following, the largest of which have their rise in the mountain
system of Armenia. 1. The _Araxes_, not named in the Bible, but
important as a boundary, rises in the northern section of the Ararat
Range, and flows, in a general direction, eastward into the Caspian Sea.
2. The _Tigris_, called in the Bible Hiddekel, rises in Mount Niphates,
of the Ararat Range, and flows in a southeasterly direction, following
the line of Mount Zagros, unites with the Euphrates, and thence flows
into the Persian Gulf. Its length to the union with the Euphrates is
1,146 miles; beyond the union to the gulf, at present, 100 miles, though
anciently much less; and at a time within the limits of history the two
rivers discharged by separate mouths. Their united stream is now called
the _Shaat el Arab_. 3. _The Euphrates_, or the _Frat_ (a word meaning
"abounding"), is the great river of the Bible world. It has two
important sources, both in Armenia: one at a place called _Domli_; the
other, the more distant and true source, at _Diyadin_, at the foot of a
mountain called _Ala Tagh_, 20 miles west of Mount Ararat. It flows
westward 400 miles, then southward about as far, then in a southeasterly
direction 1,000 miles, uniting at last with the Tigris to form the
_Shaat el Arab_. It is navigable for 1,100 miles, and has in all ages
formed the principal means of travel between Eastern and Western Asia.
At Babylon, it is nearly a mile in width, though for 800 miles it does
not receive a single tributary, as it flows through a desert. It
overflows its banks every year, rising as high as twelve feet. 4. The
_Orontes_ rises in Mount Lebanon, and flows northward parallel with the
Mediterranean until, just before reaching Asia Minor, it breaks through
the mountains and empties into the sea. 5. The _Jordan_, least yet most
important of all, flows southward from the foot of Mount Hermon into the
Dead Sea. It will be described in connection with the Physical Map of
Palestine. 6. The _Nile_, the great river of Africa, rises in the centre
of the continent and flows northward into the Mediterranean Sea, turning
the desert through which it passes into a garden.
V. =The Lands.= These are not easy to determine since their boundaries
and names varied at different periods of the history. Yet their
locations may be given, and their natural limits are generally known.
They may be classified as follows: 1. Lands of the Mountain System, all
north and east of the Zagros chain of mountains: Armenia, Media, and
Persia. 2. Lands of the Plain: Assyria, Elam, Mesopotamia, Chaldea,
Arabia. 3. Lands of the Mediterranean: Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia,
Palestine, The Wilderness, Egypt.
[Illustration: MOUNT ARARAT.]
I. LANDS OF THE MOUNTAIN SYSTEM.
1. =Armenia= is a name nowhere used in the original Scriptures, but in
our version is a translation of the word "Ararat," which word properly
appears in place of "Armenia" in the Revised Version. The province
embraces the lofty plateau and mountain group between the Caspian and
Black Seas, and north of Mesopotamia and Assyria, the source of four
great rivers, the Araxes, Tigris, Euphrates, and Acampsis, the latter
pouring into the Black Sea. Its boundaries are: upon the north, the
Caucasus Mountains; on the east, Media and the Caspian Sea; on the
south, Media, from which it is separated by the Araxes, and Assyria,
from which it is divided by Mount Masius; and on the west, the
Euphrates, separating it from Asia Minor. Tradition states that it was
settled by Haïk, a grandson of Japhet; and the earliest history names it
as tributary to Assyria. Excepting the resting of Noah's ark upon one of
its mountains, few events of Scripture are associated with it.
2. =Media= is in the original the same word as Madai, the son of Japhet.
(Gen. 10:2.) Its boundaries are the river Araxes and the Caspian Sea on
the north, the great salt desert of Iram on the east, Persia on the
south, and the Zagros Mountains, separating it from Assyria and Armenia.
