A B Y 



tnjr full/ occupkJ, in confequcncc c.t ihc csfcovfncs they 

 lin.l miiJo, tlicy needed cnrriers to dii'pcrfe their commodi- 

 tiji to other province* <4" the continent. TlidV they found 

 in n nation thst exillcd in tlicir nv;ig!-.bourhoocl ;, and tlicy 

 have been diftinj'iilhcd by ih.- r'ppsUalion of Shepherds. 

 In this cmploynunt they gradnal!y advanced to great wcaltli 

 and pjwcr. Their numbei-3 incrcafcd, and the cv.tcnt of 

 their territory was cnl.irjjcd. Whilft tliey extended llicni- 

 felves along the Indian ocean, and afterwards along the Red 

 Sea, for the convenience of trade ; the principal feat ot their 

 refidcnce and power was the level part oi Africa, between the 

 northern tropic and the mountains of Abyffinia, a countiy 

 now called /?.'/.i. This country reaches from Mafuah along 

 the coall to Suakem ; then turning weftward, continues in 

 that direilion, having tho Nile on the foiith, the tropic ot 

 Cancer on the north, with the dcfarts of Selima and Libya 

 on the well. The next diltricT; belonging to thefe people 

 was Mfroe, now called Atbara. A third dillritl, now 

 called D.riia, is a fmall plain lying between the river Mareb 

 on the eaU, and Atbara on the well. But the moll noble 

 hnd warlike of the Shepherds were thofe who poflcfTed the 

 mountains of Habab, reaching from the vicinity of Mafuah 

 to Suakem, which diftrid they ftill inhabit. The building 

 of Carthage iucrcafed their employment as carriers in the 

 intercourfes of commerce, and of courfe their power. The 

 enmity of the Shepherds to the Egyptians originated prin- 

 cipally in religious differences ; for the latter .varlhipped the 

 animals which the former ufed as food ; and the Shepherds 

 wo.-fhipped the heavenly bodies, whilft the Egyptians prac- 

 tifcd the grolFeft kind of idolatry. 



Befides thelc Cufhites and Sheplierds, who were the firft 

 fettlei^ in Abyffinia, the above cited Chronicle of Axum 

 mentions, among other particulars, that about the year 

 1400 before Chrill, it was taken poircfTion of by a variety of 

 eople, fpeaking different languages, who, as they were in 

 riendihip with the Agaazi, or Shepherds, polTefllng the 

 high country of Tigre, came and fat down befide them in a 

 peaceable manner, each occupying the lands that were be- 

 fore him. This fettleraent the chronicle calls ^ngaba, the 

 entry and eftablifhment of thefe nations, which finiihcd the 

 peopling of Abyflirsia. Tradition farther favs, that they 

 came from Paleftine. Many approved writers are of opinion, 

 that fome of the early defcendants of Ciiih, firft fettled in 

 the land bordering on the eailern fide of the Red Sea, mov- 

 ing gradually from thence to tlie fouthern extremity of Ara- 

 bia ; and afterwards, by means of the eafy paffage over the 

 ilraiglsts of Babelmandeb, tranfplanted themfelvcs into 

 Ethiopia. This migration, according to Eufebius, hap- 

 pened whilft the Ifraelites were in Egvot ; but Syncellus 

 places it in the time of the Judges. Thefe Arabian Cufliites 

 were cp.Ued Abafeni, and formed a great part of the Sabx- 

 ans or Homerites ; and the Ethiopians were diftinguithed 

 by the fame name, agreed in manv particulars with the 

 others, and were believed by moil of the Afiatic nations in 

 Jofephus's time, to have had the fame origin. Of thefe new 

 fettlers, Mr. Bruce (vol. i. p. 399.) gives a fomewhat dif- 

 ferent account. When Jofhua had pafTed the Jordan, and 

 deftroyed Jericho, a panic feized the whole people of Syria 

 and Paleiline. Thefe petty ftates, many in number, and 

 diverfiSed by language, fought for fafety from the conqueror 

 by flight or emigration. Having alrea-Jy carried on a com- 

 mercial intercourfe with the Shepherds of Abyffinia and 

 Atbara, they direfted their views to them for protefiion, and 

 ebtained fettlements among, or near them. The curfc of 

 Canaan, (Gen. ix. 25, 26, 2/.) fays Mr. Bruce, fccms to 

 have followed them, as they have obtained no principality, 

 but ferved the kings o£ the Agaasu, o* Shepherds, and fo 



I 



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they ftill continue. The firft and moft confiderable of thefe 

