Ophir. A place from which gold and other things were brought. Where it was is still unknown.
Valley of Salt. The valley of the Dead Sea. Its southern part is full of places where salt is found.
Assyria. This great empire, with its capital at Nineveh on the Tigris, was for a long time greatly feared by Israel. It kept all the small nations about under tribute, and was very cruel in all its wars, so that when, after several generations, it fell, there was great rejoicing.
Carchemish. A town on the Euphrates, which was often the scene of great battles.
Bethel and Dan were the two extremes of the northern kingdom of Israel. Both had perhaps been sacred places long before.
Tirzah. A town in a beautiful situation, the capital of North Israel from the time of Jeroboam till the time of Omri, who built Samaria.
TALES OF THE MACCABEES.
Kingdom of the Greeks. Alexander the Great conquered all western Asia as far as the borders of India. After his death the empire was divided among his generals. One of the divisions became the kingdom of Syria, and it was Syria that ruled over Judaea in the time of this heroic story. Because the kingdom began with the Greek rule, and still kept more or less of the Greek customs and religion, it was still called the kingdom of the Greeks.
Modin. A town below the hills of Judaea, to the west, not mentioned in either the Old or the New Testament.