Books of the Genesis Chronicle

An Abridgment of Michael the Syrian's Chronicle 1-21

The Chronicle of Michael the Great (A.D. 1126-1199) may be the longest medieval chronicle in the
Western world. It begins with Creation and continues to the year 1195. Unfortunately, only one copy of
the original Syriac manuscript has survived. The manuscript's close brush with extinction was due,
probably, to its enormous length and the great expense required to make copies. The physical
arrangement of the material, too, may have been another reason that the work was not favored by
copyists. Michael presented his material in three columns of text which describe, separately, a given
period's political/military, ecclesiastical, and miscellaneous developments. The Chronicle was written by
Michael over the course of fifty years, and the various parts were assembled while he was Patriarch of
the Syrian Orthodox Church (1166-1199). The result is not a smooth narrative. Nor are the three
sections discrete in terms of their contents—there is constant overlapping of ecclesiastical and
miscellaneous material (such as earthquakes, famines, and unexplained phenomena) in the
political/military section, as might be expected. Thus, the length and the arrangement of the material
were probably negative factors from a copyist's and also a reader's perspective. As a result of these and
other factors, today we have only one Syriac manuscript which is missing the author's Preface and has
other lacunae. A Garshuni translation of it, unfortunately, has the same missing parts. Some 60 copies of
medieval Armenian versions have survived. The Armenian versions are abridgments, less than half the
size of the original. Moreover, the Armenian adaptors presented a single narrative, not three, and they
skipped much material specific to doctrinal issues involving the Syrian Orthodox Church, as well as
Michael's chronological and genealogical tables, presenting this material in prose format, instead.
Probably these same reasons—shorter length and a more engaging and readable narrative—partly
account for the popularity and abundance of the Armenian versions.

The First Book of the Genesis Chronicle

Adam was 130 when he fathered Seth and lived an additional 800 years, which . . . makes 930 years. . . .
70 years after Adam's departure from Paradise, Adam knew Eve and fathered Cain, and seven years
later fathered Abel. Fifty-three years after Abel's birth, Cain slew him. Then Adam and Eve mourned 100
years for Abel and then Seth was born as a son of consolation.

From Adam until Jared in the sixth generation comprise 930 years. During this entire period there was
no king since for Adam, God's handiwork, piety and order in counsel were enough for them. After his
death, Seth ruled for 178 years. Now in the time of Seth, his sons remembered the life that had existed
in Paradise. They rejected marriage and went up on to Mount Hermon where they lived in chastity. And
for this reason they were called the sons of God, and angels.
Seth lived for 150 years. The days of his life were 970 years.

Enoch fathered a son when he was 90 years old. He aspired to call upon the name of the Lord God and
exhorted people to do good deeds. He lived for 905 years.

Cain at 70 years of age fathered a son, and he lived for 950 years.

At 65 years of age Mahalalel fathered a son. All the years of his life totalled 197 years.

Jared fathered a son at 162 years of age. And his entire lifetime comprised 962 years, lasting until the
600th year of Noah.

In the 40th year of Jared, the 1000th year of the expulsion of Adam from Paradise was completed. In
this year Seth's sons grew weary of the religious lifestyle, descended from Mount Hermon and fell into a
craving for women. They were 200 men. In the same period, people established for themselves a king
who was named Samarios. After descending from the mountain and leaving their angelic behavior,
Seth's descendants angered their brothers and they would not give them wives. And so these people
went and chose the daughters of Cain as wives. Giants were born from their union—impious, harmful
killers. And up until this period there was a fear of God and the people lived in peace. But now that
ended, and they fell into disorder, war, and murder. Thus did evil increase upon the earth: prostitution,
extortion, and from them, wars and murders.

When the sons of Seth—who held the second climatic zone as their portion—learned about this, they
also established a king over themselves, Alorus from the Chaldean country. He discovered astrology, the
signs of the zodiac, and information about the planets and their revolutions. Chaldeanism was named
after him. He reigned 98 years.

He was succeeded by his son Elp'aros, who reigned for 29 years and 255 days.
He was followed by Almion the Chaldean, from the city of P'udiwilon, who ruled for 128 years and 80
days.

The fourth king, Amanon the Chaldean, reigned 118 years and 130 days.

