638 
so also of Babylon, where the great temple was dedicated to 
Jupiter Belus. So also we find the word in Africa along the 
route where menhirs and cairns existed, as in Hannibal, 
Asdrubal. The word was also used in Britain, as, e.g., 
" Cassibelan," " Cunobeline," both of whom are called simply 
u Belinus," by two authors, Dio and Nennius. 
Belik is the Breton word for priest, as also in old Cornish, 
"Belini aedituus Stirpe satus Druidum, Gentis Armories" 
(Ausonius). 
Besides the name Baal and worship of the sun, which 
were common to Britain and Palestine, there are certain 
other customs and circumstances common to both countries, 
which show that at one time the same ideas existed in both 
countries ; in other words, that the inhabitants of Britain 
long retained, and in some respects still retain, the customs 
and feelings with which they originally left the parent tribe 
in the East. These tell us that we must look to the East 
for an explanation of the original worship and creed of the 
Celtic nations, both in Britain and elsewhere. Thus nothing 
is more common than to find flint-knives and other stone 
implements in the cists and burial-places, as well as in other 
situations. The same custom existed in Israel. In Joshua 
v. 2 of the Septuagint and Vulgate translations, the com- 
mand was, " Make for yourselves stone-knives and circumcise 
the children of Israel." Although our version reads " sharp 
knives," the margin gives " knives of flint." So at the burial 
of Joshua, xxiv. 30 (Septuagint), " there they buried with 
him in the tomb, in which they buried him, the stone-knives 
with which he circumcised the children of Israel in Gilgal." 
It was probably from the same custom that Zipporah used a 
" sharp stone " to circumcise her son. 
The similarity, too, between the old Irish alphabet and 
the Hebrew is very striking. The present square Hebrew 
character is comparatively modern. The Jewish coins, till 
