12th Day of Christmas
2012, = January 5th, 2012 The Coming One Strikes "Woman Clothed in
the Sun with the Moon at her feet and a Crown of Seven Stars on
her Head" Triple Verified Accurate Essene Book of Revelation
Prophecy NOT Orthodox in bible
jerusalem = "Temple to
Plunder and perform Sacrilegious acts in" = Hierosyla =
Hierosolyma = "now called Judea, and founded a city and settled
there. This city was named Hierosyla,157 [p.146] from their
{plundering and sacrilegious] disposition.
__________________________
Hierusalem = 308 ... p
68 [ and referred to on 77 as 108]
Biblia Cabalistica,
Walter Begley
Wikipedia:
... jerusalem
Etymology
A city called
Rušalimum or
Urušalimum
(Foundation of Shalem)[26]
appears in ancient Egyptian records as the first two
references to
Jerusalem,
dating back to the 19th and 18th centuries BCE.[27][28]
The name recurs in Akkadian cuneiform as
Urušalim,
in the Amarna tablets
datable to the 1400-1360 BCE. The name “Jerusalem” is variously
etymologised to mean
“foundation
(Sumerian yeru, ‘settlement’/Semitic yry, ‘found’)
of the
god Shalem”,
‘dwelling of
peace’,
‘founded in safety’,[29]
or to mean
‘Salem gives
instruction’
(yrh, ‘show, teach,
instruct’).
The
god Shalem
has a special relationship with Jerusalem.[30]
Others dismiss the Sumerian link, and point to
yarah,
Semitic/Hebrew for
‘to lay a
cornerstone’,
yielding the idea of
laying a
cornerstone to the temple of the god Shalem,
who was a member of the West Semitic pantheon (Akkadian Shalim,
Assyrian Shulmanu), the god of the setting sun and the nether
world, as well as of health and perfection.[31]
The form
Yerushalayim
(Jerusalem)
first appears in the Bible, in the
book of
Joshua.
This form has the appearance of a portmanteau
(blend) of
Yireh
(an abiding place
of the fear and the service of God) [32]
The meaning of the common root S-L-M
is unknown but is thought to refer to either
"peace"
(Salam or Shalom in modern
Arabic and Hebrew)
or
Shalim,
the god of dusk in the
Canaanite religion.[33][34]
The
Yerushalayim
(Jerusalem)
name gained the popular
meanings
"The City
of Peace"[26][35]
and
"Abode of Peace",[36][37]
alternately
"Vision of Peace"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem
in some Christian theology.[38]
Typically the ending -im indicates the plural in Hebrew grammar
and -ayim the dual, thus leading to
the suggestion that the name refers to the fact that the city
sits on two hills.[39][40]
However the pronunciation of the last syllable as -ayim appears
to be a late development, which had not yet appeared at the time
of the Septuagint.
The most ancient settlement of Jerusalem, founded as early as
the Bronze Age on the hill above the Gihon Spring, was according to the Bible named Jebus.[41]
It was renamed the City of David in the first millennium BCE,[41]
and was known by this name in antiquity.[42][43]
Another name,
"Zion",
initially referred to a distinct part of the city, but later
came to signify the city as a whole and to represent the
biblical Land of Israel. In
Greek
and Latin
the
city's name was
transliterated
Hierosolyma
(Greek:
Ἱεροσόλυμα;
in Greek
hieròs,
ἱερός,
means
holy),
although the city was renamed Aelia Capitolina for part of the
Roman period of its history.
In Arabic,
Jerusalem
is most commonly known as
القُدس,
transliterated as al-Quds and meaning
"The
Holy"
or
"The Holy Sanctuary".[36][37]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem
Official Israeli government policy
mandates that
أُورُشَلِيمَ,
transliterated as
Ūršalīm,
which is the
cognate of
the Hebrew and English names,
be used as the Arabic language name for the city in
conjunction with القُدس. أُورُشَلِيمَ-القُدس.[44]
....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem
Another Source;
Meaning and etymology
of the name Jerusalem
Jerusalem
There is no town as Biblical as Jerusalem, but it was neither
built nor named by Hebrews. Remnants of a Canaanite town called
Salem date back to the early bronze age, and the first Biblical
mentioning of this place is in Genesis 14:18, where Abraham and
Melchizedek meet. The name Jerusalem occurs first in Joshua 10:1
and the city of Jerusalem was conquered, sacked and apparently
abandoned by Israel (Judges 1:8). Four hundred years later David
conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites, annexed it and made it his
capital (2 Samuel 5:6).
By the time the
Hebrews had a say in it,
the
name Jerusalem had been long established.
Most likely, the original name, that sounded something like
Urusalimum or Ursalimmu,
meant
Foundation Of
Shalem,
the latter being a known Ugaritic god. The
reason why the
Hebrews
didn't rename the city
when they had the chance
may be because its name was easily transliterated into something
very striking in Hebrew.
Without a doubt the second and dominant part of the name reminded
(then and now) of the
word shalom
(shalom),
peace.
The root of this word,
shalem (shalem),
denotes
completeness,
wholeness and soundness.
In this sense the
name
Jerusalem
is related to some other famous names from the David saga:
Solomon and Absalom.
The first part of the name Jerusalem may likely have reminded a
Hebrew audience of the verb
yara
(yara),
throw, cast or
shoot.
This verb is used when arrows are shot, stones are thrown or
stacked and even when lots are cast. Other derivations of this
same verb is
yoreh
(yoreh),
early
rain,
and
moreh (moreh
b, c),
meaning
both
early rain and teacher.
Basically, the verb and its nouns have to do with many little
impulses that cause a larger and unified event, or serve to obtain
a
larger and unified objective. Most striking, however, is the
derivation Torah (tora), which is the word Torah, or Law.
Perhaps the name Jerusalem was never changed, but only Hebraized,
because it seems to mean
Rain Of
Peace.
Jerusalem was to be the
radiating
heart of a world
of
completeness and wholeness.
It seems that history supplied her with a most suiting name.
For a meaning of the name Jerusalem, NOBS Study Bible Name List
reads Possession Of Peace. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament
Proper Names reads Foundation Of Peace.
Other names that derive from the root shalem are: Absalom,
Abishalom, Meshullam, Meshillemoth, Meshelemiah, Meshullemeth,
Salome, Shallum, Shallun, Shalman, Shalmaneser, Shelemiah,
Shelomi, Shelomith, Shelomoth, Shelumiel, Shillem, Shillemites,
Sholomoh, Shulammite, Solomon.
http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Jerusalem.html#.TwPL_bPQJcw
Cory's
Ancient
Fragments
OF THE
PHOENICIAN, CARTHAGINIAN, BABYLONIAN, EGYPTIAN
AND OTHER AUTHORS.
A New and
Enlarged Edition;
THE TRANSLATION CAREFULLY REVISED, AND ENRICHED WITH NOTES
CRITICAL
AND EXPLANATORY, WITH INTRODUCTIONS
TO THE SEVERAL FRAGMENTS.
__________
BY
E. RICHMOND HODGES,
M.C.P. ; FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL
ARCH/EOLOGY; LATE MISSIONARY TO THE
JEWS IN EGYPT, SYRIA, AND NORTH AFRICA; EDITOR OF THE
"PRINCIPIA HEBRAICA;"
AND JOINT-REVISER (WITH DR. GOTCH) OF THE "AUTHORISED VERSION
OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT" FROM THE HEBREW AND CHALDEE TEXTS.
___________
LONDON :
REEVES & TURNER, 196, STRAND.
____
1876.
___________
[p.iii]
TO
SAMUEL BIRCH, LL.D.,
KEEPER OF THE ORIENTAL ANTIQUITIES IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM ;
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY,
ETC., ETC., ETC.
AS A SCHOLAR TO WHOM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY IS
INDEBTED FOR THE RESUSCITATION OF SO MUCH OF
THE LONG-BURIED LEARNING OF THE ANCIENT
WORLD, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED, WITH
THE MOST PROFOUND RESPECT AND
ADMIRATION, BY
THE EDITOR.
_____________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Those pieces which are for the first time
published in this work are marked with a *.
| Dedication |
.......... |
iii |
| Advertisement |
|
v |
| Editor's Preface |
|
vii
|
On the Origin, Progress, and Results of
Hieroglyphic and
Cuneiform Decipherment. By the Editor |
|
xiv
|
| On Phoenician Literature: Introduction
to Sanchoniathon. By the Editor |
|
xxxii |
| SANCHONIATHON. |
| The Fragments of Sanchoniathon: |
|
|
| Extracted from Eusebius |
|
1 |
| Porphyry |
|
21
|
| Philo-Byblius, or Porphyry |
|
22
|
| THE TYRIAN
ANNALS. |
| From Dius and MENANDER. |
|
|
| The Fragments of the Tyrian Annals: |
|
|
| Extracted from Dius |
|
27
|
| Menander |
|
28
|
| THE PERIPLUS
OF HANNO. |
| Introduction to the Periplus of Hanno |
|
35
|
| The Voyage of Hanno, Commander of the
Carthaginians |
|
36
|
| CHALDEAN
HISTORY. |
| From
BEROSUS, ABYDENUS, and MEGASTHENES. |
| Introduction to Berosus. By the Editor |
|
43
|
| The Fragments of Berosus: |
|
|
| Extracted from Apollodorus |
|
51
|
| Abydenus |
|
53
|
| Alexander Polyhistor |
|
56
|
| Josephus, the Jewish Historian |
|
64
|
| Athenaeus |
|
68
|
| * Clement, Bishop of Alexandria |
|
69
|
| Seneca |
|
70
|
| The Fragments of Megasthenes: |
|
|
| Extracted from Abydenus |
|
71
|
| CHALDEAN
FRAGMENTS. |
| Of the Ark. From Nicolas of Damascus |
|
74
|
| Concerning the Dispersion of Mankind
after the Flood. From Hestiaeus |
|
74
|
| Concerning the Tower of Babel. From
Alexander Polyhistor |
|
75
|
| From the Sibylline Oracles |
|
75
|
| Concerning the Tower of Babel and
Abraham. From Eupolemus |
|
77
|
| Concerning Abraham. From Nicolas of
Damascus |
|
78
|
* Of Abraham and his Descendants, and of
Moses and the Land
of Israel. From Justin, out of Trogus Pompeius |
|
78
|
| Concerning Belus. From Eupolemus |
|
82
|
| From Thallus |
|
82
|
| Of the Assyrian Empire. From Ktesias |
|
83
|
| From Diodorus Siculus |
|
83
|
| From Herodotus |
|
84
|
| Of Nabopollasar. From Alexander
Polyhistor |
|
84
|
| Of the Chaldasan and Assyrian Kings.
From Alexander Polyhistor |
|
85
|
| Of Sennacherib. From Alexander
Polyhistor |
|
86
|
| Of Sennacherib and his Successors. From
Alexander Polyhistor |
|
87
|
| Of Sennacherib and his Successors. From
Abydenus |
|
89
|
| Of Belus and the Assyrian Empire. From
Castor |
|
90
|
| Chaldaean Theogony. From Damascius |
|
92
|
| * From Agathias |
|
92
|
| EGYPTIAN
HISTORIES. |
Containing
the OLD CHRONICLE; the Remains of MANETHO; and
the LATERCULUS of ERATOSTHENES. |
| Introduction, By the Editor: |
|
|
| Biographical Notice of Abydenus |
|
95
|
| Megasthenes |
|
95
|
| Eratosthenes |
|
96 |
| Apollodorus |
|
96 |
| Julius Africanus |
|
97 |
| Alexander Polyhistor |
|
101 |
| George the Syncellus |
|
102 |
| Introduction to the Lists of Manetho. By
the Editor |
|
104 |
| The Fragments of Manetho |
|
109 |
The Egyptian Dynasties. The Dynasty of
the Demigods in
The Egyptian Dynasties after the Deluge |
|
112 |
| The Second Book of Manetho |
|
117 |
| The Third Book of Manetho |
|
121 |
| Of the Shepherd Kings |
|
126 |
| Of the Israelites |
|
131 |
| The Old Egyptian Chronicle |
|
136 |
| Erastosthenes' Canon of the Kings of
Thebes |
|
138 |
| MISCELLANEOUS
FRAGMENTS. |
| Of the Exodus. From Chaeremon |
|
142 |
| From Diodorus Siculus |
|
143 |
| From Lysimachus |
|
144 |
| From Polemo |
|
146 |
| From Ptolemaeus Mendesius |
|
146 |
| From Artabanus |
|
147 |
| The Obelisk of Heliopolis. From Ammianus
Marcellinus |
|
148 |
| Of the Siriadic Columns. From Josephus |
|
151 |
| INDIAN
FRAGMENTS. |
| From
MEGASTHENES. |
| The Fragments of Megasthenes: |
|
|
| Of the Ancient Histories of India |
|
153 |
| Of the Castes of India |
|
156 |
| Of the Philosophers |
|
161 |
| Of the Philosophical Sects |
|
162 |
| Of the Indian Suicides |
|
166 |
| Of the Philosophers. From Clitarchus |
|
167 |
| Of the Indian Astronomy. From the
Paschal Chronicle |
|
167 |
| ATLANTIC AND
PANCHAEAN FRAGMENTS. |
| From
MARCELLUS and EUEMERUS. |
| Of the Atlantic Island. From Marcellus |
|
171 |
| Panchsean Fragments. From Euemerus |
|
172 |
| MISCELLANEOUS
FRAGMENTS. |
| * Of the Jews. From Hecataeus of Abdera |
|
177 |
| * ――― From
Agatharchides of Cnidus |
|
183 |
* Concerning the Septuagint Version.
From the Epistle of
Demetrius Phalereus to the King |
|
185 |
| Fragment of King Hiempsars Punic Books.
From Sallust |
|
186 |
| Velleius Paterculus and Æmilius Sura |
|
190 |
| * Cleanthes, Biographical Notice of. By
the Editor |
|
191 |
| * The Hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter. From
Stobaeus |
|
192 |
| Of the Chaldaean Observations. From
Pliny |
|
194 |
| * Of the Manners of the Babylonians.
From Nicolas of Damascus |
|
194 |
| The Canon of the Kings of Egypt. From
Diodorus Siculus |
|
199 |
| Index, Rerum et Verborum |
|
205 |
[p.v]
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE work of which we here present to the public
a new edition, was published by the late Isaac Preston Cory
nearly half a century ago. After a few years a new and enlarged
edition1
was called for, which was so well received by the public that it
has long been out of print. The book being still in great demand
by students of antiquity, we have resolved on meeting the wishes
of the public by issuing a new edition. We have caused the
translation to be revised, and have added introductions to the
several fragments, together with notes and explanations supplied
from the recently-interpreted hieroglyphic and cuneiform texts,
and from the researches of competent scholars. We have thus
sought to make the student acquainted with the various sources
of information which have been discovered since this collection
of fragments first appeared, and to throw some light from the
mounds of Nineveh and the temples of Egypt upon these relics of
the long-forgotten past.
[p.vii]
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
__________________
IN giving to the public a new edition of Cory's
Ancient Fragments I have endeavoured to respond to the wishes of
numerous literary friends by furnishing a brief account of the
several authors to whom we are indebted for these extracts, and,
at the same time, some information respecting the decipherment
of the hieroglyphic texts of Egypt, and the cuneiform records of
Nineveh and Babylon. The first edition of this work appeared in
1826, the second in 1832; therefore, at a time when Egyptian
scholarship was still in its infancy, while cuneiform research
had not yet seen the light. The discoveries of Champollion,
Young, Birch, Bunsen, Brugsch, Chabas, Le Page Renouf, Godwin,
and a host of other scholars in the former field of research,
and of Layard, Botta, Rawlinson, Norris, Oppert, Menant, George
Smith, Sayce, Fox Talbot, and Schrader in the latter, have
furnished so much valuable information respecting the ancient
empires of Egypt and Assyria, that we can no longer rest
satisfied with the meagre accounts transmitted to us by the
classic writers concerning times and people with which they were
themselves but imperfectly [p.viii] acquainted.
At a time, therefore, when, thanks to the labours of the
distinguished scholars above named, we can read with
considerable facility and astonishing certainty the papyri of
Egypt and the clay-tablets of Babylon, it behoves us to pause
for a moment, and consider how this wonderful mine of ancient
treasures was discovered, and the means by which it has been
worked. Cory's Fragments constitute a fitting supplement to the
fragments which have been exhumed from the mounds of Nineveh,
and rescued from the tombs and mummy-pits of Egypt. Considered
in this light they will be found to explain and complete one
another; for, in the one we have Assyrians and Egyptians
speaking for themselves each in his own tongue; in the other the
information is supplied through a Greek channel, and reaches us,
no doubt, more or less coloured by the media through which it
has passed. It is only when we place the two accounts side by
side that we are in a position to estimate their respective
values, and reproduce the half obliterated lines. "The contents
of this volume," says Cory, in his preface, are fragments, which
have been translated from foreign languages into Greek, or have
been quoted, or transcribed, by Greeks from foreign authors; or,
have been written in the Greek language by foreigners who have
had access to the archives of their own countries."
By way of supplement the original editor had [p.ix] added such extracts and
fragments as appear to have descended from more ancient sources,
though they are now to be found only in the works of Greek and
Latin writers. "The classical reader," he continues, "will find
but poor amusement in perusing a half-barbarous dialect, replete
with errors and inconsistencies;" I have, therefore, with the
two-fold object of diminishing the price and of obtaining space
for more valuable matter, adopted Cory's estimate of the
original, and omitted the Greek text. By this omission the value
of the work will not be diminished, the price will be
considerably lower, and, without increasing the size of the
book, I am able to give valuable elucidations of the fragments
from the most recent sources of information. Those who desire to
consult the originals can still do so in Bunsen's Egypt's Place
in Universal History (vol. I., at the end), or, in Muller's
Fragmenta Grceca,2
there seemed, therefore, no reason why I should enhance the
price of the book by publishing these specimens of "a
half-barbarous dialect," or take up the reader's time with
"errors and inconsistencies." I have generally given Cory's
translation, seldom departing from it except where it was
manifestly wrong, ambiguous, or ill-arranged. Sometimes, to
render the book more readable, I have thrown two sentences into
one; but in no case have I departed from the meaning of the
author.
[p.x] Where the sense was obscure
or incomplete or a name occurred under an unusual form, I have
added in the text, but within brackets, the word required to
complete the meaning, or the more usual name of the person or
place. The purpose for which these fragments are here brought
together is to enable the student of antiquity to bring as it
were into one focus all the scattered rays of light, and to
project them, thus concentrated, into the dark cavern of
primeval history. Why then should we render the light still more
defective by retaining more of its smoke than is unavoidable? In
other words, why retain unexplained, Greek forms of well-known
Hebrew, Babylonian, or Egyptian names (as but translators have
done in the New Testament), where we meet with Noe for Noah,
Elias for Elijah, Jesus for Joshua, and Eliseus for the
well-known Elisha? If we were translating a German author would
it, for instance, be tolerated for a moment if we, following our
author, gave Mailand as the equivalent of Milan, called Venice
by its German name Venedig, or spoke of Geneva as Genf?
Whenever, therefore, I have met with a name which has a
well-established form in our own language, I have given,
together with the Greek, the usually-accepted English
equivalent, e.g., Nabuchodrosorus, I have called by his
well-known name of Nebuchadnezzar; and Ithobalus I have called,
as in our version of the Bible, Ethbaal. It is best not to
assume too much knowledge on the [p.xi]
part of our readers; it is more prudent to err on the side of
prolixity than leave them to flounder in the mire of
uncertainty. Herein I am reminded of a circumstance which came
under my notice some few years back. Dining with a well-known
clergyman in the west of England on one of his lecture-nights,
he read to me a portion of the lecture he was that night to
deliver, in which the name Brittany occurred several times,
without any indication where it was to be sought. I suggested
that he should add some short parenthetical statement as to its
being in France, and in what part of that country. My friend did
not see the necessity of it he was quite sure that the
intelligent audience which he was about to address knew where
Brittany was in short, they would almost feel themselves
insulted in being told it was in France. I told him I thought
differently, and if he liked I would put it to the test
immediately. Would you have the kindness to ask Miss B. his
eldest daughter, a young lady of nineteen to step into the study
and ask her. If she replies off-hand I will yield the point, and
assume that all the people are as intelligent and well-read in
geography as Miss B. The reverend gentleman called his daughter,
and put the question. She appeared much perplexed, and, without
attempting a reply, after five minutes' consideration withdrew
covered with blushes, repeating "No! I don't pa," to the old
gentleman's evident annoyance. In speaking of Brittany that [p.xii] night the worthy pastor told
them to "look for it in the map of France." If, therefore, I may
seem to some critics to have spent too much time in explaining
what to themselves is sufficiently intelligible, I beg they will
recollect, that among my readers there will be many to whom such
matters are not so evident; and that it is for the benefit of
plain English readers that I explain what seems so very obvious
to classical scholars. In short, having set aside the Greek text
as a costly and useless encumbrance, the book now addresses
itself to the ordinary English student, who does not happen to
have enjoyed the advantages of an early classical training. In
carrying out my plan I shall explain Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek,
Phoenician, and Egyptian words wherever they occur, and thus
endeavour to place the English reader, so far as these Fragments
are concerned, on a level with the best Oriental scholars of our
day. I have also referred the student to authorised translations
of cuneiform and hieroglyphic texts, whenever I thought that any
additional light was thrown by them upon the statements
contained in these Fragments. Lastly, it remains only for me to
say in this place that I have omitted Cory's preface entirely,
as resting chiefly upon the long-exploded learning of Jacob
Bryant, Faber, and Parkhurst; and have dispensed altogether with
the Neo-Platonic forgeries which Cory had placed at the end,
bearing the titles respectively of, Oracles of Zoroaster, the
Hermetic [p.xiii] Creed, the
Orphic, Pythagorean, and other fragments, of doubtful
authenticity and of little value. We now possess, thanks to the
labours of MM. Anquetil Duperron, Spiegel, and Haug, all the
remains of the so-called Zend-Avesta, of which only a small
portion the Gathas are regarded by competent scholars as
genuine. Comparing these so-called Oracles of Zoroaster with the
genuine fragments, we have every reason to reject them as
spurious. Such as they are, however, they will be found,
translated into English, in Stanley's Lives of the Philosophers.
I have preferred, therefore, in the present edition, to omit
this farrago of metaphysico-philosophical nonsense, and have
added several fragments of other ancient authors containing
matter of greater importance.
THE EDITOR.
LONDON, 1876.
__________________
[p.xiv]
ON THE
ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND RESULTS
OF
HIEROGLYPHIC AND CUNEIFORM
DECIPHERMENT.
_______________
Egyptian Hieroglyphics and their Decipherment.
THE foundation of all our knowledge of the
monumental and literary treasures of Ancient Egypt is based on
the fortunate discovery of the famous Rosetta Stone, now
treasured up in the British Museum. In 1799, we are told by Dr.
Birch (Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphics], M. Boussard,
of the French Expedition, discovered near Rosetta, a large stone
of black granite, commonly known as the Rosetta stone, or
inscription, which, at the capitulation of Alexandria, was
surrendered to General Hutchinson, and presented by King George
III. to the British Museum.
"It contained," he continues, "a trigrammatical inscription; one
in hieroglyphics, a second in the demotic or vernacular, and a
third in Greek." From the Greek translation it appeared that it
was a solemn decree of the united priesthood, in synod at [p.xv] Memphis, in honour of Ptolemy
V., who had conferred upon them certain benefits. By the
successive labours of Dr. Thomas Young, Champollion, Deveria,
Dr. Birch, Bunsen, Brugsch, Chabas, and other eminent scholars,
the values of the hieroglyphic characters have been determined,
and the two Egyptian texts translated. In 1865 a new bilingual
inscription, Greek and hieroglyphic, was discovered at San, the
ancient Zoan or Tanis. This new inscription has confirmed the
accuracy of our previous researches, and adds a considerable
amount of new information, especially as regards geographical
names.3
Egyptologists are now able to read the important historical
inscriptions found at Mount Sinai and in all parts of the land
of Egypt. The literature, historical, political, religious, and
philosophical, of the ancient Egyptians4
is now spread open before us, and reflects a brilliant light
upon the ancient fragments of Manetho and other writers
contained in this work.
[p.xvi]
Cuneiform Decipherment.
DURING the past quarter of a century a new and
unexpected revelation has come to us from the plains of
Mesopotamia and the banks of the Tigris. The buried cities of
Babylon and Nineveh, of Erech, and Arbela, have sprung from
their long-forgotten graves, and yielded to Botta and Layard,
Rawlinson and Loftus, their ancient records and historic
treasures. In our early days Nineveh was but a name, and Babylon
an abstraction: their annals were partially recorded in the
venerable pages of Holy Writ, and we had glimpses of their
ancient glories in the histories and poems of the classic
writers; but their sites were unknown, or unidentified, and the
wandering Arab or Eeliyaut pitched his tent and tended his
flocks among their long-forgotten sepulchres.
Still, amidst all this ruin and obscurity there
existed a key to unlock the treasures of the past: the man only
was wanted who should discover and employ it. We purpose,
therefore, on the present occasion to answer the oft-repeated
question, How have we attained the power to read and translate
the cuneiform inscriptions of the Assyrians and Babylonians, and
what proof can be given of our success therein?
The collections of Europe, but, more especially those of the
Louvre and the British Museum, contain innumerable specimens of
Assyrian sculpture, and [p.xvii]
whole volumes of Assyrian history history, as has been well
observed, written of not in books, nor on paper, but upon rocks
and stones cylinders of baked clay and burnt bricks. It is, we
believe, generally known that these inscriptions, so far as they
relate historical matter, can now be read and translated with
almost as much ease, and with nearly the same accuracy, as a
page of Sanskrit or Arabic; but few, we believe, are acquainted
with the process by which this power has been attained. The
readers of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society are no doubt
aware of the painful steps by which this success has been
achieved; but the great majority of intellectual people not
being members of that learned Society are in the deepest
ignorance with reference to this interesting question. Rarely
have we met with any one who had clear and accurate knowledge of
the origin of cuneiform decipherment, and of the vast importance
of the results attained. Though always taking a deep interest in
such discoveries ourselves, we confess that, if any one had
asked us five or six years ago what we knew of the subject, we
should have been compelled in truth to say, Very little! Our
first accurate and connected ideas upon the subject were derived
from the very valuable work of M. Menant, "Les Ecritures
Cuneiformes, Expose des travaux qui ont prepare la lecture et
l'interpretation des inscriptions de la Perse et de l'Assyrie"
2nd edition, Paris, 1864.
[p.xviii] When Botta and Layard
excavated the mounds of Mesopotamia, and brought to light their
buried treasures to adorn our museums, and throw a gleam of
light on the sadly blurred and blotted pages of antiquity, the
nature of the cuneiform characters was comparatively unknown.
From the days of the British Resident at Bagdad, Mr. Rich, and
Sir Robert Ker Porter, inscriptions in the cuneiform character
were continually being published and conjecturally interpreted
by charlatans and pretenders; but no real basis was .found on
which to rear the vast fabric which was destined to be built.
Grotefend, of Gottingen, in the beginning of the present
century, was the first to lay the foundation-stone of cuneiform
decipherment. Munter and Tychsen had previously identified the
group for "king," and established the use of the
diagonally-placed wedge as a word-divider.
A copy of two short inscriptions found at
Persepolis, was placed before Grotefend, the one of Darius
Hystaspes, the other of his son Xerxes. He conjectured that,
probably, these were inscriptions emanating from a Persian
monarch of the Achaemenide dynasty, or successors of Achaemenes;
he fixed upon a certain group of characters, which, from their
frequent recurrence, might contain the name of some king of that
dynasty. Taking one of these short inscriptions, he tried the
names of Xerxes and of Cyrus, but without success. He then tried
that of Darius, and succeeded. By the decipherment of this name
[p.xix] he obtained the values of
five or six cuneiform characters: he read the name Dara-ya-vush
or Darius, and his title khshayathiya khshayathiyanam, "king of
kings, son of Vistaspa," &c., which furnished several more
phonetic values. Distinguished scholars, such as Westergard, and
Rask, of Copenhagen, Lassen, of Bonn, and Burnouf, of Paris,
then took up the study on the Continent, while Dr. Hincks and
Mr. Fox Talbot devoted their attention to the decipherment of
the third kind of inscriptions, the Assyrian. Our Universities
have produced as yet no cuneiform scholars, with the exception
of Hincks and Sayce, nor can we point out any distinguished
clergyman in the Church, except Mr. Sayce,5
who has devoted himself to this study. Yet, in spite of much
indifference, and not a little determined opposition, progress
continued to be made. Hitherto only copies of the two short
inscriptions found at Persepolis, the one a decree of Xerxes,
the other of Darius, had formed the sole materials for study. A
longer text was then found on the rocks of Elvend, which soon
attracted the attention of the savants of Europe. Burnouf
devoted himself to the study of the Persian text, and De Saulcy
to the Assyrian. Fortunately, all these inscriptions emanating
from the Persian monarchs, are drawn up in three languages, and
it is [p.xx] by their aid that we
have been able to overcome the difficulties, otherwise
insuperable, of reading the annals of Assyrian and Babylonian
kings. The brevity of all the trilingual inscriptions hitherto
known in Europe, however, limited our knowledge to but a few
cuneiform characters, and to still fewer words. The long-desired
key was at length found in the very long inscription of Darius
Hystaspes at Behistun, in Persia.6
We owe the first copy of this very valuable document to Sir
Henry Rawlinson, who, while engaged in official duties as H. M.
ambassador to the Court of Persia, embraced the opportunity
afforded him by its proximity to Kermanshah to procure a copy of
it. The Persian text he published with a Latin translation in
the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1846, and the
Assyrian text, with a translation into Latin, in the same
Journal in 1851.
Here the scholars of Europe had a text on which to exercise
their ingenuity, and one worthy of their exertions. The Persian
text is written with a cuneiform alphabet of about 40
characters; the Medo-Scythic and the Assyrian translations of
the text are written, the former with a syllabarium, and the
latter in ideograms, and with a syllabarium. This inscription,
which for ages had attracted the attention of travellers going
into Media, was ascribed in [p.xxi]
the time of Diodorus Siculus to the celebrated queen Semiramis.
Instead of this, we know now that it is a record of the acts and
conquests of Darius Hystaspes, who there gives his genealogy,
and mentions the various battles fought by him against the
successive pretenders to the throne. The tone of piety in which
it is written, the religious feeling shown throughout in the
ascription of all his victories to Ormuzd, the supreme deity of
the Persians, and the love of truth there inculcated, render
this a very valuable testimony to the state of religious and
moral feeling at that remote period. The names and facts
recorded, also, most surprisingly confirm the statements of the
Greek authors, Herodotus and Diodorus.
Interesting as the Behistun Inscription undoubtedly is, it
becomes still more so as being the starting-point of Babylonian
and Assyrian decipherment. There are more than ninety
proper-names in the Assyrian text of this inscription; and,
since proper-names are not translated, but only transcribed from
one language into another, it follows, that having by the
decomposition of these ninety names, obtained a portion of the
Assyrian syllabary, we were then in a position to commence the
reading of the remainder of the inscription. The Persian text of
the Behistun Inscription was our first spelling-book, and its
renderings our first dictionary of the Assyrio-Babylonian
language. But, it maybe asked, How did we obtain a key to the
Persian text? It is true that [p.xxii]
Grotefend, Burnouf, Lassen, Oppert, and Hincks had laboured with
Sir H. Rawlinson at the discovery of the phonetic values of the
Persian characters ; but who gave us the vocabulary? This also
was a work of time; but the publication of the Zend-Avesta by
Anquetil-Duperron, the study of the Zend, or Old Bactrian, and
Sanskrit languages, all contributed to aid the student in
determining the meaning of the Persian words. In fact, many of
the words are identical with the Sanskrit, e.g., putra a son;
bratar a brother; bhumi earth; baga a god; bu to be, to exist;
navi a ship; and many others, are all unchanged Sanskrit words,
while Adam is only a harder form of the Sanskrit aham I.
Then, again, the modern Persian was of great
assistance. Darius commences his address with "I am Darius, the
great king, king of kings," &c. Now such words as
khshdyathiya and vazraka were easily explained from the
corresponding Persian words shah a king, buzurg great; and so of
a great many others.
The labours of Sir Henry Rawlinson have been carried on and
perfected by Spiegel, an eminent German savant, and now we find
there are not twenty words in the whole Persian text of the
meaning of which there is any doubt. The Assyrio-Babylonian
inscription is a tolerably correct translation of the Persian
text. Having, therefore, obtained the values of the Assyrian
characters by pulling to pieces, [p.xxiii]
as it were, the ninety proper-names occurring in the Assyrian
translation, we were able, by the help of the Persian
translation, to render, word for word, the meaning of the
Assyrio-Babylonian text. Dr. Hincks afterwards compiled a
syllabary, as did also Sir H. Rawlinson, and Dr. Oppert.
An attempt was now made at translating for the first time a
uni-lingual text the Standard inscription of Sargon from
Khorsabad. This was translated by Major-General Sir Henry
Rawlinson, and published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society for 1850. At the same time, Sir Henry also published, in
the same Journal, a translation of the inscription on the famous
Black Obelisk, recording the events of the reign of Shalmaneser
II., King of Assyria. This venerable monument was brought by Mr.
Layard from Nimroud, the ancient Calakh, and is now in the
British Museum. The text of these two inscriptions, with many
others of even greater antiquity, has been published by command
of the Trustees of the British Museum.
The learned world still remained incredulous as
to the accuracy of what had been done, and still, though without
any sufficient reason, a few persons remain so. Professor E.
Renan, and some other eminent scholars, impugned the accuracy of
the translations, but it arose from their ignorance of the
subject, and from their unwillingness to climb the tedious
ascent which all who pursue cuneiform studies must ascend.
[p.xxiv] The translation of the
first four years of the annals of Tiglath-Pileser 1st (B. C.
1100) (not the one mentioned in the Bible), by the four most
eminent cuneiform scholars of that day, published in extenso in
the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1860, formed a new
era in cuneiform scholarship. Sir Henry Rawlinson, Mr. Fox
Talbot, Dr. Edward Hincks, and Dr. Oppert, of Paris, laboured
severally on this inscription. Their independent translations
are printed side by side, and any impartial critic may see
plainly that on the whole there is a very remarkable coincidence
in their renderings. To use the words of the arbitrators, "That
they are all agreed, or very nearly so, as to the powers of the
characters, is established by their concurrent readings of
proper names, which they almost always express in as nearly the
same manner as can be expected, when we consider the different
values attached by different persons to the letters of our own
alphabet." Again, they say, "The agreement as regards the
letters being established, it follows that significant terms
will be also similarly read; and this may be assumed to be the
case from the frequent correspondence in the passages of the
translations. It may be stated generally, that with a few
exceptions, the main purport of each paragraph agrees." They
conclude their judgment on the several translations as follows:
"Upon the whole, the result of this experiment than which a
fairer test could scarcely [p.xxv]
be devised may be considered as establishing, almost definitely,
the correctness of the valuation of the characters of these
inscriptions. It is possible that further investigations may
find something to alter, or to add; but, the great portion, if
not the whole, may be read with confidence." One would have
thought that after such a decided expression of opinion by the
most competent scholars, who consented to act as arbitrators,
that the cavillers would have been for ever silenced. But it is
not so: there are still a few who are utterly incredulous as to
the certainty, or accuracy, of cuneiform scholarship. Fifteen
years have elapsed since then, and our cuneiform scholars have
not been idle: Dr. Oppert visited the ruins of Nineveh and
Babylon, and on his return published, at the cost of the French
Government, his excellent and learned work, "Expedition en
Mesopotamie" which contains numerous texts, with translations
and vocabularies of words. The same author has given us the
Annals of Sargon (mentioned Isaiah xx.), an Early History of
Babylon and Assyria, and to him belongs the merit of first
publishing an Assyrian Grammar. Dr. Edwin Norris, late secretary
of the Royal Asiatic Society, has given to the world a
translation of the Medo-Scythic text of the Behistun
Inscription; and, till his decease, was employed on his
invaluable Assyrian Dictionary, three volumes of which have long
been in the hands of cuneiform scholars. Monsieur Joachim Menant
has favoured [p.xxvi] the public
with a valuable grammar of the Assyrian language in the
cuneiform character; Mr. Fox Talbot has introduced many
admirable translations of cuneiform inscriptions, and is now
engaged in the preparation of a very useful Glossary of
Assyrio-Babylonian words; while Mr. George Smith, of the British
Museum, is deserving of all praise for his very valuable work,
entitled the "Annals of Asurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, king of
Assyria" with text and translation; his complete List of
Assyrian Characters and Ideograms; and lastly, for his admirable
sketch of Early Babylonian History, published in the first vol.
of the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, and
reprinted, with additions, in vol. iii. of Records of the Past.
So far we have traced the origin and progress of cuneiform
decipherment. We have now briefly to speak of the results
attained, or yet to be obtained, by the pursuit of this study.
First. We have established the important fact that the Assyrians
were a Semitic people, and spoke a language akin to Hebrew and
Arabic.
Secondly. We learn of the existence, in prehistoric times, of a
great Turanian civilisation in the plains of Mesopotamia. We
learn the surprising fact that, at a remote period, a people
allied to the Finns and Laplanders, and speaking a dialect of
the great Tartar family, founded the cities of central Asia,
invented the most complex system of writing that human ingenuity
ever [p.xxvii] devised, and laid
the foundation of a civilisation which lasted with few radical
changes down to the time of Alexander the Great. Some of their
cities are mentioned in Holy Scripture, as Erech and Accad in
the land of Shinar; and this primitive people is often mentioned
in the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, and called Akkadi, or
Akkads.7
We possess numerous specimens of their literature in the British
Museum, and we find that they were a highly civilized race, who
have left us historical annals, scientific treatises, liturgies,
and mythological tracts. Their language not only permeated the
Assyrian, but even reached the Hebrew, in which are found
several Akkad words, such as yam sea, hakal a temple, ir a city,
and many others. The Akkads were the instructors of the
Assyrians in literature and science, and from them the Assyrians
adopted the arrow-headed, or wedge-shaped system of writing,
which we call cuneiform.
Thirdly. We have learned by the decipherment of the Assyrian
inscriptions, the origin of that remarkable Hebrew word עשתי (ASHTE), which has been the
crux of Hebrew scholars. Joined to the word עשר it denotes eleven. Winer, an eminent
Hebrew scholar, thought that "having counted ten [p.xxviii] upon their fingers,
ash-tay-asar must mean something kept in mind over and above the
ten, and hence eleven." Gesenius, the prince of Hebrew scholars,
commenting on this conjecture of Winer's, cries out in despair,
"By Hercules it is not probable, but I can offer nothing more
satisfactory." Had Gesenius lived to our times he would have
recognised this strange word in the Assyrian ishtin one; the
Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac being respectively akhad, wakaad, and
ekhdo.
Fourthly. We read in the annals of the Assyrian kings of their
wars and conquests what countries they subdued, what peoples
they carried away into captivity, and with what kings they made
covenants and alliance. To every lover of the Bible it must be a
source of great satisfaction to find mention made in the
Assyrian inscriptions of Tyre and Sidon, and Jerusalem and Gaza,
and Samaria (sometimes called Omri). And not only names of
Biblical places, but of Biblical persons are to be found there;
as Hezekiah and Jehoahaz, Ahab and Jehu, and Hazael,
Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Nebuchadnezzar. Under this head of
scriptural illustration will come the deeply interesting fact,
that we now obtain evidence of the true pronunciation of the
sacred and incommunicable name of God. It is, we believe,
generally admitted among Hebrew scholars, that the name Jehovah,
as the designation of the supreme God, is incorrect.
