THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. S o 3 



The firft is their chriftened name, their fecond a nick, or bye- 

 name, and the third they take upon their inauguration. 

 There is, like wife, another caufe of miftake, which is, 

 when two names occur, one of a king, the other the 

 quality of a king only, thefe are fet down as two brothers. 

 For example, Atzbeha is the blejfed, or the faint ; and I very 

 much fufpecl, therefore, that Atzbeha and Abreha, faid 

 to be two brothers, only mean Abraham the b!effed y or the 

 faint ; becaufe, in that prince's time, the coimtry was con- 

 verted to Chriftianity ; Caleb * and Elefbaas, were long 

 thought to be contemporary princes, till it was found out, by 

 infpecting the ancient authors of thofe times, that this was 

 only the name or quality of bfefed, or faint, given to Caleb, in 

 confequence of his expedition into Arabia againfl Phineas 

 king of the Jews, and perfecutor of the Chriftians. 



There are four very interefting events, in the courfe of 

 the reign of thefe princes. The firft and greatefl we have 

 already mentioned, the birth of Chriit in the 8th year of Ba- 

 zen. The fecond is the converfion of Abyffinia to Chrifli- 

 anity, in the reign of Abreha and Atzbeha, in the year of 

 Chriit 3$$, according to our account. The third the war 

 with the Jews under Caleb. The fourth, the maffacre of the 

 princes on the mountain of Damo. The time and circumitan- 

 ces of all thefe are well known, and I mall relate them in 

 their turn with the brevity becoming a hiilorian. 



Some ecclefiaftical* writers, rather from attachment to par- 

 ticular fyftems, than from any conviction that the opinion 



they 



* Caleb el Atfbeha, which has been made Elefbaas throwing, away the t. 



t Surius Tom. J, d. 24. Oft. Card. Baronius. Tom. 7, Annal. A. C. 522. N; 23. 



