"the Nile-arms of Matsor," instead of
"brooks of defence." While Matsor was the name of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt
was termed Pathros (Isa. xi. 11), which is the Egyptian Pe-to-res or
"southern land." The Pathrusim or inhabitants of Pathros are mentioned
among the sons of Mizraim in the chapter of Genesis upon which we are
engaged.

Phut seems to be the Egyptian Punt, on the Somali coast. Spices and other
precious objects of merchandise were brought from it, and the Egyptians
sometimes called it "the divine land." The Lehabim of verse 13 are the
Libyans, while the Naphtuhim may be the people of Napata in Ethiopia. The
Caphtorim or inhabitants of Caphtor are the Phoenician population settled
on the coast of the Delta. From an early period the whole of this district
had been colonised by the Phoenicians, and, as Phoenicia itself was called
Keft by the Egyptians, the part of Egypt in which they had settled went by
the name of Keft-ur or "greater Phoenicia." From various passages of the
Old Testament(1) we learn that the Philistines, whom the kings of Egypt
had once employed to garrison the five cities in the extreme south of
Palestine, had originally been Phoenicians of Caphtor, so that the words of
the verse before us must have been moved from their proper place,
"Caphtorim, out of whom came Philistim," being the correct reading.

Canaan signifies "the lowlands," and was primarily the name of the coast
on which the great cities of Phoenicia were built. As, however, the inland
parts of the country were inhabited by a kindred population, the name came
to be extended to designate the whole of Palestine, just as Palestine
itself meant originally only the small territory of the Philistines. In
Isaiah's prophecy upon Tyre (xxiii. 11) the word is used in its primitive
sense, though here again the Authorised Version has misled the English
reader by mistranslating "the merchant-city" instead of "Canaan." Sidon,
"the fishers' town," was the oldest of the Canaanite or Phoenician cities;
like Tyre, it was divided into two quarters, known respectively as Greater
and Lesser Sidon. Heth or the Hithites adjoined the Phoenicians on the
north; we shall have a good deal to say about them in a future chapter,
and therefore pass them by now. The Amorite was the inhabitant of the
mountains of Palestine, in contrast to the Canaanite or lowlander, and the
name is met with on the Egyptian monuments. The towns of Arka and Simirra
(or Zemar) are bot