hammed ed, but much more by the appearance of Mohammed on the in the 7th stage of the world. We have given the life and actions of that century. Turn to and affift him. t grand impoftor in a preceding volume *, and shall only examine here, what fhare the Jews are faid to have had in it; who, Theophanes tells us, feeing him appear in so fplendid a manner, began to look upon him as the Meffiah; infomuch, that many of them exchanged their religion for his; tho' they were foon after much offended at his eating of camels flesh, which is forbid by the Mofaic law (Q). However, the fear of appearing inconftant, or rather their hopes of receiving fome confiderable advantages from him, and of having it more in their power to injure the Chriftians, made them overlook that nicety, and continue in his intereft, as we obferved in the last note. What affistance they gave him in the forming of his new religion, we have already fhewn in the volume * Vol i. paff p. 30, & feq. (Q) It feems fomewhat fur- This last expreflion hath indeed fhocked most readers; fince it is well known that Mohammed did not die a violent Vid. Levitic. xi. 4. Deut. xiv. feq. & (D). “ death. Some have therefore fufpected it to be fome error crept into the text of the hiftorian; and if so, it must be of old date, fince Cedrenus hath faid the very fame thing after him. But whatever the mistake is, moft people think it to be meant of his flight, and not of his death. For it is not improbable, that they who had promised themselves fuch great advantages under him, might, when they faw him fo reduced by the oppofite faction, as to be forced to fly, be induced to abandon him. And accordingly, the Ara bian authors boast that they did, on his first appearing, fend him twelve of their doctors, to affift him in the compiling his Alcoran (11); which if true, doth plainly fhew that they were far enough from believing him to be the Meffiah, whatever they might outwardly pretend, and whatever helps they might af ford him in the carrying on his defign. (10) Theophyl, fub, An, Cb. 622, · (*1) Vid, Imbonate Bibl. Rab, ub, sup. above quoted and shall only observe here, that it appears from his Koran, that he had read their books, and was not unverfed in their religion and customs; and as they were then very numerous and powerful in several parts of Arabia (R), and had there many strong castles and fortresses, and maintained armies under their princes, when he began to lay the foundation of his new religion, it is more than probable that he took all proper means to engage them in his intereft, whilft they, always intent on their worldly advantage, were as eafily induced by his careffes and promises to afsist him in all his views. But whatever cause they might afterwards give him to dislike them, it is plain, from, the tenor of his writings, that he hated and defpifed them; he calls them betrayers and murderers of the prophets, and a people juftly curfed of God, for their violation of his fabbaths and laws, and for their obftinate unbelief both of the ancient prophets, and of himself; for which he hath curfed them in many places of his Koran, and did at length declare open war against them. Hated by him. THIS war was at first began by one of the principal Jews, Makes named Cajab, who oppofed all his meafures, for which reafon war aMohammed had given orders to fome of his men to lay wait gainst for, and kill him; upon which he appeared at the head of his them. nation. Mohammed began with befieging them in the fortreffes they held in Hegiafa;. and having obliged them to furrender at difcretion, banished them, and gave their wealth to his Meflems. After this Cajab attacked him near Kaibar, a place about four days journey from Medina, in the third year after the Hejra, and was totally routed by him, and with great difficulty faved his life by flight, whilft his troops were unmercifully butchered by the Moflems. This did not hinder them from trying their fortune more than once against him; but they ftill met with the fame ill fuccefs: fo that they were forced at length to submit to his fuperior force, and to become tributary to him, in order to enjoy what they had. This yoke, however, proved fo grating to the Jewish nation, that one of their women refolved to rid them of it, by poisoning him with a joint of mutton; but the prophet smelt the poifon out, and escaped the fnare. Many other hoftilities, the (R) Particularly in that which was known by the name of Hegiafa; which word fignifies feparation, because it was fituated between Arabia Deferta and Arabia Felix, without belonging to either. The Greek geogra- P 2 Arabian Jews under the Califs, Arabian authors mention, between the Jews and Moflems", not worth mentioning; and the former, being convinced to their cost of the great fuccefs of that falfe prophet, as well as of the feverity of his yoke, they have applied to him the vifion of Daniel's ftatue ", whofe feet were partly iron, and partly clay; whence they inferred that the Meffiah was not to appear till after the foundation of that empire, fince he is there prefigured by the stone cut out without hands, which was to destroy and put an end to it *. All which fhews that there could be no fuch combination between the Jews and Mohammed and his difciples, as they have been charged with. Let us now see how they fared under his fucceffors, during the rest of this 7th century. AFTER the conquest of Perfia by Omar II. Khalif after Mohammed, the Jews under that monarchy not only became fubject to the Saracens, but very often changed their masters, both by the fwift fucceffion of those monarchs, and the rapidity of their conquefts in the east, and yet we do not find that their condition was at all altered for the worse, except that they shared in the common misfortunes which those conquerors brought into every province they fubdued. We even find them making great rejoicings upon Omar's having overthrown Ifdegert, and feized upon his dominions (S), as well as at every fuccefs which either he or his fucceffors had against the Chriftians; especially as they found these new conquerors more mild and friendly towards their nation, fo that they foon began to enjoy the full liberty not only of " Set VATTIER. Hift. Mahometan. lib. i. p. 6, & feq. De Generat. Machumet lat. edit. ab HERMAN DALMATA. Suffrata. 