with ostrich feathers, and massy, round ear-rings, collars, and bracelets of gold, in barbaric pomp; while the grandees wear garments of linen of transparent fineness, girded with leathern zones elaborately ornamented; with a leopard skin often thrown gracefully over one shoulder.

We come now to the last named son of Ham, Canaan; who seems indeed to have been the firstborn, but to have been degraded, as to the location of his name in the divine enumeration, by the curse pronounced upon him for his participation in his father's sin against his great progenitor. The Holy Records leave us in no doubt about the locality of his families; his name having for ages been attached to the goodly and fertile land, afterwards bestowed on the favoured seed of Abraham. The order in which the sons of Ham took possession of their inheritances upon the dispersion, is thus alluded to by Mr. Osburn.* "Canaan, the first-born, who lost his birthright. nevertheless seems to have been allowed the claims of seniority, when the sons of Ham together went forth to the westward from the plains of Shinar (Gen. xi.), and gave his name to the first district at which the emigrants would arrive. The descendants of Cush, the second son, took the next region to the westward, which consisted of the sterile sands of the deserts of Sinai. The fertile valley of the Nile was the happier lot of Mizraim, the third son; while the descendants of Phut, the youngest, were driven forth to seek a comfortless home amid the trackless wastes of the Sahara."

* Ancient Egypt, p. 28.

The name Canaan occurs indubitably upon the monuments, as in the wars of Sethos I., the triumph of Menephtha, and the invasions of Judea by Shishak. To these we shall presently allude further.

Of none of the early races of mankind, with the exception of the people of God, (whose history is given us with considerable minuteness, and with unerring truth,) would it be so interesting to have detailed information, as of the Canaanitish tribes, of whom, from their frequent contact with the chosen seed, so much is said in the Holy Scriptures. And it so happens, that of no people, except the Egyptians themselves, have we so copious details preserved, on these primeval monuments. Scarcely, if at all, inferior to Egypt in civilisation and refinement, equally conversant with the arts of war and of peace, it could not be that nations so powerful, and so near, would exist without long and frequent contentions. Invasions of the fierce and barbarous tribes to the south and west, though often, as we have seen, engaged in, perhaps from necessity, would offer comparatively little temptation, either in the way of military glory or emolument; and no other egress remained to the Egyptian arms, but one that must of necessity bring them into immediate collision with the warlike nations of Palestine.

The greatest, most opulent, and most renowned of all the Syrian nations, were the Sidonians, whose progenitor, as the sacred narrative informs us, was the first-born son of Canaan. He gave his own name to the great commercial city of Sidon, the mother of the still more illustrious Tyre. The following are

only a few of the passages which speak of these cities and their possessors.

The border [of Asher] reacheth... unto great Zidon; And then the coast turneth to Ramah, and to the strong city Tyre; and the coast turneth to Hosah; and the outgoings thereof are at the sea from the coast to Achzib:-Jos. xix. 25-29.

....

Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, ... But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.-Judg. i. 31, 32.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; (for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father;) for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants, according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.-1 Kings v. 1-6.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.-1 Kings xi. 5.

Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. -1 Kings xvii. 9.

The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is lad waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea hath spoken; even the strength of the sea; saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up

virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth ?-Isa. xxiii. 1-8.

And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea.-Jer. xxv. 22.

Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!-Ezek. xxvi. 15-17.

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; and say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God, O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy ship-boards of firtrees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. Fine linen, with broidered work from Egypt, was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee were thy pilots The ancients of Gebal, and the wise men thereof, were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. They of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, were in thine army thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad, with thine army, were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy

fairs. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses, and horsemen, and mules. The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. Dan also and Javan, going to and fro, occupied in thy fairs; bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats; in these were they thy merchants, The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market; and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Thy riches and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company, which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin, -Ezek. xxvii. 1-27.

It is extremely interesting to observe that the inhabitants of both of these renowned cities have a prominent place in the monuments which record the acts of the early Pharaohs. Their associations and circumstances agree so well with what we know of them from other sources, that we can scarcely fail to identify them, even without the names which in the hieroglyphic inscriptions are attached to them. Sidon