The fifth king was the Chaldean Amakaros, who reigned 177 years and 197 days.

The sixth king was Dinos the Chaldean shepherd, who ruled for 98 years and 230 days.

The seventh king was Ewturink'os the Chaldean, who reigned 575 years and 195 days.

The eighth king was Mamp'ios the Chaldean from the city of Anark'on, who reigned 195 years and 230
days.

The ninth king was O'tiartos from the city of Anark'on, who ruled for 78 years and 330 days.

The tenth king was the latter's son, K'sisot'ros, who reigned 177 years and 195 days. The total for all
these reigns is 1,183 years and 205 days. And in his day the Flood occurred.

The time of these kings was 1183 years, and the period preceding it without kings was 1052 years,
making a total of 2,242 years before the Flood.

Now Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered a son Methusaleh. He discovered the letters which the
Chaldeans use. Having pleased God for 200 years, he was transferred to a place which only God, Who
moved him, knows about. But it appears that Enoch was placed in the Upper Paradise by Almighty God.
When it was opened by the Cross, he descended to the earthly Paradise.

When Methusaleh was 187 years of age, he fathered a son, Lamech. All the days of his life amounted to
962 years, which was the 98th year of Shem.
Lamech was 182 when he fathered a son. His lifespan was 773 years, until the 69th year of Shem. He
died 29 years before his father.

In the 1,666th year of the expulsion of Adam from Eden Noah was born. He was a righteous man born of
righteous parents and was kept for 502 years. In his 358th year the second age was completed. He
matured to adulthood and was more pleasing to God than the other men of that period. He lived alone
and did not marry until he was 500 years of age. When Noah was 58 years old, the second of the world's
epochs was completed. . . . enormous, grotesque giants dwelled in that period, and . . . God abandoned
them. Injustice had increased and the world was full of warfare. Corpses, in heaps, covered the summits
of the mountains and were spread across the plains as well, because the spirit of the Lord's power had
forsaken them.

Now the blessed Noah, who had married a woman named Nemzava and had fathered his three sons
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, at the command of God constructed a large, three-storied ark as a repository
for the seeds of the second growth, under the care of the Creator.

God forsook humanity because of the increase in its sins. They increasingly engaged in wars and battles
and the world filled up with the bones of the slain, which were piled about like hills. The Lord God
became angered and sent the Flood against them. When Noah had completed his 500th year, the great
Flood commenced destroying humanity on the 27th day of the second month of Iar. The waters lasted
for a year, until the same day of the same month when by God's command Noah, his sons, and their
women emerged from the ark. Then Noah offered up clean animals to God in a service, and the Lord
smelled the sweet fragrance. Noah revered God with sacrifices and received the blessing which had
been given to the first man, as well as the prohibition not to shed the blood of rational beings nor to eat
the blood of non-rational beings. And then God gave as a sign His covenant that He would not again
strike at the entirety of humankind because of its sins, but would continue to punish the guilty. Noah
was the start of the third age. . . . the ark landed on . . . the mountains of Ararat in Greater Armenia,
which is Masis. After the Flood, Noah lived an additional 350 years. He fathered a son, Maniton, and
then divided the world among his sons.

Noah's sons were Shem, Japheth, and Ham. The flood occurred in the 98th year of Shem, and in the
100th year he fathered a son. Then Noah divided the world among his sons. He gave to Shem the land of
Persia and of the Syrians and territory from Pektura from Palestine to India, to R'ino-Korura, which is the
Nile, and Bactria.
To Ham he gave lands from the R'ino-Korura to Gadiron. To Japheth he gave territory from Madira from
Media to the north of Gadiron.

The line of Japheth holds territory from the source of the Tigris River which divides Media and Persia.
The line of Shem dwelled to the east and west of the Euphrates and Tigris. The line of Ham holds the
Gihon River, which delineates their borders.

The descendants of Japheth are: the Armenians, Macedonians, Medes, Greeks, Latins,
Iberians/Georgians, and Alans. The descendants of Ham are: the Indians, Egyptians, Hittites, Jebusites,
Ethiopians who are the Cushites, Girgasites, Amorites, Arvadites, Arut'ats'ik', and others. The
descendants of Shem are: the Assyrians, the Chaldeans who are the Syrians, the Hebrews, Franks,
Persians, and others. The Shemites hold territory from east to west, through the middle latitude of the
earth. The descendants of Japheth hold from the northeast to the west. The descendants of Ham hold
the south.

