Naphtha

“ Fountains of bitumen, in Susiana and Babylonia, were called Ain-Aptha, the fountains of Aptha, the God of fire; which by the Greeks was rendered Naptha, a name given to [832] bitumen. As they changed Ain Omphe to Numpha, a Goddess, they accordingly denominated the place itself Νυμφειον, Nymphæum: and wherever a place occurs of that name, there will be found something particular in its circumstances. We are told by [833] Pliny that the river Tigris, being stopped in its course by the mountains of Taurus, loses itself under ground, and rises again on the other side at Nymphæum. ”

“ Thou smitest down the mediators of thy foes, and thou seizest the arms of the power of darkness. Thy two sisters (Isis and Nephthys) are given to thee for thy delight. Thou hast created that which is in Kher-aha, and that which is Anu. Every god feareth thee, for thou art exceedingly great and terrible; thou [avengest] every god on the man who curseth him, and thou shootest arrows at him. Thou livest according to thy will. Thou art Uatchet, the Lady of Flame, evil befalleth those who set themselves up against thee. ”

“ The hind or gazelle is a simile of a warrior who is skilful and swift in his movements (2Sa 2:18; 1Ch 12:8, cf. Psa 18:33; Hab 3:19) . שׁלהה here is neither hunted, nor stretched out or grown slim; but let loose, running freely about (Job 39:5) . The meaning and allusion are obscure, since nothing further is known of the history of the tribe of Naphtali, than that Naphtali obtained a great victory under Barak in association with Zebulun over the Canaanitish king Jabin, which the prophetess Deborah commemorated in her celebrated song (Judg 4 and 5) . ”

“ While your mind is absorbed in the meaning of the words you utter, the melody in which you utter them tells your heart a tale of its own. You live in two distinct worlds at once. Naphtali had little to say to other people, but he seemed to have much to say to himself. His singsongs were full of meaning, of passion, of beauty. Quite often he would sing himself hoarse
Regularly every Thursday night he and I had our vigil at the Preacher's Synagogue, where many other young men would gather for the same purpose. We would sit up reading, side by side, until the worshipers came to morning service. ”

“ Naphtali. - “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of Jehovah; of sea and south shall he take possession.” If the gracefulness of Naphtali is set forth in the blessing of Jacob, by comparing it to a gazelle, here Moses assures the same tribe of satisfaction with the favour and blessing of God, and promises it the possession of the sea and of the south, i.e., an inheritance which should combine the advantages of the sea - a healthy sea-breeze - with the grateful warmth of the south. ”

“ IN THE second generation the Nephites began to grow numerous, and iniquity made its appearance among them. It was then that Jacob their priest, prophesied: The time speedily cometh, that except ye repent, they [the Lamanites] [Pg 311] shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you. This prophecy was completely fulfilled, if not on previous occasions, about 300 years or so afterwards, when Mosiah, by the command of God, led the righteous Nephites out of the land of their inheritance—the land of Nephi—down into the land of Zarahemla. ”

“ When it came to land four gods stood around it thus: Hastséhogan on the east, Hastséyalti on the south, one Gánaskĭdi on the west, and one on the north. They pried out one of the stoppers with their wands, and the Navaho came out on the land. They took [171] out what remained of the food they had given him, a bow of cedar with the leaves on, and two reed arrows that they had placed in the log before they launched it. This done, they plugged the log again with a black cloud. ”

“ Daughter of Seláma! thou shinest along my soul. Come, with thy thousands, Cairbar! the strength of Nathos is returned! Thou, O aged Usnoth! shalt not hear that thy son has fled. I remember thy words on Etha; when my sails began to rise: when I spread them towards Erin, towards the mossy walls of Tura! 'Thou goest,' he said, 'O Nathos, to the king of shields! Thou goest to Cuthullin, chief of men, who never fled from danger. Let not thine arm be feeble: neither be thy thoughts of flight; lest the son of Semo should say, that Etha's race are weak. ”

