<<A WHALE IN THE SEAS>>: The word translated here as "whale" in Hebrew is "tanim" which usually means "crocodile", but in this case refers to some kind of sea monster.

<< FILL THE VALLEYS WITH THY HEIGHT>>: Preferably "fill the valleys with the rot [of your carcass]".

<<HELL>>: In Hebrew "Sheol" meaning the place of the dead.

<<ASSHUR IS THERE>>: "Ashur" is Assyria. The Scythians, Babylonians, and Medes were destined to destroy Assyria which disappeared. A small group of Nestorian Christians still exist in Syria and Iraq and these claim Assyrian ancestry. A few cities in West Germany had traditions that they were founded by Assyrians. There are archaeological proofs of some Assyrian presence in the west. In some cases this evidence is due to exiled Israelites and others who had served in Assyrian armies. Otherwise the
Assyrians themselves were also to some degree in the region. Bar Hebraeus (an early Christain historian of Jewish origin who had access to ancient traditions) recorded the Arab tradition that Nineveh (the former capital of Assyria) had been founded by "Germanika", i.e. that there was a link between Assyria and the Germans. Craig White (surfer1@t...) wrote an interesting and informative book on this. British Israelites and offshoots of the Armstrong movement and others made a big thing of the possibility of identifying modern Germany with Assyria inn Biblical prophecy. There may be something in this but we associate Germany more with descendants of Edom.
We do not say that all Germans are descended from Esau. We believe rather that a not insignificant proportion of Germans are of Edomite descent and these, at critical moments, can determine national policies and national sentiment in such a way that Biblically speaking the nation can be associated with Edom as a whole.

<<THERE IS ELAM>>: Elam was in the region of east present-day Iran. The Elamites were often at war with Assyria. The ancient Persians were actually more Elamites than anything else. Elam was an area to which part of the Lost Ten Tribes were taken and in which they sojourned for a while. The Scythian-Sakai Israelite people east of the Caspian Sea had cultural connections with Elam.

<<UNCIRCUMCISED>>: In Biblical terminology "uncircumcised" is derogatory.

<<MESHECH, TUBAL>>: These were nations in what is now eastern and central Turkey. Tubal in tradition is associated with Spain. Namesakes, however, indicate that both Meshech and Tubal moved to what was formerly the USSR, especially to Russia. Moscow is named after Meshech. "Egypt" in Hebrew is "Mitsrayim". "Mitsrayim" usually does mean Egypt but there was also an entity called "Mitsrayim" in the north which is also recalled in Assyrian inscriptions. Concerning the future in some prophecies "Mitsrayim" may refer to this northern country. We have suggested in the past that this is Russia.

<<THERE IS EDOM>>: See what we wrote above in connection with Assyria (Ezekiel 32:22). Settlements of Edomites had settled in the north in areas later dominated by Assyria and Babylon. Edom (Esau) is recalled here and there in the Bible as associated with both Assyria and Babylon.

<<ZIDONIANS>>: From the leading Phoenician city of Sidon. "Sidonian" could also be a term for Phoenician in general.

Ancient Egypt was once a great nation. Architectural and engineering feats of the Ancient Egyptians could not be emulated with modern technology. The Egyptians showed great mathematical and astronomical achievements, a proficient use of chemical substances, and philosophical wisdom. They were influenced by the Hebrews and the Hebrews influenced them. Some say that the Hebrews sojourned in Egypt for 400 years in order to absorb the 'sparks' of holiness that existed there. In other words the Israelites had something to learn form the Egyptians that God wanted them to absorb before bringing them out and giving them the Torah. The Egyptians were also responsible for the leading elements in much of pagan thought. The pagan systems of Africa are said to be basically those of Egypt. Both Judah and Israel were influenced by Egypt. Archaeological evidence shows that in the city of Samaria Egyptian gods were revered and Egyptian decorative motifs were popular. Joseph (the father of Ephraim and Manasseh) had married
Osenath who was the daughter of an Egyptian priest. Most of the Egytpians were light brown in skin color and dark haired but they belonged basically to the same stock as the other African peoples.

The Egyptian in their own way were quite advanced and had great achievements in every field. Nowadays Egypt is a third-world country and will probably remain that way. We should not judge the Ancient Egyptians by the modern ones even though many of the people in present-day Egypt probably do descend from Ancient Egyptians.

The following note may be of interest:

<<Karl W. Luckert, a Professor of History of Religion at Southwest Missouri State University, has a book out, "Egyptian Light and Hebrew Fire: Theological and Philosophical Roots of Christendom in Evolutionary
Perspective" (State University of New York Press, Albany, 1991, 347pp) as part of the SUNY Series in Religious Studies. In four sections, Luckert traces religious and theological development from the Egyptian to the Hebrew, Greek and finally Christian religion.

<<Here is a thumbnail review by Garth Alford of the University of Washington: <<"Egyptian Light and Hebrew Fire" focuses on the cosmology of ancient Egypt and on derived traditions. The book outlines how the ancient Egyptian world view affected Hebrew religion, Greek philosophy, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and early Christianity. It traces ideological roots of Western civilizations back to its earliest known prototypes in the Pyramid and Coffin texts of ancient Egypt. It challenges us to refocus some of our history of early Greek philosophy, and it positively identifies Neoplatonism as a philosophized and scarcely disguised neo-Egyptian theology.">>

Present-day Western Civilization (especially that of the "Anglo-Saxons") rests on three roots:
1. Greek Philosophy and Classical tradition derived in large part from Ancient Egypt and Babylon.
2. The Bible, i.e. Hebrew tradition.
3. Anglo-Saxon and Northern tradition and this too was in part Hebraic.
I would add to this the so-called Western "Celtic" heritage of Gilead in Israel.