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♦

■ ■ I 1*11 III ■■!

■■ ' •_ - - ■•*

TAYLOK INSTITUTION.

BEQUEATHED

TO THE UNIVEESITY

ROBERT FINCH, M.A.,

'If' BVLLXOL COLLEGE.

tL^^l £ /^^

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A-

Univerfal Hiftory,

FROM THE

Earlieft Accounts to the Prefent Time.

Compiled from

ORIGINAL AUTHORS.

Illuftrated with
CHARTS, MAPS, N O X E S, &c.

A GENERAJ? INDEX to the Whole.

a«tf Irtfot wra|ar iymjitii, Bafil. Imp. ad Leon, fil,

VOL. I.

LONDON,

Printed for C. Bathwrst, ]. F. and C. Ravincton, A. Hamii

TON, T. Payne, T. Longman, S. (Sowdeh, B.Law, '

Becicet,J.Robson,F.Newbert,G. Robinson, T.Cadel

J. and T, Bowles, S. Bladon, J. Muxkay, and W. Fox.

. ^-^
%

'^ADVERTISEMENT^

THE great value and importance of an
Vniverfal Hi/iory^ formed upon a well-
Tegulated plan, were fo obvious to the learned
world, that the work no fdoner appeared,
than it acquired a reputation, almoil as
extenfive as its fubjed. It has not only-
met with the mod favourable reception
through aH the Briti(h dominions, but has
been tranflated into feveral languages, and
cited, with marks of efteem, by the moft dif*
tinguilhed writers in foreign countries.

Indeed its acknowleged ufefulnefs, and
dbvious fuperiority, could hardly fail of pro-
curing it the approbation of difcerning readers^
For the numerous performances, which, in
other languages, under various plaufible titles,
implied fomething of the like nature, were
either contrafled narratives of the four great
empires, or impcrfed^ views of the ancient
and modern governments of many countries,
accompanied with unintereding, and often
erroneous, chronological lifts of emperors,
kings, &c. They were nothing more than
Tables of General Hiftory, inferior, in point
of accuracy and method, to fome Compila-

A 3 tioni

' ADVERTISEMENT.

tions which have been given to the world by
more ingenuous authors, under that modeft
title.

Far different from the fcope of thofe pro-
ductions is that of the TJniverfal HiJlory\
which is drawn from the moft authentic docu-
ments of every nation, carefully colleded,
and diligently compared. The authorities are
pointed out to the obfervation of the reader s
and by thefe means he is prefented with an
Univerfal Index of genuine Hiftory.

Thefe, however, are not the only advan-
tages of this great compilation. The claflli-
ing prejudices of the. hiftorians of different
countries have be^n minutely examined, and
their feveral degrees of credit fcrupuloufly
afcertained : the moft extenfive refearches
have been made for the developement of
truth ; and the refult is related with fidelity.

The Ancient Hijiory treats of empires and
nations, which now no longer exift. They
have been traced from their beginning to their
extinction. Here the fubjeft naturally con-
cludes. — Arts, fciences, laws, and letters
periflied at the fame time ; and a long interval
of darknefs and barbarifm enfued. Mighty
and unforefeen revolutions took place in every

part

ABVERTISEMENT;

part of the known world ; a number of favage
nations, and favage conquerors, appeared
upon the fcene. Their different migrations,
eontefts, and eftablifhments produced fuch po-
litical commotions as overwhelmed, or en-
tirely altered, the ancient inftitutions, laws,
languages, cuftoms, manners, and police.—*
New kingdoms and dates were formed. The
annals of thefe kingdoms and ftates conftitute
Modern Hijiory. The inveftigation of the
manner in which thefe events were eflFefted,
elucidates one of the moft interefting fubjedts
of hiftorical inquiry, and leads a philofophical
mind to ufeful, as well as comprehenfive
views of human nature.

But, aufpicious to literature, and great as
was the project of compiling the Univerfal
Hiftory^ a variety of imperfedions was un-
avoidable in the execution of this arduous and
extenfive undertaking. The work was con-
duced by different authors, who poffefTed
very diBFerent degrees of ability, as well as
peculiarities in their refpedive modes of com-
pofition. From thefe fources the narrative be-
came expofed to blemifhes, if not of an im-
portant nature, fuch at leafl as deflroyed the
harmony of the feveral parts, and that unifor-
mity of texture which ought to have been
confpicuous throughout the whole. In fpme

parts.

ADV^ERTISEMENT.

parts, the work was too circumftantlal } in
others^ too concife ; and, in particular placesi
defe^ive for want of materials^ which more
favourable opportunities, and farther invefti*
gatioD, have (ince concurred to fupply.

One remarkable deficiency in the former
edition is, that it contained no Hiftpry of
England, Scotland, or Ireland ; . though to
every Britifli fubjeSt a hiftorical narrative of
thefe couniries muft have proved equally in-
terefting and ufeful. In the prefent, this pal-
pable defe<^ is to be fupplied, by hiftories
founded on the moft impartial and authentic
teftimonies of each nation. Notwithftanding
the lad mentioned and other confiderable ad-
ditions, the work is much reduced in fize, by
retrenching fuperfluities.

In this Edition the plan is methodized ; in-*
accuracies correded ; and the ftyle improved ^
whereby, it is prefumed, the work will be ren-
dered a fyftem of Hiftory, hitherto unequalled
in extent of ufeful information, and agreeable
.entertainment.

CON-

CONTENTS

■

FIRST VOLUME*
CHAP. I.

From the Creation to the Flood.

)$ECT, J. The Cofmogonjr or Creation of the World, p. i

II. Sketch of Geographfy 9

III. Of the Fall of Man, i6

JV* The ChroBolQjiy from the Creation to the

Deluge ftated, 2i

V. The Hiftory of the Antediluvian Patriarchs; 27

VI. The Profane Hiftory before the Flood, 44

Vn. Of the Deluge, 5 j

VlHf Of the State of the Antediluvian World,
and the Changes made in the E^rth
by the Deluge| 66

I^ An Enquiry concerning the Situation of '
Moi^nt Ararat, and the various Op i-
luons about it, 72

CHAP. n.

From the Deluge to the Birth of Abraham.

^ECTt L The Chronology from the Deluge to the

Departure of Abraham frpm Haran>
dated, 77

II, The Hiftory of Noah after the Flood, and

of bia defce^dents to Abraham, 8a

S«CT,

CONTENTS.

Sect. IIL The Hiftory of Sanchoniatho after the

Flood, 101

IV. Of the Removal of Mankind from the

Neighbourhood of Mount Ararat to
the Plain of Shinaary and of the Build-
ing of Babel, io8

V. Of the Confufion of Tongues, . 1 15

VI. Of the Difperfion of Mankind, and the
Planting of Nations in the two firft
general Migrations, 128

VIL Of the Origin of Civil Government, and
the Eftablifliment of the firft King-
domSj I4p

c H A p. in.

The Hiftory of Egypt to the Time of Alexander the Great.

, ' ft

Sect. I. A Defcription of Egypt, 154

II. Of the Antiquity, Government, Law8> Re-
* ligion, Cuftoms, Arts, Learning, and

Trade of the Ancient Egyptians, 5to8

III. Of the Egyptian Chronology to the Time

of Alexander the Great, 259

IV. Hiftory of Ofiris, Ifis, Typhon, and OruSj> 268
V. The Reigns of the Kings of Egypt, 278

VI. The fucceffion of the Kings of Egypt, ac-

cording to the Oriental Hiftorians, 331

CHAP. IV,

The Hiftory of the Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites,
Edomites, Amalekites, Canaanites, and Philiftines.

Sect. I. The Hiftory of Moab, 341

II. The Hiftory of Ammon, 355

Sect.

CONTENTS.

Sect. III. The Hiftory of Midian, or Madian, 363

IV. The Hiftory of Edom,

V. The Hiftory of Am^k,

VI. The Hiftory of Car^fn,

VII. The Hiftory of the Philiftines,

370

3B3
388

407

CHAP. V.

The Hiftory of the Ancient Syrians.

Sect. I. A Defcription of Syria, . 431

II. Of the Antiquity, Government, Laws, Re-

ligion, Cuftoms, Arts, Learning, and
Trade of the Ancient Syrians, 441

III. Of the Chronology of the Ancient Syrians, 455

IV. The Reigns of. the Kings of the Ancient

Syrians, 458

DIRECTIONS for placing the COPPER-PLATES,

M^p of Paradife^ Mount Ararat, and City of Babel,

tofaQc p. I

Noah's Ark, 59

Genealogy of the Defcendents of Noah| 83

The Tower of Babylon, 113

Map of Ancient Egypt, 154

The Pyramids, 183

Syria, after the Death of Alexander the Great, 43 1

Temple of Balbeck, 439

View of the Ruins of Palmyra, 44a

mtm^l^mmmi. 111 I I I [ ■ I ■ ■! I W I 1^ III ■■ ■ ■■■ III! I 11 I I I I

Univerlal Hiftoty,

FR P M T HE

Earlieft Accounts, to the Prefent Tin^e.

■MIMMMMMM^ik^

CHAP. I.

From the Creition to the Flood*

S E C T. I.

The Ccfmagotty, or Creation of the PForU.

OUR deGgn is to write a General Hiftory of man- D<fii^ */
kind, from their original, to oyr own time : an un- ^^^^%-^
dertaking of vaft extent, which would, perhaps, be ficulties
fcarce prafticaQe, were the hiftories of ajl nations now *which at"
extant, and their feries complete. But as many nation* tendiu
entirely negledted their hiftory, at leaft for feveral ages; fo
the hiftories of many other§, who kept fome records of
paft a£^ions, have been either totally, or in part, deftroy-
ed by wars, time, mifguided zeal, or other cafualties. Be-
fides, few nations have been able to give a tolerable ac-
count of their original, or early antiquities ; the firft me-
mory of perfons and fafts having been preferved by the '
inftitution of feftivals, the building of citiesi erefting of
ftones, pillars, altars, tombs^ and the like monuments,
from whence a true feries of hiftory could iiot be accurately
deduced and collefted, any more, than from oral tradition, ,

But if the want of records has, on the one hand, re-
duced hiftory into ^ clofcr compafs, it has, on the othec.

Vol, L ' B occafioued

.1^

2 The C O S MO a N T;

©ccafioned great confufion and uncertainty. For the ftr--
■quent interruptions, and defcfts, which occur in* the an-
tiquities of nations, drive the hiftorian fo often to preca-'
rious conjeftures, and oblige him to have recourfe to fa
many fhifts, to conneft and fupply them, that his labour
feems to be increafed by the fcarcity of materials; and he
is unable, after all, to give his reader fatisfadiion.

Many other difficulties there are, which attend the exe-
cution; of this undertaking, cfpecially as to the hiftory of
ancient time*: fucH as the numbers of forged and fpurious?
fcooks ; the fiftions of poe$s, who were the firft hiftori-
rians; the contradr£lions and partiality of authors; the
different computations of time in ufe among the fame, as
well as different nations ; the want of seras to compute
from in fome nations, and the multiplicity of them iu
others; the variety of proper names of the fame perfoa
and place, and the corruption of them through ignorance^
TTCgH^ncc, nor ddign. Wh^t adds to the rnisfoitune rs„
that, if we except the Jews, not one of the hiftories of
thofe ancient nations, whom the Grecians called Barbari-
ans, written by the natives, orextrafted immediately from
their records, has come to our hands j nothing- remaining
of them b'efiaes fome few fragments, preferved here and
' there in other writers, which lerve only to make us lament
their lofs, and to flicw the inaccuracy of the Greek hifto-
rians, with regard to foreign nations.

We h&ve thought proper briefly to premife thefe obfer»*
vations, with regard to the ftate of ancient hiftory, in or-
der to entitle ourfelves to the reader's can^ur, tn paffiog
his judgment upon a performance, wherein there are lo
many difficulties to ftruggle with. But, before we dnter
upon the hiftory itfelf, we ftiall give fome account of the
cofmogony, or the produdlion and formation of this^
earth ; according to the defcription of Mofes, the only
account we are at liberty to. believe, as the imikitdiate
infpiration of the divine Architefl, leaving every other
3Fyftem, ancient as well as modern, to the fate of idle fpe-
culation deftitute of proof, and unfupported by authority.
Creation of In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
the world. The earth, after its creation, wa[s a dark, fluid, and un-
formed chaos, or mafs of matter, which God, in the
fpace of fix days, diipofcd and reduced into the prefent
form of the world ; hi« Spirit moving or brooding over
the furface of the water, or fluid matter.

The firft thing that appeared was light : the feparation
of which from the darknefs was the work of the firft day^

Thea

Or, Creathn of li?e Wo JitD. 3

Then Gad made an expanfion (A), to divide the waters
above from thofe below : which expanfion Mofes calls
heaven ; and this was the fecond day's work.

On the third day, God caufed the earth to be drained,
and the waters to be gathered together, chiefly into one
great receptacle, the ocean i then the dry land a£|>earing,
the earrh produced all forts of plants, herbs, and trees,
bearing their feveral feeds and fruits, according to their
'various kinds.

On the fourth day God made the fun and moon, and
placed them in the heavens, to illuminate the earth ; to
diftinguifli between day and night, and divide the feve-
ral feafons df the y^ar : the ftars were alfo made at this -^
period.

On the fifth day God created all the fifhes, and inha-
bitants of the waters 5 and alfo the fowls of the air, which
Wete likewife produced out of the water.

On the' fixfh day God made all the terreftrial animals,
the cattle, creeping things, and beafts of the field. And
laft of all, he created rtian, forming his body of the duff
of the earth, and animating him with a living foul; and
of the man he made the woman, taking her out of his fide,
. having firft caft him into a profound fleep \

This is the fubftance of wliAt Mofes has delivered con-
cerning the creation of the world ; which, being fliort*
and rather fuited to the capacities of the people he de-
figned to inftruft, than written for the fatisfaftion of a
philofophic inquirer, has left room for various explica-
tions, and produced feveral very different hypothefes, which
it Is not our province to particularife. Our defign is to
give a fuccindl hiftory of the inhabitants, not a philofp*
phical differtation on the firft formation of the earth.

Man then wa^, by a divine power, created on the fixth Cnationof
day, after the terreftrial animals had been produced 5 his «w« %
body was formed out of the diift of the ground, whence
be had the name of Adam (B), and his foul immediately

* Kb. facr. Gentf. ch-^ ?.

(A) This is the true fignifica- to be pleafanf, or delightful ;

tlon of the Hebrew word, arid which epithets are attributed

BotFirmament,whichwa«taken to the earth for its amenity, - ^

irom the Gre^k interpreters, and might be to the firft man,

(6) Adamah in Hebrew iig« fofhi&beaut}^. But this name

aifies Earth, but more proper- of Adam, it muft be obferved,

ly, as ts faid, a fort of ncd earth,- is an appellativey rather than a

or clay. Ludolphus derives it proper name, and includes evea

fipomthe Ethio^c A<km»^ if e* bodd the fexet*

B 7, infufed

and of WO'
man*

Time and
feafon of
the crea^
lion.

Place
ti'here A'
dam fwas
created*

Situation

of Eden,

The c s MO G N rr

infufed into him by his Creator ; in which better and im-*
mortal part more evidently confifted that image or refem-
blanccof God, wherein he is faid to have been made.
The woman was formed, alfo, on the fame day, out of
the fide of the man.

That the firft pair were created in an adult and perfeffc
ftate, immediately capable of the full exercife of their na-
tural powers and faculties, is not to be doubted : nor is it
to be imagined, but t"hat they both came out of their Maker's,
hand in the greateft perfe<3:ion both of body and mind.

It has been difputed in what feafon of the year the world
was made: which, it is to be prefumed, muft be meant in
refpeft of the place where Adam was created 5 for other-
wife all the feafons muft have been in being at once iii
different parts, of the world. Some fuppofe the vernal
equinox to have been the time ;, but others the autumnal^
which laft opinion is the more generally received, and
feems to be confirmed from the year's anciently beginning
from that time. This indeed was afterwards altered bj;
Mofes,. who ordered the ecclefiaftical year fhould com-
mence from the vernal equinox, or the month Nifan: but
the Jews, ia civil affairs, ftill continued to compute fronv
the former, or the month Tifri **.

Another fubjeft of inqu^y has been the place wHcrc
Adam was created. There is an ancient tradition, that
it was in Syria, near the place where Damafcus now
ftands'; others will have it to have been in Armenia; but
it was, moft probably, in or near the garden of Eden^ the
feat defigned for him, wherever that was.

Several of the primitive fathers believed, that there ne-
ver was a local paradife ; and that all the Scripture fays
of it, is to be underftood in an allegorical fenfe : pthers,
who allowed the reality of paradife, have fwerved fo far
from the letter, as to luppofe it not to be fituated on any
part of this terreftrial globe. They have placed it in the
third heaven, within the orb of the moon, in the moon
itfelf, in the middle region of the air, above the earth ;^
under the earth; in a recefs hidden and removed from the
knowlege of men, in the place poffeffed, at prefent, by
the Cafpian fea, under the ar£tic pole, and under the equa-^
tor. Thefe, with many more extravagancies, have been
coUefted by feveral authors % fome of whom have
thought it worth while to give them ferious anfwers.

b Vid. Jacob. Capellc Obferv. in Genef. c Stcph. Mori-

nu«, Didiert. de Parad. Tcrrcft. prefix. Opcr. Bocharti, cHit.
171*. Mofes Bar Ccpha, deParadif. Comment. P, Dan. Huet. d<^

Situ

Or, Creation of the W o kld, 5

On the other hand^ many of thofe who have allowed a
^erreftrial paradife, have fallen into no ' lefs abfurdity .
There is fcarce a comer of the earth which has not been
ranfacked in fearch of it. They have looked for it in Afia,
in Africa, in Europe, in America, in Tartary-, upon
the banks of the Danube, and the Ganges*, in the ifle of
Ceylon, in Perfia, in Armenia, in Mefopotamia, in Chal-
tlea, in Arabia, in Paleftine, in Syria, about the moun-
tains of Libanus and Antilibanus; near the cities of Da-
mafcus and Tripoly; in Ethiopia, towards the Mountains
of the Moon; and, which will, doubtlefs, be thought as
much out of the way, in S wcden, '

This divcrfityof opiniorts proceeds partly from that hu- jfrAat-ow
mour which prevailed in the early ages of chriftianity, of iwg to.
allegorizing all^paflages of Scripture, which had the leaft
appearance of difficulty in them ; and partly from the lit-
tle agreement to be found betwixt the geography of Mo-
fes, and that of the heathen authors, whofe imperfeftions
:are not yet, perhaps, fufficiently fupplied to refolve this
tlifficult problem. As for the Jews, from whom we might •
have expefted fomc light into matters which concern their
own antiquities, they are perfeftly ignorant of the geogra-
phy of their Bible, and have run as much aftray as othei*
nationS| in their defcriptions of paradife: as Jofephus,
and all the reft of their authors, have fuppofed the Ganges
and the Nile to be two of the -four rivers; in which opinion
they have been almoft unanimoufly followed by the Chrif-
tian fathers. '

There are feveral places which bear the name of Eden'i Several
we find two mentioned in Scripture, befides that in the E^iem.
Mofaical defcription, if it be not one of them; viz, one
near Damafcus in Syria, the other in or about TiielaiTar,
in Chaldxa. Ptolemy places an A:ddan in this laft coun-
try, and anotheJronthe Euphrates. There isalfo another
Eden jn Syria near Tripoly, in the road to Damafcus, as
the former feems likewife to be. Cartwright, in his Tra-
vels, gives an account of an ifland in the Tigris, called
Eden, about twelve miles above Maufel. There is a city
near Tarfus in Cilida, ftilj called Adena ; and Aden is a
.very noted one on the coaft of Yanvan, or Arabia Felix,
a little without the ftreights of Bab al Mondal : for Eden,
ot Adan, fignifying Pleafure, that name was giyen to

f>laces remarkable for the delightfulnefs of their fituationj

Situ Paradifi. Burnetts Theory of the E^rth. Raleigh's Hift. of
ihc World, &c.

B 3 cpnfideied.

Mojalcal
taradife
iocali not
imaginary.

Th CaSMOGONTi

conn<kred€kber in theinlelv€«, ot cpiap^ratkely v^ith the
adjacent coAintry.

It appears plainly from the Mo/^Ical defcription(CJ,
however prepofterous a karned author thinks it, tha^
Mofes bad no imaginary paradife in view, but a portion
of this habitable earth, bounded with countries iand ri-
vers very well knovm. in bis time, and for many ag^es af*
ter. Eden is as evidently a r-eal country as Ararat, where
the ark reded ; and Shinaar, where the fens of No^h re**
moved after the flood. We find it mentioned as fucii in
Scripture, ^s often as the oth^r two^ and there is the
more reafon to believe it^ becaufe thpfc^ne^sof theie three
remarkable events are laid in the neighbourhood of one
another, in the Mofaical hiftory ; but the Jews havings
probably, during the diftradtion of their affairs about tke
time of the captivity, loft the remembrance of all the par-^
iic^ulars relating to this account of Eden (as indeed they
bave of moft things relating to tbeir antiqiiities)j except
that of the rivers Hiddekel and Frat i the Chriftian in^
quirers have loft their way for warrt of guides ; and coniv
fequently bewildered themfelves in ftrange conje£bureflu
There maft always be a difference among men in opinions^
"where the uncertainty and defe<Aiven€fs of the proofs leav^
room for controverfy.

According to the moft plaufible opinion, Eden is placed
upon the united ftream of the Dijlat, or Hiddekel, and
Frat, called by the Arabs Shat al Arab^ that is, the ri^
ver of the Arabs; which ^ begins two days journey above
Bafrah, and about five leagues below divides again into
two or three channels, which empty themielves into the
Perfian Gulph. By this hypothefis, the Shat al Arab ia
.the river pafling oat of Eden ; which river, confidered

(d) Thev. Trav. part ii. chap. 9.

(C) And the Lord God
planted a ^rden eaftward in
Eden ; and a river went out of
Eden to water the garden; and
from thence it was parted, and
became into four* heads. The
name of the firft isPifon (Fi-
Ihon) ; that is it which com«
paiTcth the whole land of Ha-
▼ilah, where there is gold, and
the gold of that land is good ;
there is bdellium (bdolah;,and

theonyx-ftone (flioham). And
the name of the fecond river
is Gihon : the fame is - it that
compafleth the whole land of
Ethiopia (Cufh). And the
name of the third river is Hidr
dekel : that is it which goetk
toward the eaft of (or eaftward
to) AiTyria (Aftiur.) And the
fourth river is Euphrates (Pe-*
rath pr frat,)

according

Otj Creatiou of the Wo^ld. 7

aocording to tfhe difpofition of its chantiel, and not ac-
cording to the courfe of its ftream, divides into four
heads, or different branches, which make the four rivers ;
two below, viz. the two branches of the Shat, which
ferve for the Pifon and Gihon; and two above, viz. the
Frat and Dijlat^ or the Euphrates and Hiddeliifel* Ac-
4X)rding to this difpofition, the weftern branch of the Shat
will be Pifon; and the adjoining part of Arabia, border-
ing on the Perfian Gulph, will be Havilah ; and the
•caftcm branch will be the Gihon, incompafling the coun-
try of Cufh, or Khuzeftan, a province of Iran, as it is
ftill named by the Perfians.

This opinion was firft darted by Calvin, and is, with Eifen to hjf
fome little variation^ followed by otephanus Morinus, Bo- looked for
char^, and Huet, bifliop of Avranches : and indeed all inChatd^a*
iJie paffagcs of Scripture, where Eden is mentioned^ con-
cur to eftablifli it fomewhere hereabouts. The Prophet,
ipeaking of Tyre, fays, Haran, and Canneh, and Eden,
iwere thy merchants. Now if Canneh be Calneh, or Ca-
lyo, w:hicfh is taken to be Ctefiphon, or Medain, the feat
of <he Parthian race of Perfian kings, then Eden apEmft
liave been to the fouth of that city, according to the order
of mentioning t?\e places, which feems to be from north to
, Couth. The fame order is obferved in two other places of
the Old Teftament, where mention is made of Gozan,
Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were
in Telaffar. We may add an argument of fome, that the
city of Enoch, or, rather, Hanukh, built by Cain, and
called after the name of his fbn, is placed to the eaft of
Eden : and Ptolemy places a city, called Anucbta^ ia
jSufiana, or the country of Cufh.

Though this hypothefis feems the beft of any that ha&
"been yet advanced, and accounts tolerably well for the
Mofaical defcription, yet it is liable to exception •, which
we cannot explain without entermg into a difputation fo-
reign to the defign of our undertaking.

After ail, the Mofaical defcription does not agree with The Mcja^i*
the (late of things, ^either aslbey now are, or ever were calde^cnp-
in all probability : for tfherc \& no common ftream, of ^!^^ °l^'^"
which the four rivers are properly branches ; nor can one ""'' '^^
conceive how a whole land can be incompaiTed by a ji-
ver, as Havilah is faid to be by the Pifon, and Cufli by
the Gihon, without being an ifland. But we are to con-
iider Paradife dcfcribed according to Mdfes's ii6tl6n of
things, and that imperfe£t knowleg-c of the world ^Wfeich
:rfiey had in thofe early times. It is abfurd in this c^fe to

B 4 allege

t • SKETCH of GBOGR^PHr.

allege an alteration made by the deluge in the bounds of
countries^ or the courfe of rivers ; for Mofes defcribes things
as they were fuppofed to be at the time he wrote ; nor
is it credible, that the Hiddekel and Frat were branches
of a river before, and had fprings of their own. after**
yrardst

It is oofervable, that there is no manner of doubt in
authors, with relation to thefe two rivers ; nor indeed is
there the lead room for it> they having retained their
names nearly, if not exa£^ly the fame, to this day ; for
what the Hebrews call Hiddekel, the Arabs, and per-p
haps the AfTyrlans and Chaldaeans, called Dijlat then^
as they do * at prefent ; and the Phcrath, Forat, or Frat,
is called Frat by the neighbouring people : for Euphra-
tes is one of thofe corrupt names which our tranflation^
have borrowed from the Septuagint verfion, and which
probably .the Greeks, as Reland judicioufly obferved,
took from the Perfr^ns, who often fet the word Ab or
Au, which fignifies Water, before the names of rivers; of
which word, and Frat, the naipe Euphrates is compounds
cd. The other opinion, which f^rm^ that name from a
conjuftion of Frat with the preceding particle Hua, in the
Hebrew text, is abfurd ^ as fuppofing the Greeks firft
came aquainted with" that river, by reading this paflagf
of Mofes relating to the (ituation of Eden *,

S « C T. II.

Sketch of Geography.

BEFORE we proceed J:o a regular detail of thefe events
which conftitute the hiftory of mankind, it may be
necefi'ary to explain fome general principles of geography,
that the reader having recourfe to the maps which are
founded on thdfe principles, may conceive a more diftinft
idea of the fcenes of fuch tranlaftions as we propofe to
record.
Of the The fphere is a machine confiding of many circles, in-

^{^r/«/ vented t)y mathematicians to illuftrate the motion of the
Jr''^^^* caxA and planets,* and to explain the doftrine of the
globe^ for the more eafy attaining th^ fcience pf geogra-^
phy.

« Vid, Retand de Situ Paradif. Calmet. Di£^. de Ml Bible, p. 150*
TbAi^esot* Travels, p|irt ii« chap. 9. Terceira, Journey from
^aii'ah to Aleppo* .

SKMTqif of Ceographt.

Ev€ry circle is divided into 360 equal parts, which we
call degrees: each degree ipto 60 more equal parts, call-
ed minutes.

The plane of a circle txieans that furface on which it
is drawn ; . and if the furface be fuppofed of an infinite
extent from the center, it is flill called the plane of that
circle. But circles are faid to be in different planeg, when
the furfaces, on which they are made, incline to, or in-
terfe A each other. %

The axis is that line which we conceive to pafs through •
the middle of the earth, and 9n which the whole mafs
turns round ; reprefented in the artificial globe by a wke.
The two extremities of the axis. are called the poles of tne
equator : and if the axis be imagined to reach the ftars,
one point is called the ar£^ic, and the other the antar£biC|
or the north and fouth poles of the world.

The principal great circles are thefe :

1 . The equator is a great circle going from eaft to weft,
^xrhich p&rts the globe into the north and fouth hemi-
fpheres. It is named the equator, or equino£):ial line, be-
caufe when the fun arrives there the nights and days are
equal. It is alfo divided into 360 degrees, reckoning eaft-
ward from the firft meridian.

2. The horizon is that great circle which parts the up-
per hemifphere from the lower, or the vifible from the invi-
•fible hemifphere. So much of the earth as we comprehend
in our view, in a circular manner when we ftand on a
plain, is called the fenfible horizon. It is a moveable cir-
cle, having the zenith point over the fpeftator's head,
and the nadir point under his feet, for its two poles<
But the rational horizon is to fuppofe the eye at the cen-
ter of the earth, viewing the whole Celeftial hemifphere
upwards 5 which is reprefented by a broad wooden circle
incompaffing the globe, on which are defcribed feveral
other circles. The inner one is divided into twelve equal
parts, {hewing the twelve fignsof the zodiac, each of which
is fubdivided into thirty degrees, marked 10, 20, 30. The
next contains a calendar according to the old ftyle, di<<
vided into months and. days; and the other is a calendar
;iCCording to the new ftyle.

3. The meridian is a great circle, dividing the globe
into the eaft and weft hemifpheres: it lies direflly north
and fouth, paffing through the poles of the eiquator. The
•meridian is changeable, being properly that part of the
heavens where the fun is at noon : fo tnat every place on
the eart)i has a difTercnt meridian if we move eaft or weft \

but

,o SKETCH of GEOGRAPHT.

but paffing north or fouth it remains the fame. The me-
ridians marked on the globe are twenty-four ^n\icircle9
ending in the poles,, which we may multiply ^t pleafu^rei
for geographers ufually fettle one meridian from whence
they reckon the longitude of any place eaft or -weft. The
globe hajigs in a hrafs circle, en which is .placed another
fmall braffi one ealledthe horary circle; tWs is divided in-
to twenty-four equal parts, and defcribes the hours of day
and night ; which, in turning of the globe, ?fe point^
out by an index fitted to the pole. This is to flie-w the lif-
ing and fetting of the fun, moon, and ftars; or the -time
of day in all parts of the earth. The degrees of latH-ude
are marked o^ any meridian linetj but in maps, Mwaysoi^
the two outerijaoft.

4. There are two other meridians cajled coJ^res, whick
being alfo great circles, cut the fphere into four equ9^
parts. The folftice colure goes through the ]>ole$, and
cuts the ecliptic at the firft degree of CaiKer and Capri-
corn : the equinox colure goes likewife through the|>ole6«#
but cuts the ecliptic at the begicining of Afies and Librae
By thefe the feafons are diftinguifhed; for when the eartli
in its annual courfe pafles under the equinox cdhire, then
commence the fpring and autjimn ; but when it pafle^ un^
der the folftice colure, the winter and fummer begin.

5. The ecliptic is a great obliqi^e circle, cutting the
equator at angles of 23 degrees. 29 minutes. It defcribe$
the annual courfe of the earth, north and fouth: but the
courfe of the planets and moon lies 8 degrees farther on
each fide; which broad part of the fphere is commonly
called the zodiac, containing i6 degrees; the ecliptic be-^
ing that circle in the middle which is divided into 1%
figns, each containing 30 degrees.

6. There are two more great circles, called vertical and
azimuth circles. Thefe are perpendicular to the horizon,
jmd pafs through the zenith and nadir. They are nol:
drawn on the globe, but reprefented by the quadrant of
altitude, which is a very thin plate of brafs rnade to fqrew
on the zenith of any place, and to reach the horizpn; be-
ing alfo divided into 90 degrees, for taking the altituilp
of the fun or ftars when they arc not 4m the meridian.

The lefler circles are four :

The two tropics are thofe of Cancer aed Capricorn.:
the firft is 23 degrees 29 minutes north from tl>€ equator,
and the other is t^ie fame diftance to the fouth. On rU
globes and maps they are known by a double line.

The two remaining circles ar^ iUU fniJ^ler, ckUed the

ardic

$KEt€H of GEOGRAPHT. t«

ar£tic or polar circles. The north pole circle is diftant
23 degrees 29 minutes from the north pole, and the fouth
pole circle is equidiftant from the fouth pole.

The cardinal points are the four quarters of the Mrorld,
-eaft, weft| north, and fouth.

l%e collateral points are the primripal divifions and fub-
^vifions of the four chief; in all thirty-two.

I. The earth being divided into five parts by the two tro- of the va-
|>ics and tlie two pole circles, thofe five parts are named riety offi-
sones. Two temperate, two frigid, and the torrid zone. '««'^.°»J ^^
The north temperate zone includes all the land between !!/J'^^/''*
<tlie tropic of Cancer and the north pole circle : and the ^„^ ^jgl,
&>utfa temperate zone includes all between the tropic of rent
Capricorn and the fouth pole circle. fphereu

The two frigid zones contain all the land from the two
jMilar circles to the very poles. Thefe, by the ancients,
•^rere thought uninhabitable ; but navigators have difco-
•vercd ofnany well peopled ceTuntries within the arftic cir-
<de, almoft round the north pole ; though none has yet
hffcn difcovered within tfie antarflic or fouth frigid zone.

The torrid zone includes all the fpace between the two
•Ci^pics, the equator being in the middle- The whole is
Aoroughly inhabited, though it lies under the full annual
courfe of the fun; for which reafon the ancients thought
it could not be peopled for extreme heat, any more than
Ae frigid zones for extreme cold. ^

Th^ temperate zones contain in latitude each 43 de-
uces % minutes, being the fpace between each tropic and
the pole circle. The frigid zones cpntain each 46® 58' ;
4:hat is to fay, 23^ 29' on either fide the pole: and the
torrid zone, in like manner, contains 46^ 58' latitude ;
that is, 23*^ 29' on each fide the equ'ator.

2. The zones are divided into climates, which exhibit
Ae different length of days over all parts of the globe. A
climate is a certain fpace of the earth parallel to the equa-
tor, whofe longed day exceeds, by half an hour, the
longeft day of the preceding climate. The ancient geo-
graphers made but fourteen, that is, feven on either fide
the equator to 50 degrees and a half; but we now in-
clude the poles, and divide each hemifphere into thirty
climates.

3. The exad: fituation of cities and places, where the
inhabitants of the earth refide, is more particularly called
their latitude and longitude. Latitude is the didance of

•^ny place from each fide the equator to either of the poles ;

which

Ik SKETCH of GEOG RAP Hn

■which diftance being but 90 degrees each, no latitude
can exceed that number.

Longitude is the diftance of a place from the firft, or
fome other meridian. When Ptolemy invented the way
of diftinguifhing the fituation of places, he did it by pa»
rallel and meridian lines ; the lattqr pafling round the
, globe through the equator and poles, and the former ly-
ing parallel to the equator ; which parallel lines were
found very convenient for marking the latitude into de-
grees a Ad minutes. Then for longitude, he fixed upon
TenerifF, one of the Canary iflands, as the moft weftern
part of the then known world ; which having a very high
mountain, was a good mark fbr mariners, and the fitteft
place from whence to begin a general computation. Ac-
cordingly, all the old maps begin their eaft longitude from
Teneriff J and becaufe then only one fide of the globe was
known, the degrees were only 1 80 : but fince the difco-
very of America, they are carried quite round to 360.
This method was always cfteemed, and TenerifF reckoned
a good ftandard meridian,, till the French, who like no-
thing which they themfelves do not invent, thought pro-
.per to alter it, and make the ifland Ferro their new meri-
dian, which by late obfervation licsjuft two degrees more
weft. Wherefore, to prevent confufion, our modern geo»-
graphers and delineators of maps make the metropolis of
their own nation the firft real meridian : and in this cafe
longitude is twofold, being, from London, either weft
or eaft ; as at fea it is computed from fome known port
or headland. *

The longitude of any plice from London b^ing known,
the difference in the houf of the day is alfo known. For
as the fun performs his diurnal circuit in 24 l^ours, he
gains in each hour 1 5 degrees, being a 24th part of 360,
or one degree in four minutes. So that at any place 15
degrees eaft of us, noon is an hour fooner with them, as
it is an hour latter with thofe who live 15 degrees weft
from us. The town of Pembroke in Wales, being five
degrees weft of London, their noon is therefore 20 mi-
nutes later. If a clock, or any time* piece could be fo
made as to go equal and. true at any feafon or diftance,
]the theory of longitude at fea would be no more a myf^
tery : but as that is impracticable, our modern aftrono-
mers have contented themfelves with obferving the folar
and lunar eclipfes: for if their appearances and calcula-
tions are exactly known with us, and the fam^ appeafr
ances arc obferved in any other part of this globe, the

difference

SKETCH of GEOGRAPHT. . 13

difference arifing from thofe times will fettle the difFer-
cnce in longitude. The eclipfes alfo of Jupiter's moons,
and the fpheroidal figure of the earth, two important dif-
coveries of the feventeenth century, will each, in their
turn, lead us farther on to a true fyflem of longitude.

Laflly, though all degrees of latitude are equal in
length, yet degrees of longitude vary in every new pa-
rallel of latitude: for all the meridian lines meeting and
interfefting each other at the poles, the degrees of lon-
gitude do naturally diminifh as they proceed either way
Irom the equator.

The magnitude or circumference of the earth has ge-
nerally been reckoned not lefs than 25000 Britifh miles :
but as the truth of that computation entirely depends on
what precife number of ftatute miles a degree of latitude
contains, the. circumference of the earth could never yet
be exactly determined. The firft experiment for this dis-
covery, which came near the truth, was made by our
countryman Mr. Norwood, in 1635. He having, in two
different years during the fummer folftice, taken the fun's
altitude at London and York, with a feftor of, five foot
radius, found their difference in latitude to be 2 degrees
28 minutes : then he meafured their diitance ; and, al-
lowing for hills and turnings, brought it to an arc of the
meridian containing 91 49 chains; which, compared with
the difference in latitude, gave him 3709 chains to a de-
gree ; that is, 367,196 foot Englifh. Our ftatute mea-
fure for a mile being 52S0 foot, Norwood's degree is
therefore 69 miles, and 2876 foot over.

In the reign of Lewis XIV. the French Royal Acade-
my of Sciences made a fecond trial ; and Mr. Picard de-
termined the arc of the meridian between Amiens and
Malvoifine to be 78850 toifes. He had a feftor of ten
foot radius, that bore a telefcope of the fame length, with
which he obferved the difference in latitude of thofe two
places tote i^ 22' 55''', and from thence found a degree
to contain 57060 toifes. Note, a toife is a fathom of 6^
French foot. The Englifli foot is fmaller than the Paris
foot; for 15 French feet make 16 Englifh : fo that Nor-
wood's degree exceeds that of Picard's above a quarter of
a mile.

Norwood, as above, in Englifh, 367* 196
Ficard, reduced to the fame, 36591^4

Difference, 2,012

Picard'*

^ SKETCH of GEOGRAPHT.

Picard's due care in the experiment gaire fuch fatisfa£H6n^
that the king ordered the whole meridian of France to be
mcafured in the fame manner j which was performed by
Cafiini the mathematician, in 171 8. He divided the me«-
ridian into two axes, which he mfcafured feparately^ and
the whole arc from Dunkirk to-Callioure gave him 5706a
toifes to a dcgice^ the very fame as Picard. .

Muffenbroek likewife meafured a degree in Holland^
and found it to be 27 toifes lefs than Picard. *.

While the earth was believed to be a pcrfedt fphere, it
was enough to find the true length of any one degree of
latitude : becaufe one would confirm- all the reft: butfince
the eftablifliment of Sir Ifaac Newton's philofophy, th«
figure of the earth 16 underftood to be that of a fphe«
roid, gradually flatted towards tbe poles: fo that a de«>
gree of the meridian at thofe places mufl^ be longer tfaaa
any ^ where elfe (D).

Having

f Complete Syftem of Geography*

(D) In all mapsf the north is
at top, the fouth at bottom ;
the eaft on the right, and the
weft on the left : or, if it be
etherwife, it is always expreft
either by words on each fide,
or by a mariner's compafs,
wherein the mark of a flower-
de-luce always denotes the
north.

Maps are laid down and pro-
portioned to a certain . fcale,
which is always takeii from the
degrees of latitude.

The degrees of latitude are
always marked on the eaft and
weft fide of the map«

The degrees of longitude are
always ftiarked on the north
and ibuth fide of the map*

A degree of latitude is al-
ways of the fame breadth :
wherefore the diftance of two
places feated dire6Vly north and
.fouth, ifr immediately known
by knowing the different lati-
tudes. But a degree of longi-
tude is of different extent*

The latitude and longitude

of a place being known, you
may find it immediately in the
map by drawing a line of
thread crofs the map bcitK
ways, . and where the two line*
cut one another, the place
ftands.

The earth being a globe, a
map of the whole earth muft
neceflarily confift of two parts,
both fides of the globe not be-
ing vifible at once : according-
ly in a univerfal map, the
right hand circle fliews the old
world, or Europe, Afia, and
Africa; and the left hand cir-
cle fliews the new world, or
America.

Upon the general map ara
marked the circles correfpon-*
dent to thofe in the fphere,
namely, the equinodial line^
the two tropics, and the two
polar circles, all which crofs
the map from eaft to weft;
and the firft meridians fur-
rounding the tw^o hetnifpheres
frona north to fouth, the pa-
rallels lying from north to fouth

SKETCH 6/ GEOGRAP HT.

Having thus Iketched out the general lines of geogra-
phy, together with iJie divifion of the globe, we fhall
now proceed to the hi pre particular hiftory of the fir ft
human pair, whofe pofterity now inhabitate under fuch
a variety of religions, laws, cuftoms, tongues, tempera-
ments, and complexions*

at ten degrees diilance; and
the meridians at the fame dif-
tance from wefl to eaft, are al-
io mailced upon general* maps*

Particular maps, being parts.
of this, retain the meridians
and parallels belonging to that
particular part; which are
made fmaller or krger, as the
pa^er on which it is drawn
will admit, and the diftance of
places mendoned in it are al-
ways exa6lly proportioned to
the breadth of the parallels.
So that let a map be ever fo
fmall, the diflance of places
is exadly fliown, if meafured
according to the degrees of
latitude in that particular
nap.

In both general and parti-
cular maps, the thick il)adow«
ing denotes the fea coaft. Ri-
vets are marked by- large Ilia-
dowed ferpentine lines ; roads
by double lines; diviiions of
countries by dotted lines ; lar-
ger for provinces, and fmaller
S>r fubdivifions ; and divifions
ef natioDs are ofrcn ihcwn by
chain lines. Forefts are repre-
fented by trees; mountains by
fifing ihadovvs ; fands by dott-

ed beds; marfhes by ihadow*
ed beds; lakes by fhadowed
coafts.

The names of provinces are
written in large capitals ; and
finaller divifions, in fttialler ca*
pitals; great cities in round
Roman chafa<Sfeers ; fmaller
towns in Italic.

The exa6t fituati<sn of a town
is fhewn by a little round o^
but larger places have the adi*
dition of a church for a mar-
ket town, if the fize of the
map will admit. A citjr is
noted by a church with houfes
about it, as much as the fcalc
will allow. Particular qualifi-
cations of cities are diftinguilh-
ed by marks, as a bilhoprick
has a crofs, or fometimes A
mitre over it. An archbifhop-
rick, has a double crofs over
it. An univerfity has a ftar»
or fometimes a caduceus. Aft
abbey is ihewn by a crook, or
paftoral flafF. A fortrefs, by
angles like bafiiions. A caflle,
by a little flag. A gentleman^s
feat, by an houfe only. Other
marks are alFcfted by particu-
lar engravers, which they ex-
plain m the margin*

SECT.

.itk

•#

♦

t9\ ^e Oemai HiJtoQ to tie Fbod*

Mid. ' ' f " •

», SECT; in.

Ante Chr.

^^°^' . • Of the Fall of Man.

Adam /^OD having placed Adkm in the jgarden of £den« to
pi^^fd bt VJ ^Ytk and to keep it^ gave him leaye to eat freely o^
^Md forbid' ^^ ^^"^^ ^^ every tree, except that of knowlege of good
dtntketrei ^^^ ^^^'j which he ftriftly commanded him not to tafte,
of know upon pain of death, the certain confequence of his dif*
t^l^* obedience.

The firfl thing which Adam did after his introduAidn

into paradife^ and the very day of his creation, was to

give names to all the beads and birds, which prefented

themfelves before him, to perform Jtheir homage.

Takes Eve God, having formed Eve out of his fide, brought her

to 'wife. to him : when knowing her to be bone of his bone, and

fleih of his flefh; he took her to wife, iand lived with her,

. " free from any fenfe of fliame, though they were both

naked.

The eoHti* How long they continued in this happy condition, is

nuance of very uncertain : it is probable they did not immediately

the ftate of tranfgrefs the divine command ; but it (hould ieem, by

innocence, tj^g narration of Mofes, that their fall was not long after

their creation. The Jevf^ i^i general, and moft of the

Chriftian fathers, believe it to have been on the very day

they were created, but this is next to impoffible ; for a

day would be a great deal too (hort for the feveral aftions^

that muft on that fuppofition have been comprifed in it.

Befidcs, God himfelf, after the fixth day* was paft, dc-*

dared (as at the end of the preceding days) every thing to

be very good ; which is not reconcileable with truth, if

fin, the greateft evil, had then entered into the world.

Some therefpie conje£^ured^ that this calamity happened

the eighth day, and others the tenth, of the world's age;

fuppoHng that, in comniemoration thereof, the great day

of expiation, being the tenth day of the year, was infti-

tuted in after-times. If we can fubfcribe to the opinion

of thofe who make a day and a year to have been the

. fame before the fall s, there is indeed no difficulty in fup-

pofing it even on the fixth day.

The fall as The fall of man is fuccindly related by Mofes, in the

reiattd by following manner : the ferpent, being mort fubtile than
Mcfes»

$ Vid. Whi(lon*$ Theory, lib. xi. p. 9^1 &c.

any

^e General Hifioty t(f the Tloo^k ^7

tay beaft of the field, aflted the woman, whether it was true ^' ^
that God had not granted her and her hpfband leave to Ante Chr,
eat of every tree in the4|[arden 2 flie anfwercd, that God 4^04.
bad allowed them to ea?of all, except only the fruit of ■

the tree in the midft of the ^Aftp. ; which he command-
ed they (hould not tafte, nor fo much aa touch, left they
ihould die. The ferpent replied, that they fliould not die j
for Grod knew the virtue of the tree; and that, fo foon as
they eat of it, their eyes would be opened, and they would
become like Gods, knowing good and evil. Eve, feeing
the fruit tempting to. the view, took of the fruit and ate;
and gave alfo to her hufband of it, and he did eat. Im«'
mediately the eyes of both were opened, when perceiving
they were naked, they fewed fig-leaves together, and
made themfelves aprons. Adam and Eve, hearing the
Voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day>
hid themfcilves among the trees; but, on God's calling
for Adam, he excufed himfelf fox not appearing, becaufe
he was naked. God demanded of him, who it was that
told him he was naked; and whether he had difobeyed
his command, in eating the forbidden fruit. Adam con-^
fefled that the woman had offered him the fruit, and he
had tafted it. She, being examined likewife, acknow-
leged what fhe had done ; but faid, the ferpent had fe*
duced and deceived her. God then proceeded to judg-
ment ; he firft curfed the ferpent above all beafts, and
condemned him to go on his belly, and eat the dull ; add^
ing, that he would put enmity between him and the wo-
man, and their offspring; that the feed of the woman
fhouid bruife the ferpent's head, who fhould bruife the
othep's heel. The woman was fubje£ted to. the pains of
childbirth, as well as to the dominion of her hufoand; and^
to the man, God curfed the ground for his fake, declaring,
that it fhould bring forth thorns and thiflles, and he fhould
earn his bread by thefweat of his brow, till he returned
to the duft, from whence he was taken. At laft, having
clothed them both with IkinB, he turned them out of the
garden, lefl they fhould take of the tree of life, and eat,
and live for ever : then, to prevent any attempt to return
to their former habitation, he placed cherubim at the
caft of the garden, and a flaming fword, which turned
every way, to guard the pafTage to the tree of life^.

This concife account being, at fiift view, incumbered Obif^hm
with fome improbabilities, feveral learned and pious men ^^ ^^J '''"

fc Gcnef. ch, iiL relattQn.

•Vox.. J. C have

A.M.

fBe General Hiftory to the PJoodl

Ante Chr.
4004.

Kave been inclined to believe the whole ought to be takVit*
in an allegorical fenfe, and not according to the ftriclnefir
of the letter: they allege^, that the ancients, and parti--
cularly the eaftern nations, had two different ways of de-
livering their divinity and philofophy, one popular, and
the other myfterious; diat the Scripture ufes both occa-
sionally; fome times accommodating itfelf tothe capacities-
of the people, and at other times to the real, but more
Teiled truth ^ and that, to obviate the many difficulties^-
which occur in the literal hiftory of this fad cataftrophcr
tjie fafeft way is to underftand ft as^ a parabolical ftory,^
under which the real circumftances are difguifed* ind con«-
ecaled, as a myftery not fit to be more explicitly declared^
Though it cannot be denied that fome of the ancient^
philofopher* affcdted fuch an- allegorical way of writings
tp conceal their notions from the vulgar, and keep their
learning within the bounds of th«ir own fchool; yet, itis-
apparent Mofes had no fuch defign; and, as he pretends^
only to relate matters of faft, juft as-thcy happened, with-
out art or difguife, it cannot be fuppcfed but that this-
hiftory of the falMs to be taken ia a literal fenfe,. as well*
the reft of his writings.

. When the eftc£t produced* by the* intoxicating juice of
tumflances the forbidden tree wore offi and the criminals began to*
of the retrieve their fenfes, the eyes of their underftanding were

t^ats%^"^ opened, and they perceived tKeir own natednefe (E); and
tlaintj' ^^^ f^^^ degradation of their nature; to conceal' which,
as far as they were able, they twilled or platted the flex-*-
ible branches of the fig- tree round their waifts; fo that
the broad leaves hanging, down might ferve them infteai
of aprons (F).

"fhi

c\r»

' (E) "By perceiving their na-
kednefs, a late writer conceives,
no more is meant than that
they werefenfible of their tranf-
greffion. Thus, after the gol-
den calf was confecrated, Mo-
les is faid to havefeen the peo-
ple naked, £xod» xxxii. 25*
And in the New Teftament
yvfAj/oq is fometimes taken for a
linrier. Others, indeed, fup-
pofe, that the fruit of this for-
bidden tree provoked our firft
parents to luft, and fome in-
decent motions of the body:
^r^. according to the modcily

of the Hebrew tongue, itahd-
nefs may well enough denote
an irregular appetite to venereal
pleafures ; and this is the o-
pinion of St. Auflin.

(F) The original word,,
which is tranflatedy^A/, iig-
nifies no more than to put to--
gcthcry to appfy^ or Jit^ in
which fenfe it is ufed Job xvu-
1 5 . and £zek. xiii. 1 8. And,,
that which we render leaves^,
fignlfics alfo, branches of trees^
fuch as were fit to make booths
or bowers, Nehcm* viii* 15-

Judgment^

The General Hifioty to the Floods 19

Judgment being pafled on all tliat were concerned in •^' ^*
this unhappy affair, it is faid that God, before he drove AnteChr.
Adam and Eve out of Paradife, clothed them with ikins- 4004..
It is common for the Hebrew tongue verbally to attribute - " ■'■
things to God, which are not done by his immediate aft,
but by his direftign, or even by the permiffion of his or-
dinary providence; fo that it is probable, Adam and Eve
only received inftruftions how to clothe themfelves.

As to the cherubim and flaming fword, placed to guard ^f,g cherun
the way of the tree of life, there are feveral opinions con- bim and
cerning them. They who place Paradife in the fouthern /««'»?
hemifphere, conceive the fword to have been no more -yJT* *
than the torrid zone, which, in the parallel fituation the
earth is then fuppofed to have had, mull have been a re-
gion of flame intolerably hot, like a furnace, and, confe-
quently, impafTable: its encompaffing the whole earth
fufficiently anfwering the Mofaic defcription, that it turn-
ed every way. Others have thought that it was a wall or
circle of fire, encompaffing Paradife (G)j and that this
flame was an accenfion of fome inflammable matter round
about the garden ; which opinion may be more probable
to thofe who place Paradife about Babylon, where there
is fuch an abundance of naptha aftd bitumen, and where
there are fields, which, even yet, at fome time of the
year, feem all on fire. If it be objcdled, that the cheru-
tim had nothing to do with fuch a wall ; it is anfwered,
that it is ufual for the Scriptures to exprefs all extraordi-
nary works of God by angels ; as to call a plague, or fa-
mine, a deftroying angel, and the like. Some rabbins
are of opinion, that this flaming fword was an angel;
Vhich they found on that paflage where it is faid, that;- .
God maketh his angels fpirits, and his minifters a flaming
fire. And hence it has bqen imagined, that this flaming
fword, which was efleemed by the Jews a fecond angel,
was of a different kind from the cherubim, viz. a feraph,
or flaming angel, in the form of .a flying fiery ferpent,
whofe body vibrated in the air with luftre, and may be
fitly defcribed by the image of fuch a fword ^

i Tennifon.

(G) The words comnionly fignifles aylt^W, fignlfies dfo

TtnderedJIamifigJworii^ are, in dMRon ; and is, in the Newr

the original, x!tit flame of cut' Teltamenf, tratiflated both

tlng^ or diviflony or a dividing ways.
flame : for the fame tvord which

C 2 Having

id' ^h General Hi/lory to the Flo6£

A. M. Saving thus examined the circumftarices of the fall^ it*^
Ante Chr. ^^^ ^ proper to confider the effecSls it had upon our fir-ft
4004, * parents and their pofterity, and alfo upon the ground,
.. ■ - which was curfcd for their fake.
^heeffeSs The unhappy pair dfd not, ind'ecd, die immediately;
of the falt^ \yyjx they became fubjeft to death, which continually hung
^andon)he ^^^^ ^^^^^ heads; the time they had to live being but as-
gnund^' thefpace between a criminal's condemnation and his exe-
. cution. They had loft God's favour, and forfeited Para-
dife : the neceflaries of life were not now to be gotten but
by hard labour of the man, and child-birth was to be at-
tended with great pain in the woman •, fo that the re—
inembrance of their paft happinefs, and the profpeft of
the innumerable miferies to which they had made them-
ftlves and their offspring obnoxious, muft needs have fill-
ed them with regret and d'efpair; For fince they could not^
by jjeneration, tranfmit any thing to their pofterity, but
what they had themfelves, their defcenderits y^ere deftin—
cd, in like manner,, to undergo the troubles of life, and
the pains and agonies of death, the neccfTary confequenccs*
of Adam's tranfgrefTion. But that we are thereby be^
come the objects of God's wrath, and deferving eternal
damnation, by the imputation of the guilt of Adam's Gn*
(which is the do£trine of St. Auftin and his difciples^
thence named Supralapfarians), has feemed to many a
Very harfh opinion, and to refleft an the goodnefs and
jiiftice of God K

The fhiits of the earth were at firft fpontatieou^; and*
the foil, without being torn and tormented, fatisfied the
wants and* defires of man ; but^ upon his apoftacy fronv
God, as a punifhnlent for his fin, God CUrfed the ground,^
which immediately brought forth thorns and thiftles : for
we muft not fupj^ffe, with fome, that the original ferti-
lity of the earth continued till the deftrudion brought Up-
on it by the univerfal deluge. Tfie deRige was;, indeed^
the completion of the curfe, but fome confiderable effefts
of it appeared before: otherwife, how could Adam 6e
feid to eat bread in forrow, and in the fweat of his face^
all the days of his life } As the earth was impoverifhed
on man's tranfgreflioQ^ fo the air and other elements be-
came difordered, in fome meafure upwholfome, and
fometimcs fataL Hence proceeded famines, peftilenees,
earthquakes, ftorms^ and all manner of natural calamities
which caufed an innumerable variety of difeafes and dif-
tempers.

^ See Stackhoufe's Bbdy of Divinity, p, 195, &€•

There

^e General Hijloty to tie Flood. -^ at

There was alfo a confiderablc difference between the ^' ^
-condition of the woman before the fall, and that which Ante Chr.
flie has fince been in 5 ^particularly, {he was then .in 4004.
a Hate of greater equality with the man, and lefs fub- ■

jeft to forrow in the propagation of pofterity than at pre-
sent.

Wherein the ilecundity and, amenity of the primitive
earth corlfiftedy and by what means it became fo much
;^tered for the worfe, we cannot pretei\d to ftiew. The
change is, indeed, prefently accounted for, if we have
recourfe to the Divine interpofition, and fuppofe that the
fterility of the earth, the malignity of the air, and the ge-
neral depravation of nature, was effefted by God, or his
fubordinate agents. But to afEgn a probable natt^r^ caufjs
qf Cuch effefls, is not a talk fo fafy (H).

SECT IV.

3lbe Chronology from the, Creation 4o the -Delugejlatei.

¥3 EFORE we enter-on the hiftory of the antediluviaa
•■^ world, it will be neceffary, th^t we ihould fettle the
-chronology of this period.

As Moles has not fet down the particular time of any
tranfa£lion before the flood, except x)nly the years of the
fathers age, wherein the feveral defcendants of Adam, in
the :line OT Scth, were begotten, and the length of their
feveral lives-; ?|1 we can do, in this period, is, to endea^
TOur to fix the years of the lives ^nd deaths of thofe pa-
triarchs, and the diftance of time from the creation tp
the deluge.

This might be eafily done, if there were no varie-
^tics in the feveral copies we now have of Mofcs's writings,
•which are, the Hebrew, the Samaritan, and the Greek
-vcrfion of the Septuagint: but as ihefe differ very confi-
^derably^rom one another, learned men are much divided
in ^heir opinions concerning the chronology of the firft
.ages of the world ; fome jprefemng one copy, and fbme
another.

That the reader may the better judge of the variations
intl^ three copies in this period, we fhall, in the fol-

% • V

(H) Thofe who are inclined , may confuit Burnetand Whif-
to amufe themfelves with inge- toq«
»iuou6 theories on this fubjed,

C 2 lowing

22 The General [Hijiory to the Flood.

lowing table) fubjoin the numbers of each; to which
we take the liberty to add thofe of Jofephus, as cor-f>
reeled by Dr. Wells and Mr. Whifton, the numbers in
the prefent copies of that hiftorian being greatly cor-
rupted.

A Table of the Tears of the Arttediluvian Patriarchs.

Their ages at their fons birth.

Adam, m
Seth,
Enos,
Cainan,
Mahalaleel,
Jared,
Enoch,
Methufelah,
Lamech,
Noah was aged
at the Flood,

}

Heb.

130

105

J 62

187
1 8a

600

Sam.
130

600

Sept.
230

20 J
1 90
170
165

165

1 88

Jof.
130

105
90

187
182

Years they liv-
ed after the
fons birth.

600 600

Heb.

800
807
815
840
830
800
300
782

595

Sam. 8ept.
800 .700

807
815
840
830
785
300

<^53
600

707

715
740

730
800
200
802

565

Length of their
lives.

Heb. Sara.
930 930
912 912
905 905
910 910
89s 895
962 847

3<^S 3^S
969 720

777 653

Sept.

91a
905
910
895
962

969
753

To the Flood, ^656 1307 226i 1556

To this table it will be necefiary, in order to explain the confo-
quences of thefe variations, to add feparate chronological tables,
ftvewing in what year of bis contemporaries the birth and death 01
each patriarch happened^ according- to the computation of each of
thq faid thfce copies.

A C&m-r

TtheXrenerd Hiftory to the FhoS. «3

JI Chcnological Table of the Tears of the Patriarchy
According to the Computation of the Hebrew.

A.dam created^
Seth born,
JEnos born,
Cainan born,
Mahalaleel born^
Jared born,
inoch born,
Methufelah bom,
.Lamech bom,
Adam diea,
£iioch trani)ated«
Seth dies,
:Noah boru,
£nos dies,
<Zainan dies,
Jllabakkel-dies,
Jarcd dies,
Japhet bom,
^Shem born,
X«ainech <lies,
jJethufelah die^

¥ea
Ye
Ye

Year

Yea
thew

O J2 " w {J •^

a*^ o 3 2 «»

^ S ^ 2 «

, c. J? o ^ e

^30 « g *L

x»^

325 ^9S 90 r- 3

395 265 160 v7o .p-

lr»

460 330 225 135 65

- •

1—*

S 2

622 492 387 297 227 162

^87 557 452 362 292 227

• CO

-^74 744 <^39 549 479 4i4 252

i«7

930 3oo 695 605 535 470

308

243

56 5

987 857 752 662 592 527

3<55

500

113

1042 912 807 717 647 .582

355

168 n-

1056 821 731 661 S9.6

.3<59

182

H40 ,905 817 745 680

453

266 84

1/235 910 840 775

548 361 179

1290 895 830

603

416 234

142a 962

735

548 366

1556

8(59

682 500

1556

871

684 50a

1651

964 777 595

16^6 grheHood, -

-•

.9^

600

*C 4 af aro..

24 ^^ General Hijlory to the Flood.

A Chronological Table of the Tears of the Patriarchs^ acm
cording to the Computation of the Septuagint.

Years
the worl

Years

Years
Years

-■

0. o

»^

Adam created.

CO
n

f Mahal:
of Cain:

Seth born.

230

£nos born.

435 ^05

•

Cainan born,

. 625

395

100

•

Mahalaleel born.

795

565 360

170

^dam dies.

930

700 495

305 135

•

Jared born.

960

730

525

33^5 i<5j

Enoch born.

1122

892

687

497 327

162

•

^ ^

Seth dies,

1142

912

707

517 347

182

<k)

Methufdah bom.

'387

852

662 4^2

327

1 6s

•

»
S

£nos dies.

1340

905

715 545

380

218

Lamech born.

1474

849,679

514 352

187

•

Enoch tranflated,

1487

862 692

527

3<55

200

Cainan dies.

1535

910 740- 575

248

Noah born.

1662

702

375

188

Mahalaleel dies,

1690

99s

730-

403

216

Jared dies.

1922

962

635 448

260

Japhet born,

2162

875

688

50Q

Shem born.

2164

877

690

502

Lamech dies,

2227

940 753

S^S

Methufelal^ dies,

2256

696

— .

594

The flood.

2262

1 . •■•

699

4^ Cl&r(is

The General Hifio?y to the Flood. 25

J Chronological Table of the Tears of the Patriarchs, according
to the Computation of the Samaritan Pentateuch. ,

rt "^ o fc^ .^ i5

^ S S « fT »•

2 5 ~ 2{ k 3

5-^

0.0

^ ^ ^ 2 5^ hJ 2

Adam created, iP'^g^^li?^^

Sethborn, 130 ?g'^oSS,S*

Enosborn, 235 105 ? R* tZl S, g 3

Cainanborn, 325 ipS 9© ?* 3 g* & S. 5?

Mahalaleel born, 395 265 160 70 ?* § *= fcn §

Jared bom, 460 330 225 135 65 * S* S g ©

Enoch bom, 522 392 287 197 127 62 * P* ^ 5

Methufelah bora, 587 457 352 262 192 127 65 S- ?

Lamech born, 654 524 419 329 259 194 132 67 S*

Noah born, 707 577 472 382 312 247 185 120 53

Enoch tranflated, 887 757 652 562 497 427 365 300 233 180

Adam dies, 930 800 695 605 535 470 343 276 323

Scth dies, 1042 912 807 717 647 58a 462 388 335

Enos dies, 1140 905 815 745 680 553 486 433

Japhetbora, , J207 882 812 747 620 553 500

Shem bom, 1209 884 814 749 622 555 502

Cainandies, 1235 9^^ ^4^ 775 ^48 581 528

Mahalaleel dies, 1290 895 830 703 636 583
Jared, Methu- 7

felah, and La- > 1307 The Flood, 847 720 653 600

mcch. dxe» J

To the varieties exhibited in the two lafl: tables, others
might be added, by admitting the various readings of fome.
numbers in the Samaritan and Septuagint : for as to the
Hebrew copies, there is here a conftant agreement among
them (I).

The manufcript from which the Samaritan Pentateuch
was publiflied (K), agrees exadly with the Samaritan

(I) It is obfervable, that the our Saviour, does alfb agree

Hebrew numbers were exactly with the Hebrew chronology. ^
the fame when the two Tal- (K) This MSj was wntten

jnuds were compofed ; and that A, D. 1404. Vid. Joan. Ma-

die Chaldee paraphrafe of On- rin. in prsef. ed. Septuag* Gr.

kelos, which is allowed to have Lat. Farif* 261 8»

t)^^ writtCQ about the time of

numbers

«6

A. M.

Ante Chr.

4004.

The General Hjfimy lo the Fhoi.

numbers given by Eufebius*. But St. Jerom tells us*,
tbut, in histimC) there were fome S;imaritan copies whtoh
make Methufeiah 187 years old at the birth of Lamech,
and Lamech 182 at the birth of Noah, juft as the He^
trew does. Now if thefe numbers be approved as the
true original numbers, the interval fiom the creation t®
the flood will be 1556 years (L); difiering from the He-
l^rew computation but too years in the age of Jared at
tbe birth of Enoch;: and if this lad be fallowed to he a mif-*
take of the tranfcribcr, by his dropping a* number, and
writing 62 inftcad of 1 62, a$ has been fufpeded, the Sa-
maritan will be perfeftly reconciled with the Hebrew, and
9U difierehce between them vaniih (M),

Scaligef, on the authority of an old Samaritan chrom-
de, having at the end a table of the year^ of the patri-
archs to the time of Mofes^ would correft two of the Sa-
maritan numbers in Eufebius; viz. inftead of 6^^ the age
of M^balaleel when he.hegat Jared, he thinks it ihould
i)€ 75 J and inftead of 67, the age of Metbufelah whea
lie begat Lamech, he would have it 77 ". By which al-
terations he reckons 20 years more to the .flood than Eufe-
l)ius and the m^nufcript; that is, 1327 (N). But as he
acknowleges the table, .whereon he grounds thefe cor-
reSions, contains fome great abfurdities, it feems unreat^
fonable to oppofe it to the joint authority of Eufebius and
the Samaritan manufcript.

As to the Septuagint, in the common editions of that
verfion, the age of Methufeiah at thebirth of Lamech is
167; and confcquently the fum of this period, according
to them, is no more than 2242. Sut in this cafe Methu-
feiah will outlive the flood 14 years; and we may well

1 In Chronic. Grace, p. 3, 4. «" Inquaft. InO^nef. » Sca-
iiger. in Grace. £u(eb.«.p. 40 ^^

(L; Mr, Whifton, allowing
of thefe two corredtions, which
arc fupported by the attefta-
tion of Jofephus, follows this
computation in his chronologi-
cal table.

(M) This IS jthe hypothefis
of father Tournenime, who, in
his Samaritan chronology, rec-
Iwons 1 6£6 years to the deluge.

(N) It is remarkable, that
Scaliger, takihjj the Samaritan

numbers to be brought dowA
no lower than to the birth of
Noah, computes 1 947 years to
the flood, according to that
chronology ; wherein he is a-
gain midakep 20 years, in the
adding of the 600 years of No-
ah's life to the former number.
And he* at the fame time, quar-
rels with Syncellus for not com-
mitting thc.fame fault*

woxKier^

The General Hijlory to the Flood. %j

wonder, with Eufebius, where he was preferved. To A.M.
obviate this objedlion, we are told, that, in fome copies, AntcChr,
Methufclah is faid to have lived but 782 (not 802) years 4004.
after the birth of Lamech, and no more than 949 in all. 1 ■

But the Alexandrian manufcript entirely takes away the
difficulty, by giving the fame number in this place with
the Hebrew.

Pezron is of opinion, that the age of Lamech at the
birth of Noah Ihould be but 182, as it is both in the He-
brew and in Jofephus, fuppofing, with St. Auftin % that
the prefent number is the error of the fcribc, who firft
copied the original Septuagint manufcript in Ptolemy's
library. So that he computes 2256 years to the flood.
And, if this correftion be admitted, and one more men-
tioned alfo by St. Auftin, viz. that Lamech lived 595
years after the birth of Noah, and not 565, as in the pre-
fent copies, there will then remain no other difference be-
tween the Septuagint and the Hebrew than 600 years
added to the ages of the fix patriarchs when they begat
their fons p, and Methufelah will, conformably to the He-,
brew and Samaritan, die in the year of the flood.

As we have chofen to follow, in this edition, the chro-
nology of the learned Ufher, grounded on the Hebrew
whole numbers, after the flood, we have done the fame in
our calculations in this period ; which i;nay, with very
little trouble, be reduced to the chronology of the Sama-
ritan or Septuagint, by thofe who prefer the accounts of
thofe copies.

SECT. V.

^he Hijlory of the Antediluvian Patriarchs.

XX7HERE Adam dwelt after his expulfion from Para-
^^ "dife is uncertain; but it is likely he did not remove
far oflF. He now confummated his marriage with Eve,
which, as the words of Mofes feem to imply, he had not
done before the fall ^. The eldeft fon of Adam, named
Cain, was born probably, in the firft year of the world j
and his fecond, Abel, the year following (O). When

they

o Augoftin. de Civit. Dei, lib. xv. P Vid. Pezron. l*Anti-

Cfixitk de Terns retablie, p. 57, & Capelii Chron. Sacr. q Genef*
iii. 94. iv. I.

(O) The name Cain figni- . being derived (though not very
^^f an acquifition^ or poffejion^ regularly) from the verb kana^

^3 The General Hijlory to the Flood.

A. M. tTiey were grown up, they betook tliemfelves to diftin£t
'»*9; , employments; the former ,to hufbandry, and the lattexto
AnusAJbr. ^^it keeping of {heep. Their inward difpofitions were
ftill more different, Cain being wicked and .avaritio.usn
but Abel juft and virtuous ^
Cain and ^^ procefs of time the two brofliers brought their reC-
Abel, their pcdlive offerings tQ God. Cain of the fruit of the ground,
^trings^ and Abel of the firfllings qf his flopk^ but they met with
very different fuccefs : for God accepted the offering of
Abel, but Cain's he did not accept (P). At this prefer
rence, Cain was fo enraged, and tranfported with envy
againfl his brother, that he could not help fliewing it by
his countenance. God, however, condefcended to ex-
'poflulate the matter with him, and afked him what rea-
fen he had to be angry ; fince, if he did well, he fliould
be accepted \ and he could blame none but liirafelf fo^
what was the confequence of his own ill behaviour : In
particular, he dbferved, that he could not juftly be angry
with Abel> who had no de'Egn to fupplant him; buj:
would always pay him the refpe£t due to an elder bro-
ther. This admonition had fo little effefl: on Cain, that,
with the firfl convenient opportunity, when they were
together in the field, he rofe up againft Abel his brother,

I* Jofephus Ant. lib. i. cap. %•

to acquire, Abel, or rather He-
bcl, fignifies njanity^ and not
mournings as Jofephus and Eu-
febius fuppofe.

(P) Though the difference
put by God between the two
offerings can be attributed to
nothing but the wickednefs and
idl difpofition of Cain, land the
rlghteournefs and faith of A-
bel ; yet it has been imagined,
that Cain's ill fuccefs was ow-
ing to fome defedl in his offer-
ing, or his prefenting the worfl
part of it to God, and r^ferv-
mg the befl to himfelf. The
reafon given by Jofephus is
very frivolous : he fays, that
God was more delighted with
Abel's offering, as being the
fpontaneous produdtion or na-
ciare ; and difpleafed with

Cain''s, becaufe it was for-ced
by the art and induftry of a co-
vetous man.

In what vifible manner God
declared his acceptance of A-
bel*8 offering, is not expreffed
by Mofes. The common o-
pinion is, that fire from hc^a*
ven defcended on the f^erificc,
and con fumed h, h^t di,d not
touch Cain^s. This is fup-
ported by theverfion of Theo-
dotion, who tranll'^rtes the
word, which we render had
refpeH unto^ into lysnt/^t^ , he-
fet on fire ; the ufual fign
whereby God has been pleafed
to teflily his approbation in o-
ther inflances. The Mohamr
medans likewife affirm the fame

■ «

thing. And the Heathens them r.
felves boafted of the like extra-
ordinary

^e General Ht/kjy to the FkoA^

and flew him ( QJ, and buried his body in hopes of coi^-

cealing the murder *.

After the commiflion of this horrid fadl, Cain being

queftioned by God about his brother, returned an evafive

anfwer, that he knew not what was become of him,

churlifhly a(kingy If he was his brother's keeper? But

God foon convinced him, that what he had done was

not hid from him ; and, aa a punifliment, condemned

him to be a fugitive and a "vagabond on the earth, and to

till an ungrateful foil„ which fliould not reward his la^.

hour with the plenty and increafe he had before expe-

rienx:ed. This fentence, though it fell fliort of ther

heinoufnefs of his guilt, was yet thought too fcvere by

Cain, who complained, that ** his puniftiment was greater

than he could bear ;" fmcc he was to be baniihed from the

prefence of God, and from his near relations ; and that,

being a vagabond and friendlefs, he would be in danger

of being killed by the next that Ihould meet him (R).

But
»Gcnef. iv. gr— 15.

A. M

129.

Ante ChK,

3875r

Mel mut"

dtred.

Cain's pt^
mfometu^

ordinary marks of the divine
fcivour in feme particular
places.

( Q^) The time, place, and
manner of this murder are all
uncertain. It happened, very
probably, not long before the
birth of Scth, who was ap-
pointed'infleadof Abel : but St.
Auflin(i) will not allow Sech
to be the "next fon which Eve
had after Abel's death; fup*
pofii^ that expreflion to mean
no more, than that Seth fuc-
ceeded that righteous p^rfon
in his virtue and piety. Some
are of opinion, that Adam
affigned to his fons their feve-
ral employments in the fiftieth
year of the world (as Eufebius
^ys he did) f that Cain and
Abel made their ofSerings
A. M. 100; and that, thirty
years after, Abel was killed.
£ut neither reafon nor Scrip-

ture lead us to believe, that
Cain concealed his refentment
fo many years. The place
where Abel was llain, accord-
ing to an ancient tradition, is at
the foot of a hill near l-)a-
mafcus (2). As to the manmec
in which Cain committed this
murder, there is a great va-
riety of opinions* Eutychiu«
and the Arabs fay, he flruck
him on the head with a ftone ;
fome Jews tell us, he tore hint
in pieces with his teeth ;
others, that he killed him with
the jaw-bone of an afs, which
is the weapon the painters ge«»
nerally put into Cain's hands ;
fome arm him with a fork ; St«
Chryfoftom gives him a fword;
St.Irenseus a fey the; andPrur*
dentius a pruning-hook..

(R) Thefe words of Cain
are varioufly interpreted. The
firfl fentence, which ourver^

(?) De Civit Dei, lib* xv» cap. 15.
Fatr. torn u

(x) Vidt Hcidegg. Hift.

fioA

30 ^& General Htjlory to the Flood.

A. M. flut God told him, that whoever flew Cain, vengeance

i*SJ; fhould betaken on him feven-foldj and, the more ef-

Anu Cnr. fe£lualljr to fecure him from that apprehenfion, was

pleafed to give him a fign (S), that none that met him

fhould take away his life.

Cain, foon after this unfortunate aflFair, having wan-
dered about for fome time, at length fettled with his
tvife and family in the land of 'Nod, where he built

fion renders. My punijhment is
greater than I can hear^ fome
trahflate, My Jin is greater than
can heforgi*ve?i ; and others in-
terrogatively, Is my Jin too great
to he forginjen f which laft is
the fenfe followed by the He-
brew expofitors, and feems to
be the beft. The latter words,
in the Englifh tranllation. And
it Jkall come to pafs^ that every
one thatjindeth me Jkall Jlay me^
have alfo been rendered, /
^ijb that any perfon that Jinds
me may kill me.

That there were fuch num-
bers of men in the world at
the time of Abel's murdery
that Cain might juftly appre^
hend fome danger from them,
wiU appear from the calcula-
tions made of the increafe of
mankind before the flood*

(S) Many ridiculous con-
jectures have been made as to
this imaginary mark. Somci
fay,- that God iligmatized Cain*
on the forehead with a letter,
which was to ferve him as a
paiTport, being taken either
itom the name of Abel, or the
ineffable, name of Gk>d, or
from the word repentance ; that
every one might perceive Cain-
had repented. Others fay this
xnark confifted in three letters,
which compofed the name of

tht/ahhath; or elfe that it
was the fign of the crofs.
Others fuppofe, that Abel's
dog was given him as a con-
flant companion, either to
warn people not to attack him,
or to prevent his taking any
dangerous road. Others fay,
that his face was covered with
leprofy. 'Others, that the
mark was nothing but a wild
afpe£l,with bloody eyes, which
rolled in a horrid manner*
Moft of the fathers imagined,
that his body continually
trembled. The Septuagint
verfion favours this opinion ;
for inftead of « fugitive and
a *vagahond^ they have tranf-
lated Tjiym Kui T^r/bcwv, lament'^
ing and trimhling ; and the
I&brew words do indeed im-
port a refUefTnefs and uneaii-
nefs of mind, with which Cain
is fuppofed to have been af-
flicted all his life. Some fay,
that wherever he flopped, the
earth fhook and trembled
round about him. Others
pretend, that God infpired
kim with extraordinary cou-^
rage, and rendered him void
ofall fear. And another no-
tion, as well founded as any of
the former, is, that a horil
grew out of his forehead (3).

{%) Vide Corii. a Lapide in Gen. iv« Sahian Annal. torn. i.
Procop. in GeUf ivt Heidegg, Hilt, Fair* torn, it

a city>

9^ Genei'd Hijtoty' /o* the '^Ploei^- ^i

tf city, and called k after the natne of his fotr> A. ML
Enoch'* **9*

Where the land* of Nod (which word fignifies wander^ ^"^* ^'*^-
ing) Was (ituate, is uncertain. Mofes places it^ accord- ^

ttig to our trattflation^ on tfte caft of Eden j and it ha^ Hegaes in*
been obferved> that Ptolemy mentions a city called! ^o banijb-
Anuchtha in Safiana, or Ehuz-eftan, a country lying ^^^/j^"^
caftward frdm Chaldaea : which fituation, and the near ^^^"^ ^
refemblancc of the name Anuchtha to the original
Hanokhy (for tha is fuppofed to be only the Chaldee ttt--
termination), induced the learned Huet to believe it to
Be the fame with that built by Caiin. But it feems very
improbable^ that the city of Enoch, built before the
Hood, fliould either withjftand the deluge, or retain its
ancient name, after fo» great an alteratioa of ttie face of
things. iefides> Siiifiana being a very ffertilc and plea-
£ant country, it is nojt likely Cain fhouJd be banifhed
thither, but ralftier to feme barren and defolate land, re*
mote from the place of his nativity, aild feparatcd by
mountains, or otheir natural obftru£lions, from the com-
merce of his relations. For which reafon Gj*otius and.
Junius are of opinidn, that the country into which Cain-
retired was the defart of Arabia ; but that lying on the
weft, and not on the eaft of Eden, to remove fa for-
midable an objeftiott, it is faid, that the words which we
tranflate on the eafi of Eden, fignify no more than he-
fore^ or over-againft Eden, as^ it is rendered in the
Septuagint ".

Jofcphu* feys,. that the punlfliment Jnflided upon crows^
Cain was fi> far from efiefting any amendment in him, mareifficM"
that he grew worfe, and became a reprobate to all fenfe ed»
of goodnefs, indtdging himfclf in all manner of pleafurcs,
though he wronged his neighbours to procure them;^
that he amafied abundance of wealth by rapine and
Tiolence, encouraging his followers in luxury and robbery,^
and becoming their inftruftor in evil courfes j that he
firft corrupted that fimplicity wherein men had originally
Kved, by the invention of meafures and weights, chang-
ing their innocence of life, which was happily ignorant
of fuch things, and their integrity, into fraud and cun-»
ning. The fame author alfo obferves, that Cain firft
iet bounds' to fields and pofleflions, and walled the city
which he had built, obliging his dependents to live

rGcnef. iv, i6, 17. »Se« WelU'8 Gcog. of the Old

^eftament-

A.M.

^he General Hiftory to the flood.

130.

AnteChr.

in a community % the better^ it is probable^ to fecure thek

ill-gotten wealth.

Soon after the murder of Abel, his lofs was made up

to his parents in another fon they had, whom Eve named

Siikborm Seth, that is, appointed '^ becaufe he was appointed inftead

of Abel, whom Cain flew.

As the whole progeny of Adam, of whom we have any '

mention in Scripture, were the defcendants of Cain and

Seth, it may be proper to give the following genealogical

table of the antediluvians.

Adah

Adam

Eve

Cain

[

Enoch.

Irad

Methufael

Abel

Mahalalee)

Jared

Enoch

Methufelah

I Lamech |

Noah

]

Shem

s Jofepb. Ant. lib. u cap. 2« Sec Bayle^s Did. Hift. arc. CaiDi rem. D.

The

^he General Hiftory to the Flood. 3 3

The facred hiSorian, confining himfelf chieiBy to the A. M.
line of Seth, from whence Noah was defcended, has »3<5'
acquainted us with very few particulars relating to that -^"y|^^'^*'*
of Cain : nor can we thus form any conjeftures how long '

he or any of his defcendents lived. All we know is, ofthelim
that Lamech^ the fifth in- defcent from him, married of Cain*
two wives, Adah and Zillah V the firft known inftance
of polygamy ; that by the former he had two fons, Jabal
who was the firft that dwelt in tents, and fed cattle (T) ;
and Jubal, the inventor of mufic ; and by the other, a
fon named Tubal-Cain, who found out the art of forging
and working metals (U). Zillah likewife brought him a
daughter named Naamah fuppofed * to have inv^pted
{pinning and weaving (X): and we are told that, on
fome occafion or other, Lamech made a fpeech to his
wives ■, the explication of which has greatly puzzled the
interpreters (Y),

However,

Y Gtnef, iv. 19. < R. Lipoman, in Catena^ & Genebrard* In
Chroti. Yid. Voiiium de Jdolol. lib. i. cap. 17, > Genef. iv. 23, 24.

(T) This feems to be un-
derihxxl, as R. SoU Yarhi ex-
plains the pafTage, of feeding
cattle in the defert, and re-
moving with their tents and
herds from place to place, as
they found pa ft u re, which is
the way of life of the Arabs,
thence called Scenitse : for o-
thers, and in particular Abel,
followed a paftoral life before
Jabal.

(U^ Jofephus commends
Tubal-Cain (whom he calls
Thobel) for his great ftrength
and Ikill in war ; to the per-
fecting of which art he pro-
bably contributed by the in-
vention of arms.

(X) Some imagine Naamah
to have been the wife of Noah,
others of Ham ; and that ihe
being faved from the deft ruc-
tion of the deluge was there-
fore mentioned by Mofes, Her
name ^gvC'A^' delightful' or
ieasitifyl; and her perfon is

Vol, I.

faid to have been fo charming, .
that Aza and Azael, two an-
gels, fell in love with her, and
begat on her daemons called
Gedim.

Jofephus makes the whole
number of Lamech's iflue, by
his two. wives, to be feveaty-
feven.

(Y) His words, according
to our tranilation, are :
*' Hear my voice, ye wives of
Lamech ; hearken unto my
fpeech : for I have flain a man
to my wounding, and a young
man to my hurt : if Cain Ihall
be avenged fevenfold, truly
Lamech feventy and feven-
fold." Almoft to the fame pur-
pofe are the Septuagint; Vul-
gate, and Syriac verfions. It
is thought Lamech fpoke them
©n occafion of fome terror or
apjA^eheniion his family was
in, left Abel's murder ftiould
be aveiiged on them ; which
fear he ftiews to be ground-
D Icfs,

34 5^^^ General Hijfory to th Fkodi

A. M, However, we are aflured by the hiftorians, and it. i»

*35; highly probable, that the pofterity of Cain was enormoufly

5760. '^ wicked, exceeding their father, if poffible, in all manner

I of villainies ; every fucceeding generation growing worfe

than the former, and becoming wholly addifted to rapine

and brutifh lufts. This reprobate race is generally fup-

pofed to be meant by Mofes under fhe defignation of men,.

and the daughters of men, as the other family of Seth is^

by that of the fons of God *.

Maoi born, Seth had this year a fon named Enos 'y about which

time it is thought his defcendents, who were as eminent

for piety and virtue, as thofe of Cain were for the re-

verfe, received the appellation we have juft mentioned';:

for it is conceived that thofe words, which in our tranlla-

t-ion are rendered^ ** Then began men to call upon the

name of the Lord," properly fignify, " Then men began?

to be called by or after the. name of the Lord," that is,„

the fons of God. But fome take the words, according to^

the former verfion, to mean, then the public worfhip of

God was firft fet up v and proper ceremonies, and ftated

times, were appointed for that fervice ^ ; and others, par^

ticularly the Jews, fuppofe they intimate, that idolatry,,

or the deifying of men, had- itS' rife about this time,

either adhering to the latter verfion, or tranflating the;

paflage thus : '^ Then men prophaned in calling upoa.

the name of the Lord*^ (Z).'

a VidcHeideggriibi fupra, p. ij6. tPcrrer. DruGus, Mer-

<!e!iis, &c. Vide Simfon Chron, coll. $C, « Vide Sclden. De

Diis Syris, Proleg, eap» iii.

lefs, becaufe he had done no- God began then to be nc*-

thing to deferve any ill treat- gle6ted.

ment. This interpretation Some of the Jews (particu^

, feems the moft reafonable, but larly Maimonides) have gone;^

cannot be depended on; the fo far as to charge Enos him ^

fpeech being introduced by felf with being the author of

Mofes very abruptly, and idolatry,.and inventing imager,,

without any connexion with by whofe mediation mep?

what precedes or follows it. . might addrefs themfelves to»

(Z) The interpretation of God (4).

.Onkelos is, " Then men left But the introdudion of the

off calling upon the name of idolatrous worihip of the hea-

the Lord j '* as if the worfhip of venly bodies, and angels is, by

(4.) Vide Hottmger, Sraegtaa Orienti pi %^. B&idegg. iibi

fupr. p. 148. ^

7he General Htfiory to the Flood*. 35

• «

Of the three next defcendents of Seth, Cainan^ Maha- A. M
laleel, and Jared, and of Methufelah and Lamech^ the *35 ♦
grandfather and father of Noah, Mofes. has recorded no ^Ag. ^^"
more than their feveral ages. The oriental authors com- .
mend them, as they do Seth and Enos, for their piety,
and the falutary injunftions they left behind them, for-
bidding their children all intercourfe with the race of
curfed Cain"^.

Enoch, the fon of Jared, and father of Methufelah, Emch
was a perfon of moft extraordinary piety, " Walking with tranjlatti*
God," as the Scripture exprefles it, for at leaft the laft
three hundred years of his life : as a reward for which
exemplary behaviour in fo corrupt an age, he was takcA
up by God into heaven, without tailing death * (A).

That

^ Vide Eutych. p. io> &c. Elfflaciiir * Genef. v« 22. & 24.

■

the Sabians, the profeflbrs of was'necefTary to fit him fof

it, referred to Seth himfelf. the place whither he was go-

Thcy give him alfo a fon call- ing. Yet feveral of the Jew*

ed Sabi, from whom the fe6l believe he adually died.

feems to have taken its name. The Greek Chriflians fup*

unlefs it be rather derived pofe Enoch to be the fame

from Saba, or the hoft of withthefirft Egyptian Hermes,

heaven, the obje6ls of their who dwelt at Sais ; that he

worlhip* -They call the book, firil difcourfed onfuperior fub*

which contains the funda- fiances, and foretold the dc-

mentals of their religion and luge : and that he built the

morality, the Book of Seth ; pyramids, engraving thereon

and reckon the patriarch E- the figures of artificial inflru-

noch alfo among the propaga- ments, and the elements of

tors of Sabiifm. the fciences ; fearing left the

(A) Mofes exprefTes it thus : memory of them iliould perilh

** And Enoch walked with in that general deftrudion.

God, and he was not : for Eupolemus alfo attributes the

God took him/' Which paf- invention of aftronomy to £•

fagethe writer of the EpifWe noch, and fays he was the fame

to the Hebrews paraphrafes in with Atlas, to whom the

this manner : '* By faith E- Greeks afcribe the fame thing.

noch was tranflated, > that he Origen mentions a book attri-

ihould not fee death, and was buted to Enoch, different from

not found, becaufe God had his prophecy, containing fe-

tranflated him ; for before this crets concerning the names of

tranflation he had this tefti- the parts of heaven, and of all

mony, that he pleafed God." the flars aad conflellations,

By which words it feems plain, which is iaid to be extant a-

^hat Enoch did not die, but mong the Ethiopians, in their

fuffered only fuch a change as tongue« The learned Mr. du

D 2 l?eiref«

36 ^he General Rijlory to the Floodi

A. M. That Enoch was a prophet, and that fome prophecy of
*35- his was preferved, either in yrriting, or by tradition^ even
Ante Chr. ^q ^^^j. Saviour's time, appears from the paflage quoted
_ ^^ ^' thence by St. Jude^ However, the piece under the
.title of The Scripture or Prophecy of Enoch, of which
we have fome fragments extant (B), is allowed to be
a manifeft forgery ; though feveral of the fathers had
a better opinion of it than it deferves. Many paffages
are quoted thence in that very ancient writirtg, the
Teftament of the Twelve Patriarchs ; and it is alfo cited
by Clemens Alexandrinus. St. Auftin makes noention of
the Scripture of Enoch, but denies it to be genuine. And
when Celfus objefted its authority to Origen, he replied,
that the books attributed to Enoch were not looked upon
by the church as divine writings. That there was a
book under the name of. Enocli, in the hands of the
Jews, appears from its being referred to in their ancient
book Zobar.
A.M. Adam, having feen a numerous pofterity iffuc from

930* his own loins (C), after a life of nine hundred and
Ante Chr. ^i^jfty years, paid that natural debt to which he had, by
his difobediencc, fubjedJed himfelf and them. That he
repented of his fin, and made his peace with God, is
very reafonable to believe, notwithftanding the uncha-
ritable opinions of fome Co the contrary (D).
Cqnif3ures Where he was buried cannot be collefted from Scrip-
'°k^tT^^^ r ^^^^' ^^' Jerom ^ feems to approve of the opinion of
hisburUU] ^^^fe who imagine he was buiried at Hebron (Ej, in the

cave
f Jude T. 14, 1$% f Hieron. rn Mattb. xxvii.

Peirefc ufed his utmoft endea- Cain, and. the other Azura^

vours to get it from thence, who was the wife of Seth.
but to no purpofe. (I^) A certain heretical fcdl,

(B) Thefe fragments were named Tatianites, affirmed, he
firft publifhed by Jofeph Sea- was damned,
liger, in his notes on the (E) This is offered to be
Greek Chronicon of Eufebius ; proved by this palTage of Scrip-
and afterwards more corre6lly, ture, according to the Vulgate
by J. Gx)ar, in his edition of tranflation, ** Nomen Hebron
the Chronography of George ante vocabatur Cariath-arbe :
Syncellus. Adam maximus ibi inter Ena-

(C) Befides Adam's three cem fitus eft.*' But the name
fons named by Mofes, and the Adam is unwarrantably in-
fuppofed twin lifters of Cain ferted in the text ; the He-
and Abel, we are told he had brew plainly fignifying (as the I
two daughters, one named other verfions render it), that
Afuam, or Saue, who married Hebron was formerly called

Kegath /•

J074.

The General Hiftoty to the Flood. 37

<avc of Machpelah, or the double cave, which Abra- A. M.
ham, many ages after, bpught for a burying-place for 930-
himfelf and family. The oriental Chriftians fay, that '^"J*,^*^*^*
when Adam faw death approaching, he called Seth, Enos,
Cainan, and Mahalaleel, to him; and ordered them to
iembalm his body with myrrh, frankincenfe, and caffia,
^nd depofit it in a certain cave on the top of a mountain,
which he had chofen for the repofitory of his remains,
thence named the cave x>f Al-Konuz (F). The primitive
fathers generally beliexre that he died in the place where
Jerufalem was afterw^ds biuilt ; a^d that he was interred
f>n Mount Calvary, in the yery fpot whei^on Chrift was
crucified (G), which opinion opened a Jargje field for
rhetorical flouriihes and allufions«

The

Xerjath-Arba, or the city of all his pofterity. Which order,

ilrba, who had been a great it is faid, was repeated by La-

^an among the Anakims. mech to his fon Noah, with this

There is, however, another addition,thathefhould take with

origin of that ancient name of the body, gold, frankincenfe,

Hebron given by fome writeis, and ^ myrrh, as offerings, and

whoj taking the word Arha, apjpoint one of his fons to at-

which alfo lignites J^aur^ in itend the corpfe to and at the

that fenfe, and not for -^ new fepulchre, who was to be

proper name, fay, that city a religious perfbn, and un-

was fo called becaufe four cou- married ; was to fhed no blood,

pic were therehuried, viz. A- nor offer any lacriiices but

dam and Eve, Abraham and bread and wine only ; was to

Sarah, Ifaac and Rebecca, and be clothed ^in ikins, and

Jacob and Leah (^)« ^ould neither cut his hair nor

(F) From the Arabic kana>' pare his nails, and was to be

«tf, to lay 1^ privately y as called the Priefi of 6od{

treafure, &;c. Some Jews fay, meaning thereby Melchize-

that this precaution was order- dek. And this Noah and

ed by Adam to be taken, le^ JMelchizedek are faid tp have

his pofterity fhould make bis performed,
jrelics an obje^ of idolatry,. (Q) This opinion may be

The eaftern Chriftians ad^ reconciled with the preceding,

that he ferther directed his fa- if we fuppofe the body was re-

mily, that, when they were moved to <xolgotha after the

obliged to leave the neighbour- flood, in purfuance of the

hood of Paradife, they fhould above mentioned orders. Ja-

take his bod]r with them, and cobus Edeflenus fays, that

place it in the midft of the Noah carried the bones of A-

earth: becaufe thence fhould dam with him into the ark;

come his falvation, and that of and, when he came out of it,

(5) Vide R. Eliezer Perfee, cap. lo. Heldegg. ubi fupra, p. io6.

P 3 ^

58 The General Hiftory to the Flood.

A. M. The tiTOC of the death of Eve, the mother of ail livings

93»- (H), is not intimated in Scripture; but there arc fome

Ante CUr. ^,j^q venture to tell us, that flie outlived her hufband ten

3074.
•; ^ '^ years.

opinions of After the death pf Adam, as the eaftern writers fay,
tlie Eaftern Seth, with his family, feparated themfelves from the pro-f
writers fligate race of Cain, and removed to the mountgm where
concerning ^^am was buried, which they chofe for their habitation 5
• C^in and his family remaining below, in the valley where

Abel was flain. But how this near neighbourhood is con-
fident with Scripture, which plainly intimates Cain's
banifhment into a country at fome confiderable diftance
from the refidence of Adam, and his pofterity by Seth,
we cannot conceive ; unlefs it (hould be fuppofed, that
Cain, or his defcendents, left their own fettlements tq
difpoflefs Seth and his offspring ; or elfe, that the pof-
terity of both were, by this time, fo greatly increafed,
that, after gradually extending their borders on both (ides,
they at length met, and ftreightencd each other. How-
ever this be,, the eaftern tradition is, that the progeny
of Seth lived in the faid mountain in great fan&ity and
purity of manners. Their conftant employment was^^
j^raifing God, from which they had few or*no avocations ;
for their only food was the fruit of the trees \yhich grew
on the mountains ; fo that they had no occafion to un^
dergo any fervile labours, nor the trouble of fowing or
getting in harveft : they were utter ftrangers to envy,
iniuftice, or deceit. Their only oath was by the blood 01
Abel ; and they every day went up to the top of the
mountain to worfhip God, and to vifit the body of Adam,
as the means of procuring the divine blefhng^.

What time they had to fpare, in thefe happy clrcurti-
fiances, they feem to have employed in cultivating their
minds, and in fublime fpeculations •, while the children
of Cain, feeking no farther than prefent convenience and
pleafure, were taken up with improving agriculture, and
inventing mechanical arts and mufical inftruments. Foe
it is faid, that the offspring of Seth, by contemplation of
^he heavenly bodies, laid the foundations of the fcience of

b Eutych. p. iQ, Elmacin. p. 6.

lie divided them among his (H) From whence (he ha4
fons, giving the ikull to Shem, her name, which is properly
Vvho, coming into Judaea, re- written Hawwah, and derived
pofited it in the fepulchre o| from the root bayuy to live.
il^api on Mount Calvary,

^ftronomy ^

^e General Hijlory to the Flood.

:s(ftronomy; and, 1^ their inventions fliould be forgotten
40X loft, before- they were publicly known, underftand-.
■ing, from a prediftion of Adam, that there would be a
'general deftru£lion of all things, once by the rage of firCj
and once by the violence and multitude of waters, they
-inade two pillars, one of brick and the other of ftone, and
•engraved their inventions on each, thalf, if the pillar of
brick happened to be overthrown by the flood, that of
ftone might remain 5 which Jofephus * tells us, was to be
feen in his time, in the land of Siriad (I).

How long the defcendents of Seth icontinued thus reli-
fgious, and imitators of their father's virtue, is uncertain.

^i Jofeph* Ant. lib. i. cap. z.

A.M.

930.

Ante Chr.

3074.

■ ^ »

Pillars of

The difee*
thn of the
fins of
Sitfu

^ (I) Whei-c this land of Si-
triad was is a great difpute.
The name is variouily written
ijn the manufcripts, k»t» yii*
f-jfif "Skpiatiotf and J^vpie^n ; by
others XipiS'sc^ and by EuHa-
^hius Tritpia^ : which lad feems
.the more corre6t. Some place
It in Syria'; others, with a
Sittle more probability, hav«
^aken it to be the feme with
rSeirath mentioned in Scripture,
and fuppofe the pejilimy which
tthe Engliih tranflation renders
.quarries y near Gilgal, in the
<tribe of Ephraim:, were the
ruins of SetK*s ftone pillar,
Yet others underftand thofe
^eJUlm^ or m yXt/^rla, the fculp^
turesy as the Septuaglnt tranf-
late the word, to have been
.certain idols lately fet iip there
•by Eglon.

But the more certain opinion

^s, that the Siriadic land was

in Egypt : for we arc told,^

wthat Manetho ^^extradled his

4iiftory from certain pillars

there, whereon infcri prions had

been made by Thoth, or the

iirft Mercury, 'in the facred

letters and dialeft ; but were,

after the flood, tranflated from

the facred diale£t into the

tipreek tongue, but written in

the facred letters, and laid up
in books by the fecond Mer-
cury, in the facred receflfesof
the Egyptian temples. Thefe
pillars .were in fubterraneous
caverns near Thebes, and be-
yond the Nile, not far from
the founding ftatue of Mem-
non, in a place called Syrin-
ges, which are defcribed to
be certain winding apartments
under ground, and which (as
k is faid) thofe who were IkllL-
ed in ancient rites, forefeeing
the coniing of the deluge,
and fearing left the memory of
their ceremonies (hould be ob-
literated, built and contrived
in vaults dug with vaft labour
in feveral places ; cutting oa
?the walls many forts of birds
and beafts, and innumerable
'kinds of animals^ which they
.called hieroglyphic letters.
That Seth was not a .name ua-
•known to the Egyptians, ap-
pears from Plutarch, who tells
us, that they conliantly called
Typhon, which was a Greek
name, Seth ; and hence, it
is probable, Jofephus was led
into the millake of afcribing-
thefe pillars tp the fons of
Adan^.

Mofes

40 ^he General Hijiory to the Flood*

A. M. Mofcs fays, <* That when men begap to multiply on the

93^ face of the earth, and daughters were born untq them.

Ante Chr. ^j^^ ^^^^ ^f q^ j f^^ ^j^^ daughters of men, that they were

■ fair 5 and they took theip wives of ^11 which they chofe *^".

By which expreiEpn it appears, that the beginning of their
corruption was, their marryipg into the wicked family of
Cain 'f by whom their manners were foon debauched^
and, at kngth, degenerated fo far, that *^ the wickednefs
of man was very great in the earth) and every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually/*
Jofipphus writes, that the family of Seth perfevered in the
true worfhip of God, and in the purfuit of virtue, for fe-
ven generations ; after which, in procefs of time, they
neglefted both, fhewing twice as much eagernefs after
wickednefs, as they had formerly fhewn zeal for virtue ;
by which means, they drew down on themfelves the in-
dignation of God.

The oriental writers place the beginning of this defec-
tion fomewhat fooner, in the days of Jared, and in his
fortieth year \ when they fay, one hundred of the fons of
Seth, hearing the noifc of the mufic, and riotous mirth
of the Cainites, agreed to go down to them from the holy
mountain ; and, on their arrival among them,^ were fo
captivated with the beauty of the women, who were
naked, that they immediately defiled themfelves with
them. Thus the fons of men perifhed, by whoring with
the daughters of Cain -, for when they offered to return
again to their former abode, the ftones of the mountain
became like fire, and permitted them to pafs no farther.
The lubricity of the Cainites is defcribed in very ftrong
, terms : the men neighed after the women like horfes, and

the women in the fame manner after the men, committing
whoredom, and all manner of filthinefs, promifcuoufly
with one another in public ; tji? ol4 women being, if pof»
fible, more brutifh and lewd than the young. The fa-
ther9 lay with their daughters ; and the young men with
their inothers \ fo that the children could not diftinguifli
their parents, nor the parents know their children.
Opinion of The appellation of the fons of God, given by Mofes to
tho/e who the children of Seth, led Jofephus, Philo Judaeus, and
^^^f^d^^d f^^^^'^ ^f ^^ fathers, into a ftrange interpretation of this
themfel*ve$ P^^^g^ > ^s if the angels, who are alfo called in Scripture
wiM wfl. the fons of God, were aflerted to have had communica-
mn, tion with women, and to have begotten on thena ^l^e in-

% GeneC yl. i, \*

folent

The General Hifiory to the Flood.

a:m.

930* .
Ante Chr.

3074»

felent and impious race we (hall mention immediateljr.
This fuppofition, we think, needs no refutation, being
utterly repugnant to the notions we have of the nature of
thofe fpiritual beings, who are neither married, nor given
in marriage ^ ; though it be hard to accufe, as fome have
done" J thofe who nave fallen into this miftake, of he-
refy and blafphemy. Others, indexed, and particularly,
feveral of the Jewifli writers, by the fons of God, under-
fland the fallen angels, who, feeing the daughters of Cain .
walking in the nakednefs of their flefli, and painting
their eyes like whores, wandered after them, and took
wives from among them ». '

It may not be amifs to mention another opinion, more
reafonable than the laft, which is embraced by the Jewifh
interpreters ** i they fuppofe, that, by the fons of . God, in'
this place, are meant the princes, great men, and magif* *
trates of thofe times, who, inftead of ufing their autho-
rity to puni{fa and difcountenance vice, were themfelves
the greateft examples and promoters of lewdnefs and de-
bauchery; taking the daughters of men, of the inferior
and meaneft fort of people, and debauching them by
force (K).

The example ofthefe fonsofSeth, who, tempted by JJfueofthi
the allurements of the daughters of Cain, firft left their Sethites
feat of innocence, was afterwards followed by others, ^f^^J!^
who from time to time defcended in great numbers from ^'*Cain^
the holy mountain, and took wives, in like manner, and their
of that profligate and abandoned race ^ From thefe un- imputy.
happy marriages iflued a generation, which feems to have
been no lefs extraordinary for their great ftature and
ftrength, than for their monitrous impiety and injuftice.
** There were in thofe days giants (L) in the earth \^*

who

1 Matth. xxli. 30. Luke xx. 35. ^ » PhilaftriusBrixienfis

adv. Haer. cap. 108. Chryfoft. Homfl. xxii. in Gencf. cap. v. n R,
pliczer, cap. x^fiii. * Targumim Onkelos & Ben. Uzziel. R.
Sol. Yarhiy Aben Ezra, &c« p Eutych. p. 27. ^ Genef. vi. 4.

(K) To fupport this inter-
pretation, they tell us, that
the verb, ^hich is generally
rendered to take^ (ignifies alfo
io ranjijh^ or take by ^violence,

(L) The Hebrew word is
mphilim^ from naphalj to falU

Sorpe take theie nephilim to
)i9ve been men of' ordinary

ftature, fo called on account
only of their enormous im-
piety, rapacioufnefs, and in-
folence ; which was the opi-
nion of Jofcphus, But others,
with greater reafon, believe,
they were alfo. of extraordinary
ftature and ftrength : the word
nephilim being ufed elfewhere

fears »f
KioSs Jcr

The General Hiftory to the Flood.

A. M. who being, inoft probably of Cain's race, both by father
M^5- and mother, and born before the conjundlion of the two
i^nte Chr. faniiiies (M), made ufe of their fuperior power to fpoil
*^ ^* and tyrannife over the Weaker. And the fame courfe of
life was followed by the mongrel' offspring, who fignaliz-
ed themfclves alfo by robberies and opprcSions, and " be-
came mighty men,'* in other words, men of renown '.

Mankind running thus headlong into all manner of
vice, and the poftcrity of Seth, who had, for fome ages,
retained their integrity, becoming at length, by their im-
prudent alliance with the race of Cain, infedied with the
fame contagion of profanenefs and immorality, fo that all
fort of wickednefs began to overfpread the earth ; not-
withftanding the frequent admonitions they probably re-
ceived by^perfons from time to time fent by God ; the di-
vine vengeance might with juftice have been immediately
executed on fo perverfe a generation j but God> out of
his great mercy, was pleafed to grant them a convenient
time for repentance, no lefs than one hundred and twenty
years; during which fpace, but no longer, he declared
Ills Spirit fliould ** ftrive with man %" or endeavour to
awaken and reclaim them from their wicked courfe of
life IN).

* Genef. vi« 4«

• Ibid, vcr. i*

In Scriptarc to denote men
:aboye the common fize. Not
but that it may alfo fignify
thofe that fall away, apof^ates.
(M) This the words of Mo-
fcs feem to imply ; ** There
ivere giants (fays he) in the
earth in thofe days ; and alfo
after that, when the fons of
Crod came in unto the daugh-
ters of men, and they bare
<rhildren to them, &c." So
that there appear to have been
two diflind races of nephilim ;
one of which arofe pretty early
in the world, being of tne pof-
terity of Cain; and another,
which began fome ages after,
being the iflue of the fons of
'Seth by the daughters of Cain :
and both of them probably con^
<iuued to the flood.

(N) This paflage of Scrips
ture is varioufly interpreted:
the Engllfli tranflation feems
to give the true fenfe or the
Hebrew; but the Septuagint,
Vulgate, and Syriac verfion«,
rencSr the word < which we
tranflate Jlri'vc ivlth) continue^
or Atv7/ in ; fuppoling the
meaning to be, either that
God's fpirit of admonition, or
forbearance, would not always
wait on man ; or elfe, that the
Ipirit, or breath of life, (hould
not always continue in him ;
that is, no longer than the
fpace of one hundred and twen-
ty years, after which, if he
continued impenitent, he (hould
be dellroyed. And this is thip
izsiio. of Oakelos«>

Amidft

The General Htfiory to the Flood. 45

Amidft this general corruption, one man, howetcf, A. M.
^as found to be juft and perfefl: in his generation, walk- '535«
5ng with God ^ This extraordinary perfon was Noah (O), ^^^^OkU
the fon of Lamech, who, not thinking it fufEcient to be '

righteous himfelf, unlefs he did his utmoft to turn others ifoaA
likewife to riglitepufnefs by admonition, as well as exam- preach4s%
pie, became a preacher " to the abandoned race among
which he lived, employing both his counfel and authority
to bring them to a reformation of their manners, and to
reftore the true religion among them (P). But all he could
do, was to no purpofe, for they continued incorrigibly
obftinate; fo that, at length, (as Jofephus * tells us),
Ending himfelf and family in imminent danger of fome
violence in return for his good will, he departed from
among them, with his wife and children.

On his departure, it is probable, they fell into greater j^^tiii/ul
diforders than before •, having now none to controul, or incorrigjt*
even to trouble them with unwelcome advice. Mofes af- bie^
fures us, that " the wickednefs of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was continually evil j*' and that *< the earth was cor*
nipt and filled with violence, all flefh ( Q^) having cor-
rupted his way upon the earth." Thefe words leave no
|room to enquire into the particular crimes of the antedi*.

< Genef^ vi. 9« « a Pet. ii. 5. < Antiq. lib. i. cap. 3.

(O) Lamech gave his fon at this day, inftead of bells, td
^his name, which figuifies call the people to church, and
fomfori: for " this fime," named, in Arabic, «tf^«j, which
fays he, *^ fhall comfort us he was to llrike three times
concerning our work, and toil every day, not only to call to-
of our hands, becaufe of the gether the workmen that were
ground which the Lord hath building the ark, but to give
curfed.'* Which words not him -an opportunity of daily
exprefling the means by which admonidiing his people of the
Noah was thus to comfort his impending clanger of the de-
friends, fome writers have luge.

thence inferred, that he in- ( Q^) The oriental writeri

yentedthe tools and inftruments agree in making this defedion

of huibandry. fo univerfal, that at laft, they

(P) The eaftern Chriftians fay there was none left in the

fay, that when God ordered holy mountain of all Seth's

Noah to build the ark, he race, except only Noah and

iilfb direded him to make an his wife, and his three font

inftrument of wood, fuch as and their wives (6).
f)?fy make ufe of in the Eaft,

(6) Eutycfa, Annal. p. 35.

44 '^he General Hiftofy to the Flood.

A. M. liivian world, which feems to have been over-run with a
1656. complication of all manner of debauchery and wickednefs^
Ante Chr. and above all with violence and injuftice towards one
*^^ ' another. The eaftern authors affirm that the children of
Seth were feduced to idolatry by the Cainites ^»
^^'u^f' Things being in this ftate, God, as the facred hiftorlan
Jroyedbya Pathetically expreffes it, " repented that he had made
floods ex' '"^^ ^^ earth, and it grieved him at his heart." And
^ipt Noah the time of forbearance being elapfed, he pafled the fen-
and hitfa^ tence of their utter deftruftion by a flood of waters 5 a fen-
*'-^' tenec which likewife included the beafts of the earth, and

every creeping thing, and of the fowls of the air. But
** Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,'* who had
before acquainted him with his defign of bringing a de-
luge on the earth ; and dire£ted him to make an ark, or
vefiel, of a certain form and fize, capable of containing
not only bimfelf and family, but fuch numbers of animals
of all forts, as would be fufficient to. preferve the feveral
fpecies, and again replenifh the earth, together with all
neceflfary provifions for them. All thefe injundlions
Noah performed 5 and, by God's peculiar favour and pro-
vidence, he and thofe that were with him, furvived this
tremendous calamity. This event, the moil extraordi-«
nary that is recorded in hiftory, muft be the fubjeft of a
future difcourfe, after we fliall have taken a view of what
the profane writers offer us towards the l^iftorv of thi^
Q^'riod.

SECT. VI.

The Profane Hijlory before the Flood.

Accounts of BESIDES the particulars in the preceding feftion,
aniedHuyi- '^ taken from the writings of Mofes, we have fome far*
an ciffuirs ^^^ accounts relating to this period, tranfmitted to us by
ofMofes^ ancient authors ; particularly thofe who have recorded the

Phoenician, Babylonian, and Egyptian antiquities.
Sanchonia" Sahchoniatho, who wrote the Phoenician antiquities,
tho^s Pheg* began his hiftory from the origin of the world and of man-
niaan hif» kind ; but his work being apparently written with a de-
'^O** fign to apologize for idolatry, inftead of deducing the

hiftory from Adam in the line of Seth, the worfhippers
of the true God, he has, according to the moft probable

y Vid» Eutych. Annal. p. ji.

bypothcfisi

The General Hiftory to the Flood. 45

hypothefis (R), given us that of the idolatrous line of
Cain; that the religion patronized by this author, or
thofe he tranfcribed, might appear to be introduced by
the elder branch, a circumftance which they might think
gave it no fmall luftre and reputation. In this author we
find not the leaft mention of the deluge ; an omiffion fo
extraordinary, confidering the great antiquity of this re-
cord, and the country where it was written, that it has
been adduced as a ftrong prefumption againft the credibi-
lity of a general deluge.

Sanchoniatho, having delivered his cofmogony, or ge- Gen^^'^iioM
neration of the other parts of the world, begins his hiftory I. ,
of mankind with the produftion of the firft pair of mor^
tals, whom Philo, his tranflator, calls Protogonus and
-ZEon, the latter of whom found out the food which is
gathered from trees.

Their iffue were called Genus and Genea, and dwelt in ^emrathm
Phoenicia : but when great droughts came, they ftretched ^^•
forth their hands to heaven towards the fun (S), for him
they thought the only god and lord of heaven, calling
him Beelfamen, which in Phoenician is lord ofheaveny and
in Greek Zeus*

From Genus, the fon of Protogonus and ^^n, other Cemratlon
mortal iffue was produced, whofe names were Phos, III.
Phur, and Phlox, that is, Light, Fire, and FlameJ
Thcfe found out the way of generating fire by rubbing
pieces of wood againft each other, and taught men the
ufe thereof. They begat fons of vaft bulk and height. Generation
whofe names were given to the mountains on which they IV".
feized : fo from them were named mount CaiEus and Li-
banus, Antilibanus and Brathys.

* Of thefe laft were begotten Memrumus, and Hypfura- Generation
nius, fo named by their mothers, the wpmen of thofe ^'
times, who lived in the moft brutal ftate of proftitutipn.
Hypfuranius inhabited Tyre, where he invented the art
of making huts with reeds and nifties, and the papyrus.
He fell at variance with his brother Ufoiis, who firft in-
vented a covering for his body made of the (kins of wild

(R) Viz. that of bilhop
Cumberland..

(S) This feems to have been
the firft introdudtion of idolatry,
which began with the wordiip
of the fun : feveral of Cain's
defcendents added other me-
thods of idolatrous worfhip,

diftindly fet down by this au*
thor. They proceeded to deify
the feveral parts of nature, and
men after their death, and even
to confecrate plants, which the
firft men judged to be gods,
and worlhipped, as beings that
fuftained their lives.

beafts«

4«

eviration
VL

VII.

Cineration
VIII,

Qemrathtt
IX.

?J<? General Hiftoty to the Flood.

beafts* He made a raft of boughs, and was fo bold as to
venture upon it into the fea. He alfo confecrated two
rude ftones, or pillars, to fire and wind, and he wor-r
ihipped them, and poured out to them the blood of fuch
wild beads as had been caught in hunting. But in procefs
of time, (lumps of wood, and pillars were alfo confecrat-p
cd to them, and they were worfliipped as deities.

Many years after this generation, came Agreus and
Halieus (T), the inventors of the arts of hunting and filh-
ing, from whom huntfmen and fifliermen are named.

They begat two brothers, the inventors of iron and of
the forging thereof ; one of thefe called Chryfor (U), the
fame with Hephaeftus, or Vulcan, exercifed himfelf in
words, and charms, and divinations ; he found out the
hook, bait, and fifhing-line, built light boats, and was the
firft of all men that failed : wherefore he alfo was wor-p
ihipped after his death for a god, and they called him
Zeus Michius, or Jupiter the Engineer ; and fome fay hi^
brothers invented the art of making walls of brick.

From this generation proceeded two brothers, one of
them called Technites, or the Artift ; the other, Geinu3
Autochthon, the Home-born Man of the Earth. Thef<;t
found out the art to mingle ftubble (X), or fmall twigs,
with the clay of which they made biicks and tiling.

One of their pofterity was called Agrus (field) ^ and
the other Agrouerus, or Agrotes (Y) (hujbandman)y wha

had

(T) Thefe names are Greek,
and therefore tranflated by
Fhilo from eaftern names of
like import. All that can be
undei'ftood of this age is, that
the arts or erapteyments here
mentioned were then much
improved: fbr Ufous was a
huntfman before.

(U) Bochart*s origination of
this name from Chores-ur,
which he renders rif^tTip^w-nj?,
an artificer ly fire^ is not im-
probable. Yet bifliop Cum-
berland rather derives it from
a fimple root char as ^ to heft ir
ene^sfelf vigor oujly^ to cut^ &c.
from whence %pt><7o?, heat^n or
cut goldy is allowed to come,
and why not Chrylbr ? fince it

differs only in termination;
and compoiitions muA not be
admitted ineaflern words with*
out neceffity.

(X) Technites feems to be
a tranflation of the eafteni
name Malachiy from malaca^
iMorkmanJhip^ art. The other,
Geinus^ lignifying earthy^ has
fome affinity with Epher and
Ephrow, Canaanitifh names,
probably ufed by Sancho-
niatho.

(Y) This generation is re-
markable, becaufe to the men
thereof the firft ftatue, or idol
to be worlhipped, and the firft
temple we read of, was eretSted
in Phoenicia ; a fmall temple,
or rather tabernacle : it was

Uke

fhe General Hiflory to the Flood. .47

had a fl:atu€ mnch worfhipped, and a temple carried
about by one or more yoke of oxen in Phoenicia 5 and
among mofe of Byblus he is eminently called the greateft
of the gods. Thefe firft made court-yards about men's
houfes, fences, and caves or cellars^ Huibandmen, and
fuch as ufe dogs in hunting, derive their origin from
thefe 9 and they are alfo called Aletse and Titans.

Of thefe were begotten Amynus and Magus (Z), who Ceneraiim^
taught men to conftitute villages, and feed flocks. ^

In this age there was one Eliuh, which imports iti /

Greek, Hyffiftus (the mojl high)\ and his wife was
named Beruth, who dwelt about Byblus ; and by him was
begotten one Epigeus, or Autochthon, whom they after-
wards called Uranus, (heaven). He gave his name
to that element which is over us, and by reafon of its ex-
cellent beauty, is called heaven \ and he had a iifler of ,
the fame parents called Ge (the earth)y and by reafon of
her beauty, the earth fro^ her took its denomination.

Hypfiftu8,the father of thefe, being flain by wild bcafts^
•was confecrated, and his children offered facrifices and
libations to him. But Uranus taking the kingdom of
his father, married his fifter Ge, and had by her four
fons 5 Hiis, who is called Chronus (or Saturn) ; Betylus ;
jDagon, who is Siton, or the god of corn 5 and Atlas ; but
by other wives Uranus had much iflue.

The Babylonian antiquities v/erc coUcded by Berofus, ferofus*t
a Chaldean by birth, who lived in the time of Alexander Babfloniam
the Great ^ But of that work we have now remaining anUquUies*
only fome few fragments, the fubftance of which, fo far
as comes within the prefcnt period, we here fubjoin,

^ Alex. Polyhift. apud Syncell. p. aS.

Bkc that of Moloch and his the perfou whom Philo ce-
llar Chiun, or Remphao, and prefles by Agrus, might be
drawn by oxen; in the fame called Siddim, or Sadid, a
manner as the ark, or epitome name whereby one of Chro-
of God's tabernacle, was fent nus's fons is afterwards called ;
home by the Philiflines, fuc- either of which will anfwcr
ceiFors to the old Phoenicians the Greek,
in their religion and country. (Z) Amynus feems to im*
The names of thefe men port in this place a defend^
import gods of hujbandry^ as from enchantment y and ]\^gus a
Pan, Pales, and Sylvanus, forcerer\ though both word»
among the^ Greeks and Ro- are capable of a more fevour-
uaans. Bifhop Cumberland able interpretation »
guefles^ that in Sanchoniatho^

After

4«

fhe General Hjftoty to the Flodd.

Manper of After a dcfcription of Babylonia, he writes, that lil the
mtfs ac- firft year there appeared out of the Red Sea, at a place
^irtng the ^^^^ ^^^ confines of that country, a certain irrational
of arts and animal (A) whofe name was Oannes. His body was like
fciioces. that of a fiih, but beneath his fifh's head another grew ;
he had alfo feet like a man, which proceeded from the
fiih's tail, and a human voice, according to the picture of
him which was preferred to the time of our author.
This animal converfed with men in the day, without eat-
ing any thing; he communicated the knpwlege of letters^
arts, and fciences ; he taught men to dwell together m
cities ; to ere£t temples ; to introduce laws ; and in-
ftruded them in geometry ; he likewife ihewcd them
how to gather feeds and fruits; and, in fhort, imparted
to mankind whatever was neceflary and convenient for a
civilized life. When the fun fet, this animal retired inta
the fea again, and flayed there in the night, being of the
amphibious kind. After him there , appeared fcveral
other animals of the fame form, mentioned in the en-
fuing hiftory. This Oannes did not deliver his inftruc-
tions by word of mouth only, but wrote of the origin of
things, and of political oeconomy ■.

Other authors have alfo made mention of this Oannes.
Helladius calls him Oes, and agrees in general with the
foregoing account ; but adds, that he had hands, as well
as the head and feet of a man \ that it was reported he
was produced from the primigenial egg, as his name
teftified (B) ; and that he was in reality no inore than a
man, though he feemed to be a fifli, becaufe he was
completely dreffed in a fifli's Ikin. , Hyginus likewife
writes, that Euahanes, a name not very diftant from
Oannes, came, out of the fea in Chaldea, and explained
aftrology.
Antidilu' Berofus proceeds to give us a feries of ten kings who

nfiau kings reigned in Chaldea before the flood ; but as there are
tfChaldea*

* Alex. Polyhift. ex Berofo, apud Syncell. p. i8.

(A) The Greek is fSo»
a^ftvov ; but the fequcl plainly
fhews him to have been no-
thing lefs than irrational : feme
corruption may therefore very
juftly be fuppofed.

As to the names of Oannes
and Anncdotus given to this
perfon, and thofe of the fame
appearance who are mentioned

below, it may feem a folly to
offer at any explanation of
them. By their coming up
out of the fea, it is moft pro-
bable they were ftrangers, and
arrived in Chaldea by (hip-
ping,

(B) An egg in Greek »
called o<f»»

fome

< ♦ . .

^he General HiJIofy to the Flood.

fomc fmall variations in the authors who have tranfcribed
that hiftorian, we fhall here exhibit them to the reader's
view.

49^

if Tab^le of the Cbaldian Kings beprk the Floods from

Berofus.

According to Afri-
canus.

Sari. Yf.
S^AlonTs reigned ib oo
2. AUrpharut 03 00
}. A melon - i) oa
^ Amenoa - 12 00
5. MeValartiS - 18 00
6' Daoaot - 00 99
7. Eiiedorachtta i9 00'
8k Araphis - 10 Po
^. Otiartes - oS , 00
20. Xixuthhit i9 ' 00

According to Abi-
denus.

: . , . Sari,

z. A lorus reigned 10

fl.'Alaparua • 03

%* AmiUariit ¥ 13

4. AmmeDOQ • 12

5. Megalarus - ]8

6. DaOB - * - 10

7. EudorefchuB 00

8. Anodapbus 00

9. • .- • • 00
10. Si^tfaitkt - 00

According to Ajtol*''
lodoru3« -

Sdri.

I. Alonii reigned 10

1. Al^pariis - 00

3; Anaeioa - 00

4. AmiBj;npn - 00.

5. Megalarui - ig;

6. Daonus - - 10

7. £uedor«rcbat 18

8. Ajmempfinas io<

9. Otiar(ea , . o3-
ZO. XUutkrut - 18

ijo 99

The reigns of thefe kings . Bjerofus computes by fari
or decads of years (C), which feems to have been a very
convenient method in thofe times, when the lives of men
were at leaft ten times a^.lOng as they have been in later
ages« According to which way of reckoning, the fum
of all their reigns amouhts . to twelve hundred, or, more
nicely) eleven hundred and nipety-nine years ; a number
which offers no violencje to the Mofaic chronology.

As thefe ten fucceffions exaftly anfwer the ton gene-
rations from the creatjop to the fljood, the firft king
Alorus has been fuppofed to be the fame, with Adam and
Xifuthrus. Aloru3 gave out, that God himfelf had de-
clared him the paftojr of the people ; and, indeed, if any
iqan would pretend to dominion by divine rights it mufl:
have been Adam.

Length
of their
reigns*

Remari"
able events
under
them*

(C} Berofus wrote his chro-
nology by the computation of
fari^ neriy zn^fojfl; which be-
ing ancient meafures of time,
and well known when the ori**
ginal records were written,
could not, it is conceived, have
wanted explanation in thofe
records. But Berofus, or fome
late writers, have, either out
of ignorance, or defign, mag-

Vol, I.

nified thefe meafures of timft.
beyond all imagination, and
tell us, that the fatus con-
tained the interval of three
thoufand fix hundred years ;
the nerus pf fix huQdred years ;
and the fofus of iixty» How-
ever, other authors have taken
thofe years for days only, and
blame Eufebjus. for not per-
ceiving them to be days.
E Of

'^ The General. H'l/iory to the Phod^

QT Alafparus, ,the fecond king, nothing remarkable i«.
related. His fucceffor Amelon, or Amelarus, was of thfe'
city of Pantibibla (D) : in his reign, according to Aby-
denus, a fecond Annedotus, or animal refcmbling the'
demi-god Oannes, arofe out of the fea, twenty-fix fari, or
two* hundred and fixty years after the beginning of this,
monarchy ; but Apollodprus writes, that he appeared
under the next prince Amenon, after forty fari, or four
hundred years j which, if they be computed from the
creation, (according to the Samaritan chronology), will
end in that king's reign 5 but if from the firft year of
Alorus, will reach twenty years within that of Metalarus.
Others^ fuf pofitig this AnnedotHS' was the hateful Oannes
himfelf, Wamc rolyhiftor for anticipating the time of
his coming, by placing him in the firft year.

After Amenon and Metalarus, who were both of
Pantibibla, fucceeded Daonus, wh© was of the fame
city, and a fhepherd. - In his time four anihxals of su
double form, half man and half fifh, came out of the fea,
whofe names were Euedocus, Eneugamns, Eneubulus,-
and Anementus.

Under the next prince, Euederefchus, who was Ifke-
wife of Pantibibla, there appeared another animal likc^
the* former, named Odacon All thefe explained more
particularly what OanneS' had fummarily and coneifely
delivered.

. The eighth and ninth kings were both of awother city,
called Laranchi. The laft of thefe, Ohartes, or, as Poly-
hiftor calls him,. Ardates, was fucceeded by his fon-
Xifuthrus.

In his reign' happened the great delUge, of which our •
ChaUian author. gives the following account: Chronus or Saturn
^h^^n'^d appeared to Xifuthrus in a dream, and warned him,- that
* on the fifteenth of the month Dsefius mankind would be '
dcftroyed by a flood ; he therefore commanded him to-
write down the original, intermediate ftate, and end of •
all things, and bury the writings under ground in Sip-
para, the city of the fiin 5 he likewife directed him ta

(D) Of this city of Panti-
bibla, as Scaliger obferves^ the
ancients have taken" no notice.
It feems to be the fame with
Sippara, hereafter mentioned,
(probably the Sipphara of Pto-
lemy), where Xifuthrus depo-
fucd the records he wrote be-

fore the flood. This latter
name may be derived from the
Chaldee fephar^ or fphar^ a
hook^ or record \ and Pantibibla
is the tranflation of that name
into Greek. Sir Ifaac New-
ton takes it to be the Sefharvabn
of the Scripture.

build

^he General Hiftory to the Flood. 5t

build a (hip, and go into it with his relations and deareft
friends, having firlt furniflied it with provifions, and taken
into it fowls and four-footed creatures ; and told him
that when he had provided everything, and wasafked
whither he was failing, he fhould anfwer, " To the
gods, to pray for happinefs- to mankind." Xifuthrus
accordingly built aveffcl, whofe length was five furlongs,
and breadth two furlongs. He put on board all that he
was direfted to provide, and went into it with his wife,
children, and friends. The flood being come, and foon
ceafing, Xifuthrus let out certain birds, which, finding
no food, nor place to reft upon, returned again to the
fhip. After fome days he fent forth the birds again ;
but they came back to the fhip, having their feet daubed
with mud; but when they were fent away the third
time, they returned no more ; a circumftance from
whence Xjfuthrus underftood that the earth had appeared *
again. He now made an opening between tjip planks
of the Ihip ; and feeing that it refted on a certain moun-
tain, came out with his wife, his daughter, and his pilot;
having worfliipped the earth, and raifed an altar, and fa-
crificed to the gods, he, and thofe who went out with
him, difappeared. They who were left behind in the
ihip, finding Xifuthrus, and the perfons that accompanied
him, did not return, went out to feek foi him, calling
him aloud by his name ; but Xifuthrus was no more feen
by them 5 only a voice, iiTuing from the clouds, enjoined
them to be religious •, declaring that Xifuthrus, on ac-
count of his piety, was gone to dwell with the gods ;
and .that his wife, and daughter, and pilot, were par-
takers of the fame honour. It alfo direfted them to re-
turn to Babylon, and taking the writings from Sippara,
communicate them to mankind; and finally told them,
that the place where they were was the country of Ar-
menia. Thus informed they offered facrifice to the
gods, and unanimoufly repaired to Babylon ; dug up the
writings at Sippara, built many cities, raifed temples, and
rebuilt Babylon *.

The Egyptians have alfo a feries of kings, who, as ,ji„fgjji^^
they pretend, reigned in Egypt before the flood ; and ^^n kings
their account begins the fame year with that of of Egypt*
Berofus *=•

b Vide Alexand. Polyhiftor. ex Berofo, apud Syncell. p. 30/3 1.
Zc apud Cyrill. contra Julian, lib. i. Abydenus ex eoden), apud
Syncell. p. 38, 39. 2^ apud Eufeb. de Prxp. iEv« lib* ix. cap. it*

^Syncell. p. 17,

E a There

fTh Gene'ral Bijiory to th Fkodi

There was an ancient chronicle extant among t^d^*
Egyptians not many centuries ago, which contained thirty
dynafties of princes who ruled in that country, by a feries
of one hundred and thirteen generations, through an im-*
aienfe fpace of tbirty-fix thoufand five hundred and-
iwerity-five years (E),, during whic'h Egypt was fucceflively
gbverned by three different races ; of whom the firft were
the Auritx, the fecond the Meftrxi, and the third the
Egyptians (F).

But this extravagant number of years Manetho (G) (tc>
whofe remains we muft chiefly have recourfe for the an-
cient Egyptian hiftory) has not adopt^ed, however in other
refpefts he is fuppbfed to have been led into errors int
chronology by tnis old chronicle, which yet feems to-
feave been a. compofition fince M^netho's time. That
writer ^ began his bifiory with the following fixteen dy-
nifties, or reigns of princes ; the firft of whom wer»'

* Manetbo api»d SyncelL p. xS. & Eufeb. Cbron. Grace, p. j*

(E) This nutnfeer appear*
naanifeftly to hav« been not a
real chronological, but a fi6ti»
tious adronomical' calculatioo,.
produced by multiplying 1461
by 25 ; and is the period of* the
grand revolution pf the zodiac*
fe famous in the Egyptian and
Greek fables ; at the end of
which it will return to the
point whence it began to move,
viz. the firft minute oS the firfl
degree of Aries^

From fome fucb computa-
tWn it k probable IXodorti4
took the numbers he mentions'
of eighteen thoufand years ^
the fpace which, the gods and
heroes reigned, and fifteen
thoufand from Orus the fan of
Ifis, the laft of them, to the
1 80th Olympiad, durmg which
time Egypt was governed by
men; orthofe, which he elfe--
where lelk us were the num-
ber of years from Ifis and Ofi-
ris to Alexander the Great,
viz. above ten thoufand, or
ibmewhat lefs than twenty-

three thousand. Other extra-
vagant numbers were alfo by
the Egyptian priefts impoied
on Herbdotu^ and Plato.

(F) Thefe three races, if
there be any fliadow of truth
in this account, feem moft
probably to have been the
gods, demi-gods, and mortal
men, who are by other au-
thors faid to have reigned
fucceflively in Egypt : the Au,^
ritae, which name Goar derives
^Tom Abarisov J*varis^ (thougb'
t-hat city Was buih long after
the flood .by the i^aftors), and
Perizonius more probable fronv
oar^ lighi^ being the gods or
antediluvian princes ; the Me-
ftr^i, the demi-gods, or pofl-
dilu.vians, of the race of Miz-
raim ; and the Egyptians, the
mortal kings, the firft of whom
was Menes ; and this hypothe-
fis accounts tolerably for the
chronology.

(G) This writer was fome-*
what later than Serofus.

called

She -General IT^oty to the Flooa. g^

ca^efl gods, and the other nine demx-gods. Thefej; he
fays, reigned one thoufand nine hundred and eighty-five
jears ; and the firft of ^em, Vulcan, nine thoufand.

jf Ta b t £ ^/thi gods and diml-gMb^ vAoanfuppofidjoheui

ni^nedin Egjfpt before tbifiood.

G O D &

', r ^ Yev* "Months Dajm

1. Hephseftus, or Vulcan, reigned , ^ 724 6 4

2. Helios, or the Sun^ the foa of Vulcan 86 o q
.3. Agathadsemon / - - - - i^$ 6 10

4'. Chronus, or Saturn - *• - 40 6 o
5« Ofiris and ifis - - - - 35 Q Q

-Os ,^ • r»m m ^m im mm OQ.O

7. Typhoa • -i- *. - -* 29 o

<2>.

o
DEMi-GODS.

9. Aries, or Mars - - - -.

^o. Anubis • .. H. « •

^i', Hercules - - - - -

t2. Aj)olIo . . « « .

13. Ammon « • • • .

14I Tlthoes * • - r •

15. Sofus - ^ - • .

a 6. Zeus, or Jupitcar h. - *

As to this table, it tnuft be obfenred, that the numbers
•were no part of the original record, but added by fome
^nodemsy who have mangled the chronology according to
-;their own fancies, and therefore deferve no regard ; though^
we haye tranfcribed them as we found them in Syp.*
cellus.

Though the tranfcribers of Manetho*^ have generally!
•taken it for granted, that this fuccefEon of priaces was
fuppofed by Manetho himfeif to have reigned before the .
flood ; yet we very much doubt whether that hiftorian
really made the nine laft, - called demi-gods, to be ante-
diluvians. For It appears, from the fum of the years
"which thefe gods and demi*god^ are faid to h^ve reigned^
^hat all of thiem cbuld yiQt pofBbly have reigned before
tfbe flood, evin according to ,tbe Hebrew account ; and^

^ Africantt$, i^ttfebiu^i Pangdoros, k Syncellut.

E3 if

^4 ^he General Htftory to the Flood.

if the epoch of the Egyptian kingdom began the fame
year with that of the Babylonians, as is exprefsly faid, the
total of the reigns of their antediluvian princes could not
exceed twelve hundred years. Befides, the number of
fixteen kings feems too large in proportion to that of the
Babylonian kings, and of the generations cff Mofes in
the fame period. It is therefore more conformable to
Manetho's chronology, to fuppofe the firft feven only,
whom he calls gods, and the old chl*onicle ftyles Auritae,
were antediluvians ; and that they reigned twelve hun-
dred years, part of the nineteen hundred and eighty-five,
the remainder of which will be accounted for hereafter.
And this hypothefis feems to be confirmed from the con-
fi deration of the lad of thefe gods, Typhon, who pro-
bably reigned immediately before the flood, and perifhed
therein. For feveral circumftances of the deluge are
mentioned in the hiftory of Ofiris and Typhon ; parti-
cularly the very day when it began, or when Ofiris (who
13 taken for Noah) was fhut up in the ark. The name of
Typhon, according to fome learned men, fignifies alfo
a deluge or inundation (H) ; whence the Egyptian priefts
called the Sea-Typhon ; and Typhon,^or, as the Latin poets
call him, Typhaeus, is reprefented as a rnonftrous giant,
warring againft heaven, and at laft overcome by Jupiter,
and overwhelmed in water. It appears probable, tnerc-i
fore, that he was one of thofe mighty men of old, whofe
wickediiefs was fo exceeding great^ that it ^r^w dowji
that judgment upon them^
By thefe gods Manetho, as he elfewherc explains
. himfelf, meant no more than mortal men, who> for their
wifdom and goodnefs, were feveralLy promoted to the regal
dignity, and afterwards made immortal. Their particular
inventions, and inflitutions, which gained them this ho-
nour from the people, we may more conveniently con-
fider, -when w,e enter on the hiftory of .the Egyptian
nation. It would be in vain to endeavour to reconcile
the foregoing table with the accounts of the Greek
authors, which feem rather to relate to the times after
the flood. For the Greeks were very liberal in beftowing
the names of their gods, and frequently gave the fame
name to feveral perfons. . This confufion might have

f Vide Plutarch, de Ifid. & Ofir. p. 3 56. Appolon. Argon, lib^ ii,
Manetb. apud Eufeb. de Prsep, Ev. lib. i.

(H) The Arabs at this day the word al tnfan*
cxprefs the general deluge by

been

TJje General H'tftory to the Floocl. 55

Tjeen avoided, had they given us the true Egyptian names,
inftead of undertaking to interpret them. Nor is it the ;
onlyinftance in which thofc writers, efpecially the later '
Greek chronologcrs, havje corrupted and confounded Ma- •
»etho's hiftory.

Having mentioned &it old Egyptian chronicle, it may
be proper to acquaint the jeader, that, according to that
record, Vulcan has no time afSgned him, as appearing
both night and day : the Sun, wio was the fon of VuL-
can, reigned thirty thoufand years; after him, Saturn,
and the other twelve gods, reigned three thoufand nine
hundred and eighty-four years ; then the eight demi-
gods, two hundred and feventeen years j and .after thefe
tcgan the thirty dynafties S-

J5 E C T. VIL

Cf the Deluge.

Olxteen liundred and fifty-fix years after the crca- -A, M,
^ tion, the earth was overflowed and deftroyed by a dc- ^ '^^pi
Juge of water, which overfpread the face of the whole *"^g
globe, from pole to pole, and from eaft to weft 5 fo that «_L«
the floods over-reached the tops of the higheft mountains 5 AJbort hif-
the rains defcending after an unufual manner, and the toryoftht
fountains of the great deep being broke open, a general fl^^^*
deftruftion and dcvaftation was brought upon the earth,
and all things in it, mankind and other living creatures ;
excepting Noah and his family, who, by a fpecial provi-
dence of God, were prcferved in a certain ark, or veflel^
with fuch kinds of living creatures as he took on board.
After thefe wafers had raged for fome time on the earth,
they began to leflen and ihrink* The great waves and
fludiuations of this deep, or abyfs, being quieted by de-
grees, the waters -retired into their former chjinnels and
caverns within the earth : the mountains and fields began
to appear, and the whole habitable earth afTumed that.
form and fhape wherein we now fee it. From that little .
remnant preferved in the ark, the prefent race of man-
kind, and of animals, in the known parts of the earth,
«^ere propagated. Thus perifhed the x)ld world, ;and the
prefent arofe from its ruins.

That there was fuch an univerfal deftruft'ion by water. Profane
f& confirmed by the concurrent teftimonies of feveral teflimonUs

of ihis ca*
X Diod. Sicul. Chron. vet. apud Syncell. tafiru^hi.

E 4 of

A.M.

1656.

Ante Chr*

234S.

Whether /«-
ficaU

T^he. Qeneral W^ory to the. Thp^.

of the moft ancient writers and natiops in tjip world,^
What account the Chaldean records give pf it, w^ Iiavei
already feen. The Indian and Perfiap tradition we may
mention hereafter. That the Egyptians vere no ftrann
gers to this event, appears riot only from thofc circum-
ftances in the ftory of Ofiris apd . T5rphon mentioned
above ; biit alfo from the teftimony of rlato 5 who fays,
that a certain Egyptian prieft recounted to Solon, out o^
their facred books, the hiftory of the univerfal flood^
which happened long before the particular inundation^
known to the Grecians. Tne inhabitants of Heliopolis,^
in Syria, fhewed a chafm or cleft in the earth in the
temple 6'f Juno, which fwallovireii^ up the waters of the
flood**. Nay, the very Americans are faid to acknowlegc
and fpeak of it in their continent : and we are told, that
* there is a tradition among the Chinefe, that Puoncu, with
his family, efcaped. the general' deluge ; though another
expreily aiferts, the Chinefe annals make no mention at
all of the flood, and that It Ts a miitake in thofe who ima-
gine, they do: however it feems, their hifl:orians do fpeak
of a flood, which fome fujipofe to be tha£ of TSToah, but
they do not make it univerfal. Moft nations have fome
tradition of a deluge, which happened, in their refpe£iivej
countries : but it muft be owned> at the fanie time, that^
feveral of them were particular inundations only, and
therefore carefully to be diflinguiflied from that of Noah ;
though ancieint and modem writers frequently.confound*
them together (1).

Some difl^culties, which feem to attend the Mofaic ac--
count of. the deluge, fuch. as the finding waters fuflScient
to drown the world, and the improbability that all forts oJF-
animals were preferved in the ark, have induced fome
men of learning, to fuppofe, that Noah's. flood was not
univerfal, but national only, confined to Judaea, and the

h Lucian- de Dea Syria, torn. ii. p. 881.

. ( I ) Not only Deucalion's
ilood in Theflaly, but thofe of
Ogyges in Atticj^, and Prome-
theus iri Eg}^pt^ have been
thought thp famp with that of
Noah. Thofe fpoken of !by
the Americans feem to have
been national ; as was that of
Afla ]V{inor, meiitione^ by Dio^*

dorus, from the Samothracian
tradition, which yet they pre-
tended was the mofl ancient of
all ; to omit feveral ethers e-
numerated by fir W. Raleigh,,
fome of which he has taken
from the fpurious XenophojA
of Anuius,

^egionj|.

7h&Gener4. ff{/h*y »ftht Ftoo^

f^gions thereabouts (K); or perhaps to that trafl: of land A.M*
Vrhich lies between the four feas, the Pcrfian, Cafpian, ^^^rit,
Euxine^ and Mediterranean, or, at moft, that it reached "^^-g, '*
no farther than the continent of Afia. And to fupport '

this p^efui^ption, they allege, that, fince the primary
defign of the flood was to deftroy mankind pi;ily, who
could hardly be thought in fo fhort a time to have over*
ipread the iace of the whole earth, there Ayas no neceffity
to carry the waters beyond the bounds of wh^t was inha-
bited. Bedford indeed has gone fp far a$ to fuppofej^
that all mankind did not perim in the deluge ^ and has
endeavoured to prove, from a peculiar expofitibn of the
curfes of Cain and Lantech, that the Africans 9ind Indi-
ans are of their pofterity*.

If the deluge was univerfal, the quantity of water te- Canieffwra
quired to eflPefl it is fo imip|Bn£e, thajlj it has been, genei> «^^ '**
ally thought extremely difikult, if not impoffible to fay J[^2«
whence it came, oi; whither it went. The proportion of thedelugt
water^ fufficient toxa,ufe (ugh an. inundation, has.been com* nuas ^tO^,
puted at eight oceans. But Dr- Keil, whp was is^ell able to, '<'•
ipake the calculation, {ays^ that there muft have been, al^
t^je Ipvireft computation, t\jrenty-twi) oceans, A^d. where
to find this quantity is the queition. Ther« are the. clouds.
^bove, and the deq>s below, and in thp bowels of the
earth; and thefe- are all the ftores we have for water;
and Mpfes dire£i;5 us to no other, for the caufes of the
deluge : ** The fountains of the great deep,'* fays he,
•* were broken up, and the windows of heayei^ were open-
ed ; and the rain was, upon the earth forty days and forty>
nights V By the great deep fpme underftand thc^ ocean ;^
l)ut. others, with more reafon, f;»y it nqieans the fubterra*
neous abyfs, or vaft.colle£tionof waters in the bowels of

^^ i Vid. Le CIcrp's Diflertat^ons; Stillingflect Orlg, Sacr. book
iii. Voir, de i©t. Mundf, p. 203. Bedford's Scripture Chrono-
logy, p. 39- ^^ Burnetii Theory, book i. chap. 2. Dr. Keil^ in
Ins' Kemarks^cn Wlalkoa*8 Theory. Ray^s Dif. p. ii8«

(K) Mclo, who wrote a
book againfl the Jews, fpeak-
ing or the delage, fcems to
maJce it topical, and not to^
have reached Ann^nia. His.
words are thefe : •* At the time
of the deluge, a man who had
;^caped with his. fons^ went

from- Armenia, being driven
out of his pofTeflions by tbofc.
of the country; and, paflSng^
over th^ intermediate region,
reached the moiintaiijQus part
of Syria, which was then dc*
folate ''(7).

