^ 
 
 A 
 
3r— 6 
 
 $ THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 f, Princeton, N. J. f 
 
 
 BS A13 .B58 V 
 
 . 17 
 
 
 Rosenmeuller , 
 
 Ernst 
 
 
 Friedrich Kaj 
 
 rl, 1768- 
 
 1835. 
 
 The Biblical geography 
 
 of 
 
 Central Asia 
 
 
 
THE 
 
 BIBLICAL CABINET; 
 
 OR 
 
 HERMENEUTICAL, EXEGETICAL, 
 
 AND 
 
 PHILOLOGICAL LIBRARY. 
 
 VOL. XVIL 
 
 BIBLICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 THOMAS CLARK, 38. GEORGE STREET; 
 
 J. G. dr F. RIVINGTON, LONDON; 
 
 AND W. CURRY, JUN. & CO. DUBLIN. 
 
 MDCCCXXXVII. 
 
THK 
 
 BIBLICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 CENTRAL ASIA: 
 
 WITH 
 
 A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF SACRED 
 GEOGRAPHY, INCLUDING THE ANTEDILUVIAN PERIOD. 
 
 'UY THE LATJJ 
 
 E. F. C. ROSENMULLER, D.D. 
 
 ORDINARY PROFESSOR OV ORIENTAL LANGUAGES IN THK 
 UNIVERSITY OF LEIPSIC. 
 
 TRANSLATKU KROAl THK GKRMAN, UV THK 
 
 REV. N. MORREN, A. M. 
 
 WITH NOTES KY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 ]N TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 THOMAS CLARK, 3«. GEORGK STREET. 
 MDCCCXXXVII. 
 
J. THOMSON, PRINTER, MILNE SQUARE. 
 
VOLUME SECOND. 
 
 Page 
 Chap. VIII. — Babylonia and Chald^a , 1 
 
 Description of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, from 
 
 Diodorus Siculus *..... 12 
 
 Mignmi on the Amran-Hill .... 22 
 
 Rich, Heeren, and Mlgnan, on the Birs Nimroud 23 & 26 
 Heeren on the Manufactures and Commerce of Babylonia 33 
 
 on the Origin of the Chaldseans . . 43 
 
 on the Government of the Chaldaeo-Babylo- 
 
 nian Empire, the Magi, &c. ... 48 
 
 Abulfeda's Account of Hit .... 60 
 
 The Cabbalistic Forms Athbash and Albam . 63 
 
 Abulfeda, Mandeville, Rauwolf, Ker Porter, &c. on 
 
 the Ruins of Babylon . . . 74—80 
 
 Ker Porter and Heeren on the Site of the Temple of 
 
 Belus 82—88 
 
 Masudi on the Site and Ruins of Babel . 309 
 
 Mignan's Account of the Ruins of Ctesiphon and 
 
 , Seleucia 310 
 
 Rich on the Tauk Kesra .... 98 
 
 Oriental Traditions respecting Nimrod, (from D'Her- 
 
 helot) 313 
 
 Illustration of Dan. v, 27 . . . . 117 
 
 Chap. IX. — Assyria 119 
 
 Rich on Al Athur, Ashur (Nimrod's city) . 138 
 
 /C/aj9ro<ft on the Kurds .... 316 
 
 * The articles here specified under each Chapter, denote the principal 
 additions by the Translator, either in the body of the work, or in the Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 liuxtorf on the Karduchian Mountains . 139 
 
 Rkh on the Products of Kurdistan . . 141 
 
 on the River Zab .... 144 
 
 Campbell of Barbreck, on the Extreme Heat at Mosul, 
 
 (Nineveh) ..... 149 
 Rich's Description of the Ruins of Nineveh . 31G 
 Abulfeda's Account of Holwan . . 154 
 Rich's Notice of Al-Kosh, (the Birth Place of Nahum ?) 158 
 Description of Arbil, the ancient Arbela 159 
 
 Chap. X. Mesopotamia. . . . 171 
 
 Rich on the District of Sinjar ... 174 
 
 on Mount Djudi .... 181 
 
 HfiMcie'* Notice of Nisibin ... 198 
 
 Chap. XL Syria 204 
 
 Volncy on the name of Syria . . . 275 
 
 — on the Soil, Climate, &c. . . 277 
 
 on the Earthquakes . . 279 
 
 on the Aspect of Lebanon . . 282, 285 
 
 Volney and Burckhardt, on the Division of the Country 294 
 
 Barker's Tour, (1835) .... 323 
 
 Gescnius on the Syriac and Palmy rene Dialects . 274 
 
 Schnurrer and Blayncy on Jerem. xviii. 14, 15 . 211 
 
 Note on the Nimfirah or Panther . . 216 
 
 on the Northern Mount Hor . . . 217 
 
 Burckhardt on the Jissr Beni-Yakub . . 229 
 
 Note on the Abila of Lysanias . . . .231 
 
 Abulfeda's Account of Hamath . . . 245 
 
 of the Course of the Orontes or El- 
 
 Aasi 288 
 
 Volney's Description of Antioch . . 296 
 
 W^owi and Fo/>it,j/ on the Ruins of Palmyra . . 321 
 
 roZ/1^2/ on the Ruins of Baalbek . . .302 
 
 Burckhardt on the Ruins of Balbek . . 256 
 
 Rac Wilson on the " Sacred Spots in Damascus" 262 
 
 The Plan of the Ruins of Babylon faces page 17- 
 
BIBLICAL GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. 
 
 Ancient Babylonia,^ the modern Babylonian 
 or Arabian Irak,^ constituting the pashalic of 
 Bagdad, comprises that tract of country inclosed 
 between the Euphrates and Tigris, which is 
 bounded on the north by Mesopotamia and As- 
 syria, and on the south by the Persian Gulf. 
 That gulf was the only fixed and natural limit 
 of ancient Babylonia. Towards the north, or 
 Mesopotamia and Assyria ; towards the east, or 
 Persia [Farsistan] and Susiana ; and towards the 
 west, or Arabia Petrsea and Deserta, the boun- 
 daries were less clearly defined. It is certain, 
 however, that both in former and later times, 
 tracts more or less extensive on the east bank ot 
 the Tigris, and the west bank of the Euphrates, 
 and on both sides of the united stream of those 
 rivers (called by the ancients Pasitigris, by the 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
2 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [CHAP. VI 1 1, 
 
 moderns Shat-el-Arab) have been reckoned to 
 belong to Babylonia, or Irak-el-Arab. 
 
 The south-western part of Babylonia lying to- 
 wards Arabia Deserta, is termed by Jeremiah 
 (chap. xxiv. 5; xxv. 12; 1. 8), and by Ezekiel 
 (chap. xii. 13 ; xxi. 27), the land of the Chaldceans, 
 or Chaldcsa ;^ not that it was the original seat of 
 that people, but, as we shall afterwards see, a co- 
 lony of them was transplanted thither by the As- 
 syrians. Commonly, however, the names Chaldsea 
 and Babylonia are used interchangeably, inas- 
 much as at an after period, the Chaldseans came 
 into possession of the whole country. The oldest 
 name of the region is Shinhar or Shingavy^ (gene- 
 rally pronounced Shinar.*) For in Gen. x. 10, 
 it is said, that Kimrod built, besides certain other 
 towns. Babel, " in the land of Shinar," where 
 that city is also described as situated in Gen. xi. 
 2, 4. According to Dan. i. 1, 2, Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, King of Babel, caused the vessels of the 
 temple of Jerusalem to be carried away to the 
 temple of his own god, " in the land of Shinar." 
 When Isaiah, in the title of a prophecy, foretell- 
 ing the overthrow of this kingdom, (chap. xxi. 1) 
 styles it " the desert or plain of the sea,"^ his 
 language is to be regarded as a poetical or sym- 
 bolical delineation of Babylon, drawn probably 
 from the circumstance, that previously to the 
 construction of dams by Semiramis, the plain on 
 which lay the metropolis, became, at the perio- 
 
 » By the Germans calied Smear — M. 
 
CHAP. VIU.] BABYLONIA A>«rD CHALD.T:A. 3 
 
 dical overflowing of the Euphrates, a vast sheet of 
 water like a sea, whence the whole country came 
 to be designated by that name.^ 
 
 Babylonia is one extensive plain, ^ unbroken 
 by a single hill. The soil consists of a brown, 
 rich loam, and receives the yearly inundations 
 of the two rivers which traverse the coun- 
 try,^ the Euphrates on the west, and the Tigris 
 on the east, but more especially the former, its 
 banks being lower and flatter than those of the 
 Tigris. These copious floods compelled the 
 earlier inhabitants to lead off" the accumulating 
 waters, and so diffuse them over the whole coun- 
 try, that the more arid tracts were irrigated and 
 fertilized. Hence, the whole of Babylonia be- 
 came intersected by a number of larger and 
 smaller canals, some of which crossed the country 
 in its entire breadth from one river to the other, 
 while others were gradually lost in the interior.^ 
 These canals seem to be intended in Ps. cxxxvii. 
 l,by " the rivers of Babel."^*^ The most consider- 
 able of them were — the king's river (Nahar Mal- 
 ca,^^) which was navigable, and being led off 
 from the. Euphrates, ran into the Tigris far to 
 the south-east ; the Pallacopas, another branch 
 of the Euphrates, eight hundred stadia south- 
 west of Babylon, which fell into a lake it had 
 formed on the borders of Arabia ;^^ and the Maar- 
 sares, likewise an artificial outlet to the Eu- 
 phrates, w^hich, after running parallel to that river 
 
4 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 for a considerable distance, again rejoined it.^^ 
 Of one or other of the two hist-mentioned canals, 
 which went from the Euphrates westward to- 
 wards Arabia, the remains are thought still to 
 exist in the dry channel of the Djari-Zaad,^'* 
 which, according to the tradition of the Arabs, 
 was in ancient times lined with rows of trees, 
 and sent forth a number of branches to water 
 and fructify the surrounding country. Perhaps 
 this is the river Sud,*^ mentioned in the apocry- 
 phal book of Baruch (chap. i. 4), upon which 
 was a settlement of the Jews, who had been 
 transported to Babylonia. Besides the great num- 
 ber of canals, of which no trace can be now found, 
 there were several large lakes, which were partly 
 formed by art, and partly by the inundations of 
 the two great rivers. The largest of them is 
 described by Herodotus,^^^ as the work of Queen 
 Nitocris. It lay in the north of the country, at 
 a considerable distance above the metropolis, and 
 was from forty to fifty miles'^ in circuit. The bitu- 
 men with which the district abounds, served for the 
 construction of the dams on the river ; but this 
 lake was surrounded with a stone wall. About 
 ninety miles below Babylon, on the west bank of 
 the Euphrates, there were low marshy tracts, ^^'^ 
 which extended far into the Desert of Arabia. 
 Babylonia might therefore be regarded as a well- 
 watered region, and Jeremiah might correctly 
 
 * Herodotus has "420 stadia."— M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 3 
 
 say of it (chap. li. 13,) that it lay upon many and 
 great water s.^^ 
 
 Notwithstanding the excessive heat which 
 reigns in the country during the greater part of 
 the year, and which compels the inhabitants of 
 the to\vns to betake themselves, at mid-day, to 
 the deep vaults in their houses, called serddps^^^ 
 the air is, upon the whole, pure and salubri- 
 ous, except in the south, around Basra [Bassora] 
 at the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, where mo- 
 rasses vitiate the atmosphere with their noxious 
 effluvia, and epidemic pestilences often rage with 
 destructive fury.^^ " Rain," says Olivier, ^^ " sel- 
 dom falls, even in w^inter, and the sky is almost 
 always clear. In summer the atmosphere is so 
 pure, that at a very short distance from the rivers 
 neither damp nor dew can be detected ; and were 
 the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris confined 
 within their channels, or led oiF by canals ; and 
 were means taken to prevent the accumulation 
 of swamps and pools, there would be no country 
 on the earth healthier or pleasanter, more fertile 
 or more flourishing." Such was in fact its 
 ancient condition at the time when Herodotus 
 wrote, about five hundred years before the 
 Christian era. The land was then intersected by 
 innumerable canals, which gradually diminished 
 in size, until they dwindled into rivulets ; and 
 along their course were a number of machines 
 for raising the water, and spreading it over the 
 
6 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [cHAP. VI 11. 
 
 soil.* The industry of man was rewarded with 
 the most luxuriant fertility. " Of all the coun- 
 tries," says Herodotus,^^ " with which 1 am ac- 
 quainted, Babylon is by far the most fruitful in 
 corn, for the soil generally yields two hundred 
 fold, and in seasons unusually favourable, three 
 hundred fold. The ear of their wheat and barley 
 is four digits broad ; but to how great a size the 
 stalks of the cenchrus, (a kind of millet or buck- 
 wheat) and the sesamum,^ grow, I shall not 
 mention, for I am sure that none but they who 
 have been themselves at Babylon, would give 
 credit to the account." On the other hand, the 
 country was entirely destitute of lofty trees, and 
 produced no figs, olives, nor grapes. But it was 
 rich in palm-trees, whose fruit (the date), not only 
 served for food, but yielded wine and honey. 
 The want of stones and of wood fit for building, was 
 well supplied by nature. There was found around 
 Babylon an inexhaustible store of the best brick- 
 clay, which, when dried in the sun, or burned in 
 an oven, attained a strength and durability, that is 
 even yet attested by the remains of ancient build- 
 ings, which, though so long since abandoned 
 by men, have resisted the influence of the atmos- 
 
 * See Captain Chesney^s Report, in the Appendix to Vol. I, 
 p. 280 M. 
 
 ^ The Ccnchrus is the Panicum Miliaceum. The Sesamwn 
 is thought by some to be the Sesamum Orientaleof Lhuiffius, 
 by others the besamum Indicum.— JVl. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. 7 
 
 phere for many centuries.^^ The very mortar for 
 cement had likewise been provided by nature. At 
 the distance of eight days' journey above Baby- 
 lon, there was a small river /?, wdth a town of the 
 same name, where were copious springs oinaphtlia 
 or bituminous pitch, which was used instead of 
 lime for cement, ^^ its binding property being 
 improved by layers of reeds or rushes. This 
 mode of building described by Herodotus, is still 
 to be seen in the existing remains of Babylon ; 
 and, according to the testimony of recent^ eye- 
 witnesses, the layers of rushes and palm-leaves 
 continue to this day uninjured by the lapse of 
 time.^^ 
 
 The cities and other places of ancient Baby- 
 lonia, mentioned in Scripture, are : 
 
 1 . Babel, the capital of the kingdom (in Jer. 1. 
 12, described as the mother, i, e. the metropolis 
 of Chaldsea), by the Greeks and Romans called 
 Babylon. It is also in Jer. xxv. 26; li. 41, 
 designated by Sheshach,^^ a word which pro- 
 bably signifies the 7'Ot/al court or cit?/ of the kina. 
 According to the narrative in the eleventh chap- 
 ter of Genesis, Babel received its name from the 
 confusion of tongues,^^ which followed on the im- 
 
 ^ Mignan^ however, thinks that in some cases, the white layer 
 which has been taken for the course of the reeds, is nothing 
 more than common earth, which has imdergone this change, 
 by the influence of tlie air on the clay composing the bricks. 
 Travels in Chalda^a p. 222 31. 
 
8 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 pious attempt that was there made to build a 
 tower whose top should reach to heaven.^^ The 
 traditions of Central and Western Asia, in like 
 manner, carry back the foundation of Babel to 
 the earliest period of antiquity, when men first 
 began to form themselves into society. And in 
 the extant remains of Assyrian historians, as 
 well as in the collection of ancient Asiatic le- 
 g-ends, called the Sybilline Oracles, an account 
 is given of the building of the Tower of Babel, 
 not very dissimilar from that of Moses.^^ The 
 Assyrian tradition, preserved by Ctesias,^^ as- 
 cribes the foundation of Babylon to Semiramis 
 the wife of Ninus ; the later Chaldee account, 
 which is to be found in the fragments of Me- 
 gasthenes and Berosus (contained in the writ- 
 ings of Eusebius^^ and Josephus^^) represents 
 Nebuchadnezzar as the founder. The two nar- 
 ratives are easily reconcileable, on the supposi- 
 tion, that Nebuchadnezzar^^ enlarged and for- 
 tified the city, which had been founded by Se- 
 miramis, or perhaps long before that queen's 
 reign. Herodotus, ^^ who visited Babylon about 
 four centuries and a-half before the Christian 
 aera, gives the following general description of 
 it."" " It is situated on a large plain, and is a 
 perfect square; each side, by every approach, 
 is in length one hundred and twenty furlongs ; 
 
 " I have adopted Beloe's Translation^ VoL I. p. 178, et 
 seqq — 31. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. '9 
 
 the space, therefore, occupied by the whole is 
 four hundred and eighty furlongs. So extensive 
 is the ground which Babylon occupies ; its in- 
 ternal beauty and magnificence exceed whatever 
 has come within my knowledge. It is surround- 
 ed by a trench, very wide, deep, and full of 
 water; the wall beyond this is two hundred 
 royal cubits high and fifty wide. It will not be 
 foreign to my purpose to describe the use to 
 which the earth dug out of the trench was con- 
 verted, as well as the particular manner in which 
 they constructed the wall. The earth of the 
 trench was first of all laid in heaps, and when 
 a sufficient quantity was obtained, made into 
 square bricks, and baked in a furnace. They 
 used as cement, a composition of heated bitu- 
 men, which, mixed with the tops of reeds, was 
 placed betwixt every thirtieth course of bricks.* 
 Having thus lined the sides of the trench, they 
 proceeded to build the wall in the same manner, 
 on the summit of which, and fronting each other, 
 they erected small watch towers of one storey, 
 leaving a space betwixt them, through which a 
 
 ■ ^ Mignau says (Trav. p. 268), this passage is better ren- 
 dered in the Latin translation of Laing's edition ofWessehng's 
 Herodotus, and more conformable with the mode of cement 
 preserved to this day. " Postea pro cceno vel calce utentes 
 hitumine ferventi et per tricesimas latericias compages consti- 
 pantes crates arundinum," &c. — M. 
 
10 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [cHAP. VIH. 
 
 chariot and four horses might pass and turn. 
 In the circumference of the wall, at different 
 distances, were an hundred massy gates of brass,^^ 
 whose hinges and frames were of the same metal. 
 " The great river Euphrates divides Babylon 
 into two parts. The walls meet and form an 
 angle with the river at each extremity of the 
 town, where a breast-work of burnt bricks be- 
 gins and is continued along each bank. The 
 city, which abounds in houses from three to four 
 stories in height, is regularly divided into streets. 
 Through these, which are parallel, there are 
 transverse avenues to the river, opened through 
 the wall and breast-work, and secured by an 
 equal number of little gates of brass.^^ The 
 first wall is regularly fortified ; the interior 
 one, though less in substance, is of almost equal 
 strength. Besides these, in the centre of each 
 division of the city, there is a circular space, 
 surrounded by a wall. In one of these stands 
 the royal palace, which fills a large and strongly 
 defended space. The temple * of Jupiter ^^ Be- 
 lus occupies the other, whose huge gates of 
 
 » " It is necessary to bear in mind, that the temples of the 
 ancients were essentially different from our churches. A large 
 fipace was inclosed by walls, in which were courts, a grove, 
 pieces of water, sometimes apartments for the priests; and 
 lastly, the temple, properly so called, and where, most frequent- 
 ly, it was permitted the priests alone to enter. The whole 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.TIA. 11 
 
 brass may still be seen. It is a square building, 
 each side of which is of the length of two fur- 
 longs. In the midst a tower rises, of the solid 
 depth and height of one furlong ;^^ upon which, 
 resting as a base, seven other turrets are built 
 in regular succession.^^ The ascent is on the 
 outside, which, winding from the ground, is 
 continued to the highest tower; and in the 
 middle of the whole structure, there is a con- 
 venient resting place. In the last tower is a 
 large chapel, in which is placed a couch magni- 
 ficently adorned, and near it a table of solid gold ; 
 but there is no statue in the place. No man is 
 suffered to sleep here ; but the apartment is oc- 
 cupied by a female, whom the Chaldean priests 
 affirm that their deity selects, from the whole 
 nation, as the object of his pleasures. They 
 themselves have a tradition, which cannot easily 
 obtain credit, that their deity enters this temple, 
 and reposes by night on this couch. In this 
 temple there is also a small chapel, lower in the 
 building, which contains a figure of Jupiter in a 
 sitting posture, with a large table before him ; 
 these, with the base of the table, and the seat of 
 the throne, are all of the purest gold, and are 
 estimated, by the Chaldeans, to be worth eight 
 
 inclosure was named to h^ev : the temple, properly so called, or 
 the residence of the deity, was called vaog, or the cell. It is 
 obvious that this last is the place particularly alluded to." — Lur- 
 cher's Herodotus. Note in loc. — M. 
 
12 BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 hundred talents. On the outside of this chapel 
 there are two altars ; one is of gold, the other is 
 of immense size, and appropriated to the sacri- 
 fice of full grown animals ; those only which 
 have not left their dams may be offered on the 
 altar of gold." 
 
 The famous hanging gardens were likewise in 
 the interior of the city, probably in the eastern 
 quarter, and were reckoned among the seven 
 wonders of the ancient world. They consisted 
 of four terraces, raised on a wall twenty-two 
 feet thick, and forming a regular square, each of 
 whose sides was four hundred feet in length. 
 The interior rested on strong vaults, supported 
 by massy pillars. 
 
 [The following is the more detailed descrip- 
 tion given by Diodorus Siculus i^ " This hang- 
 ing garden, near the citadel, was not built by 
 Semiramis, but by a later prince called Cyrus, 
 for the sake of a courtezan, who being a Persian 
 (as they say) by birth, and coveting meadows 
 on mountain tops, desired the king, by an arti- 
 ficial plantation, to imitate the lands in Persia. 
 The ascent up to this garden was as to the top 
 of a mountain, and it had buildings and apart- 
 ments out of one into another like unto a theatre. 
 Under the steps to the ascent were built arches, 
 one above another, rising gently by degrees, 
 
 » Booth's Translation, Vol. I. p. lOU. 
 
CHAP. VIII. "1 BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. 13 
 
 which supported the whole plantation. The 
 highest arch, upon which the platform of the 
 garden was laid, was fifty cubits high, and the 
 garden itself was surrounded with battlements 
 and bulwarks. The walls were made very- 
 strong, built at no small charge and expense, 
 being two and twenty feet thick, and every sally- 
 port ten feet wide ; over the several stories of 
 this fabric were laid beams and summers of 
 huge massy stones, each sixteen feet long and 
 four broad. The roof over all these was first 
 covered with reeds, daubed with abundance of 
 brimstone ; then upon them were laid double tiles, 
 pargeted together with a hard and durable mor- 
 tar, and over them, after all, was a covering 
 with sheets of lead, that the wet, which drench- 
 ed through the earth, might not rot the founda- 
 tion. Upon all these was laid earth of a con- 
 venient depth, sufficient for the growth of the 
 largest trees. When the soil was laid even and 
 smooth, it was planted with all sorts of trees, 
 which, both for greatness and beauty, might de- 
 light the spectators. The arches (which stood 
 one above another, and by that means darted light 
 sufficient one into another) had in them many 
 stately rooms of all kinds, and for all purposes. 
 But there was one that had in it certain en- 
 gines, whereby it drew plenty of water out of the 
 river through certain conduits and conveyances 
 
14 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 from the platform of the garden, and nobody 
 was the wiser or knew what was done."^^*] 
 
 Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon reached the 
 height of magnificence and grandeur. It was 
 the metropolis of the then civilized world ; and 
 through the united influence of conquests and 
 commerce, there flowed into it the riches of 
 almost all known lands. With perfect correct- 
 ness, therefore, is it styled in the Old Testa- 
 ment, Babylon the Great, (Jer. li. 58.^ Dan. 
 iv. 30) the world-renowned^ (Jer. li. 41) the proud 
 ornament of the Chaldceans, (Isa. xiii. 19) ; but 
 with no less truth is it also designated the luxu- 
 rious and wanton^ (Isa. xlvii. 1 , 8,) — one of the 
 consequences of its great wealth and prosperity 
 having been the corruption of the morals of 
 
 * Heeren does not think that these particulars, so accurately 
 given, could have been taken from Ctesias ; but were, perhaps, 
 borrowed from Megasthenes, who, according to Josephus, had 
 described the works of Nebuchadnezzar. The earth, in these 
 gardens, is said to have been of sufficient depth for trees 15 
 feet high. " Among the ruins stands a solitary tree, of a spe- 
 cies altogether unknown in the country. It bears every mark 
 of high antiquity, its originally enormous trunk being worn 
 away and shattered by time — probably the last descendant of 
 those hanging gardens." — ]\J. 
 
 ^ I presume the author cites this passage, on the supj)osition 
 that n2in*in, "' t^ie broad one," refers to the city itself; and that 
 is the Chald. Vers. But it agrees better with the parallelism 
 of members to translate, (and so our authorized Vers. Blayney, 
 Dathe, &c.) 
 
 The wall of Babylon, even the broad one, shall be razed to the prour.d, 
 And her gates, even the lofty ones, shall be burned with fire. — M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 15 
 
 the inhabitants to the lowest state of debase- 
 ment. '*° As capital of that empire, in which the 
 worship of the heavenly bodies became the most 
 impure and brutalising,^^ its name is used in the 
 Revelation of St. John, (ch. xiv. 8 ; xvi. 19 ; 
 xvii. 5; xviii. 10,) to denote Rome, the seat and 
 centre of heathenism.^ 
 
 But Babylon did not long continue the splen- 
 did metropolis of the world ; for, so early as the 
 reign of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Nabon- 
 nid, or as he is called in Scripture, Belshazzar, 
 it was taken by Cyrus. '^^ It immediately lost 
 its former importance, by ceasing to be the capi- 
 tal of an independent kingdom, Cyrus having 
 fixed his residence at Susa. He caused the outer 
 walls to be demolished, ''^ as the city appeared to 
 him too strongly fortified, and he feared lest the 
 inhabitants might rise in revolt. This, in fact, 
 actually happened under the reign of Darius 
 Hystaspes, who, after he had made himself 
 again master of the town, removed the gates, 
 and reduced the wall to the height of fifty ells/"* 
 According to Strabo,''^ Xerxes endeavoured to 
 raze to the ground the temple of Belus. The 
 same writer mentions, that under the dominion 
 of the Persians, and the successors of Alexander 
 the Great, Babylon continued to sink gradually 
 
 * This is, of course, mere matter of opinion; and it is well 
 known, that many expositors find another Rome, there pour- 
 trayed, under the image of Babylon the Great ^l. 
 
1^ BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 into decay ; especially after Seleucus Nicator 
 had built Seleucia on the Tigris, only 300 stadia 
 from Babylon, and chosen it for his royal abode. 
 A great part of the population of Babylon emi- 
 grated thither ; and in the time of Strabo, (that 
 is, in the age of the Emperor Augustus) Baby- 
 lon was so deserted, that he applies to that city 
 what an ancient poet had said of Megalopolis in 
 Arcadia, viz. that it was *' one vast wilderness." 
 Diodorus Siculus,"*^ who lived in the same cen- 
 tury, says, there was then only a small part of the 
 town inhabited ; and in the time of Pausanias, 
 in the first half of the second century, nothing 
 of Babylon remained but the walls.^^ We never- 
 theless find, in the second half of the fourth,"^^ and 
 even at the beginning of the fourteenth century, 
 mention made of a village on the site of the 
 former Babel, and called by the same name.'*^ 
 The remains of ancient Babylon were first made 
 correctly known to Europeans, by the Italian tra- 
 veller, Delia Valle, who was there in the month 
 of November, of the year 1616, and has left a 
 description of its appearance.^^ After him, it re- 
 mained long unvisited by Europeans, until, in 
 more recent times, we received accounts of it 
 through Niehuhr and Beaucliamp, But our prin- 
 cipal information regarding its present condition, 
 has been furnished by Rich and Ker Porter^ who 
 have carefully examined and accurately described 
 the ruins.^' 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 17 
 
 These remains of the ancient metropolis of the 
 world, which are mere ruinous heaps of bricks 
 and rubbish, ^^ lie directly south of Bagdad, on 
 the road to Hillah, which is about fifty miles 
 distant from the former city. The ruins com- 
 mence at Mohawil-Khan, and extend thence 
 nine or ten miles southward to Hillah. The 
 greater part are found on the east bank of the 
 Euphrates. The plain, on which they stand, 
 forms a large triangle, the river being the base, 
 and the two long earthen walls (marked on the 
 plan B B B B) the sides. The upper or eastern- 
 most part of this triangle is intersected by the 
 two parallel ramparts F and D E running from 
 north to south. Within the eastern section, thus 
 cut off, (at whose pointed extremity is an opening 
 as of an entrance) no ruins are met with ; it is a 
 piece of marsh land under partial cultivation. But 
 the inner space in the lower part of the great tri- 
 angle, intervening between the ramparts F and 
 D E, and the walled-in river bank, is covered with 
 mounds and heaps of ruins. Among these there 
 are three immense masses or groups of building, 
 which rise up to view in gigantic grandeur. 
 
 The most northerly mass, which is the first that 
 
 comes in sight on the road from Bagdad, is called 
 
 by the Arabic name of MukalUhe^ Mujellihe^ or 
 
 Makluba,^^ i. e. the overturned.* It is marked A 
 
 ■ The idea seems to correspond to the English idiom, " be- 
 ing thrown topsy-turvy," or into a confused heap — M. 
 VOL. II. C 
 
18 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 upon the plan. According to Ker Porter it is, 
 with the exception of the Birs Nimroud, the 
 most enormous pile of bricks ever reared by the 
 hand of man. It is an oblong- square, whose 
 sides face the four cardinal points. The height 
 is at present 140 feet, the top presenting a flat 
 uneven surface. On all the sides are to be seen 
 layers of bricks, cemented with chopped straw, 
 reeds, and bitumen. There are in the mound 
 many deep ravines, formed partly by the long 
 influence of the atmosphere, partly by the ex- 
 cavations of the Turks in search of hid treasures. 
 Yet regularly-built subterraneous vaults are 
 also to be seen, in some of which have been dis- 
 covered sarcophagi (containing human skeletons,) 
 earthen vessels, and burnt bricks, with cunei- 
 form inscriptions. This colossal mass is sur- 
 rounded on the east, north, and partly on the 
 west side, by an earthen wall, which forms the 
 end of the northern line of the triangle we have 
 described as inclosing the entire ruins. Delia 
 Valle and Beauchamp thought they saw in the 
 Mujellibc the remains of the temple of Belus.* 
 But this opinion has been opposed, on very strong 
 grounds, by Ker Porter,^^ who endeavours to 
 
 * This opinion was adopted by D'Anville and Major Rennell, 
 and has been revived by Mignan; but the superioi claims of the 
 Birs Nimroud to be considered identical with the famous Tower 
 of Babylon, were first hinted at by Niebuhr, and are now ad- 
 mitted almost universally. JMignan's measurement of the Mu- 
 jellibc gave the following result : The north side 274 yards, the 
 south 25G, the east 226, the west 240— M. 
 
CHAP. Vlll.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.BA. 19 
 
 shew that these are the ruins of the fortified 
 royal palace, which is spoken of by several 
 ancient writers.^^ Against this supposition, 
 however, lies the objection, that the mound is 
 situated beyond the bounds of the city proper 
 (which are marked by the walls C and D), and 
 likewise too far from the river, since, according 
 to the ancient descriptions, the palace was di- 
 vided into two parts by the Euphrates. These 
 ruins, therefore, seem rather to have belonged to 
 a citadel, which commanded and covered the 
 long line of circumvallation B B. 
 
 The ruins of that part of the royal palace 
 which lay on the east bank of the river, are pro- 
 bably to be recognized in the second great heap 
 which is within the inner wall, and still bears the 
 name of Al Kasr,^^ i. e. the palace. It is marked 
 K in the plan, and forms nearly a square of 2100 
 feet on each side. Every vestige shews it to have 
 been composed of buildings, far superior to all 
 others upon the east side of the river of which there 
 are any remains. The bricks are of the finest de- 
 scription ; and though this seems to be the place 
 whence they have been taken away in the greatest 
 quantities, a vast store is still to be found. But as 
 the depredators have excavated the mass in every 
 direction, and converted much of it into heaps of 
 rubbish, the original appearance and extent of 
 the edifice can no longer be ascertained. The 
 walls are every where of fire-burnt bricks, ce- 
 
20 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 mented with the best lime mortar ; and among' 
 the ruins there are fragments of alabaster ves- 
 sels, fine earthen ware, marble, and a great 
 many tiles covered with a variegated polish, 
 the colouring of which is surprisingly fresh. In 
 a cavity at the south side. Rich found an earthen 
 funereal urn with human bones lying near, which, 
 when touched, immediately crumbled into dust. 
 A little to the north of this, Beauchamp discovered 
 a stone figure standing out from the earth, which 
 the Arabs supposed to be an idolatrous image. 
 To ascertain the point more correctly, Rich 
 employed a number of labourers, who, after dig- 
 ging round it a whole day, brought out to view 
 the colossal statue of a lion, on a pedestal of 
 coarse grey granite, and clumsily executed. In the 
 mouth is a circular aperture, into which a man 
 might introduce his fist.^ On the north side of 
 the Kasr, where Ker Porter thought he saw 
 traces of the hanging gardens, there stands upon 
 an artificial eminence, a tree, to which the 
 Arabs give the name of Athela.^^ This species 
 of tree is altogether foreign to the country. Two 
 of the attendants of Ker Porter, who were natives 
 of Bender- Bushire, assured him that there are 
 trees of that kind in their country, which attain a 
 very great age, and are called Gaz. The one in 
 
 =* It appears from Mignaii's account (Trav. p. 186) that 
 since the visit of Rich, the head of the lioa has been knocked 
 off.— M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 21 
 
 question is in appearance like the weeping-willow, 
 but the trunk is hollow through age, and partly 
 shattered. The Arabs venerate it as sacred, 
 in consequence of the Calif Ali having reposed 
 under its shade after the battle of Hillah.* Ker 
 Porter found here a large cylinder of burnt clay, 
 with a cuneiform inscription, a neatly wrought 
 seal of agate, on which was the figure of a priest 
 with various symbols of the Sabean worship, 
 and a dog in bronze three inches high, with a 
 collar of fine gold. 
 
 Separated from the mound of Al-Kasr, by a 
 space of about 800 ells (marked L), there lies 
 to the south the third group of ruins called the 
 Amran-Hill, (M). The intervening ground is 
 intersected by a long row of low heaps running 
 from east to west. At the west end it meets 
 a higher ridge, which reaches from the south- 
 west corner of the Kasr to the north-western 
 corner of Amran-Hill. The low grounds are 
 covered with high grass, the soil being moist 
 and swampy. The hill of Amran is as high 
 as the Kasr, and of far greater magnitude. It 
 has the form of a triangle, whose south-west 
 side measures 1400 ells, the east 1100, and the 
 north 850. The whole of this stupendous 
 mass is deeply furrowed and excavated; and 
 as all the bricks have been carried away which 
 could be detached, the foot sinks at every step 
 
 ^ See the foot-note a, at p. 14. 
 
22 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 into loose dust and rubbish. On the highest 
 point of the south-western extremity stands the 
 tomb of Amran, a Mahommedan saint, in which 
 a Shiah-Seid (a devotee of the sect of Ali) has 
 taken up his abode. 
 
 [" Amran, the natives say, was a son of 
 Ali. The keeper of this tomb may be likened 
 to Job's forsaken man, dwelling in desolate 
 cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, 
 which are ready to become heaps (chap. xv. 28). 
 A hundred yards to the east-south-east of this 
 building there is a solid block of white marble, 
 measuring six feet long, three wide, and three 
 and a-half inches thick ; but no writing, de- 
 vice, or bitumen is to be traced upon it. To 
 the westward of this (NN) the ground is flat, 
 without any marks of building, and is bounded 
 by the river's embankment. A little below there 
 is a ridge of mounds (PP), extending from a 
 date-grove, on the verge of the stream, to the 
 south-west of a village called Jumjuma, which ap- 
 pellative means a skull, and likewise, according 
 to Castell and Golius, " Puteiis in loco salsugi- 
 noso fossils J' The mounds then stretch towards 
 the remains of a tomb of the same name, form a 
 right angle behind it, taking an easterly course, 
 when they are traversed by the Bagdad road.*] 
 On the opposite western bank of the river 
 
 * To render the description more complete, the above ex- 
 tract is taken from Mignaii's Travels. (1829), p. 200 — M. 
 
CHAP. Vin.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. 23 
 
 (which Ker Porter was the first to explore with 
 care), there are several low mounds, and remains 
 of former buildings, which begin below the vil- 
 lage of Ananah, and extend for the space of six 
 or seven miles to the colossal ruin, known by 
 the name of Birs Nimroud,^ i. e. the tower of 
 Nimrod. Viewed on the east side, it has the 
 appearance of an oblong hill, which rises in a 
 broad pyramidical form. The base is 2082 feet^ 
 in circuit. ["At the eastern side it is cloven 
 by a deep furrow, and is not more than fifty or 
 sixty feet high, but on the western side, it rises 
 in a conical figure to the elevation of 198 feet, 
 and on its summit is a solid pile of brick, 37 feet 
 high, by 28 in breadth, diminishing in thickness 
 to the top, which is broken and irregular, and 
 rent by a large fissure, extending through a third 
 of its height. It is perforated by small square 
 holes, disposed in rhomboids. The fire-burnt 
 bricks of which it is built have inscriptions on 
 them ; and so excellent is the cement, w^hich ap- 
 pears to be lime mortar, that it is nearly im- 
 possible to extract one whole. The other parts 
 of the summit of this hill, are occupied by im- 
 mense fragments of brick-work, of no determi- 
 nate figure, tumbled together, and connected 
 into solid vitrified masses, as if they had under- 
 
 * In Arabic characters ^**-|J j*«» Birz-Nimrud — jM. 
 ^ This is Porter's measurement. Rich says 228G ; Mig- 
 aan 2166.— 31. 
 
24 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 gone the action of the fiercest fire, or had been 
 blown up with gunpowder, the layers of brick 
 being perfectly discernible." J 
 
 [" Its present height, reckoning to the bot- 
 tom of the tower which stands on the summit, 
 is two hundred feet, the tower itself being thirty- 
 five. Looking at it from the west, the entire 
 mass rises at once from the plain, in one stupen- 
 dous, though irregular, pyramidal hill. It is 
 composed of fine bricks, kiln-baked. From the 
 western side, two of its stories may be distinctly 
 seen ; the first is about sixty feet high, cloven 
 in the middle by deep ravines. The tower-like 
 looking ruin on the top, is a solid mass, twenty- 
 eight feet wide, of the most beautiful masonry ; 
 to all appearance it formed an angle of some 
 square building, the ruins of which are yet to 
 be seen on the eastern side. The cement which 
 connects the bricks is so hard, that Ker Porter 
 found it impossible to chip off* the smallest piece ;^^ 
 and for this reason, none of the inscriptions can 
 be copied, as they are always on the lower sur- 
 face of the bricks. It is rent from the top nearly 
 half-way to the bottom ; and at its foot lie seve- 
 ral unshapen masses of fine brick-work, still 
 bearing traces of a violent fire, which has given 
 them a vitrified appearance, whence it has been 
 conjectured ^ that it has been struck by light- 
 
 =* nick's Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon, p. 3G — M. 
 
 ^ Porter has a number of observations which strikingly con- 
 
CHAP. V!I!. BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 25 
 
 ning. The appearance of the hill on the eastern 
 side, evidently shews that this enormous mass 
 has been reduced more than one-half. Only- 
 three stories out of the eight which it formerly 
 contained, can now be discerned. Yet the ap- 
 pearance of the Tower of Nimrod is sublime, 
 even in its ruins. Clouds play around its sum- 
 mit ; its recesses are inhabited by lions, three 
 being quietly basking on the heights when Por- 
 ter approached it, and, scarcely intimidated by 
 the cries of the Arabs, gradually and slowly des- 
 cended into the plain. Thus have the words of 
 the prophet been fulfilled (Isa. xiii. 20, 21) : 
 
 " Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ; 
 Owls shall fill their houses ; 
 Ostriches shall dwell there ; 
 And Satyrs shall dance there. 
 Jackals shall howl in their palaces, 
 And wild dogs in their pleasant places."]* 
 
 fii-ra this conjecture, shewing that the intense vitrifying heat^, 
 of which there are so many traces, could only have proceeded 
 from the electric fluid. We are naturally led to connect 
 these appearances with the tradition of the Tower of Babel 
 having been overthrown by fire from heaven. Porter sup- 
 poses that the works of the heathen monarchs may have long 
 concealed these marks of heaven's anger, but that the succes- 
 sive devastations of man, and the gradual eiFects of age, have 
 reduced the building to something of the appearance it first 
 presented after the confusion of tongues. At all events, it is 
 now what Jeremiah had so emphatically predicted (ch. li. 25), 
 " a burnt mountain.'''' — M. 
 
 ^ Heeren, chiefly after Ker Porter. — M. 
 
26 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 The conjecture of Niebuhr,^^ that this ruin is 
 a remnant of the Tower of Belus formerly de- 
 scribed (at p. 10), has been placed nearly beyond 
 a doubt, by the accurate researches of Rich and 
 Porter. 60 
 
 [" An open quadrangular area extends for a 
 considerable distance around the Birs, though 
 its base is encircled by small ridges of mounded 
 earth. I must not, however, pass unnoticed, 
 one immense hill, scarcely a hundred yards dis- 
 tant from the eastern front of this stupendous 
 fabric. It stretches away north and south, to a 
 breadth of 450 yards, when its extreme points 
 curve and meet to the eastward, after having 
 occupied a space of 650 yards. Its height is 
 fifty-five feet. This mound is also very deeply 
 furrowed into countless channels, covered with 
 nearly the usual debris of former building, except 
 that the fragments of vases and glazed pottery, 
 are inconceivably fresh and abundant.*^ On 
 its summit is a Mahommedan building, called 
 Koubbe, generally pronounced Goubhah, mean- 
 ing in Arabic, a cupola or dome. It goes by 
 the name of Makam Ibrahim Khalil.'' The 
 
 * On the supposition of the Birs Nimroud having been the 
 Tower of Belus, these buildings may have been the residence 
 of the priests and officers of the temple — IM. 
 
 '' The common name for Abraham throughout the east, is 
 Ibrahim el Nabi, i. e. Abraham the prophet, or Ibrahim 
 Klialil Allah, i. e. Abraliam the friend of God. See D'ller- 
 belot under " Ibrahim." — M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 27 
 
 Arabs say, that Nimrod ordered a fire to be 
 kindled near it, and commanded Abraham to be 
 cast into it ; while " the mighty hunter" view- 
 ed the frightful exhibition from the summit of 
 his tower. The ruined portion of another 
 Koubbe, stands a little to the south, called, Ma- 
 kam Saheb Zemam, to w hich also several curious 
 traditions are attached.^] 
 
 The other places in Babylonia mentioned in 
 the Old Testament are : 
 
 2. Drira^^^ — the great plain around Babylon, 
 where Nebuchadnezzar caused the golden image 
 to be erected, which all his subjects were com- 
 manded to worship. Dan. iii. 1.^"^ 
 
 3. Erech^^^ is mentioned in Gen. x. 10, among 
 the cities which Nimrod founded in the land of 
 Shinar. It is a very ancient opinion^'* that this 
 w^as that city of Mesopotamia, which was after- 
 wards called by the Greeks, jE</^55«^^ and Callir- 
 hoe.^^ But there is no certain evidence that 
 Erech or Arach had ever been an ancient 
 name of Edessa." And that the latter is the 
 city spoken of in Genesis, is justly question- 
 ed both by Bochart^^ and Bredow,*^^ on the 
 ground that it lay too far north of Babylon, to- 
 
 '^ Mignan's Travels in Chaldaea, p. 211—213. Around the 
 tower and adjoining buildings, there was a strong quadran- 
 gular inclosurcj the remains of which are in tolerable preser- 
 vation. — M. 
 
28 BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 wards Armenia — whither the land of Shinar 
 certainly did not extend. Boehart, therefore, 
 supposes that Erech was Aracca or Arecha, on 
 the Tigris, upon the borders of Babylonia and Su- 
 siana,^*^ and probably the same city which Hero- 
 dotus^^ calls Arderika, i.e. Great Erech. This 
 conjecture is strengthened by the circumstance 
 that, in Ezra iv. 9, the Erechites'^^* are enume- 
 rated among the colonists of Samaria, along 
 with the Babylonians, Susanchites, (Susiani) 
 Elamites, (Elymsei) and other neighbouring 
 tribes. Still nearer to Babylon than Arecca, lay 
 the city of Orchoe,'^^ on a lake formed by one of 
 the canals of the Euphrates — the seat of a learn- 
 ed sect of Chaldseans, who chiefly applied them- 
 selves to astronomy and astrology. The name 
 Orchoe may easily have been formed out of E- 
 rech ; and it is probable that the former place 
 did lie within the compass of the land of Shinar. 
 4. Accad,''^ another of the cities founded by 
 Nimrod in the land of Shinar, Gen. x. 10. The 
 original name was probably Arcad or Archad, as 
 it is written by the most ancient Greek transla- 
 tors.'^^ Of the two dissimilar consonants in the 
 middle, the first was, in pronunciation, merged 
 into the second.'^ ^lian" mentions, that, in that 
 part of the district of Sittakene which belonged 
 
 a In tlie Eng, Vers. " Archevites." The Hebrew is 
 K'13*!K See our note on the Apharsachthites, in Vol. I. p. 
 
 "T : .' ~ 
 305.— M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA. AND CHALD^A. 29 
 
 to Persia, there was a river called Argade, a 
 name of similar sound. Upon that river, it is 
 supposed by Bochart,^^ lay the city of Arcad or 
 Accad. But mere resemblance in sound aiFords 
 a very precarious ground of conjecture, and we 
 know not whether the province of Shinar reach- 
 ed so far east beyond the Tigris. It is even un- 
 certain whether Accad (as it stands in the present 
 text) be the true reading of the original. For 
 several ancient translators found in their Hebrew 
 MSS. Achar^"^^ which was the ancient name of 
 a city of Mesopotamia, that was afterwards call- 
 ed Nesibis f^ hence the Jewish literati in the 
 time of Jerome, identified that place with the ci- 
 ty of Nimrod now in question.^ ^ But the same 
 objection we have stated against the opinion of 
 Erech being Edessa is applicable here also, — 
 viz. that the land of Shinar did not reach so far 
 north as to include these parts of Mesopotamia. 
 We must, therefore, give up hope of ascertain- 
 ing any thing definite respecting Accad or A- 
 char,^^ — all traces of it appearing to have been 
 very soon lost. 
 
 5. Chalneh or Calneh^'^ the fourth of Nimrod's 
 cities, is probably not different from the Calno^ 
 of Isa. X. 9, or the Canneh'^ of Ezek. xxxvii. 23. 
 According to the Chaldee translator, with whom 
 Jerome agrees, this is the same place which was 
 subsequently called Ctesiphon.^ It lay upon 
 
QO BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 the Tigris, opposite Seleucia, and was, for a 
 time, the capital of the Parthians. This ancient 
 opinion respecting the situation of Chalneh is 
 rendered probable by the circumstance, that the 
 district around Ctesiphon was called by the 
 Greeks Chalonitis, which would be easily formed 
 out of Chalneh.^ Ammianus Marcellinus says 
 that it was Pacorus, a Persian king, (who reign- 
 ed from A. D. 71 to 107,) that changed the name 
 of this city to Ctesiphon.^^ In the time of the 
 prophets Amos and Isaiah, who were nearly 
 cotemporary, (about eight hundred years be- 
 fore the Christian era) Chalneh appears to have 
 constituted an independent principality. For 
 the former prophet says, ch. vi. 1, 2 : 
 
 Woe unto them that dwell at ease in Zion ! 
 
 And that rest secure on the mountains of Samaria ! 
 
 That are named after the chief of the nations : 
 
 And to them the house of Israel resort. 
 
 Pass over unto Calneh, and see : 
 
 And go from thence to the great Hamath : 
 
 And go down to Gath of the Philistines. ' 
 
 Are they better than these kingdoms ? 
 
 Or is their border greater than your border ?» 
 
 But not long after, Chalneh became a prey to 
 the Assyrians, with the rest of Western Asia. 
 
 a This is Newcome's Version. 2ion denotes Judah ; and Satnaria, Is- 
 rael. Hamath is Epiphania in Syria. By " these kingdoms," are meant 
 Judah and Israel.— M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDJEA. 31 
 
 For in Isaiah (chap. x. 9) the king of Asyria 
 is introduced saying: 
 
 Are not my princes altogether kings ? 
 Is not Calno as Charchemish ? 
 Is not Hamath as Arpad ? 
 Is not Samaria as Damascus ? 
 
 About a hundred and fifty years later, Chalneh 
 was still a considerable town, as may be inferred 
 from the circumstance, that it is mentioned by 
 Ezekiel (ch. xxvii. 23) among the places which 
 traded with Tyre.®^ The site of Ctesiphon or 
 Calneh, was afterwards occupied by El-Madain^^^ 
 i. e. " the (Two) Cities ;" of which the only ex- 
 tant remains are the ruins of a palace called 
 Tak-Kesra, that is, the Bow of Chosroes, or 
 Ivan-Kesra^^ the Palace of Chosroes, — along 
 with a great many mounds of rubbish. 
 
 6. The district of Cutha^'^ appears likewise 
 to have been a part of Babylonia, out of 
 which Salmanasser, king of Assyria, sent colo- 
 nists to people the country of the ten tribes of 
 Israel carried by him captive, 2 Kings xvii. 
 24, 30. For a place of the same name is men- 
 tioned by Abulfeda,^^* and other Arabic and 
 Persian writers,^^^ as situated in the tract near 
 the Nahar Malca, or King's Canal, south of Bag- 
 dad, between the Euphrates and Tigris. The 
 people, who sprang from the intermixture of 
 these colonists with the native Samaritans, were 
 
32 BABYLONIA AND CRALD/EA. [cilAP. VIII. 
 
 branded by the'Jews with the reproachful name of 
 Cutheans.^^"^ 
 
 The situation of Babylonia was uncommonly 
 favourable for commerce. By means of the 
 great navigable rivers the Euphrates and Tig- 
 ris, by which it was inclosed, merchandise was 
 easily conveyed into the country by water; 
 namely, on the first mentioned river downwards 
 from Syria and Asia Minor, — on the other from 
 Media and Armenia — while up these streams, 
 from the Persian Gulf, goods were brought 
 from India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and every 
 part of Africa. Hence Babylonia became the 
 depot of the treasures of both Africa and Asia ; 
 and therefore is it correctly styled by Ezekiel 
 (ch. xvii. 4), the land of merchants.^ ^ The cloth 
 of Babylonia, commonly made of cotton, was 
 highly esteemed for the fineness of the fabric 
 and the splendour of the colours, and seeips to 
 have been exported to foreign countries at a 
 very early period. Among the spoils which 
 fell into the hands of the Israelites at the cap- 
 ture of Jericho under Joshua, was a cloak or 
 mantle of Shinar, i. e. Babylonia,^^ Josh. vii. 
 21. The allusions in the ancient writings of 
 the Hebrews, are confirmed by the more par- 
 ticular accounts transmitted by Herodotus,^^ who 
 describes the Babylonians as a people fond of 
 pomp and magnificence, and accustomed to a 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 33 
 
 number of artificial wants, which could only 
 have been supplied by commercial intercourse 
 with many nations, some of them very remote. 
 " They wear," says he, " a gown of linen or 
 cotton,* flowing down to the feet, and over this 
 a woollen garment, with a white (woollen) cloak 
 covering the whole." This garb, as is remark- 
 ed by Heeren, must have been too much for so 
 warm a climate, and therefore seems to have 
 been assumed rather from ostentation than to meet 
 any actual wants. [" Carpets,^ one of the prin- 
 cipal objects of luxury in the East, the floors of 
 the rich being generally covered with them, were 
 nowhere so finely woven, and in such splendid 
 colours, as at Babylon. Particular representa- 
 tions were seen on them of those wonderful In- 
 dian animals, the griffin and others, with whicli 
 w^e have become acquainted by the ruins of Per- 
 sepolis, whence the knowledge of them was 
 brought to the w^est.^ Foreign nations made use 
 of these carpets in the decoration of their ha- 
 rems and royal saloons; indeed this species of 
 luxury seems nowhere to have been carried 
 farther than among the Persians. With them 
 not only the floors, but even beds and sofas in 
 
 ^ The phrase of the original is X/vsav M. 
 
 ^ Heeren on the Politics, &c. of Asiatic Nations. — M. 
 
 '^ The reader should compare the remarks of Bottiger on 
 this subject, containing a fund of mythological instruction, iu 
 his " Interpretation of the figures on Greek vases." I. iii. p. 106. 
 VOL. II. D 
 
34 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [cHAP. Vlll. 
 
 the houses of the nobles were covered with two 
 or three of these carpets ; nay, the oldest of their 
 sacred edifices, the tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae, 
 was ornamented with a purple one of Babylonian 
 workmanship.^ 
 
 " Babylonian garments were not less esteem- 
 ed ; those, in particular, called sindones, were in 
 very high repute. It appears that they were 
 usually of cotton, and the most costly were so 
 highly valued for their brilliancy of colour and 
 fineness of texture as to be compared to those of 
 Media, and set apart for royal use ;^ they were 
 even to be found at the tomb of Cyrus, which 
 was profusely decorated with every description 
 of furniture in use amongst the Persian kings 
 during their lives."^ The superiority of Baby- 
 lonian robes and carpets will not be a matter of 
 surprise, when we consider how near Babylon 
 was to Carmania on the one side, and to Arabia 
 and Syria on the other, and that in these coun- 
 tries the finest cotton was produced. 
 
 Large weaving establishments were not con- 
 fined to the capital ; but existed likewise in other 
 cities and inferior towns of Babylonia, which 
 Semiramis is said to have built on the banks of 
 the Euphrates and Tigris, and which she ap- 
 pointed as marts for those who imported Median 
 
 " Xenoph. an,! Arrian, VI. 29. '' Theoph. Hist. Plant. IV. IV 
 * Arrianj 1. c. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 3.5 
 
 and Persian floods. ^ These manufacturing towns 
 also were staples for land traffic. The most 
 famous of them was Borsippa, situated on the 
 Euphrates, fifteen miles below Babylon, and 
 mentioned in history before the time of Cyrus. 
 These were the principal linen and cotton ma- 
 nufactories, and they still existed in the age of 
 Strabo.^ 
 
 Besides these, the Babylonians appear to have 
 made all kinds of apparel, and every article of 
 luxury ; such as sweet waters, which were in 
 common use, and probably necessary from the 
 heat of the climate. Walking sticks delicately 
 chased with figures of animals and other objects, 
 and also elegantly engraved stones, were in 
 general use among the Babylonians. These 
 stones begin to form a particular class, since the 
 curiosities called Babylonian cylinders have be- 
 come less rare. Many of them have undoubtedly 
 served for seal rings ; for in the East the seal 
 supplies the place of a signature, cr, at any rate, 
 makes it valid, as we still see on specimens of 
 Babylonian documents. The same may be said 
 of the cylinders. We have a striking illustration 
 of the perfection to which the Babylonians had 
 brought the art of cutting precious stones, in the 
 collection of M. Dorow, which contains a cylin- 
 der formed from a jasper, bearing a cuneiform 
 
 ^ Diod. I. p. 125. b Strab. XVI. p. 107^. 
 
36 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 inscription, and an image of a winged Ized or 
 genius, in a flowing Babylonian dress, represent- 
 ed in the act of crushing, with each hand, an 
 ostrich, the bird of Ahriman.* That the Baby- 
 lonians possessed a maritime navigation when 
 their power was at its height, may be gathered 
 in general, from the productions of the contem- 
 porary Jewish prophet, Isaiah,^ " Thus saith the 
 Lord, your deliverer ; for your sakes have I sent 
 to Babel, and thrown to the ground all obstacles, 
 and the Chaldeans who exult in their ships." 
 This is a graphic description of a people no less 
 proud of their ships, than of their gates and 
 ramparts. But more definite information is pre- 
 served to us in the Greek writers, who deserve 
 the utmost attention of the historical inquirer, 
 ^schylus, in his play of the Persians, enume- 
 rating the nations who composed the armies of 
 the great king, speaks as follows : *' Babylon 
 
 " Oriental Anticjuities, published by D. Dorow, No. I. 
 1818, with the draughts and interpretations of Grotefend and 
 others. 
 
 ^ Isaiah xliii. 14, according to the translation of Michaelis. 
 Gesenius has it differently, " For your sakes send I to Babel, 
 and drive all its fugitives to the Chaldees, to their ships which 
 are their delight." To which he has the following note : " The 
 fugitives are the people collected together in the commercial 
 city of Babel, (consequently different from the Chaldees) who, 
 on the invasion of the enemy, take refuge in the ships of their 
 delight, their joy, or tumultuous jjleasure ; for these vessels, 
 instniments of the magnificence of Babel, were commonly filled 
 with crowds of rejoicing people." 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 37 
 
 too, that abounds in gold, sends forth a promis- 
 cuous multitude, who both embark in ships and 
 boast of their skill in archery."] 
 
 Babylon was from early times the seat of learn- 
 ing and science ; and astronomy, especially, made 
 there very considerable progress.^^ Yet the 
 interest which the Babylonians took in the ac- 
 curate observation of the heavenly bodies, was 
 not of a purely scientific character. It was con- 
 nected with the belief, that the stars exercised 
 an influence, not only over the weather, but over 
 the destinies of men, and that, by the exact study 
 of their courses and phenomena, a knowledge 
 might be obtained of future events — a belief 
 which gradually led to the practice of star-wor- 
 ship, to which, along with their neighbours the 
 Arabs, the Babylonians became much addicted. 
 The accumulated astronomical and astrological 
 knowledge of centuries was preserved, by a pe- 
 culiar caste of priests, or literati, who were divid- 
 ed into several classes, as among the Egyptians 
 and Persians. They were called by the general 
 name of imse or learned men,^^ and likewise Chal- 
 deans,^^ from the nation with whom they migrated 
 into Babylonia.^ When Nebuchadnezzar had 
 
 * This is affirmed too positively. Heeren assigns good rea- 
 sons for believing that the IVIagians had been established in 
 Babylonia, long before its conquest by the Chaldeans. See the 
 extract from his Researches on Asiatic Nations at the end of 
 the present chapter, p. 50. — IM. 
 
38 BABYLONIA AND CHALD7EA. [CHAP. VIIT. 
 
 conquered Jerusalem, and entered the city with 
 the grandees of his kingdom, among others who 
 formed his train is mentioned Me chief of the Ma- 
 (}i}^^^ Jerem. xxxix. 3, 13. Whether this was 
 a distinct class of Babylonian priests, or whether 
 the Magi included the whole of the sacerdotal 
 caste, cannot be determined with certainty.^*^^ To 
 their number, doubtless, belonged the astrologers 
 and star-gazers, mentioned in Isa. xlvii. 13.^^*- 
 The original of the former of these words denotes 
 heaven-dividers^ from the circumstance that the 
 astrologers, to facilitate the casting of nativities, 
 and for other purposes of their art, divided the 
 firmament into different sections and fields. In 
 some places of the Book of Daniel, where men- 
 tion is made of the Chaldee soothsayers and 
 dream-interpreters (ch. i. 20 ; ii. 2 ; x. 27 ; iv. 4 ; 
 V. 7, 11), they are designated by several different 
 names.^*^^ But it is uncertain, whether these de- 
 note various orders of Magians, or are merely 
 different names for the same general class.^^ 
 
 The language of the ancient Babylonians 
 was a branch of the Shemitic family of lan- 
 guages — the same to which the Hebrew and 
 Arabic belong ; and it differed little or nothing 
 from the East- Aramaic or Chaldee.^ "^ It has 
 been argued, indeed, that the Chaldee must 
 
 * In the Eng. Version, it is a ])roper name, Rob-Mag — 31. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 39 
 
 have been a dialect of the Medo- Persian class of 
 languages, because the names which occur in 
 Scripture of Babylonian or Chaldsean idols, 
 kings and other persons, as vi^ell as of offices and 
 dignities, are found to be of Persian derivation. ^^*^ 
 But these names were evidently taken from the 
 Assyrian language, which appears to have been 
 a Medo-Persian dialect, that became naturalized 
 in Babylon during the dominion of the As- 
 syrians, and continued to be employed under 
 the Chaldee dynasty; just as the Turks have 
 retained a great many names, which characterize 
 persons, places, and dignities, originally taken 
 from the Arabic and Persic tongues. The 
 Babylonians had also the same alphabetical writ- 
 ing as the Chaldseans. It was that kind which 
 later Jewish writers style the Assyrian^ inasmuch 
 as they regard Assyria, in its most extensive 
 sense, as including Babylonia and Chaldsea.'^" 
 On two of the burnt bricks, found in the ruins 
 of Babylon, the writing seems allied to the 
 Phoenician, a cognate Shemitic dialect. ^^^ But 
 the more common cuneiform inscriptions are 
 evidently of later date, and belong to the period 
 of the Persian dominion over Babylonia.^ °^ 
 
 According to the account preserved in the 
 Book of Genesis, the kingdom of Babylon was 
 the most ancient that was established among 
 mankind after the flood. It was founded by 
 
40 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Nimrod, one of the posterity of Ham, Gen. x. 
 8, 9, 10. He is called a son of Cush, by which 
 it seems to be intimated, that he had come from 
 the south, ^^"^ (probably from Arabia) to the banks 
 of the Euphrates, and subdued the land of Shi- 
 nar.^^^ That he was a conqueror, is implied in 
 the words : ''he began to be a mig-hty one on 
 the earth ;" while the addition, " he was a 
 mighty hunter before Jehovah, "^^^ points to the 
 manner in which he attained the dominion. In 
 those early times, when the habitations of men 
 had to be protected against the attacks of wild 
 beasts, hunting came to be considered as not 
 only a useful but an honourable and heroic em- 
 ployment. Thus the Greeks recount the ex- 
 ploits of Hercules, of Theseus, of Meleagros 
 and others. Nimrod seems to have gained re- 
 nown in a similar manner, and then to have 
 raised himself to supreme power with the as- 
 sistance of those who had followed him in the 
 chase.^^"^ Though he cannot be said to be pre- 
 sented in Scripture in a favourable light, yet no 
 express condemnation is pronounced on him. 
 The traditions of the East, however, exhibit him 
 as an impious tyrant, who presumptuously re- 
 belled against God,^^"* and in his insensate wick- 
 edness, attempted to assail the Deity on his high 
 throne in the heavens."^ There is no mention 
 of Nimrod in Greek or Roman writers. According 
 to them, Belus built Babel, and founded the Ba- 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.^IA. 41 
 
 by Ionian empire. But perhaps " Bel,"^^^ which 
 in Chaldee signifies " a Lord," was the title 
 w^hich the first king bore by way of distinction ; 
 and in that case Bekis and Nimrod may have 
 been identical. Several centuries later, in the 
 time of Abraham, mention is made (in Gen. xiv. 
 1 .) of a king of Shinar or Babylonia, Amraphel, 
 who went as an ally of the king of Elam to re- 
 duce to obedience certain petty princes on the 
 Jordan. Subsequently to this period, there is 
 no notice in the earlier historical books of Scrip- 
 ture, either of Shinar or Babel. A list of Ba- 
 bylonian kings has been given by Ptolemy, a 
 learned Alexandrian of the second century of 
 our sera, which he probably extracted from the 
 writings of Berosus,^^*^ a Chaldsean priest. It 
 begins Avith Nabonassar, in the year b. c. 747.^^^ 
 This king was, without doubt, a vassal of Assy- 
 ria ;^^^ for, among the colonists, whom Salman- 
 assar, king of Assyria, transported to his newly- 
 acquired territory of Samaria, about the year b. c. 
 730, there were Babylonians (2 Kings xvii. 24) 
 a clear proof that Babylonia was then dependent 
 upon Assyria, though it had nominal kings of its 
 own. Such a viceroy was Merodach-Baladan, 
 who, about the year b. c. 711, sent ambassa- 
 dors to Hezekiah, king of Judah, to congra- 
 tulate him on his recovery from sickness, and 
 propose a league against the Assyrians, 2 Kings 
 
42 BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 XX. 12; Isa. xxxix. I. This Merodach-Baladan,^ 
 who, in Ptolemy's catalogue, is called Mardokem- 
 padus,^-'^ is also mentioned by Berosus,^^^ under 
 the same name which he bears in scripture. It is 
 related of him, that he obtained the supreme au- 
 thority in Babylon, by the murder of his prede- 
 cessor Acises, but possessed it only for six months, 
 when he was slain by Belibus or Elibus, who as- 
 cended the throne of Babylon as an independent 
 monarch. But, in the third year of his reign, 
 he was besieged and carried captive by Sanche- 
 rib, [Sennacherib] king of Assyria, ^'^ who ap- 
 pointed as viceroy of Babylon, his own son Esar- 
 haddon. Yet before a century had expired, the 
 Assyrian dynasty in Babylon was overthrown 
 by the Chaldseans. This people, who, in the 
 Old Testament, are designated " the Casdim,"^^^ 
 were a warlike tribe, originally located in the 
 Carduchian Mountains, in the north of x\ssyria 
 and Mesopotamia.^-^ That they were related 
 to the Hebrews appears from the circumstance, 
 that their ancestor Cesed [Kesed]'' was a son 
 of Nachor, and consequently a nephew of Abra- 
 ham, (Gen. xxii. 22) ; and it is out of Ur of the 
 
 •^ He is sometimes called Bcrodach, the labials ^ and ^ be- 
 lli}; often interchanged — 31. 
 
 '" Itl^"^ Kesed ; plural, D^'^ti^^ Kasdim. But is this any 
 thing more than conjecture ? iM ay not " Ur-Kasdim" have ex- 
 isted before the time of Abraliam ? — 31. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. 43 
 
 Chaldees fUr-CasdimJ that Abraham himself is 
 said to have come,^-^ before he dwelt in Charran, 
 (Gen. xi. 28, 31 ; Neh. ix. 7.) The country on 
 the river Chaboras, in Mesopotamia, is called in 
 Ezek. i. 3, the land of the Chaldees ; and, accord- 
 ing to Job i. 3, they were Chaldseans who made 
 predatory inroads into the land of Uz. The pro- 
 phet Jeremiah mentions them (ch. v. 15) as an 
 ancient people. -^-^ When the Assyrian monarchs 
 extended their conquests towards the west, the 
 Chaldseans also came under their sway. This 
 raw but hardy race appears to have received from 
 their conquerors a new organization ; part of 
 them were transferred to Babylonia, with a viev/, 
 probably, to protect the frontiers against the 
 neighbouring Arabs, while means were at the 
 same time taken for reducing their barbarous 
 hordes to discipline, and imparting to them 
 the advantao^es of civilization. ^^^ That this 
 
 ^ " The question, what the Chaldeans really were, and whe- 
 ther they ever properly existed as a nation, is one of the most 
 difficult that history presents. From eastern analogy, it seems 
 most probable, that the D^1^3 Casdim of the Hebrews, 
 which is translated Chaldaeans, was a general name among the 
 Semitic nations for the Northern barbarians, as Turani was 
 among the inhabitants of Iran. At all events, it is certain that 
 the conquering Chaldeans forced their way from the north, since 
 their separate hordes had already wandered in the Steppes of 
 oMesopotamia for a hundred years, and had, in part, settled 
 there. The reader, however, is particularly referred to Gese- 
 nius on Isaiah xxiii. 13, where the fragments of the earlier his- 
 
44 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 took place not long before the time of Salmanas- 
 sar, may be inferred from Isaiah xxiii. 13, 
 where the Chaldseans in Babylonia are termed 
 " a new nation, formed by the Assyrians ;"* and 
 it may be gathered from the same passage, that 
 the Chaldseans constituted the most considerable 
 and effective part of the Assyrian host, see- 
 ing the prophet intimates, that it should be 
 through them that Salmanassar would succeed 
 in the destruction of Tyre, to which his army 
 had laid siege. A very lively and graphic pic- 
 ture of the Chaldsean warriors has been given 
 by the prophet Habakkuk (ch. i. 6 — 1 1), who 
 probably lived at the period when this people 
 
 tory of this people Avill be found collected. This learned com- 
 mentator seeks the original seat of the Chaldeans in the moun- 
 tains of Curdistan, now inhabited by the Curds, probably their 
 successors ; and conjectures that they were brought from their 
 native regions by the Assyrians as mercenaries, after which 
 they settled in the plains, till they started forth as conquerors. 
 Every one acquainted with Asiatic history, will at once see that 
 there is nothing in the opinion that their name was a general 
 appellation, but what may very well agree with this notion. 
 The hypothesis of Michaelis, that would make them Scythians, 
 refutes itself." Heerenon the Politics, &c. of Asiatic Nations, 
 vol. ii. p. 147, note — M. 
 
 ' Michaelis translates, or rather paraphrases the passage 
 thus : 
 
 Heboid the land of the Chalda;ans ! 
 
 That nation which a little time since was not. 
 
 The Assyrian subdued it, 
 
 And gave it to the inhabitants of the desert. 
 
 They fixed the wandering hordes in settled dwellings. 
 
 And built up the palaces of the land.— M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 45 
 
 first made their appearance in Palestine or some 
 adjacent region. ^-^ 
 
 For behold ! I raise up the Chaldaeans, 
 That rude and boisterous people, 
 Who roam far and wide through the earth, 
 To seize on possessions which belong not to them. 
 Frightful and terrible are they, 
 Their will is their only law and rule. 
 Swifter than panthers^ are their horses. 
 And keener than evening wolves. 
 Their cavalry prance in pride, — 
 From afar do they come,— and they fly 
 Like an eagle darting on its prey. 
 AU of them come to destroy ; 
 Their faces scorch up,^ as the east- wind, 
 And they gather captives as the sand. 
 Yea, they'^ scoff at kings. 
 And princes are their derision ; 
 They laugh at every strong-hold, 
 And heap up earth,'^ and take it. 
 Yet shall they vanish as the wind and pass away, 
 They shall be condemned, for making a god of their 
 strength. 
 
 This warlike tribe must, in a short period, have 
 acquired very considerable influence in the As- 
 
 a " Leopards tamed and taught to hunt, are made use of in the East 
 for hunting, and seize the prey with surprising agility ; when he leaps, he 
 throws himself seventeen or eighteen feet at a time." Harmer's Observ. 
 Vol. II. p. 438.— M. 
 
 b The idea is " to absorb or dry up," like the pestilential east-wind. 
 In the English Vers, and Newcome, it is rendered «' to sup up."— M. 
 
 c By the emphatic Kin of the original, Dathe understands Esarhad- 
 don, king of Assyria.— M. 
 
 d This refers to the practice of raising up mounds for the capture of 
 fortresses.— M. 
 
