At this seyinge that other youled and toke him in
armes and wepynge seyde: “O Combabe, wherfore
hastow wrought gret mescheef? Wherfore hastow
don thiself suche a despyt that never yit no man ne
sayde? I preyse this not at alle. O herde herte,
that wast hardy for to don suche thinges, that I
wolde thou hadde neer soffred ne I neer seen! Me
wantede not this answere. But for als moche
as it was goddes wille, first shaltow han vengeaunce
of oure grace, the dethe of thi false chalengeres
hem self, and after schal comen a gret yifte, moche
gold and gret plentee silver and Assuriene clothes
and rialle destreres (royal chargers). And thou shalt come before
me withouten that ony man presente thee, and
noon schalle lette thee fro sight of me, thoghe I be
abedde with my wyf.” A plain reminiscence of Herodotus3, 84 and118, with the significant change of fv uh yuraki to οὐδ᾽ ἣν γυναικί (Allinson). Right as he seyde, right so
he didde. Tho weren ladde to dethe anon, but to
him the yiftes were goven and grettere frendschipe


 

was graunted. And it semede that Combabe hadde
not his pere in Assurye for wisdom and for blisse. 
And after, ther as he besoghte to finissche the
remenant of the temple, for he hadde laft it unfinissched, he was sent eftsones and broght it to an
ende, and abood there fro thens fromward. And be
cause of his vertue and wel doynge, the kyng vouchede
saf that his ymage in brasse scholde ben set in the
seyntuarye. And so for gerdon Combabe dwelleth yit
in the close, formed of brasse be crafte of Ermocle
the Rodien, lyk a womman in schappe, but clothed
as a man. Hermocles of Rhodes is known only from this passage ; his name must have been preserved by an inscription on the statue, which we may be sure was the restoration of an older statue of the putative originator of the Galli and possibly real founder of the temple, installed in connection with the Seleucid restoration of the temple itself. 
The storie telleth that his beste frendes, for solas
of his wo, chosen to parte his lot; for thei gelten
hem and ladde that same manere lyf. But othere
men rehercen prestes lore to this matere, how that
Iuno lovynge Combabe putte it in the thoghtes of
manye to gelden hem, in the entente that he
scholde not mourne allone for manhode.
 
But evermore sithen that this custom was first establissched,
it abydeth yit, and everyche yeer manye men
gelden hem in the close and becomen as wommen,
wher it be that thei solacen Combabe or reioysen
Iuno. Algates thei gelden hem. And thise no
lenger clothen hem as men, but weren wommenes
wedes and don wommenes werkes. And as I herde,
the blame of this also is leyde on Combabe; for a
thyng befel him in this wyse. A straunge womman
that cam thider on pilgrimage saughe him whyl
he was fayre and clad yit as a man, and sche was
seysed of gret love. But after, whan sche lernede



 

that he was marred, sche slowe hirself. Thanne for
despeyr that Combabe hadde be cause he was
acurst in love, he didde on femele clothinge to the
ende that never non other womman scholde ben
so begyled. That is whi Galles weren femele
aparayl. Since Kombabos bears a very ancient name, since the temple-story ascribes the origin of the Galli to him, not to Attis, and since Attis does not figure at all in the worship as described by Lucian, the Galli can hardly be a Seleucid importation from Phrygia (Cumont); in that case Attis would have been imported also. Meyer, who believes the cult ancient here, but Hittite-Anatolian in its origin, finds evidence of Attis-worship in the name Atargatis (Atat-Ata), which he interprets as the Astarte of Attis; 7.¢., the goddess that is characterized by the worship of Attis (Aesch., p. 650). This view not only leaves Kombabos out of account, but does not reckon with the fact that the deity Ata was often, if not always, thought of as feminine (cf. Baudissin, p. 158, 1). The connection, however, between Attis and Ata is indubitable ; and I believe that there is an analogous connection between Kombabos (Assyr. Hum-ba-ba, Baby]. Hu-wa-wa, with characteristic w for b) and KéBnBos (Gallus), KvB48n (the goddess Cybele). It cannot be mere coincidence that in Syria Ku(m)baba serves Ata, while in Bhrygie Cybebe is served by Attis. That the transfer in which man and goddess exchanged names was from Semitic to non-Semitic soil is, it seems to me, likely from the antiquity of the name Ku(m)baba. Other arguments are not wanting. 
Of Combabe have I seyd ynow, and of Galles I
schalle make mencioun sone in another partie of my
boke, C. 50-53. how that they ben gelded, and in what
manere that thei ben buryed, and wherfore thei
entren not into the temple. But first it listeth me
to telle of the site of the temple and his gretnesse,
and therfore I schalle don right so.