Noah, before the Flood, had observed the wars, murders, and deprivations, and as a result he divided up
the world among them. And he placed curses so that his sons would not deprive one another of their
portions.

. . . after the Flood, Noah fathered a son named Mantinos whose allotment was on the far side of the
sea. Mantinos asked his father for some of the bones of Adam, which had been kept in the ark and Noah
gave him the kneebones as a souvenir, and then sent him to the west. It was he who developed
astrology, discovered augury, and the phenomena of omens. . . . the Madianites are descended from
him. . . . Noah also had a daughter, named Astgh who received from her father as inheritance a part of
the southern regions.

Now Noah cautioned his descendants and applied an oath with curses should they ever deprive each
other. Rather, they should abide in justice in their own portions of the world living in fear of God, lest
they be killed. Noah survived until the 380th year of Eber, and then he died.

Shem fathered Arp'ak'sad when he was 108 years of age. At 135 years Arp'ak'sad fathered Cain. It was
this Cain who increased the errors of the Chaldeans, discovering witchcraft, and demonstrating how to
tell a person's destiny and fate based on the location of stars and the movement of the planets. His
children regarded him as a god, worshipped him, and erected an image of him during his lifetime. Thus
began the great evil of idolatry. Cain constructed the city of Harran, which he named after his son,
Harran.

Arp'ak'sad lived 438 years. Cain was 139 years of age when he fathered Salah. Salah lived 30 years and
fathered Eber, and lived for 433 years and then died.

When Eber was 34 years old he fathered Peleg and then Joktan, and lived 343 years. . . . the Hebrews
were named after him. In the 120th year of Peleg, the world was divided up again due to the increase in
population.

At that time the patriarchs of the world gathered together, took counsel, and decided to go East to
search for the original place of Adam's habitation. But behold, a sea separated them from Eden. And
then they recalled the great Flood and that the water had resulted from it. They were horrified, since
their own deeds were the same as those which brought on the Flood. For they had transgressed the
oath they had made with Noah the righteous and brought on the curses by altering the boundaries
which had been set for them. Then they said to one another: "Let us not carelessly fall prey to the same
punishment. The land will be broken again and we will perish in the same waters." And so they turned
back and went to the Shinar country to the wide plain of K'ghane' where they laid the foundation for a
tower as they sought some means of salvation from a sudden flood.

At the beginning of the days of Reu they commenced building the Tower in the Shinar country. Now the
giant Nimrod hunted game for the builders and fed them. The principals were Assur, Hayk, and Nimrod.
They built for 40 years, fearing Noah's curses for they had violated the oath and were liable to his
anathemas, having deprived one another of land and water. And so they conceived this plan of building
the Tower to survive. But then the Lord descended and divided their languages, turning one language
into 72 different languages. Many of the builders were killed, and . . . subsequently . . . Nimrod was slain
by Hayk, son of Torgom, son of Tiras, son of Gomer, son of Japheth. Hayk had refused to make an image
of Bel and regard it as God, and so Bel came against him with a great multitude. And Hayk killed him.
Now when the Tower collapsed, language became confused. God separated the one universal language
into 72 languages. The line of Japheth had 15; the line of Ham, 32; and the line of Shem, 25. And each
man went by his own road. Nimrod built the cities of Erech, Nisibis, and Edessa.
Now it happened that Eber, an old and devout man, had not joined the Tower builders and . . . the
original language of Adam was preserved by him. And he named that country Babylon, which translated
as "ruin" in the Chaldean language, which is Syriac. The . . . language of Adam remained with Eber.

When Peleg was 30 years old he fathered Reu. He lived 339 years.

From the Flood until the confusion of languages totalled 660 years.

At the age of 52, Reu fathered Serug. He lived 239 years. In this period Nimrod built three cities: Areg,
Edessa, and Nisibis. Now after the dispersion from the Tower, the sons of Ham came to the country of
the Phoenicians and Lebanon. Seing the fertility and beauty of the country they liked it and settled
there, not going to their own allotment to the west of Egypt. For the descendants of Ham, on returning
from the dispersal that resulted from the destruction of the Tower came to the country of Palestine by
the mountains of Carmel and Lebanon. When they saw its plenty and its beauty, they forcibly took it
from the line of Shem. They refused to go to their allotted lands, and settled where they were, thereby
again invoking the curse of Patriarch Noah. Thus, for a second time, they inherited Noah's curse; first
they had been cursed for laughing at him, and second for changing their boundaries from those set as
their portions.

