BAB 



166 



BAB 



B. 



I) AAL, or Bel, a word of Hebrew origin, de- 

 I J noting ruler, was the name by which several of 

 the eastern nations worshipped the solar fire, which 

 they supposed to be the governing principle of the 

 universe. At first, indeed, this appellation seems to 

 have been given to Jehovah. But as idolatry be- 

 gan to prevail, and the supremacy of the true Gud 

 to be forgotten, his attributes were ascribed to those 

 objects in nature whose appearance was most splendid 

 and overpowering, or whose influence was most sen- 

 sibly felt. The sun, accordingly, became an object 

 of general adoration, and was supposed to hold the 

 highest rank among those divinities with which the wild 

 imaginations of eastern idolators had peopled the hea- 

 vens. The author of the Phenician theology, which 

 has been preserved in the writings of Eusebius, in- 

 forms us, " that the Phenicians supposed the sun to 

 be the only Lord of heaven, styling him Bechamen, 

 which, in their language, signifies Lord of hea- 

 ven." A beeve or bull was the emblem of this di- 

 vinity ; and as this idol was represented in different 

 places with various insignia, hence arose the denomi- 

 nations, Baal-berith, Baal-gad, Baal-moloch ; and 

 these diversified Baals, says Parkhurst, seem to be 

 wJiat the Scriptures call in the plural Baalim. There 

 can be no doubt, however, that the appellation Baal 

 was not always restricted to the sun, but was fre- 

 quently given to those distinguished personages, who, 

 in different nations, were exalted for their achieve- 

 ments to the rank of deities. Among the Phenicians, 

 in particular, there were several divinities besides 

 the sun honoured with this name. Baal, Bel, 

 or. Belus, was the principal god of the Carthagi- 

 nians, Sidonians, Babylonians, and Assyrians ; and 

 as he was supposed to delight in human sacrifices, he 

 was probably the same as the Moloch of the Ammo- 

 nites, the Kgov; (Chronus) of the Greeks, and the 

 Saturn of the Latins. 



High places were always chosen for the temples 

 and altars of Baal, in which was preserved a perpe- 

 tual fire. His priests and prophets were extremely 

 numerous ; and the manner in which they conducted 

 the worship of their god was at once frantic and fe- 

 rocious. While the victims smoked on the altar, 

 they danced around it with the most violent gesticu- 

 lations, cut their bodies with knives and lancets, and 

 raved and prophesied as if immediately under the in- 

 spiration of Baal. Bel, Bal, or Beal, was likewise 

 the name of the principal deity of the ancient Irish, 

 derived, according to Valiancy, from the Punic my- 

 thology. On the tops of many hills in Scotland there 

 are heaps of stones called, by the vulgar, Bel's Cairns, 

 where it is supposed sacrifices were offered by our Pa- 

 gan ancestors. See Eusebius, Preparat. Evang. lib. 1 . 

 cap. 10. 2 Kings xxiii. 5. Collectanea de Rebus 

 Hibernicis, vol. 2. p. 263. And Parkhurst's Lexicon, 

 article Sy> (ft) 



BAALBEC. See Balbec. 

 BABAHOYA, the name of a town and district 

 of Guyaquil, in South America. Rice, cotton, 



Guinea pepper, and a variety of fruits, are among B^bel. 

 the productions of this district. ( /') 



BABEL, a tower, built by the posterity of Noah 

 after the flood ; remarkable for its great height, and 

 for the disappointment of the builders, by the confu- 

 sion of their language, [Gen, xi. 1 9.) The land of 

 Shinar, in which the posterity of Noali settled, lay 

 along the river Tigris, from the mountains of Armi- 

 nia to the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates ; and 

 the plain of Shinar, where the tower was built, was 

 undoubtedly the place, or near to the place, where 

 the famous city Babylon afterwards stood ; upon the 

 banks of the great river Euphrates, and not far from 

 its junction with the Tigris. Josephus, and some 

 others, ascribe this great design to Nimrod ; but, al- 

 though it might correspond very well with the cha- 

 racter which Scripture has given of that enterprising 

 prince, yet Bochart (in his Phaleg. lib. i. cap. 10.) 

 has shewn, that Nimrod was either not born, or was 

 very young, when this tower was built. But there 

 is no doubt, that Nimrod and his subjects did after- 

 wards settle at Babel, and there built Babylon, which 

 became the capital of the Assyrian empire. It has 

 also been a common opinion, that Shem and his pos- 

 terity had no hand in this great undertaking ; but, 

 from the Mosaic history, it seems perfectly clear, 

 that the whole human race were actually engaged in 

 it. Its date is differently computed, according as 

 chronologers follow the LXX interpreters, who make 

 it 531 ; the Samaritan copy, which makes it 396; or 

 the Hebrew, which allows it to be no more than 101 

 years after the flood. It is believed to have been 

 about the time of the birth of Peleg ; for in Gen. x. 

 25. we read, that " unto Eber were born two sons, 

 and the name of the one was Peleg ;" which being de- 

 rived from a Hebrew word signifying to divide, the 

 reason why that name was given to him is added, 

 " for in his days was the earth divided." From the 

 account given of Peleg's ancestors, in the subsequent 

 chapter, it appears, that he was born in the 101st 

 year after the flood ; though the confusion of the 

 language of the builders, and their consequent disper- 

 sion, might not take place for many years afterwards. 

 Its dimensions, as given by ancient historians, maybe 

 deemed suitable for a building, which seems to have been 

 designed to be the palace, or citadel, of the empire of 

 the world. The Scripture tells us, that it was built of 

 burnt bricks instead of stone, and of slime instead of 

 mortar. According to an ancient tradition, three years 

 were employed in making the bricks ; each of which 

 was thirteen cubits long, ten broad, and five thick ; 

 and they were cemented by bitumen, or a pitchy sub- 

 stance, of which, according to Herodotus, great quan- 

 tities are to be found on the banks of the river Is, in 

 the neighbourhood of Babylon. When some eastern 

 writers tell us, that this tower was no less than twelve 

 miles high, the assertion refutes itself. Even the 

 affirmation of St Jerome, (though he rests it upon 

 the testimony, as he says, of eye-witnesses,) that its 

 ruins were four miles high, is as little worthy of ere- 