46 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Syrian empire ; for about a hundred and twenty 
 years after the reign of Esarhaddon, Nabopalas- 
 sar, a Babylonian viceroy, concluded an alliance 
 with Cyaxares, King of Media, and with his 
 aid conquered Assyria. ^^^ Now that Kabo- 
 palassar w^as a Chaldsean by nation may be in- 
 ferred from the circumstance, that thenceforth no 
 mention is made of Assyrian, but only of Chal- 
 daean kings. ^^° Nabopalassar had a powerful 
 adversary in Necho, King of Egypt, who ad- 
 vanced triumphantly as far as the Euphrates, all 
 Syria, Phoenicia, and Judsea yielding him a 
 ready submission. In these circumstances, the 
 now aged Nabopalassar assumed into the 
 government his son Nebuchadnezzar, ^^^ who 
 had married a daughter of Cyaxares-Astibar, 
 king of Media. This prince made it his first 
 care to reduce to obedience the revolted pro- 
 vinces beyond the Euphrates ; and being op- 
 posed in this by Necho, the hostile armies met 
 at Karchemish (Kirkesium), where the king of 
 Egypt was defeated, about the year b. c. 604. 
 Nebuchadnezzar followed up his victory, took 
 Jerusalem, made the kingdom of Judah tributary, 
 and was approaching the Egyptian frontier, 
 when he received intelligence of his father's 
 death. He returned to Babylon to take posses- 
 sion of the throne ; but as the Jews and other 
 adjoining tribes endeavoured, in his absence, to 
 
CHAP. VIll.] BABYLONIA AND CUALBJEA. 47 
 
 throw off the yoke, he again appeared in Syria 
 with an army, about six years after (b. c. 598), 
 and carrying captive the Jewish king and the 
 greater part of the people, blotted out Judah 
 from the number of independent realms. All 
 the surrounding states were now compelled to 
 yield ; and even Tyre itself, the seat of the com- 
 merce of the world, was subdued after a block- 
 ade and siege of thirteen years. But it is a 
 groundless assertion of some writers, that Ne- 
 buchadnezzar likewise overran and depopulated 
 Egypt, and advanced through Libya as far as 
 the pillars of Hercules.^^^ On his return to 
 Babylon, he enlarged and embellished his resi- 
 dence, probably erecting that part which lay on 
 the west side of the Euphrates, and likewise 
 formed new canals.^*^^ After a reign of three-and- 
 forty-years he died in the year b. c. 562. The 
 Chaldseo-Babylonian dynasty now hastened to 
 its fall. Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, 
 Evil-Merodach,^^^ (2 Kings xxv. 7. Jer. lii. 
 31,) who seems to have been the husband of 
 Queen Nitocris,^^*^ rendered himself so detest- 
 able by his crimes, that in the second year of 
 his reign he was murdered by his brother-in- 
 law Neriglissar, who thereafter ascended the 
 throne. After a reign of four years, he was 
 succeeded by his son Laborosoarchod, then a 
 minor, who, however, manifested so depraved a 
 
48 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. [CHAP. VI 11. 
 
 disposition, that he was put to death by certain 
 of the nobles, only nine months after his ac- 
 cession^^^. They raised to the throne Nabon- 
 nid or Labynet^^^ (called Belshazzar in the 
 book of Daniel), a son of Evil-Merodach, and 
 grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. ^^^ During his 
 minority, the reins of government seem to have 
 been in the hands of his mother Nitocris. But 
 now the extensive and consolidated power of the 
 Medo-Persian empire under Cyrus, began to 
 create, in all neighbouring monarchs, well- 
 grounded fears for their independence. Ni- 
 tocris perceived the danger that threatened her 
 country, and endeavoured to secure Babylon 
 against the invasion of the Persians by the skil- 
 ful leading off of the Euphrates into new chan- 
 nels. ''*° But all her precautions could not 
 ward off the destiny which befel every other 
 state of Western Asia. After Cyrus had made 
 himself master of Lydia and other adjoining 
 regions, he advanced with his army towards 
 Babylon, which fell an easy prey to him in the 
 year b. c. 538, the seventeenth of the reign of 
 Nabonnid, and only twenty-three years after the 
 death of Nebuchadnezzar.^*^ 
 
 [The boundaries of the Chaldaeo-Babylonian 
 empire extended as far under Nebuchadnezzar 
 as they ever were carried, comprising Western 
 Asia as far as the Mediteranean. Babylon was 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 49 
 
 made by Cyrus one of the capitals of his new 
 empire. There was no city in Asia of whose 
 possession the Persians were more jealous ; and 
 the repeated attempts of the Babylonians to 
 skake off the foreign yoke, shew they could not 
 cloud their remembrance of their former might 
 and greatness, nor stifle their repugnance to de- 
 pendence and slavery. 
 
 Respecting the government of the Babylonian- 
 Chaldsean empire, some few particulars have been 
 preserved, principally by the prophet Daniel. ^'*^ 
 It appears, on the whole, to have been much the 
 same as that of the Persian empire, which was 
 formerly described. ^'^^ A ruler with despotic 
 power ; a court, in which eunuchs held the high- 
 est offices ; an empire divided into satrapies, go- 
 verned by rulers, among whom a regular grada- 
 tion of rank and title was found, and where the 
 civil and military were often, though not always, 
 separated ; collectors of tribute in the provinces; 
 higher and inferior judges. We find also a 
 priestcraft, or priesthood, comprised under the 
 names of Magians and Chaldseans, and which, 
 principally by astrology and soothsaying, had a 
 considerable influence upon the government. 
 In what relation to society did this class stand ? 
 and how came the term Chaldseans, which ori- 
 ginally belonged to a people, to become the name 
 of the priesthood? These are questions which 
 have been often agitated, but, from want of suf- 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
50 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [cHAP. Vlll. 
 
 iicient information, can never be satisfactorily- 
 answered. Although Babylon did not become 
 a mighty empire till after the Chaldsean con- 
 quest ; yet every thing leads us to suppose, that 
 it had long before been the seat of science and 
 civilization, though principally confined to the 
 order of priests. Unless this had been the case, 
 how could these great works, more especially the 
 mighty canals and lakes, ascribed to their earlier 
 rulers, w ithout which the city could not have ex- 
 isted, or the land have been cultivated, have been 
 executed? There is no doubt that astronomy, 
 or rather astrology, formed a great branch of 
 their learning ; and whatever opinion may be 
 formed of the degree of perfection to which they 
 had carried these sciences, it seems an indis- 
 putable fact, that at the time of Alexander's 
 conquest, astronomical observations existed, and 
 were imparted to him, which are affirmed to reach 
 back for nineteen centuries. 
 
 This, combined with various other proofs, 
 seems to render it evident, that the Magians had 
 been established in Babylon, long before its con- 
 quest by the Chaldseans. As the primitive Ma- 
 gian religion had its origin in the worship of the 
 heavenly bodies, and spread itself over so large a 
 portion of Asia, it is the less to be wondered at, 
 that it should have made its way into Babylon, 
 where the continual clearness of the sky, and the 
 peculiar brightness of the stars, greatly facilitated 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDjEA. 51 
 
 astronomical observations.^ Astrology, however, 
 was the chief support of the Magians and the 
 priesthood, and it was principally by its practice 
 that they maintained their authority and influ- 
 ence in the state. Whether, however, these 
 earliest Magians of Babylon, were disciples and 
 followers of Zoroaster, I cannot venture to de- 
 termine. The Magian doctrine, indeed, was much 
 older than that of the Zend, as Zoroaster only 
 appeared in the character of its reformer. How 
 can this question be settled ; when the Baby- 
 lonian cylinders and gems, referring to the re- 
 ligion of Ormuzd, may very probably belong to 
 the Persian period ? If we admit, indeed, that 
 the Chaldseans, and it seems very likely, were 
 descended from the Kurds, then would they also 
 belong to the Persian race, and could not have 
 been strangers to the Magian doctrine, though 
 they might have engrafted other particular points 
 of belief upon it. And if they also had their 
 priests, as indeed the Magian worship prescribes, 
 there is nothing very strange in their becoming 
 united with the Babylonian Magians. They are 
 indeed usually mentioned with them, and are 
 only distinguished as a separate class when 
 spoken of definitely ; though the two names are 
 often confounded. "^ 
 
 * -yimja/jc. in Aiistot. de Coelo, p. 123. Comp. Plin. Nat, 
 Hist. VII. 56. 
 
 ^ Thus, in HerodoU I. 138. Ctesias, Pers. I. 15. 
 
52 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 In this manner, therefore, the Magians and 
 Chaldseans formed the priest caste in Babylon. 
 It is certainly possible, that, according to rule, 
 the son succeeded the father ; but that the priest- 
 caste was not strictly hereditary, that even 
 foreigners might be admitted to this office, if 
 their early education had fitted them for it, is 
 shewn by the example of Daniel and his com- 
 panions (Dan. i. 4.) At their head was the high 
 Magian, whose influence was so great, that, 
 upon the death of the father of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 he administered the affairs of the empire until 
 the arrival of that prince. They were divided 
 into several classes, as expounders of the sacred 
 writings, interpreters of dreams, astronomers, 
 and soothsayers ; and again distinguished from 
 these are the Chaldaeans. They dwelt not only 
 in the capital, but also in other places ; and 
 among others, probably, in establishments of 
 which the mounds of bricks spoken of above, 
 are the remains.* Their connection with the 
 kings is clearly shewn, from the history of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar. Their influence was founded up- 
 on their knowledge ; but their power seems never 
 to have been so great as in the Persian court, if 
 we may judge from the manner in which they 
 were treated by Nebuchadnezzar ; unless, indeed, 
 
 ^ As at Akkerkoof, Al Himar, and above all, at Borsippa, 
 where^ according to Strabo, there was one of their principal 
 scliools. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 53 
 
 we may attribute this to the personal character 
 of that formidable conqueror.*] 
 
 1 . The name took its rise from h'n.'^L Babel, (see 
 note 26 below), whence both the country and its 
 metropolis were called by the Greeks and Romans, 
 Babylon. 
 
 2. ^jLaJ! i3\js., v^^ <3\^' On the name Irak 
 see Vol. I. p. 178. A Latin translation by Reiskeof 
 Abulfeda's description of this province [since edited 
 in Arab, and Lat. by Wiistenfeld], will be found in 
 Busching's Magazine for Hist, and Geogr. Vol. iv. 
 p. 230. Comp. Golius on Alfargani, p. 118. UHer- 
 belois Bibl. Orient. Article, Erac, Assemanni's 
 Bibl. Orient. Tom. III. P. II. p. 746. Schultens' 
 Geograph. Index to the Life of Saladin, under Irak. 
 WahVs Asia, p. 607. 
 
 3. It is expressly said in Ezek. xii. 13 : "I will carry 
 them (the people) — Cd^-jti;^ ynx nbll to Babel in the 
 land of the Chaldaeans.'* Comp. Ptolemy, V. 18. In 
 Acts vii. 4, the phrase 7^ ^aXbaiuv occurs. 
 
 4. ij?3^. The Greek translators write Ssvi/aas, 
 and so likewise the Vulgate. The meaning is un- 
 known. Jerome (de Nomin. Hebr. Tom. III. p. 16, 
 of the Edit, of Vallars), explains it by " excus- 
 sio dentium aut foetor eorum." He, or rather his 
 Jewish teacher, meant that the name is compounded 
 
 a Heeren, Vol. ii. p. 188—193. Comp. Notes 97—104, to 
 this chapter. — M. 
 
54 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 of "|\2; shen, a tooth, and ^11*3 nadr " to shake out or 
 thrust out." Simonis Onomast. V. T. p. 446, says 
 the name "nj^iu? signifies " excussio s. ejectio oTmiimoda, 
 ex "lyw, Arabice J^ ejecit e loco, Aethiopice lyu;, 
 abstulit, dimisit abiturum, et ex ipD Hebraice excus- 
 sit (vid. Job xxxviii. 13), Chaldaice de loco in locum 
 transtidit, Arabice hue illuc profectus est, exulavit, 
 Nomen regionis fuit Babylonicae, sic dictae, quia 
 liomines post diluvium exinde in omnes regiones ejecti 
 et dispersi sunt." Some find Sinear in the Singara of 
 Ammianus Marcellinus (xviii. 5, 7 ; xx. 6 ; xxv. 7, 9), 
 the name of a mountain and town in Mesopotamia. 
 
 It is the 6 S/yycc^ag o^og of Ptolemy, and the .L^*^-**' 
 
 of Arabian historians and geographers. See Schul- 
 tens Index to the Life of Saladin, under Siiisjara. 
 Niebuhr says (Trav. Vol. II. p. 388) : " On the 
 south-side of our road (from Mosul and Mardin), we 
 
 saw Mount {^^^ Sindsjiir. It lies in an extremely 
 
 fruitful plain, and has a very pure and salubrious atmos- 
 phere." And it is remarked in the note : " Probably 
 the Singara of Greek writers. The name has likewise 
 a close resemblance to the Sinear (Shinar) of Scripture," 
 Schultetis says (loc. cit.) : Nee sane abludunt iy3u;et 
 
 r^AAw. Sed Sinhar illud circa Babylonem erat, 
 
 longius a Singiara nostra distans. Ecquid Singare- 
 nam regionem dicemus constituisse praeter JBabylonis 
 agrum, or am omnem Tigridis occidentalem usque ad 
 montana Armeniae ? Illuc inclinat Bochart. Phaleg. 
 p. 24. Crediderim potius, celebrem ilium campestrem 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 55 
 
 tractum Singiarae X^>^ '^.j-i^ ad Babylonem usque 
 procurrisse, atque Terram Sinear fuisse appellatara." 
 Waklk of a similar opinion, in his Asia, p. 609 : " It 
 would seem that the whole country derives its name 
 from the mountain at whose base it lies, and which is 
 still denominated Ssindsyaar. As that mountain has 
 alwaj^s been famous for its great fertility, it is possible 
 that the name imposed on it involved something of 
 the idea of fruitfulness, which is also to be found ac- 
 cording to some Dictionaries, in the roots ^^ and xj? 
 but in so slender a degree, as that nothing certain 
 can be based on it. 
 
 5. cs"* "inyD. 
 
 6. Herodot. I. 184. Abydenus (in Eusebiiis Prae- 
 par. Evangel. IX. 41. p. 457) says: Xzyzrai bz 'Trdvra 
 (Msv 1^ oi^yyig vdu^ shai, ^dXaffffccv KaXov/jj'svrjv, The dif- 
 ferent opinions on the meaning of CD"» "iin?o " the de- 
 sert of the sea," as applied to Babylon, will be found 
 enumerated and examined in Rosenmuller s Scholia 
 and Gesenius Comment, on Isa.xxi. 1. Some commen- 
 tators think, that the " land of Nimrod," mentioned by 
 the prophet Micah (ch. v. 5), is a poetical description 
 of Babylonia ; but we are rather to understand by it 
 Assyria, which is the subject of our next chapter. 
 
 7. nrpi, Gen. si. 2. 
 
 8. See the former vol. p. 61. 
 
 9. See Herodot. I. 193. For other particulars re- 
 specting these canals, see Ileerens Ideen. Part I. 
 Div. 1, 2, p. 149, and MannerCs Geog. of the Gr. 
 and Rom. Part V. Div. 1, 2, p. 342. 
 
 10. bi2 ni^n^ 
 
56 BABYLONIA AND CIIALD/EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 11. a^hiz "nni. The accounts of the ancients re- 
 lative to this canal, are given by Man?iert, loc. cit. p. 
 342. Ker Porter found some traces of it. Travels, 
 Vol. II. p. 289. 
 
 12. Mannerly loc. cit. p. 347. Comp. Heeren^ loc. 
 cit. p. 157. 
 
 13. Mannert, p. 349. 
 
 14. ^\' ,1^. Niebuhr takes the Djari-Zad for 
 
 the Pallakopas. Travels, Part II. p. 223. 
 
 15. ' Av'iyvo) Ba^oj^ rovg Xoyoug rou (3it3kio-j rovrou sv 
 
 ojffi 'Trdvrm ruiv xaro/Kovvruv svBalSvXuvi srrl 'TrorujiLOj 
 
 2o-j6 (nir). Bocliart (Geogr. Sacr. P. I. or Phaleg. I. 
 8, p. 39) conjectures that in this extract from the 
 book of Baruch, instead of 2o0(5, we should read 2ol»^. 
 The words of the Hebrew original were, as he thinks, 
 *TiD "irrj bK but the translator changed the "n resh into T 
 daleth. Sura is the name of one of the arms of the 
 Euphrates mentioned by the SherifEdrisi (Clima IV. 
 cap. 4), upon which lay a town of the same name. 
 
 16^^. I. 185. Comp. Heeren, loc. cit. p. 154. 
 IG*'. These marshy lowlands are called in Arabic 
 
 ^jILij Bataich. Abuljedas remarks on the Bataich- 
 
 el-Irak, will be found in JReiske*s Notes to Abulfeda's 
 Annals Tom. 11. p. 782. 
 17. CD^ll tz:^D-br n^DW. 
 
 18' «-*.b *^, a Persian word, composed o^serd, cold, 
 and ab, water. Niebuhr, in his Remarks on Bagdad 
 (Trav. Part II. p. 293), says : " Every inhabitant of 
 any consequence, has, under his house, a serddp, i. e. 
 a high vaulted subterraneous apartment with a venti- 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 37 
 
 lator, a kind of chimney, which has at the top a wide 
 opening toward the north ; for here also, as at Cairo 
 and on the Island of Charedsh, the wind, in the hottest 
 season, commonly blows from that quarter. In win- 
 ter it never freezes so hard in Bagdad as in European 
 countries ; yet we saw, at the beginning of February, 
 ice of half- a- finger breadth in thickness. This, how- 
 ever, was regarded as an astonishing degree of cold, 
 and we were assured that, in the course of two nights, 
 twenty persons were frozen to death in the city 
 alone. Nor is this at all incredible, when it is re- 
 collected that in these countries the poor go almost 
 naked, and many of them lie all night in the streets." 
 According to Porter, the heat of Bagdad in sum- 
 mer is insupportable. " The latitude of Bagdad, from 
 the mean observations taken by Mr. Rich and others, is 
 33° 19' 40", and the longitude, east of Greenwich, 
 44° 44' 45". The climate, in general, has the ad- 
 vantage of parts of Persia, in not being variable in 
 such violent extremes ; but then its warmest months 
 are certainly insufferable, from the abiding effects 
 of the forty days' prevalence of the consuming samiel. 
 At that season, the thermometer frequently mounts 
 in the shade from 120 to 140 degrees of heat, accord- 
 ing to Fahrenheit. Hence it may easily be conceived, 
 that winter is the most genial season here ; and the 
 inhabitants tell me that the air then becomes soft, 
 and of the most delightful salubrity ; particularly, they 
 say, from the fifteenth of November to about the mid- 
 dle of January. At present, towards the latter end of 
 October, while I am writing, the skirts of the ' wither- 
 ing blast' seem to be yet hovering over us ; the heat 
 
58 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 standing at 90, and has been from that to 93, on an 
 average, ever since my arrival. When the heat ap- 
 proaches ten degrees beyond this point, the inha- 
 bitants betake themselves to the refuge of certain 
 arched apartments, called the Zardaub, constructed 
 deep in the foundations of the houses for this very 
 purpose. From this situation they can have no 
 windows ; therefore catch their glimpse of day-light 
 as it may glimmer through the doors from the cham- 
 bers above. Thin matting supplies the place of car- 
 pets, and every precaution and method is pursued 
 that can bring coolness to these gloomy abodes, 
 where the chief part of the natives of Bagdad pass 
 the whole of the sultry day, while the atmosphere 
 without retains its more scorching fires. At sun- 
 set, each family issues from their subterranean shel- 
 ter, and, ascending to the top of the house, take their 
 evening repast beneath the arch of heaven, and under 
 the same free canopy, ' fanned by tepid airs,' they 
 spread their bedding along the variously disposed 
 divisions of the roof; whose irregular forms are so 
 contrived, to catch every zephyr's breath that passes. 
 In these elevated apartments, the natives repose 
 until the close of October, at which time the days 
 become comparatively cool ; and sudden blasts blow- 
 ing up during the night from the north and south- 
 east, render sleeping in the open air chilling and 
 dangerous. Hence at these nocturnal hours, the good 
 people begin to nestle into the warm corners within 
 the house; but during the day, they describe the at- 
 mosphere to be every thing that is celestial ; so clear, 
 go balmy, so inspiriting, as to yield sufficient excuse 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 59 
 
 to the great monarchs of Persia for deserting the arid 
 regions of their own kingdom at this season, to take 
 up a temporary abode in the sahibrious gardens of 
 Amyites." Travels, Vol. II. p. 261. Comp. Olivier, 
 Voyages, Tom. IV. p. 331. 
 
 19. Niebuhr, loc. cit. Part II. p. 227 of the original 
 German. 
 
 20. Tom. IV. p. 335. 
 
 21. I. 193. 
 
 22. Herodot. 1. 179. Niehuhr says, (Travels, Part 
 II. p. 288.^) " When mention is made of the anti- 
 quities of Babylon, we must not fancy to ourselves 
 such splendid monuments as are to be seen in Persia 
 and Egypt. At Persepolis, the finest of marble was 
 found close by the city, and in the very hill where 
 stands the far-famed palace. The limestone, of which 
 the large pyramids, near Cairo, are constructed, was 
 also quarried on the spot ; and above that place lime- 
 stone rocks frequently occur near the Nile, and 
 farther south there are mountains of granite. But on 
 the Euphrates and Tigris, from the Persian Gulf as 
 far as Hillah and Bagdad, and still farther north, no- 
 thing of this kind is met with, but all is marshy 
 ground. If the Babylonians had wished to build with 
 hewn stones, they would have had to bring them 
 from a great distance, and at an enormous expense. 
 
 ^ Rich says on his Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon : " Be- 
 fore entering into a minnte description of the ruins, it is ne- 
 cessary to state, that they consist of mounds of earth, composed 
 of the decomposition of building, channelled and furrowed by 
 the weather, and the surface of them strewed with pieces of 
 brick, bitumen, and pottery." — M. 
 
60 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 They therefore built their best houses of bricks, about 
 the thickness of ours, and a foot square, and these 
 they burned as thoroughly as any bricks I have ever 
 seen. If they had used lime* for a cement, we should 
 have found many more remains of their edifices at the 
 present day. But as they were compacted together 
 by so slight a material, a temptation was held out to 
 pull down the old buildings, and erect with the bricks 
 new houses in the neighbouring towns and villages on 
 the Euphrates. A large and fine caravanserai, at 
 Hillah, in which I dwelt, was built, not many years 
 ago, out of the ruins of these ancient edifices." 
 
 23. The Is of Herodotus, is, without doubt, the 
 
 same place which is still by the Arabs called Ckk&>^ 
 
 Hit. Abulfeda says, in his Description of Arabian 
 Irak (a Latin version of which, by Reiske, is in Biis- 
 ching's Magazine, Part IV. p. 256) : " Hit is one of 
 the border towns of Irak, on the west bank of the 
 Euphrates, where vessels usually touch ; there also 
 are springs of bitumen and naphtha." 1 add the origi- 
 nal, from the unpublished^ Dresden MS. j^* CajJ^ 
 
 * Lime does seem to have been sometimes used. See Mig- 
 tiari's Travels in Chaldaea, passim — M. 
 
 ^ Since published by Wiistenjeld, whose Latin translation 
 of the entire passage follows : " Hit est ad septentrionem 
 Euphratis ; dicit in el-IMoschtareko : Hit est ad Euphratem 
 et e praefecturis Bagdadi. Dicit in el-Lobabo : Hit est urbs 
 ad Euphratem super el-Ambar et in ea sepulcrum Abdallae 
 Ben-el- Mobarek. Dicit in el-Azizico : Hit est inter limites 
 'Iracae et ad occidentem Euphratis, unum de emporiis Eu- 
 phratis, ubi sunt fontes picis et najjlithae ; inter earn et el-Cfi- 
 desiam octo sunt parasangae et inter earn iterum et el-Arabdr, 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 61 
 
 C\^k^\ ^^S ^Xc ^^ 6\^S ^^«X^ (^^_y^ 
 
 laJSlS^ j\JiS\ (^y^ ^J_5 L-=5^^^ O^ CjJ"* ^'^j-^ 
 
 " How faithfully, says Porter, do these vestiges agree 
 with the method of building in Babylon, as described 
 by Herodotus ! He observes, that the bricks intended 
 for the walls, were formed of the clay dug from the 
 great ditch that backed them. They were baked in 
 large furnaces ; and in order to join them together in 
 building, warm bitumen was used ; and between each 
 course of thirty bricks, beds of reeds were laid inter- 
 woven together. The bitumen (he continues to tell 
 us), is drawn from certain pits in the neighbourhood 
 of Is, a town on the Euphrates. These pits exist to 
 this day ; the town in their vicinity now bearing the 
 name of Hit or Heet ; it lies about four days' journey 
 north-west of Bagdad, and is on the western bank of 
 the river." Travels, Vol. H. p. 361. Olivier, in des- 
 cribing the boats that ply to Bassora and Bagdad, and 
 are covered with bitumen, says (Voyages, Tom IV. 
 p. 323) : " This bitumen is procured from the country 
 of Hit. Some leagues to the west of that town, there 
 are pools which every year are covered with bitumen, 
 which the heat of the sun raises out of the bowels of 
 the earth. The Arabs collect it at the end of summer 
 and bring it to Bagdad. It is obtained in such abun- 
 dance, that it is used not only for pitching boats, but 
 for the coating of aqueducts, baths, cooking utensils, 
 
 21 parasangae. Secundum el-Tartib appellata est Hit (locus 
 humilis), quia sit in cavo terrae." — Wustenfeld's Abulfeda, p. 
 9— M. 
 
62 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 and whatever is required to be made water-proof. 
 The clay-built walls of Babylon, were probably cover- 
 ed with this bitumen, to protect them against the 
 effects of the atmosphere and damp." Comp. UHer- 
 belot's Bibl. Orient, under the article Hit. Bitumen 
 is elsewhere employed as cement in building. Christ. 
 MUlIer in his Travels through Greece and the Ionian 
 Islands in 1821 (Leipz. 1822, p. 116), informs us 
 that the bitumen of Zante, when dried in the sun, 
 forms an almost indissoluble and indestructible cement, 
 and is frequently used for that purpose. Comp. Gen. 
 xi. 3, where mention is made of the £D"»:ib, or bricks 
 burned in the sun, and the 'iTin, or bituminous pitch 
 [in the Eng. Vers, slime] respecting which see also 
 Bochart, Geog. Sac. Part I. Lib. I. Cap. ii. 44, and 
 Rosenmuller*s Morgenland, Part I. No. 24. On the 
 different kinds of naphtha,* and the different uses to 
 which it is applied, see Kdmpfers Amoenitt. Exot. 
 Fascic. II. p. 273. Gmelins Travels, Part IIL p. 
 47, and Niebuhrs Travels, Part II. p. 336. 
 
 24. See Niebuhrs loc. cit. and Ker Porter^ loc. cit. 
 p. 360. Comp. Heeren's Ideem, Part I. Div. 2, p. 
 161. 
 
 25. -|\2;i[;. According to the Rabbinical opinion, 
 mentioned by St. Jerome (see his Comment, on Jerem. 
 XXV. 26), this name was equivalent to bll, Babel, be- 
 ing interpreted according to the Cabbalistic form 
 lyiDK (Athbash)j in which n is put for n, \2; for i, 
 
 ■ In its most liquid state it is called naphtha, and according' 
 to its degree of consistency, becomes petroleum, elastic biluTnen, 
 maltha, and asphallum."-M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. 63 
 
 and D for b.* The prophet, they supposed, employed 
 this mystical name of Babel, that he might not irritate 
 the Chaldaeans, who were then besieging Jerusalem 
 under Nebuchadnezzar. But that this is a groundless 
 conjecture, appears from the circumstance, that in 
 chap. li. 41, Babel is in one verse spoken of under 
 its real name, and in the next under the name of She- 
 shak. Calmet supposes (in his Comment, and his 
 Dictionary under Sesach), that this was the name of 
 a Babylonian deity, perhaps the moon ; but in that 
 case, the expression " the king of Sheshach," (Jer. 
 XXV. 26), would be inapplicable. Simonis, in his 
 Onomast. p. 576, explains the name by habitatio se- 
 cura^ from \D'\'Q), and ^>;2;, to dwells to rest, whence, 
 in Syr. ]^a», rest, with the final syllable *]=, as in 
 T 13:1 a treasury, from r3:i treasure. J. D, Michaelis 
 (Suppl. ad Lex. Heb. p. 2357), thinks -|ii;;2; became a 
 
 lofty, poetical designation of Babylon, from tsjCw- 
 lamina ferrea obduxit portam, seeing that, according 
 to Ahydenus, in Eusebius (Praep. Evang. IX. 41), 
 Nebuchadnezzar strengthened the gates of Babylon 
 
 * They divide the Hebrew alphabet into two equal parts, 
 ranging the second in a line under the first. When h, 72, &c. 
 are placed under K, i, &c. they call it CDibK Album, and when 
 reversing the order of letters in the underline, n is under N, 
 U; under 1, &c. they call it lyiDK Athbash. It is the latter 
 to which reference is here made, the two shins in "^ly^i;, corres- 
 ponding to the two beths in bl2l, and the caph of the former, to 
 the lamed of the latter. The Chald. has in this place NS^DI 
 bin. In Jer. h. 1, the words "•TOp lb become by this kind 
 of transposition CD'^TITD Casdim, the Chaldaeans M. 
 
64 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 with plates of iron, whence that writer styles the city 
 ;i/aXxoVjXov. But the most plausible explanation is 
 that proposed by Von Bo/den, in his Symbol, ad In- 
 terpret. Sac. Cod. ex Ling. Pers. p. 22. He thinks 
 
 ixyw is synonymous with the Persian ^Li xi Schih' 
 
 Schah, i. e. doraus principis, He fortius prolato, ut in 
 (^^j^\j.j Brachman, ^^^^^L 'Jrd'xjJ^av, ^xXj ^o/x- 
 /3ug, etc. Instead of ^ (which in Castellus and 
 
 Richardson properly signifies " a court or front court,") 
 we might take ^^ Shahr or Shehr, " a town." Only 
 it is doubtful whether, at so early a period a§ the age 
 of Jeremiah, Babel could have received a Persian 
 name that would be known in Judaea. 
 
 26. bm from bbl to corifound, instead of blbn, 
 for which also in Syr. j\o^ ; so in like manner the 
 Syrians use l.li.-j , for cb^fb^ bells ; \b\^^, for 
 
 nb:ibi a skull. Comp. Gesemus, Lehrgeb, d. Hebr. 
 Sprach. p. 134. Some of the ancients derive the name of 
 Babel from Belus, the supposed founder. So the Ety- 
 mol. Magnum : But3vXuv...£'I^7]rai acri roij BtiXou, og 
 XTigag cc'jTTiv, aw' avrou 'Tr^offTjyoPSvffs. This is likewise the 
 opinion o^ Eichhorn in his Program : Declarantur di- 
 versitatis linguarum ex traditione Semitica origines. 
 Gottingen, 1788; reprinted in the Allgem. Biblioth. 
 d. Bibl. Literat. Vol. iii. p. 981. He explains the 
 name of Babel by Vj t_*.L ^' ^- Bel's Gate or Court. 
 In that case V, would be a contraction for J^xj* "A 
 bn est contractum bs, gutturali elisu, quod Chaldaeis 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. 65 
 
 est usitatum," says Buxtorfm his Lexic. Chald. Tal- 
 mud, p. 333. 
 
 27. This is the simple and only sense to be attached 
 to the passage in Gen. xi. 4, agreeably to the He- 
 brew usus loquendi. But it has been sadly tortured 
 to a different meaning, by interpreters both ancient 
 and modern. Several of the opinions have been 
 enumerated and refuted by Faher, in his Archaeo- 
 logy of the Hebrews, p. 208 ; yet his own exposi- 
 tion is as open to objection as any. He would 
 render cd\2; " a god or deity" (referring to Levit. xxiv. 
 11, 16. Deut. xxviii. 38), and yis to overflow or 
 inundate (comp. q^/J)) translating the whole verse 
 thus : " Let us make to ourselves a god, that we 
 may not be inundated in any part of the earth."* 
 The erroneousness of this interpretation has been 
 shewn by Hetzel^ in his Thoughts upon the Building 
 of the City and Tower of Babel (Hildburghausen, 
 1774, 8vo. p. 76); yet that writer's own exposition 
 is no less unsatisfactory. He would translate : " Let 
 us take to ourselves a peculiar name, so that we may 
 not be separated from each other, nor be scattered 
 
 * That the tower was to be erected as a safeguard against a 
 second flood, seems to have been the opinion of Joseplius (Ant. 
 I. 4), as w^ell as of Nic. Lyra in his Scholia. Perizonius, in 
 his learned but somewhat fanciful work, " Origines Baby- 
 lonicae," p. 236, thinks that t3"a; denotes here a " sign" or bea- 
 con, which might be a rallying point to all in the flat country 
 
 5 ^ 
 of Shinar. He refers to the similar use of X^,^ in Arabic, 
 
 the root being Lj^Afw' eminuif, excelsus fuit. — M. 
 VOL. II. F 
 
66 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 over the earth." But besides that the phrase, " to 
 make one's self a name," has never the sense here as- 
 signed to it, — it is difficult to perceive how the as- 
 sumption of a new and peculiar name could have 
 hindered their dispersion. Kelle (" the Holy Scrip- 
 tures in their primitive form," Part II. p. 37) renders 
 it: " We must make ourselves a name, yet let us not 
 scatter ourselves over the earth," — and he supposes 
 (contrary to the whole tenor of the narrative) that, 
 in building the tower, they were actuated solely by 
 ambition, and not by the wish to prevent their own 
 dispersion. According to Eichhorn (in the Dissert, 
 quoted in note 26) the narrative is a historical my- 
 thus, intended to account for the variety of lan- 
 guage among men, which was felt to be a barrier to 
 intercourse and trade, and to represent it as a punish- 
 ment from heaven. But it is inconceivable how the 
 incidents related could have found currency among 
 so many tribes of the East, if they had not had a 
 basis of historical truth. For other hypotheses see 
 Kanngiessers' Grundrisse d. Alterthumswissensch. p. 
 61. Comp. Volney Recherches Nouvelles sur I'Hist. 
 Ancienne, P. I. p. 7, P. III. p. 14, note ; and the 
 author's Scholia on Genesis, Part I. Vol. I. p. 1^40 
 and 236 of the third edition. 
 
 28. Ahijdenus^ t!ie author of an Assyrian history, 
 which has long since perished, says, in a fragment pre- 
 served by Eusebius (Prcepar. Evang. IX. 14), that 
 some related " that the first men uho were upon the 
 earth, relying on their strength and greatness, despising 
 the gods, and thinking tliomstolves superior to tliem, 
 undertook to build a Iiigh tower on the spot where 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. 67 
 
 Babylon now stands; that the tower had nearly reached 
 to heaven, when the winds coming to the help of 
 the gods, threw down the immense mass of stones 
 upon the heads of the builders, and that Babylon 
 took its rise from these ruins. And whereas before 
 that period all men had but one language, they now 
 began to speak different tongues." This agrees 
 almost literally with what Moses of Chorene cites in 
 his Armenian History (I. 8), from Maribas of Catina, 
 who had taken his account from an ancient Chaldee 
 work in the royal Assyrian library at Nineveh, which, 
 by command of Alexander the Great, was translated 
 into Greek. " From the gods,*' it is there said, 
 " who inhabited the earth in the first ages, there 
 sprang the race of giants of immense size, and of the 
 strongest bodily frame. Full of insolent daring, 
 they formed the ambitious design to build a lofty 
 tower. But while they were employed in the erec- 
 tion, a dreadful tempest, raised by the gods, de- 
 stroyed the huge edifice, and scattered among them 
 unknown words, whence arose discord and confusion." 
 The Sybilline oracle contains a similar tradition. It 
 is reported by Josephus (Antiqq. I. 4, 3), and will 
 be found in the Greek work edited by Gullaeus^ 
 Book III. p. 336, with which comp. his Dissert, de 
 Sibyllis, p. 459. 
 
 29. Ctesias in Diodor. Sicttlus, II. 7, p. 120, of 
 Wesseling's edit. He says that Semiramis, who was 
 regarded by the Assyrians as the founder of Babylon, 
 employed two millions of her subjects, from all parts 
 of her empire, in forced labours at the building of 
 the city and the tower of Belus. " What an extra- 
 
68 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 ordinary spectacle," says Volnei/, " must such an as- 
 semblage of men have been, differing in colour, dress, 
 manners, customs, and, most of all, in language, for 
 in the vast empire of Semiramis, more than eighty 
 different languages or dialects must have been spoken." 
 Recherches Nouvelles sur I'Hist. Ancienne, P. I. 
 p. 1, 7, and Part III. p. 8, 14. Comp. Strabo, XVI. 
 1, 2. According to another account by Ammianus 
 Marcellinus, XXIII. 6, 23, the erection of Babylon 
 is ascribed to Ninus. 
 
 SO. Praepar. Evang. IX. 41. Megasthenes, a 
 Greek historian, lived at the court of Seleucus Ni- 
 cator. King of Babylon, about the year 280 b. c. 
 
 31. In Lib. I. contra Apion, § 19. Berosus, who 
 was of a priestly family of Babylon, flourished shortly 
 after Megasthenes. See Volne?/, loc. cit. p. 18, note. 
 His Chaldee Antiquities, fragments of which have 
 been preserved by Josephus and Eusebius, were 
 highly valued by the ancients. 
 
 32. Hence, says Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 27) : 
 " Is not this the great Babylon, which I have built 
 by my great power, as a royal residence, and as a 
 monument of my glory ?" The verb nan like the 
 Syr. ji^ is sometimes used of the enlarging and 
 fortifying a town, e. g. 2 Kings xiv. 22. 2 Chron. 
 xi. 5, 6. Berosus says (as quoted in Josephus, Ant. 
 X. 11, 1), that Nebuchadnezzar enlarged Babylon by 
 one-half its former size, having restored that part of 
 the city which lay on the west bank of the Euphrates. 
 He likewise adorned it with magnificent edifices, some 
 of which, however, he did not live to finish. 
 
 33. 1. 178, et seqq. The descriptions of Babylon 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 69 
 
 by Herodotus, and other ancient authors, are ad- 
 mirably illustrated, and compared with the accounts 
 given by modern travellers of the present ruins, by 
 Rennel in his •' Geography of Herodotus," [London, 
 1800.] 
 
 34. To this there is a reference in Isa. xlv. 2, 
 where Jehovah says to Cyrus, the conqueror of Baby- 
 Ion : 
 
 I will go before thee and level the heaps : 
 
 Brazen gates I will burst, and iron bars I will sever.* 
 
 35. These accounts of the extent and regular con- 
 struction of ancient Babylon have, by some, been re- 
 garded as the exaggerations of fancy. But Heeren 
 (Ideen I. 2, p. 173) brings forward, as a very similar 
 counterpart from the modern history of Asia, the de- 
 scription which the Venetian Marco Polo (who 
 travelled in the second part of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury) has given of a city, which was built by Kublai 
 Khan, the successor of Jingis Khan, and called by 
 him Taidu. ♦' This city," says he, " is twenty-four 
 [Italian] miles in circumference. No side is longer 
 than another, but each six miles. Round the cit}'^ 
 runs a wall, which, at the base, is ten paces thick, 
 but narrower at the top. All the streets of the city 
 are built in exact lines ; so that a person standing at 
 one gate of the wall can see the opposite. The sec- 
 tions also for the dwellings are square. In every 
 part are large palaces, surrounded with spacious 
 courts and gardens ; so that the whole city is divided 
 into squares similar to a draft-board. The wall has 
 
 '^ See Vol. I. p. 215.— M. 
 
70 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 twelve gates, three on each side ; and at each gate is 
 a large and splendid palace, with roomy halls, in 
 vhich are the arms of the guards. About the city 
 are spacious suburbs, or open places, extending for 
 three or four miles, and joining one another. In 
 these are great caravanserais, where the merchants 
 abide who arrive from different countries, each nation 
 having its own separate one. If we reckon, in addi- 
 tion to this new town, the ancient city (Cambalu, 
 now Peking), beside which it was erected — the im- 
 perial residence, which had an immense circuit of its 
 own — and the spacious suburbs and caravanserais — 
 then, as Heeren remarks, Peking, as seen by Marco 
 Polo, was much a larger city than ancient Babylon. 
 
 86. See Gesenius on the idols of the Chaldaeans, in 
 the second part of his Coment. on Isaiah, p. 335. 
 
 37. See Volney^ ut antea. Part III. p. 72. 
 
 38. The tower thus assumes a pyramidal form, 
 whence Straho calls it 2i four-cornered pyramid, rri/pa- 
 /mi; TSTouyuvog, XVI. 1, 5. 
 
 39. These gardens are so described by Berosus in Jo- 
 sephus, Antiqq.X. 11, 1, and Contr. Apion, I. 19. Dio- 
 dorus Siculus, II. 10, Straho, XVI. 1, 2, and Quin- 
 ius Curtius, V. 1, 32. According to Berosus, they 
 were constructed by Nebuchadnezzar, in order to 
 exhibit to his wife, who was a native of Media, an 
 imitation of the mountain landscapes to which she had 
 been accustomed in her own country, but which 
 nature had denied to the flat plains of Babylonia. 
 Goguct (On the Origin of Laws, &c. Part III. p. 51), 
 holds the accounts given by the ancients of the Baby* 
 Ionian gardens to be fabulous, and for no other reason 
 
CHAP. Vni.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 71 
 
 thfin the silence of Herodotus. But the futility of this 
 objection has been ably shewn by J. F. Roos, in his 
 Beitriigen zur Historischen Kritik, p. 7, et seqq. 
 Perhaps to Herodotus there was nothing in these 
 gardens so sitigular or striking. There was at Thebes 
 in Egypt, a garden of this kind, of which Pliny speaks 
 in his Nat. Hist. XXXVI. 14; and in after times the 
 Romans imitated these establishments, bj' laying out 
 gardens on the tops of their houses. Seneca in his 
 Thyestes, V. 465, introduces a Greek prince speaking 
 of a silva culminibus imposita et nutante ;* and in his 
 I22d Epistle, he exclaims against the nemora in sum- 
 mis turrihus et silrcts in tectis domornm ac fastigiis 
 nutantes. In like manner Tihidlus (Book III. Eleg. 
 3, V. 15), expresses displeasure at the nemora in 
 domibus sacros iniitantia Incos. 
 
 40. Quintus Curtiiis says (v. 1): Nihil urbis ejus 
 corruptius moribus, nee ad irritandas illiciendasque 
 immodicas voluptates instructius. Liberos conjuges- 
 que cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pretium flagitii 
 detur, parentes maritique patiuntur. Convivales ludi 
 tota Perside regibus purpuratisque cordi sunt. Baby- 
 lonii maxima in vinum, et quae ebrietatem sequuntur, 
 
 * His words are : 
 
 " Non thure coHmur ; nee mese, exchiso Jove, 
 Ornantur arse ; nulla culminibus meis 
 Imposita nutat silva." 
 
 Bellermann alludes to similar gardens heated by ovens, placed 
 in subterraneous vaults, and thus preserved green through the 
 winter, in the imperial hermitage at St. Petersburgh. Hand- 
 buch, Vol. III. p. 355 M. 
 
72 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 efFusi sunt. Feminarum convivia ineuntium in prin- 
 cipio modestus est habitus, dein summa quaeque ami- 
 cula exuunt, paulatimque pudorem profanant ; ad ulti- 
 mum (honos auribus sit) ima corporum velamenta 
 projiciunt : nee meretricum hoc dedecus est, sed ma- 
 tronarum virginumque, apud quas comitas habetur 
 vulgati corporis vilitas. 
 
 41. The disgusting honours paid to the planet Venus 
 (Mylitta, Anaitis) are described by Herodotus, 1. 199. 
 
 42. Both Herodotus (1. 191), and Xenophon (Cyrop. 
 VII. 5), agree in the statement, that Cyrus took 
 Babylon in a night, when the inhabitants, blindly con- 
 fiding in the supposed impregnability of their city, 
 had, on the occasion of a festival, recklessly given 
 themselves up to banqueting and debauchery. Comp. 
 Norberg's Excidium Babylonis a Xenophonteillustra- 
 tum in his Select. Opp. Academic. P. III. p. 222. 
 This is conformable to Daniel's narrative (ch. v.) of 
 the death of Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, on 
 the " night that he made a great feast to his lords." 
 According to the accounts of profane historians (see 
 below, Note 141), the king was not in the city at the 
 time of its capture. Cyrus had previously caused the 
 Pallakopas to be drained, which was the canal on the 
 west side of the town, that carried off the superfluous 
 water of the Euphrates into the Lake of Nicotris. 
 He then led the river away in that direction, by which 
 the main channel became so shallow, that his troops 
 thereby penetrated into the city. Several expositors 
 (among others J. D. Michaelis and Eichhorn in " the 
 Hebrew Prophets," Vol. iii. p. 279), find a distinct 
 prediction of this circumstance by Jeremiah in his 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 73 
 
 prophetic description of Babylon's overthrow (Jer. li. 
 31,32): 
 
 Courier runs to meet courier, 
 
 And messenger to meet messenger, 
 
 To tell the king of Babylon 
 
 That his whole city is taken. 
 
 The fords are occupied : 
 
 The marshy- reed is burned with fire, 
 
 And the men of war are struck with affright. 
 
 Others,* see a predictive alnision to the festive mirth 
 in which the Babylonians were found, in Isa. xxi. 5. 
 " The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear ;" 
 and still more pointedly in Jer. li. 39 : 
 
 In their heat I will supply them with drink, 
 And I will make them drink, that they may exult, 
 And may sleep an everlasting sleep. 
 And never wake again — saith Jehovah. 
 
 43. According to Berosus in Joseph, contra Apion. 
 I. 20. Yet Herodotus says, that Cyrus left the walls 
 and gates uninjured. See the next note. 
 
 44. Herodotus III. 139 : Ba/3yXwi' [xsv vvv ourca to- 
 
 dsvTtPOv aiPs^rj. AaosTog os s-rsi n s'Kpdryjffs rorj Baf3u?^w- 
 ^-/o/y, roiiro [j.\v 6pso)v to nr^og 'ttso/sTXs, kcaI rag 'X'oXug 
 rrdffag d':ri(f~a(ji' to ydo t^gts^ov sXmv Kvoog tyiV BccISj^ 
 /.WVa, hTTo'lYiSi TOVTSUV ohhWioov, 
 
 45. XVI. 1, 5. 
 
 46. II. 27. 
 
 47. Arcad. cap. 33. A history of the gradual de- 
 
 ' The author (quoting in his support Gesenius Comment, 
 on Isaiah, p. 650), denies that there is any thing prophetic in 
 these passages, merely upon the trivial ground that the cir- 
 cumstances might have been foreseen or conjectured — M. 
 
74 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 cay of Babylon has been given by the Baron de Sainte 
 Croix in his Dissertation, Sur le Ruine de Babylone 
 pour servir d'eclaircissementau xiii. cliap. d'Isaie et 
 au li. de Jeremie, in his Memoires sur divers snjets 
 inseres dans les Volumes XLVII. XLVIII. XLIX. et 
 L. du Recueil de rAcademie des Inscriptions et Belles 
 Lettres, Paris, 1808. 
 
 48. Assemanrii says in his Biblioth. Orient. Tom. 
 III. P. II. p. 725. Babylonisantiquae civitatis vesti- 
 gia usque ad Theodosii Magni tempora superfuisse, 
 testatur Amrus in vita Knjumae, Seleuciensis Archie- 
 piscopi : hunc enim refert instaurasse Babylonis ec- 
 clesiani in lacu Daiiielis Prophetae olim excitatam, 
 quam Judaei destruxerant, nionachosque ibi coUocasse. 
 
 49. See Ahulfeda in Busching's Magazine, Part 
 \y. p. 258.^ I here give the words of the original, 
 from the Dresden MS. : j^S Uj^ JoL 
 
 * This reference is to Reiske'^s Latin Version of Abulfeda. 
 The original of tlie Tabiilte Iraca^, &:c, has since been pub- 
 lished by Wiistenfeld, whose Latin version of the above cited 
 passage is as follows: " In urbe Babel conjectus est Abra- 
 ham, cui pax sit ! in ignem, hodieque desolata est jamque snc- 
 cessit in locum ejus pagus parvus. Dicit Ibn Haucal: Babel 
 est pagus parvus, est tamen antiquissimum Iracae monument 
 turn, totaqiie haec provincia ab eo denominata est ob ejus an- 
 tiquitatem ; ibi olim reges Kananaei et alii solebant versari. 
 Sunt ibi rudera aedificiorum qtise suspicionem mihi faciunt, 
 ftiisse quondam ibi urbem magnam. Dicunt ed-Dahhakum 
 primum fuisse conditorem Babeli.'" WustenfeltTs Abulfeda, 
 p. 15 — M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 75 
 
 t^^jL« tToLT,, l^^JoM l^A*]\ j^-.v^^'^i^^ t^^ «-^>wwJ^ 
 
 jl3u^ U'J^ ^^j.A^L^ fW.^^ (»^.*^* C5^ ilXilT L^Aam^^ . 
 
 JoL Uo ^^-c i^^ ^Ur^^^ ^^^ " Babel (here 
 
 follows the longitude and latitude). Here Abraham, 
 the friend of God, upon whom be peace ! was thrown 
 into the fire. At the present day the city lies waste, 
 and on its site there is a small village. Ibn-Haukal 
 says, Babel is a small village, yet it is the oldest place 
 of Irak, and after it, in ancient times, the whole pro- 
 vince was named. Here the Canaanitish and other 
 kings used to dvvell. There are here the remains of 
 buildings, which, as I conjecture, formed at a remote 
 period, a great metropolis. It is said that Dhoiiak 
 first built Babel." [The tradition respecting Abra- 
 ham is, that, refusing to worship idols, he was cast 
 into the fire by order of Nimrod, but came out un- 
 scathed]. Dhohak was the fifth king of the first 
 dynasty of Persian monarchs, called the Paishdadians,* 
 
 * That is, " the distributors of justice." The first of them 
 was Kaiomurs ; the fourth, the famous Jemshid, said to have 
 been dethroned by this Dhohak (written by English historians 
 Zohauk) who was, in his turn, overthrown by the patriotic ex- 
 ertions of the blacksmith Kawah. It is a curiovis confirma- 
 tion of these early traditions, that the apron, which is said to 
 have been used by the blacksmith as his ensign, long continued 
 
76 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [cHAP. VllI, 
 
 whose history is ^vrapt in the obscurity of earl}' fable. 
 He is said to have been by birth an Arabian [accord- 
 to others a Syrian], and is delineated as a ruthless 
 tyrant. The various and somewhat contradictory 
 traditions regarding him, have been collected by 
 D" Herhelot, in the article devoted to his name, in the 
 Bibliotheque Orientale. 
 
 50. Travels, Part I. Letter 17th. Babylon had 
 been previously mentioned by Maundeville, in the 
 fourteenth, and by Rauivolf, in the sixteenth century ; 
 but neither of them visited the ruins. Of the uncer- 
 tain and partly fabulous statements of Benjamin of 
 Tudela, we make no account. [Of Babylon in the 
 middle ages, Ker Porter says (Vol. II. p. 336) : " The 
 style of impossible approach in which it was long con- 
 sidered, when thought of at all, may be gathered from 
 Sir John Maundeville, who travelled over Asia, a. d. 
 1322. He writes ' that Babylone is in the grete 
 desertes of Arabye, upon the waye as men gon towarde 
 the kyngdome of Caldee. But it is fulle longe sithe 
 ony man durste neyhe to the toure ; for it is alle de- 
 serte and full of dragons and grete serpentes, and 
 fulle dyverse veneymouse bestes all abouten.' These 
 impressions remained until the journey thither by 
 Pietro della Valle, in the year 1616, which indeed 
 ' cast her forth from her grave,' and re- awakened 
 learned men to a new interest in what Babylon had 
 been, and what it still was ; the antiquarian, rejoicing 
 in the ancient specimens of the arts it migiit present 
 
 to be the Persian standard (under the name of Durufish e Kawa- 
 iiee) until its capture by the Mahometans under tlie calif Omar. 
 — M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 77 
 
 to his curiosity ; the historian and divine, in the 
 connecting hghts its present appearance might throw 
 on history and rehgion. From succeeding travellers, 
 Pere Emanuel, Niebuhr, Beauchamp, &c. we have 
 had accounts of different parts of the remains ; but 
 amongst them all, none seem to have gone so far into 
 the desert as to notice the Birs Nimrod, excepting the 
 two first ; and the one could not approach near 
 enough to make the observations he wished ; while 
 the other observed to so little purpose, ' that, if we 
 may judge from the inaccurate description he gives 
 (remarks Mr. Rich), he might as well never have 
 seen it all."^ As to Ramvolf^ he mistook for the re- 
 mains of Babylon, certain ruins near the village of 
 Felugo, or Felujiah, upon the Euphrates, opposite 
 Bagdad. 
 
 Rauwolf was a German physician, who travelled 
 in Babylonia, in the year 1574. He says: " By a 
 small village on the Euphrates^ called Eulego or Fe- 
 lugo, is the seat of the old Babylon, a day and a half's 
 journey from Bagdad. The lands about it are so dry 
 and desolate, that one may justly doubt the fertility 
 of it, and the greatness 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 exceeding 
 deep. These arches are built of bricks, and wonder- 
 fully compacted. 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 
 
 ^ Beauchamp' s Memoire sur les Antiquites Babyloniennes 
 appeared in the Journal des Savans for December 1790, p. 
 797 M. 
 
78 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 German raile in compass, M'liich is now a receptacle 
 of serpents and venomous creatures. A little above 
 the fall of the Tigris into the Euphrates, is a city now 
 called Trax, formerly Assamea. All that travel over 
 these plains will find vast numbers of the ruins of very 
 ancient, great, and lofty buildings, arched 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 demon- 
 strate the truth of what ancient writers have said of its 
 greatness, by the vastness of their extent."] 
 
 51. Rich's IMemoir on the l^n.ins of Babylon. The 
 third edition appeared at London in 181 (S. Pointer s 
 (Sir R. K.) Travels. 2 vols. 4to. 
 
 52. Kcr Porter remarks (Travels, Vol. II. p. 337) : 
 " When we consider that so many centuries have 
 passed, since Babylon became a deserted habitation, 
 and that it yet lay in the neighbourhood of populous 
 nations, our surprise ought to be, not that we find so 
 little of its remains, but that we see so much. From 
 her fallen towers have arisen, not only all the present 
 cities in her vicinity, but others which, like herself, are 
 long ago gone down into the dust. Since the days 
 of Alexander, we find four capitals at least, built out 
 of her remains. Seleucia by the Greeks, Ctesiphon 
 by the Parthians, Al Maidan* by the Persians, Kufa 
 by the Caliphs, with towns, villages, and caravansaries 
 without number. Bagdad too, (had it not most pro- 
 bably completed its walls from a nearer neighbour, 
 the ruins of the city which appears to have occupied 
 
 ■ So in tlie origir.al of Ker Porter ; but it ouglit to be Al 
 I\Iadaiii, i e. The Cities.— i\i. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CIIALD.lilA. 79 
 
 the tract of AkkarkouiF), might, by some trouble, 
 boast its towers from the great parent city also. That 
 the fragments of one city should travel so far to build 
 or repair the breaches of another, on the first view of 
 the subject, appeared unlikely to myself, but on travers- 
 ing the country between the approximating shores of 
 the two rivers, and observing all the facilities of water 
 carriage from one side to the other, I could no longer 
 be incredulous of what had been told me ; particular- 
 ly when scarce a day passed without my seeing people 
 digging the mounds of Babylon for bricks, which 
 they carried to the verge of the Euphrates, and thence 
 conveyed in boats to wherever they might be wanted. 
 From the consequent excavations in every possible 
 shape and direction, the regular lines of the original 
 ruins have been so broken, that nothing but confusion 
 is seen to exist between one course and another, when 
 any traveller would attempt seeking a distinct plain 
 amongst those eternally traversing minor heaps, hol- 
 lows and ravines. But certain huge and rugged 
 masses yet stand pre-eminent ; which, by their situa- 
 tion and other local circumstances, seem sufficiently 
 to warrant the conclusions which have been drawn of 
 their original purpose. These vaster mounds are 
 surrounded by subordinate ranges, now bearing the 
 appearance of embankments, and which, doubtless, 
 have been the cause of the interior pile's comparative- 
 ly unimpaired state. The yearly overflowing of the 
 whole country, from the decay of the canals made to 
 draw off the supettbix of the river, having fur ages 
 swept unimpeded over the faces of all the ruins v.hich 
 had not the protection of these — I may call them 
 
80 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 break -waters, could not fail producing the devastation 
 we see. All such exposed parts of the city, must 
 necessarily be thrown down into wider and more 
 shapeless ruins, and be gradually washed down into 
 lower and lower hillocks, till, in most places, all traces 
 would be entirely swept away." 
 
 53. " The natives call it Mukallibe (XaXX^), 
 or, according to the vulgar Arab pronunciation of 
 these parts Mujelibe, meaning overturned^ Rich in 
 his Memoir. Ker Porter (Vol. II. p. 339), writes 
 Macloube, which has the same meaning. In Abulfe- 
 da (Tab. Syrias p. 12), the country round the Dead 
 Sea is called XjJ^JuJI [j^JiS the overturned j destroy- 
 ed land. 
 
 54. Travels, Vol. II. p. 346. 
 
 55. HerodotuSi I. 181. Berosus in Joseph. Ant. 
 X. 11, 1. Diodorus Siculus, II. 8. 
 
 56. 
 
 y^\' 
 
 57. \3\, bu;K. It means properly a tamarisk^ but 
 is also used of other similar trees. 
 
 58. Travels, II. p. 312. [His words are: " The 
 cement which holds the bricks together, that compose 
 the ruin on the summit of the Birs, is so hard that 
 my most violent attempts could not separate them. 
 Hence I failed in discovering whether these bore any 
 inscriptive stamps on their surface ; marks invariably 
 found, where they exist at all, on the side of the 
 bricks which faces downwards. Why they were so 
 placed, we cannot guess; but so it is in all primitive 
 remains of ancient Babylonia ; but in the more mo- 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 81 
 
 dern structures of Bagdad, Hillah, and other places 
 erected out of her spoils, these it)>cribed bricks are 
 seen facing in all directions. While on the sum- 
 mit of the Birs, I examined many of the fine brick 
 fragments, which lay near the foot of the piece of 
 standing wall, to see whether bitumen had been used 
 any where in their adhesion, but I could not trace 
 the smallest bit. The cement throughout was lime, 
 spread in a very thin layer, not thicker than a quarter 
 of an inch between each brick and its neighbour ; 
 and thin as this cement was laid, it contained a 
 spreading of straw through the midst of it."] 
 
 59. " Other remains of Babylon are to be seen, 
 a German mile and a quarter south-west of Helle 
 (Hillah), on the west bank of the Euphrates. Here 
 is an entire hill composed of the beautiful bricks 
 formerly mentioned, and on the top stands a tower, 
 the interior of which seems to have been built 
 of these burnt bricks — the outer walls are decayed 
 through time. It is perforated with a number of 
 holes, which had probably been opened for the free 
 circulation of air and the prevention of damp. At 
 the period when Babylon was in its glory, and the 
 surrounding country in a state of high cultivation, 
 this tower must have afforded an excellent pros- 
 pect on all sides ; for Mesched Ali seems to lie at 
 its foot, though it be at least six leagues distant. I 
 had seen this tower or heap of stones on my first 
 journey to Helle, when I took it for an ancient 
 watch-tower. My attendants called it JBirs Nim- 
 rod, and related that a king of that name had built 
 here a large and splendid palace ; that when it 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
82 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP.VIII. 
 
 thundered, he shot up arrows into the air as if war- 
 ring with God ; that he boasted of having wound- 
 ed God, shewing a bloody arrow v hich iiad fallen 
 down from the sky ; that God had punished him 
 with insects, which proved so dreadful an annoyance, 
 that he could find no rest in his palace, and was at 
 last killed by them, &c.^ In Helle I had no oppor- 
 tunity of becoming acquainted with any Mahomme- 
 dan doctors except the Cadi, and he knew nothing 
 more than the popular story. But after I had read 
 what Herodotus says (Book I. § 170) of the temple 
 of Belus and its strong tower, I thought it highly 
 probable that this miglit be the remains of it, and 
 am therefore anxious that some succeeding traveller 
 should accurately examine and describe it. I made 
 the journey tiiither, accompanied only by a single 
 guide, and I had seen but a little of the monument, 
 when I perceived some Arabs reconnoitring us, and 
 deemed it safest to ride back to the town. Had I 
 supposed I was so near the Tower of Babylon, I 
 should certainly have risked more for a closer sur- 
 vey." Niebuhrs Travels, (Ger.) Vol. I. p. 289. 
 
 60. A positive proof of the temple of Belus having 
 been on the west bank of the river is adduced by 
 Ker Porter. [The following is his statement of it: 
 " I am aware of the commonly received opinion, 
 that this celebrated temple stood on the eastern 
 side of the river ; arising, rather unreasonably it 
 might seem, from the evidence of only one classic 
 writer, and Diodorus Siculus that writer, who had 
 never been near the remains of the city, and who, 
 
 • These, and otlier traditions respectincf Nimrod, will be 
 found i/i D'llerb lot, in the art'de Nanrod. — 31. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. 83 
 
 in other respects, has been shewn an inaccurate 
 collector of facts ; while neither Herodotus, who 
 had been on the very spot, nor any other an- 
 cient author on the subject, say one word decisive on 
 the matter. But modern commentators appear to 
 have something more than a single testimony to 
 maintain the argument with them ; they can support 
 the temple of Belus on the eastern shore by the ocu- 
 lar evidences of those travellers who, though visit- 
 ing Babylon, had never seen Birs Nimrood ; and tak- 
 ing it for granted, from the apparent long level of the 
 opposite shore, that no considerable ruins could be 
 there, they at once embrace the single assertion of 
 Diodorus, and in harmony with it, pronounced the 
 huge mass of Mujelibe to be that of Babel and Ju- 
 piter Belus : the palace they cannot fail recognising ; 
 and thus, in fact, all the greatest objects of a city, 
 which covered nearly fifty miles of ground, are crush- 
 ed up into the comparatively narrow space which had 
 only formed the acropolis of its palace. But since 
 the judicious investigation of the Birs Nimrood by 
 Mr. Rich, and the conclusions he thence draws in 
 favour of its claim to the honours of the great tem- 
 ple, it appears to me that unprejudiced opinion must 
 change to his view of the argument ; and one in- 
 ference in support of the temple having been in the 
 western division of the town, and hence on this side 
 of the Euphrates, I would deduce from a circum- 
 stance (which I am aware has been quoted to a dif- 
 ferent conclusion) that took place when Babylon 
 was taken by Darius Hystaspes, through the treachery 
 of Zopyrus, who opened the Belidian and Cissian 
 (or Susa) gates, to admit the Persian soldiers. The 
 
84 BABYLONIA AND CHALD/EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 gates were near to each other, that is, on the same 
 side of the town ; and the Cissian or Susa gate, point- 
 ing to the celebrated Persian capital of that name, 
 proves that the army entered from the east. In the 
 tumult of this surprise, the Babylonians fled and took 
 refuge in the temple of Belus. 
 
 It is now generally acknowledged by all who study 
 oriental subjects, that it was an ancient custom in the 
 East (and the practice remains to this day), to name 
 the gates of a city, not from objects within the walls, 
 but from outward places to which they led. Had 
 the alarmed Babylonians fled through the Belidian 
 gate to the temple of Belus (which some writers would 
 infer), the fugitives must have ran on the very pikes 
 of the entering Persians. This being an impossibility 
 to suppose, the Belidian gate could not have received 
 its name from the temple ; but, according to Mr. 
 Rich's suggestion, most probably from some now for- 
 gotten town, eastward of the city. Plence the natural 
 fact appears to have been this : that the people, find- 
 ing the eastern gates possessed by the enemy, and the 
 invaders pressing forward to make themselves masters 
 of the castellated palace on that side, would instinc- 
 tively seek shelter in the strongest and most distant 
 places they could reach in any time to escape the 
 enemy ; and what so apparent as the temple of 
 Belus, on the opposite shore of the river, (a safeguard 
 in itself!) and situated in the furthest western extre- 
 mity of the city ; and which was also doubly fortified 
 by its brazen gates, and lofty walls ? Besides, had 
 this temple been any where in the eastern quarter, the 
 people would rather have avoided than fled to it; it 
 being one of the first places, in such a case, to which 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 85 
 
 the Persian soldiers would have hurried, for the plun- 
 der of its treasury. Porter's Trav. Vol. II. p. 383.] 
 
 The ancient traditions preserved by the people of 
 the country, in reference to this group of ruins, and 
 the fact of the Birs still presenting visible traces of 
 a tower, consisting of different stories rising on one 
 another, are confirmatory evidences to the same 
 effect. Some travellers have confounded tliis tower 
 on the south-west bank of the Euphrates, with another 
 ruin of a similar name, which stands on the height of 
 Akkeriioof, two leagues and a half north-west of Bag- 
 dad, and not far from the Tigris. See Niebuhr's 
 Travels, Part II. p. 305. Ker Porter, who gives a 
 description and drawing of this ruin (Vol. II. p. 275, 
 Plate 6S), remarks that it is called by the Arabs, 
 Tell-Nimroudy and by the Turks, Nemroud Tepasse, 
 which both signify *' Nimrod's Hill." But it is de- 
 scribed under the name of Nimrod's Tower by Ives in 
 his Travels, Part II, and by Olivier in his Voyages, 
 Tom. IV. p. 397, et seqq. 
 
 [On a question which has excited so much interest 
 as the site of the Tower of Babel, it may be useful to 
 the student to have the opinions of such a man as 
 Heeren of Gottingen. This learned and judicious 
 writer, after giving an account of the appearance of 
 the ruins from recent travellers, arrives at the follow- 
 ing general conclusions, which are here presented in 
 a condensed form. 
 
 First. The accounts given by the ancients, and es- 
 pecially by Herodotus, respecting the extent and 
 situation of ancient Babylon, seem to be confirmed by 
 the investigations of the moderns, quite as much as 
 
86 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 could be expected, considering the nature of the ruins. 
 The length of ancient Babylon, from north to south, 
 may be estimated at twelve miles. 
 
 Secondly. It is not only proved from the most re- 
 cent investigations, that ancient Babylon was situated 
 on the banks of the Euphrates, and that the course of 
 this river has undergone no important change ; but it 
 also becomes highly probable, that the western part of 
 the city, the existence of which has been doubted, was 
 the largest. 
 
 Thirdly. Sir R. K. Porter is correct in considering 
 the western quarter of the city as the most ancient. 
 
 Fourthly. The tower of Nimrod is the ancient 
 temple of Bel, which, therefore, was in the western 
 quarter of the city, and not in the eastern, as was for- 
 merly believed. For the Birs Nimrod corresponds 
 to the ancient temple inform; — of the eight stories 
 which it originally had, three can still be made out. 
 It corresponds in dimensions, for its length and breadth 
 agrees with what is stated by Herodotus, so far as they 
 can be determined from a mountain heap of ruins. 
 It corresponds, finally, with the statement of the same 
 historian, that this pyramidal sanctuary stood within 
 a quadrangular enclosure, the remains of which are 
 still clearly to be traced. It is nowhere said that the 
 temple of Bel was erected in the eastern quarter of 
 the city : but only that it stood in the midst of one 
 quarter. 
 
 Fifthly. If the Birs Nimrod be the ancient temple 
 of Bel, then it must be admitted that it belongs to 
 the oldest ruins of Babylon ; or rather, that it is the 
 oldest. There seems nothing to oppose to this fact, 
 
CHAP. VIIl.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 87 
 
 while all e ms to speak in favour of its being the 
 remains of that primaeval building, erected by the 
 assembly of nations, whose top should reach to hea- 
 ven, but whose completion was prevented by Jeho- 
 vah. It may be assumed that its site was westward 
 of the stream, because it was built by the descendants 
 of Noah, when they were journeying from west to 
 east. " As they now journeyed towards the east,"* 
 it is said " they found a plain in the land of Shinar 
 and dwelt therein." It was built of the same material 
 as that of which the ruin consists. There is no rea- 
 son why so mighty a building should have been en- 
 tirely swept from the earth, in so dry and favourable 
 a cHmate, where so manj'- smaller have been pre- 
 served. Its preservation seems, in some measure, 
 accounted for, from its having been, after the adop- 
 tion of the worship of the stars, the temple of the 
 national deity ; (whether, as I believe, the sun, or, as 
 some others think, the planet Jupiter^;) and, like- 
 wise, the astrological sanctuary. It is almost need- 
 less to add. that this supposition in no way militates 
 against the gradual additions, aggrandisement, and 
 embellishments which it afterwards received, and 
 which were again, in the course of centuries, reduced 
 to ruins. Neither c \n any thing be argued against 
 its high antiquity from bricks with inscriptions hav- 
 ing been found amongst its ruins. The only ques- 
 tion here is respecting the original foundation — the 
 first and miglitiest that the hand of man erected ; and 
 
 * In the Eng. Vers, it is ^^ from the east." 
 ^ Gssenms on Isaiah, Vol. ii. p. 31)5, 
 
88 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 what higher confirmation can there be of the most 
 ancient record we possess, than the existence of the 
 most ancient monuments mentioned by its inspired 
 author? 
 
 Sixthly: Modern investigations confirm also the 
 particulars respecting the two royal palaces in Baby- 
 lon ; for, besides the remains of the eastern, Porter 
 seems to have discovered vestiges of the western 
 also. 
 
 Seventhhj. The eastern quarter of the city was the 
 later, but, probably, the most magnificent. It was 
 the city of the Chaldseans, where Nabopolassar and 
 his son Nebuchadnezzar reigned, and erected their 
 royal dwellings. It was from the battlements of the 
 palace (al Kasr,) that Nebuchadnezzar was gazing 
 upon that royal Babel, which he had built as a wit- 
 ness of his power, when he was struck with the pu- 
 nishment of his haughty pride ! Through those gates 
 Cyrus and Alexander once triumphantly entered in- 
 to Babylon ! In those halls they dwelt ; and here 
 the Macedonian hero breathed his last! Heeren^s 
 Researches on Asiatic Nations. Vol. ii. p. 178, et 
 seqq. 
 
 61. Theodotion writes Ais/^a, having, probably, 
 read Kin instead of XTn. Or, perhaps, he thought 
 of the plain of Deira in Susiana, mentioned by Pto- 
 lemy, (vi. 3.) Ylih'm Airjpcc ^gra^u r^g XaX/^acr^n- 
 Hoi '/.at TYii Kiffalag. The Alexandrian translator has 
 rertdered N*Tn by •■jn^i^oKov. He took the word for 
 
 an appellative, in the sense of the Arabic,^^ a circle 
 or round oiclosure. St Jerome says in his Cora- 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 89 
 
 ment, in loc. : pro Dura LXX. TioifSoXov transtule- 
 runt, quod nos vivarium vel conclusiim locum dicere 
 possumus. K'rn seems also to have been regarded as 
 an appellative by the author of the Greek version in 
 St. Mark's Library at Venice, edited by Villoison ; 
 for he has h 'zsdiuj 'Tr^rjGsojg, in the plain of burning. 
 Perhaps he connected it with the Hebrew niT, which 
 is used in Ezek. xxiv. 5, of a round pile heaped up 
 for burning. [Comp. Taylor's Fragments to Cal- 
 met, No. 150, 595] 
 
 62. In the Talmudic Tract Sanhedrin, (Fol. 92, 
 col. 2), it is said, that the Plain of Dura extended 
 from the river Eshel to the city Rabbath, hwn *in37D 
 a^M nrp:2 nm ny, but these localities are now 
 quite unknown. Ammianus Marcellinus mentions 
 (xxv. 6. 9,) a city of Dura on the Tigris, and (xxiii. 
 5. 8 ; xxiv. 1. 5,) another city of the same name in 
 Mesopotamia ; but neither of these is to be thought 
 of here. 
 
 63. yM^. The name signifies length. 
 
 64. Jerome says in the Quaestt. Hebrr. on Gen. i. 
 10: " Regnavit autem (Nimrod) et in Arach, hoc 
 est, in Edissa." 
 
 65. It was called after the Macedonian city of the 
 same name, the seat of the ancient kings of Mace- 
 don. See Cellarius, Not. Orb. Ant. Tom. I. p. 
 833. 
 
 66. KaX/./^^c'^j, the Jine-Jlowing — so called on ac- 
 count of a famous fountain in the neighbourhood. 
 From this Greek name, the modern Syriac ^aiJoj 
 
 Urhoi, and the Arabic \j>A\ Erroha appear to have 
 
90 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 been formed. The city is now called \J \ Orfa ; 
 
 probably from the simple transmutation of the h in these 
 names into f, just as the .-Eolians used the Latin f 
 for h. See Michaells Spicileg. Geogr. Hebr. Exter. 
 P. I. p. 221, and Niebuhrs Trav. P. II. p. 407. 
 (Ger.) 
 
