κυπάρισσος for cypress, is xurugiros; take away the termination, and xα remains, which has all the radical letters of the word Gopher, and differs but little from it in sound. Nor is any sort of wood more durable and lasting than the cypress. Thucydides informs us, that for this reason the Athenians deposited in coffins of cypress wood, the bones of those who had fallen in the wars of their country. And the Scholiast observes upon the place, that these boxes, or coffins, were made of cypress, because it was not liable to rot." It is extremely probable, that the ark of Noah was built of the same durable material; for it is asserted, by a great number of ancient writers, that some relics of it remained for several thousand years after the deluge. The learned and indefatigable Bochart also proves, by the testimony of Plato, Plutarch, and other writers, that the cypress wood is not only durable, but also fit for shipping; and that it abounds in Babylonia, and the surrounding countries. Hence, he informs us from Arrian, that the fleet which Alexander ordered to be built at Babylon, was all constructed of cypress wood; because the country produced few other trees fit for that purpose. But it has been already shewn that the country of Eden lay on both sides of the river, formed by the united streams of the Euphrates and the Tigris; and, therefore, partly within the limits of Babylonia. Noah, therefore, lived in Eden before the flood, and there built the ark of gopher, or cypress wood, with which that country abounds." * Lib. i, 94, 112. s Bochart. Phal. lib. i, cap. 4, p. 23. t Rooke's Translation of Arrian, vol. ii, p, 178. " See for a fuller account Dr. Well's Hist. Geog. p. 34, 35. CHAP. III. THE LAND OF SHINAR, AND THE CITY AND TOWER OF BABEL. The Land of Shinar, the Valley of the Tigris.-First settlement of Noah in the northern part of Shinar.-City of Zama derived its name from Shem.Building of the City and Tower of Babel.-Built one hundred years after the Flood.-Dispersion of the Builders.-Affected only the irreligious part of Noah's family.—Design of the Tower.—Confusion of language. Only the settlers at Babylon dispersed.—Hebrew the original language.-Proofs of this.-True pronunciation recovered after the dispersion.—How far they had procceded in building the Tower cannot be certainly known.—The confusion of tongues long remembered in the East. THE land of Shinar is that beautiful valley through which the rapid Tigris rushes from the mountains of Armenia to the sea. That this assertion is not lightly hazarded, will appear from the testimony of ancient writers, both sacred and profane. The prophet Isaiah mentions Shinar as one of the countries to which his people were carried captive; and by connecting it with Cush and Elam, seems to intimate that it was situated in their neighbourhood: "The Lord shall set his hand again the second time, to recover the remnant of his people-from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar." So convinced were the Seventy interpreters of this fact, that they render the term Shinar in this, and other passages, by the word Babylonia. In several parts of Scripture, Shinar is expressly called Babel. "The beginning of Nimrod's empire was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Cal▾ Isaiah, xi, 11. V neh, in the land of Shinar." The tower of Babel was, according to Moses, built in the same country; and it received that name, "Because the Lord did there confound the language of the whole earth." It is a fact which cannot be disputed, that the capital of Nebuchadnezzar's empire was the renowed city of Babylon; and the prophet Daniel asserts, in explicit terms, that it was situated in the land of Shinar. "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it: and the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah, into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god." From these quotations, it is indisputable, that the land of Shinar is the same country which afterwards received the name of Babylonia. The fact is confirmed by the testimony of uninspired authors. Abydenes, as quoted by Eusebius, observes, That Nebuchadnezzar having finished the Syrian war, magnificently adorned the temple of Belus with the spoils of the conquered nations. The same writer has preserved a fragment of Milesius, the ancient historian of Phenicia, in which he asserts that Shinar belonged to Babylonia. From the remarks of Ptolemy and other ancient geographers, it is probable, that to the land of Shinar, belonged the whole country along the west bank of the Tigris, as far as the mountains of Armenia. In the opinion of some writers, the land of Shinar probably included the whole valley on both sides of the river, from the mountains of Armenia to the Persian gulf, or at least, to the southern division of the common channel of * Ch. xi, 2, 4, 9. * Gen. x, 10. the Tigris and Euphrates. It is however certain, that it extended all along the western bank of that river. Noah and his sons, probably formed their first settlement after the flood, near the bottom of the mountain on which the ark rested in the northern parts of Shinar; and here the venerable patriarch spent the remainder of his days. For we have not the least evidence, that he had any concern in the building of the city and tower of Babel. The piety of his character must have led him strenuously to oppose the daring attempt of his degenerate offspring; and to remain at a distance from the scene of their wickedness. To this proof of his continuing in the northern parts of Shinar, may be added, that Ptolemy mentions a city near the sources of the Tigris, under the name of Zama, which bears so great an affinity to Zem, or Shem, as to render it exceedingly probable, that Noah and his sons formed their first settlement near this place. That the city of Zama derived its name from Shem, is evident from this consideration, that in the Arabic version, Shem is always called Sam or Zam. Here the venerable father of the postdiluvian world, restored the worship of Jehovah, and for three hundred and fifty years, swayed the patriarchal sceptre over the virtuous part of his descendants. The rest of his sons, determined on the prosecution of their own presumptuous schemes, and unable to bear or to subdue his firm opposition, withdrew from his presence, and proceeding down the river, fixed on a particular place for their intended work, at a considerable distance from his residence. Well's Geog. vol. i, p. 32, &c. Bochart. Phal. lib. i, cap. 5, p. 24, 25. So great was the impiety of these degenerate sons of Noah, and so regardless were they of the sure and awful proofs of the Divine jealousy, that they selected a spot within the limits of the land of Eden, and not far from the scene of the first transgression, for the renewal of that hostility with heaven which had cost their fathers so dear. They commenced their operations in the very place, or at least, in its immediate neighbourhood, where rose in future ages, the imperial city of Babylon; and by consequence, upon the original and natural stream of the Euphrates, at some distance from its confluence with the Tigris. The time when the city and tower were built, may be inferred with sufficient certainty from these words of Moses; "And unto Eber were born two sons, the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided." The meaning of the historian must be, that the earth was divided at the time Peleg was born; for the name was given at his birth, in allusion to the signal occurrence which had then recently happened. But the inspired writer informs us in another passage, that Peleg was born an hundred years after the flood; therefore, in the same year, the building of the tower was interrupted, and the sons of Noah were scattered over the face of the earth.c The dispersion, however, affected only the irreligious part of Noah's family; for, as has been already remarked, it is not to be supposed that the patriarch himself, or Shem and others to whom the covenant was given, would engage in so wicked a scheme, or give it the sanction of their approbation. This idea receives c Bochart. Phaleg. lib. i, cap. 9, p. 36... b Gen. xi, 10-16. |