"The Persians believed that every song was not equally efficacious in sacred rites. The rods seem to have been of tamarisk, and without a magus no kind of sacrifices were performed. In the other sacred rites it was an annual custom for the magi to hold the tamarisk while they chanted the theogony, as it was the habit of the ancient poets while singing to carry laurel in their hands. For this reason some believed that they were called rhapsodists, from the Greek word rhabdos, which means a rod. While chanting they stirred the fires with their rods and increased the flames. That which the ancients write is true regarding the institutions of the Persians, that any one who was about to become a king should be initiated into the magic rites, and that Ninus could not be more a king than a magus from that custom. The Persians received these sacred rites from the most ancient Chaldeans, and the latter called them Nergal, from two Hebrew words, nir and gal, which may mean either the fountain of fire or light, or fire or versatile light, and especially that inextinguishable fire which they watched in their holy places as the symbol of the sun. And although there were many gods in Persia, yet fire was worshipped by them before and above all other gods, and in every sacrifice they especially invoked him as the Romans did Janus. And hence, bound by religion, they did not dare to pollute fire destined for daily uses with any uncleanliness. The Pyratheia, or fires, were called Pyreia by others. Suidas says that Heraclius destroyed the Persian cities and overthrew their Pyreia. But so ancient do the Hebrews make the worship of fire among the Chaldeans, that Ur of the Chaldeans, mentioned in Genesis XI., they took for their fire god. Neither do the writings of the ancients quoted by Maimonides prove anything else than that fire was held in so much honour because it was a symbol of the sun. In regard to this most ancient worship in Chaldæa he thus discourses in 'More Nebochim,' book three, chapter thirty:--'It is known that Abraham was born among a people who served fire, and who, in their credulity, believed there was no other god except the stars, and I will in this chapter make you acquainted with their books, which are not found with us translated in the Arabic language. In their narrations and ancient contentions you will know their reasons and opinions. Their credulity is proved to you in their worship of the stars which they believed to be gods, and that the sun is the greater among the gods. And they said that the other planets are gods, but that the sun and moon are the greatest of their gods. You will find what they undoubtedly say, that the sun governs the upper and lower world. All this you will find in their books; and they speak of the condition of Abraham, and they declare further that Abraham was born and educated in the land of fire worshippers. He there contradicted their opinions, saying that there was another operator besides the sun.