(7] Micio apud Suffbf de Pr^p. Ev« lib. i^» cap, 191

th(^

5«

The Gem-al Hijiory to the FlooL

4348.

A. M. the earth (L). But it is thought the waters which either
165^' the abyfs or the rain could afford, will fall prodigioufly
^^1^^^' fhort of the proportion required. According to the ob-
feivations made of the quantity of water that falls in rain,
this fupply could not afford one ocean, rtor half an ocean,
and would be a very inconfiderable part of what was ne-
teffary for a deluge. If it rained forty days and forty
nights throughout the whole earth at once, the lower
• grounds might be laid under warer, but fuch a fource
would fignify very little as to the overflowing of the
mountains ; fo that it has been faid, that, if the de-
hige proceeded from rains only, not only fortv days,
but forty years would have been required tor that
effeft. If .we fuppofe the whole atmofphere condenfcd
into water, it would not at all have been fufficient. And
as to the abyfs, if by it we mean the fea, that it is no
higher than the land, and therefore could contribute nor-
thing to the deluge ; if we underftand the fubterraneous
waters, they would be quiet in their cells, and not afcend
otherwife than by force ; and, if force were ufed to draw
them out on the furface of the earth, their places muft be
filled again with other waters \ fo that this turns to no
accpunt upon the whole (M).

After all, the jiivinc affiftanccmiift be called in, on this
occaCon. For though the waters, which covered the
earth at the creation, might be fufficient to cover it again;
yet how this fhould be efFedled by mere natural means,
cannot be conceived. The waters which were fufpended
in the clouds, might, indeed, defcend upon the earth,
and that in catara&s, or fpouts of water, (as the Septua-

i;int interpret the windows of heaven)^ like thofe in the
ndies, where the clouds frequently, infl^ad of dropping,
fall, with\a terrible violence, in a kind of torrent ; and this
alone might caufe a great inundatipn in tbe lower grounds;

ne mofi

rationat
diccount of
iki deluge*

(L) Notwithftanding the
word, tehom^ depths in feme
pafTages, is fuppofed to figni-
fy ih^fea'i yet it may be there
much better interpreted offuh^
tenaneous waterj^ as it mani-
feftly muft in oth^r places.
And, being here joined with
the epithet rahhah^ g^eat^ it
feems Mofes intended that vaft
colle6lion of waters, which the
mod fagacious naturalifts place

in the womb of the earth, the
receptacle of the greateft part
of that deep which covered the-
earth at the beginning of tjie
creation*

(M) Thofe who would
know how far hyman philofo-
phy.has proceeded in account-
ing for this phsenomenon upoif
natural principles, may confult
the theories of Burnet, Whif-p
ton^ 9nd Woodward*

but

The General Hiftoty to ihe Floods 59

bat as thesclauds coald pour down no more water than A.M.
they had, which would foon be exhaufted at this rate 5 ift- ^^s^-
feem§, from the length of the rain's continuance, that ^** ^^'*'
the fhowers were rather moderate, and gradual. The *^^ '
f ubterraneous ftores would afford a much more plentiful
fupply to complete the deluge, and, probably, contain
jnore waters than enough to drown the world (N) : the
only difficulty is, to draw it out of the abyfs on the fur-
face of the earth. And here, fince we can affign no na-
tural caufe, we apprehend we may refolve it into the di-
vine power, which might, on this occafion, fo far con-
txoul the ufual courfe of nature, as to effedt this purpofe.
And, indeed, the event was io extraordinary, and the
Gonfequences thereof fo confiderable, that it is very rea-
fonable to believe God did, in an efpecial manner, inter-
pofe.

Having thus confidered the efficient caufes of the de-
luge, we muft, next, take a view of the ark, in which
^oah and his family were preferved from deftrudlion.

We might prefume, if Mofes had not told us fo, that a of the ark,
veflel proportionable, and adapted to the ufe defigned, itsjizeand
muft have been of more than human contrivance, and /i?«^^«
built by the direftion of God himfelf. The length of it
vras 300 cubits, the breadth 50, and the height 30 ; .
but what was the exa£l meafure of the cubit here men-
tioned, is difputed. Some, fearing the capacity of the
ark would be otherwife too fmall for the intended pur-
pofe, have enlarged the dimenfions, even to extrava-
£ance (O) 5 but the general opinion of learned men is,

that

(N) Though fir W. Ra-
leigh allows thirty miles for
tjie height of the mountains,
yet the higbeft in the world
will not be found to be above
five dire6t miles in height.
Olympus, whofe height is fo
extolled by the poets, does not
exceed a mile and a half per-
pendicular, and about feventy
paces. Mount Athos, which
is faid to cafi: its fhade into the
ifle of Lemnos, (according to
Pliny, eighty-feven miles), is
not above two miles in height ;
nor Caucafus much more : nay,
tJie Pike of Tpncriff, reputed

the higheft mountain in the
world, may be afcended in
three days (according to the
proportion of eight furlongs to
a day's journey), which makes
it about the height of a Ger-
man mile perpendicular. And
the Spaniards affirm, that the
Andes, thofe lofty mountains
of Peru, in comparifon of
which, they fay, the Alps are
but cottages, may be afcended
in four days compafs.

(O) When Celfus objeaed,
that the ark was a monller,
with all things in its belly,
Qrigen acfwered, that the ark

w^s

%o The Genital HjHory to the Tlooi.

VI. M. that they were but common euhits^ ox\t of whicll<{
iSj«. though formerly fuppofed eqttail to tSof our inches, is
AntcCbr* y^^yff allowed to contain ahnoft 12, or, Jtnore exiftly^
^ *^ ' 21.8889 according to which nfieafiifd, the ark miuft have
been 547.2 Englilh feet lofig, 91.2 broad, and 54.72
high; and the folid contents 2,730178 i«9oo8 feet, al-^
moft double to what they would be by the former cbmpu-
tation. The form of it was art oblong fquafe^ a parauei-
opiped, with a fiat bottonli, and a Hoped roof railed a cu-^
bit m the middle *. It had neithei* fails nor rudder, nor
was it made fharp, fo as to cut the wat^r ; which form^
9« it was admirably contrived for lying fteadily on the
water without rolling, wliich ibrght have endangered th^
lives of the aniriiak within it; fo if was very unfit for
fwimming. to a great diftance,. or for riding in a boifter*
ous fea. It confided of three ftories, each^ of which^
abating the tfaickneft of the floors, might b^ alsOut i'8 feet ,
Ugh, and was partitioned into a' great many rooms, Of'
apartments. This^ veffel was, without doubt, fo con- ,
trivedv as to have the air, and light oil all fides f^) 5
though the particular conftruf^ioh of the windows b^ noif
mentioned ;• and' the whole ieems to have had ahotlier'

covering^

I Vid; Buteon. De Area Noe. I^oole^s ^ynbpfis in loc, Ber*
fiard. de Me'nfuris & J^bnd^r. Antiq. lib. iii.

was like a great city^ wh'ofd "tthich was afterWards in ufer

bafip was 90^000 cubits long, bec'aufe, as he intagines, man*

aud 25,000 broad ; but in an- kiitd were then 0^ a larger iS2i\^

" other place he is more moder- ture. But this gains no room

ate, and, without encreafing in the ark, becaufe the bulk of

the nun:ib€rr of the Mofaic cu- its cargo mufl havef been ' in*

bits, fQppof<^s they were geo- cresafed in proportion,
metrical cubits, each contain-* (P) There are various tfanf-

ing fix ordinary cubits ; which lation« of the word fohar^

laft opinion* is approved by St. which is found but once in* the

Auftin. Sotne, who cannot whole Bible, in this^fenfe, our

digeft thefe geometrical cubits, verfion renders it imuivw,^ as it'

fuppofe the ark was meafured feems very properly ; for the*

by a larger cubit of three ittt^ root in the Chaldee fignifies io

or by the facred cubit, which Jbine^ or; to give light ivrhtv^''

was larger, by a hand 's breadth , fore one of the paraph rafts ima*

than the commen cubit, all gines fihar to hate been a pre*

without the leaft ground or in- ciouifi'one:^ ot carhuncW^ whith

timation, to that purpofe, in Noah was to fetch' from the'

the facred hiftorian. Sir Wl river Phiibn, to illuibittatc the

Raleigh fuppofcs tht antcdilu- ark; From the following^

viao'Ci;|bit was iarger than tbtft' lyords, ^Vafld'm^a cubit (halt

t)ioW

^h Giuerd If^oty to the flood.

COvepog befides the roof, probably made of IkShs, like
that of the tabemdtle (Q^).

That the fpac^ in the ark was abundantly fufficient to
CQRtain both Noah and his family, and! the animals, and
all necefiary. provifions for them, does evidently appear
fi^om the geometrical calculations of learned men (R),
who have yet generally Aippofed the length of the cubit
to have been but j^ inches j whereas, if we take the d>-
menfions according to the largef meafurb above mention-^
cd^ the whole capacity will be nearly doubled.

We cannot pretend to explain in what manner the un-^
known, kinds of ferpents in Brazil^ and all thofe ftrange
fpecies of animals fecn in the Weft Indies, ihonld either
come into the ark, or be conveyed out of it into thofe

A. Mir

1^56.

Ante Chn

tl)pu fuiiih it aboTe,** feme
have fappofed,the win4pw. was
to have been a cubit fquare, or
but a cubit bigh^ which would
have beenmuch top fmall; but
the relative 7/ being in the He-
brpv of the feminine gender,
and /alfar of the raafculine,
thole two words cannot agree ;
and theretbre the proper ante-
cedent feems to be t/?e ark
which was to be covered with a
roof, raifed a cubit high in the
nuddle,

* (QJ Noah is faidy after the-
flood, to. have removed " the
covering. of the ark;" which
cannot wbll be fuppofed to have
been the roo£^ but fomething
flang over it, like that of the
tabernacle, which is exprelTed '
by the fam^ Hebrew word;
and the ufe of it was probably
CO hang over and defend the
windows in bad weather,.

(R) Bifhop Wilkins has re^
duced the number of fpeeies
of animals, which, at firft
view, may feem almofl infi-
nke, within very moderate
bounds ; he reckons they do
not amount to one hundred of
quadrupeds, and two hundred
of birds; and of thefe muA

be excepted fuch as live in the
water, fuch as proceed from a
mixture of different fpeeies^,
and fuch at^ change their oo»»
lour, ihape, and fia^i by change
ing their.climate ; and thence^.-
in differejit countries, feenLto>
be of different fpeeies, when
they are not. He afterwards,
enters into a particular detail of
the animals, -the quantity of
food neccflary for theni, and
of the capacity and proportio*'
of thse ark ; and concludes,
thete^was room eiMugh, and:
tq fp^re. : whereupon he ob»
ferves, that had the-moAiikilo •
ful mathematicians and .philo«
fophisrs been fet to coafult,
what proportions aveifel de^-
figned for fuch- an uie (hould..
have in the feveral parts of it,
they could not have pitched on
any more fuitable to the pur-
pofe than thofe mentioned by'
Mofes* After all, we muft
have recourfe to the interpofi*
tion of God's miraculous pow««
er ; for, according to the prin-
ciples of (hip-building, fuch a
veflel muft have been overfet
by the leaft agitation of the
water*

countries^

A.M.

1656.

Ante Chr«

hi mattrU

ah*

Where
kuilt.

The General Hjfioiy to the Flood*

countries, the climate of whic.h feems now ncceflary to
their exiftence. It is indeed, probable, that the tempera-
ture of the air before the deluge, was fo equal and ferene,
that all kinds, even of the American animals, might live
and be found in thofe parts of Afia when Noah went into
the ark, though none of them could bear the climate fince, ^
by reafon of the change in nature. The great difficulty
is, how to get them into America after the flood was over ;
and here we muft confefs we can neither account for this
emigration, nor conceive by what means America was
peopled.

The timber of which the ark was framed, Mofes calls
gopher-wood 5 but what tree the gopher was (S) the
learned have not. yet determined. . Some contend for the -
cedar, others for the pine ; fome incline to the box, and
others, particularly the Mohammedans, to the Indian
plane-tree : but thofe feem to be in the right, who fup-
pofe it to be the cyprefs ; which, befides the refemblancc
in name, is allowed to be a very proper fort of timber
for fhip-building. To preferve it from leaking, Noah
was direfted to fmear it with pitch, or rather with bitu-
men, fuch as was ufed in the building the Tower of Babel.
Nor is there lefs difagreement as to the place where 'the
ark was built, and the time fpent in this work. One
fuppofes it was built in Paleftine, and that Noah planted
thecedarsofwhichhemade.it, in the plains of Sodom:
another takes it to have been built near Mount Caucafus,
on the confines of India \ and a third, in China ; where
he imagines Noah dwelt before the flood ; but the place
feems rather to have been fomewhere near Eden ; from
whence it is to be prefumed Noah would not remove
far, though not for the reafon alleged by fome, viz. be-
caufe he was the eldeft fon, in a lineal defcent, from
Seth, which is no way certain from Scripture ; nor can
we think it was far from Ararat, where the ark retted,

. (S) AbenEzra and Kimchi
only fay it is a fort of wood fo
called, which is light, and
fwims on the water. The Vul-
gate and Septuagint take the
word gopher not to denote the
fpecies of timber, but for an
adjed^ive; the firfl tranflating
Itsna lamgata^ fmoothed or
planed timber^ and the other
iv^% rrr^ywKff fgi^u timber^

Voffius endeavours to prove,
that the expreffion of this laft
verfion fignifies not' timber
fquared by the workman, but
trees whofe branches (hoot
quadrangularly, or by five and
mur, at equal diflahces from
the earth. Of which kind arc
the pine, fir, cedar, and fome
others \ but not the cyprefs.

that

Th( General Hiftery to the Flood. 6^

that being a veflel whkrh couW not be driven to a great A. M.
dillance. It was therefore probably built in Chaldaea, in 1656.
the territories of Babylon ; where there M^as fo great a -^"^^ ^^^^
quantity of cyprefs, in the groves and gardens, in Alex- *^^ *
ander's tinie, that he built a whole fleet of it for want of
other timber; and this conjefture is confirmed by the
Chaldaean tradition, which makes Xifuthrus fail from
that country.

As to the time, a rabbin fays, the art was fifty two JfiJiH
years in building ; the fathers and oriental'^ authors allow' "^"^^ ^^*''»
a hundred, becaufe Noah is faid to be five hundred years.
old, before any mention is made of the ark. Some, from
the words of St. Peter, ** That the long fufFering of God
waited while the ark was preparing," fuppofe Noah was
employed therein the whole time of forbearance, which
was one hundred and twenty years ; and others think the
time much fhorter, becaufe Noah's three fons, the eldefl
of whom was born in his five hundredth' year, are not
only mentioned before the dire6i:ions given for the ark,
but they and their wives are ordered to be taken into the .
ark in thofe very direftions, a circumftance which feems
to imply they were then married j and yet they had no
children till after the flood, unlefs they perilhed in the
deluge. But there is no fuch connection or exaft order
of time kept in this whole narration, as to eftablilh any of
thefe conjedlures. All we can afBrm Is, that fuch a vef-
fel as the ark, and the neceflary preparadons of the timber
for it, could not be the work of a few years.

The appointed time of the deluge being come, and all JVc^i/;, fiTr.

things in readincfs, Noah, at God's comimand, went into enur into

the ark with his wife, his fons, and his daughters-in- ^^f^^^>

law(T)j taking along with him, purfuant to the divine 'T^JkL'

diredionsy of all kinds of beafts, of fowls, and of every

thing that creepeth on the earth ; of the unclean by pairs,

and of the clean by fevens, the male and his female ^ (U).

Noah
» Genef. vif. 7. and », &c,

(T) It is certain, both from teen of the firH, and four of
the teftimony of Mofes and St. the laft. Some adhere to the.
Peter, that eight perfons, and former expofition, and others
no more, were faved in the to the latter, which feems to
ark. be the natural fenfe of the

(U) It is a doubt whether Hebrew words fevtn and.
there went into the ark but feven^ and /w^ and Hvo the
feven of every clean, and two of male and his female. If there
every unclean fpecies, or four- were but feven of the clean

beads

A.M.

Antef Cbr.

^kf wafers
mjfuagg.

The General ttifiory to the FlooJ.

Noah v^eAt into the ark in the (it hundredth year of txi**
age, on the feventeenth day of the fecond month, 'which
atifwers to our feventh of December (X), while the reft
of mankind, contemning his repeated admonitions, were
eating and drinking, marrying and gjven in marriage,
until the flood came and deftroyed them all. For on the
ftlf-fame day were aU the fountains of the great deep
broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened ; and*
the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
The' waters of the flood continued gradually to increafe
for five months, till they reached their utmoft height,
which was fifteen cubits, or twenty-feven feet above the '
tops of the higheft mountains, v

At the expiration of the five ihohthsi God caufed a
wind to pafs over the earth, and the Waters began to
alTuage, the two fources which fed them being, flopped
and reftrained. On the very firft day of their decreafe,
the feventeenth day of the feverittf month, Being the
fixthof May, they fell (bmuch, that' the ark refted on
the mountains of Ararat; and by the firft of the tenth
month, or nineteenth of July, the tops of the neighbour-'
ing mountains began to appear. About the twenty^ eighth
of Auguft, Noah, the better to jud^e the height of the
Waters, opened'the >«^ind6wor laittice of the room where
the birds were kept, and let out a raven, which flew to
and fro till the earth was dry> but gave him no fatjsfac-
tory information j whereupon he fent out a dove ( Y) three

feveral

betifis, one mv& have been
without a m^teb If this
be- adfnkted,' the capacity
which we have aEowed the
ark, being doable to what
biihc^ Wilkins computes it,
will be no more than neceflTary
for double the number of ani-
mals*

If It be afked by what means
Noah got all theie animals to-
gether into the ark, the beft
anfwer we can make is, that
they came i voluntarily by a
fupernatural impulfe from God.

(X) It is remarkable, that
the day afligned by Mofes for
the beginning of the deluge,
agrees exactly with the &iy
wherein Plutarch telb ua Qfirii

went into the ark, viz* the
feventeenth of Athyr, which
uRinth is the fecond ^ter the '
autumnal equinox, the fuii
then pafling through Scorpio*
Nor does it differ above a day
or two from that fet down by
Berofus, if we allow what pro-
bably may have been the cafe,
that he, or his tranfcribers,
fell into the miftake above
mentioned, and fuppofed the
flood began the fecond month
from the vernal equinox,
which was Daefius ; whereas the *
true month was Apellaeus, the
fecond from the autumnal
equinoxi ^

( Y) The Chaldean tradition
agrees wich the Mofaic hiflory

^he General Hifiory to the Fhod. 65

iev^ral timee^ intermitting fevcn days between each ex- A. M.
curfion. The firft time the dove quickly returned^ find- * '^^pV
ing no place dry enough for her to reft on ; the fecond ^^ ^^
tinie fhe came back in the evening, bringing in her mouth .

an olive-leaf plucked off, which fliewed a confiderable
abatement of the waters \ and the third time flie returned
no more.

On the firft day of the firft month, anfwering to the iloah, &e,
twenty-third of Oftober, in the fix hundredth and firft have the
year of Noah's life, that patriarch removed the covering <^^^'
of the ark, to have a more extended view, and faw the
furface of the earth was cleared of the waters : however,
he ftayed on board till the twenty -feventh of the fecond
month, or the eighteenth of December, when, by God's
direction, he went forth with his family, and all that
"were with him, having remained in the ark a year and
ttvi days, according to the antediluvian computation \
and, according to the prefent, a full year, or three hun-
dred fixty-five days ^.

We fhall conclude this feftion with adding a word or ^he ?ir»
two of the Perfian and Indian traditions concerning the Jianand

deluge. Indian

An eaftern writer tells us, that fome of thofe who em- ^^ffj^g^l^^
brace the Magian religion, are faid to deny the flood, or
at leaft the univerfality of it; pretending, that it reached
no farther than a cliff near Hulwan °, a city of Irak, bor-
dering on Curdeftan. Yet the orthodox among them
acknowlege this general deftruftion by water, fent by
God to punifh the crimes of mankind ; one of whom,
named Malcus, was a monfter of wickednefs and impiety.
One odd circumftance mentioned by them is^ that the
firft waters of the deluge gufhed out of the oven (Z) of a
certain old woman, named Zala Cufa p.

n Genef. vii, & viii. © Ebn Shohnah. P Vide Hyde

de Rel. vet. Perfar. cap. lo. and Lorct*8 Account of the Religion of
the Perfes, p. 9.

in the circumftance of the rowed this circumftance, and

bird's being fent out by Xifu- inferted it in his Koran ; the

thrus. And Plutarch fays, commentators fay, it was the

that, according to the inytho* fign by which Noah knew the

logifts, a dove was let out of flood was coming. And fome

the ar|^ ; and that her going j>retend it was the fame oven

cut was to Deucalion a fign which Eve made ufe of to bake

of fair weather, as her return her bread; andthatitdefcend-

denoted the reverfe. ed from patriarch to patri-

(Z) Mohatnmed has bor* arch, till it cameto Noah (8)»

(t) Vide Al Koran, cap. xi. D*Herbclot Bib, Orient.

VoL.L F We

AnteCbr.
»H7

66 * sr>&/ General Hijiory to the Fload.

A. M, We are told by the fame author, that the Indians ac--

'^57- knowlege no deluge ; but this muft not be underftood of
all; for the Bramins fay, that the four tribes, or cafls^
of which the firft race of men coniifted, degenerating
from their primitive innocence, the prieft ncglefting his
piety, the foldier becoming infolent and tyrannical, the
merchant praftifing deceit in trade, and ufing falfe ba-
lances, and the artizan fpending the profits of his inven-
tions in riot and excefs, God's indignation was juftly
provoked, and he fent a flood, which deftroyed all na-
tions without exception: after which extermination, in
order to repair mankind, he created three perfons of
greater excellency than thofe of the former generatioij ;
to one of whom, named Bremaw, he gave the power of
creating men and animals \ the firft human pair proceed-
ing one from his right fide, the other from his left. The
man was called Manow, and the woman Ceteroupa, and
by them was the earth repleniflied. It muft be obfervcd,
however, that thefe people believe feveral fucceffive events
of this nature *»•

SECT. VIII.

Of the State of the Antediluvian fVorld^ and the Changes
made in the Earth by the Deluge*

Ofiktfiatt \7l/ E cannot difmifs the hiftory of the old world, wlth-
•fthiold ^^ out taking a tranfient^ view of the antediluvian
world. ftate Qf mankind, and of the alterations which have been
wrought in nature by the flood.

The religion, policy, ans, and fciences of thefe firft

men would be a very entertaining fubje£k ; but all we

know of thefe articles, is reducible to a few conjedlures,

IThi nlipt' '^^^ ^^^y circumftance we know as to their religious

•n of the rites is, that they ofitjred facrifices, both of the fruits of

antedilw |he earth and of animals ; but whether the blood and flefli

'utans, ^f ^[jg animals, or only their milk and wool were ofl^ered,

IB a difpute among the learned. Some have endeavoured

to prove^ that all the patriarchs from Adam had ftated

places, and annual and weekly times fet apart for divine

worlhip, and alfo a feparate maintenance for the priefts :

all which particulars may be true, though they cannot be

4 Lord's DifcouiTe of the Banian Religion, chap« Ti,,attd vii. Vto*
pag. of the Goipei in the £aft, part it lett. 3.

proved

^he General Hijory to the Fhod. 67

proved from the Scripture. But^ what is more extraor*
dinary, they pretend to tell us the very day of the week
on which the antediluvian fabbath was kept, and that it
was the fanrie with the Chriftian fabbath, or Sunday '.

Of the arts and fciences of thofe people we have not Arts and
thuch more to fay. They feem to have fpent their time fcienas,
in luxury and wantonnefs, to which the abundant fertility
of the firft earth invited them, rather than in difcoveries
or improvements, which, probably, they ftood much lefs
in need of than their fucceflbrs. The art of working me-
tals was found out by the laft generation of Cain's line ;
and muiic, which they might be fuppofed to praftife for
their pleafure, was not brought to any perfediion, if in-
vented, before the fame generation. Some authors fup-
pofe aftronomy to have been cultivated by the antedilu-
vians, though this opinion is probably owing to a miftakc
of Jofephus : but it is to be prefumed, the prpgrefs they
made therein, ' or in any other fcience, was not extraordi-
nary ; it being even very doubtful whether letters were fo
much as known before the flood, whatever is pretended
by fome men, who have conceived fo high an opinion of
Adam's knowledge, that they fuppofe it ta have been
almoft univerfal ; nor can any thing be inferred from the
books attributed to that patriarch, or to Seth and Ehoch,
which are forgeries too grofs to deferve an;^ confideration.

As to their politics and civil conftitutions, we have not ^heit PqU*
fo much as any circumftances whereon to build conjee^ 0^-
tures. It is probable the patriarchal form of government,
which certainly was the firft, was fet afide when tyranny
and oppreflion began to take place, and much fooner
among the race of Cain than that of Seth. It feems alfo,
that their communities were but few, and confiftcd of
vaftly larger numbers of people than any formed fince
the flood ; or rather, it is a queftion, whether, after the
union of the two great families of Seth and Cain, there
was any diftin£lion of civil focieties, or diverCty of regular
governments at all 4 it is more likely that all mankitid
made but one great nation, though living in a kind of
anarchy, divided into feveral diforderly aflbciations;
which, as it was almoft the natural confequence of their
having but one common language, fo it> was a circum-
ftance that greatly contributed to the general corruption,
which otherwife, could not have fo univerfally overfprcad

r Smithes Dofbine of the Church of England, concerniAg th^
Lord's Day, Vid, Bedford'* Scripture Chronol. p. 6*

Fa the

fheold
tvorldmere
populous
and fertile
than the
preJenU

fhe Generd Hiflory to the Fhod.

tlic antediluvian world. For this reafon, chiefly,* fo fpon
as the pofterity of Noah were fufEciently increafed, a
plurality of tongues was miractrloufly introduced in order
to divide them into diftin£): focieties, that they might not
be fa earfily debauched for the future.

The ftate of the natural world before the flood feems to
have been exceedingly diflirent from what it 13 at prefent-

The antediluvian world was, in all probahility, ftocked
with a much greater number of inhabitants than the pre-
fent earth either a£tually does, or perhaps is capable of
containing or ftq>plying. This increafe of population
feems naturafly to follow from the great length of their
lives, which exceeding the prefent fiandard of -life, in
proportion, at leaft, of ten to one, the antediluvians mufl
^cpordingly, in any long fpace of time, double themfelvey^
at leaft, in about the tenth part of the time in which
mankind do now double their number ; for- they began to
get children as early, and left off as late, in proportion,
as men do now: and the feverat children of the fame
father feem to have fucceefded as quickly one after an-
other as they ufually do at this day ; and as many genera-
tions, which arr but fucceflive with us, were contempo-
rary before the flood, the number of people living on the
earth at once, would be fufEciently increafed to anfwer
any defeft which Height arife from other circumftances
not confidered. So that, if we make a computation on
thofe principles (A)^ we (hall find that there were a con-

fiderablc

(A) It is now generally own-
ed, and that from good obfer«
rations^ that mankind do dou-
Ue therafehres in about three
iiundred and fixty, or three
liundred and feventy years;
or, allowance being made for
all, but very uncommon and
Tcry rare cafes of general wars,
famines, plagues, and fuch
like defolations, in about four
hundred years (9}. So that,
allowing the period for doub-
ling of mankind from the crea-
tion to the deluge, to be- tea

times fliorfer, by reafon of their
fo much longer lives ; if we
have a feries of fortv numbers,
beginning at two (tor fo many
God created himfelf at firft),
and doubling themfelves in
forty, or^ for convenience, in
forty-one years at a mean, or
one age with another, till the
deluge, we (ball, in fpme de-
gree, obtain the fum total of
mankind at the deluge, and
alfo in the feveral ages before
thattimci though this period
of (bubiing mufl ilill have

(9) See fir W, Petty^ Effay on the Multiplication of Mankind i
4Uid the Phiiofopliical Tranfadions, N** j97.pt 597,

beetti

ne General Uijiory to th VhoiU

,69

fiderable number of people in the world at the death of
Abel^ though their father Adam wa$ not then one hun-
<lred and thirty years old, and that the number of man-
kind before the deluge would eafily amount to above one
hundred thoufand millions (even according to the Sama-
ritan chronology) ; that is, 4o twenty times as mihy as
our prefent earth has^ m all probability, now upon it, or
can well be fuppofed capable of maintaining in its prefent
conftitution '• From whence it follows, that, to fuftaia
fo much large a number of inhabitants (befides the brute
animals, whicil were, very probably, as numerous in
proportion), the earth muft have been much ;nore fruitful
before that defolation than it has been fince * ; though it
was then barren, in comparifon of its primitive fertility
before the fall.

One of the moft extraordinary circumftances which Ofthehn*
pccurs in the antediluvian hiftory, is the vaft length jof fJ^inrfM'-

• Whifton'8 Theoiy, p. 146, &c. « Ibid. p. »56. l^'^'umu

been much ihorter ia the ear-
lieft, and lon^r in the lateft
times of the interval; which
^computation Mr. Whiftoo, to

whom we are obliged for thefe
obfervations, has given us ia
the following table«

Numb
mankr

Years (
the wc

Years
doubli

8 ^

»> 6

sr.g-

Years
the w(

o.i< op

cr "I *»

SI. «• M

P-3

•

2.0 .

•

£,097,152

420

40 2^

41194,304

462

42 21

8,388,608

506

44 -2;* "

16,777,216

55 »

46 23

33,554,43*

600

48 24

128

67,108,864

650

50 25
52 26

256

134,217^728

702

i*2

^68,435,456

756

54 27

1^024

536,«7o,9i2

8I2

56 28

2,048

',073,741,824

870

58 29

4,096

132

2^47,483,648

9J0

60 30

8,192

156

4,294,967,296

.992

62 3*

16,384

182

«3

^,589,934,59*

1,056

64 32

52,768

210

17,179,869,184

I5I22

6633

^5*536

240

34^359,738,368

1,190

68 34

131,072

272

68,7»9,47^>73&

1^260

70 35

262,144
524,288

306

137,438,9531472

1,332

72 36

342

»8

*74,877»9o6»944.

1,406

7i ^t

1,048,576

380

549,755*^13,888

i.4«*

76 38

human

7CJ

The General Hiftoty to the Flood.

human lives in thofe firfl ages, in comparifon with cur
own. Fewperfons now arrive to eighty or an hundred
years, whereas, before the flood, they frequently lived
to near a thoufand ; a difproportion almoft incredible,
though fupported by the joint teftimonies of facred and
prophane writers (B). 8ome, to reconcile the matter
with probability, have imagined that the ages of thofc
firft men might poffibly be computed not by folar years,
but months °, an expedient which reduces the length of
their lives rather to a fliorter period than our own. But
for this there is not the lead found atio© 5 befides, the
many abfurdities that would thence follow, fuch as their
begetting children a^ about fix years of age, as fome of
them in that cafe muft have done, and the contra£):ion
, of the whole interval, between the creation and the de-
luge, to confiderably lefs than two hundred years, even
accprding to the larger computation of tb^ Septuagint,
Caufesofh, The caufes of this longevity are varioufly affigned :
fome have imputed itto the fobriety of the antediluvians,
and the fimplicity of their diet ; alleging, that they eat
no flefli (C), and had none of thofe provocations to glut-
tony, which wit and vice have fince invented. Temper-
ance might, undoubtedly, have fome efFeft, but not pof-
fibly to fuch a degree. There have been many temperate
and al^ftemious perfon3 in latter ages, who yet feldom
have exceeded the ufual period. Others have imputed
that longevity to the excellency of their fruits, and fome
peculiar virtue in the herbs and plants of thofe days ; but
as the earth was curfed immediately after the fall, its
fruits, we may fuppofe, gradually decreafed in their vir*

« Varro, apud La6lant. Inft. Divin, lib, ii. cap. is. Vid. Auguf*
tin. tie Civit.Dd, lib.xv* cap. is,

' (B) Jofephus reckons up
the teftimonies of Manetho,
Berofus, Mochus, Heftiseus,
Jerom the Egyptian, and the
writers of the Phoenician anti-
quities. He fays alfo, that
Hefiod, Hecatajus, Hellani-
CU8,' Acufilaus, Ephorus, and
Nicokius, wrote that the an-
cients lived a thoufand years.
Of all which teftimonies we
^hayc none now extant, except

that of Hefiod, in Oper. ^
Dieb.ver. 130.

(C) A learned phyfician has
advanced a very contrary opi«?
nion. Among feveral caufes
of the longevity of the firft
men, enumeratedby him, one
is, their eating of raw flefti ;
the moft nounfhing and beft
parts whereof he fuppofes, are
carried off in drefling by the
adtionof the fire. Beverovii
cius, Thef, Sanitate, lib* iii-

^he General Htftory to the Flood. 7 1

tue and goodnefs till the flood ; and yet we do not fee the
length of men's lives decreafed confiderably, if at all dur-
ing that interval. Others have thought, that the long
Kves of thofe inhabitants of the old world proceeded from
the ftrength of their ftamina, or firft principles of their
bodily conftitutions : which might, indeed, be a concur*
rent, but not the fole and adequate caufe of their longe-
vity 5 for Shem^ who was born before the deluge, and
had all the virtue of the antediluviati conftitution, fell
three hundred years fhort of the age of his forefathers,
bccaufe the greateft part of his life was paiTed after the
dood.

It has therefore been more rationally fuppofed, that the
chief caufe of this long^evity was the wholefome conftttu-p
tion of the antediluvian air, which, after the deluge, be-
came corrupted and unwholefome, breaking, by degrees,
the priftine crafis of the body, and ihortening men's lives,
in a very few ages, to near ^^ prefent ftandard. But
\iO\sr the flood fhould induce or occafion fuch a change
in the air, is not eafy to comprehend*.

If no rain fell in fenfible round drops, to refraft and Whether
refleft the rays of light, on which the rainbow entirely f^y ''^"'-
depends, the appearance of that beautiful phaenomenon tT^fij^*
.could not be expelled ; and, indeed, it is fomewhat hard
to conceive how it could be a fign or confirmation of the
.covenant which God made with Noah, that he would
drown the world no more with water, if it had been in
llie clouds before, and with no regard to this promife*
For if we fuppofe it even an arbitrary ifign, and to have
no conneftion with the effeft, it feems that, to make \t
fignificant and fatisfaclory, it raufl: be fomething new,
otherwife it could not fignify a pew thing, or be the con-
firmation of a new promife.

Whether flefh was permitted to be eaten before the Whether
deluge, is alfo a quelljon which Jias been much debated, anyfie/b
By the permiffion exprefsly given to Noah for tfeat purpofe^ might be
alter the floods and God's affigning veuetabjes only for 'fQ^^.f^^
food to man, as well asbeaft, at the cxea»tionj one v^^ould jIqqJ^^
imagine it was not lawful before ; yet others have fup-
pofed, that it was included in the general grant of power
3nd dominion given to Adam by Gqd over the animal
creation ; and the diftinftion of beafts into clean and un-
clean, which was well known before the flood, is infifted
4)n as a ftrong argument on this fide, and which it is not

;fVid. Burnet's Theory, Whifton's Theory. Ray on the Deluge.

F 4 cafy

7 2 ^he General Hiflory ta the Fhod.

cafy to anfwer. To fay, that diftin£iion was ufcd pro*
leptically, is a mere fubterfuge ; and to fuppofe it made
folely to diftinguifh what was lawful or unlawful to be
facrificed, and not what might or might not be eaten, i$
little better ; it being the cuftom to offer to God fuch
fruits and animals as were fit for food and fuftenance, and
not fuch as were of no ufe or benefit to mankind in that
refpeft.

SECT. IX.

An Inquiry concerning the Situation of Mount Ararat^
and the various Opinions about it.

1 T may be proper, before we clofe this chapter, to give
^ fome ?iccount of the mountains of Ararat, whereon
the ark refted, the fituation of which is dill uncertain.

The Sibylline verfes place Mount Ararat in the borderq
, of Black Phrygia, near Celaenae, at the fprings of the
river Marfyas, which rifes out of the fame lake with the
Mseander, and falls at length into that river. But itap-
pears from good authorities that there is really no moun-t
tain at all m that place, at leail none near fo high a$
Ararat muft needs have been. This fancy, thereforejj
feems to have taken its rife from the fumame Cibotos^ or the
arky given to Apamaea, another city near Celaenae. This
appellation, however, it did not receive, as Bochart ob-j
ferves, from any tradition of Noah's ark, but from its
fituation, fhut up like an ark or cheft, by three rivers ; as
the port of Alexandria in Egypt was called Cibotos, from
the bay furrounding it : befides, Cibotos was a new name,
which does not feem to have been known in thofe pait^
till given to Apamaea, built by Seleucus. or Antiochusi
Soter ; and Celaenae had a prio;- right to it, if there had
been any fuch tradition ; fo that what is farther alleged
of the Apamean medals having on the reverfe the impref-
fion of an ark, as may be feen on three feverally ftruck ii^
honour pf Adrian, Septimius S^verus, and Philip the;
Arabian, is of no weight.

Ben Gorion feems to extend the name of Ararat to
Caucafus \ but by the mountains of Ararat, both ancient
and modern authors have generally underftood thofe of
Armenia. Ararat is .by the Septuagint, and in the Vul-
gate, rendered Armenia (D) j and there is actually a pra-

(D) The Samaritan verfion the name the eaftern writers,
tranflates it Sereudib^ which is give to the ifland Ceylon.

yinco

The GemralHiftoty to the Hood, 73

vixiee of tfaat country named Ararat, or Airarat^ from n
plain therein, fo called in memory of Arai the eightli
king of that natiop, who was there flain in battle ; Jrai
arai fignifying tbtjlain of Jrai* But though authors have
generally agreed in placing Ararat in Armenia, yet they
differ as to the particular iituation of the; mountain where
the ark refted. There are two opmions concerninji it,
and each is fupported by tradition.

The firft opinion is, that it was one of the mountains firjl traJU
which divide Armenia on the fouth from Mefopotamia, tion abM
and that part of Aflyria inhabited by the Curds, from M^amt 4*
whom thofe mountains took the name of Curdue, or ^^^*
Cardu, by the Greeks turned into Gordygei(£}. It is
called by the Arabs Al Judi, and alfo Thamanin.

The tradition,, which affirms the ark to have refted on
thefe mountains, muft have been very ancient, fince it is
the tradition of the Chaldeans themfelves : the Chaldee
paraphrafts affent to this opinion, which obtained very
much formerly j but when we come , to enquire into
tbe peculiar part of thefe mpuntains^ whereon the ark
refted, authors fcem to place it out of Armenia ; Epipha»
pins, in the country of the Cordyaeans, or between the
Armenians and Cordyaeans, on the mountain Lubar $ the
eaftern authors, as well Chriftians as Mahommedans, on
Moiint Thamanin, or Al Judi, which overlooks the
country of Diyah Rabiah, in Mefopotamia, near the citie9
of Maufol, Forda, and Jazirat Ebn Omur, which laft is
faid to be but four miles from the place where the ark

refted '^^ . • . .

To confirm this tradition we are told the remains of Rematndtf
the ark were to be feen upon thefe mountains. Berofus */',^^ f*
and Abydenus both declare there yras fuch a report in /^^^/^j,-
their time. The firft obferves farther, that feveral of the timeontht
inhabitants in the neighbourhood fcraped the pitch off" the Cdrdu
planks as a rarity, and carried it about them for an mountains^
amulet; and the latter fays, they ufed the wood of the
veflel as a remedy for many difeafes, with wonderful fuc-
cefs. The relics of the ark were to be feen alfo in the
time of Epiphanius, if we may believe his aflertion \ and

7 Vide Eutych. AnnaK p. 41. Bochart. Phaleg. lib, i. Onkelos
^ Jonathan in Genef. viil. Ben j . Tudelens Itiner. p. 6 x •

(E) The Greek and Latin Bochart fuppofes they are the
writers name them Carduchi, fame that are called by mif-
Cardiei, Cordvaei, Cordueni, take, in Jofephu8> Casron*
pordi, Cordaei, Qurdi, ^c«

M^naflery
tftke ark
formerlj

Sicondira"
ditiQH tf-
b^ut M9unt
JbraraU

CalhdMa-
Jis by the
drnteaians*

7%e General Hi/lory to the Fhod.

we arc told, the emperor Heraclius went from the town
of Thamanin up the mountain Al Judi, and faw the place
of the ark. This town of Thamanin is, or was, fituatc
at the foot of the mountain Al Judi ; the name fignifies
eighty^ in memory of the eighty perfons who, according
to a Mohammedan tradition, were faved in the ark ;
though the Chriftian writers among the Arabs, who fay
this city was built by Noah and his fons, near Forda, and
fuppofe it was fo called becaufe they were eight *.

There was formerly a famous monaftery, called The
Monaftery of the Ark, upon the Cardu mountains, wherft
the Neftorians ufed to celebrate a feftival on the fpot
where they fuppofed the ark refted ; but in the year of
Chrift 776, that monaftery was deftroyed by lightning ;
fince which time, probably, the credit of this tradition
has declined, and given place to another which at prefent
obtains.

The fecond opinion, therefore, places Mount Ararat
towards the middle of Armenia, near the river Araxes,
or Aras, above two hundred and eighty miles diftant from
Al Judi, to the north-eaft.

Jerom feems to be the firft who hath given an account
of this tradition ; ** Ararat, fays that father, is a chain-
paign country, incredibly fertile, through which the
Araxes flows, at the foot of Mount Taurus, which ex-
tends fo far." Wherefore, by the mountains of Ararat,
whereon the ark refted, are not to be underftood the
mountains of Armenia in geiieral, but the higheft moun*
tains of Taurus, which overlook the plains of Ararat.
Thefe, probably, are the plains mentioned before, which
gave name to the country. An author of the middle age
obferves, that near the city of Naxuhan (Naxh-chuvan)
are the mountains on which the ark refted, the Araxes
running at the foot of them ; and fince that time, all the
travellers into thofe parts mention thefe as the real moun-
tain of Ararat.

But the Armenians are convinced that this is the very
mountain on which the ark refted 5 they call it Mafis,
and derive the name from Amafia, the third fucceflbr oiF
Haikh, the founder of their nation. The Turks named
it Agridagh, that is, the heavy ox great mountain^ and Par-
mack-daghi, or the mountainof the finger y in allufion to its

* Vide Berofus apud Jofcph. Antiq. lib. i. cap. 4. Abydcn.apud
Eufeh. Chron Grace. ScPraeo. Evan. lib. ix. cap. 4. Rbn Amid»
^li ft. Arab. lib. i. cap. 1. D'Hcrbclot, p. 677,

appear*

^he General Hjftary to the Flood. 75

appearance : it (lands about twelve leagues to the eaft
(or rather fouth-eaft) of Erivan, and of Ejmiadzin, or
the thne churches (from which laft it is two ihort days
journey), four leagues from the Aras, and ten to the
north -weft of Naxh-chuvan. Sir Walter Raleigh rcfts
the ark, not upon the mountains of Armenia, but on
feme of thofe between Perfia, Tartary, and India : he
takes the mountains of Ararat in a more extended fenfe
than either the ancient traditions or Scripture will allow :
he fuppofes the mountains of Caucafus, towards Ba£lria
and Scythia, to be part of a branch of Taurus, which^ in
its way through Afia, crofled Armenia.

All that has been faid by all the writers who have treated
pn this fubje£t, amounts to no more than frivolous con-
je£lure, unfupported by faft, or philofophy.

Mount Mafis is encompaffed by feveral petty hills, on the Dtfcrip*
tops of which are found many ruins, faid to have been ^* ^
the buildings of the firft men, who feared, for a time, jj^^^^
to defcend into the plains. It ftands by itfelf» in form
of a fugar-ioaf, in the midft of a very txtenfive plain,
detached from the other mountains of Armenia. It con-
fifts of two hills ; the lefl?r is the more fharp and point-
ed \ the higher, which is that of the ark, lies north-weft
of it, and raifes its head far above the neighbouring
mountains. When the air is clear, it does not appear to
be above two leagues from Erivan, and may be feen four
or five days journey off. Yet travellers agree that the
the height of it is not extraordinary : one thinks, he hath
paiTed a part of Caucafus, which was higher ; and an-
other fays, it is not above twice as high as Mount .Valerian,
near Paris : they therefore impute its being vifible fo far
pff, to its lonely fituation, in a vaft plain, and upon the
moft elevated part of the country.

The Armenian monks tell a thoufand idle ftories con- Fables 0/
cerning the ark, the whole, or a part of which, they pre- *^' Arme^
Jend, is ftill to be feen on the top of the mountain ; "I'^^l^g^^
though at the fame time they affirm, that no man ever
reached the fpot : they pretend that thofe who have at-
tempted to afcend the hill out of zeal, or otherwife, have
been puniftied, or at leaft brought back again by angels at
flight, to the place they fet out from in the day, to pre-
vent their approaching that veffel : this was the cafe with
a monkof Ejmiadzin, afterwards biftiop of Nifibin, called
J/imes ; tl^ough God at length fo far complied with his
defires, as to fend an angel to him with a piece of the ark,
^ho bid bim^ at the fame time, not fatigue himfelf in

vainly

76 The General Hiftoty to the FhoL

trainly endeavouring to afcend the mountain; for that
God had prohibited the accefs to the top of it, and would
not fuflFer men to -pull in piece* a veffel which had fated
fo many creatures. But if they are afked, whether they
have any relics of the ark, they gravely anfwef, that it
ftill lies buried in the vaft heaps of fnow ; which, indeed^
is the charm that hinders the afcent, and is fufficient to
defend the ark without the help of an angel. Yet a cer-
tain miflionary conceits, that the earthly Paradife ftill re-
mains in fomje agreeable plain of this mountain, which
God preferves from heat and cold, and where the prophets
Enoch and Ehas enjoy a thoufand delights.

The Armenian patriarch informed Tourncfort, that
God had favoured one faint with the fight of the ark it-
felf. And Rubruquis was afTured by a bifhop, that the
before mentioned piece of the ark (brought to James)
was in their church ; and the Copts flicw part of a beam
of that veffel in theirs at Old Cairo in Egypt : what credit
ought to be given to thefe venerable teftimonies, appears
from the account Toumefort has left us of his attempt to
climb this mountain, in which having fpent a whole day
with infinite fatigue, he was' obliged, oy the fnow and in-
tcnfe cold, to return without accomplifliing bis defign^
though it was then in the mi^le of fiimmer.

The fituation of Ararat, wh^jther it be Mount Mafis,
or the mountain of Cardu, is very convenient for the jour-
ney, of the fons of Noah from thence to Shinaar^ the
diftance not being very great, and the dcfcent eafy, efpc-
cially from the latter, into the plains of Mefopotamia, of
which Shinaar is a part. We difcover plainly, through
the Mofaic hiftory, a neighbourhood between the land of
Eden, where man was created ; that of Ararat, where
the remains of mankind were faved \ and that of Shinaar^
where they fixed the centre of their plantations *.

a Vid. Rubruquis de Tartaris, cap. xlviii. Tournefort't Voyages,
lett. vii. Tavernier*8 Voyage, p. i8i. Poulet Nouv. Relat, da
Levant, part. i. chap. lo. Chardin Voy. en Pcrfc, torn. i. p. 157,
^lmckford*s Connefi. vol. i. p. ^S*

CHAP.

CHAP. 11. '

From the Deluge to the Birth of Abraham.

S E C T. I.

^he Chronology from the Deluge to the Departure of

Abraham front Haran^fiated^

BEFORE we proceed to the poftdlluvian hiftory, wc
fliall fettle the chronology of this firft period of it,
which, as well 2,% that of the preceding, can be adjufkd
only from the records of Mofes.

For the planting of the world, the forming of focieties
and governments, the rife of arts and fciences, and the
beginning of ftates and monarchies, falling within this

Erovince, nothing could have been more ferviceable to
iftory, than a fixed and uniform chronology of thefe
early ages; whereas authors, divided in their opinions
about the authenticity of the feveral copies, have every
one chofen to follow that which agreed beft with his own
notions or hypothefis ; whereby they have fo perplexed
and confounded all tranfa<%ions, both facred and profane,
which fall within this period, tfiat the hiftory thereof can
be compared to nothing but the original chaos.

After the birth of Abraham, indeed, we enter upon
a more certain feries of time, about which chronologers
are more generally agrieed ; the variety of the feveral co-
pies makipg a difference of but a few years, not feveral
ages, as we find the difference arifes to in this period ;^
for the better exhibiting of which, we have inferted the
following tables, adjufted in the fame form with thofe
we have given of the antediluvian patriarchs.

^Ta-

The General Hijloryfrom the Deluge

A Table of the Tears of the Pojidiluvian Patriarchs, to

the birth of Abraham.

Years they liv-
Thelr ages at their fons birth.

Hcb.
Shem, aft. the flood 2

Arphaxad,

Cainan^

Salahy

Eber,

Phalcg,

Reu,

Serug,

Nahor,

Terah,

Sum to
Abraham
birth.

35
o

30
34

30
32

29
130

Jof.

135
O

130

132

130

Sam.
2

135

130

134
130

132

130

79
130

Sept.
2

130

»34
130

132

130

79
130

ed after their
fons birth.

35^ 892 1002 1 132

Heb.

500

403

403
430
209

207
200
119

Sam. Sept.

500 500
300 430

o 330

303
270

109

107

100

330

370
209

207

200

129

Length of their
lives.

Heb. Sara. Sept.
600 600 600

438 43S 5^5
o o 460

433 433 460
464 404 504

239 239 339

239 ^39 39

230 230 330

148 148 208

205 205 205

A Chronological TABLZofthe Tears of the Poftdiluvian Patri-
archs to the call of Abraham^ according to the Computation cf
the Hebrew.

•< •< X •<

» r «• .-*
»«» 2»

15 5 ? ?

»^

• t 1. p 1

600 98 cL

The flood,

•1*

Arpbaiad born.

a 602 100

•

i t

Salah born.

- , 37 637 135 35

«!

£ber born.

67 667 165 65

Pekg born. Confufion

cf,

of y 101 701 199 99

tongues, and difperfion

* n

mankind.

Keu born, •

- 131 731 419 129

Serug born.

- 163 763 261 161

126

62 32

Nahor born.

- 193 793 291 191

156

126

92 62

•

Terah born.

- 222 822 320 220

185

'55

121 91

Haran born.

- 292 892 390 290

^55

225

191 161

129

Peleg dies.

- 340 940 438 338 303 273 239 209

177

147

118

Nabor dies.

- 341 941 439 339

304

274

210

178

J48

119

Noah dies.

• 350 95° 448 348

313

283

219

187

128

•

Abraham born, •

- 35a 450 350 315

285

221

189

130

Reu dies,

- 370 468 368

333

303

239 207

148

Serug dies.

- 393 491 39'

356

326

230

171

^ Terah dies, and Abraham
called from tiarao^ -

'"|4*7 5*5 4*5 390 3^

205

hro

to the Birth of Ahraham.

A Chronological T a -b l e '<?/ the Years of the Pojldiluvian
Patriarchs to the call of Abraham ^ according to the Computation
of the Septuagint.

tte flood,

Arphaxad born^

Cainan boro,

Salah born,

Noah diet,

£bcr boroy

Sfaem dies,

PeJeg born. Confufion «

of tongues, and dlf- I

perflon of n)ankind> S

Arphaxad dies, - -

Cainan dies, «

Reu born^

Salah diesy

Serug born>

Peleg dies,

£ber dies,

Nahorboro>

Rcu diet,

Terah born,

Serng dies, •

Abraham born,

Terah dies, and Abra- |
bam is called from S
Haran, • J

•I

C/3

137
267

350

397

50a

531

<»-

600 98 g, g

602 100 * B

737 »35 13s ' ,
867 365 465 130
950 448 348 213 83

495 395 260 130
600 5C0 365 235 105

5*9 394 264 134

•A

o s;

567

597
661

727

793
870

901

923
looo
100s

II23[

JI32

1207

5^5 430 330 170 3^
460 360 400 <S6
394 264 '30
460 330 *9o 00
396 262 132

473 339 ao9
504

240 X08

%^% 130
339 207
209

x«

77
79

33<^ 200 III
209 130

>
3

284 205 75

^ C*ra-

8o The General Hi/lory from the Deluge

A Chronological Table of the Tears of the Pqfl£luvian Patri-
archs to the call of Abraham^ according to the Computation of
the Samaritan Pentateuch.

^ t< ^
? ? ?

■

s. s. s. •<

? ^ j^ i Ki

600 ,g i g s.

Thk flooa,

O 1

Arphand born^

•

602 ilo ' ?• 2

Salah borny

»37 737 235 135 ?

£ber bom*

^67 867 365 165 130

Noah dies, - *

35P 950 448 3455 ai3 83

•^

Peleg born. Conf^fion

1 401

"*».

tongues, apd difperfion of
mankind,

499 399 »^4 ^34

Arphaxad dle^

440

538 43^ 303 193

•

Shem dies.

^ 50*

^00 ^65 255

101

•

•<

ReuJI^rRy

53«

394 164

13^

^«

■

$alah dies,

•

570

433 303

169

Pele^ diet.

6 Id

'373

239

109

•

Serog bom.

66s

.396

13a

Bber dies.

'• 671

404

140

Reu dies.

,'770

»39' *°7

»4%

Kabor bom.

• * 793

130

•

Terah bojn, *

87a

•

209

Serug 4ics,

893

•

230

loo

Kahor dies.

•

941

■

148

Abraham born.

lOOft

130

•

Terah dies, and Abraham it

called from Haran,

j-1077

*75

There is no difference in this period between the He-
brew and the Samaritan, but what arifes from the diffe-
rent computation of the years of tfie genitures of the pa-
triarchs : the great difficulty, in both copies, confifts in
Terah^s age at the biith ot Abraham; fome will have
him bom in the feventieth year of Terah, which cannot
be, unlefs Abraham were the eldeft fcn, as it is evident
he was not (for Lot, Haran's fon, was near as old as
Abraham) or unlefs Haran was born before his father
was feventy, which feems not to be agreeable to the text ;
and, if Terah was two hundred and five years old at his
death, Abraham being then bat feventy-five, he muft
have been one hundred and thirty when Abraham was
bom. The Samaritan copy, indeed, makes Terah's age,
at his death, no more than one hundred and forty-five-;
but then the firft objeftion as to Haran's feniority remains^
fo that ia this point Hx^ fault feem^ to be in the Samarl-

tan I

to the Birth of Abraham. § I

tan ; for It muft be confefled, the Hebrew number is in
tills place more to be depended upon.

The call of Abraham, where the period ends, is, by
fome, reckoned five years fooner, wl>en he left Ur ; but
this will not agree with Scripture, as fliall be fliewn,
when we come to fettle the next period.

There are fome variations between the prefent copies
of the Septuagint ; but as moft of them relate to the
length of fome of the patriarchs lives, a circumftance
not very material, and which makes no difference in the
computation, we (hall pafs them by ; and only obferve,
that fome copies place the birth of Arphaxad twelve
years after the flood, which will encreafe the total of this
period ten years \ and that fome make the age of Nahor,
at the birth of Terah, one hundred and feventy-nine (F).

We have chofen to follow the readings of the Alexan-
drian manufcript ; according to which, the only differ-
ence between the Septuagint and the Samaritan, in thia
period, is one hundred and thirty years given to Cainan,
who is added between Arphaxad and Salah ^ but is to be
found neither in the Hebrew nor the Samaritan, nor in
the chronology of thofe times, given us, from the Sep-
tuagint itfelf, by Africanus and Eufebius ^ ; which cir-
cumftance we look upon as fufficient authority to rcjeft
him out of the number of the patriarchs,* notwithftand-
ing his name is inferted in St. Luke, which may eafily
have happened, by its being added from fome erroneous
copies of the Septuagint, and fir ft, as is moft probable,:
put in the margin, though it has fince crept into the
text.

The difference between the Hebrew reckoning and the
Samaritan, in this period, is very confiderable, being no
lefs than five hundred and fifty years ; in which the He-
brew falls fhort of the Samaritan. As to the objeftiqns^

b Vide Eufeb. Chron. Grsec. p. 9.

(F) Father Pezron, follow- of thid period will be on«

ing the prefent copies of Jofe- thoufand two hundred and fif-

phus, places the birth of'^Te- ty-fevent But afterwards, tak-

rah in the one hundred and ing in the ten years, added as

twenty-ninth year of Nahor ; above, between the flood and

which agrees with the He- the birth of Arphaxad, he, in

brew, and the amended num- his fecond computation, makes

ber of Jofephus, with the ad- the whole one thoufand two

dition only of one hundred hundred and fixty-feven.
years : and thus the total

Vol. L G whigh

82 The General Hiftory from the Deluge'

which have been thence formed againft the former cafcu*
lation, the reader will find them fully anfwered by Uflier^
Capfovius, and other eminent chronologers ; and we ibaUr
have occa&on to take notice of them hereafter.^

SECT. IL

The Hijlory of Noah after the Floods md of his JDe^

fcendents to Abraham.

Yr. of FK ^yi'H E time of Noah's going forth of the arlc is fixed,

Ante^Chr. ^^ Scripture*, to the firft day of the fix hundredL

234,7. and firft year of his age* Immediately upon his' landings

he built an altar^ and offered a burnt-facrifice, of every

JStoah comtt clean beaft, and every clean fowl (G). God, having ac-
•utofthe cepted the facrifice, bleffed Noah^ and gave him power
^^ ' over all living creatures, with a permifEon to eat of them

as freely as of the produce of the ground : he prohibited
^hepre" him however from eating the blood of animals, or
«^// ^/v«r fhedding that of man ; ordering him to punifh manilaugh-
kimiyC9d. ^er with death, and to people the world with all poffible
expedition.

The permiffion to eat flefli^ now firft explicitly grven^
feems to intimate, that it had not been allowed before the
flood \

The rabbins pretend, that God gave to Noah, and his
fons, certain general precepts, which contain the law of
nature, common to all men indifferently. Thefe pre-i*
cepts imported that they ihould abftain from idolatry,
blafphemy, murder, adultery, and theft; and that judgesr
ihould be inftituted to maintain thefe laws ; and that they
ihould carefully avoid eating the flefh of any animal, cut
cfF while the creature was living. Which laft precept was.
fuppofed to be intended by the words^ *' The flefh, with
the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, fhall you not
cat." This barbarity fome Pagans are faid to have prac*
tifed. From the time of Mofes, the Jews would not fuf-
fer a ftranger to live among them, unlefs he obferved the
precepts of the Noachidae, and never gave quarter,, iabatr
tie, to any who were ignorant of thefe injun£i;ions«

c Genef. viii. i^* ^ Genef. viii« ao, &c.

(G) Some rabbins pretend, fied for that office, by har-
. Shem ojflTered the fecrifiee, ing the migfoitune^ tO' be bif
Zsbah being Teadfiied ttpquali** by a lion* *

JAtjt

id the 'Birth of AhrahamK 83

.MaiiAonides fays, the fix firft precepts were given to Yr. of Fl,
^'(^am^ and the feventh to Noah. To thefe, feme rab- '•
bins add others ; fuch as a prohibition to draw out the '

Iblood of any living creature to drink ; to maim animals ;
to ufe magic -and force ry ; to couple beafis, and ingraft
trees, of different kinds ; but there is no notice taken of
them, either in Scripture, nor in Onkelos, nor in Jofephus,
hor in Philo ; neither are th^y mentioned^by Jerbm, nor
Origeri, nor any of the ancient fathers.

God farther made a covenant with Noah, that he Godfijjurti
Vould never drown the world again 5 promifing, as a fign ^^ah the
of this convention, to fet his bow in the clouds, when it '^^{^
rained. This feems to have been done in order to take p^^m^^ ^^' ^
away Noah's apprehenfions, who, according to Jofephus, jeconddt-.
facrificed to appeafe God's wrath, fearing an anniverfary luge,
deluge ; for which fuppofition that hiftorian has been cen*
fured fbmewhat too feverely^

Noah, being come down from the mountain, applied tfoah be*
himfelf to hufbandry> and planted a vineyard; and hav- comes an
ing drank of the wine to excefs, lay carelefsly uncovered ^^fi^^d^
In his tent. His fon Ham perceiving him naked, called *****
in his brothers, Shem and Japhet, to behold the difgrace-
ful attitude in which he lay ; but they, out of a fenfe of
duty and modefty, took a garment, and, going back**
wards, covered their father's fliame \ for which a£l of
filial decorum, when he came to know what had paffed,
he bleffedthem, and curfed Ham in his pofterity ®.

Noah died in the nine hundred and fiftieth year of his iJoah din.
age, and, according to the tradition of the Orientals, was
buried in Mefopotamia, where they fhew his fepulchre,
in a caftle near a monaftery called Dair Abunah, that is,
the monafiery of our father.

All mankind being the iffue of thefe three fons of fhe genea*
iMoah, who were faved with him in the ark; before we logyofthi
proceed any farther, it will be proper to give a genealogi- ^fandents
cal table of their defcendents, in the fame manner as we v^<?««»
have already fpecified thofe of the antediluvian pa^
triarchs.

The chief defign of MofeS beirtg to record what parti-
cularly concerned the Ifraclites, be has given us the ge*-
nealogy of the line of Shem only entire. As to the de-
fcendents of the other two fons of Noah, his defign feemd
to have been, to bring them down as low as the difperfion,

• GeneC xi. 10, &c. Selden de Jure Nat. h Gent. lib. i. Calmet*
Di4t. Art. Noacbid, Jofeph. Antiq. Ubi it cap. 3, Eutycb* p* 43*

Q % in

§4 51&^ General Hijiory from the' Deluge'

Yr. of Fl. in order to leave to pofterity the names of the firfl fotin-*'

3 so* ders of nations, and there to difmifs them ; for it is ob-

jIqI^^' fcrvable, that though feveral particulars are mentioned

- in tlic courfe of the Mofaical hiftory, relating to the Ca-

naanites, as the people with whom the Ifraelites were

more particularly ta be conce/ned ; yet he hath deduced

the genealogy of that branch of Ham no farther ; on the

contrary, it is fhorter than thole of B^izrafm and Cufh,

by one generation.

Nor indeed, is there much to be collefted from Scrip-
ture, relating to the defcendents of Shem, mofe than
their names, and the ages of the patriarchs in the line of
Pekgr till we come to Terah, the father of Abraham^,
with whom the period ends. But whatever there may be
.wanting, in the facred hiftory, the Jews have taken carei,
- according to their ufual cuftom, plentifully ta fupply
with the figments and conceits of their rabbins, a fet
of men who have furpaffed all others in the art of
trifling and inventing abfurdities. On the other hand,
the Chrifti^n chronologers and hiftorians, of all ages,,
who have endeavoured to conneft the profane hiftory
with the facred, within this period, would furnifh us-
with materials enough to fill up the vacancies, could wc
think it worth while to colleflt their feveral opinions and
conjectures; few of them agreeing in any one point,,
which yet every one is confident he has fettled. We fhall,
therefore,' take notice of but a very few of them ; fuck
€ontradi£tory fentiments ferving only to fhew the uncer-
tainty of the \yhole, and, confequently, to confound, ra-*
ther than to inftrudl: the reader.

We fliall not, in this place, tough upon the migrations,
or the planting of nations by the pofterity of Noah, which
we have referved for the fubjedl of a diftin£l feftion, that
. we might not mix the hiftory of that remarkable tranfdc-
tion with other matters. We have alfo thought proper to
, change the order of the table, and give an account of the
line of Ham before that of Shem^ which will more na-
turally clofe this fe£lion.w
r thet Though Japhet is generally placed laft in Scripture, yet

ondAispof" be is exprefsly faid to be the eldeft; and that he was fo^
i/n/y, is farther evident, for that Noah was five hundred years,

old when he begat his three fons ; according to which
manner of expreflion in Scripture, one of them was born
in his five hundredth year ; but it coujd not be Shem, for
he being in the one hundredth year of his age at the birth
of Arphaxad, two years aft^r the flood, when Noah was

fix

Ito the Birth of Abraham. 85

•

Ixxliundrcd and three years old, it follows that he himfelf Yr. of FI.
was born in the five hundred and third year of Noah ; 35°;
nor could it be Ham, for he is exprefsly faid to have been ^ •

the younger ; fo that Japhet was the eldeft of the three ,
ions.

Japhet, being afFefted, as well as Sheni, with, filial
concern at Hani's cxpofing their father's nakednefs, af-
Cfted to cover him, and received a blefling from Noah,
on that occafion. ** 'God,'** fays that patriarch, *^ (hall
enlarge Japhqt (H) \ and he fhall dwell in the tents of
Shem ; and Canaan (hall be his fen^ant." The firft part
of tlvs.prophecy has been verified in the great pofleffions
which fell to the defcendents of Japhet ; as all Europe,
and all the northern part of Afia, the LefTer Afia,' Media,,
Armenia, the countries between the Euxine and CaCpIau
' feas, as well as thofe lying to the north of them, Grand
Tartary, with India and China. Add to thefe the Euro-
pean colonies in America of late ages ; for, as to the ori-
ginal inhabitants of that continent, it is uncertain from
which of the three brancTies tliey are defcended. The
next part of the prophecy, implying, that he fliould
dwell in the tents of Shem, feems to refer to the over-
flirow of the Aflyrian empire by the Medes, in conjunc-
tion *eith the Babylonians, as well as to the conquefts of
the Greeks and Romans in Afia ; dlluded to afterwards
by Balaam, in his prophecy, that {hij)s fhould come from
the coafts of Chittim, and fhould affli£^ Aftiur, and fhould
affli£l Eber; that is, they fhould afflidt the Aflyrians, and
thofe who dwelt beyond the river Euphrates. And at the
fame time that they dwelt in the tents of Shem, they
made the pofterity of Ham their fervants, by fubduing
the Babylonians, the Canaanites, the Egyptians, and other
nations defcended from that branch, wherein was the
completion of the laft part of Noah's prophecy. ,

The Septuagint verfion, followed by Eufebius and
otheis ^y ^nentions an eighth fon of Japhet, named Elifa,
who is neither in the Hebrew nor fhe Chaldee.

No particulars being mentioned in Scripture, with re-
ference to the defcendents of Japhet, farther than what

f Eufeb. Chron. lib. i. p. 8. Chron. Alexandr. Auguftinus.

(H) Noah here allades to fagc, *' God fliall perfuaJe JaL*

thc name of Japhet^ the root phet," that is, bring him chror

f^( which fignifies to enlarge i m time to the true worfliip

though others tranflate the paf- figured by the tents of Shem.

G 3 - 4relatet

86 ^he General Htflory from the Deluge

Yr. of F!. relates to their founding of nations, we mud refer thq
350. reader for what may be faid of them under that head, ta
Ar^tt Chr. ^^^ account of the migration, ,.

When Noah was acquainted with the irreverent aftion
JJam and of Ham, he curfed him in a branch of his poftcrity5j'
Ais pojieri^ ^* Curfed," fays he, " be Canaan ; a fervant of fervant^
p' fliall he be unto his brethren." This curfe being prcK

nounced, not againft Ham the immediate tranfgreflbrji'
but againft his fon, who does not appear, from the
word*,of Mofes, to have been any way concerned in the
crime, hath occafioned feveral conjeoiures. Some have
believed that Noah curfed C^inaan, becaufe he could not
well have curfed Ham himfelf, whom God had not long
before blefledj others^ more reafonably, think Mofes'si
chief intent in recording this prediftion was to raife the
spirits of the Ifraelites, then entering on a terrible war?'
with the children of Canaan, by the aflurance, that, in.
Coitfequence of the curfe, that people were deftined by
God to be fubdued by them j for the opinion of thofe
who imagine all Ham's race .were here accurfed, feems
repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, which con-
fines the malediftion to Canaan and his pofterity, an4
alfo contrary to f aft,

Among thofe who were for extending the .curfe to
Ham and his other race, fome have fuppofed another efFeft
of it, not mentioned by Mofes ; that Ham became ^
blackmoor, and cqmmunicated that colour to his defcend-r
ants; but this opinion is a mere chimera.

In confequence of this undutiful aft of his tdling his\
brothers that he had feen his father's nakednefs, Hain
has been looked upon as the firft introducer of wicked-
. nefs after the flood ; and authors have imputed to hirn
many enormities, fome of them ridiculous enough, which
they have grounded folely upon this fingle paflage.
They have believed .that he was a reprobate, y^ho had[
t:ommitted all forts of abomination- They take it for
granted, that none but he, and his pofterity, were conr.
pcrned in the building of Babel, which they confider as
^ very wicked attempt. They make hini the firft pror
pagator of idolatry after the flood, and the inventor of
fnagic. They preterid that he fet a very unedifying ex-^
ample of incontinence, by getting his wife with child in
^he very ark (I). Nay, it nas been in^agined, that the

crime

(I) Though St. Ambrofe words of Mofes, that the raa-r
^d others conceive from the trimoi^ial duty \vas fuperfeded

to the Birth of AhraJoam. 87

cnme wliich he committed againft his father was ln(i* Yr. of Fl.
iiitely more enormous than it is reprefented in Scripture^ ' S5P
ibme concluding that Ham caftrated Noah j others, that he -^"^* ^*^'*'
rendered him impotent by virtue of fome magic charms; '^^
-others again, that be committed inceft with his father's
wife ; whilft a fourth party accufe him of all forts of un-
eleannefs. This character is very conformable to what
vre meet with in the ancients concerning Cronus, with ^

whom, among many others (K), Ham is fuppofed to
bave been the fames. .

If we may judge by the number of perfons in the three
jgenerations of Ham's line mentioned by Mofes, which ex- '
ceeds the numbers of perfons defcended from both his
brothers in the fame degree, he muft have had the moft
numerous ifiue of the three fons of Noah, and a greater
part of the earth to his (hare. But though much mention
is made of the latter pofterity of Ham, in the fucceeding
part of the Jewifh hiftory, Mofes has recorded nothing
xslating to his firft defcendants, befides their names, and
Come general pircumftances,^ excepting Canaan and
NimjTOd.

Canaan (L) was the fourth fon of Ham, if we may be -Of Ca*
allowed to judge by the order in which we find his name naaiu

rG^nef. ix. %$- Chryfoft. Serm. %^* in Genef. Auguft. Quaeft.
97. in G^nef. Heidegg. Hilt. Pate torn. i. p. 4J<. BayleDi£t.
Hift. art. Cham.

iand fufpended daring the time king of Egypt, whom almofl:

iNoah and his family lived in all other authors make to be

the ark ; neverthelefs it is an Mizraim, his fecond fon.^ .

opinion which has fpread pretty Such are the wretched con- '

much, that Ham did not ob- jedures made by thofe who

fcrve continency on that occa- have attempted to reconcile

£on, but that his wife brought the Jewifh hiflorian with thofe

forth Canaan in the very ark. of other nations.

(K) The hiftory of Cronus^ ^ <L) The Hebrew word \y^^

from Sanchoniatho, whofe ac- is not pronounced as we comr.

count of him is the moft monly do Canaan, making Ca

full, will be given in the next the firft fyllable, but Chenaan^

fe^ion. Marfliam thinks Ham or rather Chnaauy the Jhevah

is to be found in profane joining the ch and n into one

iiftory under the names of fyllable, and fo the Jews pro-

Hammon, Thamus, Tham- nounce it; which reading

muz, Adonis, Ofiris, Baal, brings the word nearer the

Belus, Jupiter, and Saturn the Chna of Sanchoniatho and Ste^-

iecond. The fame author phanus; it iignifies a;»frri>tf»/,

fays the Hebrew chronology or trader y as the Canaanites or

-requires that Ham fhould be Phcenicians were*
^e dime with Menes, the firft

& 4 placed

8 3 The General Hifiory from the Deluge

Yr. of FI. placed in the Scripture. Neither the length of his life,
35°; nor the time of his birth, are mentioned by Mofes ;

Ante Chr, j^o^gver, fome will have it, that he was born in the ark;
^- and that, becaufe he was the fruit of an unfeafonable in-

continence, therefore he was a wicked man. It has been
already obferved, that the curfe given by Noah to Canaan
was peculiar to this fon of Ham, and does not feem to
have extended to the reft of his brethren. And, indeed,
the prophecy of Noah, that Canaan ** fhould be a fervant
of fervants to his bretherrf," feems to have been wholly
completed in him. It was completed with regard to Shem,
not only in that a confiderable part of the feven nations
of the Canaanites were made flaves to the Ifraelites, when
they took poiTeffion of their land, as part of the remainder
of them were afterwards enflaved by Solomon j but alfo
by the fubfequent expeditions of the Aflyrians and Per-
fians, who were both defcended from Shem j and under
whom the Canaanites fufFered fubjeftion, as well as the
Ifraelites ; not to mention the conqueft of part of Ca-
naan by the Elamites, or Perfians, under Chedorlaomer,
prior to tliem all. With regard to Japhet, we find a
completion of the prophecy, in the fucceffive conquefts
of the Greeks and Romans in Palcftine and Phoenicia,
where the Canaanites were fettled ; but efpecially in the
total fubverfion of the Carthaginian power by the- Ro-
mans 5 befides fome invafions of the northern nations^
as the pofterity of Thogarrna and Magog ; wherein many
of them, probably, were carried away captive.

It is beliieved that Canaan lived and died in the country
calkd after his name ; where formerly they (hewed hi^
tomb, which was twenty-five feet long, in a cave of the
^mountain of t}ie Leopards, not far from Jerufalem.

Canaan feems to have been known to the ancient hea-»
thens. Sanclioniatho exprefsly fays, Chna was the firft
Phoenician, or the firft who was called a Phoenician.
The Scripture mentions nothing particular with refpe£l
to any of his fons ; but the tranfaftions of the Ifraelites,
with their defcendents, make up a great part of the Jew-
ifh hiftory, and will be treated of in their proper
place.

OfNim- Nimrod wastjie fixth fon of Cufli, ai^d, in all appear-

fid, ance, much younger than any of his brothers ; for Mofes

mentions the fons of Raamah, his fourth brother, before
he fpeaks of him. What the facred hiftorian fays of him
is Ihort 5 and yet he fays more of him than of any other
of the pofterity of Noah, till he comes to Abraham. He

telH

to the Birth of Abraham^ 89 *

tcHs us, that *• Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the Yr, of Fl.
earth ;" that he was a ** mighty hunter before the Lord,** 350'
even to a proverb ; and that ** the beginning of his king- "^"^^ ^^*
dom was Babel, and Ercch, and Accad, and Calneh, in '^^ *^
the land of Shinaar.'*

From this account he is fuppofed to have been a man
of extraordinary ftrength and valour. Some reprefent
himi as a giant (m); all conflder him as a great warrior*
It is generally thought, that, by the words a mighty hunt0r^
is to be underftood, that he was a great tyrant; but fome
of the rabbins interpret thofe words favourably, faying,
that Nimrod was qualified by a peculiar dexterity and
ftrength for the chace, and*that he oflFered to God the
game which he took ; and feveral of the modems are of
opinion, that this pafTage is not to be underftood of his
tyrannical oppreffions, or of hunting of ni^en, but of
beafts. It muft be owned that the phrafe, before the
Lord, may be taken in a favourable fenfe, and 'as a com-
mendation of a perfbn's good qualities ; but in this place
the generality of expofitors underftand it otherwife.

Hunting muft have been one 'of the moft ufeful em-
ployments in the times juft after the difpcrfion, when
all countries were over-run with wild beafts, of which it
was neceflary they fhould be cleared, in order to make
them habitable; and therefore nothing feemed more
proper to procure a man efteem and honour in thofe
ages, than his being an expert hunter. By that ex-
ercife, we are told, the ancient Perfians fitted their
kings for war and government ** ; and hunting is ftill,
in many countries, conGdered as one part of a royal edu-
cation.

There is nothing in the fliort hiftory of Nimrod which
carries the leaft air of reproach, except his name, which
fignifies a rebel -, and that is the circumftance which feems
to have occafioned the injurious opinions which have
been entertained of him in all ages. Commentators, be-
ing prepofTefied in general, that the cuife of Noah fell
upon the pofterity of Ham, and finding this prince ftig-
matized by his name, have interpreted every paflage re-
lating to him to his difadvantage. They reprefent him
as a rebel againft God, in perfuading the defcendants of

^ Vide Xenoph. C^ropsed. lib. i.

(M) The Hebrew word ^/^- a mighty one^ is, by the Sep-
ffir^ >7hich our verlion renders ^^agiat, tranflated /^^/^/t/.

^. The General Htft cry from the Deluge

Yr. of FI. Noah to difobey the divine command to dUperfej and irt

350. fetting them to build the tower of Babel^ with an im-

Antc Chr. pJous defign of fcaling heaven. They brand him as aH

'^9^* ambitious ufurper, and an infolent oppreflbr ; and mak^

""'" him the author of the adoration of fire (N), of idolatrous

worfhip given to men, and the firft perfecutor on the

fcore of religion (O)* On the other hand, fome account

Jiim a virtuous prince, who, far from advifing the build-

• ing of Babel, left the country, and went into Aflyria, be-

caufe he would not give his confent to that projeo: (P)«

Nimrod is generally thought to have been the firft
Icing after the flood ; tnough fome authors, fuppofing a
plantation or difperfion prior to that* of Babel, have made
kings in feveral countries before his time. Mizraim Is
thought by many, who contend for the antiquity of the
Egyptian monarchy, to have begun his reign much earlier
Chan Niipirod $ and others, from the uniformity of the lan^
guages fpdken in Aflyria, Babylonia, Syria, and Canaan,
affirm thofe countries to have been peopled before the
confufion of tongues *.

The four cities (Q^) Mofes gives to Nimrod con-
jHtuted a large kingdom in thofe early times, when few

kings

* Vide Mar(h. Chron. Can. p. iS. tj. Horniut ad Sulpit. Sever*
p^ 21.

(N) The Orientals make woiild not come into the mea*

Nimrod the author of the fe6t fures of thofe who were con*

of the Magi, or worfhipers of earned in thedivifion; therefore

fire ; they tell us, that acci- God gave him another coun*

dentally feeing fire rife out of try, where he built four other

the earth, at a great dillance cities, viz. Nineveh, Platiath*

from him, in the Eaft, he wor- kartha, Parioth, and Telafar.
Ihippcd it; and appointed ojie ( Q^) We might be able

Anclefham to attend the fire to make fome judgment con*

there, and throw frankincenfe cerning the extent of the firft

into it. Babylonian kingdom, could we

(O) The perfon perfecuted fix the fituations of tbefe four

by Nimrod, according to fe- cities ; but this is very difficult ;

vbral Jewifh, Chriftian, and all of them having been long

Mohammedan authors, was iincc deflroyed, and authors

Abraham, who, by the He- differing greatly in opinioni

brew chronology, might have about them. There are even

been his contemporary. two traditions with regard to

(P) Jonathan Ben Uziel pa- the ruins of Babel ; fome

rap^rafes the .pafTage thus: placing them at Felugia, 9

. Nimrod going out of that land, village on the Euphrates, about

lieigncd in Aflyria, becaufe he thirty-fix mile? to the fouth*

weft

■•wiwswi

to the Birth of Abraham. ^ f

kings had more than one ; only it muft be obferved, that Yt. bf FT,
pofTefSons might at firft have been large, and afterwards 35°;
-divided into feveral parcels j and Nimrod being the ^^^ g •
leader of a nation, we may Cuppofe his fubjefts fetded .^ '
^idiin thofe limits ; whether he became poffeffed of thofe
cities by conqueft, or otherwife, does not appear \ it is
moft probable he did not build Babel \ all the poilerity of
Noah feeming to have been equally concerned in that affair;
nor does it appear that he built the other three, though
the founding of them, and many more, with other
works, are attributed to him by lome authors (R). It
may feem alfo a little flrange, that Nimfod fhould be
preferred to the regal dignity, and enjoy the moft cuU
civated part of the earth then known, rather than any
(Other of the elder chiefs or heads of nations, even of the
branch of Ham. Perhaps it was conferred on him for
his dexterity in hunting ; or, it may be, he did not aflumef
the title of king till after his father Cufh's death, who
might have been fettled there before hinl(S), arid left
"him the fovereignty ; but we incline to think, that he
feized Shinaar from the defcendants of Sheni, drivitig
put Afhur, who from thence went and founded Ninevehj
^nd other cities in AlTyria.

. The Scripture does not inform us when Nimrod began
his reign (T), Some date it before the difperfion ; but

fUch

weft of Baghdad, on the Ty- fame name. An Arab author

f;ris ; others, about the fame mentions a city called Takha-
iflance from Felugia fouth- rat, or Takharan Sar, where
ward, ou the Hrfl of thofe Nimrod coined money (i)«
rivers ; how much more un- (S) Al Tabari, a Perfian au-
certain then mufl be the iitua- thor of great authority, affirms,
tion of the reft, which .were thatCufti,orCutha,waskingoi
towns not fo famous, and whofe the territqry of Babel, apd re-
ruins, if any remain, are fel- fided in Erak ; and attributes
4om enquired after ! to him the making of the river
(R) Abu'lfarag, fays Nim- Cutha. Dr. Hyde places the
rod, built three of thefe cities, original feat of Cufh iil the
inentioned by Mofes, viz, fame country, which he calls
£rech, Accad, and Calya, or the moji ancient Cujb ; and fays,
Calne. Others afcrlbe to him that his pofterity removing into
the building of Babel, Nine- Arabia, it thence took the
veh, Refen, and feveral others, name of Cufti alfo.
among which was Adherbijan, (T) The Arabs fay that
\sL the Perfian province of the Nimrod reigned in Al Sowad,

(i) AbuMfarag Hift. Dyn^ p. iS« jSutjchi Annal. p. (>4« Ahmed.
]^bn Yufcf. apud Jiydcj p. jx*

yi Yhe General Hlfioiyfiom the Deluge

Yr. of FL fxich a conjcdlure does not feem to fuit with the Mofaic^

. ^^ rh J^'ftory : for before the difperfion we read of no city but

"m8. ^' Babel i nor could there well be more, while all mankind

- were yet in a body together ; but when Nimrod aiTumed

the regal title) there Teem to have been other cities ^ a

circumflance) which Ihews it was a good while after the

difperfion. We have placed the beginning of his reign

thirty years from that event, and, in all likelihood, it

ihould be placed rather later than earlier.

Authors have taken a great deal of pains to find Nim-
rod in profane hiftory : fome have imagined him to be^hc
fame with Belus, the founder of the Babylonifh empire ;
others take bim to be Kinus, the firft Aflyrian monarch.
(U) Some believe him to have been Evechous, the firft
Chaldxan king after the delage^ and others perceive a
great refemblance between him and Bacchus, both in ac-
tions and name. Some of the Mohammedan writers fup-
pofe Nimrod to have been Zohak^ a Perfian king of the
firft dynafty 5 others contend for his being Cay Cans, the
fecond king of the fecond race ; and fome of the Jews
fay he is the fame with Amraphel, the king of Shinaar,
mentioned by Mofes. But there is no certainty in thefe
conjectures, nor have we any knowlege of his imme-
diate futceffors (X).

The Scripture mentions nothing as to the death of
Nimrod 3 but authors have takefa care^ that fuch an effen-
tial circumftance in his hiftory ihould not be wanting.

that is, tht hlack country ; forfo empire,

they call Irak Arabi, from the (X) Some Chrlftian and

black tents of the Senite Arabs Mohanymedan hiftorians call

fcattered over the province, the moft ancient kings of the

They fuppofe his father Cuih Babylonians, who fucceeded

refided at Erak, in the pro- Nimrod, Nimaredah, that is,

vince of Babel ; though Babel Nimrods. Some of the latter

is generally thought, by Chrif- fay^ he reigned in Al Sowad

tian authors, to have been the four hundred years ; and that

regal feat of Nimrod. he was fucceeded by a prince

(U) Many have confound- ©f the fame family, called Na-

cd the Babylonian and the Af- bat Ebn Koud, who ruled one

fyrian empire . together, by hundred years ; and fome of

miftaking the fcnfe of the text, the former tell us, that Bokhr

as if both of them had been tanfer (or rather Bakht Nafr^

founded by Nimrod 5 but this which is the name the Orien-

point will be difcufled hereaf- tals give to Nebuchadnezzar

ter, when we come tofpeakof king of Bahylgsn) w^s of hi«

tjxeioundatipn pf tlie Allyrian race,

J5onf#

to the Ktrtb of Abraham . 9J

Some of the rabbins pretend he was flain by Eftcf, wlioitl Yr. oFFL
tbey make his contemporary. There is a tradition, that 3SO' .
he was killed by the fall of the tower of Babel, which was -^^^^^^^^^
overthrown by tempeftous winds. Others fay, that as he * ^

led an army againft Abraham, God fent a fquadrCn of

Snats, which deftroyed moft ' of them ; and particularly
Timrod, whofe brain was pierced by one of thofe in*,
feas K

We now come to the hiftory of Shem and his pofteritr; ofUtm
which, for convenience, we have placed laft, though ne andhu
was the fecond fon of Noah by birth, and by prerogative fofierity /r
the eldeft, the right of primogeniture feeming to have Abrahanu
been lodged in him.

The pofterity of Shem are twice recited by Mofes- In
the firft placC) he only mentions the n^mes of fuch of hfs '
defcendents as were concerned in the firft difper(ions«
In the other, he deduces the genealogy in the line of Ar-
phaxad down to Abraham^ But the facred writer having
been more brief in the hiftory of thefe patriarchs, than
in that of the branch" of Ham, relating nothing farther of
any of them than their ages, and the year of their lives
v/herein they begot their fons (from whence we are en-
abled to colleft the chronology of thjs period, and no
more) J for the reft we muft have recourfe to the traditions
and conjedures of the Jewifh and Chrifiian writers^
where we fhall not want for matter.

Shem was born ninety-eight years before the flood ; for
two years after it, at the birth of Arphaxad, he was one
hundred years old : we fhall have given the reader all that
is to be found in Scripture concerning this patriarch after
the deluge, when we have acquainted him, that he affifted
his brother Japhet in covering the nakednefs of their fa-
ther^ and fhared in his bleiling for fo doing : ** Blefled be
the God of Shem," faid Noah, « and Canaan Ihall be his
fcrvant."

Shem, having lived five hundred and two years after the
flood, died at the age of Gx hundred. He left five fons^
Elam, Afhur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The more
moderate Perfian hiftorians fay, their firft king, Cau-
marras, was a fon of Shem j meaning probably, Elam,
whom Mofes makes the founder of that nation.

The Scripture has recorded no one aftion of any of
thefe fons of Shem, exqept one clrcumftance of Alhur ;

* Abulfarag. Hift. Dyn. p. i». Hyde de Rel. vet. Pcrf. p. 74.

and

94 ^he General Uifiory^from the lielugi .

Vr. of Fl. and ibe paffage relating to him Is ve^fy material, as it fixci

A ^^°Ch ^^ ^^^^ ^™^ ^^ ^^^ foundation of the Aflyrian kingdomi

^9^98. ^ ^^y^ remarkable fa£l is related by Mofes in thefe words ;

^,. ^* Out of that land'* (namely Shinaar) f* went forth

Afliur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rhoboth, and

Calah, and Refen, between Nineve and Calah : • the

fame is a great city * ". We are fenfible this text is

by many applied otherwife, and rendered, according to

the marginal reading of our tranilation, hi went out ifi'*

to AJfyria\ as if Nimrod was the perfon fpoken of 5 but

Ive fhallifliew hereafter, that fuch a fenfe puts a ma-

nifeft force upon the words. This Aflyrian kingdom we

fuj^ofe might have been founded about the fame time

^with, that of Babel \ that is, thirty years after the difper-»

Con. As to the fituation of the cities built by Afhur, we

.find ourfelves more at a lofs than we were with regard to

thofe which conipofed the kingdom of Babel. However^^

we may venture to draw this inference, that, as the num«

ber of cities of which each monarchy coniifled was equals

fo it is probable their dimenfions were much the fame 9

and that the other three cities lay at no great diflancc

, from Nineveh, whofe fituation has been^ m fome mea-

: furc, preferycd by tradition (Y).

Arphaxadjj

I Gencf. X. 21. 2«. D'Herbelot. Jib. Orient.

(Y) Nineveh is fuppofed to the reft, that of the^habur i

.have flood on the call fide of it is alfo called Ain Wardah.

;the Dijlat, or Tigris, oppo- But others endeavour to find

lite to Moful; at leaft, the Rehoboth and .Refen nearef

. tradition of the country will Nineveh * and objed, that

have it fo : but there are no they cannot be Rahabat, and

ruins to be feen there, as there Ras Alain, becaufe thefe laft

are at old BiabeU are not m AflTyria, which lies

The city Rehoboth is by to the call: of Tigris. They

many fuppofed to be Rehe- fuppofe, that Reheboth is the

both, on the Euphrates, tl^e fame with the Birtha of Ptole-

fame, probably, with that my, or Virtha of Ammianus

called Rahabat Malek, not Marcellinus, fituate at the

many miles below the place mouth of the river Lycus j

where the Khabur falls into from which the prefent ruin 8

the Euphrates ; and Refen to of Nineveh are not many

be the Refania of the ancients, miles diflant to the north ; and

in Mefopotamia, fiill in being, . the reafon they give is, be-

and called Ras Alain, that is, caufe Birtha fignifies in the

the head of the fountain^ on ac- Chaldee the fame which Reho-

count of the many fprings rif- both does in the Hebrew y that

ing thereabouts^ s^d among i&^Jreetsx Anda&aconfirma-

tiong,

to the Death of Sraham.

Ante.Chr.
1998.

• Arphaxady or, as the Maforetes read the name, Ar* Yr, pf Fl,
pachuiady thethird fon ofShem, hadoneadvantage.abovie . 3.5o
the reft of his brethren, namely, that of having th/s pa-
triarchal line continued through him. Many derive the
name, as well as the nation of the Chafdim, orChal-
4ean$> from Arphaxad (Z) \ which opinion feems more

reafonahle

right as to the iituation of Ca-
lah, that of Refen would. be
found of courfe; for Mofe^
lays it lay between it and Ni-
neveh (2).

(Z) Some rabbins are of thU

tion, that thefe names are the
fame, Ptolemy alio places a
Birtha on the Euphrates, about
the place where we have fup-
pofolthe other Rehoboth to
have flood ; nor does his plac-

ing it above the confluence of opinion ; and, if the authority

the Khabur and Euphrates, in- of Jofephusbe of any weight,

ilead of below it, lay any good he affirms the fame: " Ar-

objedtion in the way; fince phaxad,'* fays he, ** gave

Ftolemy is full of fuch faults, name to the Arphazadseans, at

It may rather be obje6^ed, that prefent called Chaldeans 5

iVlofes feems to have given all wKofe prince he was/* He

the cities he mentions, the
names they went by in the
■country where they Hood, as
near as the Hebrew orthogra-
phy would allow ; but in ^ch
doubtful cafes, we muft always
make allowances : fo that Bir-
tha, or Virtha, may ftand for
Rehoboth ; fince we cannot
find a more likely place.

Calah, the next . citv, is
fuppofed to be the Calach, fi-
tuate about the fprings of the
river Lycus, mentioned by Stra-
bo, as the capital of a proviace
called Calachen^, which feems
to be the fame with Ptolemy's
Calacine, above Adiabene,
towards Mount Niphates, Bo-
chart thinks it is the. fame with
' Halah , whither the Ifraelites
were carried captives ; the heth
being fometimes changed into
the kaph ; of which that au-
thor produces feme inftances.

Could we be fure of b^ing

certainly does not mean that;
the name Chaldeans is derived
diredlly from the name Ar-
phaxad; but perhaps he
meant, that the true name
Chafdia is derived thence ; and
this, opinion is more probable,
becaule the Chaldeans were
not only called Khafdim before
Chefed was born, but appear
to have been a nation when "
Abraham came out of Ur of
the Chafdim ; at which time
Chefed was neither old, nor
conlidera^ble enough to b^vc
built towns, and founded a
nation. After all, nothing
can be determined as to this
point, nor will it be repug-
nant to Scripture, to deny the
derivation of the name of Khaf-
dim, either from Arphaxad or
Chefed.

Some compound Arphaxad'#
nam e of rafa khajhed \ that 1^
the healer^ or prelate of Chal-

(2) Vid, Thevcnot'8 Travels, part ii. chap. »• Rauwoirs Trft-
'veU, part ii. ch. 9. Geo. Nub. Clim. 4. part 6. Ammian. Mar**
«eUia. lib. xx, 2 Kings, xvii.

iea%

. kv

96 ne Qeneral Hijlory from the Delugi'

Yr. of Fl. reafonablc than that which makes Chcfed, the fon of Na*"
3 5«>- hor, Abraham's brother, to be the fouader of them j

Ante Chr. though poffibly the Chafdim had another original ; for no-
'^^^' thing is mentioned in Scripture concerning it. Some
Mohammedan authors make Arphaxad both a prophet
and an apoille, and lodge the. 'chief fovereignity over the
nations of the world in his defcendents. Arphaxad was
born in the hundreth year of his father, two years after
the floods 5 and having begat the fucceeding patriarch in
the thirty-fifth year of bis age, died, after he had livedj
in all, four hundred and thirty-eight years.

Who this fon fo begotten by Arphaxad was, hasoccafi-
oned no fmall difpute among the learned : according to
the Hebrew and the Samaritan, Salah was his fon 5 but
in the Septuagint verfion we find Cainan put in between
the two, as the fon of the firft, and father of the latter.
/ This variation not only adds another link to the chain of
fucceffion, but alters the chronology of this period, mak-
ing that of thevSeptuagiht to exceed the Samaritan by one
hundred and thirty years, the age fixed for Cainan to
have begotten his fon. Thofe who adhere to the Sep-
tuagint, draw their chief argument from St. Luke's mcni-
tioning Cainan in his genealogy of Chrift. However,
the Septuagint verfion having been received over a great
part of the Chriftian world, Cainan pafleth for one of the
patriarchs, as well as a founder of nations (A) in many
countries ; and there are more traditions concerning him,
(B) than of Salah, the true fpn and fucceflbr of Ar-
phaxad.

Salah is the only patriarch concerning whom the Chrif-
tian writers have obferved an equal filence with Mofes.
He hath been thought by fome to be the fame with the
piophet Saleh, fent to preach the true religion to the

Jea\ fuppofing it to have been (B) Befides the particulars

given to Cainan as a name of already mentioned, it is faid,

dignity. Cainan was the firft after the

(A) The Alexandriafn chro- flood who invented aftronomy,

nicle derives the Samaritans and that his fens made a god

from Cainan; EuftacHius An- of him, and worftiippcd his

tiochenus, the Saggodians ; image after his death. The

George Syncellus, the Gaf- founding of the city of Har-

pheni ; Epiphanius the Caja- ran in Mefopotamia is alfo at-

ni ; Salianus thinks the river tributed to him *, which, it is

Caina in India takc9 its name pretended, he fo called from a

from him. fon he had of that name.

tribe

to the Birth ofj&rdhant* 97

tribe of Thamud, in Arabia Pctraea °, but this perfon ap- Yr. H FK
pears to have been much later than the patriarch. 350*

It is the general opinion, that the Hebrews derive their ^^^^ ^^^^
name from the patriarch Eber(C), the fon of Salah ; and '^^
many of the Jews attribute to him the honour of being
the founder of their name and nation. But there is much
more appearance, that the name of Hebrews was given to
Abraharh and his defcendants, on account of his pafling
over the rivers in his way from Irak, or Chaldea, into Sy-
ria : fo that a Hebrew mould figiiify nothing elfe, in the
original fenfe of the word, than a man from beyond the
Euphrates.

In confequence of the fame opinion, it has been com-
monly believed that the Hebrew language alfo took its
name from Eber, and that, at the confufion of tongues,
it remained folely in the family of that patriarch, and his
defcendents : but as th'e firft part of this aflertion hath no
better ground than the former opinion 5 fo the latter is
falfb in faft, the Hebrew language having been common
to people who had no affinity with the family of Eberj as
the Phoenician^, or Canaanites, who, in the time of
Abraham, fpoke Hebrew, or a language differing very
little from it.

The building of Babel is referred to the time of Eber, juft
before the birth of his fon Peleg, in the thirty-fourth year of
his age, and of the flood loi, according to the Hebrew
calculation. But fome of the rabbins, and Chriilian fa-
thers, who refer that event to a . fubfequent part of Pe-
leg's life, fay, Eber gave him that name prophetically, to
denote a divifion of the earth*, which wa« to happen fome
time after; and accordingly, reckon Eber a prophet^
chiefly upon that account".

Till this time, all mankind lived in a body together,
and fpoke one language \ but God, being offended at the
building of that city and tower, confounded their fpeech,
and diiperfed them abroad, in order to people and plant

m Hyde de Relig* vet. Perfar. p. 58. D'Herbelot. Bibl. Orient*
art. Salah. ^ Vid. Arbu'ifarag. p. 11. Hyde de Rcl. vet,

Perfar. p. 4.7, &c. £bn Amid. p. 14. Shalfli. Hakk. p. 803. Ze*
mach. Dav. p. i. p. 6.

(C) The Hebrew word ehefj why might it not have been
fignifles h^ondy or Amply, a given nim prophetically by
paffage: for what reafon he Salah, to denote the future pat-
was fo called is unceitain; but, fage of his pofierity over the
if the Hebrews were fo called Euphrates, into the land of
from him, as moft imagine, Canaan ?

Vol. L H the

' Th GeneratBiltofy from thtD'elug/

Yr. oPFl. thc'eitrtli. But what part JcUlaf' language the firft wag, ii#

35^ what manner it was confounded,* together with an ac-'

iqW^*^^* eoantofthe whole tranfa^tion relating to the buildihg of

, - Babel, and the dHperfion of mankind, are fabjefls thalT

will be difcufled in tfie it^xxA.-

The original of idolatry, by image-^orfhipy is*, ty maitf^ \
Attributed to the age of Ebfer, though moft of the father*
place it no higher than that of Serng ; which feems to be
the more probable opinion, confidering thatj for the firft
hundred and thirty-four- years of Ebcr's^ life, all mankind^
dwelt in a body togetlfer ;: during which time it is not rea—
fenable to fuppofe idolatry brofic in upon them : therf
fbme time mu(t be allowed, after the diljsei^on, for the'
feveral nations, which were but frnall at the beginningf
«) increafe and fettle themfelves j ftf that if idolatry wal*
ifltrodtjced in Eber'* time, it msft have been towards thtK
find of his life.

Kber had two fon«i Pfefeg aitit J^fetafr ^ Pcl^g wis bor*
Jtifti after the difperfion happened, on whitlroccafion that
name (D) was given him, Vencrabte Bede aiGrms, that
temples were firft built iti his day^; and that feveral of
t^ chiefs of nations wece worfhipped for gods. On the
death of this patriafch, contention arofe between his fontf^
and thofe of hi^ brother Joktan ;. Whereupon men began?
ifil build caftles for their defence. .

The Scripture mentions only one (on of Peleg, but the;
^ ©rientals^havegi^n him a'nothef, i3Aenfioned in Scripture*

though not as Peleg's fon ; namely, Melchifedek. ThejJ
fay, he begat him two htmdred and nine years after the
l)irth df his br€>ther, which is a more ratronal opinion j
though perhaps no better grounded' than that of the Jews j,
who make him to be the fame with^ Shem *.

Joktan is gencrdly fupjjofed to havafe been PelegV elder
fcotber, upon a prefamption^ thaf h« and Kis' thirteen fons
Were leaders of colonies at the difperfion^ of BabeL Tbcy-
are, indeed, mentioned at the feme time with tJie other
£eads of nations^ and are^ doubtlefs, to be included^
4ihongft tfiofe ^* by whom, it is faid, the nations were

o Vid. Bochart. Phaleg, lib. i. cap. i« AbuMfarag. p. s»; Ebi^
Aimd. p« %%• Eutycbii^nal. p. 48« £bn Amid, ibidi

(D) The name Peleg, or lefs, tliefametranfa6HonjtKo*

jrhaleg,. iignifies ///«!;£/$»«, The feveral authors make two of

diviiion o? the earthy and dif- them^ as we fhaU obferve here**-

perfionof tnaii.kiod| wa(,doubt«t after.-

divided^

Ante Chi".
1998;

to the Birth of Abrdharft. S 9

rfhrMed ifi tMfe earth after itk flbod :" but we do not think Yr. of Fl.
it follo^^^ fr<5m thence, that they muft have been leaders ^ 35o
Itl thit firff difperfidn, ill fcafe their aged would allow it.
BcfideS, by thfe accoUtit, v(re Ihould not only poftpone
the tiiht of t^at tfanfafficM, wh^ch feems to be rieceflarily
tdli'rteftefd witA the birth 6'f f^leg; but introduce five
generations, ift the line of Shei^, a§ concerned in it,
^hich ^re two fnorfe than we find of the defceridents of
ila'ni and j^aphet 5 arid therefore "v^e have referved them
for a fecond remove or plantation.

The Scripture gives to Joktan thirteen fons ; whereas
the Arabs, who clerive their original fromi Joktan, or, as
fh^y more ufually call him, Kahtan, aflign him oiie and
thif ty by the fame mother, of whom all but two, leaving
Afabiai, went and fettled in India. Yarab, the elder of
flie two who ftayed, fuccecded his father in the kingdom
of Yamari, or Arabia Felix, and gave his name to that
coiintry, aS well as to the Arabic language, which Jic
firft fpoke. jorham, the younger, founded the kingdom.
of flejaz, which contained part bf Arabia t^etrsea, and
other territories.

We fihd little faid concerning the three fucqeedii^g pa-
triarchs, Reu(E), Seru^,' and Nahor; however, fome
authors refer the founding of certain kingdoms and
cities (F)^ the invention of feveral arts (G), the fpfeading
of idolatry (H), and fdme other particulars 6f lefs moment,
to their times.

Tcrah

(E) This patriarch's fiafne to hate been iiivented by Sa-
is varioufly written, R^u and rtiirut, kihgof the Chaldeans,
Kagau ; and fometimcsr Era in the days of the fame patri-
iind Argau. ardh ; though the life of them

(F) The building of Babel feems not .to have been infti-
is, by fomei placed in the tuted till Nahor*s time. The
Seventieth year of Reu, and art of Weaving filks, and of
the beginning of Nim rod's dying, is alfo attributed t0
reign in his hundred and thir- the fame king,
tieth. (H) Though the gentrafiq^

(G> It is pretended, that of author^, and particularly

the firft mint for coining^ and of the fathcirs, agree to place

the firft foundery for gold and the origin of idolatry in tht

filvcr ornaments, were ere6ted time of Serug, whom fomfe

ia the days of Reu. Others fuppbfe to be the introducer of

attribute this invention to Te- it, erroneoufly making him (i(

rah, as that of coining gold he be not a different perfon

and filver is afcribed to Serug, from tiie ^tridtch) 6f the raop

Wei|;ht8 and meafures are faid of Japhet | yet others lii^tke

Ha ^

I oo' ^he General Hiftory from the Deluge

Yr. of FL Terah, the fon of Nahor, was the father of Abrahanv
35*; the founder of the Hebrew or Jcwifh natior^.. The Scrip-
Ante Chr, ^^jj.g informs us, that Terah, after the feventieth year of
. his age, begat three fons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran»-

Abraham But of thefe fons Haran only, who was the eldeft, at
koTM, lead much blder than Abram, was born in that year, and

the other two, probably, much later, and^ as is fuppofed,
by a different mother.- Haran died in his native country,
in Ur of the Chaldeesj Before his father, leaving a fon
named Lot, and two diaughters, one named Milcah, and
and the other Ifcah. Nahor married ISClcah, his neice^
^ and Abram Sarai, his half fifter.

Terah, who is generally fuppofed* to Be the fame
whom the Afiatics call Azer, is, on all hand's, allowed tc>'
have been an idolater \ he is exprefsly faid, in Scripture, to
have ferved other gods^ The eaftern authors unanimoufly.
agree, that he was a ftatuary> or carver of idols ; and he
is reprefented as the firft who made imiages of clay, pic»^
tares only having been in ufe before ;. and taught that
they were to be adored as gods : however, we are told^
his employment was very honourable, and that he was a
great mati ; that, at length, he was converted, by the
earned perfuaiions of Abraham, and prevailed upon to*

it more early ; and, it is faid, the devil fpoke out of the

that in Reu's days, mankind image, and promifed to reftore

was fallen into various kinds aU he had loft if he would offer

of falfe worihip ; fome adoring his youn^il fon as a facrifice

the heaven, others the celeflial to him, and bathe himfelf in

bodies, others animals and his warm* blood. He accepted

plants, others the images of the terms, and thereupon the

their deceafed friends. About devil, coming out of the

the fame time, alfo, the cuf- image, entered into the young

torn of facrificing children to man, and taught him magic. .

devils is pretended to have But, at length, this i),radice

been introduced on the follow- of human facrifices growing

ing occaiion : a certain rich frequent, God fent a violent

man dying, his fon made a earthquake, the iirft of the

golden ftati^e in 'reprefcntation kind, with a whirlwind, which

of him, and placed it on his broke all their idols in pieces,

tomb, fetHsg a fervant to and overthrew their temples,

watch ir. Jjometime after the The rife of the Sabian religion

fon was roboed ofallhe had, is, by fome, referred to the

and, coming to make his com- age or Nahor (3)..
plaints at his father's fepulchre,

(3) Eutych. AnnaL p. 63* Bbn Amid^ p. 5^^ Fu(eb. ^Chrom
Graec. pi 13.

kavc

to tie Birth of Abraham. loi

leave XTr. Jofephus fays he quitted Chaldea, Tjecaufe he Yr.«f Fl.
could not bear to live in that country after the lofs of his ^^* .
fon Haran. Some would have it, that he did not become ^^® ^ *
sin idolater till he was fettled at Haran, which is abfurd :
and others fay, he »ncver was converted, any more than
his fon Nahor, who afterwards left Ur to join his father
iat Haranj which j from Kim, was called the city of Na-
hor : but there is more probability that both .Nahor and
Haran were converted, feeing Lot was bred in the true
religion, and AbraTiam chpfe Ifaac a wife out of the
iamily of Nahor, not caring to jnarry him to the idolatrpus
^daughters of Canaan K

Terahj towards the latter part of liis life, defigning to
remove from Chaldea into the land of Canaan, took his
fon Abraham, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, and his
grandfon Lot, and leaving Ur came to Haran, a city in
the north-weft parts of Mefopotamia; where, having
dwelt for fome time, he died, being two hundred and
five vears old.

Thus have we coIIe£ted, what we have found worth
notice^ from writers of various times, religions, and
xountries, relating to the poftdiluvian patriarchs. In the
next feftion we fliall proceed to give part of the fragments '
;of a heathen author, whofe hiftory is fuppofed to relate
fu> the earli^ft. times of this j)eHod.

-S E C T. IH.

^e Hiftory of Sanchoniatho after the Floods

ItJ AVING, in a preceding fe£i:ion, brought down the Sanckonia-
^^ Phoenician hiftory of Sanchoniatho to the tenth ge- tho^s hiftory
neration, which probably perifhed in the flood, though ^''"^wk^^
(he takes no notice of that great event ; we fliall here rc-
fume the thread of his narration (I).

From

P Jofeph. Antic}, lib. i. cap. 7. Toftat. apud P^rerium in Ge-
fief, cap.xi. Bayle Di£t. art. Abraham. rem.C. Cbryfoft. Horn,
xxxi. and xxxvii. Auguil. de Civit« Dei, lib. xvi« cap. 13* Genef.
iXxiv. 3. Hyde de Rel. xct. Perf. p. 62.

(I) Biihop Cumberland, fuf- diHocation in the eleventh,
,pe^ingthe Phoenician records twelfth, and thirteenth gene-
to have been corrupted in this rations, either thro,ugh neg-
)place, has propofed an amend- \t£i in tranfcribers, or rather
mentof tl^exp. Ht fuppofes a purpofely made by thejCabi%

J9 I who

I02 The General Wifioryfttmi the Deluge

^en^rat'm From ttefc men, fays be, proe^cded Mifor (if) ^p^
^^' Sydyc (L), i. e. WeU-fued^ and Juji^ >f ho difcoyercd tbq
jaic of fait.

w\iO wrote tbofe records to nisM^ifeftly Mi^r^im, tfa^ fpn

conceal the great judgment of ofiiatn, or Cronu^, tUere if

the flood, which' fwept away a necd^ty qf placing him p^e

the raceofpaioyand of which, gpner^pon lower than be if

for that reafon, they have fup- placed iq Sanchoniatho, vij.

prefled all mention. To fup- iij the twelfth ; and that, with-i

port this opinion, h^ allies, out this chan|;e, the beginninj

i . That Sydyc and Mifor could of the Egyptian kingdom wou

not be the children of A- be placed too near the

inynus and Magus, becaufe 4. That Japhet being ftill

the tenth gpieration in the line wanting to make up the three;

- of Genus or Ciun, wherein fons of Noah, and Netieui

ibofe two laft perfons are pUc- being the only perfon i^ Sgnr

ed, mufl have been drowned chopiatbo's genealogies, wl^^chi

in the flood, toj^ether with anfwers the Scriptur^ aoconnt

fuch children as might then be of him, he has jojmed hh^il

born of them, anfwering to to Sydyc and Cronus in the

Shem, Ham, andjaphet. 2. line of Uranus. But the al«

That Sydyc being Melchize- terations will better appear by

dek, whom he takes to be giving the reader a table

6he.m, and Cronus Ham, it of Sanchoniatho*s genealogies,

was neceflaty to join them both from the place where the

together under the line of Ura- biihop-s corrections begin, re-

nus, which Sanchoniatho owns ferring him for our remarks on

to be diftind from that of Ge- the fcheme itfelf to the fuQ*

nus. 3* That Mifor being cepding nptes.

The two lines, as they fiand in th^e Sanchoniatho.

Seth*s line. Cain's line.

9. Eliun or Hypfiflui,' Agrus, Agroueri^a.

10. Uranus, Amymis, Magus,

IT. Cronus, Mi&r, Sydyc,

. la. Thoth, Cajbifi or Diofcuri,

I3« Thefonsof theDioT-

curi.

Seth'« line in Sanchoniatho, correded.

9. Eliun or Hypfiflus,

10. Uranus.

11. Sydyc Cronus Nereus -
or Shem, or Ham, or Japhet,

12« Cabin or Piofcufi, Mifor, Pont us,

13. The ions of the Thoyth, Pofipon

Diofciiri, or Neptuop,

(K) This perfbn Br. Cum^ raim of the Scriptifre, and tkf
>erland .ukes to be the Miz* Menef pf the Egyptians, for

th^

to ihe Bir^ pfMr^mi lo%

'3^fom Milbr came Taautps (M), the inventor oT writ- Cemration
Ing ktterSf whom the Egyptians call Thoor, the Alexaiv X^•
»4pa9sTayth^ aa4 tfae^reeM Herme«^ ]but from Sydyc

»t;hefe re^Qp? : x. He fupppfes Velcbbedek ^letn. All the

Mifor to be th^ fingiilar of firgumeat^ )ie brings in favour

'iViisu-aim, the iirfi yag of E- orthe firfi: fuppoiition, is, that

^pt, aocordmg to the He- Crotius affirms Melchizedek tQ

brews, 9S Mencs is nccordlnsr be Sydyc ; probably on ac-

rto the Egyptians. 2^ Thai count of the fimilitude of the

•SratoflheneSy in Syhcellus an4 names, Sydyc or Sedec figni-

!6calij^er's Eufebius, afjirms tying juji^ and Melchizedek,

^enes to be Meftraira, as the the ju/t ^king. Nor does hSe

XSfTte\i% write the name of bring any p^oof that MelchU

.3ilizraim« 3. That Thoth was zedek is Shem: he only fays,

•<the fon of Menes, as well as 'that he thiaks the objecSiion*

of Mifor, 9tA the fecond )cifig againi^^that opinion are fuffici-

^ Egypt. 4^ That Mifpr «ntly anfwered by other au<*

^jod Menes lived at the fame thorsj Ui that he produces n9

•«ime ; and, 5* died the faine reafon to fupport thofe two

violent death. Wc cannot find opinions, on which his lyftem

^ratofltcnes has affirmed any 4& chiefly grounded,

fuch thing, afi that Menes is (M) Taaut or Thoth it

:Meflraim ; which is the mere thought to be Athothes, th^

Imagination of thofe authors fon <k Menes, and the fecon4

>who have tranfcribed hitn. rking of E^pt, according to

As to the tranflation which Eraidothenes,. upon a prefump-

il^hiio gives of the name Mifbc, tbn that Mifor and Menes are

XvXjjUfy or Kveil freeJ ; Bochart the fame; and becaufe Ive waf

derives it from the Syriac mef- alfo a king of Egypt, and fon

iTif ; b^t biihpp Cumberland of a king (though it does not

;rather thinks the notion of appear from ^anchoniathq^

freedom to be confequ^pt to his that I^ifor was a king), as A--

oiame, whichhefuppofes tofig- thothes was. "It. is obferved

jiify a fjrince, from theroot ^c, alfo, that as Sanchoniatho's lin^

fo rule or r(jimin^ by addition ends with Mifor and Thoth,

Tofthefervile«ft»i,-freedomfrom fo Eratoflhenes's line ofThe-

from any coercive power bein^ ban kings begins with Menc9

the confequent of his domi- and Athothes, as does the fi.rfl:

4iioaand i'uperiority^ It is a 4ynailyoftheThinites in Ma<-

jpity the biAiop had not eiQ- netbo. Aild the difference

ployed hi$ time better than in between the names Thoth and

'^ramping up fuch a vile patch- Athoth is no objed^ioi^, ihe

.work of idle conjecture, in bifhop producing feveral inr

which one vague fuppoGtion is fiances of proper names inth^

.brought in to fupport another eaftem languages, where the

•^(j^ually abfurd. initial A wai frequently left

(1-.) Sydyc the bifhop fup- out.

^fes.tobe-]\IeU:hizedekj and^

H 4 vcaaae

1 04 The General Hijlory from the Deluge

came tjhc Diofcuri, or Cabiri (N), called alfo CorybanteSji
and,Samoth races, who firft invented the ait of fhip^building.
GfmratioM Thefe procreated others, who foiind out the virtues of
^m« herbs, the cures of poifonous bites, and charms.

UranuSj^ whofe parents lived in this age, as fucceeding
his father Eluin in the kingdom, had by Ge, his Cfter^,
four fons : i. Ilus or Cronus; 2. Betylus 5 3. Dagon or
Siton ; and 4. Atlas, befides much iflue by other wives 5
wherefore Ge, being grieved at it, and jealous, reproach-
ed Uranus fo that they parted from each other. But
Uranus, though he bad parted from her, yet, afterwardsji
by force invading^ and lying with her, neverthelefs, went
away again; after having attempted to kill the children
he nad by her. Ge alfo defended or avenged herfelf
by coUefting auxiliary powers.

Cronus, arriving at man's age, and ufing Hermes Trif-?
megiftus as his counfcllor and afliftant, and fecretary,
oppofcd his father Uranus, in order to avenge his mo-
ther's caufe. Cronus had children, Perfephone (Proferir
pina), and Athena (Minerva). The former died a virgin 5
but, by by the counfel of Athena and of Hermes, Cronu$
made of iron a fcymeter and a fpear. Then Hermes,
fpeaking to the affiftants of Cronus with inchanting wordsji
wrought in them a keen defire to fight againft Uranus in
behalf of Ge \ and thus Cronus, warring againft Uranus,
drove him out of his kingdom^ and fucceeded in the im-«
perial power.

, In the fight, a well beloved concubine of Uranus, being
taken big with child, Cronus gave her in marriage to Da-.
gon, and (he brought forth, at hishoufe, what.me had ii^
Jier womb by Uranus, and called him Demaroon.

After thefe things Cronus built a wall round about his
hoiife^ and founded Byblus, the firft city of Phoenicia*
But Cronus, fufpefting his own brother Atlas, with the
advice of Hermes, threw him into a deep hole of the
earth, where he was buried alive.

At that time, the defcendents of the Diofcuri, having
built fdme veflels, wfint to fea, and, being caft on fliore
near Mount Cafllus, there confecrated a tiemple.

The auxiliaries of Hus, or Cronus, were called Eloim^^
which is as much as to fay Crpnii, for fo were they nam-
pd who were under Cronu^. But Cronus, having a fou

(N) Of the Diofcuri, or come to the Grecian mytho-
pabiri, the fons of Sydyc, we logy,
(h^ll fjpeak hereafter^ whenwp

to the Birth of Abraham. 105

called Sadid, difpatched him with his own fword, a£tuat«
ed \>j fufpicion. He alfo cut off the head of his own
daughter; fo that all the gods were apiazed at the cruelty
of Cronus.

In procefs of time jCJranus, being in exile^ fent his
vi|-gin daughter Aftarte, with two other of hef fitters,
Rhea and DIone, to cut off Cronus by deceit 5 btit thefe
fitters being taken, became his wives. Uranus afterwards
fent Eimarmene and Hora {fate and beauty)^ with other
auxiliaries, to war againtt him ; but Cronus, having
gained the a£Fedions of thefe alfo, kept them with him.
Moreover, the god Uranus devifed baetylia, and contriv-
ed ttones that moved, as having life.

Cronus begat on Attarte feven daughters, called Tita-
nides, or Artemides ; and on Rhea feveh fons, the
youhgett of whom, as foon as he was bom, was confe-
crated a God. Alfo by Dione he had daughters \ and by
Aftarte two fons, Pothos and Eros {defirs and love).

Dagon, having difcovered bread-corn and the plough,
was called Zeus Arotrius.

ToSydyc, otthejufiy one of the Titanides bore Afcle-
pius. Cronus had alfo in Peraea three fons:' i. Cronus,
2- Zeus Belus, 3. Apollo. ^

Contemporary with thefe were Pontus and Typhon,
and Nereus thie father of Pontus. From Pontus came
Sidon, who, by the exceeding fweetnefs of her voice, or
finging, firtt celebrated the hymns or odes of praifes ; and
Pofidon (or Neptune). But to Demaroon was born Meli-
carthus, otherwife called Hercules (O).

Then Uranus made war againtt Pontus ; and joined
with Demaroon when he invaded that prince ; but Pontus
put him to flight, and Demaroon vowed a facrifice for
his efcape.

But, in the thirty-fecond year of his power and reign,
Hus, or Cronus, having laid an ambufcade for his father
Ura;nus, in a certain mid-land pjace, and having gotten
him into his hands, cut of his privities near fountains
and rivers. There Uranus wa^ confecrated, and his

(O) This is the old Phoeni- pra6fifed in this temple, was

dan Melicartus, or Hercules, taken from the Jews, not con-

whofe temple at Gadira or fidering that Hercules Phoeni-

Gades, had no images in it, cius was long before the Jew-

and continued to the time of ifh law, and that the patri-

Silius Italicus. Bochart fup- archal religion ufed no images.

»ofes this way of worihip,

i^irit

»q4 The General Mytoryfrm <S^ t^eluge

fpirit or breath wa$ feparated, and t\\p tlopd gf iiis fepf^etf
dropped int9 the fountains a^d wgters oJF the riy^rs ^ ^n4
l;}),e place i^ ibewed iintq thjs day>

Aftarte, called the Greateft^ and Demaroon, Airx^aipe^
ZeuS| and Adpdaa the }(ing of t|ie gods^ reigned over
;tl>e country by CrQnus's cpnfent or aptho^ity \ and Aflartc
put 0^ her head) as tji^ fpark of her fovereig^tyi a buU'f
l^ead- 8ut, tr^v^liing abfml the iyQf}d| Q)^ f^ffRd a (tar

^^}|i^g ffo^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ A^y> which) l?H<^g ^P> ihp confer
crated in the holy ifland Tyre. The Phq^nicfang (ay, that
Aftart^ isibe^ whois, ^^mongjt^p pr^ks} c^ljcd Api^f9^
4jtc (pr Veaiis).

Cronus alfo, traverfing the eartfaj gaye j[;q his own
^aught^i Aihena, the kingdom of Attka \ and a plague
af>d inort^lity intieryeningi he aiade his only Ton a l^ur^
cfiearipg ^o bis fatJ^i^ Urapus. Thi3 fad pur an^r r^
i^tes more p^^iticifl^rly ra an<)th?r pl^ce, faying, it \k^?
^ftablifh^d ^s a ci^fton^ among t^e finciept«) fh^f> if) ?H
"cxtr^rdinary calamities of thepjubUci the rulers of g^ty
or nation {hould give up their mpft faypu^i^ child ^^ 1^
flaini as an c;|i:piation to ?ppea^ die avenging ^^^jpt^oiis %
an4 the vi^ii^cis ^/i tbe£e cafes were but^hisr^4 wit)i n)|^€^
fnyfterions ceremony. Cronus, tiierefore, calle4 hy l^hf
Phoenicians lfrael> who reigne4 %\^^T^% and w^% gfter his
4eath) confecfated ji^to the pUpetCrpnt^^ (or. Satujrfijj h^¥r
ing an only &)n by A^pbf et^ a nyn^ph of the ^o^^ptry^
^nd wjhom, therefore, he called Jeud, which, ia ^hfl
Fhpenician toi^guct at this d^y, %nji^es only iigottin^ ai)4
the country being inyo^yed i^ 9 d^ngerpi^s war« b^ p4pr7if 4
this fon with royal ^ttire, ai}d iacri£Lce4 hin^ o^ ?a a|tar
^hich he had prepared for th^ pprpo^e ^ Crofiys w^
^1^ circum^iiied^ and forced his auxiliaries to undergo
the fame operation j not long after this event be confpr
crated another fon, he had by ^hea, called Muth ; jfo |th^
Phoenicians call Death or Pluto.

After ihefe tranfad^ions, Cronus gave the city By^Ius
io the goddefs BaaltiS| which is Dione i and Qerytus h#
gave to Ppfidon, and to the Cabiri^ to be inh^bit^d hj
liufbandmen and fiihermen, who confecrated the remain^
tqi Pontns.

The God Taa^tus, having formerly imitated or repr^v
fented Uranus, made imagfcs of the countenances of the
gods Cronus and Dagon, and formed the fiicred cfaaraor

q Sanchoniatho apud Eufeb. de Fraep. JEv. lib. i. f ap, ip. p. ]$f

iers

fo thi Btrth pf \Srahm^ |o?

the «n(ign of his royal ppw$?r, fpur pyA§| partly l^jefpre.
Jtnd partly behiti4^ twp of tbcpfi winking %s in flf:cp j ^nd
iippn hi? (hpul4ers four wing6. tWP .^5 wybgi ^i)d t)vo a§
J^t down tp reft. TKe f OjWe^ w;as, ^'* That CroouSj
V^hcn he flept, y.ef ya^ w^jn^ | and w^kirjg, y^t flept,''
4nd fp for Vi^ wing?^ " Th^t even, refting, Jie jjeii^r
afepul; J ai^di, flying, yet r^fte^-^' B,ut tbjg pth/er gpd^ h^4
two wiiig? e^ch pf thefu on tjti,ejr ftoiilder^, to iptiro^te^
that they flew about with, or under, Cronus. He alfo
had two wings on his head, one for the governing part
pf the mind, and on/e for tbe fcnfe.

But Cronus, repairing to the fouth country, gave all
jpt U> th^e god Ta9iit]us, that it ihpi^ild be his Icing^onit
lefc jthings, faith he, the Cahiri, tfee feveu foi\i^ of
Sydyc, and their eighth brother Afc)epius, firft of all fet
4own in memoirs, as the god Taautus directed.

. A^ltlii^^e things the fpn of Thabion, the firft hierophant
{or direftor of f^ciied ritesj that ever wjis among the ]?h«-
fiicii^ns, ^llegorifed \ and, inixing the faQs with pbyfic^I
$ind mundane phenomena, delivered them down tp thofe
fl^at pelcbjrated orgia, and tp thojfe prophets who prefided
over the myftcrips. Thcfe again contrived to improve
their fables, and fo delivered them doyirn to their fuccef?
(brs, and to thofe that were afjer^^rds introduced among
them : one of th.enji v^^ Jfiris, the inventor of three letr
fers, the brother pf Chua, the firft Phoenician, as he was
^envgrds .called-

'Rius we have prcfented the reader with the fmall re-
fnains which are left of the Phoenician antiq,uities, col*
]e£ted by Sapchoniatho ; wherein a free ancj open cp^fef-
fipn is made of the beginning of idolatry^ and their god^
ingenuoufly apl? nowleged to have been pnce mortal men ^
a izfk which the Greeks vere afliampd to own, and there-*
fore turned all the ftories of the gods into allegories and
phyfical difcourfes '. Endeavours have been ufed to ex-
plain this fragment, and reconcile it with Scripture, on
the fuppofition, that the records, from which Sanchonia-
tho extracted his hiftory, were corrupted in thofe in-
ftapces by the Cahiri, the firft writers of them 5 who, in
particular, fupprefled a}l mention of the deluge, for the
l-eafons already given.

Ip our opinion hoisvever, th/e hiftory of Sanchoniatho
^i|} in i^ view gdmit of t,]iie corre£i:ioas that have been

f ^tillingfleet. Origiiif ^zu

Ibadc:

im 8 ^e General Hijloty from the Deluge

ma^ J It may be confuted by Scripture, but it can never
be reconciled with it; the plan is quite different from
that of Mofes, and feems to be grounded upon a very dif-»
ferent tradition relating to the firft ages ; if it be not ra-
ther a hiftory framed long after the fafts happened, by
mixing fable or invention with fome vulgar notions or
glimmerings of ancient tranfa^ions, which ftill remain-
ed in the life of the author, or editor, when the ge-
nuine and more perfeA tradition of things had been loft*

S E C T. IV.

Of the Removal. of Mankind from the Neighbourhood #/
Mount Ararat to the Plain of Shinaar, and of the
Building ofBabeL

Yr. of FU AS two or three very remarkable Events fall within this

Ati^e Chr. '^ period, namely the building of Babel by the poftc-

1996. rity of Noah, the confuCon of languages, and the difper-

- fion of mankind, it is incumbent upon us to give the

reader fome account of thefe important fa£ls, the e&e£ls

of which are felt to this day, and were doubtlefs of great

benefit to mankind.

_. , - After the death of Noah, his fons Shem» Ham, and

wilrafion Japhet, thought fit to remove with their families from the

•; the fons plains near Ararat, where we fuppofe they till then con*

of Noah to tinued, and, ^< travelling from the Kaft, found a plain in

Shinaar. ^.j^g j^jjj pf Shinaar, and dwelt there.'*

The extent It is hard to determine what were the limits of the \2axd
and/itua- of Shinaar (P) in the early times. We are informed from

UndifShi-- ^^'■^P*^^''^> ^^^* *^ city and tower of Babel were built in
^aur! '" ^ plain within that province, and that Nebuchadnezzar
Carrie^ the veflels of the temple into the land of Shinaar,
into the houfc of his God, which in all probability was
the temple of Belus in Babybn. Befides Babel, there are
three other cities mentioned in Scripture, (ituated in Shi-
naar, viz. Erec, Accad, and, Calneh ; but as all the four

^P) The name in Hebrew dae, on the plain where they

IS Shinaar^ or Senftaar; in A- iirfl fixed, as Jofephus affirms,

rabic, Scnjar, Bochart fays, without fuppofing them to have

it is derived from naar^ which forefcen the difperfion ; to'

fignifies tofcatter^ or dijjipate ; which that etymology, if itbc

and if fo, it could not have right, plainly alludes^

i)eejj impofed by d^e Noachi-

item

, to the Birth of Abraham. 109

fecm tQ have flood at no gr^at diftance from each other, Yr. of FL
we cannot judge of the extent of the country. Thus far ss^-
in general may be prefumed, that it took in more to the -^"^^ ^^^*
north of Babel than to the fouth, and that it lay for the '^?^*
nioft part, though not entirely^ between the Euphrates and
nigris; for Babylon, if it was the fame with Babel, flood on
the eaft fide of Euphrates ( QJ, before .Nebuchadnezzar
built^he new city on the other fide of that river, which
thenceforth ran through the middle of the whole.

We meet with footftepsof the name of Shinaar in thofe
parts, both in ancient and modern authors : Sennaar
of Babylon is mentioned by Heftiseus the Milefian, and
the city of Singara in Mefopotaoiia by feveral. Some
fpeak of a territory of that name in the fame quarters :
Ptolemy places both the city and mountain of Singara
there : all which feem to be the fame city, mountain (R),
and territory, which ftill bear the name of Senjar in the
Eaft. The part of Mefopotamia chofen out by the aftro-^
nomers in the time of the kalifa al Mamun, tor imeafur-
ing the degree of a great circle, was the defert of Senjar ; •
"which the nature > of the experiment fhews to hav^ been
large, as well as a level country \ and this we take to have
been at leaft a part of the ancient plain of Shinaar*

The city of Senyar flands, or flood, in the northern
borders of its territory, in the defert, at the foot of a '

certain mountain twenty-one miles from Balad, and
•

( QJ Among other circum- nian, writes, that in Mefopota-
flances it may be obferved, that mia there are two mountains
the modem travellers reprefent of great length, abounding -
the Euphrates a mile and a with fruit-trees, the more
half broad in thofe parts ; eagerly of which is called Sin-
whereas Strabo fays, the jar,* the other Leilbn : proba-
breadth of the branch of. that bly th^ defert or plain of Sin-
river which pafled through jar lay between thefe two
Babylon, was but a furlong, ridges of hills.' We cannot
or the eighth part of a mile ; conceive upon what ground
though the bridge, according Heidegger charges Haitho with
to Diodorus, was five furlongs a miiUke, as if he made Sin-
in length, iif he does not mi f- jar a mountain of Chaldaea;
take : but, fuppofing the river on the contrary, that author
as broad as the bridge was feems to have miflaken Haitho,
long, it will be but little more and placed what he found in
than one third of the prefent the chapter concerning Mefo-
breadth of the Euphrates ; potamia, as belonging to the
which yet lower down, at foregoing chapter, which treats
Hella, become^^ more narrow, of Chaldsea.

(R) Haitho, the Arme-

twenty-

ne General Hilary from the Deluge

irr. of fJ. twenty-feven from Mufol, wfiich twd plscces are fittiaf A
3^3 5- tm the Tigris, twehtj-one miles afuilder* It i^ faid to H^
// ei^* *^ ^'^^ fouth>*rard of Mifibin, almott thr^e ftdges weft of
p.J.^^.,1^ tfic Tigfrs, Cfr niore particularly of Mtifol \ fo that Pto-
lemy !s ht the wrong, to plate 8iiigara on that river. A&
for the difference between the words Shinaar and Sirtga^,
It is tery friiall, confidering, jft the Hebrew, the faitlfc
charafter ftands for the ain and the ghain. We find Siii^
gar called alfo Al Samara, -^c^hich fccms to be the contrac-
tion of Sarra^mari-rai, a city on the eaft of the 'Tigris,
three ftage^ ab(yve Baghdad, and, for a time, the feat of
the khalifat
ne build' The fons of Noah, upon fheif rff Hval in this plain:, b6-
iw? ofBd- gati to think of building a city aiid tower. The learned
M begun, are divided in their opinions about the fe^fe of the ^f-
iWge, which gives an account of thf$ ertterptife t ** AHA
they faid,^ Go to, let us build us a city and tower, Whofe
top may reach unto heaven 5 and let u$ make iis a riim^,
left we be fcattered abroad tiponf the face of th^ whole
"fcarth.f Many imagine, that the motive which induced
them to undertake this btiiMing, Was their apprehetifion
of a fecond deluge j and therefore they I'efolved t6 faift k
ftrufture of fufficient height to fiy fo, in cafe ot datfger*
Others think thert is no totm for this fuggeftiorf ; for,
hi that cafe, they Would have rather built it on an emi-
jftertce, than a plain ; and' the Scripture exprefsly a'ffigns
the reafon of their fetting. about it, viz. ** to make. them
z name,'' or leave a memorial of themfelVes, ** left they
ihould be fcattered," or, as it is otherwife rendered (per-
haps to ferve the piirpofe), *^ before theyfhould be fcat-
tered abroad," which implies, they knew they fliould be
difperfed before they began to build, having been virarned
by God, according to fome, to feparate themfelves into
colonies. But a third fortj to whom ilhe text appears at
tiogether Unintelligtble, as it np'W ftands in the fever^l
ffahflations, will have it, fliat the word /hem, ihould riot
6e rendered name, but^^^-j and fo the pafTage will run,
*^ Let us make us a fign, left we be fcattered ;*' that is,
as Perizonius explains it, the tower was to ferve them as
a beacon, or mark, by the fight of which, or of a fignal
made from the top of it,- they might avoid ftraying in thc^
Open plains with their flocks (the firil men being fhep-

. t Vid^ Plin. Hift. Nat. Ammiam Marccll. Sixt. Ruf. JPorrtp^
Lset. Thevenot*8 Voyages, part ii. Hyde de Rel. vet. Ferf* p. 64*
Abulfarag Hift. Pya« p. a8« Gepg. Nob. p, %Qy

berds}f

ib thi Sirih of Abraham^ tti

fcfodsOf fttr<< be lM)ilgbi baclfc to the city, whfeh they had y,^. of Fh
ittift for a plt«ie of abode^ being Hn^^iUtng to ^\{ftxit %^^^
fhetnfelves. ^ AnieClih

Whatever the flfotives of the chieft were> which feeffl . *^^**
io be littbioufiy expteflfed in tbe te*ly the efFeift <?£ thdf ^^y^ ^^.
c<»fuUatidil \^as^ that they fet oA foot the building <A the fignfrup
city and tower of Babet. Bat dtils enterpf ize being dif-» trattd.
^ieafing m the eyes of €k)d^ a$ tetiditig to fruftf^te tsi BaMbuii.
dthtj the execution of bib delSgn, Which was-, that maii-
tiifd (hoiidd: ttem always eotitinue together in one piace> he
ei>figed them to relinq«Hh theh- projfcA (S), by con-
founding their language^ fo that one could not underftahd
trbat another feud ; from whence the city took the nam^
of Babel, which fignifies^ cofifufim j trhereupon the difper-
tf(Sfi and piantitig of hation$ enftiied.

This great event hap^jiefted juft. before the birth of Pe- ^^ '««' •/
kg, in th'e yfear of the flood loi ^ according to the He- ^^^ '^^^^
fcfew c;ilcuIation ; in the year 401, according to the Sa- ^'''*^*
maritan; and, according to the Septuagint, m 531;
when the ix^ork, according to fome, fiad been carried ort
twenty-two years \ and, according to others^ forty^

Many, coniiderirfg the confufion of Ungues, and the
difperiion of mankind, as a divine judgment, have deem-
td the builcfing of Babel an evil ittteihpt} and, being
Concerned for the honour of Shem ahd hrs race, vc^itl not
allow' thcrti to have been prefent at it, ftippofing that un-
dertaking to be fet on foot wholly by ^he unbelieving part
of mankind, in which fenfe they underftand the words,.
'* the children of men ".'^ On, the contrary, others will
have it, that not only Shem, but .Noah and Abraham^
afliiled in the faii^f^ of that ftruftiare 5 while fonje fay^
Niinrod-, who is generally l6oked ort as the chief promoter
©f that work^ retired into Affyria, hecatlfe he wouldi no^t
give hfe aflent to the propofal.

That the building of Babel vra's a: fliitxg indifferent In it- Wke^imt
feff, and no' way finful, feems evident from the filence of /»/«/.

» Genef. 5^. 7, S, ^ Tomiellus, SaJianu«, ^ererius, &e. Syn-
cell. Chronogr. p. 80. Eutfch. Annal. p. 53. Morin. Exercit*
de Lin?, cap. viii. p^ 47. ScotanUs Hift. Sacr. p.4S» &t^ * Maf-
4Mi»Ciiroit. Canoti. S«cul. xvii. p. 478«

(S) Settle pretend, that the builders hends; ai^d that th6
fower was thrown down by city of Rabyloh vi^as buiit out
tenrpeftuous winds en the of the ruins (4).

(4) Abydeib apud ^oftb* de Pr»p. Evi lib. rir. cap, T4.

Scriptare,

112 The General Hiftoyy fr&m the t)eluge

Yr. of FI. Scripture, which does not condemn that attempt as bolcl
35*; or prefumptuous, or intimate any revelation of a previous

Ante Chr. command to .the contrary*, which only could make it
•>»''• criminal. . And that the finiily of Shcm were concerned
in the worky as well as the reft^ appears from their fhar-*
ing in the puuifhrnent, if it be a punifhment, that is, the
confufion of tongues ; for the languages of Elam, or Per-
fia, and of Affyriai and Mefopotamia, were different, aa
were alfo thofe even of the defcendents of Eber, the
Arabs, and Jews, whatever others may pretend ; and if
fpeaking the Hebrew language be a proof, then the Ca-
naanites were not concepied in the building of Babel, any
more than Eber and his defcendents \ for their language
was the fame with the Hebrew.

But this fuppofed abfence of the Shemites, as alfo an«
other common opinion, that feveral nations were planted
before the difperfion, are overthrown by the authority of
Scripture, which ftrongly intimates, that all mankind tnen
in being, without exception, were afTembled in the plain
of Shinaar (T) ; and it is probable, that, after the building
of Babel, Shem and his defcendants chofe, or accepted oU
the adjacent country for their fettlement; fo that the

(T) There is not a fa6t in brick, and build a city, and a
all the Mofaical hiftory, which tower. And the Lord came
feems to be more firmly eflab- down to fee the city, and the
lifhed than this. As fbon as tower, whigh the children of
Mofes hath brought the three men builded ; and faid, Be-
fons of Noah out of the ark, hold, the people is one,and they
he takes * care to inform us, have afl one language.'' Thefe
** that of them was the whole feem to be convertible terms,
earth overfpread." And after and import, that as all man-
giving us the names of their kind, coUe6led there in one
defcendents, at the time of body, had but one language ;
their difperfion, he fubjoins, fo all thofe who had but one
and ** by thefe were the na- language, were afTembled in
tions divided in the earth, one body : which argument n
after the flood," Then pro- the more cogent, becaufe it is
ceeding to give an acount of allowed on - all hands, that
that memorable tranfadion, he there was but one language in
tells us, that the *^ whole earth the world, at the time of the
was of one language, and of building 'of Babel; which
one fpeech;'* that as ** they," city was fo called, •* becaufe
namely the whole earth, the Lord did there confound
*' journeyed from the Eaft, the language of all the earthy
they found a plain in the land and from thence did fcatter
of Shinaar, and dwelt there ; them abroad upon the face of
and they faid, Let us make all the earth."

molt

to the Birth of Mraham. 1 1 j

moft we can allow^with Buxtorf and others, is, that they Yt. gf Fk
difTulded the reft from that enterprize. 35«.

The reader muft needs have a curiofity to fee fonje ac- Ante Chr,
count of a city and tower which employed all the men in 'f^^'
the world, for fo many years, in huilding them. The Dffcrittton
Scripture informs us that they had i^ade ufe of burnt ofBabiL
bricks inftead of ftone, and (lime inftead of mortar. Ac--
cording to an eaftern tradition, they were three years em-
ployed in making and burning thofe bricks; each of
w^hich was thirteen cubits long, ten Vroad» and five thick.
The flime was a pitchy fubftance, or bitumen, brought
from a city in the neighbourhod of Babylon, called Is %
or Hit (U).

What

^Diflert. PhilologicoTheol. p. 70. Genef. xi. 3. Ebn Amid.,
p. 14. Eutych. Annal. p. 53. Jofepbus Antiq. lib. i. cap. 4*
Herodotus Clio. p. 32.

(U) Herodotus ''obfertej,
that, by the city Is, eight days
journey from Babylon, there
runs a fmall river, of the fame
name, into the Euphrates, whofe
waters carry along with them
many lumps of bitumen, which
are conveyed thence to the
walls of Babylon. Diodorus
lays, the quantity of bitumen
in thc^e parts is fo great, that
it fufiices the inhabitants not
only for their buildings, but
for fuel, being dried and
burnt like wood. Hit is called
^liopoUs by Ifidore of Cha-
rax, who mentions the fprings
of bitumen near it, and places
it on the Euphrates, about
two hundred and fifteen miles
weft of Saleucia, on the Ti-
gris ; whic^ iituation agrees
better with Herodotus than
the account of modern authors,
who place Hit thirty-one pa-
rafangs weft of Ambar, once
a famous city on the Euphra-
tes, not far north from Felu-
Tiah, and eight to the north of
Kadeiia, a town no lefs re-

Voi. I.

markable for the battle, where«
in the Arabs gained the vic-
tory, which decided the fate of
Pcrfia. .i"^

Thefe fprings of bitumen
are called Oy un Hit, the foun^
tains of Hit ^ and are much ce-
lebrated by the Arabs and
Perfians ; the latter call it
Chefh-meh-kir, the fountain of
pitch,. This liquid bitumen
they* call nafta ; and the
Turks, to diftinguilh it from
pitch, give it the name of
hara fakixy or Hack majiich*
A Perfian geographer fays,
that nafta iSups out of the
fprings of the earth, as amber-
grife ifTues out of thofe of the
fea. Ail the modern tra-
vellers, except Rauwolf, who
went to Perfia and the Indies
by the way of the Euphrates,
before the difcovery of the
Cape of Good Hope, mention
this'fountain of liquid bitumen
as a ftrange thing. Some of
them take notice of the river
mentioned by Herodotus, and

aiTure us, that the people 6f
I tht

114

Yr. of Ft.

35*-
Ante Chr.

1^96.

The General Hifiory from the Deluge

What Babylon was in its flourifhing ftate, andthff^
fevcral changes of fortune which bcfel it, till at length it
was totally deftroyed, the reader will find recorded in
in the courfc of tnis hiftory. In the mean time> we
would willingly gratify his curiofity with fome account
of the ruina of this celebrated antiquity, which are fo
defaced^ that the people of the country are not certain of
their fituation. Some travellers, led by a tradition of the
inhabitants, have judged a place about eight or nine
miles to the weft,, of north-weft, of Baghdad, to be the
tower of Babel (X). Rauwoif fuppofes he found the

ruins

for every one to take; thejr
ufe it to caulk or pitch their
boats, laying it on two ov three
inches thick, which keeps out
the water ; with it alfo they
pitch their houfes, made of
palm-tree brancbes. If it was
not that the inundations of the
Euphrates carry away the
pitch, which covers all the
lands from the place where it
rifes to the river, there would
have been mountains of it
long fince. The very ground
and (lones thereabouts afford
bitumen, and the fields abun-
dance of faltpetre (5).

