394 A Dissertation on semiramis. 



ed them separately, and their accounts were as satis* 

 factory as could be expected. They call it Jtidld- 

 7iiuc y hi i or the flaming mouth. 



This conflagration is minutely described by Dio- 

 dorus Siculus*, who says, that in former times a 

 monster called Alcida, who vomited flames, appeared 

 in Pbtygia ; hence spreading along mount Taurus £ the 

 conflagration burnt down all the woods, as far as India : 

 then, with a retrograde course, swept the forests of 

 mount Lib an y and extended as far as Egypt and Africa : 

 at last a step was put to it by Minerva. 



The Phrygians remembered well this conflagration 

 and the flood which followed it; but as they could 

 not conceive that it could originate from a benevo- 

 less Goddess, they transformed her into a monster,- 

 called A lc i d a. Alcida however is an old Greek word, 

 implying strength and power, and is therefore syno- 

 nimous with Sued or Sdctd-deviy the principal form of 

 Sa'mi'-Ra'ma', and other manifestations of the fe- 

 male power of nature. 



Indeed the names and titles of most of the Baby- 

 lonian deities are pure Sanscrit : and many of them 

 are worshipped to this day in India, or at least their 

 legends are to be found in the Pnrdnds. 



Thus S e m i r a m i s is derived from SamURdwesi, or 

 Sdvii-Ramciy and Sami-Rdmd-devz. 



Militta from Militia-Devi, because she brings 

 people together (Connuba). 



^* Diod, Sic. lib. 4.. cap. 5. 



Shack a- 



