The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended · Isaac Newton
CHAP. II
_Of the Empire of _Egypt_._ The _Egyptians_ anciently boasted of a very great and lasting Empire under their Kings _Ammon_, _Osiris_, _Bacchus_, _Sesostris_, _Hercules_, _Memnon_, &c. reaching eastward to the _Indies_, and westward to the _Atlantic Ocean_; and out of vanity have made this monarchy some thousands of years older than the world: let us now try to rectify the Chronology of _Egypt_; by comparing the affairs of _Egypt_ with the synchronizing affairs of the _Greeks_ and _Hebrews_. _Bacchus_ the conqueror loved two women, _Venus_ and _Ariadne_: _Venus_ was the mistress of _Anchises_ and _Cinyras_, and mother of _Æneas_, who all lived 'till the destruction of _Troy_; and the sons of _Bacchus_ and _Ariadne_ were _Argonauts_; as above: and therefore the great _Bacchus_ flourished but one Generation before the _Argonautic_ expedition. This _Bacchus_ [235] was potent at sea, conquered eastward as far as _India_ returned in triumph, brought his army over the _Hellespont_; conquered _Thrace_, left music, dancing and poetry there; killed _Lycurgus_ King of _Thrace_, and _Pentheus_ the grandson of _Cadmus_; gave the Kingdom of _Lycurgus_ to _Tharops_; and one of his minstrells, called by the _Greeks_ _Calliope_, to _Oeagrus_ the son of _Tharops_; and of _Oeagrus_ and _Calliope_ was born _Orpheus_, who sailed with the _Argonauts_: this _Bacchus_ was therefore contemporary to _Sesostris_; and both being Kings of _Egypt_, and potent at sea, and great conquerors, and carrying on their conquests into _India_ and _Thrace_, they must be one and the same man.
The antient _Greeks_, who made the fables of the Gods, related that _Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_ was carried into _Egypt_; and there became the _Egyptian Isis_; and that _Apis_ the son of _Phoroneus_ after death became the God _Serapis_; and some said that _Epaphus_ was the son of _Io_: _Serapis_ and _Epaphus_ are _Osiris_, and therefore _Isis_ and _Osiris_, in the opinion of the ancient _Greeks_ who made the fables of the Gods, were not above two or three Generations older than the _Argonautic_ expedition. _Dicæarchus_, as he is cited by the scholiast upon _Apollonius_, [236] represents them two Generations older than _Sesostris_, saying that after _Orus_ the son of _Osiris_ and _Isis_, Reigned _Sesonchosis_. He seems to have followed the opinion of the people of _Naxus_, who made _Bacchus_ two Generations older than _Theseus_, and for that end feigned two _Minos's_ and two _Ariadnes_; for by the consent of all antiquity _Osiris_ and _Bacchus_ were one and the same King of _Egypt_: this is affirmed by the _Egyptians_, as well as by the _Greeks_; and some of the antient Mythologists, as _Eumolpus_ and _Orpheus_, [237] called _Osiris_ by the names of _Dionysus_ and _Sirius_. _Osiris_ was King of all _Egypt_, and a great conqueror, and came over the _Hellespont_ in the days of _Triptolemus_, and subdued _Thrace_, and there killed _Lycurgus_; and therefore his expedition falls in with that of the great _Bacchus_. _Osiris_, _Bacchus_ and _Sesostris_ lived about the same time, and by the relation of historians were all of them Kings of all _Egypt_, and Reigned at _Thebes_, and adorned that city, and were very potent by land and sea: all three were great conquerors, and carried on their conquests by land through _Asia_ as far as _India_: all three came over the _Hellespont_ and were there in danger of losing their army: all three conquered _Thrace_, and there put a stop to their victories, and returned back from thence into _Egypt_: all three left pillars with inscriptions in their conquests: and therefore all three must be one and the same King of _Egypt_; and this King can be no other than _Sesac_.