[p.xxix] The Jews never pronounce
this name.8
You never meet with it in the New Testament; showing that even
at that time either the true pronunciation was lost, or it was
considered unlawful to pronounce it, which is the statement of
Philo Judaeus, confirmed by Josephus. Some Hebraists contend for
Yahveh as the correct pronunciation, but with little proof. We
learn, however, from an Assyrian inscription of Sargon's that
the correct pronunciation of the most sacred name of God amongst
the Semitic people was Ya-u, or Yahu. In the Cyprus Inscription
of Sargon we read of a certain Ya-hu-bidi, king of Hamath. Now
as this king's name is preceded by the sign indicating a god, it
is evident that his name is a compound of some divine name, such
as Yahu's servant, in which it resembles the Hebrew name
Jehoahaz, more correctly Yeho-ahaz "one who holds to Yeho," or
Jehovah. In the book of Psalms, too, we are told to praise God
by his name Yah, which is an abbreviated form of Yahu.
Lastly. That this was the most sacred name of God as taught in
the mysteries we learn from Macrobius and Plutarch. We may
assume, therefore, from the very accurate mode of Assyrian
vocalization, that we have here the correct pronunciation of a
Semitic [p.xxx] name as found in
an Assyrian inscription, and that Ya-hu, or Ya-ho, and not
Jehovah, is the correct pronunciation of what has been called
"the ineffable name" of the Most High.
Time would fail to point out the many points of interest of a
historical, philological, and chronological character upon which
Assyrian literature throws a flood of light. We are yet upon the
threshold of the temple of truth; we have not penetrated into
its adytum. The library of Ashurbanipal is not yet all
published, and there are doubtless thousands of deeply
interesting inscriptions of great antiquity still lying buried
under the mounds of Mesopotamia. These have yet to be exhumed
and brought to light, and we trust that our Government will
resume the excavations of Botta and Layard, send out competent
scholars9
to explore the ancient ruins, copy and translate inscriptions,
and rescue from oblivion the stores of valuable information
contained there. We have many inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar's,
but all we possess, at present, merely refer to his restorations
and improvements of the city of Babylon. We want the account of
his conquests, particularly that of his [p.xxxi]
capture of Jerusalem, and transportation of the Jews, and there
is no doubt that such inscriptions exist, and, with many similar
records of other kings, are worthy of our earnest search. Let
not those relics of a past age lie mouldering in their graves.
Let England's sons, who prize and love the Bible, exert
themselves, and show a deep and sincere interest in excavations
and discoveries which throw light on its sacred pages, and
confirm its hallowed truths.
________________
[p.xxxxii]
PHOENICIAN LITERATURE.
SANCHONIATHON.
_________________
PHOENICIAN literature has perished, leaving
barely the traces of its former existence. That the Phoenicians,
however, at a very early period were a literary people, who
spoke a language almost identical with the Hebrew10
we have Biblical evidence, even if it rested on the single fact,
that the city subsequently called Debir, was originally called,
during the Canaanite or Phoenician occupation, before Joshua's
conquest of the land, by the name of Kiryath-Sepher, or
Book-town. We know also, from other sources, that Phoenician
merchants were often philosophers, Carthaginian generals, and
statesmen, literary men, and that Numidian kings, who had
received a Phoenician education and training, possessed
libraries of Phoenician works ; or, as Juba and Hiempsal, were
themselves authors.
The Phoenicians, like most Semitic nations, the Jews for
instance had a very ancient historical [p.xxxiii]
literature, no doubt originating with the inscriptions, which,
in order to perpetuate the memory of past events were preserved
in their temples, and when the Semitic world became better known
to the Greeks, historical works of Phoenician origin are
mentioned in a general way, and, in some cases, the supposed
authors of them are designated. Among them we meet with three
names, Mochus, Hypsikrates, and Theodotus, whose works are said
to have been by one Chaitus translated into Greek. The work of
Mochus, of which several Greek editions existed, began with the
Cosmogony, and after the time of Eudemus is often quoted. Of the
other two, little is known except that Hypsikrates is supposed
by some to be the same as our author Sanchoniathon; an
hypothesis grounded upon the circumstance that Hypsikrates in
Greek signifies the same as Sanchoniathon in Phoenician, which
Movers interprets סס מכנתו,
SAM-ME-KUNATHO = the height (i.e., heaven) is his throne. In the
same manner, Theodotus may be the Greek rendering of the common
Phoenician name בעליתן,
BAAL-YITTEN, i.e., Baal gives. Numerous Greek rechauffes of
historical works, originally composed in the Phoenician
language, are also known to us, bearing the names of
Asclepiades, Chaitus, Claudius, Julius, Dius, Hieronymus the
Egyptian, Histiaeus, Menander of Pergamus, Menander of Ephesus,
Philistus, Posidonius, Philostratus, and Teucer of Cyzicus;
while we have it on [p.xxxiv]
record, that Hiempsal, King of Numidia, wrote a history of
Libya, which is quoted by Sallust. Mago, the famous Carthaginian
general, wrote twenty-eight books on agriculture, which
Dionysius of Utica rendered into Greek, and Silanus, by command
of the Roman senate, translated into Latin. As regards
Sanchoniathon, the author of the following fragments, almost
nothing is known. He is mentioned by Athenaeus (lib. iii. cap.
37), Porphyry, the great opponent of Christianity (De
Abstinentia, lib. ii. sec. 56), Theodoret (De Cur. Graec.
Affect., serm. ii.), by Suidas, who calls him a "Tyrian
philosopher;" and, by Eusebius (De Praeparatione Evangelica,
lib. ii. c. 11). For the fragments of his work which have
escaped the shipwreck of time, we are principally indebted to
Eusebius and his opponent Porphyry. All has perished except
those quotations, made for polemical purposes, by the writers
above named. From their pages they have been again extracted,
put together, and are here placed before the reader for his
examination. Owing to the entire loss of Sanchoniathon's
original, we are indebted for what we know of his work to a
translation into Greek made by a certain Philo (B.C. 100) of
Byblus, a coast town of Phoenicia.11
But we must not withhold from our readers that
the [p.xxxv] loss of the original,
together with the fragmentary character of what remains to us of
Philo's translation, diminish not a little from its value. Hence
many have denied the genuineness of these fragments altogether,
among whom we may mention Ursinus, Dodwell, Van Dale, Meiners,
Hissman, and Lobeck. Others, as Grotius, Goguet, Mignot, Ewald,
and the late Baron Bunsen, have considered these fragments as
genuine, and regard the substance of them as really Phoenician,
and therefore of the highest importance. Those who desire to see
what has been advanced in their favour may consult with
advantage the Introduction to Goguet's Esprit de Lois, Spiegel's
article, "Sanchoniathon," in Hertzog's Real Encyclopadie, and
especially an able article by Prof. Renan, on the Sources of
Sanchoniathon's history, entitled "Memoir e sur l'origine et le
charactere veritable de l'histoire Phoenicienne qui porte le nom
de Sanchoniathon," in the "Memoires de l'Academie des
Inscriptions" Paris, 1860.12
Having thus pointed out the sources of further information
regarding the work of Sanchoniathon, and its historical value,
we consider our task will be completed by presenting the
fragments to the reader, with such elucidations of the [p.xxxvi] Phoenician and Greek words as
occur therein; and then, leaving the student to form his own
judgment, as to their genuineness and importance. Volumes might
be written on either side; and, knowing the weight of argument
to be pretty evenly balanced, we prefer to take no side, but
allow the student, unbiassed by any opinion of our own, to judge
for himself.
[p.1]
______________
SANCHONIATHON.
_______________
EXTRACTED FROM EUSEBIUS' PRÆPARATIO EVANGELICA.13 BOOK I., CHAP. 6.
"Now these things a certain Sanchoniathon has
handed down to posterity, a very ancient author whom they
testify flourished before the Trojan war, and who, commended
both for his industry and fidelity, wrote the History of the
Phoenicians. All the writings of this author, Philo, not the Jew
of that name, but of Byblus, having translated out of the
Phoenician, published in the Greek language.
He supposes that the beginning of all things was a dark and
condensed windy air, or a breeze of dark [p.2]
air, and a chaos turbid and black as Erebus.14
and that these were unbounded, and for a long series of ages
destitute of form [or limit].15
But when this wind became enamoured of its own first principles
(the chaos), and an intimate union took place, that connexion
was called Potho;16
and it was the beginning of the creation of all things. And it
(the Chaos) knew not its own production; but, from its embrace17
with the wind, was generated Mot, which some called Ilus (mud);
but others the putrefaction of a watery mixture. And from this
sprung all the seed of the creation, and the generation of the
universe. And there were certain animals, not having sensation,
from which intelligent animals were produced; and they were
called Zophasemim,[צופי השבוים
[p.3] Tsophe hashshamayim], i.e.,
observers of heaven, and they were formed similar to the shape
of an egg. And Mot shone out with the sun, and the moon, and the
less and the greater stars. "Such (adds Eusebius), "is their
Cosmogony, directly bringing in Atheism. But let us see in
continuation how he states the origin of the animal creation. He
says then, 'And when the air began to send forth light, by its
fiery influence on the sea and earth, winds were produced, and
clouds, and very great defluxions and outpourings of the
heavenly waters. And after that these things were divided and
separated from their proper place by the heat of the sun, and
then all met again in the air, and dashed together, whence
thunders and lightnings were formed; and at the crash of those
thunders the above-named intelligent animals were awakened and
frightened with the sound; and then male and female moved on the
earth and in the sea. This (says Eusebius) is their generation
of animals. After this our author (Sanchoniathon) proceeds to
say, 'These things are written in the Cosmogony of Taautus
(Thoth),18
and in his memoirs, and from the [p.4]
conjectures and evidences which his mind saw and found out, and
wherewith he hath enlightened us. Afterwards (says Eusebius)
declaring the names of the winds, Notus, Boreas and the rest, he
makes this epilogue: 'But these first men consecrated the
productions of the earth, and judged them gods, and worshipped
those things upon which they themselves lived, and all their
posterity and all before them: to these they made libations (or
drink-offerings), and sacrifices.' Then he proceeds, 'These were
the devices of worship suited to the weakness and want of
boldness of their minds (or narrowness of their souls).'―Euseb. Praep. Evan., lib. i.
cap. 10.
Then he says, 'Of the wind Kolpia19
and of his wife, Baau,20
which is interpreted Night, were begotten two mortal men, Aeon21
and Protogonus so called, and Aeon discovered food from trees.
Those begotten from these were called Genos and Genea, and
inhabited Phoenicia, and when great droughts came (upon [p.5] the land) they stretched forth
their hands to heaven, towards the Sun, for this (he says), they
supposed to be the only God, the Lord of Heaven, calling him
BEELSAMIN, which name among the Phoenicians signifies Lord of
Heaven, but among the Greeks is equivalent to Zeus, or Jupiter.
After these things he charges the Greeks with error, saying,
'For we (the Phoenicians), not vainly, have frequently
distinguished those names, but with respect to the later
signification of names accruing to them from later things, the
Greeks, not knowing, have construed otherwise, being led astray
by the ambiguity of their signification. Then he proceeds, 'By
Genos22
the son of Aeon and Protogonos were again begotten mortal
children, whose names were Phos, Pur, and Phlox (i.e. Light,
Fire, and Flame). These found out the method of generating fire
by rubbing together pieces of wood, and taught men the use of it
(i.e., fire). These begat sons of vast bulk and height, whose
names were given to the mountains which they occupied. Thus,
from them were called Mount Cassius, and Libanus, and
Antilibanus, and Brathu.23
'Of these men, he says, were begotten [p.6]
(through intercourse), with their mothers, Memrumus and
Hypsuranius;24
the women of those times without shame having intercourse with
any man they might charice to meet.25
Then, says he, Hypsuranius dwelt in Tyre, and he invented huts
constructed of reeds and rushes, and (found out the use of)
papyrus. And he fell into enmity with his brother Usous, who
first invented a covering for the body, of the skins of the wild
beasts which he could catch.26
And, when violent tempests of winds and rains came, the boughs
of the trees in Tyre being rubbed against each other took fire,
and burnt the wood there. And Usous having taken a tree, and
lopped off its boughs, was the first man who dared to venture
upon it on the [p.7] sea. And he
consecrated two stelae, or pillars, to Fire and Wind,27
and he worshipped them, and poured out to them28
the blood of those wild beasts he had taken in the chase. And
when all these men were dead, those that remained consecrated to
them staves of wood, and worshipped stelae, or pillars, and
celebrated feasts in honour of them every year. And in times
long after these, were born of the race of Hypsuranius,29
Agreus and Halieus (i.e. Hunter and Fisherman), the inventors of
the arts of hunting and fishing, from whom hunters and fishermen
are named.30
Of these were begotten two brothers, the inventors of iron and
the manifold uses of it. One of these, called Chrysor (whom he
says is Vulcan), exercised [p.8]
himself in words and charms, and divinations; and he invented
the hook, bait, and fishing-line, and coracles, or light fishing
boats; and he was the first of men who sailed (i.e., who applied
sails to the propelling of ships). Wherefore men worshipped him
after his death as a God, and they called him Diamichius,31
i.e., the great inventor; and some say his brothers invented the
making of walls with bricks. After these things, of his race
were born two young men, one of whom was called Technites, i.e.,
the Artist; the other, Geinos Autochthon,32
i.e. earth-born, or generated from the earth itself. These men
found out how to mix stubble with the brick-earth, and to dry
the bricks so made in the sun: they were also the inventors of
tiling. By these were begotten others, of whom one was called
Agrus (Field), the [p.9] other
Agroueros, or Agrotes33
(Husbandman), who had a wooden statue that was much venerated,
and a shrine (or portable temple),34
drawn about in Phoenicia by yokes of oxen. And in books (or, at
Byblus), he is called distinctly The greatest of the Gods. These
added to the houses courts, and porticos, and crypts.
Husbandmen, and such as hunt with dogs, derive their origin from
these; they are called also Aletae, and Titans. From these were
descended Amynus and Magus, who taught men to construct villages
and tend flocks. By these men were begotten Misor and Sydyk,
that is, Wellfreed and Just: and they found out the use of salt.
From Misor35
descended Taautus, who invented the writing of the first
letters: the Egyptians called him Thoor, the Alexandrians [p.10] Thoyth, and the Greeks Hermes.
But from Sydyk36
descended the Dioscuri or Cabiri, or Corybantes, or Samothracian
deities. These (he says), first invented a ship. From these
descended others who were the discoverers of medicinal herbs,
and of the cure of poisons, and of charms. Contemporary with
these was one Elioun,37
called Hypsistus (i.e. the most high); and his wife named
Beruth,38
and they dwelt about Byblus [the Hebrew Gebal]. By these was
begotten Epigeus, or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called
Ouranos (i.e. Heaven); so that from him that element which is
over us, by reason of its excellent beauty, is named heaven. And
he had a sister of the same parents, and she was called Ge
(i.e., Earth), and by reason of her beauty the earth was called
by the same name. The father of these, Hypsistus, [or ELIOUN],
having been killed through an en- [p.11]
counter with wild beasts, was consecrated [i.e. deified], and
his children offered libations and sacrifices to him. But
Ouranos succeeding to the kingdom of his father, contracted
marriage with his sister Ge (the Earth), and had by her four
sons, Ilus who is called Kronus,39
and Betylus, and Dagon, which signifies Siton (corn), and Atlas.
But, by other wives, Ouranos had much issue; at which Ge being
vexed and jealous, reproached Ouranos, so that they parted from
each other. But Ouranos, though separated from her, still by
force came, and had intercourse with her, whenever he pleased,
and then went home again. But, when he also attempted to kill
the children he had by her, Ge also often defended, or avenged
herself, gathering unto her auxiliary powers. But when Kronus
came to man's estate, by the advice and assistance of Hermes
Trismegistus,40
who was his secretary, he opposed his father Ouranos, avenging
his mother. And Kronus had children, Persephone,41
and Athena [Minerva]; the former died a virgin; but, by the
advice of Athene and Hermes [i.e. Mercury] Kronus made of iron a
scimitar, and a spear. Then Hermes [or Thoth] addressing the
allies of Kronus with magic words, wrought in them [p.12] a keen desire to fight against
Ouranos42
in behalf of Ge. And thus Kronus, overcoming Ouranos in battle,
drove him from his kingdom, and succeeded him in the imperial
power. In the battle was taken a well-beloved concubine of
Ouranos, who was pregnant; Kronus gave her in marriage to Dagon,43
and she was delivered, and called the child Demaroon. After
these events Kronus builds a wall round about his habitation,
and founds Byblus,44
the first city in Phoenicia. Afterwards Kronus, suspecting his
own brother Atlas, by the advice of Hermes [or Thoth], threw him
into a deep cavern in the earth, and buried him. At this time
the descendants of the Dioscuri, having built some light, and
other more complete, ships, put to sea, and being out over
against Mount Cassius, there consecrated a temple. But the
auxili- [p.13] aries of Ilus, (who
is Kronus), were called Elohim,45
(as it were) the allies of Kronus; they were so called after
Kronus [IL or EL]. And Kronus, having a son called Sadidus,
dispatched him with his own sword, because he held him in
suspicion; and with his own hand deprived his son of life. And
in like manner he cut off the head of his own daughter, so that
all the gods were amazed at the mind of Kronus. But, in process
of time, Ouranos, being in banishment, sent his daughter
Astarte, with two other sisters, Rhea and Dione, to cut off
Kronus by deceit; but Kronus took the damsels, and married them,
being his own sisters. Ouranos understanding this, sent
Eimarmene and Hora, with other auxiliaries, to make war against
him: but Kronus gained the affections of these also, and kept
them with himself. Moreover, the god Ouranos devised Baetulia,
contriving stones that moved as having life.46
And to Kronus was born by Astarte [p.14]
seven daughters, called Titanides, or Artemides; and again to
him were born by Rhea seven sons, the youngest of whom was
consecrated from his birth; also by Dione he had daughters, and
by Astarte again two sons, Pothos, [or Desire], and Eros [or
Cupid]. And Dagon after he had found out bread-corn and the
plough, was called Jupiter Arotrius (i.e., the plougher). To
Sydyk, called the Just, one of the Titanides, [or daughters of
Titan by Astarte], bare Asclepius (Æsculapius,
god of medicine.) To Kronus, also, three sons were born in
Peraea, (a district of Syria east of the river Jordan) viz.,
Kronus, of the same name with his father, Jupiter-Belus and
Apollo.
[p.15] Contemporary with these were
Pontus and Typhon; and Nereus, the father of Pontus. From Pontus
descended Sidon, who by the excellence of her singing first
invented the hymns of odes or praises; and Poseidon [i.e.
Neptune]. But to Demaroon was born Melicarthus, who is also
called Heracles [Hercules]. Afterwards Ouranos again makes war
against Pontus, but parting from him attaches himself to
Demaroon. Demaroon attacks Pontus; but Pontus puts him to
flight, and Demaroon vows a sacrifice for his escape. In the
thirty-second year of his power and reign, Ilus, who is Kronus,
having laid an ambuscade for his father Ouranos in a certain
place in the middle of the earth, and having gotten him into his
hands, Cuts off his private parts near fountains and rivers.
There Ouranos was consecrated,47
and his spirit was separated, and the blood of his private parts
dropped into the fountains and the waters of the rivers; and the
place is shewn even to this day. Then our author, after
mentioning some other matters, proceeds thus: 'But Astarte,
called the greatest, and Demaroon entitled Zeus, (Jupiter), and
Adodus named the "king of the gods," reigned over the country by
the consent of Kronus. And Astarte put upon her head,48
as a [p.16] mark of sovereignty, a
bull's head; and when she was travelling about the habitable
world, she found a star falling through the air, which she took
up and consecrated in the holy island of Tyre,49
and the Phoenicians say that Astarte is Aphrodite [or Venus].
And Kronus also going about the habitable world, gave to his
daughter Athena [or Minerva], the kingdom of Attica: and when a
plague and mortality happened, Kronus offered up his only son as
a sacrifice to his father Ouranos, and circumcised himself, [p.17] and compelled his allies to do
the same:50
and not long afterwards he consecrated after his death another
son, named Muth,51
whom he had by Rhea.52
The Phoenicians call him Death and Pluto. After these things
Kronus, gives the city of Byblus [Hebrew Gebal] to the goddess
Baaltis,53
who is also called Dione;54
and Berytus55
he gave to Poseidon [or Nep- [p.18]
tune], and the Cabiri,56
the husbandmen and fishermen: and they consecrated the remains57
of Pontus at Berytus. But before these things the god Taautus,
having represented Ouranos, made types of the countenances of
the gods Kronus and Dagon, and the sacred characters of the
other elements. He contrived also for Kronus the ensign of his
royal power, having four eyes in the parts before and in the
parts behind, two of them closing as in sleep; and upon the
shoulders four wings, two in the act of flying, and two reposing
as at rest. And the symbol was, that Kronus whilst he slept was
watching, and reposed whilst he was awake. And in like manner
with respect to his wings, that whilst he rested he was flying,
yet rested whilst he flew. But to the other gods there were two
wings only to each upon his shoulders, to intimate that they
flew under the control of Kronus; he had also two wings upon his
head, the one for the most governing part, the mind, and one for
the sense. And Kronus coming [p.19]
into the country of the south, gave all Egypt to the god Taautus
[or Thoth], that it might be his kingdom. "These things," says
Sanchoniathon, "the Cabiri, the seven sons of Sydyk, and their
eighth brother Asclepius, [or Esmun, i.e., the eighth], first of
all set down in memoirs, as the god Taautus [Thoth] commanded
them. All these things the son of Thabion,58
the first hierophant of all among the Phoenicians, allegorized,
and mixed up with the occurrences and passions of nature and the
world, and delivered to the priests and prophets, the
superintendents of the mysteries: and they, perceiving the rage
for these allegories increase, delivered them to their
successors, and to foreigners: of whom one was Isiris,59
the inventor of the three letters, the brother of Chna,60
who is called the first Phoenician."
To the last fragment, being of a very remarkable character, we
append Jacob Bryant's Dissertation: "After having shewn that
this is the only sacrifice [p.20]
among the ancients, which is termed mystical; and that Kronus,
the personage who offers it was the chief deity of the
Phoenicians; and moreover, that it could not relate to any
previous transaction, he concludes thus:—
"The mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians had
these requisites, that a prince was to offer it; and his only
son was to be the victim: and as I have shewn that this could
not relate to any thing prior; let us consider what is said upon
the subject, as future, and attend to the consequence. For if
the sacrifice of the Phoenicians was a type of another to come,
the nature of this last will be known from the representation by
which it was prefigured. According to this, El, the supreme
deity, whose associates were the Elohim, was in process of time
to have a son, αγαπητον,
well-beloved: μονογενη, his
only begotten: who was to be conceived (of ανωβρετ), as some render it, of grace: but
according to my interpretation, of the fountain of light. He was
to be called Jeoud [or יחיר,
i.e., only] whatever that name may relate to; and to be offered
up as a sacrifice to his father λυτρον,
by way of satisfaction, and redemption, τιμωροις δαιμοσι, to atone for the sins of
others, and avert the just vengeance of God; αντι της παντων φθορας to prevent universal
corruption, and at the same time, general ruin. And it is
farther remarkable; he was to make the grand sacrifice invested
with the emblems of royalty." Bryant thinks it must be [p.21] allowed to be
"a type of something to come;" prefiguring, as he supposes, the
offering of Christ upon Calvary.
FROM PORPHYRY.
Taaut, whom the Egyptians call Thoth, when he
flourished among the Phoenicians with great fame for his wisdom,
arranged in elegant order, and in a scientific manner, those
things which belong to religion, and the worship of the gods,
first vindicated from the ignorance of the lower classes and the
heads of the people. To whom, when the god Surmubelus, and
Thuro, who afterwards by a change of name was called
Chrusarthes, succeeded, after a long interval of ages, they
illustrated his secret theology, which had hitherto been
involved in the shades of allegory. A little after,
Sanchoniathon proceeds thus―
OF THE MYSTICAL SACRIFICE OF THE PHOENICIANS.
"It was the custom among the ancients, in times
of great calamity, in order to prevent the ruin of all, for the
rulers of the city or nation to sacrifice to the avenging
deities the most beloved of their children, as the price of
redemption : they who were devoted for this purpose were offered
mystically. For Kronus or (Saturn), whom the Phoenicians call
Israel,61
and who after his death was deified, and instated in the [p.22] planet which
bears his name, when he was king, had by a nymph of the country,
called Anobret,62
an only son, who, on that account is styled Ieoud;63
for, so the Phoenicians still call an only son: and when great
danger from war beset the land, he adorned the altar, and
invested this son with the emblems of royalty, and sacrificed
him.―From Eusebius Praep.
Evang. lib. i, cap. x.
FROM PHILO-BYBLIUS, OR PORPHYRY,
(It is uncertain),
But, according to Wagner and others, this
Fragment is, most probably, from Porphyry.
ON THE SERPENT.
Taautus first consecrated the basilisk, and
introduced the worship of the serpent-tribe; in which he was
followed by the Phoenicians and Egyptians. For this animal was
held by him to be the most inspirited of all the reptiles, and
of a fiery nature; inasmuch as it exhibits an incredible
celerity, moving by its spirit without either hands, or feet, or
any of those external organs, by which other animals effect
their motion. And in its progress it assumes [p.23] a variety of forms, moving in a
spiral course, and at what degree of swiftness it pleases. And
it is very long-lived, and has the quality not only of putting
off its old age, and assuming a second youth; but it receives a
greater increase. And when it has fulfilled the appointed
measure of its existence, it consumes itself, as Taautus has
laid down in the sacred books, wherefore this animal is
introduced in the sacred rites and mysteries.―Euseb. Praep. Evang., Bk. i., chap. 10.
End of the Fragments of Sanchoniathon.
________________
[p.25]
THE FRAGMENTS
OF
THE TYRIAN ANNALS
FROM
DIUS AND MENANDER.
________________
[p.27]
THE TYRIAN ANNALS.
________________
FROM DIUS.
"UPON the death of Abibalus his son Hiromus
[Hiram] succeeded to the kingdom. He raised the eastern parts of
the city, and enlarged it; and joined to it the temple of
Jupiter Olympius,64
which stood before upon an island, by filling up the
intermediate space: and he adorned that temple with donations of
gold: and he went up into Libanus [Lebanon], to cut timber for
the construction of the temples. And it is said that Solomon,
king of Jerusalem, sent enigmas to Hiromus [Hiram], and desired
others in return, with a proposal that whichsoever of the two [p.28] was unable to
solve them, should forfeit money to the other. Hiromus [Hiram],
agreed to the proposal, but was unable to solve the enigmas, and
paid a large sum as a forfeit. And it is said that one
Abdemonus, a Tyrian, solved the enigmas, and proposed others
which Solomon was not able to unriddle, for which he repaid the
fine to Hiromus [Hiram]."―Joseph,
contr. Ap. lib. i. c. 17. Syncel. Chron. 182.
End of the Fragment from Dius.
________________
FROM MENANDER.
"AFTER the death of Abibalus, Hiromus [Hiram]
his son succeeded him in his kingdom, and reigned thirty-four
years, having lived fifty-three. He laid out that part of the
city which is called Eurychoron:65
and consecrated the golden column which is in the temple of
Jupiter.67
And he went up into the forest [p.29]
on the mountain called Libanus [Lebanon], to fell cedars for the
roofs of the temples: and having demolished the ancient temples,
he rebuilt them, and consecrated the fanes [or temples] of
Hercules [i.e., Baal] and Astarte: he constructed that of
Hercules first, in the month Peritius [i.e., February]; then
that of Astarte, when he had overcome the Tityans who had
refused to pay their tribute: and when he had reduced them he
returned. In his time was a certain young man named Abdemonus,
who used to solve the problems which were propounded to him by
Solomon, king of Jerusalem."―From
Josephus, contra Apion, lib. i. cap. 18; and Josephus, Antiq.
Jud. lib. viii. cap. 5.
________________
OF THE SUCCESSORS OF HIRAM.
"Upon the death of Hiromus [Hiram], Baleazarus
his son, succeeded to the kingdom; he lived forty-three years,
and reigned seven. After him, Abdastratus [Abd-Astarte], his
son, reigned nine years, having lived twenty-nine. Against him
the four sons of his nurse conspired and slew him. Of these, the
eldest reigned twelve years. After them Astartus, the son of
Delaeastartus, reigned twelve years, having lived fifty-four.
After him his brother Aserumus, reigned nine years, having lived
fifty-four. He was slain by his brother Pheles, who governed the
king- [p.30] dom eight months,
having lived fifty years. He was murdered by a priest of
Astarte, Ithobalus [Ethbaal], who reigned thirty-two years,
having lived sixty-eight. He was succeeded by his son,
Badezorus, who reigned six years, having lived forty-five. His
successor was Matgenus, his son, who reigned nine years, having
lived thirty-two. He was succeeded by Phygmalion, who reigned
forty-seven years, having lived fifty-six. In the seventh year
of his reign, his sister (Dido), fled from him, and founded the
city of Carthage in Libya (B.C. 878).―From Josephus, contra Apion, lib. i. cap. 18.
_____________
OF THE INVASION OF SALMANASAR (OR SHALMANESER.)
"ELULÆUS68
reigned thirty-six years: and he fitted out a fleet
against the Kittseans (Chittim or Cypriots) who had revolted,
and reduced them to obedience. But Salmanasar, the king of the
Assyrians sent them assistance, and overran Phoenicia: and when
he had made peace with the Phoenicians he returned with all [p.31] his forces. And Sidon, and
Ake,69
and Palsetyrus,70
and many other cities revolted from the Tyrians, and put
themselves under the protection of the king of Assyria. But as
the Tyrians still refused to submit, the king made another
expedition against them: and the Phoenicians furnished him with
sixty ships and eighty gallies: and the Tyrians attacked him
with twelve ships, and dispersed the hostile fleet, and took
prisoners to the amount of five hundred men: upon which account
the Tyrians were held in great respect. But the king of Assyria
stationed guards upon the river and at the aqueducts, to prevent
the Tyrians from drawing water: and this continued five years,
during all which time they were obliged to drink from wells
which they dug."―Josephus,
Antiq. Jud. lib. ix. c. 14.
[p.32]
OF THE KINGS AND JUDGES FROM NEBUCHADNEZZAR TO
CYRUS.
IN the reign of Ithobalus [or, Ethbaal71],
Nabuchodonosorus [Nebuchadnezzar] beseiged Tyre for thirteen
years.72
After him reigned Baal ten years. After him Judges [or
Suffetes], were appointed who judged the people: Ecnibalus, the
son of Balsachus, two months: Chelbes, the son of Abdaeus, ten
months: Abbarus, the high-priest, three months: Mytgonus and
Gerastratus the son of Abdelemus, six years: after them
Balatorus reigned one year. After his death they sent to fetch
Merbalus from Babylon; and he reigned four years: and when he
died they sent for Hiromus [Hiram], his brother, who reigned
twenty years. In his time Cyrus was king of Persia."'―Josephus, contr. Ap. lib. i.
cap. 21.
End of the Fragments from Menander.
[p.33]
THE PERIPLUS
OF
HANNO.
[p.35]
THE PERIPLUS OF HANNO THE CARTHAGINIAN is an
account of the earliest voyage of discovery in existence. It is
taken from an original, and apparently, official document, which
was suspended in the temple of II, or Saturn, at Carthage.
Falconer and Bougainville both agree in referring it to the
sixth century before the Christian era. The Periplus is
introduced by a few lines, reciting a decree of the
Carthaginians, relating to the voyage and its objects. It is
then continued as a narrative by the commander, or by one of his
companions, commencing from the time the fleet had cleared the
Pillars of Hercules―the
Straits of Gibraltar.
______________
[p.36]
THE PERIPLUS73 OF HANNO.
______________
THE VOYAGE OF HANNO, COMMANDER OF THE
CARTHAGINIANS.
ROUND the parts of Libya beyond the Pillars of
Hercules,74
which he deposited in the temple of Saturn [i.e., Il, or
Israel.]
It was decreed by the Carthaginians, that Hanno should undertake
a voyage beyond the pillars of Hercules, and found
Libyphoenician cities. He sailed accordingly with sixty ships of
fifty oars each, and a body of men and women to the number of
thirty thousand, and provisions and other necessaries.
When we had passed the Pillars [of Hercules] on our voyage, and
had sailed beyond them for two days, we founded the first city,
which we named Thymiaterium.75
Below it lay an extensive plain. Proceeding thence towards the
west, we came to [p.37] Soloeis,76
a promontory of Libya, a place thickly covered with trees, where
we erected a temple to Neptune; and again proceeded for the
space of half a day towards the east, until we arrived at a lake
lying not far from the sea, and filled with abundance of large
reeds. Here elephants, and a great number of other wild beasts
were feeding. Having passed the lake about a day's sail, we
founded cities near the sea, called Cariconticos, and Gytte, and
Acra, and Melitta, and Arambys. Thence we came to the great
river Lixus,77
which flows from Libya. On its banks the Lixitae, a
shepherd-tribe, were feeding flocks, amongst whom we continued
some time on friendly terms. Beyond the Lixitae dwelt the
inhospitable Ethiopians, who pasture a wild country intersected
by large mountains, from which, they say, the river Lixus flows.
In the neighbourhood of the mountains lived the Troglodytae,78
men of various appearances, whom the Lixitae described as
swifter in running than horses. Having procured interpreters
from them, we coasted along a desert country, towards the south,
for two days. Thence we proceeded towards the east the course of
a day. Here we found in a recess of a certain bay a small
island, [p.38] containing a circle
of five stadia, where we settled a colony, and called it Kerne.79
We judged from our voyage that this place lay in a direct line
with Carthage; for the length of our voyage from Carthage to the
Pillars, was equal to that from the Pillars to Kerne.
We then came to a lake which we reached by sailing up a large
river called Chretes.80
This lake had three islands, larger than Kerne ; from which
proceeding a day's sail, we came to the extremity of the lake,
that was overhung by large mountains, inhabited by savage men,
clothed in skins of wild beasts, who drove us away by throwing
stones, and hindered us from landing. Sailing thence we came to
another river,81
that was large and broad, and full of crocodiles, and
river-horses; whence returning back we came again to Kerne.
Thence we sailed towards the south twelve days, coasting the
shore, the whole of which is inhabited by Ethiopians, who would
not wait our approach, but fled from us. Their language was not
intelligible, even to the Lixitae who were with us. Towards the
last day we approached some large mountains covered with trees,
the wood of which was sweet-scented and variegated. Having
sailed by these [p.39] mountains
for two days, we came to an immense opening of the sea; on each
side of which, towards the continent, was a plain; from which we
saw, by night, fire arising, at intervals, in all directions,
either more or less. Having taken in water there, we sailed
forwards for five days near the land, until we came to a large
bay, which our interpreters informed us was called the Western
Horn.82
In this was a large island, and in the island a salt-water lake,
and in this another island, where, when we had landed, we could
discover nothing in the day-time except trees ; but in the night
we saw many fires burning, and heard the sound of pipes,
cymbals, drums, and confused shouts. We were then afraid, and
our diviners ordered us to abandon the island. Sailing quickly
away thence, we passed a country burning with fires and
perfumes; and streams of fire supplied from it fell into the
sea. The country was impassable on account of the heat. We
sailed quickly thence, being much terrified; and passing on for
four days, we discovered at night a country full of fire. In the
middle was a lofty fire, larger than the rest, which seemed to
touch the stars. When day came, we discovered it to be a large
hill, called the Chariot of the Gods.83
On the third day after our departure thence, having sailed by
those [p.40] streams of fire, we
arrived at a bay called the Southern Horn,84
at the bottom of which lay an island like the former, having a
lake, and in this lake another island, full of savage people,
(the greater part of whom were women), whose bodies were hairy,
and whom our interpreters called Gorillae. Though we pursued the
men we could not seize any of them; but all fled from us,
escaping over the precipices, and defending themselves with
stones. Three women were, however, taken; but they attacked
their conductors with their teeth and hands, and could not be
prevailed upon to accompany us. Having killed them, we flayed
them, and brought their skins with us to Carthage. We did not
sail further on, our provisions failing us.
End of the Periplus of Hanno.
[p.41]
THE FRAGMENTS
OF
THE CHALDÆAN
HISTORY
FROM
BEROSSUS, ABYDENUS, AND MEGASTHENES.
[p.43]
B E R O S U S.
____________
Berosus, or Berossus, for his name is
variously written by ancient writers, was a priest of Bel, and
most probably a native of Babylon. His name may be from ברוש (BEROSH) a fir-tree; בר אסיא (BAR ASYA) i.e., "Son
of the Physician;" or, as the learned Scaliger conjectured,
from BAR, or BIR, Son, and Hosea, hence "Son of Hosea."
If the latter be the correct etymology,
he may have been of Jewish origin. By some he is made to be a
contemporary of Alexander the Great; but it is more probable
that he flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King
of Egypt. Justin Martyr will have it that he was the father of
the Cumaean Sibyl, who lived in the reign of Tarquinius
Superbus; but the most probable opinion, and the best
supported, is that of Tatian, the Assyrian, who tells us that
Berosus dedicated his Three Books of Chaldean History to
Antiochus Soter, King of Syria. (Tatian: Oratio contra
Graecos) (Αντιοχψ τώ μετ αυτον
τρίτώ) which Eusebius has altered into Αντιόχω τώ μετα Σελεκον τρίτώ.
George, the Syncellus, of Byzantium, states that Berosus lived
at the same time as Manetho the Egyptian, or a little before;
and Manetho, we know, was a contemporary of Ptolemy
Philadelphus, who began [p.44]
his reign over Egypt, B.C. 284, and reigned 38 yeays; whence
the learned Scaliger has endeavoured to prove that Berosus may
have lived from the time of Alexander the Great to the 13th
year of Antiochus Soter, King of Syria, and even beyond that
period. Our author was held in great repute by ancient
writers, and his authority was great with both Greek and Latin
authors. Tatian confesses that he had not himself read the
works of Berosus, but frankly acknowledges that he is indebted
for the information he gives of him to Juba II., King of
Mauritania, who had written a history of the Assyrians.
Vitruvius (Book ix., chap, i) informs us that having left
Babylon upon the conquest of that city by Alexander, and being
acquainted with the Greek language, Berosus established
himself in Asia Minor, intending to teach Oriental science.
Thence he removed to the island of Cos, where he had an
observatory, and opened a school of astronomy, which at that
period also comprehended astrology.
To him, says Pliny (Natural History, vii.
37), the Athenians erected a statue in the Gymnasium with a
gilded tongue, on account of his astronomical knowledge, and
the wonderful accuracy of his predictions. He is also credited
by Vitruvius with the invention of some kind of astronomical
clock. [Hemicyclium excavatum ex quadrato ad enclimaque
succisum Berosus Chaldaeus dicitur invenisse.] Pliny tells us
that the genuine works of our author [p.45]
contained astronomical observations for a space of 480 years,
i.e., from Nabonassar to B.C. 270. All his works have perished
except a few fragments but it is unanimously agreed among
ancient writers that the Berosus who wrote the history of the
Chaldeans, also wrote various astronomical treatises.
Josephus, Plutarch, Eusebius, George the Syncellus, Athenaeus,
Pliny, Seneca, Pausanias, Jerome, and many other ancient
authors, have expressly mentioned our author, or have given
quotations from his works. We cannot, however, deny that many
of the fragments of Berosus which have come down to us, have
been more or less corrupted, sometimes through the
carelessness of copyists, at others intentionally to serve the
writer's purpose. Whether he had ever seen the Hebrew
Scriptures is very uncertain. Josephus says that he made
mention of Abraham, but without expressly naming him, calling
him "a just and great man among the Chaldeans, who lived in
the 10th generation after the flood," and saying that he was
an observer of the heavens.
It is certainly very remarkable that he
should have given a description of the Flood in terms so much
resembling the account in the Book of Genesis, but still more
striking that the ten kings enumerated by Berosus, as reigning
before the Flood, should agree so closely (not in name but in
number), with the ten generations from Adam to Noah. Noah is
represented by Xisuthrus―the
[p.46] hero of the Deluge,
according to Berosus but who may be meant by Cannes and the
Annedoti, it is very difficult to say. Berosus, as priest of
the god Bel, would have access to the temple archives, and
therefore whatever is stated by him is of the highest
importance.
