A New System; Or, An Analysis Of Antient Mythology Vol. II

WHEREIN AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO DIVEST TRADITION OF FABLE;
AND TO REDUCE THE TRUTH TO ITS ORIGINAL PURITY,

PRINTED FOR J. WALKER; W.J. AND J. RICHARDSON; R. FAULDER AND SON; R. LEA; J. NUNN; CUTHELL AND MARTIN; H.D. SYMONDS; VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE; E. JEFFERY; LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO.; J. BOOKER; BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY; J. ASPERNE; J. MURRAY; AND J. HARRIS.

As there has been much uncertainty about the purport and extent of these terms; and they are of great consequence in the course of history; I will endeavour to state their true meaning. Phoinic, or Poinic, was an Egyptian and Canaanitish term of honour; from whence were formed Φοινιξ, Φοινικες, Φοινικοεις of the Greeks, and Phoinic, Poinicus, Poinicius of the Romans; which were afterwards changed to Phœnix, Punicus, and ^[1]Puniceus. It was originally a title, which the Greeks made use of as a provincial name: but it was never admitted as such by the people, to whom it was thus appropriated, till the Greeks were in possession of the country. And even then it was but partially received: for though mention is made of the coast of Phœnice, yet we find the natives called Sidonians, Tyrians, and ^[2]Canaanites, as late as the days of the Apostles. It was an honorary term, compounded of Anac with the Egyptian prefix; and rendered at times both Phoinic and Poinic. It signified a lord or prince: and was particularly assumed by the sons of Chus and Canaan. The Mysians seem to have kept nearest to the original pronunciation, who gave this title to the God Dionusus, and called him Ph'anac.

It was also conferred upon many things, which were esteemed princely and noble. Hence the red, or scarlet, a colour appropriated to great and honourable personages, was styled Phoinic. The palm was also styled Phoinic, Φοινιξ: and the antients always speak of it as a stately and noble tree. It was esteemed an emblem of honour; and made use of as a reward of victory. Plurimarum palmarum homo, was a proverbial expression among the Romans, for a soldier of merit. Pliny speaks of the various species of palms; and of the great repute in which they were held by the Babylonians. He says, that the noblest of them were styled the royal Palms; and supposes that they were so called from their being set apart for the king's use. But they were very early an emblem of royalty: and it is a circumstance included in their original name. We find from Apuleius, that Mercury, the ^[4]Hermes of Egypt, was represented with a palm branch in his hand: and his priests at Hermopolis used to have them stuck in their ^[5]sandals, on the outside. The Goddess ^[6]Isis was thus represented: and we may infer that Hermes had the like ornaments; which the Greeks mistook for feathers, and have in consequence of it added wings to his feet. The Jews used to carry boughs of the same tree at some of their festivals; and particularly at the celebration of their nuptials: and it was thought to have an influence at the birth. Euripides alludes to this in his Ion; where he makes Latona recline herself against a Palm tree, when she is going to produce Apollo and Diana.

In how great estimation this tree was held of old, we may learn from many passages in the sacred writings. Solomon says to his espoused, ^[8]how fair and how pleasant art thou, O Love, for delights: thy stature is like a Palm tree. And the Psalmist for an encouragement to holiness, says, ^[9]that the righteous shall flourish like the Palm tree: for the Palm was supposed to rise under a weight; and to thrive in proportion to its being ^[10]depressed. There is possibly a farther allusion in this, than may at first appear. The antients had an opinion, that the Palm was immortal: at least, if it did die, it recovered again, and obtained a second life by renewal. Hence the story of the bird, styled the Phoenix, is thought to have been borrowed from this tree. Pliny, in describing the species of Palm, styled Syagrus, says, ^[11]Mirum de eâ accepimus, cum Phœnice Ave, quæ putatur ex hujus Palmæ argumento nomen accepisse, iterum mori, et renasci ex seipsà. Hence we find it to have been an emblem of immortality among all nations, sacred and prophane. The blessed in heaven are represented in the Apocalypse by St. John, ^[12]as standing before the throne in white robes, with branches of Palm in their hands. The notion of this plant being an emblem of royalty prevailed so far, that when our Saviour made his last entrance into Jerusalem, the people took branches of Palm trees, and accosted him as a prince, crying, ^[13]Hosanna—blessed is the King of Israel.

The title of Phoinic seems at first to have been given to persons of great stature: but, in process of time, it was conferred upon people of power and eminence, like αναξ and ανακτες among the Greeks. The Cuthites in Egypt were styled Royal Shepherds, Βασιλεις Ποιμενες, and had therefore the title of Phœnices. A colony of them went from thence to Tyre and Syria: hence it is said by many writers that Phœnix came from Egypt to Tyre. People, not considering this, have been led to look for the shepherd's origin in Canaan, because they were sometimes called Phœnices. They might as well have looked for them in Greece; for they were equally styled ^[14]Ἑλληνες, Hellenes. Phœnicia, which the Greeks called Φοινικη, was but a small part of Canaan. It was properly a slip of sea coast, which lay within the jurisdiction of the Tyrians and Sidonians, and signifies Ora Regia; or, according to the language of the country, the coast of the Anakim. It was a lordly title, and derived from a stately and august people. All the natives of Canaan seem to have assumed to themselves great honour. The Philistines are spoken of as ^[15]Lords, and the merchants of Tyre as Princes; whose grandeur and magnificence are often alluded to in the Scriptures. The prophet Ezekiel calls them the princes of the sea. ^[16]Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments. And Isaiah speaks to the same purpose. ^[17]Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that crowning city, whose merchants are princes; whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The scripture term by which they are here distinguished is שרים, Sarim: but the title which they assumed to themselves was Ph'anac, or Ph'oinac, the Phœnix of the Greeks and Romans. And as it was a mere title, the sacred writers of the old testament never make use of it to distinguish either the people or country. This part of Canaan is never by them called Phœnicia: yet others did call it so; and the natives were styled Phœnices before the birth of Homer. But this was through mistake; for it was never used by the natives as a provincial appellation. I have shewn that it was a title of another sort, a mark of rank and pre-eminence: on this account it was assumed by other people, and conferred upon other places. For this reason it is never mentioned by any of the sacred writers before the captivity, in order to avoid ambiguity. The Gentile writers made use of it; and we see what mistakes have ensued. There were Phœnicians of various countries. They were to be found upon the Sinus ^[18]Persicus, upon the Sinus ^[19]Arabicus, in Egypt, in ^[20]Crete, in ^[21]Africa, in ^[22]Epirus, and even in Attica. ^[23]Φοινικες—γενος τι Αθηνῃσι. There is a race of people called Phœnicians among the ^[24]Athenians. In short, it was a title introduced at Sidon, and the coast adjoining, by people from Egypt: and who the people were that brought it may be known from several passages in antient history; but particularly from an extract in Eusebius, ^[25]Φοινιξ και Καδμος, απο Θηβων των Αιγυπτιων εξελθοντες εις την Συριαν, Τυρου και Σιδωνος εβασιλευον. Phœnix and Cadmus, retiring from Thebes, in Egypt, towards the coast of Syria, settled at Tyre and Sidon, and reigned there. It is said, that ^[26]Belus carried a colony to the same parts: and from what part of the world ^[27]Belus must be supposed to have come, needs not to be explained. Euripides styles Cepheus the king of Ethiopia, the son of Phœnix: and Apollodorus makes him the son of Belus: hence we may infer, that Belus and Phœnix were the same. Not that there were any such persons as Phœnix and Belus, for they were certainly titles: and, under the characters of those two personages, Colonies, named Belidæ and Phœnices, went abroad, and settled in different parts. Their history and appellation may be traced from Babylonia to Arabia and Egypt; and from thence to Canaan, and to the regions in the west. It were therefore to be wished, that the terms Phœnix and Phœnicia had never been used in the common acceptation; at least when the discourse turns upon the more antient history of Canaan. When the Greeks got possession of the coast of Tyre, they called it Phœnicia: and from that time it may be admitted as a provincial name. In consequence of this, the writers of the New Testament do not scruple to make use of it, but always with a proper limitation; for the geography of the Scriptures is wonderfully exact. But the Greek and Roman writers often speak of it with a greater latitude, and include Judea and Palestina within its borders; and sometimes add Syria and Idume. But these countries were all separate and distinct; among which Phœnicia bore but a small proportion. Yet, small as it may have been, many learned men have thought, that all the colonies, which at times settled upon the coast of the Mediterranean, were from this quarter; and that all science was of Phœnician original. But this is not true according to their acceptation of the term. Colonies did settle; and science came from the east: but not merely from the Sidonian. I shall shew, that it was principally owing to a prior and superior branch of the family.

Phœnix was a colour among horses. They were styled Phœnices, and ^[28]Phœniciati, from the colour of the Palm tree, which they resembled; and upon the same account had the name of Spadices. This, according to Aulus Gellius, was a term synonymous with the former. ^[29]Rutilus, et Spadix Phœnicii συνωνυμος, exuberantiam splendoremque significant ruboris, quales sunt fructus Palmæ arboris, nondum sole incocti: unde spadicis et Phœnicei nomen est. ^[30]Spadix, σπαδιξ, avulsus est a Palmâ termes cum fructu. Homer, describing the horses of Diomedes, says, that the one was Phœnix, or of a bright Palm colour, with a white spot in his forehead like a moon.

Upon this the Scholiast observes, Φοινικες το χρωμα, ητοι πυῤῥος. The horse was of a Palm colour, which is a bright red. We call such horses bays, which probably is a term of the same original. The branch of a Palm tree was called Bai in Egypt; and it had the same name in other places. Baia, Βαια, are used for Palm-branches by St. John. ^[32]Τα βαια των Φοινικων. And it is mentioned by the author of the book of Maccabees, that the Jews, upon a solemn occasion, entered the temple. ^[33]Μετα αινεσεως και βαιων. And Demetrius writes to the high priest, Simon, ^[34]Τον στεφανον τον χρυσουν και την Βαϊνην, ἁ απεστειλατε, κεκομισμεθα. Coronam auream et Bainem, quæ misistis, accepimus. The Greeks formed the word βαϊνη from the Egyptian Bai. The Romans called the same colour Badius. ^[35]Varro, speaking of horses, mentions,

As the Palm tree was supposed to be immortal; or, at least, if it did die, to revive, and enjoy a second life, the Egyptians gave the name of Bai to the soul: ^[36]Εστι μεν γαρ το βαι ψυχη.

THE

I have before taken notice that the term Cahen denoted a Priest, or President; and that it was a title often conferred upon princes and kings. Nor was it confined to men only: we find it frequently annexed to the names of Deities, to signify their rule and superintendency over the earth. From them it was derived to their attendants, and to all persons of a prophetical or sacred character. The meaning of the term was so obvious, that one would imagine no mistake could have ensued: yet such is the perverseness of human wit, that we find it by the Greeks and Romans constantly misapplied. They could not help imagining, from the sound of the word, which approached nearly to that of κυων and canis, that it had some reference to that animal: and, in consequence of this unlucky resemblance, they continually misconstrued it a dog. Hence we are told by ^[37]Ælian and ^[38]Plutarch, not only of the great veneration paid to dogs in Egypt, and of their being maintained in many cities and temples; in which they certainly exceed the truth; but we are moreover assured, that the people of Ethiopia had a dog for their king: that he was kept in great state, being surrounded with a numerous body of officers and guards, and in all respects royally treated. Plutarch speaks of him as being ^[39]σεμνως προσκυνομενος, worshipped with a degree of religious reverence. The whole of this notion took its rise from a misinterpretation of the title above. I have mentioned, that in early times Cahen was a title universally conferred upon priests and prophets: hence Lycophron, who has continually allusions to obsolete terms, calls the two diviners, Mopsus and Amphilochus, Κυνας.

Upon which the Scholiast observes: Κυνες ὁι Μαντεις: by Cunes are meant Diviners: and again, Κυνας Απολλωνος τους μαντεις ειπειν. The Poet, by Κυνας, means the ministers and prophets of Apollo. Upon this the learned ^[41]Meursius observes, that Lycophron had here made use of a term imported from Egypt: so that, I think, we cannot be mistaken about the purport of the word, however it may have been perverted.

The name of the Deity, Canouphis, expressed also Canuphis, and Cnuphis, was compounded with this term. He was represented by the Egyptians as a princely person, with a serpent entwined round his middle, and embellished with other characteristics, relating to time and duration, of which the serpent was an emblem. Oph, and Ouph, signified a serpent in the Amonian language; and the Deity was termed Can-uph, from his serpentine representation. The whole species, in consequence of this, were made sacred to him, and styled Canyphian. To this Lucan alludes, when, in speaking of the Seps, he calls all the tribe of serpents Cinyphias pestes:

^[42]Cinyphias inter pestes tibi palma nocendi.

Canuphis was sometimes expressed Anuphis and Anubis; and, however rendered, was by the Greeks and Romans continually spoken of as a dog; at least they supposed him to have had a dog's head, and often mention his ^[43]barking. But they were misled by the title, which they did not understand. The Egyptians had many emblematical personages, set off with heads of various animals, to represent particular virtues and affections, as well as to denote the various attributes of their Gods. Among others was this canine figure, which I have no reason to think was appropriated to Canuph, or Cneph. And though upon gems and marbles his name may be sometimes found annexed to this character, yet it must be looked upon as a Grecian work, and so denominated in consequence of their mistaken notion. For we must make a material distinction between the hieroglyphics of old, when Egypt was under her own kings; and those of later date, when that country was under the government of the Greeks: at which time their learning was greatly impaired, and their antient theology ruined. Horus Apollo assures us, if any credit may be given to what he says, that this canine figure was an emblem of the earth: ^[44]Οικουμενην γραφοντες κυνοκεφαλον ζωγραφουσι. When they would describe the earth, they paint a Cunocephalus. It could not, therefore, I should think, in any degree relate to Canuphis. The same^[45] writer informs us, that under the figure of a dog they represented a priest, or sacred scribe, and a prophet; and all such as had the chief management of funerals: also the spleen, the smell, sneezing; rule and government, and a magistrate, or judge: which is a circumstance hardly to be believed. For, as hieroglyphics were designed to distinguish, it is scarce credible that the Egyptians should crowd together so many different and opposite ideas under one character, whence nothing could well ensue but doubt and confusion. Besides, I do not remember, that in any group of antient hieroglyphics the figure of a dog occurs. The meaning of this history, I think, may be with a little attention made out. The Egyptians were refined in their superstitions, above all the nations in the world; and conferred the names and titles of their Deities upon vegetables and animals of every species; and not only upon these, but also upon the parts of the human body, and the very passions of the mind. Whatever they deemed salutary, or of great value, they distinguished by the title of Sacred, and consecrated it to some ^[46]God. This will appear from words borrowed from Egypt. The Laurel, Laurus, was denominated from Al-Orus: the berry was termed bacca, from Bacchus; Myrrh, Μυῤῥα was from Ham-Ourah; Casia, from Chus. The Crocodile was called Caimin and Campsa; the Lion, El-Eon; the Wolf, El-Uc; the Cat, Al-Ourah: whence the Greeks formed λεων, λυκος, αιλουρος. The Egyptians styled Myrrh, Baal; balsam, baal-samen; Camphire, Cham-phour, καμφουρα of Greece; Opium, Ophion. The sweet reed of Egypt was named ^[47]Canah, and Conah, by way of eminence; also, ^[48]Can-Osiris. Cinnamon was denominated from Chan-Amon; Cinnabar, κινναβαρις, from Chan-Abor; the sacred beetle, Cantharus, from Chan-Athur. The harp was styled Cinnor, and was supposed to have been found out by Cinaras; which terms are compounded of Chan-Or, and Chan-Arez; and relate to the Sun, or Apollo, the supposed inventor of the lyre. Priests and magistrates were particularly honoured with the additional title of Cahen; and many things held sacred were liable to have it in their composition. Hence arose the error of Horus Apollo; who, having been informed that the antient Egyptians distinguished many things which were esteemed holy by this sacred title, referred the whole to hieroglyphics, and gave out that they were all represented under the figure of a dog. And it is possible, that in later times the Grecian artists, and the mixed tribes of Egypt, may have expressed them in this manner; for they were led by the ear; and did not inquire into the latent purport of the ^[49]theology transmitted to them. From hence we may perceive how little, in later times, even the native Egyptians knew of their rites and history.

Farther accounts may be produced from the same writer, in confirmation of what I have been saying. He not only mentions the great veneration paid by the Egyptians to dogs, but adds, that in many temples they kept κυνοκεφαλοι, a kind of baboons, or animals with heads like those of dogs, which were wonderfully endowed. By their assistance the Egyptians found out the particular periods of the Sun and Moon. These did not, like other animals, die at once, but by piece-meal; so that one half of the animal was oftentimes buried, while the other half^[50] survived. He moreover assures us, that they could read and write; and whenever one of them was introduced into the sacred apartments for probation, the priest presented him with a ^[51]tablet, and with a pen and ink; and by his writing could immediately find out if he were of the true intelligent breed. These animals are said to have been of infinite use to the antient Egyptians in determining times and seasons; for it seems they were, in some particular functions, the most accurate and punctual of any creatures upon earth: ^[52]Per æquinoctia enim duodecies in die urinam reddere, et in nocte^[53] compertus (Cunocephalus), æquali interstitio servato, Trismegisto ansam dedit diem dividendi in duodecim partes æquales. Such is the history of these wonderful ^[54]animals. That Apes and Baboons were, among the Egyptians, held in veneration, is very certain. The Ape was sacred to the God Apis; and by the Greeks was rendered Capis, and ^[55]Ceipis. The Baboon was denominated from the Deity^[56] Babon, to whom it was equally sacred. But what have these to do with the supposed Cunocephalus, which, according to the Grecian interpretation, is an animal with the head of a dog? This characteristic does not properly belong to any species of Apes, but seems to have been unduly appropriated to them. The term Cunocephalus, Κυνοκεφαλος, is an Egyptian compound: and this strange history relates to the priests of the country, styled Cahen; also to the novices in their temples; and to the examinations, which they were obliged to undergo, before they could be admitted to the priesthood. To explain this, I must take notice, that in early times they built their temples upon eminences, for many reasons; but especially for the sake of celestial observations. The Egyptians were much addicted to the study of astronomy: and they used to found their colleges in Upper Egypt upon rocks and hills, called by them Caph. These, as they were sacred to the Sun, were farther denominated Caph-El, and sometimes Caph-Aur, and Caph-Arez. The term Caph-El, which often occurs in history, the Greeks uniformly changed to Κεφαλη, Cephale: and from Cahen-Caph-El, the sacred rock of Orus, they formed Κυνοκεφαλη, and Κυνοκεφαλος; which they supposed to relate to an animal with the head of a dog. But this Cahen-Caph-El was certainly some royal seminary in Upper Egypt, whence they drafted novices to supply their colleges and temples. These young persons were, before their introduction, examined by some superior priest; and, accordingly as they answered upon their trial, they were admitted, or refused. They were denominated Caph-El, and Cahen-Caph-El, from the academy where they received their first instruction; and this place, though sacred, seems to have been of a class subordinate to others. It was a kind of inferior cloister and temple, such as Capella in the Romish church; which, as well as Capellanus, was derived from Egypt: for, the church, in its first decline, borrowed largely from that country. That there was some particular place of this sort situated upon a rock or eminence, may, I think, be proved from Martianus Capella; and, moreover, that it was a seminary well known, where the youth of Upper Egypt were educated. For, in describing the sciences, under different personages, he gives this remarkable account of Dialectica upon introducing her before his audience. ^[57]Hæc se educatam dicebat in Ægyptiorum Rupe; atque in Parmenidis exinde gymnasium, atque Atticam demeasse. And Johannes Sarisburiensis seems to intimate that Parmenides obtained his knowledge from the same quarter, when he mentions ^[58]"in Rupe vitam egisse. In this short detail we have no unpleasing account of the birth of science in Egypt, and of its progress thence to Attica. It is plain that this Rupes Ægyptiaca could be nothing else but a seminary, either the same, or at least similar to that, which I have before been describing. As the Cunocephali are said to have been sacred to Hermes, this college and temple were probably in the nome of Hermopolis. Hermes was the patron of Science, and particularly styled Cahen, or ^[59]Canis: and the Cunocephali are said to have been worshipped by the people of that ^[60]place. They were certainly there reverenced: and this history points out very plainly the particular spot alluded to. Hermopolis was in the upper region styled Thebaïs: and there was in this district a tower, such as has been ^[61]mentioned. It was in aftertimes made use of for a repository, where they laid up the tribute. This may have been the Rupes Ægyptiaca, so famed of old for science; and which was the seat of the Chancephalim, or Cunocephalians.

It is said of the Cunocephali, that when one part was dead and buried, the other still survived. This can relate to nothing else but a society, or body politic, where there is a continual decrement, yet part still remains; and the whole is kept up by succession. It is an enigma, which particularly relates to the priesthood in Egypt: for the sacred office there was hereditary, being vested in certain families; and when part was dead, a residue still ^[62]survived, who admitted others in the room of the deceased. ^[63]Επεαν δε τις αποθανῃ, τουτου ὁ παις αντικατισταται. The sons, we find, supplied the place of their fathers: hence the body itself never became extinct, being kept up by a regular succession. As to the Cunocephali giving to Hermes the first hint of dividing the day into twelve parts from the exactness, which was observed in their ^[64]evacuations, it is a surmise almost too trifling to be discussed. I have shewn that the Cunocephali were a sacred college, whose members were persons of great learning: and their society seems to have been a very antient institution. They were particularly addicted to astronomical observations; and by contemplating the heavens, styled Ouran, they learned to distinguish the seasons, and to divide the day into parts. But the term Ouran the Greeks by a strange misconception changed to ουρειν; of which mistake they have afforded other instances: and from this abuse of terms the silly figment took its rise.

The Cunocephali are not to be found in Egypt only, but in India likewise; and in other parts of the world. Herodotus ^[65]mentions a nation of this name in Libya: and speaks of them as a race of men with the heads of dogs. Hard by in the neighbourhood of this people he places the Ακεφαλοι, men with no heads at all: to whom, out of humanity, and to obviate some very natural distresses, he gives eyes in the breast. But he seems to have forgot mouth and ears, and makes no mention of a nose: he only says, ^[66]Ακεφαλοι, ὁι εν στηθεσιν οφθαλμους εχοντες. Both these and the Cunocephali were denominated from their place of residence, and from their worship: the one from Cahen-Caph-El, the other from Ac-Caph-El: each of which appellations is of the same purport, the right noble, or sacred ^[67]rock of the Sun.

Similar to the history of the Cunocephali, and Acephali, is that of the Cunodontes. They are a people mentioned by Solinus and Isidorus, and by them are supposed to have had the teeth of dogs. Yet they were probably denominated, like those above, from the object of their worship, the Deity Chan-Adon; which the Greeks expressed Κυνοδων, and styled his votaries ^[68]Cunodontes.

The Greeks pretended, that they had the use of the sphere, and were acquainted with the zodiac, and its asterisms very early. But it is plain from their mistakes, that they received the knowledge of these things very late; at a time when the terms were obsolete, and the true purport of them not to be obtained. They borrowed all the schemes under which the stars are comprehended from the Egyptians: who had formed them of old, and named them from circumstances in their own religion and mythology. They had particularly conferred the titles of their Deities upon those stars, which appeared the brightest in their hemisphere. One of the most remarkable and brilliant they called Cahen Sehor; another they termed Purcahen; a third Cahen Ourah, or Cun Ourah. These were all misconstrued, and changed by the Greeks; Cahen-Sehor to Canis Sirius; P'urcahen to Procyon; and Cahen Ourah to Cunosoura, the dog's tail. In respect to this last name I think, from the application of it in other instances, we may be assured that it could not be in acceptation what the Greeks would persuade us: nor had it any relation to a dog. There was the summit of a hill in Arcadia of this ^[69]name: also a promontory in ^[70]Attica; and another in ^[71]Eubœa. How could it possibly in its common acceptation be applicable to these places? And as a constellation if it signified a dog's tail, how came it to be a name given to the tail of a bear? It was a term brought from ^[72]Sidon, and Egypt: and the purport was to be sought for from the language of the Amonians.

The antient Helladians used upon every promontory to raise pillars and altars to the God of light, Can-Our, the Chan-Orus of Egypt. But Can-Our, and Can-Ourah, they changed to κυνοσουρα, as I have shewn: yet notwithstanding this corruption, the true name is often to be discovered. The place which is termed Cunosoura by Lucian, in his Icaromemenippus, is called Cunoura by Stephanus Byzant, and by ^[73]Pausanias. Cunoura is also used by Lycophron, who understood antient terms full well, for any high rock or headland.

Προς κυνουρα, προς τραχειας πετρας. Scholiast. ibid.

We find the same mistake occur in the account transmitted to us concerning the first discovery of purple. The antients very gratefully gave the merit of every useful and salutary invention to the Gods. Ceres was supposed to have discovered to men corn, and bread: Osiris shewed them the use of the plough; Cinyras of the harp: Vesta taught them to build. Every Deity was looked up to as the cause of some blessing. The Tyrians and Sidonians were famous for the manufacture of purple: the die of which was very exquisite, and the discovery of it was attributed to Hercules of Tyre; the same who by Palæphatus is styled Hercules ^[75]Philosophus. But some will not allow him this honour; but say, that the dog of Hercules was the discoverer. For accidentally feeding upon the Murex, with which the coast abounded, the dog stained his mouth with the ichor of the fish; and from hence the first hint of dying was ^[76]taken. This gave birth to the proverbial expression, ^[77]Ἑυρημα κυνος ην ἡ σεβαστη πορφυρα. Nonnus mentions the particular circumstance of the dog's staining his mouth:

Such is the story, which at first sight is too childish to admit of credit. It is not likely that a dog would feed upon shell-fish: and if this may at any time have happened, yet whoever is at all conversant in natural history, must know, that the murex is of the turbinated kind, and particularly aculeated; having strong and sharp protuberances, with which a dog would hardly engage. The story is founded upon the same misconception, of which so many instances have been produced. Hercules of Tyre, like all other oriental divinities, was styled Cahen, and Cohen; as was allowed by the Greeks themselves. ^[79]Τον Ἡρακλην φασι κατα την Αιγυπτιων διαλεκτον ΧΩΝΑ λεγεσθαι. We are told, that Hercules in the language of the Egyptians is called Chon. This intelligence, however, they could not abide by; but changed this sacred title to ^[80]κυων, a dog, which they described as an attendant upon the Deity.

The Grecians tell us, that the Egyptians styled Hermes a dog: but they seem to have been aware, that they were guilty of an undue representation. Hence Plutarch tries to soften, and qualify what is mentioned, by saying, ^[81]Ου γαρ κυριως τον Ἑρμην ΚYΝΑ λεγουσιν (ὁι Αιγυπτιοι): by which this learned writer would insinuate, that it was not so much the name of a dog, as the qualities of that animal, to which the Egyptians alluded. Plutarch thought by this refinement to take off the impropriety of conferring so base a name upon a Deity. But the truth is, that the Egyptians neither bestowed it nominally; nor alluded to it in any degree. The title which they gave to Hermes was the same that they bestowed upon Hercules: they expressed it Cahen, and Cohen; and it was very properly represented above by the Greek term Χων, Chon. It is said of Socrates, that he sometimes made use of an uncommon oath, μα τον κυνα, και τον χηνα by the dog and the goose: which at first does not seem consistent with the gravity of his character. But we are informed by Porphyry, that this was not done by way of ridicule: for Socrates esteemed it a very serious and religious mode of attestation: and under these terms made a solemn appeal to the son of ^[82]Zeus. The purport of the words is obvious: and whatever hidden meaning there may have been, the oath was made ridiculous by the absurdity of the terms. Besides, what possible connection could there have subsisted between a dog and a Deity; a goose and the son of Jove? There was certainly none: yet Socrates, like the rest of his fraternity, having an antipathy to foreign terms, chose to represent his ideas through this false medium; by which means the very essence of his invocation was lost. The son of Zeus, to whom he appealed, was the Egyptian Cahen abovementioned; but this sacred title was idly changed to κυνα και χηνα, a dog and a goose, from a similitude in sound. That he referred to the Egyptian Deity, is manifest from Plato, who acknowledges that he swore, ^[83]μα τον κυνα τον Αιγυπτιων θεον. By which we are to understand a Cahen of Egypt. Porphyry expressly says, that it was the God Hermes the son of Zeus, and Maia: ^[84]Κατα τον του Διος και Μαιας παιδα εποιειτο τον ὁρκον.

I cannot account upon any other principle than that upon which I have proceeded, for the strange representation of Apollo, and Bacchus, gaping with open mouths. So it seems they were in some places described. Clemens of Alexandria mentions from Polemon, that Apollo was thus exhibited: ^[85]Πολεμων δε κεχηνοτος Απολλωνος οιδεν αγαλμα. And we are told that a gaping^[86] Bacchus was particularly worshipped at Samos. They were both the same as the Egyptian Orus; who was styled Cahen-On, Rex, vel Deus Sol; out of which Cahen-On the Grecians seem to have formed the word Χαινων: and in consequence of it, these two Deities were represented with their jaws widely extended. This term was sometimes changed to κοινος, communis: hence it is that we so often meet with κοινοι Θεοι, and κοινοι βωμοι, upon coins and marbles: also κοινος Ἑρμης. And as Hermes was the reputed God of gain, every thing found was adjudged to be κοινος, or common.

Notwithstanding this notion so universally received, yet among the Grecians themselves the term κοινος was an antient title of eminence. ^[89]Κοινος, ὁ Δεσποτης. Coinos signifies a lord and master: undoubtedly from Cohinus; and that from Cohen. It would be endless to enumerate all the instances which might be brought of this nature. Of this, I think, I am assured, that whoever will consider the uncouth names both of Deities, and men, as well as of places, in the light recommended; and attend to the mythology transmitted concerning them; will be able by these helps to trace them to their original meaning. It is, I think, plain, that what the Grecians so often interpreted κυνες, was an antient Amonian title. When therefore I read of the brazen dog of Vulcan, of the dog of Erigone, of Orion, of Geryon, of Orus, of Hercules, of Amphilochus, of Hecate, I cannot but suppose, that they were the titles of so many Deities; or else of their priests, who were denominated from their office. In short, the Cahen of Egypt were no more dogs than the Pateræ of Amon were basons: and though Diodorus does say, that at the grand celebrity of ^[90]Isis, the whole was preceded by dogs, yet I cannot help being persuaded that they were the priests of the Goddess.

By this clue we may unravel many intricate histories transmitted from different parts. In the temple of Vulcan, near mount Ætna, there are said to have been a breed of dogs, which fawned upon good men, but were implacable to the bad. ^[91]Inde etiam perpetuus ignis a Siculis alebatur in Ætnæo Vulcani templo, cui custodes adhibiti sunt sacri canes, blandientes piis hominibus, in impios ferocientes. In the celebrated gardens of Electra there was a golden dog, which shewed the same regard to good men, and was as inveterate to others.

What is more remarkable, there were many gaping dogs in this temple; which are represented as so many statues, yet were endowed with life.

Homer describes something of the same nature in the gardens of Alcinous.

All this relates to the Cusean priests of Vulcan or Hephaistos, and to the priesthood established in his temple: which priesthood was kept up by succession, and never became extinct. What was Cusean, the Greeks often rendered Χρυσειον, as I shall hereafter shew. The same people were also styled Cuthim; and this word likewise among the antients signified gold: from hence these priests were styled Χρυσειοι κυνες. We find the like history in Crete: here too was a golden dog, which Zeus had appointed to be the guardian of his temple^[95]. By comparing these histories, I think we cannot fail of arriving at the latent meaning. The God of light among other titles was styled Cahen, or Chan-Ades: but the term being taken in the same acceptation here, as in the instances above, the Deity was changed to a dog, and said to reside in the infernal regions. From hence he was supposed to have been dragged to light by Hercules of Thebes. The notion both of Cerberus and Hades being subterraneous Deities took its rise from the temples of old being situated near vast caverns, which were esteemed passages to the realms below. Such were in Messenia, in Argolis, in Bithynia, and at Enna in Sicily; not to mention divers other places. These temples were often named Kir-Abor; and the Deity Chan-Ades; out of which terms the Greeks formed Τον Κερβερον κυνα ἁδου; and fabled, that he was forced into upper air by Hercules, through these infernal inlets. And as temples similar in name and situation were built in various parts, the like history was told of them all. Pausanias takes notice of this event, among other places, being ascribed to the cavern at ^[96]Tænarus; as well as to one at ^[97]Trœzen, and to a third near the city ^[98]Hermione. The Poet Dionysius speaks of the feat being performed in the country of the Marianduni, near Colchis.

But however the Deity in all these instances may have been degraded to the regions of darkness, yet he was the God of light, Κυν-ἁδης; and such was the purport of that name. He was the same as Apollo, as may be proved from the Cunidæ at Athens, who were a family set apart for his service. Κυννιδαι, γενος Αθηνῃσιν, εξ ὁυ ὁ ἱερευς του Κυννιου Απολλωνος. Hesychius. The Cunnidai are a family at Athens, out of which the priest of Apollo Cunnius is chosen. He styles him Apollo Cunnius: but the Cunidai were more properly denominated from Apollo Cunides, the same as Cun-Ades. Poseidon was expressly styled Cun-Ades; and he was the same Deity as Apollo, only under a different title, as I have shewn. Κυναδης Ποσειδων Αθηνῃσιν ετιμᾳτο. Hesychius. Poseidon was worshipped at Athens under the title of Cun-Ades.

Though I have endeavoured to shew, that the term of which I have been treating was greatly misapplied, in being so uniformly referred to dogs, yet I do not mean to insinuate that it did not sometimes relate to them. They were distinguished by this sacred title, and were held in some degree of ^[100]veneration; but how far they were reverenced is not easy to determine. Herodotus,^[101] speaking of the sanctity of some animals in Egypt, says, that the people in every family, where a dog died, shaved themselves all over: and he mentions it as a custom still subsisting in his own time. Plutarch^[102] differs from him. He allows that these animals were, at one time, esteemed holy; but it was before the time of Cambyses: from the æra of his reign they were held in another light: for when this king killed the sacred Apis, the dogs fed so liberally upon his entrails, without making a proper distinction, that they lost all their sanctity. It is of little consequence whichever account be the truest. They were certainly of old looked upon as sacred; and esteemed emblems of the Deity. And it was, perhaps, with a view to this, and to prevent the Israelites retaining any notion of this nature, that a dog was not suffered to come within the precincts of the temple at ^[103]Jerusalem. In the Mosaic law, the price of a dog, and the hire of a harlot, are put upon the same level. ^[104]Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.

To conclude: The Dog, in Egypt, was undoubtedly called Cahen, and Cohen; a title by which many other animals, and even vegetables, were honoured, on account of their being consecrated to some Deity. The Greeks did not consider that this was a borrowed appellation, which belonged to the Gods and their Priests; and was from them extended to many things held sacred. Hence they have continually referred this term to one object only: by which means they have misrepresented many curious pieces of history: and a number of idle fables have been devised to the disparagement of all that was true.

Among the different branches of the great Amonian family which spread themselves abroad, the sons of Chus were the most considerable, and at the same time the most enterprising. They got access into countries widely distant; where they may be traced under different denominations, but more particularly by their family title. This we might expect the Greeks to have rendered Chusos, and to have named the people Χυσαιοι, Chusæi. But, by a fatal misprision, they uniformly changed these terms to words more familiar to their ear, and rendered them Χρυσος, and Χρυσειος, as if they had a reference to gold. I have before mentioned the various parts of the world where the Amonians settled, and especially this branch of that family. Their most considerable colonies westward were in Iönia and Hellas; and about Cuma and Liguria in Italy; and upon the coast of Iberia in Spain. They were likewise to be found in Cyrene; and still farther in Mauritania, and in the islands opposite to that coast. In the north they were to be met with at Colchis, towards the foot of Mount Caucasus, and in most regions upon the coast of the Euxine sea. In the histories of these countries the Grecians have constantly changed Chusos, the Gentile name, to Chrusos, Χρυσος; and Chus-Or, Chusorus, to Χρυσωρ, Chrusor: and, in consequence of this alteration, they have introduced in their accounts of these places some legend about gold. Hence we read of a golden fleece at Colchis; golden apples at the Hesperides; at ^[105]Tartessus, a golden cup; and, at Cuma, in Campania, a golden branch:

Something similar is observable in the history of Cyrene. The natives were not remarkable for either mines or merchandize: yet, Palæphatus, having mentioned that they were κατα γενος Αιθιοπες, Ethiopians by extraction, that is, Cuseans, subjoins: ^[106]Εισι δε σφοδρα χρυσοι. Pindar, in celebrating each happy circumstance of the Insulæ Fortunatæ, mentions, that there were trees with branches of gold: ^[107]Ανθεμα δε χρυσου φλεγει. The river Phasis, in Colchis, was supposed to have abounded with gold; and the like was pretended of the Hermus and Pactolus in Iönia. Not only the Poets, but many of the graver ^[108]historians, speak of their golden sands. Yet there is reason to doubt of the fact: for not one of them produces any good voucher for what they suppose. They do not mention any trade carried on, nor riches accruing from this lucky circumstance: so that there is no reason to think that one grain of gold was gathered from these celebrated streams. Among the several islands occupied by this people were Rhodes and Delos. In the former, the chief city is said to have been blessed with showers of gold. ^[109]Ενθα ποτε βρεχε θεον Βασιλευς ὁ μεγας χρυσαις νιφαδεσσι πολιν. At Delos every thing was golden, even the slippers of the God.

And this not only in aftertimes, when the island was enriched with offerings from different nations, but even at the birth of the God; by which is meant the foundation of his temple, and introduction of his rites.

We find that the very soil and foundations of the island were golden: the lake floated with golden waves: the olive tree vegetated with golden fruit: and the river Inopus, deep as it was, swelled with gold. Homer, in a hymn to the same personage, represents the whole more compendiously, by saying, that the island was weighed down with treasure:

I have before mentioned that the Amonians settled in Liguria: and, in consequence of it, the Heliadæ are represented as weeping, not only amber, but gold. Philostratus, speaking of a particular species of fir-trees in Bœtica, says, that they dropped blood, just as the Heliadæ upon the Padus did^[113] gold.

Chus, by the Egyptians and Canaanites, was styled Or-Chus, and^[114] Chus-Or: the latter of which was expressed by the Greeks, analogous to the examples above, Χρυσωρ, Chrusor: and we learn in Eusebius, from Philo, that Chrusor was one of the principal Deities of the Phenicians, a great benefactor to mankind; and by some supposed to have been the same as Hephaistus. Both the Tyrians and Sidonians were undoubtedly a mixed race, and preserved the memory of Ham, and Chus, equally with that of Canaan.

This name, so often rendered Chrusos, and Chrusor, was sometimes changed to Χρυσαωρ, Chrusaor: and occurs in many places where the Cuthites were known to have settled. We have been shewn that they were a long time in Egypt; and we read of a Chrusaor in those parts, who is said to have arisen from the blood of Medusa.

^[115]Εξεθορε Χρυσαωρ τε μεγας, και Πηγασος ἱππος.

We meet with the same Chrusaor in the regions of Asia Minor, especially among the Carians. In these parts he was particularly worshipped, and said to have been the first deified mortal. The great Divan of that nation was called Chrusaorium; and there was a city ^[116]Chrusaoris, and a temple of the same name. ^[117]Εγγυς δε της πολεως το του Χρυσαορεως Διος κοινον ἁπαντων Καρων, εις ὁ συνιασι θυσαντες τε και βουλευσαμενοι. This city was properly called Chus-Or, and built in memory of the same person; as the city Chusora, called also ^[118]Cerchusora, in Egypt. It was undoubtedly founded by some of the same family, who in aftertimes worshipped their chief ancestor; as the Sidonians and Syrians did likewise. For this we have the testimony of Sanchoniathon; who, having mentioned the various benefits bestowed upon mankind by Chrusaor, says, at the conclusion, ^[119]Διο και ὡς θεον αυτον μετα θανατον εσεβασθησαν· for which reason, after his death, they worshipped him as a God. The first king of Iberia was named Chrusaor, the reputed father of ^[120]Geryon; and he is said to have been πολυχρυσος, a person of great wealth: all which is an Egyptian history, transferred from the Nile to the Bœtis.

Geryon of Spain was, according to this mythology of the poet, the son of Chrusaor; and Chrusaor was confessedly of Egyptian original: so that, whatever the fable may allude to, it must have been imported into Bœtica from Egypt by some of the sons of Chus. The Grecians borrowed this term, and applied it to Apollo; and from this epithet, Chrusaor, he was denominated the God of the golden sword. Homer accordingly styles him, ^[122]Απολλωνα Χρυσαορα: and, speaking of Apollo's infancy, he says, ^[123]Ουδ' αρ' Απολλωνα Χρυσαορα θησατο μητηρ: and Diana is termed ^[124]Αυτοκασιγνητη Χρυσαορος Απολλωνος.

This title cannot possibly relate to the implement supposed: for it would be idle to style an infant the God of the golden sword. It was a weapon, which at no time was ascribed to him: nor do I believe, that he is ever represented with one either upon a gem, or a marble. He is described as wishing for a harp, and for a bow.

And his mother is said to have been pleased that she produced him to the world an archer:

These habiliments are often specified: but I do not recollect any mention made of a sword, nor was the term Chrusaor of Grecian etymology.

Since then we may be assured that Chus was the person alluded to under the name of Chrusos, Chrubor, and Chrusaor; we need not wonder that his substitute Apollo is so often styled Χρυσοκομης, and Χρυσολυρος: that the harp, called by the Amonians ^[127] Chan-Or, and Cuth-Or, from the supposed inventor, should by the Grecians be denominated Χρυσεα φορμιγξ ^[128]Απολλωνος: that so many cities, where Apollo was particularly worshipped, should be called Chruse, and Chrusopolis, the number of which was of no small ^[129]amount. Nor is this observable in cities only, but in rivers, which were named in the same manner. For it was usual, in the first ages, to consecrate rivers to Deities, and to call them after their names. Hence many were denominated from Chusorus, which by the Greeks was changed to Χρυσοῤῥοας; and from this mistake they were supposed to abound with gold. The Nile was called Chrusorrhoas^[130], which had no pretensions to gold: and there was a river of this name at ^[131]Damascus. Others too might be produced, none of which had any claim to that mineral. There was a stream Chrusorrhoas near the Amazonian city Themiscura in ^[132]Pontus: and the river Pactolus was of old so called, whence probably came the notion of its abounding with gold. ^[133]Πακτωλος ποταμος εστι της Λυδιας——εκαλειτο δε προτερον Χρυσοῤῥοας. It was named Chrusorrhoas first, and in aftertimes Pactolus: whence we may conclude, in respect to gold, that the name was not given on account of any such circumstance; but the notion was inferred from the name.

It is apparent that this repeated mistake arose in great measure from the term Chusus and Chrusus being similar: whence the latter was easily convertible into the former; which to the Grecians appeared a more intelligible, and at the same time a more splendid, title. But there was still another obvious reason for this change. Chus was by many of the eastern nations expressed Cuth; and his posterity the Cuthim. This term, in the antient Chaldäic, and other Amonian languages, signified ^[134]gold: hence many cities and countries, where the Cuthites settled, were described as golden, and were represented by the terms Chrusos and Chruse. These, as I have shewn, had no relation to gold, but to Chus, who was reverenced as the Sun, or Apollo; and was looked upon as Dionusus; but may more truly be esteemed Bacchus. Hence, when the poet Dionysius mentions the island Chruse in ^[135]India, his commentator observes; Χρυση νησος, λεγομενη ὁυτως, η δια το χρυσον φερειν, η κατα τον Διονυσον· and at last concludes, ^[136]Χρυσους ειναι πως δοκει ὁ ἡλιος.

In a former dissertation concerning the Shepherd Kings in Egypt, I have shewn that they were the sons of Chus, who came into that country under the title of Auritæ. They settled in a province named from them Cushan, which was at the upper part of Delta; and in aftertimes called Nomos Arabicus. It was in the vicinity of Memphis, and Aphroditopolis, which places they likewise ^[137]occupied. I have mentioned that Chusos was often expressed Chrusos, and the country of the Cuthim rendered the golden country. If then there be that uniformity in error which I maintain, it may be expected that, in the history of these places, there should be some reference to gold. It is remarkable that all this part of Egypt, conformably to what I have said, was called Χρυση, Chruse. Here was the campus aureus, and Aphrodite Aurea of the Romans: and all the country about Memphis was styled golden. To this Diodorus, among others, bears witness: ^[138]Την τε Αφροδιτην ονομαζεσθαι παρα τοις εγχωριοις Χρυσην ΕΚ ΠΑΛΑΙΑΣ ΠΑΡΑΔΟΣΕΩΣ, και πεδιον ειναι καλουμενον Χρυσης Αφροδιτης περι την ονομαζομενην Μεμφιν. When the Cuthite shepherds came into Egypt, they made Memphis the seat of royal ^[139]residence: and hard by was the nome of Aphrodite, and the Arabian nome, which they particularly possessed: and which, in consequence of it, were both styled the regions of the Cuthim. Hence came the title of ^[140]Aphrodite Chruse: and hence the country had the name of the Golden District. The island at the point of Delta, where stood the city Cercusora, is called Gieserat ^[141]Eddahib, or the Golden Island, at this day. Diodorus mentions, that this appellation of Chruse was derived from a very antient tradition. This tradition undoubtedly related to the shepherds, those sons of Chus, who were so long in possession of the country; and whose history was of the highest antiquity.

The Cuthites in the west occupied only some particular spots: but from Babylonia eastward the greatest part of that extensive sea-coast seems to have been in their possession. In the history of these parts, there is often some allusion to gold, as may be seen in the island Chruse, above-mentioned; and in the Chersonesus Aurea, which lay beyond the Ganges: and not only of gold, but sometimes a reference to brass; and this from a similar mistake. For as Chusus was changed to Chrusus, Χρυσος, gold; so was Cal-Chus, the hill, or place of Chus, converted to Chalcus, Χαλκος, brass. Colchis was properly Col-Chus; and therefore called also Cuta, and Cutaia. But what was Colchian being sometimes rendered Chalcion, Καλκιον, gave rise to the fable of brazen bulls; which were only Colchic Tor, or towers. There was a region named Colchis in ^[142]India: for where the Cuthites settled, they continually kept up the memory of their forefathers, and called places by their names. This being a secret to Philostratus, has led him into a deal of mysterious error. It is well known that this people were styled Oreitæ, and Auritæ, both in Egypt and in other parts. Philostratus says that ^[143]Apollonius came to a settlement of the Oreitæ upon the Indian Ocean. He also visited their Pegadæ; and, what is remarkable, he met with a people whose very rocks were brazen; their sand was brazen: the rivers conveyed down their streams fine filaments of brass: and the natives esteemed their land golden on account of the plenty of brass. Now what is this detail, but an abuse of terms, ill understood, and shamefully misapplied? Philostratus had heard of a region in India; the history of which he would fain render marvellous. The country, whither Apollonius is supposed to go, was a province of the Indo-Cuthites, who were to be met with in various parts under the title of Oreitæ. They were worshippers of fire, and came originally from the land of Ur; and hence had that name. The Pegadæ of the country are what we now call Pagodas; and which are too well known to need describing. There were in this part of the world several cities, and temples, dedicated to the memory of Chus. Some of these are famous at this day, though denominated after the Babylonish dialect Cutha, and Cuta; witness Calcutta, and Calecut. The latter seems to have been the capital of the region called of old Colchis. This was more truly expressed Cal-Chus; which Philostratus has mistaken for Χαλκος, brass; and made the very ^[144]rocks and rivers abound with that mineral. And yet, that the old mistake about gold may not be omitted, he concludes with a strange antithesis, by saying, that the natives esteemed their country Chrusitis, or golden, from the quantity of ^[145]brass.

It has been my endeavour to prove that what the Grecians represented by Chrusos, Chrusor, and Chrusaor, should have been expressed Chus, Chusos, and Chusor, called also Chus-Orus. Chus was the son of Ham; and though the names of the Grecian Deities are not uniformly appropriated, yet Ham is generally looked upon as Ἑλιος, the Sun; and had the title Dis, and Dios: hence the city of Amon in Egypt was rendered Diospolis. If then Chrusos, and Chrusor, be, as I have supposed, Chus; the person so denominated must have been, according to the more antient mythology, the son of Helius, and Dios. We find accordingly that it was so. The Scholiast upon Pindar expressly says, ^[146]Διος παις ὁ Χρυσος. And in another place he is said to have been the offspring of Helius, who was no other than Cham. ^[147]Εκ θειας και Ὑπεριονος Ἡλιος, εκ δε Ἡλιου ὁ Χρυσος. Magic and incantations are attributed to Chus, as the inventor; and they were certainly first practised among his sons: hence it is said by Sanchoniathon, ^[148]Τον Χρυσωρ λογους ασκησαι και επῳδας, και μαντειας. He was however esteemed a great benefactor; and many salutary inventions were ascribed to him. He had particularly the credit of being the first who ventured upon the seas: ^[149]Πρωτον τε παντων ανθρωπων πλευσαι. Whether this can be said truly of Chus himself, is uncertain: it agrees full well with the history of his sons; who, as we have the greatest reason to be assured, were the first great navigators in the world.

Lucian tells us, that, reflecting upon the account given of Phaëthon, who fell thunderstruck into the Eridanus, and of his sisters, who were changed to poplars weeping amber, he took a resolution, if he should ever be near the scene of these wonderful transactions, to inquire among the natives concerning the truth of the ^[150]story. It so happened, that, at a certain time, he was obliged to go up the river above mentioned: and he says, that he looked about very wistfully; yet, to his great amazement, he saw neither amber nor poplar. Upon this he took the liberty to ask the people, who rowed him, when he should arrive at the amber-dropping trees: but it was with some difficulty that he could make them understand what he meant. He then explained to them the story of Phaëthon: how he borrowed the chariot of the Sun; and being an awkward charioteer, tumbled headlong into the Eridanus: that his sisters pined away with grief; and at last were transformed to trees, the same of which he had just spoken: and he assured them, that these trees were to be found somewhere upon the banks, weeping amber. Who the deuce, says one of the boatmen, could tell you such an idle story? We never heard of any charioteer tumbling into the river; nor have we, that I know of, a single poplar in the country. If there were any trees hereabouts dropping amber, do you think, master, that we would sit here, day after day, tugging against stream for a dry groat, when we might step ashore, and make our fortunes so easily? This affected Lucian a good deal: for he had formed some hopes of obtaining a little of this precious commodity; and began to think that he must have been imposed upon. However, as Cycnus, the brother of Phaëthon, was here changed to a swan, he took it for granted that he should find a number of those birds sailing up and down the stream, and making the groves echo with their melody. But not perceiving any in a great space, he took the liberty, as he passed onward, to put the question again to the boatmen; and to make inquiry about these birds. Pray, gentlemen, says he, at what particular season is it that your swans hereabouts sing so sweetly? It is said, that they were formerly men, and always at Apollo's side; being in a manner of his privy council. Their skill in music must have been very great: and though they have been changed into birds, they retain that faculty, and, I am told, sing most melodiously. The watermen could not help smiling at this account. Why, sir, says one of them, what strange stories you have picked up about our country, and this river? We have plied here, men and boys, for years; and to be sure we cannot say that we never saw a swan: there are some here and there towards the fens, which make a low dull noise: but as for any harmony, a rook or a jackdaw, in comparison of them, may be looked upon as a nightingale.

