The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

194 IX.ii.38–ii.54 Isidore of Seville
Afterwards many of these names were changed,
others remain as they were. 38. Indeed, the names for
many nations have partially remained, so that their
derivation is apparent today, like the Assyrians from
Assur and the Hebrews from Heber (i.e. Eber). But partly,
through the passage of time, they have been so altered
that the most learned people, poring over the oldest historical
works, havenotbeenable to find the origin of all
nations from among these forebears, but only of some,
and these with difficulty. 39. Thus nooriginal sound of
the word remains to show that the Egyptians arose from
the son of Ham named Mesraim (i.e. Egypt), or similarly
with regard to the Ethiopians, who are said to descend
from that son of Ham named Cush.
If all this is taken into account, there appear to be
more names of nations that have been altered than names
remaining, and afterwards a rational process has given
diverse names to these. So the Indians were named from
the river Indus, which bounds them on the western side.
40.The Serians (i.e. Chinese, or East Asians generally), a
nation situated in the far East, were allotted their name
from their own city. They weave a kind of wool that
comes from trees, hence this verse (Courtney fr. 7):
The Serians, unknown in person but known for their
cloth.
41. TheGangarides are a people between the Assyrians
and the Indians, living around the Ganges River – hence
they were named Gangarides. 42. TheHircanians are
named for the Hircanian forest, where there are many
tigers. 43.TheBactrians were Scythians who were driven
from their territory by a faction of their own people.
They settled by the river Bactron in the East, and derived
their name from the name of the river. The king of this
nation was Zoroaster, inventor of the art of magic. 44.
The Parthians likewise take their origin from the Scythians,
for they were Scythian exiles, which is still evident
from their name, for in the Scythian language exiles are
called parthi. Like the Bactrians, after being driven by
civil dissension from Scythia they first stealthily occupied
the empty territory adjacent to the Hircanians, and
then seized more land by force. 45. TheAssyrians were
named for Assur, the son of Shem – a very powerful
nation, which held sway over the whole middle region
between the Euphrates and the Indian border.
46. TheMedesarethought to have been named after
their king. Jason, brother of King Peliacus, was driven
by Pelias’s children from Thessaly with his wife Medea.
Jason’s stepson was Medus, king of the Athenians, who
after the death of Jason conquered the territory of the
East. He founded there the city Media, and he named
the nation of Medes after his own name. But in the Book
of Genesis we find that Madai was the progenitor of the
nation of Medes, and also that they were named for him,
as was said above (section 28 above). 47. The Persians
were named after King Perseus, who crossed into Asia
from Greece and there dominated the barbarian nations
with heavy and prolonged fighting. Right after his victory
he gave his name to the conquered people. Before
Cyrus, the Persians were an ignoble people and considered
of no rank among the nations of the area. The Medes
were always very powerful. 48. The Chasdeans, who are
now called the Chaldeans, were named after Chesed,
the son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 49. TheSabaeans
were named after the word , that is, “supplicate”
and “worship,” because we worship the divinity
with Sabaean incense. They are also called Arabs, because
they live in the mountains of Arabia called Libanus and
Antilibanus, where incense is gathered. 50. TheSyrians
are held to be named from Surim (i.e. Asshurim),
who was the grandson of Abraham from his wife Keturah.
The people whom the ancients called Assyrians
we now call Syrians, making a whole name from the
part.
51. The Hebrews were so named from Heber (i.e.
Eber), the great-grandson of Shem. 52. TheIsraelites
were named after Israel, the son of Isaac, for Israel was
the patriarch of the Hebrews, and from him the twelve
tribes of Jews were given the name of Israel. In the division
of the kingdom his name was given to the Jews of the
tentribes, for before they were all called either Hebrews
or Israelites. 53.However,fromthetime when the people
of God were divided into two kingdoms, the two tribes
that had kings from the stock of Judah were given the
name of Jews (Iudaeus). The residue of ten tribes, who
established a king for themselves in Samaria, kept the
original name of Israel because of their large population.
54. The nation of the Samaritans took its origin
from Assyrians who lived as immigrants in Samaria. In
Latin their name means “guardians,” because when the
kingdom of Israel was taken captive the Samaritans were
stationed in Israel’s territory as a guard.
55.After Phoenix, the brother of Cadmus, moved from
Egyptian Thebes to Syria, he reigned at Sidon and named