All _Egypt_, including _Thebais_, _Ethiopia_ and _Libya_, had no common King before the expulsion of the Shepherds who Reigned in the lower _Egypt_; no Conqueror of _Syria_, _India_, _Asia minor_ and _Thrace_, before _Sesac_; and the sacred history admits of no _Egyptian_ conqueror of _Palestine_ before this King. _Thymætes_ [238] who was contemporary to _Orpheus_, and wrote a poesy called _Phrygia_, of the actions of _Bacchus_ in very old language and character, said that _Bacchus_ had _Libyan_ women in his army, amongst whom was _Minerva_ a woman born in _Libya_, near the river _Triton,_ and that _Bacchus_ commanded the men and _Minerva_ the women. _Diodorus_ [239] calls her _Myrina_, and saith that she was Queen of the _Amazons_ in _Libya_, and there conquered the _Atlantides_ and _Gorgons_, and then made a league with _Orus_ the son of _Isis_, sent to her by his father _Osiris_ or _Bacchus_ for that purpose, and passing through _Egypt_ subdued the _Arabians_, and _Syria_ and _Cilicia_, and came through _Phrygia_, _viz._ in the army of _Bacchus_ to the _Mediterranean_; but palling over into _Europe_, was slain with many of her women by the _Thracians_ and _Scythians_, under the conduct of _Sipylus_ a _Scythian_, and _Mopsus_ a _Thracian_ whom _Lycurgus_ King of _Thrace_ had banished.
This was that _Lycurgus_ who opposed the passage of _Bacchus_ over the _Hellespont_, and was soon after conquered by him, and slain: but afterwards _Bacchus_ met with a repulse from the _Greeks_, under the conduct of _Perseus_, who slew many of his women, as _Pausanias_ [240] relates, and was assisted by the _Scythians_ and _Thracians_ under the conduct of _Sipylus_ and _Mopsus_; which repulses, together with a revolt of his brother _Danaus_ in _Egypt_; put a stop to his victories: and in returning home he left part of his men in _Colchis_ and at _Mount Caucasus_, under _Æetes_ and _Prometheus_; and his women upon the river _Thermodon_ near _Colchis_, under their new Queens _Marthesia_ and _Lampeto_: for _Diodorus_ [241] speaking of the _Amazons_ who were seated at _Thermodon_, saith, that they dwelt originally in _Libya_, and there Reigned over the _Atlantides_, and invading their neighbours conquered as far as _Europe_: and _Ammianus_, [242] that the ancient _Amazons_ breaking through many nations, attack'd the _Athenians_, and there receiving a great slaughter retired to _Thermodon_: and _Justin_, [243] that these _Amazons_ had at first, he means at their first coming to _Thermodon_, two Queens who called themselves daughters of _Mars_; and that they conquered part of _Europe_, and some cities of _Asia_, _viz._ in the Reign of _Minerva_, and then sent back part of their army with a great booty, under their said new Queens; and that _Marthesia_ being afterwards slain, was succeeded by her daughter _Orithya_, and she by _Penthesilea_; and that _Theseus_ captivated and married _Antiope_ the sister of _Orithya_. _Hercules_ made war upon the _Amazons_, and in the Reign of _Orithya_ and _Penthesilea_ they came to the _Trojan_ war: whence the first wars of the _Amazons_ in _Europe_ and _Asia_, and their settling at _Thermodon_, were but one Generation before those actions of _Hercules_ and _Theseus_, and but two before the _Trojan_ war, and so fell in with the expedition of _Sesostris_: and since they warred in the days of _Isis_ and her son _Orus_, and were a part of the army of _Bacchus_ or _Osiris_, we have here a further argument for making _Osiris_ and _Bacchus_ contemporary to _Sesostris_, and all three one and the same King with _Sesac_.