A branch of the Zagros Mountains, running eastward, divides it into two
portions, anciently known as Media Atropatene (the one northward) and
Media Magna. In each of these provinces the principal city was called
Ecbatana. The Medes were of the Aryan or Japhetic stock, and were always
a warlike and independent people. Though conquered by Assyria, their
land was never formally annexed to the Assyrian empire. In B.C. 633 the
Median kingdom was established, and soon became supreme over Assyria,
Armenia, and Persia, and formed the Medo-Persian empire, which succeeded
to the power of Babylon in the East, B.C. 536. After that date the
history of Media is lost in that of Persia.
3. =Persia= was originally a small province on the Persian Gulf, still
known as _Fars_. But Persia Proper included, besides the sandy plain on
the gulf, a mountainous plateau north of it, and was bounded by Media on
the north, by Carmania on the east, by the Persian Gulf on the south,
and by Elam on the west. Its people were of the Aryan race, and at first
subject to the Medes. They revolted under Cyrus the Great, and became
the controlling power in the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. The
Persian empire arose to greatness at the fall of Babylon, B.C. 536,
conquered and ruled over all the lands from India to Ethiopia, and was
by far the greatest of the great Oriental monarchies. It was subjected
by Alexander the Great, B.C. 330. The capital of the Persian empire was
Susa, called in the Bible "Shushan the Palace" (Esther 1:2); which was,
however, situated not in Persia Proper, but in Elam. The most important
places in the province were Persepolis (its capital at one period),
Pasargada, and Mesambria, none of which are named in the Bible.
II. LANDS OF THE PLAIN.
Of these, two are situated mainly between the Zagros chain of mountains
and the Tigris river, Assyria and Elam; two are between the Tigris and
Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Chaldea; and one is the vast Arabian desert.
1. =Assyria=, in the Hebrew everywhere Asshur, was properly the province
now called _Kurdistan_, lying on the western slope of the Zagros
Mountains, and extending across the Tigris to the Sinjar hills and the
border of the Mesopotamian desert. The mountains separate it from
Armenia; and the line of division from Elam, on the southeast, was near
the place where the Tigris and Euphrates approach nearest before their
separation. The land was occupied by people of various races, of which
the Semitic were predominant. The earliest city was at Asshur, supposed
to be _Kileh Sherghat_, where a dynasty of kings began to rule about
1800 B.C., while the Israelite tribes were in Egypt. The seat of
government was afterward transferred to Calah, or Halah (_Nimrud_),
north of Asshur; and finally a permanent location of the capital was
made at Nineveh, which became the centre of the great Assyrian empire.
This will be described more fully with the map of that empire, on page
91. The Assyrian kingdom was long in its duration, but passed through
many vicissitudes, several times ruling all the lands of the Euphrates,
and again, in a feeble condition. Its principal cities, besides Nineveh,
were Calah, Resen (which may have been at _Selamiyeh_, three miles south
of Nineveh), and Rehoboth. There is reason to believe that all the four
cities named in Gen. 10:11, 12, were combined in the walls of Nineveh.
2. =Elam=, called Susiana by the Greeks, lay southeast of Assyria and
west of Persia Proper, between the Zagros chain of mountains and the
Tigris river. It included both a mountainous and a lowland tract, the
latter very fertile. Shushan (Susa), the capital of the Persian empire,
lay within this province, and was its principal city. The earliest
conqueror named in the Bible, Amraphel, was the king of Elam, and held
dominion over most of the lands as far west as Canaan. (See the map of
his empire, on page 34.) This kingdom was not of long continuance as an
independent state, but soon fell under the power of Assyria, though
maintaining its own organization as a vassal state until the Persian
period, when it became a province of the empire.