“ The rapid growth of the crops in Nati'nĕsthani's farm is supposed to result from the divine origin of the seed.
227. The order in which Nati'nĕsthani lays down the ears of corn is the order in which sacrificial cigarettes, kethawns, and other sacred objects, when colored, are laid down in a straight row. The white, being the color of the east, has precedence of all and is laid down first. The blue, the color of the south, comes next, for when we move sunwise (the sacred ceremonial circuit of the Navahoes) south follows immediately after east. ”

“ Suidas.
Παρ' Αθηναιοις ἡ του Διος μητηρ, Νυμφη. Ibidem.
[832] Naptha is called Apthas by Simplicius in Categoric. Aristotelis. Και ὁ Αφθας δεχεται ποῤῥωθεν του πυρος ειδος. The same by Gregory Nyssen is contracted, and called, after the Ionic manner, Φθης: ὡσπερ ὁ καλουμενος Φθης εξαπτεται. Liber de animâ. On which account these writers are blamed by the learned Valesius. They are, however, guilty of no mistake; only use the word out of composition. Ain-Aptha, contracted Naptha, was properly the fountain itself: the matter which proceeded from it was styled Apthas, Pthas, and Ptha. ”

“ A moment later four mysterious beings appeared to them.26 These were: Bĭtsís Lakaí, or White Body, a being like the god of this world whom the Navahoes call Hastséyalti; Bĭtsís Dotlĭ′z, or Blue Body, who was like the present Navaho god Tóʻnenĭli, or Water Sprinkler; Bĭtsís Lĭtsói, or Yellow Body; and Bĭtsís Lĭzĭ′n, or Black Body, who was the same as the present Navaho god of fire, Hastsézĭni.
161. These beings, without speaking, made many signs to the people, as if instructing them ”

“ The Lord said to Nephi, speaking of the latter days, that the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews, and the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews; and I will gather the people from the four quarters of the earth; and my words shall be gathered in one, (See Book of Mormon, page 108) , the records of the Nephites upon this land. And the numerous people that have been planted on the islands of the sea, are to be gathered in one; for they were righteous in some of their earlier generations ”

“ The beautiful genesis myth of the Apache is complete; it does not reflect an incipient primitive culture, but one developed by age. The mythology and ceremonial of the Navaho exhibit unquestioned signs of being composite in origin. Their ceremonials are perhaps the most elaborate of any Indians except the Pueblos; indeed the very life of this people so teems with ceremony as almost to pass comprehension. The Navaho ritual probably reached its highest phase about the beginning of the nineteenth century. ”

“ When the fire was extinguished the three marched out in single file—Tóʻnenĭli in front, to divide the water, the Navaho in the middle, and Hastsézĭni in the rear. Before they had quite reached the dry land they heard a flopping sound behind them, and, looking around, they saw Tsal, the Frog. “Wait,” said he. “I have something to tell you. We can give disease to those who enter our dwelling, and there are cigarettes, sacred to us, by means of which our spell may be taken away. The cigarette of Tiéholtsodi should be painted black ”

“ The case of Natthu is a common one in India; is it altogether unknown even in England, where the sacrifices to be made for God are so much smaller than those required of the poor Hindu? We are not called to be aliens from family, exiles from home, though from every Christian is required the spirit that is ready to give and hazard all for the Lord.
CHAPTER IV. KILLING WITH KINDNESS.
ONE evening, about the hour of sunset, the doctor, Isa Dás, was called in haste from his devotions to see Natthu the oilman, who was, it was said, dying of raging fever. ”

“ They considered him to be a great prophet, a man of God, with great power and authority given to him from God.
And Nephi's brother, Lehi, was just as righteous.
The Nephites started to prosper in the land again and to rebuilt their cities. They multiplied and spread out, covering the whole face of the land from the north to the south, and from the western to the eastern seas. Throughout the year 16 BC, there was peace.
Fifteen BC was also a peaceful year, and the church spread throughout the land. Most of the people, both Nephites and Lamanites, belonged to the church and enjoyed great peace. ”

