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__.