CIRCUMCISION

The initiatory rite of the Jewish covenant; which, as is recorded, was first enjoined to Abraham byGod, and after his posterity had neglected it during their wanderings through the desert, was solemnly renewed upon the pa age of the Jordan. (Josh. v. 1 — 10.) This custom of cutting off the foreskin has been long prevalent among Eastern nations. Hero dot us refers to It as the practice of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, and as borrowed from them by the Phoenicians and Syrians. It does not appear, however, to have been considered by these nations m the light of a religious ceremony. It is enforced by the Koran upon all the'disciples of Mahomet, whether from an idea of salubrity vulgarly attributed to it in the East, or merely as a distinguishing rite. [s. 249]