Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Gift of
Randall K. Burkett
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
- —— ,
THE NEGRO
-t- IX -J-
SACRED HISTORY,
= OR =
HAI m IMMEDIATE DESCENDANTS
BY REV. JOSEPH E. HAYNE, B. D.
PASTOR OF MORRIS BROWN AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
CHARLESTON, S. C.,
THE AUTHOR OF A PRIZE ESSAY ON "WHO WAS JAMES ARMINIUS
AND WHAT WAS HIS PECULIAR DOCTRINE ?"
—with an—
INTRODUCTION BY REV. J. WOFFORD WHITE,
AND A POEM BY
REV. GEO. C. R O W E,
THE AUTHOR OF THOUGHTS IN VERSE. "
VOL. I.
CHARLESTON, S. C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell Co., Printers,
and 5 Broad and 117 East Bay Sts.
1887.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888,
By J. E. Hayne,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
ERRATA.
On page 79, eighteenth and nineteenth lines front the
top, instead of " cities great " read " great cities," and
instead of like the expression " read " the like
expression,"
On page 81, sixteenth line from t>>p, instead of
" Genesis X, and tongues" read" Genesis X, families
and tongues " and instead of mankind to old Homer"
read " mankind by old Homer."
On page 92, ninth line from bottom instead of " as to
be understood " read is to be understood."
On page 96, seventeenth line from top instead of
" therein have been exhumed by great explorers "
read " therein referred to have been exhumed by
great explorers."
The printers are not responsible for the mistakes
referred to in this errata.
TO
ALL NEGROES
WHO HAVE MADE,
ARE NOW MAKING, AND
WHO WILL MAKE PROGRESS IN THE
INTELLECTUAL, MORAL, INDUSTRIAL AND
RELIGIOUS WORLD, THIS VOLUME
IS INSCRIBED,
BY THEIR COMRADE IN
THE RACE FOR SUCCESS.
THE AUTHOR,
INTRODUCTION.
Every age has had its problems. Time alone can
solve them and separate error from truth, and pre¬
serve the fittest. One of the most difficult problems
ever submitted to the arbitrament of man is that of
the Negro Problem of this present age.
On the principle that there is nothing "new under
the sun," and things which do now exist are only
reproductions of what were known in the past,
reason argues that the settlement of present diffi¬
culties must be on the same basis and governed by
the same rules prevalent in like problems in former
times. Hence the following rule :
When two races come in contact on the same terri¬
tory, one of three things must inevitably result:
Either the weaker is forced to emigrate, or the
weaker is lost in the stronger by amalgamation, or
the stronger exterminates the weaker. It is admitted
that this has been the result in the past, as history
abundantly proves. In prehistoric Greece, in the age
made heroic by the exploits of chieftains of high and
low degrees, when the gods would enter with zest
into the affairs of mortals, a race of people dwelt in
happiness and peace. They had arisen to a height
beyond that of primeval man. They tilled the earth,
raised crops of vegetables, boiled beans, baked bread/
and built walled cities ; they even erected monuments
which are known in history as Pelasgic or Cyclopean
Remains. While this people thus lived in apparent
security, they were unconscious of the mighty move¬
ment of the Aryan branch of the human race in vast
hosts, far outnumbering the original settlers, and
poured into the land, completely overwhelming the
0
Introduction.
Pelasgic race, and as a result of the contact, these
original settlers lost their identity in the race that be¬
came their conquerors. As the two could not remain
together on the same soil, amalgamation was the only
solution possible, and, considering the darkness of
the age, they are to be commended for their success
in the settlement of what must have been to them a
difficult problem.
The Europeans found on the American Continent
another race of beings. They both came in contact,
and the result was extermination almost wholly of
the Indian race, and those who yet live are forced to
recede further and further toward the setting sun, and
even they must soon hear the roar of the last wave
that must settle over them forever.
Shall Amalgamation be the end of the Negro ? Be¬
cause he lives on the same soil, surrounded by the same
influences, environed by the same circumstances, will
he lose his identity and become somebody else? Is
such an end necessary or desirable ? This shall not be
the end of the Negro. He will not lose his identity ; he
will remain himself in spite of surrounding influences
and environments, arguments to the contrary not¬
withstanding. Such a solution is not desirable by
any one that has the least particle of that essential of
the human mind which, for the lack of a better name,
is called common sense. A few able men are w.edded
to the doctrine of amalgamation. Fred Douglass
preaches and manifested his faith in the doctrine by
putting it into practical effect. Doctor Abel Stevens
can see no other way to solve the Negro problem.
Some whose standard of merit is the color of the skin
ardently desire it. But they are doomed to disap¬
pointment just, poignant and wise. True it is that we
have pointed this method out as one of the processes
of the past; yet it must be remembered that when
and wherever it occurred, with but few exceptions,
Introduction.
there were sameness of complexion, admitted equality
in social position, wealth equally distributed; and
where this was not the case, the one had some quali¬
ties not possessed by the oilier, and thus each started
out in life with a fair chance of success : and further,
success depended largely on the strongest, the swift¬
est, the most prudent and the persevering. Further¬
more, in matters of this kind, the stronger must make
overtures to the weaker. In this case the Negro starts
out with many disadvantages : r. His years of thral¬
dom. 2. His complexion. The white race will never
think that any result of blending will equal his own.
3. Poverty, ignorance and illiteracy of the Negro race
as compared with that of the white. 4. The pride of
the Negro in the color of the white man a confession
of inferiority as to himself and superiority as to the
white. He is willing to believe that the Devil is black,
and God is white.
The white man's idea of beauty, his estimate or
standard of excellencies are as assuredly that of the
Negro as it is his own. Everything in civilization
tends to make him so think. All pictures of great
men who have ever lived; all pictures in geographies
are white. Hannibal of Carthage, the Egyptians, the
conceivers and dispensers of civilization, the Sphinx
at Memphis, are all painted white. So even our own
children are thus educated to despise themselves
because bla.ck is made to represent evil, and respect
white because all the accomplishments of man are
represented to be the results of that race born white.
Finally, that steady growth of race pride, that
determination of the Negro to be the weaver of his
own fortune, the carver of his own image, and the
fashioner of his own destiny, that spirit in him that
grows more rapidly as time passes, utterly precludes
the possibility of such a solution.
Neither will he emigrate. " If he could, he wouldn't,
8
Introduction.
if he would, he couldn't." He likes this country, and
therefore, has taken it as his permanent abode.
Neither will he be exterminated. He is legion. He
is too many. He is too useful to the other race,
amongst whom he lives. No other people will do
what he does. Were this not the case, Christianity
makes a neutral ground on which both races meet
and understand each other. He will live here and
prosper, despite the recorded glory of his brother in
white. In order to help this prosperity no effort is
better directed nor more wisely conceived than that
of the author of the four volumes, " The Negro Race in
Sacred History, or Ham and His Immediate Descend¬
ants," of which this is the first. We have carefully
followed him as he steadfastly, perseveringly, and
with untiring zeal uncovered the hidden facts of the
past ; unearthed and brought to light, so much of
interest, and calculated to awaken in his race con¬
scious pride of the deeds of their ancestors and
quicken in them the spirit of progress, of doing some¬
thing ; in short, with all the advantages of this age,
to emulate the greatness of those long since gone the
way of all the earth. If it can be proved that the
Negro is of noble ancestry, and the curse of Canaan
was not one of inferiority for them, doubtless, new
life will course through their veins, and they will
eagerly, faithfully, and prayerfully, apply themselves
to the work of race elevation. The fact-is proved, in
the volumes at hand. He who peruses them will not
fail to be benefitted.
J. WOFFORD WHITE.
PREFACE.
This volume that we have tried to prepare aims at
ihesummnm bomim of the Negro race. Though born in
the midst of prejudice, but not by any means conceived
therein, it is not at all likely that it will attempt to
teach that which in no sense is any part of its consti¬
tution.
While it is not like the Grecian arts, rocked in the
cradle of the Graces, yet it is certainly taught by love
to speak. The truths that it contains are but the
gems that a persistent, honest and feeble intellectual
miner has collected and brought to the surface for an
impartial investigation. I cannot for the lack of in¬
tellectual powers and a liberal education weave this
story in such language as that which has given fresh¬
ness and symmetrical beauty to the narration of the
Corinthian maid ; yet, in sympathy and great fervor,
it is wrought for the best advantage of the Negro race.
It will be readily perceived that this little work as yet,
at least, is but a simple and feeble attempt at a compen¬
dium of The Negro in Sacred History, or Ham and His
Immediate Descendants.
The first stage in all work of this character is that
of preparation, the second is that of establishment, and
the third is that of refinement. It must be remem¬
bered that it required a thousand years to bring to
perfection the art of sculpture, such as that produced
by Phidias and Praxiteles.
It is not the lack of materials that causes the his¬
torical poverty of this volume, but it is the want of
time, space and ability. However, like the classic,
historic Helen, who caused many hard fought battles,
I work as it were this narrative on common tapestry,
knowing that the time is not far distant when the
H erodotus' of the Negro race will not only amplify,
but will bring it to a state of perfection.
10
Preface.
Polygnotus had his emulation excited by the per¬
fect art of Zeuxis and the superior skill of Parrhasius,
but your humble servant finds his emulation in the
sacred historian, Moses, and his laconic record of
those whom I discuss in this book. Though I cannot
with my pen depict the characters in this volume like
Timanthes, the Cynthian, who with pencil delineated
the sacrifice of Iphigenia, in his portray of "the sor¬
row of the priest, the regret of Ulysses,, and the sym¬
pathy of Menelaus;" and as though for the lack of
descriptive power to give the proper expression of
" feelings " to " the father," " he threw a veil over his
face."
I am confident of one thing, while I have omitted
much that might have been said, yet I have said
enough to awaken that kind of investigation that will
bring the Negro to the front in a new field, where he
will be studied, better understood, and more highly
appreciated by his brother in white.
IfTerpander, the rrusician, could appease a violent
sedition by music; " if Solon, by singing an elegy of his
own composition," and thereby excite " his country¬
men, the Athenians, to the renewal and termination
of a war with Salamis," in which "Artemisia, Xerxes'
own ally," a woman of great fortitude, distinguished
herself by fighting like a man, while the men fought
like women ; will not this little volume help to inspire
the Negro race in their march after higher civilization ?
If this much should be accomplished by my feeble
efforts, I will have been greatly rewarded. Being
satisfied with the honesty of my desire and the purity
of my purpose, I launch the little volume on the bosom
of the sea of criticism, and implore for it nothing more
and nothing less than an equal chance in the fiterarv
field.
Our closing remarks are directed at all unjust ci'iti-
cisms,a.nd we quote the same from Voltaire's lable-talk:
Preface.
11
" Several of the principal wits of France (among
others, the Prince of Vondome, the Chevalier de
Bouillon, the Abbe de Ruffi, who had more under¬
standing than his father, and several companions of
Beauchaumont, Chapelle, and Ninon de l'Enclos),
supping together, were speaking all in their power
against LaMotte Houdart. The fables of that author
had just been published, and were treated by the com¬
pany with the utmost contempt. They asserted that
he was wholly unable to approach the most indiffer¬
ent fables of La Fontaine. I then mentioned an
edition of La Fontaine, lately published, and talked of
several new fables added from the papers of Madame
de Bouillon, one of which I pretended to recite. Ac¬
cording, they were all in transports, and exclaimed :
4 How different from the style of LaMotte ! What
precision ! What elegance ! Every word proves it
to be La Fontaine's ! ' I had been laughing at them.
The fable was really LaMotte's."
There are some critics whose. criticisms are very
much like that referred to above, based on nothing
but raw prejudice. If all the critics of this character
would only keep in mind this excerpt from Samuel
Parr's table-talk—" No man can be a good critic who
is not well read in human nature," authors would
have better judges and more sympathizers, and, as a
matter of course, would suffer less anxiety.
It is said that "Goldsmith did everything happily,"
and surely it is ivith much happiness that we submit
our efforts to the public for an impartial investigation
of the truths found herein. " Every one wishes to have
Truth on his side: but it is not every one that sincerely
wishes to be on the side of Truth And why not? for
41 Who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and
open encounter?"
THE" AUTHOR.
13 Morris street, December 16, 1887, Charleston, S. C.
HISTORIC TRUTH.
By Rev. Geo. C. Rowe.
Truth sits enthroned within the sacred Word,
Since time was born, her accents have been heard,
Bringing men peace, enlightenment and joy,
Giving the heart and mind a sweet employ.
Those who have sought, have found a friend of worth,
Gentle, refined, a queen of noble birth.
Oh ! Truth Inspired ! how rich and full thy store !
Possessing thee, what can we wish for more ?
Through thee we trace the way the Ancients trod,
How they were led in providence of God;
How they expand, are scattered far and wide,
After deliv'rance from the surging tide.
Following thee in deep humility,
Thou dost reveal—oh ! depth of mystery !
The mighty God, and King of heaven above,
Father Divine, in wondrous, holy love,
Making with man a covenant of grace,
Op'ning the way to save a fallen race.
Never again shall He destroy with flood,
That He declared at first was very good ;
And on the clouds, a pledge of Truth Divine,
He sets His bow, an everlasting sign.
Filled with delight, the father of a race
Enters the way, through wine, of dark disgrace:
In nakedness before his grandson's eyes,
Standeth exposed -how can he but despise
One who forgets his spiritual birth ?
Forgets that God chose liim of all the earth,
Prophet to be, and priest of righteousness,
To preach the truth, and thus the world to bless.
But now his lips in malediction move,
Anathema, where nought should he but love ;
And so the child is cursed for grandsire's crime,
Himself, and his descendants, for all time :
" Servant of servants e'er shall Canaan be "—
Punishment dire for thoughtless levity.
Historic Truth.
Three sons had Xoah, all within the ark
Secured a place, in safety to embark
Across the flood, that they in joy might see
A period new in the world's history.
The surname of the elder son was Shem ;
The appellation of the second, Ham,
And Japheth was the third—each with his wife
Believed God's word, and thus insured his life.
Shem journeyed east to make himself a home
On Asia's soil, and there he ceased to roam.
.Tapheth to north and west his footsteps bent,
For him the scenic land of Europe lent
Her charms his mind and spirit to beguile,
And there he paused, and rested for a while.
Ham journeyed southward to the Syrian shore ;
Arabia's plains his sandaled footprints bore,
And Africa, with all its wealth untold,
Its precious woods, its ivory ar.d gold—
Spread out in unimagined bounty rare,
Its gifts to him, its treasures rich and fair.
Here settled Ham, and early in these parts,
Flourished the noblest sciences and arts;
Vast pyramids, construct with wondrous skill,
Which stand to-day a questioning wonder still!
What men are these, who built this mighty pile,
With labyrinths most marvellous in style?
What men are these, who fully understand
Geometry and mathematics grand ?
Who through the summit-opening afar,
Can ev'n at midday spy the Polar-star?
What men are these ? Most surely, it is plain,
Men of rich culture, intellect and brain.
These are the men to whom we look with pride—
Our ancestry ; in sciences the guide
To all the world—no need is there of shame,
No reason why we should despise our name !
Then let us all scan well the historic page,
Tracing the line direct from age to age ;
Thus gaining light, encouragement and zeal,
That in life's work, our hearts may always feel
A conscious power, a manhood pure and free,
Which is in truth the highest liberty !
Charleston, S. C., Dec. 21, 1887.
14
Hoio to Study the Present JYork.
HOW TO STUDY THE PRESENT LITTLE WORK WITH
SUCCESS AND UNDERSTANDING.
CHAPTER I.
The language ofMoses, the greatest sacred historian
that ever lived, when speaking of Ham and his im¬
mediate descendants, runs thus:
These arc the sons of Ham, after their families, after
their tongues, in their lands, in their nations, Gen.
x, 20. The learned Mr. Mede, in his very grave
reflections on this important passage, says, that this
great division of the earth we are speaking of was
performed orderly, and was not a confused and irregu¬
lar dispersion, wherein every one went whither he
listed, and seated himself where he liked best.
An orderly sorting is plainly denoted by those
expressions used in * * * * the fore-cited text,
viz: after their families, after their tongues, in their
lands, in their nations.
The best methods or rules by which the study of
the above text might be rendered simple and more
easily comprehended by the most limited scholars of
the age, are those submitted to the public by Doctor
Wells, in his very excellent Biblical Geography of the
Old and New Testament.
Vol. I, Oxford, edition, 1812, part 1st, Chapter
III., Sec. 1st, page 53.
There are ten of them, which we now proceed to
quote :
First. When the Scripture does expressly assign
any portion or tract of the earth to any branch of
Noah's posterity in general, or to any nation or family
in particular; we must rest assured, that the respec-
How to Study the Present Work.
15
tive branch, nation or family, settled itself there ; at
least, to the main or bulk of it.
Secondly. We must seek these original plantations
within a reasonable compass of the earth, and not all
the world over. For when this division was made,
which was in the days of Peleg, the number of man¬
kind was small. For, says Mr. Mede, besides women
and children, their number in all, could not be above
seven thousand, as may be gathered out of Gen. x.
So that it is not likely, that they took the whole
world into the first division or plantation.
Thirdly. Those nations, whose families are named
by Moses, are chiefly to be sought for in places
neighboring to Judea—for, therefore, chiefly did
Moses name their families,because they were such as
the Jews would have to deal with, and that chiefly on
account of their neighborhood.
Fourthly. Where we find the nation, there also we
must look for the families of that nation—because the
families were ranged in their nations; and, there¬
fore,
Fifthly. For the same reason, where we find any one
of the families, there we must look for the rest, and
for the »vhole nation. These five rules aforemen¬
tioned we may take, says Mr. Mede, for sure grounds
and use them as a land compass in our present dis¬
covery; but to them may be added five more of less
weight than the former, yet such as being joined with
the former, will help us to a greater certainty. Where¬
fore,
Sixthly. If we find that the Scriptures usually name
two or more of these nations together, it is a likely ar¬
gument that they were seated both together and were
neighboring one to the other.
Seventhly. We are to observe the fulfilling of pro¬
phesies by nations foretold under the names of their
founders.
16
Hew to Study the ]■'resent 11 \>rk.
Eighthly. Because it is likely that in this division
there was a regard by the wise fathers for their future
colonies, we are to think that they ordered their por¬
tion so, as to nations, if not always as to families, that
when they were to vent their numbers and send forth
new colonies they should not be enforced to encroach
on one another's inheritance, or one to pass through
the lot of another, but that they had either the sea or
empty land every one upon some of his borders.
Ninthly. The testimony of the ancients is to be con¬
sidered.
Tenthly. And lastly, we are to have regards to the
remainders of ancient names; and this is the ordinary
help that every one follows. These are the ten cri¬
teria, or marks, which we are to make use of in the
present discovery; and that which shall be found
agreeable to all or the greater part of these, if it will
not be allowed for evident truth, it must at least be
esteemed the most likely conjecture and the greatest
certainty we can attain to.
The Chronological Table that we shall use with
regard to " Hani and His Immediate Desendants," is
given by the learned Robert Young, LL. D., in his
"Analytical Concordance to the Bible," fourth edition,
published in Edinburgh, Scotland, 188 I.
Hani and His Immediate Descendants. 17
CHAPTER II.
ham and his immediate descendants.
It is under very peculiar circumstances that we come
to consider this much agitated question, and it is to be
hoped that it will never lose its present value to the
race and all parties directly or indirectly concerned
in its welfare. It is true this question is not an en¬
tirely ne.w one, because we saw long since that it was
one destined to become the first of all questions on the
calendar, and that it would be elaborately discussed
and handled with great force and with subduing elo¬
quence by both races.
And if we are to judge from all appearances we are
inclined to think that that time for discussion and
great research is now upon us, and every thinker of
the race is expected to take his place in the struggle
to establish on the firm basis of historic facts the true
status of Ham and his immediate descendants; and
he who can and does not, will be set down in the
future as drones in Ham's busy hive of a great life.
Never before in the history of the race has there
been so much written and spoken of the origin
of this people as now.
It is true that we hear and read against us as a
race at times, enough to discourage us forever; but
being a people of great faith, abundant patience, and
strong hope, we hold on the even tenor of our way
to the bright and promised goal of success.
The great possibility of the race will appear in the
ethnological side of the question as we proceed with
the case in hand. Our subject possesses a beauty that
is well calculated to attract attention and excite ad¬
miration, and that we must bear in mind consists in
18 Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
the strength of argument and in the perspicuity of all
attendanc facts, as every careful and considerate
observer, I am sure, are ready to admit.
