that the dwelling of the sons of Joktan, extended from Mesha to Sephar, a mountain of the east. Calmet thinks Mesha to be mount Masius in Mesopotamia; and Sephar the country of the Sepharvaites, or Saspires, which divided Media from Colchis. The Scripture does not acquaint us who were the descendants of Ophir, nor what particular province was peopled by him between Mesha and Sephar; but it cannot be doubted that the country of Ophir, whatever country that was, was peopled by the posterity of Ophir, son of Joktan.

SALAH, the son of Arphaxad, and father of Eber. He died aged 433 years. (Gen. xi. 12, &c.) A town near Susa, called Sala, or Sela, is supposed to be named from him.

HEBER, or EBER, the son of Salah, great grandson of Shem, and father of Peleg, from whom the Hebrews derived their name, according to Josephus, Eusebius, Jerome, Bede, and most of the interpreters of the sacred writings: but Huet has attempted to prove, that the Hebrews took their name from the word Heber, which signifies beyond, because they came from beyond the Euphrates. Heber lived 464 years, and is supposed to have been born, B. C. 2281.

PELEG, son of Eber, was born in B. C. 2247. He was named Peleg, which signifies division, because in his time the earth began to be divided, Gen. x. 25. xi. 16. He died at the age of 239, B. C. 2008.

REU, the son of Peleg, father of Serug, and great-grandfather of Abraham. He was born about the time of the division of the earth, and died in his 207th year.

SERUG, was son of Reu, and father of Nahor, Gen. xi. 20-22. 1 Chron. i. 26. It is said that Serug was the first after the deluge that began to worship creatures. He thought he might adore the images of men, who had distinguished themselves by their virtues, and by their good deeds performed for mankind. This introduced the worship of the dead, and by consequence, idolatry and polytheism. "From him, Bochart conjectures that the town of Sarug was named, which was near Charræ, in Mesopotamia."

ANAMIM, son of Mizraim, Gen. x. 13. Anamim, if we may credit the paraphrast Jonathan, the son of Uzziel, peopled the Mareotis; or the Pentapolis of Cyrene, according to the paraphrast of Jerusalem.

NAPHTUHIM, son of Mizraim, and grandson of Ham. Gen. x. 13. Calmet thinks his posterity peopled that part of Ethiopia in Africa, between Syrene and Merce, of which Nepata was the capital; but the opinion of Bochart seems more probable, that they peopled Marmarica, west of Egypt, on the south coast of the Mediterranean; where a temple was built to the god Aptuchus, a name nearly resembling Naphtuhim. Nor is it improbable that Naphtuhim may be the NEPTUNE of

the Greeks, who was originally a Lybian, and had his temples usually built on the sea coasts.

NIMROD, son of Cush. Sacred history informs us, that "Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the earth;" that he was a " mighty hunter before the Lord," even to a proverb; and "the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Enech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." He was probably a great benefactor to mankind, in following the labours of the chase, and extirpating wild beasts. It is generally understood that he grasped at empire, and obtained it. It would seem that he took the lead of a company in his amusement; this would give him the habit of commanding, and fit him to be a ruler over men. It has been thought by some that he projected the building of Babel, which is not inconsistent with his character. Nimrod is most probably the Belus of prophane history, who is supposed to be the same with the Phoenician Baal. See the following article.

BELUS, in prophane history said to be the founder of the Babylonian empire; and is most probably the Nimrod of Scripture, and the Baal of Phoenicia. After his death he was deified. A temple was erected to him in the city of Babylon, on the uppermost range of the famous tower of Babel, wherein were many statues of this deity; and one, in particular, of massy gold, forty feet high. The whole furniture of this magnificent temple was of the same metal, and valued at 800 talents of gold. This temple, with its riches, existed till the time of Xerxes, who, returning from his unfortunate expedition into Greece, demolished it, and carried off the immense wealth it contained. It was the statue of this god which Nebuchadnezzar, on his return to Babylon, after the end of the Jewish war, set up and dedicated in the plain of Dura; the history of which is related at large by Daniel, chap. iii.

NINUS, the founder of the Assyrian empire, was the son of Belus. He was of a very martial and ambitious disposition, and is said to have trained up a vast number of his subjects to the use of arms, and having made an alliance with Arieus, king of the Arabians, he marched into the district of Babylonia, the capital of that name not having yet been founded, and easily subdued it. He then invaded Armenia, the king of which, on making his submission, he left upon the throne as his vassal. He next overthrew and put to death the King of Media, and placing a confidential government over that country, he proceeded to the conquest of the rest of Asia, all of which except Bactria and India, he reduced under his dominion. Returning to Assyria, he founded the mighty city of Nineveh. He again took the field for the purpose of conquering Bactria, which before resisted his arms, and the troops which he mustered on this occasion are stated at nearly two millions. He defeated

the king of the country in the field, but made little progress in the siege of his strong capital. At this juncture, the husband of the celebrated Semiramis, who was a principal officer in the army of Ninus, impatient of the absence of his spouse, sent for her to the camp before Bactria. This lady, distinguished for her courage, perceiving that the siege was feebly conducted, took a body of men with her; and climbing the rock upon which the citadel was seated, entered it, and thus gave the Assyrians the opportunity for becoming the masters of the town. Ninus first admired her valour, was afterwards captivated with her beauty, and was not easy till he made her the partner of his throne, and she brought him a son named Ninyas. He brought back immense spoils from Bactria. For a more particular account of Semiramis see the next article.

