Beth is a house or temple; as in [[367]]Beth-El, Beth-Dagon, Beth-Shemesh, Beth-Oron, or Beth-Or-On, &c. &c. It is sometimes subjoined, as in Phar-beth, and Elisa-beth; the latter of which is the house of [[368]]Elisa, the same as Elusa of Idume, and Eleusa of Egypt. Beth was in different countries expressed Bat, Bad, Abad. Hence we meet at this day with Pharsabad, Astrabad, Amenabad, Moustafabad, Iahenabad in Persia, India, and other parts of the east. Balbec in Syria is supposed to be the same as Balbeth, the temple of Bal, or the Sun. There are, says [[369]]Dr. Pocock, many cities in Syria, that retain their antient names. Of this Balbeck, or rather Balbeit, is an instance; which signifies the house or temple of Baal. Gulielmus Tyrius, so called from being bishop of Tyre, who wrote of the Holy war, alludes to Baalbec, under the name of [[370]]Balbeth. He lived in the eleventh century, and died anno 1127. According to Iablonsky, Bec and Beth are of the same meaning. Atarbec in Egypt is the temple of Atar or Athar; called Atarbechis by [[371]]Herodotus. The same is Athyr-bet, and styled Athribites (Αθρειβιτης) by [[372]]Strabo. The inner recess of a temple is by Phavorinus and Hesychius called Βαιτης, Βετης, Βετις, similar to
בית אש
among the Chaldeans. It was the crypta or sacred place, where of old the everlasting fire was preserved. Hesychius observes, Βετης, το αποκρυφον μερος του Ἱερου. Bet-Is signifies the place of fire.
It is said of Horapollo by Suidas, that he was a native of Phainubuth in Egypt, belonging to the nome of Panopolis: Ὡραπολλων Φαινυβυθεως κωμης του Πανοπολιτου Νομου. Phainubuth is only Phainabeth varied, and signifies the place sacred to Phanes; which was one of the most antient titles of the Deity in Egypt. So Pharbeth was an abbreviation of Pharabeth, or the house of Pharaoh.
GAU, expressed CAU, CA, and CO.
Gau likewise is a term which signifies a house; as we learn from Plutarch. The great and decisive battle between Alexander and Darius is generally said to have been fought at Arbela. But we are assured by this writer, that it was decided at Gaugamela[[373]]. He says, that Gau signified in the language of the country a house: and that the purport of the word Gaugamela was the house of a camel. This name, it seems, was given to the town on account of a tribute exacted for the maintenance of a camel, which had saved the life of some king, when he fled from battle: and the reason why the victory of Alexander was adjudged to Arbela, arose from its being more famous than the other place: for Gaugamela was not of sufficient repute: therefore the honour of this victory was given to Arbela, though it was according to some five hundred, according to others six hundred stadia[[374]] from the field of battle. I have not now time, nor is it to my purpose, to enter into a thorough discussion of this point: I will only mention it as my opinion, that Arbela and Gaugamela were the same place. The king alluded to is said by [[375]]Strabo to have been Darius the son of Hystaspes. But is it credible, that so great a prince, who had horses of the famous breed of Nysa, as well as those of Persis and Arabia, the most fleet of their kind, should be so circumstanced in battle, as to be forced to mount a camel, that could scarce move six miles in an hour: and this at a time when the greatest dispatch was necessary? This author gives a different reason for the place being thus denominated. He says, that it was allotted for the maintenance of a camel, which used to bring the king's provisions from Scythia, but was tired and failed upon the road. I know not which of the two circumstances in this short detail is most exceptionable; a king of Persia's provisions being brought to Babylon, or Sushan from Scythia; or a tired camel having such a pension. The truth is this: the Grecians misinterpreted the name, and then forged these legendary stories to support their [[376]]mistake. Had they understood the term, they would have been consistent in their history. Gau, and, as it was at times expressed, Cau, certainly signifies a house, or temple: also a cave, or hollow; near which the temple of the Deity was founded. For the Amonians erected most of their sacred edifices near caverns, and deep openings of the earth. Gaugamela was not the house of a camel, as Plutarch and Strabo would persuade us, notwithstanding the stories alleged in support of the notion: but it was the house and temple of Cam-El, the Deity of the country. Arbela was a place sacred to Bel, called Arbel,
אור בל