Such are the witty strictures of Lucian upon the story of Phaëthon and Cycnus, as described by the poets. Whatever may have been the grounds upon which this fiction is founded, they were certainly unknown to the Greeks; who have misinterpreted what little came to their hands, and from such misconstruction devised these fables. The story, as we have it, is not uniformly told. Some, like Lucian, speak of swans in the plural; and suppose them to have been the ministers, and attendants of Apollo, who assisted at his concerts. Others mention one person only, called Cycnus; who was the reputed brother of Phaëthon, and at his death was transformed to the bird of that name. The fable is the same whichever way it may be related, and the purport of it is likewise the same. There is one mistake in the story, which I must set right before I proceed; as it may be of some consequence in the process of my inquiry. Phaëthon is represented by many of the poets as the offspring of the Sun, or Apollo: ^[151]Sole satus Phaëthon. But this was a mistake, and to be found chiefly among the Roman poets. Phaëthon was the Sun. It was a title of Apollo; and was given to him as the God of light. This is manifest from the testimony of the more early Greek poets, and particularly from Homer, who uses it in this acceptation.

In respect to Cycnus and his brotherhood, those vocal ministers of Apollo, the story, which is told of them, undoubtedly alludes to Canaan, the son of Ham; and to the Canaanites, his posterity. They sent out many colonies; which colonies, there is great reason to think, settled in those places, where these legends about swans particularly prevailed. The name of Canaan was by different nations greatly varied, and ill expressed: and this misconstruction among the Greeks gave rise to the fable. To shew this, it will be proper to give an account of the rites and customs of the Canaanites, as well as of their extensive traffic. Among the many branches of the Amonian family, which settled in various parts of the world, and carried on an early correspondence, the Canaanites were not the least respectable. They traded from Sidon chiefly, before that city was taken by the king of Ascalon: and upon their commerce being interrupted here, they ^[153]removed it to the strong hold of Tyre. This place was soon improved to a mighty city, which was very memorable in its day. The Canaanites, as they were a sister tribe of the Mizraïm, so were they extremely like them in their rites and religion. They held a heifer, or cow, in high veneration, agreeably with the ^[154]customs of Egypt. Their chief Deity was the Sun, whom they worshipped together with the Baalim, under the titles Ourchol, Adonis, Thamuz. It was a custom among the Grecians, at the celebration of their religious festivals, to crown the whole with hymns of praise, and the most joyful exclamations. But the Egyptians were of a gloomy turn of mind, which infected the whole of their worship. Their hymns were always composed in melancholy affecting airs, and consisted of lamentations for the loss of Osiris, the mystic flight of Bacchus, the wanderings of Isis, and the sufferings of the Gods. Apuleius takes notice of this difference in the rites and worship of the two nations: ^[155]Ægyptiaca numinum fana plena plangoribus: Græca plerumque choreis. Hence the author of the Orphic Argonautica, speaking of the initiations in Egypt, mentions,

The Canaanites at Byblus, Berytus, Sidon, and afterwards at Tyre, used particularly mournful dirges for the loss of Adonis, or Thamuz; who was the same as Thamas, and Osiris in Egypt. The Cretans had the like mournful hymns, in which they commemorated the grief of Apollo for the loss of Atymnius.

The measures and harmony of the Canaanites seem to have been very affecting, and to have made a wonderful impression on the minds of their audience. The infectious mode of worship prevailed so far, that the children of Israel were forbidden to weep, and make lamentation upon a festival: ^[158]Ειναι γαρ ἑορτην, και μη δειν εν αυτῃ κλαιειν, ου γαρ εξειναι. And Nehemiah gives the people a caution to the same purpose: ^[159]This day is holy unto the Lord your God: mourn not, nor weep. And Esdras counsels them in the same manner: ^[160]This day is holy unto the Lord: be not sorrowful. It is likewise in another place mentioned, that ^[161]the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy: neither be ye grieved. Such was the prohibition given to the Israelites: but among the Canaanites this shew of sorrow was encouraged, and made part of their ^[162]rites.

The father of this people is represented in the Mosaic history, according to our version, Canaan: but there is reason to think that by the Egyptians and other neighbouring nations it was expressed Cnaan. This by the Greeks was rendered Χναας, and Χνας; and in later times Χνα, Cna. ^[163]Χνα, ὁυτος ἡ Φοινικη εκαλειτο—το εθνικον Χναος. We are told by Philo from Sanchoniathon, that ^[164]Isiris the Egyptian, who found out three letters, was the brother of Cna: by which is meant, that Mizraïm was the brother of Canaan. I have taken notice more than once of a particular term, Υκ, Uc; which has been passed over unnoticed by most writers: yet is to be found in the composition of many words; especially such as are of Amonian original. The tribe of Cush was styled by Manethon, before the passage was depraved, Υκκουσος. Uch, says this author, in the sacred language of Egypt, signifies a ^[165]king. Hence it was conferred as a title upon the God Sehor, who, as we may infer from Manethon and ^[166]Hellanicus, was called Ucsiris, and Icsiris; but by the later Greeks the name was altered to Isiris and Osiris. And not only the God Sehor, or Sehoris was so expressed; but Cnas, or Canaan, had the same title, and was styled Uc-Cnas, and the Gentile name or possessive was Uc-cnaos, Υκ-κναος: το εθνικον γαρ Χναος, as we learn from Stephanus. The Greeks, whose custom it was to reduce every foreign name to something similar in their own language, changed Υκκναος to Κυκνειος, Uc Cnaus to Cucneus; and from Υκ Κνας formed Κυκνος. Some traces of this word still remain, though almost effaced; and may be observed in the name of the Goddess Ichnaia. Instead of Uc-Cnaan the son of Ham, the Greeks have substituted this personage in the feminine, whom they have represented as the daughter of the Sun. She is mentioned in this light by Lycophron: ^[167]Της Ἡλιου θυγατρος Ιχναιας βραβευς. They likewise changed Thamuz and Thamas of Canaan and Egypt to Themis a feminine; and called her Ichnaia Themis. She is so styled by Homer.

Ιχναια is here used adjectively. Ιχναια Θεμις signifies Themis, or Thamuz, of ^[169]Canaan.

There was another circumstance, which probably assisted to carry on the mistake: a Canaanitish temple was called both Ca-Cnas, and Cu-Cnas; and adjectively^[170] Cu-Cnaios; which terms there is reason to think were rendered Κυκνος, and Κυκνειος. Besides all this, the swan was undoubtedly the insigne of Canaan, as the eagle and vulture were of Egypt, and the dove of Babylonia. It was certainly the hieroglyphic of the country. These were the causes which contributed to the framing many idle legends, such as the poets improved upon greatly. Hence it is observable, that wherever we may imagine any colonies from Canaan to have settled and to have founded temples, there is some story about swans: and the Greeks, in alluding to their hymns, instead of Yκκναον ασμα, the music of Canaan, have introduced κυκνειον ασμα, the singing of these birds: and, instead of the death of Thamuz, lamented by the Cucnaans, or priests, they have made the swans sing their own dirge, and foretell their own funeral. Wherever the Canaanites came, they introduced their national worship; part of which, as I have shewn, consisted in chanting hymns to the honour of their country God. He was the same as Apollo of Greece: on which account, Lucian, in compliance with the current notion, says, that the Cycni were formerly the assessors and ministers of that Deity. By this we are to understand, that people of this denomination were in antient times his priests. One part of the world, where this notion about swans prevailed, was in Liguria, upon the banks of the Eridanus. Here Phaëthon was supposed to have met with his downfal; and here his brother Cycnus underwent the metamorphosis, of which we have spoken. In these parts some Amonians settled very early; among whom it appears that there were many from Canaan. They may be traced by the mighty works which they carried on; for they drained the river towards its mouth, and formed some vast canals, called Fossæ Philistinæ. Pliny, speaking of the entrance into the Eridanus, says, ^[171]Indé ostia plana, Carbonaria, ac fossiones Philistinæ, quod alii Tartarum vocant: omnia ex Philistinæ fossæ abundatione nascentia. These canals were, undoubtedly the work of the Canaanites, and particularly of some of the Caphtorim, who came from Philistim: and hence these outlets of the river were named Philistinæ. The river betrays its original in its name; for it has no relation to the Celtic language, but is apparently of Egyptian or Canaanitish etymology. This is manifest from the terms of which it is made up; for it is compounded of Ur-Adon, sive Orus Adonis; and was sacred to the God of that name. The river, simply, and out of composition, was Adon, or Adonis: and it is to be observed, that this is the name of one of the principal rivers in Canaan. It ran near the city Biblus, where the death of Thamuz was particularly lamented. It is a circumstance taken notice of by many authors, and most pathetically described by Milton.

It is said that the Eridanus was so called first by ^[173]Pherecydes Syrus: and that my etymology is true, may in great measure be proved from the ^[174]Scholiast upon Aratus. He shews that the name was of Egyptian original, at least consonant to the language of Egypt; for it was the same as the Nile. It is certain that it occurred in the antient sphere of Egypt, whence the Grecians received it. The great effusion of water in the celestial sphere, which, Aratus says, was the Nile, is still called the Eridanus: and, as the name was of oriental original, the purport of it must be looked for among the people of those parts. The river Strymon, in Thrace, was supposed to abound with swans, as much as the Eridanus; and the antient name of this river was Palaestinus. It was so called from the Amonians, who settled here under the name of Adonians, and who founded the city Adonis. They were by the later Greeks styled, after the Iönic manner, Edonians, and their city Edonis. ^[175]Στρυμων ποταμος εστι της Θρακης κατα πολιν Ηδωνιδα, προσηγορευετο δε προτερον Παλαιστινος. The Strymon is a river of Thrace, which runs by the city Edonis: it was of old called the river Palæstinus. In these places, and in all others where any of the Canaanites settled, the Grecians have introduced some story about swans.

Some of them seem to have gained access at Delphi; as did likewise others from Egypt: and by such was that oracle first founded. Egypt, among other names, was called Ait, and Ai Ait, by the Greeks expressed Αετια: ^[176]Εκληθη δε—και ΑΕΤΙΑ. The natives, in consequence of it, were called Αετιοι, and Αεται; which was interpreted eagles. Hence, we are told by Plutarch, that some of the feathered kind, either eagles or swans, came from the remote parts of the earth, and settled at Delphi. ^[177]Αετους τινας, η Κυκνους, ω Τερεντιανε Πρισκε, μυθολογουσιν απο των ακρων της γης επι το μεσον φερομενους εις ταυτο συμπεσειν Πυθοι περι τον καλουμενον ομφαλον. These eagles and swans undoubtedly relate to colonies from Egypt and Canaan. I recollect but one philosopher styled Cygnus; and, what is remarkable, he was of Canaan. Antiochus, the Academic, mentioned by Cicero in his philosophical works, and also by ^[178]Strabo, was of Ascaloun, in Palestine; and he was surnamed Cygnus, the Swan: which name, as it is so circumstanced, must, I think, necessarily allude to this country.

As in early times colonies went by the name of the Deity whom they worshipped, or by the name of the insigne and hieroglyphic under which their country was denoted, every depredation made by such people was placed to the account of the Deity under such a device. This was the manner in which poets described things: and, in those days, all wrote in measure. Hence, instead of saying that the Egyptians, or Canaanites, or Tyrians, landed and carried off such and such persons; they said, that it was done by Jupiter, in the shape of an eagle, or a swan, or a bull: substituting an eagle for Egypt, a swan for Canaan, and a bull for the city of ^[179]Tyre. It is said of the Telchines, who were Amonian priests, that they came to Attica under the conduct of Jupiter in the shape of an eagle.

By which is meant, that they were Egyptian priests; and an eagle was probably the device in their standard, as well as the insigne of their nation.

Some of the same family were to be found among the Atlantes of Mauritania, and are represented as having the shape of swans. Prometheus, in Æschylus, speaks of them in the commission which he gives to Io: ^[181]You must go, says he, as far as the city Cisthene in the Gorgonian plains, where the three Phorcides reside; those antient, venerable ladies, who are in the shape of swans, and have but one eye, of which they make use in common. This history relates to an Amonian temple founded in the extreme parts of Africa; in which there were three priestesses of Canaanitish race; who, on that account, are said to be in the shape of swans. The notion of their having but one eye among them took its rise from an hieroglyphic very common in Egypt, and probably in Canaan: this was the representation of an eye, which was said to be engraved upon the pediment of their ^[182]temples. As the land of Canaan lay so opportunely for traffic, and the emigrants from most parts went under their conduct, their history was well known. They navigated the seas very early, and were necessarily acquainted with foreign regions; to which they must at one time have betaken themselves in great numbers, when they fled before the sons of Israel. In all the places where they settled they were famous for their hymns and music; all which the Greeks have transferred to birds, and supposed that they were swans who were gifted with this harmony. Yet, sweet as their notes are said to have been, there is not, I believe, a person upon record who was ever a witness to it. It is, certainly, all a fable. When, therefore, Plutarch tells us that Apollo was pleased with the music of swans, ^[183]μουσικῃ τε ἡδεται, και κυκνων φωναις; and when Æschylus mentions their singing their own dirges; they certainly allude to Egyptian and Canaanitish priests, who lamented the death of Adon and Osiris. And this could not be entirely a secret to the Grecians, for they seem often to refer to some such notion. Socrates termed swans his fellow-servants: in doing which he alluded to the antient priests, styled Cycni. They were people of the choir, and officiated in the temples of the same Deities; whose servant he professed himself to be. Hence Porphyry assures us, ^[184]Ὁυ παιζων ὁμοδουλους αυτου ελεγεν τους κυκνους (Σοκρατης), that Socrates was very serious when he mentioned swans as his fellow-servants. When, therefore, Aristophanes speaks of the ^[185]Delian and Pythian swans, they are the priests of those places, to whom he alludes. And when it is said by Plato, that the soul of Orpheus, out of disgust to womankind, led the life of a ^[186]swan, the meaning certainly is, that he retired from the world to some cloister, and lived a life of celibacy, like a priest. For the priests of many countries, but particularly of Egypt, were recluses, and devoted themselves to ^[187]celibacy: hence monkery came originally from Egypt. Lycophron, who was of Egypt, and skilled in antient terms, styles Calchas, who was the priest of Apollo, a swan. ^[188]Μολοσσου κυπεως κοιτου κυκνον. These epithets, the Scholiast tells us, belong to Apollo; and Calchas is called a swan, δια το γηραιον, και μαντικον: because he was an old prophet and priest. Hence, at the first institution of the rites of Apollo, which is termed the birth of the Deity, at Delos, it is said that many swans came from the coast of Asia, and went round the island for the space of seven days.

The whole of this relates to a choir of priests, who came over to settle at Delos, and to serve in the newly erected temple. They circled the island seven times; because seven, of old, was looked upon as a mysterious and sacred number.

The birds in the island of Diomedes, which were said to have been originally companions of that hero, were undoubtedly priests, and of the same race as those of whom I have been treating. They are represented as gentle to good men, and averse to those who are bad. Ovid describes their shape and appearance: ^[191]Ut non cygnorum, sic albis proxima cygnis; which, after what has been said, may, I think, be easily understood.

If then the harmony of swans, when spoken of, not only related to something quite foreign, but in reality did not of itself exist, it may appear wonderful that the antients should so universally give into the notion. For not only the poets, but ^[192]Plato, Plutarch, Cicero, Pliny, with many others of high rank, speak of it as a circumstance well known. But it is to be observed, that none of them speak from their own experience: nor are they by any means consistent in what they say. Some mention this singing as a general faculty; which was exerted at all times: others limit it to particular seasons, and to particular places. Aristotle seems to confine it to the seas of ^[193]Africa: ^[194]Aldrovandus says, that it may be heard upon the Thames near London. The account given by Aristotle is very remarkable. He says, that mariners, whose course lay through the Libyan sea, have often met with swans, and heard them singing in a melancholy strain: and upon a nearer approach, they could perceive that some of them were dying, from whom the harmony proceeded. Who would have expected to have found swans swimming in the salt sea, in the midst of the Mediterranean? There is nothing that a Grecian would not devise in support of a favourite error. The legend from beginning to end is groundless: and though most speak of the music of swans as exquisite; yet some absolutely deny ^[195]the whole of it; and others are more moderate in their commendations. The watermen in Lucian give the preference to a jackdaw: but Antipater in some degree dissents, and thinks that the swan has the advantage.

And Lucretius confesses, that the screaming of a crane is not quite so pleasing:

Which however is paying them no great compliment. To these respectable personages I must add the evidence of a modern; one too of no small repute, even the great Scaliger. He says, that he made a strict scrutiny about this affair, when in Italy; and the result of his observations was this: ^[198]Ferrariæ multos (cygnos) vidimus, sed cantores sane malos, neque melius ansere canere.

The Egyptians were very famous for geometrical knowledge: and as all the flat part of their country was annually overflowed, it is reasonable to suppose that they made use of this science to determine their lands, and to make out their several claims, at the retreat of the waters. Many indeed have thought, that the confusion of property, which must for a while have prevailed, gave birth to practical ^[199]geometry, in order to remedy the evil: and in consequence of it, that charts and maps were first delineated in this country. These, we may imagine, did not relate only to private demesnes: but included also the course of the Nile in its various branches; and all the sea coast, and its inlets, with which lower Egypt was bounded.

It is very certain, that the people of Colchis, who were a colony from Egypt, had charts of this sort, with written descriptions of the seas and shores, whithersoever they traded: and they at one time carried on a most extensive commerce. We are told, says the ^[200]Scholiast upon Apollonius, that the Colchians still retain the laws and customs of their forefathers: and they have pillars of stone, upon which are engraved maps of the continent, and of the ocean: Εισι δε, φησι, και νομοι παρ' αυτοις των Προγωνον, και Στηλαι, εν ἁις γης και θαλασσης αναγραφαι εισι. The poet, upon whom the above writer has commented, calls these pillars, κυρβεις: which, we are told, were of a square figure, like obelisks: and on these, he says, were delineated all the passages of the sea; and the boundaries of every country upon the earth.

These delineations had been made of old, and transmitted to the Colchians by their forefathers; which forefathers were from ^[202]Egypt.

If then the Colchians had this science, we may presume that their mother country possessed it in as eminent a degree: and we are assured, that they were very knowing in this article. Clemens Alexandrinus ^[203]mentions, that there were maps of Egypt, and charts of the Nile very early. And we are moreover told, that Sesostris (by which is meant the Sethosians) drew upon boards schemes of all the countries, which he had traversed: and copies of these were given both to ^[204]the Egyptians, and to the Scythians, who held them in high estimation. This is a curious account of the first delineation of countries, and origin of maps; which were first described upon ^[205]pillars. We may from hence be enabled to solve the enigma concerning Atlas, who is said to have supported the heavens upon his shoulders. This took its rise from some verses in Homer, which have been strangely misconstrued. The passage is in the Odyssey; where the poet is speaking of Calypso, who is said to be the daughter of Atlas, ολοοφρονος, a person of deep and recondite knowledge:

It is to be observed, that when the antients speak of the feats of Hercules, we are to understand the Herculeans; under the name of Cadmus is meant the Cadmians; under that of Atlas, the Atlantians. With this allowance how plain are the words of Homer! The ^[207]Atlantians settled in Phrygia and Mauritania; and, like the Colchians, were of the family of Ham. They had great experience in sea affairs: and the poet tells us, that they knew all the soundings in the great deep.

They had also long pillars, or obelisks, which referred to the sea; and upon which was delineated the whole system both of heaven and earth; αμφις, all around, both on the front of the obelisk, and on the other sides. Κιονες Κοσμου were certainly maps, and histories of the universe; in the knowledge of which the Atlantians seem to have instructed their brethren the Herculeans. The Grecians, in their accounts, by putting one person for a people, have rendered the history obscure; which otherwise would be very intelligible. There is a passage in Eusebius, which may be rendered very plain, and to the purpose, if we make use of the clue above-mentioned. ^[208]Ἡροδοτος δε λεγει τον Ηρακλεα μαντιν και φυσικον γενομενον παρα Ατλαντος του Βαρβαρου του Φρυγος διαδεχεσθαι τας του Κοσμου Κιονας. This may be paraphrased in the following manner; and with such latitude will be found perfectly consonant to the truth. The Herculeans were a people much given to divination, and to the study of nature. Great part of their knowledge they are thought to have had transmitted to them from those Atlantians, who settled in Phrygia, especially the history of the earth and heavens; for all such knowledge the Atlantians had of old consigned to pillars and obelisks in that country: and from them it was derived to the Herculeans, or Heraclidæ, of Greece. The Atlantians were esteemed by the Grecians as barbarous: but they were in reality of the same family. Their chief ancestor was the father of the Peleiadæ, or Ionim; of whom I shall hereafter have much to say: and was the supposed brother of Saturn. The Hellenes, though they did not always allow it, were undoubtedly of his race. This may be proved from Diodorus Siculus, who gives this curious history of the Peleiadæ, his offspring. ^[209]Ταυτας δε μιγεισας τοις ευφυεστατοις Ἡρωσι και Θεοις αρχηγους καταστηναι του πλειστου γενους τον ανθρωπων, τεκουσας τους δι' αρετην Θεους και Ἡρωας ονομασθεντας.—Παραπλησεως δε και τας αλλας Ατλαντιδας γεννησαι παιδας επιφανεις, ὡν τους μεν εθνων, τους δε πολεων γενεσθαι κτιστας· διοπερ ου μονον παρ' ενιοις των Βαρβαρων, αλλα και παρα τοις Ἑλλησι τους πλειστους των αρχαιοτατων Ἡρωων εις ταυτας αναφερειν το γενος. These daughters of Atlas, by their connections and marriages with the most illustrious heroes, and divinities, may be looked up to as the heads of most families upon earth. And from them proceeded all those, who upon account of their eminence were in aftertimes esteemed Gods and Heroes. And having spoken of Maia, and her offspring, the author proceeds to tell us, that the other Atlantides in like manner gave birth to a most noble race: some of whom were the founders of nations; and others the builders of cities: insomuch that most of the more antient heroes, not only of those abroad, who were esteemed Barbari, but even of the Helladians, claimed their ancestry from them. And they received not only their ancestry, but their knowledge also, του κοσμου κιονας; all the celestial and terrestrial phenomena, which had been entrusted to the sacred pillars of the Atlantes, ἁι γαιην τε και ουρανον αμφις εχουσιν, which contained descriptions both of the heavens, and the earth. From Phrygia they came at last to Hellas, where they were introduced by Anaximander, who is said, ^[210]Εσδουναι πρωτον γεωγραφικον πινακα, to have been the first who introduced a geographical chart: or, as Laertius expresses it, ^[211]Γης και Θαλαττης περιμετρον, the circumference of the terraqueous globe delineated.

Though the origin of maps may be deduced from Egypt, yet they were not the native Egyptians, by whom they were first constructed. Delineations of this nature were the contrivance of the Cuthites, or Shepherds. They were, among other titles, styled Saïtæ; and from them both astronomy and geometry were introduced in those parts. They, with immense labour, drained the lower provinces; erected stupendous buildings; and raised towers at the mouths of the river, which were opportunely situated for navigation. For, though the Mizraim were not addicted to commerce, yet it was followed by other families besides the Cuthites, who occupied the lower provinces towards the sea. The towers which were there raised served for lighthouses, and were, at the same time, temples, denominated from some title of the Deity, such as Canoph, Caneph, Cneph; also Perses, Proteus, Phanes, and Canobus. They were on both accounts much resorted to by mariners, and enriched with offerings. Here were deposited charts of the coast, and of the navigation of the Nile, which were engraved on pillars, and in aftertimes sketched out upon the Nilotic Papyrus. There is likewise reason to think that they were sometimes delineated upon walls. This leads me to take notice of a passage from Pherecydes Syrus, which seems to allude to something of this nature: though, I believe, in his short detail that he has misrepresented the author from whom he copied. He is said, by Theopompus, ^[212]πρωτον περι της φυσεως, και Θεων, Ἑλλησι γραφειν, to have been the first who wrote for the benefit of his countrymen about nature and the Gods. Suidas ^[213]mentions, that he composed a theogony; all which knowledge, we are assured, came from Egypt. It is certain that he studied in that^[214] country; whence we may conclude, that the following history is Egyptian. He says, that Zas, or Jupiter, composed a large and curious robe, upon which he described the earth, and the ocean, and the habitations upon the ocean. ^[215]Ζας ποιει φαρος μεγα τε, και καλον, και εν αυτῳ ποικιλλει Γην, και Ωγηνον, και τα Ωγηνου δωματα. Now, Zas, or, as it should be rendered, Zan, was the Dorian title of Amon. And Ogenus, the Ocean, was the most antient name of the Nile; whence the Grecians borrowed their Oceanus. ^[216]Ὁι γαρ Αιγυπτιοι νομιζουσιν ωκεανον ειναι τον παρ' αυτοις ποταμον Νειλον. The Egyptians, by the term Oceanus, understand their own river Nilus. The same author, in another place, calls this river Oceames^[217]. Τον δε ποταμον αρχαιοτατον μεν ονομα σχειν Ωκεαμην, ὁς εστιν Ἑλλενιστι ωκεανος. The former term, Ogenus, whence the Greeks borrowed their Oceanus, was a compound of Oc-Gehon, and Avas originally rendered Ogehonus. It signifies the noble Gehon, and is a name taken from one of the rivers of Paradise. The Nile was sometimes called simply Gehon, as we learn from the author of the Chronicon Paschale. ^[218]Εχει δε (ἡ Αιγυπτος) ποταμον Γηων—Νειλον καλουμενον. It was probably a name given by the Cuthites, from whom, as will be hereafter shewn, the river Indus had the name of Phison. ^[219]Ποταμοι ονομαστοι Ινδος, ὁ και Φεισων, Νειλος, ὁ και Γηων. The two most celebrated rivers are the Indus, the same as the Phison, and the Nile, which is called the Gehon. The river, also, of Colchis, rendered Phasis, and Phasin, was, properly, the Phison. The Nile, being of old styled Oc-Gehon, and having many branches, or arms, gave rise to the fable of the sea monster Ægeon, whom Ovid represents as supporting himself upon the whales of the ocean.

The Scholiast upon Lycophron informs us farther, that the river had three names; and imagines that upon this account it was called Triton. ^[221]Τριτων ὁ Νειλος, ὁτι τρις μετωνομασθη· προτερον γαρ Ωκεανος αν εκαλειτο, δευτερον Αετος·—το δε Νειλος νεον εστι. I shall not at present controvert his etymology. Let it suffice, that we are assured, both by this author and by others, that the Nile was called Oceanus: and what is alluded to by Pherecydes is certainly a large map or chart. The robe of which he speaks was indeed a Pharos, Φαρος; but a Pharus of a different nature from that which he describes. It was a building, a temple, which was not constructed by the Deity, but dedicated to him. It was one of those towers of which I have before treated; in which were described upon the walls, and otherwise delineated, Ωγηνος και Ωγηνου δωματα, the course of the Gehon, or Nile; and the towns and houses upon that river.

I imagine that the shield of Achilles, in Homer, was copied from something of this sort which the poet had seen in Egypt: for Homer is continually alluding to the customs, as well as to the history, of that kingdom. And, it is evident, that what he describes on the central part of the shield, is a map of the earth, and of the celestial appearances.

The antients loved to wrap up every thing in mystery and fable: they have therefore described Hercules, also, with a robe of this sort:

He was invested with a robe, which was a type of the heavens, and a representation of the whole world.

The garment of Thetis, which the poets mention as given her upon her supposed marriage with Peleus, was a Pharos of the same kind as that described above. We may learn, from Catullus, who copied the story, that the whole alluded to an historical picture preserved in some tower; and that it referred to matters of great antiquity, though applied by the Greeks to later times, and ascribed to people of their own nation.

It contained a description of some notable achievements in the first ages; and a particular account of the Apotheosis of Ariadne, who is described, whatever may be the meaning of it, as carried by Bacchus to heaven. The story is said to have been painted on a robe, or coverlet; because it was delineated upon a Pharos: that word being equivocal, and to be taken in either sense. And here I cannot but take notice of the inconsistency of the Greeks, who make Theseus a partaker in this history; and suppose him to have been acquainted with Ariadne. If we may credit Plutarch^[225], Theseus, as soon as he was advanced towards manhood, went, by the advice of his mother Æthra, from Trœzen, in quest of his father Ægeus at Athens. This was some years after the Argonautic expedition; when Medea had left Jason, and put herself under the protection of this same Ægeus. After having been acknowledged by his father, Theseus went upon his expedition to Crete; where he is said to have first seen Ariadne, and to have carried her away. All this, I say, was done after Jason had married Medea, and had children by her; and after she had left him and was come to Athens. But the story of Ariadne, in the above specimen, is mentioned as a fact of far older date. It was prior to the arrival of Medea in Greece, and even to the Argonautic expedition. It is spoken of as a circumstance of the highest antiquity: consequently, ^[226]Theseus could not any ways be concerned in it.

There, is an account in Nonnus of a robe, or Pharos, which Harmonia is supposed to have worn when she was visited by the Goddess of beauty. There was delineated here, as in some above mentioned, the earth, and the heavens, with all the stars. The sea, too, and the rivers, were represented; and the whole was, at the bottom, surrounded by the ocean.

All this relates to a painting, either at Sidon or Berytus; which was delineated in a tower, or temple, sacred to Hermon.

Orpheus alludes to a Pharos of this sort, and to the paintings and furniture of it, in his description of the robes with which Apollo, or Dionusus, is invested. He speaks of them as the same Deity.

When the poet has thus adorned the Deity, we find, towards the conclusion, that these imaginary robes never shew to such advantage as in the morning. When the sun, says he, rises from the extremities of the earth, and enlightens the ocean with his horizontal rays; then they appear in great splendour, which is increased by the morning dew. All this investiture of the Deity relates to the earth and the heavens, which were delineated upon a ^[229]skin, δερμα πολυστικτον θηρος, styled πεπλον. This is described, Αστρων δαιδαλεων μιμημ', ἱερου τε πολοιο: as a copy and imitation of all the celestial appearances. The whole was deposited in a Pharos upon the sea shore, upon which the sun, at his rising, darted his early rays; and whose turrets glittered with the dew: Ὑπο στερνων αμετρητων φαινετ' αρ' ωκεανου κυκλος: from the upper story of the tower, which was of an unmeasurable height, there was an unlimited view of the ocean. This vast element surrounded the edifice like a zone; and afforded a wonderful phænomenon. Such, I imagine, is the solution of the enigma.

I have taken notice of the fears and apprehensions, under which the first navigators must necessarily have been, when they traversed unknown seas; and were liable to be entangled among the rocks, and shelves of the deep: and I mentioned the expedients of which they made use to obviate such difficulties, and to render the coast less dangerous. They built upon every hill, and promontory, where they had either commerce or settlement, obelisks, and towers, which they consecrated to some Deity. These served in a twofold capacity, both as seamarks by day, and for beacons by night. And as people in those times made only coasting voyages, they continually went on shore with offerings, in order to gain the assistance of the God, whoever there presided; for these towers were temples, and oftentimes richly furnished and endowed. They were built sometimes on artificial mounds; but generally on natural eminences, that they might be seen at a great distance. They were called by the Amonians, who first erected them, ^[230]Tar, and Tor; the same as the תור of the Chaldees, which signified both a hill and tower. They were oftentimes compounded, and styled Tor-Is, or fire towers: on account of the light which they exhibited, and the fires which were preserved in them. Hence came the turris of the Romans; and the τυρις, τυῤῥις, τυρσις, τυρσος, of the Greeks. The latter, when the word Tor occurred in antient history, often changed it to ταυρος, a bull; and invented a number of idle stories in consequence of this change. The Ophite God Osiris, the same as Apollo, was by the Amonians styled Oph-El, and Ope-El: and there was upon the Sinus Persicus a city Opis, where his rites were observed. There seems likewise to have been a temple sacred to him, named Tor-Opel; which the Greeks rendered Ταυροπολος. Strabo speaks of such an oracular temple; and says, that it was in the island Icaria, towards the mouth of the Tigris: ^[231]Νησον Ικαριον, και ἱερον Απολλωνος ἁγιον εν αυτῃ, και μαντειον Ταυροπολου. Here, instead of Osiris, or Mithras, the serpent Deity, the author presents us with Apollo, the manager of bulls.

One of the principal and most antient settlements of the Amonians upon the ocean was at Gades; where a prince was supposed to have reigned, named Geryon. The harbour at Gades was a very fine one; and had several Tor, or Towers to direct shipping: and as it was usual to imagine the Deity, to whom the temple was erected, to have been the builder, this temple was said to have been built by Hercules. All this the Grecians took to themselves: they attributed the whole to the hero of Thebes: and as he was supposed to conquer wherever he came, they made him subdue Geryon; and changing the Tor, or Towers, into so many head of cattle, they ^[232]describe him as leading them off in triumph over the Pyranees and Alpes, to Hetruria, and so on to Calabria. From thence, for what reason we know not, he swims them over to Messana in Sicily: and after some stay he swims with them through the sea back again, all the while holding by one of their horns. The bulls of Colchis, with which Jason was supposed to have engaged, were probably of the same nature and original. The people of this country were Amonians, and had once a ^[233]mighty trade; for the security of which they erected at the entrance of the Phasis towers. These served both as light-houses, and temples; and were sacred to Adorus. They were on this account called Tynador, whence the Greeks formed Tyndarus, Tyndaris, and Tyndaridæ. They were built after some, which stood near the city ^[234]Parætonium of Egypt; and they are alluded to by the geographer Dionysius:

Colchis was styled Cutaia, and had been early occupied by the sons of Chus. The chief city, whence the country has been in general denominated, was from its situation called Cal-Chus, and Col-Chus, the hill, or place of Chus. This by the Greeks was rendered Colchis: but as travellers are not uniform in expressing foreign terms, some have rendered what was Colchian, Chalcian, and from Colchus they have formed Χαλκος, brass. The Chalcian towers being moreover interpreted ταυροι, bulls, a story took its rise about the brazen bulls of Colchis. Besides this, there was in these towers a constant fire kept up for the direction of ships by night: whence the bulls were said to breath fire.

We however sometimes meet with sacred towers, which were really denominated Tauri from the worship of the mystic bull, the same as the Apis, and Mneuis of Egypt. Such was probably the temple of Minotaurus in Crete, where the ^[236]Deity was represented under an emblematical figure; which consisted of the body of a man with the head of a bull. In Sicily was a promontory Taurus, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus; which was called also Tauromenium. He acquaints us, that Hanno the Carthaginian sent his Admiral with orders παραπλειν επι τον λοφον καλουμενον Ταυρον, to sail along the coast to the promontory named Taurus. This Taurus, he thinks, was afterwards named Ταυρομενιον, Tauromenium, from the people who settled, and ^[237]remained there: as if this were the only place in the world where people settled and remained. It was an antient compound, and no part of it of Grecian ^[238]original. Tauromenium is the same as Menotaurium reversed: and the figure of the Deity was varied exactly in the same manner; as is apparent from the coins and engravings which have been found in Sicily. The Minotaur is figured as a man with the head of a bull; the Tauromen as a bull with the face of a ^[239]man.

Among the ^[240]Hetrurians this term seems to have been taken in a more enlarged sense; and to have signified a city, or town fortified. When they settled in Italy, they founded many places of strength; and are reputed to have been the first who introduced the art of fortification. ^[241]Τυρσηνοι πρωτον εφευρον την τειχοποιϊαν. Hence the word Tar, and Tur, is often found in the composition of names, which relate to people of this country. They worshipped the Sun, styled Zan, and Zeen; whose temples were called Tur-Zeen: and in consequence of it one of the principal names by which their country was distinguished, was Turzenia. The Scholiast upon Lycophron mentions it as ^[242]Χωραν απο Τυρσηνου κληθεισαν Τυρσηνιαν, a region, which from Tur-Seen was named Tursenia. The Poet above takes notice of two persons by the names of Tarchon, and Turseen. ^[243]Ταρχων τε, και Τυρσηνος, αιθωνες λυκοι. From Tarchon there was a city and district named ^[244]Tarcunia; from whence came the family of the Tarquins, or Tarquinii, so well known in the history of ^[245]Rome. The Amonians esteemed every emanation of light a fountain; and styled it Ain, and Aines: and as they built lighthouses upon every island and insular promontory, they were in consequence of it called Aines, Agnes, Inis, Inesos, Nesos, Nees: and this will be found to obtain in many different countries and languages. The Hetrurians occupied a large tract of sea-coast; on which account they worshipped Poseidon: and one of their principal cities was Poseidonium. They erected upon their shores towers and beacons for the sake of their navigation, which they called Tor-ain: whence they had a still farther denomination of Tur-aini, and their country was named Tur-ainia; the Τυῤῥηνια of the later Greeks. All these appellations are from the same object, the edifices which they erected: even Hetruria seems to have been a compound of Ai-tur; and to have signified the land of Towers. Another name for buildings of this nature was Turit, or Tirit; which signified a tower or turret. I have often mentioned that temples have been mistaken for Deities, and places for persons. We have had an instance of this above; where Tarchon, and Tursenus are supposed to have been founders of colonies. Torone was a place in Macedonia; and signifies literally the Tower of the Sun. The Poets have formed out of it a female personage; and supposed her to have been the wife of ^[246]Proteus. So Amphi-Tirit is merely an oracular tower. This too has by the Poets been changed to a female, Amphitrite; and made the wife of Neptune. The name of Triton is a contraction of Tirit-On; and signifies the tower of the Sun, like Torone: but a Deity was framed from it, who was supposed to have had the appearance of a man upwards, but downwards to have been like a fish. From this emblematical representation we may judge of the figure of the real Deity; and be assured that it could be no other than that of Atargatis and Dagon. The ^[247]Hetrurians were thought to have been the inventors of trumpets: and in their towers upon the sea-coast there were people appointed to be continually upon the watch both by day and night; and to give a proper signal, if any thing happened extraordinary. This was done by a blast from the trumpet; and Triton was hence feigned to have been Neptune's trumpeter. He is accordingly described by Nonnus,

as possessing the deep toned trumpet of the Hetrurian main. However in early times these brazen instruments were but little known: and people were obliged to make use of what was near at hand, the conchs of the sea, which every strand afforded. By sounding these, they gave signals from the top of the towers when any ship appeared: and this is the implement with which Triton is more commonly furnished. The antients divided the night into different watches; the last of which was called cockcrow: and in consequence of this they kept a cock in their Tirat, or Towers, to give notice of the dawn. Hence this bird was sacred to the Sun, and named Alector, Αλεκτωρ: which seems to be a compound out of the titles of that Deity, and of the tower set apart for his service: for all these towers were temples. Those styled Tritonian were oracular; as we may infer from the application made by the Argonauts. What Homer attributes to Proteus, Pindar ascribes to Triton. ^[249]Μαντευεται δε ὡς παρ' Ομηρῳ Πρωτευς, και παρα Πινδαρῳ Τριτων τοις Αργοναυταις. Pausanias mentions a tradition of a ^[250]Triton near Tanagra, who used to molest women, when they were bathing in the sea; and who was guilty of other acts of violence. He was at last found upon the beach overpowered with wine; and there slain. This Triton was properly a Tritonian, a priest of one of these temples: for the priests appear to have been great tyrants, and oftentimes very brutal. This person had used the natives ill; who took advantage of him, when overpowered with liquor, and put him to death.

The term Tor, in different parts of the world, occurs sometimes a little varied. Whether this happened through mistake, or was introduced for facility of utterance, is uncertain. The temple of the Sun, Tor Heres, in Phenicia was rendered Τριηρης, Trieres; the promontory Tor-Ope-On, in Caria, Triopon; Tor-Hamath, in Cyprus, Trimathus; Tor-Hanes, in India, Trinesia; Tor-Chom, or Chomus, in Palestine, Tricomis. In antient times the title of Anac was often conferred upon the Deities; and their temples were styled Tor-Anac, and Anac-Tor. The city Miletus was named ^[251]Anactoria: and there was an Heroüm at Sparta called Ανακτορον, Anactoron; where Castor and Pollux had particular honours, who were peculiarly styled Anactes. It was from Tor-Anac that Sicily was denominated Trinacis and Trinacia. This, in process of time, was still farther changed to Trinacria; which name was supposed to refer to the triangular form of the island. But herein was a great mistake; for, the more antient name was Trinacia, as is manifest from Homer:

And the name, originally, did not relate to the island in general, but to a part only, and that a small district near Ætna. This spot had been occupied by the first inhabitants, the Cyclopians, Lestrygons, and Sicani: and it had this name from some sacred tower which they built. Callimachus calls it, mistakenly, Trinacria, but says that it was near Ætna, and a portion of the antient Sicani.

The island Rhodes was called ^[254]Trinacia, which was not triangular: so that the name had certainly suffered a variation, and had no relation to any figure. The city Trachin, Τραχιν, in Greece, was properly Tor-chun, turris sacra vel regia, like Tarchon in Hetruria. Chun and Chon were titles, said peculiarly to belong to Hercules: ^[255]Τον Ἡρακλην φησι κατα τον Αιγυπτιων διαλεκτον Κωνα λεγεσθαι. We accordingly find that this place was sacred to Hercules; that it was supposed to have been ^[256]founded by him; and that it was called ^[257]Heraclea.

I imagine that the trident of Poseidon was a mistaken implement; as it does not appear to have any relation to the Deity to whom it has been by the Poets appropriated. Both the towers on the sea-coast, and the beacons, which stood above them, had the name of Tor-ain. This the Grecians changed to Triaina, Τριαινα, and supposed it to have been a three-pronged fork. The beacon, or Torain, consisted of an iron or brazen frame, wherein were three or four tines, which stood up upon a circular basis of the same metal. They were bound with a hoop; and had either the figures of Dolphins, or else foliage in the intervals between them. These filled up the vacant space between the tines, and made them capable of holding the combustible matter with which they were at night filled. This instrument was put upon a high pole, and hung sloping sea-ward over the battlements of the tower, or from the stern of a ship: with this they could maintain, either a smoke by day, or a blaze by night. There was a place in Argos named ^[258]Triaina, which was supposed to have been so called from the trident of Neptune. It was undoubtedly a tower, and the true name Tor-ain; as may be shewn from the history with which it is attended. For it stood near a fountain, though a fountain of a different nature from that of which we have been speaking. The waters of Amumone rose here: which Amumone is a variation from Amim-On, the waters of the Sun. The stream rose close to the place, which was named Tor-ain, from its vicinity to the fountain.

Cerberus was the name of a place, as well as Triton and Torone, though esteemed the dog of hell. We are told by ^[259]Eusebius, from Plutarch, that Cerberus was the Sun: but the term properly signified the temple, or place, of the Sun. The great luminary was styled by the Amonians both Or and Abor; that is, light, and the parent of light: and Cerberus is properly Kir-Abor, the place of that Deity. The same temple had different names, from the diversity of the God's titles who was there worshipped. It was called TorCaph-El; which was changed to τρικεφαλος, just as Cahen-Caph-El was rendered κυνοκεφαλος: and Cerberus was hence supposed to have had three heads. It was also styled Tor-Keren, Turris Regia; which suffered a like change with the word above, being expressed τρικαρηνος: and Cahen Ades, or Cerberus, was hence supposed to have been a triple-headed monster. That these idle figments took their rise from names of places, ill expressed and misinterpreted, may be proved from Palæphatus. He abundantly shews that the mistake arose hence, though he does not point out precisely the mode of deviation. He first speaks of Geryon, who was supposed to have had three heads, and was thence styled τρικεφαλος. ^[260]Ην δε τοιονδε τουτο· πολις εστιν εν τῳ Ευξινῳ ποντῳ Τρικαρηνια καλουμενη κλ. The purport of the fable about Geryones is this: There was, upon the Pontus Euxinus, a city named Tricarenia; and thence came the history Γηρυονου του Τρικαρηνου, of Geryon the Tricarenian; which was interpreted, a man with three heads. He mentions the same thing of Cerberus. ^[261]Λεγουσι περι Κερβερου, ὡς κυων ην, εχων τρεις κεφαλας· δηλον δε ὁτι και ὁυτος απο της πολεως εκληθη Τρικαρηνος, ὡσπερ ὁ Γηρυονης. They say of Cerberus, that he was a dog with three heads: but it is plain that he was so called from a city named Tricaren, or Tricarenia, as well as Geryones. Palæphatus says, very truly, that the strange notion arose from a place. But, to state more precisely the grounds of the mistake, we must observe, that from the antient Tor-Caph-El arose the blunder about τρικεφαλος; as, from Tor-Keren, rendered Tricarenia, was formed the term τρικαρηνος: and these personages, in consequence of it, were described with three heads.

As I often quote from Palæphatus, it may be proper to say something concerning him. He wrote early: and seems to have been a serious and sensible person; one, who saw the absurdity of the fables, upon which the theology of his country was founded. In the purport of his name is signified an antiquarian; a person, who dealt in remote researches: and there is no impossibility, but that there might have casually arisen this correspondence between his name and writings. But, I think, it is hardly probable. As he wrote against the mythology of his country, I should imagine that Παλαιφατος, Palæphatus, was an assumed name, which he took for a blind, in order to screen himself from persecution: for the nature of his writings made him liable to much ill will. One little treatise of ^[262]Palæphatus about Orion is quoted verbatim by the Scholiast upon ^[263]Homer, who speaks of it as a quotation from Euphorion. I should therefore think, that Euphorion was the name of this writer: but as there were many learned men so called, it may be difficult to determine which was the author of this treatise.

Homer, who has constructed the noblest poem that was ever framed, from the strangest materials, abounds with allegory and mysterious description. He often introduces ideal personages, his notions of which he borrowed from the edifices, hills, and fountains; and from whatever savoured of wonder and antiquity. He seems sometimes to blend together two different characters of the same thing, a borrowed one, and a real; so as to make the true history, if there should be any truth at bottom, the more extraordinary and entertaining.

I cannot help thinking, that Otus and Ephiâltes, those gigantic youths, so celebrated by the Poets, were two lofty towers. They were building to Alohim, called ^[264]Aloëus; but were probably overthrown by an earthquake. They are spoken of by Pindar as the sons of Iphimedeia; and are supposed to have been slain by Apollo in the island Naxos.

They are also mentioned by Homer, who styles them γηγενεις, or earthborn: and his description is equally fine.

Homer includes Orion in this description, whom he mentions elsewhere; and seems to borrow his ideas from a similar object, some tower, or temple, that was sacred to him. Orion was Nimrod, the great hunter in the Scriptures, called by the Greeks Nebrod. He was the founder of Babel, or Babylon; and is represented as a gigantic personage. The author of the Paschal Chronicle speaks of him in this light. ^[267]Νεβρωδ Γιγαντα, τον την Βαβυλωνιαν κτισαντα—ὁντινα καλουσιν Ωριωνα. He is called Alorus by Abydenus, and Apollodorus; which was often rendered with the Amonian prefix Pelorus. Homer describes him as a great hunter; and of an enormous stature, even superior to the Aloeidæ above mentioned.

The Poet styles him Pelorian; which betokens something vast, and is applicable to any towering personage, but particularly to Orion. For the term Pelorus is the name by which the towers of Orion were called. Of these there seems to have been one in Delos; and another of more note, to which Homer probably alluded, in Sicily; where Orion was particularly reverenced. The streight of Rhegium was a dangerous pass: and this edifice was erected for the security of those who were obliged to go through it. It stood near Zancle; and was called ^[269]Pelorus, because it was sacred to Alorus, the same as ^[270]Orion. There was likewise a river named from him, and rendered by Lycophron ^[271]Elorus. The tower is mentioned by Strabo; but more particularly by Diodorus Siculus. He informs us that, according to the tradition of the place, Orion there resided; and that, among other works, he raised this very mound and promontory, called Pelorus and Pelorias, together with the temple, which was situated upon it. ^[272]Ωριωνα προσχωσαι το κατα την Πελωριαδα κειμενον ακρωτηριον, και το τεμενος του Ποσειδωνος κατασκευασαι, τιμωμενον ὑπο των εγχωριων διαφεροντως. We find from hence that there was a tower of this sort, which belonged to Orion: and that the word Pelorion was a term borrowed from these edifices, and made use of metaphorically, to denote any thing stupendous and large. The description in Homer is of a mixed nature: wherein he retains the antient tradition of a gigantic person; but borrows his ideas from the towers sacred to him. I have taken notice before, that all temples of old were supposed to be oracular; and by the Amonians were called Pator and Patara. This temple of Orion was undoubtedly a Pator; to which mariners resorted to know the event of their voyage, and to make their offerings to the God. It was on this account styled Tor Pator; which being by the Greeks expressed τριπατωρ, tripator, gave rise to the notion, that this earthborn giant had three fathers.

These towers, near the sea, were made use of to form a judgment of the weather, and to observe the heavens: and those which belonged to cities were generally in the Acropolis, or higher part of the place. This, by the Amonians, was named Bosrah; and the citadel of Carthage, as well as of other cities, is known to have been so denominated. But the Greeks, by an unavoidable fatality, rendered it uniformly ^[274]βυρσα, bursa, a skin: and when some of them succeeded to Zancle ^[275]in Sicily, finding that Orion had some reference to Ouran, or Ouranus, and from the name of the temple (τριπατωρ) judging that he must have had three fathers, they immediately went to work, in order to reconcile these different ideas. They accordingly changed Ouran to ουρειν; and, thinking the misconstrued hide, βυρσα, no improper utensil for their purpose, they made these three fathers co-operate in a most wonderful manner for the production of this imaginary person; inventing the most slovenly legend that ever was devised. ^[276]Τρεις (θεοι) του σφαγεντος βοος βυρσῃ ενουρησαν, και εξ αυτης Ωριων εγενετο. Tres Dei in bovis mactati pelle minxerunt, et inde natus est Orion.

