The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended by Isaac Newton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended To which is Prefix'd, A Short Chronicle from the First Memory of Things in Europe, to the Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great Author: Isaac Newton Release Date: May 7, 2005 [EBook #15784] Language: English Character set encoding: Unicode UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT *** Produced by Robert Shimmin, Keith Edkins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT KINGDOMS AMENDED. To which is Prefix'd, _A _SHORT CHRONICLE_ from the First Memory of Things in _Europe_, to the Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the Great._ * * * * * By Sir _ISAAC NEWTON_. * * * * * _LONDON_: Printed for J. TONSON in the _Strand_, and J. OSBORN and T. LONGMAN in _Pater-noster Row_. MDCCXXVIII. * * * * * TO THE QUEEN. MADAM, _As I could never hope to write any thing my self, worthy to be laid before YOUR MAJESTY; I think it a very great happiness, that it should be my lot to usher into the world, under Your Sacred Name, the last work of as great a Genius as any Age ever produced: an Offering of such value in its self, as to be in no danger of suffering from the meanness of the hand that presents it._ _The impartial and universal encouragement which YOUR MAJESTY has always given to Arts and Sciences, entitles You to the best returns the learned world is able to make: And the many extraordinary Honours YOUR MAJESTY vouchsafed the Author of the following sheets, give You a just right to his Productions. These, above the rest, lay the most particular claim to Your Royal Protection; For the _Chronology_ had never appeared in its present Form without YOUR MAJESTY's Influence; and the _Short Chronicle_, which precedes it, is entirely owing to the Commands with which You were pleased to honour him, out of your singular Care for the education of the Royal Issue, and earnest desire to form their minds betimes, and lead them early into the knowledge of Truth._ _The Author has himself acquainted the Publick, that the following Treatise was the fruit of his vacant hours, and the relief he sometimes had recourse to, when tired with his other studies. What an Idea does it raise of His abilities, to find that a Work of such labour and learning, as would have been a sufficient employment and glory for the whole life of another, was to him diversion only, and amusement! The Subject is in its nature incapable of that demonstration upon which his other writings are founded, but his usual accuracy and judiciousness are here no less observable; And at the same time that he supports his suggestions, with all the authorities and proofs that the whole compass of Science can furnish, he offers them with the greatest caution; And by a Modesty, that was natural to Him and always accompanies such superior talents, sets a becoming example to others, not to be too presumptuous in matters so remote and dark. Tho' the Subject be only _Chronology_, yet, as the mind of the Author abounded with the most extensive variety of Knowledge, he frequently intersperses Observations of a different kind; and occasionally instills principles of Virtue and Humanity, which seem to have been always uppermost in his heart, and, as they were the Constant Rule of his actions, appear Remarkably in all his writings._ _Here YOUR MAJESTY will see _Astronomy_, and a just Observation on the course of Nature, assisting other parts of Learning to illustrate Antiquity; and a Penetration and Sagacity peculiar to the great Author, dispelling that Mist, with which Fable and Error had darkened it; and will with pleasure contemplate the first dawnings of Your favourite Arts and Sciences, the noblest and most beneficial of which He alone carried farther in a few years, than all the most Learned who went before him, had been able to do in many Ages. Here too, MADAM, You will observe, that an Abhorrence of Idolatry and Persecution (the very essence and foundation of that Religion, which makes so bright a part of YOUR MAJESTY's character) was one of the _earliest Laws_ of the Divine Legislator, the _Morality of the first Ages, and the primitive Religion of both Jews and Christians_; and, as the Author adds, _ought to be the standing Religion of all Nations; it being for the honour of God, and good of Mankind_. Nor will YOUR MAJESTY be displeased to find his sentiments so agreeable to Your own, whilst he condemns _all oppression_; and every kind of _cruelty, even to brute beasts_; and, with so much warmth, inculcates _Mercy_, _Charity_, and the indispensable duty of _doing good_, and promoting the general _welfare of mankind_: Those great ends, for which Government was first instituted, and to which alone it is administred in this happy Nation, under a KING, who distinguished himself early in opposition to the Tyranny which threatned _Europe_, and chuses to reign in the hearts of his subjects; Who, by his innate Benevolence, and Paternal Affection to his People, establishes and confirms all their Liberties; and, by his Valour and Magnanimity, guards and defends them._ _That Sincerity and Openness of mind, which is the darling quality of this Nation, is become more conspicuous, by being placed upon the Throne; And we see, with Pride, OUR SOVEREIGN the most eminent for a Virtue, by which our country is so desirous to be distinguished. A Prince, whose views and heart are above all the mean arts of Disguise, is far out of the reach of any temptation to Introduce Blindness and Ignorance. And, as HIS MAJESTY is, by his incessant personal cares, dispensing Happiness at home, and Peace abroad; You, MADAM, lead us on by Your great Example to the most noble use of that Quiet and Ease, which we enjoy under His Administration, whilst all Your hours of leisure are employed in cultivating in Your Self That Learning, which You so warmly patronize in Others._ _YOUR MAJESTY does not think the instructive Pursuit, an entertainment below Your exalted Station; and are Your Self a proof, that the abstruser parts of it are not beyond the reach of Your Sex. Nor does this Study end in barren speculation; It discovers itself in a steady attachment to true Religion; in Liberality, Beneficence, and all those amiable Virtues, which increase and heighten the Felicities of a Throne, at the same time that they bless All around it. Thus, MADAM, to enjoy, together with the highest state of publick Splendor and Dignity all the retired Pleasures and domestick Blessings of private life; is the perfection of human Wisdom, as well as Happiness._ _The good Effects of this Love of knowledge, will not stop with the present Age; It will diffuse its Influence with advantage to late Posterity: And what may we not anticipate in our minds for the Generations to come under a Royal Progeny, so descended, so educated, and formed by such Patterns!_ _The glorious Prospect gives us abundant reason to hope, that Liberty and Learning will be perpetuated together; and that the bright Examples of Virtue and Wisdom, set in this Reign by the Royal Patrons of Both, will be transmitted with the Scepter to their Posterity, till this and the other Works of Sir ISAAC NEWTON shall be forgot, and Time it self be no more: Which is the most sincere and ardent wish of_ _MADAM,_ May it please YOUR MAJESTY, YOUR MAJESTY's most obedient and most dutiful subject and servant, _John Conduitt_. * * * * * THE CONTENTS. _A Short Chronicle from the first Memory of Things in page 1 _Europe_, to the Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the Great._ The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended. Chap. I. _Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the_ p. 43 Greeks_._ Chap. II. _Of the Empire of_ Egypt_._ p. 191 Chap. III. _Of the_ Assyrian _Empire._ p. 265 Chap. IV. _Of the two Contemporary Empires of the p. 294 _Babylonians_ and _Medes_._ Chap. V. _A Description of the Temple of _Solomon_._ p. 332 Chap. VI. _Of the Empire of the _Persians_._ p. 347 * * * * * Advertisement. _Tho' _The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended_, was writ by the Author many years since; yet he lately revis'd it, and was actually preparing it for the Press at the time of his death. But _The Short Chronicle_ was never intended to be made public, and therefore was not so lately corrected by him. To this the Reader must impute it, if he shall find any places where _the Short Chronicle_ does not accurately agree with the Dates assigned in the larger Piece. The Sixth Chapter was not copied out with the other Five, which makes it doubtful whether he intended to print it: but being found among his Papers, and evidently appearing to be a Continuation of the same Work, and (as such) abridg'd in _the Short Chronicle_; it was thought proper to be added._ _Had the _Great Author_ himself liv'd to publish this Work, there would have been no occasion for this Advertisement; But as it is, the Reader is desired to allow for such imperfections as are inseparable from Posthumous Pieces; and, in so great a number of proper names, to excuse some errors of the Press that have escaped._ * * * * * A SHORT CHRONICLE FROM THE First Memory of Things in _Europe_, TO THE Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the Great. * * * * * The INTRODUCTION. The _Greek_ Antiquities are full of Poetical Fictions, because the _Greeks_ wrote nothing in Prose, before the Conquest of _Asia_ by _Cyrus_ the _Persian_. Then _Pherecydes Scyrius_ and _Cadmus Milesius_ introduced the writing in Prose. _Pherecydes Atheniensis_, about the end of the Reign of _Darius Hystaspis_, wrote of Antiquities, and digested his work by Genealogies, and was reckoned one of the best Genealogers. _Epimenides_ the Historian proceeded also by Genealogies; and _Hellanicus_, who was twelve years older than _Herodotus_, digested his History by the Ages or Successions of the Priestesses of _Juno Argiva_. Others digested theirs by the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, or Archons of _Athens_. _Hippias_ the _Elean_, about thirty years before the fall of the _Persian_ Empire, published a breviary or list of the Olympic Victors; and about ten years before the fall thereof, _Ephorus_ the disciple of _Isocrates_ formed a Chronological History of _Greece_, beginning with the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and ending with the siege of _Perinthus_, in the twentieth year of _Philip_ the father of _Alexander_ the great: But he digested things by Generations, and the reckoning by Olympiads was not yet in use, nor doth it appear that the Reigns of Kings were yet set down by numbers of years. The _Arundelian_ marbles were composed sixty years after the death of _Alexander_ the great (_An._ 4. _Olymp._ 128.) and yet mention not the Olympiads: But in the next Olympiad, _Timæus Siculus_ published an history in several books down to his own times, according to the Olympiads, comparing the Ephori, the Kings of _Sparta_, the Archons of _Athens_, and the Priestesses of _Argos_, with the Olympic Victors, so as to make the Olympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions of Kings, Archons, and Priestesses, and poetical histories suit with one another, according to the best of his judgment. And where he left off, _Polybius_ began and carried on the history. So then a little after the death of _Alexander_ the great, they began to set down the Generations, Reigns and Successions, in numbers of years, and by putting Reigns and Successions equipollent to Generations, and three Generations to an hundred or an hundred and twenty years (as appears by their Chronology) they have made the Antiquities of _Greece_ three or four hundred years older than the truth. And this was the original of the Technical Chronology of the _Greeks_. _Eratosthenes_ wrote about an hundred years after the death of _Alexander_ the great: He was followed by _Apollodorus_, and these two have been followed ever since by Chronologers. But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was reputed by the _Greeks_ of those times, may be understood by these passages of _Plutarch_. _Some reckon_, saith he, [1] Lycurgus _contemporary to _Iphitus_, and to have been his companion in ordering the Olympic festivals: amongst whom was _Aristotle_ the Philosopher, arguing from the Olympic Disc, which had the name of _Lycurgus_ upon it. Others supputing the times by the succession of the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, as _Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_, affirm that he was not a few years older than the first Olympiad._ First _Aristotle_ and some others made him as old as the first Olympiad; then _Eratosthenes_, _Apollodorus_, and some others made him above an hundred years older: and in another place _Plutarch_ [2] tells us: _The congress of _Solon_ with _Croesus_, some think they can confute by Chronology. But an history so illustrious, and verified by so many witnesses, and (which is more) so agreeable to the manners of _Solon_, and so worthy of the greatness of his mind and of his wisdom, I cannot persuade my self to reject because of some Chronological Canons, as they call them: which hundreds of authors correcting, have not yet been able to constitute any thing certain, in which they could agree among themselves, about repugnancies_. It seems the Chronologers had made the Legislature of _Solon_ too ancient to consist with that Congress. For reconciling such repugnancies, Chronologers have sometimes doubled the persons of men. So when the Poets had changed _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_ into the _Egyptian Isis_, Chronologers made her husband _Osiris_ or _Bacchus_ and his mistress _Ariadne_ as old as _Io_, and so feigned that there were two _Ariadnes_, one the mistress of _Bacchus_, and the other the mistress of _Theseus_, and two _Minos's_ their fathers, and a younger _Io_ the daughter of _Jasus_, writing _Jasus_ corruptly for _Inachus_. And so they have made two _Pandions_, and two _Erechtheus's_, giving the name of _Erechthonius_ to the first; _Homer_ calls the first, _Erechtheus_: and by such corruptions they have exceedingly perplexed Ancient History. And as for the Chronology of the _Latines_, that is still more uncertain. _Plutarch_ represents great uncertainties in the Originals of _Rome_: and so doth _Servius_. The old records of the _Latines_ were burnt by the _Gauls_, sixty and four years before the death of _Alexander_ the great; and _Quintus Fabius Pictor_, the oldest historian of the _Latines_, lived an hundred years later than that King. In Sacred History, the _Assyrian_ Empire began with _Pul_ and _Tiglathpilaser_, and lasted about 170 years. And accordingly _Herodotus_ hath made _Semiramis_ only five generations, or about 166 years older than _Nitocris_, the mother of the last King of _Babylon_. But _Ctesias_ hath made _Semiramis_ 1500 years older than _Nitocris_, and feigned a long series of Kings of _Assyria_, whose names are not _Assyrian_, nor have any affinity with the _Assyrian_ names in Scripture. The Priests of _Egypt_ told _Herodotus_, that _Menes_ built _Memphis_ and the sumptuous temple of _Vulcan_, in that City: and that _Rhampsinitus_, _Mœris_, _Asychis_ and _Psammiticus_ added magnificent porticos to that temple. And it is not likely that _Memphis_ could be famous, before _Homer_'s days who doth not mention it, or that a temple could be above two or three hundred years in building. The Reign of _Psammiticus_ began about 655 years before Christ, and I place the founding of this temple by _Menes_ about 257 years earlier: but the Priests of _Egypt_ had so magnified their Antiquities before the days of _Herodotus_, as to tell him that from _Menes_ to _Mœris_ (who reigned 200 years before _Psammiticus_) there were 330 Kings, whose Reigns took up as many Ages, that is eleven thousand years, and had filled up the interval with feigned Kings, who had done nothing. And before the days of _Diodorus Siculus_ they had raised their Antiquities so much higher, as to place six, eight, or ten new Reigns of Kings between those Kings, whom they had represented to _Herodotus_ to succeed one another immediately. In the Kingdom of _Sicyon_, Chronologers have split _Apis Epaphus_ or _Epopeus_ into two Kings, whom they call _Apis_ and _Epopeus_, and between them have inserted eleven or twelve feigned names of Kings who did nothing, and thereby they have made its Founder _Ægialeus_, three hundred years older than his brother _Phoroneus_. Some have made the Kings of _Germany_ as old as the Flood: and yet before the use of letters, the names and actions of men could scarce be remembred above eighty or an hundred years after their deaths: and therefore I admit no Chronology of things done in _Europe_, above eighty years before _Cadmus_ brought letters into _Europe_; none, of things done in _Germany_, before the rise of the _Roman_ Empire. Now since _Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_ computed the times by the Reigns of the Kings of _Sparta_, and (as appears by their Chronology still followed) have made the seventeen Reigns of these Kings in both Races, between the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and the Battel of _Thermopylæ_, take up _622_ years, which is after the rate of 36½ years to a Reign, and yet a Race of seventeen Kings of that length is no where to be met with in all true History, and Kings at a moderate reckoning Reign but 18 or 20 years a-piece one with another: I have stated the time of the return of the _Heraclides_ by the last way of reckoning, placing it about 340 years before the Battel of _Thermopylæ_. And making the Taking of _Troy_ eighty years older than that Return, according to _Thucydides_, and the _Argonautic_ Expedition a Generation older than the _Trojan_ War, and the Wars of _Sesostris_ in _Thrace_ and death of _Ino_ the daughter of _Cadmus_ a Generation older than that Expedition: I have drawn up the following Chronological Table, so as to make Chronology suit with the Course of Nature, with Astronomy, with Sacred History, with _Herodotus_ the Father of History, and with it self; without the many repugnancies complained of by _Plutarch_. I do not pretend to be exact to a year: there may be Errors of five or ten years, and sometimes twenty, and not much above. * * * * * A SHORT CHRONICLE FROM THE _First Memory of things in _Europe_ to the Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the great._ _The Times are set down in years before Christ._ The _Canaanites_ who fled from _Joshua_, retired in great numbers into _Egypt_, and there conquered _Timaus_, _Thamus_, or _Thammuz_ King of the lower _Egypt_, and reigned there under their Kings _Salatis_, _Bœon_, _Apachnas_, _Apophis_, _Janias_, _Assis_, &c. untill the days of _Eli_ and _Samuel_. They fed on flesh, and sacrificed men after the manner of the _Phœnicians_, and were called Shepherds by the _Egyptians_, who lived only on the fruits of the earth, and abominated flesh-eaters. The upper parts of _Egypt_ were in those days under many Kings, Reigning at _Coptos_, _Thebes_, _This_, _Elephantis_, and other Places, which by conquering one another grew by degrees into one Kingdom, over which _Misphragmuthosis_ Reigned in the days of _Eli_. In the year before Christ 1125 _Mephres_ Reigned over the upper _Egypt_ from _Syene_ to _Heliopolis_, and his Successor _Misphragmuthosis_ made a lasting war upon the Shepherds soon after, and caused many of them to fly into _Palestine_, _Idumæa_, _Syria_, and _Libya_; and under _Lelex_, _Æzeus_, _Inachus_, _Pelasgus_, _Æolus_ the first, _Cecrops_, and other Captains, into _Greece_. Before those days _Greece_ and all _Europe_ was peopled by wandring _Cimmerians_, and _Scythians_ from the backside of the _Euxine Sea_, who lived a rambling wild sort of life, like the _Tartars_ in the northern parts of _Asia_. Of their Race was _Ogyges_, in whose days these _Egyptian_ strangers came into _Greece_. The rest of the Shepherds were shut up by _Misphragmuthosis_, in a part of the lower _Egypt_ called _Abaris_ or _Pelusium_. In the year 1100 the _Philistims_, strengthned by the access of the Shepherds, conquer _Israel_, and take the Ark. _Samuel_ judges _Israel_. 1085. _Hæmon_ the son of _Pelasgus_ Reigns in _Thessaly_. 1080. _Lycaon_ the son of _Pelasgus_ builds _Lycosura_; _Phoroneus_ the son of _Inachus_, _Phoronicum_, afterwards called _Argos_; _Ægialeus_ the brother of _Phoroneus_ and son of _Inachus_, _Ægialeum_, afterwards called _Sicyon_: and these were the oldest towns in _Peloponnesus_. 'Till then they built only single houses scattered up and down in the fields. About the same time _Cecrops_ built _Cecropia_ in _Attica_, afterwards called _Athens_; and _Eleusine_, the son of _Ogyges_, built _Eleusis_. And these towns gave a beginning to the Kingdoms of the _Arcadians_, _Argives_, _Sicyons_, _Athenians_, _Eleusinians_, &c. _Deucalion_ flourishes. 1070. _Amosis_, or _Tethmosis_, the successor of _Misphragmuthosis_, abolishes the _Phœnician_ custom in _Heliopolis_ of sacrificing men, and drives the Shepherds out of _Abaris_. By their access the _Philistims_ become so numerous, as to bring into the field against _Saul_ 30000 chariots, 6000 horsemen, and people as the sand on the sea shore for multitude. _Abas_, the father of _Acrisius_ and _Prœtus_, comes from _Egypt_. 1069. _Saul_ is made King of _Israel_, and by the hand of _Jonathan_ gets a great victory over the _Philistims_. _Eurotas_ the son of _Lelex_, and _Lacedæmon_ who married _Sparta_ the daughter of _Eurotas_, Reign in _Laconia_, and build _Sparta_. 1060. _Samuel_ dies. 1059. _David_ made King. 1048. The _Edomites_ are conquered and dispersed by _David_, and some of them fly into _Egypt_ with their young King _Hadad_. Others fly to the _Persian Gulph_ with their Commander _Oannes_; and others from the _Red Sea_ to the coast of the _Mediterranean_, and fortify _Azoth_ against _David_, and take _Zidon_; and the _Zidonians_ who fled from them build _Tyre_ and _Aradus_, and make _Abibalus_ King of _Tyre_. These _Edomites_ carry to all places their Arts and Sciences; amongst which were their Navigation, Astronomy, and Letters; for in _Idumæa_ they had Constellations and Letters before the days of _Job_, who mentions them: and there _Moses_ learnt to write the Law in a book. These _Edomites_ who fled to the _Mediterranean_, translating the word _Erythræa_ into that of _Phœnicia_, give the name of _Phœnicians_ to themselves, and that of _Phœnicia_ to all the sea-coasts of _Palestine_ from _Azoth_ to _Zidon_. And hence came the tradition of the _Persians_, and of the _Phœnicians_ themselves, mentioned by _Herodotus_, that the _Phœnicians_ came originally from the _Red Sea_, and presently undertook long voyages on the _Mediterranean_. 1047. _Acrisius_ marries _Eurydice_, the daughter of _Lacedæmon_ and _Sparta_. The _Phœnician_ mariners who fled from the _Red Sea_, being used to long voyages for the sake of traffic, begin the like voyages on the _Mediterranean_ from _Zidon_; and sailing as far as _Greece_, carry away _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_, who with other _Grecian_ women came to their ships to buy their merchandize. The _Greek Seas_ begin to be infested with Pyrates. 1046. The _Syrians_ of _Zobah_ and _Damascus_ are conquered by _David_. _Nyctimus_, the son of _Lycaon_, reigns in _Arcadia_. _Deucalion_ still alive. 1045. Many of the _Phœnicians_ and _Syrians_ fleeing from _Zidon_ and from _David_, come under the conduct of _Cadmus_, _Cilix_, _Phœnix_, _Membliarius_, _Nycteus_, _Thasus_, _Atymnus_, and other Captains, into _Asia minor_, _Crete_, _Greece_, and _Libya_; and introduce Letters, Music, Poetry, the _Octaeteris_, Metals and their Fabrication, and other Arts, Sciences and Customs of the _Phœnicians_. At this time _Cranaus_ the successor of _Cecrops_ Reigned in _Attica_, and in his Reign and the beginning of the Reign of _Nyctimus_, the _Greeks_ place the flood of _Deucalion_. This flood was succeeded by four Ages or Generations of men, in the first of which _Chiron_ the son of _Saturn_ and _Philyra_ was born, and the last of which according to _Hesiod_ ended with the _Trojan_ War; and so places the Destruction of _Troy_ four Generations or about 140 years later than that flood, and the coming of _Cadmus_, reckoning with the ancients three Generations to an hundred years. With these _Phœnicians_ came a sort of men skilled in the Religious Mysteries, Arts, and Sciences of _Phœnicia_, and settled in several places under the names of _Curetes_, _Corybantes_, _Telchines_, and _Idæi Dactyli_. 1043. Hellen, the son of _Deucalion_, and father of _Æolus_, _Xuthus_, and _Dorus_, flourishes. 1035. _Erectheus_ Reigns in _Attica_. _Æthlius_, the grandson of _Deucalion_ and father of _Endymion_, builds _Elis_. The _Idæi Dactyli_ find out Iron in mount _Ida_ in _Crete_, and work it into armour and iron tools, and thereby give a beginning to the trades of smiths and armourers in _Europe_; and by singing and dancing in their armour, and keeping time by striking upon one another's armour with their swords, they bring in Music and Poetry; and at the same time they nurse up the _Cretan Jupiter_ in a cave of the same mountain, dancing about him in their armour. 1034. _Ammon_ Reigns in _Egypt_. He conquered _Libya_, and reduced that people from a wandering savage life to a civil one, and taught them to lay up the fruits of the earth; and from him _Libya_ and the desert above it were anciently called _Ammonia_. He was the first that built long and tall ships with sails, and had a fleet of such ships on the _Red Sea_, and another on the _Mediterranean_ at _Irasa_ in _Libya_. 'Till then they used small and round vessels of burden, invented on the _Red Sea_, and kept within sight of the shore. For enabling them to cross the seas without seeing the shore, the _Egyptians_ began in his days to observe the Stars: and from this beginning Astronomy and Sailing had their rise. Hitherto the Lunisolar year had been in use: but this year being of an uncertain length, and so, unfit for Astronomy, in his days and in the days of his sons and grandsons, by observing the Heliacal Risings and Setting of the Stars, they found the length of the Solar year, and made it consist of five days more than the twelve calendar months of the old Lunisolar year. _Creusa_ the daughter of _Erechtheus_ marries _Xuthus_ the son of _Hellen_. _Erechtheus_ having first celebrated the _Panathenæa_ joins horses to a chariot. _Ægina_, the daughter of _Asopus_, and mother of _Æacus_, born. 1030. _Ceres_ a woman of _Sicily_, in seeking her daughter who was stolen, comes into _Attica_, and there teaches the _Greeks_ to sow corn; for which Benefaction she was Deified after death. She first taught the Art to _Triptolemus_ the young son of _Celeus_ King of _Eleusis_. 1028. _Oenotrus_ the youngest son of _Lycaon_, the _Janus_ of the _Latines_, led the first Colony of _Greeks_ into _Italy_, and there taught them to build houses. _Perseus_ born. 1020. _Arcas_, the son of _Callisto_ and grandson of _Lycaon_, and _Eumelus_ the first King of _Achaia_, receive bread-corn from _Triptolemus_. 1019. _Solomon_ Reigns, and marries the daughter of _Ammon_, and by means of this affinity is supplied with horses from _Egypt_; and his merchants also bring horses from thence for all the Kings of the _Hittites_ and _Syrians_: for horses came originally from _Libya_; and thence _Neptune_ was called _Equestris_. _Tantalus_ King of _Phrygia_ steals _Ganimede_ the son of _Tros_ King of _Troas_. 1017. _Solomon_ by the assistance of the _Tyrians_ and _Aradians_, who had mariners among them acquainted with the _Red Sea_, sets out a fleet upon that sea. Those assistants build new cities in the _Persian Gulph_, called _Tyre_ and _Aradus_. 1015. The Temple of _Solomon_ is founded. _Minos_ Reigns in _Crete_ expelling his father _Asterius_, who flees into _Italy_, and becomes the _Saturn_ of the _Latines_. _Ammon_ takes _Gezer_ from the _Canaanites_, and gives it to his daughter, _Solomon's_ wife. 1014. _Ammon_ places _Cepheus_ at _Joppa_. 1010. _Sesac_ in the Reign of his father _Ammon_ invades _Arabia Fœlix_, and sets up pillars at the mouth of the _Red Sea_. _Apis_, _Epaphus_ or _Epopeus_, the son of _Phroroneus_, and _Nycteus_ King of _Bœotia_, slain. _Lycus_ inherits the Kingdom of his brother _Nycteus_. _Ætolus_ the son of _Endymion_ flies into the Country of the _Curetes_ in _Achaia_, and calls it _Ætolia_; and of _Pronoe_ the daughter of _Phorbas_ begets _Pleuron_ and _Calydon_, who built cities in _Ætolia_ called by their own names. _Antiopa_ the daughter of _Nycteus_ is sent home to _Lycus_ by _Lamedon_ the successor of _Apis_, and in the way brings forth _Amphion_ and _Zethus_. 1008. _Sesac_, in the Reign of his father _Ammon_, invades _Afric_ and _Spain_, and sets up pillars in all his conquests, and particularly at the mouth of the _Mediterranean_, and returns home by the coast of _Gaul_ and _Italy_. 1007. _Ceres_ being dead _Eumolpus_ institutes her Mysteries in _Eleusine_. The Mysteries of _Rhea_ are instituted in _Phrygia_, in the city _Cybele_. About this time Temples begin to be built in _Greece_. _Hyagnis_ the _Phrygian_ invents the pipe. After the example of the common-council of the five Lords of the _Philistims_, the _Greeks_ set up the _Amphictyonic_ Council, first at _Thermopylæ_, by the influence of _Amphictyon_ the son of _Deucalion_; and a few years after at _Delphi_ by the influence of _Acrisius_. Among the cites, whose deputies met at _Thermopylæ_, I do not find _Athens_, and therefore doubt whether _Amphictyon_ was King of that city. If he was the son of _Deucalion_ and brother of _Hellen_, he and _Cranaus_ might Reign together in several parts of _Attica_. But I meet with a later _Amphictyon_ who entertained the great _Bacchus_. This Council worshipped _Ceres_, and therefore was instituted after her death. 1006. _Minos_ prepares a fleet, clears the _Greek_ seas of Pyrates, and sends Colonies to the Islands of the _Greeks_, some of which were not inhabited before. _Cecrops_ II. Reigns in _Attica_. _Caucon_ teaches the Mysteries of _Ceres_ in _Messene_. 1005. _Andromeda_ carried away from _Joppa_ by _Perseus_. _Pandion_ the brother of _Cecrops_ II. Reigns in _Attica_. _Car_, the son of _Phoroneus_, builds a Temple to _Ceres_. 1002. _Sesac_ Reigns in _Egypt_ and adorns _Thebes_, dedicating it to his father _Ammon_ by the name of _No-Ammon_ or _Ammon-No_, that is the people or city of _Ammon_: whence the _Greeks_ called it _Diospolis_, the city of _Jupiter_. _Sesac_ also erected Temples and Oracles to his father in _Thebes_, _Ammonia_, and _Ethiopia_, and thereby caused his father to be worshipped as a God in those countries, and I think also in _Arabia Fœlix_: and this was the original of the worship of _Jupiter Ammon_, and the first mention of Oracles that I meet with in Prophane History. War between _Pandion_ and _Labdacus_ the grandson of _Cadmus_. 994. _Ægeus_ Reigns in _Attica_. 993. _Pelops_ the son of _Tantalus_ comes into _Peloponnesus_, marries _Hippodamia_ the granddaughter of _Acrisius_, takes _Ætolia_ from _Ætolus_ the son of _Endymion_, and by his riches grows potent. 990. _Amphion_ and _Zethus_ slay _Lycus_, put _Laius_ the son of _Labdacus_ to flight, and Reign in _Thebes_, and wall the city about. 989. _Dædalus_ and his nephew _Talus_ invent the saw, the turning-lath, the wimble, the chip-ax, and other instruments of Carpenters and Joyners, and thereby give a beginning to those Arts in _Europe_. _Dædalus_ also invented the making of Statues with their feet asunder, as if they walked. 988. _Minos_ makes war upon the _Athenians_, for killing his son _Androgeus_. _Æacus_ flourishes. 987. _Dædalus_ kills his nephew _Talus_, and flies to _Minos_. A Priestess of _Jupiter Ammon_, being brought by _Phœnician_ merchants into _Greece_, sets up the Oracle of _Jupiter_ at _Dodona_. This gives a beginning to Oracles in _Greece_: and by their dictates, the Worship of the Dead is every where introduced. 983. _Sisyphus_, the son of _Æolus_ and grandson of _Hellen_, Reigns in _Corinth_, and some say that he built that city. 980. _Laius_ recovers the Kingdom of _Thebes_. _Athamas_, the brother of _Sisyphus_ and father of _Phrixus_ and _Helle_, marries _Ino_ the daughter of _Cadmus_. 979. _Rehoboam_ Reigns. _Thoas_ is sent from _Crete_ to _Lemnos_, Reigns there in the city _Hephœstia_, and works in copper and iron. 978. _Alcmena_ born of _Electryo_ the son of _Perseus_ and _Andromeda_, and of _Lysidice_ the daughter of _Pelops_. 974. _Sesac_ spoils the Temple, and invades _Syria_ and _Persia_, setting up pillars in many places. _Jeroboam_, becoming subject to _Sesac_, sets up the worship of the _Egyptian_ Gods in _Israel_. 971. _Sesac_ invades _India_, and returns with triumph the next year but one: whence _Trieterica Bacchi_. He sets up pillars on two mountains at the mouth of the river _Ganges_. 968. _Theseus_ Reigns, having overcome the _Minotaur_, and soon after unites the twelve cities of _Attica_ under one government. _Sesac_, having carried on his victories to _Mount Caucasus_, leaves his nephew _Prometheus_ there, and _Æetes_ in _Colchis_. 967. _Sesac_, passing over the _Hellespont_ conquers _Thrace_, kills _Lycurgus_ King thereof, and gives his Kingdom and one of his singing-women to _Oeagrus_ the father of _Orpheus_. _Sesac_ had in his army _Ethiopians_ commanded by _Pan_, and _Libyan_ women commanded by _Myrina_ or _Minerva_. It was the custom of the _Ethiopians_ to dance when they were entring into a battel, and from their skipping they were painted with goats feet in the form of Satyrs. 966. _Thoas_, being made King of _Cyprus_ by _Sesac_, goes thither with his wife _Calycopis_, and leaves his daughter _Hypsipyle_ in _Lemnos_. 965. _Sesac_ is baffled by the _Greeks_ and _Scythians_, loses many of his women with their Queen _Minerva_, composes the war, is received by _Amphiction_ at a feast, buries _Ariadne_, goes back through _Asia_ and _Syria_ into _Egypt_, with innumerable captives, among whom was _Tithonus_, the son of _Laomedon_ King of _Troy_; and leaves his _Libyan Amazons_, under _Marthesia_ and _Lampeto_, the successors of _Minerva_, at the river _Thermodon_. He left also in _Colchos_ Geographical Tables of all his conquests: And thence Geography had its rise. His singing-women were celebrated in _Thrace_ by the name of the Muses. And the daughters of _Pierus_ a _Thracian_, imitating them, were celebrated by the same name. 964. _Minos_, making war upon _Cocalus_ King of _Sicily_, is slain by him. He was eminent for his Dominion, his Laws and his Justice: upon his sepulchre visited by _Pythagoras_, was this inscription, ΤΟΥ ΔΙΟΣ the Sepulchre of _Jupiter_. _Danaus_ with his daughters flying from his brother _Egyptus_ (that is from _Sesac_) comes into _Greece_. _Sesac_ using the advice of his Secretary _Thoth_, distributes _Egypt_ into xxxvi _Nomes_, and in every _Nome_ erects a Temple, and appoints the several Gods, Festivals and Religions of the several _Nomes_. The Temples were the sepulchres of his great men, where they were to be buried and worshipped after death, each in his own Temple, with ceremonies and festivals appointed by him; while He and his Queen, by the names of _Osiris_ and _Isis_, were to be worshipped in all _Egypt_. These were the Temples seen and described by _Lucian_ eleven hundred years after, to be of one and the same age: and this was the original of the several _Nomes_ of _Egypt_, and of the several Gods and several Religions of those _Nomes_. _Sesac_ divided also the land of _Egypt_ by measure amongst his soldiers, and thence _Geometry_ had its rise. _Hercules_ and _Eurystheus_ born. 963. _Amphictyon_ brings the twelve Gods of _Egypt_ into _Greece_, and these are the _Dii magni majorum gentium_, to whom the Earth and Planets and Elements are dedicated. 962. _Phryxus_ and _Helle_ fly from their stepmother _Ino_ the daughter of _Cadmus_. _Helle_ is drowned in the _Hellespont_, so named from her, but _Phryxus_ arrived at _Colchos_. 960. The war between the _Lapithæ_ and the people of _Thessaly_ called _Centaurs_. 958. _Oedipus_ kills his father _Laius_. _Sthenelus_ the son of _Perseus_ Reigns in _Mycene_. 956. _Sesac_ is slain by his brother _Japetus_, who after death was deified in _Afric_ by the name of _Neptune_, and called _Typhon_ by the _Egyptians_. _Orus_ Reigns and routs the _Libyans_, who under the conduct of _Japetus_, and his Son _Antæus_ or _Atlas_, invaded _Egypt_. _Sesac_ from his making the river _Nile_ useful, by cutting channels from it to all the cities of _Egypt_, was called by its names, _Sihor_ or _Siris_, _Nilus_ and _Egyptus_. The _Greeks_ hearing the _Egyptians_ lament, _O Siris_ and _Bou Siris_, called him _Osiris_ and _Busiris_. The _Arabians_ from his great acts called him _Bacchus_, that is, the Great. The _Phrygians_ called him _Ma-fors_ or _Mavors_, the valiant, and by contraction _Mars_. Because he set up pillars in all his conquests, and his army in his father's Reign fought against the _Africans_ with clubs, he is painted with pillars and a club: and this is that _Hercules_ who, according to _Cicero_, was born upon the _Nile_, and according to _Eudoxus_, was slain by _Typhon_; and according to _Diodorus_, was an _Egyptian_, and went over a great part of the world, and set up the pillars in _Afric_. He seems to be also the _Belus_ who, according to _Diodorus_, led a Colony of _Egyptians_ to _Babylon_, and there instituted Priests called _Chaldeans_, who were free from taxes, and observed the stars, as in _Egypt_. Hitherto _Judah_ and _Israel_ laboured under great vexations, but henceforward _Asa_ King of _Judah_ had peace ten years. 947. The _Ethiopians_ invade _Egypt_, and drown _Orus_ in the _Nile_. Thereupon _Bubaste_ the sister of _Orus_ kills herself, by falling from the top of an house, and their mother _Isis_ or _Astræa_ goes mad: and thus ended the Reign of the Gods of _Egypt_. 946. _Zerah_ the _Ethiopian_ is overthrown by _Asa_. The people of the lower _Egypt_ make _Osarsiphus_ their King, and call in two hundred thousand _Jews_ and _Phœnicians_ against the _Ethiopians_. _Menes_ or _Amenophis_ the young son of _Zerah_ and _Cissia_ Reigns. 944. The _Ethiopians_, under _Amenophis_, retire from the lower _Egypt_ and fortify _Memphis_ against _Osarsiphus_. And by these wars and the _Argonautic_ expedition, the great Empire of _Egypt_ breaks in pieces. _Eurystheus_ the son of _Sthenelus_ Reigns in _Mycenæ_. 943. _Evander_ and his mother _Carmenta_ carry Letters into _Italy_. 942. _Orpheus_ Deifies the son of _Semele_ by the name of _Bacchus_, and appoints his Ceremonies. 940. The great men of _Greece_, hearing of the civil wars and distractions of _Egypt_, resolve to send an embassy to the nations, upon the _Euxine_ and _Mediterranean_ Seas, subject to that Empire, and for that end order the building of the ship _Argo_. 939. The ship _Argo_ is built after the pattern of the long ship in which _Danaus_ came into _Greece_: and this was the first long ship built by the _Greeks_. _Chiron_, who was born in the Golden Age, forms the Constellations for the use of the _Argonauts_; and places the Solstitial and Equinoctial Points in the fifteenth degrees or middles of the Constellations of _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, _Capricorn_, and _Aries_. _Meton_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 316, observed the Summer Solstice in the eighth degree of _Cancer_, and therefore the Solstice had then gone back seven degrees. It goes back one degree in about seventytwo years, and seven degrees in about 504 years. Count these years back from the year of _Nabonassar_ 316, and they will place the _Argonautic_ expedition about 936 years before _Christ_. _Gingris_ the son of _Thoas_ slain, and Deified by the name of _Adonis_. 938. _Theseus_, being fifty years old, steals _Helena_ then seven years old. _Pirithous_ the son of _Ixion_, endeavouring to steal _Persephone_ the daughter of _Orcus_ King of the _Molossians_, is slain by the Dog of _Orcus_; and his companion _Theseus_ is taken and imprisoned. _Helena_ is set at liberty by her brothers. 937. The _Argonautic_ expedition. _Prometheus_ leaves _Mount Caucasus_, being set at liberty by _Hercules_. _Laomedon_ King of _Troy_ is slain by _Hercules_. _Priam_ succeeds him. _Talus_ a brazen man, of the Brazen Age, the son of _Minos_, is slain by the _Argonauts_. _Æsculapius_ and _Hercules_ were _Argonauts_, and _Hippocrates_ was the eighteenth from _Æsculapius_ by the father's side, and the nineteenth from _Hercules_ by the mother's side; and because these generations, being noted in history, were most probably by the chief of the family, and for the most part by the eldest sons; we may reckon 28 or at the most 30 years to a generation: and thus the seventeen intervals by the father's side and eighteen by the mother's, will at a middle reckoning amount unto about 507 years; which being counted backwards from the beginning of the _Peloponnesian_ war, at which time _Hippocrates_ began to flourish, will reach up to the time where we have placed the _Argonautic_ expedition. 936. _Theseus_ is set at liberty by _Hercules_. 934. The hunting of the _Calydonian_ boar slain by _Meleager_. 930. _Amenophis_, with an army out of _Ethiopia_ and _Thebais_, invades the lower _Egypt_, conquers _Osarsiphus_, and drives out the _Jews_ and _Canaanites_: and this is reckoned the second expulsion of the Shepherds. _Calycopis_ dies, and is Deified by _Thoas_ with Temples at _Paphos_ and _Amathus_ in _Cyprus_, and at _Byblus_ in _Syria_, and with Priests and sacred Rites, and becomes the _Venus_ of the ancients, and the _Dea Cypria_ and _Dea Syria_. And from these and other places where Temples were erected to her, she was also called _Paphia_, _Amathusia_, _Byblia_, _Cytherea_, _Salaminia_, _Cnidia_, _Erycina_, _Idalia_, &c. And her three waiting-women became the three Graces. 928. The war of the seven Captains against _Thebes_. 927. _Hercules_ and _Æsculapius_ are Deified. _Eurystheus_ drives the _Heraclides_ out of _Peloponnesus_. He is slain by _Hyllus_ the son of _Hercules_. _Atreus_ the son of _Pelops_ succeeds him in the Kingdom of _Mycenæ_. _Menestheus_, the great grandson of _Erechtheus_, Reigns at _Athens_. 925. _Theseus_ is slain, being cast down from a rock. 924. _Hyllus_ invading _Peloponnesus_ is slain by _Echemus_. 919. _Atreus_ dies. _Agamemnon_ Reigns. In the absence of _Menelaus_, who went to look after what his father _Atreus_ had left to him, _Paris_ steals _Helena_. 918. The second war against _Thebes_. 912. _Thoas_, King of _Cyprus_ and part of _Phœnicia_ dies; and for making armour for the Kings of _Egypt_; is Deified with a sumptuous Temple at _Memphis_ by the name of _Baal Canaan_, _Vulcan_. This Temple was said to be built by _Menes_, the first King of _Egypt_ who reigned next after the Gods, that is, by _Menoph_ or _Amenophis_ who reigned next after the death of _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_, _Bubaste_ and _Thoth_. The city, _Memphis_ was also said to be built by _Menes_; he began to build it when he fortified it against _Osarsiphus_. And from him it was called _Menoph_, _Moph_, _Noph_, &c; and is to this day called _Menuf_ by the _Arabians_. And therefore _Menes_ who built the city and temple Was _Menoph_ or _Amenophis_. The Priests of _Egypt_ at length made this temple above a thousand years older then _Amenophis_, and some of them five or ten thousand years older: but it could not be above two or three hundred years older than the Reign of _Psammiticus_ who finished it, and died 614 years before _Christ_. When _Menoph_ or _Menes_ built the city, he built a bridge there over the _Nile_: a work too great to be older than the Monarchy of _Egypt_. 909. _Amenophis_, called _Memnon_ by the _Greeks_, built the _Memnonia_ at _Susa_, whilst _Egypt_ was under the government of _Proteus_ his Viceroy. 904. _Troy_ taken. _Amenophis_ was still at _Susa_; the _Greeks_ feigning that he came from thence to the _Trojan_ war. 903. _Demophoon_, the son of _Theseus_ by _Phœdra_ the daughter of _Minos_, Reigns at _Athens_. 901. _Amenophis_ builds small Pyramids in _Cochome_. 896. _Ulysses_ leaves _Calypso_ in the Island _Ogygie_ (perhaps _Cadis_ or _Cales_.) She was the daughter of _Atlas_, according to _Homer_. The ancients at length feigned that this Island, (which from _Atlas_ they called _Atlantis_) had been as big as all _Europe_, _Africa_ and _Asia_, but was sunk into the Sea. 895. _Teucer_ builds _Salamis_ in _Cyprus_. _Hadad_ or _Benhadad_ King of _Syria_ dies, and is Deified at _Damascus_ with a Temple and Ceremonies. 887. _Amenophis_ dies, and is succeeded by his son _Ramesses_ or _Rhampsinitus_, who builds the western Portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_. The _Egyptians_ dedicated to _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, and _Nephthe_ the sister and wife of _Typhon_, the five days added by the _Egyptians_ to the twelve Calendar months of the old Luni-solar year, and said that they were added when these five Princes were born. They were therefore added in the Reign of _Ammon_ the father of these five Princes: but this year was scarce brought into common use before the Reign of _Amenophis_: for in his Temple or Sepulchre at _Abydus_, they placed a Circle of 365 cubits in compass, covered on the upper side with a plate of gold, and divided into 365 equal parts, to represent all the days of the year; every part having the day of the year, and the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars on that day, noted upon it. And this Circle remained there 'till _Cambyses_ spoiled the temples of _Egypt_: and from this monument I collect that it was _Amenophis_ who established this year, fixing the beginning thereof to one of the four Cardinal Points of the heavens. For had not the beginning thereof been now fixed, the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars could not have been noted upon the days thereof. The Priests of _Egypt_ therefore in the Reign of _Amenophis_ continued to observe the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars upon every day. And when by the Sun's Meridional Altitudes they had found the Solstices and Equinoxes according to the Sun's mean motion, his Equation being not yet known, they fixed the beginning of this year to the Vernal Equinox, and in memory thereof erected this monument. Now this year being carried into _Chaldæa_, the _Chaldæans_ began their year of _Nabonassar_ on the same _Thoth_ with the _Egyptians_, and made it of the same length. And the _Thoth_ of the first year of _Nabonassar_ fell upon the 26th day of _February_: which was 33 days and five hours before the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion. And the _Thoth_ of this year moves backwards 33 days and five hours in 137 years, and therefore fell upon the Vernal Equinox 137 years before the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ began; that is, 884 years before _Christ_. And if it began upon the day next after the Vernal Equinox, it might begin three or four years earlier; and there we may place the death of this King. The _Greeks_ feigned that he was the Son of _Tithonus_, and therefore he was born after the return of _Sesac_ into _Egypt_, with _Tithonus_ and other captives, and so might be about 70 or 75 years old at his death. 883. _Dido_ builds _Carthage_, and the _Phœnicians_ begin presently after to sail as far as to the _Straights Mouth_, and beyond. _Æneas_ was still alive, according to _Virgil_. 870. _Hesiod_ flourishes. He hath told us himself that he lived in the age next after the wars of _Thebes_ and _Troy_, and that this age should end when the men then living grew hoary and dropt into the grave; and therefore it was but of an ordinary length: and _Herodotus_ has told us that _Hesiod_ and _Homer_ were but 400 years older than himself. Whence it follows that the destruction of _Troy_ was not older than we have represented it. 860. _Mœris_ Reigns in _Egypt_. He adorned _Memphis_, and translated the seat of his Empire thither from _Thebes_. There he built the famous Labyrinth, and the northern portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_, and dug the great Lake called the Lake of _Mœris_, and upon the bottom of it built two great Pyramids of brick: and these things being not mentioned by _Homer_ or _Hesiod_, were unknown to them, and done after their days. _Mœris_ wrote also a book of Geometry. 852. _Hazael_ the successor of _Hadad_ at _Damascus_ dies and is Deified, as was _Hadad_ before: and these Gods, together with _Arathes_ the wife of _Hadad_, were worshipt in their Sepulchres or Temples, 'till the days of _Josephus_ the _Jew_; and the _Syrians_ boasted their antiquity, not knowing, saith _Josephus_, that they were novel. 844. The _Æolic_ Migration. _Bœotia_, formerly called _Cadmeis_, is seized by the _Bœotians_. 838. _Cheops_ Reigns in _Egypt_. He built the greatest Pyramid for his sepulchre, and forbad the worship of the former Kings; intending to have been worshipped himself. 825. The _Heraclides_, after three Generations, or an hundred years, reckoned from their former expedition, return into _Peloponnesus_. Henceforward, to the end of the first _Messenian_ war, reigned ten Kings of _Sparta_ by one Race, and nine by another; ten of _Messene_, and nine of _Arcadia_: which, by reckoning (according to the ordinary course of nature) about twenty years to a Reign, one Reign with another, will take up about 190 years. And the seven Reigns more in one of the two Races of the Kings of _Sparta_, and eight in the other, to the battle at _Thermopylæ_; may take up 150 years more: and so place the return of the _Heraclides_, about 820 years before _Christ_. 824. _Cephren_ Reigns in _Egypt_, and builds another great Pyramid. 808. _Mycerinus_ Reigns there, and begins the third great Pyramid. He shut up the body of his daughter in a hollow ox, and caused her to be worshipped daily with odours. 804. The war, between the _Athenians_ and _Spartans_, in which _Codrus_, King of the _Athenians_, is slain. 801. _Nitocris_, the sister of _Mycerinus_, succeeds him, and finishes the third great Pyramid. 794. The _Ionic_ Migration, under the conduct of the sons of _Codrus_. 790. _Pul_ founds the _Assyrian_ Empire. 788. _Asychis_ Reigns in _Egypt_, and builds the eastern Portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_ very splendidly; and a large Pyramid of brick, made of mud dug out of the Lake of _Mœris_. _Egypt_ breaks into several Kingdoms. _Gnephactus_ and _Bocchoris_ Reign successively in the upper _Egypt_; _Stephanathis_; _Necepsos_ and _Nechus_, at _Sais_; _Anysis_ or _Amosis_, at _Anysis_ or _Hanes_; and _Tacellotis_, at _Bubaste_. 776. _Iphitus_ restores the Olympiads. And from this _Æra_ the Olympiads are now reckoned. _Gnephactus_ Reigns at _Memphis_. 772. _Necepsos_ and _Petosiris_ invent Astrology in _Egypt_. 760. _Semiramis_ begins to flourish; _Sanchoniatho_ writes. 751. _Sabacon_ the _Ethiopian_, invades _Egypt_, now divided into various Kingdoms, burns _Bocchoris_, slays _Nechus_, and makes _Anysis_ fly. 747. _Pul_, King of _Assyria_, dies, and is succeeded at _Nineveh_ by _Tiglathpilasser_, and at _Babylon_ by _Nabonassar_. The _Egyptians_, who fled from _Sabacon_, carry their Astrology and Astronomy to _Babylon_, and found the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ in _Egyptian_ years. 740. _Tiglathpilasser_, King of _Assyria_, takes _Damascus_, and captivates the _Syrians_. 729. _Tiglathpilasser_ is succeeded by _Salmanasser_. 721. _Salmanasser_, King of _Assyria_, carries the Ten Tribes into captivity. 719. _Sennacherib_ Reigns over _Assyria_. _Archias_ the son of _Evagetus_, of the stock of _Hercules_, leads a Colony from _Corinth_ into _Sicily_, and builds _Syracuse_. 717. _Tirhakah_ Reigns in _Ethiopia_. 714. _Sennacherib_ is put to flight by the _Ethiopians_ and _Egyptians_, with great slaughter. 711. The _Medes_ revolt from the _Assyrians_. _Sennacherib_ slain. _Asserhadon_ succeeds him. This is that _Asserhadon-Pul_, or _Sardanapalus_, the son of _Anacyndaraxis_, or _Sennacherib_, who built _Tarsus_ and _Anchiale_ in one day. 710. _Lycurgus_, brings the poems of _Homer_ out of _Asia_ into _Greece_. 708. _Lycurgus_, becomes tutor to _Charillus_ or _Charilaus_, the young King of _Sparta_. _Aristotle_ makes _Lycurgus_ as old as _Iphitus_, because his name was upon the Olympic Disc. But the Disc was one of the five games called the _Quinquertium_, and the _Quinquertium_ was first instituted upon the eighteenth Olympiad. _Socrates_ and _Thucydides_ made the institutions of _Lycurgus_ about 300 years older than the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, that is, 705 years before _Christ_. 701. _Sabacon_, after a Reign of 50 years, relinquishes _Egypt_ to his son _Sevechus_ or _Sethon_, who becomes Priest of _Vulcan_, and neglects military affairs. 698. _Manasseh_ Reigns. 697. The _Corinthians_ begin first of any men to build ships with three orders of oars, called _Triremes_. Hitherto the _Greeks_ had used long vessels of fifty oars. 687. _Tirhakah_ Reigns in _Egypt_. 681. _Asserhadon_ invades _Babylon_. 673. The _Jews_ conquered by _Asserhadon_, and _Manasseh_ carried captive to _Babylon_. 671. _Asserbadon_ invades _Egypt_. The government of _Egypt_ committed to twelve princes. 668. The western nations of _Syria_, _Phœnicia_ and _Egypt_, revolt from the _Assyrians_. _Asserhadon_ dies, and is succeeded by _Saosduchinus_. _Manasseh_ returns from Captivity. 658. _Phraortes_ Reigns in _Media_. The _Prytanes_ Reign in _Corinth_, expelling their Kings. 657. The _Corinthians_ overcome the _Corcyreans_ at sea: and this was the oldest sea fight. 655. _Psammiticus_ becomes King of all _Egypt_, by conquering the other eleven Kings with whom he had already reigned fifteen years: he reigned about 39 years more. Henceforward the _Ionians_ had access into _Egypt_; and thence came the _Ionian_ Philosophy, Astronomy and Geometry. 652. The first _Messenian_ war begins: it lasted twenty years. 647. _Charops_, the first decennial Archon of the _Athenians_. Some of these Archons might dye before the end of the ten years, and the remainder of the ten years be supplied by a new Archon. And hence the seven decennial Archons might not take up above forty or fifty years. _Saosduchinus_ King of _Assyria_ dies, and is succeeded by _Chyniladon_. 640. _Josiah_ Reigns in _Judæa_. 636. _Phraortes_> King of the _Medes_, is slain in a war against the _Assyrians_. _Astyages_ succeeds him. 635. The _Scythians_ invade the _Medes_ and _Assyrians_. 633. _Battus_ builds _Cyrene_, where _Irasa_, the city of _Antæus_, had stood. 627. _Rome_ is built. 625. _Nabopolassar_ revolts from the King of _Assyria_, and Reigns over _Babylon_. _Phalantus_ leads the _Parthenians_ into _Italy_, and builds _Tarentum._ 617. _Psammiticus_ dies. _Nechaoh_ reigns in _Egypt_. 611. _Cyaxeres_ Reigns over the _Medes_. 610. The Princes of the _Scythians_ slain in a feast by _Cyaxeres_. 609. _Josiah_ slain. _Cyaxeres_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ overthrow _Nineveh_, and, by sharing the _Assyrian_ Empire, grow great. 607. _Creon_ the first annual Archon of the _Athenians_. The second _Messenian_ war begins. _Cyaxeres_ makes the _Scythians_ retire beyond _Colchos_ and _Iberia_, and seizes the _Assyrian_ Provinces of _Armenia_, _Pontus_ and _Cappadocia_. 606. _Nebuchadnezzar_ invades _Syria_ and _Judæa_. 604. _Nabopolassar_ dies, and is succeeded by his Son _Nebuchadnezzar_, who had already Reigned two years with his father. 600. _Darius_ the _Mede_, the son of _Cyaxeres,_ is born. 599. _Cyrus_ is born of _Mandane_, the Sister of _Cyaxeres_, and daughter of _Astyages_. 596. _Susiana_ and _Elam_ conquered by _Nebuchadnezzar_. _Caranus_ and _Perdiccas_ fly from _Phidon_, and found the Kingdom of _Macedon_. _Phidon_ introduces Weights and Measures, and the Coining of Silver Money. 590. _Cyaxeres_ makes war upon _Alyattes_ King of _Lydia_. 588. The Temple of _Solomon_ is burnt by _Nebuchadnezzar_. The _Messenians_ being conquered, fly into _Sicily_, and build _Messana_. 585. In the sixth year of the _Lydian_ war, a total Eclipse of the Sun, predicted by _Thales_, _May_ the 28th, puts an end to a Battel between the _Medes_ and _Lydians_: Whereupon they make Peace, and ratify it by a marriage between _Darius Medus_ the son of _Cyaxeres_, and _Ariene_ the daughter of _Alyattes_. 584. _Phidon_ presides in the 49th Olympiad. 580. _Phidon_ is overthrown. Two men chosen by lot, out of the city _Elis_, to preside in the Olympic Games. 572. _Draco_ is Archon of the _Athenians_, and makes laws for them. 568. The _Amphictions_ make war upon the _Cirrheans_, by the advice of _Solon_, and take _Cirrha_. _Clisthenes_, _Alcmæon_ and _Eurolicus_ commanded the forces of the _Amphictions_, and were contemporary to _Phidon_. For _Leocides_ the son of _Phidon_, and _Megacles_ the son of _Alcmæon,_ at one and the same time, courted _Agarista_ the daughter of _Clisthenes_. 569. _Nebuchadnezzar_ invades _Egypt_. _Darius_ the _Mede_ Reigns. 562. _Solon_, being Archon of the _Athenians_, makes laws for them. 557. _Periander_ dies, and _Corinth_ becomes free from Tyrants. 555. _Nabonadius_ Reigns at _Babylon_. His Mother _Nitocris_ adorns and fortifies that City. 550. _Pisistratus_ becomes Tyrant at _Athens._ The Conference between _Crœsus_ and _Solon_. 549. _Solon_ dies, _Hegestratus_ being Archon of _Athens_. 544. _Sardes_ is taken by _Cyrus_. _Darius_ the _Mede_ recoins the _Lydian_ money into _Darics_. 538. _Babylon_ is taken by _Cyrus_. 536. _Cyrus_ overcomes _Darius_ the _Mede_, and translates the Empire to the _Persians_. The _Jews_ return from Captivity, and found the second Temple. 529. _Cyrus_ dies. _Cambyses_ Reigns, 521. _Darius_ the son of _Hystaspes_ Reigns. The _Magi_ are slain. The various Religions of the several Nations of _Persia_, which consisted in the worship of their ancient Kings, are abolished; and by the influence of _Hystaspes_ and _Zoroaster_, the worship of One God, at Altars, without Temples is set up in all _Persia_. 520. The second Temple is built at _Jerusalem_ by the command of _Darius_. 515. The second Temple is finished and dedicated. 513. _Harmodius_ and _Aristogiton_, slay _Hipparchus_ the son of _Pisistratus_, Tyrant of the _Athenians._ 508. The Kings of the _Romans_ expelled, and Consuls erected. 491. The Battle of _Marathon_. 485. _Xerxes_ Reigns. 480. The Passage of _Xerxes_ over the _Hellespont_ into _Greece_, and Battles of _Thermopylæ_ and _Salamis_. 464. _Artaxerxes Longimanus_ Reigns. 457. _Ezra_ returns into _Judæa_. _Johanan_ the father of _Jaddua_ was now grown up, having a chamber in the Temple. 444. _Nehemiah_ returns into _Judæa_. _Herodotus_ writes. 431. The _Peloponnesian_ war begins. 428. _Nehemiah_ drives away _Manasseh_ the brother of _Jaddua_, because he had married _Nicaso_ the daughter of _Sanballat_. 424. _Darius Nothus_ Reigns. 422. _Sanballat_ builds a Temple in _Mount Gerizim_ and makes his son-in-law _Manasseh_ the first High-Priest thereof. 412. Hitherto the Priests and Levites were numbered, and written in the Chronicles of the _Jews_, before the death of _Nehemiah_: at which time either _Johanan_ or _Jaddua_ was High-Priest, And here Ends the Sacred History of the _Jews_. 405. _Artaxerxes Mnemon_ Reigns. The end of the _Peloponnesian_ war. 359. _Artaxerxes Ochus_ Reigns. 338. _Arogus_ Reigns. 336. _Darius Codomannus_ Reigns. 332. The _Persian_ Empire conquered by _Alexander_ the great. 331. _Darius Codomannus_, the last King of _Persia_, slain. * * * * * THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT KINGDOMS AMENDED. * * * * * CHAP. I. _Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the _Greeks_._ All Nations, before they began to keep exact accounts of Time, have been prone to raise their Antiquities; and this humour has been promoted, by the Contentions between Nations about their Originals. _Herodotus_ [3] tells us, that the Priests of _Egypt_ reckoned from the Reign of _Menes_ to that of _Sethon_, who put _Sennacherib_ to flight, three hundred forty and one Generations of men, and as many Priests of _Vulcan_, and as many Kings of _Egypt_: and that three hundred Generations make ten thousand years; _for_, saith he, _three Generations of men make an hundred years_: and the remaining forty and one Generations make 1340 years: and so the whole time from the Reign of _Menes_ to that of _Sethon_ was 11340 years. And by this way of reckoning, and allotting longer Reigns to the Gods of _Egypt_ than to the Kings which followed them, _Herodotus_ tells us from the Priests of _Egypt_, that from _Pan_ to _Amosis_ were 15000 years, and from _Hercules_ to _Amosis_ 17000 years. So also the _Chaldæans_ boasted of their Antiquity; for _Callisthenes_, the Disciple of _Aristotle_, sent Astronomical Observations from _Babylon_ to _Greece_, said to be of 1903 years standing before the times of _Alexander_ the great. And the _Chaldæans_ boasted further, that they had observed the Stars 473000 years; and there were others who made the Kingdoms of _Assyria_, _Media_ and _Damascus_, much older than the truth. Some of the _Greeks_ called the times before the Reign of _Ogyges_, Unknown, because they had No History of them; those between his flood and the beginning of the Olympiads, Fabulous, because their History was much mixed with Poetical Fables: and those after the beginning of the Olympiads, Historical, because their History was free from such Fables. The fabulous Ages wanted a good Chronology, and so also did the Historical, for the first 60 or 70 Olympiads. The _Europeans_, had no Chronology before the times of the _Persian_ Empire: and whatsoever Chronology they now have of ancienter times, hath been framed since, by reasoning and conjecture. In the beginning of that Monarchy, _Acusilaus_ made _Phoroneus_ as old as _Ogyges_ and his flood, and that flood 1020 years older than the first Olympiad; which is above 680 years older than the truth: and to make out this reckoning his followers have encreased the Reigns of Kings in length and number. _Plutarch_ [4] tells us that the Philosophers anciently delivered their Opinions in Verse, as _Orpheus_, _Hesiod_, _Parmenides_, _Xenophanes_, _Empedocles_, _Thales_; but afterwards left off the use of Verses; and that _Aristarchus_, _Timocharis_, _Aristillus_, _Hipparchus_, did not make Astronomy the more contemptible by describing it in Prose; after _Eudoxus_, _Hesiod_, and _Thales_ had wrote of it in Verse. _Solon_ wrote [5] in Verse, and all the Seven Wise Men were addicted to Poetry, as _Anaximenes_ [6] affirmed. 