THE EXDS OF THK EARTH. 57 



makes it the name of Carthage, and gives it, by extension, to 

 the whole continent of Africa. Ophir is probably Sofala, on the 

 eastern coast of Africa. The Isles are thought to have been 

 the southern coasts and promontories of Europe, Greece, Italy, 

 &c, which were supposed at that period to be insular. Sheba 

 was Sabsea, or Arabia Felix. Dedan is supposed to have been a 

 port in the Persian Gulf. The River was the Euphrates, be- 

 yond which were tracts indefinitely known as Elam and Media, 

 and still beyond a region known as "The Ends of the Earth." 

 Gog, Magog, and the North have been usually supposed to refer 

 to the inhabitants of Scythia and Sarmatia, and the hyperborean 

 nations in general, though a later and more natural theory makes 

 them refer to the migratory shepherds and warriors of Cappa- 

 docia, Phrygia, and Galatia. It thus appears that the primitive 

 Israelites knew little beyond the limits of their own country, 

 Egypt, and the regions lying between the Mediterranean, or the 

 Sea, and the Euphrates. A knowledge of the water, we have 

 already remarked, is essential to the formation of any correct and 

 adequate idea of the shape and extent of the land. The Jews 

 had never ventured forth upon the sea for the discovery of 

 new regions, and were, in consequence, ignorant even of that in 

 which they dwelt. We shall find that the Greeks and Romans, 

 whose maritime history we shall now briefly narrate, approached 

 the truth in regard to the form and extent of the world, pre- 

 cisely as their commerce expanded and their ambition for con- 

 quest and colonization augmented. 



