ONIAS, REGION
OF
(Jos. 6. 4». i. 7; Phil. . ed. Mang. ii. 646). Onias was afterwards appointed civil governor of the district in which his temple was situated, and two of his sons received high commands in the Egyp. army (Jos, Ant. XIII. x. 4).
R. W. Moss.
ONIAS, REGION OF (Jos. Ant. xIv. viii. 1; BJ τ. ix. 4, Vil. x. 2), used loosely of the part of Lower Egypt that contained Jewish settlements, but strictly oP the district in which was the temple built by Onias Iv. Its position is variously described by Josephus, as in the nome or province of Heliopolis (Ant. xi. ix. 7; Ptol. rv. δ. 3); as at Leontopolis in the said nome (Jos. Ant. Χαμ. iii. 2); and as 180 stadia from Memphis (BJ vu. x. 3), The reference consequently cannot be to the nome of Leontopolis, but to a district of the same name within that of Heliopolis, The name itself was not uncommon, though there is no evidence of its application to any site within the nome in
uestion. From Memphis to the city of Heliopolis the distance approximates closely to that given by Josephus; but his language is vague, and allows the assumption that he was not calculating the distance to the temple of Onias, but to the chief town of the province within which the latter was situated. North-east of Heliopolis, at a distance of 24 miles, is the town of Belbeis, which has been suggested as the site of the temple, because it was a place of the worship of the goddess Sekhet, who has been identified with Bubastis Agria (Jos. Ant. XL. iii. 2; Egypt. Exp. Fund, Seventh Memoir, p. 20); but Belbeis is both in another nome, and at too great a distance from Memphis. Less than 10 miles north of Heliopolis, and within that province, is a mound, Tell el- ahudiyeh, in the neighbour- hood of which the remains of a great Jewish cemetery have been found (Egypt. Exp. Fund, Seventh Memoir, 51-53, where, however, F. LI. Griffith pronounces against the identification with the site of the city of Onias on the ground of the general character of the antiquities met with, though on p. 19 Naville strongly supports it). The district is full of traditions of a powerful Jewish settlement; and within its limits, if not on this eelrararecs mound, it is almost certain that Onias
nilt his temple. W. Moss.
ONIONS (= ya bézdlim, κρόμμυον, cape, Arab. basal).—This word occurs only once in the Bible (Nu 11°) in connexion with fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, and garlic. The latter two are species of the same genus, Allium. The onion is A. Cepa, L. It is universally cultivated in the East, and enters into many cooked dishes and salads. The onions of Syria and Palestine have a very sweet taste, and, when cooked, do not impart to the breath the strong odour which so often forbids the use of the onion as an article of diet elsewhere. Working men often make their midday meal from a loaf or two of bread and a couple of raw onions. It is customary to skewer bits of meat alternating with segments of onion and tomato, and broil them over glowing coals. With fresh native bread they make a most savoury and appetizing meal to persons accustomed to them.
G. E. Post.
ONO (\:\x, once Neh 757 ‘3k).—This city is said in 1 Ch 813 (B Ὦνάν, A Ὦνώ) to have been built by the sons of Benjamin at an early period, and the Talmud (Mishna, Hrakhin, ix. 6) states that it was fortified by Joshua. There is no mention of it, however, in the OT except in books written after the Ca tivity, when it was inhabited by Benjamites, Ezr 2° (B 'Qvav, A 'Qvd), Neh 6? (‘the plain of Ono’ ‘x nyp3, B πεδίον ᾿Ενώ, A π. Ὠνά), 737 (Β Ὠνώ, A 'Ovdv), 115 (K** 'Qvd, BAN * om.). It is noticed with Lod (which see), and in the Talmud
ONYX
the two towns with their adjoining territory are included in the designation o'v71n7 Μὴ) ‘ valley of the craftsmen’ (Jerus. Megillah, i. 1; ef. 1 Ch 414, Neh 11%). Ono is the modern Kefr'And, north of Luda (the ancient Lod or Lae: Its antiquity is shown by its being noticed, along with the last-named place, in the lists of Tahutmes ΠΙ. δ. B.C. 1600.
Lrrerators.—SWP vol. ii. sheet xiii. ; van de Velde, Mem. 887; Neubauer, Géog. du Talm. 86; Guérin, Judée, i. 819 ff. ; W. Max Miller, Asien u. Europa, 83; Buhl, GAP 1961. ; G.A. Smith, HGHL 160t. C. R. ConpDER.
ONUS (Ὠνούς), the form in which the name Ono (wh. see), a town of Benjamin, appears in 1 Es 5”,
ONYCHA (nbny shéhéleth, ὄνυξ, onyx). — The operculum of a shell-fish, called by the Gr. and Lat. writers ὄνυξ, onyx, from its resemblance to a nail. When burned it emits a pungent, aromatic odour, from the combustion of the animal matter which it contains. The name, doubtless, applied to the opercula of many species of the shells of the Strombus tribe in the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Onycha®* is mentioned as one of the com- ponents of the sacred perfume (Ex 8053.
G. E. Post.
ONYX.—This is the rendering of the Heb. on¥ shoham, in AV and RV text (see below), but it is impossible to be certain of its correctness. There are no cognate words in Heb. literature to throw light on the inquiry. The attempts to find an etymology in other languages of the same family fail absolutely or fall short at the critical point.