PREFACE.

Having inspected Faber Petrus Faber (Pierre du Faur), the French scholar mentioned on the previous page whom Selden was accused of plagiarizing., although we certainly find many things concerning one or another deity of the Syrians, yet they are treated quite disorganizedly and are confused with the sacred rites of the Greeks, especially in the first four chapters. We observe that these matters are presented in such a way and differ so much from our own writings—whether you look at the author's conjectures, his observations, or the very writers he cites—that I am thoroughly persuaded that both my innocence and the insolence of the insult will be most manifest to everyone who deigns to compare our work with that of Faber. Furthermore, relying on that confidence, I do not intend to pursue a legal action for injuries original: "injuriarum... agere," a legal phrase for bringing a suit for defamation or libel.. The man's person original: "sacrum hominis caput," literally "the man's sacred head," a classical expression of respect for an individual's status or memory. is held sacred. And I wisely abstain, for I possess a mind that is at once more balanced, more temperate, and more manly than to allow me, in response to the insolence of others, to take up the role of a slanderer or a buffoon in turn.

That same writer also attacked my doubt—a modest one, to be sure—regarding Pataikos Dwarf-like protective deities, often depicted on the prows of Phoenician ships. and Horus, as found in the author of the Etymologicon The Etymologicum Magnum, a significant 12th-century Greek dictionary and encyclopedia of classical knowledge.. He went so far that he makes it almost impossible for us either to know anything safely or to express a doubt because of him. But regarding that matter, there will be more in the second Treatise original: "Syntagmate," referring to the major divisions of Selden's work De Diis Syris.. However, the additions by which we have enlarged this edition are for the most part only ancient matters, or observations on the writings of the ancients, which we had indeed noted in their proper places while reading. We have also changed some things and struck out others. It was in my interest to have touched upon these things so briefly; and it is also in your interest, Reader, not to have passed them over entirely.

Farewell.