himself regal state, drove Ashur from his demesnes, and forced him to take shelter in the higher parts of Mesopotamia. This was part of the country called Aram, and was probably ceded to him by his brother. Here the Ashurites built for their defence a chain of cities, equal in strength and renown to those which had been founded by Nimrod. We have, in this detail, an account of the first monarchy upon earth, and of the tyranny and usurpations which in consequence of it ensued.

The sacred historian, after this, mentions another act of a rebellious purpose, which consisted in building a lofty tower with a very evil intent. Most writers have described this and the former event as antecedent to the migration of mankind, which they suppose to have been from the plains of Shinar: but it will be my endeavour to shew, that the general migration was not only prior, but from another part of the world. The

βασιλειαν Βαβυλωνος μετα τον κατακλυσμον ή θεια γραφη ανατίθησι. Chron, Paschale. p. 28. Nimrod was styled Qrion, and Alorus by the Gentile writers; and is acknowledged to have been the first king upon earth, and to have reigned at Babylon. Taura μὲν ὁ Βηρωσος ἱσορησε πρώτον γενεσθαι Βασιλέα Αλωρον εκ Βαβυλωνος Xandator. Euseb. Chron. p. 5. Syncellus says the same, p. 37.79. We meet with the same history in another place of the Chron. Paschale. p. 36. also Johan. Antiochen. 1. 2. p. 18.

words of the historian are these:

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one; and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand each other's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city: therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. It had been in the preceding chapter men

10 Genesis. c. 11, v. 1.

tioned, where the family of Shem was enumerated, that unto Heber were born two sons; the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided. I think that we may, from the preceding portions of Scripture, observe two different occurrences, which are generally blended together. First, that there was a formal migration of families to the several regions appointed for them, according to the determination of the Almighty Secondly, that there was a dissipation of others, who stood their ground, and would not acquiesce in the divine dispensation. These seem to have been two distinct events, and to have happened in different places, as well as at different times. In the beginning of the latter history, mention is made of people's journeying, and proceeding towards a place of settlement. It is generally thought, that the whole of mankind is included in this description; and it is inferred from the words of Moses. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. But I am not certain that these words afford any proof to this opinion: for, in respect to what is here said, I do not see, but

Genesis. c. 10. v. 25. Peleg signified division.

that a migration of families might have happened antecedently to this journeying from the east. The passage, when truly translated, does not by any means refer to the whole of mankind. According to the original, it is said indeterminately, that in the journeying of people from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar. The purport, therefore, of the whole passage amounts only to this, that, before there was any alteration in the language of mankind, a body of people came from the east to the place above specified. This is all that is said: so that I am far from being satisfied that the whole of mankind was engaged in this expedition from the east. The Scripture does not seem to say so: nor can there be any reason assigned why they should travel so far merely to be dissipated afterwards. We have reason to think, that soon after the descent from the Ark, the Patriarch found himself in a fine and fruitful country; for so it is described by 6 Strabo and others; and there is nothing that we can suppose to have been done at Shinar, but might have been effected in the

62

62

L. 11. p. 800. Ararat, regio in Armeniâ campestris est; per quam Araxes fluit; incredibilis ubertatis. Hieron. in Esaiam. c. 37. See Tavernier's Travels, p. 14, 15. and Tournefort. letter 7th.

spot where he first resided; I mean in respect to migration. The region about Ararat may be esteemed as nearly a central part of the earth; and it is certainly as well calculated as any other for the removal of colonies upon the increase of mankind. The Ethnic writers, in their accounts of the wanderings of Isis and Jonah, seem to allude to the journeying of mankind; and they speak of the country about Caucasus as the place from whence those travels began. The same is to be observed in the original history of the Minyæ, which is called the retreat of the Argonautæ: for they retire from the region about Caucasus to the remotest parts of the earth: and it is well known, that Ararat in Armenia is a part of that vast chain of mountains called Caucasus and Taurus. Upon these mountains, and in the adjacent country, were preserved more authentic accounts of the Ark, than almost in any other part of the world. Moses Chorenensis takes notice of the many memorials relating to antient times, which were preserved by the people of Armenia. They were commemorated in their poems, songs, and sacred hymns. 3 Cæterum veteres Armenii in carminibus suis, cantilenis ad cymbala, ac tripudiis, longè copiosiorem de his rebus

3 L. 1. c. 5. p. 19.