 67. Too much importance is attached by Assemani 
 (Dissert, de Monophysitis, prefixed to Vol. II. of his 
 Biblioth. Orient, under Edessa,) — and after him by 
 J. D. Michaelis, (Spicil. Geog. Hebr. P. I. p. 2 JL^) to 
 the words of Ephrem, [Syrus,] who in his Comment, 
 on Gen. x. 10, says '• Erech is Urhoi ^oiJoj aiAj|> — >}> 
 t. e. Edessa^^ He is to be understood as merely 
 repeating the ancient traditions which Jerome also 
 follows, (see nofe 64,) but which are no certain evi- 
 dence to rest upon. 
 
 ^%. Geog. Sacra. P. I. Lib. iv. Cap. 16. p. 267. 
 69. In the Essay " On the Original Kingdom of 
 Nimrod," in his Researches in Ancient History, p. 
 130, et seqq. " The cities mentioned having been 
 the first beginning of the first kingdom, cannot have 
 been far distant from each other; and if they v/ere 
 in each other's vicinity, we cannot suppose them to 
 have been very extensive. There is no evidence of 
 Mesopotamia having ever borne the names of both 
 Aram, (v. 22,) and Sliinar. As Amraphel the king 
 of Shinar, mentioned in Gen. xiv., was routed along 
 with three other kings, by a body of 318 retaitjersof 
 Abraham, it is mauiftst that the title " king'" there 
 designates nothing more thatj the leader of a noma- 
 dic horde. And it is impossible that Shinar could 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 91 
 
 then have been a kingdom in which there were cities 
 lying from 300 to 400 miles distant from each 
 other." 
 
 70. The " A^y/f/.a of Ptolemy^ vi. 3. Ammianus 
 Marcelliniis says, (xxiii. 6. 26) : His tractibus (Chal- 
 daeorum) Susiani, apud quos non multa sunt oppida ; 
 inter aha tamen eminet Susa, saepe domicilium re- 
 gium et Arsiana, et Sele, et Aracha. Schulf/iess, in 
 his work on "Paradise," (p. 11*2), adheres to Bo- 
 chart's opinion. 
 
 71. I. 185, and VI. 119. Bochart ssiys, (loc. cit. 
 p. 26S :) Arderieae nomen Persas conflasse putamus 
 ex TIN ard et '^^a Erec. Ard Persice magnum so- 
 nat, ut probavimus in Capite de Sabtha. 
 
 72. N^ID^K. 
 
 73. Ptolemy loc. cit. Comp. Manneris Geo- 
 graphj" of the Greeks and Romans. Part V. Div. ii. 
 p. 418. 
 
 74. 13K. Simonis conjectures, (Onomast. Vet. 
 Test. p. 276,) that this name is derived from mDK 
 (like nb from mb, nnx from mnx,) and signifies a 
 
 chain or fetter, after the analogy of the Arabic jj'^ 
 to bind fast ; so that it would denote a city or for- 
 tress erected for the purpose of restraining and keep- 
 ing in check a conquered people. A city founded 
 by Assur, (Gen. x. 12,) had a name of similar import, 
 "jDl, Resen. But to bind may rather have the sense 
 of to strengthen. Thus the Persians call the walls of 
 a town jj^ ^^ Shahri'bend, i. e. the bond of (or 
 
 what binds) a city. 
 
 75. ^ A^y^dL 
 
92 BABYLONIA AND CHALDJEA. [CHAP. Vlll. 
 
 76. Thus pTUDT for p^T^in. Comp. Gesemus 
 Lehrgeb. p. 131 et seqq. 
 
 77. De Animal, xvi. 42. Kr^jcr/aj yz tjXv 6 Kvidio; 
 "ksyei, moi tTiV Uioffi/trjv '2irrdxriV 'TrorociiMov etvcci,' Apyddriv 
 ovojit^a. 
 
 78. Loc. cit. p. 269. % et 7 literse sunt tarn sono 
 vicinaB, quam forma, uncle est quod facile permutan- 
 tur. Hinc pro Chobare Gobares'm Plinio, etex %aX- 
 j8av?5 fir galbanum, ex ayyjj ungo, unguis drrb rS ouv^og. 
 Quin et Chaldasis D et i literas sunt promiscuae, ut vi- 
 dere est in r|>3 et r]-.:) Httus, k:^did et NifDii fossoy 
 KS3D et N32:i ala. Sic videntur idem esse Archadet 
 Argad, unde nomen Argadi flnvio. Ita ut ab Ar- 
 chad vel ^/v/ac? oppido dictus fuerit Argades fluvius, 
 quomodo apud PtolenifEum a Chabora et Singa op- 
 pidis, nomen habent CItaboras et Singas, fluvii qui 
 in Eupliratem exeunt. 
 
 79. 'iDX. So the Syriac translator has ^j. 
 Comp. note 81. 
 
 80. According to Ephreni [Syrus] in his Comm. 
 in loc. Comp Assemani Bibl. Orient, under " Ni- 
 sibis." I''l'<2i3 signifies military frontier posts, pra- 
 sidia. 
 
 81. De Situ et Nominibus locor. Hebraicor. in 
 Genesi : Ackad, urbs regni Nimrod in Babylone. 
 Porro Hebraei hanc esse dicunt Mesopotaniiae civita- 
 tem, (|uoe hodie vocatur Nisibi, a Luculio quondam 
 Romano Consule obs(»ssam captamque, et ante i)au- 
 cos annos a Joviano Imperatore Persis traditam. 
 ^>a^l*3 also stands for I'DH in the Jerusalem Targum 
 and in the Targum of Jonathan, and hence it is 
 probable these translators had read nDX. 
 
CHAP. Vlll.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 93 
 
 82. Schulthess conjectures (Das Paradies, p. 113), 
 that Achar became the Agra, marked by Ptolemy as 
 lying on the Tigris in long. 80-|, lat. 33° 45'. 
 
 83. njbD. Simonis (in his Onomast. p. 469) 
 thinks this name composed of KbD, an inclosurcy a 
 ^ortress, and n"i3, a divclling ; so that the whole would 
 denote a strong habitation, a fortified place. 
 
 84. i:bD. As to the different modes of writing the 
 name of tliis town, see J. D. Micliaelis, Spicilieg. 
 Geogr. Hebr. Exterae, Part I. p. 228. 
 
 83. nJD. 
 
 86. In the Jerusalem Targum at Gen. x. 10, there is, 
 instead of nibs, the name "]iSD''lDp. Jerome says, in 
 his Quasstt. in Genes, at this place : Chalanne^ quae 
 postea verso nomine a Seleuco rege est dicta Seleu- 
 cia, vel certe, quae nunc Krri(fi<puv appellatur. Here 
 he hesitates between the two cities which lay opposite 
 each other on the Tigris. But he expressly says in 
 his Comment, at Amos vi. 2 : Transite omnes in Cha- 
 lanCi quae nunc appellatur Ctesiphon. This city was 
 on the left bank of the Tigris. See Assemams 
 Biblioth. Orient. Tom. III. P. II. p. 622, et seqq. 
 Ctesiphon was the winter residence of the Parthian 
 kings. Comp. Mannert^ loc. cit. p. 405. That the 
 tower of Babel was near Chalneh, is an opinion to be 
 found in some of the Greek fathers, and also in Je- 
 rome. It arose from the false translation given in the 
 Septuagint, of Isa. x. 9, [see the present volume, p. 31] 
 respecting the cause of which, consult Bochart, Geog. 
 Sac. P. I. Lib. I. cap. ix. 
 
 87. Pliny says (Hist. Nat. VI. 26.) : Ad hanc 
 (Babylonemj exhauriendam Ctesiphontem juxta ter- 
 
94 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 tiam ab ea lapidem in Chalonitide coiididere Parthi, 
 quod nunc cnput est regnorum. And cap. 27 : 
 Jungitur Clialonitis. Ad earn venit Zagros mons 
 ex Armenia inter Medos Adiabenosque veniens, 
 supra Paraetacenera et Persidem. Mannert, how- 
 ever (p. 463), followed by Vater (Comment, on the 
 Pentateuch, P. I. p. 125), thinks that Pliny is in 
 error, and has assigned to the district of Chalonitis 
 too great an extent towards the south ; for Isidor of 
 Charax (who wrote his 2ra^,aoOg Hao^rA-o-jg in the 
 first half of the first century) mentions that the pro- 
 vince in question comprised the north-eastern con- 
 tinuation of Apolloniatis, as far as the mountain and 
 pass of Zagros, which separated it from Media ; and 
 he fixes its entire length at twenty-one Schoeni, i.e. 
 fifteen geographical miles. Yet it is well known 
 how fluctuating and uncertain the boundaries of 
 countries were among the ancients; and it is quite 
 possible that, at an earlier period, Chalonitis had a 
 much greater extent. Polybius (V. 44) calls this 
 province KaXuving. 
 
 88. XXIII. 6. 23. Ctesiphon, quam Vardanes 
 priscis temporibus instituit, posteaque rex Pacorus 
 incolarum viribus ampHficatam et moenibus, Graeco 
 indito nomine, Persidis efFecit specimen summum ; 
 post haec Seleucia, ambitiosum opus Nicatoris Se- 
 leuci. But Valesius remarks on this passage, that 
 the name Ctesiphon is more ancient than the age of 
 Pacorus, and had been mentioned by Polybius, 
 V. 44. [See the last note.] 
 
 89. Schulthess (Das Paradies, p. 113), takes the 
 Chalneh of Gen. x. 10, for Chala, which, according 
 
CHAP. VIII.J BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 95 
 
 to Isidor, was the capital of the Chalonitis, and is 
 by Diodorus Siculus (XVII. 110,) called Kelonae 
 (KiXumt.) Mamiert (p. 463) thinks it may be the 
 modern Holvan or Halvan (^, , ^\ Ji.25.\ the last town 
 
 on the northern border of Irak Arabi. And Schul- 
 thess farther supposes the Chalne or Chelno of Isa. 
 X. 9, and Amos vi. 2, to have been another city, 
 namely Chalcis, the capital of the Syrian province 
 of Chalcidice (Chalkidike), near the Orontes, where 
 Kinnesrin now stands. 
 
 SO. , . .jJjs^lV Abulfeda says, in his Descrip- 
 tion of Irak {Biischbig's Magazin, Vol. v. p. 259,) 
 that this city lay to the south-east, below Bagdad, 
 at the distance of a day's journey, and was formerly 
 called Thaisafitn, in place of which the Dresden 
 MS. reads ^ ^^AwJuJb* That this name was form- 
 ed from Ctesiphon, can admit of no doubt. Abul- 
 feda mentions two other names of this town, viz. 
 
 . ,.5',*>^1^ ^^.-<5J Rumiyat-el'Madain, i. e. Rome of 
 the cities, and . ^U-ii! Ishbdn ;'^ and adds, that on 
 the west bank of the Tigris stood a city called 
 , .v.»^v^^!^ isLU. Sabat-el-Madain. Ker Porter 
 (Vol. ii. p. 408, et seqq.) incorrectly spells the 
 name of this city Al-Maidan. That would be writ- 
 
 ■ In Wustenfeld's Edit, of Abulfeda's Inik-Arabi, I find 
 this -p'ritten Eachbelun ; and it is said that beside Siibtlt-el- 
 MadSin was a city called Nahr-Shlr — M. 
 
96 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 - <j ^ t 
 
 ten X , ^ItXA^J!? the race-course, il Corso. The pro- 
 per orthography is El-Madain. 
 
 91. <Sj.^ 3[lo,^j^t^y,\y^}. Ibn-el-Wardi s&ys 
 in his Description of Irak (I quote from the hitherto 
 unpublished Dresden MS-), jiJoJs^ ^ r,yj\iS^\ 
 
 ^, y^\^j\ l^j^ *xXj L^Ij\ L^./^ XaIjSiLs* Jl«o*xi' X^xlic 
 
 JsjL jj^Ij ci^x) l^^Ai*!^ (^Uj':2i^ ^\SJj^y 
 *< El Madain is a large, ancient city, built in the 
 times of heathenism, in which are still the ruins of 
 the ancient city, and the palace of the emperor. 
 The latter is used as a proverb to describe any thing 
 great, spacious, lofty and strong. The district in 
 which this city lies, is called the land of Babel." 
 Abulfeda likewise (ibid.) mentions the Ivan Kesra, 
 [i, e. the palace of Chosroes], and says, that ac- 
 cording to a credible account, the width, from one 
 corner to another, is ninety-five ells.* Niebuhr re- 
 marks (Travels, Part II. p. 305) : " El-Madeyen, a 
 once splendid city, which was the residence of the 
 Persian kings till some years after the death of Ma- 
 homet, lay about four leagues to the south-east of 
 Bagdad, upon the Tigris. The only remains of it 
 are part of a large palace, called Tacht Kisra, i. e. 
 
 the palace (or throne ^^Xsr"*) ^^ Kosru. This 
 ' The height he states at eighty ells — M. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 97 
 
 building is constructed of burnt bricks and lime ; 
 there is no inscription on it. As I had not an op- 
 portunity of visiting it in person, I shall only report 
 what I heard from a European n:ierchant — namely, 
 that one who had measured the entrance to this 
 palace in his presence, found it ninety -eight feet wide, 
 and one hundred and ten feet high. The dimensions 
 of the building itself, therefore, must have been very 
 great." The ruin is more minutely described by 
 Ives, by whom it was examined in the year 1738. 
 " Neither Turks nor Arabs," says he, (Travels, Part 
 II.) "are able to afford any correct information 
 concerning this ruin ; they cannot even determine 
 whether it has belonged to a palace or a temple. The 
 bishop (Emanuel of Babylon) told us, that according 
 to the common opinion it had formerlj'^ been a temple 
 dedicated to the sun. In confirmation of this, they 
 point out various openings in the arch, which they 
 suppose may have been occupied by lamps ; but it 
 appeared to us, that they were rather designed for the 
 admission of fresh air. The east side of the building 
 is 300 feet long; the breadth of the arch is 85 feet, 
 and the height 106. The length of the interior 
 covered space of the arch, from east to west, is 150 
 feet ; the niches in the sides of the building some- 
 what resemble those of our ancient abbeys. The 
 back and the west side are completely fallen in. At 
 a considerable distance from the arch, and in all di- 
 rections, we found the ruins of very extensive build- 
 ings, but so much dilapidated, that no appearance of 
 a wall is now to be discovered. Yet bricks and mortar 
 lie scattered in such quantities around, that it can- 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
98 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 not be doubted that a city must formerly have stood 
 here a mile in circuit ; and from the ancient accounts 
 we possess of the site and size of Ctesiphon, it is 
 highly probable that this is the very spot where that 
 once magnificent and mighty city stood." This had 
 been conjectured 142 years before the visit of Ives, by 
 the learned Italian traveller Delia Valle, who was in 
 this country in the year 1616. The remains of the 
 palace appear to have been more extensive then than 
 at the present day ; for he remarks (Travels, Part I. 
 Letter 18): " The Aiwan Kesrau is a large building 
 of sun-burnt bricks, cemented with good mortar. 
 The walls are very thick. The front looks to the 
 east, and is adorned throughout with thousands of 
 ornaments made of these bricks. The length of this 
 side comprises 114 of my paces. This building ap- 
 pears to have consisted of three divisions or courts. 
 But the only one still remaining is the middle court, 
 which I found 62 paces long and 33 wide. There 
 is no large gate in the centre, but all is quite open, 
 so that the sky is seen overhead, which has led the 
 inhabitants to call the whole by the name of * The 
 Arch,' in allusion to the firmament or ' vault of 
 heaven,' that seems to form the canopy. Two small 
 doors lead from this middle court into two side wings 
 of the building, but they are completely in ruins."* 
 
 ^ Rich gives the dimensions as follows : Feet. 
 
 Length of the Front, . . 284 
 
 Width of the Arch at the bottom, . 82 
 Height of the Arch, . . 101 
 
 Thickness of the wall at the ground, . 19 
 Depth or length of the Hall, . 1.^3 
 
 Mr. Rich was very much stnick witli the resemblance of 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 99 
 
 92. nnis and ni3 (v. 30). 
 
 93*. In his description of Babylonian Irak, where 
 he calls the name of the city _j ^.f. Michaelis gives 
 
 the passage in his Suppl. ad Lex. Heb. p. 1256, taken 
 from his abstract of the Paris MS. 
 
 93^. In Hyde's Hist. Relig. Vet. Persarum, p. 
 39, 70, 71, where the name of the city is written 
 ^S and \^S' According to the Persian annal- 
 ist Tabari, there cited, 'jS was likewise the name 
 
 of a king of Babel or Irak, who lived in the time of 
 Abraham, and constructed the King's Canaly which 
 united the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris. 
 93^. Elias Levita says, in his Dictionary called 
 
 "•rnyn (p. 157 of the Edit, of Fagius), ix-ip br "l3>ml•^ 
 
 i:n nniD)2 D^XI^i; Cd^TII^ CD^3*i^73"i^b, i. e. our Rabbins 
 of blessed memory call the Samaritans Cuthaeans, 
 as they came out of Cuthaea, etc. Comp. Josephus, 
 Ant. IX. 14. 3. 
 
 94. "|2r3D"y"iN. On the extensive commerce of the 
 Babylonians, in its various branches, see Heeren's 
 Ideen, B. I. Div. 2, p. 185, et seqq. [The more im- 
 portant particulars I have embodied in the- text.] 
 
 95. -niiTiu; mix. 
 
 96. I. 195. 
 
 97. See Ideler on the Astronomy of the Chal- 
 daeans, in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy 
 of Sciences for 1814 and 1815, (Berlin, 1818), p. 
 
 the cturch of the Monastery of Mar Elias, near 3Iosul, to the 
 Tank Kesra. Residence in Koordistan, Vol. II. p. 110, 
 404 M. 
 
100 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 200, et seqq. In this Dissertation, it is shown, that 
 in reference to the most ancient eclipses of the moon, 
 which Ptolemy gives from the observations of the 
 Chaldaeans, modern observations for the most part 
 differ from the ancient only in respect of minutes. 
 We have before remarked, that the tower of Belus, 
 which lay towards the four cardinal points, was very 
 probably used as an astronomical observatory. 
 
 98. £D>)2^n, ^•'TDOn, Isa. xliv. 25 ; Jerem. 1. 35 ; 
 Dan. ii. 12. 18. 24. 27 ; iv. 3. 15; v. 7. 8. 
 
 99. CDni2;D, Kn\i;:), Dan. ii. 4. 5. 8. XaXdam is 
 the name given to the priests of Belus at Babylon 
 by Herodotus, I. 183. Comp. Bitters Erdkunde, 
 Part II. p. 797. Herder (in his Philosophy of the 
 History of Mankind, Vol. III. p. 72), thinks the 
 Magi formed in Babylonia, from the first, a separate 
 order of the state, and, on the conquest of the coun- 
 try by the Chaldaeans, flattered the conquerors by 
 assuming their name. They became court philoso- 
 phers, and degraded themselves by every species of 
 imposture and sycophancy. Munter likewise (Anti- 
 quarian Dissertations, p. 144) is of opinion, that the 
 priests of the conquered nation, the Babylonian, ob- 
 tained, by their superior knowledga and culture, a 
 complete influence over the conquerors; and having 
 gradually succeeded in amalgamating the two races, 
 nothing remained of the original difference, but that 
 the priests, the reigning caste, appropriated to them- 
 selves the name of the conquerors — " Casdim," or 
 Chaldaeans. Cicero says (De Divinat. I. 1.): Qua 
 in (Assyriorum) natione Chaldaei non ex artis, sed 
 ex gentis vocabulo nominati, diuturna observatione 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 101 
 
 sideriim, scientiam putantur efFecisse, ut praedici 
 posset, quid cuique eventuruni, et quo quisque fato 
 natus esset. 
 
 100. :i72-i"i. The second of these words is no 
 
 doubt the same as 4^, which occurs in modern Per- 
 sian writings, and denotes a Magian, a priest of the 
 fire-worshippers. According to a Persian author 
 quoted by Hyde (de Vet. Pers. Relig. cap. 30, p. 
 369 of the second edit.), ^j^ Mubad is an abbre- 
 viation of Jo «-« Mogh-bad, and signifies a presi- 
 dent of the Magi, and is thus of equivalent meaning 
 with iTi-n^. Kleuker thinks (Zend-Avesta, Part III. 
 p. 225, note 9), that Magus is the same with Meh,^ 
 pronounced Megh ; it signifies great, excellent, and 
 was, like Mehestan, a general name for the disciples 
 of Zoroaster. But as Nebuchadnezzar, who had a 
 chief of the Magi along with him, was no follower of 
 the religion of Zoroaster, the word must pertain to 
 a more ancient worship, in all probability the an- 
 cient Median. For Herodotus mentions (I. lOL) 
 among the tribes or castes of Media, the Mdyoi 
 (Magi) ; and that they had to do with the interpre- 
 tation of dreams, appears from the circumstance of 
 Herodotus having mentioned, in the same book (cap. 
 107, 120), that Astyages had employed some of them 
 in that very business. Other conjectures on this 
 name may be found in Reland's Dissert, de Vet. 
 Ling. Persar. in the second part of his Dissertt. 
 
 * So in Sanscrit, Maha, great. — M. 
 
102 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Miscell. p. 188. The Mdyoi mentioned in Matt, 
 ii. 1, were eastern astronomers; but the Magian, 
 Elymas, who is mentioned in Acts xiii. 8, was a man 
 given to soothsaying and other secret arts. See 
 Lackemacher de Judaeorum Magis horumque arte, 
 speciatim de Elyma Mago, in his Observatt. Philo- 
 logg. P. II. p. 126, et seqq. Besides the :i?3-ll, we 
 also find notice taken of a bll >D>5n by ^"•3iD-:i"i, 
 chief president of the Babylonian wise men or Ma- 
 gians. Dan. ii. 48. 
 
 101. Conjectures on this point will be met with 
 in Gesenius' Comment, on Isaiah, Append. II., on 
 the Religion and Astrology of the Chaldaeans, p. 349, 
 335. Comp. Bleek on the Author and Design of 
 the Book of Daniel, in the Theological Journal, 
 edited by Schleiermacher, De Wette, and Liicke, 
 Heft III. p. 226. 
 
 102. izD>i:Di:Di CDnnn \=2>t2M) ^n:in. The philologi- 
 cal explanations of these terras will be found in my 
 Scholia in loc, with which the reader may compare 
 Gesenius in loc. cit. p. 354. 
 
 103. Cd>sii;n conjurers or exorcists, cd^*}11;3)3 magi- 
 cians, ^^'^r:l soothsayers, casters of nativities, tD^)2L3*in 
 those who had the knowledge of secret writings, 
 cn^i Chaldasans. See on these designations Gese-' 
 7iius, loc. cit., p. 365, and Bertholdt's Third Excur- 
 sus to his Translation and Exposition of the Book 
 of Daniel : " On the Institute of the Magi in Baby- 
 lonia," p. 835, et seqq. 
 
 104. The latter seems the more probable opinion 
 to Bleek^ loc. cit, p. 225. 
 
 105. See Adehmg's Mithridates, Part I. p. 327. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 103 
 
 106. See Matt. Norber^s Selecta Opuscula Acad. 
 Tom. III. p. 168. LorshacKs Archives for Biblical 
 and Eastern Literat. Vol. II. p. 236, et seqq. Note ; 
 and Gesenius^ Hist, of the Hebrew Lang, and Litera- 
 ture, p. 63. 
 
 107. See Gesenius, loc. cit., p. 142. 
 
 108. See Munter on several inscriptions recently 
 found in the Ruins of Babylon, in his Antiquarian 
 Dissert. (Copenhagen, 1816), p. 118, et seqq., espe- 
 cially p. 142. The same learned writer has treated 
 of the cuneiform characters generally, in his Essay 
 on the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Persepolis, Copen- 
 hag. 1802. Comp. also Grotefend's Dissert, in 
 Heeren's Researches, Part I., Div. 1, p. 563. The 
 most complete account of works that have appeared 
 on this subject, is in Hartmann^s Tychsen, Part II., 
 Div. 3, p. 48.a 
 
 109. See Koppe^s Bilder und Schriften der Vor- 
 zeit. Vol. H. p. 131, 154. 
 
 110. Cush, as we saw, denotes the lands of the 
 South. See Vol. L p. 80. 
 
 111. Quum scriptores ethnicos constet gesta Nim- 
 rodi patris referre ad Ninum filium, et illius uxorem 
 Semiramidem ; non temere praetereundum est quod 
 in Diodoro (L. II. Cap. 1.) habetur, Ninum Arabum 
 exercitum sibi comparasse, et ope regis Arabiae 
 Babylonios subegisse. Nempe Nimrod erat Chu- 
 saeus, id est Arabs, et concivium suorum ope ad 
 
 * Comp. the " JMemoire relatif aux Antiques Inscriptions," 
 read by the late Saint Martin to the Academic des Inscrip- 
 tions, and published in the Journal Asiatique for February 
 1823 M. 
 
104 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 iraperiura evectus est. Bochart, Geogr. S. P. I. L. 
 IV. Cap. 12, p. 237. In like manner, a horde, (the 
 Lachmites), who migrated from Arabia at the close 
 of a long war, founded the kingdom of Hira on the 
 banks of the Euphrates, in the third century of our 
 era. See their history by Eichhorn^ in the Fund- 
 gruben des Orients. Vol. III. p. 360. The period 
 at which Nimrod came into the land of Shinar is not 
 specified. For though the account of him occurs 
 previous to the narrative of the erection of the Tower 
 of Babel and the confusion of tongues, we are not 
 thence to conclude, that the foundation of Nimrod's 
 kingdom on the Euphrates was prior to these events. 
 The notice concerning him is only incidentally in- 
 troduced into the genealogical table in the tenth 
 chapter ; yet nothing is, from that circumstance, to 
 be inferred respecting the chronological order of the 
 history. See Th. J. Ditmars Accounts of the Con- 
 dition of Canaan, Arabia and Mesopotamia, in the 
 most ancient times, p. 82, et seqq. 
 
 112. The Hebrew expression Tt')r('> ^3sV is ambi- 
 guous. It may signify : against Jehovah (comp. 
 Num. xvi. 2 ; 1 Chron. xiv. 8) ; or, with the help 
 of Jehovah (Num. xxxii. 21, 22, 27). In the above 
 passage about Nimrod (Gen. x. 9), the expression is 
 to be regarded as emphatic or intensive, q. d. 
 " even in the eyes of God ;" just as in Jon. iii. 3. 
 Nineveh is called t3'<nbKb nblli "J^jr a great city be- 
 fore God ; and in Acts vii. 20, Moses is called acrmg 
 
 113. " Before war began to rage among men, the 
 proper work of heroes was the hunting of wild beasts. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALB^ A. ]05 
 
 This was prosecuted by extensive bands of hunters, 
 who would be led on by the bravest, that is, by the 
 individual who, by his talent and daring, acquired a 
 natural superiority over the rest. The exploits per- 
 formed took their name from him, and that circum- 
 stance would attract many to join his company." 
 Schiller on the First Human Society, in his Minor 
 Prose Writings (Leips. 1792, p. 379, et seqq.) — where 
 he beautifully illustrates the manner in which a 
 hunter would become the first king. Thus, too, ac- 
 cording to Diodorus Siculus, loc. cit. Ninus rose 
 from being a hunter to be king. See Bochart, loc. 
 cit., p. 258. Herder thinks (Spirit of the Hebrew 
 Poetry, Part I. p. 258) that a mighty hunter means 
 a powerful despot, an oppressor of men through skill 
 and power ; and he connects the story of Nimrod 
 with the account of the Tower of Babel, thinking the 
 whole designed as a reproach upon Babylon. But 
 this is a view which I can by no means embrace. 
 
 114. This seems confirmed by the Hebrew word 
 itself i"i723 from n"i)2 to fall away, to withdraw al- 
 legiance from a ruler, to rebel. "Certum est n "172 3 
 fuisse vituperii nomen, rebellem contra Deum et con- 
 tumacem notans, quod itaque ab inimicis, non autem 
 a suis, impositum quisque credat,'* says Hyde, Hist. 
 Rehgion. Vet. Pers. Cap. II. p. 36. The form of the 
 Hebrew name is peculiar. Perizonius (Origines Ba- 
 bylonn. Cap. VIII. p. 122) takes it for the first per- 
 son plural of the future, and thinks, " hominem hunc, 
 utpote venatorem ferocem et sodalium comitatu suc- 
 cinctum, semper in ore habuisse et ingeminasse, ad 
 reliquos in rebellionem excitandos, illud 1*1)23 11)23 
 
106 BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 rebellemus ! rebellemm /" According to the opinion 
 of Simonis (Onomastic. Vet. Test., p. 472), "TiDa is 
 composed of ]^3 posterity and n*i72, so that Tit^ ^'•J 
 denoted ^/ew5 rebellionis ; and y^'z has been preserved 
 in the name Ninus. Tili likewise is sometinaes used 
 in a bad sense, to express a mighty oppressor, e. g. 
 
 Ps. Hi. 5 ; cxx. 4 ; so the Arabic l^^^. The Arabic 
 words ^ ^\ i \j^^ which literally correspond 
 
 to the Hebrew expression i>*ik:i "»;i:> used of Nimrod 
 in Gen. x. 8, signify in the Koran, Sur. xxviii. 18, a 
 powerful despot, an oppressor. 
 
 115. In the same light is Nimrod represented by 
 Josephus^ Antiq. I. 4, 2, as having prevailed upon 
 men not to expect what was necessary for their wel- 
 fare from God, but to procure it by the strength of 
 their own arm ; as having, upon the supposition that 
 God would destroy mankind by a new flood, begun 
 to build a high tower in order to assail him in the 
 clouds, etc. The other eastern traditions respecting 
 Nimrod are given at length by U Htrhelot in his 
 Biblioth. Orient, under the article Nimrod; a sup- 
 plement to which, from Persian writers, has been 
 furnished by Ouseley in the Oriental Collections, Vol- 
 II. p. 375. Connected with this tradition, is the cir- 
 cumstance that the constellation, which the Greeks 
 called Orion, was by the Jews termed "ii:!:) the giants 
 and b^DD the fool, i. e. the impious man, by which 
 they understood Nimrod. See Hyde^s Comment, on 
 Ulugh Begh's Table of Constellations, p. 44 of the 
 first edit. ; p. 57 of the Syntagma Dissertt. Vol. I. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 107 
 
 Oxon., 1767. Comp. J. D. Michaelis, Suppl. ad 
 Lexica, p. 1320. According to Hygin (Poet. Astron. 
 Tom. II. cap. 26) Orion was likewise a hunter, who 
 manifested hostility towards Diana and Latona ; and 
 having indulged the presumptuous boast that he would 
 destroy all that the earth produced, the earth killed 
 him by a scorpion, and he was then placed by Ju- 
 piter among the stars, " ut species ejus hominibus do- 
 cumento esset, ne quis eorum de aliqua re sibi con- 
 fideret." 
 
 116. 7373, Heb. 7J/3. Comp. Perizonius Origg. 
 
 Babyl., p. 94. According to an account, preserved by 
 Eusebius (Praep. Evang. Lib. IX. cap. ] 8, p. 420), from 
 the ancient work of an unknown writer, there were, 
 in the time of Abraham, giants in Babylonia, who, on 
 account of their wickedness, were destroyed by the 
 gods, with the exception only of Belus, and he after- 
 wards became the ruler of the country, fixing his 
 seat at the tower which was built by him, and which 
 continued to be called by his name. 
 
 117. In Georg. Syncelli Chronographia, p. 206 
 of the edit, of Goar. Comp. Volney Recherches, P. 
 III. p. 112, et seqq. 
 
 118. " There is still extant indeed, a list of the 
 names of thirteen kings of two dynasties, previous to 
 the age of Nabonassar, the first of which consists of 
 seven Chaldaeans, who are said to have reigned for 
 224 years, and the second of six Arabians, whose 
 dynasty extended to 216 years — both together oc- 
 cupying 440 years. But they are all obscure, un- 
 known names, and the period of time to which they 
 
108 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 belong is quite uncertain " Gatterers History of the 
 World, Getting. 1785, p. 131. 
 
 119. " Nabonassar seems to have been neither the 
 founder of a new kingdom, nor the first of a new 
 royal family ; yet though he was not so celebrated for 
 his exploits as his immediate successor, an Egyptian 
 mathematician of the second century (Ptolemy), fixed 
 on his reign for the commencement of an era, which 
 was, in the first instance, designed for the use of as- 
 tronomers, but which has also been found very ser- 
 viceable in the chronology of history. Yet the kings, 
 mentioned in the canon of Ptolemy, are believed, on 
 good grounds, to have been merely princes of the royal 
 house of Assyria, endowed with their own apanage 
 or territorial inheritance." Gatterer^ loc. cit. Comp. 
 Volney, loc. cit., p. 121, and L. J. K. Justis' Mis- 
 cell. Dissertt. on Important Subjects of Theology, 
 Vol. I. p. 286. Paulus, indeed, endeavours to make 
 it appear (Key to Isaiah, p. 270) that Babylon had 
 independent kings from the time of Baladan till it 
 came under the dominion of Esarhaddon. But the 
 more common opinion has been confirmed by the 
 accounts of Berosus, which have lately come to light, 
 as preserved in the Armenian translation of the Chro- 
 nicle of Eusebius. See note 121. 
 
 120. This name is plausibly explained by Von 
 Bohlen (Symbolae ad Interpret. Sac. Cod. e Ling. 
 Pers. p. 26,) by s^lxj\ i*5^-o Mardahambadeh, 
 vir gloriosus, and pxbl ^TN"i)2 by . . ^b^Vj lifjb-ro 
 
 Mardak-haladan vir laudatus. "|i*»73 is also the name 
 of a Babylonian idol, in Jer. 1. 2, probably the planet 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.EA. 109 
 
 Mars. See Gesennis' Comment, on Isaiah, vol II. p. 
 345. Comp. vol. I. p. 997. On the practice of the 
 ancients to call themselves after their national gods, 
 see the same work, p. 281, note; and Simonis Quo- 
 mast. V. T. p. 484, et seqq. 
 
 121. In the Armenian Translation of the Chronicle 
 01 Eusebius, which was recently published for the 
 first time (Venice 1818,) by Joh. Bapt. Aucher, along 
 with a Latin version. Tom. I. p. 42, 43. The first 
 who used it for the illustration of Isa. xxxix. 1, was 
 Gesenms in his Comment, on Isaiah, vol. I. p. 999. 
 The identity of Mardoc Empad, and Merodach Ba- 
 ladan, is likewise recognized by Ditmar, (Hist, of the 
 Israelites to the time of Cyrus, p. 374,) who farther 
 remarks : " The governors of provinces in the east 
 possessed, like the pachas in the modern empire of 
 Turkey, the full rights of sovereignty in their re- 
 spective satrapies ; so that they not only held, from 
 the monarch, uncontrolled dominion over all the in- 
 habitants within the bounds of their jurisdiction, but 
 might carry on war and form alliances with neigh- 
 bouring princes. See Herodotus III. 118, vi. 29. 
 Nepos. Datames, VI. 10. But the treaty of Mar- 
 doc or Merodach Empad with Hezekiah, so far from 
 having been conchided under the sanction of the 
 king of Assyria, was designed to excite the Jewish 
 monarch to a war against him. The Bible calls 
 Merodach also by the name of Baladan, the son of 
 Baladan. But 1 do not understand this as if the 
 predecessor of Merodach had also been called Bala- 
 dan, and was Merodach's father ; for it was not the 
 custom to permit the vice-regal power, such as 1 
 
no BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 conceive this to have been, to descend from father 
 to son. But I take the name Baladan for a family- 
 name, or the same as Belesys, the name of that Ba- 
 bylonian who threw off the Assyrian yoke along 
 with Arbaces, and, as Ctesias relates, stirred up 
 against Assyria an Arabian king, who can have been 
 no other than Hezekiah. In the names Belesys 
 and Baladan the letters 2t, r, D and i, and also the 
 Greek characters e and b, may have been easily in- 
 terchanged, either in the Hebrew or in Diodorus. 
 It is true that the reign of Merodach ended in the 
 year b.c. 712, and the revolt of the Medes did not 
 happen till two years after, viz. B.C. 710; but, be 
 that as it may, it is evident, from the treaty he entered 
 into with Hezekiah, that Merodach must be regarded 
 as the first who endeavoured to make himself inde- 
 pendent of Assyria in the government of Babylonia." 
 
 122. It might at first sight appear from Isa. xxxvii. 
 37, 38, as if Sennacherib was murdered immediately 
 on his return from Palestine, whereas, according to 
 Berosus, he survived Merodach Baladan for a consi- 
 derable time. But, as Gesenius observes, (loc. cit. 
 p. 1002,) he is expressly said by Isaiah to hdL\e dwelt 
 at Ninevehy after his return ; and the period that 
 elapsed before his death is not specified. 
 
 123. Q"»nu;D, The signification of the name is 
 unknown. For the conjecture of J. C. Friedrich is 
 without foundation, that it was derived from j^J' to 
 wander^ the Chaldaeans having been a nomadic horde, 
 who scattered themselves throughout the adjoining 
 regions. See his Dissert, on the Progenitor, Country, 
 and early History of the Clialdaeans, in Eichhorris 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. Ill 
 
 AUgem. Biblioth. der Biblischen Literatur. Part X. 
 p. 423. See the author's Annot. on Habak. I. 6, in 
 his Scholia in V. T. Part VII. vol. III. p. 366. 
 
 124. According to Xenophon (Cyrop. III. 2, 7.) 
 the Chaldseans lived in the mountains bordering on 
 Armenia, and in that region they appear in the ex- 
 pedition of the Younger Cyrus, and the retreat of 
 the Ten Thousand Greeks. Anabas. IV. 3, 4. ; V. 
 5, 9; VII. 8, 14. Comp. Norberg. de Chaldaeis 
 septentrionalis originis, in his Selectis Opusculis 
 Acaderaicis, P. III. p. 130, et seqq. Whether the 
 Chalybes mentioned by Xenophon, (Anab. VII. 8, 
 14,) as dwelling near the Chaldaeans, towards the 
 Black Sea, were a tribe of Chaldaean origin is un- 
 certain. Norberg thinks it very probable, (loc. cit. 
 p. 138.) Comp. Schlozer's Dissert, on the Chaldaeans 
 in Eichhorris Repertor. vol. VIII. p. 113, et seqq.* 
 
 123. In Judith v. 5, the Hebrews are called " de- 
 scendants of the Chaldaeans," oc^oyovoi XaXdaim. In 
 Gen. X. 22, 24, likewise, Arpachsad ("Tiyss^K,) i. e. 
 
 " the bounds (m.S P^^r. «J j) of the Chaldaeans," is 
 
 introduced as the ancestor of Heber, from whom the 
 Hebrews were descended. 
 
 126. obir^ '•1:1. 
 
 127. " Yet a considerable portion of the Chal- 
 daeans must have remained in the original seat of the 
 
 ^ Strabo says the Chaldaeans were anciently called Chalybes. 
 The people mentioned by Xenophon in the passage referred to 
 seem different from those he elsewhere introduces. They are 
 described as few in number, and subject to the Mosynaeci. 
 Comp. Eustathius ad Dionys. v. 467 — M. 
 
112 BABYLONIA AND CHALp^A. [CHAP. VIII, 
 
 nation, retaining their ancient mode of life, seeing 
 that even under the Persians, they appear to have 
 enjoyed many of the liberties of an independent 
 people, as we learn from the account of Xenophon, 
 (see note 124.) Since the Kurds, who inhabited the 
 same region in the middle ages, and continue to in- 
 habit it, have always been on the same distinct and 
 independent footing ; and since tribes, when so se- 
 cluded, are often found to retain their language and 
 manners unchanged for thousands of years, the con- 
 jecture, that the Kurds are descendants of the primi- 
 tive Chaldaeans is not to be lightly rejected. See 
 Schulten's Geograph. Index to his Edition of the Life 
 of Saladin, under Curdi." Gesenius' Comment, on 
 Isaiah, Part I. p. 747. 
 
 128. [Rosenmiiller follows here the translation of 
 Justi, Leipsic, 1821, with only one slight alteration. 
 But, as it is full of obscurities, I have given a version, 
 which is founded partly on that of Newcome M.] 
 
 129. See Eusehius Chronic, in Scaliger's Thesaur. 
 Temper, p. 124, and Alexander Polyhistor.m Georg. 
 Syncellus, p. 218, 220, Edit, of Goar. 
 
 130. In the time of Herodotus, the Assyrians and 
 Ciialdaeans appear in the Persian army as one people. 
 Book VII. cap. 63. 'AffavPioi, rovr'suv ds fi,i7at,v 
 yiaXdcciot. 
 
 131. Called in the Canon of Ptolemy, " Naboko- 
 lassar." See Volney Recherches, P. III. p. 132. 
 Lorshach^ in the Archives for Eastern Literat. Vol. 
 II. p. 247, explains the name "i2iK3nDll3, or as it is 
 sometimes written "i:iN"n:3"ii:, from the Persian 
 wvw / . xliXiL *,jJ Nebu-chodan-sar, i. e. " Nebo, 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD.BA. 113 
 
 Prince of Gods," — in which case the middle word 
 must be considered as an abbreviation of , Aj^tXr^. 
 
 Nebu is the Chaldee name of the planet Mercury. 
 See Gesenius' Comment, on Isaiah, Vol. II. p. 342. 
 Other less plausible explanations may be found in 
 Simonis, Onomast. p. 573. Volney says, (loc. cit. 
 in the note) : Nabo-kol-asar s'explique bien, prophete 
 tout victorieuXy ou vainqueur de tout* Dans Nabo- 
 kadn-asar le mot kada doit etre le Syriaque gad^ 
 signifiant la fortune. Aussi les Arabes ont-ils ren- 
 du ce mot par Baktnasar, vainqueur fortune. But 
 how untenable these positions are, must be ob- 
 vious to every orientalist. Hyde (Hist. Relig. Vet. 
 Pers. cap. 2, p. 65 of the second edit.) regards the 
 3 or "1 in the middle of the name as epenthetic, and 
 explains ■nrN-n:i-")13 by " Mercury, Jupiter, Mars." 
 But a proper name thus composed of the names of three 
 gods, seems to be contrary to all analogy. In the 
 Greek version of the Seventy, the word is written 
 NaiSov^odovoffoPog ; in a fragment of Berosus in Jo- 
 sephus, Apion I. 20, 21, l^alSov^obovooo^og ; in Strabo, 
 XV. 1, 6, 'No(,(3ozodp6goPog. The Arabs call Nebu- 
 
 chadnezzar .^j:X^^ Bochtonassar. See Hottingei^'s 
 Histor. Orient, p. 325, and Abulfaragiy Hist. Dynast, 
 p. 70, 78. Firuzabadi, in his Lexicon called Karaus, 
 i. e. the Ocean (Calcutta Edit. p. 668), gives the fol- 
 lowing peculiar exposition of this name, which is plain- 
 
 ly a corruption of Nebuchadnezzar : 
 
 yJ^CJ 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
114 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 jjmJsJU^ »_»>=i ^a!! c^^ii v_.! ^' «. ^- Bochta-Nas- 
 
 sara, with double 5a<i. The first word is properly 
 Buclit, and signifies " son," and Nassar, in the 
 form Bakkam, is the name of an idol beside which 
 he was found ; and as his father was unknown, 
 he was named after the idol. He destroyed Jeru- 
 salem." Richardson says of this name, (Persian 
 
 Dictionary by Wilkins, p. 163,) 
 
 >.A2.> 
 
 Bakhti-nassar. Arab. yj^\ Ck^-*. Bakhta'n'- 
 nassar, i. e. " the Fortune of Victory," [yet the first 
 name is Persian,] the prince who in the Bible is call- 
 ed Nebuchadnezzar. The Eastern historians consi- 
 der him merely as one of the four governors, whom 
 Lohorasb, king of Persia, (the son of Kai-Khosru or 
 Cyrus,) appointed over his vast empire ; the district 
 assigned to him was Babylonia or Chaldsea. Some 
 derive the name Nebuchadnezzar from three Assy- 
 rian idols, called Nobo, Hadan, and Assar; and 
 others explain it from the Chaldee, in which it is 
 supposed to denote, the servant of Nassar, a Baby- 
 lonian idol." 
 
 132. Volney, (loc. cit. p. 130,) has made it very 
 ])robable that this account by Megasthenes, (found 
 in Straho xv. 1, 6 ; and in Joseph us contra Apion, 
 i. 20,) was founded on a misconception. 
 
 133. See Abydenus in Eusebius Prsep. Evang. 
 ix.41. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. 115 
 
 134. Dan. iv. 32. Comp. Bleek in the Dissert. 
 quoted at note 101, p. 268, et seqq. 
 
 135. *|n"i72-b'»1X, called by Ptolem}', Ihiaridam ; 
 by Syneellns, Evidan-Merodach. The second half of 
 the name denotes the planet Mars, as deified by the 
 Chaldaeans. See note 120. b"«"iN signifies in He- 
 hrew, foolish, impious. According to a tradition pre- 
 served by Jarchi and St. Jerome, (see the author's 
 Scholia on Isa. xiv. 19,) this prince held the reins of 
 government for the seven years during which his 
 father was deprived of reason ; but he governed so 
 ill, that the latter, on recovering his reason, threw 
 him into prison. Berosus likewise, in Eusebius 
 Praepar. Evang. ix. 40, and Josephus contra Apion, 
 i. 20, speak of Evil-Merodach as a wicked prince. 
 Perhaps originally his name had been "^"Ti7D"bN, Me- 
 rodach is God ; but, from the hateful associations 
 attached to his name, the bx may have been subse- 
 quently changed into b''1N. 
 
 136. See Prideaux^s Connection, Part I. This au- 
 thor identifies Evil-Merodach with that king of Assyria 
 whom Xenophon mentions in the Cyropaedia as hav- 
 ing made the invasion into the Median territory, and 
 who thereby gave occasion to the war in which Cy- 
 rus so distinguished himself. But it is very remark- 
 able that Xenophon does not record the name of any 
 one of the three Babylonian, or, as he calls them, 
 Assyrian monarchs, with whom his hero Cyrus wag- 
 ed war — an omission which seems intentional, and 
 tends to confirm the suspicion, that his narrative is 
 little better than a historical romance. See Vol. L 
 p. 250. We deem it safer to abide by the catalogue 
 
116 BABYLONIA AND CHALDiEA. [CHAP. Vill. 
 
 of kings names given by Berosus, meagre though 
 it be. 
 
 137. He is not mentioned in the list of Ptolemy, 
 but only in that of Berosus and Megasthenes, as pre- 
 served by Eusebius, loc. cit. 
 
 138. In Herodot. I. 77, and 188. Volney remarks, 
 (Recherches P. III. p. 158.) : Ce mot Labun-et n'est 
 pas autre que le Nabu et Nabun des Hebreux et des 
 Chaldeens, dans lequel 1' N est change en L par un 
 cas dont notre langue offre des exemples triviaux. 
 Le peuple dit ecolomie au lieu cfoeconomie, II est 
 singulier de trouver cette alteration dans le nom de 
 Laborosoachod, fils et successeur de Neriglissor. 
 
 139. Berosus and Megasthenes, indeed, (in Euse- 
 bius, Praapar. Evang. IX. 40, 41), only call Nabonnid 
 *< a certain Babylonian, who was one of the conspi- 
 rators against Laborosoachod, and no relation of his." 
 " Berose asks Volney, loc. cit. p. 162: a-t-il rougi 
 du prince qui survecut a la perte de son trone et de 
 son pays ?" But Herodotus expressly says, that the 
 last king of Babylon, Labynet, was a son of queen 
 Nitocris, (I. 188.) *0 h\ bri Kv^og s<?r} raur^js trig 
 yuvai'/Log rov 'xaTda sffr^arsvsTO, i^ovTO, rs rou rrar^og rou 
 sauTou TO ovo/Ma Aa.j3vvy}T0'j xal ty^v " Affffv^icov a^jniv. 
 Now that this queen was the wife of Evil-Merodach, 
 has been shewn on very convincing grounds by Pri- 
 deaux in the work formerly quoted. But if Nabon- 
 nid or Labynet was a son of Nitocris and Evil-Mero- 
 dach, he must have been a minor at the time when 
 his predecessor was murdered. 
 
 140. Herodot. I. 185. 
 
 141. [According to Berosus and Megasthenes, Na- 
 
CHAP. VIII.] BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. 117 
 
 bonnid, the last king of Babylon, when defeated by 
 Cyrus, fled, with the remains of his army, to Borsippa. 
 Being there besieged by the conqueror he submitted, 
 and not only bad his life spared, but received the pro- 
 vince of Kerman or Caramania, where he ended his 
 days in peace. Xenophon, however, (Cyrop. VII. 
 24,) says the last king of Babylon was killed at the 
 taking of his capital by Cyrus ; and this agrees with 
 the account in Dan. v. 30 : " in that night was Bel. 
 shazzar, king of the Chaldseans, slain."^] 
 
 142. See Vol. I. p. 241, et seqq. and comp. Note 
 42, above. 
 
 143. [As Rosenmiiller adopts the sceptical con- 
 clusions of Bleek (see Note 101,) regarding the his- 
 torical credibility of the Book of Daniel, I have sub- 
 
 * Of the expression used on that occasion by Daniel to Bel- 
 shazzar, " Thou art weighed in the balance," we find a curious 
 illustration in Sir Thomas Roe's Voyage to India : — " The 
 first of September (which was the late Mogul's birth-day,) he, 
 retaining an ancient yearly custom, was, in the presence of his 
 chief grandees, weighed in a balance ; the ceremony was per- 
 formed within his house, or tent, in a fair spacious room, where- 
 into none were admitted but by special leave. The scales in 
 which he was thus weighed were plated with gold, and so the 
 beam on which they hung by great chains, made likewise of 
 that most precious metal. The king, sitting in one of them, 
 was Aveighed, first against silver coin, which immediately after 
 was distributed among the poor : then was he weighed against 
 gold : after that against jewels (as they say) ; but, I observed, 
 (being there present with my lord ambassador,) that he was 
 weighed against three several things, laid in Silken bags, on the 
 contrary scale. When I saw him in the balance, I thought on 
 Belshazzar, who was found too light, Dan. v. 27." — M. 
 
118 BABYLONIA AND CHALD^A. [CHAP. VIII, 
 
 stituted, for his meagre remarks on the Babylonian 
 constitution and government, the account of the judi- 
 cious Heeren ; and for a full vindication of the au- 
 thenticity of Daniel, I would refer the reader to the 
 work of a living German writer, Hengstenberg of 
 Berlin, on " the Authenticity of Daniel, and the 
 Integrity of Zechariah." — M.] 
 
 The government of provinces, in the great empires 
 of the east, by means of viceroys or pachas, has ob- 
 tained, from the earHest period to the present day. 
 See Vol. I. p. 250, and Von Hammers Constitution 
 of the Ottoman Empire, Part I. p. 36. These viceroys 
 often assumed the title of king, and hence the sove- 
 reign himself came to be called " the great king," and 
 " the king of kings." See Rosenmiillers Scholia on 
 Ezek. xxvi. 7, and Gesenini Comment, on Isa. x. 8. 
 The names of the different officers of state, &c. which 
 occur in the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and 
 Esther, have been learnedly treated of by Bertholdt 
 in the second Excursus to his translation and exposi- 
 tion of the Book of Daniel. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ASSYRIA. 
 
 As we had to distinguish between Persia and 
 the Persian empire, and between Babylonia and 
 the Babylonian empire, so we must now make 
 a distinction between the land of Assyria and tlie 
 Assyrian empire. The former was called by the 
 Hebrews Ashur,^ or as pronounced by the most 
 ancient Greek translators, Assur. It derived 
 its name from Ashur, the second son of Shem 
 (Gen. X. 22), or from a tribe designated after 
 him, who settled in this region. By the Greeks 
 and Romans it was called Assyria, a word which 
 passed into several other languages. But as the 
 Chaldseans and Syrians, according to their prac- 
 tice of changing the letter s into t, pronounced 
 " Athur" instead of Ashur, we find the country 
 sometimes called, by Greek and Roman writers, 
 Atyria and Atitria^ 
 
 This country was bounded on the north by 
 Armenia, the Gordisean Mountains, and espe- 
 cially by Mount Niphates ; on the west by the 
 river Tigris and Mesopotamia ; on the south by 
 
120 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 Persia ; and on the east by Media, more par- 
 ticularly by Mounts Choatres and Zagros.^ It 
 nearly corresponded to the modern Kourdistan, 
 or land of the Kourds/ with the pachalik of 
 Mosul, which contains about 1600 (German) 
 square miles, and was thus about the size of the 
 united kingdom of Naples and Sicily. The 
 northern part is very mountainous, but towards 
 the south it is generally level, like the neigh- 
 bouring country of Babylonia. The culture of 
 the soil is promoted by the number of rivers 
 which traverse the country, and by the pleasant 
 alternation of hill and dale which diversify its sur- 
 face ; while the navigable Tigris presents great 
 facilities for commerce. In different parts of the 
 southern division there are springs of naphtha. 
 The country abounds in wheat, and in the most 
 esteemed kinds of fruit, as also in wine, cotton, 
 and manna. And it was, therefore, with truth 
 that the Assyrian commander Rabshakeh called 
 his native country (2 Kings xviii. 32. Isa. 
 xxxvi. i 7) " a land where there is corn and wine, 
 bread and vineyards, olive-oil and honey ."^ When 
 we find Herodotus,^ Strabo,^ Arrian,^ Ammi- 
 anus Marcellinus,'-^ and other ancient writers 
 comprising under Assyria the provinces of Baby- 
 lonia, Mesopotamia, and even Cappadocia as 
 far as the Euxine Sea,^^ we arc to regard it as 
 m erely a statistical form of speech, in which As- 
 yria is put fo r the Assyrian empire. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 121 
 
 The principal river of Assyria is the Tigris, 
 called by the Hebrews the Chiddekel, the 
 course of which has been described in the former 
 volume (p. 57.) It receives in its passage 
 through Assyria two rapid streams, the Great 
 and Little Zab*^ or Dhab (i. e. Wolf), called 
 by the Greeks Lykus (the Wolf), and Kapros 
 (the Wild Boar).^^ They run for a considerable 
 distance parallel to each other, in a southerly 
 direction, the former being to the west, the lat- 
 ter to the east. The Little Zab is called by the 
 Turks Altoon-Su,^ i. e. Golden Water or Golden 
 River. ^^ Ezra mentions (ch. viii. 21, 31) a river 
 Ahava,^"* where the Jewish exiles assembled on 
 their way from Babylonia to Palestine. Some 
 find this river in the Lykus or Great Zab,^^ 
 but the conjecture is without a shadow of pro- 
 bability. It would appear from the 15th verse, 
 that Ahava was rather the name of a place or 
 country ; for it is said, " I assembled them at 
 the river which flow^s towards Ahava." And it 
 is much more likely that it lay in the south- 
 west of Babylonia (which was in the direction of 
 Palestine) than in the remote region of Assyria, 
 which was to the north-east, — though indeed no- 
 thing certain can be determined concerning it. 
 
 ^ " I believe," says Rich, " it is wrong to call the river 
 Altoon, an epithet only belonging to the bridge from what it 
 cost — Altoon meaning gold or money." — Rich's Koordistan, 
 Vol. II. p. 13, note M. 
 
\22 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 According to Ptolemy,'^ Assyria was divided 
 into six provinces, the northernmost of which 
 was Arrapachitis, apparently so called from the 
 Arphachsad^^ of the Hebrews ^^ (Gen. x. 22, 
 24) ; inasmuch as that name, like most of those 
 in the genealogical table in the book of Genesis, 
 designated not only a person (who was Shem's 
 second son) but also a country called after him. ^'^ 
 Arrapachitis met on the south Calachene, pro- 
 bably the province of Chalach,^^ mentioned in 
 1 Kings xvii. 6; xviii. 11. Farther south lay 
 Adiabene, the principal province of Assyria. 
 Pliny 22 and Ammianus,^^ comprise the whole of 
 Assyria under this name, which, however, pro- 
 perly denoted only the province that was water- 
 ed by the rivers Diab and Adiab, or the Great 
 and Little Zab, (Dhab). To the north-east of 
 Adiabene was Arbelitis, in which was the city 
 Arbela, now Erbil, celebrated for the victory 
 obtained in the neighbourhood by Alexander 
 over Darius.2'^ Southward lay the province of 
 Apolloniatis,25 along the Tigris, to near Ctesi- 
 phon. The most southerly province was Sitta- 
 kene,26 bordering upon Susiana. 
 
 The metropolis of Assyria, and the seat of 
 empire, was Nineveh,^"^ (2 Kings xix. 36 ; Is. 
 xxxvii. 37 ; Jon. iii. 6 ; Nah. ii. 8.) The name 
 signifies " the residence of IMinus."^^ If Ninus 
 was the same person as Nimrod,^^ then the sa- 
 cred and profane accounts of the founder of Ni- 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 123 
 
 jieveh harmonise; for in Gen. x. 11, it is said 
 that Nimrod went out from Babylonia to Assy- 
 ria, i. e. he took that country, ^° and there built 
 Nineveh, with other cities. In Greek and Ro- 
 man writers, the city is commonly mentioned 
 merely under the name of its founder Ninus f^ 
 yet the name of Nineveh was ;not altogether 
 unknown to later writers.^^ It lay opposite the 
 modern town of Mosul, ^^ on the east bank of 
 the Tigris,^'* where the villages of Nineveh or 
 Nunia (also called Nebbi Yunes, i, e, the pro- 
 phet Jonah), Nimrud^^ and Kalla Nunia (the 
 Castle of Nineveh) preserve to the present day 
 the remembrance of the most ancient capital 
 of the world.-^^ To judge from the slender 
 accounts of this city which have come down 
 to us, it must have been equal, if not superior, 
 in extent to Babylon.^^ For, according to the 
 statement in the Book of Jonah (ch. iii. 3,) it 
 was three days' journey in circumference f^ and 
 according to Diodorus Siculus,^^ or rather his 
 authority Ctesias, its circuit was 480 stadia, 
 (about 11 or 12 geographical miles) — both ac- 
 counts thus agreeing with tolerable exactness. 
 In connection with this, it is said, (Jon. iv. 11,) 
 that there were in it 120,000 persons who knew 
 not their rigrht hand from their left. As this is 
 a proverbial expression, denoting children under 
 the age of three or five years, we may, accord- 
 ing to the usual rate of calculation, estimate the 
 
124 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 entire population at two millions of souls. This 
 number may appear too small in proportion to 
 the vast extent of ground occupied, especially 
 when compared with the population of our Euro- 
 pean cities ; but it is to be kept in view, that 
 the ancient cities of the east, as Peking, Ispahan, 
 Moscow, and others at the present day, compre- 
 hended in their circuit many gardens and large 
 spaces of vacant ground. The walls of Nineveh 
 were a hundred feet high, and so broad that 
 three waggons might be driven on them a- 
 breast.'*^ Upon the wall stood fifteen hundred 
 towers, each two hundred feet in height; and 
 the whole was so strong as to be deemed im- 
 pregnable. An ancient prediction had foretold, 
 that the place should never be subdued, until 
 the river became its enemy.'*^* Relying upon 
 this, Sardanapalus made it his stronghold in his 
 war with Arbaces the Mede. For three years 
 it stood out the siege, but at length the river 
 broke in, demolishing part of the wall, tw^enty 
 stadia in length ; whereupon Sardanapalus was 
 thrown into such despair, that, abandoning his 
 capital to the enemy, he set fire to the palace, 
 and perished amid his treasures. 
 
 The situation of Nineveh was favourable for 
 commerce. The Tigris, which communicated 
 with the Euphrates by canals, and afterwards 
 joined it before entering the Persian Gulf, 
 opened up to Nineveh the whole of the south of 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 125 
 
 Asia and the Southern Ocean.^ Hence the 
 prophet Nahum (ch. iii. 16) says, " that Nineveh 
 had more merchants than there are stars in the 
 sky." And as Michaelis remarks (in loc), the 
 commercial intercourse between Eastern and 
 Western Asia must have almost entirely been 
 carried on by way of Nineveh, inasmuch as there 
 were the bridges over the Tigris, a river which at 
 few other points admitted of their convenient erec- 
 tion. But, as is the case in all large and wealthy 
 cities, there reigned here the greatest corruption 
 of morals, on account of which the Hebrew pro- 
 phets Nahum (ch. iii. 1, et seqq.) and Zepha- 
 niah (ch. ii. 13 — 15) foretold its destruction, 
 (comp. Tobit xiv. 13.) This was hastened 
 through the effeminacy and licentiousness of the 
 Assyrian monarchs, who were unable to with- 
 stand the attacks of the victorious Medes. Cy- 
 axares, king of Media, and Nabopolassar, vice- 
 roy of Babylon, having formed an alliance, took 
 and destroyed Nineveh in the year b. c. 697. 
 There w^as subsequently built, either on the site 
 of the ancient capital or in the neighbourhood, 
 a town of the same name, which is mentioned by 
 Tacitus, '^^ in the second half of the first century, 
 and by Ammianus Marcellinus,"^^ in the fourth 
 century. 
 
 * It is tlie oi)inion of Major Rennell, that previously to the 
 age of Alexander the Great, the Euphrates and Tigris flowed 
 into the Persian Gulf by distinct and independent channels. — M. 
 
126 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 Besides Nineveh, Nimrod founded, in Assyria, 
 three other cities, Gen. x. 11, 12. The first of 
 these is called Hechobotli-Ir, — words which may 
 signify " streets of a city,"^^ or Rechoboth, a 
 city,'*^ i. e. the city Rechoboth. Neither in the 
 ancient Greek and Roman authors, nor in the 
 eastern writers of the middle age, are there the 
 traces of any Assyrian town of that name ; and 
 nothing therefore respecting its site can be de- 
 termined with certainty.''^ 
 
 Of Calach,'^'^ the next of Nimrod's cities, there 
 seems to be some trace in Calachene, which we find 
 in Strabo,'^^ as a province of Assyria, between the 
 source of the Lycus and the Tigris. It was bound- 
 ed on the north by Arrapachitis and the Gordi- 
 sean or Carduchian Mountains, on the south by 
 Adiabene. Ptolemy'^^ calls it Kalakine. But, 
 according to the opinion of some learned men, 
 Calach is not different from Chalach,^^ whither 
 Salmanassar, king of Assyria, transplanted a 
 colony of Israelites,* 2 Kings xvii. 6 ; xviii. 11. 
 The name Chalach is given among the Syrians 
 to a town which is likewise called by them 
 Chulon, and by the Arabs, Cholwan or Hol- 
 wan.''^ By the Arabian Geographers, it is de- 
 scribed as the most north-easterly city of Ara- 
 bian or Babylonian Irak, in the direction of 
 Persia, at the foot of the mountain-ridge, whicli 
 
 ■^ See Vol. I. pp. 172, I«8, 310. 
 
CHAP. iX.J ASSYRIA. 127 
 
 at present separates the Turkish from the Per- 
 sian territory. This place would have been one 
 of the most southerly of ancient Assyria, where- 
 as the Calachene of the ancients was one of 
 the northernmost provinces of that empire. We 
 therefore take Calach and Chalach to be two 
 different places, the former of which gave name 
 to the province of Calachene, but the latter is 
 Holwan, which still retains its ancient name 
 among the Syrians.'^^ 
 
 The last Assyrian city mentioned in Gen. 
 X. 12, as having been founded by Nimrod, is 
 Besen,^^ which is described as a great city that 
 lay between Nineveh and Calach. Bochart^'' 
 thought he found a trace of the Hebrew name 
 in Larissa, a city mentioned by Xenophon in 
 his account of the Retreat of the Ten Thou- 
 sand. '^^ As they moved eastward up the Tigris, 
 they found, several miles north of the Lycus, a 
 deserted city, called Larissa, ^^ which was for- 
 merly in possession of the Medes. It was two 
 parasangs in circuit, but nothing remained of it 
 except the strong wall, a hundred feet high, and 
 constructed of brick. The situation of this town 
 would correspond pretty exactly to the position 
 of Resen, as described by Moses ; — only there 
 is too little similarity in the names to Vv^arrant 
 us in certainly identifying them as the same 
 place. A Syrian annalist of the middle age 
 mentions a place with a name of like sound, 
 
128 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 Ressin,^^ among some other towns of the district 
 of Mosul, which were destroyed by the Arabs 
 in the eighth century.^^ But so little is known 
 of the situation of this place, that it cannot even 
 be ascertained whether it lay on the east or west 
 side of the Tigris. 
 
 About nine miles north of Mosul, on the east 
 bank of the Tigris, lies a village, ElhosJi^^^ now 
 the seat of the chief patriarch of the Nestorians, 
 who always bears the name of Elias, and to 
 whose diocese nearly three hundred villages be- 
 long. Here, it is believed, the prophet Nahum 
 was born and buried ; and his grave, which is 
 still shown, is visited in pilgrimage by the 
 Jews.^^ Nahum is certainly styled an Elko- 
 shite in the title of his prophecies, and it is pos- 
 sible that his ancestors were among the Israelit- 
 ish colonists transplanted to Assyria by Tiglath- 
 Pileser. In that case, it must be supposed that 
 Nahum had returned to the land of his fathers f^ 
 for there can be no doubt that it was there his 
 denunciations against Nineveh were uttered. 
 According to another ancient tradition, men- 
 tioned by Jerome, a village in Galilee called 
 Elkesi, was believed to be the birth-place of the 
 prophet.^"^ But which of these conjectures is 
 the more probable, it is impossible now to de- 
 termine.^^ 
 
 One of the most considerable cities of the east 
 part of Assyria was Arbela, between the Lycus 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 129 
 
 and Caprus, or the Great and Little Zab.^* It 
 was the place where the treasures of Darius were 
 deposited, after his last unfortunate battle with 
 Alexander at Gaugamela, ten geographical miles 
 farther west f^ and, as Arbela was the larger and 
 better known place, the battle was called by 
 its name. Abulfeda mentions it under the name 
 of Irbil,^^ as a town of Persian Irak ; and Niebuhr, 
 who calls it Arbil, found on its site an inconsider- 
 able village with a castle.^^ It belonged to the pa- 
 chalic of Bagdad, and had a strong garrison of 
 janissaries.^ The prophet Hosea mentions (ch. 
 viii. 14), a place, Arbel or Beth-Arbel,^' which 
 was destroyed by Shalman, an Assyrian king. 
 Some expositors would identify it with the above- 
 mentioned Arbela in Assyria. But the prefixed 
 epithet Beth, is never found except in names of 
 places where Hebrew or Aramaean was spoken f^ 
 and the prophet seems to have had in view a town 
 in Galilee, which is also mentioned in 1 Mac. ix. 
 2, and by Josephusj'^o and was destroyed in an 
 early inroad of the Assyrians. 
 
 When Salmanassar, king of Assyria, had cap- 
 tured Samaria, and taken prisoner Hoshea, king of 
 the ten tribes, he transplanted, according to the 
 practice of ancient conquerors, a part of the Is- 
 raelites to Assyria. '* He gave them dv^^ellings 
 in Chalach and in Chabor on the river Gosan, 
 
 ^ The more recent account by Eick v/ili be found under 
 
 Note 67 M. 
 
 VOL. II. . K 
 
130 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 and in cities of Media," 2 Kings xvii. 6. Chalach 
 was probably (as we remarked above at p. 127), 
 the district round the modern Holwan. Chabor''^ 
 appears to have been the mountain tract between 
 Media and Assyria, which Ptolemy calls Chabo- 
 ras,'^2 where the river of the same name has its 
 source, flowing into the Tigris in the district of 
 Mosul. According to another opinion, Chabor 
 was that province of Mesopotamia which is tra- 
 versed by the river Chaboras. But that river is 
 called in the Old Testament, Chebar."^^ The 
 river Gosan was the stream which is now called 
 the Kissil-Osan, and has been already mentioned 
 in our description of Media.* From this river, 
 the district traversed by it, is called by Ptolemy, 
 Gausania.''* 
 
 Another region, which was not within the 
 limits of Assyria Proper, but lay on its border, 
 and belonged to the Assyrian empire, was Kir,^^) 
 whither the Damascenes conquered by the As- 
 syrians were transplanted, (2 Kings xvi. 9. 
 Amos i. 5) ; and whither also, according to Amos 
 ix. 7, the Aramseans in the east of Syria, once 
 wandered. Kir is probably a country on the 
 river Kur, the Kuros (Cyrus) of the Greeks, 
 (in Zend, Koro), which rises in the mountains be- 
 tween the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and runs 
 into the latter, after being joined by the Araxes.'^'' 
 The name Kur is likewise employed to denote a 
 
 * See Vol. i. p. 180, and Appendix, p. 310 — M. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 131 
 
 country through which it flows ;^^ and Gurd- 
 jistan or Grusia (Grusinia), commonly called 
 Georgia, seems also to have derived its name from 
 this river Kur.^® 
 
 Sacred and profane writers agree in represent- 
 ing Assyria as one of the most ancient kingdoms 
 of Asia. In the ethnographic table, in the 1 0th 
 chapter of Genesis, (ver. 11), it is said that Nim- 
 rod went out from Babylonia into Assyria (im- 
 plying that he conquered the latter country) 
 and there built Nineveh.^^ Hence the prophet 
 Micah (ch. v. 5) calls Assyria the land of Nim- 
 rod. The native accounts, preserved to us by 
 Ctesias, designate the builder of Nineveh, and 
 the founder of the Assyrian empire, by the name 
 of Ninus f^ and there is no reason for supposing 
 this a diiferent person from the Nimrod of scrip- 
 ture.^^ What Ctesias reports of the extraordinary 
 exploits of Ninus and his wife Semiramis, bears 
 the impress of an exaggerated tradition,^- in 
 which the actions of several kings of the same 
 dynasty are combined into one narrative, and 
 included within a single reign.^^ One thing 
 seems evident from these accounts, viz. that the 
 successors of Ninus extended their conquests in 
 every direction. So early as the time of Moses 
 (about 1500 years B. C), Balaam, a seer from 
 the banks of the Euphrates, foretels to the Ke- 
 nites, a Canaanitish tribe on the east side of the 
 
132 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 Jordan, their conquest and captivity by the As- 
 syrians (Numb. xxiv. 22) ; at the same time an- 
 nouncing to the latter their subjection by a ma- 
 ritime people from Chittim, which lay to the 
 west, (ver. 24). In the 83d Psalm (ver. 9), the 
 Assyrians are mentioned among David's ene- 
 mies, in connection with the Moabites, Edomites, 
 Philistines and Tyrians; a proof that the As- 
 syrian dominion, even at that period (b. c. 
 1000), reached as far as Syria. 
 
 The first Assyrian king mentioned in the his- 
 torical books of scripture is Phul,^^ who, about the 
 year b. c. 770, appeared in the kingdom of 
 Israel (the country of the ten tribes), and com- 
 pelled Menahem the king to pay a thousand 
 talents of silver and become his ally, 2 Kings 
 XV. 19. During the internal dissensions w^hich 
 prevailed in the kingdom of Israel, after the 
 death of Jeroboam II., we gather from hints, 
 given by the prophet Hosea (ch. v. 13 ; x. 6),^^ 
 that the contending parties endeavoured to 
 strengthen themselves against one another, by 
 throwing themselves on the Assyrians for suc- 
 cour. When, a few years afterwards, Pekah, 
 king of Israel, combined with Rezin, king of 
 Syria, against the kingdom of Judah, which 
 they proposed to divide between them, (Isa. 
 vii. G.) Ahaz, the Jewish king, sought help 
 of Tiglath-pileser ^^' king of Assyria, and pur- 
 chased his support at a very heavy expense. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 133 
 
 which, being unable to defray out of his own 
 treasury, he paid with the gold and silver of the 
 temple, (2 Kings xvi. 5 — 8). Tiglath-pileser 
 seized the opportunity of annexing a portion of 
 the Syrian and Israelitish states to his own do- 
 minions. He took Damascus, slew Rezin the 
 king, and transferred the population to Kir, an 
 Assyrian province (2 Kings xvi. 9) ;^^ treating, 
 in a similar manner, the inhabitants of the con- 
 quered district of Israel, Q Kings xv. 29. 
 
