e, it certainly
relates to a serpent, which was indifferently styled Ab, Aub, and [467]Ob.
I take Abadon, or, as it is mentioned in the Revelations, Abaddon, to have
been the name of the same Ophite God, with whose worship the world had been
so long infected. He is termed by the Evangelist [468][Greek: Abaddon, ton
Angelon tes Abussou], the angel of the bottomless pit; that is, the prince
of darkness. In another place he is described as the [469]dragon, that old
serpent, which is the devil, and Satan. Hence I think, that the learned
Heinsius is very right in the opinion, which he has given upon this
passage; when he makes Abaddon the same as the serpent Pytho. Non
dubitandum est, quin Pythius Apollo, hoc est spurcus ille spiritus, quem
Hebraei Ob, et Abaddon, Hellenistae ad verbum [Greek: Apolluona], caeteri
[Greek: Apollona], dixerunt, sub hac forma, qua miseriam humano generi
invexit, primo cultus[470].

[Illustration: _Ophis Thermuthis, sive Ob Basiliscus AEgyptiacus cum
Sacerdote Supplicante._]

[Illustration: Pl. VII.]

It is said, that, in the ritual of Zoroaster, the great expanse of the
heavens, and even nature itself, was described under the symbol of a
serpent[471]. The like was mentioned in the Octateuch of Ostanes: and
moreover, that in Persis and in other parts of the east they erected
temples to the serpent tribe, and held festivals to their honour, esteeming
them [472][Greek: Theous tous megistous, kai archegous ton holon], _the
supreme of all Gods, and the superintendants of the whole world_. The
worship began among the people of Chaldea. They built the city Opis upon
the [473]Tigris, and were greatly addicted to divination, and to the
worship of the serpent[474]. Inventi sunt ex iis (Chaldeis) augures, et
magi, divinatores, et sortilegi, et inquirentes Ob, et Ideoni. From Chaldea
the worship passed into Egypt, where the serpent Deity was called Can-oph,
Can-eph, and C'neph. It had also the name of Ob, or Oub, and was the same
as the Basiliscus, or Royal Serpent; the same also as the Thermuthis: and
in like manner was made use of by way of ornament to the statues of their
[475]Gods. The chief Deity of Egypt is said to have been Vulcan, who was
also styled Opas, as we learn from [476]Cicero. He was the same as Osiris,
the Sun; and hence was often called Ob-El, sive Pytho Sol: and there were
pillars sacred to him with curious hieroglyphical inscriptions, which had
the same name. They were very lofty, and