Again, this great question, you will perceive, has
both a human and divine side with respect to origin.
Why, who does not know that the birth and very
enormous growth of this all important question is
but the result of great prejudice on the part of some
of our brothers in white ? They have been fertilizing
it for centuries with this same kind of fertilizer—
maliciousness. Of all poisons, there is none so dan¬
gerous to human life and happiness as prejudice.
Look at the unreasonable and abominable argu¬
ments, and the awful distortion of truth that so many
of our brothers in white resort to in order to prove
the inferiority of the descendants of Ham ! Again,
have they not declared them a race that sprung from
baboons and apes, and can never be the equals of the
white race ? To sit supinely by and see and hear
the cataract of bitter and sawing adjectives fall upon
the wounded spirits below, and tear the already
crushed hearts, and not do what lieth in our power
to refute them, would be a direct proof that we are
not and can never be the equals of the race who
daily seek to destroy us.
It is plain to be seen that God in His Providence
lias overruled the bitter and malicious attack of our
brothers in white upon us for good. They surely
meant it for evil, but God sanctified it and converted
it into a blessing, for which we are under many obli¬
gations to Him. If the race were not so barbarously
assailed, there would be no necessity forall this discus¬
sion, and, therefore, their great antiquity and possible
glory would never be so beautifully clothed now in
freshness. This of itself proves the whole thing a
blessing of God in disguise.
We are aware of the greatness of the questioiT in
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 19
hand ; its sweep is from the utmost limit of hoary
antiquity, down to the decline of the ancient glory of
the race. Its broadness will create for us a compari-
tively easy task, which we hope to perform both faith¬
fully and satisfactorily.
We come now to speak of Ham directly. 1st. Who
he was. 2d. His probable residence. 3d. His deified
name among the great races of antiquity. 4th. The
number of sons he was father of, as recorded by Moses
in Genesis.
1st. Ham, according to the author of the book of
Genesis, was one of the three sons of Noah, and the
youngest brother of Japheth and Shem ; and this is a
historic fact that all orthodox writers seem to accept
without any dispute.
This fact being admitted in evidence by them, then
the matter no longer remains a debatable question that
Ham and his descendants may possibly be of the pre-
Adamite stock, or of a race of apes or baboons, if you
please, for Noah, the father of Ham, traces his parental
stock 110 farther back than Adam, who derived his
being directly from God.
Mr. Herbert Morris, A. M., in his able scientific,
work entitled " Present Conflict of Science with the
Christian Religion," when treating the Origin of
Man under the Evolution Theory, says :
" The Scripture account of the Origin of Man is
explicit, full, and peculiar. He is declared to be a
creation of God—to be the product of a distinct and
immediate act of His Almighty power. He is, more¬
over, said to be the Creator's last and crowning work
in this lower world.
As we peruse the first great chapter of the Bible it is
very noticeable that when we come to the opening of
the account of Man's creation, the inspired narrative
assumes d. different tone, and employs a loftier and
more solemn diction, as if expressly to intimate his
20 Ham an.i His Immediate Descendants.
pre-eminent distinction above all the living creatures
which bad been produced before. Instead of simply
issuing His fiat as heretofore, the Creator is now
described as if stepping forth from the throne of His
glory for the accomplishment of a deed of special
importance. To denote the superior nature and high
destiny of being about to be created, the Elohim is
represented as proceeding to the work with measured
deliberation, and as the result of Self-consultation—
and God said, let us make man. And to indicate the
direct and peculiar derivation of the creature man, not
only is his body described as having been formed
immediately by the hand of God, but his spirit also-
as having been given by the breath of the Almighty—
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life
and man became a living soul.
The creature called into being in this wonderful
manner, we are told in very explicit terms, was of
a character differing widely from all other living things
which God has made—So God created man in His
own image, in the image of God created He him :
male and female created He them. This image con-1
sisted not in figure and lineaments of body, for God is
a Spirit, and no material form can bear any similitude
to Him. This image and likeness lay in the soul of
man, and consisted in its capacities to resemble God in
His moral attributes—in a mind capable of true knowl¬
edge, a conscience to distinguish right and wrong.
affections to delight in holiness, and a heart to love
God with all its powers. These mental and moral
endowments elevated man incomparably above every
living creature which the Lord God had made, and,
as the Creator purposed and declared, gave him
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the foivl of the
air, and over every living thing that moved upon the
earJh.
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 21
The Sacred Record, moreover, relates to us the mel¬
ancholy fact, that the first human pair did not long-
retain this their original high position and holy charac¬
ter ; that through temptation they sinned and fell,
and transmitted to all their posterity their own sinful
and fallen likeness; and that thus by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin. Such is
the inspired history of the origin of the human
race.
Widely and essentially different from all this is the
account which evolutionists undertake to read to us.
The theory of these, as before stated, makes no dis¬
tinction between man and the brute as to his
origin; he, like all else that live and move upon the
earth, according to this doctrine, has been evolved
originally from some low and larval form, but proxi¬
mately from the Old World branch of the Simiadoc,
or monkey family. " Man," says Mr. Darwin, " is cer¬
tainly descended from some ape-like creature—a
hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail and pointed
ears, probably arborial in its habits, and an inhabitant
of the Old world." "The early progenitors of man,"
lie says again, " were no doubt well covered with hair,
both sexes having beards ; their ears were pointed and
capable of movement; and their bodies were provided
with a tail, having the proper muscles. The males
were provided with great canine teeth, which served
them as formidable weapons." Such is the picture
drawn of our early parentage; and though expressly
admonished by Mr. Darwin that " we need not be
ashamed of it," yet we are forced to confess that, to
us, it is alike horrid and repulsive, and that we invol¬
untarily shrink from it!
The Scripture account of Man's origin, and that
offered by the Development Hypothesis, are thus
radically and essentially different ; to reconcile them,
therefore, is hopeless, is impossible; and we hesitate
22 Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
not to pronounce the futile attempts that have been
put forth to do so as being simply profane; for of
which of the descendants of a '' hairy quadruped "
can it with any propriety be said, that it was brought
in the image and likeness of God/ Or, at what point
in its lineage or history did the ape-like creature, sin
and fall, and bring condemnation upon all its offspring ?
But we refrain from pressing such questions—they
are unseemly.
No theory could easily be imagined more funda¬
mentally adverse to Christianity than that of develop¬
ment presented by Mr. Charles Darwin; its direct
and undisguisable bearing is to sap and remove the
very foundation upon which it rests. Man's original
righteousness, his fall into sin and condemnation, and
his redemption by the death of Christ—these three are
the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion.
But this theory does away with all these. By ascrib¬
ing the origin of man to a hairy brute, it denies his
primitive righteousness; by denying his original
righteousness, it denies his fall ; by denying his fall,
it denies his" redemption therefrom, by the death of
Christ. It denies that primitive man had any knowl¬
edge of or belief in "a God hating sin and loving
righteousness." It is evident, then, that under the
garb of development, we discover an insidious but
deadly foe to our holy religion, that hopes, by thus
gnawing at its roots, to see its whole fair form wither
away from the earth.
This theory, moreover, denies to man an immortal
spirit, and blots out all his hope of future existence.
If, as their hypothesis asserts, there has descended
from the monkey a series of advancing and improving
creatures, each succeeding one less ape-like and
more human-like, until at length they develop into
man; it follows that man's mind has been derived
from the monkey mind, just as his body has been
Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
23
derived from the monkey body—the two animate,
man and the monkey, are in their nature identical ;
there is, there can be, no essential difference. This
Darwin openly avows, and persistently attempts to
prove. Man, according to his doctrine, is merely a
more perfectly developed animal. Hence we are
landed in this dilemma—we must either hold that all
monkeys have, like men, immortal souls ; or, that all
men, like monkeys, are soulless and doomed to eter¬
nal extinction—conclusions alike repugnant to reli¬
gion and common sense.
The representation that man has descended from
" a hairy quadruped," is not less degrading in its
influence than it is repulsive in its aspect and profane
in its spirit. This attempt to give man a brutish
origin, not only lowers him in the scale of being, but
in his own estimation, and tends inevitably to injure
and degrade his character. Let our children once be
brought to believe that they are brothers and sisters
to the apes, instead of being the offspring of God,
and that their forefathers were but beasts in the forests,
and it will take away from them the most powerful of
motives to act a rational, worthy and noble part on the
stage of human life.
This materialistic doctrine, we have sufficient rea¬
sons to believe, is already beginning to produce its
direful but legitimate fruits. Denying, as it does, all
real distinction between man and beast—between the
spirit of the brute that goeth downward and the spirit
of man that goeth upward, and thus banishing from
the mind and heart all sense of accountability—who but
must see that its direct and certain tendency is to take
away the fear of God from before the eyes of men, to
break down all the restraints arising from an appre¬
hension of His righteous judgment, and to extinguish
ail hope, all desire of His approbation and reward in
a future state? Those teachers who would make
24 Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
man believe that he is a brute in his origin, take the
most effectual course to make him a brute in charac¬
ter; and they are, we doubt not, in no trivial measure,
accountable for the reckless disregard and violation
of law, human and divine—the low estimate set on
human rights and human life, and the frequent dark
and shocking crimes—that have so marked the past
few years.
Of all this it will be sufficient proof to quote a
single paragraph from Mr. Darwin's work. Speaking
of natural selection as affecting civilized nations, he
says: "With savages, the weak in body or mind are
soon eliminated, (i. e., are killed off,) and those that
survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health.
We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost
to check the process of elimination. We build asy¬
lums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick ; we
institute poor laws, and oar medical men exert their
utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last
moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination
has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitu¬
tion would formerly have succumbed to small-pox.
Thus the weak members of civilized societies propa¬
gate their kind. No one who has attended to the
breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must
be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising
how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed,
leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but ex¬
cepting in the case of man himself, hardly any one is
so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed."
Thus plainly are we given to understand that in build¬
ing asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, the sick ;
instituting poor laws ; administering vaccination—en¬
deavoring thus to prolong the lives of our fellow
creatures—ive are directing our care ivrongly, and caus-
ing a degeneration of the race of men! Who would
wish, who would consent to such a passage as the
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 25
above introduced into our national school books?
Could any sentiment or principal be inculcated more
ruinous to morals, or more opposed to the spirit of
Christianity, or more withering to all the kindly feel¬
ings of our nature ? And that dark hint at " elimina¬
tion "—what more effectual encouragement could be
given to the commission of infanticide and foeticide,
crimes already so shockingly prevalent?
Again : This theory which would identify the hu¬
man race with the brutes of the forest, and avers them
to be subject to the same laws and doomed to the
same fate, tends to work national as well as individual
evil. When sinful and selfish and sensual beings, as
fallen humanity are found to be, are taught, as they
are by the theory of natural selection, that it is a law
of nature to man, no less than to beast, that the strong
should trample down and exterminate the weak, and
that when they are successful in doing so, they are
only inheriting their legitimate destiny as " the fittest
to survive"—what results, what fruits could be looked
for from such a doctrine but high handed injustice,
oppression and cruelty, on the one hand, and suffering,
slavery and extermination on the other? Is not the
tendency, if not the design, of evolutionism, therefore,
to favor the strong, and crush the weak—to elevate
the favored few, and to depress the less fortunate
multitude? Is not its very spirit that of the tyrant's
maxim, "Might makes right"? Certain it is that,
The Survival of the Fittest, and Liberty, Fraternity
and Equality can never be inscribed on the same
banner.
Though the arguments presented in the preceding
chapter, against the transmutation of Species in
general, are of course of equal force against this trans¬
formation of monkeys into men; nay, are of tenfold
greater force, for the gulf which divides man from the
monkey is incomparably broader and deeper than the
9
26
Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
intervals which separate the different species of the
inferior creatures—yet, conclusive as those arguments
are, the evil bearings of the theory of natural selec¬
tions, as above indicated, render it necessary to con¬
sider particularly the more specific facts urged by
evolutionists in support of the idea that man is de¬
scended from the monkey.
The arguments offered in support of the theory
that the human race is descended from the ape race,
are mainly based upon the fact that there exist certain
points of similarity between the bodily structure of
man and that of the ape. " It is notorious,'' says Mr.
Darwin, " that man is constructed on the same gene¬
ral type or model with other mammals. All the
bones in his skeleton can be compared with corres¬
ponding bones in a monkey, bat, or seal. So it is
with his muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and internal
viscera. The brain, the most important of all the
organs, follows the same law, as shown by Huxley
and other anatomists."
This statement, in a general and qualified sense, is
correct. All admit that man has an animal nature;
and there is no question that his bodily frame is con¬
structed on the same general plan as that of other
mammal creatures. How could it be otherwise?
Like other mammals, man is made to live and move
and have his being on the earth, in connection with
and in dependence on its material productions. He
is made to eat and drink, to rest and sleep, like them,
and to perform numerous other functions precisely
similar to theirs. Hence his bodily structure and
theirs of necessity must exhibit many points of resem¬
blance, more or less remote. The animal frame of
man, all acknowledge, has been moulded after the
same type as other mammals; but that affords no
.grounds for the assumption that they are of the same
origin. All steam engines are constructed on the
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 2 7
same general principle, and have many parts that can
be compared one with another; but that is no evi¬
dence that the stationary engine in the factory, and
the locomotive on the railroad, have been made in the
same workshop, much less that both have descended
from one and the same engine parent. Man's cor¬
poreal frame resembles that of the ape, not because he
is descended from the ape, but because he requires
for his habitat and special mode of life precisely such
a bodily structure as he possesses. If this argument
of evolutionists is, in itself, worth anything, it will
prove quite as conclusively that the ape is descended
from man—indeed, a little more so, for to degenerate*
from a higher to a lower, is by far the more prevalent
course of nature.
Of extant or living monkeys, which the advocates
of development designate as being man-like, there
are four tribes, the Gibboon, the Orang, the Chim¬
panzee, and the Gorilla; and of these they have
chosen the last for comparison with man, as coming
upon the whole the nearest to the human form, and
for this reason serving their purpose best."
This eminent scholar, following up his logical and
eloquent argument on the evolution theory, says
when concluding his most profound treaties on the
unity of the human race, or ethnology scientifically
discussed, and which abounds with quotations from
some of the greatest Ethnologists who ever lived, that:
"The doctrine of the unity of mankind, then, which is
the doctrine of the Bible, after all the various and
repeated assaults of its enemies, may be considered as
finally settled on the ground of simple scientific inves¬
tigation. And thus, as in a hundred other instances,
the testimony of science comes at length to confirm
that of the Inspired Word.
The common origin of the human races has been by
no means an apparent fact to men ; indeed, the doc-
t2S Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
trine has been one involved in great obscurity, while
many things seemed to speak directly atrainst it. The
varieties of languages, of complexions, of forms of
skull, of expressions, of feafures, and of qualities of
hair, all would appear to favor strongly the idea that
these races must have descended from different and
distinct original stocks; and it must be admitted that
national prejudices of the Jczus, who accounted all
Gentile nations as dogs and outcasts, would naturally
and powerfully incline them to this latter view. Yet
we find the sacred writers, without doubt or hesita¬
tion, laying the doctrine of the unity of mankind at
the foundation of their holy book and religion; and
plainly and emphatically declare that all the races are
the offspring of one common father, Adamjithat
"God has made of one blood all nations to dwell on
all the face of the earth;" and that there was a time
when " the whole earth was of one language and one
speech." Whence came these views and thoughts into
the minds of chose sacred writers? How, in their
unscientific day and in their circumstances of limited
knowledge of the world and its inhabitants—how on
subjects so difficult, on which there has ever since
been such a variety of opinions among men, did they
at once anticipate all that would be established on the
subject in the far distant age of the latter part
■of the nineteenth century of the Christian era?
How—could they state at the outset what man after
protracted scientific investigation zco/tld be led to be¬
lieve at the last / The simplest and most credible ex¬
planation that can be given of this is, that the Omnis¬
cient Spirit, that sees and knows all truth, guided
them to the knowledge of the facts and to the state¬
ments of the truths, to which the world would at last
come, but which would be reached by men in
their own investigations only after ages had passed
away. The theory that asserts the Races to be of dif-
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 25)'
ferent and distinct origins, as is ever to be expected
from a doctrine founded in error, is adverse to the
best interests of man-kind, and tends to aggravate the
direst evils under which the world has ever groaned—
zvar and slavery. This is its obvious and ceitain ten¬
dency. It dissolves all the bonds of the human family,
it dissevers all fraternal relations between peoples, it
extinguishes nil common sympathy, it makes differing
races aliens one to another, and thus fosters the spirit
of strife, enmity, and bloodshed. And hence the no¬
torious fact that in this country, in time past, it found
some of its warmest advocates among those interested
in the system of human slavery.
On the other hand, the Bible doctrine of the unity
of mankind, in harmony with the eternal tendency of
truth, is eminently conducive to the peace and high¬
est welfare of the world. It teaches us that the
earth's population constitutes one family ; that we are
all vivified by one and the same hereditary blood;
and that we owe one to another the affection,
sympathy and kindness of brethren. Baron Hum¬
boldt, speaking of the important bearing of this
doctrine, says, " Deeply rooted in the innermost na¬
ture of man, and enjoined upon him by the highest
tendencies, the recognition of this bond of humanity
becomes one of the noblest leading principles in the
history of mankind." Yes—for it supplies a founda¬
tion for the broadest philanthropy, and offers incen¬
tives to the exercise of universal benevolence. It
enjoins upon us the spirit of brotherly love, and the
practice of brotherly kindness, toward every human
being. It bids us carry the light and the blessings
we enjoy to every benighted and destitute child of
Adam, whether dwelling on this or that side of the
globe, whether bleached amid polar snows or black¬
ened beneath tropic suns. It commands us to go
forth into all the world, and preach the Gospel to
SO Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
every creature, with the assurance that whosoever be-
lieveth in the Son of God shall be saved.
Note.—To all that has been said above, we may
add that the traditions which prevail in all lands con¬
nect together the most distant and dissimilar races,
and which, like the converging sunbeams, point us
back to One Origin.
1. The Creation of Man has its place in the legions
of Greece, in the beliefs of India, in the cosmogony
of Peru, in the traditions of the North American In¬
dians, and of the South Sea Islanders.
2. The Garden of Eden has its representation under
the City of Brahma among the Hindoos, and under
the garden of the Hesperides among the Greeks.
3. The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil has its
counterpart in the golden apples,"the mysterious tree,
and the watchful serpent in classic fable.
4. The Temptation of Eve has its record in the
legend of the lovely Pandora, who, yielding to her
fatal curiosity, opened the closed box, from which
flew forth diseases and wars to fill the world with
woe.
5. The Original Innocence and happiness of the first
human pair are embodied in the traditions of China,
Thibet, Persia, Ceylon, and India.
6. The Division of Time into Weeks is found to
have prevailed almost universally.
7. The Serpent of Eden has its memory preserved
in the wide-spread prevalence of serpent worship; a
practice found in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, the
Friendly Islands, and various parts of America.
8. Of the Dclnge traditions are found in China,
India, Persia, Egypt, Greece, the Pacific Isles, and in
North and South America.
9. The Institution of Sacrifice has been remem-
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 31
bered and practiced through all the ages, and among
all the nations of the earth.
These and similar traditions as Dr. Fraser observes,
" constitute a cumulative argument in favor of one
race, which cannot be ignored or set aside. Their
prevalence is utterly inexplicable, except through the
Bible narrative. On its basis alone can we so adjust
the facts of science, and the common traditions of
dissimilar races, as to realize perfectly harmonious
results."
These are the kind of stubborn facts that force our
enemies up to the inevitable point, which is either an
open acknowledgment of these facts in question, or an
awful fall into perpetual silence.
The sophistical doctrine of the pi e-Adamitests is
certainly without foundation in the sacred record,
and greatly devoid of sound reasoning; but to the
more readily handicapped, it is brimful of deception,
and consequently well calculated to lead many a good
man astray.
Then never mind where you hear this eloquent
tongue of deception, it is but the tocsin cry of the old
foe against Ham and his descendants.
Might we then not ask at this point, does not St.
Paul's doctrine on the unity of the human family
strike peculiarly hard, the conscience of every guilty
person when he solemnly declares, that " God hath
made of one blood all nations of men' for to dwell on
all the face of the earth ?" Now, if this doctrine be
true, is it not plainly to be seen then that there is no
congruity between the doctrine of the pre-Adamitests
and that of St. Paul, who has founded his doctrine on
reason and in God our common Father, whose pro¬
tection is guaranteed to all anxious inquirers after
truth, and to every lover of justice?