 

The place therinne the temple sytt isa hille ; and *
it liggeth wel in the myddes of the cytee, and two
walles enviroune it. Oon of tho walles is auncien,
but the tother is not mocheles elder than oure tyme.
The entree of the holy place maketh out toward the
Septemtryon, wel a 100 fadmes of largenesse; and in
that entree stont tho yerdes that Bachus leet set,
on heighte a 300 fadmes. Some reduce these 300-fathom emblems to 30 by conjecture, but it is in unimportant details like this that Lucian ves rein to his inclination to parody. Mandeville gives the Howe of Babel the modest height of 64 furlongs—eight miles. A man goth up the oon





 

of thise yerdes twyes in the yeer and woneth at the
cop of the yerde for the space of 7 dayes. And the
cause of his goynge up, as men seyn, is this. Lewed
folk trowen that he speketh with the goddes on highe
and axeth bones for alle Surrye, and the goddeg
heren his preyeres fro there nyghe. This is evidently the true reason, and not either of the two that follow. That the gods can hear better from near at hand is good Semitic psychology ; but the use of a pillar instead of a mountain-top, or a ziggurat, or the roof of a house, appears otherwise unevidenced in early Syria. “It was perhaps the memory of this strange rite (not however peculiar to Syria, but known also in India) which led Simeon the Stylite to ascend his column four centuries later ata site not very far west of the old temple of the Dea Syria” (C. R. Conder, Palestine, p. 206). But othere
wenen that this also is don be cause of Deucalioun,
in tokene and mynde of that tribulacioun, whan
men wenten into montaynes and into the gret highe
trees for fere of the flode. Now to me, that is not
to beleven. I suppose wel that thei don this for
worschipe of Bachus, and I conclude it thus. Yerdes
that thei maken for worschipe of Bachus, on tho yerdes
thei setten alle weyes wodene men; but I schalle
not seye whi. Compare Herodotus 2, 48, and the iepds Adyos. The explanation that Lucian has in mind is probably the ee story (Clement of Alexandria, Protrept. 2, p. 30 P.). Therfore me thenketh, in goynge
up, that oon countrefeteth that other woden man.

 

The manere of his goynge up is this. He putteth
a schort corde abouten himself and the yerde, and
thanne he climbeth on peces of wode ynaylled on
the yerde, bigge ynow for to lette setten (set his toes) on his
toon; and ther as he climbeth he throweth up the
corde with bothe hondes right as he mighte schake
the reynes of a charre. If ony ther be that hath
not seen this thing, but hath seen men that climben
trees of palme in Arabye or in Egypte, or elles
where, he undirstondeth wherof I speke. This method of climbing palms is alluded to by Pliny, 13, 29. 





 
 
Whan he is comen to the ende of his weye, he
letteth falle an other corde that he hath, that is
long, and draweth uppe what him list, wode and
clothes and purveyaunce, of the whiche he frameth
a sete lyk as a nest, theron he sytteth and abydeth
for the space of the before seyde dayes, And
manye comynge putten gold or silver or peraunter
brasse, that thei usen for here moneyes, in to a
vesselle that lyeth there neer, seyinge everychon
his name. Thann oon that stondeth there beside
calleth it uppe ; and whan that other resceyveth the
name of eech, he preyeth for him, and in preyinge
schaketh a thyng of brasse that souneth gret and
schrille whan it is stered. Very likely the bronze sistrum ; fragments of these have been found in Phoenicia (Cook 45). The object was to scare away evil spirits, which as Lucian says elsewhere (vol. iii, p. 343), take flight if they hear a chink of bronze or iron. And he ne slepeth never.
For if that ever he falle on slepe, a scorpioun goynge
up awaketh him and doth him pitous harm; and
that is the peyne that is leyde on him for slepynge. There is probably special significance in the scorpion. Not only does it occur frequently on Babylonian seals, and later become the sign of the Zodiac, but in the Gilgamesh Epic (Frazer, Folklore,i, 112), the mountain, where the sun goes down (i.e. Antilian on ; Schrader-Zimmern, p. 573), is guarded by a scorpion man and woman. 
Now this tale that is told of the scorpioun is a holy
tale and wel semyng, but wher it be trewe or non,
I wot neer. Natheles, me semeth that drede of
fallynge avayleth moch to wakfulnesse.
 Now thanne, of yerde-climberes have I seyd y
now.

 
But as touching the temple, it loketh ayenst
the sonnes rysynge, and the form and makyng
therof is right as thei bylden temples in Ionye. A
gret platte forme ryseth fro the erthe 2 fadmes of
highte, where on the temple sytt. The weye up to




 

it is mad of stone, that is not over long. And
whan thou art aboven, the parvys of the temple
scheweth thee a thing of grete merveylle, for it is
dight with dores of gold. And with inne, the temple
schyneth with mocheles gold, and the ceylours ben
alle goldene. And a hevenlyche savour cometh out
of it, lyk as cometh, men seyn, out of the londe of
Arabye. In goynge up, fro fer it sendeth toward
thee a wondur swete brethe; and ther as thou gost
thy weye, it fayleth never, but thi clothes kepen
that brethe ful longe tyme, and thou schalt evermore ben in remembraunce ther of.