When towers were situated upon eminences fashioned very round, they were by the Amonians called Tith; which answers to תד in Hebrew, and to ^[277]τιτθη, and τιτθος, in Greek. They were so denominated from their resemblance to a woman's breast; and were particularly sacred to Orus and Osiris, the Deities of light, who by the Grecians were represented under the title of Apollo. Hence the summit of Parnassus was ^[278]named Tithorea, from Tith-Or: and hard by was a city, mentioned by Pausanias, of the same name; which was alike sacred to Orus and Apollo. The same author takes notice of a hill, near Epidaurus, called ^[279]Τιτθειον ορος Απολλωνος. There was a summit of the like nature at Samos, which, is by Callimachus styled the breast of Parthenia: ^[280]Διαβροχον ὑδατι μαστον Παρθενιης. Mounds of this nature are often, by Pausanias and Strabo, termed, from their resemblance, ^[281]μαστοειδεις. Tithonus, whose longevity is so much celebrated, was nothing more than one of these structures, a Pharos, sacred to the sun, as the name plainly shews. Tith-On is μαστος ἑλιου, the mount of the ^[282]Sun. As he supplied the place of that luminary, he is said to have been beloved by Aurora, and through her favour to have lived many ages. This, indeed, is the reverse of that which is fabled of the ^[283]Cyclopes, whose history equally relates to edifices. They are said to have raised the jealousy of Apollo, and to have been slain by his arrows: yet it will be found at bottom of the same purport. The Cyclopian turrets upon the Sicilian shore fronted due east: and their lights must necessarily have been extinguished by the rays of the rising Sun. This, I imagine, is the meaning of Apollo's slaying the Cyclopes with his arrows. Tethys, the antient Goddess of the sea, was nothing else but an old tower upon a mount; of the same shape, and erected for the same purposes, as those above. On this account it was called Tith-Is, μαστος πυρος. Thetis seems to have been a transposition of the same name, and was probably a Pharos, or Fire-tower, near the sea.

These mounts, λοφοι μαστοειδεις, were not only in Greece; but in Egypt, Syria, and most parts of the world. They were generally formed by art; being composed of earth, raised very high; which was sloped gradually, and with great exactness: and the top of all was crowned with a fair tower. The situation of these buildings made them be looked upon as places of great safety: and the reverence in which they were held added to the security. On these accounts they were the repositories of much wealth and treasure: in times of peril they were crowded with things of value. In Assyria was a temple named Azara; which the Parthian plundered, and is said to have carried off ten thousand talents: ^[284]Χαι ηρε παλαντων μυριων γαζαν. The same author mentions two towers of this sort in Judea, not far from Jericho, belonging to Aristobulus and Alexander, and styled ^[285]Γαζοφυλακια των Τυραννων: which were taken by Pompeius Magnus in his war with the Jews. There were often two of these mounds of equal height in the same inclosure; such as are described by Josephus at Machærus, near some warm fountains. He mentions here a cavern and a rock; ^[286]σπηλαιον—τῃ πετρᾳ προυχουσῃ σκεπομενον· ταυτης ανωθεν ὡσανει μαστοι δυο ανεχουσιν, αλληλων ολιγῳ διεστωτες: and above it two round hills like breasts, at no great distance from each other. To such as these Solomon alludes, when he makes his beloved say, ^[287]I am a wall, and my breasts like towers. Though the word חומה, Chumah, or Comah, be generally rendered a wall; yet I should think that in this place it signified the ground which the wall surrounded: an inclosure sacred to Cham, the Sun, who was particularly worshipped in such places. The Mizraïm called these hills Typhon, and the cities where they were erected, Typhonian. But as they stood within inclosures sacred to Chom, they were also styled Choma. This, I imagine, was the meaning of the term in this place, and in some others; where the text alludes to a different nation, and to a foreign mode of worship. In these temples the Sun was principally adored, and the rites of fire celebrated: and this seems to have been the reason why the judgment denounced against them is uniformly, that they shall be destroyed by fire. If we suppose Comah to mean a mere wall, I do not see why fire should be so particularly destined against a part, which is the least combustible. The Deity says, ^[288]I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus. ^[289]I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza. ^[290]I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus. ^[291]I will kindle a ^[292]fire in the wall of Rabbah. As the crime which brought down this curse was idolatry, and the term used in all these instances is Chomah; I should think that it related to a temple of Chom, and his high places, called by the Greeks λοφοι μαστοειδεις: and to these the spouse of Solomon certainly alludes, when she Says, εγω τειχος, και ὁι μαστοι μου ὡς πυργοι. This will appear from another passage in Solomon, where he makes his beloved say, ^[293]We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts. If she be a Comah, we will build upon her a palace of silver. A palace cannot be supposed to be built upon a wall; though it may be inclosed with one. The place for building was a Comah, or eminence. It is said of Jotham, king of Judah, that ^[294]on the wall of Ophel he built much. Ophel is literally Pytho Sol, the Ophite Deity of Egypt and Canaan. What is here termed a wall, was a Comah, or high place, which had been of old erected to the sun by the Jebusites. This Jotham fortified, and turned it to advantage; whereas before it was not used, or used for a bad purpose. The ground set apart for such use was generally oval; and towards one extremity of the long diameter, as it were in the focus, were these mounds and towers erected. As they were generally royal edifices, and at the same time held sacred; they were termed Tarchon, like Tarchonium in Hetruria: which by a corruption was in later times rendered Trachon, Τραχων. There were two hills of this denomination near Damascus; from whence undoubtedly the Regio Trachonitis received its name: ^[295]ὑπερκεινται δε αυτης (Δαμασκου) δυο λεγομενοι Τραχωνες. These were hills with towers, and must have been very fair to see to. Solomon takes notice of a hill of this sort upon ^[296]Lebanon, looking toward Damascus; which he speaks of as a beautiful structure. The term Trachon seems to have been still farther sophisticated by the Greeks, and expressed Δρακων, Dracon: from whence in, great measure arose the notion of treasures being guarded by ^[297]Dragons. We read of the gardens of the Hesperides being under the protection of a sleepless serpent: and the golden fleece at Colchis was entrusted to such another guardian; of which there is a fine description in Apollonius.

Nonnus often introduces a dragon as a protector of virginity; watching while the damsel slumbered, but sleepless itself: ^[299]Ὑπναλεης αγρυπνον οπιπτευτηρα κορειης: and in another place he mentions ^[300]Φρουρον εχεις απελεθρον Οφιν. Such an one guarded the nymph Chalcomeda, ^[301]Παρθενικης αγαμοιο βοηθοος. The Goddess Proserpine had two ^[302]dragons to protect her, by the appointment of her mother Demeter.

Such are the poetical representations: but the history at bottom relates to sacred towers, dedicated to the symbolical worship of the serpent; where there was a perpetual watch, and a light ever burning. The Titans, Τιτανες, were properly Titanians; a people so denominated from their worship, and from the places where it was celebrated. They are, like Orion and the Cyclopians, represented as gigantic persons: and they were of the same race, the children of Anak. The Titanian temples were stately edifices, erected in Chaldea, as well as in lower Egypt, upon mounds of earth, λοφοι μαστοειδεις, and sacred to Hanes; Τιτανις and Τιτανες are compounds of Tit-Hanes; and signify literally μαστος ἡλιου, the conical hill of Orus. They were by their situation strong, and probably made otherwise defensible.

In respect to the legends about dragons, I am persuaded that the antients sometimes did wilfully misrepresent things, in order to increase the wonder. Iphicrates related, that in Mauritania there were dragons of such extent, that grass grew upon their backs: ^[303]Δρακοντας τε λεγει μεγαλους, ὡστε και ποαν επιπεφυκεναι. What can be meant under this representation but a Dracontium, within whose precincts they encouraged verdure? It is said of Taxiles, a mighty prince in India, and a rival of Porus, that, upon the arrival of Alexander the Great, he shewed him every thing that was in his country curious, and which could win the attention of a foreigner. Among other things he carried him to see a ^[304]Dragon, which was sacred to Dionusus; and itself esteemed a God. It was of a stupendous size, being in extent equal to five acres; and resided in a low deep place, walled round to a great height. The Indians offered sacrifices to it: and it was daily fed by them from their flocks and herds, which it devoured at an amazing rate. In short my author says, that it was treated rather as a tyrant, than a benevolent Deity. Two Dragons of the like nature are mentioned by ^[305]Strabo; which are said to have resided in the mountains of Abisares, or Abiosares, in India: the one was eighty cubits in length, the other one hundred and forty. Similar to the above is the account given by Posidonius of a serpent, which he saw in the plains of Macra, a region in Syria; and which he styles ^[306]δρακοντα πεπτωκοτα νεκρον. He says, that it was about an acre in length; and of a thickness so remarkable, as that two persons on horseback, when they rode on the opposite sides, could not see one another. Each scale was as big as a, shield; and a man might ride in at its mouth. What can this description allude to, this δρακων πεπτωκως, but the ruins of an antient Ophite temple; which is represented in this enigmatical manner to raise admiration? The plains of Macra were not far from Mount Lebanon and Hermon; where the Hivites resided; and where serpent-worship particularly prevailed. The Indian Dragon above mentioned seems to have been of the same nature. It was probably a temple, and its environs; where a society of priests resided, who were maintained by the public; and who worshipped the Deity under the semblance of a serpent. Tityus must be ranked among the monsters of this class. He is by the Poets represented as a stupendous being, an earthborn giant:

By which is meant, that he was a tower, erected upon a conical mount of earth, which stood in an inclosure of nine acres. He is said to have a vulture preying upon his heart, or liver; immortale jecur tondens. The whole of which history is borrowed from Homer, who mentions two vultures engaged in tormenting him.

The same story is told of Prometheus, who is said to have been exposed upon Mount Caucasus, near Colchis; with this variation, that an eagle is placed over him, preying upon his heart. These strange histories are undoubtedly taken from the symbols and devices which were carved upon the front of the antient Amonian temples; and especially those of Egypt. The eagle and the vulture were the insignia of that country: whence it was called Ai-Gupt, and ^[309]Aetia, from Ait and Gupt, which signified an eagle and vulture. Ait was properly a title of the Deity, and signified heat: and the heart, the centre of vital heat, was among the Egyptians styled ^[310]Ait: hence we are told by ^[311]Orus Apollo, that a heart over burning coals was an emblem of Egypt. The Amonians dealt much in hieroglyphical representations. Nonnus mentions one of this sort, which seems to have been a curious emblem of the Sun. It was engraved upon a jasper, and worn for a bracelet. Two serpents entwined together, with their heads different ways, were depicted in a semicircular manner round the extreme part of the gem. At the top between their heads was an eagle; and beneath a sacred carriage, called Cemus.

The history of Tityus, Prometheus, and many other poetical personages, was certainly taken from hieroglyphics misunderstood, and badly explained. Prometheus was worshipped by the Colchians as a Deity; and had a temple and high place, called ^[313]Πετρα Τυφαονια, upon Mount Caucasus: and the device upon the portal was Egyptian, an eagle over a heart. The magnitude of these personages was taken from the extent of the temple inclosures. The words, per tota novem cui jugera corpus Porrigitur, relate to a garden of so many acres. There were many such inclosures, as I have before taken notice: some of them were beautifully planted, and ornamented with pavilions and fountains, and called Paradisi. One of this sort stood in Syria upon the river ^[314]Typhon, called afterwards Orontes. Places of this nature are alluded to under the description of the gardens of the Hesperides, and Alcinous; and the gardens of Adonis. Such were those at Phaneas in Palestine; and those beautiful gardens of Daphne upon the Orontes above mentioned; and in the shady parts of Mount Libanus. Those of Daphne are described by Strabo, who mentions, ^[315]Μεγα τε και συνηρεφες αλσος, διαῤῥεομενον πηγαιοις ὑδασιν· εν μεσῳ δε Ασυλον τεμενος, και νεως Απολλωνοι και Αρτεμιδος. There was a fine wide extended grove, which sheltered the whole place; and which was watered with numberless fountains. In the centre of the whole was a sanctuary and asylum, sacred to Artemis and Apollo. The Groves of Daphne upon the mountains Heræi in Sicily, and the garden and temple at bottom were very noble; and are finely described by ^[316]Diodorus.

I have taken notice that the word δρακων, draco, was a mistake for Tarchon, Ταρχων: which was sometimes expressed Τραχων; as is observable in the Trachones at Damascus. When the Greeks understood that in these temples people worshipped a serpent Deity, they concluded that Trachon was a serpent: and hence came the name of Draco to be appropriated to such an animal. For the Draco was an imaginary being, however afterwards accepted and understood. This is manifest from Servius, who distributes the serpentine species into three tribes; and confines the Draco solely to temples: ^[317]Angues aquarum sunt, serpentes terrarum, Dracones templorum. That the notion of such animals took its rise from the temples of the Syrians and Egyptians, and especially from the Trachones, Τραχωνες, at Damascus, seems highly probable from the accounts above: and it may be rendered still more apparent from Damasenus, a supposed hero, who took his name from the city Damasene, or Damascus. He is represented as an earthborn giant, who encountered two dragons: ^[318]Και χθονος απλετον ὑια, δρακοντοφονον Δαμασηνα. One of the monsters, with which he fought, is described of an enormous size, πεντηκονταπελεθρος Οφις, a serpent in extent of fifty acres: which certainly, as I have before insinuated, must have a reference to the grove and garden, wherein such Ophite temple stood at Damascus. For the general measurement of all these wonderful beings by ^[319]jugera or acres proves that such an estimate could not relate to any thing of solid contents; but to an inclosure of that superficies. Of the same nature as these was the gigantic personage, supposed, to have been seen at Gades by Cleon Magnesius. He made, it seems, no doubt of Tityus and other such monsters having existed. For being at Gades, he was ordered to go upon a certain expedition by Hercules: and upon his return to the island, he saw upon the shore a huge sea-man, who had been thunderstruck, and lay extended upon the ground: ^[320]τουτον πλεθρα μεν πεντε μαλιστα επεχειν; and his dimensions were not less than five acres. So Typhon, Caanthus, Orion, are said to have been killed by lightning. Orpheus too, who by some is said to have been torn to pieces by the Thracian women, by others is represented as slain by the bolt of Jupiter: and his epitaph imports as much.

All these histories relate to sacred inclosures; and to the worship of the serpent, and rites of fire, which were practised within them. Such an inclosure was by the Greeks styled ^[322]τεμενος, and the mound or high place ταφος and τυμβος; which had often a tower upon it, esteemed a sanctuary and asylum. Lycophron makes Cassandra say of Diomedes, ^[323]ΤYΜΒΟΣ δ' αυτον εκσωσει: the temple, to which he shall fly, shall save him. In process of time both the word τυμβος, as well as ταφος, were no longer taken in their original sense; but supposed uniformly to have been places of sepulture. This has turned many temples into tombs: and the Deities, to whom they were sacred, have been represented as there buried. There was an Orphic Dracontium at Lesbos; where a serpent was supposed to have been going to devour the remains of Orpheus: and this temple being of old styled Petra, it was fabled of the serpent, that he was turned into stone.

All the poetical accounts of heroes engaging with dragons have arisen from a misconception about these towers and temples; which those persons either founded, or else took in war. Or, if they were Deities of whom the story is told, these buildings were erected to their honour. But the Greeks made no distinction. They were fond of heroism; and interpreted every antient history according to their own prejudices: and in the most simple narrative could find out a martial achievement. No colony could settle any where, and build an Ophite temple, but there was supposed to have been a contention between a hero and a dragon. Cadmus, as I have shewn, was described in conflict with such an one near Thebes, whose teeth he sowed in the earth:

Serpents are said to have infested ^[326]Cyprus, when it was occupied by its first inhabitants: and there was a fearful dragon in the isle of ^[327]Salamis. The Python of Parnassus is well known, which Apollo was supposed to have slain, when he was very young; a story finely told by Apollonius.

After all, this dragon was a serpent temple; a tumbos, τυμβος, formed of earth, and esteemed of old oracular. To this, Hyginus bears witness. ^[329]Python, Terræ filius, Draco ingens. Hic ante Apollinem ex oraculo in monte Parnasso responsa dare solitus est. Plutarch says, that the dispute between Apollo and the Dragon was about the privilege of the place. ^[330]Ὁι Δελφων θεολογοι νομιζουσιν ενταυθα ποτε προς οφιν τῳ Θεῳ περι του χρηστηριου μαχην γενεσθαι. Hence we may perceive, that he was in reality the Deity of the temple; though the Greeks made an idle distinction: and he was treated with divine honours. ^[331]Πυθοι μεν ουν ὁ Δρακων ὁ Πυθιος θρησκευεται, και του Οφεως ἡ πανηγυρις καταγγελλεται Πυθια. It is said, moreover, that the seventh day was appointed for a festival in the temple, and celebrated with a Pæan to the ^[332]serpent.

We often read of virgins, who were exposed to dragons and sea-monsters; and of dragons which laid waste whole provinces, till they were at length, by some person of prowess, encountered and slain. These histories relate to women, who were immured in towers by the sea-side; and to banditti, who got possession of these places, whence they infested the adjacent country. The ^[333]author of the Chronicon Paschale supposes, that Andromeda, whom the poets describe as chained to a rock, and exposed to a sea-monster, was in reality confined in a temple of Neptune, a Petra of another sort. These dragons are represented as sleepless; because, in such places there were commonly lamps burning, and a watch maintained. In those more particularly set apart for religious service there was a fire, which never went out.

The dragon of Apollonius is ever watchful.

What the Poet styles the eyes of the Dragon, were undoubtedly windows in the upper part of the building, through which the fire appeared. Plutarch takes notice, that in the temple of Amon there was a ^[335]light continually burning. The like was observable in other temples of the ^[336]Egyptians. Pausanias mentions the lamp of Minerva ^[337]Polias at Athens, which never went out: the same custom was kept up in most of the ^[338]Prutaneia. The Chaldeans and Persians had sacred hearths; on which they preserved a ^[339]perpetual fire. In the temple of ^[340]Apollo Carneus at Cyrene, the fire upon the altar was never suffered to be extinguished. A like account is given by Said Ebn Batrick of the sacred fire, which was preserved in the great temple at ^[341]Aderbain in Armenia. The Nubian Geographer mentions a nation in India, called ^[342]Caimachitæ, who had large Puratheia, and maintained a perpetual fire. According to the Levitical law, a constant fire was to be kept up upon the altar of God. ^[343]The fire shall be ever burning upon the altar: it shall never go out.

From what has preceded, we may perceive, that many personages have been formed out of places. And I cannot help suspecting much more of antient history, than I dare venture to acknowledge. Of the mythic age I suppose almost every circumstance to have been imported, and adopted; or else to be a fable. I imagine, that Chiron, so celebrated for his knowledge, was a mere personage formed from a tower, or temple, of that name. It stood in Thessaly; and was inhabited by a set of priests, called Centauri. They were so denominated from the Deity they worshipped, who was represented under a particular form. They styled him Cahen-Taur: and he was the same as the Minotaur of Crete, and the Tauromen of Sicilia; consequently of an emblematical and mixed figure. The people, by whom this worship was introduced, were many of them Anakim; and are accordingly represented as of great strength and stature. Such persons among the people of the east were styled ^[344]Nephelim: which the Greeks in after times supposed to relate to νεφελη, a cloud. In consequence of this, they described the Centaurs as born of a cloud: and not only the Centaurs, but Ixion, and others, were reputed of the same original. The chief city of the Nephelim stood in Thessaly, and is mentioned by ^[345]Palæphatus: but through the misconception of his countrymen it was expressed Νεφελη, Nephele, a cloud. The Grecians in general were of this race; as will be abundantly shewn. The Scholiast upon Lycophron mentions, that the descendants of Hellen were by a woman named Nephele, whom Athamas was supposed to have married. ^[346]Αθαμας ὁ Αιολου του Ἑλληνος παις εκ Νεφελης γεννᾳ Ἑλλην, και Φριξον. The author has made a distinction between Helle, and Hellen; the former of which he describes in the feminine. By Phrixus is meant Φρυξ, Phryx, who passed the Hellespont, and settled in Asia minor. However obscured the history may be, I think the purport of it is plainly this, that the Hellenes, and Phrygians were of the Nephelim or Anakim race. Chiron was a temple, probably at Nephele in Thessalia, the most antient seat of the Nephelim. His name is a compound of Chir-On, in purport the same as Kir-On, the tower and temple of the Sun. In places of this sort people used to study the heavenly motions: and they were made use of for seminaries, where young people were instructed; on which account they were styled παιδοτροφοι. Hence Achilles was supposed to have been taught by ^[347]Chiron, who is reported to have had many disciples. They are enumerated by Xenophon in his treatise upon hunting, and amount to a large number. ^[348]Εγενοντο αυτῳ μαθηται κυνηγεσιων τε, και ἑτερων καλων, Κεφαλος, Ασκληπιος, Μελανιων, Νεστωρ, Αμφιαραος, Πηλευς, Τελαμων, Μελεαγρος, Θησευς, Ἱππολυτος, Παλαμηδης, Οδυσσευς, Μενεσθευς, Διομηδης, Καστωρ, Πολυδευκης, Μαχαων, Ποδαλειριος, Αντιλοχος, Αινειας, Αχιλλευς. Jason is by Pindar made to say of himself, ^[349]Φαμι διδασκαλιαν Χειρωνος οισειν: and the same circumstance is mentioned in another place; ^[350]Κρονιδᾳ δε τραφεν Χειρωνι δωκαν (Ιασονα). These histories could not be true of Chiron as a person: for, unless we suppose him to have been, as the Poets would persuade us, of a different species from the rest of mankind, it will be found impossible for him to have had pupils in such different ages. For not only Æsculapius, mentioned in this list, but Apollo likewise learnt of him the medicinal arts. ^[351]Ασκληπιος και Απολλων παρα Χειρωνι τῳ Κενταυρῳ ιασθαι διδασκονται. Xenophon indeed, who was aware of this objection, says, that the term of Chiron's life was sufficient for the performance of all that was attributed to him: ^[352]Ὁ Χειρωνος βιος πασιν εξηρκει· Ζευς γαρ και Χειρων αδελφοι: but he brings nothing in proof of what he alleges. It is moreover incredible, were we to suppose such a being as Chiron, that he should have had pupils from so many different ^[353]countries. Besides many of them, who are mentioned, were manifestly ideal personages. For not to speak of Cephalus and Castor, Apollo was a Deity; and Æsculapius was the ^[354]like: by some indeed esteemed the son of the former; by others introduced rather as a title, and annexed to the names of different Gods. Aristides uses it as such in his invocation of ^[355]Hercules: Ιω, Παιαν, Ἡρακλες, Ασκληπιε: and he also speaks of the temple of Jupiter Æsculapius, Διος Ασκληπιου νεως. It was idle therefore in the Poets to suppose that these personages could have been pupils to Chiron. Those that were instructed, whoever they may have been, partook only of Chironian education; and were taught in the same kind of academy: but not by one person, nor probably in the same place. For there were many of these towers, where they taught astronomy, music, and other sciences. These places were likewise courts of judicature, where justice was administered: whence Chiron was said to have been φιλοφρονεων, και δικαιοτατος:

The like character is given of him by Hermippus, of Berytus.

Right was probably more fairly determined in the Chironian temples, than in others. Yet the whole was certainly attended with some instances of cruelty: for human sacrifices are mentioned as once common, especially at Pella in Thessaly; where, if they could get a person, who was an Achean by birth, they used to offer him at the altars of Peleus and ^[358]Chiron.

There were many edifices denominated Chironian, and sacred to the Sun. Charon was of the same purport, and etymology; and was sacred to the same Deity. One temple of this name, and the most remarkable of any, stood opposite to Memphis on the western side of the Nile. It was near the spot where most people of consequence were buried. There is a tower in this province, but at some distance from the place here spoken of, called ^[359]Kiroon at this day. As Charon was a temple near the catacombs, or place of burial; all the persons who were brought to be there deposited, had an offering made on their account, upon being landed on this shore. Hence arose the notion of the fee of Charon, and of the ferryman of that name. This building stood upon the banks of a canal, which communicated with the Nile: but that which is now called Kiroon, stands at some distance to the west, upon the lake ^[360]Mœris; where only the kings of Egypt had a right of sepulture. The region of the catacombs was called the Acheronian and ^[361]Acherusian plain, and likewise the Elysian: and the stream, which ran by it, had the name of Acheron. They are often alluded to by Homer, and other Poets, when they treat of the region of departed souls. The Amonians conferred these names upon other places, where they settled, in different parts of the world. They are therefore to be met with in ^[362]Phrygia, ^[363]Epirus, ^[364]Hellas, ^[365]Apulia, ^[366]Campania, and other countries. The libri ^[367]Acherontii in Italy, mentioned by Arnobius, were probably transcripts from some hieroglyphical writings, which had been preserved in the Acherontian towers of the Nile. These were carried by Tages to Hetruria; where they were held in great veneration.

As towers of this sort were seminaries of learning, Homer from one of them has formed the character of sage Mentor; under whose resemblance the Goddess of wisdom was supposed to be concealed. By Mentor, I imagine, that the Poet covertly alludes to a temple of Menes. It is said, that Homer in an illness was cured by one ^[368]Mentor, the son of Αλκιμος, Alcimus. The person probably was a Mentorian priest, who did him this kind office, if there be any truth in the story. It was from an oracular temple styled Mentor; and Man-Tor, that the sacred cakes had the name of Amphimantora. ^[369]Αμφιμαντορα, αλφιτα μελιτι δεδευμενα.

Castor, the supposed disciple of Chiron, was in reality the same as Chiron; being a sacred tower, a Chironian edifice, which served both for a temple and Pharos. As these buildings for the most part stood on strands of the sea, and promontories; Castor was esteemed in consequence of it a tutelary Deity of that element. The name seems to be a compound of Ca-Astor, the temple or place of Astor; who was rendered at different times Asterius, Asterion, and Astarte. Ca-Astor was by the Greeks abbreviated to Castor; which in its original sense I should imagine betokened a fire-tower: but the Greeks in this instance, as well as in innumerable others, have mistaken the place and temple for the Deity, to whom it was consecrated. The whole history of Castor and Pollux, the two Dioscuri, is very strange and inconsistent. Sometimes they are described as two mortals of Lacedæmon, who were guilty of violence and rapine, and were slain for their wickedness. At other times they are represented as the two principal Deities; and styled Dii Magni, Dii Maximi, Dii Potentes, Cabeiri. Mention is made by Pausanias of the great regard paid to them, and particularly by the Cephalenses. ^[370]Μεγαλους γαρ σφας ὁι ταυτῃ Θεους ονομαζουσιν. The people there style them by way of eminence the Great Gods. There are altars extant, which are inscribed ^[371]CASTORI ET POLLUCI DIIS MAGNIS. In ^[372]Gruter is a Greek inscription to the same purport. Γαιος Γαιου Αχαρνευς Ἱερευς γενομενος Θεων Μεγαλων Διοσκορων Καβειρων. But though Castor was enshrined, as a God, he was properly a Tarchon, such as I have before described; and had all the requisites which are to be found in such buildings. They were the great repositories of treasure; which people there entrusted, as to places of great security. The temple of Castor vas particularly famous on this account, as we may learn from Juvenal:

The Deity, who was alluded to under the name of Castor, was the Sun: and he had several temples of that denomination in Laconia, and other parts of Greece. His rites were first introduced by people from Egypt and Canaan. This we may infer, among other circumstances, from the title of Anac being so particularly conferred on him and his brother Pollux: whence their temple was styled Ανακειον in Laconia; and their festival at Athens ανακεια, anakeia. For Anac was a Canaanitish term of honour; which the Greeks changed to αναξ and ^[374]ανακτες. I have before mentioned, that in these places were preserved the Archives of the cities and provinces in which they stood: and they were often made use of for courts of judicature, called πρυτανεια, and prætoria; whither the antient people of the place resorted, to determine about right and wrong. Hence it is that Castor and Pollux, two names of the same personage, were supposed to preside over judicial affairs. This department does but ill agree with the general and absurd character, under which they are represented: for what has horsemanship and boxing to do with law and equity? But these were mistaken attributes, which arose from a misapplication of history. Within the precincts of their temples was a parade for boxing and wrestling; and often an Hippodromus. Hence arose these attributes, by which the Poets celebrated these personages:

The Deity, originally referred to, was the Sun: As he was the chief Deity, he must necessarily have been esteemed the supervisor and arbitrator of all sublunary things:

On this account the same province of supreme judge was conferred on his substitute Castor, in conjunction with his brother Pollux: and they were accordingly looked upon as the conservators of the rights of mankind. Cicero makes a noble appeal to them in his seventh oration against Verres; and enlarges upon the great department, of which they were presumed to be possessed: at the same time mentioning the treasures, which were deposited in their temples. ^[377]Vos omnium rerum forensium, consiliorum maximorum, legum, judiciorumque arbitri, et testes, celeberrimo in loco PRÆTORII locati, Castor et Pollux; quorum ex templo quæstum sibi iste (Verres) et prædam maximam improbissime comparavit—teque, Ceres, et Libera—a quibis initia vitæ atque victûs, legum, morum, mansuetudinis, humanitatis exempla hominibus et civitatibus data ac dispertita esse dicuntur. Thus we find that they are at the close joined with Ceres, and Libera; and spoken of as the civilizers of the world: but their peculiar province was law and judicature.

Many instances to the same purpose might be produced; some few of which I will lay before the reader. Trophonius, like Chiron and Castor, was a sacred tower; being compounded of Tor-Oph-On, Solis Pythonis turris, rendered Trophon, and Trophonius. It was an oracular temple, situated near a vast cavern: and the responses were given by dreams. Tiresias, that antient prophet, was an edifice of the same nature: and the name is a compound of Tor-Ees, and Tor-Asis; from whence the Greeks formed the word Tiresias. He is generally esteemed a diviner, or soothsayer, to whom people applied for advice: but it was to the temple that they applied, and to the Deity, who was there supposed to reside. He was, moreover, said to have lived nine ages: till he was at last taken by the Epigoni, when he died. The truth is, there was a tower of this name at Thebes, built by the Amonians, and sacred to the God Orus. It stood nine ages, and was then demolished. It was afterwards repaired, and made use of for a place of augury: and its situation was close to the temple of Amon. ^[378]Θηβαιοις δε μετα του Αμμωνος το Ἱερον, οιωνοσκοπειον τε Τειρεσιου καλουμενον. Tiresias, according to Apollodorus, was the son of Eueres, ^[379]Ευηρης, or, according to the true Dorian pronunciation, Euares, the same as the Egyptian Uc Arez, the Sun. He is by Hyginus styled ^[380]Eurimi filius; and in another place Eurii filius, Pastor. Eurius, Eurimus, Euarez, are all names of the Sun, or places sacred to him; but changed to terms of relation by not being understood. Tiresias is additionally styled Pastor; because all the Amonian Deities, as well as their princes, were called Shepherds: and those, who came originally from Chaldea, were styled the children of Ur, or Urius.

By the same analogy we may trace the true history of Terambus, the Deity of Egypt, who was called the Shepherd Terambus. The name is a compound of Tor-Ambus, or Tor-Ambi, the oracular tower of Ham. He is said to have been the son of Eusires, ^[381]Ευσειρου του Ποσειδωνος; and to have come over, and settled in Thessaly, near mount Othrys. According to Antonius Liberalis, he was very rich in flocks, and a great musician, and particularly expert in all pastoral measure. To him they attributed the invention of the pipe. The meaning of the history is, I think, too plain, after what has preceded, to need a comment. It is fabled of him, that he was at last turned into a bird called Cerambis, or Cerambix. Terambus and Cerambis are both antient terms of the same purport: the one properly expressed is Tor-Ambi; the other Cer-Ambi, the oracular temple of the Sun.

I have taken notice that towers of this sort were the repositories of much treasure; and they were often consecrated to the Ophite Deity, called Opis and Oupis. It is the same which Callimachus addresses by the title of ^[382]Ουπι, Ανασσ' ευωπι: and of whom Cicero speaks, and styles Upis; ^[383]quam Græci Upim paterno nomine appellant. The temple was hence called Kir-Upis; which the Grecians abridged to Γρυπες: and finding many of the Amonian temples in the north, with the device of a winged serpent upon the frontal, they gave this name to the hieroglyphic. Hence, I imagine, arose the notion of Γρυπες, or Gryphons; which, like the dragons abovementioned, were supposed to be guardians of treasure, and to never sleep. The real conservators of the wealth were the priests. They kept up a perpetual fire, and an unextinguished light in the night. From Kir Upis, the place of his residence, a priest was named Grupis; and from Kir-Uph-On, Gryphon. The Poets have represented the Grupes as animals of the serpentine kind; and supposed them to have been found in countries of the Arimaspians, Alazonians, Hyperboreans, and other the most northern regions, which the Amonians possessed. In some of the temples women officiated, who were denominated from the Deity they served. The Scholiast upon Callimachus calls the chief of them Upis; and styles her, and her associates, Κορας ^[384]Ὑπερβορεους, Hyperborean young women. The Hyperboreans, Alazonians, Arimaspians, were Scythic nations of the same family. All the stories about Prometheus, Chimæra, Medusa, Pegasus, Hydra, as well as of the Grupes, or Gryphons, arose, in great measure, from the sacred devices upon the entablatures of temples.

There was another name current among the Amonians, by which they called their λοφοι, or high places. This was Taph; which at times was rendered Tuph, Toph, and Taphos. Lower Egypt being a flat, and annually overflowed, the natives were forced to raise the soil, on which they built their principal edifices, in order to secure them from the inundation: and many of their sacred towers were erected upon conical mounds of earth. But there were often hills of the same form constructed for religious purposes, upon which there was no building. These were very common in Egypt. Hence we read of Taphanis, or Taph-Hanes, Taph-Osiris, Taph-Osiris parva, and contra Taphias, in Antoninus; all of this country. In other parts were Taphiousa, Tape, Taphura, Tapori, Taphus, Taphosus, Taphitis. All these names relate to high altars, upon which they used oftentimes to offer human sacrifices. Typhon was one of these; being a compound of Tuph-On, which signifies the hill or altar of the Sun. Tophet, where the Israelites made their children pass through fire to ^[385]Moloch, was a mount of this form. And there seem to have been more than one of this denomination; as we learn from the prophet Jeremiah, ^[386]They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire. And in another place: They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal. These cruel operations were generally performed upon mounts of this sort; which, from their conical figure, were named Tuph and Tupha. It seems to have been a term current in many countries. The high Persian ^[387]bonnet had the same name from its shape: and Bede mentions a particular kind of standard in his time; which was made of plumes in a globular shape, and called in like manner, ^[388]Tupha, vexilli genus, ex consertis plumarum globis. There was probably a tradition, that the calf, worshipped by the Israelites in the wilderness near Horeb, was raised upon a sacred mound, like those described above: for Philo Judæus says, that it was exhibited after the model of an Egyptian Tuphos: ^[389]Αιγυπτιακου μιμημα Τυφου. This I do not take to have been a Grecian word; but the name of a sacred orbicular mount, analogous to the Touphas of Persis.

The Amonians, when they settled in Greece, raised many of these Tupha, or Tapha, in different parts. These, beside their original name, were still farther denominated from some title of the Deity, to whose honour they were erected. But as it was usual, in antient times, to bury persons of distinction under heaps of earth formed in this fashion; these Tapha came to signify tombs: and almost all the sacred mounds, raised for religious purposes, were looked upon as monuments of deceased heroes. Hence ^[390]Taph-Osiris was rendered ταφος, or the burying place of the God Osiris: and as there were many such places in Egypt and Arabia, sacred to Osiris and Dionusus; they were all by the Greeks esteemed places of sepulture. Through this mistake many different nations had the honour attributed to them of these Deities being interred in their country. The tumulus of the Latines was mistaken in the same manner. It was originally a sacred hillock; and was often raised before temples, as an altar; such as I have before described. It is represented in this light by Virgil:

In process of time the word tumulus was in great measure looked upon as a tomb; and tumulo signified to bury. The Greeks speak of numberless sepulchral monuments, which they have thus misinterpreted. They pretended to shew the tomb of ^[392]Dionusus at Delphi; also of Deucalion, Pyrrha, Orion, in other places. They imagined that Jupiter was buried in Crete: which Callimachus supposes to have been a forgery of the natives.

I make no doubt, but that there was some high place in Crete, which the later Greeks, and especially those who were not of the country, mistook for a tomb. But it certainly must have been otherwise esteemed by those who raised it: for it is not credible, however blind idolatry may have been, that people should enshrine persons as immortal, where they had the plainest evidences of their mortality. An inscription Viro Immortali was in a style of flattery too refined for the simplicity of those ages. If divine honours were conferred, they were the effects of time, and paid at some distance; not upon the spot, at the vestibule of the charnel-house. Besides, it is evident, that most of the deified personages never existed: but were mere titles of the Deity, the Sun; as has been, in great measure, proved by Macrobius. Nor was there ever any thing of such detriment to antient history, as the supposing that the Gods of the Gentile world had been natives of the countries, where they were worshipped. They have by these means been admitted into the annals of times: and it has been the chief study of the learned to register the legendary stories concerning them; to conciliate absurdities, and to arrange the whole in a chronological series. A fruitless labour, and inexplicable: for there are in all these fables such inconsistences, and contradictions, as no art, nor industry, can remedy. Hence, all who have expended their learning to this purpose, are in opposition to one another, and often at variance with themselves. Some of them by these means have rendered their works, which might have been of infinite use to the world, little better than the reveries of Monsieur Voltaire. The greatest part of the Grecian theology arose from misconceptions and blunders: and the stories concerning their Gods and Heroes were founded on terms misinterpreted and abused. Thus from the word ταφος, taphos, which they adopted in a limited sense, they formed a notion of their gods having been buried in every place, where there was a tumulus to their honour. This misled bishop Cumberland, Usher, Pearson, Petavius, Scaliger, with numberless other learned men; and among the foremost the great Newton. This extraordinary genius has greatly impaired the excellent system, upon which he proceeded, by admitting these fancied beings into chronology. We are so imbued in our childhood with notions of Mars, Hercules, and the rest of the celestial outlaws, that we scarce ever can lay them aside. We absolutely argue upon Pagan principles: and though we cannot believe the fables, which have been transmitted to us; yet we forget ourselves continually; and make inferences from them, as if they were real. In short, till we recollect ourselves, we are semi-pagans. It gives one pain to see men of learning, and principle, debating which was the Jupiter who lay with Semele; and whether it was the same that outwitted Amphitryon. This is not, says a critic, the Hermes, who cut off Argus's head; but one of later date, who turned Battus into a stone. I fancy, says another, that this was done, when Iö was turned into a cow. It is said of Jupiter, that he made the night, in which he enjoyed Alcmena, as long as ^[394]three; or, as some say, as long as nine. The Abbe ^[395]Banier with some phlegm excepts to this coalition of nights; and is unwilling to allow it. But he is afterwards more complying; and seems to give it his sanction, with this proviso, that chronological verity be not thereby impeached. I am of opinion, says he, that there was no foundation for the fable of Jupiter's having made the night, on which he lay with Alcmena, longer than others: at least this event put nothing in nature out of order; since the day, which followed, was proportionably shorter, as Plautus ^[396]remarks.

Were it not invidious, I could subjoin names to every article, which I have alleged; and produce numberless instances to the same purpose.

It may be said, that I run counter to the opinions of all antiquity: that all the fathers who treated of this subject, and many other learned men, supposed the Gods of the heathen to have been deified mortals, who were worshipped in the countries, where they died. It was the opinion of Clemens, Eusebius, Cyril, Tertullian, Athenagoras, Epiphanius, Lactantius, Arnobius, Julius Firmicus, and many others. What is more to the purpose, it was the opinion of the heathen themselves; the very people, by whom these gods were honoured: yet still it is a mistake. In respect to the fathers, the whole of their argument turns upon this point, the concessions of the Gentiles. The more early writers of the church were not making a strict chronological inquiry: but were labouring to convert the heathen. They therefore argue with them upon their own principles; and confute them from their own testimony. The Romans had their Dii Immortales; the Greeks their Θεοι Αθανατοι: yet acknowledged that they had been men; that they died, and were buried. Cicero owns; ^[397]ab Euhemero et mortes, et sepulturæ demonstrantur deorum. It matters not whether the notion were true; the fathers very fairly make use of it. They avail themselves of these concessions; and prove from them the absurdity of the Gentile worship, and the inconsistency of their opinions. Even Maximus Tyrius, the Platonic, could not but smile, at being shewn in the same place the temple, and tomb of the deity^[398]; ἱερον Θεου, και ταφον Θεου. These supposed places of sepulture were so numerous, that Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, they were not to be counted. ^[399]Αλλα γαρ επιοντι μοι τους προσκυνουμενους ὑμιν ταφους, εμοι μεν ουδ' ὁ πας αν αρκεσῃ χρονος. But, after all, these Ταφοι were not tombs, but λοφοι μαστοειδεις, conical mounds of earth; on which in the first ages offerings were made by fire. Hence τυφω, tupho, signified to make a smoke, such as arose from incense upon these Tupha, or eminences. Besides, if these were deified men, who were buried under these hills; how can we explain the difficulty of the same person being buried in different places, and at different times? To this it is answered, that it was another Bacchus, and another Jupiter. Yet this still adds to the difficulty: for it is hard to conceive, that whoever in any country had the name of Jupiter, should be made a God. Add to this, that Homer and Hesiod, and the authors of the Orphic poetry, knew of no such duplicates. There is no hint of this sort among the antient writers of their nation. It was a refinement in after ages; introduced to obviate the difficulties, which arose from the absurdities in the pagan system. Arnobius justly ridicules the idle expedients, made use of to render a base theology plausible. Gods, of the same name and character, were multiplied to make their fables consistent; that there might be always one ready at hand upon any chronological emergency. Hence no difficulty could arise about a Deity, but there might be one produced, adapted to all climes, and to every age. ^[400]Aiunt Theologi vestri, et vetustatis absconditæ conditores, tres in rerum naturâ Joves esse—quinque Soles, et Mercurios quinque. Aiunt iidem Theologi quatuor esse Vulcanos, et tres Dianas; Æsculapios totidem, et Dionysos quinque; ter binos Hercules, et quatuor Veneres; tria genera Castorum, totidemque Musarum. But Arnobius is too modest. Other writers insist upon a greater variety. In respect to Jupiters, Varro according to Tertullian makes them in number three hundred. ^[401]Varro trecentos Joves, sive Jupiteres, dicendum, —— introducit. The same writer mentions forty heroes of the name of Hercules; all which variety arose from the causes above assigned: and the like multiplicity may be found both of kings and heroes; of kings, who did not reign; of heroes, who never existed. The same may be observed in the accounts transmitted of their most early prophets, and poets: scarce any of them stand single: there are duplicates of every denomination. On this account it is highly requisite for those, who suppose these personages to have been men, and make inferences from the circumstances of their history, to declare explicitly which they mean; and to give good reasons for their determination. It is said of Jupiter, that he was the son of Saturn; and that he carried away Europa, before the arrival of Cadmus. He had afterwards an amour with Semele, the supposed daughter of Cadmus: and they mention his having a like intimacy with Alcmena an age or two later. After this he got acquainted with Leda, the wife of Tyndarus: and he had children at the siege of Troy. If we may believe the poets, and all our intelligence comes originally from the poets, Jupiter was personally interested in that war. But this interval contains little less than two hundred years. These therefore could not be the actions of one man: on which account I want to know, why Sir Isaac Newton ^[402]in his chronological interpretations chooses to be determined by the story of Jupiter and Europa, rather than by that of Jupiter and Leda. The learned ^[403]Pezron has pitched upon a Jupiter above one thousand years earlier, who was in like manner the son of Saturn. But Saturn, according to some of the best mythologists, was but four generations inclusive before the æra of Troy. Latinus, the son of Faunus, was alive some years after that city had been taken; when Æneas was supposed to have arrived in Italy. The poet tells us, ^[404]Fauno Picus pater: isque parentem Te, Saturne, refert; Tu sanguinis ultimus auctor. The series amounts only to four, Latinus, Faunus, Picus, Saturn. What authority has Pezron for the anticipation of which he is guilty in determining the reign of Jupiter? and how can he reconcile these contradictory histories? He ought to have given some good reason for setting aside the more common and accepted accounts; and placing these events so ^[405]early. Shall we suppose with the critics and commentators that this was a prior Jupiter? If it were a different person, the circumstances of his life should be different: but the person, of whom he treats, is in all respects similar to the Jupiter of Greece and Rome. He has a father Saturn; and his mother was Rhea. He was nursed in Crete; and had wars with the Titans. He dethrones his father, who flies to Italy; where he introduces an age of gold. The mythology concerning him we find to be in all respects uniform. It is therefore to little purpose to substitute another person of the same name by way of reconciling matters, unless we can suppose that every person so denominated had the same relations and connexions, and the same occurrences in life reiterated: which is impossible. It is therefore, I think, plain, that the Grecian Deities were not the persons ^[406]supposed: and that their imputed names were titles. It is true, a very antient and respectable writer, ^[407]Euhemerus, of whom I have before made mention, thought otherwise. It is said, that he could point out precisely, where each god departed: and could particularly shew the burying-place of Jupiter. Lactantius, who copied from him, says, that it was at Cnossus in ^[408]Crete. Jupiter, ætate pessum actâ, in Cretâ vitam commutavit.—Sepulchrum ejus est in Cretâ, et in oppido Cnosso: et dicitur Vesta hanc urbem creavisse: inque sepulchro ejus est inscriptio antiquis literis Græcis, Ζαν Κρονου. If Jupiter had been buried in Crete, as these writers would persuade us, the accounts would be uniform about the place where he was deposited. Lactantius, we find, and some others, say, that it was in the city Cnossus. There are writers who mention it to have been in a cavern upon ^[409]Mount Ida: others upon Mount ^[410]Jasius. Had the Cretans been authors of the notion, they would certainly have been more consistent in their accounts: but we find no more certainty about the place of his burial, than of his birth; concerning which Callimachus could not determine.

He was at times supposed to have been a native of Troas, of Crete, of Thebes, of Arcadia, of Elis: but the whole arose from the word ταφος being, through length of time, misunderstood: for there would have been no legend about the birth of Jupiter, had there been no mistake about his funeral. It was a common notion of the Magnesians, that Jupiter was buried in their country upon Mount Sipylus. Pausanias says, that he ascended the mountain, and beheld the tomb, which was well worthy of ^[412]admiration. The tomb of ^[413]Isis in like manner was supposed to be at Memphis, and at Philæ in Upper Egypt: also at Nusa in Arabia. Osiris was said to have been buried in the same places: likewise at Taphosiris, which is thought by Procopius to have had its name, ^[414]because it was the place of sepulture of Osiris. The same is said of another city, which was near the mouth of the Nile, and called Taphosiris parva. But they each of them had their name from the worship, and not from the interment of the Deity. This is plain from the account given of the ταφος Οσιριδος, or high altar of Osiris, by Diodorus; from whom we learn that Busiris and Osiris were the same. ^[415]The Grecians, says this author, have a notion, that Busiris in Egypt used to sacrifice strangers: not that there was ever such a king as Busiris; but the ταφος, or altar, of Osiris had this name in the language of the natives. In short, Busiris was only a variation for Osiris: both were compounded of the Egyptian term ^[416]Sehor, and related to the God of day. Hence the altars of the same Deity were called indifferently the altars of Osiris, or Busiris, according as custom prevailed.

I have in a former chapter taken notice of the Tarchons and Dracontia in Syria, and other parts: which consisted of sacred ground inclosed with a wall, and an altar or two at the upper part. Such an inclosure is described by Pausanias, which must have been of great antiquity: hence the history of it was very imperfectly known in his time. He is speaking of Nemea in Argolis; ^[417]near which, says he, stands the temple of Nemean Jupiter, a structure truly wonderful, though the roof is now fallen in. Round the temple is a grove of cypress; in which there is a tradition that Opheltes was left by his nurse upon the grass, and in her absence killed by a serpent.—In the same place is the tomb of Opheltes, surrounded with a wall of stone; and within the inclosure altars. There is also a mound of earth said to be the tomb of Lycurgus, the father of Opheltes. Lycurgus is the same as Lycus, Lycaon, Lycoreus, the Sun: and Opheltes, his supposed offspring, is of the same purport. To say the truth, ^[418]Opheltes, or, as it should be expressed, Ophel-tin is the place; and Ophel the Deity, Sol Pytho, whose symbol was a serpent. Ophel-tin was a Taphos with a τεμενος, or sacred inclosure: it was a sacred mound to the Ophite Deity; like that which was inclosed and fortified by ^[419]Manasseh king of Judah; and which had been previously made use of to the same purpose by ^[420]Jotham. A history similar to that of Opheltes is given of Archemorus; who was said to have been left in a garden by his nurse Hypsipyle, and in her absence slain by a serpent. Each of them had festivals instituted, together with sacred games, in memorial of their misfortune. They are on this account by many supposed to have been the same person. But in reality they were not persons, but places. They are, however, so far alike, as they are terms which relate to the same worship and Deity. Opheltin is the place, and altar of the Ophite God above-mentioned: and Archemorus was undoubtedly the antient name of the neighbouring town, or city. It is a compound of Ar-Chemorus; and signifies the city of Cham-Orus, the same who is styled Ophel. In many of these places there was an antient tradition of some person having been injured by a serpent in the beginning of life; which they have represented as the state of childhood. The mythology upon this occasion is different: for sometimes the personages spoken of are killed by the serpent: at other times they kill it: and there are instances where both histories are told of the same person. But whatever may have been the consequence, the history is generally made to refer to a state of childhood. Hercules has accordingly a conflict with two serpents in his cradle: and Apollo, who was the same as Python, was made to engage a serpent of this name at Parnassus, when he was a child;

Near mount Cyllene in Arcadia was the sacred Taphos of ^[422]Æputus, who was supposed to have been stung by a serpent. Æputus was the same as Iapetus, the father of mankind. In the Dionusiaca the priests used to be crowned with serpents; and in their frantic exclamations to cry out ^[423]Eva, Eva; and sometimes Evan, Evan: all which related to some history of a serpent. Apollo, who is supposed by most to have been victor in his conflict with the Pytho, is by Porphyry said to have been slain by that serpent: Pythagoras affirmed, that he saw his tomb at Tripos in ^[424]Delphi; and wrote there an epitaph to his honour. The name of Tripos is said to have been given to the place, because the daughters of Triopus used to lament there the fate of Apollo. But Apollo and the Python were the same; and Tripus, or Triopus, the supposed father of these humane sisters, was a variation for Tor-Opus, the serpent-hill, or temple; where neither Apollo, nor the Python were slain, but where they were both worshipped, being one and the same Deity. ^[425]Πυθοι μεν ουν ὁ Δρακων ὁ Πυθιος θρησκευεται, και του Οφεως ἡ πανηγυρις καταγγελλεται Πυθια. At Python (the same as Delphi) the Pythian Dragon is worshipped; and the celebrity of the serpent is styled Pythian. The daughters of Triopus were the priestesses of the temple; whose business it was to chant hymns in memory of the serpent: and what is very remarkable, the festival was originally observed upon the seventh ^[426]day.

