﻿H. 
  A. 
  Newton 
  — 
  The 
  Worship 
  of 
  Meteorites. 
  11 
  

  

  into 
  their 
  records, 
  there 
  was 
  brought 
  from 
  Phrygia, 
  sent 
  by 
  

   King 
  Attalus, 
  nothing 
  else 
  in 
  fact 
  than 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  stone, 
  not 
  a 
  

   large 
  one, 
  one 
  that 
  could 
  be 
  carried 
  in 
  a 
  man's 
  hand 
  without 
  

   strain, 
  in 
  color 
  tawny 
  and 
  black, 
  having 
  prominent, 
  irregular, 
  

   angular 
  points, 
  a 
  stone 
  which 
  we 
  all 
  see 
  to-day, 
  having 
  a 
  rough 
  

   irregular 
  place 
  as 
  the 
  sign 
  of 
  a 
  mouth, 
  and 
  having 
  no 
  promi- 
  

   nence 
  corresponding 
  to 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  an 
  image." 
  Arnobius 
  goes 
  

   on 
  to 
  ask 
  whether 
  it 
  was 
  possible 
  that 
  this 
  stone 
  drove 
  the 
  

   strong 
  enemy 
  Hannibal 
  out 
  of 
  Italy, 
  — 
  made 
  him 
  who 
  shook 
  

   the 
  Roman 
  State, 
  unlike 
  himself, 
  a 
  craven 
  and 
  a 
  coward. 
  

  

  Just 
  when 
  this 
  stone 
  disappeared 
  from 
  public 
  view 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  

   know. 
  In 
  directing 
  the 
  recent 
  excavations 
  on 
  the 
  Palatine 
  

   Hill, 
  Prof. 
  Lanciani 
  was 
  at 
  first 
  in 
  great 
  hopes 
  of 
  finding 
  it 
  ; 
  — 
  

   because 
  it 
  had 
  no 
  intrinsic 
  value 
  to 
  the 
  many 
  spoliators 
  of 
  

   Rome, 
  nor 
  to 
  the 
  former 
  excavators 
  of 
  Roman 
  temples. 
  But 
  

   the 
  place 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  expected 
  to 
  find 
  it 
  was 
  absolutely 
  empty. 
  

   At 
  a 
  later 
  date, 
  however, 
  he 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  rare 
  volume 
  an 
  account 
  

   of 
  excavations 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  Palatine 
  Hill 
  in 
  1730, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   private 
  chapel 
  of 
  the 
  Empress 
  was 
  found 
  and 
  explored. 
  In 
  

   this 
  we 
  perhaps 
  have 
  an 
  account, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  feared, 
  the 
  

   last 
  account 
  of 
  a 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  Cybele 
  stone. 
  The 
  writer 
  says 
  : 
  

   " 
  I 
  am 
  sorry 
  that 
  no 
  fragment 
  of 
  a 
  statue, 
  or 
  bas-relief, 
  or 
  

   inscription 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  chapel, 
  because 
  this 
  absence 
  

   of 
  any 
  positive 
  indication 
  prevents 
  us 
  from 
  ascertaining 
  the 
  

   name 
  of 
  the 
  divinity 
  to 
  whom 
  the 
  place 
  was 
  principally 
  dedi- 
  

   cated. 
  The 
  only 
  object 
  which 
  I 
  discovered 
  in 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  stone 
  

   nearly 
  three 
  feet 
  high, 
  conical 
  in 
  shape, 
  of 
  a 
  deep 
  brown 
  color, 
  

   looking 
  very 
  much 
  like 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  lava, 
  and 
  ending 
  in 
  a 
  sharp 
  

   point. 
  ~No 
  attention 
  was 
  paid 
  to 
  it, 
  and 
  I 
  know 
  not 
  what 
  

   became 
  of 
  it." 
  This 
  description 
  is 
  almost 
  identical 
  with 
  that 
  

   given 
  by 
  Arnobius 
  and 
  others 
  of 
  the 
  stone 
  from 
  Pessinus. 
  

  

  Another 
  stone 
  of 
  meteoric 
  origin 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  Rome, 
  

   and 
  there 
  for 
  a 
  brief 
  period 
  was 
  most 
  fantastically 
  wor- 
  

   shiped. 
  This 
  was 
  near 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  third 
  cen- 
  

   tury 
  after 
  Christ. 
  It 
  came 
  like 
  the 
  other 
  stones 
  of 
  which 
  

   I 
  have 
  spoken 
  from 
  Asia. 
  In 
  the 
  City 
  of 
  Emesa, 
  on 
  the 
  

   banks 
  of 
  the 
  Orontes 
  about 
  midway 
  between 
  Damascus 
  and 
  

   Antioch, 
  there 
  was 
  in 
  those 
  days 
  a 
  magnificent 
  temple 
  of 
  

   the 
  Sun. 
  A 
  gorgeous 
  worship 
  was 
  maintained 
  before 
  a 
  stone 
  

   that 
  fell 
  from 
  heaven, 
  that 
  served 
  as 
  the 
  image 
  of 
  the 
  Sun-god. 
  

   The 
  description 
  of 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  very 
  unlike 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Cybele 
  

   meteorite. 
  Herodian, 
  who 
  probably 
  saw 
  it, 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  

   large 
  stone, 
  rounded 
  on 
  the 
  base, 
  and 
  gradually 
  tapering 
  

   upward 
  to 
  a 
  sharp 
  point 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  shaped 
  like 
  a 
  cone. 
  Its 
  color 
  is 
  

   black, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  sacred 
  tradition 
  that 
  it 
  fell 
  from 
  heaven. 
  

   They 
  show 
  certain 
  small 
  prominences 
  and 
  depressions 
  in 
  the 
  

   stone, 
  and 
  those 
  who 
  see 
  them 
  persuade 
  their 
  eyes 
  that 
  they 
  

   are 
  seeing 
  an 
  image 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  not 
  made 
  by 
  hands." 
  

  

  