Those who fail to see the above light of truth must
surely have their mental residence in the catacomb of
32 Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
inhuman prejudice, and that even surrounded with
Cimmerian darkness.
Having briefl\/ considered the first part of our
subject, we now turn our attention to part second,
Ham's probable residence, that is, its whereabouts.
2nd. Ham's residence is supposed to have been
with his second son, Mizraim, whose residence was in
the land of Egypt. Why Ham didn't reside in Arabia
with his eldest son, Cush, is not stated by the sacred
historian. By mere conjecture, we might say, that he
found in the climate of Africa what was not to be had
in Arabia, or it may be that he discovered in Mizraim
what Cush was devoid of, and that might have been a
child's affection for its aged parents, hence his resi¬
dence with the son in question.
The strongest ground we have in which to set forth
this supposition, that Ham resided with Mizraim in
Egypt, is the declarations made by the royal Psalm¬
ist at least three different times, when he called the
country the land of Ham. Psalm LXXVIII, 51 ;
CV, 23, 27 ; CVI, 21-22. Doctor B, T. Tanner, in a
very able editorial in the A. M. E. Church Rcviczv,
553 PaSe» Vol. Ill, July, 1887, No. 5, says : " Ham is
the father of all Africa, and the Negro, being of Af¬
rica, is necessarily of Ham."
Again, the famous Rosetta inscription which bears
the name (Ham) Chme, as explained by the learned
Champollion, shows that it is used over ten times on
it. Moving one step farther, we find that the Coptic
language, or the native tongue of Egypt, is another
evidence that originally the country was called Kem
or Chem, which signifies the land of Ham.
This matter which we set forth deserves much at¬
tention and deep investigation, and without that its
real history would lose its attraction and force. This
is plain to the most casual observer.
And by pushing our investigation a little farther,
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 33
we find two initial letters in the hieroglyphic lan¬
guage of Egypt that are of no minor importance, K.
M., which stands for the land of Ham. Now with
this and the foregoing historic facts, what other con¬
clusion can we arrive at than that Ham settled in the
country of Egypt or the land bearing his name?
To all reasonable minded persons this conclusion is
acceptable, and stands as correct until proven other¬
wise.
We are now after a laconic statement bearing on
the case of Ham's supposed residence in the land of
Egypt with his son Mizraim, prepared to introduce
our third division, which is Ham's deified names
among the great nations of antiquity.
3rd. Ham's deified names among the nations of an¬
tiquity are as follows : The Egyptians are one of the
most ancient nations, and a people who were noted
for their advanced ideas in science, art and literature,
and the civilizers of mankind knew Ham by his dei¬
fied name, Jupiter Ammon. It is known, however,
that the Egyptians taught that the world of matter
originated from three great principles, Osiris, Iais and
Typhon, but neither of these, in their minds, were
metempsychosed and deified like their great ancestor
Ham.
The Greeks, a very polished and refined nation
of antiquity, had for their chief god Zeus, who was
no less person than Jupiter Ammon among the Egyp¬
tians. With them this god is supposed to have re¬
sided on Mount Olympus in Thessaly, and his office
was to preside over nature in general. He was presi¬
dent of all of the superior gods, which were many.
The Romans, a race of intellectual giants, and a
people who gave shape and strength to law and beauty
to government, knew their superior god by the ap¬
pellation of Jupiter Ammon of the Egyptians.
" In Rome the Capitol was specially dedicated to him,
34 Ham and His Immediate Descendants.
and he had in that city many temples." These are no
ordinary facts with which we confront Ham's foes ; and
if this despised son could command such an influence
in his day and generation, that the most powerful na¬
tions of earth would accept of the metempsychosis
doctrine of him by his posterities, the Egyptians, he
in his deified condition should be declared their god,
it is a clear evidence that his standing in earth among
the children of men in that age of the world was that
of the highest.
He was made by that act the model of the high¬
est type of human greatness, and by virtue of that
position he became the representative of all of Noah's
children ; and this idea now advanced will find ampli¬
fication farther along the line of this much protracted
and historic book.
4th. Our last proposition is the number of sons
Ham was father of, as recorded by Moses in Genesis.
It is very important for us, however, to know that
several of the names which Moses reports in Gen. x. are
plural and not singular, and therefore represent whole
nations, and not individuals of families ; for example,
Kittim, which is generally acknowledged by learned
men to mean the descendants of Keth, refers to many,
and not a few persons.
The sacred record shows that Ham was the father
of Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan, four sons. Each
of these boys received a section of country beautiful
for situation and the most desirable as to climate. It
is strange, but true, that nearly all of the tropical
regions and the whole of the torrrid zone have been
given by Noah to Ham, who gave it to his sons as
named above. In other words, the natural garden
spot of the earth, or the Eden portion of the world,
was bequeathed to Ham and his posterity, who are
principally in possession of it now, and will be more
so in times to come.
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. 35
For the present we will not speak at length about
the topography of the countries in question.
We cannot say that it was or was not the physical
condition of Ham that secured him such a lovely
portion of the globe. He might have been of a weak
constitution, and in that case a cold, rugged climate
would be against him, and his father considered the
matter, hence his position.
Again, it might have been that his robust health
was more adapted to the country allotted to him than
any other ; and we are rather inclined to think that his
name suggests the idea. There is one thing very
self-evident, and that is, if the curse of Ham was, as
our brother in white or " Caucasian " seems bent to
make it, regardless of the immoral shape he gives the
truth and the distortion of historical records, the
location of Ham's descendants is certainly against
him.
This child of ebony and wonder, who in silence has
agitated more nations than all the swords of the
mighty, is now taken leave of, and will only be called
into question as occasion demands.
The subject of our next chapter will be Cush, the
eldest son of Ham, and his descendants, in the land
of Arabia.
3G
Qtsh and the Cushitcs.
CHAPTER III.
CUSH AND THE CUSHITES.
" He that writes,
Or makes a feast, more certainly invites
His judges than his friends; there's not a guest
But will find something wanting or ill-drest."
The subject in hand is one full of interest, and every
person who approaches it perfectly free of prejudice,
will not only enjoy its freshness, but will be able to
commend it for its inviting charms. For instance, the
topography of the land of Cush is simply beautiful,
and it will always be admired by all who may per¬
chance come in contact with it. Again, there are no
people whose record goes farther back into the bosom
of hoary antiquity than that of the Cushites.
Their location in the country of Arabia, as their ancient
cities and plantations will show, is of great importance
to every Bible geographer, historian, poet and philos¬
opher of the race. And why? Because these reve¬
lations are not only numerous, but are wonderfully
grand in the display of their ancient national glory.
With these revivifying facts before us and the best
of histories to draw from, how can our subject be
otherwise than rich in abundance of truth and fertile
in didactic and perspicuous thoughts ?
Before proceeding too far, we desire to mention
something about the country of Arabia, its climate
and resources.
There is no question that Arabia, the Asiatic home
of Cush, is one of the loveliest portions of the
globe. Aside from its vast desert section, its agricul¬
tural regions abound with '"'wheat, barley, millet,
palms, tobacco, indigo, cotton, sugar, tamarinds, ex¬
cellent coffee, senna, and many aromatic and spicc
Cush and the Cushitcs.
37
plants; as balsam, aloe, myrrh and frankincense."
While the country is destitute of vast forests, it has
an extensive stretch of desert grass, fragrant with aro¬
matic herbs, which furnish great pastures for the
best breed of horses in the world.
These are animals that have been cultivated for
several thousand years. Its animal kindom abounds
with sheep, goats and oxen, which are domestic in
character; camels, the "ship of the desert" in char¬
acter, gazelles, ostriches, lions, panthers, hyenas,
jackals, monkeys, pheasants and doves.
Its mineral kingdom yields iron, copper, lead, coal,
basalt, asphaltum and the precious stones ; emerald,
carnelian, agate and onyx. Pearls are found in the
Persian Gulf.
The climate and vegetation are decidedly African.
Its language, education and history will appear more
fully as we proceed with eaeh son of Cush down to
the time of Mohammed, notwithstanding all prior to
his time is involved somewhat in mystery.
We open our third chapter by saying that Cush
was Ham's eldest son and Noah's eldest grandson,
and, according to Biblical geography, dwelt in the land
of Arabia, immediately south of Palestine.
Moses has marked distinctly the land of Cush by
the River Gihon, which, he says, " covipasseth the
whole land of Cush"—Genesis II, 13. We are per¬
fectly satisfied to set up this testimony, " that Susi-
ana is now called Chitzestan, which carries in it plain
footsteps of the original word Cush, or, as it is writ¬
ten by some, Chus or Quiz." Benjamin of Navarre,
a very learned man who had given much study to
this question, says : " That the great province of
Elam, whereof Susa is the metropolis, and which the
Tigris waters is called so."
Now what are we to understand by the province of
Elam ? It is that section of country extending itself
38
Ciish and the Cushites.
as far as the coast of the Persian Gulf, at the east of
the mouth of the Euphrates, and bears the name
Elymias. It is comprehended in the modern Kur¬
distan. Motrins Niger, in his Commentary on the
Geography of Asia, says: "The inhabitants of the
land call it absolutely or plainly Chus."
According to 2d Kings, XVII, 24, that same
region was called Cuthah. The people of this section,
it is true, spoke different dialects. A very large colony
of them were transported into Samaria by Salmanas-
sar to fill the vacancy of its inhabitants and the ten
tribes that had been carried away into captivity.
They did not, however, destroy their original name,
which was Cutheans, though they were commonly
known as Samaritans.
There is no doubt that the word Cuthah or Cuth
came from the root Cush or Cits. An examination of
the Chaldean language will reveal this fact, that the
last letter of a word is often changed inte t or th. For
example, instead of saying Sor they said The or, and
Attyria for Assyria.
Very able explorers who have gone into that region
say that the word Cush is traceable now in that pro¬
vince. Take for instance the word Cosseans; is it
not plain Cush ? Again, Cissia and Cissians are also
words derived from the root word Cush.
Cissia was a little province of Susiana, and its in¬
habitants were called Cissians. This same place and
people are happily mentioned by ^Eschylus, a poet
of no mean reputation, and the author of tragedy.
His Prometheus Bound is indeed his masterpiece.
And as a soldier he distinguished himself at three
of the greatest battles ever fought on earth—they
were Marathon, Salamis and Plataea. The above
facts are strongly supported by Pliny, Ptolemy and
Arrian, scholars of the first magnitude. With these
CusJi and the Cushitcs.
39
evidences we rest our case, being satisfied that Arabia
was the home of Cush.
His birth is put B. C. 2250. The term Cush in
Hebrew signifies, first, Black, when referring to per¬
son ; but in Scripture it seems to mean or signify
Ethiopian, when referring to the country—Gen. II,
13; Isa. XI, 2, XVIII, 1; and Ethiopians when re¬
ferring to the inhabitants—2d Chron., XIV, 9; Exo¬
dus II, 15—21.
The above passage in 2nd Chron. refers to Asa,
the king of Judah, who with an army of 580,000
men, encountered and defeated in battle, Zerah, the
Ethiopian. Says, a very excellent theologian, " this
Ethiopian could not have " come " from Ethiopia,
south of the cataracts of the Nile, for in the reign of
Osorkon I, successor of Shishak, no foreign army
would have been allowed a free passage through
Egypt.
Zerah must, therefore, have been Chief of the
Cushites or Ethiopians of Arabia, as they were evi¬
dently a notnad horde who had a settlement of tents
and cattle in the neighborhood of Gerar."
There are two points in the above passage in
Exodus, that we desire to call special attention to in
connection with the matter we have under considera¬
tion. First, " Moses," who "fled from the, face of
PharaohThothmes by name, came and '' dwelt in the
land of Midian," and this was in the second year of
this- monarch's reign. Second, "The Priest of
Midian" was also ruler of the people of that
country.
Ethiopia in Asia, and Ethiopia in Africa are two
different places, but the Ethiopians of Asia, and the
Ethiopians of Africa may have been the same people
or race, as will herein after appear.
This expression will find a very strong semblance
of truth in a proper investigation, for if the above
40
Cush and the Cuslntcs.
declaration about the land of Cush and the Cushites
is questioned, the critics are asked to examine the
following: In the book of Num. XII. I, where they
will perceive that Miriam and Aaron spake against
Moses, because he married a Cushite woman. Now
whether it was the complexion or the nationality or
both, objected t6, we cannot say. God, however, did
not approve the conduct of Miriam and Aaron.
We perceive then by Exodus II, [5—21, that the
Cushite woman whom Moses married, was a Midian-
ite by nationality, and that she lived in Midian or
Madian. This country and its inhabitants are
" situated on the shore of the eastern gulf of the Red
Sea;" the Midianites descended from "the son of
Cush." Their territory extended northward to the
extremity of*the gulf, and westward far across the
desert of Sinai."
And according to Genesis XXXVII, 28, " from
their position near the sea they early combined
trading with pastoral pursuits." This brings us to
notice then, that, the Hebrew translation of the
word Cushite is incorrectly rendered Ethiopia, unless
it is understood as Ethiopia in Asia or Arabia, and
not Ethiopia in Africa. This fact seems to be borne
out by that expression in Habbak, III. j : " I saw the
tents of Cushan in affliction ; the curtains in the land
of Midian did tremble."
Here Cushan and Midian seem to be correlative
terms, that is, Cushan was taken for the whole coun¬
try in general, while Midian was taken for that imme¬
diate or particular region of country, situated around
Midian because of its great religious influence and
commercial interests.
Cushan-rishathaim in the book of Judges III, S-10,
has reference to the Black King of Mesopotomia, who
may have in all probability been a Cushite by birth.
And if the passage quoted inHabbakkuk is to be un-
Cush and the Cushites.
41
derstood as the order of events alluded by the prophet,
then our interpretation of the passage in Judges is
correct. There are others, however who make this
argument, Cushan-rishathaim, the Black King, ruled
over the land of " Midian " as far as Sinai, between
Elath and Moab,andnotoverthe land of Mesopotamia.
It was this same powerful black King with whom
Israel had to contend in the days of the Judges.
The Book of Judges, III, 8, 10, show that Cushanri-
shathaim was the first great oppressor of the Israel¬
ites. They were delivered from under his eight
years' oppression by Othniel, the lion of God. Judges,
III, 9— II. After which they had liberty and peace for
forty years. B.C. 1405. Othniel was the first judge
that God raised up for the Israelites, whose oppres¬
sion at that time was very severe.
Cush, in Scripture, does not always mean Ethiopia
in Africa, as is plain from Ezek., XXIX, 10, for God,
by the mouth of his Prophet, speaks as follows : " I
will make the land of Egypt desolate, from the tour
of Syene even unto the border of Cush.,; By this
declaration we perceive that the extreme North and
the extreme South of Egypt is referred to. Now
every Bible geographer knows that " Syene" was the
Southern boundary of the land of Egypt next over
against what is commonly called Ethiopia in Africa,
while the " border of Cush," is the opposite boundary
of Egypt, which is well known as Asiatic Ethiopia or
the land of Arabia.
Again, our attention is called to the fact, that while
Sennacherib, the blasphemous, avaricious, and bribe¬
taking King of Assyria was laying heavy siege to
Libnah, in the tribe of Judah, King Tirhakah, of the
land of Cush, was moving against him with an im¬
mense army. 2nd Kings, XIX, 9.
Ancient history shows that Tirhakah was a most
powerful King, who reigned in Upper Egypt, indeed,
42
CusJl and the Cushites.
he was another Sesostris. His greatness is left on
many monuments bearing his immortal name, tor
instance, enter the Egyptian temple at Medmct Aboit,
examine the walls thereof, and what do you find ?
why, there is the name and the figure of the great
" Tirhakah receiving war-captives." The original
home of this powerful monarch seems to have been
Meroe, or Ethiopia. Upper Egypt became his
adopted home after its subjugation to him. The
plan of his campaign was to extend his Empire to
the Euphrates, but being met and defeated by a
superior force of arms in the formidable Sennacherib,
King of Assyria, the entire scheme failed.
It would be timely for us and at this juncture to
give a laconic outline of Meroe, the original home of
King Tirhakah, and in doing so we quote the descrip¬
tion given of it by the learned Mr. D'Anville,
found in Dr. J. Lempriere's Classical Dictionary, Part
ist, page 206 :
"Meroe, a country of ^Ethopia, which the ancients
believed to be an island. Two rivers, which the Nile
received successively on the eastern side. Astapitsand
Astaboras, would indeed insulate Meroe, if these rivers
had communication above. The latter is named in
Abyssinia Tacazze. At its confluence with the Nile,
a city indicated by the Arabian geographers in the
name of Ialac should represent Meroe, according to
the position which Ptolemy assigns to it. But we find
a distance given from Ialac to ascend by the Nile to
this city, whose name, in the Arabian geography of
Edr isi, is Nitabia, and common also to the country,
as Meroe was in antiquity."
Again, if we turn to art excerpt from the works of
the learned Malte-Brun in Lempriere's Classical Dic¬
tionary, Part ist, page 206, we find this important
quotation when speaking of this ancient empire: "As¬
cending to the confluence of the great Nile, with the
Cush and the Cushitcs.
43
Nile of Abyssinia, we enter the territories of the
Kingdom of Senaar, which occupy the space assigned
by the ancients to the famous Empire of Meroe, the
origin of which is lost amidst the darkness of anti¬
quity. Many writers, both ancient and modern, have
considered it as the cradle of all the religious and po¬
litical institutions of Egypt, and it must at least be ad¬
mitted to have been a very civilized and a very power¬
ful State. Bruce thought that he saw the ruins of its
Capital under the village of Shandy, opposite to the
Isle of Kurgos. The distances given by Herodotus
and Eratosthenes coincide very well with that posi¬
tion, and the island which, according to Pliny, formed
the port of Meroe, is found to correspond with equal
probability.
Farthermore, we perceive that Asa, Judah's icono¬
clastic King, was proceeded against by a very great
army, headed by Zerah, the King of the Cushites—
2<\ Chron., XIV, 9.
• Now for Tirhakah, the above mentioned King, with
his immense army to reach his destined field of battle
in the land of Judea, he would have to pass through
the Kingdom of So or Sabaco, a most powerful King
who governed Lower Egypt at that time, as the in¬
scriptions on the walls of Medinet Abou and Karnac
attest, and then pass through Arabia or Asiatic Ethi¬
opia, the Empire of Zerah the Ethiopian, who com¬
manded a million soldiers and three hundred chariots
when he made war against Asa, King of Judea, B. C.
942. That is, of course, if we consider him (Tirha¬
kah) belonging to Meroe or Ethiopia in Africa. Now
what we have read of the craftiness of ancient Kings,
it is not probable that Tirhakah's great army was al¬
lowed to pass through two very powerful kingdoms at
will to reach the third, unless they had been con¬
quered, and that we scarcely know anything of.
After this brief investigation, we are satisfied
44
Cush and the Cushites.
that this great King and his mighty army were Cush-
ites, who belonged to Meroe or Ethiopia in Africa,,
while Zcrah, the King of the Cushites of Arabia or
Mesopotamia, belonged to Asiatic Ethiopia. For
such an army as that of Tirhakah's to have passed
through Egypt and Arabia, the country would have
very soon put on the appearance of a large French
avenue of fine trees after an army of willozu -eating cater¬
pillars had raided it. Tirhakah and his army were
very much after the fashion of the Cantharis, and the
Meloe transmuted whatever was harmless into dan¬
gerous poison.
There is a very probable cause that gave rise to the
term Ethiopia in Africa, and that is the supposed
colonies that went across the Red Sea from Asiatic
Ethiopia or Arabia and planted Ethiopia in Africa,
hence it is said that Cush is the father of the Ethi¬
opians in Africa.
When, and by whom, this remarkable crossing was
accomplished is beyond our power of knowing, since
the most subtle investigation is circumvented by the
myths of hoary antiquity. Nothing would give us
more pleasure than to be able to furnish even a
plausible argument in favor of a single individual, but
we cannot do even that. The deep, dark and intri¬
cate past has buried this fact so far out of sight, that
it would savor of the worst species of insanity to
attempt to predict its resurrection.
Now whether the term Cush is ever used in this
sense by the sacred historians, we know not, and again
as every one must know, our knowledge of those times
is too limited for us to venture anything positive with
regard to this particular fact. The following passages
in Isa. XVIII, i ; Zeph. Ill, 10, and 2nd Chron.
XII, 3, however are rendered by some Biblical
scholars Ethiopia in Africa, while other very able
divines expound them as Ethiopia in Asia or Arabia.
