Jirjis ibn aal Amib al-Makin: Ta’rikh al-Muslimin

(The History of the Caliphs) (1260 )

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Taken from Father Giovanni Vantini FSCJ's Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia.

 

The children of Ham gave origin to 32 heads [of tribes] who settled in Syria (Sham), and in the land of Cana’an (1) until the land of Misr (Egypt) and beyond as far as the extreme Maghrib. Of their number are the Canaanites (2), the Philistins (al-Filastiniyyin) (3), the Copts (al-Qubt), the Maris (4), the other tribes of Sudan, Zanj, Maghariba and Berber ...

They possess six alphabets, viz. the Coptic, the Nubian, the Ethiopian, the Phriji (5), the Qolqi and the Phoenician.

(1) land of Cana’an: Phoenicia, Philistia, and the Land of Israel,

(2) Canaanites: people who lived in the land of Canaan, an area which according to ancient texts may have included parts of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

                                                                                      (3) Philistins: were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan.

                                                                                      (4) Maris: literally along the sea like the ancient trade route Via Maris from Egypt to Damascus.

                                                                                      (5) Phriji: of Phyrigia (center and west of Asia Minor).