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unknown characters, which witnessed its antiquity. As there is the greatest reason to think that this place was the Elim of Moses, and as it was the only district of consequence upon the coast, it is highly probable that it gave name to that part of the gulf, which from hence was by the natives called Sinus Elamites, or Elimites, the Gulf of Elim.

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The mistake in the copies of Strabo has misled that excellent geographer * Mons. D' Anville, who accordingly places Posidium close by the promontory Pharan, the Ras Mohammed of the present times. Here is the extremity of the desert to the south, the very point below where the two gulfs on each side commence, and pass upwards. But this of all others could not be the place where Posidium was situated. For to whichever gulf it may have belonged, it is expressly said to have been---εvdoregw 78 μvx8, higher up and within the sinus; and consequently could not have been at the bottom. Artemidorus introduces it

Diodorus Siculus, 1. 3. p. 175.

› Ce promontoire formé par l' extrémité du continent, qui separe les deux golfes, est le Posidium, ou Neptunium,d es mêmes auteurs, appelé Phara dans Ptolémée, &c. Memoirs sur l' Egypte, p. 237.

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as the very first place which occurred upon the coast of Arabia, and brings other places in a regular series after it, as he proceeds from north to south, mentioning Posidium, Phoenicon, Insula Phocarum, and then the promontory Pharan. We may therefore perceive plainly that it was situated upon the Sinus Herpopolitanus, and just above the grove of palms.-- συνεχη δε τε Ποσειδια φοινίκωνα είναι ευυδ gov. Next to Posidium was the palm-grove, which place is abundantly watered#2101ov -πλησιον δ' αυτης ακρωτηριον, ὁ διατείνει εις την Πετραν,---Ειτ Ελανίτις Koλros. Then came the promontory, which extended toward Petra; and after this was the Sinus Elanitis, or Gulf of Elath---far removed from the grove before mentioned, and from Posidium, which was above it. Here it was that Ariston, in the course of his discoveries, built the altar, of which 3 Diodorus Siculus takes notice. This, I imagine, was erected by him in honour of the ancient deity of that part of the world, Θεῷ εγχωριῳ, who was the reputed guardian of the sea. In consequence

1 Αρξάμενος απο Ποσείδια. Ibid.

* Strabo, l. 16. p. 1122.

3 Ουτος γας (μυχος) ονομάζεται Ποσιδειον, ίδρυσαμένο Ποσείδων Πελαγία βωμον Αριτωνος, τα πεμφθεντος ὑπο Πτολεμαις προς κατασκότ πην της έως ωκεανος παρηχέσης Αραβίας. 1. 3. p. 175.

of this he called the place after the Grecian manner Posidium, the same probably in purport as Baal-zephon; which place of worship of old was higher upon the same coast, and opposite to Clysma.

Conclusion concerning the journeying of the
Israelites.

The distance of time is so great, and the scene of action so remote, and so little frequented, that one would imagine there could have been no traces obtained of such very early occurrences. It must therefore raise within us a kind of religious reverence for the sacred writer, when we see such evidences still remain of his wonderful history. We read of expeditions undertaken by Osiris, Sesostris, Bacchus, Vexoris, Myrina, Semiramis, and the Atlantians, into different parts of the world. But no vestige remains of their operations, no particular history of their appulse, in any region upon earth. We have in like manner accounts of Brennus, as well as of the Teutones, Cimbri, and Ambrones; also of the Goths and Visigoths; and of other swarms

from the great hive in the north; all which are better authenticated. Yet we have only a general history of their migrations. The places from whence they originally came, and the particulars of their journeying, have been effaced for ages. The history recorded by Moses appears like a bright, but remote object, seen through the glass of an excellent optician, clear, distinct, and well defined. But when we look back upon the accounts transmitted concerning the Assyrians, Egyptians, Medes and Scythians, or those of the early ages of Italy and Greece, we find nothing but a series of incredible and inconsistent events, and groupes of strange beings;

Abortive, monstrous, and unkindly mix'd,
Gorgons, and harpies, and chimeras dire,

The ideas which they afford are like the fantastic forms in an evening cloud, where we seem to descry castles and mountains, and gigantic appearances. But while we gaze the forms die away, and we are soon lost in gloom and uncertainty, Concerning the Israelites we have a regular and consistent history. And though they were roving in a desert for forty years, and far removed from the rest of

the world, yet we have seen what manifest tokens remain of their journeying and miraculous preservation.

This external proof may appear to some not very entertaining, nor perhaps necessary; as the internal has been shewn to be very copious; and, as I flatter myself, strong and convincing to a degree of demonstration. Yet to every curious and well disposed mind, I hope, that this too will be found satisfactory, and have its due weight.

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