Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane

disinterested. 9. Not to avenge one's-self. 10. Not to be superstitious. (See Huc's Travels, p. 328, vol. i.) [59:2] Exodus xx. Dr. Oort says: "The original ten commandments probably ran as follows: I Yahwah am your God. Worship no other gods beside me. Make no image of a god. Commit no perjury. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother. Commit no murder. Break not the marriage vow. Steal not. Bear no false witness. Covet not." (Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 18.) [59:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122. Higgins, vol. ii. p. 19. Cox: Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. p. 295. [59:4] Müller: Origin of Religion, p. 130. [59:5] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 257, 258. This book, the _Zend-Avesta_, is similar, in many respects, to the _Vedas_ of the _Hindoos_. This has led many to believe that Zoroaster was a Brahman; among these are Rawlinson (See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 831) and Thomas Maurice. (See Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 219.) The Persians themselves had a tradition that he came from some country to the East of them. That he was a foreigner is indicated by a passage in the _Zend-Avesta_ which represents Ormuzd as saying to him: "Thou, O Zoroaster, by the promulgation of my law, shalt restore to me my former glory, which was pure light. Up! haste thee to the land of _Iran_, which thirsteth after the law, and say, thus said Ormuzd, &c." (See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 263.) [60:1] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 301. [60:2] "The deities of the Hindoo Pantheon dwell on the sacred Mount Meru; the gods of Persia ruled from Albordj; the Greek Jove thundered from Olympus, and the Scandinavian gods made Asgard awful with their presence. . . . Profane history is full of examples attesting the attachment to high places for purpose of sacrifice." (Squire: Serpent Symbols, p. 78.) "The offerings of the Chinese to the deities were generally on the summits of high mountains, as they seemed to them to be nearer heaven, to the majesty of which they were to be offered." (Christmas's Mytho. p. 250, in Ibid.) "In the infancy of civilization, high places were chosen by the people to offer sacrifices to the gods. The first altars, the first temples, were erected on mountains." (Humboldt: American Researches.) The Himalayas are the "_Heavenly mountains_." In Sanscrit _Himala_, corresponding to the M. Gothic, _Himins_; Alem., _Himil_; Ger., Swed., and Dan., _Himmel_; Old Norse, _Himin_; Dutch, _Hemel_; Ang.-Sax., _Heofon_; Eng., _Heaven_. (See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 42.) [60:3] Bunsen's Egypt, quoted in Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 367. Mrs. Child says: "The _laws_ of Egypt were handed down from the earliest times, and regarded with the utmost veneration as a portion of religion. Their first legislator represented them as dictated by the gods themselves and framed expressly for the benefit of mankind by their secretary _Thoth_." (Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 173.) [60:4] Quoted in Ibid. [61:1] See Squire's Serpent Symbol, p. 175. [61:2] Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 301.