And with inne, the temple is not oon, but in it is mad an other chambre, to the which is an other weye up, that is but schort. That chambre is not dight with dores but liggeth alle open ayens thee. In to the grete temple comen alle men, but in to the litylle chambre the prestes only, and not alle the prestes, but only thei that ben most nyghe to the Goddes and han in governaunce alle the servys of the temple. And in that chambre arn throned the ydoles, that oon Iuno and that other that is Tove, algates thei clepen him be another name.

The other name, the right one, is Hadad, or Ramman, god of the lightning and of the waters (rains and floods), known from very early times to the Semites, to the Mitani folk under the name of Teshub, and to the Hittites, upon whose monuments he is conspicuous, with the axe and the thunderbolt for attributes. He underlies not only Jupiter Heliopolitanus but Jupiter Dolichenus. Consequently his identification here also with Jupiter was inevitable, and it is chiefly in virtue of this that his spouse was identified with Juno (cf. Dussaud, Pauly-Wissowa, s.v., and Schrader- Zimmern, p. 447).

And both ben of gold, and both sytten, but lyouns beren Iuno, and that other sytt on boles.

Lucian’s statement is borne out by the coins; see Head, Hist. Numm., 2nd ed., p. 777. Atargatis is seen sometimes riding on a lion, sometimes enthroned between two of them; Hadad (not Baal Kevan) is seated between two oxen. ‘On an inscription from North Syria (eighth century) Hadad has horns, and with this agrees the association of the bull with the god . . . we may conjecture that the small heads of bulls unearthed by the excavations are connected with his worship” (Cook, 90; cf. Schrader-Zimmern, p. 778). Compare Tobit, 1, 5. The lion appears also in connection with Ata, with “Kadesh,” who stands upon a lion in an Egyptian representation of her, and with several Babylonian deities, as well as with Cybele.

And certeynely the symulacre of Iove ressembleth Iove in alle pointes, as heed and garnements and throne; and thou mightest not lyknen him unto no thing elles, and thou wolde.

But whan thou lokest on Iuno, sche wil schewe thee grete dyversitee of semblauntz; for al be it that the hool, trewely considered, be luno, natheles it conteyneth some dele of Minerve and Venus and Luna and Cibella and Deane and Fortune and Parcas.

Compare Plutarch, Crassus, 17, 6: “And the first warning sign came to him from this very goddess, whom some call Venus, others Juno, while others (cf. Cornutus 6) still regard her as the natural cause which supplies from moisture the beginnings and seeds of everything, and points out to mankind the source of all blessings. for as they were leaving her temple (where, Plutarch says, he had been taking an inventory of the treasures), first the younger Crassus stumbled and fell at the gate, and then his father fell over him” (Perrin’s translation). The identification with Aphrodite, which occurs on inscriptions from Delos, is due to her Astarte side; to Lucian in this case it is of course particularly suggested by the famous cestus. What suggested the other goddesses is not clear to me in the case of Athena or of Nemesis; the rays indicate Selene, the distaff Artemis, and the sceptre the Parcae, or Moirai (Fates). cestus

And in that oon hond sche holt a troncheon, and in that other a distaf; and on hir hede sche bereth rayes, and a tour, and that ceynt that men arayen with Venus Celestial allone. And abouten hir sche hath mo gold and precious stones right costlewe, some whyte and some watry, and manye lyk wyn and manye lyk fuyr; and therto sardoynes withouten nombre and berylles and emeraudes. Thise stones bryngen men of Egypte and Inde and Ethyope and Medye and Ermonye and Babyloyne. But I schal devyse you a thyng that is yit mo to speke of. Sche bereth on hir hede a ston that hight Lampe and hath his name after that that it doth. That ston schyneth in the nyght with grete claretee and serveth all the temple with light, right as it were of lampes. In the daye his schyninge is feble but it hath a right fuyry aspect.

