Harvey and the Heart 1609 he was appointed physician to St.
ingswere beginningtobechallenged.The The growing skepticism of Galen’s work Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Har-
Spanish physician Michael Servetus had a great influence on William Harvey, vey’s star continued to rise: In 1618 he
arguedthatthevenousbloodwaspurified who was born in Folkestone, England, in became the royal physician, serving both
in the lungs before returning to the heart. 1578. The son of a farmer, Harvey showed James I and his successor, Charles I.
Out of respect for, or fear of, the Galenic great promise as a child, and his father Through his teachings and observa-
tradition, however, this philosopher and encouraged his studies. As a young man tions, Harvey began to develop a new
doctor did not describe the pathways he studied at the King’s School in Can- theory to explain how blood flowed
through which the blood circulated. His terbury and at Cambridge University. He through the body. He applied rigorous
contemporary the Belgian anatomist completed his medical education at the standards to his research and only
Andreas Vesalius demonstrated in the University of Padua in 1602. He returned accepted conclusions as proven when
1500s the flaws in Galen’s anatomical to England and began practicing medicine they were based on evidence from
description of the heart, but he did not and teaching. In 1607 he became a fellow repeated experiments. He collected data
challenge the rest of his teachings. of the Royal College of Physicians, and in from phlebotomies (drawing blood from

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 9


PROFILES

NAMED IN HONOR of one its


most illustrious members, William
Harvey House is the accommodation
wing of the Royal College of Physicians
in London. It was built in 1826 by the
Regency architect John Nash.
SCOTT HORTOP TRAVEL/ALAMY/ACI

a vein) and palpitations of arterial aneu- in animalibus (On the Motion of the Heart in a circle. His strongest evidence was
rysms (abnormal dilation). He conducted and Blood in Animals) in 1628. Harvey’s that it would be impossible for the body
thorough research, including numerous small volume—about 70 pages long— to replenish the amount of blood it would
dissections of human beings and as many became a gigantic milestone. consume under Galen’s theories. He
as 40 animal species. Harvey pored over In this book (first published in Latin, arrived at this conclusion by calculating
the results before compiling them and and then in English 25 years later) Harvey the total volume of blood that moves
publishing his groundbreaking Exercita- laid out the evidence supporting his case through the body in an hour and showed
tio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis that blood moved throughout the body that it was too high for the body to
replenish. Therefore, the amount of
blood in the human body must be con-
stant and in perpetual motion.
IN COLD BLOOD Harvey’s observation of beating ani-
mal hearts showed him how the heart,
AS THE ROYAL DOCTOR during the English Civil War,
not the liver, functions as the engine for
Harvey was entrusted with protecting the young chil- the circulatory system: “It must therefore
dren of King Charles I at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642. be concluded that the blood in the animal
Following the battle, he noted that a royalist left for dead body moves around in a circle continu-
in the frost had revived because the intense cold had ously and that the action . . . of the heart
slowed his blood loss. is to accomplish this by pumping.” The
action of the heart moved blood out
WILLIAM HARVEY IN AN UNDATED PORTRAIT
through the arteries to the body and then
COLPORT/ALAMY/ACI
back to the heart through the veins.

10 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Valves in
the Veins
WILLIAM HARVEY wanted to demon-
strate how blood moved through
the body in a circuit, flowing out
through the arteries and return-
ing through the veins. Inside the
veins, Harvey observed valves
that kept the flow moving in
one direction: “The valves are
solely made and instituted
lest the blood should pass
from the greater into the
lesser veins . . . The delicate
valves, while they read-
ily open in the right
direction, entirely
prevent all contrary
motion.” Harvey’s
simple experiment (right)
Harvey applied a tourniquet He then applied pressure with his
shows the valves in action. to the arm of a volunteer, who finger to stop the blood, keeping it

LEFT: BRIDGEMAN/ACI. RIGHT: AGE FOTOSTOCK


gripped an object in his hand. He from flowing past point H. The vein
GALEN’S VIEW OF THE CIRCULATORY then waited for the blood vessels between points O and H did not fill
SYSTEM IN DE ARTE PHISICALI ET DE to swell due to the buildup of with blood, which demonstrated
CIRURGIA (1412) BY JOHN ARDERNE liquid flowing through them. The that there the valve at point O was
HARVEY’S VALVE EXPERIMENTS small globular protuberances acting like a dam and preventing
ILLUSTRATED IN A 1766 EDITION OF THE (B, C, D, E) indicate the presence the blood from flowing backward
OPERA OMNIA, A COLLECTION OF HIS WORKS of venous valves. toward the hand.

Aftereffects adopted by practicing physicians right pioneering work Exercitationes de gener-


Because Harvey’s work challenged the away. Traditional remedies (such as atione animalium, or On Animal Gener-
accepted ideas of the time, it was greeted enemas and purgatives) were based on ation, on embryology in 1651. The last
with a mix of interest, skepticism, and Galen’s idea of human physiology, but years of his life were spent in poor health,
hostility. In England many were intrigued doctors still applied them to patients. as he suffered from gout, kidney stones,
by his writing and persuaded by his sci- Bloodletting, in particular, remained a and insomnia before dying from a stroke.
ence. King Charles I saw the academic popular treatment for illness; even In life Harvey had been unable to prove
value of his work, but some conservative Harvey supported its use. A half century the connection between veins and arter-
doctors leveled accusations of quackery after Harvey’s death, the French king ies, but four years after his death, anoth-
at him, causing his private practice to suf- Louis XIV was still accepting traditional er scientist would build on Harvey’s leg-
fer. In Europe his discoveries were not treatments. Throughout his life, the king acy. Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694)
embraced, and detractors included lead- was treated with 2,000 purgatives, hun- revealed the passages that connected the
ing writers of the period. While Molière dreds of enemas, and 38 bloodlettings. venal and arterial systems. Using a
and Boileau supported Harvey’s views, Professionally, Harvey remained in microscope, he discovered minuscule
Descartes—who initially accepted blood service to the royal family and was sent vessels, the capillaries, the missing piece
circulation—rejected the idea that the on several diplomatic missions to of the puzzle.
heart pumped the blood. Despite initial Europe. He largely retired from public
resistance, Harvey’s theory of circulation life in 1645, but he did continue his med- —Bernat Hernández
was widely accepted by the time of his ical research into the human body with Learn more
death in 1657 at age 79. a focus on reproduction. While his work
Paradoxically, the growing acceptance on circulation is certainly his greatest BOOKS
William Harvey: A Life in Circulation
of Harvey’s work on circulation was not achievement, he also produced the Thomas Wright, Oxford University Press, 2012.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 11


DA I LY L I F E

Garum, Rome’s
Funky Fish Sauce
Made from fish guts, garum was the condiment of choice
across the Roman world. A network of factories and trade
routes sprang up to feed Rome’s insatiable appetite for
this singularly smelly relish.

W
hat would be on the menu guts specifically—and salt. It was used
for a banquet at the home in recipes to enhance flavor. Romans
of a rich Roman at the end cooked with it either as a straight flavor-
of the first century a.d.? ing or by combining it with other ingre-
A dozen guests reclin- dients, such as pepper (garum piperatum),
ing on couches would wait for slaves to vinegar (oxygarum), wine (oenogarum),
carry laden dishes to the table. What oil (oleagarum), or even drinking
would they serve? To start, there might water (hydrogarum).
be pork with garum, followed by fish This condiment became so essential
with garum, and to wash it down: wine to the ancient Roman palate that a huge
with . . . yes, garum! network of trade routes grew up to move
So what was this essential sauce that the prized relish from fishery to plate. Like
MEDITERRANEAN seafood
enhanced so many Roman dishes? To- many delicacies today, the finest garum on a first-century Pompeii
day’s closest equivalent to garum is prob- could sell for astronomical sums. mosaic. Different varieties
ably fish sauce, a liquid mix of fermented As well as gracing dinner plates of fish were the key
fish and salt, which in the empire, garum was also used ingredient for garum,
is now a staple in medicinally. Its high protein content Rome’s favorite seasoning.
National Archaeological
many Southeast was thought to stimulate the appe- Museum, Naples
Asian cuisines. Like tites of recovering patients and to have SCALA, FLORENCE
modern fish sauce, curative properties for a range of mal-
Roman garum was adies. In his Natural History, Pliny the
also made from fer- Elder extols garum as a cure for dysen-
mented fish—the tery and an effective treatment for dog
bites. Pliny also recommended it for
earaches, and believed that consum-
ing African snails marinated in garum
RANCID RICHES would ward off stomach troubles.

