2 ANCIENT CARVED STONE. 



sions of Elysium. The Cockatrice was the S".ake god. It was also the basilisk 

 or cock adder. " Habet caudem nt coluber, residuum vero corpus ut gallus.' 

 The E2yptians co: sidered the basilisk as the emblem of eteriial ages: "quia 

 vero videtur ^wijc Kvpaveiv Kai Oavarov, ex auro conformatum capitibu^ de- 

 orum appingebant JE yptii." What rel tion had this with the Nehustan or 

 Brazen Serpent, to which the Israelites paid divine honours in the time of Heze- 

 kiah ? What is the circle with the seasons at the equinoxes and solstices marked 

 upon it ? — the signs of the four great Pagan festivals, celebrated at the com- 

 mencement of each of these seasons? The corner of the stone, whi,h is broken 

 (jff, probably contained some symbol. I am not hierophant enough to unriddle 

 and explain the hidden tale of this combination of hieroglyphics. 



In the Lapidariimi Septentrionale, n. 270, a very superior wood- 

 cut of this stone (copied in the prefixed lithograph) is given, and Dr. 

 Bruce olfers the following observations : — 



The carvings on this stone are probably ^ Mithraic emblems. It were a vain 

 task to attempt to unveil the enigma concealed under each. Probably the 

 original upholders of these ancient mysteries could not themselves give an in- 

 telligible account of them. 



^ Many memorials of the worship of Mithras have been found in Britain, and 

 some of them are symbolical. In the Lapidariwn Septentrionale, n. 150, a scene 

 of this class is represented. A lion stands over a human figure lying down, 

 with one paw raised to the head of the figure, and at the side is another human 

 figure seated, with apparently a flag in one hand and a wand in the other. Mr. 

 Hodgson regards the seated figure as representing Mithras, and adds — " I would 

 hazard a conjecture that the whole relates to the Mithraic rites called Leontica." 

 This conjecture is certainly well founded, for this scene of a lion standing over 

 a human figure lying down is often represented on Mithraic stones. See Mr. 

 King's Gnostics, Plate ii. 1, and xi. 4. The term Leo was the designation of a 

 person admitted to the fourth step among Mithraists, and part of the ceremonial 

 of initiation was for the neophyte to sinmlate death. 



The seated figure I take to be a representation of the officer under whose 

 supervision the candidates for the fourth step passed through the preliminary 

 rites, and I identify him with the pater leonum, or, it may he, pater pairum or 

 pater sacrorum, under whom prosede7ite the ceremonial took place. See Henzen, 

 nn. 5846, 6038, 6042a, 6042b. Part of a similar figure seems to be on a fragment 

 figured n. 68,' Lapidariwn Septeritrionale. The pater patrum may be regarded 

 as^Grand M;ister or his Deputy, pater leo7rum=Ma.stev of the Lion Lo ige, 

 and pater sacroruni=iChsq>\a.:n. In n. 65 of the same work, an altar is figured, 

 bearing an inscription, DEO, " To the God." Dr. Bruce properly refers 

 it to Mithras, but has not noticed that the palm-branch on each side, with the 

 wreath or crown in v/hich the letters DEO are cut, are symbols of INVICTO, a 

 term frequently applied to this God. We have also an example of the single 

 word INVICTO, " To the unconquered one" — denoting Mithras. See Henzen, 

 n. 5846. 



Mr. Hodgson's and Dr. Bruce"s beiiei of the Mithraic character of the carvings 

 on the Cheste holm stone may have been chiefly derived from the presence of the 

 objects on it identified with the sun and moon, as representations of them are 

 often found in Mithraic scenes. Nor would the introduction of the cross be in- 

 consistent, as there can be no doubt that occasionally Christianity and Mithraism 

 were mixed. See Mr. King's Gnostics, p. 48, and my Christian Epitaphs, p. 67. 