(X) The name of this mo-
nument is varioufly written by
travellers, Carcuftate Nemeru,
Karkuf, Agarcuf. All who
mention it call it the tower of
Nlmrod; and we are told
that the common people of
the country beliieye it to be
fuch ;. and that it is at prefent
called the remains of the
Tower of Babel. It is fituate,
according to fome, feven or
eight miles from Baghdad ;
"according to others, nine miles
towards the weft- north -we{^•
tt is conlpicuous at a vafl

the country have a tradition-,
that, when the tower of Babel
was building, they brought
the bitumen from hence ; a cir-
cumftance confirmed by the
Arab and Perfian hiftorians.
. Hit, Heit, £it, Ait, or Idit,
as it is varioufly written by
tiavellers, is a great Turkiih
town, fituate upon the right
or weft fide of the Euphrates,
and has a caftle ; to the fouth«
weft of which, and three
miles from the town, in a
valley, are many fprings of
this black* fubftance, each of
which makes a noife like a
fmith's forge,, incefiantlf puf-
fing and blowing, out the mat-
ter fo loud, that it may be
.heard a mile off; wherefore
the Moors (Arabs) , call it
Babal Jehennam, that is, hell'
gate* It fwallows up all heavy
things f and many camels from
time to time fall into the pits,
and arc irrecoverably loft. It
ifibes from a certain lake, fend-
ing forth a fihhy fmoke, and
continually boiling over with
,the pitch, which fpreads it-
felf over a great field that is
always full of it. It is free

(5) Vide Newberry's Travels. Cartwrighfs Travels* Purchas,
Pilg» vol. ii* p« HiSt Voyage dc Perfc,

diftance^

tt> the Birth of AbrnhaMi

tuins of Babylon upon the Euphrates, near Felujla,
about thirty-fix miles to the fouth-weft of Baghdad. And

DeUa

difbnce, ftanding by itfelf in
a mde plain, between the Eu-
phrates and Tigris, with no-
thing great or high about it ;
which 18 the reafon that, con-
trary to what is generally ob-
ienred in other objeds, it ap-
pears greater at a diflance than
when one draws near it. It is
fallen to ruin on all fides, and
hath thereby made, as it were,
a little (hapelefs mountain,
which it refembles more than
a tower; only it is rather
iquare than round.
, It is built of fun-burnt
bricks, each a foot iguare, and
fix inches thick; fome (ay
three quarters of a yard long,
and a quarter thick; others,
but ten inches fquare, and
three thick. Authors differ as
to the manner in which thefe
bricks are ranged, and the ma-
terials made ufe of for fetting
and binding thepi together.
They obferve, firft, that there

to the top. Some fay the *
ranges of bricks are inter-
changeably fix and feven upon
a bed ; and others place a bed
betwixt every courfe of bricks ;
but that is probably a mif-^
take; though between each
courfe of bricks there is laid a
little ftraw;^ or rather, they
are fet in bituminous mortar,
confifting of pitch and earth,
for which an inch may be al-
lowed ; which is at prefent the
fafiiion of building at Baghdad,
there being not far off a great
lake of pitch ; probably that of
Hit, betbre mentioned. There
are fifty of thefe ranges of
feven and fix bricks, in fo
much that the whole height
may amount to one hundred
and thirty-eight fiset. Others
fay it is reduced to one hun-*
dred and eight, or one hun-
dred aud twenty feet^ This
heap is in compafs a quarter
of a mile, or, at moft, threp
19 laid a bed, confining of hundred paces ; not a mile, as
canes or reeds brui fed to pieces, one writes; the rain having
mixed with wheat-ftraw, and . wafhed it away on all fides.
ipread an inch and a half It has no entrance, being a
thick ; fome call them mats folid mafs ; only at the foot of

it one fees a maghara, or lion's
cave ; and towards the middle
there is an opening, which
pafies quite through the build-
ing, about a foot and a half
fquare, befides a great window
towards the top, into which
La Boullaye threw a gi^pple.

Yr. of Fir

Ante Chr.
1996.

made of canes and palm-tree

leaves ; others fay only ftraw,

the thicknefs of three inches,

which appear as yellow and

frefii as if they were but newly

laid, and are fiill very durable.

Upon this bed lie feven ranges

of bricks ; then another bed

of reeds, and fix rows of in order to afcend it ; T>ut the

bricks ; then a third bed, with bricks giving way, had like to

five rows of bricks, decreafing have killed him with their

in that manner till you come fall (6).

(6) Vid. La BouUaye 'ie Gouze Voyage, chap. Hi. Tavernier
Voyage de Perfe. Balbi Via^gio liella Ind. Orient, cap. v. Teixeirn
Viage de U India hafta Italia. Fitch*s Traveii,

I » Travellers

t$^l

1 1 6 The General Btffory from the Deluge

Yr. of Fl. Delia Valle wa» direfted, by another traditioit, tci
35«. look for it about two days journey lower, near an an-

Ante Chr. cient city called Hella, fituate upon the fame river. Here
alfo muft be placed the ruin^ defcribed by a late traveller
into thefe parts. For further particAilars the reader may
confult the travels of Rauwolf, Thevenot, Tavemier,
Pietro de la Valle, together with Maegregory's Sepul-
chres of the Ancients. But after all, the ruins which
thefe authors defcribe, do not feem to be the remains of
the original tower, but rather of fome later flarufture*
raifed by the Arabs«

Of theory
gin of

S E C T. V.

Of the Cbnfufion af Tongues^

IJEING, in this feftion, to give fome account of tfie
^ confiifion of tongues, it may be expefted we ihould!
firft fay fomcthing about the origin of fpeech, one of the.
moft diftinguifliing differences between us and the animal
creation, the great bond which holds fociety together^
and the common conduit whereby the improvements of
'knowlege are conveyed from one man> and one genera-*
tion to another^

If the authority of Mofes be conclufive, it feems not ta»
be denied but that fpeech was the immediate gift of God
to the firflman ; not that we fuppofe God really infpired
him with any diftinft or primitive language, but that he
made him fenfible of the power with which he was en-
dued of forming articulate founds, and the ufe he might
make of them as figns of his ideasj and then left the
arbitrary impoCtion of them to Adam himfelf ; as i^
intimated by God's bringing the beads and birds to him^

Travellers difagrec in their
fiBntirtients of this toWer : one
iays, it has been fo well de-
ifcribed by Mofes, that the
light of the remains and ruins
would make one admire the
veracity with which the writ-
ings of that great prophet are
penned; but another declares
that, according to Mofes's de-
icription, there is no likeli->

hood that this ihould be the
the tower of Babel ; and
therefore, rejefting the vulgar
ojiinion of the country, he
looks upon that of the Arabs
to be more probable, who fay
it was buih by one of their
princes for a beacon, toaflem-
ble his fubjc6ts in time of war ;
and this feems to be the. truth
of the ms^ter.

to the Birth of Abraham. 1 1 7

^ to Tee what he would call them 5 and whatever Adam Yr, of f 1.
^called every living creature, that was the name thereof'^.'' ^^%t.
So that, excepting the firft impulfe of the Almighty, in- ^^^^
forming Adam of his natural ppwer, we are inclined to „■

Aink that fpeech was attained by gradual* invention of
arbitrary founds, to denote, firft, the mo it obvipus things,

* 5ihd after, the lefs obvious, as they came to be taken
notice of. Thaf Jit is poffible ' Adam might attain the
*ife of fpeech by tliis method, we prefume none will '

<leny ; and, if it be pofEble, we are fure it mufl: be the
moft reafonable and provable to all but thofe who are for

. aiiultiplying of miracles necdlefsly.

We cannot^ therefore, approve of tTie opinion of thofe
who imagine that God himfelf formed the body of a lan-
jguage, and then infufed it into Adam. ,BdSdes, the
much greater part of the primitive tongue, whatever that
-was, and the names of many things and operations, mufl:
liave been impofed fevcral ages after Adam's creation ;
as mankind became acquainted with them, and arts and
dconveniencies of life were invented. The birds and
beafts indeed, it is natural .to fuppdfe, Adam might im-

I mediately name, the kinds not being many; but we do
not think he went fo far as to name every fpecies of them,
much lefs all the reptile*, trees, or plants. The fifli, we ^
f)refume, nobody will imagine were brought to be named ;
and if fhey had, by miracle, appeared before Adam, no
doubt Mofes would have mentioned this .circumfl:ance,
the fiihoJFthe fea "being the firft part of the creation, the
dominion of which ivas given by God to man *.

It has, however, been thought by many, that the firft
language was dF -divine formation; and of this fentiment
Plato himfelf feems to have been, who fuppofed, that
the names of things, originally, had fome natural corv-
■neflion or congruity, with the things themfelves ; and
that the firft names muft have been juftly impofed, be-
caufe they were impofed by the gods *. And partly from
this notion, in all probability, arofe^ thofe fupefftitious
pretences of the holinefs of one tongue above the reft, as
being formed by God.

As we cannot fee any neceffity for fuppofing the infpi-
ration of a language, fo neither can we imagine that
Adam could attain the ufe of fpeech fo foon as is repre-
fented ±0 us by Mofes, without divine aflUlance. We

y Genef. ii. 19. ' Genef. i. %6, 2J, ^ Plato in

Cratylo. Vid. eand« in Protagora.

I 3 jnight

iiS

Yr. o^ Fl.

Ante Chr.
1996-

rhifirft
language
tqnfified oj
Je*wnjQords,

Whether
more
tongues
than one
before thg
fioQd%

^he General Hiftory from the Deluge

might fuppofci indeed, that mankind might of themfelve9j|
by degrees, form a perfeft language; for when men
wanted figns to exprefs their ideas, and convey them to the
underftanding of others, they could find none more fit for
that purpofe, or which required lefs difiiculty to invent,
or labour to form, than articulate founds ; but to frame a
number of them, fufficienteven for the.few occafions of
the firft men, m^ift neceffarily have taken up a confiderable
time \ for which reafon, thofe who were unacquainted
with the Mofaical writings have imagined, that men were
at firft no better than mute animals, till at length convc-i
nience taught them the ufc of fpeech. Several of the •
ancients were of opinion, that men, in the beginning of
the world, expreffed their thoughts by dumb figns, or
gefticulation only, or elfe by confufed founds of no figr
nification 5 and afterwards endeavoured at a language by
impofing diftindt names on different objefts occafionally
in the courfe of obfervation and experience.

If we confidcr the primitive ftate of Adam, and the few
things he had occafion to name, it cannot be conceived
that his language at firft was very extenfive j for were we
to expunge out of our lexicons all words introduced by
the gradual invention of arts, to ferve the convenience of
life, by accurate diftinftions of the feveral fpecies of crea-^
tures, and metaphyfical conceptions about the operations
of the mind, we fliould find the remainder contained in a
very fmall compafs ; fo that it muft neceffarily be feveral
ages before a language could be completed to any degree
in comparifon to oui* modern tongues. Scaliger divides
fpeech into three forts or degrees, as formed for neceffity,
ufe, or delight ; the firft, that imperfed^ fpeech, or rather
effay towards fpeech, above mentioned, ferving as the
means of neceffary intercourfe between man and man :
the fecond fomewhat more refined and poliihed, by being
adapted and made fit for ufe and convenience, and by ap-
plying certain dfmenfions, bounds, and lineaments, to
the firft rude Iketch j whence arofe a certain rule of fpeak-
ing : the third fort, yet more polite, as having added to
the former the ornaments of elegance ^.

Whether there was more than one language before the
flood, is a queftion about which we are perfedly in the
dark ; though it is more reafonable to fuppofe that there
was but one, in which it is poflible there might be fomc

i> Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 8. Vid» La^anti de vcro Cultu, lib. ^^
Scaligen in Poetic, lib- i. cap, \t

difference

to the Birth of Abraham.

^IFerence iq dialefl) but none conCderable, for the few
ages between the creation and the flood, and the long
lives of the antediluvians, would eiFeftually ))revent any
great alteration. However that be^ k is piobable only
one language, and that the primitive tongue, was preferv-
ed by Noah» or, at leafi, was (poken by his defcendents,
.till the confuiionof tongues at Babel.
^ Itmay be expe&ed that we fhould here enter into a
formal enquiry concerning the primitive tongue, and en-
deavour to determine what particular language it was that
-the firft progenitors of mankind fpoke ; but as this is an
-enquiry rather of curiofity than ufe, and we cannot be
certain whether that language, whatever it wasj be now
in being ^ ; the moft we can do will be to fliew the vanity
-of thofe who have laid claim to this honour, as an unde-
niable evidence of the antiquity of their nation (Y).

« Vid. Grot in GeD«f. xi. i. & Cluver. Germ* Atttiq. lib. L cap.
-*• p. 59, 60.

Yr. of FJ;

35«.

Ante Chr.

1996.

Inquiry
concerning
the primi'
tive
tongue.

(Y) Pfammetichaa, a king
of Egypt, wanting to know
who were the moft ancient
•people in the world, after fe-
veral fruitlcfs experiments,,
at laft hit on the following ex-
4>edient : he took two infants
-newly b6m, and gave them to
a fliepherd to be brought up,
commanding him not to fufrer
■any perfop to ipeak a word in
their hearing, but to nurfe
them in a folitary cottage, by
bringing them goats to fuck,
till they could take other food.
His intention was, toiind out
what word the children would
iirA utter when they began to
articulate ; imagining that
they would naturally fpeak the
primitive language, if not
taught otherwife. At two
years end, as the (hepherd one
one day entered his cottage,
iie had no fooner opened the
^oor, than the children ran to
bkn, and, holding out their

hands, cried heccos. Of this
exclamation the fhepherd, at
firft took no notice ; but after-)
wards, obfcrving they fre-
quently repeated this word at
his coming in, he acquainted
the king with it, and, by his
order, brought the children
into his prefence. Pfammeti-
chus having himfelf heard
them pronounce the fame
word, enquired whether, any
nation made ufe of it; and
finding the Phrygians called
hreadhy that name, he and his
fubjefts allowed this to be a
proof, that the Phrygiaoa
were the more ancient people*
Herodotus remarks, that the
Greeks affirmed thofe children
were brought up by women
whofe tongues had been cut
out by the king's order for
that purpofe. The fcholiait
of Anftophanes tells the fame
ftory of another king of £-
gypt named Sefonchous (7)^

il) Vide Herodot. Euterp. Ariftoph. in Nubt

I 4 Befidet

1 20 The General Hiflory froM t^e Deluge

•

Yr. of FK Befides thofc kindred languages we qommohly call the
j5». Oriental tongues, the Armenian, the Celtic, the Coptic,
Ante Chr, x\it Greek, the Teutonic, and the Chinefe, hive afpired
. '^^ to. the preference, in this refpcf^- The Armenian, Cel-
Sfviral ^^^ ^'^^ Coptic, have little evidence to prpduce, befides
languagtt the antiquity of their nations ; though the former infiit,
^tUdm this that as the ark refted in their country, and Noah and his
k§Mwr^ children muft have continued there for fome time, before
the lower and marfliy country of Chaldaea could be fit to
receive them, it is therefore reafonable to fuppofe, they
left their language on the. fpot. The Greek fome writers
have fancied to be the mofl: ancient, becaufe of its great
extent and copioufnefs. The Teutonic, or that dialed): of
it which is fpoken in Lower Germany and Brabant, has
found a ftrenuous patron, who has endeavoured to derive
even the Hebrew itfelf from that tongue. ' And the pre-
tenfipns of the Chinefe have been fupported, not only
from the great andqitity of that nation, their early ac-
quaintance with arts and fciences, and their having pre-
ferved themfelves, fo many- ages, from any confiderable
mixture or intercourfe with other nations ; but alfo from
the nature and Angularity of the tongue itfelf, which con-
fifts of few words, all monofyllables 5 is moft Cmple in
its conftru£lion, having no variety of dcclenfions, conju-
gations, or grammatical rules ; and fo modeft, that it is
laid, they have no charafter to exprefs thofe parts which
. we induftrioufly conceal * : all which peculiarities are
conceived to be ftrong marks of its being the firft language
of mankind ; befides the prefumption of Noah's being'
the founder of the Chinefe nation.

As to the oriental languages, though they have |?ach
of them their partifans, yet the generality of eaftern au-
thors allow the preference to the Syriac, or that dialeft of
it which -was fpoken in Mefopotamia, Chaldaea, and At
fyria ;'in which countries mankind made their firft fettle-
' ments after the flood, and where, it is prefumed, the
language of No&h and his fons remained.

The patrons of the Syriac tongue have, as another evU
dence of its right to the precedency, endeavoured to de-
rive the names of perfons and places, mentioned by
Mofes, from that language, and generally with better
fuccefs than foine writers wjll allow ; but this argument,

* Eut^sch. Annal. p. 50. Goropius Becanus, in Orig. Antvcrp.
Webb's Efl'ay towards the Primitive Language, Scmcdo Rel. de
la Cilia, p. i. ch. ii.

though

to the Birth of Abraham. 1 2 1

though commonly looked upon as conclufive, yet Yr. of FI.
proves nothing of itfelf, as will be hereafter obferved. 35*;
However we muft acknowlege, that if any of thefe "^'^^ ^^^
tongues, tn particular, may claim the honour of being - j- ' _,
original, or mother of the reft, it feems to be the Syriac,
which was probably, fpoken by all the patriarchs, from
JJoah to Abraham ; that beings after the confufion, the
tongue of the country where th^y were born and lived ;
though, it muft be confefled, it will not thence follow,
that it was in ufe there before the confufion.-

The jews afiert the antiquity of their tongue with the thepreHnm
greateft warmth. They pretend that it was immediately fionsofthe
framed by God, who fpake it in his own perfon ; for ^^^^''^
which reafon it is called the holy tongue ; that it is the only ijj^*^/
language underftood by the angels, and wherein we can
.pray,, and be heiard, with effeft. Several Chriftian writ-
ers, abating thefe fuperftitious fancies of the Jews, have
acknowleged and maintained, that die Hebrew tongue is
the moft ancient in the world y the very fame which was
fpoken by Adam and Noah, and preferved in the family
of Eber ; who were not concerned in the building of Ba-
bel, nor, confequently ihared in in the punifliment in-
flifted on thofe that were. But as we have already
fliewn this to be a groundlefs imagination, we fliall pro-
ceed^ to confider their principal ajgument, and, indeed,
*the only circumftance which deferves any confideration,
drawn from the etymologies of the names in Mofes ;
fome of which that infpired writer himfelf derives from
the Hebrew, and the reft are generally fuppofed to havd
been taken from the fame fource. -

It cannot be denied, that feveral proper names of per-
Tons and places, before the confufion of tongues, may be
very regularly derived from the Hebrew ; and there are .
fome very pertinejit reafons given, and allufions made, *

by the facred hiftorian, to evinoe their propriety, and the
relation they have to the perfon or place defigned by
them : and this is the moft that can be allowed. For
though all the names in general, mentioned by Mofes be-
fore the divifion, may, pofiibly, be formed from fome
Hebrew root or other ; yet much the greater part of them
feem to be infignificant, at leaft to have no congruity
with the fubjeft: nor can it be expefted they fhould, un-
lefs we either imagine all fuch names, as feem to relate
to a future part of a perfon's life, were given by the fpi-
rit of prophecy ; or elfe allow them to be impofed after
^e eventSi wnich occafioned them^ happened \ and fb

122

The General Hljlory from the Deluge

35*-
Ante Cbr.

1996.

Yr. of FI. to be rather furnames, than proper names; a conceflion
^hich manifeftly weakens the argument drawn from
them.

This being premifed, it will be eafy to fliew^ that this
demonftrative argument, as it is called, will not bear ex-
amination. For, I ft. It is not certain, that the names
ufed by Moies were the very original names themfelves^
and not tranflated, by him, from the primitive tongue in-
to Hebrew, or, at leaft, fomewhat altered, to accommo-
date what he wrote to the underftandings of the Jews*
And, how inconfiftcnt foever fomc may think this me-
thod with hiftorical veracity, it has been frequently prac«>
tifed by profane, as well as facred hiftorians ; and Moles
himfelf has given a plain inftance of his approbation of
fuch changes, in altering his own name, which was of
Egyptian original, to adapt it to a Hebrew etymology (Z),
2d. Suppofing thofc given by Mofes were the true ori-
ginal names, it would .not be ftrange at all, if fome of
them might, by accident, aptly admit of a Hebrew deri-
vation \ fuch cafual conformities fometimes happening in
words which are certainly known to be of different ori-
gins. 3d. Several of thofe names are more pertinently
derived from fome other oriental tongues, than from the
Hebrew (A); and not a few of the etymologies which
Mofes himfelf gives us, are deduced without any regard^

(Z) The original name is
Mo'u/e or (as it is in the Cop-
tic verQon) Moufes^ with the
Greek termination ; and com-
pofed of two Coptic, or old
Egyptian words, mou^ ivater^
andy^, to preferve. But Mo-
fes, finding the Hebrew verb
majha^ to dranv out^ bore fome
refembinnce, in found, to his
name, and, in ilgnification, to
the occafion of it, writes it
mojbeh^ and introduces Pha-
raoh's daughter giving t;his rea-
fon for her impofing it, be-
caufe majbitihuy I drew him
out of the 'waters,

(A) Thus aiel, or beM^
which, in Hebrew, fignifics
vanity, or a vapour^ feems a
name not rtry appofite to

Adam's fecond fdn ; and there*
fore Mofes has -given no reafon
for its impofition* But if it
be derived from the Syriac
T/?a^ il^ which anfwers to the
Latin name Deus dedit^ it is
very proper; and, according-
ly, in the margin of a mani^f
fcript copy of Abu'lfaragius,
we find the name of Abel in-
terprcted in Arabic by that of
behatallah^ the g'fft of Qod

The name of Babel itfelf,
which the Hebrew text tells
us was fo called becaufe God
did there balah i. e. confound
the language of all the egrth,
may naturally be derived from
the SyriaC| in which tongue
IdOiel is to confound \ and hc^*
U^ Qxholel^ fonfupon*

to the Birth of Abraham. 123

at Icaft, to the prefcnt rules of analogy (B). 4th. A few Yr. of Fl.
lucky paronomafiae, or allufions, are no proof, in this 3$»«
cafe, becaule they may happen by accident ; and, in fad, AntcChr.
fome of thofe mentioned by Mofes may be exprefled in . ^^ * ,
other tongue^) as well as the Hebrew (C).

This argument has been farther enforced, from the
fignificancy of the names of feveral animals in the He-
brew tongue, which are thought to have been impofed by
Adam, becaufe of fome peculiar qualities in the animal
to which they were given, cdrrefpondent to their refpec-
tive roots ; but fince the fame fignificancy may be as juft-
ly aflerted of mod other languages, as the Hebrew, it
will conclude nothing. Befides, we are much, deceived,
if we imagine, that the verbs, were really the original
roots of the Hebrew tongue ; on the contrary, the greateft
part of them were themfelves, at firft, derived from
nouns, though they be now, for grammatical conve-

(B) We (hall inflance in the called Ahhamon^ or Ahham.

names of Noah and Abraham. But the names of thefe two

The former was fo called, be- pcrfons, efpecially the latter,

caufe, (aid his father, ^^»^3r i^di* being too famous, and well

menu^ he JhaJl comfort us y &c. known, in theEail, to admit any

But if his name were derived^ confiderable change, Mofes

from the root, niham^ to com^ was therefore obliged to retain

fort^ it (bould have been No- them, and give the beft ety-

hem, or Menahem, not Noah^ mology he could from the He-

which can regularly come from brew tongue. We might offer

po sther verb than nuaby to a more plaufible one ef the

reft ; and the Septuagint have, name Abraham, from the Ara-

therefore, inftead of be Jhall bic, wherein abti roham iigni-

comfort usj rendered it ^fti>«- fies tbe father of a multitude^

mmtati^ he Jhall caufe to reft^ did we not eon(i!^er, that it is

&c. which has induced fome one of thofe cafual refemb*

learned men to think the an- lances we have already men*

cient and true reading was ya* tioned, and moil certainly falfe.
mihenu. And Phijo Judaeus (C) As Adam, which name

and St. Jerom tranflate the is an appellative common to all

name Noah, reft* the fpecies, was fo called from

The name of Abraham was adamah^ the earth ;ro the La-
changed from Ahranty which tins called man homo ; which
fnffix^e^ high father y byinfert- the beft etymologifts derive
ing only the letter h^ becaufe from bumus^ the ground. Yet
he was to be made ah bamotiy we cannot think any body ever
the father of a multitude of na- dreamt, from hence, that the*
fions \ according to which ety- Latin was the primitive
poui be ilio\;ld.rather bavebeen tongue.

nience,

124

Yr. of Fl.

Ante Cbr.
1996.

Whether

ad other
tontrues
may be de-
rived from
ihe He-

The General Hiftory from the Deluge

nience, cdnfidered as the roots (D-)* On the whole, it
muft be acknowlegcd, that no concJufive argument, for
the antiquity of any language, can be drawn from ety-
mologies, which ought, on all occafions, to be urged
with great caution ^ beings for the mod part, uncertaia
and precarious.

Some learned men, however, have endeavoured to de-
rive all languages in general from the Hebrew, which
they imagine to be the parent of all others *. That they
ihould fucceed very well in finding a great conformity
between that and the other oriental tongues, is no
wonder, fince they are manlfeftly fprung from one
common original ; though it be difficulty if not impoC-
fible, to difUnguifti the niother from the daughters.
That they have alfo given tolerable fatisfaftion in de-
ducing, from the fame tongue, feveral words, not only
in the Greek and Latin, but in fome other European
languages, is not matter of much furprize, confidering
the great intercourfe feveral nations "of our continent
had with the Phoenicians, whofe mother tongue was
the Hebrew 5 but when thefe writers venture out of their
depth, and pretend to deduce the more remote languages
from the fame fountain, they only fhew their ignorance,
and make themfelvet ridiculous to all who have but a mo-
derate fkill in thofe tongues. As to the peculiar excel-
lencies found in the Hebrew tongue, by fome of its pa-
trons, and' which they imagine to be an additional proof
of the juftnefs of its pretentions, we may fay fomething
hereafter, when we come to give an account of this lan-
guage.

If the Hebrew tongue, therefore, cannot make good
Its claim, we may, without taking the pains to refute
what has been faid in favour of the. other pretenders,
conclude, that the primitive language was entirely loft at
Babel ; at leaft, that no one can now tell where it was
prcferved, which is much the fame thing.

« Vid'. Bochart Hierozoic. & Heideg. Hift. Patr. torn. i. Exerc.
16. fed. 16. & 18.

(D) Many examples might
be given of the verb's being
xnanifeftly derived from, and
poflerior to, the noun, in all
the Oriental tongues ; fo,

in Englift, dog^ duck, &c.
were certainly firfl impofed as
names, and afterwards ufed as
verbs, to exprefs adtions pro-
per to thofe creatures.

The

to the Birth of Abraham. , 125

The fpeaking one common language (though it might Yr. of FI.
tc of advantage to mankind in other refpefts, yet) being 35»'
the great obftacle to that divifion of them into diftinft na- ^^^^ ^^^'
tions, which God had, for moft wife purpofes, refolved ,

on, he thought fit to break this bond which held them fo <fhe confy"
ftridlly together, and confound their language, that x\\tj Jion of
ihould not under ft and one another's fpeech ; the natural ^^^guts*
confequence of which confuGon was, that they were fcat-
tcred abroad upon the face of all the earth. This event
is mentioned by profane hiftorians, who write, that man-
kind ufed one and the fame language till the overthrow of
the tower of Babylon ; at which time, a multiplicity of
tongues was introduced by the gods ; whereupon wars en-
fued, and thofe whofe fpeech happened to be intelligible
to each other, joined company, and feized fuch countries
as they chanced to light upon.

As to the degree of this Babylonifh confufion, and the Ho'weffut'
ihanner wherein it was efFe£led, there is great diverCty of '^
fentiments. Several learned men, prepofleffed with an
dpitiion, that all the different idioms, now in the world,
did at firft arife from one original language, to which they
may be reduced ; and that the variety- which we find
among them is no more than muft naturally have hap^.
pened in fo long a courfe of time, fuppofing a bare fe-

Earation of the builders of Babel, have been induced to
elieve, that there were no new languages formed at the
Confufion, but that the moft that was done, wais only to
fct thofe builders at variance, by creating a mifunder-
ftanding among them. This purpofe might have been ef-
fected without any immediate influence on their language;
but the fuppofition feems contrary to the words and ob-
vious intent of the facred hiftorian : others have imagined
It was brought about by a temporary confufion of their
fpeech, or, rather, of their apprehenCons, caufing them,
while they continued together, though they fpake the
fame language, yet to underftand the words differently.
A third opinion is, that a variety of inflexions was intro-
duced, and, perhaps, fome new words, which difturbed
and perverted the former manner of expreflion ; a cir-
cumftance which might occafion difl^erent diale£ts, yet
could not create new languages ^ But none of thefe ex-

f Vide Heideg. ubi fup. Exerc. ai. feft. at. Clertc. Comment.
in loc. Vid. Pcre Simon. Hill, Crit.du Vieux Teft. liv. i. chap. 14.
Judzi apud J. C. Scaliger Exercit. in Cardan. (59. fed^.i. If.
Calaub. Diatribe de Ling, Heb. Vide M» Cafaub. de quatuor
Ling. p. 17. & Tub initio^

plications

126 '^^^ General Hijldry from the Deluge

Yr. of Fl. plications feem fully to anfwer the apparent defign of
35** Mofes, which was, not oiily to inform us how mankind

Ante Chr. ^^j.^ ^^ ^^^ difperfed, and broken into fo many different
'^^ ' nations ; but to account for the diverfity of their lan-
guages, a talk very difficult, if not impofTible, without
having recourfe to fome extraordinary interpofition of the
divine power. For though time, intercourfe with fo-
reign nations, commerce, the invention and improve-
ment of arts and fciences, and the difference of climates,
caufe very confiderable alterations in languages ; yet we
cannot conceive a language can he thus fo much disfi-
gured, that all the general marks and charaderiflics
fhould difappear. It is not eafy to apprehend how all the
words of a language fhould be entirely changed for
others ; nor is there any one inftance to be given of
any fuch total change ; but it is next to impoflible to con-
ceive, that fo great a diverfity, as we find in the frame
and conftitution of languages, wherein the grand and ef-
fential differences betwee?! them confift, rather than in the
words which compofed them, could ever have been oc-
cafioned by the caufes affigned above. The prefcnt di-
verfity of tongues in the world is prodigious ; and confi-
dering the time that has elapfed from the building of
Babel, and the alterations made in fome known languages
in the courfe of one, two, and three thoufand years
(which alterations we conftantly find greater or lef^, in
proportion to the intercourfe the nation has had with fo-^
reigners), and confidering that there arc many tongues^
which, when compared with others, have not the leaft
affinity, fo that a man muft be the greateft vifionary in
the world, to imagine them the oflFspring of the fame pa-^
rent ; it feems to us, that the variety of idioms, now fpo-
ken, can be no way poffibly accounted for, without either
approving the Preadamite fyftem, or allowing a forma-
tion of new languages at Babel.

Another argument againft the formation of new lan-
guages at Babel, which has been thought of fome weight,
is, that if fuch a divifion of tongues be underftood, no
good reafon can be given why thole colonies which fpoke
languages that were near akin, were not Removed to the
greateft diflances ; and thofe whofe languages were entire-
ly different, placed next one another. To this queftion it
may eafily>be anfwered, that there is no neceffity of fup-
pofing every family had a diftindt language, or that the
ieveral dialed):s of the mother-tongue were formed at the
confufion. The difperfion might at firft be eifefted with-
out fuch an abfolute feparation of families derived from

the

1o the Birth of Abraham. 127

the fame ftock ) mankind was not then fo numerous, but Tfr, of Fl.
that it would he fufficient to cut ofF the communication 35*'
between the three great branches of their prime families, Ante Chr.
by the introduftion of new tongues, which, alone was ^^
the work of God \ for diale£ts, we allow, might, and ne»
ceflarily would be formed by time «.

Upon the whole, we think we may reafonably con-
clude, that, upon the confufion of Babel, there were
new languages framed ; which languages have been the
roots and originals from which the feveral dialefts that
are, or have been, or will be fpoken, as long as this earth
fhall lail, have arifen, and to which they may, with eafe,
be reduced.

In what manner thefe new languages, were formed, is a
queftion hard to be determined. It feems by the Mo-
faical account, which is fo folemn, and reprefents God as
coming down in perfon to view the work of thefe builders,
that it was his own immediate a£t ; and fonie have thence
concluded, that he effeScd it by inducing an oblivion of
their former tongue, and inftantaneoufly infufing others
into their minds, according to their feveral nations. The
Jews imagine this aim was accomplifhed by the miniftry
of angels, feventy of whom defcended with God, and
were each of them fet over a nation, to which they taught
a peculiar language \ but Ifrael fell to the lot of his own
inheritance, *' the Lord*s portion being his people :*' and
therefore, they fay, they retained the primitive tongue.
Others have fuppofed, that God did no more than caufe
them to forget their firft language, leaving them to form
new tongues as they could ; but this expedient muft have
taken up fome time, and could not anfwer the immediate
occafions of mankind. As it would be to little purpofe
to enquire farther into this matter, the bed thing we can
do is to conclude, that it was effe£ted inftantly in a way
and manner of which we can give no account.

It would be of as little ufe to coUedl the feveral opi- The num-
nions, in relation to the number of languages formed at ^^ of lam-
Babel; we may as well allow the number of feventy, juft S"^^'*
mentioned, as any other. We only know from Mofes, "^^^z ^^^
that the Canaanitifli, or Hebrew, the Syriac, and £gyp- tht confe-
tian languages were formed fo foon as the time of Jacob, quenceof
It is moft probable, that the languages of the chief fa- *^^ ^*^*"

t Vid. Calvin, in Gcnef. ix. i, 1. Dr. Wotton, Dif. on Gonf.of
Laog. p. 36. Dr. Brett's Eflay on Conf. of Lang. Diod. Sic. lib. i.
p. S. Stiernhielm. Reland. apud Wotton, ubi fupra p. 6x. See
aUb Stilling. Orig. Sacr. lib« iii. cap. 5. fedt. 3.

milies

1 28 The General Hiftory from the Deluge

Vr. of Fl. n^yics were fundamentally difFerent from each other ; and
351. that the fublanguages, or dUlefts, within each branch.

Ante Chr. for the fake of immediate intercourfe, had a mutual af-
'99^- jSnity, fome more, fome lefs, according as they fettled

" near or farther from each other. This variation, was fuf-

ficient to bring about the defigns of God to divide man-
kind into diftinft foci^ties, kingdoms, and common-
- wealths**. It were to be wifhed, that commentators had
fliewn, that fuch a difperfion could not have been^efFeft-
cd by means more natural and eafy : when people are too
much crowded to fubfift conveniently together, common
fenfe and rcafon will teach them^ and neceflity compel
them to feparate without the intervention of a miracle,
which, if it had not been recorded by an infpired hifto-
rian, we fhoiuld have doubted as an expedient neither ne«
ceflary nor adequate*

S E C T. VI.

Of the Difperfion of Mankind j and the planting of Na^
tions in the twofirft general Migrations.

Ofthdij' npHE primitive fathers diftinguifli between the divifion
^tffftr' ^^ *^^ earth, and the difperfion of mankind, and

entfrom ' make them two difFerent tranfaftions. They fuppofe that
the JM/on Noah, to whom the earth was well known before the
in the days flood, as proprietor of the whole world, divided it among
pfPekg. jjjg three fons before any of their pofterity removed to Shi-
naar ; from whence they were afterwards difperfed, to
take pofleflion of their refpedlive (hares. This Noachi-
cal divifion, as groundlefs as it is, was fo firmly believed,
that one author condemns the contrary opinion as hereti-
jcal. Salianus, according to this diftindlion of the fa-
thers, makes the difperfion happen about the middle of
iPeleg*s life, though he places the divifion in his firftyear.
Other writers have fuppofed a double difperfion, one at
the birth of Peleg, and the other of the builders of Ba-
bel ; and an hiftorian of fome antiquity, feems to have
imagined, that mankind eifcreafed fo very faft, that they
had peopled feveral countries and iflands, and built fc-
vcral towns, before they laid the foundation of Babel ;
abfurdly bringing them together again at that place^ on

i» Vid. Genef. zxxi. 47* xlii. %%* See Stackhoufe's Body of Di-
vinity, p. 331,

purpc^fe

iv the Birth of Abraham* . lag

burpofe to be difperfed a fecond time, according to the Yr. of Fl,
Noachical partition- But the more received opinion, ^^*ph
and the moft agreeable to Scripture, is, that the divifion ",qq6, ^^
of the earth, in ^he days of Peleg, and the difperfion of -
mankind at Babe), were one and the fame tranfaftion.

There , is a great difagreement among authors, in The tlmi of
fettling the precife time of this event. Some, in order the difper*
to reconcile the facred records with profane hiftory, or fion fixed.
led by fome fancies of their own, hold a difperfion or
plantation, of countries even before tlie birth of Peleg,
Sir John Marfham is of this number ; he, to reconcile
the Hebrew and Egyptian chronologies, will have Menes
to have been the fame with Ham, who, in the earlieft
times after the deluge, travelled, as he fuppofes, into
Egypt, fettled there with his children, and was the firft
king of that country. Others bring the difperfion of Ba-
bel towards the end of Peleg's life. The Jews place it in
his laft year; wherein they are followed by St. Jerom,
and feveral of the Chriftian chronologers. Others fix it
at various periods towards the middle of his age : Petau,
about his fifty-fecond year ; Cumberland, about his feven-

S^-ninth year ; Salianus and Kircher in the year of the
ood 275 ; but the learned Uflier, whom we choofe tq
follow, refers it to the time of Peleg's birth ; that is, to
the year of the flood 10 1, according to .the Hebrew ac-
count. For, if by ^^ the days of Peleg" are to be un-
derftood the whole life of the man, or the middle, or the
latter end of it, then Peleg will have nothing peculiar to
deferve the name ; becaufe, in that fenfe,' the divifion
happened in the days of all his progenitors, and even of
Noah himfelf; therefore it muft have been peculiar to
Peleg alone, of all the family of Eber or Shem, to be
born juft at the very time of the divifion or difperfion of
Babel ; from whence, with very good reafon, he had that
name given him by his father.

On the other hand, we fhall find, without abandoning
the Hebrew chronology, a fufficient number of people at
the birth of Peleg for the planting of nations. For nei-
ther does the Scripture fuppofe, as Pcrizonius well ob*
ferve, multitudes in being at that time 5 nor did the na-
ture of the tranfaftioii require it ; the firft plantation*
being made with only a few, and thofe fmall families,
which removed no farther than the countries in thie neigh*^
bourhood of Shinaar *. TT * <r

i Marfliam. Canon. Chron, Seoul, x, p.^ %%* R. David Ganz. ad

Ann. 1996. Seder Qiam Rabbain ipfo ij^uio* Sl\aUbel. Jlakkab*

Vol. I. K p. 7«

1 3cr ^^e General Hlffory from the Defuge^

Yr. of F!^ Having fettled the time of the difperfion of Babel, Ittf
3^* us next inquire into the number of mankind then in the
Ante Chr. ^^j-ld. Some authors, imagining that a greater part of
'^^ the earth was planted in this firft difperfion, than we arc

0/Mr obliged, either by Scripbure, or reafon, to believe, have

number of endeavoured to fwell. their calculations as much as ever
mankind at they can \ and leveral writers feem to have believed the
thtdif^tr- ^iiole earth was to be peopled at once j whilft others^
would reduce the number of mankind to a fmaller fum tharr
the occafion feems to have required ; but a medium is to*
obferved between thofe extremes.

In this enquiry no computation can^^ be made from the*
number of perfons mentioned in Scripture, as concerned*
in this firft difperfion, which are but fifty-three, exclud-
ing Noah and his three fons ; and if we have recourfe tcv
the number of generations, we fhall meet with lefs fatis-
faftion ftill from that quarter, for they were but three at
moft ; Eber, the father of Peleg (who could not be a
leader in the difperfion, becaufe it happened at his birth)^.
being but the third from Shem : there are, Bkewife, only
three generations mentioned in the line of Ham, and but
two of that of Japhet ; fo that if we were to confine our
calculation to that ftandard, it would fall fliort of the
reckoning ; but as there were certainly more generations
procreated between the flood and the difperfion, the time
that intervened ought therefore to be confidered, as well
as the longevity of thofe who lived in the firft ages after
the flood.
/ The chronologers (who have drawn this enquiry into*

their own province) fuit their calculations to their diflFer-
cnt hypothefes. Some,^ relying too much on the prophane
hift6rian«s, have taken fuch a method as might account
for the early beginning of monarchies, and the great
armies fet on foot by Ctefias and his followers, in the
time of Ninus, whom many fuppofe to be Nimrod, or at"
leaft his fon. Ufher is of opinion ^, that, in the hundred"
and fecond year after the flood, mankind might have in-
creaffed to the number of three hundred eighty-eight thou-
sand fix hundred and five males, and as many females'.
Such an uncommon increafe he afcribes to an extraordi-
nary fecundity implied in that repeated command or blei£»

p. 7. Cornel, a Lapide, Torniellus, Abu'lfarag, p. 11. Origv
Gent. Ant. p. 150. Turris Babel, cap. viir. p. lo. U(h. Cbron*.
Sacr. p. i. cap. v. Pertzon. Orig. Babylon, cap. xiv. p. ^14..
^ U(h. Chron. Sacr. p. i. cap. j« p., 17.

to the Birth of Abraham. 13 1

'ing, " liicreafe and multiply, and fill the earth." A Yr. of Fl.
much froaller number would have been fufficient. 3 5*-

As to the order or method wherein the firft plantations ^^^ ^^^'
of the earth we^{^made, fome have imagined there was ^

little or none, but that each colony fettled where they did of the or-
by mere chance', everyone feizing on fuch countries as derofthe
he cafually arrived at". Yet if we attentively confider fi^'fip^an*
the account given of this tranfaftion by the facred hif- '^^'^''^'
thoiian, we (hall find nothing more foreign to his inten-
tion than a precipitate and confufed difperfion; for, firft,
vre are told, with regard to the fons of Japhet> the el deft
branch of Noah's pofterity» that, ** By thefe were the ifles
of the Gentiles divided in their lands 5 everyone after
his tongue, after their families, in their nations j" in like
manner Mofes concludes the account he gives us of the
fons of Ham, the youngeft branch of Noah's pofterity,
with thefe words : ^* Thefe are the fons of Ham, after
their families, after their tongues, in their countries, in
their nations f and that of the defcendents of Shem endi
thus : " Thefe are the fons of Shem, after their families,
after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.**
{"rom which texts may well be inferred, that this great
divifion of the earth we are fpeaking of, was performed in
an orderly manner, and not a confufed and irregular dif-
perfion, wherein every one went whither he lifted, and
feated himfelf where he liked beft.

We fee a twofold order in thefe firft plantations : firft,
they were ranged *' according to their nations," and then
every nation was ranked '* after their families '," fo that
every nation dwelt, and had their lot by themfelves ; and
in every nation the families alfo dwelt, and had their. lots
by themfelves ; for the true import of the before cited .
texts feems to be, that the land, or peculiar lot of each
family did lie within the general lot of each nation.

Some of thofe who give an account of the firft fettle- Ofthtfirfi
ments of the children of Noah, founding their conjee- plantation
tures chiefly on the fimilitude of names, a guide too de- ^-^ 'vf
ceitful to be trufted, have ranfacked the whole world for
names of people, countries, rivers, mountains, and cities»
which had but the leaft affiility \yith thofe of the planters
they were at a lofs to fix ; others have taken the precau-
tion to lay down fome rules for the more fure proceeding

iHeidegg. Hift. Patr. torn. i. exerc. zxii. fe£):. ti« » Hef-

- tisus Mile9 apud Eufebf Prsep. Evang. lib. ix« cap. 15*

K 2 »

1 3 2 The General Htfioryfr&m the Detuge

Yr. of FI. in this enquiry: i. To fufFer ourfelves to be dire£lc({
A ^^V^h chiefly by Scripture, not neglefting, however, the light"
1006. ' which may be. had from prophane authors. 2. To feefc
.,,g__..«, for the original plantations within a reafonable compaft
of the earth, and in an orderly difpofition \ looking fof
the. families where we find the nation, and for the na-^'
tions where we find the families : and thefe rules, w&
think, may be admitted % but another, viz. that thofe na-
tions, whofe* families are named by Mofes, are chiefly
to be fought for in the neighbourhood of Judea, we con-
ceive liable to many exceptions ; for> it was plainly thG"
defign of that hillorian to give us an account of the ori-'
ginal of all nations in. the. world, as far as he had know-
lege of them, and not of fuch only a» had to deal wkh
the Jews, or were their neighbours ".

After all, this is one of thofe enquiries about which we
ought not to be over fblicitous ; for the originals of very
few nations can be traced fo high as the difperfion of Babel^
much the greater part being fubjefl: to the utmoft uncer--
tainty. Since the firff migrations of mankinds countries
have often changed their names, and people their coun-
tries, without being obferved by hiftorians (E). We may
form conjedJures, and pleafe ourfelves with the plaufi-^
bility of our fchemes ; but who can be fure, that the
principles on which they are built have any foundation .^
Moft of the arguments, in enquiries of this nature^ refult
from the identity or fimilitude of the names of poople
and countries ; but, for ought we knowj^ the nations wc
take to be very ancient, are modern in relpefl: of the*
times next after the flood 5 and the names we fuppofe to
bave been retained by cities from antiquity, are of late
Original as well as themfelves : perhaps, alfo> many o£
the names of people and countries^ mentioned in Scrip-
ture, were peculiar to the Jews, fince we find them no
where elfe. And it muft be obferved, that this nation^
fey having loft the remembrance of the greateft part of
their antiquities, are become as bad guides, in matters of

« See Mede's Works, and Wells^s Geography of the Old Tcf.
•amentt

(£) C2uotidiealiquid in hoc nova gentiumnomina, extinC'^
xnagno orb^ mutattir, nova ur- tes nominibus prioribQs, ori-
Kum fundamenta jaciuntui, untur(8}«

\%) Sen$c. de Confol. adAlbin*

io the Birth of Abraham. 133

Als nature, as the Greeks, who began too late to keep Yr. of Fl,
records for us to expeS any great alliftance from them. ^^ /^k

Shem may be fuppofed, for the few years he lived after "^^ ^
the difperfion of mankind, to have dwelt in Shinaar : his ^

-defcendents feem to have fettled from Media weft ward to <rhe coun-
the fea-coaft of Aram, or Syria., The number of chiefs tries flant»
of his line, concerned in the dilperfion, were feven ; f^h^^^
Elam, Afhur, Arphaxad, Lud, and 'Aram, the jfons of ifsT^^*
Shem J Salah, the fon of Arphaxad, and Eber, the fon
;bf Salah. i. Elahi fettled in the country of Elam, lying Elam*
to the fouth-eaft of Shinaar ; in the time of Daniel, Su-
iiana, or Khuzeftan, feems to have been part of it ; and,
fcefore the captivity, it does not appear that .thejew«
called Perfia by any other name. Elymae and Elymais
:are often mentioned by the ancients : P.tolemy, though
lie makes Elymais a province of Media^, yet places the
f lymxi (for which the maps corrnptly read £ldimaei) in
Sufi ana, near the fea coafi. Stephanus takes it to be a
part of Aflyria 5 but Pliny and Jofephus, more properly,
of Perfia, whofe inhabitants^ this latter tells us, fprang
from the Elamites.: and this feems to have been the moft
-cafterly boundary of the pofterity of Shem j for, adjoin-
ing, to the eaft, was Media, fuppofed to be poffefied by
JMadai, the third fon of Japhet.

a. /^ s Afliur was the fecond fon of Shem, fo we find Afiur^
this country, lying next to Elam's, on the weft, or north-
'weft, called, likcwife, after him Afhur, and by the
Oreeks Aflyria, atprefent Curdeftan, or the country pf
the Curds. Pezron fuppofes he was driven out of Shinasu:
byNimrod, Ham*s grandfon^ a conjeftore which, in^
deed, feems not improbable, though it may be objefl:ed,
that, if he had not fettled there originally, he would not
have found room in that part, which muft have been
pofTefled by fome other family. However that be, it was
Afhur •*, and not Nimrod, who went out of Shinaar into
AfTyria, and built Nineveh, and otfhex cities, as Perizo-
4jius has clearly proved that the text ought to be under-
ftood, and circumftances require.

Arphaxad is placed by fome in Arrapachitis, a pro- Arphaxa^p
evince of Aflfyria, towards the north part of that country ;
tut others fettle him with his family in Chaldaea, where,
indeed, we find his defcendents till the time of Abraham,
Some, who make but one and the fame perfon of Ar-
pliax^d and Cainan, who is inferted between him and

• Genef. x,ii.

K 3 SaWi

134 ^^^ General Hiftoryfrom the Deluge

Yr. of Fl. Salah in the Septuagint vcrfion, fuppofe him to be the
35*; founder of the monarchy of China.

AntcChr. Where Salah, the fon of Arphaxad, fettled, is very

_ uncertain : fome fuppofe it to have been in Sufiana, or .

Salah, Khuzeftan in PerCa, becaufe they find a town there for-
merly called Sala ; but Morocco, Spain, Phrygia, Ar-
menia, and Hyrcania, may claim this patriarch for their
planter upon the fame ground, as each of thefe countries
had a town of the fame name ; and in Colchis we find a
nation called Salae, which feems to have the beft preten-
fions to this origin, fince he ought to be confidered rather .
aa the founder of a nation than of a town. But as affinity '.
of names weighs very little with us, except when fup-
ported by fome other proof, we fhall not remove him out'
of Chaldjea, where we fuppofe room enough for all his
defcendents, in the right line, till Abraham ; for which

Ehif. reafon we fettle Eber alfo in the fame country.

<^»'« 4. We can fee no reafon why Lud, Shem*s fourth fon,

(hould draggle fo far from his friends into Lydia, where
Jofephus fixes him : befides, there is a flrong objection
againft this opinion, the Lydians having been firlt called
Mae ones, as all the ancients agree, and Lydians from
Lydus, the fon of Atys, except we fuppofe the Greeks
were deceived, and that the name of Maeones ceafing,
they refumed their old name of Lydians But even in
that cafe we ought, perhaps, to confide r Lydia as poiTeflTed
by the Ludim, or pofterity of Lud, on a fecond or third
remove, and to look for his firfl: fettlemtnt nearer his
brothers; but here the very fimilitude of names, which is,
generally, upon thefe occafions, ready at hand, to help
out at a dead lift, feems to fail us.

Jram. j. Mefopotamia and Syria, comprehending the coun-

tries weftward of AfTyria as far the Mediterranean fea,
feem wholly (if we except Phoenicia and Palaeftine) to
have fallen to the fliare of Aram, Shem's fifth and
youngeft fon, whofe name is given both to the whole and
the feveral regions thereof in Scripture.

Within, or bordering on this country of Aram, in all
probability, the four fons of Aram fettled. It is generally

Ux* agreed, that Uz, the eldeft, built Damafcus, and gave

his name to the country about that city, which feems to
be different from the land of Uz, where Job dwelt, lying

HuL towards Edom. 2. Bochart fuppofes Hul to have fettled

in Cholobetene, a part of the greater Armenia, where he
finds feveral places whofe names begin with Choi, or Col.

Cithif* 3* Gether, according to Jofephus, was prince of the

Badlrians^

to the Kifth of Abraham: ^ 1 3 5

Baftrians; but Baftria lay out of Shem's lot, as well as Yr. of Fl.
?too far for the firft plantation ;. and if we allow him a . 55*;
feat about the river Centrites, between Armenia and the g^ *

-darduchi, it is not that we think with Bochart there is ,

rthe leaft affinity in the two names. 4. Mafli, or Mefhech, Mafi*
.Aram's fourth Ion, is fuppofed to have fixed in Armenia,
about the mountain Mafius, the fame with that commonly
held to be Ararat, and called by the Armenians Masis.
The people who dwelt near this mountain are, by Ste-
phanus, named Mafiei. Bochart refutes the notion of
J[ofephus, who derives the Mafenseans, near the mouth of
the Tigris, from them, not confidering that trhey took
stheir name from their fituation between the rivers. How-
ever, the Armenians themfelves do not lay claim to any
rof Shem's line as their progenitor; but fay they arede-
icended from Togarmah, of Japhet-s pofterity*

Ham probably removed from Shinaar. Suppofing him ^he nations
to be the Cronus of Sanchoniadio, he reigned in Phoeni- ^^A^»^^^
x:ia. According to others, who make him the fame with •'''^"^ ''"*•
Menes, he muft have fettled in Egypt, which, indeed, in
Scripture, is often called the land of Ham : and fome,
from the fimilitude of Ammon, and other words of the
ilike found, would infer, that he^ at leaft, dwelt there
for fome time j but nothing can be concluded from fuch
weak evidence.

I. Cuih, his eldeft fon, according to Jofephus, and ^^/^*
<he ancients, was the father of the JEthiopians, who, he
fays, were, in his time, called Cuftiaeans, not only by
ihemfelves, but by all the inhabitants of Afia. But it is
not likely that, if Mizraim and Canaan fettled in the lands
betwixt him and Shinaar, his fon Nimrod would be found
►crefling a monarchy fo -early in that country. It is more
probable, that he feated himfelf in the fduth eaftern part
rof Babylonia, and in the adjoining part of Sufiana, ftill
called Khuzeftan, of the land of Chuz ; from whence his
pofterity, in the fucceeding generations, might have
pafled into other countries. That a part of Arabia, near
<he Red Sea, was named Cuih, appears from Scripture.
Cufhan and Midian are joir>ed together as the fame or
aieighbouring people, dwelling in tents ; and, in other
jplaces, the Arabs are made to border on thd Cufliites,
"who, therefore, cannot be the Ethiopians : in a word,
by Cufli, in Scripture, is always to be underftood Arabia.
As for thofe texts which are alleged to prove that Cufh
is fometimcs taken for Ethiopia, they may alfo be ex-
|K)unded of Arabia^ Cufh, accofdin,g to the Arab and

K 4 Perfian

136 The General Htfloryfrom the Deluge ,

Yr. of Fl. Perfian traditions, which name him Cutha, was king of
A ^^rK the territory of Babel i and refided in Erak, where there
10^06 ^ were two cities of his name ; whence Dr. Hyde is of
opinion, that Cufh reigned in Babylonia, and that his
defcendents removed into Arabia 5 though it is hard to
fix the quarters of any of them ; which uncertainty has
given occafion to thofe who fuppofe Cufh to be Ethiopia,
to fpread them all along the coaft of Africa to the end o£
Mauritania.

Thofe who place them in Arabia, are divided about
their fituations. To follow therefore the rules we have
Seha. laid down, we will fuppofe, i. That Seba feated himfelf
fomewhere in the fouth of Chaldsea, or the Arabian
Havilah^ Erak ; becaufe, 2. His fecond brother Havilah's country
lay thereabouts, watered by the Pifon, as we have for-»
9abtah^ merly obferved. 3. Sabtah's feat, perhaps, lay more to
the fouth, where we find a city called Saphtha, by Pto-^
lemy, not far from the Perfian gulph, and another named
Sabatha, lower down in Arabia Felix, which comesi
Jiaamah^ niuch nearer Sabtah. 4. Raamah, or Rhegma, may find
a place more fouth ward ftill, about a city called Rhegama,
by Ptolemy, on the fame gulph. Sorne moderns mentiort
a city not far from it, called Daden ; which Dr. Wclla
does not doubt was the refidence of his fon Dedan 5 though
others will have Raamah, and both his fons, Sheba
$hebaand ^g ^^\\ ^g Dedan, to people the parts adjacent to
'^ ^** the Red Sea. They conclude Dedan to have been near
£dom, becaufe Ezekiel joins them together j as Raamah
muft have been near Sheba, being mentioned as joint-n
traders to Tyre, in fpices, by the fame prophet ; and elfe-j
where Sheba and Seba are joined as neighbours, though
diftinguifhed as different kingdoms. They feem to have
pofTefTed a larger part of Arabia ; for Pliny obferves, that
the Sabaean nations inhabited from fea to fea, that is*
from the Arabian to the Perfian gulph. Shuckford
fuppofes Sheba lived on the borders of the land of Midian,
and gave name to the country, whofe queen, in after-
ages, went to vifit Solomon. But the Arabs fay, the
country of Sheba lies a great way more to the fouth, in
Yaman, or, as we call it, Arabia Felix, near the Indian
Sea ; the chief city of which was formerly Saba, now
called Mareb, and founded, according to their tradition,
by a defcendent of Joktan or Kahtan. And it muft be
confeiTed, this fcems to be the country of Sheba mention-
ed in Scripture \ for the frankincenfe grows thereabouts.
S^inia, 5* 3^techa has puzzled all the geographers to afTign hi^

^uarters;^

to the Birth of Abraham,

137

Ante Chr,
1996.

NimroiL

Mixraiuii

quarters : Bochart, not finding a place in Arabia, which Yr, of FI.
bore any refemblance to the name, pafles over to Car ma- . 35*
fiia in rerfia, and fettles him in the city of Samydace,
obferving, that the m and b are often changed the one for
*he other by the Arabs and their neighbours. On the
other hand. Dr. Wells imagines, that the Saracens are
the defcendents of Sabtecha, which nation being ftyled,
at firft, by the Greeks, Sabtaceni, that name was after-
awards fbftened into Saraceni ; and the rather, he thinks,
becaufe, alluding to the Arabic verb, farakay to fiealy it
ferved for a nick-name ; though, indeed, the word Sara-
ceni is no other than Sharkiin, which in Arabic fignifics
iajierlingi ; as the African Arabs, weft of Egypt, ' are
called Mogrebms, or wejierlings. Afraid to meddle in a
point of fo much uncertainty, we think it the fafeft way
to pafs this perfon by, and proceed, 6. To his brother
Nimrod, who, it is agreed, kept poflefEon of Shinaar,
and erefted a kingdom there, making Babel the feat of
his empire.

2. Mizraim ftands in the place of the fecond fon of
Ham ; for there is a great difpute, whether this is the
name of a fingle perfon, or of a people, as having a dual
termination, though the verb in the text, where he is faid
to beget Ludim, is in the fingular number, a circumftance
that favours the former opinion. However that be, it ia
plain, that the names of Ludim, and all the reft of his
defcendents, are plurals, by what we read of the Caphto-
rim, namely, *^ that they came forth out of Caphtor ;
nor do we fee any abfurdity in that opinion, which fup-
pofes them branches of a large body of people denoted by
the name Mizraim, who divided among them the country
called after their name by the Hebrews, and other eaftern
people ^.

As to the nations defcended from Mizraim \ i . The
Ludim are judged to be the people above Egypt, called
by the Greeks Ethiopians, and at prefent Abyffins-
Bochart endeavours to prove it by no lefs than ten argu-
ments. We rarely find them called otherwife in Scrip-
ture than Lud, either from the name of their founder, or
their country. In one paflage of Scripture, Lud are
palled " a mixt people 5** in others, they are faid to be

q Vide Cumberland on Sanchon. p. iii. Marfham. Chron.
Canon, p. xS. Hyde. De Relig, vet. Perf. p. 40. Bochart. Pha-
leg. lil>.Jv. Shuckford's Conne^l^ vol. i. Pocock. Specim. Hifl.
Arab. p. f /« Geo. $acr« lib. iv.

rerjf

LuMmj

i 3J8. 'The General Hiflotyfrom the Deluge

Yr. of Fl. very ** Ikilful in drawing the bow," which the Ethiopian*

A ^^*Ch were famous for; and, in two of the above mentioned
"qq6. ' paiTages, Lud is joined with Cufli and Phut, as are the

_ Lubim elfewhere with the Egyptians ; from jvhence It.

Jnamim. may be inferred, they were all neighbours, 2. The Ana-^
mim are thought by Bochart to be the Ammonians, or in-'
habitants of that part of Lybia, where flood the temple
of Jupiter Ammon, defcended, according to Herodotus,
partly from the Egyptians, and partly from the Ethiopians,.
JUhabim. 3. The Lehabim are fuppofed to be the fame with the
Lubim, who, with the Sukkiims and Cufliites, came out o£
Mizraim, or Egypt, with Shifhak, to invade Judaea.
Thefe therefore may not improbably be judged to be the
Libyans of Cyrenaica, or Proper Lybia, near Egypt,,

f^aphtu* 4. The Naphtuhim are thought to have fettled in Mar*

^^* marica, adjoining to Cyrenaica. It is obferved, that the

Egyptians called all the ikirts of a country, and promon«
tories walhed by the fea, Nephthys ; and Bochart places,
the Naphtuhim rather on the coaft of the Mediterranean,
than on that of the Red Sea, becaufe the Troglodytes and
* Ichthyophagi, inhabiting the latter, are, in the Scripture,

called Ziyim and Sukkiim. Some place the Naphtuhim

i€LthruJim, about Noph, or Memphis, in Egypt. 5. Pathrufim arc
evidently the inhabitants of Pathros, which' fome errone*
oufly take for Pelufium, others, more juftly, for The-
baic, or the Upper Egypt, which is diftinguiflicd fronv
the Lower Egypt in profane hiftory, as well as facred..
Ezekiel mentions it by itfelf ; and Ifaiah diftinguiihes
it from Egypt ; but, from Jeremiah, the country of Pa-r
thros appears either to be a part of that kingdom, or ad-
joining to it, being mentioned with Migdol, Taphanhes,,
and Noph, which are known to be cities or diftrifts,

Cajluhm. of Egypt. 6. The Cafluhim are fuppofed to have fettled
fomewhere towards the entrance of Egypt, about Mount
Cafius, in that part of the Lower Egypt called Cafiotis
by Ptolemy and others, which places, it is thought, re-?
tain fome likenefs of the name 5 but, without relying on
that argument, they appear to have been planted near the

fhilifim* Caphtorim, becaufe the Philiftim, it feems, were de-
fcended from both thefe people, and confequently in
Egypt. Bochart, mifled by following the Jewifli notion
about Caphtor, fancies them to be the inhabitants or
Colchis, at prefent called Mingrelia. As for the Phi-
liftim, who, in the Mofaic account of the difperfion, are
derived from the Cafluhim, we (hall confider their origif
nal fettlonent in Egypt, before they removed into Ca-f

naay

to the Birth of Jbraham. 1 29

tiaan, when we come to their particular hiftorjr. 7. Caph- Yr. of Fl.
toriiD, the laft of the offspring of Mizraim, are, by all 351
the fathers, faid to be the Cappadorians, and Caphtor, -^"^^ ^'*r.
Cappadocia, as the Septuagint have alfo rendered it. In '^^^'
this interpretation, doubtlefs, they follow the Jews, who Cathtorim
explain thofe names the fame way, as do. the three Chair
dee paraphrafts. But by Cappadocia, in thefe writings,
is not to be underftopd Cappadocia in Afia Minor, as
Bochart,, and perhaps the reft, judged, but fome place in
Egypt, generally fuppofed by the rabbins to be Demyat %
or Damietta, commonly confounded with Pelufium. One'
would be inclined to think the Caphtorim derived from
Coptus, a noted city of the fame country (which by many
is fuppofed to have taken its name from thence), if it was
not that Caphtor, appears to have been an ifland, and
more probably fituate either in the lake of Tennis, orTa-
nis, which extends from Damietta to Tina, the true Pe-
lufium, or in the Arabic gulph, rather than Crete, as will
be obferved hereafter.

3. Authors are not agreed about the country where p^f^
Phut, the third fon of Ham, planted himfelf. Bochart
endeavours to prove, that Mizraim and he divided Africa
between them. What is moft to the purpofe is taken
from St. Jerom, who affirms Phut to be Libya, and that,

in his time, there was a river in Mauritania, with the ad-
jacent region, named from him Phut. But to this obfer-
vation it may be objected, that Ezekiel mentions Phut
with Cufh and Perils, as auxiliaries to the northern ene-
mies of the Jews, and in. the army of Gog ; and we find
Cufli, Lud, and Phut, among the nations, who, accord-
ing to Jeremiah's prophecy, were to over-run Egypt, as
Nebuchadnezzar afterwards did ; , a circumftance which
feems to imply that Phut's quarters lay fome where be-
tween Cufh and Babylon. However, in points fo uncer-
tain, we will not prefume to determine ®.

4. We are not fo much to feek for the parts planted by Canaan.
Canaan, and his pofterity ; viz. Sidon, Heth, the Jebu-
zites,. Amorites, Girgafhites, Hivites, Arkires, Sinites,
Arvadites, Zema rites, and Hamathites : of thefe we fhall

fpeak more particularly when we come to treat of Phoe-
nicia and the land of Canaan> where they undoubtedly
fettled.

«* Rabbi SaadiaSy & Maimonides apud Ltghtfoot, Oper. torn.
ii. p. 398. * Jerem. xivii. 4.Phaleg. lib. iv. cap. 33.

iiicronym. in Tradit. Hebr*

Th«

1^0 ^he General Hijioryfrom the t)eluge

Yr. of Fl. Th^ Scripture leaves us as much in the dark, as to the
352. country where Japhet fettled, as it does with regard to the
Ante Chr. particular refidence of his brothers. All we can coUeft
'99^* upon this occafion is, that he retired from Shinaar with
^T ^^^^ his defcendents, and fettled among them to the north of
tries plant' the countries planted by the children of Shem. Some
4dby the iniagine him, from the affinity of names, to be the Ja-
defcendents petus of the Greeks ; but there is no likelihood of hi»
•J Japhet. having ever been known to them, or that their tjraditions

reach fo high as this fon of Noah, by many ages.
Comer* I. Gomer the eldeft fon of Japhet, according to Jofe-

phus, was the father of the Gomerites, called by the
Greeks, Galatians, who were the Gauls of Afia Minor,
inhabiting part of Phrygia. Of this opinion is Bochart ;
and if it be right, thofe who derive the Cimmerians or
Cimbri from Gomer, have fome grounds for this deriva-
tion, the Cimmerians feeming to be the fame people with
the Gauh or Celts, under a different name : and it i*
^ obfervable, that the Welfh, who are defcended from the
Gauls, ft ill call themfelves Kumero, or Cimro, and Cu-»
meri. Be that as it will, the Chaldee paraphrafts muft
be miftaken in placing Gomer in Africa, fince it is plain
from Ezekiel, that his country lay northward of Judsea \
^nd that it was to the weft or north-weft of Madai, or
Media, may be gathered from that prophet's making the
houfe of Togarmah (one of Gomer's fons, and confe-
quently, according to our rules, fettled in his father's lot
or borders) trading to Tyre in Syria 5 which could riot
well be, had they been fituated beyond Media, through
which it is not likely they would have been fufFered to
pafs. We may therefore let Gomer reft where the }earn»
ed Bochart fettles him, in Phrygia.
JJhkenaz* The plantations of Gomer's fons may, not without
fome ground, be prefumed to be thereabouts. 1. Afh^
kenaz, as it feems, Ihould be feated near Armenia, in
the eaftern part of Afia Minor; for the Scripture, amoilg
the nations which were to be called by the Medes under
Cyrus, to deftroy Babylon, mentions Ararat, Minni, and
^{hkenaz : but if regard be had to the footfteps found of
the name, the country which he planted, feems to have
been in the north-weft of that continent ; for in Bithy**
nia there was the Afcanian Lake, and a river called Af-
canius, with a bay of the fame name ; and there was alfo
anciently, a city named Afcania, in LefTer Phrygia, or
Troas, with ifles on the coaft, called the Afcanian iflandst
• and it is obfervcd, that, befides Afcanivis the fon of

vEijea«,

to the Birth of Ahraham^ 14 v

.^neas, Homer mentions a king of that tirne^ who was Yr. of FK
«it the fiege of Troy. And to prove, that the Afhkenaz, 35«*
mentioned by Jeremiah, were the people of thefe parts, " ^^ ^^*
it is (hewn out of Xenophon, that Hyftafpes, having *

conquered Phrygia that lies on the Hellefpont, brought
thence many of the horfe, and other foldiers, which
Cyrus carried with him to the fiege of Babylon. In a
ivord, the Pontus Euxinus, or Axinus, as it was firft
called by the Greeks, is fuppofed to be a corruption for
the fea of Aflikenaz. 2. Becailfe Riphath probably fet- Riphathn^
tied near his brother Afhkenaz, we may admit the tefti-
mony of Jofephus, nOt always to be depended on, who
fays, the Paphlagonians were originally called Ripha-
tliaeans, from Riphath. Bochart finds the river Rhebas,
Rhebaeus, or Rhebanus, near Paphlagonia j Stephanus
mentions not only the river, but alfo a region of the fame
name, whofe inhabitants were called Rhebaei ; and Pliny
places here a people called Riphsei, which comes nearer
the name of Riphath. 3. Togarmah, the laft fon of Togarmak,
Gomer, was probably feated to the eaft of Riphath ; fome
think to the north of Armenia, among the Iberians^
others in Cappadocia and Galatia ; which opinions are
not improbable, fince thefe countries lie contiguous to
thofe of the reft of Comer's family, and are fituate con-
formable to that expreflSon of the prophet, " Gomer and
all his bands, the houfe of Togarmah of the north quar-
ters, and all his bands ;" which feems to be fpoken of
their fituation with refpe£t to Judaea. Turcomannia^
where many have placed this colony, feems too remote,
becaufe they are faid to have traded to the fairs of Tyre ;
and their carrying thither horfes, horfemen, and mules,
confirms their fettling in or about Cappadocia ; for that
country produced excellent horfes and mules, which laft
are fuppofed to have come firft from thence \ it was fa-
mous alfo for good horfemen, as is attefted by feveral of
the ancient profane hiftorians. Befides, in the borders of
Pontus and Cappadocia, we find a people called Trocmi,
Trogmi, or Trogmeni, as Stephanus calls them. In tha
council of Chalcedon they are called Trocmades, or Trog-
itiades 5 which names have an affinity with Togarmahj
or, as the Greeks ufually write it, Thorgama.

But, after all, the Armenians pretend to be defcended
from Togarmah (whom they make the fon of Tiras, the
fon of Gomer) by his fon Haikh ; from whom they and
their country have anciently borne the name of Ilaikh*
They alfo fay, that the n^me of Armeniai made ufe of

1 42 The General Hiftory from the Deluge

Yr. of Fl. ^y other nations, is derived from Aram, the fevcntlr m
35*. defcent from Haikh, who much inlarged the bounds of

Ante Chr. his kingdom on all (ides : the Armenians had alfo a nu-
'^^ merous breed of excellent horfes, which they paid to
Cyrus inftead of tribute 5 ajid many horfes, as a learned
author afTures us, from the teftimony of credible natives,
are ftill bred there, for the ufe of the kings of Perfia.
Upon thefe confiderations, we muft leave Armenia to the
defccnccnts of Togarmah, or Thurgumai '.

^gog* 2. We come now to Magog, the fecond fon of Japhet ',

with regard to whofe fettlement, the learned have many
different and confufed opinions : Jofephus, Jerom, and
moft of the fathers, held them to be the Scythians about
Caucafus, which name Bochart fuppofes was made by the
Greeks out of Gog-hafan, fignifying Gog's fort in Chal-
dee, of which he imagines the language of the Colchi
and Armenians to have been a dialed!: ; but perhaps it is
rather a wrong pronunciation of Cub Kaf, which in Per-
fian fignifies the mountain of- Kaf ^ as the Arabs alfo calllt.
That his plantation adjoined to thofe of Meihech and Tu-
bal, appears from EzckieFs making Gog, king of Ma-
gog, to reign over the other two. And perhaps we
fliould come ftill nearer to a difcovery of his quarters, if
thofe words, "the chief prince,** or, (as it is in our mar-
ginal tranflation) ** the prince of the chief of Mefhech and
Tubal,'* be rendered according to the Septuagint, ** the
prince of Rolh, Mefliech, and Tubal," becaufe in the
ifthmus, or neck of land between the Euxine and Cafpian
feas, there formerly dwelt two forts of people ", one called
Rhoffi, on the river Cyrus^ as Jofeph Ben Gorion has it,
or rather on the Ros, Ras, or Aras, called by the Greeks,
Araxes ; the other called Mofchici, inhabiting a long
chain of mountains, ftretching, according to Ptolemy,
along the north-weft part of Armenia, and feparating it
from Golchis and Iberia. From which two nations mi-
grating, or driteri over Caucafus, it is fuppofed the Ruf-
fians and Mufcovites are defcended.

Bochart alfo thinks the name of Magog is preferved in
a country of thefe parts called Gogarene, according to
Strabo and Stephanus ; for Gog and Magog feem to be
the.fame name, the M not being a radical letter. But we
cannot ftrain the mattef fo far, as to fuppofe the name of

» Bochart. Pha!eg. lib.iii. Ptol. Sttab. lib. xii. Cicero DeDIvin.
lib. ii. &c. Mofes Chorenenf. H'tft. Arin^n. lib. i. cap. 4. Xenoph*
Cyropsd. lib. iii. j^chroeder. DJufTertat. De Ling. Armen. p. 30.

Georgia^

to tie Death of Abraham^ 143

Georgia, a well-known country in this quarter, derived Yr. of FI4
thence; much lefs, that the Palus Mseotis, andComagene 35*;
in Syria, take their names from Magog, through fuch a "J^ ^ •
diftorted courfe of changes, as to repeat would put one _ x_

out of conceit with etymologies.

The Arabs, who have borrowed the beft part of their
religion from the Jews, are acquainted with Gog and
Magog, whom they call Yajuj and Majuj, and make
them not inhabitants of the mountain of Kaf, or Cau-
Cafus, but remove them at a great diftance, to the farther
end of Tartary, towards the north or north -eaft.

"We are inclined to think the parts above mentioned,

"between the Euxine and Cafpian feas, are moft likely to

be thofe in which Magog fettled ; however, we can by no

means omit this occafion of taking notice of an error,

into which many of the modern writers have fallen, who

place Magog in Syria. Bochart's great judgment would

not fuffer him wholly to come into it ; however, he fup-

pofes Magog himfelf gave his name to a town there. Dr.

W ells more cautioufly fuggefts, that the name was long

after taken from the Scythians, when they made an in-

'curfion Into Syria, and took the city, as Bethfan in Judaea

was alfo called after them Scythopolis. But Mr. Shuck-

foid fixes Magog himfelf there^ with Gomer, Tubal,

Togarmah, and Mefhech, about him. What gave rife

to this • opinion is, a paffage in Pliny, where he ob-

ferves, that Bambyce, otherwife Hierapolis, is by the

Syrians called Magog' : but this proves to be a palpable

miftake of the tranfcriber, who has written Magog in-

ftead of Mabog, as has been obferved by Dr. Hyde, who

wonders no body had correfted that error in Pliny".

Aflemani has taken notice of it (ince that time' ; yet it

ftill remains uncorre£i:ed in Hardouin's laft pompous

edition of that author.

. 3. It is generally agreed, that Madia planted Media^ Mtuun^
«nd the Medes are always called by this name in Scrip*
ture. To this opinion the learned Mede, who makes
Macedonia the fettlement of Madai, objefts, i* That
the Madai, or Medes, are not mentioned in Scripture till
the latter ages •, but it may be anfwered, that the Jews
always retained the name, and it is plain they made uf«
of it as foon as they had occafion. 2* That this fituation
l^moves Madai too far from the reft of his brethren^ and

• t Hift. Natur. lib. v. cap. %%. « la nods ad PeritTol. Itiner*

P«4«« * Bibl. Orient, vol. B*

takes

144

Yr. of Fl.

Ante Chr.
1996.

>mm

Javati*

flijia.

Tar/htjh.

Kiiiim

The General Hijioryfrom the Deluge

takes him out of their general lot, which was the ifles of
the Gentiles, to put him into that of Shem. But, accord-
ing to our hypothefis, their plantations hitherto havc-
becn contiguous ; for the weftern Media was bounded on
the north by the river Ros, or Aras, to which, as wc
have obferved aboue, the dominion of Magog extended ;
and perhaps thofe words, " By thefe were the iflands of
the Gentiles divided," relate only to Javan and his fons,
and not to Gomer and his fons, or to a future plantation ;
the'paflages in Scripture, where thefe laft are mentioned,
requiring a fenfe which places them on the continent*
3. Several authorities are produced by this writer, to
fhew there was a people in Macedonia called Medi, or
Maedi, and a traft called the Medic region on the
borders of Paeonia ; but even fuppofing them feme later
colony of Madai, which is the moft that can be allowed,
we cannot fee how it tends to prove, that Macedonia is
conipounded of Medai and Cetim, or Kittim, any more
than that j£mathia, the ancient name of Macedonia,
comes from Madai, upon the bare authority of a forced
etymology.

4. Javan may probably be fuppofed to have fettled
firft near his brothers, in the fouth-weft part of the Leffer
Afia, about Ionia, which contains the radical letters of
his name.

His four children may find places correfpondent with
their names in the fame parts, i. The ^oles, who in-
habited -^olia, to the north of Ionia, are by Jofephus
made to defcend from Elifha, Javan's eldeft fon; but
there is a greater appearance of his name in Hellas, the
ancient name of Greece ; the ifles of which feem to be
thofe called the ifles of Eliflia by Ezekiel, and mofl pro-
bably fupplied Tyre with the purple and blue, wherewith,
as Bochart proves at large, the coaft of Peloponnefus and
the adjacent iflands abounded. Peloponnefus, which
may be well comprehended among the ifles, as being al-
moft one, contained moreover a city and province by the
name of Elis ; and in Attica there was the city Eleufia,
and the river EliflTus, or Ilifliis. 2. Tarfliifli, according
to Jofephus, gave name not only to Tarfus, but to all
Cilicia, of which it was the capital. It feems alfo to
have been the Tarfhifh to which Jonas thought " to flee
from the prefence of the Lord ;" as well as that fo often
mentioned by the prophets, on accouut of its trading with
Tyre. 3. To the weft of Tarfhifli, it is fuppofed, Kit-

tim firit planted, ]^omer mentiga^ a people in thofe

parts

to the Birth of Abraham. 14^;

{>^fh called Cetii, (from the river Cetius), which is the Yr. of Fl.
^ord by which the Septuagint have rendered Kittim. In 35**
Ptolemy we find two provinces in the weftern parts of AnieChr.
Cilicia; one maritime, called Cetis, the other towards '^^
the mountains, called Citis. Jofephus will have the
iffand of Cyprus to be the feat of the Kittim, and the town
called Citium, which belongs to it, to have taken its
name from them 5 but in the Apocrypha, Macedonia is
plainly denoted by the land of Chettiim, Alexander being
mentioned as coming from thence ; and Perfes, king of Ma^
cedonia, is called king of the Citims ; nor do we fee any
thing amifs in fuppofing that country to be the original
plantation of the Kittim, at leaft in the intention of
Mofes, fince it comes under the general denomination of
the ifles which were to be the portion of Japhet, at leaft
of the pofterity of Javan ; and their brother Elifha has
been already placed in that n.eighbourhood. 4. It is not
fo eafy to find a place for Dodanim, the youngeft of the Dodanim.
fons, or rather of the defcendents, of Javan ; except we
admit the change of the D into iJ, (which letters, in the
Hebrew, are fparcely to be diftinguifhed), and call him
Rodanim, as the Septuagint have done, in order to fettle
the ifland of Rhodes upon him ; which, perhaps, is not
a worfe fliift than to extraft the name of Doris and the
Dorians, in Peloponnefus, from Dodanim.

As. to 5. Tubal, and 6. Meihech, we have already ^uhaland
fliewn, under the article of Magog, that their lots lay Me/bech.
contiguous to his, as may be gathered from the two
places of Ezekiel there mentioned ; and that is enough,
without diftorting names of countries, in order to provide
them fettlements, in fpite of all the rules of etymology.
And, 7. That we may ihorten this account, which the un-
certainty of our evidence has made tedious, we fhall, in
the laft place, allow Tiras, according to Jofephus, and ^ras.
the general opinion, to have led his Colony into Thrace.

Thus we have given an account of the nations con-
cerned in the firft difperfion of mankind ; by which it
does not appear that they migrated eaftward beyond
Media; northward beyond the mountains of Caucafus ;
fouthward beyond Ethiopia, or Habaftiia 5 or weftward
beyond a part of Libya and Greece, including Macedonia ;
though it is moft probable, the more diftant parts were
not planted immediately by thefe firft colonies^ but by
their pofterity afterwards.

It is not our defign here to enter into a long detail of ^* ^^"S
future migrations, in order to Ihew by what degrees, and \/^[Tl^

Vol. I. L in tinsf

1 4^ TBe General Hijlory front the tfelu^

Yr. of FI. in what manner, the feveral^ parts of the world came tb^
35*' he inhabited, as fome, with more labour than fuccefs^-
Ante Chr. j^^^^ attempted to do \ but we fhall referve what may be*
'^^ gathered from ancient writers- in relation thereto, till wc^
enquire into tBe original of each particular country.
C§untriis However, we arc obliged to fay fomething with rc-^

^k^H^f ^ ference to the defcendents of Joktan \ who,, if they were
— t, ^If^^ not concerned in the firft difperfion, fcem to have becun*
tan itM fi' their migration' m releg^ffliie time : with* regard to which'
condmigra- patriarch we fliall obferve, thiitit is not probable the Pe-
uon. lafgians of Greece and Italy derive their original from

him, as fome imagine " v-^but iir rather appears from Scrip-*
tiire, that both he and his^^ pofterity remained in Chaldea^
within the lot of their great anceftbr Arphaxad, tilf
Terah, the father of Abraham, left Ur of the Chaldees to«
remove into the land of Canaan.

The habitation of Joktan's ions was^ according to-
Mofes, '* from Meftia, as thou goeft into Sephar, a mount
of the Eaft ^J* Authors are at a lofs about the fituation of
thefe places, and therefore have run into ftrange miilakes ^
fome fuppofe Mefha to be Mount Mafius, or Ararat, in
Armenia, (but it feems rather to be a city) ; and look for
Mount Sephar beyond Media, towards India. Jerom,,
jifter Jofephus, would have both Mefha and Sephar to be
in the Eall Indies- In (hort^ the^ ancients have generally
A peopled all the eaftern parts of Afia beyond Media with

thefe fons of Joktan ; a fyflem- fo inconfiftent, that Bo-
chart might well wonder fo many of the moderns have
been led by them ^ ; and yet fortie have done worfc, and
peopled America immediately by Joktan, from whom*
Arias Montanus imagijaed the province of Jucatan took
its name ; and the fame author judges Mount Sephar tO'
Be the Andes, mountains of Peru.

In all probability the places^ irr quedton are to be-
lt)oked for in Arabia ; but we cannot agree in opjnion-
with Bochart, that Meflia is Muza (fuppofed to be Mo-
kha, a noted port in the Arabian gulf), and Sephar the'
city Sapphar % any more than with the Arab paraphrafts,.
that they are Mecca and Medinah *.

The fettlement of Almodad and She Icph, the tworft

fons of Joktan, is quite unknown ; but the name of thr

Hazarma* third, Hazarmaveth, or,, as it i» better written in the

tt Cumberland on SanchoniathOi p« 9i68. xGenef. x. %m

y Fbaleg. lib. ii^ cap. 15. & 30. ^Ptol. tab, 6. AiisB.

Vulgate,.

to the Birth of Abraham^ 1 47

Vulgate, Hafarmoth, is found in Hadhramaut, a province Yr. of Fi.
of Yaman, or Arabia Felix ; both having the fame ra- 35*-
dicals, and iignifying, the court or country of death. Bo- Ante Chr.
chart difcoyers the name of Jerahj in the ifland HieracoQ, '^^ '
(or of hawks)^ in the Arabian gulf, and a town fo called jerahT
within land, on the river Lar, near the Omanitae, And, 5.
That of Hadoram, in the Drimati of Pliny, towards the Hadoram*
Perfian gulf. 6. Uzal is the name given to Sanaa, the Uzai.
capital of Yaman, by the Jews who dwelt there ; and it
appears from Pliny to be the fame city. Its port was
Qceia, or Ocilis, as Ptolemy calls it, which alfo bears
feme refemblance to the name. 7. Diklah, fignifying, in DiklaA.
the Chaldaean or Syriac, a palm^-treej or a country ftored
"with palms, may have choice of feats in Arabia. 8. It
is with reluftance that we muft crofs the fea with Obal, ObtiL
from Arabia to the Avalitic port, in the Avalitic or Aba-
litic bay,' on the coaft of Africa, juft without the ftreights
of Bab-al-Mandal, for want of a place in Arabia bearing
fome likenefs to his name to fettle him in. It is true,
there is a town called OboUah, towards Bafrah, which
might ferve his turn, if that part had not been already
difpofed of by us to rhe family of Ham. Some may
think the uncertainty of its antiquity might be another
objeflion againft Obollah 5 but that would perhaps be
calling all we have faid of the migrations in queftion.
9. We might be obliged to look for a feat on the fame
coaft for Abimael, if Theophraftus did not luckily furnifli Jtbmath
us with the name of a place in the aromatic quarters of
Arabia, called Mali. It is true, other authors feem to
write Minaei and Manitae, but not Mali ; however, the
.authority of Theophraftus muft go againft them all, fince
it makes for our purpofe. This is a rule which has the
fan£^ion of moft authors who have written on this fub-
je£l:. 10. Sheba will not have the fame difficulty with SMa*
the reft of his brethren to find a place in Arabia. Pliny
fays, the Sabxan nations extended themfelves from one
fea. to the other; that is, from the Arabian to the Per-
fian gulph. Indeed there wants no proof of a people of
this name poffeffing a large ftiare of the fouth parts of
Arabia, moft authors mentioning them as very numerous^
and their country as excellent \ but they feem to difier in
the name of their chief city ; for fome call it Saba, others
Mariaba, or Maraba. However, that difference caufes
no difficulty in the matter, fince we learn from the Arab
authors, that they are both names of the fame place ;
and that it was the ancient regal fcat^ afterwards tranf-

L2 lato4

148 The General Htjlory from the D'efuge'

Yr. of PI. lated i& Sanaa. They'alfo tell us that Balkis, who vifited
A '^Ph Solomon, reigned there; and Chrift feems to allude to
"qq^ ^ ^^^^ country, when he calls her the " queen of the
' South ;*' for Yaman with the Jews, as well as Yaman
with the Arabs, fignifies the South ; and Saba, or Mareb^
is in that part of Arabia called Yaman. 11. We are at
Ophin a lofs again about providing a fettlement for Ophir:
Arabia furnifhes no place which refcmbles the name, ex-
cept Copar, on the Arabian gulph, near the northern
limits of the Cinaedocalpitae, and Ogyris, an ifland in the
fame fea. Bochart endeavours to fqueezc Ophir in
among the Caflanitse, or Gaffandse, probably the tribe of
Ghafsan, confulting the iirtiilitude of fenfe in words^
when that of found fails; aiid he choofes rather to be put
to his fhifts, than to run into the common abfurdity of
planting Ophir in India, where the place which bears his
name, (fo famous in Scripture for goW),. is fuppofed to
be fituate. We fhall fpeak more particularly with re-
ference to this land, when we come to the reign of So-
lomon y and (hall at prefent only obferve, that the gold of
this p^aee feeming in one paflage of Scripture to be called
the goW of Parvaim, has occafioned two conjeflures:
the firft, that Ophir is the ifland of Taprobana ; the fe-
cond, that it is Peru in America. The reader may eaCly
fee the latter name comes neareft that of Ophir ; but ti^
Ihew what an ignus fatuus the fimilitude of names is,.
Peru, as Sir Walter Raleigh aflures us, is not the true
name of the country, but was given to it by the Spa-
niards, on their miftaking the anfwer of the natives to *
Ha*vilah. queftion they did not underftand. 12, Havilah is, by
Bochart, fuppofed to have fettled in the land of Khaulan,
towards Yaman, mentioned by Al Edrifi ; but as* there
feem to be two places, (as well as two perfons), in Scrip-
ture called by that name, one near the Perfian gulph,,
pofleffed by Havilah, the fon of Cuih, already taken no-
tice of, and another in the borders of the Amalekites,
towards the Land of Promife ; the reader, if he pleafes,.
may fix this twelfth fon of Joktan in this laft country,
an#l place his brother Jobab, who is the thirteenth and
laft, with him for company; unlefs he rather choofes to
quarter him upon- the Jobarites, near the Sachalites, in
the fouth-eaft part of Arabia, upon a prefumption that
they fliould be written Jobabites y.

y Pliny, lib. vi. cap. 28. Phaleg. lib. li. cap. »7. a Chron. iitw
i, Bochart. Geog. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. 27* Arias MoAtanus Antiq«
Judaic. PMeg. v. lib. i. cap. 9. Geogr. Sacr. lib., ii. cap. a^»,
Geogr, Nubienf. pi49. Bochart. Geogr. 9acr. lib. iL cap. 29.

SECT.

Jo the Birth of Abraham. 149

SECT. VIL

<y the Origin of civil Government j an4 the Eftablifhment .

of the firji Kingdoms.

XX7E have formerly obferved that the firft form of go- Firjl go-
vernment was certainly patriarchal. For though *vernment
^he father iiad no natural right to govern his children P^^^^^^'
"when out of their minority ; and though that honour,
refpeci, and fupport, which they indifpenfably owe to
their parents all their life-time, and in all ^ates, give
the father no power of making laws," and enaSing penal-
ties on his children, nor any dominion over their pro-
perties oar a£i: ions ; yet it is obvious to conceive how eafy
it was, in the firft ages of the world, and ftill is, in places
"where the thinnefs of .the people give families leave to
feparate, and plant themfelves in yet vacant habitations,
for the father to become the prince of the family. He
kad .been a ruler from the beginning of the infancy of
his children ; and fince, without fome government, it
would be hard for them to live together, it was likelieft
it Ihould, by the exprefs, or tacit confent of the children,
•when they were grown up, be in the father ; where it
ieemed, without any change, barely to continue : indeed^
nothing more was requifite, than the permitting the father
to exercife alone, in his family, that executive power of
the law of natufc which every freeman naturally hath,
and, by that ^ermiffion, refigning up to him a monarchi-
cal power. Thus it was almoft natural for the children
•o make way for the father's authority. They had been
accuftomed, in their childhood, to follow his direftions,
and to refer their little differences to him.; and when
they were men, who fitter to rule them ? Their incon-
fidcrable property, and moderate defires, feldom occa-
•Coned great controverfies ; and when they did, where
could they have a fitter umpire than the perfon by whofe
care they had been fuflained and brought up ? The go-
vernment they were under continued ftill to be more
their proteftion than reftraint 5 and they could no where
find a greater fectirity to their peace, , liberties, and foj:-
tunes, than in the rule of a father.

Thus fathers of families, by an infenfible change, Changed
might become politic monarchs ; and, as they chanced to into monar-
live long', and leave able and worthy heirs for feveral fuc- ^^'^^'«
^fiions, ox ot;herwi{ey lay the foundatioijis of hereditary

1 3 ox

1 50 Th General Hlflory from the Deluge

or ele£tive kingdomS| under various conftitutions an4
manners, according as chancCj, contrivance, or occafions;
happened to coincide*.
f^lley pf Noah, therefore, being the common parent of the new

thi Noa^ world, while he lived, we may imagine, all his defcendn
(kicUf. ent confidered themfelves as in a ftate of dependence on
him 5 and as lie was the fuprcme governor of the whole
face of mankind then in being, fo his fons, Shem, Ham<(
and Japhet were, in all probability, chief governors of
their refpeflive branches in particular; as their fons again
were heads or rulers of their refpeftive families, under
their fathers ]£ach fon of Shem, for inftance, as head
of his own family, not only decided all differences among
them, but probably gave laws to them, though his autho-j
rity extended no farther; for in difputes between theio
families, their powers being all equal, they were obliged
to have recourfe to the decifion of their common father
Shem, whofe authority alfo was limited to his proper de*
fcendents ; fo that in any difference between him and his^
brothers, Ham and Japhet, the appeal muft have been to
the judgment of their father Noah, as the only common
fuperior.

At Noah's death the unity of government was difr
folved, and mankind became divided into three grand
parties, which no longer acknowleged one common
head, but had <sach its own independent ruler in one of
his three fons. Upon their deaths the bonds of union
were again loofed, and mankind became ^ fecond time
divided in their political ftate j fo that by degrees they
became ranged under a great number of independent;
chiefs, which feems to have been the ftate of the world*
for fome time after the difperfion.
BftabUJb' But as families increafed, and gradually extended their
ment of plantations, forming villages and towns, left their differ-
iingJoms, gnt interefts and inclinations might trouble the public
tranquility, it became neccffary to truft the government
of each fociety in the hands of one, or, at leaft, a fmall
number of perfons, who might re-unite all the chiefs
. under one and the fame authority, and execute fuch
laws and regulations as were thought conducive to the
well being of the community. The idea they ftill re-
tained of the patriarchal government, and the happy ex-^
pcrience they had of it, naturally direfted them to the
choice of a fingle perfon, rather than many, and of fuch

» tiocke of Gfovernmcnt, trf atife ii. chap. 6, &c.

a perfon

^0 the Birth of Abraham. 1 5 1

41 perron as was moft confpicuous for paternal care and
tendemefs. Ambition and intrigue had, we may fuppofe,
iittle or no fliare in this eleftion, which was rather de-
cided in favour of the moft worthy, by his known pro-
;bjty and moderation *.

In this firft beginning of political focieties, almoft every
'4own had its -own king, who, more attentive to preferve
iiis dominions, than to extend them, reftrained hi^ am-
'bition within the bounds of his nitive country, till difputes
Mrith neighbours, which were fometimes inevitable, jea-
loufy of a more powerful prince, an enterprizing genius,
and martialinclination, tbc defire in fome of aggrandizing
•themfelves, and (hewing their abilities, occafioned thofc
"Wars, which ended in the abfolute fubjeftion of the van-
-quifhed^ whofe pofieffions fell to the ftiare of the con-
queror, and, by inlarging his dominions, both enabled
^nd encouraged him to pufh on his fortune by new en-
terprizes; ,and thus fevcral cities and territories, united
under one monarch, formed kingdoms of greater or
Smaller extent, as the prince happened to have ambition
and fuccefs.

Thefe firft .conquerors uTed their viftory in different
jnannerp, according to their various tempers and interefts-
Some, looking on themfelves as abfolute matters of the
'Conquered, and thinking it was enough to grant them
Jife, ftripped them of every thing elfe, and reduced them
^o the ftate of flavery, condemning them to the meaneft:
offices, and the moft laborious, employments ; which op-
preffion introduced .the diftinftion between freemen and
Jlaves, ever fince kept up in the world.

Others introduced the cuftom of entirely tranfplanting
Jlhe vanquiftied people, with their families, into new
countries, where they were .to fettle, and cultivate the
jands affigned them.

Others yet more moderate, contented tbemfelves with
obliging the conquered to purchafe their liberty by a raiv
.fom, and allowed them the enjoyment of their own laws
.and privileges, on payment of an annual tribute, fome-
times even leaving their kings on the throne, and only
obliging them to acknowlege the fuperiority of their con^
xjueror, by certain marks of homage and fubmiffion.

The wifeft, and moft politic, gained the affef^ions of
ithe vanquiflied, by admitting them to an equality with
i^eir old i*ubje^s> and granting them the fame liberties

^ Juftin. lib. i. cap« f«

X 4 and

1 5^ ^he General Hifiory from the Deluge

and privileges \ thus they united their interefts, and mad«
them one people.
Nlmrod the If the Phoenician hiftory may be credited, and their
firflufurp' Cronus allowed to be flap, the defire of rule began to
r^ %sof i^a^e havoc in the world even during the life of Noah,
§ihiru ^^^ ^^s driven out of his fettlements, and, at laft, flain,

by his rebellious fon. But the firft aft of violence and
ufurpation .we find recorded in Scripture, was that of
Nimrod, who difpoflefled Afliur, the fon of Shcm, at
firft fettled in Shinaar, and obliged \i\va to remove into
Aflyria. The acquifitions he made, on this occafion,
muft be allowed to be unjuft, though he might have a Id*
gal right to govern thofe who, probably, chofe him for
their chief, on account of his perfonal merit. However,
it is to be prefumed, that this revolution, which we fup-
pofe to have happened about thirty years after the difper-
fion, extended only to fom^ few of the new planted na-
tions. In the reit, efpecially thofe who lay o\i|efpioft,
we cannot but perfuade ourfelves, that a fimplicity pf
ipanners continued feveral ages ; and that wars did not
arife in the world, till the colonies, which were at firft
feparated, by the increafe of their numbers, began to
prefs upon one another, and grow uneafy, for want of
room ; which inconvenience muft have aiFefted thofe
moft, who were fettled nearqft the center ; and accord-
ingly, the firft warlike motions we have any credible ac-
count of, were made by the king^ of Shinaar and Elam.
€>/ the ori' Though Noah and his fons had, doubtlefs, fome know-
ginai of lege of the inventions of the antedeluvians, and, proba-
«r/j and {^jy. acquainted their defcendents with fuch of them as
^ \ were moft obvious and ufeful in common life ; yet it is

not to be imagined, that any of the more curious arts, or
fpeculative fciences, were ^mproyed in any degree, fup^
pofing them to have been known, or invented, till
fome confiderable time after the difperfion. On the conr
trary, one confequence of that event feems to have been,
that feveral inventions, known to their anceftors, were
loft, and mankind gradually degenerated into ignorance
and barbarity, till eafe and plenty had given them leifure
5gain to polifti their manners, and apply themfelves to
thofe arts, which are feldom brought to perfeftipn under
other circumftances. For, on their fettliiig in any coun-
try, they found it employment fufficient, to cultivate the
ijand (which yet, for want of feparate property and fec\i-
rity in their pofleffions, in thofe early times, they im-
proyed no farther, than barely to fupply prcfent neceffi*
'' ' ' • • . * tie?),

to the Birth of Abrdham4 153

ties), and to provide themfelves habitations and necefla-
iries, for their mutual comfort and fubfiftence. Befides,
they were often obliged to remove from one place to an-
other, where they could more conveniently reGde. It
was a great while before they came to embody themfelves
mgether in towns and cities, and from thence to fpr^ad.
into provinces, and to fettle the bounds and extent of
their territories-
Commerce was, in all probability, carried on with and of
greater eafe before the flood, when there was but one and commtrce^
the fame language in the world \ yet it was not fo neceflfary
then, as it is become fince ; not only becaufe men's wants
have been increafed by the ill efFefts of the deluge on the
earth, and its produ6):ions, but becaufe they dwelt more
together, and might fupply their occafions by bartering
with their neareft neighbours, without being obliged to
extend their dealings much farther. That they had no
(hips to carry on a traffic to remote parts,' feems evident ;
for if navigation had been then found out, fome others
might have faved themfelves from the flood, as well as
Noah and his family. But after that deftru£^ion, and the
difperfion of mankind, as it became more difficult to trade
with nations who fpake different languages, fo their ne-
ceffities were increafed by this divifion 5 the colonies who
planted new countries, not only perceiving their own
wants, by the conveniencies they had left behind them ;
but finding fomething ufeful in their fettlements, which
were before unknown to them, or their founders- Thefe
confiderations engaged them to fetch' what they wanted
from the parts where they had formerly dwelt, and, in
exchange, to carry what they had difcovered, thither; a
praftice which feems to have given the firfl rife to fo-
reign trade, the gradual advances whereof we may occa-
iionally mention hereafter. The invention of (hipping
was certainly the greateft flep to its improvement, fince
it made the fea, before an infuperable obftacle to com-
merce, the moft eafy and convenient method of carrying
ft on **.

!> Vide Thucyd. lib. i. fub initio. Stillingfl, Orig. Sacr. book, i,
chap. T. feft. 16. Simplic.de Coelo, lib. ii. Huct Hi(t. du Coiiv-
^erce^de laNavig« des Anciens^cbap. z & 3.

CHAP.

154 ^^ Hjftoty of Egypt

CHAP. III.

The Hijlory of Egypt to the Time of Alexander

the Greats

S E C T. I.

A Defcription of Egypt.

tunamis. TT^ GYPT^ called by ite ancient inhabitants Qiemia,
Jl2/ and by the Copts, atprefent, Chemi, wasfo named,
as is fuppofed, from Ham, die fon of Noah ; being, more
thai! once, ftyled, in the book of Ffalms, the land of
Ham. Buc the name by which it is generally denoted in
Scripture, is, the land of Mizraim 5 from whence the
Araoians, and other Oriental nations, ftill call it Mefr,
which the Greeks write Meire and Meftrxa. We have
already obferved, that Mizraim is a word of a dual ter.-
mination; and is therefore, by fome, thought to have
been ufed in that number, on account of the twofold div
vifion of Egypt, and thence given to its firft planter, the
fon of Ham : the fingular majors fignifies a fortrefs ; and
according to fome, is alfo ufed in Scripture, as a proper
name of that country ; though others, and our verfion in
particular, tranflate the word as an appellative. Bochart is
of opinion that Egypt received this name {rom the natural
ftrength of its fit nation.

This country is beft known to us by its Greek name
Egypt, the original of which is varioufly accounted for by
authors. Some fay, it was fo called from one of its kings,
named jEgyptus ; not reflefting that this name was anr
ciently given, not only to the country, but, likewife, to
its famous river, the Nile. Others fay, it fignifies no
more than the land of the Copts 5 the M'ord aia being Greet
for a country^ and jEcoptos eafily foftened into A^gyptuSf
Yet this derivation feems as ill grounded as the former ;
the city of Coptus, whence the remains of the ancient;
Egyptians are ftill called Copts, being fituate far up in
the Higher Egypt, was, in all likelihood, utterly un-?
known to the Greeks till long after the name was in ufe
among them. The moft probable opinion, therefore, is,
that region was io called from the blacknefs of its foil,

and

to the Time of Alexander. 155

and tlie dark colour both of its rivtr and inhabitant^
aCtefted by all relations ; for fuch a blackifh colour is
called, by the Greeks, agyptiosy from gyps^ and agyps^ a
vulturey a bird of that hue ; and, by the Latins, fubvuL
turius. For the fame reafbn, other names, of the fame
import, have been given to this country by the Greeks ;
fuch as -^ria, and Melambolus. The river itfelf was
alfo called Melo, or Melas; by the Hebrews, Shihor;
and by the Ethiopians, Siris \ all which names (ignify
black. And Plutarch feems to intimate, that the inha-
bitants called their country Chemia, becaufe its foil was
very black, like the fight of the eye.

Egypt |s fituate between the forty-eighth and fifty- StfMaika
third degrees of longitude, and the twenty-fourth and tmdextiwi.
thirty-third degrees of north latitude ; its length, from
north to fouth, about fix hundred miles ; and the breadth
pf its coaft on the I^editerranean, from eaft to weft, near
three hundied miles ; but above the divifion of the Nile it
grows much narrower, fo that, in fome places, the two
chains of mountains which rife on each fide of that river,
leave a plain between them of lefs than a day's journey to*
crofs. It is bounded, on the fouth, by the kingdom of
3ennar, which is tributary to the king of Ethiopia, and
the catarafts of the Nile ; on the north, by the Mediter-
ranean fca ; on the eaft, by the Arabian Gulf, or Red
Sea, and the ifthmus of Suez *, on the weft, by a region
of Libya called Marmarica.

The old geographers diflFer, as to the ancient bounds of
this coui^try. Some have thought, that the Delta only,
or that part iucompaffed by the arms of the Nile, was
properly to be called Egypt; others make it reach weft*
ward to the greater Catabathmus, or valley which di-
vides it from Cyrenaica ; but this would give it too great
an extent, and include Marmarica and Ammonis, which
are certainly no part of Egypt. The true limits on thac
fide, therefore, feera rather to be taken from Plinthine,
a town beyonci the lake Mareotis; and to extend eaft-* .
ward as far as the lake Serbonis, or more exactly, to Of*-
tracine, on the Mediterranean fea, and Heroopolis at the
head of the Arabian gulf. The fouthern bounds were, '
Syene, a city fituate almoft under the tropic of Cancer,
^nd Ekphantine and Phylae, two others which lie fome-
thing farther fouth.

As the ancients difiir, likewife, in fettling the limits
of Afia and Africa, fome, who make the Nile the
|)oundary of thofe two parts of the world, place fo much

J, 56 STy^^ Htfiory of Egypt

of Egypt as lies eaft of that river, in Afia ; btit others
place it catirely in that part, by removing the limits of
Afia fo far a» Alexandria, or the Catabathmus. But wc
think the common opinion the moft natural, which di-
vides Afia from Africa by the Arabian gulf, and thfe
ifthmus of Suez. However, we hope the former autho-
rities will- cxcufe our including the Egyptians among the
Afiatic nations, whofe hiftories we give in this book;
which we have done merely for convenience ^.
Itsdivifion. ' Ancient Egypt is divided, byfome, into two parts, the
Upper, and the Lower Egypt; by others, into three;
the tJpper Egypt, properly fo called, or Thebais ;. the
Middle Egypt, or Heptanomis ; and the Lower Egypt,
the beft part of which was the Delta.
Thebaic Thebais, fo named by the Greeks from its principal

city Thebes, is, in the Scripture, called Pathros ; and»
at prefent, Al Said. It is the moft fouthern part of
Egypt next to Ethiopia^ and is near as cxtenfive as all the
r-eft, including the country on both fides the Nile down
to the Heptanomis ; its laft city, according to the an-
cients, being Lycopolis on the weftern, and Antaeopoli*
OB the eaftern fide of the river ; thefe dimenfions agree
pretty exactly with the prefent extent of Al Said, the
' moft northern city of which is Manfalut.
Cities if There were formerly, in this part of Egypt, feveral ci<-

note in this ties, of great note 5 viz. on the weftern fide of the Nile,
^^tl Lycopolis, or tke city of the wolves ; for extraordinary wor*

™ * ' ftiip was formerly paid here to wolves, becaufe they drove
back the Ethiopians, fays Diodorus Siculus, when they
invaded Egypt, and purfued them to Elephantine, on the -
borders of Ethiopia. This city is fuppofed to have ftoed
where the prefent town of Monfalut ftands. Hypfelc,
ftill a pretty large town, known by the name Aboutig,
and a biftiop's fee : it ftands about a mile to the weft of
the Nile. Aphroditopolis, or the city of Venus, to
whom great worftiip was paid here. This city is omitted
by Ptolemy, but mentioned by other geographers. Pto»
lemais, formerly a city of great note, by Strabo thought
equal to Memphis- Abydus, once the fecond city in the
Thebaid, famous for the magnificent palace of Memnon,
but in Strabo's time only a village. That author mej^-

« Vide Cellar. Gcogr. Ant. lib, iv. cap. i. Strabo, lib. xi; Dior
nyf. Perieg. ver. 18. PHn. Hilt. Nat. lib. iii. cap. i. Hirtiiu de
Bfllo Alex. cap. 14. Salln^. de BcUq Tugurlb. cap, 17. ¥Q^^t
^ela, lib« i.cap. 8^

tion»

tc tht Time of Alexander. 157

tions a fountain here, to which there was an cxtraoi'di-^
nary defcent by fteps, and a grove, facrcd to Apollo.
Abydus flood at fome diftance from the river, perhaps irt
the place where the prefent village EI-Berbi is fituate,
about three miles to the weft of the river, as a modem
traveller conjeilures. . Little Diofpolis, or the city of
Jupiter, perhaps the prefent town of Hou. Tentyra, of
which city the inhabitants were fanwus for their enmity
to the crocodile, which, by all means, they endeavoured
to deftroy, and even waged war with the worftiippers of
that animal, efpecially with the people of Ombos *.

The ruins of Tentyra are ftill to be feen at Amara, about
a mile from the river Hermenthis, now Erment. It
flood in the midft of a large plain, and feems to have
been between three and four miles in compafs. Here are
ftill to be feen the ruins of two ancient buildings. Lato-
polis, fo called from the fifh. latus, formerly worfhipped
in this place. About three miles to the north-north-
weft of the prefent town of Efne, are to be feen the
ruins of an ancient temple, which Pococke fuppofes
to have been the temple of Pallas and the fifh latus at
Latopolisy where they were both worfhipped. Within
this temple are three flories of hieroglyphics of men about
three feet high, and at one end the loweft figures are as
big as the life, one of them with the head of the ibis.
The ceiling is curioufly adorned with all forts of animals,
and painted in very beautiful colours. All the hierogly-
phics are very well cut, but fome of them defaced. Great .
ApoUinopolis, whereof the inhabitants rivalled the Ten-
tyrites in their enmity and hatred to the crocodile. It is
thought to have been fituate where the town of Etfou
now ftands, and where are ftill the ruins of a magnificent
temple, in the front of which are cut colofTal figures in
two flories, fome ftanding, and fome fitting. Elephan-
tine, in an ifland of that name, about a mile long, and a .
quarter of a mile broad to the fouth, ending in a point
at the north. On this ifland are the ruins of a fmall
temple, before which is a ftatue fitting with the hands
acrofs on the breaft, about eight feet high, with a lituus
in each hand. In the middle of the ifland are the re-
mains of one fide of a great gate of red granite, finely
adorned with hieroglyphics.

^ Strabo, p. 559. Fococke*s Defcrip. of the Eafl, p. 83 and (5.
Juven. Sat, xv. verf. 33.

158 ^he Bifiory of Egypt

On the eaft fide of the river are the following cities i
Autseopolis, fo called from AntaeuSi whom Hercules
overcame. It is fuppofed ro have flood in the place where
the prefent city of Sciout was built, which is iituated in
the middle of a pleafant country, near a large lake, filled
from the Nile by a canal^ over which there is a bridge o^
three high Gothic arches. Paflalus, perhaps the prefent
Gava-Kiebre, where is ftill to be feen a very beautiful

?ortico of a temple, with eighteen pillars, in three rows,
anopolis, the birth-place of the poet Nonnus. It bor-
rowed its name from Pan, who is faid to have sittended
Ofiris in hiS expedition againft the Ethiopians, and there-
fore was worfhipped (fays Diodorus) by the Egyptians in
every temple. Panopolis and Cheramis were, according
to that writer, one and the fape city \ but Herodotus
feems to diftinguifli them. The prefent town of Akraim,
ftanding about a mile from the river, is fuppofed to be
the ancient Panopolis. Chenobofcia, concerning which
we find, nothing, in the -ancients, worthy of /notice*
Caene, or Neapolis, mentioned both by Herodotus and
Ptolemy, perhaps the prefent Kena, a fmall town, on a
rifing ground, about a mile from the river Coptos, now*
Kept. Here Ifis, if Plutarch is to be credited, receiving
the news of the death of Ofiris, cut off one of her locks
in tokenof grief ; and hence the place was named Coptos^
which word, in the Egyptian language, fignifieswaw/, or
privation. This city was inhabited both by the Egyptians
and Arabians, and flood at fome diflance from the river,
as the prefent village of Kept does, but had a port on it ;
for Pliny calls it the empory of commodities brought
from India and Arabia. The difficult navigation of the
Red Sea to the north, threw the trade into this channel.
Pliny mentions Juliopolis as two miles from Alexandria,
adding, that from Tuliopolis to Coptos, the voyage, of
three hundred and tnree miles, was performed in twelve
days, when the northerly winds blew j and the journey
from Coptos to Berenice, on the Red Sea, likewife, in
twelve days. Ptolemy Philadelphus caufed a good road
to be made from Coptos to Berenice, with wells and cif-
. terns to preferve the rain-water; whence the flations,
where travellers flopt, were called Hydria and Hydreu-
mata, that is, watering-places^ Strabo is fomewhat con-
fufed in this place; for, after defcribing the city of
Coptos, and its trade, he adds : ^^ Hence an iflhmus
ftretches out to the Red Sea near the city of Berenice.^*
He feems to mift^e the city of Berenice for that of Albua

Portus^

f(y the Time ofMexan&r. 1 59

Portm^ placed by Ptolemy on the Red Sea, and parallel
with Coptos J for, he adds, " Not far from Berenice i*
the town called Myos Hormus.'* But, between this town
.and Berenice, Arrian reckons one thoufand eight hun-
dred ftadia. The Chriftians were formerly very numerous
in the city of Coptos, whence the name of Copts was given,
in derifion, by the Mohammedans, to all the Chriftianfi-
in Egypt. The only remains of this great city are fome
fquare pillars, with broken entablatures, all of red gra-
jnitei a fmall temple almoft quite deftroyed, a large bafon,
the ruins erf two bridges over the canal, by which the
water was conveyed from the river into the bafon. Here
are found great numbers of medals and fmall ftatues of .
earthen ware, fome pieces of rock cryftal, and fometimes
precious ftones. Apollinopolis, or tfee little city of Apollo,
called by Antoninus, in his Itinerary, the village of
.Apollo. There are here the ruins or a temple, with a
Greek infcription, by Cleopatra and Ptolemy, in honour
of Apollo, who was worfhipped by the inhabitants. The The city of
great city of Thebes, defervedly reckoned one of the fineft Thebei,
cities in the world. It was alfo called Diofpolis, or the
city of Jupiter,, and was built, according to fome, by
Ofiris, according to others, by Bufiris. Its length, in
Strabo's time, was eighty furlongs, or ten miles; but
this was nothing in comparifon of its ancient extent, be*
fore it was ruined by Cambyfes, which, we are told, was
no lefs than four hundred and twenty . ftadia, or fifty-twa
miles and an half. The wealth of this city was fo great,
that, after it had been plundered by the rcrfians, what
was found, on burning the remains of the pillage amount-
ed to above three hundred talents of gold, and twenty-
three hundred of filver. The hundred gates of Thebes
are mentioned by Homer, and, after him, by many
others ; but fome think that this was not the number of
the gates of the city, but of the temples \ and that, front
them, the city had the epithet of Hecatompylos, exprefling
a definite for an indefinite number. Pompohius Mela,:
and others, by the hundred gates, underftand fo many
palaces of princes, each of whom could, upon any
.prefling occafion, arm, and fend out, twenty thou-
sand fighting men, and two hundred chariots. A mo-
dern traveller could obferve no figns or remains of
walls round Thebes; and if it had none, we muft con-^
dude that, by two hundred gates, were meant the
gates of the temples, or rather the palaces of great
xsktxu In Strabo's time the city ftood chiefly on the eaft

fide

1 60 ^he iiifiory of Egypt

fidcj of tlie river : at Thebes there were, ailcientlyi foi^t'
remarkable temples : one of them is faid, by Diodofus
Siculus, to have been a mile and a half in circumference,
and forty-five cubits in height, with walls twenty-four
feet thicK *.
Sepulchres At a place called Biban-el-Meluke, that is the gate, or

**/ rl l"'^^ ^^^''^ ^f ^^^ ^'^S^i are to be feen the fepulchres of the
^ ' ^'* kings of Thebes, never exceeded, in the opinion of Dio-
dorus Siculus, by any thing of this kind. He tells us,
that forty-feven of them were mentioned in the Egyptian
hiftories ; that feventeen only remained to the time of
Ptolemy the fon of Cagus 5 and that, in his own time,
in oft of them were; deftroyed (F).

Tothefouth of Thebes, and on the fame fide of the river,
ftand the following cities mentioned by the ancient geo-
graphers, Chnumis, or Cnuphis, fo called from a god of
that name, worfhipped by the inhabitants; Elethya, or
the city of Lucina, famous for a temple facred to that
goddefs, now entirely deftroyed 5 OnAos, now Co-
mombo, that is, the Hill of Ombo, where great ruins arc
ftill to be feen of an ancient temple. The inhabitants of
this city were famous for the worfliip of the crocodile, as
we have obferved above ; they fed them in their ponds
(fays j9Elian), where they became fo tame, as to obey
when they were called. Syene,. the ruins of which arc
ftill to be feen at a fmall diftance from Aflbuan. It was
fituated exaftly under the tropic of Cancer j and is placed
by Pliny in a peninfula ; whence we may conclude, that
It ftood on a hill to the weft of the prefent fort, which
hill has water on three fides. At a fmall diftance from
this place are the remains of feveral ancient buildings and
the granite quarries ; all the country to the eaft, the
iflands, and bed of the Nile, producing red granite : the
quarries were not worked below ground, but the ftonc
was hewed out of the fides of low hills. Pococke ob-
ferved fome columns marked out in the quarries, and
ihaped on two fides : he is of opinion that they worked
the ftonc round with a narrow tool, and, when it was
almoft feparated, they forced it out of its bed with large
wedges, of which there are great figns rn the quarries. At
Syene there was a Roman garrifon, confifting of three

(F) For further particulars, fee Pococke's Travels.

*Diod. Sicul. Pomp. Mela. Plini. Pococke*s Pefcription of
the £ait, Herodotus. Ptolemy* Strabo.

Cohortf

h tht Time of Alexdniet. 1 6 1

c^liorts, as appears from Strabo, and theNotitia. About
twelve miles fouth of Syene flood the city of Phylx, in an
Ifland of the fame name^ not above a quarter of a mile long
and half a quarter broad. Pliny places Phylae on the weft
fide of the river, over againft Syene ; but, that he was mif-
taken, is plain from Ptolemy, from the Itinerary, and from
Strabo, which laft vifited thofe places, and tells us, that
he went from Syene toPhylae by laid, to avoid the cataradt ;
that Is, the lefler catarad* The ifland of Phylae was deemed
facred, from an opinion that Ofiris was buried there \ and
the ruins of a magnificent temple are ftill to be feen. It
appears from the Notitia that the Romans had a garrifon
at Phylae, which was the moft fouthern city of all Egypt.
Between this place and Syene is the JefTer catara£t, and
the greater at a fmall diftance from Pfelca, a town in
Ethiopia. Cicero was impofed upon from a falfe report
when he wrote, that the people who lived near the leflTer
catara£l were all deaf, a defect which, he fays, was occa-
fioned by the noife the river made in falling from very
high mountains, for the fall is no where above fcven or
eight feet. At this cataraft ends the navigation of the
Egyptians to the fouth^ and of the Ethiopians to the north.

We (ball now give a fuccinfl: account of the cities on citusw^
the Red Sea, within the bounds of Egypt. This fea is the Red
divided to the north into two gulphs ; that to the eaft ^'^•
was called the -^lantic Gulph, from the city of jElana,
at the north end of it, and that to the weft the Heroopo-
litic, from the city of Heroopolis. The -^lantic Gulph
belongs to Arabia, and the Heroopolitic to Egypt. On
the latter ftood the cities of Heroopolis and Arfinoe. He-
roopolis, or the City of Heroes, as it is Called by Strabo
and Pliny ^, ftood at the north end of the gulph, perhaps .
•where the caftle of Adjercute now ftands ; and Arfinoe,
fo called from a queen of that name, in the time of the
Ptolemies, where Suez is nov?' ; there being in that
neighbourhood plain figns of an ancient city. Strabo
feems to fuppofe Arfinoe and Cleopatris to have been dif-
ferent cities ; but, in the fame page, fpeaking again of
Arfinoe, he fays, that '' by fome it is called Cleopatris.'*
Some think that the text has been altered, others, that
Cleopatra embellifhed the city of Arfinoe by the addition
of feveral buildings, which formed, as it were, anew
city, called, after her name, Cleopatris j whence the
w^hole was by fome named Arfinoe, by others Cleopatri«.

'Strabo, lib.xvii* p. 553* Pliny, lib. vi.cap. 99.

Vol L M On

i6z The Htftory (rf Egypt

On the Red Sea itfelf ftocxf Myos, Albu« Portu^ a«ftf
Berenice, mentioned by Ptolemy^ Pliny, and Straboi*
The laft city, fo named from the mother of Ptolemy Phi-
lade Iphue, was the great empory of goods from; Arabian
and India. It is placed by Ptolemy near the tropic o£
Cancer ; and that he was not miftaken in the latitude i$
manifeft from Pliny, from Arrian, and from •the Itine-
rary. Berenice is the laft town in Egypt, properly fof

Heptano" called, on the Red Sea. Of the inland towns, betweeift

^^' that Sea and the Nile, we ihall fpeak hereafter.

Heptanomis, or the Middle Egypt,; was fo called {Mk^
the feven «o?wx, or prefidfures^into which k was dividfedf
though Strabo fays it contained fixteen, w:hich difference
may have been occafioned by the adding of new nomes^
to thofe it originally comprifed, as were in particular
thofe of Oafis, of which name there were two cities, not
properly in Egypt, but on the borders of Libya. The H^p*
tanomis comprehended all the country on each fide of ther
Nile, from Thebais to the point of the Delta, where phaB
river divides into thofe branches by which it enters the
fea. Some of the ancients make this tradl: a part of the

Cftiis in Thebais ; and fomc of the eaftem geographers alfo give*

the iupta*, the faid extent to Al Said.

«•««. This part of Egypt was alfo, in old times, full of large

and noble cities. On the weft fide of the river were,,
Memphis^ fuppofed to have been built by Menes, the firft
king of Egypt, and, for many ages, the metropolis of
the whole kingdom. It is placed, by Pliny and Strabo,
fifteen miles fouth of the Delta 8 ^ but there arc now no
more remains of fo great a city than as if fuch a place had
never exifted ; the beft part of the ruins having been, in-
dl likelihood, carried to Alexandria, and other citiesy
built in after ages, and the reft buried by the overflowing
of the Nile. At Memphis there were many magnificent
temples, and one, among the reft, confecrated to Apis,
who was worfliipped in the form and appearance of an ox,
kept and fed here for that purpofe. This was a great and
popufous city even in Strabo's time, who calls it the
ifeoond after Alexandria. Of the pyramids, which ftood
dot far from this city, we fhall fpeak • hereafter. Acan-
thus, where was a great temple, dedicated to Ofiris, and
a grove of Thebaic acantha, from which the city had
probably its name. Heracleopolis, or • the city of Her-
cules, in an ifland called, by Strabo, the Great liland^
\^herc the ichneumon was worfliipped. In the lower

t Plin* lib. v« cap. 9, Strabo^ lib, XYii. p; 555*

part

t6 the Time of AUo^anden 1 63

fiart of this ifland, to the north, ftood the city of Nilo-
poUsy at an equal diftance from both banks of the river,
whence Ptolemy calls it a mediterranean, or inland town.
Arfinoe, firft called the city of Crocodiles, for the inha-
bitants worfhipped that animal, and bred up fome tame
beafts of that fpecies in the neighbouring lakes. The
ruins of this city are ftill- to be feen at a place called
IFaiume. It muft have ftood at fome diftance from the
iriver, fince Ptolemy calls it a mediterranean metropolis.
Oxyrynchtts, fo called from a fi(h of that name, wor-
Aipped all over Egypt, but chiefly in this place. Hermo^
polls, or the city of Mercury, reckoned by Amniianus
among the fanwus cities of Egypt **. On the ^aft fide of
the river ftood the following cities of note : Aphroditopolis,
jor the city of Venus, where particular worfliip was paid
jto a white cow. Ancuropolis, or the city of Anchors,
jinentioned by Ptolemy, and fo called from a neighbour-
ing quarry, out of which ft one anchors were cut. Cy-
xiopolis, or th« city of Dogs, for Dogs were worfliipped
there, and facred food allotted them. Antinoopolis, .
kiow Enfinel, built by the emperor Adrian, in honour of
liis favourite Antinous, who, having attended him into
Egypt, was here drowned. Some think that Adrian did
not build a new city, but only embellifhed the old city of
Befa, and gave it a new name *. Befa is mentioned by
'Ammianus as an Egyptian god. An Egyptian writer,
quoted by Photius, joining the pld and new name of this
place, calls it Befantinoopolis. Some ruins are ftiil to be
feen, in the place where Antinoopolis is fuppofed to have
. ftood ^.

The lower Egypt, reaching from Heptanomis to the Cities of
•Mediterranean Sea, contained not only that part which is Loiver
cncompafTed by the arms of the Nile, and, from its trian- ^Syf^*
gular figure, named Delta, but alfo Mareotis and Alex-
andria, with its dependencies, to the weft ; and Cafiotis
and Auguftamnica, with fome other territories towards
Arabia, to the eaft.

In the Mareotic nome, called Mareotis, from the lake
Marea, we find the following places mentioned by the^
ancients: Plinthine, Monocomium, Cobii, Almyrse,
Hierax, Tapofiris, Phomotis, Marea; but nothing re-
lating to them worthy of notice. The lake Marea, or
Mareotis, was, according to Strabo, above an hundred
and fifty ftadia in breadth, and under three hundred in

•

^ Ammian. Marcel, lib. xxii. c. 40. ^ Ca&ubon. in Spart*

HiKlrUn. cap. 14. ^ Pococke, pt 79.

M 2 length.

164

Alexan-^
dria%

The ifiaud
9f Pharos.

the Hifiory of Egypt ^

kffgtb. It was formerly navigable, but is now Jry, civ
cept, after great rains. The country adjoining to thi$
lake was once famous for excellent wine, as appears from
the two great Latin poets, Virgil and Horace. Betweea
the lake and the Canopic branch of the Nile flood the
famous city of Alexandria, and feveral others of no fmali
note. The city of Alexandria took its name from Alex-
ander the Great, who, coming to Rhacotis, after having
confulted the oracle of Japiter /Vmmon, and being' pleafed
with the fituation of the place, ordered a new city to be
built. After the death of Alexander the Ptolemies choft^
this city for the place of their refidence ; by which means
it became the metropolis of all Egypt. It was built, fay
the ancients, in the form of a Macedonian chlamys, or
cloak, and took up about fifteen miles. The royal pa^^
lace, which was a fifth part of the city, ftood by the fea>
in a moil pkafatit fituation \ and> befides the habitation
of the princes, contained the mufeum,, and the burying-
place of the kings. Here was depofited the body of its
foundei in a coffin of gold, but this cafe was afterwards
taken away, and one of glafs put in its roomv Auguftus,
when he was in Egypt, viewed the body of that great
hero, fcattered flowers over it with the greateft venera-*
tion, and honoured it with- a golden CFOwn. On the
ihore, where the ancient palace ftood, are ftill to be fcen
the remains of ftately buildipgs, with feveral pieces of
porphyry, and other fine marbles. That part of the city^
which ftood at fome diftance from the fliore, was called
Necropolis, from the fepulchres and burying-places,, and
inhabited only by the meaner fort of people, in thjc
ftreet, which is faid by Strabo to have extended from the-
gate of Necropolis to that of Canopus, that is the whote
length of the city, ftood the gymnafium, with porticos,
above half a quarter of a mile in extent ; and, no doubt,
feveral other magnificent buildings. Near the city was
the ifland of Pharos, which, in the time of the kings, was
joined to it by a bridge, fo as to be reckoned part of the
city. ' This ifland, extending from eaft to weft, in a bay,
about three leagues wide, formed the two ports of Alex-
andria ; the port Eunoftus to the weft, and the Great
Port, as it was called, to the eaft : the latter is now
called the New, and the other the Old Port. Homer
fuppofed this ifland as far diftant from the continent as a
(hip, with a fair wind, could fail in a day : but he was
certainly mifinformedj the diftance between the ifland
and the ftiore not exceeding nine hundred paces. What

Qthc?s

to the Time of Alexander. i6$

others call a bridge Strabo calls a mole, joined to tbc
town by a bridge. The fea has gained on the weft fide
of the ifland 5 where are feen, under water, the remains
of cifterns cut in the rocks. The famous light-houfe,
named Pharos, from the ifland, ftood on a rock, at the
ihe eaft end of it, which was furrounded, on all fides,
twith water, fo as to form a fmall feparate ifland ; the
jpillars, which are feen there in a calm fea, may be the
remains of that great ftrufture- The ifland Antirrhodes
>is alfo mentioned by the ancients, as lying al a fmal-l dif-
tance from the fhore ; but it has been entirely deftroyed
ty the fea. The city of Alexandria was reckoned next ro
Borne for the grandeur, magnificence, and number of
its buildings ; and yet very few* remains of them are to
ie feen, the materials having been carried away to other
places, and many of them employed in the buildings of
the prefent city. About three miles and three quarters
from Alexandria was the city of Nicopolis, which took
its name from the viftory Auguftus there gained over
Antony 5 and was, on that account, greatly embelliflied
by the -conqueror ^. Near Nicopolis was Eleufis mention-
ed by Strabo, as a village in the diftrid of Alexandria.
Canopus is placed by Strabo onthe fea-fide, ope hundred
and twenty ftadia from Alexandria. This city is faid to
have been built by the Spartans, on their return from the
Trojan war,; and to have taken its name from Canopus,
the pilot of Menelaus, who died and was buri^ in this

{>]ace. Canopus was famous, or rather infamous, for the
ewd and diffolute diverfions, in which the Alexandrians
liere indulged th&mfelves ; whence Seneca, in one of his
cpiftles.: ** no one/' fay's he, ** thinking of a retreat,
M^ould oh^ife Canopus ; idaougih a man may be good and
lioneft even atCanopiis.'* On the narrow tra£l between
the fea and the canal that Tuns from Alexandria to Cano-
pus, were Zephyrium, the Lefler Tapofiris, and Thonis,
the laft fuppofed to have been fo called from a king of
<hat name, who received Menelaus and Helena. To the
fouth of Canopus, and on tbe weft fide of the Canopic
branch of the Nile, the following places are mentioned
hy the ancients ; Shadia, the Lefler Hermopolis, Gyn-
«copolis, Anthylla at a fmall diftance from the rivers
Momemphis, Andropolis, and the city of Latona.

Some have imagined the Delta, or the greater part of
it, to have been an accefliion of land to Egypt ; and that

h Vide Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 547. Jofcph. de Bell. Jud. Jib. iv.
Plin. lib. v. cap. «• Tacit. Ann. lib. xi. cap. 6o,

M 3 ^ ^9

1 66 The Hijlory of E^pt

the plains between the mountains^ beyond Memphis were
formerly a bay of the fea ; which was at length filled up
by the foil brought down from the Nile ^ But, this opi-
nion feems very groundlefs, confidering the little altera-
tion which has been in this part of Egypt for above two
thoufand years pad,' and the time allowed for this effeft
by Herodotus, which is no lefs than twenty thoufan4
years ; a much longer fpace than the world has laded.
Some Arabs divide the Delta into two parts, ^1 Rif, and
Al Bahriya : the former, being the weftern part, is fup-
pofed by Bochart to be the Rahab of the Scriptures ; and
was fo called becaufe of its form, refembling a pear;
which the Egyptians call Rib, orRibiK Al Bahriya is
the eaftern part of the Delta, in the opinion of many ;
though a late traveller more truly places Al Bahriya, or,
as he. writes it, Beheire, beyond the weftern branch of
the Nile ^.

As the Delta is comprifed within the branches of that
river, we mud premife a fuccinft account of thofe
branches, - and of the river itfelf ; without which the
reader would be at a lofs, as to the fituation of the places
we are to defcribe.
Ofikeri' The fources, or fprings, of this river, wexe fo abfo-
vir Nile, lutely unknown to the ancients, that they thought it even
impoflible to difcover them : they are now well known
to be in Ethiopia, though modern travellers differ in their
accounts of them ; as will be feen when we come to de-
fcribe them in a more proper place. The Nile enters
Egypt al mod under the tropic of Cancer, pouring itfelf
down feven fucceffive catarafls, or falls. The people of
thofe parts ufed formerly to entertain drangers with a fur-
prifing fpedlacle, which fome modern travellers fay is dill
continued ; two of them get into a fmall boat, one to
guide it, and the other to keep it clear of water ; after
having borne the violence of the agitated waves for fomc
time, they dextooufly deer through the narrow chanels,
thereby avoiding the rocks ; and, allowing themfelves to
be carried down by the falling river, ruft headlong, to
the great terror of the fpeftators, who think them utterly
lod and fwallowed up, till they appear again on the wa-r
ter, far from the place from which they fell, as if they
had been fliot out of an engine. The Nile, having pad^
cd through the Upper and Middle Egypt, a little below
the ancient Memphis, divided itfelf into two large arms,

^ Diod. Sicul. lib. i« p. 30. Herod, lib. ii. cap. 5. ^ Bochart
Geogr. Sacr, lib. iv, Of . »4, ^EiSid'uhc Arte d^Egyptc par Sicard.

which.

«,».

to the Time of Al^xand^. 167

«v}ik3i, afterwards, foraaing feven dianels, emptied them-
Sa)Brt% into the fea by as many moutjhs. Ihefe feven
4nouths of the Nile, much fpoken of by the ancient
writers, were, to begin from the weft, the Canopic or
Heracleotic, the Bolbitic, the Sebennytic, the Phatnic
.or Pathmetic, the Mendeifiaii, the Tanitic or Saitic, and
the PeluGan ; deriving their names from fo many cities,
standing on their feveral branches. Befides thefe, there
vWere the two Pfeudoftomata, or felfe mouths^ as they
called them, of Pineptimi and Diolcos, which were too
-fmall to carry larger vefiels. But the greater part of thefe
'xnouths have been fince ftopped up, and others formed ;
ib that there are now reckoned above thirty cha^iels, which
carry the waters of the Nik into the fea, efpecially at its
overflowing, the greater part of them becoming dry when
ithe waters retire * \ the two chief, and indeed only confi-
derable arms of that river, at prefent, being that of Ro-
ietta, or Rafhid, to the wefi, and that of Damietta, or
Dimyat, to the eaft.

In the Delta, lying between the Canopic branch to the Cities in (lis
weft, and the Pelufian to die «aft, were the following ^^/-f^-
cities; Metelis, on the Canopic branch, called Bechis'
in the time of Stephanus ; Naucratis, fciid to have been
3>uilt by the Milefians* \ it ftood fomewhat fouth of the
place where the great chanel divides itfelf into the Canopic
and Bolbitic branches. Ten miles to the. eaft of this
branch was Sais, formerly the metropolis of liower Egypt,
Here was a famous temple of Minerva, and before it was
a room, cut out of one Aone, on the outfide, twenty-one
•cubits long, fourteen bmad, and eight high ; within, it
was above eighteen long, twehre broad, and five high ;
two thoufand nieii were employed three years in bringing
it down by water from Elephantine. This wonderful
room was fuppofed to have been cut out of one of the
Iflands near Elephantine, in which are many quarries.
JSFear Sais was the afylum of Ofiris, where he was fuppof-
ed to have been buried ; Ifis having depofited feveral cof-
fins in different places, that Typhon might not find out
Jiis body. To the north of Sais ftood Cabafa ; and, a
Jittle more to the north, Butus, famous for the oracle
jof Latona, and temples of that goddefs, of Apollo, and
of Diana *. Thefe are the moft remarkable places be-
tween the Heracleotic and the Sebennytic chanels. Be-

1 Luc8s*8 Voyage, torn. ix. p. 313. ^ Strabo, lab*xvii. p. 551.
4 1 Herod. Ub. xi. cap. 1^5.

M 4. twcen

1 68 ^he Hiftory of Egypt

tween the latter and the firft falfe mouth, called Pinepti-
mi, were Pachnamunis, Hcrmopolis, Sebennytus, Tava,
Therm uthis. From the city of Sebennytus, the Seben-
nytic chancl took its name. To the eaft, between the
chanel Pineptimi and the Phatnic, were Zois, Onaphis,
Cynopolis, Athrybis j and, nearer the latter chanel,
Tnmuis, Aphroditopolis, Leontopolis, Bufiris. Zois
• ftopd in an ifland of the fame name, and Athribis on the
river Athribip, which forms the falfe mouth, called Di-
plcos. Thmuis, in the Egyptian language, fignified a
goat ; which animal was worihipped in the city of that
name. At Leontopolis, particular worfliip was paid to
the Lion ; and at Cynopolis, to the Dog- The tyrant
Bufiris, fuppofed to have been killed by Hercules, is
thought to have reigned in the city of that name.j but
Strabo aflures us, that no fuch prince ever reigned in
EgyP^* The city of Mendes, which gave name to the
Mendefiap mquth of the Nile, flood on that branch, and
the city of Tarichea atfome diftance from it, by the fea-fide.
Between the Mendefian and the Tanitic branches, and at
ft fmalj diftance from the former, ftood Panaphyfis and
Diofpolis ; and op the Tanitic branch, Tanis, fuppofed
to be the Zpan pf Scripture, and the place where the
Pharaoh^ refined. Between the Tanitic and the Pelufian,
which is the moft eaftern branch of the Nile, was the city
pf Sethrium. . Thefe are the chief cities in the Delta, of
which we find any meptipn made by the ancients.

On the eaft fide of the Delta, where Egypt was bound-
ed by Arabj^ Petraa and Paleftine, ftood feveral cities of
great ppte. Of thefe, the moft remarkable were, Bu-
baftus, ftanding on the moft eaftern branch of the Nile ;
whicl^, from this city, is called, by the anciei^ts, the Bu-
baftic river. Here was a magnificent temple, dedicated
to Diana 5 vjfho, in the Egyptian language, was called
Bubaftijs ; and hence the liarpe of the city. Pocockc
thinks this city ftood pear the prefent village of Benal-
haflar, where great ruin§ of an ancient city are ftill to be
feen. South of Bubaftus, and on the fame river, ftood
the city of Onias, fo called from the Jewifti prieft of that
name $ ^bo obtained leave of Ptolemy Philometor, king
of Egypt, to build a temple here, in oppofition to that of
Jerufalem. On the fame river ftoqd the city of Babylon,
laid, by Diodorus Siculus, to have been built by fome
fraptives from Babylon on the Euphrates 5 who, having
inade their efcape, fled to an hill, and thence, with frc-
Quent exci^rfions, plundered the neighbouring country s;

to the Time of Alexander. 1 69

Y^nlf having in the end obtained their pardon, and the
bill being given them to inhabit, they built a city on it,
which, from their native city, they called Babylon*
Strabo like wife fuppofes this city to have been founded by
fome Babylonians, who obtained leave of the kings of
Egypt to fettle here. Jofephus fays, it was built in the
time of Cambyfes king of Perfia, on the fpot where the
ancient city ot Latopolis ftood. Ptolemy mentions a ca-
nal between this city and the Red Sea, which he calls the
canal of Trajan, wh6 cither made or repaired it. The
(ituation of Old Cairo feems to agree with that of Baby-
lon, as defcribed by the ancients. One of the three Ro-
man legions that guarded Egypt was ftationed at Babylon.
The city of Phacufa, or Phaccufa, as Strahp ftyles it,
ftood likewife on the Bubaftic river, fomewhat north of
Bubaftus. At this place began the canal, called, the Thicmmal
Canal of the Kings, from the Pelufian branch to the Red 9fihgkiM%s.
Sea. This great work was begun by Sefoftris king of
Egypt, carried on by his fucceflbrs, and finiflied by Pto-
lemy Philadelphus. The work had been long left- unfi-
niflied, out of an opinion, that the Red Sea was higher
than the land of Egypt ; and confequently, that if a ca-
nal was opened, it might drown the country, or, at leaft>
fpoil the waters of the Nile. This canal was one hun-
dred cubits in breadth, and of a fufficient depth to bear
the largeft veffels. On the fame river, north of Phacufa,
were Heracleopolis Parva, or Heracleopolis the Lefler,
fo called to diftinguiih it from another of the fame name^
of which we have fpoken above 5 and the city of Pelu-
imm, about twenty ftadia from the fea, in a marihy foil,
and thence called Pelufium, the Greek word pilos^ fig-
nifying mud. Ammianus Marcellinus fuppofes this city to
have taken its name from Peleus, the father of Achilles \
who, according to his account, built it by the order of
the gods. It is called by Hirtius the key of Egypt, be-
caufe whoever was mailer of this place, had a free and
open paflage into Egypt. The lentiles of Pelufium arc
commended by Virgil and Martial. Between Pclulium
aadRhinocolura, the firft city of Paleftine, the following
places are mentioned, as ftanding on the fea, by Ptolemy,
Strabo, and other geographers; Agger-Chabrae, Gerra
or Gerrum, Pentafchanos, Oftracine. Between the two
latter places flood Mount Gafius, famous for the fepul-
chre of Pompey, who was buried there, and a magnificent
(ethple of Jupiter Cafius. Ptolemy places a town here,
fli the fame name with the mountain \ but no mention is

made

lyo .^he Hiftory of Egypt

made of a town by any other writer. Eaft of Mcmtit
CafiuSy and at a fmall 4iftance from it, was the lake
Sirbonis, very narrow, but of a furprifing depths and two
hundred ftadia' in extent ; but of this hk^ no vefti^es are
iiow to be found. To the eaft of the B»haftic river, and
near the borders of Arabia Petrsea, flood Phagroriopolis 4
and to the fouth, about three miles frc^on the river, Heli-
opolisy or the City of the Sun, worihipped there in a
fnagnificent temple ; as was likewife a bull, under the
name of Menevis. This city was fuppofed by the anci-
ents to have been built by A£kis, the fon of Rhoda and
^he Sun ; and is commonly thought to be the On of the
iScripture. Thus far of the cities of Egypt mentioned by
^ircxfane hiftorians ; of thofe fpoken of in Scripture, we
fliall ha^e occalion to take notice hereafter.
hi- drvtfiw BeGdes this larger divifion, Egypt was alfo diftributed
inf names* into feveral governments, or prefedures, called by the
Egyptians Tabir, and by the Greeks Nomes; whence
ihat paffage of Scripture which our verfion readers, ** I
jwill fet the Egyptians againft the Egyptians, and the|r
ihali fight kingdom againft kingdom," the Septuagint
Jbave rightly tranflated, " nome againft nomc." The
Xiumber of thefe is uncertain, being, according to the
pleafure of the prince, fometime^ greater, and fometimos
lefs ; for which reafon ancient authors differ in their ao-
/counts of them ; but they were about thirty-fix, and ge-
xierally named from the chief city of each nome. * This
4ivifion is attributed to Sefoilris.
Climatic The climate of Egypt muft needs be very warm, from

iits near iituation to the tropic. Though the air is gene-
rally dry, yet there falL greater dews after the fwclling of
Che Nile, which continue for feveral months. In the
Jower Egypt it often rains in flie winter, notwithftanding
what, fome of the ancients fay to the contrary ; and even
fnow has been i&bferved to fall at Alexandria, contrary to
the exprefs afTertion of Seneca. In the upper Egypt in-
deed, towards the catadupes, .or catarafts of Nile, it
'Tains very feldom. The firft' fummer, -(for they reckon
two in*Egypt), which is in /March, April, and May, is
,the moft unwhoMbme and fickly feafon, becaufe <rf the
unequal weather, exceflive heats, and parching winds,
which reign at that time, and caufe feveral . diflempers ;
but in return, in their fecond fumn^er, in June, July, and
Auguft, and in their autumn and winter, the air is
.much cooler, the weather more conftant, and Egypt one
of the xnoft ple^fatit and delightful countries in the

world :

to the ^ime of Alexander. gji

world : thoiigh the cold is feldom Mt there, except only
for about feven days, which the Arabs call herd al ajuz,
the old woman^s coid^ from the feventh to the fourteenth of
February, yet thofe who can afford it wear furs, becaufe
©f the uncertainty of the feafon.

The fertility of Egypt, and the excellence of its pro- Fertiliiy.
du£):ions and fruits, are greatly celebrated by anciaat
writers, and by Mofes himfelf, who muft needs have
been well acquainted with this country. It abounds in
grain of all forts, but particularly rice \ infomuch that, as
it was formerly the granary of Rome, it is now the
country which chiefly fupplies Conftantinople.

The moft plentiful parts of Egypt are the Delta, and
that province which is called Al Feyyum, fuppofed to* be
the ancient Heracleotic nome ; the capital of which,
bearing the fame name, is .thought to have been either '

Heracleopolis, NilopoHs, or Arfmoe, and is faid by the
Batives to -have been built by Jofeph, to whom they own
themfelves obliged for the improvements of this territory 5
which being much the lowed part of Egypt, was before
nothing but a ftanding pool, till that patriarch,* by mak-
ing drains, and particularly the great canal which reaches
from the Nile to the Lake Moeris, difcharged the water,
and clearing it of the rufties, and marfhy weeds, ren-
dered it fit for tillage. It is now the moft fertile and
beft cultivated land in the whole kingdom, containiiie
above three hundred and fixty villages, and yields linen,
grapes, and other fruits in abundance; and it fails not
bearing, even in thofe years, when the Nile's not rifing
to its ufual height, occafions a fcarcity in the other parts
of Egypt.

