A.K. Coomaraswamy - Eckstein

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Medieval cademy of merica

EcksteinAuthor(s): Ananda K. CoomaraswamySource: Speculum, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1939), pp. 66-72Published by: Medieval Academy of America

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ECKSTEIN

BY ANANDA

K. COOMARASWAMY

IN a remarkable

ook,

Consider

he

ilies,

how

hey row

Matth.,

vi,28) published

by the

Pennsylvania

German

Folklore

ociety, 937,

Mr

Stoudt,

whose nterpre-

tation

of

Pennsylvania

German

rt

s

based

entirely

n

the

historical

manifesta-

tions ofmysticalreligion' with special emphasison JacobBohme,Dante, St

Bernard, nd

the

Bible), was for

longtime

puzzled bythe

diamondmotif; ntil

finding

passage

in

the

writings

f

AlexanderMach

where in

accordancewith

the Biblical textscited

below)

Christ

was

spoken

of as

the Eckstein

.

.

he real-

ised

that the

(German) word for

diamond was the

same as

for cornerstone'

(p. 76).

The device occurs

on

stove-plates, nd in this

connectionMr

Stoudt ap-

propriatelyitesthe

nstruction y

Clement f

Alexandria o the

earlyChristians

to

place

the

accepted

ymbols

f

Christ

n

their omestic tensils.

So

far,

o

good. We can,

however, o further,

nd enquire n

what senses

Christ

is thus referredo both as 'diamond' and as 'corner-stone,' r more literally

'angle

-stone).'1

n Ps.

ccxviii,

2

=

Matth.,

xxi,

42

=Luke

xx, 17,

we

have 'The

stone which

the

builders

rejected, he same is

become

the head

of

the

corner'

(Ke-aX)iv

yywvtas,

aput

anguli);

in

Eph. ii,

20, 'Himself he

chief

orner-stone'

(OvroS

&KpoywmvtaLov

vroo

xpto-rov1

I7o-ov,ipso

ummo

ngulari apide

ChristoJesu)

the

text

continuing:

in

whom

each

separate

building fitlyframed

together

(o-vvapJ.o8oLyo1o7'vrv,

onstructa=Skr.

aimskrta)

roweth nto a

holy temple

ets

vaov

&ytov)

n

the

Lord,

n

whom

ye

also

are

builded

together

coedificamini)

or

a

habitation

fGod in

the

Spirit ev

lveb4tart

Skr.dtmani).'The

evident

nten-

tion ofthe text s to depict theChrist s theunique principle ponwhich the

whole

edifice f

the Church

depends. The

principle f

anything

s

neither ne

among

other

parts

of

t,

nor

a totality f

parts,but

that

in

which all

parts

are

reduced o a

unitywithout

omposition. he

figure

s

parallel

to that ofmember-

ship

n

the

Mystical

Body ofChrist.

But a 'corner tone'

n

the

accepted

sense of

a stone

at

the

corner f

building,

owevermportant,

nd even f

an

uppermost

quoin

be

intended,

s

only

one of four qual

supports;we

cannot ogically

peak

ofthe

orner-stone;

nd

any one

corner

tonerather eflects han

s

the dominat-

ing

principle

f a

building.

We

begin

to

suspect

that the

meaning

of

corner-

stone'mayhavebeenmisunderstood:hatthat nwhichmen are all buildedto-

gether'

annotbe

thought fas a

corner-stonen the

ense

of

a

stone t the

corner

or

angle

of the

building.

To

know

what is meant

by the evidently

quivalent

expressions

head of

the

angle'

and

'chief

ngular -stone)'

we

must

ask firstwhat

s

meant

by

the

angle'

or

angular

-stone).'

To

speak

of a

'corner'

begs

the

question

because,

for

us,

a

corner s

always

one of

many, ypically

our:

angle,'

which

may mply

ither he

corner

or

the

peak

of

a

building

or

pediment,

s

intentionally

on-committal.

rwvtLa

ay

refer

ither o

position, s

being at

an

angle,

or to

shape,

as

in

'poly-

1

Cf.Wynkyn e Worde,Pilgr.Perf.183, The diamondemoostprecyous omankynde, hy swete

sone

Jesus.'

