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On 9/25/2011 5:40 AM, Rehav Rubin wrote:
Does anyone know earlier versions of this symbol that might be the source of
this one?
I can't trace the symbol's use on maps, but I can offer more possible
sources for it in contemporary culture.
Joel mentioned Ripa as one important popularizer, but early-modern
Europeans traced the use of the crocodile as an enigmatic symbol for
Egypt back to the ancient Egyptians themselves (and "the *Enigmatic*
Way" of discourse, in general, to the ancient Hebrews, as well, making
it especially appropriate for a map of the Holy Land).
The following is from Denis de Coetlogon's _An Universal History of
Arts and Sciences_ (1740, 1745):
"The CROCODILE *Hieroglyphick*.
"To signify the East, the *Egyptians* painted two Eyes of
*Crocodiles*, as coming out of the Head. And the West was
signified by the Figure of a *Crocodile* laying at its full
Length upon the Earth. By the Tail of the *Crocodile* they
understood either Death or Funerals, because so soon as the
*Crocodile* has catched some Animal, he makes use of his Tail
to kill him. The Figure of the *Crocodile* was likewise among
them the *Hieroglyphick* of Luxury and Perdition. By the
Figure of the *Crocodile* beating himself they understood
Fury; because when that Animal has lost his Prey he punishes
himself for it.
"The Figure of the *Crocodile* with his Mouth open, signified
an Epicure. There is seen on several Copper Coins, a
*Crocodile* tied to a Palm-Tree, with this Legend COL. AEG.
*Egyptian Colony*; and on the Reverse two human Heads, one
looking Eastward, and wearing a naval Crown with these
Letters a-top, IMP. *i. e.* Emperor; whereby the *Crocodile*
is signified *Egypt*, and its being tied to a Palm Tree
signifies the Victory of *Augustus*, which he caused to be
engraved on an Obelisk. As to the two Heads, I believe one is
of *Augustus* and the other of *Agrippa*.
"Another Piece of Silver of *Augustus* is stamped with the
Figure of a *Crocodile*, with this Legend a-top, EGYPTO, at
Bottom CAPTA, and on the Reverse the Head of *Augustus*, with
this Legend round it, CAESAR DIVI F. Cos. VI. there is also a
Coin of L. AEL. AUR[?]. COMMOD. where the Emperor *Commodus*
under the Figure of *Hercules*, tramples on a *Crocodile*
with his Right-Foot, holding in his Left-Hand a Club, and
giving with the Right, Ears of Corn to *Egypt*, which
presents him with a Systus, the Legend INDULGENTIAE AUGUSTI,
*To the Indulgence of Augustus*."
De Coetlogon, who argued that
"*Hieroglyphicks* are distinguished from Symbols, in that
*Hieroglyphicks* are properly Emblems, or Signs of divine,
sacred, or supernatural Things; and Symbols are Signs of
sensible, and natural Things."
believed, as did most early Egyptologists,
"That the *Hieroglyphicks* were invented by Priests, called
for that Reason, *Hierogrammatici*; who also used to write
*Hieroglyphical* Books, and occasionally explain them, with
other Matters relating to the Doctrine of Religion. *Suidas*
says, that they were also Prophets; at least he relates, that
an *Hierogrammaticus* foretold to an antient King of *Egypt*,
that there would be an *Israelite* of great Wisdom, Virtue,
and Reputation, who should humble *Egypt*.
"The *Hierogrammatici* were always near the King, to assist
him with their Informations and Counsels. The better to fit
them for this, they made Use of the Skill and Knowledge they
had acquired of the Stars, and the Motions of the heavenly
Lights; and even of the Writings of their Predecessors,
wherein their Functions and Duties were delivered. They were
exempted from all civil Employments; were reputed the first
Persons in Dignity next the King; and bore a Kind of Scepter,
in Form of a Ploughshare. After *Egypt* became a Province of
the *Roman* Empire, the *Hierogrammatici* fell into Neglect."
European Neoplatonists found much to admire in Plutarch's claim "that
the hieroglyphs embodied occult wisdom and sacred knowledge, picturing
ideas that ought not to be disclosed to the vulgar and profane".
And this desire to communicate enigmatically -- defined by Ephraim
Chambers in his _Cyclopaedia_ (1st edn., 1728) as
"an obscure Discourse, covering some common, and well known
Thing, under remote and uncommon Terms";
&
"*Painted Enigma's*, are Representations of the Works of
Nature, or Art, conceal'd under human Figures, drawn from
History, or Fable"
-- was consonant with mysticism, especially within scientific circles.