3. =Mesopotamia=, called in Scripture Aram-naharaim, or "Syria of the
two rivers," was a land of indefinite boundaries. The name means
"between the rivers," and hence it was often applied to all the plain
between the Tigris and Euphrates, including even Chaldea and a part of
Assyria. A more frequent use of the name restricts it to the
northwestern portion of the region between the rivers, above the place
where they approach and separate again. The Sinjar hills, crossing,
divide it into two sections, a higher and a lower, the former
mountainous, and the latter mostly a great desert. The upper section
contained the cities of Orfa (Edessa), formerly supposed to be the
birthplace of Abraham; Haran, the patriarch's resting place on the way
to Canaan; Nisibis and Amida, now _Nisibin_ and _Diarbekr_. The only
time when Mesopotamia appears in Bible history as a kingdom was a brief
interval during the period of the Judges. (Judg. 3:8.) Earlier it had
been occupied by separate and warring tribes; later it was a part of
Assyria.
4. =Chaldea= is also called Shinar and Babylonia. The name Chaldea, in
its most accurate sense, belongs to the southern portion of the
province, but is generally used with reference to all the Mesopotamian
plain south of _Baghdad_. It is perfectly level, and by nature one of
the most fertile places on the whole earth. Its earliest inhabitants, at
least the ruling portion of them, were Cushites, of the stock of Ham. An
early Oriental kingdom began at Ur (_Mugheir_) about B.C. 3900. It
lasted, with varying fortunes, until B.C. 538. Babylon afterward became
the capital, and in a later period was the greatest city of the East.
(See diagram on page 93.) Other cities of Chaldea were Erech (_Orchoë_),
Calneh, and Sepharvaim. Further details of its political history are
given in the account of the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar, on page
92.
5. The desert of =Arabia= occupies more than half of the map of the Old
Testament World. That portion of it included upon the map is a vast
triangle, having for its base the 28th parallel of latitude, from the
Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, the Euphrates on its northeastern side, and
the border of the Lebanon chain of mountains for its western. It is
called in the Bible "the land of Kedar." It is a high, undulating, dry
plain, with few oases, and almost impenetrable to travelers. From the
days of Abraham until the present, the caravans have gone around it upon
the north, following up the Euphrates to Tiphsah (Thapsacus), and then
turning southward rather than face its terrors. Only once in history is
it related that an army crossed it. This was when Nebuchadnezzar, while
ravaging Palestine, learned of his father's death, and crossed this
great desert by the most direct route, in order to take possession of
the throne.
III. LANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
These lands will receive more extended treatment in connection with
other maps, so that we give them only a brief mention here.
1. =Asia Minor= scarcely enters the field of the Old Testament, except
as the "land of the Hittites." It will be noticed under the topic of the
Journeys of the Apostle Paul, page 117.
2. =Syria=, in the Hebrew Aram, is a name of indefinite signification,
sometimes embracing all the territory north of The Wilderness of the
Wandering, and therefore including Palestine and the provinces around
it. But Syria Proper seems only to indicate the territory bounded by the
Amanus and Taurus ranges of mountains on the north, by the Euphrates and
the desert on the east, by Palestine, beginning with Mount Hermon, on
the south, by the Mediterranean and Phoenicia on the west. It reaches
the Mediterranean only near the mouth of the Orontes. It consists of
three portions: On the north an elevated tract, never thickly populated,
having Carchemish and Samosata as its principal cities; between the
Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges of mountains a great valley, called
Coele-Syria, "hollow Syria," forming the bed of the Orontes, flowing
north, and the Leontes (_Litany_), flowing south; and on the east a
level country reaching to the desert, containing the cities of Damascus
on the south, Tiphsah (Thapsacus) on the north, and Tadmor (Palmyra) in
the desert. During the times from Jeroboam to Jehoash, Syria was an
independent kingdom, the rival of Israel, with which its political
relations may be seen on the map on page 86. In the Old Testament
period, Damascus was its principal city, and exercised sovereignty; but
later, Antioch, in the north, became more prominent, and was the Greek
and Roman capital of the province.
3. =Phoenicia= is a narrow strip of territory between the Mediterranean
Sea and Mount Lebanon, north of Palestine and south of the Orontes. Its
two great cities were, Zidon, the mother of Mediterranean commerce; and
Tyre, her daughter. Its boundaries were never extensive; but its vessels
traded with every land, and its colonies were planted all along the
shores of the Mediterranean.
