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Josiah Priest
(1788-1851) American Antiquities... (1st ed.: Albany, 1833, 2nd ed 1834) |
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Wonders of Nature (1826) | View of the Expected Millennium (1828)
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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES AND D I S C O V E R I E S I N T H E W E S T: BEING AN EXHIBITION OF THE EVIDENCE THAT AN ANCIENT POPULATION OF PARTIALLY CIVILIZED NATIONS DIFFERING ENTIRELY FROM THOSE OF THE PRESENT INDIANS PEOPLED AMERICA MANY CENTURIES BEFORE ITS DISCOVERY BY COLUMBUS, AND INQUIRIES INTO THEIR ORIGIN, WITH A C O P I O U S D E S C R I P T I O N OF MANY OF THEIR STUPENDOUS WORKS, NOW IN RUINS, WITH OBJECTIONS CONCERNING WHAT MAY HAVE BECOME OF THEM. Compiled from Travels, Authentic Sources, and the Researches of Antiquarian Societies. BY JOSIAH PRIEST. [ Fourth Edition ] ALBANY PRINTED BY HOFFMAN & WHITE. 1 8 3 4. |
P R E F A C E. ALTHOUGH the subject of American antiquities is everywhere surrounded with its mysteries; yet we indulge the hope, that the volume we now present the public, will not be unacceptable, as on the account of its mysteriousness and obscurity, we have been compelled to wander widely in the field of conjecture, from which it is not impossible but we may have produced some original and novel opinions We have felt that we are bound by the nature of the subject, to treat wholly on those matters which relate to ages preceeding the discovery of America by Columbus; as we apprehend no subject connected with the history of the continent since that time, can be entitled to the appelation of Antiquities of America. If we may be permitted to judge from the liberal subscription this work has met with, notwithstanding the universal prejudice which exists against subscribing for books, we should draw the conclusion, that this curious subject has not its only admirers within the pales of antiquarian societies. If it is pleasing as well as useful to know the history of one's country -- if to feel a rising interest as its beginnings are unfolded -- its sufferings -- its wars -- its struggles -- and its victories, delineated; why not also, when the story of its antiquities,. though of a graver and more majestic nature, are attempted to be rehearsed. The traits of the ancient nations of the old world are every where shown by the fragments of dilapidated cities, pyramids of stone, and walls of wonderous length; but here are the wrecks of empire, whose beginnings, it would seem, are older than any of these, which are the mounds and works of the west, towering aloft as if their builders were preparing against another flood. We have undertaken to elicit arguments, from what we suppose evidence, that the first inhabitants who peopled America, came on by land, at certain places, where it is supposed once to have been united with Asia, Europe, and Africa, but has been torn asunder by the force of earthquakes, and the irruptions of the waters, so that what animals had not passed over before this great physical rupture, were forever excluded; but not so with men, as they could resort to the use of boats. We have gathered such evidence as induces a belief that America was, anciently, inhabited with partially civilized and agricultural nations, surpassing in numbers its present population. This, we imagine, we prove, in the discovery of thousands of the traits of the ancient operations of men over the entire cultivated parts of the continent, in the forms, and under the character of mounds and fortifications, abounding particularly in the western regions. We have also ventured conjectures respecting what nations, in some few instances, may have settled here; also what may have become of them. We have entered on an examination of some of those works, and some of the articles found on opening some few of their tumuli; which have compared with similar articles found in similar works in various parts of the other continents, from which very curious results are ascertained.. As it respects some of the ancient nations who may have found their way hither, we perceive a strong possibility that not only Asiatic nations, very soon after the flood, but that all along the different eras of time, different races of men, as Polynesians, Malays, Australasians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Israelites, Tartars, Scandinavians, Danes, Norwegians, Welsh, and Scotch, have colonized different parts of the continent. We have also attempted to show that America was peopled before the floodl that it was the country of Noah, and the place where the ark was erected. The highly interesting subjects of American antiquities, we are inclined to belkieve, is but just commencing to be developed. The immensity of country yet beyond the settlements of men, towards the Pacific, is yet to be explored by cultivation, when other evidences, and wider spread, will come in view, affording, perhaps, more definite conclusion. As aids in maturing this volume, we have consulted the works of philosophers, historians, travellers, geographers, gazetteers, the researches of antiquarian societies, with miscellaneous notices on this subject, as found in the periodicals of the day. The subject has proved as difficult as mysterious; any disorder and inaccuracies, therefore, in point of inferences which we have made we beg may not become the subjects of the severities of criticism.. If, however, we should succeed in awakening a desire to a farther investigation of this curious subject, and should have the singular happiness of securing any degree of public respect, and of giving the subscriber an equivalant for his patronage, the utmost of the desires of the author will be realized. JOSIAH PRIEST. C O N T E N T S. 009 Location of Mount Ararat, 014 Origin of human complexions, with other curious matter, 022 Respecting the division of the earth by Noah among his sons, 024 Identity and real name of Melchisedec of the scriptures, 032 Division of the earth in the days of Peleg, and of the spreading out of the nations, with other interesting items, 038 Of the antiquities of the west, 042 Supposed ruins of a Roman fort at Marrietta, 055 Course of the lost ten tribes of Israel, when they left Assyria for Arsareth, 079 Accounts of the convulsions of the globe, 083 Evidences of an ancient population in America different from that of the Indians, 087 Discoveries on the Muskingum, a river in the Ohio, 106 Discoveries of the remains of ancient pottery, 110 A catacomb of embalmed mummies, found in Kentucky, 116 A fac-simile of the ancient letters of the Phoenicians, 118 Ancient letters of America and Africa, with a fac-similie of the same, 125 A further account of western antiquities, with antediluvian traits, 139 A cavern of the west, containing hieroglyphics cut in a rock by the ancient nations, 151 Tracks of men and animals found in the rocks of Tennessee and St. Louis, 154 Cotubamana the giant chief of one of the islands of the coast of America, 155 Still further accounts of discoveries in the west, 161 Vast works of the ancient nations on the east side of the Muskingum, Ohio, 163 Ruins of ancient works at Circleville, Ohio, 166 Ancient works on paint creek, 169 A recent discovery of one of those ancient works among the Alleghany mountains, 169 Ancient wells found in the bottom of paint creek, 171 A description of western tumuli or mounds, 183 Great works of the ancient nations on the north fork of Paint creek, Ohio, 187 Traits of ancient cities on the Mississippi, 189 Traditions of the native Mexicans respecting their migrations from the north, 193 Supposed use of the ancient roads as found connected with some of the western mounds, 199 Traits of the Mosaic history found among the Azteca Indians, 209 Ceremonies of the fire worshippers as witnessed on the Ozark river, 212 Origin of fire worship, 213 A further account of western antiquities, and of curious articles, 224 Discovery of America by Europeans before the time of Columbus, 239 Ruins of the city of Otolum, recently discovered in America, 247 Discovery of a large stone covered with exquisite engravings, with a fac-simile of the same, 251 A further account of Europeans in America before the time of Columbus, 256 Further accounts of western antiquities, 258 Great stone castle of Iceland, 260 Further accounts of instruments found in the tumuli of the west, 267 Great size of the Mexican mounds, 268 Predilection of the ancients to pyramid building, 273 A facsimile of antediluvian letters, 276 Voyages and shipping of the Mongol Tartars, and their settlements on the western coast of America, 282 A further account of western discoveries, 285 Various opinions respecting the original inhabitants of America, 292 Voyages of the ancients from Italy and from Africa to America and its adjacent islands, 296 Further remarks on the subject of human complexions, 298 Still further remarks on human complexions with other interesting subjects, 303 Cannibalism practised in America, and elsewhere, 309-11 Ancient languages of the early natives of America, with a fac-simile of the glyphs of Otolum the American city, 313 Atlantic nations of America, and of their languages, 316 Primitive origin of the English language, 323 Colonies of Danes in America, 336 Ancient chronology of the Iroquois Indians, 340 Traits of an ancient colony of Negroes from Africa, in South Americas, 342 On the disappearance of the ancient lakes of the west, and of the formation of sea-coal, 358 Further remarks on the draining of the western country of its ancient lakes, 364 Supposed causes of the disappearance of the ancient nations of the west, 367 Lake Ontario supposed to have been formed by the crater of a volocano, 372 Remarks on geology, 378 Supposed resemblance of the western Indians to the ancient Greeks, 386 Supposed traits of the ancient Romans in America, 390 Traits of white nations in Georgia and Kentucky, before Columbus's time, and the tradition of the Indians respecting them, 399 Description of Mount Ararat on which the ark rested, | ||||||||