In the 74th year of Reu the third era was completed, which is 3,000 years, and in his 70th year the Tower
was built. After 40 years of construction, the people were dispersed throughout the world. The world
was filled with wars and whoever triumphed erected a statue to the victory and worshipped it. In the
110th year of Reu, the Tower fell. After the Flood, Nimrod ruled first in Babylon and he ruled in the 40th
year of Reu. When a fierce whirlwind sent by God destroyed the Tower, Nimrod was killed in the
collapse. He ruled for 69 years. Nimrod's crown was woven and not made of metal.

Now when Peleg died, the sons of his brother Joktan observed that they had not received their legacy
and they were angry. They set up three leaders for themselves: Saba, Ophir, and Havila. They cleverly
made weapons—swords, bows, armor, helmets, shields—and started to defeat everyone who fled
before them. In order to withstand their depredations and survive, people began to construct fortresses
and strongholds. This was the start and cause of weaponry. After many people were defeated by them,
they beseeched the sons of Joktan to take their legacy wherever they pleased and to end the warfare
against them. Saba took the incense-producing country which was called Saba after his own name. Ophir
took the land of gold mines which is India. Havila took the land of precious stone which was named after
him Evilath.
Serug was 30 when he fathered Nahor, calculating from the time of the Flood to this point. Serug lived
330 years. In his day people learned to make dahekans and money with the names of their kings on
them. Serug built the city of Seruch in his name.

Around this time there arose the Amazons, a force of women warriors. Here is how it happened. As the
kingdom of Torgom lacked a male heir, the crown went to a valiant and brilliant woman who refused to
take a husband. At the head of a powerful army she triumphantly devastated and enslaved many lands,
and no one was able to withstand her. But then a conspiracy arose within the army to dislodge her from
rule of the kingdom. She, however, became apprised of this and, one by one, destroyed all the men in
the army, creating an entirely female force. She continued to be successful and took over many lands.
She separated out the males, allowed intercourse only once a year, then separated the males again. As
for the male children born, some were killed and some were given to the men to raise. It became a
powerful state, and conquered a city in the northern part of Asia Minor called Ilium. Now all the kings of
the country were harassed by the Amazon state and grew weary of it. And so the kings of eleven
kingdoms united, went against it, and conquered the stronghold of that kingdom, thereby removing this
abomination from the land. And the men took over rule of the kingdom, as was the norm in all other
countries.

Forty years after the death of Nimrod and the destruction of the kingdom of Ham in Babylon, the
Chaldean Kambiwros reigned 56 years in the time of Serug. He built the city of Shosh, which they call
Isfahan. In that period the making of weapons spread, and there started the enslavement and sale of
people. In the 70th year of Serug, the Chaldean King Kambiwros warred against the Kalatu people,
defeated them, and they went up into the mountains. Serug taught Nahor the Chaldean doctrine of
sorcery and divination by the star signs. Kambiwros ruled for 85 years. Following him, the third to rule as
king in Babylon was Samiros in the 106th year of Serug. Samiros ruled for 72 years. He warred with the
Greeks, the Franks, and the Canaanites and put them under taxation. He built many cities in the land of
the Chaldeans and Parthians and it was he who began to designate weights and measures. It was he
who put patterns and images on cloth, established the making of silk, and all sorts of dyes. . . . he had
three eyes and a horn. Samiros was a brave giant and removed the Nimrodians from the Chaldeans and
destroyed their line. When Nahor was 29 years of age he fathered Tera. He lived 148 years. In the 25th
year of Nahor . . . the trials of Job occurred.

