Kittim was a settlement in present-dayLarnaca on the east coast ofCyprus, known in ancient times asKition, or (in Latin) Citium. On this basis, the whole island became known as "Kittim" in Hebrew, including theHebrew Bible. However the name seems to have been employed with some flexibility inHebrew literature. It was often applied to all theAegean islands and even to "the W[est] in general, but esp[ecially] the seafaring W[est]".[1]Flavius Josephus (c. 100 AD) records in hisAntiquities of the Jews that
The expression "isles of Kittim", found in theBook of Jeremiah 2:10 andEzekiel 27:6, indicates that, some centuries prior to Josephus, this designation had already become a general descriptor for the Mediterranean islands.[3] Sometimes this designation was further extended to apply to Romans, Macedonians or Seleucid Greeks. TheSeptuagint translates the occurrence of "Kittim" in theBook of Daniel 11:30 as Ῥωμαῖοι ("Romans").1 Maccabees 1:1 states that "Alexander the Great the Macedonian" had come from the "land of Kittim".[4] In theWar of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness from theDead Sea Scrolls, the Kittim are referred to as being "ofAsshur".[5]Eleazar Sukenik argued that this reference to Asshur should be understood to refer to theSeleucid Empire which controlled the territory of the formerAssyrian Empire at that time, but his sonYigael Yadin interpreted this phrase as a veiled reference to the Romans.[6]
Answers in Genesis identifies the Greek godCronus with Javan's son Kittim,[7] while others (including theWorldwide Church of God) have suggested that Kittim became the progenitor of variouseastern Asian peoples.[8]
Some authors[citation needed] have speculated that it comes from anAkkadian word meaning "invaders". Others (followingMax Müller) have identified Kittim with the land ofHatti (Khatti), as theHittite Empire was known.[9]
Kittim (Hebrew: כִּתִּים, alternately transliterated asChittim orCethim) in the genealogy ofGenesis 10 in theHebrew Bible, is the son ofJavan, Genesis 10:4, the grandson ofJapheth, andNoah's great-grandson.
The mediaeval rabbinic compilationYosippon contains a detailed account of the Kittim. As the peoples spread out, it says, the Kittim camped inCampania and built a city called "Posomanga", while descendants ofTubal camped in neighboringTuscany and built "Sabino", with theTiber river as their frontier. However, they soon went to war following therape of the Sabines by the Kittim, who are correlated to theRomans. This war was ended when the Kittim showed the descendants of Tubal their mutual progeny. They then built cities calledPorto,Albano, and Aresah. Later, their territory is occupied by Agnias, King of Carthage, but the Kittim end up appointing Zepho, son ofEliphaz and grandson ofEsau, as their king, with the titleJanusSaturnus. The first king of Rome,Romulus, is made in this account to be a distant successor of this line. A shorter, more garbled version of this story is also found in the laterSefer haYashar.[10]