The Greeks had innumerable monuments of the sort, which I have been describing. They were taken for the tombs of departed heroes, but were really consecrated places: and the names by which they were distinguished, shew plainly their true history. Such was the supposed tomb of ^[427]Orion at Tanagra, and of Phoroneus in ^[428]Argolis; the tomb of ^[429]Deucalion in Athens; and of his wife ^[430]Pyrrha in Locris: of ^[431]Endymion in Elis: of Tityus in ^[432]Panopea: of Asterion in the island ^[433]Lade: of the Egyptian ^[434]Belus in Achaia. To these may be added the tombs of Zeus in Mount Sipylus, Mount Iasius, and Ida: the tombs of Osiris in various parts: and those of Isis, which have been enumerated before. Near the Æaceum at Epidaurus was a hill, reputed to have been the tomb of the hero ^[435]Phocus. This Æaceum was an inclosure planted with olive trees of great antiquity; and at a small degree above the surface of the ground was an altar sacred to Æacus. To divulge the traditions relative to this altar would, it seems, be an high profanation. The author, therefore, keeps them a secret. Just before this sacred septum was the supposed tomb of Phocus, consisting of a mound of raised earth, fenced round with a border of stone work: and a large rough stone was placed upon the top of all. Such were the rude monuments of Greece, which were looked upon as so many receptacles of the dead: but were high altars, with their sacred τεμενη, which had been erected for divine worship in the most early times. The Helladians, and the Persians, were of the same ^[436]family: hence we find many similar rites subsisting among the two nations. The latter adhered to the purer Zabaïsm, which they maintained a long time. They erected the same sacred Tupha, as the Grecians: and we may be assured of the original purpose, for which these hills were raised, from the use to which they put them. They were dedicated to the great fountain of light, called by the Persians, Anaït: and were set apart as Puratheia, for the celebration of the rites of fire. This people, after they had defeated the Sacæ in Cappadocia, raised an immense Comah in memorial of their victory. ^[437]Strabo, who describes it very minutely, tells us, that they chose a spot in an open plain; where they reared a Petra, or high place, by heaping up a vast mound of earth. This they fashioned to a conical figure; and then surrounded it with a wall of stone. In this manner they founded a kind of temple in honour of Anaït, Omanus, and Anandrates, the Deities of their country. I have mentioned that the Egyptians had hills of this nature: and from them the custom was transmitted to Greece. Typhon, or more properly Tuphon, Τυφων, who was supposed to have been a giant, was a compound of Tuph-On, as I have before mentioned; and signified a sacred ^[438]mount of the sun. Those cities in Egypt, which had a high place of this sort, and rites in consequence of it, were styled Typhonian. Upon such as these they sacrificed red haired men, or men with hair of a light colour; in other words strangers. For both the sons of Chus, and the Mizraïm were particularly dark and woolly: so that there could be no surer mark than the hair to distinguish between a native and a foreigner. These sacrifices were offered in the city ^[439]Idithia, ^[440]Abaris, ^[441]Heliopolis, and Taphosiris; which in consequence of these offerings were denominated Typhonian cities. Many writers say, that these rites were performed to Typhon at the ^[442]tomb of Osiris. Hence he was in later times supposed to have been a person, one of immense size: and he was also esteemed a ^[443]God. But this arose from the common mistake by which places were substituted for the Deities there worshipped. Typhon was the Tupha, or altar, the supposed tomb of the God: and the offerings were made to the Sun, styled On; the same as Osiris, and Busiris. As there were Typhonian mounts in many parts, he was in consequence of it supposed to have been buried in different places: near mount Caucasus in Colchis; near the river Orontes in Syria; and under lake Serbonis. Typhon, or rather Typhonian worship, was not unknown in the region of ^[444]Troas, near which were the Scopuli Typhonis. Plutarch mentions that in the Phrygian Theology Typhon was esteemed the grandson of Isaac or Isæac: and says that he was so spoken of εν τοις Φρυγιοις ^[445]γραμμασιν. But all terms of relation are to be disregarded. The purport of the history was this. The altar was termed Tuphon Isiac, sive Βωμος Ισιακος, from the sacra Isiaca, which were performed upon it. The same Isaac or Isæac was sometimes rendered Æsacus, and supposed to have been a son of the river Granicus.

The antient Arcadians were said to have been the offspring of ^[447]Typhon, and by some the children of Atlas; by which was meant, that they were people of the Typhonian, and Atlantian religion. What they called his tombs were certainly mounds of earth, raised very high, like those which have been mentioned before: only with this difference, that some of these had lofty towers adorned with pinnacles, and battlements. They had also carved upon them various symbols; and particularly serpentine hieroglyphics, in memorial of the God to whom they were sacred. In their upper story was a perpetual fire, which was plainly seen in the night. I have mentioned, that the poets formed their notions about Otus and Ephialtes from towers: and the idea of Orion's stupendous bulk taken from the Pelorian edifice in Sicily. The gigantic stature of Typhon was borrowed from a like object: and his character was formed from the hieroglyphical representations in the temples styled Typhonian. This may be inferred from the allegorical description of Typhœus, given by Hesiod. Typhon and Typhœus, were the same personage: and the poet represents him of a mixed form, being partly a man, and partly a monstrous dragon, whose head consisted of an assemblage of smaller serpents.

As there was a perpetual fire kept up in the upper story, he describes it as shining through the apertures in the building.

But the noblest description of Typhon is given in some very fine poetry by Nonnus. He has taken his ideas from some antient tower situated near the sea upon the summit of an high mountain. It was probably the Typhonian temple of Zeus upon mount Casius, near the famed Serbonian lake. He mentions sad noises heard within, and describes the roaring of the surge below: and says that all the monsters of the sea stabled in the cavities at the foot of the mountain, which was washed by the ocean.

We may perceive, that this is a mixed description, wherein, under the character of a gigantic personage, a towering edifice is alluded to; which was situated upon the summit of a mountain, and in the vicinity of the sea.

Παρα παντι των νομιζομενων παρ' ὑμιν Θεων Οφις συμβολον μεγα και μυστηριον αναγραφεται. Justin. Martyr. Apolog. l. 1. p. 60.

It may seem extraordinary, that the worship of the serpent should have ever been introduced into the world: and it must appear still more remarkable, that it should almost universally have prevailed. As mankind are said to have been ruined through the influence of this being, we could little expect that it would, of all other objects, have been adopted, as the most sacred and salutary symbol; and rendered the chief object of ^[451]adoration. Yet so we find it to have been. In most of the antient rites there is some allusion to the ^[452]serpent. I have taken notice, that in the Orgies of Bacchus, the persons who partook of the ceremony used to carry serpents in their hands, and with horrid screams called upon Eva, Eva. They were often crowned with ^[453]serpents, and still made the same frantic exclamation. One part of the mysterious rites of Jupiter Sabazius was to let a snake slip down the bosom of the person to be initiated, which was taken out below^[454]. These ceremonies, and this symbolic worship, began among the Magi, who were the sons of Chus: and by them they were propagated in various parts. Epiphanius thinks, that the invocation, Eva, Eva, related to the great ^[455]mother of mankind, who was deceived by the serpent: and Clemens of Alexandria is of the same opinion. He supposes, that by this term was meant ^[456]Ευαν εκεινην, δι' ἡν ἡ πλανη παρηκολουθησε. But I should think, that Eva was the same as Eph, Epha, Opha, which the Greeks rendered Οφις, Ophis, and by it denoted a serpent. Clemens acknowledges, that the term Eva properly aspirated had such a signification. ^[457]Το ονομα το Ευια δασυνομενον ἑρμηνευεται Οφις. Olympias, the mother of ^[458]Alexander, was very fond of these Orgies, in which the serpent was introduced. Plutarch mentions, that rites of this sort were practised by the Edonian women near mount Hæmus in Thrace; and carried on to a degree of madness. Olympias copied them closely in all their frantic manœuvres. She used to be followed with many attendants, who had each a thyrsus with ^[459]serpents twined round it. They had also snakes in their hair, and in the chaplets, which they wore; so that they made a most fearful appearance. Their cries were very shocking: and the whole was attended with a continual repetition of the words, ^[460]Evoe, Saboe, Hues Attes, Attes Hues, which were titles of the God Dionusus. He was peculiarly named Ὑης; and his priests were the Hyades, and Hyantes. He was likewise styled Evas. ^[461]Ευας ὁ Διονυσος.

In Egypt was a serpent named Thermuthis, which was looked upon as very sacred; and the natives are said to have made use of it as a royal tiara, with which they ornamented the statues of ^[462]Isis. We learn from Diodorus Siculus, that the kings of Egypt wore high bonnets, which terminated in a round ball: and the whole was surrounded with figures of ^[463]asps. The priests likewise upon their bonnets had the representation of serpents. The antients had a notion, that when Saturn devoured his own children, his wife Ops deceived him by substituting a large stone in lieu of one of his sons, which stone was called Abadir. But Ops, and Opis, represented here as a feminine, was the serpent Deity, and Abadir is the same personage under a different denomination. ^[464]Abadir Deus est; et hoc nomine lapis ille, quem Saturnus dicitur devorâsse pro Jove, quem Græci βαιτυλον vocant.—Abdir quoque et Abadir βαιτυλος. Abadir seems to be a variation of Ob-Adur, and signifies the serpent God Orus. One of these stones, which Saturn was supposed to have swallowed instead of a child, stood, according to ^[465]Pausanias, at Delphi. It was esteemed very sacred, and used to have libations of wine poured upon it daily; and upon festivals was otherwise honoured. The purport of the above history I imagine to have been this. It was for a long time a custom to offer children at the altar of Saturn: but in process of time they removed it, and in its room erected a στυλος, or stone pillar; before which they made their vows, and offered sacrifices of another nature. This stone, which they thus substituted, was called Ab-Adar, from the Deity represented by it. The term Ab generally signifies a ^[466]father: but, in this instance, it certainly relates to a serpent, which was indifferently styled Ab, Aub, and ^[467]Ob. I take Abadon, or, as it is mentioned in the Revelations, Abaddon, to have been the name of the same Ophite God, with whose worship the world had been so long infected. He is termed by the Evangelist ^[468]Αβαδδων, τον Αγγελον της Αβυσσου, the angel of the bottomless pit; that is, the prince of darkness. In another place he is described as the ^[469]dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan. Hence I think, that the learned Heinsius is very right in the opinion, which he has given upon this passage; when he makes Abaddon the same as the serpent Pytho. Non dubitandum est, quin Pythius Apollo, hoc est spurcus ille spiritus, quem Hebræi Ob, et Abaddon, Hellenistæ ad verbum Απολλυωνα, cæteri Απολλωνα, dixerunt, sub hâc formâ, quâ miseriam humano generi invexit, primo cultus^[470].

It is said, that, in the ritual of Zoroaster, the great expanse of the heavens, and even nature itself, was described under the symbol of a serpent^[471]. The like was mentioned in the Octateuch of Ostanes: and moreover, that in Persis and in other parts of the east they erected temples to the serpent tribe, and held festivals to their honour, esteeming them ^[472]Θεους τους μεγιστους, και αρχηγους των ὁλων, the supreme of all Gods, and the superintendants of the whole world. The worship began among the people of Chaldea. They built the city Opis upon the ^[473]Tigris, and were greatly addicted to divination, and to the worship of the serpent^[474]. Inventi sunt ex iis (Chaldeis) augures, et magi, divinatores, et sortilegi, et inquirentes Ob, et Ideoni. From Chaldea the worship passed into Egypt, where the serpent Deity was called Can-oph, Can-eph, and C'neph. It had also the name of Ob, or Oub, and was the same as the Basiliscus, or Royal Serpent; the same also as the Thermuthis: and in like manner was made use of by way of ornament to the statues of their ^[475]Gods. The chief Deity of Egypt is said to have been Vulcan, who was also styled Opas, as we learn from ^[476]Cicero. He was the same as Osiris, the Sun; and hence was often called Ob-El, sive Pytho Sol: and there were pillars sacred to him with curious hieroglyphical inscriptions, which had the same name. They were very lofty, and narrow in comparison of their length; hence among the Greeks, who copied from the Egyptians, every thing gradually tapering to a point was styled Obelos, and Obeliscus. Ophel (Oph-El) was a name of the same purport: and I have shewn, that many sacred mounds, or Tapha, were thus denominated from the serpent Deity, to whom they were sacred.

Sanchoniathon makes mention of an history, which he once wrote upon the worship of the serpent. The title of this work, according to Eusebius was, ^[477]Ethothion, or Ethothia. Another treatise upon the same subject was written by Pherecydes Syrus, which was probably a copy of the former; for he is said to have composed it, ^[478]παρα Φοινικων λαβων τας αφορμας, from some previous accounts of the Phenicians. The title of his book was the Theology of Ophion, styled Ophioneus; and of his worshippers, called Ophionidæ. Thoth, and Athoth, were certainly titles of the Deity in the Gentile world: and the book of Sanchoniathon might very possibly have been from hence named Ethothion, or more truly Athothion. But from the subject, upon which it was written, as well as from the treatise of Pherecydes, I should think, that Athothion, or Ethothion, was a mistake for Ath-ophion, a title which more immediately related to that worship, of which the writer treated. Ath was a sacred title, as I have shewn: and I imagine, that this dissertation did not barely relate to the serpentine Deity; but contained accounts of his votaries, the Ophitæ, the principal of which were the sons of Chus. The worship of the Serpent began among them; and they were from thence denominated Ethopians, and Aithopians, which the Greeks rendered Αιθιοπες. It was a name, which they did not receive from their complexion, as has been commonly surmised; for the branch of Phut, and the Lubim, were probably of a deeper die: but they were so called from Ath-Ope, and Ath-Opis, the God which they worshipped. This may be proved from Pliny. He says that the country Æthiopia (and consequently the people) had the name of Æthiop from a personage who was a Deity—ab ^[479]Æthiope Vulcani filio. The Æthiopes brought these rites into Greece: and called the island, where they first established them, ^[480]Ellopia, Solis Serpentis insula. It was the same as Eubœa, a name of the like purport; in which island was a region named Æthiopium. Eubœa is properly Oub-Aia; and signifies the Serpent Island. The same worship prevailed among the Hyperboreans, as we may judge from the names of the sacred women, who used to come annually to Delos. They were priestesses of the Tauric Goddess, and were denominated from her titles.

Hercules was esteemed the chief God, the same as Chronus; and was said to have produced the Mundane egg. He was represented in the Orphic Theology under the mixed symbol of a ^[482]lion and serpent: and sometimes of a ^[483]serpent only. I have before mentioned, that the Cuthites under the title of Heliadæ settled at Rhodes: and, as they were Hivites or Ophites, that the island in consequence of it was of old named Ophiusa. There was likewise a tradition, that it had once swarmed with ^[484]serpents. The like notion prevailed almost in every place, where they settled. They came under the more general titles of Leleges and Pelasgi: but more particularly of Elopians, Europians, Oropians, Asopians, Inopians, Ophionians, and Æthiopes, as appears from the names, which they bequeathed; and in most places, where they resided, there were handed down traditions, which alluded to their original title of Ophites. In Phrygia, and upon the Hellespont, whither they sent out colonies very early, was a people styled Οφιογενεις, or the serpent-breed; who were said to retain an affinity and correspondence with ^[485]serpents. And a notion prevailed, that some hero, who had conducted them, was changed from a serpent to a man. In Colchis was a river Ophis; and there was another of the same name in Arcadia. It was so named from a body of people, who settled upon its banks, and were said to have been conducted by a serpent: ^[486]Τον ἡγεμονα γενεσθαι δρακοντα. These reptiles are seldom found in islands, yet Tenos, one of the Cyclades, was supposed to have once swarmed with them. ^[487]Εν τῃ Τηνῳ, μιᾳ των Κυκλαδων νησῳ, οφεις και σκορπιοι δεινοι εγινοντο. Thucydides mentions a people of Ætolia called ^[488]Ophionians: and the temple of Apollo at Patara in Lycia seems to have had its first institution from a priestess of the same ^[489]name. The island of Cyprus was styled Ophiusa, and Ophiodes, from the serpents, with which it was supposed to have ^[490]abounded. Of what species they were is no where mentioned; excepting only that about Paphos there was said to have been a ^[491]kind of serpent with two legs. By this is meant the Ophite race, who came from Egypt, and from Syria, and got footing in this ^[492]island. They settled also in Crete, where they increased greatly in numbers; so that Minos was said by an unseemly allegory, ^[493]οφεις ουρησαι, serpentes minxisse. The island Seriphus was one vast rock, by the Romans called ^[494]saxum seriphium; and made use of as a larger kind of prison for banished persons. It is represented as having once abounded with serpents; and it is styled by Virgil serpentifera, as the passage is happily corrected by Scaliger.

It had this epithet not on account of any real serpents, but according to the Greeks from ^[496]Medusa's head, which was brought hither by Perseus. By this is meant the serpent Deity, whose worship was here introduced by people called Peresians. Medusa's head denoted divine wisdom: and the island was sacred to the serpent as is apparent from its name^[497]. The Athenians were esteemed Serpentigenæ; and they had a tradition, that the chief guardian of their Acropolis was a ^[498]serpent. It is reported of the Goddess Ceres, that she placed a dragon for a guardian to her temple at ^[499]Eleusis; and appointed another to attend upon Erectheus. Ægeus of Athens, according to Androtion, was of the ^[500]serpent breed: and the first king of the country is said to have been ^[501]Δρακων, a Dragon. Others make Cecrops the first who reigned. He is said to have been ^[502]διφυης, of a twofold nature; συμφυες εχων σωμα ανδρος και δρακοντος, being formed with the body of a man blended with that of a serpent. Diodorus says, that this was a circumstance deemed by the Athenians inexplicable: yet he labours to explain it, by representing Cecrops, as half a man, and half a ^[503]brute; because he had been of two different communities. Eustathius likewise tries to solve it nearly upon the same principles, and with the like success. Some had mentioned of Cecrops, that he underwent a metamorphosis, ^[504]απο οφεως εις ανθρωπον ελθειν, that he was changed from a serpent to a man. By this was signified according to Eustathius, that Cecrops, by coming into Hellas, divested himself of all the rudeness and barbarity of his ^[505]country, and became more civilized and humane. This is too high a compliment to be payed to Greece in its infant state, and detracts greatly from the character of the Egyptians. The learned Marsham therefore animadverts with great justice. ^[506]Est verisimilius ilium ex Ægypto mores magis civiles in Græciam induxisse. It is more probable, that he introduced into Greece, the urbanity of his own country, than that he was beholden to Greece for any thing from thence. In respect to the mixed character of this personage, we may, I think, easily account for it. Cecrops was certainly a title of the Deity, who was worshipped under this ^[507]emblem. Something of the like nature was mentioned of Triptolemus, and ^[508]Ericthonius: and the like has been said above of Hercules. The natives of Thebes in Bœotia, like the Athenians above, esteemed themselves of the serpent race. The Lacedæmonians likewise referred themselves to the same original. Their city is said of old to have swarmed with ^[509]serpents. The same is said of the city Amyclæ in Italy, which was of Spartan original. They came hither in such abundance, that it was abandoned by the ^[510]inhabitants. Argos was infested in the same manner, till Apis came from Egypt, and settled in that city. He was a prophet, the reputed son of Apollo, and a person of great skill and sagacity. To him they attributed the blessing of having their country freed from this evil.

Thus the Argives gave the credit to this imaginary personage of clearing their land of this grievance: but the brood came from the very quarter from whence Apis was supposed to have arrived. They were certainly Hivites from Egypt: and the same story is told of that country. It is represented as having been of old over-run with serpents; and almost depopulated through their numbers. Diodorus Siculus seems to understand this ^[512]literally: but a region, which was annually overflowed, and that too for so long a season, could not well be liable to such a calamity. They were serpents of another nature, with which it was thus infested: and the history relates to the Cuthites, the original Ophitæ, who for a long time possessed that country. They passed from Egypt to Syria, and to the Euphrates: and mention is made of a particular breed of serpents upon that river, which were harmless to the natives, but fatal to every body else. ^[513]This, I think, cannot be understood literally. The wisdom of the serpent may be great; but not sufficient to make these distinctions. These serpents were of the same nature as the ^[514]birds of Diomedes, and the dogs in the temple of Vulcan: and these histories relate to Ophite priests, who used to spare their own people, and sacrifice strangers, a custom which prevailed at one time in most parts of the world. I have mentioned that the Cuthite priests were very learned: and as they were Ophites, whoever had the advantage of their information, was said to have been instructed by serpents. Hence there was a tradition, that Melampus was rendered prophetic from a communication with these ^[515]animals. Something similar is said of Tiresias.

As the worship of the serpent was of old so prevalent, many places, as well as people from thence, received their names. Those who settled in Campania were called Opici; which some would have changed to Ophici; because they were denominated from serpents. ^[516]Οι δε (φασιν) ὁτι Οφικοι απο των οφιων. But they are, in reality, both names of the same purport, and denote the origin of the people. We meet with places called Opis, Ophis, Ophitæa, Ophionia, Ophioëssa, Ophiodes, and Ophiusa. This last was an antient name, by which, according to Stephanus, the islands Rhodes, Cythnus, Besbicus, Tenos, and the whole continent of Africa, were distinguished. There were also cities so called. Add to these places denominated Oboth, Obona, and reversed Onoba, from Ob, which was of the same purport. Clemens Alexandrinus says, that the term Eva signified a serpent, if pronounced with a proper ^[517]aspirate. We find that there were places of this name. There was a city Eva in ^[518]Arcadia: and another in ^[519]Macedonia. There was also a mountain Eva, or Evan, taken notice of by ^[520]Pausanias, between which and Ithome lay the city Messene. He mentions also an Eva in ^[521]Argolis, and speaks of it as a large town. Another name for a serpent, of which I have as yet taken no notice, was Patan, or Pitan. Many places in different parts were denominated from this term. Among others was a city in ^[522]Laconia; and another in ^[523]Mysia, which Stephanus styles a city of Æolia. They were undoubtedly so named from the worship of the serpent, Pitan: and had probably Dracontia, where were figures and devices relative to the religion which prevailed. Ovid mentions the latter city, and has some allusions to its antient history, when he describes Medea as flying through the air from Attica to Colchis.

The city was situated upon the river Eva or Evan, which the Greeks rendered ^[525]Evenus. It is remarkable, that the Opici, who are said to have been denominated from serpents, had also the name of Pitanatæ: at least one part of that family were so called. ^[526]Τινας δε και Πιτανατας λεγεσθαι. Pitanatæ is a term of the same purport as Opici, and relates to the votaries of Pitan, the serpent Deity, which was adored by that people.

Menelaus was of old styled ^[527]Pitanates, as we learn from Hesychius: and the reason of it may be known from his being a Spartan, by which was intimated one of the serpentigenæ, or Ophites. Hence he was represented with a serpent for a device upon his shield. It is said that a brigade, or portion of infantry, was among some of the Greeks named ^[528]Pitanates; and the soldiers, in consequence of it, must have been termed Pitanatæ: undoubtedly, because they had the Pitan, or serpent, for their ^[529]standard. Analogous to this, among other nations, there were soldiers called ^[530]Draconarii. I believe, that in most countries the military standard was an emblem of the Deity there worshipped.

From what has been said, I hope, that I have thrown some light upon the history of this primitive idolatry: and have moreover shewn, that wherever any of these Ophite colonies settled they left behind from their rites and institutes, as well as from the names, which they bequeathed to places, ample memorials, by which they may be clearly traced out. It may seem strange, that in the first ages there should have been such an universal defection from the truth; and above all things such a propensity to this particular mode of worship, this mysterious attachment to the serpent. What is scarce credible, it obtained among Christians; and one of the most early heresies in the church was of this sort, introduced by a sect, called by ^[531]Epiphanius Ophitæ, by ^[532]Clemens of Alexandria Ophiani. They are particularly described by Tertullian, whose account of them is well worth our notice. ^[533]Accesserunt his Hæretici etiam illi, qui Ophitæ nuncupantur: nam serpentem magnificant in tantum, ut illum etiam ipsi Christo præferant. Ipse enim, inquiunt, scientiæ nobis boni et mali originem dedit. Hujus animadvertens potentiam et majestatem Moyses æreum posuit serpentem: et quicunque in eum aspexerunt, sanitatem consecuti sunt. Ipse, aiunt, præterea in Evangelio imitatur serpentis ipsius sacram potestatem, dicendo, et sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet filium hominis. Ipsum introducunt ad benedicenda Eucharistia sua. In the above we see plainly the perverseness of human wit, which deviates so industriously; and is ever after employed in finding expedients to countenance error, and render apostasy plausible. It would be a noble undertaking, and very edifying in its consequences, if some person of true learning, and a deep insight into antiquity, would go through with the history of the ^[534]serpent. I have adopted it, as far as it relates to my system, which is, in some degree, illustrated by it.

Παλαιοτατοι μεν λεγονται εν μερει τινι της χωρας (της Σικελιας) Κυκλωπες, και Λαιστρυγονες οικησαι· ὡν εγω ουτε γενος εχω ειπειν, ουτε ὁποθεν εισηλθον, η ὁποι απεχωρησαν. Thucydides. l. 6. p. 378.

Thucydides acquaints us concerning the Cyclopes and Læstrygones, that they were the most antient inhabitants of Sicily, but that he could not find out their race: nor did he know from what part of the world they originally came, nor to what country they afterwards betook themselves. I may appear presumptuous in pretending to determine a history so remote and obscure; and which was a secret to this learned Grecian two thousand years ago. Yet this is my present purpose: and I undertake it with a greater confidence, as I can plainly shew, that we have many lights, with which the natives of Hellas were unacquainted; besides many advantages, of which they would not avail themselves.

The gigantic Cyclopes were originally Ophitæ, who worshipped the symbolical serpent. They have been represented by the poets, as persons of an enormous ^[535]stature, rude and savage in their demeanour, and differing from the rest of mankind in countenance. They are described as having only one large eye; which is said to have been placed, contrary to the usual situation of that organ, in the middle of their foreheads. Their place of residence was upon mount Ætna, and in the adjacent district at the foot of that ^[536]mountain, which was the original region styled Trinacia. This is the common account, as it has been transmitted by the Poets, as well as by the principal mythologists of Greece: and in this we have been taught to acquiesce. But the real history is not so obvious and superficial. There are accounts of them to be obtained, that differ much from the representations which are commonly exhibited. The Poets have given a mixed description: and in lieu of the Deity of the place have introduced these strange personages, the ideas of whose size were borrowed from sacred edifices, where the Deity was worshipped. They were Petra, or temples of Cœlus; of the same nature and form as the tower of Orion, which was at no great distance from them. Some of them had the name of ^[537]Charon, and Tarchon: and they were esteemed Pelorian, from the God Alorus, the same as Cœlus and Python. The Grecians confounded the people, who raised these buildings, with the structures themselves. Strabo places them near ^[538]Ætna, and Leontina: and supposes, that they once ruled over that part of the island. And it is certain that a people styled Cyclopians did possess that ^[539]province. Polyphemus is imagined to have been the chief of this people: and Euripides describes the place of his residence as towards the foot of the mountain: ^[540]Οικεις ὑπ' Αιτνῃ τῃ πυροστακτῳ Πετρᾳ. They are represented as a people savage, and lawless, and delighting in human flesh. Hence it is prophesied by Cassandra, as a curse upon Ulysses, that he would one day be forced to seek for refuge in a Cyclopian ^[541]mansion. And when he arrives under the roof of Polyphemus, and makes inquiry about his host, and particularly upon what he fed; he is told, that the Cyclops above all things esteemed the flesh of strangers. ^[542]Chance never throws any body upon this coast, says Silenus, but he is made a meal of; and it is looked upon as a delicious repast. This character of the Cyclopians arose from the cruel custom of sacrificing strangers, whom fortune brought upon their coast. This was practised in many parts of the world, but especially here, and upon the coast of the Lamii in Italy; and among all the Scythic nations upon the Euxine sea: into all which regions it was introduced from Egypt and Canaan.

But we must not consider the Cyclopians in this partial light: nor look for them only in the island of Sicily, to which they have been by the Poets confined. Memorials of them are to be found in many parts of Greece, where they were recorded as far superior to the natives in science and ingenuity. The Grecians, by not distinguishing between the Deity, and the people, who were called by his titles, have brought great confusion upon this history. The Cyclopians were denominated from Κυκλωψ, Cyclops, the same as Cœlus. According to Parmeno Byzantinus, he was the God ^[543]Nilus of Egypt, who was the same as ^[544]Zeus, and Osiris. The history both of the Deity, and of the people, became in time obsolete: and it has been rendered more obscure by the mixed manner in which it has been represented by the Poets.

It is generally agreed by writers upon the subject, that the Cyclopians were of a size superior to the common race of mankind. Among the many tribes of the Amonians, which went abroad, were to be found people, who were styled ^[545]Anakim, and were descended from the sons of Anac: so that this history, though carried to a great excess, was probably founded in truth. They were particularly famous for architecture; which they introduced into Greece, as we are told by ^[546]Herodotus: and in all parts, whither they came, they erected noble structures, which were remarkable for their height and beauty: and were often dedicated to the chief Deity, the Sun, under the name of Elorus, and P'elorus. People were so struck with their grandeur, that they called every thing great and stupendous, Pelorian. And when they described the Cyclopians as a lofty towering race, they came at last to borrow their ideas of this people from the towers, to which they alluded. They supposed them in height to reach to the clouds; and in bulk to equal the promontories, on which they were founded. Homer says of Polyphemus,

Virgil says of the same person,

As these buildings were oftentimes light-houses, and had in their upper story one round casement, Argolici clypeï, aut Phœbeæ lampadis instar, by which they afforded light in the night-season; the Greeks made this a characteristic of the people. They supposed this aperture to have been an eye, which was fiery, and glaring, and placed in the middle of their foreheads. Hence Callimachus describes them as a monstrous race:

The Grecians have so confounded the Cyclopian Deity with his votaries, that it is difficult to speak precisely of either. They sometimes mention him as a single person; the same as Nilus of Egypt, who was esteemed the father of the Gods. At other times they introduce a plurality, whom they still represent as of the highest antiquity, and make the brethren of Cronus: ^[550]Κυκλωπες—ὁι αδελφοι ησαν του Κρονου, του πατρος του Διος. Proclus in Photius informs us, that, according to the antient mythology of the Auctores Cyclici, the giants with an hundred hands, and the Cyclopes, were the first born of the ^[551]Earth and Cœlus. But in these histories every degree of relation has been founded upon idle surmises: and is uniformly to be set aside. The Cyclopian Deity was ^[552]Ouranus, and the Cyclopians were his priests and votaries: some of whom had divine honours paid to them, and were esteemed as Gods. Upon the Isthmus of Corinth was an antient temple; which seems to have been little more than a ταφος or high altar, where offerings were made to the Cyclopian ^[553]Deities. People of this family settled upon the southern coast of Sicily at Camarina; which some have supposed to have been the Hupereia of Homer, where the Pheacians once resided.

But there is no reason to think, that the city Hupereia was in Sicily; or that the Pheacians came from that country. The notion arose from a common mistake. All the Greek and Roman Poets, and even Strabo, with other respectable writers, have taken it for granted, that the Cyclopians of Homer were near Ætna in Sicily. Others except to their being near Ætna; and insist, that they were in the vicinity of Eryx upon the opposite part of the island. But Homer does not once mention the island during his whole account of the Cyclopes: nor does Ulysses arrive in Sicily, till after many subsequent adventures. That there were Cyclopians near Ætna is certain: but those mentioned by Homer were of another country, and are represented as natives of the continent though his account is very indeterminate and obscure. There were probably people of this family in many parts of Sicily, especially about the city Camarina. They seem to have been of the Anakim race, and worshippers of the Sun. Hence they were styled Camarin, and their chief city Camarina, which was so called from a city of the same name in ^[555]Chaldea, the Ur of the Scriptures. Polyphemus is mentioned as a musician and a shepherd; but of a savage and brutal disposition: which character arose from the cruel rites practised by the Cyclopians. According to ^[556]Bacchylides it was said, that Galatus, Illyrius, and Celtus were the sons of Polyphemus. By this was certainly signified, that the Galatæ, Illyrii, and Celtæ, were of Cyclopian original, and of the Anakim race; all equally Amonians. Lycophron mentions the cave of this personage, by which was meant an antient temple; and he calls it ^[557]μονογληνου στεγας Χαρωνος: the habitation of Charon, a personage with one eye. But here, as I have often observed, the place is mistaken for a person; the temple for the Deity. Charon was the very place; the antient temple of the Sun. It was therefore styled Char-On from the God, who was there worshipped; and after the Egyptian custom an eye was engraved over its portal. These temples were sometimes called Charis, ^[558]Χαρις; which is a compound of Char-Is, and signifies a prutaneion, or place sacred to Hephastus. As the rites of fire were once almost universally practised, there were many places of this name, especially in ^[559]Parthia, Babylonia, and Phrygia. The Grecians rendered Char-Is by Χαρις, a term in their own language, which signified grace and elegance. And nothing witnesses their attachment to antient terms more than their continually introducing them, though they were strangers to their true meaning. The Arimaspians were Hyperborean Cyclopians; and had temples named Charis, or Charisia, in the top of which were preserved a perpetual fire. They were of the same family as those of ^[560]Sicily, and had the same rites; and particularly worshipped the Ophite Deity under the name of ^[561]Opis. Aristeas Proconnesius wrote their history; and among other things mentioned that they had but one eye, which was placed in their graceful forehead.

How could the front of a Cyclopian, one of the most hideous monsters that ever poetic fancy framed, be styled graceful? The whole is a mistake of terms: and what this writer had misapplied, related to Charis, a tower; and the eye was the casement in the top of the edifice, where a light, and fire were kept up. What confirmed the mistake was the representation of an eye, which, as I have mentioned, was often engraved over the entrance of these temples. The chief Deity of Egypt was frequently represented under the symbol of an eye, ^[563]and a sceptre. I have observed, that Orion was supposed to have had three fathers, merely because a tower, sacred to him in Sicily, and called Tor-Pator, was altered to Τριπατωρ; which change seemed to countenance such an opinion. The Cyclopians were of the same region in that island; and their towers had undoubtedly the same name: for the Cyclopians were styled ^[564]Τριτοπατερες, and were supposed to have been three in number. Some such mistake was made about the towers styled Charis: whence the Grecians formed their notion of the Graces. As Charis was a tower sacred to fire; some of the Poets have supposed a nymph of that name, who was beloved by Vulcan. Homer speaks of her as his wife: ^[565]Χαρις—Καλη, ἡν ωπυιε περικλυτος Αμφιγυνεις. But Nonnus makes her his mistress; and says, that he turned her out of doors for her jealousy.

The Graces were said to be related to the Sun who was in reality the same as Vulcan. The Sun among the people of the east was called Hares, and with a guttural, Chares: and his temple was styled Tor-Chares. But as Tor-Pator was changed to Tripator; so Tor-Chares was rendered Trichares, which the Greeks expressed Τριχαρις; and from thence formed a notion of three Graces. Cicero says, that they were the daughters of night, and Erebus: but Antimachus, more agreeably to this etymology, maintained, that they were the offspring of the Sun and light; ^[567]Αιγλης και Ἡλιου θυγατερας. These seeming contradictions are not difficult to be reconciled.

The Amonians, wherever they settled, were celebrated for their superiority in science; and particularly for their skill in building. Of this family were Trophonius, and his brother Agamedes, who are represented as very great in the profession. They were truly wonderful, says ^[568]Pausanias, for the temples, which they erected to the Gods; and for the stately edifices, which they built for men. They were the architects, who contrived the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the treasury constructed to Urius. They were, I make no doubt, some of those, who were styled Cyclopians; as the people under this appellation were far the most eminent in this way. When the Sibyl in Virgil shews Æneas the place of torment in the shades below, and leads him through many melancholy recesses, we find that the whole was separated from the regions of bliss by a wall built by the Cyclopians. The Sibyl accordingly at their exit tells him,

From hence we find that they were the reputed builders of the infernal mansions; which notion arose from the real buildings, which they erected. For all the ideas of the antients about the infernal regions, and the torments of hell, were taken from the temples in each country; and from the rites and inquisition practised in them. But the Cyclopians were not merely imaginary operators. They founded several cities in Greece; and constructed many temples to the Gods, which were of old in high repute. They were so much esteemed for their skill, that, as the Scholiast upon Statius observes, every thing great and noble was looked upon as Cyclopian: ^[570]quicquid magnitudine suâ nobile est, Cyclopum manu dicitur fabricatum. Nor was this a fiction, as may be surmised; for they were in great measure the real architects. And if, in the room of those portentous beings the Cyclopes, Κυκλωπες, we substitute a colony of people called Cyclopians, we shall find the whole to be true, which is attributed to them; and a new field of history will be opened, that was before unknown. They were, undoubtedly, a part of the people styled Academians, who resided in Attica; where they founded the Academia, and Ceramicus, and introduced human sacrifices. Hence we are informed, that the Athenians, in the time of a plague, sacrificed three virgin daughters of Hyacinthus at the tomb Geræstus, the ^[571]Cyclops. But Geræstus was not a person, but a place. Γεραιστος is a small variation for Ker-Astus; and signifies the temple of Astus the God of fire. It was certainly the antient name of the place where these sacrifices were exhibited: and the Taphos was a Cyclopian altar, upon which they were performed. The Cyclopians are said to have built the antient city Mycene, which Hercules in Seneca threatens to ruin.

Nonnus speaks of the city in the same light:

The gate of the city, and the chief tower were particularly ascribed to them: ^[574]Κυκλωπων δε και ταυτα εργα ειναι λεγουσιν. These too are represented as the work of the Cyclopians. They likewise built Argos; which is mentioned by Thyestes in Seneca as a wonderful performance.

All these poetical histories were founded in original truths. Some of them built Hermione, one of the most antient cities in Greece. The tradition was, that it was built by ^[576]Hermion the son of Europs, or Europis, a descendant of Phoroneus, and Niobe; and was inhabited by Dorians, who came from Argos: in which history is more than at first appears. The city stood near a stagnant lake, and a deep cavern; where was supposed to be the most compendious passage to the shades below: ^[577]την εις ἁδου καταβασιν συντομον. The lake was called the pool of Acherusia; near to which and the yawning cavern the Cyclopians chose to take up their habitation. They are said to have built ^[578]Tiryns; the walls of which were esteemed no less a wonder than the ^[579]pyramids of Egypt. They must have resided at Nauplia in Argolis; a place in situation not unlike Hermione above-mentioned. Near this city were caverns in the earth, and subterraneous passages, consisting of ^[580]labyrinths cut in the rock, like the syringes in Upper Egypt, and the maze at the lake Mæris: and these too were reputed the work of Cyclopians. Pausanias thinks very truly, that the Nauplians were from Egypt. ^[581]Ησαν δε ὁι Ναυπλιεις, εμοι δοκειν, Αιγυπτιοι τα παλαιοτερα. The Nauplians seem to me to have been a colony from Egypt in the more early times. He supposes that they were some of those emigrants, who came over with Danaüs. The nature of the works, which the Cyclopians executed, and the lake, which they named Acherusia, shew plainly the part of the world from whence they came. The next city to Nauplia was Trœzen, where Orus was said to have once reigned, from whom the country was called Oraia: but Pausanias very justly thinks, that it was an Egyptian history; and that the region was denominated from ^[582]Orus of Egypt, whose worship undoubtedly had been here introduced. So that every circumstance witnesses the country, from whence the Cyclopians came. Hence when ^[583]Euripides speaks of the walls of antient Mycene, as built by the Cyclopians after the Phenician rule and method: the Phenicians alluded to were the Φοινικες of Egypt, to which country they are primarily to be referred. Those who built Tiryns are represented as seven in number; and the whole is described by Strabo in the following manner. ^[584]Τιρυνθι ὁρμητηριῳ χρησασθαι δοκει Προιτος, και τειχισαι δια Κυκλωπων· ὁυς ἑπτα μεν ειναι, καλεισθαι δε Γαστεροχειρας, τρεφομενους εκ της τεχνης. Prœtus seems to have been the first who made use of Tiryns as an harbour; which place he walled round by the assistance of the Cyclopians. They were seven in number, styled Gastrocheirs; and lived by their labour. Hesychius in some degree reverses this strange name, and says, that they were called Εγχειρογαστερες. The Grecians continually mistook places for persons, as I have shewn. These seven Cyclopes were, I make no doubt, seven Cyclopian towers built by the people, of whom I have been treating. Some of them stood towards the harbour to afford light to ships, when they approached in the night. They were sacred to Aster, or ^[585]Astarte; and styled Astro-caer, and Caer-Aster; out of which the Greeks formed Γαστροχειρ, and Εγχειρογαστηρ; a strange medley made up of hands, and bellies. Strabo in particular having converted these building's into so many masons, adds, ^[586]Γαστεροχειρας, τρεφομενους εκ της τεχνης. They were honest bellyhanded men, industrious people, who got their livelihood by their art. These towers were erected likewise for Purait, or Puratheia, where the rites of fire were performed: but Purait, or Puraitus, the Greeks changed to Προιτος; and gave out that the towers were built for ^[587]Prœtus, whom they made a king of that country.

I imagine, that not only the common idea of the Cyclopians was taken from towers and edifices; but that the term Κυκλωψ, and Κυκλωπις, Cuclops, and Cuclopis, signified a building or temple; and from thence the people had their name. They were of the same family as the Cadmians, and Phœnices; and as the Hivites, or Ophites who came from Egypt, and settled near Libanus and Baal Hermon, upon the confines of Canaan. They worshipped the Sun under the symbol of a serpent: hence they were styled in different parts, where they in time settled, Europians, Oropians, Anopians, Inopians, Asopians, Elopians; all which names relate to the worship of the Pytho Ops, or Opis. What may be the precise etymology of the term Κυκλωψ, Cuclops, I cannot presume to determine. Cuclops, as a personage, was said to have been the son of ^[588]Ouranus and the earth: which Ouranus among the Amonians was often styled Cœl, or Cœlus; and was worshipped under the forementioned emblem of a serpent. Hence the temple of the Deity may have been originally called Cu-Cœl-Ops, Domus Cœli Pythonis; and the priests and people Cucelopians. But whatever may have been the purport of the name, the history of these personages is sufficiently determinate.

There was a place in Thrace called ^[589]Cuclops, where some of the Cyclopian race had settled; for many of the Amonians came hither. Hence Thrace seems at one time to have been the seat of science: and the Athenians acknowledged, that they borrowed largely from them. The natives were very famous; particularly the Pierians for their music, the Peonians for pharmacy, and the Edonians for their rites and worship. Those, who went under the name of Cyclopes, probably introduced architecture; for which art they seem to have been every where noted. There was a fountain in these parts, of which Aristotle takes notice, as of a wonderful nature. ^[590]Εν δε Κυκλωψι τοις Θραξι κρηνιδιον εστιν, ὑδωρ εχων, ὁ τῃ μεν οψει καθαρον, και διαφανες, και τοις αλλοις ὁμοιον· ὁταν δε πιῃ τι ζωον εξ αυτου, παραχρημα διαφθειρεται. In the region of the Cyclopians of Thrace is a fountain, clear to the eye, and pure, and in no wise differing from common water: of which, however, if an animal drinks, it is immediately poisoned. There is another account given by Theopompus; who speaks of the people by the name of the Chropes, which is a contraction for Charopes. He says, that even going into the water was fatal. ^[591]Θεοπομπος ἱστορει κρηνην εν Χρωψι της Θρακης, εξ ἡς τους λουσαμενους παραχρημα μεταλλασσειν. Theopompus mentions a fountain among the Charopes of Thrace, in which, if a person attempts to bathe, he immediately loses his life. I have taken notice of this history, because we find, that the persons who are called ^[592]Cuclopes by one writer, are styled Char-opes by another, and very justly: for the terms are nearly of the same purport. The Charopes were denominated from a temple, and place called Char-Ops, or Char-Opis, locus Dei Pythonis: and the Cyclopes were, as I have before supposed, denominated from Cu-Coel-Ops, or Cu-Coel-Opis, the temple of the same Deity. They were both equally named from the Ophite God, the great object of their adoration, and from the temple where he was worshipped.

The head of Medusa in Argolis is said to have been the work of the ^[593]Cyclopians. This seems to have been an antient hieroglyphical representation upon the temple of Caphisus. It was usual with the Egyptians, and other Amonians, to describe, upon the Architrave of their temples, some emblem of the Deity, who there presided. This representation was often an eagle, or vulture; a wolf, or a lion; also an heart, or an eye. The last, as I have shewn, was common to the temples of ^[594]Osiris, and was intended to signify the superintendency of Providence, from whom nothing was hid. Among others the serpent was esteemed a most salutary emblem: and they made use of it to signify superior skill and knowledge. A beautiful female countenance, surrounded with an assemblage of serpents, was made to denote divine wisdom, which they styled Meed, and Meet, the Μητις of the Greeks. Under this characteristic they represented an heavenly personage, and joined her with Eros, or divine love: and by these two they supposed that the present mundane system was produced. Orpheus speaks of this Deity in the masculine gender:

On this account many antient temples were ornamented with this curious hieroglyphic: and among others the temple of Caphisus ^[596]in Argolis. Caphisus is a compound of Caph-Isis, which signifies Petra Isidis, and relates to the same Deity as Metis. For we must not regard sexes, nor difference of appellations, when we treat of antient Deities.

I have taken notice that the Cyclopians of Thrace were styled Charopes; which name they must have received from their rites, and place of worship. Char-Opis signifies the temple of the Python, or serpent: and we find that it was situated near a poisonous pool. It was sacred to the Sun: and there were many temples of this name in ^[599]Egypt, and other countries. The Sun was called Arez; and the lion, which was an emblem of the Sun, had the same denomination: and there is reason to think, that the device upon Charopian temples was sometimes a lion. Homer, undoubtedly, had seen the fierce figure of this animal upon some sacred portal in Egypt; to which he often alludes, when he speaks of a Charopian lion.

The devices upon temples were often esteemed as talismans, and supposed to have an hidden and salutary influence, by which the building was preserved. In the temple of Minerva, at Tegea, was some sculpture of Medusa, which the Goddess was said to have given, ^[601]αναλωτον ες τον παντα κρονον ειναι (την πολιν); to preserve the city from ever being taken in war. It was probably from this opinion, that the ^[602]Athenians had the head of Medusa represented upon the walls of their acropolis: and it was the insigne of many cities, as we may find from antient coins. The notion of the Cyclopes framing the thunder and lightning for Jupiter arose chiefly from the Cyclopians engraving hieroglyphics of this sort upon the temples of the Deity. Hence they were represented as persons,

The Poets considered them merely in the capacity of blacksmiths, and condemned them to the anvil. This arose from the chief Cyclopian Deity being called Acmon, and Pyracmon. He was worshipped under the former title in Phrygia; where was a city and district called Acmonia, mentioned by Alexander ^[604]Polyhistor. The Amazonians paid the like reverence: and there was a sacred grove called Acmonium upon the ^[605]Thermodon, which was held in great repute. He was by some looked upon as the offspring of heaven; by others worshipped as Ouranus, and Cœlus, the heaven itself; and Acmonides was supposed to have been his ^[606]son, whom some of the mythologists made the ruling spirit of the earth. Hence Simmias Rhodius introduces Divine Love displaying his influence, and saying, that he produced Acmonides, that mighty monarch of the earth, and at the same time founded the sea. ^[607]Λευσσε με τον Γας τε βαρυστερνου Ανακτ' Ακμονιδαν, ταν ἁλα θ' ἑδρασαντα.

Acmon seems to have been worshipped of old at Tiryns, that antient city of Greece, whose towers were said to have been built by the Cyclopians. For Acmon was the Cyclopian Deity; and is represented by Callimachus as the tutelary God of the place, though the passage has been otherwise interpreted.

The term has commonly been looked upon as an adjective; and the passage has been rendered Talis Tirynthius indefessus, which is scarce sense. Callimachus was very knowing in mythology, and is here speaking of the Cyclopian God Acmon, whom he makes the θεος προπυλαιος, or guardian Deity of the place. It was the same God, that was afterwards called Hercules, and particularly styled Tirynthius, to whom Callimachus here alludes, under a more antient name.

As the Cyclopians were great artists, they probably were famous for works in brass, and iron: and that circumstance in their history may have been founded in truth. The Idæi Dactyli were Cyclopians: and they are said to have first forged metals, and to have reduced them to common ^[609]use; the knowledge of which art they obtained from the fusion of minerals at the burning of mount ^[610]Ida. Whether this was an eruption of fire from the internal part of the mountain, or only a fire kindled among the forests, which crowned its summit, cannot be determined. It was an event of antient date; and admitted, as a remarkable epocha, in the most early series of chronology. From this event the Curetes, and Corybantes, who were the same as the ^[611]Idæi Dactyli, are supposed to have learned the mystery of fusing and forging metals. From them it was propagated to many countries westward, particularly to the Pangæan mountains, and the region Curetis, where the Cyclopians dwelt in Thrace: also to the region Trinacia and Leontina, near Ætna, which they occupied in Sicily.