 Under Tiglath-pileser's successor, Salmanassar 
 or Shalman (called in Tobit i. 2, Enemessar^^), the 
 Assyrian monarchy reached its highest prosperity. 
 The king of Israel, Hoshea, he rendered tribu- 
 tary (2 Kings xvii. 3), but as the latter, allying 
 himself with Egypt, refused to pay the tribute- 
 money, Salmanassar invaded his country, took 
 Samaria the capital after a siege of three years, 
 made the king prisoner, and reduced the king- 
 dom of Israel to an Assyrian province about the 
 year b. c. 730 or 720. The greater part of 
 the inhabitants he transplanted to Mesopotamia, 
 Assyria and Media, and settled in the land of 
 Israel colonists from other parts of his empire, 
 especially from Babylonia, 2 Kings xvii. 6, 24 ; 
 xviii. 9, 10, 11. The whole of Phoenicia was 
 subdued by Salmanassar with the exception of 
 the island of Tyre, whose inhabitants defeated 
 the ships which he had equipped in the other 
 Phoenician sea-ports. ^^ Besides these conquests. 
 
134 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX, 
 
 the prophet Isaiah, writing a few years later, 
 mentions (ch. xxii. 6) Elam and Kir also as 
 furnishing their contingents of troops to swell 
 the Assyrian host ; whence it may be inferred, 
 that about this period (b. c. 720) the empire 
 reached the summit of its greatness, embracing 
 the whole of Western Asia, from Persia to the 
 Mediterranean, and from the Caspian Sea to the 
 Persian Gulf. 
 
 Yet even this colossal extent of territory 
 did not satisfy the restless ambition of the As- 
 syrian monarchs. Jealous of the influence of 
 Egypt over the south-western provinces, (and 
 there was evidently a considerable party a- 
 mong the Jews, who were in the interest of 
 Egypt, Isa. XX. 5, 6 ; xxx. 2 ; xxxi. 1,) Sar- 
 gon,^° the successor of Salmanassar, endeavour- 
 ed to subdue that country. The campaign 
 seems to have been opened by Tartan, the As- 
 syrian general, taking Ashdod (Isa. xx. 1), a 
 fortress on the Egyptian frontier ; and a passage 
 in the prophecy of Nahum (ch. iii. 8 — 10) esta- 
 blishes the fact of an Assyrian army having, 
 about this period, penetrated, into Egypt, and 
 taken No-Ammon, i. e. Thebes or Diospolis, 
 the capital of Upper Egypt. Sardon appears 
 to have died immediately after, and his army to 
 have been withdrawn both from Egypt and Pa- 
 lestine; for Hezekiah, king of Judah, not long 
 after the commencement of his reign, was em- 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 135 
 
 boldened to break oiF all connection with As- 
 syria, and. formed an alliance with Egypt, (2 
 Kings xviii. 7.) 
 
 In consequence of this, Sargon's successor, 
 Sancherib,''^ or Sennacherib, appeared in Pa- 
 lestine with an army for the conquest of Egypt, 
 with the design of subduing Judaea on the way. 
 He obtained possession of several strongholds 
 ere Hezekiah was aware of his approach, (Isa. 
 xxxvi. 1.) The Jewish king humbly sued for 
 peace, and paid a large sum of money in the 
 name of tribute, (2 Kings xviii. 14 — 16); but 
 the Assyrian farther insisted on Jerusalem be- 
 ing given up to him, and sent his general, 
 Rabshakeh, to demand its surrender, in terms 
 of the most insolent contempt. But while 
 one part of his army lay before Jerusalem, 
 and another was advancing towards Egypt, he 
 heard that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, was in 
 the field against him. This circumstance, and 
 the sudden destruction of a great part of his 
 army by pestilence, compelled him to raise the 
 siege of Jerusalem, and return to Nineveh, 2 
 Kings xviii. 13 — 37 ; ch. xix. ; Isa. ch. xxxvi. 
 and xxxvii. The eastern provinces of the em- 
 pire took advantage of the unsuccessful expedi- 
 tion against Egypt for throwing off the Assyrian 
 yoke. JNIedia appears to have become a sepa- 
 rate state about this period, under Dejoces t 
 
 « See VoL I. p. 173. 
 
136 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 and in Babylon, Merodach-Baladan assumed the 
 rank of an independent sovereign.* The latter, 
 however, was soon after murdered, and his suc- 
 cessor Belibus was defeated and taken prisoner 
 by Sennacherib, who, on regaining the domi- 
 nion of Babylonia, appointed as viceroy his own 
 son Esarhaddon, he himself returning to Assy- 
 ria. Having heard of a revolt of the Greeks in 
 Cilicia, he marched against them, and, though 
 deserted by a part of his army, defeated them in 
 battle. In memorial of the victory, he caused a 
 statue of himself to be erected on the spot, and 
 an account of his Avarlike exploits to be engraven 
 in Chaldee characters upon a tablet of stone. 
 He likewise founded the city of Tarsus, after 
 the model of Babylon, and called it Tarsis.^^ 
 
 After a reign of eighteen years, Sennacherib 
 was murdered by his two sons Adrammelech 
 and Sarezar, in the temple of Nisroch at Nine- 
 veh. The parricides fled to Armenia, ^^ and the 
 Assyrian throne was ascended by Esarhaddon, ^^ 
 who had been hitherto his father's viceroy at 
 Babylon, 2 Kings xix. 37 ; Isa. xxxvii. 38. No 
 farther mention is made of this monarch in scrip- 
 ture but that he settled certain colonists in Sa- 
 maria, Ezra iv. 2. The conjecture of several 
 learned men is not improbable, that Esarhaddon 
 was the same person as Sardanapalus, who, be- 
 ing driven into his residence at Nineveh by the 
 * See the present Volume, p. 41. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA, 137 
 
 revolted Medes and Babylonians, and finding 
 himself reduced to extremity, set fire to the pa- 
 lace and perished in the flames, along with his 
 wives and treasures.^^ This much is certain, 
 that the Jews were never disturbed by the 
 Assyrians subsequently to the time of Senna- 
 cherib,^^ and that, soon after, the Chaldseans 
 appear on the scene as the conquerors of Western 
 Asia. Yet Assyria, though much weakened, 
 and perhaps nearly reduced within its original 
 boundaries, appears to have existed some time 
 longer as an independent state. But about a 
 hundred and twenty years after Esarhaddon, 
 (b. c. 597), Cyaxares, king of Media, and Na- 
 bopalassar, viceroy of Babylon, combined against 
 Assyria,^ took and destroyed Nineveh, and di- 
 vided the empire between them, Assyria Proper 
 now becoming a province of Media.^ 
 
 Respecting the political constitution and in- 
 ternal organization of the Assyrian Empire, and 
 the state of society and manners, the historical 
 fragments which relate to it are entirely silent. 
 The Assyrians are only known in history as 
 
 ^ See the present Volume, p. 46. 
 
 ^ There is a famous History of Koordistan, called the 
 " Tarikh al Akrad," the MS. of which JMr. Rich succeeded 
 in procuring when in the country ; and it is now, along with 
 his other valuable oriental MSS., in the British Museum. 
 See his Residence in Koordistan, Vol. I. p. 109j 247 — M. 
 
138 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 conquerors. There is no trace of their having 
 prosecuted remote foreign commerce by means of 
 the Tigris, of their having been distinguished in 
 any of the arts or sciences, or of their having 
 exercised any material influence on the civiliza- 
 tion of the nations whom they conquered. They 
 had, no doubt, the same religion (namely, the 
 symbolical worship of the stars and of nature), 
 and also the same language, in common with 
 the other neighbouring tribes of the great Medo- 
 Persian family. 
 
 1. ^')Wii, ^wa 1 Chron. v. 6. This name has been 
 preserved in A\ Athur, a very ancient city on the 
 Tigris, not far from Mosul, which, in the time of 
 Abulfeda, was in ruins.* See his description of Meso- 
 
 * To the north-east of Mosul, at the distance of six cara- 
 van, or four horseman's hours, are the ruins of a place called 
 liimrod, supposed by Rich to be the Larissa of Xenophon. A 
 short account of the principal ruin, with a copy of the cunei- 
 form inscriptions found there, has been given in his work on 
 Koordistan, Vol. II. p. 129, et seqq. " The Turks generally 
 believe this to have been Nimrod's own city ; and one or two 
 of the better informed, with whom I conversed at Mosul, said 
 it was A I Athur or Ashur, from which the whole country was 
 denominated. It is curious that the inhabitants of the neigh- 
 bouring village of Deraweish still consider Nimrod as their 
 founder. The village story-tellers have a book they call the 
 * Kisseh Nimrod,^ or Tales of Nimrod, with which they en- 
 tertain the peasants on a winter night." All this seems to 
 give countenance to the translation of Gen. x. 11 : — " Out of 
 that land he {i. e. Nimrod) went forth into Asshur." — M. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 139 
 
 potamia in Paulus New Repert. Part III. p. 3], 
 where, however, it is misprinted A\. Comp. the 
 
 Latin translation [by Reiske] in Bilschmg's Magazin, 
 Part IV. p. 247. Golius on Alfargani, p. 235, and 
 Buschings Geography of Asia, p. 267. 
 
 2. Dio Cassius, LXVIII. 28: Ka/ tou xai 'Atupioo 
 hia, rovTO /Sa^/Sa^/Cr; rSov S/'^/xa sg ro tou [jjsra'Trzmrm, 
 h'A'hYl&Yl. Some erroneously state that Aturia was also 
 the name of a particular province. See MannerU 
 Vol. II. p. 426. 
 
 3. See Ptolemy's Geogr. VI. 1. 
 
 4. The Kurds {J'^^ collectively ^^y^ Acrad), 
 
 the descendants of the Gordiseans and Carduchians, 
 are a barbarous and warlike people, whose tribes 
 partly follow the occupation of nomadic shepherds, 
 and partly live in villages, but are, for the most part, 
 addicted to robbery and plunder, and carry their pre- 
 datory excursions far beyond the limits of their own 
 country towards the west and south. See Delia 
 Valle's Travels, Part II. p. 3, 4. Otter s Voyage, Tom. 
 I. p. 115. iV^•e^>M^r'5 Travels, Part II. p.] 09, 330. Vol- 
 ney's Voyages, Tom. I. p. 364 of the fourth edit. Ker 
 Porter s Travels, Vol. II. p. 467, [and especially 
 RicKs Residence in Kurdistan passim~\. Ammianus 
 3Iarcellinus (LXXIII. 6) describes Assyria " multi- 
 formi feracitate ditissimam, ubi inter baccarum vul- 
 gariumque abundantiam frugum; bitumen nascitur, 
 rel." 
 
 [The following is Buxtorff's article on the Kar- 
 duchian or Gordiaean Mountains. Comp. our former 
 
140 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 volume, p. 294: " ^'llp P'^IP ^^^^^^ monies Ar- 
 
 menicB aitissimi, in quorum vertice area Nocb, ces- 
 sante diluvio, subsedit. Eas Ptolemceus vocat Gor- 
 daeos, Q. Curtius Cordseos : ^'^*lp '^lltD ^V Super 
 montes Kardu. Hebr. L^1*^^? HH ^^, Genes, viii. 
 4, in Onkelo. Jonathan autem ]lT)p^ Hip bv 
 
 t; • ;- - t;- ; t; t ;'- - t;- 
 
 Super montes Kardon ; nomen montis unius Kar^ 
 donia, nomen montis alterius Armenia, et ibi sedifi- 
 cata est urbs Armenia in terra orientis. Hincpopulos 
 in istis loots habitantes historici vocarunt Kaohozag, 
 Gordseos, Cordionos, Gordenos, Cordyaeos. Vide Jo- 
 sephum, lib. 1, Antiq. cap. 4. Junium, Mercerum, et 
 alios in hoc caput. Item FuUerum in Miscel. Theolog. 
 
 lib. 1, cap. 4. nnp_n ^v^^b nnn^^^ \^:^^\ 
 
 Et isti proripuerunt se in terram Kardu. Jesa. xxxvij. 
 xxxviij. 2 Reg. xix. v. 37, ^inpl KV^K m3^D 
 
 Regna terrae Kardu, Jerem. li. 27." 
 
 " ^?:^n1p. N:innp, K^nilp Kardyanum, Ar- 
 
 meniacum: Tal. nX^Hmp i^^^n ^ItD KJ/ll Et 
 petiit a me numum," [z. e. a Dinar]. " Kardya- 
 num, id est, ex montibus sive montanis Ararat sive 
 Armeniae ut in glossa explieatur, Cholin, fol. 542. 
 i^D^^^mp ^D^n Triticum Cordonium, Armeni- 
 cum, Pesach. fol. 7, 1." Buxtorfii^ Lexicon Chal- 
 daicum Talmudicumet Rabbinicum, semipag. 2125.] 
 5. " Kurdistan," says Niebuhr, loc. cit., p. 330, 
 " is a mountainous country, but very productive, espe- 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 141 
 
 cially in gall-nuts (of which an immense quantity is 
 yearly sent to Aleppo, and thence exported to Eu- 
 rope), in manna (used throughout the whole district 
 instead of sugar), in cotton, rice, tobacco, grapes and 
 figs. They also raise here madder (fua), a kind of 
 coarse vegetable silk, growing on trees, and mastich 
 (alk)i which is not, however, so good as that from 
 the Island of Chio." Comp. Olivier, Voyage, Tom. 
 IV. p. 270. Rauwolf, who travelled from Bagdad to 
 Aleppo by way of Mosul, at the end of the year 
 1374, speaks with admiration of the finely cultivated 
 fields on the Tigris, so fruitful in corn, wine and honey, 
 as to remind him of Rabshakeh's description in 2 Kings 
 xviii. 32. 
 
 [These accounts are confirmed by the more 
 recent observations of Rich : " The usual increase 
 of grain is about five to ten to one of seed ; fif- 
 teen is an extraordinary good crop. Last year* 
 the crops of grain were bad, and yielded only two. 
 Wheat and barley are sown alternately in the same 
 ground. They depend on the rain ;^ which mode of 
 agriculture is called dern. There. is a kind of corn 
 called bahara, which is sown in the spring, and re- 
 quires artificial irrigation. In the plains, the ground 
 is not allowed to lie fallow ; but it is relieved by al- 
 ternating the crops of wheat and barley. In the 
 hilly country, the land must rest every other year. 
 
 * Rich was in Koordistan in 1820. — IM. 
 
 ^ It must be remembered that much of the cultivation in 
 the East is watered by the help of artificial means, such as 
 aqueducts and canals. 
 
142 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 Cotton must never be sown twice running in the 
 same ground ; some crops of tobacco generally in- 
 tervene. The cotton is all of the annual kind, and 
 generally requires watering, though in the hilly 
 grounds some is grown by the means of rain. Ma- 
 nure is applied only to vines and tobacco. Rice 
 should not be sown for several years running in the 
 same ground, which, however, may be employed for 
 other grain. The rice is chiefly grown in the district 
 of Sheri-zoor. No hemp or flax is grown in Koor- 
 distan. Omar Aga told me, that this year he has 
 thrown into the ground a small quantity of flax- 
 seed which he procured from a hadgee [_i. e. pilgrim], 
 who had brought it from Egypt. Much Indian corn, 
 millet, lentiles, grain, and one or two other species of 
 pulse, are grown. The plough is drawn by two 
 bullocks. No trees of the orange or lemon will 
 flourish in Koordistan. The summer heat is, indeed, 
 more than adequate; but the winter is too severe 
 for them. The pasha lately procured some Seville 
 oranges and sweet lime plants from Bagdad for his 
 new garden ; but the first winter killed them. The 
 ricinus, or castor oil plant, is cultivated all over Koor- 
 distan ; sometimes in separate fields, sometimes mixed 
 with cotton. 
 
 " A great quantity of honey, of the finest quality, 
 is produced in Koordistan; the bees are kept in hives 
 of mud. Gall-nuts are produced in great abundance, 
 especially in the dwarf oak forest of Karadagli. 
 They are exported to Kerkook, and thence to Mousul, 
 The plant which produces gum Arabic, grows wild in 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 143 
 
 the mountains. It has a purple flower, and is called 
 ghewun. Manna* is found on the dwarf- oak, though 
 several other plants are said to produce it, but not 
 so abundantly, or of such good quality. It is collect- 
 ed by gathering the leaves of the tree,^ letting them 
 dry, and then gently threshing them on a cloth. It 
 is thus brought to market in lumps, mixed with an 
 immense quantity of fragments of leaves, from which 
 it is afterwards cleared by boiling. There is another 
 kind of manna, found on the rocks and stones, which 
 is quite pure, of a white colour, and is much more 
 esteemed than the tree manna. The manna season 
 begins in the latter end of June, at which period, 
 when a night is more than usually cool, the Koords 
 say it rains manna, and maintain that the greatest ' 
 quantity is always found in the morning after such 
 a night." — Rich's Residence in Koordistan, 2 vol. 
 London, 1836, Vol. I. p. 132, 142.] 
 
 6. I. 178. 
 
 7. XVI. 1. 
 
 8. Exped. of Alexand. VII. p. 433. 
 
 9. XXIII. 20. 
 
 10. Thus, Dionysius Periegeta.^ v. 975. 
 
 5 O 
 
 11. IKT, Nl^T i_o3>; hence ZdSarog, the name by 
 
 ^ Called in Turkish, kudret hulvassi, or the divine sweet- 
 meat ; in Arabic, muaee ; in Persian, ghezungubeen ; in Koor- 
 dish, gheto. 
 
 ^ " The manna on each leaf did pearled lie," — Fairfa^r» 
 Tasso. 
 
144 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 which the great Zab is mentioned by Xenophon 
 (Anabas. Cyri, II. 5,)* 
 
 12. Both these rivers are minutely treated of by 
 JVahl in his Asia, p. 719, et seqq. Comp. Mannert, 
 Part V. Div. 2, p. 434. 
 
 13. See Tavernier's Travels, II. 7. 
 
 14. Ninx. The Sept. expresses this name at verses 
 21, 31, by 'Aous, but at v. 15, by 'Eus/. 
 
 15. This conjecture is founded on the very slight 
 resemblance of the name Ahava to that of the river 
 Adiaba or Diaba, from which, according to Ammi- 
 anus Marcellinus, (XXIII. 20.), the Assyrian province 
 Adiabene took its name. As Adiaba or Diaba was 
 probably formed from Dsab, this river was doubtless 
 
 -the Lycus ; and that is the opinion of Junius, Grotius, 
 and Calmet. But Adiaba would be written in He- 
 brew iNin or '2.^)71, which can never have been the 
 same with Ninx. 
 
 16. In defence of the above opinion, Le Clerc 
 (Comment, on Ezra viii. 15,) has recourse to the 
 very improbable conjecture, that, to avoid the hot 
 
 = " All the Koords and people of these parts call the Zab, 
 Zerh. The Zab seems the Arabic name taken from the Chal- 
 deans. Bochart's etymology is ingenious and plausible," Rich's 
 Koordistan, Vol. II. p. 20, note. Comp. p. 407. Where he 
 crossed it (on a kellek or raft), between Arbil and Mosul, it 
 was, at its narrowest, not above 400 feet over, but about two 
 or three fathoms and a half deep. The current was very 
 rapid ; the water beautifully transparent, and of a sky-blue 
 colour. In spring, it often spreads itself over the whole plain. 
 — M. 
 
CHAP. IX.J ASSYRIA. 145 
 
 climate of southern Mesopotamia and Arabia De- 
 serta, Ezra appointed the rendezvous of the return- 
 ing exiles to be in the north of Assyria, and led them 
 into Judaea by way of Syria. 
 
 17. VI. 1. 
 
 18. muDSiN. See the last chapter, note 125. Comp. 
 Wahl's Asia, p. 627. 
 
 19. Thus, Bocharf, Geog. Sac. Part I. Lib. II. 
 ■cap. 4. 
 
 20. Yet this is doubted by Vafer, in his Comment, 
 on Gen. x. 22. 
 
 21. nbn: in Ptolemy, KaXax/r/^, in Strabo, XVI. 
 1, K-aXw/YivT^. 
 
 22. Hist. Nat. V. 12, Adiabene, Assyria an tea 
 dicta. 
 
 23. L. XXIII. Cap. 6. § 20. Juxta hunc circui- 
 tum Adiabena est, Assyria priscis temporibus vbci- 
 tata, longaque adsuetudine ad hoc translata vocabu- 
 lum ea re, quod inter Onam et Tigridem sita navi- 
 geros fluvios, adiri vado nunquam potuit : transire 
 enim dia(3umiv dicimus Graeci ; et veteres quidem 
 hoc arbitrantur. Nos autem id dicimus, quod in his 
 terris omnes sunt duo perpetui, quos et transivimus, 
 
 s. 
 
 Diabas et Adiabas (K^n, «-*.jj>^' juncti navahbus 
 pontibus; ideoque intelligi Adiabenem cognomina- 
 tam, cet. The Diaba and Adiaba are the Great and 
 Little Dsab ; see note 11. The Syrians call Adiabene 
 ,j::>^^j Chadyab. See Assemani^s Bibl. Orient. Tom. 
 III.'P. II. p. DCCVIIL In the Talmud, it is called 
 i^inn, e. g, in Moed-Katon, fol. 28. 1. !••'•-? n p N:iir, 
 a couple (of wise men) from Hadyab. In Baba- 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
146 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 bathre, fol. 26. '2, mention is made of a Ni'»nn lipys 
 Jacob from Adiabene. In Kiddushin, fol. 72. 1, is 
 found nnn, as also in the Chaldee Version, at Ezek. 
 xxvii. 23, for pi\ On the other hand, in Jer. li.27, 
 there is :i'»-irT for r^D^K. 
 
 24. Mannert, loc. cit., p. 452. 
 
 25. Maiinert, p. 456. 
 
 26. Mannert, p. 464. The province of Chalonitis, 
 which is reckoned by some as part of Assyria, be- 
 longs properly to Babylonia, (see above, p. 30) ; and 
 it is only when the name Assyria is used in a large but 
 loose sense, as including Babylonia, that Chalonitis 
 can be considered to belong to it. 
 
 27. mi-'i. 
 
 28. ni3 and ni3 signify in Heb. dwelling, abode. 
 
 TT VT 
 
 29. The designation of " Nimrod" was evidently 
 a reproachful sobriquet imposed by enemies, (see 
 chap, viii., note 114), and not his own proper name. 
 Nothing is more common among the people of the 
 east (especially the Arabs and Persians), than to ex- 
 press any peculiar trait of character by the imposi- 
 tion of a surname, by which the individual becomes 
 better known than by his original name. Of this de- 
 scription are the surnames El-Mokanna, Aswed el 
 Ansa, Saffach, Motenebbi, Hariri, Attar, Hafiz, Djez- 
 zar, &c. 
 
 30. See below, note 79. 
 
 31. See Hcrodot. I. 193 ; II. 101. Diodor, Sicul 
 II. 3. Plin. Hist. VI. 13. 
 
 32. Ammianus Marcellinus, XVIII. 16. Post- 
 quam regcs NinevCy Adiabenae civitate transmissa, in 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 147 
 
 medio pontis Anzabae hostiis csesis, extisque prospe- 
 rantibus transiere laetissimi. 
 
 33. See Vol. I. p. 68, note 25. 
 
 34. Abulfeda says, in the Description of Mesopota- 
 mia (New Repert. of Paulus, Part Ill.p.xxxi.) X]L»3\ 
 
 (f^^ »XjjS>< ^j^\ j^')i\ j^W ^ , y^ ).A<P^^\\ 
 
 \^]y^l\i " opposite Mausal, on the east bank (of the 
 Tigris), lies the destroyed city of Nineveh." And a 
 little below : ^l\ sjJlx!\ ^it> x^ ^3-^/J XJoJ^-o^ 
 
 ^ ij^^, ^f^\ ^^jV " The city of Nineveh is 
 that to which the prophet Jonah was sent — upon 
 whom be peace !" Niebitkr sei.ys, (Travels, Part II. 
 p. 353), " Before reaching Mosul from the east bank, 
 we rode through Nineveh. According to the opi- 
 nion of the Christians at Mosul, this city extended 
 from Kadikend to Jeremdja, villages which are only 
 eight or nine miles separate, and lie upon the Tigris ; 
 but the Jews maintain, that it was three days' jour- 
 ney in length. I could perceive no traces of so re- 
 markable a place till I approached the river. Here 
 a village was pointed out to me, situated on a broad 
 hill, and called Nunia, and a mosque, in which the 
 prophet Jonah is supposed to have been buried. The 
 Jews cherish a deep veneration for this grave to the 
 
 present day Another hill in this country is called 
 
 Kalla Nunia, or the Castle of Nineveh. On it lies a 
 village, Koindjug. At Mosul, where I lived close 
 upon the Tigris, they pointed out to me the walls of 
 Nineveh, which I would have taken for a range of 
 
148 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 hills." Comp. Rauwolf's Travels, p. 244. Taver- 
 nier. Part I. Book II. chap. 4. Ives, Part II. Oli- 
 vier, Voyages, Tom. IV. p. 283 — Diodorus Siculus, 
 (II. 3.), following Ctesias, erroneously places Nine- 
 veh on the Euphrates, contrary to the express testi- 
 mony of Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny and Ptolemy, (see 
 Wesseling in loc), as well as to the traditions of the 
 country. 
 
 35. It is mentioned by Niebuhr among the places 
 lying on the east bank of the Tigris, and south of 
 Mosul. He says: " At Nimrud, a ruined castle, 
 about eight leagues from Mosul, there is a dam built 
 into the Tigris from both sides, for the purpose of 
 leading off as much water as is necessary for irrigat- 
 ing the neighbouring country. This has not the ap- 
 pearance of a Mahommedan structure, and must 
 therefore have resisted the rapid stream for several 
 thousand years." [See Rich, as cited under note 1.] 
 
 36. The opinion of the travellers mentioned in 
 note 34, is controverted by Otter, (Voyage, Tom I. 
 ch. xiii. p. 133), who maintains, according to the tra- 
 dition preserved by the inhabitants of Mosul, that 
 Nineveh stood on the west bank of the Tigris, on the 
 site of Eski-Mosul (Old-Mosul), nine leagues north of 
 the present town of that name, (see Niebuhr, Joe. cit. 
 p. 377.) But this seems to have been merely the 
 opinion of a single Mahommedan doctor. Mannert, 
 likewise, (loc. cit. p. 441), places ancient Nineveh on 
 the west side of the Tigris, but much farther south, to- 
 wards Babylon. He thinks that the town, on the east 
 bank, which is called Nineveh by Ptolemy and other 
 ancient writers, did not, in reality, bear that name, but 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 149 
 
 was Larissa. This opinion rests upon certain falla- 
 cies, into the exposure of which we cannot here enter. 
 Comp. Schulthess, Das Paradies, p. 116. 
 
 [Towards the end of last centur}', Campbell of Bar- 
 breck published a " Journey Overland to India," in 
 which, along with much worthless matter, there are 
 occasional illustrations of Scripture. He thus writes 
 of the site of ancient Nineveh : his allusion to the 
 excessive heat will recal the history of Jonah. 
 
 " It was early in the evening, when the pointed 
 turrets of the city of Mosul opened on our view, and 
 communicated no very unpleasant sensations to my 
 heart. I found myself on Scripture ground, and 
 could not help feeling some portion of the pride of 
 the traveller, when I reflected that I was now within 
 sight of Nineveh, renowned in holy writ. The city 
 is seated in a very barren sandy plain, on the banks 
 of the Tigris. The external view of the town is 
 much in its favour, being encompassed with stately 
 walls of solid stone, over which the steeples or mina- 
 rets, and other lofty buildings, are shewn with in- 
 creased effect. Here I first saw a caravan encamped, 
 halting on its march from the Gulf of Persia to Ar- 
 menia ; and it certainly made a most noble appear- 
 ance, filling the eye with a multitude of grand objects, 
 all uniting to form one magnificent whole. 
 
 " But though the outside be so beautiful, the inside 
 is most detestable : the heat is so intense, that in the 
 middle of the day there is no stirring out, and even 
 at night the walls of the houses are so heated by the 
 day's sun, as to produce a disagreeable heat to the 
 body at a foot or even a yard distance from them. 
 
150 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 However, I entered it with spirits, because I con- 
 sidered it as the last stage of the worst part of my 
 pilgrimage. But, alas ! I was disappointed in my ex- 
 pectation ; for the Tigris was dried up by the in- 
 tensity of the heat, and an unusual long drought, and 
 I was obhged to take the matter with a patient shrug, 
 and accommodate my mind to a journey on horse- 
 back Besides this, the ordinary heat of the cli- 
 mate is extremely dangerous to the blood and lungs, 
 and even to the skin, which it blisters and peels from 
 the flesh, affecting the eyes so much, that travellers 
 are obhged to wear a transparent covering over them 
 to keep the heat off." — Campbell's Journey Overland 
 to India. Part II. p. 130.] 
 
 37. In Jon. iii. 3, it is termed " a great city of 
 God." On this expression see our present volume, 
 Ciiap. VIII. note 112. According to Herodotus (I. 
 178), Babylon was 480 stadia in circuit, and the 
 same extent is ascribed to Nineveh by Diodorus 
 Siculus, who adds : rrjXixaurrjv di rroXiv oudsig 'uffrs^ov 
 sxr/cs xarc6 rs rb fj.syi^og rov <rz^i(36Xo'j, xal rr^v rrsPi rb 
 rsr^o; /j.iyaXor^sTiiav. Strabo, on the other hand, ex- 
 pressly says (XVI. 1, 3): N/i/o; i] rroXig toXu /xe/^wi/ 
 riv TT^g BalSuXwog. Comp. Jos. Matt. Hase's (Pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics at Wittenberg): Demagnitudine 
 comparata et determinata urbium, quae propter mag- 
 nitudinem celebres habentur, potissimum in antiquitate 
 itemque nostris temporibus inquisitio, p. 2'2, of his 
 Regni Davidici et Salomonei Descriptio, Nuremberg, 
 1739, fol. 
 
 38. tD^72'' liwh)v -|bnD. Some, as Hase (loc. cit.), 
 understand this of the length of the city, which seems 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 151 
 
 countenanced by Jon. iii. 4, where it is said that 
 Jonah " went into the city a day's journey. 
 
 39. 11. 3. 
 
 40. Diodor. Sic. ut antea. 
 
 40». Diodor. Sic. II. 26. ^Hv ov avruj Xoyiov 'rra^a.- 
 dsbofi'svov S7C 'H'^oyovuv ort rriv N/i'ov ojdsig 'iXri xard xgarog, 
 
 lav fMYl 'TT^OTB^OV 6 TOTa/j/og rp 'TTOXSI y\\Yi7(ll 'KohkiMog. 
 
 Some expositors have conjectured, and not without 
 probability, that there is a reference to this circum- 
 stance in the prediction of the downfal of Nineveh 
 by the prophet Nahum. Thus in ch. i. 8, " with an 
 overflowing flood he will make a full end," and in 
 ch. ii. 6, " The stream breaks through the gates, and 
 down falls the palace." Yet in the former passage a 
 destroying flood may represent the number and im- 
 petuosity of the besieging army. 
 
 41. Annall. L. XII. Cap. 13. Tramissoque amne 
 Tigri, permeant Adiabenos. Sed capta in tran- 
 situ urbs Ninos, vetustissima sedes Assyriae. 
 
 42. L. XVIII. Cap. 7. Postquam reges Nineve 
 Adiabenae ingenti civitate transmissa rel. L. XXIII. 
 Cap. 6, § 22. In hac Adiabenae Ninus est ci vitas, 
 quae olim Persidis regna possederat, nomen Nini, 
 potentissimi quondam regis, Semiramidis mariti, de- 
 
 *^larans. A castle of Nineveh, cfJ^/o . . yo^? ^^ 
 
 mentioned in the thirteenth century, by Abulfaraj, in 
 the Arabian Chronicle (Histor. Dynast. p,404, 441), 
 and in the Syrian, p. 464. 
 
 43. ^'•j; nin^. 
 
 44. Not " streets of the city," i. e. of Nineveh, for 
 in this case, as is correctly remarked by JBochartt 
 
152 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 (Phaleg. IV. 21, p. 289), it would have been nin^ 
 *T»rn, the article being required before the second 
 noun. See Gesenius Lehrgeb. p. 660. Comp. J. D 
 Michaelis, Spicileg. Geogr. Hebr. Exter. Part I. p 
 241. 
 
 45. Thus Bochart, loc. cit. along with the LXX, 
 rriv *Pou(3(>j^ croX/i/, Saadias, X>.^ J\ Xjj.i* and the Arab 
 translation, published by Erpenius, JvXa!! dJa-j^-^j 
 In like manner, the town in Boeotia, famous for the 
 defeat of the Persians, was called Plataea, UXaraiai 
 (for 'zXanTai), q. d. " streets." 
 
 46. The Samaritan translator has rendered nin^i 
 ■T»y by plaD. An Assyrian city, Sittake, from which 
 one of the southernmost provinces of Assyria was 
 called Sittakene, is mentioned bj-^ Ptolemy (VI. 1), 
 who places it far to the east of the Tigris. It must 
 have therefore been a different town of the same name 
 through which Xenophon passed (Anabas. II. 47), on 
 the east bank of the Tigris, probably on the site of 
 old Bagdad. But whether either of these places was 
 in the eye of the Samaritan translator (who shews but 
 little acquaintance with geography) is very uncertain. 
 A place called Recliohoth on the Euphrates^^ mirr'i 
 "inan, is mentioned in Gen.xxxvi. 37, as the birth- 
 place of Saul, a prince of the Edomites. But, as 
 Bochart observes, (loc. cit.), this could not have been 
 the Rechoboth in question, as the locality was too far 
 Tom Assyria. Yet Schulthess (Des Paradies, p. 1 17), 
 
 * Literally, " Rechoboth of the river," or " by the river," 
 as in the authorized vei'sion.— 31. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. l^^ 
 
 holds Rechoboth Ir, to have been the same as the Re- 
 choboth of Saul. Bochart supposes the former place 
 to have been that which is called by Ptolemy, Birtha, 
 and by Ammianus Marcellinus (XX. 7, 17), Virta : 
 (Virtam adoriri disposuit [Sapores], monimentum 
 valde vetustum .... in extremo quidem Mesopotamiae 
 situm etc.). But this rests merely upon the slight re- 
 semblance of the name to the Chaldee word Knm 
 (pronounced Beritha, but it ought, no doubt, to be 
 sounded Baraitha), which in the Talmud, signifies 
 " a street," like the Heb. nn^. And, besides the 
 weakness of this analogy, Rechoboth Ir lay on the 
 east side of the Tigris, in Assyria, and not on the 
 MTst side, in Mesopotamia or Babylonia. Michaelis 
 (loc. cit. p. 243), follows Ephrem the Syrian, who, 
 in his Comment, takes Rechoboth Ir for Chadyab 
 i. e. Adiabene. See above note 23. He must be 
 understood as merely conjecturing that it lay in the 
 province of Adiabene, for a town of that name is 
 nowhere mentioned. Michaelis, indeed, endeavours 
 to find one in the passage adduced from Ammianus 
 Marcellinus (XVIII. 7), in note 42. He quotes : 
 Reges Ninive, Adiabene ingenti civitate transmissa 
 
 transiere laetissimi, and then adds : habemus 
 
 ergo hie Adiabenen, ingentem civitatem, in Assyria 
 maxime propria non procul ab aliquo Zabi fluminis 
 ponte sitam, sed nostris geographis ignotam, et cujus 
 rudera nemo adhuc, quantum scio, descripsit. But 
 in the above cited passage of Ammianus, we must 
 read throughout AdiahencB or Adiabe?ies, so that the 
 " ingens civitas," is Nineveh. 
 47. nbD. 
 
154 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 48. XI. 4, 8: XI. 13, 12. It is there said, that 
 Armenus, with the colonists he led forth, dwelt between 
 Atilisine and Syspiritis, sug KaXa^avri; zai ' A5/a/3r/v^5, 
 s^w Tuv ' A^fjbsviay,u)v o^uv: and at the beginning of Book 
 XVI. XaXaxrivri is mentioned among the provinces of 
 Assyria. 
 
 49. VI. 1. KaXaTi/vri. 
 
 50. nbrr. Michaelisy in his Spicileg. Geogr. Part 
 I. p. 245, alleges as a reason why nbD and nbn can- 
 not be identical, that the t\vo letters n and 3 are 
 never found interchanged. But this is not correct, as 
 had previously been shewn by Bochart, loc. cit. Part 
 I. Lib, IV. cap. 22, p. 291, who brings forward several 
 instances of such a commutation. Thus in the Second 
 Targum at Esth. vi. 12, there is ^iDnnK for r^Danx, 
 " to be cast down." In Arabic, both > jS and , ^- i;. 
 signify " to lay aside, to hoard up treasure." Other ex- 
 amples will be found in Gesenius' Lexicon, under the 
 letter D. 
 
 51. ^^:x^^^ rr^'^-; ( . \^y^' ^^® Assema?ini's 
 Bibl. Orient. Tom. III. Part II. p. 418, et seqq., and 
 Abu/feda in Busching's Magazine, Part IV. p. 262, 
 who makes the distance of this place from Bagdad 
 five days' journey.* 
 
 * '•' Holwan est ultima urbium 'Iracae ; inde adscenditur ad 
 el-Gebal. Fructuuin ceterorum omnium ficus copiosissimas 
 profert ; neque in 'Iraca est urbs quae prope accedat ad 
 montem, praeter banc, et cadunt in monte ejus nives. Et Ibn 
 Haucal utique dicit : Holwan est urbs in pede montis, qui im- 
 minet 'Iracae, ibique sunt pahnae et ficus celebres ; nix ab ea 
 abest unius diei itinere. Et dicit in el-^Moschtareko ; Holwan 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 155 
 
 52. J. D. Michaelis (Spicileg. Part I., 245), follows 
 Ephrem the Syrian, who, in his Comment, at Gen. x. 
 11, takes vh'D for j^^^^ Chetro. But as there were 
 two places of this name, one in Mesopotamia, on the 
 west bank of the Tigris, and another in Maraga, not 
 far from the source of the Lycus, quite in the east of 
 Assyria, Michaelis takes nbs for the latter of these 
 places. Com p. Assemanrii, loc. cit. Tom III. Part I. 
 p. 485, and Part II. p. 709. But Ephrem probably 
 intended rather the Chetro of Mesopotamia, not far 
 from Takrit. Comp. the extracts from the Syrian 
 lexicographers Bar-Bahlul, and Bar-Ali, in the Pre- 
 face to Gesenius' Heb. Lexicon, p. 24 of the second 
 Edit. This Chetro is doubtless the Chatra-charta of 
 Ptolemy (VI. 1.) i. e. ND^p N^IDH, " the city Chatra." 
 Abulfeda mentions it in his description of Mesopota- 
 mia (in Paulus Repertor, Part III. p. 30), under the 
 name of ^^ ^y El-Chatr, with the remark, that it 
 was an ancient, but then desolate town, and that there 
 was also a city of the same name between Mecca and 
 Medina. The opinion of Saadias, that Kalach was 
 Obolla, a place on the Shat-el-Arab, near Bassora, is 
 quite untenable. 
 
 53. ron. Comp. above, chap. viii. note 74. The 
 LXX. have read TDI, with daleth, for they write, 
 Aa(rs,a. Assemanni (Bibl. Or. Tom= III. Part II. p. 
 743), mentions an Assyrian city of a very similar name, 
 
 m,, Dasena, which was the see of a bishop, who was 
 
 est iiltimus limes 'Iracae a regione Gebal ; inter earn et Bag- 
 dadum est iter quinque dierum. Holwan est quoque pagus 
 super el-Fas'ta't ad duas parasangas, imminens Nilo." Wus- 
 tenfeld's Abulfeda, p. 20 M. 
 
156 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 a suffragan of the Metropolitan of Adiabene. Yet 
 the rest of the ancient translators who have preserved 
 the Hebrew name, write it with the ^ resh. [See the 
 note from Rich, at p. 174.] 
 
 54. Phaleg. Lib. IV. cap. 23, p. 291. 
 
 55. Book III. cap. 3. 
 
 56. Besides this Assyrian Larissa, there were nine 
 of ten towns of this name in Western Asia and Greece. 
 See the Index to Cellarii Notit. Orbis Antiqui. 
 
 57. n^j. If Ressin were the same town as Rish- 
 Ain (which, however, is doubtful ; see the next note), 
 then it would not be improbable that the former name 
 was an abbreviated mode of pronouncing the original 
 name, .\ ..a^j, Rish-Ain, which words signify "ca- 
 put fontis." For Ephrem says, in his Comment, at 
 Gen. X. 12, that ji»; Rassa, which he puts for the He- 
 brew ro"! (the Peschito has ^;)' "^^'^^ .\ . •. ;. and 
 Assemanni remarks (ibid. p. 709), that Ephrem did 
 not here mean the Rish-Ain, lying in Mesopotamia, 
 but another in Assyria, beyond the Tigris, " quae 
 Thomae Margensi in historia monastica dicitur ^ai-J 
 j.^pc> I;.^.^:^? J^msuDj JA-;-o .v Rhesiiiy vicus Saph- 
 saphre, in regione Margae." 
 
 58. Immediately after the words quoted at the end 
 of the foregoing note, Asseman7ii adds : in Chronico 
 Dionysii, Jacobitarum Patriarchae, ad annum 772, in- 
 ter urbes regionis Mosulanae, quae Arabes depopulati 
 feruntur, recensetur ^^jdJ, quam esse Resen Scripturae, 
 nullus dubito. Ibi enini conjungitur cum Bethgarma, 
 Hasa, Marga, Chonizapor, Coch et Salacha, quae sunt 
 urbes Assyriae. It is not clear whether the Rish-Ain 
 of Ephrem and the Ressin of Assemanni be different 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 157 
 
 towns, or only different names for the same town. 
 Assemaiini seems to incline to the latter opinion ; and 
 Michaelis (Spicileg. Part I. p. 248), has no doubt of 
 it, and, moreover, builds upon the meaning of " Rish- 
 Ain," ( caput fontis )^ the supposition that Resen lay- 
 not far from Schehrezur, where the river Diala has 
 its source, between Nineveh and Maraga. Yet it is 
 more likely that Rish-Ain and Ressin, M'ere different 
 places.* 
 
 59. ^fe.K!!, cjfiaa2:^5 lii Asseman?ii, Tom. III. Part 
 
 I. p. 352, note. 
 
 60. Niehuhr's Travels, Part II. p. 352. 
 
 61. This is Eichhorn*s opinion in his Introduct. 
 Part III. § 585, p. 317 of the third edit. 
 
 62. Jerome says (Comment, on Nahum, i. 1.) 
 Helcesei, usque hodie in Gahlaea viculus est, parvus 
 quidem, et vix minis veterum aedificiorum indicans 
 vestigia, sed tamen notus Judaeis, et mihi quoque a 
 circumducente monstratus. 
 
 63. Jahn (in his Introd. Part II. p. 509,) takes 
 Elkesei, in Galilee, for the birth-place of Nahum, and 
 Elkush, in Assyria, for a town built in later times, as 
 it is mentioned by no ancient writer. But where 
 have we a complete description of Assyria by any 
 ancient writer? [It appears from Rich's work on 
 Kourdistan, that there is still a town, Al-Kosh, 
 near Baadli, the capital of the Yezids, (Vol. II. 
 p. 88, 9). It is entirely inhabited by Chaldasans. 
 
 ^ ^' Resin or Ras-ul-Ain, i. e. head of the waters, is an old place 
 and convent under the mountain, at the farthest extremity of 
 the vale of Naoker (near JMosul)." Rich's Koordistan, Vol. 
 
 II. p. 81 M. 
 
158 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 On the right of it, about a mile higher up the moun- 
 tain, is the Chaldaean convent of Rabban Hormuz, 
 of which a very striking view is given by Rich (Vol. 
 II. p. 99). The people of Al-kosh are a very stout 
 independent set, and can muster about 400 mus- 
 keteers, (p. 100). He adds (p. Ill), " I am ashamed 
 to say, a very remarkable circumstance had escaped 
 my notice until 1 was made aware of it to-day by 
 Matran Hanna. Al-kosh was the birth-place of the 
 prophet Nahum, and also his burial-place. His tomb 
 is still shewn there, and Jews from all parts come on 
 pilgrimage to it. I must here remark, that the Jews 
 are generally to be trusted for local antiquities. Their 
 pilgrimage to a spot is almost a sufficient test.* From 
 Al-kosh people go in seven days to Urmiah ; viz. two 
 to A madia, two to Julamerk, three to Urmiah."] 
 
 64. Straboy XVI. I, 3. Comp. Cellarius Notit. 
 Orbis Antiq. Tom. II. Lib. III. Cap. 17, § 15. 
 
 65. Arrian, III. 15. Curtius IV. 9 : V. 1. 
 
 o 
 
 66. ^i \' See Schultens Index Geogr. to his 
 
 ^ £ 
 
 Edit, of the " Vita Saladini" under Arbela; and 
 Iracae Persicae Descriptio [by Abulfeda], Edit. Uylen- 
 broek, p. 54 of the Arab. text. 
 
 67. Travels, Part II. p. 342: ♦' On the I4th of 
 March (1766) we travelled three and a half [German] 
 miles, as far as Arbil \ajJ\. This is no doubt the 
 
 ' Marius, iii a letter to Busbequius, quoted in Assemanni, 
 speaks of Alcus (Alkosh) as the country of Nahum the pro- 
 phet, and celebrated, both by Jews and Christians, as contain- 
 ing his tomb Assemann. 1. p. 525. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 159 
 
 same place as Arbela, which became famous from 
 the battle between Alexander and Darius. It had, 
 for many years, its own hereditary Mahommedau 
 princes, whose territory extended into Persia as far 
 as Tauris. The town was then very large, and had 
 a castle on a lofty eminence. At present there are 
 the remains of this castle (but without a wall), and 
 some houses, on the brow of the hill, built of burnt 
 brick ; but below the hill, where stood the former 
 city, are only a few mean cottages." 
 
 [The following is a more recent description by Rich : 
 " We mounted again at twelve, and travelling in a 
 north direction, at half-past one came in sight of 
 Arbil, bearing N. 10 E. ; soon after which I took a 
 sketch of it [given in his work], the view of the high 
 fiat mount, probably the burial-place of the Arsacidae, 
 crowned by a castle, and backed by the Carduchian 
 mountains, being really very impressive. The people 
 of Arbil are Koords and Turks. All around are 
 ruins or rather heaps of rubbish. Remains of the 
 wall and ditch are traceable. The town was once 
 evidently very large, probably about the size of mo- 
 dern Bagdad. Arbil is situated at the foot of the 
 artificial mount, principally on the south side, and 
 contains a bath, caravanserais and bazaars. Some 
 portion of the town is situated on the Mount, or what 
 is called the Castle. On the east, or a little north of 
 the town, is a hollow called the Valley of Tchekunem, 
 where it is said Tamerlane's tent was pitched when 
 he besieged Arbil. A holy sheikh of Arbil struck a 
 panic into his array, which began to disperse ; and 
 Tamerlane is reported to havB cried out in Persian, 
 
160 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 *' Tchekunem?" that is, " What shall I do?" and this 
 gave name to the valley or hollow. 
 
 The artificial mount on which the castle of Arbil 
 stands, is, I conjecture, about 130 feet high, and 300 
 or 400 yards in diameter. It was once, doubtless, 
 inuch higher, and it is probable the summit of it was 
 mined by Caracalla. Some time ago, when Hagee 
 Abdulla Bey was building on this mount, he dug up 
 a sepulchre, in which was a body laid in state, quite 
 perfect, the features fully recognizable ; but it fell to 
 dust shortly after it had been exposed to the air. If, 
 as I believe, this was the burial place of Arsacidae, 
 may not this have been the body of a Parthian king? 
 Hajee Cossim Bey informed me that the interior of 
 the mount is divided into compartments by brick 
 work, composed of large bricks, with no inscriptions 
 on them, as he ascertained by digging into it from a 
 sirdaub or cellar in his house, which stands in the 
 castle." Rich's Koordistan, Vol. II. p. 14—18. No. 
 I. of his Appendix, contains Astronomical Observa- 
 tions made at Arbil, and No. II. " Notes on the Battle 
 of Arbela."] 
 
 68. bKl^N n^l. 
 
 69. See the Hebrew Lexicons, under rT"!. 
 
 70. Antiq. XIV. 15. Jewish War, I. 16. 2. 
 
 71. ^iin. Chabor. 
 
 72. VI. 1, Xa(3u)aac to hog. On the double river 
 Chaboras, see the passage from Yakuti in Schultc.ns'' 
 Geogr. Index to the Life of Saladin. Comp. WahPs 
 Asia, p. 718. 
 
 73. ^iD, Chebar. Ezek. i. 3 ; iii. 15, 23. 
 
 74. Comp. RennelVs Geogr. of Herodotus. Some 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 161 
 
 take Gosan for a country of Northern Mesopotamia, 
 the Gauzanitis of Ptolemy (VI. 18.) But the " cities 
 of Media" (which are mentioned along with Chalach, 
 Chabor and Gozan, 2 Kings xvii.6,) point to a more 
 distant region. 
 73. T«p. Kir. 
 
 76. See Michaelis, Spicileg. Part II. p. 121, and 
 Suppl. ad Lexx. p. 2191. Comp. WafiFs Asia, p. 
 766. Rennelly ut supra. 
 
 77. See Busching's Magazin, Part X. p. 420. 
 
 78. ^ ^Vi^^S' Wahl, loc. cit. p. 472. Bo- 
 chart, (Geogr. Sac. Part I. Lib. IV. cap. 32), tliinks 
 that "T^p is the Koy5;^i/a of Ptolemy, a city in the in- 
 terior of Media, on the river Mardus or Amardus, 
 which runs into the Caspian Sea, Yet he adds: 
 Nisi quis Iberiam intelligi malit et regionem ad Cy- 
 rum fluvinm. 
 
 79. The Hebrew words in Gen.x. II, N'lnn 'j>"iMn"]72 
 m3''i-nK p^l "i^U'K KiJS are rendered by Luther after 
 several ancient translators:^ "Out of that land 
 (Shinar, i. e. Babylonia) then Ciime Assur, and built 
 Nineveh." But the correct rendering is, without doubt, 
 the following: " Out of this land (Shinar) went he 
 forth (2. e. Nimrod, who is mentioned immediately be- 
 fore), into Assyria and built Nineveh." It maybe argu- 
 ed in favour of this translation : — First, That it would 
 be singular to find Asshur, a son of Shem (ver. 22,) 
 introduced into the genealogy of Ham's posterity-, to 
 
 ^ So our English Version : " Out of that land went forth 
 Asshur, and builded Nineveh." But the margin has, " or, 
 he went out into Assyria." — M. 
 
 VOL. II. M 
 
162 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 which Nimrod belonged. No less singular would it 
 be, in the second place, were an action of Asshur 
 (ver. 11) mentioned previous to his birth, (ver. 22.) 
 Thirdly^ The circumstance of Asshur having left one 
 country to settle in another, would scarcely have de- 
 served notice, as this was, in fact, true of almost all 
 the descendants of Noah. But if we understand the 
 words as referring to Nimrod, according to the above 
 translation, then both verses are seen to have a na- 
 tural and obvious connection. " The beginning of 
 his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Chalneh, 
 in the land of Shinar \ but he subsequently extend- 
 ed his empire, " and went forth from that land 
 (Shinar) to Assyria," which he conquered, *' and 
 built Nineveh," &c. No doubt would have existed 
 as to the correctness of this rendering, had the writer, 
 instead of "i1\i;n, used nTJ^yx, with the final n locale. 
 But it is well known that the addition of the n locale 
 is often dispensed with, (see instances in Noldius' 
 Concordant. Particul. p. 223, ed. Tyrap.) ; and it is 
 the less necessary here, as verbs signifying, " to go 
 to a place," are construed with the corresponding 
 nouns in the accusative. See Gesenius Lehrgeb. d. 
 Heb. Sprache, p. 685 and 808. 
 
 80. In Died. Sicul. II. 1, etc. 
 
 81. See above. Chap. VIII. Notes 29 and III. 
 
 82. According to this writer, he conquered the 
 whole of Western Asia, Babylonia and Media; and 
 at length his dominion extended from the Nile to the 
 Tanais, that is, from south to north. Attacking tlu- 
 Bactrians with an army of nearly two millions of 
 men, he was at first defeated, but afterwards retricvml 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 1G3 
 
 his losses, and laid siege to Oxyartes in Bactria, yet 
 for a long time to no purpose. Then appeared Se- 
 miramis, daughter of the goddess Derketo, — nourish- 
 ed by doves, and vying with goddesses in beauty and 
 understanding, — and showed him the way to effect 
 the capture of the city. The king was enchanted 
 with the heroine's beauty, and married her. After 
 a reign of fifty-two years, he died, having been, ac- 
 cording to Dinon, (in ^lian. Var. Hist. VII. 1), 
 murdered by the queen. She succeeded him in the 
 government, disguised, as some maintain, like her 
 son Ninyas. She built Babylon in an incredibly 
 short space of time, and likewise several other towns 
 (chiefly for commerce) on the Euphrates and Tigris ; 
 she erected an obelisk on the great road of the em- 
 pire, laid out an extensive park at Mount Bagista- 
 num in Media, and caused the statue of herself, with 
 a hundred guards, to be hewn out at the foot of the 
 mountain, and an inscription to be engraven on the 
 rock. (These monuments are still extant at the 
 mountain Bisutun, between Holwan and Ecbatana.)^ 
 She moreover caused a great lake to be dug for 
 leading off the Euphrates, formed several spacious 
 gardens, supplied Ecbatana with water, beautified 
 that city, and made roads be ingeniously cut through 
 the mountains, &c. She conquered the greatest part 
 of Libya and ^^thiopia, then made war against an 
 Indian prince with a great army and a fleet on the 
 Indus ; but here she was defeated, and died, — ac- 
 cording to some, in the battle — accorditig to others, 
 soon after The Semiramis raeiitioned by Hero- 
 
 ^ See Vol. I. p. :510.— r»I. 
 
164 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 dotus (I. 184), as having flourished about two hun- 
 dred years before Cyrus, must have been different 
 from this. Volney has attempted to ascertain the 
 historical facts regarding Semiramis from these tra- 
 ditions, in his Recherches Nouvelles sur I'Histoire 
 Ancienne, P. III. Ch. 8. p. 79. 
 
 83. The sources whence the facts of ancient As- 
 sjTian History must be drawn, in the absence of na- 
 tive historians, are the Old Tfistament, Herodotus, 
 and Ctesias. It is no easy matter to reconcile the 
 two latter with the first, or with each other. It is 
 not likely that Ctesias had read Herodotus, or has 
 had it in view to rectify his mistakes, for nothing of 
 this is hinted at by Diodorus Siculus, who some- 
 times gives the accounts of both writers (£■. g. II. 32), 
 and leaves the reader to decide for himself. As 
 these two historians, in speaking of the origin and 
 duration of the Assyrian and Median empires, — 
 though they both pretend to draw from authentic 
 sources — contradict each other as grossly as if they 
 were writing of different countries, — we have, in our 
 sketch of the history of Assyria, been guided by the 
 few but sure lights afforded by the Old Testament 
 Scripture. 
 
 84. bl3. Gesenius, in his Lexion, takes tiiis to 
 be identical with V^^ K^^ , an elephant^ — a name, 
 however, whicii might rather be expected to desig- 
 nate an Indinii, than an Assyrian monarch. The 
 syllable Pal, Pil, Pul, which occurs in several names 
 of Assyrian kings, is probably from the Persian, 
 ■^l.j Bala, " high, exalted,'' and ma}' have belonged 
 to the title which those kings bore. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 165 
 
 85. Hoseasays, (cli. v. 13): 
 
 When Epliraim felt his sickness, 
 
 And Judah his wound : 
 
 Then went Ephraim to Assur, 
 
 And Judah to a king who might fight for him. 
 
 And again, ch. x. 6, in speaking of the golden 
 calf, which was worshipped as an idol : 
 
 And this also shall be carried away to Assyi'ia, 
 As a present to the king who defends Ephraim.* 
 
 88. ^DNb3 n^:in, nobD n:3bn, 2 Kings xvi. 7, 
 "iDX3b3 njibn, 1 Chron. v. 6, and TDibs n:ibn, 
 1 Chron. v. 26. The second word added to the 
 original name is, according to Lorsbaclis probable 
 conjecture, (Archiv. fiir Morgenl. Literat. Part II. 
 p. 247), equivalent to the Persian ^^"^Lj " great or 
 exalted prince" — from ^\^ high, exalted and ^^ 
 chief , prince. Of the first word, nb:in or n^bn, no 
 plausible explanation can be given from the modern 
 Persian. Von JBohlen explains the name Thiglath- 
 
 pileser by . j,^ J,aj «>J «.«J : Tiglad-pil-adser, gla- 
 
 dius intrepidus (est) elephas ignis, i. e. Dei (Symbolae, 
 p. 24). But this appears for-fetched ; besides that it 
 
 cannot be shown that y,\ or •] Fire, though a 
 symbol of tlie divinity, and the object of worship, was 
 ever used as a name of God. 
 
 '* In both these places, our English Version has " King 
 Jareb." But though that be obviously incorrect, it is not so 
 easy to discover the true interpretation. — I\J. 
 
166 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 87. See above, at note 75. 
 
 88. On the identity of these names, in so far as 
 they designate the same monarch, see Ilgen on Tobit 
 i. 2, note g. Vo7i JBohlen (loc. cit. p. 23,) explains 
 
 the name "iDK3)2bu; from the Persian '\ , , ^Lo wti 
 Scharman-azer, verecundus erga ignem. 
 
 89. See Menander of Ephesus in Josephus Ar- 
 chaeol. IX. 14. 2. 
 
 90. The name li:iiD is explained by Von Bohlen 
 
 (loc. cit.) from . y^jj Sergun, gold- coloured. Ge- 
 senius, (Lexicon, p. 540, 2nd Edit.), conjectures 
 AJ^^ yAM Serdjauneh, " Prince of the Sun." 
 
 91. n^^in^D, in Herodotus II. 141. 2avap/ac;/3oc, 
 jSac/XsOg 'A^a/S/wy n xai ^ AffffuPtoov, Comp. Gesenius* 
 Comment, on Isaiah xxxvi. 1. p. 938. He there tries 
 to explain the name from the Persian words , , ^ 
 Serif holy, and Jsjyb Herid or tXjyfc Herbed, most 
 reverend, or a priest, i. e. " most holy priest." But 
 in his Lexicon, (p. 536 of the second Edit.), he has 
 adopted Von JBoklen's interpretation (loc. cit. p. 26), 
 
 viz. from e_»w::S"'L>w« Sangerb, " Splendour of the con- 
 queror." 
 
 92. These accounts are given by Berosus in the 
 Armenian Translation of Eusebius' Chronicle. See 
 Gesenius Comment, on Isaiah (p. 999, et seqq.) where 
 it is likewise observed, that Arrian (Exped. of Alex. 
 II. 5), and Strabo (XIV. 4, 8) ascribe the erection 
 of the cities of Anchiale and Tarsus in Cilicia to 
 Sardanapalus, and that there was shown there, even 
 in the time of Alexander, a statue of that monarch in 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 167 
 
 stone, Avith an Assyrian inscription. The identity 
 of Sennacherib and Sardanapalus has likewise been 
 maintained by Ditmar in his Hist, of the Israelites 
 till the time of Cyrus, p. 317. No doubt what Cte- 
 sias relates (in Diod. Sic. II. 24) about Belesis, vice- 
 roy or governor of Babylonia, stirring up, first, his 
 friend the king of Arabia [Hezekiah], and then Ar- 
 baces the Mede against Sardanapalus, suits very well 
 what is mentioned in the Old Testament of Mero- 
 dach Baladan. See the last chap, note 121. But, on 
 the other hand, the narrative of Ctesias, regarding 
 the death of Sardanapalus and his being the last 
 king of Assyria, does not agree with the Bible ac- 
 counts of Sennacherib. Yet, perhaps, •' Sardanapa- 
 lus" was a royal title, common to more than one Assy- 
 rian monarch, q. d. "^L* Lib y.s) Sar-dana-bala, i. e. 
 " wise, exalted prince."^ In this case, it is quite pos- 
 sible that Ctesias may have, by mistake, mixed up 
 the transactions of two reigns, and thrown them into 
 one. As to the general credit due to his accounts 
 of Assyrian history, see note 95 below. 
 
 93. With this agrees what Moses of Chorene re- 
 lates in his Armenian History (I. 22, p. 60), from an 
 old MS. found by Mar Ibas in the library at Nineveh, 
 and translated out of the Chaldee, viz. that the sons 
 of Sen:icherim (who reigned in the time of Heze- 
 kiah), Adramel and Sanasar, after they had murder- 
 ed their father, found an asylum with Skaiord, the 
 king of Armenia. And to Sanasar was given by 
 
 ^ Winer concurs in this opinionj Bibl. Diction. I. p. 122. 
 Comp. Suidas in voc. — 3J. 
 
168 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 Skaiord the district of Mount Sim, wliicli was peopled 
 by his posterity. 
 
 94. 'j'nn"'nDK* No plausible explanation of this 
 name from the Persian has yet been found. In 
 Tobit i. 21, the name is written in the Vatican MS, 
 '^ayj^oovhg, in the Alexandrian ^.ayzoodiv. In the 
 " Itala" version it is Archedonassar ; in the Syriac 
 translation of Tobit, it is jo^o^*^^ Sarchedonzor. 
 In the canon of Ptolemy he is called Asaradinus. 
 Conip. Gesenius' Comment, on Isaiah, p. 977, 1002. 
 Whether " the great and famous Osnappar" [Asnap- 
 per] (Nn"'p''1 Ni"i n32DK), who sent colonies out of 
 several Assyrian provinces to Samaria, was a governor 
 or a general of Esarhaddon, or was that king himself 
 under a peculiar name, it is impossible to determine. 
 
 95. See Ctesias in Diodor. Sicul. II. 24—27. Ac- 
 cording to Moses of Chorene (loc. cit. p. 55), Paroir 
 was the last Armenian prince who lived under the 
 Ass^a-ian rule. He was an auxiliary to the Mede 
 Varbak (Arbaces) in the overthrow of Sardanapalus. 
 Paroir was the son of Skaiord mentioned in note 93, 
 as the cotemporary of Sennacherib. From this cir- 
 cumstance, the brothers Whiston, (in a note to Moses 
 of Chorene, j*. CO), draw the following just inference ; 
 Si Armeniae impeiitaverit Scaeordius, quo tempore 
 Sennacherimus, Assyriorum rex, occisus fuit, et si Pa- 
 roerus, Scaeordii lilius, Sardanapalo regnante vixerit, 
 annon inde sequitur, ut Esarhaddon Assyrius, qui 
 Sennacherimo parri successit, idem sit ac Sardanapa- 
 lus, Assyriorum rex postremus ? Nomen i{)sum ^45- 
 ordan, ut Graeci interpretes reddidere, ad Sardana- 
 pali similitudinem quam proxime accedit, atque in hac 
 
CHAP. IX.] ASSYRIA. 169 
 
 sententia videtur fuisse Josephus, qui sub Ezechia rege 
 Assyriorum imperium eversura scribit, Antiqq. X. 2. 
 Several other arguments in support of the identity of 
 Esarhaddon and Sardanapalus, have been advanced 
 by Kalinshj in his Vaticinia Chabacuci et Nachumi, 
 itemque nonnulla Jestijae, Micheae et Ezechielis ora- 
 cula observationibus historico-philologicis ex historia 
 Diodori Siculi circa res Sardanapali illustrata, Breslau. 
 1748, 4to, cap. 6, 7, 8, p. 75, etseqq. Fo/^ze^ arrives 
 at the same conclusion by a different process, in his 
 Recherches Nouvelles, Part II. p. 127, 142 — 145. 
 Some recent writers have erroneously confounded 
 Sardanapalus with Phul, and have had recourse to 
 the notion of two Assyrian monarchies, an early and 
 a later, the former ending with Sardanapalus. To 
 this they have been driven by their attempts to re- 
 concile the conflicting accounts of Herodotus and 
 Ctesias. Herodotus (I. 95) fixes the duration of the 
 Assyrian dominion in Upper Asia at 520 years. 
 Ctesias, on the other hand, (in Diod. Sic. II. 21), 
 assigns to the Assyrian Empire, from Ninus to Sar- 
 danapalus, thirty successive kings during a period of 
 1.306 years, (not 1360, as in most of the editions of 
 Diodorus. See Wesseling in loc. and Volney, p. 
 104, note,) To make these two statements accord, 
 has been attempted by many chronologers and anti- 
 quaries, but hitherto without success. Very elabo- 
 rate researches have been made on this point by 
 Fourmoiit, in his Reflexions critiques sur les his- 
 toires des anciens peuples, Tom. II. p. 301, et seqq. 
 He passes in review the earlier inquiries of Pezron, 
 Sevin, and Freret ; but, in endeavouring to reconcile 
 
170 ASSYRIA. [chap. IX. 
 
 the great discrepancies of the two historians, he has 
 had recourse to hypotheses as fanciful and preca- 
 rious as those of his predecessors. Volney (loc. cit. 
 p. 191, note), has proved that the accounts of Hero- 
 dotus are alone worthy of credit, and with great 
 acuteness has rendered it probable, that Ctesias has 
 intentionally and systematically doubled the number 
 of Assyrian kings, and the years of their govern- 
 ment, for the purpose of favouring certain political 
 views of the Persian king, at whose court he lived. 
 
 96. Yet there seems to have been, still later, un- 
 der Esarhaddon, an Assyrian inroad into Judaea, in 
 which, according to 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, the Jewish 
 king Manasseh was carried captive. See Ditmar^ 
 loc. cit. p. 337. No notice is taken of this incident 
 in the book of Kings ; and in the passage of Chro- 
 nicles, the name of the Assyrian monarch is not men- 
 tioned. 
 
 97. Zend-Avesta by Kleukevy Appendix, Book I. 
 Part I. p. 36, note. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 171 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MESOPOTAMIA. 
 
 The name of Mesopotamia^ i. e, " the land be- 
 tween the rivers," was commonly given by the 
 Greeks, and after them by the Romans, to that 
 extensive tract of country, which lies between the 
 rivers Euphrates and Tigris, from their sources 
 to the neighbourhood of Babylon.* It is situat- 
 ed between the thirty-third and thirty-eighth de- 
 grees of north latitude, the length being about 
 ninety German miles [upwards of 400 English], 
 and the breadth very irregular', but generally 
 much less. The Greeks, no doubt, formed the 
 name Mesopotamia, after the analogy of the 
 Syriac Beth-Nahrin ;^ and this must have hap« 
 pened in the time of Seleucus, or his successors, 
 who reigned over this country, and founded 
 tow^ns in it, — for the name does not occur either 
 in Herodotus or Xenophon. Arrian^ calls it 
 " Assyria betw^een the Euphrates and Tigris." 
 It was called by the Hebrews Aram-Naharaim^'^ 
 i. €. " Aram, or Syria of the two rivers," and 
 Faddan-Aram^^ i. e. the Plain of Syria; also the 
 Field of Syria. 6 The common Arabic name at 
 
172 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 the present day is, EUJezlrah^"^ L c. the Island or 
 Peninsula. 
 
 According to the limits assigned by Abulfeda,^ 
 Mesopotamia is bounded on the west by Armenia, 
 Asia Minor, and Syria, especially the Syrian 
 Desert ; on the south by the Desert of Arabia 
 and by Babylonia, or Arabian Irak ; on the east by 
 Kurdistan ; and on the north by Great Armenia. 
 Mesopotamia forms at present a part of the 
 Turkish Empire, and comprises the governments 
 (Eyalet),^ of Rakka, Diarbekr, Mosul, and a 
 part of the government of Bagdad. ^^ 
 
 According to the observation of Olivier, ^^ who 
 travelled through a part of the country, Meso- 
 potamia m^y be divided into four regions, which 
 differ materially in regard to the elevation, qua- 
 lity and productions of the soil, as well as the 
 temperature of the air. 'l^hcjirst or most north- 
 erly region, reaches from the sources of the 
 Euphrates and Tigris, about lat. 39^ N. to lat. 
 ZV 20', including the town of Semisat, on the 
 Euphrates, Soeverek at the foot of Mount Tau- 
 rus, Merdin at Mount Masius, and Jezire on the 
 Tigris. This region formerly belonged to Great 
 Armenia, and was called Sophene. The only 
 considerable city which is at present reckoned to 
 belong to it is Diarbekr, the seat of a pacha of 
 the first rank. This part of Mesopotamia is ele- 
 vated, mountainous, very fruitful, and rich in 
 water-springs. The winter is cold, and from 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 173 
 
 October to April there is much snow and rain ; 
 but it is only the tops of the highest hills that 
 are covered with snow during the whole year. 
 The summer is dry, very pleasant on the higher 
 grounds, hot and sultry in the plains and vallies. 
 The pastures are excellent ; corn and fruits are 
 produced in abundance. The vine and mulberry- 
 tree are also cultivated. The exports consist of 
 silk, gall-nuts, gum-tragacanth, goats'-hair, wool, 
 honey, wax, and a little cotton. The hills are 
 for the most part covered with forests of oak, fir, 
 pine, maple, ash, chestnut, and terebinth. Oil 
 is obtained from the sesamns and the seed of the 
 riciniis. There are several copper-mines, which 
 are almost as rich as those of Erzeroum and Tre- 
 bisonde. At Keban and Argana there are mines 
 of silver, lead, and even gold, the produce of 
 which is sent to Constantinople. Many extinct 
 volcanoes are to be seen in the district. The 
 towns and villages of this first region are inhabit- 
 ed by Turks, Kurds, and Armenians, who pursue 
 agriculture and trade, labour in the mines, and 
 manufacture leather, woollen and cptton stuffs, 
 and copper vessels. The Kurds, however, are 
 mostly shepherds. Their villages are almost 
 wholly abandoned during a great part of the 
 year — the inhabitants moving down in the winter 
 with their wives, children and flocks, to the m.ore 
 temperate parts of Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, 
 where they are sure of finding pastures in abun- 
 
174 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 (lance ; while in summer they betake themselves 
 to the mountains of Armenia, Azerbijan and 
 Persia, where the melting- of the snows, and the 
 coldness of the climate, preserve the verdure 
 fresh during the hottest seasons. 
 
