768 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



At the back of the cabinet is an eighteenth century ooTcr for a coffin, and an altar 

 cloth of the same period, of brocaded silk. On either side are richly embroidered 

 vestments of the last century, done in white and gold upon a purple background; 

 there are also vestments, such as are worn in the Russian churches to-day. Gongs, 

 scepters, and many other objects explain the ceremonial of the Greek Church. 



The Mohammedan forms of worship next claim attention. Prominently displayed 

 in the adjoining cabinet is a Koran stand and a Koran open upon it. The stand is 

 inlaid with mother-of-pearl and tortoise shell; inscribed upon its face is the usual 

 invocation, "In the name of God," and at the top edge, the date, A. H. 1210. The 

 Mohammedans treat the Koran with at least great outward veneration. It is always 

 placed upon a high and clean place, and never held or broui>ht in contact with other 

 books or objects. Its reading is preceded by legal ablution and the usual prayer, 

 "I seek protection with God against Satan, the accursed," after which follows the 

 invocation, " In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate." In the services 

 of the mosque the prayer and invocation are chanted by the imam or leader in prayer. 

 The Koran upon the stand is in a richly illuminated text and binding. Under the 

 Koran stand is displayed the costume of a Persian priest, consisting of vest, inner 

 and outer coat, girdle, stockings, green morocco shoes, etc., also the costume of a danc- 

 ing dervish. The different orders of dervishes are distinguished by their dress, 

 chiefly the cap (taj),the most common being made of felt in the shape of a cone. By 

 these is a dervish drum used at festivals by the p]gyptian dervishes, and also employed 

 by the criers who go abotit the streets at night during Ramadan reciting prayers. 

 The instrument, of a kettledrum order, is held in the left hand and beaten with a 

 small leather strap. 



There is no sacerdotal class in the Mohammedan religion, but each mosque has 

 its imam, jiroperly "leader," who reads the Koran and leads in i)rayer in public serv- 

 ice. In the larger mosques there are usually two imams, one whose duty it is to 

 lead the prayers and preach the sermon on Friday, the Mohammedan Sunday, and 

 the other who recites the five daily prayers in the mosque. In most of the smaller 

 mosques the ofiSces are performed by the same jierson; each mosque has also one or 

 more muezzins who call the faithful to prayer from the minaret. 



In the back of the case are hung many silver cases for charms against evil spirits, 

 witchcraft, or disease, a belief in the etticacy of these charms being very general 

 throughout the East. For this purpose a small copy of the whole or certain portions 

 of the Koran is usually employed. This cabinet contains miniature Korans, silver 

 Koran cases, and a quantity of other accessories to the Mohammedan ceremonial. 



Another case is devoted to the Assyro-Babylonian religion, and contains several 

 bas-reliefs and many seal cylinders in cast. A sacrificial dish, the original of which 

 is m the Royal Museum of Berlin, is adorned on the four corners with the head of a 

 bull, an animal much .venerated by the Assyro-Babylonians, and engraved upon the 

 sides are various symbols and figures. One monument represents Shamash, the 

 God of the Sun, by his symbol, the sun disc. Another shoAvs the head of a priest 

 in bas-relief. According to Diodorus Siculus, the Assyro-Babylonian priests were 

 divided into three grades, the temple priests, who made sacrifices and performed 

 the purification, the expiatoi'y priests, who by conjurations and penitential exer- 

 cises kept off or-exoi'cised the evil spirits, and the augurs, who explained portents, 

 interi»reted dreams, and divined from the flight of birds. In the back of the case 

 are bas-reliefs representing eagle-headed and winged divinities, and also divinities 

 holding in the hands baskets and live cones. Beyond the Assyro-Babjlonian case 

 are others-devoted to Roman and Grecian mythology. These contain the busts and 

 full lengths of the deities familiar to all, but they become especially interesting in 

 this connection. Altogether the collection is veiy unique and deserving of careful 

 study. 