Thus have I endeavoured to shew the true history ^[612]and antiquity of this people: and we may learn from their works, ^[613]that there was a time, when they were held in high estimation. They were denominated from their worship: and their chief Deity among other titles was styled Acmon, and Pyracmon. They seem to have been great in many sciences: but the term Acmon signifying among the Greeks an anvil, the Poets have limited them to one base department, and considered them as so many blacksmiths. And as they resided near Ætna, they have made the burning mountain their forge:

I must continually put the reader in mind how common it was among the Greeks, not only out of the titles of the Deities, but out of the names of towers, and other edifices, to form personages, and then to invent histories to support what they had done. When they had created a number of such ideal beings, they tried to find out some relation: and thence proceeded to determine the parentage, and filiation of each, just as fancy directed. Some colonies from Egypt, and Canaan, settled in Thrace; as appears from numberless memorials. The parts which they occupied were upon the Hebrus, about Edonia, Sithonia, and Mount Hæmus. They also held Pieria, and Peonia, and all the sea coast region. It was their custom, as I have before mentioned, in all their settlements to form puratheia; and to introduce the rites of fire, and worship of the Sun. Upon the coast, of which I have been speaking, a temple of this sort was founded, which is called Torone. The name is a compound of Tor-On, as I have before taken notice. The words purathus, and puratheia, were, in the language of Egypt, Pur-Ath, and Por-Ait, formed from two titles of the God of fire. Out of one of these the Grecians made a personage, which they expressed Προιτος, Prœtus, whose daughters, or rather priestesses, were the Prœtides. And as they followed the Egyptian rites, and held a Cow sacred, they were, in consequence of it, supposed to have been turned into ^[615]cows; just as the priestesses of Hippa were said to have been changed into mares; the Œnotropæ and Peleiadæ into pigeons. Proteus of Egypt, whom Menelaus was supposed to have consulted about his passage homeward, was a tower of this sort with a purait. It was an edifice, where both priests and pilots resided to give information; and where a light was continually burning to direct the ships in the night. The tower of Torone likewise was a Pharos, and therefore styled by Lycophron φλεγραια Τορωνη, the flaming Torone. The country about it was, in like manner, called ^[616]Φλεγρα, Phlegra, both from these flaming Towers, and from the worship there introduced. There seems to have been a fire-tower in this region named Proteus; for, according to the antient accounts, Proteus is mentioned as having resided in these parts, and is said to have been married to Torone. He is accordingly styled by the Poet,

The epithet στυγνος, gloomy, and sad, implies a bad character, which arose from the cruel rites practised in these places. In all these temples they made it a rule to sacrifice strangers, whom fortune brought in their way. Torone stood near ^[618]Pallene, which was styled ^[619]Γηγενων τροφος, the nurse of the earth-born, or giant brood. Under this character both the sons of Chus, and the Anakim of Canaan are included. Lycophron takes off from Proteus the imputation of being accessary to the vile practices, for which the place was notorious; and makes only his sons guilty of murdering strangers. He says, that their father left them out of disgust,

In this he alludes to a custom, of which I shall take notice hereafter. According to Eustathius, the notion was, that Proteus fled by a subterraneous passage to Egypt, in company with his daughter Eidothea. ^[621]Αποκατεστη εις Φαρον μετα της θυγατρος Ειδοθεας. He went, it seems, from one Pharos to another; from Pallene to the mouth of the Nile. The Pharos of Egypt was both a watch-tower, and a temple, where people went to inquire about the success of their voyage; and to obtain the assistance of pilots. Proteus was an Egyptian title of the Deity, under which he was worshipped, both in the Pharos, and at ^[622]Memphis. He was the same as Osiris, and Canobus: and particularly the God of mariners, who confined his department to the ^[623]sea. From hence, I think, we may unravel the mystery about the pilot of Menelaus, who is said to have been named Canobus, and to have given name to the principal seaport in Egypt. The priests of the country laughed at the idle ^[624]story; and they had good reason: for the place was far prior to the people spoken of, and the name not of Grecian original. It is observable, that Stephanus of Byzantium gives the pilot another name, calling him, instead of Canobus, Φαρος, Pharus. His words are Φαρος ὁ Πρωρευς Μεναλαου, which are scarce sense. I make no doubt, from the history of Proteus above, but that in the original, whence Stephanus copied, or at least whence the story was first taken, the reading was Φαρος ὁ Πρωτευς Μενελαου; that is, the Proteus of Menelaus, so celebrated by Homer, who is represented, as so wise, and so experienced in navigation, whom they esteemed a great prophet, and a Deity of the sea, was nothing else but a Pharos. In other words, it was a temple of Proteus upon the Canobic branch of the Nile, to which the Poet makes Menelaus have recourse. Such was the original history: but Πρωτευς Μενελαου has been changed to πρωρευς; and the God Canobus turned into a Grecian pilot. As these were Ophite temples, a story has been added about this person having been stung by a serpent. ^[625]Πρωρευς εν τῃ νησῳ δηχθεις ὑπο οφεως εταφη. This Pilot was bitten by a serpent, and buried in the island. Conformable to my opinion is the account given by Tzetzes, who says, that Proteus resided in the ^[626]Pharos: by which is signified, that he was the Deity of the place. He is represented in the Orphic poetry as the first-born of the world, the chief God of the sea, and at the same time a mighty ^[627]prophet.

The history then of Menelaus in Egypt, if such a person ever existed, amounts to this. In a state of uncertainty he applied to a temple near Canobus, which was sacred to Proteus. This was one title out of many, by which the chief Deity of the country was worshipped, and was equivalent to On, Orus, Osiris, and Canobus. From this place Menelaus obtained proper advice, by which he directed his voyage. Hence some say, that he had Φροντις, Phrontis, for his pilot. ^[628]Κυβερνητης αριστος Μενελαου ὁ Φροντις, ὑιος Ονητορος. Menelaus had an excellent pilot, one Phrontis, the son of Onetor. This, I think, confirms all that I have been saying: for what is Phrontis, but advice and experience? and what is Onetor, but the Pharos, from whence it was obtained? Onetor is the same as Torone, Τορωνη, only reversed. They were both temples of Proteus, the same as On, and Orus: both Φλεγραιαι, by which is meant temples of fire, or light-houses. Hence we may be pretty certain, that the three pilots, Canobus, Phrontis, Pharos, together with Onetor, were only poetical personages: and that the terms properly related to towers, and sanctuaries, which were of Egyptian original.

These places were courts of justice, where the priests seem to have practised a strict inquisition; and where pains and penalties were very severe. The notion of the Furies was taken from these temples: for the term Furia is from Ph'ur, ignis, and signifies a priest of fire. It was on account of the cruelties here practised, that most of the antient judges are represented as inexorable; and are therefore made judges in hell. Of what nature their department was esteemed may be learned from Virgil,

The temple at Phlegya in Bœotia was probably one of these courts; where justice was partially administered, and where great cruelties were exercised by the priests. Hence a person, named Phlegyas, is represented in the shades below, crying out in continual agony, and exhorting people to justice.

Excellent counsel, but introduced rather too late. Phlegyas was in reality the Sun; so denominated by the Æthiopes, or Cuthites, and esteemed the same as Mithras of Persis. They looked up to him as their great benefactor, and lawgiver: for they held their laws as of divine original. His worship was introduced among the natives of Greece by the Cuthites, styled Ethiopians, who came from Egypt. That this was the true history of Phlegyas we may be assured from Stephanus, and Phavorinus. They mention both Phlegyas, and Mithras, as men deified; and specify, that they were of Ethiopian original. ^[631]Μιθραν, και Φλεγυαν, ανδρας Αιθιοπας το γενος. Minos indeed is spoken of, as an upright judge: and the person alluded to under that character was eminently distinguished for his piety, and justice. But his priests were esteemed far otherwise, for they were guilty of great cruelties. Hence we find, that Minos was looked upon as a judge of hell, and styled Quæsitor Minos. He was in reality a Deity, the same as Menes, and Menon of Egypt: and as Manes of Lydia, Persis, and other countries. And though his history be not consistently exhibited, yet, so much light may be gained from the Cretans, as to certify us, that there was in their island a temple called Men-Tor, the tower of Men, or Menes. The Deity, from a particular ^[632]hieroglyphic, under which the natives worshipped him, was styled Minotaurus. To this temple the Athenians were obliged annually to send some of their prime youth to be sacrificed; just as the people of Carthage used to send their children to be victims at ^[633]Tyre. The Athenians were obliged for some time to pay this tribute, as appears from the festival in commemoration of their deliverance. The places most infamous for these customs were those, which were situated upon the seacoast: and especially those dangerous passes, where sailors were obliged to go on shore for assistance, to be directed in their way. Scylla upon the coast of Rhegium was one of these: and appears to have been particularly dreaded by mariners. Ulysses in Homer says, that he was afraid to mention her name to his companions, lest they should through astonishment have lost all sense of preservation.

Some suppose Scylla to have been a dangerous rock; and that it was abominated on account of the frequent shipwrecks. There was a rock of that name, but attended with no such peril. We are informed by Seneca, ^[635]Scyllam saxum esse, et quidem non terribile navigantibus. It was the temple, built of old upon that ^[636]eminence, and the customs which prevailed within, that made it so detested. This temple was a Petra: hence Scylla is by Homer styled Σκυλλη Πετραιη; and the dogs, with which she was supposed to have been surrounded, were Cahen, or priests.

As there was a Men-tor in Crete, so there was a place of the same name, only reversed, in Sicily, called Tor-men, and Tauromenium. There is reason to think, that the same cruel practices prevailed here. It stood in the country of the Lamiæ, Lestrygons, and Cyclopes, upon the river On-Baal, which the Greeks rendered Onoballus. From hence we may conclude, that it was one of the Cyclopian buildings. Homer has presented us with something of truth, though we receive it sadly mixed with fable. We find from him, that when Ulysses entered the dangerous pass of Rhegium, he had six of his comrades seized by Scylla: and he loses the same number in the cavern of the Cyclops, which that monster devoured. Silenus, in a passage before taken notice of, is by Euripides made to say, that the most agreeable repast to the Cyclops was the flesh of strangers: nobody came within his reach, that he did not feed upon.

From these accounts some have been led to think, that the priests in these temples really fed upon the flesh of the persons sacrificed: and that these stories at bottom allude to a shocking depravity; such, as one would hope, that human nature could not be brought to. Nothing can be more horrid, than the cruel process of the Cyclops, as it is represented by Homer. And though it be veiled under the shades of poetry, we may still learn the detestation, in which these places were held.

One would not be very forward to strengthen an imputation, which disgraces human nature: yet there must certainly have been something highly brutal and depraved in the character of this people, to have given rise to this description of foul and unnatural feeding. What must not be concealed, Euhemerus, an antient writer, who was a native of these parts, did aver, that this bestial practice once prevailed. Saturn's devouring his own children is supposed to allude to this custom. And we learn from this writer, as the passage has been transmitted by ^[640]Ennius, that not only Saturn, but Ops, and the rest of mankind in their days, used to feed upon human flesh.—^[641]Saturnum, et Opem, cæterosque tum homines humanam carnem solitos esitare. He speaks of Saturn, and Ops, as of persons, who once lived in the world, and were thus guilty. But the priests of their temples were the people to be really accused; the Cyclopians, Lamiæ, and Lestrygons, who officiated at their altars. He speaks of the custom, as well known: and it had undoubtedly been practised in those parts, where in aftertimes hie was born. For he was a native ^[642]of Zancle, and lived in the very country, of which we have been speaking, in the land of the Lestrygons, and Cyclopians. The promontory of Scylla was within his sight. He was therefore well qualified to give an account of these parts; and his evidence must necessarily have weight. Without doubt these cruel practices left lasting impressions; and the memorials were not effaced for ages.

It is said of Orpheus by Horace, Cædibus, et victu fœdo deterruit: by which one should be led to think, that the putting a stop to this unnatural gratification was owing to him. Others think, that he only discountenanced the eating of raw flesh, which before had been usual. But this could not be true of Orpheus: for it was a circumstance, which made one part of his institutes. If there were ever such a man, as Orpheus, he enjoined the very thing, which he is supposed to have prohibited. For both in the ^[643]orgies of Bacchus and in the rites of Ceres, as well as of other Deities, one part of the mysteries consisted in a ceremony styled ωμοφαγια; at which time they eat the flesh quite crude with the blood. In Crete at the ^[644]Dionusiaca they used to tear the flesh with their teeth from the animal, when alive. This they did in commemoration of Dionusus. ^[645]Festos funeris dies statuunt, et annuum sacrum trietericâ consecratione componunt, omnia per ordinem facientes, quæ puer moriens aut fecit, aut passus est. Vivum laniant dentibus Taurum, crudeles epulas annuis commemorationibus excitantes. Apollonius Rhodius speaking of persons like to Bacchanalians, represents them ^[646]Θυασιν ωμοβοροις ικελαι, as savage as the Thyades, who delighted in bloody banquets. Upon this the Scholiast observes, that the Mænadas, and Bacchæ, used to devour the raw limbs of animals, which they had cut or torn asunder. ^[647]Πολλακις τῃ μανιᾳ κατασχισθεντα, και ωμοσπαρακτα, εσθιουσιν. In the island of Chios it was a religious custom to tear a man limb from limb by way of sacrifice to Dionusus. The same obtained in Tenedos. It is Porphyry, who gives the account. He was a staunch Pagan, and his evidence on that account is of consequence. He quotes for the rites of Tenedos Euelpis the Carystian. ^[648]Εθυοντο δε και εν Χιω τῳ Ωμαδιῳ Διονυσῳ ανθρωπον διεσπωντες· και εν Τενεδῳ, φησιν Ευελπις ὁ Καρυστιος. From all which we may learn one sad truth, that there is scarce any thing so impious and unnatural, as not at times to have prevailed.

We need not then wonder at the character given of the Lestiygones, Lamiæ, and Cyclopians, who were inhabitants of Sicily, and lived nearly in the same part of the island. They seem to have been the priests, and priestesses, of the Leontini, who resided at Pelorus, and in the Cyclopian towers: on which account the Lamiæ are by Lucilius termed ^[649]Turricolæ. They are supposed to have delighted in human blood, like the Cyclopians, but with this difference, that their chief repast was the flesh of young persons and children; of which they are represented as very greedy. They were priests of Ham, called El Ham; from whence was formed ’Lamus and ’Lamia. Their chief city, the same probably, which was named Tauromenium, is mentioned by Homer, as the city of Lamus.

And the inhabitants are represented as of the giant race.

Many give an account of the Lestrygons, and Lamiæ, upon the Liris in Italy; and also upon other parts of that coast: and some of them did settle there. But they were more particularly to be found in ^[652]Sicily near Leontium, as the Scholiast upon Lycophron observes. ^[653]Λαιστρυγονες, ὁι νυν Λεοντινοι. The antient Lestrygons were the people, whose posterity are now called Leontini. The same writer takes notice of their incivility to strangers: ^[654]Ουκ ησαν ειθισμενοι ξενους ὑποδεχεσθαι. That they were Amonians, and came originally from Babylonia, is pretty evident from the history of the Erythrean Sibyl; who was no other than a Lamian priestess. She is said to have been the daughter of Lamia, who was the daughter of Poseidon. ^[655]Σιβυλλαν—Λαμιας ουσαν θυγατερα του Ποσειδωνος. Under the character of one person is to be understood a priesthood: of which community each man was called Lamus, and each priestess Lamia. By the Sibyl being the daughter of Lamia, the daughter of Poseidon, is meant, that she was of Lamian original, and ultimately descended from the great Deity of the sea. Who is alluded to under that character, will hereafter be shewn. The countries, to which the Sibyl is referred, point out her extraction: for she is said to have come from Egypt, and Babylonia. ^[656]Ὁι δε αυτην Βαβυλωνιαν, ἑτεροι δε Σιβυλλαν καλουσιν Αιγυπτιαν. If the Sibyl came from Babylonia and Egypt, her supposed parent, Lamia, must have been of the same original.

The Lamiæ were not only to be found in Italy, and Sicily, but Greece, Pontus, and ^[657]Libya. And however widely they may have been separated, they are still represented in the same unfavourable light. Euripides says, that their very name was detestable.

Philostratus speaks of their bestial appetite, and unnatural gluttony. ^[659]Λαμιας σαρκων, και μαλιστα ανθρωπειων ερᾳν. And Aristotle alludes to practices still more shocking: as if they tore open the bodies big with child, that they might get at the infant to devour it. I speak, says he, of people, who have brutal appetites. ^[660]Λεγω δε τας θηριωδεις, ὁιον την ανθρωπον, την λεγουσι τας κυουσας ανασχιζουσαν τα παιδια κατεσθεειν. These descriptions are perhaps carried to a great excess; yet the history was founded in truth: and shews plainly what fearful impressions were left upon the minds of men from the barbarity of the first ages.

One of the principal places in Italy, where the Lamia seated themselves, was about Formiæ; of which Horace takes notice in his Ode to Ælius Lamia.

The chief temple of the Formians was upon the sea-coast at Caiete. It is said to have had its name from a woman, who died here: and whom some make the nurse of Æneas, others of Ascanius, others still of ^[662]Creusa. The truth is this: it stood near a cavern, sacred to the God Ait, called Ate, Atis, and Attis; and it was hence called Caieta, and Caiatta. Strabo says, that it was denominated from a cave, though he did not know the precise ^[663]etymology. There were also in the rock some wonderful subterranes, which branched out into various apartments. Here the antient Lamii, the priests of Ham, ^[664]resided: whence Silius Italicus, when he speaks of the place, styles it ^[665]Regnata Lamo Caieta. They undoubtedly sacrificed children here; and probably the same custom was common among the Lamii, as prevailed among the Lacedæmonians, who used to whip their children round the altar of Diana Orthia. Thus much we are assured by Fulgentius, and others, that the usual term among the antient Latines for the whipping of children was Caiatio. ^[666]Apud Antiquos Caiatio dicebatur puerilis cædes.

The coast of Campania seems to have been equally infamous: and as much dreaded by mariners, as that of Rhegium, and Sicily. Here the Sirens inhabited, who are represented, as the bane of all, who navigated those seas. They like the Lamii were Cuthite, and Canaanitish priests, who had founded temples in these parts; and particularly near three small islands, to which they gave name. These temples were rendered more than ordinary famous on account of the women, who officiated. They were much addicted to the cruel rites, of which I have been speaking; so that the shores, upon which they resided, are described, as covered with the bones of men, destroyed by their artifice.

They used hymns in their temples, accompanied with the music of their country: which must have been very enchanting, as we may judge from the traditions handed down of its efficacy. I have mentioned, that the songs of the Canaanites and Cretans were particularly plaintive, and pleasing:

But nothing can shew more fully the power of antient harmony than the character given of the Sirens. Their cruelty the antients held in detestation; yet always speak feelingly of their music. They represent their songs as so fatally winning, that nobody could withstand their sweetness. All were soothed with it; though their life was the purchase of the gratification. The Scholiast upon Lycophron makes them the children of the muse ^[669]Terpsichore. Nicander supposes their mother to have been Melpomene: others make her Calliope. The whole of this is merely an allegory; and means only that they were the daughters of harmony. Their efficacy is mentioned by ^[670]Apollonius Rhodius: and by the Author of the Orphic ^[671]Argonautica: but the account given by Homer is by far the most affecting.

They are the words of Circe to Ulysses, giving him an account of the dangers which he was to encounter.

The story at bottom relates to the people above-mentioned; who with their music used to entice strangers into the purlieus of their temples, and then put them to death. Nor was it music only, with which persons were seduced to follow them. The female part of their choirs were maintained for a twofold purpose, both on account of their voices and their beauty. They were accordingly very liberal of their favours, and by these means enticed seafaring persons, who paid dearly for their entertainment. Scylla was a personage of this sort: and among the fragments of Callimachus we have a short, but a most perfect, description of her character.

Κατακασα is by some interpreted malefica: upon which the learned Hemsterhusius remarks very justly—κατακασα cur Latine vertatur malefica non video. Si Grammaticis obtemperes, meretricem interpretabere: erat enim revera Νησιωτις καλη ἑταιρα, ut Heraclitus περι απις: c. 2. Scylla then, under which character we are here to understand the chief priestess of the place, was no other than a handsome island strumpet. Her name it seems betokened as much, and she did not belie it: ου ψυθος ουνομ' εχουσα. We may from these data decipher the history of Scylla, as given by Tzetzes. Ην δε πρωτον Σκυλλα γυνη ευπρεπης· Ποσειδωνι δε συνουσα απεθηριωθη. Scylla was originally a handsome wench: but being too free with seafaring people she made herself a beast. She was, like the Sibyl of Campania, said by Stesichorus to have been the daughter of ^[675]Lamia. Hence we may learn, that all, who resided in the places, which I have been describing, were of the same religion, and of the same family; being the descendants of Ham, and chiefly by the collateral branches of Chus, and Canaan.

The like rites prevailed in Cyprus, which had in great measure been peopled by persons of these ^[676]families. One of their principal cities was Curium, which was denominated from ^[677]Curos, the Sun, the Deity, to whom it was sacred. In the perilous voyages of the antients nothing was more common than for strangers, whether shipwrecked, or otherwise distressed, to fly to the altar of the chief Deity, Θεου φιλιου, και ξενιου, the God of charity and hospitality, for his protection. This was fatal to those who were driven upon the western coast of Cyprus. The natives of Curium made it a rule to destroy all such, under an appearance of a religious rite. Whoever laid their hands upon the altar of Apollo, were cast down the precipice, upon which it stood. ^[678]Ευθυς εστιν ακρα, αφ' ἡς ῥιπτουσι τους ἁψαμενους του βωμου του Απολλωνος. Strabo speaks of the practice, as if it subsisted in his time. A like custom prevailed at the Tauric Chersonesus, as we are informed by Herodotus. ^[679]Θυουσι μεν τῃ Παρθενῳ τους τε ναυηγους, και τους αν λαβωσι Ἑλληνων επαναχθεντας, τροπῳ τοιῳδε. Καταρξαμενοι ῥοπαλῳ παιουσι την κεφαλην. Ὁι μεν δη λεγουσι, ὡς το σωμα απο του κρημνου διωθεουσι κατω· επι γαρ κρημνου ἱδρυται το Ἱρον. κτλ. The people of this place worship the virgin Goddess Artemis: at whose shrine they sacrifice all persons, who have the misfortune to be shipwrecked upon their coast: and all the Grecians, that they can lay hold of, when they are at any time thither driven. All these they without any ceremony brain with a club. Though others say, that they shove them off headlong from a high precipice: for their temple is founded upon a cliff.

The den of Cacus was properly Ca-Chus, the cavern or temple of Chus, out of which the poets, and later historians have formed a strange personage, whom they represent as a shepherd, and the son of Vulcan. Many antient Divinities, whose rites and history had any relation to Ur in Chaldea, are said to have been the children of Vulcan; and oftentimes to have been born in fire. There certainly stood a temple of old upon the Aventine mountain in Latium, which was the terror of the neighbourhood. The cruelties of the priests, and their continual depredations, may be inferred from the history of Cacus. Virgil makes Evander describe the place to Æneas; though it is supposed in his time to have been in ruins.

Livy mentions Cacus as a shepherd, and a person of great strength, and violence. ^[681]Pastor, accola ejus loci, Cacus, ferox viribus. He is mentioned also by Plutarch, who styles him Caccus, Κακκος. ^[682]Τον μεν γαρ Ἡφαιστου παιδα Ρωμαιοι Κακκον ἱστορουσι πυρ και φλογας αφιεναι δια του στοματος εξω ῥεουσας. As there were both priests, and priestesses, in temples of this sort, persons styled both Lami, and Lamiæ; so we read both of a Cacus, and a Caca. The latter was supposed to have been a Goddess, who was made a Deity for having betrayed her brother to Hercules. ^[683]Colitur et Caca, quæ Herculi fecit indicium boum; divinitatem consecuta, quia perdidit fratrem. In short, under the characters of Caca, and Cacus, we have a history of Cacusian priests, who seem to have been a set of people devoted to rapine and murder.

What we express Cocytus, and suppose to have been merely a river, was originally a temple in Egypt called Co-Cutus: for rivers were generally denominated from some town, or temple, near which they ran. Co-Cutus means the Cuthite temple, the house of Cuth. It was certainly a place of inquisition, where great cruelties were exercised. Hence the river, which was denominated from it, was esteemed a river of hell; and was supposed to have continual cries, and lamentations resounding upon its waters.

Milton supposes the river to have been named from the Greek word κωκυτος: but the reverse is the truth. From the baleful river and temple Co-cutus came the Greek terms κωκυτος, and κωκυω. Acheron, another infernal river, was properly a temple of Achor, the θεος απομυιος of Egypt, Palestine, and Cyrene. It was a temple of the Sun, called Achor-On: and it gave name to the river, on whose banks it stood. Hence like Cocutus it was looked upon as a melancholy stream, and by the Poet Theocritus styled ^[685]Αχεροντα πολυστονον, the river of lamentations. Aristophanes speaks of an eminence of this name, and calls it ^[686]Αχεροντιος σκοπελος ἁιματοσταγης, the rock of Acheron, dropping blood.

One of the most antient Deities of the Amonians was named Meed, or Meet; by which was signified divine wisdom. It was rendered by the Grecians Μητις in the masculine: but seems to have been a feminine Deity; and represented under the symbol of a beautiful female countenance surrounded with serpents. The author of the Orphic Poetry makes Metis the origin of all ^[687]things: which Proclus expresses ^[688]την δημιουργικην αιτιαν: and supposes this personage to be the same as Phanes, and Dionusus, from whom all things proceeded. By Timotheus Chronographus, in his account of the creation, this divinity was described as that vivifying light, which first broke forth upon the infant world, and produced life and motion. His notion is said to have been borrowed from Orpheus: Εφρασε δε (ὁ ^[689] Ορφευς) ὁτι το φως ῥηξαν τον αιθερα εφωτισε πασαν την κτισιν· ειπων, εκεινο ειναι το φως το ῥηξαν τον αιθερα το προειρημενον, το ὑπερτατον παντων, ὁυ ονομα ὁ αυτος Ορφευς ακουσας εκ Μαντειας εξειπε ΜΗΤΙΣ, ὁπερ ἑρμηνευεται ΒΟΥΛΗ, ΦΩΣ, ΖΩΟΔΟΤΗΡ. Ειπεν εν τῃ αυτου εκθεσει ταυτας τας τρεις θειας των ονοματων δυναμεις μιαν ειναι δυναμιν, και ἑν κρατος τουτων Θεον, ὁν ουδεις ὁρᾳ. The account is remarkable. Hippa was another Goddess, of the like antiquity, and equally obsolete. Some traces however are to be still found in the Orphic verses above-mentioned, by which we may discover her original character and department. She is there represented as the nurse of ^[690]Dionusus, and seems to have been the same as Cybele, who was worshipped in the mountains of ^[691]Phrygia, and by the Lydians upon Tmolus. She is said to have been the soul of the ^[692]world: and the person who received and fostered Dionusus, when he came from the thigh of his father. This history relates to his second birth, when he returned to a second state of childhood. Dionusus was the chief God of the Gentile world, and worshipped under various titles; which at length came to be looked upon as different Deities. Most of these secondary Divinities had the title of Hippius, and Hippia: and as they had female attendants in their temples, these too had the name of Hippai. What may have been the original of the term Hippa, and Hippus, will be matter of future disquisition. Thus much is certain, that the Greeks, who were but little acquainted with the purport of their antient theology, uniformly referred it to ^[693]horses. Hence it was often prefixed to the names of Gods, and of Goddesses, when it had no relation to their department; and seemed inconsistent with their character. We have not only an account of Αρης Ἱππιος, Mars the horseman; but of Poseidon Hippius, though a God of the sea. He is accordingly complimented upon this title by the Poet Aristophanes.

Ceres had the title of Hippia: and the Goddess of wisdom, Minerva, had the same. We read also of Juno Hippia, who at Olympia partook of joint rites and worship, with those equestrian Deities Neptune, and Mars. Pausanias mentions ^[695]Ποσειδωνος Ἱππιου, μαι Ἡρας Ἱππιου βωμοι: and hard-by τῃ μεν Αρεως Ἱππιου, τῃ δε Αθηνας Ἱππιου βωμος. In Arcadia, and Elis, the most antient rites were preserved: and the Grecians might have known, that the terms Hippa and Hippia were of foreign purport from the other titles given to Juno at Olympia. For they sacrificed here to ^[696]Amonian Juno, and to Juno Paramonian; which were also titles of Hermes. Hippa was a sacred Egyptian term, and as such was conferred upon Arsinoë, the wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus: for the princes of Egypt always assumed to themselves sacred appellations. ^[697]Ἱππια Αρσινοη, ἡ του Φιλαδελφου γυνη. As the Grecians did not inquire into the hidden purport of antient names, they have continually misrepresented the histories of which they treated. As Ceres was styled Hippa, they have imagined her to have been turned into a ^[698]mare: and Hippius Poseidon was in like manner changed to a horse, and supposed in that shape to have had an intimate acquaintance with the Goddess. Of this Ovid takes notice.

The like is mentioned of the nymph ^[700]Ocuroë: also of Philyra, who was so changed by Saturn. He is said to have taken upon himself the same shape, and to have followed her neighing over the mountains of Thessaly.

All these legendary stories arose from this antient term being obsolete, and misapplied. Homer makes mention of the mares of Apollo, which the God was supposed to have bred in Pieria:

And he has accordingly put them in harness, and given them to the hero Eumelus. Callimachus takes notice of the same mares in his hymn to the Shepherd God Apollo.

These Hippai, misconstrued mares, were priestesses of the Goddess Hippa, who was of old worshipped in Thessaly, and Thrace, and in many different regions. They chanted hymns in her temples, and performed the rites of fire: but the worship growing obsolete, the very terms were at last mistaken. How far this worship once prevailed may be known from the many places denominated from Hippa. It was a title of Apollo, or the Sun, and often compounded Hippa On, and contracted Hippon: of which name places occur in Africa near Carthage^[704]. Ἡτε δη Κιρτα πολις ενταυθα και ὁι δυο Ἱππωνες. Argos was of old called Hippeion; not from the animal Ἱππος, but ^[705]απο Ἱππης του Δαναου, from Hippa the daughter of Danaus. That is from a priestess, who founded there a temple, and introduced the rites of the Goddess whom she served. As it was a title of the Sun, it was sometimes expressed in the masculine gender Hippos: and Pausanias takes notice of a most curious, and remarkable piece of antiquity, though he almost ruins the purport of it by referring it to an horse. It stood near mount Taygetus in Laconia, and was called the monument of Hippos. The author tells us, ^[706]that at particular intervals from this monument stood seven pillars, κατα τροπον οιμαι αρχαιον, placed, says he, as I imagine, according to some antient rule and method; which pillars were supposed to represent the seven planets. If then these exterior stones related to the ^[707]seven erratic bodies in our sphere, the central monument of Hippos must necessarily have been designed for the Sun. And however rude the whole may possibly have appeared, it is the most antient representation upon record, and consequently the most curious, of the planetary system.

It is from hence, I think, manifest, that the titles Hippa, and Hippos, related to the luminary Osiris; and betokened some particular department of that Deity, who was the same as Dionusus. He was undoubtedly worshipped under this appellation in various regions: hence we read of Hippici Montes in Colchis: Ἱππου κωμη in Lycia: Ἱππου ακρα in Libya: Ἱππου ορος in Egypt: and a town Hippos in Arabia Felix. There occur also in composition^[708], Hippon, Hipporum, Hippouris, Hippana, Hipponesus, Hippocrene. This last was a sacred fountain, denominated from the God of light, who was the patron of verse, and science: but by the Greeks it was referred to an animal, and supposed to have been produced by the hoof of an horse. The rites of Dionusus Hippius were carried into Thrace, where the horses of Diomedes were said to have been fed with human flesh. Deianira is introduced by Ovid, as asking Hercules, if he did not well remember this practice.

Abderus, the founder of Abdera, is supposed to have been a victim to these animals: of which Scymnus Chius gives the following account.

These horses, ξενοκτονοι, which fed upon the flesh of strangers, were the priests of Hippa, and of Dionusus, styled Hippus, or more properly Hippius. They seem to have resided in an island, and probably in the Thracian Chersonese: which they denominated ^[711]Diu-Medes, or the island of the Egyptian Deity Medes. From hence the Grecian Poets have formed a personage Diomedes, whom they have made king of the country. There were opposite to Apulia islands of the same name, where similar rites prevailed. The priests were here Cycneans, and described as a species of swans, who were kind to people of their own race, but cruel to ^[712]strangers. A Diomedes is supposed to have been a king in these parts, and to have given name to these islands. It is said by Scymnus Chios above, that Abderus, who was devoured by the horses of Diomedes in Thrace, built the city, which bore his name. The Grecians continually supposed the personage, in whose honour a city was built, to have been the founder. I have mentioned, that Abderus signifies the place of Abdir, which is a contraction of Abadir, the serpent Deity Ad-Ur, or Adorus. And it is plain from many passages in antient writers, that human sacrifices were common at his shrine; and particularly those of infants. By Abdera being a victim to the horses of Diomedes is meant that the natives of that place, which stood in the vicinity of the Chersonesus, were obliged to submit to the cruel rites of the Diomedean ^[713]priests. The very name must have come from them; for they worshipped the Deity under the titles of Meed, Hippa, and Abadir; and various other appellations.

There is an account given by ^[714]Palæphatus of one Metra, who in the more authentic manuscripts is called Μηστρα, Meestra. It is said of her, that she could change herself into various forms, particularly εκ κορης γενεσθαι βουν, και αυθις κυνα, και ορνεον, that she would instead of a young woman appear an ox, or a cow; or else be in the shape of a dog, or of a bird. She is represented as the daughter of Eresicthon: and these uncommon properties are mentioned by Ovid^[715], who sets them off with much embellishment. The story at bottom is very plain. Egypt, the land of the Mizraim, was by the Greeks often styled ^[716]Mestra and ^[717]Mestraia: and by the person here called Mestra we are certainly to understand a woman of that country. She was sometimes mentioned simply as a Cahen, or priestess, which the Grecians have rendered κυνα, a dog. Women in this sacred capacity attended at the shrine of Apis, and Mneuis; and of the sacred heifer at Onuphis. Some of them in different countries were styled Cygneans, and also Peleiadæ, of whom the principal were the women at ^[718]Dodona. Many of them were priestesses of Hippa, and upon that account styled Hippai, as I have shewn. Hence the mythologists under the character of Meestra have represented an Egyptian priestess, who could assume many departments, which were misconstrued different shapes. She could become, if we may credit Ovid,

or according to Palæphatus, βουν, κυνα, και ορνεον: a cow, a dog, and a bird. The whole of this related to the particular service of the priestess; and to the emblem under which the Deity was worshipped.

I shall now proceed to the rites of Ceres: and the general character of this Goddess is so innocent, and rural, that one would imagine nothing cruel could proceed from her shrine. But there was a time, when some of her temples were as much dreaded, as those of Scylla, and the Cyclops. They were courts of justice; whence she is often spoken of as a lawgiver.

She is joined by Cicero with Libera, and they are styled the Deities, ^[720]a quibus initia vitæ, atque victus, legum, morum, mansuetudinis, humanitatis, exempla hominibus, et civitatibus data, ac dispertita esse dicantur. The Deity, to whom she was a substitute, was El, the Sun. He was primarily worshipped in these temples: and I have shewn, that they were from Achor denominated Acherontian; also temples of Ops, and Oupis, the great serpent God. Hence it is said by Hesychius, that Acheron, and Ops, and Helle, and ^[721]Gerys, and Terra, and Demeter, were the same. Ἡ ^[722]Αχερω, και Ωπις, και Ἑλλη, και Γηρυς, και Γη, και Δημητηρ, ^[723]το αυτο. Ceres was the Deity of fire: hence at Cnidus she was called Κυρα, ^[724]Cura, a title of the Sun. Her Roman name Ceres, expressed by Hesychius Gerys, was by the Dorians more properly rendered ^[725]Garys. It was originally a name of a city, called Χαρις: for many of the Deities were erroneously called by the names of the places where they were worshipped. Charis is Char-Is, the ^[726]city of fire; the place where Orus and Hephastus were worshipped. Hence as a personage she is made the wife of ^[727]Vulcan, on account of her relation to fire. Her title of Damater was equally foreign to Greece; and came from Babylonia, and the east. It may after this seem extraordinary, that she should ever be esteemed the Goddess of corn. This notion arose in part from the Grecians not understanding their own theology: which bad originally, became continually more depraved, through their ignorance. The towers of Ceres were P'urtain, or Πρυτανεια; so called from the fires, which were perpetually there preserved. The Grecians interpreted this πυρου ταμειον; and rendered, what was a temple of Orus, a granary of corn. In consequence of this, though they did not abolish the antient usage of the place, they made it a repository of grain, from whence they gave largesses to the people upon any act of merit. ^[728]Τοπος ην παρ' Αθηναιοις, εν ᾡ κοιναι σιτησεις τοις δημοσιοις ευεργεταις εδιδοντο· ὁθεν και Πρυτανειον εκαλειτο, ὁιονει πυροταμειον· πυρος γαρ ὁ σιτος· In early times the corn there deposited seems to have been for the priests and ^[729]diviners. But this was only a secondary use, to which these places were adapted. They were properly sacred towers, where a perpetual fire was preserved. Pausanias takes notice of such a one in Arcadia. ^[730]Δημητρος, και Κορης ἱερον, πυρ δε ενταυθα καιουσι, ποιουμενοι φροντιδα, μη λαθῃ σφισιν αποσβεσθεν. He mentions a like circumstance at the Prutaneion in Elis^[731]: Εστι δε ᾑ Ἑστια τεφρας και αυτη πεποιημενη, και επ' αυτης πυρ ανα πασαν τε ἡμεραν, και εν πασῃ νυκτι ὡσαυτως καιεται. Attica at first was divided into separate and independent hamlets: each of which had its own Prutaneion, and Archon. These Archons were priests of the ^[732]Prutaneia; and were denominated from their office. Archon is the same as Orchon, and like Chon-Or signifies the God of light, and fire; from which title the priests had their name. In Babylonia, and Chaldea, they were called Urchani.

As in these temples there was always a ^[733]light, and a fire burning on the hearth, some of the Grecians have varied in their etymology, and have derived the name from πυρ, Pur. Suidas supposes it to have been originally called Πυρος ταμειον. ^[734]Πρυτανειον, πυρος ταμειον, ενθα ην ασβεστον πυρ. The Scholiast upon Thucydides speaks to the same purpose. ^[735]Αλλοι δε φασιν, ὁτι το Πρυτανειον πυρος ην ταμειον, ενθα ην ασβεστον πυρ. Others tell us, that the Prutaneion was of old called Puros Tameion, from πυρ, pur: because it was the repository of a perpetual fire. It was sacred to Hestia, the Vesta of the Romans; which was only another title for Damater: and the sacred hearth had the same name. ^[736]Ἑστιαν δ' αν κυριωτατα καλοιης την εν Πρυτανειῳ, εφ' ἡς το πυρ το ασβεστον αναπτεται. I have mentioned, that these places were temples, and at the same time courts of justice: hence we find, that in the Prutaneion at Athens, the laws of Solon were ^[737]engraved. These laws were described upon wooden cylinders: some of which remained to the time of ^[738]Plutarch.

Many of these temples were dedicated to the Deity under the name of Persephone, or Proserpine, the supposed daughter of Ceres. They were in reality the same personage. Persephone was styled Κορα, Cora; which the Greeks misinterpreted Παρθενος, the virgin, or damsel. How could a person, who according to the received accounts had been ravished by Pluto, and been his consort for ages; who was the reputed queen of hell, be styled by way of eminence Παρθενος? Κορα, Cora, which they understood was the same as Cura, a feminine title of the sun: by which Ceres also was called at Cnidos. However mild and gentle Proserpine may have been represented in her virgin state by the Poets; yet her tribunal seems in many places to have been very formidable. In consequence of this we find her with Minos, and Rhadamanthus, condemned to the shades below, as an infernal inquisitor. Nonnus says,

^[739]Περσεφονη θωρηξεν Εριννυας.

Proserpine armed the furies. The notion of which Furies arose from the cruelties practised in these Prutaneia. They were called by the Latines, Furiæ; and were originally only priests of fire: but were at last ranked among the hellish tormentors. Ceres the benefactress, and lawgiver, was sometimes enrolled in the list of these dæmons. This is manifest from a passage in Antimachus, quoted by Pausanias, where her temple is spoken of as the shrine of a Fury.

^[740]Δημητρος, τοθι φασιν Εριννυος ειναι εδεθλον.

The like is mentioned by the Scholiast upon Lycophron, ^[741]Εριννυς ἡ Δημητηρ εν Ογκαις πολει της Αρκαδιας τιμᾳται. Her temple stood upon the river Ladon, and she had this name given to her by the people of the place. Καλουσι δε Εριννυν ὁι Θελπουσιοι την Θεον. The Thelpusians call the Goddess Demeter a Fury. Herodotus speaks of a Prutaneion in Achaia Pthiotic, called Leïtus; of which he gives a fearful account. No person, he says, ever entered the precincts, who returned. Whatever person ever strayed that way, was immediately seized upon by the priests, and sacrificed. The custom so far prevailed, that many, who thought they were liable to suffer, fled away to foreign parts. And he adds, that after a long time, when any of them ventured to return, if they were caught, they were immediately led to the Prutaneion. Here they were crowned with garlands. and in great parade conducted to the altar. I shall quote the author's words. ^[742]Ληιτον δε καλεουσι το Πρυτανηιον ὁι Αχαιοι· ην δε εσελθῃ, ουκ εστι, ὁκως εξεισι, πριν η θυσεσθαι μελλῃ· ὡστε τι προς τουτοισι πολλοι ηδε των μελλοντων τουτεων θυσεσθαι, δεισαντες οιχοντο αποδραντες ες αλλην χωρην. Χρονου δε προϊοντος, οπισω κατελθοντες, ην αλισκωνται, εστελλοντο ες το Πρυτανηιον, ὡς θυεται τε εξηγεοντο, στεμμασι πας πυκασθεις, και ὡς συν πομπῃ εξαχθεις. The people of Leïtus are said to have been the sons of Cutissorus. Herodotus speaks of the temple, as remaining in his time: and of the custom still subsisting. He farther mentions, that when Xerxes was informed of the history of this place, as he passed through Thessaly, he withheld himself from being guilty of any violation. And he moreover ordered his army to pay due regard to its sanctity; so very awful, it seems, was mysterious cruelty.

I imagine, that the story of the Harpies relates to priests of the Sun. They were denominated from their seat of residence, which was an oracular temple called Harpi, and Hirpi, analogous to Orphi, and Urphi in other places. I have shewn, that the antient name of a priest was Cahen, rendered mistakenly κυν, and canis. Hence the Harpies, who were priests of Ur, are styled by Apollonius, the Dogs of Jove. His accosting Calais, and Zethus, tells them, that it would be a profanation to offer any injury to those personages.

This term in the common acceptation is not applicable to the Harpies, either as birds, for so they are represented; or as winged animals. But this representation was only the insigne of the people, as the vulture, and eagle were of the Egyptians: a lion of the Persians. The Harpies were certainly a ^[744]college of priests in Bithynia; and on that account called Cahen. They seem to have been a set of rapacious persons, who, for their repeated acts of violence, and cruelty, were driven out of the country. Their temple was styled Arpi; and the environs Arpi-ai: hence the Grecians formed ^[745]Ἁρπυιαι. There was a region in Apulia named Arpi; and in its neighbourhood were the islands of Diomedes, and the birds, which were fabled to have been like swans. I have before shewn, that they were Amonian priests: so likewise were the Hirpi near Soracte in Latium. They were priests of fire: of whose customs I have taken notice.

The persons who resided in these temples are represented as persons of great strength and stature: for many of them were of the race of Anac. There is reason to think, that a custom prevailed in these places of making strangers engage in fight with some of the priests trained up for that purpose. The manner of contention was either with the cæstus, or by wrestling. And as the priest appointed for the trial was pretty sure of coming off the conqueror, the whole was looked upon as a more specious kind of sacrifice. Amycus, who was king of Bithynia, is represented as of a ^[746]gigantic size, and a great proficient with the cæstus. He was in consequence of it the terror of all strangers who came upon the coast. Cercyon of ^[747]Megara was equally famed for wrestling; by which art he slew many, whom he forced to the unequal contention. But Cercyon was the name of the ^[748]place; and they were the Cercyonians, the priests of the temple, who were noted for these achievements. Pausanias gives an account of them under the character of one person. ^[749]Ειναι δε ὁ Κερκυων λεγεται και τα αλλα αδικος εις τους ξενους, και παλαιειν ου βουλομενοις. Cercyon was in other respects lawless in his behaviour towards strangers; but especially towards those who would not contend with him in wrestling. These Cercyonians were undoubtedly priests of Ceres, or Damater: who seems to have been tired of their service, and glad to get rid of them, as we are informed by the poet.

Before most temples of old were areas, which were designed for Gumnasia, where these feats of exercise were performed. Lucian speaks of one before the temple of ^[751]Apollo Lucius. And Pausanias mentions that particular ^[752]parade, where Cercyon was supposed to have exhibited his art. It stood before the tomb of Alope, and was called the Palæstra of Cercyon even in the time of this writer, who takes notice of many others. He styles it ταφος Αλοπης, as if it were a tomb. But it was a Taph, or high altar, sacred to Al-Ope, Sol Pytho, who was the Deity of the place called Cer-Cuon. Before this altar was the palæstra; where the Cercyonian priests obliged people to contend with them. I have taken notice of a Pharos at ^[753]Torone, which Proteus is said to have quitted, that he might not be witness to the cruelties of his sons. He fled, it seems, to Egypt, Τεκνων αλυξας τας ξενοκτονας παλας, to shun their wicked practices: for they were so skilled in the Palæstric art, that they slew all strangers whom they forced to engage with them. Taurus, called Minotaurus, was a temple in Crete: but by the Grecians is spoken of as a person. Under this character Taurus is represented as a ^[754]renowned wrestler, and many persons are said to have been sent from Athens to be victims to his prowess. Eusebius styles him, ^[755]ωμος και ανημερος, a man of a cruel and sour disposition. After he had done much mischief, Theseus at length Ταυρον κατεπαλαισε, foiled him in his own art, and slew him. He is supposed to have done the like by Cercyon. ^[756]Λεγεται δε ὁ Κερκυων τους διασταντας παντας ες παλην ^[757]διαφθειραι πλην Θησεως. For it is said of Cercyon, that he slew every person who ventured to cope with him in wrestling, except Theseus. In all these instances the place is put for the persons who resided in it: of which mistake I have been obliged often to take notice.

Antient history affords numberless instances of this ungenerous and cruel practice. The stranger, who stood most in need of courtesy, was treated as a profest enemy: and the rites of hospitality were evaded under the undue sanction of a sacrifice to the Gods. In the history of Busiris we have an account of this custom prevailing in Egypt. ^[758]Βουσιριν δε κατα την Αιγυπτον τῳ Διι καλλιερειν σφαγιαζοντα τους παρεπιδημουντας ΞΕΝΟΥΣ. It is said of Busiris, that he used to offer to Jupiter, as the most acceptable sacrifice, all the strangers, whom chance brought into his country. There was a tradition concerning Antæus, that he covered the roof of a temple, sacred to Poseidon, with the sculls of foreigners, whom he forced to engage with him. The manner of the engagement was by ^[759]wrestling. Eryx in Sicily was a proficient in this art, and did much mischief to strangers: till he was in his turn slain. The Deity was the same in these parts, as was alluded to under the name of Taurus, and Minotaurus, in Crete; and the rites were the same. Hence Lycophron speaks of Eryx by the name of Taurus; and calls the place of exercise before the temple,

This the Scholiast interprets παλαιστραν του Ερυκος του ξενοκτονου, The Gymnasium of Eryx, who used to murder strangers. Androgeos the son of Minos came to the ^[761]like end, who had been superior to every body in this art. Euripides styles the hero Cycnus ^[762]ξενοδαικταν, on account of his cruelty to strangers. He resided it seems near the sea-coast; used to oblige every person, who travelled that way, or whom ill fortune brought on shore to contend with him. And his ambition was to be able with the skulls of the victims, which he slew, to build a temple to Apollo. ^[763]Κακοξενος ὁ Κυκνος, και εν παροδῳ της θαλασσης οικων, επεκερτομει τους παριοντας, ναον τῳ Απολλωνι βουλομενος εκ των κεφαλων οικοδομησαι. Mention is made of Lycaon, qui advenas et hospites trucidavit. He is said to have founded the temple of Jupiter ^[764]Lycæus, and to have first introduced human sacrifices, particularly those of infants. Λυκαων δε επι τον βωμον τον ^[765]Λυκαιου Διος βρεφος ηνεγκεν ανθρωπου, και εθυσε το βρεφος, και εσπεισεν επι του βωμου το ἁιμα. Lycaon was the person, who brought an infant, the offspring of a man, to the altar of Zeus Lucaios: and he slew the infant, and he sprinkled the altar with the blood which issued from it. Antinous in Homer threatens to send Irus to one Echetus, a king in Epirus, who was the dread of that country. The same threat is uttered against ^[766]Ulysses, if he should presume to bend the bow, which Penelope had laid before the suitors. Under the character of Lycaon, Cycnus, &c. we are to understand Lycaonian and Cycnean priests; which latter were from Canaan: and this method of interpretation is to be observed all through these histories. Echetus, Εχετος, was a title of Apollo, rendered more commonly ^[767]Ἑκατος by the Greeks, as if it came from the word ἑκας. It was an Amonian title by which Orus, and Osiris, were called: and this king Echetus was a priest of that family, who was named from the Deity, whom he served. The Poet styles him βροτων δηλημονα, from his cruelty to strangers.

When the Spaniards got access to the western world, there were to be observed many rites, and many terms, similar to those, which were so common among the sons of Ham. Among others was this particular custom of making the person, who was designed for a victim, engage in fight with a priest of the temple. In this manner he was slaughtered: and this procedure was esteemed a proper method of ^[769]sacrifice.

The histories of which I have been speaking were founded in truth, though the personages are not real. Such customs did prevail in the first ages: and in consequence of these customs we find those beggarly attributes of wrestling and boxing conferred upon some of the chief Divinities. Hercules and Pollux were of that number, who were as imaginary beings, as any mentioned above: yet represented upon earth as sturdy fellows, who righted some, and ^[770]wronged many. They were in short a kind of honourable Banditti, who would suffer nobody to do any mischief, but themselves. From these customs were derived the Isthmian, Nemean, Pythic, and Olympic games, together with those at Delos. Of these last Homer gives a fine description in his Hymn to Apollo.

These contentions had always in them something cruel, and savage: but in later times they were conducted with an appearance of equity. Of old the whole ceremony was a most unfair and barbarous process.

