L ibr a r y . o f W ' T H E O RIG IN A N C I E N T N A M E S . WE sh a ll fo llo w in a rticle sh o w endeavor, in the g , to Ita lAsia that the proper names of Greece , y , Minor, B a b lo n E t h o ae y , gyp , P enicia , and Jud a , more especially the names of places and of the gods , are generally com pound words containing within them the names of the - Ak . sun gods Ab , , Am , Ar, As , At, El , and On In this inquiring age it is time that the composition of n ames which are associated with the legends or the history of the ancient world should receive proper a t tention . Before the mission of the Saviour, the more intelligent amon g the Romans had formed the opinion that the various great gods ” of the nations had much ff in common , notwithstanding the di erent attributes f ascribed to them and the dif erence of their names . a nd Hercules , O siris , Janus , Zeus , Jupiter, many more , f were regarded as the same deity , allowing for the dif er ence of ideas Which must be expected to exist among different nations on the same subject . It has been said that Roman polytheism has but two ” m lu . great gods , Heaven and Earth , and Terra In the fourth century, Ausonius treats prominent gods of several nations as the same deity under different names 4 Ogygia me Ba cch u m vo ca t Osirin E gy ptus pu ta t Mysi Pha n a cem no mina nt ; Dio ny so n In di exis tim a nt Ro ma a S a cra L be u m n i r , ” a b a Ge do ne m Ar ic ns A u . Ogygia c a lls me Ba cchus E gypt thinks me Osiris T h e Mysia ns na me m e Pha n a x ; T h e Indi c onsider m e Diony sus T h e Ro m a n S a c ra c a llm e Liber a b a a c do n The Ar i n r e , A is . The Rhodian oracle declares Atys or Attis to be - o -u s Dio n u so s Adon is , Ba ch , and M a gnum Atten pla ca te Deu m qu i c a stus Ado nis ” s es La r ito r O u m ulc D s E u t o u . vi , g p , p her i nys Not only is there a coincidence in the general idea i which the ancients had of the deit es , but often there is a very great verbal resemblance in their names . They are frequently exactly the same word . The appellations of the gods are generally translated or explained by words of the same sound in the lan guage of the country where the name belongs . For instance , the word Salii , the priests of Hercules , and s a lio “ of Mars in Italy, is usually derived from , to ” : n leap we prefer to derive it from Sol or A sel , the sun , and compare it with the Selli mentioned in Homer, ‘ ’ — EM o z H ello i priests of Jup iter, who were also called ( ) , ’ eik 3 h a lea from El or Asel , the sun ; q, M ( Hele) , alea or flea ( ) , and halo (in English) , mean the same . We have Au sel u n . the Etruscan Usil , and , names of the s h Ap rodite , the Grecian name of Venus , is supposed to “ ” ac és th e be formed from tp , foam of the sea . We think su n it a compound of Abar , the , the shining Bar of the Assyrian inscriptions , and Adad (pronounced Atad or su n Aditth a Adat) , the ; like , the name of an ancient - a a city on the Euphrates , and Adit y , the S nskrit name of the spirits of light . u As a younger race , the Greeks wo ld naturally bor row many ideas from the more advanced nations of oe Asia Minor, Palestine, Ph nicia , Egypt, and Mesopo tamia ; just as we are indeb ted to Europe for the large 5 proportion of the books read by us . Were their deities " entirely the creation of the Hellenic mind Was Ado n is , the beloved of Venus , originally a Grecian deity , or " is he of Assyrian origin Movers , in his accoun t of the says that the fir st syllable of Sar - da n - apal a n d - us , the Assyrian king deity name , is the word Asar, Azar, or Asur, a name of the Assyrian Mars . The ” second d a n a syllable , , is Ad n , which is again found in ’ - a do n -h a dd o n Asar , or Esar , a king s name , and is plain lfi x Ad a n . 