4. =Palestine= lies south of Phoenicia, between the Mediterranean and
the desert. It will be described in connection with the Physical Map of
Palestine, page 29, and Moab and Edom, near it, on pages 39 and 45.
5. South of Palestine is =The Wilderness=, a part of Arabia, in which
the Israelites wandered during forty years. Its description may be found
on page 42.
6. =Egypt= lies in the northeastern corner of Africa. See its
description on page 41.
OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.
1. Let the teacher state the EXTENT of the Old Testament World, and its
comparison in size with the United States, as given in the description;
the class taking down the figures in their note-books.
2. Let the teacher draw upon the blackboard the SEAS of the map, in
presence of the class, describing each as it is drawn. If drawn in
advance with an ordinary slate pencil, the mark cannot be seen by the
class, but can be traced by the teacher with white chalk. Do not try to
make the lines exact. A general sketch will answer far better than
finished work. Write upon each its initial letter, but let the class
give its full name; and at the same time follow the teacher by drawing
the map on slates or in note-books. Review the names of the seas:
_Caspian_, _Persian Gulf_, _Red Sea_, _Mediterranean_ or _Great Sea_,
_Dead Sea_, _Lake Arsissa_ or _Van_, _Lake Urumiyeh_.
3. Draw next the most important of the MOUNTAIN RANGES, showing their
general lines, in blue or green color, naming each as drawn, requiring
the class to repeat its name, and to review at the close all the names:
_Ararat_ (including _Masius_, _Niphates_, _Abus_), _Caspian_, _Zagros_,
_Lebanon_, _Taurus_.
4. Draw the RIVERS in white chalk, and drill the class upon their names
as the course of each is shown: _Araxes_, _Tigris_, _Euphrates_,
_Orontes_, _Jordan_, _Nile_. Review the names of seas, mountains, and
rivers, before beginning the next subject.
5. Show the LANDS in their three classes, and drill the class upon their
names. (1.) MOUNTAIN LANDS: _Armenia_, _Media_, _Persia_. (2.) LANDS OF
THE PLAIN: _Assyria_, _Elam_, _Mesopotamia_, _Chaldea_, _Arabia_. (3.)
LANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: _Asia Minor_, _Syria_, _Phoenicia_,
_Palestine_, _Wilderness_, _Egypt_.
Review the entire map, from the beginning; then erase it, and call for
the class to give the names as they are indicated by the pointer without
marking.
ANCIENT WORLD, AND DESCENDANTS OF NOAH.
ONE of the most ancient and valuable accounts of the races of mankind is
found in the tenth chapter of Genesis. It states the location and, in
large degree, the relationship of the various families upon the earth,
as they were known to the descendants of Abraham.
[Illustration: BIRS NIMROUD (SUPPOSED TOWER OF BABEL).]
In the interpretation of this "Table of Nations" certain facts and
principles are to be borne in mind. 1. It is _incomplete_; not
undertaking to name all the races of mankind, but only those in the
Hebrew, Egyptian, and Assyrian sphere of interest. Neither the yellow,
the brown, or the black races are represented upon it, and only a
portion of the ruddy or white race. 2. It is _popular_ and not
scientific. The Orientals never wrote with the precision of modern
students. Hence find in this document terms employed in a general and
indefinite manner. 3. It is, in reality, _geographical_ rather than
racial. For example, when it says "the sons of Canaan," we are not
always to infer a literal descent, but a location in the land of Canaan.
The names upon this table are generally not those of individuals, but of
tribes. In some instances relationship may be indicated; but generally
propinquity of settlement is all that can positively be affirmed. 4. It
arranges the nations _according to zones_, in a general direction from
northwest to southeast; not by continents, as was formerly supposed. The
nations of the Japhetic family are found in Asia and Europe; the
Shemites, or Semites, in Asia; the so-called Hamitic races, in Asia and
Africa. After the deluge an instinct of migration took possession of the
human family. From the original home (long supposed to be near the
Caspian Sea, but now uncertain as to locality) clans moved in all
directions, and nations arose, occupying different lands.
