become innavigable IV. These Overflowings being prevented by Trenches which could be easily made in that Country its ground being â—very fat and â—oft but wanted often to be renewed and by Sluces The Arabians following that example to avoid a contrary evil I mean the drought of their Sandy Ground began to divert the Waters of the Euphrates and to draw them to themselves and having watered their Soil they let the overplus run into the Sea This overplus was dried up since by new Cuttings It may be also that this Conduit was but a Torrent which in Summer run into the Sea when the Euphrates overflowed However the Assyrians and Babylonians who by reason of a long Possession considered these Waters as their own opposed this Theft of the Arabians and thereupon arose great Quarrels betwixt those Nations It seems that to make an end of those Quarrels and restore to the Babylonians what belonged to them Alexander undertook to re-establish the Euphrates in its former Chanel by stopping the Canal called Pallacopas which made that River run another way Those that digged this Ditch had no other design but to hinder the Overflowings of this River which happened every Summer by conveying its Waters into Ponds and Meers but the Babylonians Territory remaining dry throughout all the rest of the Year and that of the Arabians injoying the benefit of it Alexander designed to restore things to their former State as a Governor of Babylon had before undertaken to do The work was begun but the death of that Prince hindred it from being finished then as it hath been since Alexander viewed several of these Conduits caused them to be made clean opened some stopped others and caused some new ones to be made Many other Princes took the same care One may see still along the common Chanel of the Tigris and Euphrates on the right hand and on the left many Canals made by the Industry of Men. The Persians who did not understand Navigation neither Commerce or Sea-fights and being afraid that their Country should be invaded by means of the Tigris and Euphrates caused Falls and Cataracts to be made in many places of those Rivers Alexander restored them to their natural State so thaâ— Ships could go up the Tigris as far as Opis and Seleucia and up the Euphrates as far as Babylon and thus Art wrestling against Nature all that Country hath been altered V. Moreover the Sea that runs impetuously into the Persian Gulf through the Streights of Ormus and the Tides whereof come thirty Leagues up into the Euphrates falls with great Vehemency upon that Coast which is the Extremity of the Gulf and maketh a great Ravage in it These violent Tides with the swiftness of the Tigris and a Storm that came on a sudden put Trajan and his Legions in a great danger near the Island made by the separation of the Tigris and Euphrates That Country is flat and in some places is defended by Banks but in many others the Waters of the Sea breaking easily in destroy by their sharp Salt the Fruits of the Earth and make it barren The same aforementioned Nebuchadonâ—zor who performed so many great things subdued this Sea by strong Banks as he had subdued the Euphrates and repressed the Robberies of the Arabians who even at that time were very great Thieves by causing the City of Teredon to be built on the Limits of their Country pretty near that place towards the East the Waters of the Rivers carried so much Mud along with them to their mouth that the Sea was thereby very much put back Insomuch that the Fort of Spasina situated on the Coast betwixt the easterly mouth of the Tigris and that of the Euleus which formerly was but half a League from the Sea was distant from it by fifty Leagues in Pliny's time who assures us that no where else so great and quick a gain ever happened Yet I am much inclined to think that there is a mistake in the Cypher which is but too common in the Books of the Ancients I know the same Pliny said after Theophrastus that the Euphrates and Tigris carry no mud along with them but this cannot be understood but of their Waters that are near their Springs for all overflowing Rivers must necessarily become muddy and the modern Travellers inform us that the Waters of the Euphrates drawing near the Sea are very yellow and muddy Besides that the Fort of Spasina lieth not on the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris nor on that of the Euleus but on the Shore between the mouths of those Rivers Succession of time hath put the Sea into its â—ights again for the Inhabitants of the Country shew the place of a great Town that lies under Water Besides all these alterations there are to be seen along the Banks of the Tigris and Euphrates the Ruins of many fine Cities the Riches and Greatness whereof are so much extolled in the ancient Histories VI. One may wonder that so learned Men as were Card. Bellarmin and the Fathers Malvenda and Bonfrere could deny that the Tigris and Euphrates being joined together do separate themselves again before they enter into the Sea What will then become of that great Island made by their separation called at present Chader which Philostorgins so plainly describes when he says that the Messenians are the Inhabitants of it that it is surrounded partly with Sea partly with sweet Water viz. That of two great Rivers into which the Tigris is divided before it runs into the Sea And we must not take for an Exaggeration what he says about the largeness of these two Canals since that of the Euphrates and Tigris is twice and half as broad as the Seine at Paris tho' â—t be extraordinary deep To the Testimony of Philostorgiâ—s you may add that of Asiniâ—s Quadratus spoken of by Steâ—â—anus the Geographer who says that this Country called Messena is in compassed by the Tigris and Euphrates You may yet join to it the Testimony of Ptolomy who assigns two mouths to the Tigris the one Easterly and the other Westerly and placeth the City of Teâ—edon in the midst But the Cyphers of the Situation of this Town are faulty in that Author for it doth not lye in the Island but on the Arabian Bank of the â—vesterly Canal and the Ruins of it are to be seen at present Add moreover the Suffrage of Xiphilinus who says that Trajan possessed himself of that Island called Messena made by the Tigris towards its mouth and where he had been exposed to â—â—reat danger Add also that of Marcion of Heraclea who speaks of the easterly mouth of the Tigris and consequently supposes there was a westerly one And finally add to â—t the Testimony of the Travellers of these late times and especially of Teixâ—ira a Portuguese and of Mr. Thevenot a Frenchman who have seen and described the division of these two
with the East it followed that the Phison was the Ganges it was also thought that he finished with the West and by consequence that the Gehon was the Nile Besides they perswaded themselves that this was the opinion of the Seventy Interpreters because in the second Chapter of Jeremiah they rendred the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schichor by that of Gehon III. This place is worth considering God upbraideth the Israelites that they forgot to trust upon him and did fly for help to the Egyptians and Assyrians And now says God unto them What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile The Seventy Interpreters translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Water of Gehon And St. Jerom Troubled Water Schichor doth not properly signifie troubled but it signifies black and the Nile was called so by reason of the blackness of its Waters The Egyptians did upon that account draw its Picture in black under the Person of Osiris and the Graecians called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 black and the Latin Melo from whence some derive the word Nilus But they are mistaken for it cometh from the word Nuchul which was the name given to it by those that dwelt on the sides of it as Aethicus the Geographer informs us Nuchul is the same with the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nachal which signifies a Torrent as the sacred Authors often call it by reason of its frequent Overflowings occasioned by the Rains As from Nachal or Nâ—chul came the word Nilus so from Schichor came Siris and Sirius which are both of them names of the Nile and the last hath been given to the Dog-star because the overflowing of the Nile begins in the Dog days Yet as the Water of that River is black only because it is full of the Mud of Egypt the Soil whereof is black for which reason it received the Epithet of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Jerom's Translation who rendreth it troubled may take place taking the Effect for the Cause Perhaps the Seventy Interpreters upon the same account had writ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earthy or muddy Water which 〈…〉 hath been changed into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet I do not affirm it because some ancient Interpreters of the Translation of the Seventy Interpreters and the Fathers of the Church who cite that place constantly read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IV. Since