Cush and the Cushitcs.
45
In our opinion the latter makes the clearest argu¬
ment, and bases the same on those passages that bear
them out in the stand they have taken in the matter.
It must by this time appear to all impartial individu¬
als that Cush has a good case.
We have after a careful investigation passed the
Charybdis of doubt and prejudice, and the care and
anxiety attending us in this matter can be more
easily imagined than explained. The Scylla of pre¬
sentation of such reading matter as will meet the
approbation of cultivated scholars is what now con-
confronts us, and without any further apology we dis¬
miss the subject with these words, Hominis est errare,
sed inest clementia forti.
This last thought brings up the consideration of
the immediate descendants of Cush and their par¬
ticular location in the land of Arabia, which we will
discuss in our next chapter.
40
Seba, the First Son of Cush.
CHAPTER IV.
SEBA, THE FIRST SON OF CUSH.
If you would only keep the following poem in
mind, we are quite sure that you will appreciate our
efforts to make clear what is wrapped in mystery :
and we would, also, receive your sympathy—you per¬
ceiving our intricate position :
" Thou unrelenting past!
Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain—
And fetters, sure and fast,
Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign.
Far in thy realm, withdrawn,
Old empires in sullenness and gloom ;
And glorious ages, gone,
Lie deep within the shadow of thy wound.
Full many a mighty name
Lurks in thy depths, unuttered, unrevered :
With thee are silent fame,
Forgotten arts, and wisdom disappeared."
There is an unmistakable history here, but who have
learned to perfection the practical use of its alphabet?
A very gifted writer, Palgrave, by name, has truly
said : " Whether fact or chronology, doctrine or my¬
thology—whether in Europe, Asia, Africa, or Amer¬
ica—at Thebes, or Palenque—on Lycian shore, or
Salsbury plain—lost is lost, gone is gone forever-
more." But, thank God, such is not altogether the
case with the subject we have in hand. Its Pharos-
stands on the golden shores of the sacred Record.
Seba, Cush's eldest son, is supposed to have set¬
tled himself in the southwestern part of Arabia. The
ground of evidence is very plausible, as there is a
city in that region that bears the name of Sabe,
which is considered by all distinguished geographers
as signifying " Seba."
Seba, the First Son of Cush.
47
As we are discussing Cush's descendants at this
time, and as we will be compelled to locate them in
various parts of the country allotted them, a laconic
description of their original home in Arabia, is not
now, we think, out of place.
"Arabia, called by the inhabitants Jezirat-al-Arab
(the peninsula of Arabia), by the Turks and Persians
Arabistan, is the great southwestern peninsula of
Asia, and is situated 120 40', 340 N. lat., and 320 30',
6o° E. long. Its greatest length from N. W. to S. E.
is about 1,800 miles; its mean breadth about 600; its
area about 1,230,000 square miles, and its population
conjectured to be not over 5,000,000. It is bounded on
the north by the highlands of Syria and the plains of
Mesopotamia (or by the line from El Arish on the
Mediterranean to the Euphrates delta); on the east
by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; on the
south by the Arabian Sea, and on the west by the Red
Sea and the Suez Canal. Midway between Mecca
and Medina runs the Tropic of Cancer. Ptolemy is
supposed to be the author of the famous threefold di¬
vision into Arabia Petraea, i. e., the Arabia of the City
of Petra, in the northwest, Arabia Felix {an incorrect
translation of Yemen, which does not signify happy,
but the land lying to the right of Mecca) along the
west and southwest coasts, and Arabia Deserta, in the
interior. The more precise divisions are the Sinaitic
Peninsula, between the Gulfs of Suez and Akaba; the
Hedjaz (Land of Pilgrimage), the larger and northern
strip to the east of the Red Sea; Hadramaut, the re¬
gion along the southern coast; Yemen, the southern
and smaller strip to the east of the Red Sea ; Oman,
the extreme southeastern end of the peninsula, as
large as England and Wales; El-Hasa, along the Per¬
sian Gulf; 'Nejd, the central highlands of Arabia."
The City of Saba was located in Arabia Felix; it
was " famous for frankincense, myrrh and aromatic
48
Seba, the First Son of Cash.
plants. The inhabitants were called Sahaci.' Now,
"among the several inhabitants of this country the
Sabaci are the most distinguished, and sometimes
comprise others under their name." We should be
careful and not confound, as some authors have
done, the Sabaei, descendants of Cush, and the
Sabeans, from Abraham, together. In the Book of
Job, II, 15, we have made mention of the Sabeans, a
people who sprang from Abraham by Keturah—
Genesis XXV, 3. They came from Arabia Descrtay
and seem to resemble the " Bedouin Arabs of the
present day in their marauding habits"—Genesis
XVI, 12. The Sabaei of Arabia Felix was a people
of a nobler stock or parentage, and as a matter of
course their habits were on a higher order of civilization-
Dear friends, comparatively speaking, we can say
but very little of the history of Arabia prior to the
time of Mohammed. As a proof, however, that the
pure-blooded Arabs descended from Cush, we set up
the following facts : 1st. "The writings of Hamasa
and Kitab-el-Aghanee, which represent the ' pure r
Arabs as having settled on the extreme southwest of
the peninsula, thence spreading north and east,"'
rightly claim this position in debate. 2d. " The
name Himyar (dusky) which is applied to the ruling
class, sometimes to the entire nation " in Arabia,
when properly defined, substantiates the above argu¬
ment excellently. 3d. " The Himyaritic language
which, as preserved in some proper names, shows de¬
cided African affinities," which is elegantly sustained
thereby. 4th. " The kinship between the pre-Islam-
itic institutions of Yemen and those of the historic
Egyptians, and even of the modern Abyssians " are
really invincible arguments. 5th. " The African bear¬
ing of the physique and manners of the pure-blooded
Arabs/' are impossible to be mistaken in their ances¬
tors. 6th. " The facility of marriage between the
Scba, the First Sou of Cash.
49
southern Arabs and the Africans, and the fecundity of
such unions," date far back into hoary antiquity, and
lends a supply of logic to the foregoing stand we have
taken that makes it now an impregnable and an in¬
controvertible truth.
The Himyars were the ruling class for a long
series of years. If we take the Himyaritic language,
which was widely spoken by nearly the whole nation
of Arabs, or at least those of northern, eastern and
southwestern Arabia, we would be immediately con¬
vinced that the above declarations are correct.
Of all the different kingdoms and dynasties, there
were none of greater influence and power than those
founded by the Himyar people, or the immediate
descendants of Seba.
Southern Arabia always held the balance of
power. It gave authority to law and beauty and
strength to government throughout the land of Ara¬
bia. The most interesting and prosperous of the
many kingdoms among the Arabs was that of Ye¬
men, which was noted for its high civilization, its ex¬
tensive commerce, its poetic literature and practical
arts.
These institutions of the Kingdom of Yemen, as
we have mentioned above, show a common affinity to
those in the valley of the Nile, which argue kinship
between the pre-Islamitic institutions of Yemen and
those of the historic Egyptians, and even of the mod¬
ern Abyssians. Again, in the physique the African
style or bearing that are strongly portrayed in the
pure-blooded Arabs are to be seen the very close and
beautiful affinity that exists between them and the two
peoples referred to above. The oldest tongue of
southern Arabia is Himyaritic.
It was the ambition of the Romans in the reign of
Augustus, who sent /Ellius Gallus, the prefect of
Egypt, at the head of an immense army, that Ye-
3
50
Scba, the First Sou of CusJi.
men might be submerged into the Roman Empire,
but the scheme utterly failed. This one fact gives us
an idea what must have been the power of these
people at that time. It was only by the great mili¬
tary genius of the Abyssinians, under their prudent
and sagacious Queen Candace, a very noble woman,
that they were defeated, and kept in subjection to the
Ethiopians from 529 to 605, a period covering sev¬
enty-six years.
It is to be remembered that it was not until the rise
of Arabian literature that Europe began to come into
notice. At the fall of Jerusalem large colonies of
Jews migrated into Arabia, and settled in and about
Yemen ; they were not there very long before thev
made great many proselytes, especially in Yemen.
It must now be apparent to all that, with this diver¬
sity of creeds in the peninsula, the way to the doc¬
trine of Mohammed is elegantly paved. It was this
doctrine, however, that formed the grand epoch in
Arabian history, and has brought " it into close con¬
nection with the general history of civilization."
This was the period in which Arabian history first
took its rise under one sceptre and one creed.
What empires ever sprang into existence so quickly,
covering at once three-fourths of the earth ; one in Pal¬
estine ; one in Mesopotamia; and one in Persia ; one
in Egypt and the North of Africa, and one in Spain ?
Look at its great power and unbounded influence
wherever it went! From the rise of Mohammed 01"
Arabian dominion in 569 to the fall of the Califat of
Bagdad in 1258, is a period of 689 years; or from
the fall of the Califat of Bagdad, in 1258, to the ex¬
pulsion of the Moors from Spain, in 1492, is a period
of 234 years, making a total of 923 years. The
period that this history covers is one of the most im¬
portant in the history of civilization.
Returning to the main thread of our argument, in
Scba} the First Sou of Cush.
51
which we continue the investigation of Seba, from
whom we believe, and have endeavored to prove,
that the Sabaei descended—ve hope that our read¬
ers will not become impatient with us, because of
the apparent dryness of the subject in hand. The
reason of this, we are far back on the hoary chart
of antiquity, and the only pure source of historic
record we have to draw from, is the Mosiac account
in Genesis, and what we find in other portions of the
Bible.
The Biblical geographies and the ancient pro¬
fane histories at our command have all been carefully
examined on the question, and utilized, and the
interested public are sure to reap the benefit of it.
Bordering as we do on the confines of pre-historic
times and the ''darkness of by-gone ages," we must
necessarily move cautiously and slowly, but surely.
When we come to consider Mizraim and his descend¬
ants, especially Casluhim, Caphtorim and their
descendants in Attica, Greece, the Islands, Crete and
Rhodes, you will be then sufficiently rewarded for
your long patience. It is our intention, even though
we fail to give satisfactory evidence with regard to-
the subject matter in hand, we can tell you dear
friends there is light in abundance ahead.
The time has come when nothing but'deep and
subtle investigations will answer the purpose. The
Negro has a wonderful history, and day by day it will
be developed by means of earnest and patient
researches. We find that Pliny in his Natural His¬
tory, Vols. I and II, Bohn's classical library, and Rev.
Edward Wells, D, D., in his ' Historical Geography
of the Old and New Testament, in two volumes,'
Oxford edition, and in Vol. I, sustain our position.
We could mention other able writers, both ancient and
modern, but it is not necessary to do so. These very
people we have been discussing, are sometimes called
Scba, the First Son of Cush.
Sabeans, and a nobler specimen of humanity were not
to be found anywhere on the globe.
These were the people who guarded.so vigilantly and
powerfully the gateway to India. They 'were the in¬
termediate factors between Egypt and Syria,'and hence
the great importers of useful wares over Europe. In
B. C 274, when Ptolemy Philadelphus, had estab¬
lished an Indian emporium in Egypt, these same
descendants of Cush, held the monopoly of ' the
perilous voyage,' they being the only navigators
who knew the trading tracks of the high seas leading ■
to and from the Indian. And like the Phoenicians,
they concealed everything that would likely furnish
information to the outside world with regard to this
source of great wealth and power. We give a single
example of the source of wealth in the third century.
The Romans used a great quantity of silk manufac¬
tured in Arabia, and it cost them exactly a pound of
silver and very often a pound of gold for one pound
of silk.
These Cushite merchant princes became so wealthy,
if we take the Greek and Roman writers for it—
that they "'wrought in the most cunning fashion"
the " meanest utensils " of " their houses " out of
" gold and silver;" "their vases were incrusted with
gems, and their firewood was cinnamon." A very
eminent writer, in speaking of what this great
people has accomplished by means of their immense
riches, says: "Their colonies must, in the nature of
things, have extended over immense tracts of Asia."
Might we ask who would not be glad to have such
people settle among them ? Again, who knows but
that the sons of Japheth and Shem offered great in¬
ducements to the enterprising and wealthy people of
Cush to settle among them, and thereby receive the
benefits arising from their high civilization and
culture ?
Scba, the First Son of Cnsh.
53
Their government was monarchial in form ; their
religion was first like that of the Magians, and after¬
wards polytheistic in character, and their morals were
good. They were the semi-barbarians of Arabia.
The close of this chapter introduces us to another
field of investigation in the same country, however,
but not in the same region. The subject of Chapter
V, is Havilah, the second son of Cush.
■7±
Havilah, Cash's Second Sou.
CHAPTER V.
HAVILAIT, CUSIl's SECOND SON.
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said " Men and
mind are my studies. I need no observatory high in
air to aid my perceptions or enlarge my prospect. I
do not want a costly apparatus to give pomp to my
pursuit or to disguise its inutility. I do not desire to
travel and see foreign lands and learn all knowledge
and speak with all tongues, before I'am prepared for
my employment."
There is no declaration any where, that we have
heard or read, that voices our sentiments more beau¬
tifully and so exactly as the one above. It is not
popularity that we seek in the discussion of this mer¬
itorious subject, but the good, the highest good of the
whole Negro race. When we remember that the
noble deeds of men and nations are " engraven more
deeply on the hearts of men than on the marble at
home ■/' and when we think of the uncollected, though
written history of Ham and his descendants ; and
when we see the great need of such a bound volume;
how can we sit idle, when just a little effort on our
part will bring about the much desired end ? And
if we find the task a rather haid one, why, we can
think of the words of Pinder, who said: "Joy is the
best physician to labor, the wise songs of the Muse
sweeten our toils."
What we do now by investigation is but to sow
the seed that may produce the Homer and Virgil of
the race, whose divine poetic strains will yet make all
mankind honor and admire the past, the present and
the future virtues of this nation. Again,* when we
think of those excellent poets that are yet to come,
Havilah, Cush's Second Son.
55
and are bound, by their superior sublimity, to go forth
sounding through all coming ages, and at the same
time to spread " the unextinguished splendor of the
heroic deeds " of this great people " over the fruitful
earth and boundless ocean," our heart leaps for joy.
Now, as there is no cruel Osiris to punish us for at¬
tempting to communicate the collected truths in this
volume, which we found recorded in both sacred and
profane histories (and what we communicate is only
intended for those whose facilities of coming at the
truths referred to are not perhaps as easy as some
others); and as there is no vigilant officer who guards
us, and consequently no work for a Hercules to do :
We proceed then to discuss the subject in hand,
and how we will succeed with it is a matter for you
to determine. Oh! dear friends, if it were in our
power, like the scholarly Canning, we would flash a
light around this little history that would be difficult
for any one to see and magnify any of its imperfec¬
tions through it. ' It is our purpose, however, to
render perfect satisfaction, and if we fail in the at¬
tempt, it will not be for the lack of energy, nor the
want of great interest on our part.
First. The term Havilah is used to express the
name of Cush's second son, who lived B. C. 2290.
The Cauchlaie people, mentioned by Pliny, are
thought by the learned Bochart to be the Same as
the Chavilaei, dwellers in the vicinity of Babylon, a
part of the same race under consideration. This in¬
formation we draw from the Mosaic record and the
most improved system of ancient chronology. It was
Martin Luther, when thinking of the utility of the
Scriptures, who said : " Ah ! were I but a great poet,
I would write a magnificent poem on the utility and
the efficacy of the Divine Word. Without that Word
what should we be ?" This is exactly our senti¬
ments. This source of information is invaluable, be-
56
Havilah, Gush's Second Son.
cause it is that of ail inspired author whose record
has stood the test of all ages and peoples of the world.
It now stands as the monument of God's power in the
government of the moral universe,, and the most ap¬
proved record of the world's history, by the best
scholar? of this and by-gone ages.
Francis Joseph Hayan, a very fine musician, at sixty-
three years of age, while preparing his masterpiece,
" The Creationwas urged to conclude it, when he
replied, " I spend much time over it because I intend
it to last a long time." He also said: " When I was
employed upon " The Creation," I felt myself so pene¬
trated with religious feeli'ngs that, before I sat down
to the pianoforte, I prayed to God with earnestness
that he would enable me to praise Him worthily.u
Such too is our sentiments with regard to this impor¬
tant work. It has been the burden of our minds for a
long period of time, and the great relief that we now
enjoy arises from the progress of the work in hand.
This our feeble efforts, however, ts but a small burn¬
ing taper on the stern of a great historic ship "which
shines on the waves behind."
And if it should be our happy lot to bring to light
what we seek in this narration, our surprise and joy in
its way will equal the surprise and joy that the silver
treasure found at Hildesheim, a town in the province
of Hanover, Prussia, gave those who disinterred it.
Second. The region supposed to have been settled
by this boy or son, bore his name, which was Havi¬
lah. It is the opinion of some very eminent scholars
that Colchis, between the Black and Caspian seas,
was the same with Havilah. But this is too fat-
north of the country of Armenia, and south of Mount
Caucasus, or what now forms the Russian province of
Imerethia, with the districts of Mingrelia and Guria.
In very ancient times, it was celebrated as the
native country of Media and the goal of the Argo-
Havilah, Cus/i s Second Sou.
57
nauts. But, "according to Herodotus/' "the Col-
chians, were of Egyptian descent, being relics of the
army of Sesostris." " In the time of this historian
they were subject to Persia ; subsequently, they threw
off their allegiance, and were ruled by kings of their
own." Their principal town was Dioscurias, or
what was called by the Romans, Sebastopolis. These
are, however, the names of the authors who
located Havilah as does Moses, " in the eastern tract
of Arabia, lying near and on the bottom of the
Persian Gulf; Stenchus, Beroaldus, Grotius, Hornius
and Bochartus. The way Moses, the most reliable
historian, marks the country and proves it the
possession of Havilah is by it being environed by the
river Pison; and then he mentions, the quantity and
quality of the products of the land, Gen. II, II, 12.
In later times the prophet Ezekiel, as we will show in
the future, had reference to this same region of
country when he spoke of the merchants of Arabia.
Aside from the sacred historians, we have the testi¬
mony of Diodorus, a profane historian, who said,
.' that in Arabia-was found natural gold, of so lively a
color, that it was very much like the brightness of
the fire, and so fixed, that it wanted neither fire nor
refining to purify it.' This beautiful and wealthy
region did not only abound with fine gold, but with
pearls of the most costly kind. This is attested by
Nearchus one of Alexander's captains who once con¬
ducted his large fleet from the Indies as far as the
Persian Gulf, and who speaks of an island in that
Gulf, abounding in pearls of great value. Isidorus
of Charax, who lived a short time after Nearchus,
and who was of noble birth, and a man of letters,
endorses the sentiments of his predecessor. ' Pliny,'
a Roman naturalist " having commended the pearls of
the Indian seas, adds, that such as are fished towards
Arabia in the Persian Gulf, deserve most to be
58
Havrfah, Cuslis Second Son.
praised.'" It is no little gratification to us in finding
the Mosaic account of the bedolach of Arabia so
ably and strongly supported by so many ancient
profane authors.
Havilah, the region settled by this son, was pro¬
nounced by the Hebrews Chavelah, and signifies
circle, district, while the following ancient authors
pronounced Havilah thus: for instance, Aratosthenes,
the Greek Geometrician and reputed founder of the
science of astronomy and scientific geography, who
lived B. C. 276-196, Chaulothaci ; Festus Aneinus, a
Roman author of some reputation, Chaulosii; Diony-
seus, Periegetes, a very excellent Greek historian,
Chablasii; and Pliny, the Roman naturalist. Cha-
vilaei. These same people who settled the region
bearing their name formed a part of that magnificent
catalogue of merchant princes, or caravans moving to
and from the East Indies, mentioned in Ezekiel, xxvii,
22, 38. The Eastern shores of Arabia seemed to have
been peopled by these very enterprising sons of
Cush; Havilah,'Seba, and Raamah, whos.e lands
teemed with glorious wealth. In the times of Ezekiel
and Amos the prophets, this region of country, from
historical data, was densely populated by the descend¬
ants of these boys, especially Raamah's. It is not to
be forgotten, however, that Shem's thirteenth son
was called Havilah, but this hoy and his descendants
resided in the country of Mesopotamia.
Third. This brings us to notice the Hebrew term
bedolach, which is sometimes rendered bdellium gum.
Now, as a gum-resin, its medicinal virtues were held
in very high esteem. It was thought to be the pro¬
duct of the balsamodendrum Roxbnrghii in India, and
of Africanum (also called Hcndilotia Africana in Sen¬
egal.) In Egypt it is obtained from the Doom, a palm
tree, Hyphaene Thebaica. Cevadia fercata will produce
a similar substance. In Sicily the Dancus gummcfcr
Havilah, Cush's Second Sou.