I. THE JAPHETIC NATIONS.
These belonged to seven families, who are called "sons of Japheth" in
Gen. 10:2; and seven others, who are spoken of as his grandsons in Gen.
10:3, 4. These statements are not necessarily to be understood
literally. There may have been other sons and grandsons of Japheth; but
these were the ones whose names are remembered as the founders of
nations. The peoples descended from Japheth belong to what is called the
Aryan or Indo-European race.
1. =Gomer= is named, in Ezek. 38:2-6, as a race opposed to Israel after
the captivity. They were probably the people whom the Assyrians called
_Gimirrai_, and the Greeks _Kimmerioi_. Their name is perpetuated in the
_Crimea_, their early home. A branch of this race moving westward became
the _Cimbri_, who were formidable enemies of Rome; and probably another,
the _Cymry_, settled in the British Isles, and were the ancestors of the
Welsh and the Irish. The Celtic races, to which the French partly
belong, are descended from this family.
Three of the families descended from Gomer formed separate tribes,
named, in the table of nations in Gen. 10:3, after Ashkenaz, Riphath and
Togarmah. All of these had homes around or near the Black Sea.
(1.) _Ashkenaz_ is the name of a people spread out of _Mysia_ and
_Phrygia_ in Asia Minor. "Ascanios," a Greek form of the word, occurs in
Homer as the name of a Mysian and Phrygian prince. It is, however, true
that, in Jer. 51:27, Ashkenaz is located in Western Armenia, whither
this people had later migrated. Here, also, the Assyrians located them.
(2.) _Riphath_ was formerly supposed to point to the _Riphæn Mountains_,
north of the Danube and west of the Black Sea, but this is very
doubtful.
(3.) _Togarmah_ (Ezek. 27:14; 38:6) is identified with the land of
_Armenia_, whose people have a tradition that they are descended from
Targom.
2. =Magog= (called, in Ezek. 38 and 39, _Gog_, the prefix _Ma_ being
thought to signify "land") is generally understood to designate the
_Scythians_.
[Illustration: THE ANCIENT WORLD AND THE DESCENDANTS OF NOAH.]
3. =Madai= is everywhere in Scripture the word translated _Medes_, whose
early home was south of the Caspian Sea, whence they marched westward,
and conquered the lands as far as the Mediterranean.
4. =Javan= is the Hebrew term for the _Greeks_, as is indicated by
various references in the Old Testament. It is especially applied to the
Ionians (originally called Iafon-es, the descendants of Iafon, or
Javan), who were the Grecian people, with whom the Israelites were
brought into commercial relations.
Five lands and races are named as subdivisions of the family of Javan in
Gen. 10:4, all of which were situated near each other.
(1.) _Elishah_ (or, as in Ezek. 27:7, "the isles of Elishah,") is
supposed to refer to the _Æolians_, inhabiting the isles of the Ægean
Sea, from which came the purple dye mentioned in Ezekiel's reference.
(2.) _Tarshish_ was formerly supposed to refer to _Tarsus_ in Cilicia of
Asia Minor, on the authority of Josephus, but is now identified with
_Tartessus_ in Spain, embracing the coast land from Gibraltar to the
Guadalquiver.
(3.) _Kittim_, or _Chittim_, was the name applied to the island of
_Cyprus_, of which one of the cities was called Kitium. The name Chittim
was also loosely given by the Hebrews to the shores and isles of the
Mediterranean.
(4.) _Dodanim_ (or, as in some copies of 1 Chron. 1:7, Rodanim). If the
reading _Dodanim_ be preferred, this may point to the _Dardanians_, a
name often applied in the classics to the people of Troy, the famous
city of Homer. The other reading, _Rodanim_, which is preferred by some
critics, is supposed to point to the isle of Rhodes, in the Ægean Sea, a
home of the ancient Greeks. Thus both Javan and all his sons who founded
families were connected with the Greek race.