the Nile was taken for the Gehon the Egyptians a very Superstitious Nation and the Gymnosophists themselves Philosophers of great repute set no bounds to the Worship they presented it They not only believed its Spring to be Sacred they not only adored and invoked it as the greatest of Gods under the name of Osiris which name as I said is derived from Schichor under the name of Orus and of Jupiter they not only instituted in its Honour the most solemn of their Feasts and consecrated to it some Priests but they also said that it descended from Heaven The Turks and Jews without a further inquiry believed them on their word and suffered themselves to be perswaded that this Water was Holy so much the easier because the Spring of it was unknown to them Homer who had travelled and studied in Egypt learned that Doctrine there for he calls the Nile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Come from Jupiter And that is true in one respect as Strabo and Eustathius observed it for its overflowing is meerly caused by Rains which Jupiter is the dispenser of according to the Poets and this the Ancients were not ignorant of so that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Homer properly signifies in that sense fallen from the Clouds Plautus speaking of a River which he doth not name had probably in his mind that Epithet of Homer and intended to describe the Nile when he said that its Spring is in Heaven under the Throne of Jupiter The Aethiopians in like manner called the Nile Astapus which in their own Language signifies Water come out of darkness but upon another account either because they did not know its Spring or because it hid it self under the Earth in some places Although the Egyptians saying that the Nile came from Heaven may have spoken as natural Philosophers to express its nature yet they have also spoken as Divines meaning that the Nile came from Paradise which is in Heaven not distinguishing it from the Earthly one The Brachmans say the same of the Ganges and they call it Celestial River as the Nile was called a River come from Jupiter And the Mahometans upon the same account give the same origin to the Oxus which they call Gâ—â—on to the Tigris and to the Euphrates They give it also to the Taxart which they call Sichom for which I see no other reason than the nearness of those Rivers and of their Branches which made those People believe that they had the same Spring and consequently that not one could come from Heaven but all must also necessarily come from thence They confounded perhaps this Sichom with another River of the same name in Cilicia It is that which the ancient Graecian Geographers call Cydnus Another River in the same Province called Gehon occasioned their mistake It is the Pyramus of the Ancients It runneth through the City of Adana of which I had occasion to speak before The name Adana is the same with Eden This was sufficient to make that Nation believe that this Eden was the place where Paradise was situated and that those Rivers came from thence Abulâ—â—da an Arabian Geographer falsly imagined that those two Rivers came together near Adana and jointly entred into the Sea They heard besides of another River in the same Province called Paâ—â—dise Pliny marked it and some others also All these obscure Idea's joined with the gross and rustical Ignorance of the Mahometans made them fansie that the River Sichom came from Heaven V. The want of knowing the truth hath not only made the name of Gehon to be common to the Nile and Oxus but it also hath applied to those Rivers one of the most remarkable accidents that ever happened upon the Nile I mean that of Moses when he was exposed upon it Teixeira tells us of one like this concerning Darab King of Persia He says the Queen his Mother was forced to expose him in a Cradle on the Oxus that he was saved by a Man who being surprised at his Beauty and pitying his Misfortune had him brought up by his Wife and that at last he came to the Crown by his own Merit VI. I come now to the other opinion which comes nearer the truth and supposes the Gehon to be the most westerly Chanel of the two into which the Tigris and Euphrates joined together are divided when they separate again to enter into the Sea It is the opinion of the Doctors of Lovain of Scaliger and of most of the Modern Interpreters who
this was grosly mistaken â—hen he changed the words of Stephanus and put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to that commendable Custom of the Criticks to alter in the Works of the Ancients all what they do not understand That part of the Province of Chus that lies towards Arabia did not extend it self much from the Gulf and from the Sea which is beyond the mouth of the Gulf and was really a border and there would be no reason to extend it to the easterly side of Arabia and to the westerly mouth of the Euphrates in order to countenance the opinion that taketh that mouth for the Gehon The Limits of the Arabian Chus were never extended so far and it is a decisive proof against that opinion concerning the Gehon as on the contrary if I make good that Susiana had that name and hath it still at present it will be a most evident proof that the Gehon is the easterly mouth of the Euphrates II. All the Journals of Travellers do inform us that Susiana is now called Chuzestan a name made up of the word Chuz and the Persical Termination Benjamin of Navarre says that the great Province of Elam whereof Susa is the Metropolis and which the Tigris waters is called so That Province of Elam is Elymais which extendeth it self as far as the Coast of the Persian Gulf at the East of the mouth of the Euphrates The Nubian Geographer and some other Arabians call it Churestan but it is probably an oversight of the Copiers who did not distinguish the letter r from z of the Arabians which only differ by one point The Inhabitants of the Land call it absolutely Chus if we will believe Marius Niger The same Region is called Cutha in the Book of Kings according to the variety of Dialects and it is partly from thence that Salmanasar transported a Colony into Samaria to fill the room of its Inhabitants and of the Ten Tribes which he had turned out and sent into another place This new Colony which was afterwards known under the name of Samaritans kept also the name of its origin and was called the Cutheans Scaliger with all his great Learning was grosly mistaken when he said that the Samaritans were called Cutheans from a City in Colchis called Cytaea whither Salmanasar transported the Ten Tribes The Samaritans were called Cutheans from the Province Cutha whence they came and the Ten Tribes were not transported into Colchis but into Assyria and tho' they had been transported into Colchis it would be ridiculous to think that the Samaritans have taken their name from a City whence they did not come and where they did not live but meerly because the Ten Tribes whose Country they possessed went to live there I know not where Josephus found that River Cuthus which he says is the original of Cutha a name given to that Province of Persia The word Cutha or Cuth came from the word Chus the last letter whereof is often changed by the Chaldaeans into a t or th giving it a harder and less whistling sound as Dion hath observed So they said Thor for Sor Attyria for Assyria Yet we must not give credit to what some Men imagined that the name of the City of Susa which was the Metropolis of that Land comes from Chus It took its name from the Lilies whereof there is a great plenty in that Soil and the Lily is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Susan in the Hebrew Tongue The Graecians were not ignorant of that Etymology and many amongst them observ'd it III. There are yet many other marks of the word Chus found in Susiana We find there the Cosseans neighbours to the Uxians according to the Position of Pliny Ptolomy and Arrian Schickard was under a mistake when he supposed that those Cosseans had given their name to the Province of Chuzestan The name of Chuzestan and that of the Cosseans come from the same root to wit from Chus and not one from the other The name of Cissia and of the Cissians come also from thence It was a little Province of Susiana which gave its name to all the Susians The Poet Aeschylus taketh also notice of a City of that name situated in the same Land and which is remarkable he doth distinguish it by its Antiquity He calls also the Mother of Memnon Cissia that is to say Aurora Memnon was the Son of Tithonus and Aurora Titâ—onus was a Brother to Priam King of Troy and he was thought to have founded the City of Susa Metropolis of Susiana From the name of Memnon his Son the Cittadel was called Memnonium the Palace and Walls Memnonians and Susa it self the City of Memnon by reason of the great esteem they had for him It is that Memnon who came to succour the Trojans from whom he descended and was slain by Achilles When the Graecians feigned that he was Son of Aurora they meant that he came from the East according to a common expression of the Hebrew Tongue and