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through these regions, calculates that no less than five thousand villages of this forgotten people existed; and that their largest city was situated between the Mississippi and Missouri, not far from the junction of those rivers, near St. Louis. In this region, the mighty waters of the Missouri and Illinois, with their unnumbered tributaries, mingle with the "father of rivers," the Mississippi; (Mississippi, the word in the Indian language means Father of Rivers;) a situation formed by nature, calculated to invite multitudes of men, from the goodness of the soil, and the facilities of water communications. The present race, who are now fast peopling the unbounded west, are apprised of the advantages of this region. Towns and cities are rising on the very ground where the ancient millions of mankind had their seats of empire. Ohio now contains more than six hundred thousand inhabitants; but at that early day, the same extent of country, most probabily was filled with a far greater population than inhabits it at the present time. Many of the mounds are completely occupied with human skeletons, and millions of them must have been interred in these vast cemetaries, that can be traced from the Rocky mountains, on the west, to the Alleghenies on the east, and into the province of the Texas and New Mexico to the south: revolutions like these known in the old world may have taken place here, and armies, equal to those of Cyrus, of Alexander the Great, or of Tamerlane the powerful, might have flourished their trumpets, and marched to battle, over these extensive plains, filled with the probable descendants of that same race of Asia, whom these proud conquerors vanquished there. Course of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. There is a strong resemblance between the northern and independent Tartar, and the tribes of the North American Indians, but not of the South American. Besides this reason, there are others for believing our aborigines of North America were descended from the ancient Scythians, and came to this country from the eastern part of Asia.This view by no means invalidates the opinion, that many tribes of the Indians of North America, are descended of the Israelites, because the Scythians, under this particular name, existed long before that branch of descendants of the family of Shem, called Israelites; who, after they had been carried away by Salmanasser, the Assyrian king, about 700 years B. C., went northward, as stated by Esdras... 3d. Sub-celestial, or in the air and on the earth. Moderakka, or the Lapland Lucina; Saderakka, or Venus, to whom Friday was holy; and Juks Akka, or the Nurse. These are of heathen origin, derived from the nations among whom they had been slaves and wanderers, the Syrians. 4th. Sub-terranean, as Saiwo, and Saiwo-Olmak, gods of the mountains; Saiwo-Guelle, or their Mercury, who conducted the shades, or wicked souls, to the lower regions. This idea would seem to be equivalent with the doctrine found in both the Jewish and Christian religions, namely, that Satan conducts or receives the souls of the wicked to his hell in the subterranean fire of the earth. They have another deity, belonging to the fourth order, and him they call Jabme-Akko, or he who occupied their Elysium; in which the soul was furnished with a new body, and nobler privileges and powers, and entitled, at some future day, to enjoy the light of Radien, the fountain of power, and to dwell with him forever in the mansions of bliss. This last sentiment is certainly equivalent to the Jewish idea of heaven and eternal happiness in Abraham's bosom. It also, under the idea of a new body, shows a relation to the Jewish and Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body at the last day; and is indeed wonderful. 5th. An Infernal deity, called Rota, who occupied and reigned in Rota-Abimo, or the infernal regions; the occupants of which had no hopes of escape. He, together with his subordinates, Fudno, Mubber, and Paha-Engel, were all considered as evil disposed towards mankind. This is too plain not to be applied to the Bible doctrine of one supreme devil and his angels, who are, sure enough, evil disposed towards mankind. Added to all this, the Laplanders were found in the practice of sacrificing to all their deities, the rein-deer, the sheep, and sometimes the seal, pouring libations of milk, whey, and brandy, with offerings of cheese, &c. This last item of their religious manners, is too striking not to claim its derivation from the ancient Jewish worship. The Laplanders are a people but few in number, not much exceeding twelve hundred families; which we imagine is a circumstance favoring our idea, that after they had remained a while in Arsareth, or Lapland and Norway, which is much the same thing, that their main body may have passed over into America, either in boats, from island to island; or, if there then was, as is supposed, an isthmus of land, connecting the continents, they passed over on that, leaving, as is natural, in case of such a migration, some individuals or families behind, who might not wish to accompany them, from whom the present race of Laplanders may be derived. Their dress is much the same with that of our Indians; their complexion is swarthy, black hair, large heads, high cheek bones, with wide mouths; all of which is strikingly national. They call themselves Same their speech Same-giel, and their country Same-Edna. This last word sounds very much like the word Eden and may be, inasmuch as it is the name of their country, borrowed from the name of the region where Adam was created. When men emigrate from one region of the earth to another, which is very distant, and especially if the country to which they emigrate is a new one, or in a state of nature, it is perfectly natural to give it the same name or names which distinguished the country and its parts, from which they emigrated. Edessa, was the name of an ancient city of Mesopotamia, which was situated in the country or land of Assyria, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. In this region the Ten Tribes were held in bondage, who had been carried away by Salmanassar, the Assyrian monarch. We are, therefore, the more confirmed in this conjecture, from the similarity existing between the two names Edna and Edessu, both derived, it is likely, from the more ancient word Eden, which, from common consent, had its situation, before the deluge, not far from this same region where Turkey is now, between the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas, and the Persian gulf, as before argued. If such may have been the fact, that a part of the Ten Tribes came over to America, in the way we have supposed, leaving the cold regions of Arsareth behind them, in quest of a milder climate, it would be natural to look for tokens of the presence of Jews of some sort, along countries adjacent to the Atlantic. In order to this, we shall here make an extract from an able work, written exclusively on the subject of the Ten Tribes' having come from Asia by the way of Bhering's strait, by the Rev. Ethan Smith, Pultney, Vt. who relates as follows: -- "Joseph Merrick, Esq., a highly respectable character in the church at Pittsfield, gave the following account: That in 1815, he was levelling some ground under and near an old wood-shed, standing on a place of his, situated on Indian hill. He ploughed and conveyed away old chips and earth to some depth. After the work was done, walking over the place he discovered, near where the earth had been dug the deepest, a black strap, as it appeared, about six inches in length, and one and a half in breadth, and about the thickness of a leather trace to a harness. He perceived it had at each end a loop of some hard substance, probably for the purpose of carrying it. He conveyed it to his house and threw it into an old tool box. He afterwards found it thrown out at the door, and again conveyed it to the box. "After some time, he thought he would examine it; but in attempting to cut it, found it as hard as bone; he succeeded, however, in getting it open, and found it was formed of two pieces of thick raw-hide, sewed and made water tight with the sinews of some animal, and gummed over; and in the fold was contained four folded pieces of parchment. They were of a dark yellow hue, and contained some kind of writing. The neighbors coming in to see the strange discovery, tore one of the pieces to atoms, in the true Hun and Vandal style. The other three pieces Mr. Merrick saved, and sent them to Cambridge, where they were examined, and discovered to have been written with a pen in Hebrew, plain and legible. The writing on the three remaining pieces of parchment, was quotations from the Old Testament. See Deut., chap. vi. from 4th to 9th verse, inclusive; also chap. xi. verse 13 to 21 inclusive; and Exodus, chap. xiii., 11 to 16, inclusive, to which the reader can refer, if he has the curiosity to read this most interesting discovery. These passages, as quoted above, were found in the strap of raw-hide, which unquestionably had been written on the very pieces of parchment, now in the possession of the Antiquarian Society, before Israel left the land of Syria, more than 2600 years ago; but it is not likely the raw-hide strap in which they were found enclosed, had been made a very great length of time. This would be unnatural, as a desire to look at the sacred characters, would be very great, although they could not read them. This, however, was done at last, as it appears, and buried with some chief, on the place where it was found, called Indian hill. Dr. West, of Stockbridge, relates, that an old Indian informed him, that his fathers in this country had, not long since, been in the possession of a book, which they had, for a long time, carried with them; but having lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried it with an Indian chief. -- (View of the Hebrews, p. 223.) It had been handed down, from family to family, or from chief to chief, as a most precious relic, if not as an amulet, charm, or talisman; for it is not to be supposed, that a distinct knowledge of what was contained in the strap could have long continued among them, in their wandering condition, amid woods and forests. "It is said by Calmet, that the above texts are the very passages of Scripture which the Jews used to write on the leaves of their phylacteries. These phylacteries were little rolls of parchment, whereon were written certain words of the law. These they wore upon their forehead, and upon the wrist of the left arm." -- (Smith's View of the Hebrews, p. 220.) This intimation of the presence of the Hebrews in America, is too unequivocal to be passed unnoticed, and the circumstance of its being found so near the Atlantic coast, and at so vast a distance from Bhering's straits, we are still inclined to suppose, that such of the Israelites as found their way to the shores of America, on the coast of the Atlantic, may have come from Lapland or Norway; seeing evident tokens exist of their having once been there, as we have noticed some few pages back. But there is a third supposition respecting the land of Arsareth; which is, that it is situated exactly east from the region of Syria. This is thought to be the country now known in Asia by the appellation of Little Bucharia. Its distance from Syria is something more than two thousand miles; which, by Esdras, might very well be said to be a journey of a year and a half, through an entire wilderness. Bucharia, the region of country of which we are about to speak, as being the ancient resort of a part of the lost Ten Tribes, is in distance from England, 3,475 miles; a little southeast from the latitude of London; and from the state of New-York, exactly double that distance, 6,950 miles, on an air line, as measured on an artificial globe, and in nearly the same latitude, due east from this country. It is not impossible, after all our speculation, and the speculations |
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dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden pruning hook, cuts off the mistletoe, which is received in a sagum, or white sheet. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." -- (Clarke.)
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In the neighborhood of Fort Harmer, on the Muskingum; opposite Marietta on the Ohio, were discovered, by Mr. Ash, an English traveller, in the year 1826 [sic, 1806], several monuments of the ancient nation.
the whole was so covered with heavy timber, that I despaired of gaining any further knowledge, and would have left the place, had I not been detained by my Indian companion, whom I saw occupied in endeavoring to introduce a pole into a small opening between two flat stones, near the root of a tree, which grew on the very summit of this eminence. "The stones we found were too heavy to be removed by the mere power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut, in lieu of levers and crows. Clapping these into the orifice first discovered, we weighed a large flat stone, tilting it over, when we each assumed a guarded position, in silent expectation of hearing the hissing of serpents, or the rustling of the ground-hog's litter; where the Indian had supposed was a den of one sort or the other. "All was silent. We resumed our labor, casting out a number of stones, leaves and earth, soon clearing a surface of seven feet by five, which had been covered upwards of fifteen inches deep, with flat stones, principally lying against each other, with their edges to the horizon. "On the surface we had cleared appeared another difficulty, which was a plain superfices, composed of but three flat stones of such apparent magnitude that the Indian began to think that we should find under them neither snake nor pig; but having once begun, I was not to be diverted from my task. "Stimulated by obstructions, and animated with other views than those of my companion, I had made a couple of hickory shovels with the axe, and setting to work, soon undermined the surface, and slid the stones off on one side, and laid the space open to view. "I expected to find a cavern: my imagination was warmed by a certain design thought I discovered from the very beginning; the manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the existence of a vault filled with the riches of antiquity, and crowded with the treasures of the most ancient world. "A bed of sand was all that appeared under these flat stones, which I cast off; and as I knew there was no sand nearer than the bed of the Muskingum, a design was therefore the more manifest, which encouraged my proceeding; the sand was about a foot deep, which I soon removed. "The design and labor of man was now unequivocal. The space out of which these materials were taken, left a hollow in an oblong square, lined with stones on the end and sides, and also, paved on what appeared to be the bottom, with square stones, Of about nine inches diameter. "I picked these up with the nicest care, and again came to a bed of sand, which, when removed, made the vault about three feet deep, presenting another bottom or surface, composed of small square cut stones, fitted with such art, that I had much difficulty in discovering many of the places where they met. These displaced, I came to a substance, which, on the most critical examination, I judged to be a mat, or mats, in a state of entire decomposition and decay. My reverence and care increased with the progress already made; I took up this impalpable powder with my hands, and fanned off the remaining dust with my hat, when there appeared a beautiful tesselated pavement of small, colored stones; the colors and stones arranged in such a manner as to express harmony and shades, and portraying, at full length, the figure of a warrior under whose feet a snake was exhibited in ample folds. "The body of the figures was composed of dyed woods, bones, and a variety of small bits of terrous and testaceous substances, most of which crumbled into dust on being removed and exposed to the open air "My regret and disappointment were very great, as I had flattered myself that the whole was stone, and capable of being taken up and preserved. Little more, however, than the actual pavement could be preserved, which was composed of flat stones, one inch deep, and two inches square. The prevailing colors were white, green, dark blue, and pale spotted red; all of which are peculiar to the lakes, and not to be had nearer than about three hundred miles. "The whole was affixed in a thin layer of sand, fitted together with great precision, and covered a piece of bark in great decay, whose removal exposed what I was fully prepared to discover from all previous indications, the remains of a human skeleton, which was of an uncommon magnitude, being seven feet in length. With the skeleton was found, first, an earthen vessel, or urn, in which were several bones, and some white sediment. "The urn appeared to be made of sand and flint vitrified, and rung, when struck, like glass, and held about two gallons, had a top or cover of the same material, and resisted fire as completely as iron or brass. Second; a stone axe, with a groove round the pole, by which it had been fastened with a withe to the handle. Third; twenty four arrow points, made of flint and bone, and lying in a position which showed they had belonged to a quiver. Fourth; a quantity of beads, but not of glass, round, oval, and square; colored green, black, white, blue and yellow. Fifth; a very large conch shell, decomposed into a substance like chalk; this shell was fourteen inches long, and twenty-three in circumference. The Hindoo priests, at the present time, use this shell as sacred. It is blown to announce the celebration of religious festivals. Sixth; under a heap of dust and tenuous shreds of feathered cloth and hair, a parcel of brass rings, cut out of a solid piece of metal, and in such a manner, that the rings were suspended from each other, without the aid of solder or any other visible agency whatever. Each ring was three inches in diameter, and the bar of the rings an half inch thick, and were square; a variety of characters were deeply engraved on the sides of the rings, resembling the Chinese characters." Ward's History of the Hindoos, page 41 and 56, informs us, that the god Vishnoo, is represented holding a sea shell in his hand, called the "sacred shell;" and, second, he states, that "the utensils employed in the ceremonies of the temple, are several dishes to hold the offerings, a hand bell, a lamp, jugs for holding water, an incense dish, a copper cup, a seat of Kooshu grass for the priests, a large metal plate, used as a bell. Several of the articles found buried in this manner, resemble these utensils of the Brahmin priests, while some are exactly like them. The mat of Kooshu grass resembles the mat of hair and feathers; the earthen dish, the conch shell, are the very same in kind; the brass chain might answer instead of a bell, or iron plate to strike against, which would produce a jingling sound. A quantity of round, oval, and square beads, colored variously, were found; although Mr. Ward does not say, that beads were a part of the utensils of the Hindoo priests, yet we find them on the necks and arms of both their gods and their mendicants. Pottery of the same kind found in those ancient works, have also the quality of enduring the fire. The art of making vessels of clay, is very ancient; we find it spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet, nearly three thousand years ago. The art of coloring wood, stones, and shells, with a variety of beautiful tints, was also known, as appears from the pavement above described, and the colored beads. In many parts of the west, paints of various colors have been found hidden in the earth. On the Chenango river, in the state of New-York, has recently been found, on opening of one of those ancient mounds, though of but small dimensions, three kinds of paint, black, red, and yellow, which are now in the possession of a Dr. Willard, at the village of Greene, in the county of Chenango. The Indians of both China and America, have, from time immemorial, used paints to adorn themselves and their gods. But the brass rings and tesselated pavement are altogether the most to be wondered at. A knowledge of the method of manufacturing brass was known to the antediluvians. This we learn from Genesis iv. 22. Tubal Cain was an artificer in brass and iron about eleven hundred years before the flood. But how this article, the brass chain, of such curious construction, came in the possession of the chief, interred on the summit of the mountain, is a question to be answered, it would seem, in but two ways. They either had a knowledge of the art of making brass, or the article was an item of that king's peculiar treasure, and had been derived either from his ancestors from the earliest ages, or from South America, as an article of trade, a gift from some fellow king, or a trophy of some victorious battle over some southern nation; for, according to Humboldt, brass was found among the native Mexicans, in great abundance. But how the Mexicans came by this art in mineralogy, is equally a question. Gold, silver, copper, &c., are the natural product of their respective ores; and accident may have made them acquainted with these; as iron was discovered among the Greeks, by fire in the woods having melted the ore. But brass is farther removed from the knowledge of man, being a composition of copper and the calamine stone, or ore of zinc. However, it is said by Morse, that in Chili, in the hills of Huilquilemu, are found mines of native brass, of a fine yellow color, and equally malleable with the best artificial brass; yet this is no common product of mineralogy, and would seem to be an exception, or rather a product extraordinary; and, in a measure, induces a belief, that it is not proper brass, but a metal similar only in complexion, while perhaps its chemical proprieties are entirely different, or it may have been produced by the fusion of copper and the ore of zinc, by the fire of some volcano. Brass was the metal out of which the ancient nations made all their instruments of war, and defensive armor. The reason of this preference above copper and iron, even by the Greeks and Romans, was probably on account of the excessive bright polish it was capable of receiving; for the Greeks and Romans used it long after their knowledge of iron. Iron was discovered by the Greeks 1406 years before Christ. The ancient Americans must have derived a knowledge of brass from their early acquaintance with nations immediately succeeding the flood, who had it from the antediluvians, by way of Noah; and having found their way to this continent, before it became so isolated as it is at the present time, surrounded on all sides by oceans, made use of the same metal here. But the tesselated or spotted pavement is equally curious with the brass chain, on account of its resemblance to the Mosaic pavements of the Romans; being small pieces of marble, of various colors, with which they ornamented the fronts of their tents in time of war. This sort of pavement is often dug up in England, and is of Roman origin. We find the history of the ancient Britons, mentions the currency of iron rings, as money, which was in use among them, before the invasion of Julius Caesar. Is it not possible, that the brass chain, or an assemblage of those rings, as found in this mound, may have been held among those ancients of America in the same estimation? The chain, in their mode of reckoning, being perhaps of an immense amount; its being found deposited with its owner, who was a chief or king, is the evidence of its peculiar value, whether it had been used as an article in trade, or as a sacred implement. This maculated pavement, arranged in such a manner as to represent in full size, the chief, king, or monarch, who was interred beneath it, shows the knowledge, that people had of painting, sculpture, and descriptive delineation: but most of all, the serpent which lay coiled at his feet is surprising, because we suppose this transaction could not have happened from mere caprice, or the sport of imagination. It must have been a trait of their theology, and, possibly, an allusion to the serpent, by whose instrumentality Satan deceived the first woman, the mother of us all: and its being beneath his feet, may also have alluded to the promised SEED, who was to bruise the serpent's head; all of which may easily have been derived from the family of Noah, and carried along with the millions of mankind, as they diverged asunder from Mount Ararat, around the earth. The Mexicans are found to have a clear notion of this thing, and of many other traits of the early history of man, as related in the Hebrew records and the Scriptures, preserved in their traditions and paintings, as we shall show in another