Sun Worship Research Articles

Development of Knowledge of Radiant Energy as Applied to Medical Uses

PRIMITIVE man evidently had some sort of idea of the importance of sunlight—the only form of radiant energy he recognized—in human health and welfare, for all primitive religions contained some element of sun worship. The Greeks and Romans prescribed empirically in many conditions the extensive application of sunlight. However, it is probable that most of their “sun bathing” represented merely a popular fad. Whatever scientific knowledge of the influence of radiant energy that may have been gathered among the ancient peoples was lost sight of during the medieval period, characterized as it was by almost complete disregard of all hygienic principles. The first recorded instance of any attempt to employ any kind of radiation in disease was made by John Gadsden, who treated small-pox patients—among them a son of Edward I—with red light to prevent scarring. This method seems to have been extensively practised by the Chinese and it is probable that Gadsden adopted it as a purely empirical procedure. In 1661, John Evelyn, in his “Fumifugiurn,” uttered a scathing denunciation of the practice of burning “sea coal,” which produced a dense cloud of smoke, However, his diatribe was probably prompted by æsthetic considerations rather than any scientific understanding of the unhygienic exclusion of sunlight. The first really scientific contribution to the problem of radiant energy was made by Newton in his careful study of the spectrum visible when a beam of sunlight was directed through a prism. However, his results were not understood or applied practically until a much later date, and Newton died without knowing that radiations fall into a series differing only in wave length and frequency. Some time later Römer determined that light travels at a finite velocity. In 1678, Huygens propounded the theory of wave propagation of light. In 1777, Scheele noted that chlorine was liberated from silver chloride in the violet region of the spectrum. Two years later Ingenhauss showed that the dissociation of carbon dioxide by green leaves under the influence of sunlight is a chemical effect and not, as previously supposed, due to heat alone. These results were not fully understood until, in 1801, Ritter announced the discovery of the ultra-violet region of the spectrum, basing his conclusions on observations similar to those of Scheele but overlooked by the latter. A year previously Herschel had noted that a thermometer hung just outside the visible limits of the red end of the spectrum was markedly affected, which led to the discovery of the infra-red or dark heat rays. The next few years witnessed the evolution of Grothus' law of photo-chemical absorption: “Only rays absorbed are effective in producing chemical change.”

Research Items

ANCIENT INDIAN CULTURES ON THE SAN JUAN RIVER.—A dispatch from, the New York correspondent of the Times, published on March 6, gives some interesting details of the results of excavations conducted by Mr. Earl H. Morris in New Mexico and Arizona during a period of seven years. Five stages of culture were found, of which the most important were the first and third. To the first the high antiquity of 4000 B.C. is attributed, but on what ground is not stated. This culture came from the south; it corresponds in many respects with that of the present Indians of Northern Mexico, but although weaving and agriculture were practised, no pottery was made. In the third stage masonry appears, and a high degree of art in making pottery and in weaving and dyeing is shown. In the following decadent periods artistic skill disappeared with the loss of the earlier cultural standards. In the fourth or Chaco period the people became more essentially cliff dwellers, with large communal homes in caves containing as many as a thousand rooms. These cliff dwellers were sun worshippers and buried with their dead a supply of sandals, food, and weapons. A large number of skeletal remains and skulls were discovered, exhibiting divergences which will probably afford evidence as to the sequence of racial differences.

Mazes and Labyrinths: A General Account of Their History and Developments

MR. MATTHEWS, who does not pretend to be a trained archaeologist, tells us that his book originated in a question addressed to him by his little son as he played on the seashore, “Father, who made mazes first of all? “As his bibliography shows, he has studied the literature of the subject, and he has collected much information summarised in a popular way. He begins with the two great labyrinths of antiquity, that at Knossos in Crete, and the second near Lake Moeris in Egypt. In describing these, he depends on the safe guidance of Sir A. Evans and Prof. Flinders Petrie. The former was based on a tradition of the complex of buildings forming the royal palace, the latter was possibly used for sepulchral purposes. Though, as Sir James Frazer suggests, the dancing-places associated with these ancient labyrinths may have been used in some magical way connected with sun worship, it is difficult to connect them with modern mazes, like those at Hampton Court or Hatfield, adjuncts to garden planning, and intended for the amusement of visitors. The best part of the book is the collection from various sources of illustrations of various types of mazes. Many of these have been destroyed in modern times, and this book may serve a useful purpose in directing attention to their interest, and may tend towards the preservation of those which survive to our day.

