BEN 



clous ; fond of maintaining Angular opinions, and mucli en- 

 gaged in literary controverfies. He attacked the diftionary 

 of La Crufca, in a work entitled " Anti-Crufca, &c." and 

 defended Taflbiwhom, witli Ariollo, he preferred to Horace 

 and Virgil. He alfo wrote on the pallor-lido of Gnarini. 

 All thefe works were written in Italian. The mod coufider- 

 able of his Latin produftions are, " Commentaries on the 

 poetry and rhetoric of Ariftotle," Venice, fol. 1625 ; " A 

 poetic and rhetoric, extracted from the works of Plato ;" 

 " Commentaries on the fix firft hooks of Virgil, and on Sal- 

 luft;" " Difpiit. de an:;al. Eccl. Card. Baronii ;" and " De 

 Hilloria Scribenda," hb. iv. Ven. 161 1, 4to. AH his works 

 were printed at Venice, in 5 vols. fol. Gtn. Diil. Noiiv. 

 Dia. Hift. 



BENI ^mmer, in Geography, a dillritl of the wertern 

 province of Algiers, about N. lat. 7,^^ 45'. E. long. 

 0° 50'. 



Ben I Ara-zid, one of the eighteen provinces into which 

 the Turks divided Algiers, fo c.iUcd from its capital. 



Beni AJfer, a town of Upper Egypt, on the call fide of 

 the Nile ; 2 miles north of Afna, or Efneh. 



Beni Hnjfan, a town of Egypt, on the eaft fide of the 

 Nile, remarkable for its grottoes, dug Iji the mountains, 

 which were formerly temples ; 6 miles north of Achmou- 

 nain. 



Beni Hajfen, called by Leo Africanus, Habat, a province 

 of Morocco, bounded to the north by the river Slamora, 

 and extending fouth to that of Sarrat ; 4 leagues from Ra- 

 bat, to the eaft, are the provinces of Fez and Tcdla, and 

 to the weft the ocean. This province is very extenfive, rich, 

 and commercial ; and produces wool of a very excellent 

 quality. 



Beni Jehle, a town of Eg^pt, on the weft, fide of the Nile, 

 12 miles fouth of Achmouiiain. 



Beni Hemijah, and Btni Hcuiah, two dlllrifts of the 

 weftem province of Algiers, bordering on the Mediterranean, 

 about N. lat. 36° 30'. and E. long. 2° 12'. 



Beni j7/^a/-, mountains of Algiers, lying about 20 miles 

 fouth ot Bujeyah, or Bugia, and extending a conCderable 

 way along the coaft, both in length and width, being parts 

 of the little Atlas. They are llecp and rugged, and fur- 

 nifh a great number of itreams. They abound with fruit- 

 trees, eipecially wahiuts and figs, and produce plenty of 

 barley, with which the inhabitants feed their numerous heids. 

 The people are warHke, and have a chief of their own ; and 

 among them are excellent archers ; and the whole ridge hath 

 feveral villages, inhabited by the tribe or people whole name 

 it bears. 



Beni Maran, a town of Egypt, 9 miles louth of Ach- 

 mounain. 



Beni Menajfer, a diftrift of the wcftern province of Al- 

 giers, ..bout N. lat. 36' 30'. and E. long, z'^ 42'. 



Beni Mezzab, a diftrift of the eaftern province of Al- 

 giers, betsveen 32° and 33" N. lat. and from 7" to 7" 30' E, 

 long. This diftrift is deftitute of water, except that which 

 they draw from wells. 



Beni Midi, a diftrift of the weftern pronnce of Algiers, 

 N. lat. 35° 30'. E. long. 2° 12'. 



Beni MiJ'ur, a town of Egypt, on the weft fide of the 

 Nile. 3 miles fouth of Abu Girge. 



Beni Moknmltl il Kifur, a town of Egypt, weft of the 

 Nile, and o miles fouth of Abu Giige. 



Beni PuiJIoid, a town of the weftern province of Algiers, 

 north of the river Shelliff and near it. N. lat. 36° 16'. E. 

 long. 2° 19'. 



Beni Shelir, a town of Egypt ; 6miles N. W. of Manfelout. 



Beni Suual, and Beni Snoufe, two adjoining diftrifts of 



8 



BEN 



the weftern province of Algiers, on the confines of the Tell, 

 about 35° N. lat. and between o and 1° E. long. 



