CHAPTER VIII

Physiognomy, Names,

Tribes.-Government. - Avenger of Blood.-Cities of Refuge.-Sentiments regarding the Jews.Various Proofs that they are a distinct People or an unmixed Race.

THE PHYSIOGNOMY of the Nestorian Christians bears a close resemblance to that of the Jews of the country in which they dwell. Even the natives, who are accustomed to discriminate by the features between the various classes of people, are often unable to distinguish a Nestorian from a Jew; and I have taxed my own powers of discrimination with no better success. While Nestorians and Jews have been seated together before me, I have in vain endeavoured to find some distinguishing mark between them in the features or general contour of the face, The Jews, being more oppressed, I have sometimes fancied, wore a deeper shade of care in their countenance, and, in some cases, the complexion may be very slightly affected by their closer confinement in their mechanical and commercial pursuits, while the Nestorians are more abroad with their flocks or in the fields. But this does not afford a criterion by which we can distinguish between them; for, if a Jew has been exposed to the weather, we the more readily mistake him for a Nestorian; and so, if the latter has been confined to the house, we confound him as

readily with a Jew. Other members of this mission, and one English gentleman who visited us, have noticed this striking resemblance, saying of this or that Nestorian, "He has the most marked Jewish physiognomy I ever saw." On this subject my friend, the Rev. Mr. Homes, remarks: "One of the first things which suggested itself to me on seeing Nestorians, was their peculiar JEWISH PHYSIOGNOMY."

Their names are as strikingly Israelitish as their physiognomy. I have seen promiscuous circles of ten or twelve Nestorians, in which every individual had a Jewish name. From forty-five members of our seminary who were taken promiscuously, thirty-two had Jewish names found in the Bible. Others had received names of significant import, in accordance with the custom of the Jews, and such as are common among those of Ooroomiah.

The following are the names of the patriarch, of his five brothers, and other relations: Abraham (official name Simeon, Shimon); Zadok, also Absalom; Johánan, Benjamin, Isaac, Dunka (the same in signification as Kedemah, Gen., xxv., 15, i. e., Oriental, or the East); Nathan, also Napthali; Mark, also Ruel; Elias, Jonah, Joseph, Jesse, David, Solomon, Nathaniel, Urias, Eleazar, Phinehas, Japheth, Daniel, Peter, Ananias, Melchisidec, Ishmail, Gamaliel, Jonadab, Ezekiel. The bishops of this province: Elias or Elijah, Joseph, Johanan

or John, Gabriel, and Abraham (deceased). The names of all the patriarchs and prophets, and most, if not all, of the Jewish names mentioned in the Bible, are found among the Nestorians. While some of these names are found among other Christians, many of them appear to be peculiar to the posterity of Israel, or, at least, such as we should not expect to find except among Jews. The following are a specimen of the Hebrew names that occur among the Nestorian females: Miriam, Martha, Sarah, Rebecca, Rhoda, Elizabeth, Rachel, Tamor, Hannah, Hagar, Susannah.

These names, it may be well to apprize the reader, are, for greater convenience, given with the English pronunciation, and, to prevent mistake, they have been carefully compared with the same names in the Syrian Bible.

TRIBES. Most of the Nestorian Christians, like the ancient Israelites, live in separate tribes. We do not deem it essential to our main position, and shall not attempt to identify each one of the tribes separately. "The tribes of Israel," says Dr. Buchanan, "are no longer to be inquired after by name. The purpose for which they were divided into tribes was accomplished when the genealogy of the Messiah was traced to the stem of David. Neither do the Israelites themselves know certainly from what tribe they are descended." In the prophecies yet to be fulfilled, except those contain

ed in the last chapter of Ezekiel, the ten tribes are always spoken of collectively. As a body, they are distinctly designated by the names Israel and Ephraim; and the rich blessings promised them in the word of God are to be received by them as one people. We shall therefore content

ourselves for the present if we can identify them as a whole. When "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" shall be gathered together in one fold, if the Great Shepherd has designs to accomplish by their separation into their respective enclosures, a division will unquestionably be made. Still, the existence of the Nestorians, from time immemorial, in distinct tribes nearly or quite corresponding in number to those of ancient Israel, is a remarkable fact, and may furnish interesting testimony with regard to their origin. If we are able to identify one of these divisions with any one of the ten tribes, the inference naturally follows that the other divisions represent the remaining tribes, especially as there is internal evidence of their common origin. As already intimated, few of the Nestorians can trace, either by tradition or otherwise, their lineal descent. Some, with a degree of vanity, have claimed connexion with the royal tribe, but have afterward acknowledged their ignorance on the subject.* Others distinctly claim that they are the

* The names of the tribes appear to be lost in the names of their districts.

posterity of the ten tribes, without attempting to trace their ancient divisions. But, in the midst of this general ignorance on the subject, the family of the patriarch, who of all others are the most likely to have preserved correct information regarding their genealogy, assure us most confidently that they know the particular tribe from which they are descended; and they make the assertion with so much apparent integrity of purpose, and with such attendant circumstances, as leave us no room to doubt their sincerity.

They claim descent from Naphtali; a claim that certainly savours little of vanity. If the assertion be not founded in truth, why do they not claim affinity with the sacerdotal or royal tribes? What possible motive can they have for courting an alliance with the humble son of a handmaid? The highest family in the nation setting up an unfounded claim to a connexion with the most humble, with one of the least distinguished of all their ancient tribes! With the pride of ancestry which especially characterizes every distinguished Oriental, there is a strong temptation for them to disavow this humble connexion altogether, and substitute for it one of more honourable naine. The records on which they mainly relied for proofs in the case, were, together with a large quantity of manuscripts, lost in conveying them across the Zâb at high water about sixty years ago. But, as