The annual inundation of the Nile, on which the fer- /// annual
tility of Egypt depends, is one of the greateft wonders of cverHow
that country. The ancient writers tell us that it begins ^^l*
to rife in Egypt about the fummer folftice, and continues
rifing till after the autumnal equinox, for about the fpace
of one hundred days ; and then it gradually decreafes for
as many days, till it retires within its banks, and overflows
no more till the next year. If the river did not rife to
the height of fixteen cubits, or fifteen at leaft, the country
was not covered with water, and a dearth enfued : this ac-
count agrees tolerably well with the obfervation of modern
travellers. Though the liver begins to fwellin May. yet
no public notice is takers of it till the 28th or 29th of
June, by which time it is ufually rifen to the height of
iix or .eight pikes, (a Turkiih Qseafure of al>put twenty«-ri}(

inches) 5

ijz The Htfioty of l^gypt

inches) ; and then the public criers proclaim It through
the capita] and other cities ; and continue in the fame
manner to publiih how much the river encreafe« every
day, till it rifes to fixteen pikes } and then they cut A^^n
the dam of the Khalij, or great canal, at Bulak, which
pafles through the midft of Al Kahira, and let in the water
on their lands, by an artifice which we- iliall mention by«*
and-by. If the river wan^^ but an inch of thi? height^
they will not cut the dam, becaufci in fuch cafe, no tri^
bute is due to the prince for the lands which fhould be
watered by them, the produce being then fcarce fufficient
to maintain the tillers. And therefore, at prefent, if the
bafha, or gov^nor of Egypt, cuts his dam before the river
rifes to that determinate height, he is anfwerable for the
confequence, and muft pay the Turkifh emperor his tri-
bute, whether the year be plentiful or no. If the water
encreafes to the height of twenty-three or twenty-four
pikes, it is judged moft favourable ; but if it exceeds
that meafure, it does a great dcjal of mifchiefj not only by
overthrowing feoiifes, and drowning caale, but alfo by
ingendering a great number of infefts which deftroy the
fruits of the earth.

The Khalij above mentioned is always opened with
greatfolemnity, in the prefence of the bafha, accompanied
. by all his great officers, and attended by an innumerable
multitude of people, this being one of the great feftivals
in Egypt. In former times the Egyptians ufed annually,
at this ceremony* to facrifice a girl, pr, as others fay, a
boy and a girl, to the Nile, ^ a tribute paid to that river
for all the benefits they received from it. And this inhuman
cuftom continued till the Turks made themfelvcs mailers
of Egypt (G), when their firft governor, refolved to aboiifh
it, by his prudent remonftrances prevailed pn the Egyp-
tians to Jay it afide : but the river unfortunately did not
rife that year to the accuftomed height. The year fol-
lowing it was ftill worfe ; fo that the people, apprehend-?
ing a famine, began to murmur : whereupon the governor
Jed all the inhabitants of the city, Turks, Jews, and

(G) It feems very Grange
that fuch a practice (hould be
fufFered, not only during the
time Egypt was fubje6l to the
Chriftian emperors of Conftan-
tinople, but while the Arabs
were matters of it. Amofis,
ciie pf the .ancient £g}'ptiai^

kings, is faid to have aboliihed
the human facrifices offered to
Juno, as will be obferved here-
after ; and it might be reafon-
ably fuppofed, he alfo put a
flop to thofe offered to thp
Nile,

Oixiftians*

t<f the Time of Alexander. 1 7 j

luhri^aiis, to a mountain on the eaft of Al Kahira ; a:ncl
sifter a pathetic exhortation, obliged all that were prefent
to ofier up their prayers to God for obtaining his mercy ;
in which exercife they pafled all the reft of that day and
the following night. Next morning^- before day, fome
wohien came, with great joy, to acquaint the governor,
that the Nile had rifen in the night no lefs than twelve
pikes ; then nothing was heard but the praifes of God,
and acclamations of the people. Coming down from the
mountain, they ereded an altar at the mouth of the
canal ten feet high, whereon they threw a great quantity
of flowers^ and a branch of olive j which laft, as they
fay, took root there, as a more agreeable oflFering to God
than the former innocent vidim. . They continue ftill to
ere£llfuch an altar every year; and when they break
down the dam, and the water enters the Khalij, it carries
down the' altar and flowers with it. In the year when
this event happened, the Nile rofe two pikes higher than
ufual, and this extraordinary rife was attended with ex-
traoijdinary plenty; fmce which time, a final ftop being
put to the above mentioned inhuman pra£tice, whenever
the waters fail of their accuftomed height, they have re-^
courfe to prayers on the fame mountain.

That they may the better judge of the daily encreafe of Of the niUm
the water, and the confequent plenty or fcarcity of the ft^f^**
enfuing year, the gradual rife of the river is very exactly
meafured, either by wells funk, or pillars ere£):ed and di-
vided for that purpofe. There was one of the former on
the bank of the Nile in the Upper Egypt, near Syene ;
and one of the latter was fet up in Memphis. A very an-
cient column, which ferved for the fame ufe, is alfo yet
to be feen in the caftle of Old Kahlra, faid to be ere£led
in the time of the emperor Heraclius. The prefent kilo-
meter (H), or mikyas, as the Arabs call it, is in the fame

caftle ;

(H) This nilometer is dif- is planted, is greatly celebrated

fcrent from that built in an by the Oriental writers, and

ifland of the Nile, between called Al Rawdat, or the gar-

Jizah and Al Fofsat, by Asa- Jen, Some years after the

mah Ebn Yazid, collector of above mentioned nilometer had

the tribute in Egypt, in the been built, the khalifah Al

reign of the khalitah Soley- Mamiin ordered it to be pulled

man Ebn Abd'almalek. Thii clown, on account of a defedt

ifland, on account of its plea- difcovered in it, and a new one

iant fltuation, and the feveral to be built in its room ; which

{ofts of fruit-trees with which it was at laft finiflied in a magni«

ficent

174 ^^^ Hijiory af Egypt.

caftlc $ 2t is a large fquare tefervoir^ round which ftms^A
handfome gallery, fuftained by twelve marble pillars^
which form arches, with a baluftradefor the convenience
of thofe who look into the water. In the midft of this
bafon, through which paifes a canal drawn from the Nile^
is an oftagonal pillar of white marble, divided into
twenty-two equal parts ; the firft is again divided int^
twenty-four inches, but the fecond is not } howpvqr, the
others are all marked to the top of the column. They
are very careful, during the time of the inundation, to
obferve the height of the water by the meafure^ and every
day proclaim it in the city. This work is fo exa£Uy li-
nilned, and nicely levelled, that the water in the refervoir
is nfeither higher nor lower than that in the river.
Of the As tbefe nilometers were invented to fliew the height

Jfhinxes. ^^ which the waters rofe, the fjphinxes were deftined to
fliew at what time of the years the waters began to rifcu
They were a fymboli^ reprefentation or figure, with the
head of a woman, and the body of a lion, fignifying that
the Nile began to fwell in the months of July and Att-
guft, when the fun paffes through the figns of Leo and
Virgo. Several of thefe fphinxes are ftill to be fecn ;
one in particular near the pyramids, much fpoken of by
the ancients, of a prodigious fize, and cut into the rock
kfelf 5 the head and neck only appear at prefent, the reft
of the body being hid in the fand. It is, according to
Thevenot, twenty-fix feet high, and fifteen feet from the
car to the chin 5 but Pliny aflures us, the head was no
Jefs than one hundred and two feet about, and fixty-two
feet above the belly j that the body was one hundred and
forty-three feet long, and was thought to be the fepul-
chre of king Amafis. There is another alfo at the end
of the lake Al Matariya, which lies on its^de, the head
being feparated from the body.
'Manntr of As the river could not of itfelf overflow the lands every
€0n'veying where in the neceflary proportion, the inhabitants have
'^'2*'^'''* been obliged, with infinite labour, to cut a vaft number
1^^ of canals and trenches, from one end of Egypt to the

. other, to convey the water to every part ; fo that each
town and village has its canal, which is opened at the

ficent manner by Al Motawak- of this fort, built or repaired
kel (5). The eaflern hiflories by the khalifahs, while
mention feveral other ftrudures mafters of Egypt.

(5) Vid. Golii not. ad Alfrag. p. 156*

proper

to lie Time ofAUxanSer. vy^i

ptGpct tfiffCy and the water fiiccefively eondiuJierf to fhe
moK diftaiit placeSi^ Thefe canals^ ©r trenches, are not
piermitted to be opened tiiU the river has rofe to a certain
neigh t, nor yet all at once ; becaufe in fuch cafe fome
lands wouW have too much water, and otliers too little ;
btit they begirt to open them firft in th€ Upper Egypt,
andr then gradiaally lower, according to a public regula-
Hoa of the meafures ma«de for that purpofe. By this-
Hieaii^ the water is fo carefully hufbainckd, that if it rifes-
to twenty-four pikes, it fupplies the whole country, which
i» fo large, and the canals fo numerous, that it is thought
firarce: a tenth part of the waters of the Nile enter the'
iea for die firft three months of its overflowing. How-
ever, as fome places lie too high to be watered by the'
Canals, they are obliged to n>ife th« water by engines.
Formerly they made ufe of Archimedes's fcrew, thenctf
n^ned the Egyptian pumpj but they now generally ufc
wheels, which carry a rope or chain of earthen pots>
holding about feven or eight quarts a-piece, and draw the
Water from the canals. There are befides a vaft niimbef
of wells, in- Egypt, from which the water is drawn in thcf
feme manner to water the gardens and fruit-trees; fo
(hat it is no exaggeration to fay, that there are in Egypt
about two hundred thoufand oxen daily employed in this^
kbour, without reckoning the men who draw water ini '
wicker balkets, fo clofe and well made, that not a drop
rans through. As the land lies perfeftly even, they cut
fheir gardens into little fquare beds, which are all fur-*
I'ounded with trenches higher than the level of the gar-*
dens $ fo that when they want to water one of thefe beds,
Ihey open one of the trenches, which irrimediately fur-
nishes as much water as is neceffary ; after which they
ftop it up again, and thus they manage the reft 5 by which
means they have the fineft and moft fertile gardens irf
the world. Pomegranates, oranges, kmons, and feveral
other forts of trees, afford a ftiade and coolnefs which,
notwithftanding the heat of the climate, make it delight-
ful walking. When a tree is wanting in any place, they
only cut down a branch, which they plant by the fide of ^

a little trench, and in two or three years it grows to be a
tree big enough to tranfplant.

The Nile, differing in this from other rivers, which ge- Thi fecun^
nerally carry off the heart of the land they overflow, by ^ity accafi"
the mud or fllme it brings down with it, fattens the earth, ^^^ ^ ^^'
and makes it exceeding fruitful, without any other ma- ' '*
nure. The Egyptians have not the laborious tafk of

plowing, I

176 ^i^e Hiftoty of Egypt

plowing, digging, or breaking the clods ; but when thtf -
river is retired^ they have, no more to do than to mingle si
little fand with the earth, to abate its ftrength; after
which they fow with little pains, and almoft without
charge. Anciently, we are told, they ufed to put in their
hogs to tread the feed into the ground, expe£bing the
harveft without any further care ; and when that feafon
came, they le;t in the hogs again to ihake the grain out of
the ear, and had no other trouble than to gather and lay
up their com. They fow ordinarily in OflEobcr and No^
vember, as the waters fall ; within two months the
ground is covered with all forts of grain and pulfe ^ and
3ieir harveft is in March and April. The fame piece of
ground produces the fame year three or four different
forts of fruits, and of every thing that gardens afibrd i
firft. they fow lettuce and cuct^mbers, then com, and,
after harveft, melons, and thofe forts of pulfe which are
peculiar to Egypt.

What is moft extraordinary is, that this furprlfing fe*
cundity, caufed by the inundation of the Nile, reaches^
not only to the earth, but alfo to mankind and animals.
It is found, by conftant experience, that the new waters
make the women fruitful, whether they bathe in them, or
only drink them ; they ufually conceive in July and Au-
guft, and are delivered in April and May. As to the
cattle, the cows almoft always bring two calves at a time y
the ilieep yean twice a year, having two lambs the firfl:
time, and but one the fecond ; and a goat is often feen
followed by four kids, which (he has brought in fix
months. The paftures of Egypt are moft excellent, the
grafs generally growing to the height of the cattle ; on
this they feed in winter, during which feafon great num-
bers are driven thither from about ^he Euphrates; in
fummer, the grounds being either burnt up by the fun,
or overflowed by the Nile, they are taken up and fed with
hay, beans, and barley.
TnySffif" There is not a more pleafant fight in the world than
ent appear- Egypt in two feafons of the yearj for, if you afcend
amcesof fome mountains, or one of the great pyramids of Al
^^f /a Kahira, about the months of July and Auguft, you fee a
v'^y •'• wide fea, out of which there arife a vaft number of vil-
lages, turrets, and fpires, appearing like the ifles in the
JSigxzn fea, with fome caufeways for communication, in-
termixed with groves, and a great number of fruit-trees,
whofe tops only are feen 5 all which affords a moft en-
chanting profpeft* This view is terminated by moun-
tains

to the Time of Jlexander. ' i77

tains and woods, which, at a difliance, form the moft
agreeable perfpeftive in the world* On the other hand,
in the winter, that is, about January and February, all
the country is like a fine meadow,, enamelled with all
kinds of flowers. You fee on every fide herds and flocks
of cattle fcattered over the plain, with an infinite number
id{ huibandmen and gardeners. The air Is then embalm-
ed by a prodigious quantity ot flowers, bloilbming on the
orange, lemon, and other trees ; and is fo pure, that a
man cannot breathe one more wholfome or agreeable ; fo
that nature, which is then, as it were, dead in fo many -
other climates, feems to revive only for the fake of fo de-
fightful an abode. If there be any places left not quite
dry, they are covered with water-fowl, which afibrd great
diverfion to the fportfmeh.

The cities, towns, and villages in Egypt, to fecure
them from the inundation of the Nile, are all built either
on fome rifing ground formed by nature, or on mounds ,
raifed by infinite labour ; the communication between one
town and another, while the country is under water, be-
ing carried on either by the caufeways above menttened,
or boats. When the river is retired within its^banks, the
canals ferve for the fame purpofe, and, at the fame time,
furnifli the inhabitants and cattle with water, which the
maidens are continually to be feen fetching thence, ac-
cording to the ancient cuftom fo often taken notice of in
Scripture K

As the ancients were ignorant of the true caufe of the Thtcaufi
inundation of the Nile, which feemed the more unac- oftheinun-
countable to them, becaufe, contrary to other rivers, it ^"^f"^
overflowed in fui^mer, and was lowed in winter, they
made feveral fubtle conje£i:ures to explain this pfiaenome-
non '. But it has been long fince well known to be occa-
fioned by the great rains which fall in Ethiopia, about the
fprings of the Nile, and fwell that river into'afea, which
firft lays Ethiopia almoft entirely under water, as it after-
wards does Egypt. Agatharchidus of Cnidos, and fome
others, gueflTed this to be the caufe, though they were '
not certain of it ; but it was afterwards confirmed by eye-
witneflTes, Ptolemy Philadelphus, a very inquifitive prince,
having fent fome perfons on purpofe to examine into the
matter. It has been thought, that this piece of natural
hiftory was not unknown to Homer himfelf ^ and that he

* Vide Lucas's Voyage, tom.ii. p. 318, &c.

< Herodot. lib, ii. cap. 10—27. Diod. Sic, lib« i. p. 33, &c.

Vol. L N alludes

I7» the Hjfidry ^f Egypt

alludes to \t when he fays, that the Nile came (tdvim fron%
heaven. Thefe rains conftantly fall in Ethiopia, during,
the months of April and May 5 at which time it conftant-
ly rains with the fame regularity in India, cauGng th&
Indus and the Ganges to overflow their hanks, as the
Nile does '^.

Divine Providence has heen juftly admired, for fend-
ing the rains in Ethiopia fo pun£^ually to fopply Egypt,,
where it rains fo feldom ; and thereby rendering a moft.
dry and fandy foil one of the moft fruitful in the univerfe.
Nor is it to be omitted, that, in the beginning of June,,
and the four following months, the Ete(ian winds (which
fome formerly imagined to be the great caufe of the inun-^
dation*) conftantly blow from the north*eaft, and keep-
back^ the water from flowing down and emptying itfelf in-
to the fea too faft ". As the fertility of the land of Ca-
naan was owing \o a very diflPerent method of Providence,
that is, ** to the forn>cr smd latter rains," Which regularly
fell at two appointed feafona of the year, while the chil-
dren of Ifrael continued in their duty, Mpfes thought
proper to acquaint them before-hand with fo material a
diflPerence tietween the Fromifed Land, and that they had
lately left : " The land whither thou goeft in to pofief&
, it," fays that law-giver, ^* is not as the knd of Egypt,

from whence ye came out, where thou fowedft thy feed,,
and wateredft it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs ; but
the land whither ye go to poifefs it, is a land of hills and
valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven ; a land
which the Lord thy God careth for j the eyes of the Lord
thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the
year, even unto the end of the year "."
Of th ani' Let us now take a view of the animal and vegetable
malsa/E' produdions of Egypt^ The crocodile, and hippopota-
^^^ ] ^ mus, a river horle, are,, it is to be prefumed, too well

known to the reader, to need a particular defcription
here ; they are both inhabitants of the Nile. The croco-
diles are often killed by the natives. One way of taking
them is, by a piece of flefli ftuck on an iron hook, and
let down into the river by a rope, the other end of which
if fattened to a ftake ; when the crocodile has feized the
bait, he is drawn to land, and killed. Herodotus de-
fcribes thi& nianner with very little variation. Another
more dangerous way is fometimes przStikd, by ftriking
them as they fleep, under the belly, with a ftake armed

^ Bernier, Voyage de Cachemire, p» 343, &c. ^ HerodoCu

■ Lc Bruyn Voyage, torn. ti. « Deut. »• i©> 11, i«.

witlk

to the Time of Alexanaer. l ;9

V^th a bearded point of iron, and alfo faftened to a rope:
A more extraordinary method ftill was made ufe of to
catch one of thefe creatures that had done much mif-
chief : the perfon, who lihdertook it for a reward, bo'4nd
his fon. a yoiing lad, to a ftake^ in a place where the
crocodile ufed to come, and laid himfelf flat on his belly,
with two fhort clubs in his hand, one of which was
wound round at the end with a very large ball of coarfd
thread dipped in pitch ; and fo waited for the crocodile,
which, coming out of the I'ver, and fmelling the boy,
made direfkly towards him ; but, as he opened his niotith
to feize him, the father thruft the ftaff with the pitched
ball into his jaws, which (licking in his teeth, and en-^
tangling him as he bit it, the man broke his back, and
killed him with the other. The inhabitants of Tentyris
are reported to have been very bold and dextrous in hunt-
ing thefe creatures ; they ventured even to leap on their
backs in the water, and thrufting a ftick acrois their
mouths, as they opened them to bite, they fixed it with
a cord wound about the head, and managed them with
it as with a bridle ; fo that thofe creatures were terrified,
even by their voice and fmell •*. The fame method is ftill
praclifed by the negroes in the Weft Indies, upon the
alligator. The flefh of the crocodile is white and fat,
and aflFords a delicious difti when young ; the Arabs of
the Upper Egypt are very fond of itP, and formerly the
inhabitants ot Elephantis ufed it alfo at their tables ^.

The hippopotami are common in the Upper Egypt, ef-
pecially near the catarafts ; but are fcarce to be met with
in any part of the Lower Egypt. Thefe creatures never
go in herds, and it is rare to fee two of them together.
They are fo diftruftful, and fly with that fwiftnefs from
their purfuers, that they are very feldom taken.

Befides wild and tame oxen, camels, afies, goats, and
fiieep, of which there is great plenty in Egypt, there are
vaft numbers of antelopes, and a large kind of ape, with
a head fomewhat like a dog, whence it was called cyno-
cephalus : the Egyptians often ufed the figure of this
creature as an hieroglyphic. The chameleon is alfo
common in the hedges near Al Kahira.

The animal called the little, or land crocodile, is about
the fize of a lizard, and has a round tail covered with
fcales. It is found near the Nile, and the Red Sea, and
ufually feeds on the moft odoriferous flowers ; the flefh is

« Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. viii. cap. %%* p Sicard.

4 Herodotus.

N 2 #f

i8o Th€ Hiftory of Eg)ff

of ufe in phyfic^ great numbers of them beingi for t%ai
" reafon, carried to Venice, and other places.

The Egyptian rat, called by the apcients ichneumon, is
of the fjze of a cat, with very*ro.ugh hair, fpotted with
wMte, yellow, and aili colour ; its nofe refembling thaft
of an hog, with which it digs up the earth : it has fbort
black legs, and a tail like a fox.. It lives on lizard^^ fer<«
pents, f nails, chameleons, rats, &c. and is of great far*
vice in f^gypt, by its natural inftin^ bunting out and
breaking the cggj of the crocodile, and thereby prevent-
ing too great an increafe of that deftruftive ci^ature*
Naturalifts alfo fay, that it is fo greedy after the croca-.
dile's liver, that, rolling itfelf in mud, it flips down hi$
throat, while he fleeps with his mouth open, and gnaws
its way out again^ It is eafily tamed, but muft not be
kept where cats are, with which it is at perpetual enmity'*

Of birds there are alfo great numbers in Egypt, parti-
cularly oilriches, eagles, hawks, and a prodigious num-
ber erf* water-fowl, as pelicans, fliimingoes, or phoenicop-
teri, wild-geefe, herons, ducks, and various other forts*
Thofe which are peculiar to the Nile are, the ibis, the
goofe with golden feathers, the rice-hen or hen of Di-
myat, and the fakfak ; which laft is the trochilus of the
ancients % obfervcd by them to be the only creature with
which the crocodile is in friendfliip, becaufe this bird
picks and clears his mouth of the leaches which infeft it.
The ibis deferves particular notice, not only becaufe it i»
fo peculiar to Egypt, that it pines away and dies, if carried
elfewhere ;; but for the great ufe it is of in that country^^
by deftroying- the flying ferpents, which the fouth winds>
bring from the dcferts of Libya ; in the proper feafon of
the year, the ibis in vaft numbers, by a peculiar inftin^iy
go and wait on the frontiers for thofe ferpents, and de-
vour them as they fly, before they enter Egypt. There
are two kinds of the ibis ; one is of a deep black, about
the fize of an heron y this is the ibis which kills the fer-^
pents, and is feldom found, ex<:ept only in the Lower
Egypt ; the other is white, but lifts the head, ueck^ and .
ends of the wings and tail, as black as the former v they
are very coinmon^ and great nmnhers of them are oftei>
feen. The bill and legs of this bird refenJ>lc thofe of a
flork ; its ufual food (befides the ferpents above men-
tioned) are fnails, locufts, and other infects ^

* « Diodorus Siculns, n- jj, 78. Lucas's Voyage, torn. ii. p %4.$^
* Sicard. Mem. des MiiT* torn, vi, p. 249. t Herodot. ubi

fupra. Lucas, ubifupra, p. 2^64

Befides

to the Time of Alexancler. iSr

Befides the lakes which are in other parts of Egypt,
thofe in the Delta near the fea, of which there are three
between Alexandria and Tinah, the ancient Pelufium,
afford great numbers of fifh, though not of above feven or
eight forts ; two of which the natives fait, and fend in
large quantities to Syria, Cyprus, and Conftantinople.
The revenue which one of thefe lakes alone, called Man-^
2alah, brings into the Turkifh emperor's treafury,
amounts to no lefs than forty thoufahd crowns a year.
Tliofe who live near thefe lakes have great pfenty of freih
fifh, and very cheap, as the Ifraelites formerly nad ; but
the heat of the climate will not fuffer them to be carried
fer ; for which reafon the inhabitants of all' Kahira arc
obliged to coijitent themfelves with the fifli which the
Nile affords. The bed of that river, being very full of
mud and flime, communicates a muddy tafte to all the fifh
Aat are fed ia it, ^except four forts, which are excellent.
Thefe are the kefher jox lates, the latos of the ancients,
which is often fo large as to weigh two and three hundred
pounds ; the cafhouc, forme^i'ly called oxyrynchus, from
the (harpnefs of its nofe ; the bonnf, which weighs
fometimes twenty or thirty ppundsj and is the lepidotus
io much efteemed by the old Egyptians; aikl the karmud,
Inown in ancient writers by the name of |Aagrus : this
laft is black, grows to the fame fize as the bonni, and is
very voracious. "What makes thefe fifh the more feryice-
able to the inhabitants of Al Kahira, is, that they are to
be found in the Nile at all feafons of the year, and arc
very eafily taken "-

Though woods are very rate in Egypt, yet there are Oftheve-
Ibme forefls of palm-trees toiJvards the deferts of Libya; gf tables of
and near Dandera, there i« one of doms, or wild date^ ^Vt^*
trees °, whofe fruit is exceffive hard, but much admired
by thofe of the country. Palm-trees are the mofl com-
mon of all others in this country ; befides which there
are fevcra^ forts of fruit-trees, and alfo fome cedars,
though not fo large, or fo frequently to be feen, as in
Syria •, and a great thorny tree called al hilaji, out of
which, perhaps, the ancient Egyptians made thofe boats
mentioned by Herodotus p. However, Egypt is not a
country proper for trees, which thrive not there without
great care and cultivation. As to plants, their kinds are

a Src. p. 14.5, &€• Lucasy ubi fupra, p. s4ft. • Sicard*

Qbi fupra, p» 157. F Lib. ii.

N 3 fo

1 8? The Hiftory of E^t

ft) various, that we fhall mention only a few, and cfaie£[]E
tliofe which may give fpme light iqto ancient hiftory.

The firft we fliall take notice of i$, the reed papyrus^
or byblus, .called by the natives at prefent al berdi. It
grows on t^e banks of the Nile, and (hoots out a fialk of
nine or ten feet high j the trunk is compofed of a great
number of ipng ftrait fibres, which produce fmall flowers \
the leaves are like the blade of a (word, and they make
ufe of them to keep wound^ open ; ,the a(hes of the ftalk
cure thofe that are not inveterate. This is the plant
whereof the ancients made their wi iting-paper, which
thence took its name. The way of making it was, by
taking out the pith of the ftalk, which they worked into
^. white pafte or glue, and of that made the paper, al-?-
moft in the fame manner as we do with our lineh rags :
but others fay it was made of the inner rind of the plant.
Before agriculture was improved in Egypt, this ^ reed was
of great feryice ; for they did not only ufe it as food, but
made cloaths, boats, and domeftic uten(ils of it; and
alfo crowns for their gpds, and (hoes for their priefts*
But more ufeful inventions have fet all this afide^ and the
plant is now entirely negle6):e4-

The flax of Egypt, efpecially one fort of it, was fo ex-
ceeding fine, and they dreflTed an^ fpun it fo curioufly,
^hat the threads could fcarce be feen. It grew in fo great
plenty, that they had not only enough to clothe their
priefts (who wofe pothing elfe) and people of condition^
and to make (hrowds for their dead, but to drive a very
great trade with it into foreign parts. The fine linen of
£gypt was in great rqq^eft oyer all the Eaft : that fuper-
fine fort called byflus, was pftet) died in purple, and was
fo dear, that none but the rich could afford to wear it.

The lotus, which grows plentifully in the Lower Egypt,
efpecially near Ra(hid or Rofetta, is called by the inha-
bitants al bafhnin, and is a fpecies qf i^enuphar, nym-
phaea, or water-lily. |ts leaves flo^it pn the water, and
cover the (urface of it, producing many flowers, which
were formerly woven jrito the crowns of conquerors.
The ancient Egyptians have made bread of the niiddle
or pulp of this plant, dried, which refembled that of a
poppy ; and likewiJBe fed on the root, which is round,^
and as big as an apple. This lotus is different from the,
fruit of the fame name whereon the Lotophagi lived.
The -^rabs at this day make a drink of the Egyptian lotus,
which is very good for inward heat, and eat the ftalk and
beads of them raw, which are very moift and cooling.

•"' • .' ' ■-■'•. • ; ^ Thci

• v< >«

to the Time cf Mexander. 1S3

The henna^ called alcanna by the botaniftSj is a fhrub
"vhich flioots forth a great many branches. Its leaves are
like that of nn olive-tree^ btit fhorter^ broader, and of a
more pleafant greed. The flowers, which are fet like
thofe of the elder, have an' agreeable fmell, and arc
thrown by the inhabitants into their baths. The women
dye their nails with a reddifh colour) extra£ted from this
plant, by way of ornament.

Other plants, the fruits or roots of which afford food
to the inhabitants, are in fo great abundance, and fo ex-
cellent in their kinds, that they are almoft fufficient to
maintain them without the ufe of com \ and formerly
the labouring people fcarce lived on any thing elfe. It is
not, therefore, fo furprifing, that the Ilraelltesin the wil-
dernefs regretted the ^ cucumbers, and the melons, and
the leeks, and tlie onions, and the garlickj'' which they
ofed to eat fo freely in Egypt.

The buildings and other works of the ancient Egyp- Ofthiar^
tians, which have raifed the admiration of atl fucceedm? '^f**'!"^"
-ages, defcrve a more particular view. -^^^ ^

The firft inquiry generally made by thofe who would ^hi i^rof-
be acquainted with tliis country, is concerning the pyra- mids.
«mids, thofe ftupendous ftruAures, which were de-
fervedly reckoned by the ancients among the wonders of
the world. '

There are many of them in feveral parts of Egypt, ,and
particularly in the Upper Egypt, as we have already ob-
lerved ; but thofe which have been chiefly taken notice of,
and defcribed by travellers, ftand on the weft fide of the
Nile, not far from Jizah, which fucceeded the ancient
Memphis. The number of thefe pyramids is about
^twenty, of which three, ftanding pretty near together,
are moft remarkable, and have been often defcribed c
the other lie far fcattered in the Libyan defert. Though
feme of them are very confiderable, particnlarly one,
which ftands fouth-and-by-weft from them, at about
twenty miles diftance, and has been undefervedly ncr
glefted, both by ancient and modern writers.

It is the common opinion, that the word pyramid is WhemeJ^
derived from the Greek pyr or ^«r, fin ; and that thefe namtd*
ftru&ures were fo called from their fhape, afcending from
a broad bafe, and ending in a point like a flame ; others,
whofe opinion Voflius teems to approve, fay they took
the name from pyroi^ which, in the fame language, fig-
fiifies wheats becaufe they were the granaries of the an-
cient Egyptian kings \ but a late writer^ verfed in the

N 4 Coptip

{

184 ^^^ Hjfiory of Eg^t

Coptic tongue, has given us another etymology from that
language, wherein pouro fignifies a itng^ and mift a race^
or geniration: the reafon why the pyramids had thit
name, was, aa he tells us, becaufe they were erected to
preferve the memory of thofe princes and their families \
and that thofe who were defcended from them had there-*
fore recourfe to thofe pillars, to prove their pedigree ^
Bfivhm Who were the builders of thefe pyramids has been
huib% matter of much difpute. Jofephus, loUowed by fome

modern writers, fuppofed they were ere£ted by the Ifrael-^
ites during their heavy preffure under the tyranny of the
Pharaohs. The Scriptures, however, fecm to be againft
this opinion ; ibr they exprefsly make the flavifh employ-r
ment of that people to have been the making of. bricks \
whereas all thefe pyramids are of ilon^. Others pretend
they were built by the patriarch Jofeph, for granaries to
lay up the corn of the feven plentiful years; and, to fup-»
port this imagination, allege the above mentioned deriva-»
tion from pyro's^ wheat ; but this opinion is niuch more
groundlefs than the former ; for, befides that their figure
is the leaft capacious of any regular mathematical body,
and therefore improper for fuch a purpofe, the ftreight-r
nefs and fewnefs of the rooms within (the reft being a
folid fabric of ftone) utterly overthrow fuch a cpn-»
jefture.

Herodotus fays, the firft or greateft of the three moft
remarkable pyramids, was built by Cheops, whom I^ior
dorus names Chemmis. Thq feconH both thofe hifto-?
jrians agree to have been erefted by Cephren, brother and
fucceflgr to the former prince. And the third was the
work of Mycerinus, the fon of Cheops. This laft, fome
pf the Greeks pretend, was built by Khodopis, or Rho-^
dope, a courtezan, whom Sappho called Doricha, mif-
trefs to her brother Charaxus, But this is very improba^
ble, if^weconfider either her condition, or the vafthefs of
the expence ; though fome, to amend the fiory, fay fever
ral governors of provinces, who were in Jove with her,
built it for her by contribution ; befides, Herodotus has
ihewn, that (lie lived long after thefe pyramids were in
l^eing. Yet, after all, Diodoru^ confefles, that there is
little agreement as to thefe pyramids^ either . anipng the
natives or hiftorians ; fome laying, that the largeft wa^
built by Armseus, the fecond by Amafis, and the 'third by
Inaron ; and this uncertainty Pliny mentions as a juft rer
^'ard of the vanity of the undertakers.

f Wi|kinf, DlfTert. de Ling« Copt* p. xoS.

The

to the Ttme of Alexander. 185

The Arab writers affign other founders of thefe three
pyramids different from thofe mentioned by the Greeks.
To omit the fancy of thofc who thought they were built
by Jan Ebn Jan, univerfal monarch of the world before
Adam, and the above mentioned opinion, which attri-
butes them to Jofeph ; fome fay they were erefted by
Kimrod ; fome by queen Daluka ; and others, by the
Egyptians before the flood. The Copts report,, that the
eaft pyramid is the fepulchre of king Saurid, the weftern
of his brother Hujib, and the coloured pyramid of Fazfa-
rinum the fon of Hujib. The Sabians pretend, that one
of them is the fepulchre of Seth, the fecond of Hermes
(or Enoch), and the third of Sabi, from whom this fe£k
fay it is denominated : it is alfo faid, that the Sabians go
in pilgrimage thither, and facrifice at them a cock, and
a black calf, and burn incenfe. But the general opinion
isy that they were built by Saurid before the flood ; and
the Copts mention an infcription engraven on them to
this effeft : ** I, Saurid, the king, built the pyramids in
fuch and fuch a time, and finifhed them in fix years : he
that comes after me, and fays he is equal to me, let him
deftroy them in fix hundred years *, and yet it is known,
that it is eafiet to pull down than to build ; and when I
had finifhed, I covered them with fattin \ and let him co-
ver them with mats."

As the ancients have omitted fpeakirig of feveral pyra-
mids ftiil remaining in the Libyan defert, fo have they,
on the other hand, mentioned the names and founders of
fome others, not much inferior to thefe three in magni-
tude, which have been long fince ruined and defaced by
time. Herodotus fays, there was one of fojty fathoms,
or two hundred and forty feet, which flood at the end of
the labyrinth, with large figures of animals in fculpture^
and a fubterraneous paflTage to it. This feems to be that^
pyramid, wherein Strabo tells us Imandes, or, 35 Dio-
dorus names him, Ofymanduas, was buried, and there-
fore, probably, built by him; though he differs from
Herodotus as to the dimenfions, making each fide of it to
be four hundred feet, and the height as much. Pliny,
who agrees with Herodotus in this lall particular, men-
tions feveral pyramids built near the Labyrinth ; but, if
his expreflSon be not miftaken, defcribes them to be fex-
angular. Moeris, who lived after Ofymanduas, but long
before Cheops, alfo built two pyramids, one for himfelf,
and the .other for his wife, in the midfl of a lake which he
i^ug, and which we fhali take AOtice of by-and-by.

Thefe

|86^ ne Hiftory of Egypt

Thefe pyramids were each a furlong in height, and flood
.one half above the water, and the other hajf under the
water ; and on the top of each there was placed a marble
ftatue or coloifus fitting on a throne. It is faid, that
Cheops, having eichaufted his treafures in building the
firft and largeu pyramid, proflituted his own daughter,
commanding her to get as much money as fhe could ; and
that fhe, at the fame time fhe obeyed her father, contriv-
ed to leave a monument of herfelf alfo ; and afked every
one that pame to her, to give her a flone towards the
flrufture fhe defigned ; by which means fhe built a pyra-
mid, which flood in the midft of the three, within view of
the great pyramid, and extended to the length of a ple-
thron and a half (or about one hundred and fifty feet) on
every fide of the bafis. This flory has fome refemblance
to that of Rodopis above mentioned, and might, perhaps^
have given occafion to it. After all thefe, Afychis, the
fuccefiibr of Mycerinus, built a pyramid of brick, with
this infcription cut in flone : ** Compare me not with
the pyramids of flone \ for I as far excel them, as Jupiter
does the other gods: for, flriking the bottom of the lake
with long poles, and giathering the mud which fluck to
them, thereof they made bricks, and formed me in that
manner." Diodorus mentions three other pyramidsj^
each fide of which contained two hundred feet : and fays,
that Chemmis, Cephren, and Mycerinus, were reputed
to have cre£led them for their wiv«s. Thefe are not now
to be feen, unlefs they fhould be fome of thofe in the dcr
fert, which well anfwer the meafure affigned by Diodo-
rus : but if thofe princes built them for their queens, it
may be wondered, why they placed them fo remote front
their own fepulchrcs, or at fuch large and unequal diflances
from one another.
The time Since it is uncertain who were the founders of the py-

when the ramids that are now flanding, it would be in vain to en-
pyramUs deavour to determine the time when they were built.
n^ere bmlt. The ages of the feveral princes to whom they have been
attributed, will befl appear, when we difcourfe of the
Egyptian chronology ; in the mean time we fhall obferve,
that the Icafl antiquity which can be allowed thefe flruc-
tures, mufl be near three thoufand years \ fince Herodo-
tu§i who lived above two thoufand two hundred years ago,
found fo little fatisfaftion in his enquiries aftci: them \
and Diodorus, who lived before the birth of our Saviour,
fuppofes the great pyramid to have beeq built at leafl one
thoufan4 years before his time»

Not

to the Time of Alexander. 1 87

Not to mention a fecond time the improbability of the "thetndfir

/Eonjeaure of thpfe, who imagine fuch buildines wei-e de- *"'^*''^ ^^^
r 3 r ^ , .. 9 n. ^ ••'/• CL were ere£i*

ngned for granaries, it is the conitant opinion of molt ^^^ -

authors who have written on this fubjeil, that they were

intended foe fepulchres and monuments of the dead.

Diodorus exprefsly tells us, that Chemmis and Cephren

defigned thofe built by them for their fepulchres^ though

it happened that neither of them were buried in them ;

and Strabo judges all thofe near Memphis to have been

royal fepulchres : to which opinion the writings of the

Arabs are confonant. And if none of thefe authorities

were extant, the tomb which (lands at this day in the

firftpyramid puts it out of all doubt.

Why the Egyptian kings fhould have been at fo vaft an
expence in building thefe pyramidsi is an^ enquiry of an
higher nature* Ariftotle makes them the work of tyran-
ny ; and Pliny conjedures that they built them fartly out
of oftentation, and partly out of ftate policy, to divert the
people, by this employment, from mutinies and rebel-
lions. But the true reafon depends on higher confidera-
tions, and fprung from the theology of the Egyptians ;
who believed, that as long as the body lafted, fo long the
foul continued with it ; ^mnch was alfo t}ie opinion of the
Stoics. And hence it was, that t^is nation took that ex-
jceflive care to preferve the corpfe from corruption.

The reafon why they frequently made ufe of ' the py-
ramidal figure for thefe monuments, (for they were not
always of that fhape), to omit feveral philofophical fan-
cies of little folidity, feems to have been, becaufeit is
the mod permanent form of ftrufture; for, by reafon
of the gradual contra£bing and leflening of it at the top^
it is neither over prefled with its own weight, nor is fub-
je{k to the foaking in of rain as other buildings are ; or dfe
they might thereby intend to reprefent fome of their
gods ; pyramids and obelilks, which are but a lefTer fort
pf pyramids, beings both by them and other heathens, an-
jciently made ufe of, and worihipped as images of feveral
deities.

This praAice of the Egyptians, of erefting pyramids,
pr columns of that fliape, for fepulchres, was alio fome-
times, though not frequently, imitated by other nations.
That of Porfena, king of Etruria, built b^ him near
Clufium in Italy, was accounted almofl: miraculous ;
though it was more to be admired for the number and
icontriyance of the pyramids, which were fourteen, than
(br any exceflive magnitude. The tomb of C. Cseftius,

hard

i88

fcription.

efthefirfl
pyramid.

Th outfiJi
•ftktpyra'

Vhe Hiftory of Egypt

hard by the wall of Rome, near the gate of St. Paul, is
built after the model of thofc of Egypt.

The dimenfions and defcriptions of the three greateft
of the pyramids of Memphis have been given by feveral
writers, both ancient hiftorians, and modeitn travellers.
They difitr pretty mach from one another as to the di-
Rienfions. Greaves^ ^ho meafured them with great
care, and wanted not ability to do it with the greateit ac-
curacy, feems to have been the moft exaA ; for which rea-
fon we fliall chiefly adhere to his oWervations.

The firit and faireft of thefe three pyraifiids is fituated
on a rocky hiU, in the fandy defert of Libya, about a
quarter of a mile from the plains of Egypt, above which
the r6ck rifcs loo feet, or better, with a gentle and eafy
afcent. Upon this advantageous rife, and folid fbunda*'
tion^ is the pyramid ereScd ; th^ height of the iituation
adding to the beauty of the work, and the folidity of the
rock affording it a ftable fupport. The north fide, near
the baGs, being meafured by a radius of lo feet in length,
taking tvw) feveral fecHons, was found to be 693 Englifh
feet. The other fides were examined by a line, for want
ef an even level, and a convenient diftance to place the
inftruments. The altitude, if meafured by its perpcndi*^
cular, is 481 feet; but if it be taken as the pyramid
afcends inclining, then it is equal, in refpeft of the lines
fubtending the feveral angles, to the latitude of the bafis.
"Whereby it appears, that though feveral of the ancients
have exceffively magnified the height of thefe pyramids,
yet the largeft falls fhort of the height of St. Paul's
church in Lonfdon 5 which, from the ground to- the top
of the lantern only, is no lefs than 470 feet. If we
imagine on the fides of the bafis, which is perfc£tly
fquare, four equilateral triangles mutually inclining till they
meet in a point, (for fo the top feems to thofe who (land
below), then we fliall have a juft idea of the true dimen-»
fions and figure of this pyramid, the area of whbfc bafis
contains 480,249 fquare feet, or fcmething more than
eleven Englifh acres of ground ; a proportion fo mon-
ftrous, that did not the ancients atteft as much, and feme
of them more, it might appear incredible.

The afcent to the top of the pyramid is contrived by
degrees, or fleps, the lowermoft of which is near four feet
in height, and three in breadth; and running about the
pyramid in a level, made a narrow walk, when the (tones
were entire, on every fide. The fecond degree is like the
f^ril; benching in near three feet. In the fame manner

to the Time of Jkx'ander, 1 8^

is the Aird TOW placed on the fccGqc}, and the reft 5tt
prder, like fo many ftairs, rifing one ^b^ye another tp th(^
top, which ends not in si poi^t, ^s . niathematical pyrar
mids do, but in a little ftatj or fqua^f , confifling of nin^
ftones, befides \wo^ w^ich are \v^a;nting at th? corq^r#»
I'his pyramid, the ftone« b^ing wor^ by the weatheft
cannot be fonveniently afcendicdj: ej^cepl; on the fouth
fide, or at the i;iorth-eaft an^le. The {teps are: v^zd^ o(
maify and poliflied ilonesr^ faid to h^y^ been hewn put
of the Arabian mountain3, which bound the iJppisr ?gypt
on the eaft, and are fo vail, that th^ depth and breadllfl
of every ftep is one fingie (lone. Hero4ptus makes tbfl
lead (lone to be 30 feet; ^d this n>^y be gf^t^d in fofnei^ • tfj^

but not in all, uniefs his woJi^drS be undt^rftpo^ St cubicj^l
{cet \ which dimenfion, or a greater, in the exterior qix^^^
may, without difficulty, be adriiitted. It is alfo to be- obn
ferved, that the fteps are not all of equal depth, for fom^
arc near four feet, and others want of three, diminifhin^
the higher one afcends, and the breadth of th^rto is pro-
portionable to their depth ; fo that a right line, ei^tei^ded
from the bafis to the top, will equally tpuch the outward
angle of every degree. The numbef of thefje fteps is not
mentioned by any of the ancients ; and modern traveller^
differ very much in their computation j but tfjofe who are
moft ta be depended upon found them to be 2Q7.

As to the infide of this pyramid, th^ ancients are altoge- *r^^ ^Hfi^'
thcrfilent; except only that Herodptus fays there were ^/'^'
fubterraneous vaults built' within the hill on which it
ftands \ and that the founder of it conveyed the water of
the Nile thither by a trench, and formed a little ifland in
the midft of the water, designing to plaqe his fepulchrq
on that ground, Strabo alfo mentions an oblique en->
trance into this pyramid, to be feen on removing a ftone
which covered it ; and Pliny takes nqtice of a well of 80
cubits in depth, into which he fuppofes the water of th^
Nile was brought by fome fecret aqueduc^:. What thei
Arabs relate of the inner parts of thefe buildings, is nQ
better than a romance ; for which reafon we ihall prooeedi
to thofe accounts that may be better depended on.

The entrance into the pyramid is by a fquare narrow n
paffage, which opens in the midft of the north fide. on the
fixteenth ftep, or afcending 38 feet (I), on an artificial

(I) In the following defcrip- him and one another therein ;
tion we have only given the but we did not think thofe va-
meifures of Greaves, though nations confiderable enpugh to
other traveller's vary both from be particularly fet down.

bank

I po . The Ittflofy of Egypt

bank ot eirth. The ftone that covers it is about I2 feet
long) and above 8 wide. This entry goes declining with aii
angle of 7,6 degrees, and is in breadth exaftly 37I Engliih
feet, and in length 92 and a half. The ftruct:ure of it haa
been the labour of an exquifite hand, as appears by the
fmoothnefs and evennefs of the work, and clofe knitting
of the joints i a property long fince obferved by Diodorus
to have run through the whole fabric of this pyramid*
I At the end of this pafiage there is another like the

former, but a little rifing j at the meeting of thefe two
paflages, the one defcending, and the other afcending, the
lowermoft ftone of the roof perpendicular to it forms a
Iharp ridge, between which and the fand there is fome*^
times not a foot fpace to pafs through ; fo that a man
xnuft Aide on his belly clofe to the ground, and yet grate
his back againft the above mentioned ftone, unlefs he be
very (lender. However, this difficulty is occafioned
chiefly by the fand, which the wind drives into this
place ; for if the paffage be cleared, it is of the fame di-^
»menfions there as at the entrance. There being no
window, or other opening in this pyramid to admit the
light, thofe who would view the infide muft carry lights
with them.

Having pafled this ftreight, on thje right hand there is
a hole of about 89 feet in length, the height and breadth
various, and not worthy confideration : whether this
part be decayed by time, or has been dug away for cu-
riofity, or hopes of difcovering fome hidden treafure, is
uncertain. On the left hand, adjoining to the narrow
entrance, climbing up a fteep and maf^ ftone, 8 or 9
feet in height, you enter on the lower end of the firft
gallery \ the pavement of which rifes with a gentle ac*
clivity, confifting of fmooth poli(hed marble, and, where
not covered with duft and filth, appearing of a white and
alabafter colour ; the fides and roof of unpolifhed ftone, not
fo hard and compad: as that of the pavement: the
breadth of this gallery is almoft 5 feet, the height about
as much, and the length no feet. At the end of it
there are two paflages, one low and horizontal, or level
with the ground, and the other high, and rifing like the
former. At the entry of the lower paflage, on the right
hand, is the well mentigned by Pliny, which is circular,
and a little above 3 feet diameter \ the fides are lined
with white marble, and the defcent is by fixing the
bands and feet in little open fpaces cut in the fides
within, oppofitc and anfweiing to one another in a per-
pendicular

to thi Tim^ of Alexander. 191

p^ndiculaf direftion ; which is the contrivance for de-
fcending into moft of the wells and cifterns at Alexan-
dria. This well led perhaps to the vault above men-
tioned; but it is almofl: now flopped up with rubbifli^
and not above 20 feet deep.

Leaving the well, and going (trait on the diftance of
15 foot, you enter another paffage opening againft the
former, and of the fame dimeilfions, the ftones of which
are very mafly, and exquifitely joined. This paffage
runs in a level i f o feet, and leads to an arched
vault, or chamber, (landing due ea(l and, weft, of at
fepulchral fmell, and half £uU of rubbifh; its length
not quite 20 feet, the breadth about 17, and the
height lefs than 1 5 ; the walls are entire, and plaiftered
over with lime ; the roof is covered with large fmooth
ftones, not lying flat, but (helving, and meeting above in
an angle. On the eaft fide of this room, in t£e middle
of it. Greaves fays there feems to have been a paffage
kading to fome other place ; but neither Thevenot nor
Le Bruyn could difcover any fuch paffage.

Returning back through the narrow horizontal paffage^
you climb over it, and enter into the other, or (econd
gallery, on the left, divided from the firft gallery by the
walls in which i$ the entrance to the laft mentioned paf-
fage. This fecond gallery is a very ftately piece of
work, and not inferior either in curiofity of art, or jrich-
nefs of materials, to the moft fumptuous and magnifi-
cent buildings; it rifes with an angle of 26 degrees,
and is in length 154 feet from the well below; but, if
meafured on the pavement, fomewhat lefs, by reafon of
a little vacuity of about 15 feet, before defcribed, l^-
tween the well and the fquare hole ; the height of it ift
26 feet, and the breadth || feet, of which One half is to
be allowed for the way in thb midfl, there being a ftone
bench on each fide of the wall of 1 foot and-rSJ J in breadth,
and as much in depth. On the top pf thefe benches,
rear the angle where they clofe with the wall, are little
(paces, cut in right-angled parallel figures, fet in each
fide oppofite to one another, intended, no doubt, for
fome other end than ornament. The ftone of which this
gallery is built is white poli(hed marble, very evenly cut
in large tables ; and the joints are fo clofe, that they are
fcarce difcernible by a curious eye ; but what adds grace
to the whole ftrudlure, though it makes the paffage more
flippery and difficult, is the acclivity and rifing of the
afcent. However, the going up is not a little facilitated

192 the Utfiory of Egypt

by certain boles made in the floor, about fix hands breadth'
from one another, into which a man may fet his feet,
while he holds by the bench with one hand. In the
ranging of the marble tables, in both the fide-walls, there
is one piece of archite(9:ute very graceful^ and that is,
that all the courf(gs, which are but feven, do fet and flag
over one another about three inches, the bottom of thle
upper courfe overfetting th€ higher part of the next be-
low it in order as they defcend.

Having pafftfd this adfhir^bic gallery, you enter an-
other fquare hole, of the fame dimenfions with the
former, which leads ifito two fmall anti-chambers, or
clofets, lined with a rich and fpeckled kind of Thebaic
marble. The firft of theie is- almoft equal to the fecond,
which is of an oblong figure^ one fide containing 7
feet, and the other 3 and a half; the height is 10 feet,
^d ^he door lev<el. On the eaft and weft fides> within
l^^^r0 feet and a half df the top, which is fomewhat larger
than the bottom, are three femicircular cavities, or little
feats.

The inner anti-chamber is feparated from the former by
a ftone of red fpeckled marble, which hangs in twOF
mortice^, (like the leaf of a fluice), between two walls,
m6re than three feet above the pavement, and wanting
two of the roof. From this fecond clofet you enter an-
other fquare hole, over which are five lines cut parallel
and perpendicular ; befides which no other fculptures or
engravings are obfcrved in the whole pyramid (K). This
fquare- pkfTage is of the fame width as the refty and in
length nine feet, being all of Thebaic marble mc4l exqai-
fit^ly cut, and landing you at the north end of a very
fumptuous and well-proportioned room. The diftance
from the end of the fecond gallery to this entry, running
upon the fame leveU is I4 feet.

This magnificent and fpacious chamber, in which art
feems to have contetided with nature, ftands, as it were,
in the heart and center of the pyramid,* equidiftant from
all the fides, and almoft in the mid ft between the bafis
and the top. The floor, the fides, and the roof, are all

(K) It may therefore be in hieroglyphics ; and alfo

juftly wondered', whence the upon what authority Cornelius

Arabians borrowed thofe vain (or rather iElius) Gallus i»

traditions, that all fciences are faid to have therein engraven

infcnbed within the pyramids his victories (3).

(3) Xiphil.in Cscf. Aug..

made

W the Time ofJlexander. 193

made of large tables of Thebaic marble. From tbe top
of it to the bottom there are about fix ranges of ftone,
all which beiiig refpeSively fized to an equal height, very
gracefully in one and the fame altitude run round the
room. The ftones which cover this chamber are of a flu*
pendous length, like fo many huge beams, lying flat, and
traverfing the room, and withal fupporting that infinite
mafs and weight of the pyramid above. Of thefe there
are nine which cover the roof; two of them are lefs by
half in breadth than the reft, the one at the eaft end, and
the other at the weft. The length of the chamber on the
fouth fide, moft accurately taken* at the joint or line,
where the firft and fecond row of -ftones meet, is 347§
Englifh feet ; the breadth of the weft fide, at the joint or
line where the firft and fecond row of ftones meet, is
17^^, and the height 19 feet and a half.

Within this ftately and manificent room ftands the
monument of Cheops, or Chemmis, of one piece of mar-
ble, hollow within, uncovered at the top, and fbunding
like a bell ; which laft particular is mentioned not as a
rarity, but becaufe fome authors have taken notice of it
as fuch. Some write that the body has been removed
hence ; but it has been already obferved, that the founder
was not buried in it. This monument i^ of the fame
kind of ftone with which the whole room is lined, being
a fpeckled marble, with black, white, and red fjpots, as it
were, equally mixed» which fome call Thebaic marble ;
but Mr. Greaves rather conceives it to be that fort of
porphyry which Pliny calls Leucoftiftos, of which there
were, and ftill are, an infinfte number of columns in
Egypt 5 though Burretini, who accompanied him, imagin*
cd this kind of marble cam« . from Mount Siilai, where
he affirmed the rocks to be of the fame colours, and that
he had. feen among them a great column of the fame
marble left imperfe£l, almoft as big as that called Pom«
pey's pillar, near Alexandria.

The figure of the tomb is like an altar, or two cubeg
finely fet together ; it is cut fmooth and plain, without
any fculpture or engraving. The outward fuperficies is in
length 7 feet 3 inches and a half, and in depth 3
feet 3 inches and three quarters. The hollow infide is
in length on the weft fide 6-^% feet, in breadth at the north
end 2-pT» and in depth 2^^. As this monument could
not have been brought hither through the above men-
tioned narrow pafl'ages, it is fuppofed to have been raiO?d
and p'aced theze before the roof of the ci^amber was
Voi.L O clofed.

-194 ^he Hijtoty of Egypt •

ctofcd. It (lands cxaQly in the meridian, or due liortlk
and fouth, andalmoft at an equal diftance from all fidos
of the chamber, except the eaft, from which it is twic»
as remote as it is from the reft. Under it there is a hol-
-low fpace dug away, and a large ftone in the pavement:
removed at the angle next adjoining it, which Sandys
imagined to be a pafiage into fwne other apartment, but^
more probably done in hopesr of finding fomc hidden
treafure ; it being a fupesftitious cuftom formerly ob-
ferved by the ancients, and continued to this day in the
. Eaft Indies, to conceal money in their fepulchresw In
the fouth and north fides of the chamber there are two
inlets oppofite to one another -ri of a> foot bisoad, -^ of
a foot deep,, evenly cut, and running in a ftrait line 6
feet and farther into the thicknefs of the wall \ that on
the fouth fide is larger and fomewhat round, not fo long
as the formeE,. and by the blacknefs within feems to havc^
been made ufe of for receiving of lamps.

This is all that is to be feen within this^^ firflfc pyrannd v^
but there is one thing more to be obferved, and that is a
very furprifing echo, which Plutarch takes notice of, and
fays that it anfwers four or five times ; but a late travel-
ler, M. Lucas, afiures us that it repeats no lefs than ten or
twelve times very diftinftly. If we confider the narrow
entrance of the pyramid, and the length of the two gal-
leries, which all lie, as it were, in one continued lint,
and leading to the middle of the pyramid, we need not'
be at a lofs to account £o<c this* efFeft.
^efeemd The fecond pyramid ftands about a bow-lhot from the
pramid. firft, 4»wards the fouth ; but very little has been faid of

- it either by ancient or modern writers. Herodotus fays,
it falls (hofC of the other in magnitude, behaving mea-

: fured them both, but he does not give the dimenfions ;.

: he adds, that it has no fubterraneous chambers, neither

. is the Nile conveyed into it by a channel, as into the

former, but that it is of equal altitude. Diodorus is^

fomewhat more particular, and tells us, that for the ar-

- chitefture it is like the former^ but much inferior to it in
. refpefi of magnitude 5 each fide of the bafis containing

a ftadium, or 600 Grecian feety in length 5 fo that by
his computation^ each fide ihould- want 100 Grecian
feet of the former pyramid. Pliny makes the difference
to be greater by 46 feet. Moft modem travellers alfo
agree that this pyramid is lefs than the other. Thevenot
naakes it but 631 feet fquare. However^ Strabo fuppofcs
th^^fe pyr^midg to be equal ; and Mr. Greaves^ on the

ccedife

id the ^ime ofjihcander. 195

tredit of a peHbn who meafured the fecond with a line»
aflures us the bafes of both are alike ; and that the heights
taken by a deliberate conje&ure, is not inferior to that of
the firft. This f)yramid has no entrance, and is built of
white ftones, not near fo large as thofc of the firft ; the
fides rife not with degrees, but are fmooth and equal \
«nd the whole fabrick, (except on the fouth fide), is quite
entire.

On the north and wefl: fides of this fecond pyramid are ^tfriefi
two very ftately and elaborate pieces of architefture, lodgings
about 36 feet in depth, and about 1400 in length, cut *'*'" *'•
out of the rock in a perpendicular diredion, and
iquared by a chiflel ; defigned, as is fuppofed, for the
IcNdgings of the Egyptian priells. They run parallel to
the two fides of the pyramid, at a convenient diftance
from it, and meeting in a right angle, make a very fair
profpe^. The entrance is by fquare openings hewn out of
the rock, much of the fame fize with the narrow pafiages
of the firft pyramid, each Ijsading into a fquare chamber^
arched with the natural rock. In moft of them is a paf-
fs^e opening into fome ^tber apartments, but dark, and
full of rubbifh. On the'north fide without there is a line
engraved in facred Egyptian characters.

The third pyramid ftands at the diftance of about a 7iS/ thir^
furlong from the fecond, on an advantageous rifing of the tjremtd.
rock, whereby afar oflF it feems equal to the former,
though it be much lefs, and lower. Herodotus fays it is
306 feet on every fide (L), and, to the middle, Duilt of
£thiopic marble. Diodorus gives the fame dimenfions of
the bafis; and adds, that the walls were raifed fifteen
ftories with black ftone, like Thebaic marble, and the reft
finlihed with fuch materials as the other pyramids are
built with ; that this piece of work, though it be exceeded
by the. two former in magnitude, yet, for the ftrufture,
art, and magnificence of the marble, far excels them $
and that in the fide, towards the north, the name of My-
cerinus, the founder, is. engraved. Pliny writes to the
fame efFed, except only, that he makes this pyramid 963
feet between the angles. Belon tells us, that it is but

(L) Yet he tells us, that it Mr. Littlcbury, in his tranft

wants but 20 feet on each fide lation of Herodotus, fupppfe^

of the firft pyramid, which the meanisig to be, that thia

muft be a miftake ; unlefs we pyramid was ao feet lowerthan

icbar^ it rather on the copies, the former. As great a nif*

and anfiead of ;to read ^oo« take as ti^e o|ber»

0% athird

ig6 fhe Hifiory of Egypt

a third part greater thin that of C. Cxftius at Komc^

and that it is ftill perfe£t, ind no more decayed than if it

had been newly built, confiding of a kind of Ethiopfc

marble called bafaltes, harder ' than iron itfelf. Thr

defcriptions^of other modem travellers, concur in the

fame tale as to the fubftance^ only differing in fome cir«-

cumftances v fo that they aU feem to have copied Heror^

dotus, without hanging peally viewed this pyramid, fincc

they fo conilantly agree in what is moft evidently faUe ^

for they have miftaken both the quality of the ftone, and

the colour of the pyramid^ the whole appearing Jo be of

^ clear and white ftone, fomewhat brighter than that in»

either of the two others : there are indeed the ruins of a

pile of buildings on the eaft fide of it, of a dark colour^

whiclj might be the occafion of the error. But Belong

and thofe who followed him, are more inexcufable kot

making this pyramid but a» third part greater than tjiat of

C«ftius, which, exaflly meafured on that fide within the

city, is 78 Englifb feet in breadth, to which if we add a

third part, the refult will be 104, which' fhould be equal

to this Egyptian pyramid. An unpardonable overfight,

of no lefs than 200 feet in very littk more than 300 ^

for fo much, befides the authority of Herodotus and Dio-

dorvis, Mr* Greaves takes the fide of this pyramid to be>.

and the altitude to have- ihuch the fame proportion.

The name of MycerinuS' is not now to be feen in it, the

etigraving having been defaced by time.

A fourth To the defcriptions of thefe th^ee pyramids we flialt

^ramld. ^A^ that of a fourth, which ftands near the mummies,

and would fall nothing fhort of the beauty of the firft, if

it had been finifhed ; it has one hundred and forty-eight

fteps of large ftoncs like the firft pyramid ; the platform of

it is not even, the ftones being fet together without order v

which fhewsfi^ that it has not been miiflied ; and yet it \^

much more ancient than the other, as is evident by the

ftones> which were all worn out, and crumbled into

fslnd. It is 643 feet fquare, and has its eiKry at the

fourth part of its- height on the north-fide, as the farmer,

being diftant fronr the eaft^ fide. 316 feet, and by confer

quence 327 from the weft:.. There is but one paifage into

it 31 feet broad, and 4 feet high, which reaching 267

feet downwards, ends in an hall* with a fliarp arched roof

25 f feet in length, and 11 in breadth* In the corner of

the hall there is another paflagc, or gallery^ parallel to-

the horizon, 3 feet fquare within, and gt long; which

kads^to another chamber, 21* feet in length, and iiia

breadth^

^ •

' io fhe Time of Alexander. 197

Syreadtli, with a very high arched roof, having at the weft
end a fquare window raifed 24^* feet from the floor, by
^which you enter into a paffage pretty broad, of a man's
Jieight, parallel to the horizon, and reaching in length
13 feef and 2 inches. There is a great room, or hall, at
the end of this paffage, ^th an arched roof, containing
in length 26 feet 8 indhes, and in breadth 24 and i inch 4
the floor of it is the natural rock, wliich on all fides i&
lough and unequal, leaving only a little frftooth and even
€pace in the middle, incompafled round with the rock^
and much lower than the entry into the room, or the
foundation of the wall. *

In what manner thefe wonderful ftniftures w^ere ere£l- How the
*ed, and by what contrivance the ftones, efpecially thofe py^^^^^'
vail maffes in the firft, were Taifed to that height, has *'''*'
^teen the fubjeft of much fpeculation. Herodotus, whofc
•cxpreffions are not very clear, fuppofes, that when they
had laid the firft range, they raifed other ilones thither
from the ground, by fhort engines made of wood ; that
•when the ftone was lodged on this row, it was put into
another engine ftanding on the firft ftep, from whence it
'Was drawn tipto the fccond row by another, there being
-as many' engines as orders of ftone; or elfe there was
-but one e^rigine, which they might remove occafionally.
He fays ^Ifo, that the higheft parts were firft fini{]ied,
and thfe reft in ordoi:, but laft of all, the loweft. Dio-
^orus imagines the wodc -was erefted by the lielp df
mounds, vVhich, he fays, the JEgyptians pretended were
jaifed of fait and nitre, and that they were diffolved and
waflied away by letting in the river. With this writer
Pliny agrees, adding, that others fuppofed bridges were
made of bricks, which, the wort being ended, 'Were dif-
tributed into private houfes ; conceiving, that the Nile,
being much lower, could not come to wafti them away.
Greaves thinks they firft built a large tower in the micjft.
Teaching to the top ; to the fides of which he conceives
the reft of the building to have been applied, piece after
|)iece, like fo many butreffes, ftill leflening in height^ tiR
at laft they came to' the lowermoft degree. A >difiicult
piece of building taken in the eafieft proje£^iofi.

If what the ancients deliver be true, that the ftones
made ufe of in the building of thefe pyramids were fetch-
<ed either from the quarries in the Arabian mountain v
ThebalS) or Ethiopia, we neod vsiot be furprifed, when
^we are told, that Cheops ^employed one hundred thou-
ifand npien in tbid labour^ ten thouland every three months*

Q i But

f ^8 ^he Hiftory ofE^t

But fome modem travellers, obferving that tbefe ftrao
tares are built not with marble, but with a white fandT
ftone, very hard» rather believe it was dug out of the rocK
whereon they ftand. We think a noddle opinion th^
moft probable; that the aforefaid rock indeed fttpplied
them with great part of the materials; but that the
marble of the inner rooms and paflages was brought thi«
ther from fome other place.

Diodorus, and Fliny make the number of men cmr
ployed in building the firfl: pyramid three hundred an4
fixty thoufand. It is agreed, that twenty years were
fpent in the work ; and Herodotus adds, that there was
in his time an infcription on the pyramid, though it be
(ince worn out, declaring how much was expended in ra-r
diflies, onions, and garhc, for the workmen, which his
interpreter told him amounted to no lefs than 1600 ta«
lents of filver, or about 413,333 !• 6s. 8d. fterling.

Though late writers find no beauty in thefe ftrudures>
It cannot be denied that they are prodigious; and no
doubt they were intended rattier as monuments pjf power^
than models of beauty. No prince now in being is fup-
pofed able toraife fuch piles of building ; ancient writers
fay, that they were magnificent beyond exprfflion ; and
that the exceeded all other works, not only in the maffi-
hefs of the building, and in the. expense, out alfo in the
induftry and (kill of the woi^kme^.

One particular to be farther obferved in the firft pyra-.
mid, is, that the fides pf it ftand exaftly facing the tour
c^uarters of the wo^Jd, and confequently, mark the true
ineridian of the place (M) ; which precife pofition could
|iot well have been owing to chance, but was, in all pro-
bability, the tffe& of art and defign ; and that it was
really fo, is confirmed by the fame pofition of the tomK
witbni. A permanent proof of the early progrefs mad^
by the E/jyptians in aftronomy.

Herodotus mentions a bridge near this pyramid, little
lefs confiderable than the pyramid itfelf; but there are

(M) Mr. Chazclles, who
made this obfervationy and was
on the fpot in the year 1693,
being an^ excellent matheman-
cian, we fiiall here fet down
the diroenfions of this pyra-
mid, as taken by him ; and
the rather, becaufe they come
the neareft to thofe of Mr.

Greaves, The fide of the bale.
is, according to this gentle-
man, iiotoifes, which is, as
we compute, 704,880 Eng-
liih feet ; and the perpendicular
height 77 toifes, and 3 quar-
ters, or 498,222 Englifh feet.
Vid. Rollin Hifi. Ant. torn. i.

now

to the Time of Alexander. I59-

i»DW nb remains of it to be feen. It was 40 fta^a, or
3bout 5 miles in length, 60 feet broad, and in the highed
part 80 feet in altitude \ all of polifhed ftones, fculptured
with the figures of various aoimals. This was the work
j(X ten years ^.

Having dwelt fo long on the defcription of the' pyra- Other /yy.
mids of Meniphis, we may be excufed ta'king notice of ramUs.
•thofe wliich are to be feen in other parts of Egypt ; olv
ferving only, that they are not all .of the fame form, fome
being round, and almoft conical, and others rifing with a
ieifer inclination, and not fo pointed at the top, Lucas
aflures us, that there are no fewer than twelve pyramids
near the catarafts, and two in Al Feyyiimi nothing in-
ferior to thofe of Al Kahira T.

The Egyptian labyrinth^ from wlience Daedahis is fup- Of the U^-
f ofed to harve taken the nKx4el of t*hat which lie .after- ^w**^
ward«*built in Crete, was a celebrated ftrufture ; and yet
Herodotus, who faw it, fays, that it far furpaiTed the re-
port of fame, being, in his judgment, even more admir^
'^ble than the pyramids *. As there were at leaft three
buildings of rtiis kind, ancient writers, not diftinguifhing
itbem, generally fpeak but of one, ;and CQiife^uently with
»great confufion and difagrcement.

' • They tell us it ftood in the HeracTcoric nome, near .the
^ity of Crocodiles, or Arfinoe, a little above the lake
Mceris ^ Pliny places it In the lake, and fays, it was
iifilfby Pctefuccus, or Tithoes, one of the demi-gods«
four thoufand fix liundred years l>efore his time ; but that
Demoteles would have it to' be the palace of Motherudes ;
^yceas, the fepulchre of Moeris ; and others the temple^
rof the Sun. It is recorded by Manetho, that Lachares or
Labares, the fucceflTor of Sefoftris, built a Jabyrki<h for
his monument. And Diodorus writes, that Mendes, or
Marus made another for the fame pnrpofe,* which was
not fo confiderable on account of its magnitude, as for
tlie artaficial contrivance of It ; but this feems to be a dif-
ferent building from that defcribed by him a little after ;
-which is, in all probability, the fame with the labyrinth ojf
Herodotus ; for they both agree in the fituation. They
4ay it was the work of twelve kings, among whom Egypt
was at one time divided ; and that they built it at theii:
common charge*

q Herodotus. ' Voyage, tom.]. p. 10. & 99. torn. ii. p. 75^

# Herodot. lib. ii. cap. 148. t Id. ibid. p. ^49. PJin. lib. v^

^p» if* tt jib. xxji. cap. 13,

O 4 15iig

2QO The Hiftary of Egypt

This ftru£);ure feems to have been defigned as a paiw
theon, or univerfal temple of all the Egyptian deities^
which were feparately worfliipped in the provinces. It
was alfo the place of the general affembly of the nfiagif-
tracy of the whole nation, for thofe of all the provinces
or nomes met here to feaft and facriiice, and to judge
caufes of great confequencc. For this reafon, every
nomc had a hall or palace appropriated to it ; the whole
edifice containing, according to Herodotus, twelve ;
Egypt being then divided into fo many kingdoms. But
Pliny makes the number of thefe palaces fixteen, and Stra-
bo, as it feems, twenty-feven. Herodotus tells us, that
the halls were vaulted, and had an equal number of doors
oppofite to one another, fix opening to the north, and fix
to the fouth, all encompafled with the fame wall; that
there were three thoufand chambers in this edifice, fif-^
teen hundred in the upper part, and as many undeiv
ground ; and that he viewed every room in the upper
part, but was not permitted, by thofe who kept the pa^
lace, to go into the fubterraneous part, becaufe the fe^i^
pulchres of the holy crocodiles, and of the kings who
built the labyrinth, were there. He reports, that whar
he faw feemed to furpafs the art of man ; fo many exits
by various pafiages, and infinite returns, afforded a thou*'
fand occafions of wonder He paffed from a fpacious hall
to a chamber, from thence to a private cabinet ; theo
again into other paifages out of the cabinets, and out of
the chamber into the more fpacious rooms. All the
roofs and walla within were incrufled with marble, and
adorned with figures in fculpture. The halls were fur-
rounded with pillars of white flone finely polifhed \ and
at the angle, where the labyrinth ended^^ flood the pyra-
mid formerly mentioned, which Strabo afiert^ to be the
fepulchre of -the prince who built the labyrinth^

To this defcription of Herodotus, others add, that it
flood in the miiifl of an imme-nfe fquare, furrounded with
buildings at a great diflance ; that the porch was of Pa«>
rian marble, and all the other pillars of marble of Syene;
that within were the temples of their feveral deities, and
galleries, to which was an afcent of ninety fleps, adorned
with 'many columns of porphyry, images of their gods»
and flatues of their kines, of a colofTal fize ; that the.
whole edifice confifted of flone, the floors being laid with
Tafl flags, and the roof appearing like ^ canopy of ftone ;
that the pafTagcs m^t, and jcrofied each other with fuch*
intricacy, that it was impolTible for a ft ranger to find hi&

way

to the fim ofjQexofi&r. aair

way^ either in or out^ without a guide ; and that fev^ral
t)f the apartments were fo contrived, that on opening of
the doorsy there was heard within a terrible noife of than-*
der ^

We fhall fubjoin part of the defcription given by Dio-*
dorus of a fabric, which* though he does not call it a la-
byrinth, ^ut a fepulchre, yet appeak-s to be the fame we
are now fpeaking of. He fays it was of a fquare form,* .
^ch fide a fttrlong in length, built of moft beautiful
ftone, the fculpture and other ornaments of which pofte-
rity could not exceed ; that qn jailing the outward inclo-^
fure, a building prefented itfdftoview, furrouiided by an
arcade, every fide confifting of four hundred pillars j asid»
that it contained the enfigns or memorkls of the country
of each king \ and was,, in all refpie£ir^, a work fo fumpU
tnous, and of fuch vaft dimenfions, that if the twelve-
princes who began it, had not been dethroned before it
was finifhed, the magnificence of it could never have^
been fuipaflcd. • .Whence it feenis, that Pfa^metichus^
one of the twelve, who, expelling bis afibciates, made'
himfelf mailer of all Egypt, finifhed the defign, but noC
widi a grandeur aii'fwerable to the- reft of the ftru£lure 5
though Mela attributes the glory of the whole to that king.

The folidity of tliis. wonderful building was fuch, that
it withftood, for many aged, not only the rage of tirtie^
but that of the inhabitants of Heracleopolis, who, wor---
fhipping the ichneumon, the mortal enemy of the croco--
dilc, which was the peculiar deity of Arfinoe, bore an
irreconcileable hatied to the labyrinth, which ferved alfo
for a fepulchre to the facred crocodiles, and therefore'
they ftrove to demolifh it. Pliny fays, it was remaining
in his days; and that about five hundred years before'
Alexander, Circummon, eunuch to king Ne£l:abis, was
reported to have beftowed fome fmall reparatioii^ tki it,
fupporting the building with beams of acacia, or the
Egyptian thorn boiled in oil, while the arches of fquafe
ftone were creeling.

Though the' Arabs have alfo,^ fince the days of Pliny,
helped to ruin this flrufiure, yet a confiderable part of if
is ffiU ftanding, almoft at the fouth-end of the lake Moe*
?is, a little to the eaft, and about ten leagues from th6^
mns of Arfinoe. The people of the country call it the
palace of Charon> of whom we ihall fay fomething by-*
and-by«

* niny & Strabo,

The

J9Z * f%e IT^ofy vf Egypt :

' The remains we fpeak of retain yetf feme marks of the'
:^toient fplcndcr of the whole. The firft thing that pre-
fents itfelf to the view is a large portico of maxj>le, fac-
ing the rifing fun, and fuftained by four great pillars of •
marble alfo» but compofed of feveral pieces ; three of
thefe pillars are ftill (landing, and one of the two middle^
moil is half fallen. In the middle is a door, whofe fides
4^id entabulature are very mafly ; above is a frize, where-
on is reprefented an head w!itfi wings out-ftretched ; and
feveral hieroglyphics appear underneath. This head is
covered with a kind ox veil, and furrounded with four
points of marble, like xays ; -over this firft entabulature
runs a frize, the ftones oi which are cut into the figure^
of ferpents. On thi^ frize are the ruins of feveral doors
in different ftories, by which probably they entered into
tbe apartments thait were above; but they are at prefent
<ttitirely ruined : on each fide of that in the middle is an
anubis full of hieroglyphics.

^.This edifice refembles none of the four orders of ar-
chitefturci which we have received from the ancients^
Having pailed through the portico, you enter into a fine
l^rge hall, all of marble, the roof confifting of twelve
tables, exquidtely joined, each 25 £eet long and 3 broad^
which ^crcds the room from one end to the other ^ the
roof being noc arched (as Herodotus fays), but flat,
urikas the fpeflator with admiration at the boldnefs of
its archite£^ure ; it being fcaroe eon<:eivable, how it could
<^ntinue fo many ages in a pofition fo improper to fupr
port fuch . a prodigious weight. This hall is at prefent
40 feet high, without making any allowance for the duft
and rubbiih with which the floor is covered. At the end
of this hall, over-againft the firft door, there is a fecond

Jortico, embeilifhed with the fame ornaments as the firft^
ut in a fmaller fcale, by which you enter into a fecond
hall, not fo large as the firft, which is covered with eight
iJ:ones. At the end of this room, ftrait forwards, there is
a third portico, ftill lefs than the fecond, as well as the
hall into which it leads, though it has thirteen ftones to
roof it. At the end of this third hall there is a fourth
portico, fet againft the wall, and placed there for fym-
metry only, to anfwer the reft. ; The length of thefe three
halls is the whole depth of the building in its prefent
condition; it was on the two fides, and-efpecially under-
ground, that the prodigious number of rooms amL
avenues, mentioned by the ancients, ^jrere built ; the halls
we have deficribed having feveral openings, through
• whicl^

«r1fich are paflages into other rooms on the fame' levels
from whence there are ftair-cafes to go up into thofe
nbove, and down into thofe under-ground. Out author,
hailing firft taken the precaution which Ariadne taught
Thefeusi and provided himfelf with above two thoufand
fathom of thread, and fome chopped ftraw to ftrew ii\
bis wayj went into above one hundred and fifty of thefe
chambers ; but was often obliged either to creep on his;
belly, or to remove the rubbifh which choaked up the
{>airages ; but| with all his endeavours, he was not ablc^
to go very far.

To have a perfed; idea* of the conftrufkion of this edi-r
fice, you muft imaginei that you go from one chamber
into another, fometimes into an alley, which has ap^r^
tares in feveral places anfwering to other avenues, from^
^irhicb, without perceiving it, you come to the place from
vbeace you fet out. All thefe chambers and paflages*
^Rrhere a perfed obfcurity reigns, are not of e^ual dimenr
lions, nor of the fame figure i Come being long, fome
tquare, and others triangular.

The difagreement which may be found between this re-*
lation and the accounts of the ancients, and even among
the feveral defcriptions of the ancients themfelves;in a
building of fo great variety and extent, need not be>
ivondered at. What is now remaining of it feems to be
no more than a fourth-^part of the inner edifice, which,
in all probability, had four fronts, and twelve halls an«^^
fwering to them \ the reft being decayed by time, or de«
molifhed by defign, as appears from the prodigious ruins
which are to be feen all round it •.

How admirable foevcr the labyrinth was, yet the lake* Ofthlay
^oeris, by which that monument ftood, is laid to he yet f^^^^*
more wonderful. The ancients make it no lefs than
3600 ftadia in circumferences which is fomewhat in-
credible (N); but later relations aflure us, that it is not

> Lucas Voy. torn. ii. p. iS, &c. t Herodot lib. ii. cap,

949. Diodorus Siculus lib. i. p. 49,

(N) Pompontus Mela makes muft not di^n^ble the tradi*

the circuit of this lake no more tion of the people of the coun»

than 10 miles ; which being fo try, who fay the lake was for-

verydifTonant from what Hero- merly much larger than it is

dotus and Diodorus have deli- now ; and one place in parti-

▼ered, the critics will have it to cular, which the water has

lie amiflake in Mela's copy, and left, is become a dangerous

)iave corrected it by. thofe au- quickfand, wherein men and

thors; but as we imagine, cattle arcfometimes lofl»
ll^ithput reafon; though we

above

20^ The H'^ory of Egypt

•

above lialf a leagtte broad, and a day's journey in I'cngtbjb^
ing in circuit about twelve or fifteen leagues 5 which \i
prodigious enough, if we confider, that it was the work
©f mens hands^ a^s appeared from the two pyramids built
ih the midft of it, which were (landing in the time of
. Bei^dotus. In the deepeft parts it has fifty fathom of
Urater. Thi« lAe ftrctches from north to fouth, and is
not fed by the fea^ the adjacent country being exceffi^eljj
dry, but by water derived from the Nile, by a chanel cut ioi
^at purpofe, eighty ftadia long and three hundred feel
broad, through which the water flowed into the lake fi^
months of the year, and back again to the river the other fix
months ; yet we are told by a modem traveller, thatther^
«re two confid^rable fprings in the lake, which keep it
from becoming ever quite dry 5 though in thofe years that
the Nile encreafes but liede, it has not much water, and
then fevei^i fine ruins are difcoycred, which at othef
times are not to be feen ".

Thia lake wafi^ dttg by aking of Egypt, called by Hero<^
dotus, Mceris, and by Diodorus, Myris, whofe name it
afterwards received, to correft the irregularities of the
Nile, by receiving the fuperfluous waters when that rivef
jtofc too high, and thereby preventing their ftagnation* in
other places to the detriment of the land, and by fupply-
ing water for the lands wfcen the river failed ; which pur*
pofc was effeded fey many canals and ditches cut from'
the main chanel. Thefe canals are ftill fubfifting, and
almoft entire at this day, their number and ftruclufe be-
ing worthy admiration. As they were of the greatefl
benefit to the ancient inhabitants, fb are they no lefs fer*
viceable to the prefent, who, attribute thefe works, and,
indeed, almoit all other ancient works of public utility^
tojofeph.

The canal of communication between the Nile and the
lake had anciently large fluices to let the water in 01*
cut, as occafion required 5 and whenever they were either
to be opened or fliut, the charge of doing it was no lef$
than fifty talents, or about 12,916!. 13 s. 4d. On the other
hand, the lake brought in a very confiderable revenue to
Che prince j the fifhery, during the fix months of the ri-
ver's retreat, yielding a talent of filver, or about
2581. 6s. 8d. eyery day to. the royal treafury; and the
reft of the time twenty min^e, or a fourth-part of that fum ;
there being twenty-two forts of filh in this lake, and ij^

«:Luca8^ tonuiii* p« 53.

fucll'

to the Time ofJkxan&r. t^^

<ucb pfeifty, that though a great number of people w e i g
employed in falting tnem> yet there wanted hands for
fhe worjc. Moeris, it is faid, gave thefe revenues to hi»
wife, to buy he/ ointments, or, as we exprefs it, for pm-
money. The earth dug for the making of the lake was^
as the Egyptians told Herodotus, carried to the Nile, and
difperfed by the current of that river.

There is an ifle in the middle of the lake Moeris, of
^bout a league in circumference ; but nothing is now to
be feen of the two pyramids which were built here,^
Ihough they fay there are feveral ruins of temples and
jlomhs in the iile, with large figures of men and animals*.
On the farther fide of the lake there are fome little moun-
tains with grottos, which were formerly made ufe o£
ios fepulchres.

The inhabitants, at prefent, call this Ifike the Lake of
Charon, concerning whom they tell the following flx)ry ;
that, beipg a perfon of mean extradion, and refolved to
get money by any means, he took up his abode by this
lake^ and exafted of every corpfe, that was ferried over
to be interred, a certain fum; though heafled thus with-
jDut any authority from the prince, yet he carried on the
impofition for feveral years, till, refufing paflage to the
dead body of the king's fon> unlefs the ufual fimi were
paid him> the fraud was difcovered ; however, he made
the king fo fenfible of the great advantage it would be to
him to continue this duty by his royal authority, that he
ordered it to be conftantly paid for the future, appointing
Charon his firftminifter, and confirming him in his old
employment, which he made the fifil poft in the king*
dom« Charon got fuch vaft riches in it, that he became
powerful enough to afiailinate the king, and ufurp the
throne.

We cannot pretend to give an exa£fc defcription of the
other buildings, and admirable works of the ancieni
Egyptians, though, perhaps they deferve it equally with
what we have already mentioned ^ the very fpoils of
tbem making at this day the principal ornament of Rome^
where is fcarce a column or an obeliflc, worthy of notCi^
but what has been carried thither out of Egypt. We ihall
now take notice of two or three particulars which we
judge extraordinary \ and for which, we apprehend, we
may not hereafter find a more proper place.

One is a mod magnificent palace in the tipper Egypt^ Apahei
not far from Afwan, the ancient Syene ; the ruins *'^^ '^'
whereof are enough to ftrike a fpeftator with aftonifh- ^^^^^^*

rnent*

io6 . Tk Hiftory ^ Egypt ^

mtnt. It 18 as hrge as a litde city, having four avefitret
of colums, leading to as many porticos. At each gate^
httwttn two pillars of porphyry, ftand two gigantic figure*
of fine black marble, armed with maces^ The avenue*
confift of columns fet three and three together, in a tri«
angle, on one pedeftal : on the chapiter of each triangle
is placed a fphinx, and a tomb alternately. Every co^
lumn is feventy feet high, all of one ftone. Tnere are in all
the four avenues about five or fix thoufand of thefe co*
lumns, a great many of which are fallen dawn.

The firft hall of this palace is adorned with pieces of hi&
tory, which feem as frelhasif the painting had not been long
fimfiied. In fome places they have reprefented the hunting
of antelopes; in others, feafts, and agreat many young chil»
dren playing with all kinds of animals. From thence
you go into other apartments^ incnifted with marble, the
xoof being fupported with pillars of porphyry and black
marble. Notwithftanding the vaft quantity of rubbifli^
our author made (hift to get up to the top of this building,
from whence he had a profpedl of the ruins of the
^reateft city that ever had been, as he thought, in the
world> He fuppofes it might be the ancient Thebes ; but
that city ftood much lower •.
G^smar The grots near Ofyiit ought not to be omitted. One
^£^* of them is large enough to contain above fix hundred horfe^
in battle array : it is cut out of the rock, and fupported by
vaft fquare pillars left ftanding. In this grotto feveral
little feats are made to reft on ; and it feems, by fome
foot-fteps which ftill remain of them, that formerly the
figures of feveral deities were painted there ; but they are
now almoft entirely defaced. There are a great many
other grots in the fame mountains ftilL more beautiful,
ranged in order,- with doors anfwcring one another, oft
which are feveral images of the ancient gods of Egypt
in bafib relievo, fome having ftaves in their hands as if
they guarded the entrance. In thefe grottos various
apartments have been made, and fome wells funk 'y: but>
what is moft wonderful of all, at the farther end there
are catacombs hollowed in the rock, where are a great
iiumber of mummies, and tombs adorned with fculpture
in bafib relievo, which have been almoft all disfigured by
the Arabs. Our author went into above two hundred of
thefe grotts ; and he affures us, that the number of the
whole exceeds one thoufand. The people of the country

■Luca^, ubifuprai

Wicve

td the' ttme of Akxanler. ^97

'tdierethofe grotts the work of demotis^ who have hid
in them immenfe treafures. As to the time when, and
the purpofe for which they were cut, it is vain to expeft
any light from hiftory '•

Among the antiquities of Dandera, the ancient Ten- A magni--
tyra, there is (landing part of a temple, or palace, of Jicintfirm*
farpriflng height and dimenfions. The back part of this ^^^
ftru^lure is a vail wall, without any windows, built of
large ftones of greyifh granite, covered with baffo relievos
bigger than the life, reprefenting the ancient Egyptian
deities, with all their attributes fn different attitudes.
Two lions of white marble, as big- as horfes, (land above
half the length of their bodies out of the wall. The fide
is above three hundred paces long, filled alfo with fculp*
tures of the fame kind^ and has three lions jutting out,
of the fame fize with the former. The front of this
glorious edifice expofes to view, in the midft, a porch,
fuftained by fquare pilailers of a prodigious fize ; a large
arcade fupported by three rows of columns, one of which
eight men can hardly fathom, extends itfelf on each fide
, the porch, and bears up a flat roof, made of flones of ix
or leven feet broad, and of an extraordinary length*
This roof appears to have been formerly painted, and
fome colours, which time has fpared, are fliU to be per-
ceived. The columns, made of great flones of granite,
and full of hieroglyphics in relief, have each, on their cor- .
nice, a capital compofed of four women's heads attired,
fet back to back, and appearing like the faces of a double
Janus : thefe heads are of a proportion fuitable to the
columns : there is above; them an abacus, or fquare table
of ftone^ above fix feet high, fomewhat longer than it is
i>road, which fupports the roof. A kind of cornice, T>f a
fingular con(lru3ion, runs all round this arcade \ and ia
the middle, over the porch, there are two great ferpents
interwoven, whofe heads reft on two large wings ex-
tended on each fide. Though thefe columns are above
half buried in the ruins, yet one may judge of their height
by their circumference ; and, according to the propor-
tions of archite£lure, they ought to be, at leaft, 44 or
45 feel high, and 120, including the bafis with the
capital. From this porch you enter direflly into a large
. fquare hall, where there are three doors opening into du-
ferent apartments, which lead ftiil into others, fupported^
alfo by a great many fine columns, but dark and fuU of
Tuhbifii.

X Lucas, ubi fnprai torn. ti. p. 76, &c»

ao8 the Hiftory rf Egypt

As this edifice U almofl; entirely buried en one fidis
under the ruins and heaps of ftones, which have formed
a kind of mountain, one may eaiily get up to the top ;
and, to give fome idea of its dimenfions, it is fufficient to
fay, that the Arabs had formerly built a very large town
upon it, the ruins of which are ftill to be feen. At feme
diftance from the front, there is a large arch of a beauti-
ful order of archite£):ure, about 40 feet high, which
feems to have been the firft gate.

The tradition of the country is, that this was a temple
of Serapis; which feems to be ccmfirmed by a Greek
infcription on the frize, wherein the name of that deity
appears \ but the whole is fo imperfe£Uy taken, that there
is no forming any certain judgment of it. They alio
. pretend, that this temple had as many windows as there
are days in the year ; and that thofe windows were fo
difpofed, that each anfwering to one of the degrees of the
ecliptic, the fun every day faluted the deity who prc-
iided there, through them, in order one after another "f. .

Wefhall conclude this.fe£iion with a remark made on
•f)Ccafion of this ftru£):ure : that if in fuch cities as Tentyra,
and fome others of inferior note, there are found monu-
ments of fuch exquifite beauty and grandeur, what ought
we to think of thofe ere£ied in the principal cities which
were the ordinary refidence of the^ kings, as Thebes,
Memphis, &c. ! And how great an idea ought we to
. entertain of the power and magnificence of the ancient
inhabitants of Egypt i

S E C T. II.

' 0/ the Antiquity f Government^ LawSy Religion^ Cuf--
ioms, Arts^ Learnings and Trade of the ancient
Egyptians.

Thionti' TPHERE are few nations in the world which can pre-
^iiyofthe * tend to an equal antiquity with the Egyptians. Thtir
Mgyftians* country is the only part in the world which has borne the
name of a fon of Noah ; though it be uncertain whether
Ham himfelf made any fettlement there. However, his
fon Mizraim certainly peopled Egypt with his own iflue,
which inhabited fever^l parts of it, under the names of
Mizraim, Pathrufim, Cafluhim, and Caphtorim.

^ y Sic Mem.des Miffioni, torn, ii, p. 15s. LucaSj torn. ii. p*

An4L

10 the Time x>f Ak^andeu 209

And yet thte Egyptians themfelvcs, ignorant of their
itrue defcent, pretended even to a greater antiquity, affert-
iftg that the firft men in the world, as well as animals,
Muft have been originally produced in their country,
rather than in any other part of the world,- becaufe of
the benign temperature of the air-, the natural fecundity
of the Nile, and its spontaneous bringing forth feveral
kinds of vegetables, as proper food for the newly produced
men and animals. And, to fupport this opinion, they in-
ftanced the great numbers of mice which were every year
bred out of the mud' left by the Nile on its retreat, fome of
them, ais they faid, appearing alive, and formed fo far as
the fore-part of the body only, the other part being
inanimate, and without motion, as having not yet quite
put off the nature of earth. That the concurrence of
proper caufes> .in certain feafons, will occafion a pro-
digious incrcafe of fuch vermin, is obferved in other
countries ; but, as to the other part of the relation, it is
not improbable, that the mice which are . generated at
that feafbii in Egypt, are of the fame kind with thpfip
mentioned by ancient authors to breed 11^ that country,
ind feme other parts, which have but two legs, and
which an incurious fpeftator. might therefore eafily take
tb "be imperfeft animals, and but half formed. On this '
miftaken notion of their original the Egyptians built their
hiftory, reckoning an extravagant number of years, dur-
ing which they pretended they had the moft flourifliing
kingdom in the world, under the adminift ration of their
own native kings. However, vt^e are told, that, in the
time of Pfammetichus they acknowleged the Phrygians
to be mofe ancient, yielding that nation the priority, and
challenging only the fecond rank to theihfelves.

The Egyptians ftrc faid to have been the firft who found Tkiirg-^*^
out the rules of government, and the art of making life *^^^J^^^^
cafy, and a people happy j the true end of politics. Their '*

laws and inftitutions were not only highly reverenced by
diole who lived under their immediate influence, but by
ether nations, and particularly the Grecians, whofe firft
fages and laW-givers travelled into this country to acquaint
fhemfelves therewith, and borrowed thence the beft part
of thofe which they afterwards eftabliflied at home.

The crown of Egypt was hereditary : their firft kings T^hW hngi
did not live aftet the manner of other monarchs, or govern moftmr rf
by their own arbitrary vdll and pleafure, fubjeft to the '^'^
Controul of none ; but they were obliged tb conform
the^mfelves to the eftablifhed laws of the lattd, ilcft only ift

Vol. I. P the

CIO ^he Hiftory of Egypt

the management of public affairs, but even in therr pri-
vate way of life. No Have bought with money, or fer-^
vant born in the houfe, was admitted into their fervice ;
but they were attended by the fons of the priefts of moft
diftinguifhed birCh ; who, after having had a fui table
education, were, at the age of twenty, placed about the
king's perfon ; that, being waited on both day and night
by men of fuch extraordinary merit, he might learn no-
thing unworthy of the royal majefty, and be in the lefs
danger of falling into any vicious excefs ; which princes
{eldom do, unlefs they find, among thofe who approach
their perfons, encouragers of their debauchery and minif-
ters of their paffions.

There were ftated hours of night, as well as day, when
the king could not do what he had a fancy to, but
was indifpenfibly obliged to give attention to bufinefs and
ferious employment. When he arofe early in the morn-
ing, the firft thing he did was to perufe the public dif-
patches and letters which came from feveral parts of his
dominions, that fo he might be well acquainted with the
ftaie and affairs of his kingdom. Then, bathing himfelf,
putting on fplendid attire, and affuming the enfigns of his
regal office, he went to the temple to facrifice : the vic-
tims being brought to the altar, the chief prieft, in the
prefence of the king and the afliftants, prayed with a loud
voice for the health and profperity of the king, who go^
verned according to juftice and the laws of the kingdom.
And on this occafion he enlarged on his royal virtues,,
obferving that he was pious towards the gods, tender
towards his people, moderate, juft, magnanimous, of
ftrift veracity, liberal, mafter of himfelf, punifhing
below, and rewarding above defert. He then fpake with
execration of the faults which the king might have com-
mitted through furprize or ignorance j but withal abfolv-
ing him, and laying the guilt on his minifters and coun-
cil. And this method they took to win their kings to the
praftice of virtue, not by Iharp admonitions, but by the
pleafing praifes due to good adions. The facrifices being
dulv performed, the fcribe read, out of the facred records,
fuch of the counfels and aftions of the mofl; famous mea
as might be of ufe in life, and fit for imitation ; that the
iing might thereby be inftrufted to govern his ftate by ,
their maxims, and regulate his adminiftration, in every
refpeft, according to the eftablifhcd laws.

Nor was the king obliged to this exa£lnefs in public
affaitsonly; he was fo little mafter of himfelf in private,

that

to the Time of Alexander.

211

that he tould not take tKe air, converfe with his queen,

bathe, or do the moft indifferent thing, but at certain

times, which were particularly appointed and fet apart for

this or that purpofc. He was not permitted to choofe

what he would eat ; but his table was furniflied with the

vmA fimple food, generally veal or goofe j and he was

allowed but a certain quantity of wine to drink* And

this regulation was fo moderate, that it feemed not to

hare been the inftitution of a legislature, but the prefcrip-

tion of an experienced phyfician for the prefervation of

health, to which it was fo conducive, that one of the

kings of Egypt, named Tachos, who had the beft of con-

ftitutions while he lived after the frugal manner of his

own country, retiring into Perfia, foon ruined it by the

luxurious diet of that nation. It is faid, that there waa^."

in a certain temple in Thebes, a pillar, with an infcrip-

tion, containing imprecations againft a king who had firft

introduced luxury among the Egyptians.

So great a reftraint laid on the prince in matters feem-
ingly of little confequence, is, indeed extraordinary ; but
what deferves greater admiration is, that it was not in
his power to fatisfy more dangerous appetites, by wrong-
ing or oppreffing the fubjeok ; for he could not punifli
any perfon out of paffion or caprice, nor give judgment in
any cafe otherwife than as the laws ordained. And all
this was fo far from being thought hard or diftionourablc
by the kings, that on the contrary they efteemed it a An-
gular bleffing, that, while other men were fubjeft to the
ill confequences of indulging their natural paffions, they
were exempt from fuch dangers, by living up to a rule of
life approved of by the moft prudent perfons. While the
princes behaved themfelves with this juftice and modera-
tion, jthcy were infinitely dear to their people ; not only
the colleges of priefts, but the whole Egyptian nation,
being more folicitous for the king^s fafety, than that of
their wives, children or pofTeffions. Wherefore, fo long
as thefe laws were obfcrved, their ftate was flourilhing,
and the people happy ; they extended their dominions by
the conqueft of feveral nations, became exceeding rich
and populous, and able to adorn the feveral provinces of
the kingdom with works of inimitable magnificence.

The affeftiori of the Egyptians to their kings appeared ^hehononf$
in nothing more than in the lamentations they made for ^^Jl^
them, and the honours they paid them, when dead ; for,
upon the death of any of their kings, the whole kingdom
went into mourning, rending their garments, fliuttirig up

P 2 their

. 21 i Tit Riftofy dfEg^t

their temples, and putting a ftop to all facrtfices, feaft^y.
and folemnities, for the fpacc of fevcnty-two days.^
Companies of two or three htHldttd^ botn men and
women, with dull on their htads, and girt with linen gir-
dies, marched folemnly in proceffion twice a day, filling,
his praife in mburnful dirges, and commemorating the
virtues of the deceafed. AU thk while they abftained
from fleih and wheat, as alfo from wine, and all delica-^
cies ; they neither bathed nor anointed themfelves, not
flept in their beds, nor ufed the company of their wires ^
but every one mourned both night and day, as for the k>f8
. of a beloved fon. In the meah time the funeral pDm{i»
being prepared with great magtiificcnce, on the laft day^
the body was expoffed in a toffin at the entrance of the
fepulchre, where^ i» purfUahce of a law, the anions of
his life were recited, and every one Uras at full liberty to
accufe him. The priefts pronounced his elogy,. and* if
the deceafed had reigned worthily,, the numerous muhi*
tude aflembled on • the oecafion feconded the applaufe of
the priefts ; but, if he had governed unworthily, they
boldly exprefled their difappiobation. It even depended
on the rncKnations of the people, whether the deceafed
prince fhould be honoured with a folemn burial, which,
through their diflike, was denied to feveral. Upon this
account (among others), and left their dead bodies &ould
be abufed, and their memories blafted with eternal in-*
famy, they did their utmoft to defervc the good opinion
of their fubjefts by the moft unblameable conduft.
T/if poUti' As to the adminiftration of public affairs, each nome^
cal di<vifion or province, had its peculiar governor, who ordered and
o/tJreki»g' took care of every thing within his jurifdi£kion. The
^^' ' lands were divided into three parts ; of which one wae al-
lotted to the priefts, and the revenues thereof were em-
ployed not only for the maintenance of them and their fa-
milies, but for providing facrifices, and defraying all
other expences of public worfliip. The fecond belonged
to the king, and was allotted for the charges of his wars,
and for fupporting the regal dignity with fplendor. By
fuch an abundant provifion, he was enabled liberally to
reward men of diftinguifhed merit ; and had no oecafion
to lay any burthenfome taxes on his people- The third
part was for the foldiers, who, having fo handfome a
maintenance, were thereby encouraged to venture their
lives in defence of their country 5 for, they thought it ab-
furd to truft the fafety of the whole nation in the hands

• U the Ttms ofMexanSku 2 1 3

f>f tlidfe who had nothing de^r pr trainable at home to
^ght for.

Herodotus fays the Egyptians were diftinguilhed into
feven order* of mea 5 priefts, foldkrs,, herdfmen, hog-
berdsy traders, interpreters, and feamenj who took their
name^ from the profefSous they exercifed. But Piodoru«
mentions no more than fivti priefts^ foldiers, fliephcrds,
hufbasidiiienj and artificers ; including^ prol^ably, the
two other orders under foBpe of thefe.

The king, prieils, an4 foldiery, wade as it were; the Qfthi
three eflates of the kingdom* Th6 priefts were held in P^^^P*
great reverence and efteem* not oijily for their attendance
Of! the worihip of their gods, but hecaufe by their learn-
ing and prydence they wer^ of grc^t fervice to the ftatej;
being for that reafon alw»y3 near thelcing's perfon, ^s the
chief of his council^ to affift him with their advice, t^
give'tbfiir judgments as to^he eyent of any enterprize, by
their fkiH in aftrology, and in divination by infpeftion of
tbefacrifices; and to read 4*fefal points of hiftpry out o(
the facred commentaries^ Thefe were exempt from ^
taxes, and ihi next in power and dignity to the king.

The priefts wore linen garments and Osoes, being not
permitted to drefs in any other manner ; they took parti-
oular care to waih them often,, and have them always
clean V and, for greater neatnefe, they fliaved all piarts dF
their bodies once in three days, and bathed conftantly
Irwice by day, and twice by night, in cold water, with a
great deal of fuperftition. The fervice of every god wa^
performed, not by one, buifc by many priefts j and they ha4
a chief prieft over them, in whofe room, when he die^^
iiis fon was fubftituted. The priefthood enjoyed very
great advantages 5 they were never difturbed with dor
^neftic cares, for they eat the confecrated bread, and
♦were daily furnifhed with beef and geefe in abundance,
and had alfo an allowance of wine ; but were not allow^
ed to tafte filh. The Egyptians, in general, abftained
from beans ; but the priefts even abhorred the fight of
them, accounting them impure and abominable : whence
Pythagoras conceived the averfion he had to that kind of
pulfe.

The military men were called Calafirians, or Hermoty- 0/ th
-bians, according to the different nomes they inhabited, fi^^^'
The Hcrmotybians inhabited the nomes of Bufiris, SaiSi
Chemmis, Papremis, and one half of the ifland Profopis,
from which one hundred and fixty thoufand men could be
drawn^ when they were moft populous. The nomes of

P 3 the

114 ' ^^ Hijlory of Egypt

the Calafirians were thofe of Thebes, Bubaftis, Aphthls,
Tanis, Mendcs, Sebennytus Athribis, Pharbaethus,
Thmu'is, Onuphis, Anytis, and Myecphoris ; which laft
was fituate in an iiland ovcr-againft the city of Bubaftis.
And thefe nomes could furnifli two hundred and fifty
thoufand men at tKe moft. The foldiers of both deno-
minations were not permitted to learn or exercife any me-
chanical art ; but were obliged, from father to foft, to
apply themfelves to the art of war only ; wherein, it may
be fuppofed, they therefore made a mor« than ordinary
proficiency ; but their great excellency feems to have been
in horfemanlhip, and the Ikill of guiding chariots ; for
which they were particularly and early famous, as ap*
pears from Scripture. For negleft of duty, flying in
battle, or cowardice, they were puniihed only with marks
of infamy ; it being thought more advifeable to keep them
in order by the motive of honour, than the fear of chaf-
tifement. *

The lands conferred on the militia were exempted from
public taxes, as well as thofe of the priefts. The por-
tion affigned to each man was twelve arurse, every one
containing a fquare of one hundred Egyptian cubits (O),
The king's guard confifted of one thoufand Hermotybians,
and as many Calafirians, who were changed every year,
that they might all have that honour and advantage in their
turn. For, befides the revenue^ of their lands, thofe
that were oft duty at court had (each) a daily allowance
of five pounds of bread, two pounds of beef, and two
pints of wine. This liberal provifion for the militia was
alfo an encouragement for them to marry, to people the
countrv, and by thefe means leave behind them a fuccef^
fion or troops fufficient for the defence of the kingdom.

But, after alJ, the Egyptians cannot be faid to have

been a warlike nation : they rather extended their domi-r

, nious by the colonies they lent out, than by their arms \

however, we (hall find fome conquerors of great fame

^mong their kings.

If the Egyptians at any time created a new king by
eledion (which fometimes happened), he was always
chofen, either out of the priefts, or the foldiers ; and if
out of the latter, he was immediately received into the
order of priefts^ and initiated in their learning and myC-
teries*

(O) The Eg}'ptian arura what more than three ^uarten
^\|lt ?h^refor^ haye been fome- qf an JEJnglilh acre*

The

to the Time of Akxanderl 2 1 5

The hufbandmen, taking the lands from the king, Of the in-
priefts, and foldiers, at an eafy rent, employed themfeives f^^^^^ ^^^f"
wholly in tillage, and the fon continually fucceeded the -^^'*
father in the fame occupation : ifcas they became the
moil expert in agriculture of any people m tlie worldi
The fhepherds, in like manner, were always fhepherds
from generation to generation ; and, by the ^bfervations
of their forefathers, and their own experience, attained
to great flcill in their way, endeavouring to vie with one
another in contrivances to increafe the breed of the flocks
they fed. One thing in particular deferves to be mention-
ed, which was pra£lifed by thofe who fed hens and geefe:
not content with the ordinary way of natural increafe,
they did not fufFer them to brood, but hatched the eggs
by an artificial warmth ; and by that expedient raifed
prodigious flocks of thofe fowls. The method was moft
probably by ovens, which are Hill *ifed in tgypt for the
lame purpofe, and much ipokea of by travellers *.

The Jaw which obliged the fon of the hufbandman
and fhepherd to follow the vocation of his father, extend-
ed to all arts 'and trades ; for, amongft the Egyptians, a
man was under an indifpenfible neceffity of taking «p his
father's employment, and of applying himfelf wholly to
that, without meddling with any other. Thus, being
cut off from ail hopes of rifing to the magiftracy, and hav-
ing no room left for popular ambition, they ftuck clofely
to what they profeffed. They were never permitted to
concern themfeives with civil affairs j and if they hap-
pened to attempt it, or undertook any bufinefs that did not
belong to their hereditary profeflioQ, they were feverely
puaiihed.

The Egyptians were very careful in the adminiftratiori Of thtlr
of juliice ; for they rightly judged the fentences pro- courts rf
nounced from the tribunals, to be of the greateft confe- JHfi^^^'
i]uence to the public ; and that as nothing could conduce
more to the reformation of mens manners, than the pu-
niftiihg x>£enders, and relieving the oppreffed, fo nothing
could be more deftrudlive of fociety, or a greater caufe of ,
coiifufion, than the fuffering either bribery or favoiir in
fuch cafes. For this reafon they were very fcrupulous
in the choice of their judges, who were men of the heft
reputation, and taken from the three chief cities, Heli-
opolis, Thebes, and Memphis, ten from each; fo that

z Vide Greavee*8 Manner of hatching Chickens at Cairo. Phil.
Tranl. No 137.

P 4 their

2 i6 fbe Hi/lory of Egypt

their whole number was thirty ; a tribunal thought to bo
|io ways inferior either to the areopagus at Athens, or ta
the Lacedemonian fenate*

^ This venerable afiejsibly chofe a prefident out of theic
own number, whofe place, as an inferior judge, was,
upon his eledion, fupplied by the city that fent hint*
Their falaries* were paid by the king, who allowed the
prefident a (lipend proportioned to his fuperior rank ; and,
that he might be more vifibly diftinguiihed from his bre«
thren, he wofe a chain of gold about his neck, fron^
which hung an image of precious ftones, called by thea»
Truth. Whenever the prefident afiumed this cnfign of
bis office, it fignified that he was prepared to hear caufes.
The court being feated, and the eight books, which con-
tained all- the laws, laid before them, the plaintiff pre-
ferred bis complaint, clearly and diflinftly iet forth in
writing ; a copy of which being granted to the defendant^
he gave in his anfwer. To this the plaintiff replied, and
then the defendant rejoined. Each party having given in
two writings, the court took them into confideration, and,
confulting together, proceeded to judgment, the prefi-
dent turning the effigies of Truth towards the party in
whofe favour judgment was given. The Egyptians, len-
§ble of the fallacies of oratory, and the evil arts! of pub*
lie pleaders, baniihed them from the tribunal, nor would
they even fufFipc a n^an to fpeak in his own caufe, well
knowing the advantage one perfon might have over an-
other by more artfiil fpeaking, or greater confidence ; but^
contented themfelves with a fimple and intelligible ftat^
of the cafe in writing, which, being readily underftood,
was as readily decided : by thefe means every man flood
. upon the level with his antagonift, and nothing but the
merits of the caufe had any weight in its determination.

Having fpoken of their courts of judicature, it may not

be amifs briefly to mention fuch of their laws as are moft

remarkable for their antiquity or ufe.

TAeir rt- ^' Perjury was punifhed with death ; as a crime finful

markabli. in the fight of the gods, and deftru£tive of human fo-

/(«wi, ciety.

' II. He th^t faw a man killed, or violently aiTaulted
€in the highway, and did not endeavour to refcue him^
was puniihed with death. If it appeared, that he was^
unable to give affiilance, he was neverthelefs obliged tp
difcover and profecute the oiFenders according to law \
which duty, if he negleded, he received a certain num-
ber of ftripesji and was kept without food for three days.

m, Falfo

to the Time of Jiexanier. ' 417

III. Falfe accufers underwent the fame punifbment
as the accufed (hould have uhdergQne in cafe of con*
vi(S):ion. ^ ^

IV. Every Egyptian was enjoined to give in kis name,
and by what means he gained his livelihood, in writing,
to the governor of the province where he lived. But if
it could be proved, that he had giveji in a wrong informa-
tion, or got his living in an unlawful way, he was punifh^
ed with death. This law was made by Amafis ; and So^
Ion, who introduced it among the Athenians, is faid to
have borrowed it of the Egyptians.

V. He that wilfully killed any perfon, whether freemai|
or flave, was condemned to die.

VI. Parents that killed their children were not adjudg-
ed to die, but were obliged to embrace their dead bodies
for three Hays and three nights together ; a guard being
fet over them, to fee that they punftualiy obeyed this
law.

VII. But parricides were put to a moft cruel death i
firft their limbs were mangled, and their flefh cut into
fmall pieces with fharp reeds ; afterwards they were laid
upon thorns, and burnt alive.

VIIL Women with child were not executed till they
had been delivered 5 that the innocent might not l)e in*
volved in the punilhment of the guilty.

IX. Mutiny and defertion were puniflied only by de-
gradation and difgrace ; which could never be wipe4
away but by brave a£lions.

X. Thofe who betrayed fecret defigns to the enemy,
had their tongues cut out.

XI. Coining falfe money, ufing fallfe weights, and for-

fery of all forts, were punifhed by cutting off the oflfender^a
ands.

XII* He that committed a rape on a free-woman, had
his privities cut off; for they held a raviflier guilty of
three moft enormous crimes, having, befides theinjuftice
of the aftion, brought infamy on the woman, and bas-
tardized her iffue.

Xm. Adultery by confent was punifticd in the man,
with a thoufand ftripes given with rods | and in the wo»
man, with the lofs of her nofe.

XIV. According to the commercial laws, which ar^
fcid to have been made by Bocchoris ; if a man borrowed
money without giving a note in writing for it, he was
difcbarged from the debt, provided he would make oath,

that

2 1 8 The Hifioty of Egypt

that he was no ways indebted to his creditor. The oath
in this cafe was very folemn^ and preceded by facrifice.

XV. In cafes where the debt was acknowleged by
proper inftruments, the intereft was not to exceed the
double of the capital or fum lent. The debtor's gdods^
and not his body, were anfwerable for the debt : for bis
body was claimed by the city or place where he lived,
which had the greateft intereft in him,, and had a right
to his fervice both in peace and vrar. In fliort, they did
not apprehend wherein the policy lay of facrificing an
ufeful member of the i:epublic to the cruelty or avarice of
a private perfon. This law, or one very like it, is faid to
have been eftablifhed by Solon.

_ XVI. To help the circulation of money, Afychis made
a law, that a man might borrow on the pledge of his fa-
ther's dead body, which was to be put into the hands of
the creditor ; and if he did not redeem it, be himfelf was
to be deprived of the honour of a funeral ; nor could he
have the liberty of burying any perfon defcended from
him ; a reftridtion which was accounted the greateft ig*
fiominy.

XVII. An Egyptian prieft was allowed no more than
one wife, but all others might marry as many as they
pleafed ; nor was any child reckoned a baftard, though
begotten on a flave nought with money ; for they held
the father to be the fole caufe of generation, and that the
mother only provided nouriftunent and lodging for the
infant.

XVIII. By the laws of Egypt, brothers were .permitted
to marry their fifters, becaufe they had an inftance of the
happinefs of fuch marriages, in that of Ifis with her own
brother Ofiris ; for Ifis having vowed, on his death, ne-
ver to fuffer the embraces of any other, flie revenged his
murder, governed the kingdom during her widowhood
with great prudence, and became the author of infinite
benefits to mankind in general. For which reafbn, in
Egypt, the queen had more powcr^ and more honoujr
fhewn her than the king j and, in marriage-contr a6!:s, the
greater authority was given to the women, the huftjands
promifing to be obedient to their wives in all things.

XIX. There was a very remarkable law, or rather cuf-
torn whith had the fandion of law, with regard to the
Egyptian robbers and ftiarpers. Whoever entered him-
felf in their gang, gave in his name to their chief, pro-
joaifing to deliver him all the booty he fliould from time to

to the ^tme of Alexander. ^ 219

time purloin. Upon this account it was cuftomary for
fuch as had any thing ftolen from them to apply to the
chief of the gang, and give him a very particular account
and defcription» in writing, of what they had loft ; as
alfo of the day, hour,, and place, when and where they
loft it. This information being given, the ftolen goods
were eafily found, and reftored to the right owner, upon
his paying a fourth part of their value. The inftituter of
this extraordinary law thpught, that fince it would be
impoflible to prevent thieving entirely, it would be more
tolerable for the injured parry to lofe a fourth, by way of
redemption, than the whole *.

As much as the Egyptians feemed to excel other na- OfthereUm
tions in the wifdom of their laws and conftitutions, they ^"« ^/ '^
yet furpaffed them more in bigotry and fuperftition. E^ftiansn

Idolatry was fo ancient among them, that the Grecians
confeffed they borrowed not only their religious ceremo-
nies, but the names of almoft all their gods, from Egypt.
For the Egyptians are faid to have been the firft people
who eredled altars, images, and temples, and the firft
inventors of feftivals, ceremonies, and tranfaflions with
the gods by the mediation of others j and alfo to have firft
given names to the twelve gods ^.

They had a gr^at many deities of different ranks and
orders. Thofe who were chiefly honoured in Egypt, were
Ofiris, and liis; by which it is moft probable they origi-
nally meant the Sun and the Moon (P), whofe influences
governed and preferved the world ; thpfe two planets be-
ing reckoned by them the great caufes of nutrition and
generation, and, as it were, the fources from whence the
other parts of nature, which alfo they looked upon as
gods, and to which they gave diftin6t names, were de-
rived. Thefe were Jupiter, or fpirit^ the vis vivifica of

(P) The name of Ofiris, or elfe the Nile, which is loft

we are told, in the. Egyptian or deftroyed in the fea, which

tongue, fignifies «tf»;;-ryc^ ; an they call Typhon. At other

epithet very proper for the fun; times Ofiris is Pluto and Bac-

and Ifis, ancient. chus ; and Ifis, Ceres, Profer-

There are feveral other my- pine, Cybele, &c. One fup,-

thological interpretations of pofes Ofiris to fignify the effi-

thefe two deities. Sometimes cient caufe of thmgs, and Ifis,

Ifis is the earth in general ; matter ; and another thinks

fometimes only the land of E- Ifis denotes nature in general,
gypt ; ^nd Ofiris is the moon,

* Diod. Sic, jib. i, p, 69. ^ Herod* lib. ii. cap. 6o«

living

grio The Hijloyy ofEg}p$

Kving ercatures. Vulcan, or firt ; Ceres, &f the iorfi )
Oceanus (by which the Egyptians meant their Nile) or
moijlure j and Minerva (called alfo by that nation Neith)

Befides thefe celeftial and eternal gods, there were alfia
terret^rial and mqrtal deities, who had merited the hew
Aours paid them by the -benefits they conferred on man.
kind. Several of 'them had been kings of Egypt 4 foma
of thisfe bore the fame names with the celeftial gods, and
others had proper names of their own. Such were ths
&ttn, Cronus or Saturn, Rhea, Jupiter (called by them
Ammon), Juno, Vulcan, Vefta, Hermes or Meccury,
Qrus, Venus, Fan^ Arueris, Nephthys, Harpocrates,
^nd o(k«rs^ Serapis is faid to have been an upftact deity,
introduced by one of the {^tolemies at Alexandria ^ ; but
others fuppofe that to be only another nam€ for Ofiris \
who was aJib called Bacchus. As Ofiris was fuppo£bd to
hme> been of a good and beneficent nature, fo his brother
Typhon waaefteesoed the reverfe, and held in univerfal
^teftation for die evils brought by hiifi on bis f^inily and
nation. The other names of Typbon were Seth, Bebon^
and Smy.

Though the bodies of thefe moi^al deities remained in
fcbfiir.ibpulchi^esoa earth, yet the Egyptians believed iheir
ibuLs (hone In the ftars in heaven ; the foul of liis in part^
ticular in the Dog«ftar, called by them Sothis i the foul of
Orus in Orloa ; ai^d that of Typhon in the Bear.

Notwithftandiner thi^ polytheiim of the Egyptians, tksjf
9re yet faid in vevlity to have acknowleged one fupreme
God, the maker and ruler of the wo«ld, whon\thay fome-
times deaoted by the name of Ofiris, or Serapis^ fbme*
limes by that of liLst and at other times by Neith,
on whole temple at S^i's wgs th^ following remarkable
infcription : ^' I am all that hath been, is, and fhall be ;
.6nd my veil hath no mortal yet uncovered *.*" There is
alfo an infcription to Ifis ftill remaining at Gapua, to this
cffe£i : *' To thee, who, being oiie, art all things, the
goddefs Ifis." The inhabitants of Thebais are reported ta
have worfhipped only the immortal and unbegbttei) god
Cneph, <;«• Emeph ; for which reafon they were exempt:
from all contributions towards the maintepanc^ of the far
cred animals whifih wiM*e wor9iipp^4 ^^ Ithe J^wer %ypt.

^ Vide Diod. Sic. ubi Aipra, p. ii. Jrc. c Origen cont. Cetf.
Tacijt. Hift. lib. xx. * Plutarch de liid. & Ofir. p. 362. • Id.
ib. p. 354..

From

to the TifHe of Alexander ^ • ft i |,

From this god Cdeph, they fuppofed a fetcmdary got! pro*
ceededy reprefenting the world, and called Phtha, which *
word is at prefent ufcd ^mong the Gojpts to fignify the di*
tine Being.

tiowever) the idolatrous humour which prevailed at
firft perhaps only in fome parts of Egypt, appeals at length
to have entirely over-run it ; and what feems fcaircely ere*
dible, they came at leilgth to beftow divine honours on
feceral animals, nay, even on vegetables, as leeks and
onions ; ami that with fo great variety and difagreemelit
among themfelves, that> except fome of the principal v

godsi who were honoured all over the kingdom, the wor*
fliip of every deity was confined to one or two cities ot
provinces : whence it came to pafs, that a great number
of the chief cities erf Egypt were by the Grecians named
iifter the gods or animals that were worfhipped there ; a^
Diofpolis, or the city of Jupiter ; Heliopolis, or the city
of the fun ; and in the like manner others bore the names
cf Pan, Apollo, Latona, Hermes, Hercules, and Venus;
and alfo of the Dog, the Lion, the Wolf, the Crocodile,
the fiihes Latos^ Oxyrynchus, Phagrus, ^i

This diverfity of wOrftiip was fometinles attt^ded with
very ill confequences^ efpecially if their deities happened
to oe fuch as were naturally enemies to okie another \ the
inhabitailts of one place often paying their adoration to
that kind of animals which were held in the greateft al>
horrence by their neighbours. Herice proceeded invete*^
rate quarrels, and dangerous wars, as happened in parti-*
cidar between thofe otHeracleopoli« who worfliipped th^
ichneumon, and thofe of Arfinoe who worfhipped the
crocodile % and, to mention no more, between the citiei^
of OxyrynchtaB And Cynopolis, the former of which fa*
crificed and eat dogs, the deity of the latter, in rtvcnge
for their eating that fort of fifli which was the objeQ: of
their o^n worlhip. It was thought, however, that the
kings themfelves, out of policy, firft otc«8oned, or at
leaft encouraged and fomented thefe diifenfions^ to divert
the people from attem{)ting any thing againft the ftate ;
for Diodorus tells us, that one oi their firft akid moft pru>*
dent kings, finding the Egyptians *very prone to feditioiiy
enjoined to each province the woiftip of fome pcirticuial:
animal drfFerent from all the reft, and likewife to ufe i
tliSerent diet ; fo that the Egyptians beisig that diirideA
into fo many diftin£k ijbcieties, prejudiced againft each
other in religious matters, and mut^aUy defpifihg dne
another oh account of their different^ cuft(Jltl8 m twc br*

dinary

822 the Hiftory of Egypt

dinar7 affairs of life, there was no likelihood of their crcf
uniting again *^.

It would be rather tedious than entertaining, to fet
down all the fables and uncertain traditions, which might
be found in ancient authors concerning the Egyptian
gods ; foQie of them may perhaps be occafionally taken
notice of hereafter ; wherefore we fliall proceed to give
an account of the images by which they reprefented thofe
deities that were moft peculiar to this nation, and likewife
of their facrifices, feftivals, and religious ceremonies.

Ofiris was varioufly reprefented, fometimes by a fcep**
ter and eye, to exprefs his power and providence ; at other
times by the image of an hawk, becaufe of its (harp fight^
fwiftnefs, and other qualities ; and in later times in an
human form, in a pofture not very decent, fignifyin^
his generative and nutritive faculty'*; but the greateft
adoration was paid to his living image, the bull, as we
Ihall obferve by-and-by.

The image of liis was ufually in the form of awoman^
with cow*s horns on her head *, reprefehtihg the appear*
ance of the moon in her increafe and decreafe, and faoId«
ing the (iftrum (a kind of cymbal) in her right-hand,
and a pitcher in her left ; the former fignifying the per-
petual motion there is in nature, and the other the fecun-
dity of the Nile. But fometimes (he was reprefented as
Cyoele, with her body full of breads, to exprefs her
nouri(hing all things ^

The (latue of Serapis was of an human form, with a
balket or bufhel on his head, fignifying plenty ; his right-
hand leaned on the head* of a ferpent, whofe body was
wound round a figure with three heads exprefling a dog,
a lion, and a wolf ; in his left-hand he held a meafure of
a cubit length, as it were to take the height of the waters
of the Nile.

Jupiter, or Ammon, the Egyptians reprefented by an
image with the head of a ram ; the reafon of which figure
they fay was this ; Hercules, being very defirous to fee
Jupiter, did not, without great difficulty, obtain his re-
queft ; for the god was unwilling to be feen ; but at
length Jupiter yeilded to his importunity, and, having
feparated the head from the body of a ram, and flayed
the whole carcafe, he put on the (kin with the wool, and
in that form (hewed himfclf to Hercules. And, in this

c Diod. ubi fupra* p. 80. ^ PKit. ubi fupra* p. 371.

9 Herodotus, ubi fupra. < Apulcium Mctam. lib. ii«

manner

to the Time of AUscander: azg

manner of reprefenting Jupiter, the Egyptians were imi-
tated by the Aramonians, a colony of them and the Etbi*
opians.

The other more famous deities of the Egyptians were
AnubiS) Harpocrates, Orus, and Canopus. The firft wa*
ufually painted with the head of a dog, becaufe he ac-*
companied Ofiris in his expedition, cloathed in a dog'i
ikin, and was the guard of him and Ifis. Sometimes this
deity is confounded with Hermes, and then the dog's
head may denote his great fagacity. Harpocrates was the
fon of Ifis, begotten, as is faid, by Ofiris on her after his
death ; for which reafon he was weak in his lower limbs.
This! was the god of filence, being therefore ufually re-
prefented with his finger on his mouth ; he was always
placed near the ftatues of Ofiris and Ifis, to intimate that
their having been once mortals, was not to be fpoken of.
Orus is often confounded with Apollo ; . he was the fon
of Ifis and Ofiris ; generally, reprefented as a child wrap-
ped up in fwaddling-cloaths j and fbmetimes, by thofe of
Coptos, as holding in one one hand the privities of Ty-
phon. Canopus was the pilot of Ofiris's Ihip, whofe
foul, after his death, migrated into the fixed ftar of that
name, which is one of the firft magnitude, but not vifi-
ble in Europe. This god became famous for the vi£tory
obtained by him over the Chaldean god. Fire 5 the ftory
of which is this ; the Chaldeanis carried about their god,
to combat with thofe of other provinces, all which it eafi-
ly overcame and deftroyed, none of their images being
able to refift the force of Fire, till at length the prieft of
Canopus devifed this artifice ; he took an earthen water-
pot full of holes, which he flopped up with wax, and,
having filled it with water, painted it over ; and, placing
the head of an old image upon it, produced it as a god.
In the conflift, the wax being foon melted, the water
ruflied out, und quickly extinguifhed the fire. In me-
mory of this viftory, Canopus is ufually reprefented in
the manner we have juft defcribed, without arms, and- •
having fcarce any feet to be feen. Yet others fuppofe
thefe were really no more' than veflels filled with the wa-
ter of the Nile, which the ancient Egyptians ufed alfo to
Worfhip.

Of the fecred animals adored by the Egyptians, none
was held in fo great reverence as the bull, by which they
reprefented Ofiris. There were two of this kind kept in
Egypt, one at Memphis, called Apis, by the Grecians
Epaphus i and the other at HeliopoUs^ called Mnevis ;

thi«

224 ^^ ^ifl^^ # %?^

tbis laft was black, and the honours paid to him were iti-^
ferior to thofe due to Apii. The Apis was to be the calf
of a cow incapable of bearing another, and no otherwife
to be impregnated (as the Egyptians imagined) than by
thunden The marks which diftinguifhed him from all
others were thefe 5 his body was black, except one fquare
of white oh the forehead ; he had the figure of an eagle
on his back \ a double lift of hair on his tail, and a knot
like a beetle under his tongue. Others reckon no lefs
than twenty-nine marks peculiar to this beaft. They fa-
crificed bulls to Apis, but were fo nice in the choice- of
them, that if they found but one black hair upon them^
they judged them unclean. This fearch was made by the
prieft with the utmoft precaution 5 after which he drew
out his tongue, to fee if he were clean in that part ; atnd
in the laft place he examined his tail, to fee whether the
hairs were natural, and as they ought to be. The beaft
being found without biemifh, the prieft tied a label about
his horns, and, fealing it with his fignet, ordered him to
be taken aWay and fecured \ for it was death to facrifice
any beaft of this kind that was not marked with fuch a feal.
The order and ceremony of the facrifice was thus ; the vic-
tim being brought to the, altar, they immediately kindled a
fire; and, pouring wine upon hitn, they offered their prayers
to the god* Then, killing the beaft, they flayed him,
and ftruck off his head, which they Carried, with many
imprecations, to the market, ot other public place, and
fold it to fome Grecian if they^^met with any ; but if no
fiich perfon were to be found, they threw it into the
riyer, with this form of execration 5 ** may the evils im-
p^fiding over the perfons now fa^ficing, or the Egyp-
tians in general, fall upon this head." This ceremony of
libation, and the manner of devoting the head of 'the
Tidim, ifras an univerfdl pradice over all Egypt 5 for
which feafon no Egyptian would ieat of the head of ahy
ariiiteal. But in the choice of their viftims, there were
different cuftom^ in diflfercnt places.

When the Apis died, and his funetal pomp was over,
!tbe prifefts, whofe province it was, fought out for another
with the fame marks ; and when they had found him, the
lamentations immediately ceafed. The priefts led the calf
firft into tbe city of Nilfe, where *he was fed for forty
day^ 5 from thence he iras tranfported in a veffel with a
gilded cabin to Memphis, as their god, and turned into
the gfote of Vulcan. For forty days wortten (ftily were
adHti^d into bis prefencej after which Vasas. they were

not

to the fime o/jHexandef. 275

j^ot permitted %o fee the new god. The reafon thef ga^e
for tbid worfhip was» that the foul of Ofiris migrated in-*
to a bull of this foit, and by a fucceflive tranfmigratio^
pafled from one to another, as often as one died, and an-
other was found. But others fay, that it was becaufe,
when Ofiris was killed by Typhon, Ifis threw his limbs
iuto a wooden cow, covered with fine linen, from whence
the city of Bufiris received its name.

The feftival of Ifis was celebrated with the utmpft fo-
lemnity. On the vigil they faded, and prayed j then they
facrificed a bullock, taking out the bowels, but leaving
the fat, with the moft noble parts, in the carcafe ; cut-
ting ofi^the legs, rump, neck, and (houlders, and filling
the body with fine bread, honey, dried raifins, figs,
incenfe, myrrh, and other perfumes, they proceeded
to the confecration, pouring in great quantities of oiL
They facrificed fading, beating themfelves all the whilt
the flefh lay on the fire y but afterwards they feafied oti
die remainder. The offerings of this kind of cattle, whe- ^ ^
ther young or old, were to be unblemifhed males } for*
die females, being facred to Ifis, could, not be offered*
When a cow died, they threw^ her into the river ; but ai
bull was buried without the cities, one horii, and fome-«
times both, being left above ground as a mark of the
grave* The flefh being petfeftly confumed, and nothing
but the bare bones left, they were tranfported to an ifland
of the Delta, called Profopitis, from whence veflTels were
difpatched to feveral parts of the kingdom, to colle£t the
bones, and carry them away, and bury them together \
the faille ceremony was obferved in relation to other cat^i*
tie ; for the Egyptians were forbidden to kjU any.

Jupiter was principally worfhipped at Thebes, thence
iiamed Diofpolis ; they edeemed the ram facred on that
aeity's account, and, abdaining from Iheep, facrificed
goats only; however once a year, at the fedival of Jupi-*
ter, they killed a ram, and, flaying the carcafe, put the (kin
on the ftatue of the god, bringing at the fame time aa
image of Hercules into his prefence, in memory of what
we have related above concerning thefe two gods ; aftoi
which, every one prefent gave the ram a blow, and he
«^as buried in a confecrated coffin.

The inhabitants of Mendes, on the other hand facri-
ficed fheep, and no goats.; becaufe they worfliipped Pan,
whom they took to be one of the eight mod ancient gods,
and always rcprefented him with the face and legs of a
goat, jud as the Grecians did; not that they imagined

Vol. L Q^ him

»18 Sn&^ lEftory of £^f

^rawn by thofe few who were appointed to dfteh<( hr, to^
gether with the ihrine in which it ftood, on a four*
wheeled . chariot, back again to the temple. But the:
priefts who guarded the entrance^ refafiitrg to gi^e them
admittance, the before mentioned votaries, in duty to
the god, fell on their adveriaries with their clubs : a Ho^
lent conlii£l enfued, the blows beitig chiefly dealt on the
head, infomuch, that in all probability many muft have
died of their bruifes, though the Egyptians would never
allow that any life was loft. The inhabitants of the place
accounted for this barbarous inftitutxon,. by relating, that
Mars,, having been educated abroad till he attained to
man's eftate,. and coming home to fee his mother, wha
^as an inhabitant of this facred place, her fervants hav-
ing never feen him^ refufed to admit him, and forcibly
drove him away. Whereupon^ retiring to another city>
he got together a good number of men, and, returning,,
fell upon his mother's fervants, and entered by force ; in
commemoration of whkh action this combat was infti*
tuted^

But there was nothing fo remarkable in the Egyptian
religion, as the prepofterous worfhip that nation paid to
animals; fuch as the cat, the ichneumon, the dog; the
ibis, the wolf, the crocodile, and feveral others, which
they had in high veneration as well dead as living. Whilft
thofe animals were living, they had lands fet apart for
the maintenance of eack kind \ and both men and women
were employed in feeding and attending theft), the chil-
dren fucceeding their parents in the office, which was fa
far from being declined^, or thought defpicable, by the
Egyptians, that they gjoried it> it as an high honour,,
wearing certain badges, and enfigns, by which, being dif-
tinguifeed at adiftance, they were faluted by bending the
knee, and other demonftrations of.refped. To thefe,
and to the deities they ferved,. the inhabitants of the feveral
cities where they were worfliipped,, offered up their
prayers ; iii particular for the recovery of their children,
whofe heads^ they fhaved fometimes all over^ fometimes
only one half, or a third part, and putting the hair inta
one ballance^ and filver into the othei, ^en the filver
preponderated, they gave it to the keepers of the animals,,
who therewith provided food for them, which was^ufualiy
fifh cut in pieces 5 but the ichneumon! and cats were
fometimes fed with bread and milk.

If a perfon killed any of Aefe facred ammats defignedly,,
he was pi^niflied with death ; if by accident, his punish-
ment

to the Ti»i€ ofJUxan^u

«rcnt was referred to the difcretion of the pricfts; but if
a man killed either a cat, an hawk, or an ibis, whether
with defign or not, te was to die without mercy ; the
enraged multitude hurrying away the unfortunate perfon
to certain death, fometimes without any formal procefs or
trial ; an inflance of whxcji is given in a Roman, who
happening accidentally to kill a cat, the mob immediately
gathered about the houfe Where he was, and neither the
intreaties of fome principal men, fent by the king, nor
the fear of the Romans, with whom they were then ne-
gociating a peace, could favc the man's life. For this,
reafon, if any one by chance found one of thefe creatures
dead, he ftood at a convenic»t diftance from it, and with
great lamentation proteflsed, that he found it dead. And,
what may feem ftili more incredible, it is reported that,
in time of a famine, which drove the inhabitants to the
cruel neceffity of devouring one another, there was no
one perfon accufed of Jbavin^ ^tafted^f any of thefe facred
animals..

The extravagant worfhip wliich the Egyptians paid to
thefe deities ; as to the bulk at Memphis and HeliopoliS)
jdie goat at Mendes^ the lion 2^ Leontopolis, and the
crocodile at the lake Mteri«.( Q^% and to many others io
different places, exceeds all belief 5 fwr Aey were kept
in confecrated inclofures, and well aittended by men of
high rank, who, at a great expence, provided yi£^uals
for them, which confided of the grea^eft dainjties, fuch
as the finefl: flour boiled in milk, cakes xyf fever^l forts,
made with honey* and t^e fieih of gttk boiled ^nd ^oafied.
Thofe who fed on raw meat were fiipplij^ M^itb feycral
forts of birds, and moreover wafhed ;n bx^ bath«, anointed
with moft preeioi|$ ointments, and per fumed with the
moft odoriferous fceats : they lay pn th^ ^iche^ carets

( Q^) The crocodile feeins
to be the laft aoimal to which
mankind could be tempted to
pay divine adoration. That it
might he done with fafety, one
of thefe cr-eatures were trained
up to be tame and fa mi liar fQr
the parpofe, and h^d his ears
adorned with firings of jeweU
and gold, and his fore-feet
with chains. He was fed with
confecrated provifions at the

public charge $ ^d, when
llrangers went to fee him out
of curiofity, they alfo carried
him a prefentof a cake, dreff-
ed meaty and wine, or a drink
made with honey, which was
ofFe^ied to him by the priefts ;
one opening his mouth, and
the other feeding him. When
.he died, his body was em-
balmed, and buried in a facred
coffin at Arfinoe.

Q.3

and

13^ ^^^ Hijlory of Egypt

and other cpftly furniture ; and, that they might want
nothing to make their lives happy, they hid the moft
beautinil females, of their fevcral kinds, provided for
them, to which the Egyptians gave the title of their con-
cubines.

When any of thefe animals died, they lamented them
as if they had been their deareft children, and frequently
laid out more: than they were worth in their funeral : as
an inftance of which, it is faid, that in the beginning of
the reign of Ptolemy, the fon of Lagus, the Apis dying
of old age (R) at Memphis, his keeper bellowed no left
than fifty talents of filver, or almoft 13,000!. over and
above all his fubftance, in burying him. Wc are told,
that fome keepers of thefe creatures had fquandered
away 100,000 talents, a moft immenfe ftim, in their
maintenance. In whatever houfe a cat died, all the
family fhaved their eye-brows ; and, if a dog, their whole
body; nor would they make ufe of anyprovifion which
happened to be in the houfe at fuch times. In cafe of a fire
there was generally great lamentation among the Egyptians
on account of their cats 5 for though, when fuch accidents
happened, they took greater care to preferve the cats than
their houfes, yet n^any of them perifhed in the flames.
The dead b6dies of the facred animals 'were wrapped up
in fine linen, anointed with oil of cedar, and other aro-
matic preparations, to preferve them from putrefaftion.
and buried in facred coffins. Dead cats were carried to
be interred to the city of Bubaftis ; hawks and the mole,
to Butus ; dogs, bears, (of which there arc but few in
Egypt), and. a fmall kind of wolves no bigger than foxes,
were buried where they were found dead ; and, in per-
forming this laft honour to them the Egyptians were fo
cxa£l, that when they had been abroad in foreign warsj
they frequently brought home dead cats and hawks, which
they interred with great demonftrations of fbrrow, and no
fmall expencc, though, at the fame time, they often
wanted neceflkries. How abfurd and ridiculous foevef
thefe fuperftitions may feem, yet various reafons wer6
alleged to juftify and defend them ; though the priefts
generally afFefted filence on thefe occafiohs, referring all '
to certain myfteries which they might not reveal. The

(R) This contradi6ls that a certain time ; after which
afffemo^ of fome, that the apis the priefts drowned him in a
was not fufFered to live beyond facred fountain (i).

(1) Am mi VI. MarceU>

firft

to the Tme of Jkxander. 231

STftreafon alleged was from the fabulous traditlofi that
the gods, in the early ages, were obliged to transform
themfelves into feveral kinds of animals, to avoid the
ailaults and cruelties of men, who had confpired againft '
them 5 but afterwards, out of gratitude for the many be-
nefits beftowcd by them on mankind, thofe in power
ordaised, that the creatures, whofe fliapes the gods had
aflUmedy fhould be well maintained while they lived, and
honourably buried when they died.

Some pretended this woriliiphad the following original.
The ancient Egyptians being often routed by their neigh-
bours, for want of a regular difpofition of their troops^
at length, invented the ufe of itandards, to diftinguifli
the different companies; and for that end,^fixjed the
images of the animals they afterwards adored, on fo many
fpears, and caufed the leaders to carry them at the head
ef each troop ; by which means every nfizn knew his poft.
Their obferving this order often gjiined them the viftory,
the honour of which they afcribed to the animals whofe
figures they had ufed for enfigns. Others will have thefc
images 'to have been made ufe of in the moft early times,
to diftinguHh the firft civil focieties who united for mu-
tual defence againft the violence of their fellow-fCreatures.
- A third reafon is taken from the great ufe and fervice
the ieveraft -antmais aue of to mankind ; as the ox for till-
ing ithc landy the fheep for fupplying milk and wool, the
dog for guarding the houfe and hunting, the ibis and
hawk for deftroying the ferpents and noxious infedls,
the crocodile for defending the country againft the incur-
fions of the Arabian robbers, the ichneumon for prevents
ing the too great multiplication of the crocodiles, and the
•cat for its fervice againft the afp and other venemous rep-
tiles. . ' .

But men of better judgment, not fatisfied with thefe
Teafon-s, which feemed to them too weak to excufe pracr
tices fo difhonourable to pagan if m, and at which they
blufhed in private, urged fomething more fpecious in
favour of them, by pretending, that the worftiip paid by
the Egyptians to animals, did not terminate in the ani-
mals themfelves, but in the gods, whofe fymbols they
were, und to whom they had fome peculiar relation. The
philofophers, fay they, honoured the image of God whercr
ever they met with it, even in inanimate beings, and confe^.
•quently much more in thofe which partake of life. They
therefore are to be commended who worfbip not the crear
tures, but the fupreme Deity through them, which ought

,0^4 to

izi ^he ITtftory of Egypt

tto be efteeiticd as fo many mirrors ofFered u$ by siature^'^
refle£^mg the divine image ; or as fo many inftruments of
God in the fupport and prefervation of the world.
Wherefore, if ftatue? fhould be adorned with all the gold
and precious ftones in the world, it ief not to them tha^
men ihould dire£l their worfliip ; for the divine nature cant
iK)t dwell in the artful difpofition of colours, nor in matter
which is fubjeA to decay, and deftitute both of fenfe and
motion. Tney add^ that as the fun, moOn, ^ic'dven^
earth, and fea, are common to all men, but have different
names in different nations, fo there is but one Mind, and
one Providence, which governs the univerfe, and has
fevcral fubordinate minifters, though called by different
names^ and worfliipped in divers manners, and with
difierent ceremonies, according to the laws and cuftoms
of every country.

Agreeably to this notion, they pretended that the hawk
was an emblem of the fupreme Deity, becaufe of it$

Eiercing fight and fwiftnefs ; the afp, the cat, and the
eetle, were alfo honoured as images of the divine power |
the iirft as not fubjeft to old age, and moving withoui
the afliflance of limbs 5 the cat, becaufe they imagined
flie conceived by her ear, and brought forth her young by
her mouth, reprefenting the generation of fpeech ; and
the beetle, becaufe they fuppofed there was no'female in
the whole fpecies. The crocodile alfo they took to be
another image of the Deity, becaufe, of all animals, it
* has no tongue, which organ God has no occafion for.
-The relation the facred animals bore to fome particular
gods, or the fervices they had rendered on fome parti-r
cular occafions, or their being typical refemblanccs o£
fome parts of nature, are alfo mentioned as further rea-
fons for the great refpeft {hewn them. Thus it is faid^
that dogs were worfhipped becaufe they guided Ifis when
<he fought for the body of Ofiris, which they had guarded
from wild beafls ; though this creature afterwards loft
much of its reputation by eating part of the apis, whic^
had been killed by Cambyfes> when no other animal apr
proached the dead body : they alleged that the hawk was
deified becaufe one of thofe birds, in ancient times,
brought a book to the priefts of Thebes, tyed round witl^
a fcarlet thread, containing the rites and ceremonies
which were to be obferved in the worfhip of the gods i
for which reafon the facred fcribes wore a fcarlet fillet|
with a hawk's feather on their heads : that the wolf was
adored, becaufe Ofiris arofe in that ihape from the infer*'

nil

[

(0 the Time of^xanier. 23^

|ial regions, and afiifted I£s und her ion Orus in the{>attle
againit Typhon, wherein that ufurper was flain \ or elfe
becaufe^ when the Ethiopians once broke into Egypt, a
great company of wolves, fell upon the invaders, and
drove them beyond Elephantis, whence that nome wa$
called Lfcopolites ; though others give no other reafoa
for the refpe£^ paid them, than the near relation they bore
to dogs : that the crocodile attained this honour, becaufe
jpne of thofe creatures faved Menas, an ancient king of
Egypt, from being worried by his own dogs, which pur-
fued hiip to the lake Moeris, where a crocodile took him
on his back, and carried him to the other fide of the lake :
that the cat was revered as an emblem of the moon, for
its various fpots, fruitfulnefs, and aftivity in the night:
and the goat, the mod luftful of all creatures, was the
hieroglyphic of that violent impulfeby which men are urged
to propagate their fpecies \ and, in honouring this animal,
^hey teflified their gratitude to th^gods for the populouf*-
nefs of their country **.

Not to take up the reader's time in enumerating the
pther animals worihipped in the feveral parts of Egypt^
we (hall conclude what we intend to fay of them with
Herodotus's account of the phoenix, which fable has
given rife to whatever has been fince related of that
imaginary bird. He tells us, that the phoenix was one
of the facred birds, which he himfelf had never feen but
in efBgy ; for he appeared in Egypt but once In five
hundred year^, immediately after the death of his father,
as thofe of Heliopolis affirmed. The painters reprefented
him with a plumage of crimfon and gold, and pf the
fhape and (ize of an eagle. They pretended he came
^rom Arabia, and brought the body of his father em-
balmed, which he buried in the temple of the Sun. And
this du^y he performed in the following manner : firft, he
jtnoulded as much myrrh as he could carry into the ihape
of an eggi and, having tried its weight, hollowed the
f ggf ^i^d put his father into it ; he then flopped up the
aperture again with myrrh, in fuch proportion, that the
fhe weight of the whole might equal that of the egg be-
fore the body was put in, and carried it to Heliopolis *.