 The second region extends from lat. 37° 20' 
 to 35° N. — Within its compass lie the towns of 
 Birth, Orfa, Ras-el-x\in, Nisibis, Mosul, — the 
 mountains of Sanjar, * and the district of Ras- 
 el-Ain. The rivers Khabur and Alhauli tra- 
 verse it as far as the district of Kerkesieh. This 
 was the Mesopotamia Proper of the ancients, 
 which was divided into two provinces, Osrhoene 
 on the west, and Mygdonia on the east. This 
 part of Mesopotamia lies a little lower than the 
 former, and is almost entirely level, with the 
 exception of the mountains of Sanjar, which 
 are nearly isolated, and the districts around Orfa 
 and Ras-el-Ain, where there are a few small ir- 
 
 » Commonly written Sinjar, and by some supposed to be 
 the Shinar of scripture. See Chap. VIII. note 4. It is the 
 country of tlie Yezids, or devil-worshippers, and is called by 
 the Koords, Zingharra. Rich, in his work on Koordistan, 
 after remarking that the inhabitants of Baasheka, a village 
 near IMosul, are partly composed of Vezids, who call them- 
 Kelves Dassini, adds, in a note : " Dasin is another name for 
 Sinjaar, and all the Yezids called Dassinis seem to have been 
 originally from Sinjaar. The others, thongh jujssessing the 
 same faith, are never called Dassinis." Rich's Koordistan, 
 Vol. II. p. f;«, 8G. Yet at p. 121 it is said the Dassinis are 
 the Yezids about 3Iosul, and that the Sinjarlis are never so 
 called M. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 175 
 
 regularly formed hills. Between Birth and Mo- 
 sul are to be seen the remains of many extinct 
 volcanoes ; and Mount Sanjar also appears to 
 belong to that class. This region is far more 
 fertile and rich in natural productions than the 
 first, but much less cultivated. The climate is 
 very mild in winter ; it seldom freezes, and only 
 in those parts which are contiguous to the for- 
 mer region. The heat is very great in summer, 
 and continues till the middle of harvest. To- 
 wards the end of winter, and at the beginning of 
 spring, much rain falls, but considerably less in 
 harvest. The summer is very dry. If this re- 
 gion received more moisture, either from rain or 
 by means of artificial irrigation, it would be in- 
 ferior to no countiy in the abundance and va- 
 riety of its products. When the spring-rains 
 are tolerably copious, the barley and wheat reach 
 a great height, and yield thirty and forty-fold. 
 The pastures are extremely rich, and the flocks 
 very numerous. The inhabitants raise all kinds 
 of corn and pulse, some rice, and a great deal of 
 sesam and cotton. The vine, the olive, and the 
 mulberry, thrive uncommonly well, but they are 
 found in small quantity. Many bees are reared, 
 and yield excellent honey. Of oranges, lemons, 
 and all the finer kinds of fruit, there is here the 
 greatest abundance. Under a government that 
 would favour agriculture and industry, and gua- 
 rantee to the inhabitants security of property 
 
176 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 and person, this part of Mesopotamia would 
 soon become populous and affluent ; for nowhere 
 is the air more salubrious, or the soil more fruit- 
 ful. But as the country is exposed to the pre- 
 datory incursions of the Kurds on the one side, 
 and of the Arabs on the other, it has become, 
 in many parts, altogether depopulated ; for the 
 inhabitants being unable, from their small num- 
 bers, to resist these aggressions, have abandon- 
 ed their fields and flocks, and have sought else- 
 where the repose which they were unable to find 
 in their native home. 
 
 The tftird region extends to the latitude of 
 33° 40' N. — that is, to several miles north of 
 Bagdad. The ancients reckoned it as belong- 
 ing to Arabia, doubtless on account of the na- 
 ture of the soil, which is the same here as in the 
 north-west of Arabia. This part of Mesopo- 
 tamia is quite flat, but unsusceptible of cultiva- 
 tion, except in the low grounds watered by the 
 Euphrates and Tigris, the inundations of which 
 leave a rich deposit of soil. Throughout this 
 extensive desert, the colour of the ground is of 
 a whitish grey, and it is generally impregnated 
 with selenites, and even sea-salt. Gypsum is 
 found to the depth of one or two feet. Bitumen 
 is no less abundant, and is in many places seen 
 flowing on the surface. During winter, there is 
 very little frost, and it seldom rains ; the sum- 
 mer is very dry. and excessively hot : yet tliere 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. ' 177 
 
 are a great many plants and shrubs which retain 
 their verdure and freshness unimpaired. The 
 palm-trees on the river-banks early yield their 
 fruit. Xenophon, when accompanying the ex- 
 pedition of the Younger Cyrus, saw here the 
 wild ass and ostrich ; — a proof that this part of 
 Mesopotamia was then as thinly inhabited as it 
 is now. Ostriches are still found in abundance, 
 but the wild ass is rarely met with, having re- 
 tired into the mountainous and unfrequented 
 parts of Persia, and perhaps into the interior of 
 Arabia. The population of this part of Meso- 
 potamia is confined to a few villages on the 
 Tigris, and to certain Arab tribes, whose num- 
 bers are inconsiderable, and who traverse these 
 plains in winter, in quest of pastures for their 
 flocks, while in summer they draw towards the 
 rivers, or the high countries of the second re- 
 gion. On the left bank of the Euphrates there 
 is no human habitation beyond Kerkesieh, and 
 on the right bank there is only Hit and Anath. 
 
 The Jvurt/i and last region commences at seven 
 or eight leagues north-east of Bagdad, and a 
 few leagues below Hit, and extends to the junc- 
 tion of the two rivers, about Lat. 30° 50'. It 
 consists of land that is periodically overflowed, 
 being a perfect flat, and, when it has been suffi- 
 ciently watered, becomes extremely fruitful. 
 This part of Mesopotamia, which properly be- 
 
178 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 longs to ancient Babylonia, has, with respect to 
 the temperature of the air, the quality of the 
 soil, and the abundance of the produce, a strong 
 resemblance to the Delta of the Nile. But the 
 fields, before they can be made to yield a return, 
 must be copiously watered, yet at the same time 
 protected against sudden inundations, which are 
 here very destructive from their impetuosity. 
 Hence, the early inhabitants of the country made 
 provision against this, by the construction of ca- 
 nals and dams, the remains of which are still in 
 existence, and which admirably served the pur- 
 poses at once of irrigation and defence. 
 
 From the middle of June till about the 21st 
 of September, there occurs through the centre 
 and south of Mesopotamia the hot and suffocat- 
 ing south-wind, called the Samiim, ^^ i, e. the 
 poisonous, by which the most luxuriant vege- 
 tation is speedily burnt up. Not unfrequently 
 it brinofs from the interior of Arabia and the 
 south of Persia, clouds of locusts, which prove 
 as destructive to these countries, as is in 
 Europe the intensest frost. ^^ They darken the 
 sky in their dull and uniform flight, and the 
 noise which they make is like that of a heavy 
 shower of rain. In an instant, the terraced roofs 
 of the houses, the roads and fields, are covered 
 with these insects, and in the space of two days 
 they will destroy the entire foliage. Fortunately, 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 179 
 
 their existence is of short duration, and they have 
 in their train the Samarmar^^ or Samarmog (the' 
 Turdiis Roseus of Linnaeus), a bird of passage, 
 which resorts in the winter to Hindostan and 
 Africa, but during summer is found throughout 
 Persia, Mesopotamia, and ahnost all Asia Minor. 
 It appears to follow the locusts in their flight, 
 not merely for the purpose of feeding upon them, 
 but of destroying them ; for it kills many more 
 than it devours, and is the enemy of almost all 
 insects. Hence, throughout the countries of the 
 east, this bird is held in a kind of veneration, 
 and a Mussulman will allow no one to kill or 
 injure it. In the marshy swamps which line the 
 banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, lions find a 
 covert ; but they attain neither the majestic size 
 nor the strength and daring of the lion of Africa. 
 They generally prey upon the weaker animals 
 that repair to the rivers to quench their thirst, 
 and do not even venture to attack the wild boars, 
 which are there very common. 
 
 Besides the Euphrates and Tigris which tra- 
 verse Mesopotamia,^ the Bible mentions no 
 other river of that country, except the Chaboras, 
 
 3 " The natural enemy of the locust is the bird Semermar 
 ( «.^ ^^AM )' "^'^ich is of the size of a swallow, and devours 
 vast numbers of them ; it is even said that the locusts take 
 
 flight at the cry of that bird." Burckhardfs Syria, p. 239 
 
 M. 
 
 ^ See Vol. I. p. 57, 59. 
 
180 MESOPOTAMIA. [cHAP. X. 
 
 in Hebrew the Chebar or Khebar,^* upon the 
 banks of which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby- 
 lon, planted a colony of Jews, among whom was 
 Ezekiel the prophet. (Ezek. i. 1, 3 ; iii. 15, 
 23 ; X. 15, 22, comp. 2 Kings xxiv. 15.) This 
 large and navigable river, which is to be dis- 
 tinguished from the Assyrian Chahorai^^ (in He- 
 brew Chabor),i5 rises in the Masian Mountains 
 [Mons Masius], in the neighbourhood of Ras- 
 el-Ain. Its various springs (called the Springs 
 of Sahirye) form two rivulets, which afterwards 
 unite into one stream, that runs into the Eu- 
 phrates at Kerkissia. Pliny ^ ^ says, the water 
 of this river, near its source, is remarkable for its 
 pleasant flavour. Ammianus ^7 describes its 
 banks as fertile and flourishing. Before it reaches 
 Maakesie, it receives the river of Sinjar,^^ the 
 Mygdonius or Masius of the ancients, the Her- 
 mas of the east. In ihe last part of its course, 
 when it flows westward towards the Euphrates, 
 falling into that river at Kerkissia, it separates 
 the southern part of Mesopotamia (or the De- 
 sert) from the northern. Procopius^^ calls it a 
 great river, and Julian was obliged to cross it 
 with his army on a bridge of boats. ^^ 
 
 Towards the north, Mesopotamia is divided 
 from Armenia by the southern branch of Mount 
 Taurus. This range was called by the Hebrews 
 Mash2» (Gen. x. 23), by the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans Mons Masius, and it now bears the name 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 181 
 
 of Mount Judi.^ It rises from tlie Euphrates 
 above Samosata, runs for a great way due east, 
 then turns to the south-east towards Nisibis, 
 and gradually diminishing in height, reaches the 
 Tigris, on the opposite bank of which it meets 
 the far higher Gordiaean chain. A ramification 
 of this Masian rano^e runs on the east side of 
 Mesopotamia farther south, and forms, not far 
 from the Tigris, a mountain of no great extent, 
 but of considerable elevation, which Ptolemy 
 calls Singaras, a name preserved in " Sinjar," 
 the designation which it still bears. 
 
 The north-eastern portion of Mesopotamia was 
 called, by the Greeks and Romans, Mygdo- 
 nia,^^ from the river Mygdonius, which issues 
 from Mons Masius, and by which the district is 
 
 ^ It is the mountain referred to in the Appendix to Vol. I. 
 p. 294, and beheved by some to be the Ararat of Scripture. 
 " The 3lahometans universally maintain, that it was on 
 ]\Iount Judi the ark first rested, and that ii is Ararat, and not 
 the mountain to which that name is given in Armenia. Hus- 
 sein Aga maintained to me, that he has, with his own eyes, 
 seen the remains of Noah's ark ! He went to a Christian vil- 
 lage, whence he ascended by a steep road of an hour to the 
 summit, on which he saw the remains of a very large vessel of 
 wood, almost entirely rotted, with nails of a foot long still 
 remaining." In the third volume of Assemanni, p. 214, occurs 
 the following : " There is a monastery on the summit of Mount 
 Cardu or Ararat. St. Epiphanius asserts, that in his time 
 remains of the ark still existed, and speaks of relics of Noah's 
 ark being found in ' Cardiaerum Regiones.' " Riches Koot- 
 distan, II. p. 124, note. Comp. the Extracts from Berosus, 
 given by Josephus. — 31. 
 
182 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 traversed. The capital was Nisibis, with which 
 the Romans first became acquainted in the war 
 of Lucullus against Armenia, and found to be a 
 large, populous city, lying in a fertile country.^'* 
 Lucullus took it and gave it at the peace to the 
 Armenian prince Tigranes. But the Parthians 
 soon after became masters of this country, and 
 continued so till the time of Trajan, by whom 
 Nisibis was retaken. Having been then strong- 
 ly fortified by the Romans, it remained for two 
 hundred years a bulwark of the Roman empire 
 against the Persians, who, however, got posses- 
 sion of it after the death of Julian, and retained 
 it until the overthrow of their empire by the 
 Arabs. The place is still known by the name 
 of Nisibin,^^ but is at present nothing more than 
 a village of about a thousand inhabitants, dwell- 
 ing in a hundred-and- fifty low and ill-built 
 houses. It belongs to the pachalik of Bagdad ; 
 the commander (Musellim) is a Begh, who re- 
 ceives his tail from the Woiwode of Merdin. 
 Among the inhabitants are found Armenians, 
 Nestorians, and also some Jacobite Christians;"^ 
 for in the middle age, Nisibin was the see of a 
 Jacobite bishop and a Nestorian metropolitan. 
 This city is often mentioned by Syrian writers 
 under the name of Zoba and Zaubo ;^^ whence 
 J. D. Michselis conjectured, that in the country of 
 Nisibin ^^ was the Zoba or Aram-Zoba, with whose 
 kings the Jewish monarchs, David and Solomon 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 183 
 
 waged war, 1 Sam. xiv. 47. 2 Sam. viii. 3, 5; 
 X. 6, et seqq. 1 Chron. xviii, 3, 9, and Ps. Ix. 
 2. This opinion has been very generally em- 
 braced. If it were correctly founded, it would 
 appear that the kings of Aram-Zoba or Nisibis, 
 had extended, by conquest, their dominion to 
 the west bank of the Euphrates as far as Syria, 
 — in which case their coming: into collision with 
 the Hebrews would be by no means improbable. 
 But in the title of the sixtieth Psalm (ver. 2), it 
 is said to have been composed when David was 
 at war with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zoba. 
 Now Nisibis lay in Mesopotamia or Aram-Na- 
 haraim, and the district formed part of that re- 
 gion ; so that it could not well be described as 
 diiferent from it. Besides, in 1 Sam. xiv. 47, 
 Zoba occurs in the midst of an enumeration of 
 several border tribes, the Moabites, Ammonites, 
 Edomites, and Philistines, with whom Saul car- 
 ried on war. These circumstances combined, 
 render the ancient opinion the more probable, 
 namely, that Aram-Zoba was a territory or small 
 state in Coele-Syria.^^ 
 
 About ninety miles from Nisibin, in nearly a 
 right line to the west, and towards the Euphrates, 
 lies Orfa or Urfa, formerly Edessa, also called 
 Kallirhoe, i. e. the fine ftowing^ from several re- 
 markable fountains in the neighbourhood. From 
 " Kallirhoe" was probably formed *' Er-Roha," 
 the name given to this place by Arabic writers. 
 
184 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 and from that came the modern name Orfa.^*^ 
 The Macedonians called it Antiochia,'^ but the 
 more ancient designation prevailed in after ages. 
 That Orfa was originally the city Erech or 
 Arach, founded by Nimrod (Gen. x. 10), is, as 
 we before remarked (at p. 27), a tradition void 
 of probability. The ancient and still important 
 city of Orfa, contains a population of from thirty 
 to forty thousand ; it lies on the declivity of 
 two hills, and is surrounded with a decayed 
 wall. The houses are, upon the whole, better 
 built than is customary in eastern cities, and 
 the streets too are neater, and are kept com- 
 paratively cleaner, by means of water-courses 
 of from two to three feet broad. The Ma- 
 hommedan inhabitants, including Arabs, Kurds 
 and Turks, make up three-fourths of the po- 
 pulation. The remainder consists of Jews and 
 Armenians, the latter of whom, though severely 
 oppressed, are very rich, as they have got almost 
 the entire trade into their hands. They have 
 here a church, over which an archbishop presides. 
 Orfa is not only a considerable staple-town, but 
 exports wheat, barley and pulse, the produce of 
 the neighbouring district, and also jewellery, 
 cotton-stuffs, and fine leather, which are manu- 
 factured in the town. There are here few vine- 
 yards. The Jews and Armenians prepare for do- 
 mestic use, wine both red and white, which 
 would be very good, if the vessels in which it is 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 185 
 
 kept did not impart to it a resinous flavour, 
 which is very disagreeable to strangers. The 
 access to the castle, which stands on the top of 
 an eminence, is by a precipitous road, in some 
 places hewn out of the rock. Among other ruins 
 in the interior of the fortress, there is one near 
 the wall next the city, of an oblong square con- 
 struction, and having on each side a thick Co- 
 rinthian pillar. It appears to have been a mauso- 
 leum, erected in the age of the Seleucid8e.32 In 
 the time of our Saviour, Edessa was the capital 
 of a territory Osrhoene, which had its own princes 
 or kings. From the year b. c. 137, to a. d. 216, 
 this small state was successively ruled by eight- 
 and-twenty kings, who all bore the title of Ab- 
 gar, a name which was formed from the Parthian 
 word Avaghair, i. e. most excellent or distinguish- 
 ed.^^ According to an early tradition, one of 
 them, who was a cotemporary of Christ,^'^ sent 
 a letter to our Lord, beseeching him to heal him 
 of leprosy. The pretended epistle of Abgarus, 
 along with Christ's reply, ' has been given by 
 Eusebius, in his Church History, ^^ but criticism 
 has justly rejected both as spurious.^ ^ 
 
 The following places in Mesopotamia are 
 mentioned in the Bible : 
 
 1. Ur-Casdim^^'^ i. e. Ur of the Chaldees, the 
 birth-place of Abraham (Gen. xi. 27, 28), but 
 which his father Terah left, along with his fa- 
 
186 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 mily, for the purpose of migrating to Canaan 
 (ver. 31.) Ammianus Mareellinus,^^ who was 
 on the disastrous expedition of the Emperor 
 Julian against Persia (in the fourth century of 
 our era), mentions the castle of Ur, as lying in 
 the north-eastern desert of Mesopotamia, be- 
 tween the river Tigris and Nisibis. In the 
 same district of country where lay the Ur 
 of Ammianus, Xenophon^^ had found, at the foot 
 of the Gordisean (i. e. Kurdish) Mountains, a 
 people called Chaldseans — so that to this the 
 Hebrew name Ur-Casdim, " Ur in the land of 
 the Chaldseans," completely corresponds.''^ Am- 
 mianus describes the country as a desolate wil- 
 derness, where there was a scarcity of all the 
 necessaries of life, and which was fit only for 
 the occasional resort of nomadic shepherds. The 
 neighbouring mountains have been from time 
 immemorial the abode of robbers. 
 
 2. Charan^^^ or, as Luther writes it, Haran,^ 
 where Terah died on his way to Canaan, Gen. 
 xi. 31. There is no doubt as to the site of this 
 place, for it has retained its name unchanged 
 through all succeeding ages. Abulfeda*^ speaks 
 of Charran,'*^ as formerly a great city, which 
 lay in an arid and bare tract of country, in the 
 province of Diar-Modhar, that is in the north- 
 
 * So our English Translators ; except in Acts vii. 2, where, 
 following the Greek, they correctly write " Charran." — M. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 187 
 
 west part of Mesopotamia, bordering on the 
 Euphrates. The Sabians or star-worshippers 
 had there a chapel, which was named after Abra- 
 ham. Among the towns which had been taken 
 by the predecessors of Sennacherib, king of As- 
 syria, Charran is enumerated. 1 Kings xix. 12. 
 Isa. xxxvii. 12. It is also mentioned by Ezekiel 
 (ch. xxvii. 23), among the places which traded 
 with Tyre.''* And indeed its situation was favour- 
 able for commerce, inasmuch as here the great 
 road which led from the Euphrates to the coun- 
 tries of the east,''^ branched oifin directions ; the 
 one running eastward to Nisibis and Assyria, and 
 the other southward into Babylonia. The Greeks 
 and Romans called this city Carrae."*^ When 
 Crassus was defeated in his first engagement with 
 the Parthians, he fled to this place, but, attempt- 
 ing during night to make his way through the 
 northern mountains to Armenia, he met his death 
 at Sinnaka. ^"^ When Niebuhr "^^ was passing 
 through Orfa in the year 1766, he heard that 
 Carran was a small place, two days' journey 
 south south. east of Orfa, and very much fre- 
 quented by Jews. [Rennell fixes its long, at 
 39"" 2' 45" E. and its latitude at 36o 40' N. 
 The Spanish Jew, Benjamin of Tudela, who tra- 
 velled in the twelfth century, appears to have 
 found it then altogether decayed. The ruins of 
 a castle are still seen ; — but, indeed, the lawless 
 
188 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 manners of the Bedouins in that quarter have 
 deterred most recent travellers from visiting 
 Charran. *] 
 
 3. Thel-Abib, ^^ a place on the river Chaboras, 
 where was a colony of the expatriated Jews, 
 and whither the prophet Ezekiel repaired : (ch. 
 iii. 15). Little or nothing is known respecting 
 it. On D'Anville's map of the Euphrates and 
 Tigris, there is a place named Thallaba or Thala- 
 ban, situated on the Chaboras, in the upper 
 part of its course. The name has a resemblance 
 to the Hebrew word ; and as the site likewise 
 corresponds, it is not improbable that these names 
 designate the same place. 
 
 4. Karkemish,^^ \_Carchemish'] is mentioned in 
 Isaiah x. 9, among other places in Syria and 
 Mesopotamia, which had been subdued by an 
 Assyrian monarch — probably by Tiglath-pilesar. 
 That Carchemish was a stronghold on the 
 Euphrates, appears from the title of a prophecy of 
 Jeremiah against Egypt, (ch. xlvi. 2.): " Against 
 the army of Pharaoh- Necho, king of Egypt, 
 which lay on the river Euphrates, at Carche- 
 mish, and which Nebuchadnezzar the king of 
 Babylon overthrew, in the fourth year of Jehoia- 
 kim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah." Ac- 
 cording to 2 Chron. xxxv. 29, Necho had, five 
 years before, advanced with his ally Josiah, the 
 
 * See Kinneir's Geograpliical I\Iemoir of the Persian Em- 
 pire ; and Buckingham's Travels in JMesopotamia — M. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 1^ 
 
 father of Jehoiakim, against the Babylonians, on 
 the Euphrates, to take Carchemish. These two 
 circumstances, viz. that Carchemish was on the 
 Euphrates, and that it was a fortified town, ren- 
 der it probable that the Hebrew name points to 
 a city which the Greeks and Romans called 
 Kirkesion or Cercusium, and the Arabs Ker- 
 kesiyeh ; ^^ for it too, lay on the west bank of the 
 Euphrates, where it is joined by the Chaboras. 
 It was a large city, and surrounded with strong 
 walls, which, in the time of the Romans, were 
 occasionally renewed, as this was the remotest 
 out- post of their empire, towards the Euphrates, 
 in the direction of Persia. ^^ It is unknown 
 whether or not any traces of it still exist ; for, 
 as it lies off the usual route of caravans, modern 
 travellers have taken no notice of it. 
 
 5. Hena,^^ is mentioned in 1 Kings xix. 12, 
 and Isa. xxxvii. 1-2, among the Syrian and Me- 
 sopotamian cities, that had been taken by the 
 ancestors of Sennacherib. According to the 
 probable conjecture of Blisching,^'' it is the town 
 which is still called by the Arabs Anali.^^ It lies 
 on both sides of the Euphrates, amid gardens, 
 which are rich in dates, citrons, oranges, pome- 
 granates, and other fruits. In the Euphrates, 
 which runs through the town, there are several 
 small islands, upon one of which stands a castle.^^ 
 Perhaps, in ancient times, the city lay, for the 
 most part, or entirely, upon this island, for Abul- 
 
190 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 feda says, that " Anah is a small town on an is- 
 land in the middle of the Euphrates." The in- 
 habitants are chiefly Arabs and Jews. It would 
 appear that this place has been, from time to 
 time, the seat of an Arabian Emir, the head of 
 a powerful tribe. There lies, to the north of 
 Anah, along the Euphrates, as far as the place 
 called Balis, a country covered with mulberry 
 trees ; narrow pathways lead to cottages which 
 are concealed in the thicket of the wood. It is 
 here where a tribe of peaceable Arabs, the 
 Beni-Semen, rear silk-worms, the produce of 
 which they export. This country, which is little 
 known to European travellers, is called Zombuk. 
 The caravans which carry merchandise between 
 Aleppo and Bagdad, commonly pass by Anah. 
 They pay a tribute to the Arabs, who consider 
 themselves as lords of the desert, even beyond 
 the Euphrates. 
 
 6. Sepharvaim^'^ was one of the places from 
 which Salmanassar, king of Assyria, sent a co- 
 lony into the kingdom of Israel, which he had 
 depopulated, 2 Kings xvii. 24, comp. with ch. 
 xviii. 34. Isa. xxxvi. 19. That Sepharvaim 
 was a small state, under a king of its own, ap- 
 pears from 2 Kings xix. 10. Isa. xxxvii. 13. 
 We include this district in Mesopotamia, because, 
 in the passages quoted, it is mentioned along 
 with other places of this province, and because 
 Ptolemy ^^ speaks of a town of a similar name. 
 
[chap. X. MESOPOTAMIA. 191 
 
 " Sipphara," as the southernmost city of Meso- 
 potamia. Below it, he adds, the Euphrates di- 
 vides itself into two branches, the eastern going- 
 to Seleucia and the western to Babylon. It is 
 very probable, that Ptolemy's Sipphara is the 
 city of the Sippareni mentioned by Abydenus,^^ 
 for which, as he relates, Nebuchadnezzar caused 
 a lake to be dug, in order to lead into it the 
 water of the Euphrates. 
 
 7. Thelassar,^^ spoken of in 2 Kings xix. I'i. 
 Isaiah xxxvii. 12, as the place where the child- 
 ren of Eden dwelt, is also to be sought for in 
 Mesopotamia. Eden, as we shall afterwards 
 see, was a district of Syria. Out of that region 
 a great part of the population had been carried 
 by the Assyrian conquerors to Thelassar, just as 
 they transported a large part of the population 
 of the kingdom of Israel or Samaria to the 
 eastern districts of their empire. But no trace 
 of Thelassar is found either in the ancient Greek 
 and Roman, or in later Oriental writers. Hence 
 nothing certain can be fixed respecting its lo- 
 cality.^ ^ It is also uncertain, whether the king- 
 dom or territory of Elassar, whose king Arioch 
 is mentioned in Gen. xiv. 1, along with the 
 king of Shinar, as a confederate of the king of 
 Elam, w^as the same with or different from The- 
 lassar.^^ At the commencement of the book of 
 Judith (ch. i. 6) it is said, according to Luther's 
 translation, that " Nebuchadnezzar defeated Ar- 
 
19:2 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 phaxad, king of Media, in the great field called 
 Ragau, which formerly belonged to Arioch, 
 king of Elassar." In that case, Elassar would 
 have been a part of Media, including the district 
 of Rai or Rages. But the name Elassar is 
 found neither in the Greek text nor in the old 
 Latin translation. The former has " Erioch, 
 king of the Elymsei,"^^ and the latter " Erioch, 
 king of the Elici."^"* Luther took the name of 
 the king for that Arioch who is spoken of in 
 Gen. xiv . 1 , and called king of Elassar, But even 
 if his translation were correct, the romantic book 
 of Judith is of little or no authority.* 
 
 The earliest inhabitants of Mesopotamia were 
 either original Chaldseans, or a race related to 
 them, from whom Terah, Abraham's father, se- 
 parated himself with his family, in order to emi- 
 grate into the land of Canaan (Gen. xi. 26). 
 Strabo says,^^ that the population of Mesopo- 
 tamia was composed of Armenians, Syrians, and 
 Arabians. The two former possessed the northern 
 and middle, and the last the southern part of this 
 region. With respect to their modes of life, the 
 inhabitants were always divided into two great 
 classes, namely, those who, being domiciled in one 
 spot, applied themselves to the culture of the 
 ground, and nomadic shepherd tribes. 
 
 » The Eng. version has "Arioch^ king of the Elimeans." — M. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAIVIIA. 193 
 
 Of the more ancient history of Mesopotamia, 
 nothing is known till the time when the Assyrian 
 monarchs extended their conquests towards the 
 west. About thirteen or fourteen centuries be- 
 fore the commencement of our era, mention is 
 made of a king of Mesopotamia, called Cushan- 
 Rishathaim (Judges iii. 8, 10), who, crossing 
 the Euphrates, invaded and subdued the land 
 of Canaan, and maintained his dominion over 
 the Hebrews, for the space of eight years. It 
 is uncertain, however, Avhether Cushan Risha- 
 thaim was actual ruler over the whole of Me- 
 sopotamia, or whether there were not there 
 several smaller states, who only acknowledged 
 him as their lord paramount. That Mesopotamia 
 was divided into various distinct territories, under 
 princes of their own, may be gathered from the 
 mention of the kings of Hena and Sepharvaim 
 (2 Kings xix. 12. Isaiah xxxvii. 12,^^) whom the 
 king of Assyria boasted of having subjugated. 
 Ever after Mesopotamia became an Assyrian 
 province, it formed part of the great monarchies 
 which successively arose in Upper Asia, the 
 Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian. The 
 Syrian kings of Macedonian descent, founded 
 several cities in Mesopotamia ; and, perhaps, 
 under them, the country was more tranquil and 
 flourishing than either before or after. But when 
 frequent commotions began to break out in this 
 
 VOL. II. o 
 
194 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 part of Asia, and the Parthians made them- 
 selves masters of the Syro-Macedonian kingdom, 
 as far as the Euphrates, this province became 
 exposed to a series of warlike devastations, which 
 continued for ages. At one period, Tigranes, 
 king of Armenia, took possession of the districts 
 adjoining that country, while the Arabs subdued 
 several districts in the south. The Romans 
 also under Lucullus and Pompey began to dis- 
 turb Mesopotamia, and, somewhat later, Cras- 
 sus was there defeated and slain. Trajan wrest- 
 ed the whole province, with several adjacent 
 territories, from the Parthians ; and although 
 Hadrian had to relinquish these conquests, Lu- 
 cius Verus and Severus again subdued Meso- 
 potamia, and it remained a Roman province 
 until the end of the fourth century. On the 
 death of Julian, Jovian found himself obliged to 
 abandon the greater part of the country to the 
 Persians, the Romans only retaining so much of 
 Western Mesopotamia, as was inclosed by the 
 rivers Chaboras and Euphrates, and on the north 
 by the Mons Masius. When the Sassanian dy- 
 nasty in Persia was overthrown by the Arabs, 
 towards the middle of the seventh century, Meso- 
 potamia came under the dominion of the caliphs. 
 Since the year 1516, it has formed an integral 
 part of the Ottoman Empire. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 195 
 
 1. Babylon itself is not reckoned to belong to 
 Mesopotamia by any ancient writer. Indeed, the no- 
 tions that were entertained of the extent of this coun- 
 try were very fluctuating, and its limits cannot be de- 
 fined with any precision. The name Mesopotamia was 
 unknown to Xenophon and to all writers previous to 
 the time of Alexander. The northern part was rank- 
 ed with Syria, while the southern was reckoned to be- 
 long to Arabia, inasmuch as it was only separated from 
 the rest of Arabia by the Euphrates, and was, moreover, 
 inhabited by Arabs. See MannerCs Geography of the 
 Greeks and Romans. Part V. Div. 2, p. 257, 313. 
 
 2. ^Jcu AaO? see Assemani*s^\h\. Orient. Tom. 
 
 1. p. 462, and the Peschito Version of Acts ii. 9 ; vii. 
 
 2. That " Mesopotamia" was a translation of the na- 
 tive name of the countr3^, is mentioned by Arrian in 
 his Exped. Alex. VII. 7. See the following note. 
 
 3. Loc. cit. Tw^ ya^ by\ <7roraiJ,ujv rov rs Ey^^arou Jtc/J 
 rov T/ygTjrog, o/ Triv/jjSgyiv c^wi/ ^ Affdv^iav d-Triisyovffiv, okv %aJ 
 TO ovo[Ma Mscoffora/x/a ttooi; ruv s-TTf^uoJojv '/Xy\ft_i7aiy •/.. r. '/.. 
 
 4. Q-'^ni dK Gen. xxiv. 10. 
 
 5. a'^a pS. On the proper signification of the 
 word ps see the author's Scholia (Vol. I. Part I. p. 
 414), at Gen. xxv. 20.* Jos. von Hammer, in his 
 Constitution of the Ottoman Empire, Part I. p. 220, 
 says, " the acre, which, in Turkish, is called Tschift, 
 is, in Syria, as in Egypt, called Feddan. There are, 
 
 * The Scholium in question is chiefly an abstract of the 
 opinion of Michaelis (in his Spicil. Geogr. Hebr. Ext. Part 
 
 II. p. 119), comparing p*3, with the cognate Arabic , , »^tXJ. 
 —31. 
 
196 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 however, three kinds of Feddan, viz. the Roman, the 
 Islamitish, and that of agriculture or the earth. 
 
 The Feddani Hirass filjis. / . \l*Xil Js as much 
 land as a pair of oxen usually plough from morning 
 
 to noon ; it is likewise called Feddani Ers, P. , .\jo 
 U^jO ^^™P- ^^^^«^'2«' Notit. Orb. antiq. Tom. II. 
 Lib. III. Cap. 15, § 1. 
 
 6. tD"iX n^VJ, Hos. xii. 13 ; the Campi Mesopo- 
 taraise of Curtius, Book III. Cap. 2, § 3 ; Cap. 8, § 1. 
 
 ^- '^j^j^^^ or more fully '^^ ^^^ 5^j.:>>f ^^ 
 v2>LiJL- " The Island between the Tigris and Euph- 
 rates." See Ahulfedas Description of Mesopotamia, 
 edited in Arabic, from the Dresden MS., by Rosen- 
 miiller, in Paulus New Repertory for Biblical and 
 Oriental Literature. Part III. p. 4. 
 
 8. See the foregoing note. 
 
 9. XIL!^ Praefectura, regimen, administratio, Gol. 
 
 £ 
 
 Lexic. Arab. p. 201. 
 
 10. See Von Hammer's Constit. of the Ottoman 
 Empire. Part II. p. 263, et sqq. On the division 
 of Mesopotamia in Ptolemy and other ancient wri- 
 ters, see Cellarius Notit. Orb. Ant. Tom. II. Lib. 
 III. Cap. 15, § 2, et sqq. and MaimerCs Geogr. of 
 the Greeks and Romans. Part V. Div. 2, p. 250. 
 On its division by the Arabs, according to Abulfeda 
 see WaMs Asia, p. 620. 
 
 11. Voyages. Tom. IV. p. 372, etsqq. 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 197 
 
 J 
 
 12. *»^Asr. See more particulars as to this wind, 
 in Rosenmiiller s Alte und Neue Morgenland. Part 
 II. No. 355, p. 235. The most recent and exact 
 description will be found in the Voyage a Palmyre ou 
 Tedmor dans le desert, avec une courte recherche sur 
 le vent du desert, nomme Samieli, par le Comte W. 
 S. R., in the Fundgruben des Orients. Vol. VI. p. 
 393.^ 
 
 13. See Rosejimiiller' s Morgenland, Book IV. No. 
 1095, 1096, p. 370 ; and Book III. p. 289. Also 
 Olivier, loc. cit. p. 388. 
 
 14. ^'D.'D. It is called by Ptolemy 6 XalSdJeac by 
 Slrabo and other Greeks, 'A/3/3o'£gag, also 'A/3wpa$* 
 and the same in Ammianus Marcellinus, XIV. 4 ; 
 XXIII. 5. See Cellarius, Notit. Orb. Antiq. Tom. 
 II. Lib. III. Cap. 15, § 11. Mannert loc. cit. 
 p. 268. 
 
 15. That there are two rivers of the name of Cha- 
 boras, is expressly said by Yakuti in his Geographical 
 Dictionary, from which A. Schultens, in the Index 
 Geographic, ad Vit. Saladini makes the following 
 
 quotation : " EUKhabur (^^jl^^^), the name of a 
 large river, which rises near Ras-el-Ain, and flows 
 into the Euphrates, in the country of Al-Jezirah. Its 
 
 ^ Samum is the Arabic name from ^^^m samm, "poison.''^ Th® 
 
 Turkish name is ^•**:'. fi'^ Samieli, from the Arabic samm^ 
 and the Turkish gel, " wind," with the affixed possessive pro- 
 noun of the third person. In Arabic it is also called j^y^- 
 JHharur, i. e. the hot. — M. 
 
198 IVIESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 course is of considerable length, and it runs past the 
 cities of Araban, Markesie, and Kerkisia. There is 
 also another river, El-Khabur, called the Hhasenitic 
 
 Khabur VX/JIaw^^^^^ j^jL^^ V' ^^ ^^^^ district of Mo- 
 sul, to the east of the Tigris." 
 
 16. Hist. Nat. L. XXXI. cap. 3, § 22. Unus in 
 toto orbe traditur fons aquae jucunde olentis in Meso- 
 potamia, Chabura. 
 
 17. L. XIV. cap. 3. Hanc regionem inva- 
 
 dere parans dux, per solitudines Aboraeque amnis her- 
 bidas ripas, etc. 
 
 18. Concerning this country, see above, in chap. 
 VIII. note 4. 
 
 19. Pers. L. II. cap. 5. 'ASoohac voTa/j^oc ijJkyac,. 
 
 20. Ammianus L. XXIII. cap. 5. Julianus vero, 
 dum moratur apud Cercusium, ut per navalem Aborae 
 pontem exercitus et omnes sequelae transirent, etc. 
 
 21. "lyTo. 
 
 22. See WahVs Asia, p. 817. Comp. Mannert, loc. 
 cit. p. 267. 
 
 23. See Cellarius loc. cit. Tom. II. Lib. III. cap. 
 13, § 2. 
 
 24. See CellariuSy loc. cit. § 35. Mannert, loc. cit. 
 p. 295. 
 
 25. . ^XA>a.y See Schulten's Index Geograpb. 
 ad Vit. Saladin, under the article " Nisibis." The 
 word denotes in Chaldee (]>:i'»2«3),and Syriac (^^^li^^), 
 Military Posts.* 
 
 * The following is Lieut. Heiide's notice of Nisibin, in his 
 .Journey Overland from India to England, in 1817 (p- 223) : 
 "' Nisibin presents the miserable remains of a town, formerly of 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 199 
 
 26. See Rauwolfs Travels, p. 259. Ivei Journey, 
 Part II. Niebuhrs Travels, Part II. p. 379. Oli- 
 vier Voyages, Tom. IV. p. 247, et seqq. 
 
 27. foo^;. See ^55mow2"5Biblioth. Orient. Tom. 
 III. Part II. p. DCCLXvii. 
 
 28. J. D. Michaelis Commentat. de S3'ria Sobaea, 
 in the Commentatt. Societati Regiae Scientiar. Goet- 
 tingensiper annos 1763 — 1768, oblatis (Brem. 1769), 
 p. 57, et seqq. 
 
 29. See Hyde^s Annotat. to Peritsol's Trave]s,a 
 cap. 8, note 5, [or] in his Syntagma Dissertatt. ed. 
 Sharpe. Vol. I. p. 71 [Oxon.], 1767, and Golins on 
 Al-Fargani, p. 275. 
 
 30. See above, chap. VIII. notes 64 and Q^. Comp. 
 Reiskes note to his Latin translation of Abulfeda's 
 Mesopotamia, in Busching's Magazine, Part IV. p. 239. 
 
 31. See 3Iannert, loc. cit. p. 278. 
 
 32. See Tavernier^s Travels. Book II. chap. 4. 
 
 some extent, and which occupied a considerable space along 
 the banks of the 3Iygdonins ; a small but rapid stream, that 
 defended the position to the north, whilst the south was equally- 
 protected by a swamp. The greater part of the houses are in 
 ruins, and the post -hoxise is execrably dirty ; the remains- of 
 an aqueduct, however, with other traces, sufficiently point out 
 the great importance it once enjoyed. In the town is a build- 
 ing that has the appearance of a castle or citadel, with loop- 
 holes in its walls ; and a stone mosque also with a single mina- 
 ret. The ruins of a Christian church, once dedicated to St. 
 .Tames, still exists ; and at about a musket-shot from the church 
 five large granite columns, each of a single stone, sixteen or 
 eighteen feet in height, are also left. 
 
 ^ Abraham Peritsol, a learned Jew, whose Itinera Mundi 
 was edited by Hyde, Oxon. ICOL— M. 
 
200 MESOPOTAMIA. [CHAP. X. 
 
 Niehuhr's Travels, Part II. p. 406. Olivier Voyages, 
 Tom. IV. p. 418. 
 
 33. The most circumstantial and accurate account 
 of these kings has been given by Theophil. Siegfr. 
 Bayer, in his Historia Osrhoena et Edessenaex num- 
 mis illustrata, Petersburg 1734. On the name Abgar, 
 see at p. 165 of that work, a passage from Moses of 
 Chorene. 
 
 34. Abgar Achomo, ?. e. the Black, was the four- 
 teenth of the Edessene kings, and a cotemporary of 
 the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. See 
 Bayer, loc. cit. p. 96, et sqq. 
 
 33. Book I. cap. 13, or, according to another di- 
 vision, cap. 13. 
 
 36. See Schrockh's Church History. Part II. p. 
 32, et sqq. 
 
 37. CDnu;3-nix. 
 
 38. L. XXV. Cap. 8. Et via sex dierum emensa, 
 (i. e. from Nisibis), cum ne gramina quidem inveni- 
 rentur, solatia necessitatis extremae ; dux Mesopota- 
 miae Cassianus, et tribunus Mauricius pridem ob hoc 
 missus ; ad Ur nomine Persicum venere castelium, ci- 
 bos ferentes ex his, quos relictus cum Procopio et 
 Sebastiano exercitus parcius victitans conservaiat. 
 
 39. See above chap. VIII. note 124. 
 
 40. Others identify Ur Casdim with Orciion, a 
 place mentioned by Ptolemy, in the south of Mesopo- 
 tamia, and which was the seat of a learned sect of Chal- 
 dees. See Cellarius Notit. Orb. Ant. Tom. II. Lib. 
 III. cap. 13, § 27, and cap. 16, § 21. i^^r/e (Hist. 
 Relig. Vet. Pers. cap. 2, p. 73, of the second Edit.) 
 finds the Ur of Scripture in Urhoi, i. e. Edessa, where, 
 
CHAP. X.] MESOPOTAMIA. 201 
 
 according to tradition, Abraham lived for a consider- 
 able period. See above, note 30. 
 
 41. pn. The word probably signifies " a parched 
 or burnt country," from ^'^^T, to be hot, to singe. 
 
 42. In Paulas' New Repert. Part III. p. 15. See 
 also Heiskes Latin transl. in Biasching's Magazin, 
 Part IV. p. 239, and J. D, Michaelis Supplemm. ad. 
 Lexx. Hebrr. p. 930, et sqq. 
 
 43. , ^ \\j:=^-> Syriac r^ , in the Geograph. Regis- 
 ter prefixed to Vol. II. o\' As sent ant's Biblioth. Orient, 
 and in the Geograph. Register, Tom. III. P. II. un- 
 der Haran. 
 
 44. It is upon insufficient grounds that J. D. 
 Michaelis in his Suppl. ad Lexx. Hebrr. p. 933, sup- 
 poses tlie Haran, mentioned by Ezekiel, was a place 
 in Southern or Happy Arabia, called by the Arabs 
 / . •jj.JUi / . ^\ ,-^ Kharan el-Korein. See Assemani 
 
 Bibl. Orient. Tom. HI. P. II. p. 562, 563, 564. 
 
 45. See Mannert loc. cit. p. 282. 
 
 46. See Cellarius loc. cit. Tom. II. Lib. HI. cap. 
 3, § 27, note 4. 
 
 47. Dio Cassius XI. 25. Strabo XVL 1, 23. 
 
 48. Travels, Part II. p. 410. 
 
 49. :i^ix bn, i. e. " the hill of corn-ears." The 
 word Tel, Tela, a hill, is found in many names of 
 places in Assyria, Mesopotamia and Syria, as Tel- 
 Birtha, Tel-Baser, Tel-Afer, Ve\ Eda, etc. See As- 
 semard Bibl. Orient. Tom. III. Part II. p. dcclxxxiv. 
 ^wrc^/mrof^ remarks, (Travels in Syria, p. 149), in 
 speaking of a place called Tel-Afyun C ^ yt,i^h\ Vj") 
 
202 MESOPOTAMIA. [cHAP. X. 
 
 t. e. " the Opium-hill :'' " The number of these insu- 
 lated mounds of earth, in the eastern plains of Syria, 
 is very remarkable; their shape is sometimes so regu- 
 lar, that there can be no doubt of their being artificial. 
 In several places there are two standing close together. 
 It is a general remark, that where there is a mound, a 
 village is found near it, and a spring, or, at least, an 
 ancient well." 
 
 50. VJ'^'ODI^. The name is composed of "j^i^, Sy- 
 riac Jq^q a castle, and the proper name ly^D. 
 
 51. ^^^5.5. See Ahulfeda, loc. cit. p. 23, and in 
 
 Busching's Magaz. Part IV. p. 242. Comp. Michae- 
 lis Suppl. p. 1352. 
 
 52. Ammianus XXIII. 11. Tendens Imperator 
 Cercusium, principio mensis Aprilis ingressus est 
 munimentum tutissimum et fabre politum, cujus moe- 
 nia Abora et Euphrates ambiunt flumina, velut spa- 
 tium insulare fingentes. Comp. Cellarius loc. cit. 
 Lib. III. cap. 15, § 10, and Mannert, p. 289. 
 
 53. y:n. 
 
 54. Geography of Asia (Part XI. Div. I.) p. 557, 
 and 263 of the third Edition. 
 
 55. ^U- See Abulfeda, loc. cit. p. 33, and in 
 Busching's Magaz. Part IV. p. 245. 
 
 56. See Rauwolfs Travel^, Book II. cap. 5, p. 193, 
 Olivier Voyages, Tom. VI. p. 321, et sqq. 
 
 57. CJ^I^SD. 
 
 58. Book V. cap. 18. Comp. Cellarius § 17, and 
 Herm. von der HardHs Sipphara Babylonian. Helm- 
 stadt,1708, 8vo. 
 
 59. In Eusebius Praepar. Evang. IX. 44, 
 
[chap. X. MESOPOTAMIA. 203 
 
 60. i^yNbn and ^irhr*. 
 
 61. Paulus remarks, (Key to Isaiah, p. 231) : 
 " bn and Nbn, (with the Chald. k articuli), a hill, 
 is an addition to the names of several Aramaean towns 
 (See note 49, above). The principal word here, 
 therefore, is "^;l;. Perhaps the remains of this place are 
 to be seen in Schara, a small town on an eminence, 
 two or three miles from the Euphrates, a couple of 
 leagues from Rahabah, in the district of Jezirah, in 
 Arabia Deserta. Busching, p. 556, No. 6. A great 
 many ruins are still seen here. In this country also, 
 is the Anah of Scripture." [See above, note 55.] 
 
 62. The Jerusalem Targum has, at Gen xiv. 1, 9, 
 "iiyx^n for the Hebrew "id^x ; and both it and Jona- 
 than have, at Gen. x. 12, the same word for the Heb. 
 
 63. E/'^/w;/ 6 BaffiXivg ''EXv/JjUic/jv. 
 
 64. Rex Elicorum. 
 
 65. XVI. 1. 24, et sqq. 
 
 66. Zobah, vv^ith whose king David waged war, 
 would likewise have been introduced here, provided it 
 could be certainly identified with Nisibis ; but we al- 
 ready found that we must look for Zobah elsewhere 
 than in Mesopotamia. 
 
 END OF CHAPTER X. 
 
204 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 SYRIA. 
 
 Under the name of Syria^^ the ancient Greek 
 and Roman writers comprehend all the countries 
 which extend northwards from the Isthmus of 
 Suez and the Arabian Peninsula, as far as the high 
 table land of the Euphrates, where that river 
 breaks through the mountain-chain of Taurus, 
 and which are bounded on the east by the Eu- 
 phrates and the Desert of Arabia, and on the 
 west by the Mediterannean Sea.^ The Arabs 
 call this great province Barr-esh-Sham^ or simply 
 esh-Sham,^ i. e. the country to the left, or to- 
 wards the north, in contradistinction to Southern 
 Arabia, Yemen, i. e. the country to the right ; 
 because when, in order to determine the cardinal 
 points, the look is supposed to be directed to- 
 wards the east, Arabia lies on the right-hand, 
 and Syria on the left.'* According to the above 
 mentioned boundaries, Phoenicia and Palestine 
 would form part of Syria, but, in a stricter 
 «ense, neither of these countries is to be included 
 in Syria Proper; for that only comprehends the 
 region which is shut in on the north and south 
 by the mountain ranges of Amanus and Le- 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 205 
 
 banon, and on the east and west by the river 
 Euphrates and the ]\iediterannean. The ancient 
 Hebrews distinguished this country by the ge- 
 neral name of Aram, sl part of which, however, 
 they accounted Mesopotamia,^ on the other side 
 of the Euphrates, which they called Aram-Na- 
 har aim diiid. Padan- Aram. As to western Aram, 
 or Aram on this side the river, mention is made 
 in the Old Testament of Aram-Zobah, Aram- 
 Dammesek, Aram-Maachach, and Aram-Beth- 
 Rechob, as so many particular districts and towns 
 belonging to it. 
 
 Syria is composed of three tracts of land of: 
 very different descriptions. That which adjoins 
 the Mediterannean, is a hot, damp, and rather 
 unwholesome valley, but very fruitful. The 
 part next to this consists of a double chain of 
 mountains, running parallel from south-west to 
 north- east, with craggy precipitous rocks, long 
 devious valleys, and hollow defiles. The air is 
 here dry and healthy ; and on the western de- 
 clivities of the mountains are seen beautiful and 
 highly cultivated terraces, alternating with well- 
 watered valleys, which have a rich and fertile soil, 
 and are densely peopled. The eastern declivi- 
 ties, on the contrary, are dreary mountain de- 
 serts, connected with the third region, which 
 may be described as an extensive plain of sand 
 
 * See the last chapter. 
 
206 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 and rock, presenting an immense and almost un- 
 broken level.^ 
 
 Spring and autumn are very agreeable in Sy- 
 ria, and the heat of summer in the mountain 
 districts is supportable. But in the plains, as 
 soon as the sun reaches the equator, it becomes 
 of a sudden oppressively hot, and this heat con- 
 tinues till the end of October. On the other 
 hand, the winter is so mild, that orange-trees, 
 fig-trees,^ palms, and many tender shrubs and 
 plants flourish in the open air, while the heights of 
 Lebanon are glittering with snow and hoar-frost. 
 In the districts, however, which lie north "and east 
 of the mountains, the severity of winter is greater, 
 though the heat of summer is not less. At An- 
 tioch, Aleppo, and Damascus, there is ice and 
 snow for several weeks every winter. Yet, upon 
 the whole, the climate and soil combine to render 
 this country one of the most agreeable residences 
 throughout the east. 
 
 Syria is, from time to time, visited with earth- 
 quakes, which occasion great devastation. Dur- 
 ing one, which happened in the year 1759, in the 
 valley of Baalbek, more than twenty thousand 
 persons perished. For the space of three months 
 the shocks kept the inhabitants of Lebanon in such 
 alarm, that they forsook their houses and dwelt 
 
 ' Specially, the pisang or JMusa Paradisaica, in Arabic 
 jk^ Mans or Mus — 31. 
 
CHAP. XI. J SYRIA. 207 
 
 in tents. ^ In the year 18*22 the inhabitants of 
 Aleppo were compelled to do the same, a terrible 
 earthquake having destroyed a great part of the 
 city, and buried many thousands of the inha- 
 bitants in the ruins. Another calamity, with 
 which Syria is visited (commonly after too mild 
 a winter), is the innumerable swarms of locusts, 
 which come hither out of the Arabian desert, 
 consume, in a few hours, every green thing in 
 the fields, and every leaf on the trees, change 
 the face of the country into a naked waste, and 
 bring in their train famine and pestilence.'' 
 
 Among the mountains of Syria, the greatest 
 and most celebrated is Lebanon ^^ a long and 
 high range of lime-stone hills, which, beginning 
 at the Mediterannean, run in two parallel chains 
 from south-west to north-east.^ The more 
 southerly of these chains is called Anti-libamis 
 or that which stands opposite Lebanon Proper. 
 An eastern arm of that line is called Hermon^^ 
 (Deut. iii. 9) and also Sion^^ (Deut. iv. 48). In 
 the first cited passage, it is said, that the Sido- 
 nians called it Sirion,'"^ and the Amorites Senir.^^ 
 Both names denote a coat of mail.^'* In later 
 books of the Old Testament, however, (1 Chron. 
 V. 28. Solomon's Song iv. 8), Senir is dis- 
 tinguished fromHermon, strictly so called. Ac- 
 cording to Seetzen^"*^ and Burckhardt, ^ ^"^ Her- 
 mon is now called Jehel-esh-Sheich, i. e. " the 
 Chief's Mountain," and a branch of the same 
 
•208 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 running southwards, Hish-el-Kenneytra. Jn the 
 middle ages, the part of Anti-libanus, north of 
 Damascus, was called Senir.^^ The top of 
 Amana (Solomon's Song iv. 8) doubtless be- 
 longed also to this mountain range. * * * The 
 valley, two leagues wide, which is inclosed be- 
 tween Lebanon and Anti-libanus, is called el- 
 Bekua,^^ a word common to the Hebrew and 
 Arabic languages, and signifying "a level valley." 
 Strabo calls this valley Coele-Syria, i. e. " Hol- 
 low Syria," at the north-east end of which lay 
 Baalbek or Heliopolis, the city of the Sun, of 
 which we shall have occasion to speak under the 
 head of " Baal-Gad." 
 
 Lebanon received its name from its white co- 
 lour,^'' which is produced not only by the per- 
 petual snow on its summit (whence the Arabs 
 call it the '.' Snow ]\Iountain")^® but also by the 
 whitish complexion of the calcareous soil.^^ If 
 one approaches Syria from the sea, he per- 
 ceives, almost upon leaving Larnaka in Cyprus, 
 at a distance of thirty leagues from the coast, 
 the misty heights of Lebanon. ^^ As he ap- 
 proaches the shore, the steep precipices of the 
 mountain rampart, and those gigantic masses of 
 rocks, which lose themselves in the clouds, fill him 
 with astonishment and awe. Directly behind 
 Tripoli is seen what is called " the Bulwark of 
 Lebanon," upon the top of which tliere are beau- 
 tiful and fruitful plains.'-' If it is approached 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 209 
 
 from Beirut, ^^ " the traveller at first passes through 
 gardens, where the vine tendrils twine them- 
 selves round the great trees which overshadow 
 the road. The mulberry plantations and vine- 
 yards are enclosed with hedges of nopal, ^ reeds, 
 and shrubs. Small coffee-houses and fruit-shops, 
 of stone or wicker work, are found at almost all 
 the cross roads, and in the neighbourhood of the 
 villages. The abundance of fountains, wells, 
 and brooks is indescribable, and their water is 
 most excellent (compare Solomon's Song iv. 
 15). Mulberries and the vine are the chief ar- 
 ticles of cultivation. As one gradually ascends 
 the mountain, the prospect enlarges. He sees 
 that the inferior ridges, proceeding from the 
 principal range, run out parallel to each other 
 from east to west as far as the sea. They are 
 cultivated from the base to the summit, and 
 every where present, elevated above the clouds, 
 villages, farms, monasteries and vineyards, in 
 which last, as is common throughout Asia, the 
 tendrils not being bound up, are allowed to 
 spread themselves along the ground. The val- 
 leys are deep and narrow. Beyond these fertile 
 hills rise the steep eminences of the principal range 
 of Lebanon. Flocks of black goats, with long 
 brow^n ears, and white sheep, with large fat tails, 
 feed upon these Alpine heights. The top of 
 
 ^ Nopal is the Indian fig-tree or Cactus Opiintia — M. 
 VOL. II. P 
 
210 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 Lebanon forms the last elevation,— a bare, rug- 
 ged and precipitous ridge of greyish rock, whose 
 cavities are filled up with snow." " Lebanon," 
 says another recent traveller,^^ " has a different 
 aspect from the mountains of Switzerland. No 
 spires and blocks of snow are seen on its heights, 
 rising as glaciers above the chief level. This 
 steep barrier of rock appears of a whitish yel- 
 low colour like chalk. As there is not a single 
 trace of vegetation on the summit, the pale co- 
 lour of the mountain top, and the clear azure of 
 heaven, combine to produce a soft but dazzling 
 lustre." 
 
 The highest peaks of Lebanon are, as we have 
 already remarked, covered with perpetual snow.^"* 
 If, in the summer months, the forest of cedars be 
 free from it,^'^ yet in the upper regions, the 
 snow remains on the ground even in June, July, 
 and August ; and in winter, it sometimes falls in 
 such quantities, far below the level of the cedar 
 forest, that unless it were dispersed by the wind, 
 the cedars would be buried under it. The snow- 
 clad heights of Lebanon not only provide the 
 neighbouring towns with ice to cool their be- 
 verages in summer; but likewise are the chief 
 feeders of the many springs which flow round 
 its base, and finally join the common source of 
 the principal river of Judsea, the Jordan.^" Hence 
 may be seen the beauty of the emblem employ- 
 ed by the prophet Jeremiah (ch. xviii. 14, 15) : 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 211 
 
 Shall snow from the rocks of Lebanon cease to water my fields ? 
 Or shall the far-flowing, cool, constant waters be dried up ? 
 But my people forget me, burning incense to nonentities,— 
 They stumble in their way, even on the ancient paths, 
 Yea, they walk in paths that are not trodden.^ 
 
 Nature, says Jehovah by the mouth of the pro- 
 phet, remains faithful and constant in the regular 
 course prescribed to it by the Creator, but my 
 people have forsaken my appointed way, in which 
 their fathers walked. 
 
 As the heights of Lebanon, stiffened with per- 
 petual ice and snow, are rugged and dreary, so, 
 for the most part, the middle and lower regions 
 of the mountain are magnificent and lovely. 
 Travellers speak with ecstacy of the enchanting 
 prospects which are everywhere presented to the 
 view. Beneath the rocky eminence of the cedar 
 
 » This is a locus vexatissimus, Rosenmiiller adopts the 
 translation of C. B. Michaelis, as approved by Schnurrer. 
 Blayney (not very happily as appears to me) renders it : 
 
 Will the snow leave Lebanon before any rock of the field ? 
 Will men dig for strange waters perversely in preference to 
 
 such as flow ? 
 But my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to 
 
 vanity : 
 And paths of ancient use have caused them to stumble in their 
 
 ways, 
 Whilst they ualk in paths of a road not thrown up. 
 
 See Chrisl. Frid. Schnurreri Observatt. ad "^^aticinia Jerem. 
 Tubing, 1703-4 : reprinted in the Commentt. Theologic. of 
 Velthuysen, Kuinoel, and Ruperti. Vols. IL-V. — M. 
 
'212 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 forest lies, in a hollow, the Maronite convent of 
 Canubin. The valley is copiously watered, be- 
 ing full of fountains and cascades ; it abounds 
 in pines, cypresses, oaks, and plantains. De 
 Bruyn found this valley so agreeable, even in 
 the middle of winter, that he declares he never 
 saw^ a fairer spot on the earth. -^ The tract 
 around the village of Bshirrai (which is likewise 
 ]>elow the cedar forest), Mayr describes as splen- 
 did and unique in its scenery. ^^ " The roman- 
 tic mountain landscapes of the small Swiss Can- 
 tons may be compared with it, though in many 
 respects it far surpasses them. It appears as if 
 the most fertile fields were spread over the bar- 
 ren rocks. Silver poplars, sometimes single, 
 sometimes in clumps, wave their tall and slender 
 forms ; and the stream of a waterfall rushes in a 
 magnificent sheet down the mountain, and irri- 
 gates the whole of the surrounding countiy." 
 In order that he might enjoy this delightful 
 scene. King Solomon built to himself pleasure- 
 houses upon Mount Lebanon (1 Kings ix. 19).^*'' 
 Among the natural productions of Lebanon, 
 the first place is due to its wine. All who have 
 tasted it agree in extolling its excellence. " The 
 vineyards here," as Father Dandini relates,^'* 
 " are not turned up with the spade, but ploughed 
 with oxen, and are planted in parallel rows, 
 which are placed at regular distances from each 
 other. The tendrils are not supported by props. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 213 
 
 but are allowed to spread along the ground. The 
 wine made from them is excellent ; the clusters 
 are astonishingly large, and the grapes are often 
 like plums." A later traveller^' says, ** An ar- 
 ticle nowhere met with in Europe, and found 
 ' only here, is the Vino cCoro of Lebanon. When 
 I first saw it, I thought, from its colour and 
 general appearance, that it was a liqueur ; and 
 after tasting it, I was not sure if Malaga or 
 Alicant wine, could bear comparison with it. It 
 leaves in the mouth a sweetness and agreeable 
 warmth, without being intoxicating."^^ The 
 prophet Hosea says (ch. xiv. 7), that the people 
 of Israel should one day be esteemed as the noble 
 wine of Lebanon. 
 
 Nothing has more conduced to the fame of 
 Lebanon, from very ancient times, than its cedars. 
 These trees are not, it is true, peculiar to this 
 mountain, for they also grow on Amanus and 
 Taurus, in Asia Minor f^ but they do not 
 there attain the same height and vigour as on 
 Lebanon. The cedar (in Hebrew and Arabic 
 aeres, aers), belongs to the family of pointed 
 leaved trees. Its leaves are an inch and a half 
 long, stiff, and evergreen, and more than twenty 
 of them grow on each shoot. The bright-green 
 cones stand upright ; they are of an oval shape, 
 five inches. long and four broad, and are firmly 
 attached to the rind, which is of a bright grey or 
 brown colour.^"* The young trees resemble 
 
214 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 larches. The beauty of the cedar consists in the 
 strength and elegant symmetry of its wide spread- 
 ing boughs. The wood is reddish-brown with 
 streaks. The resin, which exudes from the 
 branches, as well as from the cones, is, according 
 to Schulz,^^ " as soft as balsam, and its smell 
 very much resembles that of the balm of Mecca. 
 Indeed, every thing about the tree has a strong 
 balsamic odour, and the whole forest is in con- 
 sequence so perfumed with fragrance, that a walk 
 through it is delightful." This is probably the 
 sweet smell of Lebanon^ spoken of by the prophet 
 Hosea (ch. xiv. 6), and in Solomon's Song (ch. 
 iv. 11.) 
 
 In almost no kind of wood are so many ad- 
 vantages for building combined, as in the cedar. 
 The timber is hard, and free from knots, is cor- 
 roded by no worm, and lasts so long, that some 
 are of opinion it is not subject to decay. Hence, 
 in the building of houses, it is used for beams to 
 the roof, and for the ceiling and floors. The 
 castle of Persepolis,^*" and the temple at Jerusa- 
 lem, as well as the palace of Solomon there, were 
 built of cedar ; and in the last mentioned edifice, 
 so great a quantity of this wood was made use 
 of, that it is called (1 Kings vii. 2 ; x. 17), the 
 house of the forest of Lebanon?'^ In Tyre, the 
 masts of ships and the wainscot of palaces were 
 of cedar (Ezekiel xxvii. 5, 6). 
 
 Of the extensive cedar-forests which once 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 215 
 
 adorned Lebanon, only a very few traces now re- 
 main. The grove of cedars best known, and 
 most commonly visited by travellers, is found at 
 the foot of the steep declivities of the higher 
 division of Lebanon proper, opposite the village 
 of Hadet. It is half a league distant from the 
 straight line of road to Bshirrai, and a league and 
 a quarter from that place, in the neighbourhood 
 of which lies the Carmelite monastery. Mar 
 Serkis {i. e. Saint Sergius). Mayr,'^^ in the sum- 
 mer of the year 1813, computed the number of 
 trees, of which this wood was composed, at eight or 
 nine hundred, including every size. Among these 
 he reckoned nine principal cedars, which were 
 distinguished from the rest by their thickness and 
 age, but not by their height, in which they were 
 surpassed by younger trees. The circumference 
 of the trunk of the largest cedar, at four feet from 
 the ground, was about tw^enty feet. A fallen 
 bough measured thirty paces in length. The 
 trunks of five of the largest branched off into three 
 or four divisions, each stem in which was equal to 
 the trunk of our largest oaks. Burckhardt^^ in 
 the autumn of 1810, " counted eleven or twelve 
 cedars of the oldest and best looking trees; twenty- 
 five very large ones ; about fifty of middling size ; 
 and more than three hundred smaller and young 
 trees. The oldest trees are distinguished by hav- 
 ing the foliage and small branches at the top only, 
 and by four, five, or even seven trunks springing 
 
216 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 from one base. The branches and foliage of the 
 others were lower. The trunks of the oldest 
 trees seem to be quite dead ; the wood is of a 
 grey tint." Besides this cedar forest, Seetzen'*^ 
 discovered two others, which surpassed this in 
 extent, but they are mentioned by no other 
 traveller. 
 
 The less populous parts of Lebanon, and the 
 mountain defiles, harbour many wild beasts, par- 
 ticularly bears, wolves, jackalls, wild boars, and 
 panthers. The skins of the last are very much 
 esteemed, and are used as saddle-cloths."*^ The 
 lions' dens on Lebanon, and the mountains of 
 panthers,* are mentioned in Solomon's Song, 
 iv. 8. 
 
 It is probable, that the Mount Hor, which is 
 spoken of in Numbers xxxii. 7, 8, in the de- 
 scription of the northern border of the land of the 
 Hebrews,''^ was a north-eastern branch of Leb- 
 anon. It is said in that passage, " this shall be 
 your north border ; from the Great Sea ye shall 
 draw your boundary-line to Mount Hor. From 
 
 * Luther and our Eng. Translators have rendered this by 
 " leopards, ^^ animals which are found indeed in the south of 
 Persia and India, but not in Syria, where, hoM'ever, the panther 
 (in Heb. *i)23 namer, in Arab- y ^^J nimHrah), is to be met 
 with. Tlie leopard is a much smaller animal, yet it is larger 
 than tJie ounce or little paiither, which the Arabs call JwAi 
 Fahad.~M. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 217 
 
 Mount Hor,^ ye shall draw your border-line 
 (farther), unto Hamath (i. e. Epiphania on the 
 Orontes) ; and carry it as far as Zedad.'^ Yet, 
 in point of fact, the Hebrews did not extend their 
 conquests across the south-east chain of Lebanon, 
 or the Antilibanus. 
 
 Among- the rivers of Syria, the most important 
 is that which the Greeks and Romans called the 
 Orontes, and which the Arabs still term the 
 Oront,^^ although they more frequently call it 
 Ei-Aasi,^^ i. e, " the Rebel,'* because it can only 
 be made to irrigate the land by means of water- 
 wheels. That, at least, is adduced by Abulfeda as 
 the origin of the Arabic name ;^^ yet it is possible 
 that it may have been changed from an ancient 
 name given it by the Greeks, Axios (z. e.the 
 esteemed, the excellent,'*^) into the similarly pro- 
 nounced Arabic of the above signification. The 
 Arabs likewise call this stream, the river of Ham- 
 ath,^'^ on account of its flowing through that 
 ancient and celebrated city, and el-MaMub,^^ i. e, 
 the inverted, because, contrary to the general di- 
 rection of the Syrian rivers, it has its course 
 from south to north. It rises about nine miles 
 
 ^ The words of the original are ""^TTTI "in which the LXX 
 render by o^os to o^o; and the Vulg. by " mons ahissimus." 
 Reland (in his Palsestina lUust. p. 119), thinks that "nn is not 
 a proper name, but the infinitive of an obsolete verb TnTT 
 whence ^Ti a mountain is derived; and he would translate 
 ^TtTl *in by ru assurgere montis, or some such phrase. — M. 
 
218 SYRIA. [chap. xr. 
 
 to the south-east of Upper Lebanon, at the 
 distance of half a league from the village of 
 Jiranidje.*^ Running for about seventy miles 
 in a straight line, from south to north, it passes 
 Hems and Hamath ; it then bends from east to 
 west, and, flowing in a course directly west, to 
 the plain of Antioch, empties itself, nine miles 
 below that city, into the Sea of Syria. 
 
 The second place among the rivers of Syria, 
 is due to the Eleutheims^^ mentioned in 1 Macca- 
 bees xi. 7 ; xii. 30. This river divided Phoe- 
 nicia from Syria, and is probably identical with 
 that now called Nahr-el-kehi?-, i. e. the great 
 river.'^^ It springs in Upper Lebanon, and joins 
 the Syrian sea below Tartus. Burckhardt^^ 
 calls it a large river, and observes, that it is so 
 dangerous in spring, on account of its impetuous 
 rapidity, that the caravans from Hamath are of- 
 ten detained on its banks for weeks, without 
 being able to cross it. 
 
 The Chrysorrlioas, now the Barada,^^ i. e. " the 
 cold," takes a course quite different from that of 
 the rivers already mentioned. It rises in Anti- 
 libanus, flows south-east through a narrow val- 
 ley towards Damascus, and near the village of Du- 
 mar, successively divides itself into five branches. 
 The principal stream runs through Damascus, 
 copiously supplying the city with water, by 
 means of canals. Two other arms flow round 
 the beautiful plain of El-Gutha, and irrigate its 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 219 
 
 gardens with countless water-courses. Below 
 Damascus, almost all the divisions of the Barada 
 reunite in a common channel, and about the dis- 
 tance of two days' journey farther to the south- 
 east, the river is lost in a lake, several leagues 
 long, very abundant in fish, but surrounded with 
 morasses.* One of the above mentioned arms of 
 the Barada is now called Baneas. It has been con- 
 jectured, that this is the same river as that spoken 
 of in 2 Kings v. 12, under the name of Abana.^^ 
 The prophet Elisha had commanded Naaman, 
 the Syrian general, to bathe in the Jordan, that 
 he might be cleansed from his leprosy ; but 
 Naaman replied : " Are not Abana and Pharpar 
 rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of 
 Israel ?" The Pharpar ^^ is very probably the 
 same river as that now called the Fidsheh.^^ Otto 
 von Richter^-^ (who visited the country in 1815), 
 says, " that it springs from a cave at the bottom 
 of the range of hills, by which the vale of Da- 
 mascus is enclosed, in the neighbourhood of the 
 village of Fidsheh, a few leagues north-west of 
 the city. Here the Fidsheh rushes out in a 
 rapid current from an old vault, which rests on a 
 wall of large square stones, and forms the entrance 
 to the cave. Right above the spring, is seen a 
 high tower with the foundations of a quadran- 
 
 * It is called by Volney, Behairat-el-Mardj^ i. e. the Lake of 
 the Meadow 31. 
 
220 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 gular apartment ; opposite the tower is a broad 
 niche, and on the north side are the remains of a 
 semicircular apartment. Beside the fountain 
 there is built a large semicircular niche in the 
 rocks, and by its side, a square edifice of large 
 stones, ten or twelve paces long, and as many 
 broad. Through an opening on the side turned 
 towards the water, a part of the stream flows in, 
 and runs out again through a similar opening in 
 the front wall. The back of the square edifice, 
 leans upon the rocks, and in place of a fa9ade, 
 there are only a few projecting pillars, beside 
 which more niches are found. The side walls 
 incline towards each other in a singular manner, 
 in much the same way as a vault, except at the 
 cornice. The external appearance of the stones 
 evinces a high antiquity, but the whole is so rude 
 and simple, that I cannot even form a conjecture 
 as to the time of its erection. Immediately be- 
 low the ancient edifice, the brook forms a fall of 
 several feet, and then flows in innumerable little 
 channels. Its water is as pure and transparent 
 as can anywhere be found, and must be very 
 salubrious. The stream glides away under pop- 
 lar trees, and soon unites with the Barada, which 
 comes from another beautiful valley. The latter 
 river is half the breadth of the Fidsheh ; its source 
 indeed, lies far higher, but it runs in a much 
 deeper channel. Its turbid water appears of a 
 whitish-green colour. It is reckoned very un- 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 221 
 
 wholesome, and is continually producing fever 
 among the inhabitants of the villages on its banks, 
 until where it becomes improved by its confluence 
 with the waters of the Fidsheh. Both streams have 
 an impetuous current, which they long preserve 
 distinct in the same channel, without coming- 
 ling, as is seen from the diiference of colour. The 
 inhabitants maintain, that the respective temper- 
 ature of the v/aters likewise remains, after their 
 conflux, for that the water of the Fidsheh is colder 
 in summer, and warmer in winter, than that of 
 the Barada." These boasted qualities of the 
 Fidsheh, on account of which its source was 
 early distinguished by architectural decorations, 
 strongly confirm the supposition, that it is one 
 of the two rivers of Damascus, whose waters 
 Naaman conceived to be more salutary than all 
 the waters of Israel. 
 
 Syria Proper, the extent and boundaries of 
 which have now been described, was divided in 
 the time of David, into several small kingdoms 
 or principalities, of which the following are men- 
 tioned in the historical books of Scripture. 
 
