CYR – DAR

Volume I, pages 439–442, 391–405 of the 1732 edition, from CYR to DAR: everything printed on these pages, in order.

Continued from Cyprus

like the preceding one, with only this difference, that the roots of it are round, about the largeness of an Olive, and many of them joined together.

CYRENE, a City and Province of Libya Pentapolitana, lying between the great Syrtes and the Mareotis. The City of Cyrene is at present called Caïroan, and is in the Kingdom of Barca. The Canton wherein it is situated, is called Mesrata. From hence came Simon the Cyrenian, Father of Alexander and Rufus, on whom the Roman Soldiers Matt. xxvii. 32. Luke xxiii. 26.laid our Saviour’s Cross. There were many Jews in the Province of Cyrene, and great numbers of them imbraced the Christian Religion. But others opposed it with much obstinacy. See Acts xi. 20. xiii. 26.Among the most inveterate Enemies of our Religion, S. Luke reckons those of this Province, who had a Synagogue at Jerusalem, and excited the People against S. Stephen.

After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, one of the Ruffians or Assassins of Judæa, going to Cyrene, so effectually wrought upon the Jews of that City, as to prevail with them to follow him into the Desart, upon an assurance that he would demonstrate to them by signs and Miracles, that God had suspended his wrath against the Jews,¹ and that they might in a short time rebuild Jerusalem. Catullus, who was Governor of the Country, having intelligence of this, marched against these unhappy People, surrounded the Wood where they were, and cut them all in pieces. He preserved Jonathan from the Slaughter, and made use of him in discovering a pretended Conspiracy, wherein he maliciously included the best Men of the Country.

CYRENE. There is some mention in the Books of the Old Testament, of another Province called Cyrene, different from that in Africk. Tiglathpilesèr transplanted the Inhabitants 2 Kings xvi. 9. Amos i. 5. Amos ix. 7. Vulg.of Damascus to Cyrene, as the Prophet Amos had foretold about five and twenty years before. Transferetur populus Syriæ Cyrenem. Not certainly into the Country of Cyrene near Egypt, where Tiglath-pilesèr was possessed of nothing, but to Iberia or Albania, where the River Kir or Cyrus runs, which discharges itself into the Caspian Sea. Josephus Antiq. l. ix. c. 12. says, they were transported into upper Media, which falls in with our opinion: For antiently Media was very large.

Amos says, that the Aramæans were originally of Kir. Numquid non ascendere feci Syros (Heb. Aram) de Cyrene? The Prophet intended probably to comprehend under the word Cyr or Kir, the People beyond the Euphrates, and those of Mesopotamia, from whence the Aramæans in reality came, who were descended from Aram the Son of Shem. We have no certain knowledge of their coming in particular out of this Country, where the River Cyrus flows.

CYRENIUS, Cyrinus, or Quirinius, Successor to Quintilius Varus in the Government of Syria. See Quirinius.

CYRUS, Son of Cambyses the Persian, and Mandane the Daughter of Astyages King of the Medes. Astyages dreamt, that there came forth a Vine out of his Daughter Mandane’s Womb², the Branches whereof covered all Asia: Hereupon he consulted the Sooth-sayers, who told him, that this signified the future power and greatness of the Child who should be born of his Daughter; and farther, that the same Child should deprive him of his Kingdom. Astyages, to prevent the effects of this Prediction, instead of marrying his Daughter to some powerful Prince, gave her to Cambyses, a person of mean condition, and one who was not in a capacity to form great designs, nor to support the ambition of his Son by his own Riches and Authority.

Nor did Astyages stop here: The apprehension he was under, lest Mandane’s Son might perhaps find that Assistance in his own Courage, or some lucky circumstances which his Family was not able to supply him with, induced him to take a resolution to dispatch him. As soon therefore as he understood his Daughter to be big with Child, he commanded one of his Officers, whose name was Harpagus, to kill the Infant the moment it was born. Harpagus fearing the resentment of Mandane, put the Child into the hands of one who was the King’s chief Shepherd, in order to expose him. This Man’s wife was extremely touched with the Beauty of young Cyrus, and desired her Husband rather to expose her own Son, who was born some time before, and to preserve the young Prince. After this manner Cyrus was preserved, and brought up among the King’s Shepherds.

One day as the Shepherds were playing together, Cyrus was chosen King, and having used one of his little play-fellows ill, the Child’s Parents complained of him to Astyages. This Prince sent for Cyrus, and seeing him, observed something great in his Air, and some Features of his Daughter Mandane. Hereupon he made particular enquiry into the matter, and discovered, that in reality he was his Grandson. Harpagus, who had preserved him, was punished with the death of his own Son; and Astyages believing that the Royalty which the Sooth-sayers had promised to young Cyrus, was that which he had lately exercised among the Shepherds Children, disturbed himself no more about it. Notwithstanding, when Cyrus was grown up, Harpagus discovered to him the whole se

cret of his Birth, and in what manner he had delivered him from the cruelty of his Grandfather. He encouraged him to come into Media, and promised to furnish him with Forces, in order to make him Master of the Country, and depose Astyages. Cyrus hearkened to these Propositions, engaged the Persians to take Arms against the Medes, marched at the head of them against Astyages, defeated him, and possessed himself of Media. He carried on many other Wars: At length he sat down before Babylon, and took it after a long Siege. This is a summary account of Cyrus’s Life, as we read it in Herodotus and Justin the Abbreviator of Trogus. But the Learned make no difficulty of owning, that this whole recital is so blended with Fables, that it is very hard to distinguish Truth from Falshood.

Xenophon has given us another History of Cyrus very different from that which we have now related: But there is no more certainty in this of Xenophon, according to the Judgment of several Criticks, than in those of Herodotus, Ctesias and Trogus. Plato³ was not of opinion, that Cyrus was so fine a Model of a Prince as Xenophon imagined; or rather he did not believe that the Portaiture of Cyrus, as it was drawn by Xenophon, was an excellent Pattern of a perfect King. He had his exceptions to it; as for example, that Cyrus was not careful in the good Government of his Family, and permitted his Children to be brought up by Women. In a word, Xenophon may be allowed to have described to us in the name of Cyrus a good General, and a Prince who is a lover of his Country, but not a perfect Prince. This is Plato’s Judgment: And Cicero’s is not more favourable,⁴ Cyrus ille a Xenophonte non ad historiæ fidem scriptus est, sed ad effigiem imperii: Xenophon has not pretended to write the History of Cyrus, but only to describe an accomplished Prince in his person.

Here follows a brief relation of Cyrus’s Life from Xenophon.⁵ Astyages married his Daughter Mandane to Cambyses King of Persia, Son to Achæmenes King of the same Nation. Cyrus was born in the King his Father’s Court, and was educated with all the care his Birth required. When he was of the Age of about twelve years, his Grandfather Astyages sent for him to Court, together with his Mother Mandane. Sometime after the King of Assyria’s Son having invaded Media, Astyages with his Son Cyaxares, and his Grandson Cyrus marched against him. Cyrus distinguished himself in this War, and defeated the Assyrians. Cambyses afterwards recalled him, that he might have them near his own Person; and Astyages dying, his Son Cyaxares, Uncle by the Mother’s side to Cyrus, succeeded him in the Kingdom of Media.

Cyrus at the age of thirty, was made General of the Persian Troops by his Father Cambyses, and was sent at the head of thirty thousand Men, to the assistance of his Uncle Cyaxares, whom the King of Babylon with his Allies the Cappadocians, Carians, Phrygians, Cilicians, and Paphlagonians were preparing to attack. Cyaxares and Cyrus prevented them, fell upon them, and dispersed them. Cyrus advanced as far as Babylon, and spread terror throughout all the Country. From this Expedition he retired to his Uncle, towards the Frontiers of Armenia and Assyria, and was received by Cyaxares in the Tent of the Assyrian King, whom he had defeated.

After this, Cyrus carried the War into the Countries beyond the River Halys, entred Cappadocia, and subdued it intirely. From thence he marched against Cræsus King of Lydia, beat him in the first Battel, then besieged him in Sardis his Capital. After a Siege of fourteen days Cræsus was obliged to surrender; and Cyrus having condemned him to be burnt, Cræsus upon the funeral Pile repeated three times the cry of Solon, Solon, Solon. Cyrus hereupon being informed, that Solon had said formerly to Cræsus, that no Man should be called happy while he was living, and that Cræsus by these words acknowledged the Truth of this Prediction, set him at liberty, and received him into the number of his Friends and Counsellors.

Cyrus having reduced almost all Asia by the Arms of his Generals, repassed the Euphrates, and made war against the Assyrians. He marched directly to Babylon, at the head of a very powerful Army, composed of Persians, Medes, and auxiliary Troops of the People whom he had subdued. He laid Siege to the City, which the Inhabitants were very little concerned at, because Babylon was a place of great strength, and the besieged were stored with provisions for twenty years. Cyrus encompassed the whole City with a large Ditch, and built Towers and Redoubts at proper distances. But after lying a long time before it, observing no progress to be made in the Siege, he drained the Euphrates in many places, and threw the Waters of this River into large Marshes which were near Babylon; so that the Euphrates being much diminished, Cyrus entred by night into the City with his Army through the Wickets which were

an inlet for the Water. Thus Babylon was taken without much trouble.

Cyrus took care to prepare a palace there for his Uncle Cyaxares, whither he might retire, if he had an inclination at any time to come to Babylon; for he was not then in the Army. After all these Expeditions Cyrus returned to his Father and Mother in Persia, where they were still living; and going some time after to his Uncle Cyaxares in Media, he married his Cousin the only Daughter and Heiress of all Cyaxares’s Dominions, and went with her to Babylon; from whence he sent Men of the first Rank and Quality to govern all the several Nations which he had conquered. He engaged again in several Wars, and subdued all the Nations which lye between Syria and the Red Sea.

He died at seventy Years of Age, after a reign of thirty years.⁶ Authors differ very much concerning the manner of his death. Herodotus⁷, Justin⁸, and Valerius Maximus⁹ relate, that he died in the War against the Scythians, and that falling into an Ambush, which Queen Thomyris had laid for him, she ordered his head to be cut off, and cast it into a Vessel full of Blood, with this expression, Thou that hast always thirsted after human Blood, now glut thyself with it. Diodorus the Sicilian¹⁰ says, that he was taken in an Engagement, and hanged. Ctesias assures us, that he died of a wound which he received in his Thigh. John Malela of Antioch cites a spurious piece of Pythagoras’s the Samian, which declares, that he was killed in a Fight with the People of Samos. In Xenophon’s account, he is said to die peaceably in his Bed amidst his Friends and Servants. This is certain, that in Alexander’s time his Monument was shewn at Pasagarda in Persia, as Plutarch, Quintus Curtius, Arrian, and lastly, Aristobulus, an eye Witness, cited in Strabo, are all Witnesses.

