refore chosen to rely upon the stories related to _Herodotus_ by the
Priests of _Egypt_ in those days, and corrected by the Poem of _Solon_, so
as to make these Gods of _Egypt_ no older than _Cecrops_ and _Erechtheus_,
and their successor _Menes_ no older than _Theseus_ and _Memnon_, and the
Temple of _Vulcan_ not above 280 years in building: rather than to correct
_Herodotus_ by _Manetho_, _Eratosthenes_, _Diodorus_, and others, who lived
after the Priests of _Egypt_ had corrupted their Antiquities much more than
they had done in the days of _Herodotus_.

* * * * *

CHAP. III.

_Of the _ASSYRIAN_ Empire._

As the Gods or ancient Deified Kings and Princes of _Greece_, _Egypt_, and
_Syria_ of _Damascus_, have been made much ancienter than the truth, so
have those of _Chaldaea_ and _Assyria_: for _Diodorus_ [344] tells us, that
when _Alexander_ the great was in _Asia_, the _Chaldaeans_ reckoned 473000
years since they first began to observe the Stars; and _Ctesias_, and the
ancient _Greek_ and _Latin_ writers who copy from him, have made the
_Assyrian_ Empire as old as _Noah_'s flood within 60 or 70 years, and tell
us the names of all the Kings of _Assyria_ downwards, from _Belus_ and his
feigned son _Ninus_, to _Sardanapalus_ the last King of that Monarchy: but
the names of his Kings, except two or three, have no affinity with the
names of the _Assyrians_ mentioned in Scripture; for the _Assyrians_ were
usually named after their Gods, _Bel_ or _Pul_; _Chaddon_, _Hadon_, _Adon_,
or _Adonis_; _Melech_ or _Moloch_; _Atsur_ or _Assur_; _Nebo_; _Nergal_;
_Merodach_: as in these names, _Pul_, _Tiglath-Pul-Assur_, _Salman-Assur_,
_Adra-Melech_, _Shar-Assur_, _Assur-Hadon_, _Sardanapalus_ or
_Assur-Hadon-Pul_, _Nabonassar_ or _Nebo-Adon-Assur_, _Bel Adon_,
_Chiniladon_ or _Chen-El-Adon_, _Nebo-Pul-Assur_, _Nebo-Chaddon-Assur_,
_Nebuzaradon_ or _Nebo-Assur-Adon_, _Nergal-Assur_, _Nergal-Shar-Assur_,
_Labo-Assur-dach_, _Sheseb-Assur_, _Beltes-Assur_, _Evil-Merodach_,
_Shamgar-Nebo_, _Rabsaris_ or _Rab-Assur_, _Nebo-Shashban_, _Mardocempad_
or _Merodach-Empad_. Such were the _Assyrian_ names; but those in _Ctesias_
are of another sort, except _Sardanapalus_, whose name he had met with in
_Herodotus_. He makes _Semiramis_ as old as the first _Belus_; but
_Herodotus_ tells us, that she was but five Generations older than the
mother of _Labynetus_: he represents that the city _Ninus_ was founded by a