 I. Jram-ZohahJ'^ That this part of Aram or 
 Syria, bordered on the Euphrates, is evident 
 from the circumstance that, according to 2 Sam. 
 viii. 3, David, having set out to recover, or as it 
 is said, in I Chron. xviii. 3, to establish his do- 
 
222 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 minion on the Euphrates, defeated Hadadezer, 
 the king- of Zobah. Hadadezer afterwards 
 brought auxiliary troops from Aram beyond the 
 Euphrates, that is from Mesopotamia, (2 Sam. 
 X. 16). Thus the Euphrates was the eastern 
 boundary of Zobah ; but on the west side, the 
 Damasco-Syrian and Hebrew territories were 
 contiguous to it. For the Jews, the Damas- 
 cenes, and the Zobahites, made war upon each 
 other. If the town Berothai (mentioned in 2 
 Sam. viii. 8), which David took from the king 
 of Zobah, be the modern Beirut, then Aram- 
 Zobah must have extended westward to the 
 Mediterranean. Even Saul carried on war 
 against Zobah (1 Sam. xiv. 47). It has al- 
 ready been stated, that David defeated the king 
 of Zobah ; and when the Damascenes sent auxi- 
 liaries to Hadadezer, these also were routed, (2 
 Sam. viii. 5). According to 2 Sam. x. 6, the 
 Ammonites hired twenty thousand foot soldiers 
 from the Zobahites, in order to make war on 
 David. Reson fled from Zobah to Damascus, 
 possessed himself of that city, and became a con- 
 stant enemy to Solomon (1 Kings xi. 24, 25.) 
 Hamath (that is Epiphania on the Orontes) is 
 called, in 2 Chron. viii. 3, Hamath-Zobah, be- 
 cause it either lay within the district of Zobah, 
 or was contiguous to it. All these circumstances, 
 viewed collectively, lead to the conclusion, that 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 223 
 
 Zobah ought to be placed between Damascus and 
 Aleppo, as far as the Euphrates ; and they show, 
 at the same time, the great improbability of the 
 opinion advanced by J. D. Michaelis,^^ and ge~ 
 nerally acquiesced in, that Zobah was Nisibis, a 
 town lying to the north-east, far beyond the 
 Euphrates.^'^ That the Syrian ecclesiastical 
 writers take Nisibis for Zobah, has no more 
 weight than the opinion of the Jews at Aleppo, 
 that that city is the ancient Aram-Zobah f^ yet 
 the above given data, when taken together, make 
 it probable, that the district of Zobah did extend 
 north-west as far as Aleppo.^^ 
 
 II. Aram-Dammesek,^^ " the Syria of Damas- 
 cus," which David conquered (2 Sam. viii. 5, 6). 
 Of the chief town, Damascus, see below. The 
 " land of Hadrach,"^* spoken of by the prophet 
 Zechariah (ch. ix. 1), appears to have been a part 
 of Damascene-Syria, or a province adjoining it, 
 as they are mentioned together. 
 
 III. Aram-Maachah,^^ (1 Chron. xix. 6), or 
 simply Maachah, (2 Sam. x. 6, 8), is, in the pas- 
 sages quoted, mentioned along with Aram-Zobah 
 and several other districts of Aram. It seems to 
 have extended from Damascus southward, as far 
 as the north border of the country of the Jews, 
 on the east side of the Jordan. For it is related 
 in Deut. iii. 13, that Jair, the son of Manasseh, 
 took possession of the country of Argob in Ba- 
 shan, unto the borders of Geshur and Maachah ; 
 
±24 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 and, according to Joshua xiil. 11, the tribe of 
 Reuben received, among other territories, Gilead 
 unto the borders of Geshur and Maachah. Yet, 
 it is added at verse 13, that the Israelites had 
 not then expelled the inhabitants of Geshur and 
 Maachah, but dwelt along with them there.*^^ 
 
 IV. Aram Beth licchob ^7 is noticed in 2 Sam. 
 X. 6, among other neighbouring Syrian tribes, 
 from whom the Ammonites had hired mer- 
 cenaries to make war upon David. That this 
 region adjoined the north frontier of the Israel- 
 ites, appears from the fact, that according to 
 Judges xviii. 28, the town of Laish, conquered 
 by the Danites, and afterwards from them called 
 Dan, lay in the neighbourhood of Beth-rechob. 
 In that passage it is said, that none had come to 
 the help of the town of Laish_, because " it was 
 far from Sidon in the valley that lieth by Beth- 
 rechob." According to Numbers xiii. 21, Re- 
 chob lay on the road to Hamath or Epiphania ; 
 and in Judges i. -31, Rechob is mentioned among 
 several places of Northern Palestine, near to 
 Zidon, from which the inhabitants were not ex- 
 pelled by the Asherites. These considerations, 
 taken together, (among which it is particularly to 
 be observed, that Rechob " lay in a valley"), 
 lead us to conclude, with some probability, that 
 Aram Beth-Rechob was the same district as that 
 now called Ard (the land) d-llhnle,^^ at the foot 
 of Antilibanus, and near the sources of the 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 225 
 
 Jordan. " A few leagues below Banias (Paneas)," 
 says Seetzen,^^ " the mountains form a long, 
 but little cultivated valley, which is called 
 el Hhule, and in the middle of which lies the 
 marshy lake, which receives from it the appella- 
 tion of Bahhrat Hhule.'^ This is the lake 
 Merom or the Lacus Samochonitis of the an- 
 cients." Burckhardt, in the Journal of his Tour 
 from Damascus in the countries of the Libanus 
 and Antilibanus, says :^^ " The mountains of 
 Hasbeya, or the chain of Dshebel-esh-Sheikh, 
 divide, at five hours north from the lake Houle, 
 into two branches. The western, a little further 
 to the south, takes the name of Dshebel Safat, 
 the eastern joins the Dshebel Heish, and its 
 continuations towards Banias. Between these 
 two lie the lake of Houle, and the Ard-el- 
 Houle, the latter from three to four hours in 
 breadth. We descended from Rasheyat-el-Fuk- 
 har into the plain, in which we continued till we 
 reached Banias at the end of four hours." Hul 
 or Chul, is mentioned among the sons of Aram 
 in the genealogico-ethnographic table in Ge- 
 nesis X. 23 ; and as Aram is the Hebrew^ name 
 of Syria, Chul is, without doubt, the name of 
 some part or district of that country. And as 
 the Chaldee name Chel, which corresponds to 
 the Hebrew Chul, signifies a valley, it is not, 
 perhaps, too bold a conjecture, that Chul was 
 the most ancient name of the above described 
 
 VOL. II. 2 
 
326 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 valley, now denominated el-Hhule, which does 
 not materially differ from the Hebrew name.*^^ 
 
 Besides those parts of Syria which have been al- 
 ready described, and which show themselves to be- 
 long to the country, by bearing the prefixed nam^ 
 of Aram, the following, without being similarly 
 distinguished, are also mentioned in scripture : 
 
 V. Hamath,'^^ on the Orontes, with a city of 
 the same name, which it still bears. In Gen. 
 X. 18, a Canaanitish tribe of this name is men- 
 tioned; and Hamath is afterwards repeatedly 
 noticed as the northern border of the Israelites, 
 (Numb. xiii. 21 ; xxxiv. 8. Joshua xiii. 5. Judges 
 iii. 3). In the time of David, Hamath was a king- 
 dom or principality, the ruler of which was called 
 Toi (2 Sam. viii. 9), and was friendly to David. 
 The extent and boundaries of this district are 
 uncertain.^'* 
 
 VI. Arpad,'^^ is always spoken of along with 
 Hamath (2 Kings xviii. 34; xix. 13. Isaiah x. 
 9 ; xxxvi. 19. Jeremiah xlix. 23), from which 
 we conclude, that it probably adjoined it on the 
 east, beyond the Orontes. 
 
 VII. Haiiran^^ which is noticed by Ezekiel 
 (xlvii. 16, 18), as a country bordering on the He- 
 brew territory, on the north-east, has still the 
 same name, whence was derived the Greek Au- 
 ranitis and Oranitis. It extends on the east side 
 of the Jordan, from the Lake of Tiberias north- 
 wards to Damascus. Burckhardt, who traversed 
 
CHAP. XI.J SYRIA. 227 
 
 this district in the autumn and winter of the year 
 1810, and in the spring of 1812, thus defines its 
 modern boundaries :^'^ " To the south of Djebel, 
 Kessue, and Djebel Khiara, begins the country 
 of Haouran. It is bordered on the east by the 
 rocky district el-Ledja, and by the Djebel Haou- 
 ran, both of which are sometimes comprised with- 
 in the Haouran ; and, in this case, the Djebel el- 
 Drouz, or the Mountain of the Druses, whose 
 chief resides at Soueida, may be considered ano- 
 ther sub-division of the Haouran. To the south- 
 east, where Boszra and el-Remtha are the farthest 
 inhabited villages, the Haouran borders upon 
 the Desert. Its western limits are the chain of 
 villages on the Hadjee, [z. e. pilgrim's] road from 
 Ghebarib, as far south as Remtha. The Haouran 
 comprises therefore part of Trachonitis and Itu- 
 raia, the whole of Auranitis, and the northern 
 districts of Batanea." 
 
 VIII. Geshur,'^^ according to 2 Samuel xv. 8, 
 1 Chron. ii. 23, was a district of Aram or Syria, 
 w^hich adjoined on the east side of the Jordan, 
 the north border of the Hebrew territory, and lay 
 between Mount Hermon, Maachah, and Bashan, 
 as appears from Deut. iii. 13, 14. Joshua xii. 3. 
 According to the boundaries of the Holy Land, 
 as defined by Moses, Geshur would have formed 
 part of it ; but, in Joshua xiii. 2, 13, it is 
 stated, that the Israelites had expelled neither 
 the GeshuriteSj nor the Maachabites, but '' dwelt 
 
228 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 together with them '" and that the Hebrews did 
 not afterwards [permanently] subdue Geshur, 
 appears from the circumstance, that, in David's 
 time, this district had a king of its own called 
 Tolmai, whose daughter, Maachah, was one of 
 the wives of David, 2 Sam. iii. 3. She bore 
 him Absalom, who afterwards fled to his grand- 
 father, and remained with him for the space of 
 three years, "2 Sam. xiii. 37 ; xv. 8. The name 
 Geshur signifies " a bridge," (in Arabic, Jishr 
 or Jisser) ; and in the same tract of country in 
 which Geshur lay, there is still found a bridge 
 over the upper Jordan, between Mount Hermon 
 and the lake of Tiberias, called Jis?- Bent- Yakuby 
 i. e. " the bridge of the sons of Jacob." — " It 
 is," says Seetzen, " built of basalt stones, and 
 in good preservation. I found the river here 
 thirty-five paces broad. On the east bank is a 
 C/idn (a vacant edifice, where travellers may put 
 up), the greater part of which w^as destroyed in 
 the French invasion ; there is still, however, a 
 small guard, wdth a receiver of the pontage- 
 dues." Burckhardt^^ also gives an account of 
 this bridge. " At an hour and a half below the 
 ruins of the city of Noworan is the bridge over 
 the Jordan, called the Djisr Beni-Yakoub. 
 The road continues in an easy slope till a quar- 
 ter of an hour above the bridge, where it be- 
 comes a steep descent. The river flows in a nar- 
 row bed, and with a rapid stream ; for the hike 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 229 
 
 Houle, whose southern extremity is about three 
 quarters of an hour north of the bridge, is upon 
 a level considerably higher than that of the lake 
 of Tiberias. The bridge is of a solid construc- 
 tion, with four arches ; on its east side is a khan, 
 much frequented by travellers, in the middle of 
 which are the ruins of an ancient square build- 
 ing, constructed with basalt, and having columns 
 at its four arches. The khan contains also a 
 spring. The Pacha of Damascus here keeps a 
 guard of a few men, principally for the purpose 
 of collecting the ghaffei\ or tax paid by all Chris- 
 tians w^ho cross the bridge. The bridge divides 
 the pachalics of Damascus and Akka."^ From 
 the nature of the country, it may be inferred, 
 that this is also an important military pass, which 
 must always have rendered its possession of some 
 consequence.^^ 
 
 IX. Abilene is mentioned in Luke iii. 1, as a 
 province governed by Lysanias, with the title of 
 Tetrarch. From its being introduced along with 
 Galilee, Itursea, and Trachonitis, it is probable 
 that it lay in the neighbourhood of these dis- 
 
 * Burckhardt gives the name in Arabic characters 
 
 <_>kJ*L) ^Jo y*M^ . He adds, that Banias ( Ccssarea Phi- 
 
 lippij bears from a point above the bridge N. by E. There 
 is a guard-house on the Avest side as well as the east. The 
 ordinary ghaffer is about ninepence a head ; but the pilgrims 
 who pass about Easter, on their way to Jerusalem, pay seven 
 shillings — Travels in Syria, p. 315, 316.— M. 
 
'2S0 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 tricts; a conjecture which is confirmed by the 
 fact, that, according to Josephus,^^ Abila of Ly- 
 sanias (so called, in order to distinguish it from 
 other places of the same name) lay contiguous 
 to Lebanon. The province had its name from 
 the chief place, Abila or Abel,^^ a Hebrew 
 word, by which several towns mentioned in the 
 Old Testament were designated, and which pro- 
 bably signifies a grassy spot. In the district in 
 question, at the eastern declivity of Lebanon, 
 Ptolemy^"* sets the Abila of Lysanias, which, in 
 the Itinerary named after the Emperor Antoni- 
 nus, is placed eighteen miles north-west of Da- 
 mascus, and thirty-eight miles south of Helio- 
 polis or Baalbek. Pococke,^^ in the year 1737, 
 found in this quarter a high and steep mountain, 
 on the summit of which there was a decayed 
 church, with the ruins of an ancient temple. 
 The inhabitants of the country called the place 
 Nebi Abel {i. e. the prophet Abel), and believed 
 that Cain buried his brother Abel here. But 
 the origin of this tradition is doubtless to be 
 ascribed to the confounding of the true name of 
 the ancient town, Abel, (the signification of 
 which has already been given), with the name 
 of Cain's murdered brother, sounded in the He- 
 brew, Hchel, for which the ancient Greek trans- 
 lators put " Abel." In the inner wall of the 
 above-mentioned church, Pococke discovered a 
 stone about four feet broad, and three feet high, 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 231 
 
 with a Greek inscription ; but a piece of it hav- 
 ing been broken oif, the ending of the lines is 
 lost. " This inscription in verse," says Po- 
 cocke, " appears to have been made in honour 
 of the architect ; it runs in the first person, and 
 begins with the date ; it then mentions " Lysa- 
 nias, tetrarch of Abilene," and intimates in the 
 last line that a lady, named Eusebia, had caused 
 these pillars to be erected. This inscription con- 
 firms the opinion that Abila lay in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; it was without doubt the chief town 
 of the tetrarchate of Abilene, which is said (Luke 
 iii. 1 .) to have been under the government of 
 Lysanias. Opposite these ruins, in the valley 
 on the north side of the river Barady, I saw two 
 columns with their entablature, which appear to 
 be the remains of the portico of a considerable 
 building, large stones being scattered here and 
 there on the ground beside them. I conjecture 
 that Abila stood here, and perhaps lay on both 
 sides of the river." When the Romans made 
 themselves masters of Western Asia, this district 
 also became subject to them, and the Tetrarchs, 
 who had probably attained to independence to- 
 wards the close of the Syrian dominion, were es- 
 tablished as their vassals.^ 
 
 * The Abila of Lysanias ('A/3;Xa fi Aviravtou) is, by some 
 writers {e. g. Home in his Intioduct. Vol. III. p. 508), con- 
 founded with Abel-beth-3Iaachah, which was far to the south 
 of it. There is a seeming discrepancy between the chronology 
 
232 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 At present, under the government of the 
 Turks,^ Syria is divided into five governments, 
 (Eyalets or Pachalics.)^^ These are, 1. The 
 pachalic of Aleppo, to which belong the sub- 
 governments of Aintab, Badjazze, Alexandretta, 
 and Antioeh. 2. The pachalic of Damascus, 
 which also embraces Hebron, Jerusalem, Na- 
 blous, Bostra, Homs, and Hamah. 3. The pa- 
 chalic of Tarahlus, or Tripoli, which extends 
 along the sea-coast from Je-bail (Byblus) north- 
 wards, as far as Latikia. 4. The pachalic of 
 Seida or Akha, which, extending southwards 
 from Je-bail to near Jaffa, comprehends also the 
 mountain country of the Druses. 5. The pa- 
 chalic of Gaza, including Jaffa and the neigh- 
 bouring plains. In the years 1810 — 1812, the 
 Pacha of I>amascus was at the same time Pacha 
 of Tripoli, and consequently in possession of the 
 greater part of Syria. The pachalic of Gaza 
 was then united with that of Akka. The autho- 
 
 of St» Luke and Josephus, as to the period of Lysanias' go- 
 vernment of Abilene, respecting which see Winer^s Bibl. 
 Realworterbuch. Art. Abilene. Caligula gave this province to 
 Herod Agrippa, and Claudius confirmed the grant to him, and 
 also to his son — See Josephus Antiq. XVIII. G, 10 ; XIX. 5 ; 
 XX. 7, Ij and Comp. Munter de Reb. Iturseor. (Copenhag. 
 1824.) M. 
 
 * Since this was written, Syria has been conquered by Ibra- 
 him Pacha, son of the Pacha of Egypt ; but, in the present un- 
 settled state of the East, it is difficult to say into whose perma- 
 nent possession it may fall M. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 233 
 
 rity of the Porte, however, has so much declined 
 in Syria, that a number of petty independent 
 chiefs have sprung up, who set the Sultan at de- 
 fiance. The cities of Badjazze, Alexandretta, 
 and Antioch, have each an independent Aga. 
 When Burckhardt w^as in that country, Kutshuk 
 Ali, lord of Badjazze, openly declared his con- 
 tempt of all orders from the Porte, plundered 
 and insulted the officers of the Sultan, as well 
 as all strangers passing through his mountains ; 
 and, with a force of less than two hundred men, 
 and a territory confined to the half ruined town 
 of Badjazze, in the Gulf of Alexandretta, and a 
 few miles of the surrounding mountains, his fa- 
 ther and he had, for the space of thirty years, 
 defied every attempt of the neighbouring Pachas 
 to reduce them to obedience. 
 
 We now proceed to notice particular places in 
 Syria which are mentioned in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, proceeding from north to south, 
 
 1. Seleucia. — To distinguish it from other 
 places of the same name, this city received the 
 appellation of " the Pierian" (Pier id), from the 
 adjacent mountain Pierius ; it was also called 
 " Seleucia on the sea." According to 1 Mac- 
 cabees xi. 8, Ptolemy (Philometor) king of 
 Egypt, subdued all the towns which lay along 
 the east coast of Syria, as far as Seleucia; and 
 here Paul and Barnabas embarked for the island 
 of Cyprus, (Acts xiii. 4.) This city lay at the 
 
234 SYRIA. [chap. xr. 
 
 moutli of the Orontes or Aasy, in a naturally- 
 strong position. It was built by Seleucus I. 
 king of Syria, after he had overcome Antigonus ; 
 for, not considering his power sufficiently conso- 
 lidated, he fortified this place, in order that he 
 might be able to take refuge in it, should An- 
 tioch be wrested from him. It was situated on 
 the south-western declivity of a rock, and was 
 surrounded with strong walls and towers, some 
 remains of which Pocoke found in tolerable pre- 
 servation. By the Arabian geographers, Abul- 
 feda®^ and Edrisi, this town is mentioned under 
 the name of Suweida.®^ A place called Kapse, 
 inhabited chiefly by Armenians, is now found on 
 the site of Seleucia. Beside the harbour is a 
 well fortified suburb, in which markets are held.^^ 
 2. Antioch, on the Orontes, was the residence 
 of the Syrian kings, called the Seleucidse, (1 
 Maccabees iii. 37 ; iv. 35), and afterwards be- 
 came the seat of the Roman governors of Syria. 
 It was built by Seleucus Nicator, the first of the 
 race now mentioned, and was named after his son 
 Antiochus. Its favourable situation, and the at- 
 tractions of a brilliant court, greatly increased its 
 population. It even became necessary to erect 
 a second town ; Seleucus Callinicus founded 
 a third, and Antiochus Epiphanes a fourth. 
 Each town had its particular designation and dis- 
 tinct walls, the whole being surrounded with a 
 strong fortification, and denominated Tetrapolis, 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 235 
 
 i, e. the four cities.^ ^ Under the Roman em- 
 perors (several of whom selected this as their re- 
 sidence), the greatness of Antioch so much in- 
 creased, that it extended to three quarters of a 
 geographical mile in length, and, in the time of 
 Abulfeda, it was almost of equal breadth. ^^ In 
 the history of Christianity, this city is re- 
 markable as having been the scene of the labours 
 of Paul and Barnabas, and here the disciples of 
 Christ were first distinguished by the name of 
 " Christians," (Acts xi. 26; xiii. 1, et seqq. xv. 
 22, et seqq. Galatians ii. 11 — 21.) It after- 
 wards became the seat of the patriarch or arch- 
 bishop of the Christian churches in Asia ; and, 
 in the time of the emperor Justinian, Antioch, 
 as the chief station of Christianity, obtained the 
 name of Theopolis; i. e. " the city of God."^^ 
 It suifered frequently from earthquakes, and, in 
 the year 540, the Persian emperor Chosroes laid 
 it waste, and, because the inhabitants had in- 
 sulted him during the siege, he carried most of 
 them captive. Justinian rebuilt the city, and 
 although it did not reach its former extent and 
 splendour, yet, by the time of the Crusades, it 
 had risen to a place of great importance. In the 
 year 1098, the Crusaders, after a tedious block- 
 ade, wrested it from the Saracens by treachery, 
 whereupon Bohemond of Tarentum became 
 prince of Antioch. In the year 1268^ it was con- 
 quered and laid waste by the Egyptian Sultan 
 
236 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 Bibar, and the seat of the Greek patriarch was 
 then removed to Damascus. 
 
 The Arabs changed the name Antiochia into 
 Antakia^^^ and the mean remains of this once 
 magnificent city are still so designated.^^ Otto 
 Von Richter visited it from Aleppo in Febru- 
 ary 1816.96 "On the right-hand of the road," 
 says he, " the Orontes winds through a wide 
 valley, which, at first, rises gradually, but 
 afterwards very steeply, to the snow-clad moun- 
 tains on the north ; towards the left preci- 
 pitous hills, embellished with the fairest ver- 
 dure, and a great profusion of flowers, bound the 
 prospect. Limpid rivulets flow from their deep 
 and rugged hollows to refresh the thirsty travel- 
 ler, and then join the waters of the Orontes. 
 A green rock projects on the slope of the moun- 
 tain, and upon this the walls of Antioch are 
 seen reared high in serpentine windings and 
 fantastic shapes. I speedily reached the gate of 
 the ancient town, on the top of which there are 
 large stones placed together in the form of an 
 arch, with some ornamental work. It stands be- 
 tween two strong towers, and beside it is a 
 small reservoir, shaded with lofty trees. From 
 this point there is almost a league of paved way 
 to the gate of the modern town. The latter 
 scarcely occupies a fourth part of the ancient 
 Tetrapolis, and is crowded into a corner of it on 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 237 
 
 the south side of the Orontes. The strong- 
 walls now inclose beautiful gardens, full of figs 
 and mulberries, but which contain no other 
 traces of the ancient town than pieces of bricks 
 and tiles. The walls thence ascend the moun- 
 tain in zigzag lines, and pass over the summit 
 of the rocks. These precipitous heights, al- 
 though included within the city-walls, could 
 never have been cultivated, as is indeed mani- 
 fest from the numerous sepulchral cavities. Had 
 a fortress been erected at the top, it could cer- 
 tainly have long withstood the possessors of the 
 town, although too high to be able to command 
 it. Upon the lower and less precipitous decli- 
 vities, are seen the remains of churches and other 
 edifices, while all around are gardens^blooming- in 
 the fairest verdure, and full of the finest almond 
 trees. The modern town, with its narrow streets, 
 presents but a poor appearance, yet I found 
 more activity in the workshops of carpenters and 
 joiners than 1 expected ; and on the banks of the 
 river, which is provided with large water-wheels, 
 there are considerable manufactories of moroc- 
 co-leather. The fishing in the celebrated lake, 
 through which the Orontes passes, forms an im- 
 portant branch of trade, and is chiefly prosecuted 
 by the Christians. These, however, are much 
 less numerous than might be expected in the 
 place where they first received their distinc- 
 
23S SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 tive appellation. There are but few Greeks 
 or Armenians. 
 
 3. Daphne^ a place on the Orontes, about 
 four miles south-west of Antioch, with a grove, 
 in which stood a temple consecrated to Apollo 
 and Diana, which afforded an asylum to all who 
 took refuge in it, either on account of having 
 committed some crime, or in order to escape 
 from their enemies. Hence, when the Jewish high 
 priest Onias III., wished to secure himself against 
 the violence of his rivals, he fled to Dajthne, (2 
 Maccabees ii. 33) ; but Menelaus, having gained 
 an ascendancy over Andronicus, who held the go- 
 vernment of Syria in the absence of King An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, Onias was artfully enticed 
 out of his asylum and murdered. Of the grove, 
 which was formerly the resort of the inhabitants 
 of Antioch in their pleasure excursions, no re- 
 mains now exist ; and the site of the village of 
 Daphne is occupied by a few peasants houses and 
 two small mills, and receives the name of Beit-el- 
 Maa, i. e. the Waterhouse.^^ 
 
 4. Chelbon, Halyhon, Haleh^^^ commonly call- 
 ed Aleppo by Europeans, is one of the most an- 
 cient, as it is still the largest and handsomest of 
 the towns of Syria, lying on the river Kowik. It 
 is mentioned under the first of these names by the 
 pro})het Ezekiel in the prediction against Tyre, 
 (ch. xxviii. 18). " Damascus traded with thee 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 239 
 
 in the -(linr, of Hdhon and fine wool." The nu- 
 merous gardens, which surround Aleppo to the 
 extent of two leagues, still yield several kinds 
 of grapes : a small white grape especially, ac- 
 cording to Russell, ^^ is reckoned superior to all 
 the rest. " The large grapes produced in the 
 houses, upon the vines that cover the stairs or 
 arbours, are of a beautiful appearance, but have 
 little flavour. The ripe grapes begin to appear 
 in the market in September, but the height of 
 the vintage is not commenced till November. 
 It is customary to let off the new wine at Christ- 
 mas ; and reckoned necessary that the juice 
 should remain in the jar six weeks in order to be 
 properly fermented. The grapes produced in 
 the environs of the city, are not sufficient for the 
 annual consumption. The grapes for making 
 wine are brought from Khillis and other places. 
 The white wines are palatable, but so thin and 
 poor, that it is with difficulty they can be pre- 
 served sound from year to year. The red wine 
 seldom appears at European tables ; it is deep- 
 coloured, strong, heady, without flavour, and 
 more apt to produce drowsy stupidity than to 
 raise the spirits. One-third part of white wine 
 mixed with two parts of red, make a liquor to- 
 lerably palatable, and much lighter than the red 
 wine by itself." 
 
 It was probably from Seleucus Nicator, who 
 
240 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 embellished this city, that Halybon or Haleb 
 received the appellation of Beroea, ^°° from a 
 Macedonian town of the same name ; it having 
 been customary with the Syro-Macedonian kings 
 to designate rivers, mountains, and towns in 
 Syria by names derived from their original coun- 
 try. Haleb is mentioned in 2 Mace. xiii. 4, 
 under the name of Beroea. Lysias, the guardian 
 of Antiochus Eupator, caused the rebellious and 
 traitorous Menelaus to be here put to death. 
 The modern Aleppo, including twelve suburbs, 
 is about two leagues in circuit. Among all the 
 towns of Syria this is the best built, and it per- 
 haps excels any place in Turkey for cleanliness, 
 which is greatly promoted by the streets being 
 paved with flag stones. The houses are built of 
 free stone, and are mostly inhabited in the up- 
 per story only ; the lower is used for warehouses, 
 stables, kitchens and the like, or contains 
 an alcove for the head of the family, be- 
 ing furnished with carpets and cushions, and 
 serving as the visiting room. The castle stands 
 in the centre of the town, on an artificial hill, 
 surrounded by a ditch, (which is commonly dry), 
 hollowed out of the soft limestone.^^^ The po- 
 pulation of Aleppo, in the year 1815, did not 
 exceed two hundred thousand souls, among whom 
 were forty thousand Sherifs (descendants of Mo- 
 hammed), distinguished by their green turbans, 
 
CHAP. Xi.] STRIA. 241 
 
 about eighty thousand other Mahometans, and 
 the same number of Christians and Jews,^ the 
 latter amounting to about five thousand.^02 Qj^ 
 the thirteenth of August, and following days, in 
 the year 1822, the greater part of this city was 
 converted into a heap of ruins by an awful earth- 
 quake. 
 
 5. Bczeph,^^^ is mentioned by the Assyrian 
 general Rabshakeh (2 Kings xix. 12. Isaiah 
 xxxvii. 12), among the towns or small states of 
 Mesopotamia and Syria, of which the Assyrians 
 had made themselves masters. It can scarcely 
 admit of a doubt, that Rezeph was the same 
 town as that called Resepha by Ptolemy, and 
 specified by him among the places in the territory 
 of Palmyra. Abulfeda, in his description of Sy- 
 ria, notices it under the name of Resepha, ^^'^ and 
 observes, that it was commonly called Rosaphat 
 Hashem, to distinguish it from other towns of 
 the same name. It lay, according to Abulfeda, 
 (who visited it in person), not quite a day's jour- 
 ney from the Euphrates, on the west side of that 
 river. Arsofi'a,^^^ which Halifax, in the narra- 
 tive of his journey to Palmyra, mentions as a 
 place lying four leagues from the Euphrates, is 
 not difi'erent from Rezeph or Resepha. 
 
 ^ Not far from Aleppo is a village called Tedif, to which the 
 Jews resort, on account of a cavern, where they believe Ezra 
 wrote a leaf of the Torah, on his journey to Babylon — M. 
 
 VOL. II. R 
 
242 SYRIA. [chap. XI, 
 
 6. Tiplisah^^^ or Thipsach, is mentioned in 1 
 Kings iv. 24, as being at the extreme north-east 
 boundary of the kingdom of Solomon. " Solo- 
 mon," it is there said, " had dominion over all the 
 region on this side the river, (z. e. the Euphrates) 
 from Tiphsah even to Azzah," (Gaza) which 
 was the south-western border on the Mediterra- 
 nean Sea. The word Thiphsah signifies *' a pas- 
 sage," and thus denotes a place at which it was 
 customary to cross the Euphrates. Now, such 
 a place was that called Thapsacus by the Greek 
 and Roman writers, and the close similarity of 
 that name to the Hebrew name, can scarcely 
 fail to be observed.^^^ At Thapsacus, the 
 younger Cyrus, and Alexander of Macedon, led 
 their armies across the river, which was four stadia 
 broad. 108 Xenophon calls Thapsacus a large 
 and rich city. Ptolemy^^^ includes it in Arabia 
 Deserta ; but Pliny"^ and Stephanus, in Syria. 
 It lay at the distance of a long day's journey 
 from Tadmor or Palmyra. In the time of Pliny 
 it was called Amphipolis. In the second Book 
 of Kings, ch. xv. 16, it is related, that Mena- 
 chem, king of Israel, depopulated " Tiphsah, 
 and the coasts thereof from Tirzah." But this 
 must have been a different place from that on the 
 Euphrates : for the latter was too far from 
 Tirzah, (which lay in the territory of the ten 
 tribes), to admit the supposition, that an Israel- 
 itish king, whose power was never extensive, had 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 243 
 
 made himself master of so large a tract of country? 
 even but for a short period. 
 
 7. Rechohoth on the river,^^i i. e. on the Euph- 
 rates, was, according to Genesis xxxvi. 37, the 
 birth-place of Saul, king of Edom. It is pro- 
 bably identical with the town called by Arabian 
 writers, Racliabath Malik Ibn Tauk^^^ from its 
 having been built by Malik, one of the gover- 
 nors under the Caliph Rashid. But, even so 
 early as Abulfeda's time, this place had been 
 again laid waste, and had dwindled down to the 
 size of a village, in which, however, some ancient 
 memorials still existed. It stands on a hill be- 
 tween Rakkah and Anah. Rauwolf, who tra- 
 velled on the Euphrates from Bir to Bagdad, 
 came, between Rakkah and Anah, to Errachabi, 
 " a pretty large town of the kingdom of Arabia, 
 which lies in a beautiful and fertile district, about 
 half a [German] mile from the water."^^' It is 
 not improbable to suppose this town to be Rach- 
 abath or Rechoboth on the Euphrates. 
 
 8. Hamath or Chamath, on the Orontes or 
 Aasy, was, in the time of David, the chief town 
 of a principality or small kingdom, on which ac- 
 count the prophet Amos (eh. vi. 2), calls it 
 " the great." In the age of the Jewish king 
 Hezekiah, (about 728 years before Christ), the 
 town, along with its territory, was conquered by 
 the Assyrians, (see 2 Kings xviL 24; xviii. 34; 
 
244 SYRIA. [CHAF. XU 
 
 xix. 13. IsaiaK x. 9; xxxvi. 19). Jeremiah 
 says, (ch. xlix. 2, 5), " Hamath is confounded, 
 and Arpad, for they have heard evil tidings'" 
 respecting the Chaldean hordes which threaten- 
 ed them, — from which it may be inferred, that 
 these places, even under the dominion of the 
 Assyrians, commonly enjoyed tranquillity. It 
 was under the Syro-Macedonian sovereigns that 
 Hamath w^as first called Epiphania,"* probably 
 from Antiochus Epiphanes ; yet the natives seem 
 always to have preserved the ancient name, which 
 it still bears. Abulfeda, the well-known Arabian 
 geographer and historian, who was prince of 
 Hamath in the first half of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, correctly states,^^* that this city is men- 
 tioned in the books of the Israelites. It is 
 situated in a narrow valley, on both banks of 
 the Aasy, and stretches along the steep declivi- 
 ties of the rocks, being embellished, in the lower 
 part, by large and flourishing gardens. It is of 
 considerable circuit, the streets are wide and con- 
 venient, but, as in most eastern towns, unpaved 
 and dirty. In the middle of the town is a quad- 
 rangular mound, on which the castle formerly 
 stood. The stones and other materials with which 
 this hill seems to have been faced, have been 
 taken away, and used in the erection of modern 
 buildings. In the town are four bridges over 
 the Aasy, which river supplies it with water, by 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 245 
 
 means of artificial works. These are particular- 
 ly noticed by Abulfeda,* and are, as Otto Von 
 Richter remarks, ^^'^ among- the chief curiosities 
 of Hamath. As the town lies, in part, higher 
 than the channel of the Orontes, the water of 
 the river, in order that it may be diffused over 
 the whole, is raised by means of buckets fixed to 
 high wheels,^ which empty themselves into stone 
 canals, supported by lofty arches. " The lux- 
 uriant verdure of the creeping plants, which, be- 
 ing nourished by a continual moisture, grow with 
 exuberance over all the arches and pillars ; the 
 adjacent gardens, with their streams of water ; 
 the mountainous sides of the valley, covered 
 with houses, and the mosques towering above 
 
 " The following is Abulfeda's account of his own city Ha- 
 math, taken from Koehler's Edition of his Tabula Syriae, p. 
 108. '■' Chamat is an ancient city, of which mention is made 
 in the books of the Israelites. It is reckoned one of the most 
 pleasant towns of Syria. The Orontes flows round the great- 
 er part of the city on the east and north. It boasts of a lofty 
 and well-built citadel. Within the town are many dams and 
 water-machines, by means of which the water is led ofi^ by ca- 
 nals from the river to irrigate the gardens, and supply private 
 houses. Al'Aariwi, in the book which he entitled Az-Zejadat, 
 i. e. ' Collections,' calls this an ancient city, of which mention 
 is made in at- Torah, i. e the Pentateuch. It is remarked of 
 this place, and of Schaizar, that they abound more in water 
 machines than any other cities in Syria." — M. 
 
 ^ Called in Arabic jj ^jscj Naoura. The name of the largest, 
 
 alluded to in the text, is Naoura el Mohammedye. — M. 
 
246 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 them, combine to form a scene that is highly 
 picturesque." The number of these water- 
 wheels is stated by Burckhardt^^^ at about a 
 dozen ; the diameter of the largest is, at least, 
 seventy feet. The chief traffic of the town is 
 carried on with the Arabs, who purchase there 
 the cloth and furniture of their tents. In the 
 year 1812, when Burckhardt was at Hamath, 
 the governor had jurisdiction over about a hun- 
 dred and twenty inhabited villages, and seventy 
 or eighty which lay waste. The western part of 
 this district forms the granary of northern Syria, 
 though the harvest never yields more than ten 
 for one, chiefly in consequence of the immense 
 number of mice, which sometimes completely 
 destroy the crops. 
 
 9. Rihlah^^^ is mentioned, (Numbers xxxiv. 
 11), among those places through which the 
 north-east boundary line of the Hebrew terri- 
 tory should be drawn. At the time of the con- 
 quest of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, the town 
 in question was under the jurisdiction of Hamath, 
 as may be learned from 2 Kings xxiii. 33, and 
 Jeremiah xxxix. 5 ; Hi. 9, 10, where it is related 
 that Nebuchadnezzar^ had his head quarters 
 there, and that the king of Judah was taken 
 thither for judgment. Some ancient Jewish 
 
 * In the passage in 2 Kings, Pliaraoh-Necho is mentioned as 
 the possessor of Kiblah. — M. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 247 
 
 Rabbis were of opinion, that this town was the 
 same as that called by the Greeks, Daphne, 
 which lay near to Antioch ; others have even 
 conceived this latter city to be Riblah :"^ but 
 Antioch and Daphne lay much too far north 
 from the borders of Palestine to admit of Rib- 
 lah being- taken, either for the one or the other. 
 No place of this, or a similar name, is mention- 
 ed by any ancient writers among the Greeks, 
 Romans, or Arabians, as being within the con- 
 fines of the territory of Hamath ; and, conse- 
 quently, it is impossible more particularly to 
 define the situation of Riblah. 
 
 10. Tadmor, or Tamar,'^^^ a town built by 
 King Solomon (1 Kings ix. 18. 2 Chron. viii. 
 4),^^^ was situated between the Euphrates and 
 Hamath, to the south-east of that city, in a fer- 
 tile tract, surrounded with sandy deserts.^ ^^ 
 The Hebrew name Tamar, signifies " a palm 
 tree ;" hence the Greek and Roman appellation 
 of Palmyra^ i. e. the city of Palms. It still 
 preserves among the Aral)s the name of Thad- 
 mor.^-^ Palm trees are still found in the gardens 
 around the town, but not in such numbers as 
 would warrant, as they once did, the imposition 
 of the name. 
 
 This city was built by Solomon, probably with 
 the view of placing in it a garrison, by means 
 of which, as the northern bulwark of his king- 
 dom, it might serve to prevent the predatory 
 
248 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 inroads of the Arabs. Of its fate, after the time 
 of Solomon, nothing is known. The elder 
 Pliny, in the first century of our sera, mentions 
 Palmyra as a considerable town, which, along 
 with its territory, formed an independent com- 
 monwealth, between the Roman and Parthian 
 empires.^^"^ In the time of the Emperor Trajan, 
 however, it was lying waste, but was rebuilt by 
 his successor Hadrian, and from him received 
 the name of Hadrianopolis. Caracalla invested 
 it with the privileges of a Roman colony. Du- 
 ring the weak administration of the Emperors 
 Gallienus and Valerian, in the third century, 
 while independent governments were arising in 
 several provinces of the Roman empire, Ode- 
 natus made himself master of Palmyra and the 
 whole of Mesopotamia, and, assuming the regal 
 title himself, also bestowed it upon his consort 
 Zenobia and his eldest son Herod.^^s After his 
 death, Zenobia, styling herself " queen of the 
 East," ruled over most of the eastern provinces 
 of the Roman empire, as well as over her own 
 territories, and with so much firmness and po- 
 licy, that Aurelian, who vanquished her and 
 led her in triumph to Rome, could not with- 
 hold his admiration. On the revolt of Palmyra 
 shortly after, Aurelian having recovered posses- 
 sion, caused it to be levelled with the ground, 
 and the greater part of the inhabitants, without 
 regard to sex, age, or circumstances, to be put 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 249 
 
 to death. He, however, ordered the temple of 
 the sun to be restored, placed a garrison in the 
 town, and appointed a deputy over the district 
 attached to it. Diocletian adorned the city with 
 a few additional structures ; and, under the Em- 
 peror Honorius, it still had a garrison, and was 
 the seat of a bishop. Justinian strengthened the 
 fortifications, and also constructed a very costly 
 aqueduct, the remains of which still exist. When 
 the successors of Mohammed extended their 
 conquests, along with their new doctrines, be- 
 yond the confines of Arabia, Palmyra was one 
 of the first places which became subject to the 
 caliphs ; and in the thirty-ninth year of the Mo- 
 hammedan era, which corresponds to the year 
 659 of the Christian, a battle was fought here 
 between the caliphs Ali and Moawiah, in which 
 victory declared for the former. In the year of 
 the Hegira 127, (a. d. 744), Palmyra was still 
 so strongly fortified, that it cost the caliph Mer- 
 wan a blockade of seven months before he could 
 reduce it, the rebel Solyman having shut himself 
 up in it. From this period it fell gradually into de- 
 cay. Abulfeda, at the beginning of the fourteenth 
 century, speaks of Tadmor, as merely a vil- 
 lage, but celebrated for the ruins of old and mag- 
 nificent edifices.-^^ 
 
 These relics of ancient architectural art and 
 splendour, were scarcely known in Europe to 
 exist till towards the close of the seventeenth cen- 
 
250 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 tury. In the year 1678, some English merchants, 
 at the suggestion of Robert Huntington, chaplain 
 to the English factory at Aleppo, resolved to 
 convince themselves, by actual survey, of the 
 existence of those immense ruins which were said 
 to be found in the desert, and of which they had 
 heard the Bedouins speak with astonishment. 
 Their first expedition was unfortunate ; the 
 Arabs plundered them of every thing, and obliged 
 them to return with their object unaccomplished. 
 In the year 1691, they undertook a second jour- 
 ney from Aleppo, which was successful. Their 
 report of the discovered ruins, however, met with 
 little credit : it was thought improbable that a 
 city, which, according to their accounts, must 
 have been so magnificent, should have been set 
 down in a country surrounded with deserts. But 
 when, in the year 1753, Robert Wood publish- 
 ed ^^^ the views and plans, which had been taken 
 with the greatest accuracy by Dawkins on the 
 spot, two years before, the truth of the earlier 
 reports could no longer be doubted ; and it was 
 confessed, that neither Greece nor Italy could 
 exhibit antiquities, which, in point of splendour, 
 could rival those of Palmyra. The examina- 
 tions of the above travellers shew, that the ruins 
 are of two kinds ; — the one class must have ori- 
 ginated in very remote times, and consists of 
 rude, unshapen masses ; the other, to which the 
 more gorgeous monuments belong, bears the im- 
 press of later ages. They prove from the style 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 251 
 
 of architecture, that the latter buildings must 
 have been erected in the three centuries preced- 
 ing Diocletian, in which the Corinthian order 
 of pillars was preferred to every other. With 
 great ingenuity they demonstrate, that Palmyra, 
 which lay at the distance of three days' journey 
 from the Euphrates, owed its prosperity to the 
 advantage of its position on one of the great 
 roads, by which the valuable commerce, w hich 
 subsisted betw^een Western Asia and India, was 
 anciently carried on. They farther show, that 
 Palmyra reached its highest wealth and greatness 
 at the time, when, having become a barrier be- 
 tween the Romans and Parthians, the inhabi- 
 tants had the policy to maintain a neutrality 
 in the wars of those two nations, and to render 
 the luxury of both subservient to their ow^n 
 opulence. 
 
 The present Tadmor consists of a number 
 of peasants' huts, crowded together upon the 
 pavement of large flat stones, in the outer 
 court of the famous Temple of the Sun. Upon 
 that temple architecture lavished her chief 
 ornaments, and poured forth all her magnifi- 
 cence. The court, by which it was enclosed, 
 was a hundred and seventy-nine feet square. 
 Within the court, a double range of columns 
 was continued all round. More than sixty of 
 these pillars were still standing in November 
 1815, and for the most part in good preserva- 
 tion. In the middle of the court stood the tem- 
 
252 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 pie, an oblong quadrangular building, surround- 
 ed with columns, of which, at the time mention- 
 ed, there were still standing about twenty, though 
 without capitals, of which they had been plun- 
 dered, probably because they were composed of 
 metal. The interior of the temple is used at 
 present as a mosque, with a very mean roof. 
 The valley, which forms the road from Horns 
 (Emesa) to Tadmor, is, at the foot and on the 
 sides of the hills, beside the town, covered with se- 
 pulchral monuments, which are not all of the same 
 height, though in a similar form. The highest 
 have five compartments : over the entrance are 
 found Greek and Palmyrene inscriptions. A 
 league westward from Tadmor, there issues from 
 the strata of limestone a mineral spring, which 
 soon after divides itself into several branches, 
 and irrigates the gardens. Upon the banks of 
 this streamlet. Otto Von Richter found the only 
 flowers in or near Tadmor — the environs of which 
 nowhere else presented so much as a tuft of grass 
 to the searching eye. 
 
 1 1, Baal Gad ^^^ lay, according to Joshua xi. 17, 
 " in the valley of Lebanon, under Mount Her- 
 mon." It is also said in Joshua xiii. 5, that 
 among those parts of Palestine which were un- 
 subdued by the Hebrews at the death of Joshua 
 was, " all Lebanon toward the sun-rising from 
 Baal Gad, under Mount Hermon, unto the en- 
 tering into Hamath." These circumstances lead, 
 with some degree of certainty, to the conclu- 
 
CHAP. XI.J SYRIA. 253 
 
 sioii, that Baal Gad is the same place, which, 
 from a temple consecrated to the sun having 
 stood there, was called by the Greeks Heliopo- 
 lis^ I. e. City of the Sun, and which the natives 
 at present call Baalbek, a name which appears 
 to have the same meaning. The second half of 
 that word (Bek) is perhaps derived from the 
 Egyptian, Baki, *' a town ;" since, as Macro- 
 bius assures us, the worship of the sun was in- 
 troduced in very remote times by the Egyptian 
 priests into the Syrian Heliopolis. The word 
 Baal, i. e. Lord, signified a god over Syria and 
 Phoenicia generally, and hence the above 
 most ancient name of the place, " Baal Gad,'' 
 " the god of fortune," i. e. the planet Jupiter .^^^ 
 But when, in process of time, the worship of the 
 Sun and of Jupiter became blended, the name 
 Baal appears to have been also applied to the 
 former.13^ jf \\^q Baal Hamoii, mentioned in So- 
 lomon's Song viii. 11, ^^^ was the name of a place 
 that actually existed, it may reasonably be con- 
 ceived to have been identical with Baal Gad, or 
 Heliopolis ;^'^ for Hamon may have been a cor- 
 ruption for " Amon," the Hebrew way of pro- 
 nouncing the " Ammon" of the Egyptians, as 
 is seen in the name of the town No Amon, in 
 Nahum iii. 8. The Greeks, however, identi- 
 fied the Egyptian divinity of that name with Ju- 
 piter. He was represented by a ram's head as a 
 symbol of the sun, when in the sign Aries in 
 
254 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 spring.^^^ It is probable that Baalath,^^*^ which 
 is mentioned in 1 Kings ix. 18, along with Tad- 
 mor or Palmyra, as places built by Solomon, is 
 only another name for Baal Gad. To this day, 
 the inhabitants of the district of Baalbek ascribe 
 the building of the town to King Solomon.^^^ 
 
 It lies on the lowest declivity of Antilibanus, 
 at the opening of a small valley in the plain El- 
 Bekaa. The modern town consists of a number 
 of mean huts built of red stone, and a few half- 
 ruined mosques. A small stream runs through 
 the valley : it has been divided into numberless 
 branches for the sake of irrigation. At the 
 deepest part of the valley, it flows round the 
 castle in the neighbourhood of the ruins, which 
 here rise above the dark green of the trees, while 
 the snowy fields on the highest summit of Leba- 
 non (which lies directly opposite) gleam through 
 the airy pillars. '^^ The town, inhabited by a 
 few hundred Maronites, Turks, Greeks, and 
 Jews, belongs at present to an Emir of the Me- 
 tualis, a Moslem sect, which, on account of its pe- 
 culiar maxims and usages, has formed itself into 
 a distinct tribe. The ruins of the city of the 
 Sun^^'^ lie on an eastern branch of the mountain, 
 and are called, by way of eminence, " the Castle." 
 Among these ruins, the admiration of the spec- 
 tator is first excited by the remains of the Tem- 
 ple of Jupiter, erected by Antoninus Pius. It 
 is an oblong square building, 138 feet in length, 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 255 
 
 and 96 in breadth, and is surrounded with pil- 
 lars of the Corinthian order, 54 feet high, and 
 6 feet 3 inches in diameter. His attention is 
 then attracted to the ruins of the unfinished 
 Temple of the Sun, Avhich occupy the remain- 
 ing space, and are divided into two courts. A 
 regular range of apartments runs round the wall 
 of each court, oblong and semicircular cham- 
 bers alternating. The apartments are full of 
 round and angular niches, which, as well as the 
 doors and gates, are adorned with extreme rich- 
 ness. The circumstance mentioned by Macro- 
 bius, of the introduction of the worship of the 
 Sun and of Jupiter into Baalbek from Egypt, is 
 confirmed by the observations of a late traveller, 
 Otto Von Richter.^"*^ " Isis and Horus often 
 unequivocally appear. The winged globes, sur- 
 rounded with serpents, show that the priests of 
 Baalbek received the ideas of their divinity from 
 On, the Heliopolis of Egypt. It is quite im- 
 possible to determine whether any thing here 
 was the work of Solomon, or how much of the 
 original erection has been afterwards altered to 
 serve other purposes. We saw the celebrated 
 Trilithon, or the three great stones, in the wall 
 of the old castle. None of them can be under 
 60 feet in length (the largest is 62 feet 9 inches), 
 and 12 feet in breadth and thickness. They are 
 the largest stones 1 have ever seen, and might 
 of themselves have easily given rise to the po- 
 
256 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 pular opinion, that Baalbek was built by angels 
 and demons at the command of Solomon* The 
 whole wall, indeed, is composed of immense 
 stones, and its resemblance to the remains of the 
 Temple of Solomon, w hich are still shew n in the 
 mosque Es-Sachra on Mount Moriah, cannot fail 
 to be observed." 
 
 Burkhardt having seen Tadmor a few months 
 beforevisiting Baalbek, comparison between these 
 two renowned remains of antiquity naturally offer- 
 ed itself to his mind. " The entire view of the 
 ruins of Palmyra, when seen at a certain distance, 
 is infinitely more striking than those of Baalbek ; 
 but there is not any one spot in the ruins of Tad- 
 mor so imposing as the interior view of the Tem- 
 ple of Baalbek. The Temple of the Sun at Tad- 
 mor is upon a grander scale than that of Baalbek ; 
 but it is choked up with Arab houses, which admit 
 only a view of the building in detail. The archi- 
 tecture of Baalbek is richer than that of Tadmor. 
 The walls of the ancient city may still be traced, 
 and include a larger space than the present town 
 ever occupied, even in its most flourishing state. 
 Its circuit may be between three and four miles. 
 On the east and north sides, the gates of the 
 modern town, formed in the ancient wall, still 
 remain entire, especially the northern gate ; it is 
 a narrow niche, and comparatively very small. I 
 suppose it to be of Saracen origin. The women 
 of Baalbek are esteemed the handsomest of the 
 
CHAP. Xl.J SYRIA. 257 
 
 neighbouring- country, and many Damascenes 
 marry Baalbek girls. The air of Belacl, Baal- 
 bek, and the Bekaa, however, is far from being- 
 healthy. The chain of the Libanus interrupts 
 the course of the westerly winds, which are re- 
 gular in Syria during the summer months ; and 
 the want of these winds renders the climate ex- 
 tremely hot and oppressive. The ruined town 
 of Baalbek contains about seventy Metaweli fa- 
 milies, and twenty-five of Catholic Christians. 
 The Emir lives in a spacious building called the 
 Serai. The inhabitants fabricate white cotton 
 cloth like that of Zahlc ; they have some dyeing 
 houses, and had, till within a few years, some 
 tanneries. The men are artizans here, and not 
 the women." ^] 
 
 12. Damascus, the Dammesek of the Hebrews, 
 which the Arabs pronounce Dimashk, and the 
 Syrians DarmsukM^ The modern Arabs, how- 
 ever, in conformity with their usual practice of 
 designating the chief town by the name of the 
 country, call it El-Sham, ^"^^ /. e. Syria. It lies 
 upon the river Barada, the Chrysorrhoas of the 
 ancients, in an extensive plain, open to the south 
 and east, but on the west and north shut in by 
 mountains, which send forth so many streams, 
 as to render the district of Damascus the best 
 
 ^ Euvckhardt's Syria, p. 13--lo._!\I. 
 VOL. II. S 
 
1:58 SYKIA. [CIIAP. XI. 
 
 watered and most pleasant of all Syria. The 
 Arabs term it one of the four paradises of the 
 East,^"*^ and relate that Moliammed, as he viewed 
 from an eminence the splendour of the city of 
 which he wished to take possession, hesitated to 
 enter it, because he knew that man can enjoy 
 only one paradise, and he had resolved that his 
 should not be in this earth. 
 
 Damascus is one of the most ancient cities in the 
 world, for it is mentioned, Gen. xv. 2, as the birth- 
 place of Elieser, the steward of Abraham. In the 
 time of David, it formed an independent state, and 
 sent auxiliaries to the king of Zobah. David, 
 how^ever, defeated the armies of both, and placed 
 a garrison in Damascus (2 Sam. viii. 5, 6). Yet, 
 in the latter years of Solomon's reign, lleson, 
 the son of Eliada, threw off llie Jewish yoke, 
 and restored the kingdom of Damascus ( I Kings 
 xi. 23, 24, 2.j). A long time afterwards, Asa, 
 king of Judah, requested succour of Benhadad, 
 king of Damascus, against Baasha, the king 
 of Israel, and instigated him to an invasion of 
 the enemy's country (1 Kings xv. 18 — 22). 
 From this time forth, we find the kings of Israel 
 (the ten tribes) in perpetual warfare with the 
 kings of Damasco-ki^yria, all of whom bore 
 the name, or rather the title of Benhadad.'''''^ 
 Jeroboam, the second of the name, king of 
 Israe], regained the ascendancy over the king 
 of Syria, and subdued the two principal towns, 
 
CHAP. Xl.J SYRIA. 259 
 
 Damascus and Hamath, (2 Kings xiv. 25, etscq.) 
 On his death, however, the Syrians again reco- 
 vered their independence, and the title of King 
 of Damascus was assumed by Rezin. Having 
 formed an alliance against Jotham and Ahaz, suc- 
 cessively kings of Judah, with Pekah, who had 
 possessed himself of the kingdom of Israel, he 
 invaded and laid waste the Jewish territory. 
 Ahaz, being unable longer to withstand his com- 
 bined enemies, called to his assistance Tiglath- 
 pilesar. King of Assyria, who conquered and 
 destroyed Damascus, and took possession of Da- 
 masco- Syria. On the downfall of the Assyrian 
 empire this district became a province of the 
 Chaldean or Babylonian, and afterwards of the 
 Persian and Macedonian empires. After the 
 death of Alexander the Great, Damascus and 
 its territory became a part of the Syro- Grecian 
 kingdom under the Seleucidse, Antiochus remov- 
 ing his residence hither. During the commo- 
 tions in Syria under Demetrius II., the Jewish 
 prince Jonathan appears (as may be inferred 
 from 1 Maccabees xii. 32), to have obtained 
 possession of Damascus from the Maccabean 
 family; but whether he maintained himself in 
 possession of that city is not known. Pompey, 
 in the war against Tigranes, caused Damascus 
 to be taken by Metellus and Lselius, about the 
 year b. c. 64. But, in the time of the Apostle 
 Paul, we find Damascus in the power of the 
 
260 SYRIA. [chap, xu 
 
 king of Arabia, Aretas, who had in it a viceroy 
 or governor, (2 Corinthians xi. 32, 33, compared 
 with Acts ix. 24, 25).^"^^ Under the emperor 
 Nero, however, Damascus again appears on 
 coins as a Roman city.^'*^ Since the year 1517, 
 when it was taken by Selim I., it has been under 
 the dominion of the Turks, and the seat of a 
 pacha of three tails. The Turks account Da- 
 mascus one of the holy cities,^^^ because Mo- 
 hammed, having been carried up from Jerusalem 
 into the ninth heaven, there to receive the 
 Koran, descended again at Damascus. They 
 also believe that the general judgment will take 
 place there, and that Damascus will be the chief 
 city of the future everlasting kingdom, which 
 is then to be established. 
 
 Damascus continues to be one of the finest 
 cities of Syria : the population is about eighty 
 thousand, and is chiefly composed of Turks and 
 Arabs, the number of Christians being estimated 
 at little more than fifteen thousand. The Jews 
 inhabit a separate quarter. " The city," says 
 Otto Von Richter, '' has certainly an imposing 
 appearance. I traversed streets of very great 
 length, where the richly-stocked bazaars were in- 
 termingled with elegant khans and baths, and 
 neatly adorned cofi'ee-houses. The public edi- 
 fices are generally splendid ; and, among these, 
 the church of the Monastery of St. Paul's Con- 
 verson, which belongs to the Spaniards of Pa- 
 
chap; XI.] SYRIA. 25i 
 
 lestine, well deserves to be particularized. The 
 city is enclosed with a ditch mostly dry, and a 
 double wall, with square and round towers of 
 very mean construction. The Arnauts of the 
 pacha would not permit me to view the interior 
 of the castle, the origin of which dates from the 
 time of the crusades. One of the Spanish monks 
 conducted me to the gate of St. Paul, called by 
 the Mohammedans " the east gate." It is an 
 ancient structure ; two strong pillars support an 
 arch, upon which a tower had been afterwards 
 erected. From this tower are seen large heaps 
 of ruins, the effects of an earthquake ; and farther 
 on, in another tower, they point out the window 
 from which they believe the Apostle Paul to 
 have been let down. The style of this tower, 
 however, connects it with the time of the cru- 
 sades, and an Arabic inscription, in the Suls 
 character, (very much defaced), which is beloAv 
 the window, is not favourable to the notion of 
 its pretended antiquity. In the neighbourhood 
 of the Christian burial-ground are shown the 
 remains of an ancient street, paved with round 
 stones, cemented by mortar. Under this street 
 an opening seems to have been worn by the water 
 in the solid mass of limestone, and, in this place, 
 the vision of St. Paul, by which he was con- 
 verted, is erroneously supposed to have occurred.* 
 
 * A traveller of our own country, whose remarks on !?crip- 
 tural localities are commonly more characterized by pious feel- 
 
262 SYRIA. [CHAl*. XI. 
 
 North-west of the city lies the celebrated Tempe 
 of Damascus, called el-Gutah, and also el-Mardj, 
 (the Meadow). ^^^ It is a deep valley, running 
 through the gardens along the river Barada, 
 
 ing- than by accurate research, has the following rather credu- 
 lous paragraph on " the sacred spots in Damascus" : — 
 
 " The first spot worthy of notice is that on which Saul, 
 ' breathing out threatenings and slaughter' against the Chris- 
 tians, was arrested in his persecuting career, encircled with a 
 celestial radiance of glory, and struck blind by the arm of Om- 
 nipotence; while his confederates and attendants became 
 speechless by a voice from heaven thundering in their ears. 
 The exact spot on which this visitation took place is distin- 
 guished by masses of elevated gravel and earth, where, on the 
 25th of January, Christians in Damascus walk in formal pi*o- 
 cession, and read the history of Saul's conversion. It is re- 
 markable, that, on this occasion, the pacha of Damascus ap- 
 points Turkish guards to protect the Christians from insult. 
 The second spot to which I was conducted, is that on which 
 Paul was secretly let down, under cloud of night, from the top 
 of a fortification, to avoid the rage of those Jews Avho attempt- 
 ed to sacrifice him for changing his principles. The third is 
 tlie house of Judas, in which Paul was found in the act of 
 prayer under his new character. 1 his is a miserable cellar or 
 grotto, to which access is l)y descent, all hallowed abodes hav- 
 ing been generally taken up in such excavations. The fourth, 
 and last spot I shall mention, is the street denominated in 
 Scripture straight, in which the abode just mentioned is 
 situated, and where Saul was restored to sight. It forms the 
 principal thoroughfare in the city, and most literally deserves 
 its .Scripture name — since it runs in an even and direct line. 
 All these sacred places are to the east of the city, Avhere the con- 
 vent is situated, and Christians are kept in a body totally dis- 
 tinct from the Turks. The quarter, in all i)robability, was at 
 first selected on account of events so interesting to the follow- 
 ers of Christ, and important to the furtherance of his cause." — 
 liae Wilson's Travels — 31. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 263 
 
 and is inclosed by steep declivities, composed of 
 conglomerated limestone, in which are several 
 natural and artificial caves, through which seve- 
 ral branches of the river flow. In a wider sense 
 all the gardens of Damascus are included in el- 
 Gutah, that district containing m.ore than eighty 
 villages, and being one of the most fertile in 
 Syria.152 
 
 *13. Chobah'^'' [in the English Bible Hohah,] 
 was a place, which, according to Genesis xiv. 
 15, lay to the north of the city of Damascus. 
 The four kings combined against Abraham, and 
 whom he defeated, were pursued by him thither. 
 The same place is probably intended in Judith 
 XV. 4, where it is said, that the Jews followed the 
 Assyrians, whom they had routed, as far as Ho- 
 bah. In the time of Eusebius, (at the commence- 
 ment of the fourth century,) Chobah was inha- 
 bited by Ebionites, a sect of Christians who did 
 not wholly lay aside the Jewish ritual.^^"^ In 
 the year 1666, Ferdinand Von Troilo visited, 
 from Damascus, the village Hoba, which, with- 
 out doubt, was no other than the ancient Chobah. 
 "It lies," says he "a quarter of a (German) 
 mile north from the town, on the left hand. 
 Near the city of Damascus, is seen a large hill, 
 where the patriarch Abraham overtook and de- 
 feated the army of the four kings. There for- 
 merly dwelt here a sect of Jews, converted to 
 the (Christian) faith, who were called Hibion- 
 
264 SYRIA. [chap. xi. 
 
 ites; but, at present, the place is inhabited by a 
 great number of Moors (Arabs) who have a 
 mosque. In the neighbourhood is a cave, in 
 which the patriarch offered to the Divine Ma- 
 jesty his thanksgivings for the victory ."^^^ 
 
 14. Beth' Edeii,^^'' which signifies [as it is 
 translated in the English Version] " the house 
 of Eden," i. e. house of delight, or the pleasure- 
 house, is mentioned in Amos i. 5, along with 
 other places of Syria, which are threatened with 
 destruction. " I will cut off," saith Jehovah, 
 " him that holdeth the sceptre in Beth-Eden ;" 
 whence we infer that this place w as at that time 
 (about 773 years b. c.) the residence of a prince. 
 A village still exists on Lebanon, called Ehden, 
 contiguous to the cloister of Kash-heya (known 
 from its Syriac printing-press) and about three 
 leagues from Canubin ; and the delightful situa- 
 tion of the place well merits the above Hebrew 
 appellation.^58 It is surrounded with well water- 
 ed gardens and delightful groves, and the air 
 is so mild, that De la Roque ^^^ was of opinion 
 that there reigns a perpetual spring. The 
 Christians of the East place here the seat of the 
 terrestrial paradise. In the seventeenth century 
 Eden was the seat of a Maronite archbishop. 
 In the year ](J88, De la Roque saw more than 
 twenty small churches in the environs of Eden, 
 which were dedicated to saints who had lived 
 on that part of Lebanon. — This Eden, how- 
 
CHAF. XI.3 SYRIA. 265 
 
 ever, is not the only place which may be taken 
 for that mentioned by Amos under the above 
 name. Burckhardt, on hi& return from Baneas> 
 to Damascus, passed through a place on the east- 
 ern declivity of the Mount Heish or Hermon, 
 which was called Beit-el-Djanne, ^^^ {. ^. "the 
 house of paradise;" a name which agrees in 
 meaning with the Hebrew Beth- Eden. It lies 
 in a narrow icady, at a spot where the valley 
 widens a little. On the west side are several 
 catacombs, hewn out in the chalky rock ; a proof 
 that this place has, at one time, been of some 
 consequence. At a quarter of a league distant 
 is the Ain Beit el Djanne, a copious spring with 
 a mill near it. From Beth-Eden being nien- 
 tioned by the prophet Amos in the same verse 
 with Damascus, and the valley of Baalbek, 
 [Bethaven] and, from Baalbek being on the east 
 side of Lebanon, it would seem more proper tO' 
 consider Beit el Djanne as Beth-Eden, rather 
 than the Eden before mentioned as situated on 
 the north-west declivity of the mountain. 
 
 15. Berothai'^^^ was, according to 2 Sam. viii. 
 8, a town in the territory of Hadadezer, king of 
 Zobah, which was conquered by David, and from- 
 which he took away much brass. From the lat- 
 ter circumstance, it may be inferred, that there 
 were mines in the neighbourhood of this town. 
 If Zobah were Nesibis, as most moderns have 
 thought, after J. D. Michaeiis, then the opinion of 
 Faber,^*^-' that Berothai is the modern Bir or Birah, 
 
266 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 the Birtha of Ptolemy, on the east bank of the 
 Euphrates, (where it is still customary to cross 
 that river,) would not be improbable. But, 
 since it has been already shown that Aram- 
 Zobah was on this side of the Euphrates 
 (probably between Aleppo and Damascus,) 
 the opinion of Faber must fall to the ground. 
 Ezekiel (in ch. xlvii. 16,) mentions Berotah,^*''^ 
 which is not different from Berothai, among the 
 places through which the northern boundary of 
 the Hebrew territory should pass, and observes 
 that Berothah and Sibraim bordered on the 
 countries of Damascus and Hamath. The simi- 
 larity of the names would lead us to conjecture 
 that Berothai or Berothah was not different from 
 Berytus, the modern Beirfit^^'^ a sea-port town 
 which is still of importance. The possibility of 
 the king of Zobah's dominions, (to which Bero- 
 tah belonged, according to 2 Samuel viii. 8,) 
 having extended hither cannot be denied. But 
 the above mentioned passage in Ezekiel scarcely 
 allows us to suppose that Berothah lay near the 
 sea. For, had this been the case, the place 
 would not have been mentioned in verse 25, (as 
 being between Hamath and Damascus,) but 
 rather in verse 15", where it is stated that the 
 north boundary should be " from the great sea, 
 the way of Chethlon, as men go to Zedad." 
 .Josephus^'^ mentions a town, Berotha, which was 
 situated in Upper Galilee, on the west side of 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 267 
 
 the lake Merom or Samoclionitis. But this can- 
 not well be identified with the Berotha^^'' of Eze- 
 kiel, on account of its having been too far south, 
 within the confines of the Hebrew territory, and 
 at too great a distance from Damascus and Ha- 
 math. All these circumstances render it impos- 
 sible to determine accurately the situation of the 
 Eerothah in the book of Samuel, and which is 
 spoken of by Ezekiel. In 1 Chronicles xviii 8, 
 (the parallel passage to 2 Samuel viii. 8,) we 
 find Cun^^'^ instead of Berotha. 
 
 16. Befacli,^^^ as well as Berothai, (along with 
 which it is mentioned in 2 Samuel viii. 8,) was 
 taken by David from the king of Aram-Zobah. The 
 towns were probably contiguous. The Hebrew 
 name of Betach, which signifies security/, appears 
 to indicate that the place was either naturally 
 strong, or had been fortified, by art. Sure data 
 from which to determine the site of Betach, are 
 as much wanting as for deciding that of Berothai. 
 In the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles xviii. 8, 
 Tihcliath stands in place of Betach.^ ^^ 
 
 17. Sil'Ttiini^''^ is mentioned in Ezekiel xlvii. 
 16, after Berotha, among the places through 
 which the north-east border of the Hebrew terri- 
 tory should pass, and it is there observed that 
 this place adjoined Hamath and Damascus. 
 
 18. Siphroj}'^^ is found mentioned in Numbers 
 xxxiv. 8 — 10, and in Ezekiel xlvii. 15, 17, along 
 with Chazar-EnmP^ and Zedad}"'^ amonor the 
 
268 SYRIA. [CIIAP. XI. 
 
 places which lay on the south-east border of 
 Syria, or on the north-east border of the Hebrew 
 territory : no farther account of their situation is 
 g'iven. Jerome, considering Siphron^'''' as not diffe- 
 rent from the preceding Sibraim, takes it for 
 Zephyrium in Cilicia ; but such a supposition is 
 wholly inadmissible, having only for its basis a 
 faint resemblance in the names. 
 
 19. Chazer-hattichoii., i. e. middle-court, lay, 
 according to Ezekiel xlvii. 16, near the confines 
 of the Hauran or Auranitis : consequently it must 
 have been situated on the south-east borders of 
 Syria. 
 
 20. Chethlon^"^^ appears, from Ezekiel xlvii. 16, 
 xlviii. 1, to have been situated somewhere on the 
 south-west boundaries of Syria, not far from the 
 Mediterranean sea. 
 
 21. Chelam}'^'^ is mentioned in 2 Sam. x. 16, 
 1 7, as the spot where an engagement took place 
 between the king of Zobah, Hadadezer, and 
 David, in which the latter was victorious. From 
 its being said (verse 17,) that David had crossed 
 the Jordan to meet his enemy, it seems probable 
 that this place lay near the south-east border of 
 Syria. 
 
 In very remote times, it is probable that Syria, 
 like so many other countries, w^as divided into se- 
 veral petty states under their own princes. For 
 kings of Ar<im or Syria are mentioned, 1 Kings 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 269 
 
 X. 29 ; and, in chapter xx. I, it is said that Ben- 
 hadad, king of Damasco-Syria, had leagued him- 
 self with thirty-two kings, by whom are to be 
 understood princes of Syria, and, perhaps, of Me- 
 sopotamia. The following kings are expressly 
 mentioned in the historical books of the Old 
 Testament: viz. the kings of Zobah, (1 Sam. 
 xiv. 47. 2 Sam. viii. 3,) the kings of Geshur, 
 (2 Sam. iii. 3,) the kings of Maachath, (2 Sam. 
 x. 6,) the kings of Hamath, (2 Kings viii. 9,) and 
 the kings of Damascus, who afterwards became 
 the most powerful of all. History exhibits the 
 kings of Syria engaged in almost incessant hos- 
 tilities with the neighbouring Hebrews. Even 
 Saul, the first Hebrew king, attacked the king 
 of Zobah, (1 Samuel xiv. 47,) and David carried 
 on war with Hadadezer, king of that country, 
 who, having been defeated in battle (2 Sam. viii. 
 3,) formed an alliance with the king of Damascus 
 against David. The latter, however, overcame 
 both, placed a garrison in Damascus, and subju- 
 gated Aram, or (as it probably ought to be un- 
 derstood,) the southern part of it, i. e. Aram- 
 Zobah. For Toi, king of Hamath, who was also 
 at war with Hadadezer, sent his son with pre- 
 sents to congratulate David upon this victory, 
 (2 Sam. viii. 3 — 11.) David, however, does not 
 seem to have ruled over Zobah long ; for, soon 
 after, the Ammonites combined against David 
 with the neighbouring tribes, among which also 
 
ii70 SYKIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 was Aram-Zobali. Joab, David's general, de- 
 feated their army ; upon which the king of 
 Zobah drew reinforcements from Mesopotamia, 
 but was again vanquished by David at Chelam 
 beyond the Jordan. 
 
 Under Solomon we liiid (1 Kings xi. 2, 3, et 
 sqq.) another king of Zobah called Hadadezer, 
 against whom one Reson excited a rebellion, 
 and having possessed himself of Damascus, car- 
 ried on war with Israel. After this time we 
 find no more mention made of kings of Zobah, 
 but only of kings of Damascus. Probably Re- 
 son and his successors had conquered, or other- 
 wise acquired the remaining petty principalities 
 of Syria, and united them with Damascus. Tab- 
 rimmon, who governed at Damascus in the 
 (lays of the Jewish king Abijam, was an ally of 
 the latter (1 Kings xv. 19), but his successor, 
 Benhadad, became a confederate with Baasha, 
 king ol" Israel, against Asa, the son and succes- 
 sor of Abijam. Asa, however, succeeded in pur- 
 chasing the friendship of Benhadad by the pre- 
 sent of a large sum taken from the temple and 
 royal treasury ; and Benhadad, who now turned 
 his arms against Baasha, seized a considerable 
 part of the territory of the ten tribes or kingdom 
 of Israel, (1 Kings xv. 18— -2*2). 
 