59
supplies the same gum. And again the word b-delliurn
is sometimes rendered pearls. And as a pearl, it is pre¬
cious and of great value. Ancient artists displayed
their skill lithoglyphy on it, and made drinking vessels
out of it, and on which devices were sculptured. The
Septuagint in one place translates the word bedolach—
carbuncle, while in another place it is rendered crystal.
There has been much useless arguments and disputes
over this word. It is capable, however, of both con¬
structions, and perhaps it is so for this reason, both
of these rich and very valuable articles abounded in
that particular region, and formed a goodly part of
the merchandise of that age of the world, when the
" ships of the desert," went laden with rich treasuries
from port to port. In our next chapter we shall con¬
sider Gush's third son, Sabtah, and his probable loca¬
tion.
60
Sabtah, the Third Sou of Cush.
CHAPTER VI.
SABTAH, THE THIRD SON OF CUSH.
It was Dr. Arnold, the great English schoolmaster,
who said : " It is so hard to begin anything in after¬
life, and so comparatively easy to continue what has
been begun, that I think we are bound to break
ground, as it were, into several of the mines of knowl¬
edge with our pupils ; that the first difficulties may
be overcome by them whilst there is yet a power
from without to aid their own faltering resolution,
and that so they may be enabled, if they will, to go
on with the study hereafter."
The statement of the doctor is the exact sentiment
of our minds in this matter, for we do not pretend to
sound the full depth of this question. It requires
more time and ability than we claim, or even possess,
to sound it. What we give is but a compendium of
the great development of this question that is yet to
be made by the coming historians of the race, who
are in the near future ; and whose researches wi'l
reach its greatest depth, and extend to its utmost
limits ; and whose commanding eloquence will rival,
if not surpass, the most eloquent who lived in by¬
gone ages. After much patience and hard labor and
toil, we have reached the discussion of the third son
of Cush, Sabtah by name. This boy, a splendid rep¬
resentative of a great father, and a noble race, was
born B. C. 2300, and dwelt in the southeastern sec¬
tion of the Arabian peninsula.
In Chapter IV, we have already mentioned the
division of Arabia, but for special reasons we refer to
it again in this chapter. Arabia was called by the
natives the peninsula of the Arabs. It is situated in
Sabtah, the Third Son of Cush.
61
Western Asia, south and southwest of Judea. Arabia
Petrea, or rocky, comprehends all that section of
country known as the land of Midian. It also em¬
braced Horeb and Sinai within its range. We are
more particularly concerned now, however, about
Arabia Felix, than we are with the other two, because
it was from this region that King Solomon obtained
an immense amount of gold annually in exchange
for the service he rendered the merchants of that sec¬
tion; which was to defend them against the maraud¬
ing Sabeans from Arabia Deserta, a people descended
from Shem. The treasure amounted to 666 talents,
which in English money is equal to £3,996,000, and
in American money lo $19,980,000. This is what
he got from the " merchantmen and " the " traffic of
the spice-merchants " alone. And if he got as much
as one-third more from " the Kings of Arabia, and
of the Governors of the country," it would amount to
£1,332,00° or $6,660,000. There is no wonder that
he could afford three shekels of gold to a single
target or shield, and there were two hundred of them.
These magnificent defensive arms must have been
"intended for the State armory of the palace." 1st
Kings, XIV, 26. Again, there is no wonder that his
great throne was composed of ivory, and carved in
the most exquisite style, and his footstool wrought
of fine gold, so magnificently, that it is said it was
without a rival. 2d Chronicles, IX, 18. This son
under discussion formed a very important part of the
wealthy "merchantmen" and "spice-merchants" of
the country. The learned Montesquieu says: "Com¬
merce is a cure for the most destructive prejudices,
and that wherever there is commerce, there we meet
with agreeable manners," such as existed between the
peoples in question and the Jews.
This section was densely populafed ; it was one of
the great trading marts of the ancient .world, from
G2
Sabtah, the Third Son of Cash.
which went the rich and valuable staples of the whole
country, to enliven, beautify, and enriching the
neighboring nations who traded therein. Gesenius,
the great Hebrew lexicographer, who gave much
attention to the investigations of ancient geography,
locates this people in the region lying on the S. W.
coast of the Red Sea, an Ethiopian city, not very far
from the present Arkiko, or Adulis, and this was on a
bay of the Sinus Arabicus, or an arm of the Red Sea,
the vicinity of which the historic Ptolemies hunted
elephants ; the mammoth beasts of the forest, whose
service in war, was indispensable, and whose tusks
have adorned and beautified many palace walls,
temple altars, kings thrones, and diadems. This
place referred to by the learned Gesenius, is no less
than that called by Pliny; Ptolemais, Theron, and
sometimes Epitheras. "It was an emporium on the
coast of the Red Sea for the trade with India and
Arabia. It was chiefly remarkable for its position in
mathematical geography, as the sun having been
observed to be directly, over it forty-five days before
and after the summer solstice ; the place was taken
as one of the points for determining the length of a
degree of a great circle on the earth's surface." Eras-
tosthenes, is the person credited with having
determined with exactness the dimensions of the
earth, from this particular region. We will not
under the circumstances, attempt to question the
grounds on which all of the above mentioned authors
set up their claims ; it is possible for all of them to
be right. A glance at chapter first, and at rules 1st,
5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, will throw much light on
the subject. Looking, as we do, at this question
from the standpoint of some of the ancient inter¬
preters, for example, Psuedo-Jonathan, who styles the
locality thus, Sembretai and which Strabo, the great
ancient geographer, places in the same delightful
Sabta/i, the Third Son of CusJi.
63
region, we can see nothing hut what is well founded,
and goes far to make up the case in hand. The last
mentioned author lived about the time of Christ, and
during the reign of Augustus and Tiberius; he
travelled extensively through Egypt, the cradle of
science, literature and art ; Asia, Greece, and Italy,
hence " his great work on geography." The descen¬
dants of Sabtali were the same people whom Flavins
'' Josephus," a learned Jew, ' understands' as 'those
who dwelt upon Astaboras (Tacazze), the eastern branch
of the Nile. These and other historical facts drawn
from profound historians, are very healthful to the
Negro cause. Like old landmarks, they point out our
former position in the race of life in by-gone days, and
our present and future possibilities. The physical con¬
dition of a country has much to do with the mental
activity, and business development of the inhabitants
thereof. If the atmosphere is salubrious, and brac¬
ing, and the products of the soil are in abundance
and rich and marketable, the development of the in¬
habitants, all things being equal, will be in propor¬
tion. Now the section of country occupied by the
descendants of Sabtah, was certainly all that nature
could make it. It was beautiful for situation, most
lovely in climate, and it abounded in wealth. How
could it be otherwise, when it was so near, compara¬
tively speaking, man's original home, the Garden of
Eden ? We would respectfully refer our readers to
Dr. Wells' Biblical Geography of the Old Testament,
Part 1st, Chapter I, from which a vast amount of in¬
formation on the situation of the Garden of Eden is
to be found. When we read of the "Garden of Adon,
consecrated to Adonis, which the Greeks, Egyptians,
and Assyrians planted in earthern vessels and silver
baskets, to adorn their houses withal, and to carry
them about in their processions; is but a feeble imi¬
tation of the original Eden, planted by the Hand of
04
Sabtah, the Third Son of Ciish.
God. And again, when reading the songs of the
poets, whose imaginations have strongly " formed
their Fortunate Islands, the Elysian fields, the Mead¬
ows of Pluto, * * * * the Garden of the Hesperides,
of Jupiter, and Alsinous," we are reminded of Eden,
where man, God's Master-piece of workmanship
appeared and began his earthly career. The Patri¬
arch Noah, in his division of the earth, in the days of
Peleg, made an excellent donation to Ham, who in
turn, gave to his eldest son, Cush,the land of Arabia.
There is something very significant in the gift of that
rich and lovely portion of country that fell to Ham's
descendants. And if we are to judge by the quality
and quantity of the gift, we must conclude that Hani
was a favorite son of Noah. Our remarks on this
point is not an idle tale, nor an empty dream. Let
those who are disposed to question this matter, in¬
vestigate it for themselves, and they will find that we
are in keeping with many recorded facts.
The people who occupied this beautiful region,
formed a part of that great and magnificent catalogue
already mentioned in a former chapter, of merchant
princes. It is well for us at this point to call atten¬
tion to the fact, that a very large number of that race
of people went into eastern, northeastern and south¬
western Europe and Asia, and many migrated to
Africa. But to discuss this particular point any fur¬
ther would involve us in an issue of the mixture of
the races, which we are not disposed to handle at this
stage of the investigation for very good reasons, but
will do so when it will be more profitable to all parties
concerned. Our next chapter will present the reader
Raamah, the fourth son of Cush.
Raamah, the Fourth Son of Cush. G5
CHAPTER VII.
RAAMAH, THE FOURTH SON OF CUSH.
In our search after truth in this matter, we feel that
we can adopt the language of Newton, who said : " I
do not know what I may appear to the world, hut to
myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing
on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and
then finding a smooth pebble, or a prettier shell than
ordinary, whilst the great ocean of Truth lay all un¬
discovered before me."
It is with much pleasure, after many months of
hard, tedious, and careful investigation, that we are
able to present'you, dear readers, a few unembellished
thoughts on the record of Raamah, the fourth son of
Cush, who was born about B. C. 2250. This was
about thirteen years before that memorable event trans¬
pired, the building of the Tower of Babel by Nimrod,
Cush's sixth son, and the confusion of languages
thereat; and it was in the sixteenth year of his age
when his father's brother laid broad and deep the
foundation of the kingdom of Egypt, which existed
for 1,663 years. For this kingdom to endure so long
is a clear evidence that it must have been well founded
and wisely governed. We know of no subject more
full of interest than that under consideration. From
the loins of this son, let it be remembered, sprang
Sheba, who was the ancestor of a people whose bril¬
liant empire extended over all Europe, Asia and
Africa in the glorious days of the Caliphs. What race
did not tremble at their great courage, admire their
spread of literature, science and arts all over the then
civilized world ? We present you, dear readers, a
very strong argument in the following quotation,
which agrees with our views in toto, and it will cer-
GC> Ranuiah, the Fourth Son of Cush.
tainly meet the approval of all who are not prejudiced
toward the same. The authority quoted is very
high in standing :
" Sabaeans, the supposed descendants of one, two,
or th ree Shebas mentioned in the Bible. Historically,
the Sabaeans appear chiefly as the inhabitants of
Arabia, Felix or Yemen, * * * * * * *
the principal city of which was called Seba, and the
queen of which is said to have visited Solomon,
attracted by the fame of his wisdom. Josephus,
however (Ant., VIII, 6, 5), makes her the Queen of
Ethiopia (Meroe), and the modern Abyssinians claim
her as their own. Her name, according to their tra¬
dition, was Makeda; and her visit to Jerusalem made
her not only a proselyte to the religion of Solomon,
but she became one of his wives, and had by him a
son, Menilek, who afterwards ruled Ethiopia. The
Arabs, on the other hand, call her Balkis, the earliest
name that occurs of a Himj^aritic Queen. ******
Numerous passages in Greek and Roman writers,
as well as in the Bible, testify to the vast importance
of these dwellers in Yemen as a wealthy, widely-
extended, and enterprising people, of fine stature and
noble bearing. Their chief greatness lay in their
traffics, the principal articles of which consisted of
gold and perfumes, spice, incense, and precious stones,
a very small portion of which, however, was of home
production, Yemen being only productive in corn,
wine, and the like matters of ordinary consumption.
But the fact was, that the Sabaeans held the Key to
India, and were the intermediate factors between
Egypt and Syria, which again spread the imported
wares over Europe ; and even when Ptolemy Phila-
delphus (274 B. C.) had established an Indian Empo¬
rium in Egypt, the Sabaeans still remained the sole
monopolists of the Indian trade, being the only navi¬
gators who braved the perilous voyage. * * *
Raamah, the Fourth Sou of Cush.
67
Their colonies must, in the nature of things, have
extended over immense tracts of Asia—the Ethiopian
Sabaeans probably being one of the first foreign set¬
tlements ; yet nothing beyond the vaguest conject¬
ures can be given about them. * ********
Commerce had also done for them what it did for the
Phoenicians—it civilized them, and caused them to
carry civilization further." These are the same peo¬
ple mentioned by the royal Psalmist. Psa., LXXII,
10. Raamah had another son, Dedan by name ; he
occupied that ''country of Arabia " lying "on the
Persian Gulf, which traded with Tyre in ivory and
ebony and drapery for chariots." Ezek., XXV, 13 ;
XXVII, 15-20 ; XXXVIIJ, 13. According to Gen¬
esis, X, 4, and Isa., XXI, 13, the Dodanim and the
Dedanem peoples were the same, and descended from
Dedan, the grandson of Cush. Ptolemy, Barboza,
and Buchart, all agree on the location assigned this
people.
There was a Dedan who descended from Abraham
byKeturah, Gen., XXV, 3; his location, however, is
fixed somewhere in Arabia Petraea, south of Idumea
or Edom. Jer., XXV, 28; XLIX, 8; and Ezek.,
XXV, 13. These two peoples are sometimes con¬
founded one with the other, as in the case of the Sa¬
baeans, mentioned in the book of Job, referred to in
a former chapter of this volume. It is only by means
of a perfect knowledge of these records found in the
Sacred Scriptures, that we are able to distinguish
somewhat between them. And even then we often
make mistakes. Their record is too far back into
hoary antiquity for us to be perfectly free from the
errors that frequently occur as with different writers.
It was from this same person that the Queen of Sheba,
who is honorably mentioned by the sacred historian,
descended. 1st Kings, X.
Between 588 and 587 B. C. the descendants of this
G8
Raaiuah, the Fourth Son of Cush.
son, through the Sabeans, became a powerful nation
of merchant princes, who controlled the eastern
markets, while they traded extensively in the far off
west, as shown above. This trade between the descen¬
dants of Canaan, the Tynans, and themselves, was
immense. Their articles of merchandise were of the
best aromatic spices, gems of the most costly kind,
and gold of the purest quality and in the greatest
quantity, Ezekiel XXVII, 22; XXXVIII, 13; Gen.
II, 8.
The caravan roads and the great fleet of merchant
ships that connected India, Egypt, Tyre and Siden
with Raamah or Rhegma, must have presented a very
business-like thoroughfare, much on the order of that
exhibited in the sketches of Jewish social life in the
days of Christ by Edershiem, when speaking of the
great caravan road which connected Damascus in the
east with the great mart of Ptolemais on the shores of
the Mediterranean. And, again, such as our present
business thoroughfares in this country and elsewhere
now show. Edershiem's description of the caravan
highway in the time of Christ is as follows : What
a busy life did this road constantly present in the
days of our Lord, and how many trades and occupa¬
tions did it call into existence! All day long they
passed—files of camels, mules and asses, laden with
the riches of the east destined for the far west, or
bringing the luxuries of the west to the far east.
We have the same example in the great mercantile
cities like New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincin¬
nati and Chicago, for the purpose of connecting them
by means of merchandising. Raamah's descendants'
connection in history with this mighty people, the
Tyrians, as is set forth by the prophet Ezekiel, show
that their standing in the commercial world was not
a mere one, but very great, and stands out in bold
relief.
Raamah, the Fourth Son of Cush.
69
The beautiful home of this son and his descendants
was situated on the western banks of the Arabicus
Sinus, in the vicinity of the city designated by
Ptolemy as Rhegma, by the Hebrews according.to
the present translation, as Raamah, which signifies
trembling. Again, this lovely region belonged to
Arabia Felix, which lies immediately south of Arabia
Petraea.
With these many encouraging historical facts lying
before us, we shall prepare to discuss in our next
chapter Sabteca, Cush's fifth son. God be praised for
what we have been able to find or discover in this
investigation ! May his spiritual aid still be continued,
that the task before us might be performed to the
satisfaction of all parties concerned.
70
SabtccJia, the Fifth Son of Citsh.
CHAPTER VIII.
SABTECHA, THE FIFTH SON OF CUSH.
On a mountain a tiny fountain is seen, and from it
rises an insignificant, limpid stream. And, as it moves
gently down its rocky course, it increases in volume,
strength and gracefulness, until it reaches its ocean
parent. So did we find the subject of this chapter,
and so have we earnestly endeavored, in our weak
capacity, to treat it.
While it takes a microscope to reveal the great
wonders of a tiny flower, it requires a master-mind to
bring together the divergent parts of a knotty history.
Such is the experience of all noted historians. The
learned Samuel Rogers in his Table-Talk, says : " I
was engaged on the ' Pleasures of Memory ' for nine
years ; on ' Human Life ' for nearly the same space
of time ; and ' Italy ' occupied me little less than six¬
teen years." Goethe says, " Nothing can be more
beautiful than that which is inspired by truth, and
which conforms to the laws of nature."
It is Tacitus, an able historian, who opens one of
the chapters of his great work thus : " I am entering
on a period rich in disasters, frightful in its wars,
torn by civil strife, and even in peace, full of horrors."'
How different our subject ! How pleasant the
thought, that we weave a history entirelv free of
" horrors!" Then, if in this chapter we should suc¬
ceed in making new rivers of thought to flow ; if we
should be able to span the same by means of revealed
historic truths ; and it we can plant on the mountain
precipices of the dark and hoary past of this son, such
a historic Pharos as will illuminate our path to the
goal we seek, we shall have excelled our most san-
Sabtecha, the Fifth Son of Cnsh.
71
gitine expectations. Again, to reach " the mountain¬
ous scenery of Switzerland, the stupendous range of
the Andes in South America," and " the Hymalayan
mountains in India," mountains who " rear their
projecting summits beyond the region of the clouds,"
involves no little difficulties, and sometimes even dear
life must be parted with.
Now such is the subject we have in hand, because
of its great antiquity. But what is its dreary anti¬
quity, when our Guide to that we seek is " He who
spake and it was done; He commanded, and it
stood fast?" So, then, let the region be dark and al¬
most trackless, His light, we are assured, will make an
easy and beautiful way appear.
Seven months have passed away since we have
started this little volume ; and yet, agreeable to our
surprise, its interest has taken such a firm hold on us,
that we cannot rest contented until the bottom rock is
struck, and the glory of the Negroes shines out like a
brilliant evening star in a clear zvestern sky.
It is the order of the day throughout the civilized
world to "Read, mark and inwardly digest," because
it is " reading that maketh a full man!'
Sabtecha, the fifth, son of Cush, was born B. C.
2250, and dwelt in the northern region of Arabia, bor¬
dering on the Holy Land, but the descendants of this
son are said to have settled on the east side of the
Persian Gulf, Carmania, now designated Kerman, a
country of Asia, which is situated between Persia and
India.
Doctor Lyman Coleman, in his Historical Text-
Book and Atlas of Biblical Geography, Chapter II,
page 18, Section 5, locates this son and his descend¬
ants thus :
" Sabtecha is placed by o-ne author on the eastern
shores of the Persian Gulf, over against Raamah ; by
others, south of the Straits of Babelmandeb."
72
Sabtcc/ia, the Fifth Sou of Cush.
But the learned Doctor Wells, in his Biblical Geog¬
raphy, makes this remark about him: "There re¬
mains now only Sabtecha of Cush's sons, who, we need
not doubt, placed himself among the rest of his
brethren, especially since there is room enough left
for him in the northern parts of Arabia."
Pliny, in Book VI, Chapter 27, quotes the follow¬
ing from Nearchus, who in his writings states that
" the coast of Carmania extends a distance of twelve
hundred and fifty miles." And he says, furthermore,
" From " the " frontier " of this country " to the River
Sabis is one hundred miles."
We should not confound this Carmania on the coast
with that mentioned by Ptolemy, an inland town.
A very distinguished author says this "Carmania" is
" an extensive province of Asia, lying along the
northern shores of the Persian Gulf," and it is "sup¬
posed to have comprehended the coast line of the
modern Laristan, Kerman and Moghostan."
Its capital, now Kerman or Sirjan, was anciently
known as Carmania. The Greek names of these de¬
scendants was Sabtaceni, and as a matter of course
might have been afterwards softened intoSaraceni. The
people of this tract were generally known by the form¬
er name. Stephanus, a Greek Lexicographer, of no
mean reputation, and a native of Byzantium, mentions
a country in those parts bearing the name of Saruca.