From all which it is easy to conclude, that we are but imperfectly acquainted with the History of this great Prince, the Founder of the Persian, and destroyer of the Chaldæan Empire. We learn fewer particulars of it from Scripture, but then they are more certain than any we have Dan. viii. 3— —20.produced. Daniel in the famous Vision, wherein God shewed him the ruin of several great Emperors, which were to precede the Birth of the Messiah, represents Cyrus to us under the Idea of a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high, but the one was higher than the other, and the higher came up at last. This Ram pushed westward and northward and southward: so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will, and became great. The Ram’s two Horns signify the two Empires which Cyrus reunited in his person, that of the Medes, and that of the Persians: The last was greater and more powerful than the Empire of the Medes. Or otherwise, these two horns signify the two Branches of Cyrus’s Successors. His Son Cambyses dying, the Empire was transferr’d to Darius the Son of Hystaspes, and was continued down to Darius Codomannus, who is in all probability the great Horn, which the Ram that denotes Alexander, run against. In another place Daniel compares Cyrus to a Bear, with four rows of Teeth in its Mouth,¹¹ to which it was said, Arise, devour much flesh.

Cyrus succeeded Cambyses in the Kingdom of Persia, and Darius the Mede, by Xenophon called Cyaxares, and Astyages in the Greek of Daniel, in the Kingdom of the Medes, and Empire of Babylon. He was Monarch of all the East, or, as he speaks, of all the World, when he permitted the Jews to return into their own Country, in the year of the World 3466, before J. C. 534, before the vulgar Æra 538. The Enemies of the Hebrews making use of this Prince’s affection to his own Religion, prevailed with him by his orders, to put a stop to the building of the Temple of Jerusalem. He always had a particular regard for Daniel, and kept him in his great imployments. The Histories of Bel and the Dragon related in the Greek of Daniel, fell out under his reign. Cyrus, after he had seen the miraculous preservation of Daniel, when exposed to the Lions, published an Edict in favour of the Religion of the Jews.

Dan. viii. 5, 6. Dan. vii. 5. Dan. xiii. 65. Ezra i. 1, 2. & 2 Chr. xxxvi. 22, 23. Ezra iv. 5. Dan. xiv. 1. Dan. xiv. Dan. xiv. 42. Isai. xliv. 28. Qui dico Cyro: Pastor meus es.The Prophets frequently foretold the coming of Cyrus, and Isaiah has been so particular as to declare his name above an Age before he was born. Josephus¹² says, that the Jews of Babylon shewed this passage of the Prophet to Cyrus, and that this Prince in the Edict which he granted for their return, acknowledged, that he received the Empire of the World from the God of Israel; and that the

same God had described him by name in the Writings of the Prophets, and foretold that he should build a Temple to him at Jerusalem. He is pointed out in Scripture Isai. xli. 2, 10. xlvi. 11. Isai. xliv. 28. Dan. xiv. 42.under the name of the righteous Man, and the Shepherd of Israel. He seems to acknowledge the God of Israel in what he says to Daniel. Let all the Inhabitants of the earth fear the God of Daniel, for he is God our Saviour, who worketh signs and wonders upon the earth, and hath delivered Daniel from the mouth of the lions. And elsewhere he says, The Lord God of heaven Ezra i. 2.hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem. Notwithstanding the Lord says to him in Isaiah, I am the Isai. xlv. 5.Lord, and there is none else. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. Jeremiah calls Cyrus and his People, who overthrew the Babylonish Empire, Thieves and Robbers.

Cyrus we know was a Persian by his Father Cambyses, and a Mede by his Mother’s side Mandane: For which reason in an Oracle cited by Herodotus, he is called a Mule.¹³ Be afraid, said the Oracle to Crœsus, when the Medes shall be commanded by a Mule. And Nebuchadnezzar some time before his death, filled with a divine Enthusiasm, said to the Babylonians,¹⁴ I foretel a misfortune, which none of your Gods will be able to divert. A Persian Mule shall come against you, who, with the help of your Gods, shall bring you into bondage. It seems as if Isaiah intended to Isai. xxi. 7, 9.describe the same thing, when speaking of Cyrus’s march against Babylon, he says, that he saw a Man riding in a Chariot drawn by a Camel and an Ass.

The taking of Babylon by Cyrus is clearly set down in the Prophets, particularly in Isaiah, Ch. xiii, xiv, xxi, xli, xlii, xlv. and in Jeremiah, Ch. l, li. Lastly, Daniel evidently foretold the Victories of Cyrus, and the erecting the Monarchy of the Medes and Persians in the vii. and viii. Chapters. We fix the Birth of Cyrus to the year of the World 3405, his first year at Babylon to 3466, his death to 3475, the beginning of the seventy Weeks after which the Messiah was to be put to death, to 3550, before the vulgar Æra 454, before the true time of Jesus Christ’s Birth 450. The eastern People have been used to call Cyrus Kiresch.¹⁵ They tell us, that this Prince descended by his Father from Giamasb the Son of Lohosusb, fourth King of Persia, of the Dynasty of the Caïanians; and by the Mother side, from the Hebrew Prophets. He was sent by Bahaman Son of Asfendiar King of Persia to Babylon, to command there in the room of Balthalnaxar Son of Nebuchadnezzar. Bahaman was born, they say, of a Mother, who was of the Tribe of Benjamin, and descended in a direct Line from Saul first King of the Israelites: He married a Wife of the Tribe of Judah, who descended from Solomon by Rehoboam; so that this Prince extremely favoured the Jews; and when he gave Cyrus the Government of Media, Assyria and Chaldæa, he commanded him very expresly to do all the good that he was able to this Nation.

Cyrus did not fail to execute this order, being himself attached to the Jews, to whom he was allied in Blood; for his Mother was a Jew, according to the Persian Authors, as well as his Wife, who was the Daughter of Salathiel, and Sister of Zerobabel, according to Eutychius Abulfaragius Son of Batrik, Patriarch of Alexandria. He therefore sent the Jews back to Jerusalem, and permitted them to rebuild their City and Temple. But all the Traditions of the eastern People, which are not conformable to Scripture, we look upon as fabulous; for if Cyrus had been Son and Husband to a Mother and Wife both Jews, would the Books of the Hebrews have forgotten this Circumstance?

DABBASHETH, a Town belonging to the Tribe of Zebulun, Joshua xix. 2.

Josh. xix. 12.DABERATH. Joshua speaks of Daberath a town belonging to the Tribe of Zebulun, or at least in the confines of this Tribe. He shews elsewhere very clearly, that Josh. xxi. 38.it is in the Tribe of Issachar. The Tribe of Issachar made a cession of this town to the 1 Chr. vi. 72.Levites for their habitation. Josephus speaks of it in several places, under the name of Joseph. de Bello, L. 2. c. 26. & de vita sua. p. 1023.Dabaritta, or Darabitta, situated in the great plain at the extremity of Galilee and Samaria. It is perhaps the same as Dabira, which St. Jerom places towards mount Tabor, in the canton of Diocæsarea. Maundrell speaks of Debora at the foot of mount Tabor.

DADAN, the second son of Raamah mentioned in Gen. x. 7: The Septuagint in this place read Dadan, and so does the Vulgate and the Hebrew; but in Gen. x. 4. instead of Dodanim they have it Rhodanim; and in Ezek. xxvii. 15. instead of Dedan they read the sons of the Rhodians. Josephus in Gen. x. 4. did not read Dodanim, nor does Joseph. Antiq. l. 1. c. 7. p. 14.he make any mention of this name. And in the same chapter, instead of Dadan he reads Judah, and says that this Judah is the father of certain Jews in the western part of Ethiopia; but the true reading of Gen x. 7. is Dadan. I cannot well tell whether Dedan If. xxi. 13. In semitis Dedenim. Jer. xxv. 23. xlix. 8. Ezek. xxv. 19. xxvii. 15, 20. xxxviii. 13. Jer. xxv. 23. Ezek. xxvii. 23.and Dedanim, names often repeated in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, is the same with Dodanim, spoken of in Gen. x. 4. among the descendants of Japheth; or whether he is the same with Dadan mentioned in the same chapter, v.7. among the descendants of Ham; or whether Dedan is not rather a descendant of Dadan, the son of Jokshan, and grandson of Abraham and Kethurah. It must be observed, that in the Hebrew text which is not pointed, the names of Dodan, Dadan, and Dedan are written in the same manner. Arias Montanus places the descendants of Dadan in the Palmyrene, where we find the mountain Aladan, or Alladadan. Bochart places Dadan in Arabia the happy, to the west of Raamah. This country is still called Dadena, the capital City whereof is Dadan.

DADAN, the son of Jokshan, and grandson Gen. xxv. 3.of Abraham and Kethurah. Dadan was the father of the Letushites, Asshurites, and Leummites. He dwelt in Edom, where Jeremiah places the city of Dedan. Ezekiel speaks of Dedan, the people whereof traded at Tyre, together with those of Shebah, Eden, Ashur, and Chilmad. From whence we conclude, that one or both of the two Dadans here mentioned, dwelt in Mesopotamia or Syria, and near the people of Ashur and Eden.

1 Macc. xvi. 11. Joseph. Antiq. l. 13. c. 15.DAGON, Dog or Docus, a fortress in the plain of Jericho, where Ptolemy the son of Abubus dwelt, and where he treacherously killed his father-in-law Simon Maccabæus, together with Mattathias and Judas his two sons. John Hircanus the son of Simon, who was then at Gazara, went and besieged Ptolemy his brother-in-law in the castle of Dagon: but Josephus relates, that when Hircanus drew near with an intention to assault the fortress, Ptolemy produced his mother and two brothers upon the walls, and ordered them to be scourged cruelly in his sight; withal threatning him, that he would have them put to death, if he continued to distress him. His compassion for his mother’s sufferings, was the reason of the siege’s drawing out into length; and the sabbatical year coming on, Hircanus was obliged to raise it. Ptolemy took this opportunity and fled to Zeno, surnamed Cotyla, Tyrant of Philadelphia, after having first dispatched Hircanus’s mother and two brothers. Which seems to contradict the relation of the first book of Maccabees, which declares, that Ptolemy murdered Mattathias and Judas, together with their father Simon, in the room of entertainment, where they sup’d.

דגor דגן Piscis.DAGON, the God of the Philistines. The name of Dagon signifies a fish, and it is our opinion that Dagon was represented like a woman, with the lower parts of a fish,

as the Heathens represented the Tritons or Syrens. The Author of the great Etymologicum says, that Dagon was Saturn; others will have it that he was Jupiter, others again Venus. The Egyptians worshipped this Goddess under the form of a fish; because in Typhon’s war against the Gods, Venus concealed Ovid. Metam. l. 5. Fab. 5. Diodor. l. 2. p. 65. seu 92.herself in this shape. Diodorus the Sicilian says, that at Askelon a famous City of the Philistins, the goddess Derceto, or Atergatis, was worshipped under the figure of a woman, with the

lower parts of a fish. Lucian¹⁶ in like manner describes the goddess Derceto. Now this goddess was the same as Venus. There is therefore a great deal of probability, that Dagon was this deity¹⁷.