'Till those days the _Greeks_ wrote only in Verse, and while they did so there could be no Chronology, nor any other History, than such as was mixed with poetical fancies. _Pliny_, [7] in reckoning up the Inventors of things, tells us, _that _Pherecydes Syrius_ taught to compose discourses in Prose in the Reign of _Cyrus_, and _Cadmus Milesius_ to write History._ And in [8] another place he saith _that _Cadmus Milesius_ was the first that wrote in Prose_. _Josephus_ tells us [9] that _Cadmus Milesius_ and _Acusilaus_ were but a little before the expedition of the _Persians_ against the _Greeks_: and _Suidas_ [10] calls _Acusilaus_ a most ancient Historian, and saith that _he wrote Genealogies out of tables of brass, which his father, as was reported, found in a corner of his house_. Who hid them there may be doubted: For the _Greeks_ [11] had no publick table or inscription older than the Laws of _Draco_. _Pherecydes Atheniensis_, in the Reign of _Darius Hystaspis_, or soon after, wrote of the Antiquities and ancient Genealogies of the _Athenians_, in ten books; and was one of the first _European_ writers of this kind, and one of the best; whence he had the name of _Genealogus_; and by _Dionysius [12] Halicarnassensis_ is said to be second to none of the Genealogers. _Epimenides_, not the Philosopher, but an Historian, wrote also of the ancient Genealogies: and _Hellanicus_, who was twelve years older than _Herodotus_, digested his History by the Ages or Successions of the Priestesses of _Juno Argiva_. Others digested theirs by those of the Archons of _Athens_, or Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_. _Hippias_ the _Elean_ published a Breviary of the Olympiads, supported by no certain arguments, as _Plutarch_ [13] tells us: he lived in the 105th Olympiad, and was derided by _Plato_ for his Ignorance. This Breviary seems to have contained nothing more than a short account of the Victors in every Olympiad. Then [14] _Ephorus_, the disciple of _Isocrates_, formed a Chronological History of _Greece_, beginning with the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and ending with the Siege of _Perinthus_, in the twentieth year of _Philip_ the father of _Alexander_ the great, that is, eleven years before the fall of the _Persian_ Empire: but [15] he digested things by Generations, and the reckoning by the Olympiads, or by any other _Æra_, was not yet in use among the _Greeks_. The _Arundelian_ Marbles were composed sixty years after the death of _Alexander_ the great (_An._ 4. _Olymp._ 128.) and yet mention not the Olympiads, nor any other standing _Æra_, but reckon backwards from the time then present. But Chronology was now reduced to a reckoning by Years; and in the next Olympiad _Timæus Siculus_ improved it: for he wrote a History in Several books, down to his own times, according to the Olympiads; comparing the _Ephori_, the Kings of _Sparta_, the Archons of _Athens_, and the Priestesses of _Argos_ with the Olympic Victors, so as to make the Olympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions of Kings and Priestesses, and the Poetical Histories suit with one another, according to the best of his judgment: and where he left off, _Polybius_ began, and carried on the History. _Eratosthenes_ wrote above an hundred years after the death of _Alexander_ the great: He was followed by _Apollodorus_; and these two have been followed ever since by Chronologers. But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was reputed by the _Greeks_ of those times, may be understood by these passages of _Plutarch_. _Some reckon _Lycurgus__, saith he, [16] _contemporary to _Iphitus_, and to have been his companion in ordering the Olympic festivals, amongst whom was _Aristotle_ the Philosopher; arguing from the Olympic Disc, which had the name of _Lycurgus_ upon it. Others supputing the times by the Kings of _Lacedæmon_, as _Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_, affirm that he was not a few years older than the first Olympiad._ He began to flourish in the 17th or 18th Olympiad, and at length _Aristotle_ made him as old as the first Olympiad; and so did _Epaminondas_, as he is cited by _Ælian_ and _Plutarch_: and then _Eratosthenes_, _Apollodorus_, and their followers, made him above an hundred years older. And in another place _Plutarch_ [17] tells us: _The Congress of _Solon_ with _Crœsus_, some think they can confute by Chronology. But a History so illustrious, and verified by so many witnesses, and which is more, so agreeable to the manners of _Solon_, and worthy of the greatness of his mind, and of his wisdom, I cannot persuade my self to reject because of some Chronological Canons, as they call them, which hundreds of authors correcting, have not yet been able to constitute any thing certain, in which they could agree amongst themselves, about repugnancies._ As for the Chronology of the _Latines_, that is still more uncertain. _Plutarch_ [18] represents great uncertainties in the Originals of _Rome_, and so doth _Servius_ [19]. The old Records of the _Latines_ were burnt [20] by the _Gauls_, an hundred and twenty years after the Regifuge, and sixty-four years before the death of _Alexander_ the great: and _Quintus Fabius Pictor_, [21] the oldest Historian of the _Latines_, lived an hundred years later than that King, and took almost all things from _Diocles Peparethius_, a _Greek_. The Chronologers of _Gallia_, _Spain_, _Germany_, _Scythia_, _Swedeland_, _Britain_ and _Ireland_ are of a date still later; for _Scythia_ beyond the _Danube_ had no letters, 'till _Ulphilas_ their Bishop formed them; which was about six hundred years after the death of _Alexander_ the great: and _Germany_ had none 'till it received them, from the western Empire of the _Latines_, above seven hundred years after the death of that King. The _Hunns_, had none in the days of _Procopius_, who flourished 850 years after the death of that King: and _Sweden_ and _Norway_ received them still later. And things said to be done above one or two hundred years before the use of letters, are of little credit. _Diodorus_, [22] in the beginning of his History tells us, that he did not define by any certain space the times preceding the _Trojan_ War, because he had no certain foundation to rely upon: but from the _Trojan_ war, according to the reckoning of _Apollodorus_, whom he followed, there were eighty years to the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_; and that from that Period to the first Olympiad, there were three hundred and twenty eight years, computing the times from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_. _Apollodorus_ followed _Eratosthenes_, and both of them followed _Thucydides_, in reckoning eighty years from the _Trojan_ war to the Return of the _Heraclides_: but in reckoning 328 years from that Return to the first Olympiad, _Diodorus_ tells us, that the times were computed from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_; and _Plutarch_ [23] tells us, that _Apollodorus_, _Eratosthenes_ and others followed that computation: and since this reckoning is still received by Chronologers, and was gathered by computing the times from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, that is from their number, let us re-examin that Computation. The _Egyptians_ reckoned the Reigns of Kings equipollent to Generations of men, and three Generations to an hundred years, as above; and so did the _Greeks_ and _Latines_: and accordingly they have made their Kings Reign one with another thirty and three years a-piece, and above. For they make the seven Kings of _Rome_ who preceded the Consuls to have Reigned 244 years, which is 35 years a-piece: and the first twelve Kings of _Sicyon_, _Ægialeus_, _Europs_, &c. to have Reigned 529 years, which is 44 years a-piece: and the first eight Kings of _Argos_, _Inachus_, _Phoroneus_, &c. to have Reigned 371 years, which is above 46 years a-piece: and between the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and the end of the first _Messenian_ war, the ten Kings of _Sparta_ in one Race; _Eurysthenes_, _Agis_, _Echestratus_, _Labotas_, _Doryagus_, _Agesilaus_, _Archelaus_, _Teleclus_, _Alcamenes_, and _Polydorus_: the nine in the other Race; _Procles_, _Sous_, _Eurypon_, _Prytanis_, _Eunomus_, _Polydectes_, _Charilaus_, _Nicander_, _Theopompus_: the ten Kings of _Messene_; _Cresphontes_, _Epytus_, _Glaucus_, _Isthmius_, _Dotadas_, _Sibotas_, _Phintas_, _Antiochus_, _Euphaes_, _Aristodemus_: and the nine of _Arcadia_; _Cypselus_, _Olæas_, _Buchalion_, _Phialus_, _Simus_, _Pompus_, _Ægineta_, _Polymnestor_, _Æchmis_, according to Chronologers, took up 379 years: which is 38 years a-piece to the ten Kings, and 42 years a-piece to the nine. And the five Kings of the Race of _Eurysthenes_, between the end of the first _Messenian_ war, and the beginning of the Reign of _Darius Hystaspis_; _Eurycrates_, _Anaxander_, _Eurycrates II_, _Leon_, _Anaxandrides_, Reigned 202 years, which is above 40 years a-piece. Thus the _Greek_ Chronologers, who follow _Timæus_ and _Eratosthenes_, have made the Kings of their several Cities, who lived before the times of the _Persian_ Empire, to Reign about 35 or 40 years a-piece, one with another; which is a length so much beyond the course of nature, as is not to be credited. For by the ordinary course of nature Kings Reign, one with another, about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and if in some instances they Reign, one with another, five or six years longer, in others they Reign as much shorter: eighteen or twenty years is a medium. So the eighteen Kings of _Judah_ who succeeded _Solomon_, Reigned 390 years, which is one with another 22 years a-piece. The fifteen Kings of _Israel_ after _Solomon_, Reigned 259 years, which is 17¼ years a-piece. The eighteen Kings of _Babylon_, _Nabonassar_ &c. Reigned 209 years, which is 11⅔ years a-piece. The ten Kings of _Persia_; _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, &c. Reigned 208 years, which is almost 21 years a piece. The sixteen Successors of _Alexander_ the great, and of his brother and son in _Syria_; _Seleucus_, _Antiochus Soter_, &c. Reigned 244 years, after the breaking of that Monarchy into various Kingdoms, which is 15¼ years a-piece. The eleven Kings of _Egypt_; _Ptolomæus Lagi_, &c. Reigned 277 years, counted from the same Period, which is 25 years a-piece. The eight in _Macedonia_; _Cassander_, &c. Reigned 138 years, which is 17¼ years a-piece. The thirty Kings of _England_; _William_ the Conqueror, _William Rufus_, &c. Reigned 648 years, which is 21½ years a-piece. The first twenty four Kings of _France_; _Pharamundus_, &c. Reigned 458 years, which is 19 years a-piece: the next twenty four Kings of _France_; _Ludovicus Balbus_, &c. 451 years, which is 18¾ years a-piece: the next fifteen, _Philip Valesius_, &c. 315 years, which is 21 years a-piece: and all the sixty three Kings of _France_, 1224 years, which is 19½ years a-piece. Generations from father to son, may be reckoned one with another at about 33 or 34 years a-piece, or about three Generations to an hundred years: but if the reckoning proceed by the eldest sons, they are shorter, so that three of them may be reckoned at about 75 or 80 years: and the Reigns of Kings are still shorter, because Kings are succeeded not only by their eldest sons, but sometimes by their brothers, and sometimes they are slain or deposed; and succeeded by others of an equal or greater age, especially in elective or turbulent Kingdoms. In the later Ages, since Chronology hath been exact, there is scarce an instance to be found of ten Kings Reigning any where in continual Succession above 260 years: but _Timæus_ and his followers, and I think also some of his Predecessors, after the example of the _Egyptians_, have taken the Reigns of Kings for Generations, and reckoned three Generations to an hundred, and sometimes to an hundred and twenty years; and founded the Technical Chronology of the _Greeks_ upon this way of reckoning. Let the reckoning be reduced to the course of nature, by putting the Reigns of Kings one with another, at about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and the ten Kings of _Sparta_ by one Race, the nine by another Race, the ten Kings of _Messene_, and the nine of _Arcadia_, above mentioned, between the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and the end of the first _Messenian_ war, will scarce take up above 180 or 190 years: whereas according to Chronologers they took up 379 years. For confirming this reckoning, I may add another argument. _Euryleon_ the son of _Ægeus_, [24] commanded the main body of the _Messenians_ in the fifth year of the first _Messenian_ war, and was in the fifth Generation from _Oiolicus_ the son _Theras_, the brother-in-law of _Aristodemus_, and tutor to his sons _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_, as _Pausanias_ [25] relates: and by consequence, from the return of the _Heraclides_, which was in the days of _Theras_, to the battle which was in the fifth year of this war, there were six Generations, which, as I conceive, being for the most part by the eldest sons, will scarce exceed thirty years to a Generation; and so may amount unto 170 or 180 years. That war lasted 19 or 20 years: add the last 15 years, and there will be about 190 years to the end of that war: whereas the followers of _Timæus_ make it about 379 years, which is above sixty years to a Generation. By these arguments, Chronologers have lengthned the time, between the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and the first _Messenian_ war, adding to it about 190 years: and they have also lengthned the time, between that war and the rise of the _Persian_ Empire. For in the Race of the _Spartan_ Kings, descended from _Eurysthenes_; after _Polydorus_, reigned [26] these Kings, _Eurycrates_, _Anaxander_, _Eurycratides_, _Leon_, _Anaxandrides_, _Clomenes_, _Leonidas_, &c. And in the other Race descended from _Procles_; after _Theopompus_, reigned [27] these, _Anaxandrides_, _Archidemus_, _Anaxileus_, _Leutychides_, _Hippocratides_, _Ariston_, _Demaratus_, _Leutychides_ II. &c. according to _Herodotus_. These Kings reigned 'till the sixth year of _Xerxes_, in which _Leonidas_ was slain by the _Persians_ at _Thermopylæ_; and _Leutychides_ II. soon after, flying from _Sparta_ to _Tegea_, died there. The seven Reigns of the Kings of _Sparta_, which follow _Polydorus_, being added to the ten Reigns above mentioned, which began with that of _Eurysthenes_; make up seventeen Reigns of Kings, between the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and the sixth year of _Xerxes_: and the eight Reigns following _Theopompus_, being added to the nine Reigns above mentioned, which began with that of _Procles_, make up also seventeen Reigns: and these seventeen Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto three hundred and forty years. Count these 340 years upwards from the sixth year of _Xerxes_, and one or two years more for the war of the _Heraclides_, and Reign of _Aristodemus_, the father of _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_; and they will place the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, 159 years after the death of _Solomon_, and 46 years before the first Olympiad, in which _Coræbus_ was victor. But the followers of _Timæus_ have placed this Return two hundred and eighty years earlier. Now this being the computation upon which the _Greeks_, as you have heard from _Diodorus_ and _Plutarch_, have founded the Chronology of their Kingdoms, which were ancienter than the _Persian_ Empire; that Chronology is to be rectified, by shortening the times which preceded the death of _Cyrus_, in the proportion of almost two to one; for the times which follow the death of _Cyrus_ are not much amiss. The Artificial Chronologers, have made _Lycurgus_, the legislator, as old as _Iphitus_, the restorer of the Olympiads; and _Iphitus_, an hundred and twelve years, older than the first Olympiad: and, to help out the Hypothesis, they have feigned twenty eight Olympiads older than the first Olympiad, wherein _Coræbus_ was victor. But these things were feigned, after the days of _Thucydides_ and _Plato_: for _Socrates_ died three years after the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and _Plato_ [28] introduceth him saying, that _the institutions of _Lycurgus_ were but of three hundred years standing, or not much more_. And [29] _Thucydides_, in the reading followed by _Stephanus_, saith, that _the _Lacedæmonians_, had from ancient times used good laws, and been free from tyranny; and that from the time that they had used one and the same administration of their commonwealth, to the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, there were three hundred years and a few more_. Count three hundred years back from the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and they will place the Legislature of _Lycurgus_ upon the 19th Olympiad. And, according to _Socrates_, it might be upon the 22d or 23d. _Athenæus_ [30] tells us out of ancient authors (_Hellanicus_, _Sosimus_ and _Hieronymus_) that _Lycurgus_ the Legislator, was contemporary to _Terpander_ the Musician; and that _Terpander_ was the first man who got the victory in the _Carnea_, in a solemnity of music instituted in those festivals in the 26th Olympiad. He overcame four times in those _Pythic_ games, and therefore lived at least 'till the 29th Olympiad: and beginning to flourish in the days of _Lycurgus_, it is not likely that _Lycurgus_ began to flourish, much before the 18th Olympiad. The name of _Lycurgus_ being on the Olympic Disc, _Aristotle_ concluded thence, that _Lycurgus_ was the companion of _Iphitus_, in restoring the Olympic games: and this argument might be the ground of the opinion of Chronologers, that _Lycurgus_ and _Iphitus_ were contemporary. But _Iphitus_ did not restore all the Olympic games. He [31] restored indeed the Racing in the first Olympiad, _Coræbus_ being victor. In the 14th Olympiad, the double _stadium_ was added, _Hypænus_ being victor. And in the 18th Olympiad the _Quinquertium_ and Wrestling were added, _Lampus_ and _Eurybatus_, two _Spartans_, being victors: And the Disc was one of the games of the _Quinquertium_. [32] _Pausanias_ tells us that there were three Discs kept in the Olympic treasury at _Altis_: these therefore having the name of _Lycurgus_ upon them, shew that they were given by him, at the institution of the _Quinquertium_, in the 18th Olympiad. Now _Polydectes_ King of _Sparta_, being slain before the birth of his son _Charillus_ or _Charilaus_, left the Kingdom to _Lycurgus_ his brother; and _Lycurgus_, upon the birth of _Charillus_, became tutor to the child; and after about eight months travelled into _Crete_ and _Asia_, till the child grew up, and brought back with him the poems of _Homer_; and soon after published his laws, suppose upon the 22d or 23d Olympiad; for he was then growing old: and _Terpander_ was a Lyric Poet, and began to flourish about this time; for [33] he imitated _Orpheus_ and _Homer_, and sung _Homer's_ verses and his own, and wrote the laws of _Lycurgus_ in verse, and was victor in the _Pythic_ games in the 26th Olympiad, as above. He was the first who distinguished the modes of Lyric music by several names. _Ardalus_ and _Clonas_ soon after did the like for wind music: and from henceforward, by the encouragement of the _Pythic_ games, now instituted, several eminent Musicians and Poets flourished in _Greece_: as _Archilochus_, _Eumelus Corinthius_, _Polymnestus_, _Thaletas_, _Xenodemus_, _Xenocritus_, _Sacadas_, _Tyrtæus_, _Tlesilla_, _Rhianus_, _Alcman_, _Arion_, _Stesichorus_, _Mimnermnus_, _Alcæus_, _Sappho_, _Theognis_, _Anacreon_, _Ibycus_, _Simonides_, _Æschylus_, _Pindar_, by whom the Music and Poetry of the _Greeks_ were brought to perfection. _Lycurgus_, published his laws in the Reign of _Agesilaus_, the son and successor of _Doryagus_, in the Race of the Kings of _Sparta_ descended from _Eurysthenes_. From the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, to the end of the Reign of _Agesilaus_, there were six Reigns: and from the same Return to the end of the Reign of _Polydectes_, in the Race of the _Spartan_ Kings descended from _Procles_, there were also six Reigns: and these Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto 120 years; besides the short Reign of _Aristodemus_, the father of _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_, which might amount to a year or two: for _Aristodemus_ came to the crown, as [34] _Herodotus_ and the _Lacedæmonians_ themselves affirmed. The times of the deaths of _Agesilaus_ and _Polydectes_ are not certainly known: but it may be presumed that _Lycurgus_ did not meddle with the Olympic games before he came to the Kingdom; and therefore _Polydectes_ died in the beginning of the 18th Olympiad, or but a very little before. If it may be supposed that the 20th Olympiad was in, or very near to the middle time between the deaths of the two Kings _Polydectes_ and _Agesilaus_, and from thence be counted upwards the aforesaid 120 years, and one year more for the Reign of _Aristodemus_; the reckoning will place the Return of the _Heraclides_, about 45 years before the beginning of the Olympiads. _Iphitus_, who restored the Olympic games, [35] was descended from _Oxylus_, the son of _Hæmon_, the son of _Thoas_, the son of _Andræmon_: _Hercules_ and _Andræmon_ married two sisters: _Thoas_ warred at _Troy_: _Oxylus_ returned into _Peloponnesus_ with the _Heraclides_. In this return he commanded the body of the _Ætolians_, and recovered _Elea_; [36] from whence his ancestor _Ætolus_, the son of _Endymion_, the son of _Aethlius_, had been driven by _Salmoneus_ the grandson of _Hellen_. By the friendship of the _Heraclides_, _Oxylus_ had the care of the Olympic Temple committed to him: and the _Heraclides_, for his service done them, granted further upon oath that the country of the _Eleans_ should be free from invasions, and be defended by them from all armed force: And when the _Eleans_ were thus consecrated, _Oxylus_ restored the Olympic games: and after they had been again intermitted, _Iphitus_ their King [37] restored them, and made them quadrennial. _Iphitus_ is by some reckoned the son of _Hæmon_, by others the son of _Praxonidas_, the son of _Hæmon_: but _Hæmon_ being the father of _Oxylus_, I would reckon _Iphitus_ the son of _Praxonidas_, the son of _Oxylus_, the son of _Hæmon_. And by this reckoning the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ will be two Generations by the eldest sons, or about 52 years, before the Olympiads. _Pausanias_ [38] represents that _Melas_ the son of _Antissus_, of the posterity of _Gonussa_ the daughter of _Sicyon_, was not above six Generations older than _Cypselus_ King of _Corinth_; and that he was contemporary to _Aletes_, who returned with the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_. The Reign of _Cypselus_ began _An._ 2, Olymp. 31, according to Chronologers; and six Generations, at about 30 years to a Generation, amount unto 180 years. Count those years backwards from _An._ 2, Olymp. 31, and they will place the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ 58 years before the first Olympiad. But it might not be so early, if the Reign of _Cypselus_ began three or four Olympiads later; for he reigned before the _Persian_ Empire began. _Hercules_ the _Argonaut_ was the father of _Hyllus_; the father of _Cleodius_; the father of _Aristomachus_; the father of _Temenus_, _Cresphontes_, and _Aristodemus_, who led the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and _Eurystheus_, who was of the same age with _Hercules_, was slain in the first attempt of the _Heraclides_ to return: _Hyllus_ was slain in the second attempt, _Cleodius_ in the third attempt, _Aristomachus_ in the fourth attempt, and _Aristodemus_ died as soon as they were returned, and left the Kingdom of _Sparta_ to his sons _Eurysthenes_ and _Procles_. Whence their Return was four Generations later than the _Argonautic_ expedition: And these Generations were short ones, being by the chief of the family, and suit with the reckoning of _Thucydides_ and the Ancients, that the taking of _Troy_ was about 75 or eighty years before the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_; and the _Argonautic_ expedition one Generation earlier than the taking of _Troy_. Count therefore eighty years backward from the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ to the _Trojan_ war, and the taking of _Troy_ will be about 76 years after the death of _Solomon_: And the _Argonautic_ expedition, which was one Generation earlier, will be about 43 years after it. From the taking of _Troy_ to the Return of the _Heraclides_, could scarce be more than eighty years, because _Orestes_ the son of _Agamemnon_ was a youth at the taking of _Troy_, and his sons _Penthilus_ and _Tisamenus_ lived till the Return of the _Heraclides_. _Æsculapius_ and _Hercules_ were _Argonauts_, and _Hippocrates_ was the eighteenth inclusively by the father's side from _Æsculapius_, and the nineteenth from _Hercules_ by the mother's side: and because these Generations, being taken notice of by writers, were most probably by the principal of the family, and so for the most part by the eldest sons; we may reckon about 28 or at the most about 30 years to a Generation. And thus the seventeen intervals by the father's side, and eighteen by the mother's, will at a middle reckoning amount unto about 507 years: which counted backwards from the beginning of the _Peloponnesian_ war, at which time _Hippocrates_ began to flourish, will reach up to the 43d year after the death of _Solomon_, and there place the _Argonautic_ expedition. When the _Romans_ conquered the _Carthaginians_, the Archives of _Carthage_ came into their hands: And thence _Appian_, in his history of the _Punic_ wars, tells in round numbers that _Carthage_ stood seven hundred years: and [39] _Solinus_ adds the odd number of years in these words: _Adrymeto atque Carthagini author est a Tyro populus. Urbem istam, ut Cato in Oratione Senatoria autumat; cum rex Hiarbas rerum in Libya potiretur, Elissa mulier extruxit, domo Phœnix & Carthadam dixit, quod Phœnicum ore exprimit civitatem novam; mox sermone verso Carthago dicta est, quæ post annos septingentos triginta septem exciditur quam fuerat extructa_. _Elissa_ was _Dido_, and _Carthage_ was destroyed in the Consulship of _Lentulus_ and _Mummius_, in the year of the _Julian Period_ 4568; from whence count backwards _737_ years, and the _Encænia_ or Dedication of the City, will fall upon the 16th year of _Pygmalion_, the brother of _Dido_, and King of _Tyre_. She fled in the seventh year of _Pygmalion_, but the _Æra_ of the City began with its _Encænia_. Now _Virgil_, and his Scholiast _Servius_, who might have some things from the archives of _Tyre_ and _Cyprus_, as well as from those of _Carthage_, relate that _Teucer_ came from the war of _Troy_ to _Cyprus_, in the days of _Dido_, a little before the Reign of her brother _Pygmalion_; and, in conjunction with her father, seized _Cyprus_, and ejected _Cinyras_: and the Marbles say that _Teucer_ came to _Cyprus_ seven years after the destruction of _Troy_, and built _Salamis_; and _Apollodorus_, that _Cinyras_ married _Metharme_ the daughter of _Pygmalion_, and built _Paphos_. Therefore, if the _Romans_, in the days of _Augustus_, followed not altogether the artificial Chronology of _Eratosthenes_, but had these things from the records of _Carthage_, _Cyprus_, or _Tyre_; the arrival of _Teucer_ at _Cyprus_ will be in the Reign of the predecessor of _Pygmalion_: and by consequence the destruction of _Troy_, about 76 years later than the death of _Solomon_. _Dionysius Halicarnassensis_ [40] tells us, that in the time of the _Trojan_ war, _Latinus_ was King of the _Aborigines_ in _Italy_, and that in the sixteenth Age after that war, _Romulus_ built _Rome_. By Ages he means Reigns of Kings: for after _Latinus_ he names sixteen Kings of the _Latines_, the last of which was _Numitor_, in whose days _Romulus_ built _Rome_: for _Romulus_ was contemporary to _Numitor_, and after him _Dionysius_ and others reckon six Kings more over _Rome_, to the beginning of the Consuls. Now these twenty and two Reigns, at about 18 years to a Reign one with another, for many of these Kings were slain, took up 396 years; which counted back from the consulship of _Junius Brutus_ and _Valerius Publicola_, the two first Consuls, place the _Trojan_ war about 78 years after the death of _Solomon_. The expedition of _Sesostris_ was one Generation earlier than the _Argonautic_ expedition: for in his return back into _Egypt_ he left _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, and _Æetes_ reigned there 'till the _Argonautic_ expedition; and _Prometheus_ was left by _Sesostris_ with a body of men at _Mount Caucasus_, to guard that pass, and after thirty years was released by _Hercules_ the _Argonaut_: and _Phlyas_ and _Eumedon_, the sons of the great _Bacchus_, so the Poets call _Sesostris_, and of _Ariadne_ the daughter of _Minos_, were _Argonauts_. At the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_, his brother _Danaus_ fled from him into _Greece_ with his fifty daughters, in a long ship; after the pattern of which the ship _Argo_ was built: and _Argus_, the son of _Danaus_, was the master-builder thereof. _Nauplius_ the _Argonaut_ was born in _Greece_, of _Amymone_, one of the daughters of _Danaus_, and of _Neptune_, the brother and admiral of _Sesostris_: And two others of the daughters of _Danaus_ married _Archander_ and _Archilites_, the sons of _Achæus_, the son of _Creusa_, the daughter of _Erechtheus_ King of _Athens_: and therefore the daughters of _Danaus_ were three Generations younger than _Erechtheus_; and by consequence contemporary to _Theseus_ the son of _Ægeus_, the adopted son of _Pandion_, the son of _Erechtheus_. _Theseus_, in the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition, was of about 50 years of age, and so was born about the 33d year of _Solomon_: for he stole _Helena_ [41] just before that expedition, being then 50 years old, and she but seven, or as some say ten. _Pirithous_ the son of _Ixion_ helped _Theseus_ to steal _Helena_, and then [42] _Theseus_ went with _Pirithous_ to steal _Persephone_, the daughter of _Aidoneus_, or _Orcus_, King of the _Molossians_, and was taken in the action: and whilst he lay in prison, _Castor_ and _Pollux_ returning from the _Argonautic_ expedition, released their sister _Helena_, and captivated _Æthra_ the mother of _Theseus_. Now the daughters of _Danaus_ being contemporary to _Theseus_, and some of their sons being _Argonauts_, _Danaus_ with his daughters fled from his brother _Sesostris_ into _Greece_ about one Generation before the _Argonautic_ expedition; and therefore _Sesostris_ returned into _Egypt_ in the Reign of _Rehoboam_. He came out of _Egypt_ in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_, [43] and spent nine years in that expedition, against the Eastern Nations and _Greece_; and therefore returned back into _Egypt_, in the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_. _Sesac_ and _Sesostris_ were therefore Kings of all _Egypt_, at one and the same time: and they agree not only in the time, but also in their actions and conquests. God gave _Sesac_ ממלכות הארצות _the Kingdoms of the lands_, 2 Chron. xii. Where _Herodotus_ describes the expedition of _Sesostris_, _Josephus_ [44] tells us that he described the expedition of _Sesac_, and attributed his actions to _Sesostris_, erring only in the name of the King. Corruptions of names are frequent in history; _Sesostris_ was otherwise called _Sesochris_, _Sesochis_, _Sesoosis_, _Sethosis_, _Sesonchis_, _Sesonchosis_. Take away the _Greek_ termination, and the names become _Sesost_, _Sesoch_, _Sesoos_, _Sethos_, _Sesonch_: which names differ very little from _Sesach_. _Sesonchis_ and _Sesach_ differ no more than _Memphis_ and _Moph_, two names of the same city. _Josephus_ [45] tells us also, from _Manetho_, that _Sethosis_ was the brother of _Armais_, and that these brothers were otherwise called _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus_; and that upon the return of _Sethosis_ or _Ægyptus_, from his great conquests into _Egypt_, _Armais_ or _Danaus_ fled from him into _Greece_. _Egypt_ was at first divided into many small Kingdoms, like other nations; and grew into one monarchy by degrees: and the father of _Solomon's_ Queen, was the first King of _Egypt_, who came into _Phœnicia_ with an Army: but he only took _Gezir_, and gave it to his daughter. _Sesac_, the next King, came out of _Egypt_ with an army of _Libyans_, _Troglodites_ and _Ethiopians_, 2 Chron. xii. 3. and therefore was then King of all those countries; and we do not read in Scripture, that any former King of _Egypt_; who Reigned over all those nations, came out of _Egypt_ with a great army to conquer other countries. The sacred history of the _Israelites_, from the days of _Abraham_ to the days of _Solomon_, admits of no such conqueror. _Sesostris_ reigned over all the same nations of the _Libyans_, _Troglodites_ and _Ethiopians_, and came out of _Egypt_ with a great army to conquer other Kingdoms. The Shepherds reigned long in the lower part of _Egypt_, and were expelled thence, just before the building of _Jerusalem_ and the Temple; according to _Manetho_; and whilst they Reigned in the lower part of _Egypt_, the upper part thereof was under other Kings: and while _Egypt_ was divided into several Kingdoms, there was no room for any such King of all _Egypt_ as _Sesostris_; and no historian makes him later than _Sesac_: and therefore he was one and the same King of _Egypt_ with _Sesac_. This is no new opinion: _Josephus_ discovered it when he affirmed that _Herodotus_ erred, in ascribing the actions of _Sesac_ to _Sesostris_, and that the error was only in the name of the King: for this is as much as to say, that the true name of him who did those things described by _Herodotus_, was _Sesac_; and that _Herodotus_ erred only in calling him _Sesostris_; or that he was called _Sesostris_ by a corruption of his name. Our great Chronologer, _Sir John Marsham_, was also of opinion that _Sesostris_ was _Sesac_: and if this be granted, it is then most certain, that _Sesostris_ came out of _Egypt_ in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_ to invade the nations, and returned back into _Egypt_ in the 14th year of that King; and that _Danaus_ then flying from his brother, came into _Greece_ within a year or two after: and the _Argonautic_ expedition being one Generation later than that invasion, and than the coming of _Danaus_ into _Greece_, was certainly about 40 or 45 years later than the death of _Solomon_. _Prometheus_ stay'd on _Mount Caucasus_ [46] thirty years, and then was released by _Hercules_: and therefore the _Argonautic_ expedition was thirty years after _Prometheus_ had been left on _Mount Caucasus_ by _Sesostris_, that is, about 44 years after the death of _Solomon_. All nations, before the just length of the Solar year was known, reckoned months by the course of the moon; and years by the [47] returns of winter and summer, spring and autumn: and in making Calendars for their Festivals, reckoned thirty days to a Lunar month, and twelve Lunar months to a year; taking the nearest round numbers: whence came the division of the Ecliptic into 360 degrees. So in the time of _Noah_'s flood, when the Moon could not be seen, _Noah_ reckoned thirty days to a month: but if the Moon appeared a day or two before the end of the month, [48] they began the next month with the first day of her appearing: and this was done generally, 'till the _Egyptians_ of _Thebais_ found the length of the Solar year. So [49] _Diodorus_ tells us that _the _Egyptians_ of _Thebais_ use no intercalary months, nor subduct any days_ [from the month] _as is done by most of the _Greeks__. And [50] _Cicero_, _est consuetudo Siculorum cæterorumque Græcorum, quod suos dies mensesque congruere volunt cum Solis Lunæque ratione, ut nonnumquam siquid discrepet, eximant unum aliquem diem aut summum biduum ex mense_ [civili dierum triginta] _quos illi_ εξαιρεσιμους _dies nominant_. And _Proclus_, upon _Hesiod_'s τριακας mentions the same thing. And [51] _Geminus_: Προθεσις γαρ ην τοις αρχαιοις, τους μεν μηνας αγειν κατα σεληνην, τους δε ενιαυτους καθ' ‛ηλιον. Το γαρ ‛υπο των νομων, και των χρησμων παραγγελλομενον, το θυειν κατα γ', ηγουν τα πατρια, μηνας, ‛ημερας, ενιαυτους: τουτο διελαβον απαντες ‛οι ‛Ελληνες τωι τους μεν ‛ενιαυτους συμφωνως αγειν τωι ‛ηλιωι· τας δε ‛ημερας και τους μηνας τηι σεληνη. εστι δε το μεν καθ' ‛ηλιον αγειν τους ενιαυτους, το περι τας αυτας ‛ωρας του ενιαυτου τας αυτας θυσιας τοις θεοις επιτελειθαι, και την μεν εαρινην θυσιαν δια παντος κατα το εαρ συντελειθαι· την δε θερινην, κατα το θερος· ‛ομοιως δε και κατα τους λοιπους καιρους του ετους τας αυτας θυσιας πιπτειν. Τουτο γαρ ‛υπελαβον προσηνες, και κεχαρισμενον ειναι τοις θεοις. Τουτο δ' αλλως ουκ αν δυναιτο γενεσθαι, ει μη ‛αι τροπαι, και ‛αι ισημεριαι περι τους αυτους τοπους γιγνοιντο. Το δε κατα σεληνην αγειν τας ‛ημερας, τοιουτον εστι· το ακολουθως τοις της σεληνης φωτισμοις τας προσηγοριας των ‛ημερων γινεσθαι. απο γαρ των της σεληνης φωτισμων ‛αι προσηγοριαι των ‛ημερων κατωνομασθησαν. Εν ‛ηι μεν γαρ ‛ημεραι νεα ‛η σεληνη φαινεται, κατα συναλοιφην νεομηνια προσηγορευθη· εν ‛ηι δε ‛ημεραι την δευτεραν φασιν ποιειται, δευτεραν προσηγορευσαν· την δε κατα μεσον του μηνος γινομενην φασιν της σεληνης, απο αυτου του συμβαινοντος διχομηνιαν εκαλεσαν. και καθολου δε πασας τας ‛ημερας απο των της σεληνης φωτισματων προσωνομασαν. ‛οθεν και την τριακοστην του μηνος ‛ημεραν εσχατην ουσαν απο αυτου του συμβαινοντος τριακαδα εκαλεσαν. _Propositum enim fuit veteribus, menses quidem agere secundum Lunam, annos vero secundum Solem. Quod enim a legibus & Oraculis præcipiebatur, ut sacrificarent secundum tria, videlicet patria, menses, dies, annos; hoc ita distincte faciebant universi Græci, ut annos agerent congruenter cum Sole, dies vero & menses cum Luna. Porro secundum Solem annos agere, est circa easdem tempestates anni eadem sacrificia Diis perfici, & vernum sacrificium semper in vere consummari, æstivum autem in æstate: similiter & in reliquis anni temporibus eadem sacrificia cadere. Hoc enim putabant acceptum & gratum esse Diis. Hoc autem aliter fieri non posset nisi conversiones solstitiales & æquinoctia in iisdem Zodiaci locis fierent. Secundum Lunam vero dies agere est tale ut congruant cum Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum. Nam a Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum sunt denominatæ. In qua enim die Luna apparet nova, ea per Synalœphen, seu compositionem νεομηνια id est, Novilunium appellatur. In qua vero die secundam facit apparitionem, eam secundam Lunam vocarunt. Apparitionem Lunæ quæ circa medium mensis fit, ab ipso eventu διχομηνιαν, id est medietatem mensis nominarunt. Ac summatim, omnes dies a Lunæ illuminationibus denominarunt. Unde etiam tricesimam mensis diem, cum ultima sit, ab ipso eventu τριακαδα vocarunt_. The ancient Calendar year of the _Greeks_ consisted therefore of twelve Lunar months, and every month of thirty days: and these years and months they corrected from time to time, by the courses of the Sun and Moon, omitting a day or two in the month, as often as they found the month too long for the course of the Moon; and adding a month to the year, as often as they found the twelve Lunar months too short for the return of the four seasons. _Cleobulus_, [52] one of the seven wise men of _Greece_, alluded to this year of the _Greeks_, in his Parable of one father who had twelve sons, each of which had thirty daughters half white and half black: and _Thales_ [53] called the last day of the month τριακαδα, the thirtieth: and _Solon_ counted the ten last days of the month backward from the thirtieth, calling that day ενην και νεαν, the old and the new, or the last day of the old month and the first day of the new: for he introduced months of 29 and 30 days alternately, making the thirtieth day of every other month to be the first day of the next month. To the twelve Lunar months [54] the ancient _Greeks_ added a thirteenth, every other year, which made their _Dieteris_; and because this reckoning made their year too long by a month in eight years, they omitted an intercalary month once in eight years, which made their _Octaeteris_, one half of which was their _Tetraeteris_: And these Periods seem to have been almost as old as the religions of _Greece_, being used in divers of their _Sacra_. The [55] _Octaeteris_ was the _Annus magnus_ of _Cadmus_ and _Minos_, and seems to have been brought into _Greece_ and _Crete_ by the _Phœnicians_, who came thither with _Cadmus_ and _Europa_, and to have continued 'till after the days of _Herodotus_: for in counting the length of seventy years [56], he reckons thirty days to a Lunar month, and twelve such months, or 360 days, to the ordinary year, without the intercalary months, and 25 such months to the _Dieteris_: and according to the number of days in the Calendar year of the _Greeks_, _Demetrius Phalereus_ had 360 Statues erected to him by the _Athenians_. But the _Greeks_, _Cleostratus_, _Harpalus_, and others, to make their months agree better with the course of the Moon, in the times of the _Persian_ Empire, varied the manner of intercaling the three months in the _Octaeteris_; and _Meton_ found out the Cycle of intercaling seven months in nineteen years. The Ancient year of the _Latines_ was also Luni-solar; for _Plutarch_ [57] tells us, that the year of _Numa_ consisted of twelve Lunar months, with intercalary months to make up what the twelve Lunar months wanted of the Solar year. The Ancient year of the _Egyptians_ was also Luni-solar, and continued to be so 'till the days of _Hyperion_, or _Osiris_, a King of _Egypt_, the father of _Helius_ and _Selene_, or _Orus_ and _Bubaste_: For the _Israelites_ brought this year out of _Egypt_; and _Diodorus_ tells [58] us that _Ouranus_ the father of _Hyperion_ used this year, and [59] that in the Temple of _Osiris_ the Priests appointed thereunto filled 360 Milk Bowls every day: I think he means one Bowl every day, in all 360, to count the number of days in the Calendar year, and thereby to find out the difference between this and the true Solar year: for the year of 360 days was the year, to the end of which they added five days. That the _Israelites_ used the Luni-solar year is beyond question. Their months began with their new Moons. Their first month was called _Abib_, from the earing of Corn in that month. Their Passover was kept upon the fourteenth day of the first month, the Moon being then in the full: and if the Corn was not then ripe enough for offering the first Fruits, the Festival was put off, by adding an intercalary month to the end of the year; and the harvest was got in before the Pentecost, and the other Fruits gathered before the Feast of the seventh month. _Simplicius_ in his commentary [60] on the first of _Aristotle_'s _Physical Acroasis_, tells us, that _some begin the year upon the Summer Solstice, as the People of _Attica_; or upon the Autumnal Equinox, as the People of _Asia_; or in Winter, as the _Romans_; or about the Vernal Equinox, as the _Arabians_ and People of _Damascus_: and the month began, according to some, upon the Full Moon, or upon the New._ The years of all these Nations were therefore Luni-solar, and kept to the four Seasons: and the _Roman_ year began at first in Spring, as I seem to gather from the Names of their Months, _Quintilis_, _Sextilis_, _September_, _October_, _November_, _December_: and the beginning was afterwards removed to Winter. The ancient civil year of the _Assyrians_ and _Babylonians_ was also Luni-solar: for this year was also used by the _Samaritans_, who came from several parts of the _Assyrian_ Empire; and the _Jews_ who came from _Babylon_ called the months of their Luni-solar year after the Names of the months of the _Babylonian_ year: and _Berosus_ [61] tells us that the _Babylonians_ celebrated the Feast _Sacæa_ upon the 16th day of the month _Lous_, which was a Lunar month of the _Macedonians_, and kept to one and the same Season of the year: and the _Arabians_, a Nation who peopled _Babylon_, use Lunar months to this day. _Suidas_ [62] tells us, that the _Sarus_ of the _Chaldeans_ contains 222 Lunar months, which are eighteen years, consisting each of twelve Lunar months, besides six intercalary months: and when [63] _Cyrus_ cut the River _Gindus_ into 360 Channels, he seems to have alluded unto the number of days in the Calendar year of the _Medes_ and _Persians_: and the Emperor _Julian_ [64] writes, _For when all other People, that I may say it in one word, accommodate their months to the course of the Moon, we alone with the _Egyptians_ measure the days of the year by the course of the Sun._ At length the _Egyptians_, for the sake of Navigation, applied themselves to observe the Stars; and by their Heliacal Risings and Settings found the true Solar year to be five days longer than the Calendar year, and therefore added five days to the twelve Calendar months; making the Solar year to consist of twelve months and five days. _Strabo_ [65] and [66] _Diodorus_ ascribe this invention to the _Egyptians_ of _Thebes_. _The _Theban_ Priests_, saith _Strabo_, _are above others said to be Astronomers and Philosophers. They invented the reckoning of days not by the course of the Moon, but by the course of the Sun. To twelve months each of thirty days they add yearly five days._ In memory of this Emendation of the year they dedicated the [67] five additional days to _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, and _Nephthe_ the wife of _Typhon_, feigning that those days were added to the year when these five Princes were born, that is, in the Reign of _Ouranus_, or _Ammon_, the father of _Sesac_: and in [68] the Sepulchre of _Amenophis_, who Reigned soon after, they placed a Golden Circle of 365 cubits in compass, and divided it into 365 equal parts, to represent all the days in the year, and noted upon each part the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars on that day; which Circle remained there 'till the invasion of _Egypt_ by _Cambyses_ King of _Persia_. 'Till the Reign of _Ouranus_, the father of _Hyperion_, and grandfather of _Helius_ and _Selene_, the _Egyptians_ used the old Lunisolar year: but in his Reign, that is, in the Reign of _Ammon_, the father of _Osiris_ or _Sesac_, and grandfather of _Orus_ and _Bubaste_, the _Thebans_ began to apply themselves to Navigation and Astronomy, and by the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars determined the length of the Solar year; and to the old Calendar year added five days, and dedicated them to his five children above mentioned, as their birth days: and in the Reign of _Amenophis_, when by further Observations they had sufficiently determined the time of the Solstices, they might place the beginning of this new year upon the Vernal Equinox. This year being at length propagated into _Chaldæa_, gave occasion to the year of _Nabonassar_; for the years of _Nabonassar_ and those of _Egypt_ began on one and the same day, called by them _Thoth_, and were equal and in all respects the same: and the first year of _Nabonassar_ began on the 26th day of _February_ of the old _Roman_ year, seven hundred forty and seven years before the Vulgar _Æra_ of _Christ_, and thirty and three days and five hours before the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion; for it is not likely that the Equation of the Sun's motion should be known in the infancy of Astronomy. Now reckoning that the year of 365 days wants five hours and 49 minutes of the Equinoctial year; the beginning of this year will move backwards thirty and three days and five hours in 137 years: and by consequence this year began at first in _Egypt_ upon the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion, 137 years before the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ began; that is, in the year of the _Julian_ Period 3830, or 96 years after the death of _Solomon_: and if it began upon the next day after the Vernal Equinox, it might begin four years earlier; and about that time ended the Reign of _Amenophis_: for he came not from _Susa_ to the _Trojan_ war, but died afterwards in _Egypt_. This year was received by the _Persian_ Empire from the _Babylonian_; and the _Greeks_ also used it in the _Æra Philippæa_, dated from the Death of _Alexander_ the great; and _Julius Cæsar_ corrected it, by adding a day in every four years, and made it the year of the _Romans_. _Syncellus_ tells us, that the five days were added to the old year by the last King of the Shepherds: and the difference in time between the Reign of this King, and that of _Ammon_, is but small; for the Reign of the Shepherds ended but one Generation, or two, before _Ammon_ began to add those days. But the Shepherds minded not Arts and Sciences. The first month of the Luni-solar year, by reason of the Intercalary month, began sometimes a week or a fortnight before the Equinox or Solstice, and sometimes as much after it. And this year gave occasion to the first Astronomers, who formed the _Asterisms_, to place the Equinoxes and Solstices in the middles of the Constellations of _Aries_, _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, and _Capricorn_. _Achilles Tatius_ [69] tells us, that _some antiently placed the Solstice in the beginning of _Cancer_, others in the eighth degree of _Cancer_, others about the twelfth degree, and others about the fifteenth degree thereof._ This variety of opinions proceeded from the precession of the Equinox, then not known to the _Greeks_. When the Sphere was first formed, the Solstice was in the fifteenth degree or middle of the Constellation of _Cancer_: then it came into the twelfth, eighth, fourth, and first degree successively. _Eudoxus_, who flourished about sixty years after _Meton_, and an hundred years before _Aratus_, in describing the Sphere of the Ancients, placed the Solstices and Equinoxes in the middles of the Constellations of _Aries_, _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, and _Capricorn_, as is affirmed by [70] _Hipparchus Bithynus_; and appears also by the Description of the Equinoctial and Tropical Circles in _Aratus_, [71] who copied after _Eudoxus_; and by the positions of the _Colures_ of the Equinoxes and Solstices, which in the Sphere of _Eudoxus_, described by _Hipparchus_, went through the middles of those Constellations. For _Hipparchus_ tells us, that _Eudoxus_ drew the _Colure_ of the Solstices, through the middle of the _great Bear_, and the middle of _Cancer_, and the neck of _Hydrus_, and the Star between the Poop and Mast of _Argo_, and the Tayl of the _South Fish_, and through the middle of _Capricorn_, and of _Sagitta_, and through the neck and right wing of the _Swan_, and the left hand of _Cepheus_; and that he drew the Equinoctial _Colure_, through the left hand of _Arctophylax_, and along the middle of his Body, and cross the middle of _Chelæ_, and through the right hand and fore-knee of the _Centaur_, and through the flexure of _Eridanus_ and head of _Cetus_, and the back of _Aries_ a-cross, and through the head and right hand of _Perseus_. Now _Chiron_ delineated σχηματα ολυμπου the _Asterisms_, as the ancient Author of _Gigantomachia_, cited by [72] _Clemens Alexandrinus_ informs us: for _Chiron_ was a practical Astronomer, as may be there understood also of his daughter _Hippo_: and _Musæus_, the son of _Eumolpus_ and master of _Orpheus_, and one of the _Argonauts_, [73] made a Sphere, and is reputed the first among the _Greeks_ who made one: and the Sphere it self shews that it was delineated in the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition; for that expedition is delineated in the _Asterisms_, together with several other ancienter Histories of the _Greeks_, and without any thing later. There's the golden _RAM_, the ensign of the Vessel in which _Phryxus_ fled to _Colchis_; the _BULL_ with brazen hoofs tamed by _Jason_; and the _TWINS_, _CASTOR_ and _POLLUX_, two of the _Argonauts_, with the _SWAN_ of _Leda_ their mother. There's the Ship _ARGO_, and _HYDRUS_ the watchful Dragon; with _Medea_'s _CUP_, and a _RAVEN_ upon its Carcass, the Symbol of Death. There's _CHIRON_ the master of _Jason_, with his _ALTAR_ and _SACRIFICE_. There's the _Argonaut_ _HERCULES_ with his _DART_ and _VULTURE_ falling down; and the _DRAGON_, _CRAB_ and _LION_, whom he slew; and the _HARP_ of the _Argonaut_ _Orpheus_. All these relate to the _Argonauts_. There's _ORION_ the son of _Neptune_, or as some say, the grandson of _Minos_, with his _DOGS_, and _HARE_, and _RIVER_, and _SCORPION_. There's the story of _Perseus_ in the Constellations of _PERSEUS_, _ANDROMEDA_, _CEPHEUS_, _CASSIOPEA_ and _CETUS_: That of _Callisto_, and her son _Arcas_, in _URSA MAJOR_ and _ARCTOPHYLAX_: That of _Icareus_ and his daughter _Erigone_ in _BOOTES_, _PLAUSTRUM_ and _VIRGO_. _URSA MINOR_ relates to one of the Nurses of _Jupiter_, _AURIGA_ to _Erechthonius_, _OPHIUCHUS_ to _Phorbas_, _SAGITTARIUS_ to _Crolus_ the son of the Nurse of the Muses, _CAPRICORN_ to _Pan_, and _AQUARIUS_ to _Ganimede_. There's _Ariadne_'s _CROWN_, _Bellerophon_'s _HORSE_, _Neptune_'s _DOLPHIN_, _Ganimede_'s _EAGLE_, _Jupiter_'s _GOAT_ with her _KIDS_, _Bacchus_'s _ASSES_, and the _FISHES_ of _Venus_ and _Cupid_, and their Parent the _SOUTH FISH_. These with _DELTOTON_, are the old Constellations mentioned by _Aratus_: and they all relate to the _Argonauts_ and their Contemporaries, and to Persons one or two Generations older: and nothing later than that Expedition was delineated there Originally. _ANTINOUS_ and _COMA BERENICES_ are novel. The Sphere seems therefore to have been formed by _Chiron_ and _Musæus_, for the use of the _Argonauts_: for the Ship _Argo_ was the first long ship built by the _Greeks_. Hitherto they had used round vessels of burden, and kept within sight of the shore; and now, upon an Embassy to several Princes upon the coasts of the _Euxine_ and _Mediterranean_ Seas, [74] by the dictates of the Oracle, and consent of the Princes of _Greece_, the Flower of _Greece_ were to sail with Expedition through the deep, in a long Ship with Sails, and guide their Ship by the Stars. The People of the Island _Corcyra_ [75] attributed the invention of the Sphere to _Nausicaa_, the daughter of _Alcinous_, King of the _Pheaces_ in that Island: and it's most probable that she had it from the _Argonauts_, who [76] in their return home sailed to that Island, and made some stay there with her father. So then in the time of the _Argonautic_ Expedition, the Cardinal points of the Equinoxes and Solstices were in the middles of the Constellations of _Aries_, _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, and _Capricorn_. In the end of the year of our Lord 1689 the Star called _Prima Arietis_ was in [Aries]. 28°. 51'. 00", with North Latitude 7°. 8'. 58". And the Star called _ultima caudæ Arietis_ was in [Taurus]. 19°. 3'. 42", with North Latitude 2°. 34'. 5". And the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ passing through the point in the middle between those two Stars did then cut the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 6°. 44': and by this reckoning the Equinox in the end of the year 1689 was gone back 36°. 44'. since the _Argonautic_ Expedition: Supposing that the said _Colure_ passed through the middle of the Constellation of _Aries_, according to the delineation of the Ancients. The Equinox goes back fifty seconds in one year, and one degree in seventy and two years, and by consequence 36°. 44'. in 2645 years, which counted back from the end of the year of our Lord 1689, or beginning of the year 1690, will place the _Argonautic_ Expedition about 25 years after the Death of _Solomon_: but it is not necessary that the middle of the Constellation of _Aries_ should be exactly in the middle between the two Stars called _prima Arietis_ and _ultima Caudæ_: and it may be better to fix the Cardinal points by the Stars, through which the _Colures_ passed in the primitive Sphere, according to the description of _Eudoxus_ above recited. By the _Colure_ of the Equinoxes, I mean a great Circle passing through the Poles of the Equator, and cutting the Ecliptic in the Equinoxes in an Angle of 66½ degrees, the complement of the Sun's greatest Declination; and by the _Colure_ of the Solstices I mean a great Circle passing through the same Poles, and cutting the Ecliptic at right Angles in the Solstices: and by the Primitive Sphere, that which was in use before the motions of the Equinoxes and Solstices were known: now the _Colures_ passed through the following Stars according to _Eudoxus_. In the back of _Aries_ is a Star of the sixth magnitude, marked ν by _Bayer_: in the end of the year 1689, and beginning of the year 1690, its Longitude was [Taurus]. 9°. 38'. 45", and North Latitude 6°. 7'. 56": and the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ drawn though it, according to _Eudoxus_, cuts the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 6°. 58'. 57". In the head of _Cetus_ are two Stars of the fourth Magnitude, called ν and ξ by _Bayer_: in the end of the year 1689 their Longitudes were [Taurus]. 4°. 3'. 9". and [Taurus]. 3°. 7'. 37", and their South Latitudes 9°. 12'. 26". and 5°. 53'. 7"; and the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ passing in the mid way between them, cuts the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 6°. 58'. 51". In the extreme flexure of _Eridanus_, rightly delineated, is a Star of the fourth Magnitude, of late referred to the breast of _Cetus_, and called ρ by _Bayer_; it is the only Star in _Eridanus_ through which this _Colure_ can pass; its Longitude, in the end of the year 1689, was [Aries]. 25°. 22'. 10". and South Latitude 25°. 15'. 50". and the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ passing through it, cuts the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 7°. 12'. 40". In the head of _Perseus_, rightly delineated, is a Star of the fourth Magnitude, called τ by _Bayer_; the Longitude of this Star, in the end of the year 1689, was [Taurus]. 23°. 25'. 30", and North Latitude 34°. 20'. 12": and the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ passing through it, cuts the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 6°. 18'. 57". In the right hand of _Perseus_, rightly delineated, is a Star of the fourth Magnitude, called η by _Bayer_; its Longitude in the end of the year 1689, was [Taurus]. 24°. 25'. 27", and North Latitude 37°. 26'. 50": and the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ passing through it cuts the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 4°. 56'. 40": and the fifth part of the summ of the places in which these five _Colures_ cut the Ecliptic, is [Taurus]. 6°. 29'. 15": and therefore the Great Circle which in the Primitive Sphere according to _Eudoxus_, and by consequence in the time of the _Argonautic_ Expedition, was the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ passing through the Stars above described; did in the end of the year 1689, cut the Ecliptic in [Taurus]. 6°. 29'. 15": as nearly as we have been able to determin by the Observations of the Ancients, which were but coarse. In the middle of _Cancer_ is the _South Asellus_, a Star of the fourth Magnitude, called by _Bayer_ δ; its Longitude in the end of the year 1689, was [Leo]. 4°. 23'. 40". In the neck of _Hydrus_, rightly delineated, is a Star of the fourth Magnitude, called δ by _Bayer_; its Longitude in the end of the year 1689, was [Leo]. 5°. 59'. 3". Between the poop and mast of the Ship _Argo_ is a Star of the third Magnitude, called ι by _Bayer_; its Longitude in the end of that year, was [Leo]. 7°. 5'. 31". In _Sagitta_ is a Star of the sixth Magnitude, called θ by _Bayer_; its Longitude in the end of the same year 1689, was [Aquarius]. 6°. 29'. 53". In the middle of _Capricorn_ is a Star of the fifth Magnitude, called η by _Bayer_; its Longitude in the end of the same year was [Aquarius]. 8°. 25'. 55": and the fifth part of the summ of the three first Longitudes, and of the complements of the two last to 180 Degrees; is [Leo]. 6°. 28'. 46". This is the new Longitude of the old _Colurus Solstitiorum_ passing through these Stars. The same _Colurus_ passes also in the middle between the Stars η and κ, of the fourth and fifth Magnitudes, in the neck of the _Swan_; being distant from each about a Degree: it passeth also by the Star κ, of the fourth Magnitude, in the right wing of the _Swan_; and by the Star ο, of the fifth Magnitude, in the left hand of _Cepheus_, rightly delineated; and by the Stars in the tail of the _South-Fish_; and is at right angles with the _Colurus Æquinoctiorum_ found above: and so it hath all the characters, of the _Colurus Solstitiorum_ rightly drawn. The two _Colures_ therefore, which in the time of the _Argonautic_ Expedition cut the Ecliptic in the Cardinal Points, did in the end of the year 1689 cut it in [Taurus]. 6°. 29'; [Leo]. 6°. 29'; [Scorpio]. 6°. 29'; and [Aquarius]. 6°. 29'; that is, at the distance of 1 Sign, 6 Degrees and 29 Minutes from the Cardinal Points of _Chiron_; as nearly as we have been able to determin from the coarse observations of the Ancients: and therefore the Cardinal Points, in the time between that Expedition and the end of the year 1689, have gone back from those _Colures_ one Sign, 6 Degrees and 29 Minutes; which, after the rate of 72 years to a Degree, answers to 2627 years. Count those years backwards from the end of the year 1689, or beginning of the year 1690, and the reckoning will place the _Argonautic_ Expedition, about 43 years after the death of _Solomon_. By the same method the place of any Star in the Primitive Sphere may readily be found, counting backwards one Sign, 6°. 29'. from the Longitude which it had in the end of the year of our Lord 1689. So the Longitude of the first Star of _Aries_ in the end of the year 1689 was [Aries]. 28°. 51'. as above: count backward 1 Sign, 6°. 29'. and its Longitude, counted from the Equinox in the middle of the Constellation of _Aries_, in the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition, will be [Pisces]. 22°. 22': and by the same way of arguing, the Longitude of the _Lucida Pleiadum_ in the time of the _Argonautic_ Expedition will be [Aries]. 19°. 26'. 8": and the Longitude of _Arcturus_ [Virgo]. 13°. 24'. 52": and so of any other Stars. After the _Argonautic_ Expedition we hear no more of Astronomy 'till the days of _Thales_: He [77] revived Astronomy, and wrote a book of the Tropics and Equinoxes, and predicted Eclipses; and _Pliny_ [78] tells us, that he determined the _Occasus Matutinus_ of the _Pleiades_ to be upon the 25th day after the Autumnal Equinox: and thence [79] _Petavius_ computes the Longitude of the _Pleiades_ in [Aries]. 23°. 53': and by consequence the _Lucida Pleiadum_ had, since the _Argonautic_ Expedition, moved from the Equinox 4°. 26'. 