Vesta succeeds. She is seated; part of her peplus or mantle is drawn over her head; the two fore-fingers of her left hand, which is apparently resting upon her bosom, are upraised. Beneath the goddess is an altar with the fire burning. On the right of the piece is Apollo, standing under a canopy. His bow is in his left hand, a flower in his right. His lyre is on the ground by his side, and a griffin is below him. An eagle and some other birds are among the branches of the tree in the upper part of the piece. Under the whole representation some recondite meaning is probably concealed, which can only be a subject of conjecture. (_See Hodgson’s Northumberland_, II. iii. 246.) [Illustration: Altar to Astarte] [Sidenote: GREEK ALTAR.] Two important altars, with Greek inscriptions have been found at Corbridge. One is dedicated to the Tyrian Hercules; the other, which is represented in the adjoining wood-cut, to Astarte, the Ashtaroth of the Scriptures. ΑΣΤΑΡΤΗΣ ΒΩΜΟΝ Μ’ ΕΣΟΡΑΣ ΠΟΥΛΧΕΡ Μ’ ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΝ Of Astarte, The altar You see, Pulcher replaced. Josephus tells us, that Hiram king of Tyre, built two temples, which he dedicated to these deities. The Israelites, in forsaking the living God, not unfrequently betook themselves to the abominations of the Sidonians. ... With these in troop Came Astoreth, whom the Ph[oe]nicians call’d Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns; To whose bright image nightly by the moon Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs, In Sion also not unsung,... It is deeply and painfully interesting to dig up in our British soil decided traces of this gross idolatry.[129] [Sidenote: HEXHAM CRYPT.]