But the learned Bochart derives the name Saraceni
from the Hebrew Sarak, which signifies in the Arabic
tongue to steal or rob. He also claims that the ap¬
pellation was given to the above named people, be¬
cause they " were addicted," he says, " to robbery."
When and by whom the original name was changed
from Sabtaceni into Saraceni is not known. It is said,,
however, that the latter is- only a nickname given the
Sabtaceni, because of their disposition to plunder and
'steal. It is only conjectural and not a real fact that
Sabtccha, the Fifth Sou of Cash.
this name is derived from the Hebrew Sarak, which
signifies, in the Arabic language, to steal or rob.
This Hebrew term Sarak, of which we have said so
much, means also a high officer of the Persian court,
that is, a minister or president; but in Dan., VI, 3, 4,
5, 7, 8, it signifies the three highest ministers in the
king's court; and in the Targgum, it denotes a Pre¬
fect or a Magistrate, as shown by Gen., XLI, 41 ;
Esth., II, 13. We needn't look in the Sacred Scrip¬
tures for the term Sabtaceni, because the land of
Arabia lying on the borders of the Holy Land was
known to the ancients as the land of Cush, and the
inhabitants thereof, Cushites.
It is of the greatest importance that the chain that
binds the Cushite family in these discussions be as
perfect in each' section as it is found in the writings
of the sacred histories, or else our historical data will
be very defective, hence useless.
This son is the last of the descendants of Cush,.
who occupied the land of Arabia or Asiatic Ethiopia.
There is little or nothing said of him when compared
with that said of all the rest of the sons. The section
of country occupied by his descendants, as mentioned
above, indicates that they were certainly not without
some influence, both at home and abroad. See Pliny,.
Book VI, Chapter 28.
It is scarcely possible for these people to have
occupied such a lively region as that ; one that
actually swarmed with human life, and was made
active by merchant ships passing to and from, and
daily moving caravans, and not be excited to partici¬
pate in the race for bread and material prosperity.
Why, such a fact does not agree with the stock
from which this people sprang. Reason revolts
against the idea of such lethargy and inertness 011 the
part of these descendants, whose ancestry's com¬
mercial activitv enfused a business-like character into
4
74
Sabtecha, the Fifth Sou of Cush.
the Indo-European races and thence throughout
Christendom. The position we take in this matter
is certainly a very tenable one.
The close of the discussion on this subject intro¬
duces us to the consideration of the life and character
of Nimrod, the sixth and last son of Cush, and the
founder of the first empire in the land of Shinar. In
frozvess, he was zvithout an equal in his day and gene-
ration; as Genesis X; 8, 9, fully and eloquently attests.
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. 75
CHAPTER IX.
NIMROD, THE SIXTH AND LAST SON OF CUSH.
" Whatcati be of greater importance than the choice
of a subject? All your art theories go for nothing
in comparison with it. If the subject be worthless,
the exercise of talent is absolutely lost. Modern art
vegetates first, because the faculty of hitting on the
right subjects is missing."
We cannot say that the subject of this chapter is in
keeping with the above remarks. This is left for the
public to judge. It is what we aimed at, however.
Indeed, all of our subjects in this volume are taken
from the Scriptures; more honorable parents do not
exist. We are reminded at this juncture of one
thing. " Between what one zvouldiit write, and
what one couldn't 'tis a hard game to play at." "A
man must risk the former to attain the latter; and it is
the same daring that produced the things we zvouldii't
write, and those we thought we couldn't." This
chapter, like the book, only contains the germ
reflections of its subject. To obtain a few flowers,
there must be sowing of much seed, this every one
knows. To excel in work of this kind, we must go
at it, "whether willing or unwilling, morning, noon
and night," as we have done for the last seven
months. We are inclined to the belief that the
subject of this chapter is happily chosen, as every
reader will possibly find it.
Doctor Wells, in his treatise on the cities founded
by Nimrod in the land of Shinar, is so instructive,
that we cannot resist reproducing it here, which we
proceed now to quote :
" Moses having informed us that the first planta¬
tions after the flood were made, not confusedly or by
7G Ximrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cnsh.
chance, but regularly and orderly, namely, after their
families, after their tongues, &c., he then proceeds to
inform us (Gen. XI. 1-9) upon what occasion Divine
Providence multiplied the languages of mankind,
whereas afore the whole earth was of one language.
And this was, as the sacred historian tells us, to make
those, that had undertaken to build a city and a toiver,
whose top might reach unto heaven, to desist from that
enterprise; in order whereunto God confounded their
language, that they might not understand one another s
speech. Hereupon they left off to build the. city; and
therefore the name of if was called Babel, (which word
in the Hebrew language denotes confusion), because the
Lord did there confound the language of all the then in¬
habitants of the earth. We are then to show what tract
is denoted by the land of Shinar, wherein Moses tells
us mankind dwelt, when they undertook the building
of Babel ; and in what part of the said tract this city
and tower was begun.
And as to the land of Shinar, it is not to be
doubted but thereby is meant the valley, along which
runs the River Tigris, and that, probably, till it falls
into the sea. In the northern part of this valley, that
is, in the parts of Mesopotamia lying next to the Ti¬
gris, we find in old writers, both a city called Singara,
and also a mountain called Singaras; from which it is
most highly probable, that the adjoining valley took
the name of the land of Shinar, or, as it may be other¬
wise spelled agreeably to the Hebrew word, Singar.
It is plain from Scripture that Babel was the same
with the city Babylon ; and it is not to be doubted but,
that each was the same with the city Aracca. Aracca,
mentioned by Ptolemy and other ancient writers.
Now Moses expressly says that Babel and Erech lay
in the land of Shinar—Gen. X. 10. It may therefore
be very probably inferred that by the land of Shinar
was denoted all the valley, along which the River Ti-
A'nnrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Citsh. 77
gris runs, from the mountains of Armenia northwards,
to the Persian Gulf, or at least to the southern divis¬
ion of the common channel of the Tigris and Euphra¬
tes. For the city Singara is placed, by the ancients
not far from the mountains of Armenia; and the city
Aracca is placed not far from the said division of the
common channel of the two rivers aforementioned.
Hence it evidently follows, that the country ofEden was
a part of the land of Shinar; and as the country ofEden
was probably situated on each side the aforemen¬
tioned common channel ; so it is, not unlikely that the
valley of Shinar did not extend itself all along on
both sides the River Tigris ; however, it is, I think
certain, that it did so all along the western side of the
said river. The situation and extent of the land of
Shinar being, I think, thus truly discovered, hereby
great light is given to Gen. XI. 2, and all difficulty
about it is taken away. For though the Gordiaeari
mountains (on which part of the mountains of Ararat
it is most probably thought that the Ark rested)
lie in a manner north of Babel; yet this does not
in the least hinder, but that Moses might truly
say of Noah, and the rest, that as they journeyed
from the East, they found a plain (or, as it
may, more agreeably to the Hebrew, be rendered,
a valley) in the land of Shinar. For the plain
or valley of Shinar, extending itself up quite to the
mountains of Ararat or Armenia, which bound the
northern part of Mesopotamia, no sooner was Noah
and the rest descended from the Gordiaean mountains,
into the level country on the south, but they were
full east of the upper or northern parts of the land of
Shinar; and therefore, as they journeyed from the said
foot of the said mountains toward the upper part of
the land of Shinar, it may be truly said of them, and
that in the most literal sense, that as they journeyed
from the East they found a plain m the land of Shinar.
78 Ximrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
To confirm this opinion that Noah and his sons,
&c., came first, after the flood, into the northern parts of
the land of Shinar, among other arguments that might
be alleged, I shall produce but two: One is, that in
these parts we find a city mentioned by Ptolemy,
under the name of Zama, which bears so great an
affinity to Zem or Shem, that it may be supposed, that
hereabouts Noah and his son Shem and the rest at
first settled. That the forementioned town of Zama
took its name from Sem, may be further confirmed
from this consideration, that, in Arabic version,
Sem is always Sam or Zam. The other consid¬
eration is this : That it is hardly to be doubted
but that Noah and his son Shem, and also Ja-
phet, if not Ham, were no ways concerned in
the building of the city and tower of Babel, but, on
the contrary, opposed it ; and therefore it is reason¬
ably to be conjectured, that the undertakers thereof
withdrew themselves from Noah, and the other Pa¬
triarchs, and pitched on -x place for their intended
work at some distance from Noah and the said Pa¬
triarchs.
Proceed we then to show, in what part of the land
of Shinar, and southward from the settlement of
Noah, the city and tower of Babel was begun to be
built. And that was in the very place, or else neigh¬
borhood, where the city called Babylon stood, as will
appear in our next chapter ; and consequently upon
the original and natural stream of the Euphrates, at
some distance from its joining with the Tigris, as may
be best understood by looking on the map hereunto
belonging. It may not be amiss to observe here,
about what time, and for what reason, the tower
of Babel was undertaken. As to the time, it is easy
enough to be inferred from Genesis X, 25, where
Moses tells us, that it was in the days of Peleg,
that the earth zvas divided; which seems most probably
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
79
to be understood of the time of Peleg's birth, the word
Peleg denoting in the Hebrew language, a division,
and therefore likely given by Heber to his son, in
reference to the signal occurrence that then happened.
Now, Peleg was born an hundred years after
the flood, as may be computed from Genesis
XI. 10-16. As to the design of this fabric, some
have been so absurd as to think, that the undertakers
thereof designed to get up to heaven thereby, because
Moses used this expression, " Let us build ns a city
and tozver, whose top may reach into heaven." Hence
arose the fable among the poets of the giants endeavor¬
ing to get up to heaven, by putting one mountain
upon another. But it is to be remembered, that it is
evident from other places of scripture, that, by the
aforesaid expression, Moses intended no more than
to denote a tower of agreat height. For thus we read,
Deut. II. 28, IX. I, of cities great, and walled or fenced
up to heaven. And like the expression was familiar
to the Greeks, whence the word 'ouranomenkes, reach¬
ing to or as high as heaven, and elithatos, reaching
to the sun, are frequently used by the poets, to denote
things of a more than ordinary height. Besides,
that such was not the design of this tower, may be
reasonably inferred from those words of the text :
Nozv nothing will be restrained from them which they
have imagined to do. Whereby is plainly intimated,
that their design was such as they might have
completed, had not God thought fit to have inter¬
rupted them : but this cannot be understood of a
design to build a tower, which should literally reach
up to heaven. Nor yet do those other opinions
seem true; one of which vvill have this tower
design to preserve them from being distroyed by a
second flood, the other to preserve them from the
general conflagration, which they are supposed to
have had some notice of. For, to omit other considera-
80 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Cush.
tions, had they a design to preserve themselves from
a second deluge, it is likely, they would not have
chosen so low a ground to build their tower on ; and
on the other hand, had they designed to preserve
themselves from fire, it seems more rational for them
to have secured themselves under ground. But to
spend no more time in refuting false opinions : the
true design of this tower is plainly enough told us by
Moses, where he tells us, that they thus encouraged
one another : Let us build us a city and a tozver,
whose lop may reach unto the heaven ; and let us make
us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of
the whole earth, Gen. XI. 4. Now to make one's self
a name, is a scripture expression for to make one's self
famous, as 2d Sam., VIII. 13 ; Isa. LXIII, 12, &c.(
whence it follows, that the design of these under¬
takers was, by erecting a tower of so great a height,
out of pomp or show, rather than use, to render
themselves famous to posterity. By their adding,
lest-we be> scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth,
they seem to have foreseen, that it would become
necessary for them to separate into distinct parts of
the earth, for the better conveniency of subsisting.
And it pleased Divine Providence to take this very
occasion so to scatter them, which it did by con¬
founding their .'anguage, so as that they could not
understand one another.
And here it is remarkable that, in the very confu¬
sion of tongues there seems to have been a rule ob¬
served, God so causing them to speak with diverse
tongues, that their tongues were ordered after their
families, and after their nations. So that the tongues
of the same branch, though diverse, yet had a greater
affinity among themselves, than with the tongues of
another branch. Thus, the languages of the branch
of Shem in the East agree more with one another.
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Gush. 81
than with the languages of the branch of Japhet in
the West.
As to the number of languages then begun to be
spoken, they could not probably be, as Mr. Mede
observes, fewer than there were nations, nor more
than there were families. If there were no more than
there were nations, or heads of nations, then the
number is easily counted; seven in Japhet, four in
Ham, and five in Shetn. But if there were as many
as there were families at the confusion, their number
cannot be known ; because Moses, as Mr. Mede ob¬
serves, does not make an enumeration of all the fam¬
ilies, or heads of families. However, the common
opinion is, that their number was according to the
number of families ; and this seems to insinuate, be¬
cause he joins throughout Genesis X, and tongues
together. Hence the number of the original lan¬
guages is commonly estimated to be about seventy,
according to the number of families mentioned by
Moses.
I shall onlv add, that the memory of the confusion
of tongues seems to have been a longtime preserved
among the heathens, whence the epithet of Meropcs,
is given to mankind to old Homer and other poets,
the full import of which word denotes, that whereas
mankind was all once of one language, their language
was afterward divided into several languages. I shall
conclude this chanter with the account Dr. Heylin
gives us of the Tower of Babel, as to its height, &c.
It was reared, says he, five thousand one hundred
and forty-six paces from the ground, having its basis
and circumference equal to the height. The passage
to go up went winding about the outside, and was of
an exceeding great breadth ; there being not only
room for horses, carts, and the like means of carriage
to meet and turn; but lodging for man and beast, and,
as Vorstegan reports, grass and cornfields for their
82 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cash.
nourishment. The reader is left to give what credit
he pleases to this relation."
Continuing this very excellent treatise, Doctor
Wells says : " Moses having named the other sons
and grandsons of Cusli, he subjoins, Gen. X, 8 : And
Cus/i begat Nimrod. By this distinct mention of
Nimrod, after the rest of his brethren, the sacred his¬
torian is supposed to intimate, that Nimrod was indeed
the youngest son of Cush, but however the most
remarkable of them. And accordingly it immediately
follows in the text; he began to be a mighty one in
the earth.
By what method Nimrod became thus mighty, the
sacred historian is thought to denote by the words sub¬
joined, He was a mighty hunter In fore the Lord, i. e.,
he was in reality very well skilled in hunting, and per¬
forming notable exploits therein; insomuch that it
became a proverb, or common way of commending a
man for his valour and strength, to say that he was
even as Nimrod, the urighty hunter before the Lord.
The occasion of Nimrod's applying himself to hunt¬
ing is probably conjectured to be in order to destroy
the wild beasts, that began to grow now very numer¬
ous, and so to infest very much the parts adjoining
to the nation of Cush; and the deserts of Arabia being
a convenient place for them to harbor in. Hereupon
having got together a body of stout young men of
his own nation like himself, he began by degrees to
be a great master in the art ofhunting, and destroy¬
ing the beasts of prey; and by which means he not
only very much ingratiated himself with the inhab¬
itants of the adjoining countries, but also inured him¬
self and his companions to undergo fatigue and hard¬
ship, and withal to manage dexterously several sorts
of offensive weapons. Being thus occasionally trained
up to the art of war, and perceiving at length his
skill and stiength sufficient to act offensively even
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cash.
83
against men, he invaded first the neighboring parts
of the nation of Shem, which, upon the division of
the earth, fell to the lot of the family of Arphaxed ;
and so makes himself master of the lower part of the
land of Shinar.
The extraordinary fruitfulness and also pleasantness
of this tract might be the motive that induced Nim¬
rod to invade this part, rather than any adjoining part
of the nation of Shem. As for the land of Canaan
and Mizraim, they were possessed by the descendants
of Ham, as well as himself;, and therefore he might
show them the more respect on that account. Having
conquered the southern part of the land of Shinar,
he pitches upon the very place, as is probably, where
the city and tower had been begun, to build the cap¬
ital city of his kingdom ; which therefore was called
by the same name, Babel, whence by the Greeks and
Latins it was called Babylon. It stood, as has been
said, on each side the Euphrates, having streets run¬
ning from north to south parallel with the river, and
others crossing these from east to west. The com¬
pass of the wall was three hundred fifty-six furlongs,
that is, about forty miles : the height of it was fifty
cubits, and the breadth so great, that carts or
carriages might meet on the top of them, and
pass by one another without danger. It is said to
have been finished in one year by the hands of
two hundred thousand workmen employed daily
in it. Over the Euphrates there was a sumptu¬
ous vbridge ; and at each end of the bridge there
was a magnificent palace. It was famous for the
Pensile Garden, so called by writers because it seemed
at a distance to hang in the air, being made not on the
ground, but at a considerable height from the ground,
borne up with square pillars. In this artificial gar¬
den, thus borne up with pillars, there are said to have
grown trees, which were no less than eight cubits
84 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cnsh.
thick in the body, and fifty feet high. There stood,
also in this city a beautiful temple, dedicated to Be-
lus, or Bel; and in the middle thereof stood a tower,
which is supposed by some to have been the very
tower, or at least part of that tower, which was be¬
gun before the confusion of tongues. The city, as has
been said, is probably supposed to have been first
built by Nimrod ; it was afterwards beautified and en¬
larged by Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, son, as is
thought, and successor' of Nimrod; it was finally
much increased, both in bulk and beauty,by Nebu¬
chadnezzar, saying, in his pride, is not tins great Baby¬
lon that I have built?—Dan. IV, 30. As this city
was esteemed justly one of the wonders of the world
for its largeness and buildings; so were the inhabi¬
tants thereof much addicted to and noted for astrol¬
ogy, and also for the manufacture of cloth of various
colors, or embroidered cloth; the invention whereof is
attributed to them. Hence we find mention made of
such Babylonish garments, not only in heathen writ¬
ers, but in the sacred story, particularly Josh. VII.
21, where Achan makes this confession, " When I
saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment" &c.
The word, indeed, which we render Babylonish, is in
the Hebrew Singar or°Shinar; so that what we ren¬
der a Babylonish garment should strictly be rendered
a garment of SJunar: which Shinar was the name of
the plain, wherein Babylon stood, as has been before
observed.
This great and noble city, from the Assyrians, came
into the hands of the Persians, and from them into
the hands of the Macedonians. Here died Alexander
the Great; after whose death his generals, more re¬
garding their own interests than their common duty
to their deceased Prince, let his body lie eight days
unburied. Some short time after, this great city be¬
gan to decline, chiefly by the building of Seleucia, but
Ximrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Citsh. 85
three hundred furlongs, or near forty miles, above
Babylon, by Seleucus Nicanor; who is said to have
erected this new city, named from him out of spleen
to the Babylonians ; and to have drawn five hundred
thousand persons from Babylon, for the peopling of this
new city. Which by degrees robbed Babylon, not only
of its glory and greatness, but also of its very name ;
being expressly called Babylon in some ancient au¬
thors. And the want of observing this is that, which
has led some into a mistake concerning the situation
of old Babylon.
As to the several steps, whereby old Babylon
declined, Curtius the historian tells us, that it was
lessened a fourth part in his time; it was reduced
to desolation in the time of Pliny, and in the days
of St. Jerome was turned into a park, in which the
kings of Persia did use to hunt. Rauwolf, a German
physician, saw, and thus describes the state of this
place in A. D. 1574. By a small village on the
Euphrates, called Eulego, or Felugo, is the feet of the
old Babylon, a day and a half's journey from Bagdat.
The lands about it are so dry and desolate, that one
may justly doubt the fertility of it, and to the great¬
ness of this city, if the vast ruins still to be seen did
not banish all suspicion. There are still standing
some arches of a bridge over the river, which is
here half a mile broad, and exceedingly deep : these
arches are built of bricks, and wonderfully com¬
pacted. A quarter of a mile beneath the village, in a
plain, are the fallen ruins of a castle, and beyond
that the ruins of the tower of Babel, half a German
mile in compass, which is now a receptacle of ser¬
pents and venomous creatures. A little above the
fall of the Tigris into the Euphrates, is a city now
called Trax, formerly Apamea. All that travel over
these plains will find vast numbers of the ruins of
very ancient, great, and lofty buildings, arched
8G Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Cnsh.
towers, and other such like structures of wonderful
architecture. There is only one tower, which is
called Daniel's, still entire and inhabited, from
whence may be seen all the ruins of this once vast
city; which sufficiently demonstrates the truth of
what ancient writers have said of its greatness, by
the vastness of their extent.