The Egyptians were the firft who affigned each month Some other
and day to a particular deity, and obferved the times of '^'^«^'»«
^ach person's nativity, by which they judged of their fu- gJyLi^f^^

* Diodorus Sicuius, ubl fupra^ p. yt, &c. « Herodotus,

ttbi fupr<u

ture

234 ^*^ Hijiofy tf Egypt

ture fortunes. They carefully regiftercd all prodigies (in
which their country is faid to have abounded more than,
^ny other), with an account of their confequences ; fup-
^ofing that, if the like happened at another time^ the
event would be the fame; However, they did not pre-
tend to foretel any thing themfclves, but all predi£lions
were tlelivcred by the gods. For, if they were not the
iirft nation which ere£ted oraclesj and introduced the cuf«
torn of confultihg them, it is however allowed, that the
mod ancient and famous oracles amcmg the heathens,
particularly thofe of Jupiter in Lybia, and at Dodona,
cnrcd their original to Egypt.

There were feveral oracles in Egypt ; thofe of Hercules,
Apollo, Minerva, Dian?, Mars, and Jupiter; but thofe
which they reverenced, above all others, were the oracle
of Latona, in the city of Butus ; and, in after-times, that
x>f Serapis at Alexandria. The facred animals alfo had
their feveral oracles ; as the apis, the goat, the lion, and
tl)e crocodile. The manner of confulting the apis, was
by obferving into which chai^iber, of the two that were
' prepared for him, he entered ; his going into one being
conftrued a^ a propitious fign, and his entering the other
as a badpmen ; or clfe they offered him food, and, from
his accepting, or refufing it, concluded the anfwer fa-
Yourable, or the contrary. It is faid, that Germanicus
Caefar confulting this oracle, not long before his deaths
the apis would not eat out of his hand.
• We muft not forget the human facrifices which are faid
to have been offered by the ancient Egyptians. As red
oxen were allowed to be facrifieed becaufe of their re-
femblance to Typhon, who, it is faid, was red-haired^
fo men of that coniplexion were reported to have been
flain. in former times, by their kings, at the tomb of
<ifiris; but, few of the Egyptians, having red hair,
ftrangers were the ufual viftims ; whence it is fuppofed,
the fable fo current among the Greeks, of the cruelty of
Bufiris to ftrangers, took its rife ; not from any king of
th^at name, but becaufe Ofiris's tomb was fo called in the
Egyptian tongue. Men virere alfo, in old times, facrifieed
at Heliopolis, and to Juno or Lucina, at a city in Upper
Thebais, called by the name of that goddefs, who was
^orihipped there under the form of a vultur. Thefe
human viftimswere to be approved of in the fame man-
ner as the calves that were fearched and fealed a§ clean ;
and three were facrifieed every day in the dog-days^ being
burnt alive, and their aflies fcattercd abroad: to thefe

unhappy

^ to the Time of Alexander. 235

tinliftppy men they gave the cp?thet of Typhonian*. This
barbarous cuftom was abolifhed by Amafis^ who ordered
that fo many images of wax fhoald be ofiered in their '
ftcad ' ; and there wus fo littl6remembrance of it left in the
days of Herodotus, that, mentioning a fable of the Gre-f
cians, implying, that when Hercules arrived in Egypt,
the Egyptians, defigningto facrifice him to Jupiter, con-
duced him to the altar with great ceremony, but that he
delivered himfelf, by killing all who were prefent; .that
hiftorian judges thofe who invented the ftory utterly ig-
norant of the Egyptian laws and cuftoms. For how,
fays he, can we imagine, . that a people forbidden to kill
any kind of animal, except geefe, fwine, and fuch bijlls
and calves as they find without blemifli (S), would facri-
fice men 8 ? However, *that there was really fuch a cuf-
tom, feems undeniable from good authority, and is con-
firmed by the imprcfs of the prieffs feal, which was fet
on the oxen that were to be facrificedj and on which a
man was engraved kneeling, with his hands bound 4)6-
hind him, and a fword at his throat **. We have formerly
mentioned the. human facrifices which were offered to
the Nile, according to a tradition of the Egyptians ; but
we do not find any notice taken of them in ancient authors*

We have mentioned the worfhip of leeks and onions
as one part of the Egyptian fuperftition ; but as the hifto-
riaus are filent on this head, we imagine the fatirift, to
heighten the ridicule, might go a little beyond ft rift truth;
though there might poffibly be fome foundation for fuch
an opinion, from the fcrupulous abftinence of fome of that
nation from particular vegetables, as lentiles, beans, and
t>nions; the latter of which the priefts abominated, as
fome pretend, becaufe Didys, who had been brought up
by Ifis, was drowned in feeking after them ; or, rather,
becaufe onions alone, of all plants, thrive when the moon
is in the wane *.

Before we quit this fubjefk, the ftrufture of the Egyp-
tian temples deferves fome notice. The firft thing which

• Manetho apnd Pophyr. de Abftin. lib. ii* cap« 55. Eufeb. Prsep.
Evang. Hb. iv. cap. 16. & Plut. de Ifid. & Ofirid. p. 3«o. f Idem.
S Herodot. ^ Plutarch. i Plutarch, p. 353. Diod. p. 8o»

(S) From this paiTage, and never lawful for the Egyptians

what has been faid above, we to appeafe the gods \yith cattU

l^nnot but think thofe miftaken or blood, but only with prayeri

^ho have afferted, that it was and incenfe (a).

(t) Vide Macrob. SatumaL lib. i. cap. 7.

offered

2^6 irh€ Hiftwy if Eg}pt

offered itfelf to the view was, an ai^nue, or ftone paye«
ment, of a pletbron, that is, of about one hundred feet in
breadth, or fomething lefs, asd about three or four times
a3 long, Imng on each fide a row of fphinxes, twenty
cubits diftant from each other. This avenue led to a portico,
behind which was a fecond, and fometimes a third (the
number of thefe porticos being not always the fame.) The
temple itfelf confiftedof a fpacious and magnificent court,
and a well prop^ctioncid chapel, it) which was generally
no image (for the Egyptians, in the more early times, ufed
none) ; or if there were any, it was not of human form,
but in the (hape of fome irrational animal.
^he mi/eel' Few nati^ms in the world obferved thto original laws
laneouscuf' ^j^^ cuftomsfo long as the Egyptians \ and their exaftnefs
B^'vptians. *" obferving ordinances of a higher nature was not to be
admired, confidering their ftrift attachment to their own
ufages and manners in trivial things ; for a new cuftom
was a prodigy, in Egypt.

]fi the education of their children they were veqr care-
ful, but they brooght them up with great frugality, feedr
ing them with cheap broths, made of common things, and
with the ftemsof the papyrus roafted under the alhes, and
the ftalks and roots of other plants which grew in the
marfhes, fometimes raw, and fometimes drefled. They
went, for the moft part, naked and barefoot, during their
childhood, becauf§ of the warmth of the climate } fo that
the whole expence of a child, from his birth till he arrived
at the ftate of manhood, did not exceed twenty drachmae,
or about thirteen {hillings. As to the inftrufblon they
gave their children, the priefts taught t-hem two forts of
letters, thofe called facred^ and tfiofe in which their com*
mon learning was written ; but exercifed them chiefly in
geometry and arithmetic : however, there were few of tKc
inferior clafTes who learned to write and read, except th^
tradefmen. But, that they might be ufeful members of
the common wealth, and enabled to maintain themfelves,
they began very early to. learn their paternal art, or profeir
Son, either from their fathers, or near relations. Mufic
andwreftling they never taugnt their children, as difap-^
proving them both 5 the firft they deemed not only ufcf^
lefs, but even hurtful, ferving only %o emafculate the
mind ; and the other they believed did notten4 tp the piCr
fervation of health, the flrength gained by it being <rf
ihort duration, and the exercife itfelf dangerous. One
particular of the education of the Egyptian youth was verjr
commendable ; for the^ were jtaught to behaye with great

■ '' re.

t(K tie Tme <^f JUxcmder. .437

feipe^i t0«irard$ their eldetSy being obliged ta rife up
{torn, their feartS) and to retire, at the approach of thofe
that were more aged; which cuftom wa« alfo pra£lifed
at Sparta^. , *^

As to the diet of the Egyptians, we have already made
fiime occafional obfenrations on that f abje£l ; to which we
may add, that, among them, it was a reproach to eat 1

bread made of bauriey or wheat ; inftead of which, they
vfed a fine flour, called by fome olyra, and by others zea>
what we call ^ek ; and this bread they named coUeftUy
probably from its glutinous quality. Their ufual drink
was the waler of the Nile, which is Teiy^greeable to the
tafte^ and fo fattening, that they never gave it to the apis,
left he fli<»ild grow too corpulent <• It is true, the water
of this river isfomewhat muddy; but the Egyptians haveL
a way of clarifying it, by rubbing the vefiel with pound-i-
ed almonds ^ Their bctttr fort of drlAk, or wine, as He-
rodotus calls it) 'Was made of barley, bei^ufe they had
anciently no vines in that country, or, rather, did not
cultivate them ; nor do they yet, in any other part than
the province of Al Feyyum ^* So that we are, probably,
indebted to this nation for the invention of been

The Egyptians abftained from feveral forts of animals,
in different parts of the kingdom, according to the dif-
ferent deities they worfhipped ; but they all agreed in the
averfion they had to fwine's flefli, which was accounted,
by them, fo impure, that if a man but touched one of
thofe animals by accident, he went immediately, and
plunged himfelf in the river, with his cloaths on ; and,
for this reafon, hogherds alone, of all the Egyptians,
were not fufiered to enter any of their temples ; neither
would any man give his daughter in marriage to one of
that profeffion, or take a wife bom of fuch parents : fa
that they were forced to marry among themfelves. They
eat fifh, either pickled, or dried in the fun ; and alfo
quails, ducks, and fmaller birds, preferved in fait, with-
out any other preparation : all other birds or fiflies, ex*
cept fuch as they accounted facred, they eat, without
fcruplc, either boiled or roafted. Thofe who dwelt in
the marfhes fed on feveral plants which annually grow
there, particularly, on the lotus, of which they made »
fort of bread v and on the lower ftems of the papyrus, the
head of which was refcrved for other ufes-

^ Herod, cap xx. g Plutarch dc Ifid. &Ofir. p. 35^

* Sicard, Mem. de» Miil vgl. ii. p. i j. « Uicas^ vo^. ii» p. a»6.

At their principal feafts it was their oafton, whdift tfief '
began to tafte the wine after fnpper, to ibring in a coffin
with the image of a dead man carved in wood, and paint-^
cd, of one or two cubits in length, or, as others fay, a
real corpfe ; which was carried about to all the company,
by a peifon appointed for that purpofe, who repeated thefd
words diftindly : '* Look upon this, and be merry ; for
fuch as this is, ihak thoabe, when thou art dead." This
image fome will have to be that of M»ieros, in memory
of whom they fung a mournful fong at their entertain-
ments, which they called by h4s name. Of this perfon
there are various traditions : the Egyptians made him the
fon of their firft king^ who died in the flower of his age %
others fay he was the fon of a king of Syblus, in Phoe^
nicia, who was fo frighted by the angry look oiF Ifis, for

Erying too narrowly into her. behaviour towards the dead
ody of Ofiris, that he died foon after. This Maneros is
reported to hase been the firft innentor of mufic ; for
which reafon, and the conformity of the fong to that fung
by other nations in honour of the Grecian Linus, Hero-
dotus fuppofes him to be the fame with that poet : but^
after all, fome pretend Maneros was not the name of a ,
perfon, but of the fong itfelf ; and that the dead image
reprefented the fate of Ofiris.

The Egyptians were very cleanly, both at their meals^
and in other refpe£ls, carefully fcouring the drinking vef-
felSy which were of brafsy every day ; and ufing frequent
ablutions and purifications. They fcrupulouily avoided
eating with ftrangers, as unclean \ and for neatnefs, chief->
}y, it was, that tbey circumcifed themfelves, which was
a cuftom among them from time immemorial, and
eiteemed by them f© neceffary, that Pythagoras, to have
the liberty of converfing with the Egyptian priefts, and
entering into their temples, was obliged to fubmit to this
operation. One of the fathers tells us, they were circum-*
cifed at the age of fourteen s ; but whence he had his infor-
mation, we do not know.

The habit of this nation was, a linen veft, fringed at
the bottom, which they called calafiris ; and over that
they wore a white mantle of woollen cloth ; but to enter
^ny of their temples in that upper garment, or to bury
their dead in woollen, was accounted profane. Theif
manner of fainting one another abroad was, by bowing
very refpeftfuUy, letting their hands fall down to their
knees.

% Ambrof. de Abrahamo, lib. ii. cap. \u

The

to the Time of Alexander. a35>

The Egyptians, in feveral of their manners and cuflomSy
feemed induftrioufly to a£t in contradiction to the reft of
mankind \ for amongft them it was the cuftom for the
women to be employed in trade and bufinefs abroad^
while the men ftayed at home to fpin, and minded domef-
tic ailairs ; and this pra£tice> perhaps, gave occafion to
that extraordinary law, by which the fons were not oblig'*
ed to provide for their parents, but the daughters were.
In carrying burdens^ the men bore them on their heads,
and the women on their ihoulders. They ufed to eafe
nature at home, and eat publicly in the ftreets ; faying,
very juftly, that fuch things as were filthy, though necelk
fary, fhduld be done in private } and fucfa as were decent,
in public. They kneaded dough with their feet, and
tempered morter with their hands. And whereas, in
other countries, the places deftined for cattle were fe-
parated from thofe of the men ; in Egypt men and beafts
dwelt together. We might mention feveral other in-
ftances of the like fingularity.

The great virtue of the Egyptians, wherein they pre-
tended to excel all mankind, was gratitude ; which they
efteemed to be of the greateft fervice in life, as the only
encouragement to beneficent a£li6ns. And for this rea-
fon it was^ that they honoured their princes as gods, fup-
pofing that thofe whom Providence had exalted to the
throne, and endued with both the power and will to do
good to mankind, participated, in fome meafure, of the
divine nature. Hence, alfo, proceeded the great refpe£t
they (hewed to the remains of their dead anceftors, and
their conftant endeavour to teftify their gratitude to every
perfon and thing from which they received benefit.

The Egyptians are (aid to have been the firft who at Ofthtirfiu
ferted the immortality of the foul, which, according to ^'^^ ^'^^
their do£trine, when the body was ^ corrupted, entered *^^*^^'*
into fome other animal, and paifing, by a continual me-*
tempfychofis, through the different kinds of animals be-
longing to the air, earth> and water, returned again into
a human-^dy, after the revolution of three thoufand
years. For this reafon they endeavoured, by art, to pre-
serve the body as long as poilible, that the foul might be
obliged to continue with it, and not fooii pafs into an-
other , and as the dead bodies, by the means they ufed,
were of long duration, they fpared no labour nor coft in
building their fcpulchres, which they termed their eter-
nal manfions \ at the fame time being little curious in the
firudure of their boufes, calling them inns, where they

ilaycd

^^ The Wftory efS^g^t

ftay6d but for a ihort time ; whereas they fentained Irf
the other for a long conrfe of yeara*

The mourning for the dead, and funeral fites, in Egypt,-
were anciently performed in the i^DUowing manner : when
a man of any confideration died, all the women of that-
family haying their heads and faces covered with dtrt, their
breaft bare, and their waifts girt, left the body at home^
and marching in this garb, attended by all their relations
c^ the fame lex, through the ftreets of the city, lamented
the deeeafed, and beat themfelves in a moft cruel man-'
ner* The men, at the fame time, forming another com-'
pany, mourned after the fame method. And this they
continued till the corpfe was interred, abftaining in the
mean time from bathing, from wine, and delicate meatSj
and laying afide their beft attire. The firft lamentation
being over, ' the body was carried to thofe who profefled
the art of embalming. Thefe fliewed the kindred of the
deeeafed feveral models or patterns in wood, and painted,
together with a bill of the charges of each manner of pre-
paration, aiking them which they chofe \ for. there were
three different ways of preparing dead bodies for buriaL
One was exquifite and expenfive, and coft a talent of
iilver, or about 258 1. 6s. 8d. the fecond was inferior,
and of a moderate price, the charge being twenty minse^,
or a fourth- part of the former fum; and the third way
was very mean, and coft but a trifle. This preliminary
being fettled, the embalmers took the body, and firft drew
out the brains through the noftrils with a cr^>oked inftru-*
ment of iron, and filled the vacancy with different fpices^
Then one, whom they called the fcribe, marked out, on
the left fide of the belly, how far the incifion was to be
made ; and the parafchiftis, whofe office it was to make
the incifion, taking a fharp Ethiopic ftone, ctit op^ the
body as far as the law ordained, and immediately retired
with all poffible hafte, purfued by thofe who were prefen€
with ftones and curfes, to turn the execration upon him :
for they thought it a very heinous crime to wound, or
offer violence to, a dead body ; but the taricheut*,. or
embalmers;^ were highly efteemed and refpefked^ con-
vcrfing with the priefts, and being with them admitted,
as perfons of fan^ity, into the more facred parts of their
temples. When thefe came to drefs the differed body^
one of them thruft his hand into it by the wouiid, and
drew out all the inteftines 5 another cleanfed all the en-
trails, wafhing them with wine of palms, and perfuming
them with aromatic. odours. Then the body was filled

with

io the Time of Memndef* 241

Vith pounded mynb, caflia, and other odoriferous
drugs (frankincenfe only excepted) \ and the incifion be-
ing fewed up, .the bpdy was carefully anointed with the
oil of cedar, and other ointments, for above thirty days,
or. elfe laid in nitre ' for feveiity days, which was the
long^ft time allowed. At the expiration of which term,
they wafhed the whole body, and bound fillets of fine
linen round every part, covering it with gum, which the
Jlgyptians ufed inftead of glue. , AH this was done with- '
out disfiguring the body ; fo that the very hairs remained
on the brows and eye-lids> and the refemblance of the
countenance was preferved, fo as to be eafily known \
The embalmers having performed their parts, the rela-
tions received the corpfe, and put it into a wooden coffin,
which they fet upright againft the wall of the edifice de»
figned for that purpofe. For feveral of the Egyptian*
kept their dead at home with them above ground ^, in
magnifiicent apartments^ having by this means the plea*
fure of feeing the lineaments of their anceftors, who
died many ages before they were born ; and they often
brought the dried corpfe of a friend as a.gueft to their
feafts ^. The way of embalming which we have defcribed
was the moft coftly manner of preferving the dead t
thofe who were unable or unwilling to be at fo gteat an
cxpence, were contented with a more ordinary prepara-
.tion ; which was performed by fyringing oil of cedar "the
common way, widiout opening the belly, or taking out
the bowels, and by laying the body in nitre the number
of days above mentioned ; at the end of which they let
put the oil of cedar by the fundament, which, by a pe-
culiar efficacy, brought away the entrails fhrunk and pu«
trefied ; the nitre having confumed the fleih, and left no-
thing but the ikin and bones. They then deliveired the
l>ody. to the relations without any farther operation*
The third and laft manner of preferving the dead, ufed
only for the poorer fort, was performed by cleanfing the
belly by injefted lotions, and falting the body for feventy
days, after which it was taken away. The wives of con-
fiderable perfons, and all women who had been beautiful,
;aiud dear to their relations, were not delivered to the em-
balmers prefehtly after death ; but were kept at home
three or four days before they were carried out, to pre-
ve'nt thoCe artids from abufing the bodies of fuch perils )

*
^ Dlodorus Sic. ubi Aipr. p. 81. HerodotiM, li.b. ii. cap. $5,.&c*
• Cicer. Tiifc Quail, lib. i. cap. 9. * J' Lucian. 4* Luctu.

VoL.L R for

242 ^he Hijiory of Egypt

for one of them was caught in fuch an a£^ion, upon ther
informatibn of his companion. If any Egyptian, or evet*'
a ftranger, was found killed by a crocodile, or drowneA
in the river, wherever the body came afhore, the in^
habitants were by law obliged, at their own charge, to
embalm and place it among the confecrated monuments
in the moft coftly manner ; for none of his friends, t>r re-
lations, or any other, might touch his body, except the
priefts of the Nile, who buried him with their own hands^
as fomething more than human ^

When the corpfe of the deccafed was prepared for the
fepulchre, his neareft relations gave public notice of the
day when fuch a man was to pafs the lake, in order for
his interrment, to which the judges and all his friends
were invited. At the time prefixed above forty judges
affembled, and fat in a femicircle, in a certain place be*
yond the lake (which we fuppofe to be that of Moeris).
The veflel, whofe pilot was, in the Egyptian tongue,
called Charon, being hauled up to the fliore, before the
coffin which contained the body was fufFered to em-
bark (T), every one was at liberty to accufe the deceafed.
If an accufer appeared, and made good his charge, that the
deceafed had led an ill life, the judges gave fentence ac-
cordingly, and the body was denied the ufual burial ; but
if the accufer was convifted of having accufed him un-
juftly, he incurred a fevere punifliment. If no accufer
appeared, or if the accufation proved falfe, then the rela-
tions, laying afide their lamentation, proceeded to recite
the praifes of the deceafed, but took no notice of his de-
fcent; for all the Egyptians were held equally noble;
having mentioned in what manner he had been brought
up and educated, they declared how he had lived and be-
haved after he had attained to manhood, enlarging on his
piety, jufticc, temperance, and other virtues. The affift-
ants joined their acclamations to this funeral oration, and
celebrated the praifes of the defunft. Then the body
was depofited in ^he fepulchre of the family ; or if they
had no fepulchre^ they kept it at home in the manner
above mentioned. Thofe that were forbidden to be in-
terredj either for crimes by them committed, or for debt,

I Herodot. ubi fupr.

(T) This is the fenfe of the lake, that the corpfe was ac-
original ; though it (hould ra- tually ferried over, but was not
^her feem, by the judges fit- fuffered to be difembarked till
dog on the farther fide of the fentence had paffed*

Mrer«

to the Time of Alexander^ 243

^erc jJepofited privately in their own houfes. But it
often happened, that the pofterity of fuch perfons, grow-
ing rich, paid tJieir debts, or obtained their pardon, and
buried them in an honourable manner.

It muft be acknowleged, that this inftitution of the
Egyptians, in relation to their treatment of dead bodies,
was excellently contrived for the encouragement of vir-
tue, and the difcouragement of vice. It is very plain
that the Greeks took all their fables concerning the infer-
nal judges, and the happlnefs and punifliments of men
after death, from this practice of the Egyptians ; but
Diodorus obferves, that inftead of bringing men to amend-
ment of life by thofe fables, they incurred the ridicule
and contempt of profligate perfons ; whereas, in Egypt,
the reward of the good, and punifhment of the wicked,
after death, was not fabulous or imaginary, but really and
daily diftributed in public, in the fight of all men".

The fepulchres wherein the Egyptians depofited the
bodies of their dead, were built in various 'manners, ac-
cording to the perfon's condition. The magnificence of
the royal tombs has been already hinted j thofe of the
ancient kings of Thebes, as we have obferved, could not
be exceeded by their pofterity. Of the pyramids, which
were built for the fame purpofe, we have fpoken fufE-
ciently ; and the fepulchre of Ofymandyas we fhall men-
tion hereafter. The Egyptians of lower quality, at a
great expence, cut fubterraneous grots, or dormitories, in
5ie rocks, fuch as thofe in the Libyan deferts, of which
travellers fpeak fo much, calling them catacombs, or
mummy-pits. The entrance into them is by a fquare
well, where holes are cut on each fide for the convenience
of thofe who defcend. Thefe wells are not of equal
depth, but the fhalloweft are above fix men's height* At
the bottom of the well there is a fquare opening, and
a paflage of ten or fifteen feet long, leading into fcveral
fquare vaulted chambers, each fide of which are ufually
fifteen or twenty feet ; and in the midft of every one of
the four fides of the chamber is a bench cut out of the
rock, upon which the embalmed bodies lie. At the head
of them there is commonly an idol, at the feet the image
of a bird ; and on the walls are fevcral hieroglyphics,
which perhaps.ferve for epitaphs. Befides the principal '
bodies, there are others fmaller, and particularly of chil-
dren, which lie on the ground. Sometimes there are no

"> Diod* ubi fupr. p. 82, &c.

R 2 lefs

Of their
at s and

fc:ences.

244, ^he Hiftory of Egypt

Icfs than rwenty-five or thirty of thefe chambers, orgrot^^
having communication one with another ; and the<lefcent
to them all is by one well. The ftonesy of which Strabo
obferved a great number in a plain between Syene and
Philse, are alfo by fome thought to have been tombs.
That author calls them Hermssa, from the refemblance
they bore to the heaps of ftones frequently eredled by the
highways in honour of Mercury^ and he defcribes them
to be great fmooth ftones, almoft fpherical, of that hard
and black marble, of which mortars were made, placed
upon greater ftones, and furmounted by others ; fome of
jfhem lying by themfelves ; the greateft of them was no
lefs than twelve feet diameter, and all above half as big".
The ancient Egyptians were the inventors of many ufe-
ful arts and fciences ; and though they did not, perhaps,
carry them afterwards to that perfeftion which might
have been expefted, fince among them every man being
obliged to apply himfelf to his paternal profeffion, was
confined to one particular art or branch of learning only;
yet, whoever confiders how difficult it is to lay the firft
foundations of any fcience, be it ever fo fmall^ will allow
them great commendation. . -

As they acknowlege themfelves iridebted to their firft
kings for inftrufting them how. to provide the common,
iieceflaries and conveniencies of life, fo they attributed
the honour of the firft invention of the fciences to their
Hermes, or Mercuries. How many there were of this>
name, when they lived, or what they invented or wrote,
we fhall enquire in another place, contenting ourfelves at
prefent with giving a Ihort account of the arts and learn-
ing which the Egyptians are fuppofed to have commu-
nicated to the reft of mankind.

That the Egyptians were early famous for wifdom and
fcarning, appears from many ancient writers, and even
from the Scriptures themfelves ; where it is faid, to the
honour of Mofes, that ** h€ was learned in all the wifdora
pf the Egyptians;" and, to magnify the wifd6m of Solo-
mon, that '* it excelled aU the wifdom of Egypt.** Pro-
fane authors alfo unanimoufly allow this nation to have,
been the parent of all philpfophical knowlegie, and the
Egyptians the only men that perfeftly underftood divine
things.
Of their Geometry is on all hands agreed to have been firft

geomgtfy, found out in Egypt ; and is faid to have owed its rife to
the fctting QUt and meafuring their lands, the bounds of

« Strabo, lib.xvii* p. H73»

which

to the Time of Alexander. -545

wKicli were annually difturbed by the overflowing of the
Nile. How far the Egyptians improved this fcience, is
not very certain; but their fkill therein feems not to have
been very profound, nor to have extended to all geo-
metrical quantities and fubtile theories, like that of the
moderns ; the utmofl: they knew was probably no more
than plain meafuring, and fuch rifles as were of common
ufe in life. For Pythagoras, who travelled into Egypt
for the fake of their learning, after his return home*
offered a hecatomb, on his finding out the proportion of
the iongeft 'fide of a right-angled triangle to the other
two ; and Thales, who alfo learned geometry in Egypt,
facrificed ai| ox to the gods, for joy that he had hit on a
meihod of infcribinga right-angled triangle within a circle;
toth w^hich inventions they could not have had from the
Egyptians, ufilefs we fhould fay, that the Egyptians did not
•teach them all they knew, or that thofe two philofophers
tmjuftly arrogated to themlelves what they had learned
of their mafters. Now, if thefe more fimple, though
noble, propofitions were not then to be found in the Egyp-
tian geometry, mudi lefs can it be fuppofed to have con-
tained thofe more abftrufe theorems, and analytical me-
thods, which were afterwards known, and for which we
are indebted to the Greeks, who built fo fine a fuper-
tftrufture on* the old Egyptian foundation.

As Arithmetic is not only of great ufe in itfelf, but ab- Arithmetic*
Glutei y neceflary both in the theory and practice of geo-
metry, that fcience was diligently cultivated in Egypt-
That there was in later ages a kind of algebra known in
that country, appears from the writings of Diophantus ;
tut that it was not an improvement made by the Gre-
cians, after their fettling there, we will not take upon us
to affirm ; however, it was greatly inferior to the modern
fclgebra in many refpefts-

It is generally fuppofed that aftronomy was alfo an in- Mronom,
vention of the Egyptians, who, by reafon of the conftant
Serenity -of the air, and the flatnefs of their country,
might obferve the motion of the he^avenly bodies earlier,
and with more eafe, than other people. Herodotus in-
deed gives the honour of this invention to the Babylo-
nians ; but Diodorus derives the Babylonians themfelves,
as well as their fcieaces, originally from Egypt. He at-
tributes the firfl invention of aflronomy to thofe of
Thebes. He fays the Egyptians were accurate obfervers
of the places and motions of the ftars, and kept regiftcrs ^
of their obfcrvations for an incredible number of years,

B. 3 having

Z^6 The Htfiory of Egypt

having addifted themfelves to this ftudy in the mod early
ages ; that they were well acquainted with the motions,
periods, and Nations of the planets, and likewife with
their influences and efFefts ; and that, by long experience,
they were often able to make furprifing prediftions ot
eventvS in life, and to foretel famines, plenty, peftilential
difeafes, earthquakes, the appearance of comets, and other
things, which feemed to exceed human capacity. The
phenomena they feem to have obferved were indeed the
inoft obvious and eafy ; but thereby they were dire£le4
to adjuft the length of the year to the annual revolution
of the fun ; which this nation firft did, by adding to their
twelve months, of thirty days a-piece, five additional
days, and fix hours, while the Greeks and Romans ufed
the more inconvenient form of lunar years, intercalating
a month every third year. But the great ufe they feem to
have made of their aftronomy was, cither for the imr
provement of huibandry, or elfe for aftrological calcula-
tions, to which the Egyptians were much addifted. It i?
probable they might have a true notion of the fyftem of
the world, and of the matter of the planets and fixed
ftars ; for they called the pioon an ethereal earth, and afr
'firmed the ftars to be fire; however, they were far from
having an exaft knowlege pf the theory of the planetary
motions, fo as to make any artificial calc^tlations ; fincf;
Thales was the firft man who yent^ired (o foretel an
eclipfe, and Eudoxus and Ptolepiy firft reduced the mor
tion of the heavenly bodies into hypothcfes and tables.
Medicin§» The fcience of medicine feertis alfo to have owed its
origin to the Egyptians, The invention of it is generally
afcribed to yEfculapius, which name was givei^ to Tofor^
thrus, or Seforthrus, a king of Memphis^ and the fecond
of the third dynafty of Manetho, for his great (kill in that
art. This prince was much more ancient tjiar^ the Gre.f
cian jEfculapIus ; and though Africanws places him fome
ages after Athothis, the fucceflbr of Menes., fuppofed to
be the fame with Thoth, or the firft Hermes, yet others
make them contemporaries; as they muft have been, if
this iEfculapius was the fame with the fon of Sydyc, and
the brother of the Cabiri. Athothis is alfo faid to have
been a phyfician, and to have written fome books of ana-
tomy ; unlefs we rather afcribe thofe writings to the fe-
cond Hermes, who might publifh feveral inventions of
the firft Hermes, and of ^fculapius ; for we are told
that, among the Hermaic books, there were fix which
treated of medicine, ai^d that the firft of them was anato-
mical,

to iJje Time of Alexander. 247

mical. Ifis herfelf is alfo faid to have invented feveral
medjcinesy and to have taught the art to her fon Oms, or
Apdlo ; whence (he was held by the Egyptians to be the
goddefs of health.

The Egyptian phyficians, mentioned by Mofes, fecm
rather to have been embalmers than phyficians, in the
ftrift fenfe of the word ; unlefs we fuppofe both art« were
originally profefled by the fame perfon ; which poilibly
might be the cafe, though in after-times it was other-
wife ; for every phyfician wa« not permitted to pradlife
every branch of the art ; but it was diftributed into dif-
tinft parts, aAd each man applied himfelf to the cure of
ont difeafe only. This cuftom occafioned a great number of
phyficians in Egypt; fome profeffing to cure the difeafes of
the eyes ; others, thofe of the head, teeth,6r parts about the
belly ^ fome applied themfelves to chirurgical operations,
whilft others undertook the cure of internal diftempers;
by which regulation, great improvements might have
htcn expe£^ed from them in their feveral provinces, had
not the laws, as it were, fliut the 4ioor to any future dif-
coveries, by obliging the phyficians to prefcribe according
to fixed rules and receipts, let down in their facred regiS
ters, which had been coUefted from long obfervation and
•experience^ and approved by the moft famous men of the
yrofeffion. So long as the phyfician followed thefe legal
prefcriptions, he was fafe, let the fuccefs of the medi-
cines be what it would:; but if once he ventured to depart
from them, and to follow his own private judgment, he
was anfwerable for the event, and ran the hazard of his
life in cafe the patient died. It muft be confefled, how*
ever, that this was a moft efFe£hial method to prevent die
mifchievous prafkice of empirics. Another particular,
obfervabk, with refpeft to the Egyptian phyficians, is,
that th^y had a public provifion made for them by law;
for which reafon, they were not to take any fee froip
thofe who happened to be fick in the army, or on a jour*-
ney, within the kingdom.

The Egyptian medicines feem rather to have been cal-
culated for prevention than, cure ; they chiefly prefcribed
evacuations, which they efFefted either by clyfters, po-
tions, or emetics, or elfe by failing ; and this they re-
peated every day ; or let the patient reft three or fioor
days, according to the cafe ; for they were of opinion,
that, in the^ digeftion of all food, the greater part was fu-
perfluous; and, loading nature, nurfed difeafes; for
which rqafon, thofe who lived in the com-coui>try ufed to
L " R 4 vomit

I ^

248 The Hiftory of Egypt

vomit and purge themfelves every month, three days fuc-
ceffively, to preferve health 5 though otherwife they were,
by nature, very healthful. The better to promote the
operation of their medicines, the phyiicians, together
with their f)roper art, alfo ftudied aftrology, and their ri-
tual myfteries ; for the Egyptian practice of phyfic de-*
pended much on aftrological and magical grounds \ either
the influence of fome particular planet, or fome tutelar
demon, was ftill confideredj which precarious founda*
tions mud needs depreciate their ikill, and flop any m*
creafe of knowiege which might be made on other prin-
ciples.
4ffatemjM As they began to cultivate anatomy in Egypt very early,
and their kings ordered dead bodies to be aiffefked for the
perfe£lion of this art; it might be prefumed they made
greater progrefs therein than we can allow, if two in-
ftances tnat are given of the accuracy of the Egyptian an-
atomifts be genuine* One of their obfervations was, thai
there is a particular nerve, which goes from the heart to
the little-finger of the left-hand ; for which reafon, the
Egyptians always wore rings upon that finger, and the
priefts dipped that finger in their perfumed ointments.
And the following reafon is given why a man cannot live
above one hundred years, becaufe the Alexandrian em«
balmers obferved a conflant encreafe and diminution of
the hearts of thofe found perfons whom they opened,
whereby they judged of their age ; finding that the heart
of an infant of a ycai old weighed two drachms, and this
weight increafed annually, by two drachms every year,
till men attained to the age of fifty ; from which they as
gradually decreafed, till they arrived at an hundred,
when,*for want of a heart, they neceflarily died.
Natural Of the phyfiology of the old Egyptians (to confider it

philojopky, Y\cvt diftinftly from their theology, which two fciences
the ancients conftantly joined together, we have not
much to fay. Their opinion, as to the origin of things,
and the mundane revolutions, we have confidered elfe-
where. Their philofophtcal dodirines, may heft be known
by looking into that of the ancient Greeks, who were
their fcholars, and travelled into Egypt for inftru£tion in
the more fuHime parts of learning; it was from this
country, in all probability, that Pythagoras brought home
.the knowiege of that ancient fyftem of the world which
bears his name, and is now fo generally received ; though
it feems to have been part of the fecret dofbrine of the
' Egyptians, and not revealed to the vulgar. The ancient

barbarian

to the Time af MeyraniSer. 24.9

t)]|prbarian pbilofophers iSid not eMJ>loy their llu3iieS in tfcfe
duplication of this> or that particular phaenomenon, Ot
direft their enquiries to the examination of things taken
iingly 9 it being in vain to cxped from them, for exam-
ple, the caufe of the attrai^ve potver of the loadftone,
or of the colours of the rainbo'^ ; what is the fubftance
of fire; and what arc the partitles of water, or the forcie
of compreffed air y bat their {peculations were about the
mundane pha^nomena, or thofe Whidh affefted tmiverfal
nature ; fuch as the firft beginning of things, their revo-
Jutions, periods, and final cataftro'phe.

But the fcience for which the Egyptians were particu- Magk*
larly famous, and the attainment whereof was efteemed
the higheft pitch o( knowlege, was magic. Some,
imagining the invention of ' this Jirt to exceed human ca-
pacity, pretend, the angels who fell in love with the an-
tideluvian women, firft taught it ; that Ham preferved
the principal rules of it at the deluge ; and that Mizraim
learned thefe fecrets of his father. But others afcribe
the invenrion to Hermes; though it is faid to have been
fnu<;h improved by Nechepfos, a king of i^gypt. How-
ever that be, the art was certainly very ancient in Egypt;
they had magicians, who pretended to the interpretation
of dreams ; and a way of divining by a cup, in the time
of Jofeph ; and very extraordinary inftances were given
of the power of inchantments in the days of Mofcs. The
^rofeflbrs of magic among the Egyptians were the priefts
and facred fcribes; two of which oi'der, named Jannes
and Jambres, were pitched upon to withftand that pro-
phet. Nor was this Science confined to that liation iti
thofe early times $ from the caution given by Mofes to
the Ifraelites againft them, it is evident, there were pre-
tenders to it under various denominations, among mod
of the idolatrous people ; and Balaam, ' in particular,
feems to have be6n a confiderable proficient therein.
The claim of Zoroaftres and the Babylonians to the ho-
nour of being the firft whopra6tifed and taught magic,
-fliall be confidered in another place.

What were the real grounds of this fcience we cannot
fay 5 there is an Innocent Wnd of magic, which confifts
only in an excelling krtowlege of nature, and its various
•powers and qualities, and the application of certain
agents, which, by force of fome peculiar qualities, pro-
tluce effefts very different from what fall under vulgar ob-
fervation and comprehenfion ; but the magicil wifdom of
the Egyptians according to Scripture, muft have been

fomethiug

250 Tthe Hiftory ofEg^t

fomething very different from this, or have gone much
beyond what wc arc now mafters of, notwithftanding
thofe vaft and various difcoveries which have been lately
made in the properties of natural bodies.
Amd^tkit Some of the other arts of the Egyptians, which were
^^^^ Icfs confiderable, wc have already occafionally taken no-

tice of- The Greek writers tell us, that in Egypt, no
trade, no profeffion, however mean, was reckoned ig-
noble ; hufbandmen, and thofe who fed cattle, in partii-
cular, were much confidered ; though the latter, in fome
parts of the country, were not fuffcred, but counted an
abomination ; the reafon of which was chiefly the differ-
ence in religion. For the ikill of the Egyptians in arch^
te£lure, mechanics, painting, and fculpture, we need
only refer to what we have faid in the preceding fe£lion.
As to the laft, their ftatuaries are faid to have worked by
the moft methodical rules of proportion, and not by the
eye, as the Grecians did ; and they judged of the exa£):-
nefs of the fymmetry by the fame. They divided the
whole body into twenty-one parts and one fourth ; and,
after the artifts who were employed had come to a refo-
lution as to the fize of the ftatue, they went home, each
taking his talk, which they performed with fingular fkill,
and made the feveral parts proportionable to one another,
with a furprifing exadnefs. It is faid, the moft famous
ftatuaries among the ancients lived fome time in Egypt ;•
particularly Telecles and Theodorus, the fons of Rhcecus,
who made the famous ftatue of Apollo Fythius in Samos,
after the Egyptian manner; for it was divided into two
parts, from the head to the groin \ Telecles cutting one
half in Samos, and his brother the other at Ephefus;
which, being joined together, fitted fo exa£lly, that they
feemed to have been made by one hand ; and this feemed
the more admirable, confidering the attitude of the ftai-
tue, which had its hands ftretched out, and its legs at a-
diftance from each other, in a moving pofture. It iftuft
be owned, however, that the ancient Egyptian ftatues,
ftlll extant, are extremely deficient in elegance and pro-
portion.
Ofthttr The veffels, which the old Egyptians made ufc of on

navigation the Nile, were of a particular conftru£kion j they were
^HikiNiU, made of the acantha, or Egyptian thorn; from which
were cut fmall planks, about two cubits fquare ; thefe
pieces of timber the artift fet together like tiles, and faf-
tened with a great number of long pins ; and when the
whole was thus well compared, he ere^ed benches for

the

ta the Time of Jlexander. 25JX

the rowers ; for they ufed no kind of ribs, or bent tim-
ber, in their work, but fecured the joints of the infide
with bands of papyrus. They^ad but one rudder, which
pafled quite through the keel, a maft of acantha, and a
fail made of the papyrus. Thefe veffels were very unfit
to go up the river againft the ftream, and therefore were
always towed up, unlefs the wind proved very frefh and
favourable. But when they came down with the current,
a hurdle of tamariik with a rope was fattened to the prow;
which hurdle they ftrengthened with bands of reeds, and
let it down into the water ; a ftone, pierced through the
middle, of a confiderable weight, was hung by another
jope, to the poop. By thefe means, the ftream, bearing
on the hurdle, carried down the boat with great expedi-
tion ; the ftone at the fame time balancing, and keeping
it fteady. Of thefe veflels there were great numbers on
the river, and fome very large. The Egyptian navigation
by fea we ftiall mention when we come to fpeak of their
trade.

The manner wherein the old Egyptians preferved their How t^g
knowlege, and tranfmitted it to pofterity, deferyes to be ^SJP^^^'
particularly confidered. Their priefts were the depofi- ^ikiir^^
taries of all their learning ; they had the care of their knowle^g.
philofophy^ and other fciences, as well as of their reli-
gion and facred rites j and were the perfons to whom
thofe who defired to be inftru£ted therein were obliged to
;ipply ; for which purpofes, they had divers colleges or
academies in feveral parts of the kingdom ; one of thefe
at Heliopolis, is mentioned by Strabo, who vifited the
apartments where Eudoxus and Plato had ftudied for fe-
:veral years. The Egyptian learning was partly infcribed
.on columns, and partly committed to writing in the facred
books. Not only the Egyptians, but feveral other an-
cient nations, ufed to preferve the memory of things by
infcriptions on pillars. We are told, the Babylonians
kept their aftronomical obfervations engraven on bricks ;
and Democritus is faid to have tranfcribed his Moral Dif-
courfes from a Babylonifli pillar. But the moft famous of
all others were the columns of Hermes in Kgypt, men-
tioned by feveral credible authors 5 upon them he is re-
ported to have infcribed his learning, which was after-
wards explained more at large by the fecond Her me j in
feveral books. It is certain, at leaft, that from thefe pil-
lars the Greek philofpphers and Egyptian hiftorians took
many things. Pythagoras and Plato both read them, and
l^ofrpwed their philofophy from thence i Sanchoniatho

and

152 The Hifiory ofE^pt

and Manetho likewife made ufe of the fame montifticnts,
which "were ftill remaining Jn the time of Proclus, or not
long before. They flood ^n certain fabterraneous apart-
ments near Thebes. To thefe infcriptions fuccecded the
facred books, fomewhat moi^e recetit, but not lefs famous^
to which Sanchdniatho and Manetho aie alfo faid to have
been beholden for the contents of their hiftories; for
thefe books not only contained what related to the wor-
ihip of the gods, arid the laws of th'e kingdom, but hifto-
rical colleftions, nay, even all kind of mifcellarieoas and
philofophical matters of confide rable moment ; for it was
part of the bufinefs of the priefts, or facred fcribesi, to in-^
fert in thofe public regifters whatever deferved to be re-
corded, and tranfmitted to pofterity^ as well as carefully
to prefcrve what had been delivered down to them from
their anceftors.

Thefe were the literary monuments of the Egyptians ^
fome that were^obvious and plain to be underftood by the
common people and ftrungers; and others, more dark
and myfterions, laid up in the inner recefles of the tem-
ple, and communicated to very few. For there were two
forts of learning among the ancients, and particularly the
Egyptians, the vulgar and the feci*ct. The 6rft was open
to all, who might be inftrufted therein by the public mo-
numents, and the ordinary matters ; but the other, Idft it
fliould grow cheap, or be corrupted by paffing through
vulgar nands> was veiled and difguifed by feveral me*
thods. The monuments of this fuperior fort of learning,
befides being hidden in the private apartments of the
temples, were written in a charader not commonly un-
derftood, and guarded by the priefts, who were eSttremely
diflicult of accefs, and could not be prevailed on to ex-
jphin them but after abundiince of preparation, and
initiatory ceremonies. Pythagoras, defigning to travel
into Egypt, defired Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, to re^
commend him by letter to Amafis, king of Egypt, whb
was his particular friend, that he might have the freer ad-
miflion to the fecret learning of the priefts. He obtained
alfo of Amafis letters to the priefts, ordering them td
communicate their knowlege to him. He went firft to
thofe of Heliopolis, who referred him to the college at
Memphis, as their feniors j and from Memphis he was
fent, under the fame pretext, to Thebes : after much ter-
giverfation, not daring to difobey the king's command by
any farther dilatory excufes, they endeavoured to deter
Pythagoras from his purpofe, by the infinite labour and

trouble

to the I'me of Alexander. z^j

trouble he was to expefl:, enjoining him, in his noviciate^
(hings that, are very hard, and contrary to the religion of
Ithe Greeks. And when he had undergone all this trial^^
with invincible courage, he obliged them at lengthy
againft their wills, to admit him to a participation of their
facred myfteries, and profound learning.

The laft method which the Egyptians took to conceal
their dpftrine from popular conception was, by wrapping
it up in hieroglyphics, fymbols, enigmas, and fables. It
is well known, that the ancients in general ufed to delivet
their inftruftions under thofe dark veils of allegory and fic-
tion; few or none in the moft early times, either among
the Greeks or barbarians, taught any part of philofophy
intelligibly ; they feemed to think, that, to exprefs things
in a familiar and eafy manner argued want of acutenefs \
or elfe imagined, that modefly forbad them to fhew truth
naked to the vulgar. The Egyptians feem to have exi-
celled other nations in the obfcurity of their fiftions \
wherein the footfteps of truth were often fo faint, that
they required a fagacious tracer, and one able to difcern
things of moment from trifles ^

In their infcriptions and writings, the Egyptians made
ufe of three feveral forts of characters ; the hrft, and mofl;
ancient, was that of hieroglyphical figures of various ani-
mal's, the parts of human bodies, and mechanical inftru-
ments ; of which three things, the hieroglyphics, both ,
of the Ethiopians and Egyptians, confifted 5 though there
is reafon to think the Egyptians had alfo another fort of
charafters, called hieroglyphical> and ufed by the priefts,
fomething refembling the prefent Chinefe charafters.
They are faid to have been the invention of Hermes^j and
a fpecimen of his performance therein is given us by
Sanchoniatho.

There are large coUeftions among the antiquaries of
hieroglyphical infcriptions, imagesj and piftures, which
they have taken a great deal of pains to explain, but with
Very little fuccefs ; for,' if we except .a few of thcfe cha-
rafters, the meaning of which has been preferved by 0I4

• De his vide Herodotus. Diodorus, ubi fupra. Prod, in
Tim. Pinton. lib. i, Diojp Laert. in Tbalet. Cicer. de Divinic.
lib. i. Plin. Nat. Hift. Kb ii. cap. is. ' Conring. de Hermet*
£gypttor. vet. & ParaceUina Nova Medicing;. Wotton*8 Reflec*
tkms on Ancient and Modern Learning, p. 119. Burnet *s
Arcbaeolog. lib. i. Sir Wm. Temple** ESlTay on the Wifdom o£

tiie Ancients.

writers

writers (U), there is great reafon to fufpeft their conjee*
tures are very ill founded, and particularly as to tho(e
figures which they fuppofe t© reprefent the old Egyptian
gods ; the greater part ot them being in human foriu,
with the head of fome animal, or elle diftinguifhed by
fome animal reprefentation fet upon their heads, or near
them ; whereas, images of human form were not intro-
duced among the Egyptians till later times ; and why fuch
figures might not be made in memory of fome of their
moft famous men, we cannot fee ; fince it was the old
Egyptian cuftom to reprefent not the man's perfon, but
his manners, charafter, ftation, and honour ; and thia
they did by hieroglyphics.

The Egyptians alfo ufed literal charaflers, of which they
had two forts ; one they called the facred letters, in which
th^ir public regifters, and all matters of an higher nature,
were written ; and the other the vulgar, or epiftolographic,
made ufe of by every one in common bufinefs. The Egyp-
tians were not the only people who obferved fuch a diftinc-
tionin their writing; feveral of the eaftem nations, parti-
cularly the Ethiopians and Babylonians, had two different
kinds of letters ; and the modern bramins, among the
Indians, have not only a facred charafter, but a facred
language alfo, in which they were very fliy of inftrufting
ftrangers.

When, and by whom, letters were invented, we ihall
not now enquire ; it will be fufficient to obferve, that,
though moft other nations are fuppofed to have received
them from the Egyptians, yet they themfelves, perhaps,
learned them of thcii* neighbours the Ethiopians : among
whom letters were in ufe very early. Both thefe forts of '
the old Egyptian letters are now loft ; or, if the forms of
them remain in any old infcriptions, they are unintelli-
gible. All that we know of them is, that the alphabet
confifted of twenty-five letters, and that they wrote from
the right hand to the left, as moft of the oriental nationsi
ftill do. We can, by no means, aflent to the opinion of
thofe who imagine the prefent Coptic letters have been
thofe of the ancient Egyptians \ for the Coptic alphabet is

• (U) Thus, we are told, they the dog, of Mercury ; the cat,

/eprefented the fupreme Deity, of the moon, or Diana ; the

by a ferpent with the head of beetle, of a courageous "warrior;

a hawk. The hawk itfelf a new-born child, of the rifing-

was the hieroglyphic of Ofiris; fun j and the like. . \

the river-horfe, of Typhon j

manifeftly

to the Time of Alexander.

rtiamfeftly nothing elfe but the Greek, with the addition
of fome few letters, to exprefe founds which the Grecian's
had not, and which probably came to be ufed in Egypt
after the time of^Alexander, though we know the Greek
language, and perhaps their letters alfo, were taught
there long before, in the reign of 'Pfammctichus. Ihat
the reader may judge of this affinity wc hav€ here in-
ferted the

^5S

COPTIC ALPHABET.

Figorc. Name. Power.

Figure. Name. Power,

I I

Htt

Alpha A.
Bita B. V.
Gamma G.
Dalda D.

Zita

Hita

Thita

lauda

Kappa

Lauda

z.
I. ^.

Th.
I.
K.
L.

M.
N.
X.
O fhort.

Pp
Cc
Tt

?»&

Sima
Tail

P.
R.

S.
T.

Ypfilon Y. U.

Phi

Chi

Shei

Fei

Khei

Hori

Janja

Ph.
Ch.Grac
O long.,
Sh.
F.
Kh.
H.

Shima Sh.
Dhei Dh.
Epfi Pf.

The Egyptian language is certainly one of the moft Oftluir
ancient in the world, and, in all probability, an original or ^»^«^'.
mother tongue. It was certainly a difttnft tongue, at
leaft fo early as the time of Jofeph, who, when he was
made governor of Egypt, had a new name given him of
Egyjrtian derivation ; and fpeaking to his brethren in l;hat
language, was obliged to make ufe of an interpreter ; and
yet this very language is, in a great meafure, preferved to
our own times in the prefent Coptic, though, by reafon
of the almoft Continual fubje£Hon of that nation to fo-
reigners, ever fince their conqueft by Cambyfes, a confidcr-
able part of it has been loft; in return for which, it has
received a great number of Greek, and fome Perfiah,
Latin^ and Arabic words^ during the long time they were

under

356 , The H0ory of £gypt

under the fucceffive governix^ent of tbofe natiotts. TW
Arabici at prefent> prevails fo univerfally in £gypt> that
the Copts, or native Egyptians themfelves, generally fpeak
no other, the common people having utterly l6ft the
knowlege of their ancient tongue, which few, even of
their priefts, underftand to any degree of perfeftion.

The Coptic tongue, at prefent^ confifts chiefly of the
old Egyptian and Greek ; ftill bearing evident m^rks of
primitive antiquity in its ftrufture and conftitution,
wherein it differs fo widely from all the oriental and
European languages, that it is impoffible to conceive it
derived from any of them. For the Coptsr neithex dc-*
cline their nouns, nor conjugate their verbs (not even
thofe of foreign extract), other wife than by prefixing par-
ticles fometimes of one or more fyllables, and fometimes
of a (ingle letter, which denote the cafe^ gender, number^
andperfonj feveral of them being often joined together
in one word> and the primitive word ufually placed laft.
So that the diflliculty of this tongue confifts in the incre-
dible combination of the words and particles, in the change
of the vowels, andin tranfpofing the middle part of the
word, and adding of fuperfluous letters j to diftinguUh
which requires great labour and ikilL
Of their Egypt is exccUcntly fituated for commerce, the trade

trade and of the weftem parts of Afia, all Europe, and the North,
'^^^^' 'y^^S open to it, by the Mediterranean fea 5 and that of
Arabia, Perfia, India, and the fouthern and weftem
coafts of Africa by the Red Sea ; the eaftem merchan-
dizes being commodioufly brought into Egypt on camels,
by the Ifthmus of Sues; it is to be prefumed fo induftri-
ous and fenfible a people were not long without making
ufe of thofe advantages ; not only from the profpeft of
gain, but alfo in order to fupply themfelves with thofe
things which their country wanted, fuch as metals, wood,
pitch, refin, &c. which they bartered for their own rich
produdlions and ma^iufaftures, fuch as corn, linen, pa-
per, glafs, and other valuable commodities. Sir John
Marfham fuppofes, that the Egyptians did not apply
themfelves to merchandize till the time of the Ptolemies j
but in this opinion he feems to be miftaken ; for though
thofe princes did very much encourage trade, recovering
that of the Eaft to their fubjecls, by building Berenice,
Myos Hormos, and other ports on tne Arabian gulph, fo
that Alexandria became the greateft mart in the world ;
yet the Egyptians certainly traded very confiderably with
ibreigners long before. Not to inSft 00 their claim to

the

Horn,

io the Time of Alexander. ^ 2 jy

tW firft invention of commerce, which, they fay, was
found out by Ofiris, their Mercury* Diodorus tells us,
that Pfammetichus gained great riches by trade, before he
was king of all Egypt ; and we learn from Scripture, that
the Midianites and Ifhmaelites traded thither fo early as
the time of Jacob : nay, it is prefumed, that they h^d
anciently the fovereignty of the Red Sea, by which means
they engroffed all the trade of India, and other parts,
which were then carried on that way. They feem, in-
deed, to have been difpoflefled of it, if what Philoftratus
relates be true, by a certain prince named Erythras
(whom fome iniagine to be the fame with Efau, or Edom) ;
for he, being mailer of the Red Sea, made a by-law, or
regulation, that the Egyptians fhould not enter that fea
with any ftiips of war, nor with more than one merchant-
fhip at a time. To evade which, the Egyptians built si
veffel fo large and capacious, as to fupply the place of
many. However, David becoming afterwards mailer of
Elath and Eiiongeber, two ports in the Red Sea belong-
ing to Edom, which he had conquered, built fhips there,
as fome fay, and fetched gold from Ophir ; but whether
that aflertion be true or no, Solomon, his fon, certainly
eftabliflied a ve/y great trade in thofe parts, which, it is ^
not improbable he might do by permifUon or connivance
of the Egyptians, to whofe king he was fon-in-law. And
this trade the Jews continued to (hare with them, not
without fome little interruption, till the time of Ahaz,
when they entire ly^ loft it : then it fell into the hands of
the Syrians, and afterwards devolved to the Tyrians, till
the Ptolemies recovered the whole again to their own
fubjedis.

Some writers have indeed exprefsly aflerted, that Pfam-
metichus was the firft king of Egypt who opened the ports
to ftrangers, and granted foreign traders fecurity in his ^
dominions ; and that the ancient princes, being content
with the abundant riches of their own country, would .
allow no ftrangers to enter, but fortified the frontiers
againft them, and particularly againft the Greeks. But
,this prohibition cannot be underftood of any other com-
merce than that which was driven by the Mediterranean, .
where the Greeks exercifed their piracies along the coafts
of Egypt. Being excluded on that account, they com-
plained of fuch treatment as a great injuftice, and an
attempt againft the law of nations, reprefenting the Egyp-
tians as a barbarous nation, which had renounced all hu-
manity and holpitality j ^ whence arofe the fable of the

Vol* L ' S cruelty

^58 ^e Hijfory of Egypt

cruelty cffBufiris ; for that the Egyptians traded before,
with other nations, is evident from the above mentioned
inftanc^ of the Midianitcs and Ifhmaelites, the eafy accefs
which Abraham and the fons of Jacob had to Egypt, and
from Solomon's having horfes from that country.

Toward the Greeks, indeed, they behaved with^fomc
caution and refer ve, even after they were admitted ; for,
after the time of Pfammetichus, though Amafis, whd
w^s their great friend, fuffered them to. build the city of
Naucratis, for the fettlement and refidence of their mer-
chants; yet that was the only place in* the whole king-,
dom where he allowed them to have a faftory. They
failed up to it by the Canopic mouth of the Nile (X) ;.and
if, by any accident, a Greek veffel entered any other
mouth of that river, the owners, making oatK that they
were forced into it againft their will, were obliged to go
back to that channel ; or, if the winds were contrary, to
unlade and fend up their goods to Naucratis by ttc river-
reflels.

Though the Egyptians, on a religious account, bore a
great averfion to the fea, which they called Typhon, be-
caufe it fwallows up their Nile, and hated failors fo much,
that they would not fpeak to them \ and though they were,
not fond of going out of their own country, for fear of
introducing foreign luxury and cuftoms, yet were, they
not ignorant of fea affairs, having an order of men among
them who followed nothing elfe ;. nay, the Greeks con-,
fefs, they learned navigation from them. Sefoftris bijiU
a formidable navy of four hundred fljips of war for his ex-
pedition to the fouthern feas ; and alfp a very large veffel
of cedar, two hundred and eighty cubits long (Y), gilt and
beautified with gold and filver, which he dedicated to
Ofiris. And it is to be prefumed they improved in this
art in fucceeding times •*.

b 0e his vidcPorphjrr. de Vit. Pythagor. p,i». Shuckford*8 Con-
ne6l-. vol. ii*p-33i* Kircher Oedip. Montfaucon«Antiq. Plutarch,
de Ifid. & Ofir. Clem. Alexand. Stiom. lib. v. p^ 555. Lucian
de Macrob. Burnet's Archaeolpg. Huet de Commerce et de la
Navigat, des Aaciens.

(X) Yet others make this
city of Naucratis to be a colony
'of the Milelians, and to fland
on the Bolbitic or Heracleotic
mouth of the Nile.

(Y) This Ihip muft vallly
es^eed 9,rxy ixiodern veflels ia

bulk, being near twice as big
as one of our largefl firil*
rates ; the length of the Royal.
Sovereign being no more than
175 feet on the middle gun-
deck ; and the breadth about
70 ffct by the beam.

SECT/

to the Tme of Alexander. 259

SECT. III.

Of the Egyptian Chronohgy to the Time of Alexander the

Great.

■fXr E fhall now proceed to the hiftory of the princes
^ who reigneVl in Egypt from the moft early times to
the final redu<9tion of the country by Alexander. But as
chronology is the light of hiftory, and without it the
moft exaft relations would be only a chaos of fafta
heaped together, we ought to fettle this point, before we
enter upon the hiftory of the Egyptian kings. Here the
guides we have hitherto followed, either quite forfake us>
or give us fuch information as we can by no means depend
on, having been themfelves grofsly impofcd upon by forged
records, or falfe traditions. The different tables of the
thirty dynafties which have been compofed from the old
Egyptian chronicle, and from Manetho, by Africanus and
Eufcbius, and the tables of the Egyptian kings, formed by
Jofephus, Eratofthenes, Syncellus, Herodotus, ^nd Dio»
dorus Siculus, are fo palpably fabulous, defeftive, inqon-
fiftent, and contradiftory that the perufal of them would
yield no fatisfaftion to the fenfible reader, and therefore
they are omitted. Nay, the difagreement between xht
feveral fucceffions of Egyptian kings, both in their names,
and the years of their refpeftive reigns, is fo great, and
there" are fuch chafms, and apparent corruptions and mif*
takes, in them all, that it would feem loft labour to at-
tempt to reduce them into. a chronological feries, fo as to
agree with one another, much leiTs with Scripture, and
the cTironoIogical obfervations of other hiftorians.

The film total of the thirty dynafties, according to the Ofthenum-
old chronicle, is pot only an immenfe number, vaftly ex- jf^(^^*^
ceeding the age oiF the world, but appears to be an aftro- ^^ ^ '^^*^'
nomieal calculation j by which the Egyptians wanted to
fliew that their dynafties have run through a whole pe-
riodic revolution of the zodiac ; and therefore we fhall
not offer to make any ufe of it. It may only be obferved,
that though this fum be faid to be the amount of the '
thirty dynafties, yet therein muft be included the 30,000
years which the Sun reigned, the 3984 years reign of Sa-
turn and the other twelve gods, and the 217 years reign
of the eight demi-gods 5 making, together, 34,201 years.
As to the fourteen firft dynaftics> which we conceive to

S2 b^

260^ TEe HtjUoty of l^gypf

6c omitted in the fragment we have remaining of tliis?
chronicle, the meaning of the original may perhaps be,
that the fifteen generations of the cynic circle, which arc
' placed in the table in the fifteenth d'ynafty, and reignei
443 years, make up the firft fifteen dynafties. This fup—
poiition feems to be confirmed by the fum total of the*
years of the fixteen laft dynafties, which amounts to 214a
years, and, with Ihe faid 34,201 years, makes 36,341 ^
to whieh if we add 184 years^ for the duration of the
twenty-eighth dynafty, the number of which is omitted,
we (hall have the complete fum of 36,525 : confequently^
deducing %hence the fum of the reigns of riie gods anrf
demi-gods, the remainder will be 2324 years,, for the du-
ration of the fucceeding dynaftiesi according to this chro-
nicle } which is a number reafonabk enough, though it
cannot be reconciled to the account of Manetho.
Oftht dy- Tbe fucceffions of Manetho have this additional corrup-
nafliesBf tion, that their order has been difturbed by tranfcribers (
Manttho. and as ia their prefent difpofition they cannot poffibly be
reduced to any one fyftem of chronology, fome have al-
tered that difpofition according to their various hypo-
thefes; while others make (hort work with them, and
abfolutely reje£l thcfe dynafties,, or great part of them a$
fabulous.

The credit of Manetho has been calleJ in queftion by
feveral writers *, not only becaufe of the incredible anti-^
quity to which his hiftory is fuppofed to have aicended^
but from the account which, it is faid, he himfelf gave
of the records from which he compiled. He pretends to
haveextraded it from certain pillars in the Seriadic land,
on which infcriptions had been made in the facred dia-*
left and letters, by Thoth, the firft Hermes 5 and were
tranflated after the flood, out of the fi&cred dialeft into
the Greek- tongue in facred letters, and laid up in books
by Agathodsemon, the fon of the feccmd Hermes, the fa-^
Aer of Tat, in the inner recefles of the Egyptian tem-
ples**. Now it is abfolutely impoffible, that the firft
Hermes, who lived in the earlieft ages of the Egyptian
monarchy, could write an hiftory of fo many generations
which came into the world after his death, unlefs he did
it by infpiration ; and if Manetho could be fo ftupid as to
make this aflertion, it muft neceflarily have overthrown
the credit of his whole work. But we do not think that

« Vide Jac. CapeU. in Hift. Sacr. & Exot. ad A« M. %%€q*
Vtillingf, Qrig. Sacr. ^ok i. chap, s.^ 10. ^« ^ Synceil. p. 40.

writer

to the Time vf Alexander. jz6i

tjrriter could mean any fuch thing: the words cited from
him do not fay he took his whole hiftory from thofe pil-^
lars ; though he might, probably, quote thofe records to
fupppr^ the ancient hiftory which preceded the time of
Thoth 5 and fuch pillars, or, at leaft fome pillars which
were of great antiquity, and by the priefts attributed to
Thoth, muft have been extant in the days of Manetho, or
he could never have appealed to them in fo public a man-
ner, efpecially in wHdng to his prince. It jnay alfo be
anfwered, that though ThotJi made the firfl: infcriptions
on thofe pillars, yet it is not impoflible but, in fucceeding
times, other infcriptions mighl "be added to thofe of Thoth ;
for the piflars might be in comnaon phrafe afcribed to
him, though tlae hiftorical infcriptions were continued af-
ter his death by others. But, after all, it may be quet-
tioncd, whether Manetho jreally intended to fupport his
hiftory by the authority of thofe j)illars^ the paflage
wherein he mentions them Jeem€<o iliaye been taken out
of another book of Lis^ called Sothisj or,Seth^ which was
not hiftorical, but prophetical. JF'or, in bis dedication of
that work to Ptolemy Philadelpliu^, he fays, that his in-
terpreting the facred books of Hormes was in obedience to
that prince's command, who iaqiured of him concerning
the Aiture events that werejto happen in the world S And
as to the records from whence he took his hiftory, we are ^ -
dfe where aiTured, it was compiled from the facred re^
gifters **, which were kept by the priefts, and written in
&e Eg^tian language^ iUxp^ he ^tranilated them into
.Greek.

The flron^r prejudice, fhercfore, -againft (he credit of
this writer, arifes from his chronology. The Egyptiansi^
it is true, |>retQnded to an exceffive antiquity, and to have
certain records for a prodigious length of time paft. This
claim appears not only from the old chronicle above men-
tioned, but from the extravagant numbers of years their
priefts impofed on Herodotus, Plato, and Diodorus (A);

but

c Syncel. p, 4.0. 1^ }o(eph. cont. Apion. lib. u p. i%i6»

Eufcb. Praep Ev. lib. ii« in pvoem.

(A) Some of thefe incredible accounts are as follow : years.
From Vulcan to Alexander, - - - - 48,863
From the reign of the Sun to Ailexander(i), - 23,000
From Ofiris to Alexander, .above ^ - » 1 0^000
Oralmoft .-.---. 23,000

(f) VideDiod. Sicul. lth.l.

S J From

262 The Hijioty of ^gypt

but Manctho feems to have been much more modeft.
The fum of his thirty-one dynafties from Menes to fifteen
years before Alexander (without taking the reigns of the
gods and demi-gods into the account), if cait up, will
amount to above 5300 years, which will reach higher
than the creation of the world. And Jofeph Scaliger •
has accordingly fettled their chronology in fuch a man-
ner, that, by his own way of reckoning, it exceeds the
epoch of the creation 1336 years. But there is a lefler
number mentioned by Syncellus, who fays, the account
of the years of all the dynafties was 3555 ; which is much
more reafonable than the other, and yet will agree with
no fyftem of chronology, unlcfs we take part of this num-
ber for the reigns of the antediluvian princes of Egypt.
Manetho, as we have already obferved, began his hiftory
with feven gods, and nine demi-gods, who reigned 1985
years ; and then fucceeded mortal kings, the firft of whom
was Menes : thefe three races feem to be the fame with
thofe called, in the old chronicle, Auritse, Meftraei, and
Egyptians. Now if we allow (as is moft reafonable, in
cafe there be any fliadow of truth in this part of the hif-
tory), that the gods, or Auritae, were antediluvians;
the demi-gods, or Meftraei, the poftdiluvians of the race
of Mizraim ; and the mortal men, or Egyptians, Menes
and his fucceflbrs 5 and if we allow 1 200 years, part of
the 1985, for the reigns of the firft, the remainder, 785,
will be the. years of the reign of Mizraim, and his dcr
fcendents; and, deducing the whole 1985 out of the
faid 3555, there will remain 1570 years, the diftance
from Menes to the fifteenth year before Alexander. This
way of computing would be plaufible, were it not that the
epoch of the Egyptian kingdom will, by this account, pre-
cede the difperfion of mankind ; which can hardly be fup-
pofed; unlefs it be allowed, that the Egyptians reckoned
the years of the government of their firft anceftors over

^ Canon. Ifagog. lib. ii. p. aiS,

From Hercules to Amalis (2^ • - ^ 17,000

From Bacchus to Amafis, , - - • i^,ooa

The gods and heroes reigned • - - 18,000
From Orus, the laft of them, to the 180th Olympiad, 1^,000

Kings of Egypt before Amafis reigned, - - 1 3,000

From their firft mortal kings to Sethon, - - ii«340

There were chronicles at Sais of (3) - - 8,000

(?) Herod, lib. ii. (3) Pl^to in TiAl.

their

to the Time af Alexander^ '263

their defcendents before they left Shinaar, and arrived m
Egypt. ' But the great objeftion of all is, that Manetho*s
number of 3555 appears to belong wholly to the fucceflbrs
lof Menes, and we have no maimer of warrant to make
any deduflion from it.

Some cbronologers, therefore, particularly Pather Te-
tau ^ (who took delight in contradiftihg Scaliger), rejeft
the whole fcheme of Manetho's dynaftiesas fabulous, and
of no manner of value or credit. And others s, to whom
Eufebius led the way in his canon **, omit the firft fixteen
dynafties only, and begin their chrpnology with the fe-
^enteenth 5 though fhey differ among themfelves in their
computations. The firft who, without rejefting any,
carneftly fet about reducing the entire feries to the Scripr
ture chronology, was the learned Sir John Marfham ^,
who firft guelTed, that thefe dynafties were not fucceflive,
but collateral. He fuppofes that Egypt, immediately
.after the death of Menes, was divided into four diftinft
.kingdoms, of Thebes, This, Memphis, and the Lowqr
Egypt, befides fome of leffer note, which arofe afterwards^
and whofe epochs are more difficult to l)e fettled; and
that it Continued fo divided for almoft feven centuries,
till the paftors made themfelves mafters of all, except that
of Thebes; at whofe expulfipn, about 500 years after,
Egypt became .fubjefl: 4:o one prince. By thefe means,
the duration of rthe whole empire, from Menes to the end
of the reign of Amafis, is reduced to 1819 years. It
muft be obferyed, that Sir John Marfham makes great ufe
of the. table of the Theban kings given us by Eratofthenes,
pi w^ich we fhall fpeak by-and-by.

The next who undertook to model this Egyptian chra-
nology is father Pezron, who^ by following the larger
chronology of the Septuagint, has more latitude;, and al-
lows the duration of the Egyptian empire 2619 years,
froiyi Menes to Neftanebus. This author likewife builds
on the fame foundation with Sir John Marfham, in mak-
ing the firft feventeen dynafties not fucce;ffive, but colla-
teral. He is of opinion that the Meftrseans, or offspring
of Mizraim, the firft inhabitants of Egypt, were thofe
whom their pofterity honoured with the titles of gods and

f DeDoft. Temp. lib. ix. cap. 15. Z Calvifius, Ufleriu8,&

Jac. Capellus, Perizonius efteems the firft fourteen or fifteen to be
fabulous. h Chron. Gr^c. p. 89. ^ In his Canon Chro-

nic us iCgyptiacus, &c.

S 4 .demi.**

demi-gods ; and that, though they began to people the
country, yet they formed no kingdom there till Menes,
yrho began his* reign 648 years after the deluge. Sefoftris
he places in the time or the judges of Ifrael, Deborah
then preGding over that people ^»

From the plans of thefe two great men, feveral other
chronological writers have formed fyftems of their own,
differing in fome refpe£ls from them, as well as from each
other. The chief care of them all is to fix the times of
Menes and Sefoftris, which when they have done, they
imagine the reft follows almoft of courle. The opinions,
as to thefe two princes, are fo various, that it would lead
us into too great a detail to mention them all in this
place ; and what we judge moft curious, and worthy no-
tice, in fiich difquiiitions, will be more properly intro^
tluced when we give their hiftories. One thing may ge-
nerally be obferved qf all thefe writers, efpecially with
refpeft to Perizonius, that they are much oftener in th^
right in refuting and deteding the errors ai;id miftakes of
one another, than in fettling or adjufting any thing of
their own that may be fafely relied on*

The fundamental hypothefis which all thefe writers go
upon, that there were, in the moft early times, feveral
kingdoms in Egypt at once, feems to be very probable,
the Scripture mentioning the kings of the Egyptians in
the plural, even fb late as the time of Jehoram K The
kingdoms of Thebe? and Memphis divided Egypt betweeq
them for feveral centuries 5 and it is certain, from Hero-i
dotus and ^Diodorus, that there were at leaft two kings in
that country at the time of the invafion of the Ethiopians
under Sabbaco. But it does not appear that Manetho
himfelf, though be wrote the hiftory of five Egyptian na-
tions "*, reprefented any of the dynafties he has given us,
collateral or contemporary; on the contrary, unlefs his
tranfcribera have done him more wrong than we have rea-
fon to fufpeftjj he placed them all in a continual fuc-
ceflion " ; and it is taking the utmoft liberty with Mane?
tho to alter it, uqlefs we charge the fault on the records
which he tranfcribed.

After Cambyfes had cari:ied away their records, the
Egyptian priefts, in all probability,- to fupply their lofs,
and keep up their pretences to antiquity, began to write

kPezron. Antiq.. dcs Temps rctablic, chap. 13. ^ » Kings,

vii. 6, mSyncclU p. 40. ^SeePerizon* Orig.

^gypt. p. 6*, ^c.

to the ^ime of Alexander. 26$

new annals, wherein they not only neceflarily made great
miftakes, but added a good deal of their own invention^
efpecially as to diftant times. From thefe materials, for
want of better, Manetho collcfting his hiftory, muft have
intermixed a good deal of fable* as there is indeed in the
antiquities of ail nations \ for it cannot be expected, that
people in the circumftances of thefe early nations, could
hav^ began to keep records till fome ages after their fet-
tlement. It is unjuft therefore to lay the whole blame of
the confufion and uncertainty we find in the Egyptian
hiftory at the door of Manetho 5 he collefled, for ought
we know, faithfully from the records he had ; and we
have fo little genuine remains of him, and what we have
has been fo mangled by tranfcribers and critics, that Ifits
found lefs difficulty in gathering the difperfed remains of
ber dead hufband, than it muft be to patch up a figure
which might bear fame refemblance of that hiftorian.
Several ancient writers, as Jofeph-us, Plutarch, Porphyry,
and Eufebius, looked on him as a writer whofe authority
was to be depended on ; and the curious fragment tran-
icribed from him by Jofephus, l^eforc his copies had beea
jCorrupted, feems to confirm this good opinion, being the
moft valuable and authentic piece of I^yptian hiftory of
fo great antiquity that is extant ; and the feries of kings
he exhibits, is a pretty exa<3; record, conne£l:ing, if there
be any credit in Manetho, the Egyptian and Grecian ^
hiftories, by acquainting us that Sethofis was ^gyptus,
and his brother Armais, Danaus*

The lift of Theban kings given by Eratofthenes has had Of the ea^
a very favourable reception among the learned, not only tahgue of
as a lupplement to Manetho, who has entirely omitted ^ratofikf"
that fucceffion, but as a certain foundation for fixing the "''*
Egyptian chronology. His authority has been preferred
to that of Manetho**, in regard he was no Egyptian
prieft, but a Cyrenean, a man of eminent learning, and
keeper of the Alexandrian library, and took his catalogue
from the facred records of Thebes p. Together with the
Egyptian names of the kings, he has given their interpret
tation in Greek, which thofe (killed in the Coptic tongue
allow to be juft in fome inftances ; but feveral of them
being corrupted and unintelligible, we have chofen to
omit them.

* Vide Mar(h4 Can^ Chron. p. 8. 26. 297. Cumberl. on Sanch*
p. 416. &(;• if Vide Syncell^.p* 147*

This

466 > The Hi/iory of Egypt

This fcrics IS fuppofed to be conneSed with a known
epoch ia the Grecian hiftory, by a remark of Diciearchus,
Ariftotle's fcholar, who fays, that 2500 years elapfed
from the reign of Sefonchofis, who fucceeded Orus, the
fon of ' Ifis and Ofiris, to the reign of Nilus ; and from
Kilus to the frrft Olympiad, 436 years "i. Who Sefon-
chofis was, is very uncertain ; the firft king of the twelfth
•dynafty of Manetho feems to have borne this name, or
one very near it ; but he muft have lived too late to be
the perfon here meant ; and if he be taken to be the im-
mediate fucceflbr of Orus, he muft have been one of the
demi-gods, and the fame with Ares, or Mai«, which
carries us back into fable. The firft of thefe obfervations j

\ therefore can be of no great ufe ; for the time of Sefon- j

chofis, after di.is way of reckoning, will precede the de-
luge, even according to the Samaritan chronology, near
, 700 years. But the other king, named by Dicaearchus,
is found in the catalogue of |Eratofthenes, the laft king
but one there being Phruron, or Nilus ; and therefore his
time being known, the years of all the preceding kings
are cafily adjufted to ahy fyftem of chronology. This
feems plaufible enough 5 yet are we afraid it will not al-
together agree with tbe account of Diodorus. It is plain
Dic^archus fuppofed Nilus reigned at the time of the
Trojan war, for his calculation will carry us up thither;
tut according to Diodorus, Nilus muft have been feveral
generations later than Proteus, who reigned in Egypt at
the time of the Trojan war, by the joint teftimony of him
and Herodotus ' ; fo that Dicsearchus feems only to have
given a tolerable guefs . at his age, and not fixed it with
fuch certainty as to enable us to determine it within a
century at leaft. Befides, it is more than probable, that
this table of Eratofthenes has fufFered by time and tran-
fcribers, as well as the dynafties of Manetho ; and there
are doubtlefs feveral miftakes in the ntimbers as well as
names; the fum total, for example, which Syncellus
reckons to be 1075, will not agree with the particulars;
for if carefully caft tip, they amount to no more than

^/*J^' A3 to the feries of Syncellus, on which Sir John Mar-
^UJJJ; '^** (ham built njuch •, we have a worfe opinion pf it

qDicaearchus, apud Scholiaft. Apollon. Argon, lib, iv. ver. ^j%,
' r Biodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 56. Herod. Hb. ii. cap. ii^r ^ Vide

Can. Chron. p. 7^

than

to the Time of Alexander. 267

than of any of the other, efpecially in the more early
ages, where it is fupportcd by no concurring evidence
at all. He fcems to have compofed it by picking here
and there fuch names and numbers, and fometimes
adding both out of his own head, as he fancied, in or-
der to accommodate it to the facred chronology ^

We need not fpend many words to fliew that it is next Of thifuc*
to impoffible to frame a confiftent chronology ", from the cejffions ac-
fucceffions of kings in Herodotus and Diodorus. For be- S^^'X'*
fides their irreconcileable difagreement in feveral in- gg„j ])i^
fiances, they confeffedly omit a great number of princes, dortum
and mention no years of the reigns of others; fo that
fuch chafms are left, as no body can tell how to fill up ;
and their manner of reckoning by defcents, or generations, ,

is too vifibly uncertain'. Before Pfammetichus, the
Egyptian chronology is very dark ; and though after. that
prince's time it begins to clear up, yet the variations be-
tween all the hiftorians fince his reign are confiderable.

We fhall not therefore wafte our time in compofing an
hypothetical fcheme of thefe kings of Egypt; of fuch
performances there are choice already; and they are
much more eafy to frame than to fupport : calculations
by numbers of years, which are fo liable to miftake and
corruption, mull needs be very precariotls ; and it fcem$
much more reafonable to rely on the coincidence of fadis,
and hiftorical fynchronifms, from which chiefly we ihall,
in the courfe of our hiftory of Egypt, endeavour to fix the
times of events. This we think is the moft that can be
done with any degree of certainty; for it is amazing to
us, that men fhould pretend to adjuft the Egyptian chro- .
nology, from the moft early times,, to fo great a nicety as
a few years, and diflate dogmatically in a matter of fuch
abfolute uncertainty and confufion.

t Vide Perizon. Orig. ^^p. p. 531 &c. o Vide Conring*

adv. Cbronol. cap. 1 7, iS. Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. lib. i. cap. 5.

SECT*

a68 The Hjftory of Egypt

^ E C T. IV.

The Hifiory ofOfiris^ IJts^ Typhon^ arid Oru$»

15EFORE we enter upon the hiftory of the mortal kings
^ of Egypt, we aare in fome manner obliged to infert
the following dark and ancient fi£tion. Oiiris and Ids
were faid to oe the fon and daughter of Saturn and Rhea^
but, according to others, their grandibn and grand*-
daughter, being defcended from Jupiter and Juno, who
bad a deity born to them on each of the five intercalarj
days of the Egyptians. Thefe five deities were called
Ofiris, Ifis, Typhon, Apoilo, and Venus". We have
their origin and generation again differently, and with
the feveral particulars, related as fpLlows ; Sol, furpri£-
ing Rhea in a private congrefs with Saturn, prayed that
ihe might not be delivered in the fpacc of any one month,
or day of the year. Mercury, afterwards, falling in
love with the goddefs, embraced her z)£o 4 and beating
Luna at dice, took from the lunar year the. fevqnty-
fecond part of every day, and compoiCed five days, and add*
ing them to the year* of three hundred and fixty days^ that
<he might bring forth in them ; and thefe they celebrated
as the birth-days of Ofiris, Ifis, Typhon, Orus, and
Nephthe. On the firft day Ofiris was born^ and at his
birth a voice was heard crying out, '^ the lord of all
things is come into the world ;'* x>r, according to others, a
damfel called Pamyles, going to fetch water from th^
temple of Jupiter at Thebeis, hearing a loud voice com*
tnanding to proclaim, ^* the great and beneficent king
iDfiris is born/^ He was delivered to this damfel, who
was direfted to nurfe him ; which (he did with all the ve-
neration due to fuch a charge, performing the myfteries
called Pamylia, like thofe flyled Palephoria, in honour of
the infant. On the fecond day Arueris was brought forth^
whom fome called Apollo, and others the elder Orus.
The third was the birth-day of Typhon* who came not
into the world in proper time and place, but by a violent
eruption leaped out of his mother's fide. On the fourth
day Ifis, and on the fifth Nephthe, ov, Nephthys, faw the
ligiit ; which lafl was alfo called Finis, and Venus, and
Vj^oria. Sol was the father of Ofiris and Arueris ^

• Diodorus Siculut, iib, i. p. 13*

Mercurjr

to the Time of Alexanidr.

Bfercury of Ifis v and Saturn of Typhon and Nephthe.
The third, being the birth-day of Typhon, was counted
inaufpicious, or unlucky ; fo that the kings thereon fuf-
pended all bufinefs, and abftained from eating and drink-
ing. Nephthe Jtiarried Typhon, and Ifis efpo'ufed Ofirisr
As for thefe laft, it is faid, that, enticed by a mutual
love, they embraced whilft yet in their mother's womb j
and it was thought, that Arueris, the elder Orus of the
Egyptians, and the Apollo of the Greeks, fprang fron\
that early conjundion (B). Ofiris no fooner obtained
the kingdom of Egypt, than he reclaimed the inhabi-
tants from their fevage and brutal way of living, (hewed
them the fruits of die earth, and inftituted divine wor-
Ihip * : building the city of Thebes^ and erefting feveral
temples, among the reft, one to Jupiter Urahius, and an-
other to Jupiter Ammon, his father, who reigned before
him y : but, that his^ beneficence might not be confined to
the bounds of his own country, he undertook to vifit the
feveral nations on' the earth, all which he civilized, not
by the forcible conftraint of arms, but by dint of perfua-
fion, and by the allurements of mufic and poetry ^. Hia

16^

x Vlut. de I(id« k OHrid. p. 35^
* Plutarch, ubi fapra.

y Diod. Sicul. ubi fupra.:

(B) Herodptus gives theni
a daughter Bubaflis, or Diana ;
and leems to have heard the
ftory of thefe fabulous princes,
with fome variation from what
Is related by Diodorus and Plu-r
tatch, the only authors ex-
tfeant who have written this fic-
cioQ at length*^ And particu-
larly, fpeaking of the floating
siland Chemmis, near the city
of Butus, he writes that, by
an Egyptian tradition, Lato-
sia, one of the primary deities,
cefiding at Butus, had Orus
committed to her care, at a
time when Typhon was in
fearch after him to deftroy
him; and flie accordingly con-
cealed him in the abovefaid
ille» Now, according to Plu-

tarch, Typhon was kept with-
in bounds by the prudence
of Ifis during all the^expedi*
tion of Ofiris j with which acT
count this violent proceeding
cannot confiit : and Herodotus
does not in the leail hint at
this fearch afterwards. Dio-
dorus fays Orus accompaniedt
his father in his travels ; he
was therefore out of the reach
of his enemy ; and after his
father's murder, this author
fays, he was fo far from flying
from Typhon, that he made
head againft him, overcame
him in battle, and flew him*.
It appears then, that Herodo-
tus heard this fiction related
in a third and di&rent man«^
ncr(i).

(i) Herodotu<» librii. c. \%^^

fetting

2 7^ Ithe Hiftofy of Egypt

fetting out,, and the more remarkable particulars of hf^
travels, are thus narrated.

Having in \\tw the vaft and beneficial defign above
mentioned, . he raifed a great number of followers,
amongft whom was his brother Apollo, who claimed the
laurel as facred to him, as the ivv was to Ofiris. He took
alfo his two fons with him, Anuois, and Macedo. Thefe
two wore coats of mail, and over them the fkins of fuch
beads "as correfponded with the nature of their courage ;
fo Anubis had a dog's fkin, and Macedo the ikin of a woif ;
and hence, faid they, the dog and the wolf were wor-
fliipped in Egypt. Pan alfo was of the company ; he was
afterwards highly revered over all the country, infomuch-
that he had not only ftatues and temples erefted to him,
but alfo the city of Chemmis, which fignified Pan's city.
Add to thefe Maro, famous for planting and dreffing of
vines ; and Triptolemus for fowing corn, and gathering
in the harveft. Finally, Ofiris took with him nine vir-
gins, proficients in mufic, who being committed to the
care of Apollo, he thence obtained the title of mailer of
the. nine fillers, or Mufes ; fome fatyrs he met as he went
towards Ethiopia, who were acceptable for their jocund
difpofition, and diverting by their antic behaviour, fldp-
ping, and dancing.

But, before he left Egypt, he provided againft any dif-
turbances that might arife in his abfence, by committing
the adminiftration to trufty and fagacious perfons. He
invefted Ifis with the regency, in which he left his friend
Jlermes to affift her. Hermes was alfo called Mercury,
Thoth, Thoyth, Tauautes, Trifmegiftus, and by other
names. It is a common opinion, that there were two
perfons, or more, who bore thefe fisveral appellations;
but, leaving the difcufiion of fo dark a point, we will here
fpeak of them as one perfon, and enumerate the inven-
tions and books afcribed to him. He invented articulate
founds, appellatives, letters,, religion, aftronomy, mufic,
wreftling, arithmetic, ftatuary, the three-ftringed lyre,
and the ufe of the olive. He was ftyled the father of elo-
quence, and thence be derived his name of Hermes, the
interpreter or fpeaker *. As to the books he wrote, Se-
leucus reckoned them at no left thaa twenty thoufand \
And Manethp exceeds him, computing them at thirty-fix
thoufand five hundred and twenty-five *^. This number

a Diodoru9 Siculut, lib. i. p. 14, &c. ^ Seleuc. apud Jamb*

lich. d« MylU ^7pt« kGt, ^ f ap» u ^ Mafict^o, apud cimd. ib.

to the Time of Alexofider. ' 2^7 1

is fo* enormous, that it has been a ftumbling-block to tRot
learned. Therefore fome have fuppofed thefe computa-
tions to refer to verfes, others to leaves 6f the papyrus j. 3
and others again to fuccindi difcourfes and proverbs. But
Clement of Alexandria will lead u» out of this labyrinth^
by the following account of an ancient Egyptian procef-.
fion ; the firft that advanced, fays he, was a chanter, or
finger, who bore fome fymbol of mufic ^ his bufinefs was
to receive two of the books of Mercury, or Thoth ; of
which one contained hymns to the gods, and the other
rules for the kiiig to obferve. Secondly, an aftrologer,
bearing a dial, and a palm, which were iymbols of aftro-
logy ; he was obliged to have the four aftrological books
of Mercury by heart ; the firft of which contained the
places of the fixed ftars, and the three others treated
of the fun and moon, their eclipfes, illuminations, rifing,
and fetting. Thirdly, an hierogrammateus, or facred
£cribe, with a feather on his head, bearing a book and a
rule, in which were ink,, and a reed to write with ; he
■was verfed in the fubjeft of ten books: the ift. treated of
hieroglyphics, ad. Of cofmography. 3d. Of geography.
4th. Of the order of the fun and moon. 5th. Of the
five planets* 6th. Of the chorography of ]f gypt. 7th.
Contained a defcription of the Nile. 8th. A description
of the facred utenfils, and of the places confecrated to-
them. 9th. Treated of meafures ; • and the loth of
vrhatever was neceflary in the Egyptian worfhip. Fourth-
ly, a ftoliftes, a kind of fokmn marlhal, holding the cu-
bit of juiftice, and a cup for libations ; he knew whatever
concerned the inftitution of youth, and the fealing of
viftims. The whole Egyptian religion was comprehend-
ed in ten books; the ift. related to the facrificesj the
2d. to firft-fruits ; 3d. to hymns \ 4th to prayers ; 5th.
to proceffions ; 6th. to feftivals ; and the other four to
the like fubjefts. Fifthly, and laft of all, came the pro-

f)het, bearing a water-pot openly in his bofom, and fol*
owed by thofe who carried the proceffional bread ; he,
as prefiding over the temple, ftudied the ten books called
facerdotal, which fpoke of the laws, the gods, and the
nrhole difcipline of the priefthood. Here we have an ac*
count of thirty-fix books of Hermes 5 befides which he wrote
fix more, which treated of anatomy, difeafes, medicaments^
and the like j fo that he was author of forty-two in all **.,
This is a more rational account. But to return from

' Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. vi. p. 63211

whence

i;^ 7he Hifiofy of E^t

whehce wc digrcffed, this fagacious perfon, or one of rt^
fame character, was left behind to aflift Ifis in the go*'
vcrnnient of the kingdom.

Moreover, Hercules . was appointed over the forces at
home ; and Antaeus, Bufiris, and Prometheus, were con-
ftituted governors over feveral provinces. Ofiriffi having
thus feltled affairs in Egypt, began his progrcfs, moving
firft towards Ethiopia, in this country he raifed the
banks of the Nile, and dug feveral canals, to prevent the
too frequent inundations, and to abate and diftribute the
waters of the Nile. Whilft he was thus employed in
Ethiopia, the Nile broke down its banks in Egypt, and
overflowed great part of the country with fo furious and
fo fudden a tide, that it fwept away all before it, and
drowned great multitudes Of people, doing particular
damage in Prometheus's Jurifdiftion, whereat he waa
grieved almoft to defpair. But Hercules foon drained off*
the waters, and thence is faid to have {hot through the
eagle which preyed on Prometheus's heart ; for the fud-
dennefs of this flood was compared to the flight of an
eagle, and the river from thence was fometimes called
after that bird. But to return to Ofiris ; he inftru£ied the-
Ethiopians, in all rural matters, and, having built them
feveral cities, he departed, leaving fonie pcrfons behind^
him to zGt as his governors, and others to gather in his
tribute. From Ethiopia he went into Arabia, and thus
continued his travels till he had advanced beyond India.
In India he built feveral cities, particularly Nyfa, which
he fo called from the place where (according to fome) he
was bred up. Here he planted the ivy, which was no
where elfe to be found in India ; and left fo many monu*
ments of himfelf behind him, as afterwards gave room to
difpute, whether he was not originally of this part of the
world. Having furveyed all Afia, he croflled the Hellef-
pont, and, landing in Thrace, killed Lycurgus, the king^
of the country, who oppofed his progrefs. Here he left
Maro to cultivate the land, and commanded him to build
a city, and call it, in derivation from his own name,
Maronea. Afterwards he bellowed on his fon Macedo
the country of Macedon, which borrowed its name from
him ; and Tripto]emus had charge of Attica. At length
Ofiris returned back into Egypt, laden with the choiceft
produdions of the earth, and with the blefEngs of the
whole race of mankind, who confented to his deification.
But his brother Typhon flew him foon after his arrival,
and cut his body in twenty-fix pieces^ giving one to each

■ to the Itime o/AUxanJeK ^73

tftiis accomplices ^ It was thus that fome fpoke con-
cerning the death of Ofiris j but the ftory was alfo told
after the following manner : Typhon, hearing that hi&
brother was on his retunij entered into a confpiracy with
feventy-two pcrfons, exclufive of the queen of IJthiopia,
(railed Afo, to kill him ; and, privately taking meafure of
Ofiris's body, he ordered a very magnificent coffin to be
l^fiade, and brought home to him as he was entertaining
his friends. This was done, and his guefls failed not to
take notice of the coffin, and admire it. Whereupon
Typhoni in a jefting way, told them, that the perfon
amongfl: theni who completely filled it ftiould have it.
Several of the company tried, .but to no purpofe, till Ofi-
ris went into it, which he had no fooner done, than they
fliut the lid, and locked the coffin. Then pouring melted
lead over it, they conveyed him to the Tanitic mouth of
the Nile, and there threw him into the fea ; and, on this
account, that entrance of the river was abhorred by the
Egyptians. This cruelty was tranfafted on the feven-
teenth day of the month Athyr, in which the fun went
through the Scorpion, and in the twei(^-eighth year of
the reign of Ofiris ; or, as fome will have it, of his life.
When the Pans and Satyrs told it to the men, they were
feized by that fudden confternation which hath ever
fince borne the name of panic fear. Ifia, hearing the
fad tidings, cut off a lock of her hair, and, fetting put '
in deep mourning from the city of Coptus, vent in quefl:
of the body of Ofiris. In her progrefs, ft^ afted all ihe
met, if they had feen the coffin, &c beard of it i but {he
enquired in vain, till certain children, who had feen Ty-
phon*$ friends carrying it, gave her fpme information*
Hence the Egypliaris held children to be endued with
a predi£^ive faculty, and drew conjis£(:ures from what they
fdd whilft playing in temples.

Ifis knowing that Ofiris had, by miftalfte, lain with hi^
fifter Nephthe, and that (he had expofed a fon (he had by
him, through fear of Typhon, refolyed now to feek after
the infant ; and having, in the fearch, undergone mucb
fatigue, ihe w^s guided, at laft, by dog$ to the plac^
where he was. He afterwards fervcd her for a guard and
companion, and was called Anubis. He was thought ta
have guarded the gods in the fame manner as dogs tak^
care of men. At length (he came to underftand, that the
coffin was thrown up hy the fea> and lodged in a tuft of

« Diodorijis 6lcuius» vhi ^^xh p*, 1% tsc,
Vol. L T broom,

2 74 ^^^ Hiftory of Egypt

broom, br heath, at Byblus ; and that the broom fiad
fuddenly fp routed up with a large ftalk, which enclofed
and concealed it from fight. Therefore {he repaired
thither, and, to pafs over the methods fhe pra£tifed to
poiTefs herfelf of the cofiin, fhe there obtained it. When
ftie firft caft her eyes on it, fhe cried with fo loud a voice
as flruck the king of Byblus^s youngefl fon dead ; for fhe
had infinuated herfelf into his family, as the mcA ready
means to obtain what fhe wanted ; he having raifed a
building over the broom which hid the coffin. With his
eldefl fon and the coffin fhe flraitways embarked ; and, in
/ her paflage, dried up the Phxdrus, provoked by a blafl of

wind which blew from the mouth of that river as fhe
failed by, about break of day. Being now private, and
at leifufc, fhe opened the coffin, and, laying her face to
the face of the deceafed, bathed it with her tears. As
fhe was thus giving vent to her grief, the king's fon, fhe
had brought away with her from Byblus, came behind
her, and faw what fhe was doing ; whereat enraged, fhe
turned on him with fo dreadful a countenance^ as fright-
ened him to death. Some faid he leaped into the fea.
This is fuppofed to be Maneros. She brought the body
to Butus, and hid it ; but Typhon, huntmg by moon-
light, fell on it, and tore it into fourteen pieces, which
he fcattered abroad. Ifis then traverfed the lakes and
watry places in a boat made of the papyrus, feeking aftcf
the limbs of Ofiris. Whence it was held, that thofe who
trent on the water in boats made of that wood, were in
no danger from crocodiles, who either revered or dreaded
the goddefs. In whatever place fhe found a limb, fhe
there buried it ; for which reafon there were many tombs
afcribcd to Ofiris; but others faid, fhe made feveral
figures of his body, and prefented them to as many cities,
pretending to each, that they had the original, and fo
eflablifhed his worfhip in many places ; and made it diffi-
cult for Typhon to find out the right monument, in cafe
lie fhould ever get the fuperiority, and continued in his
implacable malice againfl Ofiris ^ This burial was alfo
related after a third maimer. The author from whom
we took the firfl account of his death, reports that Ifis
collefted the twenty-fix pieces of his mangled body,
joined them, and embalmed them ; and afterwards pre-
vailed on the Egyptian priefts to confent to, and pro-
mote his deification^ in confideration qf a a third part of

< Plutarchi ubi fupra, p. 357, 358.

Egypt,

to the Time of Alexander * . ^75

Egypt) which ihe gave them ; and they buried him at
Memphis. But the place of his burial was a matter of
great difpute and eontroverfy ; though fome produced the
following infcription in facred chara£iers, which they
faid was on a pillar in Arabia :

•* Saturn, the youngeft of all the gods, was my father*
** I am OfiriS) that king who led an army ^s far as the
** deferts of India, and from thence northward as far as
** the fprings of the river Ifter, and thence quite to the
" ocean. I am the eldeft fon of Saturn, fprung from a
" noble ftock, and of generous blood ; couiQn to the Day.
** Nor is there a plate where I have not been, I, who
*• freely difpenfed my benefits to all nxankind."

Ifis, after the moft diligent fearch, could never recover
the privities of Ofiris, which, being thrown into the river,
were devoured by the lepidotus* the fquameus, the pha-
grus, and oxyrynchus, which four forts of fifh the Egyp-
tians hated upon that account ; but (he made ample
amends for this lofs, by inftituting a kind of feparatc
worfliip, which was devoutly and univerfallypaid to th
image of that part.

There were various reports concerning the aSions of
Ifis and Orus after the death of Ofiris, as alfo relating to
Typhon. And firft it was affirmed, that they overcame
him in battle, and flew him^. Secondly, he was faid to
have been thunderftruck by Jupiter, apd plunged under
the lake Sirbon ^ (C), thence called Typhon's exhala-
tions

s IHod. Sic. ubi fupra, p. 79. ^ ApoUon. Rhod. Argo. lib*

xi. & Herodot. lib. iii. cap. 5.

Siculus, the lake or bog Sir- thereon, and, by degrees,

bon, Serbonis, or Selbonis, formed a loofe flcin, or cruft

under Mount Cafius, was two over it; which, though weak,

hundred furlongs in length, was fufficient to deceive the

very narrow, but very deep, eye of the wandering traveller.

Many, miftaken in their road, who no fooner fet foot upon it,

nay, whole armies, mifguided than he felt it give way under

in their march, have been him, and was irrecoverably loft,

fwallowed up in it. The ftiore It was alfo called Barathra, or

all round it confined of heaps the profound gulphs* But it

offand, which the winds blow- has from time to time dc-

ingovcr thefurfaceofthcbog, creafed in extent; for Pliny

X a fpeaks

2 7fr ^^^ Utfiory of Egypt

tions K Thirdly, it was aflerted, that Ofiris, afccnding
from the infernal regionS) inftru£led Orus, and prepared
him to war with Typhon ; and that after a battle, which
continued feveral days, this laft was made prifoner. But
Ifis reftoring hiim to his liberty, Onis w^s fo enraged, that
he tore off the royal attire from her head, when Mercury,
being prefent, cl^ed bcr on a helmet made of an ox^s
head. Tyjdwn atterwards renewed the war twice ; but
was both times vanquiibed S ^^^i being no longer able
to withftand, or make head againft his enemies, concealed
himfelf under the above mentioned lake Siibpn ^ Ofiris,
moreover^ appeare4 to Ifis, and had a fon by her, cabled
Harpocrates ; but he proved weaV and innrm. H^re
Plutarch breaks off, and, afiuring us that his is the genuine
ftory, proceeds to explain away the whole into an alle-
gory **. But Diodorus continues his account to the death
of Ifis and Orus, to this efFed. Ifis^ having thus quelled
her enemies, reigned with great prudence, juftice, mo-
deration, and beneficence : and, becaufe of her great and
conftant affeftion towards Ofiris, which appeared in no-
thing more than in the Vow ihe made of widowhood ; a
liaw was enabled, which allowed of the marriage-con-
traft between brother and fitter : from the fame fource
fprung the cuftom of preferring the queen before the
king, and the wife before the humand* At laft (he died,
antl was buried at Memphis, as the common opinion was;
but this alfo was difputed. And particularly thofe who
laid a ftrefs upon the above inferted infcription, affirmed,
there was another pillar, near the former, in Aratbia,
infcribed with the following words in facred charaders :

I, Ifis^am the queen of this country, and was tutored
by Mercury* What I have ordained, no one may
make void. I am the eldeft daughter of Saturn, the
*• youngeft of the gods. I am the fitter and wife of king
*' Ofiris. I am flie who firft found com for the ufe of
*^ man. I am the mother of king Orus. I am flie who.
*' ^rifeth in the dog-fiar. The city of Bubaftus was built
** in honour of mc Farcwcl \ Rejoice, O Egypt, my
•* nurfing mother " I

^ Plutarch, in Vita Antonii, p. 91S. k Idem de Ifid. k Ofirid.
ubi fupra. 1 Herodot. ubi fupra. » Plut, ubi ftipra^

'^ Diod. Sic. ubi fapra.

ipcaks of it as a fmall place to its place being no more to be
what it had formerly been; found*^
9ad it is now quite choaked up,

She

U the Time ofAkxanikr.

SheTiad a ftatcly temple crefled to her at the city of
Bufiris^ fituate near the middle of the Delta *.• fome re-
mains of which are thought to be ftill (landing (D).

There is nothing faid of Orus any farther, than that he
was the laft of the gods and demi-gods p 5 and therefore
live here conclude this falMiIous or myft^fious fedlion.

^77

^ Herodot. lib. H. cap. 59,

p Idem ibid. ^ ap. 144*

(D) Take the delcripdon «ach face of this pillar there i«

4nd accouftt of theie ruins in
the author^ own words : *^* I
here faw the remains of one
of the fined, vailed, and mod
aiurient temples of £gypt. All
the dones are of mod enormous
length and tbicknefs, and all
of granite. They are, for the
fnod part, adorned with fculp-
tures in relievo, which repre-
fent men and women, and all

alfo carved the head of a wo-
man bigger than the lifiii.
Thefe fculpturcshavc not been
in the lea^ injured by time^
nor by the fun, nor by the
Arabs, — It ieems to be more
than probable that this temple,
whofe remains I have here
defcribed, was the very temple
of the goddefs Ifis ; and that
the city of Bufiria, mentioned

forts of hieroglyphics. Many by Herodotus, is now the very

<^thiefedonesbear the image town of BahAbeic, dtuated in

of a man danding upright^ the middle of the Delta, near

with a long peaked cap on his Sebennytus, or Sammanud.

head, and holding a goblet or My opinion is the more ra*

bowl in each hand, which ke tional, inthatthroughoughtall

prefcnts to three or four young theidand it was never heard,

women, which ftand alfo up- nor known, that any monu-

right, one behind another.
Thefe young women have each
of them a javelin in one hand,
and a daff (horter than the ja-
velin, in the other; and on
each of their heads is a ball
between two long taper horns*
Others of thefe dones are
embellidied with hieroglyphi-
cal reprefentatioos of birds,
fidies, and terredrial animals.
A lofty and very fubdantial
pillar of fitie granite, having
each of the four faces of its
upper part wrought with four
angular dutings or notches,
feems to have been erected to
fupport the arcades and vaults
err this fumptuous edifice. On

(1) Nouv. Mem. dcs Miflions de la Comp^ de JeC dans de Le-
vant, torn. ii. p. ii7« & feq,

T 3 SECT.

ment of marble or done, either
little or big, was ever found
there that could fuit with any
other deity t^an tibe |;oddeis
Ifis.— Thefe ruins, vAxxch are
near to Bahabeit, are about
zooo paces in circumference.
They are about a league from
the Nile, about two or three
leagues from Sammanud, and
about twenty-five or thirry
leagues north of Kahira.
There is neither brick, nor
plaider, nor morter, nor com-
mon done, amongd thefe rcr
liques : there is nothing to be
feen but great blocks of gra^
mte(i).

278

7he Hiftory of Egypt

MeniSf or
Mettas.

S E C T. V.

The Reigns of the Kings of Egypt. '

Tl/T. E N E S, or Menas, is univerfally agreed to have
-^^^ been the firft mortal who reigned over Egypt (E). In
his time the whole country, except Thebais, was a
morafs ; and no land appeared between the lake Moeris
and the Mediterranean, which was fcven days pafiage on
the river. He diverted the courfe of the Nile, which
before wafhed the. foot of the fandy mountain towards
Lybia, and built th^ city of Memphis within the an-
cient bed of the river. On the north fide of it he made
a lake, and on the weft another, both without the walls,
and both fed by the Nile, which flowed along the eaft
iide of the tpwn ; and, in the city itfelf, he built the
famous temple of Vulcan *5. He was the firft that inftruft-
ed the, Egyptians in religious matters, that introduced
domeftic magnificence and luxury, and that inftituted the
ppnip of feafl[s $ pn which account his memory was loaded

« Herodot. lib. ii. cap. 99.

(E) Sir Ifaac Newton, in
oppofition to all the chrono-
logers who have written before
him, is of opinion, that Sefof-
tris was Ofiris, places Menes
after him, and, in confequence
thereof, tranfpofes the ferics
of the kings of Egypt, men-
tioned by Herodotus, after
this manner; Sefoftris, Phe-
ron, Proteus, Menes, Rhamp-
finitus, Moeris, Gheops, Cc-
phren, Myccrinus, Nitocris,
and the reft in the fame order
as they ftand in Herodotus.
He fuppofes Menes to be the
fame with Amenophis and Mem -
non, and that by corruption
he was called Menes, Mines,
Minaeus, Minies, Minevis,
Enephes,Venephes, Phameno-
phis, Ofymanthyas (Oliman-
dyas), Ofimandes, Jfmand^s,
Imandes, Memnon, Arminon.

According to his hypothefis,
Menes is^ about three hundred
years older than Pfammcti-
chus. He holds it irrational
to fuppofe, that there was any
king of all Egypt till after the
expulfion of the ihepherds ;
and obferves, that the miracles
of Memphis were not fpoken
of, or known in Greece, till
fome ages after the Trojan
war ; tor Homer celebrates
Thebes as the glory of its
days, and makes no mention
of Memphis ; which, and the
temple of Vulcan that ftood in
the midft of it, he grants to
have been built by Menes. In
a word, this hypothefis re-
duces the antiquity of the
Egyptian empire, of which
Menes was the firft king, mu^h
lower than any other,

with

to ihe Time of Alexander. tj9

^ith the execrations of one of his fuccefTors^ as will be
obferved hereafter.

Herodotus declares, that the Egyptians produced a
catalogue of three hundred and thirty kings, extending
from Menes to Moeris, who was the laft of the number ;
and that there was nothing worth notice recorded of any
;of then^ ^except one Ethioipian woman called Nitocris ^
On :the other hand, Diodorus writes, thai: Menes's family
»cnjoyed the throne to the fifty^fecond defcent, and that
4:heir feveral reigns took up the fpace of fourteen hundred
-years •. Since, therefore, there is fo vaft a chafm in both,
we think we may fafely venture to fill it up in part, with
what we find concerning the fhepherds who ruled over
Egypt; and the rather, becaufe this whole tranfa£lion
-feems to belong to fome very remote period of the Egyp-
tian hiftory.

It happened, in the reign of Timaus, king of Egypt, The irrupt
-that God being difpleafed with the Egyptians, theyfuf- tionofthi
fered a great revolution ; for a multitude of men, ignoble fi^P"^t^9
Jn their race, took courage^ and pouring from the Eaft ^^^^j
into Egypt, made war with the inhabitants; who fub-
mitted to them without trying the event of a battle.
Havmg tifduced the princes, thev inhumanly burnt the
.cities, threw down the temples oi the gods, and behaved
Js ^emofl cruel and infulting manner to the ancient in<-
habitants, putting them to death, and carrying away their
wives and children into captivity. ^ They made one of
their own number king, whofe name was Salatis. He Theyfett^
ufuaily refidedat Memphis, and, leaving garrifons in the ^^^f^^^M
moft proper places, kept both the upper and lower region '^ '^^
in fubje^ion. Particularly, he fortified the caftem parts,
fearing an invafion of the Aflyrians, who wrere at that
time very powerful. Finding, therefore, a convenient
city in the Saitii nome, which was feated on tte eaftern
"b^nks of the river Bubadis, which was called Abaris in
the ancient theoiogy^ he rebuilt it, and furrounde;d it with
a very ftrong wail, and kept a ;gaf ri-fon of twenty-four
thoufand foidiers therein. It was his cuftom, about the
time of harveft, to come hither to gather in his corn,
and to pay and exercifc his foidiers, that they might
always be ready and fit for adlion, and be a conftant
terror to any who fliould attempt an invafion, Salatis
died, and was fucceeded by five others; viz. Beon,
.Aphacnas, Apophis, Janias, and Affis, who, treading

-r Herodot. lib. ii. cap* lOo* ' Diod. Sic, lib. i, p; 41.

T4 in

tSo " The Hijiory cf Egypt

in his footfteps, did their uttnoft to root out the wtido
nation of the Egyptians, This people were called Hycfos^,
or kingjhepherds (F) ; hyCy in the facred diaieft, fignifying
a kingj and fosj in the common dialed, fignifying a pdftar
or jbepherd \ and thefe two produced the compound Hyc*
fos. They came from Arabia, according to Manetho^^
as quoted by Jofephus, and held all Lower Egypt in fub-
je£tion for the fpace of two hundred and fifty-nme years * ;
at the end of which they were obliged, by a king of
Upper Egypt, named Amofis and Thethmofis, to quit
the country, and retire elfewhcre. That prince's father
had, it feems, gained confiderable advantages over them,
and (hut them up in a place called Avaris, or Abaris^^
meafuring ten thoufand acres of land. There they were
clofely befieged by his fon Amofis, with an army of four
hundred and eighty thoufand men \ but the king, finding
be could not reduce them by force, propofed an agree-t
rnent, which they readily accepted ; and, in virtue of
which, they were to abandon Egypt, and the king was ta
allow them to retire whither they pleafed without molcf-^
tation. The agreement was faithfully executed on b<^h
fides ; the (hepherds withdrew from Egypt, with their
families, to the number of two hundred and forty thou-i
fand 5 and, taking the way of the deferc, entered Syria :
but fearihg the Aflyrians, Who yirere then very powerful,

% Manetb. .^ypt. lib ii. apud Jofqib. lib i. contra Apion*

(F) We will bjjrely tran- Bounces the ihep&erds foheinn
fcribe the opinions of the above oufly fpoken of, to have been
cited chrofnologers, as to the the Ifraelites themielves. Sir-
time of this irruption, as it is Ifaac Newton makes the paf««
'reprefented, of the Ihepherds tors to have been the Canaan-
into Egypt. Sir John Mir- ites, who fled from Jolhua,
fham places it one hundred and and went into Africa ; but, ii^
fifty-feven years before the their flight, feized on the
exodus ofche children of Ifrael. kingdom of Lower Egypt, in
Perizonius's drawing a very the reign of Timaus, whom the
<:ircumllantial parallel between faitte author calls Thamus, or
what is recorded of the (hep- Thammuz. Greaves, after a
herds by Manetho, and what pjn^Uel drawn by him between
is faid of the obfcunty of the the hiftory of the ihepherds
Ifraelites, the power and dig* and of the Ifraelites, which
nity of Jofeph, and the mira- feems as natural and as plaufi-*
fjulous works of JMofes, which bleas that of Perizonius, will
^ihtioft utterly deftroyed the by no means allow them ta
country 5 upon theclofe, pro- l^'ave beea the lame people.

to the Ttme of Akxanier: 1 8 x

and mafters of Afia^ they built themfelves, in Ihe lahd
which is now known by the name of Judaea, a city, cap-
able of holding fo great a multitude, and called it Jeru-
falem : thus Manetho "• Apion, upon the authority of
Ptolemy the Mendefian, an Egyptian prieft, who wrote
the annals of that kingdom, fuppofes AmoHs, or Theth-
mofis, to have been contemporary with Inachus king of
the Argives. Hence Tatian *, Juftin the Martyr y, Cle-
mens of Alexandria % and others, taking the expulfion of
the fhqpherds, and the exodus of the children of Ifrael, to
be one and the fame event, will have their leader, Mofes»
to have been contemporary with Inachus 5 but Inachus
is now, by the generality of chronologers, thought to
have lived long before Mofes, and the circumftances of
the' exodus, as related in holy writ, differ widely from
thofe attending the expulfion of the ihepherds. As we
know not where to give place, according to the feries of
time, either to the irruption or expulfion of the fliepherds,
we have chofen to join them together, and acquaint tht
resrder, at the fame time, with what we find in t^
ancients concerning both, though the one is faid to have
happened two hundred and fifty-nine years pofterior to
the other (G)^

We now return to Herodotus and- Diodorus ; of whom
the latter makes mention of feveral princes between
Infenes and Miris. ^

According to his account, Bufiris, in procefs of dme, BuJSrisI.
became king, and was fucceeded by eight princes of hi^ aiui iL
Jine; the laft, called alfo Bufiris, was the founder
of the city of Thebes, which he made the capital of the
Jcingdom *•

Ofymahdyas appears next. It is uncertain whom, tit Ofyman*
when he fucceeded. The Ba£):rians revolting from him, ^^^*
he reduced them, with an army confiding of four hundred
thoufand foot and twenty thoufand horfe. Of all the

" Maneth. apud Jofeph. ibid. ^c Tatian. Orat. contra Gr*f

r Juft. in Parxn, « Clem. Alex, Strom, lib. i. » Diod.

nbi fupra.

(G) Sir Ifaac Newton places
this expulfion in the year 1 070
before Chrift, or 62 years be-
fore the firft expedition of Se-
foflris, or Sefac, as he calls
him, into Africa, Their ir^
ruption happened, according
to ^rchbilhop IJiher, in the

year of the world 192c, 2048
before Chrift ; and their ex-
pulfion in 2179 of the world,
and 1825 before the Chriftian
sera ; the reigns of Salatis their
firftking, and his five fucccf-
fors, as marked by Manetho,
ampuming to 259 years.

ancient

282 . The Hjftoty of Egypt

ancient monuments of the kings, for which the city of
Thebes was fo renowned, his was of the greatcft note.
It confiiled of vail courts, t)orticos, (hrines, temples, a
His tomb* library, . his own tomb, and other buildings* The firfl:
court, which was of various kinds of ftone, was 200 feet
in extent, and 45 feet high* Next to this was a fquare
portii^o, each fide 400 feet long, and^ inftead of pillars*
fupportedby reprefentations of animals of 15 cubits high,
all of one piece^ and adorned with figures after the an-
cient manner. The cieling was blue, and feeded with
ftars. This portico led into a fecond court, in all refped:s
like the firft, except that it was more enriched with various ,
fculptures: in the entrance were three ftatues, each of one
ftone, the workmanfhip of Memnon the Syenite; ond
was in a fitting pofture, and the largeft in all £gypt, the
length of its foot exceeding feven cubits. This was his
own ftatue ; the other two, which ftood one at each
knee, reprefented his mother and daughter. This won-
derful piece was not fo admirable for the exquifite art of
the carver, as for the beauty of the ftone, which was free
from the leaft flaw or blemifh. It had this infcription :
^' I am Ofymandyas, king of kings : he that would know
my grandeur, or where I lie, let him furpaCs ngie in any of
my works.*' Here was alfo another ftatue of his mother,
ftanding by heffelf, 20 cubit^ high, cut out of one ftone 5
ihehad three crowns on her head, , fignifying that (he had
been the daughter, wife, and mother of a king. This
court led to a fecond portico, or piazza, far exceeding
the firft. On the wall the king was reprefented, with
his army, befieging a town encompaffed by a river, and
fighting in the front of the battle, accompanied by a lion 1
. » concerning which, fome faid, he always fought with a

tame lion at his fide 5 and others, that the figure of that
animal was only an emblem of his extraordinary courage.
On the fecond wall were the captives, with their hands
and privities lopped off to exprefs their cowardice. On
the third were all forts of fculpture and paintings, which
reprefented his facrifices and triumph. In the middle of
this piazza was an altar in the open air, built of the moft:
ihining marble, of excellent workmanfhip, and wonder-
ful proportion. On the fourth fide, or wall, were two
gigantic ftatues, in a fitting pofture, 27 cubits high.
Near thefe were three paflages, leading into a great hall,
fupported by columns after the manner of a mufic-the^lre^
200 feet fquare. In this place were many wooden l):atues^
repiefenting parties engaged in law, and the judges bear-
ing

to the ^ime of Alexander. 283

ing the caufes. Thefe laft, to the number of thirty,
were carved on one fide,, with their prefident in the midft
of them, at whofe neck hung an image> with its eyes
(hut, to reprefent Truth, and with many books about him.
By this they chofe to fignify, that judges ought to be
proof againft bribery, and refpecS: nothing but truth and
equity. Next was a gallery or walk, in which were
apartments ftored with the moft delicious eatables. Here
the king was moft curioufly wrought, and painted with
the moft lively colours, prefenting to God the gold and .
filver annually dug out of the mines in Egypt; the
amount thereof was 3,200,000,000 minas, or 96,000,000
of pounds fterling. Next was the facred library, with
this infcription •, " The Difpenfary of the Mind." Con-
tiguous thereunto were the images of all the Egyptian
gods, with the king paying the offerings due and peculiar
to each ; that Ofiris, and the reft of the deities placed
beneath him, might know, he had paffed his life with
piety towards the gods, and with juftice towards men.
Next to the library was an edifice of curious architefture,
wherein were twenty couches to feaft on, and the ftatues
of Jupiter, Juno, and the king, which laft was thought
to be here entombed. Around were feven pavilions, in
which curious pictures of the confecrated animals were
feipn. From hence was the afcent to the fepulchre,
\vhcre was feen a ring or circle of gold, 365 cubits in cir-
^cumference, and one cubit in thicknefs, furrounding the
monument. This ring was divided by the days of the
year, andfhewedthe rifing and fetting of the ftars, and
their afpefts, according tx) the Egyptian aftrology. This
circular border was carried away by Cambyfes the Perfian.
JSuch was the tomb of Ofymandyas, whofe defcendants
reigqed after him to the eighth generation. The laft of
them was called Uchoreus ^. Uchoreus*

The building and fortifying of Memphis, which have
already been afcribed to Menes, are attributed to this
Uchoreus (H) alfo. He is faid to have given that city a
circuit of 150 ftadia, or near 20 miles, and by mounds

^ Piod. lib. i. p. 44.

(H) The laft mentioned fore would willingly think

chronologer thinks the works them one and the fame per-

of Uchoreus and Mocris favour fon (2).
of the fame genius, and there-

(i) \]A, Sir Ifaac Newton, uba fupra.

and

1^4 He iTifioty of E^t

and trenches to have fectired it from the infults cither of
the Nile, or of an invader. He adorned it with palaces,
vrhich, though they furpaffcd thofe in any other country,
yet fell fliort of what had been done in that way by his
predcceflbrs. For the inhabitants held this tranfitory life
in no eftimation, if compared with the joys the virtuous
were to poffefs hereafter ; and were proportionably lefs
fplendid in the lodgings they prepared for the former,
than in the repofitorics they founded for the latter. This
king tranflated the imperial feat from Thebes to Memphis *.

Sakckis. After him reigned Safychrs, the fecond Egyptian le-

giflator*

Wc have now brought Diodorus down to Myris ; and,
Aat wc may do the fame with Herodotus, we muft relate

Niutrii^ what he has faid concerning Nitocris. She fucceeded
her brother, an Ethiopian, whom the Egyptians murder-
ed, but afterCvards conferred the fucceffion on her. She,
meditating revenge for the brother's untimely end, p\tt
many of Ac Egyptians to death privately, and by ftrata-
gem J and is partrciilarly faid to have contrived a ifubter-
raneous building, whither flie invited the principal aftors
againft her brother to partake of a feaft, and, hi the midft
of their mirth, to have turned the river upon them by a
private paflage, and drowned them all. Then, to fcreen
lierfelf from the rage of the people, Ihe took refuge in a
place well fortified with aflies **. She was of a fair com^
plexion, her hair was yellow, her peirfbn beautiful ; but
it appears, that, though her mind was great, fhe was not
a little inclined to cruelty. She is reported to have built
the third great pyramid ^.

After twelve generations, Mceris, or Myris, came to
the throne. This was he who dug the famous lake which
bore his name, and erefted the two pyramids which
flood in the midft of it. He alfo built a fumptuous por-
tico on the north fide of Vulcan's temple at Memphis'*.
According to Herodotus^ he was the three hundred and
thirtieth king from Menes, and the immediate predecef-
for to Sefoftris.

Sififiris^ Sefoftris, Sefooftris, Sefoofis, Sefonchis, Sefonchofis, Se-
thofis, and feverai other appellations, are, by (I) {bme, held

• Diod. ubifnpraf p. 46. ^ Herodotas, lib. n.cap. xod*

t Syncel. p. 58. ' Herod, ib.cap. loi* Died, tifbi fupra, p. 47.

(I) Sir John Marfliam is of the profane hiftorians is the
Of mioD, that the Sefoftris of Sefac or Shiihak of the facred ;

* '

to the Time of Alexm^* 385

to belong to one man, whofe reign is efteemed the n^cdl
extraordinary part of the Egyptian hiftory. He is repre-
fented as having been very powerful, both by fea and iandj^
ifirife, juil, generous, valiant, magnificent, but anibitious*.
The Greeks and Egyptians, who recorded his actions, in
profe or verfe, differed widely from each other \ but they
could never differ more than our modern chronologer^
and hiflorians difagree in fixing his age, and in fpeaking
concerning him ; however we (hall colleft the beft ^c-
fpount ^e can of his reign.

Sefoftris (hen is by fome thought to have been the fon
of Amepophis \ but, whoever his father was, it is faidy
t;bat the god Yulcan appeared to him in a dream, and ad-
moni{hed him, that the fon which was or fliould be bom
to him, WOUI4 be lord of the whole earth. Full of this His father
vifton, .he got together all the rnales in Egypt bom on the gathers in
fame day with his fon, and appointed nurfes, and proper f'^i.'*' ^^'^
perfons to take ca^e ^of them, and had them treated in all ]'^^f'^^^
refpeds like his own child ; perfuaded that they who had bom w the
been the conflant and equal companions of his childhood fame dey
^nd youth, would prove the riioft faithful miniflers, and ^^^ ^'**
pioft affedlionate fellow-foldiers. They were abundantly
furnifhed with every thing needful ; as they grew up, they
were by degrees inured to laborious apd manly exercifes,
and were in particular never pern\itted to tafle of any
thing till they had performed a QO|(ffe of one hv^ndired

be takes notice, that the more followed by multitudes of Li-

ancient kings of Egypt, with byans, Troglodytes, and Ethi-

whom the patriarchs were fpr- opians, nations whoin., accord-

merly concerned, are always ing to profane accounts, he

ftyled Pharaoh ; whereas Shi- had prey iouily conquered, Pe-

fliak is the firfl: Egyptian king rizonius, on the contrary, af-

in Scripture called by his pro- firms that Sifac and Sefoftris

per name ; except Ramefes be are kings widely di^rent and

rather the name of a king than remote from each other. Whiff

a country. This famous chro- ton has taken great pains to

nologer thinks, that when Se- prove that Sefoftris is the Ty-

ifbftris, or Shidiak, fet out to phon of the mythologifts, and

invadfe Ada, he could not well the very Pharaoh that periftied

avoid falling upon Judsea, and in the Red Sea ; and Sir Ifaac

accordingly took the capital Newton in his Chronology, has

thereof, Jerulalem, which he difplayed much learning to

ilripped of its riches, and re- fupport his opinion that Se-*.

duced Rehoboam the king to foftris is the Ofiris of the £«

ferve him ; for there is exprefs gyptians, the Bacchus of the

mention made in theLXX.and Greeks, and the Sifac or Shi«

Vulgate verfions, that he was ftiak of the Scripture.

and

i8<(

Sends him
into Arabia
and Africa,

Vndertahs
to conautr
the whole
Vforld,

Divides E'
gjpt into
thirty-fix
nomis.

The Uiftory of Egypt

and eiglity fulongs, or upwards of twenty-two tniles^
By this exercise of the body, and a proper cultivation of
the mind, they were equally fitted to command and to
execute. Amenophis, after he had been at this vaft ex-
pence and trouble in laying the foundation of his fon's
future grandeur, refolved to give him and his companions
an opportunity of difplaying the good effedis of their in-
ftitution ; and therefore he fent him and them with an
army into Arabia. In this expedition the young Sefoftris
furmounted all the dangers of ferpents and venomous
creatures, all the wants and hardfliips of a dry and barren
country ; and in the end fubdued the Arabians, who, till
that time, had never been conquered. His father then
ordered him weftward, and he conquered the greateft part
of Africa*; nor did he flop his career, tiJl he faw the
Atlantic ocean '. Whilft he was on this expedition, his
father died. Having now the reins in his own hands,
and being elated by the fuccefs which had hitherto at-'
tended him, he grafped at the conqueft of the whole
earth ; or he called to mind the predi£lion pf the god,
and prepared for the enterprise. Some fay, that his
daughter Athyrte, a maiden of great fpirit and fagacity,
excited him to this cnterprize ; reprefenting it as an eafy
matter ; others allege, that (he obtained aflurances of
her father's fuccefs by divination, by dreams in temples,
and prodigies in the air «; fo that he could be no very
young man at this time. Laftly, he is faid to have been
inftruftcd by Mercury, who gave him counfels proper for
carrying on the war **.

Having in view a general conqueft, and knowing that
he muft be long abfent, and far remote from Egypt, he
bethought himfelf by what means he might retain the
hearts and afie£tions of his own people, that they might
not attempt any innovations during his abfence. He
therefore endeared himfelf to all his fubje£^s, by largefles
in money, by donations in land, and by the remiffion of
punifhments ; he pardoned all who were guilty of treafon;
and paid the debts of all who were in themfelves infolv-
ent. In fine, he wrought upon the minds of all by fair
fpeeches, and a familiar deportment. In the next place
he divided the whole kingdom into thirty-fix nomes, or
provinces ; affigned a governor to each of them * ; and

^ Diodorus, lib. i. p. 48. f Lucan. x. ver. 27. eDiodorus*
ubi Aipra, 49. ^ ^lian. Var. Hilt. lib. xii. cap. 4.

1 Diodorus, ubi fupra, p. 5o>

conftitiited

to the Time of Alexander. 287

conftitiitcd his brother Armais fupreme regent, inveftlrtg
him with ample power ; but he forbad him the ufe of
the diadem, and commanded him to offer no injury to
the queen and her children, and to abftain from the royal
concubines ^. Having thus fettled the government, he
felefted the choiceft of his fubjefts, and, enlifting an ar-
my equal to the vaftnefs of his defigfis, beftowed the •
chief commands of it on his beloved companions, who
were upwards of one thoufand fcven hundred in number.
As an earned of his benevolence, befides the favours he He infti-
had beftowed on them in common with tlie reft of their tuusthe
countrymen, that he and his fucceffors might always have *"'J''^7
a regular force ready at hand, he fettled certain portions
by lot, of the moft fertile land in Egypt, on his whole
army ; whence an handfome income arifing to them,
neither they nor their pofterity might lie under the necef-
fity of fceking a livelihood by mercantile and mechanic
callings, but 'wholly apply themfelves to the military ex-
crcife. His army confifted of fix hundred thoufand foot,
twenty-four thoufand horfe, and twenty-feven thoufand
chariots of war. He firft marched into Ethiopia, and re-
duced the inhabitants to pay a tribute of ebony, gold,
and ivory ^ He is generally believed to have been the Conquer t
firft that fubdued Ethiopia and Troglodytica 5 and is faid Ethiopia.
to have reached the promontory of Dira, near the
ftreights of the Red Sea, where he fet up a pillar, with
an infcription in facred characters ; thence he proceeded
as far as the country where cinnamon grows, or, at
leaft, fome place whence cinnamon was brought, where
he raifed monuments and pillars with infcriptions, which
were to be feen many ages after his expedition ".

His land forces alone were not anfwerable to the con- His fleets^
queft he intended, and therefore, breaking through the
ancient fuperftition of the Egyptians, he was the firft of
their kings that fitted out navies of tall fhips. He had
two fleets 5 one of four hundred fail, in the Arabian
gulph, if Diodorus is to be credited, and Herodotus,
who mentions the fame fleet in general terms ; and the
other in the Mediterranean, if we may believe Manetho ",
who by Sethofis underftands Sefoftris. By thefe naval
armaments, and by the great fervices they are faid ta

^ Manetho, apud Jofeph. contra Apion. lib. i. p. 104.K -
1 Diod. ubi (iipra. "» VideStrabo, lib. xvi, p. 769, 770. Vid.

et'iam lib. xvii. p. 790. Pliiu Hift« Nat, lib. vif c. 29. ° Apud
Jofeph. contra Apion.

have

%9S

He infti"
lutes the
marine
clajsy or
§rder.

Continua'
iion of his
eonquefts
etnd wars*

7he Hijlwy of Egypt

have done, Sefoftris^ probably furmounted the averfioil
the Egyptians had to fea affairs, at lead for a time ; and
inftituted the marine clafs, as he did likewife the mili-<
tary order. But, not to dwell on this conje£iure, we
fhall only add, that his confecrating a fpacious and mag-<
nificent ihip to the fupreme god of the Thebans, looks
as if he defigned to bring navigation into credit in £gypt«
With the firit of thefe fleets he failed out of the Arabian
gulph into the Red or Indian Sea, and fubdued the coaft$
thereof; and, continuing his courfe till he was (topped
by certain ihoals, and difficult places, returned back to
Egypt ° ; OTi according to Diodorus, he went not on
board himfelf, but fent them out againft the iilands and
maritime places of the continent, as far as India. With
his Mediterranean fquadron he conquered Cyprus, the
fea-coaft of Phoenicia <*, and feveral of the Cyclades ^ \
this is all we know con(^erning his exploits by fea.

As to his conquefts by land, it is by almoft all anti-^
quity agreed, that he over-fan and pillaged all Afia^ and
tome part of Europe. He croiTed the Ganges, on thq
banks of which river he ere£led pillars, and, to ufe the
poet's expreffion, left the fame kind of memorial in the
remoteft mountains of India ' ; indeed, he is faid to have
marched on till he was ftopp^d by the ocean eaftward ^
From thence returning, he invaded the Scythians and
Tbracians : but the accounts of his war with the former,
do not all agree in giving him a complete conqueft over
them. Herodotus, Diodorus, Agathia^ % and others,-
reprefent him as having been vi£lorious; but fome re-
late, that he was repulfed, and fled from the Scythians,
and was worfted by the Colchians. Juftin tells us, that
Vexores or Sefoftris difpatching embafladors before him,
to fummon the Scythians to furrender, they fent back his
meflfengers with contempt, threats, and defiance, and
immediately took up arms. Sefoftris, being informed
that they were advancing towards him by hafty marches,
fuddenly faced about, and fled before them, leaving all
his baggage and warlike ftores to the purfuers, who fol-
lowed him till they reached the borders of Egypt ". Pliny
relates, that he was overthrown by the king of Colchis * $
and Valerius Flaccus infinuates^ that he was repulfed

* Herod, lib. ii. cap. loi. p Manetho, apud Jofepb. contra
Apion. ubi,rupra. .q Diodorus, ubi fupra, p. 51. ' Dio-<

nyiius in Perieg. ver. 625. * Diodorus, ubi fupra, p. 50.

t JLib. ii. p* 55* " Lib, ii, cap. 3. > Lib. xxxiii. cap. 3.

with-

to the^Time of Alexander I 289

r *• •

^With great flaughter, and put to flight ^ ; but whether
h^ had good or "bad fuccefs in thefe countries, it iff a
common opinion, that he fettled a colony in Colchis; Suppofidt^
though Herodotus, on whom we may chiefly rely in this -^^^^^-^^
matter, does not decide whether it was of his own plant- jt^ ^"
ing; or whether part of his army, tired out, loitered in
the rear, and voluntarily fat down on the banks of the river
Phafis in that kingdom. He fays, from his own know*
lege, that the inhabitants were, undoubtedly, of Egyp-

' tian ddfceht, as was vifible from the perfonal fimilitude
theybore to the Egyptians, whowere fwarthy, and frizzle-
haired ; but, more efpecially from the conformity of their
cuftoms, particularly circumcifion ; and from the aflinity
of their lariguage with that of Egypt. And many ages
afterwards, at jEa, the capital of Colchis, they Ihewed

^ maps of their journeys, and the bounds of fea and land,
for the ufe of travellers*; and hence came geography.
This relatiofi to each other was acknowleged on both
fides •. We now attend upon Sefofl:ris into Thrace, the
utmoft boundary of his progrefs weftward in Europe.
Here he was in danger of lofing his army through want
of provifidns,' and the difiiculty of the pafles ; and there-

' fore he here ftopped his progrefs **. But the more pro-
bable opinion is, that his return was haflened by advice
hfe received from the high-prieft of Egypt concerning his
brother*s revolt '. However this may have been, his pil- HisplBars
lars were no where to be feen in Egypt beyond Thrace ^ ; andfiatues^
for it was his cuftom to fet up pillars in every country he
conquered, with an infcription to this eflTeft : " Sefoftris,
king of kings, and lord of Ibrds, fubdued this country by
the po^er of his amis." If the nation had ignobly
crouched to him, he, befides the infcription, caufed the
privities of a woman to be carved, as a mark of their ef-,
feminacy and bafenefs •. If they had defended them-
felves bravely, their pillars bore the diftinftion of the con-
trary fex, in teftimony of their courage ^ Befides thefe,
he left ftatues of himfelf, two of which are yet to .be
feen, ftys Herodotus, one on the road between Ephefus
and Fhocsea, and the other between Smyrna and Sardis ;
they were arrhed after the Ethiopian and Egyptian man*

T Argonaut, lib. v. ver. 420. « Apollon. Rhod. Argon.

lib. IV. ver. %ji. * Herodot. ib. cap. 103, 104. ^ Diodor.

ubi fupra, p. 51. ^ Manetho apud Jofeph. contra Apion.

ubi fupra. ^ Herodot* Diod. ubi fupra. • Herodot.

ibid« cap. 102, tc io6« - ^ Vide Syncell. p. 59, ^o.

Vol. I. U ncr.

f^o

t$ miracU"
loujly dt-
ii*uered
fr9m the
murdirous
dejigns of
his brO"
thtr.

It he Iilijdfy ofJSg^t

ner, five palms high, and each held a javelin in one
hand) and a baw in the other. Acrofs the bread was a
line drawn from one flioulder to the other, with this in-
fcription ; " This region I obtained by thefc my flioultfcrs."
They were miftaken for images of Memnon *.

Upon advice of the rebellious proceedings of his bro-
ther, who, encouraged by his long ab&nce, and great
diftance, had affumed the diadem, violated the queen,
and taken to himfclf the royal concubines *, he haftened
from Thrace, and, at the end of nine years, came to Pe-
lufium, attended by an infinite multitude of captives of
all nations, and loaded with the fpoils of Afia % Here
the rebel Armais or Danaus, received him with outward
fubmifllon and joy, but with a private defign to take away
his life, and root out his family. Accordingly, he in*
vited the king his brother, the queen, and her children,
to a banquet ; they accepted the invitation, drank freely,
and, being intoxicated, betook themfelves to reft ; in the
mean time, he caufed a great quantity of dried reeds to
be laid all around the apartment where they ilept ; and,
fetting fire to them, hoped thereby to accomplifh his
wicked defign. Sefoflris, perceiving the danger he was
in, and that his guards overwhelmed with wine, were in«
cabable of aflifling him, lifted up his hands, and, im-
ploring the gods in behalf of his family, rufhed through
the flames, followed by his wife and children. In thankf-
giving for this wonderful deliverance, and to perform the
vows he had made in his extremity, he prefented dona-
tions to feveral god$, and, particularly, to Vulcan ^, as
will be obferved hereafter. . Herodotus writes, that bis
wife perfuaded him to lay two of his fons acrofs the fire,
and to tread over them. He then took revenge on his
brother Armais *, who is faid to have been the Danaus of
. the Greeks % who being, on this occafioh, driven out of
Egypt, withdrew into Greece.

oefoftris, having thus defeated his brother's unnatural
defigns, and feeing him felf again in the quiet po0efiion
of his kingdom, adorned all the temples with ipoils and
rich gifts, and rewarded his troops in proportion to every
man's merit. His army was not only glorious in their rec-
tum, for the mighty adions they had performed, and the
great riches they had acquired ; but, alfo, for the great

*■ Herodot. ib. cap. io6. h Manetho, ubi fup. i Hero(H>t.
ibid. cap. 107. k piod. ubi fupra, p. 51, ^ Herodot. ibid.

^ Mapetbo, ubi fupra.

variety

to ihe . time of Alexander. «5 X

Taribty of foreign commodities they brought home with
them, with which they ftored the whole kingdoms Now^
laying afide all thoughts of war, he difbanded his f(7rceS|
leaving every one to the undifturbed enjoyment of what
fortune had favoured him with. As for himfelf, . he
hence forward applied his mind to fuch ftupendous works
as might immortalize his ilame, and contribute to the
public goodk

His works were of three forts 5 religious, military, and Kts wortu
civil : firft, he ereftcd a temple in every city of Egypt,
which he dedicated to the peculiar and fuprcmc deity of
each place ) in the courfe of fo univerfal an undertakings
no Egyptian was fet to work ; wherefore. Upon ill thefc
temptes there was this infcription, ^^ No native laboured
hereon °.*' In the city of Mepnphis, before the temple of
Vulcan, he raifed Gx gigantic ftatues, each of one ftone i
two of them thirty cubits high, reprefenting himfelf and
his wife 5 the other four were twenty cubits, and repre-
fented his four fons °. Thefe he dedicated to Vulcan, in
remembrance of his and his family's prefervation at Pe*
lufiumP. Many ages afterwards it was faid, that Darius
would have placed his own ftattie above this of Sefoftris ;
but the prieft of Vulcan ftrenuoufly oppofed him, urging,
that the Prrfian, though great, had not yet equalled the
Egyptian ; pardcularly, that he had never conquered
Scythia I and that therefor^ it was uiijuft to prefer him
to a monarch whom he had not yet excelled % He, mo/e*
ovef^ raifed two obeliiks of Inarble a hundred and twenty
cubits high, exhibiting infcriprions, which defcribed the
greatnefs of his power, the amount of his revenues, arid
me nations he conquered. Thefe are his works, which
may be faid particularly to conuxiemorate his own piety
and glory. Let us now take a view of what he did for
the benefit of his people.

In oTdcr to prevent the incurGons of the! Syrian^ and
Arabians, he fortified the eaft fide of Egypt, with a wall^
which ran from Pelufium, through the defcrt, to Hcliopo-
lis, 1500 fuilongs, or 187 nules and a half. He more^
over raifed an incredible number of vaft and lofty mounts
of earth, to which he removed fuch towns as had before
ftood in too low a fituation, to fecure the men and cattle
from the dangers of the Nile in its inundations. All the
way from Memphis to the fea, he dug canals, which

. A Diodornty ubifupra^ p* $1$ si* * Herodot. ibid«csip. no*
Biodorus, ubi itipra, p* 53* ^ Herodot. ubi fupra, cap. no.

U 2 branched

t^^ The Bftoty o/Egj^t

branched out of the Nile. Thefe not only aflbrdedi ttf
cafier communication from one place to another, and
greatly advanced the trade ai|d profperity of the kingdom ;
but alio rendered the country impafiid)le to an enemy, or
at lead very incommodious and difficult ; fo that Egypt,
tvhich had hitherto been famous for her horfes and cfaa*
riots, and was admirably well adapted for either, was now
tio longer the fame place in thofe refpeds, and put on a
f< new face 9. Thefe precautions feem to imply that Se-

foftris feared the feveral nations he had difturbed, might
unite againft Egypt ; but quite the reverjfe appears by hi»
haughty carriage towards the tributaries, as will be £eea
by-and*by. Mean while, {bme of die c^ti;ves grew def-
perate under the intolerable flavery impofed on th^m $

Earticularly the Babylpnians arofe, and refolved, at all
azards, to fliake o£F theii bondage. They firft feized
upon a ftrong bold, and, .a£ling ofienfively againft the
Egyptians, wafted the country ; but, on the otkr of a
pardon, and a place for their habitation, they were paci-
fied, and built themfelves a city, which they called Ba-
bylon '« According to Herodotus this king, after he
returned from his wars, divided the land equaMy amongft
all the Egyptians y but this divifion is inconfiftent with
what has been faid of the lands he beftowed on his army
before he fet out, which we take to be more copfiormable
to the genius and policy of this warlike prince. The
fame author, upon this occafion, iays, that the king,
referving to himielf a fmall rent out of the lands fo
divided, whenever it happoied, that the waters of the
Nile, in their retreat, waflied away any part of a {iihjc&'s
ground, he gave informatidn to tne king, who, in fuch
cafcy remitted a proportionable part of ^e rent, and, by
fending furveyors to meafure it, gave rife to the art of
geometry ».
ah tnfo^ His behaviour towards the conquered princes, who

bHC4. waited on them with their tribute, is moft remarkably

infolent ; for, tmon certain occafioiis, he is faid to have
unharnefled his horfes, and yoking kings togedier, to have
made them draw his chariot ^ This pradice he continued,
as is faid, till a certain day, when, obferving one of the
kings, who drew him along, look with great ftedfaftnefs
back on one of the wheds, he alked what employed his

^IMod.ubi fupra, p. 51. r Idem ibid. • Herodot.

ubi fupra, cap. S09, t Digd. ubi Aipra, p« 53. VYtn. Iib« xxxiii.
cap. 3.

thoughts,

to the Time f^ .fies^anier. a^i

ihougftts, that he ^cpt his eye fo fil^d dii that 6bjeA ?
He anfwcred, " O King^ the going round of the wheel
calls to my niind the yiciffitudes of fortune : for, as every
part of the wheel is uppcrmoff amf lowermoft by turns,
fo it is with men, who one dat fit on a throne, and, on
the next, are reduced to the ^iieft dcgrde of flavery.*
This anfwer brought the mfuhmg conqueror to his fenfes,
fo that he left off thcpriadUce^ and thenceforth treated
his captives with great humanity. At length he loft hit
<ye-fight, and laid violent hands off himfelf. The man-
ner of his death was extolled by the priefts " % and, that
-ftbthing might be wanting to niake his hiftory completely
glorious, they reported, that the phcenii cnme to Thebes
<lurrng his reign '. By what has been here faidi concern-
ing Sefoftrts, it may be concluded, that he ^^as the firft
who divided Egypt into nomes, and its inhabitants into
Orders and clafles ; Aathe was the firft Egyptian king who
was confiderable at fea ; and that he erefted ^he firft
great empire in the world. Juftin fays, he neither aimed
at it, nor kept it, being contented with the bare glory of
the conqueft he made*. But all are not of his opinion.

