The history of Ancient America, anterior to the time of Columbus; proving the identity of the Aborigines with the Tyrians and Israelites; and the introduction of Christianity into the Western Hemisphere by the Apostle St. Thomas ... The Tyrian Æra

Front matter

AN jr\, 1 I M Ji iS) I I 1L .rM I /LI _.M JxC 11 MjtM j m [ I ( i I * ( I I I I . I . I I ||,c slU \>\ 1 ©IF m\ jxJ M" J Q u aim :/ a; -HlMMtU]) of tbc -MlMM"ilMlMM wi ill Hi'1 People cM T Yil U 1 MMM J IKAlILs ■ miImDuMmu rf bbiMvhauitu b THIE AMDMa'ME 5^'iiDMAM I-1 2 / n __**^^^^^^^^|= ICE T.T.I Published lby Longraan,BrowiU London. THE HISTORY ,*>F ANCIENT AMERICA, ANTERIOR TO THE TIME OF COLUMBUS; PROVINQ THE IDENTITY OF THE ABORIGINES WITH THE TYRIANS AND ISRAELITES ; AND THE

Introduction

OF CHRISTIANITY INTO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE BY THE APOSTLE ST. THOMAS. H\ GEORGE JONES, M.R.S.I., F.S.V. THE TYRIAN ÆRA. PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, LONDON; HAEPER AND BROTHERS, NEW-YORK ; ALEXANDER DUNCKER, BERLIN; AND FREDERICK KLINCKSIECK, PARIS. 1843. C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE. ©emcation. TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. &C. &C. &C. Your Grace, Upon the completion of the Tyrian Æra of this Work, I submitted the outline to an Illustrious Prince, whose urbanity and amiability are not the least of his high qualities claiming admiration ; and in reference to my desire of Dedication, replied : " * * * With respect to the request preferred, His Royal Highness thinks, — especially with reference to the subject matter of the present historic Work, that it would be far better to select for the Dedication, some Theologian of high rank in the Sacred Profession, and eminent for his Learning and Piety, under whose auspices would more appropriately be placed, than DEDICATION. under his own, the Original History of Ancient Ame rica. * * *" The suggestion and description thus expressed by His Royal Highness— and from one in such an august station, — evidently contemplate The Primate.

The answer of Your Grace to my letter upon the subject, — my sense of obedience to the suggestion of His Royal Highness (who has honoured me as his visitor and guest) — and my own feelings of profound veneration for Your Grace ; — together with the im portance of historically establishing the fulfilment of additional prophecies by Isaiah, — the Introduction of Christianity into the Western Hemisphere by one of The Twelve Apostles — in person ; — the Founding of Ancient America more than three centuries previous to that Sacred event, — with the Identity of the Abo rigines, and thus unfolding additional Truths of The Bible, — being of that Character to call forth attention from every part of the Globe, where Civilization is known, or the Divine Blessings of Religion are received and appreciated; — these considerations all assure me that in Dedicating to Your Grace the Original His tory of Ancient America, I but follow the dictates of an imperative duty ; — and shall cherish the hope that my literary labours upon this novel subject, will receive DEDICATION. the fostering protection of one, whose Life, Learning, and Piety, are alike conspicuous, — and who, by their triple power, — has been enabled to dare fearless com parisons with the past, — to continue blessings to the present, — and to create examples of faith and charity, that may be imitated, but cannot be excelled, by those of a future age.

With the fervent prayer that The Almighty Father may long preserve the fife and faculties of Your Grace, that they may continue to cast their benevolent and protecting influence around the Divine Institution of Christianity; — I thus express my devotional duty, — And remain, Your Grace, In Rehgious Filiality Most faithfully, GEORGE JONES. London, June, 1843. " FOE INQUIRE I PRAY THEE OF THE FORMER AGE, AND PREPARE THYSELF TO THE SEARCH OF THEIR FATHERS, — SHALL THEY NOT TEACH THEE, AND TELL THEE, AND UTTER WORDS OUT OF THEIR HEART ? " Holy- Writ. VOLUME THE FIRST, OR THE TYRIAN ÆRA, IN TWO BOOKS.

Book I The Ruins Of Antiquity In

Afla-gDENfif AMIRD©.^ DESCRIBED AND ANALYZED; AN'D THE ORIGINAL ARCHITECTS IDENTIFIED, ire.

