Origin of Mi/ 1 ho log i/. 189 



Faber supposes 3fars to be Ae solar orb, from the He- 

 'brew 3"!n, cheres, used in Job ix. 7 ; otherwise the Baby- 

 lonian Belus ; and under this name, he supposes Noali 

 was anciently worshipped.* 



I would only remark further, that the Berith and Baal- 

 Berith of the Scriptures, is unquestionably this same de- 

 ity, Mars. Parkhurst is correct in deducing nna from ij • 

 but mistakes the meaning of the word. Berith, is the 

 Ethiopic barto, bright, brave, fortis, the god of w^ar. — 

 See Judges viii. S3, and ix. 46. 



Hercules, says Faber, was Arech-El, the solar god of 

 the Ark, or Noah. Bryant supposes the Herculeans to 

 have been Cushites of great enterprize, who rambled over 

 the earth, building cities, establishing the worship of the 

 sun, and performing great achievments. Capt. Wilford, 

 of the Asiatic Society, supposes Hercules to be the same 

 character as the Heracula of India, representing the race 

 oi Heri or Jupiter. f 



Gebelin considers Hercules as the representative or 

 protector of agricultural improvements, the culture of the 

 earth, or in general, the labors of men united in civil so- 

 ciety. He supposes Saturn, Cronus, or Osiris to repre- 

 sent the invention of agriculture, and Hercules, the cul- 

 tivation of the earth — and hence he is called the General 

 of Osiris.^ 



To discover the real origin of this fabulous deity, we 

 are to find the meaning of his name. This is easily found 

 in his principal characteristic, labor ; for amidst all the 

 confusion which ignorance and fiction have engendered 

 on this subject, the labors of Hercules are proverbially 

 attached to his histor}'-. This characteristic leads us di- 

 rectly to the origin of his name, which is formed of the 

 root of work, erk, in German and Dutch xueric, whence 

 the Greeks formed fr/"" and spyci^of^xs, with^'-Aco?, fame, praise, 



* Faber on the Cabiri, vol. i. 175. 



t Bryant's Analysis, vol.ii. — Faber, i. 125, 240, — Asiat. Res. vol, 

 iii. 408, and v. 270. The Indian heri, is probably the Irish £arr, 

 Latin hcrus, Lord ; and the Indian Bel, or Boluy is undoubtedly the 

 Hebrew and Ethiopia Bol or Baal, Lord. These words correspond 

 in sense with Hercules, but had no primitive connection. 



\ AUeg. Orient. Hist. d'Hercule. Monde Prim., vol. i. p. 173. 