49. p. 265. HOTTING. Hift. Orient. lib. ii. c. 2. w Daniel ii. 31, & feq. Ibid verf. 34. (S) And well they might, if that prince, the laft of the Perfian kings, had, as they pre. tend (12), either began or carried on fuch a bloody perfecu. tion against them, and had caufed all their academies to be fhut up, as we have lately hinted, But this was not the only occafion of their joy; the vaft fuccefs of thofe princes, great enemies of the Chriftians, 1 and the demolishing of their Churches, could not but flatter their hopes of feeing them in time reduced. They have been moreover accused of having inftigated the Molems against them (13), by which they fo far ingratiated themselves to those new conquerors, as to recover all the privileges they had lost under the Perfians. (12) Vid. Solomon Ben. Virg. p. 5. (13) Paul Diacon, Hißt, lib, xxii. p. 312. Beda in Luc. 23. their religion, but of opening their academies, and restoring them to their flourishing condition. They mention indeed some sharp disputes which they had with the Khalif Ali, about the many factions into which his fect, tho' of fo fhort standing, was already divided, which that Khalif retorted, by reminding them of their several idolatries, immediately after their miraculous paffing of the Red Sea. However, this did not hinder that prince from protecting them, as they had taken care old freeenjoy their to fecure his favour by the homage they paid to him (T). We dom of reare indeed told that the Jews, who pretended then to deal ligion, &c. in astrology and magic, had promised Yezid, the son of Hasan, then on the throne, and a wicked prince, a forty years reign, if he would destroy all the images within his dominions; but that his accepting the condition raised such a powerful party of faints in heaven, that they obtained a sentence of death against him. Upon which his fon was going to revenge the cheat, and his father's death, upon them, but that they retired betimes into the Roman territories, and fo escaped his refentment ". But there is a manifest anachronism in that ftory, to fay nothing worse of it, fince Yezid died A. Ç. 683; whereas, according to the author laft-named, the edict against images did not come out till three years after, that is, An. 686. Befides, it is fo far from probable that the Jewish nation fuffered under Yezid, or any of his immediate fucceffors, that, on the contrary, they lived in fuch liberty and quiet under them, that their prince, or chief of the captivity, enjoyed as great an authority as if he had been their real king (U): and the Y BARTOLOC. ub. fup. tom. iv. p. 464. MAIMBOURG. Hift. Ionoclaft. lib. i. (T) They tell us that R. Ifaac, one of their most famed Gaons, who went to pay his homage to him on his defeat of the Perfian king, was not only well received, but raised by him to fome high dignity (14), and that the Khalif beftowed one of the princeffes of Perfia, his captives, on Boftenar, the then chief of the captivity. But there feems to be a grofs mistake in this; viz. that it was Omar, and not his fucceffor Ali, that defeated the (14) Gantz Txemach, p. 123. Perfian; unless we will fuppofe (U) We took notice lately of (15) Vattier Hift Makom, lib. i. P 3 courfe 4 and like- the fame may be faid of those that dwelt in Egypt and Sywife thoferia", which was then under the Ommiades, whofe family was of Egypt no lefs friendly to the Jewish nation. Juftini BUT it is now time to turn our eyes to those in the west, under the Roman emperors, at Conftantinople, Africa, Italy, Spain, France, &c. during the 6th and 7th centuries, which we chufe to join together, to avoid breaking off the thread of their history. The firft caufe of complaint which the emperor Juftinian, who affected to judge of moft affairs relating to religion, gave them, was his edict which forbad them to celebrate their paffover according to their own calculation, and against enjoined them to keep it at the fame time with the Chriftians; This was no more than we are told he did to the latter, whom he obliged to follow his new calculation, which caused no lefs confufion amongst them b; but only the Jews, always tenacious of their old way, refented it at a higher rate (W). They an's edit them. * Vid. BASNAG. ub. fup. lib. viii. c. 16. § 13. Hift. Arc. c. 28. bTHEOPHAN. aḍ Juft. an. 19. courfe to them was fuch, that Some make this laft to have • PROCOP, hath been faid is fufficient to fhew that the Jews were in a flourishing condition under the first Khalifs. (W) A late critic, often quot, ed in this work, rightly obferves fome great minake in the year and occafion of this edict. as mentioned by Theophanes and Nicephoras; and thinks that the emperor lengthened the Lent faft by one week, because Eafter on that year fell on the fame day with the Chriftians and fequs: fo that according to him, he made that change in the former only, to prevent its coinciding with that of the latter: but as his conjecture not only contradicts the two authors above-mentioned, but likewife by Procopius's account, we hall leave them as we find them. There is still another difficulty in the account of that edict, the last-named author, and his annotator, viz. that it forbad the Jews eating of the pafchal lamb |