Book II. The Scriptural, Political

& COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF TYRUS, TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THAT KINGDOM BY- ALEXANDER OF MACEDON; AND THE TYRIAN MIGRATION TO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, IN THE YEAR 332 BEFORE CHRIST, $c. INSCRIPTION OF THE FIRST VOLUME. TO HIS MAJESTY jfre&mcft aaffltam m tfourtf), Stitfl of ilru&to. &c. &c. &c. &c. Your Majesty, With feelings of enthusiasm, founded on the con templation of a peaceful and a patriotic King, do I inscribe to Your Majesty, the first Volume of an effort to delineate the History of Ancient America. If, in the following pages, Your Majesty should re cognise Your own portraiture in that of Hiram the Great, it is such as truth and history have designed and coloured; — fawning flattery and false adulation have not added even a thought to embellish, where Patriotism has so nobly consolidated.

The Building of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, by Hiram of Tyrus, was not more generous, and liberal in Rehgious sentiments, than were your own, — INSCRIPTION. as Protestant King of Prussia, — in laying the corner stone of the Catholic Cathedral of Cologne, — the fervent words at which ceremony, Time will hallow within his Archives: nor was your own branch of Christianity forgotten or neglected ; for the Sacred City of Jerusalem previously recorded your Majesty's munificence in promulgating the Divine Faith of Salvation ! For the peace of Europe, and for the prosperity of Prussia, — for the advancement of Religious and Civil Liberty, — Education, Literature, the Arts and Sci ences, — may the Disposer of Events prolong the life, and intellectual vigour of Your Majesty, to the utmost verge of venerable age ; and when the monument shall enclose Your earthly remains, may Your subjects feel, that Your Royal Ancestor, — Frederick of Prussia, — was not the only Monarch of their father-land deserv ing the time-honoured, and historic surname of " The Great."

I am flattered in the occasion which per mits me to render this tributary offering, — And to subscribe myself, Your Majesty's Obedient and Obliged, GEORGE JONES London, June, 1843. THE ORIGINAL HISTORY 01 ANCIENT AMERICA.

Preface

To the deep historic interest expressed by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, concerning the Aborigines of America, may be traced the production of this Work : — it led the Author originally to write the Israel-Indian Tragedy of " Tecumseh," — illustrative of the patriotic race of the North, and which composition has received the honour of being dedicated to the Illustrious Prince by Special permission. The publication has been delayed only from the fact, that it would anticipate this branch of the present Work, and might consequently be injurious. The investigations necessary for writing of North America, called into action the study and observation of years in relation to South America: and in con templating the newly-discovered Ruined Cities and Temples upon that moiety of the Western Continent,

PREFACE.

. the very spirit of the Romance of Truth, seemed to find a voice in every Sculptured altar, column, stone, or pyramid : and when upon the enthusiastic pursuit of hidden knowledge, the sudden discovery of early Christianity and its Sacred Promulgator, were iden tified with the Western Hemisphere, — sanctioned as is the discovery by Holy- Writ, — History, — Tradition, — Customs, — and the oracular Sculptures of antiquity, — Language has no power to express the bounding feel ings of the heart, when that original vision of the mind, became apparent, as the stern reality of historic truth. Knowing from experience, that Works upon Anti quities, described in language cold as the marbles they illustrate, are not of deep interest to the general reader, the Author has, therefore, avoided the usual j frigid style, and has consequently placed around them such fervent, and glowing words, as their novel characters have authorized and demanded.

In delineating, also, the History of Tyrus, the chief events only are given ; and being rendered, with the artistical pages, — con amore, — the Poetry of History, — and not its dry pro saic qualities will be received by the reader. This will be seen in the descriptions of the classic Remains, — Battles, — and Voyages, — and especially for instance, in resuscitating the Ruins of Rome, and in the celebrated

PREFACE.