There was among the sons of Joktan a wealthy man named Job, who fought seven times with satan,
and, by the power of God, had victory over him. . . . this story concerns Yobab, son of Zareh, of the line
of Isaiah, and took place 500 years before Moses. Now in the 7th year of Terah, Arphaxad became king
in Babylon, and ruled for 18 years. After this, rule of the Chaldean kingdom was interrupted for 7 years
until Belus ascended. This interregnum was due to the fact that the Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Medes
were battling each other for the kingdom. Finally the Assyrian Belus ended Assyria's submission to the
Babylonians, took power, and ruled all of Asia for 62 years. Now the city of Assur is located near Mosul,
and the land was called Assyria because it was originally fortified by Ashur. A certain Xarus ruled in
Babylon and was slain by Terah's brother, Saheron, because . . . he fashioned a golden statue of Nachor,
chief priest of the idols of Caanan. In this period Damascus was built by Marigos the Hittite, 20 years
before the birth of Abraham. . . . 1081 years elapsed from the Flood to the time of Abraham; 3035 years
elapsed from Adam; and 431 years elapsed from the allottment of lands to the time of Abraham.

The Second Book of the Genesis Chronicle

And Abraham was 17 years of age when he willingly began to seek God. In that period the wrath of God
was visited on the Babylonians. For birds called magpies came and ate up all their fields. Everyone was
so distraught by the small amount reaped from what they sowed, that they had to try to chase the birds
off. Now Abraham tended his father's fields and wearied of chasing these birds, and so he sought aid
from all the so-called gods. But he received no help. He appealed to the sun, moon, stars, and the sky to
no avail. Then he said: "O, unattainable God, supreme over all, creator of these birds and the fields,
reveal yourself to me and chase them away." Immediately the birds departed and did not return to
those fields. At that time the grace of God's mercy dawned in the heart of Abraham, and he said: "I have
found God, the creator of all creation." And Abraham persisted in beseeching God to appear to him.

Nahor died when Abraham was born. . . . the name of Abraham's mother was Milcah. After Abraham's
birth, Sarah, the daughter of Terah, was born from the woman named Armut', and not from Abraham's
mother as he himself told Pharaoh and Abimelich. Now when Abraham was 17 years of age he began to
seek God, in this manner. The land of Chaldea was fertile and fruitful, and the population, engorged with
wealth, occupied themselves with astrology, sorcery, and other vain pursuits. Now when God saw them
thus wallowing in sin, He sent chastisement to them in the form of multitudes of jackdaws which ate up
the ripening crops and destroyed the vineyards. And this happened for many years on end. The
Chaldeans, consequently, tilled and sowed less, and retained men to ward off the birds. And they made
sacrifices to their gods, and made pledges, yet their sorcerers and witches were unable to find a way
out. Abraham, who was 17 years of age, guarded his father's fields and grew weary from his labors of
hunting the birds. And, sighing, he implored all the false gods—the sun, moon, stars, and the graven
images—to give him some respite, but he was not heard. Then one night he realized that the
chastisement was from God and that it was not by chance, since it lasted for such a long period. Nor was
it from the false gods since they would have acceded to the wishes of their worshippers once they
received their due. Abraham had studied astrology under the direction of his father, who knew the
knowledge of his ancestors. Thus Abraham examined this art and realized that all the celestial spheres
and the stars depending on them had some other internal motivator. Then a ray of light sent by
Almighty God penetrated his heart and he acknowledged that there was some unknown God moving
and regulating everything, Who was also the creator of everything, Who had been forgotten by His own
creations. It is because His will is not being done by us that His vengeance has been wrought on us.
Throughout the night Abraham confirmed the veracity of this discovery. When day broke, he went to
the fields, fell on his knees, raised up his arms and exclaimed: "O, Thou unknown God, creator and
motivator of all, creator and motivator of these birds, deliver us from them and reveal Yourself and Your
will to us." As soon as these words were uttered, the birds disappeared from all fields in the city, and
Abraham said: "Greatness and glory in the highest heaven, behold, I have found God. Besides You, there
is no other god, Who quickly heeds our prayers. Goodness and power are Yours, and Your glory fills the
world." Then Abraham returned to his home and told his father what had happened. They did not
believe him, but he did not cease praying to the true God so that He more openly manifest Himself.

