Besides the preceding, we have the Beni Sheba,1 probably
the descendants of the tenth son, also the Beni Jobab2 from
the thirteenth; and it has been remarked by the great Arabian
Hazarmaveth traveller, that Hadramaut itself, may have been the territory of
the third son Hazarmaveth.3 I t thus appears, that, whilst
traces of some of the earlier descendants of Ham are found in
Arabia, the names and indications of those of Shem are still
more numerous, particularly in Yemen, which became the
seat of the Tobbai and of the Himyarites.
’Abd-el Shems, the slave or worshipper of the sun, and the
descendant of Kahtan, succeeded Yarab in the sovereignty of
this territory, and from Kaklan, his successor, descended the
Beni Lakhim, Ghassan, and, also, the celebrated dynasty just
Sons of mentioned, which was founded by Himyar,4 the fourth de-
Himyir. scendant of Peleg, and almost the cotemporary of Abraham,
who was the fifth in another line.5 The posterity of the former
patriarch is no doubt represented by the Beni Himyar.6 The
recovery already noticed of Babylonia by the Shemitic people,
previously to their occupation of Yemen, agrees with the
account given ■ by Arabian historians, and likewise with those
of Ptolemy and Strabo. The former calls the Babylonians a
colony from Arabia Deserta,7 and the latter particularly notices
the resemblance in character, frame of body, language, and
mode of life, between the Syrians, Armenians, and Arabs.8
Syrians, Elsewhere he identifies the Babylonians with the Chaldeans of
Arabs, and Gerrha.9 It appears from Mas’udi that the Chaldeans spoke Chaldeans- r r i 1 the same language as the Arabians, and were the same people
as the Syrians or Assyrians, who inhabited ’Irak Arabi.10 This
author also distinguishes the northern Cushites, who entered
1 Appendix to vol. I ., Tables 2 and 3, pp. 705, 707.
! Beni Djoudob, vol. I., Appendix, Table 2, p. 705.
8 Descr. de l’Arabie, tome I I I ., p. 252.
* Or E l ’Arenjej, also E l ’Arfej.—Arabic MSS. Nos. 7353 and 7357 in
the British Museum, translated by Aloys Sprenger, M.D.
5 Ibid .—Arabic MS. 7357.
6 Eastward of Damascus.—Niebuhr, Descr. de l’Arabie, vol. I I I ., p. 341.
7 Lib. V., cap. 20. 8 Lib. X V I., p. 784, and lib. I ., p. 41.
8 Lib. X V I., p . 254.
10 Extraits des MSS. du Roi, tome V I I I ., p. 141, par Sylvestre de Saci.
Babylonia, from the Nabatheans,1 with whom they amalgamated.
These circumstances appear to have given rise to the Chaldeans!**0
opinion of an eminent historian of the day, who, in speaking
of the steppes of Mesopotamia, observes, “ It cannot be
“ doubted, that at some remote period, antecedent to the
“ commencement of historical records, one mighty race pos-
“ sessed these' vast plains, varying in character according to
« the nature of the country which they inhabited; in the
“ deserts of Arabia pursuing a nomad life; in Syria apply-
“ ing themselves to agriculture ; and taking up settled abodes
“ in Babylonia,” See.2 We are likewise informed that this
extensive race spoke the same language as the ancient Babylonians
3 or Chaldeans.
The question concerning the origin of the Chaldeans, and
whether they were a distinct nation, or merely the particular
section of a people, has given rise to many different opinions;
it is therefore here intended to give some account of them,
and of the state of knowledge which prevailed among them;
endeavouring, at the same time, to distinguish the Sabean
followers of Cush from the descendants of Shem,4 who were
equally designated Chaldeans. *
This appellation was not, as has been supposed, derived x
either from Arphaxad or Chesed, but rather from Arfkesed, Arfkesed.
the compound of the Arabic Orf and Chasd; which, instead
of an individual, evidently designates a people.5
It was not, however, always applied under the same circumstances,
or even to the same race, being found at various places,
and with different significations, between the Ganges and the
N ile ; moreover, the difficulty of the subject is increased by Different ap-
finding, both in sacred and profane history, that the name is a.ttáñame.°f
one time given to a nation, at another to a tribe, and again to
a priest-class, whether the descendants of Shem or Ham.
Michaelis supposed that the Chaldeans came from the north,
1 Arabic MS. in the British Museum, translated by Aloys Sprenger, M .D.
8 Heeren’s Historical Researches concerning the Asiatic Nations, &c.,
vol. I ., p. 46, Bohn, London, 1846, compared with Mas’údí, Arabic MSS.
8 Heeren, ibid., p. 407. 4 See above, vol. I ., p. 92.
5 Michaelis, Spicilegium Geogr., I I ., p. 76, and Schlotzer’s Universal
Hist., X X X I., p. 235.