Fish Factories
A SAUCE SALESMAN and freed slave, Aulus Umbricius
Garum’s origins lie in both Greek and
Scaurus constructed his dream house in first-
Phoenician cooking. Amphorae contain-
century Pompeii thanks to the fortune he made from
ing deposits of the sauce have been found
garum. Believed to have been the main supplier of
in shipwrecks from the fifth century b.c.,
the prized sauce to the wealthy city, his atrium was
and it is believed that its name may derive
decorated with a mosaic floor incorporating images
from the Greek word for shrimp.
of garum amphorae, including this one (left).
It was the Romans, however, who really
got a taste for the stuff. By the imperial
FOGLIA/SCALA, FLORENCE
The Joy of Cooking . . .
With Garum
MARCUS GAVIUS APICIUS, a wealthy Roman epicure, lived in
the first century a.d. and is associated with one of the oldest
cookbooks in ancient history. Most likely compiled in the fourth
century, De re coquinaria (On the Subject of Cooking) contains
period it was part of a thriving, pan-
European economy. Factories known as many recipes that list garum the chicken in an earthen dish
cetariae proliferated to satisfy the Roman and other fish sauces as and pour the seasoning over it.
world’s craving for the fish sauce. Typi- essential ingredients, like in Add laser [a fennel-like plant]
cally, these production centers were lo- and wine. Let it assimilate with
this recipe for Parthian chicken:
cated near the coast, ensuring quick and
easy access to the freshest catch. They al-
the seasoning and braise the
Dress the chicken carefully
so tended to be outside the city center be- chicken. Sprinkle with pepper.
and quarter it. Crush pepper,
cause of the stench radiating from them. Among the book’s simplest
lovage [a green herb], and a
Each factory had a central patio, rooms
for cleaning fish, and places to store the little caraway suffused with recipes is a dish of fried eggs
prized liquid when it was made. The most liquamen [a fish sauce similar seasoned with a mixture of
characteristic elements of these factories to garum] and add wine. Place wine and garum!
were the vats in which the fish sauce was

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 13


DA I LY L I F E

1 PREPARING
In the long hall workers clean
the daily catch, saving the fish
innards for garum production.

2 FERMENTING
Located in the center of
the factory are several
rectangular vats where the
mix of fish guts and salt will
be left for several months
to ferment in the sun.

3 BOTTLING
Following fermentation, the
mixture is strained to obtain
the garum sauce, which is
decanted into amphorae of
a variety of sizes, especially
made for the product.
GARUM FACTORY IN THE
SECOND-CENTURY CITY OF BAELO
CLAUDIA IN SOUTHERN SPAIN 4 STORING
CLASSIC VISION/AGE FOTOSTOCK Ready for shipping, the
amphorae are piled up in
large warehouses close to

Something Fishy the beach.

5 SHIPPING
Numerous garum factories sprang up along the coasts of North Africa and The amphorae are loaded
Spain, such as the one at Baelo Claudia (above), near modern-day Tarifa. The onto ships to be transported
and traded across the whole
Roman-era garum factory at Cotta in Morocco (right) was another production Mediterranean basin.
center where fish were harvested, turned into garum, and shipped out for sale.

produced. These were normally made of carrying out both processes together: of fermentation that gave the sauce its
cement set into the floor, but occasionally Garum conveniently used up the oth- distinctive tang.
they have been found excavated out of erwise disagreeable by-products—fish When the fermentation stage was
rock. The vats’interiors were coated with innards—of the salting process. finished, the malodorous mixture was
opus signinum, a highly resistant seal- To make garum, vats were filled with strained. The resulting thick, amber liq-
ant to ensure the precious glop did not fresh fish guts typically cleaned from uid was the prized sauce garum, while
seep away. whitebait, anchovies, mackerel, tuna, and the paste left behind was called allec. An
Two types of others. They were placed between layers inferior product to garum, allec was also
products were of salt and aromatic herbs and left in the widely traded.
made in the sun for several months until they reached
cetariae: salt fish proper pungency. It was important to add Garum Gourmets
and garum. There just the right amount of salt—too little Not unlike different types of wine or
was a very prac- would result in putrefaction, while too cheeses today, garum came in all sorts of
tical reason for much would disrupt the natural process different grades and prices, depending
on the type of fish used to make it and
on the concentration of the liquid. The
Pliny the Elder likened the weaker product was usually destined for
smell of luxury garum to that of more modest kitchens, but in the later

the finest of perfumes. Roman Empire, factories in Armorica


(modern-day Brittany in France) pro-
duced cheap garum to supply the huge
FISH ON A TABLE. FIRST-CENTURY RELIEF, MUSEUM OF ROMAN CIVILIZATION, ROME demand from the army.
DEA/AGE FOTOSTOCK
5

WATERCOLOR: JEAN-CLAUDE GOLVIN. MUSÉE DÉPARTEMENTAL ARLES ANTIQUE. © ÉDITIONS ERRANCE


1

The rich, meanwhile, scouted for high- Although garum was produced in many garum amphorae from these towns have
end garum. Pliny the Elder extols one par- different places across the Roman world, been found all over the Roman Empire.
ticular gourmet variety known as garum the Iberian Peninsula was especially rich By tracking amphorae finds, researchers
sociorum, which was produced on the in salting factories. Many used mackerel can trace an extensive network, by land
outskirts of Carthago Nova (modern-day and even tuna as their main ingredient. A and sea, that once brought garum to its
Cartagena in southern Spain). Praising whiff of the Roman Cartagena fisheries imperial consumers.
this mackerel-based product to the heav- lives on in the name of the modern town Italy was, of course, richly supplied,
ens, Pliny put its fragrance on a par with in the area—Escombreras, derived from and many garum amphorae have been
the finest unguents or perfumes. scombris, the Latin word for “mackerels.” found at the Monte Testaccio in Rome, a
Baelo Claudia was a key garum produc- spoil heap more than 100 feet high con-
Delicacy Delivery tion center, lying conveniently near the sisting entirely of discarded, broken food
Regardless of where it came from or its Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterra- vessels. Garum was also carried over land
quality, all garum was stored in ampho- nean Sea joins the Atlantic Ocean. These routes through western Europe, eventu-
rae for transportation. There were many waters form the migratory route for sev- ally reaching the remote hills of northern
types of garum amphorae, but they were eral fish species. Here, nets could be set to England as far as Hadrian’s Wall. There,
always kept separate from those used catch tuna as they passed through on their on the chilly northern boundaries of the
for transporting oil or wine. On some, way to spawn, a practice that continues on civilized world, soldiers and citizens
inscriptions known as tituli picti have that coast to this day. could nevertheless enjoy the salty tang
been preserved. These “labels” are a kind The majority of factories on the Ibe- of the fish sauce fermented in the Med-
of marking painted on the outside of the rian Peninsula were dotted along the iterranean sun.
amphora to indicate what kind of food- Andalusian coast up to Portugal and the
stuff was on the inside. mouth of the Tagus River. Remnants of —María José Noain Maura

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 15


CROC OF AGES
The Egyptian tradition of embalming animals
lasted until the Roman period, as attested by this
magnificent crocodile from the first century A.D.
The tiny mummified dog’s head (below right)
was either a pet, or an offering to the god
Anubis, often depicted as a dog.
S. VANNINI/GETTY IMAGES. BELOW: SPL/AGE FOTOSTOCK

Egypt’s Eternal Animals

MUMMY
MENAGERIE
In ancient Egypt mummification w
just for people: Cats, dogs, birds, c
and even crocodiles were also wra
in linen for the afterlife, a complex
practice that has yielded revealin
insights into Egyptian culture.

SALIMA IKRAM
A
PRINCE’S PET lthough human mummies have would eviscerate the body, wash it, dry it, and
The regal cat fascinated people for centuries, cover it with natron (a naturally occurring mix-
depicted on this it is only relatively recently that ture of several sodium compounds) to desiccate
coffin (above) was mummified animals have begun to it. In the case of animals, drying out the body
the pet of the eldest catch the attention of the public. could take 15 to 50 days, depending on the size
son of Amenhotep III.
Its mummified There is certainly no lack of specimens: Mil- of the creature.
remains were placed lions of artificially preserved bodies of animals Next, it would be cleaned and anointed
inside in the 14th survive from antiquity. Found in museum col- with sacred oils and resins to inhibit bacteria
century b.c. Egyptian lections all over the world, they include a broad growth. At the end of this lengthy process, the
Museum, Cairo
range of creatures, ranging from beetles to body would be wrapped in linen bandages and
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
bulls. Animal mummies typically fall into then either placed in a coffin or buried. Dif-
four major categories: pets,victual (or food) ferent techniques were developed over time,
animals, animals worshipped as gods, and depending on an animal’s size and whether it
animals intended as divine offerings. had fur, feathers, or scales. Birds, for example,
Mummification of people—including were sometimes eviscerated and then immersed
the bodies of pharaohs—in Egypt had in a mixture of resin and oil,and some creatures,
become an established custom by such as crocodiles, were not eviscerated at all.
the time of the Old Kingdom in the
third millennium b.c. Technology was Beloved Companions
always evolving and often varied among Recent finds have revealed yet more proof of just
embalminghouses,butthesamebasicprin- how much ancient Egyptians loved their pets. In
ciples underpinned the practice. The process 2017 archaeologists working at Berenice, on the
transformed the recipient into a divine being, farsouthofmodernEgypt’sRedSeacoast, found
able to live for eternity, whose preserved body a burial ground entirely given over to cats, dogs,
provided a physical refuge for the soul. monkeys, and other domestic animals. Some of
The process for mummifying animals the buried animals at the site, which was in use
was similar to the one for humans.In in the first century a.d., were found with iron
its most standard form, embalmers collars around their necks.

