supplied by an investigation of proper names. Mr. Layard has remarked, "According to a custom existing from time immemorial in the East, the name of the su- preme deity was introduced into the names of men. This custom prevailed from the banks of the Tigris to the Phoenician colonies beyond the Pillars of Hercules ; and we recognise in the Sardanapalus of the Assyrians, and the Hannibal of the Carthaginians, the identity of the religious system of the two nations, as widely dis- tinct in the time of their existence as in their geograph- ical position" (^Nineveh, ii, 450). The hint which he has given can be but briefly followed out here. Traces of the sun-worship of the ancient Canaanites remain in tlie nomenclature of their country. Beth-Shemesh, '• house of the smi ;" En-Shemesh, '• spring of the sun." and Ir- Shemesh, " city of the sun," whether thej'- be the orig- inal Canaanitish names or their Hebrew renderings, at- test the reverence paid to the source of light and heat, the symbol of the fertilizing power of nature. Samson, the Hebrew national hero, took his name from the same luminary, and was born in a mountain village above the modern 'Ain Shcms (En-Shemesh : Thotnson, The Land ami the Booh, ii, 361). The name of Baal, the sun-god, is one of the most common occiurrence in compound words, and is often associated with places consecrated to his worship, and of which, perhaps, he was the tutelary deity. Bamoth-Baal, " the high places of Baal ;" Baal- Hermon, Beth-Baal-Meon, Baal-Gad, Baal-Hamon, in which the compound names of the sun-god of Phoenicia and Egypt are associated, Baal-Tamar, and many oth- ers, are instances of this. [That temples in Syria, ded- icated to the several divinities, did transfer their names to the places where they stood, is evident from the tes- timony of Lucian, an Assyrian himself. His derivation of Hiera from the temple of the Assyrian Hera shows that he was familiar with tlie circumstance {Be I)ca Syr. c. i). Baisampsa ( = Bethshemesh), a town of Arabia, derived its name from the sun-worship (Vossi- us. Be Theol. Gent, ii, c. 8), like Kir-Heres (Jer. xlviii, 31) of Moab.] Nor was the practice confined to the names of places : proper names are found with the same element. Esh-baal, Ish-baal, etc., are examples. The Amorites, whom Joshua did not drive out, dwelt on Mount Heres, in Aijalon, "the mountain of the sun." See Timxath-Heres. Here and there Me find traces of the attempt made by the Hebrews, on their conquest of the coiuitry, to extirpate idolatry. Thus Baalah or Kiijath-Baal, " the town of Baal," became Kirjath-Jea- rim, " the town of forests" (Josh, xv, 60). The Moon, Astarte or Ashtaroth, gave her name to a city of Ba- shan (Josh, xiii, 12, 31), and it is not improbable that the name Jericho may have been derived from being associated with the worship of this goddess. See Jkk- icno. Nebo, whether it be the name under which the Chaldffians worshipped the !Moon or the planet Mercury, enters into many compounds : Nebu-zaradan, Samgar- nebo, and the like. Bel is found in Belshazzar, Belte- shazzar, and others. Were Baladan of Shemitic origin, it would probably be derived from Baal-Adon, or Ado- nis, the Phoenician deity to whose worship Jer. xxii, 18 seems to refer ; but it has more properly been traced to an Indo-Germanic root. Hadad, Hadadezer, Benhadad, are derived from the tutelar deity of the Syrians, and in Nergalsharezer we recognise the god of the Cushitcs. Chemosh, the fire-god of Moab, appears in Carchemish, and Peor in Beth-Peor. IVIalcom, a name which occurs but once, and then of a Moabite by birth, may have been connected with Molech and Milcom, the aliomina- tion of the Ammonites. A glimpse of star-worship may be seen in the name of the city Chesil, the Shemitic Orion, and the month Chisleu, without recognising in Rahab "the glittering fragments of the sea-snake trail- ing across the northern sky." It would, perhaps, be go- ing too far to trace in Engedi, " spring of the kid," any connection with the goat-worship of Mendcs, or any rel- ics of the wars of the giants in Rapha and Rcphaim, Fiirst, indeed, recognises in Gedi, Venus or Astarte, the
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goddess of fortune, and Identical with Gad (Flandw. s. v.). Ijiit there are fragments of ancient idolatrj' in other names in which it is not so palpable. Ishbosheth is identical with Eshbaal, and Jeriibbcsheth with Je- rubbaal, and Mephibosheth and Meribbaal are but two names for one jjerson (comp. Jer. xi, 13). The worship of the Syrian Kimmon appears in the names Hadad- Eimmon, and Tabrimmon ; and if, as some suppose, it be derived from ')1ia"l, Rhnm&n, " a pomegranate-tree," we may connect it with the towns of the same name in Judah and Benjamin, with En-Kimmon and the pre- vailing tree-worship. It is impossible to pursue this investigation to any length : the hints which have been thrown out may prove suggestive. — Smith. Sec each of these names in its place.
5. Idolatrous Usages. — 'Momxtains, and high places were chosen spots for offering sacrifice and incense to idols (1 Kings xi, 7; xiv, 23), and the retirement of gardens and the thick shade of woods offered great at- tractions to their worshippers (2 Kuigs xvi, 4 ; Isa. i, 29; Hos. iv, 13). It was the ridge of Carmel which Elijah selected as the scene of his contest with the priests of Baal, fighting with them the battle of Jeho- vah as it were on their own ground. See Carbiei-. Carmel was regarded by the Roman historians as a sa- cred mountain of the Jews (Tacit. Hist, ii, 78; Sueton. Vesjh 7). The host of heaven was worshipped on the housetop (2 Kings xxiii, 12; Jer. xix, 3; xxxii, 29; Zeph. i, 5). In describing the sun-worship of the Na- bataji, Strabo (xvi, 784) mentions two characteristics which strikingly illustrate the worship of Baal. They built their altars on tlie roofs of houses, and offered on them incense and libations daily. On the wall of his city, in the sight of the besieging armies of Israel and Edom, the king of JNIoab offered his eldest son as a burnt-offering. The Persians, who worshipped the sun under the name of ]\Iithra (Strabo, xv, 732), sacrificed on an elevated spot, but built no altars or images. See Mount.