SEMIRAMIS, a celebrated queen of Assyria. She became the wife of Menones, the governor of Nineveh, and accompanied him to the siege of Bactria; where by her advice and prudent directions, she hastened the king's operations, and took the city. These eminent services, together with her uncommon beauty, endeared her to Ninus. The monarch asked her of her husband, and offered him his daughter Sosana in her stead; but Menones, who tenderly loved Semiramis, refused; and when Ninus had added threats to entreaties, he hanged himself. No sooner was Menones dead, than Semiramis, who was of an aspiring mind, married Ninus, and became the mother of Ninyas. Ninus was so partial to Semiramis, that at her request he resigned the crown, and commanded her to be proclaimed queen and sole empress of Assyria. Of this, however, he had reason to repent; Semiramis put him to death, to establish herself on the throne; and when she had no enemies to fear at home, she began to repair the capital of her empire, and by her means Babylon became the most superb and magnificent city in the world. She visited every part of her dominions, and left every where immortal monuments of her greatness. To render the roads passable and communication easy, she hollowed mountains, and filled up valleys, and water was conveyed at a great expence, by large and convenient aqueducts, to barren deserts and unfruitful plains. She was not less distinquished as a warrior. Many of the neighbouring nations were conquered. Semiramis has been accused of licentiousness; and some authors have asserted that she regularly called the finest men in her army to be the victims of her incontinence, and afterwards put them to death, that they might not be living witnesses of her abominations. It is said also that she cherished a criminal passion for her son, which induced Ninyas to destroy his mother with his own hands, which catastrophe took place in the 62nd year of her age, and the 25th of her reign.

NINYAS, the son of Ninus and Semiramis, and successor of the latter in the kingdom of Assyria, whom he is said to have put to death for her incestuous attachment to him. Little is recorded of his reign, but that he entrusted the care of his government to his favourites, and began that inglorious course of luxury and effeminacy, which, being pursued by his successors with increasing folly and extravagance, ended in the ruin of the empire under Sardanapalus.

NAHOR, the son of Serug, and grandfather of Abraham, was the shortest lived of the patriarchs before Abraham, having lived only 119 years.

TERAH, a patriarch, the son of Nahor, and the father of Abraham. He is said to have been a statuary.

HARAN, eldest son of Terah, and brother to Abraham and Nahor. Haran was father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. Nahor married Milcah; and Abraham, according to several interpreters, married Sarah, otherwise called Iscah; but this second name of Sarah is very dubious. Haran died before his father Terah; a circumstance which had not occurred among mankind till this time. Epiphanius says, that Haran was smitten by God as a punishment to his father Terah, who had invented the figures of new gods. The rabbins tell us, that Haran was accused by Terah for refusing to adore the deity fire, and was condemned to be cast into a burning furnace, where he was consumed in the presence of his father. Others say, that Abraham having set fire to the place where Terah's idols were, Haran attempted to rescue them from the flames, and was consumed.

NAHOR, the son of Terah, grandson of Nahor, son of Serug, and brother of Abraham. He resided at Haran, called also Nahor, in Mesopotamia, and married Milcah, his niece, who bore him eight sons; viz. Huz, or Uz, the progenitor of the Uzites, or Auzites, who inhabited the land of Uz, on the west side of the Euphrates, where Job dwelt. Buz, the ancestor of the Buzites, from whom Elihu was descended. Kemuel, the father of the Kemelites and of the Arameans or Syrians. Chesed, the father of a tribe of Chaldeans. Hazo, the ancestor of the Hazoys, Huzeans, or Chosseans, in Chusistan, in Persia. Pildash, whom Dr. Hyde makes the ancestor of the Persians. Jidlaph, and Bethuel, the father of Laban and Rebekah. Nahor had also other four sons by his concubine Reumah. Gen. xi. xxii. 21-24.

CHINE NOUNG, emperor of China. He is said to have taught his subjects agriculture, and the making of wine from rice. He was skilled in physic, mathematics, music, and poetry. This has no doubt a reference to one of the descendants of Noah, as Fohi has to Noah himself.

1921 Abraham leaves Haran to go into Canaan, which begins the sojourning of 430 years. About this time Hermes is supposed to have flourished.

1856 Inachus founds the kingdom of Argos in Greece.

1796 The Deluge of Ogyges in Attica.

1635 The death of Joseph, prime minister of Egypt.

Ir appears, that about this period several kingdoms were founded in different parts of the world; and which were great or small according to circumstances. The Scripture mentions the kings of Egypt, Gerar, Sodom, Gomorrah, &c. in the time of Abraham. The kings in Scripture, however, were little more than the chiefs of tribes.

In reference to prophane history, it is necessary to observe, that the early annals of all countries are intermixed with fables. In fact, the first historians were universally poets, whose metaphors and amplifications, and allegories, necessarily observed facts, or heightened them beyond the standard of probability. But, however rude may be the style of ancient chronicles, or however simple and puerile the observations with which they may be interspersed, they must not be rejected. We must endeavour as much as possible to separate fact from fable.

In this period we have a slight notice of philosophy, literature, and science.

ABRAHAM, at first named ABRAM, the founder of the Hebrew nation, was born at Ur, a city of Chaldea, about two thousand years before Christ.

Among the characters which history has transmitted to us with peculiar honour, is that of the patriarch Abraham. It appears from the testimonies of many ancient writers, preserved by Josephus and Eusebius, that the fame of his wisdom and virtue spread far and wide among the nations of the earth. He is mentioned by Justin, as king of Damascus, and the ancestor of Israel. The Arabians, among whom he is celebrated, boast of their descent from him by Ishmael. The Indians challenged