to the surrounding district, and sometimes to the whole country East of the Jordan. Connected with M'. Gilead was Mi. Abarim, which divided the waters of the Arnon and Jordan; one of it's tops was called Nebo, or Pisgah, Attarous, which God commanded Moses to ascend, and, having taken a view of the Land of Canaan, to die there. 41. Gamala Szammagh was a very strong place, in the North Western corner of the province, where the Jordan issues from the Lake of Tiberias; below it, and likewise on the river, was Bethabara, where John was for some time baptizing, and the place whither our Lord retired, when the Jews sought to take him at the feast of the Dedication. To the Eastward of these lay Pella, a city of the Decapolis, built by the Macedonians, in which the Christians, before the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, took refuge. Below Pella were Gerasa Djerash, and Jabesh Gilead; the latter was besieged by the Ammonites, but relievel by Saul, in gratitude for which, when it's inhabitants heard that the Philistines had fastened his body and those of his sons to the wall of Bethshan, they went by night and brought them to Jabesh, and having burnt them, buried their bones under a tree in their own city, fasting seven days. Ramoth-Gilead, one of the six cities of refuge, was situated on the R. Jabok, near the junction of which with the Dead Sea stood Amathus, an important city, which still preserves it's name in Amata. 42. Heshbon, or Hesebon 16, now called Esban, was the metropolis of the Amorites, and one of the chief cities of Peræa; it was situated in the Southern part of the province, on the borders of Reuben and Gad, but belonged to the former tribe near it stood Medaba Madeba, a place of considerable importance. Between Heshbon and the Dead Sea was Betharan, which was beautified and enlarged by Herod Antipas, who changed it's name to Livia, out of compliment to Augustus: hard by was the citadel Machærus, where John the Baptist is said to have been beheaded; it was destroyed by the Romans, but subsequently rebuilt by Herod. 43. A little above Heshbon was the valley of Shittim, so famous for the wood called in Scripture Shittim-wood; in it lay Abel Shittim, whence Joshua sent the two spies to Jericho, and the place where so many of the Israelites perished for having committed sin with the Moabites. To the S. of Heshbon was a warm spring called Lasa, or Callirhoe, in much repute for it's medicinal waters; and to the Eastward of it was Bamoth-Baal, whither Balaam was brought by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the Children of Israel. Campestria Moab, or the Plains of Moab, where the Israelites encamped prior to their passage of the Jordan, lay Eastward of this river on the brook Arnon. The district Ammonitis, at the source of the R. Jabok, was in Syria, and received it's name from Ammon, a son of Lot. It's capital was Rabboth-Ammon Amman, the old metropolis of the children of Ammon, which was afterwards called Philadelphia, after Ptolemy Philadelphus, by whom it was beautified and restored; it was one of the cities of the Decapolis. Rabboth-Ammon is memorable in Sacred History for being besieged and taken in the reign of David, as also for the death of Uriah, who was slain there by a design of David's during the siege. There was a suburb of the city, which was called the City of the Waters, where the king had his palace. 16 Next, Chemos, th' obscene dread of Moab's sons, From Aroer to Nebo, and the wild Of southmost Abarim; in Hesebon And Horonaim, Sihon's realm, beyond The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines, And Eleale to th' Asphaltic pool. Milton, Par. Lost, Book I. 498. CHAPTER XXII. COLCHIS, IBERIA, ALBANIA, ARMENIA, MESOPOTAMIA, ASSYRIA, ET BABYLONIA. COLCHIS. 1. COLCHIS1 was bounded on the N. by the R. Corax and M'. Caucasus, on the E. by the Moschici M., on the S. by the R. Acampsis, and on the W. by the Euxine Sea; to the N. it touched upon Sarmatia, to the E. upon Iberia, and to the S. upon Armenia and Pontus: it contained 8,400 square miles. It was celebrated in fable for the golden fleece, and for the expedition undertaken to obtain it by all the young princes of Greece headed by Jason2. 