very familiar to the Prophets who call the People of the East Sons of the East for those Countries which the Euphrates run through towards its mouth were properly called the East Many Interpreters think that in the same sence Isaiah called Nabuchodonozor or Balthasar Luciser Son of Aurora IV. I know very well that most of the ancient Authors said that Memnon was an Aethiopian Their mistake is a consequence of that by which Chus that signifieth Susiana hath been confounded with Chus that signifies the Countries situated on the shores of the Arabian Gulf I mean Aethiopia and Arabia and the Gehon with the Nile thus one mistake draws another after it and when we once miss the right way all the following steps are but so many wanderings The Egyptians and Aethiopians adopted very willingly that Hero and thought it would be a great Honour to them to have for their Countryman such an illustrious Person But finding nothing of it in their Archives nor in their Histories they put his Person Name and Deeds upon such of their Kings whose Life was most like to his Amenophis seemed to them very proper to serve their turn tho' he lived long before the War of Troy He had been warring in Asia he had been in Phrygia and had lived at Susa This agreeableness and likeness of names betwixt Memnon and Amenophis seemed to them a sufficient ground to say that they were one and the same They built him Temples in many places and especially in the great City Thebes they offered him Sacrifices and worshipped him as a God They shewed in that City and other places some Palaces which they called Memnonians as were those of Susa And there they set up to him that marvellous Statue which made a merry and loud noise when the Sun-rising shined upon it and seemed to groan and shed Tears when the night drew near Many supposed it had been
Valley deserved the Name of Eden or rather of Beth-Eden that is to say House of Pleasure by reason of its Fertility and Pleasantness This induced some to believe That the earthly Paradise stood there and they were the more perswaded of it because they found in the Neighbourhood a Town called Paradise mentioned by Pliny and Ptolomy They sought also there the place where Adam was created and that where Cain killed his Brother and perswaded themselves to have found 'em there But all these Conjectures disappear when you go to compare 'em with the Text of Moses and all the Circumstances that are marked in it and when you find there neither Phison nor Gehon nor Chavilah nor Chus Such was Adana a Town in Cilicia so called by reason of the goodness of its Soil and the pleasantness of its Situation Such is also the Village of Eden near Tripoli in Syria on the way which leads unto Libanon where some have placed the earthly Paradise And finally such is that famous Port called Adana or Aden so much resorted to these many Hundred Years which for having been the most delightful place of a very delightful Country I mean of the Arabia Felix hath been called it self Arabia Felix as comprehending in it all the Beauties of that Country Tho' besides that Adana there was another in the middle of the same Country bearing the same Name with the first for the same Reason It is no wonder then that the Arabians who inhabited that Province believed that Paradise was amongst ' em VII Having as I think clearly demonstrated that the Name of Eden is the proper Name of a Place we must now endeavour to discover its Situation that we may know that of Paradise which was the noblest Part of it We read in the fourth Book of Kings and in Isaiah That Sennacherib King of Assyria designing to terrifie Ezechias who had rebelled against him boasts that he had destroyed the Countries of Gozan of Haran of Reseph and of the Children of Eden who were in Thelassar The Learned agree that Gozan is the Gauzanitis a Province in Mesopotamia that Haran and Reseph are Carrhae and Rescipha Cities in the same Land of Mesopotamia the first of which hath been famous by the overthrow of Crassus That Eden is the same Country where Moses hath placed Paradise and that Thelassar is Talatha a City in Babylonia placed by Ptolomy upon the Canal of the Tigris and Euphrates join'd together And when Stephanus the Geographer speaks of a City on the Euphrates called Adana we are almost sure that he means some retired place of the Inhabitants of the Land of Eden which took its Name from it In the Prophecy of the Prophet Ezekiel about the destruction of Tyre when he enumerates the Nations with whom this powerful City used to Trade he puts Haran and Chene and Eden together Here is again Haran and Eden joined together which shews That the same places are to be understood as in the precedent Text that is Carrhae in Mesopotamia and the Country of Eden mentioned by Moses And the Interpreters agree to it Now in these Two places the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden is marked with Six Points which shews how vain is the forementioned distinction of the Rabbins betwixt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden marked with Five Points and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eden marked with Six The Land of Eden extended it self below yea perhaps also above the coming together of the Tigris and Euphrates and took up a good part of that vast Country which hath since been called Babylonia At first Babylonia ended at the joining together of the Tigris and Euphrates The Land which lies below that coming together as far as the Persian Gulf is called Iraque by Alferganus commonly called Alfragan by Abulfeda and other Arabian Geographers from the Name Erec which with Babylon and other places was the beginning of the Kingdom of Nimrod These are the Words of Moses Ere◠was a Town situated on the common Canal of the Tigris and Euphrates Babylon was situated on the Euphrates above the joining of the Two Rivers These Two Towns gave their Name to Two Provinces Babylonia extended it self as far as the joining of the Rivers and the Province of Erec or Iraque extended it self all along the common Canal of these two Rivers on the Right and the Left Hand from their joining together to their coming into the Sea Time hath altered these things Iraque hath extended it self to Babylonia Assyria and Media and gave 'em its Name and Babylonia possessed it self of the whole ancient Province of Iraque I say then that the earthly Paradise was situated in Eden a part of the Province of Babylonia or Iraque which extended it self all along the common Chanel of the Two great Rivers near the place where was the ancient Town of Erec or Aracca according to the Position of Ptolomy CHAP. III. A Continuation of the Explanation of the Eighth Verse I. New Ambiguity of this Verse in the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 II. Mikkedem may signifie both Time and Place III. We might prove it by the ancient Custom of the Christians of turning their Churches Eastward IV. Moses makes constantly use of the Word Mikkedem to signifie a Place V. Moses meant here by the Word Mikkedem that Paradise was situated in the Eastern Part of Eden I. VErse 8. Eastward the Hebrew Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mikkedem which I render by this Word Eastward is the Cause of a great many new Ambiguities and diversity of Explanations For as it may signifie both Time and Place the Author of the Vulgar Translation who is no other here than St. Jerom the Graecian Translators Aquila Theodotion and Symmachus the Chaldaick Paraphrasts Onkelos and Jonathan and the Interpreters who make open Profession of following the Vulgar Translation have taken it in the first Sence and rendred it in the beginning This very Translation is ambiguous for some understand it as if this Garden had been planted before the Creation of the World The Author of the Fourth Book of Esdras Jonathan the Paraphrast and St. Jerom himself as I told you before are of that Opinion Some make it only as old as the World and the greatest part pretend that it was planted the Third Day of the Creation Those who believe that by the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mikkedem is meant a Place and not Time are not all of the same Mind for some are perswaded that it signifies the extremity of the East others and those more in number and of greater Learning maintain That the Word East is never given in Scripture to the Regions that are beyond the Persian Gulf but only to those that lie betwixt that Gulf and Judaea I mean Arabia Chaldaea Mesopotamia and Persia I shall add this Proof to theirs That the Chaldaeans who dwelt towards the lower part of the Euphrates were called Sabaeans