. Tyrian Siege by Alexander of Macedon, — but in this style of writing (it is submitted) the Author has not lost sight of that high solemnity demanded by the Phi losophy of History ; without which, memorials of past ages, or of our Fathers, would be useless. To give a list of works consulted during fifteen years in America, and more immediately for the last two years in England, while writing the Tyrian Æra, would be pedantic: but no Author, sacred or profane, from the first Lawgiver to the present time, having even a remote reference to the Western Hemisphere, has been knowingly omitted; yet being professedly an Original Work, the volume of the brain has been more largely extracted from, than any writer whose works are already before that Public, — to whose final judg ment (upon its merits or demerits) the present Author submits the first History of Ancient America with all humility; but he will yield to none in the con scientious belief in the truth of the startling propo sitions, and the consequent historic conclusions : and that the reader may not imagine that any undue motive dictated to the writer the publication of this Work, the following extract from the Messrs. Longman's letter upon their own, and their Reader's investigation of this Volume will justify him. " * * * We have fully

PREFACE.

. considered the publication of your Work on America. It is undoubtedly a Work of great ingenuity and originality; and should it be considered that your conclusions are correct, it will be a work to confer on its Author a high rank in Literature. * * * We shall be happy to be your Publishers. * * * * " The usual " Table of Contents" has been avoided, in order to prevent anticipation of the subject-matter and secrets of the History; but, at the same time, for after-reference, a copious Index has been placed at the end of the Volume. THE AUTHOR. London, June, 1843. NOTICE TO BOOKSELLERS, PROPRIETORS OF CIRCULATING LIBRARIES, AND THE PUBLIC. This is to give notice that the "Original History of Ancient America" (of which this is the first volume) is copyright, and legally secured by the proprietor, both in England and America.

The Penalties, therefore, for any infringement will be enforced by the Publishers, according to the New Act of Parliament and the Acts of Congress of the United States. By the former, especially as applied to England and her colonies, any person having in his possession, for sale or hire, any foreign edition of an English copyright, is liable to a heavy penalty ; and any copy found in the possession of a traveller from abroad will be forfeited. London, June, 1843. THE TYRIAN ÆRA. ANCIENT AMERICA. 3_3oofc t&e JFtrst.

Chapter I

Introduction from the Preface to the Author's Historical Work upon the Life of Tecumseh — Name to be used for South or Central America — The Fundamental Error of the Historians of America — Essential Opposites in Character — Rules of Argument for illustrating the Theory — A sufficient Identity of the North to prove two Distinct People — The Aborigines wrongfully named " Indians" by Columbus — The Cause of his Error and its Effects. In the prefatory remarks to the forthcoming work upon the chieftain, Tecumseh, the following language is used; and we avail ourselves of the privilege of extracting from our own storehouse, materials for the commencement of this new historical campaign. " The courteous reader in tracing the fate of Te cumseh, as depicted in the pages of his life, will not VOL. I. B ORIGINAL HISTORY OF [book i., ch. i. fail to observe the strong analogy between the religious sentiments of the chief of the forest, and those of the ancient Hebrews.

The language as uttered by Tecumseh is not written by the pen of fiction, merely to uphold a theory of the brain, but gathered from the archives of a people's history, to support a theory of apparent truth. The present writer will not yield to any man in the firm belief, that the Aborigines of North America (but North America only), and the ancient Israelites are identical, unless controverted by the stern authority of superior historical deductions. We, therefore, have formed an original theory in reference to the natives of the North, and those of South and Central America, together with the newly-discovered ruined Cities in and around Guata mala; and by that theory, have separated into two distinct races, or people, the Aborigines of the Western Hemisphere. " The lately recovered Ruins, Cities, and Temples in Central America, and of which no ancient record is to be found, have shattered the chain of acknowledged History to atoms ; and until that chain is again united by a firmly established theory, — Education herself must pause, ere she can with the wand of truth, point to her rising children the History of the World, or its inhabitants.

" Suspicion has asserted that all the natives of the continent of Columbus, might probably have been originally of Hebrew extraction; the assertion has been made in doubt and trembling; for writers have ] ANCIENT AMERICA. 3 been confounded by essential contrasts in the Religious customs of North and South America; there were no analogies between them; which circumstance should have compelled Historians to pursue another path of inquiry, and so attain a conclusive truth; but they found a Gordian knot which they could not unravel, and assuming the impatient weapon of Alexander, they destroyed it.