HORUS, GOD OF THE SKY, IN THE FORM OF A FALCON. PTOLEMAIC PERIOD (323 B.C.-A.D. 30). ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
SCALA, FLORENCE
NEWLY HATCHED
The author carefully cleans an ibis mummy
buried inside an earthenware vessel found
in Abydos. Along with the baboon, the ibis
symbolized Thoth, god of writing and learning.
RICHARD BARNES
DOGS ON A LEASH. RELIEF ON THE PETS FOR LIFE
MASTABA OF MERERUKA IN SAQQARA,
THIRD MILLENNIUM B.C. A N D T H E A F T ER L I F E
pets were prized across ancient Egyptian society,
and those belonging to royalty were especially
venerated. A beautifully preserved royal hunt-
ing dog (right) was discovered in 1906 in a tomb
of the Valley of the Kings. The animal, whose
wrappings had fallen away, was found facing a
baboon in a kind of standoff—perhaps a joke
set up by grave robbers centuries ago. Another
well-preserved royal pet is the gazelle (below)
that belonged to Queen Isetemkheb D in the 10th
century B.C. Discovered at Deir el Bahri in 1881, it
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
lay in a sycamore casket, wrapped in strips of linen
and adorned with necklaces. Both mummies are
on display at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
RICHARD BARNES

A graveyard exclusively reserved for cherished


domestic animals—whose remains were un-
mummified—appears to have been a late devel-
opment in Egypt’s long history of death rites for
pets. For centuries before, pet dogs, cats, mon-
keys, and gazelles had been mummified and
often entombed in their own coffins.
Sometimes, such pets were buried with their
owners, a practice recorded throughout ancient
Egyptian history. A man called Hapi-men, for
example, who lived around 300 b.c., was found
in his coffin with his pet dog embalmed at his
feet. Going back much further, a couple buried
at Saqqara in the 14th century b.c. shared their
tomb with many companion animals including
dogs, cats, baboons, and vervet monkeys.
Pharaohs typically had their pets buried close
to them. A baboon and a hunting dog were dis-
covered in what is now known as Tomb 50 in the
Valley of the Kings. They were probably royal
pets,belonging either to the 18th-dynasty pha-
raoh Amenhotep II, who died around 1400 b.c.,
or to the last king of that dynasty, Horem-
heb. One of the most famous, and touching,
examples of an owner’s love for their pet is the
case of Queen Isetemkheb D, from the 10th
century b.c. On or around her death, her pet
gazelle, was embalmed and placed in her tomb
in a gazelle-shaped casket.

Soul Food
Victual, or food, mummies reveal a more prag-
matic side. This type of mummy emphasizes
the belief that,in fact,one could take everything

20 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
BOWL FROM THEBES
THEBES, EGYPT,
EGYPT CONTAINING REMAINS OF DRIED FISH AND LINEN
STRIPS. SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C. BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
SCALA, FLORENCE

with them, and that the afterlife is very similar


to an ideal earthly existence, which meant that
the deceased would need food.
Poultry and meat were preserved to be human
sustenance in the afterlife. Ducks, geese, and
pigeons were common (chickens were not until
about the second or third century b.c.). Beef ribs
and shoulders, legs of veal, and even liver have
been found as provisions for the mummies.
This form of offering was most common in
elite burials in the New Kingdom period (1539-
1075 b.c.), although un-mummified food offer-
ings have been discovered from earlier. By the
New Kingdom poultry was being plucked, joints
of meat skinned and prepared for consumption,
each desiccated and anointed with resins and
oils, then wrapped—presumably without the
same prayers that were used for pets and other
animal mummies—before being placed in cas-
kets often mimicking the shape of the food. King
Tutankhamun, who died when he was a teen-
ager in the 14th century b.c., had over 40 vict-
ual mummies in his tomb, some in egg-shaped
containers—clearly, he would not go hungry!

Gods on Earth
In addition to companionship and sustenance,
another type of animal mummy performed an
important spiritual function. The Egyptians
believed that a particular god could send his or
her“essence”into the body of an animal. Priests
often identified the “chosen ones” by their dis-
tinctive markings or coloration. During its life-
time, this animal would be worshipped and

22 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
D U C K D I N N ER S
I N T H E A F T ER L I F E
when howard carter discovered Tutankhamun’s
tomb in the Valley of the Kings in November 1922,
he found not only the boy king’s magnificent grave
goods but also “a pile of oviform [egg-shaped]
wooden cases, containing trussed ducks and a
variety of other food offerings.” These distinctive
white containers, stashed with sustenance for the
young king’s sojourn into the afterlife, can be seen
carefully stacked beneath one of the pharaoh’s
funeral beds in the photo. The image in this photo
was taken by the Carter expedition photographer,
Harry Burton, and digitally colorized by Dynami-
chrome on behalf of the Griffith Institute at the
University of Oxford, in 2015.
GRIFFITH INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
STELA FROM THE SERAPEUM OF SAQQARA (13TH CENTURY B.C.)
DEPICTING WORSHIP OF AN APIS BULL. LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS
DEA/ALBUM

treated as if it were a god. After its death, it was


mummifiedandburiedwithgreatpomp,and the
spirit of the god would transfer to a new animal.
The oldest such cult was that of the Apis bull,
who was sacred to the creator god Ptah of Mem-
phis and was buried at the Serapeum at Saqqara;
other bull deities are known from Heliopolis
near Memphis and Armant near Luxor. Rams
sacred to Khnum, god of potency, creation, and
inundation, were buried at Elephantine, while
the site of Bubastis housed a cat dedicated to
the goddess Bastet.
Many such animals lived to an unusually
old age due to the care that they received. The
Khnum rams,for example,lived well beyond the
average age of normal rams, dying when they
were over 20 years old, often hand-fed with
mash when their teeth had worn down entirely. S AC R ED COW S
Unfortunately,given that so many of these cata- one of the most important sacred animals in
combshavebeenlootedsinceancienttimes, only Egypt was the Apis bull, worshipped at Memphis.
a few sacred-animal mummies have been found. The incarnation of the god Ptah, a god of the
underworld, the Apis bull lived in stables near the
Divine Offerings deity’s temple in Memphis, where it received ev-
The fourth animal mummy type, on the other ery comfort. After death, people began a lengthy
hand, abounds. It can be found in museums all mourning period sometimes lasting as long as
over the world: This is the votive offering, a 70 days. The animal’s body was carefully em-
mummified animal sacrificed to the gods. Each balmed, a process described in detail in the Apis
Papyrus, written in the second or first century B.C.
deity had a specific animal that was its symbol:
The viscera were usually not extracted but instead
Cats, as mentioned above, were sacred to the
removed by injecting solvents through the anus.
goddess Bastet, goddess of pleasure, love, and After completion, the mummy was carried to a
beauty, all of which are attributes of a cat; ibises special catacomb at nearby Saqqara reserved
were consecrated to the god Thoth,god of writ- for all Apis bulls, known as the Serapeum, con-
ing and learning,partly because their beaks took structed in the 13th century B.C. Here, it was buried
the shape of a pen. near its predecessors in a granite sarcophagus.

