plicity of workmanship. In a few of the chambers we observed pilasters, resembling in their style of architecture the Doric, with architraves, as in some of the most ancient sepulchres near Jerusalem; but they were all integral parts of the solid rock. The dome covering the circular chamber was without ornament, the entrance to it being from the north-west. Opposite to this entrance was a handsome square crypt, with three soroi, and to the right and left were other cryptæ, similarly surrounded with places for the dead. Hereabouts we observed the remarkable symbol, sculptured in relief, of an orb with extended wings. We endeavoured to penetrate farther towards the south-west and south, and found that another complete wing of the vast fabric extended in those directions; but the labour of the research was excessive. The cryptæ upon the south-west side corresponded with those we have described towards the north-east. In the middle, between the two, a long range of chambers extended from the central and circular shrine, towards the north-west; and in this direction appears to have been the principal and original entrance. Proceeding towards it, we came to a large room in the middle of the fabric, between the supposed Serapeum and the main outlet, or portal, towards the sea. Here the workmanship was very elaborate; and to the right and left were chambers, with receptacles ranged parallel to each other. -Having passed about six hours in exploring to the best of our ability these gloomy mansions, we regained by means of our clue the aperture by which we had entered, and quitted them for ever." Such is Dr Clarke's account of the remarkable catacombs at Alexandria, the history of which, as he well observes, seems to be involved in darkness, impervious as that which pervades every avenue of the excavated chambers. We have condensed the account as much as possible; but it is one of great interest, and serves to throw much light on the Eastern habits and customs. Shaw, who published his Travels in 1757, maintains that the Cryptæ, or Necropolis, were not intended for the reception of mummies or embalmed bodies. In this, however, that learned traveller is decidedly contradicted by Strabo. "Perhaps," observes Dr Clarke, "he was one of those who had been induced to adopt an erroneous opinion, that mummies were placed upright upon their feet in Egyptian sepulchres, and therefore was at a loss to reconcile the horizontal position of the Theca with his preconceived notions." See EGYPT, JERUSAlem, Garden of Uzza, No. Alexandria has no fortifications, and, according to Volney, is incapable of defence. Its supplies of water could all be cut off by an invader, even if it were possible to garrison it sufficiently for resistance. The city was attacked by Buonaparte in 1798, when the French invaded Egypt, and speedily surrendered, with the loss of about three hundred Arabs and Mamelukes. They kept possession of it till 1801, when it was taken by General Hutchinson, afterwards Earl of Donoughmore. On the 13th and 21st of March that year, Sir Ralph Abercromby gained two brilliant victories on the plain before the city, which, however, were purchased with the life of that gallant and illustrious soldier. The British took possession of Alexandria in 1806, under General Fraser, but it was finally evacuated in 1807. It is now under the government of the Pacha of Egypt, that kingdom having become independent of the Grand Signior; and, under the wise and enterprising policy of Mehemet Ali, is likely to attain commercial importance. ALLON-BACHUTH, the oak of weeping, the spot where Rebecca's nurse was buried, Gen. xxxv. 8. ALMON, a sacerdotal city belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, Josh. xxi. 18. According to Calmet, it is the same with Alemeth. See ALEmeth. ALMON-DIBLATHAIM, or BETHDIBLATHAIM, a small town on the borders of the territory of the Moabites, near which the Israelites formed an encampment before crossing the river Jordan, Numb. xxxiii. 46. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Jer. xlviii. 22. ALLUSH, ALUSH, or ОLLUSH, paste or dough, one of the stages of the Israelites in the Wilderness of Shur, when they departed from Dophkah, Numb. xxxiii. 13. Eusebius and Jerome fix it in Idumea, about Gabala or Petra, the capital of Arabia Petræa. It is placed by Ptolemy among the Idumean cities. Some geographers incline to think that Allush also signifies a tongue, which would therefore indicate a tongue of land, or a cape, as it imports a tongue of sea, or a bay, Josh. xv.2, 5. If this conjecture is well founded, it implies that the Israelites traversed the peninsula of Arabia to its most southern cape or point, now called Ras Mahommed, before they turned directly towards Mount Sinai. AMAD, the name of a town belonging to the tribe of Asher, Josh. xix. 26. AMALEK, the name of a mountain in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim, on which the city of Pirathon was built. Abdon, Judge of Israel, was of this city, and was buried in it, Judges xii. 13, 15. See PIRATHON. AMALEKITES, a people that licks up, or that takes away all, also, a people that strikes, or that uses all, or the people of the sovereign or ruler, an ancient powerful nation who inhabited Arabia Petræa. They were descended from Amalek, or Omelek, the son of Eliphaz by his concubine Timnah, and grandson of Esau, Gen. xxxvi. 