Robert Boyle, for instance, who experienced religious ecstasies, as
did Athanasius Kircher, was fascinated by veiled communications
(parables, allegories, riddles), especially those found in the bible.
Not surprisingly, such philosophico-religious symbolism was
incorporated by most artists (including printers and illustrators and
cartographers), as expected by their patrons.
E.g., when "the Wizard Earl" -- Henry Percy, 9th earl of
Northumberland -- was installed a knight of the Garter on 23 April
1593, the dramatist, George Peele (a companion of Ben Jonson),
published a series of verses entitled _The Honour of the Garter_,
dedicated to the new knight, in which the earl was linked with
Trismegistus and Pythagoras, and apostrophised:
"... Young Northumberland,
Mounted on Fortune's wheel by Virtue's aim,
Become thy badge, as it becometh thee!
Leaving our schoolmen's vulgar trodden paths,
And following the ancient reverend steps
Of Trismegistus and Pythagoras,
Thro' uncouth ways and inacessible,
Dost pass into the spacious pleasant fields
Of divine Science and Philosophy!"
Even late in the 17th century, the *ethos* of natural philosopher
continued to be influenced by the Neoplatonist natural magic tradition
(as epitomized in the work of Marsilio Ficino) and by the optimistic
microcosm/macrocosm view of humanity and creation, modeled by the
"Hermetick Philosophy" (itself rooted in the gnostic mystery religions
of the 2nd-3rd centuries).
Nor was Hermeticism restricted to Europe's intellectual and social
elites, as illustrated by the career of Dr. John Everard (d. 1650?), a
learned divine who left his situation in Cambridge to bring Hermetic
philosophy "to the lowest of men ... tinkers, cobblers, weavers, and
poor beggarly fellows that came running." Everard's _The Divine
Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus_ (trans. from an ancient
Arabic ms. by Everard in 1650) was reprinted in 1657, and his other
published works included
_The Gospel treasury opened, or, The holiest of all
unvailing: discovering yet more the riches of grace and glory
to the vessels of mercy unto whom onely it is given to know
the mysteries of that kingdom and the excellency of spirit,
power, truth above letter, forms, shadows. In several sermons
preached at Kensington & elswhere by John Everard. Whereunto
is added the mystical divinity of Dionysius the Areopagite
spoken of Acts 17:34 with collections out of other divine
authors_ (London, 1657).
So, yes, Ripa was an important source, but the original spur for
European fascination with the visual language of enigmatic Egyptian
discourse was probably the _Hieroglyphics_ of Horapollo (thought to
have originated in the 4th century CE, and finally introduced to a
broad European audience with the splendid -- and influential -- Aldine
edn. of 1505). Horapollo
"did not have a full and accurate knowledge of Egyptian
hieroglyphs and interpreted their meaning according to the
old allegorical system which gave a philosophical or
scientific explanation of why a given sign expresses certain
ideas. Thus for Horapollo the year is symbolised by Isis
because her star predicts by its waxing and waning, its
brightness or dimness, the happenings of the year. Similarly
a frog represents an unformed man because frogs are born of
the mud of rivers."
Egyptian hieroglyphs met early-modern Europeans' ideal of an
ideogrammatic language, and this interpretive approach was encouraged
by the discovery and study of symbolism on Roman coins (as de
Coetlogon mentions in his article on the crocodile hieroglyph).
By the end of C17 when the map in question was issued (Rehav dates it
to 1695), such enigmatic symbolism was part of mainstream visual
culture, and crocodile symbolism was more prevalent than one might think.
Crocodiles were by then a star attraction in scientific museums, such
as the famous Museo Kircheriano (housed at the Jesuits' College in
Rome), and the Musaeum Regalis Societatis in London, whose catalog
describes 4 specimens, including the "Skeleton of a Crocodile or ye
Leviathan" (referred to in the Book of Job), which was given to the
Royal Society by Sir Robert Southwell.
Both museums had many prized Egyptian artifacts (e.g., a mummy "taken
out of the Royal Pyramids" and given to the Royal Society for its
museum by "the Illustrious Prince *Henry* Duke of *Norfolk*").
And Kircher pretty much defined 17th-century European Egyptology.
