- Lincoln explains how it was that up until 1783 there was
no such thing as an "Aryan" race, neither was
there the concept of the Indo- European. He further explains
how it was that this race group became the brainchild of
the fertile imaginations of race theorists and researchers
beginning with Herder (Johann Gottfried Herder, 1744- 1803)
-a German priest and one affiliated with the Romantic movement,
who began to publish his works in 1785 where he posited
that there is one human source for all of humanity and that
differences only crept in as a result of outside factors
such as climate, language and the different constructs used
in the formation of a collective and individual culture-
and carrying on with Jones (Sir William Jones, 1746- 1794)
an English Orientalist and legal scholar who began publishing
his theories on the similarities between Sanskrit, an ancient
Indian language, and those languages belonging to the Gothic
and Celtic groups, a theory which many have interpreted
as positing a unity between, and tracing the common origins
of the Indo-European nations which theory then gave way
to the idea of an Aryan race. Although Herder viewed myths
as no more than popular folktales his writings landed on
ground, firmly rooted in the desire arising in Germany and
in other countries in Central and Northern Europe to find
a super collective identity with which they could be affiliated,
a tradition that they sorely lacked. This need arose because
internally there was mounting pressure exerted by the local
communities to consolidate for themselves independent national
group identities. The roots of the problem of trying to
balance self esteem with feelings of self-deprecation began
in Germany centuries before Jones entered the scene. The
seeds of the conflict were planted as a result of a dispute
over who was considered superior, a dispute that was manifest
in the power struggle between the German Imperial Government
on the one hand and the Papal clerical and political leadership,
on the other, and which took place in the first half of
the fifteenth century. Arguments were raised by the closed
circle of the papal court in Rome against the German Kaiser
over the issue of which of the two bodies was superior-
the pope in Rome and his spiritual leadership, or the German
Kaiser and his corporeal government. The dispute over the
question of the supremacy of the Pope was prompted by the
controversy surrounding the Tacitian text, when, following
his own initiative, Picoloni (soon after to be appointed
pope) tried to prove, using this document, that the Germans
were barbarians. Based on this finding Picoloni claimed
that the Germans needed to show their appreciation to the
Church for endowing them with the gift of enlightenment;
and therefore, and in accordance with the logic of this
argument, the German Kaiser was duty- bound to obey the
pope. In response it was alleged, relying on the same document,
(that, according to Lincoln, was a forged document) that
Noah had had a fourth son whose name was Tuyscon, who was
the patriarch of the tribes that dwelt between the Rhein
and the Danube. From this it emerges that the Germans could
trace themselves back to an ancient noble, who had no connection
with Noah's other three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. This
imaginative allegation was enough to satisfy the burning
desire of a great many of Germany's and her surrounding
neighbors' populace who were desperate to ascribe to themselves
such honorable pedigree.This discovery left the populations
of Central and Southern Europe hungrily seeking a vague
definition of their past, that would at least partially
satiate them. Their desires were answered in the form of
a translated New Testament dated 1640. Lincoln shows how
the past history of the Peoples of Central European continued
to be retold in the writings of Mallet (Paul Henri Mallet),
who in 1755- 6 translated the Eddas myths into French, and
who then ascribed these stories to the European "Golden
Age", as he would term it. He claimed that these myths
reflect an old European cultural tradition of honor, love
and freedom. Following on the heels of this French publication,
these myths were swiftly translated into Danish, German
and English, becoming feverishly popular reading material.
A few years later James McPherson (1736- 96) was to take
the lead from Mallet and published during the years 1760-
3 three volumes of poetry that were attributed to a blind
third century poet, and which were presented as if they
were translations of an original Gallic manuscript that
could be traced back to an ancient Scottish highlands tradition.
These poems quickly became the sensation that everyone was
talking about. Only after he had died in 1796, was it discovered
that the manuscript was indeed nothing more than a sham.
The thirst for unknown roots was also quenched by Hamaan
(Johann George Hamaan- 1730- 88) a priest who was fluent
in many languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, English,
Italian, Portuguese, Lithuanian and a sprinkling of Arabic).Basing
himself on his wide and varied knowledge of languages he
founded a theory about the uniqueness of each of the various
languages, positing that it was not possible that at any
time in history there was only one language medium that
was used by all humanity to communicate with one another;
according to his weltaunshaung each and every language was
a direct gift from God. Out of this theory the idea emerged
that each European language group was endowed with a value
unique to it; moreover this theory posited that each of
these aforesaid language groups had the independent merit
of being linked with the Divine, without being dependent
on any intermediate authority, but rather under the direct
authority of God Himself. Hamaan's primary motive was faith
based, and arose out of the desire to strengthen the link
between Christendom and the Divine. However he also had
an ulterior motive that had to do with his local German
background, and that arose out of his feelings for his German
flock; he therefore sought to provide an answer to the heartfelt
wishes of the German people. Included among those who had
read his writings were German luminaries such as Goethe,
Kant, Moses Mendelssohn, and Frederick Jacoby, as well as
Johann Herder who is mentioned above. Confident about the
veracity of these writings, which grabbed the attention
of a fairly large readership, the Germans viewed themselves
as derived from independent, primary and exemplary origins,
which were much more powerful than all other nations. Basing
themselves on these writings they felt well- equipped to
compete with the ancient Greeks and Romans. In 1835, Jacob
Grimm (1785- 1863) published a four volume encyclopedia
of German myths and claimed that Christianity, that was
an offshoot of the Semitic Peoples, destroyed and thus deprived
the Germans of both their three pronged identity that was
comprised of land- myth-nation and the original German culture.
