they conduct the traveller to the place where Adam was created, to that where Cain murdered his brother, and to the tomb where the bones of Abel repose.

On the banks of the river Barrady, which runs along the bottom of the valley, between two steep rocky mountains, the kings of Syria had a magnificent palace, which they dignified with the name of Beth-Eden, or the house of pleasure. Several tall pillars were still standing when Mr. Maundrell visited the place; who found them, on a nearer view, part of the front of some ancient and very magnificent edifice, but of what kind he was unable to conjecture. These were probably the remains of the once sumptuous palace of Beth-Eden, whither the kings of Damascus often escaped from the restraints of a court, and the cares of state, to enjoy the pleasures of retirement and recreation. If these conjectures be well founded, the ruin of the Syrian king is, with great elegance and propriety, expressed by God's cutting off him that holdeth the sceptre from Beth-Eden.

Several towns mentioned in Greek and Latin authors, bore the names of Adana, or Adena, which has been indisputably derived from the Hebrew term Eden. The town of Adena, in Cilicia, has been greatly celebrated for its charming situation, and the extraordinary fruitfulness of the surrounding country. In Arabia, we find a port at the entrance of the Red Sea, named Aden (a manifest abridgement of Adena), because it comprehended in it all the beauties of that region. The Arabians boasted of another town in the middle of the country, which also received the name of Aden for the same reason; and from these proper names, they believed that Paradise was situated in Arabia Felix.

© Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 133.

Besides this Eden mentioned by the prophet, ancient geographers take notice of a village called Eden, near Tripoli in Syria, where some have placed the terrestrial Paradise. But to none of these places, will the marks of the garden described by Moses in the beginning of Ge nesis, apply. The inspired writer composed his history of the creation and fall of man, either in Egypt or in the land of Midian; but Syria lies not to the east, but rather to the north of these countries; nor can Syria boast of a river, whose channel, in its progress to the ocean, is divided into four branches. We must, therefore, look for the true situation of Paradise in a different region.

The land of Eden, according to Moses, who is our surest guide in this investigation, lay on the banks of a large river, which, on leaving the borders of that country, was divided into four streams, called Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Perath or Euphrates. To ascertain as nearly as possible, then, the true situation of Paradise, we must endeavour to find out and trace the course of these four celebrated streams. This will be the more easily done, as one of them still retains the name it bore in the time of Moses, and is familiarly known to both ancient and modern geographers. But I shall follow the example of other writers on the subject, and take them in the order of the sacred historian.

The first river mentioned by Moses, is the Pison, which, he informs us, "compasseth the whole land of Havilah." But it appears, from another passage in his writings, that Havilah is a part of the country inhabited by the posterity of Ishmael: "And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt." The inspired writer of the first book of Samuel mentions it

d Gen. xxv, 12.

d

е

again in these words: from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur, that is before Egypt." But Arabia is the country allotted to Ishmael and his decendants, where they have dwelt from the remotest ages, in the presence of all their brethren; and by consequence, Havilah must be situated near the Persian gulf. For " Shur which is before Egypt," is the western extremity of Arabia, at the bottom of the Red Sea; as the following passage from the book of Exodus incontestibly proves: "Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur." But Shur is opposed by the inspired writer to Havilah; and therefore the latter must be the eastern extremity of Arabia, or that part of the country which borders on the Persian gulf.

"Saul smote the Amalekites

Again, Moses assures us, that Havilah which was refreshed by the waters of the Pison, was distinguished by its fine gold, bdellium, and onyx-stones: and the same valuable products formerly abounded in the eastern extremity of Arabia. Both inspired and profane authors commend the gold of that country. Diodorus says, in several parts of his works, that in Arabia was found natural gold of so lively a colour, that it very much resembled the brightness of fire; and so fixed, that it wanted neither fire nor refining to purify it. To this country Ezekiel also alludes in his address to the city of Tyre: "The merchants of Sheba and Ramah, they were thy merchants; they traded in thy fairs with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Ashur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants," &c. In f Lib. 2, c. 14, and 1. 3, c. 3.

e 1 Sam. xv, 7.

Ezek. xxvii, 22.

this passage, the prophet expressly mentions Eden as a country abounding in gold and other precious commodities, and its inhabitants as carrying on an extensive traffic in these valuable articles, with the most celebrated commercial city of the ancient world. But if Havilah was not a district of the country which bore the name of Eden, it certainly lay in its immediate neighbourhood, and by consequence possessed the same products, and shared in the same trade. This is confirmed by Diodorus, who asserts that Arabia, of which it has been proved Havilah was a part, was formerly celebrated for its pure and native gold.

The next distinctive character of this country is its possessing the bdellium. The original Hebrew term Bedolach, is variously translated by interpreters. Of the many opinions which have divided the sentiments of learned and inquisitive men, the most probable are, that it is an aromatic gum, or the pearl. The last of these opinions is entitled to the preference; for Moses, describing the manna, says, that it was like the seed of coriander and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. But we know from another passage in his writings, that the manna was white; which corresponds with the colour of the pearl. But neither the round shape of the coriander seed, which is equally the figure of the pearl, nor the white colour of the manna, corresponds with the aromatic gum which has received the name of bdellium. The Talmudists accordingly observe, on the description which Moses has given of the manna, that it was of the colour of pearls. But without entering into this dispute, it is sufficient to observe, i Exod. xvi, 14, 31. Bochart, Hieroz. part ii, b. 5, c. 5.

h Numb. xi, 7.

that whether the Hebrew word Bedolach be taken for pearls, or for an aromatic gum of that name, both are to be found in the land of Havilah.'

The Persian gulf, and particularly that part of it which washes the shores of Havilah, produces finer pearls, and in greater abundance, than any other place in the world. Many writers of the highest reputation might be quoted in support of this assertion; but the authority of Plinym and Arrian is sufficient. The former, having commended the pearls of the Indian seas, adds, that such as are fished towards Arabia in the Persian gulf, are most to be praised; and the latter sets a greater value on the pearls of Arabia, than upon those of the Indies, observing that some of them are so much esteemed by the Indians, as to be valued at three times their weight in gold."

If by bdellium we understand an aromatic gum, products of this kind have also been found in Arabia. Dioscorides expressly asserts it; and he sets a greater value upon the bdellium of the Saracens, than upon the bdellium of the Indies. And Galen," comparing the bdellium of Arabia with that of the Indies, gives the preference in several respects to the former. Pliny prefers the bdellium of Bactriana to that of Arabia; but he values the bdellium of Arabia above all the rest. So abundant were the spices and drugs of Arabia, that Arrian says, the natives of that country carried on an extensive and lucrative commerce in these precious com'Well's Historical Geography, vol. i, p. 9, 10.

m Plin. Natural. Hist. Paris edition, by Brotier, lib. 9, sec. 54.

n Rooke's Translation, vol. ii, p. 218, London; see also Strabo, lib. i, P Galen de Simpl. Medic. lib. 4.

p. 31.

• Lib. i, c. 77.

9 Well's Hist. Geog. vol. i, p. 9, 10. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 12, sec. 19.