126 
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE IIORSE. 
The mythology as well as the rites of Greece were borrowed from 
the ancient histories of the Egyptians, which were transmitted to 
posterity in hieroglyphical representations ; these, by length of 
time, became obscure, and the sign was taken for the reality. 
The fable in question was undoubtedly taken from some Egyp¬ 
tian hieroglyphic, which, like other memorials of Egyptian learn¬ 
ing, are lost, and nothing remains but fabulous stories derived 
from the Greek writers. 
The horse of Neptune refers to the ark of Noah : “ by horses,” 
says Artemidorus, v “ the poets mean ships, there being a strict 
analogy between the poetical horse on land and a real ship in 
the sea.” 
Bryant, in his Ancient Mythology, says, “that the horse of 
Neptune, which, in the contest with Minerva, he 
was said to have produced, was a mistaken emblem, and that 
the ancients, in the original history, did not refer to that animal: 
What the I zvog, Hippos, alluded to in the early mythology, 
was certainly a float or ship, the same as the ceto; for, in 
the first place, the ceto was denominated Itttgv, tov (xeyav 
SaXufftTiov By Hippos is meant that huge fish of the 
ocean; id est , the ceto, or whale.” The learned author then 
proves that the goddess I ttci, represented as a female, is the 
same as Hippos, and relates to the same history, being made the 
nurse or foster-mother of the world; consequently Hippa, ti; yp 
%%o<T£i(Tiv A lovvaos, was certainly the ark into which the patriarch 
entered, and from which he was afterwards released to enjoy a 
new life and another world. 
Thus far we have endeavoured to explain the Greek tradition 
of the birth of the horse: it appears to be originally derived 
from the Egyptians by the Greeks, who, ignorant of the true 
meaning, have added fable to mythology, and extravagance to 
allegory. 
The author of the “ Farmers’ Series,” likewise, concludes that 
Arabia was not the native place of the horse, on account of 
Solomon’s importing a few horses from Egypt. If we may also 
be allowed to use scriptural authority, we flatter ourselves that we 
can prove that Solomon obtained horses from other places besides 
Egypt- 
In 1 Kings , chap, x, we find the following:— 
“ And all the earth sought Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had 
put in his heart. And they brought every man his presents, vessels of sil¬ 
ver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, Horses 
and Alules, a rate year by year.” 
These verses certainly imply that Solomon obtained his horses 
from the surrounding countries. 