At that time King Belus died and his son Ninus ruled for 52 years, being the second king of the Assyrians.
He constructed Nineveh and transferred the seat of his kingdom to Nineveh from Assur. He fashioned
large idols of silver and gold for his father Belus' statues, and had him worshipped. In this period were
built R'about, and R'asan, and K'aghane', and then Jerusalem was built. It was during his reign that the
cities Rehoboth, Rasan, and Kghane' were built. And during this time Jerusalem was built by
Melchisedek the Canaanite, . . . the son of the Canaanite king known as Melk'i. Now his father wanted to
sacrifice him to the idols. But when God saw the power that was hidden in that child—who, indeed, was
worthy of being a model for His Only-Begotten—He demolished the pagan temple, burying the parents
and the priests, and took the child away to a deserted spot, where he was nourished by the care of God.
He became a wondrous priest of God and a king of the country and built a city named Ureshghem, which
translates "Village of Peace". Abraham burned the idol house of his father which was in Edessa and his
brother Haran tried to save those idols from the flames, but was himself burned to death in them.

Abraham reached the age of 60, growing more pleasing to God. And when God heard his lengthy and
tireless prayers and observed his unshakable faith, He said to him: "Leave that country of yours and I will
give you that part of the inheritance of your father Shem that was deprived to you, and thereafter I will
advise you according to your need. And I will give that country to you and to your descendants in
perpetuity." Abraham heard this and told his father, who wanted to arise and go with him. They reached
Harran from Ur of the Chaldeans. It was there in Ur that they had halted, and received dwelling places
and property, and it was there that his father erected idols. Abraham set afire the temple where the
idols had been installed. Now his brother, Haran, wanted to extinguish the flames, and burned to death
in the presence of his father.

In the 60th year of Abraham, Abraham and his father Terah and Nahor his brother and Lot son of Haran
arose and left Ur'ha of the Chaldeans and came and came and dwelled in Harran for 14 years. At God's
command Abraham arose and went and dwelled in the land of Canaan. When Abraham was 85 years of
age he went to Egypt and fathered Ishmael by his maidservant Hagar. Ishmael was 138 in the 60th year
of Jacob.

Abraham was 75 years of age when God again commanded him to go to the land of Canaan. He left his
clan in Harran. After Abraham had come into the land of the Caananites, he entered Egypt when he was
85 years of age. There he fathered Ishmael from the Egyptian woman Hagar. Sarah was untouched by
Pharaoh so that she could bear a son like unto Our Lord, from a chaste womb.

King Ninus, terrified of his wife—who was much harsher than he—fled into obscurity, some say to
Cyprus, where he died.

In this period Ninus' wife, Semiramis, ruled over the Assyrians for 46 years. But . . . due to the increase in
idol worship everywhere, God became furious with the demons and caused hurricanes which shook the
earth to its foundations, and demolished cities and homes. Here and there the storms buried the idols
and the demons under these earthen mounds. The demons dwell in them, being tormented to this day.
And . . . witches practise their arts especially near these mounds, and . . . the thunderous sounds of the
demons arise therefrom.

Abram, now renewed with knowledge of God and endowed with a new life by revelation, was called
Abraham, while his wife, Sarai, was now called Sarah. These names mean "excellent father" and "noble
woman."

When Abraham was 99 years of age, he was circumcised. When he was 100 he fathered Isaac, in
accordance with God's promise. The years of their servitude in Egypt was 430. Then began the period of
their wandering, in the 77th year of Abraham, when Abraham arose from his father's house at the Lord's
command. In his 115th year Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac at the time was 15 years old. His
father Abraham was 75 years of age when Jacob was 35. In Isaac's 9th year, Abraham was informed that
"your brother Nahor has fathered children." Now when Abraham was 134 and Isaac was 37, Sarah died
at 127 years of age. Then Abraham took Kendura as a wife. Abraham at this time was 142 years old.
Isaac at 38 took Rebeccah to wife and she became pregnant at age 61. Rebeccah had gone to
Melchizedek with prayers to beseech God to tell her why there was contention between the children of
her womb. God told Melchizedek, who, taking God's command informed her so that she would know:
"Two nations and two people which are in your womb shall be divided. One shall be stronger than the
other, and the elder shall serve the younger." The elder was Esau, who is Edom—from whom descend
the Edomites, who are the Franks. The younger child born was Jacob, from whom the Israelites descend.
During this period, Semiramis was levelling the ground in Assyria because of floods. . . . Abraham was
involved with this labor. This was also the era of the birth of the kingdom of the Sicyonians. Similarly, a
certain Kre's ruled as king over the Cretans, giving his name to that country; and Pyrrha, also called
Peloponnese, ruled and gave his name to that country. Ishmael was born when Abraham was 88 years
of age. The Arabs, Saracens, Ishmaelites, and Tachiks are named after him. Isaac wed Rebecca when he
was 40, and she conceived when he was 60.