place. The etching on the square sides of those rings of brass, in characters resembling Chinese, shows the manufacturer, and the nation of which he was a member, to have had a knowledge of engraving, even on the metals, equal with artists of the present time, of which the common Indian of the west knows nothing. The stone hatchet, flint, and bone arrow-points, found in this tomb, are no exclusive evidence that this was all done by the modern Indians; because the same are found in vast profusion in all parts of the old world, particularly in the island of England, and have been in use from remotest antiquity. We are very far from believing the Indians of the present time to be the most ancient aborigines of America; but, on the contrary, are usurpers; have, by force of bloody warfare, exterminated the original inhabitants, taking possession of their country, property, and, in some few instances, retaining arts learned of those very nations. The immense sea shell, which was fourteen inches long and twenty-three inches in circumference, found in this tomb, is evidence of this people's having an acquaintance with other parts of the world than merely their own dwellings, because the shell is a marine production, and the nearest place where this element is found from the Muskingum, is nearly a thousand miles in a straight line east to the Atlantic. If the engravings on this chain be, in fact, Chinese, or if they bear a strong and significant analogy to them, it justifies the opinion that a communication between America and Asia, by means of land or navigation to the west, once existed, but has been destroyed by some convulsion in nature. And also the characters on those rings show the ancient Americans to have had a knowledge of letters. A knowledge of letters, hieroglyphics, pictures of ideas, and of facts, was known among men 200 years before the time of Moses, or 1822 years before the Christian era, among the Egyptians. Nations of men, therefore, having, at an early period, found their way to this continent, if indeed it was then a separate continent; consequently, to find the remains of such an art, scattered here and there in the dust and ashes of the nations of America passed away, is not surprising. The mound which we have described, was apprehended, by Mr. Ash, to be only an advanced guard post, or a place of lookout, in the direction of the Muskingum and the valley of the Ohio. Accordingly, he wandered farther into the woods in a north westerly direction, leaving on his right the Muskingum, whose course was northeast by southwest. His research in that direction had not long been continued before he discovered strong indications of the truth of his conjecture. He had come to a small valley between two mountains, through which a small creek meandered its way to the Muskingum. On either side of the stream were evident traits of a very large settlement of antiquity. They consisted, first, of a wall or rampart of earth, of almost nine feet perpendicular elevation, and thirty feet across the base. The rampart was of a semi-circular form, its entire circuit being three hundred paces, or something over eighteen rods, bounded by the creek. On the opposite side of the stream was another rampart of the same description, evidently answering to the first; these, viewed together, made one grand circle, of more than forty rods circumference, with the creek running between. After a minute examination, he perceived, very visibly, the remains of elevated stone abutments, which being exactly opposite each other, suggested the belief that these bridges once connected the two semicircles; one in the centre, and one on either side, or the extreme edges of the ring. The timber growing on the rampart and within the circle, was principally red oak, of great age and magnitude. Some of the trees, being in a state of decay, were not less than seven feet in diameter, and twenty-one in circumference. Some considerable farther up the brook, at the spot where the beautiful vale commenced, where the mountain rises abruptly and discharges from its cleft bosom a delightful creek, are a great number of mounds of earth, standing at equal distances from each other, forming three grand circles, one beyond the other, cut in two by the creek, as the one described before, with streets situated between, forming, as do the mounds, complete circles. Here, as at the other, the two half circles were united, as would appear, by two bridges, the abutments of which are distinct, so perfect are their remains. At a considerable distance, on the sides of the mountain, are two mounds or barrows, which are nearly three feet long, twelve high, and seventeen wide at the base. These barrows are composed, principally, of stone, taken out of the creek, on which are growing, also, very heavy timber. Here were deposited the dead, who had been the inhabitants of the town in the vale. From which it appears that the mounds forming those circles, which were sixty in number, are not tumuli, or the places where chiefs and distinguished warriors were entombed, but were the houses, the actual dwellings of the people who built them. However, the distinguished dead were interred in tumuli of the same form frequently, but much more magnificent and lofty, and are fewer in number, situated on the highest grounds adjacent to their towns. But it may be inquired, how could those mounds of earth have ever been the dwellings of families? There is but one way to explain it. They may have, at the time of their construction, received their peculiar form, which is a conical; sugar-loaf form, by the erection of long poles or logs, set up in a circle at the bottom, and brought together at the top, with an opening, so that the smoke might pass out. Against this the earth (being brought from a distance, so as not to disturb the even surface of the spot chosen to build on,) w as thrown, till the top and sides were entirely enveloped. This operation would naturally cause the bottom, or base, to be of great thickness, caused by the natural sliding down of the earth, as it was thrown on or against the timbers; and this thickness would be in exact proportion with the height of the poles, at the ratio of an angle of forty-five degrees. In this way, a dwelling of the most secure description would be the result; such as could not be easily broken through, nor set on fire; and in winter would be warm, and in summer cool. It is true, such rooms would be rather gloomy, compared with the magnificent and well-lighted houses of the present times, yet accorded well with the dark usages of antiquity, when mankind lived in clans and tribes, but few in number compared with the present populousness of the earth, and stood in fear of invasion from their neighbors. Such houses as these, built in circles of wood at first, and lastly of stone, as the knowledge of architecture came on, were used by the ancient inhabitants of Britain, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and on the continent, as in Norway. No mode of building which can be conceived of, would more effectually shut out the wind. "Houses of this form, made with upright stones, are even now common over all the Danish dominions." -- (See Morse's Geography, vol. 1, p. 158.) In the communication of Mr. Moses Fiske, of Hillham, Tennessee, to the American Antiquarian Society, 1815, respecting the remains and discoveries made relative to antiquities in the west, but especially in Tennessee, says, that the description of mounds, whether round, square or oblong in their shapes, which have flat tops, were the most magnificent sort, and seem contrived for the purpose of building temples and castles on their summits; which being thus elevated. were very imposing, and might be seen at a great distance. "Nor must we," he continues, "mistake the ramparts or fortifications, for farming inclosures; what people, savage or civilized, ever fenced their grounds so preposterously; bearing no proportion in quantity necessary for tillage;" from which the support of a whole country was expected; and further, there were many neighborhoods which had no such accommodations. He has also discovered, that within the areas encompassed by these ramparts, are whole ranges of foundations, on which dwelling houses once stood, with streets running between, besides mounds and other works. "The houses generally stood in rows, nearly contiguous to each other," as in all compact towns and cities, though sometimes they stood in an irregular and scattered manner. These foundations "are indicated by rings of the earth, from three to five fathoms in diameter," which is equal to eighteen and thirty feet. The remains of these rings or foundations are from ten to twenty inches high, and a yard or more broad. But they were not always circular; some of which he had noticed were square, and others, also, of the oblong form, as houses are now built by civilized nations. "The flooring of some is elevated above the common level or surface; that of others is depressed. These tokens are indubitable, and overspread the country; some scattered and solitary, but oftener in groups, like villages, with and without being walled in." From which it is clear, that whoever they were, the pursuits of agriculture were indispensable, and were therefore in use with those nations. From the forms of the foundations of dwellings discovered and described by Mr. Fiske, we conclude they were the efforts of man at a very early period. We are directed to this conclusion by the writings of Vetruvius, who lived in the time of Julius Caesar, and is the most ancient writer on the subject of architecture that antiquity can boast of. His account is as follows: "At first, for the walls, men erected forked stakes, and disposing twigs between them, covered them with loam; others pulled up clods of hay, binding them with wood, and to avoid rain and heat, they made a covering with reeds and boughs; but finding that this roof could not resist the winter rains they made it sloping, pointed at the top, plastering it over with clay, and by that means discharging the rain water. To this day, (says Vetruvius,) some foreign nations construct their dwellings of the same kind of materials, as in Gaul, Spain, Lusitania, and Aquitain. The Colchins, in the kingdom of Portugal, where they abound in forests, fix trees in the earth, close together in ranks, to the right and left, leaving as much space between them, from corner to corner, as the length of the trees will permit; upon the ends of these, at the corners, others are laid transversely, which circumclude the place of habitation in the middle; then at the top, the four angles are braced together with alternate beams. The crevices, which are large, on account of the coarseness of the materials, are stopped with chips and loam. The roof is also raised by beams laid across from the extreme angles, or corners, gradually rising from the four sides to the middle point at the top, (exactly like a German barrack,) and then covered with boughs and earth. In this manner the barbarians, (says this author,) made their roofs to their towers." By the barbarians he means the inhabitants of Europe, at the time when he wrote these remarks, which was in the reign of Julius Caesar a short time before Christ. "The Phrygians, who inhabit a champaign country, being destitute of timber, select natural hills, excavate them, dig an entrance, and widen the space within as much as the nature of the place will permit. Above, they fix stakes in a pyramidal form, bind them together, and cover them with reeds or straw, heaping thereon great piles of earth. This kind of covering renders them very warm in winter and cool in summer. Some also cover the roofs of their huts with weeds of lakes; and thus, in all countries and nations, primeval dwellings are formed upon. similar principles." -- (Blake's Atlas, p. 145.) The circular, square, and oblong form of foundations, found in the west, would seem to argue the houses built thereon to be made in the same way this author has described the mode of building in his time, among the barbarous nations; and also furnishes reason to believe them to have been made here in America, much in the same ages of the world. Having this knowledge of the mode of ancient building, we are led to the conclusion, that the town which we have just given an account of, was a clan of some of the ancient Celtic nations, who, by some means, had found their way to this part of the earth, and had fixed their abode in this secluded valley. Celtic or Irish, as Mr. Morse says, who were derived from Gaul or Galatia, which is now France, who descended from Gomer, one of the sons of Japheth, a son of Noah; to whose descendants Europe, with