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with the sun, and by it he absorbed " all the attributes of Ra and of every other ancient form of the sun-god " (Budge, ii. 11). Thus he became in the later empire the mightiest of the gods of the land. Aten (= disk of the sun) is noteworthy because of the attempt of Amenophis IV. (1375-58 according to Breasted, History of the. Ancient Egyptians, p . 428, New York, 1908; for an account of the attempt itself cf. the same author, pp. 264 sqq.), " the heretic king," to create a monotheism by making the worship of Aten dominant in the land. Conflict with the priests of Thebes caused him to build his capital at Tell Amarna, and the revolution at his death, with the covering up of a part of the records, is responsible for the existence of the famous Amarna Tablets (q.v.). This deity is noteworthy for the portrayal of him in this reign as a disk the rays from which terminate in hands (symbolizing the blessings he bestows), and in some cases two of the hands hold out the ankh (the sign of life) to Amenophis and his consort, the handle being toward the recipients (cf. Budge, ut sup., vol. ii., chap. iv.). Solar deities were doubtless numerous in Egypt, especially local gods, such as the ancient Menthu, later Menthu-Ra and Her-chef, god of Herakleopolis, who was granted many of the attributes of Ra.

4. Aramea, Syria, and Phenicia: In the region thus designated the indications of sun-worship are numerous and persistent. In the Canaanitic portions the place names have some significance, those who deny this fact not having taken

Names. of indicating the kind of sanctity inhering in a place by the name attached to it. The names are En-shemesh, " fountain of Shemesh " or " of the sun," Josh. xv. 7, xviii. 17; Ir-shemesh, " city of Shemesh," Josh. xix. 41; cf. Isa. xix. 18; Beth-shemesh, " house " or " temple " or " city of Shemesh," Josh. xxi. 16; Her-heres, " mount of the sun," Judges i. 35; Timnath-heres, " territory of the sun," Judges ii. 9; and possibly the Kirheres of Jer. xlviii. 36, with which, however, cf. the Kir-hareseth or -hereseth or -hares of II Kings iii. 25; Isa. xvi. 7, 11; and Jer. xlviii. 31. It will be noticed that these names occur mainly in connection with the early history of Israel and as the names which the places had (presumably) when the Hebrews entered the land. The easiest explanation and the most likely is that the names indicate the presence of sanctuaries dedicated to the sun. Other secondary and general evidences of this cult are the use of the disk, especially on coins, both winged and plain, and particularly the disk in a crescent. In one case a coin of Baalbek has the sun mounted on a chariot, and in other instances he is on a steed (cf. e.g., L. Heuzey, in Comptes rendus de l'academie des inscriptions, 1902, pp. 190-200). This does not take into account the existence of the disk in inscriptions or monuments left by invaders, such as that of Rameses II. at Nahr alKalb, nor the many coins of late times which bear the disk, though in many cases these are evidential. It has been supposed that possibly the rayed star so frequently seen above the crescent in Syrian monumental remains and coins represents the sun,

not a star such as Venus; but the probability is that a star is meant. The cromlechs of Syria are possibly to be connected with sun-worship. One reason for this is that the Dravidians still employ these monuments in that cult, while some of these places are used in worship of the phallus with rites that differ hardly at all in many particulars from those of the sun (cf. C. R. Conder, Heth and Moab, pp. 218-219, London, 1883), and connections of sun and phallic worship are not difficult to find.

To these lines of evidence is to be added for this region the formation of personal names. Quite prominent in this relation is the name of Shamash 2. Personal (however it was vocalized). Thus

Adon-Shmsh, `bd-Shmsh (Greek Helio doros, borne by a Phenician in a Greek environment, CIS, no. 117, 2; the Greek equivalent for Shamash is found in a Beirut inscription Kronou Heliou bomos-cf. Cecealdi, Revue arch6ologique, xxiii., 1872, pp. 253-256). Yet it is noteworthy that actual worship of Shamash under that name does not appear in Phenicia, so far as monumental evidence goes; it is inconceivable, however, that Phenicians did not know its significance. The fragments of Sanchuniathon (q.v.; in Eusebius, Praparatio Evangelica, Eng. transl., pp. 37 sqq., Oxford, 1903) report sun-worship among the Phenicians, and this author traces the cult back to the earliest men, who called him " Baal of Heaven " (ib., p. 39). From Edessa come the names 'mathShmsh, " maid of Shamash," Br-Shmsh, " son of Shamaah," `bd-Shmsh, " servant of Shamash " (Sachau, in ZDMG, xxxvi., 1882, pp. 145 sqq., 163; Doctrina Addai, ed. Phillips, p. 39, London, 1876, Eng. transl. in ANF, viii. 663). Attention has frequently been called in this work to the real significance of names into which " servant of " and " maid-servant of " enter as elements, they being regarded as proofs of the worship in the region of the deity whose name forms the second element in the compound. At the same time this may not always be assumed as evidence of worship contemporaneous with the person bearing the name, since nomenclature often persists after the recognition of its significance is lost. From Emesa, also from Maglula near Baalbek and from Palmyra, comes the name in Greek form Samsigeramos (CIG, 4511; attested also by Photius, Bibliotheca, 181; S. A. Cook, Glossary of Aramaic Inscriptions, Cambridge, 1898; M. Lidzbarski, Ephemeris fur semitische Epigraphik, Giessen, 1906). Strabo (XVI., ii. 10-11) mentions a Samsikeramos as an officer in Emesa whose origin (?) was in Apamea; and Josephus (Ant., XVIII., v. 4) knows of a king of Emesa bearing that name; while a Baalbek Latin inscription also contains it (CIL, iii. 14387a). From Palmyra come Br-Shmsh, Tym-Shmsh (-`bd-Shmsh), while inscriptions containing " to Shmsh " are frequent (cf. Cook and Lidzbarski, ut sup.); and KlzyrShmsh and ShmsJ-'dri are found (CIS, nos. 87, 97). Baudissin (Hauck-Herzog, RE, xviii. 507) is inclined to accept the ending sh' as an abbreviation for the Aramaic form of the word shemesh, and. so to increase greatly the 'volume of testimony; but the hypothesis can not be said to be proved.