However, whereas Aristotle says, that i t ought
rather to have been called a country than a city; for
that when it was surprised by the Medes and
Persians, it was three days before the inhabitants
of the fartherest parts were aware of it : this is
thought to be a great mistake, and that a small
alteration in the Greek might possibly occasion it,
and might make the third part of the day be taken for
three days. And this much for Babel or Babylon,
which is said to be the beginning of the Kingdom of
Nimrod: which expression may denote either, that
it was the first city built by him, or the capital city of
his kingdom. There is one other way of expound¬
ing these words, which I shall take notice of, after
that I have spoken of the other cities of Nimrod's
kingdom, mentioned with Babel as lying in the land
of Shinar ; which are these, Erech, Accad, and
Calneh.
As to Erech, it is not to be questioned, but that is
the same which occurs in Ptolemy, under the name
of Arecca; and which is placed by him at the last,
or most southern turning of the common channel of
the Tigris and Euphrates. The fields hereof are
mentioned by Tibullus, on account of its springs of
Naphta, which is a sort of liquid bitumen.
The Archevites, mentioned in Ezr., IV, 9, are
thought i'o be some that were removed from Erech
to Samaria.
What in the Hebrew is Acchad, is by the seventy
interpreters written Archad, whence some footsteps
Annrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cnsh. 87
of this name are probably thought to be preserved in
the river Argades, mentioned by Ctesias, as a river
near S ittace, lying at some distance from the river
Tigris, and giving name formally to Sittacene, a coun¬
try lying between Babylon and Susa. And because
it was very usual, particularly in these parts, to have
rivers take their names fiom some considerable city
they run by ; hence it is not improbably conjectured,
that the city Sittace was formerly called Argad or
Acchad ; and took the name of Sittace or Psittace
from the plenty of Psittacias or Pistacias, a sort of
nut which grew there. The country of Sittacene,
although it lay on the east of the Tigris, yet it is
plainly ascribed to Babylonia, or the land of Shinar,
by Strabo, which confirms the opinion, that the land
of Shinar lay on both sides of the Tigris. To what
has been said, may be further added, that the same
Strabo mentions a region in these parts, namely,
about Arbela, under the name of Artacene, which
might be framed from Archad ; and so might be the
ancient name of the country Sittacene, as Archad
was of the city Sittace. And this is the more prob¬
able, inasmuch .as Pliny expressly says, that Sittacene
was the same as Arbelitis, that is, the country about
Arbela; where Strabo places Artacene, moulded from
Arcadene or Ardacene.
The last of the cities mentioned as belonging to
the Kingdom of Nimrod, and lying in the land of
Shinar, is Calne orChalne; and which is called, with
little variation, Isa. X.9, Chalnoh, and Ezk., XXVII.
23, Channe. That it was a considerable place even
in the days of Amos, appears from the Prophet's com¬
paring it with other places of note; as also from a
like comparison made in the forecrted place of Isaiah.
It is said by the Chaldee interpreters, as also by
Eusebius and Jerome, to be the same with Ctesiphon,
standing upon the Tigris, about three miles distant
88 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cash.
from Seleucia above mentioned, and for some time
the capital city of the Parthians. That this opinion
concerning the situation of Chalneh is true, is mightily
confirmed from the country about Ctesiphon being
even by the Greeks called Chalonitis, and name
plainly made from Chalne or Chalno, or, by a mix¬
ture of both, from Chalone, and denoting the country
about the said city as being the principal place of it.
And since we are expressly told by Ammianus Mar-
cellinus, that Pacorus, a King of the Parthians, changed
its name, imposing on it a Greek name, viz. Ctese-
phon ; we may reasonably suppose that its old name
was Chalne or Chalone, and that from it the adjacent
country took the name of Chalonitis; which it retained,
even after the city had lost its ancient appellation.
The Greek or Seventy Interpreters seemed to have
been of opinion, that the tower of Babel was built near
this place, for they translate Isa. X. 9, in this sense:
Have not I taken the region above Babylon and Chalane,
where the tower zvas bnilt / A translation vastly dif¬
ferent from ours and others, and from the present
reading of the Hebrew text. However, upon the au¬
thority of the Septuagint version, several of the Greek
fathers were apparently led into the aforementioned
opinion, that the tower of Babel stood near Chalane.
But though this opinion be manifestly enough false,
yet both from it and the sacred text itself, it is further
confirmed, that the land of Shinar was esteemed by
the ancients to lie on the east as well as west of the
Tigris. I have now shown the situation of the four
cities, Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, lying in the
land of Shinar and within the Kingdom of Nimrod.
The text which informs us hereof runs thus : And the
beginning of his [that is, Nimrod's) kingdom zvas Babel,
and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, &c.
Now, this expression, the beginning of his kingdom,
seems to be generally understood only of Babel, as if
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Cush. 80
thereby was denoted either that Babel was the city that
was first built in his kingdom; or that Babel was the first
or capital city of his kingdom. But 1 see no suffi¬
cient reason to restrain the forementioned expression
only to Babel, but rather think it is to be understood
of all the other three cities, and does denote thus
much, viz. that Nimrod's Kingdom did at the begin¬
ning contain only these four principal cities, with their
proper regions. And this exposition is confirmed, by
what is immediately subjoined in the verse follow¬
ing; Out of that laud he went forth into Ashur, and
built Nineveh.
For these two verses being compared together, the
design of the sacred historian seems to be plainly this,
viz. : that at the beginning the kingdom of Nimrod
extended no farther than the land of Shitiar ; but
afterwards he extended it farther, by making an inva¬
sion into Asshur or Assyria. In the text of our
translation, the Hebrew is rendered thus : out of that
land went forth Assher, and budded Nineveh, &c.,
whereby Assher, or as it is otherwise written Asshur,
is understood a person, consequently Asshur, one of
the sons of Shem, and mentioned verse 22 of the
same chapter. But in the margin of our English
Bible, the other translation is taken notice of:
Out of that land he zveni forth unto Assyria. Which
that it is the truest interpretation may be shown by
these following considerations. 1st. It would be
foreign, not to say absurd, to mention in such a
manner Asshur, son of Shem, in the genealogy of
the sons of Ham. 2nd. It is altogether incongru¬
ous for Moses to have thus mentioned, verse 11, the
actions of Asshur, before he had mentioned his birth,
verse 22. Further, 3rd. It was no peculiar, and
therefore, no remarkable thing in respect of Asshur,
that he should go out of the land of 'Shinar to settle
00 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
himself since the far greatest part of mankind did the
same.
But, 4th, and lastly, the words being taken in
reference to Nimrod, and rendered according to the
marginal translation, there is a clear connection
between verse 10 and I I. The beginning of his
kingdom was Babel, and Rrceh and Aeead, and
Cain eh, in the land of Shinar. But afterwards
he extended his kingdom further, and out of that
land (of Shinar) went out, (./ c. made an invasion)
into Assyria, and built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth
and Calah, and Ressen, between Nineveh and Calah.
I have spoken already of Assyria, chapter III, Sec
III, 9. I shall therefore proceed here to speak of
the cities built by Nimrod, and mentioned verse 11,
12. I shall take them in the order they are there
mentioned, and so begin with Nineveh. As for its
name, it is generally thoughtto be so called from Ninus,
son of Nimrod; for as much as it is, both by Greek
and Latin writers, generally called Ninus: though
the name Nineveh was not altogether unknown to
these; for it is expressly mentioned by Ammianus
Marsellinus, and Ptolemy takes notice of both names :
Ninus, which is also Ninevi; which last is plainly
made from the Hebrew, Nineveh, a compound, as
is probably enough thought of, Ninnave, i. e., the
dwelling of Ninus. As to the situation of this once
most potent city, there are great diversities of
opinions concerning it. And (as the learned Bochart
has well observed) perhaps the truest opinion is,
that the place of its situation is not to be discovered;
th is being the import of those words in the prophecy
of Nahum, chapter I, 8 : With an overrunning food
he will make an utter end of the place thereof; i. e., God
will so destroy Nineveh, as that not so much as the
place where it once stood shall be known to after
ages. And this exposition seems confirmed by chapter
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Cush. 91
111,17, the same prophecy : Thy crowned shall be
as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshop¬
pers, zvhich camp in the hedges in the cold day; but
when the sun ariseth, they flee away, and their place is
not known where they {are, it is rendered in our Bible ;
but the verb being not expressed in the Hebrew, it
may be, and actually is, rendered in the vulgar Latin
version, where they) have been. Which rendering
seems much more apposite and momentous than the
other, denoting what is now come to pass ; that the
very place where the kings and princes of the
Assyrians once lived in such splendor, should in time
be not discoverable. And this is particularly taken
notice of by Lucian in one of his dialogues ; wherein
he says, that Ninus was so utterly distroyed, that there
remained no footsteps of it, nor could one tell so much
as where it once stood.
However, from the observation of learned men,
thus much may be reasonably inferred: 1st. That
there were two Ninevehs or Ninus's, one on the
Euphrates, the other on the Tigris ; which last is
that mentioned so. often in the Scripture. 2nd. That
this Nineveh lay on the east of the river Tigris, and
that not far from the river Lycus, which runs into the
Tigris. But on which hand of the Lycus, whether
011 the right or left, is uncertain ; forasmuch as some
writers place both Ninus and Arbela between the two
livers Lycus and Caprus, others make Lycus separate
Arbela from Ninus. 3d. Hereupon some have supposed
that the Nineveh or Ninus upon the Tigris did in pro¬
cess of time remove from one place to another; that
is, that whereas Nineveh was at first built by Nimrod
on the Tigris, above the mouth of the Lycus, this
Nineveh being taken and destroyed by the Medes,
another city rose up afterwards at no great distance
trom the place of the former, below the mouth of the
Lycus, and as it were out of the ruins of the former,
92 Niuirod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
and was called by the same name as the former was.
And this conjecture is the more probable, because it
is no other than what has happened in relation to other
cities or towns. As to the greatness of the Nineveh
which is denoted in Scripture, it is therein represented
to be exceedingly great; for so the Hebrew expres¬
sion denotes, Jon. III. 3. Indeed it was so large, as
to exceed even Babylon itself in bigness. The cir¬
cuit of Babylon is said by Strabo to be three hundred
eighty-five furlongs; i. e. somewhat above forty-eight
miles ; and yet the same author expressly asserts, that
Ninus was larger than Babylon. Diodorus gives us
the particular dimensions of Ninus thus: it was an
hundred and fifty furlongs, that is, near nineteen miles
in length ; ninety furlongs, i. e. somewhat above eleven
miles breadth ; and four hundred and eighty furlongs,
i. e. just three-score miles in compass. Hencer
whereas it is said, Jon. III. 3, that Nineveh zvas an ex¬
ceeding great city, of three day's joimiey ; this is by
some understood, not as to its length, but as to its-
compass ; namely, accounting twenty miles for a
day's journey, according to the common estimation
ot those elder times, as also of the Greeks and Ro¬
mans in the times succeeding. But there seems to
lie an objection against this exposition in the fol¬
lowing verse; where it is said, that Jonas began to
enter into the city a day's journey: which seems plainly
to intimate, that the measure of three day s journey,
mentioned in the foregoing verse, as to be understood^
not of the compass, but the inside of the city.
Hence it may be easily supposed, that there were
in Nineveh more than six score thousand per&ons that
could not discern between their right hand and their
left hand, Jon. IV. 11. For supposing this to be un¬
derstood of infants under two .years old, these gen¬
erally, as Mr. Bochart observes, make at least the
fifth part of the city. According to which supposition,.
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Cus/i. 93
all the inhabitants of Nineveh would not be more
than six hundred thousand. And so many the
inhabitants of Seleucia were esteemed to be in the
days of Pliny, as he tells us. Nay, the inhabitants of
London are estimated at six hundred ninety-five thou¬
sand, seven hundred and eighteen, in the Philosoph¬
ical Transactions, No. 185.
Nor was this noble city of less strength than great¬
ness; the walls of it being an hundred feet high, and
so broad that three carts might go abreast on the top
thereof; and along these walls there were fifteen hun¬
dred turrets, each of them two hundred feet high. So
strong, that it was thought to have been impregnable,
and that something perhaps in respect to an old pre¬
diction concerning it; which signified, that the town
should never be taken, till the river became an enemy
to it. A prediction which induced Sardanapalus to
make it the seat of his war against Belochus and Ar-
baces, then in arms against him ; who having beseiged
it three years without success, at last the river over¬
flowing, carried before it twenty furlongs of the wall.
Which accident so terrified the effeminate King Sar-
danapaius, that he burnt himself in the midst of his
treasures, and so left the town to the besiegers. Destruc¬
tion being threatened to this city by the preaching of
Jonas, it escaped then upon repentance. But the people
going on in their wicked courses, it was destroyed by
Astyages, King of the Medes,that it might 110 longer
be an encouragement to the Assyrians to rebel against
him, as formerly against some of his predecessors.
Upon and as it were out of the ruins hereof is sup¬
posed another city to have arisen, at no great distance
from the situation of the former, and called by the
same name, as has been before observed, and which
was the Nineveh that was standing in the time of Am-
mianus Marcellinus and Paulus Diaconus, and that on
94 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Cush.
the east of the River Lycus, whereas old Nineveh was
on the west. And thus much for Nineveh.
Proceed we now to the other cities, which Nimrod
built in these parts, as well as Nineveh; and these
having suffered much the same fate with Nineveh,
nothing can be produced concerning them that will
amount to more than conjecture. The city mentioned
by Moses next to Nineveh is Rehoboth, which word,
because in the Hebrew tongue it denotes also streets,
hence the sacred historian seems to have added the
word city; to show, that it was here to be taken as a
proper name Now there being no footsteps of the
name itself in these parts, but there being here a city
or town called Birtha by'Ptolemy, and the said name
denoting in the Chaldee tongue the same as Rehoboth
does in the Hebrew, in an appellative or common ac¬
ceptation ; hence it is probably conjectured, that Reho¬
both and Birtha are only two different names of one
and the same city. And it is not to be doubted but
the Birtha mentioned by Ptolemy is the same which
Ammianus Marcellinus calls Virta. It was seated on
the Tigris, about the mouth of the River Lycus.
There is mention made, Gen. XXXVJ, 37, of a
city, Rehoboth, where Saul, a King of Edom, was
born. But this is thought to be the Rehoboth
that lay on the Euphrates, whence Bochart tells us
that it is to this day distinguished among the Arabs
by the name of Rahabath-melic, i. e., Rehoboth-
regis ; as in Norfolk there is a town called for dis¬
tinction sake Lynn-regis. But whether the Rehoboth
on the Euphrates was the birth-place of Saul, the
Idumean King, or no; it is in a manner certain that
it was at too great a distance from Assyria, properly
so called, to be built by Nimrod, together with Nine¬
veh, and the other two that follow, viz.: Calah, and
Resen.
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. 95
As for Calah and Calach, since we find in Strabo a coun¬
try about the head of the river Lycus, called Calachene,
it is very probable that the said country took this name
from Calach, which was once the capita! city of it.
Ptolemy also mentions a country called Calacene in
these parts. And whereas Pliny mentions a people
called Classitae, through whose country the Lycus
runs, it is likely that Classitae is a corruption for Ca-
lachitae. To this city and country it was, in all prob¬
ability, that Salmanassar transplanted some of the ten
tribes of Israel, as we read 2d Kings, XVII, 6. For
though the word be there somewhat differently spelt,
yet the said two letters, wherein the difference lies, are
frequently used one for the other ; and what is in this
last place written in our Bible Halah, may be written
agreeably to the Hebrew Calah or Calach, and so
little differing from Calah or Calach.
We are come now to the last city mentioned by
Moses, as built by Nimrod; the name whereof was
Resen. There were two cities in Mesopotamia of
somewhat like names, one being called Rhisina, be¬
tween Ede:-sa and Mount Masius ; the other, Rhe-
sena, between the rivers Chaboras and Saocoras. But
the situation of neither of these agreeing to the de¬
scription of Resen, given by Moses, therefore learned
persons have been induced to look on a city men¬
tioned by Xenophon under the name of Larissa, to
be the same with Resen built by Nimrod, and that for
these three considerations : 1st. That the situation of
this Larissa, lying on the Tigris well enough agrees
with the situation of Resen, as described by Moses,
who tells us that it was built between Nineveh and
Calah, Gen. X. 12. Moreover, 2d, Moses observes
in the same text, that Resen was a great city. And so
Xenophon tells us that Larissa was a strong and
great, but then ruined city, being two parasangs,
i. e., eight miles in compass; and its walls an hundred
90 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cusli.
feet high, and twenty-five feet broad. 3d, and lastly,
Larissa was a Greek name ; whence we find a city so
called in Thessaly, and said to be the birth-place of
Archilles. There was also another city of the same
name in Syria, which the Syrians themselves called
Sizara, as Stephanus observes. But now there were
Greek cities in Assyria in the days of Xenophon, i. e.,
before Alexander the Great; and consequently no
Larissa : it is likely therefore, that the Greeks ask¬
ing, zvhat city those were the ruins 'of\ the Assyrians
might answer, Laresen, i. e'., of Resen ; which word
Xenophon expressed by Larissa, a somewhat like
name of several Greek cities. And thus much for
the Kingdom of Nimrod."
Since the publication of Dr. Wells' expositions on
the Kingdom of Nimrod, many of the great cities
therein have been exhumed by great explorers. The
exhumations have not, however, impaired his argu¬
ment in any of its essentiality, but has rather strength¬
ened it.
We are now quite willing to take up again the thread
of our argument and proceed with the same until it is
completed. The digression we made by introducing
the above expositions at the time we did, will more
than compensate every one who will read and in¬
wardly digest the same. This, we are perfectly con¬
fident, will be the verdict of every reader whose desire
is to walk with wise men, Prov. XXIX, 8 ; men whose
wisdom moves the intellectual world.
Nimrod, whom we discuss, is the sixth and last son of
Cush. He was born about B. C. 2218. Moses, in Gen.
X, 8, mentions him thus: "And Cush begat Nimrod.
He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was
a mighty hunter before the Lord. Whereof it is said,
even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and
Erech, and Accad,and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Citsh.
97
This boy was indeed the flower and pride of the
family. After proving himself an indispensable factor
of the community in those days when wild beasts
were numerous, and on that account human life was
very insecure; and after he and his compeers had
subdued them, and all men began to laud him in the
highest for his valor and wonderful feats, performed in
those perilous chase, he turned his conquest over both
land and people. And by reason of superior intelli¬
gence, experience and practice in the offensive weap¬
ons he soon made himself master of the situation, and
founded the first great empire about B. C. 2189,
which lasted 1487 years before the government
changed hands, that is, fell into the possession of
another line of Kings, but of the same nationality.
It is very difficult to cover in a brief space a
period of 1487 years, and give all of the impor¬
tant events therein such a consideration as they
are entitled to. Nevertheless, we do the best we
can, and leave the public as the judges of the
work done. The building of Babel was, indeed,
a wonderful feat in human history. Nimrod, its
founder, must have possessed very lofty concep¬
tions to contrive such a tower as that. Its comple¬
tion was only miraculously interrupted by Divine
Providence. It was near this same spot of ground that
Nimrod, the founder of the Babylonian Empire, built
Babylon, the Capital of his kingdom. The spread and
influence of this monarchy was rapid and great. So
powerful was it, that it was dreaded far and near.
It seems as though the geographical lines and the
topography of the country might be given you, my
dear readers, at this time and place with much profit.
Babylonia, the Capital of the great empire, was mag¬
nificently situated between two great rivers, the Eu¬
phrates and the Tigris. The rich and fertile plains of
Mesopotamia extended far northward until they
5
98 Nimrod, the Sixt/i and Last Son of CusJi.
touched the basis of the mountainous districts of Ar¬
menia, while to the east arose the perpetual emerald
table-land, and the everlasting mountains of Assyria.
Th e soil in this region was so rich that it rivaled the
fertility of the valley of the Nile. "So peculiarly sit¬
uated for corn," says an author, "that the husband¬
man's returns were some times three hundredfold, and
rarely less than two hundredfold," The country could
also boast of the luxuriant abundance of the rich oily
grains of the panicum and sesamum. The large and
beautiful palm-trees were the living sentinels along
the banks of the majestic rivers. Such was the state
of the country we have very briefly described.
We turn now to the founder of the empire that arose
therein. He was the Ninus in profane history and the
Nimrod in sacred history that established the above
mentioned monarchy. As a warrior, a conqueror, the
builder of great cities and the founder of a mighty
empire, he had no equal in his day and generation.
Nations fled before him as did the wild beasts of the
forests. He was the monarch of the old world.
Cities arose at his command behind him, and around
him a glorious empire stretched. Babylon, the Capi¬
tal of his kingdom, stood in the plain of Babylonia.
