Fig. 109—Egyptian Calf-Idol
Calf is mentioned in several places, but not requiring a zoological explanation, it may be sufficient to make a few remarks on the worship of calves and other superstitious practices connected with them. The most ancient and remarkable notice in the Scriptures on this head, is that of the golden calf which was cast by Aaron from the earrings of the people, while the Israelites were encamped at the foot of Sinai and Moses was absent on the Mount. The next notice refers to an event which occurred ages after, when Jeroboam, king of Israel, set up two idols in the form of a calf, the one in Dan and the other in Bethel. This almost incomprehensible degradation of human reason was, more particularly in the first instance, no doubt the result of the debasing influences which operated on the minds of the Israelites during their sojourn in Egypt, where, amid the daily practice of the most degrading and revolting religious ceremonies, they were accustomed to see the image of a sacred calf, surrounded by other symbols, carried in solemn pomp at the head of marching armies; such as may be still seen depicted in the processions of Rameses the Great or Sesostris. A similar divinity belonged to the earliest Indian, Greek, and even Scandinavian mythologies; and therefore it may be conceived that the symbol, enduring even to this day, was at that period generally understood by the multitude, and consequently that it was afterwards revived by Jeroboam without popular opposition. With regard to , it may be sufficient to mention that many nations of antiquity had a practice of binding themselves to certain resolutions by the ceremony of cutting a calf or other victim into two halves or sides, laying them on the ground, and passing between the severed parts. This was considered as constituting a peculiarly binding obligation (comp. ; ).
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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