186 BARTON— THE HISTORICAL VALUE [April 17, 



three hundred years later than Moses. It is as far removed from 

 Moses as the translators of the Authorized Version are from us, and 

 further removed from Abraham than we are from Columbus and 

 Martin Luther. 



The historian may obtain a clue to guide him in his perplexity 

 from a study of Genesis, ch. 10. For example, Gen. 10: 6 states 

 that the sons of Ham were Gush, Mizraim, Put and Ganaan. Gush 

 here is the Egyptian Kesh, or Nubia. Mizraim is simply the Hebrew 

 word for Egypt. Put is the Punt which figures so largely in Egypt- 

 ian history — the country to the far south whence so many expedi- 

 tions were sent and from which myrrh, ivory and pigmies were 

 brought. Ganaan is the well-known tribe or group of tribes from 

 which the Phoenicians were developed, which also inhabited Palestine 

 and gave it one of the names by which it is still called. It is clear 

 that these names represent, not individuals, but personified tribes 

 or nations. Take Egypt, for example. We now know the outlines 

 of its history back to about 5000 B.G. At that time it consisted of 

 forty-two distinct tribes, who lived so long in separation from one 

 another that their animal totems persisted as the representatives of 

 the gods of the dififerent nomes down to the Roman period. Per- 

 haps as early as 4000 B.G. these nomes, often at war with one 

 another, had been united into the two kingdoms of upper and lower 

 Egypt, but these were not united into a single monarchy until the 

 time of Mena, about 3400 B.G. It is simply impossible that these 

 forty-two tribes were descended from one man. Their gods, cus- 

 toms, sacred animals, and warlike emblems were all dififerent. The 

 further back we push our knowledge of Egypt, the more its con- 

 stituent parts ramify into a congeries of unrelated atoms. It is only 

 from the point of view of later times that it can be spoken of as one 

 entity. The Biblical writer has accordingly personified a nation. 

 What can be proved for Egypt can also be proved in lesser degree 

 for Nubia. 



If now other parts of the chapter be explored the names of many 

 nations and countries appear. Gomer (v. 2) is the Gamir of the 

 Assyrians, the Gimmerians of the Greeks ; Madai is the Medes ; 

 Tubal and Meshech, the tribes Tabalt and Mushki of the Assvrian 



