Nebachas

NEBACHAS, a God of the Hivites. 2 Kings xvii. 31. ‘Tis not known who this God was. Literally it may stand for Nebo the Seer, the Oracle of Nebo. The Rabbins, followed by several Commentators, think, that Nebachas had the Shape of a Dog, something like Anubis of the Egyptians.

Omnigenúmque Deúm monstra & latrator Anubis.

Virg. Æneid. 6.

Nabac in Hebrew signifies to bark. To support the Opinion of those, who will have Nebachas to signifie a Dog, it may be observed, that the Orientals had a great Veneration for a Dog. I shall not repeat what I have already said concerning the Egyptians, among whom there were whole Cities that worship’d this Animal. Oppida tota canem venerantur. The Magians, at the Report of Herodotus¹, differ in this from the Egyptian Priests, that the Egyptians kill no Animal, except what they sacrifice to their Gods: Whereas the Magians slay all kind of Animals, excepting only Men and Dogs. They even think it a meritorious Act to kill great Numbers of Reptiles, Serpents, and other such Creatures. They sacrificed a Dog to Hecate, who is the Moon, and this Animal was consecrated to her. There was also a Dog in the Mysteries of Mitras, or the Sun; and in a Sacrifice to this Deity, represented in an ancient Bas-releif, there is seen a Dog licking up the Blood of a Bull. ‘Tis said, that Zoroaster inserted among his Rules of Charity, that Dogs were to be protected and loved. The Persians exposed dead Bodies to Dogs, before they buried them, thinking it to be a Token of Happiness, to be drawn about by Dogs. This Animal is the Symbol of Fidelity and Vigilance; yet I do not know that any one has advanced, that Dogs were worship’d any where else but in Egypt.

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