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* ESSENES. 217 ESSEQUIBO. speak of the Essenes from personal knowledge, ^o mention is made of them in the Bible jut in Rabbinical literature. From these sources we learn that their most distinctive features were the strictness of their organization, their in- tense regard for ceremonial purity, and their practice of the community of goods. A probation of one year was required before the novice could he admitted to the lustrations, and a further probation of two years before he could obtain entrance' to the common meal and take the oath of full membership. This oath demanded abso- lute obedience and secrecy, and when broken was punished by an expulsion that, because of the continuance of the binding requirement that no food should be taken which was ceremonially unclean, was equivalent to death by starvation. As regards their ceremonial purity, the special points nf insistence were abstinence from sexual intercourse, innumerable washings, scrupulous bodily cleanliness, the avoidance of contact with lower orders in the brotherhood, the exclusive wearing of white raiment, and particularly the peculiar ceremonial requirements of their com- mon meal, to which none but full members of the order were admitted, the food of which was specially prepared by their priests and the whole conduct of which partook of the nature of a sacrificial feast. As communists, all possessions and all rewards of labor were held in common and distributed among the members according to need. The chief employment of the brotherhood was agriculture, though handicrafts of all kinds were carried on — the only prohibition being trading, as leading to covetousness, and the manufacture of weapons and instruments which might injure men, as being against their funda- mental principle of peace. The order had its chief roots in Judaism, its struggle after ceremonial purity showing it to be a refinement of Pharisaism. At the same time it had elements so strongly at variance with Judaism in general. and Pharisaism in particular, as to suggest influences foreign to Palestine. These elements were especially the rejection of animal sacrifices, by which its members were ex- cluded from the temple worship; the peculiar attention to the sun, which was considered as representing the Divine brightness, the members praying toward it at its rising and avoiding all uncovering of themselves before it ; and especially the view entertained regarding the origin, pres- ent state, and future destiny of the soul, which was held to be pre-existent, being entrapped in the body as in a prison and having before it, as a reward of righteousness, a blessed paradise in the farthest west, and, as a penalty of iniquity, a dark and gloomy cavern full of unending pun- ishments. As to what these foreign influences were, there is considerable discussion, in which perhaps no conclusions can be reached beyond the general one that they were Oriental, rather than Greek, gathering around an essential dual- ism whose influence can be traced in other pe- culiarities of the order's belief and custom. This is confirmed by the fact that Oriental influences were prevalent in the West from the third cen- tury r.c. to the third century A.D., within which time Essenism flourished. It is an interesting question as to how much Christianity owed to Essenism. It would seem that there was room for definite contact between John the Baptist and this brotherhood. His time of preparation was spent in the wilderness near the Dead Sea; his preaching of righteous- ness toward God, and justice toward one's fellow men, was in agreement with the propaganda of Essenism; while Ins insistence on baptism was ii> accord with the Essenic emphasis on lusi ra- tions. But the Baptist was much more of an ascetic than an Essene would have needed to be, and had a Messianic outlook which does not seem to have entered into the Essenic belief. Doubtless the fundamental teachings of Essenism — love to God, to virtue, and to fellow men — had vital agreement with the precepts of Christian- ity; so that from this element in Judaism Christianity was quite likely to have taken many of its earlier converts, while it is more than probable that Christianity's world-wide develop- ment of these common ideals did as much as any- thing to prepare Essenism for its final disap- pearance as a distinctive organization. Bibliography. A large literature has been pro- duced on this subject. Among the more recent books, consult: Lightfoot, "Excursus," in t.'otn- mentary on Colossians and Philemon (3d ed., London, 1879) ; Friedliinder, Zur Entstehungs- geschichte des Christentums (Vienna, 1894); Schiirer, Geschichtc des jiidisehen Volkes ~ur Zeit Jesu, English translation (New York, 1890) ; Holtzmann, "Excursus," in Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Theologie (Leipzig, 1897). See also Jewish Sects and its bibliography. ESSENTIAL OIL. See Oils. ESSENTIALS ( ML. essentialis, from Lat. es- sentia, existence, from esse, to be). In music, chord notes, i.e. the root, third, and fifth of a chord. Any other notes in a chord are inci- dentals (q.v. ), and are of a purely ornamental character. ESSENTTJ'KI. or Essentukskaya. A water- ing resort in the Territory of Terek, in the North- ern Caucasus, Russia, about 10 miles northwest of Pyatigorsk. It is situated at an altitude of about 2000 feet and is much frequented during the summer months because of its cold alkaline springs. Population in 1897, 4400. ESSEQUIBO, es'sf-ke1)o (native name Dis- srquebe). The largest river of British Guiana, rising about 1° north of the equator on the northern slope of the western extension of the Tumuc Humac Mountains, which separate its valley from that of the Amazon River (Map: Guiana, F 2). It flows in a northerly direction, emptying into the Atlantic west of Georgetown, after a course of over GOO miles. At its mouth, an estuary about 20 miles wide is formed, con- taining numerous islets. Its course is very tortu- ous and interrupted by numerous cataracts, while its mouth is closed by bars which can be passed by deep-draught vessels only during high tide. It is navigated for a considerable distance, and even heavy vessels can ascend for a distance of about 40 miles from its mouth. Its chief tribu- taries are the Rupununi, Potaro, and the Cuyuni- Mazaruni, all from the west. On the banks are forests of locust-tree, ironwood, ebony, green heart, and other fine timber-trees. The region adjoining the river was the subject of conflicting claims between the British and Venezuelan gov- ernments, which led to the arbitration treaty of February 2. 1S!17. The award was made October 3, 1899. See Venezuela, section History.