24 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
BULL’S EYE
A technician (above)
examines an Apis bull by
x-ray. Thanks to careful
preparation of the body
centuries ago, its wrappings
and false eyes are still in
good condition.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

ENTOMBED
All Apis bulls were buried
in colossal sarcophagi such
as the one shown to the left,
located in the Serapeum of
Saqqara near the ancient
Egyptian city of Memphis.
KYODO NEWS/GETTY IMAGES
T H E A N I M A L CATACO M B S
O F H ER M O P O L I S
located near the modern settlement of Tunah al
Jabal in central Egypt, the city of Hermopolis was
sacred from early in Egyptian history to Thoth, god of
writing and learning, later associated with the Greek
god Hermes. Among its many monuments are the
remarkable catacombs along its northern bound-
ary, containing huge quantities of votive mummies
of ibises and baboons sacrificed and embalmed in
honor of Thoth. Most of these offerings were made
in the Greco-Roman period, but at least one item—
a baboon sarcophagus—is dated to the time of the
Persian king Darius I, who ruled Egypt in the fifth
ANIMAL SARCOPHAGUS BEARING A FIGURE WITH A CROCODILE BODY AND A
FALCON HEAD FROM THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD. LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS and sixth century B.C. The rock-cut chambers in the
RMN-GRAND PALAIS foreground of this image were for baboon mummies.
Farther down, ibis mummies were placed.
RICHARD BARNES

These mummified animals were purchased


from the priests and offered by pilgrims at
shrines dedicated to the respective gods. The
mummified animals would, it was believed,
present the prayers of the pilgrim to the god
throughouteternity,equivalenttovotivecandles
that are burned in churches today.Once offered,
the mummies would remain in the temple pre-
cincts until an annual or biannual celebration,
possibly attended by thousands of pilgrims,
when they would be interred in tombs associ-
ated with the temple.
To meet demand,animals were probably bred
for the purpose. The creation of these mum-
miesrepresentedasubstantialpartofthetemple
economy. The overhead costs were consider-
able: The animals had to be acquired, housed,
fed, and then sacrificed and mummified with
materials traded from different parts of Egypt
as well as from abroad. Their sale to pilgrims,
however, would have raised significant funds
for the temple.
A vast range of creatures were offered: cats,
dogs, crocodiles, gazelles, fish of different
types—including catfish and Nile perch—
baboons, raptors, ibises, baboons, shrews, and
scarab beetles. By 200 b.c. catacombs could be
foundalloverEgyptfilledwithmillionsofmum-
mified offerings to the gods.
The largest of these found so far is a colos-
sal mass grave at Saqqara, discovered in 1897.
An excavation in 2009, followed by a second
in 2012, uncovered astonishing findings: Built
around 2,500 years ago, the catacomb holds the

26 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
interfere with their reasonable conveniences, he adds, “they broke bread,” (a Hebraistic
form of expression for simply “taking food,”) “at home, and partook of their food in humility
and thankfulness.” This seems to me, to require a sort of opposition in sense between ἱερον,
(hieron,) “temple,” and οικος, (oikos,) “house” or “home,” for it seems as if the writer of the
Acts wished in these few words, to give a complete account of the manner in which they
occupied themselves, devoting all their time to public devotion in the temple except that, as
was most seemly, they returned to their houses to take their ♦necessary food, which they
did humbly and joyfully. But the distributive force which some wish to put upon κατ’ οἶκον, by
translating it “from house to house,” is one which does not seem to be required at all by any
thing in the connection, and one which needs a vast deal of speculation and explanation to
make it appear why they should go “from house to house,” about so simple a matter of fact
as that of eating their victuals, which every man could certainly do to best advantage at one
steady boarding-place. That the expression, κατ’ οἶκον, most commonly means “at home,” is
abundantly proved by standard common Greek usage, as shown in the best Lexicons. But
κατα, in connexion with a singular noun, has the distributive force only when the noun itself
is of such a character and connection in the sentence as to require this meaning. Thus κατα
μηνα, would hardly ever be suspected of any other meaning than “monthly,” or “every
month,” or “from month to month;”――so κατα πολεις means “from city to city,” but the
singular κατα πολιν, almost uniformly means “in a city,” without any distributive application,
except where the other words in the sentence imply this idea. (Acts xv. 21: xx. 23.) But here
the simple common meaning of the preposition κατα, when governing the accusative, (that
is, the meaning of “at” or “in” a place,) is not merely allowed, but required by the other words
in the connection, in order to give a meaning which requires no other explanation, and
which corresponds to the word “temple” in the other clause; for the whole account seems to
require an opposition in these words, as describing the two places where the disciples
passed their time.

♦ “neeessary” replaced with “necessary”

There are great names, however, opposed to this view, which seem enough to
overpower almost any testimony that can be brought in defense of an interpretation which
they reject. Among these are Kuinoel, Rosenmueller, Ernesti, and Bloomfield, whose very
names will perhaps weigh more with many, than the hasty statement of the contrary view
which I am able here to give. Yet I am not wholly without the support of high authorities; for
De Dieu, Bengel, Heinrichs, Hammond, and Oecumenius, reject the distributive sense here.

the cure of the cripple.

In the course of these regular religious observances, about the


same time or soon after the events just recorded, Peter and John
went up to the temple to pray, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the
usual hour for the second public prayers. As they went in at the outer
gate of the temple, which being made of polished Corinthian brass,
was for its splendor called the Beautiful, their attention was called
to one of the objects of pity which were so common on those great
days of assembly, about the common places of resort. A man, who,
by universal testimony, had been a cripple from his birth, was lying in
a helpless attitude at this public entrance, in order to excite the
compassion of the crowds who were constantly passing into the
temple, and were in that place so much under the influence of
religious feeling as to be easily moved by pity to exercise so
prominent a religious duty as charity to the distressed. This man
seeing Peter and John passing in, asked aims of them in his usual
way. They both instantly turned their eyes towards him, and looking
earnestly on him, Peter said, “Look on us.” The cripple, supposing
from their manner that they were about to give something to him,
accordingly yielded them his interested attention. Peter then said to
him, “Silver and gold have I none, but I give thee what I have; in the
name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, rise up and walk.” As he said
this, he took hold of the lame man and raised him; and he at once
was able to support himself erect. Leaping up in the consciousness
of strength, he stood and walked with them into the temple,
expressing thankfulness and joy as he went, both by motions and
words. The attention of the worshiping assembly in the great courts
of the temple was at once directed to this strange circumstance; for
all who had passed in at the gate, recognized this vivacious
companion of the two apostles, as the man who had all his life been
a cripple, without the power of voluntary locomotion, and they were
utterly amazed at his present altered condition and actions. As the
recovered cripple, leaning on Peter and John, still half doubting his
new strength, accompanied them on to the porch of Solomon, the
whole multitude ran after them thither, still in the greatest
astonishment. All eyes were at once turned to the two wonderful
men who had caused this miraculous change, and the astonishment
which this deed had inspired must have been mingled with awe and
reverence. Here surely was an occasion to test the honesty and
sincerity of these followers of Christ, when they saw the whole
people thus unhesitatingly giving to them the divine honor of this
miraculous cure. What an opportunity for a calculating ambition to
secure power, favor, and renown! Yet, with all these golden chances
placed temptingly within their reach, they, so lately longing for the
honors of an earthly dominion, but now changed by the inworkings of
a purer spirit and a holier zeal, turned calmly and firmly to the
people, utterly disclaiming the honor and glory of the deed, but
rendering all the praise to their crucified Lord. Peter, ever ready with
eloquent words, immediately addressed the awe-struck throngs who
listened in silence to his inspired language, and distinctly declared
the merit of this action to belong not to him and his companion, but
to “that same Jesus, whom they, but a short time before, had
rejected and put to death as an impostor.” He then went on to charge
them boldly with the guilt of this murder, and summing up the
evidences and consequences of their crime, he called on them to
repent, and yield to this slain and risen Jesus the honors due to the
Messiah. It was his name which, through faith in his name, had
made this lame man strong, and restored him to all his bodily
energies, in the presence of them all. That name, too, would be
equally powerful to save them through faith, if they would turn to him,
the prophet foretold by Moses, by Samuel, and all the prophets that
followed them, as the restorer and leader of Israel, and through
whom, as was promised to Abraham, all the families of the earth
should be blest. But first of all to them, the favored children of
Abraham, did God send his prophet-son, to bless them in turning
away every one of them from their iniquities.

The beautiful gate.――The learned Lightfoot has brought much deep research to bear
on this point, as to the position of this gate and the true meaning of its name; yet he is
obliged to announce the dubious result in the expressive words, “In bivio hic stamus,” (“we
here stand at a fork of the road.”) The main difficulty consists in the ambiguous character of
the word translated “beautiful,” in Greek, Ὡραιαν, (horaian,) which may have the sense of
“splendid,” “beautiful,” or, in better keeping with its root, Ὡρα, (hora,) “time,” it may be made
to mean the “gate of time.” Now, what favors the latter derivation and translation, is the fact
that there actually was, as appears from the Rabbinical writings, a gate called Hhuldah,
(‫ )חולדה‬probably derived from ‫( חלד‬hheledh) “age,” “time,” “life,”――from the Arabic root ‫خلد‬
(khaladh) “endure,” “last,” so that it may mean “lasting or permanent.” There were two gates
of this name distinguished by the terms greater and smaller, both opening into the court of
the Gentiles from the great southern porch or colonnade, called the Royal colonnade.
Through these, the common way from Jerusalem and from Zion led into the temple, and
through these would be the natural entrance of the apostles into it. This great royal porch,
also, where such vast numbers were passing, and which afforded a convenient shelter from
the weather, would be a convenient place for a cripple to post himself in.
There was, however, another gate, to which the epithet “beautiful” might with eminent
justice be applied. This is thus described by Josephus. (Jewish War. book V. chapter 5,
section 3.) “Of the gates, nine were overlaid with gold and silver,――* * * but there was one
on the outside of the temple, made of Corinthian brass, which far outshone the plated and
gilded ones.” This is the gate to which the passage is commonly supposed to refer, and
which I have mentioned as the true one in the text, without feeling at all decided on the
subject, however; for I certainly do think the testimony favors the gate Huldah, and the
primary sense of the word Ὡραια seems to be best consulted by such a construction.