There is an interesting Amsterdam connection, too, since the Dutch
(especially Dutch colonists in Brazil) trafficked in crocodiles and
their parts at this time (from at least the 1680s, if not before). The
crocodile was highly valued not just as food, but also for medicines
made from crocodile fat, and from "the Kernels under their Throat",
the stomach (from which "an admirable *Diuretick*, and brings away
Stones from the Reins and Bladder ... and ... an excellent Remedy for
the Dropsie"),
"As also for his *Testicles*, which smell like Oyntment, and
which they sell very dear."
as documented by the Royal Society's Nehemiah Grew, writing in 1681.
And the mythology around crocodiles -- what Erasmus called "the animal
most hostile to man" -- was further spread to a mass audience by
prints and travel books, such as
_A most delectable, and true discourse, of an admired and
painefull peregrination from Scotland, to the most famous
kingdomes in Europe, Asia and Affricke. With the particular
descriptions (more exactly set downe then hath beene
heeretofore in English) of Italy, Sycilia, Dalmatia, Ilyria,
Epire, Peloponnesus, Macedonia, Thessalia, and the whole
continent of Greece, Creta, Rhodes, the iles Cyclades, with
all the ilands in the Ioanian, AEgean, and Adriaticke Seas,
Thracia, the renowned Citty Constantinople, Cholchis,
Bythinia, and the black Sea, Troy, Phrygia, and the chiefest
countries of Asia Minor. From thence, to Cyprus, Phoenicia,
Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia Petrea, and the desert of Egypt,
the Red Sea, Grand Cayro, the whole province of Canaan, the
Lake of Sodom and Gomorrha, the famous rivers Nylus,
Euphrates and Jordan, and the sacred citty Jerusalem, &c._
by William Lithgow, son of a Scottish merchant (1st edn. in 1614, with
5 printings by 1640, and a 12th edn. appearing as late as 1814).
(Lithgow visited and wrote about the spot on the banks of the Nile
where was killed a crocodile which had eaten 46 men and women!)
Crocodile lore even made it onto the early-modern stage. E.g., James
Miller made clever use of it in his biting satire of the new science,
_The humours of Oxford: a comedy. As it is acted at the
Theatre-Royal, by His Majesty's servants_
written while Miller was a student at Wadham College, Oxford, and
first performed at Drury Lane (London) on 9 Jan 1730.
Of note, in his play, Miller personified natural philosophy in the
character of "Lady Science", described as
"an old Lady, a great Pretender to Learning and Philosophy,
which she places in using uncouth Words, and Terms of
Art"
who spends her days dreaming of life on Jupiter, and is obsessed with
globes, quadrants, spheres, prisms, microscopes, air-pumps, serpent's
teeth, mummy's-bones, and monstrous births -- thus bearing an uncanny
resemblance to the real-life Margaret Cavendish, duchess of Newcastle
(d. 1673), also known for discourse that
"is as airy, empty, whimsical, and rambling as her books,
aiming at science, difficulties, high notions, terminating
commonly in nonsense, oaths, and obscenity"
(so wrote Mary Evelyn to Dr. Bohun in a letter recounting Mary's visit
with the duchess in April 1667).
The Egyptian tendency to liken the sun to a crocodile, along with
astronomers'/astrologers' conceits of a bestialized heavens, is
explicitly ridiculed in Miller's play. One scene includes the
following dialogue between Lady Science and Gainlove (described in the
"Dramatis Personae" as "a young Fellow of ruined Fortune and dissolute
Life" who "follows Lady Science to Oxford, with a View of marrying her
for her Money,---but afterwards in Love with Victoria", her daughter):
[spoken by Lady Science] Alas, Sir, I have often bewail'd my
Misfortune, in being condemn'd to live on this dirty Planet,
the Earth. What immense Advantages must the Inhabitants of
Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus, have over us, with regard to
these Celestial Contemplations.
[spoken by Gainlove] Immense.
[Lady Science, aside] I perceive this is a Man of very great
Learning, for he thinks and saith just I do.
[Lady Science] But pray, Sir, have you any Skill in Judicial
Astrology---I think it absolutely necessary, for one who has
a Family, to be a considerable Proficient in that useful
Science.
[Gainlove] Absolutely.
[Lady Science] Then without question you can erect Schemes,
and calculate Nativities, Sir---you are acquainted with the
Conjunctions and Oppositions of the Planets, their Houses
and Signs---there is the Bull, the Bear, the Ram, the
Crab---
[Gainlove] Ay, Madam---and the Crocodile, the Elephant, the
Rhinoceros, the Whale, the---
[Lady Science] How, how, Sir---the Crocodile, the Elephant,
the Whale---I never heard of them before.
