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The children of Ham possessed the land from
Syria and Amanus, and
the mountains of Libanus; seizing upon all that was on its sea-coasts,
and as far as the ocean, and keeping it as their own. Some indeed of its
names are utterly vanished away; others of them being changed, and another
sound given them, are hardly to be discovered; yet a few there are which
have kept their denominations entire. For of the four sons of Ham, time
has not at all hurt the name of Chus; for the Ethiopians, over whom he
reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in
Asia,
called Chusites. The memory also of the Mesraites is preserved in their
name; for all we who inhabit this country [of
Judea] called Egypt Mestre,
and the Egyptians Mestreans. Phut also was the founder of
Libya, and called
the inhabitants Phutites, from himself: there is also a river in the country
of Moors which bears that name; whence it is that we may see the greatest
part of the Grecian historiographers mention that river and the adjoining
country by the apellation of Phut: but the name it has now has been by
change given it from one of the sons of Mesraim, who was called Lybyos.
We will inform you presently what has been the occasion why it has been
called
Africa also.
Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, inhabited the country
now called
Judea, and called it from his own name
Canaan. The children
of these [four] were these: Sabas, who founded the Sabeans; Evilas, who
founded the Evileans, who are called Getuli; Sabathes founded the Sabathens,
they are now called by the Greeks Astaborans; Sabactas settled the Sabactens;
and Ragmus the Ragmeans; and he had two sons, the one of whom, Judadas,
settled the Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians, and left them
his name; as did Sabas to the Sabeans: but Nimrod, the son of Chus, staid
and tyrannized at
Babylon, as we have already informed you. Now all the
children of Mesraim, being eight in number, possessed the country from
Gaza to
Egypt, though it retained the name of one only, the Philistim;
for the Greeks call part of that country
Palestine. As for the rest, Ludieim,
and Enemim, and Labim, who alone inhabited in
Libya, and called the country
from himself, Nedim, and Phethrosim, and Chesloim, and Cephthorim, we know
nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war
1
which we shall describe hereafter, was the cause that those cities were
overthrown. The sons of
Canaan were these: Sidonius, who also built a city
of the same name; it is called by the Greeks Sidon;
Amathus inhabited in Amathine, which is even now called Amathe by the
inhabitants, although the Macedonians named it
Epiphania, from one of his
posterity: Arudeus possessed the island
Aradus:
Arucas possessed Arce,
which is in Libanus. But for the seven others, [Eueus,] Chetteus, Jebuseus,
Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus, Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the sacred
books but their names, for the Hebrews overthrew their cities; and their
calamities came upon them on the occasion following.