The porch of Solomon.――Στοα Σολομωνος, (stoa Solomonos.) This was the name
commonly applied to the great eastern colonnade of the temple, which ran along on the top
of the vast terrace which made the gigantic rampart of Mount Moriah, rising from the depth
of six hundred feet out of the valley of the Kedron. (See note on page 94.) The Greek word,
στοα, (stoa,) commonly translated “porch,” does not necessarily imply an entrance to a
building, as is generally true of our modern porches, but was a general name for a
“colonnade,” which is a much better expression for its meaning, and would always convey a
correct notion of it; for its primary and universal idea is that of a row of columns running
along the side of a building, and leaving a broad open space between them and the wall,
often so wide as to make room for a vast assemblage of people beneath the ceiling of the
architrave. That this was the case in this stoa, appears from Josephus’ description given in
my note on page 95, section 1. The stoa might be so placed as to be perfectly inaccessible
from without, and thus lose all claim to the name of porch, with the idea of an entrance-way.
This was exactly the situation and construction of Solomon’s stoa, which answers much
better to our idea of a gallery, than of a porch. (See Donnegan, sub voc.)

It took the name of Solomon, from the fact that when the great temple of that magnificent
king was burned and torn down by the Chaldeans, this eastern terrace, as originally
constructed by him, was too vast, and too deeply based, to be easily made the subject of
such a destroying visitation, and consequently was by necessity left a lasting monument of
the strength and grandeur of the temple which had stood upon it. When the second temple
was rebuilt, this vast terrace of course became again the great eastern foundation of the
sacred pile, but received important additions to itself, being strengthened by higher and
broader walls, and new accessions of mounded earth; while over its long trampled and
profaned pavement, now beautified and renewed with splendid Mosaic, rose the mighty
range of gigantic snow-white marble columns, which gave it the name and character of a
stoa or colonnade, and filled the country for a vast distance with the glory of its pure
brightness. (See note on page 95. See also Lightfoot, Disquisit. Chor. cap. vi. § 2.)
Josephus further describes it, explaining the very name which Luke uses. “And this was a
colonnade of the outer temple, standing over the verge of a deep valley, on walls four
hundred cubits in highth, built of hewn stones perfectly white,――the length of each stone
being twenty cubits, and the highth six. It was the work of Solomon, who first built the
whole temple.” (Josephus, Antiquities, XX. viii. 7.)

the first seizure of the apostles.

While the apostles were thus occupied in speaking words of


wisdom to the attentive people, they were suddenly interrupted by
the entrance of the guards of the temple, who, under the command
of their captain, came up to the apostles, and seizing them in the
midst of their discourse, dragged them away to prison, where they
were shut up, for examination on the next day, before the civil and
ecclesiastical court of the Jews. This act of violence was committed
by order of the priests who had the care of the temple, more
immediately instigated by the Sadducees, who were present with the
priests and guards when the arrest was made. The reason why this
sect, in general not active in persecuting Jesus and his followers,
were now provoked to this act of unusual hostility, was, that the
apostles were now preaching a doctrine directly opposed to the main
principles of Sadducism. The assertion that Jesus had actually risen
from the dead, so boldly made by the apostles, must, if the people
believed it, entirely overthrow their confidence in the Sadducees,
who absolutely denied the existence of a spirit, and the possibility of
a resurrection of the dead. It was now evening, and the apostles
being thus dragged away abruptly, in the midst of their discourse, the
people were obliged to disperse for the night, without hearing all that
the speakers had intended to say; yet even the fragment of
discourse which they had heard, was not without a mighty effect. So
convincing and moving were these few words of Peter, and so
satisfactory was the evidence of the miracle, that almost the whole
multitude of hearers and beholders seems to have come over in a
mass to the faith of Christ; for converts to the astonishing number of
five thousand are mentioned by the sacred historian, who all
professed their belief in Jesus, as the resurrection and the life, and
the healing.

The guards of the temple, &c.――This was the same set of men above described, as
made up of the Levite porters and watchmen of the temple. See note on page 111. Also
Lightfoot Horae Hebraica in Acts iv. 1.――Rosenmueller, ibid. and Kuinoel. But Hammond
has made the mistake of supposing this to be a detachment of the Roman garrison.

their first trial.

The next morning the high court of the Jewish nation, having the
absolute control of all religious matters, was called together to
decide upon the fate of the apostles, and probably also of the lame
man whom they had cured. This great court was the same whose
members had, by unwearied exertions, succeeded a few weeks
before, in bringing about the death of Jesus, and were therefore little
disposed to show mercy to any who were trying to perpetuate his
name, or the innovations which he had attempted against the high
authority of the ecclesiastical rulers of the nation. Of these, the
principal were Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests, with John and
Alexander, and many others, who were entitled to a place in the
council, by relationship to the high priests. Besides these, there were
the rulers and elders of the people, and the scribes, who had been
so active in the condemnation of Jesus. These all having arrayed
themselves for judgment, the apostles and their poor healed cripple
were brought in before them, and sternly questioned, by what power
and by what name they had done the thing for which they had been
summoned before the court. They stood charged with having
arrogated to themselves the high character and office of teachers,
and what was worse, reformers, of the national religion,――of that
religion which had been, of old, received straight from God by the
holy prophets, and which the wisdom of long-following ages had
secured in sanctity and purity, by entrusting it to the watchful
guardianship of the most learned and venerable of a hereditary order
of priests and scholars. And who were they that now proposed to
take into their hands the religion given by Moses and the prophets,
and to offer to the people a new dispensation? Were they deep and
critical scholars in the law, the prophets, the history of the faith, or
the stored wisdom of the ancient teachers of the law? No; they were
a set of rude, ill-taught men, who had left their honest but low
employments in their miserable province, and had come down to
Jerusalem with their Master, on the likely enterprise of overturning
the established order of things in church and state, and erecting in its
place an administration which should be managed by the Nazarene
and his company of Galileans. In this seditious attempt their Master
had been arrested and punished with death, and they whose lives
were spared by the mere clemency of their offended lords, were now
so little grateful for this mercy, and so little awed by this example of
justice, that they had been publicly haranguing the people in the
temple, and imposing on them with a show of miracles, all with the
view of raising again those disturbances which their Master had
before excited, but too successfully, by the same means, until his
death. In this light would the two apostles stand before their stern
and angry judges, as soon as they were recognized as the followers
of Jesus. And how did they maintain their ground before this awful
tribunal? Peter had, only a few weeks before, absolutely denied all
connection and acquaintance with Jesus, when questioned by the
mere menials in attendance on his Master’s trial. And on this solemn
occasion, tenfold more appalling, did that once false disciple find in
his present circumstances, consolations to raise him above his
former weakness? Peter was now changed; and he stood up boldly
before his overbearing foes, to meet their tyranny by a dauntless
assertion of his rights and of the truth of what he had preached.
Freshly indued with a courage from on high, and full of that divine
influence so lately shed abroad, he and his modest yet firm
companion, replied to the haughty inquiries of his judges, by naming
as the source of their power, and as their sanction in their work, the
venerated name of their crucified Master. “Princes of the people and
elders of Israel, if we to-day are called to account for this good deed
which we have done to this poor man, and are to say in whose name
this man has been cured; be it known to you all, and to all the people
of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, whom you
crucified, and whom God raised from the dead, this man now stands
before you, made sound and strong. This crucified Jesus is the stone
which, though rejected by you builders, has become the chief corner
stone; and in no other name is there salvation, (or healing;) for there
is no other name given under heaven, among men, by which any
can be saved,” (or healed.) When the judges saw the free-spoken
manner of Peter and John, observing that they were unlearned men,
of the lower orders, they were surprised; and noticing them more
particularly, they recognized them as the immediate personal
followers of Jesus, remembering now that they had often seen them
in his company. This recognition made them the more desirous to
put a stop to their miracles and preaching. Yet there stood the man
with them, whom they had healed, and with this palpable evidence
before their eyes, how could the members of the Sanhedrim justify
themselves to the people, for any act of positive violence against
these men? These high dignitaries were a good deal perplexed, and
sending the apostles out of the court, they deliberated with one
another, and inquired, “What can we do with these men? For there is
a general impression that they have done a great miracle, among all
who are now in Jerusalem, both citizens and strangers, and we
cannot disprove it. Still we cannot let these things go on so, nor
suffer this heresy to spread any further among the people; and we
will therefore charge them threateningly to use the name of Jesus no
more to the people.” Having come to this conclusion, they
summoned the prisoners once more into the court, and gave them a
strict command, never to teach any more nor utter a word in the
name of Jesus. But Peter and John, undismayed by the authority of
their great judges, boldly avowed their unshaken resolution to
proceed as they had begun. “We appeal to you, to say if it is right in
the sight of God to obey you rather than God. For we cannot but
speak what we have seen and heard?” The judges being able to
bring these stubborn heretics to no terms at all, after having
threatened them still further, were obliged to let them go unpunished,
not being able to make out any plea against them, that would make it
safe to injure them, while the popular voice was so loud in their favor,
on account of the miracle. For the man whom they had so suddenly
healed, being more than forty years old, and having been lame from
his birth, no one could pretend to say that such a lameness could be
cured by any sudden impression made on his imagination.