66







Eckstein

67

gon,'

or

when t

meansthe

cutwater f bridge.'rcovtas thatwhich s prominent

orstands out, and is used

metaphoricallyn this ense n the Septuagint

,

Sam.,

xiv, 38);

'all

the chief

of

the

people,' Vulgate angulos

populorum;

he Hebrew

word renderedby angulos s pinnap, plural of pinnoth nrr). English'quoin'

or

coign,'the etymological quivalentof

ywvla,

ay be either

corner

tone at

any evel,or may be coping,

ccording o the context.'

The words meaning angle' or 'angular' are combinedwith

othersmeaning

'head' and 'extremity.' e-aX)i

'head,' and architecturallycapital,' can onlyap-

plyto whatever orms he ummit f nything.

AKPoS

mplies

xtremity,2

n what-

ever

direction,

s in

'acrolithic,' statue of which he

extremities, ead, hands,

and

feet,

re

of stone,but

oftenwith pecial referenceo the topor highest art,

as

in

acropolis.'

AKPOTrp

ov

is thepedestalfor figure r other

inial t the top or

corners f a pediment r ona coping or sometimes efers o pedestal and figure

together). uch

a

pedestal or finial, n the case of a stone

structure,mightvery

properlyavebeen alled

n

aKpo0ycvtLa?os Xt'os.

What

was

the shape of

the building mplied r taken forgranted y our texts?

It would be convenient o thinkof a domed or tent-roofed

uilding, ut a rec-

tangularbuildingwith a peaked roof s moreplausible, n view of

the probable

derivation f the form f

Solomon's emplefrom hat of the

Tabernacle, lso the

traditional

orm f

the

Ark.

The gable end view of such a building tates ts

es-

sentialsnvertical

rojection. f nowwe equate

&Kpo-ycovtaos

Xt0Os

with

KpoTJpLoV

it will surelybe to the uppermost ngle-stone nd not to eitherof the lateral

angle-stones hat the Christ

wouldhave beencompared.He is assuredly hepeak

of

the roof.Our view is

accordingly hat the real meaningof the

text

could

be

best conveyed n modern

English by 'is become the keystone f the arch,' or

'roofplate f the vault.' We see him, n otherwords, n that

position t the

sum-

mit

of a

dome which

s

regularly ccupied n Christian rchitecture

y

the

figure

of

the Pantokrator, r a

corresponding onogram r a solar symbol, r

even

by

an

architecturaleye' surmounted y a 'lantern.'"He is the

keystone, oping

stone,

or

roof-plate f the

cosmic structurewhich s also his 'Mystical Body,'

monument

nd

dwelling lace, and ofwhich he ndividualman

s

a microcosmic

analogy.

We

can now

advantageously all attention o some rather mpressive

riental

1

Just s

in

the typically rissan rchitecture, here he dmalaka orm s repeated s a corner-stone

at various evels of the tall spire, and also forms he coping-stone; he corner-stones eing

really

quarter-dmalakas,nd only the crowning tone exhibiting he whole form.The crowning

malaka

is here ndeed he head ofthe angle,' both nasmuch s the four nglesofthe spire onverge pwards

towards t, and inasmuch s their orm ubsists

n t more minently,

t the

same

time

more

ully

nd

on a higher evel of reference. or an example see my HIIA, fig. 16.

2

Skr. agra s generallytop,' but can also mean extremity'n any direction; t is also metaphori-

cally prior,' foremost,' tc.

I

See my Symbolism f the dome',

nd.

Hist. Gaz., xiv

(1938).

Special mention

s made

of

the

fact

that the roof-plates 'perforated': here an be no question hat t is the architectural quivalentof

the

Sundoor

hroughwhichone is altogether iberated; he perforation's the eye' of the

heavenly

dome,or in otherwords he Sun; 'I am the door,by me if any man enter n, he shall be saved,' etc.

(John, iv, 9).







68

Eckstein

parallels.

n

J. , 200-201 and

DhA. i, 269 a 'rest-hall' vissamana-sala)'

s being

built. The building

annot be completed

without root-plate,

whichcannot be

made

of green

wood, but

only of seasoned.

The

woman

Sudhamma, Perfect

Virtue,'has prepared n advance a seasonedroof-plate. he builders,who wish

to

keep

the

meritof the

work for themselves,

re

forced

o use this

kanttika

against

theirwill: the

celestial

palace, for

uch it s in the

last analysis,

cannot

otherwise

e completed.