Scripture shews pretty clearly, that the statue of Dagon was made in an human figure, at least the upper part of it; for it says that the Ark of the Lord being placed in Dagon’s Temple, the next day when the Priests proposed to come into the Temple, they found the head and hands of Dagon upon the threshold of the door, while the rest of the trunk belonging to the statue 1 Sam. v. 4, 5.continued in its place. See our Dissertation concerning the original, and the Gods of the Philistins, prefixed to our Comment on the first book of Samuel. There was a Temple of Dagon at Gaza, which was pulled down by Sampson. There was another at Azoth, where the Philistins laid up the Judg. xvi. 23, &seq. 1 Sam. v. 1, 2, 3. Josh. xv. 41. Josh. xix. 27.Ark of God. There was a city in the Tribe of Judah called Beth-Dagon, or the house of Dagon; and another of the same name upon the frontiers of Asher. Eusebius speaks likewise of a town called Caphar-Dagon, or the Field of Dagon, lying between Jamnia and Diospolis. Philo-Biblius in his translation of Sanchoniathon says, that by Dagon is meant Siton, or the God of Apud Eusęb. præpar. l. 1.wheat. Dagon does indeed signify wheat in the Hebrew; but who is this God of wheat? It is probably Ceres; for the Hebrews had no feminine name to signify Goddesses: and Elian informs us, that among the several names given to Ceres, Sito was one; as who should say, the Goddess of wheat, because she was believed to be the inventress of agriculture, and of this grain. She was represented with a plow, ears of wheat, fruits and poppies about her head or in her hands; and was joined with Bacchus the inventor of wine. In the mysteries they went together, and their feasts were celebrated jointly.

But we find her likewise described with fish in some medals¹⁸, which answers to the name of Dagon, derived from the root Dag, a fish. In one of these medals which is of the city of Syracuse, the fishes to the number of four, are disposed in the field of the Medal about the Goddess’s head, which is crowned with fruits. In another there are fishes to be seen about a bull’s head, which is upon the reverse of a Medal likewise of Syracuse with the head of Ceres. In Philo Biblius, Dagon is brother to Saturn, as in the Greek Authors, Ceres is sister to the same Saturn. Ceres enjoy’d the embraces of her brother, according to the Greeks; Atergatis is sister to the same Saturn, according to Philo Biblius.

Ibidem, P. 93, & 275.Lastly, Ceres is sometimes described with the attributes of Isis the goddess of the Egyptians, to whom likewise was ascribed the invention of husbandry, wheat, and fruits, and who was honoured as the Moon. In an antique statue of Ceres, found at Toul, there are observed to be ears of corn about her head, in the nature of hair or rays. Berosus, speaking of Oannes, says, that he had the body and head of a fish, that above this head was another, and that below the tail of the fish there appeared the feet of a man. This, say they, is the true figure of Dagon, who had different names Vaillant Appendic. hist. Ptolemaeorum.in different countries. We find an Egyptian Medal which represents half the body of a woman with a Cornu-copia in her hands, with the tail of a fish bent behind, and feet made like those of a crocodile or sea-calf. Such might be the figure of the goddess Dagon. The Rabbins vary about its figure, because they speak only by conjecture. Some describe it like a man in the upper parts, and a fish below; others on the contrary like a fish above, and like a man below: others again make it either all man Diodor. Sic. Bibl. lib. 2.or all fish.

Diodorus Siculus says, that at Askelon, a city in Palestine, Derceto or Atergatis was worshipped under the form of one having the face of a woman, and all the lower parts of a fish; almost as they describe the Nereids. There was a very deep pond near Askelon filled with fish, consecrated to this Goddess, from which the people of the town abstain’d through superstition, upon a belief that Venus having heretofore cast herself into this pond, was there metamorphosed Herod. l. 1.into a fish.

Herodotus relates, that the Scythians having made an irruption into Palestine, with a design of falling upon Egypt, Psammeticus, King of Egypt, diverted this blow by the great sums of money which he brought them. Some Scythians getting into Askelon, plundered the temple of Venus the Celestial, which is one of the most ancient temples that the world ever knew. The Goddess being irritated, sent an ignominious and painful disease among them, the Hemorrhoids, which was communicated to their posterity, as a punishment of the sacrilege committed by them. Here we see that Herodotus calls the very same Goddess Venus the celestial, whom others name Atergatis or Derceto, and we believe to be Dagon.

Salmas. in Solin.Salmasius is of opinion, that Dagon is the same as Ceto, a great sea-fish. Ceto the sea-monster, to which Andromeda was exposed at Joppa, and Derceto the goddess of the Askelonites, are the same deity. Selden will Selden de Diis Syr. Syntagm. 2. c. 3.have it, that Atergatis is the same as Dagon, and that the name of Atergatis is deriv’d from the Hebrew Adir-Dagan, magnificent fish. The name of magnificent is often given to the true God and to false deities. Diana the Persian or Venus, was, as they say, changed into a fish upon throwing herself into the waters of Babylon. Manilius says;

רDaleth. △ Delta.DALETH, the fourth Letter in the Hebrew Alphabet, from which the Greek Delta is derived.

Mark viii. 10.DALMANUTHA. St. Mark says, that Jesus Christ embarked with his Disciples upon the sea of Tiberias, and came to DalmanuthaMatth. xv. 39.. St. Matthew relating the same event, says, that our Saviour went to Magedan, and many manuscripts of St. Mark read it thus. But in the Greek of St. Matthew, it is Magdala. The Syriac, Arabic, and several old Greek Copies read Magdan. The question is where Magedan and Brocard. Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ, c. 3.Dalmanutha were situated. Brocard was of opinion that Magedan or Medan was one of the two sources of the river Jordan called Dan, at the foot of mount Libanus. It is Vide Reland Palæst. t. 1. c. 41. p. 265.certain, that in the places about the lake Phiala, which is the true source of Jordan, great numbers of Saracens, Arabians, and Parthians keep a fair, and dwell there, invited by the beauty of the situation, and the conveniency of trade: for which reason it is called Medan; that is to say, in Arabic, fair. Hegesip. p. 108.Hegesippus calls this place Melda or Meldan, which he interprets fair, or market. Of Meldan may be made Delmana, or Delmanata, or Delmanutha. Thus Medan, Magedan, Delmana, and Delmanutha will be the same thing; and we must say, that Jesus Christ having passed the lake of Tiberias, advanced towards the sources of Jordan, and went to Medan. Eusebius and St. Jerom place Magedan somewhere about Gerasa, beyond Jordan. They tell us, that in their time this canton was still called Magedene. Now Gerasa was eastward of the sea of Tiberias, and on the other side of it. Cellarius and Lightfoot follow that reading, which has Magdala instead of Magedan. They place Magdala in the neighbourhood of Gadara and Tiberias, eastward of the lake Genezareth; and say, that Dalmanutha lay near the city of Magdala. Hammond and some others suppose, that St. Mark intended Zech. xii. 11. 2 Kings ix. 27. 2 Kings xxiii. 29.to speak of the city of Megiddo, called Megiddon in Zechary, made famous by the death of two kings, Ahaziah and Josiah, who were killed there. Jesus Christ did not go so far as Magedo, but as far as the confines of Magedan, as the text of St. Mark expresses. We followed this opinion in our Comment on St. Matthew xv. 39. But since what we have found relating to Medan, or the fair held near Phiala, we prefer their opinion who place Dalmanutha there.

DALMATIA, a part of old Illyria, lying along the gulph of Venice. Titus preached the Gospel there. 2 Tim. iv. 10.

DAMA, or Damula, a wild creature, about the size of a roe-buck, with horns almost Prov. vi. 5.like a stag’s, excepting that they are something flatter, and are not so large. It is mentioned in the Proverbs, and in Isaiah, as Isai. xiii. 14. Chrysost. de Sacerd. t. 4. c. 7. p. 67. & Aster. homil. 8. p. 62. צביTzebi. Acts xvii. 34. Justin. l. 36.a creature that runs very swiftly. It is called in Hebrew, Tzeb or Tzebi.

DAMARIS, whom some think to have been the wife of Dionysius the Areopagite, was converted by St. Paul’s sermons at Athens. We know nothing of the life of Damaris. It is said she lived at Athens with Dionysius the bishop of the place, and the Greek calendar institutes the commemoration of her to be upon the 4th of October.

DAMASCUS, a celebrated city in Syria. It was for a long time the capital of a kingdom called the kingdom of Damascus, or Aram of Damascus, or Syria of Damascus. It was in being in the time of Abraham; and some of the antients inform us, that this Patriarch reigned there immediately after Damascus the founder of it. So Gen. xv. 2. In the year of the World 2092, before J. C. 1908. before the Vulgar Æra 1912. Gen. xiv. 15. 2 Sam. viii. 5. and 1 Chron xviii. 4, 5, &c. Joseph. Antiq. l. 7. c. 6. In the year of the World 3027, before J. C. 973. before the Vulgar Æra 977. 1 King. xi. 23,24,25. 1 Kings xv. 18. In the year of the World 3064, before J. C. 936, before the Vulgar Æra 940.much is certain, that one, whom he had made free, and appointed the Steward of his house, was of Damascus; and pursued Chedorlaomer, and the five confederated Kings as far as Hobah, which is to the left, or northward of Damascus. The Scripture says nothing more of this city till David’s time; when Hadad king of Damascus, sending troops to the assistance of Hadadezer king of Zobah, David defeated both, and subdued their country. Josephus says, that this Hadad was the first, who took upon him the title of king in this city; and this he takes notice of from Nicholas of Damascus, the historian of that country, who lived in the time of Herod the Great.

Towards the end of Solomon’s reign, God stir’d up Rezin the son of Eliadah, who restored the kingdom Damascus, and shook off the yoke of the Jewish kings. A good while after, Asa king of Judah, implored the help of Benhadad son of Tabrimon, king of Damascus, against Baasha king of Israel, and engaged him to invade his enemy’s territories. From this time the kings of Damascus were generally called Benhadad: for example, Benhadad, the son of him, whom we have just mentioned, the same who laid siege to Samaria, attended by two and thirty kings, in the reign of Ahab,

1 Kings xx, 1, 2, & seq.Ahab king of Israel. Benhadad was obliged to raise the siege, and the year following having set another army on foot, he was 1 Kings xx. 23, 24.overcome by Ahab; and was obliged to restore those places to the king of Israel, which his ancestors had taken from that crown. Benhadad not having executed faithfully his promise, and refusing to make restitution of Ramoth in Gilead, occasion was hereby given for several wars between the kings of Israel and Damascus.

