It is probable that this appellation of the tomb passed from Egypt into Palestine and Syria. It appears already in Ecclesiastes, xii. 7 (_beth 'olam_ = "house of eternity"), and it is found in Syrian epigraphy (for instance in inscriptions of the third century (_Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1906, p. 123), also in the epigraphy of Palmyra. (Chabot, _Journal asiatique_, 1900, p. 266, No. 47)).--Possibly the hope for consolation, [Greek: Eupsuchei, oudeis athanatos], frequently found engraved upon tombs even in Latin countries was also derived from the Egyptian religion, but this is more doubtful. [Greek: Eupsuchei] is found in the epitaphs of initiates in the Alexandrian mysteries. Kaibel, _Inscr. gr._, XIV, 1488, 1782 ([Greek: Eupsuchei kuria kai doie soi ho Osiris to psuchron hudor]), 2098 (cf. _supra_, n. 90). Possibly the twofold meaning of {241} [Greek: eupsuchos] which stands both for _animosus_ and _frigidus_ (see Dieterich, _Nekyia_, _loc. cit._) has been played upon. But on the other hand, the idea contained in the formula "Be cheerful, nobody is immortal," also inspired the "Song of the Harpist," a canonical hymn that was sung in Egypt on the day of the funeral. It invited the listener to "make his heart glad" before the sadness of inevitable death (Maspero, _Etudes egyptiennes_, I, 1881, pp. 171 ff.; cf. Naville, _op. cit._, p. 171). V. SYRIA. BIBLIOGRAPHY: The Syrian religions have been studied with especial attention to their relation with Judaism: Baudissin, _Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte_, 2 vols., Leipsic, 1876. The same author has published veritable monographs on certain divinities (Astarte, Baal, Sonne, etc.) in the _Realencyclopaedie fuer prot. Theol._, of Herzog-Hauck, 3d ed.--Baethgen, _Beitraege zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte_, Berlin, 1888.--W. Robertson Smith, _The Religion of the Semites_, 2d. ed., London, 1894.--Lagrange, _Etudes sur les religions semitiques_, 2d ed., Paris, 1905. The results of the excavations in Palestine, which are important in regard to the funeral customs and the oldest idolatry, have been summarized by Father Hugues Vincent, _Canaan d'apres l'exploration recente_, 1907.--On the propagation of the Syrian religions in the Occident, see Reville, _op. cit._, pp. 70 _et passim_; Wissowa, _Religion der Roemer_, pp. 299 ff.; Gruppe, _Griech. Mythol._, pp. 1582 f.--Important observations will be found in Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil d'archeologie orientale_, 8 vols., 1888, and in Dussaud, _Notes de mythologie syrienne_, Paris, 1903. We have published a series of articles on particular divinities in the _Realencyclopaedie_ of Pauly-Wissowa (Baal, Balsamem, Dea Syria, Dolichenus, Gad, etc.). Other monographs are cited below.