A New System

In Short

This ambitious work of eighteenth-century comparative mythology argues that the pagan pantheons of antiquity do not represent distinct, independent polytheistic religions. Instead, they are the distorted remnants of a single universal system originating with the descendants of Noah. By analyzing ancient placenames, sacred terms, and temple architecture across Egypt, Greece, and Persia, the text attempts to strip away later poetic fables to reveal the underlying historical truth. The book has endured as a monument of classical erudition and a defining milestone in the history of mythography and comparative linguistics.

The Story

The work opens by framing its central ambition: to rescue historical truth from the corruptions of poetic legend. Rather than destroying ancient learning, the argument seeks to reconstruct it by demonstrating that sacred and secular history share a common foundation. The author posits that the mythologies of the ancient world were built entirely upon memorials of humanity's earliest history, chief among them the destruction of the world by a catastrophic deluge and its subsequent renewal through a single surviving family.

To prove this thesis, the narrative moves into an exhaustive examination of ancient customs, terms, and religious sites, focusing heavily on the Amonians, the descendants of Ham or Chus. As these ancient peoples migrated throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, they brought their ancestral rites, solar worship, and historical memories with them. In every region they settled—from Egypt and Canaan to Greece and Persia—they constructed sacred towers, fire temples, and rock-hewn caverns, naming cities and geographical features after their Deities and forebears.

A crucial turn in the argument exposes the failure of previous scholars, such as Samuel Bochart, who attempted to decipher ancient placenames exclusively through Hebrew. The text asserts that the key to unlocking these mysteries lies instead in identifying primitive radical terms—such as Aith, Ain, Uc, and Pator—which signified sacred elements like the sun, fountains, fire, or places of prophetic interpretation.

The narrative then traces how these original terms were perverted, particularly by the ancient Greeks. Driven by a love of novelty and a shallow approach to history, Greek writers and poets misconstrued the foreign Amonian hymns sung in their temples. They mistook descriptive titles for proper names, transformed place-names into mythical heroes, and elevated single divine attributes into an entire pantheon of separate Deities. Sacred caverns and springs, originally dedicated to solar rites or natural phenomena, were converted by later myth-makers into the haunts of nymphs, gods, and legendary kings.

Ultimately, the work brings these disparate strands together to demonstrate that all pagan Deities—whether Jupiter, Apollo, Vulcan, or local nymphs—were originally rooted in a single source: the worship of the Sun, conflated with the veneration of post-diluvian patriarchs. By systematically untangling these linguistic and historical errors, the text concludes that all ancient polytheism collapses back into a singular, unified narrative that corroborates the earliest biblical accounts.

How It Unfolds

The thesis established The author sets out to strip away poetic fable and restore pagan tradition to its original historical purity, arguing that ancient rites preserved real memories of early humanity.

The primary terms decoded By analyzing primitive radical words like Ain for fountains and Aith for fire or the sun, the text establishes a linguistic framework for tracing ancient migrations.

The error of the Greeks exposed The narrative details how Greek chroniclers misread foreign Amonian terms, turning descriptive titles and sacred places into distinct mythic characters and absurd legends.

The sacred spaces examined The investigation surveys physical evidence across the ancient world, demonstrating that Persian mountain caverns, Egyptian canals, and Greek springs were all built for solar and ancestral worship.

The single source revealed Bringing the etymological and historical evidence to its conclusion, the text demonstrates that all pagan Deities resolve into a single origin: the solar cult of early post-flood patriarchs.

The People

Jacob Bryant The author and guiding intellect of the work, who seeks to reconcile sacred scripture with ancient secular history. He wants to dismantle false etymologies and poetic fables to prove that all ancient mythologies derive from a single post-diluvian source. Standing in his way are centuries of ingrained classical errors and the flawed methodologies of earlier scholars. By the end of his investigation, he stands as a confident restorer of primary historical truth.

Samuel Bochart A celebrated earlier scholar whose linguistic theories serve as a major counterpoint in the text. He sought to explain all ancient placenames using Hebrew dialects. What stands in his way is his overly narrow philological framework, which leads to improbable interpretations. In the text's analysis, he remains a cautionary example of great learning misapplied through a flawed premise.

The Amonians The descendants of Ham and Chus, who act as the primary historical movers of the work's theoretical framework. They want to preserve the memory of their patriarchs and the Great Flood as they settle widely separated regions. Their original solar worship and naming traditions eventually become distorted by later civilizations, leaving behind the linguistic and architectural clues decoded in the text.

In Its Own Voice

"My purpose is not to lay science in ruins; but instead of desolating to build up, and to rectify what time has impaired: to divest mythology of every foreign and unmeaning ornament, and to display the truth in its native simplicity..." The author outlines his ultimate ambition to restore ancient history to its original foundation.

"The Grecians, says Jamblichus, are naturally led by novelty: The investigation of truth is too fatiguing for a Grecian." A classical authority is cited to explain how Greek writers corrupted ancient traditions by favoring inventive stories over careful historical inquiry.

"Persæ in spelæis coli solem primi invenisse dicuntur." A Latin scholiast notes the ancient Persian custom of worshipping the sun inside mountain caverns, illustrating the physical sites of early ritual practice.

What It's Really About

Beneath its vast display of classical scholarship, the work is an defense of historical monism and biblical authority. It argues that human culture did not emerge from independent, scattered origins, but radiated outward from a single post-diluvian center. The central conflict lies between authentic ancestral memory and the distorting power of human imagination, particularly as expressed through poetry and mistranslation. By treating mythology as broken history rather than symbolic fiction, the text asserts that even the most extravagant pagan tales are merely corrupted testimonies to the shared history of mankind.

Why Read It Today

This work will appeal to readers fascinated by the history of ideas, eighteenth-century antiquarianism, and the foundations of comparative mythology. Reading it feels like stepping into a vast, shadow-filled library alongside a guide who sees connections in every ancient syllable and ruined stone. The prose carries a quiet, unhurried authority, rich with Greek and Latin citations that reflect the immense erudition of its era.

It is not always an easy journey. Readers must navigate lengthy etymological digressions, dense footnotes, and period attitudes that treat classical poetry with rigorous, sometimes pedantic suspicion. Furthermore, modern linguistics has long since superseded its philological methods. Yet what stays with the reader is the sheer grandeur of the attempt: a majestic effort to weave the fragmented mythologies of the ancient world into a single, coherent story of human memory.

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