52": and this motion, after the rate of 72 years to a Degree, answers to 320 years: count these years back from the time in which _Thales_ was a young man fit to apply himself to Astronomical Studies, that is from about the 41st Olympiad, and the reckoning will place the _Argonautic_ Expedition about 44 years after the death of _Solomon_, as above: and in the days of _Thales_, the Solstices and Equinoxes, by this reckoning, will have been in the middle of the eleventh Degrees of the Signs. But _Thales_, in publishing his book about the Tropics and Equinoxes, might lean a little to the opinion of former Astronomers, so as to place them in the twelfth Degrees of the Signs. _Meton_ and _Euctemon_, [80] in order to publish the Lunar Cycle of nineteen years, observed the Summer Solstice in the year of _Nabonassar_ 316, the year before the _Peloponnesian_ war began; and _Columella_ [81] tells us that they placed it in the eighth Degree of _Cancer_, which is at least seven Degrees backwarder than at first. Now the Equinox, after the rate of a Degree in Seventy and two years, goes backwards seven Degrees in 504 years: count backwards those years from the 316th year of _Nabonassar_, and the _Argonautic_ Expedition will fall upon the 44th year after the death of _Solomon_, or thereabout, as above. And thus you see the truth of what we cited above out of _Achilles Tatius_; viz. that some anciently placed the Solstice in the eighth Degree of _Cancer_, others about the twelfth Degree, and others about the fifteenth Degree thereof. _Hipparchus_ the great Astronomer, comparing his own Observations with those of former Astronomers, concluded first of any man, that the Equinoxes had a motion backwards in respect of the fixt Stars: and his opinion was, that they went backwards one Degree in about an hundred years. He made his observations of the Equinoxes between the years of _Nabonassar_ 586 and 618: the middle year is 602, which is 286 years after the aforesaid observation of _Meton_ and _Euctemon_; and in these years the Equinox must have gone backwards four degrees, and so have been in the fourth Degree of _Aries_ in the days of _Hipparchus_, and by consequence have then gone back eleven Degrees since the _Argonautic_ Expedition; that is, in 1090 years, according to the Chronology of the ancient _Greeks_ then in use: and this is after the rate of about 99 years, or in the next round number an hundred years to a Degree, as was then stated by _Hipparchus_. But it really went back a Degree in seventy and two years, and eleven Degrees in 792 years: count these 792 years backward from the year of _Nabonassar,_ 602, the year from which we counted the 286 years, and the reckoning will place the _Argonautic_ Expedition about 43 years after the death of _Solomon_. The _Greeks_ have therefore made the _Argonautic_ Expedition about three hundred years ancienter than the truth, and thereby given occasion to the opinion of the great _Hipparchus_, that the Equinox went backward after the rate of only a Degree in an hundred years. _Hesiod_ tells us that sixty days after the winter Solstice the Star _Arcturus_ rose just at Sunset: and thence it follows that _Hesiod_ flourished about an hundred years after the death of _Solomon_, or in the Generation or Age next after the _Trojan_ war, as _Hesiod_ himself declares. From all these circumstances, grounded upon the coarse observations of the ancient Astronomers, we may reckon it certain that the _Argonautic_ Expedition was not earlier than the Reign of _Solomon_: and if these Astronomical arguments be added to the former arguments taken from the mean length of the Reigns of Kings, according to the course of nature; from them all we may safely conclude that the _Argonautic_ Expedition was after the death of _Solomon_, and most probably that it was about 43 years after it. The _Trojan_ War was one Generation later than that Expedition, as was said above, several Captains of the _Greeks_ in that war being sons of the _Argonauts_: and the ancient _Greeks_ reckoned _Memnon_ or _Amenophis_, King of _Egypt_, to have Reigned in the times of that war, feigning him to be the son of _Tithonus_ the elder brother of _Priam_, and in the end of that war to have come from _Susa_ to the assistance of _Priam_. _Amenophis_ was therefore of the same age with the elder children of _Priam_, and was with his army at _Susa_ in the last year of that war: and after he had there finished the _Memnonia_, he might return into _Egypt_, and adorn it with Buildings, and Obelisks, and Statues, and die there about 90 or 95 years after the death of _Solomon_; when he had determined and settled the beginning of the new _Egyptian_ year of 365 days upon the Vernal Equinox, so as to deserve the Monument above-mentioned in memory thereof. _Rehoboam_ was born in the last year of King _David_, being 41 years old at the Death of _Solomon_, 1 _Kings_ xiv. 21. and therefore his father _Solomon_ was probably born in the 18th year of King _David's_ Reign, or before: and two or three years before his Birth, _David_ besieged _Rabbah_ the Metropolis of the _Ammonites_, and committed adultery with _Bathsheba_: and the year before this siege began, _David_ vanquished the _Ammonites_, and their Confederates the _Syrians_ of _Zobah_, and _Rehob_, and _Ishtob_, and _Maacah_, and _Damascus_, and extended his Dominion over all these Nations as far as to the entring in of _Hamath_ and the River _Euphrates_: and before this war began he smote _Moab_, and _Ammon_, and _Edom_, and made the _Edomites_ fly, some of them into _Egypt_ with their King _Hadad_, then a little child; and others to the _Philistims_, where they fortified _Azoth_ against _Israel_; and others, I think, to the _Persian Gulph_, and other places whither they could escape: and before this he had several Battles with the _Philistims_: and all this was after the eighth year of his Reign, in which he came from _Hebron_ to _Jerusalem_. We cannot err therefore above two or three years, if we place this Victory over _Edom_ in the eleventh or twelfth year of his Reign; and that over _Ammon_ and the _Syrians_ in the fourteenth. After the flight of _Edom_, the King of _Edom_ grew up, and married _Tahaphenes_ or _Daphnis_, the sister of _Pharaoh_'s Queen, and before the Death of _David_ had by her a son called _Genubah_, and this son was brought up among the children of _Pharaoh_: and among these children was the chief or _first born of her mother's children_, whom _Solomon_ married in the beginning of his Reign; and her _little sister who_ at that time _had no breasts_, and her _brother who_ then _sucked the breasts of his mother_, _Cant._ vi. 9. and viii. 1, 8: and of about the same Age with these children was _Sesac_ or _Sesostris_; for he became King of _Egypt_ in the Reign of _Solomon_, 1 _Kings_ xi. 40; and before he began to Reign he warred under his father, and whilst he was very young, conquered _Arabia_, _Troglodytica_ and _Libya_, and then invaded _Ethiopia_; and succeeding his father Reigned 'till the fifth year of _Asa_: and therefore he was of about the same age with the children of _Pharaoh_ above-mentioned; and might be one of them, and be born near the end of _David_'s Reign, and be about 46 years old when he came out of _Egypt_ with a great Army to invade the East: and by reason of his great Conquests, he was celebrated in several Nations by several Names. The _Chaldæans_ called him _Belus_, which in their Language signified _the Lord_: the _Arabians_ called him _Bacchus_, which in their Language signified _the great_: the _Phrygians_ and _Thracians_ called him _Ma-fors_, _Mavors_, _Mars_, which signified _the valiant_: and thence the _Amazons_, whom he carried from _Thrace_ and left at _Thermodon_, called themselves the daughters of _Mars_. The _Egyptians_ before his Reign called him their _Hero_ or _Hercules_; and after his death, by reason of his great works done to the River _Nile_, dedicated that River to him, and Deified him by its names _Sihor_, _Nilus_ and _Ægyptus_; and the _Greeks_ hearing them lament _0 Sihor, Bou Sihor_, called him _Osiris_ and _Busiris_. _Arrian_ [82] tells us that the _Arabians_ worshipped, only two Gods, _Cœlus_ and _Dionysus_; and that they worshipped _Dionysus_ for the glory of leading his Army into _India_. The _Dionysus_ of the _Arabians_ was _Bacchus_, and all agree that _Bacchus_ was the same King of _Egypt_ with _Osiris_: and the _Cœlus_, or _Uranus_, or _Jupiter Uranius_ of the _Arabians_, I take to be the same King of _Egypt_ with His father _Ammon_, according to the Poet: _Quamvis Æthiopum populis, Arabumque beatis_ _Gentibus, atque Indis unus sit Jupiter Ammon._ I place the end of the Reign of _Sesac_ upon the fifth year of _Asa_, because in that year _Asa_ became free from the Dominion of _Egypt_, so as to be able to fortify _Judæa_, and raise that great Army with which he met _Zerah_, and routed him. _Osiris_ was therefore slain in the fifth year of _Asa_, by his brother _Japetus_, whom the _Egyptians_ called _Typhon_, _Python_, and _Neptune_: and then the _Libyans_, under _Japetus_ and his son _Atlas_, invaded _Egypt_, and raised that famous war between the Gods and Giants, from whence the _Nile_ had the name of _Eridanus_: but _Orus_ the son of _Osiris_, by the assistance of the _Ethiopians_, prevailed, and Reigned 'till the 15th year of _Asa_: and then the _Ethiopians_ under _Zerah_ invaded _Egypt_, drowned _Orus_ in _Eridanus_, and were routed by _Asa_, so that _Zerah_ could not recover himself. _Zerah_ was succeeded by _Amenophis_, a youth of the Royal Family of the _Ethiopians_, and I think the son of _Zerah_: but the People of the lower _Egypt_ revolted from him, and set up _Osarsiphus_ over them, and called to their assistance a great body of men from _Phœnicia_, I think a part of the Army of _Asa_; and thereupon _Amenophis_, with the remains of his father's Army of _Ethiopians_, retired from the lower _Egypt_ to _Memphis_, and there turned the River _Nile_ into a new channel, under a new bridge which he built between two Mountains; and at the same time he built and fortified that City against _Osarsiphus_, calling it by his own name, _Amenoph_ or _Memphis_: and then he retired into _Ethiopia_, and stayed there thirteen years; and then came back with a great Army, and subdued the lower _Egypt_, expelling the People which had been called in from _Phœnicia_: and this I take to be the second expulsion of the Shepherds. Dr. _Castel_ [83] tells us, that in _Coptic_ this City is called _Manphtha_; whence by contraction came its Names _Moph_, _Noph_. While _Amenophis_ staid in _Ethiopia_, _Egypt_ was in its greatest distraction: and then it was, as I conceive, that the _Greeks_ hearing thereof contrived the _Argonautic_ Expedition, and sent the flower of _Greece_ in the Ship _Argo_ to persuade the Nations upon the Sea Coasts of the _Euxine_ and _Mediterranean Seas_ to revolt from _Egypt_, and set up for themselves, as the _Libyans_, _Ethiopians_ and _Jews_ had done before. And this is a further argument for placing that Expedition about 43 years after the Death of _Solomon_; this Period being in the middle of the distraction of _Egypt_. _Amenophis_ might return from _Ethiopia_, and conquer the lower _Egypt_ about eight years after that Expedition, and having settled his Government over it, he might, for putting a stop to the revolting of the eastern Nations, lead his Army into _Persia_, and leave _Proteus_ at _Memphis_ to govern _Egypt_ in his absence, and stay some time at _Susa_, and build the _Memnonia_, fortifying that City, as the Metropolis of his Dominion in those parts. _Androgeus_ the son of _Minos_, upon his overcoming in the _Athenæa_, or quadrennial Games at _Athens_ in his youth, was perfidiously slain out of envy: and _Minos_ thereupon made war upon the _Athenians_, and compelled them to send every eighth year to _Crete_ seven beardless Youths, and as many young Virgins, to be given as a reward to him that should get the Victory in the like Games instituted in _Crete_ in honour of _Androgeus_. These Games seem to have been celebrated in the beginning of the _Octaeteris_, and the _Athenæa_ in the beginning of the _Tetraeteris_, then brought into _Crete_ and _Greece_ by the _Phœnicians_ and upon the third payment of the tribute of children, that is, about seventeen years after the said war was at an end, and about nineteen or twenty years after the death of _Androgeus_, _Theseus_ became Victor, and returned from _Crete_ with _Ariadne_ the daughter of _Minos_; and coming to the Island _Naxus_ or _Dia_, [84] _Ariadne_ was there relinquished by him, and taken up by _Glaucus_, an _Egyptian_ Commander at Sea, and became the mistress of the great _Bacchus_, who at that time returned from _India_ in Triumph; and [85] by him she had two sons, _Phlyas_ and _Eumedon_, who were _Argonauts_. This _Bacchus_ was caught in bed in _Phrygia_ with _Venus_ the mother of _Æneas_, according [86] to _Homer_; just before he came over the _Hellespont_, and invaded _Thrace_; and he married _Ariadne_ the daughter of _Minos_, according to _Hesiod_ [87]: and therefore by the Testimony of both _Homer_ and _Hesiod_, who wrote before the _Greeks_ and _Egyptians_ corrupted their Antiquities, this _Bacchus_ was one Generation older than the _Argonauts_; and so being King of _Egypt_ at the same time with _Sesostris_, they must be one and the same King: for they agree also in their actions; _Bacchus_ invaded _India_ and _Greece_, and after he was routed by the Army of _Perseus_, and the war was composed, the _Greeks_ did him great honours, and built a Temple to him at _Argos_, and called it the Temple of the _Cresian Bacchus_, because _Ariadne_ was buried in it, as _Pausanias_ [88] relates. _Ariadne_ therefore died in the end of the war, just before the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_, that is, in the 14th year of _Rehoboam_: She was taken from _Naxus_ upon the return of _Bacchus_ from _India_, and then became the Mistress of _Bacchus_, and accompanied him in his Triumphs; and therefore the expedition of _Theseus_ to _Crete_, and the death of his father _Ægeus_, was about nine or ten years after the death of _Solomon_. _Theseus_ was then a beardless young man, suppose about 19 or 20 years old, and _Androgeus_ was slain about twenty years before, being then about 20 or 22 years old; and his father _Minos_ might be about 25 years older, and so be born about the middle of _David_'s Reign, and be about 70 years old when he pursued _Dædalus_ into _Sicily_: and _Europa_ and her brother _Cadmus_ might come into _Europe_, two or three years before the birth of _Minos_. _Justin_, in his 18th book, tells us: _A rege Ascaloniorum expugnati Sidonii navibus appulsi Tyron urbem ante annum * * Trojanæ cladis condiderunt_ And _Strabo_, [89] that _Aradus was built by the men who fled from _Zidon__. Hence [90] _Isaiah_ calls _Tyre_ _the daughter of _Zidon_, the inhabitants of the Isle whom the Merchants of _Zidon_ have replenished_: and [91] _Solomon_ in the beginning of his Reign calls the People of _Tyre_ _Zidonians_. _My Servants_, saith he, in a Message to _Hiram_ King of _Tyre_, _shall be with thy Servants, and unto thee will I give hire for thy Servants according to all that thou desirest: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like the _Zidonians__. The new Inhabitants of _Tyre_ had not yet lost the name of _Zidonians_, nor had the old Inhabitants, if there were any considerable number of them, gained the reputation of the new ones for skill in hewing of timber, as they would have done had navigation been long in use at _Tyre_. The Artificers who came from _Zidon_ were not dead, and the flight of the _Zidonians_ was in the Reign of _David_, and by consequence in the beginning of the Reign of _Abibalus_ the father of _Hiram_, and the first King of _Tyre_ mentioned in History. _David_ in the twelfth year of his Reign conquered _Edom_, as above, and made some of the _Edomites_, and chiefly the Merchants and Seamen, fly from the _Red Sea_ to the _Philistims_ upon the _Mediterranean_, where they fortified _Azoth_. For [92] _Stephanus_ tells us: Ταυτην εκτισεν ‛εις των επανελθοντων απ' Ερυθρας θαλασσης Φευγαδων: _One of the Fugitives from the Red Sea built_ Azoth: that is, a Prince of _Edom_, who fled from _David_, fortified _Azoth_ for the _Philistims_ against him. The _Philistims_ were now grown very strong, by the access of the _Edomites_ and Shepherds, and by their assistance invaded and took _Zidon_, that being a town very convenient for the Merchants who fled from the _Red Sea_: and then did the _Zidonians_ fly by Sea to _Tyre_ and _Aradus_, and to other havens in _Asia Minor_, _Greece_, and _Libya_, with which, by means of their trade, they had been acquainted before; the great wars and victories of _David_ their enemy, prompting them to fly by Sea: for [93] they went with a great multitude, not to seek _Europa_ as was pretended, but to seek new Seats, and therefore fled from their enemies: and when some of them fled under _Cadmus_ and his brothers to _Cilicia_, _Asia minor_, and _Greece_; others fled under other Commanders to seek new Seats in _Libya_, and there built many walled towns, as _Nonnus_ [94] affirms: and their leader was also there called _Cadmus_, which word signifies an eastern man, and his wife was called _Sithonis_ a _Zidonian_. Many from those Cities went afterwards with the great _Bacchus_ in his Armies: and by these things, the taking of _Zidon_, and the flight of the _Zidonians_ under _Abibalus_, _Cadmus_, _Cilix_, _Thasus_, _Membliarius_, _Atymnus_, and other Captains, to _Tyre_, _Aradus_, _Cilicia_, _Rhodes_, _Caria_, _Bithynia_, _Phrygia_, _Calliste_, _Thasus_, _Samothrace_, _Crete_, _Greece_ and _Libya_, and the building of _Tyre_ and _Thebes_, and beginning of the Reigns of _Abibalus_ and _Cadmus_ over those Cities, are fixed upon the fifteenth or sixteenth year of _David_'s Reign, or thereabout. By means of these Colonies of _Phœnicians_, the people of _Caria_ learnt sea-affairs, in such small vessels with oars as were then in use, and began to frequent the _Greek Seas_, and people some of the Islands therein, before the Reign of _Minos_: for _Cadmus_, in coming to _Greece_, arrived first at _Rhodes_, an Island upon the borders of _Caria_, and left there a Colony of _Phœnicians_, who sacrificed men to _Saturn_, and the _Telchines_ being repulsed by _Phoroneus_, retired from _Argos_ to _Rhodes_ with _Phorbas_, who purged the Island from Serpents; and _Triopas_, the son of _Phorbas_, carried a Colony from _Rhodes_ to _Caria_, and there possessed himself of a promontory, thence called _Triopium_: and by this and such like Colonies _Caria_ was furnished with Shipping and Seamen, and called [95] _Phœnice_. _Strabo_ and _Herodotus_ [96] tell us, that the _Cares_ were called _Leleges_, and became subject to _Minos_, and lived first in the Islands of the _Greek Seas_, and went thence into _Caria_, a country possest before by some of the _Leleges_ and _Pelasgi_: whence it's probable that when _Lelex_ and _Pelasgus_ came first into _Greece_ to seek new Seats, they left part of their Colonies in _Caria_ and the neighbouring Islands. The _Zidonians_ being still possessed of the trade of the _Mediterranean_, as far westward as _Greece_ and _Libya_, and the trade of the _Red Sea_ being richer; the _Tyrians_ traded on the _Red Sea_ in conjunction with _Solomon_ and the Kings of _Judah_, 'till after the _Trojan_ war; and so also did the Merchants of _Aradus_, _Arvad_, or _Arpad_: for in the _Persian Gulph_ [97] were two Islands called _Tyre_ and _Aradus_, which had Temples like the _Phœnician_; and therefore the _Tyrians_ and _Aradians_ sailed thither, and beyond, to the Coasts of _India_, while the _Zidonians_ frequented the _Mediterranean_: and hence it is that _Homer_ celebrates _Zidon_, and makes no mention of _Tyre_. But at length, [98] in the Reign of _Jehoram_ King of _Judah_, _Edom_ revolted from the Dominion of _Judah_, and made themselves a King; and the trade of _Judah_ and _Tyre_ upon the _Red Sea_ being thereby interrupted, the _Tyrians_ built ships for merchandise upon the _Mediterranean_, and began there to make long Voyages to places not yet frequented by the _Zidonians_; some of them going to the coasts of _Afric_ beyond the _Syrtes_, and building _Adrymetum_, _Carthage_, _Leptis_, _Utica_, and _Capsa_; and others going to the Coasts of _Spain_, and building _Carteia_, _Gades_ and _Tartessus_; and others going further to the _Fortunate Islands_, and to _Britain_ and _Thule_. _Jehoram_ Reigned eight years, and the two last years was sick in his bowels, and before that sickness _Edom_ revolted, because of _Jehoram_'s wicked Reign: if we place that revolt about the middle of the first six years, it will fall upon the fifth year of _Pygmalion_ King of _Tyre_, and so was about twelve or fifteen years after the taking of _Troy_: and then, by reason of this revolt, the _Tyrians_ retired from the _Red Sea_, and began long Voyages upon the _Mediterranean_; for in the seventh year of _Pygmalion_, his Sister _Dido_ sailed to the Coast of _Afric_ beyond the _Syrtes_, and there built _Carthage_. This retiring of the _Tyrians_ from the _Red Sea_ to make long Voyages on the _Mediterranean_, together with the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_ to the _Philistims_, gave occasion to the tradition both of the ancient _Persians_, and of the _Phœnicians_ themselves, that the _Phœnicians_ came originally from the _Red Sea_ to the coasts of the _Mediterranean_, and presently undertook long Voyages, as _Herodotus_ [99] relates: for _Herodotus_, in the beginning of his first book, relates that the _Phœnicians_ coming from the _Red Sea_ to the _Mediterranean_, and beginning to make long Voyages with _Egyptian_ and _Assyrian_ wares, among other places came to _Argos_, and having sold their wares, seized and carried away into _Egypt_ some of the _Grecian_ women who came to buy them; and amongst those women was _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_. The _Phœnicians_ therefore came from the _Red Sea_, in the days of _Io_ and her brother _Phoroneus_ King of _Argos_, and by consequence at that time when _David_ conquered the _Edomites_, and made them fly every way from the _Red Sea_; some into _Egypt_ with their young King, and others to the _Philistims_ their next neighbours and the enemies of _David_. And this flight gave occasion to the _Philistims_ to call many places _Erythra_, in memory of their being _Erythreans_ or _Edomites_, and of their coming from the _Erythrean_ Sea; for _Erythra_ was the name of a City in _Ionia_, of another in _Libya_, of another in _Locris_, of another in _Bœotia_, of another in _Cyprus_, of another in _Ætolia_, of another in _Asia_ near _Chius_; and _Erythia Acra_ was a promontory in _Libya_, and _Erythræum_ a promontory in _Crete_, and _Erythros_ a place near _Tybur_, and _Erythini_ a City or Country in _Paphlagonia_: and the name _Erythea_ or _Erythræ_ was given to the Island _Gades_, peopled by _Phœnicians_. So _Solinus_, [100] _In capite Bæticæ insula a continenti septingentis passibus memoratur quam Tyrii a rubro mari profecti Erytheam, Pœni sua lingua Gadir, id est sepem nominarunt._ And _Pliny_, [101] concerning a little Island near it; _Erythia dicta est quoniam Tyrii Aborigines eorum, orti ab Erythræo mari ferebantur._ Among the _Phœnicians_ who came with _Cadmus_ into _Greece_, there were [102] _Arabians_, and [103] _Erythreans_ or Inhabitants of the _Red Sea_, that is _Edomites_; and in _Thrace_ there settled a People who were circumcised and called _Odomantes_, that is, as some think, _Edomites_. _Edom_, _Erythra_ and _Phœnicia_ are names of the same signification, the words denoting a red colour: which makes it probable that the _Erythreans_ who fled from _David_, settled in great numbers in _Phœnicia_, that is, in all the Sea-coasts of _Syria_ from _Egypt_ to _Zidon_; and by calling themselves _Phœnicians_ in the language of _Syria_, instead of _Erythreans_, gave the name of _Phœnicia_ to all that Sea-coast, and to that only. So _Strabo_: [104] ‛Οι μεν γαρ και τους Φοινικας, και τους Σιδονιους τους καθ' ‛ημας αποικους ειναι των εν τωι Ωκεανωι φασι, προστιθεντες και δια τι Φοινικες εκαλουντο, ‛οτι και ‛η θαλαττα ερυθρα. _Alii referunt Phœnices & Sidonios nostros esse colonos eorum qui sunt in Oceano, addentes illos ideo vocari Phœnices _[puniceos]_ quod mare rubrum sit._ _Strabo_ [105] mentioning the first men who left the Sea-coasts, and ventured out into the deep, and undertook long Voyages, names _Bacchus_, _Hercules_, _Jason_, _Ulysses_ and _Menelaus_; and saith that the Dominion of _Minos_ over the Sea was celebrated, and the Navigation of the _Phœnicians_ who went beyond the Pillars of _Hercules_, and built Cities there, and in the middle of the Sea-coasts of _Afric_, presently after the war of _Troy_. These _Phœnicians_ [106] were the _Tyrians_, who at that time built _Carthage_ in _Afric_, and _Carteia_ in _Spain_, and _Gades_ in the Island of that name without the _Straights_; and gave the name of _Hercules_ to their chief Leader, because of his labours and success, and that of _Heraclea_ to the city _Carteia_ which he built. So _Strabo_: [107] Εκπλεουσιν ουν εκ της ‛ημετερας θαλαττης εις την εξω, δεξιον εστι τουτο· και προς αυτο Καλπη [Καρτηια] [108] πολις εν τετταρακοντα σταδιοις αξιολογος και παλαια, ναυσταθμον ποτε γενομενη των Ιβηρων· ενιοι δε και Ηρακλεους κτισμα λεγουσιν αυτην, ‛ων εστι και Τιμοσθενης· ‛ος Φησι και Ηρακλειαν ονομαζεσθαι το παλαιον· δεικνυσθαι τε μεγαν περιβολον, και νεωσοικους. _Mons Calpe ad dextram est e nostro mari foras navigantibus, & ad quadraginta inde stadia urbs Carteia vetusta ac memorabilis, olim statio navibus Hispanorum. Hanc ab Hercule quidam conditam aiunt, inter quos est Timosthenes, qui eam antiquitus Heracleam fuisse appellatam refert, ostendique adhuc magnum murorum circuitum & navalia._ This _Hercules_, in memory of his building and Reigning over the City _Carteia_, they called also _Melcartus_, the King of _Carteia_. _Bochart_ [109] writes, that _Carteia_ was at first called _Melcarteia_, from its founder _Melcartus_, and by an _Aphæresis_, _Carteia_; and that _Melcartus_ signifies _Melec Kartha_, the King of the city, that is, saith he, of the city _Tyre_: but considering that no ancient Author tells us, that _Carteia_ was ever called _Melcarteia_, or that _Melcartus_ was King of _Tyre_; I had rather say that _Melcartus_, or _Melecartus_, had his name from being the Founder and Governor or Prince of the city _Carteia_. Under _Melcartus_ the _Tyrians_ sailed as far as _Tartessus_ or _Tarshish_, a place in the Western part of _Spain_, between the two mouths of the river _Bœtis_, and there they [110] met with much silver, which they purchased for trifles: they sailed also as far as _Britain_ before the death of _Melcartus_; for [111] _Pliny_ tells us, _Plumbum ex Cassiteride insula primus apportavit Midacritus_: And _Bochart_ [112] observes that _Midacritus_ is a _Greek_ name corruptly written for _Melcartus_; _Britain_ being unknown to the _Greeks_ long after it was discovered by the _Phœnicians_. After the death of _Melcartus_, they [113] built a Temple to him in the Island _Gades_, and adorned it with the sculptures of the labours of _Hercules_, and of his _Hydra_, and the Horses to whom he threw _Diomedes_, King of the _Bistones_ in _Thrace_, to be devoured. In this Temple was the golden Belt of _Teucer_, and the golden Olive of _Pygmalion_ bearing _Smaragdine_ fruit: and by these consecrated gifts of _Teucer_ and _Pygmalion_, you may know that it was built in their days. _Pomponius_ derives it from the times of the _Trojan_ war; for _Teucer_, seven years after that war, according to the Marbles, arrived at _Cyprus_, being banished from home by his father _Telamon_, and there built _Salamis_: and he and his Posterity Reigned there 'till _Evagoras_, the last of them, was conquered by the _Persians_, in the twelfth year of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_. Certainly this _Tyrian Hercules_ could be no older than the _Trojan_ war, because the _Tyrians_ did not begin to navigate the _Mediterranean_ 'till after that war: for _Homer_ and _Hesiod_ knew nothing of this navigation, and the _Tyrian Hercules_ went to the coasts of _Spain_, and was buried in _Gades_: so _Arnobius_ [114]; _Tyrius Hercules sepultus in finibus Hispaniæ_: and _Mela_, speaking of the Temple of _Hercules_ in _Gades_, saith, _Cur sanctum sit ossa ejus ibi sepulta efficiunt_. _Carthage_ [115] paid tenths to this _Hercules_, and sent their payments yearly to _Tyre_: and thence it's probable that this _Hercules_ went to the coast of _Afric_, as well as to that of _Spain_, and by his discoveries prepared the way to _Dido_: _Orosius_ [116] and others tell us that he built _Capsa_ there. _Josephus_ tells of an earlier _Hercules_, to whom _Hiram_ built a Temple at _Tyre_: and perhaps there might be also an earlier _Hercules_ of _Tyre_, who set on foot their trade on the _Red Sea_ in the days of _David_ or _Solomon_. _Tatian_, in his book against the _Greeks_, relates, that amongst the _Phœnicians_ flourished three ancient Historians, _Theodotus_, _Hysicrates_ and _Mochus_, _who all of them delivered in their histories, translated into _Greek_ by _Latus_, under which of the Kings happened the rapture of _Europa_; the voyage of _Menelaus_ into _Phœnicia_; and the league and friendship between _Solomon_ and _Hiram_, when _Hiram_ gave his daughter to _Solomon_, and furnished him with timber for building the Temple: and that the same is affirmed by _Menander_ of _Pergamus__. _Josephus_ [117] lets us know that the Annals of the _Tyrians_, from the days of _Abibalus_ and _Hiram_, Kings of _Tyre_, were extant in his days; and that _Menander_ of _Pergamus_ translated them into _Greek_, and that _Hiram_'s friendship to _Solomon_, and assistance in building the Temple, was mentioned in them; and that the Temple was founded in the eleventh year of _Hiram_: and by the testimony of _Menander_ and the ancient _Phœnician_ historians, the rapture of _Europa_, and by consequence the coming of her brother _Cadmus_ into _Greece_, happened within the time of the Reigns of the Kings of _Tyre_ delivered in these histories; and therefore not before the Reign of _Abibalus_, the first of them, nor before the Reign of King _David_ his contemporary. The voyage of _Menelaus_ might be after the destruction of _Troy_. _Solomon_ therefore Reigned in the times between the raptures of _Europa_ and _Helena_, and _Europa_ and her brother _Cadmus_ flourished in the days or _David_. _Minos_, the son of _Europa_, flourished in the Reign of _Solomon_, and part of the Reign of _Rehoboam_: and the children of _Minos_, namely _Androgeus_ his eldest son, _Deucalion_ his youngest son and one of the _Argonauts_, _Ariadne_ the mistress of _Theseus_ and _Bacchus_, and _Phædra_ the wife of _Theseus_; flourished in the latter end of _Solomon_, and in the Reigns of _Rehoboam_, _Abijah_ and _Asa_: and _Idomeneus_, the grandson of _Minos_, was at the war of _Troy_: and _Hiram_ succeeded his father _Abibalus_, in the three and twentieth year of _David_: and _Abibalus_ might found the Kingdom of _Tyre_ about sixteen or eighteen years before, when _Zidon_ was taken by the _Philistims_; and the _Zidonians_ fled from thence, under the conduct of _Cadmus_ and other commanders, to seek new seats. Thus by the Annals of _Tyre_, and the ancient _Phœnician_ Historians who followed them, _Abibalus_, _Alymnus_, _Cadmus_, and _Europa_ fled from _Zidon_ about the sixteenth year of _David_'s Reign: and the _Argonautic_ Expedition being later by about three Generations, will be about three hundred years later than where the _Greeks_ have placed it. After Navigation in long ships with sails, and one order of oars, had been propagated from _Egypt_ to _Phœnicia_ and _Greece_, and thereby the _Zidonians_ had extended their trade to _Greece_, and carried it on about an hundred and fifty years; and then the _Tyrians_ being driven from the _Red Sea_ by the _Edomites_, had begun a new trade on the _Mediterranean_ with _Spain_, _Afric_, _Britain_, and other remote nations; they carried it on about an hundred and sixty years; and then the _Corinthians_ began to improve Navigation, by building bigger ships with three orders of oars, called _Triremes_. For [118] _Thucydides_ tells us that the _Corinthians_ were the first of the _Greeks_ who built such ships, and that a ship-carpenter of _Corinth_ went thence to _Samos_, about 300 years before the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and built also four ships for the _Samians_; and that 260 years before the end of that war, that is, about the 29th Olympiad, there was a fight at sea between the _Corinthians_ and the _Corcyreans_ which was the oldest sea-fight mentioned in history. _Thucydides_ tells us further, that the first colony which the _Greeks_ sent into _Sicily_, came from _Chalcis_ in _Eubœa_, under the conduct of _Thucles_, and built _Naxus_; and the next year _Archias_ came from _Corinth_ with a colony, and built _Syracuse_; and that _Lamis_ came about the same time into _Sicily_, with a colony from _Megara_ in _Achaia_, and lived first at _Trotilum_, and then at _Leontini_, and died at _Thapsus_ near _Syracuse_; and that after his death, this colony was invited by _Hyblo_ to _Megara_ in _Sicily_, and lived there 245 years, and was then expelled by _Gelo_ King of _Sicily_. Now _Gelo_ flourished about 78 years before the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war: count backwards the 78 and the 245 years, and about 12 years more for the Reign of _Lamis_ in _Sicily_, and the reckoning will place the building of _Syracuse_ about 335 years before the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, or in the tenth Olympiad; and about that time _Eusebius_ and others place it: but it might be twenty or thirty years later, the antiquities of those days having been raised more or less by the _Greeks_. From the colonies henceforward sent into _Italy_ and _Sicily_ came the name of _Græcia magna_. _Thucydides_ [119] tells us further, that the _Greeks_ began to come into _Sicily_ almost three hundred years after the _Siculi_ had invaded that Island with an army out of _Italy_: suppose it 280 years after, and the building of _Syracuse_ 310 years before the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war; and that invasion of _Sicily_ by the _Siculi_ will be 590 years before the end of that war, that is, in the 27th year of _Solomon_'s Reign, or thereabout. _Hellanicus_ [120] tells us, that it was in the third Generation before the _Trojan_ war; and in the 26th year of the Priesthood of _Alcinoe_, Priestess of _Juno Argiva_: and _Philistius_ of _Syracuse_, that it was 80 years before the _Trojan_ war: whence it follows that the _Trojan_ war and _Argonautic_ Expedition were later than the days of _Solomon_ and _Rehoboam_, and could not be much earlier than where we have placed them. The Kingdom of _Macedon_ [121] was founded by _Caranus_ and _Perdiccas_, who being of the Race of _Temenus_ King of _Argos_, fled from _Argos_ in the Reign of _Phidon_ the brother of _Caranus_. _Temenus_ was one of the three brothers who led the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and shared the conquest among themselves: he obtained _Argos_; and after him, and his son _Cisus_, the Kingdom of _Argos_ became divided among the posterity of _Temenus_, until _Phidon_ reunited it, expelling his kindred. _Phidon_ grew potent, appointed weights and measures in _Peloponnesus_, and coined silver money; and removing the _Pisæans_ and _Eleans_, presided in the Olympic games; but was soon after subdued by the _Eleans_ and _Spartans_. _Herodotus_ [122] reckons that _Perdiccas_ was the first King of _Macedon_; later writers, as _Livy_, _Pausanias_ and _Suidas_, make _Caranus_ the first King: _Justin_ calls _Perdiccas_ the Sucessor of _Caranus_; and _Solinus_ saith that _Perdiccas_ succeeded _Caranus_; and was the first that obtained the name of King. It's probable that _Caranus_ and _Perdiccas_ were contemporaries, and fled about the same time from _Phidon_, and at first erected small principalities in _Macedonia_, which, after the death of _Caranus_, became one under _Perdiccas_. _Herodotus_ [123] tells us, that after _Perdiccas_ Reigned _Aræus_, or _Argæus_, _Philip_, _Æropus_, _Alcetas_, _Amyntas_, and _Alexander_, successively. _Alexander_ was contemporary to _Xerxes_ King of _Persia_, and died _An._ 4. Olymp. 79, and was succeeded by _Perdiccas_, and he by his son _Archelaus_: and _Thucydides_ [124] tells us that there were eight Kings of _Macedon_ before this _Archelaus_: now by reckoning above forty years a-piece to these Kings, Chronologers have made _Phidon_ and _Caranus_ older than the Olympiads; whereas if we should reckon their Reigns at about 18 or 20 years a-piece one with another, the first seven Reigns counted backwards from the death of this _Alexander_, will place the dominion of _Phidon_, and the beginning of the Kingdom of _Macedon_ under _Perdiccas_ and _Caranus_, upon the 46th or 47th Olympiad, or thereabout. It could scarce be earlier, because _Leocides_ the son of _Phidon_, and _Megacles_ the son of _Alcmæon_, at one and the same time courted _Agarista_, the daughter of _Clisthenes_ King of _Sicyon_, as _Herodotus_ [125] tells us; and the _Amphictyons_, by the advice of _Solon_, made _Alcmæon_, and _Clisthenes_, and _Eurolycus_ King of _Thessaly_, commanders of their army, in their war against _Cirrha_; and the _Cirrheans_ were conquered _An._ 2. Olymp. 47. according to the Marbles. _Phidon_ therefore and his brother _Caranus_ were contemporary to _Solon_, _Alcmæon_, _Clisthenes_, and _Eurolycus_, and flourished about the 48th and 49th Olympiads. They were also contemporary in their later days to _Crœsus_; for _Solon_ conversed with _Crœsus_, and _Alcmæon_ entertained and conducted the messengers whom _Crœsus_ sent to consult the Oracle at _Delphi_, _An._ 1. Olymp. 56. according to the Marbles, and was sent for by _Crœsus_, and rewarded with much riches. But the times set down in the Marbles before the _Persian_ Empire began, being collected by reckoning the Reigns of Kings equipollent to Generations, and three Generations to an hundred years or above; and the Reigns of Kings, one with another, being shorter in the proportion of about four to seven; the Chronology set down in the Marbles, until the Conquest of _Media_ by _Cyrus_, _An._ 4, Olymp. 60, will approach the truth much nearer, by shortening the times before that Conquest in the proportion of four to seven. So the _Cirrheans_ were conquered _An._ 2, Olymp. 47, according to the Marbles, that is 54 years before the Conquest of _Media_; and these years being shortened in the proportion of four to seven, become 31 years; which subducted from _An._ 4, Olymp. 60, place the Conquest of _Cirrha_ upon _An._ 1, Olymp. 53: and, by the like correction of the Marbles, _Alcmæon_ entertained and conducted the messengers whom _Crœsus_ sent to consult the Oracle at _Delphi_, _An._ 1, Olymp. 58; that is, four years before the Conquest of _Sardes_ by _Cyrus_: and the Tyranny of _Pisistratus_, which by the Marbles began at _Athens_, _An._ 4, Olymp. 54, by the like correction began _An._ 3, Olymp. 57; and by consequence _Solon_ died _An._ 4, Olymp. 57. This method may be used alone, where other arguments are wanting; but where they are not wanting, the best arguments are to be preferred. _Iphitus_ [126] presided both in the Temple of _Jupiter Olympius_, and in the Olympic Games, and so did his Successors 'till the 26th Olympiad; and so long the victors were rewarded with a _Tripos_: but then the _Pisæans_ getting above the _Eleans_, began to preside, and rewarded the victors with a Crown, and instituted the _Carnea_ to _Apollo_; and continued to preside 'till _Phidon_ interrupted them, that is, 'till about the time of the 49th Olympiad: for [127] in the 48th Olympiad the _Eleans_ entered the country of the _Pisæans_, suspecting their designs, but were prevailed upon to return home quietly; afterwards the _Pisæans_ confederated with several other _Greek_ nations, and made war upon the _Eleans_, and in the end were beaten: in this war I conceive it was that _Phidon_ presided, suppose in the 49th Olympiad; for [128] in the 50th Olympiad, for putting an end to the contentions between the Kings about presiding, two men were chosen by lot out of the city _Elis_ to preside, and their number in the 65th Olympiad was increased to nine, and afterwards to ten; and these judges were called _Hellenodicæ_, judges for or in the name of _Greece_. _Pausanias_ tells us, that the _Eleans_ called in _Phidon_ and together with him celebrated the 8th Olympiad; he should have said the 49th Olympiad; but _Herodotus_ tells us, that _Phidon_ removed the _Eleans_; and both might be true: the _Eleans_ might call in _Phidon_ against the _Pisæans_, and upon overcoming be refused presiding in the Olympic games by _Phidon_, and confederate with the _Spartans_, and by their assistance overthrow the Kingdom of _Phidon_, and recover their ancient right of presiding in the games. _Strabo_ [129] tells us that _Phidon_ was the tenth from _Temenus_; not the tenth King, for between _Cisus_ and _Phidon_ they Reigned not, but the tenth from father to son, including _Temenus_. If 27 years be reckoned to a Generation by the eldest sons, the nine intervals will amount unto 243 years, which counted back from the 48th Olympiad, in which _Phidon_ flourished, will place the Return of the _Heraclides_ about fifty years before the beginning of the Olympiads, as above. But Chronologers reckon about 515 years from the Return of the _Heraclides_ to the 48th Olympiad, and account _Phidon_ the seventh from _Temenus_; which is after the rate of 85 years to a Generation, and therefore not to be admitted. _Cyrus_ took _Babylon_, according to _Ptolomy_'s Canon, nine years before his death, _An. Nabonass._ 209, _An._ 2, Olymp. 60: and he took _Sardes_ a little before, namely _An._ 1, Olymp. 59, as _Scaliger_ collects from _Sosicrates_: _Crœsus_ was then King of _Sardes_, and Reigned fourteen years, and therefore began to Reign _An._ 3, Olymp. 55. After _Solon_ had made laws for the _Athenians_, he obliged them upon oath to observe those laws 'till he returned from his travels; and then travelled ten years, going to _Egypt_ and _Cyprus_, and visiting _Thales_ of _Miletus_: and upon His Return to _Athens_, _Pisistratus_ began to affect the Tyranny of that city, which made _Solon_ travel a second time; and now he was invited by _Crœsus_ to _Sardes_; and _Crœsus_, before _Solon_ visited him, had subdued all _Asia Minor_, as far as to the River _Halys_; and therefore he received that visit towards the latter part of his Reign; and we may place it upon the ninth year thereof, _An._ 3, Olymp. 57: and the legislature of _Solon_ twelve years earlier, _An._ 3, Olymp. 54: and that of _Draco_ still ten years earlier, _An._ 1, Olymp. 52. After _Solon_ had visited _Crœsus_, he went into _Cilicia_ and some other places, and died [130] in his travels: and this was in the second year of the Tyranny of _Pisistratus_. _Comias_ was Archon when _Solon_ returned from his first travels to _Athens_; and the next year _Hegestratus_ was Archon, and _Solon_ died before the end of the year, _An._ 3, Olymp. 57, as above: and by this reckoning the objection of _Plutarch_ above mentioned is removed. We have now shewed that the _Phœnicians_ of _Zidon_, under the conduct of _Cadmus_ and other captains, flying from their enemies, came into _Greece_, with letters and other arts, about the sixteenth year of King _David_'s Reign; that _Europa_ the sister of _Cadmus_, fled some days before him from _Zidon_ and came to _Crete_, and there became the mother of _Minos_, about the 18th or 20th year of _David_'s Reign; that _Sesostris_ and the great _Bacchus_, and by consequence also _Osiris_, were one and the same King of _Egypt_ with _Sesac_, and came out of _Egypt_ in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_ to invade the nations, and died 25 years after _Solomon_; that the _Argonautic_ expedition was about 43 years after the death of _Solomon_; that _Troy_ was taken about 76 or 78 years after the death of _Solomon_; that the _Phœnicians_ of _Tyre_ were driven from the _Red Sea_ by the _Edomites_, about 87 years after the death of _Solomon_, and within two or three years began to make long voyages upon the _Mediterranean_, sailing to _Spain_, and beyond, under a commander whom for his industry, conduct, and discoveries, they honoured with the names of _Melcartus_ and _Hercules_; that the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ was about 158 years after the death of _Solomon_; that _Lycurgus_ the Legislator Reigned at _Sparta_, and gave the three Discs to the Olympic treasury, _An._ 1, Olymp. 18, or 273 years after the death of _Solomon_, the _Quinquertium_ being at that time added to the Olympic Games; that the _Greeks_ began soon after to build _Triremes_, and to send Colonies into _Sicily_ and _Italy_, which gave the name of _Græcia magna_ to those countries; that the first _Messenian_ war ended about 350 years after the death of _Solomon_, _An._ 1, Olymp. 37; that _Phidon_ was contemporary to _Solon_, and presided in the Olympic Games in the 49th Olympiad, that is, 397 years after the death of _Solomon_; that _Draco_ was Archon, and made his laws, _An._ 1, Olymp. 52; and _Solon_, _An._ 3, Olymp. 54; and that _Solon_ visited _Crœsus_ _Ann._ 3, Olymp. 57, or 433 years after the death of _Solomon_; and _Sardes_ was taken by _Cyrus_ 438 years, and _Babylon_ by _Cyrus_ 443 years, and _Echatane_ by _Cyrus_ 445 years after the death of _Solomon_: and these periods being settled, they become a foundation for building the Chronology of the antient times upon them; and nothing more remains for settling such a Chronology, than to make these Periods a little exacter, if it can be, and to shew how the rest of the Antiquities of _Greece_, _Egypt_, _Assyria_, _Chaldæa_, and _Media_ may suit therewith. Whilst _Bacchus_ made his expedition into _India_, _Theseus_ left _Ariadne_ in the Island _Naxus_ or _Dia_, as above, and succeeded his father _Ægeus_ at _Athens_; and upon the Return of _Bacchus_ from _India_, _Ariadne_ became his mistress, and accompanied him in his triumphs; and this was about ten years after the death of _Solomon_: and from that time reigned eight Kings in _Athens_, viz. _Theseus_, _Menestheus_, _Demophoon_, _Oxyntes_, _Aphidas_, _Thymætes_, _Melanthus_, and _Codrus_; these Kings, at 19 years a-piece one with another, might take up about 152 years, and end about 44 years before the Olympiads: then Reigned twelve Archons for life, which at 14 or 15 years a-piece, the State being unstable, might take up about 174 years, and end _An._ 2, Olymp. 33: then reigned seven decennial Archons, which are usually reckoned at seventy years; but some of them dying in their Regency, they might not take up above forty years, and so end about _An._ 2, Olymp. 43, about which time began the Second _Messenian_ war: these decennial Archons were followed by the annual Archons, amongst whom were the Legislators _Draco_ and _Solon_. Soon after the death of _Codrus_, his second Son _Neleus_, not bearing the Reign of his lame brother _Medon_ at _Athens_, retired into _Asia_, and was followed by his younger brothers _Androcles_ and _Cyaretus_, and many others: these had the name of _Ionians_, from _Ion_ the son of _Xuthus_, who commanded the army of the _Athenians_ at the death of _Erechtheus_, and gave the name of _Ionia_ to the country which they invaded: and about 20 or 25 years after the death of _Codrus_, these new Colonies, being now Lords of _Ionia_, set up over themselves a common Council called _Panionium_, and composed of Counsellors sent from twelve of their cities, _Miletus_, _Myus_, _Priene_, _Ephesus_, _Colophon_, _Lebedus_, _Teos_, _Clazomenæ_, _Phocæa_, _Samos_, _Chios_, and _Erythræa_: and this was the _Ionic_ Migration. [131] When the _Greeks_ and _Latines_ were forming their Technical Chronology, there were great disputes about the Antiquity of _Rome_: the _Greeks_ made it much older than the Olympiads: some of them said it was built by _Æneas_; others, by _Romus_, the son or grandson of _Æneas_; others, by _Romus_, the son or grandson of _Latinus_ King of the _Aborigines_; others, by _Romus_ the son of _Ulysses_, or of _Ascanius_, or of _Italus_: and some of the _Latines_ at first fell in with the opinion of the _Greeks_, saying that it was built by _Romulus_, the son or grandson of _Æneas_. _Timæus Siculus_ represented it built by _Romulus_, the grandson of _Æneas_, above an hundred years before the Olympiads; and so did _Nævius_ the Poet, who was twenty years older than _Ennius_, and served in the first _Punic_ war, and wrote the history of that war. Hitherto nothing certain was agreed upon, but about 140 or 150 years after the death of _Alexander the Great_, they began to say that _Rome_ was built a second time by _Romulus_, in the fifteenth Age after the destruction of _Troy_: by Ages they meant Reigns of the Kings of the _Latines_ at _Alba_, and reckoned the first fourteen Reigns at about 432 years, and the following Reigns of the seven Kings of _Rome_ at 244 years, both which numbers made up the time of about 676 years from the taking of _Troy_, according to these Chronologers; but are much too long for the course of nature: and by this reckoning they placed the building of _Rome_ upon the sixth or seventh Olympiad; _Varro_ placed it on the first year of the Seventh Olympiad, and was therein generally followed by the _Romans_; but this can scarce be reconciled to the course of nature: for I do not meet with any instance in all history, since Chronology was certain, wherein seven Kings, most of whom were slain, Reigned 244 years in continual Succession. The fourteen Reigns of the Kings of the _Latines_, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto 280 years, and these years counted from the taking of _Troy_ end in the 38th Olympiad: and the Seven Reigns of the Kings of _Rome_, four or five of them being slain and one deposed, may at a moderate reckoning amount to fifteen or sixteen years a-piece one with another: let them be reckoned at seventeen years a-piece, and they will amount unto 119 years; which being counted backwards from the Regifuge, end also in the 38th Olympiad: and by these two reckonings _Rome_ was built in the 38th Olympiad, or thereabout. The 280 years and the 119 years together make up 399 years; and the same number of years arises by counting the twenty and one Reigns at nineteen years a-piece: and this being the whole time between the taking of _Troy_ and the Regifuge, let these years be counted backward from the Regifuge, _An._ 1, Olymp. 68, and they will place the taking of _Troy_ about 74 years after the death of _Solomon_. When _Sesostris_ returned from _Thrace_ into _Egypt_, he left _Æetes_ with part of his army in _Colchis_, to guard that pass; and _Phryxus_ and his sister _Helle_ fled from _Ino_, the daughter of _Cadmus_, to _Æetes_ soon after, in a ship whose ensign was a golden ram: _Ino_ was therefore alive in the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_, the year in which _Sesostris_ returned into _Egypt_; and by consequence her father _Cadmus_ flourished in the Reign of _David_, and not before. _Cadmus_ was the father of _Polydorus_, the father of _Labdacus_, the father of _Laius_, the father of _Oedipus_, the father of _Eteocles_ and _Polynices_ who slew one another in their youth, in the war of the seven Captains at _Thebes_, about ten or twelve years after the _Argonautic_ Expedition: and _Thersander_, the son of _Polynices_, warred at _Troy_. These Generations being by the eldest sons who married young, if they be reckoned at about twenty and four years to a Generation, will place the birth of _Polydorus_ upon the 18th year of _David_'s Reign, or thereabout: and thus _Cadmus_ might be a young man, not yet married, when he came first into _Greece_. At his first coming he sail'd to _Rhodes_, and thence to _Samothrace_, an Island near _Thrace_ on the north side of _Lemnos_, and there married _Harmonia_, the sister of _Jasius_ and _Dardanus_, which gave occasion to the _Samothracian_ mysteries: and _Polydorus_ might be their son, born a year or two after their coming; and his sister _Europa_ might be then a young woman, in the flower of her age. These Generations cannot well be shorter; and therefore _Cadmus_, and his son _Polydorus_, were not younger than we have reckoned them: nor can they be much longer, without making _Polydorus_ too old to be born in _Europe_, and to be the son of _Harmonia_ the sister of _Jasius_. _Labdacus_ was therefore born in the end of _David_'s Reign, _Laius_ in the 24th year of _Solomon_'s, and _Oedipus_ in the seventh of _Rehoboam_'s, or thereabout: unless you had rather say, that _Polydorus_ was born at _Zidon_, before his father came into _Europe_; but his name _Polydorus_ is in the language of _Greece_. _Polydorus_ married _Nycteis_, the daughter of _Nycteus_ a native of _Greece_, and dying young, left his Kingdom and young son _Labdacus_ under the administration of _Nycteus_. Then _Epopeus_ King of _Ægialus_, afterwards called _Sicyon_, stole _Antiope_ the daughter of _Nycteus_, [132] and _Nycteus_ thereupon made war upon him, and in a battle wherein _Nycteus_ overcame, both were wounded and died soon after. _Nycteus_ left the tuition of _Labdacus_, and administration of the Kingdom, to his brother _Lycus_; and _Epopeus_ or, as _Hyginus_ [133] calls him, _Epaphus_ the _Sicyonian_, left his Kingdom to _Lamedon_, who presently ended the war, by sending home _Antiope_: and she, in returning home, brought forth _Amphion_ and _Zethus_. _Labdacus_ being grown up received the Kingdom from _Lycus_, and soon after dying left it again to his administration, for his young son _Laius_. When _Amphion_ and _Zethus_ were about twenty years old, at the instigation of their mother _Antiope_, they killed _Lycus_, and made _Laius_ flee to _Pelops_, and seized the city _Thebes_, and compassed it with a wall; and _Amphion_ married _Niobe_ the sister of _Pelops_, and by her had several children, amongst whom was _Chloris_, the mother of _Periclymenus_ the _Argonaut_. _Pelops_ was the father of _Plisthenes_, _Atreus_, and _Thyestes_; and _Agamemnon_ and _Menelaus_, the adopted sons of _Atreus_, warred at _Troy_. _Ægisthus_, the son of _Thyestes_, slew _Agamemnon_ the year after the taking of _Troy_; and _Atreus_ died just before _Paris_ stole _Helena_, which, according to [134] _Homer_, was twenty years before the taking of _Troy_. _Deucalion_ the son of _Minos_, [135] was an _Argonaut_; and _Talus_ another son of _Minos_, was slain by the _Argonauts_; and _Idomeneus_ and _Meriones_ the grandsons of _Minos_ were at the _Trojan_ war. All these things confirm the ages of _Cadmus_ and _Europa_, and their posterity, above assigned, and place the death of _Epopeus_ or _Epaphus_ King of _Sicyon_, and birth of _Amphion_ and _Zethus_, upon the tenth year of _Solomon_; and the taking of _Thebes_ by _Amphion_ and _Zethus_, and the flight of _Laius_ to _Pelops_, upon the thirtieth year of that King, or thereabout. _Amphion_ might marry the sister of _Pelops_, the same year, and _Pelops_ come into _Greece_ three or four years before that flight, or about the 26th year of _Solomon_. [Sidenode p: Hygin. Fab. 14.] In the days of _Erechtheus_ King of _Athens_, and _Celeus_ King of _Eleusis_, _Ceres_ came into _Attica_; and educated _Triptolemus_ the son of _Celeus_, and taught him to sow corn. She [136] lay with _Jasion_, or _Jasius_, the brother of _Harmonia_ the wife of _Cadmus_; and presently after her death _Erechtheus_ was slain, in a war between the _Athenians_ and _Eleusinians_; and, for the benefaction of bringing tillage into _Greece_, the _Eleusinia Sacra_ were instituted to her [137] with _Egyptian_ ceremonies, by _Celeus_ and _Eumolpus_; and a Sepulchre or Temple was erected to her in _Eleusine_, and in this Temple the families of _Celeus_ and _Eumolpus_ became her Priests: and this Temple, and that which _Eurydice_ erected to her daughter _Danae_, by the name of _Juno Argiva_, are the first instances that I meet with in _Greece_ of Deifying the dead, with Temples, and Sacred Rites, and Sacrifices, and Initiations, and a succession of Priests to perform them. Now by this history it is manifest that _Erechtheus_, _Celeus_, _Eumolpus_, _Ceres_, _Jasius_, _Cadmus_, _Harmonia_, _Asterius_, and _Dardanus_ the brother of _Jasius_, and one of the founders of the Kingdom of _Troy_, were all contemporary to one another, and flourished in their youth, when _Cadmus_ came first into _Europe_. _Erechtheus_ could not be much older, because his daughter _Procris_ convers'd with _Minos_ King of _Crete_; and his grandson _Thespis_ had fifty daughters, who lay with _Hercules_; and his daughter _Orithyia_ was the mother of _Calais_ and _Zetes_, two of the _Argonauts_ in their youth; and his son _Orneus_ [138] was the father of _Peteos_ the father of _Menestheus_, who warred at _Troy_: nor much younger, because his second son _Pandion_, who with the _Metionides_ deposed his elder brother _Cecrops_, was the father of _Ægeus_, the father of _Theseus_; and _Metion_, another of his sons, was the father of _Eupalamus_, the father of _Dædalus_, who was older than _Theseus_; and his daughter _Creusa_ married _Xuthus_, the son of _Hellen_, and by him had two sons, _Achæus_ and _Ion_; and _Ion_ commanded the army of the _Athenians_ against the _Eleusinians_, in the battle in which his grandfather _Erechtheus_ was slain: and this was just before the institution of the _Eleusinia Sacra_, and before the Reign of _Pandion_ the father of _Ægeus_. _Erechtheus_ being an _Egyptian_ procured corn from _Egypt_, and for that benefaction was made King of _Athens_; and near the beginning of his Reign _Ceres_ came into _Attica_ from _Sicily_, in quest of her daughter _Proserpina_. We cannot err much if we make _Hellen_ contemporary to the Reign of _Saul_, and to that of _David_ at _Hebron_; and place the beginning of the Reign of _Erechtheus_ in the 25th year, the coming of _Ceres_ into _Attica_ in the 30th year, and the dispersion of corn by _Triptolemus_ about the 40th year of _David_'s Reign; and the death of _Ceres_ and _Erechtheus_, and institution of the _Eleusinia Sacra_, between the tenth and fifteenth year of _Solomon_. _Teucer_, _Dardanus_, _Erichthonius_, _Tros_, _Ilus_, _Laomedon_, and _Priamus_ Reigned successively at _Troy_; and their Reigns, at about twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto an hundred and forty years: which counted back from the taking of _Troy_, place the beginning of the Reign of _Teucer_ about the fifteenth year of the Reign of King _David_; and that of _Dardanus_, in the days of _Ceres_, who lay with _Jasius_ the brother of _Dardanus_: whereas Chronologers reckon that the six last of these Kings Reigned 296 years, which is after the rate of 49⅓ years a-piece one with another; and that they began their Reign in the days of _Moses_. _Dardanus_ married the daughter of _Teucer_, the Son of _Scamander_, and succeeded him: whence _Teucer_ was of about the same age with _David_. Upon the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_, his brother _Danaus_ not only attempted his life, as above, but also commanded his daughters, who were fifty in number and had married the sons of _Sesostris_, to slay their husbands; and then fled with his daughters from _Egypt_, in a long ship of fifty oars. This Flight was in the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_. _Danaus_ came first to _Lindus_, a town in _Rhodes_, and there built a Temple, and erected a Statue to _Minerva_, and lost three of his daughters by a plague which raged there; and then sailed thence with the rest of his daughters to _Argos_. He came to _Argos_ therefore in the fifteenth or sixteenth year of _Rehoboam_: and at length contending there with _Gelanor_ the brother of _Eurystheus_ for the crown of _Argos_, was chosen by the people, and Reigned at _Argos_, while _Eurystheus_ Reigned at _Mycenæ_; and _Eurystheus_ was born [139] the same year with _Hercules_. _Gelanor_ and _Eurystheus_ were the sons of _Sthenelus_, by _Nicippe_ the daughter of _Pelops_; and _Sthenelus_ was the son of _Perseus_, and Reigned at _Argos_, and _Danaus_, who succeeded him at _Argos_, was succeeded there by his son in law _Lynceus_, and he by his son _Abas_; that _Abas_ who is commonly, but erroneously, reputed the father of _Acrisius_ and _Prætus_. In the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition _Castor_ and _Pollux_ were beardless young men, and their sisters _Helena_ and _Clytemnestra_ were children, and their wives _Phœbe_ and _Ilaira_ were also very young: all these, with the _Argonauts_ _Lynceus_ and _Idas_, were the grandchildren of _Gorgophone_, the daughter of _Perseus_, the son of _Danae_, the daughter of _Acrisius_ and _Eurydice_; and _Perieres_ and _Oebalus_, the husbands of _Gorgophone_, were the sons of _Cynortes_, the son of _Amyclas_, the brother of _Eurydice_. _Mestor_ or _Mastor_, the brother of _Sthenelus_, married _Lysidice_, another of the daughters of _Pelops_: and _Pelops_ married _Hippodamia_, the daughter of _Evarete_, the daughter of _Acrisius_. _Alcmena_, the mother of _Hercules_, was the daughter of _Electryo_; and _Sthenelus_, _Mestor_ and _Electryo_ were brothers of _Gorgophone_, and sons of _Perseus_ and _Andromeda_: and the _Argonaut_ _Æsculapius_ was the grandson of _Leucippus_ and _Phlegia_, and _Leucippus_ was the son of _Perieres_, the grandson of _Amyclas_ the brother of _Eurydice_, and _Amyclas_ and _Eurydice_ were the children of _Lacedæmon_ and _Sparta_: and _Capaneus_, one of the seven Captains against _Thebes_, was the husband of _Euadne_ the daughter of _Iphis_, the son of _Elector_, the son of _Anaxagoras_, the son of _Megapenthes_, the son of _Prætus_ the brother of _Acrisius_. Now from these Generations it may be gathered that _Perseus_, _Perieres_ and _Anaxagoras_ were of about the same age with _Minos_, _Pelops_, _Ægeus_ and _Sesac_; and that _Acrisius_, _Prætus_, _Eurydice_, and _Amyclas_, being two little Generations older, were of about the same age with King _David_ and _Erechtheus_; and that the Temple of _Juno Argiva_ was built about the same time with the Temple of _Solomon_; the same being built by _Eurydice_ to her daughter _Danae_, as above; or as some say, by _Pirasus_ or _Piranthus_, the son or successor of _Argus_, and great grandson of _Phoroneus_: for the first Priestess of that Goddess was _Callithea_ the daughter of _Piranthus_; _Callithea_ was succeeded by _Alcinoe_, about three Generations before the taking of _Troy_, that is about the middle of _Solomon_'s Reign: in her Priesthood the _Siculi_ passed out of _Italy_ into _Sicily_: afterwards _Hypermnestra_ the daughter of _Danaus_ became Priestess of this Goddess, and she flourished in the times next before the _Argonautic_ expedition: and _Admeta_, the daughter of _Eurystheus_, was Priestess of this _Juno_ about the times of the _Trojan_ war. _Andromeda_ the wife of _Perseus_, was the daughter of _Cepheus_ an _Egyptian_, the son of _Belus_, according to [140] _Herodotus_; and the _Egyptian_ _Belus_ was _Ammon_: _Perseus_ took her from _Joppa_, where _Cepheus_, I think a kinsman of _Solomon_'s Queen, resided in the days of _Solomon_. _Acrisius_ and _Prætus_ were the sons of _Abas_: but this _Abas_ was not the same man with _Abas_ the grandson of _Danaus_, but a much older Prince, who built _Abæa_ in _Phocis_, and might be the Prince from whom the island _Eubœa_ [141] was anciently called _Abantis_, and the people thereof _Abantes_: for _Apollonius Rhodius_ [142] tells us, that the _Argonaut_ _Canthus_ was the son of _Canethus_, and that _Canethus_ was of the posterity of _Abas_; and the Commentator upon _Apollonius_ tells us further, that from this _Abas_ the inhabitants of _Eubœa_ were anciently called _Abantes_. This _Abas_ therefore flourished three or four Generations before the _Argonautic_ expedition, and so might be the father of _Acrisius_: the ancestors of _Acrisius_ were accounted _Egyptians_ by the _Greeks_, and they might come from _Egypt_ under _Abas_ into _Eubœa_, and from thence into _Peloponnesus_. I do not reckon _Phorbas_ and his son _Triopas_ among the Kings of _Argos_, because they fled from that Kingdom to the Island _Rhodes_; nor do I reckon _Crotopus_ among them, because because he went from _Argos_, and built a new city for himself in _Megaris_, as [143] _Conon_ relates. We said that _Pelops_ came into _Greece_ about the 26th year of _Solomon_: he [144] came thither in the days of _Acrisius_, and in those of _Endymion_, and of his sons, and took _Ætolia_ from _Aetolus_. _Endymion_ was the son of _Aëthlius_, the son of _Protogenia_, the sister of _Hellen_, and daughter of _Deucalion_: _Phrixus_ and _Helle_, the children of _Athamus_, the brother of _Sisyphus_ and Son of _Æolus_, the son of _Hellen_, fled from their stepmother _Ino_, the daughter of _Cadmus_, to _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, presently after the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_: and _Jason_ the _Argonaut_ was the son of _Æson_, the son of _Cretheus_, the son of _Æolus_, the son of _Hellen_: and _Calyce_ was the wife of _Aëthlius_, and mother of _Endymion_, and daughter of _Æolus_, and sister of _Cretheus_, _Sisyphus_ and _Athamas_: and by these circumstances _Cretheus_, _Sisyphus_ and _Athamas_ flourished in the latter part of the Reign of _Solomon_, and in the Reign of _Rehoboam_: _Aëthlius_, _Æolus_, _Xuthus_, _Dorus_, _Tantalus_, and _Danae_ were contemporary to _Erechtheus_, _Jasius_ and _Cadmus_; and _Hellen_ was about one, and _Deucalion_ about two Generations older than _Erechtheus_. They could not be much older, because _Xuthus_ the youngest son of _Hellen_ [145] married _Creusa_ the daughter of _Erechtheus_; nor could they be much younger, because _Cephalus_ the son of _Deioneus_, the son of _Æolus_, the eldest son of _Hellen_, [146] married _Procris_ the daughter of _Erechtheus_; and _Procris_ fled from her husband to _Minos_. Upon the death of _Hellen_, his youngest son _Xuthus_ [147] was expelled _Thessaly_ by his brothers _Æolus_ and _Dorus_, and fled to _Erechtheus_, and married _Creusa_ the daughter of _Erechtheus_; by whom he had two sons, _Achæus_ and _Ion_, the youngest of which grew up before the death of _Erechtheus_, and commanded the army of the _Athenians_, in the war in which _Erechtheus_ was slain: and therefore _Hellen_ died about one Generation before _Erechtheus_. _Sisyphus_ therefore built _Corinth_ about the latter end of the Reign of _Solomon_, or the beginning of the Reign of _Rehoboam_. Upon the flight of _Phrixus_ and _Helle_, their father _Athamas_, a little King in _Bœotia_, went distracted and slew his son _Learchus_; and his wife _Ino_ threw her self into the sea, together with her other son _Melicertus_; and thereupon _Sisyphus_ instituted the _Isthmia_ at _Corinth_ to his nephew _Melicertus_. This was presently after _Sesostris_ had left _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, I think in the fifteenth or sixteenth year of _Rehoboam_: so that _Athamas_, the son of _Æolus_ and grandson of _Hellen_, and _Ino_ the daughter of _Cadmus_, flourished 'till about the sixteenth year of _Rehoboam_. _Sisyphus_ and his successors _Ornytion_, _Thoas_, _Demophon_, _Propodas_, _Doridas_, and _Hyanthidas_ Reigned successively at _Corinth_, 'till the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_: then Reigned the _Heraclides_, _Aletes_, _Ixion_, _Agelas_, _Prumnis_, _Bacchis_, _Agelas II_, _Eudamus_, _Aristodemus_, and _Telestes_ successively about 170 years, and then _Corinth_ was governed by _Prytanes_ or annual Archons about 42 years, and after them by _Cypselus_ and _Periander_ about 48 years more. _Celeus_ King of _Eleusis_, who was contemporary to _Erechtheus_, [148] was the son of _Rharus_, the son of _Cranaus_, the successor of _Cecrops_; and in the Reign of _Cranaus_, _Deucalion_ fled with his sons _Hellen_ and _Amphictyon_ from the flood which then overflowed _Thessaly_, and was called _Deucalion_'s flood: they fled into _Attica_, and there _Deucalion_ died soon after; and _Pausanias_ tells us that his Sepulchre was to be seen near _Athens_. His eldest son _Hellen_ succeeded him in _Thessaly_, and his other son _Amphictyon_ married the daughter of _Cranaus_, and Reigning at _Thermopylæ_, erected there the _Amphictyonic_ Council; and _Acrisius_ soon after erected the like Council at _Delphi_. This I conceive was done when _Amphictyon_ and _Acrisius_ were aged, and fit to be Counsellors; suppose in the latter half of the Reign of _David_, and beginning of the Reign of _Solomon_; and soon after, suppose about the middle of the Reign of _Solomon_, did _Phemonoë_ become the first Priestess of _Apollo_ at _Delphi_, and gave Oracles in hexameter verse: and then was _Acrisius_ slain accidentally by his grandson _Perseus_. The Council of _Thermopylæ_ included twelve nations of the _Greeks_, without _Attica_, and therefore _Amphictyon_ did not then Reign at _Athens_: he might endeavour to succeed _Cranaus_, his wife's father, and be prevented by _Erechtheus_. Between the Reigns of _Cranaus_ and _Erechtheus_, Chronologers place also _Erichthonius_, and his son _Pandion_; but I take this _Erichthonius_ and this his son _Pandion_, to be the same with _Erechtheus_ and his son and successor _Pandion_, the names being only repeated with a little variation in the list of the Kings of _Attica_: for _Erichthonius_, he that was the son of the Earth, nursed up by _Minerva_, is by _Homer_ called _Erechtheus_; and _Themistius_ [149] tells us, that it was _Erechtheus_ that first joyned a chariot to horses; and _Plato_ [150] alluding to the story of _Erichthonius_ in a basket, saith, _The people of magnanimous _Erechtheus_ is beautiful, but it behoves us to behold him taken out_: _Erechtheus_ therefore immediately succeeded _Cranaus_, while _Amphictyon_ Reigned at _Thermopylæ_. In the Reign of _Cranaus_ the Poets place the flood of _Deucalion_, and therefore the death of _Deucalion_, and the Reign of his sons _Hellen_ and _Amphictyon_, in _Thessaly_ and _Thermpolyæ_, was but a few years, suppose eight or ten, before the Reign of _Erechtheus_. The first Kings of _Arcadia_ were successively _Pelasgus_, _Lycaon_, _Nyctimus_, _Arcas_, _Clitor_, _Æpytus_, _Aleus_, _Lycurgus_, _Echemus_, _Agapenor_, _Hippothous_, _Æpytus_ II, _Cypselus_, _Olæas_, &c. Under _Cypselus_ the _Heraclides_ returned into _Peloponnesus_, as above: _Agapenor_ was one of those who courted _Helena_; he courted her before he reigned, and afterwards he went to the war at _Troy_, and thence to _Cyprus_, and there built _Paphos_. _Echemus_ slew _Hyllus_ the son of _Hercules._ _Lycurgus_, _Cepheus_, and _Auge_, were [151] the children of _Aleus_, the son of _Aphidas_, the son of _Arcas_, the son of _Callisto_, the daughter of _Lycaon_: _Auge_ lay with _Hercules_, and _Ancæus_ the son of _Lycurgus_ was an _Argonaut_, and his uncle _Cepheus_ was his Governour in that Expedition; and _Lycurgus_ stay'd at home, to look after his aged father _Aleus_, who might be born about 75 years before that Expedition; and his grandfather _Arcas_ might be born about the end of the Reign of _Saul_, and _Lycaon_ the grandfather of _Arcas_ might be then alive, and dye before the middle of _David_'s Reign; and His youngest son _Oenotrus_, the _Janus_ of the _Latines_, might grow up, and lead a colony into _Italy_ before the Reign of _Solomon_. _Arcas_ received [152] bread-corn from _Triptolemus_, and taught his people to make bread of it; and so did _Eumelus_, the first King of a region afterwards called _Achaia_: and therefore _Arcas_ and _Eumelus_ were contemporary to _Triptolemus_, and to his old father _Celeus_, and to _Erechtheus_ King of _Athens_; and _Callisto_ to _Rharus_, and her father _Lycaon_ to _Cranaus_: but _Lycaon_ died before _Cranaus_, so as to leave room for _Deucalion_'s flood between their deaths. The eleven Kings of _Arcadia_, between this Flood and the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, that is, between the Reigns of _Lycaon_ and _Cypselus_, after the rate of about twenty years to a Reign one with another, took up about 220 years; and these years counted back from the Return of the _Heraclides_, place the Flood of _Deucalion_ upon the fourteenth year of _David_'s Reign, or thereabout. _Herodotus_ [153] tells us, that the _Phœnicians_ who came with _Cadmus_ brought many doctrines into _Greece_: for amongst those _Phœnicians_ were a sort of men called _Curetes_, who were skilled in the Arts and Sciences of _Phœnicia_, above other men, and [154] settled some in _Phrygia_, where they were called _Corybantes_; some in _Crete_, where they were called _Idæi Dactyli_; some in _Rhodes_, where they were called _Telchines_; some in _Samothrace_, where they were called _Cabiri_; some in _Eubœa_, where, before the invention of iron, they wrought in copper, in a city thence called _Chalcis_ some in _Lemnos_, where they assisted _Vulcan_; and some in _Imbrus_, and other places: and a considerable number of them settled in _Ætolia_, which was thence called the country of the _Curetes_; until _Ætolus_ the son of _Endymion_, having slain _Apis_ King of _Sicyon_, fled thither, and by the assistance of his father invaded it, and from his own name called it _Ætolia_: and by the assistance of these artificers, _Cadmus_ found out gold in the mountain _Pangæus_ in _Thrace_, and copper at _Thebes_; whence copper ore is still called _Cadmia_. Where they settled they wrought first in copper, 'till iron was invented, and then in iron; and when they had made themselves armour, they danced in it at the sacrifices with tumult and clamour, and bells, and pipes, and drums, and swords, with which they struck upon one another's armour, in musical times, appearing seized with a divine fury; and this is reckoned the original of music in _Greece:_ so _Solinus_ [155] _Studium musicum inde cœptum cum Idæi Dactyli modulos crepitu & tinnitu æris deprehensos in versificum ordinem transtulissent_: and [156] _Isidorus_, _Studium musicum ab Idæis Dactylis cœptum_. _Apollo_ and the Muses were two Generations later. _Clemens_ [157] calls the _Idæi Dactyli_ barbarous, that is strangers; and saith, that they reputed the first wise men, to whom both the letters which they call _Ephesian_, and the invention of musical rhymes are referred: it seems that when the _Phœnician_ letters, ascribed to _Cadmus_, were brought into _Greece_, they were at the same time brought into _Phrygia_ and _Crete_, by the _Curetes_; who settled in those countries, and called them _Ephesian_, from the city _Ephesus_, where they were first taught. The _Curetes_, by their manufacturing copper and iron, and making swords, and armour, and edged tools for hewing and carving of wood, brought into _Europe_ a new way of fighting; and gave _Minos_ an opportunity of building a Fleet, and gaining the dominion of the seas; and set on foot the trades of Smiths and Carpenters in _Greece_, which are the foundation of manual trades: the [158] fleet of _Minos_ was without sails, and _Dædalus_ fled from him by adding sails to his vessel; and therefore ships with sails were not used by the _Greeks_ before the flight of _Dædalus_, and death of _Minos_, who was slain in pursuing him to _Sicily_, in the Reign of _Rehoboam_. _Dædalus_ and his nephew _Talus_, in the latter part of the Reign of _Solomon_, invented the chip-ax, and saw, and wimble, and perpendicular, and compass, and turning-lath, and glew, and the potter's wheel; and his father _Eupalamus_ invented the anchor: and these things gave a beginning to manual Arts and Trades in _Europe_. The [159] _Curetes_, who thus introduced Letters, and Music, and Poetry, and Dancing, and Arts, and attended on the Sacrifices, were no less active about religious institutions, and for their skill and knowledge and mystical practices, were accounted wise men and conjurers by the vulgar. In _Phrygia_ their mysteries were about _Rhea_, called _Magna Mater_, and from the places where she was worshipped, _Cybele_, _Berecynthia_, _Pessinuntia_, _Dindymene_, _Mygdonia_, and _Idæa Phrygia_: and in _Crete_, and the _Terra Curetum_, they were about _Jupiter Olympius_, the son of the _Cretan Rhea_: they represented, [160] that when _Jupiter_ was born in _Crete_, his mother _Rhea_ caused him to be educated in a cave in mount _Ida_, under their care and tuition; and [161] that they danced about him in armour, with great noise, that his father _Saturn_ might not hear him cry; and when he was grown up, assisted him in conquering his father, and his father's friends; and in memory of these things instituted their mysteries. _Bochart_ [162] brings them from _Palestine_, and thinks that they had the name of _Curetes_ from the people among the _Philistims_ called _Crethim_, or _Cerethites_: _Ezek._ xxv. 16. _Zeph._ ii. 5. 