UZAL thui ; Az,* ; Alex. A/P)X ; Uzal), a son of Jokta'n and descendant of Shem (Gen. x. 27 ; Chron. 21). Like the other patriarchs whose names are recorded in the loth chapter of Genesis, lie was the founder of a tribe (cf. ver. 31). Except, perhaps, in an obscure passage in Ezekiel —to be noticed afterwards—Uzal is not again mentioned in the Bible, nor is it found in the get).
graphical notices of Eusebius or Jerome. The Jewish colonists, however, who settled at a very early period in south-eastern Arabia, have pre served the name in their traditional history, and they, with Arab writers of more modern times, supply evidence amply sufficient to establish the identity of the site.
Abraham Zacuth, a learned Jewish writer, states that Sanaa, the metropolis of Yemen, is by the Jews called Uzal (Bochart, Opera, i. r ; and in the Kami2s, Azal (or Uzal) is said to be the ancient name of Sanaa (Golius, Lex. .Arab. s. v.) This was still farther confirmed by Niebuhr, who heard, when travelling in Yemen, the same statement made by Mohammedan natives (Description de PArabie, p. 252). The whole of Yemen was originally colonised by the descendants of Joktan, or Bene-Kahtc2n, as they are called by the Arabs ; and consequently it is in this region that Uzal would naturally be looked for. When or why the name was changed to Sanaa does not appear, but of the fact there can be no doubt. The He brew name appears probably in the Ausara of Ptolemy (Geogr. vi. 7), and the Ausaritis of Pliny, celebrated for its myrrh (H. AT. xii. 36).
Sanaa is situated in a mountainous region in the centre of Yemen, about so miles from Aden and too from the coast of the Red Sea. Its command ing position, its strong fortifications, the number of its mosques and minarets, and the size of its houses, render it one of the most imposing cities in Arabia. It is abundantly watered by mountain streams, and the gardens, orchards, and fields around it are said to rival in luxuriance and beauty the famous plain of Damascus (see Bochart, /. c. ; Michaelis, Spicileg-. 164-175; Forster, Geogr. of Arabia, i. 143 ; and especially Ritter, Erdkunde, xii. 815-40). In the town of Sanaa there are still some rs,000 Jews, while in the various parts of Yemen their numbers are supposed to amount to 200,0oo.
Ezekiel, in his description of Tyre, says, as rendered in the A. V. : 'Dan and Javan going to and fro, occupied in thy fairs ; bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market' (xxvii. 19). The word translated going to and fro' is 5iwn, Am./. In the Septuagint it is regarded as a proper name, with a prefix preposition, 'EE from Asel.' In the Vulgate it is Mosel.
The structure of the passage unquestionably favours the Greek rendering ; and the proper translation would seem to be, Dan, and Javan of Uzal, con veyed to your markets wrought iron, cassia,' etc. There can be little doubt, therefore, that the pro phet alludes to the great city of Yemen, the neigh bourhood of which is known to have been famous for its spices and perfumes (Michaelis, /. c. ; Winer, Bib. R. TY: s.v. Usal'). This view is strengthened by the fact that Javan occurs in the Kamils, and is said to be a town of Yemen. The expression Javan of Uzal is thus appropriate, for the latter was the name of the capital and of a district connected with it. The names Dedan, Arabia, Kedar, and Sheba, following immediately in the prophetic nar rative, indicate the country to which the eye of the sacred writer was directed.—J. L. P.
uzzAH (rm", strength ; Sept. '0,td), son of Abinadab, a Levite, who, with his brother Ahio, conducted the. new cart on which the ark was taken from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. When the procession reached the threshing-floor of Nachon, the oxen drawing the cart became unruly, and Uzzah hastily put forth his hand to stay the ark, which was shaken by their movements. For this the anger of the Lord smote him, and he died on the spot. This judgment appeared to David so severe, or even harsh, that he was much distressed by it, and becoming afraid to take the ark any farther, left it there, in charge of Obed-edom, till three months after, when he finally took it to Jerusalem (2 Sam. vi. 1-4 I). The whole proceed ing was very irregular, and contrary to the distinct and far from unmeaning regulations of the law, which prescribed that the ark should be carried on the shoulders of the Levites (Exod. xxv. 14), whereas here it was conveyed in a cart drawn by oxen. The ark ought to have been enveloped in its coverings, and thus wholly concealed before the Levites approached it ; but it does not appear that any priest took part in the matter, and it would I seem as if the ark was brought forth, exposed to thc common gaze, in the same manner in which it had been brought back by the Philistines (r Sain. vi. 13-19). It was the duty of Uzzah, as a Levite, to have been acquainted with the proper course of proceeding : he was therefore the person justly accountable for the neglect ; and the judgment upon him seems to have been the most effectual course of ensuring attention to the proper course of proceeding, and of checking the growing dispo sition to treat the holy mysteries with undue fami liarity. That it had this effect is expressly stated r Chron. xv. 2, r3.—J. K.