in the oriental hiftories the names of five or fix kings, but without any account of their actions, excepting only Afhyaf, who appears to have been the Shifhak of the Scriptures; then follows another large chafm in the hif tory, the laft king mentioned being Feraoum al Araj, that is, Pharaoh the Lame. This prince, we are told, was invaded by Nebuchadnezzar, whom the eaftern writers call Baltaknaffar; after having fuftained a long fiege in his capital Mefr, he was taken by the conqueror, and put to death. After this period the oriental agrees better with the western hiftory of Egypt, as will appear in its proper place. CHA P. IV. The History of the Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites, Edomites, Amalekites, Canaanites, and Philistines. SECT. I. The Hiftory of Moab, D ESIGNING, in this chapter, to write the hiftories of thofe nations with whom the children of Ifrael were concerned, before or upon their fettling in the land of Canaan, we fhall begin with that of the Moabites. This people was defcended from Moab the fon of Lot, by his eldest daughter; but, before we mention the occafion of that inceft, it may be proper to trace the history a little higher. The defcent of the Mo abites. Lot was the son of Haran, the brother of Abraham, The life of and, after his father's death, was brought by his grand- Lot their father Terah, together with the rest of his family, from ancestor. Ur of the Chaldees, their native city, to Haran in Mefopotamia; where Terah dying, Abraham afterwards took his nephew under his protection; and, as Jofephus tells us, adopted him, despairing of any children of own. He therefore carried him with him into Canaan P, where, after they had dwelt fome time, they were obliged, by a • Khondemir. Tarickh al Thabari, Mirabil. Pyramid. ? Genef. xii. 4, &c. famine, to go into Egypt; and foon after their return from thence they parted, their flocks and herds being fo much increased, that they could not dwell together any longer, as the pafture and water were not fufficient for both Abraham propofed that they should separate; and gave Lot the choice of removing to what part of the country he thought fit. Lot chofe the plain of Jordan, lying eastward of Bethel and Ai, between which Abraham and he then dwelt, and which, at that time, before the terrible deftruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, was fo fruitful and well watered, that it is compared to the land of Egypt, and even to Paradise itself. In this delightful plain Lot pitched his tent, not far from Sodom, infamous for the unnatural wickednefs of its inhabitants; and he afterwards dwelt in the city itfelf. But that city, with others in the fame plain, being taken by Chedorlaomer and his allies, Lot, who affifted the Sodomites, had the misfortune to be taken by the enemy, with his family and all his fubftance; and muft have been carried into сарtivity, had he not been timely rescued by Abraham, who not only delivered him, but recovered all his effects. Notwithstanding this warning, and the abominable wickedness of the inhabitants, Lot ftill continued to live in Sodom, and would have perifhed in the catastrophe of that people, if he had not been miraculously preserved. Two angels, fent to destroy the place, came to Sodom in the evening, in the appearance of travellers; and Lot, fitting in the gate, invited them to be his guests, according to the hofpitality of the caftern nations. They had fcarce refreshed themselves, when the inhabitants of the city, informed that Lot had strangers with him, and, in all probability, tempted by the beautiful forms which the angels had affumed ", encompaffed the house, and demanded them to be delivered up, that they might abufe them. Lot endeavoured to diffuade them from their wicked purpofe, and, rather than violate the rights of hofpitality, offered to abandon his two virgin daughters to their luft, on condition they would not moleft his guests; but, instead of accepting this offer, they proceeded to violence; whereupon the angels fuddenly pulled Lot into the house, fhut the door, and ftruck the riotous affembly with blindness. ¶ Genef. xii. 10. and chap. xiii. 1. xiv. 12. t Gen. xiv. 16, &c. r Gen. xiii.ro. s Gen. u Jofeph, Antiq. lib. i. cap. 11. In the mean time, the angels acquainted Lot with their commiffion, advifing him, if he had any friends, for whofe fafety he was concerned, that he would immediately let them know their own danger, and warn them to depart. Whereupon Lot, before it was light, went to his fons-in-law, to whom his daughters were contracted (D), and telling them what they must expect if they stayed longer in the city, earnestly exhorted them to leave it; but they, thinking he mocked them, rejected his advice *. As foon as day appeared, the angels ordered Lot immediately to depart, with his wife and two daughters, left they fhould be involved in the common ruin; but he being fomewhat dilatory, intent, perhaps, on preserv ing fome of his most valuable effects, the angel hastily laid hold of them, and brought them out of the city, commanding them to make a speedy escape, for that their lives were in danger; advifing them, in particular, not to look behind them, nor to stay in the plain, but to hasten to the mountains. Lot, confidering the mountains were at a good distance, began to fear he could not reach them time enough; and begged he might be permitted to escape to a fmall city not far from Sodom, then called Bela, but afterwards, from this accident, Zoar, or the Little. The angels not only granted his request, but affured him, that their commiffion fhould not be executed till he reached