1 _Sam._ xxx. 14, for the _Philistims_ conquered _Zidon_, and mixed with the _Zidonians_. The two first Kings of _Crete_, who reigned after the coming of the _Curetes_, were _Asterius_ and _Minos_; and _Europa_ was the Queen of _Asterius_, and mother of _Minos_; and the _Idæan Curetes_ were her countrymen, and came with her and her brother _Alymnus_ into _Crete_, and dwelt in the _Idæan_ cave in her Reign, and there educated _Jupiter_, and found out iron, and made armour: and therefore these three, _Asterius_, _Europa_, and _Minos_, must be the _Saturn_, _Rhea_ and _Jupiter_ of the _Cretans_. _Minos_ is usually called the son of _Jupiter_; but this is in relation to the fable, that _Jupiter_ in the shape of a bull, the Ensign of the Ship, carried away _Europa_ from _Zidon_: for the _Phœnicians_, upon their first coming into _Greece_, gave the name of _Jao-pater_, _Jupiter_, to every King: and thus both _Minos_ and his father were _Jupiters_. _Echemenes_, an ancient author cited by _Athenæus_, [163] said that _Minos_ was that _Jupiter_ who committed the rape upon _Ganimede_; though others said more truly that it was _Tantalus_: _Minos_ alone was that _Jupiter_ who was most famous among the _Greeks_ for Dominion and Justice, being the greatest King in all _Greece_ in those days, and the only legislator. _Plutarch_ [164] tells us, that the people of _Naxus_, contrary to what others write, pretended that there were two _Minos's_, and two _Ariadnes_; and that the first _Ariadne_ married _Bacchus_, and the last was carried away by _Theseus_: but [165] _Homer_, _Hesiod_, _Thucydides_, _Herodotus_, and _Strabo_, knew but of one _Minos_; and _Homer_ describes him to be the son of _Jupiter_ and _Europa_, and the brother of _Rhadamanthus_ and _Sarpedon_, and the father of _Deucalion_ the _Argonaut_, and grandfather of _Idomeneus_ who warred at _Troy_, and that he was the legislator of Hell: _Herodotus_ [166] makes _Minos_ and _Rhadamanthus_ the sons of _Europa_, contemporary to _Ægeus_: and [167] _Apollodorus_ and _Hyginus_ say, that _Minos_, the father of _Androgeus_, _Ariadne_ and _Phædra_, was the son of _Jupiter_ and _Europa_, and brother of _Rhadamanthus_ and _Sarpedon_. _Lucian_ [168] lets us know that _Europa_ the mother of _Minos_ was worshipped by the name of _Rhea_, the form of a woman sitting in a chariot drawn by lions, with a drum in her hand, and a _Corona turrita_ on her head, like _Astarte_ and _Isis_; and the _Cretans_ [169] anciently shewed the house where this _Rhea_ lived: and [170] _Apollonius Rhodius_ tells us, that _Saturn_, while he Reigned over the _Titans_ in _Olympus_, a mountain in _Crete_, and _Jupiter_ was educated by the _Curetes_ in the _Cretan_ cave, deceived _Rhea_, and of _Philyra_ begot _Chiron_: and therefore the _Cretan Saturn_ and _Rhea_, were but one Generation older than _Chiron_, and by consequence not older than _Asterius_ and _Europa_, the parents of _Minos_; for _Chiron_ lived 'till after the _Argonautic_ Expedition, and had two grandsons in that Expedition, and _Europa_ came into _Crete_ above an hundred years before that Expedition: _Lucian_ [171] tells us, that the _Cretans_ did not only relate, that _Jupiter_ was born and buried among them, but also shewed his sepulchre: and _Porphyry_ [172] tells us, that _Pythagoras_ went down into the _Idæan_ cave, to see sepulchre: and _Cicero_, [173] in numbering three _Jupiters_, saith, that the third was the _Cretan Jupiter_, _Saturn_'s son, whose sepulchre was shewed in _Crete_: and the Scholiast upon _Callimachus_ [174] lets us know, that this was the sepulchre of _Minos_: his words are, Εν Κρητη επι τωι ταφωι του Μινωος επεγεγραπτο, ΜΙΝΩΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΔΙΟΣ ΤΑΦΟΣ. τωι χρονωι δε του Μινωος απηλειφθη, ‛ωστε περιλειφθηναι, ΔΙΟΣ ΤΑΦΟΣ. εκ τουτου ουν εχειν λεγουσι Κρητες τον ταφον του Διος. _In _Crete_ upon the Sepulchre of _Minos_ was written _Minois Jovis sepulchrum_: but in time _Minois_ wore out so that there remained only, _Jovis sepulchrum_, and thence the _Cretans_ called it the Sepulchre of _Jupiter__. By _Saturn_, _Cicero_, who was a _Latine_, understood the _Saturn_ so called by the _Latines_: for when _Saturn_ was expelled his Kingdom he fled from _Crete_ by sea, to _Italy_; and this the Poets exprest by saying, that _Jupiter_ cast him down to _Tartarus_, that is, into the Sea: and because he lay hid in _Italy_, the _Latines_ called him _Saturn_; and _Italy_, _Saturnia_, and _Latium_, and themselves _Latines_: so [175] _Cyprian_; _Antrum Jovis in Creta visitur, & sepulchrum ejus ostenditur: & ab eo Saturnum fugatum esse manifestum est: unde Latium de latebra ejus nomen accepit: hic literas imprimere, hic signare nummos in Italia primus instituit, unde ærarium Saturni vocatur; & rusticitatis hic cultor fuit, inde falcem ferens senex pingitur:_ and _Minutius Felix_; _Saturnus Creta profugus, Italiam metu filii sævientis accesserat, & Jani susceptus hospitio, rudes illos homines & agrestes multa docuit, ut Græculus & politus, literas imprimere, nummos signare, instrumenta conficere: itaque latebram suam, quod tuto latuisset, vocari maluit Latium, & urbem Saturniam de suo nomine. * * Ejus filius Jupiter Cretæ excluso parente regnavit, illic obiit, illic filios habuit; adhuc antrum Jovis visitur, & sepulchrum ejus ostenditur, & ipsis sacris suis humanitatis arguitur_: and _Tertullian_; [176] _Quantum rerum argumenta docent, nusquam invenio fideliora quam apud ipsam Italiam, in qua Saturnus post multas expeditiones, postque Attica hospitia consedit, exceptus ab Jano, vel Jane ut Salii volunt. Mons quem incoluerat Saturnius dictus: civitas quam depalaverat Saturnia usque nunc est. Tota denique Italia post Oenotriam Saturnia cognominabatur. Ab ipso primum tabulæ, & imagine signatus nummus, & inde ærario præsidet_. By _Saturn_'s carrying letters into _Italy_, and coyning money, and teaching agriculture, and making instruments, and building a town, you may know that he fled from _Crete_, after letters, and the coyning of money, and manual arts were brought into _Europe_ by the _Phœnicians_; and from _Attica_, after agriculture was brought into _Greece_ by _Ceres_; and so could not be older than _Asterius_, and _Europa_, and her brother _Cadmus_: and by _Italy_'s being called _Oenotria_, before it was called _Saturnia_, you may know that he came into _Italy_ after _Oenotrus_, and so was not older than the sons of _Lycaon_. _Oenotrus_ carried the first colony of the _Greeks_ into _Italy_, _Saturn_ the second, and _Evander_ the third; and the _Latines_ know nothing older in _Italy_ than _Janus_ and _Saturn_: and therefore _Oenotrus_ was the _Janus_ of the _Latines_, and _Saturn_ was contemporary to the sons of _Lycaon_, and by consequence also to _Celeus_, _Erechtheus_, _Ceres_, and _Asterius_: for _Ceres_ educated _Triptolemus_ the son of _Celeus_, in the Reign of _Erechtheus_, and then taught him to plow and sow corn: _Arcas_ the son of _Callisto_, and grandson of _Lycaon_, received corn from _Triptolemus_, and taught his people to make bread of it; and _Procris_, the daughter of _Erechtheus_, fled to _Minos_ the son of _Asterius_. In memory of _Saturn_'s coming into _Italy_ by sea, the _Latines_ coined their first money with his head on one side, and a ship on the other. _Macrobius_ [177] tells us, that when _Saturn_ was dead, _Janus_ erected an Altar to him, with sacred rites as to a God, and instituted the _Saturnalia_, and that humane sacrifices were offered to him; 'till _Hercules_ driving the cattle of _Geryon_ through _Italy_, abolished that custom: by the human sacrifices you may know that _Janus_ was of the race of _Lycaon_; which character agrees to _Oenotrus_. _Dionysius Halicarnassensis_ tells us further, that _Oenotrus_ having found in the western parts of _Italy_ a large region fit for pasturage and tillage, but yet for the most part uninhabited, and where it was inhabited, peopled but thinly; in a certain part of it, purged from the _Barbarians_, he built towns little and numerous, in the mountains; which manner of building was familiar to the ancients: and this was the Original of Towns in _Italy_. _Pausanias_ [178] tells us that _the people of _Elis_, who were best skilled in Antiquities, related this to have been the Original of the Olympic Games: that _Saturn_ Reigned first and had a Temple built to him in _Olympia_ by the men of the Golden Age; and that when _Jupiter_ was newly born, his mother _Rhea_ recommended him to the care of the _Idæi Dactyli_, who were also called _Curetes_: that afterwards five of them, called _Hercules_, _Pœonius_, _Epimedes_, _Jasius_, and _Ida_, came from _Ida_, a mountain in _Crete_, into _Elis_; and _Hercules_, called also _Hercules Idæus_, being the oldest of them, in memory of the war between _Saturn_ and _Jupiter_, instituted the game of racing, and that the victor should be rewarded with a crown of olive_; and there erected an altar to _Jupiter Olympius_, and called these games Olympic: and that some of the _Eleans_ said, _that _Jupiter_ contended here with _Saturn_ for the Kingdom; others that _Hercules Idæus_ instituted these games in memory of their victory over the _Titans__: for the people of _Arcadia_ [179] had a tradition, that the Giants fought with the Gods in the valley of _Bathos_, near the river _Alpheus_ and the fountain _Olympias_. [180] Before the Reign of _Asterius_, his father _Teutamus_ came into _Crete_ with a colony from _Olympia_; and upon the flight of _Asterius_, some of his friends might retire with him into their own country, and be pursued and beaten there by the _Idæan Hercules_: the _Eleans_ said also that _Clymenus_ the grandson of the _Idæan Hercules_, about fifty years after _Deucalion_'s flood, coming from _Crete_, celebrated these games again in _Olympia_, and erected there an altar to _Juno Olympia_, that is, to _Europa_, and another to this _Hercules_ and the rest of the _Curetes_; and Reigned in _Elis_ 'till he was expelled by _Endymion_, [181] who thereupon celebrated these games again: and so did _Pelops_, who expelled _Ætolus_ the son of _Endymion_; and so also did _Hercules_ the son of _Alcmena_, and _Atreus_ the son of _Pelops_, and _Oxylus_: they might be celebrated originally in triumph for victories, first by _Hercules Idæus_, upon the conquest of _Saturn_ and the _Titans_, and then by _Clymenus_, upon his coming to Reign in the _Terra Curetum_; then by _Endymion_, upon his conquering _Clymenus_; and afterwards by _Pelops_, upon his conquering _Ætolus_; and by _Hercules_, upon his killing _Augeas_; and by _Atreus_, upon his repelling the _Heraclides_; and by _Oxylus_, upon the return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_. This _Jupiter_, to whom they were instituted, had a Temple and Altar erected to him in _Olympia_, where the games were celebrated, and from the place was called _Jupiter Olympius_: _Olympia_ was a place upon the confines of _Pisa_, near the river _Alpheus_. In the [182] Island _Thasus_, where _Cadmus_ left his brother _Thasus_, the _Phœnicians_ built a Temple to _Hercules Olympius_, that _Hercules_, whom _Cicero_ [183] calls _ex Idæis Dactylis; cui inferias afferunt_. When the mysteries of _Ceres_ were instituted in _Eleusis_, there were other mysteries instituted to her and her daughter and daughter's husband, in the Island _Samothrace_, by the _Phœnician_ names of _Dii Cabiri Axieros_, _Axiokersa_, and _Axiokerses_, that is, the great Gods _Ceres_, _Proserpina_ and _Pluto_: for [184] _Jasius_ a _Samothracian_, whose sister married _Cadmus_, was familiar with _Ceres_; and _Cadmus_ and _Jasius_ were both of them instituted in these mysteries. _Jasius_ was the brother of _Dardanus_, and married _Cybele_ the daughter of _Meones_ King of _Phrygia_, and by her had _Corybas_; and after his death, _Dardanus_, _Cybele_ and _Corybas_ went into _Phrygia_, and carried thither the mysteries of the mother of the Gods, and _Cybele_ called the goddess after her own name, and _Corybas_ called her priests _Corybantes_: thus _Diodorus_; but _Dionysius_ saith [185] that _Dardanus_ instituted the _Samothracian_ mysteries, and that his wife _Chryses_ learnt them in _Arcadia_, and that _Idæus_ the son of _Dardanus_ instituted afterwards the mysteries of the mother of the gods in _Phrygia_: this _Phrygian_ Goddess was drawn in a chariot by lions, and had a _corona turrita_ on her head, and a drum in her hand, like the _Phœnician_ Goddess _Astarte_, and the _Corybantes_ danced in armour at her sacrifices in a furious manner, like the _Idæi Dactyli_; and _Lucian_ [186] tells us that she was the _Cretan Rhea_, that is, _Europa_ the mother of _Minos_: and thus the _Phœnicians_ introduced the practice of Deifying dead men and women among the _Greeks_ and _Phrygians_; for I meet with no instance of Deifying dead men and women in _Greece_, before the coming of _Cadmus_ and _Europa_ from _Zidon_. From these originals it came into fashion among the _Greeks_, κτεριζειν, _parentare_, to celebrate the funerals of dead parents with festivals and invocations and sacrifices offered to their ghosts, and to erect magnificent sepulchres in the form of temples, with altars and statues, to persons of renown; and there to honour them publickly with sacrifices and invocations: every man might do it to his ancestors; and the cities of _Greece_ did it to all the eminent _Greeks_: as to _Europa_ the sister, to _Alymnus_ the brother, and to _Minos_ and _Rhadamanthus_ the nephews of _Cadmus_; to his daughter _Ino_, and her son _Melicertus_; to _Bacchus_ the son of his daughter _Semele_, _Aristarchus_ the husband of his daughter _Autonoe_, and _Jasius_ the brother of his wife _Harmonia_; to _Hercules_ a _Theban_, and his mother _Alcmena_; to _Danae_ the daughter of _Acrisius_; to _Æsculapius_ and _Polemocrates_ the son of _Machaon_, to _Pandion_ and _Theseus_ Kings of _Athens_, _Hippolytus_ the son of _Theseus_, _Pan_ the son of _Penelope_, _Proserpina_, _Triptolemus_, _Celeus_, _Trophonius_, _Castor_, _Pollux_, _Helena_, _Menelaus_, _Agamemnon_, _Amphiaraus_ and his son _Amphilochus_, _Hector_ and _Alexandra_ the son and daughter of _Priam_, _Phoroneus_, _Orpheus_, _Protesilaus_, _Achilles_ and his mother _Thetis_, _Ajax_, _Arcas_, _Idomeneus_, _Meriones_, _Æacus_, _Melampus_, _Britomartis_, _Adrastus_, _Iolaus_, and divers others. They Deified their dead in divers manners, according to their abilities and circumstances, and the merits of the person; some only in private families, as houshold Gods or _Dii Pænates_; others by erecting gravestones to them in publick, to be used as altars for annual sacrifices; others, by building also to them sepulchres in the form of houses or temples; and some by appointing mysteries, and ceremonies, and set sacrifices, and festivals, and initiations, and a succession of priests for performing those institutions in the temples, and handing them down to posterity. Altars might begin to be erected in _Europe_ a little before the days of _Cadmus_, for sacrificing to the old God or Gods of the Colonies, but Temples began in the days of _Solomon_; for [187] _Æacus_ the son of _Ægina_, who was two Generations older than the _Trojan_ war, is by some reputed one of the first who built a Temple in _Greece_. Oracles came first from _Egypt_ into _Greece_ about the same time, as also did the custom of forming the images of the Gods with their legs bound up in the shape of the _Egyptian_ mummies: for Idolatry began in _Chaldæa_ and _Egypt_, and spread thence into _Phœnicia_ and the neighbouring countries, long before it came into _Europe_; and the _Pelasgians_ propagated it in _Greece_, by the dictates of the Oracles. The countries upon the _Tigris_ and the _Nile_ being exceeding fertile, were first frequented by mankind, and grew first into Kingdoms, and therefore began first to adore their dead Kings and Queens: hence came the Gods of _Laban_, the Gods and Goddesses called _Baalim_ and _Ashtaroth_ by the _Canaanites_, the Dæmons or Ghosts to whom they sacrificed, and the _Moloch_ to whom they offered their children in the days of _Moses_ and the Judges. Every City set up the worship of its own Founder and Kings, and by alliances and conquests they spread this worship, and at length the _Phœnicians_ and _Egyptians_ brought into _Europe_ the practice of Deifying the dead. The Kingdom of the lower _Egypt_ began to worship their Kings before the days of _Moses_; and to this worship the second commandment is opposed: when the Shepherds invaded the lower _Egypt_, they checked this worship of the old _Egyptians_, and spread that of their own Kings: and at length the _Egyptians_ of _Coptos_ and _Thebais_, under _Misphragmuthosis_ and _Amosis_, expelling the Shepherds, checked the worship of the Gods of the Shepherds, and Deifying their own Kings and Princes, propagated the worship of twelve of them into their conquests; and made them more universal than the false Gods of any other nation had been before, so as to be called, _Dii magni majorum gentium_. _Sesostris_ conquered _Thrace_, and _Amphictyon_ the son of _Prometheus_ brought the twelve Gods from _Thrace_ into _Greece_: _Herodotus_ [188] tells us that they came from _Egypt_; and by the names of the cities of _Egypt_ dedicated to many of these Gods, you may know that they were of an _Egyptian_ original: and the _Egyptians_, according to _Diodorus_, [189] usually represented, that after their _Saturn_ and _Rhea_, Reigned _Jupiter_ and _Juno_, the parents of _Osiris_ and _Isis_, the parents of _Orus_ and _Bubaste_. By all this it may be understood, that as the _Egyptians_ who Deified their Kings, began their monarchy with the Reign of their Gods and Heroes, reckoning _Menes_ the first man who reigned after their Gods; so the _Cretans_ had the Ages of their Gods and Heroes, calling the first four Ages of their Deified Kings and Princes, the Golden, Silver, Brazen, and Iron Ages. _Hesiod_ [190] describing these four Ages of the Gods and Demi-Gods of _Greece_, represents them to be four Generations of men, each of which ended when the men then living grew old and dropt into the grave, and tells us that the fourth ended with the wars of _Thebes_ and _Troy_: and so many Generations there were, from the coming of the _Phœnicians_ and _Curetes_ with _Cadmus_ and _Europa_ into _Greece_ unto the destruction of _Troy_. _Apollonius Rhodius_ saith that when the _Argonauts_ came to _Crete_, they slew _Talus_ a brazen man, who remained of those that were of the Brazen Age, and guarded that pass: _Talus_ was reputed [191] the son of _Minos_, and therefore the sons of _Minos_ lived in the Brazen Age, and _Minos_ Reigned in the Silver Age: it was the Silver Age of the _Greeks_ in which they began to plow and sow Corn, and _Ceres_, that taught them to do it, flourished in the Reign of _Celeus_ and _Erechtheus_ and _Minos_. Mythologists tell us that the last woman with whom _Jupiter_ lay, was _Alcmena_; and thereby they seem to put an end to the Reign of _Jupiter_ among mortals, that is to the Silver Age, when _Alcmena_ was with child of _Hercules_; who therefore was born about the eighth or tenth year of _Rehoboam's_ Reign, and was about 34 years old at the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition. _Chiron_ was begot by _Saturn_ of _Philyra_ in the Golden Age, when _Jupiter_ was a child in the _Cretan_ cave, as above; and this was in the Reign of _Asterius_ King of _Crete_: and therefore _Asterius_ Reigned in _Crete_ in the Golden Age; and the Silver Age began when _Chiron_ was a child: if _Chiron_ was born about the 35th year of _David_'s Reign, he will be born in the Reign of _Asterius_, when _Jupiter_ was a child in the _Cretan_ cave, and be about 88 years old in the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition, when he invented the Asterisms; and this is within the reach of nature. The Golden Age therefore falls in with the Reign of _Asterius_, and the Silver Age with that of _Minos_; and to make these Ages much longer than ordinary generations, is to make _Chiron_ live much longer than according to the course of nature. This fable of the four Ages seems to have been made by the _Curetes_ in the fourth Age, in memory of the first four Ages of their coming into _Europe_, as into a new world; and in honour of their country-woman _Europa_, and her husband _Asterius_ the _Saturn_ of the _Latines_, and of her son _Minos_ the _Cretan Jupiter_ and grandson _Deucalion_, who Reigned 'till the _Argonautic_ expedition, and is sometimes reckoned among the _Argonauts_, and of their great grandson _Idomeneus_ who warred at _Troy_. _Hesiod_ tells us that he himself lived in the fifth Age, the Age next after the taking of _Troy_, and therefore he flourished within thirty or thirty five years after it: and _Homer_ was of about the same Age; for he [192] lived sometime with _Mentor_ in _Ithaca_, and there learnt of him many things concerning _Ulysses_, with whom _Mentor_ had been personally acquainted: now _Herodotus_, the oldest Historian of the _Greeks_ now extant, [193] tells us that _Hesiod_ and _Homer_ were not above four hundred years older than himself, and therefore they flourished within 110 or 120 years after the death of _Solomon_; and according to my reckoning the taking of _Troy_ was but one Generation earlier. Mythologists tell us, that _Niobe_ the daughter of _Phoroneus_ was the first woman with whom _Jupiter_ lay, and that of her he begat _Argus_, who succeeded _Phoroneus_ in the Kingdom of _Argos_, and gave his name to that city; and therefore _Argus_ was born in the beginning of the Silver Age: unless you had rather say that by _Jupiter_ they might here mean _Asterius_; for the _Phœnicians_ gave the name of _Jupiter_ to every King, from the time of their first coming into _Greece_ with _Cadmus_ and _Europa_, until the invasion of _Greece_ by _Sesostris_, and the birth of _Hercules_, and particularly to the fathers of _Minos_, _Pelops_, _Lacedæmon_, _Æacus_, and _Perseus_. The four first Ages succeeded the flood of _Deucalion_; and some tell us that _Deucalion_ was the son of _Prometheus_, the son of _Japetus_, and brother of _Atlas_: but this was another _Deucalion_; for _Japetus_ the father of _Prometheus_, _Epimetheus,_ and _Atlas_, was an _Egyptian_, the brother of _Osiris_, and flourished two generations after the flood of _Deucalion_. I have now carried up the Chronology of the _Greeks_ as high as to the first use of letters, the first plowing and sowing of corn, the first manufacturing of copper and iron, the beginning of the trades of Smiths, Carpenters, Joyners, Turners, Brick-makers, Stone-cutters, and Potters, in _Europe_; the first walling of cities about, the first building of Temples, and the original of Oracles in _Greece_; the beginning of navigation by the Stars in long ships with sails; the erecting of the _Amphictyonic_ Council; the first Ages of _Greece_, called the Golden, Silver, Brazen and Iron Ages, and the flood of _Deucalion_ which immediately preceded them. Those Ages could not be earlier than the invention and use of the four metals in _Greece_, from whence they had their names; and the flood of _Ogyges_ could not be much above two or three ages earlier than that of _Deucalion_: for among such wandering people as were then in _Europe_, there could be no memory of things done above three or four ages before the first use of letters: and the expulsion of the Shepherds out of _Egypt_, which gave the first occasion to the coming of people from _Egypt_ into _Greece_, and to the building of houses and villages in _Greece_, was scarce earlier than the days of _Eli_ and _Samuel_; for _Manetho_ tells us, that when they were forced to quit _Abaris_ and retire out of _Egypt_, they went through the wilderness into _Judæa_ and built _Jerusalem_: I do not think, with _Manetho,_ that they were the _Israelites_ under _Moses_, but rather believe that they were _Canaanites_; and upon leaving _Abaris_ mingled with the _Philistims_ their next neighbours: though some of them might assist _David_ and _Solomon_ in building _Jerusalem_ and the Temple. _Saul_ was made King [194], that he might rescue _Israel_ out of the hand of the _Philistims_, who opressed them; and in the second year of his Reign, the _Philistims_ brought into the field against him _thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore for multitude_: the _Canaanites_ had their horses from _Egypt_; and yet in the days of _Moses_ all the chariots of _Egypt_, with which _Pharaoh_ pursued _Israel_ were but six hundred, _Exod._ xiv. 7. From the great army of the _Philistims_ against _Saul_, and the great number of their horses, I seem to gather that the Shepherds had newly relinquished _Egypt_; and joyned them: the Shepherds might be beaten and driven out of the greatest part of _Egypt_, and shut up in _Abaris_ by _Misphragmuthosis_ in the latter end of the days of _Eli_; and some of them fly to the _Philistims_, and strengthen them against _Israel_, in the last year of _Eli_; and from the _Philistims_ some of the Shepherds might go to _Zidon_, and from _Zidon_, by sea to _Asia minor_ and _Greece_: and afterwards, in the beginning of the Reign of _Saul_, the Shepherds who still remained in _Egypt_ might be forced by _Tethmosis_ or _Amosis_ the son of _Misphragmuthosis_, to leave _Abaris_, and retire in very great numbers to the _Philistims_; and upon these occasions several of them, as _Pelasgus_, _Inachus_, _Lelex_, _Cecrops_, and _Abas_, might come with their people by sea from _Egypt_ to _Zidon_ and _Cyprus_, and thence to _Asia minor_ and _Greece_, in the days of _Eli_, _Samuel_ and _Saul_, and thereby begin to open a commerce by sea between _Zidon_ and _Greece_, before the revolt of _Edom_ from _Judæa_, and the final coming of the _Phœnicians_ from the _Red Sea_. _Pelasgus_ Reigned in _Arcadia_, and was the father of _Lycaon_, according to _Pherecydes Atheniensis_, and _Lycaon_ died just before the flood of _Deucalion_; and therefore his father _Pelasgus_ might come into _Greece_ about two Generations before _Cadmus_, or in the latter end of the days of _Eli_: _Lycaon_ sacrificed children, and therefore his father might come with his people from the Shepherds in _Egypt_, and perhaps from the regions of _Heliopolis_, where they sacrificed men, 'till _Amosis_ abolished that custom. _Misphragmuthosis_ the father of _Amosis_, drove the Shepherds out of a great part of _Egypt_, and shut the remainder up in _Abaris_: and then great numbers might escape to _Greece_; some from the regions of _Heliopolis_ under _Pelasgus_, and others from _Memphis_ and other places, under other Captains: and hence it might come to pass that the _Pelasgians_ were at the first very numerous in _Greece_, and spake a different language from the _Greek_, and were the ringleaders in bringing into _Greece_ the worship of the dead. _Inachus_ is called the son of _Oceanus_, perhaps because he came to _Greece_ by sea: he might come with his people to _Argos_ from _Egypt_ in the days of _Eli_, and seat himself upon the river _Inachus_, so named from him, and leave his territories to his sons _Phoroneus_, _Ægialeus_, and _Phegeus_, in the days of _Samuel_: for _Car_ the son of _Phoroneus_ built a Temple to _Ceres_ in _Megara_, and therefore was contemporary to _Erechtheus_. _Phoroneus_ Reigned at _Argos_, and _Aegialeus_ at _Sicyon_, and founded those Kingdoms; and yet _Ægialeus_ is made above five hundred years older than _Phoroneus_ by some Chronologers: but [195] _Acusilaus_, [196] _Anticlides_ and [197] _Plato_, accounted _Phoroneus_ the oldest King in _Greece_, and [198] _Apollodorus_ tells us, _Ægialeus_ was the brother of _Phoroneus_. _Ægialeus_ died without issue, and after him Reigned _Europs_, _Telchin_, _Apis_, _Lamedon_, _Sicyon_, _Polybus_, _Adrastus_, and _Agamemnon_, _&c._ and _Sicyon_ gave his name to the Kingdom: _Herodotus_ [199] saith that _Apis_ in the _Greek_ Tongue is _Epaphus_; and _Hyginus_, [200] that _Epaphus_ the _Sicyonian_ got _Antiopa_ with child: but the later _Greeks_ have made two men of the two names _Apis_ and _Epaphus_ or _Epopeus_, and between them inserted twelve feigned Kings of _Sicyon_, who made no wars, nor did any thing memorable, and yet Reigned five hundred and twenty years, which is, one with another, above forty and three years a-piece. If these feigned Kings be rejected, and the two Kings _Apis_ and _Epopeus_ be reunited; _Ægialeus_ will become contemporary to his brother _Phoroneus_, as he ought to be; for _Apis_ or _Epopeus_, and _Nycteus_ the guardian of _Labdacus_, were slain in battle about the tenth year of _Solomon_, as above; and the first four Kings of _Sicyon_, _Ægialeus_, _Europs_, _Telchin_, _Apis_, after the rate of about twenty years to a Reign, take up about eighty years; and these years counted upwards from the tenth year of _Solomon_, place the beginning of the Reign of _Ægialeus_ upon the twelfth year of _Samuel_, or thereabout: and about that time began the Reign of _Phoroneus_ at _Argos_; _Apollodorus_ [201] calls _Adrastus_ King of _Argos_; but _Homer_ [202] tells us, that he Reigned first at _Sicyon_: he was in the first war against _Thebes_. Some place _Janiscus_ and _Phæstus_ between _Polybus_ and _Adrastus_, but without any certainty. _Lelex_ might come with his people into _Laconia_ in the days of _Eli_, and leave his territories to his sons _Myles_, _Eurotas_, _Cleson_, and _Polycaon_ in the days of _Samuel_. _Myles_ set up a quern, or handmill to grind corn, and is reputed the first among the _Greeks_ who did so: but he flourished before _Triptolemus_, and seems to have had his corn and artificers from _Egypt_. _Eurotas_ the brother, or as some say the son of _Myles_, built _Sparta_, and called it after the name of his daughter _Sparta_, the wife of _Lacedæmon_, and mother of _Eurydice_. _Cleson_ was the father of _Pylas_ the father of _Sciron_, who married the daughter of _Pandion_ the son of _Erechtheus_, and contended with _Nisus_ the son of _Pandion_ and brother of _Ægeus_, for the Kingdom; and _Æacus_ adjudged it to _Nisus_. _Polycaon_ invaded _Messene_, then peopled only by villages, called it _Messene_ after the name of his wife, and built cities therein. _Cecrops_ came from _Sais_ in _Egypt_ to _Cyprus_, and thence into _Attica_: and he might do this in the days of _Samuel_, and marry _Agraule_ the daughter of _Actæus_, and succeed him in _Attica_ soon after, and leave his Kingdom to _Cranaus_ in the Reign of _Saul_, or in the beginning of the Reign of _David_: for the flood of _Deucalion_ happened in the Reign of _Cranaus_. Of about the same age with _Pelasgus_, _Inachus_, _Lelex_, and _Actæus_, was _Ogyges_: he Reigned in _Bœotia_, and some of his people were _Leleges_: and either he or his son _Eleusis_ built the city _Eleusis_ in _Attica_, that is, they built a few houses of clay, which in time grew into a city. _Acusilaus_ wrote that _Phoroneus_ was older than _Ogyges_, and that _Ogyges_ flourished 1020 years before the first Olympiad, as above; but _Acusilaus_ was an _Argive_, and feigned these things in honour of his country: to call things _Ogygian_ has been a phrase among the ancient _Greeks_, to signify that they are as old as the first memory of things; and so high we have now carried up the Chronology of the _Greeks_. _Inachus_ might be as old as _Ogyges_, but _Acusilaus_ and his followers made them seven hundred years older than the truth; and Chronologers, to make out this reckoning, have lengthened the races of the Kings of _Argos_ and _Sicyon_, and changed several contemporary Princes of _Argos_ into successive Kings, and inserted many feigned Kings into the race of the Kings of _Sicyon_. _Inachus_ had several sons, who Reigned in several parts of _Peloponnesus_, and there built Towns; as _Phoroneus_, who built _Phoronicum_, afterwards called _Argos_, from _Argus_ his grandson; _Ægialeus_, who built _Ægialea_, afterwards called _Sicyon_, from _Sicyon_ the grandson of _Erechtheus_; _Phegeus_, who built _Phegea_, afterwards called _Psophis_, from _Psophis_ the daughter of _Lycaon_: and these were the oldest towns in _Peloponnesus_ then _Sisyphus_, the son of _Æolus_ and grandson of _Hellen_, built _Ephyra_, afterwards called _Corinth_; and _Aëthlius_, the son of _Æolus_, built _Elis_: and before them _Cecrops_ built _Cecropia_, the cittadel of _Athens_; and _Lycaon_ built _Lycosura_, reckoned by some the oldest town in _Arcadia_; and his sons, who were at least four and twenty in number, built each of them a town; except the youngest, called _Oenotrus_, who grew up after his father's death, and sailed into _Italy_ with his people, and there set on foot the building of towns, and became the _Janus_ of the _Latines_. _Phoroneus_ had also several children and grand-children, who Reigned in several places, and built new towns, as _Car_, _Apis_, &c. and _Hæmon_, the son of _Pelasgus_, Reigned in _Hæmonia_, afterwards called _Thessaly_, and built towns there. This division and subdivision has made great confusion in the history of the first Kingdoms of _Peloponnesus_, and thereby given occasion to the vain-glorious _Greeks_, to make those kingdoms much older than they really were: but by all the reckonings abovementioned, the first civilizing of the _Greeks_, and teaching them to dwell in houses and towns, and the oldest towns in _Europe_, could scarce be above two or three Generations older than the coming of _Cadmus_ from _Zidon_ into _Greece_; and might most probably be occasioned by the expulsion of the Shepherds out of _Egypt_ in the days of _Eli_ and _Samuel_, and their flying into _Greece_ in considerable numbers: but it's difficult to set right the Genealogies and Chronology of the Fabulous Ages of the _Greeks_, and I leave these things to be further examined. Before the _Phœnicians_ introduced the Deifying of dead men, the _Greeks_ had a Council of Elders in every town for the government thereof, and a place where the elders and people worshipped their God with Sacrifices: and when many of those towns, for their common safety, united under a common Council, they erected a _Prytaneum_ or Court in one of the towns, where the Council and People met at certain times, to consult their common safety, and worship their common God with sacrifices, and to buy and sell: the towns where these Councils met, the _Greeks_ called δημοι, peoples or communities, or Corporation Towns: and at length, when many of these δημοι for their common safety united by consent under one common Council, they erected a _Prytaneum_ in one of the δημοι for the common Council and People to meet in, and to consult and worship in, and feast, and buy, and sell; and this δημος they walled about for its safety, and called την πολιν the city: and this I take to have been the original of Villages, Market-Towns, Cities, common Councils, Vestal Temples, Feasts and Fairs, in _Europe_: the _Prytaneum_, πυρος ταμειον, was a Court with a place of worship, and a perpetual fire kept therein upon an Altar for sacrificing: from the word ‛Εστια fire, came the name _Vesta_, which at length the people turned into a Goddess, and so became fire-worshippers like the ancient _Persians_: and when these Councils made war upon their neighbours, they had a general commander to lead their armies, and he became their King. So _Thucydides_ [203] tells us, that _under_ Cecrops _and the ancient Kings, untill _Theseus_; _Attica_ was always inhabited city by city, each having Magistrates and _Prytanea_: neither did they consult the King, when there was no fear of danger, but each apart administred their own common-wealth, and had their own Council, and even sometimes made war, as the _Eleusinians_ with _Eumolpus_ did against _Erechtheus_: but when _Theseus_, a prudent and potent man obtained the Kingdom, he took away the Courts and Magistrates of the other cities, and made them all meet in one Council and _Prytaneum_ at _Athens__. _Polemon_, as he is cited by [204] _Strabo_, tells us, _that in this body of _Attica_, there were 170 _δημοι_, one of which was _Eleusis__: and _Philochorus_ [205] relates, that _when _Attica_ was infested by sea and land by the _Cares_ and _Bœoti_, _Cecrops_ the first of any man reduced the multitude, _that is the 170 towns_, into twelve cities, whose names were _Cecropia_, _Tetrapolis_, _Epacria_, _Decelia_, _Eleusis_, _Aphydna_, _Thoricus_, _Brauron_, _Cytherus_, _Sphettus_, _Cephissia_, and _Phalerus_; and that _Theseus_ contracted those twelve cities into one, which was _Athens__. The original of the Kingdom of the _Argives_ was much after the same manner: for _Pausanias_ [206] tells us, _that _Phoroneus_ the son of _Inachus_ was the first who gathered into one community the _Argives_, who 'till then were scattered, and lived every where apart, and the place where they were first assembled was called _Phoronicum_, the city of _Phoroneus__: and _Strabo_ [207] observes, _that _Homer_ calls all the places which he reckons up in _Peloponnesus_, a few excepted, not cities but regions, because each of them consisted of a convention of many_ δημοι, _free towns, out of which afterward noble cities were built and frequented: so the _Argives_ composed _Mantinæa_ in _Arcadia_ out of five towns, and _Tegea_ out of nine; and out of so many was _Heræa_ built by _Cleombrotus_, or by _Cleonymus_: so also _Ægium_ was built out of seven or eight towns, _Patræ_: out of seven, and _Dyme_ out of eight; and so _Elis_ was erected by the conflux of many towns into one city._ _Pausanias_ [208] tells us, that the _Arcadians_ accounted _Pelasgus_ the first man, and that he was their first King; and _taught the ignorant people to built houses, for defending themselves from heat, and cold, and rain; and to make them garments of skins; and instead of herbs and roots, which were sometimes noxious, to eat the acorns of the beech tree_; and that his son _Lycaon_ built the oldest city in all _Greece_: he tells us also, that in the days of _Lelex_ the _Spartans_ lived in villages apart. The _Greeks_ therefore began to build houses and villages in the days of _Pelasgus_ the father of _Lycaon_, and in the days of _Lelex_ the father of _Myles_, and by consequence about two or three Generations before the Flood of _Deucalion_, and the coming of _Cadmus_; 'till then [209] they lived in woods and caves of the earth. The first houses were of clay, 'till the brothers _Euryalus_ and _Hyperbius_ taught them to harden the clay into bricks, and to build therewith. In the days of _Ogyges_, _Pelasgus_, _Æzeus_, _Inachus_ and _Lelex_, they began to build houses and villages of clay, _Doxius_ the son of _Cœlus_ teaching them to do it; and in the days of _Lycaon_, _Phoroneus_, _Ægialeus_, _Phegeus_, _Eurotas_, _Myles_, _Polycaon_, and _Cecrops_, and their sons, to assemble the villages into δημοι, and the δημοι into cities. When _Oenotrus_ the son of _Lycaon_ carried a Colony into _Italy_, _he_ [210] _found that country for the most part uninhabited; and where it was inhabited, peopled but thinly: and seizing a part of it, he built towns in the mountains, little and numerous_, as above: these towns were without walls; but after this Colony grew numerous, and began to want room, _they expelled the _Siculi_, compassed many cities with walls, and became possest of all the territory between the two rivers _Liris_ and _Tibre__: and it is to be understood that those cities had their Councils and _Prytanea_ after the manner of the _Greeks_: for _Dionysius_ [211] tells us, that the new Kingdom of _Rome_, as _Romulus_ left it, consisted of thirty Courts or Councils, in thirty towns, each with the sacred fire kept in the _Prytaneum_ of the Court, for the Senators who met there to perform Sacred Rites, after the manner of the _Greeks_: _but when _Numa_ the successor of _Romulus_ Reigned, he leaving the several fires in their own Courts, instituted one common to them all at _Rome__: whence _Rome_ was not a compleat city before the days of _Numa_. When navigation was so far improved that the _Phœnicians_ began to leave the sea-shore, and sail through the _Mediterranean_ by the help of the stars, it may be presumed that they began to discover the islands of the _Mediterranean_, and for the sake of trafic to sail as far as _Greece_: and this was not long before they carried away _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_, from _Argos_. The _Cares_ first infested the _Greek_ seas with piracy, and then _Minos_ the son of _Europa_ got up a potent fleet, and sent out Colonies: for _Diodorus_ [212] tells us, that the _Cyclades_ islands, those near _Crete_, were at first desolate and uninhabited; but _Minos_ having a potent fleet, sent many Colonies out of _Crete_, and peopled many of them; and particularly that the island _Carpathus_ was first seized by the soldiers of _Minos_: _Syme_ lay waste and desolate 'till _Triops_ came thither with a Colony under _Chthonius_: _Strongyle_ or _Naxus_ was first inhabited by the _Thracians_ in the days of _Boreas_, a little before the _Argonautic_ Expedition: _Samsos_ was, at first desert, and inhabited only by a great multitude of terrible wild beasts, 'till _Macareus_ peopled it, as he did also the islands _Chius_ and _Cos_. _Lesbos_ lay waste and desolate 'till _Xanthus_ sailed thither with a Colony: _Tenedos_ lay desolate 'till _Tennes_, a little before the _Trojan_ war, sailed thither from _Troas_. _Aristæus_, who married _Autonoe_ the daughter of _Cadmus_, carried a Colony from _Thebes_ into _Cæa_, an island not inhabited before: the island _Rhodes_ was at first called _Ophiusa_, being full of serpents, before _Phorbas_, a Prince of _Argos_, went thither, and made it habitable by destroying the serpents, which was about the end of _Solomon_'s Reign; in memory of which he is delineated in the heavens in the Constellation of _Ophiuchus_. The discovery of this and some other islands made a report that they rose out of the Sea: _in Asia Delos emersit, & Hiera, & Anaphe, & Rhodus_, saith [213] _Ammianus_: and [214] _Pliny_; _claræ jampridem insulæ, Delos & Rhodos memoriæ produntur enatæ, postea minores, ultra Melon Anaphe, inter Lemnum & Hellespontum Nea, inter Lebedum & Teon Halone_, &c. _Diodorus_ [215] tells us also, that the seven islands called _Æolides_, between _Italy_ and _Sicily_, were desert and uninhabited 'till _Lipparus_ and _Æolus_, a little before the _Trojan_ war, went thither from _Italy_, and peopled them: and that _Malta_ and _Gaulus_ or _Gaudus_ on the other side of _Sicily_, were first peopled by _Phœnicians_; and so was _Madera_ without the _Straits_: and _Homer_ writes that _Ulysses_ found the Island _Ogygia_ covered with wood, and uninhabited, except by _Calypso_ and her maids, who lived in a cave without houses; and it is not likely that _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_ could be peopled before navigation was propagated beyond the _Straits_. The _Sicaneans_ were reputed the first inhabitants of _Sicily_, they built little Villages or Towns upon hills, and every Town had its own King; and by this means they spread over the country, before they formed themselves into larger governments with a common King: _Philistus_ [216] saith that _they were transplanted into _Sicily_ from the River _Sicanus_ in _Spain__; and _Dionysius_ [217], that _they were a _Spanish_ people who fled from the _Ligures_ in _Italy__; he means the _Ligures_ [218] who opposed _Hercules_ when he returned from his expedition against _Geryon_ in _Spain_, and endeavoured to pass the _Alps_ out of _Gaul_ into _Italy_. _Hercules_ that year got into _Italy_, and made some conquests there, and founded the city _Croton_; and [219] after winter, upon the arrival of his fleet from _Erythra_ in _Spain_, sailed to _Sicily_, and there left the _Sicani_: for _it was his custom to recruit his army with conquered people, and after they had assisted him in making new conquests to reward them with new seats_: this was the _Egyptian Hercules_, who had a potent fleet, and in the days of _Solomon_ sailed to the _Straits_, and according to his custom set up pillars there, and conquered _Geryon_, and returned back by _Italy_ and _Sicily_ to _Egypt_, and was by the ancient _Gauls_ called _Ogmius_, and by _Egyptians_ [220] _Nilus_: for _Erythra_ and the country of _Geryon_ were without the _Straits_. _Dionysius_ [221] represents this _Hercules_ contemporary to _Evander_. The first inhabitants of _Crete_, according to _Diodorus_ [222] were called _Eteocretans_; but whence they were, and how they came thither, is not said in history: then sailed thither a Colony of _Pelasgians_ from _Greece_; and soon after _Teutamus_, the grandfather of _Minos_, carried thither a Colony of _Dorians_ from _Laconia_, and from the territory of _Olympia_ in _Peloponnesus_: and these several Colonies spake several languages, and fed on the spontaeous fruits of the earth, and lived quietly in caves and huts, 'till the invention of iron tools, in the days of _Asterius_ the son of _Teutamus_; and at length were reduced into one Kingdom, and one People, by _Minos_, who was their first law-giver, and built many towns and ships, and introduced plowing and sowing, and in whose days the _Curetes_ conquered his father's friends in _Crete_ and _Peloponnesus_. The _Curetes_ [223] sacrificed children to _Saturn_ and according to _Bochart_ [224] were _Philistims_; and _Eusebius_ faith that _Crete_ had its name from _Cres_, one of the _Curetes_ who nursed up _Jupiter_: but whatever was the original of the island, it seems to have been peopled by Colonies which spake different languages, 'till the days of _Asterius_ and _Minos_; and might come thither two or three Generations before, and not above, for want of navigation in those seas. The island _Cyprus_ was discovered by the _Phœnicians_ not long before; for _Eratosthenes_ [225] tells us, _that _Cyprus_ was at first so overgrown with wood that it could not be tilled, and that they first cut down the wood for the melting of copper and silver, and afterwards when they began to sail safely upon the _Mediterranean__, that is, presently after the _Trojan_ war, _they built ships and even navies of it: and when they could not thus destroy the wood, they gave every man leave to cut down what wood he pleased, and to possess all the ground which he cleared of wood_. So also _Europe_ at first abounded very much with woods, one of which, called the _Hercinian_, took up a great part of _Germany_, being full nine days journey broad, and above forty long, in _Julius Cæsar_'s days: and yet the _Europeans_ had been cutting down their woods, to make room for mankind, ever since the invention of iron tools, in the days of _Asterius_ and _Minos_. All these footsteps there are of the first peopling of _Europe_, and its Islands, by sea; before those days it seems to have been thinly peopled from the northern coast of the _Euxine-sea_ by _Scythians_ descended from _Japhet_, who wandered without houses, and sheltered themselves from rain and wild beasts in thickets and caves of the earth; such as were the caves in mount _Ida_ in _Crete_, in which _Minos_ was educated and buried; the cave of _Cacus_, and the _Catacombs_ in _Italy_ near _Rome_ and _Naples_, afterwards turned into burying-places; the _Syringes_ and many other caves in the sides of the mountains of _Egypt_; the caves of the _Troglodites_ between _Egypt_ and the _Red Sea_, and those of the _Phaurusii_ in _Afric_, mentioned by [226] _Strabo_; and the caves, and thickets, and rocks, and high places, and pits, in which the _Israelites_ hid themselves from the _Philistims_ in the days of _Saul_, 1 _Sam._ xiii. 6. But of the state of mankind in _Europe_ in those days there is now no history remaining. The antiquities of _Libya_ were not much older than those of _Europe_; for _Diodorus_ [227] tells us, that _Uranus_ the father of _Hyperion_, and grandfather of _Helius_ and _Selene_, that is _Ammon_ the father of _Sesac_, _was their first common King, and caused the people, who 'till then wandered up and down, to dwell in towns_: and _Herodotus_ [228] tells us, that all _Media_ was peopled by δημοι, towns without walls, 'till they revolted from the _Assyrians_, which was about 267 years after the death of _Solomon_: and that after that revolt they set up a King over them, and built _Ecbatane_ with walls for his seat, the first town which they walled about; and about 72 years after the death of _Solomon_, _Benhadad_ King of _Syria_ [229] had two and thirty Kings in his army against _Ahab_: and when _Joshuah_ conquered the land of _Canaan_, every city of the _Canaanites_ had its own King, like the cities of _Europe_, before they conquered one another; and one of those Kings, _Adonibezek_, the King of _Bezek_ had conquered seventy other Kings a little before, _Judg._ i. 7. and therefore towns began to be built in that land not many ages before the days of _Joshuah_: for the Patriarchs wandred there in tents, and fed their flocks where-ever they pleased, the fields of _Phœnicia_ not being yet fully appropriated, for want of people. The countries first inhabited by mankind, were in those days so thinly peopled, that [230] four Kings from the coasts of _Shinar_ and _Elam_ invaded and spoiled the _Rephaims_, and the inhabitants of the countries of _Moab_, _Ammon_, _Edom_, and the Kingdoms of _Sodom_, _Gomorrah_, _Admah_ and _Zeboim_; and yet were pursued and beaten by _Abraham_ with an armed force of only 318 men, the whole force which _Abraham_ and the princes with him could raise: and _Egypt_ was so thinly peopled before the birth of _Moses_, that _Pharaoh_ said of the _Israelites_; [231] _behold the people of the children of _Israel_ are more and mightier than we_: and to prevent their multiplying and growing too strong, he caused their male children to be drowned. These footsteps there are of the first peopling of the earth by mankind, not long before the days of _Abraham_; and of the overspreading it with villages, towns and cities, and their growing into Kingdoms, first Smaller and then greater, until the rise of the Monarchies of _Egypt_, _Assyria_, _Babylon_, _Media_, _Persia_, _Greece_, and _Rome_, the first great Empires on this side _India_. _Abraham_ was the fifth from _Peleg_, and all mankind lived together in _Chaldea_ under the Government of _Noah_ and his sons, untill the days of _Peleg_: so long they were of one language, one society, and one religion: and then they divided the earth, being perhaps, disturbed by the rebellion of _Nimrod_, and forced to leave off building the tower of _Babel_: and from thence they spread themselves into the several countries which fell to their shares, carrying along with them the laws, customs and religion, under which they had 'till those days been educated and governed, by _Noah_, and his sons and grandsons: and these laws were handed down to _Abraham_, _Melchizedek_, and _Job_, and their contemporaries, and for some time were observed by the judges of the eastern countries: so _Job_ [232] tells us, that adultery was _an heinous crime, yea an iniquity to be punished by the judges_: and of idolatry he [233] saith, _If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly inticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above_: and there being no dispute between _Job_ and his friends about these matters, it may be presumed that they also with their countrymen were of the same religion. _Melchizedek_ was a Priest of the most high God, and _Abraham_ voluntarily paid tythes to him; which he would scarce have done had they not been of one and the same religion. The first inhabitants of the land of _Canaan_ seem also to have been originally of the same religion, and to have continued in it 'till the death of _Noah_, and the days of _Abraham_; for _Jerusalem_ was anciently [234] called _Jebus_, and its people _Jebusites_, and _Melchizedek_ was their Priest and King: these nations revolted therefore after the days of _Melchizedek_ to the worship of false Gods; as did also the posterity of _Ismael_, _Esau_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and that of _Abraham_ by _Keturah_: and the _Israelites_ themselves were very apt to revolt: and one reason why _Terah_ went from _Ur_ of the _Chaldees_ to _Haran_ in his way to the land of _Canaan_; and why _Abraham_ afterward left _Haran_, and went into the land of _Canaan_, might be to avoid the worship of false Gods, which in their days began in _Chaldea_, and spread every way from thence; but did not yet reach into the land of _Canaan_. Several of the laws and precepts in which this primitive religion consisted are mentioned in the book of _Job_, chap. i. ver. 5, and chap, xxxi, _viz._ _not to blaspheme God, nor to worship the Sun or Moon, nor to kill, nor steal, nor to commit adultery, nor trust in riches, nor oppress the poor or fatherless, nor curse your enemies, nor rejoyce at their misfortunes: but to be friendly, and hospitable and merciful, and to relieve the poor and needy, and to set up Judges_. This was the morality and religion of the first ages, still called by the _Jews_, _The precepts of the sons of _Noah__: this was the religion of _Moses_ and the Prophets, comprehended in the two great commandments, of _loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind, and our neighbour as our selves_: this was the religion enjoyned by _Moses_ to the uncircumcised stranger within the gates of _Israel_, as well as to the _Israelites_: and this is the primitive religion of both _Jews_ and _Christians_, and ought to be the standing religion of all nations, it being for the honour of God, and good of mankind: and _Moses_ adds the precept of _being merciful even to brute beasts, so as not to suck out their blood, nor to cut off their flesh alive with the blood in it, nor to kill them for the sake of their blood, nor to strangle them; but in killing them for food, to let out their blood and spill it upon the ground_, _Gen._ ix. 4, and _Levit_. xvii. 12, 13. This law was ancienter than the days of _Moses_, being given to _Noah_ and his sons long before the days of _Abraham_: and therefore when the Apostles and Elders in the Council at _Jerusalem_ declared that the Gentiles were not obliged to be circumcised and keep the law of _Moses_, they excepted this law of _abstaining from blood, and things strangled_ as being an earlier law of God, imposed not on the sons of _Abraham_ only, but on all nations, while they lived together in _Shinar_ under the dominion of _Noah_: and of the same kind is the law of _abstaining from meats offered to Idols or false Gods, and from fornication_. So then, _the believing that the world was framed by one supreme God, and is governed by him; and the loving and worshipping him, and honouring our parents, and loving our neighbour as our selves, and being merciful even to brute beasts_, is the oldest of all religions: and the Original of letters, agriculture, navigation, music, arts and sciences, metals, smiths and carpenters, towns and houses, was not older in _Europe_ than the days of _Eli_, _Samuel_ and _David_; and before those days the earth was so thinly peopled, and so overgrown with woods, that mankind could not be much older than is represented in Scripture. * * * * * CHAP. II _Of the Empire of _Egypt_._ The _Egyptians_ anciently boasted of a very great and lasting Empire under their Kings _Ammon_, _Osiris_, _Bacchus_, _Sesostris_, _Hercules_, _Memnon_, &c. reaching eastward to the _Indies_, and westward to the _Atlantic Ocean_; and out of vanity have made this monarchy some thousands of years older than the world: let us now try to rectify the Chronology of _Egypt_; by comparing the affairs of _Egypt_ with the synchronizing affairs of the _Greeks_ and _Hebrews_. _Bacchus_ the conqueror loved two women, _Venus_ and _Ariadne_: _Venus_ was the mistress of _Anchises_ and _Cinyras_, and mother of _Æneas_, who all lived 'till the destruction of _Troy_; and the sons of _Bacchus_ and _Ariadne_ were _Argonauts_; as above: and therefore the great _Bacchus_ flourished but one Generation before the _Argonautic_ expedition. This _Bacchus_ [235] was potent at sea, conquered eastward as far as _India_ returned in triumph, brought his army over the _Hellespont_; conquered _Thrace_, left music, dancing and poetry there; killed _Lycurgus_ King of _Thrace_, and _Pentheus_ the grandson of _Cadmus_; gave the Kingdom of _Lycurgus_ to _Tharops_; and one of his minstrells, called by the _Greeks_ _Calliope_, to _Oeagrus_ the son of _Tharops_; and of _Oeagrus_ and _Calliope_ was born _Orpheus_, who sailed with the _Argonauts_: this _Bacchus_ was therefore contemporary to _Sesostris_; and both being Kings of _Egypt_, and potent at sea, and great conquerors, and carrying on their conquests into _India_ and _Thrace_, they must be one and the same man. The antient _Greeks_, who made the fables of the Gods, related that _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_ was carried into _Egypt_; and there became the _Egyptian Isis_; and that _Apis_ the son of _Phoroneus_ after death became the God _Serapis_; and some said that _Epaphus_ was the son of _Io_: _Serapis_ and _Epaphus_ are _Osiris_, and therefore _Isis_ and _Osiris_, in the opinion of the ancient _Greeks_ who made the fables of the Gods, were not above two or three Generations older than the _Argonautic_ expedition. _Dicæarchus_, as he is cited by the scholiast upon _Apollonius_, [236] represents them two Generations older than _Sesostris_, saying that after _Orus_ the son of _Osiris_ and _Isis_, Reigned _Sesonchosis_. He seems to have followed the opinion of the people of _Naxus_, who made _Bacchus_ two Generations older than _Theseus_, and for that end feigned two _Minos's_ and two _Ariadnes_; for by the consent of all antiquity _Osiris_ and _Bacchus_ were one and the same King of _Egypt_: this is affirmed by the _Egyptians_, as well as by the _Greeks_; and some of the antient Mythologists, as _Eumolpus_ and _Orpheus_, [237] called _Osiris_ by the names of _Dionysus_ and _Sirius_. _Osiris_ was King of all _Egypt_, and a great conqueror, and came over the _Hellespont_ in the days of _Triptolemus_, and subdued _Thrace_, and there killed _Lycurgus_; and therefore his expedition falls in with that of the great _Bacchus_. _Osiris_, _Bacchus_ and _Sesostris_ lived about the same time, and by the relation of historians were all of them Kings of all _Egypt_, and Reigned at _Thebes_, and adorned that city, and were very potent by land and sea: all three were great conquerors, and carried on their conquests by land through _Asia_ as far as _India_: all three came over the _Hellespont_ and were there in danger of losing their army: all three conquered _Thrace_, and there put a stop to their victories, and returned back from thence into _Egypt_: all three left pillars with inscriptions in their conquests: and therefore all three must be one and the same King of _Egypt_; and this King can be no other than _Sesac_. All _Egypt_, including _Thebais_, _Ethiopia_ and _Libya_, had no common King before the expulsion of the Shepherds who Reigned in the lower _Egypt_; no Conqueror of _Syria_, _India_, _Asia minor_ and _Thrace_, before _Sesac_; and the sacred history admits of no _Egyptian_ conqueror of _Palestine_ before this King. _Thymætes_ [238] who was contemporary to _Orpheus_, and wrote a poesy called _Phrygia_, of the actions of _Bacchus_ in very old language and character, said that _Bacchus_ had _Libyan_ women in his army, amongst whom was _Minerva_ a woman born in _Libya_, near the river _Triton,_ and that _Bacchus_ commanded the men and _Minerva_ the women. _Diodorus_ [239] calls her _Myrina_, and saith that she was Queen of the _Amazons_ in _Libya_, and there conquered the _Atlantides_ and _Gorgons_, and then made a league with _Orus_ the son of _Isis_, sent to her by his father _Osiris_ or _Bacchus_ for that purpose, and passing through _Egypt_ subdued the _Arabians_, and _Syria_ and _Cilicia_, and came through _Phrygia_, _viz._ in the army of _Bacchus_ to the _Mediterranean_; but palling over into _Europe_, was slain with many of her women by the _Thracians_ and _Scythians_, under the conduct of _Sipylus_ a _Scythian_, and _Mopsus_ a _Thracian_ whom _Lycurgus_ King of _Thrace_ had banished. This was that _Lycurgus_ who opposed the passage of _Bacchus_ over the _Hellespont_, and was soon after conquered by him, and slain: but afterwards _Bacchus_ met with a repulse from the _Greeks_, under the conduct of _Perseus_, who slew many of his women, as _Pausanias_ [240] relates, and was assisted by the _Scythians_ and _Thracians_ under the conduct of _Sipylus_ and _Mopsus_; which repulses, together with a revolt of his brother _Danaus_ in _Egypt_; put a stop to his victories: and in returning home he left part of his men in _Colchis_ and at _Mount Caucasus_, under _Æetes_ and _Prometheus_; and his women upon the river _Thermodon_ near _Colchis_, under their new Queens _Marthesia_ and _Lampeto_: for _Diodorus_ [241] speaking of the _Amazons_ who were seated at _Thermodon_, saith, that they dwelt originally in _Libya_, and there Reigned over the _Atlantides_, and invading their neighbours conquered as far as _Europe_: and _Ammianus_, [242] that the ancient _Amazons_ breaking through many nations, attack'd the _Athenians_, and there receiving a great slaughter retired to _Thermodon_: and _Justin_, [243] that these _Amazons_ had at first, he means at their first coming to _Thermodon_, two Queens who called themselves daughters of _Mars_; and that they conquered part of _Europe_, and some cities of _Asia_, _viz._ in the Reign of _Minerva_, and then sent back part of their army with a great booty, under their said new Queens; and that _Marthesia_ being afterwards slain, was succeeded by her daughter _Orithya_, and she by _Penthesilea_; and that _Theseus_ captivated and married _Antiope_ the sister of _Orithya_. _Hercules_ made war upon the _Amazons_, and in the Reign of _Orithya_ and _Penthesilea_ they came to the _Trojan_ war: whence the first wars of the _Amazons_ in _Europe_ and _Asia_, and their settling at _Thermodon_, were but one Generation before those actions of _Hercules_ and _Theseus_, and but two before the _Trojan_ war, and so fell in with the expedition of _Sesostris_: and since they warred in the days of _Isis_ and her son _Orus_, and were a part of the army of _Bacchus_ or _Osiris_, we have here a further argument for making _Osiris_ and _Bacchus_ contemporary to _Sesostris_, and all three one and the same King with _Sesac_. The _Greeks_ reckon _Osiris_ and _Bacchus_ to be sons of _Jupiter_, and the _Egyptian_ name of _Jupiter_ is _Ammon_. _Manetho_ in his 11th and 12th _Dynasties_, as he is cited by _Africanus_ and _Eusebius_ names these four Kings of _Egypt_, as reigning in order; _Ammenemes_, _Gesongeses_ or _Sesonchoris_ the son of _Ammenemes_, _Ammenemes_ who was slain by his Eunuchs, and _Sesostris_ who subdued all _Asia_ and part of _Europe_. _Gesongeses_ and _Sesonchoris_ are corruptly written for _Sesonchosis_; and the two first of these four Kings, _Ammenemes_ and _Sesonchosis_, are the same with the two last, _Ammenemes_ and _Sesostris_, that is, with _Ammon_ and _Sesac_; for _Diodorus_ saith [244] that _Osiris_ built in _Thebes_ a magnificent temple to his parents _Jupiter_ and _Juno_, and two other temples to _Jupiter_, a larger to _Jupiter Uranius_, and a less to his father _Jupiter Ammon_ who reigned in that city: and [245] _Thymætes_ abovementioned, who was contemporary to _Orpheus_, wrote expresly that the father of _Bacchus_ was _Ammon_, a King Reigning over part of _Libya_, that is, a King of _Egypt_ Reigning over all that part of _Libya_, anciently called _Ammonia_. _Stephanus_ [246] saith Πασα ‛η Λιβυη ‛ουτως εκαλειτο απο Αμμωνος· _All _Libya_ was anciently called _Ammonia_ from _Ammon__: this is that King of _Egypt_ from whom _Thebes_ was called _No-Ammon_, and _Ammon-no_ the city of _Ammon_, and by the _Greeks Diospolis_, the city of _Jupiter Ammon_: _Sesostris_ built it sumptuously, and called it by his father's name, and from the same King the [247] River called _Ammon_, the people called _Ammonii_, and the [248] promontory _Ammonium_ in _Arabia fælix_ had their names. The lower part of _Egypt_ being yearly overflowed by the _Nile_, was scarce inhabited before the invention of corn, which made it useful: and the King, who by this invention first peopled it and Reigned over it, perhaps the King of the city _Mesir_ where _Memphis_ was afterwards built, seems to have been worshipped by his subjects after death, in the ox or calf, for this benefaction: for this city stood in the most convenient place to people the lower _Egypt_, and from its being composed of two parts seated on each side of the river _Nile_, might give the name of _Mizraim_ to its founder and people; unless you had rather refer the word to the double people, those above the _Delta_, and those within it: and this I take to be the state of the lower _Egypt_, 'till the Shepherds or _Phœnicians_ who fled from _Joshuah_ conquered it, and being afterwards conquered by the _Ethiopians_, fled into _Afric_ and other places: for there was a tradition that some of them fled into _Afric_; and St. _Austin_ [249] confirms this, by telling us that the common people of _Afric_ being asked who they were, replied _Chanani_, that is, _Canaanites_. _Interrogati rustici nostri_, saith he, _quid sint, Punice respondentes Chanani, corrupta scilicet voce sicut in talibus solet, quid aliud respondent quam Chanaanæi?