2. Colchis was inhabited by several tribes, each governed by it's own king till they were overpowered, first by the Persians, and then by the Romans. The most important of these tribes were the Lazi, who dwelled in the Southern part of the country, and obtained such an ascendency over all the other tribes, that in the lower ages their name was used to denote the inhabitants of the whole province, instead of that of Colchi: from them also Colchis was named Lazica. Near them, on the common borders of Armenia and Iberia, were the Moschi 3, who have given name to the Moschici M., a range of hills connecting the Caucasus with the Scydisses of Asia Minor. The Moschi are thought to have obtained both their appellation and their origin from Meshech, the son of Japhet, an opinion which is somewhat strengthened from the Seventy Interpreters having read the Hebrew vowels differently, and rendered the same name Mosoch. Meshech is often mentioned together with Tubal, and the two nations are alluded to in the prophecies of Ezekiel as carrying merchandize to Tyre, and trading in her markets with slaves and vessels of brass or steel. Hence they are supposed to have occupied not only Colchis and Iberia, but the contiguous parts of Armenia, Pontus, and Cappadocia ; for hereabouts dwelled the Chalybes, who were so famous for their manufactures of steel, and the · Εἶπ' ὠφελ ̓Αργοὺς μὴ διαπτάσθαι σκάφος Eurip. Med. 2. Apoll. Argon. B. 417. * Hei mihi cur unquam juvenilibus acta lacertis 3 Hinc Lacedæmonii, moto gens aspera freno, Chap. xxvii. 13. Ovid. Heroid. XII. 7. Lucan. III. 270. Cappadocian slaves were proverbially numerous 3. The Moscovites, or Muscovites, i. e. the inhabitants of Moscow in Europe, are likewise thought to have been originally a colony of Meshech, not only on account of the similarity of their names, but of their situation with respect to the Asiatic Moschi. It may also be stated that the R. Araxes in Armenia is said to be called Rosh by the Arabian geographers, and the people who lived upon it's banks were likewise named Rosh, or Rossi; and that there was anciently a district styled Ossarene on the limits of Iberia and Armenia, and a little river of the name of Corax forming the frontier between Sarmatia and Colchis all which names seem to bear some similarity with that of the Roxolani or Russians. In addition to this it may be observed, that the passage in the Prophe cies of Ezekiel, which in our translation is rendered the prince of the chief of Meshech and Tubal 6, is in the Septuagint and other versions translated the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; the Hebrew word Rosh being taken by some as an appellative, and by others as a proper name. The Manrali, who appear to have left their name in the modern district Mingrelia, dwelled in the Northern part of the province, at the foot of M'. Caucasus; close to them, on the W., were the cruel and piratical Heniochi 7, said to be descended from the 'Hvioxo, or charioteers of Castor and Pollux, a tradition probably connected with the settlement of some Greek colonies on this coast; they were subsequently displaced by the Abasci, whose name still exists in that of Abkhas. The Colchi, from their language and manners, were said by the profane authors to be Egyptians, who settled here when Sesostris extended his conquests into the North; they were a simple, unaffected people, and exceedingly clever in the manufacture of linen: their country produced excellent flax, and abounded in poisonous herbs. 3. Mount Caucasus? Caucasus is an extensive range, forming the Southern frontier of Sarmatia Asiatica, and blocking up as it were the Isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas; it extends from the Bosporus Cimmerius, now known as the St. of Enikale, to the mouths of the Cyrus or Kur. It is so lofty as to be covered in many parts with perpetual snow; it was anciently inhabited by various savage nations, who lived upon the wild fruits of the earth, and were supposed to gather gold on the shores of their rivulets. One of it's highest peaks was named Strobilus, and on it was said to be the rock, to which Prometheus was chained by Jupiter, till he was delivered by Hercules 10. 4. M'. Caucasus has been conjectured, with considerable probability, to have been so called from Gog, or Magog, Japhet's son, who settled hereabouts; the name of Gog is entirely preserved in that of Gogarene, a neighbouring district of Armenia, and it is likely enough that the modern province of Georgia has derived its appellation from the same word. The Western part of M'. Caucasus was called Corax, and in it was the source of Corax fl. Soukoum, which has been already noticed as forming the boundary of Colchis in this direction: near the mouth of this little river was Pityus Soukoum, a considerable and rich trading town, destroyed by the Heniochi, upon whose frontier it stood; it was afterwards rebuilt