CHAP. XIII. ANOUKE, VESTA. 27 



and Themis being Egyptian Deities. But still the 

 resemblance between the name of the latter, and 

 of the Egyptian Goddess (Thmei), was greater than 

 of any other in the two Pantheons ; and in proof 

 of this, we have only to compare those of Amun 

 and Zeus, Khem and Pan, Thoth and Hermes, and 

 many others, which have scarcely a single letter 

 in common, and directly contradict the assertion 

 of the historian. It is, at all events, certain, 

 that Juno, Vesta, and Themis were Egyptian Dei- 

 ties, though there is no evidence of the others he 

 mentions being admitted to their Pantheon ; and 

 Neptune, according to the historian, *' was only 

 known to the Libyans.'* 



To the Greek appellation of the Ocean God, 

 Poseidon^ it may not be too presumptuous to apply 

 the meaning of the " Deity of Sido7i," from which 

 maritime town of Phoenicia Greece very probably 

 derived his worship ; and the Latin Neptune may- 

 present a similar claim to an Eastern origin, in the 

 commencement of its name " Neb," which in the 

 language of Egypt and Syria signified '* Lord." 



Diodorus * admits Vesta into the number of the 

 Gods of Egypt, together with the Sun, Saturn, 

 Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcan, and Mercury ; and 

 the importance of her office is shown by her fre- 

 quent occurrence in the oldest temples. 



She also seems to bear some analogy to Neith t, 

 though in reality distinct from that Goddess. 



The head-dress of Anouke, which is singular, 



* Diodor. i, 13. f ''''^^ supra, Vol. I. (2d Series) p. 283. 