of the Chaldeans. It was the same as Beth Arbel of [[377]]Hosea: and Gaugamela is of the same purport, relating to the same God under different titles. The Grecians were grossly ignorant in respect to foreign events, as Strabo repeatedly confesses: and other writers do not scruple to own it. Lysimachus had been an attendant upon Alexander during the whole series of his conquests in Asia: there had been nothing of moment transacted, in the success of which he had not partaken. Yet even in his days, when he was king of Thrace, the accounts of those great actions had been so misrepresented, that when a history of them was read in his presence, they seemed quite new to him. It is all very fine, says the prince; but where was I when all this happened? There was a series of events exhibited, with which the person most interested was least acquainted. We may then well imagine, that there existed in the time of Plutarch many mistakes, both in respect to the geography of countries very remote, and to the [[378]]language of nations, with whom the Romans were little acquainted. The great battle, of which we have been speaking, was confessedly fought at Gaugamela. Ptolemy Ceraunus, who was present, averred it: as did Aristobulus: and it has been recorded by Plutarch and others. It is also adjudged to Arbela by persons of equal credit: and it must certainly have been really there transacted: for notwithstanding the palliating excuse of Plutarch, it is utterly incredible in respect to so great a victory, that the scene of action should be determined by this place, if it were sixty, or, as some say, seventy miles out of the way. But in reality it was at no such distance. Diodorus Siculus says, that Alexander immediately after the victory attacked Arbela, and took it: and found in it many evidences of its being a place of consequence. [[379]]Θαψας τους τετελευτηκοτας επεβαλε τοις Αρβηλοις, και πολλην μεν ἑυρεν αφθονιαν της τροφης, ουκ ολιγον δε κοσμον, και γαζαν βαρβαρικην, αργυριου δε ταλαντα δισχιλια. The battle was fought so near the city, that Alexander was afraid of some contagion from the dead bodies of the enemy, which lay close by it in great abundance.
I have mentioned, that Gaugamela was the temple of Cham-El, or Cham-Il. This was a title of the Deity brought from Chaldea to Egypt; and from thence to Greece, Hetruria, and other regions. The Greeks, out of different titles, and combinations, formed various Deities; and then invented different degrees of relation, which they supposed to have subsisted between them. According to Acusilaus Cham-Il was the Son of Vulcan, and Cabeira. [[380]]Ακουσιλαος δε ὁ Αργειος εκ Καβειρης και Ἡφαιστου Καμιλον λεγει. He was, by others, rendered Camillus, whose attendants were the Camilli; and he was esteemed the same as Hermes of Egypt. [[381]]Statius Tullianus de vocabulis rerum libro primo ait dixisse Callimachum, Tuscos Camillum appellare Mercurium, &c. Romani quoque pueros et puellas nobiles et investes Camillos et Camillas appellant, Flaminicarum et Flaminum præministros. Servius speaks to the same purpose. [[382]]Mercurius Hetruscâ linguâ Camillus dicitur. The reason of the attendants being also called Camilli was in consequence of a custom among the antients of conferring generally upon the priests the title of the Deity whom they served. The Camilli were commonly young persons of good family, as we learn from Plutarch, and were to be found in the temples of Jupiter, or Zeus: for Zeus and Hermes were originally the same: [[383]]Και τον ὑπηρετουντα τῳ Ἱερῳ του Διος αμφιθαλη παιδα λεγεσθαι Καμιλλον, ᾡς και τον Ἑρμην· ὁυτως ενιοι των Ἑλληνων Καμιλλον απο της διακονιας προσηγορευον. He mentions Ἑρμην—Καμιλλον απο της διακονιας, and supposes that Camillus had the name of Hermes from the similarity of his office, which was waiting upon the Gods. But the Chaldeans and Egyptians, from whom these titles were borrowed, esteemed Hermes as the chief Deity, the same as Zeus, Bel, and Adon. They knew nothing of Mercurius pedissequus, nor Hermes the lacky. They styled their chief God Cam-Il, or Camillus, and his priests had the same title. He did not borrow it from them; but they received it from him. The name is sometimes expressed Camulus: and the Amonians, who travelled westward, brought his rites and worship into the western parts of Europe: hence there are inscriptions to be found inscribed [[384]]Camulo Sancto Fortissimo. He was sometimes taken for Mars: as we may learn from an inscription in Gruter:
[[385]] MARTI CAMULO
Ob Salutem Tiberi Claud. Cæs. Cives Remi
posuerunt.