to say of one whâ— coming out of the Garden had taken Shipping on the River that having failed a while he entred into the Phison or Tigris In this one must not consider the great River with its four branches in respect to the running of its Water but in respect to the disposition of its Chanel It must be looked upon as an High-way of which it may be said that it crosses over a Forest and from thence divides it self into four ways whether the division be made above or below the Forest Moses did not say whether the division of the River happened above or below Paradise or whether it happens near or far He denoted it plainly enough when he named the four Chanels or Rivers which grew from that division Those four Rivers were so well known in the places where Moses then was and to those to whom he wrote that it was enough to name them that they might be known Yet he was not contented with it and as if he had foreseen that future Ages and far Nations who were also concerned in the design of his work might want some clearing of this matter he gave so evident tokens to make those Rivers known that no Man can mistake them but for want of heed and cannot but easily perceive that the four Rivers which divided the great River of Paradise were the Euphrates and Tigris above it and under it the two branches which divide the common Chanel of the Tigris and Euphrates before it falls into the Persian Gulf. And this will be made evident by what follows CHAP. VI. Explanation of the eleventh Verse I. A general Idea of the running of the Euphrates and Tigris II. The Land which the Euphrates and Tigris run through is much altered since the time of Moses III. The Euphrates had at first but one Chanel which joined it to the Tigris but many others have since been drawn out of it IV. More Chanels yet drawn out of the Euphrates V. Other alterations in those parts VI. Some denied without any ground that the Tigris and Euphrates being joined together do separate themselves again before they fall into the Sea I. VErse 11. The name of the first is Phison that is it that compasseth the whole land of Chavilah where there is gold Verse 12. And the gold of that land is good there is Bdellium and the Onyx-stone Before we treat in particular of the Rivers of Paradise it is necessary to give the Reader an Idea of the running of the Euphrates and Tigris without which he can not but with difficulty understand what I have to say The Euphrates hath its Spring in the great Armenia on the northerly side of the Mount Abos which is a branch of the Taurus The Tigris hath its Spring in the same Land on the southerly side of the Mount Niphates which is another branch of the Taurus These two Springs are above a hundred Leagues off from one another The Euphrates takes its course towards the West the Tigris towards the East and they incompass Mesopotamia one of the most famous and fruitful Countries upon Earth They come after that together by many Chanels which incompass the ancient Babylonia Then again making but one Chanel they run on towards the South and before they enter into the Persian Gulf they part from one another again and incompass a great Island which formerly was called Messene and now is called Chader II. In the time of Moses the figure of that Land was very different from what it hath been since and is now the Industry of Men the Power of the Kings of Assyria Egypt and Persia and of the Caliphs who by turns were Masters of those Countries the length of Time the Violence of the Sea and the Overflowings of Rivers have caused many Alterations in it Of the five Chanels that carry the Water of the Euphrates into the Tigris and many Lakes four have been made by the Industry of Men that only which run through the great City of Babylon is natural This seems not to agree with the opinion of some ancient Authors who have writ that the Euphrates entred into the Sea towards the West by a mouth peculiar to it self and quite different from those two which since this River and the Tigris had in common from whence one might inferr that in Moses's time the Euphrates was not joined with the Tigris These Authors add That this Chanel being very much cut and diâ—erted by the Arabians called Scenites to water their dry and barren Country is become so weak and diminished so much as not to be able to run into the Sea as it happened to the Rhine by reason of the frequent Cuts made by the Dutch III. But so great a River as the Euphrates swelled with many Rivers and increased every Summer by the melted Snows and Torrents from the Mount Taurus was able enough in those beginnings to make two Chanels because it afterwards made so many others Some were first made only to prevent the Overflowings that ruined the Country their number was since increased to water such Countries as wanted Water Nebuchadonozor who was a very great Prince and undertook many high things signalized himself in those Works and that he might free that Country from the Waters of the Euphrates under which it was wholly drowned digged the chief Chanels and to prevent the Country from growing dry he made very large Ponds and Sluces and mastered that unruly River and its troublesom Waters But tho' this great quantity of Water might at first furnish the Canal that fell into the Tigris and that which ran towards Arabia and entred into the Sea it is yet more credible that the Euphrates had but one natural Canal by which it emptied it self into the Tigris and that the other which diverted it towards the West was the work of the Arabians All the Ancients and even those who best described these Canals made by hand do affirm so constantly that the Euphrates joined naturally with the Tigris and that those who digged some others did but follow the Indication of Nature that the contrary cannot be said without rashness We read in an ancient Fragment of Abydenus quoted by Eusebius that all that Land was at first so covered with Water that it was called the Sea This could not be but by the overflowing of the Euphrates whose Chanel is very high so that when it found any way to come out it was by a natural fall carried into the flat Country of the Babylonians and having ran over it it necessarily fell into the Tigris which was near and whose Chanel was very low And this obliged Trajan to leave off the design which he had to draw a new Trench from the Euphrates to the Tigris that Boats might be brought thither of which he designed to make a Bridge over the Tigris He was afraid that too great a draining should happen of the Waters of the Euphrates and that it should
erected to Amenophis or Sesostris The Rabbi Benjamin tells a thing in the Journal of his Voyage which perswades me that the Aethiopians set up that Statue to imitate the Susians He says that he went from Catif and came in seven days to Haeula Some learned Men hold that Haoula is the Isle of Ceilan contrary to all probability since he could not have gone thither in seven days He adds that it is situated on the entrance of that Country where the Posterity of Chus worship the Sun that they have upon their Altars some Circles or Globes like to that of the Sun and that at the rising of the Sun those Globes turn with a great noise I judge by that account that those Nations were Susians or their Off-spring and that they learned of them the Art to make such Solar-Statues which were a kind of Talismans which some perswade themselves to be what the Scripture calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chammanim and there is no doubt but that of Memnon was of that kind V. No body is ignorant in what Honour and Veneration the Sun was amongst the Persians Assyrians Babylonians and especially the Sabians of whom I have spoken before This People used to set up Statues to the Sun and to the other Planets They imagined the Stars did impart to them by their Influences the Faculty of Hearing Speaking and declaring to Men things to come Their name Sabians signifies in the Arabian Tongue easterly The proof hereof is this Their Book concerning Husbandry which the Rabbins quote under the name of the easterly Book was intitled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hahaboda Hannabathiia the Nabathean Husbandry that is to say easterly witness this Verse of Ovid's Eurus ad Auroram Nabathaeáque Regâ—a recessit Eurus the East Wind went toward Aurora and the Nabathéan Kingdoms The Sabians were called easterly because all that Land which lieth betwixt the Persian Gulf and Judaea was called the East as I already said They dwelt at first Chaldaea and their Books say that Abraham a Chaldaean by Birth was persecuted by one of their Kings for not complying with the Religion that was in use in that Country and refusing to worship the Sun They dwelt also farther below along the Euphrates where they left some marks of their name behind them for they call at present Sabbi the Christians of St. John that dwell about the City of Bassora which was built in the second year of the Hegira by Omar the second Caliph and is about two days Journey from the joining of the Tigris and Euphrates at the same distance from the Sea and betwixt the 30 and 31 degree These Sabians spread themselves afterwards through all the East and their name became at last the name of a Sect rather than of a Nation and that Sect was still the same with that of the ancient Chaldaeans The learned Rabbi Moses Son of Maimon meaning that Abraham had been bred up in the Land of the Sabians says that he had been bred up in the Land of Cutha that is to say in the Land of Chus which is Susiana And if because the Aethiopians