(5.) _The Isles of the Gentiles_ (Gen. 10:5) in Hebrew refers not only
to islands, but all lands bordering upon the sea. Here it refers to the
Japhetic colonies on the coasts of the Mediterranean, the Black and the
Caspian Seas.
5. =Tubal=, and 6. =Meshech=, are generally associated in Scripture.
(Ezek. 27:13; 32:26; 38:2, 3; 39:1.) From their associations, they are
to be sought near the Caspian and Black Seas, where Herodotus mentions
the _Tibareni_ and the _Moschi_.
7. =Tiras= (1. Chron. 1:5) was believed by the Jews to refer to the
_Thracians_, southwest of the Black Sea. There is nothing to oppose this
view, but no evidence except the similarity of name in its favor.
II. THE HAMITIC RACES.
These are named with greater particularity, because they were those
which rose to prominence early in the history, and those with which the
Hebrews were brought into closer relations, either as enemies or as
friends. Four principal races are given, some of which were greatly
subdivided. The homes of these races were in Africa, Eastern Arabia,
with a fringe of sea-coast along the eastern Mediterranean, and the
great Mesopotamian valley, in which arose the earliest world empires.
They have been sometimes called _Turanians_. It is by no means probable
that all these nations should be regarded as the descendants of Ham, the
son of Noah. In this list are evidently grouped together some races
whose territory was contiguous, but whose physical appearance and
language show no relationship.
1. =Cush= is, throughout the Bible, the word translated _Ethiopia_.
Generally this refers to the region south of Egypt, now known as
Abyssinia; but in Gen. 2:13, Isa. 11:11, and Ezek. 38:5, the reference
must be to an Asiatic Cush, in Mesopotamia. The subdivisions of the
Cushite tribes in Gen. 10:7-12, show that the earliest great Oriental
monarchies were of this race. These subdivisions are as follows:
(1.) _Seba._ These were, probably, the Ethiopians of Meroë, on the Nile,
anciently called _Saba_; in Isa. 43:3 and 45:14, connected with the
Egyptians.
(2.) _Havilah._ This is supposed to refer to _Arabia_, or at least a
part of it.
(3.) _Sabtah._ This may refer to the _Sabbatha_, or _Sabota_, of Pliny
and Ptolemy, on the southern shore of Arabia.
(4.) _Raamah_, with whom are associated his sons or descendants, _Sheba_
and _Dedan_, occupied the eastern shore of Arabia, near the Persian
Gulf.
(5.) _Sabtechah._ This is unknown, but, from the relation of the
previous names, may have been in the southeastern portion of Arabia.
(6.) _Nimrod_ is named as a descendant of Cush (perhaps the only name of
an individual in the list), and the founder of the early Babylonian
empire.
2. =Mizraim= is the name everywhere used for _Egypt_ in the Hebrew. The
word is in the dual form, representing the two divisions of the country,
and corresponding to the two crowns on all the royal effigies. Several
branches of this race are especially mentioned.
(1.) _Ludim._ Not the same with the _Lud_ of verse 22, but from its
associations plainly in Africa. The location has been given as _Nubia_,
but is very doubtful.
(2.) _Anamim._ An unknown people, whose identity was early lost in some
other race.
(3.) _Lehabim._ These are elsewhere in Scripture called _Lubim_, and
were the Libyans, or people of Libya, west of Egypt, on the southern
shore of the Mediterranean.
(4.) _Naphtuhim._ Probably the _Na-Ptah_ of the Egyptian monuments,
having their home at _Memphis_, south of the Delta.
(5.) _Pathrusim._ Often referred to in the prophets as _Pathros_, or
Upper Egypt.
(6.) _Casluhim._ An unknown people, perhaps in the vicinity of _Goshen_.