Compare Herodotus2, 44, on the great emerald pillar in the temple of Melkart at Tyre; also Mandeville, pp. 239, 276, ed. Halliwell, on luminous stones in the possession of the Emperor of Cathay and of Prester John. Diodorus (3, 39, 8) credits the topaz with this power.

And ther is an other merveylle in that ydole. Gif thou loke on hir stondynge ayenst hir, sche loketh on thee, and if thou remeve thee, hir regard folweth thee; natheles if an other beholde hir fro the tothere syde, sche doth right so to him also.

And betwene hem stont a symulacre of gold, not lyk the othere symulacres in no kynde, that hath no propre schap but bereth the qualitees of the other goddes. And the Assuriens hem selve clepen it Tokene, for thei han not goven him no propre name; in sothe thei mowe not seyn whens it cam ne what maner thyng it is. But some beleven, it is of Bachus, ~ and othere that it is of Deucalioun, and othere that it is of Semiramys. And for sothe a dowve of gold stont on his hede, and so thei devisen that it is Semiramys Tokene. And it doth iorney twyes eech yeer to the See, for to fecchen that water aforseyde.

It is clear from the passage in Melito quoted above that Lucian’s “token” (semeion) rests upon a misunderstanding of the name of a goddess, Simi, Simia, Semea (Néldeke; cf. Hoefer, s.v. Semea in Roscher). The name also figures in the Semiramis-Derceto myth, for the royal overseer is called Simmas. Note also that the figure has a dove on its head. A Talmudic gloss cited by Drusius says: ‘“Samaritanus circumcidit in nomine imaginis columbam referentis quam inventam in vertice montis Garizim certo quodam ritu colunt” (Selden, de Dis Syris, p. 275). See Montgomery, Samaritans, p. 320.

In the temple himself on the left syde in entrynge is first a thron of Elye the sonne, but noon ymage of him sytt there on. For of Sonne and Mone only schewen thei non symulacres, and I lernede wherfore thei folwen this usaunce. Thei seyn that of othere goddes it is leful to lete make symulacres, for that here schappes ben not seen of alle men. But Sonne and Mone ben wel visible and alle men beholden hem. Whi thanne make symulacres of thynges that aperen in the eyr?

Compare Meyer, Gesch., p. 192, on the lack of images and temples in the Egyptian worship of Ra.

And ther nyghe this throne is sett a symulacre ~ of Apollo, not lyk as he is wont to ben formed. For alle othere Jeven Apollo yong and formen him as a stripling, but thise allone schewen a symulacre of Apollo berded. And doynge this thei preisen hem selve and repreven Grekes and alle othere men that worschippen Apollo in lyknesse of a child. And the resoun is, for it semeth hem gret folye to maken schappes of Goddes inperfyt, and al that is yong thei demen yit inperfyt. And here Apollo hath other novelrye; for thei allone arayen him with clothynges.

Apollo is Nebo, whose statue, bearded and clothed, erected at Kelach by Adad-Nirari III, son of Semiramis, may be seen at the British Museum (illustrated in Roscher, Lexikon, I, p. 49). The inscription that it bears implores long life for Adad-Nirari, king of Assyria, and for Sammuramat, the Lady of the Palace. Nebo was highly favoured by Semiramis, and also, in later days, by Antiochus Soter, who rebuilt his temple at Borsippa in 268 B.c. At Edessa, near Hieropolis, his worship continued until the coming of Christianity (Cureton, Ancient Syriac Documents, pp. 14, 22, 41). Contemporary testimony to its existence at FReropolie is furnished by Melito; see above, p. 353, note 3. Thestatue at Hieropolis that we find described in Macrobius seems to be a later one; for though it was bearded and clothed, as in Lucian’s day, there was a calathus on the head, a spear topped with a little figure of Victory in the right hand, a flower in the left, a breastplate on his body, and over it a snaky aegis; also, two eagles near by (Saturn, 1, 17, 67-70).