John Gill (1697-1771) claimed Tiras was more aptly described as the founder of Thrace than Persia, stating that "[Tiras is interpreted] better the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, and so a Jewish chronologer, by Thracia; for the descendants of Thiras, as Josephus observes, the Greeks call Thracians; and in Thrace was a river called Athyras, which has in it a trace of this man's name; and Odrysus, whom the Thracians worshipped, is the same with Tiras, which god sometimes goes by the name of Thrax; and is one of the names of Mars, the god of the Thracians.". According to some biblical commentators, the descendants of Tiras have been identified with the Tyrsenoi, "who raided throughout the Aegean sea"; and to the Tursha (Turusha or Teresh), who were recorded by Egyptian sources at the time of pharaons Merneptah and Ramses II. Biblical commentators also propose a possible connection with the city of Troy, known in the Hittite language as Taruisa. Others (including Daniel G. Brinton) have suggested Tiras is the progenitor of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Notes Book of Genesis people Books of Chronicles people Hebrew Bible nations Japheth Noach (parashah) Thrace Etruscans Book of Jubilees