21i Origin of Mythology, 



The Hindoo books mention Cudha, adistinguisliedle- 

 :^islator of antiquit}^, and Khoda, in India, is a name of 

 ■God* 



Now vf e observe in the names of ancient Assyrian prin- 

 ces, a syllable which is evidently the same word ; as in 

 CAcr/orlaomer, NebucAo(inosor, Nebiic/zcf/nezzar. Nebu^ 

 signifies /w^'A, elevated; being the A^ebo, a mountain, men- 

 tioned in the Scriptures, and the root of the Slavonic JVe- 

 'besiy Nebcsech^ heaven. Nezzar, I take to be the He- 

 ■brew "^h a guardian. The omer^ in Chedorlaomer, is the 

 Hebrew io«. a word, a command^ the root of the Turkish 

 £mir, and the English Amiral, now admiral; a word pre- 

 served in the Walde^^icr andCass?'w2zr of NorthernEurope<> 

 ■Ncbudradnezzar^ then, signifies the high lord^ the guar- 

 dian ; and Chedorlaomer contains two words signifying 

 iorr/, and commander. 



Of the origin of this word Cotys^chod, Xhoda, the fol- 

 lowing is the most probable account. In the Celtic lan- 

 guage, cuth, signifies the head. This is the root of the 

 Saxon Cyth, Cythtke, knowledge, scieik^e ; cythan, t9 

 make known, to testify ; and cyther, a witness. The La- 

 tin testis^ a witness, is formed, by a like analogy, from a 

 name still retained m the Italian testa^ the head, also wit^ 

 judgment ; Vv'hich the French have contracted into tete. 



This ciith, the head, is unquestionably the Hebrew Tj. 

 to bow the head, and the modern Turkish Cadi, a judge, 

 "whence the Spanish alcaid. The Mongolian Tartars re- 

 'tain the same root in their Khodsha, a sage, which seems 

 to be a compound of Chod and shah, a prince, f 



From the same root unquestionably was formed the 

 Hebrew cdip, which, as a noun, signifies priority, prece- 

 dence, and as a verb, to go before, to precede. By an easy 

 analogy, it signifies also the East, the place of the rising 

 sun. The same word, in like senses, is, in the Ethiopia 

 •language, Kadem, to go before^ to be first — <!i[so priority^ 

 {beginmng.% 



From this word, I presume, the oriental nations receiv- 



* Asiat. Res. ii. 32 — Grellman on the Gipseysj,p. 173. 

 t Tooke's Russian Empire, vol. i. 409. 

 % Ludolf 's Lex. col. 2 1 4, 2 1 5 « 



