The ancient Mexicans were also in the habit of making their prisoners of war fast for a term of forty days before they were put to death.[179:1]
Mr. Bonwick says:
"The Spaniards were surprised to see the Mexicans keep the vernal forty days' fast. The Tammuz month of Syria was in the spring. The forty days were kept for Proserpine. Thus does history repeat itself."[179:2]
The Spanish monks accounted for what Lord Kingsborough calls "very curious and mysterious" circumstances, by the agency of the devil, and burned all the books containing them, whenever it was in their power.
The forty days' fast was also found among some of the Indian tribes in the New World. Dr. Daniel Brinton tells us that "the females of the Orinoco tribes fasted forty days before marriage,"[179:3] and Prof. Max Müller informs us that it was customary for some of the females of the South American tribes of Indians "to fast before and after the birth of a child," and that, among the Carib-Coudave tribe, in the West Indies, "when a child is born the mother goes presently to work, but the father begins to complain, and takes to his hammock, and there he is visited as though he were sick. He then fasts for forty days."[179:4]
The females belonging to the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, were held unclean for forty days after childbirth.[179:5] The prince of the Tezcuca tribes fasted forty days when he wished an heir to his throne, and the Mandanas supposed it required forty days and forty nights to wash clean the earth at the deluge.[179:6]
The number forty is to be found in a great many instances in the Old Testament; for instance, at the end of forty days Noah sent out a raven from the ark.[179:7] Isaac and Esau were each forty years old when they married.[179:8] Forty days were fulfilled for the embalming of Jacob.[179:9] The spies were forty days in search of the land of Canaan.[179:10] The Israelites wandered forty years in the wilderness.[179:11] The land "had rest" forty years on three occasions.[179:12] The land was delivered into the hand of the Philistines forty years.[179:13] Eli judged Israel forty years.[179:14] King David reigned forty years.[179:15]
King Solomon reigned forty years.[180:1] Goliath presented himself forty days.[180:2] The rain was upon the earth forty days at the time of the deluge.[180:3] And, as we saw above, Moses was on the mount forty days and forty nights on each occasion.[180:4] Can anything be more mythological than this?
The number forty was used by the ancients in constructing temples. There were forty pillars around the temple of Chilminar, in Persia; the temple at Baalbec had forty pillars; on the frontiers of China, in Tartary, there is to be seen the "Temple of the forty pillars." Forty is one of the most common numbers in the Druidical temples, and in the plan of the temple of Ezekiel, the four oblong buildings in the middle of the courts have each forty pillars.[180:5] Most temples of antiquity were imitative—were microcosms of the Celestial Templum—and on this account they were surrounded with pillars recording astronomical subjects, and intended both to do honor to these subjects, and to keep them in perpetual remembrance. In the Abury temples were to be seen the cycles of 650-608-600-60-40-30-19-12, etc.[180:6]