The

roof-plate f

hard wood

which the

builderswould

have rejected

becomes he

keystone

fthe roof.Because

Sudhamma

has supplied

the crowning

lement

f

the

structure,

er name is given to the rest-hall

tself.2

The name

sudhamma

s manifestlyhat

of principle,

nd is

identical n meaning

with he

kusala

dhamma 'efficient

owers fconsciousness,'

.e., perfect

irtues,'

but

not exclusively

n an

ethical

ense) of

Miln. 38 as cited

n the

nextparagraph.

As we have

shown

lsewhere, he

roof-plate

s the key piece

of the roof,

s the

roof

tself s

themost ssential eature f hebuilding, hich s aboveall a shelter.3

The

roof-plate r, n

some cases, the

roof-ridge,

ecomes ccordingly

he ubject

of numerous arables,

for xample

Miln. 38, Just

s

the

rafters f

a peak-roofed

buildingmove towards,

est upon

and meet

together n (samosaragd)

he peak,

and thispeak

is acknowledged

o be

the summit

agga

=

agra)

of all, ust

so each

and all

of he

efficientowers

f onsciousness

kusala

dhamma)4 ave

at-one-ment

1

Cf.vissamana-ffhdna

n

S..1O1,

Comm.,

nd vissameti

causative),

in J., II, 36

where thehost

'gives

rest' toweary ravellers.

Come unto me, ll

ye that abour

nd are heavy aden,

and I will give

you rest.. . .

How oftenwould

have gathered

hey hildren

ogether'

Matth., xi, 28 and xxiii,

7).

The root s vi-gram,o 'cease from oil.' The anagogicsignificances obvious; for t is precisely he

Wayfarer

parivr&jaka,

arsani)

that labours' gramati),

nd

hence he usual

designation

fthe

monk,

ascetic,

lmsman,

tc., as a 'Labourer'

gramana).

he Rest

House at the end

of the road,at worlds'

end,where he

burden

s laid down, s then

vigramana

n the sense

that whoever nters here

s no

longer

'Labourer,'

no longerunder rule,

but altogether

liberated'

fromhimself).

And

just

as in

the Vedic rite

the

sacrificern building

p' Agni s at the

same time

building p forhimself

'body

of

light,'

o whoever

ike Sudhamma builds

up' a rest-house

s at

the same time

building

up the

heavenly

mansion, nd

layingup treasure

n heaven:

A house was building,

nd yourbitter

ighs

Came

hither

s

toil-helping

melodies,

And

in

the mortar f our

gem-builtwall

Your tearswere

mingled

mid the rise and fall

Of golden

rowels

inkling n the hands

Of builders

gathered

wide from

ll

the

ands.

-

-

Is

the

house finished? ay, come help

to

build

...

William

Morris

2

Sudhamma

s

actually

the wife f Magha

(the

solar ndra), in the

same sense that

the Church

s

the

bride

of

Christ,

nd

the

Sudhamma Devasabha (of

whichthere

s a

representation

n relief

t

Bharhut,

ee

Cunningham,

tupa

ofBharhut, l.

xvi) is the palace of

ndra

and

analogue

of

the rest-

hall forwhich Perfect

Virtue'provides

he roof-plate.

3

A

material shelter

being needed

only by those

who are under

the

sun.' Liberation,

breaking

outofthe cosmosby theSundoor, s often escribed s a breaking hrough heroof r roof-plate,nd

the

Buddha as

being

hus

iberated

s

often

eferredo

as vivafa-chado,

he

whose

roof

has been

opened

up';

of

which,

moreover, he

abandonment f the household

ife

nd adoption

of

the

open-air

ife

of

a

'Wanderer'

s already a prefiguration.

4

These powers

f consciousness,

r virtues r

acts of the

practical ntellect

collectively

hammd,

herenearly quivalent

o

indriydni,

rdo&dh,

nd devdh) re

contact

of subject with

object), sensibil-







Eckstein

69

(samadhi, etymologicallynd semanticallysynthesis') or heirhead

(pamukha),

rest upon and slope towards t-one-ment,' r in termsof a further omparison,

as

the fourwings

f

an army re related o the king, nvironing imand

depend-

ing uponhim as theirhead.