Benhadad made war with Jehoram the son of Ahab, as he had done before with his father. He besieged Samaria, and undertook several expeditions against Israel; but the prophet Elisha disappointed all his designs, by discovering them to king Jehoram: so that Benhadad sent troops to seize the prophet, and bring him to him. But Elisha struck them with blindness, and without their perceiving it, carried them to Samaria. 2 Kings vi. 13, 14, 15.Some time after, Benhadad falling sick at Damascus, Elisha went thither, and the King having sent great presents to him by Hazael, the prophet told Hazael, he should be king; and he hereupon returning to Benhadad, stifled him in his bed, and reigned in 2 Kings viii. 7, 8, &c.his room.

He inherited the aversion which his predecessors had always entertained against the kingdom of Israel, upon which he made war, and committed a thousand ravages throughout all parts of it. He attacked 2 Kings xii. 17.likewise the kingdom of Judah; and Joash king of Judah, to prevent him from pillaging his country and his capital, was obliged to pay him great sums of money. Benhadad the son of Hazael, followed his father’s steps, and made war with success against the 2 Kings xiii. 3, 21, 25.kings of Israel and Judah. However, Joash king of Israel defeated him in three several engagements, and obliged him to restore the cities which Hazael had taken from his father.

Judith ii. 17.Jeroboam II. king of Israel, resumed the old superiority over the kings of Syria. He conquered Damascus and Hamath, the two 2 Kings xiv. 25, &c. Ezek. xxvii. 18.principal cities of Syria: but after the death of Jeroboam II. the Syrians re-established their monarchy. Rezin took upon him the title of king of Damascus; entred into a confederacy with Pekah, the usurper of the kingdom of Israel, and with him made great havock in the territories of Jotham 2 Kings xvi. 5, &c.and Ahaz kings of Judah. Ahaz being sensible, that he was not strong enough to resist them; sent to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and desired his assistance. Hereupon 2 Kings xvi. 9. Isai. vii. 4, 8. viii. 4. x. 9. xxii. 1, 2, 3. Amos i. 3, 4.this prince, in order to make a diversion, invaded the dominions belonging to Rezin, took Damascus, destroy’d it, killed Rezin, and sent the Syrians his subjects into captivity beyond the Euphrates, according to the predictions of Isaiah and Amos.

Damascus recovered itself out of all these misfortunes. It is our belief, that Sennacherib took it, when he marched against Hezekiah, as is observed by Isaiah, ch. ix. 9. Holofernes also took it in the time of Manasseh, king of Judah. Ezekiel speaks as if it were a flourishing city in his time. JeremiahJerem. xxv. 9, 10. xxvii. 8. xlix. 23, 24. Zech. ix. 1. Plutarch. in Alex. Q. Curt. l. 3. threatens it with Nebuchadnezzar’s arms, who subdued that, and all the other cities of Syria. After the return from the captivity, Zechary foretold several calamities which should befall it, and which in all probability did then befall it, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great’s generals. It seems, as if Jonathan Maccabæus, Simon’s brother, had made himself master of Damascus, during the troubles in Syria: but 1 Macc. xii. 32.it does not appear that he kept it for any time. The Romans took possession of it Joseph. Antiq. l. 14. c. 4.about the year of the world 3939, when Pompey made war against Tigranes, and sent Metellus and Lælius thither, who seized upon it. Scaurus came thither some time after; and after him Pompey, who sent for Hircanus and Aristobulus, while he continued in this place, and heard the dispute which was between them concerning their Antiq. l. 14. c. 56.title to the crown of Judæa.

Damascus remained under the dominion of the Romans till it fell into the hands of the Arabians. Obodas the father of Aretas2 Cor. ix. 32. Antiq. l. 16. c. 15. In the year of J. C. 37. king of Arabia, whom St. Paul speaks of, was already master of Damascus in the reign of Augustus; but tho’ he was possessed of it, he was not intirely independant; he, as well as many other kings, being subject to the Romans. Aretas, who had a governour at Damascus, when St. Paul came thither, quarrell’d with the Romans; and when the Jews of Damascus shewed a disposition to lay hands on this Apostle, Aretas was then at war with them. This is as much as it is necessary to know concerning the several states and revolutions of Damascus, at least with relation to the Sacred Writings, the History of the Hebrews, and the New Testament.

Naaman, the king of Syria’s general, coming to Elisha, in order to be cured of his leprosy, the prophet bid him go, and bathe seven times in Jordan. But Naaman with some disorder replied, Are not Abana and 2 Kings v. 1, 2, 3, &c.Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? There are some Authors who take Abana to be the Orontes, and Pharphar the Chrysorroas, celebrated rivers in Syria. Benjamin of Tudela says, that the river Abana or Amana waters the city of Damascus, and Pharphar the country about it. Travellers inform us, that the See Daviti’s Syria.river which runs into Damascus, is still at this day called Tarfar,

Tarfaro, Farfaro, or Fer, or Pir. Stephens the Geographer calls the river of Damascus, Baradin; and Maundrel assures us, that Maundrel’s Journey from Alepo to Jerusalem.the Syrians call it Barrady. The source of this river is in the Antilibanus, and loses itself in the marshes four or five leagues from Damascus towards the south. This Traveller says, that he could find no traces¹⁹ in this country of the names Abana or Pharphar.

At about five hundred paces from Damascus on the south side, upon the highway, the place is shewn, where St. Paul was thrown upon the ground and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Here a church was built, which at present is intirely ruined. In the same city there is still to be seen the house which is said to be Ananias’s, who baptized and instructed St. Paul; it was changed into a Church, but the Turks have made a Mosque of it. Several writers have been of opinion that Cain and Abel dwelt near Damascus, and that this city takes its name from the blood of Abel. For damsak in Hebrew signifies a sack of blood. They still shew in these parts Abel’s monument, which is, as they say, forty foot in length. But there is no reckoning upon the truth of such relations.

The Arabians call this city Damaschk or Demeschk, or Scham, which is the name of the province whereof Damascus is the Bibl. Orient. p. 282, 772, &c.capital. They generally believe, that this city derived its name from Dameschek Eliezer, Abraham’s servant or steward; and that this Patriarch was the founder of it. Notwithstanding there are some Arabian Historians, who make the city of Damascus still more antient than Abraham’s time, and pretend that it was founded and named by Demschak the son of Canaan, son to Ham, and grandson to Noah.

The Persian Geographer says, that the Field or Plain of Damascus, which extends itself between Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and is called by the Arabians Ganthah, is one of the four Paradises of the East. The three others are Obilla in Chaldæa, where there is a river of the same name, Scheb- Baoran in Persia, and the Sogdian, which the eastern people call the valley of Samarcand. They assert, that Adam was created near Damascus, of a certain red earth, which is to be seen at the same place, and which to them seemed more proper than any other to form live flesh. Many suppose the terrestrial Paradise to have been in the same place.

The city of Damascus, according to Stephens the Geographer, borrow’d its name from its founder Damascus the son of Mercury and Alcimeda. In the first Book of Darmasch דרמשקinstead of דמשק Damash.Chronicles ch. xviii. 5,6. Damascus is call’d Darmasch. Some derive the name of Damasch or Damsak from the Hebrew, Dam blood, and sak a righteous person, as it were to denote that this city was polluted with the blood of Abel. Damascus was a metropolitan See under the Patriarch of Antioch; but at present the Greek Patriarch of Antioch resides there. The Temple of Damascus passes for one of the finest that the Turks have. They say this Temple was first built by the Sabians, Disciples to St. John Baptist, who kept the head of this Saint hung up at the roof of this building: afterwards the Christians made themselves masters of it, and were driven from thence by the Caliph Valid, son of Abdalmelech, who for several years laid out the whole revenue which he received from Syria in embellishing it. There is a magnificent Dome which goes by the name of Aliat’s Dome. There are many other Domes of a lesser size about it, one whereof is called the Dome of the Stairs, or of Mahomet’s ascension up to Heaven; the third the Dome of the Resurrection of the Dead; and the fourth the Dome of the Balance, or of the last Judgement. Notwithstanding all the revolutions which have happened to Damascus, this city still passes for one of the finest and most considerable in the East.

DAMIETTE, a city of Egypt. See PELUSIUM.

DAMMIM; see EPHEZ-DAMMIM.

DAN, the fifth son of Jacob, and his eldest Gen. xxx. 4, 5, 6, &c. Gen. xlvi. 23.by Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid. Rachel seeing that she was not blessed by God with any Children, desired Jacob to take Bilhah her servant, that by her means at least, she might have children. Jacob complied with her request, and Bilhah was delivered of a son. Hereupon Rachel said, The Lord hath judged in my favour, and hath hearkened to my voice in thus giving me a son: and she called him Dan; which signifies, He hath judged.

Dan had but one son, whose name was Hushim; notwithstanding which, he had a very numerous posterity: for when the Israelites went out of Egypt, this Tribe was composed of sixty-two thousand seven hundred men capable of bearing arms, without reckoning women and children. Jacob on Numb. i. 38. Gen. xlix. 16, 17.his death-bed blessed Dan in these words; Dan shall judge his people as one of the Tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. Whereby Jacob meant, that tho’ this Tribe was not one of the most powerful, and celebrated in Israel, it would notwithstanding produce one, who should be the prince of his people;

which prediction was accomplished in Samson, who was descended from Dan.

Jacob adds, that Dan should be as a serpent by the way, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward; whereby he might farther describe his valour and address, in surprizing and conquering an enemy stronger than himself. Others have been of opinion, that Jacob’s meaning in these last words, was, that Antichrist should come out of the Tribe of Dan: and this opinion is very commonly to be met with in the Fathers, and other ecclesiastical Rev. vii.writers: to support it they alledge, that St. John in the Revelations, among the other Tribes of Israel, takes no notice at all of the Tribe of Dan. But these arguments, tho’ countenanced by the authority of several among the Ancients, are nevertheless not very convincing; and the original of Antichrist will always be a very uncertain question, till the event shall clear it.

The Tribe of Dan had its lot in a very fat, and fertil soil, between the Tribe of Judah eastward, and the country of the Philistins westward: but the limits of their land were very narrow, because it was part only of the territories of Judah dismembred from the rest. This obliged the people belonging to this Tribe to look for a country of more extent, whither they might send a colony of several of their families, which had not sufficient room in their own land. They sent therefore five chosen men of the Judges xv. 1, 2, 3 &c. Josh. xix. 45, 47.most valiant among them, to seek an habitation which they liked. They advanced as far as Laish near the sources of Jordan, where they found the people lived without any diffidence, and in full security. Of this they came and gave notice to their countrymen, who sent six hundred men well armed, with their families, to make themselves masters of Laish. As they passed over mount Ephraim, they met with a young Levite in the house of Micah, where he kept up a superstitious worship. Him they carried with them to Laish. They made themselves with great ease masters of the city, and there established that wrong way of worship which they saw practised in the house of Micah. At that time the town, which was before called Laish, took the name of Dan, upon the account of its new masters, who were of this Tribe.

