bles the Ehea of Diodorus, Layard adds, " The represen- tation in a human form of the celestial bodies, them- selves originally but a type, was a corruption which ap- pears to have crept at a later period into the mythology of Ass\Tia ; for, in the more ancient bas-reliefs, figiu-es with caps surmomited by stars do not occur, and the sun, moon, and planets stand alone" (ib. p. 457, 45^).
The allusions in Job xxxviii,31,32 are too obscure to allow any inference to be drawn as to the mysterious in- fluences which were held by the old astrologers to be exercised by the stars over human destiny, nor is there sufiicient evidence to connect them with anything more recondite than the astronomical knowledge of the pe- riod. The same may be said of the poetical figiu-e in Deborah's chant of triumph, " the stars from their high- ways warred with Sisera" (Judg. v, 20). In the later times of the monarchy, IVIazzaloth, the planets, or the zodiacal signs, received, next to the sun and moon, their share of popular adoration (2 Kings xxiii, 5) ; and the history of idolatry among the Hebrews shows at all times an intimate connection between the deification of the heavenly bodies and the superstition which watched the clouds for signs, and used divination and enchant- ments. It was but a step from such culture of the side- real powers to the worship of Gad and Meni, Babylonian divinities, symbols of Venus or the moon, as tlie goddess of luck or fortune. Under the latter aspect the moon was reverenced by the Egyptians (iMacrob. Sat. i, 19) ; and the name Baal-Gad is possibly an example of the manner in which the worship of the planet Jupiter, as the bringer of luck, was grafted on the old faith of the Phoenicians. The false gods of the colonists of Sama- ria were probably connected with Eastern astrology: Adrammelech jNIovers regards as the sun-fire — the solar Mars, and Anammelech the solar Saturn {PhOn. i, 410, 411). The Yulg, rendering of .Prov. xxvi, 8, " Sicut qui mittit lapidem in acervum Mercurii" follows the ]\Iid- rash on the passage quoted by Jarchi, and requires merely a passing notice (see Selden, de Bis Syris, ii, 15 ; Maim', de Idol, iii, 2 ; Biuxtorf, Lex. Talm. s. v. Di^lp'?^).
4. Hero-worship, the worship of deceased ancestors or leaders of a nation. Of pure hero-worship among the Shemitic races we find no trace. ISIoses, indeed, seems to have entertained some dim apprehension that his countrymen might, after his death, ]jay him more honors than were due to man, and the anticipation of this led him to review his own conduct in terms of strong reprobation (Deut. iv, 21, 22). The expression in Psa. cvi, 28, " The sacrifices of t he dead.'' is in all prob- abilitj' metaphorical, and Wisd. xiv, 15 refers to a later practice due to Greek influence. The Rabbinical com- mentators discover in Gen. xlviii, 16 an allusion to the worshipping of angels (Col. ii, 18), while they defend their ancestors from the charge of regarding them in any other light than mediators, or intercessors with God (Lewis, Orig. Hebr. v, 3). It is needless to add that their inference and apology are equally groundless. With like probability has been advanced the theory of the diBmon-worship of the Hebrews, the only founda- tion for it being two highly poetical passages (Deut. xxxii, 17 ; Psa. cvi, 37). It is possible that the Persian dualism is hinted at in Isa. xlv, 7.
5. Idealism, the worship of abstractions or mental qualities, such asjustice, a system never found uinnixed. — Kitto; Smith. This constituted the mythologj' of the Greeks and Romans, as also of the Scandinavians.
See JIVTHOLOGY.
III. Idolatry of certain ancient Heathen Nations in Betail.~X\\ idolatry is in its nature heathenish, and it has in all ages been a characteristic mark of heathen- dom, so that to the present day the vivid description of Rom. i remains the most striking portraiture of heathen peoples. We have space in this article for a systematic view only of those early nations whose contact with the Hebrew race was the means of the importation of idola- try' among the chosen people. See Polytheism.
1. 3Iesopotamian Mytkoloyy.— The original idolatrous
IDOLATRY
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IDOLATRY