worshipped also the Sun one should apply to them Benjamin's words the distance of the places would not suffer it for how could he have gone in seven days from Catif into Aethiopia But besides that the Series of his Narrative sheweth that he went towards the East and Aethiopia lies on the West Strabo a Man of good Sense and very honest having followed Aelius Gallus as far as Thebes in Egypt saw and heard that Statue at the rising of the Sun Yet he dares not affirm that none of those that were present did imitate that noise for the honour of their Country Germanicus saw it also Pliny says it was made out of a stone called Basalta by the Egyptians because it hath the colour and hardness of Iron That word is without question derived from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Barzel which signifies Iron for the Egyptian Tongue had some affinity with the Hebrew VI. What we may most probably suppose concerning Memnon's Expedition may be taken out of Diodorus and some others The Kingdom of Troy was subject to the Empire of Assyria Tithonus a Brother to Priam who possessed that Kingdom went to the Court of the King of Assyria who gave him the Government of Susiana He married there being already old and because his Wife was of a Country situated on the East of Graecia and Troy the Graecians who used to turn all Histories into Fictions said that he had married Aurora From that Marriage came Memnon and Emathion The War of Troy coming afterwards Priam begged some Succour of Teutamus King of Assyria He granted him twenty thousand Men and two hundred Chariots of War Diodorus says that that Succor consisted of ten thousand Aethiopians and ten thousand Susians falling into the common Error again and confounding Chus of Aethiopia with that of Susiana In order to make this Succour more useful Teutamus gave the command of it to Memnon a young Prince of a Trojan Family and therefore concerned in the Preservation of Troy He kept Tithonus by him by reason of his Wisdom which made him very necessary in his Counsels and by reason of his old Age unfit for that Expedition Memnon found some resistance in his way The Solymi amongst others who since were called Pisidians would needs dispute his passage but he routed them and all that opposed him He made all passages clean he repaired the ways and deserved by that long and dangerous march that that high-way should have his name and be called Memnonian He very valiantly fought against the Graecians before Troy but he was at last slain by Achilles They talk very variously of the place of his burying for without taking notice of Philostratus who says he had no Grave and was changed into that miraculous stone Troas Phaenicia and Susiana contend for it amongst themselves and above all Aethiopia altho it hath no other claim to his burying nor to his Birth than that given it by the equivocation of the word Chus VII But notwithstanding the Obscurity that equivocation brought into this History Philostratus George Syncellus that is to say Coadjutor of the Church of Constantinople and Suidas who had read and copied good Authors tho' he often did it not very judiciously give yet Testimony to truth the first by saying that Memnon the Aethiopian that is to say Amenophis never came to Troy and was without ground confounded with Memnon the Trojan And could not imagine how Memnon could have brought a Succour from so remote a Country to the Trojans nor also by what chance Tithonus could have setled himself in Aethiopia and become King of it The second by exactly distinguishing Amenophis King of Thebes in Egypt who is also called Memnon and the speaking stone from Memnon Son of Tithonus whom he places amongst the Kings of Assyria and
Etymology than to any other when they expressed the swiftness of that River by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josephus hath in a manner acknowledged it when he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This place must be corrected and read thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say Diglath which is expounded narrow and nimble But we must not look upon Josephus as a great Master of the Hebrew Tongue The Rabbins have spoken more exactly than Josephus and deduced that word from its true origin That which Moses Barcepha proposes is not to be rejected he derives Chiddekel from the Chaldaean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dekal which signifies to boil and perhaps the place of Hesychius must be referred to it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say that the word Tigris signifies the noise made by the impetuosity of a River Other Rivers besides this have been called Tigris and probably for the same reason IV. It is in vain then that some learned Men but withall conceited being not able to fit their Preconceptions to things endeavour to fit things to their Preconceptions They fansied that what Moses calls here Chiddekel is the Naharmalca one of the Canals through which the Euphrates runneth into the Tigris and which was made long after Moses by hands Besides that the Waters of the Euphrates being much above the Waters of the Tigris as I have shewed makes it evident that those natural or artificial Chanels being but parts of the Euphrates cannot have been taken for the Tigris and that one cannot pretend to perswade us without proofs that the Tigris is not the Tigris CHAP. XV. Continuation of the Explanation of the fourteenth Verse I. The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kidmath cannot signifie in this place on the East II. In what sence it ought to be taken that the Tigris goeth towards Assyria I. VErse 14. That is it which goeth towards Assyria There are two opinions upon this place The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kidmath is the occasion thereof Some will have it to be a Preposition which signifies towards on the side of others an Adverb of place which signifies on the East The Seventy Interpreters almost all those who followed their Translation and St. Jerom in the vulgar Translation are for the first opinion The Chaldaean Paraphrasts most of the Rabbins and Hebricians are for the second The modern Commentators have taken part suitable to their opinions I am surprised at this difference of opinions for if they had considered the situation of Assyria and the running of the Tigris the difficulty would be easily assoiled The word Assyria may be taken either in a narrow or in a more large sence In the narrow sence Assyria was a small Province whereof Ninive was the chief Town and it is that Province which hath since been called Adiabene In the more large sence Assyria did comprehend many gâ—eat Provinces belonging to the Kings of Assyria and which made up their Empire It happened to this State as to France that the most ancient part of the Empire gave its name to the others which afterwards were joined to it In what sence soever you take Assyria it is certain the Tigris was not on the East in respect to it Except you take it for Syria as some Graecian Authors have done but one must be very ignorant of ancient History to think that Moses had taken it in that sence since the name of Syria is but modern and came from the Hebrew name of Tyre which was the chief Town of it and best known to the Graecians And on the contrary the name of Assyria comes from the Hebrew word Assur We may truly say that the Tigris runneth through Assyria when under the name of Assyria we comprehend Mesopotamia Syria and a part of Arabia But that word was not taken in so large a sence but long after Moses who could not have understood by the name of Assyria only a very small parcel of Land about Ninive And this we may suppose the Arabian Interpreter meant when he said the Tigris runneth to the East of Mausal Mausal is a City in Mesopotamia situated on the sides of the Tigris over against the place where the ancient Ninive stood and it is true that the Tigris â—uns on the East of that City But he misâ—ook when he took Mausal for Ninive for though they be almost always taken one for the other nevertheless the one lies on the East of the River and the other on the West I cannot then see upon what ground it may be said that the Tigris goeth towards the East of Assyria II. Calvin was sensible of the weight of this Objection and in order to shun it he translated C'estuy lá vers l'orient Assyrie that goeth toward the Eâ—… and Assyria which is contrary to the Hebrew Text where this conjunction is not found nor the Prepositions neither which some inserted translating thus On the East towards Assyria We must then return to the Translation of the Seventy Interpreters and translate thus which goeth toward Assyria And we must not think that Moses said the Tigris goeth toward Assyria in respect to the Spring of that River or to the running of its Waters but in regard to the Situation of the Earthly Paradise and to the disposition of the Chanel of the Tigris As when he said That a River went out of Eden to water the Garden and from thence it was parted and became into four heads he had the same regard both to the Situation of Paradise