entioned by Strabo, and called Turris Capionis. It was a Pharos,
dedicated, as all such buildings were, to the Sun: hence it was named
Cap-Eon, Petra Solis. It seems to have been a marvellous structure. Places
of this sort, which had towers upon them, were called Caphtor. Such an one
was in Egypt, or in its [364]vicinity; whence the Caphtorim had their name.
It was probably near [365]Pelusium, which they quitted very early for the
land of Canaan.

Diu sometimes, but sparingly, occurs for an island; and is generally by the
Greeks changed to Dia, [Greek: Dia]. The purport of it may be proved from
its being uniformly adapted to the same object. The Scholiast upon
Theocritus takes notice that the island Naxos was called Dia: [366][Greek:
Dian ten nun kaloumenen Naxon]; and he adds, [Greek: pollai de kai heterai
eisi nesoi Diai kaloumenai, hete pro tes Kretes--kai he peri Melon, kai he
peri Amorgon, kai he tes Keo cherrhonesos, kai he Peloponnesou]. All these
were islands, or peninsula regions.

BETH.

Beth is a house or temple; as in [367]Beth-El, Beth-Dagon, Beth-Shemesh,
Beth-Oron, or Beth-Or-On, &c. &c. It is sometimes subjoined, as in
Phar-beth, and Elisa-beth; the latter of which is the house of [368]Elisa,
the same as Elusa of Idume, and Eleusa of Egypt. Beth was in different
countries expressed Bat, Bad, Abad. Hence we meet at this day with
Pharsabad, Astrabad, Amenabad, Moustafabad, Iahenabad in Persia, India, and
other parts of the east. Balbec in Syria is supposed to be the same as
Balbeth, the temple of Bal, or the Sun. _There are_, says [369]Dr. Pocock,
_many cities in Syria, that retain their antient names. Of this Balbeck, or
rather Balbeit, is an instance; which signifies the house or temple of
Baal_. Gulielmus Tyrius, so called from being bishop of Tyre, who wrote of
the Holy war, alludes to Baalbec, under the name of [370]Balbeth. He lived
in the eleventh century, and died anno 1127. According to Iablonsky, Bec
and Beth are of the same meaning. Atarbec in Egypt is the temple of Atar or
Athar; called Atarbechis by [371]Herodotus. The same is Athyr-bet, and
styled Athribites ([Greek: Athreibites]) by [372]Strabo. The inner recess
of a temple is by Phavorinus and Hesychius called [Greek: Baites], [Greek:
Betes], [Greek: Betis], similar to [Hebrew: BYT ASH] among the Chaldeans.
It was the crypta or sacred place, where of old the everlasting fire was
preserved. Hesychius observes, [Greek: Betes, to apokruphon m