twice by the Romans, who made it their border-town in this quarter, but it was as often razed to the ground. Below it, likewise on the sea-coast, stood Dioscurias Iskuria, an old Milesian colony, fabled to have been founded by Castor and Pollux: it was afterwards called Sebastopolis, and became a great place of trade, as well as a general market for the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts. 5. The principal river of Colchis was the Phasis 11 Phaz, which rises in the M'. Moschici, and flows Westward into the Black Sea; it is a calm and gentle river, and was considered by some as the boundary between Europe and Asia: from it the Ancients often denoted Colchis by the epithet Phasiacus. The Phasis was remarkable for the beautiful birds which frequented it's banks, some of which are said to have been brought by the Argonauts to Greece, and called pariavo phasianæ aves, Anglice pheasants, after the river. The Rhion Rhion is a tributary of the Phasis, and it's name is not unfrequently applied to the whole stream. At the mouth of the river stood the cognominal town Phasis Poti, said to have been founded by a Milesian colony: above it was Ea, the old capital of Eetes, where the golden fleece was preserved when Jason reached the country 12. 6. Phryxus, the son of Athamas king of Thebes, being driven from his father's dominions by the machinations of his step-mother, sought refuge at the court of his relation Æetes, king of Colchis, to whom the mythologists say he was carried through the air on the back of a ram, which had been given to Athamas by the gods 10 Caucaseasque refert volucres, furtumque Promethei. Idem Caucasea solvet de rupe Promethei Virg. Ecl. VI. 42. Brachia, et a medio pectore pellet avem. Propert. II. i. 71. Val. Flacc. V. 156. In allusion to the fable of the huntress Æa having been changed into an island by the gods, to avoid the pursuit of her lover, the god of the R. Phasis. It was upon this island that the city Æa is said to have stood. as a reward for his piety; it's fleece was of gold. When he arrived safe at the court of Eetes, he sacrificed the ram on the altar of Mars, but preserved the golden fleece, which so attracted the envy of Eetes, that though he had received him kindly, and given him his daughter in marriage, he subsequently murdered him. This murder was some time after amply revenged by the Greeks. It gave rise to the famous expedition of Jason in the ship Argo, the voyage of which is variously described by the ancient poets and historians. The golden fleece is explained by the immense treasures, which Phryxus carried away from Thebes; the ram is supposed to have been the ship which carried him, and was either so called, or had the figure of this animal on her prow.-Cyta, or Cutasium, Kutais, lay some distance to the Eastward of Æa, on the R. Rhion; it was an important city, and the birth-place of the fair enchantress Medea, who is hence called Cytæis 13. In the Southern part of Colchis was Bathys fl., still preserving it's name in Batoum: near it was the Acampsis Tchorak, which formed the boundary between this province and Pontus, and derived it's name from the fury with which it rushed from the mountains into the sea; it rises in Paryadres M. in Armenia. IBERIA. 7. IBERIA 14 was bounded on the W. by Colchis, on the N. by Sarmatia Asiatica, on the E. by Albania, and on the S, by Armenia; it contained 12,200 square miles, and corresponded in a general way with the modern province of Georgia: some traces of it's name may still be observed in the neighbouring district of Imeretia. It was at first governed by it's own princes, but became subsequently tributary to the Persians and the Romans. It was a mountainous and fertile country, but had otherwise nothing in common with the European Iberia except the name: the inhabitants were from their manners and language, said by the profane authors to be Armenians or Medes. Josephus, however, expressly states that Tubal, the son of Japhet, was the father of the Asiatic Iberians, and that these people, whom the Greeks called Iberi, were originally named Thobeli, from Tubal. The appellation of the neigh bouring province Albania is likewise thought by some critics to carry with it the remains of Tubal, and this from several towns being met with in it bearing great affinity to the same name, as Thabilaca, Theleba, Thelbis, and Ábliana. The tradition, preserved by the Iberians or Spaniards, that they are descended from Tubal, can only be maintained by their having been a colony of the Asiatic Iberi: they were generally termed |