HIEROGLYPHICS. 64 HIEROPHANT. writers may not l)o far distant. That the I'ha-nician alphabet, the niothpr of our modem writinj;. was derived from the Kjjvptian hieratic !-ii^Ms was ehiimed l>v De l!oiij;e [Mniiuiii xiir I'uriiiiiif dgyplienuc (/<■ Viili>hii{irt phtnicien, I'aris. 1874). and this liypothesis has Ix'comc very popular; it is, however, highly improbable and is losinj; ground amonj; sehojurs. Muili less perfect was the hieroglyphie writ- ing of the Aztees or Mexicans, whieli was used also in Central America, esiK>cially by the Mayas. Unfortunately, the literature written in those hieroglyphs was destroyed so thoroughly by the .'spaiiisli priests that only a very few manuscripts (preserved in Rome, Dresden, etc.) have survived, oesides a few iiiscrii>tions on stone. The Spanish writers of the sixteenth century have left the explanation of a few signs "only, so that the Aztec writing is al- most entirely unintelligible. However, what we understand of it seems to show that the Mexi- cans did not advance nuich beyond the picto- praphie stage, though the pictures they used were highly conventionalized. They could express the names of persims. jdaces. months, etc.. by paint- ing the objects or beings after which they were called, and went so far as to use symbolical signs of plants and animals, to express gram- matical forms so that their pictures were not read, but interpreted. Where, for example, they recorded historical events, they had to picture these, as the inscriptions alone would have Ix-en insufhcicnt. The majority of their books seem to have been calendars, lists of omina. etc.. for which their imperfect writing system sulliced. It is said that some Spanish monks made use of hieroglyphic signs for expressing Latin prayers. For example, they are said to have expressed the words pntrr nosirr hy a flag (;)(iii(/i = pa), a stone (letl=l<), a cactus-fruit (nnrlilli = norh). and a stone ( = tr. see above). Rude as this system seems, it marked, nevertheless, a step in advance, as the hieroglyphs from word-signs became phonetic signs. Such attempts, however, remained perfectly isolated: the Spanish mis- sionaries usually showed the greatest hostility to anything reialling the former Aztec id<datry. The term hieroglyphic was used by the writers of eniblemata or devices, symbolizing gnomic sen- tences taken from the fJreek and Latin poets, and having no relation to Egyptian hieroglyphics. In recent times, also, the astrological almanacs have had their symbolical representations and supposed prognostics of future events, which they called hieroglyphs. Consult Rrugsch, Ariifiplo- loflir (Leipzig. 1S!>1) ; Rerger. llixtoire dr Vt'ori- lure dans rnnliiiuit^ (Paris. ISOl) : Krman. Lifr in Anrient Eijiipt (London. 1804) : Lepsius and Stem. Liste der hirrnfihtphhchrn Tijprn iiii/f dcr Srhrifliiicssrrri drs llerrn /■'. Thrinhnnll ( Rer- lin. IST.i) : Von Lenun. .rquplinrhr Lr>i<:itiirhr (Leipzig, 1883): Erman, Eijt/ptinn flrnmmar (London, 18941 : Levi, UmcoUu dri seqni irrntici eijizi (Turin, 1S80I: Erman. Die Miirchen des I'lipi/nis ll'cs^cnr (part ii.. Rerlin. ISOOt : Brugsch. firnmmairr drmotique (Paris, 1855); Hess, rtrr drmnlisrhr Uomnn ron Sine Un-m-un (Leipzig. 1888) : Revillout. Chrestomalhie df- nuitiqiir (Paris. 1880). HIERON, bi'er'm. The name of two rulers of Syracuse. See Hikro 1. .ind II. HIERONYMITES, hl'iV-fm'! nilts. Tlie com- mon name nl lour ass<K-iation:i of hermits in Spain and Italy, who all regarded Saint .(eronie as their patron and example, and hence derived their name. (1) The Spanish congregation founded in the reign of .Mfonso XI. of Castile (l31;i-50) hy some disciples of Tonmiasui'i-io of Siena, a hermit who had considerable fidlowing in Northern Italy and observed the rran<-iscan rule. Their two earliest settlements were in the mountains near Toledo. Their numlM-rs soon grew, and includeil many persons of rank and station, such as Ferdinand Pecha, jirincipal ehandierlain to Pedro IV„ and his brother Al- fonso, Bishop of .laen. The former ol)tained confirmation for their association from Gregory XL in 1373, uniler the rule of Saint .ugustine, and is regarded as the real founder of the Order. Ry 141.) they had twenty-live cloisters, among them that of San (Jeronimo de Yuste. in which the Emperor Charles V. passed his last years. That of Rclem. near Lislion. became the burial-place of the Portuguese royal family. A female branch of the Order was loimded by Maria Carcias (dieil 142(i). (2) The congregation of the Obs<'rvance or of Lombardy. foumled by the Spaniard, I>ope de t)lmedo (1370-1433), who became general of the foregoing Order in 1422. His [uirpose in establishing a separate congregation was the at- tainment ipf still greati'r strictness. The rule which he drew up was {'onlirmed in 1420. but after his death was exchanged for that of Saint .ugustine. The seven Spanish cloisters of the Onler were in l.'illo united by Philip II. with the foregoing, but the seventeen Italian retained their separate existence under a general residing at llospitaletto. near Lodi. (3) The congregation of Peter of Pisa (Pictro Camhacorta. 13.35-143."i) . who turned from a worldly to a herniifs life in 1377 and built a church and hermitage on Monte- hello, near I'rliino. Several small comnuinities of Franciscan tcrtiaries associated themselves with him: the principal .settlements were at Vicenza ami Mantua. Only simple vows were taken until l.KiO: but Pius V. imposed the solenm vows and the .ugustini;in rule. The Onler had at one time over lifty houses, including one founded at Walchensee in Ravaria in 1088. and removed to Munich in 172.">. (4) Tlui congrega- tion of Fiesolc. founih'd by Carlo di Monte- granelli and conlirmed by Innocent VII. in 1406. It came to possess more than forty houses, in- cluding the Convent of Saints Vincent and . as- tasius in Rome, but was suppressed as a separate organization by Pope Clement IX. in 1C88. HIEROPHANT, hi er'.Vffmt (Lat. AiVro- phiiiiln. hii rfiphnnlrs, fnmi Ok. l(po()>6.vTr)f, hicro- phnniis. hierophant, from Upis, liiiron. sacred + ipalmy, jihiiinriti. to show). The head of the secret worship of Demeter. at Eleusis. who at the celebration of the mysteries showed the sacred objects an<l explained the ceremonies. He was rer|uired to be one of the old priestly family of Eleusis. the Eumolpiche, and probably was pro- hibited from holding any other office. With him was associated a hierophantes, or possil)ly two. The hierophant was required to be of mature age and clear voice: he seems to have held the olTice for life, but the statement that celibacy was required is of doubtful value. The hierophant laiil aside hi~ own name on a-suniin'_' his oflice. and henceforth was known only as Hierophantes, though his father's name and his denie are ap-