Apud Bartolocci Bibl. Rab. t.1. p.127.A Jewish historian, by name Eldad, whom some suppose to have lived in the ninth century about the year 880, and others in the thirteenth in 1283, relates, that the Tribe of Dan being unwilling to take arms against their brethren in the reign of Jeroboam, withdrew into Ethiopia, where they made alliances with the inhabitants of the country, and became tributary to the kings of Ethiopia. They went up the river Phison, (he means the Nile) and found people black as crows, of a gigantick stature, who fed upon human flesh. The Tribes of Naphtali, Gad, and Asher followed that of Dan into this country, and having passed the rivers of Ethiopia, settled there, feeding their flocks, and dwelling under tents. They had a king at their head, descended from Oliab, and observed the principal ordinances of the Law. Their prince was able to arm an hundred and twenty thousand horse, and an hundred thousand foot. These four tribes being united, divided the four seasons of the year among themselves; each made war during three months, and brought their booty to the king, who made an equal distribution of it among the other Tribes, who staid behind to guard the country. But this account of their transplanting themselves is a mere fable, without any the least foundation in the sacred history.

DAN, a town situated at the northern extremity of the land of Israel, in the Tribe of Naphtali. The scripture often uses this way 1 Sam. xxx. 2. 2 Sam. iii. 10. xvii. 11. xxiv. 2. & passim. Euseb. in Δαν & Βηθσαμας.of speaking, From Dan even unto Beersheba, to denote the two extremities of the land of promise. Dan lay northward, and Beersheba southward. The city of Dan was seated at the foot of Mount Libanus, upon the spring of Dan, or Jordan; and several Authors have been of opinion, that the river Jordan, Jordanes, took its name from the Hebrew, Jor, a spring, and Dan, which was a town situated near the source of it. See the article JORDAN. Dan lay four miles from Paneas, on the side of Tyre. Some have improperly confounded it with Paneas, because Hieronym. in Ezek. xlviii. Philostorg. hist. l. 7. c. 2. alii. 1 Kings xii. 29.Dan is near this city. Jeroboam the son of Nebat set up one of his golden calves in Dan, and the other at Bethel.

DANIEL, the prophet of the Lord, was descended from the royal family of David, and carried captive to Babylon, when he was yet very young, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, in the year of the world 3398, before Jesus Christ 602, before the Vulgar Æra 606. He was chosen with his three companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to continue in Nebuchadnezzar’sDan. i. 2, 3, 4, &c. court; and such an education was given them, as was suitable to the employments for which they were design’d. Daniel and his companions made very great progress in all the sciences of the Chaldæans, and never would consent to pollute themselves, by eating such provision as was served up at the king’s table.

Dan. xiii.The first occasion on which Daniel made an eminent discovery of his wisdom, was in the deliverance of Susanna, who was accused unjustly, and condemned to die. He made her innocence appear, and laid open the slander of the Elders, her accusers, See the article SUSANNA. Some time after, Nebuchadnezzar having in a dream seen a large statue, composed of several metals,

Dan. ii.which was beaten to pieces by a stone cut off from the mountain, had a mind to have his dream explained to him. But as he had forgotten it, he insisted, that the Magians should not only interpret it, but should likewise recall it to his memory. As this was what they could not possibly do, they were all condemned to death. Daniel being informed of what passed, divined, and explained the dream, and thereupon was established Governour of the province of Babylon, and chief of all the Magians and Diviners in that country.

At another time Nebuchadnezzar having in a dream seen a large tree, which was In the year of the World 3434. before J.C. 566. before the Vulgar Æra 570. Dan. iv. 1, 2, 3, &c.hewn down and cut in pieces, but so notwithstanding, that its root remained; Daniel foretold to him, that he would be soon reduced to the condition of beasts, and should be driven from his palace. The event immediately follow’d the interpretation, and this prince was struck with madness, and imagined that he was become an Ox. He continued seven years in this sad state, after which he re-ascended the throne, and reigned as before.

Dan. iii. 1, 2, 3, &c.Some time after he set up a golden statue, and made publick proclamation, that all men, when they heard the sound of musical instruments, should fall down and worship the statue which he had erected. Daniel in all probability was at that time absent from Babylon. But his three companions having In the year of the World 3444. before J.C. 556. before the Vulgar Æra 560.disobey’d the king’s order, were thrown into a fiery furnace, out of which they came without receiving any hurt. The greatness and evidence of this miracle engaged Nebuchadnezzar to put out an edict in favour of the Jewish religion. He died a little after; and Evilmerodach succeeded him. Daniel under this prince maintained all that credit, which he had possess’d under the king his father.

Belshazzar succeeded Evilmerodach; and in his reign Daniel had the famous visions of the four beasts, which came out of Dan. vii.the sea, and represented the four great Empires of the Chaldæans, Persians, Greeks and Romans, or rather of the Seleucidæ and Lagidæ. After this, in the same vision, God discovered to Daniel the Persecutions which the Jews were to suffer under Antiochus Epiphanes; the vengeance of God upon him for so oppressing them; and the victories which the Maccabees would obtain over him. In the following chapter, God shewed Dan. viii.to Daniel a ram and an he-goat, pushing at each other with their horns. By the he-goat was meant Alexander the Great, and by the ram Darius Codomannus, the last of the Persian kings, who were the successors of Cyrus. The ram was overcome, and the he-goat became extremely powerful. The prophet described the successors of Alexander, particularly Antiochus Epiphanes, under the representation of horns rising above the head of the he-goat. This was all explained to Daniel in the same vision by the Angel Gabriel.

Belshazzar king of Chaldæa, being killed the very night, wherein he had profaned Dan. v. 1, 2, 3. In the year of the World 3445. before J.C. 555. before the Vulgar Æra 559. Dan. ix. In the year of the World 3448. before J.C. 552. before the Vulgar Æra 556. Dan. vi. 1, 2, &c. In the year of the World 3448. before J.C. 552. before the Vulgar Æra 556. Dan. x. Dan. xi.the sacred vessels of God’s Temple, Darius the Mede, his great-uncle by the mother’s side, succeeded him. This prince having established an hundred and twenty governours over the provinces of his Dominions. raised Daniel above all of them, and designed to give him the general administration of the whole kingdom; which having excited the envy of the other grandees, they engaged the king to make an Edict, forbidding every man to ask any thing of God, or of any other besides the king. The Edict was published, and observed by all the people. But Daniel continued to put up his prayers to God regularly three times a day, with his face turned towards Jerusalem. His enemies immediately gave the king notice of it, who was obliged to order, that he should be thrown into the lion’s den. The next day early in the morning Darius went thither, and finding Daniel to be there in perfect health, commanded him to be taken out, and his accusers with their wives and families to be thrown into the same place in his room.

In this prince’s reign, Daniel having read in the prophet Jeremiah, that seventy years would be accomplished in the desolation of Jerusalem, he pray’d earnestly to God, and fasted, in order to receive the explanation of them: when he had thus devoutly pray’d, the angel Gabriel appeared to him, and revealed something else of much greater importance, which was the death and sacrifice of the Messiah, which was to happen at the end of seventy weeks, composed each of seven years, and which altogether make the sum of four hundred and ninety years. In the third year of Cyrus’s reign in Persia, which falls in with the first of Darius at Babylon, Daniel had another remarkable vision, wherein the angel Gabriel told him, that Michael had assisted him to overcome the king of Persia. that is to say, Cyrus. After this, the angel discovered to him in a manner almost as clear, as if he had related an history, whatever was to happen in Persia, after Cyrus: The coming of Alexander the Great, his conquests, the overthrow of the Persian empire, the erecting that of the Greeks; the long and continued wars between the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt; the persecutions of the saints by Antiochus Epiphanes, the destruction of this persecuting prince; and the victory and happiness of the saints.

Dan. xii. In the year of the World 3456. before J.C. 544. before the Vulgar Æra 548.After the death of Darius the Mede, Cyrus ascended the throne of the Persians and Medes. Daniel had always great authority in his dominions. We refer the

history of Bel and the Dragon, who were worshipped by the Babylonians, to the reign of this prince. Bel was a brazen Idol, to which there were offered every day twelve measures of fine flour, forty sheep, Dan. xiv.and six large vessels of wine. The Idol was believed to be alive, and to consume all this that was presented to it. Daniel hereupon undertook to undeceive the king. He told him, that not Bel, but others for him, eat what was put before him. The truth was, that there were seventy priests belonging to Bel, without reckoning their wives and children, who were supported this way, and entered by night into the Temple through subterraneous passages, without any one’s perceiving it. Daniel therefore coming to the Temple with the king, directed the ordinary quantity of meat, bread, and wine, to be placed upon the altar; then obliging the priests to retire, he spread ashes upon the pavement of the Temple, and going out, shut the door close, and put the king’s signet upon it.

In the night time the priests came, as usual, with their wives and children, and eat up the provisions on the altar. The next morning the king came with Daniel, and finding the door shut close, and the seals to be entire, they opened the door, and the king observing that there was nothing remaining of what was left upon the altar the evening before, cried out, Great art thou, O Bel, and with thee is no deceit at all. Daniel hereupon began to laugh, and holding the king to prevent his going any farther, said to him, See this pavement, whose footsteps are these? The king said, I see the footsteps of men, women, and children; and he was extremely angry. He commanded therefore the priests, their wives and children to be seized, and they shewed him the private little doors through which they entred, and eat whatever was put upon the table: the king therefore commanded them to be put to death, and delivered the idol Bel into Daniel’s power, who destroy’d him and his temple.

There was a great Dragon in the same city, which the Babylonians worshipped. The king said to Daniel, You cannot say now but this is a god, therefore adore him. Daniel reply’d, I adore the Lord my God; but this is nothing like a deity. Let me have your permission, and I will slay him Dan. xiv. 22, 23, &c. In the year of the World 3457. before J. C. 543. before the Vulgar Æra 547.without making use either of staff or sword. The king permitting him, Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and seething them together, made lumps thereof; these he put into the dragon’s mouth, and the dragon burst asunder. The Babylonians being strangely provoked with this, came to the king and told him, that unless he delivered Daniel to them, they would destroy him and his family. The king therefore was compell’d to put Daniel into their hands, and they cast him into the lion’s den, where he remained six days. Now there were seven lions in the den, and every day they gave them the bodies of two men, and two sheep, which then were not given them, to the intent they might devour Daniel.

At that time, the prophet Habbacuc, who was in Judæa, having made provision for his reapers, the Angel of the Lord directed him to carry the dinner which he had prepared, to Babylon, and give it to Daniel, who was in the lion’s den. Habbacuc answered, I never was at Babylon, and know not where the den is. Then the Angel of the Lord took him by the crown of the head, and holding him by the hair, carried him through the air to Babylon; there setting him upon the den, he gave Daniel his dinner, and the Angel immediately convey’d Habbacuc back to the place from whence he had taken him.

