Kenrick, in his "History of Egypt," says:
"We have abundant evidence that the Egyptian theology had its origin in the personification of the powers of nature, under male and female attributes, and that this conception took a sensible form, such as the mental state of the people required, by the identification of these powers with the elements and the heavenly bodies, fire, earth, water, the sun and moon, and the Nile. Such appears everywhere to be the origin of the objective form of polytheism; and it is equally evident among the nations most closely allied to the Egyptians by position and general character—the Phenicians, the Babylonians, and in remote connection, the Indians on the one side and the Greeks on the other."
The gods and goddesses of the ancient Persians were also personifications of the Sun, Moon, Stars, the elements, &c.
Ormuzd, "The King of Light," was god of the Firmament, and the "Principle of Goodness" and of Truth. He was called "The Eternal Source of Sunshine and Light," "The Centre of all that exists," "The First-born of the Eternal One," "The Creator," "The Sovereign Intelligence," "The All-seeing," "The Just Judge." He was described as "sitting on the throne of the good and the perfect, in regions of pure light," crowned with rays, and with a ring on his finger—a circle being an emblem of infinity; sometimes as a venerable, majestic man, seated on a Bull, their emblem of creation.
"Mithras the Mediator" was the god-Sun. Their most splendid ceremonials were in honor of Mithras. They kept his birth-day, with many rejoicings, on the twenty-fifth of December, when the Sun perceptibly begins to return northward, after his long winter journey; and they had another festival in his honor, at the vernal equinox. Perhaps no religious festival was ever more splendid than the "Annual Salutation of Mithras," during which forty days were set apart for thanksgiving and sacrifice. The procession to salute the god was formed long before the rising of the Sun. The High Priest was followed by a long train of the Magi, in spotless white robes, chanting hymns, and carrying the sacred fire on silver censers. Then came three hundred and sixty-five youths in scarlet, to represent the days of the year and the color of fire. These were followed by the Chariot of the Sun, empty, decorated with garlands, and drawn by superb white horses harnessed with pure gold. Then came a white horse of magnificent size, his forehead blazing with gems, in honor of Mithras. Close behind him rode the king, in a chariot of ivory inlaid with gold, followed by his royal kindred in embroidered garments, and a long train of nobles riding on camels richly caparisoned. This gorgeous retinue, facing the East, slowly ascended Mount Orontes. Arrived at the summit, the High Priest assumed his tiara wreathed with myrtle, and hailed the first rays of the rising Sun with incense and prayer. The other Magi gradually joined him in singing hymns to Ormuzd, the source of all blessing, by whom the radiant Mithras had been sent to gladden the earth and preserve the principle of life. Finally, they all joined in one universal chorus of praise, while king, princes and nobles, prostrated themselves before the orb of day.
The Hebrews worshiped the Sun, Moon, Stars, and "all the host of heaven."[549:1] El-Shaddai was one of the names given to the god Sun. Parkhurst, in his "Hebrew Lexicon," says, "El was the very name the heathens gave to their god Sol, their Lord or Ruler of the hosts of heaven." El, which means "the strong one in heaven"—the Sun, was invoked by the ancestors of all the Semitic nations, before there were Babylonians in Babylon, Phenicians in Sydon and Tyrus, before there were Jews in Mesopotamia or Jerusalem.[549:2]
The Sun was worshiped by the Hebrews under the names of Baal, Moloch, Chemosh, &c.; the Moon was Ashtoreth, the "Queen of Heaven."[549:3]
The gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans were the same as the gods of the Indian epic poems. We have, for example: Zeupiter (Jupiter), corresponding to Dyaus-pitar (the Heaven-father), Juno, corresponding to Parvati (the Mother Goddess), and Apollo, corresponding to Crishna (the Sun, the Saviour).[549:4] Another name for the Sun among those people was Bacchus. An Orphic verse, referring to the Sun, says, "he is called Dionysos (a name of Bacchus) because he is carried with a circular motion through the immensely extended heavens."[549:5]
Dr. Prichard, in his "Analysis of Egyptian Mythology,"[549:6] speaking of the ancient Greeks and Romans, says: