this subject is, that the isles of the Gentiles were first divided by the sons of Javan, the grandson of Noah *, who is supposed to have been the same person with Ion, the ancestor of the Ionians. Bryant observes, that some of the descendants of Nimrod are to be traced to Ionia; and he contends with much ingenuity and learning, for the derivation of many colonies from Egypt, endeavouring to account, by the proofs of an early connection, for the similarity which existed between many of the religious rites of the Egyptians and Grecians †. He supposes the Helladians, (who were called Hellenes from Hellen, the son of Deucalion) to have descended from the (Cuthite) shepherds of Egypt, who are recorded by Josephus to have gone into Greece under the guidance of Danaus, Cecrops, and others . Dionysius ‡. of Halicarnassus, and Strabo state, that the * Gen. x. 1--5. An opinion has been sometimes expressed, that Elishah gave a name to Hellas; and that Tarshish took possession of Achaia, Kittim of Macedonia, and Dodanim of Thessaly and Epirus. + Diodor. Sicul. §§ 28, 29, and 33, Wetsten. Edit. 1745. and Bryant's Mythology, and Observations on the Plagues inflicted on the Egyptians. Diodor. ex lib. xl. Eclog. I. vol. ii. p. 543. and Zonaras, vol. i. p. 22. See Syncel. p. 102. Egyptians began to disturb the Pelasgi, who were spread over the north of Greece, two generations before the war of Troy.. The Athenians, Dorians, and Boeotians are severally stated to have deduced their origin from the Pelasgi, (whom Bryant supposes to have been of the Cuthite race), or from colonies of Cuthite extraction at a later period. Numberless proofs of descent from a common ancestry, occur among these three nations. The evidences of remote connection were retained with strong impression, and manifested themselves at different times. The notion so commonly expressed among the Greeks of transmitted honours, partly divine and partly human-of an origin in some families derived from an union of the gods with mortals, might probably have taken its rise from the circumstances referred to by Moses, when he relates that the sons of God (that is, possibly, the posterity of Seth) intermixed in marriage with the children of men, (that is, perhaps, the descendants of Cain). The Athenians were, as Herodotus in his Urania informs us, first called Cranai, which name Cumberland supposes to be derived from Cronus, or Ham, who probably lived about four centuries after the deluge, and consequently long before the time of Cecrops. Cronus, is said to have moved from Babylon to Phoenicia, and Astarte is considered as his wife. In an account of Eusebius he is reported to have been called Israel. Sanchoniatho relates, that he was circumcised, and that he compelled his auxiliaries to be circumcised also *. Cumberland imagines that Cronus found some of Japhet's posterity in Attica, and obtained the sovereignty over them. Sanchoniatho observes, that he gave Athens to his daughter, which took its name from her. The Lacedemonians, who were a people of Titanian origin, are said to have claimed affinity with the Caphtorim, a tribe settled in Judea, which some suppose to have been descendants from the earliest inhabitants of Canaan †. * See Genesis xxxiv. 15. See p. 106. The Capthorim descended from Mizraim, Gen. x. 14. No other accounts which are authentic seem to exist of the establishment of any early communication be tween the Greeks and the Jews; the entrance of Alexander into Asia opened the means of some intercourse. This monarch, who commenced his undertaking about 334 years before Christ, is reported to have gone up to Jerusalem after the siege and the taking of Tyre, and to have been shown the prophecies of Daniel, which predicted his victories *. It is related also, by Josephus, that Alexander was so impressed with reverence for the high priest, Jaddua, in consequence of a dream, which he had in Macedonia, in which he appeared to contemplate him, and to be encouraged by the vision to pass over into Asia, with a promise of success; that though he marched to Jerusalem with intention to take vengeance of the Jews for having refused to assist him with provisions, he no sooner beheld Jaddua than he paid homage to him, and upon his entrance into Jerusalem offered sacrifices to Jehovah, and granted many privileges to the Jews, par * Dan. vii. 6. viii. 20-22. xi. 3. and Newton on the Prophecies. ticularly the enjoyment of their religion, and an exemption from tribute in the Sabbatical year This account has been disputed, indeed, by modern writers, but it has been vindicated by Prideaux, Chandler, and others, and admitted even by Bayle; and there are circumstances mentioned in Arrian and Pliny, and other Heathen writers, which tend to confirm the relation . Justin, in particular, informs us, that Alexander went into Syria, where many princes of the East met him with their mitres, which account, as Vossius observes, * Joseph. lib. xi. c. 8. De Bello Jud. lib. ii. c. 18. p. 1098. Edit. Hudson. † Arrian de Exped. Alex. lib. ii. c. 25. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xii. c. 25. § 54. where Pliny states that Alexander was in the district of Jericho, i. e. at a distance of 21 miles only from Jerusalem. (Infulis.) Hist. lib. xi. c. 10. § 6. 10. 6. The Jewish high priest certainly wore a golden plate, made as a crown, on which the sacred name of Jehovah was engraven, and which was placed on a fillet or mitre. Philo describes it as χρυσῶν πιλαλον, ωσανεί στεφανό;; and he adds, μίρα δ' ήν υπ' αὐτὸ τῷ μὴ ψαύειν κεφαλής το πεβαλον, πρὸς δε και κιδαρις κατεσκευαζείο ικιδάρει γάρ οι των εωων βασιλεῖς αντὶ Διαδήματος ειώθασι χρῆσθαι. De Mos. lib. iii. p. 152. vol. ii. Edit. Mangey; and afterwards, κιδάριν δε ἀντὶ Διαδημαῖος επιλίθησι τῇ κεφαλῇ δικαίων τὸν ιερωμένον τῷ Θεῷ καθ ̓ ὄν χρόνον ἱερᾶται προφέρειν ἀπάνων καὶ μὴ μόνον ιδιωτῶν, ἀλλὰ και βασιλίων. Ibid. p. 155. See also Xenoph de Exped. Cyr. lib. ii. |