AN

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

OF THE

OLD TESTAMENT.

PART II.

CHAP. I.

Of the Land of Egypt, and the feveral Places thereof mentioned in the Old Teftament.

IN the former part, I have followed the series of the fa

1.

duction.

cred hiftory of the Old Teftament, to the end of Genefis, The introthat is, to the going down of Jacob and his fons out of Canaan into Egypt, and their fettling there in the land of Gofhen. The fecond book of Mofes, called Exodus, takes its name from its treating principally of the Exodus, i. e. the going out of the Ifraelites from the land of Egypt. But before we accompany them out of Egypt, it seems proper here to fay, what is requifite to be faid, either concerning the land of Egypt in general, or the feveral particular places of it, mentioned in the Old Testa

ment.

To speak then, in the first place, of Egypt in general.

VOL. I.

P

The

PART II. The name, whereby it is generally denoted in the He

2.

to its names

in Scrip

ture.

brew text, is that of the land of Mizraim. It was fo called, from its being first planted after the Flood by the Of Egypt in general; defcendants of Mizraim, one of the fons of Ham. It is and firft, as three or four times in the book of Pfalms ftyled the land of Ham; whence it is probable, that Ham settled himself, together with his fon Mizraim, in this country. For it cannot be reasonably fuppofed, that the land of Mizraim is by another name called the land of Ham, only because Ham was the father of Mizraim; for then the land of Canaan, or of Cufh, two other fons of Ham, might be as well denoted by the land of Ham. Since therefore it is only the land of Mizraim, that in holy Scripture is specified by the name of the land of Ham; it must be for some special reafon and the most probable feems to be that already mentioned, namely, that Ham chofe to accom. pany his fon Mizraim, and to fettle where he fettled. The Arabians are faid ftill to call this country Mafr, and the Turks Mifr, agreeably to the Hebrew name Misraim; and Plutarch has observed, that in fome of the facred offices of the old Egyptians, it was called Chemia, a fofter word for Chamia, which is plainly derived from Cham or Ham.

3.

:

In Heathen writers it has feveral names; but the most The name ufual is that of Egypt; a name thought to be made of Egypt, whence. the Greek word aia, Aia, (as that from the Hebrew ',) fignifying a land or country, and Coptus t the naine of a city in Egypt. Certain it is, that the Chriftians of this country were, and ftill are, commonly called Copti; and in the beginning of the Polyglot Bible we have an alpha+ bet ftyled the Coptic or Egyptian alphabet. Indeed Axonтos is eafily foftened into AYUTTOs, i, e. coptus into Ægyptus. Some tell us that the Egyptians call themfelves to this very day Chioth, and so suppose Ægyptus to be moulded from Echiotus, or the like.

4.

This country has been generally esteemed a part of The fitua- Libya or Afric, being bounded with other countries of the Libyan or African continent to the weft and fouth;

tion of

Egypt.