This person is looked upon as the father of the Egyptians: on which account one might expect to meet with many memorials concerning him: but his history is so veiled under allegory and titles, that no great light can be obtained. It is thought, by many learned men, that the term, Mizräim, is properly a plural; and that a people are by it signified, rather than a person. This people were the Egyptians: and the head of their family is imagined to have been, in the singular, Misor, or Metzor. It is certain that Egypt, by Stephanus Byzantinus, is, amongst other names, styled Μυαρα, which, undoubtedly, is a mistake for Μυσαρα, the land of Musar, or Mysar. It is, by [26]Eusebius and Suidas, called Mestraia; by which is meant the land of Metzor, a different rendering of Mysor. Sanchoniathon alludes to this person under the name of [27]Μισωρ, Misor; and joins him with Sydic: both which he makes the sons of the Shepherds Amunus and Magus. Amunus, I make no doubt, is Amun, or Ham, the real father of Misor, from whom the Mizräim are supposed to be descended. By Magus, probably, is meant Chus, the father of those worshippers of fire, the Magi: the father, also, of the genuine Scythæ, who were styled Magog. The Canaanites, likewise, were his offspring: and, among these, none were more distinguished than those of Said, or Sidon; which, I imagine, is alluded to under the name of Sydic. It must be confessed, that the author derives it from Sydic, justice: and, to say the truth, he has, out of antient terms, mixed so many feigned personages with those that are real, that it is not possible to arrive at the truth. NIMROD. It is said of this person, by Moses, that he was the son of Cush. [28]_And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth: he was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel._ His history is plainly alluded to under the character of Alorus, the first king of [29]Chaldea; but more frequently under the title of Orion. This personage is represented by Homer as of a gigantic make; and as being continually in pursuit of wild [30]beasts. The Cuthite Colonies, which went westward, carried with them memorials of this their ancestor; and named many places from him: and in all such places there will be found some peculiar circumstances, which will point out the great hunter, alluded to in their name. The Grecians generally styled him [31]Νεβρωδ, Nebrod: hence places called by his name are expressed Nebrod, Nebrodes, Nebrissa. In Sicily was a mountain Nebrodes, called by Strabo in the plural [32]τα Νεβρωδε ορη. It was a famous place for hunting; and for that reason had been dedicated to Nimrod. The poet Gratius takes notice of its being stocked with wild beasts: [33]Cantatus Graiis Acragas, victæque fragosum Nebrodem liquere feræ.