and to the disposition of the Chanel of the Tigris CHAP. XVI Continuation of the Explanation of the fourteenth Verse I. False Etymologies of the name of the Euphrates II. The true Etymology of that name III. Vertue attributed to the Waters of the Euphtates I. VErse 14. And the fourth River is Euphrates Moses affixed no mark of distinction on that River because it could not be confounded with the others which he had already made known and its largeness and neighbourhood rendred it known enough in the places and amongst the Nations to whom he did write that River kept its name better than the others 'T is a mistake to think that the name of the Euphrates is made up of its Hebrew name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perath and of the Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hu which are put together in this place Yet it hath been thought so by many learned Men. The Graecians changed Perath into Euphrates adjusting that word as well as all other strange words to the genius of their Tongue as if it was derived from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to rejoyce by reason of the pleasantness the Euphrates bringeth into all the places through which it runneth This Etymology hath been accepted by many as St. Ambrosius observed It may be also that having read that this River was called so by reason of its Fertility they derived it
from the place where Ptolomy sets the City of Aracca which is near upon the place where I think Paradise was situated it must have advanced as far as the Gordiaean Mounts within a hundred and fifty days which is the time the Deluge lasted CHAP. XVIII The Objections are answered I. First Objection II. Second Objection III. Third Objection IV. Fourth Objection I. WE are now to answer the Objections which have been made against Calvin and Scaliger's opinion in what they agree with ours and those that can be made against us It hath first been objected that that River formed by the coming together of the Tigris and Euphrates called at present the River of the Arabians entereth into the Persian Gulf only through one mouth from whence it follows that the two Chanels of its division which I would have to be the Phison and the Gehon are two imaginary Chanels I already shewed by the Authority of ancient Writers and modern Travellers the Falseness of that Objection The occasion of this Errour was because that River in dividing it self encloseth a pretty large extent of Land called formerly Messene and now Chader If we look upon that Land only as upon an Island situated in the midst of the mouth of the River one may truly say that the River hath but one mouth but it will be yet more true to say that this mouth being divided by a great Island above fourscore Leagues long as Teixeira who was an Eye-witness assures it and above one degree wide according to the Delineation of Ptolomy's Maps is made up of two Branches very distant from one another having each of them their particular mouth So that that River hath one or two mouths according to the divers manners of considering them It hath but one mouth separated by a very great Island or it hath two mouths viz. those of the two branches into which it is divided II. They object in the second place that those two Branches are no different Rivers from the Tigris and Euphrates since they come out of them and by consequence that we do not set forth the four Rivers which came out of Paradise as the words of Moses seem to require But it is plain that this is but a question of names only it is no new thing that a River changeth its name in dividing it self One might very well say of the City of Cologne that it is watered by a River which divides it self into four Heads viz. the Mosel the Rhine the Yssel and the Vahal III. The third Objection is yet more Frivolous than the former What Moses calls Heads must be understood say they of the Springs of the four Rivers and not of their Extremities on the places of their joining and parting They do not allow that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Raschim which Moses makes use of that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Seventy Interpreters and that of Capita in the vulgar Translation doth signifie Fountains There are in those Tongues proper words to signifie Fountains and there is no reason to think that Moses and his Translators should not have made use of those proper words instead of ambiguous ones Those they made use of signifie new entrances into divers Chanels of Rivers in regard to the Situation of the Earthly Paradise But this hath been already said IV. Let us come to the last Objection that can be made against our Opinion and is the most rational Many ancient Authors witness that the Euphrates entred formerly into the Sea by a peculiar mouth but that the Arabians called Scenites and many other Nations that dwell along that River having by a great many cuttings diverted it into their dry Soils have at last weakned it so much that it was not able to get into the Sea but lost it self in Meers It ran towards the West and Arabia between the place where Moses was writing his Pentateuch and the Chanel which I call Phison From whence it follows that when Moses mentioned the Euphrates he could mean nothing else than that Chanel which then was the true Euphrates and had not yet been exhausted by cuttings and which could not be taken for one of the four Heads that I suppose he hath spoken of And it also follows that in the Enumeration he made of the four Rivers and which I suppose he begun with the nearest to him he ought to have begun with the Euphrates I already obviated this objection when I said it was most probable that that Chanel of the Euphrates which fell into the Sea by a peculiar mouth was nothing but a turned part of the body of those Waters which the Arabians stole from that River to water their Soils and that those People at last dried up that Chanel by their continual diverting of its Waters Art having been thus destroyed by Art things have been restored to the State in which they were in Moses's time It is also perhaps nothing else but a Torrent caused by the Overflowings of the Euphrates which sometimes went as far as the Sea and sometimes staid by the way It went as far as the Sea when those Overflowings filled the Cuttings and the Meers made by the coming together of the Waters of those Cuttings and it staid by the way when the Overflowing of Euphrates had ceased But though this Canal should be as old as the Earthly Paradise our opinion would subsist provided we be sure as we most certainly are upon the Testimony of Antiquity and by the natural disposition of places that the Euphrates was joined with the Tigris For although that branch of the Euphrates were situated between Arabia Petraea where Moses was writing and the Chanel which I suppose to be the Phison it was possible that Moses had no regard to it and only considered the four Rivers that did belong to his description CHAP. XIX Recapitulation of all this Treatise I. God planted a Garden in Eden Eastward II. A River went out of Eden to water the Garden III. It divided it self and became into four heads IV. The first is the Phison V. That watereth the Land of Chavilah fertile in Gold VI. In Pearls and Bdellium in Onyx and in all sorts of precious Stones VII The second River is the Gehon which waters the Country of Chus VIII The third is the Tigris which goeth towards Assyria And the fourth is the Euphrates IX All the tokens whereby Moses marked the Situation of Paradise can be applied to none but to that which I proposed X. The question about the Situation of the Earthly Paradise doth not concern Faith I. I Think I have done what I proposed to my self and have so lidly made good that the Earthly Paradise was situated on the River made by the coming together of the Tigris and Euphrates and now called the River of the Arabians between that coming together and the dividing of the same River before its entring into the Persian Sea But because