Salvation, (or healing.)――The Greek word here in the original, Σωτηρια, (Soteria,) is
entirely dubious in its meaning, conveying one or the other of these two ideas according to
the sense of the connection; and here the general meaning of the passage is such, that
either meaning is perfectly allowable, and equally appropriate to the context. This ambiguity
in the substantive is caused by the same variety of meaning in the verb which is the root,
Σαω, (Sao,) whose primary idea admits of its application either to the act of saving from ruin
and death, or of relieving any bodily evil, that is, of healing. In this latter sense it is
frequently used in the New Testament, as in Matthew ix. 21, 22. commonly translated “made
whole.” Also, Mark v. 28, 33: vi. 56: x. 52. In Luke vii. 50, and in viii. 48, the same
expression occurs, both passages being exactly alike in Greek; but the common translation
has varied the interpretation in the two places, to suit the circumstances,――in the former,
“saved thee,” and in the latter, “made thee whole.” In this passage also, Acts iv. 12, the word
is exactly the same as that used in verse 9, where the common translation gives “made
whole.” The close connection therefore between these two verses would seem to require
the same meaning in the word thus used, and hence I should feel justified in preferring this
rendering; but the general power of the verb makes it very probable that in this second use
of it here, there was a sort of intentional equivoque in the writer and speaker, giving force to
the expression, by the play on the meaning afforded by the present peculiar circumstances.

their renewed zeal.

The apostles, as soon as they were released from this unjust


confinement, went directly to their own companions, and reported all
that the high priests and elders had said to them. And when the
disciples heard of the threats which these tyrannical hierarchs had
laid on their persecuted brethren, with one mind they raised a voice
to God in a prayer of unequalled beauty and power, in which they
called upon the Lord, as the God who had made heaven, and earth,
and sea, and all in them, to look down upon them, thus endangered
by their devotion to his cause, and to give them all boldness of
speech in preaching his word; and to vindicate their authority still
further, by stretching out his hand to heal, and by signs and miracles.
No sooner had they uttered their prayer than they received new
assurance of the help of God, and had new evidence of a divine
influence. “The place where they were assembled was shaken, and
they were all filled again with the Holy Spirit, and spake the word of
God with renewed boldness.” This first attack upon them, by their
persecutors, so far from dispiriting or disuniting them, gave them
redoubled courage, and bound them together still with the ties of a
common danger and a common helper. “All those who believed were
of one heart and one soul,” and were so perfectly devoted to each
others’ good, that “none of them said that any of the things which he
possessed was his own, but held them as the common support of
all.” And in spite of the repeated denunciations of the Sadducees
and the Sanhedrim, the apostles, with great power and effect, bore
witness of the resurrection of their Lord; and the result of their
preaching was, that they were all in the highest favor with the
people. Neither was any one of them suffered to want any comfort or
convenience of life; for many that owned houses and lands at a
distance, turned them into ready money by selling them, and brought
the money thus obtained, to the apostles, with whom they deposited
it in trust, for distribution among the needy, according to their
circumstances. This was done more particularly by the foreign Jews,
many of whom were converted at the pentecost, when, being
gathered from all parts, they heard for the first time of the Messiah,
from the mouths of his apostles, and saw their words supported by
such wonders. Among these was a native of Cyprus, by name
Joseph, a Levite, who so distinguished himself by his labors of love
among them, and gave such promise of excellence as a teacher of
the new faith which he had adopted, that the apostles honored him
with a new name, by which he was ever after known, instead of his
previous one. They called him Barnabas, which means “the son of
exhortation,” no doubt referring to those talents which he afterwards
displayed as an eminent and successful minister of the gospel.

Raised a voice.――This is literal; and can mean nothing more than the common modern
expression, “unite in prayer,” with which it is perfectly synonymous. The judicious Bloomfield
(Annotations in Acts iv. 24,) observes, “We cannot rationally suppose that this prefatory
address was (as some conjecture) not pronounced extempore, but a pre-composed form of
prayer, since the words advert to circumstances not known until that very time; as, for
instance, the threatenings of the Sanhedrim, (verse 29,) of which they had been but just
then informed; and the words ἀκουσαντες ὁμοθυμαδον ῃραν φωνην will not allow us to imagine
any interval between the report of Peter and John, and the prayer.” Kuinoel’s view is
precisely the same.

Were in the highest favor with the people.――Very different from the common
translation, “great grace was upon them all.” But the Greek word, Χαρις, (Kharis,) like the
Latin gratia, (in the Vulgate,) means primarily “favor;” and the only question is, whether it
refers to the favor of God or of man. Beza, Whitby, Doddridge, &c. prefer the former, but
Kuinoel justly argues from a comparison of the parallel passages, (ii. 47, and iv. 34,) that it
refers to their increasing influence on the attention and regard of the people, which was
indeed the great object of all their preaching and miracles. Grotius, Rosenmueller,
Bloomfield and others, also support this view.

Deposited in trust.――This is a free, but just version of ετιθουν παρα τους ποδας, (etithoun
para tous podas,) Acts iv. 35, literally and faithfully rendered in the common translation by
“laid at the feet;” but this was an expression very common not only in Hebrew, but in Greek
and Latin usage, for the idea of “deposit in trust;” as is shown by Rosenmueller’s apt
quotations from Cicero, “ante pedes praetoris in foro expensum est auri pondo centum,”
Defence of Flaccus, chapter 28; and from Heliodorus, παντα τα εαυτου τιθεναι παρα τους ποδας
βασιλεως. But Kuinoel seems not to think of these, and quotes it as a mere Hebraism.

Barnabas, son of exhortation.――This is the translation of this name, which seems best
authorized. A fuller account of it will be given in the life of Barnabas.
ananias and sapphira.

The great praise and universal gratitude which followed Barnabas,


for this noble and self-denying act of pure generosity, was soon after
the occasion of a most shameful piece of imposition, ending in an
awful expression of divine vengeance. Led by the hope of cheaply
winning the same praise and honor which Barnabas had acquired by
his simple-minded liberality, a man named Ananias, with the
knowledge and aid of his wife Sapphira, having sold a piece of land,
brought only a part of the price to the apostles, and deposited it in
the general charity-fund, alleging at the same time, that this was the
whole amount obtained for the land. But Peter, having reason to
believe that this was only a part of the price, immediately questioned
Ananias sternly on this point, charging him directly with the crime of
lying to God. He remarked to him that the land was certainly his own,
and no one could question his right to do just as he pleased with
that, or the money obtained for it; since he was under no obligation
to give it away to the poor of the church. But since he had of his own
accord attempted to get a reputation for generosity, by a base and
avaricious act of falsehood, he had incurred the wrath of an insulted
God. No sooner had Ananias heard this awful denunciation, than,
struck with the vengeance he had brought on himself, he fell lifeless
before them, and was carried out to the burial by the attendants. His
wife soon after coming in, not having heard of what had happened,
boldly maintained her husband’s assertion, and repeated the lie most
distinctly to Peter. He then declared his knowledge of her guilt, and
made known to her the fate of her husband, which she was doomed
to share. The words had hardly left his lips, when they were
confirmed by her instant death, and she was at once carried out and
laid with her husband. The effect of these shocking events on the
minds of the members of the church generally, was very salutary;
exhibiting to them the awful consequences of such deliberate and
hardened sin.

Attendants.――The common English translation here gives the expression, “young


men,” which is the primary meaning of the Greek νεανισκοι, (neaniskoi,) and is quite
unobjectionable; but the connection here seems to justify and require its secondary use in
application to “servants,” “attendants,” &c. This interpretation has the authority of the
learned Mosheim, who considers the persons here mentioned, to have been regularly
appointed officers, who performed the necessary duties about the assemblies of the
disciples, and executed all the commands of the apostles. He says, “unless you suppose
these young men to have been of this sort, it is hard to understand why they alone instantly
rose up and carried out the bodies of Ananias and his wife, and buried them. But if you
suppose them to have been men discharging an official duty in the public assembly, you see
a reason why, even without orders, they took that sad duty upon themselves. And that there
were public servants of this sort in the first Christian church, no one certainly can doubt,
who will imagine for himself either its circumstances or the form of the assemblies of that
age. For instance, there were the places of meeting to be cleaned,――the seats and tables
to be arranged,――the sacred books to be brought and carried away,――the dishes to be
set out and cleared off,――in short, there were many things to be done which absolutely
required particular men.” (Mosheim, Commentary de rebus Christianorum ante
Constantinum, p. 114, b.) This passage is quoted by Kuinoel, and is so clear in its
representation of the circumstance, as to justify me in translating it entire.

the increasing fame of the apostles.

