Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/395

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PHALLIC WORSHIP PHARISEES 381 historic record. The columns set up by Sesos- tris to commemorate his victories are said to have borne phallic emblems. The Spanish con- querors of America found phallic symbols in Mexico, Central America, and Peru. In Pa- nuco the phallus was adored in the temples, and in Tlascala were worshipped both the phallus and the cteis. In the court of the great temple of Cuzco, and in front of the temples of Yucatan, stood phallic pillars ; and many monuments, the object of whose build- ing is lost in antiquity, such as the round towers of Ireland, druidical stones, &c., are believed by some to have a similar signifi- cance. Phallic processions and observances are said by Herodotus to have been intro- duced from Egypt into Greece by Melampus. In the former country the phallus of the bull Apis was carried in procession during the fes- tivals of Osiris by women, to the music of flutes. In Greece the emblem was used in the festivals of Bacchus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Apollo, and was borne openly in processions by bearers called <j>aMn<j)6poi to the music of phallic songs. According to St. Augustine, the phallus was consecrated in Rome in the temples of Liber, and the cteis in those of Libera. At the festivals of Venus the Roman matrons adored the emblem in her temple on the Quiri- nal, and bore it thence with great pomp to the sanctuary of Venus Erycina, outside the Col- line gate, where it was presented to flie statue of the goddess and then returned to the former place. In the spring the Roman rustics carried the phallus across the fields, to insure fertility. These processions were finally suppressed by the Roman senate, on account of the immoral- ity which sprung from them. A secondary phase of phallism was the use of the emblem as afascinum or charm against evil influences. "With this object it was put over gateways and doors, just as the horse shoe is by the super- stitious of the present day, and hung around the necks of children as a preventive against witchcraft. It was also worn by barren wo- men in the belief that it would conduce to fruitfulness. For a like purpose votive offer- ings of phalli were often made in the temples. Great numbers of small ones in bronze and porcelain have been found at Pompeii and Her- culaneum and in the Egyptian tombs. In the 9th century the use of the phallus as an amu- let or charm was so general that it was anath- ematized by the church, and the anathema was repeated in the 13th and 14th centuries ; but to this day, in some parts of Italy, the peasants still hang the emblem on the necks of their infants to protect them from the evil eye. Phallic worship still prevails in the East. In the temples of Siva the phallus, crowned with flowers and surmounted by a golden star, Is exposed in the sanctuary, and lamps are kept burning before it. The devotees of Siva wear small images of the emblem, made of gold, ivory, or crystal, as ornaments, and they are often buried with them. Offerings of phalli are still made in the Buddhist temples of China by barren women, just as they were by Roman wives in the temples of Venus. See " A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus," by Richard Payne Knight (4to, London, 1786 ; new ed., 1873), and "Ancient Symbol Wor- ship," by H. M. Westropp and C. S. Wake (New York, 1874). PHANARIOTES. See FANAKIOTES. PHARAOH, the Egyptian word for king, ap- plied particularly to the native rulers of Egypt before the Persian conquest. The title is de- rived by Rosellini, Lepsius, Chabas, and others from the Egyptian ph-Ra, the sun. It denoted that the king was an emblem of the god of light, and derived his authority directly from heaven. The name is found in the hieroglyph- ics, as the regular royal prasnomen, expressed by a ring or disk, the character representing the sun. De Rouge and Ebers, however, read the wor&pe-raa, meaning "grand house," and consider it a title corresponding to the mod- ern " Sublime Porte." In the Old Testament Pharaoh is generally used without the addition of the individual name of the king, Pharaoh Necho and Pharaoh Hophra being the only exceptions. PHARISEES (generally derived from Heb. pe- rushim, the separated), a sect of the Jews, mentioned first by Josephus as an established religious party during the priesthood of Jona- than, about 150 B. C. They are generally con- sidered essentially the same with the Assid- eans (Heb. 'hasidim), mentioned in the books of the Maccabees, who took their rise as a party in the resolute determination to resist the adoption of Grecian customs under Antiochus Epiphanes. Their name probably indicated their separation from the rest of the Jews by the assumed holiness of their lives and their strict observance of religious ceremonies. In the time of Christ they were divided into two schools, that of Hillel, who represented a moderate Pharisaism and laid the foundation of the Talmud, and that of Shammai, who de- manded more austere observance. The former finally prevailed. Our knowledge of them is derived from Josephus, himself a Pharisee, the New Testament, especially the writings and speeches of the apostle Paul, and the Mishnah. They maintained that besides the written law of God there was an oral law handed down by tradition to explain it. This oral law consisted of unwritten supplementary instructions, given directly by God to Moses, opinions decided by the majority of the elders, decrees made by prophets and wise men in different ages, and legal decisions of proper ecclesiastical author- ity on disputed questions. The authority of this oral law was rejected by the opponent? of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, who clung to the literal meaning of the Mosaic law. The Pharisees, unlike their Sadducee opponents, believed in the immortality of the soul, in rewards and punishments beyond the grave, and in resurrection. Their enthusiasm for