The Architecture, however, of the Ruins of Copan, Palenque, Uxmal, and their time-honoured associates, has furnished a ' rosetta-stone,' to aid the new translation of the hieroglyphical history of (now) ancient America ; and if our theory is true, not only have the Israelites walked the land where the Sun bestows his last smile, but another nation (in which was retained the primitive language of the Diluvian world) previously trod that soil as Aborigines; and beyond all this, if our thread of Ariadne lead us faith fully, if not, the Almighty Father who gave the thought will pardon its application; yes, beyond all the bounding feelings leaping at events, at once classic and venerated, do we contemplate another branch of our theory ; for, if we do not write in error, — and our perfect faith assures us that we do not, — then the trembling hand which sought in doubt The Saviour's wounds, has been outstretched in sacred oratory even in those southern wilds: the bold, yet conquered voice, which uttered in hallowed and confirmed faith, ' Mt Lord and my God!' has given forth its missioned eloquence even in the Western Hemisphere, and there, the sainted ashes of that Apostle may yet repose!" b2 ORIGINAL HISTORY OF [book I., CH. I. The preceding extract may be viewed as the ex ordium of an original history to follow ; wherein, " if we fail," it will be " the boldness of the attempt, and not the deed confounds us."

Taking; as a basis for our illustration the rules of argument, we will first identify one race, and then prove that the existence of another is not only ap parent, but absolute. For the convenience of the general reader, the word "Mexican," until the true name is established, will be applied throughout the following pages to all Central and South America ; — for the word " south" may be confounded with that portion of the Republic of North America so deno minated, and especially with the American reader. The fundamental error with all writers upon the Aborigines of America is, that they have viewed them as one people. Authors have, therefore, been confounded by the different customs and ceremonies of religion as practised in the two great divisions of the continent ; they have seen that the natives were, to a certain extent, in one part of the vast domain, idol aters, and not in the other ; that the North was essen tially republican in every aspect of its political existence, while that of Mexican America was as essentially composed of kingdoms and empires, and governed by despotic monarchs, and that republics were interwoven with them; that each man in the North was a warrior, and an equal, acknowledging no superior but their leader in time of battle, and should he fall in action, there was not a member of the ANCIENT AMERICA. 5 Tribe in which they politically lived, but could have taken his place, and filled it with similar courage and ability.

In Mexican America they were not equal but from the emperor they descended by degrees to the serf and slave ; in that country, stone and stuccoed Temples and Palaces were, and still continue to be found, erected with costly magnificence, and in which were jewelled idols, to which they bent the knee ; their rich dwellings were splendid mansions, adorned with sculptured and beaten gold, and graced with the works of art, and as a people, enjoying all the refined elegancies of life ; — but in the North their Temple was the azure canopy of Jehovah, adorned with its myriads of golden stars, and when beneath that sublime dome, they bent the knee, it was to the Almighty God alone ! Their palaces were the gorgeous vistas of the forest; the columns were the gigantic trees, each year increasing in their stateliness ; their shadowy and painted roofs were the farspreading branches, and nature's tinted foliage ; their mansions were those of independent wanderers, even the simple tents of Israel; and as for jewelled idols and figures of beaten gold, — they presented the diamonds of the human eye, radiant with intellectual beams, and glancing from the living emblem of the first and priceless image, placed in Eden's garden by the Archi tect of the Universe!

Notwithstanding these essential opposites in character and policy, to which may be added that of physiognomy, writers have glanced at them as one ORIGINAL HISTORY OF [book I., CH. I. 6 race, sprung from the same branch of the human family, and without defining which ; and when they could not reconcile such apparently unaccountable distinctions and diversities, they have thrown upon the shoulders of the Mexican, the mantle of manly virtue belonging to the North ; and upon this race they have thrust the idolatrous vices and the festering robes of luxury justly claimed by the former people; and by this easy manner of disposing of a question, have seemingly satisfied themselves that by blending the crimes of both, to the exclusion of the virtues of either, that they were all " savages," and no matter from whence they came.