Our

roof-plate een from elow hangs n the vault of the roofnot obviously

supportedfrombelow, but it is nevertheless irtually he capital of a central

pillar; ust as a king-post lthough upported y a cross beam is virtually he

upperpart of

a

column xtending ownwards o and supported y the floor. he

central

illar hus mpliedmay be compared o thecentre-polef tentorthehan-

dle

of an umbrella; he equation of roofwithumbrella s explicit. uch a central

pillarcorresponds lso to the trunk f the Tree of Life and to the vertical f the

Cross,

Gk.

stauros, kr. skambha; nd it is the central rinciple fthe wholecon-

struction, hichdepartsfrom t below and returns o it above, as can be

readily

seenifwe consider building n its simplest spect, which s that of a tepee or

pyramid.

he

actual employment f such a centralpillar s implied n an earlier

form fthe

parable quoted above, viz., in AA.iii.2.1,where Just s all the other

beams (vamsa,

literally bamboo') are unified n

(samdhitda)

in the hall-beam

(gala-vam?a), o

in

this Breath

(prd#a)

he powers indriydai)of eye, ear and

mind,

the

body

and

whole self

(sarva dtmd) re unified.'Here, as usual, the

'Breath' n the singular efers o the Brahman nd Atman, he Spirit.'

The building tself s the cosmos n a likeness, nd therefore likeness f the

'body'

of

the cosmic

lokdvati, U.vi.6) Man, the 'mysticalbody' of

Christ

of

whichye are members'

2

the roof-plate n which the rafters,whichare also

'beams'

(in

both

senses

of the

word)

meet

as the angles of a pyramid,

r

ribs of

an

umbrella,

r radii of a circlemeet n

a point),

s

the Sun of

Men

(suiryon.rn,

RV.i.146.4),

the one

lotus of the sky' (BU.vi.3.6). The pillar expressed

r

im-

plied, about whichthe whole building s constructed nd of which ts four

or-

ners

or

quarters (represented y other pillars or by vertically uperimposed

series fquoins)

is

the centre r heart'3 f he building n any floor, ircle cakra,

loka)

or

level

of

reference

howevermany the storeysmay be):

and

cosmically,

the

Sun-pillar' xtending

rom

he centre f

the sky

to the

navel

of

the

earth,

nd

pillarofFireextended onverselyrom henaveloftheearth othecentre fthe

ity, recognition,

ill, awareness,counsel,

habit' (phassd,

vedand, anad, cetand, inadna,

vitakka,

vicara).Whenthesehave

been unified ekatobhavd),peration

o longer

nvolves temporal equence

of cts, but

becomes single ct of being

Miln.63).

1

For detaileddiscussion

f all the architecturalymbols

discussed n

the preceding aragraphs ee

my Symbolism

f the

Dome'

(loc.

cit.), Usni sa nd Chatra'

(Poona Orientalist,

ii

[1938],

Inverted

Tree'

(Q.

J. Myth.Soc., xxix [1938]),

and

'Svayam&trpU:

Janua Coeli'

(appearing

n Zalmoxis);

Rene Guenon, Le symbolisme

u dome'

and Le dome et la roue,'Etudes

raditionnelles,

LIII [1938],

and Mus,

Barabadur, arts v and v.

2

Cf.

Mund.

Up.ii.1.4,

Fire is his

head;

His

eyes,the

moon

and

sun;

the airts

His

ears;

His voice

therevealedVedas; the galeHis breath;His heart heall; from is feet heearth;He is indeedthe

Spirit

mmanent

n

every eing' sarvabhuttntaratmd).

3

The axial

pillarof a Japanesepagoda

(stfipa),

roundwhich herewinds spiral

tair,

s

actually

called the

heartpillar' shinbashira)

nd thus distinguishedrom he

four guardian

pillars'

shiten-

bashira)

f he corners.'

4

AB.v.98.1,

ddityah

apahi,

rthivt

edih.AB.ii.1, vajro

vai

yuipa.







