PRIMITIVE HISTORY OP THE lONlANS, 423 



Egyptian form of Aliarhel, the descendant of the hitter. The early 

 connections of Samos are with An?ea in Caria, and its first colony 

 came from Epicarus or Epidanrus, under Procles, a descendant of 

 Ion, who must represent such a Coptic form of Aclmrchel. Leogoras, 

 called the son of Procles, is one of the links which seem to connect 

 the Locrians with Abishur, although I cannot tell where the connec- 

 tion is to be made. Abdeiiis, the Locrian, who was torn to pieces 

 by the mares of Diomedes, is the same person as Absyrtus, whose 

 body was cut to pieces by the Argonauts and thrown into the sea ; 

 as Icarus, drowned in the JEge3i,n ; and Icarius, killed by the shep- 

 herds to whom he revealed the use of wine. Euanthes of Bacchus, 

 another wine god, in whom I find Ahban as Ahvan, is made the 

 founder of Locri Epizephyrii, although the Opuntii present a genuine 

 form of Ahban. Several ancient writers state indeed that the 

 Opuntii colonized Locri Epizephyrii, and the latter word may be a 

 corruption of Abishur. The British Loegrians are associated in the 

 Welsh traditions with heroes of the line of Abishur. These, and 

 other more distant connections, which it would take too long to state, 

 lead me to enquire whether the Locrian name may not have come 

 from some such term as that out of which the Greeks made Leu- 

 cosyrii as a designation for the Cappadocians, in whose country many 

 Geshurite names appear. There are at least two instances in which 

 scripture geographical names are found with an L prefix. These are 

 Sharon and Ophrah, which appear in the forms Lasharon, Leophrah.^^® 

 If, instead of the initial gimel, a lamed were prefixed to Geshur, it 

 would become Lashur or Lachur, and, leaving the initial gimel intact, 

 the form Lageshur would be a not unlikely one from which to derive 

 Leucosyrii. As Hei"odotus informs us that the Cappadocians were 

 anciently called Syrians, there is strong probability that such is the 

 history of the name.^"'' 



Abishur was commemorated in a more easily recognized way in 

 many pai'ts of the area under consideration, and in many cases his 

 name is associated with those of his descendants. We have already 

 found him under the name Passaron among the Molotti. He is 

 Patarus, son of Apollo (the Sun or Shamas) and Lycia, while his 

 son Molid is Miletus, son of the same god and Deione. But Miletus 



126 Leophrah is rendered in Greek by Leucoplirys, so that Gesliur might equally be rendered 

 Leucosyria. 

 12V Herodotus, 1. 72. 



