The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

.__..-..._I--.-.--The Golden Age.........-.....-.-.........-....---..-.--.-...--..~vhich-oux-QnJ desua and. many of the earlyChristians wq$# dane to death, is cdlecl o restred dmgmngat,qery serpeut". (See Diaglott,+nd compare with verse 9) Papsauins informsua that "the dragon with the Greeks was only alarge snake". (Lib.11, Corinthiclca, cap. 23, p. 175)Sir Ita~ Lanlcester proves that the conventional"dragon" with wings. dreadfd claws, etc., is alater imagirihry repre~el~tation, mld is not thedragon as knomm ill the ancient world. Hemi t ~ : s-p The dragon appilred to be nothing more nor lesin its origin tho11 one of the great snakw (pythons),often tm-em>-fire feet in lt~~gth. which inhul,it tropicalIndia and -1-fricn. It3 tlilngerous character and terribleappearance ;:xd inov~rnent impreqwl prinlitive mankind.an(1 triitlitiu~~s of it have passed with nlipratingraces both to the FAA and to the \Vest. so that we findthe m~tliical dragon in nl~cient Chinir and Japan, noIesn than in Egypt and Gr-. It retains its snake-likebod^ am1 fa$, especially in the Chinese and Japanesereprewntations; but in both East and n'est. Iegs andwings Iuw-e been gradually added to it for the p n vIshtar appears to !n? clearlv identified in the list of the'great gads of -4ssvrirr. TIicre is nl) reason to hubt thatth5 Isrrriac goddess is the ;\.~!ltorcth [or Isktarorhlof the Old Tesrarlcnt and thc .\.+tnrte OE rhc Grqeks ~ i c lRomnno. . . .Tt i~ cvttnin tknt the c-orship of .%&.rtebwaze irtc.r:t:?c~l with that of Vcnus [or Xphroctita]."La-ar~l statits that in the Syiarl temple oflIiern~~!lis. .\.;tal.te "was represented standing-on a lion, crowned with towers". (Nilrcveh a d -its Remains, Td. IT, p. 456) The name Astartoitself means "the wonian that made towers,"being composed of two aor& :.'-Xeht-tart". Ashtis the word for. wonran; and it is generallyagreed that the last syllable "tart" comes fromthe Hebrew verb "W which means both "to goronnd" and "to be round". From this is-derivedthe Greek \\-ord "tarit", and its Engliah equivalent"turret". a ronnd tower. Asht-tnrit, therefore,which is the same as "Ashtoreth" of theHebrew, is literall?. "the woman that made thetower" or e~conbpcrssilig wall. Ovid inentiohsthat. SemirainiP was currently believed to have"sru-ronnd~l Babylon with a wall of brick".(@id, Opcru, vol. IJX; Fa&, IV, 2192221) Bntthere is no new1 ta give dl the e+tof buildingthe battlemeilts of Babylon to Serrrira-ih. Thereason why elle gained the-honor of fortifyingthe city was becanse she in the long run hadbecome foremost in the esteem of the ancientidolators, and thus had attributed to her everyvirtue arid characteristic that properly be-of n1nh3ng it more terrible and e-xpressing some of itsdireful q~~nlities. .. . As a matter of fact, the Greek longed, or was imagined to ha~e belonged, tavord 'drakon' actually meant plainly and simplp a krge her son Sinus., slake: and is so used bp Bristotle aud other n-ritonJ3-Science from an Easy Chair, Serics I, pp. 88, 89.Semiramis was also worshiped as Rhea orCrbele, the '%other of the godd' (Paschal,Sr~itir-nnris Worshiped !older T'ariotrs V nines Clirolzicle, Vol. I, p. 65),3nd as suoh is alwaysJnst as Simrocl was regnrdecl as the sun, and represented as wearing a mral -or turreted\\-as given the title Baal, or "lord of heaven" crom on her head. In this respect the Ephesian( for the n-orcl Baal means lord) ,. so Seniiramis, Diana exactly resembled Rhea; for' Diana was\\-hen .she n-as lilie\~Le "(Seified," received wor- dso a tower-bearing ,pldeas, and is so shamship as the ~OOII, the "clueen of heaven". SON-, ill ma:ip of the illustrated "Bible Eelpg7. Xow,nccnrtlir~g to -4tlieliagorns nrld Lucinn, Selnir- tlie Ephesian Dinna is espresslp identified withalni..; ~rns \\-o~-sllipt?rl as --Istarte, tire ;?>-ria11 Senliramis; for Semiramis is the same aa thegotlcl~ss. (I,c*fj(ttio. Yol.11. 1,. 1TS:'De Dca S!jrin, goddess Arte~uis. and it is well known that Ar-Yol. 111. 11. :X2) This Syria11 gocldess \$-as also tc111is \\-as Dinna. (Layard, Ninezieh and itsIcnown as Islitnr (T,a>-nrcl's Siile.ceh aid Baby- Remai~rs, Vol.11. p. m, note) The Roman Dianaloit, p.629) : and it is froln Ishtar that the \vurd \\-=as a huntress hearing a qnirer of arrows. InEaster is tlcri~ecl. (See 1912 TT'ntch Tower, p.lii) Smith's Bible Dicti~ilnry under tlie article",ishtoreth" says :"From the mn~ction of this porldeao ,with Baal orBe1 re skcid~l ncltnrally conclt~cle that she xould befound i~ the -iss>rinn 13ant.l~eon. nrtd in hct the namethis character she was the complement of Yirodthe "nliglity hunter".The universd adoration of the "deified"Semiraiilis under vclrio1t.s Jrnmes nltd titles byEastern nations, is prnmincntly clrann to ourattention in Acts 19: 23-41. "C;rclat is Diana ofthe? l??hesinns." the 1nu1titutIc shouted, "whom:dl- -\silt am\ tlie work1 I\--orshipeth." It is aroiat~~-k:.!~le fi~~t that this great gc~cldess is evenno\\. ~\-nrslliprd ill onr wry 11iicl9t in the personor' the Papal "queen of the hearen", the socalledTirginJIal-p,mhose irnage is set np ererywhere!,I fa\-orite imase of the Ro~nieh Virgin