Beni Zeneje!, anciently Hi-rftdilan'', a diftrift of the wef- 

 tern province of Algiers to the north of the Montes Chalco- 

 lygii, and eaft of the river Malva, or Muilooiah, about 34' 

 54' N. lat. and o^ 30' W. long. 



Beni Ztrivall, a branch of mount Atlas, in the weftem 

 province of Algiers. 



BENJA, a river on the coaft of Africa, 3 leagues E. N. E. 

 from Ampenie, and E. from Comn-.enda. 



BENJAMIN, in Biography, the youngeft fon of Jacob by 

 Rachel, and one of the twelve patriarchs of Ifrael. He was 

 the objcftof his father's pecilhar affeftion, and reluftaitiv per- 

 mitted to accompany his brethr..n to Egypt, when his return 

 with them was made by Jofcph the condition of their receiv- 

 ing a fupply of corn. Jofeph, wl.o was his only brother by 

 both parents, treated him kindly, and contri\ei a pretext 

 for detaining him in Egypt, but he afterwards, when he dif- 

 olofed liimfclf, permitted him to return to his aged father. 

 The tribe of Benjamin, which formed part of Judea, properly 

 fo called, lay between the tribes cf Judali and Jofeph, contigu- 

 ous to Samaria on the north, to Judah on the fouth, and to 

 Dan on the wcit, which laft parted it from the Mediten-aneau. 

 It had not many cities and towns, but this defect was fup- 

 plied by its poffefling the moft confiderable, and the metro- 

 polls ot all, the celebrated city of Jerufalem. The other 

 cities were Jericho, Gibeon, Bethel, Gibeah, Hai, Gilgal, 

 Anathoth, Nebo ; to which may be added the two noted 

 villages of Bethany and Ge'.hfemane. This tribe was at 

 length almoft exterminated by the others, in revenge of the 

 violence offered to tlie concubine of a Levite, in the city of 

 Gibeah. Genefia, Joftiua, Judges. 



Benjamin of Tudela, a city of Navarre, a Jewifh rabbi, 

 flouriflicd in the 12th century. Poireffed of a fuperftitious 

 veneration for the law of Mcfes, and folicitous to vifit his 

 countrymen in the eaft, whom he hoped to find in fuch a 

 ftate of power and opulence as might redound to the honour 

 of his feft,he fetout from Spain in the year j 1 60, and travelling 

 by land to Conftantinople, proceeded through the countries 

 to the north of the Euxine and Cafpian feas, as far as Chi- 

 nefe Tartary. From thence he took his route towards the 

 fouth, and atter traverfing various provinces of the farther 

 India, he embarked on the Indian ocean, vifited feveral of 

 its iflands, and returned, at the end of 13 years, bv the way 

 of Egypt, to Europe, with much information concerning a 

 large dillrift of the globe, altogether unknown at that time 

 to the weftern world. He died in i 173, not long after his 

 return from his travels. His " Itinerary" contains a nar- 

 ration of his travels, intermixed with many fabulous accounts, 

 that ferve to raife the credit of his nation. Cafpar Oudin, 

 however, (Comment, de Script. Ecclel. torn. ii. col. 1524. 

 Lipf. 1722.) reprefents him as a man of fagacity and judg- 

 ment, and well Ik Hied in the facred laws; and fays that his 

 obfervations and accounts have been found upoa examina- 

 tion to be generally exaft, and that the author was remark- 

 able for his love of truth. The tirft edition of the Itinerary 

 appeared at Conftantinople in 1543, with a tranllation from 

 the Hebrew into Latin, by Benedift Arias Montanus ; and 

 it was printed by Plantin, at Antwerp, in 1575, 8vo. It 

 was afterwards tranftated by the emperor Conilantine, and 

 his verfion was printed at Leydcn, by Elzevir, in 1633, 

 8vo. A French tranllation of it was publifhed by John Philip 

 Baiatier, in 1 734, 2 vols. 8vo. Kobenfon's Araericaj 

 vol. i. p. 45. Gen. Dift. 



Benj.4Min Tree, in Botany. See Laurus, 

 Benjamin, in Pharmacy. See Benzo'n. 

 BENJAR rh<«r, in Qeo^raphy. See BENDERMAssfw. 



BENI 



