stores of the Black Sea, till they penetrated as far as the
banks of the Halys.
Of the tribes which subsequently occupied this extensive
tract, we find that the people about Ophis were called Macro-
cephali.1 Next to these were the Sanni,2 a savage people,
who occupied the territory between Trapezus and Colchis.
Westward of this people were the Drilae ;3 and towards the
interior the Macrones, the Macropogenes, and the Armeno
Chalybes.4 Afterwards came the Mossynoeci, or Moschi, who
are called in the Bible Meshech,6 and are placed eastward of
the Tibareni (the posterity of Tubal) ;6 these liVed, according
to Strabo, above Tarabuzun,7 and their country was named
Thianetica.8 Adjoining the Mossynoeci and Tibareni, we
find a branch of the Chalybes,9 a people who appear to have
had colonies extending all the way from the source of the
Euphrates to the western side of the Halys, and eastward as
far as the shores of the Persian Gulf, where they became distinguished
for their knowledge of astronomy, their skill in
weaving linen, working in steel and gold, and in the practice
of other useful arts.
Calmet says, on the authority of Haiton, that there are in
Armenia, in the territory of the Colchians, the cities of
Chalva and Chalvata, also the region or land of Chalvata; and
there exists at the present day the town or village called
Haivali,10 situated on the slope of Aji Tagh, westward of
the Euphrates, towards the Halys, where, moreover, gold is
found,
1 Peripl. Pontus, p. 13
8 Vulgarly called Isanos.—Dionysius Hal., V. 766.
8 Xen. Anab., lib. V.
1 Plin., lib. VI., chap. x i.; and Xen. Anab., lib. IV. and V. They came
from the distant Alybe, where there are silver mines.—Iliad II., 857.
5 Genesis x. 2; Ezekiel xxvii. 13. 8 Genesis x. 2.
7 Strabo, lib. XII., p. 548.
8 The later name of the country lying between Pontus and Ophis.—Description
of the shores of the Euxine, Dodwell, p. 10.
8 Xen. Anab., lib. V.
10 Between Malatiyah and Sivas.—Map of Mr. Brant’s Journey, Vol. VI.,
Part II. of the Royal Geographical Journal.
Reland seems to have been the first who advanced the opinion
that the land of Havilah was identical with Colchis ;1
but Colchis is, in reality, only a part of Havilah, which was
watered by a river of the first order, and included the village
of Haivali, with the district of Chalvata, in Lesser Armenia;
so that, in fact, it corresponded nearly with the pashaliks of
Sivas and Tarabuzun.
The abundance of the precious metals in ancient times, in
Colchis, is indicated by the fable of the golden fleece, and in
the adjoining territories of Media and Persia,2 by the account
of the golden throne3 which was presented to the king of
Mazanderan after his battle with Kai-Kous, and also by a
passage in Herodotus,4 where it is said that 1000 men had
golden pomegranates suspended from their spears, and that
9000 Persians and Medes had the like ornaments in silver.
These circumstances show at least that gold and silver were
to be obtained in those parts ; and to this day they are found
occasionally both in Armenia and Asia Minor. Herodotus
also states,® that the Ionians were the richest people in Asia,
possessing abundance of gold, silver, copper, and stuffs of
various colours. He further mentions, that Xerxes, when
passing through the central parts of Asia Minor, received
from Pythius, the son of Atys, a present of a plane tree and a
vine, both of wrought gold, besides a sum of money equivalent
to about three and a half millions sterling; an enormous
amount, even without making any allowance for the difference
in the value of money in ancient and modern times.
The precious metals were drawn from the earth by means of
forced labour, which, it may be presumed, from the well-
1 Colchis and Havilah are evidently the same name, the monosyllable is
being merely the termination. It would be written in Hebrew Cwlch, which,
being formed from Chwy, is, when the vowels are added, exactly the same,
except that, in Havilah, there is the letter t, which is wanting in the other
word.—Reland, de Situ Parad.
8 The mountain Orontes is celebrated all over the East for its natural productions
; and many of the natives assured us that it contains several veins of
gold as well as silver.—MS. Mr. A. A. Staunton, 1836.
8 Malcolm’s History of Persia.
* Lib. VII. c. xli. s Lib. V. c. xlix.