LUDIM (041)9, Gen. x. 13; n44-6, Chron.
i. ; A00.3tela. ; Ludine ; 1;9,, Ez.ek. xxx. 5 ; Av8o1, lydi). Of Mizraim, the second son of Ham, we read (Gen. x. 13), that ` he begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim,' etc. These are all in the plural, and denote tribes or nations springing from the several sons (ver. 20). Jere miah (xlvi. 9), in predicting the downfall of Egypt (Mizraim), says, ` Let the mighty men come forth ; the Ethiopians (Cush), and the Libyans (Put), and the .Lydians (C416, Ludim) that handle and bend the bow.' There can be no doubt that this warlike tribe is identical with the Mizraite Ludim of Genesis. Again, the prophet Ezekiel thus writes, ` And the sword shall come upon Egypt, . . . .
Ethiopia (Cush), and Libya (Phut); and Lydia (1;9 the sing. of a4-16), . . . shall fall \vith them by the sword ' (xxx. 5). Lydia here should have been translated ` Lud' or ` Ludim,' for the same Miz raite people are unquestionably meant. They are distinct,phowever, from the Shemitic tribe of Lud mentioned in connection with Tarshish (Is. lxvi. 19), and Persia (Ezek. xxvii. ro), and which are treated of in the preceding article.
The country of Ludim has not been satisfactorily identified. Some have supposed that it lay south of Morocco near the west coast of Africa, because Pliny (v. ri mentions a river Laud in that region
(Michaelis, Spied. i. 259, and Suppl. 1417). Bo chart attempts to prove that the Ludim were the Ethiopians, though it is generally supposed that Cush is the Biblical name of Ethiopia. He argues the point at great length, and displays both learn ing and ingenuity. But his arguments scarcely bear searching criticism. They are more inge nious than convincing (Opera, i. 263-274). Hitzig would identify the Luclim and the Libyans, which is still more improbable (Der Proph.
19 ; and ,eremia xlvi. 9). It seems that the Ludim were a tribe of Egyptians forming part of that great nation, though perhaps concentrated in some one section of the country, and retaining to some ex tent a distinct name, and certain distinctive pecu liarities in laws and mode of life, like the Maronites or Druzes in modern Syria. This seems to be indicated in Jer. xlvi. 9 and Ezek. xxx. 5, where the Ludim are included in the curse pronounced upon Egypt. The name appears to have entirely disappeared, and we do not meet with it in any classic author.—J. L. P.