THAU, the Tauutie emblem of the Egyptians, the hieroglyphic of the god Toth, was originally expressed, according to Kircher, by the simple figure of a cross, like the Greek 1' and the Coptic dem The Ilebrew tau is supposed to have been derived from it, though it has deviated from its shape. It is frequently found on the Egyptian obelisks, and was always regarded as a talisman of extraordinary potency. The original in Ezekiel is, `Set a tan upon their foreheads,' instead of mark ; which sense the Vulgate preserves, 'Mark with the letter tan the foreheads,' etc. ; 'Ton which Louth observes that in the parallel passage in the Septuagint, To w,t4too, a mark, should be Tau )%utor, the mark Tau. It is worthy of note that in the Samaritan character, in which Ezekiel wrote, it is agreed among the learned that the ton ti as formerly cruciform, correspond ing in shape with the Tauutic cross and the English letter T. From this we learn that the crucifix WM a sacred sign among the Jews, as well as the Egyptians, a hieroglyphic marking, the property of the deity. In this sense the language of Job is beautiful and appropriate: 'Behold, here is my Thrtu ! Let the Almighty nnswer me.
Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, And bind it as n crown to me.' Count de Gebelin observes that in France, in the early ages of Christianity, during the ceremony of baptism, the officiating priest said, 'Crucis anu mato notare ; ' hence the Jews themselves, in the later periods of their history, fell into the error, as also did the carly Christians ; and even in modern anes the potency of the wizard's charm and the fortune-teller's crawl is an article of vulgar belief. The phylacteries of tile Jews,
mentioned by our Lord, were strips of parchment inscribed with paragraphs of the law-, which were worn on their caps and arms, and inscribed on their door-posts, to prevent the intrusion of evil agencies, as the root in the Greek, from whence the name is derived, signifying to guard or pre serve, plainly shows. The Christian heretics of the second century, especially the Gnostics, esed gems, inscribed with the ,,vord Abraxas, for a sunilar purpose ; but the 'curious arts' which the Epliesians abandoned, still maintain their hold upon the popular mind ; and the Greek imprint the crucifix as a resiatless spell. The all-potent word Abmxas, variously written Abrasax and Ias, occurs, referring to the Supreme Deity and Jesus. The curious arts' of the early Christians were condemned in the council of Laodicea, A.D. :364, can. 36 ; the fathers declining that such phylac teries or charms were bonds and fetters to the soul, and ordering those who wore them to be cast out of the church. In the east, the Vaish nava aud Saiva Hindu affix marks to their fore heads; Muhaminadans defend their houses and persons with tawiz, passages from the Koran. It 18 a general custom amongst the Muhammadans of India of the present day to carry holy texts of the Koran on their arms and in their turbands, and to place charms on their door-posts.—Dic Cange, Glossar. ; Voces Ligatur,r, Legationes, in Milner's Church Ilistory.