Matt. i. 5.) Hamath was built and inhabited by the Hamathites, Canaanites, Ethiopians, &c.-[Herodotus.] The son of Boaz was Obed, by Ruth, the Moabitish the daughter of Pharaoh, a woman of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and Hittites a colored people.-(1 Kings, xi. 1; Matt. i. 5.)

woman

The son of Obed was Jesse, an Ephrathite. The son of Jesse was David, the king of nations, whose sister's name was Abigail, the descendant of Egypt by Ephraim, of the tribe of Joseph.—(Gen. xli. 46: xx; 1 Sam. xvii. 12; Matt. i.)

Abigail, David's sister, married Jether the Ishmaelite, the descendant of Ishmael, an Egyptian.-(Gen. xxi. 25; 1 Chr. ii. 17.)

The son of David, by Bath-shua, or Bath-sheba, the daughter of Ammiel, or Eliam, was Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite.-(2 Sam. xi. 3, 12, 24: 1 Chron. iii. 5.) The Hittites are CanaanitesEthiopians. [See Grecian historian.]

Solomon, king of Israel. In his reign there were a great number of kings in Africa and Arabia. "Twelve kings reigned over the twelve districts called Nomes, in Egypt. Solomon had seven hundred wives, princesses; daughters of the kings of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians or Sidonians, and Hittites-Ethiopian women. "The queen of Ethiopia, or of the South, bare Solomon a son;" and his concubines were three hundred women, [nobility,] of the Ethiopians and Moors.

The son of Solomon, the Hittite, was Raboam, by Naamah, an Ammonitish woman.

King Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he gave as a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife, the city of Gezer. And Solomon was thirteen years in building his own house for the daughter of Pharaoh, his wife; and he finished it, and she came up out of the city of David, unto her house which Solomon had built for her, into Jerusalem, the upper city; a woman of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sodinians and Hittites- an Ethiopian woman.-(1 Kings iii. 1, 7; i. 8, 9; xvi. 24; xi; 2 Chron. xii. 13; Matt. i. 7; Herodotus, &c.)

Raboam, the son of Solomon, begat Abía, and Abia begat Asa, and Asa begat Josaphat, and Josaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Ozias, and Ozias begat Joathim, and Joathim begat Achaz, and Achaz begat Ezekias, and Ezekias begat Hezekiah, and Hezekiah begat Manasses, and Manasses begat Amon, and Amon begat Josias, and Josias begat Jechonias, and Jechonias begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zorobabel, and Zorobabel begat Abiud, and Abiud begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor, and Azor begat Sadoc, and Sadoc begat Achim, and Achim begat Eliud, and Eljud begat Eleazer, and Eleazer begat Matthan, and Matthan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ the Lord.

The sons of Joseph were James, Joses, Simon or Salome, and Judas.-(Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3; xv. 40.)

These were the descendants of ancient Jacob or Israel, who was willing to give his daughters unto the sons of the Hivites and all the Ethiopian nations of the country, at their request, and to take unto themselves their daughters in exchange, providing every male of them would be circumcised, that they might become one people under the covenant of grace and works made by God unto Israel.—(Gen. xxxiv. 21, 22.)

The cities of Tyre and Sidon were founded by blacks, who were the same with the Canaanites, and spoke the Hebrew language.-(Matt. xv. 21-28.) [Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is

thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.]

Sarepta was a city of Sidon. [Thus saith the Lord, I tell you of a truth, Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.]-(Luke iv. 25, 26.)

The Queen of the South, or Sheba, daughter of Jokshan, and grand-daughter of Abraham by Keturah, (Gen. xxv. 2, 3; 1 Kings, x. 2; Chron. ix; Matt. xii. 42; Acts viii. 27;) came from Ethiopia-or, in the language of Scripture, from the uttermost parts of the earth to Jerusalem, with a very great company, to hear and see all the wisdom of Solomon. She desired to try him in allegories or parables, in which he had been instructed by Nathan. The annals of Abyssinia say that she was a pagan when she left Sheba or Azab, but being filled with admiration at the sight of Solomon's works, she became a proselyte to Judaism, while at Jerusalem. She likewise bore Solomon a son, whom she called Menilek, and carried him with her in her return to Sheba. After the lapse of a few years, Menilek was sent back to Solomon, for education; nor did his father neglect his charge, but had him thoroughly instructed in the Jewish religion. Menilek was crowned king of Ethiopia, in the temple at Jerusalem.

