The History of Antiquity, Vol. 1 (of 6)Duncker, Max
History
The History of Antiquity, Vol. 1 (of 6)
Duncker, Max
History, Ancient
Following the cosmogonic systems, as they may have been drawn out with
greater definiteness after the Hellenistic period, Philo assumes as the
beginning of all things an obscure and moving atmosphere, and a dark and
melancholy chaos. When the wind of his Beginning felt the yearning of
love, a mixture took place, and this combination was named Desire.
Desire is the beginning of all things. From the union of the wind with
itself arose Mot, which some explain as mud, others as putrefaction of a
watery mixture. Out of this arose the seeds of all and the origin of all
things. Mot was fashioned after the form of an egg. "And then shone
forth the sun and moon, and the great constellations. As the air now
sent forth a fiery glow, winds and clouds arose from the kindling of the
sea and the earth, and vast tempests of rain streamed down; and when all
this dashed together, there followed thunderings and lightning, by which
the creatures were awaked, and on the earth and in the sea the male and
the female elements began to move.[500] And from the wind Kolpia and his
wife Baau, which means night, Aeon and Protogonus, mortal men, were
begotten. Aeon discovered the nourishment obtained from trees. And Aeon
and Protogonus begot Genos and Genea, who dwelt in Phoenicia; and when
the fierce heat came they stretched out their hands to the sky and the
sun. As they regarded the sun as the only lord of the sky, they called
him Belsamen, which among the Phenicians means lord of the sky, and
among the Greeks Zeus." But Aeon and Protogonus had also begotten
children, called by the names of Phos (light), Pyr (fire), and Phlox
(flame). These discovered fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together,
and taught the use of fire, and begot children who surpassed all others
in size and stature. The names of these giants were given to the
mountains of which they possessed themselves, to Casius, Libanus,
Anti-libanus, and Brathy (Tabor?). The giants begot Samemrumus, who is
also called Hypsuranius, and Usous. These made a traffic of their
mothers, for it was the custom in those days for the women to associate
with any one. Samemrumus lived at Tyre, and discovered the art of making
huts out of reeds and sedge, while Usous invented clothing made of the
skins of the beasts which he knew how to slay. Samemrumus rebelled
against Usous, but the latter took a tree and divested it of the
branches, and was the first who went on board a vessel. Then he
dedicated two pillars to the fire and the wind, and offered to these the
blood of the beasts which he had taken. When the brothers were dead,
prayers were offered to the pillars, and each year a festival was
celebrated in honour of them. And for a long time afterwards Agreus (the
hunter) was among the descendants of Usous, and Halieus (the fisher)
among those of Samemrumus. From these sprung two brothers, of whom the
one was Chusor, _i.e._ Hephaestus, who discovered the working of iron,
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