 The Syrians, who had now learned the in- 
 terior weakness of the divided Hebrew states, 
 frequently repeated their invasions. Uuder 
 
CHAP. XI.] SVKIA. 271 
 
 Benhadad II. they invested Samaria, the chief 
 city of Israel, but were totally routed by Ahab, 
 (I Kings XX. 1 — 22). In the following- year, 
 however, they renewed the attack (ver. 26), and 
 again sustained so heavy a defeat, that Benhadad 
 engaged to restore to the king of Israel the towns 
 taken from him by his father, to permit him to 
 build streets in Damascus, and to form a friendly 
 alliance. He refused, however, to deliver up 
 Ramoth in Gilead (1 Kings xxii. 3); where- 
 upon Ahab and Jehosaphat, the kings of Israel 
 and Judah, combined against Benhadad (ver. 4), 
 but with so unfortunate a result, that the Sy- 
 rians, under Joram, again laid siege to Samaria, 
 (2 Kings vi. '24y. On the death of Benhadad 1 1., 
 Hasael usurped the throne, and overcame both 
 Israel and Judah, (2 Kings x. 32; xii. 17, 18, 
 Id; xiii. 22). But his son Benhadad III. not 
 only lost w4iat his father had conquered of the 
 Israelitish territory, but was even obliged to 
 become tributary to Jeroboam II., king of Israel, 
 (xiv. 28). Sometime afterwards, Rezin, king 
 of Syria, aiming at the ascendancy, combined 
 with Pekah, king of Israel, against Judah, and 
 attacked the sea-port of Elath, (2 Kings xiv. 5, 
 6.) Upon this Ahaz, king of Judah, obtained 
 the co-operation of the Assyrians : Ilezin was 
 defeated by Tiglathpilesar, and the inhabitants 
 of Damascus were carried away to Kir, a coun- 
 
272 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 try on the river Kiir (2 Kings xvi. 7, 8, 9), 
 about the year b. c. 750. 
 
 The Syrians then came successively under 
 the dominion of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, 
 and the Persians. On the overthrow of the last 
 by Alexander of Macedon, a new and powerful 
 kingdom arose after his death — the kingdom of the 
 Seleucid?e, — which continued from the year b. c. 
 245, to B. c. 64. Syria was then reduced by Pom- 
 pey to a Roman province, and was governed by a 
 proconsul. Towards the close of the fifth century 
 of our era, when Theodosius divided the Roman 
 empire into eastern and western, Syria consti- 
 tuted a part of the former, and remained under 
 the dominion of the Greek emperors till it was 
 conquered by the Arabs under the caliph Abu 
 Bekr, about the middle of the seventh century. 
 Moawiah made Damascus the seat of the Cali- 
 phat, which it continued to be until the Caliphs 
 of the race of the Abbasides removed their re- 
 sidence to Anbar. From the period at which 
 the dominion of the Caliphs began to draw to a 
 close, Syria became the scene of the warfare in 
 which Fatimitic Caliphs from Egypt, and princes 
 of Turkish dynasties, contended for the supre- 
 macy, first with the Crusaders, and afterwards 
 with the Mogul hordes, until, in the year 1517, 
 the Turkish Sultan, Sclim I., wrested it from 
 the Mamelukes. Since that time it has been 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 273 
 
 an integral part of the Turkish empire, and is 
 divided into five Pashalics, which have already 
 been enumerated. 
 
 The language of the ancient Syrians was cog- 
 nate to the Hebrew and Arabic ; but it bore a 
 still closer affinity to the Chaldee or East Ara- 
 maic, from which, indeed, it differed so slightly, 
 that Chaldeans and Syrians could understand 
 each other with ease. " Towards the close of 
 the seventeenth century," says a learned eccle- 
 siastic,^^^ born at Tripoli in Syria, " Syriac con- 
 tinued to be spoken in different parts of Syria, 
 particularly along the range of Lebanon, and in 
 the districts of Bshirrai and Tripoli. The Ara- 
 bic, however, has now supplanted this lan- 
 guage ; yet in those places where Syriac was 
 formerly spoken, the dialect of the inhabitants 
 is full of Syriacisms. In Malula and Sai- 
 dania, two villages near Damascus, the inhabi- 
 tants of which are Melchites, Syriac, as well as 
 Arabic, is spoken, although in a very corrupted 
 form. The ancient language of the country is 
 still used in the church liturgy. In the pro- 
 vince of Mosul, and in the district of Mardin, 
 Syriac [or rather Chaldee] is universally spo- 
 ken, but by no means in purity."^ 
 
 ^ Volney contradicts tlie statement of Syriac being still spo- 
 ken in some parts of the country. Burckhardt however says, 
 (Travels in Syria, p. 22, 1C4), that it is known and spoken by 
 many Maronites, most of whom write Arabic in Syriac charac- 
 VOL. II. T 
 
274 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 C The earliest document still extant in the 
 proper Syriac dialect is the version of the Old 
 and New Testament, which most probably be- 
 longs to the end of the second century of the 
 Christian era, about which time we find the 
 Syrian literature in general to have been flou- 
 rishing and productive. The Palmyrene dialect 
 is, with small deviations, Syiiac ; but it is writ- 
 ten with letters similar to the Hebrew square 
 character. The inscriptions in this dialect upon 
 the ruins of Tadmor or Palmyra, which are 
 partly accompanied with Greek translations, and 
 extend from the period just before the birth of 
 Christ into the third century, are not in them- 
 selves sufficiently numerous and important, and 
 are not in all cases copied and explained with 
 sufficient accuracy, to be of essential service to 
 philology."^] 
 
 ters ; and tliat the boys in the school of Ayn-Warka are taught to 
 speak, write, and read, Syriac. The fact above stated respect- 
 ing the prevalence of the language around ]\Iosul, is confirmed 
 by Niebuhr, Browne, and the American missionaries Smith 
 and Dwight, in their Researches in Armenia. London, 
 1835 — M. 
 
 ' Gesenius, in the admirable Dissertation on the Sources of 
 Hebrew Lexicography, prefixed to his Elinor Lexicon. He re- 
 fers to Barthelemy, Reflexions sur 1' Alphabet et la Langue de 
 Palmyre. Paris, 1754 ; and to Swinton in the Philosoph. Trans. 
 \ol. XLVIII— M. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 275 
 
 1. [The following are Volney's remarks upon the 
 iiannie " Syria." This name, which, like so many 
 others, has been transmitted to us by the Greeks, is 
 an abridgment of Assyria^ which was first adopted 
 by the lonians, who frequented these coasts, after the 
 Assyrians of Nineveh had reduced that country to 
 be a province of their empire.* The name of Syria 
 had not, therefore, so extensive a signification as it 
 has since obtained. It comprehended neither Phoe- 
 nicia nor Palestine. The present inhabitants, who, 
 according to the constant practice of the Arabs, have 
 not adopted the Greek names, are ignorant of the 
 name of Syria ;^ instead of which they call it Barr-el- 
 Sham,*^ [or esh- Sham], which signifies country of the 
 left ; and is the name given to the whole space con- 
 tained between two lines drawn, the one from Alex- 
 andretta to the Euphrates, and the other from Gaza 
 to the Desert of Arabia, bounded on the east by that 
 desert, and on the west by the Mediterranean. This 
 name of country of the left, from its contrast Avith 
 that of the Yamin, or country of the right, indicates 
 
 ^ That is about the year 750 b. c. This is the reason why 
 Homer, who wrote a httle before that time, no where uses this 
 name, though he speaks of the inhabitants of the country, but 
 employs the oriental word Aram, changed into Arimean and 
 Erembos . 
 
 ^ Geographers, however, sometimes write it Souria, from the 
 
 constant change of the Greek v, upsilou, into the Arabic ^ wau. 
 *= El-sham also is the name of the city of Damascus, the re- 
 puted capital of Syria. I am at a loss to discover why i\I» 
 Savary has made it el-Shams or the City of the Sun. 
 
276 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 some intermediate place, as a common point, which 
 must be Mecca ; and from its allusion to the worship 
 of the sun,^ proves at once, an origin anterior to Ma- 
 homet, and the existence, which is already certain, of 
 this worship, in the temple of the Caaba." Volneys 
 Travels, Eng. Transl. Vol. I. p. 288, 9.]. Hero- 
 dotus says (VII. 63) : Outoi hi brro fih 'EXkrjvuv sxaXs- 
 ovTO 2ug/6/, b-ro ds ruv ^dpjSd^uv Affov^ioi sxXyi'^r,ffay rov- 
 Tscfjv di fAsru^Vy XaXdaioi. See additional illustrations 
 of the identity of the names Aramaeans, Syrians, and 
 Assyrians, in WahVs Asia, p. 303, note, 
 
 2. See Strabo XVI. 21. But Pomponius Mela 
 (I. II), and Pliny (V. J 3, 12), give to Syria a much 
 wider extent, carrying it beyond the Euphrates, and 
 reckoning it to include Mesopotamia, Assyria, and 
 Adiabene. 
 
 o . o 
 
 3. A^\ ^, Ai;^\ - See Ahulfeda's Tabula Syriae,^ 
 p. 5. Syria is called Soristan, , , ^U^j».av only by 
 Persian and Turkish writers. [Abulfeda's remark 
 on the name of Syria, is as follows : " Syria vero 
 
 ^ The ancient natives, who worshipped the sun, paid their 
 homage at the moment of his rising ; their faces were therefore 
 turned towards the east. Tlie north was on the left, the south 
 on tlie riyht, and the west behind them, called in the oriental 
 languages, Acheron and Akaron. 
 
 ^ This portion of Abulfeda's work appeared in Arabic and 
 Latin, by J. B. Koehler, at Leipsic, in 17t>G; along with ex- 
 tracts from Ibn-el-Wardi, and Notes by Reiske. It is one of 
 the most valuable parts of his Geography, for Syria was his 
 native country ; he was prince of Hamatli, the Epiphania of 
 the Greeks. — .M. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 277 
 
 Scham appellata est, quia colonia quaedam filiorum 
 Canaan ad illam taschaamii, i. e. ad sinistram se flec- 
 tentes contenderunt. Jacet enira a sinistra Cadbce 
 vultu ad orientem converso. Alii dictam esse tradunt 
 a Scha?no, filio Noachi. Vocatur enim ille secundum 
 dialectura Syriacum, Scham. Alii ita vocatam esse 
 volunt, quod habeat Schamat, i. e. maculas albas 
 rubrasque et nigras, terras, nempe, his coloribus prse- 
 ditas.'' Koehlers Translation.] \ 
 
 4. Comp. Vol. I. of this work, p. 5, et seqq. 
 
 5. See Volnei/s Travels, Eng. transls. Vol. II. p. 
 338. [" Syria maj'^ be considered as a country com- 
 posed of three long strips of land, of different qualities : 
 one of these, extending along the Mediterranean, is a 
 warm, humid valley, the healthiness of which is doubt- 
 ful, but which is extremely fertile ; the other, which 
 is the frontier of this, is a mountainous and rugged 
 soil, enjoying a more salubrious temperature; the 
 third, which lies behind the mountains to the east, 
 combines the dryness of the latter with the warmth 
 of the former. We have seen by what a happy com- 
 bination of the properties of climate and soil this pro- 
 vince unites in a small compass, the advantages and 
 productions of different zones, insomuch, that nature 
 seems to have designed it for one of the most agree- 
 able habitations of this continent. It may be reproach- 
 ed, however, like almost all hot countries, with want- 
 ing that fresh and animated verdure, which almost 
 perpetuall}^ adorns our fields : we see there none of 
 that gay carpeting of grass and flowers, v;hich decorate 
 the meadows of Normandy and Flanders, nor those 
 clumps of beautiful trees which give such richness and 
 
278 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 animation to the landscapes of Burgundy and Brit- 
 tany." He says, in another part of his work, (Vol. I. 
 p. 289), "If we examine a map of Syria, we may 
 observe, that this country is in some measure, only a 
 chain of mountains, which distribute themselves in 
 various directions from one leading branch ; and such, 
 in fact, is the appearance it presents, whether we ap- 
 proach it from the side of the sea, or by the immense 
 plains of the desert. We first discover, at a great 
 distance, a clouded ridge, which runs north and south, 
 as far as the sight extends, and, as we advance, dis- 
 tinguish the summits of mountains, which, sometimes 
 detached, and sometimes united in chains, uniformly 
 terminate in one principal line which overtops all : we 
 may follow this line, without interruption, from its 
 entry by the north, quite into Arabia. It first runs 
 close to the sea, between Alexandretta and the Orontes, 
 and after opening a passage to that river, continues 
 its course to the southward, quitting for a short dis- 
 tance the shore, and in a chain of continued summits, 
 stretches as far as the sources of the Jordan, where it 
 separates into two branches, to enclose, as it were, in 
 a bason, this river and its three lakes. In its course, 
 it detaches from tliis line, as from a main trunk, an 
 infinity of ramifications, some of which lose themselves 
 in the desert, where they form various inclosed hol- 
 lows, such as those of Damascus and Hauran, while 
 others advance toward the sea, where they frequently 
 end in steep declivities, as at Carmel, Nakoura, Cape 
 Blanco, and in almost the whole country between 
 Bairout,* and Tripoli of Syria ; but in general, they 
 
 ' The ancient Berytus. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 279 
 
 gently terminate in plains such as those of Antioch, 
 Tripoli, Tyre, and Acre."] Comp. Ritters Geo- 
 graphy, Part II. p. 300, et sqq. 
 
 6. Volnei/s Travels, Eng. Transl. Vol. I. p. 304. 
 [In our time, in the year 1759, there happened one, 
 which caused the greatest ravages. It is said to have 
 destroyed, in the valley ofBaalbeck, upwards of twenty 
 thousand persons, a loss which has never been repair- 
 ed. For three months the shocks of it terrified the 
 inhabitants of Lebanon so much as to make them 
 abandon their houses and dwell under tents. Very 
 lately (the 14th of December 1783), when I was at 
 Aleppo, so violent a shock was felt, as to ring the bell 
 in the house of the French consul. It is remarked in 
 Syria, that earthquakes seldom happen but in winter, 
 after the autumnal rains ; and this observation, con- 
 formable to that made by Doctor Shaw in Barbary, 
 seems to prove that the action of the water on the 
 dried earth has some share in these convulsive motions. 
 It may not be improper to remark, that the whole of 
 Asia Minor is subject to them in like manner.] When 
 Olivier was at Aleppo and Latakia in 1795-6, there 
 were several severe earthquakes. See his Voyage 
 dans I'Empire Othoman. Tom. VI. p. 359. 
 
 7. Farther illustrations of the ravages produced by 
 locusts, will be found in the Alte und Neue Morgen- 
 land. Part IV. No. 1095, p. 370, et seqq., and Part 
 VI. p. 289. 
 
 8. p3lb, ^Ua! y^^- See Abulfeda*s Tab. Syr. 
 p. 18, 163. 
 
 9. Comp. Bilschings Geogr. of Asia (Ger.) p. 
 
280 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 306, of the 4th Edit. De la Roquets Voyage de 
 Syria, Tom. I. p. 31, et seqq. Pocockes Descript. of 
 the East, Part III. p. 116 of the Ger. Transl. Note. 
 Oedmanns Collections from Nat. Hist, for the Illus- 
 tration of Holy Script. (Ger.). No. U. p. 175. 
 Bitters Geogr. Part II. p. 434. 
 
 So ^ 
 
 10. pT^in. The similar Arabic word ^%^j signi- 
 fies a loft?/ mountain peak. Other conjectures on the 
 meaning of this name, will be found in Simonis Ono- 
 masticon, Vet. Test. p. 71, 337. 
 
 11. pK'^lz;, i. e. an elevation, a high mountain, in- 
 stead of 'jiN^'u;^. 
 
 12. i^^u;. 
 
 13. ^'^'i^. 
 
 14. See SimonisXoQ.. cit. p. 71. Thus a mountain 
 in Magnesia is called ©w^aj. 
 
 14.* In Zach's Monthly Correspondence. Vol. 
 XVIII. p. 348. " One of the tops of Antilibanus," 
 says Otto Von Richter. (Wallfahrten,^ p. 163), is 
 called " Djebel Scham, the other Djebel Erbain, 
 Djebel Scheich, and Djebel Katana." 
 
 14.^ Travels, p. 5.50 of the Ger. Trans. Comp. 
 p. 449. 
 
 15. See Abulfeda^s Tab. Syr. p. 164. 
 
 *= Otto Von Richter, to whom Rosenmiiller makes such fre- 
 quent references, was a young German of the most promising 
 talents, who di(!d at Smyrna, in August 1810, at the early age 
 of 24. His " Wallfahrten" (or Pilgrimages in Syria, Palestine, 
 Cyprus, and Asia 3Iinor), was drawn up from his diary and 
 letters by Etoers, and appeared af Berlin in 1822. — M. 
 
CHAP. XI.J SYRIA. 281 
 
 16. Xxiu,J!5 nypl. Perhaps this is the valley men- 
 tioned by the prophet Amos (cb. i. 5.), as near Da- 
 mascus and Eden, under the name of pN"n:i?p:i, i. e. 
 the Valley of Nothingness, or Vanity, meaning the 
 " Valley of Idols." He may have given it this op- 
 probrious designation, because in the temple of Baal- 
 bek, at the east end of the valley, the Sun was wor- 
 shipped with all the pomp of superstition. J. D. Mi- 
 chaelis, indeed, in the notes to his German trans- 
 lation of the book of Amos, thinks the prophet put 
 p^ for p{^ , which, according to the account of an 
 
 Arab, born in the district of Damascus, (who travel- 
 led in Germany in the year 1768,) is the name of a 
 pleasant vale not far from Damascus, still called Uh. 
 But such a valley is not mentioned by any one of the 
 Arabian geographers, or European travellers, who 
 have written of the country round about Damascus. 
 Besides, the Arab in question, whose name was Jo- 
 seph Abassi, is declared by Stephen Schulz (Leitun- 
 gen des Hochsten, Part V. p. 159, 160) to have been 
 an adventurer and impostor, and very probably gave 
 to the questions of Michaelis such answers as the lat- 
 ter seemed to desire. It is on the same doubtful au- 
 thority that Vater relies, in his note on Amos i. 5, in 
 his edition and translation of that book, (Halle^ 
 1810,) when he refers to Michaelis' Arabic Gram- 
 mar, p. 11, of the second edit. Abidfeda and other 
 Arabic geographers (Tab. Syr. p. 20, 155, and in 
 the Addend, and Corrigend. p. 1,) mention a country. 
 
282 SYRIA. |"CHAP. XI. 
 
 clJu.i!> between Damascus and Baalbek, and perhaps 
 it was to it that Amos had a reference. 
 
 17. pb, ph, and n^n^, white, Exod. xvi, 31. 
 
 TT "T t; 
 
 Gen. xlix. 12. 
 
 18. ^saXaI^J^a^ • See Abulfeda's Tab. Syr. p. 18, 
 163. 
 
 19. Volney^s Travels, Eng. Trans. Vol. I. p. 301. 
 [If we examine the substance of these mountains, we 
 shall find they consist of a hard calcareous stone, of 
 a whitish colour, sonorous like freestone, and dis- 
 posed in strata variously inclined. This stone has 
 almost the same appearance in every part of Syria ; 
 sometimes it is bare, and looks like the peeled rocks 
 on the coast of Provence. Such, for instance, is that 
 of the chain of hills on the north side of the road 
 from Antioch to Aleppo, and that which serves as a 
 bed to the upper part of the rivulet which passes by 
 the latter city. Near Ermenaz, a village situated be- 
 tween Serkin and Kaftin, is a defile, where the rocks 
 exactly resemble those we pass in going from Mar- 
 seilles to Toulon. In travelling from Aleppo to Ha- 
 ma, veins of the same rock are continually to be met 
 with in the plain, while the mountains on the right 
 present huge piles, which look like the ruins of towns 
 and castles. The same stone, under a more regular 
 form, likewise composes the greater part of Lebanon, 
 Antik'banon, the Mountains of the Druzes, Galilee 
 and Mount Carmel, and stretches to the south of the 
 Lake Asphaltites. The inhabitants every where build 
 their houses, and make lime with it.] 
 
 20. Volney's Travels, Eng. Transl. Vol. I. p. 293. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 283 
 
 [A view of the country will convince us, that the 
 most elevated point of all Syria is Lebanon, on the 
 south-east of Tripoli. Scarcely do we depart from 
 Larneca, in Cyprus, which is thirty leagues distance, 
 before we discover its summit, capped with clouds. 
 This is also distinctly perceivable on the map, from 
 the course of the rivers. The Orontes, which flows 
 from the mountains of Damascus, and loses itself be- 
 low Antioch ; the Kasmia, which, from the north of 
 Baalbek, takes its course towards Tyre ; the Jordan, 
 forced by declivities toward the south, prove that this 
 is the highest point. Next to Lebanon, the most 
 elevated part of the country is Mount Akkar, which 
 becomes visible as soon as we leave Marra in the De- 
 sert. It appears like an enormous flattened cone, and 
 is constantly in view for two days' journey.] 
 
 21. RauiooJffi Travels, p. 274. 
 
 22. Otto V. iticliter's Wallfahrten, p. 76, et seqq. 
 
 23. Joli. Heinr. Mayr, Schicksale eines Schweizers, 
 Vol. IlL p. 80. 
 
 24. Mayr (loc. cit.) alludes to the fine effect of 
 the snow upon Lebanon, as seen in relief against the 
 clear azure of the sky, and illumined by the rays of 
 the sun. 
 
 25. Maundrell mentions, that as he was travelling 
 on Lebanon, on the 6th and 7th of May, he rode for 
 six leagues in deep snow. " These heights," he adds, 
 " thus serve as a repository for the snows, which are 
 melted in summer, and supply the rivers and springs 
 in the valleys with water." 
 
 26. Tacitus^ Histor. V. 6. Praecipuum montium 
 Libanuni (terra) erigit, mirum dictu, tantos inter ar- 
 
284 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 dores opacum, fidumque nivibus. Idem amnem Jor- 
 dariem fundit alitque. 
 
 27. Voyage au Levant, p. 307 oP the Folio edit. 
 
 28. Log. cit. Book III. p. 73, et seqq. Comp. p. 8, 
 and De la Rogue's Voyage de Syrie et du Mont 
 Liban. Tom. I. p. 194. 
 
 29. Pleasure-houses or summer-palaces are not, 
 indeed, expressly mentioned in 1 Kings ix. 19, but 
 as it is there said, " he built upon Lebanon," it is 
 probable that the erections there were of that de- 
 scription. It is quite in accordance with the practice 
 of eastern monarchs, to pass the summer in some 
 mountainous tract of their dominions, where the tem- 
 perature is cooler. Yet it is incorrect to understand 
 with some, that the house of the wood of Lebanon^ 
 mentioned in 1 Kings vii. 2; x. 10, was a pleasure- 
 house built by Solomon on that mountain. See above, 
 p. 210 [and below, note 37]. 
 
 30. In Paulus' Collection, Part II. p. 214. 
 
 31. Mayr, loc. cit. Book II. p. 228, 238. Book 
 III. p. 63. 
 
 32. The wines of Lebanon are likewise celebrated 
 by De Bruyn^ (Voyage, p. 307). He calls them, 
 " les meilleurs vins et les plus delicats, qui se trouvent 
 dans tout le reste du monde. lis sont rouges, d'une 
 tres belle couleur, et si onctueux, qu'ils attachent au 
 verre. Aussi le Prophete Osee en tire-t-il une com- 
 paraison, quand il dit," ch. xiv. 8, etc. 
 
 33. See Belongs Observations, Livre II. ch. 107, 
 110. 
 
 34. Whatsoever was known respecting these cedars 
 in the middle of the eighteenth century, was fully d«> 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 285 
 
 tailed in Trew's Historia cedrorum Libani, Nurem- 
 berg, 1757, 4to, and in the Apologia et Mantissa 
 observationis de cedro Libani, Nuremberg, 1767. 
 Both are preserved in the Nov. Act. Acad. Naturae 
 Curiosorura, the former in the second, the latter in 
 the first part. 
 
 35. Leitungen des Hochsten, Part V. p. 459. 
 
 36. Curtius Hist. Alexandri M. L. V. Cap. 7. 
 Multa cedro aedificata erat regia. 
 
 37. Iken, in his Dissert, de Baal-Gad, § 13, (in 
 the Dissertt. Philologico-Theologg. Part I. p. 251,) is 
 at great pains to prove that the "jiDibn ll/'"» D'^'2. was a 
 summer-palace or pleasure-house on Lebanon. But 
 his reasoning is inconclusive ; for in I Kings vii. the 
 reference is plainly to the palace in Jerusalem ; and 
 when it is said in ch. x. 17, that Solomon preserved 
 in that palace a large quantity of targets and shields 
 of gold, and caused his throne in it to be constructed 
 in the most curious and costly fashion — all that seems 
 to point rather to a palace in the residence city, than 
 to a mere villa or place of summer retreat. 
 
 38. Loc. cit. vol. iii. p. 76. 
 
 39. Travels, Part I. p. 62, of the German transla- 
 tion. 
 
 40. in Zach's Monthly Correspondence, vol. xiii. 
 p. 549. 
 
 41. See De la Roque, loc. cit. torn. i. p. 70. De 
 Bruyn, p. 308. Btirckhardt, vol. i. p. 99. The 
 
 Arabic word 'ij^^ , which that traveller interprets by 
 
 " tiger," rather signifies panther, (as is remarked by 
 
286 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 Gesenius in his Note, p. 497.)* Like the Hebrew 
 "1723. That animal is met with in Lebanon, (Song of 
 Solomon, iv. 8), and also, according to Seetzen, in 
 the district of Banyas. Schulz (loc. cit. Part V. p. 
 465,) relates, that the son of a Maronite priest on Le- 
 banon was attacked by tigers, and after a vigorous 
 defence made his escape, but afterwards died of 
 his wounds. These without doubt were panthers. 
 Comp. Oedmamis Collections, Book IL chap. 9, p. 
 199. 
 
 42. The Mount Hor mentioned in Num. xxxiv. 
 7, 8, is evidently different from that upon which 
 Aaron died, (Num. xxxiii. 38), on the south-eastern 
 border of Palestine. Belleinnann (Handbuch. Part IL 
 p. 377,) takes that northern Mount Hor for the 
 southern part of the Mons Casius, now Jebel Okrab, 
 (See Von Richters Pilgrimage, p. 284). But it is 
 scarcely probable that Moses would have placed the 
 boundary of the land to be conquered by the Israelites 
 so far to the north. Hor nirr is an ancient appella- 
 tive, synonymous with in a mountain, (comp. Gen. 
 xHx. 26, where, however, the true punctuation is, 
 IV ^llnO and it came to be used as a proper name, 
 
 only in the designation of certain mountains. In 
 Numb, xxxiv. 7, Hamehveld, (Bib. Gcog. Part I. p. 
 174 of the German translation), instead of "nnn IH 
 
 would read with the LXX. 11111 lil, " the Moun- 
 
 - T - 
 
 tain," i. c. the hill so designated by way of pre-emi- 
 
 " The reference is to t\\'.i (J"rman translation of Bnrck- 
 liardt's Travels in Svria, edited bv Gesenius, with Notes — .li 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 287 
 
 nence, — meaning Lebanon. But that is a needless 
 alteration. Comp. the note of Jdnisch the German 
 translator. 
 
 43. laJjS See Schultend Index Geograph. in his 
 Vita Saladini, under : Fluvius Orontes. 
 
 44. 45'«^l^^ De la Roque, loc. cit. Tom. I. p. 262. 
 Burckhardt, Part I. p. 231. 
 
 45. Tab. Syr. p. 149. The Jews translate the 
 Arabic name by the Hebrew Ti*i72. Thus, in the 
 usual subscription at the end of a MS. of the Penta- 
 teuch in the Bodleian Library, it is said to have been 
 written "Ti"j73 *irT3 bin nion n^nTDl, " in the city of 
 Hamath, which is on the river of Marud." See 
 Kennicois Dissert. Gener. in V. T. p. 344 of Bruns 
 edition. The wheels which raise the water of the 
 Orontes and lead it into canals, by which it is spread 
 over tlie country, are described by Pococke, Part IL 
 p. 210. Burckhardt, Part L p. 252; and Otto von 
 Richter, p. 232. 
 
 46. " A^ioc. See Von Richter, loc. cit. p. 230. 
 
 47. See Abulfedas Tab. Syr. p. 149. 
 
 48. '^^i^'^S j^'^S in Abulfeda loc. cit. [EI- 
 Nahr-el-Maklub, i. e. fluvius inversus^ so called, says 
 Abulfeda, because it runs from south to north. This 
 name will remind the reader of the Mukallihe or 
 Mujelibe, (i. e. the overturned), the designation gi- 
 
 ^ El-Aasi, L e. the Rebel, so called, says Volney, (vol. ii. p. 
 155), on account of its swiftness. But that seems a mistake. 
 See Abulfeda's remark in the text of Rosenmiiller M. 
 
288 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 ven to one of the great heaps of ruins at Babylon. 
 See the present volume, p. 80. The following is 
 the course of the river, as described by Abulfeda, 
 who was prince of Hamath, and must have been well 
 acquainted with his native stream: " Ad fontem est 
 rivulus scatens e pago or Has, ad ditetae fere distan- 
 tiam a Baalbekh septentrionem versus. Inde versus 
 eandem plagam pergens devenit ad locum, qui Kayeni 
 al Harmel dicitur, inter Gjusiat atque ar Has, ubi in 
 vallem abrumpitur, ibique emergit maxima hujus 
 fluvii pars ex loco, qui vocatur Magharat ar Rahehi^ 
 i. e. spelunca religiosi. Deinde in boream pergens, 
 praeterlapsus Gjusiat, efFunditur in locum Kades ad 
 occasum Emessae^ ex quo egressus praeterita Emessa, 
 inde ar Rostana^ turn Chamaia^ post Schaizara^ tan- 
 dem miscetur lacu Apameensi, emergens vero ex illo 
 super Darkhush tendit ad Gjasr al Chadid. In quo 
 omni cursu orientale latus montis ad Lokhami strin- 
 git. Postquam vero devenit ad Gjasr al Chadid secat 
 montem ilium, tnmque in arcum inflexus tendit ver- 
 sus austrum occidentalem, alluensque moenia Antio- 
 chiae postrerao in mare Meditcrraneum exit apud 
 Suweidiam ad Longit. 61, Lat. 36." Supplem. ad 
 Tab. Syr. by Koehler, p. 149—51.] 
 
 49. That Pliny gives an incorrect account of the 
 sources of the Orontes, is shewn by De la Roque^ 
 loc. cit. Tom. I. p. 165, et seq. 
 
 50. 'E>.£i/%of. In the Syriac version the name is 
 rendered by jjj^, ^ , " son of the free," /. c. the free. 
 It is uncertain, however, whether this Syriac name 
 was ever in use. Perha})s it was called " the Free" by 
 the Greeks, because it formed the boundary between 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 289 
 
 Syria and Phoenicia, and did not properly belong to 
 either country. 
 
 51. j'*:'t->^'^ j-^^y Another river of this name is 
 that mentioned by Abulfeda, (in his Tabula Syr. p. 
 152), which rises above Apamea, and runs into the 
 lake that has its name from that town. Shaw is of 
 opinion (Travels p. 235 of the Germ, transl.) that the 
 Eleutherus was that river which is now called Nahr- 
 el-Berd, or Barada, an opinion adopted by J.D.Mi- 
 chaelis, in his Note upon 1 Mace. xi. 7, but see 
 Bilsdiing's Geogr. of Asia, p. 326 of the 3d edition. 
 Comp. J. M. Hose's Regni Davidici et Salomonei 
 Descriptio, p. 266. Maundrell in Paulus' Collection, 
 Part I. p. 35, and the note of the editor at p. 303. 
 
 52. Loc. cit. p. 270. 
 
 53. ^^ji. See Ahuljeda, loc. cit. p. 15, 174, 175. 
 Comp. Golius^ on Alfargani, p. 128. BurckhardU p. 
 37. The course and various branches of this river 
 have been most minutely described by O. von Rich- 
 ter (in his Wallfahrten, p. 154, et seq.) whom we 
 have here followed. 
 
 104. nilK also n372K (Song of Solomon, iv. 8, and 
 2 Kings v. 12,) according to the marginal reading. 
 This discrepancy arises from the frequent commuta- 
 tion among the orientals of the letters b and m. The 
 name probably denotes " a river which maintains a 
 perpetual flow," in contradistinction to the many 
 streams in the east which in summer are dried up. 
 Comp. "J72X used of rivers in this sense, Isn. xxxiii. 16, 
 
 VOL. II. u 
 
290 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 and, on the other hand, :irDK, a deceitful brook,^ Jer. 
 XV. 18. 
 
 53. IS"!!), the rapid. Comp. the Samaritan and 
 
 Chaldee, ms, NlS to flow, and the Arabic - to h< 
 
 quick. See Simonis Onomast. V. T. p. 134. 
 
 56. X.s:^^^- See Abulfeda, loc. cit. p. 174. The 
 '"oot ij signifies in the fourth form to haste, to flow. 
 
 The name is thus synonymous with -|S"^S. 
 
 57. Loc. cit. p. 156, et seqq. Comp. Pococke's 
 Descript. of the East. Part II. p. 179. 
 
 58. mi if aiN. Simonis loc. cit. p. 236, explains 
 the name Syria cavitatis (coll. Arab. ^\ja , depres- 
 sit, inclinavit), i. q. Coele-Syria. 
 
 59. In the Dissert, de Syria Sobaea, in his Com- 
 mentatt. in Societ. Scientiar. Goetting. per annos 
 1763—1768, praelectt. Bremen, 1769, 4. P. 67, et 
 seqq. 
 
 60. See above in chap. x. That the auxiliaries of 
 the Ammonites were brought from a remote country 
 beyond the Euphrates, on the borders of Assyria, is 
 in the highest degree improbable. 
 
 61. See Benjamin of Tudela, p. 59 of the Edit, of 
 L'Empereur, and Golius on Alfargani, p. 275. 
 
 62. Bochart Geogr. S. P. I. (Phaleg.) L. II. Cap. 
 6, p. 89 : In Ptolemaeo Sabc et Barathena, Arabiae 
 
 ■ Some think that the expression there " the deception of 
 waters that are not sure or real," has rather a reference to tlic 
 well-known phenomenon called the mirage^ so common in tlie 
 deserts of the east. See Harmer^s Observat. ch. v. obs. 4, 
 note M. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 291 
 
 desertae urbes in Palmyrenae finibus, videntur esse 
 Soha et Berothai^ Sobaeorum oppida, quorum in 
 Scriptura mentio Comp. Hase, loc. cit. p. 258. 
 
 63. p^)2T CD"1N. 
 
 64. 'y\in '|>"ix. Joseph Abassi, the individual above- 
 mentioned at note 16, assured J. D. 3Iichaelis (Suppl. 
 ad Lexx. Hebb. p. 677), that he had heard of a small 
 town, Chadrach, is)\xs» > lyi"g to the east of Da- 
 mascus, and which had been formerly the capital of 
 a large district, and was once larger than Damascus. 
 But, as we before observed, every statement of this 
 man is to be received with very great suspicion. 
 
 63. HDyD tD"iX. The name n:3r72 from lir)3, to 
 press, to press together, seems to denote a country in- 
 closed and hemmed in by mountains, a land of val- 
 lies. 
 
 Q6. The Chaldee translators render n:)l'D by 
 Dn"'p''*3K, 'F.-izr,oo;. That is the name of a place 
 mentioned by Ptolemy, not far from Callirhoe, in 
 the district of the modern Schaubek. See Michaelis 
 Comment, de Bello Nesibeni, in the Commentt, (p. 
 104), cited at note 59. Bochart (loc. cit.) regards 
 the interpretation of the Chaldee Transl. as not im- 
 probable. But Hase (loc. cit. p. 278) correctly re- 
 marks, that the situation of Epikaeros, on the east 
 side of the Dead Sea, in Arabia Petraea, was too far 
 south to correspond with the site which, in scripture, 
 is assigned to Maachah. The Syrian translator of 
 the Books of Chronicles has in 1 Chron. xix. 6, in- 
 stead of Maachah, -^ Choron, or Charan. The 
 well-known place of this name in Mesopotamia is 
 
292 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 here out of the question. But Burckhardt mentions 
 (Travels, p. 350), among the decayed towns and 
 villages of Ledja, a district to the south-east of Da- 
 mascus (in the Trachonitis of the ancients), a place 
 
 ..^Lss-j Charran, which answers very well to the 
 
 situation of Maachah, and was probably what the Sy- 
 rian translator had in view. 
 
 67. lim-n'»l CD"iK, i. e. Syria the wide or broad 
 [country], n^l, denoting, according to the Syriac 
 usus loquendi, a country, a territory. See Michael is, 
 loc. cit. p. 99. 
 
 68. xj.^^^^ O^r^' ^^^ Schultens' Geog. Index 
 in Vita Saladini under Haula. 
 
 69. In the Monthly Correspondence, Vol. XVIII. 
 p. 342. 
 
 70. XJ^i^ 'i^i- 
 
 71. Travels, p. 36, (of the original English.) 
 
 72. From the comparison above given, of the dif- 
 ferent statements in the historical books of the Old 
 Testament, it will be seen how improbable is the opi- 
 nion propounded by Michaelis, (de bello Nesibeno, 
 p. 100,) that Aram Beth-Rechoboth was the Recho- 
 both on the Euphrates mentioned in Gen. xxxvi. 37. 
 Respecting that place, see the present chapter at note 
 111. 
 
 73. n72n, defence, protection. [See Vol. I. p. 184, 
 note.] 
 
 74. Comp. Hasc, loc. cit. p. 257, et seqq. 
 
CHAP. XI.J SYRIA. 293 
 
 75. "isnN, probably slay^ prop, from the Arabic 
 j>,i io support. 
 
 76. pin, (. >5^3^. This district perhaps took its 
 
 name from the many caves (^in) to be found in it, 
 and which are still used as dwellings by the inhabi- 
 tants. See Seetzen in {^ZacKs\ Monatl. Correspond. 
 Vol. XVIII. p. 335, [and Vol. I. of the present work, 
 p. 87, 282.] 
 
 n, Loc. cit. p. 285 [of the original Eng. J 
 
 o 
 
 78. *iiu;:i a bridge, like the Arab. j.,„^o» . 
 
 79. Loc. cit. p. 344. 
 
 80. Loc. cit. p. 315 [of the original Eng.] 
 
 81. Gesenius (Manual Lexicon, p. 159 of the se- 
 cond edit.) finds the name Geshur applied to three 
 different countries. 1st, One in the country east of 
 Jordan, inhabited by the Canaanites, Deut. iii. 14; 
 Josh. xii. 5 ; xiii. 13. 2d, Another in the south of 
 Palestine, in the neighbourhood of the Philistines, 
 Josh. xiii. 2 ; 1 Sam. xxvii. 8. And 3d, A third in 
 Syria, governed by a king, whose daughter David 
 married, 2 Sam. iii. 3 ; xiii. 37 ; xv. 18. In his Ad- 
 ditions and Corrections to his Lexicon, Gesenius 
 thinks this last Geshur was perhaps the place now 
 called Djisr Shogr, J(J;, y***-^ ' ^^ ^^ Bridge of 
 Shogr, a very strong fortress on the Orontes, {Burck- 
 hardt, p. 216, 512). But a glance at the map shews 
 that that place lies too far north, (for it is between 
 Hhamath and Antioch,) and too remote from the 
 borders of the Israelitish territory, to correspond to 
 
294 SYRIA. I CHAP. XI. 
 
 the above-mentioned references to it in the Old Tes- 
 tament. It is, moreover, not easy to distinguish be- 
 tween Geshur noticed in Deut. iii. 14; Josh. xii. 5 ; 
 xiii. 13, and that of which mention is made in the 
 second book of Samuel ; which would lead to the 
 conclusion, that there were but two countries of this 
 name in the East. 
 
 82. Antiqq. XIX. 5, 1. Comp. Gesenius on ^wrc^- 
 hardt, Part I. p. 537. 
 
 83. blN. See Gesenius' Manual Lexicon, p. 7 of 
 the second edit. 
 
 84. Book V. ch. 18. 
 
 85. Description of the East, Part II. p. 169. 
 
 86. According to Burckhardt, loc. cit. p. 119. Vol- 
 ney gives a somewhat different division, Travels, Vol. 
 II. p. 138, Eng. Transl. [He says : " After Sultan 
 Selim I. had taken Syria from the Mamlouks, he sub- 
 jected that province, like the rest of the empire, to 
 the government of Viceroys or Pashas, invested with 
 unlimited power. The more effectually to secure his 
 authority, he divided the territory into five govern- 
 ments or pachalicks, which division still remains. 
 These pachalics are those of Aleppo, Tripoly and 
 Saide, lately removed to Acre; that of Damascus; 
 and, lastly, that of Palestine, the seat of which is 
 sometimes at Gaza, and sometimes at Jerusalem.] 
 But Burckhardt expressly says, that changes have 
 since that period (1784) taken place in the division 
 of the pachalics. As to the division of Syria in the 
 middle ages, see Fr€ytag\s tenth note to the Selecfa 
 ex Historia Halebi, edited by him, Paris 1816, \\. 
 46. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 295 
 
 87. Comp. Mannert's Geog. of the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans, Part VI. Div. I. p. 478, et seqq. 
 
 88. Tabula Syriae, p. 27, Comp. p. 202, and Go- 
 lius on Alfargani, p. 282. 
 
 89. -^4Xjto,Aw • Two other towns of this name, the 
 
 one in Auranitis, the other in Mesopotamia, are men- 
 tioned by Yakut, in Schultens^ Index Geograph. ad 
 Vit. Saladin. under Sowaidaa.* 
 
 90. Pocockes Descript. of the East, Part II. p. 266. 
 He has given a plan of the modern town in Plate 
 XXV. 
 
 91. Strabo, XVI. 2, 4. Comp, Mannert, loc. cit. 
 p. 467, et seq. 
 
 92. Tab. Syr. p. 116. 
 
 93. Procopius de iEdificiis, II. 10, 5, et seqq. and 
 V. 5. 
 
 94. X/LkiU See Abulfeda, loc. cit. p- 115. 
 Comp. Golius on Alfargani, p. 278, and Schultens, 
 Index Geogr. under Antiochia. 
 
 95. The ruins and antiquities of Antioch have been 
 minutely described by Pococke, loc. cit. p. 277, et 
 seqq. Comp. Volney, vol. ii. p. 154, Eng. transl. 
 [Volney's description follows : " Next to Aleppo, 
 Antioch, called by the Arabs Antakia, claims our at- 
 
 * Reiske, in his Animadversiones ad Abiilfedae Tabulam Sy- 
 riae (Kcehler's Edit. p. 202), says, " Sowaida and Sowaidia are 
 different cities. The Sowaidiah in the text, is Seleucia on the 
 Orontes ; but Sowaida is a city of Mesopotamia, beyond the 
 Euphrates."-— M, 
 
296 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 tention. This city, anciently renowned for the lux- 
 ury of its inhabitants, is now no more than a ruinous 
 town, whose houses, built with mud and sand, and 
 narrow and miry streets, exhibit every appearance of 
 misery and wretchedness. It is situated on the 
 southern bank of the Orontes, at the extremity of an 
 old decayed bridge, and is covered to the south by a 
 mountain, upon the slope of which is a wall, built by 
 the crusaders. The distance between the present 
 town and this mountain may be about 400 yards, 
 which space is occupied by gardens and heaps of 
 
 rubbish, but presents nothing remarkable The 
 
 plain of Antioch, though the soil is excellent, is un- 
 cultivated, and abandoned to the Turkomans ; but the 
 hills on the side of the Orontes, particularly opposite 
 Serkin, abound in plantations of figs and olives, vines, 
 and mulberry trees, which, a thing uncommon in 
 Turkey, are planted in quincunx, and exhibit a land- 
 scape worthy our finest provinces."] 
 
 96. Wallfahrten, p. 281. 
 
 97. Pococke, loc. cit. p. 281. Richter, p. 284. 
 
 98. pnbn, XaXu/3wv, ^^^ See Abulfedas Sy- 
 ria, p. 117. Golhis, loc. cit. p. 270, and Schiiltens^ 
 Index Geogr. under Haleh. 
 
 99. Natural History of Aleppo, Part I. p. 103, of 
 the Ger. Transl. 
 
 100. Comp. Cellarins, Notit. Orbis. Antiq. Vol. 
 II. Lib. III. Cap. 12. Sect. 3, §54. 
 
 101. A detailed and valuable account of this city, 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 
 
 297 
 
 has been given by Russell,"^ in the work cited at note 
 99. See also Pococke, loc. cit. p. 219. Volney, loc. 
 cit. Vol. II. p. 147, Eng. Transl. and Richter, loc. cit. 
 p. 245. 
 
 102. Richter, p. 250. 
 
 103. p|^l L e. stone-pavement, a paved way. See 
 the next note. 
 
 104. XiUyi. See Abulfeda's Syr. p. 119. 
 The name signifies, as Kehr remarks, (Status 
 Monarch. Asiat. Saracen, p. 21.) Xi^ogtoojtov. He 
 says (at p. 10), in speaking of a part of the city 
 of Bagdad, which bore that name : Et quia lapidibus 
 stratae erant viae, peculiari nomine, quod aliis 
 etiam oppidis, vicis, palatiisque fuit inditum, 
 Rusafa fuit appellata. Yakut mentions, in his Dic- 
 tionary of Geographical Synonyms, no fewer than 
 nine towns of this name. See Kohler's addenda to 
 his edition of Abulfeda's Syria, p. 19. 
 
 105. In the Philosophical Transactions for the 
 months of November and December 1695, p. 151. 
 " Nor had we travelled long after the sun was up, 
 
 * Dr. Alexander Russell was Physician to the British 
 Factory at Aleppo. His work lirst appeared in the year 1756 ; 
 but an enlarged and much improved edition was given in 1794 
 by his brother Dr. Patrick Russell, (who had succeeded him 
 at Aleppo,) in 2 vols. 4to. The title is unfortunate, and conveys 
 an imperfect, not to say inaccurate idea of the contents of the 
 book, which embraces almost everything of interest connected 
 with eastern manners, and, as a whole is, one of the best pro- 
 ductions of the kind in the English language. The brothers 
 were natives of Scotland ; the senior died in 1768, and the 
 junior in 1805 M. 
 
iJ98 SYRIA. fcHAP. XI. 
 
 before, by the help of a rising-ground, we discovered 
 Arsoffa, the place whither we were tending, which 
 gave us hopes we should quickly be there ; but having 
 a dry tiresome plain to traverse, and the hot sun 
 causing our mules a little to slacken their pace, 'twas 
 after ten o'clock before we reached it : and which was 
 more vexatious still, finding no water any where near, 
 we were necessitated to proceed forward for the river 
 Euphrates, which we found four hours^ distant from 
 hence. Arsoffa, or, as the Arabs call it, Arsoffa Emir^ 
 seems to be the remains of a monastery, having no 
 town nor village near it, and being one continued pile 
 of building of an oblong figure, stretching long-ways 
 east and west, and enclosing a very capacious area, etc. 
 
 106. rrDSn, i. e. passage. [See Gesenius, under 
 nDS.] 
 
 107. Comp. Hase, Regn. Davidic. et Salomon, p. 
 269, et seqq. 
 
 108. See Xenophon's Anabasis I. 4, and Arriaris 
 Exped. Alex. III. 7. 
 
 109. V. 15. 
 
 110. Hist. Nat. V. 24. 
 
 111. ^n^n niim Streets, i. e. the village or 
 fowno;* the river. 
 
 112. o^ ^j^j <^to Xx>; See Schidtens' 
 Index Geogr. under " Rahaba." Malek was one of 
 the generals of the Calif Harun-er-Rashid. See 
 Abulfedas Annall. Tom. II. p. 245. Several towns 
 of the name of Rahabah, are mentioned by Freytag 
 in his notes to the Selecta ex Historia Halebi, (p. 124), 
 from the Geographical Dictionary of SoyuthL 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 299 
 
 113. Travels, p. 186. 
 
 114. Theodoret on Zech ix. 1. 'H 5s 'Haa^ vvv 
 'Er/^ocvs/a r:so6ayo^ivoiMsvri. Jerome, in his Quaestt. in 
 Genes, (ch. x. 15), says : " Amath usque ad nostrum 
 tempus, tarn a Syris quam ab Hebraeis, ita ut apud 
 veteres dicta fuerat, appellatur. Hanc Macedones, 
 qui post Alexandrum in Oriente regnaverunt, Epi- 
 phaniam nuncupaverunt. Nonnulli Antioehiam ita 
 appellatam putant. Alii, licet non vere, tamen opi- 
 nionem suam quasi verisimili vocabulo consolantes, 
 Emath primam ab Antiochia mansionem Edessam 
 pergentibus appellari putant." And in his Comment, 
 on Ezek. ch. xlvii. 1.5, 16, " Emath, quae nunc Epi- 
 phania nominatur, ab Antiocho, crudelissimo tyran- 
 norum, nomine commutato ; nam cognomentum ha- 
 buit 'EvT/^ai/^j." See also Josephus Archaeol. 1.6, 2. 
 Comp. MichaeUs Spicileg. Geogr. Hebr. Ext. Tom. 
 II. p. 52. 
 
 115. Tab. Syrise, p. 108. 
 
 116. Wallfahrten, p. 231. 
 
 117. Travels, p. 249. Comp. Pococke, Part II. 
 p. 209. 
 
 118. nbi^i. The root signifies (in Arabic Vj j to 
 be abundant, rich, fruitful. It probably received its 
 name from the fertiUty of the soil. 
 
 119. See Bocharfs Geogr. Sacra, Part I. seu 
 Phaleg. p. 468. Comp. MichaeUs Suppl. ad Lexx. 
 p. 2229. 
 
 120. iTDnn and "nTDD. The latter name, which seems 
 the more ancient, is found in 1 Kings ix. 18 in the 
 text {Kethib), but the former stands in the margin 
 
300 SYRIA. [chap. X!. 
 
 (Keri). Having become the more usual designation, 
 it is used in the later historical book (2 Chron. viii. 
 4) without any various reading. 
 
 121. According to the traditions of the Arabs, this 
 city existed even before the time of Solomon. See 
 Schultens Index. Geogr. ad Vit. Saladin, under 
 " Tadmora." In this case, the Hebrew word n3l, 
 in 1 Kings ix. 18 ; 2 Chron. viii. 4, would denote to 
 rebuild, to restore, as it often does. [See p. 68, above.] 
 
 122. " On the morning of the 19th November," 
 i^ays Otto von Richter, (Wallfahrten, p. 214,) " I 
 found myself on a wide desert plain, between two 
 ridges of low, bare, rugged hills on the north and 
 south. They gradually contract the valley, and at 
 the point where they meet lies Tadmor, at the com- 
 mencement of an extensive flat, which runs in a 
 north-easterly direction towards the Frat (the Eu- 
 phrates). . . . Upwards of a league from Tadmor rises 
 the fountain of Abulfauaris, the water of which was 
 conveyed into the town by a mean and now ruined 
 aqueduct. Comp. Volney's Travels, Vol. II. 
 
 J O ^ O JO^ 
 
 123. ^jO' ^^ f^y^' S^^ Schultens loc. cit. 
 
 124. Histor. Nat. L. V. Cap. 25, Palmira nobilis 
 urbs situ, divitiis soli, et aquis amoenis, vasto undique 
 iimbitu arenis includit agros, ac velut terris exemta a 
 rerum natura, privata sorte [i. e. sui juris] inter duo 
 imperia summa, Romanorum Parthorumque, et prima 
 in discordia semper utrimque cura. 
 
 125. See Trebellius Pollio (in the Scriptorr. Hist. 
 Aug.) Gallieni duo Cap. 3, 13, and Triginta Tyranni, 
 Cap. 14, 29. Comp. Christoph. Cellarius Dissertat. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 301 
 
 de Imperio Palniyreno, Halle, 1693, reprinted there 
 in 1708, 4to. 
 
 126. See RommeVs Abulfedae Arabiae descriptio, 
 p. 98. 
 
 127. The Ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor in 
 the Desert, Lond. 1753, large fol. 
 
 128. ^:i b:i?i. 
 
 129. S^jXyt^i - See Schultens' Ind. Geogr. under 
 Baalbechum. 
 
 130. Saturnal. L. 1. Cap. 23, Assyrii [i. e. Syri] 
 quoque Solem sub nomine Jovis, quern Dia Heliopo- 
 liten cognominant, raaximis caerimoniis celebrant in 
 civitate, quae Heliopolis nuncupatur. Ejus Dei si- 
 mulacrum sumtum est de oppido Aegypti, quod et 
 ipsum Heliopolis appellatur, regnante apud Aegyptios 
 Senemure ; perlatumque est primum in eam per O- 
 piam, legatura Deleboris, regis Assy riorum, sacerdo- 
 tesque Aegyptios, quorum princeps fuit Partemetis, 
 diuque habitum apud Assyrios, postea Heliopolim 
 commigravit. Comp. Lucian de Dea Syria, § 5- 
 
 131. See Gesenius' Comment, on Isaiah, Part II. 
 p. 283, 335, et seqq. 
 
 132. Macrobius loc. cit. Hunc vero eundem Jo- 
 vem Solemque esse, cum ex ipso sacrorum ritu, turn 
 ex habitu dignoscitur: simulacrum enim aureum spe- 
 cie imberbi instat, dextra elevata cum flagro in au- 
 rigae modura ; laeva tenet fulmen et spicas, quae 
 cuncta Jovis SoHsque consociatam potentiam mon- 
 strant. 
 
 133. p)Dn birn. 
 
 134. See Ikens Dissert, de Baal-Hamon et Baal 
 
802 SYRIA. [chap. XI, 
 
 Gad, in his Dissertt. philologlco-tlieologg. T. 1. p. 
 236. Comp. Michaelis Siipplemm. ad Lexx. Hebrr. 
 p. 197 and 201. J. L. Velthusen^s Amethyst, a con- 
 tribution of Historical and Critical Researches on the 
 Song of Solomon, p. 88. The last mentioned writer 
 thinks with Iken and Schultens, that the second half 
 of the name Baalbek (Bek) signifies, like the Arabic, 
 
 ^ijCj J to press together, to crowd together — '• a dense 
 crowd of people," and was thus synonymous with 
 i:i, a troop, and pTDn, a multitude, in the Hebrew 
 names of tliis place, ni bi?:i and p73n byi. In that 
 case, it may have received the designation of 
 " Baal's crowd," from the great number of pilgrims 
 that resorted thither. But it is a more probable con- 
 jecture (as above hinted), that Bek was formed from 
 the Egyptian Baki, a town ; and then Baal-bek would 
 be a literal translation of the name 'HX/oVoX/c. 
 
 135. See Jablonskf/s Panth. Egypt. Part I. p. 163. 
 
 136. nbj*2. Comp. il!/2c/iff<?/zVSupplemm. p. 199. 
 
 137. See Iken, loc. cit. and Volney, II. p. 182. 
 
 138. Otto von i^/c^^er'* Wallfahrten, p. 81, et seqq. 
 
 139. For the most complete description and finest 
 views of Baalbek, as of Palmyra, (see note 127), we 
 are indebted to the English travellers. Wood and 
 Dawkins, in the work : The Ruins of Baalbec, other- 
 wise Heliopolis in Coelo-Syria, with a Journal from 
 Palmyra to Baalbec, London, 1757, large fol. Inte- 
 resting views of some of these ruins will likewise be 
 found in Cassas' Pittoresque de la Syrie. Comp. 
 
 Vohivy, Vol. II. p. 282. [His words are : " Baalbtc, 
 celebrated by the Greeks and Latins, under the name 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 303 
 
 of Heliopolis, oj the City of the Suu, is situated at 
 the foot of Anti-Lebanon, precise!}'' on the last rising 
 ground where the mountain terminates in the plain. 
 As we arrive from the south we discover the city at 
 the distance of only a league and a half, behind a 
 hedge of trees, over the verdant tops of which ap- 
 pears a white edging of domes and minarets. After 
 an hour's journey we reached these trees, which are 
 very fine walnuts ; and soon after, crossing some ill 
 cultivated gardens, by winding paths, arrived at the 
 entrance of the city. We there perceive a ruined 
 wall, flanked with square towers, which ascends the 
 declivity to the right, and trace the precincts of the 
 ancient city. This wall is only ten or twelve feet high, 
 and permits us to have a view of those void spaces, 
 and heaps of ruins, which are the invariable appen- 
 dage of every Turkish city ; but what principally at- 
 tracts our attention, is a large edifice on the left, 
 which, by its lofty walls and rich columns, manifestly 
 appears to be one of those temples which antiquity 
 has left for our admiration."] 
 
 140. Loc. cit. p. 86. 
 
 141. pu^Dl, p;2;)3"n (in the Books of Chronicles), 
 
 t V A^N , .nnrv,^^ \y Ita vocata, says Simonis Ono- 
 
 mast. V. T. p. 439, ex CaiN ruhuit. Arab. tDDI 
 rubrum fecit, et ex pTQD Chald. et Syr. ruhuit Arab, 
 transpositis Uteris t Yai ^ in II. Conjug. tinxit terra 
 
 5 O 
 
 rubra, unde <, 'xi;*,^ terra rubra. Rtibere enim 
 
 agrum Damascenum, ex quo creatus sit Adanms, com- 
 munis est traditio. Vohiey says : (Travels, Vol. II. 
 
304 
 
 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 p. 270.) " In other respects, the soil, which is poor, 
 gravelly, and of a reddish colour, is ill adapted for 
 corn, but is on that account more suitable to fruits, 
 which are here excellently flavoured." Mountains 
 of red ferruginous rock were likewise observed near 
 Damascus by Otto von Richter, p. 685. 
 
 s- 
 
 142. ^\J;^\ . 
 
 143. Properly speaking they confine this designa- 
 tion to the vale of Gutah Qi^^i^S^, near Damascus. 
 The three other paradises are the Valley of Bawan, 
 the river Obollah, and Sogd, near Samarcand. See 
 D'Herbelot's Biblioth. Oriental, under " Gennah ;" 
 Abulfeda's Syria, p. 100; Golius on Alfargani, p. 
 120, 174, 178; and Schultens' Index Geogr. under 
 " Damascus." 
 
 144. See Schulz. Leitungen des Hochsten, Part 
 V. p. 423. Ctto von Richter, p. 137. 
 
 145. mn-p, i.e.theSonofHadad. The name 
 Hadad probably denoted a Syro-Phoenician idol, 
 which Alacrobius, (Saturnal. Lib. I. cap. 23,) calls 
 Adad, explaining it as signifying " the Suli." Coinp. 
 Gesenius in the Halle Encyclopaedia. Part I. p. 257, 
 under " Adad." 
 
 146. Comp. J. G. Heyne de Ethnarcha Aretae, 
 Arabum regis, Paulo Apostolo insidiante Dissert. I. 
 
 II. Wittenberg, 1755, 4to. 
 
 147. See EckheVs Doctrina Numor. veter. Vol. 
 
 III. p. 331. 
 
 148. See Kantemirs Hist, of the Ottoman Empire, 
 p. 235 of the Ger. Transl.* 
 
 ■ The author was Prince of IMoldavia. There is an Eiig. 
 
CHAP. XI.J SYRIA. 305 
 
 149. Wallfahrten, p. 138, 149, 151. 
 
 150. Comp. PocockesDescr\pt. of the East. Part 
 II. p. 174. 
 
 l^^''^ls^\^ 7rj-*>^^* Theformerof these names 
 signifies, a level valley. J. 1). Michaelis is of opi- 
 nion, (in his Spicileg. Geogr. Hebreeor. Exter., Part 
 II. p. 126,) that the land of Uz mentioned in the 
 Book of Job, was the Damascene valley of Gutah.* 
 But see the Prolegomena to Hosenmuller^ s Scholia 
 on Job, p. 29, of the second edition. 
 
 152. Burckhardt, p. 446. 
 
 1.53. min : from mn, to hide one's self; thus 
 seeming to denote a hiding-place^ a lurking-hole, 
 
 154. In Locis Hebraicis in Genesi. 
 
 155. Oriental Travels, p. 584. 
 
 156. Biisching, (Geogr. of Asia, p. 368 of the 
 third edit.) mentions a place Yobar, to the nortli of 
 Damascus, which he takes for the Hobah of Scrip- 
 ture. On the other hand, Reland (Palaest. p. 727,) 
 
 ^ o - 
 
 thinks of a castle called Caucab, (i^^^S^ mentioned 
 by Edrisi as being on the Lake of Tiberias. See 
 
 Translation by Tindal, the Continuator of Rapin. Lond. 
 
 1734, fol M. 
 
 ^ The sentiment in question is also that of Bochart in 
 Phaleg. Lib. II. Cap. viii., and of Ilgen on Job. One of Ro- 
 genmiiller's reasons for rejecting it is, that the name iflobS. 
 is in Arabic a common appellative for vallies, being derived 
 from i?Lc demersa fuit res ; whence L^li, the plural of 
 
 which is h^^ terra cava depressiorque. But this seems a 
 
 very futile objection M. 
 
 VO L. II. X 
 
•*506 SYRIA. [chap. XI. 
 
 SchuUens in his Index Geograph. under " Cau- 
 cheba." 
 
 157. pjr n>:i, 
 
 158. See Schulz Leitungen des Hcichstens. Pari; 
 V. p. 458. Kortes Trav. p. 321. BurcJthardf, p. 
 66 and 492. 
 
 159. Voyage de Syrie, Part I. p. 195. 
 
 160 •" ^^ C<Aj. See Btirckhardt, p. 100. 
 
 161. "•mil, probably synonymous with '»mK:i, a 
 well.^ 
 
 162. Observations on the East. Part II. p. 210. 
 
 163. nm'ni. 
 
 164. ^^wAj. So Michaelis' Snpplem. ad Lexx. 
 p. 232. But, on the other hand, see Hose Reg. 
 David, et Solomon, p. 261. 
 
 165. Antiqq. V. 1, 8. 
 
 166. As is assumed by Bachiene. Descript. of 
 Palestine, Part II. § 747. 
 
 167. p*3, in Amos v. 26, denotes the planet Sa- 
 
 turn, like the Arabic . , ^UaI, whence J. D. Michae- 
 lis (loc. cit. p. 1225,) would pronounce the Hebrew 
 name ]V3. And he therefore conjectures, (p. 1233,) 
 
 that in 1 Chron. xviii. 8, we should read p3, a word 
 
 of much the same meaning as ^^3, Saturn. He then 
 
 supposes the place mentioned in 1 Chron. xviii. 8, to 
 have been the same as ^niHH^ (which, as he thinks, 
 
 » Reeroth, nilXl, was a town of Uenjamin; ^mxi, 
 a Beevothitlie, 2 ^'ain. iv. 2, 3. 1 Chron. ii. 39 — 31. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SYRIA. 307 
 
 was Berytus ;) because, according to a tradition rela- 
 ted by Stephamis de Urbibus, p. 164, that city was 
 built by Saturn. — ?*13, as the name of a town, would 
 
 thus be equivalent to Saturnia, Saturnopolis. But 
 we have shewn above, the improbability of ^HTl^ 
 having been Ber3^tus, and it is no less precarious to 
 change p3 into p^. Hase seems much nearer the 
 
 truth when he says, (loc. cit. p. 260:) — Con nulla 
 alia urbs est, quam Coniia, in It'merario Antonini 
 memorata media inter Laodicaeam et Heliopolim in 
 jugo ipso Libani montis, et prope transitum Eleu- 
 theri fluvii. Magni adeo moraenti locus, et transitum 
 custodiens, unde noii mirum, quod congesta magna 
 armorum aerisque copia eum Hadad-Ezer munierit, 
 quae tota praedae Davidi cessit. 
 
 168. niDl. 
 
 169. nnnia. Hase, (loc. cir. p. 263,) thinks this 
 a corruption of nDSD. See above at note 106. 
 
 170. CDniD, the Dual of i'2.X3 hope, (in Chaldee.) 
 
 Simonisln his Onomastic. V. T. p. 176, explains the 
 
 name by spes etjiducia incolarum. 
 
 — s ^ 
 
 171. p'lsr, from ^j^ to scent, hence ^y^ a fragrant 
 
 garden. 
 
 172. p-ii* "lifn, i. e. the court of a fountain. 
 
 173. -ni*. jvA^ medins, the side of a hill. Perhaps 
 the place had its name from lying on one of tlse 
 slopes or ridges of Lebanon. 
 
 174. In his Comment, on Ezek. xlvii. 15. 
 
•308 SYRIA. L^"AP. XI. 
 
 173. "jiD^nn i2in. 
 
 176. "|ibnn. Simonis, (loc. cif. p. 338,) explains 
 it by involutio, tectio tuta, latibulum, ex Hebr. 
 
 S (J 
 
 onn iiivolvit, Arab. Va^ tegmen, involucrum, lati- 
 bulum. 
 
 177. JZDbTr, CDNbn, i. e. according to Simonis, (p. 
 360,) a great host ; perhaps more correctly a strong- 
 hold. J. D. Michaelis, (Suppl. p. 739,) looking to 
 the Chaldee k^Ti explains it, " the valley or plain of 
 Am." Comp. Commentat. de bello Nesibeni, p. 111. 
 Hase, (loc. cit. p. 262,) says: Occurrit inter loca 
 Palmyrenae ditionis ultra ipsam illam m-bein versus 
 Euphratem Cholle in tabula Peutingeriana. In 2 
 Sam. X. 16, Luther incorrectly took ab'^n for the 
 appellative bm, with the suffix, and translated the 
 words Qb'n '•^1''% " and they brought in tiieir host." 
 But, at V. 17, he renders properly n)DKbn Ni'»i, " and 
 came to llelnm." 
 
 178. Aiilon Aryda^ (^/^jjx /. >^kj!) J" the se- 
 cond of his Arabic Dialogues in Jahi's Arabic 
 Chrestomathy, p. 249. Comp. Niehuhr's Travels, 
 Vol. II. p. 424. 
 
 END OF CIIAW. Xr. 
 
APPENDIX 
 TO VOLUME SECOND. 
 
 No. I Masudi on the Site and History of Babel. — (Comp. 
 
 p. 1-27.) 
 
 The following are Extracts from the General History of 
 Masudi, an early JMahomedan historian : — 
 
 " 'i'he Farat then flows on to Rakkah, to Rakbah, Hit, 
 and Ambar, at which point several canals are divided from the 
 river; as, for instance, the canal of Isa, which, after passing 
 beyond Baghdad, falls into the Diglah. It then winds towards 
 the sites of Sura, Kasr ebn Hobairah, Kufah, Jamiain, Ahme- 
 dabad, Albirs, and the mounds, &c. &c. IMany of the most 
 able and distinguished historians are of opinion that the first 
 kings of Babil were those pristine monarchs of the world who 
 first settled and civilized mankind, and that the first race of 
 Persian potentates were their successors by conquest, as the 
 empire of Rome increased on the subjection of the Greeks. 
 They maintained, that the first of these Princes of Babil was 
 Nemroud the IMighty, whom they suppose to have reigned 
 during sixty years, and to whom they attribute the excavation 
 of the canals, in the province of Iraq, derived from the stream 
 of the Farat. One of these is the celebrated canal of Kutha, 
 on the road to Kufah, between Kasr ebn Hal?airah and Bagh- 
 
310 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 (lad. The capital of the king-dom of Aferaidun was Babil, 
 which is one of the climates of the earth, so designated from 
 the name proper to one of its towns. This town is situated on 
 both banks of one of the canals derived from the Farat, in the 
 province of Iraq, distant an hour's journey from the city 
 named Jisr. i. Babil and the canal of Albirs ; from which last 
 named town the produce of the Bii-saean looms, the cloths of 
 Birs, derive their appellation. Near the town of Babil is an 
 excavation usually known as the well of the prophet Daniel, 
 which is much frequented both by Jews and Christians, on cer- 
 tain anniversary festivals peculiar to each sect. Any individual 
 visiting this town cannot but be struck by the amazing mass of 
 ruined structures thrown together in scarcely distinguishable 
 heaps. The opinion is very prevalent that these are Harut 
 and 3'Iarut, the angels mentioned in the Koran, in the passage 
 which marks the fate and designation of Babil." 
 