It is certain that circumcision, the observance of the seventh day, and a number of other Jewish rites, are practised by the Ethiopians to this very day; and it is indisputable that their kings are descended in a direct line from Solomon. It is probable that this powerful nation the Ethiopians of Abyssinia-were conquered by Shishak, about the time of the civil wars in Egypt. The celebrated Joash, the king of Israel, reigned forty, years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah, of Beer-sheba, or Sheba, a city or country of the Sabeans. -(Gen. x. 7; 2 Chron. xxiv.)

LIGHT AND TRUTH.

CHAPTER II.

ANCIENT CITIES AND KINGDOMS.

CITIES OF ETHIOPIA.

ETHIOPIAN is a name derived from the "Land of Ethiopia," the first settled country before the flood. ،، The second river that went out of Eden, to water the garden, or earth, was Gihon; the same that encompasseth the whole land, or country, of Ethiopia.''. (Gen. ii. 13.) Here Adam and his posterity built their tents, and tilled the ground.—(Gen. iii. 23, 24.)

The first city was Enoch, built before the flood, in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden-a country now called Arabia. Cain, the son of Adam, went out of Eden, and dwelt in the land of Nod. We suppose, according to an ancient custom, he married his sister; and she bare Enoch. And Cain built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. (Gen. iv. 16, 17.) We know there must have been more than Cain and his son Enoch in the land of Nod, to build a city, but who were they ? * * * * [Malcom's Bible Dictionary.]

The first great city described in ancient and sacred history was built by the Cushites, or Ethiopians. They surrounded it with walls, which, according to Rollin, were 87 feet in thickness, 350 feet in height, and 480 furlongs in circumference. And even this stupendous work they shortly after eclipsed by another, of which

Diodorus says, "Never did any city come up to the greatness and magnificence of this."

It is a fact well attested by history, that the Ethiopians once bore sway, not only in all Africa, but over almost all Asia; and it is said that even two continents could not afford field enough for the expansion of their energies. "They found their way into Europe, and built a city on the western coast of Spain, called by them Iberian Ethiopia." "And," says a distinguished writer, "wherever they went, they were rewarded for their wisdom."

THE TOWER OF BABEL.-Nimrod, the son of Cush, an Ethiopian, attempted to build the Tower of Babel.(Gen. x. 8-10; xi. 4-9.) One hundred and two years after the flood, in the land of Shinar-an extensive and fertile plain, lying between Mesopotamia on the west, and Persia on the east, and watered by the Euphratesmankind being all of one language, one color, and one religion-they agreed to erect a tower of prodigious extent and height. Their design was not to secure themselves against a second deluge, or they would have built their tower on a high mountain; but to get themselves a famous character, and to prevent their dispersion by the erection of a monument which should be visible from a great distance. No quarries being found in that alluvial soil, they made bricks for stone, and used slime for mortar. Their haughty and rebellious attempt displeased the Lord; and after they had worked, it is said, twenty-two years, he confounded their language. This effectually stopped the building, procured it the name of Babel, or Confusion, and obliged some of the offspring of Noah to disperse themselves and replenish the world. The tower of Babel was in sight from the great city of Babylon. Nimrod was a hunter and monarch of vast ambition. When he rose to be king of Babylon, he re-peopled Babel, which had been desolate since the confusion of tongues; but did not dare to attempt the finishing of the tower. The Scriptures inform us, he became " mighty upon earth;" but the extent of his conquests is not known.-[Malcom's Bible Dictionary.]

The private houses, in most of the ancient cities, were simple in external appearance; but exhibited in