34. Rush and Straw Crosses; Ancient Emblems of Sun Worship.

34. Rush and Straw Crosses; Ancient Emblems of Sun Worship.

Domestic Fuel Consumption

ONE of the most important domestic questions which faces the Government is the conservation of coal, and at the same time of health, by the cleansing of the skies and cities from soot. A nation of sun worshippers would not have fouled its dwellings as the worshippers of Mammon in our cities have done. The waste of coal hitherto has been colossal. Prof. W. A. Bone estimated that no less than 95 per cent. of the thermal energy of coal is wasted in power production, and Mr. A. H. Barker, in his Chadwick lectures on “Domestic Fuel Consumption,” now published in book form, estimates that of the fuel used for domestic service, of the yearly value of 50,000,000l., at least three-quarters is wasted, partly through ignorance and carelessness, and partly through defects in the design of the plant employed. A person who is wasting water and food can see these going to waste, but he, or she, cannot see heat running away, and so no effort is made for economy. Domestic Fuel Consumption. By A. H. Barker. (The Chadwick Library.) Pp. x + 159. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1920.) 14s. net.

The Situation of Ophir

A REUTER'S correspondent has had an interview with Dr. Carl Peters on the subject of the re-discovery and identification of the ancient gold-bearing site now so well known by the name of Ophir. According to the eminent German traveller, this much discussed locality is situated on or near the Zambesi river, and he is confident that the theories which would place Ophir either in India or in Arabia are both wrong. Dr. Peters is not the first who has convinced himself that Ophir lay somewhere on the east coast of Africa, for the late Mr. Bent and other recent writers believed that they had identified the famous emporium whence Solomon, the king of Israel, obtained gold for the temple at Jerusalem. It must, of course, be admitted that remains of extensive gold workings undoubtedly exist in the locality, and that these possess considerable antiquity cannot be denied. It is, however, open to discussion whether the ruins and workings are “of undoubtedly Semitic type,” and also whether the emblems which Dr. Peters identifies as phallic are really connected with “the ancient Semitic sun worship.” Until Dr. Peters distinctly states his case in print, and gives his reasons for the faith which is in him, we can do little more than point out that up to the present the theory which would place Ophir, or Aphar, or Sôphir (I Kings ix. 28; x. 11; 2 Chron. viii. 18; ix. 10) the great metropolis of the Sabeans, which is described in the “Periplus” attributed to Arrian, on the Gulf of Akabah, has not been disproved. The theory which would place Ophir in India, on the banks of the Indus, has much in its favour, and when it is remembered that the precious stones and almug trees, which are mentioned with the gold of Ophir, are the peculiar products of India, it is a little difficult not to accept it without more ado. On the other hand, the apes and peacocks (or parrots as some would translate the word tukkiyyîm), which were brought to Solomon from the neighbourhood of Ophir, indicate that its site was nearer Palestine than India; for it is well known that peacocks would not survive a long voyage which must have lasted several months, and must also have been made in an open boat. The fact is that many places can produce, and must always have produced, gold in great abundance, and we are driven irresistibly to the conclusion that more than one place bore the name of Ophir.

Aspects of Sun Worship Among the Moki Indians1.

Aspects of Sun Worship Among the Moki Indians1.

Our Astronomical Column

SUN WORSHIP BY TUSAYAN INDIANS.—In the fifteenth annual report of the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, and in recent numbers of the American Anthropologist, Dr. J. Walter Fewkes gives a detailed account of a group of the ceremonials which form the ritual practised by the Tusayan Indians. It has been known for some years that the aborigines of the semi-deserts in the south-western portion of the United States possess a remarkably elaborate system of belief and ceremonial, and Dr. Fewkes has devoted a considerable amount of attention to them in order to determine the significance of the various parts of the ritual followed. In the course of his investigations he has made a number of interesting observations on the astronomical means used for determining the time for ceremonials. He has found that among the Hopi Indians there are priests skilled in the lore of the sun, who determine, by observation of the points on the horizon where the sun rises or sets, the time of the year proper for their religious observances. An important ceremony is performed at the winter solstice, and in December 1897 Dr. Fewkes made a special journey to Arizona to study the ritual on the spot. This is not the place to refer to the ethnological aspects of the ceremonials witnessed by him, but the following extract from the Report of the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology will interest students of primitive astronomy.

Sun Worship in Syria

Sun Worship in Syria

Were the essenes sun worshippers?

Journal Article Were the essenes sun worshippers? Get access W. J. B. W. J. B. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s5-XII, Issue 305, 1 November 1879, Page 353, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s5-XII.305.353a Published: 01 November 1879

Were the essenes sun worshippers?

Were the essenes sun worshippers? Get access Ed. Marshall Ed. Marshall Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s5-XII, Issue 305, 1 November 1879, Pages 352–353, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s5-XII.305.352e Published: 01 November 1879

Were the essenes sun worshippers?

Were the essenes sun worshippers?

Were the essenes sun worshippers?

Journal Article Were the essenes sun worshippers? Get access R. M. Spence R. M. Spence Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s5-XII, Issue 298, 13 September 1879, Page 207, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s5-XII.298.207b Published: 13 September 1879