70

Eckstein

sky, he

pillarof

ife

t the

parting nd

meeting f

the ways'

RV.v.5.6,

v.139.3,

etc.),

Branstockor

fiery

runk f

the Tree of Life

and

Burning

Bush,

the

Shaft

of

Light

or Bolt

that at

once divides and

connects

ogether eaven and

earth,

and

with

which he

Dragon

was

smitten

n

the

beginning,

he vertical f

he

CrossofLight

stauros nd skambha. n

this omniform

illar

xtending

rom loor

o

roof f

the

cosmosall

things

nhere n one

form,

he

single

form

hat

s

the form

of

very

different

hings: There

inheres

his

all, there

whatever

tirs,

whatever

breathes ..

that

concurrently

sambh'uya,

"assembled,"

"combined,"

etc.)

is

one

simply' ekam

va,

AV.v.8.7-1 )

corresponds o

Eph.,

ii,

20 'in

whom

ye

also

are

builded

ogether,'

nd

apocryphalActs

of

John,

8-99: 'a crossof

ight et

up,

in

whichwas

one

form

nd

likeness,

nd in it

another

multitude

fdiverse

forms

...

This

cross,

hen,

s that

which

fixed ll

things

part and

joined all

things n-

to itself

.. and

then

also,

being

one, streamed

orth nto

all

things."

Vajra

as

'bolt'coinciding ithSkambha s AxisMundi,similar octrine an be recognized

in

Heraclitus,

xxxvii,

the

thunderbolt

Kepavv0s)

governs olaKt1Et) all

things,'

or

as

mighthave

been

said, OIKLEL,

builds all

things."

The

'head' of

his

pillar s

the solar

nd

man-regarding

nr-caksus)

ace

of

God,

the

omniform

nd

omniscient

un, who is

also the

Spiritwhose

kiss

endows

ll

things

with being

(SB.vii.3.2.12-13), and

connects ll

things

o himself

n

one

con-spiration.

is

Orb s

moreover

ot

only

he

roof-plate

fthe

cosmos,

ut

the

door

of the

worlds,

hrough

which

one is

altogether

iberated,

breaking ut

of

the

cosmos

'No man

cometh

o

the

Fathersave

by me

.

.. I am

the

way

.

.. I

am thedoor' (John, iv,6 and x, 9). Architecturally,he head oftheangle' is

our

roof-plate,

oping

tone,

nd

acroter, he

capital of an

axial

pillar,

which

s

really

neof

pneumatic

ight, nd

ifnot

structurally

ealized s

nevertheless

deal-

ly present.

Macrocosmically,

his

head of

he

angle' s

the Sun

in

the

zenith; nd

whoever

eturns

o

thisSun,

the

Truth, s

like to

like,by

an

ablatio

omnis

lte-

ritatis,2

ecomes

Mover-at-will nd

for

him t is

'evermore

ay.'

In

various

countries

he

hardest

nd

brightesttone

or metal

knownhas

been

the

symbol f

ndestructibility,

nvulnerability,

tability,

ight, nd

immortality.

The

North

American

ndian

preserves

o this

day

what

was

probably

lready

a

Paleolithicuse of flint' n this"sense;3he Egyptianpyramidionwas made of

granite

polished

ike a

mirror'; he

adamant

diamond)

of

he

classical

world

was

probably f ndian

origin;

he

Chinese

had their

ade,

but

also derived rom ndia

with

Buddhism

he

symbolic

alues of

vajra,

which

they

rendered y

the

char-

acter

chin

Giles

2032) of

which he

primary alue

is

metal,

especially

gold, and

also

weapon.

Skr.

vajra

is

not

only

the

lightning,

hunder-bolt,haft,

r lance withwhich

'

For

the

skambha,

xis

Mundi, as

Brahman,

nd

single orm f

all

things, ee

the

wholeof

AV.x.7

and 8.

The

doctrine s of

fundamental

mportn the

wholeof

the

Vedic

ontology.

2

For Nicolas ofCusa, the condition ffiliatio nd theosis s thusdefined.Cf. If any man come

unto me and

hate

not

..

.

yea, and

his

own

soul also,

he

cannot be

my

disciple'

(Luke,

xiv, 26);

'The

word of God

...

piercing

ven to

the

dividing

sunder of

soul

from

pirit'

Heb., iv,

1P, cf.

Dionysius,

De

div.nom,

x, 3).