He wrote very emotional accounts relating to this topic
and expressed the hop, with his writings forming a humble
attempt at rectifying the situation, that the injuries caused
by Christianity and inflicted upon German culture once again
be healed. The one most naturally endowed with the ability
to continue Jacob Grimm's ideology was Richard Wagner (1813-
83) who took part in the 1848 "Spring of the Nations"
revolution in Germany, and who was consequently forced to
spend a number of years in political exile in Paris. As
a German nationalist and as a musician he developed a theory
that was based upon the antisemitic utterances of Feurwach;
Feurwach had made the claim that Jews had never had their
own language or homeland, since the Yiddish that they spoke
was merely a perverted and distorted form of German, and
for this reason the Jews were incapable of setting up a
separate nationality and were unsuited for developing their
own kind of music. Sticking to this basic hypothesis, Wagner
independently added his own theory, positing that language
is the essential ingredient necessary for developing poetry
and music and that every nationality creates for itself
its own myths, language, and art. In terms of Feurwach's
theory, Jews are egoists and pleasure seekers; their egoism
stems from the fact that they harbor monotheistic beliefs,
which posits the existence of one transcendental entity,
while the Greeks in contradistinction developed their art
because of their belief that the world of the deities and
of nature are all constituents of one unified bloc; this
then allowed the latter to adopt the aesthetic approach
and to promote scientific development. The Jews, on the
other hand who were incapable of composing their own music,
who were egoistic hedonists, who owned property, and who
lived off the interest of other people's loans, enjoyed
music only in their capacity of being its patrons, and not
its innovators; and yet they threatened to the control the
world and culture of music, because of their ill gotten
wealth. Feurwach's hypothesis left Wagner with the distinct
impression that the modern world was experiencing a cultural
atrophy and was fast approaching its twilight. This degenerative
situation could only be remedied through the recreation
of a cultural milieu, which would be aided by manufacturing
additional popular myths, which in turn would bear testimony
to the national ingenuity. It was in the circle to which
Wagner was affiliated, which included within its ranks his
son-in- law, that Nazi theory germinated, a theory that
was fed on racist myths that spoke about the Aryan race,
as the concept had gradually developed, as mentioned above
in the beginning of this chapter. That the desire of the
German's and the other Northern and Central European language
groups was so fervently entrenched can be seen from the
fact that later on Jones' himself after reanalyzing his
theory rejects any racial relationship to the Aryan race
as many (particularly those in Germany and Northern and
Central Europe) had too hastily concluded. Jones, when first
embarking upon his career, was still wrestling with the
facts, unable to immediately recognize what he had discovered.
This changed soon after he had completed a series of lectures
on the topic, when the final racial and national portrait
to emerge depicted the world's nations as classified according
to their lineage with the three basic progenitors being
Shem, Ham and Japheth. Although it is true that included
among the offspring of Ham were indeed the Indians they
did not share their heritage exclusively with the Persians,
the Romans, the Greeks, and the Goths. Rather the ancient
Egyptians, the Ethiopians, the Phoenicians, the Scandinavians,
the Chinese, the Japanese, and even the American Indians,
could all make the exact same claim. Under the heading,
descendants of Shem, were included the Jews, the Arabs,
and the Syrians, while Japheth's offspring included the
Tartars, the Slavs and the Northern European natives. Not
only did the inclusion of the Chinese, the Japanese, and
the American Indians in the category of Aryan elite races
put a question mark over the theory that postulated German
superiority (After all who is left out of the Aryan definition
over whom they may prove their superiority, especially since
this whole bundle of nations includes most of the world),
but Jones' theory itself, as Lincoln explains, would appear
even at a superficial glance to be "pretty lame".
Not only is the above problematic, but even more worrisome
is the fact that his theory is not based on any great storehouse
of knowledge. This can be seen in the way in which the material
is presented, where, in order to compensate for his severe
lack of knowledge in many crucial areas he inappropriately
lays great stress on those areas where he does possess some
expertise. Moreover it should be noted that the whole explanation
relating to a common ancestor is primarily based upon a
linguistic analysis, as Jones himself admits, and must be
regarded, then, as most unreliable, not only because prima
facie it appears to be dubious, but because the experience
of history proves that relying upon linguistic analyses
yields incredible results. Researchers who have followed
this path have, then, come up with a multitude of answers
to the question concerning the most ancient language from
which all others are mere offshoots. The answers vary between
Dutch, Swedish, Phoenician, Greek, Latin, and Persian. Another
independent question that may be raised is how was it that
this Jones, who was an intellectual, very familiar with
Darwin's Theory, and who without doubt, acknowledged the
truthfulness of its scientific axioms, as was fashionable
at that time, permitted himself to seriously consider, and
even rely, for his theory on the development of the races
and of human language, on the Bible and on the story of
Noah's sons, which story had been completely refuted by
Darwin and his theory. Myths have not only been responsible
for founding religions and for creating nationalities; they
have also assisted, and continue to assist, rulers in managing
their regime, and they have stood alongside other forms
of governance which every regime relies upon, such as an
enforceable legal system. Imperial China serves as a good
example of this kind of model, as will be will be demonstrated
in detail in the following chapter.