its isles, was given. And whether the people who built this town were of Chinese or Celtic origin, it is much the same; because, if we go far enough back in ages of past time, we shall find they were of the same origin, and had equal opportunities to perpetuate a remembrance of the arts, as known among men immediately after the flood, and might therefore resemble each other in their works. Here, we may suppose, the gods Odin, Thor, and Friga, were adored under the oaks composing American forests, as taught by the Druids; here their victims, the deer and buffalo, sent up to the skies their smoking odor from the altar of sacrifice, while the priests of the forest invoked the blessing of the beneficent Being upon the votaries of the mystic mistletoe. Here were the means of mutual Defence and safety discussed; the sighs of the lover breathed on the winds; parents and children looked with kindness on each other; soothed and bound the wounds of such as returned from the uncertain fate of clanular battles; but have been swept with the besom of extermination from this vale, while no tongue remains to tell the story of their sufferings. At the distance of about three miles higher up, and not far from the Muskingum, says Mr. Ash, he perceived an eminence very similar to the one just described, in which the brass chain was found, to which he hastened, and immediately perceived their likeness in form. On a comparison of the two, there could be but one opinion, namely, that both were places of lookout, for the express protection of the settlement in the valley. He says he took the pains of clearing the top of the eminence, but could not discover any stone or mark which might lead to a supposition of its being a place of interment. The country above was hilly, yet not so high as to intercept the view for a presumed distance of twenty miles. On these eminences the beacon fires of the clan who resided in the valley may have been kindled at the hour of midnight, to show those who watched the portentous flame, the advance or destruction of an enemy. Such fires, on the heights of Scotland, were wont to be kindled in the days of :Bruce and Wallace, and ages before their time, originated from the Persians, possibly, who worshipped in this way the great Ormaze, as the god who made all things. The idea of a Creator was borrowed from Noah, who received the account of the creation from Seth, who had it from Adam, and Adam from the Almighty himself. From this excursion, our traveller, after having returned to Marietta, pursued his way to Zanesville, on the Muskingum river, where, learning from the inhabitants that the neighborhood was surrounded with the remains of antiquity, he proceeded to the examination of them, having obtained a number of persons to accompany him with the proper implements of excavation. They penetrated the woods in a westerly direction, to a place known to those who accompanied him, about five miles distance, where the ruins of ancient times were numerous and magnificent in the highest degree; consisting of monads, barrows and ramparts, but of such variety and form, and covering so immense a track of ground, that it would have taken at least ten days to have surveyed them minutely. These immense works of the ancients, it appears, were in this place, encompassed by outlines of an entirely different shape from any other described, being of the triangular form, and occupying the whole plain, situated as the one before described, in a place nearly surrounded by mountains. But we pass over many incidents of this traveller, and come immediately to the object of his research, which was to open such of those mounds as might attract his attention. His first operation was to penetrate the interior of a large barrow, situated at one extremity of the vale, which was its southern. Three feet below the surface was fine mould, underneath which were small flat stones, lying in regular strata or gravel, brought from the mountain in the vicinity. This last covered the remains of a human frame, which fell into impalpable powder when touched and exposed to air. Towards the base of the barrow, he came to three tiers of substances, placed regularly in rotation. And as these formed two rows four deep, separated by little more than a flag stone between the feet of one and the head of another, it was supposed the barrow contained about 2000 skeletons, in a very great state of decay which shows their extreme antiquity. In this search was found a well carved stone pipe, expressing a bear's head, together with .some fragments of pottery, of fine texture. Near the centre of the whole works, another opening was effected, in a rise of ground, scarcely higher than a natural undulation, common to the general surface of the earth, even on ground esteemed to be level. But there was one singularity accompanying the spot, which attracted the attention of the company, and this was, there was neither shrub nor tree on the spot, although more than ninety feet in circumference, but was adorned with a multitude of pink and purple flowers. They came to an opinion that the rise of ground was artificial, and as it differed in form and character from the common mounds, they resolved to lay it open, which was soon done, to a level with the plain, but without the discovery of any thing whatever. But as Ash had become vexed, having found nothing to answer his expectations in other openings on the spot, he jumped from the bank, in order to take a spade, and encourage the men to dig somewhat deeper. At this instant the ground gave way, and involved the whole company in earth and ruin, as was supposed for the moment, but was soon followed by much mirth and laughter, as no person was hurt by the fall, which was but about three feet. Ash had great difficulty to prevail on any person to resume the labor, and had to explore the place himself, and sound it with a pole, before any man would venture to aid him further, on account of their fright. But they soon resumed their courage, and on examination found that a parcel of timbers had given way, which covered the orifice of a square hole seven feet by four, and four feet deep. That it was a sepulchre, was unanimously agreed, till they found it in vain to look for bones, or any substances similar to them, in a state of decomposition. They soon, however, struck an object which would neither yield to the spade, nor emit any sound; but persevering still further, they found the obstruction which was uniform through the pit, to proceed from rows of large spherical bodies, at first taken to be stones. Several of them were cast up to the surface; they were exactly alike, perfectly round, nine inches in diameter, and of about twenty pounds weight. The superfices of one, when cleaned and scraped with knives, appeared like a ball of base metal, so strongly impregnated with the dust of gold, that the baseness of the metal itself was nearly altogether obscured. On this discovery, the clamour was so great, and joy so exuberant, that no opinion but one was admitted, and no voice could be heard, while the cry of "'tis gold! 'tis gold!" resounded through the groves. Having to a man determined on this important point, they formed a council respecting the distribution of the treasure, and each individual, in the joy of his heart, declared publicly the use he intended to make of the part allotted to his share. The Englishman concluded that he would return to England, being sure, from experience, that there was no country like it. A German of the party said, he would never have quitted the Rhine, had he had money enough to rebuild his barn, which was blown down by a high wind; but that he could return to the very spot from whence he came, and prove to his neighbors that he loved his country as well as any man, when he had the means of doing well. An Irishman swore a great oath, the day longer he'd stay in America |
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Traits of Egyptian manners were found among many of the nations of South America, mingled with those who appeared to be of other origin; of which we shall speak again in the course of this work. But at Lexington the traits are too notorious to allow them to be other than pure Egyptian, in full possession of the strongest complexion of their national character, that of embalming, which was connected with their religion. The Mississippi, which disembodies itself into the Mexican gulf, is in the same north latitude with Egypt, and may have, by its likeness to the Egyptian Nile, invited those adventurers to pursue its course, till a place suited to their views or necessities may have presented.
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They were discovered in the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean, which was anciently inhabited by the Phoenicians, long before the Romans existed as a nation. These characters were found engraved on a stone, in a cave of that island, in the year 1761, which was a sepulchral cave, so used by the earliest inhabitants These characters, being found in this ancient repository of the dead, it is believed, mark the place of the burial of that famous Carthaginian general, HANNIBAL, as they explicitly allude to that character. The reading in the original is as follows: "Chadar Beth olam kabar Chanibaal Nakeh becaleth haveh, rachm daeh Am beshuth Chanibaal ben Bar melec." Which, being interpreted, is: -- "The inner chamber of the sanctuary of the sepulchre of Hannibal, illustrious in the consummation of calamity. He was beloved. The people lament, when arrayed in order of battle, Hannibal the son of Bar-melec." This one of the largest remains of the Punic or Phoenician language now in existence. Characters of this description are also found on the rocks of Dighton, Massachusetts, near the sea. In a chain of mountains between the rivers Oronoco and Amazon, South America, are found engraved in a cavern, on a block of granite, characters supposed also to be Punic letters, a fac similie of which is presented at No. 5. These were furnished by Baron Humboldt, in his volume of Researches in South America; between which and those given us above, by Dr. Clarke, it is easy to perceive a small degree of similarity. But if the Phoenician letters shown at Nos. 4 and 5 are highly interesting, those which follow at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, are equally so. These are presented to the public by Prof. Rafinesque, in his Atlantic Journal for 1832, with their meaning. Under figures I and 2 are the African or Lybian characters, the primitive letters of the most ancient nations of Africa. Under figure 3 are the American letters, or letters of Otolum, an ancient city, the ruins of which are found in South America, being, so far as yet explored, of an extent embracing a circumference of twenty four miles, of which we shall again speak in due time. The similarity which appears between the African letters and the letters of America, as in use perhaps two thousand years before Christ, is almost, if not exact, showing beyond a doubt, that the same nations, the same languages, and the same arts, which were known in ancient Lybia or Africa, were also known in America; as well also as nations from old China, who came to the western coast in huge vessels, as we shall show in this work. We here subjoin an account of those characters, numbered 1, 2, 3, by the author Prof. Rafinesque; and also of the American glyphs, which, however, are not presented here, but on page 307. They are, it appears, formed by a combination of the letters numbered 1, 2, 3, and resembling very much, in our opinion, the Chinese characters, when grouped or combined, with a view to express a sentence or a paragraph in their language. The account is as follows:
monuments of Otolum * or Palenque; which belong to my seventh series of graphic signs, and are in fact words formed by grouped letters or elements as in Chinese characters, or somewhat like the cyphers now yet in use among us, formed by acrostical anagrams or combinations of the first letters of words or names. When I began my investigation of these American glyphs and became convinced that they must have been groups of letters, I sought for the elementary letters in all the ancient known alphabets, the Chinese, Sanscrit and Egyptian above all; but in vain. The Chinese characters offered but few similarities with the glyphs, and not having a literal but syllabic alphabet, could not promise the needful clue. The Sanscrit alphabet, and all its derived branches' including even the Hebrew, Phoenician, Pelagic, Celtic and Cantabrian alphabets were totally unlike in forms and combinations of grouping. But in the great variety of Egyptian form of the same letters, I thought that I could trace some resemblance with our American glyphs. In fact, I could see in them the Egyptian cross, snake, circle, delta, square, trident, eye, feather, fish, hand, &c., but sought in vain for the birds, lions, sphynx, beetle, and a hundred other nameless signs of Egypt. However, this first examination and approximation of analogy in Egypt and Africa was a great preliminary step in the inquiry. I had always believed that the Atlantes of Africa have partly colonized America, as so many ancient writers have affirmed. This belief led me to search for any preserved fragments of the alphabets of Western Africa and Lybia, the land of the African Atlantes yet existing under the names of Berbers, Tuarics, Shelluhs, &c. This was no easy task. The Atlantic antiquities are still more obscure than the Egyptian. No Champollion had raised their veil; the city of Farawan, the Thebes of the Atlantes, whose splendid ruins exist as yet in the mountains of Atlas, has not even been described properly as yet, nor its inscriptions delineated. However, I found at last in Gramay, (Africa lllustrata,) an old Lybian alphabet, which has been copied by Purchas, in his collection of old alphabets. I was delighted to find it so explicit, so well connected with the Egyptian, being also an acrostic alphabet, and __________ * A late discovered city of South America, nearly equal to the Egyptian Thebes. above all, to find that all its signs were to be seen in the glyphs of Otolum, the American city. Soon after appeared, in a supplement to Clapperton and Denham's Travels in Africa, another old and obsolete Lybian alphabet, not acrostical, found by Denham in old inscriptions among the Tuarics of Targih and Ghreat, west of Fezan: which, although unlike the first, had many analogies, and also with the American glyphs. Thinking, then, that I had found the primitive elements of these glyphs, I hastened to communicate this important fact to Mr. Dupouceau, (in a printed letter directed to him in 1828,) who was struck with the analogy, and was ready to confess that the glyphs of Palenque might be alphabetical words: although he did not believe before that any American alphabets were extant. But he could not pursue my connection of ideas, analogies of signs, languages and traditions, to the extent which I desired, and now am able to prove. To render my conclusions perspicuous, I must divide the subject into several parts; directing my inquiries, 1st. On the old Lybian alphabet. 2dly. On the Tuaric alphabet. 3dly. On their element in the American glyphs. 4thly. On the possibility to read them. While the examination of their language, in connecticn with the other Atlantic languages, will be the theme of my third letter. I. The old Lybian delineated in the table No. 1, has all the appearance of a very ancient alphabet, based upon the acrostical plan of Egypt; but in a very different language, of which we have 16 words preserved. This language may have been that of a branch of Atlantes, perhaps the Getulians, (Ge-tula, or Tulas of the plains) or of the Ammonians, Old Lybiaus, and also Atlantes. Out of these 16 words, only 5 have a slight affinity with the Egyptian, they are: Sea Lybian: Mah Egyptian: Mauh Saturn Lybian: Siash Egyptian: Sev Venus Lybian: Uaf Egyptian: Ath Ear Lybian: Aips Egyptian: Ap Nose Lybian: Ifr Pelagic: Rinif Hand Lybian: Vuld Pelagic: Hui, chil Earth Lybian: Lambd Pelagic: Landa Sea Lybian: Mah Pelagic: Marah Fire Lybian: Rash Pelagic: Purah Mars Lybian: Dor Pelagic: Hares, Thor Mercury Lybian: Goreg Pelagic: Mergor Venus Lybian: Uaf Pelagic: Uenas Saturn Lybian: Siash Pelagic: Satur, Shiva Jupiter Lybian: Thue Pelagic: Tjeos This system is very remarkable. 1. By its acrostic form. 2. By having only 16 letters like most of the primitive alphabets, but unlike the Egyptian and Sanscrit. 3. By being susceptible of twenty-two sounds by modification of six of the letters, as usual among the Pelagian and Etruscan. 4. Above all, by being based upon the acrostics of three important series of physical objects, the five senses represented by their agents in man, the four elements of nature and the seven planets: which are very philosophical ideas, and must have originated in a civilized nation and learned s` priesthood. 5. By the graphic signs being also rude delineations of these physical objects or their emblems. The ear, eye, nose, tongue and hand, for the five senses. The triangle for the earth, fish for the sea or water, snake for the air, flume for fire. A circle for the sun, crescent for the moon, a sword for Mars, a purse for Mercury, the V for Venus, double ring for Saturn, and trident for Jupiter. Venus being the fifth planet, has nearly the same sign as U, the fifth letter. These physical emblems are so natural and obvious, that they are sometimes found among many of the ancient alphabets; the; sun and moon even among the Chinese. But in the Egyptian alphabets, the emblems apply very often to different letters, owing to the difference of language and acrostic feature. Thus the hand applies to D in Egyptian instead of U, the eye to R, the circle to O, the snake to L, &c. II. The second Lybian alphabet, No. 2 in the tables, was the ancient alphabet of Tuarics, a modern branch of the Atlantes, until superseded by the Arabic. Denham found, with some difficulty, its import, and names of letters which are not acrostic but literal, and eighteen in number. It is doubtful whether these names were well applied in all instances, as the explainer was ignorant, and Denham not aware of the importance of this alphabet. Some appear not well named, and U with V have the same sign W; but these are always interchangeable in old language, and in alphabet No. 1, V is called UAF instead of VAF, and U is VULD instead of UULD! As we have it, this alphabet is sufficiently and obviously derived from the first, eleven out of the sixteen letters being similar or nearly so, while only five are different, E, M, R, G and Z. This last appears the substitute of TH, of No. 1, and GH represents G. Yet they are by far more alike than the Demotic is from the Hieratic Egyptian, and I therefore deem this No. 2 a Demotic form of the ancient Lybian or Atlantic. I might have given and compared several other Lybian alphabets found in inscriptions; but as they have been delineated without a key or names, it is at present very difficult to decypher them. I however, recommend them to the attention of the learned, and among others, point out the Lybian inscription of Apollonia, the harbor of Cyrene, given by Lacella, in his travels in the Cyrenaica. The letters of this inscription appear more numerous than sixteen or even twenty-two, and although they have some analogies with the two Lybian alphabets, yet approximate still more to the Demotic of Egypt and the Phoenician. But the inscriptions in Mount Atlas and at Frawan, when collected and decyphered, will be found of much greater historical importance. III. Meantime in the column No. 3 of the tabular view, are given forty-six elements of the glyphs of Otolum (see page 307, where there is a fac simile of these glyphs) or Palenque, a few of these glyphs being given also in column No. 4. These forty-six elements are altogether similar or derived from the Lybian prototypes of No. 1 and 2. In some cases they are absolutely identic, and the conviction of their common origin is almost complete, particularly when taken in connection with the collateral proofs of traditions and languages. These elements are somewhat involved in the grouping, yet they may easily be perceived and separated. Sometimes they are ornamented by double lines or otherwise, as monumental letters often are. Sometimes united to outside numbers represented by long ellipses meaning 10, and round dots meaning unities, which approximates to the Mexican system of graphic numeration. Besides these forty-six elements, some other. may be seen in the glyphs, which I left off, because too intricate; although they appear reducible, if a larger table could have been given. There is hardly a single one that may not be traced to these forms, or that baffles the actual theory. Therefore, the conclusion must occur, that such astonishing coincidence cannot be casual, but it is the result of original derivation. The following remarks are of some importance: 1. The glyphs of Otolum are written from top to bottom, like the Chinese, or from side to side, indifferently, like the Egyptian and the Demotic Lybian of No. 2. We are not told how No. 1 was written, but probably in the same way. Several signs were used for the same letter as in Egypt. 2. Although the most common way of writing the groups is in rows, and each group separated, yet we find some framed, as it were, in oblong squares or tablets like those of Egypt. See plate 12, of the work on Palenque by Delrio and Caberera. In that 12th plate there are also some singular groups resembling our musical notes. Could they be emblems of songs or hymns ? 3. The letter represented by a head occurs frequently; but it is remarkable that the features are very different from those of the remarkable race of men or heroes delineated in the sculptures. 4. In reducing these elements to the alphabetical form, I have been guided by the more plausible theory involved by similar forms. We have not here the more certain demonstration of Bilingual inscriptions; but if the languages should uphold this theory, they certainly will be increased of the Atlantic origins of Otolum. IV. But shall we be able to read these glyphs and inscriptions, without positively knowing in what language they were written? The attempt will be arduous, but it is not impossible. In Egypt, the Coptic has been found such a close dialect of the Egyptian, that it has enabled you to read the oldest hieroglyphs. We find among the ancient dialects of Chiapa, Yucatan and Guatemala, the branches of the ancient speech of Otolum. (See page 241.) Nay, Otolum was perhaps the ancient TOL or TOLA, seat of the Toltecas, (people of Tol,) and their empire; but this subject will belong to my third letter. I will now merely give a few attempts to read some of the groups. For instance: 1. The group or word on the seat of the sitting man of plate 4 of monuments of Palenque, I read UOBAC, being formed by a hand, a tongue, a circle, an ear, and a crescent. It is perhaps his name. And underneath the seat is an eye with a small circle inside, meaning. 2. In plate 5, is an eye with two annexed rings, meaning probably BAB, and perhaps the sun, which is BAP in the Lybian alphabet. 3. In plate 7, the glyph of the corner with a head, a fish, and a crescent, means probably KIM. 4. The first glyph of page 15, is probably BLAKE. 5. I can make out many others reading ICBE, BOCOGO, POPO, EPL, PKE, &c. If these words and others (although some may be names) can be found in African languages, or in those of central America, we shall obtain perhaps the key of the whole language of old Otolum. And next reach, step by step, to the desirable knowledge of reading those glyphs, which may cover much historical knowledge of high import. Meantime I have opened the path, if my theory and conjectures are correct, as I have strong reasons to believe. Besides this monumental alphabet, the same nation that built Otolum had a Demotic alphabet belonging to my 8th series; which was found in Guatemala and Yucatan, at the Spanish conquest. A specimen of it has been given by Humboldt in his American researches, plate 45, from the Dresden Library, and has been ascertained to be Guatemalan instead of Mexican, being totally unlike the Mexican pictoral manuscripts. This page of Demotic has letters and numbers, these represented by strokes meaning 5, and dots meaning unities, as the dots never exceed four. This is nearly similar to the monumental numbers. These words are much less handsome than the monumental glyphs; they are also uncouth glyphs in rows formed by irregular or flexuous heavy strokes, including within small strokes, nearly the same letters as in the monuments. It might not be impossible to decypher some of these manuscripts written on metl paper: since they are written in languages yet spoken, and the writing was understood in central America, as late as 200 years ago. If this is done, it will be the best clue to the monumental inscriptions. C. S. RAFINESQUE. This letter as above, strongly corroborates our supposition, that the authors of the embalmed mummies found in the cave of Lexington, were of Egyptian origin. See Morse's Geography, p. 500, and the Western Gazeteer, p. 103, states that several hundred mummies were discovered near Lexington, in a cave, but were wholly destroyed by the fist settlers.
