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T.;tflern languages were treated by them -in the fame manner ; 

 and the fact which we have afferted may be farther exemplified 

 by their tranflation of Baalbec, the city of Baal, which in the 

 PhcL'uician fignified Lord, and was ufed as an appellation of the 

 Sun, as the fupreme Lord of that people, into the fame more 

 mufical word, Heliopolis *. Such tranflations may poffibly 

 have been the ETrawfuau in queflion, and under this idea we 

 may fuppofe that Homer in the Iliad may have made his heroes 

 invoke the divinities by thefe trauflated names, as better adapted 



to 



* A difficulty, however, -whicli occurs refpeaing tliis lad conjeaure, mud not be con- 

 cealed. In the beginning of this book, Euterpe, page ic^, Herodotus informs us that he 

 journcjed to Heliopolis and Thebes in order to difcover if the priefts of thefe cities concurred 

 in fentinient with thofe of Memphis, from whom he had hitherto principally received his 

 information : " For," fays he, " the Heiiopolitans are efteenied the wifeft among the Egyp- 

 " tians." He then proceeds to relate what he heard from them, excepting only that myfte- 

 rlous knowledge concerning the divine nature into which probably he had been initiated, and 

 which confequeutly he was not at libeity to reveal. And here, among other Egyptian preten- 

 fions, he tells us that, according lo their rcbort, the Egyptians firft made ufe of xhe Jirnames of 

 twelve Gods, which the Greeks derived from them — ivuiixx ti ^-m i.irui>ujjn%; ihiyoy TrpJous 

 Aiyvrfliovi tc^^ffaiy ksh *E?>A»)kaf wa^a a^twr «^a^a,3l^^. — From whence We may perceive that the 

 priefts of Egypt, in their zeal to be accounted inventors and founders of all mythological fcieoce, 

 arrogated to themfelves the original ufe (or rather fanftion, for K,|x.fu properly Cgnifies /cge 

 fancio) not only of the mimes but of ihe firnames alfo of the Gods. That Herodotus how- 

 ever does not give credit to this claim we may infer, as well from his afterwards afcribing the 

 invention to Hefiod and Homer, as from the concluding words of the paragraph in queftion, 

 where he exprefsly fays that the greater pr.rt only of the Heliopolitan claims they deraonftrate 

 to be well founded — xari To!/l£ir,> f«,E» i-a '^r^ia ffyu lirlhat oCiu y£»'jfis»a — which two paflages taken 

 together would induce us to fuppofe that the original ufe, or inftituiion, of Jlrnames for the 

 Gods, and their pretention that the Greeks had received fuch firnames from them, was 

 precifely that part of their claims for which he did not think they had any good foundation. 

 What thefe E^a/it;|M.iai were, of which the Heliopolitan priefts arrogated to tiieir country the firft 

 ofe, it is impolTible even to guefs : but as they might poJJiUy have been of the fame nature 

 with thofe of v-hich our hiftorian afcribes the invention to the Grecian bards, and cannot 

 tveU be fuppofed to have been tranjljtci names, candour will not allow me to conceal a 

 circumftance wliich might perhaps feem in fome degree to militate again!! my laft conjeflure. 