'Whoso

cleaveth

o God

becometh ne

spirit

withhim'

I Cor.,

vi,

27).

3

The

Navajo

conception

f flint

rmour' s

the

equivalent

of

Milton's 'in

a rock

of

Diamond

arm'd'

(Paradise

Lost,vi,

364),

and

Buddhist

vajra-kdya.







Eckstein 71

Indra

smote

he

Dragon

in the

beginning,

nd Axis

Mundi

and

Sacrificial illar,

skambha

nd

-rcavp6s

Skr. sthavara4,firm'), ut also 'diamond,'

nd in the atter

sense with

special reference o the

qualities

of

hardness, ndestructibility,

nd

intellectual rilliance.We have, for

xample,

uch

expressions

s

vajrasana, dia-

mond throne" onwhich he Buddha andall formerMunis have been seatedat

the Navel

of

the

Earth),

and

vajra-kaya,

diamond

body,'

an

immortal

ody

of

light. kr.

agri, ngle, orner, nd a*9a, part, orner, dge,

point, tc., re related

to

aKpoS,

acer,

cies.2

The

vajra

as

weapon

or sacrificial

ost

is

constantly poken

of as

'angular,'

for

example

four-edged' catur-agri)

n

RV.iv.22.2;

in AB.ii.1

and KB.x.1

the sacrificial ost (yuipa=

oravp6s)

nd the

bolt vajra) are dentified,

and

the one s to be made eight-angled'

astagri)

ike

the other.3

t is evident hat

vajra as 'adamant' or diamond s a

naturally ight-angledtone.

n the same way,

Pali

attanisa,eight-edged,'s both

diamond,' nd 'pillar,' ypically fa heavenly

palace (forreferencesee PTS, Pali Dictionary, .v.). Chinesechin Jap.kong&,

Skr.

vajra)

in

combinationwith other

charactersgives us such

expressions

s

'golden

crow'

(Sun),

and 'diamond

pivot,

or axis'

(Moon).

The

characterfor

'axis,' shu

Giles 10092) implies lso

'centre,' nd whatever s fundamental: 'ien

shu s the pole or axis on which he

skyturns; hu yii Giles 13626) is controlling

power,guidingmind,

yeixv.

Withoutgoingfurthernto the analysis of these

expressions

t will be sufficientlyvident hat the complex f deas in

which he

notions f

adamantinequality and

of the polar or solar axis of the universe re

inseparably onnected s part and

parcel of

a

universal nd widelydistributed

tradition,n the lightofwhich our Biblicalphrases discussedabove should be

envisaged.

We shall concludewith

a

reference

o the notion

of

a corner-stone

r

angular

stonewhich

s

also an extremity

n

terms fEgyptian rchitecture.

o

architec-

tural

unit

that can

be

thought fwould better han

a

pyramidion the crowning

member f pyramid) it he phrase

head of he angle,' or simply angle'

as

used

in

OT.

to

mean chiefor leader. The pyramidiaof Weserka-ra

tenthdynasty)

and ofAmenemhat

ii

(twelfth

ynasty) are described n Ann.

du Servicedes

Antiquites, xx, 105 ff., nd iII, 9206 f. he

characteristic

f

these pyramidia

s

their solar symbolism.Of the first,une grande pointede pyramide n granit

noir,'we are toldthat Au hautdechacunede ses

faces,

e

disque

solaire tend

es

1

'As

a

rockof Diamond, stedfast vermore' Spenser, airy Queen,, 6, 4). For values of

vajra

see

also my Elements fBuddhist conography,p. 14-15.

2

Of the two ndian (Pali) wordsku(a and

kaitika

whichdenote he peak or roofplate

f a

house

to which he rafters onverge, he formers from rootkuJ(,o bend (from

n

angle), whence lso

kfii cf.Eng. 'cot' and hut'), a smallhouse with n edgedor domedroof, r even a large hrine

with

a spire; nd the atter diminutive f

kanna

(skr.

karna),

of which he primarymeaning s corner,'

and

relatedboth to

agri,

tc. and to

srnga,

'horn,' nd architecturallyspire.' Thus the

kannika

the

'roofplate') ejectedby thebuilders n the Sudhamma tory p. 68 above) wouldbe quite iterallycor-

ner tone' but for he factthat t is made not of stonebut of hard wood; the symbolisms,ofcourse,

unaffected y this material ccident.

