AND MODERN GURAGUE. 33 



from lake Dembea, whilst that portion of this 

 people still retaining their ancient name and purity 

 of descent, the present Gurague occupy a country 

 similarly situated with respect to the river Zebbee, 

 or Azzabi, or Assabinus, the Ethiopian Jupiter. Abi 

 and Abiah, other names for branches of the Nile in 

 Abyssinia, are expressive of father or king, evidently 

 from having been, at a former period, the chief 

 objects of worship by the people inhabiting their 

 banks. "Asmach," and "Gurague," bear, therefore, 

 the same interpretation, " to the left of the king," 

 and none other can explain the circumstance of the 

 latter name being given to the Amhara. It appears, 

 however to have been bestowed in contra-distinction 

 to the " Gongas," or " Kongue," a people who 

 originally occupied the right banks solely of the 

 Abi and Abiah. 



This singular correspondence between " As- 

 mach " of the Grecian historian, and " Gurague " 

 of modern travellers, would be alone, perhaps, 

 inconclusive evidence that these terms apply to the 

 same people or country, but some additional 

 evidence may be drawn from the account which 

 Pliny gives of these Egyptian fugitives. On the 

 authority of Aristocreon, he states, that " Seven- 

 teen days from Meroe is Esar, a city of those 

 Egyptians who fled from Psammeticus, and entered 

 the service of the monarch of that country, and in 

 return received a considerable tract of territory 

 upon the confines, from which the Ethiopian 



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