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that the ark rested upon Mount Ararat, in a province of Armenia. This was the region in which mankind first began to multiply, and from whence they afterwards proceeded to their different places of allotment. It will therefore be necessary to give some account of this country; as from such an inquiry we shall find innumerable evidences still arise in confirmation of the primeval history: and there will be also many proofs obtained, in confirmation of my opinion, concerning the migration of mankind.

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Armenia lay to the north of Aramea, or Mesopotamia and one might be led to think, from the similarity of terms, that Armenia and Aramea were the same name. This, however, was not the Aramea was the land of Aram: but Armenia, which, was separated from it by Mount Taurus, was denominated from Ar-Men, and HarMen, the mountain where the ark rested. It was a branch of the abovementioned Taurus and was distinguished by several appellations, each of which was significant, and afforded some evidence to the history of the deluge. It was called Ararat, Baris, Barit, Luban, which last signified Mons Lunaris, or the Mountain of Selene.

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had also the name of Har-Min, and Har-Men, which was precisely of the same signification. The people who lived round it were called Minni and Minyæ; and the region had the name of Armenia from the mountain, which was the great object of reverence in this country. The name is to be found in the prophet Jeremiah, where he is calling together various foreign powers, to make an invasion upon Babylon. 3 Set 3 Set up a standard in the land; blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations against her. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat Minni, and Ashchenaz. By Ararat-Minni is signified the region about Mount Ararat, which was possessed by the Minyæ. The passage is by the Chaldee Paraphrast very justly rendered, Armini, the same as Armenia. From hence the learned Bochart infers with good reason, that the name of Armenia was taken from this Ararat of the Minni, called Ar-Mini. 4 Videtur Armeniæ vox conflata esse ex-, Har Mini, id est Mons Mini, sive Montana Miniadis. Something similar is to be found in Amos: where the same mountain is 5 Har

הר-מונה mentioned under the name of

3 Jeremiah. c. 51. v. 27. Suscitate super eam gentes; annunciate adversus illam regibus Ararath Menni. Vulgate. Geog. Sacra. f. 1. c. 3. p. 20.

C. 4. v. 3.

Munah, or Mountain of the Moon. Jerome takes notice of this passage, and mentions how differently it has been rendered by expositors; a circumstance which must happen when writers are of different countries and of different times. Hieronymus et projiciemini inquit in locis Armeniæ, quæ vocantur Armona. Denique Symmachus ita interpretatus est, et projiciemini in Armeniâ pro quibus LXX montem Remman, Aquila montem Armona, Theodotio montem Mona. 'Bochart, who quotes this passage, at the close asks, What if Mini, Minyas, and Monah, should after all prove to be the same name, only differently expressed? We may safely answer, that they are; and that they relate to the same history. Even the Remman of the LXX is a transposition of the true name; and a mistake for Ar-Man, the same as Ar-Mini in the Chaldaic Paraphrase, as Ar-Mona of Aquila, Ar-Muna of Amos, and the Mountain Mona of Theodotion. They all signify Mons Lunus, and relate to the

"Hieron. et Theodoretus. See Bochart. Geog. Sacra. 1. 1. c. 3. p. 20.

7 Bochart supra. p. 20. Θεοδώρητος, αποῤῥιφησεσθε εις το όρος το Αρμανα, &c. Ο δε Σύμμαχος το Αρμανα Αρμενίαν ἡρμηνευσεν· Ὁ δε Θεοδοτίων ύψηλον όρος. Ibid.

This is manifest from the Vulgate, in which it is rendered Et projiciemini in Ar-mon.

Arkite emblem Selene, of which I have before treated.

The most common name given to the mountain was Ararat; and by this it has been distinguished by Moses. This is a compound of ArArat, and signifies the Mountain of Descent, and is equivalent to T-, of the Hebrews. That the name was a compound of Ar Arat, is plain from Hatho the Armenian, who nentions it out of composition by the name of Arath. In Armeniâ est altior mons, quam sit in toto orbe terrarum, qui Arath vulgariter nuncupatur; et in cacumine illius montis arca Noæ post diluvium primo stetit. Josephus tells us expressly, that it was called by the natives the Mountain of Descent, which he translates arrobaτngiov, on account of the Patriarch here first descending from the ark. Αποβατηριον τοπον τετον Αρμενιοι καλεσιν. The same is mentioned by Eustathius Antiochenus. By Jerome it is styled the place of exit. 12 Nunc locum Armenii exitum vel egressum vocant. The sacred writer seems always to express foreign

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9 Hatho Armenius. See Purchas. vol. 3.

10 Josephus. Antiq. 1. 1. c. 3. p. 16.

p. 110.

" Και τον τοπον ετι και νυν εκείνον Αποβατηριον οι επιχώριοι καλεσι. Eustathius Antiochenus. See Bochart above. P. 20.

12 Hieron. in Eusebianis,

names of places, as they were exhibited by the natives. He accordingly calls this mountain in the provincial dialect "Ar-Arat; which would have been rendered Har-Irad by the Hebrews. By this is signified anobarngiov, or place of descent. The region round about was called Araratia, and also Minyas, where the Minya resided, of whom I have taken notice before. This probably, after the general migration, was one of the oldest colonies in the world. Nay, it is not impossible, but that the region may have been originally occupied by a people styled Minyæ, who out of a false zeal adhered to the spot, and would never depart from it. From the similitude which the natives of these parts bore to the Syrians and Arabians, in religion, customs, and language, it appears plainly, that they were one of the 14 Cuthite branches.

We may be assured, that the ark was providentially wafted into Armenia; as that region seems to have been particularly well calculated

,הורט Mosis reperitur in Codice Samaritano אורט Pro 13

Hararat.

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Le Clerc. vol. 1. p. 72.

4 Το γαρ των Αρμενιων εθνος, και το των Σύρων και των Agabuv wodany qμopudiar supa xλ. Strabo. 1. 1. p. 70. One of the principal cities in this part of Armenia was Cu-Cousus, which signifies the place of Chus. See Ilierocles Evvanduos. p. 703. Κουκουσος, Κομανα, Αραραβία.

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