Evening star., 1938-07-24
Strange Gods and
Human Sacrifice
BY FREDERIC J, HASKIN.


On every continent expeditions are at
work discovering afresh very old places
and objects which throw a macabre light
on the mind Of earlier man. To the 4
modern man the religious beliefs and'~
practices of these people are scarcely
comprehensive. A combination Of re-
ligious fervor and savagery seems to
have been the rule Of many cults.
One OF the more fascinating OF the
recent discoveries has been that of the
man-eating king who held sway in Su-
matra some centuries ago. At Sungai
Langsat, on the northern bank Of the
Batang Hari, large river OF South Su-
matra, there has been found, hidden in
the jungle, gigantic figure OF the man.
eating King Adityawarman, who also
was regarded as a god. The statue Of 4
stone which has the quality OF absorbingN y
sunlight so that it seems to glow, weighs
four tons and its pedestal weighs three.
1t Is in an excellent state of preservation
and is fine example of the sculptor's art.
The image is in the typical Burmese
style OF stone carving. The face wears
grin and about the neck, arms and legs
are wrapped evil looking serpents The
pedestal consists of stone carvings OH
eight grinning human skulls. This king
had spent his youth at the Javanese
court OF Madjapahit and it was there he
first came in contact with members of
the sect of Bhairawas or in translation,
the Terrible Ones. The sect was an off,
shoot OF demonical character of Bud
dhiSm, but instead of following the gen.
tie doctrines of the Gautama Buddha
they adopted human sacrifice and a
strange ritual which usually was prac-
ticed In cemeteries. The sect fourished
as late as the 14th century. 1t spread in
secret way over Bengal and parts Of
Outer India and even to China Mongolia
and Japan. 1t appears to date back to
the 9th century, but continued at least
until the 14th.
The members could become lesser god.
under their ruler by practicing a mystic
ritual. Outstanding features of this were
the sacrifice of human beings. presum-
ably war captives or slaves. After the
sacrifices, the initiates stood on the
bodies of their victims and drank their
blood out of rich chalices, blood beins-1
called the wine of heaven. These facts
have been brought to light by decipher-
ing OF the many carved inscriptions
found on stone tablets and the great
image itself shows the god standing upon
the body of victim.
At the close of the ritual the bodies
were laid on pyres and burned. scores of
them at time. while the newly initiated
gods drank blood and danced In sort of
daze on the scene
The Netherlands government has
brought the great image out of the Jun
gle. The site of the image was some
300 miles back in the jungle high on the
river bank. Three hundred coolies were
required to effect the removal. First the
statue had to be lowered down the steep
bank to large raft in the river by means
OF stout cables While so far as is known
no vestiges remain of the sect. it is re-
ported that the coolies engaged on the
work displayed the utmost fear and SUI
persttion. They were afraid that this\
disturbance Of the old god would bring
retrlbution upon them. They were kept
to the work with the utmost difficulty
After river journey on the raft the
image was landed and then loaded on 4
specially designed motor truck In the
course OF its further journey to Sidjund-
jung, a fierce thunderstorm broke and q
huge tree came crashing down Just in
front OF the vehicle, causing the coolies
the utmost dismay They were certain
that this phenomenon had been invoked
by the old god. Now the image has been
taken to Fort de Kock. where It has
been placed facing a sacred volcano.
mentioned in the most ancient legends.
There the sacred. savage image and the
trolo
lev at each other. an artificial and a
natural manifestation Of destructiveness,
Moving now to Egypt of the magicians,
1t Is learned that an expedition has Just
completed the first stages of the excava
tion OF the temple and the underground
city devoted to worship OF the strange
baboon god Of early Ptolemaic days and
OF the sacred ibis. The site was discov-
cred at Hermopolis, which Is some 375
miles south of Alexandria Not much Is
left Of the temple or shrine which was
above ground, but which had been COW
cred by the sands Of the desert How
ever an extensive underground city.
series OF catacombs, has been found In
we'll preserved condition. This was not
place where human beings were buriedx
as in the cases OF such catacofnbs as
those at Rome and Jerusalem. These at
Hermopolis were reserved for the burial
OF sacred balloons and sacred ibises
1t is understood from the Inscriptions
which remain that considerable city
surrounded the shrine site but almost .
nothing OF remains has been found save
the shrine itself, which constituted the
surface entrance to the catacombs. eu
far the excavations have covered about
80 acres, but it Is not yet known how
much larger the underground city ma
be. Work continues.
The baboon god was symbolical of t. !,
god Thoth. who was the especial patron
OF art and magic in ancient Egypt. Her
mopolis was Thoths most sacred city.
The city is followed out in successive
levels and 1t Is expected that by the
time the work is finished 1t will be found
that many miles of galleries. lined with
catacombs. will have been found. The
galleries or underground streets are clev-.
erly fashioned With notable engineer.
ing skill the constructors opened light
shafts extending from the surface, which
introduced light, at intervals and venti-
lation. =
There are many decipherable inscrip-
tions which tell how Thoth himself Gre
ated from an egg on q mountain top,
participated in the creation of the world.