The apostles, daily supported anew by fresh tokens of divine aid,


went on in their labors among the people, encouraged by their
increasing attention and favor. So deep was the impression of awe
made by the late occurrence, that none of the rest of the church
dared to mingle familiarly with the apostles, who now seemed to be
indued with the power of calling down the vengeance of God at will,
and appeared to be persons too high and awful for common men to
be familiar with. Yet the number of the church members, both men
and women, continued to enlarge, and the attendance of the people
to increase, so that there was no place which would accommodate
the vast crowd of hearers and beholders, except the great porch of
Solomon, already described, where the apostles daily met the
church and the people, to teach and strengthen them, and to work
the cures which their Master had so often wrought. So high was the
reputation of the apostles, and so numerous were those who came
to solicit the favor of their healing power, for themselves or friends,
that all could not get access to them even in the vast court of the
temple which they occupied, insomuch that they brought the sick into
the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, along the path
which the apostles were expected to pass, that at least the shadow
of Peter, passing by, might overshadow some of them. Nor was this
wonderful fame and admiration confined to Jerusalem; for as the
news was spread abroad by the pilgrims returning from the
pentecost, there came also a multitude out of the cities round about
Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and those who were affected by evil
spirits, and they were healed, every one.

Mingle familiarly with them.――Commonly translated, “join himself to them,” which


conveys a totally erroneous idea, since all their efforts were given to this end, of making as
many as possible “join themselves to them.” The context (verse 14,) shows that their
numbers were largely increased by such additions. “Yet no one of the common members (οἱ
λοιποι) dared mingle familiarly (κολλασθαι) with them; but the people held them in great
reverence.” Acts v. 13.

Met the church and people.――This distinction may not seem very obvious in a common
reading of the Acts, but in v. 11, it is very clearly drawn. “Great fear was upon the whole
church and on all the hearers of these things.” And throughout the chapter, a nice
discrimination is made between ὁ λαος, (ho laos,) “the people,” or “the congregation,” and ἡ
εκκλησια, (he ekklesia,) “the church.” See Kuinoel in v. 13, 14.

The shadow of Peter.――This is one of a vast number of passages which show that
high and perfectly commanding pre-eminence of this apostolic chief. The people evidently
considered Peter as concentrating all the divine and miraculous power in his own person,
and had no idea at all of obtaining benefit from anything that the minor apostles could do. In
him, alone, they saw the manifestations of divine power and authority;――he spoke and
preached and healed, and judged and doomed, while the rest had nothing to do but assent
and aid. Peter, then, was the great pastor of the church, and it is every way desirable that
over-zealous Protestants would find some better reason for opposing so palpable a fact,
than simply that Papists support it.

their second seizure and trial.

The triumphant progress of the new sect, however, was not


unnoticed by those who had already taken so decided a stand
against it. The Sadducees, who had so lately come out against them,
were not yet disposed to leave the apostles to enjoy their boldness
with impunity. The high priest Annas, who had always been the
determined enemy of Christ, belonging to the Sadducean sect, was
easily led to employ all his authority with his brethren, against the
apostles. He at last, provoked beyond endurance at their steady and
unflinching contempt of the repeated solemn injunction of the
Sanhedrim, whose president and agent he was, rose up in all his
anger and power, and, backed by his friends, seized the apostles
and put them into the common jail, as inveterate disturbers of the
peace of the city, and of the religious order of the temple. This
commitment was intended to be merely temporary, and was to last
only until a convenient time could be found for bringing them to trial,
when the crowd of strangers should have retired from the city to their
homes, and the excitement attendant on the preaching and miracles
of the apostles should have subsided, so that the ordinary course of
law might go on safely, even against these popular favorites, and
they might be brought at last to the same fate as their Master. After
the achievment of this project, “a consummation most devoutly to be
wished” by every friend of the established order of things, the sect
which was now making such rapid advances would fall powerless
and lifeless, when its great heads were thus quietly lopped off. This
seems to have been their well-arranged plan,――but it was destined
to be spoiled in a way unlooked for; and this first step in it was to be
made the means of a new triumph to the persecuted subjects of it.
That very night, the prison doors were opened by a messenger of
God, by whom the apostles were brought out of their confinement,
and told, “Go, stand and speak in the temple, to the people, all the
words of this life.” According to this divine command, they went into
the temple and taught, early in the morning, probably before their
luxurious tyrants had left their lazy pillows. While the apostles were
thus coolly following their daily labors of mercy in the temple, the
high priest and his train called the council together, and the whole
senate of all the children of Israel, and having deliberately arrayed
themselves in the forms of law, they ordered the imprisoned heretics
to be brought forthwith into the awful presence of this grand council
and senate of the Jewish nation and faith. The officers, of course, as
in duty bound, went to execute the order, but soon returned to report
the important deficiency of the persons most needed to complete the
solemn preparation for the trial. Their report was simply, “The prison
truly we found shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without,
before the doors; but when we had opened, we found no man
within.” Here was a non-plus, indeed; all proceedings were brought
to a stand at once; and “when the high priest and the chief officer of
the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of
them, whereunto they would grow.” But these eminent dignitaries
were not left long to perplex their sage heads about the unworthy
objects of their tender solicitude; for some faithful sycophant,
rejoicing in such a glorious opportunity to serve the powers that
were, came running to tell them, “Behold, the men whom ye put in
prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.” This
very simple but valuable piece of information relieved the grave
judges very happily from their unfortunate quandary; and without
further delay, a detachment of officers was sent to bring these
unaccountable runaways to account. But as it appeared that the
criminals were now in the midst of a vast assemblage of their friends,
who were too perfectly devoted to them to suffer them to receive any
violence, it was agreed to manage the thing as quietly and easily as
might be, and to coax them away if possible to the tribunal. To insure
the still and effectual performance of this order, the captain of the
temple himself went with the officers, and quietly drew the apostles
away, with their own consent, and without any violence; for the
minions of the law knew perfectly well that the least show of injury
towards these righteous men, would insure to those who attempted
it, broken heads and bones, from the justly provoked people, whose
deserved indignation would soon make the very stones to rise in
mutiny for the defence of their beloved teachers and benefactors.
The apostles themselves, however, showed no unwillingness
whatever to appear before their bitter persecutors again, and
presented themselves accordingly, with bold unflinching fronts,
before the bar of the Sanhedrim. When they were fairly set before
the council, the high priest, turning his lately perplexed face into “a
look of austere dignity,” asked them, “Did we not particularly charge
you, that you should not teach in his name? And now, indeed, in
open contempt of our authority, you have filled all Jerusalem with
your doctrine, and mean to bring this man’s blood upon us?” They,
the high priest and his supporters, had, at no small pains and
trouble, effected the death of Jesus, and had naturally hoped that
there would be an end of him; but here now were his disciples
constantly using his name to the excitable populace in their daily
teachings, thus keeping alive the memory of these painful incidents
which it was so desirable to forget, and slowly plotting the means of
avenging upon the Sanhedrim the death of their Master. To this sort
of address, Peter and all the other apostles, who now shared the fate
of their two distinguished friends, replied, even as had been said on
the previous summons, “We ought to obey God rather than men.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged
on a tree: him now has God uplifted to sit beside his own right hand,
to be a Prince and a Savior, to give to Israel a change of heart and
views, and remission of sins. And we are his witnesses of these
things, and what is far more, so also is the Holy Spirit, which God
has given to those who obey him, as the reward and the sign of their
obedience.” This bold and solemn speech, breathing nothing but
resistance against all hindrances, and steady persistance in their
course,――and denouncing, too, as murderers, the judges, while it
exalted their victim to honors the highest in the universe, was not at
all calculated to conciliate the friendly regard of the hearers of it, but
roused them to the most violent and deadly hate. Deeply wounded
and insulted as they were, they determined to try remonstrance no
longer; but in spite of the danger of popular ferment, to silence these
audacious bravers of their authority, in death. While they were on the
point of pronouncing this cruel decision, the proceedings were
stayed by Gamaliel, a man of vast learning and influence, an
eminent Pharisee of great popularity, and beyond all the men of that
age, in knowledge of the law of Moses and of Hebrew literature. This
great man, rising up in the midst of their wrathful resolutions, moved
to suspend the decision for a few minutes, and to withdraw the
prisoners from the bar, until the court could form their opinions by
deliberating with more freedom than they could in the presence of
the subjects of the trial. As soon as the apostles were put out of the
court, Gamaliel addressed them, prompted by a noble humanity, as
well as by a deep knowledge of human nature, and acting in
accordance, also, with the general principles of the Pharisees, who
were very averse to cruelty and bloodshed, and were generally
disposed to punish even criminals in the mildest ways. Possibly, too,
he might have been affected by some jealousy of the forwardness of
the rival sect. His words were these: “Men of Israel! take care what
you do to these men. For you know that, not long ago, rose up
Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody, and gathered a gang
about him, to the number of four hundred. But as soon as the
attention of our Roman masters was drawn to his outrageous doings,
they put him entirely down at once, killing him and breaking up his
band, by slaughter and banishment; so that without any trouble or
exertion on our part, all this sedition was brought to nought. And
when, after him, Judas the Galilean raised a great party about him,
in the days of the taxing, this rebellion against the government met
with the same inevitable fate, from the resistless soldiery of Rome;
and all this was done without any need of interference from us. And
now, with these remarkable instances in view, I warn you to let these
men alone, and leave them to determine their fate by their own
future conduct. For if, in all their active efforts of seeming
benevolence, they have been prompted by any base ambition to
head a faction, which may raise them to the supreme power in
religious and political affairs, and by a revengeful wish to punish
those concerned in the death of their Master;――if, in short, their
plan or their work is a mere contrivance of men, it will come to
nought of itself, without your interference, as did the two miserable
riots which I have just mentioned. But if, inspired by a holier principle
of action, they are laboring with pure love of their converts; if all
these wonderful cures which you consider mere tricks and
impostures, shall prove to be true miracles, wrought by the hand of
God, and if their plan be of God,――you cannot overthrow it; and do
you look to it, sirs, that you do not find yourselves at last fighting
against God.” This noble and sensible speech, aided by the high
rank and great weight of character which belonged to the speaker,
instantly hushed all the lately outrageous proposals which had been
made against the prisoners. If there were any in the council who did
not feel satisfied with his reasoning, they were wise enough to
acquiesce, with at least the appearance of content. They knew too
well, that Gamaliel, supported by his unbounded popularity with the
whole nation, and his eminently exalted character for justice and
virtue, was abundantly able to put down every appearance of
opposition, and set the apostles free, in spite of high priest and
Sadducees. Adopting his resolution, therefore, they called in the
apostles, and having vented their paltry malice by beating them, and
having exposed themselves to new contempt by repeating their oft-
despised command, that the apostles should not speak in the name
of Jesus, they let them go, being fully assured that the first use the
apostles would make of their freedom would be to break this idle
injunction. For they went out of the judgment-hall, rejoicing that they
were honored by suffering this shameful treatment in their Master’s
name. They now recalled to mind his early words of encouragement,
which he had given them in a wise determination to prepare them for
evils of which they had then so little notion. The passage from the
sermon on the mount was particularly appropriate to their present
circumstances. “Blessed are they who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for my name’s sake. Rejoice and
be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so
persecuted they the prophets who were before you.” Comforted by
such words as these, they returned to their labors as before, and
daily, in the temple, and moreover in private houses, ceased not to
teach and to preach Jesus Christ, in the very face of the express
prohibition of their thwarted persecutors.

