u 

 u 



I76 HUXLEY 



be identified. As for Elohim, a term translated 

 god" (in contrast to Jahveh or Jehovah, translated 

 Lord "), that word, as was seen above, is applied to 

 ghosts, and also to various grades of gods. Its use 

 by the woman is of importance, as showing that the 

 ghost had become in some degree deified, a process of 

 apotheosis which marks the beginnings of ancestor- 

 worship. The existence of this widespread cult 

 among the Israelites is evidenced by the rude human 

 images known as Teraphim. The reference to Urim 

 shows the prevalence of divination. The Urim and 

 Thummim appear to have been lots which were car- 

 ried by the high priest in the pocket of his "breast- 

 plate," worn on the ephod. Besides these, there are 

 evidences of other modes of ascertaining the will of 

 heaven, as by rods, 1 pointless arrows, 2 and dreams, 3 

 while the important part played by sacrifices, usually 

 burnt-offerings, in old Israelitic ritual, is too well 

 known to need more than allusion here. 



The theological system thus outlined offers to the 

 anthropologist no feature which is devoid of a par- 

 allel in the known theologies of other races of man- 

 kind, even of those who inhabit parts of the world 

 most remote from Palestine. And the foundation of 

 the whole, the ghost-theory, is exactly that theological 



1 Hosea iv. 12. 2 Ezekiel xxi. 23. 



3 Genesis xx. 3, xxxi. 24 ; Judges vii. 13, etc. 