Another name for those Amonian temples was Campi, of the same analogy, and nearly of the same purport, as Arpi above-mentioned. It was in after times made to signify the parade before the temples, where they wrestled, and otherwise celebrated their sacred games; and was expressed Campus. When chariots came in fashion, these too were admitted within the precincts; and races of this sort introduced. Among the Latines the word Campus came to mean any open and level space; but among the Sicilians the true meaning was in some degree preserved. Καμπος—Ιπποδρομος, Σικυλοι. Hesychius. It was properly a place of exercise in general, and not confined to races. Hence a combatant was styled ^[772]Campio, and the chief persons, who presided, ^[773]Campigeni. The exercise itself was by the Greeks styled αγων, αεθλος, ἁμιλλα; all Amonian terms, taken from the titles of the Deity, in whose honour the games were instituted. These temples partly from their symbols, and partly from their history, being misinterpreted, were by the antient mythologists represented as so many dragons and monsters. Nonnus mentions both Arpe, and Campe in this light, and says that the latter had fifty heads, each of some different beast,

But Campe was an oracular temple and inclosure, sacred to Ham or Cham: where people used to exercise. The fifty heads related to the number of the priests, who there resided; and who were esteemed as so many wild beasts for their cruelty. Nonnus makes Jupiter kill Campe: but Diodorus Siculus gives the honour to Dionusus; who is supposed to have slain this monster at Zaborna in Libya; and to have raised over her, χωμα παμμεγεθες, a vast mound of earth. This heap of soil was in reality a high place or altar; which in after times was taken for a place of burial. These inclosures grew by degrees into disrepute; and the history of them obsolete. In consequence of which the ταφοι, or mounds, were supposed to be the tombs of heroes. The Grecians, who took every history to themselves, imagined, that their Jupiter and Dionusus, and their Hercules had slain them. But what they took for tombs of enemies were in reality altars to these very Gods; who were not confined to Greece, nor of Grecian original. The Campanians in Italy were an antient Amonian colony; and they were denominated from Campe or Campus, which was probably the first temple, they erected. Stephanus Byzantinus shews, that there was of old such a place: Καμπος—κτισμα Καμπανου: but would insinuate that it took its name from a person the head of the colony. Eustathius more truly makes it give name to the people: though he is not sufficiently determinate. ^[775]Καμπανοι απο των ὑποκαθημενων εκει Καμπων ωνομασθησαν, η απο Καμπου πολεως. There were many of these Campi in Greece, which are styled by Pausanias ὑπαιθρα, in contradistinction to the temples, which were covered. They are to be found in many parts of the world, where the Amonian religion obtained, which was propagated much farther than we are aware. In our island the exhibition of those manly sports in vogue among country people is called Camping: and the inclosures for that purpose, where they wrestle and contend, are called Camping closes. There are many of them in Cambridgeshire, as well as in other parts of the kingdom. In Germany we meet with the name of Kæmpenfelt; in which word there is no part derived from the Latin language: for the terms would then be synonymous, and one of them redundant. Kæmpenfelt was, I imagine, an antient name for a field of sports, and exercise, like the gymnasium of the Greeks: and a Camping place in Britain is of the like purport.

Καθολου δε φασιν (ὁι Αιγυπτιοι) τους Ἑλληνας εξιδιαζεσθαι τους επιφανεστατους Ἡρωας τε, και Θεους, ετι δε και αποικιας τας παρ' ἑαυτων. Diodorus Sicul. l. 1. p. 21.

It has been my uniform purpose, during the whole process, which I have made in my system, to shew, that the Grecians formed Deities out of titles; and that they often attributed to one person, what belonged to a people. And when they had completed the history, they generally took the merit of it to themselves. By means of this clue we may obtain an insight into some of the most remote, and the most obscure parts of antiquity. For many and great achievements have been attributed to heroes of the first ages, which it was not possible for them singly to have performed. And these actions, though in some degree diversified, and given to different personages, yet upon examination will be found to relate to one people or family; and to be at bottom one and the same history.

If we consider the history of Osiris, he will appear a wonderful conqueror, who travelled over the face of the whole ^[776]earth, winning new territories, wherever he came; yet always to the advantage of those whom he subdued. He is said to have been the son of Rhea: and his chief attendants in his peregrinations were Pan, Anubis, Macedo, with Maro, a great planter of vines; also Triptolemus much skilled in husbandry. The people of India claimed Osiris, as their own; and maintained, that he was born at Nusa in their ^[777]country. Others supposed his birth-place to have been at Nusa in ^[778]Arabia, where he first planted the vine. Many make him a native of Egypt: and mention the rout of his travels as commencing from that country through Arabia, and Ethiopia; and then to India, and the regions of the east. When he was arrived at the extremities of the ocean, he turned back, and passed through the upper provinces of Asia, till he came to the Hellespont, which he crossed. He then entered ^[779]Thrace, with the King of which he had a severe encounter: yet he is said to have persevered in his rout westward, till he arrived at the fountains of the Ister. He was also in Italy, and Greece: from the former of which he expelled the giants near Phlegra in Campania. He visited many places upon the ocean: and though he is represented as at the head of an army; and his travels were attended with military operations; yet he is at the same time described with the Muses, and Sciences in his retinue. His march likewise was conducted with songs, and dances, and the sound of every instrument of music. He built cities in various parts; particularly ^[780]Hecatompulos, which he denominated Theba, after the name of his mother. In every region, whither he came, he is said to have instructed the people in ^[781]planting, and sowing, and other useful arts. He particularly introduced the vine: and where that was not adapted to the soil, he taught the natives the use of ferment, and shewed them the way to make ^[782]wine of barley, little inferior to the juice of the grape. He was esteemed a great blessing to the Egyptians both as a ^[783]Lawgiver, and a King. He first built temples to the Gods: and was reputed a general benefactor of ^[784]mankind. After many years travel they represent him as returning to Egypt in great triumph, where after his death he was enshrined as a Deity. His Taphos, or high altar, was shewn in many places: in all which he in aftertimes was supposed to have been buried. The people of Memphis shewed one of them; whereon was a sacred pillar, containing a detail of his life, and great actions, to the following purport. ^[785]My father was Cronus, the youngest of all the Gods. I am the king Osiris, who carried my arms over the face of the whole earth, till I arrived at the uninhabited parts of India. From thence I passed through the regions of the north to the fountain-head of the Ister. I visited also other remote countries; nor stopped till I came to the western ocean. I am the eldest son of Cronus; sprung from the genuine and respectable race of (Σωος) Sous, and am related to the fountain of day. There is not a nation upon earth, where I have not been; and to whose good I have not contributed.

This is a very curious piece of antient history: and it will be found to be in great measure true, if taken with this allowance, that what is here said to have been achieved by one person, was the work of many. Osiris was a title conferred upon more persons than one; by which means the history of the first ages has been in some degree confounded. In this description the Cuthites are alluded to, who carried on the expeditions here mentioned. They were one branch of the posterity of Ham; who is here spoken of as the eldest son of Cronus. How justly they conferred upon him this rank of primogeniture, I will not determine. By ^[786]Cronus we are here to understand the same person, as is also represented under the name of Soüs. This would be more truly expressed Σωον, Soön; by which is meant the Sun: All the Amonian families affected to be styled Heliadæ, or the offspring of the Sun: and under this title they alluded to their great ancestor the father of all: as by Osiris they generally meant Ham. Σωον, Soön, is the same as ^[787]Zoon, and Zoan, the fountain of day. The land of Zoan in Egypt was the nome of Heliopolis: and the city Zoan the place of the Sun. The person then styled here Soüs can be no other than the great Patriarch under a title of the Sun. He is accordingly by Philo Biblius called Ousoüs in an extract from Sanchoniathon. He makes him indeed reside, where Tyre was afterwards built; but supposes him to have lived at a time, when there were great rains and storms; and to have been the first constructor of a ship, and the first who ventured upon the ^[788]seas. In respect to the travels of Osiris we shall find that the posterity of Ham did traverse at different times the regions above-mentioned: and in many of them took up their abode. They built the city Memphis in Egypt; also Hecatompulos, which they denominated Theba, after the name of their reputed mother. They also built Zoan, the city of the Sun.

Osiris is a title often conferred upon the great patriarch himself: and there is no way to find out the person meant but by observing the history, which is subjoined. When we read of Osiris being exposed in an ark, and being afterward restored to day; of his planting the vine, and teaching mankind agriculture; and inculcating religion, and justice; the person alluded to stands too manifest to need any farther elucidation. And when it is said of Osiris, that he went over most parts of the habitable globe, and built cities in various regions; this too may be easily understood. It can allude to nothing else, but a people called Osirians, who traversed the regions mentioned. They were principally the Cuthites, who went abroad under various denominations: and the histories of all the great heroes, and heroïnes of the first ages will be found of the same purport, as the foregoing. Osiris is supposed to have been succeeded in Egypt by Orus. After Orus came Thoules; who was succeeded by ^[789]Sesostris.

Perseus was one of the most antient heroes in the mythology of Greece: the merit of whose supposed achievements the Helladians took to themselves; and gave out that he was a native of Argos. He travelled to the temple of ^[790]Ammon; and from thence traversed the whole extent of Africa. He subdued the ^[791]Gorgons, who lived in Mauritania, and at Tartessus in Bœtica; and defeated the Ethiopians upon the western ocean, and the nations about mount Atlas: which ^[792]mountain he only and Hercules are said to have passed. Being arrived at the extremity of the continent, he found means to pass over, and to get possession of all the western islands. He warred in the East; where he freed ^[793]Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus king of the eastern Ethiopia, who was exposed to a sea-monster. Some imagine this to have happened at ^[794]Joppa in Palestine, where the ^[795]bones of this monster of an extraordinary size are supposed to have been for a long time preserved. He is said to have built ^[796]Tarsus in Cilicia, reputed the most antient city in the world; and to have planted the peach tree at ^[797]Memphis. The Persians were supposed to have been his descendants. He travelled through Asia Minor, to the country of the ^[798]Hyperboreans upon the Ister, and the lake Mæotis; and from thence descended to Greece. Here he built Mycene, and Tiryns, said by many to have been the work of the Cyclopians. He established a seminary at Helicon: and was the founder of those families, which were styled Dorian, and Herculean. It is a doubt among writers, whether he came into Italy. Some of his family were there; who defeated the giant race in Campania, and who afterwards built Argiletum, and Ardea in Latium. Virgil supposes it to have been effected by Danae, the mother of this Hero:

But ^[800]Servius says, that Perseus himself in his childhood was driven to the coast of Daunia. He is represented as the ancestor of the Grecian Hercules, supposed to have been born at Thebes in Bœotia. In reality neither ^[801]Hercules, nor Perseus, was of Grecian original; notwithstanding the genealogies framed in that country. The history of the latter came apparently from Egypt, as we may learn from Diodorus^[802]: Φασι δε και τον Περσεα γεγονεναι κατ' Αιγυπτον. Herodotus more truly represents him as an ^[803]Assyrian; by which is meant a Babylonian: and agreeably to this he is said to have married ^[804]Asterie, the daughter of Belus, the same as Astaroth and Astarte of Canaan; by whom he had a daughter Hecate. This, though taken from an idle system of theology, yet plainly shews, that the history of Perseus had been greatly misapplied and lowered, by being inserted among the fables of Greece. Writers speak of him as a great ^[805]Astronomer, and a person of uncommon knowledge. He instructed mariners to direct their way in the sea by the lights of heaven; and particularly by the polar constellation. This he first observed, and gave it the name of Helice. Though he was represented as a Babylonian; yet he resided in Egypt, and is said to have reigned at Memphis. To say the truth, he was worshipped at that place: for Perseus was a title of the Deity; ^[806]Περσευς, ὁ Ἡλιος; Perseus was no other than the Sun, the chief God of the Gentile world. On this account he had a temple of great repute at ^[807]Chemmis, as well as at Memphis, and in other parts of Egypt. Upon the Heracleotic branch of the Nile, near the sea, was a celebrated watch-tower, denominated from him. His true name was Perez, or Parez, rendered Peresis, Perses, and Perseus: and in the account given of this personage we have the history of the Peresians, Parrhasians, and Perezites, in their several peregrinations; who were no other than the Heliadæ, and Osirians abovementioned. It is a mixed history, in which their forefathers are alluded to; particularly their great progenitor, the father of mankind. He was supposed to have had a renewal of life: they therefore described Perseus as inclosed in an ^[808]ark, and exposed in a state of childhood upon the waters, after having been conceived in a shower of gold.

Bochart thinks that the name both of Persis and Perseus was from פרס, Paras, an Horse: because the Persians were celebrated horsemen, and took great delight in that animal. But it must be considered that the name is very antient, and prior to this use of horses. P'aras, P'arez, and P'erez, however diversified, signify the Sun; and are of the same analogy as P'ur, P'urrhos, P'oros, which betoken fire. Every animal, which was in any degree appropriated to a Deity, was called by some sacred ^[809]title. Hence an horse was called P'arez: and the same name, but without the prefix, was given to a lion by many nations in the east. It was at first only a mark of reference, and betokened a solar animal, specifying the particular Deity to whom it was sacred. There were many nations, which were distinguished in the same manner; some of whom the Greeks styled Parrhasians. Hence the antient Arcadians, those Selenitæ, who were undoubtedly an Amonian colony, had this appellation. A people in Elis had the same. The Poets described the constellation of Helice, or the Bear, by the title of Parrhasis, Arctos, and Parrhasis Ursa. This asterism was confessedly first taken notice of by Perez or Perseus, by which is meant the Persians.

In the east, where the worship of Arez greatly prevailed, there were to be found many nations called after this manner. Part of Media, according to ^[811]Polybius, had the name of Parrhasia. There were also Parrhasii and Parrhasini in ^[812]Sogdiana; and ^[813]the like near Caucasus: also a town named ^[814]Parasinum in the Tauric Chersonesus. The people styled ^[815]Parrhasians in Greece were the same as the Dorians and Heraclidæ; all alike Cuthites, as were the antient Persians. Hence it is truly said by Plato, that the Heraclidæ in Greece, and the Achæmenidæ among the Persians were of the same stock: ^[816]Το δε Ἡρακλεους τε γενος και το Αχαιμενεους εις Περσεα τον Διος αναφερεται. On this account ^[817]Herodotus makes Xerxes claim kindred with the Argives of Greece, as being equally of the posterity of Perses, the same as Perseus, the Sun: under which character the Persians described the patriarch, from whom they were descended. Perseus was the same as Mithras, whose sacred cavern was styled Perseüm.

AND THE

From a notion that the Amazons were a community of women, historians have represented the chief personage of their nation as a ^[819]female. She is mentioned by some as having flourished long before the æra of ^[820]Troy: and it is by others said more precisely, that she lived in the time of Orus, the son of Isis and Osiris. This removes her history far back; so as to make it coeval with the first annals of time. Her dominions lay in the most western parts of ^[821]Africa, at the extremity of Atlas; where the mountain terminated in the ocean, to which it gave name. This country was called Mauritania; and was supposed to have been possessed by the Atlantes and Gorgons. The Grecian writers, who did not know that the same family went under different titles, have often made the same nation at variance with itself. And as they imagined every migration to have been a warlike expedition, they have represented Myrina as making great conquests; and what is extraordinary, going over the same ground, only in a retrograde direction, which Osiris had just passed before. Her first engagement was with the Atlantes of Cercene: against whom she marched with an army of 30,000 foot, and 2,000 horse; whom she completely armed with the skins of serpents. Having defeated the Atlantes, she marched against the Gorgons, whom she likewise ^[822]conquered; and proceeding forward, subdued the greater part of Africa, till she arrived at the borders of Egypt. Having entered into an alliance with Orus, she passed the Nile, and invaded the Arabians, whom she defeated. She then conquered the Syrians, and Cilicians, and all the nations about Mount Taurus; till she arrived at Phrygia, and the regions about the river Caïcus. Here she built many cities, particularly Cuma, Pitane, and Priene. She also got possession of several islands; and among others, of Lesbos and Samothracia, in which last she founded an asylum. After these transactions, Myrina, accompanied with Mopsus the diviner, made an expedition into Thrace, which was the ultimate of her progress; for she was supposed to have been here slain. According to Homer she died in Phrygia: for he takes notice of her tomb in the plains of Troas; and represents it as a notable performance.

The tomb of this heroïne was in reality a sacred mound, or high altar; and Myrina a Gentile divinity. In her supposed conquests we may in great measure see the history of Osiris, and Perseus, reversed, and in some degree abridged; yet not so far varied, but that the purport may be plainly discerned. Indeed there is no other way to obtain the hidden meaning, but by collating the different histories, and bringing them in one view under the eye of the reader.

Similar to the foregoing are the expeditions of Hercules, and the conquests which he is supposed to have performed. After many exploits in Greece, the reputed place of his nativity, he travelled as far as mount Caucasus near Colchis, to free Prometheus, who was there exposed to an eagle or vulture. Upon the Thermodon he engaged with the Amazons, whom he utterly defeated; and then passed over into Thrace. Upon his return into Greece he was ordered to make an expedition into Iberia, a region in the farthest part of Spain; where Chrusaor, a prince of great wealth, resided. Hercules accepts of the commission; but, I know not for what reason, goes first to Crete, and from thence to ^[824]Libya; and what is extraordinary, proceeds to Egypt. This makes the plan of his supposed rout somewhat irregular and unaccountable. After some time spent in these parts, he builds the city Hecatompulos, said before to have been built by Osiris: and then traverses the whole of Africa westward, till he arrives at the Fretum Gaditanum. Here he erects two pillars; which being finished, he at last enters Iberia. He defeats the sons of Chrusaor, who were in arms to oppose him; and bestows their kingdom upon others. He likewise seizes upon the oxen of Geryon. He then marches into the country of the Celtæ, and ^[825]founds the city Corunna, and likewise ^[826]Alesia in Gaul. He afterwards fights with the giants Albion and Bergion near Arelate, in the plain styled Campus Lapideus; where are the salt waters of Salona. He then passes the ^[827]Alpes; and upon the banks of the Eridanus encounters a person of shepherd race; whom he kills, and seizes his ^[828]golden flocks. In his way homeward he visits Hetruria, and arrives at the mountain Palatinus upon the Tiber. From thence he goes to the maritime part of Campania, about Cuma, Heraclea, and the lake Aornon. Not far from hence was an adust and fiery region; supposed to have been the celebrated Phlegra, where the giants warred against heaven: in which war Hercules is said to have ^[829]assisted. Here was an antient oracular temple; and hard by the mountain Vesuvius, which in those days flamed violently, though it did not for many ages afterwards. During his residence here he visited the hot fountains near Misenus and Dicæarchea; and made a large causeway, called in aftertimes Via Herculanea, and Agger Puteolanus. After having visited the Locrians, and the people of Rhegium, he crossed the sea to Sicily; which sea he swam over, holding by the horn of an ox. At his arrival some warm springs burst forth miraculously, to give him an opportunity of bathing. Here he boxed with Eryx; defeated the Sicani; and performed many other exploits. What is remarkable, having in Spain seized upon the cattle of Geryon, he is said to have made them travel over the Pyrenean mountains, and afterwards over the Alpes, into Italy; and from thence cross the sea into Sicily; and being now about to leave that island, he swims with them again to Rhegium: and ranging up the coast of the Adriatic, passes round to Illyria, from thence to Epirus; and so descends to Greece. The whole of these travels is said to have been completed in ten years.

He was also reported, according to ^[830]Megasthenes and others, to have made an expedition into ^[831]India, and to have left many memorials of his transactions in those parts. He travelled likewise into the region called afterwards Scythia; the natives of which country were his ^[832]descendants. He also visited the Hyperboreans. In all these peregrinations he is generally described as proceeding alone: at least we have no intimation of any army to assist in the performance of these great enterprises. He is indeed supposed to have sailed with six ships to ^[833]Phrygia: but how he came by them is not said; nor whence he raised the men, who went with him. At other times he is represented with a club in his hand, and the skin of an animal upon his shoulders. When he passed over the ocean, he is said to have been wafted in a golden ^[834]bowl. In Phrygia he freed Hesione from a Cetus, or sea monster, just as Perseus delivered Andromeda. He is mentioned as founding many cities in parts very remote: the sea-coast of Bœtica, and Cantabria, was, according to some writers, peopled by ^[835]him. By Syncellus he is said to have resided in Italy, and to have reigned in ^[836]Latium. The Grecians supposed that he was burnt upon Mount Œta: but the people of Gades shewed his Taphos in their ^[837]city, just as the Egyptians shewed the Taphos of Osiris at Memphis, and elsewhere. Hence it was imagined by many, that Hercules was buried at Gades. The philosopher Megaclides could not be brought to give the least assent to the histories of this ^[838]hero: and Strabo seems to have thought a great part of them to have been a ^[839]fable. In short, the whole account of this personage is very inconsistent: and though writers have tried to compromise matters by supposing more persons than one of this name, yet the whole is still incredible, and can never be so adjusted as to merit the least belief. How they multiplied the same Deity, in order to remedy their faulty mythology, may be seen in the following extract from Cicero. ^[840]Quanquam, quem potissimum Herculem colamus, scire velim: plures enim nobis tradunt ii, qui interiores scrutantur et reconditas literas. Antiquissimum Jove natum, sed item Jove antiquissimo: nam Joves quoque plures in priscis Græcorum literis invenimus. Ex eo igitur et Lysito est is Hercules, quem concertâsse cum Apolline de tripode accepimus. Alter traditur Nilo natus, Ægyptius; quem aiunt Phrygias literas conscripsisse. Tertius est ex Idæis Dactylis, cui inferias afferunt. Quartus Jovis est, et Asteriæ, Latonæ sororis, quem Tyrii maxime colunt; cujus Carthaginem filium ferunt. Quintus in ^[841]Indiâ, qui Belus dicitur. Sextus hic, ex Alcumenâ quem Jupiter genuit; sed tertius Jupiter: quoniam, ut docebo, plures Joves accepimus.

Hercules was a title given to the chief deity of the Gentiles, who have been multiplied into almost as many personages, as there were countries, where he was worshipped. What has been attributed to this god singly, was the work of Herculeans; a people who went under this title among the many which they assumed; and who were the same as the Osirians, Peresians, and Cuthites. They built Tartessus in Bœtica, and occupied great part of Iberia. They likewise founded ^[842]Corunna in Cantabria, and ^[843]Alesia in Gaul: of which there are traditions to this day. Some of them settled near ^[844]Arelate; others among the ^[845]Alpes: also at Cuma, and Heraclea in Campania. They were also to be found at Tyre, and in Egypt; and even in the remotest parts of ^[846]India. In short, wherever there were Heraclidæ, or Herculeans, an Hercules has been supposed. Hence his character has been variously represented. One, while he appears little better than a sturdy vagrant; at other times he is mentioned as a great benefactor; also as the patron of science, the ^[847]God of eloquence, with the Muses in his train. On this account he had the title of ^[848]Musagetes; and the Roman general Fulvius dedicated a temple which he had erected to his honour, and inscribed it ^[849]Herculi Musarum. There are gems, upon which he is represented as presiding among the Deities of ^[850]Science. He is said to have been swallowed by a Cetus, or large fish, from which he was after some time delivered. This history will hereafter be easily decyphered. He was the chief deity of the ^[851]Gentile world; the same as Hermes, Osiris, and Dionusus; and his rites were introduced into various parts by the Cuthites. In the detail of his peregrinations is contained, in great measure, an history of that people, and of their settlements. Each of these the Greeks have described as a warlike expedition; and have taken the glory of it to themselves. He is said to have had many sons. One of these was ^[852]Archemagoras; by which is meant the father or chief of the Magi. There are many others enumerated: the principal of whom are said to have been; ^[853]Sardus, or Sardon; Cyrnus, Gelonus, Olynthus, Scythus, Galathus, Lydus, Iberus, Celtus, Poimen. As these are all manifestly the names of nations, we may perceive by the purport of this history, that the Sardinians, Corsicans, Iberians, Celtæ, Galatæ, Scythæ, &c. &c. together with those styled Shepherds, were Herculeans; all descended from that ^[854]Hercules, who was the father of Archemagoras the chief of the Magi.

The history of Dionusus is closely connected with that of Bacchus, though they were two distinct persons. It is said of the former, that he was born at ^[855]Nusa in Arabia: but the people upon the Indus insisted, that he was a native of their ^[856]country; and that the city Nusa, near mount Meru, was the true place of his birth. There were, however, some among them, who allowed, that he came into their parts from the west; and that his arrival was in the most antient times. He taught the nations, whither he came, to build and to plant, and to enter into societies. To effect this, he collected the various families out of the villages in which they dwelt, and made them incorporate in towns and cities, which he built in the most commodious situations. After they were thus established, he gave them laws, and instructed them in the worship of the Gods. He also taught them to plant the Vine, and to extract the juice of the grape; together with much other salutary knowledge. This he did throughout all his ^[857]travels, till he had conquered every region in the East. Nor was it in these parts only, that he shewed himself so beneficent a conqueror; but over all the habitable ^[858]world. The account given by the Egyptians is consonant to that of the Indians: only they suppose him to have been of their own country; and to have set out by the way of Arabia and the Red Sea, till he arrived at the extremities of the East. He travelled also into ^[859]Lybia, quite to the Atlantic; of which performance Thymætes is said to have given an account in an antient Phrygian poem. After his Indian expedition, which took him up three years, he passed from Asia by the Hellespont into Thrace, where Lycurgus withstood him, and at last put him to flight. He came into Greece; and was there adopted by the people, and represented as a native of their country. He visited many places upon the Mediterranean; especially Campania, and the coast of Italy, where he was taken prisoner by the Hetrurian pirates. Others say, that he conquered all ^[860]Hetruria. He had many attendants; among whom were the Tityri, Satyri, Thyades, and Amazons. The whole of his history is very inconsistent in respect both to time and place. Writers therefore have tried to remedy this by introducing different people of the same name. Hence Dionusus is multiplied into as many ^[861]personages as Hercules. His history was looked upon as very interesting; and therefore was the chief theme of all the antient ^[862]bards. His flight, styled φυγη Διονυσου, was particularly ^[863]recorded. He was the same as Osiris; and many of the later mythologists acknowledged this truth. Αιγυπτιοι μεν γαρ τον παρ' αυτοις θεον Οσιριν ονομαζομενον φασιν ειναι τον παρ' Ἑλλησι Διονυσον τουτον δε μυθολογουσιν επελθειν πασαν την οικουμενην—Ὁμοιως δε και τους Ινδους τον θεον τουτον παρ' ἑαυτοις αποφανεσθαι γεγονεναι. The Egyptians, says ^[864]Diodorus, maintain that their God Osiris is no other than the Dionusus of Greece: And they farther mention, that he travelled over the face of the whole earth—In like manner the Indi assure us, that it is the same Deity, who wan conversant in their ^[865]country.

Dionusus, according to the Grecian mythology, is represented as having been twice born: and is said to have had two fathers and two mothers. He was also exposed in an ^[866]ark, and wonderfully preserved. The purport of which histories is plain. We must however for the most part consider the account given of Dionusus, as the history of the Dionusians. This is twofold. Part relates to their rites and religion; in which the great events of the infant world, and the preservation of mankind in general, were recorded. In the other part, which contains the expeditions and conquests of this personage, are enumerated the various colonies of the people, who were denominated from him. They were the same as the Osirians and Herculeans; all of one family, though under different appellations. I have shewn, that there were many places which claimed his birth; and as many, where was shewn the spot of his interment. Of these we may find samples in Egypt, Arabia, and India; as well as in Africa, Greece, and its islands. For the Grecians, wherever they met with a grot or a cavern sacred to him, took it for granted that he was born there: and wherever he had a taphos, or high altar, supposed that he was there ^[867]buried. The same is also observable in the history of all the Gods.

From what has been said we may perceive that the same history has been appropriated to different personages: and if we look farther into the annals of the first ages, we shall find more instances to the same purpose. It is said of ^[868]Cronus, and Astarte, that they went over the whole earth; disposing of the countries at their pleasure, and doing good wherever they came. Cronus in consequence of it is represented as an universal ^[869]benefactor; who reclaimed men from their savage way of life, and taught them to pass their days in innocence and truth. A like account is given of Ouranus, the great king of the ^[870]Atlantians, who observing mankind in an unsettled and barbarous state, set about building cities for their reception; and rendered them more humane and civilized by his institutions and laws. His influence was very extensive; as he is supposed to have had the greater part of the world under his rule. All this, and what was above done by Cronus and Astarte, the Grecians attributed to Apollo and Themis. Strabo mentions from the historian, Ephorus, that the oracle at Delphi was founded by these two ^[871]deities at the time, when Apollo was going over the world doing good to all mankind. He taught the nations, where he came, to be more ^[872]gentle and humane in their manners; and to abstain from their wild fruits, and foul banquets: affording them instructions how to improve themselves by cultivation.

Some of these persons are mentioned as proceeding in a pacific manner: but these peregrinations in general are represented as a process of war; and all that was effected, was supposed to have been by conquest. Thus Osiris, Hercules, Perseus, Dionusus, displayed their benevolence sword in hand: and laid every country under an obligation to the limits of the earth. The like is said of Zeuth, the Zeus of Greece, who was an universal conqueror and benefactor: ^[873]Τον Δια κυριον γενομενον τον ὁλων επελθειν ἁπασαν την οικουμενην, ευεργετουντα το γενος των ανθρωπων· διενεγκειν δε αυτον και σωματος ῥωμῃ και ταις αλλαις ἁπασαις αρεταις, και δια τουτο ταχυ κυριον γενεσθαι του συμπαντος κοσμου. Zeus (or Jupiter) having got the entire supremacy marched over the whole earth, benefiting mankind wherever he came. And as he was a person of great bodily strength, and at the same time had every princely quality, he very soon subdued the whole world.

No mention is made of any conquests achieved by Orus: and tho reason is, because he was the same as Osiris. Indeed they were all the same personage: but Orus was more particularly Osiris in his second state; and therefore represented by the antient Egyptians as a child. What is omitted by him, was made up by his immediate successor Thoules; who like those, who preceded, conquered every country which was inhabited. ^[874]Ειτα Οσιρις, μεθ' ὁν Ωρος, και μετα αυτον Θουλης, ὁς και ἑως του ωκεανου πασαν την γην παρειληφεν. After him (that is, Söus, or Sosis,) came Osiris; and then Orus: to whom succeeded Thoules, who conquered the whole earth quite to the ocean. The like history is given of him by ^[875]Suidas, and by the author of the ^[876]Chronicon Paschale.

These accounts I have collated, and brought in succession to one another; that we may at a view see the absurdity of the history, if taken in the common acceptation. And however numerous my instances may have been, I shall introduce other examples before I quit the subject. I must particularly speak of an Egyptian hero, equally ideal with those abovementioned; whose history, though the most romantic and improbable of any, has been admitted as credible and true. The person to whom I allude, is the celebrated Sesostris. Most of the antient historians speak of his great achievements; and the most learned of the modern chronologists have endeavoured to determine his æra, and point out the time of his reign. But their endeavours have been fruitless; and they vary about the time when he lived not less than a thousand years: nay, some differ even more than this in the æra, which they assign to him.

Among the writers who have written concerning this extraordinary personage, Diodorus Siculus is the most uniform and full; and with his evidence I will begin my account. He^[877] informs us, that, when this prince was a youth, he was entrusted by his father with a great army. He upon this invaded Arabia: and though he was obliged to encounter hunger and thirst in the wilds, which he traversed; yet he subdued the whole of that large tract of country. He was afterwards sent far into the west; where he conquered all the legions of Lybia, and annexed great part of that country to the kingdom of Egypt. After the death of his father he formed a resolution to subdue all the nations upon earth. Accordingly, having settled everything at home, and appointed governors to each province, he set out with an army of six hundred thousand foot, and twenty-four thousand horse, and twenty-seven thousand armed chariots. With these he invaded the Ethiopians to the south; whom he defeated, and made tributaries to Egypt. He then built a fleet of ships upon the Red sea: and he is recorded as the first person who constructed vessels fit for distant navigation. With these, by means of his generals, he subdued all the sea-coast of Arabia, and all the coast upon the ocean as far as India. In the mean time he marched in person, with a puissant army, by land, and conquered the whole continent of Asia. He not only overran the countries, which Alexander afterwards invaded; but crossed both the Indus and the Ganges; and from thence penetrated to the eastern ocean. He then turned to the north, and attacked the nations of Scythia; till he at last arrived at the Tanäis, which divides Europe and Asia. Here he founded a colony; leaving behind him some of his people, as he had just before done at ^[878]Colchis. These nations are said to the last to have retained memorials of their original from Egypt. About the same time Asia Minor, and most of the islands near it, fell into his hands. He at last passed into ^[879]Thrace, where he is said to have been brought into some difficulties. He however persisted, and subdued all the regions of Europe. In most of these countries he erected pillars with hieroglyphical inscriptions; denoting that these parts of the world had been subdued by the great Sesostris, or, as ^[880]Diodorus expresses his name, Sesoosis. He likewise erected statues of himself, formed of stone, with a bow and a lance: which statues were in length four cubits and four palms, according to the dimensions of his own height and stature. Having thus finished his career of ^[881]victory, he returned laden with spoils to Egypt, after an absence of ^[882]nine years; which is one year less than was attributed to the expeditions of Hercules.

The detail given by this historian is very plain and precise: and we proceed very regularly and minutely in a geographical series from one conquest to another: so that the story is rendered in some degree plausible. But we may learn from Diodorus himself, that little credit is to be paid to this narration, after all the pains he may have taken to win upon our credulity. He ingenuously owns, that not only the Grecian writers, but even the priests of Egypt, and the bards of the same country varied in the accounts which they gave of this hero; and were guilty of great inconsistence. It was therefore his chief labour to collect what he thought most credible, and what appeared most consonant to the memorials in Egypt, which time had spared: ^[883]Τα πιθανωτατα, και τοις υπαρχουσιν ετι κατα την χωραν σημειοις τα μαλιστα συμφωνουντα διελθειν. But, as these memorials consisted chiefly in hieroglyphics, I do not see how it was possible for Diodorus to understand what the bards and priests could not decypher. The adjustment of this history, had it been practicable, should have been the work of a native Egyptian, and not of a person either from Greece or Sicily. This writer afterwards mentions the mighty ^[884]works of Sesostris upon his return into Egypt: the temples which he built, and the great entrenchments which he made to the east, to guard the country from the Arabians: and having enumerated the whole of his actions, he concludes with an ingenuous confession, that ^[885]little could be obtained that was precisely true. He has, without doubt, culled the most probable achievements of this hero; and coloured and arranged them to the best advantage: yet they still exceed belief. And if, after this care and disposition, they seem incredible, how would they appear in the garb, in which he found them? Yet the history of this personage has been admitted as credible by the most learned ^[886]writers and chronologists: though, as I before mentioned, they cannot determine the æra of his reign within a thousand years. Sir John Marsham and Sir Isaac Newton suppose him to have been the Sesac of the scriptures; and consequently bring his reign down to the time of Rehoboam king of Judah. But the only reason for this, as far as I can perceive, seems to be, that Sesostris is represented as a great conqueror; and Sesac is presumed, from his large ^[887]army, to have been so likewise. But there is nothing more said of Sesac, than that he formed a plan of conquering the king of Judah; and accordingly came with the army before mentioned, to put his design in execution. But the ^[888]capital being delivered into his hands without the least resistance, and the king intirely submitting himself to his will; he contented himself with the rich plunder, which he found, and which he carried away at his departure. We may also infer from the servitude, to which the people of Judah were reduced, that he imposed upon them some future contributions.

This is the whole of the history of Sesac, or Shishak; by whom no other expedition was undertaken that we know of: nor is there mention made upon record of a single battle which he fought. Yet from a notion that Sesac was a great warrior, he is made the same as Sesostris: and the age of the latter is brought down very many centuries beneath the æra, to which the best writers have adjudged it. When we differ from received tradition, we should not pass over in silence what is said on the contrary part; but give it at large, and then shew our reasons for our departure from it. I have taken notice of the supposed conquerors of the earth: and among them of the reputed deities of Egypt, who came under the names of Osiris, Perseus, Thoules, &c. These are supposed, if they ever existed, to have lived in the first ages of the world, when Egypt was in its infant state; and Sesostris is made one of their number. He is by some placed after Orus; by others after Thoules; but still referred to the first ages. He is represented under the name of Sethos, ^[889]Sethosis, Sesoosis, Sesonchosis, Sesostris; but the history, with which these names are accompanied, shews plainly the identity of the personage. Eusebius in reckoning up the dynasty of kings, who reigned after Hephaistus or Vulcan, mentions them in the following order: ^[890]Then succeeded his son Helius; after him Sosis, then Osiris, then Orus, then Thoules, who conquered the whole earth to the ocean; and last of all Sesostris. The ^[891]Scholiast upon Apollonius Rhodius calls him Sesonchosis; and places him immediately after Orus, and the third in succession from Osiris: giving at the same time an account of his conquests. He adds that he was the person whom Theopompus called Sesostris. The same Scholiast quotes a curious passage from Dicæarchus, in which Sesonchosis maintains the same rank, and was consequently of the highest antiquity. ^[892]Dicæarchus in the first book of his history mentions, that immediately after the reign of Orus, the son of Isis and Osiris, in Egypt, the government devolved to Sesonchosis: so that from the time of Sesonchosis to Nilus were two thousand years. Cedrenus ^[893]calls him Sesostris; and mentions him after Osiris, and Orus, and Thoules; which last was by the above writer omitted. Οσιρις. Ωρος. Θουλης. μετα δε τουτον Σεσωστρις. The author of the Chronicon Paschale makes Orus to have been succeeded by the same personage, as is mentioned above, whom he calls Thoulis; and next to him introduces Sesostris. He relates all his great conquests; and gives us this farther information, that this prince was the first of the line of Ham, who reigned in Egypt; in other words, he was the first king of the country. ^[894]Εν τουτοις μετα ταυτα χρονοις εβασιλευε των Αιγυπτιων πρωτος εκ τες φυλης ΤΟΥ ΧΑΜ ^[895]Σεσωστρις. Aristotle speaks of Sesostris; but does not determine the time of his reign on account of its great antiquity. He only says that it was long before the age of ^[896]Minos, who was supposed to have reigned in Crete. Apollonius Rhodius, who is thought to have been a native of Egypt, speaks of the great actions of this prince; but mentions no name: not knowing, I imagine, by which properly to distinguish him, as he was represented under so many. He however attributes to him every thing which is said of ^[897]Sesostris; particularly the settling a Colony at Colchis, and building innumerable cities in the countries which he traversed:

He represents him as conquering all Asia and Europe; and this in times so remote, that many of the cities which he built, were in ruins before the æra of the Argonauts.

From what has been said, we may perceive that if such a person as Sesostris had existed, his reign must have been of the earliest date. He is by some represented as succeeding Thoules: according to others he comes one degree higher, being introduced after ^[898]Orus, who in the catalogue of Panodorus is placed first of the Demigods, that reigned in Egypt; but by ^[899]Herodotus is ranked among the deities. According to Dicæarchus the reign of Sesostris was two thousand five hundred years before Nilus: and the reign of the latter was four hundred and thirty-six years before the first Olympiad. I do not place the least confidence in these computations; but would only shew from them that the person spoken of must be referred to the mythic age, to the æra of the Demigods of Egypt. Some of these evidences are taken notice of by Sir John ^[900]Marsham; who cannot extricate himself from the difficulties with which his system is attended. He has taken for granted, that Sesostris and Sesonchosis are the Sesac of the Scriptures; though every circumstance of their history is repugnant to that notion. ^[901]I know not, says he, what to make of this Sesonchosis; who is represented as five thousand years before Menes, and who is referred to the time of the Demigods. In another place: Sesostris, who is in the twelfth Dynasty of Africanus, and whose æra extends higher, than the Canon of Eusebius reaches, reigned according to Scaliger's computation in the 1392d year of the Julian Period. By this calculation Sesostris is made prior to Sesostris; and this too by no less than 2355 years: for it is manifest, as I will shew from Scripture, that Sesostris undertook his expedition into Asia, and got possession of Jerusalem in the 3747th year of the Period abovementioned. What is said in the sacred writings, I have taken notice of before. Not a word occurs about Sesostris, nor of any such Asiatic expedition. I am obliged to say, that through the whole of this learned writer's process, instead of a proof, we find nothing else but the question begged, and some inferences of his own in consequence of this assumption. He indeed quotes the authority of Manethon from Josephus to prove that the great actions of Sesostris were the same as were performed by Sesac. But Manethon says no such thing: nor does Josephus attribute any such exploits to Sesac: but expressly says more than once, that Sesac, and Sesostris were two different ^[902]persons. It is no where said of Sesac, that he made an expedition into Asia; much less that he conquered it, as is supposed of Sesostris. Sesac went up against Jerusalem, and took it, αμαχητι, without meeting with any opposition. Upon this he departed, and carried with him the treasures which he had there seized: in other words, he went home again. There is not the least mention made of his invading ^[903]Samaria, or the country about Libanus, and Sidon; or of his marching to Syria: all which made but a small part of the great Continent, called in aftertimes Asia: much less did he visit the countries of the Assyrians, and Babylonians; or the regions of Elam and the Medes. All this, and much more he must have done, to have come up to the character, to which they would fain entitle him.

I will not enter into any farther discussion of the great conquests attributed to this supposed monarch Sesostris. They are as ideal as those of Sesac, and sufficiently confute themselves. First Osiris is said to have conquered the whole earth: then Zeus, then Perseus, then ^[904]Hercules, all nearly of the same degree of antiquity, if we may believe the best Mythologists. Myrina comes in for a share of conquest in the time of Orus. After her Thoules subdues the whole from the Eastern Ocean, to the great Atlantic: and as if nothing had been performed before, Sesostris immediately succeeds, and conquers it over again. ^[905]Herodotus informs us, as a token of these victories, that Sesostris erected pillars and obelisks with emblematical inscriptions: and that he saw some of them in Phrygia, and in other countries, which had been conquered. He without doubt saw pillars: but how did he know for certain, by whom they were erected? and who taught him to interpret the symbols? Pausanias takes ^[906]notice of a colossal statue in the Thebäis, and says that the history given of it was not satisfactory. He tells us, that it stood near the Syringes, in upper Egypt; and he viewed it with great admiration. It was the figure of a man in a sitting posture; which some said was the representation of Memnon the Ethiopian: others maintained, that it was the statue of Phamenophis: and others again, that it related to Sesostris. There were here emblems, and symbols; yet a diversity of opinions. I want therefore to know, how Herodotus could interpret in Phrygia, what a native could not decypher in Egypt. The same question may be asked about the people of Syria, among whom were obelisks attributed to the same person. How came they to be so determinate about an Egyptian work; when people of that country in the same circumstances were so utterly at a loss? the whole undoubtedly was matter of surmise. I shall not therefore say any thing more of Sesostris; as I must again speak of him, when I come to the kings of Egypt.

If we compare the above histories, we may perceive that they bear a manifest similitude to one another; though they are attributed to different persons. They contain accounts of great achievements in the first ages: in effecting which these antient heroes are represented as traversing immense regions, and carrying their arms to the very limits of the known world: the great Tartarian ocean to the east, and the Atlantic westward, being the boundaries of their travel. Some of them seem to have been of the same age; and to have carried on these conquests at nearly the same time: and those, whose æra may possibly differ, have this in common with the others; that they visit the same countries, march for the most part by the same rout; and are often joined by the same allies, and are followed by the like attendants. They are in general esteemed benefactors, wherever they go: and carry the sciences with them, as well as their religious rites; in which they instruct the natives in different parts of the world. These are to be sure noble occurrences; which however could not possibly have happened, as they are represented above. It is not to be supposed, that any person in those early ages, or in any age, could go over such a tract of country; much less that he should subdue it. It is still more improbable, that such extensive conquests should be so immediately repeated: and that they should in some instances be carried on by different people at nearly the same time. They, who speak of mighty empires being founded in those early days, know little of true history; and have formed a very wrong judgment of the politics, which then universally prevailed. The whole earth, as far as we can learn, was divided into little coördinate states: every city seems to have been subservient to its own Judge and Ruler, and independent of all others. In the land of ^[907]Canaan thirty-one kings were subdued by Joshua, between Jordan and the sea: and some were still left by him unconquered. In those days, says the learned Marsham, quot urbes, tot regna. The like was for many ages after observable in Greece, as well as in Latham, Samnium, and Hetruria. A powerful enemy made Egypt unite under one head: and the necessities of the people in a time of dearth served to complete that system. The Israelites too, when settled in Canaan, formed a large kingdom. Excepting these two nations we know of none of any considerable extent, that were thus united. The ^[908]Syrians and the Philistim were in separate states, and under different governors. The kingdoms of Nineve and Babylonia consisted each of one mighty city, with its environs; in which were perhaps included some subordinate villages. They were properly walled ^[909]Provinces; and the inhabitants were in a state of rest for ages. The Assyrian did not till about seven hundred years before Christ, begin to contend for dominion, and make acquisition of territory: and we may form a judgment, from what he then ^[910]gained, of what he was possessed before. The cities Hala, Habor, Haran in Mesopotamia, with Carchemish upon the Euphrates, were his first conquests: to these he added the puny states Ina, Iva, and Sepharvaim upon the same river. He then proceeded to Hamath, Damascus, and other cities of Syria; and at last came to Samaria. The line of conquest points out the route, which he took; and shews that there were in Mesopotamia numberless little states, independent of Babylon and Nineve, though in their immediate vicinity. Consequently the notion of the extent, dominion, and antiquity of those Monarchies, as delivered by Ctesias and others, is entirely void of truth. The conquests likewise of those Heroes and Demigods, who are made coeval with the supposed foundations of those Monarchies, must be equally groundless. To say the truth, the very personages are ideal, and have been formed out of the titles of the Deity: and the history, with which they are attended, related not to conquest, but to peregrinations of another nature; to Colonies which went abroad, and settled in the countries mentioned. The antients, as I have repeatedly said, have given to a person, what related to a people: and if we make this small allowance, the history will be found in great measure true.

Having given an account of the mythic heroes of Egypt, I think it necessary to subjoin an history of two others of the like stamp, who have made no less figure in the annals of Babylon and Assyria. The persons, to whom I allude, are Ninus and Semiramis; whose conquests, though they did not extend so far as those above, are yet alike wonderful, and equally groundless. It is said of Ninus, that he was the first king of ^[911]Assyria: and being a prince of great power, he made war on his neighbours the Babylonians, whom he conquered. He afterwards invaded the Armenians; whose king Barsanes, finding himself much inferior to his adversary, diverted his anger by great presents, and a voluntary ^[912]submission. The next object of his ambition was Media, which he soon subdued; and getting Phanius, the king of the country, into his hands, together with his wife and seven children, he condemned them all to be crucified. His hopes being greatly raised by this success, he proceeded to reduce all the nations to his obedience between the Tanaïs and the Nile: and in seventeen years he made so great a progress, that, excepting Bactria, all Asia submitted to him as far as the river Indus. In the series of conquered countries Ctesias enumerates Egypt, Phenicia, Coile Syria, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia, Caria, Phrygia, Mysia, Lydia, Cappadocia, and the nations in Pontus, and those near the Tanaïs. To these are added the Dacians, Hyrcanians, Derbicians, Carmanians, Parthians, with all Persis and Susiana, and the numerous nations upon the Caspian sea. After these notable actions he laid the foundation of the great city Nineve: which by mistake is said to have been built upon the banks of the ^[913]Euphrates. His last expedition was against the Bactrians: at which time he first saw Semiramis, a woman of uncommon endowments, and great personal charms. He had an army which amounted to seven millions of foot, and two millions of horse, with two hundred thousand chariots with scythes. For the possibility of which circumstances Diodorus tries to account in favour of the historian, from whom he borrows. By the conduct of Semiramis the Bactrians are subdued; and Ninus takes the capital of the country: upon which, in return for her services, he makes Semiramis his queen. Not long after he dies, leaving only one son by this princess, who was called Ninyas.

The history of Semiramis is variously related by different authors. Some make her a native of Ascalon; and say that she was exposed in the desert, and nourished by pigeons. She was in this situation discovered by a shepherd named Simma. He bred her up, and married her to Menon; whom she deserted for Ninus. During her son's minority she assumed the regal state: and the first work which she undertook was the interment of her husband. She accordingly buried him with great splendor; and raised over him a mound of earth, no less than a mile and a quarter high, and proportionally wide at bottom: after which she built Babylon. This being finished, she made an expedition into Media; and wherever she came left memorials of her power and munificence. This was effected by erecting vast structures, forming lakes, and laying out gardens of great extent; particularly in Chaonia and Ecbatana. In short, she levelled hills, and raised ^[914]mounds of an immense height, which retained her name for ages. After this she invaded Egypt, and conquered Ethiopia, with the greater part of Lybia: and having accomplished her wish, and there being no enemy to cope with her, excepting the people of India, she resolved to direct her forces towards that quarter. She had an army of three millions of foot, five hundred thousand horse, and one hundred thousand chariots. For the passing of rivers, and engaging with the enemy by water, she had procured two thousand ships, to be so constructed as to be taken to pieces for the advantage of carriage: which ships were built in Bactria by experienced persons from Phenicia, Syria, and Cyprus. With these she entered into a naval engagement with Strabrobates king of India; and at the first encounter sunk a thousand of his ships. Upon this she built a bridge over the river Indus, and penetrated into the heart of the country. Here Strabrobates engaged her; but being deceived by the numerous appearance of her elephants, at first gave way. For being deficient in those animals, she had procured the hides of three thousand black oxen; which being properly sewed, and stuffed with straw, formed an appearance of so many elephants. All this was done so naturally, that the real animals could not stand the sight. But this stratagem being at last discovered, Semiramis was obliged to retreat, after having lost a great part of her ^[915]army. Soon after this she resigned the government to her son Ninyas, and died. According to some writers, she was slain by his hand.

The history of Ninus and Semiramis, as here represented, is in great measure founded upon terms, which have been misconstrued; and these fictions have been invented in consequence of the mistakes. Under the character of Semiramis we are certainly to understand a people styled Semarim, a title assumed by the antient Babylonians. They were called Semarim from their insigne, which was a dove, expressed Semaramas, of which I shall speak hereafter more at large. It was used as an object of worship; and esteemed the same as Rhea, the mother of the gods: ^[916]Σεμιραμιν και την Ῥεαν καλουμενην παρ' Ασσυριοις.

