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Mythology, a goddefs of the Syrians, fuppofed to be the 

 mother of Semiramis. She was reprefented with the face 

 and breafts of a woman, but the reil of her body rcfembled 

 a fifli. Volfius fays the term fignifies tuhhoul fjh, and con- 

 jeftures that the votaries of this deity abliaiiied from iifh. 

 According to Anlipater, the floic philofoplier of Tarfu;, 

 in his treatife on fiipcnlition, Atergatis h compounded of 

 aVio, 'without, and Giitis, the name of a Syrian queen, wlio 

 being very fond of fiih, fwrbad the ufc of it to her fubjciils; 

 and the Syrians, it is faid, did not cat fifh. Fabulous re- 

 port fays, that Atergatis was taken with her Ion Ichthys, 

 by Mopfus king of L.ydia, who drowned tiicni both in a 

 lake near Afcaloti, where they were devoured by fi(h.es ; 

 and hence, it is added, proceeded the horror of the Syrians 

 againd this fort of ahment. Atergalis, llyled DercetUo, 

 fays Bryant (^Vnal. An. Myth, voh ii. p. 298.), is a com- 

 pound of y4/<u- or j4:hai; the fame as On and Ofiris, an 

 Egyptian deity, and of gutus or caius, rendered xnlo; by the 

 lonians, a fiih. Dagon, Sidon, and Dercctus, were all 

 names of the fame hieroglyphic, and related to the perlon 

 called Oanes by Berofus and others, and alio to the machine 

 wherein he was preferved. He lived both before and after 

 the flood ; he was reprefented at Babylon with two heads ; 

 and in other places he was differently exhibited. The 

 meaning of which, according to this writer, was this, that 

 though Oanes was really a man, yet he was typically 

 clleeined an animal of the fea ; and on that account they 

 reprefented him with the ilcin and fcales of a cetus or fi!h. 

 All thefe charafters were criginally taken from hierogly- 

 phics in Babylonia ; they relate to the fame hlftory, and to 

 one particular perfon who had cfcaped the waters when the 

 earth was overflowed ; and through whom arts and fciences 

 were fuppofed to have been renewed in the world. Semi- 

 ramis, whom the generality of hiftorians have reprefented 

 as a great princefs who reigned in Babylon, is defcribed by 

 other writers as a deity. Tiius Athenagoras (Legatio, 

 p. 307.) fays, that " the Syrians worfhip Semiramis;" 

 and he adds, " that flie was elltemed the daughter of Der- 

 cetus, and the fame as the Suria Dea." Diodorus alfo, (1. ii. 

 p. 92.) makes her the daughter of Dercctus by Sums; 

 but Surus, fays Bn'ant, was the fun, and the Dea Suria, 

 ■was Dea folaris. Hence, many have confidered Rhea, liis, 

 Ailarte, Atergatis, and Semiramis, as one deity. Lucian, 

 (De Suria Dea, vol. ii. p. 885.) tells us, that they were fo 

 cfteemed by the Syrians of Hieropolis. According to 

 Bryant, they were all different fymbols relating to the fame 

 objeft. See Semiramis. It has been alfo fuppofed, that 

 the Atergatis, or Derceto, of the proper Palelline in gene- 

 ral, or of Afcalon in particular, was the Babylonian or 

 AfTyrian Wnus. To this pnrpofe Strabo (1. xvi. p. 748.) 

 fays, that Atergatis was worfliipped at Hierapolis, and he 

 makes her the fame with the Syrian goddefs. Others arc of 

 the fame opinion (Piin. H. N. 1. v. c. 23.); and among them 

 Macrobius (in Saturn, i. c. 23.), who llyles her the mother 

 of the gods, Aftarte, and the Hierapolitan or Affyrian 

 goddefs. Upon the whole, we may obferve, that Aterga- 

 tis was Venus, Juno, Minerva, A'larte the Svrian goddefs, 

 and confequentiy the celeitial Venus of th.e Aflfyrians. So 

 that we fee her the fame goddefs tranfportcd fro.m the banks 

 of the Euphrates, into which fiie is faid iirll to have plunged 

 herfelf, in order to efcape the inexorable Typhon (Man. 

