Page:Light and truth.djvu/48

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light and truth.

iii. 3,) confirmed by that of Strabo,] and contained a population of 600,000.—(Jonah iv. 11.) It was surrounded by a wall 100 feet high, and wide enough for three carriages to go abreast; it was fortified by l500 towers, of 200 feet in height. For its luxury and wickedness, the judgments of God fell upon it.—(Nahum iii. 1; Zeph. ii: 13-15.) In the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Josiah, king of Judah, Nineveh was utterly destroyed by the Medes. It was afterwards partially rebuilt, but never became considerable, and was finally destroyed by the Saracens, in the seventh century. It is now called Mosul, and is only famous for being the residence of the patriarch of the Nestorians.

Rezeph. (2 Kings xix. 12.) Probably it stood where Arsoffa now is, from 20 to 30 miles west of the Euphrates. Rabshakeh mentions it among the cities conquered by the Assyrians.—(Isa. xxxvii. 12.)

The city of Seleucia was situated 45 miles southward, on the banks of the Tigris. It was sometimes called New Babylon. It became the capital of Babylonia, and in time utterly supplanted the old city.

Sepharvaim, or Sepharvites. They seem to have originally dwelt north of Media, or about Siphora, on the river Euphrates. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, ravaged the country about the days of Hezekiah, and after destroying great numbers, colonized most of the remainder in Canaan, where they at length became a tribe of Samaritans.

Tigris was founded by Ninus, the son of Nimrod, who began his reign, according to Usher, A.M. 2737.

Telatsib—a city or district between the rivers Chebar and Saocoras.—(Ezek. iii. 15.)


Ur—an ancient city of Chaldea, or Mesopotamia, where Terah and Abraham dwelt.—(Gen. xv. 7 )


THE KINGDOM OF ETHIOPIA.

Ethiopia. (Acts via. 27 ) The Hebrew word Cush which is here and elsewhere translated Ethiopia, seems to have been applied to at least three distinct countries.

The Cushites were the descendants of Cush. Calmet