Phcron, the fon of Sefoftris, fucceeded him on the Phtr^n^ or
throne 5 he is alfo ftyled Sefoofis (Sefoftris) IF. The ftory $€fiJirislL
of his reign, as it is handed down to us, favours more of
£(Elion than of truth. He performed nothing in the mi-
litary way J but haij the misfortune, in common with his
father, to be ftruck blind. Though this might be really HeisJIriuk
owing to fome infirmity derived from his parent, yet it ^^if*^*
is reported, that his lofs of fight was apunifhment inflidrtd
on him for his impiety towards the river : for the Nile
liaving, in his time, overflowed the country to an unufual
height, a gale of wind arofe, and greatly difturbed the
ixraters ; whereat he capricioufly took oflicnce, and info-
lently darted a javelin among the waves : he was imme-'
diately feized with a pain in his eyes, and, foon after, ^ •

Involved in total darfenefs, which oppreffed hin> for ten
years. In the eleventh year, the oracle at Butus de-
clared, that the term of his affli6^ion was "expired, and
that his fight would return to him if he paid particulajp
devotions to the god at Heliopolis, and waflied his eyes
with the urine dC a woman who had never known any
man befides her hufband. He begun with his own
queen ; but, receiving no benefit from her, proceeded
with the experiment from one woman to another, till^

• Diod. ubi fuprai p. 54. . * Tacit. Ai\nal. vi« p. 1 54*

U 3 at

*94

Jte rec§'

Win his
Jight agatn^
^d raifts
two obt»

^mafi^f or
^tmmofijf a

fiitfuhfeas

join nvitk
thf Eihi9'
fians to
firi'ue him

JSifanes
ifhe Ethio*
fiatt*

Hi finds all
thiEgfP'

tUMthtfViS

androbbirs
to RhinocO"

the Htjiory ef Egypt

at length, a poor gardener's wife afforded him the reUe£
the oracle had promifed. Her, therefore, he made
queen ; but, as tor the adultereiibs, be fent them %q> a
city called Erythibolus, which, together, with them^ he
burnt. He paid his vows to the gods in feveral rich do-
nations, and, particularly, raifed two magnificent obe?
liiks in the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis '.

Mapy ages after this event the fceptre devolved to Ama<f
$s, or Apunpfis, who mifufed his people with the utmoft
violence and injuftice, Many he condemned to death
without caufe ; many he deprived of their poffefllons,
upon no other motive than his own imperious will ; and
towards all he bei>aved with infupportable arrogance.
Under this opprefTor they groaned for a while, not dar-
ing to refill fo dreadful a power j but in time Adiifai^s,
kii^g of Ethiopia, made war againft Ammofis ; and, en-
tering Egypt, the people joined him, arid drove their un<*
natural prince from the throne.

Ammofis is faid to have abolifhed the cuftom of Oicri-
ficing men to Juno at Heliopolis, and» inftead of them,
to have fubftituted waxen images. They were examined,
;sind feai^d, like pure calves, and called Typhonians*.
Three of them leverc burnt in a day, and their aflies fcat-
|:ered ^brp^d, fo a^ to be no more fcen. This cere-
mony yras performed pijblicly every year, during the
dog-days, at the city of Idithya ^ Jofephus looks upon
the whole fl^ry as fabulous ^.

A£iifanes united Egypt and Ethiopia under him, and
was king of both. He hpre his profperity with great mo*
deration |ind prudence, and behaved afie^ionately towards
iiis new f^bie^s. ^e caufed a general fearch to be made
after the li^yptian thieves and robbers j then, giving
them a juft hearirig, Commanded their nofe3 to be cut of^
^nd fent them away to the remoteft part of the idefert, bc-
twecji ISyna and fegypt, where he built thpm a town,
which w^s called Rhinocolura, from the disfigjirement of
its infamous |nhabitapt$» This part was fo barren, that
it fcarce afforded .^ny one neceffary of life j for evep the
few wells and ppnd^, the^e foynd, were brackifli, bitter,
and mofl unpleafant to the palate^ Hither he baniflied
them, that they might not injure their boneft neighbours
\j living among tbem, nor be hid in corners among the

» Hcrodpt. ubi fupra, cap. m. Diodorus, ubi fupra. * Jo-
feplu contra Apion. lib. i. p. 352, &c. *» Mknetho apud

Forph. de Abftin. lib. ii. cap. (5. c Jofephus^ ubi fupra.

innocent.

to thi Time of Akxanckr.

^9§

tnno<;^nt. But^ as frightful and barren as. their Htuatioti
was^ neceffitv, the mother of invention^ fuggefted an ex-
pedient to tnem of fupplying tfaemfelves with food ; for
It is reported) that they made long nets of flit reeds, and
witli them caught great numbers of quails> which came
in flocks from the fea ihore *.

Adlifanes died, and the Egyptians were left to their
own difpofal ; they therefore chofe thefH a king, named, Mendest or
bjr fome, Mendes, and, by others, Marus. He is cel©^ Marus.
brated for the fepulchral labyrinth he built.

After Mendes, enfued an anarchy, or inter-reign, for proteus is
five generations. At length, Memphite, of obfcure birth, cho/en king^.
was chofen king. His Egyptian name was Cetcs, which
the Greeks rendered Proteus (K). Both Herodotus and
Diodorus fuppofe him to have lived in the time of the
Trojan war. The prieils charafterrfed him as a perfon
Ikilled in the weather, or a magician % and pretended he
could aflume any fhape or form he pleafed, even that of
fire^ This fable, as rt was told by the Greets, drew its TkefakU
origin from a cuftpm among the Egyptians (perhaps in- of Proteus
trodiaced by Proteus), who were ufed to adorn and dif- '^^'^^ ^*
tinguifli the lieads of their kings yn&i the i-cprefentations ^''^^ '
of animals or vegetables, or even with burning incenfe,
as fo many enfi'gns of royalty, to firike the beholders
with dread and fuperllition ^ . Whilft Proteus reigned, p^^^-^ ^j
Paris, or Alexander, was driven on the coalls of Egypt Hetfnar-
by a florm, and there landed with Helen, whom he was ri^ve in JEf-
carryin^ frpm Greece to Troy ; but, when the Egyptian ^^*

* DiodoraSy ubi Aipja, p. 55*

^ j;dem, p. 56.

^ (K) According to Perizo-
nius, Proteus was the Sethos
of Manecho, and the Typbon
of the popts. He tbink^, that
Homer's Proteus, and this
king, are the fame perfon ;
and that he Wjas flyled a fea-
god, becaufp he had com-
uianded on the coails of E-
gypt. He give5 no credit to
Heradottis, as to the arrival of
Paris and Helen under this
king. It if not confiilent with
his hypothefis.

Sir ifaac Newton, on the
contrai^, feems to give credit

to Herodotus, a;^ ^r 419 it
relates to Paris and Helen?;
but makes hiip co^tempor^y
with Amenophi$, whgrti, a^
we have already obferyed, he
fuppofes to be i?n^ and the
fame perfon with Menes. fiie
thinks, he might have beea
governor of fome part of the
Lower Egypt under Ameno*
phis ; aQd obferves, that Ho*
ro^r places him on the fe^
coail, and calls him the f(pr-
yant of Neptune ; am) that jiiis
Greek name (igni/ies px^ly a
prince, or prefident.

king

^9^ the Hlftoiy of Z^pt

king underftood the perfidious breach of hofpitalltr tbi%

ypung man had committed, be feized him» ms mlitrefs,

^pd his companions, with all the riches he had 'brought

^nray with him from Greece* As for Helen and ber huf-,

band's eiFe£l:s, he detained them, promifing to reflore

both. to the injured party, vhejneiser demanded. This

he 4M ^ but Paris and his companions he coinmanded to

depar^t out of his dominions in three days, upon pain of

being treated as enemies. A very rich and fumptuous

temple was ere£ted to him at Memphis \ and he left a fon

and fucceflbr behind him, called Rbemphis ^.

i'htmphiit Rbemphis, alfo called Rhampfinitus (L), was of an

IV" Khamp* inclination to hoard up money. , Diodocus reports him

^ to have been fo fordidly avaricious, that, during his

whole reign, he rather a£led the p<Mrt of a mean-

fpirited . fteward, than of a king. He obierves, that

this monarch was never at the lead expence in any thing

that might tend either to the honour of the gods, or the

good of men ; and that to his fordid temper was owing.

the immenfe treafure he left behind , him, amounting to

po lefs than 400^00 talents '^t Herodotus inlinuates,

s Herodotus, ubifupniy cap. iis, 5:c, ^ Piod. ubi fupra.

(L) Sir John Marlham is which he is flipported by a
inclined to think him the eldeft paflage from Pliny,
fon of Sefoftris, and to be the Sir Ifaac Newton conjee-
fame with Rhampfes ; and this tures him to have been the
he advances upon the autho- fon of Amenophis, or Menes,
rity of Manethoy who calls and to be (hatiowed under the
faim the (on of Sethos ; fup- different names of Rhamfini-
pofing that the famous infcrip- tus, Ramfes, Ramifes, Ra-
tion, which was interpreted to mefesy Ramefles» Rameiies,
Ca:far Germanicus at Thebes, Rhampfes, and Rhempfis ; and
related to him. And, indeed, that the obeliik which was feat
there is no very great differ- to Rome by the era^ror Con-
ence between the^hamfes of fiantius, with an infcription
Tacitus and the I^hampffcs of interpreted by Hermapion, an
Manetho* Egyptian prieft, expreffing

Perizonius fuppofes, tlu^t that he was long-lived, and

the Rhamfes of Tacitus is Scr reigned over a great part of

foliris hinifelf ; but Rameifes, the earth, as alfo that pomp?

or Rhamfinitus, the fon of ous infcription mentioned by

Proteus, he makes con tempo- Tacitus, belonged to him (i),
fary with the Trojan war, in

(1) Sir I(aac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms.

he.

io the Tmd ef Mexcm^. iff

thatlic was fond of riches; but does not reduce him to'
io wretched a degree of bafenefs. ** Ramphfinitus," fays Bmldi tkt
Ke, " added the weftern portico to the temple of Vulcan, ^tfitrn
and erc£led two ftiaitues before it, each 25 cubits high : fj|^'/^*il
one of them faced the north, and was adored by the Egyp- ofFuUan
tians under the title of Summer ; and the other looked'
towards the fouth, and being denominated Winter, was
abhorred. Moreover,' he had accumulated vaft ftore of
wealth, and, being dedrous to depofit it in fome fecure
place, commanded a treafure-houie to be built for that mndatnm^
purpofe. The architeft employed in this work placed one /""'' ^**A»
of the ftones in fo artful a manner, that it migfet be taken
out, and put in again, by one man only ; it being his inten-
tion to have fome (hare in the riches of the place j but about
the time that the treafure was lodged irt it, he was feizerf
with a violent fit of 'ficknefs ; and, finding hi mfelf at thef
point of death, declared to his two fons the whole a;rtificc,^
giving them tlie mdft exa£t dire£):ions in the management
of the bufinefs, which he forefaw would never be his fate?
to accomplifii. The father died, and the young men, im-
patient to take advantage of the difcovery, repaired, foori
after his death, to the treafury, where, having with great
cafe removed the ftone, they carried off a confiderable m^hkhis
fum, repeating, every night, the fame theft. In procefs plundtni
^f time, Rhampfinitus, going in to view his wealth, was hf^'f^'
furprifed to find a vifible diminution of his treafure j and y'^^^'
the more, as his feal was whole on the door, the only
part of the building which he thought accefCble. The
two brothers continued their night expilations, till the
ling, after two or three further furveys, was perfeftl j
fenfible that, by fome means or other^ his wealth fufi^ered
a fucceflive decreafe. He then ordered fnares to ht Jaid
all round the veflels which held hU money. The twd
brothers failed not to come at night i but one of them,
as he approaced a vafe full of filvef^ wa^ immediatelj
taken in the fnare. As he found it impoffible to make his
efcape, he called to his brother, who flood without, aind
carneftly intreated him to come in, arid cut off his headi
that fohe might fave his own life, and prevent dete£i:ioiil
The brother, confulting his own fafety, complied witft
)iis requeft; and^ putting the ftone in its place ^gaiti^
took the the head away with him. Early neit morning^
the king going in to fee the event of his projeft, was 16
furprifed to find a man taken in the fnare without a head^
that he haftened out with the greateft confufion : he n6
ifopner recolleftca himfclf, hovtrevcr, thah he dlrcfted
* that

%^Z The Hifiaty of Egypt

tbat the body (hould be hung on the outfide of the wall^
and expofed to public view ; charging the foldiers^ ap-
pointed to guard it, to take particular notice of the coun^
tenances of the fpe£lator$, and to arreft thofe in whom
they perceived figns of forrow and lamentation. The
mother of the deceafed, hearing that the body was ez«
pofed in this manner, diftra£lcd with grief, and upbraid*
ing her furviving Ion, threatened, if he did not retrieve
his brother's body, to let the king know who had robbed
his treafury. The young man reprefented the imprafti-
cability of her requeft, but to no purpofe. Finding her,
therefore, unalterable in her refolution, he gratified her,
in the end, by the following ftratagem : loadmg his afies
with ikins of wine, he drove them towards the place
where the body was expofed. Then he privately opened
fbme of the fkins ; and ftriking himfelf in token of de?
fpair, as foon as the wine began to run outs he counter-
feited the trouble and conilernation of a perfon utterly un-
done. In the mean time, the foldlers upon du^y ftrpve
to fave part of the liquor for their own drmkiiig. He re-
viled them with the moft bitter reproaches for the plea-
fure they took in his misfortune, inftead of offering to
ailift him ; but they, ufing him kindly, he pretended to
be pacified, and, leading his. aiTes out of the way^
feigned to be very bufy in fecuring the remainder of hi$
wine. Pretending to be pleafed with their jokq^ a|id
good humour, he at lafl: confented to give them a (kin of
the wine ; and they, in return for fo great a favour, prefled
him to (lay, and take part of it with them : he complied,
and, when the (kin was emptied, • he gave them anothei:}
fo that, by exceHive drinking, the whole guard was over-
come, and fell into a deep (leep ; then, watching his op-
portunity, in the dead of the night, he took down the
Dody, laid it acrofs an afs, and (having the right cheek of
each of the foldiers, by way of derifion, carried it home
to his mother. This exploit afforded matter of new won-
der to the king, who, to find out the author of the (Ira-
tagem bethought him of the following expedient: he
ordered his daughter to proftitute henelf, in a certain
apartment of the palace, to all comers promifcuoufly 5 but
under this reftriftion, that (he (hould previoufly extort
from each of them a confefHon of the moft ingenious
adlion he had ever contrived, and the moft wicked crijn^
he had ever committed. The daughter pun£tually cofp^i
plied with her father's inftruftions, which the young i^^an
Icing apprized of, he refolvcd to perplex the king a little

further.

to the Time of AUxanier. Vi%

further. With this view he got the arm of a dead body*
yet frefh, and taking it under his cloak, went in to the
king's daughter. She examined him in the fame form*
and to the fame purpofe, as {he had catechifed the reft
who had been with her before \^xsi \ when he frankly
confefled, that the moft abominable and wicked adion
pf his life was the. cutting off his brother^s head, when
enfnared in the treafury ; and the moft ingenious device
he had ever pradifed, was the ftealing the body from the
^uard. She then attempted to feize him, but he, hold-
ing out the dead arm to her, while flie grafped it eagerly,
made his efcape by favour of the night. Rhampdnitus's
rage being now converted into admiration at the boldnefs
and ingenuity of the man, he caufed it to be proclaimed
in every city, that if the perfon, whoever he was, would
difcover himfelf» he (hould not only be pardoned, but
amply rewarded. The young man, confiding in this de-
claration, went ftraightway to the palace, and, having
made himfelf known, the king gave him his daughter in
marriage, accounting him far fuperior in wifdom to any
man then living upon earth. Our author does not war-
^nt every particular of his ftory '.

After this tranfaflrion, it was fabled, that Rhampfi- JthmpJI^
xiitus defcended alive into the infernal regions, where he miusg^
played at dice with Ceres^' but neither won nor loft ; and ^^^^
that, at his departure, fhe prefented him with a golden '•^''^
i>owL The fpace between his defcent and return to the
upper regions, was obferved with great folemnity by the
Egyptians for many ages afterwards. And now, that we
may conclude the hiftory of this king with fome air of
truth and probability, he is faid to have reigned with great
prudence andjuftice, and to have been a conftant and
ftri£^ obferver of the good order which, till his death*
)iad uninterruptedly iubfifted throughout the kingdom
from its firft foundation °.

He was fucceeded by feven other kings, all ofnamelefs
fame, and ignoble character, except one, called Nilus, Khi*
who is celebrated for the great number of canals he dug
all over the country, and for his endeavours to make the
Nile as univerfally ferviceable as poflible : whence it was^
that the river, which had been hitherto called iEgyptus»
was now diftinguiihed by his name*;

1 Herod, lib. ii. cap, iai-»tS3. a X^etn ibid. n Diod.

ttbi rupra> p. |7*

Cheopfj

^<f

Ckeopt,

Chemmih
or Chtmbet,

U tjr0nt»

BmUithi.

ramid,
Proftitutes
hii daugh"
Ur.

Cepkrenes,
Cephreiiy or
ChabrytSf
4t tfrdhi.

Builds a
fyramd*

Myceri/ttiSf
or Chert-
nus^agood
frinca

Thjs Htftory of Egypt

■ Clieops, Chcmmis, or Chembes (M), is, by Diodoruar
Reckoned the eighth from Rhampfinitus ; yet Herodotus
places no diftance between them. This king is branded
|or his inipiety and tyranny. He began his reign witffi
ihuttihg up the temples, and f6rbidding all pnbKc facri*
fices ; then tramphng on the laws, and invading thi
liberties of hfs people, he reduced them to a ftate of the
moff laborious flatery. Great numbers he fent to df^
fton^s in the quarries among the mountains in Arabia,
and to tranfport therti into Egypt ® ; and harraffed themt
in the end in raifirig tire largeft of the three great pyra*
mi'ds P. By this, and other '^ain-glOrious works of the
fame kind, he was reduced fo low, that he expofed hii
daughter to common proftitution ; telling her, in general
terms, to earn what fhe could. She obeyed, and, by
her father's example," defiring to perpetuate her memory,
required each of her gallants to contribute a ftonc towards
a building fhe had iii view, ^ith the ftones, fo collefted,
{he built a fmall pyramid <i. This tyrant reigned fifty
yeafrs.

He was ftfcceeded by Chephrenes, Ccphrcn, or Cha*
bryis. It is doubted whether Cephren and Chab'ryis Were
one and the fame perfon ; fome faying that Cephren was
the brother, and that Chabryis was the fon of Cheop§,
But leaving this obfcure controverfy undetermined, we
ftiall obferve that thisr king trod in the fooifteps of his pre-,
dece^or, and particularly iri building a pyramid ; but it
fell much fliort of the former. He reigned fifty-Cx years.
Though b6th he 2tnd his predecefTor defigned thefe pyra-
ftiids for Ihcir eternal manfions, t6 ufe the Egyptian
phrafe, yet neithef were depofited there after death 5
their friends dreading the rage of the multitude, buried
them where their bodies could never be found.

After Egypt had been thus afflidted by tyranny for one
hundred and fix years, Mycerinus, or CherinuS (N), the
fon of Gheops, a good and merciful prince, afcended the

. " Herodtt. ubl ftipra^ cap. 1x4. p Idetri. ibid. cap. 125, i^

Z^d. libi fup^a* 4 Herodot. ubi Aipra, cap. xt6.

^ (M) Sr Ifaac Ncmoh fuf.
peds, that he intended -to be
worfhipped himfelf after death :
and fuppofes, tjbat he ^at alfo
called Chemmis, Phiops, A-
pathus, Apappu3, Suphis, Sa-

ophis, Syphoas, Syphaofisi
Soiphis, Syphuri$, Anoiphisi
ana Anoiiis.

(N) The laft cited cbrono,
toger calls him alfo Cheres, Bifi>
keres, Mofcheres, Menchcrcs.

throne.

to the iTime <f Alexflniet* joi

^rone« Abhorring the impilety and injuftice of his f^-^
ther and his uncle^ he opened the templess reilorejd the
facrificeSy ^nd allowed the people to purfue their pri^v^to
affairs* I& eeneroGty and good nature ^re re|)orited to
bsive>been fuai, that if »t any time complaint ^^as ipadfi
to him 6f a bard fentenqe pronounced in snatter of pro*
perty, he would fatisfy the :p3rty aggri^xfd to the amounJ
of the lofs oujt of his own treaiure^^* Whilft he was :thvi$
intent on ^le rhappinefs kA his people^ a heavy miafoitune
fell upon him in the death of his daughter. He mourned His dangh*
for iIhst with great bittemef?, and honoHred her iwith ter dieu
an exijiraQrdinary funeral^ caufmg a fcoljow wooden im^ge «?^^' *f-
of a cow to be made and richly gilt, he. therein dcpofited ^anexlraH
ber body* This cdw was never in^^iated, but expofed in a Trdi^a^
magnificent chamber of the ip^laqej in. the city of Sais, manner^
iji^ef e they Jburnt the mpft exquifite odours by day, aad
JUuminated the place iby night. In a contiguous^ room
vrerc twenty images of naked u^men> which the prieOs
©f ^m reported to have beeit the concubines of Myce^
cifiu9* But, a$ it. generally happens in cafes of remote
SMatiquity, this was not the only .report fpread concerning
this cow ai^ the ftattues.- It was ifaid that Mycerinus
forced and deflowered his own daughter, who, thus
violated^ fell into a .deep mdaoefcoly, and l^id violent
hands on herfelf. The twenty ftatues in the n<»t room
were her wonxen, wjbo h»A been inlbrumental in betray,
iBg her to her father's unnatural Juft, and therefore were
deprived of their bands by the queen. They appeared
indeed without hands ; but our author, who was a<i eye-
witnefs of tbefe things, tells us they had dropped oiF with
5ige, aiid lay fcattered upon the floor. He tells us alfoj
that die cow was in a kneeling pofture, ami as big as the
largeft cow living. Hear neck and head were richly
plated wkh gold j between the horns was a golden circle,
inimita^on of the fun, and her body was covered with
a fine Tynan carpet. This fepukhral image was re-
moved once a year from the apartment where it ftood,
and expofed to the open day, in purfuance of a requcft
the deceafed had made to her father, that Ibe might behold
the fun once every vear.

The death of his cfaughter was not the only misfortune Vn orach
that befel Mycerinus j a more dreadful difafter enfued : at Butus
it was denounced againft him from the oracle at Butus, ^^^'^'"'^
that he had but fix years more to live j at this piediaio» %Zt'lived

tilerodot* ibid, cap* 2f9*

3da The Hijlory of Egypt

ht \v^s greltly troubled, and fent to expoftulate with tlitf
Ofacle, remonftrating, that, fince his father and uncle^
who were monfters of impiety and cruelty, had been
blefled with length of days, it would be ungrateful to re-
quite his piety and humanity with the execution of fo
rigid a fentence. The oracle anfwered, that his father
and uncle knew the decree of fate» which had condemned
the Egyptians to one hundred and fifty years of bondage
and mifery, and afied conformably thereto ; but his hav-^
ing interrupted the courfe of their mifery, as not being
acquainted with that decree, was the caufe he was fo fud-«
denly to be cut off. Finding therefore that his doom was
irreverfible, he confulted how to make the moft of the
fmall remainder of life, and commanding a great number
of lamps to be lighted up every night, fpent his whole
time in drinking and revelling; thenceforward, making
no diftin£lion between day and night, he roved about
among the groves and meadows, and wherever he heard
of the moft gay and chearfbl company : finally, he is faid
to have built a pyramid, which, from the oafis to the
middle, was of Ethiopian ftone, and on the northern front
of it he infcribed hts own name. This pyramid the
Greeks, by a grofs miftake» attributed to the courtefan
Khodopis, who flouriihed in the days of Amafis, feveral
reigns lower '•

We now proceed to Gnepha£las, the father of Boc-
choris the Wife, who is alfo named Technatis by Plu-*
tarch ', and Neochabis by Alexis. What interval there
was between him and Mycerinus does no where plainly
appear. This king is famed for his abftinence, and for
the execration he denounced againft* Menes ; for it is re-
corded of him, that leading an army into Arabia, and
marching through the vaft and barren deferts, his provi-
fions failed, when, being one day obliged to take up with
the poor and flender diet he met with, he afterwards fell
Ffhids aU into a profound lleep ; this fo delighted him, that he for-
tid^rf ^^^ ^^^ excefs and luxury, and curfed Menes, who firft in*
^Mimu tioduced them; and fo eameftly did he perfecute the
memory of this his p^-edeceflbr, that by confent of the
priefts, he engraved his curfe upon a pillar, which wa$
fef^n in the temple of Thebes.
fQitkcris. Bocchoris, the Ton of Gnephadus, was fumamed the
Wife. Though defpicable in his pcrfon, he, in pru-
dence and wiAlom, far furpafled anf .of bis predecedbrs*

f Idmn ibid. cap. 1 3 3, 134. ' Dc Ifid. $t Qlir.

to the Htm of Alexander. - ^30 j

He is reckoned the fourtli Egyptian law-giVer; but His
laws feem not to have concerned any thing except com-
merce, and the regulation of the public revenue. His
ilecifions were, for their excellence, retained many gene-
rations after his death \ but his great qualities were K>me-
what debafed by his avarice ^ So high was the vertei^-
tion his fubje£ts paid him, that they fabled I(is to have
fent an afp to deprive him of his iight, that he might
judge righteoufly". ^Neverthelefs, he drew a general
odium upon himfelf, by letting in a wild bull to the fa-
cred beaft called Mnevis \ but this laft got the better, and
killed his antagonift. At laft^ notwithftanding all the
equity of his judgment*, and the purity of his mind, he
is faid to have been taken by'Sabbaco the Ethiopian, and
biirnt alive ^*

Afychis is, by Herodotus, placed next in order to My- AJychis.
*cerinus ; but in compliance with Diodorus, we have put
two reigns between them, not with (landing our full per-
fuafion that Bocchoris and Afychis were the fame. It is
recorded of Afychis, that be built the eaftern portico to ^'^ *^
the temple of Vulcan, with a magnificence that eclipfed ff^^othT
the others. Finding that the riches of Egypt were lodged timpu 0/
in a few hands, and that credit was decayed, he enafibed yuUani
a law, whereby a man might borrow money upon the fe->
pulchre of his father, depoiiting the body, as a pledge, in
the hands of the creditor ; and till it was redeemed, the
debtor might neither be buried in the fepulchre of his fa-
ther, nor in any. other, nor put any of his defcendents
therein. This king, in order to furpafs all his prede- anJa brick
ceflbrs, built a pyramid of brick, on which appeared a tjframid^
very vaunting infcription *.

After Afychis, a blind man» named Anyfis, from a city ^if«x^/*
of the fame name, became king. In his reign Sabbaco,
ling of Ethiopia, broke into Egypt with a powerful army,
and Anyfis fled for ihelter to the fens, leaviijig his king-
dom to the invader *•

Before we enter upon the reign of Sabbaco, let us take Bocchvrii
a curfory retrofpe^ of thefe three iaft reigns, and perhaps ^ndAffchis
we may find reafon to think that Bocchoris and Afychis l^'-^**^^
are different names for one king, and that the blind man JUSimpo-
Anyfis was his contemporary ; for the law, faid to have rmy to A*
been inftituted by Afychis, favours fo much of Boc$:bo- wM ^nd

' ' Ecutthi

father tf
t Diod. lib. 1. p. 59. 85. ■ Plut. iri^^ hteuvUf^ p* 519* Pfammft^*

X ^lian. de Aniin. lib.xi. cap. 1 1. r Sjrncel. p. 74* 'Herodot. tuhtu^
lib ii. cap. 1^6. 9 ^rodot. ubi fupra^ cap* 1 37*

ris's

:^<^

The Hiftoty of E^pt

Sahhaeoihe
Ethiopian*

«ri&'s.^nius, as might incline us to think them bi^t oqe

.man. And if it be true^ that j^occhoris was burnt alive

;by Sabbacoy they mufl not only have been fo^ but AnyHs

-maft alio have peen king of another part of .Egypt at the

•fame time. Furthermore, it is declared, by .Herodotus,

. that Ecus, the father of Ffammetichus was ilain, by the

.fame Ethiopian **. Here we have three kings, if we may

. fuppofe Ecus to have been of royal dignity, fubdued by

.one and fame enemyjt and all in Egypt. From hence It

• may appear, that n^any of the kings of Egypt who were

. contemporary, are .piaced in order of fucceffion, merely

out of oftentation, and in order to fupport the pretenfioiis

the priefts made (o the exceilive antiquity of their

kingdom.

We now return to Sabbaco, from whofe cruelty to
Bocchoris .we ihould conclude him to, have begun his
. reign with the like, barbarity towards others, were we not
affured, that he no foQuer fpu^d himijelf firmly eftablifh^d
on the throne, than he became a new man ; to that he is
V highly extolled foi: his. mercy, clemency, and policy. He is
thought to have been the So in Scripture, and to have en-
tered into a. league .with Hoihea, king of Samaria^ againft
Shalmannailar, king of AiTyria. . He was excited to the in-
vafion of Egypt by a dre^m or vifipn, w'hich afTured him
he fhould hold Egypt. fifty years; and when that term
was expired^ he voluntarily retirieci into Ethiopia agaln^
refigning his conquered kingdom. But w^ilft he was in
Egypt, he exhibited the higheft proofs of his wifdom^ apd
jitety, and yielded to none of his Egyptian predeqeifors
t^fiUef* in the art of governing. He never would bpnfent to ^e
death of any criminal, though capitally condemned, com-
4nuting the punifliment into hard labour, wh^ch con^fted
. Sn raifing mounts, and digging canals ;.fp that the citie&
. of Egypt were raifed higher, and rendered more commo-
jdious, than they had been by Sejpftrisii and particularly
the city of Bubaftis, where ftood a^mpft magnificent
itemple, confecrated to the goddefs of the fame name.
At length Sabbaco had a vifion in his fleep, whereii^ the
tutelar god of Tbebe&admonilbed bim, that he co'^ld not
hold the kingdom. ofj Egypt, with f^ety %nd happinefs^
except he mafiacred. the, priefts a^ he paired through
them with his guards. . Being haunted by this vifion, ^d
his heart abhorring fo dreadful an undertaking, he fent
fox: the priefts, and declaring ta thpni what the .gods

fi9n%

HhfKmd

^ Idem ibid. cap. tsa.

prompted

to ii>d Time of Alexander* 305

]prompted him tp^ he thence concluded that it 'w:as their
pleafure he fliould remain no longer in Egypt ; he there*
fore declared he was. determined to return to his native
country, and refign a crown which he could not preferve
without fo general a flaughter. It had been foretold
that he fhould reign iift^ years ; thefe were now expired ;
fo that looking upon the viiion as a command to quit
Egypt, he readily complied with it, and returned into
Ethiopia ®.

As foon as Sabbaco had departed the kingdom, AnyOs Anyfis
came forth from his hiding-place, and re-aflumed the go- ^&^^*
vemment. He had been abfent fifty years, and in that
time had formed an ifland for his habitation, compofed of
afhes and earth ; for, when any Egyptian came, to him
with .provifion, he always defired, that afhes might be
brought, unknown to the Ethiopian. This ifland was
called Elbo ^

After him reigned Sethon, who was both king and Sethon
prieft of Vulcan. He not only neglefted the military ^^"S^^
clafs or order^ but injurioufly divefted them of their pri- *'''^"
vileges and lands. They were fo incenfed at this ufage,
that, thinking themfelves abfolved from their allegiance,
they entered into a combination not to bear arms under
his command. Regardlefs of their threats and murmurs,
he gave himfelf wholly up to contemplation, and the
fundions of religion. This was the ftate of affairs, when
Sennacherib king of AfTyria drew near Pelufium, defigning
to enter Egypt. Sethon, perceiving his danger, had now
recourfe to the military order, whom he had fo unjuftiy
treated. But they obftinately perfifled in rcfufing to
march under his banner. The prieft, now deftitute of
all other advice and fupport, repaired to his god, and, in
the utmoft deje£lion of mind, implored his aid. Whilft
he was yet in the temple, he fell into a deep fleep ; dur-
ing which it feemed to him, that the god, ftanding at his
fide, exhorted him to take courage, and promifed, that if
he would march againft the AfTyrians^ he fhould obtain a
complete viftory. Impelled by this vifien, he afTembled
together a body of artificers, traders, and labourers ; and
with this unexperienced Multitude, directed his march to*
wards Pelufium. The very night after hi^ arrival at that
place, an infinite number of field-rats, entering the ene-
mies camp, gnawed thei^r quiver^, bow-ftrings, and fhidd-

e Herodot. ubi fuprai cap. 137— 139. ^ Id^m ibid. cap. 140.
Vol. L X ft raps

30 6 The Hfftory of Egypt

ftraps to pieces «. However^ archbifliop Ulhcr * and Dr.
Prideaux * are of opinion > that Sennacherib, what lofs fo-
ever he might have fuftained at Pelufium, entered Egypt \
and, having defttoyed the famous city of No, carried
with him, on his return into Aflyria, a great multitude
of Egyptian captives : for it was, according to them, on
this occafion, that the prophecy of Nabum was fulfilled t
" Yet was (he (the populous No) carried away ; flie "wxnt
into captivity ; her young children alfo were daihed itt
pieces at the top of "all the ftreets ; and they caft lots for
her honourable men ; and all her great men were bound in
chains' ^" When Setbon next morning found the enemy
thus difarmed, and moving off, he purfued them with
great flaughter. In memory of this miraculous event, a
natue of ftone was eredled to this king, in the temple of
Vulcan, holding a rat in one hand, with a» infcription,.
importing y ** Whofoever beholdeth me, let him be
pious */'
^e t'wik;4 Soon after the death of Sethon, Egypt was divided into
^^&^* twelve kingdoms, and as many of the Egyptian lords^

were appointed rulers or fovereigns. Thefe twelve fen*
tercd into the ftrifteft afibciation for the public welfare.
It had beenuforetold by an oracle, upon their afluming the
government, that he of their number who (hould perform
a libation in a brazen cup, Ihould, in time, be king of all
Egypt. This new regulation was attended with peace and
happinefs \ and the twelve kings refolved to raife a monu-
ment, which might perpetuate their namesF to the lateft
ages : accordingly they built the famous labyrinth near the
lake Moeris. At length they all met together, to facrifice
in -the temple of Vulcan; and, being to offer a libation,
the high prieft, through miftake, brought out only eleven
of the twelve gold bowls, which were referved for the ufe
of the twelve princes : Pfammetichus, {landing the lad in
order, and being unprovided for the ceremony, took off
bis helmet, which was of brafs, in whith he performed
his libation. This aftion he performed inadvertently;
but, it being obfervcd by the reft, they called to mind
the oracle, which promifed the whole kingdom of Egypt
to him who fhould happen to perform a libation in this
place with a brafs bowl. Wherefore they unanimoufly
refolved to confine him to the marfhy country, diverting

g Herodot. ubi fupra^ cap. 141. * Ufli. ad A. M. 3-292.

p. a
capi

1 Prid. ConnedV. part i. book i. p. 23* o6iavo. ^ Nahum

iiir 10. ^ Herodot* Jib. ji. cap. 14x1

him.

to the Time of Alexander. 307

Mm of the greateft part of his diftrift, and- forbidding
him to concern himfelf with the affairs of the public "*.
The reafon of this difcord 13 differently told by others ;
and the whole is attributed to envy ; for, at the divifion
^f the country into twelve provinces, the fea coafts fell
to the lot of Pfammetichus ; and he, encouraging com-
tnerce with the Grecians and Phoenicians^ n9t only ac->
cumulated great wealth, but acquired alfo the favour and
friendfhip of feveral foreign kings and nations ; which
drew on him the envy of his colleagues ; who, fearing he
ihould grow too formidable, and affeft to rule over them,
refolved to reduce him betimes. Wherefore they all de-
clared war againft him. Finding himfelf unequal to the
conflifl:, he hired an army 01 mercenaries, confifting
chiefly of lonians, Carians, and Arabians, repelled force
with force, and in the end, fubdued the other kings, and
put an end to the duodecemvirate °. On the other hand
It is related, that, in purfuance of his fentence, he re-
treated to the fens \ but, refenting the feverity of his
fate, he fent to the oracle of Latona, at the city of Butus,
to know how, and when, he might hope lor redrefs.
The anfwer he received was, that brazen men would fud-
denly rife out of the fea^ and avenge his caufe. This de<«
claration he received as a flat abfurdity : but, not long
after, fome Ionian and Carian pirates landed in brais
armour : an Egyptian, who had never feen men armed in
that manner before, going up to Pfammetichus, and ac-
quainting him, that certain brazen men had rifen out of
the fea, and were pillaging the land near the . fea fhore,
be jperceived that the oracle was come to pafs. He there-
fore perfuaded them to ftay, by large promifes, and join-
ing to them fuch Egyptians as were well afFefted to his
caufe, he fubdued and dethroned the eleven kings, and
* feized on the whole kingdom for himfelf ^ It is faid, *
the decifive battle was fought at Monemphis ; that fome
of the kings were (lain, and that others took refuge in
Africa. Thus was the government by twelve diflblved,
after it had fubfifted fifteen years p.

Hitherto the Egyptian hiftory hath been covered with Yr. of Fl.
an impenetrable mift, which now" begins to clear up. '^78.
Pfammetichus, of the tribe of Sais, thus pofTefFed of the ^"*| ^^^'
whole kingdom of Egypt, reigned with as much wifdom, ^^* ^

magnanimity, and fplendor, as any of his predeceffors p/antmetU

ckus giviS
m Herodot. lib. ii. cap. 151. ^ Diod. Sic. ubi fupra^ p*59* gnatiH^

t Herodot. ubi Aipra, cap. 151^ P Diod. p. 60. courager

^ - J mint tQthi

A * had Q^gi^^

3o8

rtlis public
kuiidings.

His noart.

^he Hiftory of Egypt

had ever difplayed. He was the fonof Ecus, whom Sab*
baco put to death when he conquered Egypt j and,, had he
not fled into Syria, would have fhared in his father's fate.
He made good his engagements with his allies, and over
and above prefented them with certain lands on each fide
of the Nile, and called their fetilements the Camp. He
alfo put feveral children under their tuition, that they
rnight be inftrufted in the Greek language. They had
their fituation near the fea, below the city of Bubaftis, by
the Pelufian mouth of the Nile •, and there they continued
till Amads removed them to Memphis. Thefe Grecians
are faid to have been the firfl foreigners who were per-
mitted to dwell in Egypt : and, from the intercourfe and
correfpondence which was conftantly kept up between
them and their countrymen in Greece, we arc well affur-
cd of the truth and exadinefs of the Egyptian hiftory from
the days of Pfammetichus %

Concerning the public edifices he ere£led, there is feme
difagreement among authors : Herodotus fays, he added
the ibuthern, and Diodorus, that he built the eaftern
portico ta the tiemple of Vulcan. The former w'rites,
that he raifed a fpacious edifice oppofite to this portico*,
for the reception of the god Apis^ whenever he Ihould
appear ; and that it was enriched with fculpture, and
furrounded by gigantic ftatues, twelve cubits high, in-
ftead of pillars.

In confideration of the fidelity and warlike experience
of the foreigners, who had placed him on the throne, he
always kept fome of their countrymen in pay, and went
fo far as to compliment them with the poft of honour
when he marched into Syria ; where he warred many
years. This partia|ity fo incenfed the Egyptians, that
upwards of two huiidred thoufand of them deferted, and
marched off in a body* Perceiving his error in thus
affronting his own fubjefts, he at firft fent fome of the
chief ofBcers after them, to excufe the matter ; but^ find-
ing that their perfuafions had no effeft, he took fhipping,
with fome of his friends, and overtook them on the banks
of the Nile : there, intreating them to baity in confidera-
tion of all the natural obligations that could endear their
country to them, and theii gods; they unanimoufly
ftruck their fpcars upon their fliields, and cried out, that,
as long as they had arms^ they did not doubt but they
ihould find a country to fettle in ; and, difcovering their

% HerodoL ubi fupra* cap. 154*

nakednefs.

to the Time of Alexafr3er. 309

iiakeSncfs, added, that they fhould never want wives trnd
children. They then profecured their march, till they ar-
rived in the territories' of Ethiopia ; where they ghofe a
fertile fpot for their habitation.

In order to repair this lofs, Pfammetichus earneftly ap- opens the
plied himfelf to the advancement of commerce, and open- ports of E-
ed his ports tp all ftrangers, whom he careffed, conti'ary ^yf>^ ^P
to the cruel and rcfervcd maxims of his predeceflbrs. At fi^^*^V^'*
the fame time he was thus intent upon his affairs at home>
he entered into an alliance with the Athenians, and other
Greek nations '. But his reign is for nothing more re-
markable, than for the long and tedious fiege he laid to
Azotus in Syria, which held out againft the whok power His Mg^^f
of Egypt for the fpace of twenty-nine years •. His con- 'f^^^'^Z
duel, towards the Scythians, who, about this time, pof- twiththi
fefled themfelves of Afia, and were marching with a de- s^thiam
fign ^ invade Egypt, is highly commended 5 for, inftead
of oppofing them, he met them in Syria, where by pre-
fents and intreaties he prevailed on them to defift and rec-
tum ^ After a reign of fifty-four years ", he died, and
was buried in the temple of Bubaftis, or Minerva, at Sais,
the place where all the Saitic kings were depofited. He is
i-eported to have been the firft king of Egypt that drank
wine *, to have fent perfons to difcover'the fprings of the
Nile y, and to have made the experiment we have already
recorded, to find out which was the mpft ancient nation
in the world.

Nechus the fon and fucceflbr of Pfammetichus, was the Yr. of FU
Pharaoh Necho of Scripture, a prince of a magnificent ^ I'' cli
and warlike genius, great both at land and fea. In the go^,

beginning of his reign he attempted to cut a canal from «

the Nile to the Red Sea *; but, after the lofs of one hun- Nechus^
drcd and twenty thoufand of thofe employed on this work,
he was warned by an oracle to defift, and leave the finiih-
ing of it to a barbarian or foreigner. He obeyed the
oracle ; and thenceforth turning his thoughts to warlike
enterprizesj built a fleet of galleys in the northern (Me-
diterranean) fea, and another in the ftreights of the Ara-
bian gu-lph *. He fent fomc of the moft expert Phoeni- 4f^^' the
cian mariners tie could procure^ upon a difcovery of the ^J^^'f' ^

' Herodot.ubi fupra, cap. 153. * Idem,lib. ii. cap. 157.

'X Ideqi, lib. i, cap. 405. v Idem, Lib. ii.x:ap. 157. > £udox*
apud Plutarcb. de Ifide & Ofiridc, p. 3.3$. / Athen«a&, lib« ,

yiii. p. 345* ' Hti^QJot. lib. ii; cap. Jji. * Idejn ibid,

cap. 159.

X 3 African

- 3IO ^ The Hiftoty of Egypt

African coafts. Thefe^ failing out of the Red Sea through
the ftreights of Babelmandel, they fleered down the
eaftern fliores of Africa ; and, doubling the Cape of Good
. Hope, coafted up northward, till they came to the
ftreights of Gibraltar ; by which they entered the Medi-
terranean, and fo returned into' Egypt : this voyage they
performed in three years \
Hii wars He was not only great at fea, but alfo formidable by
at Umd. land. Jofephus, following CteGas, fays, that he made
war upon the Medes and Babylonians, who had juft then
diffolved the AfTyrian monarchy, and were grown dread«
ful to the nations far and near' : but the Scripture ex-
prefsly fays, that he went out againft the king of Aflyria,
who was then on the river Euphrates, perhaps at Baby-
lon : in his march thither, Jofiah king of Judah refufed
him a paflage through Judaea, and drew up an army to

fre vent his defign, which was to befiege Carchemifli *.
inding therefore that Jofiah oppofed him, he fent mef-
fengers to him to remonflrate, that his arms were not
taken up with a defign to do Jofiah the lead prejudice \
that the war he was going to engage in, was undertaken
by the exprcfs command of God j wherefore he would do
well not to incur the wrath of heaven by withftanding its
decree. Finding Jofiah gave no ear to his remonflrances,
he refolved to give him battle \ and both armies being
drawn up in the valley of Megiddo (or Magdolus, as He-
rodotus has it ® ), Jofiah was wounded mortally with an
arrow, as he was driving his chariot up and down the
ranks : perceiving his end to be near, he commanded his
army to retreat, and Necho profecuted his march ^ Ar-
riving on the banks of the Euphrates, he took the great
city of Carchemifli ; where he lodged a fufficicnt garrifon,
and, after three months, returned towards Egypt «. As
he drew near to Jerufalcm, hearing that Jehoahaz had
raifed himfelf to the throne, he fent him an order to meet
him at Riblah iil Syria, where he bound him in chains^
and fent him away prifoner to Egypt. He went after-
wards to Jerufalem, and made Eiiakim, whofe name he
changed into Jehoiakim, king over Judah, impoOng on
him at the fame time a tribute of an hundred talents of fil-
ver, and one talent of gold ^. Thus he became mafter of

«
^ HerodoN Kb, iv. cap. 4s« * Jofephus Antiq. lib. x. cap. 6«
A % Kings xxiii. 29. a Cbron. xxxv. »o. « Hcrodot. lib. ii*

cap. 159, f % Cbpon. xxxv« 24. Jofi»phu9 Antiq« ubi fupra,

« Idem ibid. »» ^ King$ xxiii. 33,

Judaea

to Jhe Jim of Alexander^ 3 H

Judaea and Syria. Herodotus fays that he took the great
and mountainous city of Cadytis in Paleftine, that is, as
fome underlland him, Jerufajem. It is plain Nechus was
.there ; but it is almoft as plain, that he entered it in a peace-
able manner *. Hitherto Tie was fuccefsful in his warsj
tuid weakened the declining power of Aflyria, which very
foon after oeafed to give name to a monarchy. In com-
memoration of his good fJlart^ne, or in gratitude to the god,
he is faid to have confecrated .the garments he wore in
thefe aftions to Apollo, and to liave fent them to the ora- '^
cle of the Branchidae in the land of the Milefiaiis*.

But he did not long eiqoy his new acquidtions ; for, in His turn of
a few years, Nebuchadnezzar came from Babylon, with forfime*
defign to drive the Egyptians from Carchemiih^ and reco-
ver the Syrian and Phoenician provinces K Nechus, no
•way daunted at the formidable power of this newly-ere£led
monarchy, marched towards the Euphrates, with a very
numerous army, againft Nebuchadnezzar ; but was routed
svith terrible flaughter, and loft Carchemifli, with all Sy-
ria and Judaea^ quite to Pelufium ". He afterwards
^entered into a confederacy with Jehoiakim, and pretended
an inclination to r.enew the war againft the Babylonians ^
hixt he did nothing of moment, Bor flirred out of Egypt ".
JHc died about weight years after he had been defeated by
Nebuchadnezzar, having reigned iixteen, and left his fon
Pfammis to fucceed him in the kingdom °.

In the reign of Pfammis, the fon of Necho, ambaffadors Yr. of FI,
jcame into Egypt from the Eleans, to know if the moft . ^'^^ch
iage Egyptians could perceive any defcfl: in their regifla- ^^^^^ ^
.tion concerning the Otympic games. When the king was '

informed of their bufmefs, he called a council of die wifeft Pfammis.
men in the nation; and, fending for the ambaffadors,
.afked them, if their own citizens were allowed to contend
at their games. The Eleans anfwered, they were. Then
the Egyptians pronounced, that they erred from all the
jules of hofpitality ; (ince it was natural for them to favour
their fellow citizens more than ftrangers ; that if they
were come to be informed concerning what ought^ or
ought not, to be done in the matter they had propofed,
•the moft equitable law they could make, would be to ex-
clude their own couutrymeni and admit none but ftrangers

^ Prid'eaux Connect, p. $6, 57. ^Herodot. ubi fupra. ^ Idem
ibid. eap. 159. ^ Jerem. xlvi. ly s. 2 Kings xxiv. 7.

m Jofepliiis ubi fiipra. ^ a Kin|;8 xxiv* 7. Jolephus ubi

ftipra. ' Uerodot* ubi fupra. /

X 4 to

311 ^he Hiftory of Egypf .

to contend for the prizes. Pfammis reigned fix yearsr,
and died in an expedition againft the Etbiopians> leaving
his fon Apries to fucceed him on the throne.
Yr. of Fl. Apries is the Pharaph Hophra of Scripture. The firft
«754- part of his reign was great and profperous, the laft, info-
Ante Chr, lent and miferable. In the year of his acceflion, he receiv-
^^^' ed ambafladors from Zedekiah king of Judah, with whom
JprUs, ^^ entered into a league againft the king of Babylon ^^
His affairs About two years after this tranfaftion, he marched out of
wiM thi Egypt with defign to relieve Jerufalem, then clofely be-
Je^s* fieged by Nebuchadnezzar ; who no fooner heard of his
motions than he raifed the fiege, and refolved to give him
battle *i : but, the Egyptians, afraid of hazarding an a£kion,^
retreated as faft as the Babylonians approached, until they
reached their own country, leaving the J«ws to the mer-
cilefs rage of their enemy. For this breach of faith,
Ezekiel denounced the heavy doom againft them, that
they Ihould be confounded and defolate for forty years ' 5
and that afterwards they fliould degenerate to fuch a de-
gree, as not to have it in their power to fet up a king of
their own ; a predidlion which will be feen accomplimed
in the courfe of this hiftory. The Scriptures paint Apries
in very difadvantageous colours, and in the end threaten
him with a violent death ; which was his fate. In the
mean time it may not be amifs to take notice, that Hero-
dotus gives this king twenty-five years of greater profpc-
rity than any of his predeceflbrs, except Pfammetichus,
had enjoyed : though Diodorus allows his whole reign no
more than twenty-two years. However, they both agree in
giving him the character of a martial prince ; and fpeak
of fuccefsful wars which he waged both by fea and land,
Htsvi£^T againft the Tyrians, Sidonians, and Cypriots*. The city
^^^ of Sidon he took by ftorm ; and, having vanquiflied both

the Phoenicians and Cypriots in a fea-fight, returned with
immenfe fpoil into Egypt.

Even the profane hiilorians acquaint us, how thefe pre-
di£lions were fulfilled. The Cyreneans, being greatly
ftrengthened by a numerous fupply of their countrymen,
under their third king Battus the Happy, and encouraged
by the Pythian oracle, began to expel the Libyans their
neighbours, and fliare their pofleffions among themfelves.
TAe caufi A'^^^^^'^* ^^^g ^^ *^^ injured Libyans, fent an embafly of
tfhisnunt fubn^ifiion to Apries, and implored his prote£lion from

P Ez^k. xvii. 15. 9 Jercm. xxxvii, 5. ' Ezek. xix. 8— ii«
• jEIerodot. uhi fuprs^, cap. 16 !• Dio4^ ubi fapra, p. 62*

to the Time of Alexander. ' • 3 '3

the violence of the new comers, Apries, complying with
his requeft, fent a powerful army to his relief : but the
Egyptians being defeated with great (laughter by the
Cyreneans, the few who efcaped were highly incenfed
againft the king, as if he had fent them to certain de-
ftruftion, in hopes that they being cut off, he might tyran-
nize without controiil over the remainder of his fubjefts.
What ground there was for this fufpicion, does not ap-
pear ; but it prevailed to fuch a degree among the giddy
multitude, that almoft an universal defeftion enfued.
Upon intelligence that they were aflembled in a tumultu-
ous mannei*, and talking loud of a revolution, Aprils fent
Am^fis, a trufty friend, as he thought, and much refpefted
by the people, to appeafe them. But he, inftead of re- jj betrayed
conciling them with Apries, made intereft with t|iem for by Amafis*
liimfelf : as he pretended to reproach, and recall them to
their allegiance, one of them came behind him, put an
lielmct on his head, and faluted him king of Egypt ; and
from that inftant he prepared to war againft his mafter ^
Apries, finding himfelf thus betrayed, commanded one
Patarbemis, the moft confiderable of all the Egyptians,
who as yet adhered to him, to go to the rebellious camp,
and bring Amafis to him alive. This man went accord*
ingly, and charged Aifiafis to come and give his atten-
dance at court.* Amafis, who was on horfeback, lifted
up his thigh with the utmoft fcorn, and, breaking wind,
bid him carry that back to his mafter. Patarbemis ftill
prcffing him to obev the royal fummons, he returned this
final anfwer, that he had been fome time preparing to
vifit the king ; but, that he might do it in a proper man-
ner, he would bring . a fuitable equipage along with him.
Patarbemis had now heard and feen too much to imagine
he fliould fucceed in the bufinefs he was charged with,
and began to think, that the beft fervice he could do for
Apries, at this conjundure, would be to give him the
moft early notice of the pofture and temper of the rebels.
He therefore haftened back to the king, who no fooner
faw him without Amafis, than he ordered his ears and
nofe to be cut oflF. This infolent and tyrannical behaviour
completed his ruin : for, when the reft of the Egyptians,
who had continued faithful to hi^n^ beheld the inhuman
mutilation of fo worthy and noble a perfon, they all with-
drew from him, and went over to Amafis. And now the
^tyrant on the one hand, and the ufurpcr on the other^

•< Herodot. ubi fiJpra, cap, i6i| i6i, Diod« ubi fupra.

pre-

314 ^^^ Hyiory of E^t

pr^red for war ; the laft having the whole body of the
natives under his banner ; the other only fuch Oarians,
lonians, and other mercenaries and foreigners as he could
engage in bis fervice '.
Nebmthad' During thefe inteftine broils, which muft have greatly
mxxar weakened Egypt, it is. probable that Nebuchadnezzar^
^^'f ^^ who much about this time broke up his thirteen years
£g9Ph' ^^^^ ^^ Tyre, took advantage of the troubled ftate of this
* kingdom, in hopes to acquire fuch fpoil as might make
amends for what he mifled at Tyre, according to the
Scripture, where it is faid, " Neouchadnezzar king of
Babylon caufed his army to ferve a great fervice againft
Tyrus— yet had he no wages nor his army for Tyrus—
TnereforCj faith the Lord God, Behold, 1 will give the
land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—
^d it fliall be the wages for his army ^'' Nebuchad-
nezzar invading Egypt, miferably h^raffed the country^
flew and'led away great numbers of its inhabitants. At
length he retired ; but whether he appointed Amafis for
his lieutenant, or what terms he made with him, is
what we do not take upon us to explain ; no more than
whether Amafis and Apries flood their ground, and made
head againft the enemy, or left him to a£^ at his pleafure
in Egypt. This alone is certain, that the Babylonian
carried away an immenfe booty.
|Kvi7 nvar g^ ^o return to the civil war : Apries marched from
JMis^and ^^ ^^ ^^^ ht2td of thirty thoufand Carians and lonians ;
jffgajSs. ^^ Amafis, on the other hand, was in motion with an
army of Egyptians ", They met in the fields ner Mem-
phis, and Apries was fo far from doubtfng of viclory, that
he is faid tahave entertained a notion, that it was not in
the power even of any god to diveft him of his kingdom*,
as he is upbraided by the prophet, " The river is mine,
and I have piade i^t*^ But his confidence availed hihi
nothing, though the foreigners did wonders in the battle ;
yet being overpowered by numbers, they were utterly de-
feated, and Apries himfelf was taken prifoner.
of FI. Amafis, of the tribe of Sais, having thus ufurped the
Ante Chr. kingdom, confined Apries in the palace of Sais, formerly
569. his own, and treated him with great care and refpe£t.

But the people were implacable, and could not reft whiift

Amafis^ Apries enjoyed his life ^ j therefore, murmuring againft

• HerodiQt. ubi fapra, cap. 163* t^zek.xxix, iS, jf»

V Herodot. ubi fupra, cap. 169. Diod. ubi fupra. ' Herodot.

ubi fupra. r Plato in Tim.

Amafi$5

to the Time of AkxandiT. S^S

Amafis> and remonftrating that his leHity was wrong ap»
plied in extending it to his and their common enemy, he
found himfelf under a neceflity of delivering the un*
happy pjrince into their hands. They forthwith ftranglcd ^P^^^ ^
him, and laid his body in the fepulchre of his anceftors, fi^^H^
which was in the temple of Minerva, adjoining to the pa,-f
lace. Here ail the princes of the tribe of Sais were in*
tombed *.

According to other accounts AmaSs did not thus ufurp
the throne, nor fucceed Apries ; but one Partamis^ whojQ
Amafis fucceeded, and that by the following incident;
Partamis celebrating his birth-day, Amafis, as yet a pri-
vate perfon, prcfented him with a mod beautiful and ele-
gant garland of flowers \ "virhereupon being invited to his
table as a gueft, and thenceforward added to the number
of the Icing's friends, he was at laft fcnt at the head of an
army to reduce the Egyptians who had rebelled : but the
army made him king, out of the hatred they bore to Par-
tamis ». We are inclined to think that the Partamis here,
and the Patarbemis above, are the fame man ; and if fo,
be was rather the idol of the people's affediions, than th^
objeft of their hatred.

Whoever Amafis fucceeded, and which way ibcver he
came to the crown, it is commonly allowed that he wa$
of plebeian extraction. PerceivLog at firft that it was with
rcluftancc the people payed him the refpefl: due to the
fublimity of his ftation, he took a golden ciftern, in which
iis guefts were ufed to walh their feet, and ordered it to
be melted down,* and caft in the fhape of a god. Thia
precious idol was fet up in the moft frequented part of th<5^
city ; and all paid due reverence and honour to It. He;
then called an afTembly of the Egyptians, and acquainted
them that the god they now worfliipped was made of the
veflel which had ferved for the meaneft ufes; that his
own cafe was the feme \ formerly he was a mean -per-
fon, but being now their king, he expefted and required
to be honoured and obeyed as fuch. It was a rule with
him to attend ^clofely to bufinefs every morning, and to
divert himfelf with his friends during the remainder of
the day, drinking and making merry : but his mirth was
fomewhat of too low an allay for a king ; at which {ova^
of his friends were fcandalized^ and aflured him that fuch»
forgetfulnefs of his dignky would draw upon him the

> Herodot. ubi fupra. > Hellanic. 4ipud Athenae Beipnof.

lib* zv. p 680. ,

contempt

> »

3i6 The Hifiory of Egypt

contempt of all his fubjjefts. To this rcmonftrance he
replied, that as a bow always bent would undoubtedly
lofi much of its fpring and energy, and in the end be
^wholly ufclefs ; fo a man who fliould uninterruptedly at-
tend upon ferious matters, would grow ftupid, and lofc
his fenfes. Being perfeftly convinced of this truth, he
was determined to divide his time between bufinefs and
diverfion. Indeed it is faid of him that, when a private
man, he delighted in his cup and his jeft ; and was fo
averfe to bufinefs, that he fupported himfelf in his riot
and luxury by thieving. Being' oftentimes accufed, and
continually denying his guilt, they were ufed to carry him
to the oracle of the place, wherever he was, by which he
was fomctimes convi^fted, and fometimes acquitted.
When he came to the throne, he xecollefted the former
tranfaftions of his Kfe, and calling to mind the deceitful-
nefs and ignorance of the oracles, which had pronounced
him innocent, he flighted the temples of fuch gods, ab^
ftained from their facrifices, and refufed to prefent them
with any donations. On the contrary, he highly revered
thofc for veracity arid omnifcience who had detefled his
guilt *.
nepuhlk He built a portico to the temple of Minerva at Sais,
mf0rks 9f which was of the utmoft magnificence, both in the vaft-
^^f^fii' nefs of its proportion, and the maffivenefs of the materials,
adorning it with colloffal images of androfphynges.
But what is mod to be admired, he removed a houfe, all
of One ftone, from the fame city to Sais. The exterior
dimenfions of it were twenty-one cubits in front, fourteen
deep, and eight high ; the interior meafures were eighteen
cubits, twelve, and five. Two thoufand mariners were em-
ployed three years in tranfporting this extraordinary edi-
fice. It flood near the entrance of the temple, and was
never wholly admitted. The chief engineer fighed one day,
as ifbe was tired out with the work ; and Amafis, who
flood by, taking offence, would never fuffer him thence-
forth to have any concern in ks tranfportation ; befideS|
he was difcouraged by an accident ; one of the men who
were rolling it into the temple, being crufhed to death.
He was very magnificent in the gifts and ornaments he
beflowed upon the other celebrated temples, particularly
on that at Memphis, where, before the temple of Vul-
can, he caufed a coloffus to be made feventy-five feet in
length, lying on its back 5 on the fame bafis, or pave-

^Jlerodot. ibid» capi 173—175.

fa the Ttme of Alexander. 3 1 7

ment| he crefted twa ftatues, each twenty feet high, cut
out of the fame ftone. The great temple of Ifis, at Mem- ,
phis, was built by this monarch *. /

Egypt is faid to have been happy during his reign, in ThtJIati rf'
the fecundation of the Nile, and to have contained no lefs Egypt un^
than twenty thoufand populous cities. That good order ^'^f^V^^
might the better fubfift in the midft of fo vaft a multitude, ^^^^
Amafis enadted a law, whereby every Egyptian was bound
to inform the governor of the provice once a year^ by
what means he earnied his living, and, in default thereof,
to fufFer death ; which was alfo the punifhment now or-
dained for thofe, who were not able to give a fatisfaftory
account of themfelves * ; and for this, and the other laws
he enafked, he is ftiled the fifth law-giver of Egypt •*.

He was a great friend to the Greeks, and had a vifit tsveryfa*
from Solon ^. Befides the favours he conferred on parti- ^ourabUf
cular perfons and cities of that nation, he gave full liberty 5f''^f
to the Greeks in general to come into Egypt, and to fettle, ^^ '*
either iii the moft celebrated mart of Naucratis, or traf-
fic upon the fea-coafts 5 granting them places where they
might ereft altars arid temples to their own deities. Ac-
cordingly they erefted feveral temples, the moft frequent-
ed and noted of which was called the Grecian temple,
being built at the joint charge of the Ionian cities of
Chio, Teos, Phoc3ea» and Clazomense; of the Dorians
of Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicamaflus, Phafelis; and of the
-^olians in the citv of Mitylene. Thofe of -ffigina alfo
built a temple to Jupiter at their own expence ; the Sa-
mians raifed another to Juno, and the Milefians a third
to Apollo. The Greeks defied officers to prefide over
their commercial affairs, and their religion ; and thence-
forward became a confiderable body in Egypt.

So great was the faine of Amafis for his gcnerofity and
humanity, that when the Delphians, whofe temple had
been burnt, were going about from city to city to raife
fuch a contribution as might enable them to pay that part
of the expence which was impofed on them, they ap-
plied not only to the Greeks in Kgypt, but alfo to Ama-
fis himfelf, who gave them a thoufand talents of alum.
He made an alliance with the Cyreneans, and, .being de- Marrtts 4
firous of a Grecian woman, or elfe willing to give an ^''**
ample teftimony of the afFeftion he had for that people,
he married Ladice, the daughter of Battus, according to

« Herodot. ibid. cap. 176, 177. « Hcrpdot. ubi fup.cap. 178,
^ DiodoraSi ubi fupra, p. 85. c Hcpodotus» lib. t. cap, 30.

( Ibpic;

3«8

The Hi/lory of Egypt

fomc 5 and, according to others, the daughter of Arcefi*-
laus, or Critobulus, a perfon of high authority among the
Cyreneans. This marriage was Very extraordinary in its
beginning, and could not be confummated without the
intervention of a deity : for Amafis, though he found no
impedient in himfeli with refpcft to other women, was
at the fame time fenfible of a total inability in regard to
his wife. SufpcAing fomc fccret charm, he told her one
night, that, how deeply foever flie was vcrfcd in fupcf-
natural contrivances, me could not cfcape the vengeance
he intended to take on her for her ingratitude. She de-
nied the charge) and applying with iighs and tears to
Venus, vowed to fend a ftatue of her to Cyrene, and
ereft it there, if fhe delivered her from her prefent dif-
MrmracU* trefs. The goddefs heard her przjttf the impediment
was removed ; and the king thenceforth ufcd her with all
the kindnefs of a tender hufband. Ladice performed her
vow to the goddefs, whofc ftatue, fet up by her, was
feen without the gates of Cyrene fome ages afterwards.
This fuppofed miracle brought the gods of Greece into as
much credit with Amafis as with the Greeks thefnfelves 5
and his regard appeared in his confecfated donations to
that country. To the city of Cyrene he fent a gilt ftatue
of Minerva, and his own pifture done to the life. To
the city of Lindus he gave two ftone ftatues of the fame
goddefs, with a linen peroral or ftomacher wondeifuUy
wrought and adorned. To Samos he fent two wooden
images of himfelf, which were feen ftanding feveral ages
afterwards, behind the gates of the great temple of Juno.
This donation he made to Samos for the fake of Polycra-
tes, with whom he was in efpecial alliance. As for'
Lindus, it was^ reported, that the daughters of Danaus
founded the temple of Minerva there, when they fled
from the fons of ^ffigyptus. To all the great things
which have been hitherto faid of him, we may add, that
he was the firft who fubdued Cyprus, and extorted tri-
bute from the Cypriots, its inhabitants *.

Hitherto we have reprefented this reign in the majef-
tic colours the Egyptian priefts beftowed on it ; and under
fo prudent a prince as AmaCs, the greateft part of what
they faid may be true enough ; but they dwelt fo much
on the glory of this reign, as to forget all the ignominy
that was mixed with it. Xenophon writes, that Cyrus

' Herod alus, ubi fuprt, cap. i8x^ iSs, Diodorus, ubi fupra.

conquered

Ws eonfe"
crated dd'
nations to
Gftece*

Cfftquers

io th Time of Alexander. . 319

conquered Egypt % and if fo, it muft have been during
this long rcign ; and Herodotus fays, that Amafis and
Croefus were leagued together againft Cyrus ^ It is cer-
tain, that Nebuchadnezzar almoft ruined the whole king-
dom ; but no mention is made of this by profane authors,
who, fo far as they have touched upon the Egyptian af-
fairs, have copied the ancient records of that nation, or
depended upon the oral traditions of their priefts. But
now that it Was no longer in their power to conceal theif
difhonour, they frankly confeffed it. For, according to His latter
their accounts, the latter days of Amafis were darkened ^^^ «»-
by a dreadful ftorm, which threatened the utter ruin of ^^ *
Egypt ; and though he died juft foon enough to efcape
the rage of it, yet his dead body was fo cruelly abufed and
deftroyed, that, could he have been fenfible of the hard ^
fate he was doomed to fuffer, he, according to the Egyp-
tian fuperftition, would have thought the lofs of his king-
dom a trifle.

By fome means or other, Amafis had incenfed Camby- and wAjr*
fes the Perfian to fuch a degree, as has fcarce its parallel
in hiflx)ry. The feeds from whence this enmity fprang
are not certainly known. On one hand it is faid, that
Amafis fending an Egyptian occulift to Cyriis king of
Perfia, who had defired to have the beft in his kingdom f
the man, who was chofen 'by the king for this purpofe,
took it much at heart, that he fhould be thus exiled, as
it were, from his wife and children, and fent into Perfia.
The angry Egyptian, continuing in Perfia, and plainly
perceiving the turbulent genius of Cambyfes, prevailed on
him to fend an herald to Amafis, to demand his daughter
to wife, aflured, that whether Amafis complied with this .
requeft or not, he fliould have his full meafure of revenge.
Cambyfes hearkened to this man, and did as he had fug-
gefted. When the Perfian herald came to Amafis, he
knew not what to refolve on ; he dreaded the Perfian
power, if he refufed ; and was afhamed of the difhonour
which muft be reflefted on his family, if he complied,
knowing that, inftead of being a wife, his daughter could ^
be no better than the Perfian's concubine. At laft he be-
thought him, that his predeceflbr had left behind him an
only daughter, pf great beauty, and majeftic deportment,
called Nitetis. Her therefore he fent with all the pomp
and fplendor becoming his own daughter, to Cambyfes
in Perfia -, who, when he faw her, faluted her by the title

« Cyropaedia, Tub fin. & in proleg. f Herodot. lib. i, cap. 77* ,

3 2o to the Time of Alexander.

of daugtter to Amafis. She immediately anfwered, tliat
Amafis had deceived him, that {he was not his daughter^
but the unhappy child of the unfortunate Aprles, whom
Amaiis had put to death, and whofe throne he had un«
gratefully ufurped. Cambyfes, fired with indignation^
vowed the deftruftion of Ajnafis. This was the ftory the
Perfians told ; hut we look upon the whole account as fa-
bulous. It is more likely, that Amafis, who had fub-
mitted to Cyrus, refufed, upon the death of that great
conqueror, to pay his fucceflbr the fame homage and tri-
bute. But whatever was the caufe of this war, we leave
Cambyfes preparing for it, and return to Amafis.
Jmajish Whilft this cloud was gathering, Phanes of Halicar*
^f/^fl)^</ by nafTus, commander of the Grecian auxiliaries in the pay
HaUcari ^^ Amafis, took fome private difguft, and, leaving Egypt,
maffus. embarked for Perfia. He was a prudent counfellpr, a va-.
liaqt captain, perfeftly well acquainted with every thing
that related to Egypt ; and, befides, had great credit with
the Greeks in that country. Amafis was immediately
fenfible how great a lofs he (hould fuftain in this man's
defedion, and how much Phanes had it in his power to
ftrengthen the hands of Cambyfes, or any prince, who
(hould undertake to invade him ; and therefore in all
hafte he fent a trufty eunuch with a fwift galley to pur-
fue him, who overtook him in Lycia. However, he was
not brought back to Egypt ; for, making his guard drunk,i
he continu64 ^** ^^7 ^^ Perfia, and prefented himfelf to
. Cambyfes, as he was meditating the downfall of Egypt,
which this fugitive forwarded by his counfel and difco-
veries s.
J4ahisPo' We have already obferved, that therie had been an cfpe-
(ycrates ^/V cial harmony between Amafis and Polycrates the tyrant
^^*?F' of Samos ; out a niifunderftanding arifing between them,
Polycratds, when occafion offered, joined Cambyfes
againft his former Egyptian ally. Amafis, receiving con-
tinual accounts of the uninterrupted fuccefles and depre-
dations of this Samian, feared that, in the end, fome
heavy difafter would fall upon him, equal to the glory of
his triumphs ; and therefore fent him this letter, advifing
him as follows : *^ Amafis to Polycrates fpeaketh — It is
with pleafure I hear of the happy ftate of my friend and
ally. Neverthelefs I dread thy great profperity, knowing
the unftablenefs of fortune. For my part, I fhould rather
chufe, that my affairs, and thofe alfo of my friends^

s Herodot. lib. iii, cap. 4.

fhould

to the Time of AlexanJler. 321

ihoulci be fometimes profperous> and fometimes unhappy,
than fee them proceed with continual fuccefs. There-
fore hearken to my courifel, and do as I fhall bid thee,
to detraft a little from thy happinefs : confider then with
thyfelf, what thou pofleiTeft of greateft value, and what
would the mod bitterly grieve thee, if loft : and when
thou haft recoliefted vhat this objeA is, caft it away
from thee, fo that it may never more be beheld by man.
If thy happinefs, after this experiment, knoweth no mix-
ture of evil, prepare thyfelf againft the forrow that may
come upon thee, by repeating the remedy I have propos-
ed. " When Amafis heard that Polycrates had taken his ad-
vice, and thrown a very valuable fignet into the fea ; but '
that it was found, a few days afterwards, in the belly of
a fifh, and reftored to him, ne looked upon him as a per-
fon devoted to fome terrible difafter. Dreading, there-
fore, fome participation of his calamity, he difpatched an
herald to Samos to renounce his alliance* Amafis, by
thus dijBTolving the connexion, left Polycrates to ao:
againft him, if his inclination led him fo to do ; and ac-
cordingly he offered a fleet of fliips to Cambyfes, to affift
him in his invafion of Egypt. Ilius we fee Amafis in
danger of an inexorable, cruel, and moft powerful
tnemy, in concert with a difgufted and formidable friend.
But before the dreaded day came, his life ended, after
he had reigned forty-four years. His dead body was em- His death*
balmed, and depofited in a fepulchre he had built for him-
felf in the temple at Sais.

• He was fucceeded by his fon Pfammenitus, whofe reign Yr. of FI.
was fliort and calamitous. He. was fcarce feated on the i8»3'
throne when Cambyfes appeared, at the head of a power- -^"^* ^^^*
ful army, on the borders of Egypt. Pfammenitus ^*^'
aiTembled a body of forces to prevent his penetrating into p/ammtni"
the kingdom. But in the mean time Cambyfes, laying /»/,
fiege to Pelufium, made himfelf mafter of that iftiportant
place by the following ftratagem : he placed in the front
of his army a great number of cats, dogs, and other
animals, that were deemed facred by the Egyptians, apd
then attacked the city, and took it without oppofition, the
garrifon, which confifted entirely of Egyptians, not dar-
ing to throw a dart, or (hoot an arrow, that way, through
fear of killing fome of thofe animals *.

Cambyfes nad fcarce taken poffeffion of Pelufium, the
key of Egypt on that fide, when Pfammenitus advanced

* Folyffiii lib. viii.
Vol. I. Y with

3^2 The Hijlory of Egypt

with a numerous army to ftop his farther progrefs ; and
a bloody battle enfued. Before the two armies engaged^
the Greeks, who ferved under Pfammenitus, in . order to
exprefs their indignation againft their treacherous coun-
tryman Phanes, brought his children into the camp,
killed them in the fight of their father> and, in the pre-
fence of the two armies, drank their blood. The Per-
He hoover- fians, enraged at this barbarity, fell upon the Egyptian
thrown by army witli fuch fury, that they foon put them to flight,
Cambyfts. ^xid cut the greateft part of them into pieces. Thofe who
efcaped fted to Memphis, where they were foon after
guilty of a horrid outrage towards an herald, whom Cam-
. byfes^ fcnt to them in a Qiip of Mitylene ; for they no
fooner faw her come into the port, than they flocked
4own to the fliore, deftroycd the fhip, and tore the Per-
il an herald, and all the crew to pieces, carrying their
"Taken pri- mangled limbs in a barbarous triumph into therity. They
^hlt^h'^ were afterwards clofely befieged by the Perfians, and, ire
kiagdom. ^^^ ^^^f obliged to furrendcr ; and fa fell the glory of

Egypt.
Thg parti' Upon the tenth day after Memphis had been taken, Pfam- •
Mscapti' nienitus, and the chief of the Egyptian nobility, were fent
viij J ^ ignominioufly into the fuburbs of that city, to aft a part in
one of the moft doleful tragedies that can be conceived:
the king being there feated in a proper place, he faw his
daughter coming along in the habit of a poor flave, with
a pitcher to fetch water from the river, and followed by
the daughters of the greateft families in Egypt, all in the
fame miferable garb, with pitchers in their hands, drench-
ed in tears, and bemoaning, with loud lamentations,
their unhappy condition. When the fathers faw their
children in this diftrefs, they burft into tears, all but
Pfammenitus, who, though ready to fink under his grief,
only fixed his eyes on the ground. After the young
women came the fon of Pfammenitus, and two thoufand
of the chief Egyptian youths, all with bridles in their
mouths, and halters about their necks, led to execution,
to expiate the murder of the Perfian herald and the Mity-
lenean failors. Cambyfes caufed ten Egyptians of the
firft rank to be publicly executed for every one of thofe
they had flain. But Pfammenitus ftill behaved like one
ftupified and fenfelefs, as they pafled along, whilft the
Egyptians about him uttered the moft doleful lamenta-
tions. Afterwards, beholding an intimate friend and com-
panion begging his bread from door to door in the fuburbs,
he wept bitterly, and calling out to him by his name,

ftruck

to the Time of Alexander. 323

ftfuck himfelf on the head as if he had been frantic. Of
this aftion the fpies, who had been fet over the captive
king to obferve his behaviour^ gave immediate notice to
Cambyfes, who fent a meffenger to know what might be
the ca^fe of fuch immoderate grief. Pfammenitus an- '
fwered, *' That the calamities of his own family con-*
punded him, and were too great to be lamented by any
outward figns of grief: but the extreme diilrefs of a
bofom friend gave him more room for refleftion, and
therefore extorted tears and lamentations." Cambyfes was
fo aflFefted with this anfwer, that he fent to flop the exe-
cution of his fon ; but his orders were given too late ; the
young prince was already put to death. At the fame
time Pfammenitus himfelf was fent for into the city, and
reftored to his liberty ; and had he not betrayed a defire
of revenge, he might have been entrufted- with the admi-
niftration of Egypt ; but, being of a vindiftive temper, and death,
he was feized, and condemned to drink bull's blood.
Thus he ended his life, after a difmal reign of fix months,
and a (hort captivity ; and with him died the ancient
fplendor and liberty of Egypt.

The Egyptians now felt the heavy preflure of fubjeflion ^^^ ^*^^
in a very extraordinary manner. They faw the body of J^aAs'
their late king Amafis taken out of his tomb, fliockingly burnt '^ and
mangled, and finally burnt. They faw their god Apis the god
flain, and their priefts ignominioufly fcourged 5 all which -^/"/«/«.
calamities made fuch dreadful impreffions on the minds
of the whole nation, that they ever afterwards bore an
irreconcileable averfion to the Perfians.

At length they broke out into an open revolt, in the reign %he Egyp*
of Darius Hyftafpis, and continued in a ftate of rebellion ^'^"-^ revolt
againft the Perfians all the firft year of Xerxes ^ ; but, in p^j^Jfj.
the fecond year of the fame prince, they were reduced to butfubdued
harder fubje£tion than before, as is ufually the cafe ; and againn
had one Achasmenes, bi other to Xerxes, for their go-
vernor.

The more feverity they fuffered, the more they were Yr. of Fl.
exafperated. In the fifth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus a'^'p^
they revolted again, chofe Inarus, king of Lybia, to fill " g^ ^*
their throne, and called in the Athenians to their afljft- ,

ance, who chearfuUy embraced this opportunity of ex- Revolt a
pelling the Perfians out of Egypt ^ The Egyptians almoft ficondtime^
fucceeded in their projeft. The Athenians, falling on the ^"^ ^^*^
Perfian fleet at fea, took and deftroyed fifty fail of their thelr^ktwi*

^ Herodotus, lib. vii. cap, s. ^ Thucydid* lib. i.

Y % (hips;

^1 4 ^he Hijiofy of t^

fliips } tlicn, failing up the Nile, landed, under tlie cont*
mand of Charitimis, and joined the Egyptians and
Lybians under Inarus. Thus united, they attacked Ar-
cha^menides the Perfian general, though his army 'was
three hundred thoufand ftrong ; of whom there fell one
^ hundred thoufand, together with the general himfelf-

The reft betook; themfelves to flight, and returned tK>
Memphis; but being purfued by the Egyptians,, they
took refuge in a very confiderable, and by much the here
fortified part of that city, called the White Wall. The
Egyptians poflefled the reft of it, and blocked up the Per-
fians three years.

By this fucccfs the Ej^yptians hoped they had wrought
a total deliverance for themfelves and d-efcendents ; but
their profperity was of no long duration. They were, at
tlie end of three years, obliged to raife the fiege of the
White WaH by the Perfian army, under the command of
Artabazus, governor of Cilicia, and Megabyzus, gover-
nor of Syria ■*. In the mean time,, when Inarus hear<l of
the formidable preparations which were making by thefe
Perfian governors to relieve the, befieged, he redoubled
the attacks on tie White Wall, and made the utmoft
efforts to carry it v but the Perfians ;within defended
themfelves with fuch bravery, that the Egyptians made
no confiderable progrefs towards the redu^ion of the
place".

In the third year of this fiege, and the ninth of Artax-
erxes, Inarus and his auxiliaries were obliged to raife the
fiege of the White Wall)- and defeated with great flaugh-
tfer, which fell chiefly on the Egyptians, jfn tRis fight
Inarus was wounded by Megabyzus ; but neverthelefs he
retreated with his Athenian confederates, and fuch of the
Egyptians as adhered to hira^ to the city of Byblus, in
«he ifland of Profopitis ; which being waihed on each M^
by navigable branches of the Nile, the Athenian fleet was
ftationed in one of them, and here they held out a fiege
of a year and a half. The bulk of the Egyptians fub-
fhitted to the conqueror, and acknowleged Artaxerxes
for their fovereign ; but Amyrtaeus retreated, with a party,
into the fens, where h6 ruled many years, not in the
leaft molefted by the Perfians ; the inacceiEble nature of
the place fecuring him againft all their attempts.

^ Thucydid. ubi fupra. Diod. Sic. lib. xi» " Diod. ubi

Aipra, pr 2S1.

Mean

to the Time of Alexander. 3 2^ 5

Mean while Inarus, and his airxiliaries, on the ^fland Yr. of Fl.
Propofitis, were bufy in defending thcmfelves againft a'^^5*u
the Perfians, who attacked them with great vigour ; bu^ " ^ ^'
•finding that bare ftrength was not like to effeftuate a re- * . .

du£lion of the befieged, they had recourfe to art and Inarus
ftratkgem. Draining that branch of the Nile in which /^^^» p^'*^
the Athenian fleet Tode, Aey at once rendered their ihip- f^^""* ^"^
j)ing ufelefs, and made a paiTage by which the whole body ^^^ ^^
of their army might march over to the ifland. Then again iy
Jnarus^ and all the Egyptians, with fifty of his Athenian the Per-
auxiliaries, delivered themfelves up to Megabyzus, on /<"?*•
condition of being fecured in their lives : the reft of the
Athenians, fix thoufand in number, fetting fire to theitr
-ihips, refolved to die fword in hand ; the Perfians, pei>-
ceiving their ^efign, thought it advifable to offer them
.fome reafonable terms, which were accepted "• The
Athenians had fent a fleet of fifty fail to relieve the ifland
•of Profopitis, but they arrived too late ; and, as foon
^s they entered the river, were affaulted by the
Perfians, both on the river^ and from the fhore ; fo that
Aey all perifhed p. Thus ended the war between Inarusj
king of Egypt, and Artaxerxes king of Perfia, under whom
the Egyptians ever after remain^ ^uiet, and made no
attempts to recover their liberties- Sartamus was ap-
pointed governor of Egyptj and Inarms was carried prir
loner to Sufa, where he was crucified, notwithflanding
;Uie promife given him of his life when he furrendered %

Amyrtaeus, the Saite, in the mean time, pofTefTed the
i^ens, and, in the fifteenth year of Artaxerxes, was joined
hy a fleet of fixty fail of Athenian fhips ' ; but nothing
of moment was tranfa£led .at this time, to the prejudice of
the Perfians, in Egypt.

In the tenth year of Durius Notus, the Egyptians re- ^' ^gyP-
-volted once more from the Perfians : Amyrtaeus being ^'^f' 'J^'. ,
apprifed of their dif con tents, and that they were ripe for /„„^ ^^
any attempts to regain their liberty, fallied out of his jimyruus
fens, and being joined by all the Egyptians, drove the ^^ads
Perfians out of die kingdom, and became king of the ^^^"'^
whole country of Egypt •. yr, of FL

Amyrtausthus poflTeflTed of -the kingdom of Egypt, 'by 1934.
•the total expulfion of the Perfians, isefoived to attack Ante Chr.
4hem in Phoenicia alfo, having the Arabians in confe- 4>4*

*Th«icydid. ubi fupra, Biod ubifupra, p.«f 1. fThucydid. ^/»^, ' '
•ubi fupra. q Thucjrdid. lib. i» ' Plutarch, in Vita Cimon.

Tiiucyd. ubi fupra. Diod. ubi fupra. • Eufebius in Cbronico.

y i 4€racjr

326

Paufris.

P/ammeii'
ciuj, a
barbarous
and utt'
grateful
man*

Murders
h'tsfriend
Tamusfor
his trea-
fure^

Yr. of Fl.

"953-
Ante Chi*.

395-

ifephereus.

Yr. of Fl.

1950.
Ante Chr.

398.

Jcoris.

^be Hiftory of Egypt

dcracy with him in this undertaking \ But he was en-
gaged by Darius in perfon, and overthrown \ and about
this time he died, or was flain in battle.

Paufiris, his fon, fuccdedcd him in the kingdom, with
the confcnt of the Perfians. And now the Egyptians,
though perhaps tributary to the Perfians, had a governor
of their own Mation to alleviate the burden they bore.

Pfammetichus fucceeded Paufiris, dcfcended from the
famous Pfammetichus, whofe, hiftory we have given
above. He was a barbarous and ungrateful man, as ap-
pears by the only incident we have of his reign ; for Ta*
mus, who had been admiral in the Perfian fervice,
though he was a Memphite by birth, thinking it advife-
able, for reafbns of ftate, to leave the Perfian fervice, and
confiding in the friendfhip of Pfammetichus, whom he
had formerly obliged by many friendly offices, put all his
family andeffeftson board his ihipjs, and failed for Egypt.
But when Pfammetichus heard of his an*ival, and that he
had brought great riches with him, he, unmindful of
what Tamus merited of him, and of all the laws of hu-
manity and hofpitality, fell upon him as an enemy y andj^
having flain him, his family, and his followerS| feized
on thofe treafures which Tamus hoped to have enjoyed
in his native country *. This is all we know concerning
that cruel prince.

He was fucceeded by Nephereus, who being invited
by the Lacedaemonians into a confederacy againft the Per-
fians, bt fent them a fquadron of a hundred gallies to
carry on the war by fea, and fix hundred thoufand mea*
fures (bufhels) of corn for the fubfiftence of their army ;
but the veflels which were laden with this valuable pre-
fent, ignorantlyjputting into Rhodes, whofe inhabitants
had juft then put themfelves under the proteftion of the
Perfian fleet, which then rode at anchor there, under the
command of Conon the Athenian, they fell a prey to him,
and never reached the Lacedaemonians y.

AcorisVthe fucceflbr of Nephereus, joined Euagoras
king of Cyprus, and the Arabians, Tyrians, and Barceans,
a people of Lybia, againft the Perfians*. Acoris fent
fome forces to the affiftarice of Euagoras, the chief of this
league, who, being defeated, came into Egypt to engage
Acoris to aflift him with his full ftrength ; but Acoris

V Diod. Sic. ]ib.x]ii. p. 355. x Diod. Sic. lib. xiv. p. 415.

7 Idem, libi fupra» p. 438. Juflin. lib. vik cap. 1. Orofius, lib. iU«^
' Tbeopomp. in Kxerpc. Pbptii. Diod. Sic, libj. xv, p. 459.

could

to the Time of AUxdnder. 327

cotild not be prevailed on to come fo totally into his mea-
fures, and only difmifled him, with a fupply of money, by
no means equal to the neceffities of that prince. Soon after
Gaus, the only furvivor of the family of Tamus, whom
Pfammetichus had murdered for the fake of his wealth,
and who, as well as his father, had been promoted to the
dejgree of admiral in the Perfian fervice, being difgufled
at ill ufage received from Tiribazus, the king of Perfia's
general, in the former part of the Cyprian war againft
Etragoras, revolted from the Perfians : he was followed
by a great part of the fleet and army, and entered into a
league with Acoris and the Lacedaemonians. But next
year Gaus was treacheroufly flain by fome of his own peo-
ple } andTachos, who had undertaken to execute the
fame projeS, dying before it could be accomplifhed, it
was dropped^; (o that the Perfians were freed from the
troublefome eflefts of this new alliance*

Thirty years had now elapfed fince the Egyptians had
Ihaken off the Perfian yoke under Amyrtaeus, and had all
along, upon every occafion that offered, fignalized their aver-
sion t» tlie Perfian government.* But Artaxerxes Mnemon *
being now at full leifure to chaftife them, they once more
■were threatened with a cruel war. Great preparations
were made on both fides : Acoris engaged a great num*-
ber of Greeks, and other mercenaries, under the com-
mand of Chabrias the Athenian*: but the Perfians being
dilatory in their proceedings, this prince died before hot
tilities commenced, and was fucceeded by

Pfammuthis, who reigned only a year. Pfammu*

After him Nepherotes (who is called the laft of the (^"*
Mendefian race) reigned four months. ^ ^^ ''*

Then the kingdom devolved to Neftanebis, the firft of Yr. of Fl.
the Sebennytic race. In the fecond year of his reign. the «97 3'
Perfian army and fleet came upon his coafts and borders, -^"^^^ ^^'"«
and made their firft attempt upon Pelufium ; but Nefta- ^^^*
nebis having had time fufBcient to make the nepefliary ifg^anebis.
preparations, that city and the adjacent country were fo
well provided for the reception of an enemy, that no im-
preflfion could be there made. The Perfian commanders
diflFering in their counfels, and entertaining jealoufies of
each other's glory, did nothing in this war;» for, though
they entered the Mendefian mouth of the Nile, pofleflTed
themfelves of the fortrefs that guarded it, and firuck th^

* Idem, ubi fupra, p«4>7'«

Y ^ Egyptian^

3a8 the Hijlory of Egypt

Egyptians with the utmoft conftemation ; yet they gave
them time to recoile£l: their courage ; Ne£lanebis lodged
a fuf&cient garrifon in Memphis, and taking the field]|
with the reft of his forces, fo annoyed Pharnabazus the
Perfiian general, that he could make no confiderable pro-i
grefs ; and the Nile, at the accuftomed period, oyerflow-
^ng the land, the Perfiana were obliged to retreat ^ Thua
ended this war.

Abut five years afterwards, Agefilaus, king of Spartaj,
came with the charader of an ambaffador to Ne^lanebi^,
to folicit fuccours for the Lacedaemonians, then driven to -
great diff refs by the Thebans 8 • aiid in fcven years after
this embafly Nefbanebis died.
Yr. of Fh Tachos fuccceding him, coUeAed all his ftrength in or«
'9*5' der to defend his country from the ambitious defigns of
"g * the Perfians; who, notwithftanding their many mifcar-
_ riages, had iiot laid afide the thoughts of again fub^

^aehos, jefting Egypt to thfcir dominion* To ftrengthen him-?
felf the more, he fent to Greece to raife mercenaries^
and fucceeded fo well in his application to the Lacedae-
monians, that they difpatched a good number of forces
to him, under the command of Agefilaus ^. Tachos had
promifed this king, that he fhould be generaliffimo of al}
Ws impO' the forces ; but, upon the firfl interview, he conceived
da't^' fuch difadvantageous ideas of that monarch, that he
ward A' thenceforward flighted his counfels, and defpifed his per-.
gt^laus, fon. He expcSed to have feen a gay and magnificent
prince, whofe habit and train were equal to the fame and
fplendor of his exploits, and not a plain mean-looking old
man. This hafty and ill-grounded impreflion may be
well faid to have been the ruin of Tachos, For he allow*
ed Agefilaus to be nothing but general over the merce-
naries at land. The command of the fleet he gave to
Chabrias the Athenian, referving to himfelf the fupreme
dire£^ion of the whole. Having joined his mercenaries
and Egyptians together, he marched out of Egypt, de-
iigning to attack the Perfians in Phoenicia, contrary to
yr. of FL ^^g advice of Agefilaus, who reprefented to him the un-
Anie Chr, f^^^^k^ ^^^c of Egypt, and remonftrated how much more
361. it would be for his intereft to manage the war by lieute--
■ nants, and ftay himfelf in his kingdom. The event

Is driven ihewedy that Agefilaus's counfel was the refult of a very
$uto/tAe prudent fo^ecaft^ for while Tachos was in Phcenicia^ the

kingdom.

f Died, ubi fupra, p, 478, 479. CofneU Nepos, in Iphicra^Q.
f Plutaicb. in Ageiilao. ^ jjidem ibid. Plod, ubi fupra, p. 506.

Egyptians

to the Time of Jlexatikr. 329

Egyptians revolted, and fet up his kinfman Neftanebis in
bis ftead, Agefilaus, taking this opportunity to vent his
refentment againft Tachos, for the contempt with which
he had treated him at his firft arrival, joined Ne£):anebi^,
and deprived the other of his kingdom, who fled through
Arabia, and took refuge with the king of Perfia **.

Neftanebis was fcarce feated on the throne, when a j^eBanehis
Mendefiaa lofe up in oppofitionto him, with a force con- t/ieiafikiag
fitting of one hundred thoufand men. Agefilaus advifed rf^gyPJ,-
Jiim to fall on them immediately, and difperfe them before ^ ^^*^
they had formed themfelves into a regular body by difci-? ^f^ .
pline ; but he, fufpefting that the Lacedaemonian intend*
^d to betray him, as he had betrayed Tachos, gave no
ear to his advice. In the mean time, the enemy encreat-
cd in ftrength and regular order every day, and became
fo formidable, that Ne£tanebis was conftrained to ihut
himfelf up in one of his towns, and endure a (lege. He
now urged Agefilaus to make a fally upon the befiegers,
that fliould throw them into diforder, while he himfelf
might, in the mean time, march out and take the fields
and becaufe the Greek refufed to comply, Neftanebid
grew more and more jealous of him. The enemy having
lextended their lines almoft round the town ; Agefilaus told
Ne£i:anebis, that now was his time to make a fally ;
that, by the lines the befiegers had raifed, they would not
be able to encompafs him ; and the gap which was not
yet filled up, was wide enough for him to march through
vrith fafcty and convenience. The king followed his ad-
vice, and a battle enfued, in which the befiegers were de-
feated. The remaining part of the war being left to the
management of Agefilaus, Ne£l:anebis's competitor was
jsvery where driven out of the field, and at length taken ^fwhich Is
prifoner. Thus was Ne£t:anebis fettled in the full and quetUd.
I^uiet pofieffion of the kingdom of Egypt *.

In the twelfth year of his reign, the Sidonians and He is joined
Phoenicians, revolting from the king of Perfia, entered hy the Si*
into a confederacy with him againfi: that nionarch. This ^^ia^/%
alliance happened very opportunely for him ; for, as the -^^l^'
3?erfian§ had been in conftant agitation againft him, and andCypri"
were now making vaft preparations to reclaim Egypt, he ots, againfi
^ad a very good barrier, feeing tha Perfian forces could the Per-
pot approach his borders, but by marching through Phoe- '^^"^'^

^ Plutarch. & Xenophon. in Agefilao. Theopomp. & Lyceas
Kaucrat. in /Bgyptiacis apud Athen. lib. xiv. cap. i. i Plu-

tarch, ibid. Polycen, Strat. lib. iit

nicia.

3 ;o Vhe Hifiory of Egypt '"

nicia. Therefore, to keep lip their fpiritS) Neflanebii
detached a body of four thoufand Greek mercenaries^
under the command of Mentor the Rhodian, to join them,
in hopes to manage the war at a.diftance. The Phoeni-
cians encouraged by this fupply, drove the Perfians out of
their territories ^ ; and immediately after, the Cyp riots
entered into the alliance again ft Perfia ^ Darius Ochus
finding that his lieutenants made no progrefs in fuppreflC-
ing the rebels, refolved to head his troops in perfon,
keeping his eye chiefly upon Egypt. Mentor the Rho-
dian, undcrftanding his defign, and being at the fame
time informed of the prodigious number of the Perfian
army, went over to the king of Perfia, by whom he was
kindly received, as one who might do him fignal fervicc
by his knowlege of the country of Egypt. When Nec-
tanebis found, that the king of Perfia was refolved on his
ruin, and was taking the moft cfFeftual meafures to com-
pafs it, he aifembled an army of one hundred thoufand
men, confifting of twenty thoufand mercenaries from
Greece, as many from Libya, and the reft Egyptians;
but they did not altogether amount to a third part of the
Perfian army. With fome of them he garrifoned his
frontier towns, and with the others he guarded the pafles
through which the enemy were to march. The Perfian -
hin'uaded detached three bodies from his army. The firft, com-
^y I he Per- manded by Lachares, the Theban, fat down before Pelu-
Jiansi fium, garrifoned by five thoufand Greeks. The fecond»

under the command of Nicoftratus, the Argive, embarked
on board a fquadron of the Perfian fleet, and failing up
the Nile, landed in the heart of the country, where he
made a ftrong encampment. The whole kingdom being
thus alarmed, Clinius, of the ifland of Cos, muftering
all the neighbouring garrifons, undertook to diflodge Ni-
toftratus from his entrenchments. A battle enfued, and
was fought with great obftinacy ; but at laft the Egyp-*
tians giving way, after having loft Clinius and five tnou*
fand more of their number, were utterly broken and diC-
perfed. The lofs of this battle was the ruin of Egypt \
for when Nedlanebis heard it, he abandoned the pafles,
where he had very prudently pofted himfelf, and marched
for Memphis, to defend that city againft Nicoftratus,
who, he feared, had a defign upon that capital with his
vrdlorious fleet and army. When the Greek garrifon in
Pelufium heard that Ne£tanebis had deferted his poft^

k Diod. lib, xvi, p. 531, 531, 533. ^ Idem ubi fupra, p. 531.

they

to the Time- of Alexander. 331

they thought there was no farther room for hope ; and
therefore came to a parley with Lachares, and delivered
up the city to him, upon condition, that they and< their
effefts fhould be fafely conveyed to Greece. Mentor^ the
Rhodian, who commanded the third body of the Perfian
detachment, finding the pafTes unguarded, entered the
country ; and, declaring publicly that Ochus would gra-
cioufly receive all that fubmitted, but cut off, without
mercy, fuch as fhould refift, the Egyptians, and the
Egyptian Greeks, drove which fhould make the moft
humble and ready fubmifficn. Neftanebis, thus driven to andfites
defpair, fled with his treafuj^es from his palace in Mem- into Ethio^
phis into Ethiopia, from whence he never returned. He P^^*
was the laft native Egyptian who governed Egypt, which
has ever fince been under a foreign yoke. Nedlanebis Egypt fi*
loft his kingdom by relying too much on himfelf. He ttally re^
was feated on the throne by Agefilaus \ his wars agaihft ^^^^ ^
Perfia (for the Perfians were always attempting a reduc- 'f' ^^'*"
tion of Egypt) were managed by the prudence and valour yj.^ Qf pi^
of Diaphantus, the 'AtheniaUi and Lamius, the Lacedae- 1998.
monian ; but, arrogating to himfelf the merit of their Ante Chr,
fucccfles, he took upon him to a£l: from his own no- 35^*
tions ", and fo brought ruin upon himfelf, and ignominy *

and flavery upon his fubjefls* For henfceforwari Egypt
was a province of Perfia, till Alexander fubverted that
monarchy, and was received by the Egyptians with open
arms^ as their deliverer from the Perfian tyranny.

S E C T. VI.

^he fuccejjion of the Kings of Egypt y according to the

Oriental Hijlorians.

A S the oriental hiftorians differ entirely from the
^^ Greeks in their accounts of the Egyptian affairs, it
might be deemed inexcufable in us to omit the feries of
the Egyptian kings, as delivered by them. We will not
take upon us to vouch the truth of what we copy from
them ; but cannot help thinking their accounts, however
fabulous, no lefs worthy of notice than the fables of the
Phoenician and Greek writers (A).

m Idemubi fupra, .p. 534, 535.

(A) Khondemir wrote, in the hiflory, under the title of " A
Perfian tongue, an liniverfal CoUeftiou of thepureil and

moft

33 J ^he Hiftory ofE^t

In the firft place we muft take notice, that tbefe anthors
divide the ancient Egyptian monarchs into three clafles*
The firft of thefe are faid to have ruled in this country
before the creation of Adam, and amongft them they
place Gian Ben Gian^ to whom they afcribe the py»>
ramid? ^.

The fecond clafs of Egyptian kings are faid to have
Teigned before the deluge. The account that is given of
the people of this country, in thefe early times, ftands
* thus : Kraus, who ftood in the fifth degree from Adam,
difliking the condu£iof thofe who inhabited the coun^
wherein he was bom, affembled a company of feventy^
eight perfons, and removed into Egypt, which he cleared
of its woods ; and, finding it equally pleafant and fruifr-
feil, built the city of Mefr, fo called from the name of his
father, which he made the capital of his new kingdom*
He is faid to have reigned one hundred and eighty years \
hut in what year of the world he afcended the throne, is
not mentioned. To him fucceeded his fon Tegar, or, as
others call him, Natras, of whom we find nothing re^
corded that deferves notice.

Mefram, whom fome call the fon, others the brother
of the lafl mentioned prince, inherited the kingdom : he
was a great magician, ,and, dying, left both his ikill and
his crown to his fon>

Gancam, who was a prieft, a philofopher, and magh-
cian ; in his reign it is faid Enoch was tranflated. He
had for his fuccelTor his fon •*,

Aryak, who excelled all his predeceflbrs in his {kill ia
the occult fciences, by dint of which he is faid to have

« Tarikb a! Thabari, * Ebn abd al Hokm. %^* GreaveSt

Pyramid. Khondeixxir in Khelaflat Aiakbar. Mirabil. Pyramid.

moft authentic Accounts of the
tnoft remarkable Events, drawn
from the beft ancient Hiftori-
and iiniflied his work

ans

A. D* 1 47 1. As to the parti-
cular hiftories of Egypt, we
will mention only two ; the
€rft relating to the country, the
latter to its monarchs. The
£rft is that of Ahmed al Mak-
»izi, who divided his work into
feven parts. He wrote, be-
iides, a copious hiftory of all

that happened in this country
ftom the time it fell under the
dominion of the caliphs, to the
year in which he died, viz. of
the Hejra, 845, A. D. .1467*
The other, Joufouf Ben Tagri
Wirdi, who obtained the fu re-
name of Monazakk Meffr, i. ew
the hiftorlan of Egypt^ by 4
work he compofcd in four vo-
lumes, containing the entire
hi^ory of this country to the
year 1449^1

^onc

fo the Time of Alexander i 223

Axmt woiKlers. It is likewife pretended, that in tKe reigw
of this Egyptian monarch, the angels Harut and Marut £*
(bended from heaven, and converfed with men ; whence
it appears, that thefe fables are very ancient^ and have
been generally received, no doubt, becaufe they were
forged from fome hint in the Mofaic writings **.

His fon Louchanam fucceeded him^ and performe4 no«
thing worthy of notice.

Chafalim, or, as fome call him, Hafalim, the fon of
Xtouchanam, is celebrated for his invention of the nilo*
meter ^ which, without queftion, pafled for a wonderful
effed of magic in thofe days.

Harfal, or according to others, Hufal, the fon of Cha-
falim, reigned over his people with great lenity ; and in
his reign it is faid the prophet Noah was born.

J^donfac fucceeded Harfal ; of him we are told, that he
firft thought of rendering the Nile of greater ufe by cutting
canals.

Semrond received the crown from his father Jadonfac ;
but of him we know nothing more, than that he tranf-
mitted it to his fon,

Sariac, or Sarkak ; who left it to

Sahaluc, or Sahlick, a famous monarchy of whom how*
ever, we hear no more but that his glory was eclipfed by
that of his fon and fucceffor,

Saurid, a monarch equally renowned for wifdom, juf-
tice and power. He is faid to have dreamed, that he faw
the earth, with all its inhabitants, fubverted ; the me»
lying on their faces, the ftars falling from heaven, and all
things involved in difcord and confufion. A year after, he
had a fecond dream of the fame nature, which fo affright-
ed him, that he immediately fummoned the mod learned
of the priefts together, with all the wife men and profef-
fors of the occult fcicnces in Egypt. To them he related
bis dreams, and befought them to inform him what they
portended. Thefe fages, having confulted together, de-
clared to him, that a mighty deluge would cover the
earth, and that the effe£ls thereof had been reprefcnted to
him in his dreams. The kincr, in confequence of this
interpretation, caufed pyramids, and other prodigious:
ftruftures, to be ere£ked, to ferve for places of refuge for
himfelf and his domeftics. He likewife deiigned to cover
the roofs and the walls of thefe places with hieroglyphics,

« Vide Lib. Enoch, ap Fabric. Pfcudepigraph. Vetcr. Teftament*
Berbelot. Bibl. Orient, Art. Edris. Mirabil. Pyramid,

334 ne Mtfiory of lEgypt

explanatory of all the various fcxences known to thd Egyjv»
tians, as invaluable treafures, fet apart and confecrated to
the fervice of pofterity. Accordingly, he built the three
great pyramids, which being finifhed, he caufed them to
be covered with filks of feveral coloufs ; proclaiming on
this occafion a general feaft, which lafted a confiderable
time^.. and to which, all the inhabitants of Egypt reforted.
Then he ordered thirty great veffels, made of 9 kind of
artificial green (lone, to be placed in the bottom of the
eaftern pyramid. Thefe he filled with all kinds of jewels,
and precious ftones ; and then, placing covers over them,
he poured over thefe, melted lead, fcattering on the floor
a confiderable number of pieces of gold, to delude the
eyes of greedy' intruders, and to hinder them from prying
into the veflels. The fecond pyramid he made the recep-
tacle of all that related to civil hiftory, laying up the
books and records in fuch veflels as he had before provid-
ed for his jewels. In the third pyramid he depofited
whatfoever related to their ecclefiafl:ical hiftory, and to the
fublime fciences. In all of them he laid up mighty trea-
fures, and difpofed in them all things fit for the reception
of a prince who fhould fly thither for fhelter, appointing
alfo in the middle, convenient places for the interment of
him and his domeftics. Thefe, and, many other p^rticu-^
lars, are faid to be taken from the ancient books of the
Copts ; wherein alfo it is recorded, that Saurid reigned
thrfee hundred years before the deluge, and that he go--
vemed Egypt one hundred and feven years. When he
found himfelf near the time of his diflblution, he fent for
his fon, and, having made him a long difcourfe on the
duty of a king, and the regard which he owed to him a»
his father and his fovereign, he direfted, that his corpfe
ihould be carried into his pyramid ; that the room in
which it fhould be laid, fhould be flrewed with camphire
and fantal-wood ; that his body fhould be embalmed with
fpices ; and that his rich armour, with whatever Valuable
things he had ufed about thi? perfon, might be left in the
fame room. All which direftions were punctually fol-
lowed K

His fon and fucceflTor Hargib, whom fome writers call
Augib, and reprefent as his brother, governed according
to the inftrudionSthe deceafed king Saurid had given him,
being no lefs careful to -engage the hearts of his fubjefts
by a kind and gentle adminiftration, than he was to fe-

^ £bnabd alHQkm* ubi fupra^ Mir^bil. Pyramid.

cure

to the Time of Alexander. 335

cure their prtfperity by ruling wifely and juftly. He is
faid to have built the firft of the pyramids of Dehafoura,
into which he caufed immenfe wealth, and a vafl quantity
of precious ftones, to be brought, and there interred.
His favourite fcience was chemiftry ; and it is reported,
that he had the art of multiplying gold, whereby he filled
his treafury after he had adorned his kingdom with many
magnificent ftrudlures. He governed Egypt ninety-nine
years, and after his death was interred in the pyramids.
His fucceiTor was his fon

Menaos, or, as others call him, Mankaus, a prince who
deviated widely from the examples of his father and grand-*
father, being exceffively proud, intolerably infolent, and
outrageoufly crueL Many women of quality he ravifhed,
flew the moft deferving of his fubjed^s, and wafted in
fcahdalous debauches a large proportion of that treafurc
which his anceftors had amafled, and fet apart for public
ufes. At laft, he arrived at fuch an height of folly and
extravagance, that he built palaces of gold and filver.
Into thefe he brought canals from the Nile, the bottoms
of which were covered with precious ftones, that glittered
through the water, fo as to dazzle the eyes of the fpefta-
tors. To fupport this enormous expence, he had recourfe
to all the arts of tyranny and oppreffion ; whereby he be-
came exceffively hated by his fubjefts, who were wonder-
fully rejoiced when his horfe ftarting, threw him, and
broke his neck: neverthelefs they did not alter tl^e fucceC-
fion, but raifed to the throne his fon

Ecros, of whom we have little or no accoimt ; only it
is probable, that he was as great a tyrant as his father, by
the courfe his fubjefts took to fecure themfelves ; for, ei-
ther on his death or depofition, they laid afide hereditary
fovereigns, and made choice of a perfon who was of the
royal family, on whom they beftowcd the crown..

Ermelinous, whom fome call Malinus, having thus at-
tained the regal dignity, governed with lenity and juftice ;
and, on his deceafe, the Egyptians fubmitted to

Firaoun, who was kinfman of the late king, and the
laft monarch in Egypt who ruled before the deluge. He
proved a. moft tyrannical prince, and looked upon his fub-
jedis in no other light than that of flaves, deftined to do
whatever he thought fit to command. Religion and juf-
tice were almoft forgotten under his bafe and luxurious
adminiftration. Being informed, that Noah had preach-
ed repentance and amendment of life, threatening the dif-
obedient with deftru£tion by water, he wrote to king Dar-

mafelj

336 the Hiftory of Egypt

itaafel, in whofe dominions the pTop&ct dwelt, t6 ^tlf
Noah to death, and burn the ark which he was buildings
However, the high prieft of Egypt, who had read and con-
fidered the facred books carefully, perfuaded in his mind^
that what Noah had threatened would certainly come td
pafs, procured himfelf to be fent to enforce the counfel
given to Darmafel ; whereby he had an opportunity of
joining himfelf to Noah, and of matching his daughter in
his family. When the deluge begafi, Egypt was over*
fpread with luxury, and the king was fo exccffively drunk,
that he had not a perfe£k idea of his danger till the mo-
ment he was fwallowed up and drowned. Thefe writers
aflirm, that the waters continued upon the earth for eleven
months ; and that this event happened two thonfand one
hundred fifty-fix years after the creation **.

The Kings rf Egypt after the Deluge.

When Noah and thofe that were with him defcended
from the ark, the high prieft of Egypt befought him to
fend their grandfon Banfar, or Beifar, with him into
Egypt, and Noah granted his requeft. Banfar, by the di-
reAion of this prieft, fettled himfelf in this country,
which he wonderfully improved, or rather retrieved,
building for the place of his refidence, and the capital of
his dominions, a large and beautiful city, which was after-
wards called Memphis ; but had then no other name than
that of Mafar, or Mefr, which fignifies the great city, A
fon being born to him while he was employed in this
work, he called him Mafar, or Mefr, who fucceeded him
in the kingdom, and was the great reftorer of Egypt *.

Some oriental writers vary in their account of this
matter, attributing the fettlement of Egypt entirely to
Mafar, to whom they fay it was folemnly affigned by his
fovereign anceftor Noah, to whom he was dear, on ac-
count of his great capacity, and the innocency of his
manners j infomuch, that Noah having curfed Cham his
grandfather, and breathed out many bitter execrations
againft him and his pofterity, on Mafar's interpofition,
retraced them with regard to him 5 and in a pathetic
addrefs to God, befought him to blefs and preferve this
young man, and to give him all the riches of the land of
the river. However this might be, Mafar certainly
eftablilhed the form of government which afterwards

h Tarikh al Thabari. Mirabil. Pyramid, Al Soyuti. * Mi-

fabil. Pyramid, Tarikh al Thaban*

fubMed

to the Time ofJlexandef. 337

ftlbfifted in Egypt, built various cities, and amaffed td-
gether great treafures. When he found himfelf near his
end, he, by his will, divided the kingdom into feveral
little fovereignties: one diftrift he gave his fon Coptim, or
rather Kibt, whofe defcendents are called Copts ; to his
fon Afmounous, whom fome call Afhmun, he be-
queathed the Uj)per Egypt; on his fon Abribus, or
Athrib, he beftowed the flat country, and the fens beyond
Barod, • direfting each of them to ereft a fair city in his '
territory for the place of his refidence, and to take all
imaginable pains to improve and fertilize the adjacent
country. He like wife gave orders about the manner of
his own burial j purfuant to which, when he expired, his
fons laid his body in a cave one hundred and fifty cubits
long, which cave they filled with treafures and precious
ftones, caufing this infcription to be engraven on a plate
of gold, which was placed upon the marble monument
- within which the body lay : " Mafar, the fon of Banfar,
the fon of Ghaus, the fon of Noah, died, aged feveii
hundred years, from the days of the deluge. Of this
king they report, that he was a moft wife, juft, and pious
perion, having never done the leaft wrong to any of his
fubjefls, or bent his knee to any idol, but living without
care, forrow, or ficknefs, till by the courfe of nature he
was removed from this into another ftate ; having fir ft
feen a multitude of people defcended from his own loins,
and leaving feveral fiourifhing kingdoths to his children ^^

To Mafar fucceeded his fon Coptim ; but how long he
governed, or wh^t he performed, is not known. He was
fucceeded by his fon,

Coptarim, of whom iikewife* we have no memoirs, and
therefore we fhall only fay, that his fon Budefir fucceeded
• him, as he was fucceeded by his fon Gad, or Gadim \
after whom Sedeth his fon afcended the throne, whofc
fon and fucceflbr was Mancaous, whofe fon Cafaous
reigned after him ; and on his deceafe, his fon Marbis,
in whofe ftead reigned Afmar, then Citin, whofe fon El-
fabas was his fucceflbr, who left the throne to Sa. This
monarch built the city of Sais, and fettled the Egyptian
conftitution. He was fucceeded by his fon Malil, after
whom reigned Hadares ; then his fon Cheribas, to whom
fucceeded Calcan.

Totis, or, as he is generally called, Tulis, fucceeded his
father Calcan. He it was who governed the kingdom of

^ Kbpndemir ubi fupra. Mirabil. Pyramid. Al Soyuti.
Vol. I. Z Egypt,

3 S'S ^^e, Htftory of Egypt

Egypt, when Ibrahim went thither with his wife Saralt,
whofe beauty, even after flie was pad her bloom, ftruck
all beholders with wonder. On their arrival at Mefr, the
capital of the kingdom, notice was prefently given t<>
Tulis that a ftranger was come, who had with him a wo-
man the moft beautiful that had ever been beheld. The
king prefently fent for Ibrahim, and having demanded of
him what relation the woman flood in towards hrm, the
prophet anfwer^d, that flie was his fitter. Then Tulis
diredled that flic fhould be brought to him ; but when he
put out his hand with an intent to touch her, he found it
fuddcnly flirunk and withered ; whereupon, apprehend-
ing that he was deceived, he befought Sarah to pray for
him, that his hand might be reftored; flie did fo, and the
king drew back his hand found and well. Tulis then de-
manded of her in what degree flie was related to Ibrahim ,
« I am," faid flie, " his wife." " Why then," faid he, « did
he deceive me, in faying you was his fift:er?" ** He did not
deceive thee, O king^** replied flie, '* for in that I am of
the fame religion, I am his fifter in God, and the fitter
©f every man who believes the unity of the Godhead.'"
This anfwer was fo agreeable to the king, that he fent for
Ibrahim, and was inftruGed in his religion. We arc
farther informed, that this king of Egypt had an only
daughter, a princefs of great parts, and of a miM and
pleafant temper; flie was extremely delighted with the
company of Sarah, and would have made her many and
great prefents, had flie not declined them by the com-
mand of her hufljand. The princefs, however, obliged
her to accept a female flave called Hagar, who was after-
wards the mother of Iflimael. After the departure of
Ibrahim and his wife, Tulis became a mofl: intolerable
tyrant, inibmuch that his daughter, perceiving his fub-
jefts hated him extremely, and that there was fome
danger of their changing the fucceflion, poifoned him
when he had reigned feventy years, and after a fliort in-
terregnum, afcended the throne.

' This princefs, whofe name was Juriak, though fome
writers call her Charoba, governed with great art, pre-
tending to be alike the mother of all her fubjefts ; but in
faft balancing the power of the foldiery with that of the
priefts, and fecuring the quiet of her reign by a dextrous
management of parties. In her time, or under the reign
of her daughter, fome hiftorians affirm that the Amale-
kites entered Egypt, which they held in fubje<5iion for a
confiderable time ; but we have a very imperfeft account

tD the Time of Alexander. 339

of the monarchs of that dynafty, amongft whom> how*
ever, they reckon the following princes ^

Riyan is faid to have differed from all his predeceffors,
that is, from all the Amalekite kings of Egypt. For
whereas they were idolaters in refpeft to religfon, and
tyrants with regard to their adminiftration, this Riyan
was, on the contrary, a worlhipper of the true God, and
a very juft and good prince. In his time it is aflSrmed
that Jofeph came into Egypt, and very probably it was
from this Ifraelite that he received inftruftions, which f
wrought upon him fo powerfully, as to make him aft in
quite a different manner from his anceftors. We have
many long and fabulous ftories concerning the admi*
niftration of ^hat patriarch ; but as thefe are too prolix
to be inferted here, we chufe to omit them, and to pafe on
to the fucceffor of this monarch, who was his fon

Darem, a perfon altogether unlike his father, was an
impious perfon, who affefted to defpife and affront divine
^ Providence, ^nd therefore no wonder that in his govern-
ment he was a tyrant^and an oppreffor. He did not how-
ever enjoy, or rather abufe, the regal dignity long, but by
the juft judgment of God, was drowned in the Nile. To
him fucceeded

Cathim, an Amalekite, a magnificent prince, who ren-
dered himfelf famous by a variety of noble buildings,
with which he adorned thi« country- Others allege that
Riyan left no fon, but a grandfon, whofe name was

Kabus, who fucceeded him, and is faid to have reigned
in the time of Mofes". His brother Valid, or Walid,
comes next, who is by moft of the Arabian authors faid
to have been king of Egypt, contemporary with Mofes,
and to have perifhed in the Red Sea. He was an Arab^
of the tribe of Ad', though others fay of Amlak, i. e. an
Amalekite. Here it is neceffary to take notice, that
. though Walid be truly a proper name, yet it is alfo ufed
by the oriental writers to fignify fuch a one* Hence,
whenever they meet with the aftions of a prince without
finding his name, they prefently fubftitute that of Walid.
We muft not therefore be furprifed to find, that fome au-
thors have given this prince another denomination, be-
caufe that will make no difference in the hiftory, neither
will it at all affeft the credit of one relation or the other.
This prince is reprefented as a moft cruel tyrant \ but at

•

1 Tarikh al Thabari, Mirabil. I^yramld. ^ Khondemin

Al Soyuti*

Za the

^ <

340 "J^he Hifiory fff E^ff

t&e fafmc time as a man of great abilities, and of mucfr
cunning. With refpeft to the Ifraelites, he pretende<i
they were all his flaves, and thus he made out his title.
•* Jofeph, faid he, who brought them hither, w^s himfelf
a flave/ and purchafcd with the money of Egypt. He-
brought his kindred hither, who could not therefore be
better than himfelf; confcquently they and all their de^
fcendents were flaves." Upon this pretence he refsrfecf
to fet them at liberty when Mofes demanded their re-
leafe; but if he treated them hacihly, he ufed his own
fnbjefts no better ; for after having impoverifhed them by
exceffive taxes, and wafted them in many foolifli expe-
ditions, he at length pretended to exa£l divine honours*
from them ; and though he was apparently one of the
worft of men^ would needs pafs for a god. On this ac-
count, if we may believe thofe writers, the Almighty was
pleafed to punim him in fo exempiary.a manner as he did,.
by drowning him in the Red Sea, bat not in the manner
recorded in Scripture.

Daluka, the daughter of Walid, fucceeded to the
crown. She was a woman of great wifdom, and is faid
to have furrounded the city of Mcfr with walls of an
amazing extent, and of ftupendous thicknefs. Some au-
thors aflert,. that ftie was not the daughter of the laft
.king, but a diftant relation ; and that upon her death (he
bequeathed the crown to a Coptifh prince of the an*
cient blood royal. His name was " (C)

Darkun, a young man of an excellent difpofition^ who
ruled mildly, and with great wifdom. After him we find

"Al Soyuti. Khondemir. Tarikh al Tbabari. MirabiL Py-
ramid.

(C) The eaftern hiftoriana
are unanimous as to the inva-
fiou of Egypt by the Amale-
kites, but they differ extremely
about the time when this .con*
que ft was made. Some fay
that it happened fo early as in
the daysof Coptarim, the third
king of Egypt after the de-
luge ; and they give us a par-
ticular account both of their
invaiion and expulfion. Others
again place this revolution as
low as the times of Abraham,
or rather lower j and accord-

ing to thefe, Jofeph was Waiir,
or firft minifter, to an Amale-
kite king of Egypt. Thefe
variations are not, however,
greater than the critics have
obferved in the ancient Greek
hiilorians, with refped to the
(hepherds who fubdued Egypt.
The truth therefore is moft
likely to be difcovered by com-
paring the befl: hiflorians of
both forts; and this might
be eafily done, if the Egyptian
hiflories iu the French king's
library were printed.

to the Time of Alexander. 34 1

in the oriental hiftories the names of five or fix kings, but
without any account of their aftions, excepting only
Afhyaf, who appears to have been the ShiOiak of the
Scriptures $ then follows another large .chafm in the hif-
tory, the laft king mentioned being Feraoum al Araj, that
is, Pharaoh the Lame. This prince, we are told, wa$
invaded by Nebuchadnezzar, whom the eaftern writers
4:all Baltaknaffar ; after having fuftained a long fiege in
Ks capital Mefr, he was taken by the conqueror, and put
to death ®. After this period the oriental agrees better
with the weftern hiftory of Egypt, as will appear in it;s
proper place.

CHAP. ly.

ir/;<? Hijiory of the Moabites.y Ammonites^ Mi^
dianitesy Edomites^ Amalekites^ Canaanites,
-and Flulijiines.

S E C T. I.

The Hiftory of Moah^

DESIGNING, in this chapter, to write the hiftories
of thofe natipns with whom the children of Ifrael
were concerned, before or upon their fettling in the land
oi Canaan, we Ihall begin with that of the Moabites.

This people was defcended from Moab the fon of Lot, ^he defcent
-by his eldeft daughter ; but, before we mention the occa- of the Mo-
fion of that inceft, it may be proper to trace the .hiftory a ^*'^'^'
iitde higher.

Lot was the fon of Haran, the brother of Abrafban\, ^^^ /?/> of
.and, after his father-s death, was brought by his grand- ^°^ '^'"*
i'ather Terah, together with the reft of his family, from ^*^^*'*'
Ur of the Chaldees, their native city, to Haran in Mefo-
j)Otamia ; where Terah dying, Abraham afterwards took
liis nephew under his protection ; and, as Jofephus tells
us, adopted him, defpairing of any children of own. He
■therefore carried him with him into Canaan p, where,
a&er they had dwelt fome time, they were obliged, by a

• I^hondemir. Tarickb al Thabari, Mirabil. Pyramid.
•9 (renef. xii. 4, &c.

Z 3 famine^

34* STA^ Hiflofy of MoaL

famine, to go into Egypt ^ ; and foon after their return
from thence they parted, their flocks and herds being fo
much increafed, that they could not dwell together any
longer, as the pafture and water were not fufficient for
both : Abraham propofed that they fhould feparate ; and
gave Lot the choice of removing to what part of the
country he thought fit. Lot chofe the plain of Jordan,
lying eaftward of Bethel and Ai, between which Abra-
ham and he then dwelt, and which, at that time, before
the terrible deftrudiion of Sodom and Gomorrah, was fo
fruitful and well watered, that it is compared to the land
of Egypt, and even toParadifeitfelf '. In this delightful
plain Lot pitched his tent, not far from Sodom, infamous
for the unnatural wickednefs of its inhabitants ; and he
afterwards dwelt in the cityitfelf'. But that city, with
others in the fame plain, being taken by Chedorlaomer
and his allies. Lot, who aiTifled the Sodomites, had the
inisfortune to be taken by the enemy, with his family and
all his fubftance ; and mufl: have been carried into cap-
tivity, had he not been timely refcued by Abraham, who
not only delivered him, but recovered all his efFe£^s^
Notwithftanding this warning, and the abominable wick-
ednefs of the inhabitants, Lot dill continued to live in
Sodom, and would have perifhed in the cataftrophe of
that people, if he had not been miraculoufly preferved.
Two angels, fent to deftroy the place, came to Sodom in
the evening, in the appeal ance of travellers; and Lot,
fitting in the gate, invited them to be his guefts, accord-
ing to the hofpitality of the eaftern nations. They had
fcarce refrefbed themfelves, when the inhabitants of the
city, informed that Lot had ftrangers with him, and, iii
all probability, tempted by the beautiful forms which the
angels had aflbmed", encompafled the houfe, and de-
manded them to be delivered up, that they might abufe
them. Lot endeavoured to dilluade them from their
wicked purpofe, and, rather than violate the rights of
hofpitality, oiFered to abandon his two virgin daughters to
their lull, on condition they would not moleft his guefts ;
but, inftead of accepting this offer, they proceeded to
violence ; whereupon the angels fuddenly pulled Lot into
the houfe, fhut the door, and ftruck the riotous afiembly
with blindnefs.

9 Genef. xii. lo. and chap. xiii. i. r Gen. xiii. to. • Gen.
j\y, u. < Gen. xiv. %^, &c. « Jofeph. Aatiq. lib, i. cap. ii.

< The Htfiory of Moah 343

In the mean time, the angels acquainted Lot with their
xommiffion, advifing him, if ^e had any friends, for
whofe fafety he was concernfed, that he would imme-
diately let them know their own danger, and warn them
to depart. Whereupon Lot, before it was light, went to
his fons- in-law, to whom his daughters were contraft'-
ed (D), and telling them what they muft expeft if they
flayed longer in the city, earneftly exhorted them to leave
it J but they, thinking he mocked them, rejefted his
advice *.

As foon as day appeared, the angels ordered Lot
Immediately to depart, with his wife and two daughters,
left they fhould be involved in the common ruin ; but he
'being fomewhat dilatory, intent, perhaps, on preferv-
ing fome of his nioft valuable effefts, the angel haftily
laid hold of them, and hraught (hem out of the city,
commanding them to niake a Cpeedy efcape^ for that their
lives were in danger ; advifing them, in particular, not to
look behind them, nor to ftay in the plain, but to haften to
the mountains. Lot, confidering the mountains were
at a good diftance, began to fear he could not reach
them time enough ; and begged he n;iight be permitted
to rfcape to a fmall city not far from Sodom, then
-called Bela, but afterwards, from this accident, Zoar, or
4be Little, The angels not only granted his requeft, but
afUired him, that their commimon Ihould not be executes!
^ill he reached the place. Immediately after fuii-rife en-
fuedthe threatened deft ruftion of thofe cities^ and Lot's
avife, contrary to the exprefs command of the angel,

ic QeneC xix. 1-^14.

(D) The'Septuagint, Syriac, ried his daughters,'* may be

Arabic, and other tranflations, tranflated according to the in-

and fome of the rabbins, fup- terpretation of Onkelos, '• his •

pofe thefe were the hufbands fons in lavv, which were to

of other daughters of Lot, who marry," &c. the contract be-

were married and had left their ing made, but the marriage

father's houfc ; which feems not confummated. And ther«

to be confirmed by the angels is no mention, in Scripture,

ordering Lot to take with him of any daughters Lot had, ex-

his wife and his two daughters, cept the two who were favcd

** which were there " prefent. withhim ; but, if he had, they

jBut the original words, which muft have periihed vyith their

in our Veil^on are rendered hufbaijid^
*' his fons-in-law, whicti mar-

Z 4 looking

344 * The Hiftory of Moab.

looking back, was changed into a pillar of fait y (E),
which Jofephus * tells us, was regaining in his days.

After this cataftrophe, Lot flayed not long in Zoar,
fearing fomc farther misfortune ; but went, with his
daughters, to the mountains on the eaft of the Dead Scaj^.
where he dwelt in a cavern. In this folitude, the two
young women, feeing no hopes of their ever being mar-
ried, and being very defirous of having children, as it
was a great reproach and fcandal in thofe days to have
none, plotted together to deceive their father, and have
iffiie by him. Accordingly, they put their projeft in ex-;
ecution, in the manner we find related in holy writ; and
from this inceftuous commerce proceeded two fons.
That of the eldeft daughter was therefore named Moab,
fignifying (though not in pure Hebrew, yet, perhaps, in
fome dialeft of that tongue) of a father \ and was the
progenitor of the people we are now to defcribe *.

y Genef* xix. 15— »6,
xix. 30—37.

' Antiq. lib. i. cap. ii. ^ Genef.

(£) It is not agreed by com->
mentators what the crime was
for which Lot's wife was thus
feverely puniihed. Some are of
opinion, (he deferved it merely
for difobeyihg the command of
the angel, and expreiling too
much concern for a people
who merited no comjmffion;
which yet (he might be the
more apt to entertain, as (he
was probably a native of So-
dom, and had near relations
among them. Some late com-
mentators, after all, think,
that there was no miraculous
metamorphofis at all in the
cafe, but that (he either turned
back out of curiofity, to fee
the burning neater, and fo pe^
riftied in the dreadful (hower,
or by fome poifonous vapour ;
or elfe, that the horror of the
light, when flie looked back,
and plainly beheld the terrible
deftru£tion of a place flie had

but jufl quitted, flruck her ffiff
and motionlefs, like a flatue,
and that (he died of the fright.
As to what is urged from Jo-»
fephus, and fome books of
travels, that this i^atue or pili
lar was many ages after, or is
now, to be feen ; it is anfwer-
ed, that Jofephus might be
deceived -therein, as many
others have been, and daily
are, in things of this nature,
which really feems to have
been the cafe; becaufe the
more intelligent and credible
travellers fay, that they could
neverfeeit; and when they have
a&ed the people of the coun-i
try after it, they either affured
them there was no fuch thing,
or pretend it (lands fomewhere
in the mountains, where the
accefs to it is very dangerous^
becaufe of the wild beafls and
ferpents ; but more fo on ac-»
count of the Arabs,

The

irhe Hiftory of Moab. 345

The poftcrity of Lot fettled iti the country bordering Of the
dn the mountain where he was born, which fome au- ^^^J^^p.,
thors make part of Goelcfyria \ while others allege it be- ff^^J^
longs to Arabia ' ; and having driven out the old inhabi- ^^^^^
tants, poffeffed a fmali tra£tj thence called Moabitis, or
the land of Moab, the defcription of which we referte to
the geography of Jiidaea.

We are but little acquainted with the cuftoms and Their go-
manners of the people. They were governed by kings, '^'^'•»w^«^
nfed circumcifion S and feem to have employed them- ^^^^^^
felves, moftly, in pafturage, and breeding cattle, where- ^* .
in their riches chiefly confifted. They were one of the
nations whofe goods the Jews were forbidden to feek ^ ;
nor were they to be admitted to intermarry with the Is-
raelites, to the tenth generation. However, they appear
to have cultivated a good underftanding with that people,
after their fettlement in Canaan*, as appears from the fo-
Journing of Elimelech there, aiid the feception David
met with in his troubles at Mifpeh. What language they
ufed, we know not ; but fuppofe, they fpoke a dialeft of
the Canaanitifh or Hebrew.

That they had once the knowlege of the true God, we TheirnU'
may not only conclude from the piety of their great an- ^'^"*
ceftor, who, without doubt, inftrufted his offspring in
their duty ; but, likewife, from Scripture ; for they re-
tained this knowlege till the time of Mofes, even after
they had monftroufly corrupted their religion, by intro-
ducing the worfliip of the falfe gods ".

The idols of the Mbabites .taken, notice of in Scripture,
areChemofh, and Baal-Peor ; fometimeg, fimply, Peor;
or, as the Septuagint writes the name, Phegor; but what
gods thefe were, the learned have not yet unanimoufly
determined. St. Jerom fuppofes, they were both names
of one and the fame idol * ; and, from the debaucheries
into which thofe fell who defiled themfelves with their
worfliip, feveral writers, both anc>ent and modern, have
y-eprefented them as obfcene deities, not much different
from Priapus. This opinion they endeavour to fupport
from the etymologies of the names, which they fuppofe
imply fome indecency (D). Others ^, however, imagine,

that

q Jofcph. Antiq. lib. i. cap. i*. ' Stephan. de Urb. in mwC*.
» jerem. ix. 15, a6. t Dent. ii. « See Numbers

XXV. II. X Hieronym. in Efai. lib, v. y Selden de Dii$

Syris, Syntag. i. cap. 5. Cleric, in Numer.

(D) Peor they derive from caufe they ufed an indecent
faar^ to otcn^ or fiutc1?\ be- pofturc before the idol (dil*

tentebaue

34^ ^€ Hiftory of Moak

that though the Ifraelites and Solomon were enticed^ by
the Moabitilh women, to worfliip thofe idols ; yet it does
not thence follow, that any immodeft ceremonies were
ufed in their worfliip ; nor are any fuch mentioned in the
moft ancient authors * ; and the etymologies, we think,
are not much to be relied on. Peor was the name of a
mountain, where the high places of Baal were fituated * ;
which word fignifies no more than lordy and was a title,
of the fun, perhaps added to that name by way of dif-
tinftion, to denote the deity adored in that place ** ;
though he had probably alfo a temple in Beth-Peor, which
ftood in the plain ^. Voflius ^ fuppofes Baal-Peor to be
Bacchus J and Dr. Cumberland * fays, he was properly,
called Meon. He takes him to be the fame with Menes,
Mizraim, and Ofiris, who, according to bis hypothefis,
were all one and the fame man. Chemofli feems to have
been a different idol. Nebo^ is thought, by fome, to
have been another deity of the Moabites. It was, with-
, out difpute, an idol, of the Babylonians, and poflibly the
fame with Mercury ; but whether the Moabites worfliip-
ped it, is not fo certain. There was a town of this name
in that part of the ancient dominions of Moab conquered
by Sihon, which the Ifraelites rebuilt, and named anew 8;
and a part of Mount Abarim, in the fame tra£b, was alfo
called Nebo.

Of their religious rites and ceremonies we can Cay very
little. They facrificed both in the open air, on mountains

^ Patrick*s Commentary on Numb. xxv. * Numb.

XKiii. }8. ^ Tii£odoret. ad Pfalm. cv. ^ Jofii. xiii. 17^

and 20. ^ pe Idololatr. lib. ii. cap. ?• « On Sanchpn. p. 67>

f Ifai. XV. a; jerem. xlviii. i-^as. Slfai. xlvi. 1. Pfal. c?i. s8.

tentebant coram eo foramen
podicis), and offered him dung,
which, the Jews pretend, was
the worlhip proper to this
idol. If this derivation be true,
it was, moft probably, a name
of contempt impofed by the
Jews ; and the ceremonies they
mention, may have been in-
vented to give fome reafon for
the name«

Chemoih, forwant of a bet-
ter etymology, they will have
to come from the verb maf-

bajb^ to feel \ but Dr. Hyde
derives it from the Arabic kha*
mujh^ which fignifies gnats
(though in the particular dia-
le6t of the tribe of Hodail),
fuppofing it to have been an
aftrologlcal talifman in the fi-
gure of a gnat, made to drive
away thofe inre£ts ; and Le
Clerk, who takes this idol for
the fun, from camojba^ a root
in the fame tongue iignify*-
ing to hefivift,

dedicated

7he JHiftory ofMoab. 347

dedicated to that fervice ", and in temples built to their
idols in the cities : betides oxen and rams^ on extraordi-
nary occations they offered human victims, according to
the Phoenician cuflom.

The firft inhabitants of the land were the Emims, a ne Moab^"
great ahd powerful people, of extraordinary ftrength and ites dri*v€
ftature *. They were, mod probably, defcendents of ^^ f^^
i^am, and of the fame gigantic race with the Anakims *^^'""J
and Rephaims ; though the Moabites called them by the
name of Emims, which, in Hebrew, fignifies terrible,
Thefe, having been much weakened by the invafion of
Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and *his allies v^, became the
cafier conqueft to the Moabites, who drove them out, and
took pofleffion of their country ; but about what time, is
uncertain ; however, they kept not their new dominions
long entire ; for, in the days of Mofes, Sihon, king of **' W*
the Amorites, who bordered on them eaftward, fought ff'^'^,
againft the king of Moab, the predeceflbr of Balak, and quifitions t§
took from that nation all their land to the north of the M^ Amo-
^iver Arnon ^ ^ites.

Balak, the fon of Zippor, fat on the throne of Moab Yn of Fl.
when the Ifraelites, having fubdued Sihon, were eii- 897.
(Camped in part of their new acquifitions called the Plains -^"^^ ^hr.
pf Moab, becaufe they had lately belonged to that nation. '^^''
This prince, difmayed at the approach of the viftorious g^g/ak fendt
people, whom he was not in a condition to retift, and not for Balaam
knowing that God had forbidden them to attempt the to curfe the
conqueft of his remaining territories, aflembled the V^^^'tes,
nobles, and alfo the princes of the Midianites (a branch
of which nation dwelt within the borders of Moab) ; and
cxprefled to them his apprehenfion, that the Ifraelites
** would lick up all that were round about them, as the
ox licketh up the grafs of the field." Having confulted
together, and not daring truft to their arms alone, the
aflembly agreed to fend for Balaam, the fon of Beor, a
famous prophet (E), or diviner, of that time, in whofe .
prayers and imprecations they had great confidence, that
he might curfe the people, who gave them fo much un-

« Numb.xxii. 41. i Deut.ii. xo. r Gener.xiv*5.

2 Numb* xxi. a6«

(E) Balaam was a man of to God, it feems apparent,

no great probity, and might, that he was no common for«

by profenion, be a diviner ; cerer, or magician. *"

but, by the free acccfs he had

cafinef«

348 ^^ Hiftory of Modb.

eafinefs (F). Accordingly, cmbaffadors of both nztiont
were fent with prefents to Balaam, who dwelt at Pethor,
a city of Mefopotamia, on the Euphrates ^ ; and told him
the occafion of their coming. The prophet defired them
to Hay with him that night, that he might enquire of
God whether he (hould go with them, artd curfe the If-
raelites, or not ; but, being commanded not to go, nor
curfe a people whom God had determined to blefs, the
next morning he told them, he could not dtfobey the
divine command, and fo difmifled them. On their re-
turn with this aniwer, Balak, whofe fole hopes lay in the
prophet, fent a fccond embafly to him, confifting of per*
forts of more diftinguiflied quality, and in greater number,
with promifes of great riches and preferment, if he would
comply with his requeft» Balaam told them, that no
we9}(h could tempt bim to aft contrary to the Divme di-
rcftiona. However, being willing to gratify Balak, be
Cpnfulted the oracle once more ; and had then leave to go,
provided he faid nothing but what God fliould put in his
mouth. Balaam therefore went with the eipbaffadors, re-
folding, it feems, with himfelf, to do his utmoft for the
fcrvice of thofe who had employed him. But his inten-
tions being difpleafing to God, an angel was fent to with-
ftand him on the road. His afs, feeing the angel with a
drawn fword in his hand, attempted three times to turn
cut of the \(ray \ and, being thereupon as often ftruck by
him^ God miraculoufly opened her mouth (G), and flic
expoftulated with him for his unfeafonable feverrty. Ba-
laam, in the heat of his pafiion, gave no attention to the
prodigy \ but when he faw the angel, he fell proftratc on
his face, and oiFered to. return home. Bat the angel bid
him only take care to fay no more than what God fliould
fiiggeft^
< Numb. xxii. 5. Deutcr. xxiii. 4. ^ Nujnb. xxii. ao, 35.

(F) It was a received opi-
nion among the heathen na-
tionji, that imprecations might
be made, which would have
effedt, not only on private per-
fons, but even whole armies
and nations; and there were
particular forms and ceremo-
nies for that purpofe (1).

(G) This was fo extraordi-
nary an event, that fome Jews,

as great lovers of miracles as
they were, hav€ not been able
to perfuade themfelves, that
it really came to pafs. Philo,
in relating the flory of Ba-
laam, wholly omits this cir-
cum^nce ; and Maimonides
pretends it happened to Ba-
laam in a prophetical vifion.
The fenfible reader needs no
comment upon this tranfa<SHoii«

(i) Macrob. Saturn, lib. iiL cap> 9. Piuti io* Vlt. CraiT p. 553.

Th Hijlory of Moah

On the boFidcrs t)f Moab, Balak went out to meet hiiti ;
find, after feme cxpoftulations for not coming on the firft
mefiage* brought him to Kirjathhuzzoth, where the king
oSered facrificcs, and feafted him and the princes. Next
tiay BalaJk brought the prophet up into the high-places of
Baal on mount Abarim, where he might have a lull jwof-r
pe<% of the camp of the Israelites, whom he had hired
iim to curfc. There Balak, by the prophet's dire£Uon,
built fcvea altars, in which number there might, perhaps,
be fome fuperftition ; but the altars, as it appears, were
eredled to the true God, to whom they offered a bullock
.and a ram on each altar ; and the fame ceremony the^f
performed afterwards in two other places of the moun-
tain. The two firft times Balaam fought for inchant-^
jnents, or ufed'fuch means as he knew to obtain leave of
-God to curfe the children of Ifrael, but without fuccefs ;
for, ,on the contrary, be was commanded to blefs them>
fore againft his inclination, and to the great mortification
of Balak ; wherefore, the third time, finding that no in-
chantments could prevail againft Jacob, nor any divina-
tion againft Ifrael, he omitted his former arts, and not
only bleffed them a third time, but pronounced thofe ac-
curfed who ftiould utter any imprecations againft that
people. Balak, enraged at this difappointment, ordered
him to depart immediately \ but Balaam, before he went,
pronounced, in Balak's prefence, a prophecy of the future
fucceffes of the Ifraelites. As to Moab, in particular, he
foretold, that ^* a ftar ihould come out of Jacob, and a
jfcepter ihould arife out of Ifrael, which fliould fmite the
comers" (or, as it may be better tranflated, the princes)
*^ of Moab, and deftroy all the children of Seth." Which
prophecy interpreters take to be primarily fpoken of Da-
vid, and fulfilled by his vi£):ories over that nation \ though
it be allowed alfo fecondarily, and in a typical f€nfe,to refer
to the Meffiah. Balaam returned home, but not without
giving a moft wicked counfei (H) to Balak and theMidian-

ites \

349

^ (H) Though Mofes men-
tions not this circumdance,
where he defcribes the inter-
view between Balaam and Ba-
lak, yet, in another place, he
lays the whole blame on Ba-
laam, faying, that the Ifrael-
ites treipaned through his
counfei. Jofephus is very par-

ticular in relating this circum-
fiance, and tells us, that Ba-
laam bethought himfelf of it
when he <ame to the Euphra-
tes, and thence fent to beg a
conference yiiih Balak, and the
princes of Midian, The Tar-
gum of Jonathan, and that of
Jerufalera, fuppofe, he gave

chit

3^0 Ti^e Hjfiory of Moah:

ites ; which proved very pernicious to the children of H^
racl ; for he told them, that it was in vain to expedi, thaft
God would ever defert that nation, fo long as they con-
tinued in their duty ; and therefore the only way to hurt
and diftrefs them would be, to tempt them to idolatry
« and difobedience, which he knew no means fo proper to
ciFeft, as by enticing them to debaucheries with the Mo-
abitifh and Midianitifli women. He therefore, advifed
them to fend the moft beautiful virgins they could find to
the Ifraelitifh camp, with proper inftru£lions'.

This expedient was praftifed ; the chief men among
them made no fcruple toproftitute their daughters on this
occafion"; and the ftratagem fucceeded but too well;
for the Ifraelites were immediately captivated with the
charms of thefe fair idolatrefles *, and, abandoning them-
felves to them, were eafily feduced to worfhip their falfd
gods. This idolatry occasioned a dreadful plague, which
deftroyed twenty-four thoufand of them, befides thofc
who were put to death by the order of Mofes ".