_ _Procopius_ also [250] tells us of two pillars in the west of _Afric_, with inscriptions signifying that the people were _Canaanites_ who fled from _Joshuah_: and _Eusebius_ [251] tells us, that these _Canaanites_ flying from the sons of _Israel_, built _Tripolis_ in _Afric_; and the _Jerusalem Gemara_, [252] that the _Gergesites_ fled from _Joshua_, going into _Afric_: and _Procopius_ relates their flight in this manner. Επει δε ‛ημας ‛ο της ‛ιστοριας λογος ενταυθ' ηγαγεν. επαναγκες ειπειν ανωθεν, ‛οθεν τε τα Μαυρουσιων εθνη ες Λιβυην ηλθε, και ‛οπως ωικησαντο. Επειδη ‛Εβραιοι εξ Αιγυπτου ανεχωρησαν, και αγχι των Παλαιστινης ‛οριων εγενοντο· Μωσης μεν σοφος ανηρ, ‛ος αυτος της ‛οδου ‛ηγησατο, θνησκει. διαδεχεται δε την ‛ηγεμονιαν Ιησους ‛ο του Ναυη παις· ‛ος ες τε την Παλαιστινην τον λεων τουτον εισηγαγε· και αρετην εν τωι πολεμωι κρεισσω ‛η κατα ανθρωπου φυσιν επιδειξαμενος, την χωραν εσχε· και τα εθνη ‛απαντα καταστρεψαμενος, τας πολεις ευπετως παρεστησατο, ανικητος τε πανταπασιν εδοξεν ειναι. τοτε δε ‛η επιθαλασσια χωρα, εκ Σιδωνος μεχρι των Αιγυπτου ‛οριων, Φοινικη ξυμπασα ωνομαζετο. βασιλευς δε εις το παλαιον εφεστηκει· ‛ωσπερ ‛απασιν ‛ωμολογηται, ‛οι Φοινικων τα αρχαιοτατα ανεγραψαντο. ενταυθ' ωκηντο εθνη πολυανθρωποτατα, Γεργεσαιοι τε και Ιεβουσαιοι, και αλλα αττα ονοματα εχοντα, ‛οις δη αυτα ‛η των ‛Εβραιων ‛ιστορια καλει. ‛ουτος ‛ο λαος επει αμαχον τι χρημα τον επηλυτην στρατηγον ειδον· εξ ηθων των πατριων εξανασταντες, επ' Αιγυπτον ‛ομορου ουσης εχωρησαν. ενθα χωρον ουδενα σφισιν ‛ικανον ενοικησασθαι ‛ευροντες, επει εν Αιγυπτω πολυανθρωπια εκ παλαιου ην· ες Λιβυην μεχρι στηλων των ‛Ηρακλεους εσχον· ενταυθα τε και ες εμε τηι Φοινικων φωνηι χρωμενοι ωικηνται. _Quando ad Mauros nos historia deduxit, congruens nos exponere unde orta gens in Africa sedes fixerit. Quo tempore egressi Ægypto Hebræi jam prope Palestinæ fines venerant, mortuus ibi Moses, vir sapiens, dux itineris. Successor imperii factus Jesus Navæ filius intra Palæstinam duxit popularium agmen; & virtute usus supra humanum modum, terram occupavit, gentibusque excisis urbes ditionis suæ fecit, & invicti famam tulit. Maritima ora quæ a Sidone ad Ægypti limitem extenditur, nomen habet Phœnices. Rex unus _[Hebræis]_ imperabat ut omnes qui res Phœnicias scripsere consentiunt. In eo tractatu numerosæ gentes erant, Gergesæi, Jebusæi, quosque aliis nominibus Hebræorum annales memorant. Hi homines ut impares se venienti imperatori videre, derelicto patriæ solo ad finitimam primum venere Ægyptum, sed ibi capacem tantæ multitudinis locum non reperientes, erat enim Ægyptus ab antiquo fœcunda populis, in Africam profecti, multis conditis urbibus, omnem eam Herculis columnas usque, obtinuerunt: ubi ad meam ætatem sermone Phœnicio utentes habitant_. By the language and extreme poverty of the _Moors_, described also by _Procopius_ and by their being unacquainted with merchandise and sea-affairs, you may know that they were _Canaanites_ originally, and peopled _Afric_ before the _Tyrian_ merchants came thither. These _Canaanites_ coming from the East, pitched their tents in great numbers in the lower _Egypt_, in the Reign of _Timaus_, as [253] _Manetho_ writes, and easily seized the country, and fortifying _Pelusium_, then called _Abaris_, they erected a Kingdom there, and Reigned long under their own Kings, _Salatis_, _Bœon_, _Apachnas_, _Apophis_, _Janias_, _Assis_, and others successively: and in the mean time the upper part of _Egypt_ called _Thebais_, and according to [254] _Herodotus_, _Ægyptus_, and in Scripture the land of _Pathros_, was under other Kings, Reigning perhaps at _Coptos_, and _Thebes_, and _This_, and _Syene_, and [255] _Pathros_, and _Elephantis_, and _Heracleopolis_, and _Mesir_, and other great cities, 'till they conquered one another, or were conquered by the _Ethiopians_: for cities grew great in those days, by being the seats of Kingdoms: but at length one of these Kingdoms conquered the rest, and made a lasting war upon the Shepherds, and in the Reign of its King _Misphragmuthosis_, and his son _Amosis_, called also _Tethmosis_, _Tuthmosis_, and _Thomosis_, drove them out of _Egypt_, and made them fly into _Afric_ and _Syria_, and other places, and united all _Egypt_ into one Monarchy; and under their next Kings, _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, enlarged it into a great Empire. This conquering people worshipped not the Kings of the Shepherds whom they conquered and expelled, but [256] abolished their religion of sacrificing men, and after the manner of those ages Deified their own Kings, who founded their new Dominion, beginning the history of their Empire with the Reign and great acts of their Gods and Heroes: whence their Gods _Ammon_ and _Rhea_, or _Uranus_ and _Titæa_; _Osiris_ and _Isis_; _Orus_ and _Bubaste_: and their Secretary _Thoth_, and Generals _Hercules_ and _Pan_; and Admiral _Japetus_, _Neptune_, or _Typhon_; were all of them _Thebans_, and flourished after the expulsion of the Shepherds. _Homer_ places _Thebes_ in _Ethiopia_, and the _Ethiopians_ reported that [257] the _Egyptians_ were a colony drawn out of them by _Osiris_, and that thence it came to pass that most of the laws of _Egypt_ were the same with those of _Ethiopia_, and that the _Egyptians_ learnt from the _Ethiopians_ the custom of Deifying their Kings. When _Joseph_ entertained his brethren in _Egypt_, they did eat at a table by themselves, and he did eat at another table by himself; and the _Egyptians_ who did eat with him were at another table, _because the _Egyptians_ might not eat bread with the _Hebrews_; for that was an abomination to the _Egyptians__, _Gen._ xliii. 32. These _Egyptians_ who did eat with _Joseph_ were of the Court of _Pharaoh_; and therefore _Pharaoh_ and his Court were at this time not Shepherds but genuine _Egyptians_; and these _Egyptians_ abominated eating bread with the _Hebrews_, at one and the same table: and of these _Egyptians_ and their fellow-subjects, it is said a little after, that _every Shepherd is an abomination to the _Egyptians__: _Egypt_ at this time was therefore under the government of the genuine _Egyptians_, and not under that of the Shepherds. After the descent of _Jacob_ and his sons into _Egypt_, _Joseph_ lived 70 years, and so long continued in favour with the Kings of _Egypt_: and 64 years after his death _Moses_ was born: and between the death of _Joseph_ and the birth of _Moses_, _there arose up a new King over _Egypt_, which knew not _Joseph__, _Exod._ i. 8. But this King of _Egypt_ was not one of the Shepherds; for he is called _Pharaoh_, _Exod._ i. 11, 22: and _Moses_ told his successor, that if the people of _Israel_ should sacrifice in the land of _Egypt_, _they should sacrifice the abomination of the _Egyptians_ before their eyes, and the _Egyptians_ would stone them_, _Exod._ viii. 26. that is, they should sacrifice sheep or oxen, contrary to the religion of _Egypt_. The Shepherds therefore did not Reign over _Egypt_ while _Israel_ was there, but either were driven out of _Egypt_ before _Israel_ went down thither, or did not enter into _Egypt_ 'till after _Moses_ had brought _Israel_ from thence: and the latter must be true, if they were driven out of _Egypt_ a little before the building of the temple of _Solomon_, as _Manetho_ affirms. _Diodorus_ [258] saith in his 40th book, _that in _Egypt_ there were formerly multitudes of strangers of several nations, who used foreign rites and ceremonies in worshipping the Gods, for which they were expelled _Egypt_; and under _Danaus_, _Cadmus_, and other skilful commanders, after great hardships, came into _Greece_, and other places; but the greatest part of them came into _Judæa_, not far from _Egypt_, a country then uninhabited and desert, being conducted thither by one _Moses_, a wise and valiant man, who after he had possest himself of the country, among other things built _Jerusalem_, and the Temple._ _Diodorus_ here mistakes the original of the _Israelites_, as _Manetho_ had done before, confounding their flight into the wilderness under the conduct of _Moses_, with the flight of the Shepherds from _Misphragmuthosis_, and his son _Amosis_, into _Phœnicia_ and _Afric_; and not knowing that _Judæa_ was inhabited by _Canaanites_, before the _Israelites_ under _Moses_ came thither: but however, he lets us know that the Shepherds were expelled _Egypt_ by _Amosis_, a little before the building of _Jerusalem_ and the Temple, and that after several hardships several of them came into _Greece_, and other places, under the conduct of _Cadmus_, and other Captains, but the most of them Settled in _Phœnicia_ next _Egypt_. We may reckon therefore that the expulsion of the Shepherds by the Kings of _Thebais_, was the occasion that the _Philistims_ were so numerous in the days of _Saul_; and that so many men came in those times with colonies out of _Egypt_ and _Phœnicia_ into _Greece_; as _Lelex_, _Inachus_, _Pelasgus_, _Æzeus_, _Cecrops_, _Ægialeus_, _Cadmus_, _Phœnix_, _Membliarius_, _Alymnus_, _Abas_, _Erechtheus_, _Peteos_, _Phorbas_, in the days of _Eli_, _Samuel_, _Saul_ and _David_: some of them fled in the days of _Eli_, from _Misphragmuthosis_, who conquered part of the lower _Egypt_; others retired from his Successor _Amosis_ into _Phœnicia_, and _Arabia Petræa_, and there mixed with the old inhabitants; who not long after being conquered by _David_, fled from him and the _Philistims_ by sea, under the conduct of _Cadmus_ and other Captains, into _Asia Minor_, _Greece_, and _Libya_, to seek new seats, and there built towns, erected Kingdoms, and set on foot the worship of the dead: and some of those who remained in _Judæa_ might assist _David_ and _Solomon_, in building _Jerusalem_ and the Temple. Among the foreign rites used by the strangers in _Egypt_, in worshipping the Gods, was the sacrificing of men; for _Amosis_ abolished that custom at _Heliopolis_: and therefore those strangers were _Canaanites_, such as fled from _Joshua_; for the _Canaanites_ gave their seed, that is, their children, to _Moloch_, _and burnt their sons and their daughters in the fire to their Gods_, _Deut._ xii. 31. _Manetho_ calls them _Phœnician_ strangers. After _Amosis_ had expelled the Shepherds, and extended his dominion over all _Egypt_, his son and Successor _Ammenemes_ or _Ammon_, by much greater conquests laid the foundation of the _Egyptian_ Empire: for by the assistance of his young son _Sesostris_, whom he brought up to hunting and other laborious exercises, he conquered _Arabia_, _Troglodytica_, and _Libya_: and from him all _Libya_ was anciently called _Ammonia_: and after his death, in the temples erected to him at _Thebes_, and in _Ammonia_ and at _Meroe_ in _Ethiopia_, they set up Oracles to him, and made the people worship him as the God that acted in them: and these are the oldest Oracles mentioned in history; the _Greeks_ therein imitating the _Egyptians_: for the [259] Oracle at _Dodona_ was the oldest in _Greece_, and was set up by an _Egyptian_ woman, after the example of the Oracle of _Jupiter Ammon_ at _Thebes_. In the days of _Ammon_ a body of the _Edomites_ fled from _David_ into _Egypt_, with their young King _Hadad_, as above; and carried thither their skill in navigation: and this seems to have given occasion to the _Egyptians_ to build a fleet on the _Red Sea_ near _Coptos_, and might ingratiate _Hadad_ with _Pharaoh_: for the _Midianites_ and _Ishmaelites_, who bordered upon the _Red Sea_, near _Mount Horeb_ on the south-side of _Edom_, were merchants from the days of _Jacob_ the Patriarch, _Gen._ xxxvii. 28, 36. and by their merchandise the _Midianites_ abounded with gold in the days of _Moses_, _Numb._ xxxi. 50, 51, 52. and in the days of the judges of _Israel_, _because they were _Ishmaelites__, _Judg._ viii 24. The _Ishmaelites_ therefore in those days grew rich by merchandise; they carried their merchandise on camels through _Petra_ to _Rhinocolura_, and thence to _Egypt_: and this trafic at length came into the hands of _David_, by his conquering the _Edomites_, and gaining the ports of the _Red Sea_ called _Eloth_ and _Ezion-Geber_, as may be understood by the 3000 talents of gold of _Ophir_, which _David_ gave to the Temple, 1 _Chron._ xxix. 4. The _Egyptians_ having the art of making linen-cloth, they began about this time to build long Ships with sails, in their port on those Seas near _Coptos_, and having learnt the skill of the _Edomites_, they began now to observe the positions of the Stars, and the length of the Solar Year, for enabling them to know the position of the Stars at any time, and to sail by them at all times, without sight of the shoar: and this gave a beginning to Astronomy and Navigation: for hitherto they had gone only by the shoar with oars, in round vessels of burden, first invented on that shallow sea by the posterity of _Abraham_, and in passing from island to island guided themselves by the sight of the islands in the day time, or by the sight of some of the Stars in the night. Their old year was the Lunisolar year, derived from _Noah_ to all his posterity, 'till those days, and consisted of twelve months, each of thirty days, according to their calendar: and to the end of this calendar-year they now added five days, and thereby made up the Solar year of twelve months and five days, or 365 days. The ancient _Egyptians_ feigned [260] that _Rhea_ lay secretly with _Saturn_, and _Sol_ prayed that she might bring forth neither in any month, nor in the year; and that _Mercury_ playing at dice with _Luna_, overcame, and took from the Lunar year the 72d part of every day, and thereof composed five days, and added them to the year of 360 days, that she might bring forth in them; and that the _Egyptians_ celebrated those days as the birth-days of _Rhea_'s five children, _Osiris_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, _Isis_, and _Nephthe_ the wife of _Typhon_: and therefore, according to the opinion of the ancient _Egyptians_, the five days were added to the Lunisolar calendar-year, in the Reign of _Saturn_ and _Rhea_, the parents of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Typhon_; that is, in the Reign of _Ammon_ and _Titæa_, the parents of the _Titans_; or in the latter half of the Reign of _David_, when those _Titans_ were born, and by consequence soon after the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_ into _Egypt_: but the Solstices not being yet settled, the beginning of this new year might not be fixed to the Vernal Equinox before the Reign of _Amenophis_ the successor of _Orus_ junior, the Son of _Osiris_ and _Isis_. When the _Edomites_ fled from _David_ with their young King _Hadad_ into _Egypt_, it is probable that they carried thither also the use of letters: for letters were then in use among the posterity of _Abraham_ in _Arabia Petræa_, and upon the borders of the _Red Sea_, the Law being written there by _Moses_ in a book, and in tables of stone, long before: for _Moses_ marrying the daughter of the prince of _Midian_, and dwelling with him forty years, learnt them among the _Midianites_: and _Job_, who lived [261] among their neighbours the _Edomites_, mentions the writing down or words, as there in use in his days, _Job._ xix. 23, 24. and there is no instance of letters for writing down sounds, being in use before the days of _David_, in any other nation besides the posterity of _Abraham_. The _Egyptians_ ascribed this invention to _Thoth_, the secretary of _Osiris_; and therefore Letters began to be in use in _Egypt_ in the days of _Thoth_, that is, a little after the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_, or about the time that _Cadmus_ brought them into _Europe_. _Helladius_ [262] tells us, that a man called _Oes_, who appeared in the _Red Sea_ with the tail of a fish, so they painted a sea-man, taught Astronomy and Letters: and _Hyginus_, [263] that _Euhadnes_, who came out of the Sea in _Chaldæa_, taught the _Chaldæans_ Astrology the first of any man; he means Astronomy: and _Alexander Polyhistor_ [264] tells us from _Berosus_, that _Oannes_ taught the _Chaldæans_ Letters, Mathematicks, Arts, Agriculture, Cohabitation in Cities, and the Construction of Temples; and that several such men came thither successively. _Oes_, _Euhadnes_, and _Oannes_, seem to be the same name a little varied by corruption; and this name seems to have been given in common to several sea-men, who came thither from time to time, and by consequence were merchants, and frequented those seas with their merchandise, or else fled from their enemies: so that Letters, Astronomy, Architecture and Agriculture, came into _Chaldæa_ by sea, and were carried thither by sea-men, who frequented the _Persian Gulph_, and came thither from time to time, after all those things were practised in other countries whence they came, and by consequence in the days of _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, _David_ and _Solomon_, and their successors, or not long before. The _Chaldæans_ indeed made _Oannes_ older than the flood of _Xisuthrus_, but the _Egyptians_ made _Osiris_ as old, and I make them contemporary. The _Red Sea_ had its name not from its colour, but from _Edom_ and _Erythra_, the names of _Esau_, which signify that colour: and some [265] tell us, that King _Erythra_, meaning _Esau_, invented the vessels, _rates_, in which they navigated that Sea, and was buried in an island thereof near the _Persian Gulph_: whence it follows, that the _Edomites_ navigated that Sea from the days of _Esau_; and there is no need that the oldest _Oannes_ should be older. There were boats upon rivers before, such as were the boats which carried the Patriarchs over _Euphrates_ and _Jordan_, and the first nations over many other rivers, for peopling the earth, seeking new seats, and invading one another's territories: and after the example of such vessels, _Ishhmael_ and _Midian_ the sons of _Abraham_, and _Esau_ his grandson, might build larger vessels to go to the islands upon the _Red Sea_, in searching for new seats, and by degrees learn to navigate that sea, as far as to the _Persian Gulph_: for ships were as old, even upon the _Mediterranean_, as the days of _Jacob_, _Gen._ xlix. 13. _Judg._ v. 17. but it is probable that the merchants of that sea were not forward to discover their Arts and Sciences, upon which their trade depended: it seems therefore that Letters and Astronomy, and the trade of Carpenters, were invented by the merchants of the _Red Sea_, for writing down their merchandise, and keeping their accounts, and guiding their ships in the night by the Stars, and building ships; and that they were propagated from _Arabia Petræa_ into _Egypt_, _Chaldæa_, _Syria_, _Asia minor_, and _Europe_, much about one and the same time; the time in which _David_ conquered and dispersed those merchants: for we hear nothing of Letters before the days of _David_, except among the posterity of _Abraham_; nothing of Astronomy, before the _Egyptians_ under _Ammon_ and _Sesac_ applied themselves to that study, except the Constellations mentioned by _Job_, who lived in _Arabia Petræa_ among the merchants; nothing of the trade of Carpenters, or good Architecture, before _Solomon_ sent to _Hiram_ King of _Tyre_, to supply him with such Artificers, saying that _there were none in _Israel_ who could skill to hew timber like the _Zidonians__. _Diodorus_ [266] tells us, _that the _Egyptians_ sent many colonies out of _Egypt_ into other countries; and that _Belus_, the son of _Neptune_ and _Libya_, carried colonies thence into _Babylonia_, and seating himself on _Euphrates_, instituted priests free from taxes and publick expences, after the manner of _Egypt_, who were called _Chaldæans_, and who after the manner of _Egypt_, might observe the Stars_: and _Pausanias_ [267] tells us, _that the _Belus_ of the _Babylonians_ had his name from _Belus_ an _Egyptian_, the son of _Libya__: and _Apollodorus_; [268] _that _Belus_ the son of _Neptune_ and _Libya_, and King of _Egypt_, was the father of _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus__, that is, _Ammon_: he tells us also, _that _Busiris_ the son of _Neptune_ and _Lisianassa_ _[Libyanassa]_ the daughter of _Epaphus_, was King of _Egypt__; and _Eusebius_ calls this King, __Busiris_ the son of _Neptune_, and of _Libya_ the daughter of _Epaphus__. By these things the later _Egyptians_ seem to have made two _Belus's_, the one the father of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Neptune_, the other the son of _Neptune_, and father of _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus_: and hence came the opinion of the people of _Naxus_, that there were two _Minos's_ and two _Ariadnes_, the one two Generations older than the other; which we have confuted. The father of _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus_ was the father of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Typhon_; and _Typhon_ was not the grandfather of _Neptune_, but _Neptune_ himself. _Sesostris_ being brought up to hard labour by his father _Ammon_, warred first under his father, being the Hero or _Hercules_ of the _Egyptians_ during his father's Reign, and afterward their King: under his father, whilst he was very young, he invaded and conquered _Troglodytica_, and thereby secured the harbour of the _Red Sea_, near _Coptos_ in _Egypt_, and then he invaded _Ethiopia_, and carried on his conquest southward, as far as to the region bearing cinnamon: and his father by the assistance of the _Edomites_ having built a fleet on the _Red Sea_, he put to sea, and coasted _Arabia Fælix_, going to the _Persian Gulph_ and beyond, and in those countries set up Columns with inscriptions denoting his conquests; and particularly he Set up a Pillar at _Dira_, a promontory in the straits of the _Red Sea_, next _Ethiopia_, and two Pillars in _India_, on the mountains near the mouth of the rivers _Ganges_; so [269] _Dionysius_: Ενθα τε και στηλαι, Θηβαιγενεος Διονυσου ‛Εστασιν πυματοιο παρα ‛ροον Ωκεανοιο, Ινδων ‛υστατιοισιν εν ουρεσιν· ενθα τε Γαγγης Λευκον ‛υδορ Νυσσαιον επι πλαταμωνα κυλινδει. _Ubi etiamnum columnæ Thebis geniti Bacchi_ _Stant extremi juxta fluxum Oceani_ _Indorum ultimis in montibus: ubi & Ganges_ _Claram aquam Nyssæam ad planitiem devolvit_. After these things he invaded _Libya_, and fought the _Africans_ with clubs, and thence is painted with a club in his hand: so [270] _Hyginus_; _Afri & Ægyptii primum fustibus dimicaverunt, postea Belus Neptuni filius gladio belligeratus est, unde bellum dictum est_: and after the conquest of _Libya_, by which _Egypt_ was furnished with horses, and furnished _Solomon_ and his friends; he prepared a fleet on the _Mediterranean_, and went on westward upon the coast of _Afric_, to search those countries, as far as to the Ocean and island _Erythra_ or _Gades_ in _Spain_; as _Macrobius_ [271] informs us from _Panyasis_ and _Pherecydes_: and there he conquered _Geryon_, and at the mouth of the _Straits_ set up the famous Pillars. [272] _Venit ad occasum mundique extrema Sesostris._ Then he returned through _Spain_ and the southern coasts of _France_ and _Italy_, with the cattel of _Geryon_, his fleet attending him by sea, and left in _Sicily_ the _Sicani_, a people which he had brought from _Spain_: and after his father's death he built Temples to him in his conquests; whence it came to pass, that _Jupiter Ammon_ was worshipped in _Ammonia_, and _Ethiopia_, and _Arabia_, and as far as _India_, according to the [273] Poet: _Quamvis Æthiopum populis, Arabumque beatis_ _Gentibus, atque Indis unus sit Jupiter Ammon_. The _Arabians_ worshipped only two Gods, _Cœlus_, otherwise called _Ouranus_, or _Jupiter Uranius_, and _Bacchus_: and these were _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Sesac_, as above: and so also the people of _Meroe_ above _Egypt_ [274] worshipped no other Gods but _Jupiter_ and _Bacchus_, and had an Oracle of _Jupiter_, and these two Gods were _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Osiris_, according to the language of _Egypt_. At length _Sesostris_, in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_, came out of _Egypt_ with a great army of _Libyans_, _Troglodytes_ and _Ethiopians_, and spoiled the Temple, and reduced _Judæa_ into servitude, and went on conquering, first eastward toward _India_, which he invaded, and then westward as far as _Thrace_: for _God had given him the kingdoms of the countries_, 2 _Chron._ xii. 2, 3, 8. In [275] this Expedition he spent nine years, setting up pillars with inscriptions in all his conquests, some of which remained in _Syria_ 'till the days of _Herodotus_. He was accompanied with his son _Orus_, or _Apollo_, and with some singing women, called _the Muses_, one of which, called _Calliope_, was the mother of _Orpheus_ an _Argonaut_: and the two tops of the mountain _Parnassus_, which were very high, were dedicated [276] the one to this _Bacchus_, and the other to his son _Apollo_: whence _Lucan_; [277] _Parnassus gemino petit æthera colle,_ _Mons Phœbo, Bromioque sacer._ In the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_ he returned back into _Egypt_; leaving _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, and his nephew _Prometheus_ at mount _Caucasus_, with part of his army, to defend his conquests from the _Scythians_. _Apollonius Rhodius_ [278] and his scholiast tell us, that _Sesonchosis_ King of all _Egypt_, that is _Sesac_, invading all _Asia_, and a great part of _Europe_, peopled many cities which he took; and that _Æa_, the Metropolis of _Colchis_, _remained stable ever since his days with the posterity of those _Egyptians_ which he placed there, and that they preserved pillars or tables in which all the journies and the bounds of sea and land were described, for the use of them that were to go any whither_: these tables therefore gave a beginning to Geography. _Sesostris_ upon his returning home [279] divided _Egypt_ by measure amongst the _Egyptians_; and this gave a beginning to Surveying and Geometry: and [280] _Jamblicus_ derives this division of _Egypt_, and beginning of Geometry, from the Age of the Gods of _Egypt_. _Sesostris_ also [281] divided _Egypt_ into 36 _Nomes_ or Counties, and dug a canal from the _Nile_ to the head city of every _Nome_, and with the earth dug out of it, he caused the ground of the city to be raised higher, and built a Temple in every city for the worship of the _Nome_, and in the Temples set up Oracles, some of which remained 'till the days of _Herodotus_: and by this means the _Egyptians_ of every _Nome_ were induced to worship the great men of the Kingdom, to whom the _Nome_, the City, and the Temple or Sepulchre of the God, was dedicated: for every Temple had its proper God, and modes of worship, and annual festivals, at which the Council and People of the _Nome_ met at certain times to sacrifice, and regulate the affairs of the _Nome_, and administer justice, and buy and sell; but _Sesac_ and his Queen, by the names of _Osiris_ and _Isis_, were worshipped in all _Egypt_: and because _Sesac_, to render the _Nile_ more useful, dug channels from it to all the capital cities of _Egypt_; that river was consecrated to him, and he was called by its names, _Ægyptus_, _Siris_, _Nilus_. _Dionysius_ [282] tells us, that the _Nile_ was called _Siris_ by the _Ethiopians_, and _Nilus_ by the people of _Siene_. From the word _Nahal_, which signifies a torrent, that river was called _Nilus_; and _Dionysius_ [283] tells us, that _Nilus_ was that King who cut _Egypt_ into canals, to make the river useful: in Scripture the river is called _Schichor_, or _Sihor_, and thence the _Greeks_ formed the words _Siris_, _Sirius_, _Ser-Apis_, _O-Siris_; but _Plutarch_ [284] tells us, that the syllable _O_, put before the word _Siris_ by the _Greeks_, made it scarce intelligible to the _Egyptians_. I have now told you the original of the _Nomes_ of _Egypt_ and of the Religions and Temples of the _Nomes_, and of the Cities built there by the Gods, and called by their names: whence _Diodorus_ [285] tells us, that _of all the Provinces of the World, there were in _Egypt_ only many cities built by the ancient Gods, as by _Jupiter_, _Sol_, _Hermes_, _Apollo_, _Pan_, _Eilithyia_, and, many others_: and _Lucian_ [286] an _Assyrian_, who had travelled into _Phœnicia_ and _Egypt_, tells us, that _the Temples of _Egypt_ were very old, those in _Phœnicia_ built by _Cinyras_ as old, and those in _Assyria_ almost as old as the former, but not altogether so old_: which shews that the Monarchy of _Assyria_ rose up after the Monarchy of _Egypt_; as is represented in Scripture; and that the Temples of _Egypt_ then standing, were those built by _Sesostris_, about the same time that the Temples of _Phœnicia_ and _Cyprus_ were built by _Cinyras_, _Benhadad_, and _Hiram_. This was not the first original of Idolatry, but only the erecting of much more sumptuous Temples than formerly to the founders of new Kingdoms: for Temples at first were very small; _Jupiter angusta vix totus stabat in æde._ _Ovid. Fast._ l. 1. Altars were at first erected without Temples, and this custom continued in _Persia_ 'till after the days of _Herodotus_: in _Phœnicia_ they had Altars with little houses for eating the sacrifices much earlier, and these they called High Places: such was the High Place where _Samuel_ entertained _Saul_; such was the House of _Dagon_ at _Ashdod_, into which the _Philistims_ brought the Ark; and the House of _Baal_, in which _Jehu_ slew the Prophets of _Baal_; and such were the High Places of the _Canaanites_ which _Moses_ commanded _Israel_ to destroy: he [287] commanded _Israel_ to destroy the Altars, Images, High Places, and Groves of the _Canaanites_, but made no mention of their Temples, as he would have done had there been any in those days. I meet with no mention of sumptuous Temples before the days of _Solomon_: new Kingdoms begun then to build Sepulchres to their Founders in the form of Sumptuous Temples; and such Temples _Hiram_ built in _Tyre_, _Sesac_ in all _Egypt_, and _Benhadad_ in _Damascus_. For when _David_ [288] smote _Hadad Ezer_ King of _Zobah_, and slew the _Syrians_ of _Damascus_ who came to assist him, _Rezon_ _the son of _Eliadah_ fled from his lord _Hadad-Ezer_, and gathered men unto him and became Captain over a band, and Reigned in _Damascus_, over _Syria__: he is called _Hezion_, 1 _King._ xv. 18. and his successors mentioned in history were _Tabrimon_, _Hadad_ or _Ben-hadad_, _Benhadad_ II. _Hazael_, _Benhadad_ III. * * and _Rezin_ the son of _Tabeah_. _Syria_ became subject to _Egypt_ in the days of _Tabrimon_, and recovered her liberty under _Benhadad_ I; and in the days of _Benhadad_ III, until the reign of the last _Rezin_, they became subject to _Israel_: and in the ninth year of _Hoshea_ King of _Judah_, _Tiglath-pileser_ King of _Assyria_ captivated the _Syrians_, and put an end to their Kingdom: now _Josephus_ [289] tells us, that _the _Syrians_ 'till his days worshipped both _Adar__, that is _Hadad_ or _Benhadad_, _and his successor _Hazael_ as Gods, for their benefactions, and for building Temples by which they adorned the city of _Damascus_: for_, saith he, _they daily celebrate solemnities in honour of these Kings, and boast their antiquity, not knowing that they are novel, and lived not above eleven hundred years ago_. It seems these Kings built sumptuous Sepulchres for themselves, and were worshipped therein. _Justin_ [290] calls the first of these two Kings _Damascus_, saying that _the city had its name from him, and that the _Syrians_ in honour of him worshipped his wife _Arathes_ as a Goddess, using her Sepulchre for a Temple_. Another instance we have in the Kingdom of _Byblus_. In the [291] Reign of _Minos_ King of _Crete_, when _Rhadamanthus_ the brother of _Minos_ carried colonies from _Crete_ to the _Greek_ islands, and gave the islands to his captains, he gave _Lemnos_ to _Thoas_, or _Theias_, or _Thoantes_, the father of _Hypsipyle_, a _Cretan_ worker in metals, and by consequence a disciple of the _Idæi Dactyli_, and perhaps a _Phœnician_: for the _Idæi Dactyli_, and _Telchines_, and _Corybantes_ brought their Arts and Sciences from _Phœnicia_: and [292] _Suidas_ saith, that he was descended from _Pharnaces_ King of _Cyprus_; _Apollodorus_, [293] that he was the son of _Sandochus_ a _Syrian_; and _Apollonius Rhodius_, [294] that __Hypsipyle_ gave _Jason_ the purple cloak which the _Graces_ made for _Bacchus_, who gave it to his son _Thoas__, the father of _Hypsipyle_, and King of _Lemnos_: _Thoas_ married [295] _Calycopis_, the mother of _Æneas_, and daughter of _Otreus_ King of _Phrygia_, and for his skill on the harp was called _Cinyras_, and was said to be exceedingly beloved by _Apollo_ or _Orus_: the great _Bacchus_ loved his wife, and being caught in bed with her in _Phrygia_ appeased him with wine, and composed the matter by making him King of _Byblus_ and _Cyprus_; and then came over the _Hellespont_ with his army, and conquered _Thrace:_ and to these things the poets allude, in feigning that _Vulcan_ fell from heaven into _Lemnos_, and that _Bacchus_ [296] appeased him with wine, and reduced him back into heaven: he fell from the heaven of the _Cretan_ Gods, when he went from _Crete_ to _Lemnos_ to work in metals, and was reduced back into heaven when _Bacchus_ made him King of _Cyprus_ and _Byblus_: he Reigned there 'till a very great age, living to the times of the _Trojan_ war, and becoming exceeding rich: and after the death of his wife _Calycopis_, [297] he built Temples to her at _Paphos_ and _Amathus_, in _Cyprus_; and at _Byblus_ in _Syria_, and instituted Priests to her with Sacred Rites and lustful _Orgia_; whence she became the _Dea Cypria_, and the _Dea Syria_: and from Temples erected to her in these and other places, she was also called _Paphia_, _Amathusia_, _Byblia_, _Cytherea_ _Salaminia_, _Cnidia_, _Erycina_, _Idalia_. _Fama tradit a Cinyra sacratum vetustissimum Paphiæ Veneris templum, Deamque ipsam conceptam mari huc appulsam_: _Tacit. Hist._ l. 2. c. 3. From her sailing from _Phrygia_ to the island _Cythera_, and from thence to be Queen of _Cyprus_, she was said by the _Cyprians_, to be born of the froth of the sea, and was painted sailing upon a shell. _Cinyras_ Deified also his son _Gingris_, by the name of _Adonis_; and for assisting the _Egyptians_ with armour, it is probable that he himself was Deified by his friends the _Egyptians_, by the name of _Baal-Canaan_, or _Vulcan_: for _Vulcan_ was celebrated principally by the _Egyptians_, and was a King according to _Homer_, and Reigned in _Lemnos_; and _Cinyras_ was an inventor of arts, [298] and found out copper in _Cyprus_, and the smiths hammer, and anvil, and tongs, and laver; and imployed workmen in making armour, and other things of brass and iron, and was the only King celebrated in history for working in metals, and was King of _Lemnos_, and the husband of _Venus_; all which are the characters of _Vulcan_: and the _Egyptians_ about the time of the death of _Cinyras_, _viz._ in the Reign of their King _Amenophis_, built a very sumptuous Temple at _Memphis_ to _Vulcan_, and near it a smaller Temple to _Venus Hospita_; not an _Egyptian_ woman but a foreigner, not _Helena_ but _Vulcan's Venus_: for [299] _Herodotus_ tells us, that the region round about this Temple was inhabited by _Tyrian Phœnicians_, and that [300] _Cambyses_ going into this Temple at _Memphis_, very much derided the statue of _Vulcan_ for its littleness; _For_, saith he, _this statue is most like those Gods which the _Phœnicians_ call _Patæci_, and carry about in the fore part of their Ships in the form of Pygmies_: and [301] _Bochart_ saith of this _Venus Hospita_, _Phœniciam Venerem in Ægypto pro peregrina habitam._ As the _Egyptians_, _Phœnicians_ and _Syrians_ in those days Deified their Kings and Princes, so upon their coming into _Asia minor_ and _Greece_, they taught those nations to do the like, as hath been shewed above. In those days the writing of the _Thebans_ and _Ethiopians_ was in hieroglyphicks; and this way of writing seems to have spread into the lower _Egypt_ before the days of _Moses_: for thence came the worship of their Gods in the various shapes of Birds, Beasts, and Fishes, forbidden in the second commandment. Now this emblematical way of writing gave occasion to the _Thebans_ and _Ethiopians_, who in the days of _Samuel_, _David_, _Solomon_, and _Rehoboam_ conquered _Egypt_, and the nations round about, and erected a great Empire, to represent and signify their conquering Kings and Princes, not by writing down their names, but by making various hieroglyphical figures; as by painting _Ammon_ with Ram's horns, to signify the King who conquered _Libya_, a country abounding with sheep; his father _Amosis_ with a Scithe, to signify that King who conquered the lower _Egypt_, a country abounding with corn; his Son _Osiris_ by an Ox, because he taught the conquered nations to plow with oxen; _Bacchus_ with Bulls horns for the same reason, and with Grapes because he taught the nations to plant vines, and upon a Tiger because he subdued _India_; _Orus_ the son of _Osiris_ with a Harp, to signify the Prince who was eminently skilled on that instrument; _Jupiter_ upon an Eagle to signify the sublimity of his dominion, and with a Thunderbolt to represent him a warrior; _Venus_ in a Chariot drawn with two Doves, to represent her amorous and lustful; _Neptune_ with a Trident, to signify the commander of a fleet composed of three Squadrons; _Ægeon_, a Giant, with 50 heads, and an hundred hands, to signify _Neptune_ with his men in a ship of fifty oars; _Thoth_ with a Dog's head and wings at his cap and feet, and a _Caduceus_ writhen about with two Serpents, to signify a man of craft, and an embassador who reconciled two contending nations; _Pan_ with a Pipe and the legs of a Goat, to signify a man delighted in piping and dancing; and _Hercules_ with Pillars and a Club, because _Sesostris_ set up pillars in all his conquests, and fought against the _Libyans_ with clubs: this is that _Hercules_ who, according to [302] _Eudoxus_, was slain by _Typhon_; and according to _Ptolomæus Hephæstion_ [303] was called _Nilus_, and who conquered _Geryon_ with his three sons in _Spain_, and set up the famous pillars at the mouth of the _Straits_: for _Diodorus_ [304] mentioning three _Hercules_'s, the _Egyptian_, the _Tyrian_, and the son of _Alcmena_, saith that _the oldest flourished among the _Egyptians_, and having conquered a great part of the world, set up the pillars in _Afric__: and _Vasæus_, [305] that _Osiris_, called also _Dionysius_, _came into _Spain_ and conquered _Geryon_, and was the first who brought Idolatry into _Spain__. _Strabo_ [306] tells us, that the _Ethiopians_ called _Megabars_ fought with clubs: and some of the _Greeks_ [307] did so 'till the times of the _Trojan_ war. Now from this hieroglyphical way of writing it came to pass, that upon the division of _Egypt_ into _Nomes_ by _Sesostris_, the great men of the Kingdom to whom the _Nomes_ were dedicated, were represented in their Sepulchers or Temples of the _Nomes_, by various hieroglyphicks; as by an _Ox_, a _Cat_, a _Dog_, a _Cebus_, a _Goat_, a _Lyon_, a _Scarabæus_, an _Ichneumon_, a _Crocodile_, an _Hippopotamus_, an _Oxyrinchus_, an _Ibis_, a _Crow_, a _Hawk,_ a _Leek_, and were worshipped by the _Nomes_ in the shape of these creatures. The [308] _Atlantides_, a people upon mount _Atlas_ conquered by the _Egyptians_ in the Reign of _Ammon_, related that _Uranus_ was their first King, and reduced them from a savage course of life, and caused them to dwell in towns and cities, and lay up and use the fruits of the earth, and that he reigned over a great part of the world, and by his wife _Titæa_ had eighteen children, among which were _Hyperion_ and _Basilea_ the parents of _Helius_ and _Selene_; that the brothers of _Hyperion_ slew him, and drowned his son _Helius_, the _Phaeton_ of the ancients, in the _Nile_, and divided his Kingdom amongst themselves; and the country bordering upon the Ocean fell to the lot of _Atlas_, from whom the people were called _Atlantides_. By _Uranus_ or _Jupiter Uranius_, _Hyperion_, _Basilea_, _Helius_ and _Selene_, I understand _Jupiter Ammon_, _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_ and _Bubaste_; and by the sharing of the Kingdom of _Hyperion_ amongst his brothers the _Titans_, I understand the division of the earth among the Gods mentioned in the Poem of _Solon_. For _Solon_ having travelled into _Egypt_, and conversed with the Priests of _Sais_; about their antiquities, wrote a Poem of what he had learnt, but did not finish it; [309] and this Poem fell into the hands of _Plato_ who relates out of it, that at the mouth of the _Straits_ near _Hercules_'s Pillars there was an Island called _Atlantis_, the people of which, nine thousand years before the days of _Solon_, reigned over _Libya_ as far as _Egypt_; and over _Europe_ as far as the _Tyrrhene_ sea; and all this force collected into one body invaded _Egypt_ and _Greece_, and whatever was contained within the Pillars of _Hercules_, but was resisted and stopt by the _Athenians_ and other _Greeks_, and thereby the rest of the nations not yet conquered were preserved: he saith also that in those days the Gods, having finished their conquests, divided the whole earth amongst themselves, partly into larger, partly into smaller portions, and instituted Temples and Sacred Rites to themselves; and that the Island _Atlantis_ fell to the lot of _Neptune_, who made his eldest Son _Atlas_ King of the whole Island, a part of which was called _Gadir_; and that _in the history of the said wars mention was made of _Cecrops_, _Erechtheus_, _Erichthonius_, and others before _Theseus_, and also of the women who warred with the men, and of the habit and statue of _Minerva_, the study of war in those days being common to men and women_. By all these circumstances it is manifest that these Gods were the _Dii magni majorum gentium_, and lived between the age of _Cecrops_ and _Theseus_; and that the wars which _Sesostris_ with his brother _Neptune_ made upon the nations by land and sea, and the resistance he met with in _Greece_, and the following invasion of _Egypt_ by _Neptune_, are here described; and how the captains of _Sesostris_ shared his conquests amongst themselves, as the captains of _Alexander_ the great did his conquests long after, and instituting Temples and Priests and sacred Rites to themselves, caused the nations to worship them after death as Gods: and that the Island _Gadir_ or _Gades_, with all _Libya_, fell to the lot of him who after death was Deified by the name of _Neptune_. The time therefore when these things were done is by _Solon_ limited to the age of _Neptune_, the father of _Atlas_; for _Homer_ tells us, that _Ulysses_ presently after the _Trojan_ war found _Calypso_ the daughter of _Atlas_ in the _Ogygian_ Island, perhaps _Gadir_; and therefore it was but two Generations before the _Trojan_ war. This is that _Neptune_, who with _Apollo_ or _Orus_ fortified _Troy_ with a wall, in the Reign of _Laomedon_ the father of _Priamus_, and left many natural children in _Greece_, some of which were _Argonauts_, and others were contemporary to the _Argonauts_; and therefore he flourished but one Generation before the _Argonautic_ expedition, and by consequence about 400 years before _Solon_ went into _Egypt_: but the Priests of _Egypt_ in those 400 years had magnified the stories and antiquity of their Gods so exceedingly, as to make them nine thousand years older than _Solon_, and the Island _Atlantis_ bigger than all _Afric_ and _Asia_ together, and full of people; and because in the days of _Solon_ this great Island did not appear, they pretended that it was sunk into the sea with all its people: thus great was the vanity of the Priests of _Egypt_ in magnifying their antiquities. The _Cretans_ [310] affirmed that _Neptune was the man who set out a fleet, having obtained this Præfecture of _his father_ Saturn; whence posterity reckoned things done in the sea to be under his government, and mariners honoured him with sacrifices_: the invention of tall Ships with sails [311] is also ascribed to him. He was first worshipped in _Africa_, as _Herodotus_ [312] affirms, and therefore Reigned over that province: for his eldest son _Atlas_, who succeeded him, was not only Lord of the Island _Atlantis_, but also Reigned over a great part of _Afric_, giving his name to the people called _Atlantii_, and to the mountain _Atlas_, and the _Atlantic Ocean_. The [313] outmost parts of the earth and promontories, and whatever bordered upon the sea and was washed by it, the _Egyptians_ called _Neptys_; and on the coasts of _Marmorica_ and _Cyrene_, _Bochart_ and _Arius Montanus_ place the _Naphthuhim_, a people sprung from _Mizraim_, _Gen._ x. 13; and thence _Neptune_ and his wife _Neptys_ might have their names, the words _Neptune_, _Neptys_ and _Naphthuhim_, signifying the King, Queen, and people of the sea-coasts. The _Greeks_ tell us that _Japetus_ was the father of _Atlas_, and _Bochart_ derives _Japetus_ and _Neptune_ from the same original: he and his son _Atlas_ are celebrated in the ancient fables for making war upon the Gods of _Egypt_; as when _Lucian_ [314] saith that _Corinth_ being full of fables, tells the fight of _Sol_ and _Neptune_, that is, of _Apollo_ and _Python_, or _Orus_ and _Typhon_; and where _Agatharcides_ [315] relates how the Gods of _Egypt_ fled from the Giants, 'till the _Titans_ came in and saved them by putting _Neptune_ to flight; and where _Hyginus_ [316] tells the war between the Gods of _Ægypt_, and the _Titans_ commanded by _Atlas_. The _Titans_ are the posterity of _Titæa_, some of whom under _Hercules_ assisted the Gods, others under _Neptune_ and _Atlas_ warred against them: _for which reason_, saith _Plutarch_, [317] _the Priests of _Egypt_ abominated the sea, and had _Neptune_ in no honour_. By _Hercules_, I understand here the general of the forces of _Thebais_ and _Ethiopia_ whom the Gods or great men of _Egypt_ called to their assistance, against the Giants or great men of _Libya_, who had slain _Osiris_ and invaded _Egypt_: for _Diodorus_ [318] saith that _when _Osiris_ made his expedition over the world, he left his kinsman _Hercules_ general of his forces over all his dominions, and _Antæus_ governor of _Libya_ and _Ethiopia__. _Antæus_ Reigned over all _Afric_ to the _Atlantic Ocean_, and built _Tingis_ or _Tangieres_: _Pindar_ [319] tells us that he Reigned at _Irasa_ a town of _Libya_, where _Cyrene_ was afterwards built: he invaded _Egypt_ and _Thebais_; for he was beaten by _Hercules_ and the _Egyptians_ near _Antæa_ or _Antæopolis_, a town of _Thebais_; and _Diodorus_ [320] tells us that _this town had its name from _Antæus_, whom _Hercules_ slew in the days of _Osiris__. _Hercules_ overthrew him several times, and every time he grew stronger by recruits from _Libya_, his mother earth; but _Hercules_ intercepted his recruits, and at length slew him. In these wars _Hercules_ took the _Libyan_ world from _Atlas_, and made _Atlas_ pay tribute out of his golden orchard, the Kingdom of _Afric_. _Antæus_ and _Atlas_ were both of them sons of _Neptune_ both of them Reigned over all _Libya_ and _Afric_, between _Mount Atlas_ and the _Mediterranean_ to the very Ocean; both of them invaded _Egypt_, and contended with _Hercules_ in the wars of the Gods, and therefore they are but two names of one and the same man; and even the name _Atlas_ in the oblique cases seems to have been compounded of the name _Antæeus_ and some other word, perhaps the word _Atal_, cursed, put before it: the invasion of _Egypt_ by _Antæus_, _Ovid_ hath relation unto, where he makes _Hercules_ say, _Sævoque alimenta parentis_ _Antæo eripui_. This war was at length composed by the intervention of _Mercury_, who in memory thereof was said to reconcile two contending serpents, by casting his Ambassador's rod between them: and thus much concerning the ancient state of _Egypt_, _Libya_, and _Greece_, described by _Solon_. The mythology of the _Cretans_ differed in some things from that of _Egypt_ and _Libya_: for in the _Cretan_ mythology, _Cœlus_ and _Terra_, or _Uranus_ and _Titæa_ were the parents of _Saturn_ and _Rhea_, and _Saturn_ and _Rhea_ were the parents of _Jupiter_ and _Juno_; and _Hyperion_, _Japetus_ and the _Titans_ were one Generation older than _Jupiter_; and _Saturn_ was expelled his Kingdom and castrated by his son _Jupiter_: which fable hath no place in the mythology of _Egypt_. During the Reign of _Sesac_, _Jeroboam_ being in subjection to _Egypt_; set up the Gods of _Egypt_ in _Dan_ and _Bethel_; and _Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching Priest and without law: and in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries; and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity_. 2 _Chron_. xv. 3, 5, 6. But in the fifth year of _Asa_ the land of _Judah_ became quiet from war, and from thence had quiet ten years; and _Asa_ took away the altars of strange Gods, and brake down the Images, and built the fenced cities of _Judah_ with walls and towers and gates and bars, having rest on every side, and got up an army of 580000 men, with which in the fifteenth year of his Reign he met _Zerah_ the _Ethiopian_, who came out against him with an army of a thousand thousand _Ethiopians_ and _Libyans_: the way of the _Libyans_ was through _Egypt_, and therefore _Zerah_ was now Lord of _Egypt_: they fought at _Mareshah_ near _Gerar_, between _Egypt_ and _Judæa_, and _Zerah_ was beaten, so that he could not recover himself: and from all this I seem to gather that _Osiris_ was slain in the fifth year of _Asa_, and thereupon _Egypt_ fell into civil wars, being invaded by the _Libyans_, and defended by the _Ethiopians_ for a time; and after ten years more being invaded by the _Ethiopians_, who slew _Orus_ the son and successor of _Osiris_, drowning him in the _Nile_, and seized his Kingdom. By these civil wars of _Egypt_, the land of _Judah_ had rest ten years. _Osiris_ or _Sesostris_ reigned long, _Manetho_ saith 48 years; and by this reckoning he began to Reign about the 17th year of _Solomon_; and _Orus_ his son was drowned in the 15th year of _Asa_: for _Pliny_ [321] tells us, _Ægyptiorum bellis attrita est Æthiopia, vicissim imperitando serviendoque, clara & potens etiam usque ad Trojana bella Memnone regnante_. _Ethiopia_, served _Egypt_ 'till the death of _Sesostris_, and no longer; for _Herodotus_ [322] tells us that _he alone enjoyed the Empire of _Ethiopia__: then the _Ethiopians_ became free, and after ten years became Lords of _Egypt_ and _Libya_, under _Zerah_ and _Amenophis_. When _Asa_ by his victory over _Zerah_ became safe from _Egypt_, he assembled all the people, and they offered sacrifices out of the spoils, and entered into a covenant upon oath to seek the Lord; and in lieu of the vessels taken away by _Sesac_, _he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, Silver and Gold, and Vessels_. 