We have the names of a dynasty of
Chaldean kings handed down to us, supposed by some to be from
Berosus. These are―
| EVECHOUS, |
who reigned |
6 |
years. |
| CHOMASBOLUS |
"
" |
7 |
" |
| PORUS |
"
" |
35 |
" |
| NECHOBES |
"
" |
43 |
" |
| ABIUS |
"
" |
45 |
" |
| ONIBALLUS |
"
" |
40 |
" |
| ZINZIRUS |
"
" |
45 |
" |
George the Syncellus also gives a list of
the Arab dynasty, consisting of six kings, who reigned over
Babylon; but whence he obtained it we are not informed. These
are―
| MARDOKENTES, |
who reigned |
45 |
years. |
| SlSIMADACUS |
"
" |
28 |
" |
| GABIUS |
"
" |
37 |
" |
| PARANNOS |
"
" |
40 |
" |
| NABONNABOS |
"
" |
25 |
" |
| ―――(name
lost) |
"
" |
41 |
" |
Among the thousands of cuneiform
inscriptions deposited in the British Museum, there are very
few which contain any general chronology of the
Assyrio-Babylonian Empire, although we possess a few [p.47] which give the number of years
that had elapsed between particular and important events. Our
Museum rejoices, however, in the possession of some precious
fragments of a Synchronous History of Babylon and Assyria,
which describes the wars, treaties, and other important
transactions between the kingdoms of Babylonia and Assyria
during several centuries, but we have no connected and
continuous history.
This most important document was
translated and in part published by Sir Henry Rawlinson some
years ago. A translation of the whole of it, including some
recently-discovered fragments, translated by Rev. A. H. Sayce,
is now to be found in the Transactions of the Society of
Biblical Archaeology, vol. ii. pt. i., and again republished
in Records of the Past, vol. iii., p. 25.
Then we have another most valuable aid to
Assyrian chronology in the Assyrian Canon,85
which extends, however, only from B.C. 909 to B.C. 680
comprising a period of about 230 years, the chronology of
which is confirmed and verified by a solar eclipse therein
mentioned, and which we know happened on June 15th, B.C. 763.
Translations of this Canon were published in the Athenaeum
(Nos. 1812 and 2064) by Sir Henry Rawlinson, and subsequently
in a more complete form by Schrader in his admir- [p.48] able work entitled, Die
Keilinschriften und Das Alte Testament. Leipzig, 1869.
It had long been a matter of speculation
among scholars as to the source whence Berosus drew his
information regarding the early times of the Babylonian
Empire. The general opinion, however, was that in his capacity
of priest of Bel, he had access in the temple to documents
unknown to the vulgar, whilst the spread of the Greek language
in Asia through the Macedonian conquests, furnished him with
an enquiring public who would welcome such information, drawn
as it were out of the mysterious darkness of Babylonian
temples. Such opinion has quite recently met with a remarkable
confirmation. Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum, the
able decipherer of the Deluge, and other cuneiform tablets,
has announced, in the Transactions of the Society of Biblical
Archaeology, that he has discovered what he believes to be the
very tablets whence the priest of Bel derived his information.
If such be not the case, it will at least be very difficult to
account for the remarkable agreement which we find upon many
points between the statements of Berosus, and the information
supplied by the cuneiform tablets.
Thus, the first dynasty of Berosus
consists of ten kings who reigned before the flood, answering
to the ten antediluvian Patriarchs of the Old Testament. The
first name in the list of Berosus is Alorus, [p.49] answering to Adi-ur of the
cuneiform, which signifies "devoted to the god Ur." His fifth
name is Amegalarus, which possibly represents the cuneiform
Amil-ur-gal, i.e., man, or servant of Urgal. The last two
names of this dynasty are Otiartes and Xisuthrus answering to
the cuneiform Ubara-Tutu and Si-sit. The former name is given,
in one copy of Berosus, as Ardates, which corresponds to the
Assyrian ardu a servant, while Tutu is the name of a god;
hence, servant of Tutu, which is also the meaning of the
Accadian Ubara- Tutu. Tsisit or Sisit is the Hero of the
Flood, the history of which, as given by Berosus, so
remarkably corresponds with the Biblical account of the
Noachian Deluge that no one can doubt that both proceed from
one source they are evidently transcriptions, except the
names, from some ancient document. We shall see this brought
out more distinctly when we come to his History of the Deluge.
The reading of the name is, however, conjectural,86
as to the pronunciation, while the meaning of the two
characters composing it appears to denote him who escaped the
flood.
[p.50]
For further information concerning the Fragments of Berosus we
must refer the reader to, "Berosi Chaldaeorum Histories quae
supersunt, cum Commentatione" edited by Dr. Richter, Leipzig,
1825, to which we acknowledge ourselves much indebted, in
regard to the notes and explanations given in this work. We
must, however, mention in the highest terms of commendation,
two works which have recently appeared, the one by Mr. George
Smith, entitled The Chaldean Account of Genesis (London,
1875), being illustrations of the Book of Genesis from
cuneiform sources; the other an important work by M. Francois
Lenormant, Essai de Commentaire des Fragments Cosmogoniques de
Berose, d'apres les Textes Cuneiforms et les Monuments de r
Art Asiatique. 8vo. Paris, 1872.
_________________
[p.51]
BEROSUS: EXTRACTED FROM
APOLLODORUS.
_______________
OF THE CHALDEAN KINGS.
"THIS is the history which Berosus has
transmitted to us. He tells us that the first king was Alorus87
of Babylon, a Chaldaean; he reigned ten sari88;
and afterwards Alaparus and Amelon, who came from Pantibiblon89;
then Ammenon the Chaldaean, in whose time appeared the Musarus
Oannes, the Annedotus, from the Erythraean90
sea. (But Alexander Polyhistor, anticipating the event, has
said that he appeared in the first year; but Apollodorus says
that it was after forty sari; Abydenus, however, makes the
second Annedotus appear after twenty-six sari.) Then succeeded
Megalarus, from the city of Pantibiblon, and he reigned
eighteen sari; and after him Daonus, the shepherd, from
Pantibiblon, reigned ten sari; in his time, (he says), [p.52] appeared again, from the
Erythraean (or Red) sea, a fourth Annedotus, having the same
form with those, above, the shape of a fish blended with that
of a man. Then Euedoreschus reigned from the city of
Pantibiblon91
for the period of eighteen sari. In his days there appeared
another personage, whose name was Odacon, from the Erythrean
(or Red) sea,92
like the former, having the same complicated form, between a
fish and a man. (All these, says Apollodorus, related
particularly and circumstantially whatever Oannes had informed
them of. Concerning these appearances Abydenus has made no
mention.) Then Amempsinus, a Chaldaean from Laranchae,93
reigned, and he, being the eighth in order, ruled for ten
sari. Then Otiartes, a Chaldaean from Laranchae, reigned, and
he ruled for eight sari.
Upon the death of Otiartes, his son,
Xisuthrus,94
reigned eighteen sari. In his time the great Flood happened.
So the sum total of all the kings is ten; and the period which
they collectively reigned amounts to one hundred and twenty
sari.―Extracted from the
Chronicon of Syncellus 39, and Eusebius Chronicon 5.
________________
[p.53]
B E R O S U S: FROM
ABYDENUS.
OF THE CHALDEAN KINGS AND THE DELUGE.
"So much concerning the wisdom of the
Chaldseans. It is said that the first king of the country was
Alorus,95
who gave out a report that he was appointed by God to be the
Shepherd of the people: he reigned ten sari. Now a sarus is
esteemed to be three thousand six hundred years; a neros, six
hundred: and a sossus, sixty.
After him Alaparus reigned three sari; to
him succeeded Amillarus, from the city of Pantibiblon, who
reigned thirteen sari; in his time a semidaemon called
Annedotus, very like to Oannes,96
came up a second time from the sea. After him Ammenon reigned
twelve sari, who was of the city of Pantibiblon97;
then Megalarus, of the same place, eighteen sari; then Daos,
the shepherd, governed for the space of ten sari, he was of
Pantibiblon; in his time four double-shaped personages came
out of the sea to land, whose names were Euedocus, Eneugamus,
[p.54] Eneuboulos, and Anementus.
After these things was Anodaphus, in the time of Euedoreschus.
There were afterwards other kings, and last of all Sisithrus
(Xisuthrus). So that, in all, the number amounted to ten
kings, and the term of their reigns to one hundred and twenty
sari. And, among other matters not irrelevant to the subject,
he continues thus concerning the deluge. After Euedoreschus
some others reigned, and then Sisithrus (Xisuthrus). To him
the god Kronus (i.e. Saturn) foretold that, on the fifteenth
day of the month Desius there would be a Deluge, and commanded
him to deposit all the writings whatever he had in the city of
the Sun, in Sippara. Sisithrus (Xisuthrus), when he had
complied with these commands, instantly sailed to Armenia, and
was immediately inspired by God. During the prevalence of the
waters Sisithrus (Xisuthrus) sent out birds that he might
judge if the flood had subsided. But the birds passing over an
unbounded sea, and not finding any place of rest returned
again to Sisithrus. This he repeated ; and when upon the third
trial he succeeded, for the birds then returned with their
feet stained with mud, the gods translated him from among men.
With respect to the vessel, which yet remains in Armenia, it
is a custom of the inhabitants to form bracelets and amulets
of its wood.―From
Syncellus 38, Eusebius, Praepar. Evangel, lib. ix., and
Eusebius Chronicon v., 8.
_____________
[p.55]
OF THE TOWER OF BABEL.
"They say that the first inhabitants of
the earth, glorying in their own strength and size, and
despising the gods, undertook to build a tower, whose top
should reach the sky, upon that spot where Babylon now stands.
But, when it approached the heaven, the winds assisted the
gods, and overturned the work upon its contrivers, (its ruins
are said to be at Babylon,) and the gods introduced a
diversity of tongues among men, who till that time had all
spoken the same language. And a war arose between Kronus (i.e.
Saturn) and Titan; and the place in which they built the tower
is now called Babylon,98
on account of the confusion of the languages; for confusion is
by the Hebrews called Babel."―From
Eusebius,
Praep. Evangel, lib. ix. Syncellus Chron. 44, and Eusebius'
Chronicon 13.
[p.56]
BEROSUS:
FROM ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
________________
OF THE COSMOGONY AND CAUSES OF THE DELUGE.
BEROSUS, in his first book concerning the
history of Babylonia, informs us that he lived in the time of
Alexander, the son of Philip. And he mentions that there were
written accounts preserved at Babylon with the greatest care,
comprehending a term of fifteen myriads of years. These
writings contained a history of the heavens and the sea; of
the birth of mankind ; also of those who had sovereign rule ;
and of the actions achieved by them.
And, in the first place, he describes
Babylonia as a country which lay between the Tigris and
Euphrates. He mentions that it abounded with wheat, barley,
ocrus, sesamum; and in the lakes were found the roots called
gongae, which were good to be eaten, and were, in respect to
nutriment, like barley. There were also palm-trees and apples,
and most kinds of fruits; fish, too, and birds; both those
which are merely of flight, and those which take to the
element of water. The part of Babylonia which bordered upon
Arabia was barren, and without water; but that which lay on
the other side had hills, and was fruitful. At Babylon there
was (in these times) a [p.57] great
resort of people of various nations, who inhabited Chaldea,
and lived without rule and order, like the beasts of the
field.
In the first year there made its
appearance, from a part of the Erythraean sea99
which bordered upon Babylonia, an animal endowed with reason,
who was called Cannes. (According to the account of
Apollodorus) the whole body of the animal was like that of a
fish; and had under a fish's head another head, and also feet
below, similar to those of a man, sub-joined to the fish's
tail. His voice, too, and language was articulate and human;
and a representation of him is preserved even to this day.
This Being, in the day-time, used to converse with men; but
took no food at that season; and he gave them an insight into
letters, and sciences, and every kind of art. He taught them
to construct houses, to build temples, to compile laws, and
explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He
made them distinguish the seeds of the earth, and showed them
how to collect fruits. In short, he instructed them in
everything which could tend to soften manners and humanise
mankind. From that time, so universal were his instructions,
nothing material has been added by way of improvement. When
the sun set it was the custom of this Being to plunge again
into the sea, and abide all night in the deep; for he was
amphibious.
[p58] After this, there appeared other
animals, like Oannes, of which Berosus promises to give an
account when he comes to the history of the kings. Moreover,
Cannes wrote concerning the generation of mankind; of their
different ways of life, and of their civil polity; and the
following is the purport of what he said,
"There was a time in which there was nothing but darkness and
an abyss of waters,100
wherein resided most hideous beings, which were produced of a
two-fold principle. Men appeared with two wings, some with
four wings, and two faces. They had one body, but two heads
the one of a man, the other of a woman. They were likewise, in
their several organs, both male and female. Other human
figures were to be seen with the legs and horns of goats. Some
had horses' feet; others had the limbs of a horse behind, but
before were fashioned like men, resembling hippocentaurs.
Bulls, likewise, bred there with the heads of men; and dogs,
with fourfold bodies, and the tails of fishes. Also horses,
with the heads of dogs: men, too, and other animals, with the
heads and bodies of horses and the tails of fishes. In short,
there were creatures with the limbs of every species of
animals. Add to these fishes, reptiles, serpents, with other
wonderful animals, which assumed each other's shape and
countenance. Of [p.59] all these
were preserved delineations in the temple of Belus at Babylon.
"The person, who was supposed to have presided over them, was
a woman named Omoroca101;
which in the Chaldee language is Thalatth; which in Greek is
interpreted Thalassa102,
the sea: but, according to the most true computation, it is
equivalent to Selene, the moon. All things being in this
situation, Belus came, and cut the woman asunder: and, out of
one half of her, he formed the earth, and of the other half
the heavens; and at the same time he destroyed the animals in
the abyss. All this (he says) was an allegorical description
of nature. For the whole universe consisting of moisture, and
animals being continually generated therein; the deity
(Belus), above-mentioned, cut off his own head; upon which the
other gods mixed the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth;
and from thence men were formed. On this account it is that
men are rational, and partake of divine knowledge. This Belus,
whom men call Dis, (or Pluto,) divided the darkness, and
separated the heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe
to order. But the animals so recently [p.60]
created, not being able to bear the prevalence of light, died.
Belus upon this, seeing a vast space quite uninhabited, though
by nature very fruitful, ordered one of the gods to take off
his head; and when it was taken off, they were to mix the
blood with the soil of the earth, and from thence to form
other men and animals, which should be capable of bearing the
light. Belus also formed the stars, and the sun and the moon,
together with the five planets. (In the second book was the
history of the ten kings of the Chaldeans, and the periods of
each reign, which consisted collectively of one hundred and
twenty-sari, or 432,000 years, reaching to the time of the
Flood. For Alexander, surnamed Polyhistor, as from the
writings of the Chaldeans, enumerating the kings from the
ninth, Ardates, to Xisuthrus, who is called by them the tenth,
proceeds in this manner:)
After the death of Ardates, his son, Xisuthrus, succeeded, and
reigned eighteen sari. In his time happened the great Deluge;
the history of which is given in this manner. The Deity,
Kronus, appeared to him in a vision, and gave him notice, that
upon the fifteenth day of the month Daesia103
there would be a flood, by which mankind would be destroyed.
He therefore enjoined him to commit to writing a [p.61] history of the beginning,
progress, and final conclusion of all things, down to the
present term; and to bury these accounts securely in the city
of the Sun104
at Sippara; and to build a vessel, and to take with him into
it his friends and relations; and to convey on board
everything necessary to sustain life, and to take in also all
species of animals that either fly, or rove upon the earth;
and trust himself to the deep. Having asked the Deity, whither
he was to sail? he was answered, "To the Gods:" upon which he
offered up a prayer for the good of mankind. And he obeyed the
divine admonition: and built a vessel five stadia in length,
and in breadth two. Into this he put everything which he had
got ready; and last of all conveyed into it his wife,
children, and friends. After the Flood had been upon the
earth, and was in time abated, Xisuthrus sent out some birds105
from the vessel, which, not finding any food, nor any place to
rest their feet, returned to him again. After an interval of
some days, he sent them forth a second time, and they now
returned with their feet tinged with mud. He made a trial a
third time with these birds, but they returned to him no more;
from whence he formed a judgment, that the surface of the
earth was now [p.62] above the waters. Having,
therefore, made an opening in the vessel, and finding, upon
looking out, that the vessel was driven to the side of a
mountain, he immediately quitted it, being attended by his
wife, his daughter, and the pilot. Xisuthrus immediately paid
his adoration to the earth, and, having constructed an altar,
offered sacrifices106
to the gods.
These things being duly performed, both Xisuthrus, and those
who came out of the vessel with him, disappeared. They who
remained in the vessel, finding that the others did not
return, came out, with many lamentations, and called
continually on the name of Xisuthrus. They saw him no more,
but could distinguish his voice in the air, and could hear him
admonish them to pay due regard to the gods. He likewise
informed them that it was upon account of his piety that he
was translated107
to live with the gods; that his wife and daughter, with the
pilot, had obtained the same honour. To this he added that he
would have them make the best of their way to Babylonia, and
search for the writings at Sippara, which were to be made
known to all mankind: and that the place where they then were
was the land of Armenia.108
The remainder having [p.63]
heard these words, offered sacrifices to the gods; and taking
a circuit, journeyed towards Babylonia.
The vessel, being thus stranded in Armenia, some part of it
yet remains in the Gordyaean109
mountains in Armenia; and the people scrape off the bitumen,110
with which it had been outwardly coated, and make use of it by
way of an alexipharmic111
and amulet. In this manner they returned to Babylon; and
having found the writings at Sippara, they set about building
cities, and erecting temples: and Babylon was thus inhabited
again.―Syncel. Chron. 28.
Euseb. Chron. 5, 8.
OF ABRAHAM.
After the Flood, in the tenth generation, there
was a certain man among the Chaldeans, renowned for his justice
and great exploits, and for his skill in the celestial sciences.―Euseb. Praep. Evang., lib. ix.
OF NABONASAR.
The Chaldeans, (from whom the Greek
mathematicians copy,) are accurately acquainted with the motion
of the stars only from the reign of Nabo- [p.64] nasar. For Nabonasar collected all
the chronicles of the kings prior to himself, and destroyed
them, so that the enumeration of the Chaldean kings might
commence with him.―From
Syncellus' Chronicon, 207.
OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE.
He (Nabopallasar) sent his son, Nabuchodonosor,
(i.e., Nebuchadnezzar) with a great army against Egypt, and
against Judea, upon being informed that they had revolted from
him; and by that means he subdued them all, and set fire to the
temple that was at Jerusalem, and removed our people112
entirely out of their own country, and transferred them to
Babylon; and it happened that our city was desolate during the
interval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus king of
Persia. (He then says, that), this Babylonian king conquered
Egypt, and Syria, and Phoenicia, and Arabia, and exceeded in his
exploits all that had reigned before him in Babylon and
Chaldaea.―Josephus, contr.
Apion., lib. i, c. 19.
OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
When Nabopollasar, his (Nebuchadnezzar's)
father, heard that the governor, whom he had set over Egypt, and
the parts of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted, he was
unable to put up with his [p.65]
delinquencies any longer, but committed certain parts of his
army to his son, Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar), who was then
but young, and sent him against the rebel: and Nabuchodonosor
fought with him, and conquered him, and reduced the country
again under his dominion. And it happened that his father,
Nabopollasar, fell into a distemper at this time, and died in
the city of Babylon, after he had reigned twenty-nine years.
After a short time, Nabuchodonosor
(Nebuchadnezzar), receiving the intelligence of his father's
death, set the affairs of Egypt and the other countries in
order, and committed the captives he had taken from the Jews and
Phoenicians and Syrians, and of the nations belonging to Egypt,
to some of his friends, in order that they might conduct that
part of his forces that had on heavy armour, together with the
rest of his baggage, to Babylonia; while he went in haste, with
a few followers, across the desert to Babylon. When he was come
there, he found that affairs had been well conducted by the
Chaldeans, and that the principal person among them had
preserved the kingdom for him. Accordingly, he now obtained
possession of all his father's dominions. He ordered the
captives to be distributed in colonies, in the most suitable
places of Babylonia, and adorned the temple of Belus, with the
other temples, in a sumptuous and pious manner, out of the
spoils he had taken in this [p.66]
war. He also rebuilt the old city, (Babylon), and added another
to it on the outside, and so far restored Babylon, that none who
should besiege it afterwards might have it in their power to
divert the river, so as to facilitate an entrance into it; and
this he did by building three walls about the inner city, and
three about the outer one. Some of these walls he built of burnt
brick, and bitumen, and some of brick only. When he had thus
admirably fortified the city with walls, and had magnificently
adorned the gates, he added also a new palace to those in which
his forefathers had dwelt, adjoining them, but exceeding them in
height and in its great splendour. It would, perhaps, require
too long a narration, if any one were to describe it; however,
as prodigiously large and magnificent as it was, it was finished
in fifteen days. In this palace he erected very high walks,
supported by stone pillars; and by planting what was called a
pensile paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees,
he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous
country. This he did to please his queen,113
because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a
mountainous situation."―Josephus,
contr. Apion., lib. i, c. 19. Syncel. Chron. 220. Euseb. Praep.
Evan., lib. 9.
[p.67]
OF THE CHALDEAN KINGS AFTER NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
"Nabuchodonosor, after he had begun to build
the above-mentioned wall, fell sick, and departed this life,
when he had reigned forty-three years; whereupon his son
Evilmerodachus (Evilmerodach114―Jeremiah lii. 31) obtained the
kingdom. He governed public affairs in an illegal and improper
manner; and, by means of a plot laid against him by
Neriglissoorus, (Neriglissor), his sister's husband, he was
slain when he had reigned only two years. After his death,
Neriglissor, who had conspired against him, succeeded him in the
kingdom, and reigned four years. His son, Laborosoarchodus,
obtained the kingdom, although a mere child, and reigned nine
months. But, on account of the evil practices which he
manifested, a plot being made against him by his friends, he was
tortured to death.
After his death, the conspirators having assembled, by common
consent, put the crown on the head of Nabonnedus,115
a man of Babylon, one of the leaders of that insurrection. It
was in his reign that the walls of Babylon were curiously built
of burnt brick and bitumen.
In the seventeenth year of his, (Nabonidus's reign, Cyrus came
out of Persia, with a great army, [p.68] and having conquered all the rest
of Asia, he came hastily to Babylonia. When Nabonnedus
(Nabonidus), perceived that he was advancing to attack him, he
assembled his forces and opposed him, but was defeated, and fled
with a few of his attendants, and was shut up in the city
Borsippus. Whereupon Cyrus took Babylon, and gave orders that
the outer walls should be demolished, because the city had
proved very troublesome to him, and difficult to take. He then
marched to Borsippus, to besiege Nabonnedus [Nabonidus]; but, as
Nabonnedus delivered himself into his hands without holding out
the place, he was at first kindly treated by Cyrus, who gave him
a habitation in Carmania, and sent him out of Babylonia.
Accordingly, Nabonnedus [Nabonidus] spent the remainder of his
time in that country, and there died." Josephus, contr. Ap.,
lib. i, c. 20. Euseb. Praep. Evan., lib. 10.
OF THE FEAST OF SACEA.
"Berosus, in the first book of his Babylonian
history, says: That in the eleventh month, called Loos,116
is celebrated in Babylon the Feast of Sacea, for five days; in
which it is the custom that the masters should obey their
domestics, one of whom is led round the house, clothed in a
royal garment, and him they call Zoganes."―Extracted from Athenaeus, lib. 14.
[p.69]
CONCERNING THE INNOVATIONS INTRODUCED INTO THE
RELIGION OF THE PERSIANS BY ARTAXERXES II.
"They (the Persians) neither received images of
wood nor stone, as the Greeks; nor worshipped ibises and
ichneumons, like the Egyptians; but only reverenced fire and
water, like philosophers.
Berosus, however, relates in the 3rd Book of
his Chaldean Histories, that after many ages they worshipped
images in human form; this being introduced by Artaxerxes, the
son of Darius, the son of Ochus, who having set up the image of
Venus Anaitis in Babylon, and Susa, and Ecbatana, Persia,
Bactria, Damascus, and Sardis, charged the people to worship
it."―Extracted from Clement,
Bishop of Alexandria (Admonitio ad Gentes), p. 43.
[p.70]
CHRONOLOGICAL AND ASTRONOMICAL
FRAGMENTS.
OF THE GREAT YEAR
"Berosus, who thus interprets the Babylonian
tradition, says that these events take place according to the
course of the stars; and he affirms it so positively as to fix
the time for the (general) conflagration of the world, and the
Deluge. He maintains that all terrestrial things will be
consumed when the planets, which now are traversing their
different courses, shall all coincide in the sign of Cancer, and
be so placed, that a straight line could pass directly through
all their orbs. But the Flood will take place (he says) when the
same conjunction of the planets shall take place in the
constellation Capricorn. The summer is in the former
constellation, the winter in the latter."―From Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iii., 29.
[p.71]
MEGASTHENES:
FROM ABYDENUS.
OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
"ABYDENUS, in his history of the Assyrians, has
preserved the following fragment of Megasthenes, who says: That
Nabucodrosorus [Nebuchadnezzar], having become more powerful
than Hercules, invaded Libya and Iberia, [Spain], and when he
had rendered them tributary, he extended his conquests over the
inhabitants of the shores upon the right of the sea. It is,
moreover, related by the Chaldseans, that as he went up into his
palace he was possessed by some god; and he cried out, and said:
"Oh! Babylonians, I, Nabucodrosorus (Nebuchadnezzar) foretel
unto you a calamity which must shortly come to pass, which
neither Belus my ancestor, nor his queen Beltis, have power to
persuade the Fates to turn away. A Persian mule shall come, and,
by the assistance of your gods shall impose upon you the yoke of
slavery; the author of which shall be a Medfe, the foolish pride
of Assyria. Before he should thus betray my subjects, Oh! that
some sea, or whirlpool, might receive him, and his memory be
blotted out for ever; or that he might be cast out to wander
through some desert, where there are neither cities nor the
trace of men; a solitary exile among [p.72]
rocks and caverns, where beasts and birds alone abide.
But for me, before he shall have conceived these mischiefs in
his mind, a happier end will be provided." When he had thus
prophesied, he expired, and was succeeded by his son,
Evilmaruchus [Evilmerodach], who was slain by his kinsman,
Neriglisares [Neriglissor], and Neriglisares left a son,
Labassoarascus [Labarosoarchod]. And when he also had suffered
death by violence, they made Nabannidochus117
king, being of no relation to the royal race. In his reign Cyrus
[king of Persia] took Babylon, and granted him a principality,
[or made him a satrap], in Karmania. Now, concerning the
rebuilding of Babylon by Nabuchodonosor, he, [Megasthenes],
writes thus: It is said that from the beginning all things were
water, called the sea [Thalath]; that Belus caused this state of
things to cease, and appointed to each its proper place, and he
[Belus] surrounded Babylon with a wall; but in process of time
this wall disappeared, and Nabuchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar]
walled it in again, and it remained so, with its brazen gates,
until the time of the Macedonian conquest, [i.e., by Alexander
the Great], and after other things he says: Nabuchodonosor
having succeeded to the kingdom, built the walls of Babylon in a
triple circuit in fifteen days; and he turned the river
Armacale,118
a branch [p.73] of the Euphrates
and the Acracanus; and above the city of Sippara119
he dug a receptacle for the waters, whose perimeter was forty
parasangs, and whose depth was twenty cubits; and he placed
gates at the entrance thereof, by opening which they irrigated
the plains, and these they call Echetognomones [sluices]; and he
constructed dykes against the irruptions of the Erythraean sea],
the Persian Gulf] and built the city of Teredon against the
incursions of the Arabs; and he adorned the palace with trees,
calling them hanging gardens.―Euseb.
Praeb. Evan., lib. 10. Euseb. Chron. 49.
End of the Fragments of Megasthenes.
[p.74]
CHALDEAN FRAGMENTS.
___________________
OF THE ARK.
FROM NICOLAUS OF DAMASCUS, WHO LIVED ABOUT
THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS CESAR.
"There is above Minyas, in the land of Armenia,
a very great mountain, which is called Baris120
(i.e. a ship); to which it is said that many persons retreated
at the time of the Flood, and were saved; and that one in
particular was carried thither in an ark, and was landed on its
summit; and that the remains of the vessel were long preserved
upon the mountain. Perhaps this was the same individual of whom
Moses, the legislator of the Jews, has made mention."―From Josephus, Antiq. of the
Jews, Book i. 3. Eusebius, Praep. Evang., 9.
HESTIAEUS.
CONCERNING THE DISPERSION OF MANKIND AFTER THE FLOOD.
"The priests who escaped took with them the
implements of the worship of the Enyalion Jove, and [p.75] came to Senaar,
in Babylonia. But they were again driven from thence by the
introduction of a diversity of tongues, upon which they founded
colonies in various parts, each settling in such situations as
chance, or the direction of God, led them to occupy."―From Josephus' Antiq. of the
Jews; and Eusebius' Preparatio Evangelica, 9.
ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
CONCERNING THE TOWER OF BABEL.
"The Sibyl says, that when all men formerly
spoke the same language, some among them undertook to erect a
large and lofty tower, in order to climb into heaven. But God,
(or the gods), sending forth a whirlwind, frustrated their
design and gave to each tribe a particular language of its own,
which (confusion of tongues) is the reason that the name of that
city is called Babylon."
"After the Flood, Titan and Prometheus lived, and Titan
undertook a war against Kronus."―Extracted
from Syncellus, 44. Josephus' Antiq. of Jews, i. chap. 4.;
Euseb. Praep. Evang., 9.
FROM THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES.
"But when the judgments of Almighty God
Were ripe for execution ; when the tower
Rose to the skies upon Assyria's plain,
[p.76]
And all mankind one language only knew:
A dread commission from on high was given
To the fell whirlwinds, which with dire alarms
Beat on the tower, and to its lowest base
Shook it convulsed. And now all intercourse,
By some occult and overruling power,
Ceased among men. By utterance they strove,
Perplexed and anxious, to disclose their mind,
But their lip failed them ; and in lieu of words
Produced a painful babbling sound : the place
Was thence called Babel; by the apostate crew
Named from the event. Then severed, far away
They sped, uncertain, into realms unknown:
Thus kingdoms rose, and the glad world was filled."
The Sibyl having named Kronus, Titan, and
Iapetus (Japheth) as the three sons of the Patriarch (Noah), who
governed the world in the tenth generation, after the Flood, and
mentioned the division of the world into three parts, (viz, by
Shem, Ham, and Japhetti), over which each of the Patriarchs
ruled in peace, then relates the death of Noah, and the war
between Kronus and Titan.
N.B. The translation given above
is from Vol. IV. of Bryant's Ancient Mythology. The fragment
above given is mentioned by Josephus; and some lines are
quoted by the Christian Fathers, Athenagoras and Theophilus of
Antioch.
[p.77]
FROM EUPOLEMUS.
CONCERNING THE TOWER OF BABEL, AND ABRAHAM.
"The City of Babylon owes its foundation to
those who were saved from the catastrophe of the Flood; these
were the giants, (Heb. נפלים
= fallen ones), and they built the tower which is noticed in
history. But the tower being overthrown by the interposition of
God, the giants were scattered over all the earth.
He says, moreover, that in the tenth
generation, in the City of Babylonia, called Camarina (which, by
some, is called the city Urie, and which signifies a city of the
Chaldeans), there lived, the thirteenth in descent, (a man
named), Abraham, a man of a noble race and superior to all
others in wisdom.
Of him they relate that he was the inventor of astrology and the
Chaldean magic, and that on account of his eminent piety he was
esteemed by God. It is further said, that under the directions
of God he removed and lived in Phoenicia, and there taught the
Phoenicians the motions of the sun and moon, and all other
things; for which reason he was held in great reverence by their
king121.―Extracted from Eusebius Praep.
Evan., 9.
[p.78]
FROM NICOLAS OF DAMASCUS.
CONCERNING ABRAHAM.
"Abram was king of Damascus, and came thither
as a stranger, with an army, from that part of the country which
is situated above Babylon of the Chaldeans. But after a short
time he again emigrated from this region with his people, and
transferred his dwelling to the land which was at that time
called Canaaea, but is now called Judaea; together with all the
multitude which had increased with him, of whose history I shall
give an account in another book. The name of Abram is well known
even to this day in Damascus, and a village is pointed out which
is still called the House of Abraham."―Extracted from Eusebius, Praep. Evang. 9, and
Josephus, Antiq. of the Jews, i. 7.
OF ABRAHAM AND HIS DESCENDANTS
AND OF MOSES AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
FROM JUSTIN, OUT OF TROGUS POMPEIUS.
Book xviii. 3, 3, 5. Book xxxvi. 2, 3, 6.
"The origin of the Jews was from Damascus, a
most famous city of Syria, whence also the Assyrian kings, and
queen Semiramis sprang. The name of [p.79]
the city was given it from king Damascus, in honour of whom the
Syrians consecrated the sepulchre of his wife Arathis as a
temple, and regard her as a goddess worthy of the most sacred
worship. After Damascus, Azelus,122
and then Adores, Abraham, and Israhel were their kings. But a
prosperous family of ten sons made Israhel more famous than any
of his ancestors. Having divided his kingdom in consequence,
into ten governments, he committed them to his sons, and called
the whole people Jews, from Judas, who died soon after the
division, and ordered his memory to be held in veneration by
them all, as his portion was shared among them. The youngest of
the brothers was Joseph, whom the others, fearing his
extraordinary abilities, secretly made prisoner, and sold to
some foreign merchants. Being carried by them into Egypt, and
having there, by his great powers of mind, made himself master
of the arts of magic, he found, in a short time, great favour
with the king; for he was eminently skilled in prodigies, and
was the first to establish the science of interpreting dreams.
And nothing, indeed, of divine, or human law seems to have been
unknown to him; so that he foretold a famine or dearth in the
land (of Egypt), some years before it happened, and all Egypt
would have perished by famine, had not the king, by his advice,
ordered the corn to be laid up for several [p.80] years: such being the proofs of
his knowledge, that his admonitions seemed to proceed, not from
a mortal, but a god. His son was Moses, whom, besides the
inheritance of his father's knowledge, the comeliness of his
person also recommended. But the Egyptians, being troubled with
scabies and leprosy, and moved by some oracular prediction,
expelled him, with those who had the disease, out of Egypt, that
the distemper might not spread among a greater number. Becoming
leader, accordingly, of the exiles, he carried off by stealth
the sacred utensils of the Egyptians, who, endeavouring to
recover them by force of arms, were obliged by tempests to
return home ; and Moses, having reached Damascus, the
birth-place of his fore-fathers, took possession of Mount Sinai;
on his arrival at which, after having suffered, together with
his followers, from a seven days' fast in the deserts of Arabia,
he consecrated every seventh day, (according to the present
custom of the nation), for a fast-day, and to be perpetually
called a Sabbath, because that day had ended at once their
hunger and their wanderings. And, as they remembered that they
had been driven from Egypt for fear of spreading infection, they
took care, in order that they might not become odious, from the
same cause, to the inhabitants of the country, to have no
communication with strangers; a rule which, from having been
adopted on that particular occasion, gradually became a custom
and part of their religion.
[p.81] After the
death of Moses, his son Aruas123
was made priest for celebrating the rites which they brought
from Egypt, and soon after created king ; and ever afterwards,
it was a custom among the Jews to have the same chiefs both for
kings and priests; and, by uniting religion with the
administration of justice, it is almost incredible how powerful
they became. The wealth of the (Jewish] nation was augmented by
the duties on balm, (balsam), which is produced only in that
country; for there is a valley, encircled with an unbroken ridge
of hills, as it were a wall in the form of a camp, the space
enclosed being about 200 acres, and called by the name of
Hierichus, (Jericho); in which valley there is a wood,
remarkable both for its fertility and pleasantness, and
chequered with groves of palm and balm-trees. The balm-trees
resemble pitch-trees124 in shape, except that they
are not so tall, and are dressed after the manner of vines; and
at a certain season of the year they exude the balm. But the
place is not less admired for the genial warmth of the sun in
it, than for its fertility; for, though the sun in that climate
is the hottest in the world, there is constantly in this valley
a certain natural subdued tepidity in the air. In this country
also is the lake Asphaltites, which, from its magnitude and the
[p.82] stillness
of its waters, is called the Dead Sea; for, it is neither
agitated by the winds, because the bituminous matter, with which
all its water is clogged, resists even hurricanes; nor does it
admit of navigation, for all inanimate substances sink to the
bottom; and it will support no wood, except such as is smeared
with alum."―Extracted from
the Philippine History of Justin, the Abbreviator of Trogus
Pompeius.
CONCERNING BELUS.
FROM EUPOLEMUS.
"For the Babylonians say that the first was
Belus, who is the same as Kronus. And from him descended Belus
and Chanaan; and this Chanaan was the father of the Phoenicians.
"Another of his sons was Khum, (i.e., Ham), who
is called by the Greeks Asbolus, the father of the Ethiopians,
and the brother of Mestraim,125
the father of the Egyptians. The Greeks say, moreover, that
Atlas was the discoverer of astrology."―Extracted from Eusebius, Praep. Evang., Book
ix.
FROM THALLUS.
"Thallus makes mention of Belus, the King of
the Assyrians, and Kronus, (Saturn) the Titan, and says, [p.83] that Belus,
with the Titans, made war against Zeus, (Jupiter) and his
compeers, who are called gods. He says, moreover, that Gygus was
smitten, and fled to Tartessus (in Spain).
"According to the history of Thallus, Belus preceded the Trojan
war 322 years."―From
Theophylact, ad Autolycus, 281-2.
OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE.
FROM KTESIAS.
"In like manner, all the other kings succeeded,
the son receiving the empire from his father, being altogether
thirty in their generations to Sardanapalus. In his time the
empire passed to the Medes from the Assyrians, having remained
with them upwards of 1,360 years, according to the account of
Ktesias the Cnidian, in his second book."―Extracted from Diodorus Siculus, Book ii. p.
77.
FROM DIODORUS SICULUS.
"In the manner above related, the empire of the
Assyrians, after having continued from Ninus thirty generations,
and more than 1,400 years, was finally dissolved by the Medes."―Extracted from Diodorus
Siculus, Book ii. p. 81.
[p.84]
FROM HERODOTUS.
"The Medes were the first who began the revolt
from the Assyrians, after they had maintained the dominion over
Upper Asia for a period of 520 years."―Extracted from Herodotus, Book i. ch. 95.
OF NABOPOLLASAR.
FROM ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
"Nabopollasar, (whom Alexander Polyhistor calls
Sardanapallus), sent to Astyages, the satrap of Media, and
demanded his daughter, Amuites,126
in marriage for his son, Nabuchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar]. He was
the commander of the army of Saracus, King of the Chaldeans,
and, having been sent upon some expedition, turned his arms
against Saracus, and marched against the city of Ninus
(Nineveh). But Saracus, confused by his approach, set fire to
his palace, and burnt himself in it. And Nabopollasar obtained
the empire of the Chaldeans. He was the father of
Nabuchodonosor" [Nebuchadnezzar].―From
Eusebius' Chronicon, 46.
[p.85]
OF THE CHALDEAN AND ASSYRIAN
KINGS.
FROM ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
"In addition to the above, Polyhistor continues
thus: After the deluge, says he, Evexius held possession of the
country of the Chaldeans during a period of four neri. And he
was succeeded by his son, Comosbelus, who held the empire four
neri and five sossi. But, from the time of Xisuthrus127
and the Flood, to that period at which the Medes took possession
of Babylon, there were altogether 86 kings. Polyhistor
enumerates and mentions each of them by name, from the volume of
Berossus; the duration of the reigns of all which kings
comprehends a period of 33,091 years. But, when their power was
thus firmly established, the Medes suddenly levied forces
against Babylon to surprise it, and to place upon the throne
kings chosen from among themselves. He, (Polyhistor), then gives
the names of the Median kings, eight in number, who reigned
during the period of 224 years; and, again, eleven kings during
....128
years. Then 49 kings of the Chaldeans, 458 years. Then nine
kings of the Arabians, 245 years. After all these successive
periods of years, he states that Semiramis reigned over the
Assyrians. And again he minutely enumerates the names of 45
kings, assigning to them a term of 526 years. After whom, [p.86] he says, there
was a king of the Chaldeans whose name was Phulus, of whom also
the historical writings of the Hebrews make mention under the
name of Phulus (Pul), who, they say, invaded the country of the
Jews."―Extracted from the
Armenian Chronicon of Eusebius, 39.