Their hiring Balaam to curfe Ifrael was the reafon
why the Moabites were not to be admitted to mix or in-
termarry with that people ; but the Midianites, who feem
to have been more particularly the inftruments of feducing
them to idolatry, werfc more feverely punifhed j and Ba-
laam himfelf had his due reward, being flain by the If-
raelites when they took their revenge on Midian.
Yr. of Fl. The next a£tion which is recorded of the Moabites, is,
>oo5« that they were the inftruments of the fecond opprefEon of
Ante Chr. ^j^^ Ifraelites after their fettlement in the land of Ca-
'^^^* naan ; for that people, on the death of Othniel the fon
of Kenaz, being without a head, returned again to
idolatry ; whereupon God raifed up Eglon king of Moab
to punifli them. This prince, entering into an alliance
with the Ammonites and Amalekites, invaded Ifrael;
and, having made himfelf matter of the city of palm-trees,
that is, as interpreters generally underftand it, of Jeri*
cho (I), kept the Ifraelites in fubjedion eighteen years.

But

1 Jofephus Antiq. lib. iv. cap. 6. « Numb, xxv. 15.

» Numb. ver. 1—5.

this counfel juft before he pro- (I) Jericho was famous a-
nonnced the lail: prophecy ; mong other things for the great
and that the fame is intimated numbers of palm-trees of dif-
by thefe words, ** Iwill advife ferent kinds, which grew in
or counfelthee (1)/* its neighbourhood. Jofephus

fays,
(0 Numb. xxiv. 14.

The Uijiory of Mod.

But God, upon their recurring to him, raifed them trp d
deliverer, a Benjaminite, named Ehud; who, heing ap<^
pointed by his countrymen to carry a prefent to Eglon, re*
iblv^d to lay hold of that opportunity, to deliver his
people from the oppreflion they had fo long groaned un-
der. Accordingly, having delivered the prefent to the
king, and accompanied thofe that had brought it as far as
the quarries near Gilgal (K), on their way home, he re-
turned from thence, pretending he had fomething to im-
part to Eglon in private. Being admitted to the king's
prefence, and the reft ordered to withdraw, he told him,
that he had a meflage to him from God ; which Eglon
riling from his feat to receive, Ehud ftabbed him in the
belly with a dagger, which he had prepared, and con-
cealed under his garment, for that purpofe (L). The
wound was given with fuch violence, that the haft went
in after the blade j fo that the fat cloGng upon* it (for
Eglon was very corpulent), Ehud was obliged to leave the
dagger in his body. The fervants after Ehud was gone,
having waited a long time at the door, which they found
locked, opened it lait, and faw their matter lying breath-
lefs on the floor. Ehud, in the mean time, efcaped be-
-yond Jordan; and aflembling a body of forces, attacked
the Moabites that were garrifoned on the weft of the
river within the land of Canaan, and flew ten thoufand
of their bcft men ; a calamity which utterly broke the
power of Moab, and freed the Ifraelites from the yoke
of that nation.

35»

fays, that Eglon removed his
court to this city; but he
feems to have been midaken ;
for, after it had been burnt by
Jofhua, who curfed the peHbn
that (hould rebuild it, it lay in
ruins till the days of Ahab.
However, the place might
ferve for a garrifon to keep che
country in awe, for which ufe
it was very well fituated.

(K) The word pefilim^
which, in our verflon, is ren-
dered the quarries^ is, by the
Septuagint, tranflated ra yT^vnl i,
and, io the Vulgate, the idols y

thefculptureSf which fome fup-
pofe to have been fet up there
by Eglon.

(L) This aaion of Ehud
fome juftify, by fuppofing he
had God's exprefs command
for it ( I )• But, as the Scripture
intimates no fuch thing, others
think he might lawfully rid his
country of a tyrant, who had
unjuftly enflaved it (2) ;« a po-
fition which may encourage af«
faflinations in every cafe,
where the aftor judges tKe
caufe he engages in to be
righteous.

(i) Patrick^s Commentary, inioc.

(a) Cleric, in loc.

352 ^^ Hifiory of Mod.

We hear no njorc of the Moabitfes after this difaftef^
till the time of Saul, who warred againft them them with
fuccefs. The enmity, which fubfifted between him and
this nation, probably induced David, when perfecuted by
that prince, to afk the king of MoaVs proteftion for his
parents, till his affairs (hould be in a better poftyre ^
which the Moabite readily granted, and treated them
with great hofpitality, while David lay in the cave of
Adullam. However, when he came to the crown, the
Moabites entered into a confederiacy againft him with fe-
veral of the neighbouring nations : whereupon he de-
clared war againft them ; and, having obtained a fignal
yiftc^y, put two thirds of them to the fword (M), and
made the reft his vaffals and tributaries ".

Y of Fl. ^^om this time they continued fubjecJ: to Solomon and
1451. * Rehohoam, till the revolt of the ten tribes ; upon which,

Ante Chr. it feems, they became tributaries to the kings of Ifrael,
897- though they had all along kings of their own, who were

' little better than viceroys. Mefha, one of them, paid

Ahab a yearly tribute of one hundred thoiufand lambs, and
as many Wethers, with the wool ; his riches conflftijog
chiefly in iheep. 3ut, when Ahab was dead, Meiha re-
belled againft his fon Ahaziah, whofe ihort reign not per-
mitting any attempt to reduce him, his brother and fuc-
ceflor Jehoram, aflifted by Jehoftiaphat king of Judah, and
the king of Edom his tributary, made an expedition for
that purpofe, and took a compafs of feven days, march
through the deferl^ of Edom, in order to furprife the
enemy. Having reached the land of Moab, the army was
diftrefled for want of water, and muft have periflied, had
not the prophet EUftia obtained a fudden and large fupply
for them by a land flood. The Moabites, being by this
time alarmed, afiembled all that were able to bear arms.
Early in the morning, feeing the water to the weftward
look red, like blood, by reafon of the reflexion of the fun,
and never fufpe£ting it to be water in that dry defert, and

Q 2 Sam. viii. a. i Chron, xviii. 2. Jofeph. Antiq. lib. vii.
cap. 5.

(M) This is the meaning of line to keep alive." It feems

the facred hiftorian, when he to have been a cuftom in the

fays, *^ That David meafured Eaft to order the prifoners of

them with a line, cafling them war to lie doiwn, and to mea-

down to the ground ; even with fure by a line fuch of thern as
two lines meafured he, to put
to death; and with one full

two lines meafured he, to put they defigned to put to death.

lu"

The Hiftory of Moah* 353

in fo great a quantity, they immediately took it to be
blood ; and, fuppofing the confederated princes had fallen
out, and turned their arms againd each otheri^roncluded,
they had no more to do than to take the fpoil.. In this
imagination, they ran in confufion to the camp of Ifrael,
but ibon found their miflake : for, not being able to fuf-
tain the firft attack of the Ifraelites, they prefently turned
their backs, and great numbers of them were flain by the
enemy, who purfued them into the very heart of their
country, wafted their lands and demolifhed their cities,
except Kir-Harefeth, where the king of Moab (hut him-
felf up. Me(ha, being befieged, and clofely prelTed, made
a fally with feven hundred chofen men, and endeavoured
to efcape, by breaking through the quarters of the Edom-
ites, which were the weakeft ; but failing in his attempt,
in the height of defpair, he took his eldeft fon, who
fliould have fucceeded him in the throne, and offered him
for a bumt-facrifice on the wall (N) : which barbarous
aft raifed fuch horror and indignation in his enemies,
that they immediately raifed the liege, apd returned
home.

It was not long before the Moabites, entering into an
alliance with the Ammonites, the Edomites of mount '
Seir, and other neighbouring nations, attempted' to re-
venge the lofles they had fuftained in this invafion on Je-
hofhaphat king of Judah, by whofe afRftance, chiefly,
Jehoram had been enabled to undertake it. But, though
they had advanced within thirty miles of his capital, be-
fore he had any advice of their motions, their attempt
proved unfuccefsful, and ended in their total ruin ; /or,
upon Jehofhaphat's recurring to God, the enemy, feized
with a kind of panic and phrenzy, fell upon each other,

(N) Several writers fuppofe anions ; for, not to infift on

Mefha did not facrifice his own the ftridt acceptation of the two

fon, but the fon of the king of paflages, one fpeaking of a

£dom, whom, they fay, he king of £dom, and the other

took in the fally ; and that this of a king's fon, it was a known

*is the fame adlion with that cuftom in ancient times, for

mentioned by the prophet A- princes, in extreme calamities

mos, who threatened Moab, -of the public, to offer a belov-

** becaufe he burnt the bones ed child as an expiatdry facri-

ofthe king ofEdom into lime:" fice, to avert the impending

but they feem to be different rcngeance of the gods (i).

(i) Vid^ Porphyr. de Abltin. Hb.ii. ' iElian. Van Hift. lib. xii.
cap. 28. Juilin, lib. xviii. cap. 6. Plut. inPelopida, 5sc.

Vol. L a a w4

f J

354 ^^'^ Hifloty of Moab.

and* continued the flaughter with incredible fury, till they
were all cut off*.

After this period, we do not find, that the Moabites dif-
turbed Ifrael for matiy years. However, between this,
and the reign of Uzziah king of Judah, they had invaded
their neighbours of Edom \ and, having overcome them,,
inhumanly burnt their king, and reduced his bones to
aflies : for which cruelty God denounced fevere judg-
ments againft them by the prophet Amos ^. On the de-
clenfion of the kingdom of Ifrael, they alfo feem to have
retaken from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, great part of
the land which had formerly belonged to them, before the
invafion of Sihon ; for, in theprophecfesof Ifaiah and Je-
remiah againft Moab, feveral cities in thofe territories ar€
mentioned as then in the pofTefllbn of that nation, or of
the Ammonites, who were probably their confederates^ m
opprefling the Ifraelites. Thefe fuccefles elated the Moab-
ites fo much, that, for their pride and infolence, God
threatened them with utter deftriiftion, by feveral of his
prophets ; and Ifaiah, in particular, foretold, that, witKin
three years, Ar and Kir-Haraflieth, two of their prin-
cipal cities, (hould be deftroyed, and the reft of their
country brought to contempt and defolation *.

After the dreadful deftruftion of the army of Senna-
cherib the fon of Shalmenefer, the Moabites often revolted
from his fucceflbrs, and were as often reduced, till they
were entirely fubdued by Nebuchadnezzar, into whofe
hands their king was given, according to a predi<5ion of
Jeremiah : for the Baby lonifh yoke fat fo uneafy on them,
that though they took advantage of the low condition of
Judah, and miffed few or no opportunities of harafting
that nation, yet, on Nebuchadnezzar^s departure from Ju-
daea and Syria, after his fecond expedition into thofe parts,
they, with the other. neighbouring nations, propofed to
^edekiah to enter into a league againft the Chaldaeans \
which that prince, notwithftanding the remonftrances of
* Jeremiah to the contrary, confenting to, on the accciEon
of the Egyptians to thdr confederacy, it became the occa-
fion of his titter ruin : for bis ne<v allies deferted him in
bis diftrefs.

From this period, hiftory makes very little mention of
tjie Moabites, who were henceforward fubjeft to the great
empires, and, at length, became one people with the

< 2 Cbroa. XX. I««-S5* Jofeph. ubi fupra. i^ Amos U.

•i »> J* ^ Ilk. XV, I. xvi. 7*

nfctgh«

The Hifiory of Ammm^ 3.55

htighbouring nations which inhabit the deferts of Syria :
fo that though Jofephus mentions the Moabites as a dif* -
tinft nation long after, faying they were fubdued by
Alexander Jannaeus king of the Jews*, and telJs us, they
Mrere a numerous nation, even in his time ; yet, in the
third century after Cbrift, they had loft their ancient name,
tad were comprehended under the more general denom!*
nation of Arabians *. '

SECT. IL

IChe Hifiory of Ammon^

T^ H t S people were the pofterity of Ammon, othcrwife
"*■ called Ben Ammi, fignifying the fon ef my people, our
iiftdred j the offspring of Lot and his younger daughter.

They poffeffed themfelves of the country, called after Ofthecwn*
their own name, Ammonitis, bordering on the northern 'O' /#^'
part of Moabitis, after having driven out the Zamzum- ^ '^' '^"^
mims, who were giants, and the ancient inhabitants of
the land. This country, as well as Moabitisj is, by
fome, reckoned a part of Coele-Syria, .and, by others, ofj
Arabia.

We are almoft utterly unacquainted with the manners
and cuftoms of this people. They had kings, and were
circumcifed, and feem to have been principally addifted
to hufbandry. They, as well as the Moabites, were
among the nations, whofe peace or profperity the Ifrael-
ites were not to difturb : neither the one nor the other
were to be admitted into the congregation to the tenA ge-
neration, becaufe they did not come out to relieve them in
the wildernefs j and were concerned in hiring Balaam to
ciirfe them. However, we find there was afterwards a
very good underftanding between their king Nahafli and
David.

Their chief and peculiar deity is, in Scripture, called Their relt-
Molech, or Moloch. He is alfo thought to bd under- ^''^*«
ftood under the names of Baal, Milcom, Melech, Adra* ^

melech, and Anamelech. Thefe names, or titlea, fignify
no more than lord^ or king ; and fometimes have an epi-
thet prefixed to them, as m the two laft, where he is ftyled
the Mighty and Rich Melech^ Moloch, or King : tfaef«
^wo were the gods of the iiepharvites. We fcall only

* Jofeph. de Bello Jud, lib* i« cap, 4. « Orig. in Job. lib. i.

A a 2 fpeak

^56' ^he Hijlory of AmmDn.

locale of the Ammonitifli Moloch in this place. Tfet
learned are not agreed in what relates to him : but it is oa
all hands alloMred, that they addrefled him under the tit-li
of King, or Mbloch. His image is faid to have been hol-
low, and divided into feven receptacles. The firft w^at
opened for an offering of fine flour ; the fecond for an of-
fering of turtles ; the third for a fheep ; the fourth for 9
ram ; the fifth for a calf ; the (ixth for an ox 5 the feventh
for a child. It had the head of an ox, and the arms of a
man, ftretched out in aft to receive **. Thefe feven recep-
tacles are alfo called feven chapels; and, inftead of being
within the image itfelf, are faid to have been placed or-
derly before it ^ Whatever was the difpofition of thefe
feven places, their number, correfponding with that of
the fun, moon, and five other planets, has given room to
fuppofe, that the Ammonites worlhipped the fun ** ; and
the rather, as the oblations feem to rife in fuch proportion^
as might better anfwer the degree of each of thefe heaven-
ly bodies. But it wereendlefs to expatiate on conjeftures
upon fo obfcure a fubjeft. Some farther accounts there
are concerning this idol, but very doubtful. Chemofh
alfo was a god of the Ammonites, concerning whom we
have faid already all we know.

As to the fuperftitions paid to Moloch, there is great
difagreement among authors. By the Scripture it is
often faid, that the " Ammonites paffed their feed through
fire to Moloch." This expreflion is taken in a literal
fenfe by fome, in a figurative fenfe by others. The firft
fentiment is emlwaced by the Jewifli writers, who,, for
the moft part, hold,, that the children were bacely carried
or led between two fires, by way of purification.. The
latter is adopted by the Chriftian writers chiefly, who
think, that they aftually burnt their children, by w^y of
facrifice to this grim idol. There was a place near Jferu-
falem, where this horrid cuftom. was obferved. It was*
called the Valley of the fons of Hinnom (O), fo named

from

^ Voir, deldololat. & Seldcn. de Diis Syr. fynta^. i; cap, 6. Paul,
Fag. apud eund. c Bedford '& Sciipt. ChronoU p. »59'.

^ Vide Vofll ubi fupra.

(O) This valley was a de- dens. And indeed, it is re»
light ful place, watered by the markable, that the heathens,
fi)rings of Siloah. it was commonly chofe foontain->
fli^dy, and beautified with gar* head^, and ibjemn gjroves, iox

the

^e Hiflory of Ammon.

357

from the (hrieks of the children facrificed ; as alfo TopV
cth, from a Hebrew word tophy fignifying a drum^ ox
iabrety which they ufed, among other inftruments, to
drown the dreadful outcries of the unhappy viftims.

As the Moabites drove but the Emims, and poflefled They dri*v€
themfclves o'f their country, fo the Ammonites forced ^^"^ '^^
the Zuzims, or Zamzummims> as they called them, from ^f^^«**-
their habitations. Thefe Zamzummims, as well as the ^^^^*
Emims, are ftyled Giants, and were, doubtlefs, both de-
rived from the fame ftock. They had been invaded by
Chedorlaomer king of Elam; and, perhaps, his having
deftroyed great numbers of them, rendered it tnorc eafy
for the children of Ammon to diflodge the reft. When
this expulfion was efFefted, or in what manner, we know
not. However, the Ammonites themfelves underwent
tfee fame -fate in the days of Mofes. They were dif- •»
poffefTed by Sihon the Amorite, who drove them to the
mountains.

The names of their firft kings do not occur. They Their hif-
joined Eglon king of Mbab againlt Ifrael, and fhared in tory.
the fuccelfes of that war.

About a hundred and fifty years after this period, we Yr. of Fl.
find the Ammonites engaged a« principals in a war, ^i^o,
under an anonymous icing, againft the Ifraelites. This ^^^^^^*
prince, refolved to attempt the recovery of the ancient * ^

country of the Ammonites, made a fudden irruption into .<ffiey war
it ; and, bearing all down before him, reduced the land, tuith the
and kept the inhabitants eighteen years in fubje£l:ion. V^^^^^ff
Encouraged by his firft fuccefs, he croffed the Jordan (E), **^''' ^* ,
m order to fall upon the tribes of Judah, Benjamm, and j^/««,
Ephraim. But, in the mean time, the Ifraelites, turn.-
ing to God, were infpired with courage to ©ppbfe the
infulting invader. Accordingly they aflembled at Miz-
peh ; whence Jephthah, whom they had chofen for their
general, fent an expoftulatory meflage to the king of the
Ammonites. The king anfwered, that thofe lands be-

the fcenes of homage they paid
to their deities. This cuflom,
our author fuppofes, they bor-
rowed from the Ammonites ( i ).
(E) There is a very confi-
(Jerable difference here between
the Scripture and Jofephus.
JEie fays, the Ammonites and

the Philiflines had only pre-
pared to crofs the river Jordan.
The Scripture fays, the Am-
monites did a£lually crofs over
to'fightwith tudah, and Ben-
jamin, andJEphraim; fo that
the Ifraelites were in great dif<>
trefs.

(0 Hicron. in Jerem. cap. vii. 39.
A a^

IpnpsjJ

jl58 Tk Hiftory of Amm»^

longed to the Ammonites, who had been unjuftly dif-
poffeiTed of them by the Ifraelites, when they came out
of Egypt; he therefore exhorted him to reftore them
peaceably to the lawful owners. Jephthah fent him a
fecond meflage, endeavouring to convince him of the in-
juftice of his claim, by an hiuorical account of what had
pafled on the occafion the Ammonite had mentioned*
But, finding him bent, at all eventa« upon war> he fell
upon him near Aroer ; and, having put his army to flight,
purfued the fugitives, with great daughter, as far as the
Plain of the Vineyards. The Ammonites loft, on this
occafion, twenty cities. And thus, after eighteen year3
bondage, an end was put to the tyranny of Ammon over
tie Ifraelites beyond the Jordan J^, ,
Yr. of Fl. Th? nexjt of their kings, we find mentioned, is called
I a 53' Nahafh. He flourifhed in the days of Saul, from whom
Ante Llir. ^^ received the juft reward of his great infolence and bar-
~ barity ; for, reviving the old claim upon the territory in-

}f€ikiijb habited by the HraeHtes on the other fide of Jordan, he
iingn , waged war with them, and» being at firft attended with
great fuccefs, even laid fiege to the city of Jabefli. Tho
terror of hi$ arms was fo great, that the inhabitants were
at once for throwing themfelves at his feet, and ackno^-r
leging him for their lord and king. This fubmiffion,
which would have mollified a generous heart, ferved only
to harden his* He would hearken to them upon no other
condition, than their confenting every one to the lofs oi
his right eye^ that, in them, he might ftigmatize the
whole body of Ifraek The inhabitants anfwered : thsU
if he would allow them but feven days to endeavour at a
deliverance from him, they would fubmit to his terms
after the expiration of that time, if none weVe found to
deliver them. This requeft he granted, and, fecure within
himfelf, waited for the cruel fatisfaition he propofed
fliortly to enjoy 5 but he was aflaulted in three feveral
parts of his camp by Saul, very early on the eighth mojrn<«
ing, when he expefted to fee the inhabitants coming
forth to fubmit, as they had promifed the ntght before ^
and his army was thrown into fuch confufion, that the
Ifraelites had little elfe to do but to put them to the
fword. Inftead 6f a battle, it is termed a (laughter,
which lafted till the heat of the day ; at which time the
furviving remnant of Nahafh's army was fo difperfed,
' that no where two of them were to b^ feen together %

Tf Jodg, X. 3. xi. 13. Jofeph, Antiq* lib. v.««p. 9, ^ i Sam. xi.i i •

Tbu5

The Hlftory of Jmrnon. 559

Thus ended the war. We are informed thatUahafli did
ibme kindnefles to king David.

IJanun fucceeded his father. Nahafli in the kingdom 5 Hanun
but whether this Nahafti was the very fame who was de- ^^^S*
featcdby Saul at Jabefti, we are not told. We are in-
formiedj tliat Nahaih^ the father of Hanun, lived in friend-
ihip with David, wTio no fooner heard that Nahafh was
dead> and that his fon had ^fuceeeded him, than, for his
father-s fake, he fent ambafladjO*s to the young king, to
condole with him for his lofs, to congratulate him upon
his acceffion, and to offer a continuance of the friend-
ijiip which had been cultivated between the late king and
him. Hanun feems to have been a w^eak prince^ and to
have had very ignorant counsellors about him. ¥ox when
he received thefe compliments from king David, by the
mouth of his ambaffador^, inftead of improving them to
i^dvantage,' he took a falfe ftep, which he never could
recover. He was fo far from entertaining them with the
hx)ft)itality and decency due to their charader, that he
fufl^red bimfelf to be perfuaded they were no better than
fpies, and treated them accordingly:^ he caufed half of
tieir beards to be fliaved, part of their garments to be
cut away, and in that fliameful difguife, feat them back
to their maften This contempt of David, in open de-
fiance of the law of nations, hofpitality, and gratitude,
occafioned a war^S which brought deftru£tion<tipon Ha- ^
;aiun and his kingdom.

Perceiving hirafelf on the brink of a war, to wiiicb he, '^^' ^^ ^'*
fingly, was unequal, lie difpatched ambaffadors to the AntVcbr
neighbouring princes, to hire and fblicit the afEftance of 1035.
troops from them, to enable him to with (land the inva- i.. . —
iion which threatened his kingdom. What the troops
he procured were, either in quality or number, is not
certainly known, fince the Scripture feems to vary con-
.cerning them (H). Firft, we are told, that Hanun fent
to the Syrians of Beth-Rehob^ and to the Syrians of Zo-
bah, from whom he had twenty thoufand footmen ; to
tbe king of Maachah, who furnifhed one thoufand men j
and to the king of Mhtob, who fent twelve thoufand

^ % Sam. X. 2—4. I Cbron. xix. 2— ^.. Jofeph. Antiq. lib. vti.
cap. 6.

(H) This we cannot pretend tioned as the chief prince of
to account for, nor do we know the Syrian nations. Jofephus
that it was ever cleared by any fpeaks of one Syrus as chief,
one in a fatisfadtory manner, and calls him king of Mefb-
Ilederezeris in Scripture men- potamia*

A 9 4 men.

3 6o 37?^ Hiftory of Ammon.

men. "With this account Jofephus agrees pretty well
in refpeft to number, retrenching only the one thoufand
men fupplied by the king of Maachah, and allowing him
and the king of I(htob to have contributed twelve thou-
fand men between them ^. Whence, inftead of making
' the number of thefe mercenaries thirty-three thoufand,
9S the Scripture does, he gives them at thirty-two^ thou-
fand. Again, we are told, that Hanun fent a thoufand
talents of filver to hire chariots and horfemen but of Me-
fopotamia^ and out of Syria Maachah, and . out of Zo-
bah ; and that he aftually hired thirty-two (I) thoufand
chariots, befides the king of Maachah's men **. Between
Jofephus, and this paflage of Scripture, there is a more
material difference than before : he fays, thofe who came
out of Mefopotamia were footmen. Here alfo we fee the
Scripture keeps to the number of thirty-three thoufand.
However, though the number be the fame as before, the
difference is very great.

Hanun, having thus drawn a confiderable force from
the neighbouring countries, and raifed an army of his
own fubjedls, marched out of Kabbah to fight Joab,
whom David had fent at the head of his army. The Am-
monites, and their auxiliaries, drew up in two diflin£i:
bodies; the Ammonites under the walls of their
city, and the auxiliaries atfome diftance on the plain.
By this difpofition they thought to have charged Joab*s
front, and, at the fame time, to have fallen upon
his rear \ but their defign was fruflrated. For the Am-
monites were attacked by Abifhai, Joab*s brother, whilfl
Joab himfelf charged the Syrians. The Ammonites fufi^
tained Abifhai's charge with great refolution and intre-
pidity, till, perceiving their Syrian friends give ground,
they thought it advifeable to return into their city.

In the following year their Syrian allies, afhamed of
their laft defeat, made head again ; but being utterly
routed by David in perfon, the Ammonites were left to
defend themfelves agajnfl the violent, but jaft refentment
of their injured enemy % which fell heavy upon them;
for the very next year, the third of this war, the country
was entered by Jo^b, who harafled ami wafted it far and

%
c Jofeph* Antiq. lib. vii. cap. 6, ' i) i Chron. xix. 6> 7.

^ % Sam. X. Jofeph. Antiq. ubi fupra,

(I) There is not a plain in fand chariots could a6t toge-
JEwrope where thirty-two tboi;- ther.

wide }

The Hijlory of Jmmon» 361

wide; and at length befieged Hanun in Rabbah, the
capital of his kingdom : the place held out about two
years, during which Hanun made one dcfperate fally,
and cut ofF many of the befiegers, and, among the reft,
Uriah, the hufband of Bathflieba, At length the city was
reduced to the utmoft extremities of famine, and ftormed
by David in perfon, who came to have the honour of
completing the work. In the affault Hanun was flain,
and his crown, weighing a talent of gold (K), adorn-
ed with precious ftones, was taken from off his head by
David. What other fpoil was found in this metropolis is
no where fpecified. The inhabitants were treated with
extraordinary feverity, being led out, and put to death *
with the moft exquifite torments ; harrowed, fawn,
hacked with axes, and paffed through the brick-kiln.
This dreadful ufage extended to the reft of the cities of
Ammon which held out againft the conqueror ; all fuch
Iharing in the fate of the city of Rabbah, which was de-
ftroyed and laid level with the ground ^

After this dreadful execution, which exceeds in bar-
barity every thing recorded in the annals of mankind^! it
is no wonder we hear nothing of a king of Ammon, nor
indeed of the nation itfelf, till the reign of Jehofliaphat
king of Judah. At this time we find them united with
their brethren the Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount
Scir, againft that king of Judah. The particulars of
this war we have given in the hiftory of Moab.

They were afterwards overthrown by, and made tri-
butary to Uzziah king of Judah s.

The Ammonites bore this yoke as long as Uzziah
lived, but in the reign of his fon Jotham they rebelled,
under the aufpices of a king whofe name we do not know.
The event, however, was unhappy ; they were over-
thrown in battle, and obliged to compound for their peace
with Jotham, by paying a tribute of one hundred talents
of filver, ten thpufand meafures of wheat, and as many of
barley ; in all, about one hundred and (ixty thoufand of
our bufliels.

At length, when the Babylonians grew mighty, and
threatened all the kingdoms of this part of Afia with fub^

f % Sam. xii. 29. 31. Jpfeph. ubi fupra, cap. 7. i Cbron. xx.
. t% Chron. xxvi, 8. Jofeph. Antiq. lib. ix. cap. u.

■

(K) The talent, according teen pounds ten ounces ; fb
10 Arbuthnot, was equal to that this prince's head mufk
^y^ one hundred ana tbir* hav^ been fir^ngely loaded.

jef^ion^

362 ^e Hiftory ^f Ammon.

je£Uon, they perhaps entertained thoughtg of withftanding
the common enemy with their joint force \ and hence
might arife a good underftanding between Baalis the laft
king of Ammon^ and Zedekiah the lad king of Judah. But
when deflruclion came upon Zedekiah and Jerufalem, the
Ammonites exultedover the ruins of that unhappy city, for
which they were fevcrely threatened by the prophet. Ne-
verthelefis, Baalis received all the Jew« that fled into his
.dominions to avoid the captivity, and, among thofe, one
lihmael, of the royal blood, whofe interell be pretended
to have much at heart ^ he even advjfed him to go b^k
into his own country and afiaJTmate Gedaliah, whom the Ba^*
bylonianshad fet over the poor remnant of the Jew&. Hi^
counfel was put in execution,but theaCT^iTin was obliged to
fly back again to Baalis, who received him into his prot(e£llon.
Baalis lived not iong unpunifhed for having been aci:efiarf
to the murder of the inaocent Gedaliah, for he wa$ a^
tacked by Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian general, who
ravaged his country with fire and fword, deftroyed hi«
chief city Rabbah„ and carried him, with mofl: of the
aioUes of Ammon^ into captivity. They aire i3aentione4
as being conjoined with the Arabians, Mei^bites, aii4
iSamaritana, in giving difturbance to the rer^Hiilding of
the temple of Jerufalem, which they endeavoured to pre^
vent as much a« in them lay. One Tobiah, called the
(Servant, is faid to have been then at their head.

As they lived in pe^ce and •quietnefs undier the great
monafchies, in ppocefe of time they grew to be more eon-
(Iderable ; and^ in the days of Judas Maccabeus, were
aiFemUed againft Uiat general in a very great army usider
their governor Timotheus. A battle enfued, wherein Ti-
motheus and the Am^moniteci were worftedj» aiad the fame
ill fortime attended them in other fubicquent caniii£^s
under the fame leader, and againfl; the fame enemy. In
the end, tiieir city Jafer, and the neighbouring towns, felt
a prey, to the Jews, who fmote the men, carried theij:
wives and children into captivity, and plundered and bunjt
the city. Tli us ended this, as it feems, their laft warfare
with the defcendents of Ifrael *•

Neverthelefs, about the beginning of the fecond cen-
tury of the Chriftian aera, they were thought worthy of
being called a numerous nation ; but, towacd^ the end
of that period, their name vaniflied, and thjey were blend-
ed with the Arabians 5 as were alfo the Moahites,
Edomites, and others.

h I Mace. v. 6— 8. jQfe|>h. Aatj^. lib* xiLfup.xt. Fridcawc
Connect, part ii. book iv. p. eiz..

SECT.

The Hjfiofy ofMidkn^ 3(J|

SECT. IIL

^he Hifioty of MidiaUj or Madian.

IT 19 gentrally agreed that this people drew their origin T^iirdt-
^ from Midian, the fourth fon. of Abraham by Keturah, fi^"^*
from whom they were called Midianites. He received
large gifts from his father, as did the reft of his brethren,
and.waS) as.well as they, fent into the eaft country, to be
at a proper diftance from Ifaac. The fons of Midian
were Ephah, and £pher, and Henoch, and Abidah, and
Eldaah.

The Midianites were, in their moft early times, evidently
confounded with the lihmaelites; and many ages after*
wards they are mentioned in conjun£tion with the Na»
bateans and Kaderenes, the pofterity of Nabioth and Ke-
darj the fons of IfhmaeL Doubtlefs^ remembering their
kindred, they adhered to each other, and were blended
together. On the other hand, we find them fo incorpo-
rated, as it were, with the Moabites, that Mofes almoft
confidered them as but one nation. Their religion was
the fame, and they a£bed in the ftri£):eft concert together
ftgainft him and tne Ifraelites, The ties of blood united
them likewife, as on the one fide they were defcended
from Abraham, and on the other from Lot. So juft as
they happened to live in the northern or fouthem parts
of their country, they joined either the Moabites or the
Ifhmaelites.

The Midianites were a very numerous race, and may be Thir
diftinguifhed into two clafTes, fhepherds and merchants. »#r/.
The fhepherds moved up and down in tents, and drove
their cattle before them, even when they went to war.
The merchants alfo travelled from place to plaCe in com* ^
panies,^ or caravans, as the merchants of thofe parts do at
this day, and left the care of their cattle to the women,
as appears by the ftory of Jethro's daughters. The fhep-
herds, it is likely', had no fixed habitations, except fome
flrong holds near their borders ; the merchants probably
had few or none but marts and ftationa, in places con-
venient for their trade. Tbefe by exchanging their gold
and jewels with their brethren for their cattle, the fhep-
herds became rich in precious ornaments. Their man-,
ners mufl have been in many refpeds as different as their
way of life ; however, they are in general reprefented to
bavip been very fumptuous in their apparel. We read of

their

3 ^4 ^^^ Hiftory of Midiaff,

their ** jewels of gold, chains, bracelets, rings, ear-rings^
tablets, the purple raiment of their kings, and the gold
chains or collars round the necks of their camels *."
T^^*^' ^^ appears yery plain from Job, that the ufe of writing

Uarntng. ^^^ ^^^ early known in thofe parts, among the defcend-
ents of Abraham * ; and the Midianites being alfo of the
number, we cannot f uppofe them to have been unacquainted
with it. Sir Ifaac Newton allows them the honour of in^
{trusting Mofes in writing \ The merchants muft alfo
have been verfed in fome kind of arithmetic ; and there
being fhips in the Mediterranean fo early as the dayjs of
the patriarch Jacob % and thefe being themfelves traders,
and fituated on the Red Sea, it cannot be fuppofed that
they could refrain from fhip-building, and viewing
the {hores of their own fea, an4 the contiguous coafts.
From hence we may naturally enough extend the circle
of their fdences beyond bare writing and arithmetic, and
allow them a competent (kill in geography, geometry^
and aftronomy.
I'knr rA* b ^ plain that the Midianites varied as much from
pm. each other in matter of religion, as in their manner of

life. At firft they were, no doubt, pure and right in their
way; how long they perfevered in it, is notfaid. But in
the days of Mofes they wallowed in all the abominations
of the Moabites ; thofe we mean who were neareft to that
* idolatrous nation \ nay, they exceeded them in their

endeavours to pervert the children of Ifrael when they lay
in the plains of Moab, in perfuading them to bow down
to Peor ** \ but we are indeed told, that Peor was wor-
(hipped by the Midianitiih women chiefly *. Thus flood
religion in the north of Midian. In the fouth we find
them enlightened by a rational and fublime fyflem, long
after their brethren had fallen into the foulefl corruption.
As a proof of this, we need only mention Jethro, who is
commonly flyled the priefl of Midian, and is faid to have
lived among % and by fome thought to have prefifled over,
the Midianites, near the Red Sea. His behaviour in the
camp of Ifrael is a fufficient argument in favour of them ;
yet, though their religion was otherwife very, pure, it is
remarkable they could not bear circumcifion. They
offered up praifes, thankfgivings, and Sacrifices to God 4

, ^ 2 Judg. vHi. 26, « Job xix. aj, 24. '» Chron. of An-

cient Kingdoms amended, p. 210. cGeneHxIix. 13. 'Numhw
XXV. 18. Jofeph. Antiq. lib. iv. cap. 6. e Hieron.in Nuin*

Som. zo. f Jofeph. Antiq. lib. ii. cup. tx..

but

The Hiftory ofj^tdian^

5^5

tut tfeeir religious rites or ceremonies were not ex-
plained.

We know not whether they were divided as much
from each other in form of government as in occupation
and religion ; excepting the cafe of Jethro, their govern-
ment is reprefented rather as ariftocratical than monar-
chical. Their chiefs however are ftyled kings, and there-
fore we (hall dignify them with the fame title.

The mod ancient account we find of thi'S nation, after Their k^*
what has been already faid, is that of their war with '^O^*
Hadad the Horlte, when Midian was fmitten by him in
the field of Moab.

The next is their purchafing Jofeph from his brethren
for twenty pieces of filver, 'and carrying him away with
them into Egypt, where they fold him to Potiphar, one of
Pharaoh's chief officers.

Many years after lived in Madian, by the Red Sea, a jet^r^.
prieft, or prince, of the fouthern Midianites, called Ruel,
or Jethro, or the Kenite. In his time Mofes, flying from
Pharaoh, arrived in Midian, and met with juft fuch an-
other adventure as Jacob had in Padam-Aram *. For
while He was taking fome reft near a well, the daughters
of Jethro, feven in number, coming to draw water for
their father's flocks (G), were infulted and driven away by
fome fhepherds ; but Mofes taking their part, obliged the
fhepherds to retire, and affifted the damfels in watering
the flocks. On their return home, their father, furprifed
to fee them come back fooner than ufual, enquired into
the caiife of their difpatch, when they acquainted him
with what had happened. Hereupon Jethro, upbraiding
them for not bringing home'wrth them the kind Egyptian
(for fo they called Mofes), fent them back to invite him*
Mofes complied with the invitation ; and Jethro, highly
pleafed with his behaviour and conduft, committed the
care of his flocks to him, gave him, in procefs of time, hi$
daughter Zipporah in marriage, and kept him with him
forty years. At length, underftanding that his ibn-in-law

£xod. xxiii. lo—it. Genef. xxxvi. 36.

(G) This infult has given
birth to a fufpicion, that their
father was (o far from being
chief, either as prince or prieft,
that he was only an inferior in
the facred order ; and then no
wonder they were abufed. In-

deed, if we do not fuppoft;
thefe fliepherds to have been
ftrangers in this part, it muft
be acknowleged that it doer not
look as if Jethro was a roan in
any great repute or authority*

was

^66 9'he Hi/lory 6f Mi£art.

. was cottimiffioned by God to lead out the childfeft of
Ifrael from bondage, he confentcd to part with him, and
his daughter, and his grand-children, who fet out for
Egypt 5 out a difpute arifing between Mofes and his wife,
about circumcifing a child upon the road *•, fhe was fent
back by her huiband, who purfued his journey.

When Jethro heard of the mighty things which the
Lord had done through Mofes, and how he had delivered
his people, and brought them out of Egypt, he took his
daughter Zipporah, and her two fona, and his foti Hobab,
and fet out with them towards his fon-in-law Mofes, to
congratulate him, and reconcile him with his daughter
Zipporah. They were all received very affeftionately by
Moles; and Jethro hearing from him the wondrous
works which had been done for Ifrael, he biefied God»
acknowleged him to be far fuperior to all other gods,
and made a burnt-ofiering and facriiices. Aaron and all
the elders of Ifrael came to affift at the folemnity, and to
pay him the refpeft due to his venerable charafter.

Next day Jethro had an opportunity of difplaying hitf
great wifdom and (kill in the due regulation of govern-
ment. He ohferved that the people crouded about Mofes^
all the day long ; and alking him the meaning of it, Mofes
anfwered him, that he had been fitting in judgment.
Then Jethro told him, he ought not to charge himfelf
with fo grievous a burden, too much for any one man to
bear ; that it would be enough for him to attend to the
fublimer concerns only, to confult with God, to declare
his holy laws and ordinances, to inftrufl: the people in
ifie right way, and commit the judging and well-ordering
of the people to a feleO: number of die moft righteous
men among the multitude, who fhould, according to their
abilities, be appointed over thotlfands, hundreds, fifties,
and tens ; abftaining from every bufinefs himfelf that was
not of the higheft moment. Jethro gave not this counfel
in vain, and thereby admiuiftered great eafe to his fon-in-
law Mofes ^.

This is all that we know concerning Jethro, except that
Mofes difmifled him, and that he left his fon Hobab be-
hind him, with a friendly intent tliat he Ibould ferve as a
guide through the wildexuefs ; but it was with relu&ance
be went through with them, nor was he prevailed on to
do it without very lftx]ge promifest We read farther con-
^ _. ccroing the defcendepts of Jethro, that they were called
Kienites ; and that tbey joined the children of Judah, and

9iUU

^£xod« iif iiii iv« • £xod« x? iii, ft 4f 5» 6| & feq.

marched

• 1 ■ '

TheKftory of Mdian, 367

marcfied with them from the city of Palm-trees (Jericho)
!nto the wildernefs of Judah * ; that upon the taking of
Hebron, they were rewarded with a large portion of
ground, in confideration of their having forfaken their
native place, and fnffcred with the Ifraelites ali the toils
of their wars^ and all the diftreffes in the wildernefs ® ^
that Heber, the hulband of Jael, who killed Sifera, was of
this family; that on the aforefaid confideration alfo, the
Kenites were many years afterwards warned by Saul to
more oiF from the Amakkites, when he had it in charge
to extirpate that nation, that they might be no way pre-
judiced thereby. Thus were they preferved, and fixing
their feat upon a rock, and there poiTeffing a ftrong hold,
they grew wanton and prefumptuous ; but were in the
-end carried into captivity by the Aflyrians, together
tvith the ten tribes of Ifrael, as Balaam had prophefied
long before : " And he (Balaam) looked on Ihe Kenitea
*— and faid. Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou
putted thy neft on a rock. Neverthelefs the Kenite (hall
be wafted, until Alhur ihall garry thee away captive ^"

The Midianites, whom we ihall have now occafion to
mention as at enmity with Ifrael, we apprehend to have
been chiefly thofe who bordered upon, op lived, as it
were, in common with the Moabites. Evi, Rekem, Hur, jp^/, /?^«
Zlir, and Rebah, were all kings or dukes of Midian, when kem, Hur,
Mofes overcame Sihon the Amorite ; and greatly fearing ^"^ ^«^
for themfelves, they confuted with Balak king of Moab, ^'*^*'
what meafures they (hould take to avoid the dangers
which hung over their heads. We fhall not repeat here
ffirfaat we have already faid on this fubjefl: in the hiftory
of Moab. Only it will be neceiTary to remark once
more, diat the Midianitej feem to have fignalized them-
felves in a moft extraordinary manner, in their endeavours
to turn rtre children of Ifrael from God. For it muft be
remembered, that Balaam had fent them word, either
tipoli, or after, his return home, that it was in vain they
hoped to hurt the darlings of hearen by any other way
than enticing them to fin, the fole means whereby God
could be brought to forfake them ; and* that, purfuant to
his advice, they fent the moft beautiful of their young
women to the Ifraelites, who played their parts fo well, as
' to bring many of them to bow down before Baal-Peor*
It is obfervable, that Zur, one of the kings of Midian, did

A Judg. L 16. * Jofeph. Antiq. lib. v. cap. 2. ^ Jodg*

iv. lit

not

368 The Hiftory of Midian^

not fcruple to proftitutc his daughter Cozbi on this occa^
Con *. But it proved fatal to her; for fhe and her para-^
mour Zimri were killed at the fame time^ with the fame
weapon.

The Midianites enjoyed but a fhort-lived fatisfafkion ;
fheir forwardnefs upon this occaGon, and treacherous
pra£lices, kindled the wrath of God againft them, and
Mofes had pofitive orders to fmite them in particular.
When they heard that the divine command was on the
point of being executed by twelve thoufand Ifraelites,
» under the conduft of Phinehas, they made the beft pre-
paration they could to witfiftand the invafion, by fortify-
ing their caftles, and muftering their ftrength. But their
caftles, and the ftrength they muftered, availed them
little. They were defeated, and all their cjties and good-
ly caftles laid in afhes. Not one male of any age or de-
gree was fpared ; they were all put to the fword ; and
among the reft Balaam (H), as were all the females likewife
that were not pure virgins. The country was laid wafte,
and all the cattle driven oiF before the conqueror, to the
number of fix hundred feventy-five thoufand fheep, fe-
venty-two thoufand oxen, and fixty-one thoufand afTes.
The virgins carried away into captivity were thirty-two
thoufand in number : and there is mention made of great
riches in gold, and filver, and iron, and other metals,
which were carried off in this general devaftation.

Thus was a branch of the Midianites utterly exter-
minated ; but in procefs of time this lofs was fupplied.
About one hundred and fifty years after this flaughter of
the Midianites, two kings appeared at their head, leading
with them the Amalekites and Arabians.

Yn of FK Thefe two princes, called Zebah and Zalmunna, waged
iioj. fo cruel a war againft the Ifraelites, that, not daring to

Ante Chr; ftay in the low country, they fled to the mountains, and
'*^5' there made caves and fortrefles for their flbelter. The

- . , . Midianitesi having therefore no enemy that withftood

ZalmMBwa* them, wafted the fruits of the earth, and drove off all the.
cattle. This deftruftion they continued for feven years
together, marching every fummer feafon in vaft multi-
tudes, with numberlefs camels, and herds of cattle, about

« Numb. XXV, 15—18. Jofeph, Antiq^i lib, iv. cap. 6.

(H) Balaam is pofitively faid or when he came back we caR-»
to have gone to his place, to xaoi determine,
have returned hpme; bmbow

the

. t'he Hijlory of Mtdidfi. g 6^

the tiihe the fruits were far advanced, all which they
reaped for themfelves ; fo that between them afid their
infinite flocks, there was fcarce any fuftenance left for
the Ifraelites, who continually fled up to the mountains
upon their approach ^

But God at length put a ftop to thefe mercilefs incur-
fions of Zebah and Zalmunna, who meant nothing lefs
than to ftarve the inhabitants, and po^efs themfelves of
the land. Gideon was chof^n by heaven for the delivery
of his country on this occafion, and he did it fo efl^ec-
tually, that the Midianites never dared afterwards to con-
tend with Ifrael. ' Zebah and Zalmunna, and their con-
federates, marching into the country, according to their
annual cuftom, pitched their tents in the valley of Jez-
recl, on this fide Jordan. Here as they lay, covering a
vafl tra£t of ground, their camp was explored by Gideon
in the night, who, overhearing one of theqi telling his
dream to another, who interpreted it in favour of Gideont
was more than ever encouraged to put in execution a
ftratagem which he had formed for their deftru£lion«
with only three hundred mtviy each armed with no other
weapons than a ram's horn in one hand, an.d a light con-
cealed in a pitcher in the other. Accordingly, about
midnight, the Midianites were alarmed in three feveral
quarters of their camp, by the found of one hundred
horns or trumpets in each ; and ftarting from their fleep,
perceived alfo as many lights breaking in upon them on
three feveral fides. The found of the horns, the glare of
the lights, the gloom of the night, and the loud (houts
they heard, ftruck them with horror and amazement, and
^having no time to recover from their firft confternation,
they fell into confufion j when, being of difierent lan-
guages, and attacking each other, a dreadful Daughter en-
fued. The kings Zebah and Zalmunna however found
means to make their efcape, with a body of about fifteen
thoufand men ; as did Oreb and Zeb, two princes of Mi-
dian : but the latter immediately fell into the hands of the
Ephraimites, who put them to death ; and by the flaugh-
ter which happened on this occafion, there fell one hun-
dred and twenty thoufand men. The kings Zebah and
Zalmunna, with their party, pafled the river to Karkor,
where they thought themfelves fafe, but were foon obliged
to abandon that place, and continue their flight, qlofely
purfued by Gideon, who overtook them at laft, difperfed

^ Judg. vi. 1—6, Jofepb* Antiq. lib. v. cap. ^.

Vol. I. Bb their

jycS fhe liiftory of^im.

rtieir party, confifting of fifteen thoufatid meni^, and ma<fe
them both prifoners **. Haying brought Zebah and Zal-
munna home with him, he afked them what kind of men.
they were whom they had formerly flain at Tabor, and
they anfwering they were juft fuch as himfelf, of ma-
jeftic deportment, he replied they were his brethren,, and
therefore he could not fpare their lives. Accordingly he
ordered his fon to kill them ; but they perceiving the
youth to be but weak and fearful, requefted it of Gideon,,
as a favour, that he would difpatch them with his own
hand : a requeft with which he complied, and the orna*
ments were taken /rom the necks of their camels. Thu*
were the Midianites flaughtered a fecond time, and plun-
dered of immenfe wealth in cattle, gold, jewels, and rich
attire: the very ear-rings only, taken from them> weighed
feventeen hundred (hekels *.

They were, however, a powerful nation many agcs^
after this event, famous for their indttftry, riches ^j and
the magnificence of their tents ' ; but in the firft century '
their name was difufed, and fwallowed up by the more
powerful ^ people of Arabia. Between three and four
hundred years ago, there was a, ruined city which bore the
ancient name (I), in the neighbourhood of which they
pretend to ftiew the place where Mofes watered 'his
father-in-laVs cattle.

SECT. IV.
ihe Htjiory of'Edom.

Tkeif 49'

ceflor»

p^ S A XJ, called alio Edom, the progenitor" of this peo*-
'*-' pie, was the fon of Ifaac, the fon of Abraham, by
Rebekah, and born at a birth with Jacob, being bis twin-
brother, and the elder of the two. Thefe twins con-
tended whiJe yet in their mother's womb ; an early pre-
fage of the ftrife which was to arife between them, and
be tranfmitted to theii^ defcendents. Efau wa$ born with

. ' Judg, vi. 10, II, 13* fr fca> vii. viii* t— 18. ^ |oreph«

lib. V. cap.S. i Judg. viji. iS. a6. t Ifai. Ix, 6.

1 Habak. iii. 7.

(I) Abu^lfeda calls it Ma- ptlgrlmage from Egypt to

dyan, and Mofes's father-in- Mecca, under the name of

law, Shoaib ; and the place is Sboaib's cave*
fiill onci of the flations m the

The mjloty of Edom* 371

red hair, all over him ; and, as he grew up, he provec^
to be very ftrong and aftive, and delighting in the chace ;
by which means providing plentifully and delicioufly for
his father's . table, he won his particular afFe£tion. On
the other hand, being of a very mafculine turn of mind,,
and much abfent from home, he retained not the kind in-
clinations of his mother Rebekah, who prided herfelf
wholly in Jacob, who was gentle fpirited, and more fre-
quently in her eye. It happened that Efau came home
one day quite fpent with falling and exercife j and per-
ceiving that his brother Jacob had cooked fome pottage,
begged a fhare of his mefs. Jacob, taking advantage of
his brother's diftrefs, offered to relieve him, provided he
would make over to him his birth-right. To this unge-
nerous motion Efau confented, thinking himfelf at the
point of death \ and thus he is faid to have ^' defpifed his
birth-tight." Upon this occafion he was called Edom,
which fignifies red\ for fuch was the colour of the pot-
tage which he bought fo dearly of Jacob*. At the age. of y^.^ ^^ «
forty, he gave great trouble and forrow to his parents by cc%,
marrying among the daughters of Heth j he took two of Ante Chr.
them, namely, "^Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Bafhe- >796-
math the daughter of Elon ^ j but this vexation wore off •— — •
in time, and his father received him into favour again.
Ifaac, who was now grown old and dim-fighted, calling
Efau to him, told him, that he knew not how near he
might be to his end j and therefore fhould be glad if he
would hunt venifon, and drefs it for him in a favoury
manner, as he had often done, that *^ his foul might blefs
him before he died.** Efau obeyed ; but while he was ab-
fent, his mother, who heard the words which pafTed be-
tween his father and him, drefTed her fon Jacob in Efau's
cloaths, and, preparing a difh of favouiy meat, fent him
in with it to his father, who pronounced the irrevocable
blefling over Jacob. Thus was Ifaac deceived, and Efau Yr. of FK
fupplanted ; who, coming in with his venifon juft after 5*9'
Jacob was gone, Ifaac, in great agony, told him, he had ^^* •
been circumvented by his brother, and that he neither ^ ^ ^
could nor would recall the blefling. Efau wept bitterly,
and upbraided his brother with thus deceitfully extorting
firft his birth-right from him, and now robbing him of his
bleffing. However, Efau did fo far prevail with his tears,
and preifing entreaties, that his father bleffed him alfo to
this cffeft : that " his dwelling fhould be the fatnefs of the

a Gcncf. xxv. a4— '34« * G^nef, xxvi. 34, 35*

B b 2 earth,

J72r ^he Hiftory of Edom.

earth, and of the dew of heaven from above (F) ; that hfc
fhould live by the fword, and ferve his brother 5 but that
he fhould (hake ofF the yoke at laft." It was with a, dif-
contented mind that he heard his lot, and his refentment
wrought fo ftrongly upon him, that at fii ft he determined
to kill Jacob as foon as their father fliould die ; which de-
fign coming to the knowlege 6i Rebekah, flie fent Jacob
away to Padan-Aram, under pretence of getting him a
wife from among her own kindred. But Efau cooled
again, g^neroufly forgot all that hadpaft, and, finding
that Ifaac and Rebekah had a great averfion to the daugh-
ters of Canaan, he went over to Iftimael,. and took his
daughter Mahalath the fifter of Nebaioth, adding her to
the wives he had before 5 and removed with his family to
Mount Seir, not fo much with a defign to fettle there,, as
to ferve a prefent conveniency. The fpot he occupied in
this country took his name, and was called the field of
Edom, and in a few years he became a very cpnfiderable
perfon '.

Y*r. of Fl. Underftanding that his brother Jacob was on his return
609. from Padan-Aram, he went out to meet him with a train

Ante Chr. of four hundred followers, in order to do him honour.
'^^^' The interview was very tender on both fides : Efau, efpe-
cially, unmindful of what moft mea would ever have re-
membered, accofted Jacob with tears of joy, and the moft
tender and brotherly affeftion : he nobly refufed the pre-
fents wherewith his brother would have bribed him to a
reconciliation, and prefTed him to hold on his way to
Mount Seir, that they might be neighbours, and live to^
gether. When Jacob artfully waved this invitation, un-
der pretence of his fhort marches for the fake of the chil-
dren and cattle, and promifed to follow him, Efau defired
he would let him at leaft leave fome of his followers be-
hind, to aifift and conduct: him on his way ; but this

c Genef. xxviii. 6-'9.

(F) Some give this part of a fmall variation of «««, by

Efau's blefling a quite contrary making it either a prepoiition,

turn, and will have it, that or an adverb, may be raken

his lot was to be in a barren both ways. — After all, this ad-

land ^ and that his living (hould venture of the blefling has

be by rapine and violence ; and proved a great flumbling block

fay accordingly that Edom was to many who have prefumed

an ungrateful foil, not refrefli- to judge events by the ftandard

ed with timely rains. The in- of human reafon.
terpretatiou Qf the LXX. with

ofier

The Hiftoyy of Edom. 373

"Offer being rejefted,, he with reluftance left Jacob, and
took the prefents which had been forced upon him by his
timorous brother ; who being now no lefs afraid to follow
him, than he had been before to give him a pofitive de-
nial, went and dwelt in Shechem. As for Efau, he re-
mained in Seir, till he heard, that his father Ifaac was
either dead, or at the point of death, when he went to ■
Mamre, aflifted Jacob at the funeral of tbeir deceafed pa-
Tent, and took pofleffion of his inheritance ; for itfeems,
Jacob's birth-right was a fpiritual prerogative, and noways
related to his father's temporal eftate. Enriched by this
addition *to his former ftore, and Jacob being alfo wealthy
and matter of much cattle, they perceived it would bp
next to impoffible to enjoy fuch large pofTeffions together
in a country where they were both ftrangers ; and there-
fore,' as Abraham and iiot had done before, they parted.
Efau, returning to the country of Seir, at the age of an
hundrea and twenty years, married Aholibamah, origi-
nally of Canaan ; .and henceforward took fuch meafures as
might be moft conducive to the good and peaceable fettle-
ment of his defcendents in this country, which was de-
figned by God for tbe inheritance of bis line •*, as that of
"Canaan was for the line of Jacob. But the defcription of
this land we referve to the general defcription of Pa*-
leftine.

Seir was originally inhabited by a people called Ho- forms of
rites*, who were firft, in all likelihood, governed by pa- ^^'^^''»"
triarchs or Jieads of families, that being the moft ancient *"^"'' 1
form of government. They were afterwards ruled by
kings, who were rfefted into that office. In procefs of
time the ancient form of government took place again^
the governors being ftyled dukes, and fucceeding, it
feems, in right of birth. As to the Edomites, or defcend-
ents of Efau, they were firft governed, like the Horites,
by dukes, and afterwards by kings, as will be feen in the
courfe of this fe£Hon.

The charafter we have of the Edomites, is, that they ^'*'"' ^^^'
were a bold and .daring people, fond of broils and tu- **^^^'"*
mults, which they as much delighted in, as others did in
the foftening pleafures of luxury ^ But this was more
peculiarly the charafter of the latter Edomites, who mi-
grated into Judaea \ nor fhould we have inferted it here,
but that it feems to be agreeable to the genius of the

^ Deut. 11. 5. Jofli. XXIV. 4. c Genef. x«xvi. st. 30*

^ Jo/eph. Antic^. lib. xi^^

B b 3 wholes

374 ^^^ Hifiory of Edom.

whole people, as their great anceftor Ifaac foretold. Jo-
fephus repreients" them as a race of robbers and incen-
diaries ; but this charafter feems applicable to them only
when they had degenerated from the virtue of their ancef-
tors, who feem to have been a warlike people, and at the
fame time addifted to commerce.

Arts and Their arts and fciences were doubtlefs confiderable.

fciinets. The invention and ufe of conftellations appear by the
book of Job • to have been known to the Edomites, among
whom he dwelt ' ; a rare inftance of the early progrefs of
aftronomy, if we allow his book to be of fuch ancient
date as many fuppofe. Writing is there mentioned alfo,
and {hips s ; and many hints given, fufficient to confirm
us in a belief, that the fecrets and beauties of nature, mo-
rality, and much fublime and truly-ufeful knowlege, were
cultivated among them.

Religiont Concerning their religion we are much in the dark.

Defcended from Ifaac, they at firft followed tllfe right
path ; but by degrees they erred into idolatry, and quite
laid afide circumcifion ; till Hyrcan incorporated them
with the Jews, from which time they were confidered as
but one nation with them in refpeft to religion.

Hfftory, We now refume the hiftory of Efau the father of this

people. The number of his family and domeftics, when
he fixed his* dwelling here, is uncertain ; though, pro-
bably, very numerous. According to the hypothefis,
which in this very obfcure cafd* we think ourfelves obli^jed
to adopt, he fettled under one of the Horite kings ; lived
in a private manner, and was never confidered any more
than as the chief of his own houfe. The Horites them-»
felves feem to have been at firft ruled by fever al indepen-
dent chiefs or patriarchs, till they were overpowered by
Chedorlaomer king of Elam, who fwept them before him,
w^ith the neighbouring nations. To fecure themfelves,
therefore, from fo great an evil for the time to come, they
united under a more ftable and perfe£i: kind of government,
and formed themfelves into an eledlive kingdom. Their
kings were, ,

Bela, the fon of Beor ; the name of whofe city was
Dinhabah. '

Jobab, the fon of Zerah, of Bozrah- Froni a fimili-
tude of names he has been taken for the holy and patient

^ Chap. ix. 9* ' St* Augufl. de Civitate Dei* i Job

ix. 26.

. Job,

■

i%e BJloty of Edom.

Job, whofe hiftory we fhall find a more proper place to
enlarge upon^ when we come to that of the Jews.

Hufham of the land of Temani.

Hadady the fon of* Bedad, who fmote Midian in the
£eld of Moab) and the name of bis city was Avith.

Samlah of Marefka : in his reign, or in that of his fuc-
•ceflbr, came Efau into this country.

Saul of Rehoboth.

Baal-Hanan, the fon of Achbor.

Hadar : the name of his city wasPau, and his wife was
called Mehetabel.

Under the three, or four }afl: of thefe kings,, did Efau
.and Jhis family live, as fojourners in a ftrange land. This
fnonarchy, which was plainly eledlive, came, we know
not l3ow> to be interrupted and broken into feveral petty
independent principalities or .dukedoms ; and feeing that
*he poflerity of E&u exceed* in the number of their
dukes,, it cannot be ^vcry incongruous to fuppofe, that
they had the largeft fhare in bringing about this revolu*.
tion. The dukes in the land of Edom were, i. duke
Teman 5 2. duke ' Omar 5 3. duke Zepho ; 4. duke
Kenaz^ 5. duke Korahj 6. duke Gatam; 7. duke
Amaleki thefe feven were the fons of Eliphaz the
iirft-bom of Efau. 8- Duke Nahath ; 9. duke Zerah j
10. duke Hammafa; ii^ duke Mizzah : thefie four were
the fons of Reuel, the fecond £>jq of Efau. 12. Duke
leuih^ 13^ duke Jaalam ; 14. duke Korab: tbefe three
were the fons of Efau himfelf, begot by -him after he was
^n hundred and twenty years old, on Ahdibamah, his laft
wife. Allthefe were the dukes in the land of Edom 5 that
is, in that part poffefled by the Edomites, and thence
called after them. At the fame time were feven dukes
over the pofleffion of tlie dependents of Seir : i. duke
Lotan ; 2. duke Shobal > 3. duke Zibeon ; 4. duke
Auahj who found ^ul^ (G) in the wikiernefs, as he fed

th?

375

(G^ Concerning this re-
markable event there is fome
variety of judgment and inter-
pretation. The Hebrew word
IS hayyemlm^ which the LXX*
njot knowiog how to render,
have retained. And from St.
Jerom we have feveral tradi-
tions of the Jews concerning
this matter. Some thought^

that by the above word muft
be underfloodyj'^j, or large wa^
ters : for the fame letters are
ufed for the word .which bears
that import : and will have it^
that while he fed his father's
aifes in the wildernefs, he
found a collcAion of waters, or
feas, according to the Hebrew
idiom, an uncommon difcovery
Bb 4 i&

J7(J The Hi/lory of Edom.

the afles of Zibeon his father ; 5. duke Diflibh ; 6. duk<?
Ezer J 7. duke Diihan **. Now, feeing that the dukes of
Efau's line, in the land of Edom, being more in number,
may have been greater in might, than thofe of the Ho-
rites in the land of Seir, it feems not unnatural to fupt-
pofe, that the latter were expelled by the former, who

/ ^ GeneC xxxvi* so, 11.

Jn a dcfert, and therefore wor-
thy of notice. Some will have
it to mean hot ivaters in the
t^hoenician tongue. Some again,
iuppofe he fuflfered wild afles
to cover his tam^ aifes, and
that the fwifteft breed of thofe
treatures, called yamim,fprang
from thence. And mofl of the
rabbins teach, that he, firft of
^\ men, fuffered affes to cover
the mares in the wildernefs ;
whence the unnatural breed of
mules were (hewn to the world.
Now thefe interpretations, or
fuppolitions, are thus combat-
ed. 1 . To make the Hebrew
word mt^nfeasy it niuft be al-
tered in the reading, contrary
to all authority and likelihood :
and bcddes, as the Hebrews
call great ponds, or lakes, feas.
it is no wonder, that he found
out fuch congregations of wa-
ter; but there is nothing of
that kind in thofe parrs, except
the lake Afphaltites, which
was made after^vards. 2. Thofe
who render the word hot-^aths^
as the Vulgate, according to
the Phoenician fignifjcation.
feem to have read hhemimy ano
to have believed, that it is fy-
ponymous with hhammim^
which fignifies hot-haths ; but
this is countenanced by no
reading or interpretation^ 3,
Thofe who will have him to

have firfl found out th^ breed
of mules, are confuted by
Bochart, with the following
arguments: i. Becaufe mules
were never called by that name.
2. Becaufe the word, mat%a^
which Mofes ufes, imports the
finding what esifts already,
and not the invention of what
never had been before. 3. Be?
caufe they were afles which
Anah fed, and not horfes,
4. Becaufe in Scripture there
is no mention made of mules
to the time of David. But, to
conclude, it is thought by a
learned interpreter to be the
proper name of a people, the
£mim, whom Mbfes mentions
as a famous nation, dwelling
in the ^leighbourhood of Seir.
And this is farther confirmed
by the Samaritan reading,
which has it, that '^ he found
t^em fuddenly ;" that is, fell
on them by furprize, and dif-
comfited them ; and this is thp
moft likely meaniiig of the
Hebrew text in this place, it
having the very fame fignifica-
tion in feveral other places.
However, the word is alfo
thought to have been the name
of fomd ufeful plant or herb^
which Anah firftdifcovered (i).
In a word, here is a world of
conjedure, and nothing afcer*
tained.

(i) Vide Cleric. Comm. in Genef. chap, xxxvi. vef. f4. Vide
^a^^en, Aniiot. in tit, Talm. Sot.

7 he Htftory of Edotn. * 377

feized on the land by the pre-ordained diftribution of
God y. At the fame time Amalck, or his fpurious ofE.
fpring, may have been driven out alfo.

Accordingly, the next generation of thefe princes are
ftyled dukes of Edom, and had no rivals in any other part
of the country, which now we fuppofe to have been all
called Edom. The dukes of this fecond race were,
I. duke Timnahj 2. duke Alvah; 3. duke Jetheth ;
4. duke Aholibamah ; 5, duke Elah ; 6. duke Pinon ;
7. duke Kenaz;t 8. duke Teman ; 9. duke Mibzar;
10. duke Magdiel ; 11. duke Iram. Thefe eleven were
dukes of Edom when the children of Ifrael came into the
wildernefs ; and, being difmayed at the approach of fo
formidable a body, as yet unprovided with a feat, dread-
ed/an invafion, not knowing that the Ifraelitcs were under
a ftrift injunction, by no means to moled them. Where*
fore, fenfible of the imperfeftion of their prefent confti-
tution, they united under one head, or king, and pre-
pared to maintain their ground againft all foreign at-
tempts.

To this namelefs king, or, perhaps, his fucceflbr, came
meflengers from Mofes, then drawing near the end of
his days, to entreat a paflage through his country for
him and his people; and though it was remonftrated
to him, that the Ifraelites were his brethren ; and as he
could not but know how they and their fathers had wan-
idered from place to place, without any fixed habitation ;
how they had been opprefled in Egypt; how God had
now delivered them from their bondage ; and that they
had reached his borders, being in, or near the town of
Kadefh 5 it was to be hoped, he would let them pafs freely
through his country, in their way to the land of Canaan ;
that, if he was willing to befriend them, they would keep
the highway, and not oiFer to turn to the right or the
left, to hurt the fields, or the vineyards, or drain the wells
of water, until they had quite crofled his territories. To
this propofal the jealous king of Edom anfwcred, that he
would by no means grant them a paflage ; and advifed
them not to make the leaft attempt towards it ; that, if
they did, they might expefl: to be oppofed by the whole
ftrength of his kingdom. When thefe embafladors, or,
perhaps, thofe of a fecond embaffy, urged him ftill far-
ther upon this important bufinefs, and made a renewal of
promifes^ and a/Turances of the moft peaceable behavj^ur^

y Deut. ii. i'i«

57* T^oe fliftary of Edom.

if they might have the paflage they folicited ; protcfting,
that they would pay for every thing they might have oc-
cafion for on the vray ; and that they would be as expedi-
tious in their marches as their /ect would permit ; he was
highly provoked at their reiterated inftances. Fearing the
Jfraelites might make fome dcfperate attempt to force the
paffage, he took the field, and marched towards them, tp
intimidate them from proceeding*. However, his en-
mity did not run to the pitch of diftreffing them in mat-
ters wherein he could relieve them without danger to
himfelf ; and, perhaps, to prevent their growing defpe-
.rate, he furniftied them, for money, with what his coun-
try afforded *.

After this tranfadiion, there is fcarce any hiftory fo ob-
scure and interrupted, as that of Edom : we find no far-
ther mention made of them till the reign of king David j
liowever, we will fupply this chafm, in part, by obferving,
.that, in the mean time, the Edomites extended their do-
minion, and applied themfelves to trade and navigation,-
and feized on the empire of the fea, at leaft in the Ara-
bian gulph. They dealt in very rich commodities; pure
gold, gold of Ophir, the topaz of Ethiopia, coral, and
.pearls ** ; and became a very confide rable kingdom^
Yr. of Fl# But in the height of their profperity their country wa$
l^*^/?L invaded by the conquering arms of Ifrael, and Edom be^
gan to feel the efFeGs of Ifaac's prophecy, that ^^ the
elder fliould ferve the younger/* For J>avid, having
gained very confiderable viftories over the Syrians, Mo*-
abites, and Amnaonites, finiihed his conquefls with Idu-
insea. What drew upon them fo dreadful a war, is hard
to guefs, the facred hiftorians being quite filent upon the
fubje£l : it is only recorded, that eighteen thoufand of
them were cut ofi^ in the Valley of Salt'; and that
the reft were either brought under the yoke by Joab, or
forced to retire into foreign countries. Had ad their king,
as yet a minor, and a party with him, took the way of
iVIidian, thinking, perhaps, to crofs* the Red Sea ; but
xinderftanding that they would be favourably received by
Pharaoh, they carried their young prince thither. Ha-
dad was accordingly received, and fupported by Pharadb
with all the dignity becoming his royal rank; and, to
complete all the favours and kindneflies which were un-
fparingly heaped on him, he had the queen's (Taphenes's)

^ Numb, xx^ 14, ai. * Dent. ii. *8, 1^. * Job zxviiL

1.5 — 20. £ 2 Sam. viii. ij. i Chron. xviii. ia»

ilfler

Ante Chr.
1 040*

The Hjftory ofE^om.

Gfter given to* him in marriage **. But at the fame time^
that Hadad mafie his way towards Egypt, others took dif-
ferent routes ; fome, flying |:o the Philiftiijes, fortifie4
Azoth, or Azotus, for them ', thus proving a confiderable
accefSon of power, and of very fingular benefit, to t|iat

J)eople (U) 'y others, that dealt in fhipping, taking a.
onger way to efcape the rage of the conqueror, went tor
W'ards the Perfian gulph * 5 in a wprfi, they were difperfe4
into all parts, as there was no fafety for them in their n^*
five country.

Hadad, though he lived in great eafe and fplendor in
the Egyptian court, yet, being confcious of his birth, un-
willing to live in dependence, and thirfting for his king-
dom, waited only a favourable opportunity to recover it i
efpecially when it was told him, that David, aqdthe ter-

- * I Kings, xi. 15—20. « See Sir Ifaac Newton's Chrofio-

logy of Ancient Kingdoms amended, p. 104^ 105*

379

(U) Sir Ilaac Newton in his
Chronology of Ancient King-
doms amended, is of opinion
that fome of them, flying to
^he Philiflines and the fea-
ports, improved the inhabi-
tants there in the arts of navi-
gation and commerce; and,
indeed, it is more than once
faid, that the Phoenicians came
from the Red Sea. Herodotus
tells us fo ; and Stephanus re-
lates, that Azotus was buih by
the fugitives which fled from
the Red Sea. " The Phoeni-
cians, therefore, came from
the Red Sea, in the days of
lo, and her brother Phoro-
neus, kingof Argos; and, by
confequence, at that time, when
David conquered the Edom-
ites, and made them fly every
way from the Red Sea. — And
this flight gave occafion to the
Philiflines to call many places
Erythra, in memory of their
being Erythreans or Edom-
ites, and of their coming from
the Erythrean Sea; for Ery-
thra was the name of a city ijx

Ionia; of another in Libya;
of another in Locris; of anr
other in Bc^otia ; of another in
Cyprus ; of another in iEtolia ;
of another in Afia, near Chius ;
and Erythia Acra was a pro-
montory in Libya, and Ery-
threum a promontory in Crete,
and Erythros a place near Ti-
bur, and Erythini a city or
country in Paphlagonia ; and
the name Erythca, or Ery-
thrse, was . given to the iftand
pf Gades, peopled by Phopni- *
cians. - Edom, Erythra, and
Phopnicia, are names of the
fame lignification, the words
denoting a red colour ; which
makes it probable, that the
Erythreans who fled from Da^
vid, fettled in great nnmbers
in Phoenicia ; that is, in all
the fea coafts of Syria, from
Egypt to Zidon ; and by call-
ing themfelves Phoenicians in
the language of Syria, inflcad
of Erythreans, gave the name
of Phoenicia to all that fea
coaft, and to that only.

riblc

380 "The Hiftory ofEJomi

riblc Joab, were both dead. At length the time came^
when Solomon wallowed in all kinds of impurity ; and,
thinking this a proper feafon to take his revenge, he dif-
clofed his mind to his brother-in-law Pharaoh. The wife
king of Egypt, perceiving the great troubles and dangers
which he muft be expofed to in executing his defign, en-
deavoured to divert him from fp dangerous an undertak-
ing ; but Hadad, in the end, obtained a difmiffion, atid
returning to Idumaea, made feveral attempts to recover his
dominions, but without fuccefs, his fubjefls being over-
awed by the garrifons, which David had fet over them ^
He had a fon by his Egyptian wife, named Genubath,
who had a princely education in the palace of Pharaoh ;
but Hadad, failing in his view upon his own kingdom,
probably eftabiifhed himfelf in Syria, where we find the
royal family bore the name of Hadad.

In the mean time, the kingdom of Edom continued
under the houfe of David till the days of Jehofhaphat,
being governed by deputies or viceroys, appointed by the
kings of Judah.

We have defcribed the time when Efau was to be a fer-
vant to his brother ; and now we come to that wherein
he was to (hake off the yoke, and be fubjeft to him no
more ; for the Edomites finding a fair opportunity to re-
cover their ancient liberty, embraced it, and fucceeded-
They had already fhewn how ill they were difpofed, even
towards Jehofhaphat, when part of them joined the Mo-
abites and Ammonites in an attempt to furprife him,
when he was unprepared for the affault 5 but they fell into
fuch confufion, that they were all cut off by the Ammon-
ites and the Moabites, who afterwards butchered each

^T. of Fl. ®^^^^' ^^^ ^^ t^^ ^^y* of Jehoram the fon of Jehofha-f
*'459* phat, the whole nation of Edom arofe. and afiaflinating

Ante Cbr. or expelling their viceroy, made themlelves a king after
*89' their own liking : then receiving advice that Jehoram wz^

* coming, with a formidable power, to reduce them, they

marched towards him, and found means to furround him
on all fides in the night ; but, in the end, they were de^
feated with great flaughter, and forced to take ftielter
within their intrenchments 8.

Thus was the long-wifhed-for revolution brought about,
after one hundred and fifty years of oppreflion i but who
was their chief upon this occafion, or what he did farther,
or who fucceeded him, we are no where told.

' Jolepb. Anti^. lib* viii. cap. %, - t z Chron. xxi. S.

After

^he Htfiory ofEdom. 381

After this period, no attempts were made upon them
by the kings of Judah for upwards of (ixty years \ in which
time they muft, in all likelihood, have recovered their
ancient (plendor ; notwithftanding which, they fuiFered
a fignal . overthrow from Amaziah king of Judah, in the
Valley of Salt, where ten thoufand of them fell in battle,
and as many were taken prifoners ; their capital, Selab,
was taken by ftorm, and the ten thoufand captives were,
by Amaziah's orders, thrown down from the ragged pre-
cipices which flood about that city, and dafhed in pieces*
Selah was now, by the conqueror, called Joktheel \

The Edomites alfo engaged in a war with their neigh-
bours the Moabites, which proved unfuccefsful ; for their
king fell into the hands of the enemy, who burnt him, till
his bones were reduced to afhes (X). Mean while, they
became fubje£t to the king of Babylon, When utter de-
ftru£i:ion fell upon the Jews, and they were carried away
captive, then did the fury of the Edomites blaze out, fo
far as to cut off fuch of them as attempted to make their
efcape; and, as if they defigned now to take full revenge,
for what they had fufFered in the days of king David,
they vented their rage on the fad remains of the temple,
which they confumed with fire, as foon as the Chaldees-
or Babylonians were withdrawn. They even attempted
to level the whole city with the ground, infulting the God
of Ifrael with horrid blafphemies, butchering the few re-»
;nains, who by his favour, had efcaped the hands of the
Babylonians, and flattering themfelves with the pleafure
of feeing fhortly an utter end of the Jewifh nation. For
this cruelty they were threatened by the prophets with a
fevere retaliation, importing, that, for the devaftationt
they had made in Judah, they fhould behold their land be-
come defolate, when thofe of their now-oppreflfed ene-
mies fhould fiourifh ^

Accordingly, they fell foon after into dreadful confu-
fion,. and violent intefline commotions and perfecutions ;
infomuch that a great part of them left their own coun-
try, and fettled in the empty land of Judsea, and, parti-

h 2 Kings, xiv. 7. i Ezek. xxv. xxxii. xxxv. xxxvu

Joel iii. Amos i. ix.

CX) It is doubted whether of the king or chief of Edom.

this be not the fame war where- Our tranflators of the Bible

^l Mefha king of Moab facri- take them to be one and the

ficed his own fon, or the fon fame event*

culadji^

« 8 2 The Hiftory of Edom*

cularly, in the fouth-weftem parts ; and it was, perhaps,
at this time they made an end of the temple of Jerafa-
1cm. Thofe who (laid behind in Edom, joined the chiU
dren of Nebaioth, and were called Nebateans ever af*
terwards ; fo that the ancient kingdom of Edom now loft
its namC} which was transferred to that part of the land
of Judaea which the refugees occupied, and which had
never been any pj^rt of their old kingdom, but the lot of
the tribes of Simeon and Judah. This is the Idumaea,
and thefe are the Idumseans, mentioned by Pliny, Pto-
/ lemy, Strabo, and other ancient writers.

We have now pointed out the downfal of the ancient
kingdom of Edorti, and fhall proceed to the interrupted
affairs of thofe Edomites who fettled in Judsea ; concern-
ing which we only know, that a decree was iflued out
againfl: them by Darius Hyftafpes, commanding them to
deliver up all they had belonging to the Jews ^ ; but what
effe£l this had, we find no where recorded. Upon thd
decline of the Perfian monarchy, and after the days of
Alexander, they were under the power of the Selucidse,
when the ancient averfion they had to the Jews being re-
vived, they warred againft that nation, under the con-
duft of Gorgias, their governor for Antiochus Epi-
phanes ; but they were conftantly worfted by Judas Mac-
cabeus, who, at laft, took and facked their chief city He-
bron *. Their ftrong holds, wherewith they awed th^
Jews, were forced by that valorous commander, who
cut off twenty thoufand of them in feveral affaults j but
a refidue of nine thoufand fled to two ftrong towers ",
where they were well prepared to fuftain a fiege ; whence,
by a bribe of feventy thoufand drachmas, a good part of
them were fuffered to efcape ; but, when the treachery
was difcovered by the Jewilh general, a ftop was put td
this outlet. Thefe two ftrong caftles were alfo forced,
and no lefs than twenty thoufand Idumaeans again put to
the fw6rd.
Yr. of Fl, After thefe troublefome times, we know not how it
%%i%, fared with the Edomites in Idumaea, except that they
AntcChr. feem to have been continually agitated by broils and
'3°* wars, till they were conquered by John Hyrcanus, who
"""^"^""^ reduced them to the fore neceffity of embracing the
Jewilh religion, or of quitting their country. They chofc
the former part of the alternative, and fubmitting to be
circumcifed, became incorporated with the Jewsj and,

^ t Efd. iv. 5o« 1 I Maccabt v. 45, 6S. m % Maccab. x. sS.

confidering

fhi Htjlory of Amaleh 383

eonfidering their defcent^ as well as their converfion, they
Hrere, ,upon a double account, reckoned as natural Jews ;
accordingly in the fixft century after Chiift, the name of
Idumaean was loft, and quite difufed *. What farther re*
hites to this people, we refer to the JewifK hiftory.

. S E C T. V.

The Hiftory of Amaleh

A M A L E K was the father of this people, and from 755^/^ ^^^
•'*' him were they called Amalekites, and their coun- leftor.
try Amalekitis. He was the fon of Efau's firft-born
Eliphaz (A), by his concubine Timna. Notwithftanding
his fpurious birth, he is reckoned among the dukes in the
l^d of Edom, and is faid to have fucceeded Gatam * 5^
which is all we know for certain concerning him. The
early feparation of his family from that of Edom is not
cafily accounted fon It might, indeed, be reafonably
enough afcribed either to the fpurioufnefs of his birth, or.
to fome other inteftine broils \ but when we call to mind
the previous wars of the Amalekites with Chedorlaomcr ;
when we confider Balaam calling them the firft, or begin-
ning, of nations, as we (hall fee anon ; when we refledl
that Mofes never ftyles them the brethren of Ifrael or
Edom; that the latter never held any confederacy oi:;
friendly correfpondence with them in all their wars, but
fufFered them to be invaded and butchered by Saul, with-
out lending them any affiftance ; laftly, when we find
them always mentioned with the Amorites, PhiliftineSj^
and other Canaanitiih nations, and with them involved in
the fame curfe, we can fcarce forbear looking upon them
rather as a tribe of thofe nations, than as the defcendents
of Efau, contrary to the received opinion. Of the coun-
try they inhabited, we fliall fpeak hereafter.

Of their religion and civil cuftoms we can know no-. Thilr atf*"

thing for certain, fince we are in the dark about their den ^^^f^^^

rtligton,

» Prid. Conneft, book v. p, 307, 308, «Gcnef. xxxvi. 12.

I Chron. i. 36.

(A) The Arabians deduce They fay alfo, that the Ama- '

bis genealogy in a different lekites, in ancient times, pof-

manner, and make him fome fefled the country about Mec*

fenerations older than Abra- ca ; whence they were expelled

am, as follows : Noah, Ham, by the Jorhamite kings.
Aranj, U», Ad, Amalek* " . • . '

fcent.

384 ^^^ Hiftory ofjtnakk.

fcent. If from Efau we may fuppofe they ufed circum*
cifion, and that the decree of their total excifion wa$
owing to the outrages they committed on the diftrefled
Ifraelites ** ; but if of a Canaanitifh race, their horrid
idolatries fubjeded them, without all doubt, to one com*
mon doom with the Canaanitifh nation. If the former,
they had, at leaft for fome time, the fame religion with
their progenitors Abraham, Ifaac, &c* if the latter, they
^ave, probably, into all the abominations of their neigh-
bours. Jofephus * mentions their idols, but the Scripture
terms them the idols of Mount Seir •, fo that they feem to
have more properly belonged to the Edomites than to the
Amalekites.
^itr ariSf Their arts, fciences, and trade, we can only guefs at
^^* from their fituation ; for it is probable they had the

knowlege and commerce of thofe time* pretty much in
common with their neighbours the Edomites, the Egyp-
tians, and thofe of the fea coafts of Judaea ; and this fup-
pofition is the lefs difputable, as their king is placed in fo
high a fphere of majefty, and themfelves ftyled the firfl of
the nations. The fame eftimate may be made of their
manners, genius, and policy.
T^if g9' Concerning their government, it appears to have been
n/irnmfint, monarchical ; and that the firft, or at leaft one of the firft,
of their kings was called Agag **, as was alfo their laft ;
from whence it has been imagined, that all their interme-
diate kings bore the fame appellation.
TAWr hif- The Amalekites reduced very early the country which
urjn they feized on, when driven out of the land of Edom by

the defcendents of Efau ; and very remarkable it is, that
they fuddenly grew up to fuch a height of power and fplen-
dor, that their king is fpoken of as far above all others ;
for Balaam, foretelling the future majefty of the Jewifli
ftatCj exprefles himfelr, that their king ** fliall be higher
than Agag ;" and ftyles them ** the firft of the nations ;**
a circumftance which feems to countenance the extraor-
dinary things the Arabian hiftorians have recorded con-
cerning the Amalekites ; as that they conquered Egypt,
and pofleffed the throne of that kingdom for feveral ge-
nerations (B)«

But

i> Exod. xvii. 8. 14, i5. ( Antiq. lib. ix. cap. 10. ' ^umb.
^xiv. 7*

(B) What the Arabic hif- bears an affinity with what the
ts>ty ^ys of tbefe Amalekites Egyptiau records report of the

Phoeni-

The tiijiory of Amaleh 385

jfeut, not to deviate froiii the authority we muft rely on^
It appears that this kingdom was haughty and infolent in
its very infancy 5 they no fooher heard that the Ifraelites
had croffed the Red Sea^ than they refolved to cut, them
off. Jofephus relates, that they had no lefs than five
kings, who, confulting together, joined forces with this
view. Be that as it will, the Amalekites fell on the rear
of the Ifraelites, as they were in full march from Rephi*
dim to Mount Horeb. Some havock they made ; but it
Was retorted ftverely upon themfelves, as foon as Jofliui
could put the fighting men into order ; by whom beings
tn their turn, afTaulted, a long and bloody battle enfued ;
but in the end the Amalekites were piit to a precipitate
flight, with the heavy doom on their heads, that for this
outrage ** their name fliould be put out from under
heaven®."

In the mean time, however, it pleafed God to makd
ufe of them, in conjunftion with fome of the Canaanites,
as his inftruments, to punifti the difobedience of the
Ifraelites, who attempted tp enter the Land of Pfomife,
in contradiftion to the exprefs decree of God, that • not
one of them, from twenty years and upwards, (hould fet
foot in it ^ The flaughter the Amalekites helped to make
of the Ifraelites upon this occaGon> will be defcribed in
the hiftory of Canaan.

After this tranfaftion, they feem to have miffed no op- Yr. of FL
portunity of haraffing the Jewifh nation^ till they werfe ioo3»
ripe for the excifion denounced againft them* They con- ^"^^ ^^^'
federated with Eglon king of Moab, and thfe Ammonitesj '*^^'
Sjind afterwards with the Midianites under Zebah and Zal-
munna, to root out the Ifraelites, and poffefs themfelves of
the landy as they had vainly projefted- But what fuc-
cefs they had in the attempt, and how they in the end
fell by tneir own fwords, and thofe of their friends and
allies, we have already related.

There is now a very wide chafrti in the hiftory of .this
people, which reaches even to the days of Saul. At this
time their king was a very graceful perfon, and of noble

c Exdd. xvii. 8—16. f Numb, xiv, 49, 36.

Phoenician (hepherds ; for they that the Amalekites were feme-
were at length expelled by the times comprehended under the
natives ( i ) , and are fuppofed, as general denomination of Phoe-
is faid by us of the Canaanites, nicians, may be obferved here-
to have fled into Africa ,• and after.

(i) £x Libro Mirat. Calnatr Dia<», Qluftr. p. %%*
Vol. L Cc prefenc^

3'8i The Hijtory of Amalek.

prefonce and addrefs, which ftoodbim in goodilead; 'or*
on account of thefe perfonal accomplifhments, was hi4
life fpared, it feems, in the general mafl'acre of his fub-
je£ts s. But with all his fpecious oucfide^ he is upbraided
as an infolent and mercilefs tyrant ; and in his reign the
nation was grown ripe for the extirpation they had been
threatened with, about four hundred years before ; as a
fore-runner of this judgment, the Kenites were warned
to leave their country, and feek fome other feat, left they
ihould be involved in the impending calamity. As foon
as the Kenites had obeyed the fummons, the Amalekites
^ere invaded, by Saul, at the head of two hundred an4
ten thoufand men. Not being able to make head againit
fo nu.merous an army,, they were all cut oft", except A gag,
and fome who had the good luck to make their efcape,
or conceal themfelves in places where they were not di^
covered ; neither mother nor fucking child was fpared, and
the whole country was laid waffe. Agag and the beft of
the cattle only were fuffered to live. However, Agag did
not long enjoy this flavour ; for Samuel no fooner heard
that he was alive, than he fent for him, and, notwithftand-
ing his infmuating addrefs, and the vain hopes with which
^ he flattered himfelf, that the ** bitternefs of death was
paffed," he hewed him to pieces, or caufed him to ba
flain, in Gilgal before the Lord^.

The poor remnant of the Amalekites, who efcaped the
fword of Saul, returned to their defolate country, and
Kved there in peace, till fuch time aa David, obliged to
fue for prote£lion to Achifh king of the Philiftines^
againft the hatred and jealoufy of Saul, bad Ziklag allot-
ted to him for a retreat. At this time the Amalekites are
mentioned as aflbciated with the Geihurites^ and Geze-
rites(C). After they had thus recovered ftrength, they
were flaughtered once more by their new and near neigh-
bour David, who thought it perhaps a duty incumbent on
^ him to complete the work which Saul had left unfiniftied.

The Amalekites meditated revenge for this cruel injury,
and, muilering their ftrength, went up to Ziklag, the

g Jofeph. Antiq. lib. vi. cap. S« ^ i Sam. xv. 3&, 33.

Jofeph. lib. vi. cap. 9.

and Gezerites were, is uiicer- ** diofe iiaticns were, of old,

tain. They are taken for re- the inhabitants of the land,

lies of the Canaanites; but as thou goeii: to Shur, even

b)r the words of the text it unto the land of Egypt.**

might be imaguied they jvere x Sam. xxvii. 8.

abode

The Hlftory of Amalek^ 387

ilbocle of David, who happened then to be abfent With his Yr, of FJ.
fmall party, fo that the town was left defencelefs; a'^^ch
wherefore they eafily made themfelves mafters of the "Jo<c/*
place, and coniumed it with fire, but fpared the inhabit*- -

ants ; which conduft,' confidering what they had fufFered
fo lately from David, might pafs for great moderation*
Among their captives were David's two wives, Ahinoam
the Jezreelite, and Abigail, who had been wife to Nabal
the Carmelite. Having thus fucceeded to their wifli, they
refolved to fecure, what they had got by an expeditious
return, determined not to ftop by the way, till they (hould
reach fome place equally fafe and agreeable. Hurrying
on with <this precipitation, they left behind one of their
number, an Egyptian by birth, who could not keep pace
with the army. David, in the mean time, having notice
of the revenge the Amalekites had taken on him, pur-
fued them very eagerly, and in his way togk this Egyp-
tian, who informed him of the place where they intended
to halt. The Amalekites arrived at the appointed place^
and gave a loofe to mirth . and jollity, recreating them-
felves for feveral days together. In this carelefs pofture
they were difcovered by David from the neighbouring
hills, towards the clofe of the day ; and after they had
fpent the whole night in debauchery, they were fct upon
by him and his men, and flaughtered from break of day
till fun-fet ; fo that not a foul of them efcaped the edge
pf his fword, except four hundred young men, who rode
upon dromedaries, and who, leaving all their companions
and booty behind them, were burdened with nothing but
the doleful news of fo dreadful a misfortune, after fuch
uncommon fuccefs in their attempt upon Ziklag ^

Thus, by degrees, were the Amalekites reduced \ and
at laft the fatal blow was given them in the days of He-
zekiah by the Simeonites '', who, having utterly deftroyed
and difperfed them, pofleiTed themfelves of their country.
Such is the imperfeft account we have of the deftru£kion
of the Amalekites, as Balaam had propheiied lopg before,
^< Amalek was the firft of the nations ; but his latter end
fliall be, that he perifh for ever*."

Neverthelefs, a man of Amalekitifh blood would have
taken ample revenge on the Jews, had not God inter- ,

pofed, as it were, by a miracle ; for Haman is called an
Agagite, or Amalekite ; and it is well known how near
he was having the pleafure of feeing bis bloody defigns
againft the Jews put in execution.

1 1 Sam. 3CXX. ^ i Cbron. iv. 40— 43» 1 Numb* xxW. lo.

C c 2 « E C T,

388 The Hiftory of Canaan^

SECT. VL

The Hiftory of Canaan.

WE have already given the hiftory of the anceftort
of this nation, and of their origin, and there*
fore (hall not repeat it here.

Canaan, the fon of Ham, thefon of Noah, had eleven
fons, Sidon or Zidon, Hcth, Jebufi, Emori or Araori,
Girgafi or Girgafhi, Hivi or Hevi, Archi or Arki, Sini,
Arvadi> Zemari, and Hamathi. Thefe were the fathers
of the following tribes or nations : the Sidonians or Zi-
donians, the Hettites or Hittites, the Jebufites, the £mo«
rites or Amorites', the Girgafites or Girgaftiites, the Hi*
vites or Hevites, the Arkites or Archites, the Sinites,
the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Five
of thefe are known to have dwelt in the land of Canaan :
the Hittites, the Jebufites, the Emorites, the Girgafites,
and the Hivites. To thefe are added two others, the
Perizzites, and Canaanltes. But how the Pcrizzites
came to be a diftin£): body, or whence the Canaanites arc
peculiarly fo called, is a difficulty that cannot eafily be
furmounted. Thefe feven nations laboured, in particular,
under the evil influences of the curfe denounced by Noah
againft their anceftor Ham, being doomed, in the end,
Co expulfion, extirpation, or fubjedHon. Whether the*
fix other nations we have mentioned, are to be reckoned
among the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, by us com-
^ fnonly fo calledy is not yet determined among the learned :
fome think they were exempt from the ruin which was to.
fall on the other feven, confidering the filence which is
obfervedxoiiceming them in the wars the other Canaan-
ites had with Joihua and his fucceflbrs ; for therein is no
mention made of the Sidonians^ the Arkites, the Sinites, '
the Arvadites, the Zemarites, or the Hamathites. We
therefore are of opinion, that they were not includedf^
otherwife fo many petty ftates or kingdoms could never
have been particularized, and they pafTed over. We.
muft therefore feek for thiefe fix original tribes elfewhere.
It cannot well be doubted, but the feven nations were .
fttbdivided into many little kingdoms ; we fay little, fince
we muft look for them all within the narrow limits of
Jofhua's conquefts. Within that fmall compafs we hav/e
no fewer than the following number of Canaanitiih kings,,
laid to be fubdued by him ^ tlxQ king of J^ericho, the kin^

-5^ Hijioty ^of Canaan. 389

^ofAi, the king'of Jerufalem, the king of Hebron, the
' king of Jarmuth, the kingof Lachifh, the king of Eglon,
the king of Gezer, the king of Debir, the king of Gederi
the king of Hormah, the king of Arad, the king of Lib-^
nah, the king of Adulhnfi, the king of Makkedah, the
king of Beth-el, the kingof Jappuah, the king of Hepher,
the king of Aphek, the king of Lafliaron or Sharon, the
king of Madon, the king. of Hazor, the king of Shimron-
oieron, the king of Achftiapli, the king of Taanach, the
king of Megiddo, the king of Kedefh, the king of Jonk-
neam of Carmel, the king of Dor, the king of the nations
■ of Gilgal, and the king of Tirzah ; thirty-one in all *^ ( A); '
who were either all, or moft of them, comprehended
under the primary denomination of tlie feven nations^
the Hittites, the Jebufites, the Amorites, the Girgaih-
ites, Hivites, Periziites, or Ganaanites (B j, properly, or
peculiarly fo called. Nor were thefe all the branches of
the Canaanites^, pofiefied of the Land, of Promife. But
the defcription of this country, and its feveral divifions or
cantons, we refervc to the general defcription of Paleftine,
where we fhall afSgn a peculiar place to carh, at leaft of
the primary nations.

Withrefpeft to the cuftoms, manners, arts, fciences^ Thisreu/^
and language of thefe feveral nations, we may fuppofe ^oms, Gf<«
that, in fome points, they differed widely from each
other, according as their fit uation led them into different
courfes of life. We need not fay, that the Canaanites on
tK« fea-fide were merchants, an which capacity we fliall
confiderthem at large, when we come to fpeakof them as
Phoenicians ; for, by that name, it is commonly agreed
they were afterwards known to the Greeks. Accordingly
the Septuagbit, inftead of ** the kings of the Canaan-
ites, which were by the fca," have rendered it, ** the

•

c Joftiua xii. 9 — 24.

(A) But we muft not, for title of king who never re-

this reafon, fuppofe there were ceived much hurt from Jofhua*
no more than thirty-one in the (B) In thefe feven we may

whole country, who bore the fuppofe the ten nations com-

royal title. Thofe are orily prifed, that were promifed to

mentioned who were conquered Abraham: the KeAkes, the

by Joftnia. The Scripture Kcniz«ites, the Kadmonited,

hiftory acknowleges, that the the Hittites, the Perizzitcs,

Canaanitea were never wholly the Rtphaimx, the AuKMrite?,

fubdued by him ; whence we the Canaanites, the Girgalh-

may infer that many had the ites, 4uid' the Jebiifxtes.

C c 3 kings

390 ^he Hijiory of Canqan.

kings of the Phccnicians on the fea-coafts/' And, by the
fame, the whole land of Canaan is called /the country of
the Phoenicians'*; though thofe only were properly fo
called, who inhabited the fea-coaft; and thefe we mall
dwell upon more particularly when we treat of the ancient
Phoenicians. The other Canaanitcs, who had an inland
fituation, were employed in pafturage partly, and partly
in tillage, and in the exercife of arms, in which they will
be feen to have been well verfed. Thofe who dwelt in
the walled cities, and fixed abodes, cultivated the land ;
and thofe who wandered about, as particularly the Periz-
zites feem to have done, grazed cattle, or carried arms;
.fo that it iseafy to difcern among them the feveral diftinft
claffes of merchants, and confequently fea-men, of arti-
ficers, foldiers, fhepherds, and huibandmen. As much
as they were divided in intereft and occupation, we fhall
perceive, by their hiftory, that they were ready to join in
the common caufe ; that they were very well appointed
for war, whether ofFenfive or defenfive ; that their towns
were well fortified, and themfelves well f urniflied with
weapons to fight in the field ; that they particularly had
warlijce chariots, the ufe of which they are thought to
have borrowed from the Egyptians ; that they were daring,
obftinate, and almoft invincible ; and,in the example of the
Gibeonites beneath, we Ihall fee they wanted not craft
and policy. The language they fpoke was, it feems,
well underftood by Abraham ; for, by what appears, he
converfed very readily with them upon all occafions ; but,
for their manner of writing, whether they had any
originally of their own, or whether they had it in common
with the other nations then fubfifting in that part of
the world, who all fpoke the fame tongue, or very nearly
the fame, or whether they borrowed it at firft from the
Ifraelites, may be confidered when we come to fpeak of
the Hebrew language •.
Itheir nli- They retained the pure religion quite down to the days
gioti' of Abraham, who acknowleged Melchifedek to be prieft

of the moft high God ; and Melchifedek was indifputably
a Canaanite, or, at leaft, dwelt there at that time, in high
efteem and veneration. They never ofiered to molefl;
Abraham ; on the contrary, they were ready to oblige
him in every thing ; a noble example of which humanity
we have in the behaviour and good intentions of Ephron
towards him in the afiair of the cave of Machpelah. To

^ Jof. cap. V. com. i. la. e See Shuc.kford> p^^^^Ae^

of tixe Sacred and Frofatie Hid. vol. i. bookii, p. 190.

dwdl

"T^e Hijlory of Canaan. 3^1

(dwell na longer on this fubjeft, we muft hence allow,
that there was not a general corjuption of religion among
the Canaanites at this day ; but it muft be granted, that
' ^he very Hittites, fo feemingly commendable in the days
■of Abraham, degenerated apace, fi nee, they were become
the averCon of Ifaac and Rebekah, who could not endure
the thoughts of their fon Jacotfs marrying among the
daugl^tcrs of Heth, as their fon Efau had done, to their
great grief^ fo that, about this time, we muft date the
rife of thofe abominations which fubjecSled them to the
wrath of God, and made them unworthy of the land
which th^y poflefled. In the days of Mofes they were ber
,come incorrigible idolaters 5 for he joom^mands the Ifrael;^
ites ** to deftroy their altars, and break down their images
(ftatues or pillars), and cut downthe^r groves, and burn
their graven images with fire." And, left they fhould
pervert the Ifraelites, the latter were ft-riftly enjoined not
to intern^arry with them 5 but ** to fmke them, and
utterly deftroy them, nor ftiew mercy upon them ^y
They are accufed of the cruel cuftom of facrificing men^
and are faid to have pafTed their feed through fire to Mo-
loch 8. The praftice of human facrificc they are charged
with, as being the anceftors of -the Phoenicians ; and
therefore we fhaH -not repeat what we have already faid
an that fubjeft, nor anticipate what we may have to add
in our Phoenician hiftory. Their morals were as corrupt
:38 their doftrine ; adultery, beftiality of all forts, prpfar
nation, inceft, and all manner of uncleannefe, are the ,^n^
laid to their charge ^.

Concerning their government, all we can fay is, that ^keirgo^-
they were comprehended in a great number of ftates, nfermntnt.
under fubje£)?ion to limited chiefs or kings, as they are
called ; and tranfa<aed all their bufine& in popular aflem-
hlies : fo Abraham bowed not down to the king of the
ichildren of Heth, but to the children of Heth ; fo Ephron
fee ms to have treated with Abraham with the participa-
tion of his whole trSse : fo Hamor, king of Shechem,
would not conclude upon what atifwer he fliQuld make
to the propofals of the fons of Jacob, till he bad coor
fulted his citizens ; and, throughout all their tranfadlions^
the fame tenor of conduct in their princes will be obferved
by every attentive reader.

The beginnings of their hiftory are too dark for us to Their hif^
unveil, and too much encumbered with the hypothefcs »«V*

^ Dcut. ^rii. j— 5, % Lcvit. xyKi. %u ^ Ibid,

_Cc4 . S&

252 ^he Hiftory of Canaan*

of the leained, who have turned their thought^ towardet
their antiquities. Wherefore, we fhall take tha Scripture
for our principal guide. "When we coniider the fituation
and diftance of this countryj^ we canjaot but think it wa^s
at firft peopled by Canaan and his defceodents upon the
firft difperfion after^ the flood. What concerns they ori»
ginally had with Egypt, are rather gueffed at than afcer^
tained, in refpeft of the time when they wore tranfa£ied :
iMit there was a fettled averfion amon^ the Egyptians, in
the days of Jacob, to fuch as fed cattle, and it is thought '
the Phoenician fhepherds or Canaanltes may have warred
upon, and opprefied the Egyptians, before Abraham re-
moved into Canaan : thoygh this opinion is liable to feme
objefkions. Therefore, we muft here a.cknowlege our
tQtal ignorauce in this matter. All the fatisfaftion we
can give on this head is, to mark out the tinges in which
antiquarians pretend to fix what Manetho tells us of the
Phcenician ftrang^ra in Egypt, It is pretended *, that
fome of them,, upon tie incii^afe of their families, being
ftreightened fojf want of room, m!Oved fouthwards, as
Mofes inti^ipiaitee, while others went northwards, fuch- as
the Hamathite and Arvadite,, and that the forper pene-
trated far into Egypt* or a£ lead poffeiied themfelves of
the Arabian fide of that country, which they fuppofe to
be GojSien* Here did they fettle, even under Mizraixxi
himfelf, ere^-ed a feparate kingdom,, ind^ differing from
the pure Egyptians in. religious matters^ and in way of
life,, fierce contjentioua arofe between them, which ended
in their total expulfion^ in the manner we formerly re-
lated in the hiftory of Egypt; and this event, fj^y theyj^
happened in the days of Abraham.

The vale of Siddinx, where Sodom and Gomorrah
flood, was within the bounds of the ancient country of
Canaan ; the Ccene o£ the firft aftion we find, for certain,
of this people. The inhabitants of this vale were invaded
by Chedorlaomer,. king of Elam, and reduiced to pay a
tribute for twelve years fuccefjively ; bu^, in the thir-
teenth, they rebelled, and this revolt drew on them a.
fecond war, of whigh we fhall fpeak prefently.
Yr. of Fl. In the mean tinie the other parts of th^ country received
4»7* Abraham with great hofpitaJity and veneration, two or
nte c r. ^j^^.^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ invafion ; but, foon after his arrivalj^

. the whole land was opprefied by famine^ and the Canaan-r

i See Cumberland on Sancboniatho, p. 351/352. & feq. and Bed-
ford's^ Scripture ChronpJL g* ipi, wn, »50. »5i, »j^jL*iUi ZIT*

itar

1921.

Vhe Biftory of Canaan. 393

Ite Is novErexprefsly faid to have beea m the land. The
deaarth drove Abraham into Egypt; whence we learn,
that the whole country, at this time, was in great want\
The famine was of no long continuance, and Abraham,
returning into his country, found that the Perizzite was
alfo in the land ; whence it is thought, they are fpoken
of as new-comers, and that they had lately been ex-
pelled from Egypt, or, dreading an expulilon, had volun-
tarily forfaken that kingdom. This opinion is the more
plaufibJe, as Abraham and Lot feem now to have been
ftreightened for want of room, which caufed their fcpara-
tion> as if the country was now become more populous /

than they at firft found it ( Q^), It was at this time that
the whole land was promifed to Abraham *.

The five kings of the vale of Siddim, Bera king of So- Yr. of FL
4om, Biriha king of Gomorrah, Shiiaab- king of Admah, 436.
Shemebar king of Zehoiim, and the king of Bela or Zoar, -^"'^ ^^^'
rebelled in the thirteenth year' after they had been fub- ; '^'*'

* dued by Chedorlaomer, as we have already obferved.
Wherefore Chedorlaomer and his allies marched thither
again in the fourteenith year, taking feveral other nations
or tribes in his way ; or rather he fetched a circuit in his
routes, reducing, among others, the Horites, the Ama-
lekites, and the Amorites of Hazezontamar. At kft he fell
on the ^ve kings of Siddim, who were refolved to difpute
their rights with him ; but they fell under the preflure of
the enemy once more ; and all the inhabitants were either
flain in battle, carried into captivity, or. obliged to fly for
ihelter to their cities and mountains. 8odom and Go-
morrah, and the reft, were pillaged with the utnxoft ri-
gour ; and among the prifoners was Lot ; but he was fooa

, r.efcued by Abraham ^.

At this time, Melchifedek, king- of Salem,, and prieft.
of the moft high God (R), as Abraham was returning

from

h Genef. xii. lo. Jofeph. Anticj. lib. i. cap. 9. * Genef.

xiii. i4> & feq, ^ Genef. xiv. 16.

( Q^) If this was the cafe, called Solyma ; who ^Ifo fays,

how came fuch a weak prince that Melchifedek was the firfl

as Hamor, king of Shechem, to founder of it : that he eredled

have fo much ground to fpare, a temple in it, and officiated as

as he afterwards talks of, when ^ priefl:, calling it Jerufalem ;.

he hoped to make an union whereas its former name was

lyith Jacob > Solyma, But what he fays in

(R) Salem is by Jofephu^ this cafe has no weight with

the

3xT

in?e Hijlory of Canaan.

from the war, prefcntcd him with bread and wine ; and
fc^/ceived from him tythes of all the fpoil j having blefied
him in the name of the mod high God, pofieffor or crea-
tor of heaven and earth The king of Sodom was at this
remarkable interview, and feems to have afted a very ge-
nerous and modeft part, claiming nothing of all that Abra-
ham had retaken from the enemy, except the perfons of
his fubjefls, leaving the reft to his difcrction ; hvLt he met
with as generous a return from Abraham, who, as far as
in iim lay, made him ample reftitution of all that be-
longed to him, whether perfons or goods; but Aner,
Efhcol, and Mam re, his Canaanitifh confederates, who
weVe all three Amorites, were left to do as they -pleafed ' j
and how far they followed Abraham's example, is not
faid.
Yr. of FK For fifteen years there is an utter filence as to the af-
* 451^ fairs of this people; but at length a fevere judgment was
Ante ehr. executed on the inhabitants of the vale of Siddim. Liv-
■ ing in great cafe and affluence, they were grown to fuch

an height of impiety, that they left no room for mercy ;
which if it could have been obtained by thfe intercefSon of
Abraham, they would have been delivered from the wrath
of God now, a.s tbey had been formerly refcued by his
arm out of the hands of their enemies. The fin they fuf-
fered for, already well known ", has, from the chief city
of that vale, Sodom, ever fince borne the name of So-
domy. The particulars of this cataftropbe we have al-
ready given, ifi fpeaking of Lot; and (hall now only fay,
that t,he four cities of this fertile and pleafant fpot, So-
dom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, were deftroyed
by brimftone and fire^ or by thunder and lightning, and
the whole vale was confumed " ; and thenceforward be-
came the Dead or Salt Sea, or lake Afphaltites (S). Thus

perifhed

1 Genef. xiv, 11, & feq.
ubi fupra. Deut. xxix. 23.

■» Genef. xix. 4, & feq. » GeneH

the mod accurate and learned
of the Chriftian writers, who,
for the moft part, have a dif-
ferent notion. There is a Sa-
lem mentioned in the New
Teftament ; which is fuppofed
to have been the fame where
Melchifedek reigned. The
Arabians aflert, that Jerufa-
iatem was builtby t^'elve neigh-

bouring kings, who, touched
with a deep veneration for
Melchifedek, built it in ho-,
nour of him, or for his conve-
nience ; which when they had
done, he called it Jerufalem.

(S) How this terrible fub-
verfion was effe<Sted, is thus ac-
counted for. The vale being
full of (lime-pits, or places

whence

The Hijlory^of Canaan. ^g^

periihed a branch of the Canaanites with their whole
territory; favirtg the city of Bela, henceforward called
Zoar.

The Hittites afterwards treated with Abraham, who
defired to purchase the cave of Machpelah for a burial
place ; and their behaviour towards that patriarch well
deferves our approbation. In public aflembly they offer-
ed him the choiceft of their fepulchres for his dead. But^
when he fignified his defire to have a feparate place for
his family, and had caft his eye upon the cave of Mach-
pelah, belonging to one of their tribe, called Ephron the
fon of Zoar, with whom he defired them to intercede in
his behalf 5 -Ephron himfelf, who is fuppofed to have pre-
fided in this affembly, generoufly offered to make him«a
prefent, not only of the cave he wanted to purchafe, but
of the ground or field adjoining, and preffed him much to
accept of the offer : but Abraham infifted upon purchafing
it> and he was prevailed upon to fell the field'and the cave
to him for four hundred fhekels, which he looked upon as
a trifle between him and Abraham ; fo great was his de-
fire of retaining the favour and friendfhip of that pa-
triarch ^.

Nothing material occurs after this tranfaflion for the Yr. of FI.
fpace of about one hundred and twenty-eight years, when ^J^l^^
Hamor reigned in Shechem, a poor and weak kingdom ;
though Hamor himfelf feems ta have been worthy of a
better dominion, and a better fate than befel him. He
fold a piece of ground to Jacob p, and it happened that
Dinah the daughter of that patriarch, coming to fee and
converfe with the daughters of the land, fhe was obferved
by Shechem the fon of Hamor, who, being taken with
her charms, forced and deflowered her ; but, having a
leal paflion for her, and being fenfibly affe£ted with the
wrong he had done her, he endeavoured to pacify and
pcrfuade her to be his wife. Speaking alfo to his father
Hamor, he entreated him to ufe his endeavours, that he
might have Dinah in marriage. Accordingly Hamor

' Genef. xxiii. 11, & feq. P Gen. xxxiii. 18, & feqq.

whence naphtha and bitumen of it, kindled the combuftible

were extraded, it is fuppofed parts, which had the dreadful

to have been univerfally im- effect of turning this once in-

pregnated with igneous matter; chanting paradife into a loath«

and the lightning, darting upon fome lake.
it, or flaihing along the lur&ce

went

Ante Cbr.
1 7 34.

39<> y>^ Hiftcry qf Canaan*

went to Jacoby to communicate the ardent inclinations
his fon had for Dinah, and to afk his confent. But the
injury and affront were highly refented by Jacob's fons,
who were prefent' at the interview. Shechem, finding
the others were greatly exafperated at the violence he had
committed on their fifter, offered all the fatisfa£tion they
could wifh for, if they would but forgive him, and grant
bim h^r in marriage. He thought he had gained his
point, from the anlwer he received y which was, that if
be, and all of his tribe or city, would confent to be cir-
cumcifed, he fhould have his fuit. Shechem willingly
fubmitted to this painful propofal, and fo did his father
Uamor for his fake ^ for he had an efpecial love for him,
above all his other children. Wherefore, returning to
the city, they aflembled the people in the gate, an<l ha-
rangued them on this fubjeft : they obferved, that feeing
. Jacob, and his family, dwelt with them in great harmony^
^and there was full room for all, it would be very pifudent
to unite with them by reciprocal marriages j that, indeed^
diere was an hard condition infifted on ; namely, that
they fhould be all circumcifed ^ but that the pain of the
operation, would be amply compenfated by fuch an ac-
ceffion of wealth as mufl flow in upon them by being one
people with Jacob. The men of the city, partly out of
affediion to Hamor and Shechem, and partly upon the laft
confi deration, declared they were ready to comply, and
were circumcifed accordingly : but while they laboured
under the incOnveBicncies of this operation, upon the
third day they were all fuddenly cut off by two of Jacob's
fens, at the head, of their fervants ; and their wives, chil-
dren, x:attle, houlhold-goods, and all belonging to them,
fell a prey to Simeon and Levi, the authors of this cruet
and bloody mafiacre of an helplefs, and, to all appearance^
innocent people *.

In writing the hiflory of this people, we are .obliged to
compile from incoherent fragments : there is no connec-
tion, no fuccefEve train of events, to be expefted. When
Mofes drew towards the borders of the prom i fed land,
for the firfl time, theCanaanitesin the fouth-eaftern parts
of the country were joined by the Amalekites % who, we
may fuppofe, were eager to take their revenge upon the
Ifraelites. Thefe, underftanding that fpies had been in
the land from Mofes, drew towards the frontiers ; and the
Ifraelites, attemptiog to enter their territory againfl: the

^ Genef. xxxiv. per tot. ' Numb. xir. 43.

cxprefs

The HJjofy of Canaan, 3 97

•xprefs decree of God, were by them repulfed with great
daughter, quite to Hormah.

Whether before or after this event, it is hot- precifely
known, Sihon king of the Amorites invaded the chiU
drcn of Moab and Ammon, and difpofieffed them of their
country on the other fide Jordan, and the Dead Sea : thit
conqueft Is celebrated by the mod ancient poem ^ that ii
extant among profane writers.

Arad (T) was king in the fouth-caft of Canaan, when Arad,
Mofes had a fecond time reached the borders of the Pro^
mifed Land ; and, being informed of their coming by the
way of fpies, he went out, attacked them, and took many
of them prifoners ; but, fortune changing^ he was van-
quiflied by them, and his country utterly deftroyed.

Sihon the Amorite, refiding in the ancient country of Sihon^
the Moabites and Ammonites, being entreated by meiien-
gers from Mofes for a free paffage through his country, in
his way to Canaan, he rejefted his requeft ; and, inftead
of complying, marched out againft him; but it proved a
very unfortunate expedition. He fuftained at Jaasser, a •
total overthrow, which was attended with the entire lof«
of all he pofiefied.

Og king of Bafhan is reckoned a fovcreign of the Amor- Yr. of Fi;
ites, and was of the race of the giants, or Rephaim ; and S96.
had an iron bed-ftead, nine cubits in length. He was a -^"^^ ^^^*
dreadful enemy'. His kingdom took its name from the '^^*'
hill of Bafhan, which is compared to God's Hill", and haa q.^
fince been called Bat^ea. In it were no lefs than fixty
walled towns, befides villages*. This country afforded an
excellent breed of cattle, and (lately oaks ^. In {hort» it
\ras a plentiful and populous territory. Og's refidence
was at Afhtaroth % and Edrei, at or near which place he
w^^a vanquifhed, as he was efpoufipg the caufe of Sihon,
and attempting to lk)p the progrefs of Mofes and his peo<-

« Numb. xxL tj, « Vide Jofcph. Antiq. lib. iv. cap. j.-

II Pfa]. Ixviii. 15. x Deut, iii. 4, 5. v Ifa. ii, 13. zjolh. xii. 4*

(T) It is doubted, whether and the Vulgate, who fo tranf-

this be the name of the king late the Hebrew of Arvad: who

himfelf, or of his city. There therefore may have given his

was a city of this name, and name to this country, and the

one of Canaan's fons was fo city may have been called after

called, according to the LXX. him (i).

(x) Vide Patrick & Cleric, in Num. xxi. i.

pie.

398 ^he Hifloyy of Canaaft.

pie. He fell in battle, and his whole kingdom va^ tranfl
ferred to the Ifraelites ".

The news of what Mofes had done on the other fide
the river Jordan, to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amor-*
ites, ailQnifhed the Canaanites of every denomination )
but when they alfo heard how the waters of the river
had been divided, to give the Ifraelites a paflTage, their
furprize was changed into terror and confternation. Je-»
richo was the firft place that felt- the fury of the impend-
ing ftorm. It was difmantled by the (houts of the If*
raelites, the found of feven rams-horns, and the carrying
the ark of the covenant round the walls. No foul was
fpared but the harlot Kahab, and her family, who
had been inftrumental in faving the fpies who were fenfi
by Joihua into this city; which was now reduced to
auies, and the man curfed that fliould ever attempt to re«
build it *.

Yr. of Fl. '^^^ tidings of thefts exploits, aroufed Ae little ftate of
897. Ai, whofe king, in the firft fkirmiih, gained fome fmall

Ante Chr. advantage againft Jofhua : but he foon perceived, that the
'^5'* war was not to be decided by fo flight a trial ; and there-

'"""■"*—" fore fent to the men of Beth-el, who were his fubjcds, re-
quiring them to join him againft the common enemy. It
was not long ere he had advice, that Jofliua was moving
towards him. He apprehended this general's intent was
to befiege him ; but he was not aware of a ftratagem
formed to ruin him, and deftroy his city. He faw Joihua
appear before his walls with no very formidable force,
and at once refolved to enjgagehim : he no fooner advanced,'
than the Ifraelites faced about, and fled ; he then ordered
every man to come out of the city and purfue the enemy.
Thus the town being left deftitute of defence, thofe who
lay in ambufh ruihed in» and fet the outfkijrts of it on fire.
The king of Ai, looking back, faw the fmoke of the city
afcending up to heaven j and, in the midft of his con-
fternation, the enemy ftopped fliort, ftiouted, and faced
about. His return to the city was intercepted by thofe
who had fet it on fire, and were now advancing to affift
in cutting him ofi^. The men of Ai, perceiving that their
city muft perifli without refource, and that they were to
be attacked on all fides, wqre quite diflieartened, and all
put to the fword, except their king, who was taken alive,
and led to Jofliua. After this flaughter of their army,
their city was burnt by the viftors, and all who were

9 Num. xxi. 33-*35* ' Jofli« vi« a6t

found

The Hiftory ofCdnaaH^, 59 j

found in it cut to pieces. Th^re fell in the whoJe about
twelve thoufand fouls : the city was reduced to a heap
pf ruins, and continued fo ever after. The captive king
Was hung upon a tree till even*tide, when his body was
taken down, and buried in one of the gate9 under a heap
of ftones y.

The fad cataflrophe of thefe two, alarmed all the
neighbouring kingdoms. Gibeon, a city of the Hivites %
but far ftrong^, and more confiderable, than Ai *, was
the only. place that chofe to avert the impending ruin by
llratagem, ratheif' than by joining the united forces of their
neighbours. They came to the refolution of fending
ambafladors to Jofliua, who fhould be dreflTed in old
tattered garments, with clouted ihoes, a cjfuantity of dry
mouldy bread, and fuch a worn-out equipage, as might
make them appear like men come from fome far diftant
country. In this guife, arriving at Jofhua's camp in Gil-
gal, they tpld him, they were come from afar off to feek
Jhis friendfhip ; that the fame of the Lord God, and what
Jie had done for Ifrael in Egypt, and fince, by the deftruc-
tion of Sihon and Og, thofe mighty kings, were the in<^
ducements which had brought them fo far from home^
being fent by the unanimous vote of all their country-
men, that they might pty their homage, and defire to be
admitted into a league with Ifrael \ as a proof of their ve-
racity, they produced their dry, mouldy bread, which
they averred they had taken hot from their houfes the day
they fet out: "Our bottles of wine," faid they, "were
new ; and fee how they are rent : our garments and ihoes
were fo too, but they are worn out by the long journey.'*
They afted their parts with great addrefs, and perfuaded
Jofhua and the Ifraelites to make a league with them«
At the end of three days the whole artifi^^was difcovered;
but they had already Drought the Ifraelites under a fo*
lemn engagement to. protect them as friends : however,
they fared not fo well, as they, perhaps, expected ; for
they were condemned to be hewers of wood, and drawer^
of water to their new allies '*.

When Adonizedek king of Jerufalem heard that Je- Adonixt^
ricbo and Ai had been utterly deftroyed ; and, what was <^*»
worfe to the common caufe, that the Gibeonites had fub-
mitted to Jofhua, he was divided between terror and dif-
dain. . But refolving to make an example of the Gi-

y Jofli. vii. viii. « JoOi« ix. compare verfe 3. with 7.

• Jofli. X. s. ^ Jolh« ix.

beoniteSj

400 "^^ Hi/lory of Canaan.

beoniteSy to deter others from following fo cowardly and
dangerous a precedent^ he called in Hoham king oi^
Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japfaia king of Lacniifa^
and Debir king of Eglon, to join him againft Gibeon \ and
accordingly they all joined, and befieged the place. Th^
inhabitants in this diftrefs difpatched notice to Joihua 'of
what was befallen them, and begged his fpeedy fuccour to
refcue them from their enraged countrymen. Jofliua
came accordingly, and, falling upon the confederate
kings, as they were befieging the city, obliged them td
retire with the utmoft precipitation. As they were fly-
ing, and had almoft reached Beth-Horon, there fell a
dreadful temped of hail-ftones, of fuch enormous (izC)
that they did more, execution than the fword of Jofhua.
Thus perfecuted by the heavens above, and prefied by xMt
Ifraelites in the rear, they fled as chance dire£):ed them^
not knowing whither they went. In fo general a difper^
fion many might have efcaped, had not the fun, at the
command of Jofliua, flopped his career, that the Ifrael^
ites might fee to overtake and deflroy the fcattered multi^
tude« And now the five kings, feeing nothing but At-
ftru£lion before their eyes, made the beft of their way to
a care near the city of Makkedah. Happily, as they
thought, they reached this afylum 5 but, being difcoveredj
and information thereof being carried to Jofhua, they footi
faw the mouth of their cave ftopped up with great flones.
Under this difmal confinement did they remain till the
adiion of this miraculous day was concluded, when^ being
dragged out, they were thrown before the congregation
of Ifrael, the chiefs of whom trod on their necks : they
were afterwards all five put to death, and their dead bodies
hung, each on a tree ; and there they remained till the
fetting fun, whum they were taken down, and thrown
into the cave j.which was again filled up with great ftones,
as a monument of their fall and unhappy end *^.
Jahlnt Jabin king of Azor, when he learned their fate, and

knew that moreover Makkedah, Libnah, Lachifh, Eglon,
Hebron, and Debir, had been fubverted, and all their
inhabitants put to the fword ; aqd finally, that Horam
king of Gezcr, and his whole force, had perifhed in at-
j tempting to relieve Lachifh ; fuch a croud of calamities
induced him to raife all the tribes of the Canaanites to
prevent the deftru£lion which alike threatened them all.
He fent therefore io Jobab king of Madon, to the king of

c Jolh* %.

Shim«

The H0ory ofCanadn. 40 1

Shimron, to the king of AokQiaph, to the kmgs on the
north of the mountains^ to thofe in the plains fouth of
Cinnexoth^ and in the valley, and on the borders of Dor
on the weft, and to the Canaanites, peculiarly fo called,
on the eaft and weft, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite,
and the Ferizzite, and the Jebu&te in the mountains, and
the Hivite under Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh. Thefe
all confederated together againft Sfrael^ they were as the
fand on the fea-ihore for numbers, and very ftrong in
horfe and chariots.(U) \ a dreadful enemy for Joftiua and
bis people to deal with, who were utterly unprovided with
both. Being thus united, they encamped near the waters
of Merom, (ifice called the Lake Samachonitis. Here^
as they lay confulting together, they were aflaulted by
furprize, driven out of their camp, and broken into as
many diftinft bodies, as they were tribes, each battening
bomewards. But the main body fled towards Zidon the
Great, weftward, and Mifrephoth-Maim ; while another
party took their route towards the valley of Mizpeh, eaft^
wards. But they were every-where fo clofely purfued,
. Jthat moft of them fell by the way. Jabin himfelf had the
luck to efcape for the prefent ; but he periflied with his
city in the fequel: it was not long before Hazor was
taken, and her inhabitants being cut off, the place was
burnt down to the ground. It was reckoned the chief of
all the cities belonging to the kings of this confederacy^
and therefore treated with the greateft rigour ; but the reft
of the cities of thofe princes, which alfo fell into the
Jiands of Jofhua, were fuiFered to ftand, though none of
the inhabitants were fpared ^.

No loiTes, however great,* could, for a confiderable
while, break the fpirits of the Canaanites ; they flood their
ground, and kept Jofhua employed fix years "^ : in the endj

d Jo(h. xi. « Ufler. Anna!, ad A. M. ^554*

(U) This is all the account deftitute of chariots and horfe;

the text gives us of this nu- fo that his fuccefs was chiefly

merous army. Jofephus adds, owing to the fudden rapidity

that it confifted of three bun- with which he fell upon them,

dred thoufand foot, ten thou- For it is faid, that he came in

fand horfe, and twenty thou- fight of them in five days ;

fand armed chariots. That of though Gilgal, whence he fet

Joftiua was not only vaftly in- out, was, at leaft, iixty miles

lerior in number, but quite off, and the country very rocky.

Vol. I. D d great

40>2 The Hijlory of Canaafl.

great numbers are fuppofed to have left their cduntlry, ancT,
travelling towards Africa, to have fettled there, erecting
a monument in memory of the calamities which had
driven them from their native place, and inveighing
againfl: Jofliua by a very injurious appellation, as will be
obferved hereafter in the hiftory of that continent. In
their way thither they are fuppofed to have feized on the
Lower Egypt, where they ere£led a monarchy, which
fubfifted under feveral of their own kings •, but, being at
. laft over-powered, they were obliged to retire farther
weft ward into Africa ; a circumftance which has induced
fome to think them the Phoenician paftors, who lorded it
fo long over Egypt.

After the Canaanltes had been fucceffively defeated^
and at length difperfed and reduced) the Anakims (X)i
who alfo inhabited fome of the mountains of the land'j
. a fierce and barbarous race, of an origin diftinft from the
Canaanites, were invaded, and cut off; and thus by de-
grees the Ifraelites became mafters- of the greateft part of
the land of Canaan.

But ftill the Canaanites of feveral denominations were
ftrong and potent, and held no mean fhare of the country;
and, for nineteen or twenty years, the remainder of
Joihua's days, they were very little, molefted ; being fuC-
fered to breathe, until the important bufinefs of divid-
ing their country, by the conqueror, could be regulated
and adjufted.

This divifion being made, the Canaanites were on all
fides invaded again by the tribes of Ifrael, who wanted
each to drive them out of their refpeftive lots. The Ca-
naanites and Perizzites in Bezek were accordingly invaded
by the tribes of Simeon and Judah, and there fell of them
ten thoufand men. Being thus routed in the field, they
retreated to the city of Bezek^ where Adonibezek, the

(X) Thefe are held to have
been what we call giants, and
are derived from one Arba,
who feized on the city of Heb-
ron, from whom it was called
Kirjath-Arba, the city of Arba.
From Arba dcfcended Anak,
who, it feeras, had three fons,
whom we (hall mention here-
after. From Anak, the Anak-

ims derive their name ; but
whether they were only a more
numerous and ilout people, or
really men of a larger fize, has
been diiputed. As for the va-
rious etymons of their nai;ne,
they are too uncertain and far-
fetched to deferve th^ leaft re-
gard.

king

The Hijioiy of Canaan. 403

king of that place^ as his name imports^ refided. This
monarch is infamous for his fingular cruelty and info-
knee ; for, by his own confeffion, having taken feventy
kings captive, he ordered the thumbs and great toes of
each to be cut oS\ and obliged them to receive their meat
under his table, like fo many dogs. The city itfelf vt^as
now aifaulted and carried ; and all thofe within the walls
were put to the fword. Adonlbezek himfelf efcapod i
but, being afterwards overtaken in his flight, his thumbs
and great toes were cut off; .a juft requital, as he himfelf
acknowleged, for his former cruelty 5 but, his life being
fpared, he was carried alive to Jerufalem, where he died ;
for that city had been taken and burnt before ; but whq^
ther by Jofhua formerly, or the tribe of Judsth i^o,w ^, is
not very clear (Y).

Inimediately after this expedition, the Canaanites were
invaded in feveral other parts, and particularly in Hebron
and Debir, two cities which had formerly been deftroyed
by Joihua, but were now in the hands of 4^e Canaanites
again ; an inftance, among many others, of the fefolu*-
tion of this peopl^^ and their relu£lance tO' quit their pof- .
fefSons. In general, the Canaanites in tfaie high lands or
mountains were reduced \ but thofe in the low country
were able to keep their ground^ becaufe they had chariots
of iro^u, Hebron, in tiiiis war, fell into the.handsof Ca^- "^
leb, who thence expelled die three fori* erf Anak^ (Z).

Tfo. other tribes made alfo fome v}gbc6us, but unfuc-
cdsful attempts againft thofe cities (bat had fallen to their

f Judg. i.. 3—8. . « Jttdg. i. 9-^p«o*

(X) Jerufalem is mentipn- . and, it is not ftkely, that, while

ed as taken by Joflfua ; but they. polTeiied the citadel, they

the Canaanites retook fex'eral would fuffer the Ifraelites to

places which Joihua had torn live quietly in the' 'town.
ftpm them : and this may have (Z) Jolephus draws a ter-

been the cafe with Jerufalem : rible pi6hire of thcfe inhabit-

for, though it ift by mbft com- ants of Hebron : '^ Among

mentators imagined, that the the (lain,'* fays he, '^ were

Ifraelites held the town, and found fome gigantic forms,

the Jebufites the fortrefs of who not only exceeded the or--

2ion, ever afterwards : Jofe- dinary fize of men, but dif-

phus plainly enough tells us, fered alfo from them in afpe<St

they had both the fort, and and voice.'-— —Some of their

the city, when David gave bones are expofed at a prodigy

them them their fatal blow ; to this day."

D d 2 lot.

4^4 ^^ fftftofy rf Canaan.

lot. But Jofcph was attended witli better fueoefs agafnff
Beth-el, which was betrayed to them, and taken by fun-
prize. Afhur, on the contrary, was fo far from gaining
any advantage againft thofe of Accho, Zidon, Ahlahy
Achzib, &c. that its Settlement among them feems ra-
ther to have been confined to fuch places as were granted
on certain conditions impofed by the old inhabitants.
The Amorites preffed hard opon the children of Dan,.
and confined them to their mountains. Thofe of Aija-
Ion and Shaalbim ftill kept the mountain of Heres in their
own hands ; bat the Danites, being in time affifted by
the houfe of Jofeph, brought them at length under tri^ '
bute, enlarged their own territories, and fixed thofe of
their oppremve neighbours from *' the going tip to Akrab*
bim from the rock, and upwards ^'*

Thus, upon the divifion of tlieir country, and the at-
tempts made by the feveral tribes to drive them out, the
whole land was in a ferment of war, which ended with
no great fupccfs on either fide ; and the adverfe parties
feem to have been pretty equally matched ; fo that al«
though It is certain, that multitudes of this people were
flain in the wars with Jofhua, and that many of them fled
the land in queft of more fure and quiet abodes ; yet fo
confiderable was their remaining number, valour, or fu-
perior fkill in war, that, after all their calamities, they
feem to nave been but little inferior to the Ifraelhes ; nor,
after this, do we mifs one tribe of them, except the Gir-
gafites (D).

The Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites of
Mount Lebanon, from Baalhermon to Hamath, were left
to prove Ifrael, to exercife them with temptation to ido-
latry and fin (E) 5 and the more immediately devoted na-

tionsj
* Judges, i, ax-— 36*

(D) We are pofitively told,
they fled into Africa, where
they fixed their feat.

(£) Both religious and po-
litical reafons have been af-
figned for this mercy towards
the Canaanit«8 : that the If-
raelites might not grow fiug-
giih for want of enemies to
awaken and flir up their cou-
rage, and to keep up martial

difcipline among them, and
-that they might always be in a
more immediate fiate of de-
pendence on God, or look
confiantly up to him for fuc-
cour : that no part of the
country, which was too ex-
tenfive to be thoroughly inha-
bited by the Ifraelites, might
lie^defolate, fo as to be left
for a harbour to wild beafis^

which

The HjftQry of Canaan.

A^S

tloAS, the CanaaniteSj Hittites^ Amorite€> Perizzitest
Hivite$, and Jebufites, dwelt, as it were, in common
with the children of Ifrael in their Proraifed Land. Bein?
thus blended together, they, in time, wrought fo upoa
the unftabie minds of the Ifraelites, a$ to perfujide them
to inter-marry with them, ^nd ferve their god$ \ there-
by captivating their itiinda, a3 tbey afterwards did their
l>odies.

For^ in a very few years., Jgibin, whom \ve may rec- Yr. of Fl.
ion the fe^ond of the name, feeing he refided at the very '^^i*.
fame place with the former, vjas employed by God to ^V^g, '^'
puniQi the Ifraelites, as the inftrument of his wrath. ,

This prince, it is likely, rebuilt Hazor, which had been JabinU.
deftroyed by Jofhua, re-eftabtilhed the royal feat there,
was mafter of nine hundred chariots of iron (F), which,
^s well as the reft of his hoft, were under the command
of Sifera^ who dwelt in Haflioreth of the Gentiles (G).
Jabin therefore reduced the Ifraelites to a ftate of flavery,
aad cruelly opprefled thern for twenty years. But whe-
ther he held the whole nation under fi^bje<3:ion, or the
northern tribes only, is uncertain. News was brought
to Sifera, that the Ifraelites had been ftirred up to rebel-
lion, and that they were a^nally in arms, confulting to-
gether, how they might Ihake off his mafter's yoke;
whereupon he prepared the nine hundred chariots of iron,
9ind iffiied, a proclamation, requiring the men of war to
.aflemWe together, to march out againft the Ifraelites,
w^ho were but ten thoufand ftrong, with Deborah and
Barak at their head. A hattle enfuing, Sifera was routed,
and purfued, with great flaughter, quite to the gates of
Haflioreth of the Gentiles. That general, apprehending
4ie might fall ihto the enemies hands, quitted bis chariotf

« Judges, ii. «x— 3|. and tii. i*-7.

'^hkrh might, by thc^ir m-
creafe, prove a more dreadful
and pernicious enemy than the
Canaaniteg..

(F) The number of thefe
-chariots, which are all along
taken for the fcythcd fort, is
much wondered at by the learn-
ed. Mithridates had but one
hundred in his army, and
^arittfi but two hundred*

(G) it is called tfihe Gen^
tlles^ fropi a confluence of all
forts of people, who came now
to put themfelves under the
protedion of Jabin's growing
empire. Both cities were fi-
tuated on the lake Smachouy
or Samechon, through which
the Jordan takes its courfe,
and near the place where Se-
ieucia was fince built.

Dd3

vaA^

4^6 '^he Htftory of Canaan.

and, flying on foot, direfted his fteps to the tent of Hc-
ber the Klenite, who was at enmity with Jabin. He
found Jael, Hcber^s wife, in the tent-door, who, per-
ceiving his diforder, intreated him to ftep in, and fear
nothing. Confiding in this declaration he entered, and
' was covered by her, that he might be concealed and take
no harm while he repofed, after the fatigue of the battle
sind flight. He had not long remained in this fituation
when he complained he was thirfty, and begged a draught
pf water; jnftead whereof, his hofliefs prefented him
with a bowl of new-milk^ of which when he had drank
(he covered him again. Then he called out, and defired
her, if any one came to inquire if (he had any man with-
in, to anfwer no, and to (land at the tent-door for that
purpofe. Now being greatly fatigued, he fell into a deep
fleep ; then Jael, taking one of the tent-nails, and an
hammer, drove the nail into his temples, and thus de-
prived, him of life. By this time Barak having reached
the tent in queft of Sifera, Jael, with a triumphant air,
went out to him, and invited him to the fight of the man
he fought, whom he here faw dead, with the nail driven
iRto his temples. So fell Sifera ; and with him Jaban*s
glory and opprefEon ; an event which afforded the Ifrael-
ites refpite for forty years*.
Yr. ofTl. What the Canaanites did, or what was done againft
A \^^c\i ^^^^ ^ftcr this battle, for a long feries of years, we arc
1047. * ^^^ informed. It appears, however, that they had been
, abl« to maintain their ground in feveral parts, and parti-

Zion tahtn cularly in Jerufalem, till the reign of David. When the
hy Da'vid. Jebufites, who held that city, or, at lead, the fortrcfs of
Zion, faw David advance, to 'befiege them, they pofled
their lame and their blind (H) to defend them, faying,
they were fuflicient to keep off fo mean an invader, rely-
ing wholly pn the ftrength of their walls and fituation.
They were, however, difeppointed, and the place was

* Judges, iv. per tot.

(H) The learned are di- upon the walls 5 but Dr. Grc-

' vided in their opinions about gory has written a long difn

thefe lame and blind men. Jo- fertation, to prove that thofe

i^phus underflands the expref*- lame and blind were no other

fion i;;;^ the literal fenfe. 60- than the gods of this people,

chart fuppofes it was in deri- who, according to the Pfaimt

fion pf the befiegcrs, that the ,ift, " had eyes and faw not,

blind ^pd cripples were placed and feet and walked not/*

carne4

JS>€ Hijiory of the PhiliJUnes. 407

carried by ftorm y ; but the circumftances of this event
are left in the dark.

This, doubtkfsj was a very fevere blow to the Ca-
naanites in general/and muft have peq)Iexed them much ;
hut, to complete their misfortunes^ they were invaded in
Gezer by Pharaoh ; upon what provocation is utterly un«
known. Their city was burnt, and they wer^ all put to
the fword. The town was afterwards rebuilt or repaired
by Solomon, who received it in dower with his wife,
Pharaoh!s daughter '« ,

Thus, oppreffediby-the IfraeUtes on one .hand, and by Yr. of Fl-
the mighty power of Egypt on the other, the remnant of 1336.
the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivitfes, and Jebu- Ante Chr.
fites, were reduced, in the reign of Solomon, to a ftatc '^'^'
of flavery ; whence it is concluded, that they wei;e now ^^^ j^^^
brought to fo low an ebb, as to be unable to anfwer the ritest Hit"
demands of a tribute : wherefore, being admitted into a dtes, &c,
covenant, as is very rationally fuppofed, with king Solo- reduced t^
mon, hewould not cut them oflF, but employed them in the j(^^^fJ^
heavy labour of carrying on bis vaft and fumptuous works ;
and this fervility was entailed on their pofterity*; for,
although it is very certain, that they, 4ipon their firft re-
du£):ion, became profelytes to the Jewifli religion, yet it
is thought, they were diftingui&ed from the Jews, and
i;^ckoned of a more ignoble ,bloo4, bom to drudgery.
And now it remains only for us to ^bferve, that, among
the tribes of the Canaanites,, enumerated above, as fubr
ytOi to the yoke of JSolomon, the Canaanites, peculiarly
fo called, are omittecL Tliefe, therefore, we may conr
clude, bore none of the burden ; but remained free and
independent in their^poflefSons on the fea-coaft, rofe af^
terwards to a great height of fanie, and, continually im^
proving themfelves in navigation, commerce, and the
' ufeful arts, were comprized under the appellatjon of
PJiccnicians. . •

SECT. VII.

"The Hijiory of the Philifiine^.

£ have already obferved, that diis people defcended Their cri-
from the Cafluhim partly^ and partly from the gin.
"Caphtorim, both from the loins of Mizraim, the fon of
Ham, the fon of Noalv All we can farther fay with any

y 2 Sam. v. 6-— >9. * i KinM, ix. i6. • See ver. 20,

SI. See alfo £zra ii. 55, 58, and Nebemia xi» 3.

D d 4 certainty^

4o8

nftrnmentt
cuftoms^

Their cha-
raSefy
language^
artSy in-
'ventionSf

the Hiftory of the Thiliftine^.

certaintyj is, what Mofcs tells us clftwhere^; iiamely,-
that they drove out the Aviip, or Avites, even to Az-
^ah or Gaza, where they fettled. When this expulfion
happened, is quite uncertain ; but, upon the whole, it i»

f'lain, that the Cafluhim and Caphtorim, from whom the
hiliftincs are defcended, came originally from Egypt ;
and, having fettled in this country, gave it their name.
But, for the defcription of this delicious fpot, we refer
our readers to the geography of the Land of Pfomife, of
which it was the chief, if not the heft, part j and fhall
only fpeak here of the government, cuftoms, and reli-
gion, of fo renowned a people.

Their mod ancient form of government was adminif-
tcred by kings, who were all honoured %vith the appella-
tion of Abimelcch ; fuch were the monarcbs of this
people, father and fon, who dealt with Abraham and
Ifaac ; but thefe firft kings were under great limitations.
The fceptre departed from this race very foon ; for in the
days of Mofes, their monarchy was changed into an
ariftocracy of five lords, who feem to have been, in part,
independent of each other, though they were alfo, it
feems, obliged to a£k in concert for the common caufe.
In the fequel they were ruled by a king ; but how this
change was brought about, of whether it was their choice,
or not, is utterly unknown. The fecond race of kings
are diftinguifhed by the appellation of Achifh, though
they bore likewife the name of Abimelech. They held
their refidence at Gath during their beft times; from
whence the royal feat was removed to Afcalon, and from
that city to Gaza, In a word, we may fay, that the Phi-
liftines had very ftrong notions of liberty. They did not
circumcife, and, in their earlieft times, held adultery in
the greateft abomination.

After what we have faid, we need not obfcrve, that
they were a very warlike people ; but we muft add, that
they diftinguiihed themfelves by their induftry. Their
charafter muft be confidered at different periods ; for wer
may fay, they, were not always the fame people. In the
days of Abraham and Ifaac, they were, without all doubt^
a righteous and hofpitable nation ; but afterwards a revo-
lution in government, religion, and morals, may have en-
fued. From thenceforward they became like other idola-*
trous nations ; the fame enormities crept in^ and prevail^
cd among them. They are conftantly mentioned in Scrii>-

k P^uteron. Si. 2)t

iurQ

The Hiftory of the Philiftines, ' 405

tiire as ftrangers ; and, though pofieffed of a moft confi-
derable part of tfac Land of Promife, yet God would
never fuffer them to be driven out, they being Egyptians
by defcent, and not original natives, whofe land only wa^
promifed to Abraham, and his feed. Their arrogance and
ambition were great ; and fo irrecondle^ble was their en-
mity (I) to the Ifraelites, that one would be almoft tempted
to think they were created on purpofe" ta be a thorn in
their fides ; for, though the hand of God was evideritly
againftthem feveral times, and particularly when theyde-*
tained the ark, yet they hardened their hearts, and clofed
their eyes againft convidtion. They feem to have enter-
tained a very fond veneration for their deities, in which
they perfifted, though they were eye-witnefles of the
ihame and ignominy, which befel them in the prefence
of the captive ark 5 nay, they were fo biafled in their fa-
TOur, as to imagine, that their gods might prevail againft
bim^ who had, in fo glaring a manner, put them to
fliame and difgrace. They were much addided to trade)
which,' confidering their fituation, they may have exer- .
ctfed from the ' beginning ; but, by the aeceffion of the
fugitive Edomites in David's time, they rofe to fo great a
reputation as merchants, that the Greeks, it feems, pre-
ferred them to all other nations in that refpeft, and, from
them, called all the country bordering on theirs Palef*
tine^ Their language was not fo different from that
fpoken by the Hebrews, as to caufe any difficulty for th«m
to converfe together, as will be perceived by their inter-*
courfe with Abraham and Ifaac ; fo that, in all this re-
gion, the feveral nations fpoke one and the fame tongue^
perhaps with fome variation of dialeft. They had, doubt-
Jcfs, the arts and fciences in common with the moft

1 See Cumberland. Origin. Gent. antiquifT. p. 37.

(I) From a paflage in Chro- tranfadion, mod people allow

nicies, it is gueffed to have it to have been while the chil-

been of very ancient date ; dren of Ifrael were fojourners

where it is faid, that " the men in Egypt. It plainly appears,

of Gath ilew the children of by the next verfe, that Ephra-

Ephraim, who would have im himfelf was living at that

t^n their cattle from them.** period. The Targum fup-
This incident is no where elfe • pofes his children mifcomputed

to be found ; and there are va- the time they were to ferve in

rious notions concerning the Egypt, and began too early an

fenfe in which we muil take this attempt upon their Promifed

paiTaget As to the time of the l^and*

. learned

4IO The Uifiory of the PbiUftines.

learned and ingenious among their contemporaries, and,
perhaps, fome of them in greater perfe£^ion. They had
giants among them, but, whether they were originally of
the breed of the Anakims, who retired hither when they
were expelled from Hebron, or were fprung from acci-
dental births, is not eafily determined. . 'We muft not
forget, that the invention of the bow and alrrow is af*
cribed to this people.

