and sealed." 1 Robertson Smith and his followers have represented this as an act of communion, as a sacrament in which the whole kin-the god with his clansmenunite, and in partaking of which each member renews his union with the god and with the rest of the clan. At first, we are told, the god-that is, the totem god-himself was eaten, whilst at a later stage the practice of eating the god was superseded by the practice of eating with the god. Communion still remains the core of sacrifice; and it is said that only subsequently the practice of offering gifts to the deity develops out of the sacrificial union between the worshippers and their god.2 But I venture to think that the whole of this theory is based upon a misunderstanding of the Semitic evidence, and that existing beliefs in Morocco throw new light upon the covenant sacrifice. The Moorish covenant (âhed) is closely connected with the Moorish 'âr. Whilst l'âr is one-sided, l-'âhed is mutual, both parties transferring conditional curses to one another. And here again the transference requires a material conductor. Among the Arabs of the plains and the Berbers of Central Morocco chiefs, in times of rebellion, exchange their cloaks or turbans, and it is believed that if any of them should break the covenant he would be punished with some grave misfortune. Among the Ulád Bu ‘Aziz, in the province of Dukkâla, it is a common custom for persons who wish to be reconciled after a quarrel to go to a holy man and in his presence join their right hands so that the fingers of the one go between the fingers of the other, after which the saint throws his cloak over the united hands, saying, "This is 'âhed between you." Or they may in a similar manner join their hands at a saint's tomb over the head of the box under which the saint is buried, or they may perform the same ceremony simply in the presence of some friends. In either case the joining of hands is usually 1 Robertson Smith, op. cit. p. 271. of Perseus, ii. 236. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 225. accompanied by a common meal, and frequently the hands are joined over the dish after eating. If a person who has thus made a compact with another is afterwards. guilty of a breach of faith, it is said that "God and the food will repay him"; in other words, the conditional curse embodied in the food which he ate will be realised. All over Morocco the usual method of sealing a compact of friendship is by eating together, especially at the tomb of some saint. As we have noticed above,' the sacredness of the place adds to the efficacy of the imprecation, but its vehicle, the real punisher, is the eaten food, because it contains a conditional curse. The 'ahed of the Moors helps us to understand the covenant sacrifice of the ancient Semites. The only difference between them is that the former is a method of establishing a compact between men and men, whilst the latter established a compact between men and their god. The idea of a mutual transference of conditional curses undoubtedly underlies both. It should be noticed that in the Old Testament also, as among the Moors, we meet with human covenants made by the parties eating together. Thus the Israelites entered into alliance with the Gibeonites by taking of their victuals, without consulting Yahve, and the meal was expressly followed by an oath.3 In other instances, again, the common dish consisted of sacrificial food, either because the sacredness of such food was supposed to make the conditional curse embodied in it more efficacious, or because the deity was included as a third party to the covenant. Whilst in some cases the object of a sacrifice is to transfer conditional curses either to the god to whom it is made, or to both the god and the worshipper, the victim or article offered may in other instances be used as a vehicle for transferring benign virtue to him who offered it or to other persons. As we have noticed 1 Supra, i. 587. 2 Genesis, xxvi. 30; xxxi. 46. 2 Samuel, iii. 20 sq. Robertson Smith, op. cit. p. 271. Nowack, Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie, i. 359 Joshua, ix. 14 sq. 3 above, a sacrifice is very frequently believed to be endowed with beneficial magic energy in consequence of its contact or communion with the supernatural being to which it is offered, and this energy is then supposed to have a salutary effect upon the person who comes in touch with it. I have said before that in Morocco magic virtue is ascribed to various parts of the sheep which is sacrificed at the "Great Feast," and that every offering to a holy person, especially a dead saint, is considered to participate to some extent in his sanctity. The Vedic people regarded sacrificial food as a kind of medicine.3 The Siberian Kachinzes blessed their huts with sacrificial milk. The Lapps strewed the ashes of their burntofferings upon their heads." It is quite possible that in some instances a desire to receive the benefit of the supernatural energy with which the sacrifice is endowed is by itself a sufficient motive for offering it to a god. As As is the case with other rites, sacrifices also have a strong tendency to survive the ideas from which they sprang. Thus when the materialistic conception of the nature of gods faded away, offerings continued