OF SENNACHERIB.
FROM ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
"After the reign of the brother of Senecherib,
Akises reigned over the Babylonians; and, when he had governed
for the space of 30 days, he was slain by Marodach Baladanus,
who held the empire by force during six months; and he was
slain, and succeeded by a person named Elibus.129
But, in the 3rd year of his reign, Senecherib, king of the
Assyrians, levied an army against the Babylonians ; and, in a
battle in which they were engaged, conquered him and took him
prisoner, with his adherents, and commanded them to be carried
off into the land of the Assyrians. Having taken upon himself
the government of the Babylonians, he appointed his son
Assordanius,130
their king, and he, (Sennacherib), again retired into Assyria.
"When he received a report that the Greeks had made a hostile
descent upon Cilicia, he marched [p.87] against them, and fought with them
a pitched battle; in which, though he suffered great loss in his
own army, he overthrew them, and upon the spot he erected the
statue of himself as a monument of his victory; and ordered his
prowess to be inscribed upon it in the Chaldaean characters, to
hand down the remembrance of it to posterity. He built also the
city of Tarsus; after the likeness of Babylon, which he called
Tharsis. And, after enumerating the various exploits of
Sinnecherim, (Sennacherib), he adds that he reigned 18 years,
and was cut off by a conspiracy, which had been formed against
his life by his son Ardu-Musanus."―Extracted
from Eusebius, Armen. Chron., 42.
OF SENNACHERIB AND HIS
SUCCESSORS.
FROM ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
"And after him (Pul), according to Polyhistor,
Senecherib was king.
[The Chaldaean historian also makes mention of Senecherib
himself, and Asordanus (Esarhaddon) his son, and Marodach
Baladanus, as well as Nabuchodonosorus.]131
"And Sinecherim (Sennacherib) reigned 18 years; and after him
his son (Esarhaddon) reigned eight years. Then Sammuges
(Saulmugina?) reigned 21 [p.88]
years, and likewise his brother 21 years. Then Nabupalsar,
(Nabopollassar), reigned 20 years; and after him
Nabucodrossorus, (Nebuchadnezzar), reigned 43 years.
Therefore, from Sinecherim to Nabucodrossorus
is comprehended a period altogether of 88 years. After Samuges,
Sardanapallus132
the Chaldean, reigned 21 years. He sent an army to the
assistance of Astyages the Mede, Prince and Satrap of the
family, that he might give Amunhean,132a
the daughter of Astyages, to his son Nabucodrossorus
(Nebuchadnezzar). Then Nabucodrossorus reigned 43 years, and he
came with a mighty army, and led the Jews, and Phoenicians, and
Syrians into captivity. And after Nabucodrossorus, his son,
Amilmarudochus, (Evil-Merodach man, i.e., Servant of Merodach),
reigned 12 years.
And after him, Neglisarus (Neriglissor), reigned over the
Chaldaeans 4 years; and then Nabodenus, (Nabonidus), reigned 17
years. In his reign, Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, invaded the
country of the Babylonians. Nabodenus, (Nabonidus), went out to
give him battle, but was defeated, and betook himself to flight;
and Cyrus reigned at Babylon 9 years. He was killed, however, in
another battle, which took place in the plain of Daas. After him
Cambyses [p.89]
reigned 8 years; then Darius 36 years; and after him, Xerxes,
and the other kings of the Persian line."―Extracted from Euseb. Armen. Chron., pp. 41,
42, 44, 45.
OF SENNACHERIB AND HIS
SUCCESSORS.
FROM ABYDENUS.
"At the same time, the twenty-fifth, who was
Senecherib, can hardly be recognized among the kings. It was he
who subjected the city of Babylon to his power, and defeated and
sunk a Grecian fleet upon the coast of Cilicia. He built also a
temple at Athens, and erected brazen statues, upon which he
engraved his own exploits. And he built the city of Tarsus,
after the plan and likeness of Babylon, that the river Cydnus
should flow through Tarsus, in the same manner as the Euphrates
intersected Babylon. Next in order after him reigned Nergilus
(Neriglissor?), who was assassinated by his son Adramelus,
(Adrammelech?) and he also was slain by Axerdes (Sharezer?), his
brother by the same father but of a different mother, who
pursued his army, and shut it up in the city of Byzantium,
(lit., of the Byzantines). Axerdes was the first that levied
mercenary soldiers, one of whom was Pythagoras, a follower of
the wisdom of the Chaldeans; he also [p.90] reduced under his dominion Egypt,
and the country of Coele-Syria, from whence came Sardanapallus.133
"After him, Saracus reigned over the Assyrians;
and when he was informed that a very great multitude of
barbarians had come up from the sea to attack him, he sent
Busalossorus, as his general, in haste to Babylon. But he,
having with a treasonable design obtained Amuhean, [Amytis], the
daughter of Astyages, the prince of the Medes, to be affianced
to his son Nabuchodrossorus, (Nebuchadnezzar), marched
straightway to surprise the city of Ninus, i.e., Nineveh.
"But, when Saracus, the king, was apprized of all these
proceedings, he burnt the royal palace.134
And Nabuchodrossorus, (Nebuchadnezzar), succeeded to the empire,
and surrounded Babylon with a strong wall."―Extracted from Euseb. Arm. Chron. 53.
OF BELUS AND THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE.
FROM CASTOR.
"Belus, says Castor, was king of the Assyrians;
and, under him, the Cyclops assisted Jupiter with thunderbolts
and lightnings, in his contest with the Titans. At that time
there were kings of the [p.91]
Titans, one of whom was Ogygus. (After a short digression he
proceeds to say,) that the giants, in their attempted inroads
upon the gods, were slain by the assistance of Hercules and
Dionysus,135
who were themselves of the Titan race. Belus, whom we have
mentioned above, was, after his death, esteemed a god. After
him, Ninus reigned over the Assyrians 52 years. He married
Semiramis, who, after his decease, reigned over the Assyrians 42
years. Then Zames, (who is the same as Ninyas,) reigned. (Then
he enumerates each of the successive kings in order, and
mentions them all, down to Sardanapallus, by their respective
names: whose names, and the length of their reigns, we shall
also give presently. Castor mentions them in his Canon in the
following words): 'We have first digested into a Canon the kings
of the Assyrians, commencing with Belus: but, since we have no
certain tradition respecting the length of his reign, we have
merely set down his name, and commenced the chronological series
from Ninus; and have concluded it with another Ninus, who
obtained the empire after Sardanapallus; that, in this manner,
the whole length of the time, as well as of the reign of each
king, might be plainly set forth. Thus, it will be found, that
the complete sum [p.92]
of the years amounts to 1280.'"―Extracted
from Euseb. Arm. Chron., p. 81.
FROM DAMASCIUS.
"But the Babylonians, like the rest of the
Barbarians, pass over in silence the One principle of the
universe, and they constitute two, Tauthe and Apason, making
Apason the husband of Tauthe, and denominating her the 'mother
of the gods.' And, from these proceeds an only-begotten son,
Moymis, which, I conceive, is no other than the intelligible
world proceeding from the two principles. From them, also,
another progeny is derived, Dache and Dachus; and again a third,
Kissare and Assorus, from which last three others proceed, Anus
and Illinus, and Aus. And of Aus and Davke is born a son called
Belus, who, they say, is the fabricator of the world the
Demiurgus."136
FROM AGATHIAS.
"But Jupiter they call Belus, and Hercules they
they call Sandes,137
and Venus Anaitis, and the rest they call differently; as
Berosus the Babylonian, and Athenocles and Simacos, among others
who have written the antiquities of the Assyrians and Medes,
have related."―De rebus
gestis Justiniani, ed. Bonaventurae, Parisiis, 1650.
[p.93]
THE FRAGMENTS
OF
THE EGYPTIAN HISTORIES
CONTAINING
THE OLD CHRONICLE; THE REMAINS OF MANETHO; AND
THE LATERCULUS OF ERATOSTHENES.
________________
[p.95]
INTRODUCTION.
ABYDENUS
Was a Greek writer, contemporary with, and
disciple of Berosus, the Chaldean, about B.C. 268. He wrote a
history of the Chaldean empire, fragments of which are preserved
to us in the writings of Eusebius, Cyrillus, and Syncellus. Some
regard him as the same person as Palaephatus, who was also an
Abydenus, i.e., a native of the city Abydus.
MEGASTHENES,
A Greek historian and geographer, who was sent
by Seleucus Nicator as ambassador to India, about 295 B.C. On
his return he wrote a book on India, which has unfortunately
perished, with the exception of such fragments as are preserved
in the works of Strabo, Josephus, and Arrian. The fragments of
the Indica have been collected and published by Schwanbeck, with
notes and explanations (Bonn, 1846). They are also to be found,
with a Latin translation, in Muller's Fragmenta Grceca.
[p.96]
ERATOSTHENES,
Was an African by birth, the pride of Cyrene,
as Strabo calls him. He reduced two sciences, which he found in
their infancy, to a system geography and chronology. He was born
about 276 B.C., and held, under Euergetes, king of Egypt, the
honourable post of Director of the Alexandrian Library. His
researches into Egyptian history and chronology were undertaken
by command of the King, and, consequently, with every advantage
that royal patronage could procure. They were more especially
devoted to the "so-called Theban kings," and were completed and
edited by Apollodorus, the chronographer.
APOLLODORUS.
To whom we are indebted for the preservation of
some of these precious fragments, was a native of Athens, the
son of Asclepiades, and pupil of Aristarchus. He flourished
about B.C. 140, and continued the chronological researches of
Eratosthenes of Cyrene. He is styled "the chronographer,
Apollodorus," by Clement, Bishop of Alexandria, and, by Diodorus
Siculus, he is distinguished as "Apollodorus, [p.97] who treats of
the computation of time." He wrote, besides his mythological
work called the Bibliotheca of which we possess three entire
books a chronicle in iambic verse, comprising a period of 1040
years from the Trojan war down to his own time. He was, in fact,
both a chronographer and grammarian by profession. Eratosthenes
was the founder of chronology and geography; and Apollodorus,
having taken up the interrupted researches of Eratosthenes,
became the publisher and continuator of his work.
JULIUS AFRICANUS.
Julius Africanus, or the African, was Bishop of
Emmaus [Nicopolis], in Judaea, at the beginning of the third
century. He is regarded as the first editor of the Lists of
Manetho, and is said to have compiled a chronological work, in
five books, all of which, excepting only a few fragments, have
unfortunately perished.
These precious relics have been collected and
admirably arranged by Routh, in his Reliquia Sacrae, vol. iii.
They exhibit throughout the man of judgment, integrity, and
information; zealous in collecting and examining the oldest
Chaldean and Egyptian records, especially those of Berosus and
Manetho.
[p.98] As he did
not attempt the arrangement of a system of Annals with a regular
notation of synchronisms, he gave the traditions unadulterated,
just as he found them, contenting himself with proving from
their own internal evidence the extravagance of those myriads of
years admitted in the computation of his Pagan opponents.
He would seem, however, to have attempted the formation of a
scheme of dates, according to the scriptural years of the world,
with incidental notations of synchronisms, in order to bring the
Bible-history into a certain connection with the Greek
chronology. We know from Syncellus and a fragment of Africanus
himself, that he assumed the year of the world 5500, (which we,
following the Hebrew text, according to Archbishop Usher, make
4004), to be that of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
This assumption, which upon his authority has remained a
standard dogma with the Fathers of the Greek Church, is, in
truth, far preferable to the calculations of the Western
Churches and those of Sir Isaac Newton ; it rests, however, upon
wholly conjectural grounds.
According to Africanus, following the Septuagint computation,―
| |
|
A.M. |
| The Flood occurred |
................ |
2262 |
| The Birth of Abraham |
................ |
2302 |
| Joseph's Death |
................ |
3563 |
| The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt |
................ |
3705 |
[p.99]
| |
|
A.M. |
| Building of Solomon's Temple |
................ |
4457 |
| First Olympiad after the Exodus 1020 |
................ |
4725 |
| (Contemporaneous with Jotham, King of
Judah). |
|
|
| Beginning of the Reign of Cyrus, King of
Persia |
................ |
4942 |
| (In the first year of the 55th
Olympiad). |
|
|
| The Birth of Christ |
................ |
5500 |
From this table we see that Africanus, in the disputed dates,
adheres to the Alexandrian tradition; he, consequently, assumes
215 years for the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt.
But neither the Bible, nor Josephus, affords the least
explanation of the 744 years assigned by him as the period
between the Exodus and the building of the Temple. We must,
however, take into consideration that, it is with him a settled
thing, that the period from the Flood of Ogyges and the reign of
Phoroneus to the first Olympiad was 1020 years. He assigns this
same period for the interval between Moses and Solomon; and
agrees with Josephus in admitting 25 years for Joshua. Africanus
fortifies himself in this delusion on the subject of Greek
synchronisms by two totally inadmissible assumptions. First, by
a statement of Polemus, that in the time of Apis, son of
Phoroneus, a portion of the Egyptian army left their own
country, and established themselves in Palestine; and, secondly,
by a statement in the text of Apion, (resting upon no [p.100] better authority than that of
Ptolemy the Mendesian), to the effect that, in the time of
Inachus,138
under the reign of Amos,' Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.
This gives us a key to his assertion in this version of the
Lists of Manetho, that Moses withdrew from Egypt under Amos, the
chief of the 18th dynasty. But, the above statement of Ptolemy
the Mendesian rests solely on the assumption that Amos destroyed
Avaris, the stronghold of the Hyksos, or Shepherd-Kings.
Admitting this, the only conclusion to be drawn from it would
be, that the expulsion of the Hyksos from all Egypt was ascribed
to Amos. From the notices, however, contained in Manetho's
historical work, we learn, that it was the so-called
Mephra-Tuthmosis, (whose reign cannot be placed earlier than
fifth in the list of the 18th dynasty), who occupied Avaris
after his convention with the Hyksos. It is, however, altogether
nugatory to confound the Exodus with the expulsion of the
Hyksos. That they were even contemporary events seems
irreconcilable with any traces of historical truth in the Book
of Exodus. The fatal love of synchronisms exercised an evil
influence upon the worthy Africanus, and thus prevented any
close examination of Manetho's account.―Abridged and adapted from Bunsen's Egypt's
Place in History, pp. 212-217.
[p.101]
ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR.
This writer was born in Ionia or Phrygia, and
was a pupil of the grammarian Krates. On account of his great
fame as a scholar he obtained the epithet of Polyhistor.
Captured in the war which the Romans waged against Mithridates,
king of Pontus, he was bought by Cornelius Lentulus, who made
him tutor to his sons. He received from his master the cognomen
of Cornelius, (a custom then in use among the Romans); and, as a
freed-man, became known as Alexander Cornelius Polyhistor. He
lived at Rome in the time of the dictator Sylla, that is about
85 B.C., and perished in the flames by which the house of
Lentulus was destroyed. He was a voluminous writer, but
unfortunately his works have all perished. We are chiefly
indebted to the Byzantine writer, Suidas, for what little we
know of Polyhistor. Stephen of Byzantium, (De Urbibus et
Populis), says that Polyhistor was a native of Cotiaei, a city
of Phrygia, that he was either a son, or a disciple of
Asclepiades, and that he wrote forty- two books on all kinds of
subjects.
Clemens of Alexandria139
quotes from the first book of a work, "Concerning the Jews;" and
Eusebius [p.102] also,
speaks of him with the highest praise.139a
Richter140
says it cannot be doubted that Pliny is greatly indebted to him
for much that he relates in his Natural History. (Vide Pliny,
Historia Nat. iii. 21, vii. 49, ix. 56, xiii. 39, xvi. 6, xxxvi.
17, edit. Harduin.)
Plutarch and Photius, (cod. 188), have also mentioned
Polyhistor; but we have no proof that Polyhistor had himself
read the books of Berosus the Chaldaean, because he appeals to
Apollodorus in reference to subjects related by the former.
SYNCELLUS.
George the Syncellus, (i.e. the
cell-companion), of the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople,
(Byzantium), was born about A.D. 800. He is the author of a
chronography, which extends from the Creation of the world down
to A.D. 284. His work rests chiefly upon the authority of Julius
Africanus and Eusebius, both of whom he accuses of serious
errors. To this work continued down to A.D. 813, by Theophanes
the saurian we are indebted for several fragments [p.103] of Berosus, Manetho, and other
writers whose works have long since perished.
Further information concerning these writers Apollodorus,
Eratosthenes, Manetho, Julius Africanus, and Syncellus with a
critical estimate of the value of their respective systems of
chronology, will be found in the learned work of Baron Bunsen,
Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. 1., to which I am
greatly indebted.
[p.104]
INTRODUCTION TO THE LISTS OF MANETHO.
BEFORE the era of the Ptolemies no native work
was accessible to the Greeks, either on the doctrine, the
chronology, or the history of Egypt. Manetho, an Egyptian
priest, of Sebennytus, undertook to supply the deficiency in
regard to each of these branches, and thereby formed an epoch in
the researches of the Greeks, and of the Egyptians themselves.
His historical work comprised a period of 3,555 years, from
Menes, the first human monarch of Egypt, down to Alexander the
Great. "The period,'' says Syncellus, "of the hundred and
thirteen generations, described by Manetho in his three volumes,
comprises a sum total of three thousand five hundred and
fifty-five years;" that is, from the time of Menes to the death
of the younger Nectanebo, the last of the native kings of Egypt.
Of this period, thirteen centuries belonged to the Old Empire,
nine to the Middle, and thirteen to the New. Manetho, whose
Egyptian name was clearly Manethoth i.e., Ma-n-thoth "he who was
given by Thoth," (the Mercury or Hermes of the Egyptians,) is
known to ancient authors as a priest of Sebennytus, living in
high estimation at the court of the first Ptolemy, the son of
Lagus, surnamed Soter. It is probable that Manetho also lived
under Ptolemy Philadelphus II., since the authors of the
Apotelesmata, and the Book [p.105]
of Sothis, or the Dog-star, who usurped his name, dedicated
their forgery to that king.
Manetho, the Egyptian scholar and priest, evidently owes his
high reputation to the merit of being the first who
distinguished himself as a writer and critic upon religion and
philosophy, as well as chronology and history; using the Greek
language, but drawing his materials from native sources,
especially the Sacred Books of his nation. "Manetho, the
Egyptian." says Eusebius, "not only reduced the whole Egyptian
history into a Greek form, but also their entire system of
theology, in his treatise, entitled 'The Sacred Book,' as well
as in other works."
Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus,141
in the second quarter of the fifth century, describes Manetho
(Sermon ii. de Therapeut), as "the author of a mythological
work, or works, concerning Isis and Osiris, Apis and Serapis,
and the other Egyptian deities." Manetho is also quoted by
Plutarch, Ælian,
Diogenes Laertius, and Suidas. This distinguished historian,
sage, and scholar the man whom all our ancient authorities
mention with respect, is become almost a mythological personage;
and his works, with the exception of a few fragments, have been
swept away by the destructive hand of time. What the school of
Aristotle had prepared, and Manetho, under Greek [p.106] auspices, but with Egyptian
learning, had matured, Eratosthenes of Cyrene, and Apollodorus
of Athens carried to perfection; so that, by their efforts, the
chronology of Egypt became the common property of mankind.
Unfortunately, nothing remains of the labours of Apollodorus
except the number of kings for the middle Empire; while
Eratosthenes's register of the earlier Pharaohs has reached us
only in a meagre epitome. To George Syncellus of Byzantium,
(Constantinople), we are indebted for an extract from a work of
Eratosthenes devoted to the subject of Egyptian chronology,
which he introduces with the following prefatory remarks:
"Apollodorus, the chronographer, has described another dynasty
of Egyptian kings, called Thebans, thirty-eight in number, whose
united reigns comprised 1,076 years. This succession extends
from the year of the world, 2900 (or, according to Syncellus,
from the 124th year after the Confusion of Tongues), to the year
3975. Eratosthenes, (as stated by Apollodorus), compiled his
notices of these kings from Egyptian monuments and lists, by
order of the King, and arranged their names each with its Greek
translation in the following order." Then follows a List of
Kings beginning with Menes every Egyptian name with its Greek
translation annexed. The number of years for each reign is also
subjoined. Thus we have a list of Egyptian kings, drawn up by
Eratosthenes, and edited by Apollodorus, the chrono- [p.107] grapher; beginning with Menes,
and containing thirty-eight reigns in 1,076 years the editor
himself added to it another list of fifty-three kings, in
continuity of succession. But, having, like Josephus, and all
the Christian chronographers, placed Moses and the Exodus at the
beginning of the eighteenth dynasty, what, then, was to be done
with the other fifty-three kings who reigned before the
eighteenth dynasty? It is, then, to this circumstance that we
are indebted for the copious extracts from Manetho's historical
work of the names of the kings of that dynasty. Eratosthenes
began his labours with Menes, and, no doubt, concluded them with
some notable epoch some important historical crisis. This event
was unquestionably the invasion of the Shepherds, and the
occupation of the Egyptian throne by the Shepherd-kings, (the
Hyksos); for the whole history of Egypt turned upon this event,
as proved by the monuments and attested by Manetho.
Eratosthenes, therefore, must be our guide for the chronology of
the Old Empire, so long as his data are in harmony with those
derived from the monuments. The Old Empire terminated with the
third king of the thirteenth dynasty; the occupation of the
throne of Memphis by the Shepherd-kings was the commencement of
the Middle Empire, and their expulsion that of the New. For the
Middle Empire we must follow Apollpdorus of Athens, for, if the
lists of kings furnished by Eratosthenes embraced [p.108] the Old Empire, Apollodorus
must have commenced with the Middle Empire, for his fifty-three
kings follow immediately upon those of Eratosthenes. Nor can
there be any reasonable doubt as to the extent of the period
they occupied. Syncellus did not deign to transcribe their
names, because they appeared to him utterly useless. The names
of the kings of the eighteenth Dynasty consequently were not
among them, for he was not only well acquainted with those, but
considered them of the greatest importance. Syncellus subjected
this Dynasty, (the eighteenth,) to a very careful analysis,
because the birth of Moses and the Exodus were connected with
it. The labours of Apollodorus did not, therefore, extend to the
New Empire. Such an hypothesis were indeed, as Bunsen remarks,
hardly in itself admissible, for Manetho assigns, at most,
fifty-seven Theban kings of the thirteenth Dynasty to this
period, and those of Apollodorus are also expressly called
Thebans. Lastly, the correspondence between the number
fifty-three in Apollodorus, and fifty-seven in Manetho, were as
close as could reasonably be expected or desired as an argument
in favour of their identity of period. Everything, therefore,
combines, as Bunsen states, to show the probability of our
having discovered the true system of Eratosthenes and
Apollodorus, and with it a key to the right understanding of the
Lists of Manetho.―Bunsen's
Egypt's Place in History, 142-144, et passim.
[p.109]
M A N E T H O.
OF THE WRITING OF MANETHO.
"IT remains, therefore, to make certain
extracts concerning the dynasties of the Egyptians, from the
writings of Manetho, the Sebennyte, the high-priest of the
idolatrous temples of Egypt, in the time of Ptolemaeus
Philadelphia. These, according to his own account, he copied
from the inscriptions which were engraved, in the sacred dialect
and hierographic characters, upon the columns set up in the
Seriadic land by Thoth, the first Hermes, (Mercury); and after
the Flood, were translated from the sacred dialect into the
Greek tongue, in hieroglyphic characters, and committed to
writing in books, and deposited by Agathodaemon, the son of the
second Hermes, the father of Tat, (Taut of the Phoenician
mythology), in the penetralia of the temples of Egypt. He has
addressed and explained them to Philadelphus, the second king
(of Egypt) who bore the name of Ptolemaeus, in the book which he
has entitled Sothis, (or the Dog-star)." This epistle is as
follows:
THE EPISTLE OF MANETHO,142
THE SEBENNYTE, TO PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS.
"To the great and august King, Ptolemy
Philadelphus : Manetho, the High-priest and Scribe of the [p.110] sacred adyta in Egypt, being by
birth a Sebennyte and a citizen of Heliopolis, to his sovereign
Ptolemy, humbly greeting:
"It is right for us, most mighty King, to pay due attention to
all things which it is your pleasure we should take into
consideration. In answer, then, to your inquiries concerning the
things which shall come to pass in the world, I shall, according
to your commands, lay before you what I have gathered from the
sacred books written by Hermes Trismegistus, our forefather.
Farewell, my Prince and Sovereign."―Syncel.
Chron. 40. Euseb. Chron.
[p.111]
M A N E T H O.
THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES.
THE DYNASTY OF THE DEMIGODS.
The 1st of the Egyptian kings was Hephaestus,
(Vulcan), who reigned 724 and a half years and four days.
The 2nd was Helios (i.e. the Sun), the son of Hephaestus (who
reigned) 86 years.
3rd, Agathodaemon, who reigned 56 and a half years and ten days.
4th, Kronus (Saturn) 40 and a half years.
5th, Osiris and Isis, 35 years.
6th, .... ...... ...... ...... years.
7th, Typhon, 29 years.
8th, Horus, the demigod, 25 years.
9th, Ares (Mars), the demigod, 23 years.
10th, Anubis, the demigod, 17 years.
11th, Heracles (i.e. Hercules) the demigod, 15 years.
12th, Apollo, the demigod, 25 years.
13th, Ammon, the demigod, 30 years.
14th, Tithoes, the demigod, 27 years.
15th, Sosus, the demigod, 32 years.
16th, Zeus,[Y.&, Jupiter], the demigod, 20 years.―Syncel. Chron. 19. Euseb.
Chron. 7.
[p.112]
THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES AFTER THE
DELUGE.
THE FIRST DYNASTY.
1. After the dead demigods, the first dynasty
consisted of eight kings, of whom the first was Menes the
Thinite; he reigned 62 years, and perished by a wound received
from a hippopotamus.
2. Athothis, his son, reigned 57 years ; he built the palaces at
Memphis, and left the anatomical books, for he was a physician.
3. Kenkenes, his son, reigned 31 years.
4. Venephes, his son, reigned 23 years. In his time a great
plague raged through Egypt. He erected the pyramids near
Cochome.
5. Usapheedus, his son, reigned 20 years.
6. Miebidus, his son, reigned 26 years.
7. Semempsis, his son, reigned 18 years. In his reign a terrible
pestilence afflicted Egypt.
8. Bieneches, his son, reigned 26 years.
The whole number of years amounted to 253 [or 263, according to
the true reckoning].
THE SECOND DYNASTY.
Consisted of nine Thinite kings.
1. Boethus the First reigned 38 years. During
his reign a chasm of the earth opened near Bubastus, and many
persons perished.
2. Kaeachos reigned 39 years. Under him the [p.113] bulls, Apis in Memphis, and
Meneus, (Mnevis), in Heliopolis, and the Mendesian goat, were
appointed to be gods.
3. Binothris reigned 47 years. In his time it was decided that
women might hold the imperial government.
4. Tlas reigned 17 years.
5. Sethenes reigned 41 years.
6. Chaeres (reigned} 17 years.
7. Nephercheres (reigned) 25 years. In his time it is said that
the Nile flowed with honey during eleven days.
8. Sesochris, whose height was five cubits and his breadth
three, (reigned) 48 years.
9. Cheneres 30 years.
The whole number of years is 302.
THE THIRD DYNASTY.
Of nine Memphite kings.
1. Necherophes reigned 28 years. In his time the Libyans
revolted from the Egyptians ; but, on account of an unexpected
increase of the moon, they surrendered themselves for fear.
2. Tosorthrus reigned 29 years. He is called Asclepius [i.e.,
Aesculapius], by the Egyptians, for his medical knowledge. He
built a house of hewn stones, and greatly patronised writing.
3. Tyris reigned 7 years.
[p.114]
4. Mesochris 17 years.
5. Soiphis [or, Souphis] 16 years.
6. Tosertasis 19 years.
7. Achis [or, Aches] 42 years.
8. Siphuris 30 years.
9. Kerpheres 26 years.
Altogether 214 years.
THE FOURTH DYNASTY.
Of eight Memphite kings of a different race.
1. Soris reigned 29 years.
2. Suphis reigned 63 years. He built the largest pyramid. He was
also called Peroptes, and was translated to the gods, and wrote
the sacred book.
3. Suphis (or Cheops) reigned 66 years.
4. Mencheres (Men-ke-ra) 63 years.
5. Ratoeses 25 years.
6. Bicheres 22 years.
7. Sebercheres 7 years.
8. Thamphthis 9 years.
Altogether 274 years [or 284, according to the correct
computation.]
THE FIFTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of nine Elephantine kings.
1. Usercheris reigned 28 years.
2. Sephres 13 years.
3. Nephercheres 20 years.
[p.115]
4. Sisiris 7 years.
5. Cheres 20 years.
6. Rathuris 44 years..
7. Mencheres 9 years.
8. Tarcheres [or, Tatcheres] 44 years.
9. Obnos [or, Onnos] 33 years.
Altogether 248 years [or, 218 years.]
THE SIXTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of six Memphite kings.
1 . Othoes, 30 years, who was killed by his guards.
2. Phius reigned 53 years.
3. Methusuphis 7 years.
4. Phiops, who began to reign at six years of age, and reigned
till he had completed his hundredth year.
5. Menthesuphis reigned one year.
6. Nitocris, who was the most handsome woman of her time, of a
fair complexion; she built the third pyramid, and reigned 12
years.
Altogether 203 years.
THE SEVENTH DYNASTY.
Of seventy Memphite kings, who reigned 70 days.
THE EIGHTH DYNASTY.
Of twenty- seven Memphite kings, who reigned
146 years.
[p.116]
THE NINTH DYNASTY.
Of nineteen Heracleotic kings, who reigned 409
years.
1. The first was Achthoes, the worst of all his predecessors. He
did much harm to all the inhabitants of Egypt, was seized with
madness, and killed by a crocodile.
THE TENTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of nineteen Heracleotic kings, who
reigned 185 years.
THE ELEVENTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of sixteen Diospolite, (or Theban),
kings, who reigned 43 years.
Among them Ammenemes, who reigned 16 years.
The sum total of the above-named kings is 192, who reigned 2,308
years and 70 days.―From
Syncellus Chronicon, 54 to 59 Euseb. Chron., 1 and 15.
[p.117]
THE SECOND BOOK OF MANETHO.
THE TWELFTH DYNASTY.
Of seven Diospolite, (or Theban), kings.
1. Geson Goses [or, Sesonchosis; or,
Sesortosis; or, Sesortosis], the son of Ammanemes. He reigned 46
years.
2. Ammanemes reigned 38 years. He was slain by his eunuchs.
3. Sesostris 41 [or, 48] years. He conquered all Asia in nine
years, and Europe as far as Thrace; everywhere erecting
monuments of his conquests of those nations; statues of men
among nations who acted bravely, but among the degenerate he
erected figures of women, engraving their sexual organs upon the
pillars. By the Egyptians he is supposed to be the first after
Osiris.
4. Lachares 8 years, who built the Labyrinth in Arsenoite [ sic]
as a tomb for himself.
5. Ammeres reigned 8 years.
6. Ammenemes 8 years.
7. Skemiophris, his sister, 4 years.
Altogether 160 years.
THE THIRTEENTH DYNASTY.
Consisted of 60 Diospolite, (or Theban), kings,
whose names are lost. They reigned 453 years. (according to the
Armenian copy of Eusebius).
[p.118]
THE FOURTEENTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of 76 Xoite kings, who ruled 184
[or, 484] years. (The number 484 is from the Armenian version of
Eusebius.)
The names are entirely lost.
THE FIFTEENTH* DYNASTY.
Of the Hykshos or Shepherd-Kings. There were
six foreign, i.e., Phoenician or Canaanitish kings. This dynasty
took Memphis, and built a city in the Sethroite nome, whence
they made an invasion, and conquered all Egypt. Of these―
1. Saites [or, Salatis] reigned 19 years, after whom the Saite
nome or district is called.
2. Beon [or, Bnon] reigned 44 years.
3. Pachnan [or, Apachnas] 61 years.
4. Staan 50 years.
5. Archies [or, Assis] 49 years.
6. Aphobis [or, Apophis] 61 years.
Altogether 284 years.
THE SIXTEENTH DYNASTY.
Of 32 Grecian shepherds, who reigned 518 years.
THE SEVENTEENTH DYNASTY
Consisted of 43 shepherd-kings and 43 Thebans,
[or, Diospolites.]
* Or the Seventeenth Dynasty according to
Eusebius.
[p.119]
The Shepherds and Thebans reigned altogether
151 years.
THE EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY.
Of sixteen Diospolite, (or, Theban), kings.
1. Amos; in whose time Moses went forth from Egypt, as we have
shown.
2. Chebros 13 years.
3. Amenophthis 24 years.
4. Amersis [or, Amensis] 22 years.
5. Misaphris 13 years.
6. Misphragmuthosis 26 years, in whose time the Flood of
Deucalion happened.
7. Tuthmosis reigned 9 years.
8. Amenophis 31 years. He is supposed to be the Memnon, to whom
the musical statue143
(in Egypt) was erected.
9. Horus reigned 37 years.
10. Acherrhes [or, Akenchres] 32 years.
11 . Rathos [or, Rathotis] 6 years.
12. Chebres 12 years.
13. Acherrhes [or, Akenchres] 12 years.
14. Armesses [or, Armais] 5 years.
15. Ramesses 1 year.
16. Amenoph [or, Amenophath] 19 years.
Altogether 263 [or, 259].
[p.120]
THE NINETEENTH DYNASTY.
Consisted of seven Diospolite, (or Theban),
kings.
1. Sethos reigned 51 years.
2. Rapsakes [or, Rampses] 61 years.
3. Ammenephthes 20 years.
4. Rameses 60 years.
5. Ammenemnes [or, Ammenemes] 5 years.
6. Thuoris, who is called by Homer, Polybus.
7. Alcandrus, 7 years, in whose time I lion, (i.e., Troy), was
taken.
Altogether 209 years.
In this second book of Manetho are contained 96
kings, and 2121 years.―Syncel.
Chron. 59 to 75. Euseb. Chron. 15 to 17.
[p.121]
THE THIRD BOOK OF MANETHO.
THE TWENTIETH DYNASTY,
Of 12 Diospolite, (or Theban), kings, who
reigned 135 years.
THE TWENTY-FIRST DYNASTY,
Of seven Tanite kings.
1. Smedes [or, Smendes] reigned 26 years.
2. Psusenes, or Psuneses, 46 years.
3. Nephercheres 4 years.
4. Amenophthis 9 years.
5. Osochor 6 years.
6. Psinaches 9 years.
7. Susenes [or, Psusennes] 30 years.
Altogether 130 years.
THE TWENTY-SECOND DYNASTY,
Of nine Bubastite kings.
1. Sesonchis (or Shishak)144
21 years.
2. Osoroth [or, Osorthon] 15 years.
3. 4, 5. Three others reigned 25 years.
[p.122]
6. Takellothis145
13 years.
7, 8, 9. Three others 42 years.
Altogether reigned 120 years.
THE TWENTY-THIRD DYNASTY.
Of four Tanite kings.
1. Petoubates reigned 40 years, in whose time the Olympiads
began.
2. Osorcho 8 years, whom the Egyptians call Hercules.
3. Psammus 10 years.
4. Zeet 31 years.
Altogether 89 years.
THE TWENTY-FOURTH DYNASTY.
Bocchoris, [or Bonchoris], the Saite, reigned 6 years, in whose
reign (a miracle occurred), for a sheep spoke.
Total 990 years.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH DYNASTY.
Consisted of 3 Ethiopic kings,
1. Sabbakon, who having taken Bocchoris captive, burnt him
alive, and reigned 8 years.
[p.123]
2. Sevechus,146
his son, who reigned 14 years.
3. Tarkos, or Tarakos [Tirhakah],147
18 years.
Altogether 40 years.
THE TWENTY-SIXTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of 9 Saite kings.
1. Stephinates reigned 7 years.
2. Nechepsos reigned 6 years.
3. Nechao (or Necho) 8 years.
4. Psammitichus 54 years.
5. Nechao, (or Necho), the 2nd reigned 6 years. He took
Jerusalem, and carried away captive Joahaz, the king, to Egypt.
6. Psammuthis 6 years.
7. Vaphris (or Hophra) 19 years, to whom the remainder of the
Jews fled when Jerusalem was taken by the Assyrians.
8. Amosis 44 years.
9. Psammacherites148
6 months.
Altogether 150 years and six months.
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DYNASTY.
Of eight Persian kings.
1. Cambyses reigned over Persia, his own
kingdom, 5 years, and over Egypt 6 years.
[p.124]
2. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, 36 years.
3. Xerxes the Great 21 years.
4. Artabanus 7 months.149
5. Artaxerxes 41 years.
6. Xerxes 2 months.
7. Sogdianus 7 months.
8. Darius, the son of Xerxes, 19 years.
Altogether 124 years and four months.
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DYNASTY.
Amyrteos, the Saite, reigned 6 years.
THE TWENTY-NINTH DYNASTY.
Consisting of four Mendesian kings.
1. Nepherites reigned 6 years.
2. Achoris 13 years.
3. Psammuthis 1 year.
4. Nephorites 4 months.
5. Muthis 1 year.
Altogether 20 years and four months.
THE THIRTIETH DYNASTY.
Consisting of three Sebennyte kings.
1. Nectanebes reigned 18 years.
[p.125]
2. Teos 2 years.
3. Nectanebos 18 years.
Altogether 38 years.
THE THIRTY-FIRST DYNASTY.
Consisting of three Persian kings.
1. (Darius) Ochus, who ruled Persia 20 years and Egypt two
years.
2. Arses, or Arses Ochus, (or Artaxerxes), reigned 3 years.
3. Darius 4 years.
Altogether 9 years.
Total 1,050 years.
―From Syncell. Chron. 73 to
78 and Euseb. Chron. 1 6, 17.
__________
Note by the Editor. For the
different readings of the royal names, the length of their
respective reigns, and the sum total of the years, which are
often divergent, I must refer the student to Vol. i. of Dr.
Birch's edition of Bunsen's Egypt's Place in History,
Appendix, p. 642, 736, where, in Greek and Latin, will be
found the lists of Syncellus, Eusebius, Eratosthenes, and
others.
[p.126]
MANETHO.
OF THE SHEPHERD-KINGS.
"WE had formerly a king whose name was Timaus.
In his time it came to pass, I know not how, that God was
displeased with us: and there came up from the East, in a
strange manner, men of an ignoble race, who had the confidence
to invade our country, and easily subdued it by their power,
without a battle. And, when they had our rulers in their hands,
they burnt our cities, and demolished the temples of the gods,
and inflicted every kind of barbarity upon the inhabitants,
slaying some, and reducing the wives and children of others to a
state of slavery. At length they made one of themselves king,
whose name was Salatis: he lived at Memphis, and rendered both
the upper and lower regions of Egypt tributary, and stationed
garrisons in places which were best adapted for that purpose.
But he directed his attention principally to the security of the
eastern frontier; for he regarded with suspicion the increasing
power of the Assyrians, who, he foresaw, would one day undertake
an invasion of the kingdom. And, observing in the Saite nome,
upon the east of the Bubastite channel, a city which from some
ancient theological reference was called. Avaris; [p.127] and finding it admirably
adapted to his purpose, he rebuilt it, and strongly fortified it
with walls, and garrisoned it with a force of two hundred and
fifty thousand armed men. To this city Salatis repaired in
summer time, to collect his tribute, and pay his troops, and to
exercise his soldiers, in order to strike terror into
foreigners.
And Salatis died after a reign of nineteen years; after him
reigned Beon forty-four years; and he was succeeded by Apachnas,
who reigned thirty-six years and seven months; after him reigned
Apophis sixty-one years, and Ianias fifty years and one month.
After all these reigned Assis forty-nine years and two months.
