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places them between the dcferts of Kadefh and thofc of 

 Engedi, though fomewhat nearer to the Mediterranean. 

 Jofephus, in one place, affirms, that they cxter.dtd from 

 Pelufium to the Red Sea, and in another place he fixes them 

 between Gabolitis and Petra. Antiq. lib. vi. c. 8. Ibid, 

 lib. iii. c. 2. 



As foon as the Ifraelitcs had crofTcd the Red Sea, tlic 

 Amaleliites determined to cut them off; and with tliis view 

 they fell on their rear, as they were marching from Rephi- 

 dim to Mount Horcb, .nnd flew thofe who, through weak- 

 iiefs or fatigue, were left behind. But this unprovoked adanlt 

 was very juftly and fevcrely avenged upon themfclves by 

 Jothua, who defeated them with great {laughter, A. M. 2517, 

 B.C. 1487. Between the Amalekites and the liraclitcs, 

 there fecms to have fubfifted an irreconcileable enmity ; and 

 it has not been improbably traced to their progenitor's 

 having been deprived of his birth-right and bleffing by Jacob. 

 Under the Judges, they joined with the Midianitcs and Mca- 

 bites againll Ifrael, who were dehvered from the former by 

 Ehud, and from the latter by Gideon. Judges, vi. 3. II. 

 13. Saul, foon after he was advanced to the throne of 

 Ifrael, marched againll the Amalekites with a large army ; 

 advanced to their capital ; flew a great number of them, 

 and laid wafte their country ; but by referving to himfelf the 

 bell of the cattle and moveables, in violation of the divine 

 command, he laid the foundation of the calamities that 

 afterwards befell him, B.C. 1093. Some fugitives efcaped ; 

 and we find that fome years after this event a troop of Ama- 

 lekites pillaged Ziklag, which then belonged_to David ; but 

 be purfued and difperied them, and recovered the captives 

 and treafures which they had taken. 1 oam. xxx. The 

 Amalekites were thus gradually reduced ; and at laft, in the 

 days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, who began his reign, 

 B. C. 726, they were utterly deftroyed and fcattered by the 

 fons of Simeon, who took poffefTion of their country. 

 I Chron. iv. 40 — 43. Thus the declaration of Balaam, re- 

 corded Numb. xxiv. 20, was literally fulfilled ; " Amalek 

 was the firft of nations ; but his latter end fliaU be, that he 

 perifh for ever." According to the account of the Ara- 

 bians, Amalek was the fon of Ham, and grandfon of Noah ; 

 he was the father of Ad, and grandfather of Schedad. 

 Calmet inclines to this opinion ; for he fays, it is not eafy 

 to conceive how the Amalekites, if they were merely the 

 pofterity of the fou of Eliphaz and grandfon of Efau, 

 could be fo numerous and powerful as thefe people are re- 

 prefented to be when the Ifraelites departed out of Egypt. 

 Befides, when we call to mind the previous wars of the 

 Amalekites with Chcdoi'laomer (Gen. xiv. 7.) ; when we 

 coufider that Balaam calls them the firft, or beginning, of 

 nations ; when we refleft, that Mofes never ftyles them the 

 brethren of Ifrael or Edom ; that the latter never held any 

 confederacy or friendly correfpondence with them in all their 

 wars, but fuffered them to be invaded and butchered by 

 Saul, without affording them any affiilance ; and, laftly, 

 when we find them always mentioned with the Amorites, 

 Philiftines, and other Canaanitifh nations, and \v;th them 

 involved in the fame curfe, we can fcarcely forbear looking 

 upon them rather as a tribe of thofe nations, than as the 

 defcendants of Efau, who probably formed but a fmall 

 tribe, and not pennanently confpicuous. Of the Amalek, 

 deftroyed by Saul, the Arabians give the following account. 

 He was the fathi^r of an ancient tribe in Arabia, which 

 contained only the Arabians called pure, the remains of 

 whom were mingled with the pofterity of Jocktan and 

 Adnan, and fo became Mofarabes or Moftaarabes, /. e. 

