SYMBOLISM BUDDHIST AND LAMAIST LION. 



the ancients of the Far East. Wallis Budge states that the 

 Egyptians believed that the gates of dawn and evening 

 through which the Sun-god passed each day were guarded 

 by lion-gods. In order to keep evil spirits and fleshly foes 

 from those who dwelt within, they placed statues of the lion to 

 guard the living at the doors of their palaces, and to guard 

 the dead at the doors of their tombs.* Other authorities 

 state that being persuaded that the lion slept with his eyes 

 open, the Egyptians placed the figure of this animal at the 

 entrance of their temples. f 



Another monument common to Buddhism and the religions 

 of Western Asia is that of a Divine Being riding upon a 

 lion. The idea of subjection of the King of Beasts to the 

 might of religion is no doubt common to all such representa- 

 tions. Cybele, standing on a car drawn by lions, was 

 worshipped in Phrygia. Atargatis, the great Syrian goddess 

 of Hierapolis-Bambyce, was portrayed sitting on lions and 

 wearing a tower on her head. In the rock-hewn sculptures 

 of Bogaz-Keui, a youth stands on a lioness or panther 

 immediately behind the great goddess, who is supported by 

 a similar animal. J 



It appears likely that the Oriental deities, represented as 

 standing or sitting in human form on the backs of lions or 

 other animals, were in the original religions indistinguishable 

 from the beasts themselves. With a growth of the knowledge 

 and power of man he discontinued worship of the bestial 

 shape, and gradually recognizing that his worship was directed 

 rather towards the abstract principle of power and majesty, 

 super-imposed a human or divine form having the lower 

 nature in complete subjection. 



A. E. Wallis Budge, " The Gods of the Egyptians." 



f Buffon, " Histoire Naturelle." vol. vi. 



I " The Golden Bough," Hazer, vol. i, p. 137. 



H 