“ They grow yams, cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, bananas, taro, bread-fruit, pumpkins, melons, and even here and there Indian wheat.
In the New Hebrides the natives worship oblong stones, from six to eighteen inches in length, in each of which they suppose a divinity, or demon, resides, which they call a Natmas. There is a chip off one end of the stone by which the Natmas effects an entrance. The chief of the tribe is the priest, whose duty it is to propitiate the Natmas, who is of course a malignant being. ”

“ Mosiah, the Nephite leader, became king of the united people. He caused that the people of Zarahemla should be taught in the knowledge of their forefathers; and in reverence for the God of Israel. Both peoples were greatly benefited by this union. The people of Zarahemla so strengthened the Nephites in numbers as to make them strong enough to resist any attempted invasion of Lamanites; while to the people of Zarahemla the Nephites brought their civilization, their ideas of government, and enlightenment through means of education. ”

“ White is the color of the east in Navaho symbolism: hence these people in the east are represented as having pale faces. For similar reasons the man in the south (par. 551) is said to have a blue face, the man in the west (par. 552) a yellow face, and the man in the north (par. 553) a dark face. (See note 18.)
246. Bĭ-za (his treasure) , something he specially values; hence his charm, his amulet, his personal fetich, his magic weapon, something that one carries to mysteriously protect himself. Even the divinities are thought to possess such charms. ”

“ The new star appeared in the heavens, there were two days and a night of undiminished light, and all the people, both the righteous and the evildoers, recognized the sign and accepted its signification; the Lord of Life and Glory was clothed with humanity.
For about thirty years we have no direct statement of the work done by Nephi as a minister of God's word. Those thirty years were a period marked with many vicissitudes in the national and spiritual history of the Nephites. For seventeen years from the time of the birth of our Savior they gradually increased in wickedness ”

“ Again, in the myth of Natĭ'nĕsthani a male cigarette is described as made of the coarse sunflower, while its associated female is said to be made of the allied but more slender Verbesina. Instances of this character might be multiplied indefinitely. On this principle the north is associated with the male, and the south with the female, for two reasons: 1st, cold, violent winds blow from the north, while gende, warm breezes blow from the south; 2d, the land north of the Navaho country is more rough and mountainous than the land in the south. ”

“ Version B.—The people were chased from the third world to the fourth world by a deluge and took refuge in a reed, as afterwards related of the flight from the fourth world.
26. In the Navaho tales, when the yéi (genii, gods) come to visit men, they always announce their approach by calling four times. The first call is faint, far, and scarcely audible. Each succeeding call is louder and more distinct. The last call sounds loud and near, and in a moment after it is heard the god makes his appearance. These particulars concerning the gods’ approach are occasionally briefly referred to ”

“ He flew up in the sky until he came to the home of Békotsĭ ́di,78 the god who carries the moon, and who is supposed by the Navahoes to be identical with the God of the Americans. He is very old, and dwells in a long row of stone houses. ”

“ Hatál, in Navaho, means a sacred song, a hymn or chant,—not a trivial song: hence the names of their great ceremonies contain this word, as dsĭlyĭ'dze hatál (the mountain chant) ; klédzi hatál (the night chant) , etc. The man who conducts a ceremony is called hatáli (chanter or singer) . As equivalents for this word the author uses the terms shaman, priest, medicine-man, and chanter. One who treats disease by drugs is called azé-elĭ′ni, or medicine-maker. ”

“ There is no such thing as a general or prevailing Navaho type. The people vary much in feature and stature. Every variety of Indian face and form may be seen among them,—tall men with aquiline noses and prominent features, such as we find among the Crows and Dakotas; dwarfish men with subdued features, such as we see among the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona, and every intermediate variety. ”

“ The years that Nephihah judged the Nephites were of great material progress. Many new cities were founded, and a wide stretch of country reclaimed from the wilderness. He passed away to the realms of the blest in B. C. 68, having, according to the sacred historian, "filled the judgment seat with perfect uprightness before God." Alma had such great confidence in him that he desired to intrust him with the sacred records. This honor and responsibility Nephihah declined, and Alma conferred these treasures upon his son Helaman. ”