12, 16; 1 Chron. i. 36. Amalek succeeded Gatam, one of the dukes of Edom. The Amalekites lived in a similar manner to the Arabs; they had no constant dwelling, nor do they appear to have possessed cities, though one is mentioned in 1 Sam. xv. 7; they lived for the most part in tents and booths, and sometimes in caves, migrating from one part of the country to the other; and on this account it is not easy to ascertain the limits of their territory. Generally speaking, it was that part of Arabia Petrea which lay east of the country of the Midianites, with Arabia Felix on the south, Arabia Deserta on the east, and extended almost as far north as the Lake Asphaltites or Dead Sea, and southward to the Red Sea, or between Havilah and Shur, 1 Sam. xv. 7. Reland places them between the Deserts of Kadesh and Engedi, somewhat nearer the Mediterranean; yet Josephus affirms in one place that they extended from Pelusium to the Red Sea, and in another, that they lay between Gabolitis and Petra. There were, however, various tribes who went under the general name of Amalekites, and three are specifically mentioned-Amalek the ancient, to whom it is probable Balram alluded when he termed it the "head of the nations," and which may be placed near the river Jordan, Gen. xiv. 7; Numb. xxiv. 20;-Amalek, a tribe in the countries east of Egypt, between Egypt and Canaan, Exod. xvii. 8; 1 Sam. xv. 5, &c.; and Amalek, the descendants of Eliphaz. It was against the second of these tribes that Moses and Joshua fought, and against them perpetual hostility was ordered to be maintained. According to the Arabian account, Amalek, the founder or progenitor of the Amalekites, was the son of Ham, and grandson of Noah; and the father of Ad, and grandfather of Schedad. This tradition is zealously supported by Calmet, who argues that it is not easy to conceive how the Amalekites, if they were merely the posterity of the son of Eliphaz, and grandson of Esau, could be so numerous and powerful as they are represented to be, when the Israelites departed out of Egypt. We are informed, Gen. xiv. 5-17, that when Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and the other four confederated kings, attacked the Rephaims, Zuzims, Emims, and Horites, they also attacked the Amalekites; but if Calmet's supposition as to their origin be correct, which it is generally admitted to be, this, as Dr Wells observes, must be understood proleptically, namely, that the five confederated kings now alluded to smote the country which was afterwards known by the name of the country of the Amalekites, for there were no such people omer. in the days of Abraham and ChedorlaOther geographers, however, maintain that they were in existence in the time of Abraham and the five confederated kings, and were a numerous and powerful nation; that on this account they are called by Balaam the first or beginning of nations-that they are never styled by Moses the brethren of Israel or Edom-that the latter never held any friendly intercourse or league with them, but allowed them to be invaded and butchered by Saul, without affording them any assistance that we find them always mentioned with the Amorites, Philistines, and other Canaanitish nations, and involved in the same anathema pronounced against them by Heaven and that, therefore, they must be viewed rather as a tribe of those nations than as descendants of Esau, who were probably a small tribe. The reader may adopt either of these theories, for both of them are maintained on very satisfactory grounds. Of the Amalek destroyed by Saul, and whose king Agag was put to death by the prophet Samuel, the Arabians assert that he was the father of an Amalekites and Hebrews, and many battles were fought, in which the latter were generally the victors. The origin of this enmity, on the part of the Amalekites, it is alleged, proceeded from the circumstance of Jacob having deprived their progenitor Esau of his birthright and his father's blessing, Exod. xvii. 8, &c.; Judges v. 14; 1 Sam. xv. 2; and the reason why God pronounced a perpetual war against them was, that though knowing well that the Israelites were destined to possess the long promised land of Canaan, they nevertheless came against the latter with an armed force, in the hope of frustrating the divine arrangements. The Israelites under Moses had hardly effected their memorable passage through the Red Sea, after their departure from Egypt, when they were attacked by the Amalekites in the Desert of Rephidim, as they were marching towards Mount Horeb; and all those were slain who through fatigue