Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/704

 IDUMEA

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IGLESIAS

and combination of substances, so has the Divine power been traced in all things, and all things have been worshipped accordingly. As an illustration, the worship of animals may be briefly considered. From the beginning and throughout his history, man is associated with the lower animals. Adam is surrounded by them in Eden, and Eve speaks famil- iarly to the serpent. Sacrificed animals link man to God, from the sacrifice of Abel to the taurobolium of the latest superstition of pagan Rome. The scape- goat carries with it the sins of the people, the paschal lamb redeems them. The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world, the dove which represents the Holy Ghost, the animal emljlems of the Evangelists, the dragon of St. Michael and of St. George of England, not to mention others, are familiar to Christians.

The heathen mind has moved in similar grooves. In oldest EgjTJt we find the bull associated with the godhead and receiving divine homage — whether as a special representative, a manifestation, a sj-mbol, or a receptacle of the divinity, it is impossible to decide. From the seventh century B. c. onwards every god is figured with the head of some animal sacred to him; Thot has the head of an ibis, Amon a ram's, Horus a hawk's, Anubis a jackal's, etc. Were the EgjT)tians and other zoolaters guided by the same s.^-mbolism that leads us to call on "the Lamb of God" for for- giveness of our sins? If so, animal-worship runs through the following stages: Man's close association with animal life fills his mental storehouse with com- posite notions — e. g., the faithful dog, the sly fox, the cunning serpent, the patient ass — in which the animal embodies a human attribute. Next, the adjective is dropped, and the animal name is used as a predicate of persons, as a personal, family, tribal, or divine name. At this point the process branches off according to the religious temper of the people. Where Monotheism rules, the animal, alive or figured, is but an emblem or a symbol; among unt\itored savages, like the Red Indians, it is the bearer of the tribe's tutelary spirit and the object of various degrees of worship; in decaying religions — e. g., Egyptian later poly- theism — it is identified with the god whose charac- teristic it represents, and shares with him in divine honours. The light of Revelation has cleared away the aberrations of this natural process wherever it has penetrated, but traces of it remain embedded in many, perhaps in all, languages. Thus Wodan's sacred wolf still enters into 357 personal names borne by Ger- mans. (See also Im.^^ges; Religion; Worship.)

For dosmatic anrl moral side, see works quoted in text. The history of idolatry is now studied as comparative religion, but as yet there is no standard Catholic work on the subject. For monographs, see B.\bylonia: China: Egypt: Greece: also the series of the London Catholic Truth Society, History of Religion (32 lectures in 4 vols.. London, 1908 — ); and two similar scries, each called Science el Religion (Paris).

J. WiLHELM.

Idumea, the country inhabited by the descendants of Edom. The word Idumea is the gra-cized form of the Hebrew name 'Edom (Egypt., Aduma; Assyr., U-du-um-ma-ai. U-dii-mu, U-du-mi), which appears to have been applied to the region from the red colour of its sandstone cliffs. Idumea was situated south of Juda and the Dead Sea, but its limits, bordering on the wilderness, are difficult to determine. According to Gen., xxxvi, S sqq., on leaving Chanaan, Esau took his abode on Mt. Seir, then the home of the Horites (Gen., xiv, 6; D. v.: Chorreans). Mt. Seir is commonly thought to he the .lebel esh-Shera, a range prolonging the mountains of Moab, to the E. of the 'Arabah; vari- ous indications, however, suggest a more westerly location and lead one to believe that Mt. Seir should be sought rather in the highlanrls between Cades and the southern end of the Dead Sea. The Tel-el-.-^marna tablets, indeed, speak of She-e-ri as a country south of Western Palestine; the same dcx^uments mention in that regiort 3 city of U-du-mu (Edom), in which Ed-