 No. II — Mignan''s Accoimtof the Ruins of Ctesiphon and 
 
 Seleucia [El-xMadain] (Comp. p. 31, 95—98) The site of 
 
 these once celebrated cities was visited in 1827 by Captain 
 Robert Mignan, who gives the following description (Travels 
 in Chaldea. liOnd. 1829, p. 09, et seq.) : — " I crossed over to 
 the right, or eastern bank [of the Tigris], when I was on 
 the site of Ctesiphon ; and immediately observed mounds, 
 superficially covered with the same fragments and materials 
 as I have already mentioned in describing those hillocks I had 
 hitherto met with. This spot is called by the natives the 
 ' Garden of Kisra.' The first mound, wliicli was composed of 
 furnace-b)irnt bricks as a foundation, and sun-dried, mixed up 
 with chopped straw, for the superstructure, one coiirse sepa- 
 rated from another by irregular layers of reeds, extended from 
 the bank of the river, in a northerly direction, for seven hun- 
 dred and fifty feet ; its height and thickness varied from thirty 
 to thirty-six feet. The elevation of the wall that edged from 
 out this mound, on the margin of the bank, was forty feet. 
 It then formed an angle, and stretched away north-west for 
 eight hundred yards, when there was a breach, or gap, one 
 
APPENDIX. 31 1 
 
 hundred and thirty-five feet wide, probably once occupied by 
 some grand gate of entrance. The wall, or rampart line, 
 then recommences, and runs on the same bearings for seven 
 hundred and iifty yards more, when we came to another break, 
 which appeared to be the bed of a canal, as the stratum or 
 channel, varied from fifteen to twenty feet deep, the breadth 
 being one hundred and fifty yards, and therefore capable of 
 admitting a very large body of water. The direction of the 
 dry bed of this channel was north-east, and appeared to extend 
 to an unbroken ridge of mounds running north-west and 
 south-east at the distance of eight or nine miles. The high 
 wall, already followed, embraces an extensive area, where no 
 vestiges of former buildings exist, and runs to the verge of the 
 river. Its summit and sides are covered with the remains of 
 ancient building ; and it is astonishing, that, after the lapse of 
 so many centuries, these walls appear to have lost nothing of 
 their regular construction. From the bed of the canal, and a 
 quarter of a mile to the north-west, over a space marked by 
 memorials of the past, interspersed with patches of the camel 
 thorn, stands the Tank Kesra, a magnificent monument of 
 autiquitv, surprising the spectator with the perfect state of 
 its preservation, after having braved the Avarring elements 
 for so many ages ; without an emblem to throw any light upon 
 its history ; without proof, or character to be traced on any 
 brick or wall. This stupendous, stately fragment of ages long 
 since forgot, is built of fine furnace-burnt bricks, each measur- 
 ing twelve inches square by two and three quarters thick, and 
 coated with cement. The full extent of the front, or eastern 
 face, is three hundred feet. It is divided by a high semicircu- 
 lar arch, supported by walls sixteen feet thick, the arch itself 
 making a span of eighty-six feet, and rising to the height of one 
 hundred and three feet. The front of the building is orna- 
 mented and surmounted by four rows of small arched recesses, 
 resembling in form the large one. The style and execution of 
 these are most delicate, evincing a fertile invention and great 
 experience in the architectural art. , From the vestibule a hall 
 extends to the depth of one hundred and fifty-six feet east and 
 
312 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 west, where a wall forms the back of the building, a great por- 
 tion of which, together with part of the roof, is broken down. 
 In the centre of the wall, or western face of the structure, a 
 doorway, measuring twenty-four feet high by twelve wide, 
 leads to a contiguous heap of mounds, extending to the bank 
 of the river, about a quarter of a inile distant. The general 
 shape of these hillocks is elliptical, and their circumference two 
 miles. To the right are fragments of walls, and broken masses 
 of brickwork; to the left, and therefore to the south of the 
 arch, are the remains of vast structures, which^ thougli encum- 
 bered with heaps of earth, are yet sufficiently visible to fill the 
 mind of the spectator with astonishment, at the thouglit that 
 the destroying hand of Time could have failed in entirely con- 
 cealing, from the inquiring eye, these wrecks of remote anti- 
 quity.* • I dug into the sides and bases of many of these 
 mounds. Their foundations were invariably composed of the 
 fire-burnt brick, while the sun-burnt formed the exterior or 
 higher mass of each heap. 1 had the satisfaction of discovering 
 a silver coin of one of the Parthian kings, a brass coin of Se- 
 leucus Nicator, and three talismanic perforated cylinders, which 
 differ in no respect from the Babylonian. All are in an ecpial- 
 ly perfect state. There is no doubt that the natives often pick 
 up coins of gold, silver, and copper, for which they always find 
 a ready sale in Bagdad. Indeed, some of the wealthy Turks 
 and Armenians, who are collecting for several French and 
 ^ierman Consuls, hire people to go in search of coins, medals, 
 and antique gems ; and I am assured they never return to 
 
 their employers empty-handed Having examined 
 
 the remains of C'tesiphon, I crossed over to the site of the once- 
 magnificent and populous Greek city, and at every step had 
 new occasion to muse uj)on the scene of desolation which pre- 
 sented itself, as far as tlie eye could reach. Time, violence, 
 and re]»eated inundations have levelled every thing. I looked 
 
 a The natives of this country assert, that the ruins are of the age of 
 Niinrod. A celebrated antiquary, M. de Drosses, one of the Presidents of 
 the Royal Academy in Paris, supposes that Calneh stood on the site of 
 <' tcs\l^hon.~ Memoires dc r Academic Rnyule, toni. xxvii. p. 31. 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 in vain for monuments, pillars, aqueducts, and buildings. 
 Bricks of every kind, mixed up with layers of straw ; varnish- 
 ed tiles, and pottery of every colour (the predominant one 
 being blue) ; stones calcareous, sandy, and granite ; flint-glass, 
 shells, and a variety of vitreous and nitrous substances ; these, 
 and these alone, compose what remains of the once magnificent 
 Seleucia. There is not a single entire building ; nothing but 
 a small remnant of a wall and a few portions of decayed brick- 
 work, is left to mark the foot of the spoiler, and bid us mourn 
 in silence and solitude over fallen and departed grandeur. The 
 traveller ought to visit Seleucia, previous to passing over to 
 Ctesiphon ; by so doing, he will not expect to meet with any 
 thing half so grand as the arch which rivets him to the spot, 
 which, in this part of the woi-ld, in point of architectural beau- 
 ty, is perfectly unique. This structiire I surveyed first, so 
 ardent was my solicitude to reach the porch of the building, 
 after having caught a glimpse of it the evening before. With 
 a mind full of its beauties, I passed on to Seleucia ; and there 
 being no building, not even the fragment of one visible, I ex- 
 perienced, I must confess, great grief and disappointment. It 
 is, however, surprising, that so much is still left to mark the 
 sites of these once great cities, situated as they are in a country 
 that is inundated for so many months in the season. Even at 
 this moment, which is the driest time of the whole year, there 
 are pools of water inhabited by large flocks of bitterns ; and 
 herbage is scattered over the plain ; but on the site of Ctesi- 
 phon, the smallest insect under heaven would not find a single 
 blade of grass wherein to hide itself, nor one drop of water to 
 allay its thirst." 
 
 With this account the reader may compare that of Rich, in 
 his work on Kourdistan, vol. ii. p. 395, 404, et seqq., or our 
 foot-note at p. 98 of the present volume. 
 
 No. Ill — Oriental Traditions respecting Nimrod, from 
 D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orientale, (Comp, p. 40, 104—107 : 
 
 " Les Arabes disent, que ce mot signifie la meme chose que 
 Mared ; c'est a dire, un rebelle et un revoke, nom qui con- 
 vient fort bien a celuy qui fut I'auteur de la premiere revoke 
 
314 APPENDIX. 
 
 des homraes contre Dieu, par la structure qu'il entreprit de la 
 Tour de Babel, et c'est celuy que nous appellons Neiiibrod. 
 Selon le Tarikh JMontokheb, le Nembrod des Hebreux est le 
 menie que le Zhohac des Persiens, roy de la premiere dynastie 
 des princes qui ont regne dans le monde depuis le deluge. 
 Mais, selon Tauteur du 3Iefatih aloloun, Nembrod est le meme 
 que Caicaous, second roy de la seconde dynastie de Perse, 
 nomme'e des Caianides. Ce meme auteur donne au mot de 
 Nemrod, on Nemroud, une etymologie Persienne, a s(;avoir, 
 Nemurd, qui signifie celuy qui ne mourt point ; et il dit, que 
 ce surnom d'Immortel fut donne a Caicaous, a cause des 
 longues annees qu'il regna. (!ar tous les Historiens de Perse 
 le font regner plus de cent cinquante ans. M irkhoud, dans son 
 Raoudhat Alsafa, ecrit conformement au sentiment de cet au- 
 teur que nous venons d'alleguer, que Ton a impute a Caicaous 
 la folie de vouloir escalader le Ciel, ce qui convient assez bien 
 avec le dessein extravagant de Nemrod et des autres construc- 
 teurs de la Tour de Babel, de la maniere qu'il est couche' dans 
 les livres saints. Mais ce meme auteur ajoute, qu'il n'y a 
 gueres d'apparence, que Caicaous, qui a passe' pour un Prince 
 fort sage entre les Persans, ait eu uue telle pense'e. Car pour 
 monter au Ciel, poursuit Mirkhoud, parlant en bon Musulnian, 
 il faudroit etre monte sur un Al Borac, et conduit par Gabriel, 
 ce qui etoit reserve par un privilege singulier a Mahomet. 
 L'auteur du Lebtarikh dit, que Nemrod etoit Ben Kenaan, 
 Ben Kham ; c'est a dire, fils de Chanaan et petit fils de Cham, 
 fiis de Noe, et qu'il ^toit frere de Cous, surnomme en Persien 
 Fil Dendan ; c'est a dire. Dent d'Elephant. Ce ('Ous, oil 
 Caous, pourroit etre Chus, fils de Chanaan, dont parle I'Ecri- 
 ture, et duquel sont descendus les Abissins ou Kthiopiens, que 
 les Juifs appellent encore aujourd'hui Conschiim. L'auteur 
 du livre intitule' Malernfaitle re'cit fabuleux d'une Histoire, de 
 laquelle il prend Ali pour garant, dans les termes qui suivent. 
 Nemrod ayant fait jetter Abraham, qui re'fusoit de le recon- 
 noitre pour le souverain Maitre et le Dieu du Monde, dans 
 une fournaise ardente, surpris de Ten voir sortir sans avoir 
 BOulFert la moindre atteinte du feu, dit a ses courtisans : ' Je 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 veux aller au Ciel pour y voir ce Dieu si puissant qu' Abraham 
 nous preche.' Ces gens luy ayeat represente, que le Ceil etoit 
 hien haut, et qu'il n'etoit pas facile d'y arriver, Nemrod ne se 
 rendit point a leurs avis, et commauda en meme terns, que Ton 
 batit une tour la plus e'leve'e qu'il se pourroit. On travailla 
 trois ans entiers a ce batiment ; et Nemrod etant monte' jus- 
 qu'au plus haut, fut bien etonne, en regardant le Ciel, de le 
 voir encore aussi eloigne de luy, que s'il ne s'en fut pas ap- 
 proche. JMais ce qui luy causa et donna plus de confusion, fut 
 d'apprendre le lendemain, que cette haute tour avoit ete ren- 
 versee. Nemrod ne fut point rebute cependant par un acci- 
 dent si etrange, et voulut que Ton rebatit une autre plus forte 
 et plus haute. Mais cette seconde totir eut le mcme destin que 
 la premiere, ce qui fit prendre a cet insense le dessein ridicule 
 de se faire porter jusqu'au Ciel dans un cofFre, tire' par quatre 
 de ces oiseaux monstrueux, nommez Kerkes, dont les anciens 
 auteurs de I'Orient font mention dans leurs romans. Le 
 meme auteur de'crit exactement cette machine, de quelle ma- 
 niere ces oiseaux y etoient attachez, et dit enfin, que N^mbrod 
 s'etant appercu de I'inutilite de son projet, apres avoir erre et 
 vole quelque terns par les airs, plongea si rudement en terre 
 que la montagne ou ces oiseaux le jetterent, en fut ebranlee, 
 suivant ce qui est porte dans I'Alcoran au cha})itre intitule' 
 Ibraliim, v. en kair mekrhom letezoul menho algebab ; c'est a 
 dire, les machines et les stratagimes des impies, vont jusqu^d 
 faire trembler les montagnes. Nembrod, apres avoir vu echouer 
 une entreprise temeraire, et ne pouvant faire la guerre a Dieu 
 meme en personne, comme il avoit projette, au lieu de recon- 
 noitre la puissance de cesouverain Maitre et d'adorer son unite, 
 persista toujours dans le sentiment impie qu'il avoit de luy 
 meme, et continua a maltraiter tons ceux qui adoroient une 
 autre divinite que luy dans ses etats. C'est ce qui fit que 
 Dieu luy ota, par la division et par la confusion des langues, la 
 plus grande partie de ses sujets, et punit ceux qui demeurerent 
 attachez a luy, par une nuee de moucherons qui les fit presque 
 tous perir, selon le rapport de Demiathi. L'auteur du Lebab 
 
316 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ajoute, qu'im de ces luoucliei-ons etant eutre par les nariaes 
 de Nembrod, peiietra jusqii'a une des membranes de son cer- 
 veau, ou grossissant de jour en jour, il luy causa une si grande 
 douleur, qu'il etoit oblige de se faire battre le tete avec un 
 maillet, pour pouvoir prendre quelque repos, et qu'il souffrit 
 ce supplice pendant I'espace de quatre cent ans, Dieu voulant 
 punir par la plus petite de ses cre'atures, celuy qui se vantoit 
 insolemment d'etre le Maitre de tout. Ebn Batrik dit que 
 Nembrod etoit IViage et i^abien de religion, et que ce fut luy 
 qui etablit le premier le culte et I'adoration de feu. II y a des 
 historiens qui appellent les plus anciens rois des Babyloniens, 
 qui ont succede a Nembrod, Nemared ; c'est a dire, les Nem- 
 brodiens- Car ce mot de Nemared est pluriel Arabique de 
 Nembrod; et signilie aussi dans la meme langue des rebelles et 
 des tyrans." — D'Herbelot, tom. iii. p. 32. 
 
 No. IV" Klaproth on the Kurds (Comp. p. 120, 139), 
 
 Julius Klaproth thus speaks of them : — " The Kurds and 
 their language constitute the fourth grand division of the Indo- 
 Oermanic family. They inhabit Kurdistan, several provinces 
 in the west and north of Persia, and are scattered through 
 3Iesopotamia, Syria, and the eastern districts of Asia Minor. 
 They call themselves Kurds or Kurdmandji, which seems to be 
 dei'ived from the Persian root kurd, " strong, brave," — a root 
 likewise found in the Sclavonic gord " proud," and in the 
 Georgian, kurd a robber. Their language, which has a close 
 affinity to the Persian in the vocabulary and grammar, con- 
 tains many Shemitic words, which they have borrowed from 
 their neighbours the Syrians and Chaldeans." He then gives 
 a list of Kui-dish words which he had collected at Awlabari, a 
 suburb of Tiflis, which is partly inhabited by Kurds.' — Klap- 
 rolfi's Asia Polyglotta (Paris, 1823, 4to.), p. 75, et seq. 
 
 No. V Riches Account of the Ruins of Nineveh — The fol- 
 lowing are the scattered notices given in his work on Koordis- 
 
 a Rich has likewise given a Kurdish vocabulary, between which and 
 Klaproth's, however, there is considerable discrepancy. 
 
APPKNDIX. 317 
 
 tan, vol. ii : — " At twenty minutes to ten we came to a large 
 rampart, then to a hollow like a ditch, and then to another 
 rampart, which my Mousul Turks called the beginning of Nine- 
 veh ; and shortly after Ave reached another ditch and wall 
 which seemed to indicate that Nineveh had a double wall. 
 Under or in this second wall is a spring or well covered over 
 with an arch of very ancient masonry, composed of large 
 stones. The well is called Damlamajeh, and the inhabitants 
 believe its water is efficacious in many complaints, not from its 
 medicinal qualities, but from some superstition connected with 
 it. I remained ten minutes at the well, and then rode on, 
 passing through the area of Nineveh, under the village of 
 Nebbi Yunus on our left hand. The walls of Nineveh on the 
 east have become quite a concretion of pebbles, like the natural 
 hiUs. At t venty-five minutes past ten we arrived at the banks 
 of the Tigris, where we were ferried over to our place of resi- 
 dence during our stay at 3Iousul p. 26. 
 
 We first Avent to the village or little town of Nebbi Yunus, 
 which contains about three hundred houses, and is built on an 
 ancient artificial mount, the whole of which it does not cover. 
 Its antiquity is well ascertained by the remains found on digging 
 into it very deep ; when fragments of bricks, whole bricks, and 
 pieces of gypsum, covered with inscriptions, in the cuneiform 
 character are found. I have many of these, one in particular 
 Avhich measures one foot four inches in thickness, covered with 
 writing, that was dug up in this mound ;* and to-day we were 
 shewn some fragments built up in the foundations of houses. 
 One of these, a broken piece of gypsum, with cuneiform charac- 
 ters, was in the kitchen of a wretched house, and appeared to 
 be part of the wall of a small passage which is said to reach 
 far into the mount. Some people dug into it last year ; but as 
 it went under the houses, and they were afraid of undermining 
 them, they closed it up again with rubbish, and only that por- 
 tion of it which had been laid open, and forms part of a kitchen, 
 is now visible. A little farther on, in a small room occupied 
 
 a Now in the British Museum. 
 
318 APPENDIX. 
 
 by the women of an inhabitant of the town, who very politelv 
 went out to allow us to inspect it at our leisure, was another 
 inscription in very large cuneiform letters, on a piece of gyp- 
 sum. It faces south, and runs east and west. Only about 
 three feet of it are now open, though it is said to extend several 
 yards west ; and it has since been plastered over with mud. 
 Thig inscription is the more curious, as it seems to occupy its 
 original position. It is not much above the floor of the room, — 
 is about two feet high, and below the level of the surface of the 
 mound. The cuneiform characters are in their proper posi- 
 tion. (P. 30, 31.) 
 
 From this we went to the mosque, which covers the tomb 
 of Jonah ;* it is on the north and higher end of the mound, 
 and is rather a considerable building. The principal dome is 
 ribbed and of a conical shape ; it stands on an octagonal base, 
 eight feet each face ; which is again placed on a square pedi- 
 ment, standing on the terrace that covers the building. The 
 dome is of small circumference, whitened and crowned with 
 a spike. The terrace, or flat roof, is about fifteen feet above 
 the level of the mound on the south side, but on the north it 
 rises forty feet, by measurement, above the mound ; about 
 tliirty feet perpendicular height of which remains between 
 the foot of the wall and level or plain of Nineveh ; so that 
 the perpendicular height of the highest part of the mound 
 above the level of the plain is about fifty feet. There are several 
 other domes, but they are semicircular and rise very little 
 above the terrace. On the east side of the court of the mosque 
 we were shown three very narrow ancient passages, one with- 
 in the other, with several doors or apertures opening one into 
 the other, which reminded me of the interior plan of the Zendan 
 
 a There was formerly a Christian monastery where the pretended tomb 
 of Jonah now stands, the Mahometan building being erected over the 
 church, which is preserved entire ; but no Christian, on any account, 
 would be suffered to go near it. The Christians named their church after 
 the tradition that Jonah preached in that place ; but they deny his hav- 
 ing been buried there. They believe, on the contrary, that after his niii- 
 •ion was accomplished, he returned to Palestine. 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 at Dastagerda.* The passages are quite dark, narrow, and 
 vaulted, and appear much as if designed for the reception of 
 dead bodies. They are said to be very ancient ; but of what age 
 none of our conductors could specify ; and they extended much 
 farther, but they have been stopped up. 
 
 We afterwards rode through the area of Nineveh to the first 
 wall of the inclosure. It is a line of earth and gravel, out of 
 which large hewn stones are dug, as out of all the walls of the 
 area. Beyond this is a ditch still very regular, and easily 
 traceable ; on the other side of which is another wall. Under 
 this wall is the well of Damlamajeh, noticed before ; and be- 
 yond it having only a narow ravine or ditch, there is still 
 another, and, I believe, the largest Avail. 
 
 The area of Nineveh, on a rough guess, is about one and a 
 half to two miles broad, and four miles long ; extending a 
 little way south of Nebbi Yunus. On the river or west side 
 there are only remains of one wall ; and I observed the same 
 at the north and south extremities, but on the east side there 
 are the remains of three walls. 
 
 In this place, I cannot help remarking a passage in Jonah ; 
 that prophet suffered grievously from the easterly wind. This 
 is the sherki so much dreaded in all these countries, which is 
 hot, stormy, and singularly relaxing and dispiriting, (p. 32-35.) 
 
 We also saw, in many parts, a flooring or pavement, on the 
 surface of the mount of small stones, rammed down with earth. 
 Pottery we also found, and other Babylonian fragments ; also 
 bits of brick with bitumen adhering to them ; and I am in- 
 formed that many bricks with bitumen are found in these ruins. 
 A piece of fine brick or pottery, covered with exceedingly small 
 and beautiful cuneiform Avriting, was found M'hile we were 
 looking about the mount. It is of the finest kind, yellowish, 
 with a polished or hard surface, and apparently belonged to 
 one of the largest cylinders. 
 
 a See Journal of an Excursion to the Frontiers of S. Koordistan. 
 
320 APPENDIX. 
 
 On the south side or face of the inclosure there are openings, 
 tlie centre one of M-hich, at least, seems to have been part of 
 the original plan. A few yards from it, on the outside of the 
 wall, near the Karakoosh road, my attention was called to a 
 very curious object, seemingly of the remotest antiquity. Some 
 people had been digging for stones, and had dug a hole in the 
 ground, from which they had turned up many large hewn 
 stones with bitumen adhering to them. I examined the exca- 
 vation, wliich Avas about ten feet deep ; and found it consisted 
 of huge stones, laid in layers of bitumen and lime-mortar. I 
 brought away some specimens of them sticking together. T 
 also saw some layers of red clay, which were very thick, and had 
 become as indurated as burnt brick ; but there was not the least 
 appearance of reeds or straw ever liaving been used. This 
 mass appeared to have been a foundation or substructure We 
 found among the rubbish some pieces of coarse unglazed pottery. 
 It would not have been possible to tell, from the appearance of 
 the surface of the ground, that there had been building beneath 
 — a water-course, full of pebhles, had even passed over it. 
 
 It is, therefore, very difficult to say to what an extent vesti- 
 ges of building may exist outside the inclosures, the area of 
 which may have been the royal quarter, but certainly was 
 never sufficient for the city of Nineveh. 
 
 The vestiges or traces of building within the area are, with 
 the exception of Nebbi Yunus and Koyunjuk, extremely slight ; 
 and I am now confirmed in the opinion 1 formed in viewing 
 the ruins many years ago, that the inclosure formed only a 
 part of the great city, probably either the citadel or royal pre- 
 cincts ; or perhaps both, as the practice of fortifying the i'e$' 
 dence of the sovereign is of very ancient origin. In the e^3t, 
 to this day, the dwelling of the prince, and, indeed, of many 
 governors, consists of a number of buildings inclosed in quite 
 a separate quarter ; and, from what we are told of the IJaby- 
 loiiian palaces, and see of that of the Seffiviyahs, and of the 
 Sultan of Constantinople, this extent would not be too much 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 to assign for the residence of the Assyrian kings.* (P. 37 — 
 44.) 
 
 No. VI Wood and Volney on the Ruins of Palmyra 
 
 " About noon," says Wood, " we arrived at the end of the 
 plain, where the hills seemed to meet. We find between 
 these hills a vale, through which an aqueduct (now ruined) 
 formerly conveyed water to Palmyra. In this vale, to our 
 right and left, were several square towers of a considerable 
 height, which, upon a nearer approach, we found were the 
 sepulchres of the ancient Palmyrenes. We had scarce passed 
 these venerable monuments, than the hills opening dis- 
 covered to us, all at once, the greatest quantity of ruins we 
 had ever seen ; and, behind them, towards the Euphrates, a 
 flat waste as far as the eye could reach, without any object 
 which shewed either life or motion. It is scarce possible to 
 imagine any thing more striking than this \iew. So great a 
 number of Corinthian piUars, with so little wall or solid build- 
 ing, afforded a most romantic variety of prospect." Upon this 
 Volney remarks : — 
 
 '^ Undoubtedly the effect of such a sight is not to be commu- 
 nicated. To have a jtist conception of the whole, the dimen- 
 sions must be supplied by the imagination. This narrow 
 space must be considered as a vast plain ; those minute shafts 
 as columns whose base alone exceeds the height of a man. The 
 reader must represent to himself that range of erect columns, 
 as occupying an extent of more than twenty-six hundred yards, 
 and concealing a multitude of other edifices behind them. In 
 *^is space we sometimes find a palace, of which nothing re- 
 mains but the courts and walls ; sometimes a temple, whose 
 pe. istyle is half thrown down ; and now a portico, a gallery, 
 or triumphal arch. Here stand groups of columns, whose 
 
 a Rich follows the common tradition, in identifying these ruins with 
 Nineveh- Mr. Macdonald Kinneir, however, thinks they belong to a city 
 built in after ages. 
 
 Y 
 
322 APPENDIX. 
 
 symmetry is destroyed by the fall of many of them : there we 
 see them ranged in rows of such length, that, similar to rows 
 of trees, they deceive the sight, and assume the appearance of 
 continued walls. If, from this striking scene, we cast our eyes 
 upon the ground, another almost as varied presents itself : on 
 all sides we behold nothing but subverted shafts, some whole, 
 others shattered to pieces, or dislocated in their joints ; and, 
 on which side soever we look, the earth is strewed with vast 
 stones, half buried, with broken entablatures, damaged capitals, 
 mutilated friezes, disfigured reliefs, effaced sculptures, violated 
 tombs, and altars defiled by dust." — Volney's Travels, Eng. 
 Trans. Vol. ii. p. 281. 
 
 No. VII Barker''s Tour in Syria — One of the most recent 
 
 travellers in this interesting country is Mr. Barker, son of the 
 late British Consul at Alexandria. An account of his journey 
 was read at a meeting of the London Geographical Society on 
 the 23d January 1837, and will probably appear in the next 
 volume of their Transactions. He travelled through Syria in 
 the year 1835, his rout being from Beirout to Batroon, across 
 Mount Lebanon to Baalbek, and thence to the source of the 
 Orontes ; he returned by Ainnete to Tripoh, and journeyed 
 along the coast to the northward as far as Souwedia, the port 
 of Antioch. He thus speaks of the scenery on Lebanon : — 
 " On the road to Bshirrai is the most magnificent scenery ima- 
 ginable ; the poplar, the walnut, and the weeping willow form 
 a mass of foliage which presents a striking contrast to the bar- 
 ren rocks which rise immediately above ; abundance of water 
 streams in every direction, and exuberant vegetation denotes 
 the fertility of the soil, — while before you the dark cedars, o'er- 
 topped by the lofty Lebanon, its summits reaching the limits 
 (.<f perpetual snow, combine to form a scene which it rarely 
 falls to the lot of a traveller to gaze upon.* . . . Quitting 
 
 a See the present volume, p. 210—215. Barker estimated the number 
 of cedars at about GOO, which, of course, included trees of all sizes ; for 
 of the venerable grove of ancient cedars, Richardson (in 1B18) and Dc- 
 Lamartine (in 1832) found only seven remaining. 
 
APPENDIX. S2'3 
 
 the cedar forest, b)'^ an abrupt ascent, in an hour and a half I 
 reached the limit of perpetual snow ; and, descending on tlie 
 other side, arrived in six hours at Deir el Ahmdr, where the 
 plain begins, at whose eastern extremity, and at the foot of 
 Anti-Libanus, stand the ruins of Baalbek ; here are evident 
 traces of the building of Solomon beneath the superstructure 
 of the Romans." 
 
 Mr. Barker is, perhaps, the first European who has visited 
 the source of the Orontes. " It is distant about thirty miles 
 to the north-east of Baalbek, and is a spot little known, and 
 visited by few, if any, European travellers, chieflj'^ owing to 
 the danger attending it. But, being well acquainted with the 
 native language, I trusted myself to a guide of the Metuali 
 tribe, notorious as robbers, and for their hatred of all sects 
 which differ from them in religion. Proceeding on a plain iu 
 an E.N.E. direction, along the foot of Anti-Libanus, in six 
 hours I reached the village of Labroe, perched on a small hill, 
 round the base of which runs a stream, which eventually falls 
 into the Orontes. Six hours more to the eastward stands 
 Fichi, beautifully situated at the foot of Anti-Libanus ; and 
 at Ras, a village at the extremity of the range, we leave the 
 hills and inchne more to the N.E. across the plain to the river 
 of Labroe, which I reached in three hours. A ride of two 
 hours along its banks brings you to the source of the Orontes, 
 which gushes with violence from a rocky basin of a triangular 
 form, measuring about fifty paces on each side, but so over- 
 grown with a dense mass of foliage of oak, chestnut and wil- 
 low, that it is almost concealed from view ; the spring forms at 
 once a considerable stream, and, from the many Avindings it 
 takes in its northerly course, its occasional violence and fre- 
 quent inundations has obtained from the natives the name of 
 Aaszi, or " the rebel. "=» 
 
 a See the present volume, p. 217, and comp. the Athenaeum for IH-V, 
 p. 65. 
 
 END OF THE APPEXDIX. 
 
INDEX 
 
 OF PLACES AND PERSONS. 
 
 Aasi (El), vol. ii. 217, 323 
 Abana, ii. 219 
 Abgarus, ii. 185 
 Abila, ii. 230 
 ^ Abilene, ii. 228 
 Accad, ii. 28 
 Achaemenides, i. 211 
 Achar, ii. 28 
 Achmeta, i. 163, 307 
 Acises, ii. 42 
 Aderbijan, i. 158, 177 
 Adiabene, ii. 122 
 Agradad, i. 211 
 Ahasuems, i. 226, 228, 333 
 Ahava, ii. 121 
 Al-Bordj, i. 20 
 AI-Kasr, ii. 19 
 Aleppo, ii. 238 
 Amana, ii. 208 
 Amran-Hill, ii. 21 
 Amu, Amu-Daria, i. 56 
 Anah, ii. 189 
 Anti-Libanus, ii. 207 
 Antioch, ii. 234 
 Apharsathchites, i. 305 
 Apolloniatis, ii. 122 
 Aram, ii. 204 
 
 Aram-Beth-Rechob, ii, 224 
 Aram-Dammesek, ii. 223 
 Aram-Maachah, ib. 
 Aram- Naharaim, ii. 171 
 Aram-Zobah, ii. 182, 221 
 Ararat, i. 133, 293—305; ii. 
 
 181 
 Araxes (The), i. 55 
 Arbela, ii. 122, 128 
 A read ii. 28 
 
 Arecca, vol. ii. 28 
 Armenia, i. 133, 293—305 
 Arpad, ii. 226 
 Arphaxad, ii. 122 
 Arrapachitis, ib. 
 Arses, i. 241 
 Arsoffa, ii. 298 
 Artaxerxes Longimanus, i. 
 232 
 
 Mnemon, i. 238 
 
 Ochus, i. 240 
 
 (Sraerdis) i. 219 
 
 Ashkenaz, i. 119, 287 
 Asshur, i. 83; ii. 118 
 Assyria, i. 83; ii. 118 
 Astyages, i. 173, 211 
 Atropatene, i. 158 
 Auranitis, ii. 226 
 
 Axios, ii. 217 
 Baalath, ii. 254 
 Baalbek, ii. 252, 323 
 Baalgad, ii. 252 
 Baal-Hamon, ii. 253 
 Babel, ii. 7, 309 
 Babylonia, ii. 1 — 32 
 Barrada, ii. 218 
 Barr-esh-Sham, ii. 204 
 Beirout, ii. 266 
 Bekaa, ii. 281 
 Belibus, ii. 42 
 Belshazzar, i. 117 
 Belus, ii. 41 
 
 Belus' Tower, ii. 8, 23, 26 
 Benhadad, ii. 269—272 
 Berothai, ii. 266 
 Betach, ii. 267 
 Beth-Arbel, ii. 122 
 
326 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES AND PERSONS. 
 
 Beth-Eden, ii. 264 
 Beth-Nahrin, ii. 171 
 Beth-Rechob, ii. 224. 
 Birs-Nimroud, ii. 23 
 Bisutun, i. 310 
 Calach, i. 181, 310 ; ii. 126 
 Calachene, ii. 122, 126 
 Callirhoe, ii. 89, 183 
 Calneh, ii. 29, 310 
 Cambyses, i. 216 
 Carchemish, ii. 188 
 Cardinal Points of the He- 
 brews, i. 5, 36 
 Carrse, ii. 186 
 Casdim, ii. 42, 43 
 Cedars of Lebanon, ii. 213 
 Cercusium, ii. 188 
 Chabor. See Habor 
 Chaldaea, ii. 2, 32 
 Chaldaeans (The) ii. 43, 49 
 Chanoch, i. 87, 282 
 Charran, ii. 186 
 Chebar, ii. 180 
 (;helbon, ii. 238 
 Chrysorrhoas, ii. 218 
 Cimmeria, i. 116, 286 
 Coele-Syria, ii. 208 
 Colchis, i. 75, 276 
 Ctesiphon, ii. 29, 310 
 Cun, ii. 267 
 Cush, i. 80 
 
 Cushan Rishathaim, ii. 193 
 Cutha, ii. 31 
 Cyaxares, i. 173, 214 
 Cyrus, i. 173, 211, 331 
 CVrus' Tomb, i. 320 
 Damascus, ii. 223, 257 
 Daphne, ii. 238 
 Darius Codomannus, i. 241 
 
 Hystaspes, i. 220, 324 
 
 Nothus, i. 237 
 
 Day's Journey, i. 24 
 Dejoces, i. 173 
 Deserts, i. 14, 40 
 Diab, ii. 121 
 Diglat (The), i. 57 
 Diuhat, i. 113, 286 
 
 Djari-Zaad, ii. 4 
 
 Djissr Beni-Yakoub, ii. 228 
 
 Djudi (Mount), i. 294 ; ii. 181 
 
 Dura, ii. 27 
 
 Earth, Division of, i. 12 
 
 , Figure of, i. 1, 34 
 
 , Middle of, i. 15 
 
 , Names of, i. 234 
 
 East (The), i. 5. 
 Ecbatana, i. 163, 307 
 Eden, i. 46, 274 ; ii. 264 
 Edessa, ii. 89, 183 
 Elam, i. 188. 
 Elassar, ii. 192 
 Eleutherus, ii. 218 
 Elkosh, ii. 128 
 El-Madain, ii. 31, 310 
 Elymais, i. 188, 194 
 Enemessar, ii. 133 
 Enoch, i. 87, 282 
 Epiphania, ii. 243 
 Erech, ii. 27 
 Esarhaddon, ii. 136 
 Esther, i. 168, 228, 307 
 Euphrates, i. 59, 279, 280 
 Evil-Merodach, ii. 47 
 Ezrah, i. 235 
 Ears, Farsistan, i. 203 
 Far sang, i. 24 
 Fidsheh, ii. 219 
 Frat. iS^e Euphrates 
 Gardens of Babylon, ii. 12 
 Geshur, ii. 227 
 Ghilan, i. 161, 306 
 Gihon (The), i. 55, 278 
 Gog and Magog, i. 121, 287r 
 
 288 
 Gomer, i. 116, 286 
 Gozan,i. 180, 310; ii. 130 
 Guebers (The), i. 174, 310 
 Gurdjistan, ii. 131 
 Guriel, i. 75 
 Gutah (El), ii. 262 
 Habor, i. 181, 310 ;ii. 130 
 Halah, i. 181, 310; ii. 12(J 
 Haleb, ii. 2:i8 
 Hamadan, i. 163, 307 
 
INDEX OF PLACES AND PEKSONS. 
 
 327 
 
 Haman, i. 229 
 
 Hamath, i. 184 ; ii. 226, 243 
 
 Hamites, i. 101 
 Hara, i. 180, 311 
 Haran, ii. 186 
 Hauran, ii. 226 
 Havilah, i. 73 
 Hazael, ii. 271 
 Hazer-Enan, ii. 267 
 Hazer-Hatiichon, ii. 268 
 Helam, ii. 268 
 Heliopolis, ii. 252 
 Hena, ii. 1 89 
 Hermon, ii. 207 
 Hethlon, ii. 268 
 Hhule (El), ii. 224 
 Hiddekel (The) i. 57 
 Hippodromos, i. 24 
 Hit, ii. 60 
 Hobah, ii. 263 
 Holwan, ii. 154 
 Hor, I\Iount, ii. 216 
 Hyrcania, i. 161, 306 
 Irak-Adjemi, i. 160 
 Irak-Arabi, ii. 1 
 Islands, i. 12 
 Ivan-Kesra, ii. 31, 310 
 Japhetites, i. 100 
 Jemshid, i. 248, 249 
 Jezirah (El) ii. 172 
 Jihoon (The), i. 55, 278 
 Kaf, Mount, i. 20 
 Kapros, ii. 121 
 Khorshid, i. 212, 249 
 Khusistan, i. 188 
 Kibrath-Haaretz, i. 23 
 Kir, ii. 130 
 
 Kizzil-Osan. See Gozan 
 Kohistan, i. 180 
 Koresh. See Cyrus 
 Kurdistan, ii. 120, 316 
 Laborosoarchod, ii. 47 
 Labynet, ii. 48 
 Lebanon, ii. 207, 323 
 Lycus, ii. 121 
 Maachah, ii. 223 
 JVJaarsares, ii. 3 
 
 Magog. See Gog 
 Magi (The), ii. 37, 49 
 Masanderan, i. 161, 306 
 Masius (Mons), ii. 180 
 Measures (Itinerary), i. 22, 
 
 44, 273 
 Media, i. 158, 306 
 Merodach-Baladan, ii. 41 
 Meru (Mount), i. 20,42 
 Meshech, i. 130, 291 
 Mesopotamia, ii. 171 
 Mile (The), i. 27 
 Mingrelia, i. 75 
 Minni, i. 135, 293—305 
 Mordecai. i. 228 
 Mosul. See Nineveh 
 Mount of the Gods, i. 19, 42, 
 
 273 
 Mountains, i. 13 
 Mourgaub, i. 320 
 Mujellibe (The), ii. 17 
 Blygdonia, ii. 181 
 Nabonassar, ii. 41 
 Nabonnid, ii. 48 
 Nabopalassar, ii. 46 
 Nahr-iMalca, ii. 3 
 Nahr-el-kebir, ii. 218 
 Nations, origin of, i. 99, 109, 
 
 283, 284 
 Nebuchadnezzar, iL 46 
 Nehemiah, i. 236 
 Nimrod, ii. 39, 131, 138, 313 
 Nineveh, ii. 122, 316 
 Ninus, ii. 131 
 Nisibis, ii. 182, 199 
 Nitocris, ii. 48 
 Nod, i. 84 
 North '.The), i. 7 
 Nunia. See Nineveh 
 Ochus, i. 237, 240 
 Orchoe, ii. 28 
 Orfa, ii. 89, 183 
 Orontes, ii. 217, 323 
 Oxus (The), i. 55, 278 
 Padan-Aram, ii. 171 
 Pallacopas, ii. 3 
 Palmyra, ii. 247, 321 
 
328 
 
 INDEX OF PLACES AND PERSONS. 
 
 Paradise, i. 46, 53, 91, 274, 
 
 275 
 Parasang, i. 24 
 Pasargadae, i. 205, 320 
 Pasitigris, i. 71 
 Persepolis, i. 205, 324 
 Persia, i. 203 
 Pharpar, ii. 219 
 Phasis (The) i. 54, 276 
 Phraortes, i. 173 
 Phul, ii. 131 
 Pishon (The), i. 54 
 Plains, i. 14 
 Purim, i. 232 
 Radsha, i. 127, 289 
 Rages, i. 171, 274 
 Rechoboth, ii. 243 
 Rechoboth-Ir, ii. 126 
 Resen, ii. 127 
 Rezeph, ii, 241 
 Riblah, ii. 241 
 Riphaean Mountains, i. 113, 
 
 286 
 Riphat, i. ib. 
 Roha. See Orfa 
 Rosh, i. 127, 289 
 Sabbath Day's Journey, i, 27 
 Salmanassar, i. 172. 310; ii. 
 
 133 
 Samarmar (The), ii. 179 
 Sarandib, i. I7 
 Sardanapalus, ii. 136 
 Sargon, ii. 134 
 Sarsechim, i. 305 
 Satraps, i. 221, 242, 334 
 Scythia, i. 155, 305 
 Seleucia (in Babylonia), ii. 29, 
 
 ulO 
 Seleucia (in Syria), ii. 233 
 Semiramis, ii. 131 
 Senir, ii. 207 
 Sennacherib, ii. 135 
 Sepharvaim, ii. 190 
 Serdiip, ii. 5 
 Shalman, ii. 1.33 
 Shat-el Arab (The), i. 71 
 
 Shemites, i. 103 
 
 Sheshach, ii. 7 
 
 Shinar, ii. 2 
 
 Sibraim, ii. 267 
 
 Simoom, ii. 178 
 
 Sin jar, ii. 174 
 
 Sion, ii. 207 
 
 Siphron, ii. 267 
 
 Sipphara, ii. 191 
 
 Sirion, ii. 207 
 
 Sittakene, ii. 122 
 
 Smerdis, i. 218 
 
 South (The), i. 7 
 
 Stadium (The), i. 26 
 
 Sud, ii. 4 
 
 Susa, i. 191, 312, 315 
 
 Susiana, i. 188 
 
 Suweidia, ii. 295 
 
 Syria, ii. 204 
 
 Tabriz, i. 159 
 
 Tadmor, ii. 247, 321 
 
 Tamar, ib. 
 
 Tauk-Kesra, ii. 31, 310 
 
 Tel-abib, ii. 188 
 
 Thallaba, ib. 
 
 Thelassar, ii. 191 
 
 Thogarmah, i. 133, 293 
 
 Tiglath-Pilesar, i. 172, 310; 
 ii. 132 
 
 Tigris, i. 57, 279 
 
 Tiphsah, ii. 242 
 
 Tree of Life, i. 52 
 
 Tubal, i. 130, 291 
 
 Ulai. See Susa 
 
 Ur-Casdim, ii. 185 
 
 Urfa. See Orfa 
 
 Valleys, i. 13 
 
 Vashti, i. 228 
 
 West (The), i. 6 
 
 Wine of Lebanon, ii. 212 
 
 Xerxes, i. 226, 333 
 
 Zab, ii. 121 
 
 Zedad, ii. 267 
 
 Zend, i. 174 
 
 Zobah. See Aram-Zobah 
 
INDEX 
 
 PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Gen. i. 9, 10, Vol. I. 12 Gen. x. 7, 29, Vol. I. 77 
 
 Gen. ii. 7, I. 36 Gen. x. 8, II. 10(i 
 
 Gen. ii. 8, I. 46 Gen. x. 8, 'J, 10, II. 40 
 
 Gen. ii. 9, I. 49 Oen. x. 9, ! !. 104 
 
 Gen. ii. 10, I. 46, 93 Gen. x. 10, il. 2, 27, 28, 90, 
 
 Gen. ii. 10—13, I. 55 94, 184 
 
 Gen. ii. 11, 12, I. 73 Gen. x. 11, II. 123, 131, 138, 
 
 Gen. ii. 14, I. 83 155, 161 
 
 Gen. ii. 22, I. 283 Gen. x. 11, !2, II. 126 
 
 Gen. iii. 19, 1. 36 Gen. x. 11, 22, II. 162 
 
 Gen. iii. 23, 1. 49 Gen. x. 12, II. 91, 1-27, 156, 
 
 Gen. iv. 2, I. 35, 8f> 203 
 
 Gen. iv. 11, I. 3 Gen. X. 15, II. 299 
 
 Gen. iv. 16, I. 48, 83, 85, 93 Gen. x. 18, II. 226 
 
 Gen. iv. 17, I. 86 Gen. x. 22, I. 188. II. 119, 
 
 Gen. iv. 20, I. 86 145, 161 
 
 Gen. iv. 22, I. 88, 291 Gen. x. 22, 24, II. 122 
 
 Gen. vii. 1, 1. 3 Gen. x. 23, II. 180, 225 
 
 Gen. vii. 11, 1. 12 Gen. x. 25, I. 108 
 
 Gen. viii. 4, I. 93, 135, 150, Gen. x. 29, I. 93 
 
 293, 295. II. 140 Gen. xi. 2, 4, II. 2 
 
 Gen. viii. 6, I. 31 Gen. xi. 4, II. 65 
 
 Gen. ix. 14, I. 88 Gen. xi. 26, II. 192 
 
 Gen. ix. 21, 27, I. 88 Gen. xi. 27, 28, II. 185 
 
 Gen. ix. 25—27, I. HI Oen. xi. 28, 31, II. 43 
 
 Gen. X., 1.99 Gen. xi. 31, II. 186 
 Gen. X. 2, I. 116, ISO, 286, Gen. xii. 10, I. 8 
 
 291 Gen. xiii. 18, I. 22 
 
 Gen. X. 3, I. 113, 119, 286 Gen. xiv. 1, I. 188, 192, 197, 
 Gen. X. 5, I. 13 274. II. 41, 191, 192 
 
 Gen. X. 7, I. 93 Gen. xiv. 1, 9, II. 203 
 
:330 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 Gen. xiv. 15, Vol. I. 7' Vol. 
 
 II. 263 
 Geu. XV. 2, II. 258 
 Gen. xvi. 7, I. fi 
 <ien. xvii. 17, I. 31 
 (ien. xix. 30, I. 87 
 (ien. xxi. 31, I. 283 
 Gen. xxii. 22, II. 42 
 Gen. xxiii. 9, I. 283 
 Gen. xxiv. 10, II. 195 
 Gen. XXV. 18, I. 6 
 Gen. XXV. 20, II. 195 
 Gen. xxvi. 2, I. 8 
 Gen. xxviii. 14, I. 7 
 Gen. XXX. 36, I. 24 
 Gen. xxxi. 23, I. 24 
 Gen. xxxii. 23, I. 14 
 (xen. XXXV. 16, I. 23 
 Gen. XXXV. 16, I. 28 
 Gen. xxxvi. 37, II. 243, 292 
 Gen. xxxviii. 1, I. 8 
 Gen. xlv. 25, I. 8 
 Gen. xlvi. 3, I. 8 
 Gen. xlviii. 7, I. 23, 24 
 Gen. xlix. 12, II. 282 
 Gen. xlix. 26, II. 284 
 Exod. V. 3, I. 24 
 Exod. viii. 27, I. 24 
 Exod. X. 19, I. 7 
 Exod. xiv. 31, II. 282 
 Exod. XV. 22, I. 6 
 Exod. xvi. 29, I. 27 
 Exod. xxvi. 9, I. 36 
 Exod. xxvi. 22, I. 7 
 Exod. xxvii. 12, I, 7 
 Exod. xxxviii. 12, I. 7 
 lievit. xxiv. U, 16, II. 65 
 Num. xi. 31, I. 24 
 Num. xiii. 21, II. 223, 224, 
 
 226 
 Num. xiv. 12, 14, I. 12 
 Num. xvi. 2, II. 104 
 Num. xxi. 11, I. 6 
 Num. xxiii. 10, I. 35 
 Num. xxiv. 17, I. 263 
 Num. xxiv. 22, 24, II. 132 
 Num. xxxii. 7, 8, II. 216 
 Num. xxxii. 21, 22, 27, II. 104 
 
 Num. xxxiii. 38, Vol. II. 284 
 Num. xxxiv. 6, I. 13 
 Num. xxxiv. 7, II. 284 
 Num. xxxiv. 7, 8, II. 284 
 Num. xxxiv. 8, II. 226 
 Num. xxxiv. 8—10, II. 267 
 Num. xxxiv. 11, II. 246 
 Deut. i. 2, I. 25 
 Deut. i. 7, I. 72 
 Deut. iii. 9, II. 207 
 Deut. iii. 13, II. 223 
 Deut. iii. 13, 14, II. 227 
 Deut. iii. 14, II. 293, 294 
 Deut. iv. 48, II. 207 
 Deut. ix. 29, 30, I. 22 
 Deut. xi. 24, I. 7 
 Deut. xxi. 4, I. 14 
 Deut. XXV. 7, I. 12 
 Deut. xxviii. 24, I. 36 
 Deut. xxviii. 58, II. 65 
 Deut. xxxii. 2, I. 7 
 Deut. xxxii. 8, 9, I. 108 
 Deut. xxxii. 13, I. 16 
 Deut. xxxii. 49, I. 6 
 Josh. i. 4, I. 13, 72 
 Josh. i. 5, I. 282 
 Josh. vii. 2, I. 23 
 Josh. vii. 21, II. 32 
 Josh. ix. 1,1. 13 
 Josh. xi. 17, II. 252 
 Josh. xii. 5, II. 294 
 Josh. xiii. 2, II. 293 
 Josh. xiii. 2, 13, II. 227 
 Josh. xiii. 6, II. 226 
 Josh. xiii. 11, II. 223, 224 
 Josh. xiii. 13, II. 224, 293, 
 
 294 
 Josh. XV. 12, I. 13 
 Josh. xvii. II, 16, I. 157 
 Josh. xii. 3, II. 227 
 Josh. xii. 5, II. 293 
 Josh. xvii. 7, I. 7 
 Josh. xix. 27, I. 8 
 Josh. xxiv. 30, I. 23 
 Judges i. 31, II. 224 
 Judges iii. 3, II. 226 
 Judges iii. 8, 10, II. 193 
 Judges iv. 5, I. 12 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 331 
 
 Judges V. 36, Vol. I. 16 1 Kings ix. 23, 24, 25, Vol. II. 
 
 Judges ix. 37, I. 16 258 
 
 Judges xviii. 12, I. 6 1 Kings ix. 24, 25, II. 222 
 
 Judges xviii. 28, I. 22 1 Kings x. 10, II. 286 
 
 Judges xviii. 28, II. 223 1 Kings x. 17, II. 214, 283 
 
 Judges xxi. 19, I. 23 1 Kings x. 29, II. 269 
 
 1 Sam. xiii. 5, I. 83 1 Kings xi. 2, 3, II. 270 
 
 1 Sam. xiv. 47,11. 183,222,269 1 Kings xi. 7, L 6 
 
 1 Sam. XV. 7, I. 6, 77, 95 1 Kings xiii. 2, I, 332 
 
 1 Sam XV. 18, 20, I. 263 1 Kings x v. 18_22,'II. 258,270 
 
 1 Sam. xxiii. 24, I. 7 1 Kings xv. 19, II. 270 
 
 1 Sam. xxiv. 4, 8, I. 87 1 Kings xvii. 6, II. 122 
 
 1 Sam. XXV. 1, I. 8 1 Kings xvii. 9, 1, 23 
 
 1 Sam. xxvi. 2, I. 8 ] Kings xviii. 11, II. 122 
 
 1 Sam. xxvii. 8, II. 293 I Kings xix. 8, I. 30 
 
 1 Sam. XXX. 15, 16, I. 8 1 Kings xix. 12, II. 187, 189, 
 
 1 Sam. xxxi. 8, I. 13 241 
 
 1 Sam. xxxi. 10, 12, I. 157 1 Kings xx. 1, II. 269 
 
 2 Sam. i. 21, I. 13 1 Kings xx. 1—22, II. 271 
 2 Sara. iii. 3, II. 228, 269, 293 i Kings xx. 26, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam. iv. 2, 3, II. 306 1 Kings xxii. 3, 4, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 3, II. 221, 269 2 Kings v. 12, II. 219, 289 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 3, 5, II. 183 2 Kings v. 19, I. 24, 30 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 3—11, II. 269 2 Kings vi. 24, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 5, II. 222 2 Kings viii. 9, II. 269 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 5. G, II. 223, 258 2 Kings x. 25, I. 282 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 8, 11.222,265—267 2 Kings x. 32, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 9, II. 226 2 Kings xii. 17, 18, 19, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam. X. 6, II. 183,222,224, 2 Kings xiii. 22, II. 271 
 
 269 2 Kings xiv. 5, 6, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam. x. 6—8, II. 223 2 Kings xiv. 7, 8, 9, II. 272 
 
 2 Sam. X. 16, II. 222, 308 2 Kings xiv. 22, II. 68 
 
 2 Sara. X. 16, 17, II. 268 2 Kings xiv. 25, II. 259 
 
 2 Sam. xiii. 37, II. 228, 293 2 Kings xiv. 28, II. 271 
 
 2 Sam.. XV. 8, II. 227, 228 2 Kings xv. 16, II. 242 
 
 2 Sam. XV. 18, II. 293 2 Kings xv. 19, 11. 132, 133 
 
 2 Sam. xxii. 8, I. 35 2 Kings xvi. 5—8, II. 133 
 
 1 Kings i. 33, I. 66 2 Kings xvi. 9, II. 130, 133 
 
 1 Kings i. 38, I. 93 2 Kings xvii. 3, II. 133 
 
 1 Kings iv. 24, II. 242 2 Kings xvii. 6, I. 310. II. 126, 
 1 Kings iv. 30, I. 6 130, 161 
 
 1 Kings vi. 3, I. 36 2 Kings xvii. 6, 24, II. 133 
 
 1 Kings vii. II. 283 2 Kings xvii. 7, II. 165 
 
 1 Kings vii. 2, II. 214, 286 2 Kings xvii. 24, 1. 94. II. 41, 
 1 Kings ix. 18, II. 247, 254 190, 243 
 
 1 Kings ix. 18, II. 299, 300 2 Kings xvii. 24, 30, II. 31 
 
 1 Kings ix. 19, II. 212, 286 2 Kings xviii. 7, II. 135 
 
 1 Kings ix. 20, I. 78 2 Kings xviii. 9, 10, 11, 11.133 
 
332 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 11, Vol. II. 126 Ezra i. 1, 7, 8, Vol. I. 252 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 13—37, II. 135 Ezra iv. 2, II. 136 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 14—18, II. 135 Ezra iv. 5, I. 245, 256 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 32, II. 120 Ezra iv: 6, I. 216, 217, 255 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 34, II. 190, 226, Ezra iv. 7, I. 219 
 
 243 Ezra iv. 9, I. 188, 305. 11.28 
 
 2 Kings xix. II. 135 Ezra iv. 9—16, I. 256 
 
 2 Kings xix. 12, 1. 48, 181,274. Ezra iv. 17—22, I. 219, 256 
 
 II. 191, 193 Ezra iv. 24, I. 221 
 
 2Kingsxix. 13, n. 190,244,226 Ezra iv. 28, I. 258 
 
 2 Kings xix. 36, II. 122 Ezra v. 1,2, I. 258 
 
 2 Kings xix. 37, 1. 135. 11.136, Ezra v. 5, 6, I. 221 
 
 148 Ezra v. 6, I. 305 
 
 2 Kings XX. 12, II. 41 Ezravi. 1—4, I. 253 
 
 2 Kings xxiii. 13, I. 7 Ezra vi. 1—5, I. 221 
 
 2 Kings xxiii. 33, II. 246 Ezra vi. 2, I. 163 
 
 2 Kings xxiv. 15, II. 180 Ezra vi. 10, I. 225 
 
 2 Kings XXV. 7, H- 47 Ezravi. 14, I. 245 
 
 1 Chron. i. 6, I. 113, 286 Ezra vi. 15, I. 225 
 
 1 Chron. ii. 23, II. 227 Ezra vii. 1, I. 234 
 
 1 Chron. v. 6, II. 138, 165 Ezra vii. 7, I. 235 
 
 1 Chron. v. 26, I. 180, 181, Ezra vii. 12—14, I. 269 
 
 310. II. 165 Ezra viii. 15, II. 144 
 
 1 Chron. v. 28, II. 207 Ezra viii. 21, 31, II. 121 
 
 1 Chron. ix. 24, I. 5 Neh. i. 1, I. 198, 201 
 
 1 Chron. xiv. 8, II. 104 Neh. i. 3, I. 267 
 
 1 Chron. xvii. 30, I. 4 Neh. ii. 2, I. 234 
 
 1 Chron. xviii. 3, II. 221 Neh. ii. 8, I. 46, 276 
 
 1 Chron. xviii. 3, 9, II. 183 Neh. ix. 7, II. 43 
 
 1 Chron. xviii. 8, II. 267 Esth. i. 1, I. 259 
 
 1 Chron. xix. 6, II. 223, 291 Esth. i. 2, I. 201 
 
 2 Chron. ii. 39, II. 306 Esth. i. 2, 5, I. 198 
 
 2 Chron, viii. 3, II. 222 Esth. i. 3, I. 228, 270 
 
 2 Chron. viii. 4, II. 247, 290 Esth. i. 4, I. 243 
 
 2 Chron. xi. 5, 6, II. 68 Esth. i. 5, I. 191, 199 
 
 2 Chron. xiv. 10, I. 23 Esth. i. 14, I. 187, 243 
 
 2 Chron. xxx. 15, I. 78 Esth. i. 10, 12, I. 243 
 
 2 Chron. xxxii. 30, I. 66, 93 Esth. i. 19, I. 187 
 
 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, II. 170 Esth. ii. 3, 8, I. 201 
 
 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14, I. 93 Esth. ii. 7, I. 262 
 
 2 Chron. xxxv. 1, 6, I. 78 Esth. ii. 16, I. 228 
 
 2 Chron. xxxv. 29, II. 188 Esth. iii. 1, I. 262 
 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20, 22, I. 245 Esth. iii. 6, 9, 13, I. 263 
 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23, I. 214 Esth. iii. 7, I- 265 
 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 23, I. 253 Esth. iii. 12—16, I. 265 
 
 Ezra i. 1—4, I. 214 Esth. iii. 15, I. 201 
 
 Ezra i. 2, I. 253 Esth. iii. 17, I. 266 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 833 
 
 Esth. V. 1,2, Vol. I. 244,271 
 
 Esth. V. 1—7, I. 244 
 
 Esth. vi. 1, I. 266 
 
 Esth. vi. 12, 11. 154 
 
 Esth. vi. 14, I. 243 
 
 Esth. vii. 24, I. 267 
 
 Esth. viii. 17, I. 266 
 
 Esth. ix. 2, 3, 4, I. 266 
 
 Esth. ix. 5—16, I. 266 
 
 Esth. ix. 26—32, I. 232 
 
 Esth. X. 1, I. 12 
 
 Esth. X. 2, I. 173, 187 
 
 Job i. 3, I. 6. II. 43 
 
 Job vi. 15, 17, I. 14 
 
 Job vii. 5, I. 36 
 
 Job X. 9, I. 36 
 
 Job XV. 28, II. 22 
 
 Job xxi. 33, I. 36 
 
 Job xxiii. 8, 9, I. 5 
 
 Job xxiv. 12, I. 282 
 
 Job xxvi. 7, I. 4 
 
 Job xxvi. 10, I. 1 
 
 Job xxxvii. 3, I. 3 
 
 Job xxxvii. 22, I. 21 
 
 Job xxxviii. 6, I. 4 
 
 Job xxxviii. 13, I. 3. II. 54 
 
 Job xxxviii. 38, I. 36 
 
 Job xl. 18, 23, I. 65 
 
 Ps. i. 1, I. 5 
 
 Ps. xix. 5, I. 9 
 
 Ps. xxiv. 2, I. 2 
 
 Ps. xxxi. 22, I. 88, 282 
 
 Ps. xxxvi. 7, 1. 12 
 
 Ps. lii. 5, II. 106 
 
 Ps. Ix. 2, II. 183 
 
 Ps. Ixiii. 2, I. 15 
 
 Ps. Ixv. 13,1. 14 
 
 Ps. Ixxii. 10, I. 13 
 
 Ps. Ixxiv. 15, I. 14 
 
 Ps. Ixxv. 3, I. 35 
 
 Ps. Ixxv. 7, I. 5 
 
 Ps. Ixxviii. 17, I. 15 
 
 Ps. Ixxxiii. 9, n. 132 
 
 Ps. Ixxxix. 13, I. 5 
 
 Ps. xciii. 1, I. 4 
 
 Ps. civ. 5, I. 4, 35 
 
 Ps. civ. 25, 1. 12 
 
 Ps. cvii. 35, I. 15 
 
 Ps. cxiii. 3, Vol. I. 5 
 
 Ps. cxix. 90, I. 4 
 
 Ps. cxx. I. 292 
 
 Ps. cxx. 4, II. 106 
 
 Ps. cxx. 5, I. 131 
 
 Ps. cxxi. 5, I. 335 
 
 Ps. cxxvi. 4, I. 14 
 
 Ps. cxxxvi. 6, I. 2 
 
 Ps. cxxxvii. 1, n. 3 
 
 Ps. cxcvii. 1, I. 12 
 
 Prov. viii. 25—29, I. 35 
 
 Prov. viii. 27, I. 1 
 
 Eccles. i. 7, I. 12 
 
 Eccles. ii. 5, 1. 46, 275 
 
 Eccles. xii. 7, I. 36 
 
 Song of Sol. iii. 6, I. 36 
 
 Song of Sol. iv. 8, II. 207, 208, 
 
 216, 289 
 Song of Sol. iv. 11, 11.214 
 Song of Sol. iv. 13, I. 47, 275 
 Song of Sol. iv. 15, II. 209 
 Songof Sol. viii. 11, 11.253 
 Isa. i. 7, I. 35 
 Isa. ii. 6, I. 6. 
 Isa. vii. 6, II. 132 
 Isa. vii. 20, I. 72 
 Isa. X. 8, II. 118 
 Isa. X. 9, II. 29, 31, 93, 95, 
 
 188, 226, 244 
 Isa. xi. 12, I. 3, 5 
 Isa. xiii. 14, 21, I. 331 
 Isa. xiii. 17, 18, I. 175 
 Isa. xiii. 19, II. 14 
 Isa. xiii. 20, 21, II. 25 
 Isa. xiv. 13, 1. 19 
 Isa. xiv. 19, n. 115 
 Isa. XX. 1, n. 134 
 Isa. XX. 5, 6, II. 134 
 Isa. xxi. 1, II. 2, 55 
 Isa. xxi. 2, I. 175, 188, 194 
 Isa. xxi. 5, II. 73 
 Isa. xxii. 6, I. 190. II. 
 
 134 
 Isa. xxiii. 13, II. 44 
 Isa. XXX. 2, II. 134 
 Isa. ,xxx. 6, I. 7 
 Isa. XXX. 23, 1. 35 
 Isa. xxxi. 1, II. 134 
 
334 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 Isa. xxxvi. Vol. II. 135 
 
 Isa. xxxvi. 1, II. 135 
 
 Isa. xxxvi. 17, II. 120 
 
 Isa. xxxvi. 19, II. 190, 226,244 
 
 Isa. xxxvii. II. 135 
 
 Isa. xxxvii. 12, I. 48, 181, 
 
 274. II. 187, 189, 191, 193, 
 
 241. 
 Isa. xxxvii. 13, II. 190 
 Isa. xxxvii. 37, II. 122 
 Isa. xxxvii. 38, 1. 135. II. 
 
 136 
 Isa. xxxvii. 37, 38, II. 110 
 Isa. xxxviii. II. 140 
 Isa. xxxix. 1,11. 42, 109 
 Isa. xl. 15, I. 36 
 Isa. xl. 22, I. 1 
 Isa. xl. 06, I. 330 
 Isa. xli. 2—5, I. 215 
 Isa. xliii. 14, II. 36 
 Isa. xliv. 13, I. 3 
 Isa. xliv. 25, II. 100 
 Isa. xliv. 27, I. 332 
 Isa. xliv. 28, I. 215, 252, 254, 
 
 330, 331 
 Isa. xlv. 1, 1. 252, 254, 330, 
 
 331 
 Isa. xlv. i. 4, I. 215 
 Isa. xlv. 2, II. 69 
 Isa. xlv. 0, I. 5 
 Isa. xlvii. 1, 8, II. 14 
 Isa. xlvii. 13, II. 38 
 Isa. liv. 3, I. 5 
 Isa. Ixvi. 19, I. 13 
 Jer. i. 13—15, I. 8 
 Jer. ii. 13, 1. 62 
 Jer. ii. 18, I. 61, 72 
 Jer. iii. 12, 18, I. 8 
 Jer. iv. 6, I. 8 
 Jer. iv. 11, I. 13 
 Jer. V. 15, II. 43 
 Jer. V. 28, I. 175 
 Jer. xii. 10,1. 15 
 Jer. xii. 12, I. 13 
 .fer. xiii. 19, 1. 7 
 Jer. xiii. 23, 1. 81 
 Jer. XV. 18, II. 290 
 Jer. xviii. 14, 15, II. 210 
 Jer. xxiv. 5, II. 2 
 
 Jer. XXV. 12, VoLH. 2 
 
 Jer. XXV. 25, 1. 188, 194 
 
 Jer. XXV. 20, II. 7, 62, 63 
 
 Jer. xxxix. 3, I. 305 
 
 Jer. xxxix. 3, 13,11. 38 
 
 Jer. xxxix. 5, II. 246 
 
 Jer. xlvi. 2,11. 188 
 
 Jer. xlix. 2, 5, II. 244 
 
 Jer. xlix. 7,20,1. 10 
 
 Jer. xlix. 23, II. 226 
 
 Jer. xlix. 34,1. 190, 193 
 
 Jer. xlix. 36, I. 5 
 
 Jer. 1. 2, II. 108 
 
 Jer. 1. 12, II. 7 
 
 Jer. 1. 35, II. 100 
 
 Jer. 1. 42, I. 175 
 
 .Jer. Ii. 1, II. 63 
 
 Jer.li. 11,1. 175 
 
 Jer. Ii. 13, II. 5 
 
 Jer. Ii. 25, II. 25 
 
 Jer. Ii. 27, I. 119, 121, 135. 
 
 II. 140, 146 
 Jer. Ii. 31,32, II. 73 
 Jer. Ii. 39, II. 73 
 Jer. Ii. 41, II. 7, 14, 63 
 Jer. Ii. 58, II. 14 
 Jer. Iii. 9, 10, II. 246 
 Jer. Iii. 31, II. 47 
 Ezek. i. 1, 3, II. 180 
 Ezek. i. 3, II. 43, 160 
 Ezek. i. 4, I. 20 
 Ezek. iii. 15, II. 188 
 Ezek. iii. 15, 23, II. 160, 180 
 Ezek. iv. 6, I. 31 
 Ezek. V. 5, I. 15 
 Ezek. vi. 2, I. 16 
 Ezek. vii. 2, I. 3 
 Ezek. X. 15, 22, II. 180 
 Ezek. xii. 13, II. 2,53 
 Ezek. xvii. 4, II. 32 
 Ezek. XX. 46, 47, I. 7 
 Ezek. xxi. 27, II. 2 
 Ezek. xxiv. 5, II. 89 
 Ezek. XXV. 4, I. 6 
 Ezek. xxvi. 7, II. 118 
 Ezek. xxvi. 13, I. 10 
 Ezek. xxvi. 18, I. 13 
 Ezek. xxvii. 5, 6, II. 214 
 Ezek. xxvii. 13, I. 130 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 335 
 
 Ezek.xxvii. 14, Vol. 1. 133,135 
 Ezek. xxvii. 23, 1. 274. II. 31, 
 
 146, 187 
 Ezek. xxviii. 14, I. 21 
 Ezek. xxviii. 18, II. 238 
 Ezek. xxxii. 24, I. 193 
 Ezek. xxxii. 26, I. 130, 131 
 Ezek. xxxiii. 28, I. 16 
 Ezek. XXXV. 12, 1. 16 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 1, I. 16 
 Ezek. xxxvii. 23, II. 29 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 2, I. 121, 123, 
 
 127, 289 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 2, 3, I. 130, 131 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 6, I. 117, 133, 
 
 135 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 12, I. 15 
 Ezek. xxxix. 1, Ln30, 131 
 Ezek. xxxix. 11,1.83, 121 
 Ezek. xlvii. 1, I. 36 
 Ezek. xlvii. 8, 1. 6 
 Ezek. xlvii. 15, 16, II. 299 
 Ezek. xlvii. 15, 17, II. 267 
 Ezek. xlvii. 16, II. 266, 267, 
 
 268 
 Ezek. xlvii. 16, 18, II. 226 
 Ezek. xlvii. 20, I. 13 
 Ezek. xlviii. 1, II. 268 
 Dan. i, 1,2, II. 2 
 Dan. i. 4, II. 52 
 Dan. i. 20. II. 38 
 Dan. ii. 2, II. 38 
 Dan. ii. 4. 5, 8, II. 100 
 Dan. ii. 12, 18, 24, 27, II. 100 
 Dan. ii. 48, II. 102 
 Dan. iii. 1, II. 27 
 Dan. iv. 3, 15, II. 100 
 Dan. iv. 4, II. 38 
 Dan. iv. 27, II. 68 
 Dan. iv. 30, II. 14 
 Dan. iv. 32, II. 115 
 Dan. V. 7, 8, II. 100 
 Dan. V. 7, 11, II- 38 
 Dan. V. 27, II. 117 
 Dan. V. 28, I. 245 
 Dan. V. 30, II. 1 17 
 Dan. vi. 1, I. 213, 252, 269 
 Dan. vi. 1, 2, I. 242 
 
 Dan. vi. 3, I. 269 
 
 Dan. vi. 8, 12, I. 187 
 
 Dan. vi. 15, I. 265 
 
 Dan. vii. 2, I. 3 
 
 Dan. viii. 1, 2, I, 193 
 
 Dan. viii. 2, I. 188, 192, 198, 
 
 199, 201, 314 
 Dan. viii. 27, I. 201 
 Dan. X. 27, II. 38 
 Dan. xi o, 15, 29, I. 7 
 Dan. xi. 6—8, I. 8 
 Dan. xi. 18, I. 13 
 Hos. V. 13, II. 132, 16.5 
 Hos. viii. 9, I. 8 
 Hos. viii. 14, II. 129 
 Hos. X. 6, II. 132, 165 
 Hos. xii. 13, II. 196 
 Hos. xiv. 6, II. 214 
 Hos. xiv. 7, II. 213 
 Hos. xiv. 8, II. 286 
 Joel i. 17, I. 36 
 Joel i. 19, I. 14 
 Joel ii. 20, I. 6, 7 
 Amos i. 5, I. 48. II. 130, 209, 
 
 281 
 Amos iv. 13, I. 13 
 Amos V. 24, I. 14 
 Amos V. 26, II. 306 
 Amos vi. 1, 2, II. 30 
 Amos vi. 2, n. 95, 243 
 Amos vii. 4, I. 12 
 Amos ix. 7, XI. 130 
 Obad. V. 5—9, I. 10 
 Jonah i. 9, I. 12 
 Jonah iii. 3, 1. 25. II. 104,150 
 Jonah iii. 4, H. 151 
 Jonah iii. 6, II. 122 
 Jonah iv. 11,11. 123 
 Mic. i. 3, I. 13 
 I\Iic. V. 5, II. 55, 131 
 Mic. vii. 12, I. 72 
 Nahum i. 1, II. 157 
 Nahum i. 3, I. 36 
 Nahum i. 8, II. 151 
 Nahum ii. 6, II. 151 
 Nahum ii. 8, II. 122 
 Nahum iii. 1, II. 125 
 Nahum iii. 8—10, II. 134 
 
336 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 Nahum iii. 8, Vol. II. 253 
 Nahum iii. 16, U. 125 
 Habak. i. 6, II. Ill 
 Habak.i. 6—11, 11. 44 
 Zeph. ii. 13, 1. 8 
 Zeph. ii. 13—15, II. 125 
 Zech. ii. 5—17, I. 258 
 Zech. ii. 6, I. 5 
 Zech. iii. 1—10, 1. 258 
 Zech. iv. 1—14, I. 258 
 Zech. vi. 5, 1. 5 
 Zech. viii. 1—17, I. 258 
 Zech. viji. 7, I. 5 
 Zech. jx. 1, II. 223 
 Zech. xii. 6, I. 5 
 Zech. xiv. 4, 1. 6, 23 
 Zech. xiv. 8, I. 6, 7 
 Hagg. i. 2—15, I. 258 
 Hagg. ii. 7, I. 12 
 3Ial. i. 11,1. 5 
 
 APOCRYPHA. 
 
 Tobit i. 2, II. 133, 16G 
 
 Tobitiv. 1,21,1. 171 
 
 Tobit V. 8, I. 171 
 
 Tobit ix. 3, I. 171 
 
 Tobit xiv. 13, II. 125 
 
 Judith i. 2, I. 163 
 
 Judith i. 6, II. 191 
 
 Judith V. 5, II. Ill 
 
 Judith xiv. 5, I. 8 
 
 Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 37, I. 66 
 
 Eccles. xl. 11, I. 12 
 
 Baruch i. 4, II. 4 
 
 1 Mace. iii. 37, I. 9. II. 234 
 
 1 IMacc. iv. 35, II. 234 
 
 1 Mace. vi. 1, 2, I. 194 
 
 1 Mace. ix. 2, II. 129 
 
 I Mace. X. 69, 1. 9 
 
 1 Mace. xi. 7, II. 218, 289 
 
 i Maee. xi. 8, II. 2.33 
 
 1 Maec. xii. 30, II. 218 
 
 1 Mace. xii. 32, II. 259 
 
 2 Mace. ii. 33, II 238 
 
 2 Mace. ix. 2, I. 194, 201 
 
 2 Mace. ix. 23, Vol. 1. 9 
 2 Mace. xii. 29, 30, I. 157 
 2 Maee. xiii. 4, H. 240 
 2 Mace. xiii. 56, I. 267 
 
 2 Mace. xv. 36, I. 26) 
 
 3 Mace. vii. 5, 1. 157 
 
 Matt. ii. 1, I. 6. II. 102 
 Matt. V. 45, 1. 27 
 Matt. viii. 11,1.5 
 Matt. xxiv. 31, I. 5 
 Mark xiii. 27, 1. 5 
 Luke iii. 1, II. 231 . 
 Luke XV. 4, I. 14 
 Luke xxiv. 13, I. 26 
 John vi. 19, I. 26 
 John xi. 18, L 26 
 Acts i. 12, I. 27, 34 
 Acts vii. 2, II. 186 
 Acts vii. 4, II. 53 
 Acts vii. 20, II. 104 
 Acts ix. 24, 25, II. 259 
 Acts xi. 26, II. 235 
 Acts xiii. 1, II. 235 
 Acts xiii. 4, II. 233 
 Acts xiii. 8, n. 102 
 Acts XV. 22, II. 235 
 Acts xvii. 26, 27, I. 108 
 Acts xix. 1, I. 9 
 Acts xxviii. 5, I. 9 
 
 1 Cor. ix. 24, I. 26 
 
 2 Cor. ix. 32, 33, II. 259 
 Gal. ii. 11—21, IL '2So 
 Coloss. iii. 11, I. 155 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 5, I. 92 
 Jude xiv. I, 92 
 Rev. vii. 1, I. 3, 5 
 Rev. xiv. 8, II. 15 
 Rev. xiv. 20, I. 20 
 Rev. xvi. 19, II. 15 
 Rev. xvii. 5, II. 15 
 Rev. xviii. 10, 11.15 
 Rev. XX. 8, 1.5, 121 
 Rev. xxvi. 16, I. 26 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 J. THOMSON, PRINTER, MILNE SQUARE. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 
 
 01145 3786 
 
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