[145] The figures of the bull and of the serpent, or of the bull and of the lion were placed at the right and left of the palaces of the Assyrian kings to protect their path. Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 162; Nineveh, vol. II, p. 315; B. F. Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Literature, pp. 139, 148, 153. The lion was both an ornament and support in the throne of Solomon, Layard, Nineveh, vol. II, p. 301. The hatchet was among the weapons of those who fought in chariots, and carried in the quiver, with the arrows and short angular bow, Nineveh, vol. II, p. 343.
[146] The Mandeans, the star-worshippers, also begin their rasta ceremony after the sunset, and continue it through the night.—London Standard, October 19, 1894, Al-Mutaḳtataf, 23, 88.
[147] The kiss of the peace is a regular part of the church service in the East.
[148] In Mohammedanism, green is the color of šeiḫs.
[149] This is a communal meal.
[CHAPTER III]
Other Deities and Festivals
I
The So-Called Seven Divinities
Besides their great saint, the Yezidis believe in seven other šeiḫs through whose intermediation they invoke God. These are also deified and assigned places of honor at Šeiḫ ‘Adi’s side. In their case as in that of their chief, the tradition has led some critics to believe that they are archangels; others, different attributes of God; and still others, the seven Amshaps of Zoroaster, or immortal spirits of the Avesta. The last conjecture is made by Victor Dingelstadt.[150] Cholsohn goes a step further in making the assertion, “Der Tempel des sheikh Shams ist ohne allen Zweifel ein Sonnentempel der so gebaut ist, dass die ernsten Strahlen der Sonne so häufig als möglich auf ihn fallen.” The ground for this positive statement is, we are told “Layard berichtet.”[151] Now, the English scholar seems to base his contention on the fact that the building is called the sanctuary of Šeiḫ Šams; that the herd of white oxen which are slain on great festivals at Šeiḫ ‘Adi’s are dedicated to Šams; “that the dedication of the bull to the sun” was generally recognized in the religious system of the ancients, which probably originated in Assyria; and that the Yezidis may have unconsciously preserved a myth of their ancestors.[152] To my mind the ground for such a view is the apriori assumption that the religion of the devil-worshippers is the remnant of an ancient cult, and that every phenomenon in it is to be regarded, therefore, a survival of the past system. For certain reasons I hold that such is not the case.
One reason, as Badger rightly remarks, the Yezidis so designate the place for the sake of brevity, is the entablature over the doorway records the name in full, “Sheikh Shams Ali Beg and Faris.” Two persons are mentioned in the inscription.[153] In like manner, the word Šams frequently enters into the construction of Mohammedan names. The most celebrated one that bore this name was Šams ud-Din of Tabriz, the friend and spiritual guide of Jalal ad-Din, who flourished during the first half of the 13th century of our era.