The _Greeks_ reckon _Osiris_ and _Bacchus_ to be sons of _Jupiter_, and the _Egyptian_ name of _Jupiter_ is _Ammon_. _Manetho_ in his 11th and 12th _Dynasties_, as he is cited by _Africanus_ and _Eusebius_ names these four Kings of _Egypt_, as reigning in order; _Ammenemes_, _Gesongeses_ or _Sesonchoris_ the son of _Ammenemes_, _Ammenemes_ who was slain by his Eunuchs, and _Sesostris_ who subdued all _Asia_ and part of _Europe_. _Gesongeses_ and _Sesonchoris_ are corruptly written for _Sesonchosis_; and the two first of these four Kings, _Ammenemes_ and _Sesonchosis_, are the same with the two last, _Ammenemes_ and _Sesostris_, that is, with _Ammon_ and _Sesac_; for _Diodorus_ saith [244] that _Osiris_ built in _Thebes_ a magnificent temple to his parents _Jupiter_ and _Juno_, and two other temples to _Jupiter_, a larger to _Jupiter Uranius_, and a less to his father _Jupiter Ammon_ who reigned in that city: and [245] _Thymætes_ abovementioned, who was contemporary to _Orpheus_, wrote expresly that the father of _Bacchus_ was _Ammon_, a King Reigning over part of _Libya_, that is, a King of _Egypt_ Reigning over all that part of _Libya_, anciently called _Ammonia_. _Stephanus_ [246] saith Πασα ‛η Λιβυη ‛ουτως εκαλειτο απο Αμμωνος· _All _Libya_ was anciently called _Ammonia_ from _Ammon__: this is that King of _Egypt_ from whom _Thebes_ was called _No-Ammon_, and _Ammon-no_ the city of _Ammon_, and by the _Greeks Diospolis_, the city of _Jupiter Ammon_: _Sesostris_ built it sumptuously, and called it by his father's name, and from the same King the [247] River called _Ammon_, the people called _Ammonii_, and the [248] promontory _Ammonium_ in _Arabia fælix_ had their names.
Quo tempore egressi Ægypto Hebræi jam prope Palestinæ fines venerant, mortuus ibi Moses, vir sapiens, dux itineris. Successor imperii factus Jesus Navæ filius intra Palæstinam duxit popularium agmen; & virtute usus supra humanum modum, terram occupavit, gentibusque excisis urbes ditionis suæ fecit, & invicti famam tulit. Maritima ora quæ a Sidone ad Ægypti limitem extenditur, nomen habet Phœnices. Rex unus _[Hebræis]_ imperabat ut omnes qui res Phœnicias scripsere consentiunt. In eo tractatu numerosæ gentes erant, Gergesæi, Jebusæi, quosque aliis nominibus Hebræorum annales memorant. Hi homines ut impares se venienti imperatori videre, derelicto patriæ solo ad finitimam primum venere Ægyptum, sed ibi capacem tantæ multitudinis locum non reperientes, erat enim Ægyptus ab antiquo fœcunda populis, in Africam profecti, multis conditis urbibus, omnem eam Herculis columnas usque, obtinuerunt: ubi ad meam ætatem sermone Phœnicio utentes habitant_. By the language and extreme poverty of the _Moors_, described also by _Procopius_ and by their being unacquainted with merchandise and sea-affairs, you may know that they were _Canaanites_ originally, and peopled _Afric_ before the _Tyrian_ merchants came thither.
These _Canaanites_ coming from the East, pitched their tents in great numbers in the lower _Egypt_, in the Reign of _Timaus_, as [253] _Manetho_ writes, and easily seized the country, and fortifying _Pelusium_, then called _Abaris_, they erected a Kingdom there, and Reigned long under their own Kings, _Salatis_, _Bœon_, _Apachnas_, _Apophis_, _Janias_, _Assis_, and others successively: and in the mean time the upper part of _Egypt_ called _Thebais_, and according to [254] _Herodotus_, _Ægyptus_, and in Scripture the land of _Pathros_, was under other Kings, Reigning perhaps at _Coptos_, and _Thebes_, and _This_, and _Syene_, and [255] _Pathros_, and _Elephantis_, and _Heracleopolis_, and _Mesir_, and other great cities, 'till they conquered one another, or were conquered by the _Ethiopians_: for cities grew great in those days, by being the seats of Kingdoms: but at length one of these Kingdoms conquered the rest, and made a lasting war upon the Shepherds, and in the Reign of its King _Misphragmuthosis_, and his son _Amosis_, called also _Tethmosis_, _Tuthmosis_, and _Thomosis_, drove them out of _Egypt_, and made them fly into _Afric_ and _Syria_, and other places, and united all _Egypt_ into one Monarchy; and under their next Kings, _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, enlarged it into a great Empire.