In this period, the Achaeans were ruled by Inachus, whom the Egyptians called Isis and Sebusis. This
woman Io was the daughter of Hur and gave the name Inachus to the river Argos.

In the 75th year of Isaac, Apis was in the 17th year of his reign in Egypt. Some called him a god, some
called his name Serapis. The 180th year of Isaac was the 31st year of Levi.

Abimelik, the Adarite king of the Philistines, was their friend. When Isaac was 137 years of age, Jacob
went to Haran, with the blessing of his father.

Abraham died when Isaac was 76 years old. When Jacob was 15 years of age Isaac was 180, this being
the 31st year of Levi. At this time Abimele'k' was king of the Chaldeans. He is Gerera of the Phillistines, a
friend of Abraham's house. When Jacob was 77 years old, in the 137th year of Isaac, he went to Harran
with his father's blessing. Jacob was 147 years of age in the 12th year of Kahag and died 232 years after
the time that God had promised to give his sons their portion of the world. He came to Egypt at 17. Now
Esau took a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites and when he knewthat this did not please his
father, he married Ishmael's daugher Margaye't'.

In this period Hamor, Sechem's father, built the city of Sechem, which he named after his son Sechem
who had kidnapped Dinah when she was 12 years old. Then the sons of Jacob, because of jealousy, killed
their maternal uncle with 3,000 people. Esau dwelled in Se'ir. When Jacob was 80 years old he took Leah
to wife, and at 85 she bore him Ruben. When he was 87 he fathered Simeon and, at 89, he fathered
Levi. When Levi was three and Jacob was 91, he fathered Joseph. When Levi was 10, Jacob went up to
his father Isaac. When Levi was 20, Joseph was sold. When Levi was 31, Isaac died at 180 years of age.
Following the death of Isaac, the sons of Esau hired the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Aram and they came
to Hebron and warred with Jacob and his sons. Jacob was infuriated and slew Esau with an arrow, while
those who had come against him fled. When Jacob was 130 years old he went down into Egypt, in the
second year of the famine and the ninth year of Joseph's reign.

Levi was 46 years old when he fathered Kohath. . . . Job's tribulations [were] in this period. When Kohath
was 60 years old he fathered Amram, and he lived 133 years, until the third year of Moses. At 70 years
of age, Amram fathered Moses. In the 35th year of the reign of Joseph, Aghaparos ruled as king of the
Assyrians. In the 38th year of Joseph's reign, K'ebron ruled as king of the Egyptians. Amram died in Egypt
13 years before the Exodus of Israel. He lived for 135 years. Joseph was 110 years old, and died in the
sixth year of Amram, 286 years after God's promise. After his death, his people entered into servitude.
In this period Amnap't'is ruled in Egypt for 43 years. It was he who began to drown the children of Israel
in the Nile River.

Moses died in the 70th year of Amram, and the 350th year of God's promise. He had been thrown into
the river as a child. The daughter of the king T'ermat'is—whom the Hebrews call Maria, whom K'ant'ara,
king of the city of Memphis took as a wife—took Moses out of the water and, when he was 10 years of
age, she gave him to Ane's and Amre's, who schooled him.

Now it happened that Moses, who had been thus thrown into the waters, was raised by Thermutis,
daughter of the Pharaoh whom the Hebrews call Mar'i, who was the wife of Kanthur, king of the city of
Memphis. Moses was saved from the water in the 350th year of God's promise, and, when ten years old,
he was given to study with Yanes and Yamres, sons of the Chaldean sorcerer Barkobas. They had been
driven there to Egypt for stealing the boys of their country and sacrificing them to the idols which had
been erected in the name of their father. They were well versed in Chaldean, Greek, and especially
Egyptian lore, and Mar'i, the queen of queens, obliged them to instruct Moses.

When Moses was 22 years old he became a prince and constructed the city of Hermopolis, which was
also called by the name of Moses' patron, Mar'ia.

