Origin of My thdogtj. 17^ 



Kus, who informs his readers that Cronus is the sun, and 

 the author of time, or the seasons.* 



On, the oriental name of the sun, signifies also, a cir- 

 cle, and probably from the same source as the Celtic 

 €an, am, a circle, the Hebrew r^' the Ethiopic oin, an 

 eye, from its roundness-; also, a fountain, and in the Am- 

 haric, a grape, j 



On^ the sun, was worshipped in Syria and Egypt. 

 Hence we read in scripture of Potiphera, a priest of On, 

 that is, ofthe sun ; Qi Avion, or Hammon, a title of the 

 Sim, or deit}^ of Thebes — chain qy ham, heat, and on, the 

 circular orb pf the sun.f 



Hence the name used in Genesis xiv. 18, iv'^y, Olion, 

 rendered the Most High. Melchi-zedek is called 

 ivVj; VnS pa priest to the most high God. In a fragment of 

 Sanchoniathon, as translated by Philo, and preserved by 

 Eusebius, this word is explained in the same manner. 



JHnTei ruTovi yiviTdi riq EMovv x,xMvfA,ivoi; YflSTOS. ThcU livcd tX 



certain Elion, called the Most High.^ 



This word is composed of ^^ high, and vv ean, ain, o?t, 

 a circle or orb ; and originally was applied to the sun ; 

 and we observe this root on, incorporated into many 

 words expressing the idea of a circular figure ; as in the 

 Hebrew ijj? English hind^ bond,pouncl, round, Celtic cruin^ 

 Latin rotundus. 



From the same root, 07i, ain, a circle, the Latins form- 

 ed annus ^ a year, and annuhis, a ring, that is, a little cir- 

 cle. The same word is the basis of Janus, the Roman 

 deity, v/hich was represented by a figure with two faces, 

 emblematical ofthe past and coming year. His namje 



* " Saturnus ipse, qui auctor est temporum, et ideo a Grxcis im- 

 mutata litera K^avss, quasi, %|3avo5 vocatur, quid aliuxl nisi sol intel- 

 "ii2;endus est V.... Saturnalia, lib. i. ca. 22. I copy this passage from 

 Faber, vol. li. p. 31, not having the original to consult. 



t Pavkhurst's Lex. — Focaloir. GaoidhiJge-Sax.Bhearla. — Ludolf's 

 Lex. Eth. 461. Amhar. 73. 



\ Gen. xli. 45. 



§ See Gen. xiv. 18, 19^20, and :d. 17. — Deut. xxviii. 1. — Gebelin'.s 

 'Alleg. Orient. Hist, de Sat. vol. i. p. 5. 