These six were the first rulers amongst them, and, during all
the period of their dynasty, they made war upon the Egyptians,
in hope of exterminating the whole race. All this nation was
styled Hykshos, that is, the Shepherd-Kings; for the first
syllable, Hyk, according to the sacred dialect, denotes king,
and sos signifies a shepherd; but. this according to the vulgar
tongue; and, of these two words is compounded the term Hykshos,
whom some say were Arabians. This people, thus denominated
Shepherd-Kings, and their descendants retained possession of
Egypt for the space of 511 years.
After these things, he (Manetho), relates that
the kings of Thebais, and of the other parts of Egypt, made an
insurrection against the Shepherds; and, [p.128]
that a long and mighty war was carried on between them, till the
Shepherds were subdued by a king whose name was
Alisphragmuthosis; and, that they were by him driven out of the
rest of Egypt, and shut up within a space containing ten
thousand acres, which was called Avaris. All this tract of
country, (says Manetho), the Shepherds surrounded with a vast
and strong wall, that they might retain all their possessions
and their booty within a fortress.
And Thummosis, the son of Alisphragmuthosis,
endeavoured to force them by a siege, and beleaguered the place
with a body of four hundred and eighty thousand men; but, at the
moment when he despaired of reducing them by siege, they agreed
to a capitulation, that they would leave Egypt, and should be
permitted to go out, without molestation, wheresoever they
pleased. And, according to this stipulation, they departed from
Egypt with all their families and effects, in number not less
than two hundred and forty thousand, and bent their way through
the desert towards Syria. But, as they stood in fear of the
Assyrians, who had then dominion over Asia, they built a city,
in that country which is now called Judaea, of sufficient size
to contain this multitude of men, and named it Jerusalem.
(In another book of the Egyptian histories,
Manetho says), That this people, who are here called Shepherds,
in their sacred books were also styled Captives.
[p.129] After the
departure of this nation of Shepherds to Jerusalem, Tethmosis,
the king of Egypt, who drove them out, reigned twenty-five years
and four months, and then died; after him his son, Chebron, took
the government into his hands for thirteen years; after him
reigned Amenophis for twenty years and seven months; then his
sister Amesses, 21 years and nine months.
She was succeeded by Mephres, who reigned 12 years and nine
months; after him Mephramuthosis, who reigned 25 years and 10
months; then Thmosis, who reigned nine years and eight months;
after whom Amenophis reigned 30 years and 10 months; then Orus
(Horus), who reigned 36 and five months; then his daughter
Akenchres, who reigned 12 years and one month; and after her,
Rathotis for nine years; then Akencheres 12 years and five
months, and another Akencheres 12 years and three months; after
him, Armais reigned four years and one month; and Ramesses (the
Great) one year and four months; then Armesses, (i.e., Ramses),
the son of Miammoun, who reigned 66 years and two months; after
him Amenophis for 19 years and six months; he was succeeded by
Sethosis, who is called Ramesses, who maintained an army of
cavalry and a naval force.
This king, (Sethosis), appointed his brother Armais as his
viceroy over Egypt. He also invested him with all the other
authority of a king, but with the following restrictions, viz.
1st, That he should not [p.130]
wear the crown; 2nd, Nor interfere with the queen, the mother of
his children; 3rd, Nor abuse the royal concubines. Sethosis then
made an expedition against the island of Cyprus, and Phoenicia,
and waged war with the Assyrians and Medes; and he subdued them
all, some by force of arms, and others without a blow, by the
mere terror of his power. And being puffed up with his success,
he advanced still more confidently, and overthrew the cities,
and subdued the countries of the East.
But Armais, who was left in Egypt, took advantage of the
opportunity, and fearlessly committed all those acts which his
brother had enjoined him not to do; he violated the queen, and
continued an unrestrained intercourse with the concubines, and,
at the persuasion of his friends, he assumed the diadem, and
openly opposed his brother.
But the ruler over the priests of Egypt sent to Sethosis, and
informed him of what had happened, and how his brother had set
himself up in opposition to his power. Upon this Sethosis
immediately returned to Pelusium, and recovered his kingdom. The
country of Egypt took its name from Sethosis, who was called
also Ægyptus, as was
his brother Armais known by the name of Danaus."150 ―Josephus, contr. Ap. lib. I. c. 14, 15.
[p.131]
OF THE ISRAELITES.
"This king, (Amenophis), was desirous of
beholding the gods, since Horus, one of his predecessors in the
kingdom had seen them. He communicated his desire to a priest of
the same name with himself, Amenophis, the son of Papis; one who
seemed to partake of the divine nature, both in his wisdom and
in his knowledge of futurity.
Amenophis returned him for answer, that he might behold the gods
if he would cleanse the land of all lepers, and other unclean
persons that were in it. Well pleased with this information, the
king gathered together out of the land of Egypt all that
laboured under any defect of body, to the number of 80,000, and
sent them to the quarries, (in the Mafra, or, Sinaitic
peninsula), which are situated on the east side of the Nile,
that they might work in them, and be separated from the rest of
the Egyptians.
And he, (Manetho), says, there were among them some learned
priests who were (also) infected with the leprosy. And
Amenophis, the wise man and prophet, fearing lest the vengeance
of the gods should fall, both on himself and on the king, should
it appear that violence had been used towards them, added this
also in a prophetic spirit; that certain people would come to
the assistance of these polluted wretches, and would subdue
Egypt, and hold it in possession for thirteen years. These
tidings [p.132] however he dared
not to communicate to the king, but left in writing an account
of what should come to pass, and destroyed himself; at which the
king was fearfully distressed.
'(After which, he writes thus, word for word): When those that
were sent to work in the quarries had continued for some time in
that miserable state, the king was petitioned to set apart for
their habitation and protection the city Avaris, which had been
left desolate by the Shepherds; and he granted them their
desire: now this city, according to the ancient theology, is a
Typhonian151
city.
When these men had taken possession of the city, and found it
well adapted for a revolt, they appointed over themselves a
ruler out of the priests of Heliopolis,152
one whose name was Osarsiph,153
and they bound themselves by oath that they would be obedient.
Osarsiph then, in the first place enacted this law, that they
should neither worship the Egyptian gods, nor abstain from
(eating) any of those sacred animals which the Egyptians hold in
the highest veneration, but sacrifice and slay them all; and
that [p.133] they should connect
themselves with none but such as were of that confederacy. When
he had made such laws as these, and many others of a tendency
directly in opposition to the customs of the Egyptians, he gave
orders that they should employ the multitude of hands in
rebuilding the walls about the city (Avaris), and hold
themselves in readiness for war with Amenophis the king; whilst
he (Osarsiph) took into his confidence and counsels some others
of the priests and unclean persons. He then sent ambassadors to
the city called Jerusalem; to those Shepherds who had been
expelled by Tethmosis,154
whereby he informed them of the affairs of himself, and of the
others who had been treated in the same ignominious manner, and
requested they would come with one consent, to his assistance in
this war against Egypt. He also promised in the first place to
reinstate them in their ancient city and country, Avaris, and
provide a plentiful maintenance for their numerous host, and
fight for them as occasion might require. He informed them,
moreover, that they could easily reduce the land (of Egypt)
under their dominion. The Shepherds received this message with
the greatest joy, and quickly mustered to the number of 200,000
men, and came up to Avaris. Now Amenophis, king of Egypt, when
he was informed of their invasion, was in great consternation,
remembering the prophecy of Amenophis, [p.134]
the son of Papis, and he assembled the armies of the Egyptians,
and took counsel with the leaders, and commanded the sacred
animals to be brought to him, especially those which were held
in the greatest veneration in the temples, and particularly
charged the priests to conceal the images of their gods with the
utmost care. And his son Sethos, who was also called Ramesses
from his father Rampses, being but five years old he committed
to the protection of a friend. And he marched with the rest of
the Egyptians, being three hundred thousand warriors, against
the enemy, who advanced to meet him ; but he did not attack
them, thinking it would be to wage war against the gods, but he
returned, and came again to Memphis, where he took Apis, (the
sacred bull), and the other sacred animals he had sent for, and
retreated immediately into Ethiopia, together with all his army,
and all the multitude of the Egyptians: for the king of Ethiopia
was under obligations to him, wherefore he received him kindly,
and took care of all the multitude that was with him, while the
country supplied all that was necessary for their food. He also
allotted to him cities and villages during his exile, which was
to continue from its beginning during the predestined thirteen
years. Moreover, he pitched a camp for an Ethiopian army upon
the borders of Egypt, as a protection to king Amenophis.
While such was the state of things in Ethiopia, the people of
Jerusalem, having come down in company with the unclean of the
Egyptians, treated the [p.135]
inhabitants with such barbarity that those who witnessed their
impieties believed that their joint sway was more execrable than
that which the Shepherds (alone) had formerly exercised. They
not only set fire to the cities and villages, but committed
every kind of sacrilege, and destroyed the images of the gods,
and roasted and fed upon those sacred animals that were
worshipped; and having compelled the priests and prophets to
kill and sacrifice them, they cast them naked out of the
country.
It is also said that the priest who ordained their polity and
laws was by birth a native of Heliopolis, and that he was named
Osarsiph, from Osiris, the god venerated at Heliopolis. He adds,
however, that when he went over to these people his name was
changed, and he was called Moyses (Mouses or Moses). Manetho
again says, 'after this Amenophis returned from Ethiopia with a
great force, and Rampses his son also, with other forces, and
encountering the Shepherds and the unclean people, they defeated
them, and slew multitudes of them, and pursued the remainder to
the borders of Syria (Judea).'"―From
Josephus, against Apion. Book i., cap. 27.
_________
"The authenticity of the account
of Josephus," says Dr. Eisenlohr, "is not to be doubted, for,
if he had not found the story in Manetho, he would not have
thought it necessary to denounce it. It has long been accepted
by Egyptologists," says he, "that the narration of Josephus
refers really to the Exodus of the Israelites." Transactions
of Soc. Bib. Archaeoch. vol. i., part 2., p. 380 I. Note by
the Editor.
[p.136]
THE OLD EGYPTIAN CHRONICLE.
"AMONG the Egyptians there is a certain tablet
called the Old Chronicle, containing thirty dynasties in 113
descents, during the long period of 36,525 years. The first
series of princes was that of the Auritse; the second was that
of the Mestraeans; the third of Egyptians. The Chronicle runs as
follows:
To Hephaestus [or, Vulcan] is assigned no time, as he is
apparent both by night and day.
Helius [or, the Sun] the son of Hephaestus (Vulcan) reigned
three myriads of years.
Then Kronus [or, Saturn] and the other twelve divinities reigned
3,984 years.
Next in order are the demigods, in number eight, who reigned 217
years.
After these are enumerated 15 generations of the Cynic circle,
which take up 443 years.
The 16th Dynasty is of the Tanites, eight kings, which lasted
190 years.
17th, Memphites; 4 in descent; 103 years.
18th, Memphites; 14 in descent; 348 years.
19th, Diospolites (or Thebans); 5 in descent; 194 years.
20th, Diospolites (or Thebans); 8 in descent; 228 years.
21st, Tanites; 6 in descent; 121 years.
[p.137]
22nd, Tanites; 3 in descent; 48 years.
23rd, Diospolites (or Thebans); 2 in descent; 19 years.
24th, Saites; 3 in descent; 44 years.
25th, Ethiopians; 3 in descent 44 years.
26th, Memphites; 7 in descent; 177 years.
27th, Persians; 5 in descent; 124 years.
28th (No information).
29th, Tanites; in descent; 39 years.
30th, A Tanite; 1 in descent; 18 years.
Embracing in all 30 Dynasties, and amounting to 36,525 years."―From Syncellus' Chronicon. 51,
and Eusebius, Chron. 6.
[p.138]
ERATOSTHENES' CANON OF THE KINGS
OF THEBES.
The first who reigned was Mines, (Menes), the
Thebinite, the Thebaean; which is by interpretation Dionius.155
He reigned sixty-two years, and lived in the year of the world
2,900.
The 2nd of the Theban kings reigned Athothes the son of Mines
(Menes), 59 years. He is called by interpretation Hermogenes. In
the year of the world 2,962.
The 3rd of the Theban Egyptian kings was Athothes, of the same
name, 32 years. In the year of the world 3,021.
The 4th of the Theban kings was Diabies, the son of Athothes, 19
years. By interpretation he is called Philesteros. In the year
of the world 3,053.
The 5th of the Theban kings was Pemphos, the son of Athothes,
who is called Heraclides. He reigned 18 years. In the year of
the world 3,072.
The 6th of the Theban Egyptian kings was Taegar Amachus
Momchiri, the Memphite, who is called a [p.139]
man redundant in his members, 79 years and A.M. 3,090.
The 7th of the Theban Egyptian kings, Stcechus his son, who is
Ares the senseless, reigned 6 years, A.M. 3,169.
The 8th of the Theban Egyptian kings Gosormies, who is called
Etesipantus, reigned 30 years, and A.M. 3,175.
The 9th of the Theban Egyptian kings Mares, his son, who is
called Heliodorus, 26 years, and A.M. 3,105.
The l0th of the Theban Egyptian kings Anoyphes, which signifies
a common son, reigned 20 years, and A.M. 3,231.
The 11th of the Theban Egyptian kings Sirius, which signifies
the son of the cheek, but, according to others Abascantus,
reigned 18 years, and A.M. 3,251. The 12th of the Theban
Egyptian kings reigned Chnubus Gneurus, which is Chryses the son
of Chryses, 22 years, A.M. 3,269.
The 13th of the Theban Egyptian kings reigned Ranosis, which is
Archicrator, 13 years, A.M. 3,291.
The 14th of the Theban Egyptian kings, Biuris, reigned 10 years.
Anno Mundi 3,304.
The 15th of the Theban kings, Saophis Komastes, or according to
some, Chrematistes (i.e., the trafficker, or money-getter),
reigned 29 years, and this was about A.M. 3,314.
The 16th of the Theban kings, Sensaophis the 2nd, reigned 27
years, A.M. 3,343.
[p.140]
The 17th of the Theban kings, Moscheris
Heliodotus, reigned 31 years, A.M. 3,370.
The 18th of the Theban kings, Musthis, reigned 33 years, A.M.
3,401.
The 19th of the Theban kings, Pammus Archondes, reigned 35
years, A.M. 3,434.
The 20th of the Theban kings, Apaphus, surnamed the Great, is
said to have reigned 100 years, with the exception of one hour,
A.M. 3,469.
The 21st of the Theban kings, Acheskus Okaras, reigned one year,
A.M. 3,569.
The 22nd of the Theban sovereigns was Nitokris, who reigned
instead of her husband (she is Athena Nikephorus. Her reign was
6 years, A.M. 3,570.)
The 23rd of the Theban kings, Myrtaeus Ammonodotus, reigned 22
years, A.M. 3,576.
The 24th of the Theban kings, Thyosimares the Robust, who is
called the sun, reigned 12 years, A.M. 3598.
The 25th of the Theban kings, Thinillus, which is the augmenter
of the country's strength, reigned 8 years, A.M. 3,610.
The 26th of the Theban kings, Semphrucrates, who is Hercules
Harpocrates, reigned 18 years, A.M. 3,618.
The 27th of the Theban kings, Chuthur Taurus the tyrant, 7
years, A.M. 3,636.
The 28th of the Theban kings, Meures Philoscorus, reigned 12
years, A.M. 3,643.
[p.141]
The 29th of the Theban kings, Chomaephtha,
Cosmus Philephaestus, reigned n years, A.M. 3,655.
The 30th of the Theban kings, Ancunius Ochytyrannus, reigned 60
years, A.M. 3,666.
The 31st of the Theban kings, Penteathyris, reigned 42 years,
A.M. 3,726.
The 32nd of the Theban kings, Stamenemes the second, reigned 23
years, A.M. 3,768.
The 33rd of the Theban kings, Sistosichermes, the strength of
Hercules, reigned 55 years, A.M. 3,791.
The 34th of the Theban kings, Maris, reigned 43 years, A.M.
3,846.
The 35th of the Theban kings, Siphoas, who is Hermes (Mercury),
the son of Hephaestus, reigned 5 years, A.M. 3,889.
The 36th of the Theban kings, ...., reigned 14 years, A.M.
3,894.
The 37th of the Theban kings, Phruron, who is Nilus, reigned 5
years, A.M. 3,908.
The 38th of the Theban kings, Amuthantaeus, reigned 63 years,
A.M. 3,913.
―From Syncelhcss Chronicon,
91, 96, 101, 104, 109, 123, 147.
[p.142]
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS.
OF THE EXODUS.
FROM CHAEREMON.
"AFTER him, (i.e., Manetho), I wish to examine
Chaeremon, who professes to have composed a history of Egypt. He
gives the same name as does Manetho to the king Amenophis, and
his son Ramesses, and. says as follows:
Isis appeared to Amenophis in his dreams, rebuking him that her
temple should have been overthrown in war. Upon which
Phritiphantes, the sacred scribe, told him that if he would
clear Egypt of all polluted persons, he would be delivered from
these terrors. He therefore collected 250,000 unclean persons,
and drove them out (of Egypt). Their leaders were two scribes,
called Moyses and Josephus; the latter of whom was a sacred
scribe: but their Egyptian names were respectively, that of
Moyses Tisithene, and that of Josephus Peteseph. They bent their
way towards Pelusium, where they met with 380,000 men left there
by Amenophis, whom he would not suffer to come into Egypt. With
these they made a treaty, and invaded Egypt. But Amenophis
waited not to oppose their incursion, but fled into Ethiopia,
leaving his wife pregnant: and she concealed herself [p.143] in a cavern,
where she brought forth a child, and named him Messenes, who,
when he arrived at manhood, drove out the Jews into Syria, being
about 200,000, and recalled his father, Amenophis, from
Ethiopia."―Extracted from
Josephus, against Apion, Book i. ch. 32.
FROM DIODORUS SICULUS.
"There having arisen in former days a
pestiferous disease in Egypt, the multitude attributed the cause
of the evil to the Deity; for a very great concourse of
foreigners of every nation then dwelt in Egypt, who were
addicted to strange rites in their worship and sacrifices; so
that, in consequence, the due honours of the gods fell into
disuse. Whence the native inhabitants of the land inferred, that
unless they removed them, there would never be an end of their
distresses. They immediately, therefore, expelled these
foreigners; the most illustrious and able of whom passed over in
a body, (as some say), into Greece, and other places, under the
conduct of celebrated leaders, of whom the most renowned were
Danaus, and Cadmus. But a large body of the people went forth
into the country which is now called Judea, situated not far
distant from Egypt, being altogether desert in those times. The
leader of this colony was Moses, a man very remarkable for his
great wisdom and valour. When he had [p.144] taken possession of the land,
among other cities, he founded that which is called Jerusalem,
which is now the most celebrated."―Extracted
from Book xl. Ecl. i, p. 921.
Note. The rest of the fragment gives an account
of the Jewish polity, laws, &c. It was the beginning of
Diodorus's "History of the Jewish War" and is preserved by
Photius, (Bishop of Constantinople.)
FROM LYSIMACHUS.
"He says, that in the reign of Bocchoris, king
of Egypt, the Jewish people, being infected with leprosy,
scurvy, and sundry other diseases, took shelter in the temples,
where they begged for food; and that, in consequence of the vast
number of persons who were seized with these complaints, there
arose a famine in Egypt. Upon this, Bocchoris, king of the
Egyptians, sent persons to enquire of the Oracle of Ammon,156
respecting this scarcity, and the god directed him to cleanse
the temples of all polluted and impious men, and to cast them
out into the desert, but to drown those who were affected with
the leprosy and scurvy, inasmuch as their existence was
displeasing to the Sun; then to purify the temples, upon which
the land would recover its fertility. When Bocchoris had
received the oracle, he as- [p.145]
sembled the priests and attendants of the altars, and commanded
them to gather together all the unclean persons and deliver them
over to the soldiers to lead them forth into the desert; but to
wrap the lepers in sheets of lead, and cast them into the sea.
After they had drowned those afflicted with the leprosy and
scurvy, they collected the rest, and left them to perish in the
desert. But they took counsel among themselves, and when night
came on they lighted up fires and torches to defend themselves,
and fasted all the next night to propitiate the gods to save
them. Upon the following day a certain man, called Moyses,
counselled them to persevere in following one direct way till
they should arrive at habitable places, and enjoined them to
hold no friendly communication with men, neither to follow those
things which men esteemed good, but such as were considered
evil; and to overthrow the temples and altars of the gods as
often as they should meet with them. When they had assented to
these proposals, they continued their journey through the
desert, acting upon those rules, and after severe hardships,
they at length arrived in a habitable country, where, having
inflicted every kind of injury upon the inhabitants, plundering
and burning the temples, they came at length to the land which
is now called Judea, and founded a city and settled there. This
city was named Hierosyla,157
[p.146] from
their {plundering and sacrilegious] disposition. But in after
times, when they acquired strength to obliterate the reproach,
they changed its name, and called the city Hierosolyma, and
themselves Hierosolymites."―Extracted
from Josephus, against Apion, 34.
FROM POLEMO.
"Some of the Greeks also relate that Moses
flourished in those times. Polemo, in the first book of his
Grecian histories, says 'that in the reign of Apis, the son of
Phoroneus, a part of the Egyptian army deserted from Egypt, and
took up their habitation in that part of Syria which is called
Palestine, not far from Arabia.' These indeed were they who went
out with Moses."―Extracted
from Africanus, as quoted by Eusebius, Praep. Evang., Book x.
FROM PTOLEMAEUS MENDESIUS.
"Amosis, who lived about the same time with
Inachus the Argive (i.e., the king of Argos), overthrew the city
of Avaris, as Ptolemaeus Mendesius has related in his
chronicle."―Extracted from
the Stromata of Clemens, Bishop of Alexandria, quoted by
Eusebius, Praep. Evang., Book x.
[p.147]
FROM ARTABANUS.
"And they (the Jews] borrowed of the Egyptians
many vessels, and no small quantity of raiment, and every
variety of treasure, and passed over the branches of the river
towards Arabia, and upon the third day's march they arrived at a
convenient station upon the Red Sea. And the Memphites say that
Moyses, being well acquainted with that part of the country,
waited for the ebbing tide, and then made the whole multitude
pass through the shallows of the sea. But the Heliopolitans (or
people of On), say that the king pursued them with a great army,
and took with him the sacred animals, in order to recover the
substance which the Jews had borrowed of the Egyptians. But that
a divine voice instructed Moyses to strike the sea with his rod:
and that when Moyses heard this, he touched the waters with his
rod, whereupon the waves stood apart, and the host went through
along a dry path. He says, moreover, that when the Egyptians
came up with them, and pursued them, the fire flashed on them
from before, and the sea again inundated the path, and that all
the Egyptians perished either by the fire or by the return of
the waters.
But the Jews escaped the danger, and passed
thirty years in the desert, where God rained upon them a kind of
grain called panic, whose colour was like [p.148] snow. He says also that Moyses
was ruddy, with white hair, and of a dignified deportment, and
that when he did these things, he was in the eighty-ninth year
of his age."―Extracted from
Eusebius, Praep. Evang., Book x.
Artabanus, evidently an Alexandrian Jew, is said to have written
about a century before Christ. The fragments of his history
which have been preserved follow the Scriptures with some few
variations and additions. In this account both the Memphite and
the Heliopolitan traditions are referred to. Unfortunately its
authenticity is very much to be suspected.
THE OBELISK OF HELIOPOLIS.
FROM AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS.
The interpretation begins upon the southern
side.
SOUTH SIDE.
Verse the First.
"The Sun to king Rhamestes. I have bestowed
upon you to rule graciously over all the world. He whom the Sun
loves is Horus the Brave, the lover of truth, the son of Heron,
born of God, the Restorer of the World: He whom the sun has
chosen is the king Rhamestes, valiant in battle, to whom all the
[p.149] earth is subject by his
might and bravery. Rhamestes the king, the immortal offspring of
the Sun."
Verse the Second.
"It is Horus the Brave who is in truth
appointed the Lord of the Diadem; he who renders Egypt glorious
and possesses it; he who sheds a splendour over Heliopolis, and
Regenerates the rest of the world, and Honours the gods who
dwell in Heliopolis, him the Sun loves.
Verse the Third.
Horus the Brave, the offspring of the Sun,
All-glorious: whom the Sun has chosen, and the valiant Ares
(Mars) has endowed. His goodness remains for ever, whom Ammon
loves, who fills with good the temple of the Phoenix. To him the
Gods have granted life, Horus the brave, the son of Heron
Rhamestes, the king of the world: He has protected Egypt and
subdued her neighbours : Him the Sun loves. The gods have
granted him great length of life. He is Rhamestes, the Lord of
the World, the Immortal.
ANOTHER SIDE.
Verse the Second.
"I, the Sun, the great God, the sovereign of
heaven, have bestowed upon you life without satiety. [p.150] Horus the Brave, Lord of the
diadem, incomparable, the Sovereign of Egypt, he who has placed
the statues of (the gods] in this palace, and has beautified
Heliopolis, in like manner as he has honoured the Sun himself,
the sovereign of heaven. The offspring of the Sun, the King
immortal, has performed a goodly work."
Verse the Third.
"I, the Sun, the God and Lord of heaven, have
bestowed strength and power over all things, on king Rhamestes:
he whom Horus, the lover of truth, the Lord of the Seasons, and
Hephaestus (i.e., Vulcan), the father of the Gods, have chosen
on account of his valour, is the all-gracious king, the
offspring and beloved of the Sun."
TOWARDS THE EAST.
Verse the First.
"The great God from Heliopolis, celestial,
Horus the Brave, the son of Heron, whom the Sun begot, and whom
the Gods have honoured, he is the ruler of all the earth; he
whom the Sun hath chosen is the king, valiant in battle. Him
Ammon loves; and him the all-glittering has chosen his eternal
king."
[p.151]
OF THE SIRIADIC COLUMNS.
FROM JOSEPHUS.
"All these (the sons of Seth), being naturally
of a good disposition, lived happily in the land without
apostatising, and free from any evils whatsoever: and they
studiously turned their attention to the knowledge of the
heavenly bodies and their configurations. And lest their science
should at any time be lost among men, and what they had
previously acquired should perish, (inasmuch as Adam had
acquainted them that a universal aphanism, or destruction of all
things, would take place alternately by the force of fire and
the overwhelming powers of water), they erected two columns, the
one of brick and the other of stone, and engraved upon each of
them their discoveries; so that, in case the brick pillar should
be dissolved by the waters, the stone one might survive to teach
men the things engraved upon it, and at the same time inform
them that a brick one had formerly been also erected by them. It
remains even to the present day in the land of Siriad."158 ―Extracted from Josephus "Antiquities of the
Jews'' Book i. ch. 2.
NOTE BY THE EDITOR. "We do not here propose to
renew the inquiry concerning the celebrated antediluvian
columns, or stelae, on which the lore of [p.152] this
primaeval world, with all its wisdom, was said to be
transmitted. Plato, it is well-known, speaks of these columns
in the opening of the Timaeus. We shall examine, in the 5th
book, whether this be anything more than a figurative
description, and how far we may be justified in assuming any
connection between the Egyptian legend and the two pillars of
Seth mentioned by Josephus. (Antiq. i., ch. 2). These pillars,
it is obvious, have reference to the Book of Enoch159; perhaps also to the pillars of Akikarus, or
Akicharus, the Prophet of Babylon, (or the Bosphorus), whose
wisdom Democritus is said to have stolen, and on which
Theophrastus composed a treatise. In the Egyptian traditions
that have come down to us, these primaeval stelae do not make
their appearance until the third and fourth centuries. They
are first mentioned in the so-called Fragments of Hermes, in
Stobaeus; afterwards, in Zosimus of Panopolis, evidently in
the colouring of Judaising-Christian writers; but, in their
worst shape, in the fourth century, in the work of an impostor
who assumed the name of Manetho. That in this latter instance,
at least, they were connected with the narrative of Josephus,
is shown by their allusion to the 'Syriadic Country.'"―Extracted from Bunsen's
Egypt's Place in History, vol. 1., p. 7, 8.
__________________
[p.153]
THE INDIAN FRAGMENTS
FROM
MEGASTHENES.
_____________
[p.155]
INDIAN FRAGMENTS.
MEGASTHENES.
"MEGASTHENES also appears to be of this
opinion, informing us that no reliance can be placed upon the
ancient histories of the Indians. 'For,' says he, 'there never
was an army sent forth by the Indians, nor did ever a foreign
army invade and conquer that country, except the expeditions of
Hercules and Dionysus, (Bacchus), and this (invasion] of the
Macedonians. Yet, Sesostris the Egyptian, and Tearcon (Tirhakah)
the Ethiopian, extended their conquests as far as Europe. But
Navocodrosorus (Nebuchadnezzar), the most renewed (monarch)
among the Chaldeans, exceeded Hercules, and carried his arms as
far as the Pillars160
(of Hercules, i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar), to which also, it
is said, Tearcon161
arrived. But Navocodrosorus led his army from Spain to Thrace
and Pontus. Idanthursus the Scythian, also overran all Asia as
far [p.156] as
Egypt. But none of all these ever invaded India.
Semiramis died before she commenced the undertaking. But the
Persians sent the Hydracse to collect a tribute from India; but
they never entered the country in a hostile manner, but only
approached it when Cyrus led his expedition against the
Massagetae. Megasthenes, however, with some few others, gives
credit to the narratives of the exploits of Hercules and
Dionysus (Bacchus): but all other historians, among whom may be
reckoned Eratosthenes, set them down as incredible and fabulous,
and of the same stamp with the achievements of the heroes among
the Greeks."―Extracted from
Strado, Book xv. 686.
OF THE CASTES OF INDIA.
"Megasthenes says, that the whole population of
India is divided into seven castes; among which that of the
Philosophers is held in estimation as the first, notwithstanding
their number is the smallest. The people when they sacrifice and
prepare the feasts of the dead in private, each makes use of the
services of one of them. But the kings publicly gather them
together in an assembly which is called the great Synod, at
which, in the commencement of each new year, all the
philosophers assemble at the gate (court) of the king, so that,
whatever each of them may have [p.157]
collected of things useful, or may have observed relative to the
increase of the fruits and animals, and of the state, he may
produce it in public. And it is a law that if any one of them be
three times convicted of falsehood, he shall be doomed to
silence during life; but the upright they exonerate from tax and
tribute. The second division is the caste of the Agriculturists,
who are the most numerous and worthy. They pursue their
occupation free from military duties and fear; neither
concerning themselves with civil, nor public, nor indeed any
other business. It often happens that at the same time and place
the military class is arrayed and engaged with an enemy whilst
the agricultural, depending upon the other, (i.e., the military
caste) for protection, plough and dig without any kind of
danger. And, since the land is all held of the king, they
cultivate upon hire, paying rent of one-fourth of the produce.
The third caste is that of the Shepherds and Hunters, to whom
alone it is lawful to hunt, graze, and sell cattle, for which
they give a premium and stipend. For ridding the land also, of
wild beasts and birds which destroy the grain, they are entitled
to a portion of corn from the king, and lead a wandering life,
living in tents. After the Hunters and Shepherds, the fourth
caste is that of the Artisans and Innkeepers, and bodily
Labourers of all kinds, of whom some bring tribute, or, instead
of it, perform stated service on the public works. But the
manufacturers of arms and builders of ships [p.158] are entitled to pay and
sustenance from the king, for they work only for him. The keeper
of the military stores gives out the arms to the soldiers, and
the governor of the ships lets them out for hire to the sailors
and merchants. The fifth caste is the Military, who, when
disengaged, spend the rest of their time at ease, in stations or
barracks assigned them by the king, so that, whenever occasion
may require, they may be ready to march forth directly, carrying
with them nothing else than their bodies. The sixth caste
consists of the Inspectors, whose business it is to pry into all
matters that are carried on, and report them privately to the
king, for which purpose in the towns they employ courtesans, and
camp-followers in the camp. They are chosen from the most
upright and honourable men. The seventh caste includes the
Councillors and Assessors of the king, by whom the government,
and laws, and administration are conducted. It is unlawful
either to contract marriages with another caste, or to change
one profession or occupation for another, or for one man to
undertake more than one (profession], unless the person so doing
shall be one of the Philosophers, who are privileged on account
of their dignity.
As regards the Governors, some preside over the rural affairs,
others over the civil, others, again, over the military. To the
first class is entrusted the inspection of the rivers, and the
measurement of the fields after the inundations, as in Egypt,
and the [p.159] covered aqueducts,
by which the water is distributed into channels for the equal
supply of all, according to their wants. The same have the care
of the Hunters, with the power of dispensing rewards and
punishments according to their deserts. They collect also the
tribute, and inspect all the arts which are exercised upon the
land, as of wrights, (ύλοτόμων),
and carpenters, and the workers of brass and other metals. They
also construct the highways, and at every ten stadia they place
a mile-stone (στηλη), to
point out the turnings and distances. The governors of cities
are divided into six pentads, some of whom overlook the
operative works, and others have charge of all foreigners,
distributing to them an allowance, and taking cognizance of
their lives, if they give them habitations; else they send them
away, and take care of the goods of such as happen to die, or
are unwell, and bury them when dead. The third class of
(governors) take registers of the births and deaths, and how and
when they take place; and this (is done) for the sake of the
tribute, that no births, either of good or bad, nor any deaths
maybe unnoticed. The fourth class has the care of the innkeepers
and exchanges: these have charge also of the measures and
qualities of the goods, that they may be sold according to the
proper stamps. Nor is any one permitted to barter more unless he
pay a double tribute. The fifth class presides over the
manufactured articles, arranging them, and sepa- [p.160] rating the stamped goods from
the common, and the old from the new, and laying a fine upon
those who mix them. The sixth and last class exact the tithe of
all things sold, with the power of inflicting death on all such
as cheat. Each, therefore, has his private duties. But it is the
public business of them all to control the private, as well as
civil, affairs of the nation, and to inspect the repairs of the
public works, and prices, and the markets, and the ports, and
temples.
After the civil-governors there is a third college, which
presides over military affairs, and this, in like manner, is
divided into six pentads, of which the first is consociated with
the governor of the fleet; the second with him who presides over
the yokes of oxen by which the instruments are conveyed, and the
food for themselves and the oxen, and all the other baggage of
the army. They have with them, moreover, attendants who play
upon drums and bells, together with grooms and smiths, and their
under workmen ; and they send forth their foragers to the sound
of bells, recompensing their speed with honour or punishment,
and attending to their safety. The third class have the charge
of the infantry; the fourth of the cavalry; the fifth of the
chariots; the sixth of the elephants. Moreover, there are royal
stables for the horses and beasts; and a royal arsenal, in which
the soldier deposits his accoutrements when he has done with
them, and gives up his horse to the master [p.l6l] of the horse,
and the same with respect to his beasts. They ride without
bridles; the oxen draw the chariots along the roads, while the
horses are led in halters, that their legs may not be injured,
nor their spirit impaired by the draught of the chariots. In
addition to the charioteer, each chariot contains two riders;
but, in the equipment of an elephant, its conductor is the
fourth, there being three bowmen also upon it.
The Indians are frugal in their diet, more particularly in the
camp; and, as they use no superfluities, they generally attire
themselves with elegance.
The relation of Strabo is continued, with an account of the laws
and customs of the Indians, containing some extracts from
Megasthenes irrelevant to the antiquities.
OF THE PHILOSOPHERS.
"That is much more worthy of credit which
Megasthenes reports, that the rivers roll down crystals of gold;
and that a tribute is collected from thence for the king, for
this also takes place in Iberia (Spain). And, speaking of the
Philosophers, he says that those who inhabit the mountains are
votaries of Dionysus (Bacchus), and they point to traces of him
among them, inasmuch as with them alone the vine grows naturally
wild, as well as the ivy, and laurel, and myrtle, and the box,
and other species of evergreens, of which, beyond the Euphrates
there are none, [p.162]
except such as are kept as rarities in gardens, and preserved
with great care. The following are also customs of Dionysiac,
(or Bacchic) origin, viz., the wearing of linen tunics and
turbans, the use of oils and perfumes, and the preceding their
kings with bells and drums when he goes forth on a journey. The
inhabitants of the plain, however, are devoted to the worship of
Hercules."―Extracted from
Strabo, Book xv. 711.
OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SECTS.
"He makes also another division of the
Philosophers, saying that there are two races of them, one of
which he calls the Brahmans, and the other the Germanes. Of
these the Brahmans are the more excellent, inasmuch as their
discipline is preferable; for, as soon as they are conceived,
they are committed to the charge of men skilled in magic arts,
who approach under the pretence of singing incantations for the
well-doing both of the mother and the child, though, in reality,
to give certain wise directions and admonitions; and the
mothers, who willingly pay attention to them, are supposed to be
more fortunate in parturition.
After their birth, they pass from the care of one master to that
of another, as their increasing age requires the more superior.
The Philosophers pass their time in a grove of moderate
circumference, which lies in front of the city, living frugally,
and lying [p.163] upon couches of
leaves and skins. They abstain also from animal food, and
intercourse with females, intent upon serious discourses, and
communicating them to such as wish. But it is considered
improper for the auditor either to speak, or to exhibit any
other sign of impatience; for, in case he should, he is cast out
of the assembly for that day as one incontinent. After passing
thirty-seven years in this manner, they betake themselves to
their own professions, where they live more freely and
unrestrained: they then assume the linen tunic, and wear gold in
moderation upon their hands, and in their ears. They also eat
flesh, except that of animals which are serviceable to mankind;
but they, nevertheless, abstain from acids and condiments. They
practise polygamy for the sake of having large families, because
they think that from many wives a larger progeny will proceed.
If they have no servants, their place is supplied by the service
of their own children; for, the more nearly any person is
related to another, the more is he bound to attend to his wants.
The Brahmans do not permit their wives to attend their
philosophical lectures, lest, if they should be imprudent, they
might divulge any of their secret doctrines to the uninitiated;
and, if they be of a serious turn of mind, lest they should
desert them. For, no one who despises pleasure and pain, even to
the contempt of life and death, (as a person of such sentiments
as they profess ought to be), would voluntarily submit to be
under [p.164] the domination of
another. They hold various opinions upon the nature of death;
for they regard the present life merely as the conception of
persons presently to be born; and death they consider as the
birth into a life of reality and happiness, to those who
philosophise rightly. Upon this account they are studiously
careful in preparing for death. They hold that there is neither
good nor evil in the accidents which take place among men; nor
would men, they say, if they regarded them aright, (as mere
visionary delusions), either grieve or rejoice at them. They,
therefore, neither distress themselves, nor exhibit any signs of
joy at their occurrence.
Their speculations upon nature, he says, are in
some respects, childish, though he admits that they are better
philosophers in their deeds than in their words; inasmuch as
they believe many things contained in their mythologies.
However, they hold several of the same doctrines which are
current among the Greeks; such as, that the world is generated
and destructible, and of a spherical figure, and, that the God
who administers and forms it, pervades it throughout its whole
extent; that the principles of all things are different, that
water, for instance, is the first principle of the fabrication
of the world; that after the four elements, there is a certain
fifth nature, of which the heavens and stars are composed; that
the earth is situated in the centre of the whole. They add much,
of a like nature, concerning generation and [p.165] the soul. They have also
conceived many fanciful speculations, after the manner of Plato;
in which they maintain the immortality of the soul, and the
judgments of Hades, (hell), and doctrines of a similar
description. Such is Megasthenes's account of the Brahmans.
Of the Germanes, he says, those are considered
the most honourable who are called Hylobii, and live in the
woods upon leaves and wild fruits, clothing themselves with the
bark of trees, and abstaining from sexual intercourse, and wine.
They hold communication, by messengers, with the kings, who
inquire of them concerning the causes of things; and, by their
means, the kings serve and worship the deity.
After the Hylobii, the second in estimation are the Physicians,
philosophers who are conversant with men, simple in their
habits, but not exposing themselves to a life abroad, living
upon rice and grain, which every one to whom they apply freely
gives them, and receives them into his house They are able, by
the use of medicines, to render women fruitful and productive,
either of males or females; but they perform their cures, rather
by attention to diet, than by the use of medicines. Among
medicines they approve more commonly of ointments and poultices:
all others they consider not free from deleterious effects.