A further Account of Western Antiquities with There is every reason to suppose, that at the remote period of the building of these antiquities, the lowest level formed part of the bed of the Ohio. A gentleman who was living near the town of Cincinnati, in 1826, on the upper level, had occasion to sink a well for his accommodation, who persevered in digging to the depth of eighty feet without finding water, but still persisting in the attempt, his workmen found themselves obstructed by a substance, which resisted their labor, though evidently not stone. They cleared the surface and sides from the earth bedded around it, when there appeared the stump of a tree, three feet in diameter, and two feet high, which had been cut down with an axe. The blows of the axe were yet visible. It was nearly of the color and apparent character of coal, but had not the friable and fusible quality of that mineral. Ten feet below, the water sprang up, and the well is now in constant supply and high repute. Reflections on this discovery are these: 1st. That the tree was undoubtedly antediluvian. 2d. That the river now called the Ohio, did not exist anterior to the deluge, inasmuch as the remains of the tree were found firmly rooted in its original position, several feet below the bed of that river. 3d. That America was peopled before the flood, as appears from the action of the axe in cutting down the tree. 4th. That the antediluvian Americans were acquainted with the use and properties of iron, as the rust of the axe was on the top of the stump when discovered. And why should they not be acquainted with both its properties and utility, seeing it was an antediluvian discovery? Tubal Cain one of the sons of Cain, the son of Adam, we find, according to Genesis iv. 22, was a blacksmith, and worked in iron and brass, more than a thousand years before the flood. It was about 500 years from the creation, when Tubal Cain is noticed in the sacred history to have been a worker in brass and iron; but, says Dr.
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"Mr. Vater has published a large work, entitled Mithridates, in which he has given an extensive comparison of all the Asiatic, African and American languages, to a much greater extent than was done by our distinguished fellow citizen, Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia, professor of natural history. Mr. Vater concludes by expressing his desire to unravel the mysteries which relate to the new and old continents; at least to contribute the contents of his volume towards the commencement of a structure, which, out of the ruins of dilacerated human tribes, seeks materials for an union of the whole human race in one origin; which some have disputed, notwithstanding the plain statement of the Bible on that subject, which is a book entitled to the term antiquity, paramount to all other records now in existence on the earth. "What this original and radical language was, has very lately been the subject of inquiry by the learned Mr. Mathieu, of Nancy, in France. The Chevalier Valentine, of the order of St. Michael, renewed by Louis XVIII, informs me that this gentleman has examined Mr. Winthrop's description of the curious characters, inscribed upon the rock at Dighton, Massachusetts, as published in the Transactions of the Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences. He thinks them hieroglyphics, which he can interpret and explain, and ascribes them to the inhabitants of the ancient Atlantic island of Plato, called by him Atalantis. Mr. Mathieu not only professes to give the sense of the inscription, but also to prove that the tongues spoken by the Mexicans, Peruvians, and other occidental or western people, as well as the Greek itself, with all its dialects, and ramifications, were but derivations from the language of the primitive Atalantians of the island of Plato." -- (See page 80, &c.)
Ancient Languages of the first Inhabitants of America.
I shall not enter, at present, into any very elaborate discussion. I shall merely detail, in a concise manner, the object and result of my inquiries, so as to assert my claim to a discovery of some importance in a philological and historical point of view; which was announced as early as 1828, in some journals, (three letters to Mr. McCulloch on the American nations,) but not properly illustrated. Their full development would require a volume, like that of yours on the Egyptian antiquities, and may follow this perhaps at some future time. It may be needful to prefix the following principles as guides to my researches, or results of my inquiries: 1. America has been the land of false systems; all those made in Europe on it, are more or less vain and erroneous. 2. The Americans were equal in antiquity, civilization and sciences, to the nations of Africa and Europe; like them the children of the Asiatic nations. 3. It is false that no American nations had systems of writing, glyphs and letters. Several had various modes of perpetuating ideas. 4. There were several such graphic systems in America, to express ideas, all of which find equivalents in the east continent. 5. They may be arranged in twelve series, proceeding from the most simple to the most complex. 1st Series. -- Pictured symbols or glyphs of the Toltecas, Axtecas, Huaztecas, Skeres, Panos, &c. Similar to the first symbols of the Chinese, invented by Tien-hoang, before the flood, and earliest Egyptian glyphs. 2d. Series. -- Outlines of figures, or abridged symbols and glyphs, expressing words or ideas, used by almost all the nations of North and South America, even the most rude. Similar to the second kind of Egyptian symbols, and the tortoise letters brought to China by the Longma, (dragon and horse,) nation of barbarous horsemen, under Sui-gin. 3d Series. -- Quipos, or knots on strings, used by the Peruvians, and several other South American nations. Similar to the third kind of Chinese glyphs, introduced under Yong-ching, and used also by many nations of Africa. 4th Series. -- Wampums, or strings of shells and beads, used by many nations of North America. Similar to those used by some ancient or rude nations in all the parts of the world, as tokens of ideas. 5th Series. -- Runic glyphs, or marks and notches on twigs or lines, used by several nations of North America. Consimilar to the runic glyphs of the Celtic and Teutonic nations. 6th Series. -- Runic marks and dots, or graphic symbols, not on strings nor lines, but in rows, expressing words or ideas; used by the ancient nations of North America and Mexico, the Talegas, Aztecas, Natchez, Powhatans, Tuscaroras, &c., and also the Muhizcas, of South America. Similar to the ancient symbols of the Etruscans, Egyptians, Celts, &c., and the Ho-tu of the Chinese, invented by Tsang-hi, called also the Ko-teu-chu letters, which were in use in China, till 827 before our era. 7th Series. -- Alphabetical symbols, expressing syllables or sounds, not words, but grouped, and the groups disposed in rows; such is the graphic system of the monuments of Otolum, near Palenque, the American Thebes. Consimilar to the groups of alphabetical symbols used by the ancient Lybians, Egyptians. Persians, and also the last graphic system of the Chinese, called Ventze, invented by Sse-hoang. 8th Series. -- Cursive symbols, in groups, and the groups in parallel rows, derived from the last, (which are chiefly monumental,) and used in the manuscripts of the Mayans, Guatamalans, &c. Consimilar to the actual cursive Chinese, some demotic Egyptian, and many modifications of ancient graphic alphabets, grouping the letters or syllables. 9th Series. -- Syllabic letters, expressing syllables, not simple sounds, and disposed in rows. Such is the late syllabic alphabet of the Cherokis, and many graphic inscriptions found in North and South America. Similar to the syllabic alphabets of Asia, Africa and Polynesia. 10th Series. -- Alphabets or graphic letters, expressing simple sounds, and disposed in rows. Found in many inscriptions, medals and coins in North and South America, and lately introduced every where by the European colonists. Similar to the alphabets of Asia, Africa and Europe. 11th Series. --Abbreviations, or letters standing for whole words, or part of a glyph and graphic delineations, standing and expressing the whole. Used by almost all the writing nations of North and South America, as well as Asia, Europe and Africa. 12th Series. -- Numeric system of graphic signs, to express numbers. All the various kinds of signs, such as dots, lines, strokes, circles, glyphs, letters, &c., used by some nations of North and South America, as well as in the eastern continent. In my next letter I shall chiefly illustrate the 7th and 8th series so as to decypher and explain one of the most curious and least known of the American modes of expressing and perpetuating ideas. I shall give a figure of a sample of those monumental symbols, with comparative figures of two alphabets of Africa, the nearest related to them, and where the elements may be traced, which are grouped in those glyphs.