Upon the seventh day, the king came to bewail Daniel, and as he approach’d near to the den, he saw Daniel sitting among the lions: whereupon he immediately cried with a loud voice, and said, Great art thou, O Lord God of Daniel; and taking him out, he cast those in, who would have destroy’d this prophet, and the lions devoured them in a moment before his face. This is what the Scripture teaches us concerning Daniel: notwithstanding there are some Authors, who maintain, that there were two Daniels, one of David’s family, who is the prophet, of whom we have been speaking; the other of the Tribe of Levi, and of Ithamar’s family, who is said to be the author of the history concerning the deliverance of Susanna, and of that relating to the death of the Dragon, and the destruction of Bel’s Temple. But there is no solid proof of this distinction of two Daniels.

The reputation of Daniel was so great, even in his life-time, that it became a Ezek. xxxiii. 3. Ezek. xiv. 14, 20. Antiq. l. x. c. 12.proverb; Thou art wiser than Daniel, said Ezekiel in an ironical way to the king of Tyre; and in another place of the same prophet, God said, Though these three men Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness. Josephus tells us, that God

bestowed many favours on him, and that he was advanced to the rank of the most considerable prophets. He enjoy’d the good graces of the princes with whom he lived, and the affection of the people, to his death, after which his reputation was immortal. Some of the Jews²⁰ shewed an inclination formerly to exclude Daniel from the number of the prophets; but their dislike to this prophet proceeded from hence only, viz. that his predictions were too clear and too express for Jesus Christ, and that he points out the time of his coming too evidently.

It is believed that Daniel died in Chaldæa, and that he did not take the advantage of the permission granted by Cyrus to all Jews, of returning to their country. The great employments which he possessed in the Persian empire, kept him probably among them. St. Epiphanius says he died at Babylon; and herein he is followed by the generality of Historians. Others think he died at Shushan or Susa, where he passed a good part of his life, and had many visions. Benjamin of Tudela relates, that his monument was shewn at Chuzestan, which is the ancient Susa. Josephus says, that in his time Antiq. l. x. c. ult.there was still to be seen at Ecbatane, the Capital of Media, a tower of admirable structure, said to have been built by Daniel. The kings of Persia and Media were buried in it, and the guard of it was committed to a priest of Jewish extraction.

Hieronym. Præf. in Dan. & in Dan. xiii.Among Daniel’s writings, there are some pieces which have at all times constantly been esteemed to be Canonical; and others which have been long contested. Whatsoever is written in Hebrew, or Chaldee, (for some parts of his works are in Chaldee mixed with Hebrew) is all generally acknowledged to be Canonical both by Jews and Christians. But there has been great opposition to those parts, which are written in Greek only, and were never properly admitted to be Canonical, till after the Decree of the Council of Trent. In St. Jerom’s time, the Jews were hereupon divided; some admitted the whole history of Susanna, others rejected it intirely; some again received one part, and rejected another. Josephus the historian has said nothing concerning the story of Susanna, nor that of Bel and the Dragon. But Josephus Ben-Gorion, a Jewish Author, who wrote in Hebrew, relates at full length every thing that has any respect to Bel and the Dragon, and says nothing of Susanna. The reader may see every thing that concerns the canonical Authority of these places treated more at length in our Preface upon Daniel.

The twelve first chapters of Daniel are partly in Hebrew, partly in Chaldee, and the two last in Greek²¹. He speaks Hebrew, where what he delivers is a bare narrative; but he relates in Chaldee, the conversations which he had in this language with the Magians, and the kings Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius the Mede. In the Dan. ii. 4. & seq. iii. v. vi. viii. Dan. ii. & iv. 1, 2, & seq. ad 34. Apud Hieronym. loco citato, Vide Hieronym. Præfat. in Dan.same language he reports Nebuchadnezzar’s Edict, published by him after Daniel had interpreted his dream concerning a great golden Image. This shews the extreme accuracy of this Prophet, who relates the very words of those persons whom he introduces as speaking. The third chap. ver. 24, and following ones, as far as the nineteenth, are in Greek, as well as the two last chapters; and it is a great question among the Criticks, whether they were ever writ in Hebrew. The Greek Version which we have of all Daniel, is Theodotion’s; that of the Septuagint has been long since lost.

Porphyry pretended, that the Prophecies, which we have in Daniel’s name, were falsely ascribed to him; that this work was written by an Impostor, who lived in Judæa, in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, who in order to procure credit, counterfeited an inspired person, and set down those things in a prophetick style, which he had seen with his own eyes, and were transacted in his own time: that if he advanced any thing beyond the time of Epiphanes, he did so by chance, and contrary to truth. This celebrated Enemy of our Religion had observed so much clearness in the prophecies of Daniel, that he took them to be histories. But that Daniel lived at Babylon long before Antiochus Epiphanes, and there wrote the prophecies, which go under his name, is what cannot reasonably be contested. See St. Jerom’s Preface to Daniel, and our Preface to the same Prophet.

The Chronology of Daniel we dispose in this order: He was brought to Babylon in the year of the world 3398, at the age perhaps of twelve years. The history of Susanna might have happened in 3401. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great statue of gold, in 3402. The same prince’s dream of a great tree, which was cut down to the root, in 3434. The year following, Nebuchadnezzar run mad, and imagined

himself to be an ox. In 3443 he ascended the throne again. The same year the history of the golden statue erected by this prince might have happened. Daniel had the vision of the four beasts in the beginning of Belshazzar’s reign, 3446. Two years after, that is to say, in 3448, he had that of the ram and the he-goat, who pushed their horns one against the other. The visions of Daniel set down in the ix. x. xi. and xii. chapters of his prophecy we refer to the year 3449, in the beginning of the reign of Darius the Mede. Lastly, the history of Bel and the Dragon happened in the reign of Cyrus, about the year 3468. The time of Daniel’s death is not known.

The Rabbins, who are out of humour with Daniel, in all probability because his prophecies are too evident proofs, that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, and that the time of his coming, who is called the desire of all nations, is passed; maintain that he ought not to be ranked among the prophets for two²² reasons: first, because he did not live in the Holy Land, out of which the spirit of prophesy does not reside: secondly because he spent his life in the court of a great king, in the enjoyment of honours and pleasures, and in a manner very different from the other prophets way of living. Some add that he was an Eunuch, which opinion they ground upon the following words of Isaiah 2 Kings ix. 18.to Hezekiah; And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Now the Law excludes all sorts of Eunuchs from the Church or Congregation of the Lord. Non Deut. xxiii. 1.introibit Eunuchus Ecclesiam Domini.

It is true, Abenezra and the generality of the Rabbins purge him from this last defect, but the other accusations remain; and many are content to place his writings among the Hagiographa, which are of much less authority than the canonical Scriptures. They add farther another spiteful remark against this Prophet. They pretend that while his three companions Shadrach, Meshech, and Gemar. Cod. Sanhedr. Coch. Dan. iii.Abednego resisted the impious orders of the king of Babylon, and were thrown into the fiery furnace, Daniel went into Egypt: what to do? to look for hogs, which he convey’d cunningly and by stealth out of this country. But Josephus testifies the great Joseph. Antiq. l. x. c. 12. Ezek. xiv. 4. xxviii. 3. Matth. xxiv. 15.merit of Daniel. The prophet Ezekiel commends him as one of the most illustrious persons of his time; and Jesus Christ in the Gospel clearly acknowledges him to be a Prophet.

Some believed that Daniel returned with Esdras into Judæa; and the eastern people Bibl. Orient. p. 287.declare, that he was sent back thither by Bahaman the son of Asfendias king of Persia. They add, that he returned into Persia, and died in the city of Susa. Josephus²³ relates, that Daniel built a famous edifice at Ecbatane, in the form of a castle, which was still in being in the time of this Historian, and was so admirable for its workmanship, that it seem’d to have been but just finished, so well did it preserve its first lustre. In this palace the kings of Persia chose to have the place of their interment, and in consideration of its first founder, the guard of it was still in his time committed to one of the Jewish nation.

Others are of opinion, that he dwelt at Babylon or Susa, and that he never returned into Judæa: his great age, his employments, and the want which his brethren had of his protection in the place of their captivity, might probably excuse him from returning into his own country. There were many men who did not think it convenient to leave Chaldæa, where they lived in repose, and had been long settled, to go and seek for an uncertain settlement in a land reduced almost to a wilderness.

Bibl. Orient. p. 709. Raml, & 283 Danial.Some oriental Authors attribute to Daniel the invention of Geomancy, which they call Reml; others ascribe it to Edris, who is the same with the patriarch Enoch. This Geomancy consists in marking many points on tables prepared for this purpose, which they call Raml. These points thus disposed in a certain number in many unequal lines, may likewise be described with a pen on paper; and he who divines by the help of this art is called Rammal.

They likewise make Daniel the author of a volume intitled, Principles relating to the explantion of dreams; and there is another book in the king of France’s library with this title, Odmath-al-mantoul ân Danial alnabi, which contains predictions of the prophet Daniel received by tradition from him. This is a work which abounds with falsities, forged by the Mahometans, and founded on the real prophecies of Daniel. They farther assert, that this Prophet preached the Unity of God throughout all Chaldæa; and that he converted the king of Persia, Lohorasb, and Cyrus. That the latter gave Daniel the government of Syria, and the possession of the city of Damascus.

II. DANIEL, the son of David and Abigail, 1 Chr. iii. 1.

III. DANIEL, of Ithamar’s family returned from the Captivity of Babylon, Ezra viii. 2.

DANNAH, a Town in the mountains of Judah, Josh. xv. 49.

DAPHNE. Josephus speaks of a fountain so called, which encreased the waters of Jordan. St. Jerom and the Chaldee read likewise the fountain of Daphne, Numb. xxiv. 11. where in the Hebrew it

is said only the fountain, in this manner: And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east-side²⁴ of the fountain of Daphnis; in the Hebrew, on the east-side of the fountain.

It is very probable that St. Jerom and the Chaldee Interpreters had in view the fountain of Daphne near Antioch. But they might likewise have some regard to the fountain Daphne, near the lake Semechon, mentioned by Josephus. Nevertheless it must be confessed, that there is some difficulty in the text of Josephus. He says, That the lake Semechon is thirty furlongs wide, and sixty in length; and that the marshes belonging to it reach as far as the plains of Daphne, which are very delicious, and are made so particularly by the fine springs of water, which help to enlarge the lesser Jordan something higher than the Temple of the golden Calf. It is very well known, that the Temple of the golden Calf was at Dan; wherefore it is very probable that instead of the plains of Daphne, we should read, the plains of Dan.