This conquering people worshipped not the Kings of the Shepherds whom they conquered and expelled, but [256] abolished their religion of sacrificing men, and after the manner of those ages Deified their own Kings, who founded their new Dominion, beginning the history of their Empire with the Reign and great acts of their Gods and Heroes: whence their Gods _Ammon_ and _Rhea_, or _Uranus_ and _Titæa_; _Osiris_ and _Isis_; _Orus_ and _Bubaste_: and their Secretary _Thoth_, and Generals _Hercules_ and _Pan_; and Admiral _Japetus_, _Neptune_, or _Typhon_; were all of them _Thebans_, and flourished after the expulsion of the Shepherds. _Homer_ places _Thebes_ in _Ethiopia_, and the _Ethiopians_ reported that [257] the _Egyptians_ were a colony drawn out of them by _Osiris_, and that thence it came to pass that most of the laws of _Egypt_ were the same with those of _Ethiopia_, and that the _Egyptians_ learnt from the _Ethiopians_ the custom of Deifying their Kings. When _Joseph_ entertained his brethren in _Egypt_, they did eat at a table by themselves, and he did eat at another table by himself; and the _Egyptians_ who did eat with him were at another table, _because the _Egyptians_ might not eat bread with the _Hebrews_; for that was an abomination to the _Egyptians__, _Gen._ xliii. 32. These _Egyptians_ who did eat with _Joseph_ were of the Court of _Pharaoh_; and therefore _Pharaoh_ and his Court were at this time not Shepherds but genuine _Egyptians_; and these _Egyptians_ abominated eating bread with the _Hebrews_, at one and the same table: and of these _Egyptians_ and their fellow-subjects, it is said a little after, that _every Shepherd is an abomination to the _Egyptians__: _Egypt_ at this time was therefore under the government of the genuine _Egyptians_, and not under that of the Shepherds.
After the descent of _Jacob_ and his sons into _Egypt_, _Joseph_ lived 70 years, and so long continued in favour with the Kings of _Egypt_: and 64 years after his death _Moses_ was born: and between the death of _Joseph_ and the birth of _Moses_, _there arose up a new King over _Egypt_, which knew not _Joseph__, _Exod._ i. 8. But this King of _Egypt_ was not one of the Shepherds; for he is called _Pharaoh_, _Exod._ i. 11, 22: and _Moses_ told his successor, that if the people of _Israel_ should sacrifice in the land of _Egypt_, _they should sacrifice the abomination of the _Egyptians_ before their eyes, and the _Egyptians_ would stone them_, _Exod._ viii. 26. that is, they should sacrifice sheep or oxen, contrary to the religion of _Egypt_. The Shepherds therefore did not Reign over _Egypt_ while _Israel_ was there, but either were driven out of _Egypt_ before _Israel_ went down thither, or did not enter into _Egypt_ 'till after _Moses_ had brought _Israel_ from thence: and the latter must be true, if they were driven out of _Egypt_ a little before the building of the temple of _Solomon_, as _Manetho_ affirms.
_Diodorus_ [258] saith in his 40th book, _that in _Egypt_ there were formerly multitudes of strangers of several nations, who used foreign rites and ceremonies in worshipping the Gods, for which they were expelled _Egypt_; and under _Danaus_, _Cadmus_, and other skilful commanders, after great hardships, came into _Greece_, and other places; but the greatest part of them came into _Judæa_, not far from _Egypt_, a country then uninhabited and desert, being conducted thither by one _Moses_, a wise and valiant man, who after he had possest himself of the country, among other things built _Jerusalem_, and the Temple._ _Diodorus_ here mistakes the original of the _Israelites_, as _Manetho_ had done before, confounding their flight into the wilderness under the conduct of _Moses_, with the flight of the Shepherds from _Misphragmuthosis_, and his son _Amosis_, into _Phœnicia_ and _Afric_; and not knowing that _Judæa_ was inhabited by _Canaanites_, before the _Israelites_ under _Moses_ came thither: but however, he lets us know that the Shepherds were expelled _Egypt_ by _Amosis_, a little before the building of _Jerusalem_ and the Temple, and that after several hardships several of them came into _Greece_, and other places, under the conduct of _Cadmus_, and other Captains, but the most of them Settled in _Phœnicia_ next _Egypt_.