In this period the Ethiopians, who had been tributary to the Egyptians, came to themselves, rebelled,
and went against the Egyptians whom they found unprepared. Among the captives they seized and
carried off was the aforementioned mother of Moses. Then Moses became a general of Egypt, warring
with the Ethiopians for ten years. He went against them over a desert full of snakes, with the help of
gazelles and storks, since the snakes could not evade them. After 10 years he took Ethiopia and their
queen, Thesbas, as well as retrieving his mother, Mar'i, and returned to Egypt with a reputation for valor
and bravery. But Mar'i's husband was envious of him and wished to kill him, though he was wary of his
wife.

When Mar'i had died, Moses buried her. It was then that Mar'i's husband sent Xanthus, a persecutor of
the Israelites, to kill Moses. However, Moses anticipated him, killed Xanthus, and fled into Midian. When
Moses had fled, Yane's and Yamre's took the children of Israel 15 days' journey into the desert where
they constructed a paradise for 17 years and very securely fortified it. Upon the completion of this work,
Yane's and Yamre's selected 980 innocent children from among the sons of Israel, sacrificed them to the
demons, invited the leader of the demons to the sacrifice, and then established them as protectors of
the paradise. Thereafter, the demons obeyed the sorcerers regarding the working of talismans and all
other such artifices.

In that period lived Prometheus—he who created mankind, since he vanquished ignorance with
knowledge.

Moses then went among the Cushites, to Raguel, son of Dadan, son of Joktan, descendants of Kethura.
Moses married his daughter Zipporah and fathered two children by her when he was 40 years of age. . . .
in this period . . . Asclepiades the physician revealed his skill, and Atlas, brother of Prometheus, the
astronomer supposedly held up the sky.

And it was in this period . . . that the Ethiopians crossed the Indus River and went and dwelled near
Egypt. The Curetes and Corybantes created a Dance with weapons.

. . . at the time of Deucalion, Thessaly experienced a flood; at the time of Phaeton, Ethiopia was burned;
and . . . many other disasters occurred here and there. . . . in this period Cecrops ruled in Atke, which is
Attica. . . . he built Athens and named it after his wife. . . . he had two natures, . . . because he . . . spoke
two languages, Egyptian and Greek. Cecrops also ruled part of Asia Minor, giving his name to the district
of Cappadocia.

It was under Cecrops that the olive tree made its appearance in the Acropolis at Athens. It was he who
called Aramazd, Zeus, and was the first to use the ox as a sacrificial animal. In the same year, Deucalion
began to rule as king in the area around Mt. Parnassus.
It was from Hellenus, one of the sons of Deucalion, that the Hellenes, the Greeks, took their name.
Similarly, the Atticans took their name from Acta.

In the 420th year of the promise to Abraham, the city of Corinth was built. It is sometimes called Ephra. .
. . Cronos the Athenian had a daughter named Atis, and . . . the land of Attica bears her name.

Now when Moses was 78 years of age, God appeared and spoke to him on Mount Sinai.

In this period in Egypt, P'sanos ruled as king. He fathered a son and named him Ramesis. It was he who
caused the Israelites great harm. Also, it was he who gave Egypt its second name, since previously it had
been called Aria. It was in the 430th year of God's promise, which was the 80th year of Moses, that
Moses merited the visitation from God and when he received the command to take Israel out of Egypt.
Then did the Hebrews cross through the sea on dry land, while King P'sanos and his troops drowned. As
for those who did not follow after Pharaoh, the reason for their salvation was that they were involved in
work that God had shown them.

In this period astrology and witchcraft entered Persia, while in Athens a temple to Apollo was built
called the Areopagite which is the house of judgement. In this period the city of Corinth was built. It
previously had been called Buria. In the same period the sages P'iwnik and Erakle's appeared. There was
a land of Cyprus which was called Aliu before being named Cyprus, and from it Cappadocia was named.
Egypt was then struck by earthquakes and for seven months people did not dare to enter their homes or
cities, but lived out in the open in tents. Now after the drowning during the Exodus, Ak'aros ruled as king
in Egypt. Six years after the Exodus of Israel, Cronos ruled as king over the Athenians. His daugher's
name was Atike' after whom the land of Attica was named.