These, and others of this sect, so exercise their patience in
labours and trials, as to have attained the capability of
standing in one position, [p.166] unmoved, for a whole day. There
are others also, who pretend to divination and enchantments, and
are skilful in the concerns of the inhabitants, and of their
laws. These lead a mendicant life among the villages and towns;
but the better class settle in the cities. They do not reject
such of the mythological stories concerning Hades as appear to
them favourable to virtue and piety. Women, among some of these
sects, are suffered to philosophise, but, in that case, they are
required to abstain from sexual intercourse."―Extracted from Strabo, Book v. p. 712.
OF THE INDIAN SUICIDES.
Megasthenes, in his account of the
Philosophers, says, "There is no prescribed rule for putting an
end to themselves; but those who do it are esteemed rash. Those
who are hardy by nature cast themselves upon a sword, or from a
precipice: those who are incapable of labour leap into the sea;
those who are patient of hardships are strangled, while those of
a fiery temperament are thrust into the fire. This last was
indeed the fate of Calanus, an intemperate man, and addicted to
the pleasures of the table, at the court of Alexander (the
Great)!'―Extracted from
Strabo, Book xv. p. 718.
End of the Indian Fragments of Megasthenes.
[p.167]
OF THE PHILOSOPHERS.
FROM CLITARCHUS.
"According to the statement of Clitarchus, they
place in opposition to the Brahmans, the Pramnse, a contentious
and argumentative set of men, who deride the Brahmans as
arrogant, and ridiculous, on account of their studies in
physiology and astronomy. They are divided into the Mountaineer,
the Naked, the Citizen, and the Rural sects."
OF THE INDIAN ASTRONOMY.
FROM THE PASCHAL CHRONICLE.
"About the time of the construction of the
Tower, (i.e., of Babel), a certain Indian, of the race of
Arphaxad, made his appearance; a wise man, and an astronomer,
whose name was Andubarius. It was he who first instructed the
Indians in the science of Astronomy." p. 36.
NOTE BY THE EDITOR. Although from the earliest
times to which historical research carries us back, an active
trade seems to have been carried on between India and Western
Asia, yet, Megasthenes is the earliest authority to which we
can appeal for information, regarding the immense continent
lying between the Indus and the Ganges. In the Hebrew
Scriptures, the ivory, apes, and peacocks, brought to Judea by
the ships of Tarshish, are designated by genuine Hindu, (i.e.
Tamil), names; [see my article, Dravidian Languages in the
English Cyclopaed.), Supplement, Arts and Sciences]; and at
least one city of Syria, (the Hierapolis of the Greeks), was
called by the Sanskrit name of MABUG, from maha = great and
baga = a god—while India
is enumerated among the 127 provinces subject to the rule of
Xerxes in Esther i. i, and viii. 9. The Sanskrit, the ancient
language of Hindustan, abounds in [p.168]
works of science, theology, law, grammar, and poetry both
lyrical and dramatic; yet, it is a remarkable fact, that no
historical work exists in any language of India of a date
anterior to the Mohammedan conquest, by Mahmood of Ghuzni,
(A.D. 1,000), except the poetic chronicle of Kashmir, called
the Raja Tarangini, and the Ceylonese historical work called
the Mahawanso. "That no Hindu nation but the Kashmirians,"
says Sir William Jones, "have left us regular histories in
their ancient language we must ever lament"; while Monier
Williams, the Sanskrit Professor at Oxford, says, (Introd. to
Nala, p. xvii.), "all Hindu Chronology is more or less
conjectural." It is, indeed, uncertain, at what period the
Hindus acquired the art of writing ; for "no inscriptions,"
says Professor Max Muller, (Sanskrit Grammar, p. 3), "have
been met with in India anterior to the rise of Buddhism. The
earliest authentic specimens of writing are the inscriptions
of Priyadarsi, or Asoka, about B.C. 250. These are written in
two different alphabets. The alphabet which is found in the
inscription of Kapurdigiri .... is clearly of Semitic origin,
and most closely connected with the Aramaic branch of the old
Semitic, or Phoenician, alphabet .... while that which is
found in the inscription of Girnar, and which is the real
source of all other Indian alphabets, has not, as yet, been
traced back in a satisfactory manner, to any Semitic
prototype." It is therefore to the fortunate circumstance of
Megasthenes, who had accompanied Alexander the Great in his
Indian Expedition being accredited as Ambassador from Seleucus
Nicator to Sandracottus, (whom we identify with the
Chandragupta of Hindu story) that we are indebted for the
earliest information in regard to India which has reached
western nations. The royal seat of this monarch was at
PATALIPUTRA, (Palibothra, or Patna); and a poem by SOMADEVA,
after relating the story of the revolution which took place at
Pataliputra, and the massacre of Nanda, and his sons, speaks
of the usurpation of Chandragupta, and of his residence there.
The age of the great ASOKA the third or fourth in direct
descent from Chandragupta, is one of the well-known epochs of
the promulgation of the Buddhist faith; for Mihinda, Asoka's
brother, preached the doctrines of Buddha to the distant
inhabitants of Ceylon. "The history of ancient India," says a
writer in the Quarterly Review for July, 1870, "is like a
series of writings on a palimpsest; behind Buddhism, which is
our first historical starting point, we find a form of
Hinduism, which is the last stage of the religion of the
Brahmanas, before it assumed its modern developments as we
trace them in classical Sanskrit literature; and it is far
behind the oldest of the Brahmanas, that we must look for the
period of the Rig-Veda, upon which all Sanskrit literature is
based."
[p.169]
THE
ATLANTIC AND PANCHAEAN FRAGMENTS
:
FROM
MARCELLUS AND EUEMERUS.
_______________
[p.171]
ATLANTIC AND PANCHAEAN FRAGMENTS.
OF THE ATLANTIC ISLAND.
FROM MARCELLUS.
"That such and so great an island formerly
existed, is recorded by some of the historians who have treated
of the concerns of the outward sea. For they say, that in their
times there were seven islands situated in that sea, which were
sacred to Proserpine, (Persephone), and three others of an
immense magnitude, one of which was consecrated to Pluto,
another to Ammon, and the one which was situated between them to
Poseidon162;
the size of this last island was no less than a thousand stadia.
The inhabitants of this island preserved a tradition, handed
down from their ancestors, concerning the existence of the
Atlantic island, of prodigious magnitude, which had really
existed in those seas, and which, during a long period of time,
governed all the islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Such is the
statement of Marcellus in his "Ethiopian History."―Extracted from Proclus in
Timaeus.
[p.I72]
PANCHAEAN FRAGMENTS.
FROM EUEMERUS.163
"Euemerus, (the historian), was a favourite of
Cassander the king, and being, upon that account constrained by
his master to undertake some useful, as well as extensive,
voyage of discovery, he says that he travelled southwards to the
ocean, and having sailed from Arabia Felix, stood out to sea
several days, and continued his course among the islands of that
sea, one of which far exceeded the rest in magnitude, and this
island was called Panchaea.
He observes, that the Panchaeans who inhabited it were singular
for their piety, honouring the gods with magnificent sacrifices,
and superb offerings of silver and gold. He says, moreover, that
the island was consecrated to the gods, and mentions several
other remarkable circumstances relative to its antiquity, and
the richness of the arts displayed in its institutions and
services, some of which we have related in the books preceding
this. He relates also, that upon the brow of a certain very high
mountain in it, there was a temple of the Triphylaean Zeus,
founded by him at the time he ruled over all the [p.173] habitable world, whilst he was
yet resident amongst men. In this temple stood a golden column,
on which was inscribed, in the Panchaean characters, a regular
history of the actions of Ouranos, and Kronus, (Saturn), and
Zeus (Jupiter).
In a subsequent part of his work, he relates that the first king
was Ouranos, a man renowned for justice and benevolence, and
well conversant with the motion of the stars; and, that he was
the first who honoured the heavenly Gods with sacrifices, upon
which account he was called Ouranos (Heaven). He had two sons by
his wife Hestia, (Vesta), who were called Pan and Kronus; and
daughters Rhea164
and Demetra.165
And Kronus reigned after Ouranos; and he married Rhea, and had
by her Zeus, and Hera,166
and Poseidon. And when Zeus succeeded to the kingdom of Kronus
he married Hera, and Demetra, and Themis, by whom he had
children; by the first, the Curetes167;
and Persephone, (Proserpine), by the second, and Athena,
(Minerva), by the third. He went to Babylon, where he was
hospitably received by Belus, and afterwards passed over to the
island of Panchaea, which lies in the ocean, where he erected [p.174] an altar to Ouranos, (Heaven),
his forefather. From thence he went into Syria to Cassius, who
was then the ruler of that country, from whom Mount Casius,168
(on the borders of Egypt), receives its name. Passing thence
into Cilicia, he conquered Cilix, the governor of those parts;
and, having travelled through many other nations, he was
honoured by all and universally acknowledged as a god." Eusebius
Praep. Evang. ii., as quoted from Diodorus Siculus Ecl. p. 681.
End of the Atlantic and PancJuzan Fragments.
____________________________
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS.
[p.177]
MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS.
HECATAEUS OF ABDERA.
"FOR Hecataeus of Abdera, who was both a
philosopher, and one very useful in active life, was a
contemporary of Alexander the Great in his youth, and was
afterwards with Ptolemy, the son of Lagus. He wrote a book
expressly about the Jewish affairs, (not by-the-by only), out of
which book I am willing to run over a few things, of which I
have been treating by way of epitome. And, in the first place, I
will demonstrate the time when this Hecataeus lived. For he
mentions the battle between Ptolemy and Demetrius, King of
Syria, near Gaza, which was fought in the eleventh year after
the death of Alexander the Great, and in the cxvii. Olympiad, as
Castor relates in his history. For, when he had set down this
Olympiad, he says further, that in this Olympiad, Ptolemy, the
son of Lagus, conquered in battle at Gaza, this Demetrius, King
of Syria, the son of Antigonus, who was surnamed Poliorcetes.
Now it is agreed by all, that Alexander the Great died in the
cxiv. Olympiad. It is, therefore, evident that our nation, (the
Jews), flourished in his time, and in the time of Alexander the
Great. Wherefore, Hecataeus [p.178]
speaks to the same purpose as follows, viz., that Ptolemy, after
the battle at Gaza, got possession of the places in Syria ; and
many when they heard of Ptolemy's moderation and humanity, went
along with him to Egypt, and were willing to assist him in his
affairs; one of whom, says Hecataeus, was Hezekiah, the
high-priest of the Jews, a man of about sixty-six years of age,
and held in great dignity among his own people (the Jews). He
was a very sensible man, and could speak ably, and was very
skilful in the management of affairs, if any man ever were so,
although, as he says, all the priests of the Jews took tithes of
the products of the land, and managed public affairs, and were
in number not above 1,500 at the most. Hecataeus makes mention
of this Hezekiah a second time, and says, that as he was
possessed of so great a dignity, and was become familiar with
us, so did he take certain of those that were with him, and
explained to them all the circumstances of their people, for he
had all their habitations and civil polity down in writing.
Moreover, Hecataeus declares again, 'what regard we have for our
laws, and that we resolve to endure anything rather than
transgress them, because we think it right for us to do so.'
Whereupon he adds, that although they are held in bad reputation
among their neighbours and among all those who come to them, and
have been often treated reproachfully by the kings, and satraps
of Persia, yet they cannot be dissuaded from carrying [p.179] out what they think best; and
when they are stripped of everything on this account, and are
tortured, and brought to the most terrible kinds of death, they
meet them, (i.e., the tortures), after a most extraordinary
manner, beyond all other people, and will not renounce the
religion of their forefathers. Hecataeus also produces not a few
incontestible proofs of this their resolute tenaciousness of
their laws, when he informs us, that 'When once Alexander the
Great was at Babylon, and had purposed to rebuild the temple of
Belus, which had fallen to decay, and in order thereto, he
commanded all his soldiers in general to carry earth thither,
the Jews, and they alone, would not comply with that command.
Nay, they underwent blows, and were mulcted in heavy fines on
this account, until the king forgave them, and permitted them to
live in quiet.' He says, moreover, that when the Macedonians
came to them into that country, and demolished the [old]
temples, and the altars, they assisted them in demolishing them
all; but, (for not assisting them in rebuilding them), they
either underwent the payment of fine to the Satraps, or,
sometimes obtained forgiveness, adding further, that 'these men
deserve to be admired on that account/ He also speaks of the
mighty populousness of our, (the Jewish), nation, and says, that
'the Persians formerly carried away into captivity many ten
thousands of our people to Babylon, as also, that not a few ten
thousands were removed, after the death [p.180]
of Alexander, into Egypt and Phoenicia, on account of the
rebellion in Syria.' He also takes notice in his History how
large the country is, which we inhabit, as well as of its
excellent character, saying that 'the land which the Jews
inhabit contains three millions of arourae, (or Egyptian acres),
and is generally of a most excellent and fruitful soil; nor is
Judea of lesser dimensions.' The same writer describes our city
of Jerusalem, as of a most excellent structure, and very large,
and inhabited from the most ancient times. He also discourses of
the number of men in it, and of the construction of our temple,
after the following manner: 'There are many fortresses and
villages,' says he, 'in the country of Judea; but there is one
fortified city, of about fifty furlongs in circumference, which
is inhabited by 120,000 men, and this city they call Jerusalem.
There is about the middle of the city a wall of stone, the
length of which is 500 feet, and the breadth 100 cubits, with
double cloisters (or having double gates). In the same place
there is a square altar, not made of hewn stone, but composed of
white stones gathered together, having each side twenty cubits
in length, and ten cubits in height. Near it is a large edifice,
wherein there is an altar, and a candlestick, both of gold, and
two talents in weight. Upon these there is a light, which is
never extinguished, neither by night nor by day. There is no
image nor votive offering: nothing at all is there planted,
neither a grove nor anything of the [p.l8l]
kind. Priests remain night and day in the temple, performing
certain purifications, to whom it is altogether prohibited,
while there, to drink wine. Hecataeus also testifies, that we,
(the Jews), fought as auxiliaries in the army of Alexander, and
afterwards in the service of his successors. I will add further
what he learned, as he says, when he was himself with the same
army, concerning what was done by a certain Jew in that
expedition. He thus relates the story: 'As I was myself going to
the Red Sea, there followed us a man, whose name was Mosollam:
he was one of the Jewish horsemen who conducted us, a person of
great courage, of a strong body, and one allowed by all to be
the most skilful archer among either the Greeks or barbarians.
Now, this man, as people were passing along the road in great
numbers, and a certain augur was taking an augury by a bird, and
required them all to stand still, Mosollam enquired what they
were staying for. Hereupon the augur showed him the bird from
whence he took his augury, and told him, that if the bird stayed
where he was, they ought all to stand still; but, that if he got
up and flew onward, they ought to advance; but, on the other
hand, if he flew backward, they must retire again. To this
Mosollam made no reply, but, drawing his bow, shot at the bird,
hit it, and killed it. When, therefore, the augur and others of
the company were very angry, and cursed him, he answered them
thus: 'Why are you [p.182]
so mad as to take this most wretched bird into your hands! How
can this bird give us any true information concerning our march,
which had not the foresight even to save himself? For, had he
been able to foresee the future, he would not have come to this
place, but would have been afraid, lest Mosollam the Jew should
shoot at and kill him.'
But of the testimony of Hecataeus we have said enough; such as
desire to know more of them may easily obtain them from his
book."
FROM JOSEPHUS, AGAINST APION, Book ii. sec. 4.
"For Alexander did not, therefore, assemble, or
get together some of our nation to Alexandria, because he wanted
inhabitants for this his city, on the building of which he had
bestowed so much pains; but this was given to our people, (the
Jews), for a reward, because he had, upon a careful trial, found
them all to be men of virtue and fidelity to him. For, as
Hecataeus says concerning us, 'Alexander honoured our nation,
(the Jews), to such a degree that, for the equity and fidelity
which the Jews manifested towards him, he permitted them to hold
the country of Samaria free from tribute. Of the same opinion
was Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, as to those Jews who dwelt in
Alexandria.' For he entrusted the fortresses of Egypt into their
hands, believing they would keep them faithfully, and valiantly;
and, when he was [p.183]
desirous of securing the government of Cyrene, and the other
cities of Libya to himself, he sent a body of Jews to inhabit
them."
AGATHARCHIDES OF CNIDUS.
"I shall not think it too much for me to name
Agatharchides, as having made mention of us Jews, though in the
way of derision at our simplicity, as he supposes it to be. For,
when he was discoursing of the affairs of Stratonice, how she
came out of Macedonia into Syria, and left her husband,
Demetrius, while yet Seleucus would not marry her as she
expected, but while he was raising an army at Babylon, stirred
up a rebellion about Antioch, and how, after the king had
returned, and on his taking Antioch she fled to Seleucia, and
might have sailed away immediately had she not complied with a
dream which forbade her to do so, and hence was captured and put
to death."
When Agatharchides had premised this story, and had jested upon
Stratonice for her superstition, he gives a like example of what
was reported concerning us, and writes thus: 'There are a people
called Jews, who dwell in a city, the strongest of all cities,
which city the inhabitants call Jerusalem. They are accus- [p.184] tomed to rest on every seventh
day, at which times they make no use of their arms, nor meddle
with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread
out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening.
Now it came to pass, that when Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, came
against this city with his army, these men, in observing this
mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered
their country to submit itself to a bitter lord; and their law
was openly proved to have commanded a foolish practice. This
accident taught all other men but the Jews, to disregard such
dreams as these were, and not to follow the like idle
suggestions, delivered as a law, when, in such uncertainty of
human reasonings, they are at a loss what they should do.' Now
this our procedure seems a ridiculous thing to Agatharchides;
but it will appear, to such as consider it without prejudice, a
great thing, and one that deserved many encomiums; I mean, when
certain men constantly prefer the observation of their laws, and
their religion towards God, before the preservation of
themselves and their country."―From
Josephus, against Apion. Book i. sec. 22.
[p.185]
CONCERNING THE SEPTUAGINT
VERSION, OR THE TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW BOOKS
MADE INTO GREEK BY ORDER OF PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS, KING OF
EGYPT.
From the Epistle of Demetrius Phalereus, keeper of the Royal
Library at Alexandria, to the king.
DEMETRIUS TO THE GREAT KING.
"When thou, O king, gavest me a charge
concerning the collection of books that were wanting to fill
your library and the care that ought to be taken about such as
are imperfect, I have used the utmost diligence about those
matters. And I hereby inform you, that we want the books of the
Jewish legislation, with some others, for they are written in
the Hebrew characters, and, being in the language of that
nation, are to us unknown. Now it is necessary that thou
shouldst have accurate copies of them. And indeed, this
legislation, (the law of Moses), is full of hidden wisdom, and
entirely blameless, as being the legislation of God. For which
cause it is, as Hecataeus of Abdera says, that the poets and
historians make no mention of it, nor of those men who lead
their lives according to it, since it is a holy law, and ought
not to be published by profane mouths. If then it please thee, O
king, thou mayest write to the high [p.186] priest of the Jews, to send six
of the elders out of every tribe, and those, such as are most
skilful of the laws, that by their means we may learn the clear
and consistent meaning of those books, and may obtain an
accurate interpretation of their contents; and so may have such
a collection of these as may be suitable to thy desire."―From Josephus's Antiquities of
the Jews, Book xii. section 4.
H I E M P S A L.
FROM SALLUST.
De Bello Jugurthae.
"But what race of men first had possession of
Africa, and who afterwards arrived, and in what manner they have
become blended with each other, though the following differs
from the report which is commonly current, yet I will give it,
as it was interpreted to me from the Punic, (i.e., Carthaginian)
books, which are called 'the books of King Hiempsal! 'The
Gaetulians and Libyans,' says he, 'possessed Africa at first, a
rough unpolished people, whose food, like that of cattle,
consisted of the herb of the field, to which they added the
flesh of wild animals. They were ruled neither by custom, law,
nor any government; but strolling and wandering about, had their
abode wherever night compelled them to stay. But [p.187] after Hercules had perished in
Spain, as the Africans suppose, his army, composed of men
belonging to different nations, upon the loss of their leader,
contending among themselves for the chief command, soon dwindled
away. Of this numerous host the Medes, Persians, and Armenians,
having been conveyed in ships to Africa, occupied those places
nearest to the Mediterranean Sea. The Persians, however, settled
nearer the (Atlantic) Ocean; and, in place of houses, used their
ships, turned bottom upwards, there being no wood in the
country, nor any opportunity of buying, nor even of bartering
with the Spaniards for any. Moreover, a wide sea and an unknown
language prevented all intercourse. These colonists, by degrees
mixed with the Gaetulians,169
(i.e., the aborigines) in marriage. From the circumstance,
however, of their frequently making trial of different soils,
and the consequent shifting about from place to place, they
called themselves Numidians.170
And, to this day, the cottages of the Numidian [p.188] peasants, which are called by
them mapalia, are oblong, with their sides bulging out, like the
hulls of ships. Now the Libyans joined the Medes and Armenians,
for they lived nearer the African (i.e., Mediterranean) Sea, the
Gaetulians more under the sun, (i.e., further south, not far
from the scorching latitudes), and these, (i.e., the
Liby-Medians and Armenians) very soon had towns: for, divided
from Spain only by the Strait (of Gibraltar), they and the
Spaniards began to interchange commodities, (or barter) with one
another. The Libyans, however, in course of time corrupted their
name, calling them, in their barbarous language, Mauri, (or
Moors), instead of Medi or Medes.
But the affairs of the Persians were soon in a flourishing
condition, for afterwards, under the name of Numidians, (having
separated from their parents on account of their vast numbers),
they obtained possession of those parts nearest to Carthage,
which are now called Numidia. Afterwards both parties, relying
on one another, reduced their neighbours to subjection, either
by arms or terror, and acquired for themselves, especially those
who had advanced nearest to our, (i.e., the Mediterranean) Sea,
both glory and reputation; the Libyans being less warlike than
the Gaetulians. Finally, most of the lower parts, (i.e., the
north coast), of Africa were seized upon by the Numidians, all
the conquered tribes being confounded in the name and nation of
their rulers. In subse- [p.189]
quent times the Phoenicians, some with the object of diminishing
the overflowing population at home, others through a longing for
power, having gained over the people, together with those fond
of changes in government, to their undertaking, built Hippo,171
Hadrumetum, and Leptis, with other towns on the coast. These
cities, having grown much larger in a short time, became some a
security, others an ornament to their founders. As to Carthage172
itself, I [p.190]
think it better to be silent, rather than say but little on such
a subject, and besides, brevity obliges me to hasten to
another."―Extracted from
Sallust, de Bello Jugurthae, cap. xvii, xix.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS AND EMILIUS SURA.
"The Asiatic empire was subsequently
transferred from the Assyrians, (who had held it 1,070 years),
to the Medes, from this time for a period of 870 years. For
Sardanapalus, King of the Assyrians, a man wallowing in luxury,
being the thirty-third in succession from Ninus and Semiramis,
the (reputed) founders of Babylon, from whom the kingdom had
passed in a regular descent from father to son, was deprived of
his empire, and put to death by Arbaces the Mede .... Emilius
Sura, also, in his Annals of the Roman People, says, That the
Assyrian princes extended their empire over all nations. They
were succeeded by the Medes, then by the Macedonians, and
shortly afterwards by two kings, Philip and Antiochus, both of
Macedonian origin, who, not long after the destruction of
Carthage, were conquered by the Romans, who then obtained the
empire of the world. To this time, from the beginning of the
reign of Ninus, King of the Assyrians, who first [p.191] obtained the
empire, there has elapsed a period of 1,995 years."―Extracted from the Roman
History of Velleius Patercuhis, Book i. chap. 6.
CLEANTHES.
Cleanthes was a Stoic philosopher, born at
Assos, in the Troad, about B.C. 264. On his arrival at Athens he
attended the lectures of Zeno, the Stoic, while so great was his
poverty that, in order to maintain himself, he was obliged to
draw water for the gardens of Athens by night, to provide
himself the means of devoting himself to philosophy by day,
whence he was nicknamed Phreantes, or the well-drawer. He was
accustomed, from want of means to purchase writing materials, to
write down on the blade-bones of oxen, and on pieces of pottery,
his notes of the lectures delivered by Zeno, whose pupil he
remained for nineteen years, and whom he succeeded in his
school. Among his disciples were King Antigonus, and the
philosopher Chrysippus. He is said to have taught that the sun
is the ruling principle of the world. A specimen of his teaching
has come down to us in his noble hymn to Jupiter, [p.192] one of the
most sublime efforts of poetry outside the canon of revelation:
THE HYMN OF CLEANTHES.
Extracted from Stobaeus.
TO JUPITER.
"O thou who, under several names, art adored,
but whose power is entire and infinite; O Jupiter, first of
immortals, sovereign of nature, governor of all, and supreme
legislator of all things, accept my suppliant prayer, for to man
is given the right to invoke thee. Whatever lives and moves on
this earth drew its being from thee; we are a faint similitude
of thy divinity.
I will address, then, my prayers to thee, and never will I cease
to praise thy wondrous power. That universe suspended over our
heads, and which seems to roll around the earth, obeys thee: it
moves along, and silently submits to thy mandate. The thunder,
minister of thy laws, rests under thy invincible hands; flaming,
gifted with an immortal life, it strikes, and all nature is
terrified. Thou directest the universal spirit which animates
all things, and lives in all beings.
Such, O almighty king, is thy unbounded sway! In heaven, on
earth, or in the floods below, there is nought performed or
produced without thee, except [p.193]
the evil, which springs from the heart of the wicked. By thee
confusion is changed into order: by thee the warring elements
are united. By a happy agreement, thou so blendest good with
evil, as to produce a general and eternal harmony in all things.
But man, wicked man, alone breaks this great harmony of the
world. Wretched being, who seeks after good, and yet perceives
not the universal law which points out the way to render him at
once good and happy. He abandons the pursuit of virtue and
justice, and roves where each passion moves him. Sordid wealth,
fame, and sensual pleasures become, by turns, the objects of his
pursuit. O God, from whom all gifts descend, who sittest in
thick darkness, thunder-ruling Lord, dispel this ignorance from
the mind of man; deign to enlighten his soul; draw it to that
eternal reason which serves as thy guide and support in the
government of the world; so that, honoured with a portion of
this light, we may, in our turn, be able to honour thee, by
celebrating thy great works unceasingly in a hymn. This is the
proper duty of man. For surely nothing can be more delightful to
the inhabitants of the earth or the skies, than to celebrate
that divine reason which presides over nature."―From Rev. H. Card's Literary Recreations,
1811, p. 10.
[p.194]
OF THE CHALDEAN OBSERVATIONS FROM PLINY.
"Anticlides relates, that letters were invented
in Egypt, by Menon, fifteen years before Phoroneus, the most
ancient King of Greece, and he endeavours to prove it by the
monuments. On the other hand, Epigenes, a writer of very great
authority, informs us, that among the Babylonians, observations
of the stars were preserved, inscribed upon baked tiles,
extending to a period of 720 years. Berosus and Kritodemus, who
are the most moderate in their calculations, nevertheless extend
the period of the observations to 480 years. Whence may be
inferred the eternal use of letters among them."―Nat. Hist. lib. vii., 56.
For the following interesting extract I am
indebted to DR. SAMUEL BIRCH, Keeper of Oriental Antiquities in
the British Museum.
[p.195]
THE MANNERS OF THE BABYLONIANS.
FROM NICOLAS OF DAMASCUS.
"In the reign of Artseus, the King of the
Medes, and one of the successors of Sardanapalus, King of the
Assyrians, there was amongst the [p.195]
Medes, one Parsondes, a man renowned for his courage and
strength, and greatly esteemed by the King, on account of his
good sense, and the beauty of his person. He particularly
excelled in the chase, and in battle, whether he fought on foot,
from his chariot, or on horseback. Now this Parsondes observed,
that Nanarus, (the governor or tributary king), of Babylon, was
very careful in his personal attire, and wore ear-rings, and
shaved himself carefully, and was effeminate, and unwarlike, and
he disliked him exceedingly; so he asked Artseus, the King, to
deprive Nanarus of his government, and to bestow it on himself.
But Artaeus, having bound himself by the compact entered into by
Arbaces, was loth to act unjustly towards the Babylonian, and
gave no answer to Parsondes. The matter, however, reached the
ears of Nanarus, who promised great rewards to any one of his
sutlers who would catch his enemy. It happened one day that
Parsondes, when hunting, went far from the King, to a plain near
Babylon. Sending his servants into a neighbouring wood, that
they might drive out, by their shoutings, the wild beasts, he
remained outside, to take the game. Whilst chasing a wild ass he
separated himself from his attendants, and came to a part of the
Babylonian territories, where the sutlers were preparing markets
for Nanarus. Being thirsty, he asked of them to drink; and they,
delighted to have this opportunity of seizing him, gave him that
[p.196] which he required, took
charge of his horse, and bade him refresh himself. They then
placed a sumptuous feast before him, served him with very sweet
wine, mixed with a certain intoxicating drug, and brought
beautiful women to keep him company; so that, at length,
overcome by the wine, he fell fast asleep. The sutlers then took
him, and brought him bound to Nanarus. When Parsondes had
recovered from the effects of the wine, Nanarus upbraided him
for his conduct. 'Why' said he, 'did you, who have never
suffered any wrong at my hands, call me a man-woman (androgyne),
and ask my government of Artaeus, as if I were of no account,
although of noble birth? Many thanks to him that he did not
grant your request.'
Parsondes, nothing abashed, replied, 'Because I thought myself
more worthy of the honour; for I am more manly, and more useful
to the king than you, who are shaven, and have your eyes
underlined with stibium, and your face painted with white-lead.'
'Are you not ashamed, then,' said Nanarus, 'being such as you
describe yourself to be, to have been so overcome by your
stomach and passions, that you should have fallen into the hands
of one so greatly inferior to yourself? But I will quickly make
you softer and fairer than any woman.' And he swore by Belus,
and by Mylitta for such is the name which the Babylonians give
to their Venus; then beckoning to a eunuch, 'Lead off' cried he,
'this [p.197] fellow. Shave, and
rub with a pumice-stone, the whole of his body, except his head.
Bathe him twice a day, and anoint him. Let him underline his
eyes, and plait his hair as women do. Let him learn to sing, to
play on the harp, and to accompany it with his voice, that he
may be amongst the female musicians; with whom he shall pass his
time, having a smooth skin, and wearing the same garments as
they do. The eunuch did as he was commanded, and kept Parsondes
in the shade, washing him twice every day, and polishing him
with a pumice stone, and making him pass his time in the same
way as the women, so that he became, very shortly, fair, tender,
and woman-like; singing and playing even better than any of the
female musicians. The King, Artseus, having offered a reward,
and searched in vain for his favourite, at last concluded, that
he had been devoured by wild beasts whilst hunting.
Parsondes, having passed seven years in this mode of life at
Babylon, induced a eunuch, who had been severely flogged, and
insultingly treated by Nanarus, to run away, and inform Artaeus
of what had happened to him. Artaeus immediately sent an envoy,
to demand the liberation of his former favourite. But Nanarus,
frightened, declared that he had never seen Parsondes since he
had disappeared. Artaeus, however, sent a second ambassador,
much greater in rank, and more powerful than the former one, and
threatened by letter, to [p.198]
put to death the Babylonian, unless he delivered up his captive.
Nanarus, being now greatly alarmed, promised to
give up the man, and, moreover, apologised to the ambassador,
declaring, that he was sure the King would see, that he had
justly treated one who had endeavoured to ruin him in the King's
favour. He then entertained the ambassador with a great feast,
during which entered, to the number of 150, the female players,
amongst whom was Parsondes. Some sang, and others played on the
flute; but the Mede excelled them all, both in skill and beauty,
so that, when the feast was over, and Nanarus asked the
ambassador, which of the women he thought superior to the rest
in beauty, and accomplishments, he pointed, without hesitation,
to Parsondes. Nanarus, clapping his hands, laughed a long time,
and then said, 'Do you wish to take her with you'? 'Certainly,'
replied the ambassador. 'But I will not give her to you,' said
Nanarus. 'Why then did you ask me?' exclaimed the ambassador.
'This,' said Nanarus, after a little hesitation, 'is Parsondes,
for whom you have come'; and, the ambassador disbelieving him,
he swore to the truth of what he had said. On the following day,
the Babylonian placed Parsondes in a wagon, and sent him away,
with the ambassador, to Artseus, who was at Susa. But the King
did not recognise him, and was a long time before he would
believe that so valiant a man could become a woman.
[p.199] Parsondes
exacted a promise from Artaeus that he would revenge him upon
Nanarus. And when the King came to Babylon, he gave Nanarus ten
days to do what was right; but the Babylonian, alarmed, fled to
Mitraphernes, the chief of the eunuchs, and promised him, for
himself, ten talents of gold and ten gold cups, and 200 of
silver, and 100 talents of silver money, and several suits of
clothes; and for the King, 100 talents of gold, and 100 gold
cups, and 300 of silver, and 1,000 talents of silver money, and
numerous dresses, and other fine gifts, if he would save his
life, and keep him in the government of Babylon. The eunuch, who
was held in great estimation by the King, succeeded; but
Parsondes waited his opportunity, and afterwards, finding an
occasion, took his revenge both on Nanarus and the eunuch."―Quoted in Layard's Nineveh and
its Remains, vol. ii., p. 329 333, as translated by DR. BIRCH,
from the Prodromus Hellenikes Bibliothekes, 8vo. Paris, 1805, p.
229.
[p.200]
CANON OF THE KINGS OF EGYPT.
FROM DIODORUS SICULUS.
"Some of them fable that gods and heroes first
reigned over Egypt, during little less than 18,000 years, and
that the last of the gods who reigned was [p.200]
Horus, (the son of Isis). They relate, also, that the kingdom of
Egypt was governed by men during nearly 15,000 years, down to
the 180th Olympiad, in which we visited Egypt, that is during
the reign of Ptolemy, called the younger Dionysus, (i.e.,
Bacchus). The kings of Egypt were for the most part natives,
except the Ethiopians, Persians, and Macedonians, who acquired
the government for short periods. There reigned, altogether four
Ethiopians, not in succession, but at intervals; the length of
whose reigns occupied collectively nearly 36 years. The
Persians, under their king Cambyses, subdued the (Egyptian)
nation, by force of arms and occupied the throne 135 years,
inclusive of the period of the insurrections, which the
Egyptians made from time to time, unable to endure the severity
of their rule, and to submit to the impiety displayed by them
towards the gods of the land. Lastly, the Macedonians and their
successors reigned 276 years. All the rest of the time was
filled up with native princes, viz., 470 kings, and 5 queens.
After the gods, Menas (i.e., Menes), was the first king of the
Egyptians. After him, it is said, that two of the descendants of
the before-named king reigned during more than 1,400 years.
Busiris. Then 8 of his descendants, of whom the last bore the
same name as the first. He founded the city called by the
Egyptians the city of the Sun, or Diospolis, but by the Greeks,
Thebes. The 8th descendant of this king bore the surname of his
[p.201] father, Uchoreus, and built
the city of Memphis, the most celebrated of all the cities of
Egypt. Twelve generations of kings. Myris (or Moeris), who dug
the lake above the city of Memphis. Seven generations of kings.
Sesoosis, whose exploits were the most celebrated, and the
greatest of all the kings who preceded him, fitted out a fleet
on the Red Sea, of 400 ships, and subdued all the islands, and
all the parts of the mainland bordering on the sea as far as the
Indies. He marched, also, with a mighty army by land, and
subdued all Asia; passed over the Ganges, and conquered all
India, even to the Ocean, and all the nations of the Scythians,
and most of the islands of the Cyclades. He then invaded Europe,
and overran all Thrace, and made it (i.e., Thrace), the boundary
of his military expeditions, and set up pillars (στηλας) in Thrace and many other
places, commemorating his conquests. He also divided Egypt into
30 parts, which the Egyptians call nomes, and appointed
governors (nomarchs) over each nome. And, after a reign of 33
years, he destroyed himself, on account of the failure of his
eyesight.
Sesoosis, the second, the son of the preceding.
Many kings succeeded him.
Amasis, who was conquered by Aktisanes, the Ethiopian.
Aktisanes, the Ethiopian.
Mendes, an Egyptian, who is the same as Marrhus.
[p.202]
He constructed the building called the
Labyrinth, as a tomb for himself.
An interregnum for 5 generations.
Ketna (or Ketes), who is Proteus.
Rhemphis.
Seven insignificant kings ruled, of whom no deed nor work worthy
of record is handed down, except of one, who was called N ileus,
from whom the river receives its name of Nilus173,
which formerly was called Ægyptus.
The 8th king was Chembres, the Memphite. He reigned 50 years and
built the largest of the three Pyramids.
After his death, his brother, Kephren received the kingdom, and
reigned 56 years. Some say, however, that it was not the
brother, but the son of Chembres, who succeeded him, and that
his name was Chabryis.
Mykerinus, whom others call Cherinus, the son of the builder of
the former Pyramid, undertook to build a third, but died before
the completion of the work.
Tnephachthus.
Bocchoris (or Bonchoris), the wise, the son of Tnephachthus.
After a long time Sabacon reigned over Egypt, being by race an
Ethiopian.
[p.203]
An interregnum of two years.
Twelve chiefs, 15 years.
Psammitichus the Saite, who was one of the twelve chiefs.
After four generations reigned Apries, (Pharaoh Hophra), 22
years. He was strangled.
Amasis. He died after a reign of 55 years, at the time that
Cambyses, king of Persia, invaded Egypt, i.e., in the 3rd year
of the 63rd Olympiad, in which (viz., the Olympic games)
Parmenides the Camarinsean was victor."―From Diodorus Siculus, Hist., Book ii.
FINIS.
________________
[p.205]
INDEX, RERUM ET VERBORUM.
AARON (Aruas), 81, note
Abascantus, 139
Abraham, was king of Damascus, according to Justin, 79
Nicolas of Damascus, 78
Abydenus, Notice of, 95; quoted, 71, 89
Abyla, a Mountain in Africa (now Ceuta), 28, note; 36, note;
155, note
Accad, a city, mentioned in Genesis, xxvii
Accadi or Akkadi, the Accadians, xxvii
were a Turanian, or Tartar people, allied to
the Finns, xxvi, xxvii
Accadian, or Akkad, words found in the Assyrian and Hebrew
Languages, xxvii
Accad language, treated under the head of Chaldee language in
the English Cyclopaedia, xxvii
Achasmenes, xviii
Achaemenide Dynasty, xviii
Acra, a city, mentioned in the Periplus of Hanno, 37
Acracanus, name of a river near Babylon, 73
Adores, king of Damascus (in Justin), 79
Adodus, "king of the Gods," 15
Æon, 4
Æsculapius, god of
medicine, 14
Africanus (Julius) Bishop of Emmaus, Notice of, 97
Agathias, quoted, 92
Agatharchides of Knidus, quoted, 183
Agreus and Halieus, Inventors of Hunting and Fishing, 7
Agrotes, 9
Agroueros, 9
Ahriman, the Evil Deity (Satan or Typhon), 132, note
(Acco, St. Jean d'Acre, Ptolemais), 31
Akicharus, the prophet of the Bosphorus, or Babylon, 152
Alaparus, 53
Alexander the Great, 72, 177
Alexander Polyhistor, Notice of, 101
Alorus, the first King of Babylonia, identified with Adi-Ur, 49
Amegalarus, identified with Amil-ur-gal, 49
Amempsinus, a Chaldaean, from Laranchae (Larissa), 52
Amil-ur-gal, a Babylonian king (Amegalarus), 49
Amillarus, 53
Amiqa (or Omoroca), the ocean, the deep, 59, note
Amqia, misprint for Amiqa, 59
Ammenon, 53
Anaitis, the Venus of the Armenians, her worship introduced into
Persia by Artaxerxes II., 69
Annals of Tiglath Pileser, xxiv
of Asurbanipal, translated by Mr. George
Smith, xxvi
of Sargon, published by Dr. Oppert, xxv
of Ashur-nasir-pal, by Rodwell, xix
Annedoti, 46
Annedotus, 51, 53
Anodaphus, 54
Anquetil Duperron, xiii, xxii
Anticlides, quoted, 194
Antiochus Soter, king of Syria, 43, 44
Anus, i.e. Anu (Heaven), 92
Anu, the God, or Heaven deified, 92
Apason, the husband of Tauthe, 92
Apis, the deified bull, 134
Apollodorus, Notice of, 96; quoted, 51, 57
Arab, xvi
Arabian dynasty, 46
Arambys, a City mentioned in the Periplus, 37
Ararat, the Hebrew name of Armenia, 62, note
Ardates (or Otiartes), the 9th antediluvian king of Babylon, 49,
60
Arguin, Island of, 38
Ark, 54, 61, 62, 63, 74, 75
Armenia, 54, 62, 63, 74
Artaxerxes II., son of Ochus, introduces idolatry among the
Persians, 69
Asclepiades, xxxiii
Asclepius, 14
Ashteroth-Karnaim, i.e. the two-horned Astarte, a City of
Bashan, 15, note
Ashur-banipal, called also Asurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, xxvi
Ashte, in the compound Hebrew word, Ashtay-asar, an Assyrian
word, xxviii
Asordanius (Esarhaddon), King of Assyria, 86
Assorus, 92
Assyria, Expeditions to, for Cuneiform Investigation Dr.
