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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE inspired character of the Bible asserted;-Its consequent
authority:-The position maintained, that they who deny its in-
spiration ought nevertheless, upon their own principles, to admit
its historical authority.-Importance of the Bible simply in its
historical character.—The error of allowing heathen authorities
to stand upon an equality with the Bible as records of authentic
history, and to bias the interpretation of the Sacred Volume:—
This error exemplified in the Geography of Sacred History :-
Origin and progress of the prevailing erroneous system of that
Geography;-Its rise among the Jews consequent upon perver-
sions derived from heathen sources;-Examples of these perver-
sions in the positions assigned by them to Babel, Padan Aram,
and Mitzraim (the Egypt of the Translations) :—' :-This erroneous
system introduced into the Christian world by the Septuagint
translation of the Old Testament;-Its consequences in the pre-
sent day. The system of Geography proposed by the author
founded upon the evidence of Scripture alone:-Its results as
connected with the Geography of Profane History, and with the
consideration of the Primeval History of mankind
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CHAPTER II.
The consideration of the antediluvian world and of the Flood un-
necessary to the subject of the present Work.-Situation of the
mountains of Ararat ;-References in Scripture to the position of
the country of Ararat;-Correctly placed in Armenia.-Critical
examination of the expression from the east'.-The objection to
the situation of Ararat on account of the supposed position of
1
Babel considered:-Present state of the neighbourhood of Baby-
lon;-Country formed by the alluvium of the Euphrates and
Tigris;-The Persian Gulf formerly extended further northward;
-Rapid advance of the land;-Proofs from Herodotus, Nearchus,
and Pliny:-Conclusion that Babylon and Babel are not identi-
cal. The sites of the Babel of Nimrod and of the Tower of Babel
also different.-Application of the name of Shinar at different pe-
riods.—Particular locality of the mountains of Ararat considered:
-Objections to Agridagh :-Presumed conduct of Noah after the
Flood;-Opinion expressed as to the interference of the Almighty;
-Conclusion that Noah would act like others under similar cir-
cumstances, and would follow the course of a river:-Armenia
composed of two plains of inclination, those of the Euphrates and
the Araxes;—Ararat necessarily in the former ;-Conclusion as
to the real situation of the mountains of Ararat
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CHAPTER III.
General opinion of antiquity as to the primitive state of man:-
The golden age a poetical fable.-The notion of the progressive
civilization of mankind adopted in the present day;-Views of
Cuvier, Malte Brun, Heeren, Keightley, and Archbishop Whately;
-These views erroneous.-The first state of man after the De-
luge that of a member of a previous social state. The amount
of culture possessed by Noah considered;-Probably equal to that
of the Egyptians and other nations of antiquity:-Instances of
the early advanced state of society from the Book of Job:-De-
ficiency of scientific knowledge among the ancient nations;-This
deficiency the cause of our ignorance of the actual state of their
knowledge in general.-Theory of the gradual declension of civi-
lization
CHAPTER IV.
Journey from the east to the land of Shinar:-Noah and 'the
'whole earth' settled there;-Situation of the land of Shinar.-
The Tower of Babel :-Period and cause of its erection;-Its
erection a violation only of the implied command of God;—Did
not occur during Noah's life.—The Dispersion:-Situation of the
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land of Shinar peculiarly adapted for it;-Natural tripartite di-
vision of the earth.—Theory of the distribution of mankind;—
Principles governing it
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CHAPTER V.
Shem, and not Japheth, shown to have been the eldest son of Noah.
-Situation of the possessions of Shem.-His descendants.-Elam.
-Asshur:-Nineveh founded by Asshur, and not by Nimrod.-
The south and east of Asia peopled by the descendants of Elam
and Asshur, with part of those of Arphaxad :—Genius and dispo-
sition of the aboriginal inhabitants;-Invasion by the Japhthitish
Hindoos;-Distinction between the two principal races in southern
and eastern Asia.—Shemitish nations and languages:-The He-
brew and Arabic languages not of that class.—Inhabitants of
China and the Indo-Chinese countries.-Indian Archipelago :-
Papuans;-Theory of the original peopling of the Indian Archi-
pelago. Corresponding state of degradation of the Papuans of
Asia, the Hottentots of Africa, and the Esquimaux of the Arctic
Circle.-Process of degradation in the human race.—Black Asi-
atics with straight hair.-Successive arrival of different Japh-
thitish and Hamitish races in the Peninsulas and Islands of India.
-Peopling of the South Sea Islands and of America.-Remarks
on the Shemitish languages
CHAPTER VI.
