CAPHTHOR (-intn), a district or country respecting the position of which great diversity of opinion prevails. All that we learn from the notices of it in Scripture is—i. That it was the mother country of the Philistines, or rather a portion of them called the CAPHTORIM, for there were Philis tines also who came from Casloch (Gen. x. 14), who emigrated from it and settled on the coast of Palestine, from Joppa to the borders of Egypt, having expelled the original occupants, the A VIM (Dent. ii. 23 ; Jer. xlvii. 4 ; Am. ix. 7). 2. That it was a maritime district, if not an island (Jer. xlvii. 4, where it is called -nri= 3. That its people were a Mizraite race, and its locality, con sequently, somewhere within the range of the Miz raitic settlements. Beyond this it is only conjec turally that anything can be advanced regarding it. It has been identified with—i. CAPPADOCIA. This is the rendering of the older versions, and this view has been followed by Bochart (Phaleg. iv. 32) ; Gesenius (Thesaur. s. v.) ; Koester (Erlduterun gen der heiligen Sch rifler aus den Klassikern, p. 157), etc. 2. CYPRUS. This was suggested by Calmet• in the first edition of his Commentaries on Genesis, and it has recently been conjecturally resumed by Hock (Meta i. 368), and Redslob (Alttest. Kamen, p. 15). 3. CRETE. Lakemacher was the first to propose this (Obss. Philol. ii. ii); it was adopted. by Calmet (Disquis. Bibl. iii. ; and it has found verygeneral acceptance with recent inquirers, among whom may be named Rosenmiiller (Bibl. Alter ,thumsk. ii. 2, 363 ; iii. 385) ; Movers (Phawizien, i. 28_6 • Lengerke (Kenaan i. 194) ; Ewald (Gesch.
Volkes Isr, i. 330) ; Tuch (Genesis, p. 243) ; Knobel (Genes. p. so) ; Delitzsch (Genes. p. 29o) ; Fiirst (Heb. and Chal. H. IV. B.), etc. 4. CERTAIN PARTS OF EGYPT. (I), The Coast of the Egyptian Delta. This is the opinion of Stark (Gaza Ina die Philist. p. 76). (2), Damietta. So Saadias in the Arab. Vers. Dimyat; Benjamin of Tudela ; the Heb. book quoted by Bo chart iv. 38); Haine (Obss. Sac. ii. 6. so). 3. Part of Morocco, west from Egypt (Quatremere Yournal des Savans, p. 265).
Of these opinions the last two alone are worthy of consideration. The first rests on little beyond the similarity of sound between Caphthor and Cap padocia, a similarity which is by no means striking, and which entirely disappears when it is known that the ancient name of Cappadocia was Kat patuk or Katapatuka (Rawlinson, yourn. of the Asiat. Soc. xi. I, 95). Koster urges, as the strongest argument in favour of this view, that all the eastern districts of Asia Minor beyond the river Halys, and as far as Mount Taurus, were undoubt edly occupied by Semitic peoples ;' but supposing it proved that the Cappadocians were originally a Semitic people (which, however, is very far from being undoubted'), one does not see what proof there is in this that the Caphtorim, who were a Hamitic race, emigrated thence, or that Caphthor is Cappadocia. The opinion that Cyprus is the an
cient Caphthor rests also almost solely on a sup posed resemblance between -In= and Kinrpov, an argument of but little weight ; while the opinion itself stands opposed to the fact, that the Hebrews knew Cyprus under the name of tonz and they were not likely to fall into any confusion respecting an island so near their own shores. The extensive agreement of scholars in favour of Crete as the ancient Caphthor, gives a preliminary probability to this supposition ; and it receives support from the fact, that the inhabitants of the same dis trict, apparently occupied by the Caphthorim, are called ?mnz, Crethi, which is assumed to mean Cretans (A. V. Cherethites), and that these Crethi were undoubtedly Philistines (i Sam. xxx. 14, 16; Ezek. xxv. 16; LXX. Kpijras; Zeph..
ii. 5 ; LXX. xpnrc3/..; ,omp. 2 Sam. viii. To this it may he added, that Tacitus, apparently confounding the Jews with the Philistines, calls them ` Jutheos Greta insula profugos' (Histor. v. 2); that Stephanus Byzant. (s. v. Gaza), says that Gaza was previously called Minoa from Minos king of Crete ; and that such a name as in Crete indicates the presence of the Philistines there. The weight of these auxiliary reasons can not be thought great, and the force of the main reason is seriously impaired by the consideration, that the Crethi are identified by the sacred writers with the 470 or inhabitants of Carla [Cum]. On the other hand, it is extremely improbable, either that a small island like Crete should be able to send forth so large a body of emigrants as must have landed on the territories of the Avim, so as to be able to expel them, and take possession of their country, or that the Phoenicians would allow a sea-faring race like the Cretans to settle in their vicinity (see Hack, Kreta, p.367). On the whole, the supposition that the Caphthorim were an Egyptian race, which crossed over from somewhere in the vicinity of Damietta, seems the most pro-. bable. The close resemblance of the Philistines to the native Egyptians on the monuments, shews that they were originally kindred peoples, though the differences in costume and manners are such as to indicate that the separation must have taken place at an early period. The similarity of the term "Int] with zon-ros (in hieroglyphics kebt-hor, see Encycl. Britann. vol. viii. p. 419), and so with ^renrras in Arytarros, favours this view ; though, when this is pushed the length of actually finding Af-yorros in 'TIED we cannot help thinking that a good reason is subjected to suspicion, from an attempt to strengthen it unduly, as the Gr. al is most certainly not the Heb. 4N, though the letters are the same.—W. L. A.