Messenger.――This is a fair and literal interpretation of αγγελος, (angelos,) and one


justifiable in every place where it occurs in the Bible. Wherever it is applied to a
supernatural being sent from God, the connection will abundantly explain the term, without
rendering it by a different word. Thus I have chosen to do, and to leave each reader to
judge for himself, from the other attendant circumstances, of the character of the
messenger. See Kuinoel in loc.

All the words of this life.――I here follow the common translation, though Kuinoel and
most interpreters consider this as a hypallage, and transpose it into “all these words of life.”
But it does not seem necessary to take such a liberty with the expression, since the
common version conveys a clear idea. “The words of this life” evidently can mean only the
words of that life which they had before preached, in accordance with their commission; that
is, of life from the dead, as manifested in the resurrection of Jesus, which was in itself the
pledge and promise of life and bliss eternal, to all who should hear and believe these
“words.” This view is supported by Storr, and a similar one is advanced by Rosenmueller, in
preference to any hypallage.

Change of heart.――I have in general given this translation of Μετανοειτε, (Metanoeite,)


as more minutely faithful to the etymology of the word, and also accordant with popular
religious forms of expression; though the common translation is unobjectionable.
Deeply wounded.――In the Greek, διεπριοντο, (dieprionto,) from διαπριω, “to saw
through;” in the passive, of course, “to be sawn through,” or figuratively, “deeply wounded in
the moral feelings.” This is the commonly translated, “cut to the heart,” which I have
adopted, with such a variation of the words as will assimilate it most nearly to common
modern forms of expression. But Kuinoel prefers the peculiar force of the middle voice,
(where this word can be made, owing to the identity of the imperfect tenses of the two
voices,) given by Hesychius, “to gnash the teeth,” doubtless taken from the similarity of
sound between “sawing,” and “grating the teeth.” This sense being also highly appropriate
here, to men in a rage, makes the passage perfectly ambiguous, and accordingly great
authorities divide on the point. In such cases, it seems to me perfectly fair to consider the
phrase as originally intended for an equivoque. Luke was Grecian enough, doubtless, to
know the two meanings of this form, and must have been very careless if he did not think of
it as he wrote it down; but either meaning is powerfully expressive of the idea here, and why
should he reject or explain it? It is rather an advantage and a charm than otherwise, in a
language, to possess this ambiguity, making occasionally a richly expressive play of
meanings. It seems, however, more in accordance with Luke’s ordinary expressions, to
prefer the passive sense, as in Acts vii. 54, ταις καρδιαις (“to their hearts”) is added, there, of
course, requiring the passive. For similar forms of expression, see Luke ii. 35: Acts ii.
37.――Consult Bretschneider in loc. In favor of the passive sense, see Bloomfield,
Rosenmueller, Wolf, Hammond and Gataker. On the middle sense, Kuinoel, Beza and
Wetstein.

Gamaliel.――I shall give a full account of this venerable sage, in the beginning of the life
of Paul.

In the temple and in private houses.――Acts vi. 42. In the Greek, κατ’ οἶκον, (kat’ oikon,)
the same expression as in ii. 46, alluded to in my note on pages 139, 140. Here too occurs
precisely the same connection with ἐν τῳ ἱερῳ, (en to hiero,) with the same sense of
opposition in place, there alluded to. The indefinite sense, then, rather than the distributive,
is proper here as there, showing that they preached and taught not only in their great place
of assembly, under the eastern colonnade of the temple, (v. 12,) but also in private houses,
that is, at their home, or those of their friends. The expression “from house to house,”
however, is much less objectionable here, because in this passage it can give only an
indefinite idea of place, without any particular idea of rotation; but in the other passage, in
connection with “the taking of food,” it makes an erroneous impression of their mode of life,
which the text is meant to describe.

the appointment of deacons.

The successful progress of their labors had now gathered around


them a great church, numbering among its members a vast throng
both of Hebrew and of foreign Jews. The apostles being devoted
wholly to their high duties of prayer and preaching, were unable to
superintend particularly the daily distribution of the means of support
to the needy, out of the charity-fund which had been gathered from
the generous contributions of the wealthy members of the church.
Among the foreign Jews who had joined the fraternity of the
disciples, were many of those who, by education, language and
manners, though not by race or religion, were Greeks. These, with
the proselytes, being fewer than those who adhered to the genuine
manners and language of Palestine, had comparatively little weight
in the administration of the affairs of the church, and had no hand in
the distribution to the church poor. Being a minority, and being
moreover looked on with invidious eyes by the genuine Hebrews, as
a sort of half renegades, they were overlooked and put back, in the
daily ministration to the needy, and to such a degree, that even the
helpless widows among them were absolutely suffering through this
neglect. The natural consequence was, that murmurs and open
complaints arose among them, at this shameful and unbrotherly
partiality. As soon as the report of the difficulty reached the ears of
the twelve, they immediately called a full church-meeting, and laid
the matter before it in these words. “It is not proper that we should
leave the preaching of the word of God, to wait on tables. Wherefore,
brethren, look ye out among you seven reputable men, full of a holy
spirit and of wisdom, whom we may intrust with this business; while
we continue to give our time up wholly to prayer and the ministry of
the word.” This wise plan pleased all parties, and the church
proceeded to elect the proper persons for the charge. To soothe the
feelings of the Hellenists, the whole seven were chosen from their
number, as the names (which are all Greek) fully show. This makes it
probable that there were already persons appointed from among the
Hebrews, who had administered these charities from the beginning,
and whose partial management of these matters had given offense
to those whom they slighted. The seven Hellenists now chosen to
this office, were Stephen, resplendent in spiritual and intellectual
endowments; Philip, also highly distinguished afterwards by his
successful preaching; Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and
Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch; by which last circumstance, (as well
as by the case of Barnabas,) is shown the fact that some Hellenist
converts, from a distance, had settled at Jerusalem, and
permanently joined the followers of Christ. These seven being
formally elected by the church, were brought in before the apostles,

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