2 _Chron._ xv. When _Zerah_ was beaten, so that he could not recover himself, the people [323] of the lower _Egypt_ revolted from the _Ethiopians_, and called in to their assistance two hundred thousand _Jews_ and _Canaanites_; and under the conduct of one _Osarsiphus_, a Priest of _Egypt_, called _Usorthon_, _Osorchon_, _Osorchor_, and _Hercules Ægyptius_ by _Manetho_, caused the _Ethiopians_ now under _Memnon_ to retire to _Memphis_: and there _Memnon_ turned the river _Nile_ into a new channel, built a bridge over it and fortified that pass, and then went back into _Ethiopia_: but after thirteen years, he and his young son _Ramesses_ came down with an army from _Ethiopia_, conquered the lower _Egypt_, and drove out the _Jews_ and _Phœnicians_; and this action the _Egyptian_ writers and their followers call the second expulsion of the Shepherds, taking _Osarsiphus_ for _Moses_. _Tithonus_ a beautiful youth, the elder brother of _Priamus_, went into _Ethiopia_, being carried thither among many captives by _Sesostris_: and the _Greeks_, before the days of _Hesiod_, feigned that _Memnon_ was his son: _Memnon_ therefore, in the opinion of those ancient _Greeks_, was one Generation younger than _Tithonus_, and was born after the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_: suppose about 16 or 20 years after the death of _Solomon_. He is said to have lived very long, and so might die about 95 years after _Solomon_, as we reckoned above: his mother, called _Cissia_ by _Æschylus_, in a statue erected to her in _Egypt_, [324] was represented as the daughter, the wife, and the mother of a King, and therefore he was the son of a King; which makes it probable that _Zerah_, whom he succeeded in the Kingdom of _Ethiopia_, was his father. Historians [325] agree that _Menes_ Reigned in _Egypt_ next after the Gods, and turned the river into a new channel, and built a bridge over it, and built _Memphis_ and the magnificent Temple of _Vulcan_: he built _Memphis_ over-against the place where _Grand Cairo_ now stands, called by the _Arabian_ historians _Mesir_: he built only the body of the Temple of _Vulcan_, and his successors _Ramesses_ or _Rhampsinitus_, _Mœris_, _Asychis_, and _Psammiticus_ built the western, northern eastern, and southern portico's thereof: _Psammiticus_, who built the last portico of this Temple, Reigned three hundred years after the victory of _Asa_ over _Zerah_, and it is not likely that this Temple could be above three hundred years in building, or that any _Menes_ could be King of all _Egypt_ before the expulsion of the Shepherds. The last of the Gods of _Egypt_ was _Orus_, with his mother _Isis_, and sister _Bubaste_, and secretary _Thoth_, and unkle _Typhon_; and the King who reigned next after all their deaths, and turned the river and built a bridge over it, and built _Memphis_ and the Temple of _Vulcan_, was _Memnon_ or _Amenophis_, called by the _Egyptians_ _Amenoph_; and therefore he is _Menes_: for the names _Amenoph_, or _Menoph_, and _Menes_ do not much differ; and from _Amenoph_ the city _Memphis_ built by _Menes_ had its _Egyptian_ names _Moph_, _Noph_, _Menoph_ or _Menuf_, as it is still called by the _Arabian_ historians: the necessity of fortifying this place against _Osarsiphus_ gave occasion to the building of it. In the time of the revolt of the lower _Egypt_ under _Osarsiphus_, and the retirement of _Amenophis_ into _Ethiopia_, _Egypt_ being then in the greatest distraction, the _Greeks_ built the ship _Argo_, and sent in it the flower of _Greece_ to _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, and to many other Princes on the coasts of the _Euxine_ and _Mediterranean_ seas; and this ship was built after the pattern of an _Egyptian_ ship with fifty oars, in which _Danaus_ with his fifty daughters a few years before fled from _Egypt_ into _Greece_, and was the first long ship with sails built by the _Greeks_: and such an improvement of navigation, with a design to send the flower of _Greece_ to many Princes upon the sea-coasts of the _Euxine_ and _Mediterranean_ seas, was too great an undertaking to be set on foot, without the concurrence of the Princes and States of _Greece_, and perhaps the approbation of the _Amphictyonic_ Council; for it was done by the dictate of the Oracle. This Council met every half year upon state-affairs for the welfare of _Greece_, and therefore knew of this expedition, and might send the _Argonauts_ upon an embassy to the said Princes; and for concealing their design might make the fable of the golden fleece, in relation to the ship of _Phrixus_ whose ensign was a golden ram: and probably their design was to notify the distraction of _Egypt_, and the invasion thereof by the _Ethiopians_ and _Israelites_, to the said Princes, and to persuade them to take that opportunity to revolt from _Egypt_, and set up for themselves, and make a league with the _Greeks_: for the _Argonauts_ went through [326] the Kingdom of _Colchis_ by land to the _Armenians_, and through _Armenia_ to the _Medes_; which could not have been done if they had not made friendship with the nations through which they passed: they visited also _Laomedon_ King of the _Trojans_, _Phineus_ King of the _Thracians_, _Cyzicus_ King of the _Doliones_, _Lycus_ King of the _Mariandyni_, the coasts of _Mysia_ and _Taurica Chersonesus_, the nations upon the _Tanais_, the people about _Byzantium_, and the coasts of _Epirus_, _Corsica_, _Melita_, _Italy_, _Sicily_, _Sardinia_, and _Gallia_ upon the _Mediterranean_; and from thence they [327] crossed the sea to _Afric_, and there conferred with _Euripylus_ King of _Cyrene_: and [328] _Strabo_ tells us that _in _Armenia_ and _Media_, and the neighbouring places, there were frequent monuments of the expedition of _Jason_; as also about _Sinope_, and its sea-coasts, the _Propontis_ and the _Hellespont_, and in the _Mediterranean__: and a message by the flower of _Greece_ to so many nations could be on no other account than state-policy; these nations had been invaded by the _Egyptians_, but after this expedition we hear no more of their continuing in subjection to _Egypt_. The [329] _Egyptians_ originally lived on the fruits of the earth, and fared hardly, and abstained from animals, and therefore abominated Shepherds: _Menes_ taught them to adorn their beds and tables with rich furniture and carpets, and brought in amongst them a sumptuous, delicious and voluptuous way of life: and about a hundred years after his death, _Gnephacthus_ one of his successors cursed him for it, and to reduce the luxury of _Egypt_, caused the curse to be entered in the Temple of _Jupiter_ at _Thebes_; and by this curse the honour of _Menes_ was diminished among the _Egyptians_. The Kings of _Egypt_ who expelled the Shepherds and Succeeded them, Reigned I think first at _Coptos_, and then at _Thebes_, and then at _Memphis_. At _Coptos_ I place _Misphragmuthosis_ and _Amosis_ or _Thomosis_ who expelled the Shepherds, and abolished their custom of sacrificing men, and extended the _Coptic_ language, and the name of Αια Κοπτου, _Aegyptus_, to the conquest. Then _Thebes_ became the Royal City of _Ammon_, and from him was called _No-Ammon,_ and his conquest on the west of _Egypt_ was called _Ammonia._ After him, in the same city of _Thebes_, Reigned _Osiris_, _Orus_, _Menes_ or _Amenophis_, and _Ramesses_: but _Memphis_ and her miracles were not yet celebrated in _Greece_; for _Homer_ celebrates _Thebes_ as in its glory in his days, and makes no mention of _Memphis_. After _Menes_ had built _Memphis, Mœris_ the successor of _Ramesses_ adorned it, and made it the seat of the Kingdom, and this was almost two Generations after the _Trojan_ war. _Cinyras_, the _Vulcan_ who married _Venus_, and under the Kings of _Egypt_ Reigned over _Cyprus_ and part of _Phœnicia_, and made armour for those Kings, lived 'till the times of the _Trojan_ war: and upon his death _Menes_ or _Memnon_ might Deify him, and found the famous Temple of _Vulcan_ in that city for his worship, but not live to finish it. In a plain [330] not far from _Memphis_ are many small Pyramids, said to be built by _Venephes_ or _Enephes_; and I suspect that _Venephes_ and _Enephes_ have been corruptly written for _Menephes_ or _Amenophis_, the letters _AM_ being almost worn out in some old manuscript: for after the example of these Pyramids, the following Kings, _Mœris_ and his successors, built others much larger. The plain in which they were built was the burying-place of that city, as appears by the Mummies there found; and therefore the Pyramids were the sepulchral monuments of the Kings and Princes of that city: and by these and such like works the city grew famous soon after the days of _Homer_; who therefore flourished in the Reign of _Ramesses_. _Herodotus_ [331] is the oldest historian now extant who wrote of the antiquities of _Egypt_, and had what he wrote from the Priests of that country: and _Diodorus_, who wrote almost 400 years after him, and had his relations also from the Priests of _Egypt_, placed many nameless Kings between those whom _Herodotus_ placed in continual succession. The Priests of _Egypt_ had therefore, between the days of _Herodotus_ and _Diodorus_, out of vanity, very much increased the number of their Kings: and what they did after the days of _Herodotus_, they began to do before his days; for he tells us that they recited to him out of their books, the names of 330 Kings who Reigned after _Menes_, but did nothing memorable, except _Nitocris_ and _Mœris_ the last of them: all these Reigned at _Thebes_, 'till _Mœris_ translated the seat of the Empire from _Thebes_ to _Memphis_. After _Mœris_ he reckons _Sesostris_, _Pheron_, _Proteus_, _Rhampsinitus_, _Cheops_, _Cephren_, _Mycerinus_, _Asychis_, _Anysis_, _Sabacon_, _Anysis_ again, _Sethon_, twelve contemporary Kings, _Psammitichus_, _Nechus_, _Psammis_, _Apries_, _Amasis_, and _Psammenitus_. The _Egyptians_ had before the days of _Solon_ made their monarchy 9000 years old, and now they reckon'd to _Herodotus_ a succession of 330 Kings Reigning so many Generations, that is about 11000 years, before _Sesostris_: but the Kings who Reigned long before _Sesostris_ might Reign over several little Kingdoms in several parts of _Egypt_, before the rise of their Monarchy; and by consequence before the days of _Eli_ and _Samuel_, and so are not under our consideration: and these names may have been multiplied by corruption; and some of them, as _Athothes_ or _Thoth_, the secretary of _Osiris_; _Tosorthrus_ or _Æsculapius_ a Physician who invented building with square stones; and _Thuor_ or _Polybus_ the husband of _Alcandra_, were only Princes of _Egypt_. If with _Herodotus_ we omit the names of those Kings who did nothing memorable, and consider only those whose actions are recorded, and who left splendid monuments of their having Reigned over _Egypt_, such as were Temples, Statues, Pyramids, Obelisks, and Palaces dedicated or ascribed to them, these Kings reduced into good order will give us all or almost all the Kings of _Egypt_, from the days of the expulsion of the Shepherds and founding of the Monarchy, downwards to the conquest of _Egypt_ by _Cambyses_: for _Sesostris_ Reigned in the Age of the Gods of _Egypt_: being Deified by the names of _Osiris_, _Hercules_ and _Bacchus_, as above; and therefore _Menes_, _Nitocris_, and _Mœris_ are to be placed after him; _Menes_ and his son _Ramesses_ Reigned next after the Gods, and therefore _Nitocris_ and _Mœris_ Reigned after _Ramesses_: _Mœris_ is set down immediately before _Cheops_, three times in the Dynastys of the Kings of _Egypt_ composed by _Eratosthenes_, and once in the Dynasties of _Manetho_; and in the same Dynasties _Nitocris_ is set after the builders of the three great Pyramids, and according to _Herodotus_ her brother Reigned before her, and was slain, and she revenged his death; and according to _Syncellus_ she built the third great Pyramid; and the builders of the Pyramids Reigned at _Memphis_, and by consequence after _Mœris_. Now from these things I gather that the Kings of _Egypt_ mentioned by _Herodotus_ ought to be placed in this order; _Sesostris_, _Pheron_, _Proteus_, _Menes_, _Rhampsinitus_, _Mœris_, _Cheops_, _Cephren_, _Mycerinus_, _Nitocris_, _Asychis_, _Anysis_, _Sabacon_, _Anysis_ again, _Sethon_, twelve contemporary Kings, _Psammitichus_, _Nechus_, _Psammis_, _Apries_, _Amasis_, _Psammenitus_. _Pheron_ is by _Herodotus_ said to be the son and successor of _Sesostris_. He was Deified by the name of _Orus_. _Proteus_ Reigned in the lower _Egypt_ when _Paris_ sailed thither; that is at the end of the _Trojan_ war, according to [332] _Herodotus_: and at that time _Amenophis_ was King of _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_: but in his absence _Proteus_ might be governor of some part of the lower _Egypt_ under him; for _Homer_ places _Proteus_ upon the sea-coasts, and makes him a sea God, and calls him the servant of _Neptune_; and _Herodotus_ saith that he rose up from among the common people, and that _Proteus_ was his name translated into _Greek_, and this name in _Greek_ signifies only a Prince or President. He succeeded _Pheron_, and was succeeded by _Rhampsinitus_ according to _Herodotus_; and so was contemporary to _Amenophis_. _Amenophis_ Reigned next after _Orus_ and _Isis_ the last of the Gods; he Reigned at first over all _Egypt_, and then over _Memphis_ and the upper parts of _Egypt_; and by conquering _Osarsiphus_, who had revolted from him, became King of all _Egypt_ again, about 51 years after the death of _Solomon_. He built _Memphis_ and ordered the worship of the Gods of _Egypt_, and built a Palace at _Abydus_, and the _Memnonia_ at _This_ and _Susa_, and the magnificent Temple of _Vulcan_ in _Memphis_; the building with square stones being found out before by _Tosorthrus_, the _Æsculapius_ of _Egypt_: he is by corruption of his name called _Menes_, _Mines_, _Minæus_, _Mineus_, _Minies_, _Mnevis_, _Enephes_, _Venephes_, _Phamenophis_, _Osymanthyas_, _Osimandes_, _Ismandes_, _Imandes_, _Memnon_, _Arminon._ _Amenophis_ was succeeded by his son, called by _Herodotus_, _Rhampsinitus_, and by others _Ramses_, _Ramises_, _Rameses_, _Ramesses_, [333] _Ramestes_, _Rhampses_, _Remphis_. Upon an Obelisk erected by this King in _Heliopolis_, and sent to _Rome_ by the Emperor _Constantius_, was an inscription, interpreted by _Hermapion_ an _Egyptian_ Priest, expressing that the King was long lived, and Reigned over a great part of the earth: and _Strabo_, [334] an eye-witness, tells us, that in the monuments of the Kings of _Egypt_, above the _Memnonium_ were inscriptions upon Obelisks, expressing the riches of the Kings, and their Reigning as far as _Scythia_, _Bactria_, _India_ and _Ionia_: and _Tacitus_ [335] tells us from an inscription seen at _Thebes_ by _Cæsar Germanicus,_ and interpreted to him by the _Egyptian_ Priests, that this King _Ramesses_ had an army of 700000 men, and Reigned over _Libya_, _Ethiopia_, _Media_, _Persia_, _Bactria_, _Scythia_, _Armenia_, _Cappadocia_, _Bithynia_, and _Lycia_; whence the Monarchy of _Assyria_ was not yet risen. This King was very covetous, and a great collector of taxes, and one of the richest of all the Kings of _Egypt_, and built the western portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_. _Mœris_ inheriting the riches of _Ramesses_, built the northern portico of that Temple more sumptuously, and made the Lake of _Mœris,_ with two great Pyramids of brick in the midst of it: and for preserving the division of _Egypt_ into equal shares amongst the soldiers, this King wrote a book of surveying, which gave a beginning to Geometry. He is called also _Maris_, _Myris_, _Meres_, _Marres_, _Smarres_; and more corruptly, by changing Μ into Α, Τ, Β, Σ, YΧ, Λ, &c. _Ayres_, _Tyris_, _Byires_, _Soris_, _Uchoreus_, _Lachares_, _Labaris_, &c. _Diodorus_ [336] places _Uchoreus_ between _Osymanduas_ and _Myris_, that is between _Amenophis_ and _Mœris_, and saith that he built _Memphis_, and fortified it to admiration with a mighty rampart of earth, and a broad and deep trench, which was filled with the water of the _Nile_, and made there a vast and deep Lake for receiving the water of the _Nile_ in the time of its overflowing, and built palaces in the city; and that this place was so commodiously seated that most of the Kings who Reigned after him preferred it before _Thebes_, and removed the Court from thence to this place, so that the magnificence of _Thebes_ from that time began to decrease, and that of _Memphis_ to increase, 'till _Alexander_ King of _Macedon_ built _Alexandria_. These great works of _Uchoreus_ and those of _Mœris_ savour of one and the same genius, and were certainly done by one and the same King, distinguished into two by a corruption of the name as above; for this Lake of _Uchoreus_ was certainly the same with that of _Mœris_. After the example of the two brick Pyramids made by _Mœris_, the three next Kings, _Cheops_, _Cephren_ and _Mycerinus_ built the three great Pyramids at _Memphis_; and therefore Reigned in that city. _Cheops_ shut up the Temples of the _Nomes_, and prohibited the worship of the Gods of _Egypt_, designing no doubt to have been worshipped himself after death: he is called also _Chembis_, _Chemmis_, _Chemnis_, _Phiops_, _Apathus_, _Apappus_, _Suphis_, _Saophis_, _Syphoas_, _Syphaosis_, _Soiphis_, _Syphuris_, _Anoiphis_, _Anoisis_: he built the biggest of the three great Pyramids which stand together; and his brother _Cephren_ or _Cerpheres_ built the second, and his son _Mycerinus_ founded the third: this last King was celebrated for clemency and justice; he shut up the dead body of his daughter in a hollow ox, and caused her to be worshipped daily with odours: he is called also _Cheres_, _Cherinus_, _Bicheres_, _Moscheres_, _Mencheres_. He died before the third Pyramid was finished, and his sister and successor _Nitocris_ finished it. Then Reigned _Asychis_, who built the eastern portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_ very splendidly, and among the small Pyramids a large Pyramid of brick, made of mud dug out of the Lake of _Mœris_: and these are the Kings who Reigned at _Memphis_, and spent their time in adorning that city, until the _Ethiopians_ and the _Assyrians_ and others revolted, and _Egypt_ lost all her dominion abroad, and became again divided into several small Kingdoms. One of those Kingdoms was I think at _Memphis_, under _Gnephactus_, and his son and successor _Bocchoris_. _Africanus_ calls _Bocchoris_ a _Saite_; but _Sais_ at this time had other Kings: _Gnephactus_, otherwise called _Neochabis_ and _Technatis_, cursed _Menes_ for his luxury, and caused the curse to be entered in the Temple of _Jupiter_ at _Thebes_; and therefore Reigned over _Thebais_: and _Bocchoris_ sent in a wild bull upon the God _Mnevis_ which was worshipped at _Heliopolis_. Another of those Kingdoms was at _Anysis_, or _Hanes_, _Isa._ xxx. 4. under its King _Anysis_ or _Amosis_; a third was at _Sais_, under _Stephanathis_, _Nechepsos_, and _Nechus_; and a fourth was at _Tanis_ or _Zoan_, under _Petubastes_, _Osorchon_ and _Psammis_: and _Egypt_ being weakened by this division, was invaded and conquered by the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, who slew _Bocchoris_ and _Nechus_, and made _Anysis_ fly. The Olympiads began in the Reign of _Petubastes_, and the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ in the 22d year of the Reign of _Bocchoris_, according to _Africanus_; and therefore the division, of _Egypt_ into many Kingdoms began before the Olympiads, but not above the length of two Kings Reigns before them. After the study of Astronomy was set on foot for the use of navigation, and the _Egyptians_ by the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars had determined the length of the Solar year of 365 days, and by other observations had fixed the Solstices, and formed the fixt Stars into Asterisms, all which was done in the Reign of _Ammon_, _Sesac_, _Orus_, and _Memnon_; it may be presumed that they continued to observe the motions of the Planets; for they called them after the names of their Gods; and _Nechepsos_ or _Nicepsos_ King of _Sais_, by the assistance of _Petosiris_ a Priest of _Egypt_, invented Astrology, grounding it upon the aspects of the Planets, and the qualities of the men and women to whom they were dedicated: and in the beginning of the Reign of _Nabonassar_ King of _Babylon_, about which time the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_ invaded _Egypt_, those _Egyptians_ who fled from him to _Babylon_, carried thither the _Egyptian_ year of 365 days, and the study of Astronomy and Astrology, and founded the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_; dating it from the first year of that King's Reign, which was the 22d year _of Bocchoris_ as above, and beginning the year on the same day with the _Egyptians_ for the sake of their calculations. So _Diodorus_ [337]: _they say that the _Chaldæans_ in _Babylon_, being Colonies of the _Egyptians_, became famous for Astrology, having learnt it from the Priests of _Egypt__: and _Hestiæus_, who wrote an history of _Egypt_, speaking of a disaster of the invaded _Egyptians_, saith [338] that _the Priests who survived this disaster, taking with them the _Sacra_ of _Jupiter Enyalius_, came to _Sennaar_ in _Babylonia__. From the 15th year of _Asa_, in which _Zerah_ was beaten, and _Menes_ or _Amenophis_ began his Reign, to the beginning of the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_, were 200 years; and this interval of time allows room for about nine or ten Reigns of Kings, at about twenty years to a Reign one with another; and so many Reigns there were, according to the account set down above out of _Herodotus_; and therefore that account, as it is the oldest, and was received by _Herodotus_ from the Priests of _Thebes_, _Memphis_, and _Heliopolis_, three principal cities of _Egypt_, agrees also with the course of nature, and leaves no room for the Reigns of the many nameless Kings which we have omitted. These omitted Kings Reigned before _Mœris_, and by consequence at _Thebes_; for _Mœris_ translated the seat of the Empire from _Thebes_ to _Memphis_: they Reigned after _Ramesses_; for _Ramesses_ was the son and successor of _Menes_, who Reigned next after the Gods. Now _Menes_ built the body of the Temple of _Vulcan_, _Ramesses_ the first portico, and _Mœris_ the second portico thereof; but the _Egyptians_, for making their Gods and Kingdom look ancient, have inserted between the builders of the first and second portico of this Temple, three hundred and thirty Kings of _Thebes_, and supposed that these Kings Reigned eleven thousand years; as if any Temple could stand so long. This being a manifest fiction, we have corrected it, by omitting those interposed Kings, who did nothing, and placing _Mœris_ the builder of the second portico, next after _Ramesses_ the builder of the first. In the Dynasties of _Manetho_; _Sevechus_ is made the successor of _Sabacon_, being his son; and perhaps he is the _Sethon_ of _Herodotus_, who became Priest of _Vulcan_, and neglected military discipline: for _Sabacon_ is that _So_ or _Sua_ with whom _Hoshea_ King of _Israel_ conspired against the _Assyrians_, in the fourth year of _Hezekiah_, _Anno Nabonass._ 24. _Herodotus_ tells us twice or thrice, that _Sabacon_ after a long Reign of fifty years relinquished _Egypt_ voluntarily, and that _Anysis_ who fled from him, returned and Reigned again in the lower _Egypt_ after him, or rather with him: and that _Sethon_ Reigned after _Sabacon_, and went to _Pelusium_ against the army of _Sennacherib_, and was relieved with a great multitude of mice, which eat the bow-strings of the _Assyrians_; in memory of which the statue of _Sethon_, seen by _Herodotus_, [339] was made with a Mouse in its hand. A Mouse was the _Egyptian_ symbol of destruction, and the Mouse in the hand of _Sethon_ signifies only that he overcame the _Assyrians_ with a great destruction. The Scriptures inform us, that when _Sennacherib_ invaded _Judæa_ and besieged _Lachish_ and _Libnah_, which was in the 14th year of _Hezekiah_, _Anno Nabonass._ 34. the King of _Judah_ trusted upon _Pharaoh_ King of _Egypt_, that is upon _Sethon_, and that _Tirhakah_ King of _Ethiopia_ came out also to fight against _Sennacherib_, 2 _King._ xviii. 21. & xix. 9. which makes it probable, that when _Sennacherib_ heard of the Kings of _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_ coming against him, he went from _Libnah_ towards _Pelusium_ to oppose them, and was there surprized and set upon in the night by them both, and routed with as great a slaughter as if the bow-strings of the _Assyrians_ had been eaten by mice. Some think that the _Assyrians_ were smitten by lightning, or by a fiery wind which sometimes comes from the southern parts of _Chaldæa_. After this victory _Tirhakah_ succeeding _Sethon_, carried his arms westward through _Libya_ and _Afric_ to the mouth of the _Straits_: but _Herodotus_ tells us, that the Priests of _Egypt_ reckoned _Sethon_ the last King of _Egypt_, who Reigned before the division of _Egypt_ into twelve contemporary Kingdoms, and by consequence before the invasion of _Egypt_ by the _Assyrians_. For _Asserhadon_ King of _Assyria_, in the 68th year of _Nabonassar_, after he had Reigned about thirty years over _Assyria_, invaded the Kingdom of _Babylon_, and then carried into captivity many people from _Babylon_, and _Cuthah_, and _Ava_, and _Hamath_, and _Sepharvaim_, placing them in the Regions of _Samaria_ and _Damascus_: and from thence they carried into _Babylonia_ and _Assyria_ the remainder of the people of _Israel_ and _Syria_, which had been left there by _Tiglath-pileser_. This captivity was 65 years after the first year of _Ahaz_, _Isa_. vii. 1, 8. & 2. _King._ xv. 37. & xvi. 5. and by consequence in the twentieth year of _Manasseh_, _Anno Nabonass._ 69. and then _Tartan_ was sent by _Asserhadon_ with an army against _Ashdod_ or _Azoth_, a town at that time subject to _Judæa_, 2 _Chron._ xxvi. 6. and took it, _Isa._ xx. 1: and this post being secured, the _Assyrians_ beat the _Jews_, and captivated _Manasseh_, and subdued _Judæa_: and in these wars, _Isaiah_ was saw'd asunder by the command of _Manasseh_, for prophesying against him. Then the _Assyrians_ invaded and subdued _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_, and carried the _Egyptians_ and _Ethiopians_ into captivity, and thereby put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_, _Isa._ vii. 18. & viii. 7. & x. 11, 12, & xix. 23. & xx. 4. In this war the city _No-Ammon_ or _Thebes_, which had hitherto continued in a flourishing condition, was miserably wasted and led into captivity, as is described by _Nahum_, chap. iii. ver. 8, 9, 10; for _Nahum_ wrote after the last invasion of _Judæa_ by the _Assyrians_, chap. i. ver. 15; and therefore describes this captivity as fresh in memory: and this and other following invasions of _Egypt_ under _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cambyses_, put an end to the glory of that city. _Asserhadon_ Reigned over the _Egyptians_ and _Ethiopians_ three years, _Isa._ xx. 3, 4. that is until his death, which was in the year of _Nabonassar_ 81, and therefore invaded _Egypt_, and put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over the _Egyptians_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 78; so that the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, and his successors _Sethon_ and _Tirhakah_, Reigned over _Egypt_ about 80 years: _Herodotus_ allots 50 years to _Sabacon_, and _Africanus_ fourteen years to _Sethon_, and eighteen to _Tirhakah_. The division of _Egypt_ into more Kingdoms than one, both before and after the Reign of the _Ethiopians_, and the conquest of the _Egyptians_ by _Asserhadon_, the prophet _Isaiah_ [340] seems allude unto in these words: _I will set_, saith he, _the _Egyptians_ against the _Egyptians_, and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour, city against city, and Kingdom against Kingdom, and the Spirit of _Egypt_ shall fail.--And the _Egyptians_ will I give over into the hand of a cruel Lord _[viz. _Asserhadon_]_ and a fierce King shall Reign over them.--Surely the Princes of _Zoan_ _[Tanis]_ are fools, the counsel of the wise Councellors of _Pharaoh_ is become brutish: how long say ye unto _Pharaoh_, I am the son of the ancient Kings.--The Princes of _Zoan_ are be come fools: the Princes of _Noph_ _[Memphis]_ are deceived,--even they that were the stay of the tribes thereof.--In that day there shall be a high-way out of _Egypt_ into _Assyria_, and the _Egyptians_ shall serve the _Assyrians__. After the death of _Asserhadon_, _Egypt_ remained subject to twelve contemporary Kings, who revolted from the _Assyrians_, and Reigned together fifteen years; including I think the three years of _Asserhadon_, because the _Egyptians_ do not reckon him among their Kings. They [341] built the Labyrinth adjoining to the Lake of _Mœris_ which was a very magnificent structure, with twelve Halls in it, for their Palaces: and then _Psammitichus_, who was one of the twelve, conquered all the rest. He built the last Portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_, founded by _Menes_ about 260 years before, and Reigned 54 years, including the fifteen years of his Reign with the twelve Kings. Then Reigned _Nechaoh_ or _Nechus_, 17 years; _Psammis_ six years; _Vaphres_, _Apries_, _Eraphius_, or _Hophra_, 25 years; _Amasis_ 44 years; and _Psammenitus_ six months, according to _Herodotus_. _Egypt_ was subdued by _Nebuchadnezzar_ in the last year but one of _Hophra_, _Anno Nabonass._ 178, and remained in subjection to _Babylon_ forty years, _Jer._ xliv. 30. & _Ezek._ xxix. 12, 13, 14, 17, 19. that is, almost all the Reign of _Amasis_, a plebeian set over _Egypt_ by the conqueror: the forty years ended with the death of _Cyrus_; for he Reigned over _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_, according to _Xenophon_. At that time therefore those nations recovered their liberty; but after four or five years more they were invaded and conquered by _Cambyses_, _Anno Nabonass._ 223 or 224, and have almost ever since remained in servitude, as was predicted by the Prophets. The Reigns of _Psammitichus_, _Nechus_, _Psammis_, _Apries_, _Amasis_, and _Psammenitus_, set down by _Herodotus_, amount unto 146½ years: and so many years there were from the 78th year of _Nabonassar_, in which the dominion of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_ came to an end, unto the 224th year of _Nabonassar_, in which _Cambyses_ invaded _Egypt_, and put an end to that Kingdom: which is an argument that _Herodotus_ was circumspect and faithful in his narrations, and has given us a good account of the antiquities of _Egypt_, so far as the Priests of _Egypt_ at _Thebes_, _Memphis_, and _Heliopolis_, and the _Carians_ and _Ionians_ inhabiting _Egypt_, were then able to inform him: for he consulted them all; and the _Cares_ and _Ionians_ had been in _Egypt_ from the time of the Reign of the twelve contemporary Kings. _Pliny_ [342] tells us, that the _Egyptian_ Obelisks were of a sort of stone dug near _Syene_ in _Thebais_, and that the first Obelisk was made by _Mitres_, who Reigned in _Heliopolis_; that is, by _Mephres_ the predecessor of _Misphragmuthosis_; and that afterwards other Kings made others: _Sochis_, that is _Sesochis_, or _Sesac_, four, each of 48 cubits in length; _Ramises_, that is _Ramesses_, two; _Smarres_, that is _Mœris_, one of 48 cubits in length; _Eraphius_, or _Hophra_, one of 48; and _Nectabis_, or _Nectenabis_, one of 80. _Mephres_ therefore extended his dominion over all the upper _Egypt_, from _Syene_ to _Heliopolis_, and after him, _Misphragmuthosis_ and _Amosis_, Reigned _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, who erected the first great Empire in the world: and these four, _Amosis_, _Ammon_, _Sesac_, and _Orus_, Reigned in the four ages of the great Gods of _Egypt_; and _Amenophis_ was the _Menes_ who Reigned next after them: he was Succeeded by _Ramesses_, and _Mœris_, and some time after by _Hophra_. _Diodorus_ [343] recites the same Kings of _Egypt_ with _Herodotus_, but in a more confused order, and repeats some of them twice, or oftener, under various names, and omits others: his Kings are these; _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Juno_, _Osiris_ and _Isis_, _Horus_, _Menes_, _Busiris_ I, _Busiris_ II, _Osymanduas_, _Uchoreus_, _Myris_, _Sesoosis_ I, _Sesoosis_ II, _Amasis_, _Actisanes_, _Mendes_ or _Marrus_, _Proteus_, _Remphis_, _Chembis_, _Cephren_, _Mycerinus_ or _Cherinus_, _Gnephacthus_, _Bocchoris_, _Sabacon_, twelve contemporary Kings, _Psammitichus_, * * _Apries_, _Amasis_. Here I take _Sesoosis_ I, and _Sesoosis_ II, _Busiris_ I, and _Busiris_ II, to be the same Kings with _Osiris_ and _Orus_: also _Osymanduas_ to be the same with _Amenophis_ or _Menes_: also _Amasis_, and _Actisanes_, an _Ethiopian_ who conquered him, to be the same with _Anysis_ and _Sabacon_ in _Herodotus_: and _Uchoreus_, _Mendes_, _Marrus_, and _Myris_, to be only several names of one and the same King. Whence the catalogue of _Diodorus_ will be reduced to this: _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Juno_; _Osiris_, _Busiris_ or _Sesoosis_, and _Isis_; _Horus_, _Busiris_ II, or _Sesoosis_ II; _Menes_, or _Osymanduas_; _Proteus_; _Remphis_ or _Ramesses_; _Uchoreus_, _Mendes_, _Marrus_, or _Myris_; _Chembis_ or _Cheops_; _Cephren_; _Mycerinus_; * * _Gnephacthus_; _Bocchoris_; _Amasis_, or _Anysis_; _Actisanes_, or _Sabacon_; * twelve contemporary Kings; _Psammitichus_; * * _Apries_; _Amasis_: to which, if in their proper places you add _Nitocris_, _Asychis_, _Sethon_, _Nechus_, and _Psammis,_ you will have the catalogue of _Herodotus_. The Dynasties of _Manetho_ and _Eratosthenes_ seem to be filled with many such names of Kings as _Herodotus_ omitted: when it shall be made appear that any of them Reigned in _Egypt_ after the expulsion of the Shepherds, and were different from the Kings described above, they may be inserted in their proper places. _Egypt_ was conquered by the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, about the beginning of the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_, or perhaps three or four years before, that is, about three hundred years before _Herodotus_ wrote his history; and about eighty years after that conquest, it was conquered again by the _Assyrians_ under _Asserhadon_: and the history of _Egypt_ set down by _Herodotus_ from the time of this last conquest, is right both as to the number, and order, and names of the Kings, and as to the length of their Reigns: and therein he is now followed by historians, being the only author who hath given us so good a history of _Egypt_, for that interval of time. If his history of the earlier times be less accurate, it was because the archives of _Egypt_ had suffered much during the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ and _Assyrians_: and it is not likely that the Priests of _Egypt_, who lived two or three hundred years after the days of _Herodotus_, could mend the matter: on the contrary, after _Cambyses_ had carried away the records of _Egypt_, the Priests were daily feigning new Kings, to make their Gods and nation look ancient; as is manifest by comparing _Herodotus_ with _Diodorus Siculus_, and both of them with what _Plato_ relates out of the Poem of _Solon_: which Poem makes the wars of the great Gods of _Egypt_ against the _Greeks_, to have been in the days of _Cecrops_, _Erechtheus_ and _Erichthonius_, and a little before those of _Theseus_; these Gods at that time instituting Temples and Sacred Rites to themselves. I have therefore chosen to rely upon the stories related to _Herodotus_ by the Priests of _Egypt_ in those days, and corrected by the Poem of _Solon_, so as to make these Gods of _Egypt_ no older than _Cecrops_ and _Erechtheus_, and their successor _Menes_ no older than _Theseus_ and _Memnon_, and the Temple of _Vulcan_ not above 280 years in building: rather than to correct _Herodotus_ by _Manetho_, _Eratosthenes_, _Diodorus_, and others, who lived after the Priests of _Egypt_ had corrupted their Antiquities much more than they had done in the days of _Herodotus_. * * * * * CHAP. III. _Of the _ASSYRIAN_ Empire._ As the Gods or ancient Deified Kings and Princes of _Greece_, _Egypt_, and _Syria_ of _Damascus_, have been made much ancienter than the truth, so have those of _Chaldæa_ and _Assyria_: for _Diodorus_ [344] tells us, that when _Alexander_ the great was in _Asia_, the _Chaldæans_ reckoned 473000 years since they first began to observe the Stars; and _Ctesias_, and the ancient _Greek_ and _Latin_ writers who copy from him, have made the _Assyrian_ Empire as old as _Noah_'s flood within 60 or 70 years, and tell us the names of all the Kings of _Assyria_ downwards, from _Belus_ and his feigned son _Ninus_, to _Sardanapalus_ the last King of that Monarchy: but the names of his Kings, except two or three, have no affinity with the names of the _Assyrians_ mentioned in Scripture; for the _Assyrians_ were usually named after their Gods, _Bel_ or _Pul_; _Chaddon_, _Hadon_, _Adon_, or _Adonis_; _Melech_ or _Moloch_; _Atsur_ or _Assur_; _Nebo_; _Nergal_; _Merodach_: as in these names, _Pul_, _Tiglath-Pul-Assur_, _Salman-Assur_, _Adra-Melech_, _Shar-Assur_, _Assur-Hadon_, _Sardanapalus_ or _Assur-Hadon-Pul_, _Nabonassar_ or _Nebo-Adon-Assur_, _Bel Adon_, _Chiniladon_ or _Chen-El-Adon_, _Nebo-Pul-Assur_, _Nebo-Chaddon-Assur_, _Nebuzaradon_ or _Nebo-Assur-Adon_, _Nergal-Assur_, _Nergal-Shar-Assur_, _Labo-Assur-dach_, _Sheseb-Assur_, _Beltes-Assur_, _Evil-Merodach_, _Shamgar-Nebo_, _Rabsaris_ or _Rab-Assur_, _Nebo-Shashban_, _Mardocempad_ or _Merodach-Empad_. Such were the _Assyrian_ names; but those in _Ctesias_ are of another sort, except _Sardanapalus_, whose name he had met with in _Herodotus_. He makes _Semiramis_ as old as the first _Belus_; but _Herodotus_ tells us, that she was but five Generations older than the mother of _Labynetus_: he represents that the city _Ninus_ was founded by a man of the same name, and _Babylon_ by _Semiramis_; whereas either _Nimrod_ or _Assur_ founded those and other cities, without giving his own name to any of them: he makes the _Assyrian_ Empire continue about 1360 years, whereas _Herodotus_ tells us that it lasted only 500 years, and the numbers of _Herodotus_ concerning those ancient times are all of them too long: he makes _Nineveh_ destroyed by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_, three hundred years before the Reign of _Astibares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ who destroyed it, and sets down the names of seven or eight feigned Kings of _Media_, between the destruction of _Nineveh_ and the Reigns of _Astibares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_, as if the Empire of the _Medes_, erected upon the ruins of the _Assyrian_ Empire, had lasted 300 years, whereas it lasted but 72: and the true Empire of the _Assyrians_ described in Scripture, whose Kings were _Pul_, _Tiglath-pilesar_, _Shalmaneser_, _Sennacherib_, _Asserhadon_, &c. he mentions not, tho' much nearer to his own times; which shews that he was ignorant of the antiquities of the _Assyrians_. Yet something of truth there is in the bottom of some of his stories, as there uses to be in Romances; as, that _Nineveh_ was destroyed by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_; that _Sardanapalus_ was the last King of the _Assyrian_ Empire; and that _Astibares_ and _Astyages_ were Kings of the _Medes_: but he has made all things too ancient, and out of vainglory taken too great a liberty in feigning names and stories to please his reader. When the _Jews_ were newly returned from the _Babylonian_ captivity, they confessed their Sins in this manner, _Now therefore our God, ---- let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our Kings, on our Princes, and on our Priests, and on our Prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the Kings of _Assyria_, unto this day_; _Nehem._ ix. 32. that is, since the time of the Kingdom of _Assyria_, or since the rise of that Empire; and therefore the _Assyrian_ Empire arose when the Kings of _Assyria_ began to afflict the inhabitants of _Palestine_; which was in the days of _Pul_: he and his successors afflicted _Israel_, and conquered the nations round about them; and upon the ruin of many small and ancient Kingdoms erected their Empire, conquering the _Medes_ as well as other nations: but of these conquests _Ctesias_ knew not a word, no not so much as the names of the conquerors, or that there was an _Assyrian_ Empire then standing; for he supposes that the _Medes_ Reigned at that time, and that the _Assyrian_ Empire was at an end above 250 years before it began. However we must allow that _Nimrod_ founded a Kingdom at _Babylon_, and perhaps extended it into _Assyria_: but this Kingdom was but of small extent, if compared with the Empires which rose up afterwards; being only within the fertile plains of _Chaldæa_, _Chalonitis_ and _Assyria_, watered by the _Tigris_ and _Euphrates_: and if it had been greater, yet it was but of short continuance, it being the custom in those early ages for every father to divide his territories amongst his sons. So _Noah_ was King of all the world, and _Cham_ was King of all _Afric_, and _Japhet_ of all _Europe_ and _Asia minor_; but they left no standing Kingdoms. After the days of _Nimrod_, we hear no more of an _Assyrian_ Empire 'till the days of _Pul_. The four Kings who in the days of _Abraham_ invaded the southern coast of _Canaan_ came from the countries where _Nimrod_ had Reigned, and perhaps were some of his posterity who had shared his conquests. In the time of the Judges of _Israel_, _Mesopotamia_ was under its own King, _Judg._ iii. 8. and the King of _Zobah_ Reigned on both sides of the River _Euphrates_ 'till _David_ conquered him, 2 _Sam._ viii, and x. The Kingdoms of _Israel_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, _Edom_, _Philistia_, _Zidon_, _Damascus_, and _Hamath_ the great, continued subject to other Lords than the _Assyrians_ 'till the days of _Pul_ and his successors; and so did the house of _Eden_, _Amos_ i. 5. 2 _Kings_ xix. 12. and _Haran_ or _Carrhæ_, _Gen._ xii. 2 _Kings_ xix. 12. and _Sepharvaim_ in _Mesopotamia_, and _Calneh_ near _Bagdad_, _Gen._ x. 10, _Isa._ x. 9, 2 _Kings_ xvii. 31. _Sesac_ and _Memnon_ were great conquerors, and Reigned over _Chaldæa_, _Assyria_, and _Persia_, but in their histories there is not a word of any opposition made to them by an _Assyrian_ Empire then standing: on the contrary, _Susiana_, _Media_, _Persia_, _Bactria_, _Armenia_, _Cappadocia_, &c. were conquered by them, and continued subject to the Kings of _Egypt_ 'till after the long Reign of _Ramesses_ the son of _Memnon_, as above. _Homer_ mentions _Bacchus_ and _Memnon_ Kings of _Egypt_ and _Persia_, but knew nothing of an _Assyrian_ Empire. _Jonah_ prophesied when _Israel_ was in affliction under the King of _Syria_, and this was in the latter part of the Reign of _Jehoahaz_, and first part of the Reign of _Joash_, Kings of _Israel_, and I think in the Reign of _Mœris_ the successor of _Ramesses_ King of _Egypt_, and about sixty years before the Reign of _Pul_; and _Nineveh_ was then a city of large extent, but full of pastures for cattle, so that it contained but about 120000 persons. It was not yet grown so great and potent as not to be terrified at the preaching of _Jonah_, and to fear being invaded by its neighbours and ruined within forty days: it had some time before got free from the dominion of _Egypt_, and had got a King of its own; but its King was not yet called King of _Assyria_, but only King of _Nineveh_, _Jonah_ iii. 6, 7. and his proclamation for a fast was not published in several nations, nor in all _Assyria_, but only in _Nineveh_, and perhaps in the villages thereof; but soon after, when the dominion of _Nineveh_ was established at home, and exalted over all _Assyria_ properly so called, and this Kingdom began to make war upon the neighbouring nations, its Kings were no longer called Kings of _Nineveh_ but began to be called Kings of _Assyria_. _Amos_ prophesied in the Reign of _Jeroboam_ the Son of _Joash_ King of _Israel_, soon after _Jeroboam_ had subdued the Kingdoms of _Damascus_ and _Hamath_, that is, about ten or twenty years before the Reign of _Pul_: and he [345] thus reproves _Israel_ for being lifted up by those conquests; _Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought, which say, have we not taken to us horns by our strength? But behold I will raise up against you a nation, O house of _Israel_, saith the Lord the God of Hosts, and they shall afflict you from the entring in of _Hamath_ unto the river of the wilderness_. God here threatens to raise up a nation against _Israel_; but what nation he names not; that he conceals 'till the _Assyrians_ should appear and discover it. In the prophesies of _Isaiah_, _Jeremiah_, _Ezekiel_, _Hosea_, _Micah_, _Nahum_, _Zephaniah_ and _Zechariah_, which were written after the Monarchy grew up, it is openly named upon all occasions; but in this of _Amos_ not once, tho' the captivity of _Israel_ and _Syria_ be the subject of the prophesy, and that of _Israel_ be often threatned: he only saith in general that _Syria_ should go into captivity unto _Kir_, and that _Israel_, notwithstanding her present greatness, should go into captivity beyond _Damascus_; and that God would raise up a nation to afflict them: meaning that he would raise up above them from a lower condition, a nation whom they yet feared not: for so the _Hebrew_ word מקם signifies when applied to men, as in _Amos_ v. 2. 1 _Sam._ xii. 11. _Psal._ cxiii. 7. _Jer._ x. 20. l. 32. _Hab._ i. 6. _Zech._ xi. 16. As _Amos_ names not the _Assyrians_; at the writing of this prophecy they made no great figure in the world, but were to be raised up against _Israel_, and by consequence rose up in the days of _Pul_ and his successors: for after _Jeroboam_ had conquered _Damascus_ and _Hamath_, his successor _Menahem_ destroyed _Tiphsah_ with its territories upon _Euphrates_, because they opened not to him: and therefore _Israel_ continued in its greatness 'till _Pul_, probably grown formidable by some victories, caused _Menahem_ to buy his peace. _Pul_ therefore Reigning presently after the prophesy of _Amos_, and being the first upon record who began to fulfill it, may be justly reckoned the first conqueror and founder of this Empire. For _God stirred up the spirit of _Pul_, and the spirit of _Tiglath-pileser_ King of _Assyria__, 1 _Chron._ v. 20. The same Prophet _Amos_, in prophesying against _Israel_, threatned them in this manner, with what had lately befallen other Kingdoms: _Pass ye_, [346] saith he, _unto _Calneh_ and see, and from thence go ye to _Hamath_ the great, then go down to _Gath_ of the _Philistims_. Be they better than these Kingdoms?_ These Kingdoms were not yet conquered by the _Assyrians_, except that of _Calneh_ or _Chalonitis_ upon _Tigris_, between _Babylon_ and _Nineveh_. _Gath_ was newly vanquished [347] by _Uzziah_ King of _Judah_, and _Hamath_ [348] by _Jeroboam_ King of _Israel_: and while the Prophet, in threatning _Israel_ with the _Assyrians_, instances in desolations made by other nations, and mentions no other conquest of the _Assyrians_ than that of _Chalonitis_ near _Nineveh_; it argues that the King of _Nineveh_ was now beginning his conquests, and had not yet made any great progress in that vast career of victories, which we read of a few years after. For about seven years after the captivity of the ten Tribes, when _Sennacherib_ warred in _Syria_, which was in the 16th Olympiad, he [349] sent this message to the King of _Judah_: _Behold, thou hast heard that the Kings of _Assyria_ have done to all Lands by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? Have the Gods of the nations delivered them which the Gods of my fathers have destroyed, as _Gozan_ and _Haran_ and _Reseph_, and the children of _Eden_ which were in _[the Kingdom of] Thelasar_? Where is the King of _Hamath_, and the King of _Arpad_, and the King of the city of _Sepharvaim_, and of _Hena_ and _Ivah__? And _Isaiah_ [350] thus introduceth the King of _Assyria_ boasting: _Are not my Princes altogether as Kings? Is not _Calno [or _Calneh_]_ as _Carchemish_? Is not _Hamath_ as _Arpad_? Is not _Samaria_ as _Damascus_? As my hand hath found the Kingdoms of the Idols, and whose graven Images did excel them of _Jerusalem_ and of _Samaria_; shall I not as I have done unto _Samaria_ and her Idols, so do to _Jerusalem_ and her Idols?_ All this desolation is recited as fresh in memory to terrify the _Jews_, and these Kingdoms reach to the borders of _Assyria_, and to shew the largeness of the conquests they are called _all lands_, that is, all round about _Assyria_. It was the custom of the Kings of _Assyria_, for preventing the rebellion of people newly conquered, to captivate and transplant those of several countries into one another's lands, and intermix them variously: and thence it appears [351] that _Halah_, and _Habor_, and _Hara_, and _Gozan_, and the cities of the _Medes_ into which _Galilee_ and _Samaria_ were transplanted; and _Kir_ into which _Damascus_ was transplanted; and _Babylon_ and _Cuth_ or the _Susanchites_, and _Hamath_, and _Ava_, and _Sepharvaim_, and the _Dinaites_, and the _Apharsachites_, and the _Tarpelites_, and the _Archevites_, and the _Dehavites_, and the _Elamites_, or _Persians_, part of all which nations were led captive by _Asserhadon_ and his predecessors into _Samaria_; were all of them conquered by the _Assyrians_ not long before. In these conquests are involved on the west and south side of _Assyria_, the Kingdoms of _Mesopotamia_, whose royal seats were _Haran_ or _Carrhæ_, and _Carchemish_ or _Circutium_, and _Sepharvaim_, a city upon _Euphrates_, between _Babylon_ and _Nineveh_, called _Sipparæ_ by _Berosus_, _Abydenus_, and _Polyhistor_, and _Sipphara_ by _Ptolomy_; and the Kingdoms of _Syria_ seated at _Samaria_, _Damascus_, _Gath_, _Hamath_, _Arpad_, and _Reseph_, a city placed by _Ptolomy_ near _Thapsacus_: on the south side and south east side were _Babylon_ and _Calneh_, or _Calno_, a city which was founded by _Nimrod_, where _Bagdad_ now stands, and gave the name of _Chalonitis_ to a large region under its government; and _Thelasar_ or _Talatha_, a city of the children of _Eden_, placed by _Ptolomy_ in _Babylonia_, upon the common stream of _Tigris_ and _Euphrates_, which was therefore the river of Paradise; and the _Archevites_ at _Areca_ or _Erech_, a city built by _Nimrod_ on the east side of _Pasitigris_, between _Apamia_ and the _Persian Gulph_; and the _Susanchites_ at _Cuth_, or _Susa_, the metropolis of _Susiana_: on the east were _Elymais_, and some cities of the _Medes_, and _Kir_, [352] a city and large region of _Media_, between _Elymais_, and _Assyria_, called _Kirene_ by the _Chaldee_ Paraphrast and _Latin_ Interpreter, and _Carine_ by _Ptolomy_: on the north-east were _Habor_ or _Chaboras_, a mountainous region between _Assyria_ and _Media_; and the _Apharsachites_, or men of _Arrapachitis_, a region originally peopled by _Arphaxad_, and placed by _Ptolomy_ at the bottom of the mountains next _Assyria_: and on the north between _Assyria_ and the _Gordiæan_ mountains was _Halah_ or _Chalach_, the metropolis of _Calachene_: and beyond these upon the _Caspian_ sea was _Gozan_, called _Gauzania_ by _Ptolomy_. Thus did these new conquests extend every way from the province of _Assyria_ to considerable distances, and make up the great body of that Monarchy: so that well might the King of _Assyria_ boast how his armies had destroyed all lands. All these nations [353] had 'till now their several Gods, and each accounted his God the God of his own land, and the defender thereof, against the Gods of the neighbouring countries, and particularly against the Gods of _Assyria_; and therefore they were never 'till now united under the _Assyrian_ Monarchy, especially since the King of _Assyria_ doth not boast of their being conquered by the _Assyrians_ oftner than once: but these being small Kingdoms the King of _Assyria_ easily overflowed them: _Know ye not_, saith [354] _Sennacherib_ to the _Jews_, _what I and my fathers have done unto all the People of other lands?--for no God of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?_ He and his fathers therefore, _Pul_, _Tiglath-pileser_, and _Shalmaneser_, were great conquerors, and with a current of victories had newly overflowed all nations round about _Assyria_, and thereby set up this Monarchy. Between the Reigns of _Jeroboam_ II, and his son _Zachariah_, there was an interregnum of about ten or twelve years in the Kingdom of _Israel_: and the prophet _Hosea_ [355] in the time of that interregnum, or soon after, mentions the King of _Assyria_ by the name of _Jareb_, and another conqueror by the name of _Shalman_; and perhaps _Shalman_ might be the first part of the name of _Shalmaneser_, and _Iareb_, or _Irib_, for it may be read both ways, the last part of the name of his successor _Sennacherib_: but whoever these Princes were, it appears not that they Reigned before _Shalmaneser_. _Pul_, or _Belus_, seems to be the first who carried on his conquests beyond the province of _Assyria_: he conquered _Calneh_ with its territories in the Reign of _Jerboam_, _Amos_ i. 1. vi. 2. & _Isa._ x. 8, 9. and invaded _Israel_ in the Reign of _Menahem_, 2 _King._ xv. 19. but stayed not in the land, being bought off by _Menahem_ for a thousand talents of silver: in his Reign therefore the Kingdom of _Assyria_ was advanced on this side _Tigris_: for he was a great warrior, and seems to have conquered _Haran_, and _Carchemish_, and _Reseph_, and _Calneh_, and _Thelasar_, and might found or enlarge the city of _Babylon_, and build the old palace. _Herodotus_ tells us, that one of the gates of _Babylon_ was [356] called the gate of _Semiramis_, and than she adorned the walls of the city, and the Temple of _Belus_, and that she [357] was five Generations older than _Nitocris_ the mother of _Labynitus_, or _Nabonnedus_, the last King of _Babylon_; and therefore she flourished four Generations, or about 134 years, before _Nebuchadnezzar_ , and by consequence in the Reign of _Tiglath-pileser_ the successor of _Pul_: and the followers of _Ctesias_ tell us, that she built _Babylon_, and was the widow of the son and successor of _Belus_, the founder of the _Assyrian_ Empire; that is, the widow of one of the sons of _Pul_: but [358] _Berosus_ a _Chaldæan_ blames the _Greeks_ for ascribing the building of _Babylon_ to _Semiramis_; and other authors ascribe the building of this city to _Belus_ himself, that is to _Pul_; so _Curtius_ [359] tells us; _Semiramis Babylonem condiderat, vel ut plerique credidere Belus, cujus regia ostenditur_: and _Abydenus_, who had his history from the ancient monuments of the _Chaldæans_, writes, [360] Λεγεται Βηλον Βαβυλωνα τειχει περιβαλειν· τωι χρονωι δε τωι ικνευμενωι αφανισθηναι. τειχισαι δε αυθις Ναβουχοδονοσορον, το μεχρι της Μακεδονιων αρχης διαμειναν εον χαλκοπυλον. _'Tis reported that _Belus_ compassed _Babylon_ with a wall, which in time was abolished: and that _Nebuchadnezzar_ afterwards built a new wall with brazen gates, which stood 'till the time of the _Macedonian_ Empire_: and so _Dorotheas_ [361] an ancient Poet of _Sidon_; Αρχαιη Βαβυλων, Τυριου Βηλοιο πολισμα. _The ancient city _Babylon_ built by the _Tyrian Belus__; That is, by the _Syrian_ or _Assyrian_ _Belus_; the words _Tyrian_, _Syrian_, and _Assyrian_, being anciently used promiscuously for one another: _Herennius_ [362] tells us, that it was built by the son of _Belus_; and this son might be _Nabonassar_. After the conquest of _Calneh_, _Thelasar_, and _Sippare_, _Belus_ might seize _Chaldæa_, and begin to build _Babylon_, and leave it to his younger son: for all the Kings of _Babylon_ in the Canon of _Ptolemy_ are called _Assyrians_, and _Nabonassar_ is the first of them: and _Nebuchadnezzar_ [363] reckoned himself descended from _Belus_, that is, from the _Assyrian_ _Pul_: and the building of _Babylon_ is ascribed to the _Assyrians_ by [364] _Isaiah_: _Behold_, saith he, _the land of the _Chaldeans_: This people was not 'till the _Assyrian_ founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness, _[that is, for the _Arabians_.]_ They set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof_. From all this it seems therefore that _Pul_ founded the walls and the palaces of _Babylon_, and left the city with the province of _Chaldæa_ to his younger son _Nabonassar_; and that _Nabonassar_ finished what his father began, and erected the Temple of _Jupiter Belus_ to his father: and that _Semiramis_ lived in those days, and was the Queen of _Nabonassar_, because one of the gates of _Babylon_ was called the gate of _Semiramis_, as _Herodotus_ affirms: but whether she continued to Reign there after her husband's death may be doubted. _Pul_ therefore was succeeded at _Nineveh_ by his elder son _Tiglath-pileser_, at the same time that he left _Babylon_ to his younger son _Nabonassar_. _Tiglath-pileser_, the second King of _Assyria_, warred in _Phœnicia_, and captivated _Galilee_ with the two Tribes and an half, in the days of _Pekah_ King of _Israel_, and placed them in _Halah_, and _Habor_, and _Hara_, and at the river _Gozan_, places lying on the western borders of _Media_, between _Assyria_ and the _Caspian_ sea, 2 _King._ xv. 29, &: 1 _Chron._ v. 26. and about the fifth or sixth year of _Nabonassar_, he came to the assistance of the King of _Judah_ against the Kings of _Israel_ and _Syria_, and overthrew the Kingdom of _Syria_, which had been seated at _Damascus_ ever since the days of King _David_, and carried away the _Syrians_ to _Kir_ in _Media_, as _Amos_ had prophesied, and placed other nations in the regions of _Damascus_, 2 _King._ xv. 37, & xvi. 5, 9. _Amos_ i. 5. _Joseph. Antiq._ l. 9. c. 13. whence it seems that the _Medes_ were conquered before, and that the Empire of the _Assyrians_ was now grown great: for _the God of _Israel_ stirred up the spirit of _Pul_ King of _Assyria_, and the spirit of _Tiglath-pileser_ King of _Assyria__ to make war, 1 _Chron._ v. 26. _Shalmaneser_ or _Salmanasser_, called _Enemessar_ by _Tobit_, invaded [365] all _Phœnicia_, took the city of _Samaria_, and captivated _Israel_, and placed them in _Chalach_ and _Chabor_, by the river _Gozan_, and in the cities of the _Medes_; and _Hosea_ [366] seems to say that he took _Arbela_: and his successor _Sennacherib_ said that his fathers had conquered also _Gozan_, and _Haran_ or _Carrhæ_, and _Reseph_ or _Resen_, and the children of _Eden_, and _Arpad_ or the _Aradii_, 2 _King._ xix. 12. _Sennacherib_ the son of _Shalmaneser_ in the 14th year of _Hezekiah_ invaded _Phœnicia_, and took several cities of _Judah_, and attempted _Egypt_; and _Sethon_ or _Sevechus_ King of _Egypt_ and _Tirhakah_ King of _Ethiopia_ coming against him, he lost in one night 185000 men, as some say by a plague, or perhaps by lightning, or a fiery wind which blows sometimes in the neighbouring deserts, or rather by being surprised by _Sethon_ and _Tirhakah_: for the _Egyptians_ in memory of this action erected a statue to _Sethon_, holding in his hand a mouse, the _Egyptian_ symbol of destruction. Upon this defeat _Sennacherib_ returned in haste to _Nineveh_, and [367] his Kingdom became troubled, so that _Tobit_ could not go into _Media_, the _Medes_ I think at this time revolting: and he was soon after slain by two of his sons who fled into _Armenia_, and his son _Asserhadon_ succeeded him. At that time did _Merodach Baladan_ or _Mardocempad_ King of _Babylon_ send an embassy to _Hezekiah_ King of _Judah_. _Asserhadon_, [368] called _Sarchedon_ by _Tobit_, _Asordan_ by the LXX, and _Assaradin_ in _Ptolomy_'s Canon, began his Reign at _Nineveh_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 42; and in the year 68 extended it over _Babylon_: then he carried the remainder of the _Samaritans_ into captivity, and peopled _Samaria_ with captives brought from several parts of his Kingdom, the _Dinaites_, the _Apharsachites_, the _Tarpelites_, the _Apharsites_, the _Archevites_, the _Babylonians_, the _Susanchites_, the _Dehavites_, the _Elamites_, _Ezra_ iv. 2, 9. and therefore he Reigned over all these nations. _Pekah_ and _Rezin_ Kings of _Samaria_ and _Damascus_, invaded _Judæa_ in the first year of _Ahaz_, and within 65 years after, that is in the 21st year of _Manasseh_, _Anno Nabonass._ 69, _Samaria_ by this captivity ceased to be a people, _Isa._ vii. 8. Then _Asserhadon_ invaded _Judæa_, took _Azoth_, carried _Manasseh_ captive to _Babylon_, and [369] captivated also _Egypt_, _Thebais_, and _Ethiopia_ above _Thebais_: and by this war he seems to have put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 77 or 78. In the Reign of _Sennacherib_ and _Asserhadon_, the _Assyrian_ Empire seems arrived at its greatness, being united under one Monarch, and containing _Assyria_, _Media_, _Apolloniatis_, _Susiana_, _Chaldæa_, _Mesopotamia_, _Cilicia_, _Syria_, _Phœnicia_, _Egypt_, _Ethiopia_, and part of _Arabia_, and reaching eastward into _Elymais_, and _Parætacene_, a province of the _Medes_: and if _Chalach_ and _Chabor_ be _Colchis_ and _Iberia_, as some think, and as may seem probable from the circumcision used by those nations 'till the days of _Herodotus_, we are also to add these two Provinces, with the two _Armenia's_, _Pontus_ and _Cappadocia_, as far as to the river _Halys_: for [370] _Herodotus_ tells us, that the people of _Cappadocia_ as far as to that river were called _Syrians_ by the _Greeks_, both before and after the days or _Cyrus_, and that the _Assyrians_ were also called _Syrians_ by the _Greeks_. Yet the _Medes_ revolted from the _Assyrians_ in the latter end of the Reign of _Sennacherib_, I think upon the slaughter of his army near _Egypt_ and his flight to _Nineveh_: for at that time the estate of _Sennacherib_ was troubled, so that _Tobit_ could not go into _Media_ as he had done before, _Tobit_ i. 15. and some time after, _Tobit_ advised his son to go into _Media_ where he might expect peace, while _Nineveh_, according to the prophesy of _Jonah_, should be destroyed. _Ctesias_ wrote that _Arbaces_ a _Mede_ being admitted to see _Sardanapalus_ in his palace, and observing his voluptuous life amongst women, revolted with the _Medes_, and in conjunction with _Belesis_ a _Babylonian_ overcame him, and caused him to set fire to his palace and burn himself: but he is contradicted by other authors of better credit; for _Duris_ and [371] many others wrote that _Arbaces_ upon being admitted into the palace of _Sardanapalus_, and seeing his effeminate life, slew himself; and _Cleitarchus_, that _Sardanapalus_ died of old age, after he had lost his dominion over _Syria_: he lost it by the revolt of the western nations; and _Herodotus_ [372] tells us, that the _Medes_ revolted first, and defended their liberty by force of arms against the _Assyrians_, without conquering them; and at their first revolting had no King, but after some time set up _Dejoces_ over them, and built _Ecbatane_ for his residence; and that _Dejoces_ Reigned only over _Media_, and had a peaceable Reign of 54 years, but his son and successor _Phraortes_ made war upon his neighbours, and conquered _Persia_; and that the _Syrians_ also, and other western nations, at length revolted from the _Assyrians_, being encouraged thereunto by the example of the _Medes_; and that after the revolt of the western nations, _Phraortes_ invaded the _Assyrians_, but was slain by them in that war, after he had Reigned twenty and two years. He was succeeded by _Astyages_. Now _Asserhadon_ seems to be the _Sardanapalus_ who died of old age after the revolt of _Syria_, the name _Sardanapalus_ being derived from _Asserhadon-Pul_. _Sardanapalus_ was the [373] son of _Anacyndaraxis_, _Cyndaraxis_, or _Anabaxaris_, King of _Assyria_; and this name seems to have been corruptly written for _Sennacherib_ the father of _Asserhadon_. _Sardanapalus_ built _Tarsus_ and _Anchiale_ in one day, and therefore Reigned over _Cilicia_, before the revolt of the western nations: and if he be the same King with _Asserhadon_, he was succeeded by _Saosduchinus_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 81; and by this revolution _Manasseh_ was set at liberty to return home and fortify _Jerusalem_: and the _Egyptians_ also, after the _Assyrians_ had harrassed _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_ three years, _Isa._ xx. 3, 4. were set at liberty, and continued under twelve contemporary Kings of their own nation, as above. The _Assyrians_ invaded and conquered the _Egyptians_ the first of the three years, and Reigned over them two years more: and these two years are the interregnum which _Africanus_, from _Manetho_, places next before the twelve Kings. The _Scythians_ of _Touran_ or _Turquestan_ beyond the river _Oxus_ began in those days to infest _Persia_, and by one of their inroads might give occasion to the revolt of the western nations. In the year of _Nabonassar_ 101, _Saosduchinus_, after a Reign of twenty years, was succeeded at _Babylon_ by _Chyniladon_, and I think at _Nineveh_ also, for I take _Chyniladon_ to be that _Nabuchodonosor_ who is mentioned in the book of _Judith_; for the history of that King suits best with these times: for there it is said that __Nabuchodonosor_ King of the _Assyrians_ who Reigned at _Nineveh_, that great city, in the twelfth year of his Reign made war upon _Arphaxad_ King of the _Medes__, and was then left alone by a defection of the auxiliary nations of _Cilicia_, _Damascus_, _Syria_, _Phœnicia_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and _Egypt_; and without their help routed the army of the _Medes_, and slew _Arphaxad_: and _Arphaxad_ is there said to have built _Ecbatane_ and therefore was either _Dejoces_, or his son _Phraortes_, who might finish the city founded by his father: and _Herodotus_ [374] tells the same story of a King of _Assyria_, who routed the _Medes_, and slew their King _Phraortes_; and saith that in the time of this war the _Assyrians_ were left alone by the defection of the auxiliary nations, being otherwise in good condition: _Arphaxad_ was therefore the _Phraortes_ of _Herodotus_, and by consequence was slain near the beginning of the Reign of _Josiah_: for this war was made after _Phœnicia_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and _Egypt_ had been conquered and revolted, _Judith_ i. 7, 8, 9. and by consequence after the Reign of _Asserhadon_ who conquered them: it was made when the _Jews_ were newly returned from captivity, _and the Vessels and Altar and Temple were sanctified after the profanation_, _Judith_ iv. 3. that is soon after _Manasseh_ their King had been carried captive to _Babylon_ by _Asserhadon_; and upon the death of that King, or some other change in the _Assyrian_ Empire, had been released with the _Jews_ from that captivity, and had repaired the Altar, and restored the sacrifices and worship of the Temple, 2 _Chron._ xxxiii. 11, 16. In the _Greek_ version of the book of _Judith_, chap. v. 18. it is said, that _the Temple of God was cast to the ground_; but this is not said in _Jerom_'s version; and in the _Greek_ version, chap. iv. 3, and chap. xvi. 20, it is said, that _the vessels, and the altar, and the house were sanctified after the prophanation_, and in both versions, chap. iv. 11, the Temple is represented standing. After this war _Nabuchodonosor_ King of _Assyria_, in the 13th year of his Reign, according to the version of _Jerom_, sent his captain _Holofernes_ with a great army to avenge himself on all the west country; because they had disobeyed his commandment: and _Holofernes_ went forth with an army of 12000 horse, and 120000 foot of _Assyrians_, _Medes_ and _Persians_, and reduced _Cilicia_, _Mesopotamia_, and _Syria_, and _Damascus_, and part of _Arabia_, and _Ammon_, and _Edom_, and _Madian_, and then came against _Judæa_: and this was done when the government was in the hands of the High-Priest and Antients of _Israel_, _Judith_ iv. 8. and vii. 23. and by consequence not in the Reign of _Manasseh_ or _Amon_, but when _Josiah_ was a child. In times of prosperity the children of _Israel_ were apt to go after false Gods, and in times of affliction to repent and turn to the Lord. So _Manasseh_ a very wicked King, being captivated by the _Assyrians_, repented; and being released from captivity restored the worship of the true God: So when we are told that _Josiah in the eighth year of his Reign, while he was yet young, began to seek after the God of _David_ his father, and in the twelfth year of his Reign began to purge _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_ from Idolatry, and to destroy the High Places, and Groves, and Altars and Images of Baalim_, 2 _Chron_. xxxiv. 3. we may understand that these acts of religion were occasioned by impending dangers, and escapes from danger. When _Holofernes_ came against the western nations, and spoiled them, then were the _Jews_ terrified, and they fortified _Judæa_, and _cryed unto God with great fervency, and humbled themselves in sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads, and cried unto the God of _Israel_ that he would not give their wives and their children and cities for a prey, and the Temple for a profanation: and the High-priest, and all the Priests put on sackcloth and ashes, and offered daily burnt offerings with vows and free gifts of the people_, _Judith_ iv. and then began _Josiah_ to seek after the God of his father _David_: and after _Judith_ had slain _Holofernes_, and the _Assyrians_ were fled, and the _Jews_ who pursued them were returned to _Jerusalem_, _they worshipped the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and gifts, and continued feasting before the sanctuary for the space of three months_, _Judith_ xvi. 18, and then did _Josiah_ purge _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_ from Idolatry. Whence it seems to me that the eighth year of _Josiah_ fell in with the fourteenth or fifteenth of _Nabuchodonosor_, and that the twelfth year of _Nabuchodonosor_, in which _Phraortes_ was slain, was the fifth or sixth of _Josiah_. _Phraortes_ Reigned 22 years according to _Herodotus_, and therefore succeeded his father _Dejoces_ about the 40th year of _Manasseh_, _Anno Nabonass._ 89, and was slain by the _Assyrians_, and succeeded by _Astyages_, _Anno Nabonass._ 111. _Dejoces_ Reigned 53 years according to _Herodotus_, and these years began in the 16th year of _Hezekiah_; which makes it probable that the _Medes_ dated them from the time of their revolt: and according to all this reckoning, the Reign of _Nabuchodonosor_ fell in with that of _Chyniladon_; which makes it probable that they were but two names of one and the same King. Soon after the death of _Phraortes_ [375] the _Scythians_ under _Madyes_ or _Medus_ invaded _Media_, and beat the _Medes_ in battle, _Anno Nabonass._ 113, and went thence towards _Egypt_, but were met in _Phœnicia_ by _Psammitichus_ and bought off, and returning Reigned over a great part of _Asia_: but in the end of about 28 years were expelled; many of their Princes and commanders being slain in a feast by the _Medes_ under the conduct of _Cyaxeres_, the successor of _Astyages_, just before the destruction of _Nineveh_, and the rest being soon after forced to retire. In the year of _Nabonassar_ 123, [376] _Nabopolassar_ the commander of the forces of _Chyniladon_ the King of _Assyria_ in _Chaldæa_ revolted from him, and became King of _Babylon_; and _Chyniladon_ was either then, or soon after, succeeded at _Nineveh_ by the last King of _Assyria_, called _Sarac_ by _Polyhistor_: and at length _Nebuchadnezzar_, the son of _Nabopolassar_, married _Amyite_ the daughter of _Astyages_ and sister of _Cyaxeres_; and by this marriage the two families having contracted affinity, they conspired against the _Assyrians_; and _Nabopolasser_ being now grown old, and _Astyages_ being dead, their sons _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cyaxeres_ led the armies of the two nations against _Nineveh_, slew _Sarac_, destroyed the city, and shared the Kingdom of the _Assyrians_. This victory the _Jews_ refer to the _Chaldæans_; the _Greeks_ to the _Medes_; _Tobit_, _Polyhistor_, _Josephus_, and _Ctesias_ to both. It gave a beginning to the great successes of _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cyaxeres_, and laid the foundation of the two collateral Empires of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_; these being branches of the _Assyrian_ Empire: and thence the time of the fall of the _Assyrian_ Empire is determined, the conquerors being then in their youth. In the Reign of _Josiah_, when _Zephaniah_ prophesied, _Nineveh_ and the Kingdom of _Assyria_ were standing, and their fall was predicted by that Prophet, _Zeph._ i. 1, and ii. 13. and in the end of his Reign _Pharaoh Nechoh_ King of _Egypt_, the successor of _Psammitichus_, went up against the King of _Assyria_ to the river _Euphrates_, to fight against _Carchemish_ or _Circutium_, and in his way thither slew _Josiah_, 2 _Kings_ xxiii. 