Thus have they formed their conclusions concerning fifty millions of human beings, although directly in opposition to evidences of fact, to deductions by relative reasoning, and to all Christian feeling, which alone should have rejected so cruel a decision, founded as it is, not only on slight, but care less investigation. A sufficient identity of the Northern native is now required, in order to establish the national distinction between the Aborigines of the two Americas. In all civilized countries when the lex scripta fails to develope, or protect, the historical events and rights of a nation or of an individual, then the lex non scripta is not only not rejected, but it is actually brought forward to establish, and support the customs and privileges of a by-gone day. This traditionary evidence, handed down from sire to son, is received in proof of " a foregone conclusion :" it gives an insight into the times, of BOOK It, CH. I.] ANCIENT AMERICA. 7 which no written record is left for the investigation of Argus-eyed posterity ; it carries us back to customs, civil, military, and rehgious, that otherwise might be lost to the archives of history.

Admitting, therefore, this train of reasoning, we bring it to bear upon the present important subject ; — important in the highest degree, for the time is now past when the Western Hemisphere is to be dated from the rediscovery by Columbus. His giant, but over-applauded name, like the ruins of Palenque, is but the lettering of a volume to indicate in the library of the universe that such a work was written — the work itself (i. e. the great continent) has yet to be read, and the historical authors identified; nor will the well-grounded supposition that the Welsh prince, Madoc, colonised in America two centuries before the Genoese; or that the Norwegian landed three centuries anterior to the Welsh, enable us even to unclasp the volume ; — to accomplish this, and its translation, an historic Œiliad must be cast over a period of more than two thousand annual changes, of nature's revolving but faithful time-glass !

Granting then, that when the lex scripta will not cover a sub ject, the lex non scripta must be investigated to establish a position ; — the first, then, will not apply to the Aborigines of the north, for it does not exist; the latter only, or the unwritten history of their race must be had recourse to, to prove their originality and identity ; traceable back to time immemorial, from their present customs and traditions. We think that it will instantly be admitted, that all ORIGINAL HISTORY OF 8 religious ceremonies are the strongest proofs of the characteristics of a people or race, of which no written history exists; for there is something so indescribably sacred in the conscientious actions of man with the Supreme God, that none but the maniac-atheist could doubt, that those actions should be received as the living features of a nation, when seen to be recog" nised and acknowledged, with as much certainty of identity, as when a mother gazes upon her fondly cherished child !

The customs forming the analogy between the Northern natives and the ancient Israelites, will now be reviewed with as much brevity as the subject will permit, in order to establish an essential point of the present theory — viz., the separation of the Aborigines into two distinct people. The reader, perhaps, will meet us at the threshold of argument by the question, " How can an Indian be of Israel ?" We will answer this, and refute the misnomer before the analogies are investigated. The name Indian, as applied to the original inhabitants of either, or both the Americas, Canada, the islands in, or adjacent to, the Gulf of Mexico, has no authority founded upon truth. The name was given in error, and has been so continued from the time of the Genoese to the present day. Throughout this work no position will be advanced that cannot be defended.

The wrongful appellation originated with Columbus ; and for proof of the asser tion the following is presented. The shadow of the Earth upon the Moon during an ANCIENT AMERICA. 9 eclipse, plainly testified that the planet upon which we live was round. The travels of Marco Paulo by land to the East Indies (about 1269), related that those lands stretched far towards the east. About two cen turies after this, it occurred to Columbus, upon perusing those travels ; but more especially from having obtained intelligence from the final conquest of the Canary islands in 1483 ; and information while resident in England (which circumstances will be investigated hereafter), that by a voyage towards the west — thus travelling, as it were, around the globe — he should meet the extremities of those lands ; and as the dis covery of a sea-passage to the East Indies was the great object of navigation in the fifteenth century, Columbus made the bold attempt (founded upon previous knowledge of migration), and discovered the island of St. Salvador and those adjacent, and think ing that he had reached the eastern extremity of the Indies according to his theory, he then named those isles the West Indies, because they were discovered by sailing west.

The discovery of the Continent followed during his third voyage, and believing all the land to be of the Indies, the inhabitants of the isles and of the mainland were, as a natural consequence, called by Columbus under one general appellation, viz., Indians. Subsequent geographical discoveries have proved the great error of the Genoese; but the name of Indian was given at that time, and it has been continued although at variance with the truth; and it has had a material effect in checking inquiry I. concerning the Aborigines, who having been called Indians, the name seemed at once to specify their origin : but, it would have been equally as just, if he had determined to sail for Britain, and an unforeseen gale having cast him upon the island of Sardinia, and then from believing that he had reached the intended object of his voyage, he should have called the latter inhabitants British.