to be made to them, though their meaning was changed. Professor Tylor observes, "the idea of practical acceptableness of the food or valuables presented to the deity, begins early to shade into the sentiment of divine gratification or propitiation by a reverent offering, though in itself of not much account to so mighty a divine personage. Sacrifice then becomes mainly, or exclusively, a symbol of humility and reverence. Even in the Rig-Veda, in spite of its crude materialism, we meet with indications of the idea that the value of a sacrifice lies in the feelings of the worshipper; if unable to offer an ox or cow, the singer hopes that a small gift from the heart, a fagot, a libation, a bundle of grass, offered with reverence, 1 Supra, i. 445 sq. See also Hubert and Mauss, loc. cit. p. 133. 2 Supra, i. 445 sq. 3 Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 328 sqq. VOL. 11 will be more acceptable to the god than butter or honey.' In Greece, though the sacrificial ritual remained unchanged till the end of paganism, we frequently come upon the advanced reflection that righteousness is the best sacrifice, that the poor man's slight offering avails more with the deity than hecatombs of oxen." According to Porphyry, the gods have no need of banquets and magnificent sacrifices, but we should with the greatest alacrity make a moderate oblation to them of our own property, as "the honours which we pay to the gods should be accompanied by the same promptitude as that with which we give the first seat to worthy men." It is said in the Talmud that "he who offers humility unto God and man, shall be rewarded with a reward as if he had offered all the sacrifices in the world."4 I have here spoken of the practice of sacrifice and the ideas on which it is based. But sacrifice has also a moral value attached to it. Though no doubt in many cases optional, it is under various circumstances regarded as a stringent duty. This is particularly the case with the offerings regularly made by the community at large on special occasions fixed by custom. As supernatural beings have material needs like men, they also possess property like men, and this must not be interfered with. The Fjort of West Africa believe that the spirits of the rivers kill those who drink their waters and sometimes punish those who fish in them for greediness, by making them deaf and dumb. When their chief god "played" by thundering, the Amazulu said to him who was frightened, "Why do you start, because the lord plays? What have you taken which belongs to him?" 6 The Fijians speak of a deluge 1 Rig-Veda, viii. 19. 5. Kaegi, op. cit. p. 30. 2 Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, i. IOI. Schmidt, Die Ethik der alten Griechen, ii. 43. Westcott, Essays in the History of Religious Thought, p. 116. 3 Porphyry, De abstinentia ab esu animalium. ii. 60. Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 555 Dennett, Folklore of the Fjort, p. 5 sq. 2 the cause of which was the killing of a favourite bird belonging to the god Ndengei by two mischievous lads, his grandsons. In Efate, of the New Hebrides, to steal Cocoanuts which are consecrated to the worship of the gods at some forthcoming festival "would be regarded as a much greater offence than common stealing." So, too, the pillaging of a temple has commonly been looked upon as the worst kind of robbery. Among the Hebrews any trespass upon ground which was hallowed by the localised presence of Yahveh was visited with extreme punishment. In Arabia people were forbidden. to cut fodder, fell trees, or hunt game within the precincts of a sacred place. The Moors believe that a person would incur a very great risk indeed by cutting the branch of a tree or shooting a bird in the horm of a siyid, or dead saint. The horm is the homestead and domain of the saint, and he is the owner of everything within its borders. But the offence is not exclusively one against property, and it may be doubted whether originally any clear idea of ownership at all was connected with it. In a holy place all objects are endowed with supernatural energy, and may therefore themselves, as it were, avenge injuries committed against them. This is true of the horm of a saint, as well as of any other sanctuary, all his belongings being considered to partake of his sanctity. But, as a matter of fact, the so-called tomb of a saint is frequently a place which was at first regarded as holy by itself, on account of its natural appearance, and was only afterwards traditionally associated with a holy person, when the need was felt of giving an anthropomorphous interpretation of its holiness. 212. Williams and Calvert, op. cit. p. 2 Macdonald, Oceania, p. 208. 3 Schmidt, Ethik der alten Griechen, ii. 19 sq. Cicero, De legibus, ii. 9, 16; Mommsen, Römisches Strafrecht, p. 458. Wilda, Strafrecht der Germanen, P. 950; Dahn, Bausteine, ii. 106 (Teutons). Du Boys, Histoire du droit criminel des peuples modernes, ii. 605 According to early ideas a sq. Filangieri, La scienza della legislazione, iv. 205 (laws of Christian countries). Montefiore, Hibbert Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Hebrews, p. 38. 5 Wellhausen, Reste Heidentums, p. 106. arabischen 6 Westermarck, Sul culto dei santi nel Marocco,' in Actes du XII. Congrès |