29. 2 _Chron._ xxxv. 20. and therefore the last King of _Assyria_ was not yet slain. But in the third and fourth year of _Jehoiakim_ the successor of _Josiah_, the two conquerors having taken _Nineveh_ and finished their war in _Assyria_, prosecuted their conquests westward, and leading their forces against the King of _Egypt_, as an invader of their right of conquest, they beat him at _Carchemish_, and [377] took from him whatever he had newly taken from the _Assyrians_: and therefore we cannot err above a year or two, if we refer the destruction of _Nineveh_, and fall of the _Assyrian_ Empire, to the second year of _Jehoiakim_, _Anno Nabonass._ 140. The name of the last King _Sarac_ might perhaps be contracted from _Sarchedon_, as this name was from _Asserhadon_, _Asserhadon-Pul_, or _Sardanapalus_. While the _Assyrians_ Reigned at _Nineveh_, _Persia_ was divided into several Kingdoms; and amongst others there was a Kingdom of _Elam_, which flourished in the days of _Hezekiah_, _Manasseh_, _Josiah_, and _Jehoiakim_ Kings of _Judah_, and fell in the days of _Zedekiah_, _Jer._ xxv. 25, and xlix. 34, and _Ezek._ xxxii. 24. This Kingdom seems to have been potent, and to have had wars with the King of _Touran_ or _Scythia_ beyond the river _Oxus_ with various success, and at length to have been subdued by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_, or one of them. For while _Nebuchadnezzar_ warred in the west, _Cyaxeres_ recovered the _Assyrian_ provinces of _Armenia_, _Pontus_, and _Cappadocia_, and then they went eastward against the provinces of _Persia_ and _Parthia_. Whether the _Pischdadians_, whom the _Persians_ reckon to have been their oldest Kings, were Kings of the Kingdom of _Elam_, or of that of the _Assyrians_, and whether _Elam_ was conquered by the _Assyrians_ at the same time with _Babylonia_ and _Susiana_ in the Reign of _Asserhadon_, and soon after revolted, I leave to be examined. * * * * * CHAP. IV. _Of the two Contemporary Empires of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_._ By the fall of the _Assyrian_ Empire the Kingdoms of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_ grew great and potent. The Reigns of the Kings of _Babylon_ are stated in _Ptolemy's_ Canon: for understanding of which you are to note that every King's Reign in that Canon began with the last _Thoth_ of his predecessor's Reign, as I gather by comparing the Reigns of the _Roman_ Emperors in that Canon with their Reigns recorded in years, months, and days, by other Authors: whence it appears from that Canon that _Asserhadon_ died in the year of _Nabonassar_ 81, _Saosduchinus_ his successor in the year 101, _Chyniladon_ in the year 123, _Nabopolassar_ in the year 144, and _Nebuchadnezzar_ in the year 187. All these Kings, and some others mentioned in the Canon, Reigned successively over _Babylon_, and this last King died in the 37th year of _Jechoniah_'s captivity, 2 _Kings_ xxv. 27. and therefore _Jechoniah_ was captivated in the 150th year of _Nabonassar_. This captivity was in the eighth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_'s Reign, 2 _Kings_ xxiv. 12. and eleventh of _Jehoiakim_'s: for the first year of _Nebuchadnezzar_'s Reign was the fourth of _Jehoiakim_'s, _Jer._ xxv. i. and _Jehoiakim_ Reigned eleven years before this captivity, 2 _Kings_ xxiii. 36. 2 _Chron._ xxxvi. 5, and _Jechoniah_ three months, ending with the captivity; and the tenth year of _Jechoniah_'s captivity, was the eighteenth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_'s Reign, _Jer._ xxxii. 1. and the eleventh year of _Zedekiah_, in which _Jerusalem_ was taken, was the nineteenth of _Nebuchadnezzar_, _Jer._ lii. 5, 12. and therefore _Nebuchadnezzar_ began his Reign in the year of _Nabonassar_ 142, that is, two years before the death of his father _Nabopolassar_, he being then made King by his father; and _Jehoiakim_ succeeded his father _Josiah_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 139; and _Jerusalem_ was taken and the Temple burnt in the year of _Nabonassar_ 160, about twenty years after the destruction of _Nineveh_. The Reign of _Darius Hystaspis_ over _Persia_, by the Canon and the consent of all Chronologers, and by several Eclipses of the Moon, began in spring in the year of _Nabonassar_ 227: and _in the fourth year of King _Darius_, in the 4th day of the ninth month, which is the month _Chisleu_, when the _Jews_ had sent unto the house of God, saying, should I weep in the fifth month as I have done these so many years? the word of the Lord came unto _Zechariah_, saying, speak to all the people of the Land, and to the Priests, saying; when ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me?_ _Zech._ vii. Count backwards those seventy years in which they fasted in the fifth month for the burning of the Temple, and in the seventh for the death of _Gedaliah_; and the burning of the Temple and death of _Gedaliah_, will fall upon the fifth and seventh _Jewish_ months, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 160, as above. As the _Chaldæan_ Astronomers counted the Reigns of their Kings by the years of _Nabonassar_, beginning with the month _Thoth_, so the _Jews_, as their Authors tell us, counted the Reigns of theirs by the years of _Moses_, beginning every year with the month _Nisan_: for if any King began his Reign a few days before this month began, it was reckoned to him for a whole year, and the beginning of this month was accounted the beginning of the second year of his Reign; and according to this reckoning the first year of _Jehojakim_ began with the month _Nisan_, _Anno Nabonass._ 139, tho' his Reign might not really begin 'till five or six months after; and the fourth year of _Jehoiakim_, and first of _Nebuchadnezzar_, according to the reckoning of the _Jews_, began with the month _Nisan_, _Anno Nabonass._ 142; and the first year of _Zedekiah_ and of _Jeconiah_'s captivity, and ninth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_, began with the month _Nisan_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 150; and the tenth year of _Zedekiah_, and 18th of _Nebuchadnezzar_, began with the month _Nisan_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 159. Now in the ninth year of _Zedekiah_, _Nebuchadnezzar_ invaded _Judæa_ and the cities thereof and in the tenth month of that year, and tenth day of the month, he and his host besieged _Jerusalem_, 2 _Kings_ xxv. 1. _Jer._ xxxiv. 1, xxxix. 1, and lii. 4. From this time to the tenth month in the second year of _Darius_ are just seventy years, and accordingly, _upon the 24th day of the eleventh month of the second year of _Darius_, the word of the Lord came unto _Zechariah_,--and the Angel of the Lord said, Oh Lord of Hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on _Jerusalem_, and on the cities of _Judah_, against which thou hast had indignation, these threescore and ten years_, _Zech._ i. 7, 12. So then the ninth year of _Zedekiah_, in which this indignation against _Jerusalem_ and the cities of _Judah_ began, commenced with the month _Nisan_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 158; and the eleventh year of _Zedekiah_, and nineteenth of _Nebuchadnezzar_, in which the city was taken and the Temple burnt, commenced with the month _Nisan_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 160, as above. By all these characters the years of _Jehoiakim_, _Zedekiah_, and _Nebuchadnezzar_, seem to be sufficiently determined, and thereby the Chronology of the _Jews_ in the Old Testament is connected with that of later times: for between the death of _Solomon_ and the ninth year of _Zedekiah_ wherein _Nebuchadnezzar_ invaded _Judæa_, and began the Siege of _Jerusalem_, there were 390 years, as is manifest both by the prophesy of _Ezekiel_, chap. iv, and by summing up the years of the Kings of _Judah_; and from the ninth year of _Zedekiah_ inclusively to the vulgar _Æra_ of _Christ_, there were 590 years: and both these numbers, with half the Reign of _Solomon_, make up a thousand years. In the [378] end of the Reign of _Josiah_, _Anno Nabonass._ 139, _Pharaoh Nechoh_, the successor of _Psammitichus_, came with a great army out of _Egypt_ against the King of _Assyria_, and being denied passage through _Judæa_, beat the _Jews_ at _Megiddo_ or _Magdolus_ before _Egypt_, slew _Josiah_ their King, marched to _Carchemish_ or _Circutium_, a town of _Mesopotamia_ upon _Euphrates_, and took it, possest himself of the cities of _Syria_, sent for _Jehoahaz_ the new King of _Judah_ to _Riblah_ or _Antioch_, deposed him there, made _Jehojakim_ King in the room of _Josiah_, and put the Kingdom of _Judah_ to tribute: but the King of _Assyria_ being in the mean time besieged and subdued, and _Nineveh_ destroyed by _Assuerus_ King of the _Medes_, and _Nebuchadnezzar_ King of _Babylon_, and the conquerors being thereby entitled to the countries belonging to the King of _Assyria_, they led their victorious armies against the King of _Egypt_ who had seized part of them. For _Nebuchadnezzar_, assisted [379] by _Astibares_, that is, by _Astivares_, _Assuerus_, _Acksweres_, _Axeres_, or _Cy-Axeres_, King of the _Medes_, in the [380] third year of _Jehoiakim_, came with an army of _Babylonians_, _Medes_, _Syrians_, _Moabites_ and _Ammonites_, to the number of 10000 chariots, and 180000 foot, and 120000 horse, and laid waste _Samaria_, _Galilee_, _Scythopolis_, and the _Jews_ in _Galaaditis_, and besieged _Jerusalem_, and took King _Jehoiakim_ alive, and [381] bound him in chains for a time, and carried to _Babylon_ _Daniel_ and others of the people, and part of what Gold and Silver and Brass they found in the Temple: and in [382] the fourth year of _Jehoiakim_, which was the twentieth of _Nabopolassar_, they routed the army of _Pharaoh Nechoh_ at _Carchemish_, and by pursuing the war took from the King of _Egypt_ whatever pertained to him from the river of _Egypt_ to the river of _Euphrates_. This King of _Egypt_ is called by _Berosus_, [383] the _Satrapa_ of _Egypt_, _Cœle-Syria_, and _Phœnicia_; and this victory over him put an end to his Reign in _Cœle-Syria_ and _Phœnicia_, which he had newly invaded, and gave a beginning to the Reign of _Nebuchadnezzar_ there: and by the conquests over _Assyria_ and _Syria_ the small Kingdom of _Babylon_ was erected into a potent Empire. Whilst _Nebuchadnezzar_ was acting in _Syria_, [384] his father _Nabopolassar_ died, having Reigned 21 years; and _Nebuchadnezzar_ upon the news thereof, having ordered his affairs in _Syria_ returned to _Babylon_, leaving the captives and his army with his servants to follow him: and from henceforward he applied himself sometimes to war, conquering _Sittacene_, _Susiana_, _Arabia_, _Edom_, _Egypt_, and some other countries; and sometimes to peace, adorning the Temple of _Belus_ with the spoils that he had taken; and the city of _Babylon_ with magnificent walls and gates, and stately palaces and pensile gardens, as _Berosus_ relates; and amongst other things he cut the new rivers _Naarmalcha_ and _Pallacopas_ above _Babylon_ and built the city of _Teredon_. _Judæa_ was now in servitude under the King of _Babylon_, being invaded and subdued in the third and fourth years of _Jehoiakim_, _and _Jehoiakim_ served him three years, and then turned and rebelled_, 2 _King._ xxiv. 1. While _Nebuchadnezzar_ and the army of the _Chaldæans_ continued in _Syria_, _Jehojakim_ was under compulsion; after they returned to _Babylon_, _Jehojakim_ continued in fidelity three years, that is, during the 7th, 8th and 9th years of his Reign, and rebelled in the tenth: whereupon in the return or end of the year, that is in spring, he sent [385] and besieged _Jerusalem_, captivated _Jeconiah_ the son and successor of _Jehoiakim_, spoiled the Temple, and carried away to _Babylon_ the Princes, craftsmen, smiths, and all that were fit for war: and, when none remained but the poorest of the people, made [386] _Zedekiah_ their King, and bound him upon oath to serve the King of _Babylon_: this was in spring in the end of the eleventh year of _Jehoiakim_, and beginning of the year of _Nabonassar_ 150. _Zedekiah_ notwithstanding his oath [387] revolted, and made a covenant with the King of _Egypt_, and therefore _Nebuchadnezzar_ in the ninth year of _Zedekiah_ [388] invaded _Judæa_ and the cities thereof, and in the tenth _Jewish_ month of that year besieged _Jerusalem_ again, and in the eleventh year of _Zedekiah_, in the 4th and 5th months, after a siege of one year and an half, took and burnt the City and Temple. _Nebuchadnezzar_ after he was made King by his father Reigned over _Phœnicia_ and _Cœle-Syria_ 45 years, and [389] after the death of his father 43 years, and [390] after the captivity of _Jeconiah_ 37; and then was succeeded by his son _Evilmerodach_, called _Iluarodamus_ in _Ptolemy_'s Canon. _Jerome_ [391] tells us, that _Evilmerodach_ Reigned seven years in his father's life-time, while his father did eat grass with oxen, and after his father's restoration was put in prison with _Jeconiah_ King of _Judah_ 'till the death of his father, and then succeeded in the Throne. In the fifth year of _Jeconiah_'s captivity, _Belshazzar_ was next in dignity to his father _Nebuchadnezzar_, and was designed to be his successor, _Baruch_ i. 2, 10, 11, 12, 14, and therefore _Evilmerodach_ was even then in disgrace. Upon his coming to the Throne [392] he brought his friend and companion _Jeconiah_ out of prison on the 27th day of the twelfth month; so that _Nebuchadnezzar_ died in the end of winter, _Anno Nabonass._ 187. _Evilmerodach_ Reigned two years after his father's death, and for his lust and evil manners was slain by his sister's husband _Neriglissar_, or _Nergalassar_, _Nabonass._ 189, according to the Canon. _Neriglissar_, in the name of his young son _Labosordachus_, or _Laboasserdach_, the grand-child of _Nebuchadnezzar_ by his daughter, Reigned four years, according to the Canon and _Berosus_, including the short Reign of _Laboasserdach_ alone: for _Laboasserdach_, according to _Berosus_ and _Josephus_, Reigned nine months after the death of his father, and then for his evil manners was slain in a feast, by the conspiracy of his friends with _Nabonnedus_ a _Babylonian_, to whom by consent they gave the Kingdom: but these nine months are not reckoned apart in the Canon. _Nabonnedus_ or _Nabonadius_, according to the Canon, began his Reign in the year of _Nabonassar_ 193, Reigned seventeen years, and ended his Reign in the year of _Nabonassar_ 210, being then vanquished and _Babylon_ taken by _Cyrus_. _Herodotus_ calls this last King of _Babylon_, _Labynitus_, and says that he was the son of a former _Labynitus_, and of _Nitocris_ an eminent Queen of _Babylon_: by the father he seems to understand that _Labynitus_, who, as he tells us, was King of _Babylon_ when the great Eclipse of the Sun predicted by _Thales_ put an end to the five years war between the _Medes_ and _Lydians_; and this was the great _Nebuchadnezzar_. _Daniel_ [393] calls the last King of _Babylon_, _Belshazzar_, and saith that _Nebuchadnezzar_ was his father: and _Josephus_ tells us, [394] that the last King of _Babylon_ was called _Naboandel_ by the _Babylonians_, and Reigned seventeen years; and therefore he is the same King of _Babylon_ with _Nabonnedus_ or _Labynitus_; and this is more agreeable to sacred writ than to make _Nabonnedus_ a stranger to the royal line: for all _nations were to serve _Nebuchadnezzar_ and his posterity, till the very time of his land should come, and many nations should serve themselves of him_, _Jer._ xxvii. 7. _Belshazzar_ was born and lived in honour before the fifth year of _Jeconiah_'s captivity, which was the eleventh year of _Nebuchadnezzar_'s Reign; and therefore he was above 34 years old at the death of _Evilmerodach_, and so could be no other King than _Nabonnedus_: for _Laboasserdach_ the grandson of _Nebuchadnezzar_ was a child when he Reigned. _Herodotus_ [395] tells us, that there were two famous Queens of _Babylon_, _Semiramis_ and _Nitocris_; and that the latter was more skilful: she observing that the Kingdom of the _Medes_, having subdued many cities, and among others _Nineveh_, was become great and potent, intercepted and fortified the passages out of _Media_ into _Babylonia_; and the river which before was straight, she made crooked with great windings, that it might be more sedate and less apt to overflow: and on the side of the river above _Babylon_, in imitation of the Lake of _Mœris_ in _Egypt_, she dug a Lake every way forty miles broad, to receive the water of the river, and keep it for watering the land. She built also a bridge over the river in the middle of _Babylon_, turning the stream into the Lake 'till the bridge was built. _Philostratus_ saith, [396] that she made a bridge under the river two fathoms broad, meaning an arched vault over which the river flowed, and under which they might walk cross the river: he calls her Μηδεια, a _Mede_. _Berosus_ tells us, that _Nebuchadnezzar_ built a pensile garden upon arches, because his wife was a _Mede_ and delighted in mountainous prospects, such as abounded in _Media_, but were wanting in _Babylonia_: she was _Amyite_ the daughter of _Astyages_, and sister of _Cyaxeres_, Kings of the _Medes_. _Nebuchadnezzar_ married her upon a league between the two families against the King of _Assyria_: but _Nitocris_ might be another woman who in the Reign of her son _Labynitus_, a voluptuous and vicious King, took care of his affairs, and for securing his Kingdom against the _Medes_, did the works above mentioned. This is that Queen mentioned in _Daniel_, chap. v. ver. 10. _Josephus_ [397] relates out of the _Tyrian_ records, that in the Reign of _Ithobalus_ King of _Tyre_, that city was besieged by _Nebuchadnezzar_ thirteen years together: in the end of that siege _Ithobalus_ their King was slain, _Ezek._ xxviii. 8, 9, 10. and after him, according to the _Tyrian_ records, Reigned _Baal_ ten years, _Ecnibalus_ and _Chelbes_ one year, _Abbarus_ three months, _Mytgonus_ and _Gerastratus_ six years, _Balatorus_ one year, _Merbalus_ four years, and _Iromus_ twenty years: and in the fourteenth year of _Iromus_, say the _Tyrian_ records, the Reign of _Cyrus_ began in _Babylonia_; therefore the siege of _Tyre_ began 48 years and some months before the Reign of _Cyrus_ in _Babylonia_: it began when _Jerusalem_ had been newly taken and burnt, with the Temple, _Ezek._ xxvi and by consequence after the eleventh year of _Jeconiah_'s captivity, or 160th year of _Nabonassar_, and therefore the Reign of _Cyrus_ in _Babylonia_ began after the year of _Nabonassar_ 208: it ended before the eight and twentieth year of _Jeconiah_'s captivity, or 176th year of _Nabonassar_, _Ezek._ xxix. 17. and therefore the Reign of _Cyrus_ in _Babylonia_ began before the year of _Nabonassar_ 211. By this argument the first year of _Cyrus_ in _Babylonia_ was one of the two intermediate years 209, 210. _Cyrus_ invaded _Babylonia_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 209; [398] _Babylon_ held out, and the next year was taken, _Jer._ li. 39, 57. by diverting the river _Euphrates_, and entring the city through the emptied channel, and by consequence after midsummer: for the river, by the melting of the snow in _Armenia_, overflows yearly in the beginning of summer, but in the heat of dimmer grows low. [399] _And that night was the King of _Babylon_ slain, and _Darius_ the _Mede_, or King of the _Medes_, took the Kingdom being about threescore and two years old_: so then _Babylon_ was taken a month or two after the summer solstice, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 210; as the Canon also represents. The Kings of the _Medes_ before _Cyrus_ were _Dejoces_, _Phraortes_, _Astyages_, _Cyaxeres_, or _Cyaxares_, and _Darius_: the three first Reigned before the Kingdom grew great, the two last were great conquerors, and erected the Empire; for _Æschylus_, who flourished in the Reigns of _Darius Hystaspis_, and _Xerxes_, and died in the 76th Olympiad, introduces _Darius_ thus complaining of those who persuaded his son _Xerxes_ to invade _Greece_; [400] Τοιγαρ σφιν εργον εστιν εξειργασμενον Μεγιστον, αιειμνηστον ‛οιον ουδεπω, Το δ' αστυ Σουσων εξεκεινωσεν πεσον· Εξ ‛ουτε τιμην Ζευς αναξ τηνδ' ωπασεν Εν ανδρα πασης Ασιαδος μηλοτροφου Ταγειν, εχοντα σκηπτρον ευθυντηριον Μηδος γαρ ην ‛ο πρωτος ‛ηγεμων στρατου· Αλλος δ' εκεινου παις τοδ' εργον ηνυσε· Φρενες γαρ αυτου θυμον οιακοστροφουν. Τριτος δ' απ' αυτου Κυρος, ευδαιμων ανηρ, &c. _They have done a work_ _The greatest, and most memorable, such as never happen'd,_ _For it has emptied the falling _Sufa_:_ _From the time that King_ Jupiter _granted this honour,_ _That one man should Reign over all fruitful _Asia_,_ _Having the imperial Scepter._ _For he that first led the Army was a _Mede_;_ _The next, who was his son, finisht the work,_ _For prudence directed his soul;_ _The third was _Cyrus_, a happy man_, &c. The Poet here attributes the founding of the _Medo-Persian_ Empire to the two immediate predecessors of _Cyrus_, the first of which was a _Mede_, and the second was his son: the second was _Darius_ the _Mede_, the immediate predecessor of _Cyrus_, according to _Daniel_; and therefore the first was the father of _Darius_, that is, _Achsuerus_, _Assuerus_, _Oxyares_, _Axeres_, Prince _Axeres_, or _Cy-Axeres_, the word _Cy_ signifying a Prince: for _Daniel_ tells us, that _Darius_ was the son of _Achsuerus_, or _Ahasuerus_, as the _Masoretes_ erroneously call him, of the seed of the _Medes_, that is, of the seed royal: this is that _Assuerus_ who together with _Nebuchadnezzar_ took and destroyed _Nineveh_, according to _Tobit_: which action is by the _Greeks_ ascribed to _Cyaxeres_, and by _Eupolemus_ to _Astibares_, a name perhaps corruptly written for _Assuerus_. By this victory over the _Assyrians_, and subversion of their Empire seated at _Nineveh_, and the ensuing conquests of _Armenia_, _Cappadocia_ and _Persia_, he began to extend the Reign of one man over all _Asia_; and his son _Darius_ the _Mede_, by conquering the Kingdoms of _Lydia_ and _Babylon_, finished the work: and the third King was _Cyrus_, a happy man for his great successes under and against _Darius_, and large and peaceable dominion in his own Reign. _Cyrus_ lived seventy years, according to _Cicero_, and Reigned nine years over _Babylon_, according to _Ptolemy_'s Canon, and therefore was 61 years old at the taking of _Babylon_; at which time _Darius_ the _Mede_ was 62 years old, according to _Daniel_: and therefore _Darius_ was two Generations younger than _Astyages_, the grandfather of _Cyrus_: for _Astyages_, according to both [401] _Herodotus_ and _Xenophon_, gave his daughter _Mandane_ to _Cambyses_ a Prince of _Persia_, and by them became the grandfather of _Cyrus_; and _Cyaxeres_ was the son of _Astyages_, according [402] to _Xenophon_, and gave his Daughter to _Cyrus_. This daughter, [403] saith _Xenophon_, was reported to be very handsome, and used to play with _Cyrus_ when they were both children, and to say that she would marry him: and therefore they were much of the same age. _Xenophon_ saith that _Cyrus_ married her after the taking of _Babylon_; but she was then an old woman: it's more probable that he married her while she was young and handsome, and he a young man; and that because he was the brother-in-law of _Darius_ the King, he led the armies of the Kingdom until he revolted: so then _Astyages_, _Cyaxeres_ and _Darius_ Reigned successively over the _Medes_; and _Cyrus_ was the grandson of _Astyages_, and married the sister of _Darius_, and succeeded him in the Throne. _Herodotus_ therefore [404] hath inverted the order of the Kings _Astyages_ and _Cyaxeres_, making _Cyaxeres_ to be the son and successor of _Phraortes_, and the father and predecessor of _Astyages_ the father of _Mandane_, and grandfather of _Cyrus_, and telling us, that this _Astyages_ married _Ariene_ the daughter of _Alyattes_ King of _Lydia_, and was at length taken prisoner and deprived of his dominion by _Cyrus_: and _Pausanias_ hath copied after _Herodotus_, in telling us that _Astyages_ the son of _Cyaxeres_ Reigned in _Media_ in the days of _Alyattes_ King of _Lydia_. _Cyaxeres_ had a son who married _Ariene_ the daughter of _Alyattes_; but this son was not the father of _Mandane_, and grandfather of _Cyrus_, but of the same age with _Cyrus_: and his true name is preserved in the name of the _Darics_, which upon the conquest of _Crœsus_ by the conduct of his General _Cyrus_, he coyned out of the gold and silver of the conquered _Lydians_: his name was therefore _Darius_, as he is called by _Daniel_; for _Daniel_ tells us, that this _Darius_ was a _Mede_, and that his father's name was _Assuerus_, that is _Axeres_ or _Cyaxeres_, as above: considering therefore that _Cyaxeres_ Reigned long, and that no author mentions more Kings of _Media_ than one called _Astyages_, and that _Æschylus_ who lived in those days knew but of two great Monarchs of _Media_ and _Persia_, the father and the son, older than _Cyrus_; it seems to me that _Astyages_, the father of _Mandane_ and grandfather of _Cyrus_, was the father and predecessor of _Cyaxeres_; and that the son and successor of _Cyaxeres_ was called _Darius_. _Cyaxeres_, [405] according to _Herodotus_, Reigned 40 years, and his successor 35, and _Cyrus_, according to _Xenophon_, seven: _Cyrus_ died _Anno Nabonass._ 219, according to the Canon, and therefore _Cyaxeres_ died _Anno Nabonass._ 177, and began his Reign _Anno Nabonass._ 137, and his father _Astyages_ Reigned 26 years, beginning his Reign at the death of _Phraortes_, who was slain by the _Assyrians_, _Anno Nabonass._ 111, as above. Of all the Kings of the _Medes_, _Cyaxeres_ was greatest warrior. _Herodotus_ [406] saith that he was much more valiant than his ancestors, and that he was the first who divided the Kingdom into provinces, and reduced the irregular and undisciplined forces of the _Medes_ into discipline and order: and therefore by the testimony of _Herodotus_ he was that King of the _Medes_ whom _Æschylus_ makes the first conqueror and founder of the Empire; for _Herodotus_ represents him and his son to have been the two immediate predecessors of _Cyrus_, erring only in the name of the son. _Astyages_ did nothing glorious: in the beginning of his Reign a great body of _Scythians_ commanded by _Madyes_, [407] invaded _Media_ and _Parthia_, as above, and Reigned there about 28 years; but at length his son _Cyaxeres_ circumvented and slew them in a feast, and made the rest fly to their brethren in _Parthia_; and immediately after, in conjunction with _Nebuchadnezzar_, invaded and subverted the Kingdom of _Assyria_, and destroyed _Nineveh_. In the fourth year of _Jehoiakim_, which the _Jews_ reckon to be the first of _Nebuchadnezzar_, dating his Reign from his being made King by his father, or from the month _Nisan_ preceding, when the victors had newly shared the Empire of the _Assyrians_, and in prosecuting their victory were invading _Syria_ and _Phœnicia_, and were ready to invade the nations round about; God [408] threatned that _he would take all the families of the North, _that is, the armies of the _Medes_,_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ the King of _Babylon_, and bring them against _Judæa_ and against the nations round about, and utterly destroy those nations, and make them an astonishment and lasting desolations, and cause them all to drink the wine-cup of his fury_; and in particular, he names _the Kings of _Judah_ and _Egypt_, and those of _Edom_, and _Moab_, and _Ammon_, and _Tyre_, and _Zidon_, and the Isles of the Sea, and _Arabia_, and _Zimri_, and all the Kings of _Elam_, and all the Kings of the _Medes_, and all the Kings of the North, and the King of _Sesac_; and that after seventy years, he would also punish the King of _Babylon__. Here, in numbering the nations which should suffer, he omits the _Assyrians_ as fallen already, and names the Kings of _Elam_ or _Persia_, and _Sesac_ or _Susa_, as distinct from those of the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_; and therefore the _Persians_ were not yet subdued by the _Medes_, nor the King of _Susa_ by the _Chaldæans_; and as by the punishment of the King of _Babylon_ he means the conquest of _Babylon_ by the _Medes_; so by the punishment of the _Medes_ he seems to mean the conquest of the _Medes_ by _Cyrus_. After this, in the beginning of the Reign of _Zedekiah_, that is, in the ninth year of _Nebuchadnezzar,_ God threatned that _he would give the Kingdoms of _Edom_, _Moab_, and _Ammon_, and _Tyre_ and _Zidon_, into the hand of _Nebuchadnezzar_ King of _Babylon_, and that all the nations should serve him, and his son, and his son's son until the very time of his land should come, and many nations and great Kings should serve themselves of him_, Jer. xxvii. And at the same time God thus predicted the approaching conquest of the _Persians_ by the _Medes_ and their confederates: _Behold_, saith he, _I will break the bow of _Elam_, the chief of their might: and upon _Elam_ will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them towards all those winds, and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of _Elam_ shall not come: for I will cause _Elam_ to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life; and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them 'till I have consumed them; and I will set my throne in _Elam_, and will destroy from thence the King and the Princes, saith the Lord: but it shall come to pass in the latter days, _viz. in the Reign of _Cyrus_,_ that I will bring again the captivity of _Elam_, saith the Lord._ Jer. xlix. 35, _&c._ The _Persians_ were therefore hitherto a free nation under their own King, but soon after this were invaded, subdued, captivated, and dispersed into the nations round about, and continued in servitude until the Reign of _Cyrus_: and since the _Medes_ and _Chaldæans_ did not conquer the _Persians_ 'till after the ninth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_, it gives us occasion to enquire what that active warrior _Cyaxeres_ was doing next after the taking of _Nineveh_. When _Cyaxeres_ expelled the _Scythians_, [409] some of them made their peace with him, and staid in _Media_, and presented to him daily some of the venison which they took in hunting: but happening one day to catch nothing, _Cyaxeres_ in a passion treated them with opprobrious language: this they resented, and soon after killed one of the children of the _Medes_, dressed it like venison, and presented it to _Cyaxeres_, and then fled to _Alyattes_ King of _Lydia_; whence followed a war of five years between the two Kings _Cyaxeres_ and _Alyattes_: and thence I gather that the Kingdoms of the _Medes_ and _Lydians_ were now contiguous, and by consequence that _Cyaxeres_, soon after the conquest of _Nineveh_, seized the regions belonging to the _Assyrians_, as far as to the river _Halys_. In the sixth year of this war, in the midst of a battel between the two Kings, there was a total Eclipse of the Sun, predicted by _Thales_; [410] and this Eclipse fell upon the 28th of _May_, _Anno Nabonass._ 163, forty and seven years before the taking of _Babylon_, and put an end to the battel: and thereupon the two Kings made peace by the mediation of _Nebuchadnezzar_ King of _Babylon_, and _Syennesis_ King of _Cilicia_; and the peace was ratified by a marriage, between _Darius_ the son of _Cyaxeres_ and _Ariene_ the daughter of _Alyattes_: _Darius_ was therefore fifteen or sixteen years old at the time of this marriage; for he was 62 years old at the taking of _Babylon_. In the eleventh year of _Zedekiah's_ Reign, the year in which _Nebuchadnezzar_ took _Jerusalem_ and destroyed the Temple, _Ezekiel_ comparing the Kingdoms of the East to trees in the garden of _Eden_, thus mentions their being conquered by the Kings of the _Medes_ and _Chaldæans: Behold_, saith he, _the_ Assyrian _was a Cedar in_ Lebanon _with fair branches,--his height was exalted above all the trees of the field,--and under his shadow dwelt all great nations,--not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty:--but I have delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen,--I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to the grave with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of _Eden_, the choice and best of _Lebanon_, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth: they also went down into the grave with him, unto them that be slain with the sword, and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen,_ Ezek. xxxi. The next year _Ezekiel_, in another prophesy, thus enumerates the principal nations who had been subdued and slaughtered by the conquering sword of _Cyaxeres_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_. __Asthur_ is there and all her company, _viz. in _Hades_ or the lower parts of the earth, where the dead bodies lay buried_, his graves are about him; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused their terrour in the land of the living. There is _Elam_, and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terrour in the land of the living: yet have they born their shame with them that go down into the pit.--There is _Meshech_, _Tubal_, and all her multitude [411]; her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terrour in the land of the living.--There is _Edom_, her Kings, and all her Princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword.--There be the Princes of the North all of them, and all the _Zidonians_, which with their terrour are gone down with the slain_, Ezek. xxxii. Here by the Princes of the North I understand those on the north of _Judæa_, and chiefly the Princes of _Armenia_ and _Cappadocia_, who fell in the wars which _Cyaxeres_ made in reducing those countries after the taking of _Nineveh_. _Elam_ or _Persia_ was conquered by the _Medes_, and _Susiana_ by the _Babylonians_, after the ninth, and before the nineteenth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_: and therefore we cannot err much if we place these conquests in the twelfth or fourteenth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_: in the nineteenth, twentieth, and one and twentieth year of this King, he invaded and [412] conquered _Judæa_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, _Edom_, the _Philistims_ and _Zidon_; and [413] the next year he besieged _Tyre_, and after a siege of thirteen years he took it, in the 35th year of his Reign; and then he [414] invaded and conquered _Egypt_, _Ethiopia_ and _Libya_; and about eighteen or twenty years after the death of this King, _Darius_ the _Mede_ conquered the Kingdom of _Sardes_; and after five or six years more he invaded and conquered the Empire of _Babylon_: and thereby finished the work of propagating the _Medo-Persian_ Monarchy over all _Asia_, as _Æschylus_ represents. Now this is that _Darius_ who coined a great number of pieces of pure gold called _Darics_, or _Stateres Darici:_ for _Suidas_, _Harpocration_, and the Scholiast of _Aristophanes_> [415] tell us, that these were coined not by the father of _Xerxes_, but by an earlier _Darius_, by _Darius_ the first, by the first King of the _Medes_ and _Persians_ who coined gold money. They were stamped on one side with the effigies of an Archer, who was crowned with a spiked crown, had a bow in his left hand, and an arrow in his right, and was cloathed with a long robe; I have seen one of them in gold, and another in silver: they were of the same weight and value with the _Attic Stater_ or piece of gold money weighing two _Attic_ drachms. _Darius_ seems to have learnt the art and use of money from the conquered Kingdom of the _Lydians_, and to have recoined their gold: for the _Medes_, before they conquered the _Lydians_, had no money. _Herodotus_ [416] tells us, that _when_ Crœsus _was preparing to invade_ Cyrus, _a certain _Lydian_ called _Sandanis_ advised him, that he was preparing an expedition against a nation who were cloathed with leathern breeches, who eat not such victuals as they would, but such as their barren country afforded; who drank no wine, but water only, who eat no figs nor other good meat, who had nothing to lose, but might get much from the _Lydians__: _for the _Persians__, saith _Herodotus_, _before they conquered the _Lydians_, had nothing rich or valuable_: and [417] _Isaiah_ tells us, that _the _Medes_ regarded not silver, nor delighted in gold_; but the _Lydians_ and _Phrygians_ were exceeding rich, even to a proverb: _Midas & Crœsus_, saith [418] _Pliny, infinitum possederant. Jam Cyrus devicta Asia_ [auri] _pondo xxxiv millia invenerat, præter vasa aurea aurumque factum, & in eo folia ac platanum vitemque. Qua victoria argenti quingenta millia talentorum reportavit, & craterem Semiramidis cujus pondus quindecim talentorum colligebat. Talentum autem Ægyptium pondo octoginta capere Varro tradit._ What the conqueror did with all this gold and silver appears by the _Darics_. The _Lydians_, according to [419] _Herodotus_, were the first who coined gold and silver, and _Crœsus_ coined gold monies in plenty, called _Crœsei_; and it was not reasonable that the monies of the Kings of _Lydia_ should continue current after the overthrow of their Kingdom, and therefore _Darius_ recoined it with his own effigies, but without altering the current weight and value: he Reigned then from before the conquest of _Sardes_ 'till after the conquest of _Babylon_. And since the cup of _Semiramis_ was preserved 'till the conquest of _Crœsus_ by _Darius_, it is not probable that she could be older than is represented by _Herodotus_. This conquest of the Kingdom of _Lydia_ put the _Greeks_ into fear of the _Medes_: for _Theognis_, who lived at _Megara_ in the very times of these wars, writes thus, [420] Πινωμεν, χαριεντα μετ' αλληλοισι λεγοντες, Μηδεν τον Μηδων δειδιοτες πολεμον. _Let us drink, talking pleasant things with one another,_ _Not fearing the war of the _Medes_._ And again, [421] Αυτος δε στρατον ‛υβριστην Μηδων απερυκε Τησδε πολευς, ‛ινα σοι λαοι εν ευφροσυνηι Ηρος επερχομενου κλειτας πεμπωσ' ‛εκατομβας, Τερπομενοι κιθαρη και ερατηι θαλιηι, Παιανωντε χοροις, ιαχωσι τε, σον περι βωμον. Η γαρ εγωγε δεδοικ', αφραδιην εσορων Και στασιν ‛Ελληνων λαοφθορον· αλλα συ Φοιβε, ‛Ιλαος ‛ημετερην τηνδε φυλασσε πολιν. _Thou _Apollo_ drive away the injurious army of the _Medes__ _From this city, that the people may with joy_ _Send thee choice hecatombs in the spring,_ _Delighted with the harp and chearful feasting,_ _And chorus's of _Pœans_ and acclamations about thy altar_. _For truly I am afraid, beholding the folly_ _And sedition of the _Greeks_, which corrupts the people: but thou _Apollo_,_ _Being propitious, keep this our city._ The Poet tells us further that discord had destroyed _Magnesia_, _Colophon_, and _Smyrna_, cities of _Ionia_ and _Phrygia_, and would destroy the _Greeks_; which is as much as to say that the _Medes_ had then conquered those cities. The _Medes_ therefore Reigned 'till the taking of _Sardes_: and further, according to _Xenophon_ and the Scriptures, they Reigned 'till the taking of _Babylon_: for _Xenophon_ [422] tells us, that after the taking of _Babylon_, _Cyrus_ went to the King of the _Medes_ at _Ecbatane_ and succeeded him in the Kingdom: and _Jerom_, [423] _that _Babylon_ was taken by _Darius_ King of the _Medes_ and his kinsman _Cyrus__: and the Scriptures tell us, that _Babylon_ was destroyed by _a nation out of the north_, _Jerem_. l. 3, 9, 41. by _the Kingdoms of _Ararat Minni, or _Armenia__, and _Ashchenez, or _Phrygia minor___, _Jer_. li. 27. by the _Medes_, _Isa._ xiii. 17, 19. _by the Kings of the _Medes_ and the captains and rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion_, _Jer_. li. 11, 28. The Kingdom of _Babylon_ was _numbred and finished and broken and given to the _Medes_ and _Persians__, _Dan._ v. 26. 28. first to the _Medes_ under _Darius_, and then to the _Persians_ under _Cyrus_: for _Darius_ Reigned over _Babylon_ like a conqueror, not observing the laws of the _Babylonians_, but introducing the immutable laws of the conquering nations, the _Medes_ and _Persians_, _Dan._ vi. 8, 12, 15; and the _Medes_ in his Reign are set before the _Persians_, _Dan._ ib. & v. 28, & viii. 20. as the _Persians_ were afterwards in the Reign of _Cyrus_ and his successors set before the _Medes_, _Esther_ i. 3, 14, 18, 19. _Dan._ x. 1, 20. and xi. 2. which shews that in the Reign of _Darius_ the _Medes_ were uppermost. You may know also by the great number of provinces in the Kingdom of _Darius_, that he was King of the _Medes_ and _Persians_: for upon the conquest of _Babylon_, he set over the whole Kingdom an hundred and twenty Princes, _Dan._ vi. 1. and afterwards when _Cambyses_ and _Darius Hystaspis_ had added some new territories, the whole contained but 127 provinces. The extent of the _Babylonian_ Empire was much the same with that of _Nineveh_ after the revolt of the _Medes_. _Berosus_ saith that _Nebuchadnezzar_ held _Egypt_, _Syria_, _Phœnicia_ and _Arabia_: and _Strabo_ adds _Arbela_ to the territories of _Babylon_; and saying that _Babylon_ was anciently the metropolis of _Assyria_, he thus describes the limits of this _Assyrian_ Empire. _Contiguous_, [424] saith he, _to _Persia_ and _Susiana_ are the _Assyrians_: for so they call _Babylonia_, and the greatest part of the region about it: part of which is _Arturia_, wherein is _Ninus [_or_ Nineveh;]_ and _Apolloniatis_, and the _Elymæans_, and the _Parætacæ_, and _Chalonitis_ by the mountain _Zagrus_, and the fields near _Ninus_, and _Dolomene_, and _Chalachene_, and _Chazene_, and _Adiabene_, and the nations of _Mesopotamia_ near the _Gordyæans_, and the _Mygdones_ about _Nisibis_, unto _Zeugma_ upon _Euphrates_; and a large region on this side _Euphrates_ inhabited by the _Arabians_ and _Syrians_ properly so called, as far as _Cilicia_ and _Phœnicia_ and _Libya_ and the sea of _Egypt_ and the _Sinus Issicus__: and a little after describing the extent of the _Babylonian_ region, he bounds it on the north, with the _Armenians_ and _Medes_ unto the mountain _Zagrus_; on the east side, with _Susa_ and _Elymais_ and _Parætacene_, inclusively; on the south, with the _Persian Gulph_ and _Chaldæa_; and on the west, with the _Arabes Scenitæ_ as far as _Adiabene_ and _Gordyæa_: afterwards speaking of _Susiana_ and _Sitacene_, a region between _Babylon_ and _Susa_, and of _Parætacene_ and _Cossæa_ and _Elymais_, and of the _Sagapeni_ and _Siloceni_, two little adjoining Provinces, he concludes, [425] _and these are the nations which inhabit _Babylonia_ eastward: to the north are _Media_ and _Armenia_, _exclusively_, and westward are _Adiabene_ and _Mesopotamia_, _inclusively_; the greatest part of _Adiabene_ is plain, the same being part of _Babylonia_: in same places it borders on _Armenia_: for the _Medes_, _Armenians_ and _Babylonians_ warred frequently on one another_. Thus far _Strabo_. When _Cyrus_ took _Babylon_, he changed the Kingdom into a Satrapy or Province: whereby the bounds were long after known: and by this means _Herodotus_ [426] gives us an estimate of the bigness of this Monarchy in proportion to that of the _Persians_, telling us that _whilst every region over which the King of _Persia_ Reigned in his days, was distributed for the nourishment of his army, besides the tributes, the _Babylonian_ region nourished him four months of the twelve in the year, and all the rest of _Asia_ eight: so the power of the region_, saith he, _is equivalent to the third part of _Asia_, and its Principality, which the _Persians_ call a _Satrapy_, is far the best of all the Provinces_. _Babylon_ [427] was a square city of 120 furlongs, or 15 miles on every side, compassed first with a broad and deep ditch, and then with a wall fifty cubits thick, and two hundred high. _Euphrates_ flowed through the middle of it southward, a few leagues on this side _Tigris_: and in the middle of one half westward stood the King's new Palace, built by _Nebuchadnezzar_; and in the middle of the other half stood the Temple of _Belus_, with the old Palace between that Temple and the river: this old Palace was built by the _Assyrians_, according to [428] _Isaiah_, and by consequence, by _Pul_ and his son _Nabonassar_, as above: _they founded the city for the _Arabians_, and set up the towers thereof, and raised the Palaces thereof_: and at that time _Sabacon_ the _Ethiopian_ invaded _Egypt_, and made great multitudes of _Egyptians_ fly from him into _Chaldæa_, and carry thither their Astronomy, and Astrology, and Architecture, and the form of their year, which they preserved there in the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_: for the practice of observing the Stars began in _Egypt_ in the days of _Ammon_, as above, and was propagated from thence in the Reign of his son _Sesac_ into _Afric_, _Europe_, and _Asia_ by conquest; and then _Atlas_ formed the Sphere of the _Libyans_, and _Chiron_ that of the _Greeks_, and the _Chaldæans_ also made a Sphere of their own. But Astrology was invented in _Egypt_ by _Nichepsos_, or _Necepsos_, one of the Kings of the lower _Egypt_, and _Petosiris_ his Priest, a little before the days of _Sabacon_, and propagated thence into _Chaldæa_, where _Zoroaster_ the Legislator of the _Magi_ met with it: so _Paulinus_, _Quique magos docuit mysteria vana Necepsos_: And _Diodorus_, [429] _they say that the _Chaldæans_ in _Babylonia_ are colonies of the _Egyptians_, and being taught by the Priests of _Egypt_ became famous for Astrology_. By the influence of the same colonies, the Temple of _Jupiter Belus_ in _Babylon_ seems to have been erected in the form of the _Egyptian_ Pyramids: for [430] this Temple was a solid Tower or Pyramid a furlong square, and a furlong high, with seven retractions, which made it appear like eight towers standing upon one another, and growing less and less to the top: and in the eighth tower was a Temple with a bed and a golden table, kept by a woman, after the manner of the _Egyptians_ in the Temple of _Jupiter Ammon_ at _Thebes_; and above the Temple was a place for observing the Stars: they went up to the top of it by steps on the outside, and the bottom was compassed with a court, and the court with a building two furlongs in length on every side. The _Babylonians_ were extreamly addicted to Sorcery, Inchantments, Astrology and Divinations, _Isa._ xlvii. 9, 12, 13. _Dan._ ii. 2, & v. 11. and to the worship of Idols, _Jer._ l. 2, 40. and to feasting, wine and women. _Nihil urbis ejus corruptius moribus, nec ad irritandas illiciendasque immodicas voluptates instructius. Liberos conjugesque cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pretium flagitii detur, parentes maritique patiuntur. Convivales ludi tota Perside regibus purpuratisque cordi sunt: Babylonii maxime in vinum & quæ ebrietatem sequuntur effusi sunt. Fæminarum convivia ineuntium in principio modestus est habitus; dein summa quæque amicula exuunt, paulatimque pudorem profanant: ad ultimum, honos auribus sit, ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Nec meretricum hoc dedecus est, sed matronarum virginumque, apud quas comitas habetur vulgati corporis vilitas._ _Q. Curtius_, lib. v. cap. 1. And this lewdness of their women, coloured over with the name of civility, was encouraged even by their religion: for it was the custom for their women once in their life to sit in the Temple of _Venus_ for the use of strangers; which Temple they called _Succoth Benoth_, the Temple of Women: and when any woman was once sat there, she was not to depart 'till some stranger threw money into her bosom, took her away and lay with her; and the money being for sacred uses, she was obliged to accept of it how little soever, and follow the stranger. The _Persians_ being conquered by the _Medes_ about the middle of the Reign of _Zedekiah_, continued in subjection under them 'till the end of the Reign of _Darius_ the _Mede_: and _Cyrus_, who was of the Royal Family of the _Persians_, might be _Satrapa_ of _Persia_, and command a body of their forces under _Darius_; but was not yet an absolute and independant King: but after the taking of _Babylon_, when he had a victorious army at his devotion, and _Darius_ was returned from _Babylon_ into _Media_, he revolted from _Darius_, in conjunction with the _Persians_ under him; [431] they being incited thereunto by _Harpagus_ a _Mede_, whom _Xenophon_ calls _Artagerses_ and _Atabazus_, and who had assisted _Cyrus_ in conquering _Crœsus_ and _Asia minor_, and had been injured by _Darius_. _Harpagus_ was sent by _Darius_ with an army against _Cyrus_, and in the midst of a battel revolted with part of the army to _Cyrus_: _Darius_ got up a fresh army, and the next year the two armies fought again: this last battel was fought at _Pasargadæ_ in _Persia_, according to [432] _Strabo_; and there _Darius_ was beaten and taken Prisoner by _Cyrus_, and the Monarchy was by this victory translated to the _Persians_. The last King of the _Medes_ is by _Xenophon_ called _Cyaxares_, and by _Herodotus_, _Astyages_ the father of _Mandane_: but these Kings were dead before, and _Daniel_ lets us know that _Darius_ was the true name of the last King, and _Herodotus_, [433] that the last King was conquered by _Cyrus_ in the manner above described; and the _Darics_ coined by the last King testify that his name was _Darius_. This victory over _Darius_ was about two years after the taking of _Babylon_: for the Reign or _Nabonnedus_ the last King of the _Chaldees_, whom _Josephus_ calls _Naboandel_ and _Belshazzar_, ended in the year of _Nabonassar_ 210, nine years before the death of _Cyrus_, according to the Canon: but after the translation of the Kingdom of the _Medes_ to the _Persians_, _Cyrus_ Reigned only seven years, according to [434] _Xenophon_; and spending the seven winter months yearly at _Babylon_, the three spring months yearly at _Susa_, and the two Summer months at _Ecbatane_, he came the seventh time into _Persia_, and died there in the spring, and was buried at _Pasargadae_. By the Canon and the common consent of all Chronologers, he died in the year of _Nabonassar_ 219, and therefore conquered _Darius_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 212, seventy and two years after the destruction of _Nineveh_, and beat him the first time in the year of _Nabonassar_ 211, and revolted from him, and became King of the _Persians_, either the same year, or in the end of the year before. At his death he was seventy years old according to _Herodotus_, and therefore he was born in the year of _Nabonassar_ 149, his mother _Mandane_ being the sister of _Cyaxeres_, at that time a young man, and also the sister of _Amyite_ the wife of _Nebuchadnezzar_, and his father _Cambyses_ being of the old Royal Family of the _Persians_. * * * * * CHAP. V. _A Description of the _TEMPLE_ of _Solomon_._ [435] The Temple of _Solomon_ being destroyed by the _Babylonians_, it may not be amiss here to give a description of that edifice. This [436] Temple looked eastward, and stood in a square area, called the _Separate Place_: and [437] before it stood the _Altar_, in the center of another square area, called the _Inner Court_, or _Court of the Priests_: and these two square areas, being parted only by a marble rail, made an area 200 cubits long from west to east, and 100 cubits broad: this area was compassed on the west with a wall, and [438] on the other three sides with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the Priests, with cloysters under them: and the pavement was faced on the inside with a marble rail before the cloysters: the whole made an area 250 cubits long from west to east, and 200 broad, and was compassed with an outward Court, called also the _Great Court_, or _Court of the People_, [439] which was an hundred cubits on every side; for there were but two Courts built by _Solomon_: and the outward Court was about four cubits lower than the inward, and was compassed on the west with a wall, and on the other three sides [440] with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the People. All this was the [441] _Sanctuary_, and made a square area 500 cubits long, and 500 broad, and was compassed with a walk, called the _Mountain of the House_: and this walk being 50 cubits broad, was compassed with a wall six cubits broad, and six high, and six hundred long on every side: and the cubit was about 21½, or almost 22 inches of the _English_ foot, being the sacred cubit of the _Jews_, which was an hand-breadth, or the sixth part of its length bigger than the common cubit. The _Altar_ stood in the center of the whole; and in the buildings of [442] both Courts over against the middle of the _Altar_, eastward, southward, and northward, were gates [443] 25 cubits broad between the buildings, and 40 long; with porches of ten cubits more, looking towards the _Altar Court_, which made the whole length of the gates fifty cubits cross the pavements. Every gate had two doors, one at either [444] end, ten cubits wide, and twenty high, with posts and thresholds six cubits broad: within the gates was an area 28 cubits long between the thresholds, and 13 cubits wide: and on either side of this area were three posts, each six cubits square, and twenty high, with arches five cubits wide between them: all which posts and arches filled the 28 cubits in length between the thresholds; and their breadth being added to the thirteen cubits, made the whole breadth of the gates 25 cubits. These posts were hollow, and had rooms in them with narrow windows for the porters, and a step before them a cubit broad: and the walls of the porches being six cubits thick, were also hollow for several uses. [445] At the east gate of the _Peoples Court_, called the _King's gate_, [446] were six porters, at the south gate were four, and at the north gate were four: the people [447] went in and out at the south and north gates: the [448] east gate was opened only for the King, and in this gate he ate the Sacrifices. There were also four gates or doors in the western wall of the _Mountain of the House_: of these [449] the most northern, called _Shallecheth_, or the _gate of the causey_, led to the King's palace, the valley between being filled up with a causey: the next gate, called _Parbar_, led to the suburbs _Millo_: the third and fourth gates, called _Asuppim_, led the one to _Millo_, the other to the city of _Jerusalem_, there being steps down into the valley and up again into the city. At the gate _Shallecheth_ were four porters; at the other three gates were six porters, two at each gate: the house of the porters who had the charge of the north gate of the _People's Court_, had also the charge of the gates _Shallecheth_ and _Parbar_: and the house of the porters who had the charge of the south gate of the _People s Court_, had also the charge of the other two gates called _Asuppim_. They came through the four western gates into the _Mountain of the House_, and [450] went up from the _Mountain of the House_, to the gates of the _People's Court_ by seven steps, and from the _People's Court_ to the gates of the _Priest's Court_ by eight steps: [451] and the arches in the sides of the gates of both courts led into cloysters [452] under a double building, supported by three rows of marble pillars, which butted directly upon the middles of the square posts, ran along from thence upon the pavements towards the corners of the Courts: the axes of the pillars in the middle row being eleven cubits distant from the axes of the pillars in the other two rows on either hand; and the building joining to the sides of the gates: the pillars were three cubits in diameter below, and their bases four cubits and an half square. The gates and buildings of both Courts were alike, and [453] faced their Courts: the cloysters of all the buildings, and the porches of all the gates looking towards the _Altar_. The row of pillars on the backsides of the cloysters adhered to marble walls, which bounded the cloysters and supported the buildings: [454] these buildings were three stories high above the cloysters, and [455] were supported in each of those stories by a row of cedar beams, or pillars of cedar, standing above the middle row of the marble pillars: the buildings on either side of every gate of the _People's Court_, being 187½ cubits long, were distinguished into five chambers on a floor, running in length from the gates to the corners or the Courts: there [456] being in all thirty chambers in a story, where the People ate the Sacrifices, or thirty exhedras, each of which contained three chambers, a lower, a middle, and an upper: every exhedra was 37½ cubits long, being supported by four pillars in each row, [457] whose bases were 4½ cubits square, and the distances between their bases 6½ cubits, and the distances between the axes of the pillars eleven cubits: and where two [458] exhedras joyned, there the bases of their pillars joyned; the axes of those two pillars being only 4½ cubits distant from one another: and perhaps for strengthning the building, the space between the axes of these two pillars in the front was filled up with a marble column 4½ cubits square, the two pillars standing half out on either side of the square column. At the ends of these buildings [459] in the four corners of the _Peoples Court_, were little Courts fifty cubits square on the outside of their walls, and forty on the inside thereof, for stair-cases to the buildings, and kitchins to bake and boil the Sacrifices for the People, the kitchin being thirty cubits broad, and the stair-case ten. The buildings on either side of the gates of the _Priests Court_ were also 37½ cubits long, and contained each of them one great chamber in a story, subdivided into smaller rooms, for the Great Officers of the Temple, and Princes of the Priests: and in the south-east and north-east corners of this court, at the ends of the buildings, were kitchins and stair-cases for the Great Officers; and perhaps rooms for laying up wood for the _Altar_. In the eastern gate of the _Peoples Court_, sat a Court of Judicature, composed of 23 Elders. The eastern gate of the _Priests Court_, with the buildings on either side, was for the High-Priest, and his deputy the _Sagan_, and for the _Sanhedrim_ or Supreme Court of Judicature, composed of seventy Elders. [460] The building or exhedra on the eastern side of the southern gate, was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the _Sanctuary_ with its treasuries: and these were, first, two _Catholikim_, who were High-Treasurers and Secretaries to the High-Priest, and examined, stated, and prepared all acts and accounts to be signed and sealed by him; then seven _Amarcholim_, who kept the keys of the seven locks of every gate of the _Sanctuary_, and those also of the treasuries, and had the oversight, direction, and appointment of all things in the _Sanctuary_; then three or more _Gisbarim_, or Under-Treasurers, or Receivers, who kept the Holy Vessels, and the Publick Money, and received or disposed of such sums as were brought in for the service of the Temple, and accounted for the same. All these, with the High-Priest, composed the Supreme Council for managing the affairs of the Temple. The Sacrifices [461] were killed on the northern side of the _Altar_, and flea'd, cut in pieces and salted in the northern gate of the Temple; and therefore the building or exhedra on the eastern side of this gate, was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the _Altar_, and Daily Service: and these Officers were, He that received money of the People for purchasing things for the Sacrifices, and gave out tickets for the same; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered the wine, flower and oyl purchased; He that was over the lots, whereby every Priest attending on the _Altar_ had his duty assigned; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered out the doves and pigeons purchased; He that administred physic to the Priests attending; He that was over the waters; He that was over the times, and did the duty of a cryer, calling the Priests or Levites to attend in their ministeries; He that opened the gates in the morning to begin the service, and shut them in the evening when the service was done, and for that end received the keys of the _Amarcholim_, and returned them when he had done his duty; He that visited the night-watches; He that by a Cymbal called the Levites to their stations for singing; He that appointed the Hymns and set the Tune; and He that took care of the Shew-Bread: there were also Officers who took care of the Perfume, the Veil, and the Wardrobe of the Priests. The exhedra on the western side of the south gate, and that on the western side of the north gate, were for the Princes of the four and twenty courses of the Priests, one exhedra for twelve of the Princes, [462] and the other exhedra for the other twelve: and upon the pavement on either side of the _Separate Place_ [463] were other buildings without cloysters, for the four and twenty courses of the Priests to eat the Sacrifices, and lay up their garments and the most holy things: each pavement being 100 cubits long, and 50 broad, had buildings on either side of it twenty cubits broad, with a walk or alley ten cubits broad between them: the building which bordered upon the _Separate Place_ was an hundred cubits long, and that next the _Peoples Court_ but fifty, the other fifty cubits westward [464] being for a stair-case and kitchin: these buildings [465] were three stories high, and the middle story was narrower in the front than the lower story, and the upper story still narrower, to make room for galleries; for they had galleries before them, and under the galleries were closets for laying up the holy things, and the garments of the Priests, and these galleries were towards the walk or alley, which ran between the buildings. They went up from the _Priests Court_ to the Porch of the Temple by ten steps: and the [466] House of the Temple was twenty cubits broad, and sixty long within; or thirty broad, and seventy long, including the walls; or seventy cubits broad, and 90 long, including a building of treasure-chambers which was twenty cubits broad on three sides of the House; and if the Porch be also included, the Temple was [467] an hundred cubits long. The treasure-chambers were built of cedar, between the wall of the Temple, and another wall without: they were [468] built in two rows three stories high, and opened door against door into a walk or gallery which ran along between them, and was five cubits broad in every story; So that the breadth of the chambers on either side of the gallery, including the breadth of the wall to which they adjoined, was ten cubits; and the whole breadth of the gallery and chambers, and both walls, was five and twenty cubits: the chambers [469] were five cubits broad in the lower story, six broad in the middle story, and seven broad in the upper story; for the wall of the Temple was built with retractions of a cubit, to rest the timber upon. _Ezekiel_ represents the chambers a cubit narrower, and the walls a cubit thicker than they were in _Solomon_'s Temple: there were [470] thirty chambers in a story, in all ninety chambers, and they were five cubits high in every story. The [471] Porch of the Temple was 120 cubits high, and its length from south to north equalled the breadth of the House: the House was three stories high, which made the height of the _Holy Place_ three times thirty cubits, and that of the _Most Holy_ three times twenty: the upper rooms were treasure-chambers; they [472] went up to the middle chamber by winding stairs in the southern shoulder of the House, and from the middle into the upper. Some time after this Temple was built, the _Jews_ [473] added a _New Court_, on the eastern side of the _Priests Court_, before the _King's gate_, and therein built [474] a covert for the Sabbath: this Court was not measured by _Ezekiel_, but the dimensions thereof may be gathered from those of the _Womens Court_, in the second Temple, built after the example thereof: for when _Nebuchadnezzar_ had destroyed the first Temple, _Zerubbabel_, by the commissions of _Cyrus_ and _Darius_, built another upon the same area, excepting the _Outward Court_, which was left open to the _Gentiles_: and this Temple [475] was sixty cubits long, and sixty broad, being only two stories in height, and having only one row of treasure-chambers about it: and on either side of the _Priests Court_ were double buildings for the Priests, built upon three rows of marble pillars in the lower story, with a row of cedar beams or pillars in the stories above: and the cloyster in the lower story looked towards the _Priests Court_: and the _Separate Place_, and _Priests Court_, with their buildings on the north and south sides, and the _Womens Court_, at the east end, took up an area three hundred cubits long, and two hundred broad, the _Altar_ standing in the center of the whole. The _Womens Court_ was so named, because the women came into it as well as the men: there were galleries for the women, and the men worshipped upon the ground below: and in this state the second Temple continued all the Reign of the _Persians_; but afterwards suffered some alterations, especially in the days of _Herod_. This description of the Temple being taken principally from _Ezekiel_'s Vision thereof; and the ancient _Hebrew_ copy followed by the Seventy, differing in some readings from the copy followed by the editors of the present _Hebrew_, I will here subjoin that part of the Vision which relates to the _Outward Court_, as I have deduced it from the present _Hebrew_, and the version of the Seventy compared together. Ezekiel chap. xl. ver. 5, &c. [476] _And behold a wall on the outside of the House round about_, at the distance of fifty cubits from it, aabb: _and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long by the cubit, and an hand-breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, _or wall_, one reed, and the height one reed. _[477]_ Then came he unto the gate _of the House_, which looketh towards the east, and went up the seven steps thereof, _AB_, and measured the threshold of the gate, _CD_, which was one reed broad, and the _Porters_ little chamber, _EFG_, one reed long, and one reed broad; and the arched passage between the little chambers, _FH_, five cubits: and the second little chamber, _HIK_, a reed broad and a reed long; and the arched passage, _IL_, five cubits: and the third little chamber _LMN_, a reed long and a reed broad: and the threshold of the gate next the porch of the gate within, _OP_, one reed: and he measured the porch of the gate, _QR_, eight cubits; and the posts thereof _ST_, _st_, two cubits; and the porch of the gate, _QR_, was inward, _or toward the inward court_; and the little chambers, _EF_, _HI_, _LM_, _ef_, _hi_, _lm_, were _outward, or_ to the east; three on this side, and three on that side _of the gate_. There was one measure of the three, and one measure of the posts on this side, and on that side; and he measured the breadth of the door of the gate, _Cc_, or _Dd_, ten cubits; and the breadth of the gate _within between the little chambers, Ee or Ff_, thirteen cubits; and the limit, or margin, or step before the little chambers, _EM_, one cubit on this side, and the step, _em_, one cubit on the other side; and the little chambers, _EFG_, _HIK_, _LMN_, _efg_, _hik_, _lmn_, were six cubits _broad_ on this side, and six cubits _broad_ on that side: and he measured _the whole breadth of_ the gate, from the _further_ wall of one little chamber to the _further_ wall of another little chamber: the breadth, _Gg, or Kk, or Nn_, was twenty and five cubits _through_; door, _FH_, against door, _fh_: and he measured the posts, _EF_, _HI_, and _LM_, _ef_, _hi_, and _lm_, twenty cubits _high_; and at the posts there were gates, _or arched passages, FH, IL, fh, il_, round about; and from the _eastern_ face of the gate at the entrance, _Cc_, to the _western_ face of the porch of the gate within, _Tt_, were fifty cubits: and there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to the porch within the gate, round about, and likewise to the posts; even windows were round about within: and upon each post were palm trees._ _Then he brought me into the Outward Court, and lo there were chambers, and a pavement with pillars upon it in the court round about, _[478]_ thirty chambers _in length_ upon the pavement, supported by the pillars, _ten chambers on every side, except the western_: and the pavement butted upon the shoulders or sides of the gates below, _every gate having five chambers or exhedræ on either side_. And he measured the breadth _of the Outward Court_, from the fore-front of the lower-gate, to the fore-front of the inward court, an hundred cubits eastward._ _Then he brought me northward, and there was a gate that looked towards the north; he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof, and the little chambers thereof, three on this side, and three on that side, and the posts thereof, and the porch thereof, and it was according to the measures of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth was five and twenty: and the windows thereof, and the porch and the palm-trees thereof _were_ according to the measures of the gate which looked to the east, and they went up to it by seven steps: and its porch was before them, _that is inward_. And there was a gate of the inward court over against _this_ gate of the north, as _in the gates_ to the eastward: and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits._ * * * * * _A Description of THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON_ [Illustration: _Plate_ I. _p. 346._] ABCD. _The Separate Place in which stood the Temple._ ABEF. _The Court of y^{e} Priests._ G. _The Altar._ DHLKICEFD. _A Pavement compassing three sides of the foremention'd Courts, and upon which stood the Buildings for the Priests, with Cloysters under them._ MNOP. _The Court of the People._ MQTSRN. _A Pavement compassing three sides of the Peoples Court, upon which stood the Buildings for the People, with Cloysters under them._ UXYZ. _The Mountain of the House._ aabb._ A Wall enclosing the whole._ c. _The Gate Shallecheth._ d. _The Gate Parbar._ ef. _The two Gates Assupim._ g. _The East Gate of the Peoples Court, call'd the Kings Gate._ hh. _The North and South Gates of the same Court._ iiii. _The chambers over the Cloysters of the Peoples Court where the People ate the Sacrifices, 30 Chambers in each Story._ kkkk. _Four little Courts serving for Stair Cases and Kitchins for the People._ l. _The Eastern Gate of the Priests Court, over which sate the Sanhedrin._ m. _The Southern Gate of the Priests Court._ n. _The Northern Gate of the same Court, where the Sacrifices were flea'd &c._ opqrst. _The Buildings over the Cloysters for the Priests, viz six large Chambers (subdivided) in each Story, whereof _o_ and _p_ were for the High Priest and Sagan, _q_ for the Overseers of the Sanctuary and Treasury, _r_ for the Overseers of the Altar and Sacrifice and _s_ and _t_ for the Princes of the twenty four Courses of Priests._ uu. _Two Courts in which were Stair Cases and Kitchins for the Priests._ x. _The House or Temple which (together with the Treasure Chambers _y_, and Buildings _zz_ on each side of the Separate Place) is more particularly describ'd on the second Plate._ * * * * * _A Description of the Inner Court & Buildings for the Priests in Solomons Temple._ [Illustration: _Plate_ II. _p. 346._] ABCD. _The Separate Place._ ABEF. _The Inner Court, or Court of the Priests, parted from the Separate Place, and and Pavement on the other three sides, by a marble rail._ G. _The Altar._ HHH. _The East, South, & North Gates of the Priests Court._ III. _&c. The Cloysters supporting the Buildings for the Priests._ KK. _Two Courts in which were Stair Cases and Kitchins for the Priests._ L. _Ten Steps to the Porch of the Temple._ M. _The Porch of the Temple._ N. _The Holy Place._ O. _The most Holy Place._ PPPP. _Thirty Treasure-Chambers, in two rows, opening into a gallery, door against door, and compassing three sides of the Holy & most Holy Places._ Q. _The Stairs leading to the Middle Chamber._ RRRR. _&c. The buildings for the four and twenty Courses of Priests, upon the Pavement on either side of the Separate Place, three Stories high without Cloysters, but the upper Stories narrower than the lower, to make room for Galleries before them. There were 24 Chambers in each Story and they opend into a walk or alley, _SS._ between the Buildings._ TT. _Two Courts in which were Kitchins for the Priests of the twenty four Courses._ * * * * * _A Particular Description of one of the Gates of the Peoples Court, with part of the Cloyster adjoyning._ [Illustration: _Plate_ III. _p. 346._] uw. _The inner margin of the Pavement compassing three sides of the Peoples Court._ xxx. _&c. The Pillars of the Cloyster supporting the Buildings for the People._ yyyy. _Double Pillars where two Exhedræ joyned, and whose interstices in the front _zz_ were filled up with a square Column of Marble._ Note _The preceding letters of this Plate refer to the description in pag. 344 345._ * * * * * CHAP. VI. _Of the Empire of the _Persians_._ _Cyrus_ having translated the Monarchy to the _Persians_, and Reigned seven years, was succeeded by his son _Cambyses_, who Reigned seven years and five months, and in the three last years of his Reign subdued _Egypt_: he was succeeded by _Mardus_, or _Smerdis_ the _Magus_, who feigned himself to be _Smerdis_ the brother of _Cambyses_. _Smerdis_ Reigned seven months, and in the eighth month being discovered, was slain, with a great number of the _Magi_; so the _Persians_ called their Priests, and in memory of this kept an anniversary day, which they called, _The slaughter of the _Magi__. Then Reigned _Maraphus_ and _Artaphernes_ a few days, and after them _Darius_ the son of _Hystaspes_, the son of _Arsamenes_, of the family of _Achæmenes_, a _Persian_, being chosen King by the neighing of his horse: before he Reigned his [479] name was _Ochus_. He seems on this occasion to have reformed the constitution of the _Magi_, making his father _Hystaspes_ their Master, or _Archimagus_; for _Porphyrius_ tells us, [480] that _the _Magi_ were a sort of men so venerable amongst the _Persians_, that _Darius_ the son of _Hystaspes_ wrote on the monument of his father_, amongst other things, _that he had been the Master of the _Magi__. In this reformation of the _Magi_, _Hystaspes_ was assisted by _Zoroastres_: so _Agathias_; _The _Persians_ at this day say simply that _Zoroastres_ lived under _Hystaspes__: and _Apuleius_; _Pythagoram, aiunt, inter captivos Cambysæ Regis _[ex Ægypto Babylonem abductos]_ doctores habuisse Persarum Magos, & præcipue Zoroastrem, omnis divini arcani Antistitem_. By _Zoroastres_'s conversing at _Babylon_ he seems to have borrowed his skill from the _Chaldæans_; for he was skilled in Astronomy, and used their year: so _Q. Curtius_; [481] _Magi proximi patrium carmen canebant: Magos trecenti & sexaginta quinque juvenes sequebantur, puniceis amiculis velati, diebus totius anni pares numero_: and _Ammianus_; _Scientiæ multa ex Chaldæorum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres_. From his conversing in several places he is reckoned a _Chaldæan_, an _Assyrian_, a _Mede_, a _Persian_, a _Bactrian_. _Suidas_ calls him [482] a _Perso-Mede_, and saith that he was _the most skilful of Astronomers, and first author of the name of the _Magi_ received among them_. This skill in Astronomy he had doubtless from the _Chaldæans_, but _Hystaspes_ travelled into _India_, to be instructed by the _Gymnosophists_: and these two conjoyning their skill and authority, instituted a new set of Priests or _Magi_, and instructed them in such ceremonies and mysteries of Religion and Philosophy as they thought fit to establish for the Religion and Philosophy of that Empire; and these instructed others, 'till from a small number they grew to a great multitude: for _Suidas_ tells us, that _Zoroastres gave a beginning to the name of the _Magi__: and _Elmacinus_; that _he reformed the religion of the _Persians_, which before was divided into many sects_: and _Agathias_; that _he introduced the religion of the _Magi_ among the _Persians_, changing their ancient sacred rites, and bringing in several opinions_: and _Ammianus_ [483] tells us, _Magiam esse divinorum incorruptissimum cultum, cujus scientiæ seculis priscis multa ex Chaldæorum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres: deinde Hystaspes Rex prudentissimus Darii pater; qui quum superioris Indiæ secreta fidentius penetraret, ad nemorosam quamdam venerat solitudinem, cujus tranquillis silentiis præcelsa Brachmanorum ingenia potiuntur; eorumque monitu rationes mundani motus & siderum, purosque sacrorum ritus quantum colligere potuit eruditus, ex his quæ didicit, aliqua sensibus Magorum infudit; quæ illi cum disciplinis præsentiendi futura, per suam quisque progeniem, posteris ætatibus tradunt. Ex eo per sæcula multa ad præsens, una eademque prosapia multitudo creata, Deorum cultibus dedicatur. Feruntque, si justum est credi, etiam ignem cœlitus lapsum apud se sempiternis foculis custodiri, cujus portionem exiguam ut faustam præisse quondam Asiaticis Regibus dicunt: Hujus originis apud veteres numerus erat exilis, ejusque mysteriis Persicæ potestates in faciendis rebus divinis solemniter utebantur. Eratque piaculum aras adire, vel hostiam contrectare, antequam Magus conceptis precationibus libamenta diffunderet præcursoria. Verum aucti paullatim, in amplitudinem gentis solidæ concesserunt & nomen: villasque inhabitantes nulla murorum firmitudine communitas & legibus suis uti permissi, religionis respectu sunt honorati_. So this Empire was at first composed of many nations, each of which had hitherto its own religion: but now _Hystaspes_ and _Zoroastres_ collected what they conceived to be best, established it by law, and taught it to others, and those to others, 'till their disciples became numerous enough for the Priesthood of the whole Empire; and instead of those various old religions, they set up their own institutions in the whole Empire, much after the manner that _Numa_ contrived and instituted the religion of the _Romans_: and this religion of the _Persian_ Empire was composed partly of the institutions of the _Chaldæans_, in which _Zoroastres_ was well skilled; and partly of the institutions of the ancient _Brachmans_, who are supposed to derive even their name from the _Abrahamans_, or sons of _Abraham_, born of his second wife _Keturah_, instructed by their father in the worship of ONE GOD without images, and sent into the east, where _Hystaspes_ was instructed by their successors. About the same time with _Hystapes_ and _Zoroastres_, lived also _Ostanes_, another eminent _Magus_: _Pliny_ places him under _Darius Hystaspis_, and _Suidas_ makes him the follower of _Zoroastres_: he came into _Greece_ with _Xerxes_, and seems to be the _Otanes_ of _Herodotus_, who discovered _Smerdis_, and formed the conspiracy against him, and for that service was honoured by the conspirators, and exempt from subjection to _Darius_. In the sacred commentary of the _Persian_ rites these words are ascribed to _Zoroastres_; [484] ‛Ο Θεος εστι κεφαλην εχων ‛ιερακος. ‛ουτος εστιν ‛ο πρωτος, αφθαρτος, αιδιος, αγενητος, αμερης, ανομοιοτατος, ‛ηνιοχος παντος καλου, αδωροδοκητος, αγαθων αγαθωτατος, φρονιμων φρονιμωτατος· εστι δε και πατηρ ευνομιας και δικαιοσυνης, αυτοδιδακτος, φυσικος, και τελειος, και σοφος, και ‛ιερου φυσικου μονος ‛ευρετης. _Deus est accipitris capite: hic est primus, incorruptibilis, æternus, ingenitus, sine partibus, omnibus aliis dissimillimus, moderator omnis boni, donis non capiendus, bonorum optimus, prudentium prudentissimus, legum æquitatis ac justitiæ parens, ipse sui doctor, physicus & perfectus & sapiens & sacri physici unicus inventor_: and the same was taught by _Ostanes_, in his book called _Octateuchus_. This was the Antient God of the _Persian Magi_, and they worshipped him by keeping a perpetual fire for Sacrifices upon an Altar in the center of a round area, compassed with a ditch, without any Temple in the place, and without paying any worship to the dead, or any images. But in a short time they declined from the worship of this Eternal, Invisible God, to worship the Sun, and the Fire, and dead men, and images, as the _Egyptians_, _Phœnicians_, and _Chaldæans_ had done before: and from these superstitions, and the pretending to prognostications, the words _Magi_ and _Magia_, which signify the Priests and Religion of the _Persians_, came to be taken in an ill sense. _Darius_, or _Darab_, began his Reign in spring, in the sixteenth year of the Empire of the _Persians_, _Anno Nabonass._ 227, and Reigned 36 years, by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. In the second year of his Reign the _Jews_ began to build the Temple, by the prophesying of _Haggai_ and _Zechariah_, and finished it in the sixth. He fought the _Greeks_ at _Marathon_ in _October_, _Anno Nabonass._ 258, ten years before the battel at _Salamis_, and died in the fifth year following, in the end of winter, or beginning of spring, _Anno Nabonass._ 263. The years of _Cambyses_ and _Darius_ are determined by three Eclipses of the Moon recorded by _Ptolemy_, so that they cannot be disputed: and by those Eclipses, and the Prophesies of _Haggai_ and _Zechariah_ compared together, it is manifest that the years of _Darius_ began after the 24th day of the eleventh _Jewish_ month, and before the 24th day of _April_, and by consequence in _March_ or _April_. _Xerxes_, _Achschirosch_, _Achsweros_, or _Oxyares_, succeeded his father _Darius_, and spent the first five years of his Reign, and something more, in preparations for his Expedition against the _Greeks_: and this Expedition was in the time of the Olympic Games, in the beginning of the first year of the 75th Olympiad, _Callias_ being _Archon_ at _Athens_; as all Chronologers agree. The great number of people which he drew out of _Susa_ to invade _Greece_, made _Æschylus_ the Poet say [485]: Το δ' αστυ Σουσων εξεκεινωσεν πεσον. _It emptied the falling city of _Susa_._ The passage of his army over the _Hellespont_ began in the end of the fourth year of the 74th Olympiad, that is in _June_, _Anno Nabonass._ 268, and took up a month; and in autumn, after three months more, on the 16th day of the month _Munychion_, at the full moon, was the battel at _Salamis_; and a little after that an Eclipse of the Moon, which by the calculation fell on _Octob._ 2. His first year therefore began in spring, _Anno Nabonass._ 263, as above: he Reigned almost twenty one years by the consent of all writers, and was murdered by _Artabanus_, captain of his guards; towards the end of winter, _Anno Nabonass._ 284. _Artabanus_ Reigned seven months, and upon suspicion of treason against _Xerxes_, was slain by _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, the son of _Xerxes_. _Artaxerxes_ began his Reign in the autumnal half year, between the 4th and 9th _Jewish_ months, _Nehem._ i. 1. & ii. 1, & v. 14. and _Ezra_ vii. 7, 8, 9. and his 20th year fell in with the 4th year of the 83d Olympiad, as _Africanus_ [486] informs us, and therefore his first year began within a month or two or the autumnal Equinox, _Anno Nabonass._ 284. _Thucydides_ relates that the news of his death came to _Athens_ in winter, in the seventh year of the _Peloponnesian_ war, that is _An._ 4. Olymp. 88. and by the Canon he Reigned forty one years, including the Reign of his predecessor _Artabanus_, and died about the middle of winter, _Anno Nabonass._ 325 _ineunte_: the _Persians_ now call him _Ardschir_ and _Bahaman_, the Oriental Christians _Artahascht_. Then Reigned _Xerxes_, two months, and _Sogdian_ seven months, and _Darius Nothus_, the bastard son of _Artaxerxes_, nineteen years wanting four or five months; and _Darius_ died in summer, a little after the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and in the same Olympic year, and by consequence in _May_ or _June_, _Anno Nabonass._ 344. The 13th year of his Reign was coincident in winter with the 20th of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and the years of that war are stated by indisputable characters, and agreed on by all Chronologers: the war began in spring, _Ann._ 1. Olymp. 87, lasted 27 years, and ended _Apr._ 14. _An._ 4. Olymp. 93. The next King was _Artaxerxes Mnemon_, the son of _Darius_: he Reigned forty six years, and died _Anno Nabonass._ 390. Then Reigned _Artaxerxes Ochus_ twenty one years; _Arses_, or _Arogus_, two years, and _Darius Codomannus_ four years, unto the battel of _Arbela_, whereby the _Persian_ Monarchy was translated to the _Greeks_, _Octob._ 2. _An. Nabonass._ 417; but _Darius_ was not slain untill a year and some months after. I have hitherto stated the times of this Monarchy out of the _Greek_ and _Latin_ writers: for the _Jews_ knew nothing more of the _Babylonian_ and _Medo-Persian_ Empires than what they have out of the sacred books of the old Testament; and therefore own no more Kings, nor years of Kings, than they can find in those books: the Kings they reckon are only _Nebuchadnezzar_, _Evilmerodach_, _Belshazzar_, _Darius_ the _Mede_, _Cyrus_, _Ahasuerus_, and _Darius_ the _Persian_; this last _Darius_ they reckon to be the _Artaxerxes_, in whose Reign _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ came to _Jerusalem_, accounting _Artaxerxes_ a common name of the _Persian_ Kings: _Nebuchadnezzar_, they say, Reigned forty five years, 2 _King._ xxv. 27. _Belshazzar_ three years, _Dan._ viii. 1. and therefore _Evilmerodach_ twenty three, to make up the seventy years captivity; excluding the first year of _Nebuchadnezzar_, in which they say the Prophesy of the seventy years was given. To _Darius_ the _Mede_ they assign one year, or at most but two, _Dan._ ix. 1. to _Cyrus_ three years incomplete, _Dan._ x. 1. to _Ahasuerus_ twelve years 'till the casting of _Pur_, _Esth._ iii. 7. one year more 'till the _Jews_ smote their enemies, _Esth._ ix. 1. and one year more 'till _Esther_ and _Mordecai_ wrote the second letter for the keeping of _Purim_, _Esth._ ix. 29. in all fourteen years: and to _Darius_ the _Persian_ they allot thirty two or rather thirty six years, _Nehem._ xiii. 6. So that the _Persian_ Empire from the building of the Temple in the Second year of _Darius Hystaspis_, flourished only thirty four years, until _Alexander_ the great overthrew it: thus the _Jews_ reckon in their greater Chronicle, _Seder Olam Rabbah_. _Josephus_, out of the sacred and other books, reckons only these Kings of _Persia_; _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, _Darius Hystaspis_, _Xerxes_, _Artaxerxes_, and _Darius_: and taking this _Darius_, who was _Darius Nothus_, to be one and the same King with the last _Darius_, whom _Alexander_ the great overcame; by means of this reckoning he makes _Sanballat_ and _Jaddua_ alive when _Alexander_ the great overthrew the _Persian_ Empire. Thus all the _Jews_ conclude the _Persian_ Empire with _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, and _Darius Nothus_, allowing no more Kings of _Persia_, than they found in the books of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_; and referring to the Reigns of this _Artaxerxes_, and this _Darius_, whatever they met with in profane history concerning the following Kings of the same names: so as to take _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, _Artaxerxes Mnemon_ and _Artaxerxes Ochus_, for one and the same _Artaxerxes_; and _Darius Nothus_, and _Darius Codomannus_, for one and the same _Darius_; and _Jaddua_, and _Simeon Justus_, for one and the same High-Priest. Those _Jews_ who took _Herod_ for the _Messiah_, and were thence called _Herodians_, seem to have grounded their opinion upon the seventy weeks of years, which they found between the Reign of _Cyrus_ and that of _Herod_: but afterwards, in applying the Prophesy to _Theudas_, and _Judas_ of _Galilee_, and at length to _Barchochab_, they seem to have shortned the Reign of the Kingdom of _Persia_. These accounts being very imperfect, it was necessary to have recourse to the records of the _Greeks_ and _Latines_, and to the Canon recited by _Ptolemy_, for stating the times of this Empire. Which being done, we have a better ground for understanding the history of the _Jews_ set down in the books of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_, and adjusting it; for this history having suffered by time, wants some illustration: and first I shall state the history of the _Jews_ under _Zerubbabel_, in the Reigns of _Cyrus_, _Cambysis_, and _Darius Hystaspis_. This history is contained partly in the three first chapters of the book of _Ezra_, and first five verses of the fourth; and partly in the book of _Nehemiah_, from the 5th verse of the seventh chapter to the 9th verse of the twelfth: for _Nehemiah_ copied all this out of the Chronicles of the _Jews_, written before his days; as may appear by reading the place, and considering that the Priests and Levites who sealed the Covenant on the 24th day of the seventh month, _Nehem._ x. were the very same with those who returned from captivity in the first year of _Cyrus_, _Nehem._ xii. and that all those who returned sealed it: this will be perceived by the following comparison of their names. The Priests who returned. The Priests who sealed. _Nehemiah._ _Ezra_ ii. 2. _Nehemiah._ _Serajah._ _Serajah._ * _Azariah._ _Jeremiah._ _Jeremiah._ _Ezra._ _Ezra._ _Nehem._ 8. * _Pashur._ _Amariah._ _Amariah._ _Malluch_: or _Melicu_, _Neh._ _Malchijah._ xii. 2, 14. _Hattush_. _Hattush._ _Shechaniah_ or _Shebaniah_, _Shebaniah._ _Neh._ xii. 3, 14. * _Malluch._ _Rehum_: or _Harim_, _ib._ 3, _Harim._ 15. _Meremoth._ _Meremoth._ _Iddo._ _Obadiah_ or _Obdia_. * _Daniel._ _Ginnetho_: or _Ginnethon_, _Ginnethon._ _Neh._ xii. 4, 16. * _Baruch._ * _Meshullam._ _Abijah._ _Abijah._ _Miamin._ _Mijamin._ _Maadiah._ _Maaziah._ _Bilgah._ _Bilgai._ _Shemajah._ _Shemajah._ _Jeshua._ _Jeshua._ _Binnui._ _Binnui._ _Kadmiel._ _Kadmiel._ _Sherebiah._ שרביה. _Shebaniah._ שבניה. _Judah_: or _Hodaviah_, _Hodijah._ _Ezra_ ii. 40. & iii. 9. Ωδουια; _Septuag._ The _Levites_, _Jeshua_, _Kadmiel_, and _Hodaviah_ or _Judah_, here mentioned, are reckoned chief fathers among the people who returned with _Zerubbabel_, _Ezra_ ii. 40. and they assisted as well in laying the foundation of the Temple, _Ezra_ iii. 9. as in reading the law, and making and sealing the covenant, _Nehem._ viii. 7. & ix. 5. & x. 9, 10. Comparing therefore the books of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ together; the history of the _Jews_ under _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, and _Darius Hystaspis_, is that they returned from captivity under _Zerubbabel_, in the first year of _Cyrus_, with the Holy Vessels and a commission to build the Temple; and came to _Jerusalem_ and _Judah_, every one to his city, and dwelt in their cities untill the seventh month; and then coming to _Jerusalem_, they first built the Altar, and on the first day of the seventh month began to offer the daily burnt-offerings, and read in the book of the Law, and they kept a solemn fast, and sealed a Covenant; and thenceforward the Rulers of the people dwelt at _Jerusalem_, and the rest of the people cast lots, to dwell one in ten at _Jerusalem_, and the rest in the cities of _Judah_: and in the second year of their coming, in the second month, which was six years before the death of _Cyrus_, they laid the foundation of the Temple; but _the adversaries of _Judah_ troubled them in building, and hired counsellors against them all the days of _Cyrus__, and longer, _even until the Reign of _Darius_ King of _Persia__: but in the second year of his Reign, by the prophesying of _Haggai_ and _Zechariah_, they returned to the work; and by the help of a new decree from _Darius_, finished it on the third day of the month _Adar_, in the sixth year of his Reign, and kept the Dedication with joy, and the Passover, and Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now this _Darius_ was not _Darius Nothus_, but _Darius Hystaspis_, as I gather by considering that the second year of this _Darius_ was the seventieth of the indignation against _Jerusalem_, and the cities of _Judah_, which indignation commenced with the invasion of _Jerusalem_, and the cities of _Judah_ by _Nebuchadnezzar_, in the ninth year of _Zedekiah_, _Zech._ i. 12. _Jer._ xxxiv. 1, 7, 22. & xxxix. 1. and that the fourth year of this _Darius_, was the seventieth from the burning of the Temple in the eleventh year of _Zedekiah_, _Zech._ vii. 5. & _Jer._ lii. 12. both which are exactly true of _Darius Hystaspis_: and that in the second year of this _Darius_ there were men living who had seen the first Temple, _Hagg._ ii. 3. whereas the second year of _Darius Nothus_ was 166 years after the desolation of the Temple and City. And further, if the finishing of the Temple be deferred to the sixth year of _Darius Nothus_, _Jeshua_ and _Zerubbabel_ must have been the one High-Priest, the other Captain of the people an hundred and eighteen years together, besides their ages before; which is surely too long: for in the first year of _Cyrus_ the chief Priests were _Serajah_, _Jeremiah_, _Ezra_, _Amariah_, _Malluch_, _Shechaniah_, _Rehum_, _Meremoth_, _Iddo_, _Ginnetho_, _Abijah_, _Miamin_, _Maadiah_, _Bilgah_, _Shemajah_, _Joiarib_, _Jedaiah_, _Sallu_, _Amok_, _Hilkiah_, _Jedaiah_: these were Priests in the days of _Jeshua_, and the eldest sons of them all, _Merajah_ the son of _Serajah_, _Hananiah_ the son of _Jeremiah_, _Meshullam_ the son of _Ezra_, &c. were chief Priests in the days of _Joiakim_ the son of _Jeshua_: _Nehem._ xii. and therefore the High Priest-hood of _Jeshua_ was but of an ordinary length. I have now stated the history of the _Jews_ in the Reigns of _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, and _Darius Hystaspis_: it remains that I state their history in the Reigns of _Xerxes_, and _Artaxerxes Longimanus_: for I place the history of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ in the Reign of this _Artaxerxes_, and not in that of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_: for during all the _Persian_ Monarchy, until the last _Darius_ mentioned in Scripture, whom I take to be _Darius Nothus_, there were but six High-Priests in continual succession of father and son, namely, _Jeshua_, _Joiakim_, _Eliashib_, _Joiada_, _Jonathan_, _Jaddua_, and the seventh High-Priest was _Onias_ the son of _Jaddua_, and the eighth was _Simeon Justus_, the Son of _Onias_, and the ninth was _Eleazar_ the younger brother of _Simeon_. Now, at a mean reckoning, we should allow about 27 or 28 years only to a Generation by the eldest sons of a family, one Generation with another, as above; but if in this case we allow 30 years to a Generation, and may further suppose that _Jeshua_, at the return of the captivity in the first year of the Empire of the _Persians_, was about 30 or 40 years old; _Joiakim_ will be of about that age in the 16th year of _Darius Hystaspis_, _Eliashib_ in the tenth year of _Xerxes_, _Joiada_ in the 19th year of _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, _Jonathan_ in the 8th year of _Darius Nothus_, _Jaddua_ in the 19th year of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_, _Onias_ in the 3d year of _Artaxerxes Ochus_, and _Simeon Justus_ two years before the death of _Alexander_ the Great: and this reckoning, as it is according to the course of nature, so it agrees perfectly well with history; for thus _Eliashib_ might be High-Priest, and have grandsons, before the seventh year of _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, _Ezra_ x. 6. and without exceeding the age which many old men attain unto, continue High-Priest 'till after the 32d year of that King, _Nehem._ xiii. 6, 7. and his grandson _Johanan_, or _Jonathan_, might have a chamber in the Temple in the seventh year of that King, _Ezra_ x. 6. and be High-Priest before _Ezra_ wrote the sons of _Levi_ in the book of _Chronicles_; _Nehem._ xii. 23. and in his High-Priesthood, he might slay his younger brother _Jesus_ in the Temple, before the end of the Reign of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_: _Joseph. Antiq._ l. xi. c. 7. and _Jaddua_ might be High-Priest before the death of _Sanballat_, _Joseph._ _ib._ and before the death of _Nehemiah_, _Nehem._ xii. 22. and also before the end of the Reign of _Darius Nothus_; and he might thereby give occasion to _Josephus_ and the later _Jews_, who took this King for the last _Darius_, to fall into an opinion that _Sanballat, Jaddua_, and _Manasseh_ the younger brother of _Jaddua_, lived till the end of the Reign of the last _Darius_: _Joseph._ _Antiq._ l. xi. c. 7, 8. and the said _Manasseh_ might marry _Nicaso_ the daughter of _Sanballat_, and for that offence be chased from _Nehemiah_, before the end of the Reign of _Artaxerxes Longimanus_; _Nehem_. xiii. 28. _Joseph._ _Antiq._ l. xi. c. 7, 8. and _Sanballat_ might at that time be _Satrapa_ of _Samaria_, and in the Reign of _Darius Nothus_, or soon after, build the Temple of the _Samaritans_ in _Mount Gerizim_, for his son-in-law _Manasseh_, the first High-Priest of that Temple; _Joseph._ _ib._ and _Simeon Justus_ might be High-Priest when the _Persian_ Empire was invaded by _Alexander_ the Great, as the _Jews_ represent, _Joma_ fol. 69. 1. _Liber Juchasis. R. Gedaliah_, &c. and for that reason he might be taken by some of the _Jews_ for the same High-Priest with _Jaddua_, and be dead some time before the book of _Ecclesiasticus_ was writ in _Hebrew_ at _Jerusalem_, by the grandfather of him, who in the 38th year of the _Egyptian_ Æra of _Dionysius_, that is in the 77th year after the death of _Alexander_ the Great, met with a copy of it in _Egypt_, and there translated it into _Greek: Ecclesiast._ ch. 50. & _in Prolog._ and _Eleazar_, the younger brother and successor of _Simeon_, might cause the Law to be translated into _Greek_, in the beginning of the Reign of _Ptolemaus Philadelphus_: _Joseph._ _Antiq._ l. xii. c. 2. and _Onias_ the son of _Simeon Justus_, who was a child at his father's death, and by consequence was born in his father's old age, might be so old in the Reign of _Ptolemæus Euergetes_, as to have his follies excused to that King, by representing that he was then grown childish with old age. _Joseph._ _Antiq._ l. xii. c. 4. In this manner the actions of all these High-Priests suit with the Reigns of the Kings, without any straining from the course of nature: and according to this reckoning the days of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ fall in with the Reign of the first _Artaxerxes_; for _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ flourished in the High Priesthood of _Eliashib_, _Ezra_ x. 6. _Nehem._ iii. 1. & xiii. 4, 28. But if _Eliashib_, _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ be placed in the Reign of the second _Artaxerxes_, since they lived beyond the 32d year of _Artaxerxes_, _Nehem._ xiii. 28, there must be at least 160 years allotted to the three first High-Priests, and but 42 to the four or five last, a division too unequal: for the High Priesthoods of _Jeshua_, _Joiakim_, and _Eliashib_, were but of an ordinary length, that of _Jeshua_ fell in with one Generation of the chief Priests, and that of _Joiakim_ with the next Generation, as we have shewed already; and that of _Eliashib_ fell in with the third Generation: for at the dedication of the wall, _Zechariah_ the son of _Jonathan_, the son of _Shemaiah_, was one of the Priests, _Nehem._ xii. 35, and _Jonathan_ and his father _Shemaiah_, were contemporaries to _Joiakim_ and his father _Jeshua_: _Nehem._ xii. 6, 18. I observe further that in the first year of _Cyrus_, _Jeshua_, and _Bani_, or _Binnui_, were chief fathers of the _Levites_, _Nehem_. vii. 7. 15. & _Ezra_ ii. 2. 10. & iii. 9. and that _Jozabad_ the son of _Jeshua_, and _Noadiah_ the son of _Binnui_, were chief Levites in the seventh year of _Artaxerxes_, when _Ezra_ came to _Jerusalem_, _Ezra_ viii. 33. so that this _Artaxerxes_ began his Reign before the end of the second Generation: and that he Reigned in the time of the third Generation is confirmed by two instances more; for _Meshullam_ the son of _Berechiah_, the son of _Meshezabeel_, and _Azariah_ the son of _Maaseiah_, the son of _Ananiah_, were fathers of their houses at the repairing of the wall; _Nehem._ iii. 4, 23. and their grandfathers, _Meshazabeel_ and _Hananiah_, subscribed the covenant in the Reign of _Cyrus_: _Nehem._ x. 21, 23. Yea _Nehemiah_, this same _Nehemiah_ the son of _Hachaliah_, was the _Tirshatha_, and subscribed it, _Nehem._ x. 1, & viii. 9, & _Ezra_ ii. 2, 63. and therefore in the 32d year of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_, he will be above 180 years old, an age surely too great. The same may be said of _Ezra_, if he was that Priest and Scribe who read the Law, _Nehem._ viii. for he is the son of _Serajah_, the son of _Azariah_, the son of _Hilkiah_, the son of _Shallum_, &c. _Ezra_ vii. 1. and this _Serajah_ went into captivity at the burning of the Temple, and was there slain, 1 _Chron._ vi. 14. 2 _King._ xxv. 18. and from his death, to the twentieth year of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_, is above 200 years; an age too great for _Ezra_. I consider further that _Ezra_, chap. iv. names _Cyrus_, *, _Darius_, _Ahasuerus_, and _Artaxerxes_, in continual order, as successors to one another, and these names agree to _Cyrus_, *, _Darius Hystaspis_, _Xerxes_, and _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, and to no other Kings of _Persia_: some take this _Artaxerxes_ to be not the Successor, but the Predecessor of _Darius Hystaspis_, not considering that in his Reign the _Jews_ were busy in building the City and the Wall, _Ezra_ iv. 12. and by consequence had finished the Temple before. _Ezra_ describes first how the people of the land hindered the building of the Temple all the days of _Cyrus_, and further, untill the Reign of _Darius_; and after the Temple was built, how they hindered the building of the city in the Reign of _Ahasuerus_ and _Artaxerxes_, and then returns back to the story of the Temple in the Reign of _Cyrus_ and _Darius_; and this is confirmed by comparing the book of _Ezra_ with the book of _Esdras_: for if in the book of _Ezra_ you omit the story of _Ahasuerus_ and _Artaxerxes_, and in that of _Esdras_ you omit the same story of _Artaxerxes_, and that of the three wise men, the two books will agree: and therefore the book of _Esdras_, if you except the story of the three wise men, was originally copied from authentic writings of Sacred Authority. Now the story of _Artaxerxes_, which, with that of _Ahasuerus_, in the book of _Ezra_ interrupts the story of _Darius_, doth not interrupt it in the book of _Esdras_, but is there inferred into the story of _Cyrus_, between the first and second chapter of _Ezra_; and all the rest of the story of _Cyrus_, and that of _Darius_, is told in the book of _Esdras_ in continual order, without any interruption: so that the _Darius_ which in the book of _Ezra_ precedes _Ahasuerus_ and _Artaxerxes_, and the _Darius_ which in the same book follows them, is, by the book of _Esdras_, one and the same _Darius_; and I take the book of _Esdras_ to be the best interpreter of the book of _Ezra_: so the _Darius_ mentioned between _Cyrus_ and _Ahasuerus_, is _Darius Hysaspis_; and therefore _Ahasuerus_ and _Artaxerxes_ who succeed him, are _Xerxes_ and _Artaxerxes Longimanus_; and the _Jews_ who came up from _Artaxerxes_ to _Jerusalem_, and began to build the city and the wall, _Ezra_ iv. 13. are _Ezra_ with his companions: which being understood, the history of the _Jews_ in the Reign of these Kings will be as follows. After the Temple was built, and _Darius Hystaspis_ was dead, the enemies of the _Jews_ in the beginning of the Reign of his successor _Ahasuerus_ or _Xerxes_, wrote unto him an accusation against them; _Ezra_ iv. 6. but in the seventh year of his successor _Artaxerxes_, _Ezra_ and his companions went up from _Babylon_ with Offerings and Vessels for the Temple, and power to bestow on it out of the King's Treasure what should be requisite; _Ezra_ vii. whence the Temple is said to be finished, _according to the commandment of _Cyrus_, and _Darius_, and _Artaxerxes_ King of _Persia__: _Ezra_ vi. 14. Their commission was also to set Magistrates and Judges over the land, and thereby becoming a new Body Politic, they called a great Council or Sanhedrim to separate the people from strange wives; and they were also encouraged to attempt the building of _Jerusalem_ with its wall: and thence _Ezra_ saith in his prayer, that _God had extended mercy unto them in the sight of the Kings of _Persia_, and given them a reviving to set up the house of their God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give them a WALL in _Judah_, even in _Jerusalem__. _Ezra_ ix. 9. But when they had begun to repair the wall, their enemies wrote against them to _Artaxerxes_: _Be it known_, say they, _unto the King, that the _Jews_ which came up from thee to us, are come unto _Jerusalem_, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations_, &c. And the King wrote back that the _Jews_ should cease and the city not be built, until another commandment should be given from him: whereupon their enemies _went up to _Jerusalem_, and made them cease by force and power_; _Ezra_ iv. but in the twentieth year of the King, _Nehemiah_ hearing that the _Jews_ were in great affliction and distress, and that the wall of _Jerusalem_, that wall which had been newly repaired by _Ezra_, _was broken down, and the gates thereof burnt wth fire_; he obtained leave of the King to go and build the city, and the Governour's house, _Nehem._ i. 3. & ii. 6, 8, 17. and coming to _Jerusalem_ the same year, he continued Governor twelve years, and built the wall; and being opposed by _Sanballat_, _Tobiah_ and _Geshem_, he persisted in the work with great resolution and patience, until the breaches were made up: then _Sanballat_ and _Geshem_ sent messengers unto him five times to hinder him from setting up the doors upon the gates: but notwithstanding he persisted in the work, until the doors were also set up: so the wall was finished in the eight and twentieth year of the King, _Joseph._ _Antiq._ l. xi. c. 5. in the five and twentieth day of the month _Elul_, or sixth month, in fifty and two days after the breaches were made up, and they began to work upon the gates. While the timber for the gates was preparing and seasoning, they made up the breaches of the wall; both were works of time, and are not jointly to be reckoned within the 52 days: this is the time of the last work of the wall, the work of setting up the gates after the timber was seasoned and the breaches made up. When he had set up the gates, he dedicated the wall with great solemnity, and appointed Officers _over the chambers for the Treasure, for the Offerings, for the First-Fruits, and for the Tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the Priests and Levites; and the Singers and the Porters kept the ward of their God_; Nehem. xii. _but the people in the city were but few, and the houses were unbuilt_: _Nehem._ vii. 1, 4. and in this condition he left _Jerusalem_ in the 32d year of the King; and after sometime returning back from the King, he reformed such abuses as had been committed in his absence. _Nehem._ xiii. In the mean time, the Genealogies of the Priests and Levites were recorded in the book of the _Chronicles_, in the days of _Eliashib_, _Joiada_, _Jonathan_, and _Jaddua_, until the Reign of the next King _Darius Nothus_, whom _Nehemiah_ calls _Darius_ the _Persian_: _Nehem._ xii. 11, 22, 23. whence it follows that _Nehemiah_ was Governor of the _Jews_ until the Reign of _Darius Nothus_. And here ends the Sacred History of the _Jews_. The histories of the _Persians_ now extant in the East, represent that the oldest Dynasties of the Kings of _Persia_, were those whom they call _Pischdadians_ and _Kaianides_, and that the Dynasty of the _Kaianides_ immediately succeeded that of the _Pischdadians_. They derive the name _Kaianides_ from the word _Kai_, which, they say, in the old _Persian_ language signified a Giant or great King; and they call the first four Kings of this Dynasty, _Kai-Cobad, Kai-Caus, Kai-Cosroes_, and _Lohorasp_, and by _Lohorasp_ mean _Kai-Axeres_, or _Cyaxeres_: for they say that _Lohorasp_ was the first of their Kings who reduced their armies to good order and discipline, and _Herodotus_ affirms the same thing of _Cyaxeres_: and they say further, that _Lohorasp_ went eastward, and conquered many Provinces of _Persia_, and that one of his Generals, whom the _Hebrews_ call _Nebuchadnezzar_, the _Arabians_ _Bocktanassar_, and others _Raham_ and _Gudars_, went westward, and conquered all _Syria_ and _Judæa_, and took the city of _Jerusalem_ and destroyed it: they seem to call _Nebuchadnezzar_ the General of _Lohorasp_, because he assisted him in some of his wars. The fifth King of this Dynasty, they call _Kischtasp_, and by this name mean sometimes _Darius Medus_, and sometimes _Darius Hystaspis_: for they say that he was contemporary to _Ozair_ or _Ezra_, and to _Zaradust_ or _Zoroastres_, the Legislator of the _Ghebers_ or fire-worshippers, and established his doctrines throughout all _Persia_; and here they take him for _Darius Hystaspis_: they say also that he was contemporary to _Jeremiah_, and to _Daniel_, and that he was the son and successor of _Lohorasp_, and here they take him for _Darius_ the _Mede_. The sixth King of the _Kaianides_, they call _Bahaman_, and tell us that _Bahaman_ was _Ardschir Diraz_, that is _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, so called from the great extent of his power: and yet they say that _Bahaman_ went westward into _Mesopotamia_ and _Syria_, and conquered _Belshazzar_ the son of _Nebuchadnezzar_, and gave the Kingdom to _Cyrus_ his Lieutenant-General over _Media_: and here they take _Bahaman_ for _Darius Medus_. Next after _Ardschir Diraz_, they place _Homai_ a Queen, the mother of _Darius Nothus_, tho' really she did not Reign: and the two next and last Kings of the _Kaianides_, they call _Darab_ the bastard son of _Ardschir Diraz_, and _Darab_ who was conquered by _Ascander Roumi_, that is _Darius Nothus_, and _Darius_ who was conquered by _Alexander_ the _Greek_: and the Kings between these two _Darius's_ they omit, as they do also _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, and _Xerxes_. The Dynasty of the _Kaianides_, was therefore that of the _Medes_ and _Persians_, beginning with the defection of the _Medes_ from the _Assyrians_, in the end of the Reign of _Sennacherib_, and ending with the conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the Great. But their account of this Dynasty is very imperfect, some Kings being omitted, and others being confounded with one another: and their Chronology of this Dynasty is still worse; for to the first King they assign a Reign of 120 years, to the second a Reign of 150 years, to the third a Reign of 60 years, to the fourth a Reign of 120 years, to the fifth as much, and to the sixth a Reign of 112 years. This Dynasty being the Monarchy of the _Medes_, and _Persians_; the Dynasty of the _Pischdadians_ which immediately preceded it, must be that of the _Assyrians_: and according to the oriental historians this was the oldest Kingdom in the world, some of its Kings living a thousand years a-piece, and one of them Reigning five hundred years, another seven hundred years, and another a thousand years. We need not then wonder, that the _Egyptians_ have made the Kings in the first Dynasty of their Monarchy, that which was seated at _Thebes_ in the days of _David_, _Solomon_, and _Rehoboam_, so very ancient and so long lived; since the _Persians_ have done the like to their Kings, who began to Reign in _Assyria_ two hundred years after the death of _Solomon_; and the _Syrians_ of _Damascus_ have done the like to their Kings _Adar_ and _Hazael_, who Reigned an hundred years after the death of _Solomon_, _worshipping them as Gods, and boasting their antiquity, and not knowing_, saith _Josephus_, _that they were but modern_. And whilst all these nations have magnified their Antiquities so exceedingly, we need not wonder that the _Greeks_ and _Latines_ have made their first Kings a little older than the truth. * * * * * FINIS. * * * * * Notes. [1] _In the life of_ Lycurgus. [2] In the life of _Solon_. [3] Herod. l. 2. [4] Plutarch. de Pythiæ Oraculo. [5] Plutarch. in Solon [6] Apud Diog. Laert. in Solon p. 10. [7] Plin. nat. hist. l. 7. c. 56. [8] Ib. l. 5. c. 29. [9] Cont. Apion. sub initio. [10] In Ακουσιλαος. [11] Joseph. cont. Ap. l. 1. [12] Dionys. l. 1. initio. [13] Plutarch. in Numa. [14] Diodor. l. 16. p. 550. Edit. Steph. [15] Polyb. p. 379. B. [16] In vita Lycurgi, sub initio. [17] In Solone. [18] Plutarch. in Romulo & Numa. [19] In Æneid. 7. v. 678. [20] Diodor. l. 1. [21] Plutarch. in Romulo. [22] Lib. I. in Proæm. [23] Plutarch. in Lycurgo sub initio. [24] Pausan. l. 4. c. 13. p. 28. & c. 7. p. 296 & l. 3. c. 15. p. 245. [25] Pausan. l. 4. c. 7. p. 296. [26] Herod. l. 7. [27] Herod. l. 8. [28] Plato in Minoe. [29] Thucyd. l. 1. p. 13. [30] Athen. l. 14 p. 605 [31] Pausan. l. 5. c. 8. [32] Pausan. l. 6. c. 19. [33] Plutarch. de Musica. Clemens Strom. l. 1. p. 308. [34] Herod. l. 6. c. 52. [35] Pausan. l. 5. c. 4. [36] Pausan. l. 5. c. 1, 3, 8. Strabo, l. 8, p. 357. [37] Pausan. l. 5. c.4. [38] Pausan. l. 5. c.18. [39] Solin. c. 30. [40] Dionys. l. 1. p. 15. [41] Apollon. Argonaut. l. 1. v. 101. [42] Plutarch. in Theseo. [43] Diodor. l. 1. p. 35. [44] Joseph. Antiq. l. 4. c. 8 [45] Contra Apion. l. 1. [46] Hygin. Fab. 144. [47] Gen. i. 14. & viii. 22. Censorinus c. 19 & 20. Cicero in Verrem. Geminus c. 6. [48] Cicero in Verrem. [49] Diodor. l. 1. [50] Cicero in Verrem. [51] Gem. c. 6. [52] Apud Laertium, in Cleobulo. [53] Apud Laertium, in Thalete. Plutarch. in Solone. [54] Censorinus c. 18. Herod. l. 2. prope initium. [55] Apollodor l. 3. p. 169. Strabo l. 16. p. 476. Homer. Odyss. Τ. v. 179. [56] Herod. l. 1. [57] Plutarch. in Numa. [58] Diodor. l. 3. p. 133. [59] Diodor. l. 1. p. 13. [60] Apud Theodorum Gazam de mentibus. [61] Apud Athenæum, l. 14. [62] Suidas in Σαροι. [63] Herod. l. 1. [64] Julian. Or: 4. [65] Strabo l. 17. p. 816. [66] Diodor. l. 1. p. 32. [67] Plutarch de Osiride & Iside. Diodor. l. 1. p. 9. [68] Hecatæus apud Diodor. l. 1. p. 32. [69] Isagoge Sect. 23, a Petavio edit. [70] Hipparch. ad Phænom. l.2. Sect. 3. a Petavio edit. [71] Hipparch. ad Phænom. l.1. Sect. 2. [72] Strom. 1. p. 306, 352. [73] Laertius Proem. l. 1. [74] Apollodor. l. 1. c. 9. Sect. 16. [75] Suidas in Αναγαλλις. [76] Apollodor. l. 1. c. 9. Sect. 25. [77] Laert. in Thalete. Plin. l. 2. c. 12. [78] Plin. l. 18. c. 23. [79] Petav. Var. Disl. l. 1. c. 5. [80] Petav. Doct. Temp. l. 4. c. 26. [81] Columel. l. 9. c. 14. Plin. l. 18. c. 25. [82] Arrian. l. 7. [83] In Moph. [84] Euanthes apud Athenæum, l. 67. p. 296. [85] Hyginus Fab. 14. [86] Homer. Odyss. l. 8. v. 292. [87] Hesiod. Theogon. v. 945. [88] Pausan. l. 2. c. 23. [89] Strabo l. 16. [90] Isa. xxiii. 2. 12. [91] 1 Kings v. 6 [92] Steph. in Azoth. [93] Conon. Narrat. 37. [94] Nonnus Dionysiac l. 13 v. 333 α sequ. [95] Athen. l. 4. c. 23. [96] Strabo. l. 10. p. 661. Herod. l. 1. [97] Strabo. l. 16. [98] 2 Chron. xxi. 8, 10. & 2 Kings. viii. 20, 22. [99] Herod. l. 1. initio, & l. 7. circa medium. [100] Solin. c. 23, Edit. Salm. [101] Plin. l. 4. c. 22. [102] Strabo. l. 9. p. 401. & l. 10. p. 447. [103] Herod. l. 5. [104] Strabo. l. 1. p. 42. [105] Strabo. l. 1. p. 48. [106] Bochart. Canaan. l. 1. c. 34. [107] Strabo. l. 3. p. 140. [108] Vid. Phil. Transact. Nº. 359. [109] Canaan, l. 1. c. 34. p. 682. [110] Aristot. de Mirab. [111] Plin. l. 7. c. 56. [112] Canaan. l. 1. c. 39. [113] Philostratus in vita Apollonii l. 5. c. 1. apud Photium. [114] Arnob. l. 1. [115] Bochart. in Canaan. l. 1. c. 24. [116] Oros. l. 5. c. 15. Florus l. 3. c. 1. Sallust. in Jugurtha. [117] Antiq. l. 8. c. 2, 5. & l. 9. c. 14. [118] Thucyd. l. 6. initio. Euseb. Chr. [119] Thucyd. ib. [120] Apud Dionys. l. 1. p. 15. [121] Herod. l. 8. c. 137. [122] Herod. l. 8. [123] Herod. l. 8. c. 139. [124] Thucyd. l. 2. prope finem. [125] Herod l. 6. c. 127. [126] Strabo. l. 8. p. 355. [127] Pausan. l. 6. c. 22. [128] Pausan. l. 5. c. 9. [129] Strabo. l. 8. p. 358. [130] Phanias Eph. ap. Plut. in vita Solonis. [131] Vid. Dionys. Halicarnass. l. 1. p. 44, 45. [132] Pausan. l. 2. c. 6. [133] Hygin. Fab. 7 & 8. [134] Homer. Iliad. Ο. [135] Homer. Odys. Η. Diodor. l. 5. p.237. [136] Diodor. l. 1. p.17. [137] Pausan. l. 2. c. 25. [138] Apollodor. l. 2. Sect. 5. [139] Herod l. 7. [140] Bochart. Canaan part. 2. cap. 13. [141] Apollon. Argonaut. l. 1. v. 77. [142] Conon. Narrat. 13. [143] Pausan. l. 5. c. 1. Apollodor. l. 1. c. 7. [144] Pausan. l. 7. c. 1. [145] Pausan. l. 1. c. 37. & l. 10. c. 29. [146] Pausan. l. 7. c. 1. [147] Hesych. in Κραναος. [148] Themist. Orat. 19. [149] Plato in Alcib. 1. [150] Pausan. l. 8. c. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. [151] Pausan. l. 8. c. 4. Apollon. Argonaut. l. 1. v. 161. [152] Pausan. l. 8. c. 4. [153] Herod. l. 5. c. 58. [154] Strabo l. 10. p. 464, 465, 466. [155] Solin. Polyhist. c. 11. [156] Isidor. originum. lib. xi. c. 6. [157] Clem. Strom. l. 1. [158] Pausan. l. 9. c. 11. [159] Strabo l. 10. p. 472, 473. Diodor. l. 5. c. 4. [160] Strabo l. 10. p. 468. 472. Diodor. l. 5. c. 4. [161] Lucian de sacrificiis. Apollod. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3. & c. 2. sect. 1. [162] Boch. in Canaan. l. 1. c. 15. [163] Athen. l. 13. p. 601. [164] Plutarch in Theseo. [165] Homer Il. Ν. & Ξ. & Odys. Λ. & Τ. [166] Herod. l. 1. [167] Apollod. l. 3. c. 1. Hygin. Fab. 40, 41, 42. 178. [168] Lucian. de Dea Syria. [169] Diodor. l. 5. c. 4, [170] Argonaut. l. 2. v. 1236. [171] Lucian. de sacrificiis. [172] Porphyr. in vita Pythag. [173] Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 3. [174] Callimac. Hymn 1. v. 8. [175] Cypr. de Idolorum vanitate. [176] Tert. Apologet. c. 10. [177] Macrob. Saturnal. lib. 1. c. 7. [178] Pausan. l. 5. c. 7, vid. et. c. 13. 14. & l. 8. c. 2. [179] Pausan. l. 8. c. 29. [180] Diodor. l. 5. p. 183. [181] Pausan. l. 5. c. 8. 14. [182] Herod. l. 2. c. 44. [183] Cic. de natura Deorum. lib. 3. [184] Diodor. p. 223. [185] Dionys. l. 1. p. 38, 42. [186] Lucian. de saltatione. [187] Arnob. adv. gent. l. 6. p. 131. [188] Herod. l. 2. initio. [189] Diodor. l. 1. p. 8. [190] Hesiod. opera. v. 108. [191] Apollon. Argonaut. l. 4. v. 1643. [192] Vita Homeri Herodoto adfer. [193] Herod. l. 2. [194] 1 Sam. ix. 16. & xiii. 5. 19, 20. [195] Clem. Al. Strom. 1. p. 321. [196] Plin. l. 7. [197] Plato in Timæo. [198] Apollodor. l. 3. c. 1. [199] Herod. l. 2. [200] Hygin. Fab. 7. [201] Apollodor. l. 3. c. 6. [202] Homer. Il. Γ. vers 572. [203] Thucyd. l. 2. p. 110. & Plutarch. in Theseo. [204] Strabo. l. 9. p. 396. [205] Apud Strabonem, l. 9. p. 397. [206] Pausan. l. 2. c. 15. [207] Strabo. l. 8. p. 337. [208] Pausan. l. 8. c. 1. 2. [209] Plin. l. 7. c. 56. [210] Dionys. l. 1. p. 10. [211] Dionys. l. 2. p. 126. [212] Diodor l. 5. p. 224. 225. 240. [213] Ammian. l. 17. c. 7. [214] Plin. l. 2. c. 87. [215] Diodor. l. 5. p. 202. 204. [216] Apud Diodor. l. 5. p. 201. [217] Dionys. l. 1. p. 17. [218] Dionys. l. 1. p. 33. 34. [219] Dionys. ib. [220] Ptol. Hephæst. l. 2. [221] Dionys. l. 2. p. 34. [222] Diodor. l. 5. p. 230. [223] Ister apud Porphyr. abst. l. 2. s. 56. [224] Bochart. Canaan. l. 1. c. 15. [225] Apud Strabonem. lib. 14. p. 684. [226] Strabo. l. 17. p. 828. [227] Diodor. l. 3. p. 132. [228] Herod. l. 1. [229] 1 King. xx. 16. [230] Genes. xiv. Deut ii. 9. 12. 19.-22. [231] Exod. i. 9. 22. [232] Job xxxi. 11. [233] Job xxxi. 26. [234] 1 Chron. xi. 4. 5. Judg. i. 21. 2 Sam v. 6. [235] Vide Hermippum apud Athenæum, I. [236] Argonaut. l. 4. v. 272. [237] Diodor. l. 1. p. 7. [238] Apud Diodorum l. 3. p. 140. [239] Diodor. l. 3. p. 131. 132. [240] Pausan. l. 2. c. 20. p. 155. [241] Diodor. l. 3. p. 130 & Schol. Apollonii. l. 2. [242] Ammian. l. 22. c. 8. [243] Justin. l. 2. c. 4. [244] Diodor. l. 1. p. 9. [245] Apud Diodor. l. 3. p. 141. [246] Step. in Αμμωνια. [247] Plin. l. 6. c. 28. [248] Ptol. l. 6. c. 7. [249] D. Augustin. in exposit. epist. ad Rom. sub initio. [250] Procop. de bello Vandal. l. 2. c. 10. [251] Chron. l. 1. p. 11. [252] Gemar. ad tit. Shebijth. cap. 6. [253] Manetho apud Josephum cont. Appion. l. 1. p. 1039. [254] Herod. l. 2. [255] Jerem. xliv. 1. Ezek. xxix. 14. [256] Menetho apud Porphyrium περι απονης** l. 1. Sect. 55. Et. Euseb. Præp. l. 4. c. 16. p. 155. [257] Diodor. l. 3. p. 101. [258] Diodor. apud Photium in Biblioth. [259] Herod. l. 2. [260] Plutarch. de Iside. p. 355. Diodor. l. 1. p. 9. [261] Augustin. de Civ. Dei. l. 18. c. 47. [262] Apud Photium, c. 279. [263] Fab. 274. [264] Apud Euseb. Chron. [265] Plin. l. 6. c. 23, 28. & l. 7. c. 56. [266] Diodor. l. 1. p. 17. [267] Pausan. l. 4. c. 23. [268] Apollodor. l. 2. c. 1. [269] Dionys. in Perie. v. 623. [270] Fab. 275. [271] Saturnal. l. 5. c. 21. [272] Lucan. l. 10. [273] Lucan. l. 9. [274] Herod. l. 1. [275] Diodor. l. 1. p. 35. Herod. l. 2 c. 102, 103, 106. [276] Pausan. l. 10. Suidas in Παρνασιοι. [277] Lucan l. 5. [278] Argonaut. l. 4. v. 272. [279] Herod. l. 2. c. 109. [280] In vita Pythag. c. 29. [281] Diodor. l. 1. p. 36 [282] Dionys. de situ Orbis. [283] Diodor. l. 1. p. 39. [284] Plutarch. de Iside & Osiride. [285] Diodor. l. 1. p. 8. [286] Lucian. de Dea Syria [287] Exod. xxxiv. 13. Num. xxxiii. 52. Deut. vii. 5. & xii. 3. [288] 2 Sam. viii. 10. & 1 King. xi. 23. [289] Antiq l. 9. c. 2. [290] Justin. l. 36. [291] Diodor. l. 5. p. 238. [292] Suidas in Σαρδαναπαλος. [293] Apollod. l. 3. [294] Argonaut. l. 4. v. 424. & l. 1. v. 621. [295] Homer Odyss. Θ. v. 268. 292. & Hymn. 1. & 2. in Venerem. & Hesiod. Theogon. v. 192. [296] Pausan. l. 1. c. 20. [297] Clem. Al. Admon. ad Gent. p. 10. Apollodor. l. 3. c. 13. Pindar. Pyth. Ode 2. Hesych. in Κινυραδαι. Steph. in Αμαθους. Strabo. l. 16, p. 755. [298] Clem. Al. Admon. ad Gent. p. 21. Plin. l. 7. c. 56. [299] Herod. l. 2. [300] Herod. l. 3. c. 37. [301] Bochart. Canaan. l. 1. c. 4. [302] Apud Athenæum l. 9. p. 392. [303] Ptol. l. 2. [304] Diod. l. 3. p. 145. [305] Vas. Chron. Hisp. c. 10. [306] Strabo l. 16. p. 776. [307] Homer. [308] Diodor. l. 3. p.132, 133 [309] Plato in Timæo. & Critia. [310] Apud Diodor. l. 5. p. 233. [311] Pamphus apud Pausan. l. 7. c. 21. [312] Herod. l. 2. c. 50. [313] Plutarch in Iside. [314] Lucian de Saltatione. [315] Agatharc. apud Photium. [316] Hygin. Fab. 150. [317] Plutarch. in Iside. [318] Diodor. l. 1. p. 10. [319] Pindar. Pyth. Ode 9. [320] Diodor. l. 1. p. 12. [321] Plin. l. 6. c. 29. [322] Herod. l. 2. c. 110. [323] Manetho apud Josephum cont. Apion. p. 1052, 1053. [324] Diodor. l. 1. p. 31. [325] Herod. l. 2. [326] Strabo. l. 1. p. 48. [327] Pindar. Pyth. Ode 4. [328] Strabo. l. 1. p. 21, 45, 46. [329] Diodor. l. 1. p. 29. [330] Manetho [331] Herod. l. 2 [332] Herod. l. 2. [333] Ammian. l. 17. c. 4. [334] Strabo. l. 17. p. 817. [335] Annal. l. 2. c. 60. [336] Diodor. l. 1. p. 32. [337] Diodor. l. 1. p. 51. [338] Joseph. Ant. l. 1. c. 4. [339] Heordot. l. 2. c. 141. [340] Isa. xix. 2, 4, 11, 13, 23. [341] Herod. l. 2. c. 148, &c. [342] Plin. l. 36. c. 8. 9. [343] Diodor. l. 1 p. 29, &c. [344] Diodor. l. 2, p. 83. [345] Amos vi. 13, 14. [346] Amos vi. 2. [347] 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. [348] 2 King. xiv. 25. [349] 2 King. xix. 11. [350] Isa. x. 8. [351] 1 Chron. v. 26. 2 King. xvi. 9 & xvii. 6, 24. & Ezra iv. 9. [352] Isa. xxii. 6. [353] 2 King. xvii. 24, 30, 31. & xviii. 33, 34, 35. 2 Chron. xxxii. 15. [354] 2 Chron. xxxii. 13, 15. [355] Hosea v. 13. & x. 6, 14. [356] Herod. l. iii. c. 155. [357] Herod. l. i. c. 184. [358] Beros. apud Josep. contr. Appion. l. 1. [359] Curt. l. 5. c. 1. [360] Apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 41. [361] Doroth. apud Julium Firmicum. [362] Heren. apud Steph. in Βαβ. [363] Abyden apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 41. [364] Isa. xxiii. 13. [365] Tobit. i. 13. Annal. Tyr. apud Joseph. Ant. l. 9. c. 14. [366] Hosea x. 14. [367] Tobit. i. 15. [368] Tobit. i. 21. 2 King. xix. 37. Ptol. Canon. [369] Isa. xx. 1, 3, 4. [370] Herod. l. 1. c. 72. & l. 7. c. 63. [371] Apud Athenæum l. xii. p. 528. [372] Herod. l. 1. c. 96. &c. [373] Athenæus l. 12. p. 529, 530. [374] Herod. l. 1. c. 102. [375] Herod. l. 1. c. 103. Steph. in Παρθυαιοι. [376] Alexander Polyhist. apud Euseb. in Chron. p. 46 & apud Syncellum. p. 210. [377] 2 Kings xxiv. 7. Jer. xlvi. 2. Eupolemus apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 35. [378] 2 King. xxiii. 29, &c. [379] Eupolemus apud Euseb. Præp. l. 9. c. 39. 2 King. xxv. 2, 7. [380] Dan. i. 1. [381] Dan. i. 2. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6. [382] Jer. xlvi. 2. [383] Apud Joseph. Antiq. l. 10. c. 11. [384] Beros. apud Joseph. Ant. l. 10. c. 11. [385] 2 King. xxiv. 12, 14. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. [386] 2 Kings xxiv. 17. Ezek. xvii. 13, 16, 18. [387] Ezek. xvii. 15. [388] 2 King. xxv. 1, 2, 8. Jer. xxxii. 1, & xxxix 1, 2. [389] Canon. & Beros. [390] 2 King. xxv. 27. [391] Hieron. in Isa. xiv. 19. [392] 2 King. xxv. 27. 29, &c. [393] Dan. v. 2. [394] Jos. Ant. l. 10. c. 11. [395] Herod. l. 1. c. 184, 185. [396] Philost. in vita Apollonii. l. 1. c. 15. [397] Jos. cont. Apion. l. 1. c. 21. [398] Herod. l. 1. c. 189, 190, 191. Xenoph. l. 7. p. 190, 191, 192. Ed. Paris. [399] Dan. v. 30, 31. Joseph. Ant. l. 10. c. 11. [400] Æsch. Persæ v. 761. [401] Herod. l. 1. c. 107, 108. Xenophon Cyropæd. l. 1. p. 3. [402] Cyropæd. l. 1. p. 22. [403] Cyropæd. l. viii. p. 228, 229. [404] Herod. l. 1. c. 73. [405] Herod. l. 1. c. 106, 130. [406] Herod. l. 1. c. 103. [407] Herod. ib. [408] Jer. xxv. [409] Herod. l. 1. c. 73, 74. [410] Herod. Ibid. Plin. l. 2. c. 12. [411] _The _Scythians_._ [412] Jer. xxvii. 3, 6. Ezek. xxi. 19, 20 & xxv. 2, 8, 12. [413] Ezek. xxvi. 2. & xxix. 17, 19. [414] Ezek. xxix. 19. & xxx. 4, 5. [415] Suid. in Δαρεικος & Δαρεικους. Harpocr. in Δαρεικος. Scoliast in Aristophanis. Εκκλησιαζουστον. v. 598. [416] Herod. l. 1. c. 71. [417] Isa. xiii. 17. [418] Plin. l. 33. c. 3. [419] Herod. l. 1. c. 94. [420] Theogn. Γνωμαι, v. 761. [421] Ibid. v. 773. [422] Cyrop. l. 8. [423] Comment. in Dan. v. [424] Strabo. l. 16. initio. [425] Strab. l. 16. p. 745. [426] Herod. l. 1. c. 192. [427] Herod. l. 1. c. 178, &c. [428] Isa. xxiii. 13. [429] Diod. l. 1. p. 51. [430] Herod. l. 1. c. 181. [431] Suidas in Αρισταρχος. Herod. l. 1. c. 123, &c. [432] Strabo. l. 15. p. 730. [433] Herod. l. 1. c. 127, &c. [434] Cyrop. l. 8. p. 233. [435] See Plate I. & II. [436] Ezek. xli. 13, 14. [437] Ezek. xl. 47 [438] Ezek. xl. 29, 33, 36. [439] Ezek. xl. 19, 23, 27. 2 King xxi. 5. 2 Chron. iv. 9. [440] Ezek. xl. 15, 17, 21. 1 Chron. xxviii. 12. [441] Ezek. xl 5, xlii. 20, & xlv. 2. [442] 2 King. xxi.5. [443] Ezek. xl. [444] Plate III. [445] Plate I. [446] 1 Chron. xxvi. 17. [447] Ezek. xlvi. 8, 9. [448] Ezek. xliv. 2, 3. [449] 1 Chron. xxvi. 15, 16, 17, 18. [450] Ezek. xl. 22, 26, 31, 34, 37. [451] Plate II & III. [452] 1 King. vi. 36. & vii. 13. Ezek. xl. 17, 18. [453] Ezek. xl. 10, 31, 34, 37. [454] Plate I. [455] 1 King. vi. 36, & vii. 12. [456] Ezek. xl. 17. [457] Plate III. [458] Plate I & II. [459] Ezek. xlvi. 21, 22. [460] Ezek. xl. 45. [461] Ezek. xl. 39, 41, 42, 46. [462] Plate II. [463] Ezek. xlii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 13, 14. [464] Ezek. xlvi. 19, 20. [465] Ezek. xlii. 5, 6. [466] 1 King. vi. 2. Ezek. xli. 2, 4, 12, 13, 14. [467] 1 King. vi. 3. Ezek. xli. 13. [468] Ezek. xli. 6, 11. [469] 1 King. vi. 6. [470] Ezek. xli. 6. [471] 2 Chron. iii. 4. [472] 1 King. vi. 8. [473] 2 Chron. xx. 5. [474] 2 King. xvi. 18. [475] Ezra vi. 3, 4. [476] Plate I [477] Plate III. [478] Plate I. [479] Valer. Max. l. 9. c. 2. [480] Porph. de Abstinentia, lib. 4. [481] Q. Curt. Lib. iii. c. 3. [482] Suidas in Ζωροαστρης. [483] Ammian. l. 23. c. 6. [484] Euseb. Præp. Evang. l. 1. c. ult. [485] Æsch. Persæ v. 763. [486] Apud. Hieron in Dan. viii. 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