letters, shown and treated upon page 118 of this work. For An account of those glyphs, see pages 122,123 and 124.) At the first glance, the most cursory observer is impressed with the idea of their likeness to the Chinese glyphs, which, in the languages in which they were or are in use, is equivalent to the combination of our letters when grouped so as to spell words, and show that America, in its earliest history, was not without its literati, and means of improvement by the use of letters, but was lost by means of revolutions as once was the fate of the Roman empire. We have glanced at the following circumstance before, on page 241: we hope the reader will excuse its repetition, as we wish in this place to give the entire remarks of the author on this most interesting subject, the letters and glyphs of America.) "Some years ago, the Society of Geography, of Paris, offered a large premium for a voyage to Guatamala, and a new survey of the antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from Palenque, which are wrongly called by that name. I have restored to them the true name of Otolum, which is yet the name of the stream running through the ruins. I should have been inclined to undertake this voyage and exploration myself, if the civil discords of the country did not forbid it. My attention was drawn forcibly to this subject as soon as the account of those ruins, surveyed by Captain Del Rio, as early as 1787, but withheld from the public eye by Spain, was published in 1822, in English. This account, which partly describes the ruins of a stone city 75 miles in circuit, (length 32 English miles, greatest breadth 12 miles,) full of palaces, monuments, statues, and inscriptions: one of the earliest seats of American civilization, about equal to Thebes of Egypt, as well calculated to inspire me with hopes that they would throw a great light over American history, when more properly examined. I have been disappointed in finding that no traveller has dared to penetrate again to that recondite place, and illustrate all the ruins, monuments, with the languages yet spoken all around. The Society of Geography has received many additional accounts, derived from documents preserved in Mexico; but they have not been deemed worthy of the reward offered for a new survey, and have not even been published. The same has happened with Tiahuanaco, in Bolivia, South America, another mass of ancient ruins and mine of historical knowledge, which no late traveller has visited or described. Being therefore without hope of any speedy accession to our knowledge of those places, I have been compelled to work upon the materials now extant, which have happily enabled me to do a great deal, notwithstanding all their defects, and throw some light on that part of the history of America. C . S. RAFINESQUE. Philadelphia, January, 1832.
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When Columbus discovered again America, he and the earliest explorers were struck with the similarity between many American tribes and the Guanches of the Canary islands, remains of the Oceanic Atlantes, in features, manners and speech. Whether the Haytians, Cubans and Aruacs, were genuine Atlantes, is rather doubtful, because their language is more akin to the Pelagic than the. Atlantic. But three at least out of the twenty-five original nations of America above enumerated, may safely be deemed children of the Atlantes. They are the ninth or Otalis, the tenth or Atalans, and the fourteenth or Chontalas.
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other, by destroying the land or islands between, so that when shipping, whether large or small, as in the time of the Phoenicians, and Tyrians of king Solomon, the Greeks and Romans came to navigate the seas, America was found, visited and colonized anew. In this way we account for the introduction of the arts amosg the more ancient inhabitants whom they found there; which arts are clearly spoken of in the traditions of the Mexicans, who tell us of white and bearded men, as related by Humboldt, who came from the sun, (as they supposed the Spaniards did,) changed or reduced the wandering millions of the woods to order and government, introduced among them the art of agriculture, a knowledge of metals, with that of architecture; so that when Columbus discovered America, it was filled with cities, towns, cultivated fields and countries; palaces, aqueducts, and roads, and highways of the nations, equal with, if not exceeding, in some respects, even the people of the Roman countries, before the time of Christ. But as learning, and a knowledge of the shape of the earth, in the times of the nations we have spoken of above, was not in general use among men; and from incessant wars and revolutions of nations, what discoveries may have been made, were lost to mankind; so that some of the very countries once known, have in later ages been discovered over again. We will produce one instance of a discovery which has been lost -- the land of Ophir -- where the Tyrian fleets went for gold, in the days of Solomon. Where is it? The most learned do not know -- cannot agree. It is lost as to identity. Some think it in Africa; some in the islands of the South Atlantic, and some in South America; and although it is, wherever it may be, undoubtedly an inhabited country, yet as to certainty about its location it is unknown.
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A small volume has been printed this year by the Sunday School Union, on the history of the Delaware and Iroquois Indians, in which their joint traditions are totally neglected, as usual with our actual book makers. Although Cusick's dates may be vague and doubtful, they deserve attention, and they shall be noticed here. Anterior to any date the Eagwehoewe, (pronounced Yaguyhohuy) meaning real people, dwelt north of the lakes, and formed only one nation. After many years a body of them settled on the river Kanawag, now the St. Lawrence, and after a long time a foreign people came by sea and settled south of the lake. 1st. date. Towards 2500 winters before Columbus' discovery of America, or 1008 years before our era, total overthrow of the Towancas, nations of giants come from the north, by the king of the Onguys, Donhtonha and the hero Yatatan. 2d. Three hundred winters after, or 708 before our era, the northern nations form a confederacy, appoint a king, who goes to visit the great Emperor of the Golden city, south of the lakes; but afterwards quarrels arise, and a war of 100 years with this empire of the south, long civil wars in the north, &c. A body of people escaped in the mountain of Oswego, &c. 3d. 1500 years before Columbus, or in the year 8 of our era, Tarenyawagon, the first legislator leads his people out of the mountains to the river Yenonatateh, now Mohawk, where six tribes form an alliance called the Long-house, Agoneaseah. Afterwards reduced to five, the sixth spreading west and south. The Kautanoh, since Tuscarora, came from this. Some went as far as the Onauweyoka, now Mississippi. 4th. In 108 the Konearawyeneh, or Flying Heads, invade the Five Nations. 5th. In 242 the Shakanahih, or Stone Giants, a branch of the western tribe, become cannibals, return and desolate the country; but they are overthrown and driven north by Tarenyawagon II. 6th. Towards 350 Tarenyawagon III., defeats other foes, called Snakes. 7th. In 492 Atotarho I, king of the Onondagas, quells civil wars, begins a dynasty ruling over all the Five Nations, till Atotarho IX., who ruled yet in 1142. Events are since referred to their reigns. 8th. Under Atotarho II., a Tarenyawagon IV., appears to help him to destroy Oyalk-guhoer, or the Big-bear. 9th. Under Atotarho III., a tyrant, Sohnanrowah, arises on the Kaunaseh, now Susquehannah river, which makes war on the Sahwanug. 10th. In 602, under Atotarho IV., the Towancas, now Mississaugers, cede to the Senecas the lands east of the River Niagara, who settle on it. 11th. Under Atotarho V., war between the Senecas and Otawahs of Sandusky. 12th. Towards 852 under Atotarho VI., the Senecas reach the Ohio river, compel the Otawahs to sue for peace. 13th. Atotarho VII. sent embassies to the west, the Kentakeh nation dwelt south of the Ohio, the Chipiwas on the Mississippi. 14th. Towards 1042, under Atotarho VIII., war with the Towancas, and a foreign stranger visits the Tuscaroras of Neuse river, who are divided into three tribes, and at war with the Nanticokes and Totalis. 15th. To 1143, under Atotarho IX., first civil war between the Erians of lake Erie, sprung from the Senecas, and the Five Nations. Here end these traditions. C. S. RAFINESQUE. The foregoing is a curious trait of the ancient history of the wars and revolutions which have transpired in America. It would appear that at the time of the overthrow of the Tawancas, 1008 years before Christ, called in the tradition a nation of giants, that it was about the time the temple of Solomon was finished; showing clearly that as they had become powerful in this country they had settled here at a very early period, probably about the time of Abraham, within three hundred and forty years of the flood. The hero who conquered them was called Yatatan, king of the Onguys, names which refer them, as to origin, to the ancient Scythians of Asia. Three hundred winters after this, or 708 years before Christ, about the time of the commencement of the Roman empire by Romulus, the northern nations form a grand confederacy and appoint a king, who went on a visit to the great emperor of the Golden city, south of the western lakes. Were we to conjecture where this Golden city was situated, we should say on the Mississippi, where the Missouri forms a junction with that river, at or near St. Louis, as at this place and around its precincts are the remains of an immense population. This is likely the city to which the seven persons who were cast away on the island Estotiland, as before related, were carried to; being far to the southwest from that island, supposed to be Newfoundland, -- St. Louis being in that direction. This visit of Yatatan to the Golden city, it appears, was the occasion of a civil war of one hundred years, which ended in the ruin of the Golden city. A body of the citizens escaping, fled far to the east, and hid themselves in the mountains of Oswego, along the southern shores of lake Ontario, where they remained about seven hundred years, till a great leader arose among them, called Tarenyawagon, who led them to settle on the Mohawk; this was eight years after the birth of Christ. These refugees from the Golden city, had now multiplied so that they had become several nations, whence the grand confederacy of six nations was formed. Upon these, a nation called Flying Heads made war but were unsuccessful; also, in 242 years after Christ, a nation called Stone Giants, made an attempt to destroy them but failed. They were successful in other wars against the Snake Indians, a more western tribe. About the time of the commencement of Mahomet's career in 602, a great tyrant arose on the Susquehannah river, who waged war with surrounding nations, from which it appears, that while in Africa, Europe, and Asia, revolution succeeded revolution, empires rising on the ruins of empires, that in America the same scenes were acting on as great a scale; cultivated regions, populous cities and towns, were reduced to a wilderness, as in the other continents.
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