either 'moon
worshippers,' or simply, inhabitants of the town dedicated to, and
called after, the moon." [137] Again: "The first god of the second
triad is Sin or Hurki, the moon deity. It is in condescension to Greek
notions that Berosus inverts the true Chaldaean order, and places the
sun before the moon in his enumeration of the heavenly bodies.
Chaldaean mythology gives a very decided preference to the lesser
luminary, perhaps because the nights are more pleasant than the
clays in hot countries. With respect to the names of the god, we may
observe that Sin, the Assyrian or Semitic term, is a word of quite
uncertain etymology, which, however, is found applied to the moon
in many Semitic languages." [138] "_Sin_ is used for the moon in
Mendaean and Syriac at the present day. It is the name given to the
moon god in St. James of Seruj's list of the idols of Harran; and it
was the term used for Monday by the Sabaeans as late as the ninth
century." [139] Another author writes: "The Babylonian and
Assyrian moon god is Sin, whose name probably appears in Sinai.
The expression, 'from the origin of the god Sin,' was used by the
Assyrians to mark remote antiquity; because, as chaos preceded
order, so night preceded day, and the enthronement of the moon as
the night-king marks the commencement of the annals of kosmic
order." [140]

When we search the Hebrew Scriptures, we find too many allusions
to the Queen of Heaven, to Astarte and the groves, for us to doubt
that the Israelites adored

"--mooned Ashtaroth,
Heaven's queen and mother both." (Milton's _Odes_.)

Dr. Goldziher is an incontestable authority, and thus writes: "Queen
or Princess of Heaven is a very frequent name for the moon." [141]
Again, "Even in the latest times the Hebrews called the moon the
'Queen of Heaven' (Jer. vii. 18), and paid her Divine honours in this
character at the time of the captivity." [142] And, to complete this
author's witness, he again says: "What was the antiquity of this lunar
worship among the Hebrews, is testified (as has long been known)
by the part played by Mount Sinai in the history of Hebrew religion.
For this geographical name is doubtless related to _Sin_, one of the
Semitic names of the moon. The mountain must in ancient times
have been consecrated to the moon. The beginning of the Hebrew
religion, which was connected with the phenomena of the night-sky,
germinated first during the residence in Egypt on the foundat