ABSTRACT
In all ages and among all peoples, the hand has been a symbol of strength and power, and a picture of it has been regarded as a representation of God. In the Egyptian text of the Book of Gates on the alabaster coffin of Seti I in Sir John Soane's Museum, the “Great Hand” means the supreme Power which rules heaven and earth. And in the Vignettes which illustrate the text we see this “Great Hand” grasping the chain to which the Four Sons of Horus are fastened, and which fetters the serpents of the Underworld and Āpep the god of Evil and everlasting enemy of Rā the Sun-god. In mediaeval pictures the Supreme Being is represented by a hand which projects from the clouds. Sometimes the hand is open, and rays of light issue from the fingers, but it is often seen in the act of benediction, i.e. with two fingers raised. In the Bible the raising of the hand to a god is regarded as an act of worship (see i Kings xix. 18 ; Job xxxi. 27, etc.). The Assyrians used a collection of prayers to which they gave the name “Nish ḳâti,” i.e. “the lifting of the hand ” (King, Babylonian Magic and Sorcery, London, 1896). In Western Asia the act of raising the hand was universally regarded as symbolical of invocation to a deity, whether in attestation of an oath, or in offering up prayer and supplication. And the words “lifting of the hand” actually introduces the actual prayer of Nebuchadnezzar II to Marduk in the East India House Inscription. Little models of the outstretched hand have been found in many countries, and these were used as amulets ; figures of the hand were attached to royal sceptres and spears and other weapons, always with the idea of conferring power on the holders of the sceptres and the users of the weapons. In pictures a hand with the thumb and the third and fourth fingers closed, and the first and second finger outstretched, indicates “blessing”; but a closed hand with the first and fourth fingers outstretched represents the “horns of the Devil.” Nevertheless models of such a hand were worn as amulets. A closed hand with the first finger alone outstretched was in some countries regarded as a sure protection against the Evil Eye. Among the Arabs and Abyssinians the right hand is held to be the “hand of honour ” and the left the “hand of dishonour,” because it is used in the performance of acts which, though necessary, are regarded as unclean. The hands must be washed before prayers and before meals. And note the words in Ps. xxvi. 6 : “I will wash mine hands in innocency.”