7 C a rth a in y ( ( ) without the A It is ( , the g ia n D o n a n d ; is very common in Assyrian names , like - - a d a n - - a dcm Merodach Baal , Nabu zar , the captain of the guard , mentioned in the Bible . To these words , instanced by Movers , we may add - Ad0n - Kh o rsa b a d the names of Bel (im) sha , ruler at , Neb - - - - - - a d o n o ssa r a d . n ez z a r d a n uch or Neb uch , Abi or Pha eth on - d am n T a na - , San , the Assyria Mars , is or Athena - D a n - - Olh . n ( Minerva) ; Dan , Tina , Jupiter Tinia , iel , - N- a t/za n - - N- a t/za n - a th cm iel , iel , , Jon , Adonai , Adoni - - - - - bezek , Adoni ram , Adoni kam , Adoni jah , Dona paris ’ - D n i- Am - a d nw a n d in or eper, , Ari , Udine , a place Italy . - Ada n (is) is the sun . He was said to pass six months - with Venus and six months with Proserpine . Adon is or ” . In Adonai was an Oriental title of the sun T the Bible , we have “ the children of Ede n which were in Thel ” asar, i and the garden of Adan (Eden) in Genesis . - Other forms of Adan ( Adonis , the sun god) are Ham a d cm i , the capital of Media , Tina , the name of Jup ter a in It ly, Tina , the name of a place in Arabia , Atten - (as Adon is is called by the Rhodian oracle) , and Pos ido n -tune Ne , the name of Nep ( p is the Assyrian Nebo , - - o d Mercury ; tune is Adan , the Mesopotamian sun g ) . In the North of Europe , Adan is Odin , the Scandinavian - king and god . We have the Bible names Adin and di M - idia n A no , the names of persons , , of a country, M - eth o ne Diana , a goddess of Italy , , an ancient city, M - o don in called also . We have the river Don , Russia , -m -o don the Ther , which empties into the Black Sea , not i a n d n very far from Treb zond , the Udo , which flows Pa ge 4 79 . ’ R. P. K n . D iet . n a ss o s . T ight . See Anthon s Cl , Art Ad i 2 n s . 2 1; Ki g xix 1 . 6 - i into the Caspian Sea . There is the river Jor d a n n - cla n Palestine , the Jar , a river in Greece , another river n a n d of the same name in the isla d of Crete , a hero , - d - - a n es . fire Jar Jar is the god Ar, a part of the word - u sa lem c - Jer , the ancient Salem ( ompare the Bible name - b - l a n d A sa o m . Jehova Shalom , also , Salomi) The Greek Hermes or H er m eia s ( Mercu ry) is said to “ S a ra m e a s be the Median word y , who leads the souls ” m to Hades (it being the softened for of s) . It is evi dent th a t the Greeks took the names Adan ( Adonis) and “ ” H erm eia s ( Mercury) wholly from the East . But an attentive examination of the composition of proper Neb u ch a d o n o ssa r names , Nebo ( Mercury) , Achad (the su n - O ssa r " - is Na b o co la ssa r ) , Adan ( Adon is) , ( seir ) ; , fire - su n E1 su n Nabo ( Mercury) , Ac (the ) , (the ) , Asar - Na b o o la ssa r ( Mars) , the sun god ; p , Nabo ( Mercury) , A — u Apol ( pollo) , Assar ( Mars) s ggests the idea that many of the names of the an cient world will be found to h a mes o n e a n be made up of o t er n of d two syllables . They may finally be reduced to eight n a mes of sun-g o ds o n e l of syllab e each , which , variously compounded to gether, make up the names of gods , kings , rivers , coun a nd . Ab Ak tries , cities They are , , Am , Ar, As , At Ani . ( Ad) , El , and On ( ) I A n . n Ab , p , or Op is an old ame of the sun in Italy ' a n d A - - a n Egypt it is Api , Hapi , p is (Phi os , Egyptian In . king) . Babylon and Persia it is Ab or Av We find S a l- a - A -u l- - A p ia , a city of p ia in Italy ( Sol p ) , - a lz B b - - a - en l Zal p , a i le name , Sal p , a people of Arabia , A - r A su n Ia - ia , , , ; p , p ia " the land of p the yg a G eece ” as in “ name of Mag na Gr cia Italy , Auf, an Arab divin J a n d - a la n d ity , oab , a Hebrew captain , Job ; also Jub - l J a b a .