district called Galaaditis from Mount Galaad, in which, on the brook Jabbok, is to be found Ramoth, or Ramoth Gilead. North of Galaaditis is Batanæa, or Batania, the antient territory of Og, king of Basan, South of which lay the possessions of Sihon, king of the Amorites. A strong fortress called Gaulon gave the name of Gaulonitis to the Eastern shores of the lake Gennesareth, at the Southern extremity of which was the impregnable fortress of Gamala; and near it Gadara, or the country of the Gadarenes, on the torrent Hieromax or Yermak, so signalized by the fatal defeat of the Christian forces by the Saracens, under Abu Obeidah, November 9, A.D, 636. East of Gadara is Adraa, or Edrei, now Adreat. Southward of this is Gerasa or Jerash, which contains many splendid remains of antiquity. North of the lake Mount Hermon separates Palestine, properly so called, from the adjacent countries of Trachonitis, (a rugged district, as its name imports, adjoining Colesyria,) Ituræa, and Auranitis, the chief city of which, Bostra, now Bosra, was the metropolis of a province formed under the name of Arabia. Below Auranitis was Ammonitis, or the land of the children of Ammon, whose chief city was Rabbath Ammon, called afterwards Philadelphia, but now Amman; and below it was Moabitis, or the land of Moab, the chief city of which was Areopolis, or Rabbath Moab, now Maab, or El-Raba, and a little above it Aroer, near the river Arnon.

We shall now briefly review the situation of the tribes of Israel when settled under Joshua. The largest portion was that of Judah, along the Western side of the lake Asphalites, and West of Judah was Simeon, bordering on the Philistines, who occupied the Mediterra

nean coast.

North of Judah was the smaller tribe of Benjamin, in which was Jerusalem; and West of Benjamin the still smaller tribe of Dan, reaching to the coast, having the Philistines to the South. Above Dan and Benjamin was a considerable district, from the coast to Jordan, the portion of Ephraim: above Ephraim, extending in a like manner, was half the tribe of Manasseh. The coast then became that of Syro-Phoenicia, along which, but rather inland, lay the tribe of Asser, forming a Western barrier to the three following tribes:-Issachar, (which lay above Manasseh, reaching to the Southern extremity of the sea of Tiberias,) Nephtali, and Zabulon. The whole North-western coast of the sea of Tiberias, and as far as Dan, considerably North of it, was occupied by the tribe of Nephtali, and between Nephtali, Issachar, and Assa lay the tribe of Zabulon. The whole Eastern side of Jordan, to the Southern extremity of the Sea of Tiberias, was occupied by the other half tribe of Manasseh; below it was Gad, reaching about half way between the two lakes; and below it Reuben, reaching to the plains of Moab at the North-eastern corner of the Lacus Asphaltites. These two tribes and a half were the first settled; though their warriors crossed over Jordan to assist their brethren in subduing the Canaanites on the Western side.

CHAPTER XIII.

ORIENS.

PART II.- -CONTAINING THE REMAINDER OF ASIA.

A. G. Pl. I. XIV. XV. XVII. XX.

A MORE succinct description may suffice in a work like this for the remainder of Asia.

Arabia (Pl. I.) is divided into Arabia Petræa, Arabia Felix, and Arabia Deserta. Arabia Petræa extends from the South of Holy Land along the two gulfs which form the extremity of the Sinus Arabicus, being bordered by Egypt on the West, and Arabia deserta on the East. That part of it which borders on Judæa was called Idumæa, or Edom, and was possessed by the posterity of Esau. The Arabians in general recognize for their ancestors Jectan, or Kahtan the son of Eber, and Ismael, the Son of Abraham by his concubine Hagar. In Arabia Petræa were Mount Sinai and Horeb (Pl. XX.), between

the two gulfs, but nearer the Eastern gulf, which branches from the extremity of the Red Sea, and which was called Elanites, from the city of Elana, or Ailath, at its Northern point. The other gulf was called the Sinus Heroopolites, or the Gulf of Suez, from the city of that name built on it. The Nabathæi (Pl. I.) were a nation of Arabia Petræa, deriving their name from Nebaioth, the son of Ismael. Here was Midian, the country of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Towards Diræ, or the Straights of Babel Mandeb, were the Sabæi, in Arabia Felix, or Yamen, East of which is the thurifera regio. The best frankincense being white, in Arabic Liban, Libanos also became a Greek name for it, corrupted among the modern merchants into Olibanum. A little island South of this region called Dioscoridis Insula, is now Socotora, whence the best aloes are brought. Off the coast of Arabia Deserta, in the Sinus Persicus (Pl. XIV.), was the little island of Tylos, or Bahram, celebrated for its pearl fishery.

At the top of the Persian Gulf, on each side of the Euphrates (Pl. XIV.) is Babylonia; the part nearest the gulf is Chaldæa, which is sometimes taken for the name of the whole country. It is properly called Irak, a name which was extended to the adjacent country of Mesopotamia and part of Media, now Irak Arabi. The principal city of Babylonia was Babylon, one of the most antient in the world, built by Belus, who is thought to have been the same with Nimrod. It is near a place now called Hellah, on the East bank about 47 miles South of Bagdad. with a prodigious strong wall, said to dia in circumference (an exaggeration probably for the

of the Euphrates, It was surrounded have been 480 sta

surrounding region, as this would give an enclosure of 60 miles), 50 cubits thick, and 200 cubits high. It was built by the celebrated Queen Semiramis, of bricks baked in the sun, and cemented with bitumen, abounding in the country. It was the residence afterwards of Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed Jerusalem, June 9, B.C. 587, and transplanted the Jews to this country, and was taken by Cyrus, B.C. 538, according to the prediction of the Jewish prophets, after he had diverted the waters of the Euphrates into a new channel, and marched his troops by night into the town through the antient bed of the river. The city is said to have been so large that the inhabitants at the opposite extremity did not know of its fate till the next evening. However when we consider that the] Eastern cities contained enclosures for the pasture and protection of cattle during a siege there is not reason to think that the inhabited part of Babylon was larger than London. A full account of the siege is to be seen in Herodotus. Babylon also is memorable for the death of Alexander the Great, April 21, B.C. 323. It is now in ruins; but the vestiges of the temple of Belus remain. After the death of Alexander, Seleucus Nicator founded a city called Seleucia a little above it, on the Tigris, which he designed for the capital of the East, and the kings of Parthia founded one on the other side called Ctesiphon, which they made their ordinary residence: they are now called Al Modain, or the two cities. A little below Ctesiphon is the river Gyndes, which was an impediment to Cyrus in his march to Babylon, who lost his favourite horse there: in revenge he divided it into 360 channels, so that it might be forded only knee-deep. The Chaldeans or Babylo