process of time, however, that great and ve- 
¢ name was totally forgotten ; and the 
human race retained no other reli- 
than the idolatrous worship of the host 
yen.” 
ith this superstition the patriarch 
seems to have te tainted, and to have 
’ the knowledge of it to his own 
ticular descendants. Although he had 
2 mercifully preserved in the ark, along 
; th the other members of his family, yet 
his subsequent conduct plainly shewed, that 
he was not only ignorant of the sanctifying 
_ influence of pure religion, but that he was a 
» stranger to the laws even of common decency. 
This leaven of the ancient idolatry lay se- 
gy ied working in the bosoms of his posterity, 
_ during the space of near 400 years; but was 
Ds en from openly shewing itself by the 
j ead of Noah, who was still living. At 
neth that venerable patriarch was removed 
_ bythe hand of death ; and the mighty hunter 
x men, the tyrannical Nimrod, rose, likea 
_ baleful comet, above the political horizon. 
He was the grandson of Ham, and the son 
of Cush; and he appears to have been the 
first avowed postdiluvian apostate. We are 
\ informed by the sacred historian, that ¢ the 
beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and 
_ KErech, and Accad, and Calneh in the land 
. _ of Shinar.” Here he attempted to establish 
an universal monarchy, and an universal re- 
_ligion; which produced a struggle between 
_ him, and the descendants of Ashur, whose 
_ dominions he had invaded. The result of 
the contest was, that Ashur was compelled 
to quit his territory, and to provide for him- 
_ self elsewhere. ‘Out of that land went 
forth Ashur, and builded Nineveb, and the 
| eity Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, be- 
| _ tween Nineveh and Calah.’ 
-_ 
_»* The very name indeed of Nimrod, whieh . 
 apparent!y signifies. a rebellious panther, 
points oui the nature of his offence; and we 
are justified in concluding, that the first post- 
i. Bician idolatry was openly established at 
his metropolis Babylon, because that city, 
| when its name is myStically applied to papal 
_ Rome, is styled the mother of harlots and 
| -bominations of the earth. The analogy is 
~ obvious: asthe ptire worship of the patri- 
 arehs was first authoritatively corrupted at 
sg so was the divine religion of Christat 
|. ** Previous to the building of the tower 
hen, I conceive, that all mankind were ac- 
gustomed solemn!y to commemorate the ca- 
Strophé of the delese; but, at the same 
time, I think it probable, that they had now 
fy begun to entertain too excessive a yencration 
| for their arkite ancestors. This veneration 
was by the degenerate Nimrod soon perverted 
_ into gross idolatry, and blended with the an- 
_tediluvian worship of the host of heaven. 
Noah and the sun were henceforth regarded 
83 One divine object; and the ark, in which 
he was preserved, was profanely reverenced 
in conjunction with the moon. ‘The Chal- 
4 
y 
FABER’S DISSERTATION ON THE MYSTERIES OF THE CABIRI. 
441. 
dtans soon became famous throughout the 
world for their astronomical researches ; and, 
while they marshalled the stars in a variety 
of distinct constellations, they contrived to 
depict upon their sphere the principal events, 
which are narrated in the history of the de- 
luge. 
<« Noah however was not the only patri- 
arch worshipped along with the sun; in sub- 
sequent ages Ham not unfrequently obtained 
the same honour. I may here, therefore, 
with propriety notice a singular sort of con- 
‘fusion, which will be found very generally 
to pervade the mythology of the heathens. 
Noah and his triple offspring are continually 
represented to us under the character of an 
ancient deity and his three sons; and- yet 
every one of these three sons is, upon various 
occasions, confounded with his father. Thus 
Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, taken 
conjointly, are evidently Noah, Ham, Japhet, 
and Shem; nevertheless, as will hereafter 
sufficiently appear, Saturn, Jupiter, and Plu- 
to, when considered separately, ave all equally 
the solar Noah, wigs Neptune very fre- 
‘quently seems to be the same patriarch adored 
as a diluvian god. This remark will equally 
apply to the Cronus of Sanchoniatho, and 
his three sons, Cronus the younger, Jupiter- 
Belus, and Apollo; to the Bradt of Hin- 
dostan, and his children Brahma, Vishnou, 
and Seeva; and to the Bore of Scandinavia, 
and his triple offspring Odin, Vile, and Ve. 
Many observations, in the course of the pre- 
sent work wiil be built upon this curious, 
though to my own conviction at least’ un- 
doubted, circumstance. 
«©'That the moon and the ark were wor- 
shipped together will abundantly appear in 
the sequel. Itis not improbable, that this 
peculiar kind of idolatry might have origi- 
nated from the following circumstance. 
When the two great superstitions wereunited, 
and when Noah began to be adored along 
with the sun, the Chaldéan astronomers, 
having observed the resemblance of acrescent 
to a boat, thought that the waning moon 
was no unapt symbol of the ark. Hence 
they were reverenced conjointly ; and hence 
we find, that the very same goddess was 
sometimes a personification of the one,. and 
sometimes of ihe other. Varro accordingly 
asserts, that the moon, when in the form of 
a crescent, was cailed Jana; but Janus is 
the scriptural Noah, consequently Jana is 
the Noetic ark or crescent. 
«© This 1 apprehend to be the only key, 
that can unlock the hidden meaning of ie 
mysterious polytheism of the antients. Osiris, 
Bacchus, Cronus, Pluto, Adonis, and Her- 
cules, taken in one point of view, as will-be 
shewn at large hereafter, are.all equally the 
sun; but, if we examine their respective his- 
tories, and attentively consider the actions, 
which are aseribed to them, we'shall he con- 
vineed, that, in their human capacity, they 
ean each be no other than the great patri- 
arch, Jn a similar manner, thet arious god- 
ie 
