AN

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

OF THE

OLD TESTAMENT.

CHAPTER I.

Of the Places of the Antediluvian World, mentioned in sacred History; viz. the Garden of Eden, the Land of Nod, and the

City of Enoch.

1.

world,

As the sacred History is very short in other particulars relating to the antediluvian world, (that is, The places to the state of the world before the Flood), so is it of the an in reference to its geography; all the places thereof tediluvian mentioned by Moses being either the Garden of mentioned Eden, with such places as belong to the descrip-in sacred tion of its situation, or else the land of Nod, and History. the city of Enoch built therein. I shall speak of each.

2.

tion of the Garden of

To begin then with the Garden of Eden. As it was by far the most remarkable place of the ante- The situa diluvian earth, so its situation is more fully and particularly set down by Moses, in these words; Eden de(Gen. ii. 8. and 10 to 14. inclusively.) And the scribed by Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.- Moses. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden ; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is

PART L. good there is bdellium and the onyx-stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth before Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

3. The word Eden imposed as a

proper name on several places, and

why.

4.

Beth-Eden,

From this account we learn, first, in what country the terrestrial Paradise was situated; namely, in the country of Eden. The word Eden in the Hebrew language, according to its primary and common acceptation, denotes pleasure or delight. Whence the same word came, in a secondary acceptation, to be imposed as a proper name on several places of a more than ordinarily pleasant and delightful situation.

Such was that spoken of by the Prophet Amos, The Eden, (1. 5. I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut or rather off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him mentioned that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: by the Pro-and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto phet Amos, Kir, saith the Lord. The Eden here mentioned what, and was (as the learned Bishop of Soissons, P. D. Huet,

where.

hinks) a valley situated between the mountains of Libanus and Anti-libanus, and so in that part of Syria, whereof Damascus was the metropolis. This valley, adds he, deserved the name of Eden, or rather of Beth-Eden, that is to say, house of pleasure, by reason of its fertility and pleasantness. This induced some to believe, that the earthly Paradise stood here; and they were the more persuaded of it, because they found in the neighbourhood a town called Paradise, mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy. They sought also here the place, where Adam was created, and that where Cain killed his brother Abel, and persuaded themselves that they had found them here. To this account of Bp. Huet it may be added, that this seems to be the place Mr. Maundrell takes notice of in his journey from Damascus towards Tripoli; where he

*Plin. lib. v. cap. 23. Ptolem. Asiæ Tab. 4.

Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 133.

tells us, that having travelled four hours and a half CHAP. I. from Damascus, he came to a small village called Sinie, just by which is an ancient structure on the ta top of an high hill, supposed to be the tomb of Abel, who, as the same Author tells us, is said by the some to have been murdered by his brother in this place. The tomb is thirty yards long; and yet it? is here believed to have been but just proportioned to the stature of him, who was buried in it. Here, adds Mr. Maundrell, we entered into a narrow gut, between two steep rocky mountains, the river Barrady running at the bottom. On the other side of the river were several tall pillars, which excited our curiosity to go and take a nearer view of them. We found them part of the front of some ancient and very magnificent edifice, but of what kind we could not conjecture. Now these two accounts of the two fore-mentioned ingenious writers, being laid together, will, I think, afford great light for the right and clear understanding of the Eden, or rather Beth-Eden, mentioned in the fore-cited place of the Prophet Amos. For it is not unlikely, that this whole little valley, lying thus between two steep rocky mountains, and having the river Barrady running along the bottom of it, might formerly have the name of Eden given to it. But however

this was, whether it had the very name of Eden, or no; it is not to be doubted, but it was esteemed a pleasant place, and that this was the inducement to build here the fore-mentioned edifice, which, by reason of such its pleasant situation, was called Beth-Eden. And, since this edifice appears by its present ruins to have been so very magnificent, it is most highly probable, that it was a royal structure, and no other than a pleasure-house (or Buon Retiro *) of the kings of Syria, being at the distance of four or five hours riding from Damascus, the capital city of that kingdom, and so at a very convenient distance for such a seat of pleasure or. retirement. Hence the ruin of the king of Syria

The King of Spain has a seat so named.

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