DAPHNE, a Grove, or Suburb near Antioch, the Capital of Syria. This Suburb was not contiguous to the City, but at about forty furlongs, or a league and a half distance from it. It was celebrated for its fine Water, its Wood, and Temple, which was a Sanctuary to all those who retired thither. The high priest Onias III. apprehending the designs of the usurper Menelaus, retreated to this place of refuge. But Menelaus having corrupted Andronicus, who commanded at Antioch in the absence of Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias was treacherously prevailed with to come out of his sanctuary, and massacred by Andronicus’s2 Macc. iv. 33. In the year of the World 3834. before J. C. 166. before the Vulgar Æra 170. order.

The Oracle of Daphne, as Sozomen, Theodoret, and St. John Chrysostom tell us, was silent in the reign of the Emperor Julian; and that his brother Gallus, who was a Christian, resolving to purge this place of the Superstition which prevailed there, ordered the body of St. Babylas, who had been bishop of this City, and suffered martyrdom there an hundred years before under the Emperor Decius, to be removed from Antioch to Daphne; and that from the time of this Saint’s being present there, the Devil, as had been expected, ceased intirely to deliver Oracles in this place. But Julian designing to make war against the Persians, some time after came to Daphne, to consult the Oracle concerning the success of it: he sacrificed a great number of victims, but all the answer the Oracle gave him, was, that the presence of Babylas had made it impossible to utter any thing. Hereupon the Emperor Julian, in great passion, commanded the body of this holy Bishop to be removed to some other place; but the lightning fell upon the Temple of Apollo, reduced the Altar and Statue of the false God to ashes, and ruined almost the whole Edifice. The Churches of St. Michael and St. Euphemius, were afterwards built at Daphne, by the direction of the Emperor Zeno.

DARA, the son of Zerah, of the Tribe of Judah, 1 Chr. ii. 6.

DARCMONIM. We find this word in the Hebrew of the Book of Ezra ii. 69. and in Nehemiah vii. 70, 71, 72. and it is generally translated, Drachms. Now a Drachm is a piece of money which was current among the Greeks, worth about seven pence²⁵.

St. Jerom, Ezra ii. 69. renders it Solidos, and the Septuagint in the same place translate it, golden Mina’s. In Nehemiah vii. 70, 71, 72. St. Jerom constantly translates it Drachms, and the Septuagint in the same place pieces of gold. We believe with M. Pelletier of Rohan, that the Darcmonim are the same coin as the Adarcmonim, to be met with 1 Chr. xxix. 7. and Ezra viii. 27. and that both signify Daricks, coin made of very fine gold, and, as it is said, stamp’d by Darius the son of Hystaspes, king of Persia, or rather by another Darius more ancient, according to the Scholiast of Aristophanes; for Darius the son of Hystaspes did not appear till Herod. l. 4. c. 166. the first p. xviii. Scholiast. in Aristoph. Ecclesiast. 598. Gronov. de pecunia vet. l. 1. c. 3.many years after Ezra.

M. le Pelletier, whom we lately mentioned, values them at eleven livres, eleven sous, nine deniers and a quarter; which, according to his computation, was the value of half a shekel of gold among the Hebrews. But M. Gronovius reckons that they were worth twenty drachms in silver; consequently, that a thousand Darcmonim would make about 550 pounds sterling, and twenty thousand Daricks about 11000 pounds sterling.

DARDA, an eminent Musician, by birth a Levite, and the son of Mahol, 1 Kings iv. 31.

DARICKS. See DARCMONIM. The Daricks derive their name from Darius the Mede²⁶, otherwise called Cyaxares, uncle to Cyrus, who was left by this prince Governour of Babylon, and the territories won by him from the Chaldæans, while he was employ’d in his expedition against Egypt, Syria, and the countries adjacent. As Darius found immense treasures at

Babylon amassed by the kings of Chaldæa, he ordered a gold coin to be made out of them; which, for the purity and fineness of it, for there was scarce any alloy in it, was for many ages prefer’d to all the coins of the East: they were scattered even so far as into Greece, where they were very much Bernard. de pond. & mens. antiq. p. 171.esteemed. According to Dr. Bernard, who has written concerning the Weights and Measures of the Ancients, a Darick weighed two grains more than a guinea. Other pieces of the same name and value were stamp’d afterwards, and there were even Half-Daricks, which were worth a moiety only of the first, and were but of half their weight.

I. DARIUS. There are several Princes of this name mentioned in history: but we shall confine ourselves to those only, who are taken notice of in Scripture. Darius Dan. v. 31. ix. 1. xi. 1, &c. Dan. vi. 31.the Mede, spoken of in Daniel, was the son of Astyages King of the Medes, and brother to Mandane, the mother of Cyrus, and Amyit the mother of Evilmerodach, and grandmother to Belshazzar. Thus Darius the Mede was uncle by the mother’s side. to Evilmerodach and Cyrus. The Hebrew text generally calls him Dariavesch or Darius. The Septuagint give him the name of Artaxerxes in Dan. vii. and the Greek of ch. xiii. 65. of the same Daniel, calls him Astyages. Lastly, Xenophon throughout speaks of him by the name of Cyaxares. This Prince succeeded Belshazzar King of Babylon, his nephew’s son, his sister’s grandson, who died in the year of the World 3442, before Jesus Christ 558, before the Vulgar Æra 554. Daniel does not tell us that there had been Isai. xiii. xiv. xlv. xlvi. xlvii. Jer. l. li.war between them; but the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah do very clearly, whether they mean the wars between Darius the Mede and the Babylonians, or that which Cyrus declared against them.

Darius having got upon the throne of Babylon, thought fit to appoint an hundred and twenty of the principal Lords in his kingdom to govern the different Provinces Dan. vi. 1, 2.of his Dominions. Over all the rest he set three, whereof Daniel was one, to whom the several Governours were to be accountable. As Daniel had more authority than all of them; and the king shewed an inclination to make him Superintendant of the whole kingdom, the other princes conspired to destroy him. To this end they engaged the king to make an Edict forbidding every man to put up any petition either to God or man, excepting to himself. This Edict was published, and obey’d by all the people. But Daniel continuing his prayers regularly three times a day, his enemies obliged the king to give orders, that he should be thrown into the den of lions; because what the king had once ordained with the advice and consent of his great Lords, it was not in his power to reverse. Darius was very much afflicted at Daniel’s condemnation, and the next morning early going to the den of lions, and there finding him secure and unhurt, he commanded him to be taken out of the den, and his accusers with their wives and In the year of the World 3450. before J. C. 550. before the Vulgar Æra 554.children to be cast into it.

It was in the reign of this Darius the Mede, that Daniel had the famous Vision of the seventy Weeks, after the expiration whereof Christ was to suffer death; and that of the Persecutions which the Jews were to undergo under Antiochus Epiphanes. These visions are related in the ix. x. xi. xii. chapters of this Prophet. Darius the Mede died at Babylon about the year of the World 3456, before Jesus Christ 544, and before the Vulgar Æra 548. He was succeeded by Cyrus in the Monarchy of the Persians, Medes, and Chaldæans, who were once more united under his Empire.

II. DARIUS the Mede. See above CYAXARES.

Justin. l. 3. Herodot. l. 3.III. DARIUS, the son of Hystaspes, was one of the seven Conspirators, who killed the impostor Smerdis, and the Magians, who had usurped the kingdom of Persia. Every one knows how Darius the son of Hystaspes came to be acknowledged king. For as they had agreed among themselves, that he should be owned by all the rest as king, whose horse first saluted the rising sun with his neighing, Darius’s Groom, the day before they were to meet for this purpose, carried his master’s horse with a mare to the place of rendezvous. The next morning the seven Conspirators met there. Darius was there at the sun’s rising, and his horse enlivened with what had passed there the day before, began to neigh: whereupon the six Lords, his Competitors, immediately dismounted, and prostrating themselves before him, unanimously vested him with the royal Authority. This fell out in the year of the world 3488, before Jesus Christ 517, before the Vulgar Æra 521.

Herodot. l. 7. c. 3. Herodot. l. 7. c. 69.Darius married first of all Atossa the daughter of Cyrus, who had before been married to Cambyses her own brother, and was afterwards to the impostor Smerdis. Herodotus says, that Darius had four sons by her, and that for a long time she had a great share in the government; for which reason it is thought she was not the same as Vashti, who was very early divorced by this Prince. He married besides Aristone, for whom he had a particular tenderness, preferring her before his other wives, and erected a statue to her of hammer’d gold. She and Esther were probably the same. Besides these two wives, he had many others, according to the custom of the eastern Princes. His first wife was the

daughter of Gobrias; he married likewise the princess Parmis, daughter to Smerdis the son Herodot. l. 7. c. 88. Idem ibidem, c. 68, 69. Idem, l. 7. c. 224.of Cyrus, and Phædima, daughter to Othanes, and Phralagune, the only daughter of Atarnes, brother to Darius. One of these was probably the person whom he divorced, and who is called Vashti in the book of Esther. I shall not relate this history at length, it will be seen more particularly in the Article Esther, and some account of it has already been given in that of Ahasuerus. We place the divorce of Vashti in the fourth year of Darius, and of the World 3487. Esther became his wife, and was acknowledged to be Queen about the year 3488, before the Vulgar Æra 514.

In the second year of this Prince’s reign, and in that of the World 3485, the Jews, encouraged by the exhortations of the prophets Haggai and Zachary, began again to work upon the Temple, in which structure they had made no progress ever since the time of Cyrus. Their enemies gave intelligence to Darius of what they were about, who permitted Ezra vi. 12, 14.them to go on with it without interruption. Haman the son of Hammedatha, having abused the king’s goodness towards him, by desiring the death of all the Jews who were in his dominions, Darius understanding the injustice of his request, ordered him to be hanged upon the gallows, which he had prepared for Mordecai, and permitted the Jews to take vengeance on their enemies in 3496.

This Prince reduced Babylon after a siege of twenty months. This city, which had been formerly the capital of the whole East, and the mistress of all nations in the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, his sons, and grandsons, could not bear without great reluctancy, to see itself reduced to the second rank, and divested of its dearest prerogatives, upon the kings of Persia transferring the seat of their Empire to Susa. She resolved hereupon to deliver herself from the yoke of servitude, and revolt from the Persians. Having this Herodot. l. 3. Justin. l. 1. c. 10. Polyæn. l. 7.design therefore, and taking advantage of the revolution which happened in Persia, first at the death of Cambyses, and afterwards upon the massacre of the Magians, they began secretly to make preparations for war, and to sustain a long siege. They employ’d four years in these preparations, and when they thought their city abundantly furnished with provisions for several years, they set up the standard of rebellion, and refused to obey Darius the son of Hystaspes.

