Ancient Egyptians (as Representatives of Iloru*) anointing a King.
the cap and crown upon their heads. Some of the sculptures introduce a priest pouring oil over the mon- arch (Wilkinson's Anc. Egyptians, iv, 280). It is from this that the high-priest, as well as the king, is called " the anointed" (Lev. iv, 3 ; v, 16; vi, 15; Psa. cxxxiii, 2). In fact, anointing being the principal ceremony of regal inauguration among the Jews, as crowning is with us, " anointed," as applied to a king, has much the same signification as " crowned." It does not, however, appear that this anointing was re- peated at every succession, the anointing of the found- er of the dynasty being considered efficient for its pur- pose as long as the regular line of descent was undis- turbed (Jahn, Bill. Archilol. § 223); hence we find no instance of unction as a sign of investiture in the roy- al authority, except in the case of Saul, the first king of the Jews, and of David, the first of his line; and, subsequently, in those of Solomon, Joash, and Jehu, who ascended the throne under circumstances in which there was danger that their right might be forcibly disputed (1 Sam. xix, 24; 2 Sam. ii, 4; v, 1-3; 1 Chron. xi, 1, 2; 2 Kings xi, 12-20; 2 Chron. xxiii, 1-21). Those who were inducted into the royal office in the kingdom of Israel appear to have been inaugu- rated with some peculiar ceremonies (2 Kings ix, 13). But it is not clear that they were anointed at all ; and the omission (if real) is ascribed by the Jewish writers to the want of the holy anointing oil which could alone be used on such occasions, and which was in the keep- ing of the priests of the temple In Jerusalem. The private anointing which was performed by the proph- ets (2 Kings ix, 3; comp. 1 Sam. x, 1) was not un- derstood to convey any abstract right to the crown, but was merely a symbolical intimation that the per. son thus anointed should eventually ascend the throne. The following species of official anointing appear to have prevailed among the Jews : (a.) Prujihets were occasionally anointed to their office (1 Kings xix, 10), and are called messiahs, or anointed (1 Chron. xvi, 22 ; Psa. cv, 15). (b.) Priests, at the first institution of the Levitical priesthood, were all anointed to their offices, the sons of Aaron as well as Aaron himself (Exod. xl, 15; Num. iii, 3); but afterward anointing seems not to have been repeated at the consecration of ordinary priests, but to have been especially re- served for the high-priest (Exod. xxix, 29 ; Lev. xvi, 32) ; so that " the priest that is anointed" Cj<12H rP'd53il, Lev. iv, 3) is generally thought to mean the high-priest (Sept. ti ap\nptvq 6 Kixpiaf'tvoc. ; comp. verses 5, 16, and c. vi. 22 [15]). (c.) Kings. The Jews were familiar with the idea of making a king by anointing before the establishment of their own mon- archy (Judg. ix, 8, 15). Anointing was the divinely- appointed ceremony in the inauguration of their own kings (1 Sam. ix, 16; x,l; 1 Kings i, 34, 39); indeed, so pre-eminently did it belong to the kingly office, that "the Lord's anointed" was a common designation of the theocratic king (1 Sam. xii, 3, 5 ; 2 Sam. i, 14, 16). The rite was sometimes performed more than once. David was thrice anointed to be king: first, privately by Sam- uel, before the death of Saul, by way of conferring on him a right to the throne (1 Sam. xvi, 1, 13); again over Judah at Hebron (2 Sam. ii, 4), and finally over the whole nation (2 Sam. v, 3). After the separation into two kingdoms, the kings both of Judah and of Israel seem still to have been anointed (2 Kings ix, 3 ; xi, 12). So late as the time of the captivity the king is called "the anointed of the Lord" (Psa. lxxxix, 38, 51 ; Lam. iv, 20). Besides Jewish kings, we read that Hazael was to be anointed king over Syria (1 Kings xix, 15). Cyrus also is called the Lord's anointed, as having been raised by God to the throne for the special purpose of delivering the Jews out of captivity (Isa. xlv, 1). (rf.) Inanimate objects also were anoint- ed with oil in token of their being set apart for re- ligious service. Thus Jacob anointed a pillar at
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Bethel (Gen. xxxi, 13) ; and, at the introduction of the Mosaic economy, the tabernacle and all its furni- ture were consecrated by anointing (Exod. xxx, 26- 28). The expression "ano:nt the shield" (Isa. xxi, 5; Sept. tTOifiaaitTt Qvptouc.; Vulg. arripite clypeum) refers to the custom of rubbing oil into the hide which, stretched upon a frame, formed the shield, in order to make it supple and lit for use. (See the treatises in Latin, on the priestly anointing, by Clasing [Lemgon. 1717 ] ; Sehwarz [Viteb. 1755] ; Ziegra [Viteb. 1682]; Zoega [Lips. 1680] ; on the royal anointing, by Wey- mar [Jen. 1629] ; and among other nations, by Eschen- bach [Jen. 1687] ; Speckner [Viteb. 1716]).
2. As an Act of Hospitality. — The anointing of our Saviour's feet by "the woman who was a sinner" (Luke vii, 38) led to the remark that the host himself had neglected to anoint his head (ver. 46) ; whence Ave learn that this was a mark of attention which those who gave entertainments paid to their guests. As this is the only direct mention of the custom, the Jews are supposed by some to have borrowed it from the Romans at a late period, and Wetstein and others have brought a large quantity of Latin erudition to bear on the subject. (See the treatises, on this in- stance, in Latin, by Baier [Altdorf. 1722] ; Goetze [Lips. 1687 ; and in Menethii Thesaur. ii, 200-204] ; Jaeschke [Lips. 1700] ; Krackewitz [Rost. 1703] ; Polchow [Jen. 1755] ; Ries [Marb. 1727] ; Sonnucl [Lond. 1775, 1794] ; Trautermann [Jen. 1749].) But the careful reader of the O. T. knows that the custom was an old one, to which there are various indirect al- lusions. See Hospitality. The circumstances con- nected with feasts and entertainments are, indeed, rare- ly intimated ; nor would the present direct reference to this custom have transpired but for the remarks which the act of the woman in anointing the feet of Jesus call- ed forth. (See Waldo, De unctionibus Vett. Ebrceorum convivialibus, Jen. 1751.) Such passages, however, as Psa. xxiii, 5 ; Prov. xxi, 7 ; xxvii, 9 ; Wisd. ii, 7 ; as well as others in which the enjoyments of oil and wine are coupled together, may be regarded as containing a similar allusion. It is, therefore, safer to refer the origin of this custom among the Hebrews to their nearer and more ancient neighbors, the Egyptians, than to the Romans or the Greeks, who themselves had probably derived it from the same people. Among the Egyptians the antiquity of the custom is evinced by their monuments, which offer in this respect anal- ogies more exact than classical antiquity or modern usage can produce. With them "the custom of anoint- ing was not confined to the appointment of kings and priests to the sacred offices they held. It was the or- dinary token of welcome to guests in every party at the house of a friend ; and in Egypt, no less than in Judaea, the metaphorical expression ' anointed with the oil of gladness' was fully understood, and applied to the ordinary occurrences of life. It was customary for a servant to attend every guest as he seated hirn-