the proofs I produced being scattered may perhaps make the lesser impression upon the Reader 's mind they will perswade him better if they are joined and shew themselves altogether to him Moses then says That God planted a Garden in Eden We find a Province of that name along that River and towards the place that I marked That Province deserved the name of Eden which signifies Pleasure by reason of its Pleasantness and Fertility Although most part of it is not cultivated now-a-days it nevertheless seems to retain yet some marks of the bountiful hand of God in the goodness of its Soil That Garden was situated Eastward that is to say in the easterly part of the Land of Eden on both sides of the River This may also signifie that easterly side which in the whole extent of the running of the Tigris had the name of Kedem that is to say East as a Proper and not as an Appellative name Even as the Lands situated on the westerly side had the proper name of Ereb that is to say West from whence Arabia took its name So that Moses would give us to understand that Paradise at least its greatest and chiefest part was placed on the easterly side of the River Besides the natural goodness of that Country God beautified it in an extraordinary manner to make Paradise out of it in making grow out of the ground every Tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food II. That River went out of Eden to water the Garden that is to say that having ran through that Province it entred into the Garden which being at the East of Eden the River at the place where it entred into the Garden must have run from the West to the East and by consequence it must have been situated upon one of the turnings of the River which runs that way And since it makes no turning more considerable between its joining and dividing than that great one which is to be seen in Ptolomy's Maps it is the most likely thing in the World that Paradise was placed on the easterly end of the southerly branch of that turning The modern Maps do not represent it but we must not forget that the Art and Industry of Men brought considerable Alterations to the running of those Rivers They mark this drawing a little from the West to the East between the coming together of the Tigris and Euphrates and the City of Bassora Though the running of the Waters had been disposed so since the time of the Earthly Paradise and not according to the ancient Maps it would yet agree with Moses's description III. This River being considered in respect to the Garden according to the disposition of its Chanel and not according to the running of its Waters divided it self and was parted not into four Springs as some Interpreters believed but into four heads that is to say into four entries or apartures of four different branches These four branches were four Rivers two above in regard to the running of the Water viz. the Euphrates and the Tigris two below viz. the Phison and the Gehon IV. Moses who was writing these things in Arabia Petraea intending to make an enumeration of those Rivers in order to declare the Situation of the Earthly Paradise hath begun it with the Phison which I say is the more westerly Chanel of the two into which the River is divided before its entring into the Sea because it was the very next to the place where he was writing and presented it self first to his Mind as it had presented it self first to his Eyes and Feet if he had gone that way And seeing that first River being once known the others would be easily known he affixed more marks upon it and those marks are peculiar to it and can fit no other V. The first mark is that that River is it which compasseth the whole Land of Chavilah From the knowing of that Land depends the knowledge of the Phison and there can be no question but it is that which lies on the northern end of the easterly Coast of Arabia that is on the westerly side of the mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris The Scripture exactly marks the Situation of it when it mentions Chavilah and Sur as the two Extremities of Arabia adjacent to the Holy Land For Sur lying at the entrance of Egypt toward the extremity of the Arabian Gulf it follows that Chavilah was on the other side of Arabia at the extremity of the Persian Gulf. Add to that the Testimony of the Heathen Authors who set in the same place the People called Chavlasians and Chavlotheans names undoubtedly derived from Chavilah All the marks given us by Moses that we might know Chavilah do exactly fit the Land I speak of There is gold there and the gold of that Land is good as David and Ezekiel do testifie and as it may be concluded from the Gifts the Wise men brought to our Saviour VI. There is Bdellium whether be meant Pearls by that word as it is in the Hebrew or an Aromatical Gum. The greatest fishing of Pearls that is in the World is made near the Island of Baharen which lies in the Persian Gulf near the Coast of Chavilah and to which the Phison leadeth The ancient and modern Authors speak of those Pearls as going beyond all the Pearls in the World and even all that Coast from Mascate to Catif is abounding in Pearls Arabia was no less abounding in Bdellium a sort of precious Gum called now Anime and in Onyx stones which as Pliny says were only found in the Mountains of Arabia Besides the Countries about the Tigris and Euphrates being then the richest and most populous in the World and Commodities being brought thither from all parts those of Arabia so necessary for Luxury and Pleasures were not left out and the Province of Chavilah lying on the way and being a necessary passage there must have been there also abundance of all precious Stones and Spices of Arabia VII In following Moses's order after having gone over the westerly Chanel through which the Tigris and Euphrates joined together run into the Sea one meets with the easterly-Chanel which must needs be the Gehon The same is it that compasseth the whole Land of Chus that is to say Susiana which still retains that old name and is called now a days Chuzestan being the same that the Scripture calls elsewhere Cutha according to the variety of Dialects From that name Chus have been derived the names of the Cosseans and Cissians Inhabitants of Susiana mentioned by prophane Authors And this gave them occasion to say that the Mother of Memnon a Prince of Susiana was a Cissian VIII The name of the third River Chiddekel which goeth towards Assyria is the Tigris The name it self sheweth it for taking away the first letter of Chiddekel which is but an Aspiration it remains Dekel out of which
have been formed the names of Diklat Diglath Degil Degela Diglito and Tigris If from the place where I set the Earthly Paradise one might see the disposition of the Chanel of that River it might be observed that it really runneth towards the old Assyria whereof the chief Town was Ninive And in fine the fourth River is the Euphrates which kept its name till now IX If we examine without prejudice all those Characters wherewith Moses marked the Situation of the Earthly Paradise we shall not only find that they exactly agree with that which I do propose but also that they can fit no other neither those that have been imagined hitherto in a very great number nor those that can be hereafter imagined For there are no other Provinces of Chavilah and Chus besides those that I marked where a Phison and Gehon can be found There is no other Tigris that goeth towards Assyria There is no other Euphrates which may be said to be one of the four heads into which was divided the River that watered the Earthly Paradise And finally there is no other place besides that in which I set Paradise that is watered by a River divided into these four Rivers just now mentioned X. It remains that pious Souls ought not to be offended at the Novelty of this opinion so different from what the Father 's believed I shewed from the very beginning of this Treatise that they themselves are divided into a great many divers opinions and that there is neither amongst them nor in the Church any Uniformity of Doctrine or Tradition upon this Subject And after all St. Austin declares that the question concerning the Situation of the Earthly Paradise belongeth not at all to the Faith by which we are made Christians and the true or false side may be held thereupon without any danger of Heresie A TABLE OF Things Remarkable A ABraham brought up amongst the Sabians 126 Persecuted by the King of the Sabians 125 Abulla a River 148 Acis a River of Sicily 133 Adana a City of Cilicia 21 110 Adana a City of Arabia 22 Aden or Adana ibid. Adonis's Garden 145 Adiabene a Country of Assyria 138 Aelius Gallus 101 Alcinous's Garden 145 Alexander changed the true Chanel of Phison 80 took away the Leaps and Cataracts of the Euphrates and Tigris â—2 restored the Euphrates to its ancient Chanel 60 61 Alileans 88 Amenophis confounded with Memnon 123 129 King of Egypt 129 Andromeda 130 Anime Bdellium Anuchtha built by Cain 149 Arraca or Erec 13 24 25 Arabia why so named 28 Arabia 88 96 100 Arabia Felix 22 Arabia only affordeth the Onyx 102 Araxus Gehon 6 or 104 The Ark of Noah rested upon the Gordiaean Mountains 152 Assyria confounded with Syria 138 composed of many Provinces 138 Assyria Adiabene 138 139 Astapus what it signifieth 109 Atergatis Derceto 131 Atyria for Assyria 120 Aurora why named Cissiana 121 B BAbylonia and its Territories 24 Baharen 8 79 94 96 affordeth precious Stones 94 Bassalta hath the colour and the hardness of Iron 126 Bassora by whom built 125 situated in a very pleasant Country 147 Bavan a River 148 Bdellium Anime 5 92 96 Bdellium of Arabia 96 97 of Bactriana 97 of Scythia 96 diversly interpreted 5 Bedolach and its signification 91 Beryl a kind of Onyx 100 Beth eden a Valley of Syria 2â— Mr. Bochart contradicts himself about the Situation of Paradise 8 C CAlvin's Opinion about the Situation of Paradise 8 12 Calthua a City of Arabia 87 Caput and its signification 51 52 Catif a City of Arabia 96 Carik an Island in the Persian Gulf. 96 Cassanites a People of Arabia 88 Ch Aspiration 131 Chablasians Inhabitants of Chavilah 86 Chader an Island vide Messene 56 64 80 an Island whence named 147 Chammanim 