THE SHEMITES.
i. Shem.
1. Elam.
2. Asshur.
3. Arphaxad.
a. Salah. a. Eber. a. Peleg.
b. Joktan.
a. Almodad.
b. Sheleph.
c. Hazarmaveth.
d. Jerah.
e. Hacloram, f. Uzal.
g. Diklah.
h. Obal.
i. Abimael.
j. Sheba.
k. Ophir.
I. Havilah.
m. Jobab.
4. Lud.
5. Aram.
a. Uz.
• b. Hul.
c. Gether.
d. Mash.
1. Elam, when used geographically, held to cor respond to Susiana, not to Persia Proper.
2. Asshur, afterwards the Assyrian nation. In the cuneiform inscriptions Asshur is the chief object of worship of the kings.
3. Arphaxad, probably well traced in the pro vince Arrapachitis.
a. Salah seems to be only a genealogical link. In the Shemite family the list is clearly something more than ethnological and geographical ; it is of the nature of a at least so far as it deals with the ancestry of Abraham.
a. Eber.—It is impossible here to discuss the difficult question whether to this patriarch the name of the Hebrews owed its origin. The argument based on the mention in this list that Shem was the father of all the children of Eber (x. 21), seems to us almost unanswerable on the affirmative side.
a. Peleg seems, like Salah, to be but a genea logical link.
b. Joktan is perhaps only a similar link : his descendants form an important series.
a. Almodad, supposed to be traceable in Arabian names.
b. Sheleph, traced in El-Yemen.
c. Hazarmaveth, identical in name with the great region of Hadrarnawt in southern Arabia.
d. Jerah, not certainly identified, and e. Hado ram, not traced.
f. Uzal, the same name as Awzal, the ancient name of San'a, capital of El-Yemen.
g. Diklah, h. Obal, f. Abimael, not traced.
j. Sheba is the same name as the Arabic Sebit, the old kingdom of El-Yemen. The mentions in the Bible of the kingdom of Sheba point towards Arabia, and the Arab indication thus fixes the posi tion of Joktanite Sheba in the south.
k. Ophir, perhaps traced in southern Arabia. Havilah, as already remarked under the head of the Cushite Havilah, may indicate a mixture of Cushite and Joktanite settlers in Arabia.
m. Jobab, not certainly identified.
4. Lud has been compared to Lydus, the tra ditional ancestor of the Lydians. The Shemite character of the Lydian civilization is confirmatory of this view. The Egyptian monuments of the empire mention a powerful Asiatic people of Shemite type, apparently living not far from Meso potamia, called RUTEN or LUDEN. It is possible that the Lydians may have migrated into Asia Minor after the time of the Egyptian empire, or that there may have been two Lydian settlements. It is not clear whether the Lud or Ludim of later places of Scripture were of this stock, or the same as the Mizraite Ludim, as already remarked.
5. Aram is, in later places, the geographical designation of Syria, though the term is not of the same extent as our Syria. We read of Aram naharaim, Aram of the two rivers,' either Meso potamia, according to the general opinion, or the country of the Orontes and Leontes, of Padan-Aram, perhaps a part of the same tract, or another name for it, and also of Aram-Zobah, Aram-Beth-rehob, Aram-Maachah, and Aram-Dammesek, or Syria of Damascus, all kingdoms in the country Aram.
a. Uz. Mention is made of the land of Uz' in the Book of Job, where other indications seem to point to the north of Arabia.
b. Hul and c. Gether are not identified ; d. Mash is but conjecturally traced in Mesene, in Lower Babylonia, or Mons Masius, at the north of Meso potamia.
We may now tabulate our results, adding certain other information to aid us in drawing general inferences. The classification of races and lan. guages, so far as it concerns the identifications, must be first stated.