or weakness were compelled to lag behind. For this act, which was done without any provocation on the part of the Israelites, but simply from the implacable and hereditary hatred which they cherished towards the wandering Hebrews, the Amalekites were most severely punished. Moses, by the divine command, ordered Joshua to attack them, and to record this act of their inhumanity in a book, that it might be remembered, and revenged in the most marked manner. Joshua, in obedience to the instructions of his leader, fell upon the Ainalekites, while Moses beheld the scene from a neighbouring hill or mountain, along with his brother Aaron, and Hur. It was a remarkable circumstance connected with this battle, that Moses lifted up his arms, as if pointing to the sky, and while he did so the Israelites were successful; but whenever he lowered them, the tide of victory turned in favour of the Amalekites. Perceiving this, when Moses became tired with extending his arms, he was assisted by Aaron and Hur, who held them up during the remainder of There was eternal enmity between the the battle, which continued the whole ancient tribe in Arabia which exclusively contained the pure Arabians, the remains of whom were mingled with the posterity of Jocktan and Adnam, and thus became Mos-arabes or Mosta-arabes, that is, Arabians blended with foreigners. They also pretend that Goliath, who was killed by David, was king of the Amalekites-that the giants who inhabited Palestine in Joshua's time were of the same raceand that part of them retired into Africa during Joshua's lifetime, and settled on the coast of Barbary. It may be observed, that by the expression "Amalek is the first of the nations," Bochart understands the most noble of the nations; and Le Clerc, in his Commentary, conjectures that the Amalekites were the most ancient and powerful of those nations of whom Abraham and Lot were the progenitors. In the margin of our Bibles, the Amalekites are termed "the first of the nations that warred against Israel." day, from morning to night, Exod. xvii. 8, &c. At a subsequent period, when the Israelites were under the government of their Judges, before the foundation of the monarchy in the person of Saul, we find the Amalekites confederating with the Midianites and Moabites to oppress their hereditary enemies. But Ehud delivered the Israelites from Eglon the king of Moab; and the Midianites and Amalekites were totally defeated by Gideon, Judges iii. 13; vi. 3. Saul, after his advancement to the throne of Israel, marched against the Amalekites at the head of 20,000 foot soldiers, without reckoning 10,000 men of the tribe of Judah, who formed a separate body; and advancing into their country, drove them from Havilah, which lies towards the lower part of the river Euphrates, and to Shur, which is towards the Red Sea. He was commanded not only to extirpate them, but to destroy their cattle, and all their property of whatsoever description. Agag was then the king or chief of the Amalekites, whom he utterly defeated and took prisoner, after slaying vast numbers of them, and laying waste their country. By a singular fatality, however, Saul not only spared Agag, but also the best of the cattle and moveables, which he brought with him as trophies of victory, and thus laid the foundation of those calamities which afterwards befell him, and which ended in his deposition from the throne of Israel, and the complete extirpation of his family. Agag, who now fully cherished the idea that his life would be spared, and that he would merely be detained a kind of honourable prisoner, was soon deceived in his expectation that "the bitterness of death was past." After his return from this successful expedition, Saul, by the divine command, was visited by the prophet Samuel, who found him at Gilgal, offering a sacrifice of the flocks taken from the Amalekites. Affecting to be surprised at this unexpected sight, when Saul had been expressly commanded to spare nothing belonging to the VOL. I. Amalekites, but utterly to destroy them, Samuel asked him what meant the lowing of oxen and the bleating of sheep, especially as Saul, after saluting him, had just declared that he had obeyed the divine command against the Amalekites. Saul replied, that the soldiers had brought away the best of the cattle to offer in sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel severely upbraided him for his disobedience, while Saul continued to throw the whole blame upon the army, in justification of himself. At length, however, he acknowledged his fault in yielding to the wishes of his troops, and entreated the prophet to join him in the sacrifice. Samuel refused, and turned hastily away from him as if to depart, when Saul took hold of his garment, which rent in his hands. The prophet immediately told him that it was a symbol of his ruin, that the kingdom was to be torn from his hands, and given to another who was "better than he." Alarmed at this announcement, Saul made an