 AAron. iv.); and but jult varied fo far as to leave room for 

 each particular country tt) claim her origin. The Syrians, 

 who feem to have received her firft, and who were nearefl 

 to the place of her native abode, preferved her, it is likely, 

 in the moll: genuine ft.rm ; the Phcenicians, who were next, 

 altered her no farther than to make her a Phoenician ; and 



the Philiftines, or Afcalonites, who were a little farther off 

 that they too might make her 'iieir own, converted her into 

 a monller, woman upwards and filh downwards; they allow- 

 ing her to have b.een in fubordination to fome olhtr goddefs, 

 WHO had fueh power over her ns to chalUie her by a mtta- 

 morphofis from her jull Ihape. It appears, then, that 

 the worfliip paid to this goddefs was originally derived 

 from Affyria and Babylonia, and was ellabliflied in other 

 countries by the prevailing power of thefe two empires. We 

 may alfo conclude, that the celellial Venns of the Affyrians, 

 Ailarte of the Phcenicians, and the Derceto or Atar- 

 gatis of the later Philiftines, were all derived from Semiramis, 

 the firlt real or reputed foundrcfsof Babylon ; who ftems to 

 have been tranflatcd into the queen of heaven the moon, 

 as Belus or Pal, the firft Alfyrian monarch, was changed 

 into the fun ; that all the Jnpiters and Jnnos, and the rell 

 who are fuppofed to have been once mortal, or converfaiit 

 on earth, are derived from this fource ; and that, on this 

 Alfyrian or Babylonian foundation, the whole fupcrllnic- 

 ture ot the Greek polytheifm and idolatry was erected. 

 Fur the Greeks had their religion from the Phoenicians 

 partly, and partly from the Egypti.ins, who derived theirs 

 originally from the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, as 

 may be gathered from the religious itate of th.c countries 

 on either fide of the Euphrates in the days of Abraham. 

 The Egyptians, indeed, levm in proccfs of time to have 

 ertdfed a lyllcm of their own, tliough not very widely dif- 

 ferent from the Babylonians ; and the Plioeuicians, who had 

 equally communication with the two nations, !cem to havs 

 mixed both fyft;ems. See Idolatry, and PoLYTHhisM. 



ATERION, in ylnclent Geography, a town of Sicily. 

 Steph. Byz. 



ATERIUS, a town of Italy, in Samnium, belonging to 

 the INIarrucini, fituate on the iea coall at the mouti; of a 

 river of the fame name, now called Pefcara. 



ATERRIMA, in Conchology, a fpccies of Nf.rita, 

 figured by Chemnitz. The Ihell is thick, opake, globofe, 

 very black, with coloured lines ; within white ; exterior 

 lip glabrous, inner one tuberculated. Gmel. &c. This 

 knid is very minutely llriatcd, and its habitat unknown. 



Aterrima, in Eii'omohjgy, a fpecies of Blatta, of a 

 black colour, and dellitute of fpots; the tarfi of the legs 

 are white, knees browu, fhanks fpinous. Herbft. I'his 

 inhabits India. 



Atf.rrima, a new Britifh fpecies of Chrysomela, de- 

 fcribed by M. Mardiam, Ent. Brit. It is black and fliiu- 

 ing ; thorax highly gloflj- ; wing-cafes llriated ; legs rather 

 ferruginous. 



ATERRIMDS, a fpecies of Curculio, very common 

 in Europe. This is black, with the wing-cales fliining. 

 Liim. Fn. Sv. Fabr. &c. Gmelin has alfo another fpe- 

 cies of Curculio under the fime name ; this is of an oblong 

 form, arid black colour, with rufous aatenr.x. It in- 

 habits Europe, and it is prefumed may be only a variety of 

 Curculio chloropus. 



Aterrimus, a fpecies of Carabus, entirely of fhining 

 black, with a roundiPn thoi-ax; wing-cafes faintly ilriated, 

 with four excavated dots near the future. Herbft. About ■ 

 half an inch in length. 



Aterrimus, a fpecies of Elater, f.nmd in the north 

 of Europe. The thorax is gloffy black ; wing-cafes black 

 and ftriated. Fabr. This is elater atcr, thorace opaco punc- 

 tato elytris ftriatis of Linn. Faun. Succ. ; and elater totus 

 nigtr nitidus of Geoffroy. 



Aterrimus, a fpecies of Cimex, {Rolundatus Sec.) 

 that inhabits Spain. This infeit is deep black, with half 

 the wing- cafes trnnfparent. I'orft. Nov. Lif. 



Aterrimus, 





