In 1498, Annio da Viterbo published fragments known as Pseudo-Berossus, now considered a forgery, claiming that Babylonian records had shown a son of Japheth called Samothes had begun settling what later became Gaul in the 13th year of Nimrod. Later historians such as Raphael Holinshed (1577) identified Samothes as Meshech, and asserted that he first ruled also in Britain.
Beginning from the 16th century, some European scholars proposed the idea that the Muscovites had stemmed from Meshech. Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1616) attributes this opinion to Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560) and to Benito Arias Montano (1571), and it was also followed later by Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758).
Moreover, according to a legend first appearing in the Kievan Synopsis (1674),[2]Moscow (Moskva) was founded by King Mosokh son of Japheth (i.e. Meshech), and was named for him and his wife, Kva. In this legend, they are also said to have had a son, Ya, and daughter, Vuza, who gave their names to the nearby Yauza River.[3]
According to Archibald Sayce, Meshech can be identified with Muska, a name appearing in Assyrian inscriptions, and generally believed to refer to the Mushki.[4]
Most reference books since Flavius Josephus generally identify Meshech in Ezekiel's time as an area in modern Turkey.[5]
Robert Wilkinson's 1823 map of the descendants of Noah's sons which identifies Meshech with Italy
↑ International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda - 1994 - Page 288 1884964028 "The Hebrew Bible also mentions both Tubal (Tabal) and Meshech (Muski)"
