Supreme
Lord (Zeus) the sacred laws which he brought down with him.[60:1]

Almost all nations of antiquity have legends of their holy men ascending
a _mountain_ to ask counsel of the gods, such places being invested with
peculiar sanctity, and deemed nearer to the deities than other portions
of the earth.[60:2]

According to Egyptian belief, it is Thoth, the Deity itself, that speaks
and reveals to his elect among men the will of God and the arcana of
divine things. Portions of them are expressly stated to have been
written by the very finger of Thoth himself; to have been the work and
composition of the great god.[60:3]

Diodorus, the Grecian historian, says:

The idea promulgated by the ancient Egyptians that their _laws_ were
received direct from the Most High God, _has been adopted with success
by many other law-givers, who have thus insured respect for their
institutions_.[60:4]

The Supreme God of the ancient Mexicans was _Tezcatlipoca_. He occupied
a position corresponding to the Jehovah of the Jews, the Brahma of
India, the Zeus of the Greeks, and the Odin of the Scandinavians. His
name is compounded of Tezcatepec, the name of a _mountain_ (_upon which
he is said to have manifested himself to man_) _tlil_, dark, and _poca_,
smoke. The explanation of this designation is given in the _Codex
Vaticanus_, as follows:

Tezcatlipoca was one of their most potent deities; they say he once
appeared on the top of a mountain. They paid him great reverence and
adoration, and addressed him, in their prayers, as "Lord, whose servant
we are." No man ever saw his face, for he appeared only "as a shade."
Indeed, the Mexican idea of the godhead was similar to that of the Jews.
Like Jehovah, Tezcatlipoca dwelt in the "midst of thick darkness." _When
he descended upon the mount of Tezcatepec, darkness overshadowed the
earth, while fire and water, in mingled streams, flowed from beneath his
feet, from its summit._[61:1]

Thus, we see that other nations, beside the Hebrews, believed that their
laws were actually received from God, that they had legends to that
effect, and that a _mountain_ figures conspicuously in the stories.

Professor Oort, speaking on this subject, says:

"No one who has any knowledge of antiquity will be surprised
at this, for similar beliefs were very common. All peoples who
had issued from a life of barbarism and acquired regular
political institutions, more or less elaborate laws