adoration of fire, and the Deity of that element, called Ista, and Esta." Ista-char, or Esta-char is the place or temple of Ista or Esta; who was the Hestia, Esia of the Greeks, and Vesta of the Romans. That the term originally related to fire we have the authority of Petavius. 34 Hebraicâ linguâ ignem significat, Aramæâ Nлun quâ v voce ignem a Noëmo vocatum Berosus prodidit: atque inde fortassis Græci 'Esas originem deduxerunt. Herbert, therefore, with great propriety, supposes the building to have been the temple of 35 Anaia, or Anaïs; who was the same as Hanes, as well as Hestia. Procopius, speaking of the sacred fire of the Persians, says expressly, that it was the very same which in aftertimes the Romans worshipped, and called the fire of Hestia, or Vesta. 30 Τετο εςι το πυρ, όπερ Εςιαν εκαλούντο, και εσεβοντο εν τοις ύσεροις χρόνοις Ρωμαιοι. This is farther proved from a well known verse in Ovid. 37 Nec tu aliud Vestam, quam vivam intellige flammam. 33 See Radicals. p. 77. 34 Petavius in Epiphanium. p. 42. 35 Herbert's Travels. p. 138. 37 Ovid. Fast. 1. 6. v. 291. Hyde renders the term after Kæmpfer, Ista: but it was more commonly expressed Esta, and Asta. The Deity was also styled Astachan, which as a masculine signified Sol Dominus, sive Vulcanus Rex. This we may infer from a province in Parthia, remarkable for eruptions of fire, which was called 38 Asta-cana, rendered by the Romans Astacene, the region of the God of fire. The island Delos was famous for the worship of the sun and we learn from Callimachus, that there were traditions of subterraneous fires bursting forth in many parts of it. 39 Φυκος άπαν κατεφλέξας, επει περικανό πυρί. 40 Upon this account it was called *° Pirpile; and by the same poet Histia, and Hestia, similar to the name above. 41 Ιςιη, ω νήσων ευεσ η. The antient Scythæ were worshippers of fire and Herodotus describes them as devoted to Histia 4. Ἱλασκοντας 38 Similis est natura Naphthæ, et ita adpellatur circa Babylonem, et in Astacenis Parthiæ, pro bituminis liquidi modo. Pliny. 1. 2. c. 106. p. 123. 39 Callim. H. to Delos. v. 201. 4o Pliny. 1. 2. c. 22. p. 112. He supposes the name to have been given, igne ibi primum reperto. 4 Callimachus. H. to Delos. v. 325. 42 Herodotus. 1. iv. c. 69. *Isiny μev parisa. From hence, I think, we may know for certain the purport of the term Istachar, which was a name given to the grand Pureion in Chusistan from the Deity there worshipped. It stands near the bottom of the hills with the caverns in a widely-extended plain: which I make no doubt is the celebrated plain of the magi mentioned above by Clemens. We may from these data venture to correct a mistake in Maximus Tyrius, who in speaking of fire-worship among the Persians, says, that it was attended with acclamations, in which they invited the Deity to take his repast. Πυρ, δεσποτα, εσθιε. What he renders εσθιε, was undoubtedly 'Es, Hestie, the name of the God of fire. The address was, Пug, deσTOTα, ESE: O mighty Lord of fire, Hestius: which is changed to O Fire, come, and feed. 44 The island Cyprus was of old called Cerastis, and Cerastia; and had a city of the same name. This city was more known by the name of Amathus: and mention is made of cruel rites practised in its 45 temple. As long as the former name prevailed, the inhabitants were styled Cerasta. They p. 43 Και θυεσι Περσαι πυρι, επιφορωντες αυτῷ την πυρος τροφην, επιλεγοντές, Πυρ, Δεσποτα, εσθιε. Maximus Tyrius. Dissert. 8. 83. See Lycophron. v. 447. and Stephanus. Kumpos. 45 Κερατίδος εις χθονα Κυπρε. Nonni Dionys. l. iv. were more particularly the priests who were so denominated; and who were at last extirpated for their cruelty. The poets imagining that the term Cerasta related to a horn, fabled that they were turned into bulls.. Atque illos gemino quondam quibus aspera cornu Frons erat, unde etiam nomen traxere Cerastæ. There was a city of the same name in Euboea, expressed Carystus, where the stone 47 Asbestus was found. Of this they made a kind of cloth, which was supposed to be proof against fire, and to be eleansed by that element. The purport of the name is plain; and the natural history of the place affords us a reason why it was imposed. For this we are obliged to Solinus, who calls the city with the Grecian termination, Carystos; and says, that it was noted for its hot streams: 43 Carystos aquas calentes habet, quas Earomas vocant. We may therefore be assured, that it was called Car-ystus from the Deity of fire, to whom 48 46 Ovid. Metamorph. 1. x. v. 228. 47 Strabo, 1. 10. p. 684. 4 Solinus. cap. 17. Pliny takes notice of the city Carystus. Euboea-Urbibus clara quondam Pyrrhâ, Orco, Geræsto, Carysto, Oritano, &c. aquisque callidis, quæ Ellopiæ vocantur, nobilis. 1. 4. c. 12. all hot fountains were sacred. Ellopia is a compound of El Ope, Sol Python, another name of the same Deity. Carystus, Cerastis, Cerasta, are all of the same purport: they betoken a place, or temple of Astus, or Asta, the God of fire. Cerasta in the feminine is expressly the same, only reversed, as Astachar in Chusistan. Some places had the same term in the composition of their names, which was joined with Kur; and they were named in honour of the Sun, styled Kugos, Curos. He was worshipped all over Syria; and one large province was hence named Curesta, and Curestica, from Kug 'Esos, Sol Hestius. In Cappadocia were many Puratheia; and the people followed the same manner of worship, as was practised in Persis. The rites which prevailed, may be inferred from the names of places, as well as from the history of the country. One city seems to have been denominated from its tutelary Deity, and called Castabala. This is a plain compound of Ca-Asta-Bala, the place or temple of Asta Bala; the same Deity, as by the Syrians was called Baaltis. Asta Bala was the Goddess of fire: and the same customs prevailed here as at Feronia in Latium. The female attendants in the temple used to walk with their feet bare over burning coals. 49 Εν τοις Καταβαλοις εςι το της Περασίας Αρτεμιδος ἱερον, ὅπου φασι |