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a very lofty mountain in Armenia, is thought to be the Ararat on which the Ark rested after the Deluge.

Colchis, the celebrated scene of the fable of the Golden Fleece and the Argonautic expedition, is bounded by Armenia on the South, by the head of the Euxine on the West, by Iberia on the East, and by Mount Caucasus on the North it is now called Mengrelia. Its principal river was the Phasis, or Fasz-Rione, preserving both its own name and that of the Rheon, a stream which flows into it. Its principal cities were Æa, on the river Phasis, and Cyta, within land, where Medea was born, who is hence called Cytæis. *

Iberia, now called Imeriti and Georgia, is bounded on the West by Colchis, on the North by Mount Caucasus, on the East by Albania, and on the South by Armenia. This country and Albania contained some very strong passes, which were fortified against the inroads of the more Northern and still more barbarous tribes of Mount Caucasus; that in Iberia was called Pyle Caucasiæ, or the gates of Caucasus, that in Albania, between Caucasus and the Caspian, was called Pylæ Albaniæ, or Caspiæ, which was afterwards the celebrated strong city of Derbend. The country beyond Caucasus, between the Palus Mæotis and the Caspian, was called Sarmatia Asiatica, and was inhabited by barbarous and roving tribes, who, after the lapse of ages, seem but little civilized.

Medumque flumen gentibus additum
Victis minores volvere vortices.

* Non hic herba valet, non hic nocturna Cytæis.

Hor. Od. II. 9, 18.

Propert. Eleg. II. 4.

Immediately above the Sinus Persicus, or Persian Gulph, is Persia, bounded by it on the South, by the Tigris and Babylonia on the West, by Media and Assyria on the North, and by Carmania on the East. It is called in Scripture Paras, and preserves that name in its modern term of Fars. That part of it which approaches Babylonia is called Susiana, which was divided into two districts, the larger, to the North, called Elymais, from the Elymai, who inhabited it, and the more Southerly and maritime, but smaller district, Cissia, in which was its capital Susa, or Susan, a word signifying, in the language of the country, Lilies; it is now Suster. This was generally the winter residence of the Persian kings, who in summer retired to the cooler situation of Ecbatana. The river Eulæus runs through the middle of this country, called Ulai in the Scriptures, and known to the classical reader by the name of Choaspes*, as the stream whose waters were so excellent that the kings of Persia would drink no other. In Persis, or Persia properly so called, was Persepolis, burnt by Alexander; its ruins are still very magnificent, and it is known by the name of Tshel-minar, or the forty, i. e. the many, columns. Below it was an antient royal city called Pasargada, where was the tomb of Cyrus; it is still called Pasa Kuri. North of Persepolis, on the confines of Media, was Aspadana, now Ispahan.

Carmania, now Kerman, is bounded by Persia on the West, Aria on the North, Gedrosia on the East, and the Erythræum Mare on the South. The limit between it

Regia lympha Choaspes.

Tibull. I. 4, 140.

and Persia was fixed by Alexander's admiral, Nearchus, at the island of Catæa, or Kais, in the Persian Gulph remarkable as a great emporium of commerce till it was superseded by Ormus, or Ormuz, a little East of it. The capital of Carmania was Carmana, or Kerman, South East of Persepolis.

Gedrosia is bounded by Carmania on the West, Aria on the North, the Indus on the East, and the Erythræum Mare on the South. It is now called Mekran. In passing through this country the army of Alexander underwent very great hardships from want of provisions and water, and from columns of moving sand, which had previously destroyed the armies of Semiramis and Cyrus. Its principal city was Pura, now Fohrea.

Assyria is separated by the Tigris from Mesopotamia on the West, and is bounded by Armenia on the North, Media on the East, and Babylonia on the South. It is now called Kurdistan, from the Carduchi, a people in its Northern parts, between Media and Armenia. It was the most antient of the four great empires of the world, and had for its capital Ninus, or Nineveh, so often mentioned in Scripture, founded by Ninus, on the Tigris. Nearly East of Ninus was Arbela, or Erbil, and on the opposite side of the Zabata, or Zab, was the fatal plain of Gaugamela, where the third and decisive battle was fought between Alexander and Darius, Oct. 2, B. C. 331, Ol. 112, 2, which put an end to the Persian empire. Gaugamela being an obscure place, this battle was generally called the battle of Arbela.

Media is bounded by Assyria on the West, and is separated from Armenia by the Araxes, and is farther bounded on the North by the shore of the Caspian, on the East by Aria, and on the South by Persia. Media is now called Irak-Ajami, or Persian Irak, to distinguish it from Irak-Arabi, or Babylonian Irak. That part of Media which borders on Armenia was called Atropatene, from Atropates, a satrap of this province, who erected it, after the death of Alexander, into an independent kingdom. Its capital was Gaza, or Gazaca, now called Tebris, or Tauris. The capital of Media was Ecbatana, or Hamedan. The Persian, and afterwards the Parthian monarchs, made Ecbatana their summer residence, to avoid the excessive heat of Susa and Ctesiphon. On' the road between Bagdat and Hamedan was an antient monument, said to be that of Semiramis, at a place called Bagistana. East of Ecbatana was Ragæ, or Rages, mentioned in the history of Tobit. Under the Parthian dynasty of the Arsacidæ, it was Arsacia, but is now called Rei.

Aria was properly a particular province, but the name was given to a country of large extent, answering to the present Khorasin, comprising several provinces, and bounded on the West by Media, on the North by Hyrcania and Parthia, on the East by Bactria, and on the South by Carmania and Gedrosia. The capital of Aria was Artacoma, now Herat, on the Western side, situated on the river Arius, now Heri. From hence Alexander passed Southward to the country of the Zarangæ, or Drange, whose capital, Propthasia, is still called Zarang.

Below them the Ariaspæ, who were

called Euergetæ, from the succours they afforded to Cyrus, are still known by the name of Dergasp. Below these is Arachosia, now Arrokhage, from which region Alexander crossed the Paropamisus, one of the highest mountains in Asia, to invade Bactriana: the Macedonians, in order to flatter him, called it Caucasus.

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North of Media and Aria, along the South Eastern coast of the Caspian, is Hyrcania, whose capital bore the same name, now Jorjan, or Corcan. The Eastern part of Hyrcania was Parthiene, the original seat of a nation which, under the name of Parthians, founded an extensive empire over Persia, Media, and Aria. Its principal city was Nisæa, still called Nesa..

Bactrium is bounded by Aria on the West, the mountains of Paropamisus on the South, a chain called the Emodi Montes on the East, and Sogdiana on the North. The capital was Zariaspa Bactra, now Balk. East of it was the rock of Aornos, thought to be impregnable; it is now Telekan, situated on a high mountain called NorkKoh, or the mountain of silver.

The river Oxus, or Gihon, separates Sogdiana from Bactriana. The country is now Al-Sogd; in which was Maracanda, the celebrated Samarcand of Tartar history, which was the royal city of Timur-leng, whose name has been corrupted by European writers into Tamerlane. South East of it was Petra, a strong rock besieged by Alexander, now called Shadman, and still South Oxiana, or Termid. North of it was Gabæ, or Kaous, also named from the conquest of Alexander. Still North,

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