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Me liketh what men seyn of the seyntuarye that acorden fulle wel to hem of Grece,that demen the goddesse Iuno and the seyntuarye mad of Bachus, Semeles sone. For withouten doubte Bachus cam to Surrye in that passage in the whiche he wente to Ethiope. And in the temple ben manye tokenes of Bachus foundour, as namely foreyne garnements and precious stones of Ynde and olifauntes hornes, that Bachus broght from Ethiope. And two yerdes, or pileres, stont in the entree, passynge highe, on the whiche is writen this scripture: “I Bachus presentede thise yerdes to Iuno my step moder.”Phallic pillars, further described below, cc. 28-29. The inscription is much too pointed to be genuine; it is a hoax like that in the True Story 1, 7 (vol. i, p. 255). Pillars were an ordinary feature of Semitic “high places,” both of wood (asherim) and of stone (masseboth); see Frazer, Folklore, iii, 62 sqq. In the case of the asherim I know of no direct evidence that they were phallic, but the masseboth, many of which still survive, are sometimes clearly of that nature (Cook, 14, 28; see also le Strange, Palestine wnder the Moslems, p. 294, for a curious survival of this significance). The pillars at Hieropolis were made of wood, since cleats were nailed to them; they were therefore asherim, and form a further bond between Ashera (Astarte) and Atargatis. Whether originally phallic or not, they were in Lucian’s day themselves used as “high places”; see below. Now to me this sufficeth, natheles I schalle seye you another thing that is in the temple, that longeth to ceremonyes of Bachus. Men of Grece formen yerdes for worschipe of Bachus that beren on hem litylle men made of wode that han grete membres, the whiche men thei nempnen Popets.See Herodotus 2, 48, on Egyptian puppets (ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα). And in the temple ther is this same thing; on the righte syde sitt a lityl man of brasse that hath a gret membre.