Oppert's, xxv
Mr. George Smith's, xxx, note
Assyrian grammar, by M. Joachim Menant, xxvi
dictionary, compiled and published by Dr. E.
Norris, xxv
Excavations, xvi., xxx., xxxi., note
Decipherment, Historical Account of, xxi
Assyrians, The, spoke a language cognate with Hebrew, xxvi
were a Semitic people, xxvi
Assyrio-Babylonian words, glossary of, by Mr. Fox Talbot, xxvi
Astarte, a Phoenician Goddess, is the Aphrodite of the Greeks
and the Venus of the Romans, 16, 30
puts on her head as a sign of sovereignty a
bull's head, 15
Asur-banipal, his Annals published by Mr. George Smith, xxvi
his library not all published, xxx
Asur-nasir-pal, B.C. 883; his annals translated by Rodwell, xix
Athena, or Athene (Minerva), a Daughter of Kronus, 11
receives from Kronus the Kingdom of Attica,
16
Athenocles, 92
Atlas, a son of Ouranos and Ge (Heaven and Earth), 11
Aus, i.e. Hea, the sea, one of the three great gods of Babylon,
92
Avaris, a Typhonian city, the refuge of the expelled shepherds,
120, 126, 127, 128, 132, note; 133, 146
Axerdes, son of Nergilus, levied mercenary soldiers, 89
Azelmicus, a King, 16, note
BAAL, called Jupiter Olympius by Dius, 27; 28, note
Baaltis, or Dione, a goddess, 17
Baaut (night), 4, note
Baau, wife of Kolpiyah, 4
Babylon, properly Bab-ilu, means Gate of God, 55, note; 77
Baitylia, stones so called, consecrated to various gods, 14,
note
Balsacus, 32
Behistun, Inscription of Darius Hystaspes, xx, xxi
Bel, formerly called Merodach, son of Hea and Davkina, 92
Belus (the same as Kronus), 82
his Temple at Babylon, 60, 90, 91
Berathena, a city of Arabia or Syria, 5, note
Berbers and Getulians mentioned, 187, note
their language belongs to the sub-Semitic
branch of the Semitic languages, 187
Berosus, was Priest of Bel, Notice of, 43, 50
Beruth, i.e. ברית, BERITH,
covenant, the wife of Elioun, 10
Berytus (Beyroot) the Port of Damascus, 17
Birch, Dr., quoted, xiv., xv., 194
Biuris, 139
Bocchoris, King of Egypt, 144
Borsippus (Borsippa), 68
Bunsen (Baron), his work "Egypt's Place in History" quoted, 104,
108, 152; 125, note
Byblus (Gebal in Hebrew, now called Jebail), xxxiv, note
Mysteries of Adonis or Tammuz celebrated at,
12, 17, 12, note
CABIRI, or Dioscuri, the Samothracian Deities so-called, 10; 3,
note; 18; 19, note
Cadiz, or Gades, temple of the Tyrian Hercules at, 7, note
Canaan (Chna) the native name of Phoenicia, 19, note
Casius, Mount, 5, 174, note
Chaldean Account of the Deluge, 49, 52, 54, 60
Dynasties, 46
Chaos, 2, note
Chna (called the first Phoenician), 19
Chrusarthes, formerly called Thuro, 21
Chrysor, i.e. Vulcan, deified under the name of Diamichius, 7, 8
Clay Tablets, xvii, 194
Cleanthes, Notice of his Life, 191
his Hymn to Jupiter, 192
Clemens, Bishop of Alexandria, quoted, 69, 96
Composite creatures, 58
Cotiaei, a city of Phrygia, birth-place of Alexander Polyhistor,
101
Creation, Account of the, 13, 59, 60
Cybele (Rhea) the mother of the gods, note, 14
Cyprus, an Assyrian inscription of Sargon found there, now in
the Berlin Museum, gives us the divine name Yau, Greek An, xxix
Cyrus or Cyropolis, a city of Syria, 105, note
DAAS, Plain of, Cyrus slain there, 88
Dache, corresponds to the Lahama of the cuneiform texts, 92
Dachus, corresponds to the Lahama of the cuneiform, 92
Daesia and Daesius, Macedonian month, corresponds to our May and
June, 54, 60
Dagan, in Greek SITON, corn, 12, note
Dagon, a god of the Philistines, 12, note
Damascius, quoted, 92
Damascus, so called from a king of that name, 79
Danaus, 130
Daonus, or Daos, the shepherd, 51, 53
Davke, i.e. Davkina, goddess of the lower regions, and wife of
Hea, 92
Death, genius of, called Muth by the Phoenicians, 17
Deluge tablets, in the cuneiform character, discovered and
translated by Mr. George Smith, 48
Demetrius, king of Syria, son of Antigonus, 177
Diamichius, the great inventor, 8
Dido, Foundress and Queen of Carthage, 30
Diodorus Siculus, quoted, 83, 143
Dionysus, i.e., Bacchus, 91, note
Diospolis, Thebes, called NO in the Bible, 138, note; 200
Dravidian Languages, 167, note
EL-'ELYON, the most High God, 10, note
Elioun, Hypsistos, 10
Elohim (gods), plural of Eloah, 13, note
Elulaeus, king of Tyre, 30, 31
Eneuboulos, 54
Eneugamus, 53
Enyalian Jove, the worship of, transferred to Shinar in
Babylonia, 74
Epigenes says the Babylonians wrote on baked tiles, 194
Erastosthenes, the Cyrenian, notice of, 96; his Theban canon,
138
Erythrean Sea, designates both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf,
51, 52
Euedochus, 53
Euedoreschus, 52, 54
Euemerus, or Euhemerus, quoted, 172
Eupolemus, quoted, 82
Eusebius, Bishop of Cassarea, notice of, i, note
Evil Merodach, man, i.e., servant of Merodach), 72, 88
Exodus of the Israelites, 135, note
Fox, Talbot, Mr., translated the inscription of Tiglath-Pileser,
i
GAETULIANS and Libyans mentioned, 186
Ge (i.e., earth) married Ouranos (heaven), 10, 11, 12
Gebal, i.e., Byblus, xxxiv, note
Gideon (called Jerubaal), 19, note
Gorillae, i.e., gorillas, the name first occurs in Hanno's
Periplus, 40
Hea (Aus) god of the Sea and Hades, (i.e. of the lower regions
generally), son of Anu, 92
Hecataeus of Abdera, quoted 177, 183
Heliopolis, city of the Sun, called On in the Scriptures, note,
132
Herodotus, quoted, 84
Hiempsal, king, xxxiv.; quotation from the Punic books of, 186
Hierosyla, so called from plundering and sacrilege, Jerusalem,
143
Hierichus (Jericho), 81
Hippo, two cities on north coast of Africa so called, 189, note
Histiseus, quoted, 74
Hykshos, or Hyksos, Shepherd- Kings, 127
were subdued by Alisphragmuthosis, 128
Hylobii (i.e. dwellers in forests; from ϋλη) a wood, and βιοω,
to live)
Hypsistus, i.e. Elioun, the husband of Beruth, 10
Hypsuranius, the same as Memrumus, 6, 7, note
IAH, i.e. Yau, or Yahu, identified with Jehovah, xxviii., xxix.
Il, or Israel, (name of Kronus), 21, 35, note
Illinus i.e. Elu = the EARTH, one of the three great gods, 92
Ilus, i.e. Kronus, or Israel, or Il, 11, 13, 21, 36
Isiris, the inventor of the three letters, and brother of Chna,
19
Israel (a Phoenician name of Kronus), 21, note
IEOU, or Yeood, i.e. Yakhid, only son; name of a son of Kronus
by the nymph Anobret, 22, note
Jerusalem, 183
Jove (the Enyalaean), mentioned, 74
Jove, i.e. Jupiter, or Zeus in the Greek language
Jupiter Ammon, ruins of his temple in the Oasis of Siwah, 144,
note
KEFT, the ancient name of Phoenicia, xv., note
Khasis-Adra (Xisuthrus) 49, note
Kronus, or Il, or Israel, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20
compared with Abraham, 17, note
Ktesias, quoted, 83
LAHMU and Lahamu, identified by Mr. George Smith, with Dache and
Uachus, 92. See under Dache in the Index.
Laranchas (Larissa, or Larsa), 52, note
Larissa, or Larsa, now called Senkereh, 52, note
Larissa (Laranchae or Larsa), 52, note
Lixitae, natives of Africa, 37
Lixus, a river in Africa, 37
MANETHO, notice of, 104-5
Introduction to the Lists of, 104-5
his name assumed by another, 109, note;
forgeries issued under his name, 152
Megasthenes, notice of, 95
lived at Palibothra; ambassador to the Court
of Sandracottus, 168, note; quoted, 155
Melikarthus, or Melcarth, the Baal, or Hercules of Tyre, 15, 27,
note; 28, note
Menander, quoted, 29, 32
Merodach, the god of Babylon, afterwards called Bel, was son of
Hea and Davkina, 92
Merodach, called the Demiurgus, or creator, 92
Misor, the establisher of government in Egypt, 9, note
Misr, is the modern name of Egypt in the Arabic language, note,
9
Mitzraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt, 9, note
Munter, Bp., quoted, 7, note
Mylitta, Assyrian name of Venus, 196
Movers, Dr., his article on Sanchoniathon, referred to, note,
xxxv
Moymis and Tauthe, of Damascius, identified with Mummu-Tiamatu,
"the sea-chaos," by Mr. George Smith. See his Chaldean Account
of Genesis, 64
Moses, called Osarsiph, 132, note; 133, 135
NEPHILIM, i.e. fallen ones, or giants, 6, 77, note
Neptune, Poseidon in Greek, 17, 171
Norris, Edwin, his dictionary of the Assyrian language
OMOROCA, 59
PANIC, a kind of grain, 147
Pantibiblon (Sippara), 51, 52, note
Parsondes, a favourite of Artaeus, is caught by Nanarus and put
into his harem
Periplus of Hanno, Introduction to, 35
Philo of Byblus, translated Sanchoniathon's work into Greek, i
Phoenicia, ancient name of, Keft, xv., note
Phreantes, a nickname of Cleanthes, 191
Pillars of Hercules, i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar, 28, 35, 36,
155
Polemo, quoted, 146
Ptolemy the Mendesian, 100, 146
Pythagoras, a Soldier in the Army of Axerdes, 89
RAWLINSON, Sir Henry, publishes the Behistun Inscription, xx
Renan, Ernest, Professor, mentioned, xxiii
wrote on the sources of Sanchoniathon's
History, xxxv
Rosetta stone, contains a trigrammatical inscription, xiv
SACEA, the feast of, celebrated at Babylon, 68
Safed, a city of Galilee, Tyrian coins found there in 1855, 27,
note
Salatis, or Saites, 118, 126
Samdan, the Assyrian name of Hercules, 92, note
Sandes, (properly Samdan), the Assyrian name of Hercules, 92
Sennacherib, 86, 87, 88, 89
Seth, or Set, Typhon, the asinine deity of the Syrian tribes,
whence in the cuneiform inscriptions Syria is called
"donkey-land," IMIRI-SU from חמור.
Sethosis, 129
Shaddai (Almighty) confounded with SADEH, a field, 9, note
Shepherds, also called Captives, 128; driven out by Tethmosis,
100, 129, 133
Sibyl, The, quoted, 75
Sinecherim, 87, 88
Sippara (Pantibiblon) city of, the Sepharvaim of Scripture,
note, 51
Siriadic land, 109, 151
pillars, or columns; or columns of Seth, 152
Sisithrus (Xisuthrus) 49, 54, 85
Siton (Corn in Greek, in Hebrew, DAGAN), 12, note
Smith (George) interprets the Deluge Tablets, 48
Smith, G., his Chaldean Account of Genesis mentioned, note, 50,
92
Sydyk, the righteous one, 10, note; father of the Cabiri, 19
Syncellus, George, notice of, 102, 104, 106
Syria, called "ass-land,'' IMIRISU, in the cuneiform
inscriptions; worshipped Set or Seth, or Typhon.
TAAUTUS (or Thoor, or Thoyth, or Thoth), i.e., Hermes, 10, 11
Talbot, Fox, Mr., translates the inscription of Tiglath-Pileser
i., xxiv
Tamil words found in the Hebrew Scriptures, 167, note
Tammuz, i.e., Adonis (Duzi or Turzi, in the cuneiform), 12
the Mysteries of celebrated by the Jews, 12,
note
at Athens, ibid.
at Byblus, 13
Tauthe (Mother of the Gods, and Wife of Apason), the same as
TAMTI, the Sea, 92
Technites, i.e., the Artist, 8
Teredon, a City built by Nebuchadnezzar, 73
Tethmosis, or Tuthmosis, the Expeller of the Shepherds, 100, 133
Thebes in Egypt, called No and AMMON No in our Bible, 138, note
Thoth, i.e., Hermes, or Mercury, 3, 11, 19
Troglodytae, i.e., Cave-Dwellers (Periplus), 37
Typhon, SET, the asinine Deity of the Syrians, who are called by
Balaam "children," i.e., "worshippers of Seth," 132
Tyre, a Holy City, note 16, 27 note
UBARA-TUTU, i.e., Ardates, or Otiartes, 49
Ur, eldest Son of Bel, a Babylonian Deity so called, 51, note;
53, note
Usous, name of a God mentioned in the Cuneiform Inscriptions,
and also of a Suburb of Tyre, so called, 6
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, quoted, 190
Venus, called Anaitis by the Assyrians, 92
Aphrodite by the Greeks, 16
Astarte by the Phoenicians, 16
Vulcan (in Greek, HEPHAESTUS), is identified with Tubal Cain,
and with BIL-KAN, God of Fire, Son of Anu, by Mr. G. Smith, in
Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 56
XISUTHRUS, or Tsisit or Sisit (Khasis-Adra, the hero of the
Flood), 49, 85
ZEUS, the Greek name of Jupiter, the Ammon of the Egyptians; the
Belus, Bel, or Baal of the Semitic nations, 10, note
Zoganes (the Hebrew סגן,
SAGAN, i.e., chief, or ruler), 68
Zoroaster (Zerdusht), xii., xiii
This
page last updated: 09/11/2008
http://www.masseiana.org/cory_fragments.htm#144
Cory's Ancient Fragments
Notes
1 The 2nd edition was
published in 1832.
2 Didot, Paris, 1841.
3 The native name of
Phoenicia, so long an insuperable difficulty to scholars,
appears from this Egyptian text to have been KEFT i.e., a
palm-tree. See the Hebrew text of Isaiah ix. 13, xix. 15, and
Job xv. 32.
4 The most important Egyptian texts,
translated by competent scholars, are now accessible to English
readers in vols. II., IV., and VI. of Records of the Past.
Bagster & Sons, London, 1873-5.
5 Since this was written
the Rev. J. M. Rodwell has translated from the cuneiform text
the Annals of Asurnasir-pal, king of Assyria, B.C. 883.
6 See the article,
Behistun Inscription, in the English Cyclopaedia, Supplement,
Arts and Sciences.
7 See the article
Chaldee Language, in the English Cyclopaedia, Supplement, Arts
and Sciences; also, M. Francois Lenormant's learned work, Etudes
Acadiennes, Paris, 1873.
8 See on this point the
excellent observations of Dr. Ginsburg, in pp. 22 and 23 of The
Moabite Stone, 4to, Reeves & Turner, 2nd edition, 1871.
9 The proprietors of the
Daily Telegraph, with great public spirit, have since
commissioned Mr. George Smith to go to Assyria. Mr. Smith has
subsequently undertaken further researches (in a second journey)
at Mosul, for the Trustees of the British Museum.
10 See the article
Phoenician Language and Inscriptions, in the English Cyclopaedia
(Arts and Sciences Supplement).
11 Byblus, the Gebal of
the Hebrew Scriptures, is the present Jebail, situated on the
sea coast between Beyrout and Tripoli.
12 On the opposite side
the reader may consult with advantage Mover's, Die Unechtheit
der in Eusebius erhaltenen Fragmente des Sanchoniathon bewiesen.
Jahrbuchfur Kath. Theologie.
13 Eusebius (surnamed
Pamphilus), born A.D. 264, was a native of Palestine. Being
elevated to the see of Caesarea, he died about 338. He was a
voluminous writer, and among his other works he composed the
Praeparatio Evangelica, in nine volumes, which he dedicated to
Theodotus, Bishop of Laodicea. This famous work, upon which his
renown chiefly rests, contains fragments of Sanchoniathon,
Berosus, and others whose works have since entirely perished.
14 "From Chaos Erebus
and ebon Night:
From Night the Day sprang forth, and shining
air,
Whom to the love of Erebus she gave."
Hesiod's Theogony (Elton's Translation), line 170.
15 Gen. i. 2, where ערב ('EREV), denotes mixture, twilight, and
hence evening. "The earth was without form, and void." Gen. i.
1.
16 Pothos or Desire. This seems to be
the same as Eptos, or Cupid, who was held by the Greek
mythologists to be the prime cause of all things. See Hesiod's
Theogony, v. 120, and Wolff's note upon it.
17 This union was symbolized among the
heathen, and particularly by the Phoenicians, by an egg enfolded
by a serpent, which disjunctively represented the Chaos and the
Æther; but, when
united the hermaphroditic first principle of the universe, i.e.
Cupid, or Pothos.
18 THOTH was an
Egyptian deity of the second order, whose attributes are not
well known. The Graeco-Roman mythology identified him with
Hermes, or Mercury. His sign is the Ibis, and he is the most
important, according to Bunsen, of all the Cabiri. He was
reputed to be the inventor of writing, the patron deity of
learning, the scribe of the gods, in which capacity he is
represented signing the sentences on the souls of the dead.
19 Hebrew קול פי יה, i.e., the voice of
the mouth of Yah, or Jehovah.
20 Orelli, the latest editor of these
fragments, thinks we should read BAAUT, and that the r has been
omitted by error of the copyists. BAAUT, he thinks, might be the
Phoenician word for night, since in Chaldee בות (BOOTH), means to pass the night, as in
Dan. vi. 19. (v. 18 Eng. Ver.)
21 Aeon is taken by Orelli for Eve.
Heb. חוה (KHAVAH); and
Protogonus (first-born) for Adam; while GENOS he supposes to be
Cain, and Genea his wife.
22 i.e., Cain, as
Orelli supposes. His reading is, "From the race of Aeon,"
&c.
23 Orelli says he has sought in vain
for this mountain in the ancient geographers; but thinks it may
have been the name of some mountain in Syria, or Arabia Deserta,
where was a city mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of
Berathena.
24 These two names
Bochart takes to be the designation of one person. Scaliger
agrees with him, taking Memroumous to be from ממרום, MIMMEROMIM; whence, says Orelli, "the
word Ύψουρανιος,
Hypsoranius, is only the Greek rendering of these two Phoenician
words."
25 "Who does not recognise," says
Orelli in his note on this passage, "in these words the Mosaic
tradition about the Nephilim (or giants), begotten from the
intercourse of the sons of God with the daughters of men?" See
Genesis vi. 1, 2.
26 Scaliger supposed here some
reference to the hairy Esau. Orelli, following Bishop
Cumberland, thinks that such a reference is quite inadmissible,
and that we should rather understand some antediluvian
descendant of Cain, named Uz, who gave his name to a part of
Syria. See Genesis x. 23.
27 The atmosphere and
winds, we are told by Julius Firmicus, received divine honours
from the Assyrians and people on the shores of Africa, while
fire was equally venerated in all the colonies of the
Phoenicians, especially in the temple of the Tyrian Hercules at
Cadiz (Gades), to extinguish the perpetual fire in which was
punished with death. See Creuzer's Symbolik and Munter, Religion
der Karthager, 49, 61. Orelli's note, in loc.
28 i.e., the pillars, as representing
the mysterious agency of wind and fire.
29 i.e., 'Elion, or the Most High.
30 On this passage Orelli says: "These
are Greek renderings of Syrophcenician names. In Hebrew it would
read thus: 'And 'Elion begat Said and Sidon, whence the Sidones
and Sidonians are named;' for צוד
(TSOOD) means both to hunt and to fish."
31 This, as Cumberland
remarks, is the first instance of deification. To Chrysor, says
Orelli, "the Phoenicians seem to have attributed all those arts
which the Greeks referred to the three gods, Vulcan, Mercury,
and Apollo. Chrysor may be, as Cumberland supposed, from the
Hebrew חרץ (KHARATS), which
has the meaning of sharpening, cutting, etc. In Assyrian it
means gold.
32 As Adam may have been designated
before by the name of Protogonus, so here, under the name of
Geinos Autochthon, Orelli supposes to be meant the first man who
settled down and lived in a house constructed of sun-dried
bricks, in contrast with the nomades and dwellers in huts built
of rushes and reeds.
33 Philo is here quite
in error, says Scaliger, for instead of שדה SADEH, a field, he should have read Shaddai,
שדי, Almighty. Philo, or
rather Sanchoniathon, is speaking of gods like Pan, Pales, or
Sylvanus, agricultural and pastoral deities; but he confounds
one of them with the greatest god of the people of Byblos, the
Shaddai of the Jews.
34 Like the ark of the covenant among
the Jews. See 2 Samuel vi. 3, and compare with Amos v. 26 and
Acts vii. 43.
35 Misor, no doubt, indicates the
establisher of Government in Egypt, for Mitzraim (in which name
we recognise the Hebrew dual number for the Upper and Lower
country) is the usual word for Egypt in the Hebrew Scriptures;
still called MISR in Arabic.
36 Sydyk. Hebrew צדיק (Tsadik), means the
righteous one. Wagner thinks by this name is designated not any
man, but the institution of law and civil government.
37 El 'Elyon is the title given to the
god of Melchizedek, King of Salem, who is called priest of El
'Elyon, which our version renders priest of the Most High God.
38 Perhaps Berith, which in Hebrew
signifies a covenant or engagement, whence a Phoenician deity
was called Baal-Berith, like the Zeus Orkios of the Greeks, and
the Deus Fidius of the Romans. This legend of El 'Elyon and
Berith (covenant), seems to me an obscure allusion to what is
related in Genesis xiv. 18 24.
39 Kronus answers to
the Saturn of the Romans.
40 Or, Thoth, i.e. the thrice great
Hermes.
41 Proserpine.
42 i.e., Heaven.
43 Dagon is represented in 1 Samuel v.
4, as an idol of the Philistines, with fish's tail; but in
Genesis xxvii. 28, nearly the same word means corn the one being
Dagon, the other dagan [דגן].
44 Byblus, the modern Jebail, is here
represented as the most ancient city of the Canaanites. It was
celebrated for the worship of Tammuz, or Adonis; who, in the
same manner as Elioun, is said to have been slain in an
encounter with wild beasts. The mysterious rites of this worship
even infected the Jews. (See Ezekiel viii. 14.) Byblus was
famous for its celebration of the mysteries of Adonis, which
even passed to Athens.
45 Elohim is the plural
of Eloahzrgod. This plural, (which some regard as a pluralis
excellentiae), is the word constantly used in the Hebrew
Scriptures for God. Some, on the other hand, have hence inferred
the original polytheism of the Jews.
46 Baetulia. Instead of λιθους εμψχους, i.e., animated
stones, as Philo has rendered it, we may, I think, with Orelli,
believe that Sanchoniathon had written אבנים נשפים (AVANIM NESHAPHIM), anointed stones,
from the root שוף
(SIIOOPH), used in Syriac (2 Samuel xii. 20, and xiv. 2) in the
sense of anointing. Philo, by transposing the letters Q and S,
has completely altered the meaning of the author he undertakes
to translate, and rendered him ridiculous. By this transposition
the stones which Jacob set up at Bethel for a pillow, and which
subsequently, when anointed, he consecrated to God (as we read,
Genesis xxviii. 18), have become in Philo's translation animated
instead of anointed stones. Such stones, called Baitylia, of a
spherical form, were consecrated, we are told by Nicolaus of
Damascus, to various gods. We are, however, to understand in
this passage of Sanchoniathon, according to Orelli, either
aerolites, or more probably, as he thinks, stones which, by a
superstitious notion of the ancients, were supposed to contain
some divine or spiritual essence, such as the Pessinuntian stone
sent by Attalus, King of Phrygia, to the Romans, in which
Cybele, "the mother of the gods," was believed to lie concealed.
See Livy's Roman History, Book xxix. 11 and xiv., and Arnobius,
advers. Gentes, Book vii. chap. 46.
47 i.e., deified.
48 Whence in Bashan a city sacred to
Astarte was called (Gen. xiv. 5) ASHTEROTH-KARNAIM; i.e.,
Astarte with the two horns, or, the crescent moon.
49 Tyre was regarded as
a holy city. In support of this we have the testimony of Arrian,
who says, in his Expedition of Alexander the Great: "There was
in that city (Tyre), a temple dedicated to Hercules (Melkarth),
the most ancient of all those recorded in history. This is not
the Grecian Hercules, for he was the son of Alcmena. But this
Hercules, (Baal or Melkarth), was worshipped at Tyre many ages
before Cadmus sailed from Phoenicia and seized Thebes (in
Boeotia), and long before Semele was born to Cadmus.
Nevertheless, the Hercules worshipped by the Iberians
(Spaniards), at Tartessus, who gave the name to the pillars of
Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), is, in my opinion, the same
with the Tyrian. For Tartessus was built by the Phoenicians, and
a temple was reared there, and sacrifices performed to Hercules
after the Phoenician manner." Again, in Book ii., chap. 24,
"They who had fled to the temple of Hercules (being some of the
chief nobility of Tyre, besides King Azelmicus, and some
Carthaginian priests, who, according to ancient custom, were
sent to their mother-city to offer sacrifices to Hercules) had
the benefit of a free pardon."
50 What relation Kronus
or Saturn may really bear to Abraham it is difficult to say; but
there are certain points of resemblance which are quite
unmistakable. 1st, Kronus and Abraham both offer up a son in
sacrifice, (Isaac being only saved at the last moment by a
special intervention); 2nd, both circumcise themselves; 3rd,
both compel their dependents to do the same.
51 The god or genius of Death; i.e.,
Pluto. מות, MUTH, in this
sense, occurs in Psalm xlviii. 15. Eng. Vers. 14. See also Ps.
xlix. 14.
52 A daughter of Ouranos and Ge, or
heaven and earth, and wife of Kronus or Saturn.
53 In Hebrew this would be בעלת (BAALATH), the wife, viz.,
of Baal. She was hence, according to Hesychius, either Juno or
Venus. She was worshipped in Carthage as Queen of Heaven, as
also by the idolatrous Jews. See Jeremiah vii. 18 and xliv. 17.
54 Dione is also a daughter of Ouranos
and Ge, or heaven and earth. In classical mythology she is
represented as beloved by Jupiter, to whom she bore Venus. Homer
represents Dione as receiving her wounded daughter with caresses
and consolations, and threatening Diomede with a wretched
future.
55 Berytus, once a famous seat of law
and. learning, now the seaport for Damascus. It is now called
Beyroot.
56 The Cabiri, or Great
Gods, eight in number, were mysterious deities, who were
especially venerated at Lemnos, and at Samothrace. The worship
of the Cabiri extended to all the western parts of the ancient
world. Hence, we read of Breotian, Egyptian, Macedonian,
Etruscan, and Pelasgian Cabin. They were especially invoked by
sailors, and eventually confounded with the Dioscuri, i.e.,
Castor and Pollux.
57 The first instance on record of the
consecration of relics. Bp. Cumberland, in loc.
58 By the son of
Thabion both Cumberland and Wagner understand Sanchoniathon
himself; but Orelli, with more probability, thinks that
Jerombaal or Jerubaal, priest of the god IAO, is meant. Whether
the same as Gideon, who is also called Jerubaal (Judges vi. 32)
cannot be decided.
59 By the name Isiris Cumberland
thinks Misor, or Mizraim, the brother of Taut, or Thoth, is
meant.
60 i.e., Canaan, the native name for
Phoenicia, as we find on the Phoenician coins of Laodicea ad
Libanum. See my article "Phoenician Language and Inscriptions,"
in the Supplement (Arts and Sciences) to the English Cyclo.
1874.
61 Quare, II ?
62 i.e., Conceiving by
favour, as interpreted by Bochart. By this name he thinks Sarah,
the wife of Abraham, is intended.
63 יחיד
YAKHID, only-begotten, or only son. See the Hebrew text of Gen.
xxii. 2.
64 Or Melkarth, i.e.,
King of the City, the Baal of Tyre. To this deity a very ancient
and richly adorned temple was erected, which was renowned
throughout the world. Annual gifts were sent thither from
Carthage and the most distant Phoenician colonies. During my
residence at Safed, in Galilee, in 1855, a great treasure of
Tyrian coins was discovered, some of the finest of which I
purchased. On one side was seen, beautifully executed, the head
of the Tyrian Baal; on the other an eagle (the symbol of the
Syro-Macedonian dynasty, which at that time governed Tyre), with
the inscription in Greek, which being translated reads, "Of Tyre
a holy city and asylum."
66 Literally, the broad
dance. It designates, no doubt, an open space, as a square or
promenade.
67 Jupiter Belus, or Olympius; i.e.,
the Tyrian Baal. By some writers he is called the Tyrian
Hercules. From this deity the two mountains on the Strait of
Gibraltar are called the Pillars of Hercules Abyla on the one
side and Calpe on the other for, so far the Tyrian Hercules (or
Baal) is said to have carried his conquests; in other words, so
far did Phoenician commerce, at a very early period, extend.
68 Called LULIA, in the
cuneiform inscription of Sennacherib (Taylor cylinder line 35).
This interesting historical document has been translated into
English, and will be found at p. 35 of vol. 1. of "Records of
the Past." Norris, in his Assyrian Dictionary (sub voce LlJLI,
p. 670), says the name Luliah occurs also in the Bellino
cylinder, i. 18, and at line 13 of the Nebbi-Yunas inscription
which records the campaigns of Esarhaddon. I do not find the
name in either. In the Bellino no mention of Sidon at all, while
in the Nebbi-Yunas the King is called Abdi-Milkutti. Josephus
(Antiq. ix. 14) calls him Elulaeus, King of Tyre.
69 Acco, now St. Jean dAcre: the
Ptolemais of the New Testament. It occurs in Judges i. 31; Micah
i. 10 (Heb. text), and i Maccab. v. 22.
70 i.e., Old Tyre.
71 Ethbaal seems to
have been a common Phoenician name. The first Tyrian king of
this name gave his daughter Jezebel, (whence our name Isabella),
to wife to Ahab, King of Israel. The sovereign here mentioned
transferred the seat of government to Tyre on the island, which,
in the time of Alexander the Great, was joined to Old Tyre on
the mainland.
72 Menander does not say that at the
end of the time the city was taken. We learn this, however, from
other sources, although some, from the silence of Menander, have
inferred that Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege and departed
without capturing Tyre.
73 Derived from περι around, and πλους a sailing, a voyage; hence
Periplus = a circumnavigation.
74 The mountains Abyla and Calpe,
situated on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, were called
by the ancients the Pillars of Hercules.
75 Probably Mogadore.
76 Cape Bojador.
77 Supposed to be identical with the
River d'Ouro; or Rio d'Ouro.
78 i.e., Dwellers in caves.
79 Probably, the island
of Arguin, under the southern Cape Blanco.
80 Perhaps the river St. John.
81 Perhaps the river
Senegal.
82 Probably Cape
Palmas.
83 Perhaps Sierra
Leone.
84 Probably Cape Three
Points.
85 The Assyrian Canon,
by George Smith. Bagster, 1875.
86 Mr. George Smith has
since announced (Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 167, 179, 182) that
he has found a tablet with the name of the hero of the Deluge
written phonetically, KHA-SIS-ADRA; so that Xisuthrus is
evidently only a Greek corruption.
87 Ur is the name of an
ancient Babylonian deity.
88 For the explanation of the
Babylonian words saros, neros, and sossus, see p. 53 of the
present work, line 8th from the top.
89 This is the Greek rendering of
Sippara, called Sepharvaim, or the two Sipparas in our Bible. 2
Kings xvii. 24.
90 This signifies both the Red Sea and
the Persian Gulf. Here it must mean the latter.
91 Sippara, or
Sepharvaim.
92 The Persian Gulf.
93 Larissa, the modern Senkereh. The
name Larsd occurs in a cuneiform inscription of Nebuchadnezzar,
now in the British Museum. See also Xenophon's Anab. Bk iii. c.
4.
94 i.e., Khasis-Adra.
95 UR, an ancient
Babylonian deity, mentioned in the Cuneiform inscription of
Urukh as the eldest son of Bel. See Records of the Past, vol.
iii. pp. 9, 10.
96 Perhaps the god ANU, of the
Assyrian inscriptions.
97 Sippara, or Sepharvaim.
98 Babylon is the
Greek form of the Assyrian name Bab-ilu, i.e., Gate of God. It
was regarded as a holy city. The Hebrew word BlLBOOL,
resembling Babihi in sound, and signifying confusion, gave
rise to the narrative of the confusion of tongues, and led to
the Jewish explanation of the name Babel as connected with
that event. A story somewhat similar is found in a cuneiform
inscription translated by Mr. Boscawen, and published in the
Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., vol. iv.
99 The Persian
Gulf.
100 Compare
with Genesis i. 2.
101 This is a
Greek corruption of the Aramaic word, עמיקא, i.e., the deep; the ocean.
102 Thalath, or Thalassa, is
evidently ταάλς, i.e., τα for tha the Egyptian
feminine article the, and the Greek άλς, salt hence, the sea.
103 The 5th
month of the Macedonian year, answering to May and June.
104 The sun was
worshipped by the Assyrians as a God, under the name of
Shamas, the Hebrew Shemesh.
105 Compare with Genesis viii. 7,
12.
106 See Genesis
viii. 20.
107 Compare with this the
translation of Enoch, Genesis v. 23, 24.
108 Compare with Genesis viii. 4.
Ararat is the Hebrew name of Armenia. See 2 Kings xix. 37.
109 The mountains of
Kurdistan.
110 Or mineral pitch. See Genesis vi.
14.
111 i.e., an antidote to poison, and
an amulet, or charm, against the evil eye.
112 The Jews.
113 Amytis.
114 i.e. Man or
servant of Merodach.
115 Nabonidus.
116 The Macedonian
month Loos answers to our July.
117 Nabonidus.
118 Nahar Malcha, or Ar Malcha, i.e.,
the royal river, or canal.
119 i.e., Sepharvaim.
120 Epiphanius, one of
the Fathers, calls this mountain Lubar; the Zend-Avesta styles
it Al Bordj.
121 Abimelech, king of
Gerar.
122 Hazael, King of
Syria.
123 Aaron.
124 Pitch-pine.
125 Mizraim.
126 Amytis.
127 Khasis-Adra.
128 No number is given
in the original text.
129 Belibus, in the
Annals of Sennacherib, of the Bellino Cylinder. (See Records of
the Past, vol. i., p. 26.)
130 Esarhaddon.
131 These remarks,
within brackets, are by Eusebius.
132 Nabopollasar, see
p. 84.
132a Amytis.
133 The name
Sardanapalus being applied to various persons leaves it doubtful
whether Saracus or Busalossorus, (i.e., Nabopollassar), be
intended.
134 Or, entrusted the palace to
Egoritus. Doubtful in the original, according to the Armenian
editor.
135 Dionysus is the
Greek name for Bacchus. It is of Assyrian origin, being properly
דין ניטי, i.e., Judge of
Men, or Ruler of Men, a title of the Sun, (Shamas) as a deity.
136 For illustration
and explanation of this fragment see The Chaldean Account of
Genesis, pp. 64, 66.
137 Samdan in
Assyrian.
138 The first king of
Argos, B.C. 1910.
139 Clemens Alex.
Stromata, p. 332, ed Sylburg.
139a Eusebius, in his
Praeparatio Evangelica. Book ix. 17.
140 In his Berosi Chaldceorum
Histories qua super sunt, p. 33. Leipsig, 1825.
141 Or Cyropolis, in
Syria, a city built by the Jews in honour of, and in gratitude
to, Cyrus, as the liberator of their nation from Babylonian
servitude.
142 This Epistle is
now generally regarded as that of the pseudo-Manetho; not the
Manetho who wrote the lists of kings, but one who assumed and
abused his name.
143 The researches of
Pococke and Hamilton have long since proved this to be the
Memnon of the Ancients, while the hieroglyphic labours of
Champollion have established the claims of Amenoph to the
statues he erected.
144 See 1 Kings xi.
40.
145 Perhaps
Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, or some one ruling as a
tributary to the Assyrian monarch.
146 Called So, or
Seve, in 2 Kings xvii. 4.
147 2 Kings xix. 9.
148 Eusebius omits the
last king, and inserts Ammeres at the beginning as the first.
149 Eusebius omits
Artabanus, and between Cambyses and Darius places the Magi, with
a reign of seven months.
150 Danaus was the
first king of the Argives.
151 TYPHON was the
Ahriman, or Satan, of the Egyptian theology. "Down to the time
of Rameses, B.C. 1300, he was one of the most venerated and
powerful gods. After about 970 B.C. he was regarded as the foe
of Osiris and all the gods of Egypt." BUNSEN'S Egypt's Place,
vol. i., p. 456.
152 Called ON in Genesis xli. 45, 50;
AN in Egyptian.
153 By Osarsiph he means Moses, the
Jewish lawgiver and deliverer.
154 Tethmosis was a
sovereign of the i8th dynasty, according to Eusebius.
155 i.e., a
Diospolitan; for Thebes, (called No in our Bibles), was
designated by the Greeks as Diospolis; i.e. the city of Jupiter
(Ammon.)
156 The temple of
Jupiter Ammon was situated in the Oasis of Siwah, as it is now
called.
157 From ίερος, a temple, and συλαω, to plunder.
158 Various readings
of this word are given, as Syriada, Sirida, Seiria. Voss
proposes that we should read, Eirath.
159 See the English
translation of this book from the Ethiopia by Abp. Lawrence,
(Oxford, 1821), and compare with it the extracts from it in
Syncellus, upon the so-called Egregors, alluded to in the
Epistle of Jude (verse 6).
160 There are on
either side of the Strait two mountains, here called pillars,
viz., Gebel Tarifa and Abyla.
161 Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia.
162 i.e., Neptune.
163 Or Euhcmerus of
Messana, an atheistic philosopher, friend of Cassander, king of
Macedon.
164 Cybele, "the great
mother," the Ops of the Roman mythology.
165 Ceres.
166 Juno.
167 Priests of Jupiter in the island
of Crete, and of the goddess Cybele.
168 Casius is the name
of a mountain on the coast of Egypt, now called Ras Kasaroim. It
lies east of Pelusium. Another Mount Casius, (Jebel Okrah), is
placed in the north of Syria, on the coast, south of the
Orontes. It is uncertain which Mount Casius is intended in the
text.
