the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Crown
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or an ornament often mentioned in Scripture, and in such a manner as in most cases to indicate the circumstances under which and the persons by whom it was worn; for crowns were less exclusively worn by sovereigns than among modern nations. Perhaps it would be better to say that the term "crowns" was applied to other ornaments for the head than those exclusively worn by royal personages, and to which modern usage would give such distinctive names as coronet, band, mitre, tiara, garland, etc. This ornament, which is both ancient and universal, probably originated from the fillets used to prevent the hair from being disheveled by the wind. Such fillets are still common, and they may be seen on the sculptures of Persepolis, Nineveh, and Egypt; they gradually developed into turbans (Josephus, Ant. 3, 7, 7), which, by the addition of ornamental or precious materials, assumed the dignity of mitres or crowns. The use of them as ornaments was probably suggested by the natural custom of encircling the head with flowers in token of joy and triumph ("Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds," Wisdom of Solomon 2:8; 3 Maccabees 7:16; Judah 15:13, and the classical writers, passim). (See WREATH).
The first crown was said to have been woven for Pandora by the Graces (comp. στέφανος Χαρίτων, Proverbs 4:9). According to Pherecydes, Saturn was the first to wear a crown; Diodorus says that Jupiter was first crowned by the gods after the conquest of the Titans. Pliny, Harpocration, etc., ascribe its earliest use to Bacchus, who gave to Ariadne a crown of gold and Indian gems, and assumed the laurel after his conquest of India. Leo Egyptius attributes the invention to His, whose wreath was cereal. These and other legends are collected by Tertullian from the elaborate treatise on crowns by Claud. Saturninus. Another tradition says that Nimrod was the first to wear a crown, the shape of which was suggested to him by a cloud (Eutychius Alexandr. Ann. i, p. 63). Tertullian, in his tract De Cor. Militis (c. vii sq.), argues against them as unnatural and idolatrous. He is, however, singularly unsuccessful in trying to disprove the countenance given to them in Scripture where they are constantly mentioned. (See BONNET).
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