Elishah, or Eliseus was the son of Javan according to the Book of Genesis in the Masoretic Text. The GreekSeptuagint of Genesis 10 lists Elisa not only as the son of Javan, but also a grandson of Japheth. His name is spelled differently in Hebrew to the prophetElisha, ending in a hei instead of an ayin. Scholars have often identified Elishah with Cypriots, as in ancient timesthe island of Cyprus or part of it was known as Alashiya. JudeanhistorianFlavius Josephus related the descendants of Elishah with the Aeolians, one of the ancestral branches of the Greeks. Elishah is also mentioned in the mediaeval, rabbinic Book of Jasher ; he is said in Jasher to have been the ancestor of the "Almanim", possibly a reference to Germanic tribes. An older and more common tradition refers to him as a settler of Greece, particularly Elis in the Peloponnese. Lusitanian mythology traditionally makes Elishah an ancestor and predecessor of Lusus. Lysias' own supposed tomb claims that he was the first "cultivator" of Lusitania. Lusus' reign is traditionally placed in the 16th - 15th centuriesBC, e.g., in the Livro Primeiro da Monarchia Lusitana. All this is debated; Lusus has also been described as coming before Lysias, who would thus be too late to be Elishah or vaguely at the same time, or even the same individual under different names. Lusus is sometimes called a son of Baccus and of the lineage of Lysias, or the other way around, or even a mere companion. The Portugueseorator and mythographerFather António Vieira refers to Elishah as founder and eponym of Lisbon and Lusitania, as well as the origin of the name of the mythologicalElysium. Vieira also identified Elisha's biblical brother Tarshish as the founder of Tartesos in Andalucia, implying both would have come to Iberia with Tubal. Elishah in this Portuguese portrayal is identified with Bacchus' captain Lysias/Lísias, sometimes also with Lusus and Phoroneus, and is referred to as the founder of Portalegre and being buried at the Ermida de São Cristovão inside the town.