Their religion was different at different times ; qnder
their firil race of kings, tliey ufed the fame rites with the
Hebrews. Abimelech, in the fin he had like to have
committed wi^h Sarah, through Abraham's timidity, *was
favoured with, a divine admonition from God ; and, by
his fpeech and behaviour at that time, it feems as if he
had been ufed to converfe with the Deity. |n after-time$>
they erred into endlefs fuperftitions, and different kinds of
idolatry ; each, of the principal or five, cities feeme/i ta
have had an idol of its own. Marna, Marna8|| or Mar*
naih *", was worfhipped at Ga:;a, and is faid to have mu
grated into Crete, and ^o have become the Cretan Jupi*
ter, Dagon was worfhipped zm Azotus -, be feems to have
been the greateft, the mofl ancient, and mofl favourite

f^od they had ; to which may be. added, that he, perhaps,
iibfifled the longefl of any '^ that did not flraggle out of
the country. To him they afqribed the invention of
bread-corn, or of agriculture, as his i\ame imports. We
cannot enter into thd common notion of his being repre-
fented as a monfter, half.man, half fifh ; nor confequently
into another almofl as common, that he is the fame with
the Syrian goddefs Deroeto, who, we are told, was re-
pre fented under fome fuch mixed form. • Our opinion is,
that this idol was in fhape wholly like a man; for we
read of his head, his hands, and his feet .^ He flood in
a temple at Azotus, and bad priefls of his own, who
paid him a very conftant attendance K Next to Dagon
was Baalzebub, the God of Ekron. In the text of the
New Teftament, he is called Beelzebub, and the Prince of
Devils. His name is rendered lord of files \ w^hicb, by
fomC} is held to be a mock appellalion bellowed on him
by the Jews j but others think him fo flyled by/his wor-
fliippers, as Hercules aftd Aponjyos, tmd others^ were,
from his driving thofe infe£ls away ^t and urge/ that Aha-

» liieronym. in Efti. * » ptt \ Maccah. x, • See

Fislier's Pifgah Figtlt| book ii«cbap,.io« fe^t* y%* p. See i %^fti*

SBiab,

^he Bftory of the PhiUftines. 4 1 1

Siah, in his ficknefs % would fcarcely hate applied to
him, if his name had carried in it any reproach. But it
niuft be remembered, it is the facred niftorian that makes
ufe of that contemptuous term in derifion ; whereas the
idolatrous monarch, who was one of his votaries, might
call him by his common name, fuppofed to have been
Baal-zebaoth, the lord of armies^ or Baal-fhamim, lord of
heaven^ or fome other, bordering on Baal-zebub. How,
or under what form he was reprefentcd, is uncertain :
fome place him on a throne, and attire him like a king ;
others paint him as a fly '. Not to dwell on this obfcu-
rity, it appears, that he became an oracle of the higheft
repute for omnifcience and veracity j that he had priefts
of his ovm ; and that he, in the middle times at leaft, was
much fought after by thofe who were anxious about futu-
rity. Derceto we take certainly to have been the goddefs
of Afcalon • ; but we are fupported by profane authority,
without the leaft countenance from Scripture. Gath is
feemingly the only city of all the five unprovided with a .
deity ; wherefore, as the Scripture declares, that Aihta-
roth ', or Aftarte, was worfhipped by this people, we arc
ready to place her at Gath, and the rather, as this, of all
their cities, may have had moft communication with Si-
don. To {peak in general concerning their religious rites
and ceremonies, which is all we can do, they feem to
have erefted very large and fpacious temples, or very
wide halls, for the celebration of their folemn feafons and
feftivals" (for fuch they furely had) ; their religious offices
were attended with much pomp, and a great concourfe
from all parts ; and they prefented their gods with the
chief part of their fpoil, and carried them about with
them when they went to war. We do .not find in Scripture
that they facriftccd their children ; and yet the Curetes
(K) are faid to be their defcendents.

We fhall now proceed to the hiftory of this extraor-
dinary nation. They came direftly out of Egypt ; but

q % Kings, i. i. ' Procop. Gaz. • Diod. Sicul. lib. ii.

p« 65. t 1 Sam. xxxi. 10. ■ Judges, xvi. 17.

(K) The Curetes facrificefi faying the Philiftines pradlifcd

their children to Saturn, and, fo barbarous and unnatural a

from the fimilitude this name truftom, we may venture to

bears to Chcrcthites, or Phi- pronounce, that they learned

liflines, it has been advanced, it not from them, but borrow^

that they are the fame people ; cd it elfewhere,
but, a3 we have no warrant for

upon

4 1 s The HijUry cf the Philiftmeh

upon what motive is not pDfitively knotrti no more tlidii
the time of their remoTal^ and finding the Avims)^ feated
in a pleafant and fruitful land> and themfelves ftrong
enough to expel them, they made their attempt^ and fuo-
ceeded. We are not much inclined to think tfae^r were
very numerous when they firft fettled in thi« their con-
queft; for their king» even in the d^ys of Ifaac» grev
jealous of that patriarch's power, which ia no great figsi
that his own was very confiderabte ; though peffibly they
may have been fettled there many years before^ and muft
confequently have been much more numerous than they
Were at firft. But fuppofing this kingdom or ftate to
have been but weak in it$ beginnings, as moft others were,
we proceed to the next notice w^ have of their affairs.

Yr. of Fl. Abimelech, their king in Abraham's days, was a holy
4 SI* and juft perfifm^ and appears to have had fome inter**

Ant^e Chr. ^^^{^ » ^j^h God. He reftded at Gcrar, of which place
^ he is called king, and had like to have been drawn into

AbimiUchL ^ ^^^T ^^^^ fnare by the too great caution of Abraham ;
who coming into his kingdom, to be at a diftance from
the vale of Siddim> pretended that Sarah was not bis
wife, but his fifter. Abimelech faw her, was taken with
her charms, and underftandtng ihe was a fingle woman,
refolved to take her to his. bed ; but ere he had accom*
pliflied his defires, he was warned by God to reftore the
woman to her concealed hufband, upon pain of death*
Abimelech excufed himfelf to the divine vifien, upon the
innocence of his intentions ; and feeming to have frefli in
mind the terrible overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,
** Lord," fays he, ^* wilt thou alfo flay a righteous na*
tion ?'^ as if he was afraid that God would take vengeance
on his people for a crime he was going ignoranlly to
commit. • But he had the comfortable antwer in a vifion
or dreiam, that God knew well, and approved bis inte-
grity ; that he had with-held him from (inning ; and that
Abraham (hould, at his requeft, pray for him, and he
fhould live. Thus admonifhed, he aiked Abraham what
he had done to htm, that he (hould miflead him into fo
dangerous an error; of whatt>ffcnce he had ever com--
mitted againft him, that he fhould tempt hkn to fuch a
fin, as might have proved the ruin, not of himfelf only^
but of his whole kingdom. ** What have you obferved,**
faid he, ** in the morals or behaviour of me and my peo*
pie, that you fliould imagine we could offer any vic^nce

y ]>eut, ii. %%^ « Geacf.xx. 3, &i^«

tcr

Ths Wfiofy of the Pbilifiims.

lo ycMurwife?" The^anlwcr he receiived from iibralnfn
wasafrank.confeflicm of the truth ^ he aeknowleg€d9with«
out di%>uJfe, that he .fearred th^ hid not been endiied
with ligbt notions of God and hl« laws, and that ho
(hould certMnly be deprived of his life, that they might
the mone froely enjoy Sarah ; h^ added, that in faying
fhe was jbis fifter, ihe had fyoiken nothing but the truth^
fhe being really tfo^ and infosmed the king^ that in
ilrange places, it had always been his cuflom to make her
pafs for his fifter only, 'for fear of the worft. Abhnelech,
Satisfied with his apology, and in obedience to the divine
coemmand, not only reftored Sarah to Abraham, but made
him a very handfome pr^ent in &e^, oxen, and fervants^
both men and vnomen.; declaring to him withal, that he
nras ^welcome to five in what part of his dominions he
beft liked. He alfo made a oonfiderable prefent to Sar^
In Ais manner xUd Abimelech comply with the divine
admonition ; and upon the prayers of Abraham, he and
fais whole hou& "were reftored to their natural fac^hies,
of which they had been deprived for .Sarah's fake ; the
Lord having .rendered the men impotent, -^nd the women
fbarren (M). £vor .after this explanation, Abimelech lived
An perfefl harmony with Abraham; and that diefanie
snightibe tranfmitted down to poftoritiy,. Abimelech, with
llhe tpartioipaition of Phichol, the (chief captain of hia.
'hofl;, propofed an oat!h to Abraham, iw<hereby he ihould
Jbind bis pofterity to live in amity with his, and to deal
.by them juft as he (Abimelech) had dealt with Abraham.
This propofal was readily embraced by Abraham, but firft
he defired a difpute -might be decided, concerning a weU
fw^bich Aibimelech's fervants had forcibly taken from bim.
-Abimelech declared be never heavd of this outrage till
ithat moment; and that nothing of the kind ihould have
^een then to be complained of, had Abraham infoirmefl
ibim of it fooner. That this matter might be terminated
'in fuch a manner as to admit of no iaithor 'difpute, Abra-

41 J

(M) " Or with fuch fwell-
>ngs in the fecret parts, that
the men could neither enjoy
their wives, or the women who
were with child be delivered."
We find this ftory quite altered
by Jofcphus, who fays Abi-
melech was taken with fo
violent a fit of ficknefs, that
bi% life was defpaired of; that

in the midft of it he had a
dream, which admonifhed him
concerning Sarah; that find-
ing himfelf upon the mendine
hand, he called together his
friends, and difclofed to them
his dream, and the violence of
his paffion ; ^and that there-
upon he made up the matter
with Abraham.

ham*

414 The Hiftory of the Philiftines.

hsun, among the numerous prefents he made him of
iheep and oxen, fevered feven ewe-lambs, which he gave
him, to be a ftanding teftimony of his having dug, and
confequently of his being the right owner of, that well.
Abimelech accepted of them accordingly, and the well
was, from them, called Beerfheba. After a mutual ra-
tification of their covenant, Abimelech, and Phichol, the
chief captain of his hoft, rofe up, and returned from
whence they came *.

Abimelech, the fon of Abimelech, and therefore called
the fecond of that name, fucceeded his father in the king-
dom of the Philiftines, reigned alfo at Gerar, had almoft
the fame .tranfaciions with Ifaac as his father had with
Abraham, and feems to have been aduated by the very
fame principles as his father, and to have well deferved
to be ftyled a juft and pious prince. In his days came
Ifaac to Gerar, fore prefled by famine, and condu£ting
Rebekah with him, whom, in imitation of his father, he
made pafs for his fifter. Whether Abimelech and his
fubje£ls liad remembrance of that fallacy before, and what
had like to have enfued, to the detriment of the whole
nation ; or whether the morals of this country were ftill
fo pure, and chaftity and hofpitality in fuch due and
high efteem, that they abhorred the thoughts of an impure
attempt, we know not ; but it is certain that Rebekah
was unmolefted by fuitors of any fort ; and Ifaac had no
occafion to complain upon her account. However, it is
pretty evident, that Abimelech hin^felf, at leaft, had a
ihrewd fufpicion they were man and wife ; for looking '
one day out of his window, he faw Ifaac careiBng Re-
bekah in fuch a manner as convinced him rbey were
much nearer related than they pretended to be. Where-
fore he called Ifaaq to him, and afked him how he could
be fo deceitful^ pretending that fhe, who was reaUy his
wife, was no mor^ than his fifter. Ifaac pleaded his father
Abraham's excufe. Ammelech replied, it was by no means
kindly done of him ^ibr that,ignorantly, fome or other
of the people might have enjoyed her, and thereby in-
volved the whole nation in a moft dangerous fin, which,
in order to prevent, he proclaimed what Ifaac had told
him, forbidding any peribn to touch Rebekah or her
huftjand, upon pain of death. Though it might have
been expected that he could have driven out Ifaac from
liis dominions, as one who either malicioully or igno-

* Cea€£ ubi fttpra,& atxi. i»— 3s*

rantly

The HiftoYy of the Phllifttnesi 415

rantly had expofcd his whole nation to irretrievable rulir,
yet he fufFered hhn to abide in the land till his power
began to give umbrage. Then indeed' the Philiftines,
beholding the prodigious increafe of Ifaac's (lore, envied
him, and gave him no fmall difturbance, by filling up his
wells as faft as his fervants dug them, and by other ill
offices. At length Abimelech fent him a pofitive order
to remove. This meiTage was couched, it feems, in fuch
civil terms, that Ifaac, who was not confcious to himfelf
t)f any evil defign againft him, only removed from one
part of his country to another. He had not been long
fettled in this fecond habitation, when new broils and
contentions arofc between the Philiftines of Gerar and
Ifaac's fervants ; thofe laft opening the wells which Abra-
ham had dug, and which the Philiftines, after his death,
had ftopped up, and wanting ftill more water, fought for
new fprings, and dug new wells, which the Philiftine
herdfmen claimed as their right ; whence the wells thus
difputed, two in number, were, one of them, by Ifaac,
called £fek, or c$ntentiony and the other Sitnah, or hatred.
By thefe vexations Ifaac was obliged to fliift from place
to place, till Abimelech, at laft remembering th€ cove-
nant between his father and Abraham, and plainly per-
ceiving that Ifaac was favoured with God's fpecial blefC-
ing, thought it his duty, or his intereft, to renew it,
taking with him Abuzzath, an intimate friend, and Phi-
chol (N), the chief captain of his hoft, he went to Ifaac,
who could not help declaring his furprize in feeing them,
after what had pafled. They owned that they plainly
faw God was with him, and that he was rifing to a high
pitch of power and prosperity ; therefore defired to enter
into bonds of friendfliip with him, by a new league, or by
a revival of the old covenant, requefting no other terms
than that the Philiftines, and their pofterity, might be ufed
and cooiidered by Ifaac, and his pofterity, as he and his
i^amily had been confidered and ufed by Abimelech and
his people. They were all three entertained by Ifaac \

(N) The chief captain of have been a title of honour or

his father's hoft, as may be re- dignity ; and that, as the king

xneinbered, was alfo called Phi- was coaftantly called Abime-

chol ; but as it is impoffible, lech^ his chief minifter, or ge«

or very highly improbable at neral, was conftantly called

leaft, that this was the fame Phichol*
^an, we conclude Fhichol to

and

41 6 Th£ ir^eiy sfthe Phdifiines.

mdxht league they defired being mutually foorn t0
' next morning, they departed in peace*.

The hiftory of the Philiilines, hitherto clear and circiim*
ftancial^ is all at once involved in an impenetrable miA^
through which we <:an oidy penceive> that the men of
Cath fell on the children of Ephraim, and flew them, ior
attempting to drive off their cattle*. :Bat, w« are igiH>-
xant of ^ date^ pajcticularsi and iconfequences >of ihi^
traaafa&ion.

For a long ferie€ of year« we hear nothing of this peo-
ple^ and are only left to guefs that they, in «he mea#
time, diiiblved their ancient form of govjecnment, an^
contra&ed an avesfion to the Ifraelites^ for, when they
are next mentioned, they are reprefented .ander diftino:
jurifdi^iona, and at ftrife with the^children of Ifirad.

We do not read of any war they had with Joihua ; bul;,

after his death, Gaza, A&elon, and Ekron, were take^

from them by the united tribes of Simeon and Judah ^ ^

which, however, we find them, in a^ihoit time,pofiefl6d

of again i but whether they recovered them by force of

arms, or^th&y were reftor^d to them by the coi^uerors^

is not faid.

Yr. of Fl. About one hundred and twenty years after the redu&ion

>o43* of the three cities above (mentioned, the Philiftines hel4

Ante Chr. ^^^ Ifraelites under their yoke, till they were delivered

'^^^' by Shamgar, who ilew fix hundred of them with an ox-

^oad (S). Nor muft we forget, that the Philiftines fufi-

£e£ed in common with the Ifraelites, by the incui£ons

-93x6. ravages of Zebah.and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

A fecond time they oppreffed the Ifraelites, in conjunc-
tion with the Ammonites, in the day« of Jephthah.

A third time they -reduced the Ifraelites, by the per-

milfion of God, and kept them in .£ubje£tron forty years.

Yr. of Fh In .this interval was Sainibn born, to check their pride.

- '* pr He fell in love with a damfel of this country, who dwelt

" *^ ^* at Timnath. At the celebration of the nuptials, thirty

young Philiftines were appointed to attend on Samfon (T)^

who

A-Gen. xxvi. i— J3. * i Chron. vii. ai. c Judg. i. 18.

{S) Tofephua, who is fo try in cafes of a like nature,
•fond or extraordinary events, and an ufual compliment now
quite paifes over this exploit. paid to Samfon, who was come

(T) This we take to have among them ; but nothing lefs
been the cuftom of the coun- appears by Jofephus> who

writes,

"S7*

. 9h liiMy V^^^ PhiUfitnei. 4x 7

^;rllO propofed a riddle to them, concerning a lion he had
killed, in whofe «SMeca^, a twelvemonth after, he found
hbneyi It wasp^ofiDfed tothefe young men, bySamfoHf
that, if they unravelled his riddle, he fhould give them
thirty fuits of appa?et pne to each 5 but, if they could .^ot
anfwer him at the end of the feven dq(|rs of the marriage
feftival, they ftould each of them give him the fame*
They accepted the offer, defired to hear the riddle ; buV
having in vain perplexed themfelves for three days to-
gether,, and defpatring to ovcrcome^the difficulty, they
went to' -their countrywoman, Samfon's bride, defiring
her to difcover tki meaning of the riddle, and thifeaten*
ing her, if fhe did not, to burn her and all her kindred,
ks perfoas who had, on purpofe, introduced a ilranger to
plunder them of their fabilance. This threat made a dee^
impreifion on the young woman ; who, by continual in-
treaties, prevailed at laft on her hufband to difclofe th4
ambiguity to her, and fhe communicated it to the thirty
young men ; in confequence of which they won the
prize. This tranfa£t:ion proved a misfortune to Afkelon ;
for Samfon, to make good his engagements, went thither,
and flew thirty men, whofe" garments he gave to the ex*
ppfitors of his riddle.

This marriage was produdive of great mifcry to the
Philiftines ; for Samfon's father-in4aw, apprehending his
daughter was not wicll poffefTed of her hufband^s heart,
gave her away to another, and denied Samfon, who had
been abfent a twelvemonth, all accefs to his wife ; but,
to pacify his refentmen^ he offered him another daugh-
ter, who, as he faid, was younger and handfomer. This y^, ^f p|.
propofel did not mollify Samfon, who, in revenge, fent 121 1^
out three hundred foxes, with firebrands at their tails, into Ante Chr.*
the fields, fo that all the flanding corn was confumed, "3^'
togeth^with the. other fruits of the earth, the vines, and
the olives. The Philiftines, confounded at fo terrible a
difafter, and underftanding the motives which had in-
duced Samfon to ufe them fo cruelly, looked on his
father-in-law as the chief incendiary ; and therefore burnt
him, together with his daughter. This revenge they did
not take with impunity ; there were many of them de-
ftroyed by Samfon. In confequence of this flaughter they
aflembled their forces, and purfued him to the rock, of

writes, that thefe young men chief when _ overcome with
were fet as a guard upon him, drink.
to prevent his doing ?aiy mif-

Voir. I. E c Etamj

4iS ti^e Hijtory ^ the Pbili/lines.

^tam, where he was delivered bound to them by thie men
of Judahywho dreaded their diipleafosei. The Philifttme^
fhouted aloud at fight of their enem^ but their joy foon
turned into mourning, . for Samfon, breaking his bonds^
found the jaw-bone of an afs at hand, and with tt killed a
thoufand of thefe a4verf»rie$ ^

The Philiftines wiihed for nothing fo much as ah op-*
portunity to be revenged on Samfon for their new difaften
The Gazites, at th^ end of twenty year9, thought they
had him f€cure in^their city. Being informed that he
was lodged with an harlot, they watched him^ and niadc
fail their gates^ with a defign to kill bitn next morning,'
But their precaution was to no- purpofe ; for Samfon ri^
ing at midnight, took the city gates^ with their pofts and
bars, and carried them away towards Hebron.

Samfon being afterwards enamoured with another har'^
lot of their nation, in the valley of Sorek, whofe name was
Dalilah, the five lords came to this woman, and promifed
her, each of th^m, eleven hundred pieces of filver if ihe
would betray her lover, by enticing him to tell her where
his ftiength lay, and how be might be reduced to the
ordinary ftrength of another man.. So large a bribe cpr«
rupted Dalilah's heart, and (he ufed her bed endeavours
to earn it; thinking fhe was acquainted with the fecret,
ihe fent for the Philiftines to execute their ple^fure on
him : but fhe was deceived, and they were difappointed*
A fecond, and a third time, fhe was beguiled in like man-
ner ; but, at length, her importunities and carefiTes pre-
vailing, he difcovered that his gteat ftrength lay in his
hair : this fhe found an opportunity to cut off, and then
delivered him a prey to the lords ot the Philiftines, who
gave her the promifed reward, put out Samfon's cjcs,
and, binding him with fetters of brafs, carried him to
Gaza, where they compelled him to grind in the prifon-
houfc.

Refolving to celebrate a feftival to their god Dagon« in
ponfequence of their fuccefs, they aflembled in one edlfico^
but whether a temple, a theatre, or a palace, is quite
unknown ; the fabric, however, was of fuch extent, that
no fewer than three thoufand perfons were feated on
the roof. In the height of their jollity they fent for the
blind Samfon to make fport with him, forgetting that his
hair was by this time pretty well grown again, and his
ftrength confequently returned. They paid dear for their

diye/fion.

The Hijiofy of the Philiftiius. 4 r 9

diverfiony inafmuch as they all perifhed by the fall of the
building which Samfon pulled down, by overturning the
two pillars by which it was fupported. This was a terrible
difafter, fince mod of the chiefs of the Philiftines loft
their lives by it; fo that the nation muft have been
brought to a low condition, being left deftitute of coun-
fellors» governors, and commanders ^,

The Ifraelites, taking advantage of the conftemation
attending this difafter, marched againft the enemy with>-
out lofs of time, and pitched their tents at Eben-ezen
The Philiftines, notwithftanding the great' lofs they had
fuftained, came out to meet them, and encamped at
Aphek. The two armies foon came to adlion, and the
day turned in favour of the Philiftines, who put the
Ifraelites to flight, and, having (lain four thoufand of
them, drove the reft into their camp. The Philiftines,
in the midft of their triumph upon this occalion, heard
an uncommon fhout of joy from the Hebrew camp ; and»
enquiring into the caufe of it, were told, that the He-
brews had fent for the ark of the Lord, and that it waft
come into their camp. Hearing thefe -tidings, they cried
out, in the utmoft conftemation, '* (jk)d is come into the
enemy's camp y what will become of us ?'^ Their fears,
however, were difpelled by the remonftrances and exhor-
tations of their chiefs, and they forthwith rufhed to battle.
The attack was fo furious, that they not only flew thirty
thoufand of the Ifraelites, but alfo feook the ark of Goci^
after having flain Hophni and Phineas, the priefts who
attended it. Doubtlefs they called this a complete vic-
tory, and rejoiced in a moft extraordinary manner, not
being aware of the evil confequences. In high triumph
they carried the captive ark to Aflidod, and placed it
in the temple of their idol Dagon, as an acceptable offer-
ing. Next morning they went into the temple, and,
'^ behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth,
before the ark of the Lord.^' They took him up, and fct
him in his place again, attributing this firft humiliation
to fome accident. But on the lecond day, when they
went in again, they not only faw their god in the fame
humble poilure they beheld him in the day before, but
,alfo deprived of his head, hands, and feet, which lay on
the threfliold Hence arofe the fuperftitious cuftom
among his priefts, never to tread on the threfhold as they
went into bis temple, either in remembrance of this mu«

( Judg. xvi. per tot*

£ e 2 tUatioOj

42X> The fftffory of the, Phllif tines.

tilation, orbecattfe it had befn ^hallowed by the touch
of the facred limbs of their mangled deity. But their
concern for him was quickly diverted by a more lively
fcnfe of their own calamities, their whole country being
fmitten with a fudden plague, of which many of them
died, whilft thofe who furvived were grievoufly torment-
ed with the hsemorrhoids. Afhdod, and its whole terri-
tory, labouring under fo dreadful a calamity, theyrefolved
to keep the ark no longer among them, being too fcnfiMy
convinced that they fufFered on that account. But, that
. they might not take an hafty ftep, they called an aflembly
of all the lords of the Philiftines, to deliberate upon the
means of delivering them from this^ raging evil, and fo
determine what was bed to be done with ' the fatal ark.
The refolution they came to was : that-tlie ark (hould be
removed to Gath, apprehending, as is thought, th'at
Afhdod was a place tmacceptable to thftdivinity. Accord-
ingly they carried it thither ; but th^ feme plague, and
another fort of haemorrhoids, followetlifto Gath, feizing
every individual without diftindlon <!f,.fmall or grcfat.
The men of Gatti then fent the ark to • Ekron ; but the
inhabitants of thai^clty, knowing ^rfi at G«h and Afhd#d
had mlready fufFered by detaining it," excfeimed, that the
ark of the God of Ifrael was fent to deft?Poy them. Their
fears were not vain ; for great numbers of them 4^ed,
and the raging* difteiTg)er gathered ftrength as it fpfead.
Therefore they ha A iiofooner. received the ark, than, till
in confufion, they feiit .to the lords of the Philiftines to
confult' with them* about the maimer offending the ark to
its proper place. ^ The refult of this council is not cx-
prefled 5 tlxey feem to have removed Ae ark into the
country, and therety to have only mcreafed the number
of the evils that afBifted them, the fields being now laid
wafte with fwarms of 'mic*. Finding, therefore, that
their condition becfanie every* day \^rfe, and their evils
multiplied as often as the ark was ^feihovcd, they called
for their priefts and diviners to demand of them what they
thought moft expedient to be done orfthis mournftfl occa-
Con. Their apfwer was, that they ought not to fend it
away empty, but, by all means> with a trefpafs-offering,
as an atonement. Being then aflced what this trefpafs-
offering muft be, they replied, five golden hsemorrhoids,
and five golden mice, according to the number of the
lords of the Philiftines, the fame plague having been
Tcommon to thenr all. They then direded them in what
mannoc they were to diimi& the ark \ their diredions

.. . being

TjcHig punftually complied with, the ark . returned to the
liiraelitesi and the Pfailiftine^ wer^e nx^^c thoroughly fen-
iible of the hand that had chaftifed them ^.

The Philiftmesy by difmiffing the ai-kj '"delivered them-
£elve6 from tiie evils they groaned under. But they foon
forgot the mighty p^wer of the God oflfrael, who had
Aug affli£bed them. . For, not above twenty years after,
underftanding the Kjraelites ivere gadiered in a body at
Mizpeh, they refolved .to difperfe them, apprehending,
perhaps, that they were deliberating- upon meafures for
throwing off their yoke. They marched, thercforej to-
wards Mizpeh 5 and the Tfraelitcs, ftruck with terror at
^heir approach, applied to Samuel, who was in the midft
of them, begging he would not ceafe to cry out to the
Lord in their behalf.

In the mean time the Philiftines purfixed their mareh,
unmindful of Him, who was ever ready, when his people
turned to him, to confound the ftrength and devices of
their enemies, however wife and powerful, as he did oa
this very occafion. For, the Philiftines being upon the
po^nt of attacking the ifraelites, were, by a dreadful and
unexpefted ftorm of thunder and lightning broken* dif-
perfed, aaad thrown into the utmoft confufion ; of which
the Ifraelites taking advantage, purfued them with great
flaughter as far as Beth-Car. This proved a fatal over-
throw to th^ Philiftines, being attended with the lofs of
the dominion they had exercifcd oyer the Hebrews, and
the many encroachments they had made on their terrL- .
tory*.

How great foever this lofs might have been, ?the Phi- *^''" **' *^'-
liftinesfoon recovered it; nay, in a few years, they' be- Antc^ciw.
came more powerful than ever. For, being informed 1096.
that one of their fortreffes, named Geba, had been fur- ■ ■

prifed by Jonathan, the fon of Saul, tLey atfiembled thirty
thoufand chariots, fix thoufand horfe(U), and infantry
nuineroAis as the farid of the iea, to fight with the Ifrael-
ites, who ftill laboured under the ill effefts of their tyran-
nical policy, by continuing deftitute of arms : fpr fo long
as the Philiftines held them in fubjeftion, they did not
even fuffer a fmith to dwell among them. This very nu-

* I Sam. iy, v. vi. * i Sam. vii-^w-ij,

(U) This number of cha- and conje£ture which Sirlfaac
riots cannot be fuppofed to be Newton and the commentia-
all of the warlike fort, not* tors have adduced to render it
withftanding every argument probable.

£ e 3 merous

Ante Cbr.
1095

42 a The Hiftoty of the Ph'itiftines.

merous multitude went out, and, encamping in Michmafh,
occafioned fo general a confternation* that happy was
the Ifraelite who could conceal himfelf from their notice.
From Michmaih' they fent out three detachments to fpoil
the country ; which they ravaged without the Icaft oppo-
fition, having to deal with an unamied enemy.
Yr, of Fl. Neverthelcfe, in the midft of their depredations, they
!?Jou- received a check from Jonathan, who, hurried on by a
divine impulfe, and accompanied only by his armour-
bearer, made a conGdemble flaughter 01 one of their out-
guards ; the noife of which fp reading to the whole body,
they were feized with a fudden panic, which occafioned
fo great a tumult among them, that the very earth
trembled. In the height of this diforder, they firft fell
upon each other with great flaughter (X), and then be-
took themfelves to flight with the mod tumultuous uproar ;
this the Ifraelites no fooner obferved, than they purfued
them, with Saul at their head : and if he had not been in
too great an hurry, and forbid his men to (land to take a
little refrefhment, the lofs of the Philiftines would have
been much greater. It was» however, very confiderable,
for they were purfued from Michmafh to Aijalon K

Though thus vifibly defeated by the hand of heaven,
yet, in a few years they revived, and put themfelves under
arms, once more, to try their ftrength with the Ifraelites ;
perhaps induced thereunto upon hearing that Saul was
difturbed in his mind. But, though they made a great
noife and parade, they did not proceed with fuch fury
as formerly, nor did they feem fo eager for battle. They
firft rehdezvoufed in Shochoh, belonging to the tribe of
Judah ; but, advancing thence, and finding Saul ready to
receive them, they pitched their tents upon a moun-
tain oppofite to another on which Ifrael was encamped.
They had in their army, at this time, a giant, one Goliath
of Gath, fix cubits and a fpan high^ aud armed c^p-a-pie
with brazen armour ( Y) ; the ftaflF of his fpcar was like

k 1 Sam. xiii. 17—13, xiv. ir— 15.

(X) This exploit is alto- fliekels of brafs, or upwards of

gcther miraculous; therefore one hundred and eighty-nine

probability is out of the quef- of our pounds Troy ; and, by

tion. ^ the fame rule, the head of his

(Y) The height of Goliath fpear, which weighed fix hun-

was twelve feet eight inches, dred fliekels of iron, exceeded

and fomewhat better than three two and twenty of the fame

tenths. His coat of n\ail, pounds,
silone, weighed fix thoufaud

a weaver's

7i>e ti"0my of the PUHftim, , 4^3

« weavei^s beam, and the bead of it weighed fix hundred
fliek^ls of iron 3 and^ before biai| went one who bore hi$
ibield. This giga^ntic warrior feetns to jbave been very
(enfible of his ftrength, and to have fancied 4vhat he alone
could fuppolt his country^s caufe; accordingly, be under-
took to 6ght any one in the hoft of Ifrael, and, by fingle
combat, to determine which xvf the two nations Aioul^
rule, and which obey. With this view Jhe went down
into the valley which parted the two camps^ and there
dballenged the lixadites to produce a man who dared to
face him in (ingle combat- l^e challenge iwi^ not ac-
cepted, the liraelites being %uck widi terroc, .and greatly
difmayed ^t 3bis enormous tfizie aond menacing fpeech, fo
that he rcipeated it in vaiB every morning and evening,
for forty days fucceffively- At length, perceiving a ruddy

Jp\Ah advancing towards him from the Ifraelkes, in the
labit and appearance of a ihepherd, be was fired with in-
dignation, and obferving a ftafF in his hand, " What,*'
fays he, ** am I a dog, that you arc come againft me
withaftaff?" Then, curfii^ him by his ^ods, " Come
hither/' faid he, ** that I may give your flefh to the fowls
of the air, and the beafts of the neld." Young David
replying with equal modefty and fpirit, he Hepped forr
ward to punifli the youth for his prefumption ; but, be-
fore he could reach him, he was, by a ftone, which
David threw with a flings ftruck on ttie forehead, and
felled to the ground. He no fooner fell, than David,
advanciQg, fevered, with the giant's own fword, his head
frqm his rDody^ aadxatried it off in triumph^. The Phi-
liflitles feeing their champion flain, fled with great predr
pit^tion, as :u their hopes had bean all centered in him ;
and, to t*idge'by^heir bchwriour, it was really the cafe.
They left their tent3 and baggage behind them, and were
purfued by Saul quite home to the gates of their own
cities, Gath and Ekroo, with great daughter ' (Z).

The fame hand which had deprived them of Goliath^
proved fatal to fome of them foon after ; for two hundred
of them were flain by David for the fake of their fore-
flcins only, that he might perform tke condition impofed
on him .by Sattl^ before ^e amuU giv9 him his daughter

i z Sam.xvii. I— S5<

(Z) If we may credit Jofe- killed, and twice that number
p^s, they had thiny thoufand wounded, in this purfuit ( i )^

(i) Anti|^. lib. vLcap. ix»

E e 4 - ID

4gu^ The fftfiiOty ef tha PbHiJHmi,

t6 vnSt > ' but^the particulatrs of ^his fiaug^ter are mot fpc*
ciikd' in the text ^ Scripture.' Thence, however, itznajr
be ffather«dj>^that this was the caufe of a frefh rupture ^
ana that th& princes of the Phiiiftines iinderfbok to le-
yeoge the iujury j but what fuccefs attended tbem, is not
faid, ' .

Soon a&er this event, they were overthrown in batde
by David ^; and fome g«reat change feems, about this
time, to have been wrought in their government ; for,
iiiflead^ their lords or prinqes> we now read of a king

Ackifii, they had^ whofe "^ name was Achifh, and who refi'ded at
Gath \ "He is dfewhere called Abimdcdi ?, ^e aiidenk
appellation, as we have feen, of the firft kings of this
pieople. >David, in order to avoid the evil designs of Saul»
fled to Gatb, and was brought before this king ; who,
imagining him, by his behaviour, to be. befide himfelf^
would take no further nc^ice of him, than to order he
ihould be brought no 'more into his prefcnce ^.

The Philiftines, who all this time were upon no fettled

terms with Saul, prevented him from laying hold on Da«

vid in the wildernefs of Maon ; but they were again, it

' feems, attended with bad fuccefs^ in their attempt againft>

him, and either fled, or retreated, before Saul. •

Yr. of FI. Achifh, the fon of Maoch, afterwards received David,
ia88. his wives, and all his followers, into his proteftion; and

Ante Chr. treated the diftreflTed refugees with great hofpitality : at
't^^* David's requeft, that he fnight have fome place allotted

" him for his particular dwelling, he very generoufly named

* Ziklag for that purpofe ; whence it was, ever afceri^
claimed by the kings of Judah. This was, indeed, the
moft eie<^ual method for landing David to his intereft.
Achifli had fuch influence over the Philiftines, that they
facrificed their - refentment for the wrongs they had re-
ceived from that fugitive prince, to their prefent intereft
and fafety 5 and let him live peaceably among them, ra-»
ther than hazard the confequences of his return, and re-
conciliation with Saul. Achilh, who 'conceived very high
thoughts of David, underftanding he* had been out upon
fome expedition, examined him concerning it ; and, re-
ceiving fuch an a^fwer, as made him imagine he had been
plundering his Own nation, he exprefTed great fatisfaftion,
hoping David had done fomething to make himfelf odious
in the eyes of his couf^tryfnen j and that now he ihould

• _ <

t I SaiQ. xix. S. « I Sam, xxi. 10. ' Pfah xxxiv.

y 1 Sam. ubi fupra* k xxL i4» >5*

have

S^e mfi&ry- ^ the fUJ^^ifHU 42^5

l\ai^ him as aifcrvi^rfi; for ever. Preparing, foon aSteXi to
trar with Saulj he tol4 Davids t^at bie espefted htm to
head his followers J pro^nifing to recompenfe him with
ibme eminent poft ki hb fervic^. The Philiftines firft.
ai&oibled at Shnnem, and jthere encampcNl 3 from thence
they jemovted to Aphek : Ijere the, fever al bodies of the
PhiUdines appeiared together , in a lind of review> undedr.
thdr refpe^ive chiefs^ and P;ayid and his men fo]]owe<t
after Achifli \ from whence it is gather^ t th^t the pioft.
hepromifed him was, to be captain of his guard* At
this difpofitfon the lords and chiefs of the Phihftines tak*
ipg offence, expoftulated with A^hifh ; who in v^in en**
dea«oured to peyfuade them, that David was a fall and
trufty frii?nd. Inftead of being fat-isfied with what the,
king faid, thev were incenfed againA him, and infifted on.
his immediately difmiiling David', and Adding him back
to jZikbg, left heJ ihould h^ve it in his power to betray
thi^m ifi battle,, with a view to reconcile himfelf with lu$
najtural lord and maftj^r, Itt fliort, thiey could not imagine^
that David, who was |ho idol of his people, would fori-
£eit his popularity, by fighting againft them. Achifh,,
unable to refift all this clamour, called Dav^ to him,
and aflured him, th^tr for his own part, he .had the
higheft fenfe of his fincerity and merit, and had been per«^
&£kly fatisfied with hisi behaviour ever fince be had given
him fhelter •, but that, Jfince the lords were far from being
^iifpojfed to think fo well of him, it would be imprudenl^
to contei^d againft them j therefore he defired him to re-
turn quietly to Ziklag. Dayid refenting the ^iftruft which, y^ ^^ p..
the lofds entertained of him, and protefting his reftdinefe \%^%.
|i) fight in his caufej' Achifh anfwered, with great ear- AnteChr,
UcftncTs, that he was fully convinced of his aiFe^on; '<>5^'
fhat he 'had a Gngulaz veneration for liim ; and that, in '
his eyes, he was an angel of God j' but t^al, feeing the
JLords were &) unreafonably bent againft him, he muft
confent to fet out for Ziklag early next corning.

David fet but, accordiYiffiy 5 and Achifh and the Phi-
liftines itiarched againft Saul, who was encamped on
M<5uiit Gilbna. A battle w'as'fpught on that fame mount,
and thc.Pfeiliftii^es gained a complete viftory oVcr the
Ifraelitea, whom they drove before them with great flaugh-
tfr ; in particular, t«ey purfued clofe after Saul and hb
fons, Jonathdi^ Abihadab^ and Makhiibua, whom they
flew. They difcharge4 tbejr arrows, w;ith great eagerncfs,
after Saul, who was fore wounded by them \ but they had
s^ot the honour of diipatohing him : he fell, ere they

reached

426 The Hijtory ojthe PhiliftiHes.

reached him, by his own weapon. Thus the Phififtincs,
at length, obtained a complete viftory 5 in confequence of
which, they poflefled themfelves of a great part of the
cnemy^s country. The day after the battle, when they
came to ftrip the ilain, th^y found Saul king of Ifrael, and
his three fons, among the reft, in Mount Gilboa. They
Cut ofF SauPs head ; ((ripped him of his armour, which
they dedicated in the temple of Aftaroth ; and his body^
and thofe, alfo, of his fons, they ignominioufly hung upon
the walls of Bethfhan. But there they did not long re-
main. The inhabitants of Jabefh-Gilead, whom that
monarch had lately fayed from imminent deftru^Hon^
took this opportunity of (hewing their gratitude to their
late deliverer, and, at the peril of their lives, bringing
away thofe mangled remains from the enemy, gave them
a more honourable burial in their own city *.

After the battle of Gilboa, David removed from Zik-
lag to Hebron, where he was proclaiitied king, by the
greateft part of the tribes. As for Achifb, though wc
read no more of him, yet there is rcafon to fuppofe, that
he continued his good offices to David for fome confider-
able time; for, during the whole conteft between him
and lihboflieth, the furviving fon of Saul, the Fhiliftines
never offered to difturb him, though they might, at that
jundure, have eafily crulhed him in the bud. This pa-
cific difpofition can hardly be afcribed to any thing but
the kind interpofition of Achifh: however, the Philif-
tines no fooner underftood, that his rival was dead, and
that all Ifrael and Judah had fubmitted themfelves to him^
than they renewed hoftilities : but whether this rupture
was owing to the lofs of his friend and proteftor^ to the
jealoufy me Philiftines conceived of his great power; or
to fome other motive, the text leaves us quite in the dark.
Be that as it will, they marched out and encamped in the
valley of Rephaim : from thence they removed to Baal-
Perazim, where they were eiieountered by David, and by
him fo completely overthrown, that, intent upon nothing
but faving themfelves, they left their baggage behind
them, and even their gods, which they had carried about
with them, in imitation of the Ifraelites, when they
brought their ark into the field. The Philiftines feem
Yr. of Fl. ^^ ^^^^ rallied again, to refcue their captive gods. They
1301. ' drew up in battalia, in the valley of Rephaim; but: were

Ante Chr. defeated a-4iew by David, in a fudden onf<?t| and purfued
104?.

' * I Sam. zvjH. xxix« xxzi*

with

The Hifiary of the Philiftines. 42 7

urith gr^at flaughter, from Geba to Gazer % a place on
their own frontiers.

The war did not end here ; for, in a» little time, they Yr. of FL
were invaded by David, and Metheg-Ammah was taken**. 1304.

The Philiftines had feveral men of extraordinary fta- Ante Chr,
ture among them, and all, it feems, of the kindred of '^^^'
Goliath : and, though they had experienced the little ufe
of fucb men in an army, yet they feem to have caft their
eyes upon thefe, now nattering themfelves, that, by their
help, they might retrieve their honour, and take revenge
on David. Wherefore, after they had lain quiet feveral
years, they broke out into a war again with Ifrael, and
their giants marched in their army. At length they came
to battle, in which Ifhbi-Benob (A), a fon of Goliath,
taking David at fome difadvantage, had like to have flain
him s but, mif&ng his aim, he fell by the hand of this
prince affifted by Abiihai, although the head of his fpear
weighed three nundred fliekels of brafs, and he was, in
an extraordinaiy manner, appointed for war. A fecond
battle was fouent near a place called Gob, wherein Saph,
another fon of Goliath, was (lain by Sibbechai, the Hu-<
ihathite ; and a third at Gob« alfo, when Goliath's bro-
ther, the ftaiF of whofe fpear was like a weaver's beam,
fell, by the valorous might of Elhanan the fon of Jaare-
Oregim, a Bethlehemite. From this laft place the war
was transferred into the territory of Gath; where, in a
fourth battle, another fon of Goliath, who had fix fingers
upon each hand, and fix toes upon each foot, challenged,
in imitation of his father, the whole army of Ifrael to iend
out one of their number to fight him ; but he fell by the
hand of Jonathan, the fon of Shimea, the brother of Da-
vid. The Philiftines, thus exhaufted of their gigantic
brood ; or perceiving that their mighty ftature and
ftrength could not fecure viftory, refrained from a
farther profccution of the war, which, notwithftand-
ing their many, lofies, they had hitherto fo obftinately
maintained ^.

From henceforward the affairs of this people are more
Jlightly touched on ; whence it may be argued, that their
power was greatly weakened ; and, accordingly, we arc
told, that. ** their horn was broken afunder " by thefe un-
fortunate wars with David •*, who now made them tri-

* 1 Satn. V. 17—25. ^ 2 Sam. viii. i. c 1 Sam. xxi*

15—21. ^ Eccluf. xlvii. S.

(A) Jofephus calls him Amchon.

butarie^

4t9. . Tk Hjfioty of the PhiBfiim.

Imtaries to his tbrones thougb« on the other hand, it-
may be alfo concluded, that, having fo often, and to fo
littte purpofe, engaged in bloody and de{lru£bi:ve wars,
they grew wifer, and rather applied then»feWcs to com--
merce, and the arts of peace (JB). And hence it m^y be,
that we find their country open to the IQaelites in the be-
ginning of Solomon's reign, Achilh, the fon of Maacfaah^*
theo reigning at Gath ; who, whether he i» the fame
Achifh who was So kind to David, we will not take upon
us to deteroQune, the ooimnentatois being divided in their
opinions about this maitter*
Yr. ofFI.' Many years after tbefe wars, the PbiHftiscs were h*-
i395- * ra&d by Nadab iiag of Ifrael, who laid fiege to a city of
Ante Chr, tkeira, ixilkd Gtbbethon y which city was again hefieged
953* by Elah king of Jfrael, fonae years afterwaacd*; for it be-
—""■""■"" longed to their kingdom, though the Philiftifies, findijog
it deCerted by the Levites ^i fetzed ooi it, and kept it, iu
&ite of the feveralefibrts of the kioigs of Ifr^l to tear it
irom them ; that kingdom heiRg then 'm great diftra£tion»
But, notwithftanding diis their vigoroitts oppofiiion to
the kings of Ifrad, they afterward^ cotUPted the favoar of
Jehoihaphat king of Judah^ by a voluntary ^ymeot of
the tribute^ which had been, as we 0iay hence conclude^
impofed on them by their conmeror David (C) ; aiad
which, it feems, they had nqgle^ied to pay to fome of Je-
^ koihaphat's predecelTocs.

. ■ . ■ •

« 2 Ciirps. xi. 14.

(B) Sir Ifaac Newton fup- it ivsa done by the king of Af-
pofes, that they took Sidon by calou ; for we do not read of
the advice and adiAance of the a king of that place any whece
Edomites ; ther-eby meaning elfe. Remembering the flory
to extend their trade, which of the Syrian gpddefs Derceto,
they had now chiefly at heart, who was hfere metamorphofed,
by dcftroying fo dangerous a the Greeks and Romans may
rival. He alfo imagines this have cohfidered the city of ^-
event to have fallen out in the calon as the "metropolis of Pa-
reign of David-: for he oh- leftine: whence we find the
ferves, that, in Solomon's king of Paleftinc plaiced in that
reign, the Sidonians,. though city by Trogus, whom Juflln
fettled at Tyre, had not yet 'epitomizes,
loft their name. We'read in • (C) Jofephus calts it their
Juftin, that Sidon was taken accuftomed tribute; and none
by the PhiHftines ; though be but David could have impofed
£eems to be miilaken, in faying it on them.

Thej

^he Hijioryofthe Pbili/fim. ■ 449

They rebelled againff Jehoram the fon of Jchoflia^hat, Yr, of Fl.
-broke into his kingcioxKiy rifled his palace^ and carried their '*^r
rage againft him to fuch a height, as to exterminate all g*^! *
hi» family, excejit Atbaliah^ and hex fon Ahaziahi who -

kad the gpod luck to efcape their fury. *At this tiilie alfo^
they'cairried off a great number of captives, fome of whom
they fold to the Edomites', next to themfeires, the worft
enemies tike liraelites had, and fome to the Grecians 9;
thereby fbnding theni fo far from home, that they could
have but little or no chance of feeing their native country
again. This extraordinary fuccefs^may have been owing,
in great meafure, to the affiftance they received from the
Aranians, who, at the farne p&riod, made war upon the
Ifraelites '^ ; but whether feparately,. or in conjunction
with the Philiftines, we k^w not.

Whftncefoever their fuccefs arofe, in the end it proved Yr. of PI.
very. unfortunate. They were invaded by Uzziah king of . '^^oV
Judah, who difmantled Gath, and Jabneh, and Afhdod ; "g^-^
and built cities of ftrength among them, to awe, and i

keep them in fubjedtion*

They groaned under this* fatal blow all the days of Ui-
zivAky we may fuppofe, and, perhaps, of Jotham too ; but,
in the reign of Ahaz^ perceiving the weak ftate of the yr.of FL
kingdom of Judah, they took up arms again, and warred i6oS»
againft Ahaz with fuch fuccefs, afs made ample amends AntcChr*
for the loffcs they had fuftained in the time ot Uzziah ^^*
hi» gmndfather; for, they reduced the cities of ^Bethflic-
mefti,* Aialon, Gedoroth, Shochoh, Timnah, and Gimzo,
and- the leveral territories thereunto belongings and tikere
fettled $ thus adding a large portion of the kingdom of .
Judah to th«tlr own country \

But this fine acquifition was a very (hort time in dieir
Hands. They were, immediately after, admoniihed not
to rejoice^ becaufe the rod of him that fmote them was
broken ; " for that out of the ferpent^s root fliould come

forth a cockatrice which fhould diflblve their whole

country *"." A prophecy which was fevertiy fulfilled by Yr. of fl.
Hezekiab the fon of Ahaz, whom they had conquered: ^^2S^
this prince over-ran their whole country ^ ; and, to add to ^^^^
their misfortunes, they were, at the fame time, attacked ,

by the Aflyrians in the reign of Sennacherib, who fent
bis general Tartan to reduce them. Their city Aflidod

f Amos i. 6. t Joel iii. 6. *» i Chron. xxi. i6, 17,

i X Chron. 3cxviii. 18. ^ ifa. xiv. »9— jit ^ * 1 Kings

Yviii. 9,

wa$

A^o The Hyiary of the Philifiines.

was befieged accordingljr, and taken by hitn ^ ; and thu9
were they, at length, reduced to the loweft ebb of mif-
fortune.

And now the period of their final deftrudiion was
come. By their fubje£lion to the Aflyrians, they not
only loft their liberties, but, at the fame time, their
country became the feat of a long and obftinate war. For
Pfammetichus king of Egypt, jealous of the growii^
power of the Aflyrians, and apprehenfive that Egypt

Yr. of Ft. niigbt (hare the fate of its neighbour, undertook to drive
1678. them out of Paleftine. With this view, he laid fiege to

Ante Cbr. Aihdod or Azotus ; but he was twenty-nine years before
^7»* that place ere he could reduce it " ; during which time, it

" cannot be doubted, but that the country fighed under all

the calamities ufual in "fuch cafes.

From thenceforward they were tributary to the great
monarchies, as they fucceeded each other. In the begin-
ning of this flavery they were miferably harafled by the
Egyptians, who, willing to make their barrier as ftrong
as poflible, feized on great part of their country, and par-
ticularly on the city of Gaza **.

After this period, we read of a king of Gaza% con-
cerning whom we have nothing to add ; nor have we any
thing elfe to fay of the Philiftines in general. What, in
the end, became of tbem^ will be beft learned from the
threats of the prophets, and particularly Zepbaniah, who
pa;ints their deftru£tion in very lively colours : ^' Gaza
ihall be forfaken, and Alkelon a deflation : 4:h€y fhall
drive out Afhdod at the nooti day* and Ekron (hall be
rooted up. Wo unto the inhabitants of the fea^co^fts, the
nation of the Cherethites ! the word of the Lord isagainft
^you : O Canaan, the land of the Philiftines, I will deftroy
thee, that there ihall be no inhabitant \ and the fea-coafts
iball be dwellings and cottages for fhepherds, and folds for
flocks ^.''

n Ifa. xxi. t* ^ Herodot. lib. ii. cap. 157. ^ Jerem.

\. xlvii. i« PZech.ix. c. q Zephan.xi.4— 6. Joeliii.

Amos i. Jerem* xlvii. £zek* xxv. Zech. ubi fupra«

CHAR

^$1

C H A P. V.

^Ae Biftory of the Ancient Syrians*

S E C T. I.

A Defcription of Syria.

STRIA is, in Hebrew, Aram ; fo named frbm Aram, Its nam
the yourigeft fon of Shem. .This Hebrew name is of
very wide extent, perhaps of little lefs than (the Greek '
name Syria ; at leaft it included what we now call Syria
and Meiopotamia, which is the Aram Kaharaim, or Syria
of the Two Rivers.

Aram, then, is its firft, and genuine name : as for that
of Syria, fome derive it from one Syrus, who fprung
from the earth ; others, from Syrus, the fon of Agenon
Other opinions are not wanting, on this fube£): ; but the
moSi co^nmon, andbeft grounded, is, that Syria is a con-
tra£bion of Aflyria ^ ; thefe two names being confounded,
and indifferently ufed, by the ancients (A).
. Authors are not agreed upon the exad): bounds of this
country, becaufe they confider it at different times, . when
its name was more or lefs famous, and its empire more
or lefs extenfive. But, confining ourfelves to the proper
Syria, we may venture to determine its dimenfions* It
lay between the Mediterranean on the weft, the Euphra-
tes on the eafl, mount Taurus on the north, and Arabia
the Defert, Paleftine, and Phcenice, on the fouth; ex-
tending from the thirty-fourth to the thirty-eighth degree
of north latitude.

Syria, in ancient times, has been- varioufly divided. /// £mii
At nrfl, it was, without doubt, parcelled out into feveral /«»'•
little kingdoms and jurifdidions ; in after-times it feems
to have been divided into four principal provinces, Zo-
bah, Damafcus, Hamath, and Gefhur ; the reft we find
in Scripture, fuch as Beth-Rehob, Ifhtob, Maacha, were
probably fub-divifions. Afterwards the whole country

A Vide Herodotus, lib. vii, cap, 63. Juflin, lib. i. cap. «•

(A) Mr. Selden, in his Pro- formed and convinced thereof,
legomena to his Syrian Gods, We (hall only add, that Lu-
has dwelt on this point, to cian, who was himfelf a Sy-
whom we ref^^r our reader, rian of Samofata, call$ himfelf
who would be thoroughly in- an Aflyriao.

wat

4^ ^he Htftory of the Ancient Syrians*

was diftinguiflied into two parts only, though the Phoeni-
cians, Idumxans, Jews, Gazites, and Azotites, or the
whole country of the Philiftines, were included ; which
two parts were Cdblefyria and Phoerticc y. After the
death of Alexander, Syria, in the great extent of its
name, was thus divided ; Commagene, Seleucis of Syria,
Cbelefyria, Phoenice, on the fea-coaft, and Judaea^ in the
midland. This is Strabo's divifion; who, neverthelefs,
elfewhere diftingififhes Phoenice from Syria ; but Ptolemy
fubdivides thefe, and hi the proper Syria oi^ly reckons
Commagene, Pieria, Cyrrhiftica, or Cyrrfieftica, Salucis,
Caffiotis, or Caiiotis, "Chalybbnitis, Chalcidice, or Ghal-
cidene, Apamene, Laodicene^ Phoenicia Mediterranean
Coelefyria, and Palmyrene.
Cemma^ To follow the divifion of Ptolemy : Commagene^ or

gine. Comagene, had, on the weft, Mount Amanus; on the

norths part of Mount Taurus ; on the eaft, it was wafh^
ed by the Euphrates ;- but on the fouth, whether it was
contiguous to Seleucis, Cyrrheftica, or both, is uncertain ;
it was the north corner of Syria. The chief cities of this
province were^ Samofata upon the Eupfalrates^ the nietro*-
polis, Antiochia ad Taurum, Germahicia % Singa,. Chac^
nia, and feveral other citie^ once of great note^ but
long fince utterly deftrOyed.

Seleucis contained, according to Strabo's divificnu
Pieria and Cafotis ; the firft lying to the iiorth, and the
laft to the fouth . ' Ptoleqiy divides this tra£k into Pieria,
Seleucis, axrd Cafiotis $ but the whole is comprifed, by
Mela and Pliny, under the general name of Antiochene,
anfwering to Strabo's Seleucis. In this part of Syria
ftood the following cities ; Myriandrus on the Sinus Iffi«-
cus, or the Iflic gulph, lUiofus, or Rhoffus, Seleucia^
V Pofidonium, Heraclea, Laodicea Gabala^ Pablos Bala-

nsca, and Came, on the borders of Syria and PKoehice.
Sdeucia was fo called from Seleucus Nicator, who re*
paired and embellifhed it with many magnificent l>uild-^
ings. It is conftantly ityled by the ancients Seleucia
Pieria, or Seleucia on the Coaft ; to diftinguiih it from
the other eight cities^ to which Seleucus Nicator gave the
fame name *. It borrowed the name of Pieria from the
proviti'ce, as the province did from Mount Pierius, which
ftood in it, and wasfo called, by the Macedonians, from
its refemblaoce to the famous Mount Pierius in Greece*

7 Strabo, lib, xvi. fub initio. ' Pliny, lib. v, cap. %4m

Strabo, lib< xvi« p. $26» « Appian. Syriac. p. 2os«

< Of

The Hi/toiy of the Ament Syrians^ * ^jj

Of all the cHies bearing the fame name, this^ and Seleu-
tia 0ri the Tigris, were the moft renowned. Alexandria
is, by Ptdlemy '*, placed in Syria $ biit by Pliny % and
mojt other geographers, in Cilicia ; and perhaps, more
proper] J, as it flood without the Pylae Syrix, commonly
faid to be the boundaries between Syria and Cilicia. Be*'^
iween Seleacia and Pofidonium, Sitras the ifland of Meli^
loca, formed by the ftagnarit waters of the Orontes, and
once famous for its fcarlet dye.

Thus far of the cities on the coaft^ In the inland, of
Mediterranean Seleucis, flood the famous Antioch on
the Orontes, Saleucia ad Belum, or at the foot of Mount.
Belus, Apameai Emifla, or Emefa, Epiphailea, Lariffa^
Arethufa, &c. Antioch was the metropolis of all Syria^
and the ufiial refidence of the Macedonian kings. It con-
fided of four parts, each feparated from the refi by its
bwn wall, and all enclofcd by a common fortification^
Of the founders of thefe cities, we fhall have occafion to
fpeak in our hiflofy of the Seleucidx in Syrian Ap^ea,
fo called from Apama, wife to SeleucUs Nicator, by
whom it was founded, flOod near the confluence of the
rivers Orontes and Marfyas, and gate the name of Apa^
inene to the adjoining country. Emefa wa^ anciently a
dty of great note, and the birth-place of the emperor*
Hetiogabalus. It is fuppofed to have flood on the fpot
where the prefent town of Hamfa flands ^ which name
fome derive front Emefa.

Cyrrheftica lay between Seleucis, Comagene, and the CyrrkeflU
Euphrates. A was fo called from its metropolis Cyrvhus, c«.
and Cyrrhus from i. city of the fame name in Macedoiu
The otner cities in this part of Syria, of great note, were
Hierapolis, called alfo Bambyce, and by the Syrians
Magog, Heraclea, and Befoea. Zeugma is placed, by
Ptolemy, in this province ; but by Strabo, and Pliny, in
Comagene. Bambyce was the ancient name of the city
we have firfl mentioned ; but Seleucus changed it into
that of Hierapolis, or the Holy City ; probably on account
of the worfhip that was there paid to the Syrian goddefs.
' .^ian fpeaks of facred fifhes at Bambyce, we fuppofe in
the river Singas, on which it flood, that were conftantly
feen in fhoaJs; one^ th^t feemed to be theif prince, or
leader, fwimming before the fefl. He adds, that they
cultivated a kind of friendfhip with each other, the god*
defs infpiring them with a wonderful union and agree-

^ Ptolemy, lib. v* cap. 15, c Lib. v. cap. 27.

Vol. I. Ff meat.

434

The Hifiory tf the Ancient Syrlanu

mcx>t. The prcfent city of Akppo^ or Chalep, as Ae
Greqk writer's of the middle age ftylc it, is thought to
have fucceeded in the roam of Beroea. Zeugma was fo
called from a famous l>ridgc there over the Euphrates^
faid by Pliny, Dion Caffius, the poet Luca% and Stepha-
nus, to have been built by Alexander the Great, on oc—
cafion of his croffing that river with his army. But Ar-
rian writes^ that Alexander pafled the Euphrates at Thap^
facus, having firft repaired the bridge that Darius had
built there ^. And truly this route was much fhorter,
and far more convenieat for Alexander, who was their
returning from Egypt to meet Darius marching from Ba*
bylon. Thapfacus lay in his way \ whereas he muil have
fetched a great circuit to pafs the river at Zeugma, which
it is highly improbable he did, as he had a bridge much
nearer, that only wanted a little repair.
ChalcidiHt, Chalcidene was wholly an inland province, being bound-
ed by Antiochene, or Seleucis, on the weft ^ Cyrrheftica
on the north ; Cbalybonkis on the eaft ; and by Apamene
and Coelefyria on the fouth. It took the name of Chalci-
dene from iti metropolis Chalcis, the only city of note ia
this province, though commended by Phny as the moft
fertile of all Syria.

Chalybonitis extended from Coelefyria to the Euphrates^
and was fo called from Chalybon, the only city it con-
tained worthy of notice. Some, fuppofing Chalep to be
an abbreviation of Chalybon, conclude Aleppo, or Cha-
lep, and Chalybon, to be one and the fame city ; but
Chalybon is placed by Ptolemy at the tliirty-fifth de^
gree of latitude,, and feventy-firft of longitude> and con-
fe^uentry a great way fouth of the prefent Aleppo.

Palmyrene was a fpacious and fertile provmce in the
midft of a frijghtful dclert,, having Chalybonitis to the
ncwth ; Coelefyria* to the weft- ; the Euphrates to the eaft ;
and Arabia Deferta to the fouth. The chief cfties of this
province were Palmyra and Thapfacus. Of Palmyra>
which save name to the province, and the ruins^. that are
ft ill to be feen in the place where it ftood, we (hall fpeak
anon ; and only obferve in this place, that the inhabitants
having revolted from the emperor Aurelian, and adhered
to one Antiochu$, or Achilles^ as Vopifcus calls him,
who had aflumed the purple, their city was, by the em-
peror's orders, rafed to the ground. Aurelian foon re-

^ PlTn. nb. V. cap. ^4. Dio. lib* xi, pi izZ^ Lucan. lib. viiu
ver. 237t Arian. lib. iii. p. 168.

penled

Chi^yboni*

falmynm*

The Hiftoty afthe Jncient Syrians. 435

jpented of what jbe had done> and ordered it to be rebuilt^ '
but it never rbre again to it^ aiicient fplendor ; nay, in
the lime of the emperpJ" Juftinian, the far greater part of
it ftill lay in ruins. Thapfacus is placed by Ptoleniy in
Arabia Deferta^ biit by Pliny and Stephanus in Syria.
The latter writer tells us, that it was built by Seleucus \
but he is cei'tainly mlftaken ; (ince \\ is mentioned by
Xenophonjy iii his account of the expedition of Cyrus. It
couldy therefore, be onl^ repaired and embelliflied by Se-
leucus. In the time 01 the Macedonian kings, it wa^
known by the Greek name Amphipolis'. Here Cyrus,
With his whole army, forded the Euphrates on foot, the
water reaching no higher thaii their breads. At the
fame place Darius croffed the fame river on a bridge, ad
tie marched into Cilicia to meet Alexander \ and repaifed
it on his return, as he fled from that conqueror. Strabo
makes frequent mention of Thapfacus, and places it at
the diftance of two thoufand ftadia from Zeugma. It
feems alfo to be mentioned in holy writ ; for where Solo-
mon's empire is faid to have extended " from Thiphfach, to
Azzah, or Gaza," the Greek hasThapfa, and the Vulgate
Thaphfa 5 and the river mentioned there, as the boUndaty
of Solomon's dominions, is, by the Chaldee, inteipreted
the Euphrates, and very rightly, in the opinion of Bon-
frerius and Grotius ; fince I)avid extended his empire to
-the banks of that river ; fo that it was bounded on the
eaft by the Euphrates, on which Thapfacus flood j and
on the weft by Gaza, on the confines of Egypt.

Coelefyria, properly fo called, lay, according to Strabo, Cakj^ria^
^^hom we choofe to follow, between the two mountains
tiibanus and Antilibanus, and was thence called Coelefy-
ria, or the Hollow Syria. The principal cities in this
part were, Heliopolis, Abik, Damafcus, and Laodicea
Cabiofa, or Ad Libanum. Heliopolis, or the city of the
SUn, fo called fr'oiti the worfhip paid there to that lumi-
nary, is placed by Pliny near the head of the Orontes.
Of the ftately remains of this city, now known by the
iiame of Balbeck, we fliall fpeak hereafter. Abila ftood,
according to Ptolemy, between Heliopolis and Damaf-
cus. That geographer ftyles it Abila Lyfaniae, which
agrees with St. Luke's divifion of the tetrarchv. From
Abila the neighbouring country took the name ot Abilene.

' Pliny, lib. v. cap. 14. Vopifc. in Aurel. cap. 30. ^f. cap.
6i. Procop. dc'^dific. lib. ii. in fkxk. XenQphon. dc Cyr. Exped.
lib. 2. p. 1 50.

F f 2 2iofimu8

43.6 ^e HtJIory of the Ancient Syrianr.

Zofimus places a town, named Aphaca, half way tctwecrt
HeJiopolis and Byblus, famous tot a temple of Venus^
and a lake near it, in which the gifts, that were offered
to the goddefs, however light, funk to the bottom, if ac-
ceptable ; but if difpleafing, floated, however heavy, on
the furface of the water '. Seneca * mentions a lake m
Syria (no doubt the fame), on which even Hit heaviefl:
bodies floated ; but he takes no notice either of the god-
defs, or the gifts offered to her. The temple of Venu*^
at Aphaca was a fchool of wickednefs, as Eufebios ftyles
It, and therefore rafed to the ground by Conftantine the
Great*'. Damafcus k frequently meationcd, both by^
the facred and profane hiftorians. It was once the me-
tropolis of Syria^ and,,. 10 Strabo's time> a moft confpi-
euous city *. The emperor Julian, furnamed the Apoftate^
ftyles it, *^ the eye of all the Eaft, the facred and moft
magnificent Damafcus.'* He commends it oa. account of
its temples> fountains, rivecs, the tichnefs and fertility
of its foil •*. Some of the ancients fuppofe this city to have-
been built by one Damafcus,. whofe name it borrowed j,
but the moft generally received opiaion !»,» that it was-
founded by Uz^ Aram^s eldeft fotiK Be this as^ it will, it
was in being \n Abraham^& trmc> and confequently mayr
be reckoned one of the moft ancient cities now extant^
Of the feveral viciilitudes it underwent, in ancient times,,
under its own and foreign princes, we fhall'^ have occafion
10 fpeak ia the fequel (C).. The city of Laodiicea, called

* Zof. lib. \. cap.. 5^. a Senec. Quaeft;. Nat. lib. iii* cap.

a6. , »^ Eufcb. in Vit. Conft. lib. iii. cap. 55. « Str»-

%o, lib- xvi. p. 540. ^Julian, Imp. Ap. xxiv. ad Scrap*.

« Bochart, Geog. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. S.

(C) The city of Damafcus,
according to Mr. Maundrell's
account, is fituated on an even
plain of fo jreat extent, that
one can but juft difcem the
fountains, which compafs it
on the further iide^ It liands
on the weii-flde of the plain-,
about two milea didant fiomr
the head of the river Barrady,
which waters it. It is of a
long, flrait figure, about two
miles in extent, adorned with
moiques and fieeples, and in*

Qompfled with gardens, ac—
fiordmg to computation, full
thirty miles round. The river
Barrady, as foon as it iftues
out from between the clefts of
the Antilibanus into the plain ^
\% divided into three dreams,
whereof the middlemoft and-
largeft runs directly to DamaA.
eus, and is diflributed to alL
the ciflerns and fountains of the
city ; while the other two,
which feem to be the work of
art,, are drawn round, ono to*

thttr

The WPoiy of the Ancient Syrlatu,

43?

3;ii^ Tome Laodicea Cablpfa, but moil commonly Laodicea
aa liibamira ^, to diftinguifli it from a city of the fan>e
'fiame,, which wc have mentioned above, on tl>e coaft of
Seleucis, ftood on the Orontes, not fer from Mount Li-
ianus to the weft, and ne<tf die borders of the Pjroper
Ccelefyria to the fouth. From hence, the adjoining ter-
ritory, which Ptolemy snakes ^ iepaxate jpiroviBiC:^* took
5the name of Laodicene,

Under *thc Roman empire, Syria proper, was divided Other dm-
•into .Camagene, ov Euphratenfis, Syria Palmyrena, or J^°^* v
Syria S^lutaris,and Pboehicia Libani, or Libanefia. The
Arabs reckon Pdleftine into Syria on the one hand, and
'CvenCilicia on cthe other, and call h Sham ; and Abu'l-
jfeda divides the whole into five junds or provinces ; the
ICynnefrjne, Her^feue^ Danufcene, Jordanitic, and Pa-

lb Stfttbp, lib.«vi.p.r5io. Pliny, /Kb. v. cap* 13*

'llie right hand, 9nd the other
40 the left, pa the borders of
:the gardens^ Jfito which they
iare let .^y little currents, and
fo every vwhere dilperfed . The
)1ioufes of the city, whofe ftreets
ane vety narrow, are all built,
on the «iJtfidc, either with
•fun-burnt ^bricH, or 'Hemiih
4vall ; and yet it is no uncom-
^anon thing to fee the g^tes and
.4oors adorned with marble por-
tals, carved and inUid with
£reat beauty and variety ; and,
>vithin thefe portals, to iind
4arge fquare courts, beautified
ivitb fragrant trees, and maiJsle
/ountains, and connpftiied round
with fplendid apartments. In
.^hefe apartments the ceilings
^nd traves are ufually painted
and gilded:; and their duans,
which are a fort of low fiages,
feated in the pleafanteft part of
^he room, elevated about fix-»
^en or eighteen inches above
the floor, wbereon the Turks
eat, deep, fmoke, receive
yifits, fty their prayers,' &c.
are adorned on the fides with

variety of marble mixed io •
Mofaic knots and mazes, fpread
with carpets, and furniflied all
round with bolfters and cufhions
to the very height of luxury.
In this city is (hewn the church
of John the Baptift^ now con*
verted into a famous mofque ;
the houfe of Ananias, which
-fs only a fmall grotto or cellar,
wherein is nothing remarkable,;
and the houie of Judas, with
whom St. Paul lodged, where-
in is an old tomb, the fuppofed
:burying - pL^ce of Ananias,
;Which the Turks hold in fuch
veneration, that they maintain '
a lamp continually burning
. over it. This is the fubilancc
gJ[ Dr. Maundrell's account;
to which we add, that the fruit
tree called the damafcenc, and
the fiower called the damaik-
rofe, were tranfp]anted from
the gardens belonging to this
city^ and that the Hlks and
linen, known by the name of
damaiks, were probably the
invention of its inhabitants.

r f

Such

438

Rivirj.

Natural

fhe Hijiory of the Ancient Syrians.

Such ' IS the fertility of this, country, thgt it may be
.ftyled a pleafant garden. It abounds with all things, both
for the profit and delight of man. It is moftly a level
champaign, covered with a rich deep foil, and yields tq
no fpot on earth that lies under the fame parallel.

The rivers of this country are^ the Qrontes (B), a tur-»
bid^ rapid ftream, the waters liriwholefome, and fifli not
eatable ^ ; the Barrady, formerly the Chryforrhoas, which
rufhjng from Antilibanus down to Damafcus, is there dir
yided into endlefs ft reams, for the fupplyahd decoration of
that city j but uniting again at fonie <liftance from it,
they lofe themfelves in a morafs^. The Abana and
Pharpar muft have been only branches (C) of this river.

Other particulars remarkable in this country are the
Jwo valleys of fait ; one within four hours of Aleppo, jhe
other in the neighbourhood of Palmyra ** ; which produce
that mineral in furprifing abundance, the foil to a confi-
der^ble depth being ftrongly impregnated. The medi-»
Cinal waters alfo'in and about Palmyra^ might claim our
attention? Among the extraordinary procliiaioris of this
fountry, we may alfo rec|coi> the few cedars which af^

f Sec Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerufalem, p, 4.
c Ibid, p.' 123. J>Philofoph. Tranfaa, Numb. 2x7. p; 33»

* Ibid. p. 103, 104. • f ' » '

(B) This river, according tq

Strabo, difappeared at a place

called Charybdis, between A-

pamea and Anticch ; and after

Having run five miles underr

ground, enaerged,

' (C) Radziville, the palatine

of Wiln^, telb us roundly of

the rivers Abana and Pharpar,

which watered thp city of Da-

mafcus when he 'was there, in

the iixteenth century ; and that

they were then unpavigable,

but full of fifti, and ftreamed

down from the mouiitairi

Chrizoroa, which fhould have

beefi written Chryforrhoks, the

preek name of th^ river

which wateri^d Damafcus, and

fiot of iiny mountain there,

Thevenot' never 6nce mentions

the rivers Abana and Pharpar,

]fjtut (fcfcribes three rivers that

water Damafcus, and meet at
the end of the town ; one of
which, in the chaptfer follow-
ing, he calls Baniias. There
is no footilep ' b£ the name$
Abana and Pharpar among the
beft Arabian geographers,
Abu!lfeda fays the' ftream;
which fupplies Damafcus,
comes out of a cavern' oli th^
weft fide of the city, and im-
mediately divides 5 which is ft
exadly Dr. MautadrelPs de-
fcription of this water, that
they very abundantly confirm
eiach other. This laft traveller
could not fo much as find any
meitiory of the names of Aba^
na and Pharpar ; and fuppoies
they tnuft have been branches
of this river Barrady, whicH
cpmes but of the rock,

now

The Hi/fvry of the Ancient Syrians, 439

jTdw ftanding upon Lebanon, or Libanu$, near a Chriflian
monaftcry, called Car^ibine,' about ten hours journey
from Tripoly. Of the old trees, which are very large,
there are tmly iixteen. One of thefe being meafured,
was found to oe twelve yards fix inches in circumference,
yet perfeftly found, its branches fpreading thirty-feven
yards around ; about five or fix yards from the ground it
divided itfclf into five branches, each equal to a great
tree^(D);

Though there are many noble veftigcs of the magni-
ficence of Syria fcattered up and down the country, both
Pagan and Chriftian, we fliall only mention Balbek, for-
merly Heliopolis, as i« commonly fuppofed, and Palmyra,
tor Tadmor, in the wildemefs.

Balbek, or Balbeck, is defcribed by the Arabians as the define
wonder of Syria (E) j and fuch of our European travellers ^"'"Z ^f
as have vifited it, are fo charmed with what they beheW, ^^'^^l*
-that they arc at a lofs how to exprefs their admiration. ^^^^
On the fouth-w^eft of the town, which ftands in a delight-
ful plain at the foot of Antilibanus, is a heathen temple,
with the remains t>f fome ether edifices, and, among the
Tcft, of 'a magnificent palace. Thefc ancient ftruft litres
have been patched and pieced in later times, and con-
verted into a caftle.

The magnificent ruins of Palmyra feem equally to ^^^ Twns
claim our admiration. We fliall not here examine who ^^^%'**-
was the original founder of this city, nor to whom we
. are indebted for what now {lands of this defolate and
abandoned town ; we mayfafely premife, however, we fee
no remains of Solomon *s Tadmpp-, the city having been
more than once facked and demoliihed fince his time« a^
IvUl appear hereafter.

y^ Mauodrell, yjSn fupr^^' p. 141.

(D) Thefe trees, however^ where are wonderful founda-
are fo differently defcribed by tions, and magnificent veftigea
difierent travellers, that we of antiquity, and palaces with
cannot pretend to afcertain the marble columns, fuch as in
truth, nor indeed is it of any the whole world are nowhere
importance to the hlftory. elfe to be feen.*' And Abu'i-

(E) The Arabian lexico- feda obferves, ** At Balbek
grapher, cited by Shultens in .are palaces of hewn i2:one, with
his geographical commentary, lofty columns ; nor is there in
at the end of his edition of all* Syria any ftbne flrudure
Soltan Salah'addin's Life, (ays, more admirable or magnifi-
•'Balbek is a city of three cent.*'

days journey from Damafcus,

Ff4 Palmyra,

440 . ^he Hifi&ry of the Ancient Scions.

^'^ •J**' Palmyra, by the Greeks and Romans \ in the Scripture.

tigi.^' Tadmor in the wildernefs ; by Jofephus, Palmira an4
Thadamor^ by the Septuagint copies, Theodmor and
Thedmpr ^ and by the Arabs and Syrians at this day. Tad*
inor, TadmufT, and Tatmor \ was once a poble city in the
fouthern parts of Syiia(F). It ^pod pn 9, feftile ifland,
I f we may fo call it, furrounded on all (ides by a parched
banen defert. The firft objefl; that now prefepts itfelf
to the traveller who approaches this foilorn place is a
i:aftle of ynean architefture, and uncertain foundation ;
^hough formerly by fituation impregnable, about half ah
hour from the city, on the north fide. From thence we
4cfcry Tadmor, enclqfed on three fides by long ridges of
mountains ; but to |:he fouth is a vaft plain, which bounds
|:he vifible horizon. The air is exceeding good, but the
foil is barren (G)» affording nothing green but a few palm«>
^rees. The city muft have been of large extent, if we
judge from the fpace now taken up by ^he ruins ; but
there are no veiliges of the wallsy fo that its ancient forni
cannot be kf^own. It is now a deplorable fpe^lacle, in-^
pabited by thirty or forty miserable families^ who have
built huts of mud within a fpacious court, which once
enclofed a magnificent heathen temple (H).
' ■■ • . F A / SECT.

(F) Schyltens, in hU geo* have corjruptcd it into Talmu-
graphical comxnentary, ob« ra ; but that foon after, under-
lerves, that in the text it is flanding the city had its name
written Tamor, and in the from its palm-trees, they con-
margin Ta4mo|*. " Tamer he verted Talmura into Palmura ;
Reckons to have become the whence Palmyra,
ufual name of thik place, for (jGr) Not that it had always
jfoftnefs fake, and to refer to the ifame flerile appearance*
tamar, the /^/nr, witK which Abu'lfeda, who, though he
this place abounded. |le iup- calk Tadmof a fmall city in
pofes alfo^ that originally :in the defert of Syria, yet places
Arabic they did pot fpcll if it in Arabia, writes, that Pal-
Tadmor, but Titmor^ and myrene, for the moft part,
thus he accordingly finds it in al>ounded in fait, and that the
his Arabic geographical lexi- palm and olive flouriihecl there;
con ; as if you (hould fay pal- addlpg, that there are many
miferous, 0f.falm^lfedring^tht ^reat and noble ruins there to
/, for found fake» being changf ()e {cen. In him' moreover we
led into </• The alteration of read, that it had perpetual
this name jhe afcr'ibes wholly fprings, and yielded fruits and
^o the Romans, who, upon <*orn.
finding the place called Tad- * (H) Thofe who arc curious
jpor, or Tadmur, may at firil to know the particulars of
'■■"-' ■ . • '■ . ■ - . thefe

Tbi Hiftoty of the Ancient SyrloHi* 441

SECT. li.

Of the Antifuity^ G&vernmentj Laws, ReUgioHf
Cuftoms, Arts, Learning, and trade of the Ancient
Syrians.

nptiE ancient Syrians^ or Aramitf 6 (I), fcarce yielded Amiquify.
^- to any nation under the fun» in point of antiquity,
jbeing the firft that inhabited the fertile and well-fituated
region of their abode after the general deluge, a$ we have
already obferved^ But the pofterity of Shem by Aram
did not poflefs jhis coui^itry wholly to themfelves ; their
relations of Canaan's line, being ftreightened for want of
room in the places where they fettled at firft, encroached
4ipon them by degrees, fcized on a portion of theli lot,
and kept it, till they were both inrolved in the fame cap-
tivity and deftrufllon. We arc of opinion that moft of
thefe Canaanite families,^ if not all, fixed their abode in
3yria (K). But whether the greater part of the country
was pofTefled by the Aramites, or by the Canaanites, we
cannot determine. The ancient Syrians then were. partly
;defcended from Ham, and partly from Shem, both of al«-
Vnoft the fame (landing In this country, and very little be-
jiind any nation in point of antiquity.

That they were anciently governed by heads of fami«- Oo^vitit*
iJies, called kings, and that there, were great numbers of •'"^*
thefe foverelghs in the country, is certain ; and no lels
certain it is, that they continued under the fame govern-
ment, in part, even to the days of Saul, as appears from
the kings of 2obah, and the petty kings in Mefopotamia,

thefe magnificent ruins, which (I) This name was not

ilill mark the places where Sal- wholly unknpwn to the

bek and Palmyra flood, com- Greeks. Strabo calls them

prehending the remains of tem- Aramsei ; *< for thole (fays he)

pies, porticos, rotundos, thea« whom we call Syrians, flyte

tres, peaces, and fepulchrcs, themfelves Arameans/* Hence

adorned with a vaft profufion th^ Arami, Arimi, and £rem*

<6f marble columns, and ever^ bi.

ornament of fculpturic, may (K) The Arabs have a tni«

perufe thedefcriptions of them dition, that there were Ca«

given in the travels of Maun- naanites very anciently in Sy«

^rell and La Roque, together ria; for th^ talk of Dimalfac

With the elegant copper-plates the fbn of Canaan, who built

publidiedby Mt. Wood, from the famous city of Damafciis*

^r^winp laade ofi the f|H)t.

^ ' •!

wb»

44'-

T/ttir
^hiir nil'

The Hijiory of the Ancient Syrians.

who were fummoned to attend Benhadad in his warff.
Seeing, therefore, that this mod fimple and natural form,
of governmeot obtained among their neighbours in Ca-
naan on the 'one hand, and in Slefopotamia on the other,
and that we find vcftiges of the fame m Syria itfelf, down
to the days of Saul, we cannot doubt but that they were
at firft divided into many fmall kingdoms Not that this
was the only form that feems to have taken place ; for, as
Gibeon in Canaan, iii the days of Joihaa, feems to have
been a commonwealth among the many kingdoms there ;
fo Damafcus in Syria appears to have been a republic in
David's time. What we have to offer m fupport of this
opinion is not indifputably clear \ but Damafcus is fpoken
pf as without a chief, and as if the power was wholly in
the people in David's time. It is faui that the Syrians of
,X>amafcas ^, not their king, fent an army of upwards of
twenty thoufand to the relief of Hadadezer king of Zo«
bah ; a pafTage that feems to implya kind of republican
government. The foundation and nature of the kingdom
of Zobah we pretend not tofpeakof ; but that of Dar
mafcus, which rofe upon its ruins, as Zobah did upon the
fubverfion of the fmaller principalities, feems to have
httn of the tyrannical and arbitrary kind. The king«-
tiom of Damafcus was eftablifhed by. violence; whence
we may conclude its government to. have anfwered to
its origin, haughty, uncontroulable, and ambitious to fub-
due its neighbours ; and, in truth, it rofe to the univerfal
monarchy of all the parts on both fides of the Euphrates,
-under Hazael, as will be (hewn in its due place. ~

We have Kttle or no knowlege of their laws and civil
regulations ; but we are not fo much at a lofs for what
coticerns their religion.

It is certain they had many idols of very great repute;
among the reft Rimmon (D), whofe temple flood at Da-
mafcus; and who, in all probability, was the^ principal
god of Damafcene. "' '

i 2 Sam. viii. 5, 6.

(D) This name, in the lan-
guage of the Old Teflament,
iignijies ^ pomegranate ; whence
this deity, whether god or god-
defs, is thought to have borne
feme relation to Venus. Sel-
den is mofl inclined to derive it
J^rom rum^ high^ or lofty . We
Torbcar to fpeak of Gad, and

refer the reader to this laft au-
thor. The Syrians had a deity
alfo called Babia, a goddefs,
from whom the children aini
young people were called Ba-
bias, thought, perhaps, to lie
under her tutelage ; and our
Englifh word, hab$Sy may
thence have been borrowed.

The Hijlory of the Ancient Syrians. 443

This ancient deity, in time, gave way to another ; for
the Syrians deified their king, Benhadad II. under the
ftyle of Adad, or Ader (E). This god, and others of
the fame ftamp, flpuriflied as long, we may fuppofe, as
the ancient Syrians poflefled this country ; but both they
and their gods, in a great meafure, underwent the fame
fate when Syria was conquered, and the people ^ranf-
planted by Tiglath-Pilefer.

At this period the religion of the country maybe faid to
have changed its face ; a new idolatry was introduced,
or many additions to the old were brought in by the new
inhabitants, who were fent hither by the Aflyrians* What
changes and alterations this fyftem fuffered under the
Biabylonians firft, the Perfians afterwards, and laftly,
under the Seleucidae and Romans, we cannpt prefunie to
fay ; but ah account of it, fuch as it was in the fecond
century of the Chriftian aera, we (hall borrow from Lu«
cian, who was an eye-witnefs of what he fays, for the
moft part, and the reft he learnt from the priefts.

At Hierapolis, or the Holy City, or Magog, as the Sy»-
rians th^mfelves are faid to have called it, in the pro- '

yince of Gyrrheftica, ftood the temple of the great Syrian

J;oddefs (F), upon an eminence in the midft of the city,
iirrounded by a double inclofure, or two walls. At the
porth fide it had a coujt or porch before it, of about five

(£) Adad is alfo called Adod, both deified, and as Adad, or

the king of the gods., and Adad Hadad, was a name common

is interpreted one i according to all the kings of Syria, it

to the Scripture orthography, may have been the Hazael of

it ought to be fpelled Haid^, Scripture, who was fo highly

^s is plain from Jofephus, revered (i).
ivho, in fpeaking of 'the Scrip* (F) Who the Syrian goddels

ture kings of Syria, calls them was it is impoffible pofitively

Adad, or Ader. By Adad to determine ; but we find an

they meant the fun^ and pic- account in Juftin of a king,

^ured him with rays darting from whom Damafcus derived

downwards, to expreJTs his be- its name, who had a iqueen

lieficence. This high compli- called Arathis, efleemed as

ment might have fuited better their principal deity ; and this

with Hazael, whofe reign was queen, according to Nicolas

a continued feries of profperity, of Damafcus, was older than

than with Benhadad, who was Abraham, whom he reckons

feveral times unfortunate : but, amoQg the kings of Damafcus.
^s Jofephus tells us, they were

(0 Apv<^ Jofeph«>Antiq. lib^ yii«*Q^p« ^

444 ^ Hiflo>y sfthe Ancient Syrians.

or fix hundred feet in circumference^ where flood the
priaps, three hundred fathom, or three hundred cubits
liigh ; for we find both thefe meafures. \ but both feem to
«s exorbitantly large. Thefe obfcene images, or rather
<K>Iumn€| were but Sender, as we fhall (hew hereafter ;
hut by whom, or to whom, Aey were erefted, was the
fubjeo; of tmich fable. The front of the temple itfelf
ftood eaft, and before it was a tower, ratfed upon a ter-
race, about twelve feet iigh ; which was no fooner
mourned than '^he temple appeared. It was built after
the manner of the Ionian temples i the porch adorned
with golden doors, nay, the whole edifice glittered with
cold* and particularly the roof* The tiir was nothing in-
terior to the fweeteft pf Arabia, and it fo ftrongly peri-
fumed die garments of all who viCted the temple, that
they retained the fragrancy for a confiderable time ^
^d^Syfia- This temple was not without its fanftuary, into which
#»«, STr. no admiilion was allowed, even to fuch of the priefts as
•^^*^ were not, in an efpecial manner, allied to the gods there
^mplu ' J^cpt, or wholly addifted to their fervice and wor(hip«
WilhinAefanftuary, which was always open, were the
ftatues of Jupiter and J^no, as the Greeks were pleafed
to call tl^m, though the inhabitants worfhippcd them
junder other names, which, however, we cannot fpecify.
Thefe ilatues were of gold. Juno fat upon lions, and
Jupiter was fupported by bulls, refembling, in afpefl: and
attitude, the Jupiter of the Greeks ; but the ftatue of Juno
was contrived & as :to participate of Minen'a^ Venus, Luna,
Ehea, Diana, Nemefis, and the DeAinies« according tp
the different -points lai -view. In one hand (he held a
ibeptre, in the othior a diftaff^ on her head ;^peared rays
and a tower, and-^e ^as girt with the cedus, or girdle of
the celefital Venus. She was adorned with a great
variety of gems, which Jxad, from time to time, beea
prefented to her by Egyptians, Indians, Ethiopians, Medes,
}\rmenians, and B3>ylonians. But, of all thefe, the
jnoft remarkable was Ac lychnis which Ihe wore at her
£de. This (lone is faid Jto fhine moft by candle-light ;
iuid with it {he illuminated, fays ottr author, the temple
by night, in the day*time it iiad xyo remarkable luftre»
tut only looked like nrc. Tlxis .ftatue, on whatever fide
of it the perfon ftood, ftill looked at him. Between Ju-
^ter and Juno was another golden ftatue, but with no
characteriftics, or peculiar ei^gns, and only called the

'< Lucian Syr. Dea* cap. xxvlii«-«xxxvii*

Sign*

The Hi/iory of tie Ancimt Syrians. 445

S^ign. It IS uncertain who was reprefented ty this Rdtut ;
but^ becaufe it had a golden dove on its head, fome were
willing to think it was defigned for Semiramrs. Twice
every year it was carried in proceffion to the fea-fide.^ On
the kit handy going into the temple, was the throne of
the Sun, but it had no ftatue : for they held it abford to
make ftatues of the Sun or Moon, who were fo refplen-
dently vifible to mortal eyes ; but reafonable, on the other
hand, to form the ftatues of fucb as were inviCble. Near
this throhe was the ftatue of Apollo, not a ftripling, but
with a large beard ; for they could not endure the thoughts
of addreffing themfelvea to any god that was under age ^
and moreover, they covered this idol with cloaths, a
compliment which was paid to no other. Next tof Apollo
ftood Atlas, then Mercury, then Lucina ^ aH which
ftatues conftituted the fide fumitore of the temple. On
the right hand of the entrance was placed Semiramis^
pointing to Juno ; for that empfefs had had the arrogance
place herfelf above all other deities, but, being feverely
puniftied by the gods, who perfecuted her with difeafesj,
and various calamities, to humble her pride, fhe at laft
fubmitted to the goddefs. For this reafon fhe was figured
as pointing to Juno, in perpetual acknowlcgement of her
arrogant error % and to direft people that the faid goddefs
was the true objef^ of adoration. Next to Semiramis was
Helen ; then Hecuba, Andromache, Paris, Hedor^
Achilles, Nereus, the fon of Aglaia, Philomel and
Progne, Tereus turned into a bird, another ftatue of
Semiramis, Combabus, Stratonice, Alexander, done after
the life, and Sardanapalus, in a peculiar habit and atti-
tude. Under this temple they (hewed the cleft where
the waters drained off at Deuca'lion's flood : on tiris place,
faid they, did Deucalion ereft an altar to Juno ; and this
tradition brought on an extraordinary ceremony, which
we ftiall mention hereafter.

Finally, within the inclofures of the temple,, the priefts
kept oxen, horfes, lions, bears, eagles ; which were no
way noxious to men, but all facred and tame.

Clofc to the temple was a lake where facred fifhes Thefatud
were preferved and attended. Some of the largeft had ^'^
names, and am}eared when called* One of tnefe had
golden fins. The lake itfelf was two hundred fathom
deep, as the priefts reported \ and, in the midft of It, ftood
a ftone altar, which feemed to fwim, as the pillar that fup^
ported it was not eafily to be difcemed. This altar was
for ever crowned, and (ixioaking with incenfe. Without

the

44^ The Hijiory of the Ancient SyrianL

the temple flood a large brazen altar, with ftataes of
kings and prieils, almoft innumerable.
OracU» The oracle in the temple was altogether furpriCng, and

may ferve to evince how deeply the priefts were verfed iri
the myftery of their profeflioh. Here were iifi^ges that
feemed to move, fweat, and deliver refponles j biitthat of
Apollo was the chief oracle. When he dondefcended to
anfwer thofe who confulted him, he firft began to move ;
upoti which he was immediately lifted up by the priefts %
for, if they did not run to his afliftanCe, he foon fell
into violent agonies and convulfioris. However, thd
priefts who came to his affiftance he treated very roughly,
till the high prieft, coming up t6 him, propofed his
queftion. He had the diredion of all matters facred
and civil, being upon all Occafionft Confulted; and he
always declared the time when it was proper to cariy the
imaee we have called the Sign, in proceflion to the fea;
In nne, our author aftures us, that he fi^w this god walk
in the air K
RUhs 0/ The revenues and treafure of this temple were ih pro-
tkitimplt. portion to its fplendor; to the great majefty of the god-
defs, and to the mighty power and excellence of her
kindred deities that attended her. Arabia, Phcenice,
Babylonia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, and Syria, paid liberal
contributions. Here were coffily prefents fhewn in gar-
ments, and other things, of ineftimable value, which
were carefully kept \ fo that, in this refped, it was a
very Loretto.

Above three hundred priefts, in white habits, with caps
or bonnets on their heads, attended the facrifices. Be-
fides thefe, there were confecrated orders of minftrefs
fkilful in the touch of feveral inftruments, galli, or
eunuch-priefts, and frantic women. The office of high
prieft was annual : he wore purple, and a golden mitre.
Other perfons there were, of the feveral nations, whd
held the Syrian goddefs in veneration, whofe bufinefs it
was to inftruft their countrymen (who from time to time
reforted hither in pilgrimage) in the rules and cuftoms o£
this holy city. They were called matters or inftruftors.

It is remarkable ot their eunuch-priefts, that they were
cmafculated by the voluntary operation of their owil
hands. How this unnatural cuftom came to prevail, is
accounted for by the following ftory : Stratonice, who
built this temple, having for fome time negledted the ad-

% Lttcian. de Dea Syr. cap, 35*

monitions

Tie Hjftory of the Ancient Syrtansi 447

donitions of the goddefs, requiring her to undertake the
work, was afflifted with a grievous diftemper, as a judg-
ment, in confequcnce of which ihe obeyed the injunc-
tion**. The king, her huftand, readily agreed to her ^hfioryof
obeying the gbdd^fs j but committed the care of her to a Comhatut.
beautiful youth, named Combabus, who, no way fond of
his commifiion, but dreading the confequences of being
fo much alone with the beauteous queen, deprived him-
felf of the marks of his fex, and gave them, carefully
fealed up, to the king. Being afterwards tempted by the
queen to betray his truft, he acquainted her with the
condition to which he had voluntarily reduced himfelf*
However, he was, through malice or envy, convifted
of adultery, and condemned to expiate with his death hid
infidelity to his prince, and impiety to the goddcC^ As
they were leading him to the place of execution, he called
for the treafure he had left with the king, which being
produced, his intended punifhment was converted into
the moft tender embraces in the arms of his prince, who,
heaping honours and riches on him, granted him leave to
finJlh the temple, where he pafTed the remainder of his,
life : and there flood his ftatue in brafs, the work of Her-^
molaus the Rhodian; becaufe it was induftriouily re- ^

ported that fome of his deareft companions refolved to
undergo the fame calamity for his fake, or that Juno
infpired feveral individuals with a rage of unmanning
themfelves, that he might not be Cngle in his misfortune ;
many mad zealots, either in honour of Combabus, or to
pleafe Juno, performed the like operation on themfelves
every year in the temple. Furthermore, thefe galli, or
devoted eunuchs, took on them the habit and offices of
women ; becaufe a ftrange woman had fallen in love with
Combabus, not knowing the violence he had done to his
fex ; which to prevent for the future, he put on the out-
ward appearance of a woman.

With refpeft to the facrifices, ceremonies, and cuf- Sacrifices.
toms peculiar to this holy city, they facrificed twice a
day to Jupiter in filence, and to Juno with the found of
minftrels and fingers. Every fpring they celebrated an
extraordinary facrifice ; for, felling fome great trees in
the court of the temple, they garnifhed them with goats,,
(heep, birds, rich veftments, and fine pieces of wrought
gold and filver: then they carried the facred images
round thefe decorated trees, and fet fire to them, and all

b Lucian de Dea Syr« cap* 19, .

was

ri - •• ,

^^8 The Hi/lory of thfAncteni &jndnu

was confumcd. At this facrifice there was always a great
concourfc of people from all parts, every one bringing
his facred images with him, made in imitation Of thofe
of the temple. There was alfo a private facrifice mad^
by every <Mie that undertook the pilgrimage to the city pf
Hierapolis. The pilgrim killed a (heep> cut it up iri
joints, and feafted on it, fpreading the fleece on the

5 round, and kneeling upon it. In this pofture he put the
eet and head of the viftim upon his own head, and
befought the goddefs to accept his facrifice, and vowed|
her a better. Tothefewe may add the offerings made
upon the following occafion : twice a year a man, ch'mb-^
ing up to the top of one of the priaps, continued there
feven days. He let down a chain, and di'ew up what was
given him : for many devotees, upon thefe occafions^
brought their offerings, and declared their names, which
one below took care to bawl out to the man fitting above ;
who thereupon began a prayer, ftriking a kind of b?ll all
the time. Finally, they had fometimes a way of facrific-^
ing which was truly fhocking and barbarous. They firft
crowned the vi£tims with garlands, and then drove them
out of the porch or court of the temple, dtiefide of which
was a fteep precipice, where they perifhed. Nay, fomtf
were fo mad as to tie up their children in facksj and
throw them down the fame precipice K
Fffiivals. Some of their feftivab were obfefved in memory of
Deucalion's flood. Twice a year they went to the fea^
fide, and thence brought water into the temple 5 in which
labour, not only the priefts were employee!, but alfo all
the inhabitants of Syria and Arabia. This water they
poured out in the temple, and it ran off^ by the hole or
cleft we have already mentioned. This rite they perform-
ed by a pretended command of Deucalion^ as Q;(tr author,
after the Greek manner, calls him. What ceremonies
they pra£lifed at the fea-fide we are not. t;old \ but it feems
they were very extraordinary. lieturning with their
veflfels full of water, and fealed up, they carried them
firft to a facred perfon, called Ale£lryo, wliOj receiving
them, examined the feals> and^ taking his due from each
votary for his pains, untied the .ftring, took off the feal,
and returned his burden to each, who carried it into the
temple, for the purpofe before mentioned. This Aledryo
received a confiderable revenue for holy ufes upon thefe
folemn days. They had another kind of fcftival, when

* Lucian'de Dca Syr. cap.Ivii. "

(heir

The Hjftory of the Ancient Syrians* 4^p

their gods paid a vifit to the bottom of the lake we for-
merly mentioned. Juno, or the Syrian goddefs herfelf,
went down firft, for the prefervatiort of her favourite
fifhes 5 which, had they fcen Jupiter, would have died*
Upon thefe occafions a remarkable farce was a£i:ed be-
tween the faid goddefs and god. He offered to go down
firft, but (he interpofed, and, after much difficulty, pre-
vailed on him to return. But, of all their holidays, the
Great Burning, as we may call it, was the moft confider-
able. Upon this occafion. there came people from all
parts, to affift at the great facrifice we nave already de-
fcribed, and the other religious duties of the feafon^
This feftival was of fome days continuance ; and at par^
ticular times, while it lafted, the whole multitude was
drawn into the temple, while the priefts ftood without,
fonie. of them mangling their bodies,, fome ftriking vio-
lently each other, while others beat tabrets, or drums,
founded mufical inftruments, fung aloud, and propheGed. .

It was in the midft of all this uproar, the phrenfy of
caftrating themfelves feized on many in the temple, who,
crying out with a loud voice, and drawing their fwbrds,
performed the operation, and devoted themfelves to the
goddefs.

The religious cuftoms, laws, and traditions of this Mtfieila*
place, were as extraordinary as any thing elfe we have neaus mut*
hitherto feen. Twice a year a man went up to the top ^^'''*
of one of the priapi, as we have faid, and there remained
feven days. He climbed up by the help of a chain that
furrounded himfclf and the body of the priapus ; in the
fame manner as the palm-tree is afcended by the inha-»
bitants of Egypt and Arabia, by means of a rope. The
fame method is praftifed by the negroes on the coaft of
Guinea, when they make incifions in the palm-tree^
and fix their gourds in order to receive the juice*

Some of thofe phalli are faid to have been 300 fathom
in height : but this muft be a monftrous exaggeration.
Others allege their height did not exceed 300 cubits, in
which cafe they muft have been as high as the Monument
in London. Even this tneafure is incredible, if we con-
fider they were fo flender that a man could climb them
with a chain. When the devotee had reached the top,
he let down a chain, wherewith he drew up whatever
was neceffary for his maintenance, or to make himfelf
a feat, or kind of neft. It was given out that, during
the feven days, lie had a more immediate interqpurfe with

Vol. I. G g the

45ro ^he Uijiory of the Ancient Syrians:

the great goddefs ; and alfo, that this feat was pra£iifect
in memory of Deucalion's flood, when men faved them-
felves by climbing up mountains and trees. During thefc
feven days the perfon never flept ; and if at any time hc^
happened to doze, he was waked by a facred fcorpion.-
Our author rather thinks, that the fear of falling kept him
from fleeping ^^

Every day many people fwam to the altar in the midfl;
of the lake, there to perform their devotions.

They facrificed oxen and flieep ; but fwine they held ta
be unclean.

But the facrifice was not performed at the temple.
The viftim was only prefentcd at the altar. The reft
was tranfafted at home.

Fiflii and doves or pigeons^ were accounted holy ; the
former facred to Derceto, the latter to Semiramisj' in-
memory of their diifcrent transformations.

They fed many doves in and about their houfes ; and^
' if a man had touched one of them, he was unclean all the
reft of that day.

As foon as any man had commenced gallus, or eunuch-
prieft, by difmerpbering himfelf, he ran about the city
with the part in his hand j at length, throwing it into
fome houfe, he thence received a woman's attire, and
from that time forward his life was entirely agreeable to his
new drefs.

The eunuch-priefts, however, entertained a palEon for
* women, and the women for them ; which, far from being
thought fcandalous or portentous, was efteemed pure
and holy.

It was unlawful for any gallus, or eunuch-prieft,.to enter
the temple.

Whofoever took on him the pilgrimage to Hierapolis,
this holy city, firft ffaaved his head and eye-brows, then
offered up ^ flieep, in the manner already mentioned.
After which facrifice he was not allowed to bathe but in
cold water, or to drink of any thing elfe, or lie upon
aught but the cold ground till he had reached the city.

The pilgrims, being arrived, were entertained at the
public charge, and lodged with people of their refpeftivc
countries, here called inftruftors, or matters, who were
paid by the public for inftrufting them in the rites and
ceremonies of the place.

^ Lucian. Syr. Dea« cap, 29— 3»*

The

Tie Hijiory of the Ancient Syrians. 45 ^

The pilgrims were all branded with marks upon the
neck and wrifis.

The young men and boys confecrated the firft-fruits of
their beards and hair ; which, being fb^ved, or clipped,
were djepofited in a gold or filver box, with the name o£
the perfon they belonged to» and kept in the temple.

When any of the galli died, their funeral was not per-
formed in the ordinary manner. Their companions car-
ried the dead body into the iiiburbs, where, &tting it
down, they hurled ftones over it, and left it lying upon
the bier ; there it lay the fpace of feven days, and then
was conveyed into the temple.

He that had feen a dead perfon was not allowed to en-
ter the temple that day ; but the next he was abfolved
from his uncleannefs, if he purified himfelf.

All the family of any perfon deceafed were to avoid the
temple thirty days, and fhave their heads '.

We learn from Plutarch, that the Syrians, of his time, Their tern*
were an effeminate people, prone to tears, and very re- P^^*
markable for their way of mourning for their deceafed,
hiding themfelves from the light of the fun, in caves« or
other dark places, many days together. A tender and
effeminate temper of mind may have always been one of
the chara£leriftics of the Syrians, as it is at this day.

We can fay nothing particular touching the cuftoms of Their
the ancient Syrians, or their civil concerns. As to their learning
arts and learning ; they were by fome anciently joined ^^ ^^^'*
with the Phoenicians, as the firft inventors of letters °* :
certain it is, they yielded to no contemporary nation in
human knowlege, and {kill in the fine arts. They were
happily fituated, as jt were, in the centre of the old
world J and, being enriched by the fpoils, tribute, and
commerce, of the nations far and near, they certainly
rofe to a great pitch of fplendor and magnificence. The
altar at Damafcus, which excited the admiration of
Ahaz king of Judah ", may ferve as a noble fpecimen of
the (kill of their artificers.

Their language is one of thofe dialefts we commonly Their laH*
call the Oriental tongues, and is pretended to have been guage.
the mother of them all. It became a diftinft tongue fo
early as the days of Jacob ; for what his father-in-law and
uncle, Laban of Padan-Aram, or Mefopotamia, calls Jegar-
Sahadutha, is by Jacob himfelf called Galeed °. The

1 Lucian, ubi fupra. » Clem. Alexandr. Strojn. lib. i*

p. 107* n % Kings xvi. 10. ^ Genef. xxxL-47.

G g 2 . Syriac

452 ' The Hi/lory of the Jncient Syrians.

Syriac was not only the language of Syria, but alfo of Mc-
fopotamia, Chaldea, Affyria, and, after the Babylonifli-
captivity, of Paleftipc. ,

There are three dialefts of the Syrian tongue : r. The
Aramean, or Syriac, properly fo called, which is the moft
elegant of all, and ufed in Mefopotamia, and by the in-
habitants of Roha, or Edefla, of Harran, and the Outer
Syria. 2. The diale£t: of Paleftine, fpoken by the inha-
bitants of Damafcus, Mount Libanus, and the Inner
Syria. 3. The Chaldee, or Nabathean diale£l:, the moft
unpoliihed of the three, fpoken in the mountainous
parts of Affyria, and in the villages of Irak, or Baby-
lonia °.

The Syriac charafter is very ancient, fuppofed by^fome
to have been in ufe above three hundred years before the
birth of Chrift ®. There are two forts of this chara£ker ;
the Eftrangelo (G), which is the more ancient and unpo*
lifhed, and chiefly found in the titles of books, as capitals
with us ; and that called the Ffhito, the fimple or com-
mon charader, which is much more expeditious and beau-
tiful. There was a projeft fet on foot by Paul of Antioch,
for adding the letters that are wanting in the Syriac al-

Shabet, as the Greeks had done ; the execution of which
c recommended to James of EdefTa, who declined k, be-
caufe he feared that the books written in the iwiperfeft cha-
ra£):er, or alphabet, might by fuch an innovation, be loft p.

» Abu'Ifaraff. Hift. Dynaft. p. ir. • Bernard. Tab. Alph.

f Afleman^ Biblioth. Orient, torn. i. p. 479.

(G) This name is generally word, we fliould rather choofe

derived from the Greek word to take it in Theophraftus'i

r^oyyv?^, rounds as if it was fenfe (i), who ufes r^oyytJxa

- a round character, whereas it {w^a, for rough unhewn timber,

is rather fquare ; wherefore, if by reafon ox its rude and un*

it muft be derived from that pollfhed form.

(i) l>e Plantis.

Ths

^e Htfiory of th^ Ancient Syrians.

453

thbsyriac alphabet.

The common chara6^er.

Power.

Figure.

Names.

The eftrangclo.
Figure.

Joined to
the foil,
and prec.

The fupport
of a vowel.

B, ^

Joined to
the prec.
only.

Joined to
the foil. Single
only.

•

Olaf.
Beth.

•

Gomal.
Dolath.

•

He. .

JFaw.

)

Zain.

Hh, A*.

CM.

■Ai

Uheth.

4Ai

leth.

Cor Kh. £i.

Cof.

L. "^

Lomad.

M. :»

P-

Mim,

N. 4.

5. £0.

£0

CC0

Nun.
Semcdthi

^^m

Suppt.ofavow- ^
(Cl, but a guttur.

/.orP. £1.

(Si

E.
Pe.

« fgrofly
" \ prpn.

J-

Sode.

K. o

Kof.

•

Rijh.

SA. M.

(A.

i«L

Shin.

T. or TL

•

Tau.

G« 3

The

454 ^^^ Hiftoty of the Ancient Syrians.

The Syriac writing, like that of the other eaftem
tongues, was deftitute of vowels till towards t,hc latter end
of the eighth century, when they were introduced, as is
generally fuppofed, by Theophilus of Edefik, chief aftro-
loger to the khalif al Mohdi, who borrowed them from
the Greek alphabet, and firft made ufe of them to diftin-
guifli the Greek pronunciation of the nairies and patrony-
mics, in his Syriac tranflation of the works of Homer ^.
The marks to exprefs thefe vowels are ftill nearly in the
form pf.fi ve of the Greek voUpcIs; for^they reje£l the
epfilon and the omicron ; there being no (hort vowels in
their tongue. Bdt James of EddTa, who'flouriflied about
a century before I'heophilus, invented feven new cha-
rafters for all the Greek vowels, at the defire of Paul of
Antioch, to whom he feat them ; and they are ftill ex-
tant.

The Syriac is faid to have m«tfh degenerated, till James
of Edeffa reftored it to its ancient purity. He was the
firft that wrote a grammar in this language. It is anjsafy
and elegant, .but not a very copious tongue, and has a
great number of Greek words, which were incorporated
with it, in the times of the Seleucidse. There are many
books in the Syriac, very littl^ known to the Europeans ;
but what this tongue is moft to be valued for, are the
excellent tranflations of the Old and New Teftament ;
which equal, if tliey do not furpafs, thofe in any other
language.
*rheir Perhaps no nation, of equal antiquity, liad a more con-

tradt. fiderahle trade than the ancient Syrians. We cannot
doubt but that they had ftiips on the Mediterranean as
foon as any of their neighbours.; and, by the vicinity of
the river Euphrates, it is paft difpute, that they traded
with the eaftern regions upon that river very early. They
had many valuable commodities of their own to carry into
other parts. The eafy and fafe navigation of the Eu-
phrates, when compared with that of the fea, almoft in-
clines us to confider them as older merclxants than the
Phoenicians, or even the Edomites j who muft have^nade
very early attempts upon the Arabian gulph ; in compa-
rifon of which, the Mediterranean was a main ocean,
Herodotus ' reports, that the Phoenicians were much
older navigators than either the ancient .Syrians or Egyp-
tians ; faying, that they carried on the commerce of Af-
J. « •

q Abulfarag, p. 147. EchelJenfjs in Not. ad Catal. Ebcdjefsw.
p. iSo. Affcman, p. 51a. r Lib. i. cap. i.

fyria

T/?e H^ary (f the ^AnckM Syrians. 453

fyria and Egypt by their (hippiog. Here, by the way, is
a ftronger proof than any we have hitherto given, that
Syria and Aflyria were confounded together by the an-
cients. For how ihould the Phoenicians have failed to the
coafts of the proper Affyria, an inland country ; a country
.they couj^d not poffibly have rejiched^ btut by^oublii^g the
Gape of Good Hope, and entering the Perfian gulph ? %
voyage which could have anfwered no end, feeing they
might have fupplied that country, and have been fupplied
from thence, at an infinitely cheaper rate, by means of
their next neighbours, the Syrians, wio navigated the
Euphrates ; and who, it cannot well be difputed, were
the £rft that brought the Perfian and Indian commodities
into the weft of Afia. Syria was therefore the moft an- "^
cient magazine for fuch commodities, and chiefly fup-
plied all the wefterh part€ 5 nor can we think otheirwife,
than that the Midianitiflu merchants, who bought Jofeph,
had loaded their camels in Syria with the aromatics, and
other precious things, they were carrying into Egypt.
Among which it is not unlikely that tbey had commodi-
ties of other countries befides thofe of Syria.

Now, becaufe the Syrians ingrofled thi$ lucrative com-
merce, they may in a great' meafure have negleQed the
Mediterranean navigation, chiefly intent upon their eafl:ern
trade, which drew merchants from all the weftern parts
to traffic in their country, as well for their own growth,
as for foreign produftions.; and particularly the Phoeni-
cians, their induftrious neighbours. So that Herodotus
may be in the right, when he talks of the tradi then an-
ciently carried on for AflTyria (Syria) and Egypt.

SECT. in.

Of the Chronology of the Ancient Syrians*

"D EFORE we proceed to 'the little we can fay upon
-■^ this obfcure fubje£l, we will exhibit a feries of the
ancient kings of Syria, according to different writers.

The kings of Zobah, or Sopfaene.

According to According to Contemporary

Scripture. Jofephus. with

Rehob - - - - Arach - - - Saul.

Hadadezer or Ha- Adrazar - « David,
darezer - - -

G g4 The

AS6

The Hiftory of tie Ancient Syrians.
The kings of Damafcus.

According to Scripture.

• 4( * * # *

Rezon - - • «

Hezion - - -

Tabrimbn

Benhadad I. - -

Benhadad II* ^

Hazael

Benhadad IIL «

Jlezin ^ - - .
According to Jofephus.
Adad • . . ,
Adad - - *

Adad - * -
Hazael - - -
Adad

«- • 4^ « * « «

Jlafes or Arafes

According to Nic. Damafc»
Adad I.
Adad 11.

Adad III. - - ^
Adad IV.

AdadV. . - ,
Adad VI.

AdadVII. . - -
Adad VIII. . - ^
Adad IX. , - -
Adad X. «- - •«

Contemporary with

David,

Solomon.

Rehoboam,

Abijam.

Afa.

Jehoihaphat and Jehoram,

Ahaziah and Joafh.

Amaziah.

Uzziah.

Jotham and Ahaz.

The kings of Hamath.

According to According to Contemporary

Scripture* Jofephus. with

Toi - - . Thanus r ? David.

Toram or Hado- joram - - ♦ • * *

. mm - - if .

f«*# ##«# »#«)!

The kings of Geftiur.

According to Scripture. Contemporary with

Ammihud .. • - Saul.

Talmai ^ ^ -> w David,

♦ * t # # ♦ ♦ #

We have not obfervpd the feniority of thqfe kingdoms,
by placing them either in an exa£l collateral, or fuccefSvc
prder ; but have given the fecond place to Damafcus, be-
jpaufe it rofe upon the ruins of Zobah ; though Hamat]i
§^4 pelhurwere the molt ancient kingdoms.

^he Hiftory of the Ancient Syrians. 457

We cannot pofitlvely affirm, that Zobah coalefced tin**
der one king in the days of Saul, and, confequently, that
Rehob was their firft king ; but only conjefture their fo-
vereigns had been vanquifhed by Saul', and then they may
have come to the refolution of fubmitting to one kiilg,
perceiving the Ifraelites profpered under their new mo-
narchy. The Philiftines feem to have undergone the like
revolution at the fame time, and for the fame reafon. If
this fuppofition be granted, no one is fo likely to have been
their firft king, as Rehob, the father of the great Hadad-
ezer, who, in the days of David, was fo firmly feated on
the newly-erefted throne of Zobah, that he afpired at the
univerfal monarchy of Syria. We may likewife conclude,
that if he was not the fecond, he was certainly the laft
king of Zobah ; for we hear no more of that kingdom.

The kingdom of Damafcus rofe upon the ruins of the
kingdom of Zobah. It was founded by Rezon, probably
in the latter part of Solomon's reign*, while that prince was
cngroffed by fenfual pleafure, and had ftwgot both himfelf
and his people.

Jofephus makes one Adad, king of Damafcus, con-
temporary with David ; in which particular he is a ftrift
follower of Nicolas of Damafcus, whom, in the next
reign, he drops. That writer, inftead of allowing Rezon
to have made himfelf king of Damafcus, feems to infi-
fiuate, that he made Hadad, the Edomite, king there, or
fomewhere elfe in Syria ^

Nicolas of Damalcus feems to agree well enough with
the Scripture accounts of the Damafcene kings, and par-
ticularly, if we fuppofe his firft Adad to have been Ha-
dadezer of Zoh^^h ; nor ought we to wonder at that
writer's making his native city the metropolis of a king-
dom, by one reign only, more ancient than it really was.
Befides, he may not be altogether miftaken, in calling his
firft Adad king of Damafcus 5 for he certainly was king or
chief over that province, though he did not refide there.
By 'calling his firft Adad the Hadadezer of Zobah, we re-
concile him with the Scripture.

It is impoffible to determine the exaft number of years
each king reigned : wherefore we have only placed them
oppofite to the princes of David's line, or the kings of
Tudah.

We have on pufpofe avoided a dry difcuffion of this
point ; for there is no certainty to be expelled in what

f I S^in, ;civ, 47, > I Kings xi. 24. < Antiq. lib. viii* cap. s.

con-

45* 9^^ Hifibry x>f the Ancknt Syrians.

concerns the* fuccei&on ti the& kings, and t)ie length of
their reigns.

The kingdem of Hamath rofe together with that of
Zobah, as appears pretty plain by the wars between them*
But that Toi, or Thermes as Jofephus ftyles him, was
fnccecdcd by his fon Joram, is only our conjedurc. '

The kingdom of Gdhur feems to have rifen together
with Zobah and Hamath. < We are not furc, that Ammi*
hud preceded his £bn Talmai in the kingdom \ but it it
very likdy he did.

SECT. IV.

The Reigns of the Kings of the Ancient Syrians.

The Kings $f Zdbah.

Kihh. D £ H O B we fuppofe to have been the (irfl fole king of
-'^ Zobah, and to have laid the foundation of his fon's
grandeur.
Hadad" Hadadezer, or Hadarezer, the fon of Rehob, was a

€ztr, great and ambitious prince, remarkable for his unfortunate

wars with king David. He had gained advantages over
the king of Hamath ; but, when he oppofed David's pro«-
grefs towards the redu£lion of the land, which had been
promifed to Abraham, and his feed, quite to the Eu-
phrates ', he was deferted by his good fortune. In the
Yr. of Fl. £rft battle he fought with David, he loft one thoufand
Anne^Chr ^^^^^^^^s, feven thoufand horfe, and twenty thoufand foot.
1044. ' I'he Syrians of Damafcus then ferit their arm^y to jrein-
> force him. But, neverthelefs, in thd engagement, he

loft twenty-two thoufand men. The conqueror, taking
advantage of fo Hgnal a vidory, pofiefled himfelf of great
part of Syria, and, particularly, of Damafcene. Hadad-
ezer now loft his golden fhields, for fuch he had in his
treafury. His two cities, Betah and Berothai, exceed*
ingly rich in brafs, were plundered^, and his territories
greatly contra£ked. But, in all probability, nothing per-
plexed him more than the defeGion of/Rezon, afterwards
king of Damafcus ; who, leading the forces, fent him
from that province, abandoned him to his adverfe for-
tune, and, aifembling a band Qf men, employed them in
the purfuit of his own ambitious views °.

* Geneil xv, iS. < % Sam. viii. }— €• « 1 Kingi xi, s^* 94.

9®^ Wftory of the Ancient Syrians. 459

It IS not cxpreflcd, that Hadadezer became tributary to
king David ; nor, indeed, is it likely that he did, at learft
■on this occafion. For hfe f urnifhcd Hanun kihg of Ammon
with twenty thoufand men againft the Ifraeiites ; > but
they, with the other auxiliaries of that war, were put to a
ihameful flight by Joab. Though he was not a principal

. in this war ; yet, next year, he feems to have made him-
fdf fo. He called in all the petty king^, that owed him
homage, on the other fide the Euphrates ; and every
where elfe, as far as his power extended, he levied forces.
By which means he aflembled a very confiderable arniy,

, which he committed to the conduA of Shobach, his ge-
neral, to affift Hanun againft David a fecond time •, or ra-
ther, to make a dcfperate eiFort to retrieve his own lofles.
But this great hoft, too, was routed at a place called
Helam 5 about forty thoufand of the Syrians were flain ;
and, among the reft, Shobach himfelf. The petty princee,
that ferved Hadadezer in this fatal warfare, made their
peace with David, and became his tributaries % as did, in
all likelihood, Hadadezer himfelf; concerning whom, or
the kingdom of Zobah, we find no further account.

Th/ Kings of Damafais.

The kingdom of Zobah being overthrown, that of Da- ReTutn^
mafcus rofe upon its ruins. Rezon was the firft monarch*
the fame who deferted from Hadadezer king of Zobah.
He feized on Damafcus, founded that kingdom, and
proved a very troublefome and inveterate enemy to So«
lomon.

Hezion fucceeded Rezon ; but whether be was hts fon, Hexion.
or otherwife related to him, "we know not. He lived at
peace and amity with the kings of Judah and li/ael.

Tabrimon the fon of Hezion had no mifunderftanding 7abrimen,
with the Ifraeiites.

Benhadad the fon of Tabrimon, afccnding the throne, Yr. of FI.
ambafladors came to him with large gifts from Afa king of '4o8.
Judah, by whom he was induced to make war with Baafha ^^^^ ^^^*
king of Ifracl : from this prince he took Ijon, Dan, Abel- Se^/iadad
beth-Maachah, all Cinneroth, and the land of Naph tali ". /.

He was fticceeded by his fon of the fame name, who vi- — —
goroufly profecuted the enmity of his father to Ifrael ; but Yr. of Fl.
was twice very remarkably baffled by the interpofition of ^ ^^^c\\^
heaven. When he firft marched againft them, he had no p©,^ '
fewer than thirty-two kings in his army j together with Benhadad

II.
« 1 Sirfn. X* 15—19. * I Kinga xv. ao. ■

460 The Hiftory of the Ancient Syrians.

«n incredible number of horfe, foot, and chariots. With
this powerful hoft fctting down before Samaria, he funa-
moned Ahab the king to acknowlege himfelf his vaiT^y
and deliver up to htm all his filver and gold, and likewife
hifi wives and children (H). To this infolent meflage the
pufiUanimous prince returned a molt fubmiffive anfwer,
implying, that he, and all he had, were at his difpofal ;
which, however, did not fatisfy the haughty and infulting
enemy : for he immediately acquainted the timorous king,
by ^a fecond meifage, that the next day about the fame
time, he intended to fend fome of bis officers to fearch
his palace, and the city, and bring away all his wealth,
and whatever was pleafant in his eyes. In this indignity
the king of Iffael, animated by the elders, refufed to ac*
<)uierce ; and his refufal gave occaflon to a third meffage
from the haughty Syrian, that he wiflied himfelf in a
worfe condition than Ahab, if he did not bring fuch an
army before Samaria, that, every foldier taking but an
handful of it, there ihould be no figns of it left. Ahab,
in anfwer to this vain menace, advifed him to wait the
event of things before he reckoned upon them *.

The Syrian army was now ordered to inveft the city of
Samaria in form, and prepare for the aifault. In the
mean time, Benhadad, who feems to have been a very
voluptuous prince, and much given to drink, followed hts
pleasures, fearlefs of all danger ; for he could apprehend
none. In the midft of his fecurity and caroufals, he was
told, that a party was drawing near from the city, which
at firft caufed a fmall alarm in the camp, and difturbed
Benhadad himfelf. But, upon farther information, he
ordered thofe who were coming, to be brought befose
him alive, whatever their defigns were ; and then re-
turned to his pleafures. The party, coming from the
city, was Ahab, with a choice company of one hundred
and thirty-two young men, . who, though it was noon-
day, were encouraged by a prophet to fall upon the great
hoft of the Syrians. Thefe, on the other hand, dream-
ing of nothing lefs than an afianlt, thought they fhould
have little to do, but to condu£i the aggrefTors to their

X s Kings XX. I— »!•

(H) This lafi: particular is as if he feat to Ahab for his
aggravated by fome into a great moil beautiful male children (o
piece of infolence and brutality ; abufe them ( i )•.

(1) Vide Cleric, in 1 Reg. xx. t.

lung.

•\

The Hiflory of the Ancient Syrians. 46 f

kkig. But when Ahab and his followers came up, and
fell furioufly upon them, they fled ; and a panic fear
fpreading itielf all over'the camp, there was not one that
thought of any thing elfe but faving himfelf. Benhtdad
mounted his horfe, and rode away with the reft, inftead
of rallying and confirming his people. The flight was
general, and the Ifraelites purfued them with great
flaushter.

Tiic Syrians were covered with fhame at fo inglorious
a flight, and would gladly have found out fome excufe to
palliate their difgrace : they pretended, that the gods of
the Ifraelites being the gods of the hills, it was no wonder
that fuch a misfortune had befallen them ; and, to com-
fort their king, afiured him, that if he could but draw
down the enemy to hazard a battle on even ground, his
gods would prevail in their turn, as thty prefided over
the plains (E). They moreover laid fome blame upon
the two and thirty kings, as auxiliaries not hearty in his
caufe, or fubmimve enough to difcipline \ and defired
that trufty fkilful ofiicer$ might be fubftituted indead of
thefe leaders. Finally, they advifed their king to levy juft
fuch an army a^ the former, chariot for chariot, horfe for
horfe, and not to doubt of fuccefs.

Benhadad hearkened to this advice. In the following Yr. of FI«
year he marched towards the king of Ifrael with fuch an 144S.
army, as if he meant to make good his menaces againft Ante Chr.
the city of Samaria ; and pitched his tents in Aphek, in a ^^°'
plain, that he might be under the protediion of his own
gods. Seven days he lay encamped over-againft the def-*
picable number of the Ifraelites ; upon the feventh they
came to a battle, in which the Syrians loft, of foot only,
one hundred thoufand. The reft fled with precipitation
to the city of Aphek, where twenty-feven thoufand of
them were crufhed to death by the city wall, which fell
op them by divine appointment.

Benhadad now gave all over for loft, and was not a
little furprifedy that his gods had failed him : in defpair,
he concealed himfelf in the city of Aphek \ but his of-
ficers, reminding him that the kings of Ifrael had been ge-

(£) Kd owing that the Jew- particularly fond of facriflcing

ifti law was delivered on an and worihipping in ^^ high

hill, that the temple of Jeru- places ;" it is no wonder, that

falem flood on an hill, that the the Syrians, coniidering the

enemy's country was very hil- theology of the times, fliould

l/i and that the Ifraelites were entertain notion^ of this nature.

nerous

J^6^ The Hlftory of the Ancient Syrians.

nerous enemies, advifed bim to throw himfelf upon
Ahab's mercy. They offered to prepare tbe conqueror to
receive him kindly, by appearing before him with fack-
clothion their loins, and ropes about their necks. In this
humble guife they accordingly went and accofted Ahab,
and intreated him in behalf of their king. Abab, over-
joyed at bis viftory, was in admirable temper to receive
them, and, in a kind of tranfport, called Benhadad his
brother, jmd declared he was glad to hear he was living.
Tbe artful Syrians made the beft ufe they could of that
kind expreffion for the fervice of their difconfolate king.
Benhadad then was brought to Ahab, who took him into
his chariot ; when the Syrian, courting the friendfhip of
the conqueror, promifed to deliver up all his father had
wrefted from Ifrael ; and, moreover, to allow Ahab the
fame authority iA Damafcus, which his own father bad
enjoyed in Samaria (G). By thefe fair fpeeches he fo
wrought upon the mind of Ahab, that he was immediately
rcftored to his. liberty, and a peace concluded ".

How ftriftly focver Benhadad adhered to his word
with Ahab in other refpefts, he kept pofTeflion of Ra-
moth-Gilead, which was the fubje£): of a frefh war, in
which Ahab prevailed on Jehofhaphat, king of Judah, to
be his auxiliary. The two kings led their forces againft
Ramoth-Gilead ; where they found the Syrians prepared
to receive them j but Ahab, having fufficient reafon to
fear, chat the enemy could mark him out for deftruf^ion,
difguifed himfelf before the battle, v^hile the king of Ju-
dah put on his royal robes. The apprehenfions of Ahab
were not without foundation ; for the king of Syria com-
• manded his two and thirty captains, who had rule over
his chariots, to dired their arms only againft the king of
Ifrael. This order had like to have proved fatal to Je-
hofliaphat ; for the officers, miftaking him for Ahab,
purfued him clofe, and would have flain him, had they
not difcovered in time, that he was not the perfon they
had in commiffion to deftroy. But Ahab's precautions
could not fave him j for ** one of the Syrians drawing a

m X Kings, XX. 1—34.

(Gy What privilege or au- full liberty in Damafcus as his

thority Bcnbadad*s father en- father had in the city of Sa-

joyed in Samaria, is a quedlon maria, which was built but a

we cannot refolve. Jofephus few years before by Omri king

iays, that Ahab Ihould have as of Ifrael.

bow

^he Hiftoty of the Ancient Syrians^ 4^3

hc^ 2kt a venture, fmote him between, the joints of his Yr. of FL
hamefs :" upon which he ordered his charioteer to carry '^^i*.
him out of the field of battle, and died in the evening. g* "*"•
The fight was bloody and obftinate, and lafted till night; „

tinder the covert of which^ eacK fide drew off with equal
lofs, and doubtful vidory**. The general, who on this
occafion, had the chief command of the Syrian army,
was the celebrated Naaman, who was miraculoufly cared,
by the prophet Elifha, of the leprofy, with which he was
grievoufly aff!i£ted, as is related at large in holy writ**.
As he was fenfible of the miracle, and by what hand it
was wrought, he returned with great joy to the prophet,
and, renouncing idolatry, acknowleged, ** that there
was no god in all the earth but in Ifrael ^'*.

Soon after Naaman's return to Damafcus, Benhadad
began to execute fome private defigns againft Jehoram .
king of Ifrael ; whence it may be naturally enough ga-
thered, that Naaman either died, refigned, or was dif*^
traced. But the king being difappointed in all his aims,
egan to fufpeft the fidelity of his minifters ; who, to re-
move fo dangerous a fufpicion, tojd him, that none but
Elifha could thus difconcert all his meafures ; obferving
that the prophet was endued with fuch a degree of know-*
lege, that nothing could be concealed from him, though
done In the greateft privacy. Benhadad had heard
Enough concerning that prophet, to believe what he v/as
told ; and therefore, being refolved to fcize him, de--
tached a ftrong party to Dathan, where he underftood he
then redded. They came to that city in the night, and
»ext morning were by the prophet fmitten with blindnefs,.
and led by him into the very heart of the city of Samaria,,
where their eyes were opened, that they might behold
their' fituation. Here, inftead of being made prifoners of
war, they were hofpitably entertained, and generoufly
difmifled ; and, making their report to Benhadad of all
that had happened, of the prophet's power, and the king^s
humanity, aftop was put to the war^

This peaceable difpofition was but fhort-Iived, and Ben-
hadad marched againft Samaria " once more. Having bc-
fieged it with his whole force, he reduced it to the great-
eft ftreights, and was on the point of taking it by famine ;
fo that either the fiege was long and obftinate, or elfe the
place was poorly ftored. But in the mean time he was

® V Kings xxii. 3—35' P % KJings, v. per tot. q Ibid»

ver, 15. r X Kings, vi. |2**-S3* * Ibid* £4— 29.

alarmed

••>

464 ^*he Uifiory of the Ahcient SyNaHSs

alarmed in the night, by a noife like that of a great army*
rufhing up<m him ; whereupon, apprehending, that Jeho-
ram had hired the kings bf the Hittites (H) and Egypt to
' come to his relief, he raifed the fiege with fuch precipi-
tation, that his army left tlieir horfes and every thing
{landing in the camp, juft as it was when they took the
alarm i dropping what was m the lead cumberibme to
them in their flight.,

Benhadad n^f^ii at this time have been much advanced
in years ; and, whether he had contracted fome illnefs
by the fatigue of his flight, aiid, violenccof hfs furprize,
or whethjsl^ his fpirits were bffilfcen by fugb frequcfnt mif-
fortunes, he took to his bed* Being informed that the
. 'prophet Eliflia was coming to Damafcus^ he fent Ha-
2ael with forty camels load of the choiceit produdtions of
the country, to confult the prophet concerning his indit
pofition* Hazael went accordingly, and accofted him in
the moft refpedtful manner, in behalf of Benhadad.
The anfwer he received was, that Benhadad might re-
> cover, but ihould furely die. The prophet, having thus
expreflTed himfelf, fixe^ his eyes upon Hazael, and fud-
denly burft into tears : the Syrian, amazed at this agita-
tion, and deHring to know the caufe of it, was told,
that he would fucceed Benhadad, and be a cruel and
mercilefs perfecutor of the children of Ifrael ; that he
would fet their ftrong-holds on fire, flay their young men
with the fword, dafli tjieir children, and rip up their wo-
men with child. Hazael profeflTed not to underftand
what the prophet meant ; nor could conceive how fo in-
confiderable a perfon as himfelf could ever have it in his
power to commit fuch outrages ; whereupon he was af-
fured anew by the prophet, that he fliould be king over
Syria. He then returned to his mailer, and flattered him
with hopes of recovery ; but next day ftifled him with a
thick cloth dipped in water. So ended the reign of
the great Benhadad $ who having adorned Damafcus
with fine ftru£lures, and added to the glory of Syria,
was ranked among the gods, and honoured with divine
worfliip %

* Joiephus Antiq. lib. ix. cap. 2,

(H) Who thefe kings of the formidable in any of thefe

Hittites were, is very uncer- parts, is paft our underftand-

tain. Joiephus calls them the ing. We are told, the rem-

kings of the iflands. That any naat of them was reduced to

remnant of the Canaanitifti the moft abje6t degree of fervi-

Hittites flK)uld at this time be tude by Solomon.

Hazaely

The Hiftory of tB jincient Syrians* 465

Hazael, having thus murdered his lord, afcended his Yr, of Ft*
throne, and was anointed by ,tJie prophet Elijah*. He 1464.
wag a fcourge in the hand of God, to chaftife the king- Ante Cbr.
doms of Judah and Ifrael, , and under him the Syrian ^'

monarchy arofe to its meridian. However, he feems to f£azaiL
have reigned very peaceably,- %ill he was provoked by Jo-
ram king of Ifrael, and Ahaziah king of Judah, who
engaged in a league to wreft Ramoth^Gilead out of his . •

hands, in imitation of what their fathers had attempted
in the reign of Benhadad. In this attempt they were at-
tended with 'f uccefs ; tkoiigh Joram was dangeroufly
wounded. I^ut Hazael made himfelf ample amends, by
invading both the kingdoms of Judah and Ifrael, and pur-.
fuing them almoft to deftruftion. He began with Jehu
king of Ifrael, and fubdued whatfoever belonged to him,
on the other fide Jordan, comprehending the countries of
Gilead and Bafhan, the two tribes Reuben and Gad, and
the half tribe of Manaffeh ". In the profecution of this
conqueft, he, no doubt, punftually fulfilled, by his cruel
rage, what the prophet had foretold (K). ' •

With the fame fury and fuccefs he waged war upon
Jehoahaz the fon of Jehu, till he had left him but fifty
horfe, ten chariots, and ten thoufand foot ; for the reft
had perifhed in battle againft Hazael, who, as it is ftrongly
exprefled, '* made them like the duft by threfhing ^."

Hazael, having thus chaftifed Ifrael, turned his arms Yr. of Fl.
againft the king of Judah ; for they had both confe- . *5o8*
derated againft him, fo that he had a fair pretence for ^^ *
attacking both. He pafled the Jordan, therefore, and *

made himfelf mafter of the ftrong and royal city of Gath,
which had been the feat of the Philiftine kings, but was
now poflefled by the houfe of David. His next defign
was to attempt Jerufalem itfelf ; but, as he was medi-
tating this great enterprize, he was diverted from it by
the rich gifts of the weak and apoftate Jehoafli, who then
reigned in that city ; and who, dreading the Syrian power,
fent Hazael all the treafure and rich moveables that had
been fet. apart and dedicated by his father for facred ufes.
Hazael .was pacified by fo noble a prefent, and for fome
time defifted from his defigns upon Jerufalem.

But it was not long ere he renewed the war againft
that city. He detached towards the end of the fame
year, a party to reduce Jerufalem. This detachment,

1 1 Kings, xix. 15. » Kings,- x. 31-^33. * lb. xiii. 3, 7, xs.

(K) Jofephus afTures us, won>an, or child, but put all
that he neither fpared man, to fire and fword*

Vol. I. H h • though

466 the Hifioty of the Ancient SyrtanS,

ttiougli inconfidcrablc in numl>cr, prcvaiidd againff tlW
great hoft of Jchoaih king of Jodah, facked Jerufalem^
flew all the princes of the people, and fcnt their fpoil td»
Hazael at Damafcus. In the courfe of this expedition
did Hazael alio make himfelf mafter of Elath on the Red
Sea. Having thus fubdued and tyrannized over the king-
doms of Ifrael and Judah, he died, and was deified (C).
Yr. of Fl. He left a fon and fucceflbr, caUed Benhadad, wh<>
»5i2. fnffered a total reverfe of his father's fortune. Thrice
Ante Chr. was he defeated bfjehoath, the fon of Jehoahaz ; and loft

*^^* all that his father had wrefted from Ifrael.
Menhadad ^^^ Syrians recovered themfelves again amidft the diH
///. orders^ which reigned in the kingdom of Ifrael upon Jero^
boam's death. Rezin, their laft king, towards the latter

Yr. of FJ. end of his reign, entered into a league with Pekah king

A V°Ch ^^ Ifrael, againft Ahaz king of Judah. Their defign was

. .^^ * to dethrone him, and make room for a ftranger to David's

-\ line, called Tabeal^. With this intent they befieged

Ahaz in Jerufalcm, but were obliged to raife the fiege*

Hezin, Rezin, however, marched into £dom, and made himfelf

mafter of Elath on the Red Sea, which he annexed once.

more to the dominion of Syria (D) ; there he planted a

colony (E), which fttbfifted many years after the fubver*

4on of his kingdom ^,

Yr. of Fl. Next year Rezin and Pekah profccuted the war againft

1607. Ahaz J and in order to diftraft him the more, divided

j&nteChr. their forces into three bodies, with a defign to invade

^^'* ^ him in three different places at once. Rezin, for hi*

part, fucceeded well by this divifion 5 for he loaded hi&

army with fpoils, and led away a multitude of captives,

wherewith his avarice being pretty well glutted, he re-»

turned to Damafcus^.

*^Ifa. vii» 1— ^i ^*King»jtvi. 6, ^ a Cbron. xxviii. ^

(C) Hazael adorned Daraaf- (E) Both the LXX. and the
tus with temples; and their f^a- Vulgate agree, that Rezia
tues were carried in procefHon: having fubdued this place,
in the days of Jofephu^, the the Edoroites took poifelnon of
Syriansboafting their anti<]^uity. it. But it is not to h^

(D) Our verfion fays, ** he imagined that Rezin could la
^covered Elath to Syria 5'*^ fo eafily part with fo fine an ac-
fays the Vulgate : •* in tern- quifition. If any heed may
pore illo reflituit Rafin rex Sy- be given to Jofephus, he a-
rise- Ailam Syriae." Whence- grees with our reading and
we gather, it muft have been tranflation, faying, that Rezia
conquered by Hazael, when planted a colony of Syrians 1%

he lent part o£ Us army againft Elath •
Jerufalem*

"the Hifiory of the Ancient Syrians. 467

But this acquifition proved fatal to Rczin and his kingu
dom ; for Ahaz, grown defperate, and bent upon revenge,
fent all he had to Tiglath-Pilefer king of Aflyria, there-
with to bribe him againft Rezin. This prince was ac- Yr, of Ft.
cordingly invaded by Tiglath-Pilefer, who flew him, and '^°5r.
carried the inhabitants of Damafcus (F) away captive to !!^ •
Kir, where they were fettled •* Thus was the empire of ,

the ancient Syrians aboliflied, according to the prophets :
** Behold, Damafcus is taken away from being a city— •
and the kingdom ijiall ceafe from Damafcus, and the
remnant of Syria ^ — I will fend a fire into the houfe of
Hazael, which fhall devour the palaces of Benhadad*
I will— cut off— him that holdeth the fceptre from the
houfe of Eden ; and the people of Syria (hall go into
captivity unto Kir, faith the Lord «.**

The Kings of Hamath.

We have but a very fliort and imperfe£l account of
thefe kings, both as to their eflablilDbment, and their con-
tinuance ; nay, there is even fome doubt concerning the
fituation of their city (G). They feem to have derived
their origin from the Syrians of the Canaanitifli blood (H),
at the fame time that the Syrians of Zobah, who, we
think, were Aramites, erefted their kingdom. Toi, their
firft king we read of, was engaged in an unequal war
with Hadadezer, the great king of 2k)bah ; the ground of
which we can apprehend to have been nothing elfe but
his refufal to fubmit to the power of that ambitious
prince, to whom he was probably on the point of fub-
mitting, when Hadadezer himfelf yielded to the fuperior <
might o( David ; who, after humbling the pride of Zo-
bah, was looked upon by Toi as his prefent deliverer, and
his future proteftor. In order therefore to fecure himfelf
on the throne, he fent his fon Joram with a coftly pre-
fent, in veflTels of gold, filver, and brafs, to court the
favour of the conqueror, to congratulate him on his fu»-
cefles, and return him thanks for the deliverance he owed

« % Kings, ubi Aipra, ver. 9. f Ifai. xvii. i— 3* s Amos i. 4, 5^

(P) Jofcphus makes b^t one upon the Orontes, between

action of this and the fore- Hems and Apamea.

going. (H) Abu^lfeda fays that this

(G) Jofephus places Ha- whole country was called

math to the north of the land Sham, becaufe many of the fens

of Canaan ; and . Abu'Ifeda, of Canaan TaMmu travelled

who reigned in Hamath, and towards the left hand in migrat-

ihould know, at leaft^ as well ing thither ; for Syria lies to

as any other, places Hamath the left of the Caaba at Mecca.

hia

468 > The Htftoty oftU iAnclent Syrians^

Yr. of FI. Us valour*; From all thefe xircumftances we conclude,
»jo4« thatToi thenceforth became the creature of David, and

Ante Chr. tributary to his throne. . n

^^^' Whoever fucceeded Toi, wfieth^*his fon Joram, or

Hadoram, or any other, it is likely ht[ cultivated a good
intelligence with the kings at JeruQiteni^ till Rezon, the

^ founder of the Damafcene kingdomi> ' afrofe. At this

time, it is likely^ the king cff Hamath fubmitted to a new
mafter. Be that as it wiH^^this>kingdomtwras certainly
fubjeft tp thckjng3 pf Djimafcus, a^w:|S t^i;iefl: of Sy-
ria, till Jerobo^ king of Jejufalem pr€)nu|(dragainft it.
Upon the-reduftioiTof Dam^fcusV when otS inhabitants
^ fpi tlj;it^ity ye.?i£^amf*iffto captivity, it may have lifted
up its l^ead "a. little ^ j/but the Hamathites were, in their
turn, conquered and tranfplanted by Sennacherib and ^
Efarhaddon 8 kings of Aflyria. Thus ended the anpent

kingdom of Hamath.

■ _

The Kings of Gejhur.

The kings of Gefhur, if Compared with thofe of Zo-

bah, DamafcuS;^ and Hamath, were but petty princes (I).

Perhaps they were more confiderable for the alliance

David made with. their family, than for the extent of their

dpininipn., , We take jthem to hayebecn one of the royal

families, which, in ancient times, flivided the whole

country of Syria among them. The firft of them we meet

with is called Ammihud, thp father of Talmai ; and as

Talmai is exprefsly faid to have been king of this part,

we venture to give him the fame title.

Talmai had a daughter named Maacha, who was wife

' to David, and' the mother of Abfalom, whom he fheltered

three years ^, when he fled to him for the murder of his

Yr. of Fl. brother Amnon. We cannot doubt but that Gefliur

i3>8- bore the Damafcene yoke, till they filially changed for

Ante Chr. that of Aflyria, and wer^ tranfplahted, as were all the

'°30' other Syrians. • . '

« 1 Sam. Tiii. 9* to. f % Kings xviii. 34. xix. 1 f • t^.

S Compare Ezra iv. 2. vith % Kings xvii. 24; > a Sam. xiii. 37.

(I) Jofephus does notallow cure in the country .s^ere they
them to have been kings, but dwelt; /^^^|%^

only a family of note and fi- -- <^* - w.

END OF THE F I ft S T VOLUME.

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