3

Indian

pillars

n

architectural se are typically although ot always) both

four-

nd

eight-angled

at the same time, .e. square in section bove and below, nd sometimes lso in the middle,but for

the

restchamfered

o as

to

be

eight-angled

n

section.







72

Eckstein

ailes protectrices,'

he

four olar

symbols eing

those of the divinites es

quatre

points

ardinaux,

Ra, Ptah, Anubis t

es astresnocturnes.'

he

second est taille

avec une regularite

inguliere

t

il a

ete

poli a miroir....

La face est est

occupee

par un beau disque aile flanquedes deuxUraeus: entre es deux ailes est grave

un groupe forme

.

.

des deux yeux,

des

trois

uths

et du

disque non aile'

(in

which

the

centre

of the

circle s marked):

'Chaque

face,

repondant

une

des

maisons

u monde,

st consacree

a

a

divinite

ui protege

ettemaison.'

The

nor-

mal

arrangement

f

central oint,

urrounded

y

four uardians f

the

quarters

will be recognized

mmediately.

he legends

engraved

on the

four ides

of the

pyramidion

re

dialogues

betweenthe

deceased

or his

priest and

the

guardian

deities

of the

respective

houses':

on the East,

for xample

"Soit ouvert

a face

du roi Nimari

(name

of the king

as

child of Ra,

the Sun) pour

qu'il donne

au

roiAmenemhatte se leveren dieu mattre e l'1tternitet indestructible." insi

parle e pretre,

t e dieu

armakhis, gardien e

la maison

st

repond,

"Harmak-

his a

dit: J'ai donne

l'horizon

excellent

u roi

du Sud

et du Nord

qui prend

l'heritage

ex

deux terres"

ici il s'addresse

directement

u

roi, "pour

que

tu t'unisse

a

lui;

ainsi

m'a-t-il plu."

Et l'horizon

prend

a parole

a son

tour.

"L'horizon a dit que

tu te

reposes ur

ui; ainsi

m'a-t-il

plu".' And

similarly

n

the other

ides.

To this t

must

be added that the

hieroglyph

or pyramidion,'

ubn t (also

the

'point

ofan obelisk'),

n

the combination

nbn. j

becomes

n epithet

f

the

Sun-

god,

He of

he

pyramidion."

The deceasedking s thus at the sametimeacceptedby thefour aces orfour-

fold

aspect2

of

the

Sun,

and identified

iththe

Sun;

while the two

kingdoms,

north nd

south,

are analogically

Heaven

and

Earth, of

whichhe receives

he

inheritance;

he

pyramid

tself

epresenting

ot merely

he tomb,

ut at the

same

time the cosmic

embodiment

r dwelling lace

of

the

resurrected ing,

now

be-

comes member f he

mystical ody'

of he

Sun. The

apex of hepyramid,

hich

is also

the Sun,

is architecturally

he

unique principle

n which,

s

one may

say,

all the

rest

s

builded

together

nd exists

more

eminently.

f

bnbn.

t

is also the

'point

of n

obelisk,'

which orresponds

o the Sunpillar'

ofother raditions,

ven

thispillarmaybe said to be representedy the tenonwhichprojectsfrom he

lower urface

f the pyramidion

nd

holds t fast

when

set in place.

And

if

now

Christ

s the

angle'

or head

of

the

angle,'

t

is

clear

that

this

could

have

been

stated

n

Egyptian

rchitectural hraseology

y saying

nstead

of

is

become

the

head

of the corner,'

is become

the

bnbn.t.' t is

not

absolutely

mpossible

hat

the

Hebrew

expression

tself

was

ultimately

f

Egyptian

origin,

nd

ought

o

be

thus

restored.

BOSTON MUSEUM

OF

FINE

ARTS.

1

Cf. also in Greece, this earlieraspect of the Sun-God as a pyramidalpillar' (ArthurEvans,

'Mycenean Tree

and

Pillar-cult,'JHS.,

1901,

p. 173.

2

On

the ultimate

ignificance

f the fourfaces

of God see

P.

Mus,

'Has Brahma

four

faces?'

in

JISOA,

v (1937).

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