124 The Cananaeans left their Astronomick Learning written upon Stones 151 Chariclaea an Aethiopian 130 Chavelaeans Inhabitants of Chavilah 86 Chavilah two divers Provinces of Arabia 84 Chavilah or Chaulan 85 where situated 5 87 so named of Chavilah Son of Chus 85 part of the Indies through which the Ganges runs 5 84 Chavilah Getulia 84 Chavilah Susiana 5 84 Chavlasians Inhabitants of Chavilah 86 Chavlothaeans Inhabitants of Chavilah 86 Chiddekel Tigris Diglath 130 Chiddekel is not Naharmalca 136 Chus signifieth Aethiopia and Arabia 6 17 112 The Arabian Chus was not far distant from the Arabian Gulf. 118 Chus signifieth Susiana 117 Chuzestan otherwise Churestan 113 119 Cissia a Province of Susiana 121 a City of Susiana ibid. Cissians a People of Susiana ibid. Clove-tree a Tree of Paradise 72 Columnes of the Posterity of Seth. 151 Cossians a People of Susiana 121 Cutha Susiana 119 120 Cuthians 120 Cuthus a River ibid. Cydnus a River of Cilicia now Sichon 110 Cyrus the River Phison 5 D THE Meadow of Damascus 148 Danow Phison 5 73 Danow supposed one of the Rivers which have Gold and precious Stones 5 73 Darab King of Persia cast out into the River Oxus 111 Degela Tigris 132 Degil Tigris ibid. Derceto Atergatis 131 Dikes upon the Coast of the Persian Gulf. 77 Diglath Tigris 132 Diglito Tigris 132 134 Diklat Tigris 132 Diridotis see Teredon 65 97 The Dog's Star Sirius 107 E EAst in the Scripture signifieth the Countries situated between the Persian Gulf and Judaea 125 East a name given to the Eastern Bank of Tigris 28 The East is respected by the Hebrews in their Geographical Descriptions 70 The Eastern People Sons of the East 122 Eden whether a Proper name or an Appellative 16 a name of divers places 21 a Province of Babylonia 24 a Region joined to Saba 89 with five Points and with six is the same thing 23 24 why so called 147 its name given to the Island Gezair ibid. a Valley of Syria 21 Eden a Village of Tripoli 22 Christian Churches why turned Eastward 32 Egypt why called black 107 The Egyptian Tongue is not very different from the Hebrew Tongue 12â— Eldiris Nubian Geographer 40 Emathion Memnon's Brother 127 The Chanels of Euphrates 15â— Ereb the Western shore of Tigris 2â— Ereâ— 2â— Aethiopia believed to be near the Indies 4â— Aethiopians Eastern and Western 11â— Etymologies necessary 13â— Eulaeus Pasitigris Tigris and Euphrates 82 Euphrates its divers Chanels 5â— why so called full of Mud. â—â— is very high 50 higher than Tigris 136 weakned by the Arabian Chanels 60 comes from Heaven 109 joined to Tigris by one Chanel 57 Euphrates Nilus 42 115 hath the same Spring as Tigris 42 overfloweth the Country 59 its Banks most Peopled in Moses his time 90 Elysian Fields 145 G GAnges Gehon Phison 12 104 Ganges and Nilus rise out from the same Spring 41 Ganges Holy 68 a heavenly River 109 affordeth Gold and precious Stones 69 hath Crocodiles and Hippopotames 41 its Overflowings ibid. Gehon the Eastern Chanel of Euphrates and Tigris 14 75 112 Gehon Araxes 6 104 Ganges 104 Naharmalca ibid. Naharseres ibid. Nilus 69 105 Oxus 109 Gehon a River
of Cilicia is the same as Pyramus 110 Gehon near Jerusalem called Siloe 10â— The old Geography is not very certain 41 74 Getulia Chavilath 84 Gezair why so called 147 Gichon a name of Nilus 105 Giulfal affordeth precious Stones 102 The Persian Gulf hath a great many Meers 77 Gordiaean Mountains 152 Adonis Gardens their origin 17 Alcinous's Gardens their origin 145 Hesperides Gardens their origin ibid. Jupiter's Gardens their origin ibid. Golden Garden given to Pompey by Aristobulus 17 Gardens of Syria 146 Gardens of the World four famous places of Asia 148 Gardens of Eastern Princes and their origin 17 H HAoula Ceilan 124 Hippopotames of Ganges 41 Hippopotames of the River Petzora ibid. Hydaspes Phison 72 Hyphasis Phison ibid. cureth Fevers ibid. bringeth forth the Clove-tree ibid. The Hebrew names of precious Stones are not understood I JAtsa in Hebrew signifieth a course of Waters 43 Jaxartes called Sichon 109 The Indies and Aethiopia confounded by the Ancients 114 The name of the Indies from Eden Indus Phison 72 Indoscythia 97 Josephus corrected 114 135 Jraqua a Province its Territories â—â— Happy Islands and their origin 145 Jupiter is Nilus according to the Egyptians 108 K KEdem or East Countries situated near the Eastern Bank of the Tigris 28 29 Kidmath and its signification 137 L LOvain Divines their opinion of Paradise 14 M MAhomet's opinion concerning the Rivers of the Earthly Paradise 49 Manna had the colour of Bedolach 92 Mausal confounded with Ninive 139 Melas and Melo names of the Nilus 106 Memnon born in Susiana 28 121 12â— The truth of the History of Memnon 127 Memnonian Walls of Sufa 121 Palaces of Susa ibid. way 128 Citadel of Susa 124 The Sea of the Indies 95 The Sea of Persia ibid. The Sea of Aethiopia ibid. Messene Island 56 64 Mocali a River N NAbathean Eastern 125 Nichal name of Nilus 106 Naharmalca a Chanel or Cut. 136 Naharfares Gehon 104 Naid See Nod. Nebuchadonozor did turn the Waters of Euphrates by many Chanels 58 Nebuchadonozor mastered the Violence of the Persian Sea 62 Nebuchadonozor or Baltasar named Lucifer Son of Aurora 122 Nilus why so named 105 106 hath its Spring in the Indies 2 cometh from Euphrates 42 Nilus Gehon 5 12 105 why said to fall from Jupiter 108 one of the Gods ibid. esteemed Holy ibid. Nilus black 107 compared to an Arrow its Overflowings 108 Ninive confounded with Mausal 139 Nod and Naid and its signification 149 Nozelim and its signification 52 Nuchul name of Nilus 107 O ONyx is the Sardonyx-stone 99 was only found in Arabia 102 Oroatis a River named Pasitigris by the Soldiers of Alexander 81 Oâ—â—s Nilus 108 Osiris Nilus ibid. Oxus Gehon 109 P PAllacopa a Chanel of Euphrates 61 The Terrestrial Paradise where situated 12 its Rivers supposed to run under ground Paradise of God what it is in the Scripture 145 a River of Cilicia 110 a City of Syria 21 Pasitigris 81 Pearls of the Persian Gulf. 93 Pontus Euxinus The Persians ignorant in Navigation 61 Persian words many in modern Languages 133 Pesilim stones in Syrias 144 Phasis Phison 73 Phison is the Western Chanel of Tigris and Euphrates 13 75 Phison why so named 76 hath given its name to other Rivers 81 Precious Stones in the Persian Gulf. 101 Two only in the Breast-plate of the Jewish High-Priest have kept their names 98 Pliny corrected ibid. Pluto's Meadows 145 Pyramus Gehon 101 R REgma City of Arabia 90 Rosch and its signification 51 S SChanged into t and th 120 Saba near Chavilah 101 Sabbi the Christians of St. John 125 Sabéans rich People 88 Sabéans a name common to many People 89 Sabéans People 88 Sabians Eastern People 124 Scaliger corrected 119 Schat el Arab a River 45 81 Schichor Nilus 106 Schoham what it signifieth 98 Scythia and Indoscythia part of the Southern Indies 97 Schirath is Syrias in Josephus 151 Sichon Cydnus 110 Siloâ— a Torrent why so named 113 114 Siris and Sirius names of Nilus 107 Solinus corrected 134 Sollax or Sulax Tigris and its origin 134 Solymi Pisidians 128 The Sun worshipped by many People 124 Sur a Mountain in the Western part of Arabia near the Holy Land 86 163 Susa why so named 120 Syrias and its Situation 144 Syria why so called 138 The Syrians Love Gardens 146 Schat-el-Arab a River of the Arabians 81 The Fortress of Spasines 63 The Sabians Book 124 The Wise Men câ—me from Saba to worship our Lord. 90 T THE Astronomical Tables of the Cananaeans 151 Taijaron and its signification 134 Talatha See Thelassar 23 Talisman's Images of the Sun 124 The Temple of Solomon why turned Westward 32 The Temples of the Romans set Westward and after Eastward ibid. Teredon a City near the Chanel of Phison 65 97 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Golden Garden of Aristobulus 17 Thelassar or Talatha a City of Babylonia 23 Thor for Sor. 120 Tigris its Spring course and its divers Chanals 56 thought to have the same Spring as Euphrates 42 The Chanel of Tigris is very low 59 Tigris why so named 135 Tigris's false Origins Tigris a River and Tigre an Animal 133 Tigris Sollax and Sùlax 134 Tigris a common name to many Rivers 136 Tigris signifieth an Arrow in the Persian Tongue 133 Tithonus 127 Tojor an Arrow in the Persian Tongue 133 Trajan in danger in the Island which separateth the Tigris and Euphrates 62 65 Tylos Island now called Baharen 94 V A Good Version ought to represent all the Ambiguities of the original Hebrew 16 BOOKS Sold by James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard THE Memoirs of Monsieur de Pontis who served in the French Army 56 Years under Henry IV. Lewis XIII and Lewis XIV Kings of France containing many remarkable Passages relating to the War the Court and the Government of those Princes Faithfully Englished at the Request of his Grace the late Duke of Ormond By Charles Cotton Esq Folio Lord Bacon's Essays Octavo Scrivener's Directions to a Holy Life Octavo Dr. Barrow of Contentment c. Octavo Sir William Temple's Memoirs of what past in Christendom from the War in 1672. to the Peace concluded 1679. 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