conception of the Deity in Egypt seems to have been that of a
trinity composed of Mout the Mother, Ammon the Father, and Chons
the Infant Life derived from the other two. Mout is identical
with Neith, but she has become the wife as well as the mother of
Ammon. Directly below this conception of the Deity is a triad
representing less exalted attributes, or lower degrees of wisdom,
under the appellations of Sate, Kneph, and the child Anouk; and
thus downward, through the varying spheres of celestial light and
life involved in their theogony are observed the divine creative
energies represented under the figures of Mother, Father, and the
Life proceeding therefrom, until, finally, when the earth is
reached, Isis, Osiris, and Horus appear as the representation of
the creative forces in human beings, and therefore as the
embodiment of the divine in the human.

The Deity invoked in all the earlier inscriptions is a triad, and
we are assured that in Babylonia, where Beltis is associated with
Belus, "no god appears without a goddess."

The supreme Deity of Assyria was Asshur, who was worshipped
sometimes as female, sometimes as male. This God doubtless
represents the dual or triple creative principle observed in all
the earlier forms of worship. Asshur had no distinct temple, but
as her position was at the head of the Pantheon, all the shrines
throughout Assyria were supposed to have been open to her
worship.

According to Bunsen, in the Sidonian Tyrian district, there were
originally three great gods, at the head of which appears
Astarte--a woman who represents pure reason or intelligence; then