We may reckon therefore that the expulsion of the Shepherds by the Kings of _Thebais_, was the occasion that the _Philistims_ were so numerous in the days of _Saul_; and that so many men came in those times with colonies out of _Egypt_ and _Phœnicia_ into _Greece_; as _Lelex_, _Inachus_, _Pelasgus_, _Æzeus_, _Cecrops_, _Ægialeus_, _Cadmus_, _Phœnix_, _Membliarius_, _Alymnus_, _Abas_, _Erechtheus_, _Peteos_, _Phorbas_, in the days of _Eli_, _Samuel_, _Saul_ and _David_: some of them fled in the days of _Eli_, from _Misphragmuthosis_, who conquered part of the lower _Egypt_; others retired from his Successor _Amosis_ into _Phœnicia_, and _Arabia Petræa_, and there mixed with the old inhabitants; who not long after being conquered by _David_, fled from him and the _Philistims_ by sea, under the conduct of _Cadmus_ and other Captains, into _Asia Minor_, _Greece_, and _Libya_, to seek new seats, and there built towns, erected Kingdoms, and set on foot the worship of the dead: and some of those who remained in _Judæa_ might assist _David_ and _Solomon_, in building _Jerusalem_ and the Temple. Among the foreign rites used by the strangers in _Egypt_, in worshipping the Gods, was the sacrificing of men; for _Amosis_ abolished that custom at _Heliopolis_: and therefore those strangers were _Canaanites_, such as fled from _Joshua_; for the _Canaanites_ gave their seed, that is, their children, to _Moloch_, _and burnt their sons and their daughters in the fire to their Gods_, _Deut._ xii. 31. _Manetho_ calls them _Phœnician_ strangers.
After _Amosis_ had expelled the Shepherds, and extended his dominion over all _Egypt_, his son and Successor _Ammenemes_ or _Ammon_, by much greater conquests laid the foundation of the _Egyptian_ Empire: for by the assistance of his young son _Sesostris_, whom he brought up to hunting and other laborious exercises, he conquered _Arabia_, _Troglodytica_, and _Libya_: and from him all _Libya_ was anciently called _Ammonia_: and after his death, in the temples erected to him at _Thebes_, and in _Ammonia_ and at _Meroe_ in _Ethiopia_, they set up Oracles to him, and made the people worship him as the God that acted in them: and these are the oldest Oracles mentioned in history; the _Greeks_ therein imitating the _Egyptians_: for the [259] Oracle at _Dodona_ was the oldest in _Greece_, and was set up by an _Egyptian_ woman, after the example of the Oracle of _Jupiter Ammon_ at _Thebes_.
In the days of _Ammon_ a body of the _Edomites_ fled from _David_ into _Egypt_, with their young King _Hadad_, as above; and carried thither their skill in navigation: and this seems to have given occasion to the _Egyptians_ to build a fleet on the _Red Sea_ near _Coptos_, and might ingratiate _Hadad_ with _Pharaoh_: for the _Midianites_ and _Ishmaelites_, who bordered upon the _Red Sea_, near _Mount Horeb_ on the south-side of _Edom_, were merchants from the days of _Jacob_ the Patriarch, _Gen._ xxxvii. 28, 36. and by their merchandise the _Midianites_ abounded with gold in the days of _Moses_, _Numb._ xxxi. 50, 51, 52. and in the days of the judges of _Israel_, _because they were _Ishmaelites__, _Judg._ viii 24. The _Ishmaelites_ therefore in those days grew rich by merchandise; they carried their merchandise on camels through _Petra_ to _Rhinocolura_, and thence to _Egypt_: and this trafic at length came into the hands of _David_, by his conquering the _Edomites_, and gaining the ports of the _Red Sea_ called _Eloth_ and _Ezion-Geber_, as may be understood by the 3000 talents of gold of _Ophir_, which _David_ gave to the Temple, 1 _Chron._ xxix.
4. The _Egyptians_ having the art of making linen-cloth, they began about this time to build long Ships with sails, in their port on those Seas near _Coptos_, and having learnt the skill of the _Edomites_, they began now to observe the positions of the Stars, and the length of the Solar Year, for enabling them to know the position of the Stars at any time, and to sail by them at all times, without sight of the shoar: and this gave a beginning to Astronomy and Navigation: for hitherto they had gone only by the shoar with oars, in round vessels of burden, first invented on that shallow sea by the posterity of _Abraham_, and in passing from island to island guided themselves by the sight of the islands in the day time, or by the sight of some of the Stars in the night. Their old year was the Lunisolar year, derived from _Noah_ to all his posterity, 'till those days, and consisted of twelve months, each of thirty days, according to their calendar: and to the end of this calendar-year they now added five days, and thereby made up the Solar year of twelve months and five days, or 365 days.
