of the Assyrian Monarchy. 319 
the latter Nin. The same traces of mytholo- 
gical origin which we observed in Belus ap- 
pear also in Ninus. According to Joannes 
Malela, not certainly a very pure authority, 
but by whom many curious fragments of his- 
tory have been preserved, Saturn reigned 
over Syria, (Assyria) having for wife Semi- 
ramis, whom the Assyrians call Rhea, and 
had two sons, one named Ninus, the other 
Jupiter, i.e. Belus, as we have already seen, 
If Belus be, as we have shown, no historical 
personage, Ninus, who is his brother, must 
have also had a mythological origin. In fact, 
Ninus and Belus appear to be one and the 
same god; the former name being given 
from the name of the city. But the strongest 
proot that Ninus is a mythological personage, 
arises from the very evident traces of such an 
origin in his wife Semiramis. She was in 
fact, under another name, the very same 
goddess as Derceto or Atargatis whom the 
legend makes to be her mother; nothing be- 
ing more common in ancient mythology, than 
for two names of the same deity converted 
into persons, to be placed in the relation of 
parent and offspring to each other. (7°) The 
various traditions respecting the temple of 
Hierapolis, viz. that it was consecrated to the 
worship of Atargatis, Derceto, Semiramis, 
