hat the whole way was through the Arabian
desert. This is a situation which agrees with no other city in all Egypt,
except that which was the Onium of the later Jews. With this it accords
precisely. There seem to have been two cities named On, from the worship of
the Sun. One was called Zan, Zon, and Zoan, in the land of Go-zan, the
[592]Goshen of the scriptures. The other was the city On in Arabia; called
also Hanes. They were within eight or nine miles of each other, and are
both mentioned together by the prophet [593]Isaiah. _For his princes were
at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes_. The name of each of these
cities, on account of the similarity of worship, has by the Greeks been
translated [594]Heliopolis; which has caused great confusion in the history
of Egypt. The latter of the two was the Iaenis, or [Greek: Ianisos], of the
Greeks; so called from Hanes, the great fountain of light, the Sun; who was
worshipped under that title by the Egyptians and Arabians. It lies now
quite in ruins, close to the village Matarea, which has risen from it. The
situation is so pointed out, that we cannot be mistaken: and we find,
moreover, which is a circumstance very remarkable, that it is at this day
called by the Arabians Ain El Sham, the fountain of the Sun; a name
precisely of the same purport as Hanes. Of this we are informed by the
learned geographer, D'Anville, and others; though the name, by different
travellers, is expressed with some variation. [595]Cette ville presque
ensevelie sous des ruines, et voisine, dit Abulfeda, d'un petit lieu nomme
Matarea, conserve dans les geographies Arabes le nom d'Ainsiems ou du
fontain du Soleil. A like account is given by Egmont and [596]Hayman;
though they express the name Ain El Cham; a variation of little
consequence. The reason why the antient name has been laid aside, by those
who reside there, is undoubtedly this. Bochart tells us, that, since the
religion of Mahomet has taken place, the Arabs look upon Hanes as the
devil: [597]proinde ab ipsis ipse Daemon [Hebrew: HNAS] vocatur. Hence they
have abolished Hanes: but the name Ain El Cham, of the same purport, they
have suffered to remain.

I have before taken notice of an objection liable to be made from a
supposition, that if Hanes signified _the fountain of light_, as I have
presumed, it would have been differently expressed in the Hebrew. This is a
strange fallacy; but yet very predominant. Without doubt those learned men,