Part XV.

The Chaldaic\ Pbilofopby,
Jupiter and Adonis 'm like manner did they give to the Moon the correfpondent Attributes of Ju¬ no and Venus.
To Juno belong Ada and Belta^ for fb inter-
4 In Ada, preted by Hefychius j a Ada, Juno, with the Ba-
5 In Belthes. hylonians-, b Belthes, Juno,oiVenus. Both which
are doubtlels no other than the Feminine names anlwerable to Adad and Bell, two names of the Sun. That by Juno Mythologifls fometimes
p De dm Syr. underftand the Moon, the Learned c Mr.5'^’/d'^-^ confirms by the old Form'of incalation which the Priefts ufed at the Nones of every Month, dies te quinque calo Juno novella (or co- vella, Cceleftis) to this Juno perhaps may more properly be referred what ////m iirmicus ap¬ plies to the Air 5 The AJfyrians (faith he) ufcri-^ bed the Trincipality of the Elements, to the Air, the Image whereof they WorJJoipped, ftyling it by the name of Juno or Venus the Virgin -, whom the ^ires of their Briefs Worf ipped with effemi¬ nate Voices and Gefures,their skin fmoothed,and their habit after the fajhion of Women-, thus he, but that the Afjyriatis worfhipped the Element of Air is not ellewhere ealily found j what he adds concerning their immodeft Rites, feems fa¬ ther of Affinity with thofe ofVenus,zs defcribed by other Authors.
To Venus (taken for the Moon) belong the names Mylitta and Alilat. They learnt (fivCk He¬ rodotus ipeaking of the Berjians) of the Affyri- ans and Arabians to Sacrifice to Urania : the A f-
lib. 1. fyridns call Venus Mylitta fhs. Arabians (our Sa- bmns') Alilat. Thus Herodotus who indeed feems to make this Mylitta diftinfl from the Moon, ( of whom he had fpoken a little before) but that by Alilat was meant no other, is evi¬ dent from its Etymology from Tail Night. The Ancients (faith Sihal Affemon) among many other falfe Gods, Served one whom they called Alilath, and affirmed that fhe is the Moon, as being the Mifris and ^een of the Night.
CHAP. VI.
The Chaldacan Worfhip of the Blanets
4 mr. Ne. *nr^He ref of the feven Blanets( as a Maimoni-
A des iTvTi) they held to be Gods alfo. Tci Sa¬ turn, whom Diodorus (if the Text be not depra¬ ved, which I fufpeft) affirms they held to be the chiefeft of the five, they gave the common name of Bell. Eifebius in the 2 8 th year of Thar a-, Be- lusr^^ firf King of the Afyrians died-, whom the Affyrhns fyled a God-, others call him SsLturn-, b In /Snad. lib. fdod is namedBdiA-, but among the Aflyri-
ans he is calledBEB, and by a certain Mydical c Ad Antolic. Reafon, Saturn and the Sun. c Whence Theo- itb. 5. philus Patriarch of Antioch, fome Worfhip Saturn
• od a God and call him Bell, and Baal •, this is. done chiefly by thofe who dwell in the EafernClT mates, not knowing who Saturn is, and who Belus. Chap. 5. Some conceive that the more particular name of this Planet was Chiumox Remphan : of which the Prophet Amos, but ye have born the Taber¬ nacle of yaitr Moloch and Cliwm your Images, the Stars of your God which ye made to yaursf elves: d ASs Which Text St Stephen xcnihm thus, dTea, ye took up the Tabernacle of your God Remphan,
figures which ye tnade to Worfhip them -, what is the Hebrew Chiun, the Greek renders Remphan.
By Chiun Aben Ezra underftands the Planet Sa¬ turn, whom Blautus Afo, as obferves^
calls Chiun : Repban (as Kircher sitttlfs) is ufed in the Coptick Language for the lame Planet
Of Jupiter (having fpoken already in treat¬ ing of Bell and the Sun, to both which this name was applied,) there is little more to be faid-
Mars ( as the Author of Chronicon Ale xandri- num relates) was firft owned as a Deity by the Affyrians : the AlTyrians, faith he, were the firf who did ercS a Column to lAars, and adored him as a God-, They gave him the common name of Beli^, whence the Babylonian Belus is by Hifue-. m interpreted Zeu? hvd.Ki
But a more particular name of Mars was that of Azisus, under which he was worfhipped to¬ gether with Mercury in the Temple of the Sun . at Edejfa, a City of Alefopotamia. They who in¬ habit Edella (faith Julian)a Region of a long time Sacred to the Sun, place together with him in the Temple Monimus and Azizus. That by Monimus they underftood Alcrcury, by Azizus, AIars,and that both thefe were Afleffors to the Sun, Julian acknowledgeth to have learned of his Matter Jamblicus.
Some there are who refer the Idol Negal ^ Kings ij.pi (hxought hy tho Samaritans out of Aflyria) to this Planet, for the Ral^bies fancy this Idol to have been in the form of a Cock .• Now the Cock be¬ ing ^ Sacred to Mars, and fly led his Bird in re- >f- jfijioph. gardofhis Courage, t hence they infer that Mars Seal. Arifioph was reprefented under that form, as Venus under f Kircher. that of the Hen by the Idol Succoth Benoth.
Venus was Worfhipped by the Affyrians and Chaldaans under many names .• Three of which we find in Hefychius : The firtt Belthes (or ra¬ ther which he interprets Juno and Venus.
This was a name common to the Moon allb, and fpoken of formerly.
The next Delephat, a name more appropriate to Venus than the former, as appears by its Etymology, from the Syriack word Delpha,coi- tion.
The laft Myleta,diS Hefyehyus reads, who adds, the Affyrians (fo called) Urania. Herodotus writes it Mylitta : They Learnedfikith. he,lpeak- ing of the Berftans) from the Aflyrians andhxi:, hmis, to Sacrifice tofh'dm^i: The Affyrians : 92//
Venus Mylitta, the Arabians Alilat. Of which two nami?s, tho* Alilat (as was obferved here¬ tofore) v^as given to the Moon allb ^ yet that of Mylytta feems peculiar to Venus, it* being no \ other (as Scaliger obferves) than the plain Syri¬ ack Word Mylidtha, generative or prolifick : Ve¬ nus genetrix. With this Etymology well fuit the Rites belonging to the Idol ; of which thus He¬ rodotus : The Babylonians have one abominable ^
Taw-, every Woman of that.Country, muf once in
quality, are carrfd thither in covered Chariots, and fand before the Temple, a Train of Attendants coming after them -, the greater part "do in this manner-, there are Women fitting in the Temple of VemsCrowtied with Garlands of Blowers, fome coming, others going: There are alfo fever alBaffa- ges difiinguifhed by Cords, which guide the flran- CEeee 2 ] ' g^rs
her life fit in the lempleof \tnv&,anci accompany with a Stranger. Some of rhe^ Richer fort difdain insto affociate the mfe Ives with the reft of ordinary
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%he Chddaicl\_ Philofofhy.