Dome (Ruma of Jos., xv, 52 — D. V.; Heb., Diimah), south-south-west of Hebron, is recognized, the name being sometimes used to designate the country of the Edomites. On the other hand, the route followed by the Israelites, returning from Cades to Asiongaber (A. v.: Eziongeber; Deut., ii, 8) and skirting to the east of the 'Arabah through Salmona (unknown), Phunon (Khirbet Fenan) and Oboth (prob. Wady Wcibeh), then going north-eastwards to Jeabarim (Kh. 'Ai, east-south-east of Kerak), in order "to compass the land of Edom " (Num., xxi, 4), which they were not allow'ed to cross (Num., xx, 17), indicates that this land did not extend beyond the 'Arabah. Under the name of Idumea, not only Mt. Seir, but all the surrounding region inhabited by tribes claiming an Edomite descent, is usually understood.

In early times the Edomites were governed by 'alliiph'im or "dukes"; but during the sojourn of the Hebrews in the desert Mt. Seir was under the control of a king. Gen., xxxvi, .31-39, gives a list of "the kings that ruled in the land of Edom, before the chil- dren of Israel had a king"; from this hst we gather that the Edomite monarchy was elective. In spite of the blood-relationship uniting Israel and Edom, the two peoples were frequently in conflict. Saul had turned his army against the Edomites (I K., xiv, 47); David conquered and garrisoned the country (II K., viii, 14) and Solomon occupied its ports on the Red Sea (III K., Lx, 26). During Joram's reign, Idumea succeeded in shaking oflf for a while the yoke of Jerusa- lem, but Amasias obliged the Edomites once more to own Juda's sway; finally under Achaz they won their independence. With the fall of Juda into the hands of the Babylonians, whom they had joined in the fray, the power of the Edomites wa.xed stronger, and they took possession of all Southern Palestine, making Hebron their capital. But despite their alliance with the Syr- ians during the Machabean war, they could not with- stand the sturdy onslaught of the Israelite patriots who drove them from the south of Juda. The loss of their pos.sessions east of the 'Arabah, fallen long since into the hands of the Nabatha^ans, rendered the Edomites an easy prey to their neighbours, and in 109 B.C. they were conquered liy John Hyrcanus, who, however, allowetl them to remain in the country on the condition that they should adopt Judaism. When, at the death of Alexandra (69), Aristobulus endeavoured to wTest the crown from his brother Hyrcanus II, Antipater, Governor of Idumea, took the latter's side in the con- flict, and, upon the arrival of the Romans, attached himself closely to them. The assistance he lent to their army in several expeditions, and the services he rendered to Julius Ca?sar were rewarded in 47 by the much-coveted title of Roman citizen and the appoint- ment to the procuratorship of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. His son was Herod the Great.

BuRcKHARDT, Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (London, 1.S22): Robinson, Bihlical Researches in Palestine, II (London, 1856); Palmer, The Desert of the Exodus (Cambridge, 1S7I); Hull, Mount Seir (Ixindon, 1889): Idem. Memoir on the Ge- ology and Geography of Arabia Petrcea, Palestine and adjoining districts (London. ISSO): MusiL, Arabia Petrwa. II, Edom. Topographischer l/riseberirht (Vienna, 1907): Buhl, Geschichte dec Edomitcr (hci\i7AR, lS9,"i): Lagrange, L'ltini-raire des iarO' elites du Pays de Gessen aux bords du Jourdain. De CadkB h 'Asion-Gaber in Revue Biblique (1900), 280; jAtJSSEN, Savionac, and Vincent. 'Abdch in Revue Biblique (1904), 403: (1905). 74. 235.

Chables L. Souvay.

Iglesias, Diocese op (Ecclesiensis), suffragan of Cagliari in Sardinia. The city of Iglesias is situated near the ruins of the ancient Sulci. The territory is rich in thermal springs; several mines, especially those of Monte Porri, furnish lead, iron, and manganese. Many of the fortifications, constructed by the Pisans (for- merly the masters of Sardinia), still exist. In 1323 the city was taken after a long resistance by James II ot Aragon, who thus l)egan the conquest of all Sardinia. Sulci was an episcopal see as early as the seventh cea->