ample confession of his fault, and Samuel returned with him to the camp at Gilgal. There Samuel caused the unhappy Agag to be brought out before the army and cut in pieces, telling him that as his sword had made many mothers childless, likewise should his mother be made childless among women. The cattle and other property were also destroyed. Some fugitives escaped the general slaughter caused by Saul's expedition against them, and a few years afterwards a troop of the Amalekites attacked and pillaged Ziklag, a city then in possession of David, and where he had left his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, his family, and his treasures. But David, returning from an expedition, pursued the Amalekites, whom he overtook and totally dispersed, and recovered the spoil. About one hundred and sixty years afterwards, they joined in a grand alliance against Jehoshaphat, which was disastrous to them in its conse quences. The Amalekites were thus gradually reduced, and in the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, they were completely destroyed and exterminated C by the Simeonites, who took possession of their country. After this event there is no farther mention of them in history; and thus the declaration of the prophet was literally fulfilled-" Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he shall perish for ever." Their conduct in attacking the Israelites in their weak and defenceless condition seems never to have been forgiven, and we find the Almighty on that occasion solemnly declaring that he would summarily punish them with divine vengeance. Haman, who is recorded in the Book of Esther as projecting the scheme of universal destruction against the Jews, was an Amalekite. See ADITES and ARABIA. AMAIN-SAMA, a town of Judea, in the tribe of Judah. AMAM, a town of Judea, in the southern part of the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 26. AMANA, integrity and truth, the name of a mountain in Palestine, in the half-tribe of Manasseh, beyond the Jordan. It is mentioned in the Song of Solomon, (iv.8.) It is either that mountain, or the mountain Amanus, which separates Syria on the north-east from Cilicia. St Jerome and the Rabbins make the Land of Israel to extend northward to this mountain, and it is certain that Solomon's kingdom comprehended that country. This mountain, besides separating Syria from Cilicia, stretches with its connecting ridges from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. See LEBANON. AMMA, the name of a hill opposite Giah, and not far from Gibeon, at the foot of which there was an excellent pool of water, 2 Sam. ii. 24. AMMAH, or UMMAH, a city belong ing to the tribe of Asher, Josh. xix. 30. See UMMAH. AMMAH, or AMMI, my people, mother, fear, a cubit, or a nation, a name bestowed on the Ten Tribes after their rejection, which denotes their final restoration and prosperity, Hos. ii. 1. AMATH, or HAMATH, a city of Syria, and capital of a province of the same See ANATHOTH and HAMATH. name. AMMON, a people, or the son of my people, or No-AMMON. See No. AMMONITES, or MEONITES, afflicted, or who fail, or who answer, the general name of a people descended from Ben-Ammi, son of Lot, from whom they derive their name. The country which the Ammonites possessed lay east of Palestine and north of the country of Moab, and was anciently one of the most fertile and best cultivated provinces of Syria. According to Dr. Wells, they possessed all those districts on the east of Jordan, about the river Jabbok, in the northern part of that country which was afterwards the kingdom of Sihon, Num. xxi. 13; Josh. xiii. 25; Judg. xi. 13, &c. The Ammonites destroyed the race of giants whom they called Zamzummim, and seized their country; but when this expulsion took place, or what description of people the Zamzummim were, we have no notice in history. Of the Ammonites themselves, indeed, and of their peculiar habits and customs, we have very imperfect accounts. They had kings or chiefs; and, like most of the oriental tribes, seem to have followed the occupations of husbandry and rearing of cattle. They were not circumcised; and they appear to have early betaken themselves to idolatry, their chief and peculiar deity being termed Moloch by the sacred writers-an idol whose rites were particularly cruel and bloody. Chemosh was also the name of one of their divinities. The Ammonites and the Moabites were two tribes or nations whom the Israelites were forbidden to attack, Deut. ii. 19; yet they were excluded from the congregation of Israel to the tenth generation, because they did not come out to the relief of the Israelites when attacked in the Wilderness by the Amalekites; and because they were involved in the affair of Balaam, who was hired by Balak to curse the Hebrews. A great part of the country belonging to the Ammonites and Moabites was taken by the Amorites during the progress of the Israelites in the Wilderness under Moses, which was conquered by that great |