the Syrians themselves called Sizara, as Stephanus obferves. CHA P. But now there were no Greek cities in Affyria in the days of V. Xenophon, i. e. before Alexander the Great; and confequently no Lariffa: it is likely therefore that the Greeks asking, what city thofe were the ruins of, the Affyrians might answer Larefen, i. e. of Refen; which word Xenophon expreffed by Lariffa, a fomewhat like name of several Greek cities. And thus much for the kingdom of Nimrod,

CHAP.

I.

The feries of the facred

tinued.

THE

CH A P. VI.

Of Chaldea, Ur of the Chaldees, and Haran.

facred Hiftorian having given us an account of the attempt to build the tower of Babel, of the confusion of hiftory con- tongues, and difperfion of mankind enfuing thereupon, and alfo of the kingdom erected by Nimrod; he then haftens to the history of Abraham, giving us a genealogical account of his descent from Sem, Gen. xi. 10-26. After which he informs us, that Terah the father of Abraham, taking this his son with him, and Lot his grandfon by Haran, and Sarah Abraham's wife, left Ur of the Chaldees, for to go into Canaan, and that being come unto Haran, they dwelt there. We are then to fhew the fituation of these two places, Ur of the Chaldees and Haran. And in order to discover the fituation of the former, it is requifite to premise fomething of the country of the Chaldees, or Chaldea.

2.

The land of

whence fo

tent com

en.

It is certain, then, that by the name of Chaldea in afterthe Chaldees ages was denoted the country lying between Mefopotamia to or Chaldea, the north, Sufiana to the east, the Perfian Bay to the fouth, called; and and Arabia Deserta to the weft. Its capital city was Babyin what ex-lonia, hence called by Ifaiah the prophet, the beauty of the monly tak- Chaldees excellency. From this its capital city, the whole country of Chaldea came to be denoted by the name of Babylonia; and so these two words to be frequently used promifcuously: though fome writers make a distinction between them, but not the fame. For fome make Chaldea in a restrained sense to be a province of Babylonia ; others make Babylonia a province of Chaldea, namely, that part which lay about the city of Babylon. That Babylon was fo called by the Greeks, from its Hebrew name Babel, is not to be doubted and that this city took the name of Babel, from its

being

2

1

being built in or near the place where the tower of Babel CHAP. was begun, is fcarcely to be queftioned. As for the name of ví. Chaldea, the rife of it is not fo clear; but fince the Chaldeans are called in Hebrew Chafdim, hence it is commonly thought, that they took their name from Chefed, one of the fons of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, and mentioned Gen. xxii. 22. For the fingular Chefed will regularly make the plural, which may be read, either Chefadim according to the common grammatical form, or elfe, with a fmall variation, Chafdim. From this, inftead of Xaodai Chafdæi, the Greeks formed the fofter word Xandao Chaldæi. Upon the whole, therefore, as to the bare etymology of the word Chaldees or Chaldeans, it might be very well deduced from the word Chefed. But how the forementioned son of Nahor, called by this name, fhould come to give his name to the nation of the Chaldeans, or country of Chaldea, it is not fo eafy to account for. We do not find in history that either Chefed, or any of his defcendants, the Chafdim, came to be mafters of this country, and fo to impofe their own name thereon as conquerors. Some therefore fuppofe, that Chefed or his defcendants might be the authors of fome fignal benefit to the inhabitants of this country; particularly, that they might firft inftruct them in the art of aftronomy, for which they are fo famous in ancient hiftory. And hence because of the extraordinary esteem the ancients feem to have had for this science, the people of this country either might out of vainglory affect themselves to go under this name, or effe might be called thereby by others, out of a distinguishing respect for their skill in fo celebrated an art. This opinion feems to be fomewhat favoured, in that, when they are mentioned on account of this art, they are (I think) ufually termed Chaldeans, rather than Babylonians; infomuch that a Chaldean and an aftronomer may seem to have been equivalent terms. It is obvious from the facred hiftory, that, whatever was the occafion of the name of the Chaldeans, if they took it from the aforefaid Chefed, or any of his defcendants, their country must be in the forecited texts, Gen. xi. 28, 31. fo called 'by the facred Historian proleptically; that is, by the land of the

Chaldees,