[Gainlove, aside] So---I have fairly run my self out of
Breath.---
[Gainlove] O, Madam, they---they, they are some of my own
Discoveries, Madam---I---I---I---.
[Gainlove, aside] S'death I shall make it worse, by and by.
[Lady Science, aside] I perceive this Gentleman has a small
Imperfection in his Speech; that's the reason he is so much
given to Taciturnity.---
[Lady Science] Well, Sir, I have but one thing more to ask
you, and you shall be conducted to your Bride. ...
and in a later scene, we encounter:
[Lady Science] O ye Celestial Bodies!---A Brazen-Nose-Fellow
indeed!---Bless us, how have I been impos'd on, what a Chaos
of Confusion have I nigh been immers'd in, by my heedless
Precipitation!---Ah! these are your Discoveries---your
Elephant and Crocodile, thou Pseudo-magus!---but I'll go and
secure the Crocodile within---I wonder'd she was so flexible
indeed---O my Stars!---I am in an universal Fermentation at
the thoughts of it---every Nerve and Fibre in my Frame is put
into a Vibration with the Fright---but I'll soon incapacitate
her from giving me any more Perturbation.
Of course, there was no single engimatic understanding of the
crocodile; early modern meanings were ambiguous, plural, and mostly a
matter of witty interpretation -- revealed through a circumstantial
process of encoding and decoding "Moral Truth, or other Matter of
Knowledge" by creating "an ingenious Picture, representing one Thing
to the Eye, and another to the Understanding" (again quoting from
Chambers' 1728 _Cyclopaedia_).
I believe the crocodile served most often as a symbol of evil, but it
was also a symbol of time in another strain of philosophico-religious
thought.
The following quote is from another influential text for European arts
& sciences -- _The Marriage of Philology and Mercury_, by Martianus
Capella, a Roman African, whose _De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii_
dates from c.410-439 CE, and "incongruously mingles abstractions, gods
of various kinds, and ancient worthies, wrestling them all into
personification allegory":
"... Soon she [Philology, about to become immortal] was eager
to make the laborious journey to the sun's circle -- an ascent
rendered toilsome by its distance of three half tones, or a
tone and a half. She saw there a Ship ["The vehicle of the
sun, according to Egyptian legend ..."] which was laden with
celestial goods, full of flame, and which controlled
according to different appetites the courses of the whole of
nature. Seven sailors, all alike and all brothers ["Probably
the sun, the moon, and the five planets then known; though
some commentators have said these were the days of the
week."], were in charge of it. The image of a cat [symbol of
the moon] was painted on the prow, a lion [symbol of the sun]
on the mast, and a crocodile [symbol of time] on the stern.
On that ship a fountain of celestial light poured forth,
spreading in mystical emanations into lights which illumine
the whole world. When she saw this, Philology rose and
fervently and devoutly, her eyes half-closed, prayed to the
god in these words ...."
In Martianus' telling, Mercury (Eloquence) marries Philology
(Learning) who, "suffering a bout of premarital queasiness" at the
prospect of becoming immortal,
"is induced to vomit a great quantity of books, which some
young women collect. After the wedding, these women are
presented one by one as handmaidens to grace the new
household; Philology's bridal gift is the Seven Liberal Arts,
each of whom makes a speech explaining herself....
Martianus's personifications of the Seven Liberal Arts and
their attributes became canonical for the Middle Ages. They
recur frequently in Latin poetry and were familiar to the
devout from the façades of half-a-dozen cathedrals."
And here we have yet another way in which such arcane symbolism was
absorbed into 17th-century visual culture.
On a related note: C17 world maps (at least the ones I know from their
inclusion in C17 printed books) often featured the different
continents personified as women, seated on or standing next to various
creatures considered emblematic of a region (like the crocodile).
For purposes of comparison, here is de Coetlogon's gloss for the
enigmatic Europa:
"The *Figure of* EUROPA *Hieroglyphick*.
"The Figure of *Europa*, carried on the Sea by a Bull,
turning her Head backwards, and looking afar off the Shore
she has left, signified the human Soul, carried by the Body
on the Sea of this World, looking notwithstanding towards the
Shore she has left, *i. e.* her Creator."
I don't recall seeing this particular image on any maps, though, and
if, indeed, it was never favored by cartographers, it would be
interesting to know why not....
Deborah
_____
Deborah Taylor-Pearce
[email protected]
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