This Prince levied an army in great haste, and laid siege to Babylon with all his forces. The Babylonians did not venture to expose themselves in the open field against a prince of Darius’s valour, but shut themselves up within their walls, which were of an height and thickness that secured them from insults; and as they had nothing to fear but famine, they took the most barbarous resolution that was ever heard of, which was to destroy all the useless persons, and such as were incapable of fighting. They got together all the women and children, and strangled them, every one reserving only the most beloved of his wives, and one servant to perform the offices of their families. Thus the following words of Isaiah were verified, Thou saidst, O Babylon, I shall be always mistress; and thou hast considered carefully what was to befall thee in the end. Hear now, O delicious city, thou that dwellest without fear, and sayst in thine heart; I am, and no other is like me: I shall not be a widow, nor shall I experience thy loss of children; these two evils shall fall suddenly upon thee in one day, both widowhood, and loss of children, &c. And in reality, may not Babylon be said to have suffered these two misfortunes in one day, by the death of her women and children.

Some believe with reason, that the Jews who dwelt at Babylon, were either driven thence by the Babylonians, as too much in the interest of king Darius, who was in all things very favourable to them; or that of themselves they resolved upon departing from thence, when they saw the people determined to rebel. The Prophets had frequently admonished them to fly from this criminal city. Go forth from Babylon, said Isai. xlviii. 7, 8, 9. Isa. xlviii. 20. Jer. l. 8.Isaiah, flee from the Chaldæans, declare with a loud voice the Lord hath redeemed his people. And Jeremiah, Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldæans; for lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon, an assembly of great nations from the northcountry, who shall take it, and Chaldæa shall Jerem. li. 6, 7, 8, 9.be a spoil. And again, Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her vice, therefore the nations are mad: she is suddenly fallen and destroyd, &c. Lastly, Zachary almost at the same time, that is to say, about the fifth year of Darius, addressing himself to the Jews of Babylon, says, Flee from the land of the north, saith Zech. xi. 6, 7.the Lord—Deliver thyself, O Sion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

Darius the son of Hystaspes lay twenty months before Babylon, without making any considerable progress; the city was furnished with all sorts of provisions for many years: the height and strength of its ramparts render’d it impregnable, and the resolution of its inhabitants was ex

treme. Within the inclosure of Q. Curt. l. 5. c. 1.Babylon, there was a large void space of land, capable of being cultivated, which was a mighty help to the besieged; so that it could be taken neither by assault nor famine. Zopyrus, one of Darius’s Generals, undertook to get possession of it by stratagem. He had his nose and ears cut off, and made several incisions over his whole body, and in this condition threw himself into the place, complaining bitterly of Darius’s cruelty, whom he accused with having unjustly treated him in this manner. He so effectually engaged the confidence of the Babylonians, that they trusted him with the government of their city, and the command of their troops. He made use of these opportunities to deliver up the city to the king, who during the remainder of his life, heaped honours and wealth upon him.

He no sooner had Babylon in his power, but he ordered the hundred gates of brass to be taken away, according to Jeremiah’s Jerem. li. 58.prediction in this particular: Thus saith the Lord, the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire, and the people shall labour in vain. This is what we have related by Herod. l. 3.Herodotus. Darius pulled down the walls of Babylon, not entirely, for he left them fifty cubits high, instead of two hundred, which was the height of them before; and carried off all the gates, which Cyrus, when he took the city, had not done. Lastly, he commanded three thousand of the most mutinous to be crucified; and pardon’d all the rest: and to prevent Babylon’s continuing a desart, he took care to have fifty thousand women brought from the neighbouring provinces to supply the place of those who had been killed in the beginning of the siege.

The other wars which Darius the son of Hystaspes was concerned in, and the other events of his reign, have no relation to our subject. We read, that this prince, who appeared always to be very favourable to the Jews, and had married Esther, and advanced Mordecai to great honours, and who consequently must have had some knowledge of the true God, towards the end of his life fell into the errors of the Magians, who were worshippers of fire. Zoroastres coming to his court at Susa, so Religio vet. Persarum, c. 24, 25, 26.effectually insinuated himself into the king’s favour, and proposed his opinions to him with so much address, that Darius embraced them: and his example was followed by the Courtiers, the Nobility, and all the Persons of distinction in the kingdom. Thus Magianism, or the worship of fire, became the prevailing Religion in Persia, and so continued to be till the establishment of Mahometanism in the same country.

Porphyr. de abstinentiâ.Zoroastres attempted afterwards to engage Argasp king of the oriental Scythians, a zealous Sabian, to embrace his religion; and to accomplish this more easily, he made use of Darius’s authority.

The Scythian king, enraged at the design of imposing arbitrarily upon him in a matter of this nature, invaded Bactria with an army, beat the troops of Darius, killed Zoroastres, with all his priests to the number of fourscore, and demolished all the Temples of this province. Darius made haste thither, fell upon the Scythians before they had leisure to retreat, made a great slaughter of their troops, drove them out of the country, and rebuilt the Temples which they had destroy’d, particularly that of Balch, which was as it were the metropolis of all the religion of the Magians: Darius restored it with extraordinary grandeur and magnificence, and out of gratitude, it was called afterwards, The Temple of Darius Hystaspis. He is said to have assumed the title of Master of the Magians, and to have required that this title should be engrav’d upon his tomb.

We shall in the article Esther examine the difficulties that are formed with relation to Esther’s husband, which quality we attribute to Darius the son of Hystaspes.

III. DARIUS CODOMANNUS was of the royal family of the Persians, but very remote from the crown, and in a low condition, when Bagoas the famous eunuch, who had successively procured the destruction of two kings, Ochus and Arses, Diodor. l. 17. Diodor. Sic. l. 17.placed him upon the throne. His true name was Codoman, and he did not take that of Darius till he was made king. He was descended from Darius Nothus, who had a son named Ostanes, father to Arsanes, who begat Codomannus. He was at first no more Plutarch. de fortuna Alexand. & in vita ejusdem.than Astande, that is to say, Courier, or at best Post-master-general to the emperor Ochus. But on a certain day, when he was at this prince’s army, one of the enemies came and challenged the bravest of the Persians. Codomannus offered himself for Diodor. l. 17. Justin. l. x. c. 3.the combat, and overcame him, and for his reward was made governour of Armenia. From hence Bagoas took him, in order to place him on the throne of Persia.

Bagoas soon perceived, that Darius was not of a humour to leave the government to him, and content himself with the bare title of king. He resolved therefore to get rid of him, and prepared poison to destroy him. But Darius having intelligence of his design, obliged him to drink it off himself, and so secured to himself the quiet possession of the crown. History represents Darius to us as one of the handsomest, best-made men in all the Persian

empire, and at the same time as the bravest, most generous, gentlest and most merciful.

Alexander the Great having been chosen by the States and free Cities of Greece, to command in chief the army which was designed to act against the Persians, an honour which had been confer’d on king Philip his father, a little before his death; marched into Asia at the head of thirty thousand foot and five thousand horse, and engaging with Darius at the passage of Granicus, who had an army five times stronger than his, he obtained a signal victory over him. He defeated him a second time at Issus; whereupon Darius three several times made proposals of peace to him: but seeing there were no hopes of it, he levied a new army, two hundred thousand strong, which he led towards Niniveh. Thither Alexander followed him: the battle was fought near a little village called Gangamales; Darius lost it; Alexander had not above fifty thousand men. After this defeat, Darius fled towards Media, with hopes of raising such a power in this and the northern provinces of the empire, which continued under his subjection, as might enable him once more to try his fortune.

He arrived at Ecbatane, the capital of Media, where he gathered together the Arrian. l. 3. Diod. l. 17. Plutarch. in Alex. Curt. l. 5.broken remains of his army, to which he added some new levies. Alexander having spent the winter at Babylon and Persepolis, took the field to go in search after Darius, who upon notice of his march, departed from Ecbatane with a design of retreating into Bactria, there to fortify himself, and encrease his army: but he soon changed his resolution, stopt short, and determin’d once more to hazard a battle, tho’ his army at that time consisted only of forty thousand men. While he was preparing for this encounter, Bessus, Governour of Bactria, and Narbazanes, another great man of Persia, seized upon Darius, loaded him with chains, put him in a covered chariot, and fled, carrying him with them towards Bactria, with a full purpose, if Alexander pursued them, to purchase their peace by delivering him up to his enemy; if not, to kill him, take possession of the crown, and begin the war anew.

Eight days after their departure, Alexander arrived at Ecbatane, and set out upon the pursuit after them, which he continued for eleven days together: at last he stopt at Rages in Media, despairing to overtake Darius: from thence he went into Parthia, where he learned what had happen’d to this unfortunate prince. After a precipitate march of many days, he at length overtook the traytors, who seeing themselves so pressed, did what they could to compel Darius to get on horseback, and save himself with them; but he refusing to comply with them, they stab’d him in several places, and left him expiring in his chariot. He was dead when Alexander came up, who could not forbear weeping at so sad a spectacle. He cover’d Darius with his own cloak, and sent him to Sisigambis the wife of this prince, that she might bury him in the tombs belonging to the kings of Persia.

Thus were verified the prophecies of Daniel, who had foretold the destruction of the Persian monarchy. He had represented this monarchy under the idea of a bear, with three rows of teeth in its mouth, to which they said, Arise, and glut thy-self with carrion. But this beast was kill’d by another like a leopard, with four wings and four heads. The same Empire of the Persians was represented in the statue which appeared to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, Dan. ii. 39, 40.by the breast and arms of silver; and that of Alexander was described by the belly and thighs of brass.

In another place the empire of the Persians is again figured to us under the idea of Dan. vii. 5, 6. Dan. viii. 4, 5, 6, 20, 22.a ram, butting with its horns westward, northward, and southward: nothing could resist him; he did what he pleased, and became very powerful. But at the same time a goat, (that is, Alexander the Great) came from the west, and over-run the world without touching the earth: he had a very large horn between his two eyes. He advanced against the ram that had two horns, and springing forward with impetuosity, he run against him with all his force, attack’d him with fury, struck him, broke his two horns, and having thrown him down, trampled him under foot, without any one’s being able to rescue the ram out of his power. Nothing can be added to the clearness of these prophecies.

The Greek Authors agree, that the motive of the war undertaken by the Greeks against the Persians, was Xerxes’s enterprize against Greece, wherein, according to Dan. xi. 2. D’Herbelot Bibl. Orient. p. 285.Daniel’s expression, this prince stirr’d up all people against Greece. But the oriental Authors relate the matter otherwise. They say, that Darab II. king of Persia, and son of Bahaman, having made war with Philip king of Macedon, obliged him to sue for peace, which he obtained, but not without the following conditions: First, to pay the victorious king a thousand Beizaths, or an annual tribute of a thousand gold eggs. These Beizaths were valued each at forty drams in silver; and in the second place to give him his daughter in marriage. Darab having received king Philip’s daughter for his wife, and perceiving on his wedding night that she had an offensive breath, resolved to send her back to her father, tho’ she was already with child.

Philip ordered her to be guarded carefully

Darius Codomannus (III) continues on the next page