 Arabians blended with foreigners. They believe, tiiat 



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Goliah, who A'Ss Overcome by David, was kirg of the 

 Amalekites, and that the giants who inhabited Paleilincr in 

 Jodiua's lime, were of the fame lace ; and tliat part of them 

 retired into Africa, W'hile Jofhua was hvlng, and fettled on 

 the coalls of Barbary. The fon of Amahk was Ad, a cele- t 

 brated prince among the Arabians, whom fome make the 

 fon of X}/., and grandfon of Aram, tiie fon of Shem. Calmet. 

 Sec Adites. 



Amalek, in Geography, a monntain in the land of 

 Ephraim, on which the town of Pirathon v.ai filuiitcd, 

 where Abdon, fon of Hillel, judge of Ilrael, was buried, 

 A.M. 2H48, B.C. 1156. Judges xii. 14, 15. 



AMALFI, or Amalpiii, an ancient fea-port town and 

 archiepifcopal city of Italy in the kingdom of Naples, and 

 Principato eitra, fituate on the weft coaft of the gulf of 

 Salerno. N. lat. 40° 35'. E. long. 15° 20'. The moft 

 generally received opinion of the origin of this city is, that 

 about the middle of the 4th centuiy a confidcrablc num- 

 ber of R(.n;an families, either with views of emolument or 

 by co'.npnlfoiy orders of the emperor, left Rome, and em- 

 barked for Conftantinople ; but meeting with adverfe ftorms, 

 they were call away on the ftiore of Salei-no ; and determin- 

 ed to form a fettlemcnt on the prefent fite of Amalfi. This 

 feeble and rifing colony was guarded by impervious moun- 

 tains and inaccelTible coafts, from the firft fury of the Lom- 

 bards, who feldom attempted the conquell of a maritiine 

 people. In the year 825 this fmall republic, under the 

 patronage of the eaftern emperor, attained a degree of wealth 

 and reputation which invited the attack of Sico, prince of 

 Salerno, who marched a body of troops by night, fuiprifed- 

 Amalfi, and carried off the greateft number of its inhabit- 

 ants to fupply the place of thofe, of whom Salerno had been 

 deprived by an epide:riical difordcr. The Amalfitaus tak- 

 ing advantage of the abfence of the chiefs of Salerno, in an 

 expedition againft the Beneventans, armed themfelves, and,- 

 after burning and plundering Salerno, marched back in 

 triumph to their native abodes. Being thus reftored to 

 their country, they formed a better conftitution and code of 

 laws, and adopted various meafures hkely to prevent inter- 

 nal difcord, and the affault of foreign enemies. Undei" 

 thefe new regulations Amalfi rofe to the fum.mit of its mili- 

 taiy and commercial glory. Pope Leo IV. found the _ 

 Amalfitans an ufeful ally in his war with the infidels, and 

 conferred upon the commonvv'ealth the diftinguilhing title 

 of defender of the faith. The Neapolitans fought their 

 friendfhip, and the m.uffulmen courted alhance with them. 

 Their fituation was favourable for commerce ; and their at- 

 tention to naval affairs induced the emperor of Conftanti- 

 nople to eftablifti a court at Amalfi for the decifion of all 

 maritime difputes, and the code and reports of this court 

 obtained authority through this part of Europe. The mer- 

 chants of this tow-n engroffed the trade of the Levant, and 

 tranfafted the commercial bufinefs of the world in a lucra- 

 tive and exclufive manner. The importance of Amalfi, in 

 its various maritime and commercial connettions, led to the 

 eftabliftiment of the order of knighthood, under the patron- 

 age of St. John of Jerufalem, the members of which were 

 afterwards called knights of Rhodes, and fince of Malt3k 

 The charitable traders of this port obtained leave of the 

 muffulmen chief at the caliph's court, in 1020, to eredt 

 two fmall hofpitals and a chapel for the ufe of votaries com- 

 ing from the weftern parts of Europe. From Pafitano, 

 fays Mr. Swinburne, in the neighbourhood of Amalfi, was 

 derived the firft knowledge of the mariner's compass. 



The flourifliing ftate of the Amaifitars expofcd them to 



various affaults ; but they derived from the holy war tem- 



3 Po«T 