169 The Gaetulians are
the Berber tribes, now known by the names of Kabyles, Shelloofs,
Beni-Mezab, &c., who are cognate in race and language with
the aborigines of the Canary Islands. Their languages constitute
the sub-Semitic branch of the Semitic linguistic family. Vide my
article Semitic Languages, in the English Cyclopaedia,
Supplement (Arts and Sciences).
170 From the Greek νεμειν, to feed, because they were fed, or
maintained, by wandering about like grazing cattle.
171 There are two
ancient cities on the north coast of Africa which were formerly
called Hippo (Phoenician עבו
UBBO, a bay). The one was Hippo Regius, once the residence of
the Numidian kings, and the episcopal see of St. Augustine, now
Bona. It is between the Cap de Fer (Ras Hadeed) and La Calle;
the other, formerly called Hippo Zarytus (i.e., Hippo of the
Canal) standing on a beautiful land-locked harbour, with a
narrow entrance (like a canal) to the Mediterranean, is now
called Ben Zert (i.e., son of the canal). The former is in
Algeria, and belongs to the French; the latter to Tunis. It is
uncertain which of the two is intended by our author.
172 Carthage was founded by Dido, who
is also called Elisa, about 100 years before Rome. Upon the
murder of her husband, (Sichaeus or Acerbas), by Pygmalion her
brother, she fled from Tyre, and founded this famous city. It
was for many centuries the rival of Rome, but about 150 B.C. it
was destroyed by Scipio, the Roman general. It is said to have
continued burning for seventeen days. Extensive ruins and mounds
of earth, extending from the sea to the walls of Tunis, along
the shore of the lake, with here and there a few broken arches
of an aqueduct, are all that remain of this once proud city,
whose circumference, it is said, was nearly twenty-four miles.
173 In Arabic, NÎL signifies blue, hence
'the blue Nile,' Bahrat Neel.
http://www.masseiana.org/corys_fragments_notes.htm#157
Szekely Essene Book of Revelations
____________________
From the Essene Book of
Revelations
Found in Book 2 of Szekely’s Essene Gospel of Peace
Revel 1 Behold, the Angel of the Air shall bring him, 2And every
eye shall see him, 3And the brotherhood, 4 All the vast
brotherhood of the earth 5Shall raise their voice as one and
sing, 6Because of him. 7Even so, Amen. Revel 2 "I am the Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end; 2What is, what was, and
what is to come." Revel 3 And the voice spoke, and I turned to
see 2The voice that spoke to me, 3And being turned,
I saw
seven golden candles;
4And in the midst of their blazing light 5I saw someone like a
son of man, 6Clothed in white, white as the snow. 7And his voice
filled the air with the sound of rushing water; 8And in his
hands were
seven
stars,
9And when he spoke, his face was streaming light,
10Blazing and golden like a thousand suns. Revel 4 And he said,
"Fear not, I am the first and the last; 2I am the beginning and
the end. 3Write the things that you have seen, 4And the things
that are, and the things that will come after;
5The
mystery of the
seven stars
which fill my hands, 6And the
seven
golden candles,
blazing with eternal light. 7The
seven stars
are the
Angels of the
Heavenly Father, 8
And the
seven
candles
are the
Angels of the
Earthly Mother. 9
And the
spirit
of man
is the
flame
10That
streams between
the
starlight and the glowing candle; 11
A
bridge
of
holy light
between
heaven
and earth."
Revel 5
These things said he
who
held the seven stars in his hands, 2
Who
walked within the flames of the seven golden candles. 3
He that has an ear, let him hear what the spirit said: 4"To him
that overcomes I will allow to eat from the Tree of Life, 5That
stands in the midst of the shining paradise of God." Revel 6 And
then I looked, and behold, 2A door was opened in heaven: 3And a
voice which sounded from all sides, like a trumpet, 4Spoke to
me: "Come up here, 5And I will show you the things which must be
hereafter." Revel 7 And immediately I was there, in spirit, 2At
the threshold of the open door. 3And I entered through the open
door 4Into a sea of blazing light. 5And in the midst of the
blinding ocean of radiance was a throne: 6And on the throne sat
one whose face was hidden. 7And there was a rainbow around about
the throne, 8Which looked like emerald. 9And round about the
throne were thirteen seats: 10And upon the seats I saw thirteen
elders sitting, 11Clothed in white raiment; 12And there faces
were hidden by swirling clouds of light. 13And seven lamps of
fire burned before the throne, 14The fire of the Earthly Mother.
15And seven stars of heaven shone before the throne, 16The fire
of the Heavenly Father. 17And before the throne 18There was a
sea of glass like crystal: 19And reflected within it 20Were all
the mountains and valleys of the earth, 21And all the creatures
abiding therein. 22And the thirteen elders bowed down before the
splendor of him 23Who sat upon the throne, whose face was
hidden, 24And rivers of light streamed from their hands, one to
the other, 25And they cried, "Holy, Holy, Holy, 26Lord God
Almighty, 27Which was, and is, and is to come. 28Thou art
worthy, O Lord, 29To receive glory and honor and power: 30For
thou hast created all things." Revel 8 And then
I saw in
the
right
hand 2
Of
him
hat
sat on
the throne, 3
whose
face was hidden, 4
A book written within and on the backside, 5
Sealed
with seven seals. 6
And I saw an
angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 7‚
Who is
worthy to open the book, 8
And to
loose the seals thereof?‚
Äù Revel 9
And no being in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth,
2Was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 3And I
wept, because the book could not be opened, 4Nor was I able to
read what there was
written. 5
And one of the
elders said to me,
'Weep
not. 6
Reach out your
hand
and
take the book. 7
Yea,
even the book with the seven seals,
and
open
it. 8
For it
was written for thee, 9
who art at once
the
lowest
of the low, 10
And the
highest of the high.
Essene Book of Revelations
Szekely
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17705143/From-the-Essene-Book-of-Revelations-Szekely
Note:
1. Seen here ar the small caps as seen in Szekely's
translation
2. Where "As Above So below" should be seen in teh chinese
edition of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes is seen instead
"Lowest
of the Low and Highest of the High"
a. Thus the Coming one is the "As Above So Below"
1.
Which is the description of Hermes Trismegistus in the Tabula
Smaraddina Hermetis Rosicrucian version of the
Emerald
Tablet of Hermes
3. Do to this terminology of "Lowest of the Low and Highest of
the High" = "As Above So below" by the Essenes one is thus
referring to Tabula Smaragdina Hermitis
Rosicrucian, Hermes Trismegistus teh Thrice Great Aastrologer,
Alchemist and
Magus = the 12 Statements of the Emerald
Tablet of Hermes = The Tree of Life = The 22 Paths of the Tree
of Life = The
22 Letters of the hebrew Alphabet = 10, X,
Yod Sephirots of the Tree of Life = 10, X, Yod, Hermit
Virgo card of the book
of Thoth Tarot = He Born of a Virgin of a
Virgin = Messiah = Annointed One = Priaptic Stone = Pan Stone
= Stone of
Destiny = TUROE Stone = "Cloch an Tuair
Rua" = Stone of the Red pastures = Steon of the Meg
Floind = Stone of the
Son of Red = Stoen fo the Seed fo Red =
Stoen of the Seed of Adam = Lineage of Adam & Eve
Point:
The Essene Book of Revealtions by such terminology is IMMERSED
in, PERMEATED in the Tabula Smaragdina Hermitis
Rosicrucian, Hermes Trismegistus teh Thrice Great Aastrologer,
Alchemist and Magus paradigm
a. And or the Opposite the
Rosicrucians are of the Essenes ..
1. Etc.
a.
As seen in teh PPR archives recently i was drawn back to the
Smaragdina .. and realized further insight ... into
the
As Above so belwo issue .. whcih the Essne book of Revelatiosn
highest fo the High etc. terminology is a
analog
of and thsu the Essene Bok of Revelations PPR archives have to
be updated
Note:
1. On top of this since:
a. Essene book of Revelations =
Book of hte day of Judgment & Day of Judgement concerned
1. Druidic/TUROE Anno Lucis, Year of Light Virgo 4000BC + 6000
= Virgo Year 2001 is the correct calendar
a. Thus the Virgo 7th, Day of Judgment, Year 2001
positiong of PPR has to be updated
1. Thus teh 9/11 Wtc Attack ..
actions of th Oppsing Force .. the Satanic Forces of Spiritual
darkness Attempting to
USURP the Day
of Light, the Day of Judgment ... postion of PPR has to be
updated
Point:
1. The updating is the insight That the COMING ONE is the
Hermes Trismegistus Archetype INCARNATED ...
2. As seen in PPR paper
a. Annotated & Highlighted
TABULA SMARAGDINA HERMETIS Meg Floinn Bicephalic Eagle, Red
Lion & TUROE
Stone of Destiny =
Hermes Trismegistus "Born of a Virgin of a Virgin" "The Word
made Flesh" MABON = Tsemech
= Al Zimach.html"
b. The answer "Man" to the Riddle of
the Sphinx" actually refers to the the Coming One
Point:
1. So Too in the references in teh Tabula Smaragdina Hermetis
to Hermest Trismegistus AS the Archetype of the Embodiement
of the Entire Tree of Life .. within
mankind Additionally REFERS to an ACTUALL INCARNATION of
Hermes Trismegistus
as explained therein
Point:
1. And herein in the Essene Book of Revelaitons ... the
authors fo SADI Document are Referring directily to thi
INCARNATION
of Hermes Trismegistus the AS Above So
Below Man.
Point:
1. One is to think more in tems of, .... and along the
lines of .. and INCARNATION of an Individual Who Embodies or
Incarnated the UNITY of Oppsites
a. This being so one is to then .. ponder ... Well What of
this guy
1.
Whcih was done above ... the What of is:
a.
NOT Only does he embody the Unity of Opposites but in so an
Inherent ramification if mankind lives in the
Physical
World ...
1.
Is that this individual .. shall be bring the OPPOSITE to the
Spiritually dark World Archetype which is
Astrology/Spirit/Flame/Light/
and thus Consciousness
Note:
1. Eustace Mullin's Curse of Canaan asserts teh Powers that be
are attempting to Dumb Mankind Down to a Pre-Adamite Level
a. "Dumb Down" = Lower
the Consciousness
1.
Hermes Trismegistus however as seen ... Inherently brings
Astrology/Spirit/Flame/Light/ and thus Consciousness
a.
Thus Hermes brings sthe opposite of dumbing down ..
Hermes is to bring:
1. Time Warping Book of the Day of Judgement
2. Proof of the Unity of Oppsite Theme
3. Proof of the Unity of Opposites Them Incarnated in Human
form
4. Astrology/Spirit/Flame/Light:
The
Peak
Experience
is defined as
'Pure Joy,
Bliss Ecstasy
'filled with
Light'
Religous Valus and
Peak Experiences
Abraham Moslow
5. Consciousness
6. Re-Written History
7. Exposure of the Darkness and False History, Religion,
Educatin etc.
a. All Analogs of Spiritual darkness are
shone up
8. The Word is Wounded Foot's Weapon
a. The Word is the articulation
.. of the simulataneous
1.
Fractal Essence of the Universe and Mankind
a.
Mankind being the bBiological Consciousness Fractal Leading
tip fi the Fract which is Nature
2.
Unity of Oppsites Essence of the Universe and Mankind
Note:
The Word .. with it's multipel Prongs such as:
a. The Word is Wounded Foot's Weapon
b. The 20, XX, Aeon, Lst Judgment
Card at 40
c. The 10 Sephirots
e. 10, X, Yod
Sephirots .. of the Tree of Life
d. The 22 Letters of the Hebrew
alphabet
e. The 22 Paths of the Tree of Life
f. The Zeus Herme = Phallic/Father
Stoone though he is "Born of a Virgin/Feminine"
g. The "Word made Flesh"
h. At the End of Time
1. The Alpha and the Omega
a.
End of the 26,000 Year Precessions of the Equinoxes = Begnning
of the New 26,000 year precession of the
equinoxes
b.
Virgo Starts the Yearly Zoidac off [See Bullinger
Witness to the Stars]
... Start of Virgo is the end point of the year
i. Born of a Virgin of a Virgin
j. Conceived on the Helical rising of
Venus on teh Winter Sosltice
1. Venus cycle 40 ... :
a.
40 is depeicted as Fullness, or Maturity throughout the bible:
The
Tetragrammaton
YHVH
is
Mature
in
Mem, 40
Book of Thoth
Tarot
Crowley
The
10, X, Yod,
Hermit, Virgo Card
is
In it's
fullness
in
20, XX,
Aeon, Last judgment
PPR Archvies
e. 10, X, Yod
Sephirots .. of the Tree of Life thus the Hermit Also ..
The Hermit completes ALL systems AT ONCE:
1. It's a Fractal
a. Thus why Conceived on the Helical
Rising of Venus on the Winter Solsttice he is mature at 40, as
40 is the Maturity of
the
Venus Cycle .. O fwhcih he is a Undiluted Fractal Analog of ..
1.
Due to teh Fractal Essence of the Univers and Mankind
a.
Navel is Phi Distance of the human body
b.
Human gestation if 9 Months = Time ti takes to Harvest and ear
fo corn = superimpostion of the Solar, Earth and
Vegetative
cycles = green Man of Irish Lore = osiris was originally of
the Green Man Archetype
c.
Female perios is the same as the perios of teh moon
2. Unity of Opposites:
a. Essence of Reality
1.
At the same time Everythign is a Fractal ... Superimposed upon
this Archetype is that of the Unity of Oppsites
Nature
of Reality
thus:
1. Nature and Man:
a. Fractal
b. Unity of Opposites:
1. When Opposites of Nature Collide they eventually make One =
Hot and Cold Make warm] = Inherently the Unity
of
Oppsites = Synthesis
We live in a Fractal Univese and a Universe wherein eventually
the Unity of Oppsoites occurs
Point:
Hermest Trismegistus Unifies in undiluted form ... the Two
Archetypes of Nature and Man:
1. Nature
a. Fractal
b. Unity of Opposites
3. Man
a. Fractal
b. Unity of Opposites
"Undiluted
form" = Like Sin Waves which reinforce each other ... and do
not concel out ...
Thus Hermes Trismegistus:
1. Is defined in a Word which gives him all of the Attributes
at once
2. He completes all systems AT ONCE:
a. Man
b. Nature
c. Fractal
d. Unity of Opposites
Note:
1. In the book
Chaos
and Fractals referred to in teh PPR archives is a
page seen therein wherein 15 spaghetti like, seemingly
totally unrelate lines are seen to converge
twice ...
a. As they are
Actually controlled by a fractal formula
1.
So to ALL of Nature
a.
So to Mankind whcih is an outgrowth of Nature
1.
Hermest Trismigistus is the CONVERGENCE Point ALL the
Spaghetti Lines
a.
IN HUMAN Form
1.
Hermes Trismegistus is ALL of the Spaghetti lines at the
Single Convergnece point including
the
huan Spaghetti line
a.
Thus Hermes Trismegistus is the Covergence point that:
1.
Is the Human Embodiment of this Synchronistic Point
a.
He is the Convergence Point able to:
1.
Think, Speak, Write ..
Note:
1. All of mankind is the Phi formual aboe to Speak Write,
Think ...
a. one can see what Phi is up
to by observing hearing, learnig from Mankind
2. Hermes is also Phi ... as he too has a Navel at the Phi
distance
a. BUT Hermes Trismegistus is the
Grand Unification point of not only the 1. Human cycle 2. Phi
cycle as all humans but
he is the INCARNTION
of ALL the Cycles ..
1.
Hmmm
a.
Thus as mentioned .. being the Unity of Opposites ..
1. In this
Physical thus INHERENTLY Spiritually Dark World he Brign teh
Opposite Light + Joy =
Consciousness
Point:
1. Hermes Trismegistus is the SPIRIT, LIGHT, CONSCIOUSNESS ...
of the NON Physical Spaghetti LINES ...
a. NOW in Human Form thus
1.
Able to Speak, Think, Act, Wrote etc.
a.
Hermes Trismegistus is Light, Joy, Consciousness ABLE TO
SPEAK!
Opps
... Thus Why the Emphasis on Hermes Trismegistus
This is what has been Transmitted down through the Ages in
Encrypted Form, so as to avoid the
detection
fo those of Spiritua darkness ..
Point:
1. There are all types of ramifications I am missing here
however the point was to raise and archives .. Archetypes
a. Ah
this is what all the commotion is about in the aphorisms
promoted by:
1.
Entire High Dynasties
2.
Secret Socieites
3.
Theme of the Zoidiac
4.
Theme of teh Megaiths
5.
Theme of the Myths. Lore, Legends and Prophecies
Hermes Trismegistus:
1. Is defined in a Word which gives him all of the Attributes
at once
2. He completes all systems AT ONCE:
a. Man
b. Nature
c. Fractal
d. Unity of Opposites
Note:
1. Prophecy is a prediction which applies to Mankind as the
subject, as is known
a. In Dogmatic religions which
are attemptign to Usurp GraiillCZCNP prophecy, Prophecy is
depiected as the Province
of some type of voodoo which various holy mane know of
1.
The Pagan = Holy Grail Paradimg offers a different view
a. Under WHAT theory may Mankind be
predicted?
Under the theory [The Word] that:
1. Mankind is the Biological consciousness Fractal leading tip
ofd the Fractal whcih is the Universe .. which also adheres to
the
Unity of opposites Archetype
a. Thus, the Theory = Word .. goes .. Eventually, namely
at the Synchronistic completion of All the Cycles, known as
the
End of Time, a Man shall be born who INCARNATES the Completion
of all of the Cycles at Once
1.
AT ONCE is imortant for one of the cycles in question
shall be the Human Cycle and thus IN THIS HUMAN
Form:
a.
The OTHER CYCLES shall be able to find their Expression
1.
Such as the "The Divine Spark" shall be able to Express itsefl
.. as
2.
Hermes = "The Divine Spark"
b.
Other Humans shall have access to these "other Cycles," such
as "The Divine Spark" through the human
Incarnating
all of the Cycles At Once
2. Since the Divine Spark = Consciousness = That which defines
Humanity
1. The Incarnation of
Hermes Trismegistus .. "The Divien Sprak" RAISES the
CONSCIOUSNESS, the definitive Essence
of Humanity
a.
"It's always darkest
before the Dawn"
1.
This Divine Sprak arrives just as the Spirtual Darkness
Threatns to engulf mankind
a.
USPATRIOT ACT
b.
9/11 Wtc Attack Perpetrated by jew controlled freemasonry
c.
jew controlled Freemasonry assassinated JFK
d.
jew created communis is financed by jew wallstreet
e.
jew written bible is a Usurpation attempt fo Grail CZCNP
Prophecy
f.
Etc.
When I Re-Incarnate
of course I buddha, the
same flesh and blood shall not Incarnate
but the
Same impulse
shall
Buddha
The
False Dharma
must replace
he
True Dharma
Before I Re-Incarnate
Buddha
back:
Hermes Trismegistus:
1. Is defined in a Word which gives him all of the Attributes
at once
2. He completes all systems AT ONCE:
a. Man
b. Nature
c. Fractal
d. Unity of Opposites
Back:
3. As seen in the PPR paper: "As Above So Below Man is
Feminine_Earth yet Phallic_Father Stone & Masuline_Virgo
is
Astologer_Spiriti_Heaven is Hermes Trismegistus The Trice
Great Alchemist_Body_Earth and
Magus_Soule_Man all at once is 12 Statements of Emarld Tablet
= Tree of Life.html"
a. All of the Archetypes
of this individual are Opposites
1.
He is Born of a Virgin of a Virgin = Deadcenter of
Virgo/Virgin/Feminine but his Tarot Card is 10, X, Yod,
Hermit,
Virgo
= Coming One = Messian = Annointed One = Priaptic Stone,
required to be annointed with oil to deflowr the
Virgins
with in the Temple = Represents Pan, the Stone of Destiny
Phallic, Omphalos, Umbilical, Navel Stone =
TUROE
STONE of Destiny = Phallic/Father ... made of
Stone/Earth/Mother ... though analog of Virgo/Harvest/
Pregnant/Feminine
Note:
1. He is Archetypically a Unification of Opposites
a. This being so he must
then NATURALLY UNIFY ALL OPPOSITES
1. Including
the Ultimate Opposites ... HEAVEN & EARTH
2. He is the Heaven & Earth Man =
a. Lowest of the Low and Highest of the
High =
1. Alpha and
Omega =
a.
Abraxas, Light and Dark =
1.
10, X, Yod = the Entire Tree of Life, is he
a.
The As Above So Below man
3. Not only does he personifiy in Human form the Unity of
Oppsites theme but:
a. Since Mankind is
Body/Alchemist, the Oppositon of Astrolgy/Spirit, :
And
God
gave
Adam
the
Flame of
Spirit
as
His
Inheritance
of the Firstborn
such that he should
guard
it with his life
Gospel of the
Essenes
Szekely
then Archetypally he the Magus/Soul conduit or
Synchonistic embodiment of Bot AT ONCE ... he Archetypally is
able to
Display the Astrolgy/Spirit/Flame;Light On Earth Inside
Mankind/Body/Alchemist ..
Aka he is:
1. Undiluted Light on Earth
besides being the Incarnation of the Unity of Opposites
Point:
1. Since Body/Alchemist is the Oppsoite of Light
a. He being the Unity of Opposites
Incarnation ...
1. Brings the other
side of the equation INTO This Physical/Alchemist/Body world
.. which is the Opposite of
Spirit/Flame/Light/Astrology
Point:
1. If the point of perspective of the reader and Mankind was
that everyone was living in Heaven and he was among them
then being the Incarnation of the Unity of
Opposites there in Heaven He would be able to bring into that
Heaven perspective,
Heaven/Astrology/Spirit/Flame/Light ... the
Oppposing perspective of Physical/Alchemist/Body world
a. Namely in that case he would be bring the Spiritual
Darkness message tho those inhabitants
Point:'
1. Being the Incarnaton of the Unity fo Opposite she
bring the Opposing Poitn of view into teh Realm He lives in
... thus
thankfully in this case He lives in the
Spiritually Dark Physical/Alchemist/Body world thus he
AXIOMATICALLY brings the
Opposing Message that of
Astrology/Spirit/Flame/Light .
Back:
THE REVELATION
OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE
CHAPTER 5
John sees the book sealed with seven seals and those redeemed
out of every nation—
He hears every creature praising God and the Lamb.
1 And
I saw
in the
Right hand
of
Him
that
Sat
on the throne
a book written within and on the backside,
Sealed
with seven seals.
2
And I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a
Loud voice,
Who is worthy to open
the book,
and to
Loose the seals thereof?
3 And
No man in heaven,
Nor in earth,
Neither under the earth,
was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon.
4
And I wept much,
because
No man was found worthy to open
and to
Read the book,
neither to look
thereon.
5 And
One of
the elders saith unto me,
Weep
not:
behold, the
lion
of the tribe of juda,
the
root
of david,
hath
prevailed
to
Open the book,
and to
Loose the seven seals thereof.
http://scriptures.lds.org/rev/5
Back:
Note:
1. As seen herein ONLY ONE author Worldwide is referring to
the correct version of the Book of Revelations which is proven
the
correct version by way of the fact
that the Szekely Essene Edition of the Book of Revelations
gets the 7 Candles and 7 Stars
issue correct [prven so in the PPR
archves .. ] whereas the Orthodox version of the Book of
Revelations version of the & Satars
and & 7 Candles issue is Proven a
Perverted USURPATION attempt.
Back:
Back:
the
Äù Revel 10
And
I
reached out my hand and touched the book. 2
And
behold,
the cover lifted, 3
And
my hands
touched the golden pages, 4
And
my eyes
beheld the mystery of the seven seals.
Revel 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many
angels 2Round about the throne, 3And the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand,
4And thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, 5
"All glory, and
wisdom, and strength, 6
And
power
forever and ever, 7
To him who shall
reveal
the
Mystery of Mysteries." 8
And I saw the
swirling
clouds
of golden light 9
Stretching like a
fiery bridge
between
my hands, 10
And the
hands of the thirteen elders, 11
And the
feet of
him who sat on the throne, 12
Whose face was hidden.
Revel 12
And I opened
the first seal. 2
And I saw, and beheld the Angel of the Air, 3And between her
lips flowed the breath of life, 4And she knelt over the earth
5And gave to man the winds of wisdom, 6And man breathed in. 7And
when he breathed out, the sky darkened, 8And the sweet air
became fetid, 9And clouds of evil smoke hung low over all the
earth. 10And I turned my face away in
shame.
Revel 13 And I opened the second seal. 2And I saw, and beheld
the Angel of the Water. 3And between her lips flowed the water
of life, 4And she knelt over the earth 5And gave to man an ocean
of love. 6And man entered the clear and shining waters. 7And
when he touched the water, the clear streams darkened, 8And the
crystal waters became thick with slime, 9And the fish lay
gasping in the foul blackness, 10And all the creatures died of
thirst. 11And I turned my face away in
shame.
Revel 14 And I opened the third seal. 2And I saw, and beheld the
Angel of the Sun. 3And between her lips flowed the light of
life, 4And she knelt over the earth 5And gave to man the fires
of Power. 6And the strength of the Sun entered the heart of man,
7And he took the power, and made with it a false sun, 8And he
spread the fires of destruction, 9Burning the forests, laying
waste the green valleys, 10Leaving only charred bones of his
brothers. 11And I turned away in
shame.
Revel 15 And I opened the fourth seal. 2And I saw, and beheld
the Angel of Joy. 3And between her lips flowed the music of
life, 4And she knelt over the earth 5And gave to man the song of
peace. 6And peace and joy like music 7Flowed through the soul of
man. 8But he heard only the harsh discord of sadness and
discontent, 9And he lifted up his sword 10And cut off the hands
of the peacemakers, 11And lifted it up once again 12And cut off
the heads of the singers. 13And I turned my face away in
shame.
Revel 16 And I opened the fifth seal. 2And I saw, and beheld the
Angel of Life. 3And between her lips 4 Flowed the holy alliance
between God and Man, 5And she knelt over the earth 6And gave to
man the gift of Creation. 7And man created a sickle of iron in
the shape of a serpent, 8And the harvest he reaped was of hunger
and death. 9And I turned my face away in
shame.
Revel 17
And I opened
the
sixth seal.
2And I saw, and beheld the Angel of the earth. 3And between her
lips flowed the river of Eternal Life, 4And she knelt over the
earth 5And gave to man the secret of eternity,
6And told him to open his eyes 7And behold the mysterious Tree
of Life in the Endless Sea. 8But man lifted up his hand and put
out his own eyes, 9And said there
is no eternity. 10And I turned my face away in
shame.
Revel 18
And I opened the
seventh seal. 2
And I saw, and beheld the Angel of the Earthly Mother. 3
And she brought with her a message of blazing light 4
From the throne of the Heavenly Father. 5
And
this message
was for the
Ears of Man
alone, 6
He
Who walks between the earth and heaven, 7
And
onto the ear of man
was whispered the message. 8
And he did not hear.
9
But I did not
turn away my face in
Shame. 10
Lo, I reached out my hand to the wings of the angel, 11And
turned my voice to heaven saying, 12
"Tell me
the message.
For
I would eat
of the fruit
13Of the
Tree of Life
that grows in the Sea of Eternity."
Revel 19 And the angel looked
upon me with great sadness, 2And there was silence in
heaven.
3And then I heard a voice, 4Which was like a trumpet,
saying, 5
"O Man,
would you look upon the
evil you have done 6
When you
turned your face away from the throne of God? 7
When you did not make use of the gifts 8Of the
seven Angels
of the
Earthly Mother, 9And the seven angels of the Heavenly
Father?" 10
And a terrible
pain seized me
as I felt within me 11
The
souls of all those
who had blinded themselves, 12
So as to see only their own desires of the flesh. 13And I
saw the seven angels who stood before God; 14And to them
were given seven trumpets 15And another angel came and
stood at the altar, 16Having a golden censer; 17And there
was given to him much incense, 18That he should offer it
with the prayers of all the angels 19Upon the golden altar
that was before the throne. 20And the smoke of the incense
ascended up before God 21Out of the angel’s
hand. 22And the angel took the censer, 23And filled it
with fire of the altar, 24And cast it into the earth, 25
And there were voices and thunderings, 26And lightnings,
and earthquakes. 27And the seven angels that had the seven
trumpets 28Prepared themselves to sound. Revel 20 The
first angel sounded, 2And there followed hail and fire
mixed with blood, 3And they were cast upon the earth. 4And
the green forests and trees were burnt up, 5And all the
green grass shriveled to cinders. Revel 21 The second
angel sounded, 2And a great mountain burning with fire
3Was cast into the sea 4And
blood rose
from the earth as a vapor.
Revel 22 And the fourth angel sounded, 2And there was a
great earthquake; 3And
The
Sun became
as black
as sackcloth of hair,
4And
the
Moon
became as blood.
Revel 23 And the fifth angel sounded 2And the stars of
heaven fell onto the earth 3Like figs from fig tree 4
Shaken by a mighty wind. Revel 24 And the sixth angel
sounded 2And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is
rolled together. 3And over the whole earth there was not
one tree, 4Nor one flower, nor one blade of grass. 5And I
stood on the earth, 6
And my feet sank into the soil,
soft and thick with
blood, 7
Stretching as far as the
eye could see. 8
And all over the earth was silence. Revel 25 And the
seventh angel sounded. 2And I saw a mighty being come down
from heaven, 3Clothed with a cloud; 4And a rainbow was
upon his head, 5And his face was as is it were the Sun,
6And his feet were pillars of fire. 7And he had in his
hand a book open: 8And he set his right foot upon the sea,
and his left on the earth, 9And he cried with a loud
voice, which was wondrous to hear: 10
'O Man, would you have this vision come to pass?' 11
And I answered, '
You know, O Holy
One, 12
That I would do anything 13
That these terrible things
might not come to pass.'
Revel 26
And he spoke:
"Man has
created these powers of destruction. 2
He has made
them from his own mind. 3
He has turned
his face away 4
From the
angels
of the
Heavenly
Father and the Earthly Mother, 5
And he has
fashioned
his own destruction."
Revel 27
And I spoke:
"Then is there
no hope, bright angel?" 2
And a
blazing light
streamed like a river from his hands 3
As he answered,
"There is
always hope, 4
O thou
for
whom
heaven and
earth were created."
Revel 28 And then the angel, 2He who stood upon the sea
and upon the earth, 3Lifted up his hand to heaven, 4And
swore by him who lives for ever and ever, 5Who created
heaven and the things that therein are, 6And the earth,
and the things that therein are, 7And the sea, and the
things that are therein, 8
That
There
should be
time no longer: 9
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, 10
When he shall begin to sound, 11 The
mystery
of God
should be
revealed
to
those 12
Who have eaten from the
Tree of Life 13
Which stands forever in the Eternal Sea. 14And the voice
spoke again saying: 15
"Go take the
book that is in the hand of the angel, 16
who stands upon the sea and upon the earth." 17And I went
to the angel, and said to him, 18
"Give me the
book, 19
For
I would
eat from the Tree of Life
20
Which stands in the middle of the Eternal Sea." 21
And the angel gave to me the book, 22
And I opened
the book,
and
I read therein 23
What had
always been,
what was now, 24
And what would come to
pass.
Revel 29
I saw
the
holocaust
that would engulf the earth, 2
And the great destruction 3That would drown all her people
in oceans of blood. 4
And
I saw too the
eternity of man 5
And the endless forgiveness of the Almighty. 6
The
souls of men were as blank
pages in the book, 7
Always ready for a new song
to be there inscribed.
Revel 30 And I lifted up my face 2To the seven Angels of the
Earthly Mother 3And the seven Angels of the Heavenly Father,
4And I felt my feet touching the holy brow of the Earthly
Mother, 5And my fingers touching the holy feet of the Heavenly
Father, 6And I
uttered a hymn of thanksgiving: Revel 31
"I thank thee, heavenly father, 2Because thou hast put
me at a
source of
running streams, 3
At a
living spring in a land of drought, 4
Watering an eternal garden of wonders, 5
The Tree of
Life,
Mystery of mysteries, 6
Growing everlasting branches for eternal plantin
g, 7To sink their roots into the stream of life 8 From an
eternal source. 9And thou, Heavenly Father, 10Protect
their fruits 11With the angels of day and night, 12And
with flames of Eternal Light lighting every way. Revel 32
But again the voice spoke, 2And again my eyes were drawn
away 3From the splendors of the realm of light, 4"Heed
thou, O man! 5You may walk on the right path 6And walk in
the presence of the angels, 7 You may sing of the Earthly
Mother by day 8And of the Heavenly Father by night, 9And
through your being course the golden stream of the
Law, 10
But would you leave your brothers 11
To plunge through the gaping chasm of blood, 12
As the pain-wracked earth shudders and groans 13
Under her chains of stone? 14
Can you drink
from the
cup
of
eternal life 15
While
your brothers die of thirst?"
Revel 33 And my heart was heavy with compassion. 2
And I
looked, and lo,
3There appeared
a
great wonder in heaven:
4 A
woman clothed with the sun,
and the
moon under her
feet,
5And upon her head
a
crown of seven stars.
6And I knew she was the source of running streams 7And the
mother of the forests. Revel 34 And I stood upon the sand
of the sea, 2And saw a beast rise up out of the sea, 3And
from his nostrils wafted foul and loathsome air, 4And
where he rose from the sea, the clear waters turned to
slime, 5 And his body was covered with black and steaming
stone. 6And the woman clothed with the sun 7Reached out
her arms to the beast, 8And the beast drew near and
embraced her. 9And lo, her skin of pearl withered beneath
his foul breath, 10And her back was broken by his arms of
crushing rock, 11And with tears of blood she sank into the
pool
of slime.
12And from the mouth of this beast there poured armies of
men, 13 Brandishing swords and fighting, one with the
other. 14And they fought with a terrible anger, 15And they
cut
off their own limbs and clawed out
their own eyes, and pain.
16
Until they fell into the
pit
of slime,
17
Screaming in agony
Revel 35 And I stepped to the edge of the pool and reached
down my hand, 2And I could see the swirling maelstrom of
blood, 3And the
men therein,
trapped like flies in a web. 4
And I spoke in
a loud voice,
saying, 5 "
Brothers, drop your swords and take hold of my hand. 6
Leave off this
defiling and desecration 7
Of she who has given
thee birth, 8
And he who has given
thee thy inheritance. 9
For you the days of buying and selling are over 10And
over, too, the days of hunting and killing. 11
For he that leadeth into captivity will go into captivity,
12
And he who kills with the sword must be killed by
the sword. 13
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn
14Because
no man buys their merchandise any more. 15The merchants of
gold, and silver, and precious stones, 16And of pearls,
and fine linen, and purple dyes, and silk, and scarlet,
17And marble, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, 18And
chariots, and slaves, and souls of men, 19All these things
you cannot buy and sell, 20For all is buried in a sea of
blood 21Because you have turned your back on your father
and mother, 22And worshipped the beast who would build a
paradise of stone. 23Drop thy swords, my brothers, and
take hold of my hand." Revel 36 And as our fingers
clasped, 2I saw in the distance a great city, 3White and
shining on the far horizon, glowing alabaster, 4And there
were voices and thunders, and lightning, 5And there was a
great earthquake, 6Such as was not since men were on the
earth, 7So mighty an earthquake, and so great. 8And the
great city was divided into three parts, 9And the cities
of the nations fell. 10And the great city came in
remembrance before God, 11To give unto her the cup of the
wine 12Of the fierceness of his wrath, and every island
fled away, 13And the mountains were not found, 14And there
fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, 15 Every stone
about the weight of a talent. 16And a mighty angel took up
a stone like a great millstone, 17And threw it into the
sea, saying, 18"Thus, with violence shall the great city
be thrown down, 19And shall be found no more at all.'
20And the voices of harpists, and musicians, and of
pipers, 21And of singers, and trumpeters, 22 Shall be
heard no more in you; 23And no craftsmen, of whatever
craft he be, 24Shall be found anymore in you; 25And the
sound of the millstone shall be heard 26No more at all in
you. 27And the light of the candle will shine 28No more at
all in you 29And the voice of the bridegroom and of the
bride shall be heard 30No more at all in you 31
For your
merchants
were
great men
of the earth; 32
By there sorceries
all nations were deceived. 33
And in her was found the blood of prophets and
saints, 34And all those who were slain upon
earth.” Revel 37
And my
brothers
laid hold of my hand,
2 And they struggled
out of the
pool of slime
3 And stood bewildered on the sea of sand, 4And the skies
opened and washed their naked bodies with rain. 5And I
heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters,
6And as the voice of great thunder: 7And I heard the sound
of harpists with their harps, 8And they sung it as it were
a new song before the throne. Revel 38 And I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven, 2Having the songs of day
and night 3And the everlasting gospel to preach to them
4That dwell on the earth, 5Unto them that have climbed
from
the
pit
of slime,
6And stand naked and washed by rain before the throne.
7And the angel cried out,
"Fear God, and
give glory to him; 8
For the hour of his
judgment has come: 9
And worship him that made heaven and earth, 10 And the
sea, and the fountains of waters." Revel 39 And I saw
heaven open, and beheld a white horse; 2And he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, 3And in
Righteousness he does judge. 4His eyes were like a flame
of fire, 5And on his head were many crowns, 6And he was
cloaked in blazing light 7And his feet were bare. 8And his
name is called the
Word of
God. 9
And the holy brotherhood followed him upon white horses,
10Clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 11And they
entered the eternal Infinite Garden, 12In whose midst
stood the Tree of Life.
Revel 40 And the
rain-washed naked
throngs came before them, 2
Trembling to receive
their judgment. 3
For their sins were many,
and they had defiled the earth, 4
Yea, they had destroyed the creatures of the land and sea,
5Poisoned the ground, fouled the air, 6And
buried alive the Mother
who had given them birth. Revel 41
But, I saw not what
befell them, for my vision changed,
2And I saw a
new heaven and a
new earth; 3
For the
first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away; 4
And there was no more sea. 5And
I saw the holy city
of the Brotherhood 6
Coming down from God out of heaven, 7Prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 8And I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying: 9"Lo, the mountain of the Lord's house 10Is
established in the top of the mountains 11And is exalted above
the hills; 12And all people shall flow unto it. 13 Come, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 14To the house of
God; 15And he will teach us of his ways, 16And we will walk in
his paths: 17For out of the Holy Brotherhood shall go forth
the Law. 18Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 19And he
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, 20And God
himself will be with them, and be their God. 21And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes; 22And there shall be no
more death, 23Neither sorrow, nor crying, 24Neither shall
there be any more pain: 25For the former things have all
passed away. 26Those who made war shall beat their swords into
ploughshares, 27And their spears into pruning hooks: 28Nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, 29Neither shall they
learn war anymore: 30For the former things are passed
away.” Revel 42 And he spoke again: "Behold, I
make all things new. 2I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end. 3I will give unto him that is athirst 4At the
fountain of the water of life freely. 5He who overcomes shall
inherit all things, 6And I will be his God, and he shall be my
son. 7But the fearful, and the unbelieving, 8 And the
abominable, and murderers, and all liars, 9Shall dig their own
pit which burns with fire and brimstone." Revel 43 And again
my vision changed, 2And I heard the voices of the Holy
Brotherhood raised in song, 3 Saying, "Come ye, and let us
walk in the light of the Law." 4And I saw the holy city, 5And
the Brothers were streaming unto it. 6And the city had no need
of the sun, 7Neither of the moon to shine on it: 8For the
glory of God did lighten it. 9And I saw the pure river of the
Water of Life, 10Clear as crystal, proceeding out of the
throne of God. 11And in the middle of the river stood the Tree
of Life, 12Which bore fourteen manner of fruits, 13 And
yielded her fruit to those who would eat of it, 14And the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 15And
there shall be no night there; 16And they need no candle,
neither light of the sun, 17For the Lord God gives them light:
18And they shall reign for ever and ever. Revel 44 I have
reached the inner vision 2And through thy spirit in me 3I have
heard thy wondrous secret. 4 Through thy mystic insight 5Thou
hast caused a spring of knowledge 6To well up within me, 7A
fountain of power pouring forth living waters; 8A flood of
love and all-embracing wisdom 9Like the splendor of Eternal
Light.