We, therefore, discard the name of Indian as applied to the natives of the Western con tinent(itwill be retained in the Tragedy of " Tecumseh" for local purposes), and write of them as the Abori gines, until, as we advance in this History, they can be identified by a national name, founded upon facts and conclusions.

BOOK I

, CH. II.] ANCIENT AMERICA. 11

Chapter II

Hebrew Analogies with the Tribes of the North— Contrasted with the Natives of Mexican America — Circumcision — Scalping — Its great Antiquity — The Crucifixion not known to the Natives of the North — Their Traditional Knowledge of the Deluge — Then- Practice of the Laws of Moses — The conclusive Proofs of the two Races — The Formation of a new Epochian Table for the History of Ancient America — The announcement of the Historical Theory, and the First Epoch. The Hebrew analogies now claim investigation ; and as Woman is first in the affections and in memory, she claims by right upon this, as upon all occasions, the natural precedence. The Northern mother, after childbirth, is secluded for a given number of days, varying according to the sex of the new-born infant. By the law of Moses, the mother's purification was to last 40 days for a male, and 80 days for a female child.

All other seclusions are as strict as when the wife becomes a mother. When a wife becomes a widow, and is childless, her husband's brother marries her, — these were essential laws of the Hebrew, and especially the latter, — that a name should not be lost in Israel. As a mother she considers it a religious duty, that the child should receive its nourishment from the breast that gave it fife : and such is the feeling in the performance of this maternal duty, that she often nurses her offspring until it attains three or four years of age. From this fact an important problem is solved, viz., the apparent tardiness in the ratio increase of the Aborigines of the North : — for it is the rule in Nature's female code (and should there be an exception, it only proves the rule), that while that affection con tinues from the fond practice of the mother, no other shall arise to destroy that which already exists : but, as that ceases and the first-born is put away, Nature jealous of her supremacy, again bestows upon the mother a second joy, and so continues in her undeviating course.

There is, also, a direct physical analogy be tween the Northern mothers and those of ancient Israel ; if there were not, the negative might be brought against this theory: we therefore take advantage of the affirmative. The only cause of Pharaoh's political action against the Hebrews was, that from the rapid ratio in which they multiplied, they would eventually rebel, and with, or without the assistance of any other nation entirely subdue Egypt. The ease of childbirth by the Hebrew mother is distinctly stated in Holy- Writ, in contrast to the dangerous sufferings of the Egyptian parent; from which fact may be gathered the cause of the gradual, but certain in crease of the Israelites over the Egyptian population. The same peculiar facility of childbirth is one of the chief characteristics of the Northern female, for in the Rocky Mountains, while journeying in cavalcade, and being taken in travail, the mother will leave her com panions alone, and within an hour, will remount her horse, and overtake her associates, with the new-born infant in her arms!

The cause why the population of the Aborigines of the North is not in ratio with the ancient Hebrews, has already been alluded to, in re ference to the mother's belief and practice of extended maternal duty and fondness. If, as we believe, the great ancestresses of these Northern women were Leah and Rachel — the " tender eyed," the " beautiful and well-favoured," — then have their daughters on the Western continent lost no features of the mothers of Israel ; — for they might hang their harps upon the willows of their fate, as emblems of Jerusalem's children in captivity, and feel no shame in comparison of sorrow, grace, or beauty! The Northern Aborigines have a traditional knowledge of the Deluge and the Dove of peace, which to them under the name of the " medicine," or " mystery bird," is sacred from the arrow of the hunter.

They have their Ark of Covenant, in which is deposited some mystery, seen only by the priests of the Tribe, — it is said to be a shell, and supposed to give out oracular sounds : this is in analogy to the Book of the Laws placed in the Ark of Covenant by Moses, preceding his death on Mount Nebo, — the oracular wisdom of Avhich has guided civilization to this day. The ark is never suf fered to touch the earth, but is always raised on a stand of wood or stone; it is invariably carried by a Tribe when they march to battle, — a similitude is here to Joshua at the siege of Jericho, When it is in their peaceful encampment, it is surrounded by twelve stones, indicative of the original number of the Tribes of their ancestors ; — this is strictly in analogy with the twelve statues (probably rude blocks of stone) erected by Moses around the Altar of the Covenant to personify the twelve tribes of Israel.