It was a perfectly four square city. The River Eu¬
phrates ran through its centre, and also supplied the
ditches around the outer walls with water. The streets
thereof were one hundred in number; they were per¬
fectly straight and crossed each other at right angles.
The tower ot Belus rose from the western bank of the
river far above the massive walls into an unclouded
region of the skies. Each side of the city measured
about fifteen miles, making the circumference thereof
sixty miles. A single palace therein occupied as
much, if not more, ground than what our grand "Old
City by the Sea" covers to-day. The walls that en¬
vironed the inhabited city in which a dense mass of
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. 99
humanity moved measured in thickness eighty-seven
feet and in height three hundred feet, and they were
"pierced with a hundred gates," all made of solid
brass, and out of them went myriads of horses and
chariots and valorous men of war. These impregna¬
ble walls were completed within one year by three
hundred thousand workmen. Across the Euphrates
was stretched a beautiful and "sumptuous bridge,"
about one-half mile in length and about thirty-feet in
width, and at each end stood a gorgeous palace.
The city was divided into six hundred and seventy-six
squares, each measuring two miles and a quarter in
circumference. " The great squares of jthe city were
not all occupied by buildings. Many of them were
used as gardens, and even farms; and the great fer¬
tility of the soil, caused by irrigation, producing two
and even three crops a year, supplied food sufficient
for the inhabitants in case of a siege. Babylon was a
vast fortified province rather than a city.
On the right of the Euphrates, in Borsippa, I think
within the walls, stood the Temple of the Spheres.
Its foundations had been laid by an earlier king, but
the building was erected by Nebuchadnezzar. It arose,
like the Temple of the Moon God at Ur, in a succes¬
sion of seven rectangular stages or platforms, of which
the lowest was two hundred and seventy-two feet,
and the highest twenty feet square. The sides of
each platform were faced with bricks gorgeously
colored and glazed. The ground stage, twenty-six
feet high, was black like jet, the color of the planet
Saturn. The next orange, Jupiter. The next blood
red like ruby glass, Mars. The next was covered
with plates of burnished gold, in honor of the Sun.
Above this, pale yellow, Venus. Mercury, deep blue,
gleaming like a sapphire. The highest, plated with
polished silver, represented the Moon. Here stood
the shrine ; and here, if we may judge from the analogy
100 Nimrodi the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
of other Chaldaean temples, was the observatory, in
which observations were taken with instruments of
sufficient accuracy to discover the satellites of Jupi¬
ter. The building appears to have been solid, andx
was ascended by an inclined plane circling around
its outer surface. In high lights it must have glit¬
tered like cut gems laid nearly in the order of rainbow
colors, and the description of it suggests the imagery
of the Apocalypse. There is a curious fact which I
do not remember to have seen noticed, and of which
I will not venture here to suggest the explanation.
Babylon stands in the Book of Revelation as the em¬
blem of all the abominations which are to be de-
siroyed by the power of Christ. But Babylon is the
one city known to history which could have served
as a model for John's description ofthe New Jerusalem.
" The city lying four square ''' the walls great and
high the river which flowed through the city, " and
in the midst ofthe streets of it, and on either side of the
river the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits
" the foundations of the walls of the city garnished
with all manner of precious stones," as the base of the
walls inclosing the great palace were faced with glazed
and enameled bricks of brilliant colors, and a broad
space left that they might be'seen—these characteristics,,
and they are all unique, have been combined in no other
city." These squares were like so many little beauti¬
ful villages enclosed within great walls. The greatest
wonder in this queen of cities was the temple of Be-
lus—it was a furlong square, and rose about six hun¬
dred feet into the heavens, diminishing in size as it
ascended from the base to the topmost brick. This
wondrous structure was divided into eight stories,
which were reached by means of "a sloping terrace
on the outside, sufficiently wide enough for carriages
and beast of burden to ascend." This " temple of
Belus was the most ancient and the most magnificent
Niinrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Qtsh. 101
in the world. It was originally the tower of Babel,
which was converted into a temple. It had lofty
towers, and it was enriched by all the succeeding
monarchs till the age of Xerxes, who, after his unfor¬
tunate expedition against Greece, plundered and
demolished it. Among the riches it contained were
many statues of massy gold, one of which was forty
feet high." This building contained nearly the
whole wealth of the nation, for all their " idols of
gold" and "the plunder of the East" were treasured
up there. If any one desires further investigation into
this particular subject, Berosus, the great Babylonian
historian can be searched with much profit. The in¬
formation that he gives is considered by the best
historians of all ages, since his time, to be of immense
value. His exposition on the temple of Belus is of
the highest authority, because he was one of its
priests. Hence whatever he says about its priest¬
hood, and the records found in the temple, and the
learning of the Chaldaeans can be relied upon. He
" flourished in the reign of Alexander the Great, and
he resided for many years at Athens." He was a
Babylonian by birth. The style of his great history
indicates that it was composed of the earliest records,
taken from the walls of the temple. Adjoining this
magnificent place of wealth was the old strongly forti¬
fied palace of the Kings. And on the opposite bank of
the river arose the new palace, ''whose enclosures and
pleasure grounds covered a space of eight miles
round." "And within its precincts were the celebrated
hanging gardens, consisting of terraces one above an¬
other, raised upon pillars higher than the walls of
the city, well floored with cement and lead and cov¬
ered with earth, in which the most beautiful trees
and shrubs were planted."
We come now to the following divisions which
bring to our notice the political and social life of the
ancient Babylonians :
102 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
ist. The fixed or regular system or administration
of government of the Babylonians was monarchial
in form. This despotic government of the Babylo¬
nians was that of the very worst form. Th twill of the
king was the law. There could exist no code that his
judgment dare not resist and break asunder at his
pleasure. If he felt like setting aside the customs of
those who anciently governed the nation there was
no restrictions to prevent him, for he was all authority.
He was not only the representative head of the gov¬
ernment, but he stood at the head of ecclesiastical
affairs and claimed for himself Divine worship,
Daniel I, 8. Again, he surrounded himself with
as many wives and concubines as it suited his taste.
" And these were placed under the guardianship of
eunuchs, an unfortunate race, first brought into use in
Assyria." No one can look by careful examination
into the formation of that government and fail to
recognize the elements of its own destruction, which
took place in the fullness of time.
2nd. The public policy or politics touching the
National and State affairs of the Babylonians were
undoubtedly wisely managed. The character and
worth of the men of that age were made to shine
with brilliancy in the offices they so honorably filled.
The despotism of that monarchy was indeed very
severe, but the governmental affairs were in the hands
of very able statesmen who were great credit to them¬
selves and their race. This is clearly attested by the
duration of that awful form of government which
lasted for 1,487 years. If we turn to sacred writ,
especially (he writings of Daniel, we will readily dis¬
cover that the race of kings and princes and the men
who ruled the Babylonians were men of great
wisdom.
Esarhaddon, the fourth prince of the Assyrian
Empire, was a wise and politic king. It was during
Nimrod} the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. 103
his reign that " the royal family of the king of Baby¬
lon became extinct, and there was an interegnum of
eight years." When he discovered this weak and
disordered state of affairs existing among the Baby¬
lonians, he seized the opportunity of annexing Baby¬
lon to his already extensive dominions. The bound¬
ary of the ancient Assyrian Empire, not considering
its extensive conquests, embraced a large area of what
is now known as Turkey in Asia—nearly all the ter¬
ritories situated along the rivers Euphrates and
Tigres. Stretching northward, it comprehended all
that land between its centre and the Caspian and
Black Seas, and even the "dubious boundary" on
Circassia. The western and northwestern extremities
skirted the Mediterranean Sea and extended its pow¬
erful lines along Syria and Palestine. The Persian
Gulf and the land of Arabia touched it on the south
and southwest. On the east ancient Media and Per¬
sia and other territories formed its utmost limits.
This union was rather untimely and unfavorable, for
it soon ripened into the utter ruin of " that proud
Empire." Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Esarhaddon,
succeeded his father on the throne about fourteen
years after the union between Babylon and Nineveh.
This powerful prince, to spread his fame, made war
upon Phraortes, King of the Medes, whom he over¬
threw and slew in a terrible battle and took Ecbe-
tana, the capital of Media. The warlike spirit and
the growingpower of the Medes would not be downed
in that way, hence Cyaxares I, the son and successor
of Phraortes, led a mighty and well-disciplined army
against the Assyrians and defeated them, besieged
Nineveh for the purpose of taking it, but was com¬
pelled to raise the siege and return to Media to pro¬
tect his own territories against the Scythians, ".a
race of warlike savages."
After Cyaxares, by stratagem, had destroyed the
104 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Gush.
power of the savage Scythians, he renewed his war
against the Assyrian Empire, took its capital, Nin¬
eveh, and thus ended that powerful kingdom. The
fifteenth king of Babylon was Nebuchadnezzar, the
Great. Nebuchadnezzar, is thus described by a silver
tongue orator: "That monarch, a brilliant general,
an able statesman, a magnificent patron of the arts
and sciences, was a profoundly religious man. He
united in himself the functions of general, king and
pope. His ambition equaled his ability. Inheriting
a kingdom scarcely larger than Portugal, he extended
its limits over most of the then known world. The
historic Babylon was purely his creation. His power
was autocratic, and he could have said more truthfully
than Louis XIV., " I am the State." By an almost
universal conquest, he inaugurated a general peace,
and although the Hebrew prophet called him "the
Hammer of the whole earth," he strove to retain in
cords of silk the nations which Nineveh had bound in
fetters of iron. His supreme ambition was to make
Babylon what Napoleon labored to render Paris, the in¬
comparable metropolis of the world. Hence it came to
pass that history records, perhaps, no other reign so
lavishly adorned as his with both the triumphs of war
and the splendors of peace. Vast resources enabled
him to accomplish his designs. He had drained the
treasuries of all the richest nations into his own, and
taken captive an almost unlimited number of men to
labor in executing his great works. The timber of
Lebanon was his. The clay and bitumen beneath
his feet supplied unlimited materials for building.
The fleets of Phoenicia sailed at his orders. They
brought him gold, iron, and tin, from Africa, Spain,
and England. Their mariners, transported to the
Euphrates, navigated his ships to India and Ceylon,
and returned with gems, pearls, spices, and precious
woods. The camels of Arabia bore his freights across
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. 105
the deserts. The science and skill of Chaldaea were
at his command to make the most effective use of his
resources. These were some of the faculties which
enabled him to make " this great Babylon," which he
" built by the might of his power, and for the glory of
his majesty," " the Lady of Kingdoms, the glory of the
Chaldees' Excellency, the joy of the whole earth."
He conquered the kingdom of Judah and carried
many of the royal princes in chains to Babylon
as captives. Among them we find the prophet
Daniel. He invaded Phoenicia and the lower valley
of the Nile, and immediately after his return from
these great conquests, he set up the golden image in
the plains of Dura. Rev. Win. B. Wright, a very terse
and elegant author, in his " Ancient Cities," describes
the scenes of this great festivity thus : " It appears
to have been the dedication of the great statue placed,
upon the Temple, Bel.
That temple, of the same general pattern as the
Temple of the Spheres, was said to have been higher
than the pyramid Gizeh. The statue in the shrine
upon its summit was of gold. It has been supposed
that the festival described in Daniel could not have
been that which occurred at the placing of this statue,
because the image in Daniel is said to have been set
up in the plain of Dura. But if, as Mr. Budge
believes, the " plain of Dura " was one of the three
districts in Babylon, each called Dura, or fortress, the
difficulty disappears.
The festival must have been one of great signifi¬
cance. Bel was the national deity. His image was
to Babylon what the Cross of St. George is to Eng¬
land, or the star spangled banner to the United States.
The monarch was the representative of Deity, and
therefore, the statue of the god, was also the statue
of the king. Pride, patriotism and devotion combined
to prompt the most extravagant display. Holiday
106 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Sou of Ctish.
was proclaimed. Civil and military functionaries
were assembled from all parts of the empire. The
different instruments mentioned in Daniel have been
identified by help of sculptures from Nineveh, and
prove that the leader of orchestra understood that
combination of wind and stringed instruments which
is attributed to Mozart. Probably as the first rays of
the rising sun flashed upon the golden image six
hundred feet in air, the orchestra had orders to begin.
At sound of the music, the multitude were com¬
manded to prostrate themselves in worship. The
sight of the great temple, the flash of the splendid
image, the sound of martial music, might well pro¬
duce a sensuous excitement which would seek relief
in adoration.
It is probable that the whole empire shared in these
solemnities. When the golden spike which joined
the Atlantic to the Pacific was driven, the instant the
hammer fell, was telegraphed over all the continent.
No mysterious wires conveyed the signal across th.e
plains of Chaldaea, but it is not impossible that
trumpeters stationed within sight and hearing of each
other spread the news five hundred miles as fast as
sight and sound could carry it, for this was probably
the proudest day of Nebuchadnezzar's great career.
But there were three men in Babylon who would not
worship him, nor " bow down before the image which
Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up." They saw
working beneath the splendor the hidden leaven of
decay.
The reign of Nebuchadnezzar continued forty-three
years. He left Babylon the metropolis of the world.
Thither Egypt sent for sun-dials and water-clocks.
Thence the ladies of the Orient received the fashions, as
Christendom follows the fashions set by Paris. From
Babylon, Tyre took the weights and measures which
regulated commerce. From Babylon the Greieks
iMimroa, me sixrn ana JLast ^on of lush. iuy
received the tables on which their science was based,
and Lydia the lutes on which she learned at last to
excel her teacher.
To Babylon, Egypt sent her finest gold and her
choicest ivory, Tyre her most gorgeous dyes, India
her largest pearls, Arabia her choicest spices, Media
her agates and emeralds, which no where else could
be so finely cut. The entire vintage of Hilbon was
reserved for the Court of Babylon, as that of Cham¬
pagne was monopolized by Napoleon. Thither
Greece sent her most beautiful slaves, for in Babylon,
a dancing girl might be sold for the pi ice of a year's
pay to a thousand soldiers. The great Babylonian
banking house of the Egibi, whose checks and
receipts in clay still exist in great numbers, occupied
for five generations at Babylon, the place filled in
Europe by the Rothschilds since Waterloo." Dan. III.
Neboandal, the Belshazzar of Scripture, and Na-
bonadius and Labynetus of profane history, was not
only the last but the weakest of all the kings of
Babylon.
3rd. The social life of the Babylonians gleams
out through the mist of hoary ages in five noticeable
or distinct points.
First. That of social interest or concern. There
never lived or existed a race of people who looked
more to the social interest or concern of each other
than the Babylonians. Their interest in each other
was deeper than we can describe. The power of
your own imagination will serve you better than our
feeble attempt at the description of it.
Second. That of social pleasure. There was no
amusement known under the sun in that age of the
world that human mind could invent and heart crave
that the Babylonians did not have among themselves,
and their enjoyment of it was to the fullest extent.
Third. That of social benefits. The Babylonians
108 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
were very careful with regard to their dealings with
each other. Every act looked toward the mutual
benefit of each member of the nation. In this partic¬
ular they were exceedingly clannish.
Fourth. That of social happiness. Looking to the
social happiness of each individual family, no parent
had the right to dispose of his daughter when she
arrived at a marriageable age. The authority of the
land took her and sold her in the market places to the
highest bidder. The amount that the beautiful girls
brought was taken and divided among the ugly ones
for a support. The evils this method brought on are
easily imagined.
Fifth. That of social duties. The social obliga¬
tions that each Babylonian was under to his fellow,
had to be discharged with the utmost punctuality
and care, or else he forfeited forever his social stand¬
ing in society. This, indeed, was a very high mark
of moral sentiment and merits the laudation of the
moralists of all ages and races of men.
In considering the Babylonian history from B. C.
2182 to B. C. 538, will of necessity be full of
interest, as the sequence will show. But for the
records whose authenticity is incontestable, we would
deny the arguments, supporting such claims.
The Assyrian Empire, which seemed to have
formed a part of the Babylonian monarchy, was
founded about B. C. 2199, by Nimrod, having- Nine¬
veh as its metropolis or Capital. These two mighty
kingdoms continued to exist jointly down to B. C.
538. The history of the race of kings who governed
the Babylonian Empire immediately after its founder,
Nimrod, is not as clear as it might be. If we take up
the kings of Assyria we would find that four of them
covered in their reigns a period of sixty-seven years
altogether. The first of them, Tiglath-Pileser, some¬
times called Arbaces and Ninus the younger, who
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Ciish. 109
reigned nineteen years. He was the first king of
Assyria after the division of the Empire. He assisted
the King of Judah against the Kings of Israel and
Syria—2nd Kings XVI, 7. The second King of this
Empire was Shalmaneser. In the sixth year of his
reign he besieged Samaria, the capital of'the King¬
dom of Israel, and after three years took it, and then
carried the ten tribes into captivity and located them
in Media. This event transpired about 250 years
after the separation of Israel and Judah. The history
of the Ten Tribes will afford you great information on
this subject. Shalmaneser died after a reign of four¬
teen years. The third king was Sennacherib, the
son of Shalmaneser. He was a formidable prince.
He invaded the kingdom of Judah in the reign of
Hezekiah, defeated the King of Egypt, who, with a
large army, was coming to aid the Jews ; he would
have, according to human probability, taken Jerusa¬
lem, but his immense army was suddenly destroyed
by pestilence. He then returned to Nineveh, where
he acted the part of an awful tyrant, and for that
reason he was put to death by his own sons in the
temple of Nisroch.
We come now to speak of the art of weaving. The
Babylonians were great manufacturing people. Cot¬
ton and wool were manufactured into costly and val¬
uable household goods. They manufactured a kind
of cotton robes cahed sindones, supposed to be a spe¬
cies of muslin, they were so highly esteemed for their
delicacy of texture and brilliancy of color, that they
were appropriated to royal use. The " Babylonish
garment" that is mentioned in Sacred Scripture
which caused the death of Achan, must have pos¬
sessed great attraction. Richly " perfumed waters,"
elegantly carved walking canes, magnificent engraved
stones, and beautiful seal rings, were abundantly
wrought in the great city by the various artisans
*6
110 Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush.
therein. " The art of cutting precious stones was
also carried to a perfection not exceeded by our mod¬
ern lapidaries, as is manifested from the collection of
Babylonian gems in the British museum." As a com¬
mercial people the Babylonians occupied a position
in the front ranks of the mercantile world. They
traded largely with the Persians, and the Indians,
in gold, precious stones, and rich dye-stuffs. The
fine wool out of which their costly garments were
wrought, they obtained from Candahar and
Kashmir. They procured immense quantities and
an excellent quality of Emeralds, Jaspers and
many other precious stones from the desert of
Bactria, now known as the modern Cobi; while the
Bahrien Islands in the Persian Gulf furnished them
large quantities of the finest pearls. Their commerce
in these articles with western Asia and Europe was
very extensive. This commerce was both by land
and sea. The commercial alliance between the
Babylonians and the Phoenicians was very strong,
and it made them masters of the high seas, and thus
enabled them to monopolize the mercantile business
of that age of the world. In literature, they were
the equals, if not the superiors of any of their day.
In the science of astronomy, they possibly laid the
foundation; and but for the mixture of Chaldaean
mythology, their astronomical records would be the
greatest scientific gift the ancients gave to the chil¬
dren of men. We can say this of the soldiery of the
Babylonians; the world never produced greater.
Their valor on a thousand battle fields still furnishes
materials for the muse and the philosopher. In
religion, they were politheistic. They were .even
given to that in human practice, the sacrifice of
human life in the time of their religious worship.
We know of no words more becoming, in which we
can end this little volume than the following :
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. Ill
" These are the sons of" Cush, 11 after their families,
after their tongues, in their countries, and in their
nations.'''' The close of this chapter brings us to the
consideration of Misraim, Harris's second son, and his
immediate descendants, in Volume Second.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Historic Truth 12-13
Chapter I.
How to Study this present Little Work with
Success and Understanding ....... 14-16
Chapter II.
Ham and His Immediate Descendants. . . 17—35
Chapter III.
Cush and the Cushites 3^-45
Chapter IV.
Seba, the First Son of Cush 46—53
Chapter V.
Havilah, Cush's Second Son 54~~59
Chapter VI.
Sabtah, the Third Son of Cush 60-64
Chapter VII.
Raamah, the Fourth Son of Cush 65-69
Chapter VIII.
Sabtecha, the Fifth Son of Cush 70-74
Chapter IX.
Nimrod, the Sixth and Last Son of Cush. . . 7^—111