the place. Immediately after fun-rife ensued the threatened destruction of thofe cities; and Lot's wife, contrary to the exprefs command of the angel, * Genef. xix. 1—14. (D) The Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and other tranflations, and fome of the rabbins, fuppose these were the hufbands of other daughters of Lot, who were married and had left their father's houfe; which feems to be confirmed by the angels ordering Lot to take with him his wife and his two daughters, "which were there" prefent. But the original words, which in our Verfion are rendered "his fons-in-law, which mar ried his daughters," may be ZA looking looking back, was changed into a pillar of falt y (E), which Jofephus tells us, was remaining in his days. After this catastrophe, Lot ftayed not long in Zoar, fearing fome farther misfortune; but went, with his daughters, to the mountains on the east of the Dead Sea, where he dwelt in a cavern. In this folitude, the two young women, feeing no hopes of their ever being married, and being very defirous of having children, as it was a great reproach and scandal in thofe days to have none, plotted together to deceive their father, and have iffue by him. Accordingly, they put their project in execution, in the manner we find related in holy writ; and from this incestuous commerce proceeded two fons, That of the eldest daughter was therefore named Moab, fignifying (though not in pure Hebrew, yet, perhaps, in fome dialect of that tongue) of a father; and was the progenitor of the people we are now to defcribe 2. y Genef. xix. 15-26, xix. 30-37. z Antiq. lib. i. cap. 11. (E) It is not agreed by commentators what the crime was for which Lot's wife was thus feverely punished. Some are of opinion, the deferved it merely for difobeying the command of the angel, and expreffing too much concern for a people who merited no compaffion; which yet he might be the more apt to entertain, as fhe was probably a native of Sodom, and had near relations among them. Some late commentators, after all, think, that there was no miraculous metamorphofis at all in the cafe, but that the either turned back out of curiofity, to fee the burning nearer, and fop o perifhed in the dreadful fhower, or by fome poisonous vapour; or elfe, that the horror of the fight, when he looked back, and plainly beheld the terrible deftruction of a place fhe had a Genef. but juft quitted, ftruck her stiff and motionlefs, like a ftatue, and that he died of the fright. As to what is urged from Jofephus, and fome books of travels, that this ftatue or pillar was many ages after, or is now, to be feen; it is anfwered, that Jofephus might be deceived therein, as many others have been, and daily are, in things of this nature, which really feems to have been the cafe; because the more intelligent and credible travellers fay, that they could never fee it; and when they have afked the people of the country after it, they either affured them there was no fuch thing, or pretend it ftands fomewhere in the mountains, where the access to it is very dangerous, because of the wild beasts and ferpents; but more fo on account of the Arabs. The the Moab The pofterity of Lot fettled in the country bordering of the on the mountain where he was born, which fome au- country thors make part of Coelefyria, while others allege it be-peed by longs to Arabia'; and having driven out the old inhabi- ites. tants, poffeffed a small tract, thence called Moabitis, or the land of Moab, the description of which we reserve to the geography of Judæa. &c. We are but little acquainted with the customs and Their gomanners of the people. They were governed by kings, vernment, ufed circumcifions, and feem to have employed them- customs, felves, mostly, in pafturage, and breeding cattle, wherein their riches chiefly confifted. They were one of the nations whose goods the Jews were forbidden to feek; nor were they to be admitted to intermarry with the Ifraelites, to the tenth generation. However, they appear to have cultivated a good understanding with that people, after their fettlement in Canaan, as appears from the fojourning of Elimelech there, and the reception David met with in his troubles at Mifpeh. What language they ufed, we know not; but suppose, they spoke a dialect of the Canaanitifh or Hebrew. That they had once the knowlege of the true God, we Their relimay not only conclude from the piety of their great an- gion. ceftor, who, without doubt, inftructed his offspring in their duty; but, likewife, from Scripture; for they retained this knowlege till the time of Mofes, even after they had monftroufly corrupted their religion, by introducing the worship of the falfe gods ". The idols of the Moabites taken, notice of in Scripture, are Chemoth, and Baal-Peor; fometimes, fimply, Peor; or, as the Septuagint writes the name, Phegor; but what gods these were, the learned have not yet unanimously determined. St. Jerom fuppofes, they were both names of one and the fame idol*; and, from the debaucheries into which those fell who defiled themselves with their worship, several writers, both ancient and modern, have represented them as obfcene deities, not much different from Priapus. This opinion they endeavour to fupport from the etymologies of the names, which they fuppofe imply fome indecency (D). Others, however, imagine, that Stephan. de Urb. in Mála. 9 Jofeph. Antiq. lib. i. cap. 12. s Jerem. ix. 25, 26. t Deut. ii. XXV. II. x Hieronym. in Efai. lib. v. Syris, Syntag. i. cap. 5. Cleric. in Numer. (D) Peor they derive from paar, to open, or firetch; be cause they used an indecent tentebant |