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The customs which I know the Persians to observe are the following:
they have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider
the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their
not believing the gods to have the same nature with men, as the Greeks
imagine. Their wont, however, is to ascend the summits of the
loftiest mountains, and there to offer sacrifice to Jupiter, which is
the name they give to the whole circuit of the firmament. They
likewise offer to the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water,
and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down
to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the worship
of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and Assyrians.
Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this goddess, whom
the Arabians call Alitta, and the Persians Mitra.
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