If we take the history of Semiramis, as it is given us by Ctesias and others; nothing can be more inconsistent. Some make her the wife of Ninus: others say that she was his ^[917]daughter: and about the time of her birth they vary beyond measure. She is sometimes made cöeval with the city Nineve: at other times she is brought down within a few centuries of ^[918]Herodotus. She invades the Babylonians before the city was ^[919]built, from whence they were denominated: and makes sumptuous gardens at Ecbatana. Hence that city is introduced as coëval with Nineve: though, if the least credit may be given to ^[920]Herodotus, it was built many ages after by Deïoces the Mede. The city Nineve itself is by Ctesias placed upon the ^[921]Euphrates; though every other writer agrees, that it lay far to the east, and was situated upon the Tigris. This shews how little credit is to be paid to Ctesias. The whole account of the fleet of ships built in Bactria, and carried upon camels to the Indus, is a childish forgery. How can we suppose, that there were no woods to construct such vessels, but in the most inland regions of Asia? The story of the fictitious elephants, made out of the hides of black oxen, which put to flight the real elephants, is another silly fable. Megasthenes, who wrote of India, would not allow that Semiramis was ever in those ^[922]parts. Arrian seems to speak of it as a groundless ^[923]surmise. Her building of Babylon was by ^[924]Berosus treated as a fable. Herennius Philo maintained, that it was built by a son of Belus the wise, two thousand years before her ^[925]birth. Suidas says, that she called Nineve ^[926]Babylon: so uncertain is every circumstance about this Heroine. She is supposed to have sent to Cyprus, and Phenicia, for artists to construct and manage the ships abovementioned; as if there had been people in those parts famous for navigation before the foundation of Nineve. They sometimes give to Semiramis herself the merit of building the ^[927]first ship; and likewise the invention of weaving cotton: and another invention more extraordinary, which was that of emasculating ^[928]men, that they might be guardians, and overseers in her service. Yet, it is said of her, that she took a man to her bed every night, whom she put to death in the morning. How can it be imagined, if she was a woman of such unbridled ^[929]lust, that she would admit such spies upon her actions? We may as well suppose, that a felon would forge his own gyves, and construct his own prison. Claudian thinks, that she did it to conceal her own sex, by having a set of beardless people about her.

In respect to Semiramis I do not see how this expedient could avail. She might just as well have dressed up her maids in mens clothes, and with less trouble. In short the whole of these histories in their common acceptation is to the last degree absurd, and improbable: but if we make use of an expedient, which I have often recommended, and for a person substitute a people, we shall find, when it is stripped of its false colouring, that there is much truth in the narration.

It was a common mode of expression to call a tribe or family by the name of its founder: and a nation by the head of the line. People are often spoken of collectively in the singular under such a patronymic. Hence we read in Scripture, that Israel abode in tents; that Judah was put to the worst in battle; that Dan abode in ships; and Asher remained on the sea-coast. The same manner of speaking undoubtedly prevailed both in Egypt, and in other countries: and Chus must have been often put for the Cuthites, or Cuseans; Amon for the Amonians; and Asur, or the Assyrian, for the people of Assyria. Hence, when it was said, that the Ninevite performed any great action, it has been ascribed to a person Ninus, the supposed founder of Nineve. And as none of the Assyrian conquests were antecedent to Pul, and Assur Adon, writers have been guilty of an unpardonable anticipation, in ascribing those conquests to the first king of the country. A like anticipation, amounting to a great many centuries, is to be found in the annals of the Babylonians. Every thing that was done in later times, has been attributed to Belus, Semiramis, and other, imaginary princes, who are represented as the founders of the kingdom. We may, I think, be assured, that under the character of Ninus, and Ninyas, we are to understand the Ninevites; as by Semiramis is meant a people called Samarim: and the great actions of these two nations are in the histories of these personages recorded. But writers have rendered the account inconsistent by limiting, what was an historical series of many ages, to the life of a single person. The Ninevites and Samarim did perform all that is attributed to Semiramis, and Ninus. They did conquer the Medes, and Bactrians; and extended their dominions westward as far as Phrygia, and the river Tanais, and to the Southward as far as Arabia, and Egypt. But these events were many ages after the foundation of the two kingdoms. They began under Pul of Nineve; and were carried on by Assur Adon, Salmanassur, Sennacherib, and other of his successors. Nineve was at last ruined, and the kingdom of Assyria was united with that of ^[931]Babylonia. This is probably alluded to in the supposed marriage of Semiramis and Ninus. Then it was, that the Samarim performed the great works attributed to them. For, exclusive of what was performed at Babylon; There are, says ^[932]Strabo, almost over the face of the whole earth, vast ^[933]mounds of earth, and walls, and ramparts, attributed to Semiramis; and in these are subterraneous passages of communication, and tanks for water, with staircases of stone. There are also vast canals to divert the course of rivers, and lakes to receive them; together with highways and bridges of a wonderful structure. They built the famous terraces at ^[934]Babylon; and those beautiful gardens at Egbatana, after that city had fallen into their hands. To them was owing that cruel device of emasculating their slaves, that their numerous wives, and concubines might be more securely guarded: an invention, which cannot consistently be attributed to a woman. They found out the art of weaving cotton: which discovery has by some been assigned to those of their family, who went into Egypt: for there were Samarim here too. In consequence of this, the invention has been attributed to a Semiramis, who is here represented as a man, and a king of the country: at least it is referred to his reign. ^[935]Επι τε Σεμιραμεως βασιλεως Αιγυπτιων τα βυσσινα ἱματια ἑυρησθαι ἱστορουσιν. The Samarim of Egypt and Babylonia, were of the same family, the sons of Chus. They came and settled among the Mizraim, under the name of the shepherds, of whose history I have often spoken. The reason of their being called Semarim, and Samarim, I shall hereafter disclose, together with the purport of the name, and the history, with which it is attended.

The celebrated Zoroaster seems to have been a personage as much mistaken, as any, who have preceded. The antients, who treated of him, have described him in the same foreign light, as they have represented Perseus, Dionusus, and Osiris. They have formed a character, which by length of time has been separated, and estranged, from the person, to whom it originally belonged. And as among the antients, there was not a proper uniformity observed in the appropriation of terms, we shall find more persons than one spoken of under the character of Zoroaster: though there was one principal, to whom it more truly related. It will be found, that not only the person originally recorded, and reverenced; but others, by whom the rites were instituted and propagated, and by whom they were in aftertimes renewed, have been mentioned under this title: Priests being often denominated from the Deity, whom they served.

Of men, styled Zoroaster, the first was a deified personage, reverenced by some of his posterity, whose worship was styled Magia, and the professors of it Magi. His history is therefore to be looked for among the accounts transmitted by the antient Babylonians, and Chaldeans. They were the first people styled Magi; and the institutors of those rites, which related to Zoroaster. From them this worship was imparted to the Persians, who likewise had their Magi. And when the Babylonians sunk into a more complicated idolatry, the Persians, who succeeded to the sovereignty of Asia, renewed under their Princes, and particularly under Darius, the son of Hystaspes, these rites, which had been, in a great degree, effaced, and forgotten. That king was devoted to the religion styled Magia^[936]; and looked upon it as one of his most honourable titles, to be called a professor of those doctrines. The Persians were originally named Peresians, from the Deity Perez, or Parez the Sun; whom they also worshipped under the title of ^[937]Zor-Aster. They were at different æras greatly distressed and persecuted, especially upon the death of their last king Yesdegerd. Upon this account they retired into Gedrosia and India; where people of the same family had for ages resided. They carried with them some shattered memorials of their religion in writing, from whence the Sadder, Shaster, Vedam, and Zandavasta were compiled. These memorials seem to have been taken from antient symbols ill understood; and all that remains of them consists of extravagant allegories and fables, of which but little now can be decyphered. Upon these traditions the religion of the Brahmins and Persees is founded.

The person who is supposed to have first formed a code of institutes for this people, is said to have been one of the Magi, named Zerdusht. I mention this, because Hyde, and other learned men, have imagined this Zerdusht to have been the antient Zoroaster. They have gone so far as to suppose the two names to have been the ^[938]same; between which I can scarce descry any resemblance. There seem to have been many persons styled Zoroaster: so that if the name had casually retained any affinity, or if it had been literally the same, yet it would not follow, that this Persic and Indian Theologist was the person of whom antiquity speaks so loudly. We read of persons of this name in different parts of the world, who were all of them Magi, or Priests, and denominated from the rites of Zoroaster, which they followed. Suidas mentions a Zoroaster, whom he styles an Assyrian; and another whom he calls Περσο-Μηδης, Perso-Medes: and describes them both as great in science. There was a Zoroaster Proconnesius, in the time of Xerxes, spoken of by ^[939]Pliny. Arnobius mentions Zoroastres Bactrianus: and Zoroastres Zostriani nepos ^[940]Armenius. Clemens Alexandrinus takes notice of Zoroaster ^[941]Medus, who is probably the same as the Perso-Medes of Suidas. Zoroastres Armenius is likewise mentioned by him, but is styled the son of ^[942]Armenius, and a Pamphylian. It is said of him that he had a renewal of life: and that during the term that he was in a state of death, he learned many things of the Gods. This was a piece of mythology, which I imagine did not relate to the Pamphylian Magus, but to the head of all the Magi, who was reverenced and worshipped by them. There was another styled a Persian, whom Pythagoras is said to have ^[943]visited. Justin takes notice of the Bactrian ^[944]Zoroaster, whom he places in the time of Ninus. He is also mentioned by ^[945]Cephalion, who speaks of his birth, and the birth of Semiramis (γενεσιν Σεμιραμεως και Ζωροαστρου Μαγου) as of the same date. The natives of India have a notion of a Zoroaster, who was of Chinese original, as we are informed by ^[946]Hyde. This learned man supposes all these personages, the Mede, the Medo-Persic, the Proconnesian, the Bactrian, the Pamphylian, &c. to have been one and the same. This is very wonderful; as they are by their history apparently different. He moreover adds, that however people may differ about the origin of this person, yet all are unanimous about the time when he ^[947]lived. To see that these could not all be the same person, we need only to cast our eye back upon the evidence which has been collected above: and it will be equally certain, that they could not be all of the same æra. There are many specified in history; but we may perceive, that there was one person more antient and celebrated than the rest; whose history has been confounded with that of others who came after him. This is a circumstance which has been observed by ^[948]many: but this ingenious writer unfortunately opposes all who have written upon the subject, however determinately they may have expressed themselves. ^[949]At quicquid dixerint, ille (Zoroaster) fuit tantum unus, isque tempore Darii Hystaspis: nec ejus nomine plures unquam extitere. It is to be observed, that the person, whom he styles Zoroaster, was one Zerdusht. He lived, it seems, in the reign of Darius, the father of Xerxes; which was about the time of the battle of Marathon: consequently not a century before the birth of Eudoxus, Xenophon, and Plato. We have therefore no authority to suppose ^[950]this Zerdusht to have been the famous Zoroaster. He was apparently the renewer of the Sabian rites: and we may be assured, that he could not be the person so celebrated by the antients, who was referred to the first ages. Hyde asserts, that all writers agree about the time, when Zoroaster made his appearance: and he places him, as we have seen above, in the reign of Darius. But Xanthus Lydius made him above ^[951]six hundred years prior. And ^[952]Suidas from some anonymous author places him five hundred years before the war of Troy. Hermodorus Platonicus went much farther, and made him five thousand years before that ^[953]æra. Hermippus, who professedly wrote of his doctrines, supposed him to have been of the same ^[954]antiquity. Plutarch also ^[955]concurs, and allows him five thousand years before that war. Eudoxus, who was a consummate philosopher, and a great traveller, supposed him to have flourished six thousand years before the death of ^[956]Plato. Moses ^[957]Chorenensis, and ^[958]Cephalion, make him only contemporary with Ninus, and Semiramis: but even this removes him very far from the reign of Darius. Pliny goes beyond them all; and places him many thousand years before Moses. ^[959]Est et alia Magices factio, a Mose, et Jamne, et Lotapea Judæis pendens: sed multis millibus annorum post Zoroastrem. The numbers in all these authors, are extravagant: but so much we may learn from them, that they relate to a person of the highest antiquity. And the purport of the original writers, from whence the Grecians borrowed their evidence, was undoubtedly to shew, that the person spoken of lived at the extent of time; at the commencement of all historical data. No fact, no memorial upon record, is placed so high as they have carried this personage. Had Zoroaster been no earlier than Darius, Eudoxus would never have advanced him to this degree of antiquity. This writer was at the same distance from Darius, as Plato, of whom he speaks: and it is not to be believed, that he could be so ignorant, as not to distinguish between a century, and six thousand years. Agathias indeed mentions, that some of the Persians had a notion, that he flourished in the time of one Hystaspes; but he confesses, that who the Hystaspes was, and at what time he lived, was ^[960]uncertain. Aristotle wrote not long after Eudoxus, when the history of the Persians was more known to the Grecians, and he allots the same number of years between Zoroaster and Plato, as had been ^[961]before given. These accounts are for the most part carried too far; but at the same time, they fully ascertain the high antiquity of this person, whose æra is in question. It is plain that these writers in general extend the time of his life to the æra of the world, according to their estimation; and make it prior to Inachus, and Phoroneus, and Ægialeus of Sicyon.

Huetius takes notice of the various accounts in respect to his country. ^[962]Zoroastrem nunc Persam, nunc Medum ponit Clemens Alexandrinus; Persomedum Suidas; plerique Bactrianuni; alii Æthiopem, quos inter ait Arnobius ex Æthiopiâ interiore per igneam Zonam venisse Zoroastrem. In short, they have supposed a Zoroaster, wherever there was a Zoroastrian: that is, wherever the religion of the Magi was adopted, or revived. Many were called after him: but who among men was the Prototype can only be found out by diligently collating the histories, which have been transmitted. I mention among men; for the title originally belonged to the Sun; but was metaphorically bestowed upon sacred and enlightened personages. Some have thought that the person alluded to was Ham. He has by others been taken for Chus, also for Mizraim, and ^[963]Nimrod: and by Huetius for Moses. It may be worth while to consider the primitive character, as given by different writers. He was esteemed the first observer of the heavens; and it is said that the antient Babylonians received their knowledge in Astronomy from him: which was afterwards revived under Ostanes; and from them it was derived to the ^[964]Egyptians, and to the Greeks. Zoroaster was looked upon as the head of all those, who are supposed to have followed his ^[965]institutes: consequently he must have been prior to the Magi, and Magia, the priests, and worship, which were derived from him. Of what antiquity they were, may be learned from Aristotle. ^[966]Αριστοτελης δ' εν πρωτῳ περι φιλοσοφιας (τους Μαγους) και πρεσβυτερους ειναι των Αιγυπτιων. The Magi, according to Aristotle, were prior even to the Egyptians: and with the antiquity of the Egyptians, we are well acquainted. Plato styles him the son of ^[967]Oromazes, who was the chief Deity of the Persians: and it is said of him, that he laughed upon the day on which he was ^[968]born. By this I imagine, that something fortunate was supposed to be portended: some indication, that the child would prove a blessing to the world. In his childhood he is said to have been under the care of ^[969]Azonaces: which I should imagine was a name of the chief Deity Oromazes, his reputed father. He was in process of time greatly enriched with knowledge, and became in high repute for his ^[970]piety, and justice. He first sacrificed to the Gods, and taught men to do the ^[971]same. He likewise instructed them in science, for which he was greatly ^[972]famed: and was the first who gave them laws. The Babylonians seem to have referred to him every thing, which by the Egyptians was attributed to Thoth and Hermes. He had the title of ^[973]Zarades, which signifies the Lord of light, and is equivalent to Orus, Oromanes, and Osiris, It was sometimes expressed ^[974]Zar-Atis, and supposed to belong to a feminine Deity of the Persians. Moses Chorenensis styles him ^[975]Zarovanus, and speaks of him as the father of the Gods. Plutarch would insinuate, that he was author of the doctrine, embraced afterwards by the Manicheans, concerning two prevailing principles, the one good, and the other evil^[976]: the former of these was named Oromazes, the latter Areimanius. But these notions were of late ^[977]date, in comparison of the antiquity which is attributed to ^[978]Zoroaster. If we might credit what was delivered in the writings transmitted under his name, which were probably composed by some of the later Magi, they would afford us a much higher notion of his doctrines. Or if the account given by Ostanes were genuine, it would prove, that there had been a true notion of the Deity transmitted from ^[979]Zoroaster, and kept up by the Magi, when the rest of the gentile world was in darkness. But this was by no means true. It is said of Zoroaster, that he had a renewal of ^[980]life: for I apply to the original person of the name, what was attributed to the Magus of Pamphylia: and it is related of him, that while he was in the intermediate state of death, he was instructed by the ^[981]Gods. Some speak of his retiring to a mountain of Armenia, where he had an intercourse with the ^[982]Deity: and when the mountain burned with fire, he was preserved unhurt. The place to which he retired, according to the Persic writers, was in the region called ^[983]Adarbain; where in aftertimes was the greatest Puratheion in Asia. This region was in Armenia: and some make him to have been born in the same country, upon one of the Gordiæan ^[984]mountains. Here it was, that he first instituted sacrifices, and gave laws to his followers; which laws are supposed to be contained in the sacred book named Zandavasta. To him has been attributed the invention of Magic; which notion has arisen from a misapplication of terms. The Magi Were priests, and they called religion in general Magia. They, and their rites, grew into disrepute; in consequence of which they were by the Greeks called απατεωνες, φαρμακευται: jugglers, and conjurers. But the Persians of old esteemed them very highly. ^[985]Μαγον, τον θεοσεβη, και θεολογον, και ἱερεα, ὁι Περσαι ὁυτως λεγουσιν. By a Magus, the Persians understand a sacred person, a professor of theology, and a Priest. Παρα Περσαις ^[986]Μαγοι ὁι φιλοσοφοι, και θεοφιλοι. Among the Persians, the Magi are persons addicted to philosophy, and to the worship of the Deity. ^[987]Dion. Chrysostom, and Porphyry speak to the same purpose. By Zoroaster being the author of Magia, is meant, that he was the first promoter of religious rites, and the instructor of men in their duty to God. The war of Ninus with Zoroaster of Bactria relates probably to some hostilities carried on between the Ninevites of Assyria, and the Bactrians, who had embraced the Zoroastrian rites. Their priest, or prince, for they were of old the same, was named ^[988]Oxuartes; but from his office had the title of Zoroaster; which was properly the name of the Sun, whom he adored. This religion began in Chaldea; and it is expressly said of this Bactrian king, that he borrowed the knowledge of it from that country, and added to it largely. ^[989]Cujus scientiæ sæculis priscis multa ex Chaldæorum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres. When the Persians gained the empire in Asia, they renewed these rites, and doctrines. ^[990]Multa deinde (addidit) Hystaspes Rex prudentissimus, Darii pater. These rites were idolatrous; yet not so totally depraved, and gross, as those of other nations. They were introduced by Chus; at least by the Cuthites: one branch of whom were the Peresians, or Persians. The Cuthites of Chaldea were the original Magi, and they gave to Chus the title of Zoroaster Magus, as being the first of the order. Hence the account given by Gregorius Turonensis is in a great degree true. ^[991]Primogeniti Cham filii Noë fuit Chus. Hic ad Persas transiit, quem Persæ vocitavere Zoroastrem. Chus, we find, was called by this title; and from him the religion styled Magia passed to the Persians. But titles, as I have shewn, were not always determinately appropriated: nor was Chus the original person, who was called Zoroaster. There was another beyond him, who was the first deified mortal, and the prototype in this worship. To whom I allude, may, I think, be known from the history given above. It will not fail of being rendered very clear in the course of my procedure.

The purport of the term Zoroaster is said, by ^[992]the author of the Recognitions, and by others, to be the living star: and they speak of it as if it were of Grecian etymology, and from the words ζωον and αστηρ. It is certainly compounded of Aster, which, among many nations, signified a star. But, in respect to the former term, as the object of the Persic and Chaldaic worship was the Sun, and most of their titles were derived from thence; we may be pretty certain, that by Zoro-Aster was meant Sol Asterius. Zor, Sor, Sur, Sehor, among the Amonians, always related to the Sun. Eusebius says, that Osiris was esteemed the same as Dionusus, and the Sun: and that he was called ^[993]Surius. The region of Syria was hence denominated Συρια; and is at this day called Souria, from Sur, and Sehor, the Sun. The Dea Syria at Hierapolis was properly Dea Solaris. In consequence of the Sun's being called Sor, and Sur, we find that his temple is often mentioned under the name of ^[994]Beth-Sur, and ^[995]Beth-Sura, which Josephus renders ^[996]Βηθ-Σουρ. It was also called Beth-Sor, and Beth-Soron, as we learn from ^[997]Eusebius, and ^[998]Jerome. That Suria was not merely a provincial title is plain, from the Suria Dea being worshipped at Erix in ^[999]Sicily; and from an inscription to her at ^[1000]Rome. She was worshipped under the same title in Britain, as we may infer from an Inscription at Sir Robert Cotton's, of Connington, in Cambridgeshire.

Syria is called Sour, and Souristan, at this day.

The Grecians therefore were wrong in their etymology; and we may trace the origin of their mistake, when they supposed the meaning of Zoroaster to have been vivens astrum. I have mentioned, that both Zon and ^[1002]Zoan signified the Sun: and the term Zor had the same meaning. In consequence of this, when the Grecians were told that Zor-Aster was the same as Zoan-Aster, they, by an uniform mode of mistake, expressed the latter ζωον; and interpreted Zoroaster αστερα ζωον. But Zoan signified the Sun. The city Zoan in Egypt was Heliopolis; and the land of Zoan the Heliopolitan nome. Both Zoan-Aster, and Zor-Aster, signified Sol Asterius. The God Menes was worshipped under the symbol of a bull; and oftentimes under the symbol of a bull and a man. Hence we read of Meno-Taur, and of Taur-Men, in Crete, Sicily, and other places. The same person was also styled simply ^[1003]Taurus, from the emblem under which he was represented. This Taurus was also called Aster, and Asterius, as we learn from ^[1004]Lycophron, and his Scholiast. Ὁ Αστηριος ὁυτος εστιν ὁ και Μινοταυρος. By Asterius is signified the same person as the Minotaur. This Taur-Aster is exactly analogous to ^[1005]Zor-Aster above. It was the same emblem as the Mneuis, or sacred bull of Egypt; which was described with a star between his horns. Upon some of the ^[1006]entablatures at Naki Rustan, supposed to have been the antient Persepolis, we find the Sun to be described under the appearance of a bright ^[1007]star: and nothing can better explain the history there represented, than the account given of Zoroaster. He was the reputed son of Oromazes, the chief Deity; and his principal instructor was Azonaces, the same person under a different title. He is spoken of as one greatly beloved by heaven: and it is mentioned of him, that he longed very much to see the Deity, which at his importunity was granted to him. This interview, however, was not effected by his own corporeal eyes, but by the mediation of an ^[1008]angel. Through this medium the vision was performed: and he obtained a view of the Deity surrounded with light. The angel, through whose intervention this favour was imparted, seems to have been one of those styled Zoni, and ^[1009]Azoni. All the vestments of the priests, and those in which they used to apparel their Deities, had sacred names, taken from terms in their worship. Such were Camise, Candys, Camia, Cidaris, Mitra, Zona, and the like. The last was a sacred fillet, or girdle, which they esteemed an emblem of the orbit described by Zon, the Sun. They either represented their Gods as girded round with a serpent, which was an emblem of the same meaning; or else with this bandage, denominated ^[1010]Zona. They seem to have been secondary Deities, who were called Zoni and ^[1011]Azoni. The term signifies Heliadæ: and they were looked upon as æthereal essences, a kind of emanation from the Sun. They were exhibited under different representations; and oftentimes like Cneph of Egypt. The fillet, with which the Azoni were girded, is described as of a fiery nature: and they were supposed to have been wafted through the air. Arnobius speaks of it in this light. ^[1012]Age, nunc, veniat, quæso, per igneam zonam Magus ab interiore orbe Zoroastres. I imagine, that by Azonaces, Αζωνακης, beforementioned, the reputed teacher of Zoroaster, was meant the chief Deity, the same as Oromanes, and Oromasdes. He seems to have been the supreme of those æthereal spirits described above; and to have been named Azon-Nakis, which signifies the great Lord, ^[1013]Azon. Naki, Nakis, Nachis, Nachus, Negus, all in different parts of the world betoken a king. The temple at Istachar, near which these representations were found, is at this day called the palace of Naki Rustan, whoever that personage may have been.

The character of Orpheus is in some respects not unlike that of Zoroaster, as will appear in the sequel. He went over many regions of the earth; and in all places, whither he came, was esteemed both as a priest, and a prophet. There seems to be more in his history than at first sight appears: all which will by degrees be unfolded. His skill in harmony is represented as very wonderful: insomuch that he is said to have tamed the wild beasts of the forest, and made the trees follow him. He likewise could calm the winds, and appease the raging of the sea. These last circumstances are taken notice of by a poet in some fine verses, wherein he laments his death.

He is mentioned, as having been twice in a state of ^[1015]death; which is represented as a twofold descent to the shades below. There is also an obscure piece of mythology about his wife, and a serpent; also of the Rhoia or Pomegranate: which seems to have been taken from some symbolical representation at a time, when the purport was no longer understood. The Orpheans dealt particularly in symbols, as we learn from Proclus. ^[1016]Ορφικοι δια συμβολον, Πυθαγορειοι δια εικονων, τα θεια μηνυειν εφιεμενοι. His character for science was very great; and Euripides takes particular notice of some antient tablets, containing much salutary knowledge, which were bequeathed to the Thracians by Orpheus: ^[1017]ἁς Ορφειη κατεγραψε γηρυς. Plato styles his works ^[1018]βιβλων ὁμαδον, a vast lumber of learning, from the quantity, which people pretended had been transmitted from him. He one while resided in Greece; and particularly at Thebes in Bœotia. Here he introduced the rites of Dionusus, and celebrated his Orgies upon mount ^[1019]Cithæron. He is said to have been the first who instituted those rites: and was the author of all mysterious worship. ^[1020]Πρωτος Ορφευς μυστηρια Θεων παρεδωκεν. All these were accompanied with science of another nature: for he is reputed to have been skilled in many arts.

From Thebes he travelled towards the sea-coast of Chaonia, in order to recover his lost Eurydice; who had been killed by a serpent. According to ^[1021]Agatharchides Cnidius it was at Aorthon in Epirus, that he descended for this purpose to the shades below. The same account is given by ^[1022]Pausanias, who calls the place more truly Aornon. In the Orphic Argonauts it is said to have been performed at Tænarus in ^[1023]Laconia. He likewise resided in Egypt, and travelled over the regions of Libya; and every where instructed people in the rites, and religion, which he professed. In the same manner he went over a great part of the world.

Some make Orpheus by birth a Thracian; some an Arcadian: others a Theban. Pausanias mentions it as an opinion among the ^[1025]Egyptians, that both Orpheus, and Amphion, were from their country. There is great uncertainty about his parents. He is generally supposed to have been the son of Œagrus, and Calliope: but Asclepiades made him the son of Apollo, by that ^[1026]Goddess. By some his mother was said to have been Menippe; by others ^[1027]Polymnia. He is also mentioned as the son of ^[1028]Thamyras. Plato differs from them all, and styles both Orpheus, and Musæus, ^[1029]Σεληνης και Μουσων εγγονοι, the offspring of the Moon, and the Muses: in which account is contained some curious mythology. The principal place of his residence is thought to have been in Pieria near mount Hæmus. He is also said to have resided among the Edonians; and in Sithonia, at the foot of mount Pangæus; also upon the sea-coast at Zona. In all these places he displayed his superiority in science; for he was not only a Poet, and skilled in harmony, but a great Theologist and Prophet; also very knowing in medicine, and in the history of the ^[1030]heavens. According to Antipater Sidonius, he was the author of Heroic verse. And some go so far as to ascribe to him the invention of letters; and deduce all knowledge from ^[1031]him.

Many of the things, reported to have been done by Orpheus, are attributed to other persons, such as ^[1032]Eetion, Musæus, Melampus, Linus, Cadmus, and Philammon. Some of these are said to have had the same ^[1033]parents. Authors in their accounts of Orpheus, do not agree about the manner of his ^[1034]death. The common notion is, that he was torn to pieces by the Thracian women. But, according to Leonides, in Laërtius, he was slain by lightning: and there is an ^[1035]epitaph to that purpose. The name of Orpheus is to be found in the lists of the Argonauts: and he is mentioned in the two principal poems upon that subject. Yet there were writers who placed him eleven generations before the war of Troy, consequently ten generations before that expedition. ^[1036]Γεγονε προ ια γενεων των Τρωικων—βιωναι δε γενεας θ· ὁι δε ια φησιν. He was born eleven ages before the siege of Troy, and he is said to have lived nine ages; and according to some eleven. This extent of ^[1037]life has been given him in order to bring him down as low as the aera of the Argonauts: though, if we may believe Pherecydes Syrus, he had no share in that expedition.

To remedy the inconsistences, which arise in the history of Orpheus, writers have supposed many persons of this name. Suidas takes notice of no less than four in ^[1038]Thrace. But all these will not make the history consistent. Vossius therefore, with good reason, doubts whether such a person ever existed. Nay, he asserts, ^[1039]Triumviros istos Poeseos, Orphea, Musæum, Linum, non fuisse: sed esse nomina ab antiquâ Phœnicum linguâ, quâ usi Cadmus, et aliquamdiu posteri. There is great truth in what Vossius here advances: and in respect to Orpheus, the testimony of Aristotle, quoted by him from Cicero, is very decisive. ^[1040]Orpheum poetam docet Aristoteles nunquam fuisse. Dionysius, as we learn from Suidas, affirmed the same thing. Palæphatus indeed admits the man; but sets aside the history. ^[1041]Ψευδης και ὁ περι του Θρφεως μυθος. The history too of Orpheus is nothing else but a fable. From what has been said, I think it is plain, that under the character of this personage we are to understand a people named ^[1042]Orpheans; who, as Vossius rightly intimates, were the same as the Cadmians. In consequence of this, there will sometimes be found a great similarity between the characters of these two persons.

I have shewn, that Colonies from ^[1043]Egypt settled in the region of Sethon, called afterwards Sethonia, upon the river Palæstinus. They were likewise to be found in the countries of Edonia, Pieria, and Peonia: in one of which they founded a city and temple. The Grecians called this city Orpheus: ^[1044]Ορφευς εστι πολις υπο τῃ Πιεριῃ. Orpheus is a city of Thrace, below Pieria. But the place was originally expressed Orphi, by which is meant the oracular temple of Orus. From hence, and from the worship here instituted, the people were styled Orphites, and Orpheans. They were noted for the Cabiritic mysteries; and for the Dionusiaca, and worship of Damater. They were likewise very famous for the medicinal arts; and for their skill in astronomy and music. But the Grecians have comprehended, under the character of one person, the history of a people. When they settled in Thrace, they introduced their arts, and their worship, among the barbarous ^[1045]natives, by whom they were revered for their superior knowledge. They likewise bequeathed many memorials of themselves, and of their forefathers, which were probably some emblematical sculptures upon wood or stone: hence we read of the tablets of Orpheus preserved in Thrace, and particularly upon mount ^[1046]Hæmus. The temple which they built upon this mountain seems to have been a college, and to have consisted of a society of priests. They were much addicted to celibacy, as we may judge from their history; and were, in great measure, recluses after the mode of Egypt and Canaan. Hence it is said of Orpheus, that he secreted himself from the world, and led the life of a ^[1047]Swan: and it is moreover mentioned of Aristæus, when he made a visit to Dionusus upon mount Hæmus, that he disappeared from the sight of men, and was never after ^[1048]seen. According to the most common accounts concerning the death of Orpheus, it was owing to his principles, and manner of life. He was a solitary, and refused all commerce with womankind: hence the Mænades, and other women of Thrace, rose upon him, and tore him to pieces. It is said, that his head, and lyre were thrown into the Hebrus; down which they were wafted to Lemnos. What is here mentioned of Orpheus, undoubtedly relates to the Orpheans, and to their temple upon mount Hæmus. This temple was in process of time ruined: and there is great reason to think, that it was demolished upon account of the cruelties practised by the priests, and probably from a detestation of their unnatural crimes, to which there are frequent allusions. Ovid having given a character of Orpheus, concludes with an accusation to this purpose.

Those of the community, who survived the disaster, fled down the Hebrus to Lesbos; where they either found, or erected, a temple similar to that which they had quitted. Here the same worship was instituted; and the place grew into great reputation. They likewise settled at Lenmos. This island lay at no great distance from the former; and was particularly devoted to the Deity of fire. It is said by Hecatæus, that it received the name of Lemnos from the Magna Dea, Cybele. She was styled by the natives Λημνος, and at her shrine they used to sacrifice young persons. ^[1050]Απο μεγαλης λεγομενης Θεου· ταυτῃ δε και παρθενους εθυον. They seem to have named the temple at Lesbos Orphi, and Orpheï caput: and it appears to have been very famous on account of its oracle. Philostratus says, that the Ionians, and Æolians, of old universally consulted it: and, what is extraordinary, that it was held in high estimation by the people of ^[1051]Babylonia. He calls the place the head of Orpheus: and mentions, that the oracle proceeded from a cavity in the earth; and that it was consulted by Cyrus, the Persian. That the Babylonians had a great veneration for a temple named Orphi, I make no doubt: but it certainly could not be the temple at Lesbos. During the Babylonish empire, Greece, and its islands, were scarcely known to people of that country. And when the Persians succeeded, it is not credible, that they should apply to an oracle at Lesbos, or to an oracle of Greece. They were too refined in their religious notions to make any such application. It is notorious, that, when Cambyses, and Ochus, invaded Egypt, and when Xerxes made his inroad into Greece, they burnt and ruined the temples in each nation, out of abomination to the worship. It was another place of this name, an oracle of their own, to which the Babylonians, and Persians, applied. For it cannot be supposed, in the times spoken of, that they had a correspondence with the western world. It was Ur, in Chaldea, the seat of the antient Magi, which was styled Urphi, and Orphi, on account of its being the seat of an oracle. That there was such a temple is plain from Stephanus Byzantinus, who tells us, ^[1052]Μαντειον εχειν αυτους (Χαλδαιους) παρα βαρβαροις, ὡς Δελφοι παρ' Ἑλλησι. The Chaldeans had an oracle as famous among the people of those parts, as Delphi was among the Grecians. This temple was undoubtedly styled Urphi. I do not mean, that this was necessarily a proper name; but an appellative, by which oracular places were in general distinguished. The city Edessa in Mesopotamia seems likewise to have had the name of Urphi, which was given on account of the like rites, and worship. That it was so named, we may fairly presume from its being by the natives called ^[1053]Urpha, at this day. It was the former temple, to which the Babylonians, and Persians had recourse: and it was from the Magi of these parts, that the Orphic rites and mysteries were originally derived. They came from Babylonia to Egypt, and from thence to Greece. We accordingly find this particular in the character of Orpheus, ^[1054]ειναι δε τον Ορφεα μαγευσαι δεινον, that he was great in all the mysteries of the Magi. We moreover learn from Stephanus Monachius, that Orphon, a term of the same purport as Orpheus, was one of the appellations, by which the Magi were called. ^[1055]Orphon, quod Arabibus Magum sonat. In short, under the character of Orpheus, we have the history both of the Deity, and of his votaries. The head of Orpheus was said to have been carried to Lemnos, just as the head of Osiris used to be wafted to Byblus. He is described as going to the shades below, and afterwards returning to upper air. This is similar to the history of Osiris, who was supposed to have been in a state of death, and after a time to have come to life. There was moreover something mysterious in the death of Orpheus; for it seems to have been celebrated with the same frantic acts of grief, as people practised in their lamentations for Thamuz and Osiris, and at the rites of Baal. The Bistonian women, who were the same as the Thyades, and Mænades, used to gash their arms with knives, and besmear themselves with ^[1056]blood, and cover their heads with ashes. By this display of sorrow we are to understand a religious rite; for Orpheus was a title, under which the Deity of the place was worshipped. He was the same as Orus of Egypt, whom the Greeks esteemed both as Apollo, and Hephaistus. That he was a deity is plain from his temple and oracle abovementioned: which, we find, were of great repute, and resorted to by various people from the opposite coast.

As there was an Orpheus in Thrace, so there appears to have been an Orpha in ^[1057]Laconia, of whose history we have but few remains. They represent her as a Nymph, the daughter of Dion, and greatly beloved by Dionusus. She was said, at the close of her life, to have been changed to a tree. The fable probably relates to the Dionusiaca, and other Orphic rites, which had been in early times introduced into the part of the world abovementioned, where they were celebrated at a place called Orpha. But the rites grew into disuse, and the history of the place became obsolete: hence Orpha has been converted to a nymph, favoured of the God there worshipped; and was afterwards supposed to have been changed to one of the trees, which grew within its precincts.

Many undertook to write the history of Orpheus; the principal of whom were Zopurus of Heraclea, Prodicus Chius, Epigenes, and Herodorus. They seem all to have run into that general mistake of forming a new personage from a title, and making the Deity a native, where he was inshrined. The writings, which were transmitted under the name of Orpheus, were innumerable: and are justly ridiculed by Lucian, both for their quantity, and matter. There were however some curious hymns, which used to be of old sung in Pieria, and Samothracia; and which Onomacritus copied. They contain indeed little more than a list of titles, by which the Deity in different places was addressed. But these titles are of great antiquity: and though the hymns are transmitted in a modern garb, the person, through whom we receive them, being as late as ^[1058]Pisistratus, yet they deserve our notice. They must necessarily be of consequence, as they refer to the worship of the first ages, and afford us a great insight into the Theology of the antients. Those specimens also, which have been preserved by Proclus, in his dissertations upon Plato, afford matter of great curiosity. They are all imitations, rather than translations of the antient Orphic poetry, accompanied with a short comment. This poetry was in the original Amonian language, which grew obsolete among the Helladians, and was no longer intelligible: but was for a long time preserved in ^[1059]Samothracia, and used in their sacred rites.

Although I have said so much about Dionusus, Sesostris, and other great travellers, I cannot quit the subject till I have taken notice of Cadmus: for his expeditions, though not so extensive as some, which I have been mentioning, are yet esteemed of great consequence in the histories of antient nations. The time of his arrival in Greece is looked up to as a fixed æra: and many circumstances in chronology are thereby determined. He is commonly reputed to have been a Phenician by birth; the son of Agenor, who was the king of that country. He was sent by his father's order in quest of his sister Europa; and after wandering about a long time to little purpose, he at last settled in Greece. In this country were many traditions concerning him; especially in Attica, and Bœotia. The particular spot, where he is supposed to have taken up his residence, was in the latter province at Tanagra upon the river Ismenus. He afterwards built Thebes: and wherever he came, he introduced the religion of his country. This consisted in the worship of ^[1060]Dionusus; and in the rites, which by the later Greeks were termed the Dionusiaca. They seem to have been much the same as the Cabyritic mysteries, which he is said to have established in Samothracia. He fought with a mighty dragon; whose teeth he afterwards sowed, and produced an army of men. To him Greece is supposed to have been indebted for the first introduction of ^[1061]letters; which are said to have been the letters of his country Phenicia, and in number sixteen. He married Harmonia, the daughter of Mars and Venus: and his nuptials were graced with the presence of all the Gods, and Goddesses; each of whom conferred some gift upon the bride. He had several children; among whom was a daughter Semele, esteemed the mother of Bacchus. After having experienced great vicissitudes in life, he is said to have retired with his wife Harmonia to the coast of Illyria, where they were both changed to serpents. He was succeeded at Thebes by his son Polydorus, the father of Labdacus, the father of Laius. This last was the husband of Jocasta, by whom he had Œdipus.

Bochart with wonderful ingenuity, and equal learning, tries to solve the ænigmas, under which this history is represented. He supposes Cadmus to have been a fugitive Canaanite, who fled from the face of Joshua: and that he was called Cadmus from being a Cadmonite, which is a family mentioned by Moses. In like manner he imagines, that Harmonia had her name from mount Hermon, which was probably in the district of the Cadmonites. The story of the dragon he deduces from the Hevæi, or Hivites; the same people as the Cadmonites. He proceeds afterwards with great address to explain the rest of the fable, concerning the teeth of the dragon, which were sown; and the armed men, which from thence arose: and what he says is in many particulars attended with a great shew of probability. Yet after all his ingenious conjectures, I am obliged to dissent from him in some points; and particularly in one, which is of the greatest moment. I cannot be induced to think, that Cadmus was, as Bochart represents him, a Phenician. Indeed I am persuaded, that no such person existed. If Cadmus brought letters from Phenicia, how came he to bring but sixteen; when the people, from whom he imported them, had undoubtedly more, as we may infer from their neighbours? And if they were the current letters of Greece, as Herodotus intimates; how came it to pass, that the tablet of Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, the third in descent from Cadmus, could not be understood, as we are assured by ^[1062]Plutarch? He says, that in the reign of Agesilaus of Sparta, a written tablet was found in the tomb of Alcmena, to whom it was inscribed: that the characters were obsolete, and unintelligible; on which account they sent it to Conuphis of Memphis in Egypt, to be decyphered. If these characters were Phenician, why were they sent to a priest of a different country for interpretation? and why is their date and antiquity defined by the reign of a king in Egypt? ^[1063]Τους τυπους ειναι της επι Πρωτει βασιλευοντι γραμματικης. The form of the letters was the same as was in use when Proteus reigned in that country. Herodotus, indeed, to prove that the Cadmians brought letters into Greece, assures us, that he saw specimens of their writing at Thebes, in the temple of Apollo ^[1064]Ismenius: that there was a tripod as antient as the reign of Laius, the son of Labdacus; with an inscription, which imported, that it had been there dedicated by Amphitryon upon his victory over the Teleboæ. I make no doubt, but that Herodotus saw tripods with antient inscriptions: and there might be one with the name of Amphitryon: but how could he be sure that it was the writing of that person, and of those times? We know what a pleasure there is in enhancing the antiquity of things; and how often inscriptions are forged for that purpose. Is it credible that the characters of Amphitryon should be so easy to be apprehended, when those of his wife Alcmena could not be understood? and which of the two are we in this case to believe, Herodotus or Plutarch? I do not mean that I give any credence to the story of Alcmena and her tablet: nor do I believe that there was a tripod with characters as antient as Amphitryon. I only argue from the principles of the Greeks to prove their inconsistency. The Pheneatæ in Arcadia shewed to Pausanias an inscription upon the basis of a brazen statue, which was dedicated to ^[1065]Poseidon Hippius. It was said to have been written by Ulysses, and contained a treaty made between him and some shepherds. But Pausanias acknowledges that it was an imposition; for neither statues of brass, nor statues of any sort, were in use at the time alluded to.

It is said of Cadmus, that he introduced the rites of ^[1066]Bacchus into Greece. But how is this possible, if Bacchus was his descendant, the son of his daughter Semele? To remedy this, the latter mythologists suppose, that there was a prior Bacchus, who was worshipped by Cadmus. This is their usual recourse, when they are hard pressed with inconsistencies. They then create other personages, to help them out of their difficulties. They form, with great facility, a new Semiramis, or Ninus; another Belus, Perseus, Minos, Hermes, Phoroneus, Apis, though to little purpose: for the mistake being fundamental, the inconveniencies cannot be remedied by such substitutes. We are told that Cadmus was a Phenician: but Diodorus Siculus speaks of him as assuredly of Egypt; and mentions moreover, that he was a native of the Thebaïs: ^[1067]Καδμον εκ Θηβων οντα των Αιγυπτιων. Pherecydes Syrus also, from whom most of the mythology of Greece was borrowed, makes Cadmus an ^[1068]Egyptian, the son of Agenor and Argiope, who was the daughter of Nilus. By others he is said to have been the son of Antiope, the daughter of Belus: consequently he must originally have been of Babylonish extraction. His father Agenor, from whom he is supposed to have been instructed in the sciences, is represented by Nonnus as residing at Thebes.

We learn the same from the Scholiast upon Lycophron, who styles the king Ogugus. ^[1070]Και ὁ Ωγυγος Θηβων Αιγυπτιων ην Βασιλευς, ὁθεν ὁ Καδμος ὑπαρχων, ελθων εν Ἑλλαδι τας Ἑπταπυλους εκτισε. Moreover Ogugus was king of Thebes in Egypt: of which country was Cadmus, who came into Greece, and built the city styled Heptapulæ. It was from the same part of the world, that the mysteries were imported, in which Cadmus is represented as so knowing: and here it was, that he was taught hieroglyphics, and the other characters, which are attributed to him. For he is said to have been expert ^[1071]Χειρος οπισθοποροιο χαραγματα λοξα χαρασσων. These arts he carried first to the coast of Sidon, and Syria; and from thence he is supposed to have brought them to Greece: for, before he came to Hellas, he is said to have reigned in conjunction with Phœnix, both at Sidon and Tyre. ^[1072]Φοινιξ και Καδμος, απο Θηβων των Αιγυπτιων εξελθοντες εις την Συριαν Τυρου και Σιδωνος εβασιλευσαν. Phœnix and Cadmus came from Thebes in Egypt, and reigned at Tyre and Sidon.

Thus I have taken pains to shew, that Cadmus was not, as has been generally thought, a Phenician. My next endeavour will be to prove that no such person existed. If we consider the whole history of this celebrated hero, we shall find, that it was impossible for one person to have effected what he is supposed to have performed. His expeditions were various and wonderful; and such as in those early times would not have been attempted, nor could ever have been completed. The Helladians say little more, than that he built Thebes, and brought letters into Greece: that he slew a dragon, from the teeth of which being sowed in the ground there arose an army of earthborn men. The writers of other countries afford us a more extensive account: among the principal of which are to be esteemed Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, and Pausanias. Some of them had their ^[1073]doubts about the reality of this adventurer: and from the history which they have transmitted, we may safely infer, that no such person existed, as has been described under the character of Cadmus.

He is said to have sailed first to ^[1074]Phenicia and Cyprus; and afterwards to ^[1075]Rhodes. Here he instructed the people in the religion which he professed; and founded a temple at Lindus, where he appointed an order of priests. He did the same ^[1076]at Thera, and afterwards was at ^[1077]Thasus: and proceeding in his travels partook of the Cabiritic mysteries in ^[1078]Samothracia. He visited ^[1079]Ionia, and all the coast upwards to the Hellespont and Propontis. He was at Lesbos, which he named ^[1080]Issa: where some of his posterity were to be found long after. He was also at Anaphe, one of the Sporades; which island was denominated Membliaros from one of his ^[1081]followers. Mention is made of his being upon the ^[1082]Hellespont, and in Thrace. Here he resided, and found out a mine of ^[1083]gold, having before found one of copper in ^[1084]Cyprus. Hence he is said to have procured great wealth. ^[1085]Ὁδε Καδμου πλουτος περι Θρακην, και το Παγγαιον ορος. We hear of him afterwards in ^[1086]Eubœa; where there are to be found innumerable traces of him, and his followers. He was likewise at ^[1087]Sparta, as we may infer from the Heroüm erected to him by Eurotas, and his brethren, the sons of Huræus. He must have resided a great while in ^[1088]Attica; for there were many edifices about Athens attributed to him. He settled at Tanagra in Bœotia; where he lost all his companions, who were slain by a dragon. He afterwards built Thebes. Here he was king; and is said to have reigned sixty-two ^[1089]years. But as if his wanderings were never to be terminated, he leaves his newly founded city, and goes to Illyria. Here we find him again in regal state. ^[1090]Βασιλευει Καδμος των Ιλλυριων. He reigns over the country which receives its name from his son. ^[1091]Ιλλυρια—απο Ιλλυριου του Καδμονος παιδος. Now whoever is truly acquainted with antiquity, must know, that, in the times here spoken of, little correspondence was maintained between nation and nation. Depredations were very frequent; and every little maritime power was in a state of ^[1092]piracy: so that navigation was attended with great peril. It is not therefore to be believed, that a person should so often rove upon the seas amid such variety of nations, and reside among them at his pleasure: much less that he should build temples, found cities, and introduce his religion, wherever he listed; and this too in such transient visits. Besides, according to the Egyptian accounts, the chief of his adventures were in Libya. He married Harmonia at the lake ^[1093]Tritonis; and is said to have founded in that part of the world no less. than an hundred cities:

Some of these cities seem to have been situated far west in the remoter parts of Africa.

Carthage itself was of old called ^[1096]Cadmeia: so that he may be ranked among the founders of that city. Καρχηδων, Μητροπολις Λιβυης—εκαλειτο δε Καινη πολις, και Καδμεια. He is mentioned by Moses Chorenensis to have settled in ^[1097]Armenia, where there was a regio Cadmeia not far from Colchis. He reigned here; and is said to have been of the giant race, and to have come from ^[1098]Babylonia. And as the city Carthage in Libya was called Cadmeia, so in this region Cadmeia, there was a city Carthage: ^[1099]Καρχηδων πολις Αρμενιας.

Such are the expeditions of Cadmus. But is it credible that any person could have penetrated into the various regions, whither he is supposed to have gone? to have founded colonies in Phenicia, Cyprus, Rhodes, Thera, Thasus, Anaphe, Samothracia? to have twice visited the Hellespont? to have worked the mines in the Pangean mountains, and in other places? to have made settlements in Eubœa, Attica, Bœotia, and Illyria? and, above all, to have had such territories in Afric? He is represented as heir to the kingdom of Egypt: this he quitted, and obtained a kingdom in Phenicia. He leaves this too; and after much wandering arrives in Greece; where he founds several cities, and reigns sixty-two years. After this, hard to conceive! he is made king in Illyria. He must also have reigned in Afric: and his dominions seem to have been considerable, as he founded an hundred cities. He is represented as a king in Armenia; and had there too no small territory. Sure kingdoms in those times must have been very cheap, if they were so easily attainable. But the whole is certainly a mistake; at least in respect to ^[1100]Cadmus. No person could possibly have effected what is attributed to him. They were not the achievements of one person, nor of one age. And place Cadmus at any given æra, and arrange his history, as may appear most plausible; yet there will arise numberless inconsistencies from the connexions he must have in respect to time, place, and people; such as no art nor disposition can remedy.

