'~, - alleys of sphinxes, obelisks,
etc., may be found in Strabo (xvii; Josephus, c. Apion. ii, 2), who says that the mural sculpture in it was very sim- ilar to the old Etruscan and Grecian works. In the tem- ple a bullock was fed — a sym- bol of the god Mnevis. The city suffered severely by the Persian invasion. From the time of Shaw and Pococke the place has been described by many travellers. At an early period remains of the famous temple were found. Abdallatif (A.D. 1200) saw many colossal sphinxes, part- ly prostrate, partly standing. He also saw the gates or propytea of the temple cov- ered with inscriptions; he describes two immense obe- lisks whose summits were covered with massive brass, around which were others one half or one third the size of the first, placed in so thick a mass that they could scarcely be counted, most of them thrown down. This city furnished works of art to Augustus for adorning Rome, and to Constantine for adorning Constantinople. Ritter {Erdkimde, i, 823) says that the sole remaining obelisk bears hieroglyphics which remind the beholder of what Strabo terms the Etruscan style. " The fig- ure of the cross which it bears (crvx ansata) has at- tracted the special notice of Christian antiquaries" (Ritter),
Heliopolis was situate on the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, just below the point of the Delta, and about twenty miles north-east of Memphis. It was before the Roman time the capital of the Heliopolitic Nome, which was included in Lower Egypt (Pliny, Hist. Nat. V, 9; Ptolem. iv, 5). Now its site is above the point of the D.lta, which is the junction of the
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Phatinetic, or Damietta branch, and the Bolbitine, or Rosetta, and about ten miles to the north-east of Cairo. The site is now marked by low mounds, enclosing; a space about three ((uarters of a mile in length by half a mile in breadth, which was once occupied by houses and by the celebrated Temple of the Sun. This area is at present a ploughed field, a garden of herbs; and the solitary obelisk which still rises in the midst of it is the sole remnant of the former splendors of the place. In the days of Edrisi and Abdallatif the place bore the name of A in Shenis ; and in the neighboring village, Matariyeh, is still shown an ancient well bearing the same name. Near by it is the above-mentioned verj^ old sycamore, its trunk straggling and gnarled, under which legendary tradition relates that the holy family once rested (Robinson, Biblical Resecvches, i, 36).
O'nam (Heb. Oiuim', CD'iS, stron/j'), the name of two men.
1. (Sept. 'Qfxap in Genesis, 'Qixifi in Chron. ; v. r. 'Qfidv, Sojvni'), the last named of the five children of Shobal, son of Seir the Horite (Gen. xxxvi, 23 ; 1 Chron. i,40). B.C.cir. 19G4.
2. (Sept. Oi'ii'o/(«, V. r. '0^(i/<), son of Jerahmeel, of the tribe of Judah, by his wife Atarab, and father of Sbammai and Jada (1 Chron. ii, 26, 28). B.C. ante 1G58.
O'nan (Heb. Onan', "3TX, strong ; Sept. Aiij'«j'), the second son of Judah by the daughter of Shuah the Ca- naanite (Gen. xxxviii, 4 ; Numb, xxvi, ]9; 1 Chron. iii, 3). Being constrained by the obligations of the an- cient Levirate law (q. v.) to espouse Tamar, his elder brother's widow, he took means to frustrate the inten- tion of this usage, which was to provide heirs for a brother who had died childless (Deut. xxv, 5-10 ; Mark xli, 19). This offence, rendered without excuse by the allowance of polygamy, and the seriousness of which can scarcely be appreciated but in respect to the usages of the times in which it was committed, was punished by premature death (Gen. xxxviii, 8 sq.). B.C. cir. 1870. His act was evidently different from the vice which has been given his name.
Onca, a surname of A thene, under which she was worshipped at Oncoe, in Bceotia. — Gardner, Faiths of the World, \-o\. ii, s. v.
Oncacus, a surname of Apollo, from Onca?ium, in Arcadia, where ho bad a temple. — Gardner, Faiths of tht World, vol. ii, s. v.
Onderdonk, Benjamin TreadTvell, D.D., LL.D., an eminent American divine and bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, noted especially because of the severe trials through which he passed, and his consequent deposition from the episcopal office, was born in the city of New York in 1791. He was edu- cated at Columbia College, New York, class of 1809, and, after a most critical study of divinity, was ordained priest in 1812, and in the following year was made as- sistant pastor of Trinity parish. New York. He soon distinguished himself by unusual pulpit talents, and be- came one of the favorite preachers of the metrojiolis. In 1826 he was elected professor in the General Theo- logical Seminary of New York, and he held that position until 1830, when he was elevated to the episcopate as successor to the then recently deceased bishop Hobart, of Eastern New York. He was consecrated to this im- portant office Nov. 26, 1830. Bv his eminent qualitica- tions for the episcopal work he soon acquired general trust, and by his untiring industry gained many warm admirers and friends. In 1844, however, and that very unexpectedly, most serious charges were brought against the purity of his moral character, and in December of that year he was therefore tried by the Ilnuse of Bish- ops acting as a court. After a lung and searching in- vestigation, the court decided (eight voting for deposi- tion and nine for suspension) that he be suspended from the office and functions of the ministry (.Jan. 3, 1845).