Particular history of the descendants of Shem continued.-Ar-
phaxad, his possessions and descendants :-Land of the Casdim
or Chaldees;-Ur;-Consideration of the Call of Abraham.-
Joktan and his descendants :-Land of Ophir and Havilah at
the head of the Persian Gulf.—The opinion advanced that the
Book of Genesis was written anterior to the time of Moses :-
Grounds of this opinion;-The character of Genesis as an in-
spired work not affected by the conclusion ;-Its consequences.—
Descendants of Shem resumed.-Lud.-Aram:-Padan Aram,
or Aram Naharaim, erroneously supposed to be Mesopotamia;
-Meaning of the expression 'Naharaim';-Proofs that Padan
Aram was not beyond the Euphrates;-Its general locality deter-
80
mined :-Eliezer of Damascus ;—Jacob's flight from Padan Aram
to Gilead;-Examination of the expression 'a seven days' jour-
'ney';-The situation of Padan Aram probably in the neighbour-
hood of Damascus :-Suggestion also that El Ledja may be Padan
Aram:-The country of Balaam and Chushan-rishathaim.-The
river crossed by Jacob not the Euphrates, but the Jordan ;—This
river formed of two streams, the Mandhour, and the Jordan of the
present day;―The Mandhour the Jordan which was crossed by
Jacob.-Possessions of the descendants of Aram :-Uz...... Page 105
CHAPTER VII.
Consideration of the Book of Job:-Reasons urged to show that
Moses cannot have been its author.-Position of the land of Uz
considered:-Reference to the persons of the name of Uz men-
tioned in Scripture ;-The country of Job not that of Uz the
Horite ;-The country of Uz the son of Nahor identical with that
of Uz the son of Aram;-Consideration of the situations of the
several countries of the sons of Nahor;-Result:-That the 'land
' of Uz' was in Padan Aram.-Conclusion that the Book of Job
was written after the time of Abraham ;-That it became known
to Jacob during his residence in Haran;—And that it was brought
by him into Canaan on his return from Padan Aram:—The opi-
nion advanced that it was originally written in the Aramitish lan-
guage, and thence translated into Hebrew:-Its character as a
memorial of the pure patriarchal religion, or that of the Noachic
dispensation.-Concluding remarks ... 137
CHAPTER VIII.
Ham:-His possessions and descendants.-Cush the progenitor of
the Arabians and Ethiopians;-Also of the Negro nations of
Africa: The Egyptians derived from Ethiopia;-Proofs from
Herodotus;-The primitive Ethiopians a civilized nation;―The
aboriginal Arabians still more cultivated;-Hypothesis proposed
respecting them:-The South of Arabia the source of the poly-
theistic idolatry of Egypt and India. The position advanced,
that Egypt is not the Mitzraim of Scripture:-Ancient physical
state of Lower Egypt;-Proofs from Herodotus that the Delta
and adjacent country were formerly covered with water;- Mo-
dern confirmation of this opinion;—Diminution of the Delta ;—
The former extent northward of the Gulf of Suez greater than at
the present time :-The Gulf of Suez not the Red Sea which was
crossed by the Israelites ;-Direct proofs from the words of Scrip-
ture;-Conclusion thence that the Gulf of Akaba is the Red Sea
of Scripture;-The same conclusion arrived at from the consi-
deration of the action of the 'strong east wind.'-Results of the
foregoing conclusion :-Neither Mount Sinai nor the Midian of
Jethro within the Peninsula of Mount Tor;-The country of
Midian identical with that of the Ishmaelites ;--Its position;-
The passage of the Red Sea not attributable to the alleged scien-
tific knowledge of Moses;-The true situations of Horeb and of
Mount Sinai approximately determined;-The opinion asserted
that the forty years' wanderings of the Israelites were in 'the
'Desert' of Arabia
........
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CHAPTER IX.
Descendants of Ham, continued.-Mitzraim :-Situation of his pos-
sessions:-His descendants.-The Lubim, Anamim, Lehabim
and Naphtuhim, the progenitors of the present race of Arabs.—
The Ishmaelites a Mitzritish people, notwithstanding their pa-
ternal descent from Abraham ;-Consideration of the prophecies
respecting Ishmael.-The Ethiopians, or Abyssinians, likewise of
Mitzritish extraction.-The Pathrusim the inhabitants of the
'land of Mitzraim' of Scripture, or Mitzraim Proper.-The Cas-
luhim, Philistim, and Caphtorim.-The aborigines of the North
of Africa descendants of Mitzraim.-General sketch of the origin
of the various African nations.-Phut:-The progenitor of the
nations in the neighbourhood of the land of Canaan who were
extirpated prior to the Exodus of the Israelites.-Canaan :-His
possessions and descendants.--Concluding remarks.
CHAPTER X.
The Hamitish languages:―Their classification :-Cushitish family
of these languages;-Constituted of those of Egypt, Nubia, and
the Centre and South of Africa.-Mitzritish family;-Consists of
what philologists have hitherto called the 'Semitic' languages:—
Reasons for this change of nomenclature.-Consideration of the
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