It may be asked, if there were no such man as Cadmus, what did the antients allude to under this character? and what is the true purport of these histories? The travels of Cadmus, like the expeditions of Perseus, Sesostris, and Osiris, relate to colonies, which at different times went abroad, and were distinguished by this title. But what was the work of many, and performed at various seasons, has been attributed to one person. Cadmus was one of the names of Osiris, the chief Deity of Egypt. Both Europa, and Harmonia are of the like nature. They were titles of the Deity: but assumed by colonies, who went out, and settled under these denominations. The native Egyptians seldom left their country, but by force. This necessity however did occur: for Egypt at times underwent great ^[1101]revolutions. It was likewise in some parts inhabited by people of a different cast; particularly by the sons of Chus. These were obliged to retire: in consequence of which they spread themselves over various parts of the earth. All, who embarked under the same name, or title, were in aftertimes supposed to have been under the same leader: and to him was attributed the honour of every thing performed. And as colonies of the same denomination went to parts of the world widely distant; their ideal chieftain, whether Cadmus, or Bacchus, or Hercules, was supposed to have traversed the same ground: and the achievements of different ages were conferred upon a fancied hero of a day. This has been the cause of great inconsistency throughout the mythology of the antients. To this they added largely, by being so lavish of titles, out of reverence to their gods. Wherever they came they built temples to them, and cities, under various denominations; all which were taken from some supposed attribute. These titles and attributes, though they belonged originally to one God, the Sun; yet being ^[1102]manifold, and misapplied, gave rise to a multitude of Deities, whose æra never could be settled, nor their history rendered consistent. Cadmus was one of these. He was the same as Hermes of Egypt, called also Thoth, Athoth, and Canathoth: and was supposed to have been the inventor of letters. He was sometimes styled Cadmilus, another name for Hermes; under which he was worshipped in Samothracia, and Hetruria. Lycophron speaking of the prophet Prulis, in Lesbos, tells us, that he was the son of Cadmus, and of the race of Atlas. And he was the person, who was supposed to give information to the Greeks, when they were upon their expedition towards Troy.

These are the words of Cassandra: upon which the Scholiast observes; Πρυλις, ὑιος του Καδμιλου, και Καδμου, ητοι Ἑρμου: Prulis of Lesbos was the son of Cadmilus, or Cadmus, the same as Hermes. And afterwards he mentions, ^[1104]ὁ Καδμος, ητοι Ἑρμης, Cadmus, who is the same as Hermes. In another place he takes notice, that the name of Hermes among the Hetrurians was ^[1105]Cadmilus: and it has been shewn, that Cadmilus, and Cadmus, are the same. To close the whole, we have this further evidence from Phavorinus, that Cadmus was certainly an epithet or title of Hermes. ^[1106]Καδμος, ου κυριον μονον, αλλα και Ἑρμου επιθετον.

Harmonia, the wife of Cadmus, who has been esteemed a mere woman, seems to have been an emblem of nature, and the fostering nurse of all things. She is from hence styled ^[1107]παντροφος Ἁρμονια. And when Venus is represented in the allegory as making her a visit, she is said to go ^[1108]εις δομον Ἁρμονιας παμμητορος, to the house of the all-productive parent. In some of the Orphic verses she is represented not only as a Deity, but as the light of the world.

Harmonia was supposed to have been a personage, from whom all knowledge was derived. On this account the books of science were styled ^[1110]κυρβιας Ἁρμονιας, the books of Harmonia, as well as the books of Hermes. These were four in number, of which Nonnus gives a curious account, and says, that they contained matter of wonderful antiquity.

The first of them is said to have been coeval with the world.

From hence we find, that Hermon, or Harmonia, was a Deity, to whom the first writing is ascribed. The same is said of Hermes. ^[1113]Ἑρμης λεγεται Θεων εν Αιγυπτῳ γραμματα πρωτος ἑυρειν. The invention is also attributed to Taut, or Thoth. ^[1114]Πρωτος εστι Τααυτος, ὁ των γραμματων την ἑυρεσιν επινοησας,—ὁν Αιγυπτιοι μεν εκαλεσαν Θωυθ, Αλεξανδρεις δε Θωθ, Ἑρμην δε Ἑλληνες μετεφρασαν. Cadmus is said not only to have brought letters into Greece, but to have been the inventor of them: from whence we may fairly conclude, that under the characters of Hermon, Hermes, Taut, Thoth, and Cadmus, one person is alluded to. The Deity called by the Greeks Harmonia, was introduced among the Canaanites very early by people from Egypt: and was worshipped in Sidon, and the adjacent country, by the name of ^[1115]Baal Hermon.

Europa likewise was a Deity; according to Lucian the same as Astarte, who was worshipped at Hierapolis in Syria. He visited the temple, and had this information from the priests: ^[1116]ὡς δε μοι τις των Ἱρεων απηγετο, Ευρωπης εστι (το αγαλμα) της Καδμου αδελφεης. He is speaking of the statue in the temple, which the priests told him belonged to a Goddess, the same as Europa, the sister of Cadmus. She was also esteemed the same as Rhea; which Rhea we know was the reputed mother of the gods, and particularly the mother of Jupiter.

Pindar speaks of Europa, as the ^[1118]daughter of Tityus: and by Herodotus she is made the mother of ^[1119]Sarpedon and Minos.

I have mentioned, that Cadmus was the same as the Egyptian Thoth; and it is manifest from his being Hermes, and from the invention of letters being attributed to him. Similar to the account given of Cadmus is the history of a personage called by the Greeks Caanthus; this history contains an epitome of the voyage undertaken by Cadmus, though with some small variation. Caanthus is said to have been the son of Oceanus; which in the language of Egypt is the same as the son of Ogus, and Oguges; a different name for the same ^[1120]person. Ogus, and with the reduplication Ogugus, was the same as Ogyges, in whose time the flood was supposed to have happened. Ogyges is represented both as a king of Thebes in Egypt, and of Thebes in Bœotia: and in his time Cadmus is said to have left the former country, and to have come to the latter, being sent in quest of his sister Europa by his father. Caanthus was sent by his father with a like commission. His sister Melia had been stolen away; and he was ordered to search every country, till he found her. He accordingly traversed many seas, and at last lauded in Greece, and passed into Bœotia. Here he found, that his sister was detained by Apollo in the grove of Ismenus. There was a fountain ^[1121]of the same name near the grove, which was guarded by a dragon. Caanthus is said to have cast fire into this sacred recess; on which account he was slain by Apollo. His ταφος, or tomb, was in aftertimes shewn by the Thebans. We may perceive, that the main part of this relation agrees with that of Cadmus. Melie, the sister of Caanthus, is by some spoken of as the mother of ^[1122]Europa: which shews, that there is a correspondence between the two histories. The person also, who sent these two adventurers, the sister, of whom they went in quest, and the precise place, to which they both came, exhibit a series of circumstances so similar, that we need not doubt, but that it is one and the same history. It is said, that Caanthus threw fire into the sacred ^[1123]grove: which legend, however misconstrued, relates to the first establishment of fire-worship at Thebes in the grove of Apollo Ismenius. The term Ismenius is compounded of Is-Men, ignis Menis. Meen, Menes, Manes, was one of the most antient titles of the Egyptian God Osiris, the same as Apollo, and Caanthus. What has been mentioned about Cadmus and Caanthus, is repeated under the character of a person named Curnus; who is said to have been sent by his father Inachus in search of his sister ^[1124]Io. Inachus, Oceanus, Ogugus, and Agenor, are all the same personages under different names; and the histories are all the same.

That Cadmus was of old esteemed a Deity may be farther proved from his being worshipped at Gortyna in Crete, as we learn from ^[1125]Solinus. Iidem Gortynii et Cadmum colunt, Europæ fratrem. He had moreover an Heroum at Sparta, which was erected by people styled the sons of ^[1126]Huræus. We learn from Palæphatus, that according to some of the antient mythologists, Cadmus was the person, who slew the serpent ^[1127]at Lerna. And according to Nonnus he contended with the giant Typhasus, and restored to Jupiter his lost ^[1128]thunder. By this is meant, that he renewed the rites, and worship of the Deity, which had been abolished. These are circumstances, which sufficiently shew, that Cadmus was a different personage, from what he is generally imagined. There was a hill in Phrygia of his name, and probably sacred to him; in which were the fountains of the river ^[1129]Lycus. There was also a river Cadmus, which rose in the same mountain, and was lost underground. It soon afterwards burst forth again, and joined the principal stream. Mountains and rivers were not denominated from ordinary personages. In short Cadmus was the same as Hermes, Thoth, and Osiris: under which characters more than one person is alluded to, for all theology of the antients is of a mixed nature. He may principally be esteemed Ham, who by his posterity was looked up to as the Sun, and worshipped under his titles: a circumstance, however, which was common to all, who were styled Baalim. That he was the same as Ham, will appear from the etymology of his name. I have before shewn, that the Sun was styled ^[1130]Achad, Achon, and Achor: and the name, of which we are treating, is a compound of ^[1131]Achad-Ham, rendered by the Greeks Acadamus and Academus, and contracted Cadmus. Many learned men have thought, that the place at Athens called Academia was founded by Cadmus, and denominated from him: and of the latter circumstance I make no doubt. ^[1132]Ab hoc Cadmo Eruditi Academiam, quasi Cadmiam deducunt: quo nomine indigitari locum musis studiisque sacratum notissimum est. The true name of Cadmus, according to this supposition, must have been, as I have represented, Acadamus; or, as the Ionians expressed it, Academus, to have Academia formed from it. Herodotus informs us, that, when the Cadmians came to Attica, they introduced a new system of ^[1133]Architecture; and built temples in a style different from that to which the natives had been used. And he describes these buildings as erected at some distance from those of the country. This was the situation of the place called Academia, which stood at the distance of a few furlongs from ^[1134]Athens. It was a place of exercise and science; and by all accounts finely disposed: being planted with a variety of trees, but particularly Olives, called here (Μοριαι) Moriæ. There were likewise springs, and baths for the convenience of those who here took their exercise. The tradition among the Athenians was, that one Ecademus, or Academus, founded it in antient times; from whom it received its name. Laërtius styles him the hero Ecademus: ^[1135]Απο τινος Ἡρωος ωνομασθη Εκαδημου. And Suidas to the same purpose; Απο Εκαδημου τινος Ἡρωος ονομασθεν. But Eupolis, the comic writer, who was far prior, speaks of him as a Deity: ^[1136]Εν ευσκιοις δρυμοισιν Ακαδημου Θεου. The trees, which grew within the precincts, were looked upon as very sacred, ^[1137]οντως ἱεραι, and the place itself in antient times was of so great sanctity, that it was a profanation to laugh there; ^[1138]προτερον εν Ακαδημιᾳ μηδε γελασαι εξουσιαν ειναι.

The Ceramicus at Athens had the same name; and it was undoubtedly given from the same personage. Ακαδημια. καλειται δε ὁυτως ὁ Κεραμικος. Hesych. The common notion was, that it was denominated from the hero ^[1139]Ceramus, the son of Dionusus. This arose from the common mistake; by which the place was put for the person, to whom it was sacred, and whose name it bore. Ham was the supposed hero: and Ceramus was Cer-Ham, the tower or temple of Ham, which gave name to the inclosure. This abuse of terms is no where more apparent than in an inscription mentioned by Gruter; where there is a mixed title of the Deity formed from his place of worship.

Cir-Adon was the temple of Adon, or Adonis; the Amonian title of the chief God. In like manner near mount Laphystium in Bœotia, the God ^[1141]Charops was worshipped, and styled Hercules Charops. But Char-Ops, or Char-Opis, signified the temple of the serpent Deity: and was undoubtedly built of old by the people named Charopians, and Cyclopians; who were no other than the antient Cadmians. Ceramicus was an Egyptian name; and one of the gates or towers of the gates at ^[1142]Naucratis in that country was so called. It was also the name of an harbour in Caria, probably denominated from some building at the ^[1143]entrance.

I may possibly be thought to proceed too far in abridging history of so many heroic personages, upon whose names antiquity has impressed a reverence; and whose mighty actions have never been disputed. For though the dress and colouring may have been thought the work of fancy, yet the substance of their history has been looked upon as undeniably true. To which I answer, that it was undoubtedly founded in truth: and the only way to ascertain what is genuine, must be by stripping history of this unnatural veil, with which it has been obscured; and to reduce the whole to its original appearance. This may be effected upon the principles which I have laid down; for if instead of Perseus, or Hercules, we substitute bodies of men, who went under such titles, the history will be rendered very probable, and consistent. If instead of one person, Cadmus traversing so much ground, and introducing the rites of his country at Rhodes, Samos, Thera, Thasus, Samothrace, and building so many cities in Libya, we suppose these things to have been done by colonies, who were styled Cadmians, all will be very right, and the credibility of the history not disputed. Many difficulties may by these means be solved, which cannot otherwise be explained: and great light will be thrown upon the mythology of the antients.

The story then of Cadmus, and Europa, relates to people from Egypt, and Syria, who went abroad at different times, and settled in various parts. They are said to have been determined in their place of residence by an ox, or cow: by which this only is meant, that they were directed by an oracle: for without such previous inquiry no colonies went abroad. An oracle by the Amonians was termed Alphi, and Alpha, the voice of God. In Egypt the principal oracular temples were those of the sacred animals Apis and Mneuis. These animals were highly reverenced at Heliopolis, and Memphis, and in other cities of that country. They were of the male kind; but the honours were not confined to them; for the cow and heifer were held in the like veneration, and they were esteemed equally prophetic. Hence it was, that they were in common with the Apis and Mneuis styled Alphi, and Alpha: which name was likewise current among the Tyrians, and Sidonians. In consequence of this, Plutarch, speaking of the letter Alpha, says, ^[1144]Φοινικας ὁυτω καλειν τον Βουν. The Phenicians call an ox Alpha. And Hesychius speaks to the same purpose. Αλφα, βους. Thus we find that Alpha was both an oracle, and an oracular animal. The Grecians took it in the latter acceptation; and instead of saying that the Cadmians acted in obedience to an oracle, they gave out, that Cadmus followed a cow. What is alluded to in the animal, which was supposed to have been his guide, may be known by the description given of it by Pausanias: ^[1145]Επι δε ἑκατερας της βοος πλευρας σημειον επειναι λευκον, εικασμενον κυκλῳ της Σεληνης. There was a white mark on each side of the cow like the figure of the moon. The poet quoted by the Scholiast upon Aristophanes speaks to the same purpose. ^[1146]Λευκον σχημ' ἑκατερθε περιπλοκον, ηυτε Μηνης. This is an exact description of the ^[1147]Apis, and other sacred kine in Egypt: and the history relates to an oracle given to the Cadmians in that country. This the Grecians have represented, as if Cadmus had been conducted by a cow: the term Alphi, and Alpha, being liable to be taken in either of these acceptations. Nonnus speaks of Cadmus as bringing the rites of ^[1148]Dionusus, and Osiris, from Egypt to Greece: and describes him according to the common notion as going in quest of a bull, and as being determined in his place of residence by a ^[1149]cow. Yet he afterwards seems to allude to the true purport of the history; and says, that the animal spoken of was of a nature very different from that, which was imagined: that it was not one of the herd, but of divine original.

Under the character of Europa are to be understood people styled Europians from their particular mode of worship. The first variation from the purer Zabaism consisted in the Ophiolatria, or worship of the serpent. This innovation spread wonderfully; so that the chief Deity of the Gentile world was almost universally worshipped under this symbolical representation. The serpent among the Amonians was styled Oph, Eph, and Ope: by the Greeks expressed Οφις, Οπις, Ουπις: which terms were continually combined with the different titles of the Deity. This worship prevailed in Babylonia, Egypt, and Syria: from which countries it was brought by the Cadmians into Greece. Serpentis eam venerationem acceperunt Græci a Cadmo. ^[1151]Vossius. It made a part in all their ^[1152]mysteries; and was attended with some wonderful circumstances: of which I have before made some mention in the treatise de Ophiolatriâ. Colonies, which went abroad, not only went under the patronage, but under some title of their God: and this Deity was in aftertimes supposed to have been the real conductor. As the Cadmians, and Europians, were Ophitæ, both their temples, and cities, also the hills, and rivers, where they settled, were often denominated from this circumstance. We read of Anopus Asopus, Oropus, Europus, Charopus, Ellopis, Ellopia; all nearly of the same purport, and named from the same object of worship. Europa was a ^[1153]Deity: and the name is a compound Eur-Ope, analogous to Canope, Canophis, and Cnuphis of Egypt; and signifies Orus Pytho. It is rendered by the Greeks as a feminine, upon a supposition, that it was the name of a woman; but it related properly to a country; and we find many places of the like etymology in Media, Syria, and Babylonia: which were expressed in the masculine Europos, and Oropus. The same also is observable in Greece.

I have shewn, that Cadmus was Taut, or Thoth; the Taautes of Sanchoniathon. It is said of this person, that he first introduced the worship of the serpent: and this so early, that not only the Tyrians and Sidonians, but the Egyptians received it from him. From hence we may infer, that it came from ^[1154]Babylonia, ^[1155]Την μεν ουν του Δρακοντος φυσιν, και των οφεων, αυτος εξεθειασεν ὁ Τααυτος, και μετ' αυτον αυθις Φοινικες τε, και Αιγυπτιοι.

The learned writers, who have treated of the Cadmians, have failed in nothing more, than in not considering, that they were a twofold colony, which came both from Egypt, and Syria: from Egypt first; and then from Syria, and Canaan. In their progress westward they settled in Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Samos, Lesbos, Thrace: also in Eubœa, Attica, and Bœotia. In process of time they were enabled to make settlements in other parts, particularly in Epirus and Illyria: and to occupy some considerable provinces in Italy as high up as the Padus. Wherever they passed they left behind them numberless memorials: but they are to be traced by none more plainly than by their rites, and worship. As they occupied the greatest part of Syria, that country was particularly addicted to this species of idolatry. Many temples were erected to the Ophite God: and many cities were denominated from him. Both ^[1156]Appian and Stephanus Byzantinus mention places in Syrophenicia called Oropus. Upon the Euphrates also in Mesopotamia were the cities ^[1157]Amphipolis, and ^[1158]Dura, both called of old Oropus. The chief Syrian God had the title of Bel, Baal, and Belial: which last the Greeks rendered Βελιαρ. Hence Clemens instead of saying, what agreement can there be between Christ and Belial, says ^[1159]Τις δε συμφωνησις Χριστου προς ΒΕΛΙΑΡ. This Belial, or Beliar, was the same as Belorus, and Osiris, who were worshipped under the symbol of a serpent. Hence Hesychius explains the term Beliar by a serpent. Βελιαρ—δρακων. Beliar is the same as a dragon or serpent. The Cadmians are said to have betaken themselves to Sidon, and Biblus: and the country between these cities is called Chous at this day. To the north is the city, and province of Hama: and a town, and castle, called by D'Anville Cadmus; by the natives expressed Quadamus, or ^[1160]Chadamus. The Cadmians probably founded the temple of Baal Hermon in Mount Libanus, and formed one of the Hivite nations in those parts. Bochart has very justly observed, that an Hivite is the same as an ^[1161]Ophite: and many of this denomination resided under Mount Libanus, and Anti-Libanus; part of which was called Baal Hermon, as we learn from the sacred writings. ^[1162]Now these are the nations, which the Lord left to prove Israel, namely, five Lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians; and the Hivites that dwell in Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath. There were other Hivites, who are mentioned by Moses among the children of ^[1163]Canaan. But the Cadmonites, and many of the people about Mount Libanus were of another family. The Hivites of Canaan Proper were those, who by a stratagem obtained a treaty with ^[1164]Joshua. Their chief cities were Gibeon, Cephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. These lay within the the tribe of ^[1165]Judah, and of Benjamin, who possessed the southern parts of Canaan. But the other Hivites, among whom were the Cadmonites, lay far to the north under Libanus, at the very extremities of the country. The sacred writer distinguishes them from the Canaanites, as well as from the other Hivites, by saying, the Hivites of Baal Hermon. And he seems to distinguish the Sidonians from the genuine Canaanites, and justly: for if we may credit prophane history, the Cadmians had obtained the sovereignty in that city: and the people were of a mixed race. ^[1166]Καδμος—Τυρου και Σιδωνος εβασιλευεν. The Cadmians extended themselves in these parts quite to the Euphrates, and westward to the coast of Greece, and Ausonia; and still farther to the great Atlantic. They went under the name of Ellopians, Oropians, ^[1167]Cadmonites, Hermonians, Ophitæ, and wherever they settled there will be always found some reference to their antient history, and religion. As they were particularly styled Ophitæ, or Hivites, many places whither they came, were said to swarm with ^[1168]serpents. Rhodes was under this predicament, and had the name of Ophiusa: which name was given on account of the Hivites, who there settled, and of the serpent-worship, which they introduced. But the common notion was, that it was so called from real serpents, with which it was infested. The natives were said to have been of the giant race, and the ^[1169]Heliadæ or offspring of the Sun; under which characters the antients particularly referred to the sons of Chus, and Canaan. Their coming to the island is alluded to under the arrival both of Danaus and Cadmus, by whom the rites, and ^[1170]religion of the Rhodians are supposed to have been introduced. In Greece were several cities named Oropus, by which is signified Ori Serpentis civitas. One of these was near ^[1171]Tanagia upon the border of Attica, and Bœotia. This is the very spot where the Cadmians first resided: and the city was undoubtedly built by them. It stood near the warm baths of Amphiaraus, whose temple belonged to the Oropians; and who was particularly worshipped by them. We are informed by Strabo, that the temple of Amphiaraus was built either in imitation, or in memory, of one called Cnopia at ^[1172]Thebes. Cnopia is a contraction for Can-Opia; and the temple was certainly founded by people from Egypt. It took its name from Can-ope, or Can-opus, the Ophite God of that country; and of the people likewise, by whom the building was erected. The natives of Bœotia had many memorials of their having been originally Ophites. The history of their country had continual references to serpents and dragons. They seem to have been the national insigne: at least they were esteemed so by the people of Thebes. Hence we find, that upon the tomb of Epaminondas there was figured a shield with a serpent for a device, to signify that he was an Ophite, or ^[1173]Theban. The Spartans were of the same race: and there is said to have been the same device upon the shield of ^[1174]Menelaus, and of ^[1175]Agamemnon. The story of Cadmus, and of the serpent, with which he engaged upon his arrival in Bœotia, relates to the Ophite worship, which was there instituted by the Cadmians. So Jason in Colchis, Apollo in Phocis, Hercules at Lerna, engaged with serpents, all which are histories of the same purport; but mistaken by the later Grecians.

It will not, I think, be amiss to take notice of some of those countries westward, to which Cadmus is said to have betaken himself. From Bœotia he is supposed to have passed to Epirus and Illyria; and it is certain, that the Cadmians settled in many places upon that coast. In Thesprotia was a province of the Athamanes; who were denominated from their Deity Ath-Man, or Ath-Manes. Here were the rivers Acheron, and Cocytus, the lake Acherusia, and the pestiferous pool ^[1176]Aornon Here was the city Acanthus similar to one of the same name about forty miles above ^[1177]Memphis: and a nation of people called ^[1178]Oreitæ: all which have a reference to Egypt. The oracle at Dodona was founded by people from the same country, as we are assured by ^[1179]Herodotus and others. And not only colonies from that country, but people from Canaan must have betaken themselves to these parts, as is evident from names of places. This will appear from the city ^[1180]Phœnice: and from another near Oricum, called Palæste; and from the coast and region styled Palæstina. This was the spot where Cæsar landed, before he marched to Pharsalia. ^[1181]Postridie terram attigit Cerauniorum saxa inter, et alia loca periculosa, quietam nactus stationem. At portus omnes timens, quod teneri ab adversariis arbitrabatur, ad eundem locum, qui adpellatur Palæste, omnibus navibus incolumibus, milites exposuit. Lucan takes notice of the same circumstance, and the coast Palæstina.

Here was the haven Comar, or ^[1183]Comarus, near the pool Aornus: and a city ^[1184]Oropus, similar to the Oropus of Syria, and Bœotia. And higher up was a region Europa, styled Europa Scythica by Festus Rufus. It is observable that there was a city in Epirus called ^[1185]Tecmon, similar to one in Canaan, as we may infer from the chief of David's captains being styled the ^[1186]Tecmonite.

Some of this family proceeded to the western part of the Adriatic gulf, and settled upon the Eridanus, or Po. Here were the Orobians, the same as the Oropians, whose chief city was Comus: near which the consul Marcellus overthrew the ^[1187]Galli Insubres. The story of Phaethon, who was supposed to have fallen into the Eridanus, is manifestly of Egyptian original; as the fable of Cycnus is from Canaan. Phaethon is by some represented as the first king, who reigned in ^[1188]Chaonia, and Epirus. He was in reality the same as Osiris, the Sun; whose worship was in there very early, as well as upon the Padus. The names of the Deities in every country are generally prefixed to the list of kings, and mistaken accordingly. Cycnus is supposed to have resided not only in Liguria, but in Ætolia, and Phocis. There was in these parts a lake ^[1189]Conope, from Cycnus called also ^[1190]Cycnëa; which names undoubtedly came from Egypt, and Canaan. The colonies upon the Padus left many memorials of their original; especially those, who were from the Caphtorim of Palestina. Some of them had carried on a great work upon the part of the river, where they settled; which from them was called ^[1191]Fossa Philistina; and Fossiones Philistinæ. Of this I have made mention ^[1192]before.

It is said of Cadmus, that at the close of his life, he was, together with his wife Harmonia, changed to a serpent of stone. This wonderful metamorphosis is supposed to have happened at Encheliæ, a town in Illyria, which circumstance is taken notice of by Lucan.

The true history is this. These two personages were here enshrined in a temple, or Petra: and worshipped under the symbol of a serpent. Scylax Caryandensis, speaking of this part of Illyria, says, ^[1194]Καδμου και Ἁρμονιας ὁι λιθοι εισιν ενταυθα, και ἱερον. In this region are two stones sacred to Cadmus, and Harmonia: and there is likewise a temple dedicated to them. Lucan, who calls the place Encheliæ, speaks of the name as of great antiquity. It undoubtedly was of long standing, and a term from the Amonian language. Encheliæ, Εγχελιαι, is the place of En-Chel, by which is signified the fountain of heaven; similar to Hanes, Anorus, Anopus in other parts. The temple was an Ophite Petra: which terms induced people to believe, that there were in these temples serpents petrified. It is possible, that in later times the Deity may have been worshipped under this form: whence it might truly be said of Cadmus, and Harmonia, that they would one day be exhibited in stone.

But the notion in general arose from a mistake; and was owing to a misinterpretation of the word Petra. On this account many personages were said to have undergone this change. Pollux, who was of a character superior to what is generally imagined, was said to have been turned to a stone.

Ariadne underwent the like ^[1197]change. Also Battus, Atlas, ^[1198]Alcmena, and others. All these histories relate to personages, enshrined in temples styled Petra, who had a στυλος or rude pillar erected to their honour. This was the usage in all parts, before the introduction of images. There are allusions to these Ophite temples, and to these pillars, upon the coins of Syria, and Tyre. Upon these the Deity is represented between two rough stones, with two ^[1199]serpents on each side of him. A temple of this sort, which betrayed great antiquity, stood in the vicinity of Thebes, and was called the serpent's head. Pausanius speaks of it as remaining in his ^[1200]time. The same author affords another instance in his account of Achaia; which is attended with some remarkable circumstances. He tells us, ^[1201]that at Pheræ, a city of that region, was a fountain sacred to Hermes; and the name of it was Hama. Near this fountain were thirty large stones, which had been erected in antient times. Each of these was looked upon as a representative of some Deity. And Pausanias remarks, that instead of images, the Greeks in times of old universally paid their adoration to rude unwrought ^[1202]stones.

That the Cadmians were the people, whom I suppose them, may I think be proved from many other circumstances. There are some particulars in the history of these emigrants, by which they may be as effectually distinguished, as by any national mark of feature, or complexion. I have taken notice in a former treatise of the Cuthites, who came from Babylonia and settled in Egypt; and who were afterwards expelled the country. They came under different titles; and were styled Phenicians, Arabians, and Ethiopians; but they were more particularly distinguished by the name of Oritæ, and of shepherds. These appellations must be carefully kept in remembrance, for they will be found to occur in almost every part of the world, wherever any of this family settled. In the histories above given of Osiris, Dionusus, and others, we find, that the sons of Chus are represented as great travellers, and at the same time general benefactors: and it is to be observed, that the same characters occur in every history: the great outlines are the same in all. They appear to have been zealous worshippers of the Sun; and addicted to the rites of fire: which mode of worship they propagated, wherever they came. They are described as of superior stature, and were reputed the sons of Anac, and Urius, from Canaan, and Babylonia. In respect to science, they seem to have been very eminent, if we consider the times when they lived. They were particularly famed for their knowledge in astronomy, architecture, and music. They had great sagacity in finding ^[1203]mines, and consequently were very rich. Lastly, there continually occurs in their history some allusion to shepherds. Every one of these particulars may be met with in the accounts given of the Cadmians: but it was the turn of the times to make every thing centre in their imaginary leader, Cadmus. He is supposed to have found out mines in Cyprus, and Thrace: and to have been the inventor of letters, and the introducer of science. To him are ascribed the temples at Rhodes; and the buildings in Attica and Bœotia. We find him celebrated as a great ^[1204]theologist and astronomer: and it is reported of Cadmus, as it was also of Orpheus, that he left behind him many valuable remains, which ^[1205]Bion Proconnesius is said to have translated. But all these gifts, so lavishly bestowed upon one person, should be transferred to a people, who went under the name of Cadmians: and in whom all these requisites are to be found. If we make this allowance, the history will be found to be true. This people, in their migrations westward, were accompanied by others from Canaan, and Syria. I have shewn that they settled at Rhodes, where they were called Ophites, or Hivites. Another of their titles was Heliadæ, or children of the ^[1206]Sun. They were looked upon as adepts in every branch of science, and particularly famed for their skill in astronomy. They were the first navigators of the seas; and the division of time, with the notification of seasons, is ascribed to them. ^[1207]Ὁι δε Ἡλιαδαι διαφοροι γεγονοτες των αλλων εν παιδειᾳ διηνεγκαν, και μαλιστα εν Αστρολογιᾳ· εισηγησαντο δε και περι της ναυτιλιας πολλα, πολλα δε και περι τας ὡρας διεταξαν. All these arts, if we may believe Herodotus, took their rise in ^[1208]Babylonia: from whence they were carried by the Oritæ into Egypt: and from Egypt westward to Rhodes, and to various parts besides. The Oritæ, or Auritæ, were the same as the Heliadæ, denominated from the great object of their worship, the Sun. He was among other titles styled ^[1209]Orites: as we learn from Lycophron: which is by his Scholiast interpreted the Sun. ^[1210]Ωριτην θεον, τον αυτον Ἡλιον. The Deity, which is termed Orites, is no other than the Sun. These Heliadæ were Ophitæ; and introduced at Rhodes, and in other places, the worship of the serpent. Hence they occur in Greece under various titles, such as Ellopians, Europians, Oropians, Asopians, and the like, being so denominated from places which they consecrated to Ops, and Opis, the serpent. The Cadmians settled in Eubœa, which was called Ellopia from Ellops, a supposed brother of ^[1211]Cothus. Plutarch gives an account of Cothus himself coming to Eubœa in company with another named Arclus. ^[1212]Κοθος, και Αρκλος, ὁι Ξουθου παιδες εις Ευβοιαν ἡκον οικησαντες. By Cothus and Arclus are meant Cuthites and Herculeans, people of the same family, who settled in this island. The Oritæ of Egypt were also styled Arabians; and the Arabian nome was denominated from them. The Cadmians, who settled in Eubœa, may be traced under the same names. Strabo calls the people, who were supposed to attend Cadmus, Arabians, ^[1213]Αραβες, ὁι συν Καδμῳ. One district in the island was denominated from them, Æthiopium: ^[1214]Αιθιοπιον, ονομα χωριου εν Ευβοιᾳ. This is more particularly described by Stephanus, as the passage is happily corrected by Salmasius. Αιθιοπιον, χωριον Ευβοιας παρα Δηλιου, πλησιον του Ευριπου. There is a part of Eubœa hard by Delium, and near to the Euripus, called Ethiopium. But the most critical mark, by which any of these islands were distinguished, was that of ^[1215]Oritæ. This is the express title of the shepherds in Egypt; which they assumed both on account of the Deity, whom they worshipped, and in reference to the city Ur in Chaldea, from whence they were in part derived. They founded a city of the same name in Eubœa, which the Greeks expressed ^[1216]Oria: whence came the provincial title of Oritæ. Here Orion was supposed to have been ^[1217]nursed, whose history we know was from Babylonia. The natives had a tradition, that he was the son of ^[1218]Urieus, and of the gigantic race: the purport of which, I think, cannot be mistaken. They passed, as I have shewn, from Eubœa to Attica, and Bœotia. Here also was a city ^[1219]Ur, like that in Chaldea, and a tradition about Orion being born in these parts. They likewise pretended to shew his ^[1220]tomb. This city Ur, or Uria, was in the district of Tanagra, and stood directly opposite to the province of Ethiopia in Eubœa, being separated only by the narrow frith of the ^[1221]Euripus. They settled also at Træzen, where Orus is said to have resided: by which we are to understand his worshippers, the Oritæ. ^[1222]Φασι δε Ωρον γενεσθαι σφισιν εν γῃ πρωτον· εμοι μεν ουν Αιγυπτιον φαινεται, και ουδαμως Ἑλληνικον ονομα Ωρος ειναι. Βασιλευσαι δ' ουν φασιν αυτον, και Ωραιαν απ' αυτου καλεισθαι την γην. The people of Træzen, says Pausanias, give out, that one Orus was the first in their country. But the name Orus to me seems to have been of Egyptian original. They farther relate, that this Orus was a king, and that the province was from him called Oraia. Uria above, and Oraia here, however differently expressed, signify literally the land of Ur. In all these places the Cuthites went under various appellations, but particularly of Cyclopians, Ellopians, and ^[1223]Europians from their worship. Agreeably to the account which has been above given, we find, that the Heroum of Cadmus at Sparta was built by Europus, and his brethren: and they likewise are represented as the sons of ^[1224]Uræus. As we are acquainted with the eastern manner of speaking; and know that by the daughter of Tyre, the daughter of Jerusalem, the children of Moab, the children of Kedar, the children of Seir, the children of the east, are meant the inhabitants of those places: may we not be assured that by Europus and the sons of Urius and Uræus, are pointed out a people styled Europians of Babylonish extraction, who were ab origine from Ur in Chaldea? And is it not plain, that the history of Cadmus is founded upon terms ill understood, and greatly misapplied? Yet the truth is not totally defaced, as I hope, that I have made appear. By Moses Chorenensis Cadmus is represented as of the giant race; and he is said to have come from ^[1225]Babylonia. Nonnus mentions his planting in Greece a colony of giants.

Hence the Cadmians were styled Ανακες, and ^[1227]Ανακτες; and the temples of their Gods, Ανακτορια, Anactoria. These terms were imported from the Anakim of Egypt and Canaan: but as the people, who brought them, were Oritæ, and the sons of Urius, they must ultimately have come from Babylonia. Here astronomy, and the other sciences first commenced; and the worship of the Sun was first instituted: where the priests, and professors were styled Oritæ, and ^[1228]Orchani. Lucian indeed says, that astronomy was not derived to the Greeks either from the Egyptians, or the Ethiopians; but from ^[1229]Orpheus. This however intimates, that the Ethiopians, under which name the sons of Chus are mentioned by the ^[1230]Greeks, were supposed to have introduced science into this country; otherwise this caveat had been unnecessary. But we shall in the end shew, that Orpheus was from the same quarter. And to put the matter out of all doubt, we find Herodotus maintaining very determinately, that the knowledge of the heavens, and every thing relating to the distribution of time, was imported from ^[1231]Babylonia. As these Babylonians, these sons of Urius, manifestly came to Greece by the way of Egypt, it appears pretty evident, that they were the sons of Chus, of the shepherd race, who so long held the sovereignty in that kingdom. Hence it is, that throughout the whole mythology of the Grecians there are continual allusions to shepherds; a title, which we know was peculiar to the Auritæ of Egypt. Nonnus, in his allegorical poem, describes Cadmus in a pastoral habit, playing upon an instrument, and reclining himself under the shade of an oak.

He gives to him the same powers in harmony which were attributed to Orpheus. Hence Cadmus is made to say that he could charm the woods upon the mountains, and sooth the wild beasts of the forest: that he could even calm the ocean, and stop the course of its turbulent waters.

Almost all the principal persons, whose names occur in the mythology of Greece and Italy, are represented as shepherds. Not only the Gods Faunus, Apollo, Pan, Sylvanus, Pales, Adonis, but Eumelus, Triptolemus, Ericthonius, Eumolpus, Aristæus, Battus, Daphnis, Terambus of Egypt, and Osiris, are represented of that profession. Hence it is, that we find altars, and inscriptions to the shepherd ^[1234]Gods. Apollo was styled Νομευς, and Ποιμνιος; and was said to have been educated in ^[1235]Arabia. When Rhea produced to the world Poseidon, she gave him to the care of a ^[1236]shepherd to bring him up among the flocks. Atlas, the great astronomer, is represented as a shepherd. ^[1237]Ατλας μαθηματικος ην Λιβυς ανηρ.—Πολυειδος δε ὁ διθυραμβοποιος τον Ατλαντα τουτον ΠΟΙΜΕΝΑ Λιβυν φησιν. Atlas the great mathematician, was a person of Libya. The Dithyrambic poet Polueidos says, that Atlas was a Libyan shepherd. There was a tradition that the temple of Ammon in Libya was built by a shepherd, from whom it received its name; ^[1238]απο του ἱδρυσαμενου ποιμενος. It is reported of the Muses, that they were of shepherd extraction, and tended flocks, which they entrusted to their favourite Aristæus.

This is the person by Virgil styled Pastor Aristæus. Zethus and Amphion are described as of the same profession, though kings of Thebes, ^[1240]Ζηθος δε και Αμφιων αδελφοι ησαν ποιμενες. Even the monster Polyphemus is taken notice of as a musician, and a ^[1241]shepherd. Macrobius mentions, that among the Phrygians the Sun was worshipped under a pastoral ^[1242]character, with a pipe and a wand. Tiresias, the prophet, is by Hyginus styled Tiresias, Eueri filius, or as some read it, Tiresias, Eurii filius, ^[1243]Pastor. This was also one of the titles out of many conferred upon the Phenician Hercules, to whom they attributed the invention of purple. He was the chief Deity, the same as Cham, and Orus, the God of light; to whom there is a remarkable invocation in the Dionusiaca of Nonnus.

Some of the pyramids in Egypt were styled the pyramids of the shepherd ^[1245]Philitis; and were said to have been built by people, whom the Egyptians held in abomination: from whence we may form a judgment of the persons, by whom those edifices were erected. Many hills, and places of reputed sanctity were denominated from shepherds. Caucasus, in the vicinity of Colchis, had its name conferred by Jupiter in memory of Caucasus a shepherd. ^[1246]Το ορος εις τιμην του Ποιμενος Καυκασον μετονομασας. Mount Cithæron in Bœotia was called Asterius; but received the former name from one Cithæron, a ^[1247]shepherd, supposed to have been there slain. I have mentioned from Herodotus, that the Cadmians built the temple of ^[1248]Damater, or Ceres, in Attica, where they introduced her worship. And there is a remarkable circumstance mentioned in consequence of this by Hesychius, who tells us, that the priests of this Goddess were of a particular family, called Ποιμενιδαι, or the Shepherd race. Ποιμενιδαι, γενος, εξ ὁυ ὁ Δημητρος ἱερευς. The Cadmians therefore, from whom this priesthood came, must have been in a peculiar manner shepherds. The mountain Apæsantus in Argolis is said to have been named from ^[1249]Apæsantus, a shepherd. The Cuthites settled in Thrace near Hæmus, in Sethonia; of whom Stephanus gives this short but remarkable history: εκαλουντο προτερον Νομαιοι. The author does not say, that they were shepherds; but that they antiently were so called: so that it was not so much the profession, as the title of the people. They settled in Hetruria, and Latium; in which last province stood the city Præneste, of which I have before spoken. It was said to have been of high antiquity, and was founded by Cœculus,

We find here, that the founder of this city was a shepherd, and a king, and the reputed son of Vulcan, the same as Urius. It is said of him, that he was, inventum focis, because he was ab origine from the land of fire; by which is meant Ur of Chaldea. So the personage, represented under the character of Cacus upon Mount Aventine, is by Livy said to have been a shepherd. ^[1251]Pastor accola ejus loci, nomine Cacus, ferox viribus. He likewise is said to have been the son of the God of Fire: ^[1252]Huic monstro Vulcanus erat pater. The first city which the Cadmians built in Bœotia was named ^[1253]Poimandris; or as Eustathius renders it Poimandria, ^[1254]Ποιμανδρια; the same which was afterwards called Tanagra. It is said to have been so denominated from one Poimander. This name is by interpretation a shepherd, or rather a shepherd of men. It answers to the title of Ποιμην λαου, so frequently to be met with in Homer. That excellent Poet was wonderfully fond of every thing, which savoured of antiquity: and has continual references to the antient history of Egypt, and to the rites of that country. He sometimes seems to adhere superstitiously to obsolete terms, thinking probably, that they enriched his verse, and gave a venerable air to the narration. Of these, no one occurs more frequently than the title of a shepherd Prince, which he bestows on many of his leaders. It is the translation of a title, which the sons of Chus, as well as the Egyptians, gave to their Deities, and to their kings. Hence the writings of Hermes were inscribed the works of the Shepherd Prince, as we may infer from the Greek transcript: for that was written in imitation of the former, and called ^[1255]Poimandras.

Thus have I endeavoured to state the progress of the Cuthites under their different appellations to Greece; and to describe the rout which they took in their peregrinations, I have shewn, that under the title of Phenicians and Cadmians, they first settled in Canaan, and in the region about Tyre and Sidon: from whence they extended themselves towards the midland parts of Syria; where they built Antioch. ^[1256]Κασος, και Βηλος, Ιναχου παιδες, προς τῳ Οροντῃ ποταμῳ την νυν Αντιοχειαν της Συριας πολιν εκτισαν. Casus, and Belus, two sons of Inachus, built the city in Syria, which is now called Antioch upon the river Orontes. By Casus is meant Chus; and Belus is a Babylonish title of Ham, as well as of his immediate descendants, who are here alluded to. From Syria they penetrated to the Euphrates, and from thence to Armenia: and that there were colonies here of Amonians, and particularly of the Cuthites, may be known from the history of Cadmus: but more especially from the similitude of language, person, and manners, which subsisted among these ^[1257]nations. Zonaras is very explicit upon this head. He mentions the incroachments of the sons of Ham in these parts, and shews the extent of the trespass, of which they were guilty. ^[1258]Ὁιδε γε παιδες του Χαμ την απο Συριας και Αβανου και Λιβανου των ορων γην κατεσχον, και ὁσα προς θαλασσαν αυτων ετετραπτο, μεχρις ωκεανου, κατειληφασι. In respect to the sons of Ham, they seized upon all the inland country, which reaches from Syria, and particularly from the mountains Albanus, and Libanus: and all the region, which from thence extends towards the sea, even as far as the Ocean. Of these emigrants Tacitus has given a curious account, which has never been sufficiently heeded. He takes notice of those who settled in Canaan, as well as those who passed higher towards the north. ^[1259]Sunt, qui tradant Assyrios convenas, indigum agrorum populum, parte Ægypti potitos, ac mox ^[1260]proprias urbes, Hebræasque terras, et propiora Syriæ coluisse. As the Cadmians settled about Byblus and Sidon, there seems in consequence of it to have been a religious correspondence kept up between this colony and Egypt. It is said according to the enigmatical turn of the times, that the head of Osiris was annually wafted by the floods to ^[1261]Byblus. It was reported to have been just seven days in its passage; and the whole was performed θειῃ ναυτιλιῃ, by a voyage truly miraculous. There are many proofs that the religion of Syria came in great measure from Egypt. The rites of Adonis, and the lamentations upon his account at Sidon, and Byblus, were copies of the mourning for Osiris, and represented in the same ^[1262]manner. Lucian, having described the pompous temple at Hierapolis, says, that there was another in the neighbourhood, not of Assyrian, but Egyptian original; the rites of which were received by the natives from Heliopolis in that ^[1263]country. This he did not see: but speaks of it as very grand, and of high antiquity.

These particulars I have thought proper to discuss thoroughly, in order to disclose the true history of the Cadmians, as I am hereby enabled to prove the great antiquity of this people; and to shew who they were, and from whence they came. It has been observed by many of the learned, that some particular race of men spread themselves abroad, and got access among numberless nations. Some have thought that they were Scythians: others, that they were Egyptians: others still, that they were from Phenicia, and Canaan. What they have said upon the subject, however they may seem to differ from one another, may in some degree be allowed. But I believe, that the true account is that which I have here given. I have endeavoured, with great pains, to sift the history to the bottom: and it is to me manifest, that they were for the most part the Auritæ, those shepherds of Egypt. This people had spread themselves over that country like a deluge: but were in time forced to retreat, and to betake themselves to other parts. In consequence of this they were dissipated over regions far remote. They were probably joined by others of their family, as well as by the Canaanites, and the Caphtorim of Palestina. They are to be met with in Persis, and Gedrosia, under the name of Oritæ. They are to be found in Bœtica upon the Atlantic under the same ^[1264]name. They settled in Colchis, Thrace, Phrygia, Sicily, and Hetruria; and upon the extreme parts of the Mediterranean: Diluvio ex illo tot vasta per æquora vecti.

These are the migrations, of which the antient historian ^[1265]Istrus wrote in a curious treatise, long since lost; which he inscribed περι των Αιγυπτιων αποικιας. We meet with a summary account of them in Diodorus Siculus, who mentions, that after the death of Isis and Osiris the Egyptians sent out many colonies, which were scattered over the face of the earth. ^[1266]Ὁ δε ουν Αιγυπτιοι φασι και μετα ταυτα αποικιας πλειστας εξ Αιγυπτου κατα πασαν διασπαρηναι την οικουμενην. Of these migrations there were two remarkable above the rest: the one of the sons of Chus, concerning whom I have been treating; the other of the Israelites, which was somewhat later than the former. The author above takes notice of both these occurrences, in a most valuable extract preserved by Photius; wherein he does not sufficiently distinguish the particular families of these emigrants, nor the different times of the migration: yet the account is very curious; and the history of each transaction plainly delineated. ^[1267]Ευθυς ουν ὁι ξενολατουμενων των αλλοεθνων ὁι επιφανεστατοι, και δραστικωτατοι συστραφεντες εξεῤῥιφησαν, ὡς τινες φασιν, εις την Ἑλλαδα, και τινας ἑτερους τοπους, εχοντες αξιολογους ἡγεμονας· ὡν ἡγουντο Δαναος, και Καδμος, των αλλων επιφανεστατοι. Ὁδε πολυς λεως εξεπεσεν εις την νυν καλουμενην Ιουδαιαν. Upon this, as some writers tell us, the most eminent and enterprising of those foreigners, who were in Egypt, and obliged to leave the country, betook themselves to the coast of Greece, and also to other regions, having put themselves under the command of proper leaders for that purpose. Some of them were conducted by Danaus, and Cadmus, who were the most illustrious of the whole. There were beside these a large, but less noble, body of people, who retired into the province called now ^[1268]Judea.

When therefore we speak of the history of Greece as far back as we can carry it, and of the rites and religion introduced into that country, we may accede to the account given of them by Zonaras. ^[1269]Εκ Χαλδαιων γαρ λεγεται φοιτησαι ταυτα προς Αιγυπτον κακειθεν προς Ἑλληνας. All these things came from Chaldea to Egypt; and from thence were derived to the Greeks. The same is attested by ^[1270]Josephus. What preceded the arrival of the Cadmians, and other Cuthites, in these parts, is utterly unknown. With them commences the history of the country. It is true, there are accounts concerning Erectheus, Ericthonius, Cecrops, and other antient kings: but they were superadded to the history of Attica, just as the names of Inachus, Phoroneus, Apis, were to that of Argos. It was therefore matter of great surprise to Solon, when he was informed by the Egyptian priests of the antient occurrences of their country, and of the wars of the Atlantians, to find the same names stand at the head of their histories, as were observable in those of Greece: ^[1271]Κεκροπος τε, και Ερεχθεως, και Εριχθονιου, και Ερισιχθονος, των τε αλλων. For instance, the names of Cecrops, Erectheus, Ericthonius, Erisicthon, and others. Και τα των Γυναικων και ταυτα. The names also of their women were the same. In reality, they were all titles of the Deity, as might be easily shewn. Erectheus for instance was the God of the sea, and as such worshipped by the very people who enlisted him among their kings. This may be proved from Athenagoras. ^[1272]Αθηναιος Ερεχθει Ποσειδωνι θυει. The Athenian sacrifices to Erectheus the same as Poseidon. Strabo seems to think, that most of the antient names were foreign; ^[1273]such as Cecrops, and Codrus, and Arclus, and Cothus: and he is certainly right in his opinion.

What I have here said, may in some degree prove a basis for the history of Greece. We may indeed talk of Xuthus, Ion, and Hellen: also of the Leleges, and Pelasgi, and thus amuse ourselves in the dark: but no real emolument can possibly arise, till the cloud, with which history has been so long obscured, be done away. This cannot well be effected, till some of the first principles, upon which we are to proceed, be made out, and these great truths determined.

This inquisition I have been obliged to make concerning some of the principal personages in the annals of Greece. For it is impossible to lay a foundation for a future history unless what is true, and what is false, be previously determined. All those, of whom I have been treating, stand foremost in the lists of antiquity, and have been admitted with too little consideration. Many of the first Fathers in the Christian church, seeing the high pretensions of the Grecians, tried to invalidate their claim, by shewing that all their antient heroes were subsequent to Moses. This was the repeated labour of Clemens of Alexandria, Theophilus, Eusebius, Tatianus, and others. It was a point urged by them continually in their recommendation of the Scriptures, as if priority of time were necessarily a mark of truth. The best chronologers likewise admit these personages in their computations; and great pains have been used to reconcile the contradictions in their histories, and to ascertain the æra when they flourished. These learned men acted upon a very laudable principle, but failed in the very beginning of their process. For, as I have before taken notice, the question should not have been about the time when these persons lived, but whether they ever existed. The fathers proceeded upon very precarious grounds, and brought their evidence to a wrong test. They indeed state things very fairly, and have authorities for all that they advance. But the traditions of the Greeks were not uniform. And if any Gentile writer, instead of carrying the æra of Inachus and Phoroneus, or of Dionusus and Perseus, towards the time of Moses, had extended it to the times of the first kings in Egypt, I do not see what they could have done; for this person, in his turn, could have produced authorities. They might indeed have disputed the point, and have opposed evidence to evidence, but nothing certain could have ensued.

W. Marchant, Printer, 3, Greville-street, Holborn.