The ancient _Egyptians_ feigned [260] that _Rhea_ lay secretly with _Saturn_, and _Sol_ prayed that she might bring forth neither in any month, nor in the year; and that _Mercury_ playing at dice with _Luna_, overcame, and took from the Lunar year the 72d part of every day, and thereof composed five days, and added them to the year of 360 days, that she might bring forth in them; and that the _Egyptians_ celebrated those days as the birth-days of _Rhea_'s five children, _Osiris_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, _Isis_, and _Nephthe_ the wife of _Typhon_: and therefore, according to the opinion of the ancient _Egyptians_, the five days were added to the Lunisolar calendar-year, in the Reign of _Saturn_ and _Rhea_, the parents of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Typhon_; that is, in the Reign of _Ammon_ and _Titæa_, the parents of the _Titans_; or in the latter half of the Reign of _David_, when those _Titans_ were born, and by consequence soon after the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_ into _Egypt_: but the Solstices not being yet settled, the beginning of this new year might not be fixed to the Vernal Equinox before the Reign of _Amenophis_ the successor of _Orus_ junior, the Son of _Osiris_ and _Isis_.
When the _Edomites_ fled from _David_ with their young King _Hadad_ into _Egypt_, it is probable that they carried thither also the use of letters: for letters were then in use among the posterity of _Abraham_ in _Arabia Petræa_, and upon the borders of the _Red Sea_, the Law being written there by _Moses_ in a book, and in tables of stone, long before: for _Moses_ marrying the daughter of the prince of _Midian_, and dwelling with him forty years, learnt them among the _Midianites_: and _Job_, who lived [261] among their neighbours the _Edomites_, mentions the writing down or words, as there in use in his days, _Job._ xix. 23, 24. and there is no instance of letters for writing down sounds, being in use before the days of _David_, in any other nation besides the posterity of _Abraham_. The _Egyptians_ ascribed this invention to _Thoth_, the secretary of _Osiris_; and therefore Letters began to be in use in _Egypt_ in the days of _Thoth_, that is, a little after the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_, or about the time that _Cadmus_ brought them into _Europe_.
_Helladius_ [262] tells us, that a man called _Oes_, who appeared in the _Red Sea_ with the tail of a fish, so they painted a sea-man, taught Astronomy and Letters: and _Hyginus_, [263] that _Euhadnes_, who came out of the Sea in _Chaldæa_, taught the _Chaldæans_ Astrology the first of any man; he means Astronomy: and _Alexander Polyhistor_ [264] tells us from _Berosus_, that _Oannes_ taught the _Chaldæans_ Letters, Mathematicks, Arts, Agriculture, Cohabitation in Cities, and the Construction of Temples; and that several such men came thither successively. _Oes_, _Euhadnes_, and _Oannes_, seem to be the same name a little varied by corruption; and this name seems to have been given in common to several sea-men, who came thither from time to time, and by consequence were merchants, and frequented those seas with their merchandise, or else fled from their enemies: so that Letters, Astronomy, Architecture and Agriculture, came into _Chaldæa_ by sea, and were carried thither by sea-men, who frequented the _Persian Gulph_, and came thither from time to time, after all those things were practised in other countries whence they came, and by consequence in the days of _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, _David_ and _Solomon_, and their successors, or not long before. The _Chaldæans_ indeed made _Oannes_ older than the flood of _Xisuthrus_, but the _Egyptians_ made _Osiris_ as old, and I make them contemporary.
The _Red Sea_ had its name not from its colour, but from _Edom_ and _Erythra_, the names of _Esau_, which signify that colour: and some [265] tell us, that King _Erythra_, meaning _Esau_, invented the vessels, _rates_, in which they navigated that Sea, and was buried in an island thereof near the _Persian Gulph_: whence it follows, that the _Edomites_ navigated that Sea from the days of _Esau_; and there is no need that the oldest _Oannes_ should be older. There were boats upon rivers before, such as were the boats which carried the Patriarchs over _Euphrates_ and _Jordan_, and the first nations over many other rivers, for peopling the earth, seeking new seats, and invading one another's territories: and after the example of such vessels, _Ishhmael_ and _Midian_ the sons of _Abraham_, and _Esau_ his grandson, might build larger vessels to go to the islands upon the _Red Sea_, in searching for new seats, and by degrees learn to navigate that sea, as far as to the _Persian Gulph_: for ships were as old, even upon the _Mediterranean_, as the days of _Jacob_, _Gen._ xlix.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.