392 A DISSERTATION ON SEMIRAMIS. 



sprung from Ba'le'swara, orBMESA; for both 

 denominations, being perfectly synonimous, are in- 

 differently used in the Puranas. 



Niniveh on the Tigris, seems to be the sVban of 

 L i 'l e's A,where he laid aside the shape and countenance 

 ofBA'LE'sA,and assumed that of Li'le'sa. The other 

 placeof Li le s a, which Sam i '-Ra'm a', delighted with 

 the beauty of the spot, chose for the place of her re- 

 sidence, is Hierapolis, called also Ninus or Nineveh : 

 hence we find her statue in the temple of M ah a- 

 bii a'ga'. It is said to have been situated near a deep 

 pool, or small lake, called from that circumstance 

 Hradancita ; and the pool near the temple of Hierapolis 

 was described to be two hundred fathoms deep. Sa- 

 mi-Ra'ma is represented in a most amiable light in 

 the Puranas , as well as her consort Lile'swara, or 

 Li le'sa. 



Stephanus of Byzantium says that Ninus lived at 

 a place called Telane, previous to his buiding AV- 

 niveb ; but this place, I believe, is not mentioned by 

 any other author. 



Ninus is with good reason supposed to be the 

 Assur of Scripture, who built Niniveh; and Assur 

 is obviously the Is'wara of the Puranas, with the 

 title of Li'le'swara, Li'lesa, or Ninus. The 

 word I'swara, though generally applied to deities, is 

 also given in the Puranas to Kings ; it signifies Lord 

 and Sovereign, 



With respect to the monstrous origin of Be'le'sa, 

 and the thirty-one Phalli : my Pandit, who is an 

 astronomer suspects it to be an attempt to reconcile 

 the course of the moon to that of the sun, by divid- 



111 o* 