 nations fettled in Amu ARA ; the fecond were the Aoows 

 of Damot, one of the fouthern provinces of Abyffinia ; 

 and the third are the Agows of Lalta, with a feparate lan- 

 guage, living in caves, and paying nearly the fame worlhip 

 to the Sins or Tscazzc, that thofe of Damot pay to ths 

 Nile; the fourth is a nation near Damot, railed Gafat j 

 the fituation of the fifth is not precifely afcertaintd, unlcfs 

 it be intermixed with the Galla and Falaska. . Fronv 

 this recital, we may perceive the propriety of tlie appella- 

 tion Habjh or Convcn:!, denoting feparate nations fttlkd to- 

 gether, as affording the moft fatisfaftory etymology of 

 Abyirmia. The inhabitants who pon'ofled Abyflinia froiTi. 

 its fouthern boundary to the tropic of Cancer, or frontierj 

 of Egypt, were the Cufhites, a polidied people, living in 

 towns, being firft Troglodytes, and having their habitations 

 in caves. The next were the Shepherds. After thefe 

 were the nations who, according to Mr. Bruce, came from 

 Paleftine. Tf the account \re have now given of the origia 

 of the Abyflinians be juft, they might veiy wcil vie with the 

 Egyptians, and even be deemed luperior to them with rc- 

 fpett to antiquity, fince Cu(h, their great anceilor, was tha 

 eldeft fon of Ham. They might likewife have been efteemed 

 of equal antiquity with the Arabians, as from the kingdom 

 of iVIidian the Cuihites penetrated both into the fouthera 

 parts of the peninfula of the Arabs and Ethiopia. Tiie com- 

 munication between Egypt and Ethlopia,as well as the proxi- 

 mity of blood of Culh and Mizraim, introduced that fimilitude 

 of laws and manners that is obfervable among their refpec- 

 tive inhabitants.. The Ethiopians, or AbylTmians, account 

 for this mutual refemblance, by afferting, that Egypt, when 

 recovered from the Nile, and made habitable, was tirll peopled 

 by colonies that migrated out of their cotmtry, and they 

 again were cirilifed by the Egyptians. Mr. Bruce endea- 

 vours to prove, that the Abyflinians in ancient times were 

 not only the moft learned people in the world, but that they 

 fpoke the original language, and were the inventors of writ- 

 ing. How they, as well as the Egyptians, came to loie 

 this charaftcr, and to fink into their prefent ftate of dege- 

 neracy and barbarity, it is- not eafy to explain. But the, 

 nature of their refpeAive governments will lerie in fome mea- 

 furs to refolve the difficulty. According to fome authors, 

 Mofes refifted the progrefs of the Ethiopians from Thebaia 

 into the Lower Egypt, and drove them back into their capi- 

 tal Meroi;, which, being furround-ed by three rivers, the 

 Nile, Aftapus, and AJlaboras, was deemed impregnable. 

 This city, however, was betrayed by a young woman, wlio 

 fell in love with Mofes, and delivered it up to him on condi- 

 tion of his man-ying her. He then ravaged the country, 

 and having reduced the inhabitants to fuch a ftate, that they 

 were incapable of any farther hoftile attempts for a long 

 time, he returned in triumph to Egypt, after an abfcace of 

 ten years. Without attempting to fill up the chafm that 

 occure in tlie hillory of Abyffinia from this period to the 

 time of Solomon, and without recurring again to the ftory 

 of the queen of Sheba, and her fon Menilek, from whom 

 the kings of Abyffinia derive their defcent, we ftiall pro- 

 ceed to obferve, that the Ethiopians, or Abyffinians, after 

 the acceffion of Menilek, were invaded by Sefac, or Sefoftris, 

 who plundered their rich temple at Saba, and probably oc- 

 cafioned the removal of the imperial feat to Tigre'. Etiiio. 

 pia, or at leaft a confiderable part of it, became fubjed to 

 this monarch. The Ethiopians, according to Sir Ifaac 

 Newton, drowned the fuccefTor of Sefac in the Nile, and 

 feized upon Egypt, and obtained Libya in connedion with 

 it. However, they were defeated by Afa king of Judah. 

 Upon this the people of the Lower Egypt revolted, and 



obliged 



